24 July 2014

Nearer Is The Weekend...
Yes, it won't be long now. Soon we'll all be faced with another couple of days to enjoy that which is sought after the other five days of the week.
And today's Hoosierland weather looks to be very accommodating.
No rain is forecast, and a lot more sun than we had yesterday.
(didn't even show up until the afternoon)
Temps will top out around the upper SEVENTIES...now THAT'S more like it (for me, anyway. I hate "sweating without a cause"...hey, that sounds like it could be a movie title...lol.
In the meanwhile, let's get that cup of whatever we decided to have filled up and get busy with the rest of the story...
*** First out of the garden today is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"Abuse of words has been the great instrument of sophistry and chicanery, of party, faction, and division of society."
This was spoken by our good friend from history and one of our Founding Fathers, none other than JOHN ADAMS (30 October 1734 - 4 july 1826).
And here is his WIKI if you haven't read it yet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams
I have to admit that Adams was one of those men who was a keen observer of human nature, and, in many ways, foresaw many of the issues and problems we suffer from today.
In fact, the WIKI states that one of his greatest roles regarding political thought was as a judge of CHARACTER.
Imagine that.
Since there is so much written about this great man, I will leave it to YOU to "do your homework" and bone up on someone who had his hand (up past his elbow) in the creation of our country.
Not bad for someone from a modest background who rose to become our SECOND President.
(and didn't spend time playing golf, taking vacations, or gallivanting all over creation fundraising for his political party...like others after him)
Moving on...
*** In today's J-G, Bob Aldridge has another great article regarding gun CONTROL.
Here's the column in it's entirety:
Anti-gun Agenda Won't Cut Crime
~Bob Aldridge
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Those famous words are from Rahm Emmanuel, mayor of the murder capital of the United States, Chicago, and the city with the most restrictive and draconian gun-control laws in our country. Of course, gun laws only affect law-abiding people, because criminals, by definition, violate laws.
Twice, recently, the Journal Gazette exploited crises to promote its ongoing campaign against law-abiding gun owners, invoking the usual guise of public safety from armed criminals as the reason.
On July 8, in an editorial titled “Safety patrol/We all have role in encounters with the police,” the Journal Gazette exploited the murder of Indianapolis police officer Perry Renn by stating, “The tragic death of Officer Renn is yet another indication of the need for Indiana’s governor and legislators to shrug off the NRA’s spell and look seriously at adding some sensible gun restrictions.” Once again, the NRA is vilified as the cause of police officers being killed due to the lack of “sensible” gun-control laws.
No one really knows, at any given point in time, how many federal laws, state laws and local ordinances exist pertaining to firearm restrictions; a reasonable estimate is 20,000. It is ludicrous to promote the fantasy that, although 20,000 gun laws do not prevent criminals from committing crimes with guns, one, or a very few, additional laws restricting guns will get the job done.
On July 12, The Journal Gazette again parroted the anti-gun mantra that reduced magazine capacity is the way to keep the public safer from psychotic killers’ rampages. 
The Journal Gazette invoked the Sandy Hook school shooting to excoriate New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for refusing to reduce allowable magazine capacity to 10 from the current limit of 15 in New Jersey.
The federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 prohibited, among other things, manufacture of magazines with capacities greater than 10 rounds. The AWB expired in 2004 with no documented instances that banning large-capacity magazines stopped any shootings or reduced violent gun crime. An exhaustive study by PoliceOne surveyed more than 15,000 current and retired police professionals across all ranks and department sizes, found, among many other findings, a resounding 95.7 percent answered “No” to: “Do you think a federal ban on manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds would reduce violent crime?”
To the question, “What effect do you think a federal ban on manufacture and sale of some semi-automatic firearms, termed by some as ‘assault weapons,’ would have on reducing violent crime?” 91.5 percent answered “None,” or “Negative.”
Regarding more stringent background checks advocated by the Journal Gazette, 79.7 percent of the officers surveyed answered “No” to the question, “Do you think that a federal law prohibiting private, non-dealer transfers of firearms between individuals would reduce violent crime?”
The alleged “sensible” solutions to deterring violent criminals using guns fly in the face of reality and facts, but such will never deter The Journal Gazette and other mouthpieces of anti-gun groups of not letting a serious crisis go to waste.
Facts and reality be damned; there is a political agenda to be promoted.
Bob Aldridge is a Fort Wayne resident and NRA-certified firearms instructor. He wrote this for The Journal Gazette.
I dunno...kinda all makes SENSE to me. But I'm not a liberal or statist, either.
*************
*** Next up, WANE had a story about some "projects" the city is considering.
Here's the story link w/ video:
