Humpday Happenings...

Here we are again...middle of the week, and the top of the morning.
Today's Heartland weather will be pretty damn nice, with temps again topping out around the low 70s, partly cloudy with a slight chance of an isolated shower...maybe.
Got a nice sunrise outside to boot. Yeah, not that bad at all.
Almost feel like I'm living someplace NICE again...LOL!
In the meantime, let's see what's going on...
*** First up, today's Motto of the Week aka WHO SAID THAT?
"The miracle, or the power, that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application, and perseverance under the prompting of a brave, determined spirit."
So, who said that? The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at the funhouse...
*** Three women rescued from ten year imprisonment.
Here's the story (from the local paper - The J-G):
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130508/NEWS03/305089976
Oh, I'll just BET the Cleveland Police are facing "questions", and deservedly so.
Like WHY, when they were sent to the house where the women were being held, did they "just knock" and then leave?

Reports from neighbors attesting to seeing a woman crawling naked in the back yard, black trash bags covering windows, and pounding (inside) on the house's doors would seem to warrant a further investigation...which apparently was never forthcoming.
MAJOR FAIL here...!
The city Safety Director says no record of anyone calling about "criminal" activity exists, but is still checking records.
Excuse me, but does it HAVE to be CRIMINAL activity that illicits a more thorough check of the house?
Can it not be SUSPICIOUS activity...like naked people crawling on all fours?
(well, there's nothing criminal about THAT..it's just damn unusual and VERY suspicious, right?)
This is similar to calls the FWPD are sent out on, such as noise violations. There's a drive-by, perhaps a word to someone and then that's it...and the noise starts up again. Now, to ME, that's not ONLY suspicious behavior, but criminal as well (when it can be heard over 30 feet away).
Hey, for all I know we could have a house on the street that has people being held against THEIR will...but no one might ever find out.
That's what goes on down here in the ghettohood.

In Cleveland, three Hispanic brothers named CASTRO (not to ever be confused with the Three Amigos) held these girls for a decade in that house, and not once was there ever any follow up to any call made to police, after the initial "knock on the door"...with no response.

The Cleveland Police have got a LOT of "splainin" to do here, and the community needs to stay on top of this, and find out WHY these three kidnappers and sexual predators flew so far under their radar for so long.
The REAL heroes in all of this are the neighbors who TRIED to alert police to activity at that house that appeared "not all that normal".
Maybe THIS will send a strong message to ALL police departments.
When you ASK for help from citizens, or when they come to YOU with information...don't blow them off, but instead LISTEN to them...get to know them.
(gee, that sure sounds a lot like ME)
THEY might just be the eyes and ears in neighborhoods where you need it the most, and are an asset you cannot do without.
Moving on...
*** Fort Wayne residents - BOHICA - get ready for another utility rate hike!

Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130508/LOCAL/305089967
More proof positive as to how a city's tax base erosion leads to the WORKING-CLASS paying MORE (for everyone else).
This is a fire protection infrastructure measure for fire hydrants and over sized water mains.
((yasureyoubetcha))

The charge will free up $3.5 million of property taxes for "other things".
So, we're all looking at roughly a NINETEEN PERCENT INCREASE.
That means your bill will rise from (typically) $17 and change up to over $23 and change by 2015.
(keep that wallet or purse close...they're coming for it.)
How much you want to bet that even THIS will not "be enough"?
Let's sit back and count the days before they reach into our pockets again, shall we?
*** The BLAZE had a great story about GUN STATISTICS....the ones that some folks DON'T want YOU to know about.
Here's the story link:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/07/revealing-new-statistics-seem-to-debunk-one-of-the-main-arguments-made-by-gun-control-advocates/

Yes, friends, when it comes to baseless emotional arguments, the gun-CONTROL advocates are at the top of the class...
(I prefer to think they HAVE no class)
When you hear someone spout off about "guns are killing MILLIONS of our kids"...just do the math.
At current homicide rates (nationally) it would take about 116 YEARS to kill a million kids.
We only had 8583 gun-related homicides across the nation in 2011 (according to the FBI).
And if THAT isn't enough...try THIS:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/06/the-firearms-statistics-that-gun-control-advocates-dont-want-to-see/
THIS story highlights the FACT that although California has the STRICTEST gun laws in the nation, they ALSO had the highest number of gun-related murders in 2011 with 1220 (that makes up 68% of ALL the murders in that state).

