Thoughts On Thorsday...

Welcome to the continuing saga of "Days of Rain In Indiana", brought to you by God, Mother Nature, and the NOAA.
That's right, more rain today, with some severe weather moving in later this afternoon.
For the moment, it's just damp outside.
The rest of the Hoosierland weather will see temps reaching into the low SEVENTIES...how 'bout THAT?
If we do see any sunshine, it will be fleeting at best. That means lotsa clouds around and some morning fog.
Now, with that taken care of, let's all get that morning cup of fortitude poured and set about seeing what's been wandering around my mind, hmm?
*** First off of the shoals is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:

Edmund Burke

"But what is liberty without wisdom, and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint."
This was spoken by that person of note, one Edmund Burke (12 Jan 1729 - 8 Jul 1797 ),
EDITOR'S NOTE - And I made an error by copying ONE quote and attributing it to another...my bad. Sorry about that..
Sometimes, even I get all the data that's crammed into my melon misaligned.
Burke's WIKI is HERE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke
So, in the best interest of knowledge (and fact-checking) I will provide you a "two-fer":
--Burke was an Irish statesman, author, philosopher,orator, and political theorist.
We recently covered him in another quote, so think of this as a "review" of sorts.

A John Locke quote

--Locke was an English philosopher and physician, and considered to be one of THE most influential of the "Enlightenment" thinkers, and was also known as being the father of modern liberalism.
(I guess liberalism HAS changed significantly since those days)
And HERE is his WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke

John Locke

Locke's "theory of mind" is cited as the origin of modern conceptions of identity and the self.
I found his THEORIES OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE most apropos, especially in light of recent events.
In his political theories, he cites a limit to accumulation, noting that unused property is waste and an offense against nature.
His other theory of VALUE AND PROPERTY is quite interesting and in our OWN Constitution can be found the phrase "life, liberty", and the pursuit of happiness", which is directly attributable to Locke's political theory.
Locke also believed in the SEPARATION OF POWERS by the government.
BOTH of these WIKIs are really worth a read (or two), if you want to see how both  men had a profound influence upon the founding of OUR nation.
*** Next up, is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
April 9 - 
---Today is NAME YOURSELF DAY...

Nice sticker, kid.

((...crickets...))
Okay, exactly WHAT should I name myself, or to what...and why?
So, think on this, and give yourself a new name for the day (at least that's what you're supposed to do).
After the above brain-fart, I've got several names that apply to me...LOL.
But I still like some better than others.
((..."call me...the Punisher"...))
---It's also WINSTON CHURCHILL DAY.

Read some quotes of one of the most influential man of the 20th century.
Yeah, he "got it", and made no bones about it, either.
Damn shame he was tossed to the curb RIGHT after WW2.
---And it was on THIS day...150 years ago, that our nation's CIVIL WAR came to it's conclusion with the surrender to Grant by Lee at the Appomattox Courthouse.

"So, you wanna do lunch?"

If you are in the area, here's a link to the schedule of events to commemorate this pivotal moment in our history:
http://www.nps.gov/apco/150th-anniversary-of-appomattox-court-house.htm
Now, you know a LOT more than your neighbors...
*** I was taking in all this media frenzy over the shooting to death of a black man by this Charleston, S.C. police officer, and I have a lot that's got me scratching my head.

Where's the foot pursuit?

And, even though there is a video of the shooting, I don't want to see some rush to judgment, not that the police officer was in the right, which it would appear he was not.
Got a couple questions that I've been mulling over.
1) WHY did the man run?
(well, he DID have an active warrant for non-support of a dependent)
2) WHY didn't the officer give a foot pursuit?
(got nothing on this one)
3) HOW can a guy that can't pay child support afford a MERCEDES...with RIMS and tires costing a couple thousand for the set?