http://wane.com/2014/07/23/riverfront-development-to-focus-on-three-areas/
"Costaplenty-THREE"?
So, here we have THREE (possible) scenarios, all being designed to make the riverfront area (near downtown...where else) a "showplace".
Seriously?
We have one ENTIRE quadrant on the verge of anarchy and the city wants to dress up an already nice area?
And with 3 different projects?
Who the hell will PAY for all of this anyway?
Is the mayor (King Henry) gonna stroll through Headwaters Park and pluck a crapload of "Franklins" off of some white maples?
(they don't bear money...I already checked)
The three areas are Superior St., Lawton Park, and Bloomingdale and Guildin Parks.
(all within a stone's toss from where WE live...NOT!)
It's like the city is doing all this other stuff near downtown not in spite of the south side, but rather BECAUSE of the south side.
Ignorance in matters like this won't make ANY of the problems we have to deal with go the hell away any time soon.
City Hall "Badge".
But, that's always part of their agenda...get the minds of the citizens DISTRACTED enough from the real problem...DIVERT their attention and get them "interested" in something "new and shiny"...dangle those car keys in front of the societal "babies".
Cripes, we have so many issues down here that are never addressed, that it's become pathetic to try and count them ALL.
-- For example...we've got non-enforcement of laws all over the place...the simple sh*t, too. And those small things tend to grow into bigger things when not dealt with. Nobody actively enforces ordinances, and that only leads these low-information (and government-sponsored) "people" (to use the word very loosely) to believe that they can DO whatever the hell they want to...which they do (with abandon).
-- We lack amenities taken for granted in ALL other parts of Fort Wayne...like SHOPPING.
Sorry, but ONE Walmart, along with ONE Menards and Do-It-Best, and a myriad of convenience stores every other block, a plethora of fast food joints every block after that mixed among the mobile phone stores, liquor stores and dollar stores does NOT a RETAIL HUB make, people.
And these are the GOOD things...
There is not ONE SINGLE BOOK STORE around.
And speaking to eateries...when was the last time you felt SAFE eating in ANY restaurant down here?
Well, we don't really HAVE those types of places in any number...too few to mention, in fact. But we DO have every fast food joint imaginable around, and they're always good for an impromptu fight by the minority contingent.
-- We lack people who KNOW how to live and act in a CIVILIZED MANNER. That's why all these houses (and a few apartments) burn down...lack of knowledge, lack of caring, and an exceedingly huge lack of common sense.
Sure, let the toddler play with that lighter...he's not bothering anyone.
Now a "lost art" on the SOUTH side
-- This area is replete with those living in feigned poverty as well as DENIAL..but driving a new DENALI...how's that for irony (and alliteration)?
-- There is little if any accountability expected from those living down here (excluding us, naturally), and certainly NO responsibility expected.
That makes sense...after all, these people are too busy doing one of two distinct things:
1 - Nothing.
2 - Committing crime
The ONLY game to play down here.
When you allow people to act like assholes, with no consequences...guess what?
They will most assuredly OBLIGE!
(welcome to the south side of Fort Wayne)
I say screw these river projects (for the time being)...concentrate in improving the part of this city that's going to hell faster than anyone downtown can imagine. Take off the damn blinders, you morons in City Hall, and see what you're permitting to happen.
*** Last back to the manure pile today...I often wonder how many suspicious vehicles drive or park along our mayor's street?
STILL good to be "king".
I wonder how often he sees a drug deal on his block, or a police officer chasing down a perp on his lawn after 2AM?
I wonder how much trash our mayor has to remove from his lawn every week, or how many people around his neighborhood refuse to walk on the sidewalks, opting to rather walk down the middle of HIS street?
I wonder how many nights he can't get to sleep because of all the fireworks going off long AFTER the celebratory "cut-off" date?
And I wonder how many houses in his neighborhood are burglarized, broken into, or otherwise vandalized, when not burned to the ground because of arson or scrappers?
And yes, I also wonder why, when these things don't occur in HIS neighborhood, are we, in other neighborhoods forced to share HIS "vision" of the city's "quality-of-life", when we have not seen any evidence of such in over a decade?
Yeah...blinders always worked well for that horse pulling the milk cart, or for a mounted officer. It allowed that horse to FOCUS on what was directly ahead of it...created a tunnel-vision for that animal.
This city has some SERIOUS tunnel vision, and not JUST that huge sewer tunnel being planned (and soon to be dug).
And that's an aside from when they've got their heads every place else than where they need it to be.
Nothing to see here, that's for sure.
Those in that "ivory tower" we call City Hall need to get their collective heads out of their asses...or sand...or wherever it's been and get it screwed on straight and start taking care of the city's REAL problems...before it gets further out of hand than it already is.
Fort Wayne is ONLY as good as it's WORST area, and those in power might want to think on that one...long and hard.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America

