Humpday Happenings...

I trust you are all well-rested and awaiting the start of another day.
The Heartland weather will be mostly cloudy with a chance of rain throughout the day, but the REAL rain is supposed to come later this evening, with the potential for severe weather such as rain and winds.
Temps will reach the upper 80s today and the humidity won't be far behind.
In other words, the air will be "heavy" and you might even be able to wring some of it out.
So, let's make the best of things, kick on the A/C for a spell, and see what all's been going on.
*** First up, is our Motto of the Week aka WHO SAID THAT?
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."
Those of you that paid attention in classical literature studies might figure this one out.
The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back in the library stacks...

*** My father was a person of fewer words than most, unless he was relating some workplace tale, which was usually humorous, but he always had time to explain something to you, should you ever ask.

Sometimes, you didn't even HAVE to ask, especially if you did something wrong.

Then, he was only too happy to not mince words and set you straight.
But he also did have his quotable moments, and one of them will always stay with me.

He used to say:
"When you toss a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one that got hit."

Now, you can do a web search for who first said this, but the only other instance (aside from HERE) that I found was at the National Association of Scholars , and I never heard of them until recently.
There are several links to THIS blog where I used the saying, and one from Leo Morris's blog (News-Sentinel) where Nancy Nall (who left Fort Wayne) and myself debated the issue of crime and deterioration on the South side of town years ago.
And I even had a few staunch supporters...imagine that.
Maybe my father created the damn saying...I have no idea.
Dad might not have been a scholar, BUT, he (imho) WAS a very wise man, and that goes along with all the other older folks I managed to come in contact with as I was growing up.
In fact, to this day (and beyond) there are those older than I who I would easily consider wiser than myself in many ways.
Most of them are gone now, but the WISDOM lives on...as well it should.
*** Now, I say all that as a prologue (difficult word for the low-information people of the area to fathom) to a followup from what I spoke about yesterday - that America has grown into an IMMATURE CULTURE.
There are people out there that would prefer none of us to be able to speak the truth.

And if such people and their misdirected rhetoric were allowed to have their way, we'd STILL be a colony of the British Empire, such as THAT is these days. But, thankfully, we DID have those who spoke truth to reason, and fought for our independence.
What we have done WITH that independence was nothing short of remarkable ever since...until recently.
I have come to know several things about today's society:
1) I really deplore all the bullsh*t we're expected to believe, embrace and eschew, because I was weaned OFF of "pablum" when I was a toddler.
Screw political correctness!
2) We, as a society are losing the ability to honestly DEBATE or even DISCUSS an issue...any issue. We would rather castigate a person, vilify them for speaking the truth, rather than listening TO that truth, and hurl vitriol at that person for no eason except for that truth...and because people can get away with it.
3) We decide arguments of words with violence, rather than ignore the words that "would never hurt us" as in the days of childhood rhyme.
4) We are being told that we are no longer responsible for our own lives as the government takes over that role.
5) We are raising ignorance and apathy to NEW heights, while suppressing creative thinking and positive involvement.
6) We are creating generations that demand entertainment OVER enlightenment, entitlements over enrichment, and governmental control over personal responsibility.
All of this (and more) is something we really do NOT need, nor should ever desire.
Anyway, back to Dad's saying...
If you seek the truth, find it, and then share it with others, in the hope that they also can come to a better understanding OF that truth. Isn't that a GOOD thing? Apparently not with some people.

There are those out there who WANT to keep those blinders on...for whatever reason.

Perhaps it was the way they were brought up, or maybe they prefer living in denial.

With such things comes the possibility of having the blind leading the blind, knowing the way our government can manipulate the people.