Nice ride (for the ghetto)

(guess we know WHERE the child-support money is going, hmm?)
I have to hand it to Charleston Police for pulling people OVER for a broken tail light.
That's more than they seem to do HERE.
Statistics for Charleston state that 65% of traffic stops are against BLACKS.
Well, in a black majority area, that would seem perfectly NORMAL to me.
Maybe the blacks need to check their vehicle lighting ONCE every several MONTHS???
Or perhaps the blacks there should PAY their CHILD-SUPPORT (again) ONCE every few MONTHS ???
I'm not totally siding with the police, as I think the shooting WAS on the extreme side (coulda hit him once in the leg, and called it done), but there is this mindset by the minority community that they should somehow be "above the law" when it comes to all these minor infractions.
Sorry, that's not how the rule to law system was designed.
--You obey the law...nothing happens (or at least it shouldn't)
--You break the law, EXPECT consequences..often multiplied.
To me, this is all academic...black and white, and not 50 "shades of grey".
All to often, we see police act as they should, and yet get castigated for picking on minorities unfairly.
You want things to be FAIR?
OBEY THE DAMN LAWS, you morons...!
Don't expect a free pass because of your skin color.
And don't even think of pulling the race card...the law applies to EVERYONE JUST AS EQUALLY.
*** Next, a story about Fort Wayne's Renaissance Pointe that gave me a laugh.
Here's the story link:
http://wane.com/2015/04/08/renaissance-pointe-property-values-increasing-thanks-to-new-homes/

A "gated" community? Still behind bars then?

Yeah, THEIR property values are UP...ours are STILL DOWN, thanks to the flotsam these deadbeat landlords place in the houses around here.
And they call these new houses "ranch-style"?
Seriously?
Drive down to WAYNEDALE and see what a REAL "ranch-style" house looks like.
Call the ones at Renaissance Pointe "glorified bungalows" (with a semi-porch).
The FWHA is trying their damnedest to make this sow's ear look like the proverbial silk purse.
So what if THIS specific area is being revitalized...venture anyplace outside of the periphery and it's STILL the "badlands"
And those badlands are STILL spreading WEST and NORTH.

Been looking for YEARS, too.

Our "Fortress" is in excess of 1200 sq. ft, AND a corner property, AND has a 2-car detached garage, and, if we were lucky, it MIGHT sell for a whopping $27K...that's WAY down from a high of $76.2K less than TEN years ago.
This happened no thanks to the city and it's allowance of the "anything goes" real estate market.
Our property taxers DROPPED from between $600-$700 per yr to a mere $125 per year.
Now, multiply OUR place by a hundred or more, and you can easily see HOW MUCH MONEY the city is losing every year on property taxes, and that, like dominoes, causes problems for others, like FWCS (and their budget shortfalls), to name just one.
On the up side, saving that money for us means a greater ability to buy important things...like AMMO...LOL.
(Lord know we can always use more around here...just in case)
*** Last back to the money pit...it's often said that "you get what you pay for".

Funny, we didn't pay for this

In other cases you get what you DON"T pay for, as in a blighted part of town, because the city has not paid for the things that would chase out the riff-raff, bring back businesses, lower crime, and all the other amenities enjoyed by those in less "stressful" neighborhoods.
And when people cry the blues over scenes like Fergiuson, or yes, even Charleston, it pisses me off, because cases such as these were manufactured, and not out of some sense of racial bias.

They are all born from a system of DOUBLE STANDARDS.
One set of laws for some, and another set of laws (or the ignorance of them) for others.
That hardly would imbue anyone with a sense of unity, and rightly so.

It all stems from THIS...

When people seek TRUE equality, that's fine...and noble...and right.
But, when people seek to be MORE equal than others, THAT is when problems arise.
Where do you draw the line (if any) when it comes to how much MORE equality is meted out?
Again, another issue with BOUNDARIES.
Since all these problems are created, they can just as easily be undone, and since mankind has demonstrated time and again that it IS indeed easier to DESTROY than to create, it should be a  very simple task to accomplish.
All that's required is the DESIRE to do so...before we're all in over our heads.

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