As the Weekend Nears...

Geez, if that doesn't sound like the title of some soap opera...
"Like tax dollars through the fingers of liberals...so are the days of our lives..." ROFL.
Hoosierland weather today...yep, we got us some.
After some overnight showers (and a few thunderstorms), we will see the rain start to abate and by 1800 hrs this evening, all should be drying out nicely.
We might even see a decent sunset...maybe.
The temps will be a lot less milder than the past 2 days, only topping out in the mid-50s (and some damn good music came out of THAT era).
Expect much cooler temps tomorrow AM, too.
Meanwhile, back at the rain barrel...
*** First up today is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? motto:
"If we could sell our experience for what they cost us, we'd all be millionaires."

This was spoken by Abigail Van Buren, otherwise known as DEAR ABBY.

And here is her WIKI:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Phillips

Her REAL name was Pauline Phillips (nee Friedman), and she passed away earlier this year (13 January) at the age of 94 from Alzheimer's Disease.
Abigail Van Buren was her pen name, taking ABIGAIL from the book of Samuel in the Bible and VAN BUREN from the former president.
She had a twin sister, Esther, and the curious thing about them was their names. "Abby" was Pauline Esther, and her sister was named Esther Pauline.
You might have also known her sister - she was ASK ANN LANDERS.
I'm sure both of them came across more experience as a result of their columns than could be found in several lifetimes apiece.
Moving on...
*** Our own FWPD chief came back from a meeting in Washington D.C. over gun violence, held by (Crazy) Joe Biden and AG Eric Holder.

I'm sorry, but since I like to sleep at night with a clear conscience, I could not in good faith share ANY room with those two men.
The lies that have come from their mouths in the last 5 years have been non-stop and unbelievable.
Here's the story link:
http://cityoffortwayne.org/latest-news/2421-police-chief-york-in-washington-dc-for-meeting-on-reducing-gun-violence.html
This was part of the Police Executive Research Forum, founded in 1976 as a non-profit organization.
And I still hear the chief talk about how 40% of gun purchases at gun shows and online go WITHOUT background checks...
WRONG...try closer to FIVE PERCENT. That 40% number is from that 1994 "survey" of ONLY 251 people, and was more like a "guesstimate" than anything else.
There is a procedure that follows online purchases.

You buy a gun ONLINE, then you pay a TRANSFER CHARGE (fixed fee), and that gun gets shipped NOT to you, but to an FFL DEALER that YOU have to specify.
THAT dealer is responsible for any and all background checks, which can also be done via the Internet, so you can be "pre-approved"  (or denied) before the dealer contacts you to PICK UP the firearm...it's THAT simple...takes a few days.
I've done it, it works, so don't mess with the system in place.
If there is a "straw-purchase", that's a whole other ballgame, because many of THOSE purchasers can often fly under the radar.

You get someone without a felony to buy a gun for a thug, pay off the purchaser and then jack up the price through a middleman...

A "legally" purchased firearm is NOW in the possession of someone NOT ALLOWED to have one.

There are some "red flags" that gunshop owners need to be aware of, like MULTIPLE purchases at one time, and multiple purchases within a small time frame, or even single purchases in various locations, which should be easily addressed whenever a B/G check is initiated.

The process for those "instant" checks doesn't take long, doesn't hurt, and doesn't infringe on law-abiding citizens, but I have to stress that the MEANS (technology) to do ALL these background checks is (and HAS BEEN) ALREADY IN PLACE FOR A LONG TIME...we don't need more laws that would become redundant.
Besides, the background check is not on the FIREARM...but the PERSON buying it.
I have ONE driver's license, but I can OWN as many VEHICLES as I can afford to register and insure.
Some folks can't even manage that, and YET...THEY are driving our streets DAILY.
Go figure.
*** Once in a great while...somebody takes it upon themselves to report the FACTS (aside from yours truly), and sometimes, it happens right HERE in the Summit City.

All I've been doing here on this blog since 2006 (has it been THAT long already) is show YOU, the readers what some folks (like Wifey and I) have to deal with, and what's being done (or NOT) the change that.
I've taken to task those people (of every race - I'm an equal-opportunity "employer" in that regard) who see fit to bring DOWN this part of the city, showing that the chronic offenders are spreading to other parts of town, and that sometimes, you have to take a stand and make yourself heard...even if it does seem like you're like the Biblical one voice crying in the wilderness.

Case in point, an article by Kevin Leininger in today's (11 April 2013) News-Sentinel.
Here's the link:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130411/NEWS/130419955/1041/LEININGER
It's a good read and certainly NOT because I'm mentioned in there, but because the story addresses issues that have gone long unchanged, unresolved and unfettered by whatever means have been tried to halt such behavior in the past...means that have proven to not be as effective as intended.

Two differing styles of standing one's ground, by Rod Parker (former gang-banger) and me (former Philadelphia Fed).
And BOTH approaches deserve merit when trying to turn around (as former mayor Graham Richard once said) "a blighted area".

Yes, that is MY mug in the one picture, holding up that streetlamp...lol.
And that IS our "Fortress of Reason" in the background.
I agreed to do this, as a followup to an interview I had with Kevin back in 2004, when our neighborhood was "in flux"...aka changing it's "demeanor" into what we have to endure THESE days.
That article mentioned the problems, but also had me defending the FWPD...which I still do and will continue to do.
Coming from a police family in Philly, I KNOW it's not easy working the beat when the community isn't that "hep" on having you roll through...the whole "lack of respect" thing for the LEOs.

Society HAS changed in many ways, with THIS being one of them - the lack of RESEPCT all around for law-enforcement - those we PAY to protect us.
Hopefully, in some quarters on the SE side, that ideology is changing.
Like I said, I'm NOT blowing my own horn (got a big enough target on my back), just addressing the facts as to WHY this area, or any area for that matter, HAS to devolve into a place where curbside drive-up drug deals occur, LOUD noise is omnipresent from car stereos, houses, and shouting residents, fights break out on your lawn after midnight (as well as an occassional arrest), and an overall feeling that civility and morality have ALSO decided to move to a better place out of town.

We've had too many broken windows for way too long down here, and it's time that more than just TWO, or even a handful of people decided to turn the tide on crime and yes, get people back on the track to better behavior...a better attitude towards one another, and especially themselves.
I don't believe that is asking too much, nor seems overly-altruistic...it just takes motivation, determination, a little hard work, and the desire to WANT to settle for better...to BECOME better, for we are ALL capable of such things.
A black Baptist preacher friend of mine in Philly once put things in perspective THIS way by saying::
"If you're too busy doing the DOs in life, you ain't got time to do the DON'Ts"
Sound advice.
And sometimes, you just can't fix things by slapping a coat of paint on a condemned building and calling it done either.
You might have to GUT the interior and work your way to the exterior, and in some extreme cases, you might have to tear the whole place DOWN and start over again, but the results will indeed prove worthy of the patience, and the labor YOU put back into it.
That's how we ALL learn...and wind up better people than we were the day before.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.