Tales from the South Side...

With all that's been going on down here, it's time we looked deeper into things, and we'll do so in a wee bit.
But before we do that, we've a couple other things to take a peek at.
The weather today will be a LOT more like Spring, with temps rising into the FIFTIES!
That ought to chase those crocuses and hyacinths out of the ground and into bloom, and allay any concerns about when nice weather will be coming.
And we'll also have our fair share of sunshine to boot.
*** Now, let's find out the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."

This was spoken by none other than the renown ALBERT SCHWEITZER, (14 January 1875 - 4 September 1965) and here is his WIKI:
He was a theologian, organist, philosopher, physician, and medical missionary.
That's a pretty decent resume in ANYONE'S book!
He was very much into pipe organ rescue and restoration.
I cannot imagine anyone having such a "busy" life.
The training and schooling alone would seem to take several lifetimes to acquire.
In 1960, Albert was quoted as saying (regarding the times he doctored thousands in Africa prior to WW1):
"No society can go from the primeval directly into an industrial state without losing the leavening that time and an agricultural period allow."
And he drew criticism for saying that (however true it happened to be).
The keynote to Schweitzer's personal philosophy was the idea of REVERENCE FOR LIFE.

He thought the Western civilization was decaying because it had abandoned affirmation of life as it's ethical foundation.

Gee, if that doesn't sound a lot like what's occurring in America these days.

And to think Albert wrote about HIS observations way back in the 1920s.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 (a damn good year to be born, btw), most notably for his lecture: "The Problem of Peace".
The WIKI is one of the most interesting reads about someone who left his distinct mark in history.
Meanwhile, back in Oslo...
*** Yep, ANOTHER homicide on Fort Wayne's SE side.
Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130404/LOCAL07/304049948

...And another black teenager (17 year old Elijah Freeman) bites the dust...WHY?
Blame it on the whole THUG lifestyle...or a generation that raised children when they were barely out of childhood THEMSELVES...or our growing "entitlement" society...or a lack of parental accountability...or rampant apathy among the black community.
There's PLENTY of blame to go around.

All the while, we chalk up HOMICIDE NUMBER FIFTEEN for Allen County, with ELEVEN of them occurring WITHIN the confines of Fort Wayne.
(2 were police-action shootings, one was a death from a prior year, and another happened outside of the city in SW Allen County)
Citizens are getting up in arms over this...and it's about damn time, too.
They SHOULD have been getting angry over these shootings a decade or two ago.
I know I've been trying to express MY concerns to the FWPD (former) quadrant captain for the seven years prior to her retirement from the department.
And I still have ALL the emails to prove it, along with statistical data and trends happening JUST in my area.
Maybe I managed to aid in shutting down a few bad houses (the one across the street) had a drug dealer (Brian Ladner) who was put away a few years ago. A house that Mario Thomas lived in up the next block was also shut down...and Mario was later tagged and bagged when he was offed in a previous year homicide (good riddance).

But these were the exceptions that WERE dealt with, and not all the other houses that contain people YOU really wouldn't want to get to know...unless YOU yourself were into drugs, or gangs, or other criminal activity.
Now, SO FAR...all these shootings (and many more that go unreported by the media) haven't produced TWO things that I know are going to happen.
And I truly hope NEITHER one ever does, but you have to know these people how they shake.
1) Sooner or later...some INNOCENT people will be hit by stray rounds.
2) Eventually, other raced people will be struck down, even if THEY aren't part of the problem.
There is not ONE single day that the SPOT CRIME website doesn't send me an email showing what goes on within a 3-mile radius of our "Fortress", that does NOT include some sort of "shooting"...mostly SHOTS FIRED (signal 113 in this city).

It doesn't say BY whom or WHY it was done...it just HAPPENS.
People MISUSE firearms all the damn time down here...especially during the 4th of July and New Years Eve...and not one damn thing is even done to stop that. And THOSE instances have nothing to do directly with HOMICIDES or KILLING...it's just DUMBASS behavior by people who HAVE guns in their possession (notice I didn't say "OWN" guns - there IS a difference between HAVING a gun and OWNING one).

Anyone can HAVE a gun,...and usually by illicit means, but a true GUN-OWNER knows the responsibility involved and practices a higher level of safety when handling one.

Most ALL the thugs out here HAVE guns...and can GET guns easily enough, typically through the "black market".

And I would wager that most ALL those guns are:
1) Stolen
2) Straw-purchased
3) Brought in from another state

It's already been proven that many guns used in crimes come from states OTHER than where the crime occurs.
So, someone is lying their ass off elsewhere to bring a gun to OUR state...or city.
This latest homicide, although it also happened on the (near) SE side, was in a neighborhood "that's fairly quiet and well-kept - not the sort of area where violence is usually a problem", stated FWPD Chief York. You mean like closer to MY house, Rus?
He thinks "some of these thugs think they can intimidate people and do something like this, and people will be too intimidated to do something about it."

Well, many people CAN be intimidated, especially when THEY don't have a weapon to defend themselves, and all the thugs DO carry (illegal) guns.

And the standard primary M.O. for such criminals IS...intimidation.

They don't want YOU around in any manner, and will even try to get you to move away.

