When All Else Fails...Guess...

Today's theme will follow along those lines, and you'll discover why in just a bit.
The Heartland weather this day will be a replay of yesterday, with temps a bit higher...maybe into the 40s (if we're good).
Nice and clear with a good sunrise and plenty of "Big Daddy Sol" in our skies.
Should be real easy to play "spot the perp" anywhere in and around the Summit City.
And now...for the rest of the story...
*** We're taking the Wifeymobile in for regular service this morning...nothing of consequence.

(crosses fingers)
The woman who answers their phones asked if Wifey wanted to WAIT for her car...she replied: "I prefer to wait AT HOME - I only live a block away."
That's my girl...!
At least we still have another "holdout" in the area...a reputable service center. About the only business that has NOT been chased out over the years.
And speaking of crime...
*** With the Norkos waving their "man-parts" and posturing over an attack on the USA, and most every Middle Eastern nation wanting our heads on pikes, and a possible global economic meltdown, what would YOU consider the greatest THREAT to America these days?

If you said "Why, it just HAS to be the Mexican drug cartels, Bob"...go to the head of the class!
Yes, it's true, and this is a LOT more invasive and insidious than even the Communist threats of decades past.
But the truth is obvious, as found in this FOX news story:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/01/mexican-drug-cartels-reportedly-dispatching-agents-deep-inside-us/
DISPATCHING AGENTS, hmm?
Now THAT sounds ominous, doesn't it?

Sinaloa busted by the DEA - with ALL the "goodies"

Well, considering our ever-so-porous border to the south, and the utter lack of this Obamunist administration to properly SECURE that border and root out all the ILLEGALS here and send them back to their motherland, it's little wonder that this would NOT be happening.

It's just a LITTLE pot...

The fact that this all began back in the 1990s, when they became this nations #1 drug supplier (sorry Lilly and Pfizer) and started smuggling drugs into the USA and even fronting grow operations here, makes perfect sense.

An AP review of court cases and DEA data indicates such groups have been deploying agents into at least NINE non-border states, often in middle-class suburbs in the Midwest, South, and Northeast.
This is being considered the most serious threat the USA has faced from organized crime.
Funny thing...years ago, MEXICO faced the same problem with the (then) growing cartels, and did nothing to "nip it in the bud", and now look what you have down in that country today.

In recent history, cartels have emerged in places like Chicago (IL), Columbus (OH), Louisville (KY), and even rural North Carolina.

Yeah, they look like the "neighbors".

Add to that the FACT that suspects have surfaced in INDIANA, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, and yes, even in my home state of PENNSYLVANIA.

((...Que?...))
That sounds like a really nasty "trend"...doesn't it?
Well, that's what happens when you "ignore the small sh*t"...you find yourself hip-deep in BIG sh*t.
(right, Ft. Wayne?)
*** More on the recent spate of shootings in the Summit City.
Information is coming out as to WHO was shot and WHO was killed.
Remember, you can't tell these players apart WITHOUT a "scorecard".
Here's one story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130402/LOCAL07/304029955

Montez Brooks

One of the victims who was killed was Montez Brooks, a star linebacker for Bishop Luers High School, and who also won all-state honors as a senior in 2011, taking the Knights to a THIRD straight championship.
Doesn't sound like anyone who would be involved in criminal activity to ME.
Had a decent life ahead of him...and it was taken away from him...and THAT is a damn shame.
I mentioned yesterday that Robert Kanyuh, 65, was the other homicide victim killed this past Saturday out on Lafayette Center Rd in SW Allen County.

Marck J. Vachon

Police have identified two of the surviving shooting victims as Marck J. Vachon, 22, and Marcus Q. Bibbs, 19, both of Ft. Wayne.
Vachon was the person shot outside of Early Bird's Ultralounge up on Wells St, and Bibbs was the person shot along Hanna St. (near Weisser Park), when a man jumped out from between two houses and began firing at Bibbs.
The FWPD PIO stated that none of the shootings appear to be random, and that at this point, nothing suggests any of them are linked.
Now, to ME, that sounds like talking out of BOTH sides of one's mouth.
NOT random...and NOT linked?
Lemme see here...NOT random means a "targeted" victim, and NOT linked means not related...probably to one another?

Sounds like a convoluted way to say something obvious.
It would be wrong of me to say that none of these recent shootings DO NOT have a "connection", as in people usually know who the victims are, or the vics know the shooters.
That is a PROVEN fact that always winds up in that 80% category.
Here's a WPTA link that chronicles the shootings much in the manner I did yesterday:
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/2-Dead-After-5-Shootings-Over-Weekend-200876431.html
Now, the ONE thing I am always saying is that we need MORE POLICE PRESENCE in the area...
Done so for YEARS, in fact.
Now WHAT do you think the local media is grabbing on to?
Well, here's THIS link to fill you all in:
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/Could-More-Police-Presence-be-the-Answer-200981091.html

People are FINALLY figuring out that MORE POLICE being seen might be a good idea...!

