Monday Musings - Labor Day Edition...
Welcome to a new month, and much of the same old stuff as LAST month.
The holiday weather for the Hoosierland will be less hot and less humid than the last several days with highs reaching into the upper 70s.
Expect a mostly cloudy sky outside with a slight chance of a few sprinkles of rain...if that.
And now, it's time for some of the pungent social commentary you've all come to know and love....(or not).
*** First out the door today - Fort Wayne has reached THIRTY HOMICIDES.
This ties LAST year's entire total, and I said early on THIS year that it would not surprise me if we DID hit 30. Sure must be playing hell with everyone's "dead pools".
This latest homicide occurred in the city's near NE side, at a house located at 5518 Myanna Lane, near St. Joe Center and Maplecrest Roads.
And of late, this area has started to see a slight uptick in criminal activity, although not in this particular area...until now.
Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130831/LOCAL07/130839908/0/SEARCH
And a followup article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130901/LOCAL07/309019942/0/SEARCH
Yes, if I were a neighbor of Debra Jones, age 59 who was found dead of a stabbing wound to the neck, I would be wanting some ANSWERS as to WHY this happened, and to someone who  lived alone, and apparently the other neighbors knew.

Police are keeping really tight-lipped over this, and have not released much informarion regarding the circumstances of the death.
We don't know if she KNEW her assailant, or if it was a robbery or home invasion.
The FWPD has stated that no weapons were found on scene, but people living in this nice sub-division want more than crumbs when it comes to being informed. And I can see why. If it WAS a random incident, that would make everyone nervous. It means that ANYONE could be a target.
Sure has a way of making one feel THAT much more secure in their OWN HOME...doesn't it?
Moving on...
*** This whole Syria gig is a concrete testament to the inefficacy of our blamer-in-chief and his foreign policy...as in he doesn't have one at all.
When you drag out Thurston Munster the Third out and have him act more presidential than Obummer (God, if he does become the prez, we are so screwed...again), you have to wonder what golf course our fearless leader is doing the back nine on, right?

And then BO goes and says he doesn't NEED permission to enact an attack against Assad, when in fact he DOES, according to our CONSTITUTION, the level of haughty IMPERIALISM rears it's ugly heard again with this administration, but he adds that he WILL ask for Congress to approve his actions...
What a fair-weather friend.

He disses Congress at every turn, because they don't up and lock-step (or is that GOOSE-step?) with HIM, and then does a "180" and will seek Congressional approval for any retaliatory measures against a dictator that used Sarin gas on his own people.
I don't think Congress will want to ride on THAT bus with him...if they're smart.
Look at it this way: If Congress DOES approve any operations, and it goes sideways, Obummer (once again, as always) has SOMEONE ELSE TO BLAME. If Congress does nothing, and it goes sideways, Obummer will (you guessed it) have CONGRESS to BLAME for NOT acting.
Damned if you DO, and damned if you DON'T....but it all comes to to BLAME, as in the president can always have someone ELSE, because of HIS OWN screw ups...pretty clever, yes?
And while all THIS is captivating out attention, this administration will be sliding a few MORE "executive orders" under some doors regarding GUN CONTROL, so when we wake up one morning soon, we'll find out our world has changed yet again under cover of night.
If THAT isn't tyrannical, I don't know what else is.
I would advise caution, both for our nation, but especially for all of US...to stay vigilant, keep reading up on ALL that goes on from this administration.
We can (and must) fundamentally UNCHANGE what's being done to our nation.
*** Yes, today IS Labor Day, and to many, it's just a day off.

The day is meant to represent the WORKING individual, so, to me, that means all those lazy-ass welfare leeches should NOT be taking it easy, but should be attending to all the WORKING STIFFS out there...(how Draconian of you, Bob).
It does have the novelty of never having been tried...yet.
For those needing a reminder, here's the WIKI on today:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day
Today is a tribute to the workers who have contributed to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country.
See, I told you it has nothing to do with being a "government-sponsored" person AT ALL.
Typically, it also is the unofficial END of Summer.
But does today REALLY hail the everyday WORKER?
Or does it give the LABOR UNIONS cause for celebration instead?

Personally, I'd LOVE to see the U.S. Dept of Labor go AWAY...we don;t really NEED it, and it's a colossal waste of national resources, not the least of which of MONEY. To me, all unions have pretty much outlived their usefulness, and the fact that barely 20% of our workforce is IN a union attests to that.
Workplaces are MUCH safer, hours are not long to the point of exhaustion, children are not unfairly pressed into the workforce at the early ages they once were, and people ARE paid a fair minimum wage.
The UNIONS beg to differ, however, and that's the big flap...the minimum wage. Unions think it should be as high as $15 an HOUR!
Yeah, that will SO help companies, products and our economy...NOT.
Again, people have become "entitled" to MORE money (many times for less work), and that type of ethic helps no one.
Inflation helped that along, and so did all the outsourcing we did with our manufacturing jobs since the 1970s.
I know...I lived through it and saw it happen.
When unions paid auto workers AS MUCH as lawyers were making per hour, you just knew that was wrong.
And whoever said that a MINIMUM wage was a wage you'd retain for 30 years at a job, anyway?
That's just fantasy.
It's a wage that gets "your foot in the door"...so you can EARN your way UP the ladder in ANY company. Your ABILITY to learn, adapt, and produce causes your wage to RISE...it's such a marvelously simple formula. I have first-hand experience with THAT as well.
And if the job isn't a good fit...you LEAVE, rather than demand more money for something you detest.
Jobs are like waiting at the corner for a bus...there's always another one coming along in a few minutes, IF you're willing to practice patience and "wait' for it...or go out and FIND it. Either way works, unlike most ALL our "neighbors"...who choose NOT to work.
So, I find it hard to celebrate the worker, when it seems to be ALL about the unions. Workers can (and should) be celebrated EVERY day, because they not only MADE this country, but help keep it running, in spite of whatever administration (in office) would have us do otherwise.
*** And if you're not doing anything today, and you just HAPPEN to be in "SO-CAL", you might want to stop by Bodega Bay, California for the 50th Anniversary of the Alfred Hitchcock classic,  THE BIRDS.

Yes, they're pulling out all the stops in that town, and even have a festival to commemorate the film, which aired LAST night on TCM.
Tours are being given for the existing movie locations like the Schoolhouse.
The SAT-NAV pics show it's still a small town, but I'd wager it will be quite crowded today, with no chance of bird attacks.

BTW, a toxic red algae bloom could have been the source of the birds acting as they did in the movie, since no REAL explanation was ever given by Hitchcock, and that's according to a 2011 study by scientists and ornithology experts.
*** Lastly today, Americans have always been a unique people...part of this "grand experiment" in this relatively new nation.

We have labored long and hard, through many generations in order to have what we have, and ensure we are able to keep it.
And I think many of us still have that ability, but we have to pass it on to the next generation as best we can.
We cannot sit back and be willing to let an over-reaching government dictate to ANY of us how WE should conduct our lives when it comes to our profession or vocation.
THEY were never elected to do that. And they cannot be the ones that determine our course.
That is OUR choice, and our choice alone.
We get back ONLY that which we choose to put into whatever system is in place.
No one gets "something for nothing", because it DOES (and always will) cost someone...something, at some point in time.
Each of us has that responsibility to seek out that which we have a passion for, and do the best we can.
And not just for a day, a week, a month, or even a year...but throughout our lives, as an example as to HOW this nation was founded, and how it should express itself to her people, and the world.
And that's one job I think we're all able to take upon us.

Have yourselves a good holiday, and a good week.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.