And such a thing is not the sole domain of any government. It also has to do with corporations, media, and the like,.
They are ALL in bed with one another (talk about some messy sheets).
So, metaphorically-speaking. when you DO "toss that rock", and one of those "dogs" YELPS, you struck a nerve.
And the usual response (by those struck) is to bitch a fit at the person with the rocks.
History is replete with instances where people who decided that the TRUTH should prevail instead of lies and obfuscation, were put upon, mostly by people wallowing in chronic ignorance.
They didn't want their little boat rocked in any way, shape or form.
John the Baptist was such a person, as was Christ himself. You tell the truth, you suffer the consequences. No GOOD deed goes unpunished (erroneously).
That's a far cry from telling an outright LIE, and suffering the consequences.
THAT is understandable, and often painful as a child, when you get that spanking, right?
*** If there is one thing you will never find at this blog, it's a pack of lies, deceit, or any form of subterfuge!
(I know these high-falootin' words will confuse the hell out of the TROLLS...ROFL.
Good for 'em...dumbasses.)

Perhaps if the critics that obviously abound on the Internet spent more time seeking the truth, educating oneself and becoming a better individual, instead of heckling the "opposition", they might accidentally LEARN something...what a novel idea, hmm?
*** And now a couple news items to prove my point about society's evils....
-- Here's a case of another one of those "good boys" who found out how WELL justice CAN be served.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130612/LOCAL03/306129975

Omar Ruffin, 16, will be charged AS AN ADULT for the killing of one Jaqueze Dandridge during a failed robbery attempt in the 4000 block of Oliver St back on 1 June, around 2300 hrs.
(Omar sure doesn't sound like a white, red-haired Irish-Catholic kid to me)
Maybe someone can go and "blame whitey" for this kid's upbringing and for him being "poor", oppressed...and stupid?

Nah...he got stupid ALL...BY...HIMSELF.
Perhaps his OWN community helped in that regard.
-- And speaking of JUSTICE, there's THIS:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130611/LOCAL03/130619928

Daniel Taylor, white trash pervert that he is, will be spending the NEXT 19 years behind bars, for child molestation.
(they oughta cut his you-know-what off...make him a damn EUNUCH)
He's also a REPEAT offender...as many of them are.
Wonder if HIS family feels he "was a good person, never hurt anyone"???
Nah, decent people with their head NOT up their ass don't tend to "embrace" such bad behavior.
Lock him up and then throw away the damn key.
-- A Case of Excessive "force" or an attempt to control a scene by police?
Here's the story link:

http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/family-shares-more-video-questioning-police-excessive-force

Emotions can often run very high, and people fail to understand (again, lack of knowledge) what officers are trying to do given a crime scene and it's aftermath.

But there is also the whole "I gotta know NOW" mentality which many times supersedes REASON, and failure to listen to officers CAN get you warming the back seat of a patrol car real fast.
THEY know what's going on BETTER than you do, and will explain things if you give them the chance to do so.
To IMPEDE their line of work helps NO one...at all.
*** Lastly today, times are not what they used to be, and if you wish to be a "pot-stirrer" or even a "rock tosser", know that you WILL reap the whirlwind from the stone ignorant among us.

Many people are under the impression that "they can have it all THEIR way", which is fine when ordering a Whopper at the local BK, but when it comes to LIFE 101, you have to read the "fine print"...and that means learning the ropes, following the laws, and paying the hell attention.
People these days use social media to bully others, push lies instead of truth, and decry the fact that some of us prefer TRUTH over LIES.
Such people are cowards, because they hide behind a facade of anonymity, or false names.
I swear they all suffer from Oppositional Defiance Disorder...!

I always say that if some people don't like it whenever you speak the truth, you're doing a GREAT job of getting that truth out there.
Kevin Leininger knows that full well. People often say nasty things about what he writes about, but until you sit down, and get to KNOW the person, you're just blowing smoke up other people's asses.
Fellow Bloggers AWB and CWM have also come "under fire" (as have I) from the uninformed and ignorant among us.

I appreciate these like-minded "rock tossers", because of what they say, as well as HOW they say it.

THEY also speak the truth, and if anyone ever doubts that, they can put forth a little effort and look things up for themselves.

For some people, such effort is MUCH too taxing, while bitching at them is SO much easier.
Time to our immature society to GROW THE F$CK UP...the world isn't waiting for maturity to nurture itself into fruition.
And THAT...is the God's honest TRUTH.

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