Some people cave into that...I don't.
You move - they win...it's that simple.
This was MY neighborhood LONG before these snot-nosed punks stopped crapping in their diapers.
I want them to fear ME instead.
*** In a related story about guns, crime, and the like, there's THIS:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130404/LOCAL/304049942/1002/LOCAL

What began as a forum on DOMESTIC VIOLENCE at the HQ for the Urban League (of Less than Extraordinary Gentlemen), after an hour evolved into a discussion about guns and (of all things)...CULTURE...imagine that.

"Jazz-Hands"?

Twenty people attended (helluva show of concern), and spoke about negligent parents (big surprise there), easy access to firearms (and it's not walking in a gun shop and LEGALLY BUYING them), ineffectual lawmakers (rather ineffectual ENFORCEMENT of laws we ALREADY have), and shoot 'em up video games.

I play them, BUT... I'm not in a gang, don't wish to be, don't use drugs (does aspirin count?), don't abuse alcohol, have no tattoos or piercings, and don't associate with such vermin...I'm one of those folks that clings to God, guns and Bible...because it's my RIGHT to do so.

In other words...I don't bother anyone (unless bothered first for no reason).
So, why do I find it easy enough to NOT get involved with all the crap these THUGS live for?
Must be my upbringing...respect for others, their property...treat others as YOU wish to be treated, don't impose YOUR lifestyle on others, live and teach by example, respect firearms, acknowledge God and let HIM direct your life...well, you get the idea.
What happened to the children of TODAY, that they are somehow MISSING all this stuff?
Much of it has to do with that "sub-culture" I've mentioned here often enough.
People refuse to embrace what it means to be an AMERICAN, and would rather perpetuate the mindset that is all but counter to such notions.
Damn shame...that causes a lot of people to die prematurely...doesn't it?
*** Lastly today, I want to propose a few things that I would address were I in a position TO affect change in this city.
1) - I would immediately enact an ordinance that would DISALLOW the dark-tinted windows in ALL vehicles. We' re not living on the surface of Venus, for God's sake, and such dark tint poses a threat to police officers should they need to pull over such vehicles for traffic stops.
Besides, you ever try to see AT NIGHT with such dark tint? (damn near impossible)
2) - I would BAN those large rims and tires, except for people who paid a FEE to own them purely for demonstration purposes (like events that showcase such things).

BIG rims - small penis!

They would NOT be allowed on city streets and definitely not permitted on highways. Tow them on trailers. They are not safe and vehicles are NOT designed to operate properly on them...period. It's a physics thing.
3) - I would open up a tip line for people wanting to shut down PARTY HOUSES...those after-hours rental cribs that harbor much of the liquid-couraged and blunt-smoking crowd.
4) - I would stiffen fines for LITTERING.

Sounds trivial, but consider how BAD an area looks because people are too damn stupid to NOT place empty cans,. bottles and bags in a proper container along the streets, or just take it with them until they get home to use their OWN trash can.
5) - I would find a way to make the NOISE ORDINANCE stick and ban all such stereo systems in vehicles...you can't hear an ambulance coming with such racket in the car. And it's harmful to the driver AND passengers, especially young children.
Vehicle confiscation with removal of the stereo system would become a priority.
6) - I would give Neighborhood Code Enforcement free reign to target chronic violators, and cite them. I would insist on ALLEY INSPECTIONS, because NCE only seems concerned with "curb-appeal" when in fact, most of the alleys are in deplorable condition.
If anything looks like a slim, THESE are it.
7) - I would have the FWPD patrol said alleys regularly, and would also have the department begin CITING people with multiple *911* butt-dials.
Nothing takes away from good policing like "false alarms", and if persistent violations can be paid by businesses that have false alarms, so can people.
Maybe that baby-mama won't give little Jamal the cellphone to play with then.
8) - I would have the FWPD, in concert with federal agencies look into every house that has OVER 100 "visitors" per month.

And THIS was for a "funeral".

No one has that many people stopping by for several minutes and then leaving without something being hinky there.
The drug house problem is deeper than many realize, with some houses being stash houses, others being the "money house", and still others being the "buy house".
Looking into these ad hoc "daycare" houses would be a good place to start.
And ALL houses would have to be sold by real estate agents, and NOT by whoever "owns" the crib this week, and that would mean they HAVE to be inspected whenever someone "new" moves into them. That way, you can address housing violations much better.
So, there you have it...my EIGHT SIMPLE RULES for improving OUR part of the ghettohood.
And that's just the short list...LOL.

Some would argue all these items target specific minorities...BULLSHIT!
It DOES target people expressing reprehensible behavior, illegal activity, and criminal intent, because ALL of the above items are directly CONTRIBUTORY to such aspects that affect everyone's "quality-of-life", right mayor (read king) Henry?
It also DOES have the novelty if not having been TRIED before, and I'm sure there are many out there who would applaud such measures to make THEIR neighborhood safer and their lives safer (as safe as they were LAST week, too...right Mr IPFW professor?).
Like I say...you NEED to deal strongly with all the SMALL sh*t out there, so it never has the chance to escalate into all that BIG sh*t we have to deal with NOW, like HOMICIDES...right?
And...it just makes damn good sense...for everyone concerned.

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