4 comments:

CWMartin said...

Okay, Bob, let me 'splain how things work...

First off, this is all part of the city's urban renewal plan. Abandon a section of the city, so that the undesirable element will congregate there. Build up areas where they aren't congregating, so nice people will notice and attend to those areas and not look down at the "forest floor". Third, keep one step ahead on annexation, so you can herd nice people to the next good area before the unwashed infiltrate the "old" good areas. Rinse, wring, repeat. See "Detroit and suburbs" for examples on how it works.

You've got to accept this fact. The city is DONE with the SE side. They are not going to pump one extra dollar into it, and don't be surprised when you start losing the services you have.

I just read an article on how the north of Italy wants to secede so they don't have to support the poverty-stricken southern half. Never mind that they've had 150 years to "teach them to fish" rather than giving them one a day. (Stay tuned for next week's MWN for more.) I can't wait to see how "Rich Fort Wayne" figures out how to secede from "Poor Fort Wayne."

Bob G. said...

Chris:
You splained that very well...(and I know why that page of my "manifesto" is also missing...LOL).

We've already noticed changes in service (the lack of active FWPD patrols like we USED to have about 10 years ago).
And since the "people" (around here) don't bother to police THEMSELVES, we know where all that winds up, hmm?

I'm not as concerned about secession (rich from poor) as much as I am about further ANNEXATION - to shore up the tax base eroded by the lack of a functionally tax-paying SE side (for the most part).

Then, there's ALWAYS the choice of becoming out OWN "county"...much like Philly did ages ago.
FORT WAYNE COUNTY...gotta kinda ring to it.

Thanks for stopping by today to comment.
You stay safe up there, brother.

Slamdunk said...

We had that 70+ degree day today as well--nice.

I never understood what mayors saw. They seemed to have their own interpretations of issues and any probs on their street seemed to always get top priority from the local police.

And, I like your quip on Adams leading yet not having time to golf, vacation, or fundraise. I do worry that with everyone criticizing him for always dorking around when the country needs serious issues resolved that he might actually listen to them, return to DC, and try to solve them. Personally, I think we are better off with him posing for photo-ops rather than him using his wisdom to "help" our country.

Bob G. said...

Slamdunk:
Even mayors don't seem to be as "in touch" with the city's people as they USED to be..perhaps spill over from the FEDS or STATES?
(they're learning to act like them...not good).

Yeah, I don't know what's really WORSE with Obummer - having him AWAY from D.C. (and the nation runs on "cruise-control"- or having hims STAY there (and sign more CRAP into law)
Damned if we DO or DON'T, hmm?

His "wisdom"?
LMAO...thanks for the funny.

And thanks for stopping by to comment.
Stay safe out there.