Monday Musings...

And we're off on another whirlwind adventure into the wonderful world of the mundane.
Yep, it's Monday, alright!

For us down here in the ghettohood, it's just another week of the same damn thing...just change the numbers on the calendar, that's all.

If there is one consolation, it's that the sun comes up the SAME way (and the same majesty) everywhere in the city...except when it's CLOUDY outside, which it is today.

If you like rain (and who doesn't?) you'll enjoy the first half of the week, as we're set to get wet around Hoosierland, at least until Wednesday.

Temps will climb into the SIXTIES, so I'm sure some of the local white trash will be going "shirtless" (always works for the BRAINLESS).

That's not something you want to see even on an EMPTY stomach, believe you me.

In the meantime, let's poke about and see what runs from the bushes...

*** With the advent of warmer weather around here, you can always be sure that it will bring out the chronically-stupid and acoustically-challenged.

Oh yeah, it's BOOMCAR season!

 (not to be confused with WABBIT season, Elmer).

And every year, we go through the same hackneyed BS down here...having to be forced to listen to the latest "urban contemporary" tunes...at house-shaking levels...and with a greater number of them to invade our privacy (we're suddenly up to 10+ per day).

I also am on the horn to the FWPD a lot more often with such vehicles (when parked and able to be ID'ed), or in some cases, those hovels that also feel the need to SHARE the "music"(?).

Now, remember back in the 70s when they used to have those boom-BOXES - Those shoulder-carried noise makers you could hear damn near a block away?

They faded away soon enough, didn't they? Don't even SEE them any more outside of a house.

And do you know WHY that happened?

Well, people got FED UP with other people annoying the hell out of everyone, and legislation was passed to make it all but impossible to play them at ear-bleeding levels outside...we called them NOISE ordinances and amended them to INCLUDE boom-boxes.

But, that was ALSO a time when the EPA had an ACTIVE program against NOISE.

Yes, the very same EPA that brought you cleaner water and air ALSO used to make sure that noise levels were a lot LOWER than we hear today.

It especially targeted commercial AIRCRAFT engine noise (for people living near airports)

Watch the original movie AIRPORT...one of the opening scenes when the family is getting ready for dinner, and a jetliner overflies their home, shaking everything in sight.
The EPA also went after STREET NOISE...like construction work, and even different compounds of tires and asphalt were explored to reduce traffic noise.
But that division of the EPA was shut down during the Reagan era. (the ONLY thing Ronnie did that I opposed)
Luckily, much of what had been started to abate noise levels stayed with us, but unfortunately the REST of the EPA got LARGER and more intrusive after Reagan left office..when the Dems took over.

Now, the EPA is more concerned about COWS FARTING than the boomcar noise that's slowly causing your house to crumble, and your nerves to become frazzled.
Sure, we have "laws" at the LOCAL levels that are SUPPOSED to quell such nosie from the streets, but how EFFECTIVE are they really?
Well, that all depends on how WELL those laws are ENFORCED.
Some cities have taken this as a personal crusade for it's citizens (good for them)...going so far as to CONFISCATE the offending vehicles and destroying the stereo equipment.

Chicago (of ALL places) saw a 33% DROP in noise violations when they enacted stricter laws...which runs opposite to the stricter GUN laws they also enacted...so you CAN have laws that do some good, depending on where that law is directed...like AT THE REAL PROBLEM.

John Stossel did a segment when he was with ABC (20/20) about such boomcars...it's on YouTube still, and it's a decent watch.
Now, traditionally, the boomcar drivers prefer venues that are not TOO crowded, because with traffic congestion comes a greater chance of being CAUGHT (like the song says - "nowhere to run...nowhere to hide"), so they take to streets in less "urban" areas, or streets that are not regularly patrolled, and believe me, they KNOW where those places are soon enough. Law enforcement has a job on their hands trying to nail such morons ("they" have to hear it), but they are getting much better at the tactics they use in SOME cities.
Some police departments have even set up "boomcar hotlines" for people.
One police department ( I think it was Joliet, IL) set up two plainclothes officers on law chairs (with radios) and gave descriptions of EVERY loud vehicle that went by blasting the stereo (they were just beyond the noise limit set by local iordinances), with another officer around the corner who pulled the vehicle over and had it towed away (if it was a second offense) or levied a hefty first-offense FINE.

