Thoughts For Thursday...

It was nice to get some needed overnight rain last night. And it's also nice to see a bright sunrise trying to poke through the scattered clouds in Hoosierland.
Today's weather will find us with highs reaching into the low 80s.
Don't discount the good chance of more rain and perhaps a thunderstorm with the appropriate humidity.
Doesn't quite seem like the END of Summer yet...
Now, on to the wonderfulness of all the news I feel like relating (with pungent commentary, of course).
*** First up however, is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"Simple solutions seldom are. It takes a very unusual mind to undertake analysis of the obvious."
This is attributed to Alfred North Whitehead (who?) - (15 Feb 1861 - 30 Dec 1947) a noted British mathematician and philosopher.

And here is his WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead
The article states that he was the greatest speculative mind of the 20th century.
He wrote on algebra, logic, foundations of mathematics, religion, philosophy of science, metaphysics, and education.
(whew...busy boy)

His take on philosophy was that he believed in a specified "process".
Process philosophy argues that "there is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which are integral parts, so that all our choices and actions have consequences for the world around us".
Now WHERE have we heard THAT before, hmm?
His seminal work, published in the late 1920s entitled PROCESS AND REALITY is compared to Emmanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.
If you're interested in 20th century philosophy, this is one person you might to read up on.
And to think one of Whitehead's students was B.F. Skinner...
Moving on...
*** The FWPD is placing BIKE COPS downtown...on a more "permanent" basis. I say that because the department has had bike cops there for YEARS, mostly for specific events and such.

We even saw two ride through our neck of the woods years ago, and I suggested a similar thing be done down here to our quadrant captain.
Never heard back on that...wonder why?

You do have to admit it makes the police more accessible, and maybe having that down in OUR ghettohood is not the best thing, because too many of the locals don't take too well with the po-po.
(and if they weren't doing anything ILLEGAL, they'd have nothing to fear FROM the police...would they?)
-- Case in point, a traffic stop on our street back on the 13th that netted not one, but TWO male blacks for some (as yet) unknown reason.

One perp down...

Another "cuff n stuff"

I will say it didn't take long for someone to come by and claim the vehicle the males were driving in...my guess would be a stolen car, considering this part of town.
Whatever the case, two thugs off the street, because the police don't arrest the law-abiding and innocent.
*** This is what happens when you kick a snowball down the mountain, and then find out it's kinda hard to STOP it.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130919/BIZ13/309199989/1031/BIZ

The FED wants to continue the "stimulus" to help the economy recover...when we ALL know that the PRIVATE sector is mainly responsible for ANY economic growth in the first place...more money down the crapper (imho).
Nah, we're still gonna spend $85 BILLION per month in bond purchases...to what end?
(the end of the USA?)
This is SO damn ridiculous.
*** But Michigan might be on the right track when it comes to not wasting any more money.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20130918/NEWS04/309180043/Michigan-lawmakers-pass-bill-requiring-community-service-those-welfare?nclick_check=1

Imagine that...community service and drug testing for government assistance eligibility...what WILL they think of next?
And WHY didn't they think of this around THIRTY years ago?
Well, that's the way it SHOULD be handled...on the STATE levels and not at the federal level.
The Dems (and the ACLU, naturally) there are PO'ed at this, but it passed nonetheless.
I say about damn time!
Now, if the OTHER 49 states get with this, Ben Franklin might smile down from on high.
*** This story makes me laugh, and not because it originates from the Washington Post...
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130919/EDIT05/309199930/1021/EDIT
CHRONIC absenteeism among our students...WHO KNEW?
Wifey can tell you first-hand...kids that start class are soon missing less than a month into the school year...on a regular basis.
And apparently, these kids also think they'll get passed along, no matter HOW MUCH class-time and lessons they miss.
You don't learn by OSMOSIS, people.
You learn by having your ass in the classroom, in a chair, behind a desk, book open, and paying attention.
Funny, we used to keep such GOOD track of the truants in our schools by having TRUANT OFFICERS going to the houses of the "missing".
And the parents were held JUST as responsible for those in NON-attendance.
One would think that with ALL the tech available to schools, having those empty desks in classrooms due to truancy would become a thing of the past.
*** Lastly today, our female cat (Penelope) hasn't progressed that well in getting better from her vet visit a while back. Initially, she still had some spunk in her.
She's practically skin and bones, even though she DOES eat twice a day with treats in between, can't get up on chairs or the sofa (forget the stairs), and has trouble finding the litter-box. She walks slowly about the house, and you could knock her over with a nudge...

That's our 'Penny".

Nothing like she used to be
The end of the trail might well be in sight for her...after close to eighteen years.
To think of her not tearing through the house and being so lively is unsettling to say the least.
Sure, we still have her brother, who seems well enough, but you know  it won't be long for him either.
Soon, decisions will have to be made, and they'll be tough ones.

Always ready for a centerfold picture

You hate to lose a "family member", no matter how many feet they have, and these cats have been with Wifey and I since before we were married.
The routine of taking care of them becomes second-nature...you actually look forward to it, but eventually, all things must pass.
Times like this you wish you could be someone else...be somewhere else.
But the reality is what you're dealt, and you have to play it to the end.
And when the time comes, as it surely will, we will treat things with dignity and with a sense of relief, no matter how rough the situation might be.
There is ALWAYS that Rainbow Bridge, after all...

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