Imagine THAT...!

How's that gonna fly during a time of BUDGET CUTS?
Jonathan Ray, of the Ft. Wayne Urban League (of Less than Extraordinary Gentlemen) also warns that people do not want "a police state".
He would say that anger and poverty are major contributors to such violence.
I say anger - yes.
(the mooks are angry because they can't always get their own way...that makes sense)
But poverty?
Not so much.

How can you be IN poverty, and yet have a nice new vehicle (like an $45K+ESCALADE), fancy-ass rims and tires, a cell or smart-phone with apparently UNlimited minutes, nd be able to ALSO afford a rental crib, and the best cuts of meat at the market...or new clothes and athletic shoes (costing upwards of $100+ a pair), hair weaves, "ghetto-talons" (those long-ass fingernails of various hues that don't come cheap), sundry tattoos and piercings...and above ALL...the ability to secure (in some obviously illegal manner) a FIREARM...and the AMMO to load into it, anyway?

How EXACTLY can...that...happen?
Well, with all the "assistance" programs available, one can easily rake in close to between $40K-$80K per year in "benefits"...!

Yes, now THIS is a definite "WTF???" moment.
Nice work if you can get it...for free.
Jonathan Ray has the right idea, but still, like so many others, refuses or neglects to see the ROOTS of the problem...much like weeds in your garden.
You can hack off the top growth all you want, but until you find a way to kill the ROOT, that weed ain't going anywhere soon, and will most likely MULTIPLY.
Trust me, I know dandelions all TOO well...LOL.
The violence problems we face HERE in Ft. Wayne are not too different from the basics of gardening in that respect.

Inviting more police into a certain area might seem a GOOD thing on the surface (and from a crime aspect IS a damn fine start), but you have to contend with those who have that ingrained SUB-CULTURE mindset...their OWN rules and their OWN laws.
Most of which are contrary to the laws on the books, and very often counter to normal morality and civility.
That can be a huge stumbling block to progress in thwarting crime, because of how the PERCEPTION reveals itself.
The REALITY of it is such where you have people that despise the law, and those upholding it. How best to win THEM over becomes more of a diplomatic adjunct than a mere law-enforcement one. And we DO hire these officers to UPHOLD the laws and prevent crime FIRST.
You want a diplomat?
Hire a damn ambassador of good will.
It's not a simple solution whenever the problem is not properly addressed...that will always be a given.
Grasping at straws and impulsive guesswork by city leaders will do nothing to change the status quo.
*** As an added bonus to all of THIS, News-Sentinel reporter Kevin Leininger has a weekly cable-access show locally called THE FORT REPORT.

And this past weekend, the thrust of the 1/2 hour show was about the RECENT VIOLENCE in the city, featuring Jonathan Ray and FWPD chief Rusty York. Man, talk about being PROPHETIC!

This was taped BEFORE this last round of shootings and homicides...how coincidental.
Here's the link, and it's a really decent video:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130331/NEWS/130339992/1026/FORTREPORT
Kevin asked some great questions of his guests, and I'll leave it to you to determine whether or not you detected any "two-stepping" in the answers.
Moving on...
*** Lastly today, I got a package yesterday from my smoke-eating nephew over in VA...

He's now an LT in the fire department where he's been for more than few years. And he's seen his share of weird on his streets. 

He's a smart man, a good husband and father with a good heart...had a good upbringing, too.
I was wondering WTH could he be sending me...thought it might be a family portrait of him, his Wifey and the children.
Nope...wasn't that.
Perhaps it was a book I was wanting (there are SO many these days)...
Nope again.

Turns out it was a 4-DVD set by Magpul (you shooters out there KNOW that name) enmtitled:
 THE ART OF THE DYNAMIC HANDGUN.
(love the cover art!)

Yeah, that was a really huge "WOW!" moment for me.
He enclosed a nice letter thanking us for all we've done for the family over the years (hey, it's what we do).
What good is money if you can't help family out for no reason other than the fact that you CAN, eh?
I've been on both sides of that fence in my life...and you pass such things forward.
THAT is what made this nation...people giving a damn, and doing for others with no expectation of compensation.
We DO...because we CAN.
We seek no rewards in this life, and that's due to our belief and faith that such rewards will come in AFTER this life.
That's not something we can guess at either...it's something we can believe in, and hold on to not just today, but every day after from here on out.

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