Humpday Happenings...

And, it's a wonderfully "close" day outside, considering the  temps only dropped into the mid-70s, with a tropical dew-point in the low-70s.
Yeah, expect another dog day of summer.
Today's high will be back around 90 degrees, with scattered sun and clouds. And there will always be a chance of some "pop-up" rain showers with the heat...around a 30% chance.
So stay inside if you can, take it easy, and top off that morning beverage as we venture forth into this fine day.
*** Before we begin, let's check out the Motto of the Week, aka WHO SAID THAT?
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Now, this should be a REAL easy one for all you faithful followers, and the answer will be at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at the nation's capital...
*** First off the line is our tribute to this month, also know as:
Bobby G.'s This Day in AUGUST History!
August 28 -
1809 - Henry Hudson discovers Delaware Bay (actually, it's kinda hard to miss it)
1830 - The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's new "Tom Thumb" steam locomotive races a horse-drawn car, presaging steam's role in the U.S.
1845 - The FIRST issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN is published.

1898 - Caleb Bradham invents the carbonated beverage that will later be called PEPSI-COLA.

1937 - Toyota Motors becomes an independent company.
1955 - Black teenager Emmett Till is brutally murdered in MS, galvanizing the nascent Civil Rights movement.
1963 - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech at a march on Washington D.C. for jobs and freedom.

1963 - Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie are murdered in their Manhattan apartment, prompting the events that will lead to the passing of the MIRANDA RIGHTS.
1964 - The Philadelphia race riots begin.
1968 - Riots in Chicago, during the Democratic National Convention.
1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union - Gorbachev resigns as the General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party.
2011 - Hurricane Irene strikes the U.S., east coast, killing 47 and causing an estimated $15.6 BIL in damage.
Notable birthdays:
1917 - Jack Kirby - American writer and illustrator (d-1994)

1921 - My Father, Bobby G. Sr. (d-1978)
1925 - Donald O' Connor - American actor, singer and dancer (d-2003)
1943 - David Soul - American actor and singer.
1960 - Emma Samms - English actress
1965 - Shania Twain - Canadian singer-songwriter (yowzah)

1971 - Janet Evans - American Olympian swimmer (ditto on the yowzah)

And now you know even more trivia, so break out the game.
Moving on...
*** Today marks the 50th anniversary of the I HAVE A DREAM speech  that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave to those on the steps of the Lincoln memorial in Washington D.C.

And, sad to say...not only has his dream NOT been realized to the extent that it SHOULD have been for the amount of time that has passed, but many have taken that "dream" and turned it into a divisive nightmare for damn near everyone. And our current "whiner-in-chief" dares to make a speech at the same location, when he is taking our nation in a completely different direction that Dr. King would have envisioned.
The civil Rights MOVEMENT has been supplanted by the Civil Rights INDUSTRY, and whenever you sacrifice SUBSTANCE for the all-mighty DOLLAR, you're just asking for trouble, which is what much of the black community has these days.