CA has a population of about 37 MILLION people and can claim such horrible stats, and yet the state of TEXAS, a state noted for it's love of guns and a lot less laws against them, has a population of about 25.6 MILLION and saw only 699 gun murders in 2011...about HALF of California's numbers...wonder WHY that is?

Guess those "bitter clingers" are onto something...like personal defense...or the ability to dissuade criminal behavior by more easily allowing it's citizens to be well-armed.

Makes a damn good argument for less gun control and more self control.
*** Had a home invasion last night around 2330 hrs in the 4700 block of Reed St down on the ...(...all together, gang...)...SOUTHEAST SIDE of Ft. Wayne.
Here's the story link:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/woman-tied-up-in-reed-st-home-invasion

A lone woman, a child sleeping in the bedroom, and along came two men, armed with a metal PIPE who forced their way into the house, tied up the woman with an extension cord and made off with some electronics.
It was the woman's screams for help that prompted a neighbor to call 911.
When police got on scene, they did recover a flat-screen TV and Xbox on the front lawn.

Police believe the robbers also might have wanted to take the woman's car, but the screams aborted that part of the robbery.
The suspects (still at-large) DID make off with the woman's cell phone and home phone.
Police were dusting the items left behind for prints. The woman stated she did not know the two men.
Yep...can't even sit at home without becoming a target these days, hmm?
It's like I say...down here, you can rest assured SOMEONE is watching your place...because they can.
They have all day and night to do so.
They don't work and spend all their time cruising about, looking for easy marks.
Bet it would have ended a LOT sooner and a lot more permanently, IF the woman had a gun...and USED it liberally on those two thugs.
*** Lastly today, Much of what happened in the stories I posted COULD have been avoided...easily, and BY the police.
Thing is, the police rarely, if ever get to KNOW the area they patrol IN DETAIL...let alone the PEOPLE living in that area.
In good neighborhoods, it's VERY easy to become friends with law-enforcement.

Hell, most ALL of the LEOs now LIVE in THOSE neighborhoods...LOL.
But the disconnect between THESE neighborhoods, and many of the ones serviced by the officers is a lot larger than many believe.
No longer do we have beat cops that know all the names of the kids, can tell you who owns what cars, and which houses which families live in.
The ONLY thing that's known are "problem" houses, and that tends to create a tunnel-vision for law-enforcement.
They often focus on THOSE places, to the exclusion of the others that might have connections TO the problem houses, or perhaps a house that has a concerned citizen who has information vital to the neighborhood, and perhaps wants the crime to go away.
I know that Phil Marx was blown off by police for a long time, and was told "not to make waves" or something to that effect.

But he persisted and finally got someone to listen the hell up...and that changed things around in his area.
Similar gig with me...only now, I don't have that SE captain to depend on, and if you visit the FWPD site, there are NO email addresses for contacting anyone in some level of authority to take your problems to.
Actually, the ENTIRE city website is like that...just phone numbers...NO emails.
Given the choice of using the phone or emails, I'd go with emails. I prefer to use the phone for EMERGENCIES or more IMMEDIATE things that occur.

We need a police department that's a lot more "user-friendly" when it comes to information gathering BY the department from the citizens.
The officers on the street can only do what they're told to do...
It's at the TOP where the changes in tactics need to be made...where citizen interaction should be encouraged on many levels of involvement.
And when you begin to take care of all the smaller things in a given patrol area...like getting to KNOW the lay of the land AND the people, it makes a huge impact on whether or not you'll wind up with BIG things happening...like homicides.
It all comes down to plain old common sense - no getting around it, so better to work WITH it, right?

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