Monday Musings - April Fool Edition...

Welcome to brand-spanking new month, and for some of us, it's well-received.
For others of us, it's just another month of the same "stuff"...with a different name attached to it.
(and that's being optimistic)
Weather today will be cooler, with temps only reaching into the mid-30s.
Still have the clouds around, but remember, the sun is ALWAYS shining at 40,000 feet. And it will be down here today, too.
With that said, let's see how we should rate this weekend...
Before we get into the "rest of the story"...I noticed the Norkos (N. Koreans) declaring some state of war between them and us and the south, so let ME be the first to say this:

I AM OFFICIALLY GOING ON RECORD AS DECLARING WAR AGAINST THE COUNTRY OF NORTH KOREA...!

There, I said it...and I feel better because of it.

Let just ONE of those little goose-stepping commie fish heads cross onto MY property or send a missile targeting OUR fortress, and I will lay them ALL to waste without batting an eyelash.

I might even smile while doing it.

Call it the "Pre-emptive Bob-ing" of the Norkos!

And I think more of us HERE should do likewise...WHO'S WITH ME?

There's NO fool like an APRIL one, and that little punk-ass dictator, Kim Jong Un fills THAT bill to a tee!

Moving on...
*** First off, yesterday was a pleasant Easter for us here at the "Fortress", while outside, it was more of the usual.
I made us a baked ham with pineapple, clove and brown sugar glaze, scalloped potatoes for Wifey (along with hominy), while I did the mashed gig.

I watched some of Hollywood's better attempts at portraying Jesus on TCM, and then I switched over to watch the last installment of THE BIBLE on History Channel.
VERY well done - gives a REAL sense of the agony of Christ on the cross of out salvation. And they even followed up after the resurrection with the apostles and how they fared. (most all of them didn't end well, but still got out the GOOD NEWS)

I had to also watch the season finale of THE WALKING DEAD, too, and that was as good a way to end as possible. More followers to the prison and Rick's group, we lost Andrea to Milton the biter, and the Governor went way off the deep end and shot many of his own people.

After midnight, BBC America ran a show on the companions of Doctor Who, and followed that with a study of the 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee) AND a classic 1st episode Spearhead From Space...great way to finish the day and revisit part of my youth.
I give this Easter 4 stars out of a possible 5...for INSIDE our "Fortress".
Aside from that, everything outside was, as a I stated...typical (for the Aborigines), and that brings us to the heart of the matter.
*** When the dust settled, the final score was:

Shooters - 5

Victims - 2

(we still have two in critical and one in fair condition at local hospitals).

That brings our dead pool total to FOURTEEN HOMICIDES (for all of Allen County) with THIRTEEN of them happening INSIDE of Fort Wayne.
I heard two of those shootinsg on the radio (until they went to Tac-5 channel), and THREE of them occurred on the...(...all together, gang...)...SOUTHEAST side of the city.
(Ypu all sound REAL good this month - give yourselves a round of applause)
And these five come on the heels of TWO nights that Wifey and I heard shots fired in OUR area.
Early Saturday morning, she heard several (rather distant or smaller caliber) shots, and the following (early) morning, I heard TEN rounds steadily and purposely fired followed (my guess would be 9mm), a few minutes later by one loud (shotgun?) boom.
Those must have been within a two block area, too.
Never saw any FWPD cruisers criss-cross the area, either.

...Anyway, back to the shootings that caught that media's eye.

Here's the story link as it appeared in this morning's (J-G) paper:

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130401/LOCAL07/304019943

--The FIRST shooting (and homicide) took place Saturday out on 13600 Lafayette Center Rd, where a home invasion took place, and left the resident with abdominal wounds.

The victim, Robert Kanyuh, age 65, died from complications.
--The SECOND happened near Weisser Park, along the 3300 block of S. Hanna St. near Drexel Ave., on the city's SE side.

This took place late Saturday evening.
--The THIRD shooting happened up on Wells St. at the Early Bird's Ultralounge around 0300 hrs Sunday morning.

The incident happened after a fight broke out in the parking lot.
How "upscale" is THAT?
He's still in critical condition.
--The FOURTH shooting occurred around 1907 hrs when a person was dropped off at hospital with a gunshot wound.
Someone told police this happened around the area of Oxford and Smith Sts.
He's the second person to die of his injuries.
--The FIFTH shooting took place in the vicinity of Hanna and Hayden Sts., around 1930 hrs.