Kevin Leininger wrote a REALLY good article in the News-Sentinel and here's the link:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130827/NEWS/130829697/1041/LEININGER
Yes, the black and white issues have become GRAY MUSH...period.
Whereas Dr. King believed his dream to be for ALL people. the "race-merchants" have distorted it to mean entitlements for blacks.
I have to say that in the years immediately following the speech in 1963, there WERE riots in many places, but those who believed in what Dr. King had to say were not participants in those riots, because that was NOT the way he would handle such things...
After 1965, things quieted down a great deal and you could actually see and feel REAL progress being made in race relations.
To me, it was a no-brainer...my parents brought me up to respect ALL people, and that it was okay to befriend people of ANY ethnicity.
In high school, I had many friends of color, and was castigated by my OWN race for doing so.
I was called a "n----r-lover", obviously by people who were still dragging their knuckles, but that didn't bother me.
Our school put on our FIRST musical, Guys and Dolls, with a MIXED race cast...and it was spectacular.
It was a time when it was fine to have dinner at a black friend's house and they at ours.
But there was also an important component that is missing THESE days...the sense of FAMILY.
My friends had TWO parents, and at least ONE of them worked a real job - many of them OWNED a business.
My friends had rules in their homes they had to abide by...just as we did, and it didn't include doing drugs, robbing and assaulting people, or stealing from anyone for any reason.
How times have changed since those days.
Today, we seem to operate the racial aspect of our society by how MANY double-standards we can create in order to make people "equal".
All that serves to do is make SOME people MORE "equal" than others...
Dr. King's dream has become a nightmare, not JUST for the black communities across America, but for ALL people in this nation, because there is always that "trickle-down" effect.
Since the decades of that speech in Washington, our society has lost much of what it took to sustain itself.
Morality, integrity, and civility have all taken a backseat to the sensational, the abstract, and the obtuse.
And we are all certainly NOT better for that...are we?
This latest rally in D.C. this past weekend was to :"honor" Dr. King, and yet, much of it was funded by the TEACHER'S UNIONS and the NEA...we saw placards with Dr. King AND Trayvon Martin on them. There was NO honor assigned to the memory or legacy of Dr, King. It was just self-serving , progressive rhetoric, designed to incite, rather than inspire...to degrade rather than uplift, and promote an agenda that in NO way resembles anything Dr. King would embrace or seek to follow.
I'm sure Dr. King would believe that in America we ALL have an equal opportunity to achieve whatever we set our minds to do, but he would be appalled to see that some would rather promote EQUAL RESULTS, regardless of the lack of effort put forth.
Can his dream be sought after?
Most definitely.
Will we all do what we have to in order to make Dr. King's dream a reality, rather than hold an "event"?
That depends on whether we can extricate ourselves from the societal quagmire we find ourselves, and pursue that dream where we CAN indeed... "judge ALL people NOT by the color of their skin...but by the CONTENT of their CHARACTER."
Time to get with it, so we can look back in another 50 years with a happier demeanor.
*** Next up, the continuing SAGA of BEOROOF...!

--When we last left our intrepid hero, there were two traps set to catch the raccoons.
Well, this morning we have good news - WE CAUGHT ONE...at the base of the tree next to the house.

Hey, what the...

(doesn't seem none too pleased to be there either).
The trap on the roof is missing the bait, and has not been tripped.
But yesterday, the roofer came to patch the hole in case it rained (it did not), and we got a call from the contractor stating that TOMORROW (Thursday) the dumpster will arrive, followed by the workers who will begin the tear-off of the old roof...hallelujah!

Wake me when the next meal arrives

(Hey, the raccoon fell the hell asleep)
We caught a break there (finally) and the new roof should be completed by Saturday...or at worst, Tuesday, but it will be able to withstand any bad weather we might get.
I'm currently awaiting Rick from SLY-FOX to come by and collect Mr. Raccoon, and he can set the roof trap back on the ground, where the other one was, to make sure the roofers don't have to disturb it.
Stay tuned for next installment of The Saga of Beoroof (coming to a laptop near YOU)
*** Next, we find that some crimes never quite go away...

DEA: "We're Baaaackk"

A drug raid was conducted again at 2519 E. Tillman Rd. where we first heard about shots fired and another drug raid there late last year (see my archive posts for 7 December 2012 and 21 December 2012).
Seems someone's been into the synth-pot business, and business isn't booming anymore.

Yep, this was LAST year.

Here's the story link:
http://www.wane.com/news/crime/fort-wayne-man-in-custody-after-drug-related-raid
Guess the confiscating of those nice cars and motorcycle LAST year didn't send a message to this clown.
And it seems that the ISP, DEA and  the FWPD all got a slice of this pie.
Perhaps THIS time, the place will be closed the hell down?
*** Lastly today...it would have been my father's 92nd birthday, had he lived that long.
Unfortunately, we cannot pick and choose our time - that is for our Creator to decide.
Still, having lost Dad when I was 26 presented some challenges to my life.
Luckily, I paid some attention to him in the time he was around, and learned a lot from him.
I consider him a great man, and I say that because it's all dependent upon HOW we (each of us) measures greatness.
I tend to measure such things in a relative manner, and in his own life, my father WAS great.
He was there for me, taught me right from wrong, rewarded me when I was good, and punished me when I was bad.
He was the hardest of workers, always took extreme pride in his work, and did strive to always do the right thing, no matter what it might cost.

He was probably the best friend I could have too, though he'd never admit to that.
He never TRIED to be my friend...just my FATHER.
And that was good enough for me.
It would have been nice to have him around a bit longer, but I suppose God had other things in mind.
And it's to this day that I have pause to look back and note all the things he did for me, and the sacrifices he made in order to make sure I would not embarrass him or our family as I grew up so that he could be as proud of me as I was proud of him..
I think he did OK in that regard...thanks, Dad. Happy Birthday.

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