And guess what?
Boomcars in THAT neighborhood miraculously DROPPED significantly, to where hardly ANY were heard after several weeks.
Now, here in Ft. Wayne, it's another story...
NOISE complaints are WAY down on the priority list (apparently cell-phone pocket-dials are MUCH higher and chase officers all over needlessly), and as a result, response time is appropriately slow enough to allow the offender to drive off...after 20 minutes of thumping (or more).
It depends on whether or not an officer is CLOSE enough, and then, it's only a roll-up and a warning...nothing of consequence.

Although the FWPD states they made over FIVE HUNDRED noise citations (in 2011), how many resulted in ARRESTS or CONFISCATIONS?

I would wager very few IF ANY AT ALL.

That's EXCLUSIVE from the more than 2000+ that come past OUR "Fortress" yearly, too.

Forget the FACT that boomcar noise is often a precursor to drugs and criminal activity (some announce themselves by booming), and that no SANE person goes around disturbing the peace to all hours, right?
And, if you want to talk about self-destructive behavior, chronic exposure to LOUD NOISE (of any kind) can lead to a myriad of physiological issues like high blood pressure, increased stress, and naturally HEARING LOSS (what?).

WHY do you think that hearing protection is REQUIRED when anyone is on the tarmac (flight line)? Even the baggage handlers at commercial airports are seen with noise-reduction headgear.
WHY do you think that hearing protection is REQUIRED whenever you go to a shooting range (indoor OR outdoor)?
WHY do you think that today's vehicles have a LOT more "sound-deadening" materials on board?
(to drown out road noise)
You simply cannot dispute the data...the statistics...AND the reasoning behind all this.

What you CAN dispute is HOW such things are handled in YOUR city...by YOUR law-enforcement agencies.

Just TRY and take a boomcar and thump your ass around PORTLAND...or BERNE, or DECATUR Indiana...ain't gonna get far, before YOU get pulled over, and ticketed for breaking the noise ordinance.

You have to remember that "ANY law is ONLY AS GOOD as the enforcement OF IT..."
(you may quote me)
Anything less does a disservice to those that bothered to WRITE the damn law in the first place, as well as the citizens who have to put up with the violators OF that law.
I think it doesn't become any simpler to comprehend than that...does it?
*** Ft. Wayne Mayor (King) Henry delivers petitions to Indiana senators...they want action of GUN violence.

(they also "really" want to establish a database for all LEGAL gun owners)
I want background checks, but I would ALSO want a VIOLENT OFFENDER REGISTRY to be put into place...that makes a background check easier for those who want want to purchase a gun when they shouldn't even be near them.
Now, this is aside from the FACT that most all violent offenders will NOT purchase a firearm LEGALLY.
That's a given...so why bother with background checks under THOSE auspices?

They can "buy" guns on the street from whoever will sell to them, and THOSE weapons are most likely STOLEN (in many cases from another state) and brought here to sell on the black market...who asks for a background check THERE, hmm?

And there are those that will STEAL from gun shops themselves...like what happened in New Haven, IN last year (20 weapons were stolen and I believe that all were eventually recovered)...no background check required THERE either, right?

You really have to READ between the lines here...find out what's being MEANT as opposed to what's being SAID.
THIS is the way your freedoms and liberties will be eroded...slowly, damn near imperceptibly. It won't happen in a wholesale manner all at once.
Guns will never be the problem when there is someone BEHIND the trigger...THAT is where the problem lies - with the "someone".
Work on that first and foremost, and the rest will take care of itself.
And we'll ALL be a lot safer for that.
Have yourselves a good week.

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