In the last shooting, it was said that someone in a black Chrysler shot at him, hitting him in the calf, and is listed in fair condition.
In ALL the shootings, we have NO supsects, NO motives...NO hits, NO runs, and NO errors.
(end of the inning, I suppose?)

So there 'ya have it...looks like those "stop the violence" rallies are doing SOMETHING.

(because even NOTHING is SOMETHING, right Bob?)

And the "safe streets" task force is doing their job.
Yeah, my streets seems JUST AS SAFE as they did last...which wasn't all THAT safe to begin with...for the last TEN YEARS.
Hold that thought - We'll come back to THAT in a minute...

*** Now, forgive me for posing the questions that only CAPTAIN OBVIOUS (my alter-ego in another life) could ask, but wasn't THIS the most HOLY weekend in the Judeo-Christian calendar? And doesn't that USUALLY mean a LACK of violence?
Apparently NOT...at least not in an around the Summit City.
And here I thought this was a time of reverence,
 and spiritual understanding.
(silly me)
It's also interesting how our own violent crime rate per 100,000 has grown to 9.4.
Could be worse...could be DETROIT. (over 1200 per 100,000)
Still, that should make than a few of us out there wince just a bit...we're moving in the WRONG direction, and that could be because this city's been governed by those moving (also) in the WRONG direction for a bit too long.

You DO get what you "pay for"...don'cha?

NOW is the city going to pay attention to what I've been saying for more than the past several years?

(probably not...you have to remove your head FROM your a$$ before you can read anything, right?)

*** Now, about that Safe Street Task Force...
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130331/LOCAL07/303319934/0/SEARCH

Okay, so the headline reads that they have a "NEW" focus - GANGS!
Um, forgive me for being OBVIOUS again (I just dig the mask and cape), but what EXACTLY was their OLD focus, and whatever it was, why wasn't THAT working?
Well, better to target GANGS anyway, I suppose.
And to target THAT, you have to start enforcing the laws pertaining to all the small sh*t out there.

Like what Ben Franklin spoke about regarding poverty, the exact SAME applies to criminals and their behavior.
You have to start making these thugs (very) UNCOMFORTABLE in their behavior, otherwise, they're not going to move away from it.
If that seems to appear to "unfairly" concentrate on ETHNICS in certain parts of the city...consider this:
MOST of the crime is always committed by a small number of people in ANY given ethnic community.
Hispanics on Hispanics, white on white, and black on black...that's the PRIMARY gist
When you move (law-enforcement) assets into an area that is PREDOMINANTLY one ethnicity, the chances of nailing the criminals OF that ethnicity, that ARE causing most of the crime RISE significantly.

So, I don't want to hear ANY bitching from the black community (the predominant ethnicity in our part of the ghettohood) when THEIR people get pulled the hell over and THEIR people are the ones being watched, questioned and arrested.
That's called CRIMINAL profiling, and it ONLY occurs with REASONABLE SUSPICION.
You don't act hinky or break the law and commit crime...you got NO problem...simple, huh?
That SHOULD suffice for the locals down here, since they can become SO predictable so easily.
We'll see what changes...and what does not, and I can probably call THIS one correctly as well.
*** Lastly today, sadly, there are some people that simply DO NOT deserve the right OR privilege of living among civilized and law-abiding people.
Hell, there are some that don't deserve a HOUSE to live in, because they couldn't even handle a government-sponsored apartment in a slum.

Others don't deserve a license to drive, because they neither get insurance, fail to register the vehicle, and drive like they're deaf, dumb, blind AND stupid (helluva combination).
Some don't deserve to allow alcohol into their system, because it gives them both liquid courage AND Acute Stupidity Syndrome.
(ASS for short...I love acronyms...LOL)

We all certainly don't need put street pharms in our bodies, either...that's asking for trouble on several fronts.

Some people don't NEED all the technology available to us, because it becomes more of a DISTRACTION and hindrance than a help...and causes accidents.

There are SO many things that many people DO NOT to have in their possession, and it's NOT due to any BIAS.
It's due to the LACK of KNOWLEDGE...the lack of REASON...the lack of WISDOM...and the lack of moral and civil tutelage.
Many of us still may be lacking in certain areas there, but we are NOT lacking in ALL of them, and not to the degree those idiots enjoy.
Sure makes you long for the days of better education, both AT SCHOOL, but more importantly...AT HOME.
And home is always where the heart is...or should be, right?
Have yourselves a great week.

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