Humpday Happenings...

Welcome to the first middle of the week for the month of April, and hopefully, any April Fool's jokes were not found along your path yesterday.
The nice weather continues here in the Hoosierland...for a bit.
Increasing clouds will turn to rain by late afternoon into the evening hours.
Temps will reach back into the upper 50s today and those breezes will be subsiding.
So, enjoy it while you can as you top off your morning beverage.
There are some items that caught my eye and I just have this need to rant, so be warned...
*** First out of the garage, is our WHO SAID THAT? quote of the week.
"You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them."
Again, this figure into the whole culture gig and speaks not only to the last century's issues, but is just as important to those of today.
The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back at the tattoo parlor...
*** Next, the Wifeymobile is due for another visit to Yeoman's Service Center.

We have an " oil change" light on that needs taking care of, because the oil seems to still be in the sump. And that damn "chk engine" light goes on every 150 miles and stays on for a couple weeks before going back out.
I so detest electronic monitoring of on-board systems, but it SURE beats the problems we're seeing with ALL those other G.M. vehicles that are way NEWER that either of OUR vehicles. Don't need anything like THAT in our garage
*** Our Fearless Leader took a "victory lap" yesterday in the White House rose garden, because the ACA somehow (magically) managed to hit it's "target goal:" of seven million "subscribers" (read sheeple).
I'll give da prez one thing - he's one cocky and arrogant sum'bitch.

He just loves to pat himself on the back...when he should be kicking himself in the ass.
The whole healthcare BS party has been a failure, for the most part.
Back in 2009, when "he" first rolled this crapfest out, he mentioned those 30 million Americans without healthcare, and IF this plan was to get THEM insurance (alone) that would have been a good cause...but it WASN'T.

It has "fundamentally changed" (there's that phrase again) the face of healthcare in this nation, and NOT for the better.
How can ANYONE cite a success when, back in 2009, we had 30 MILLION without healthcare...and TODAY, in 2014, we have over FIFTY MILLION without it?
If a teacher had FIVE students (out of thirty) that failed last year, and she rolls out a plan to get THOSE five to pass the class THIS year, but instead had TEN who failed...that would hardly be construed AS A SUCCESS...would it?

(and she'd be looking for another job to boot)
It's like a car company that has say 100,000 faulty vehicles, and they tell you they;re going to "fix the problems"...and a couple years later, not only did they NOT fix things, but they now have 300,000 faulty vehicles out there...hardly a success in the terms WE are used to, right?
(but, it's not bad for a company that was BAILED OUT by the taxpayers and paid their bosses sinful dividends)
You can clearly see my point when it comes to this healthcare debacle...and it will only get worse.
But it IS a damn good way to WRECK a nation's economy (just ask George Soros).

The REAL numbers for the"goal" need to be carefully vetted and examined, because there is obviously more subterfuge at work here than truth.
Moving on...
*** I'm one of those people that believes in the death penalty, and I know that I should think otherwise, but I don't lockstep because everyone else does.

I feel that for any society to progress, it HAS to be tough on the worst criminals that surface.
And even though my personal belief has roots in the OLD Testament (dispensation of LAW), we are , or should be following the dictates of Christ in the NEW Testament (dispensation of GRACE).
I also feel that when criminals know they won't be executed for their crimes, that emboldens them into the commission of even more heinous atrocities against our fellow man,woman, or children.
And that belief (now) seems to make me a racist (probably you too), according to this article in today's J-G.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140402/EDIT05/304029992/1021/EDIT
I never lived in the south...only visited, but I can say I obeyed all the laws THERE as I would anyplace else.
I believe in JUSTICE...for the VICTIM first, and that's why I have issues with our judicial system...it's FLAWED...period.
But, the writer of this article has managed to bring race into the mix...as any liberal does, because they cannot make a valid case for the CONTENT of a societal problem...like a CULTURAL one.

He thinks that the death penalty is a tool of RACIAL CONTROL - a way for whites to "defend" themselves from blacks.
If it IS...it's not working as designed, is it?
And I prefer a .45 ACP hollow point as a VERY good defense against such criminals.
Notice I say CRIMINALS and NOT blacks...you see, the percentage of blacks that commit crimes is small compared to the overall numbers...as it is with ANY ethnicity.

The article has some good history attached to it, and cites examples from the south of how crimes were dealt with, mainly against blacks (when the south was mainly run by...wait for it...DEMOCRATS), but saying that TRUE justice is racial in both intent and execution (heh, ironic) is erroneous.
And the proof can be found roaming inner city streets.
Traditionally, the death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst...as it should be, color and race be damned.
Thing is, it's being used less and less, and while what passes for rehabilitation and penitence is a mere shadow of it's former self, this IS sending a message to the hardened criminals...it's gonna take a LOT of nasty crap to get you executed.
I'd wager the author of this article might feel differently if HIS family were subjected to the types of crimes that all-too-often destroy the lives of others.
And "death by old age" for the perpetrator doesn't quite seem enough in those instances, does it?
*** For a story that won't make the front page, we have THIS:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140402/LOCAL/304029935/1002/LOCAL

A Papa John's Pizza delivery girl was robbed at a gas station (on the SOUTH side - where else?) as she was filling up her vehicle Monday (no time cited).

This took place at Fairfield and W. Paulding Rd. (probably the Shell station).
That area's getting run-down these days also.
The robber (who had what appeared to be a gun in his pocket and pointed it at her), was described as dark-skinned, 5'9", wearing a maroon hoodie, black shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.
Police checked the security camera at the station, but none were pointed in the direction of the robbery.
It was not clear what was taken, although the robber demanded money (guess the pizzas stayed behind)..
The perp ran north on Buell Drive. and is still at large.
*** Lastly today, it doesn't take much to see HOW our culture is "evolving", if we can call it that.
While I don't believe the media is to blame AS MUCH as other aspects of our society, it IS a contributing factor.

What is at the heart of societal evolution (or devolution) has to be the cultural facets - those things that properly define a portion of society, and yes, it comes down to ethnicity.
Why are white robbers seemingly caught quicker?
We are not afraid to tell police as much as we can.
Why are black robbers harder to catch?
No one wants to dime on them (they're all good boys and girls), and while that sense of the familial has noble intention, the flawed manner of that also plays against itself and the safety of the community..
Any culture has to have set rules...as well as those other defining parameters such as music, food, dress, and so on.
Those rules have usually been universal in nature...everyone followed them in any culture.
Today...not so much.
It's like they make it up as they go along, and change (adapt) the rules for the situation or times.
One need only go back to the Code of Hammurabi or the Ten Commandments to find such "rules", and discover they are JUST as important to our culture today, as they were when first written.

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