Thoughts for Thursday...

Welcome to another fine Spring day here in the Heartland.
Be very happy you're not in Denver or Wisconsin this morning, where it's been looking a lot like CHRISTMAS in those places.
Snow is causing all sorts of troubles in those areas.
Indiana's weather, by comparison will be much more palatable.
Our Hoosierland forecast will see us with another mostly cloudy day (the rain held off last night but WILL be here today with maybe a thunderstorm), with temps again reaching into the low 60s. Winds will be picking up as well, so when it rains, take care with your umbrella (which will attempt to either turn inside-out, or escape from your grasp). We "may" get a snow shower later overnight (???).
Now, what say we all get our morning drinks and take a look at what else has been going on elsewhere, hmm?
*** First out of the garden is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man." 

This was spoken by Robert Green Ingersoll (11 August 1833 - 21 July 1899), who we have only featured ONCE here (31 July, 2014), and he was an American lawyer, a Civil War veteran, political leader, and an orator of the United States during the "Golden Age of Free Thought".
He was nicknamed "The Great Agnostic".
(Goes to show you never know where wise words will come from, right?)
Here is his WIKI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll

Ingersoll's father happened to be a preacher, so it's a bit ironic that Robert would take the religious stance that he did. He WAS a firm believer in family life, though.
Prior to serving in the Union Army, he taught a term of school in Metropolis, Illinois. Prior to that he had taught in Mount Vernon, Illinois.
He fought at the Battle of Shiloh, where he was captured, but later "pardoned" on his word that he would not return to battle. He did not.
After the war, he served as Illinois Attorney General. But he was most noted for his public speakings, to which we would talk about everything from Shakespeare to Reconstructionism.
And while the press attacked him for his views on freethought and humanism and agnosticism, Ingersoll's popularity increased.
The WIKI is still a good read about someone we don't even hear about any longer.
*** Next up is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
March 24 -
---Today is NATIONAL CHOCOLATE COVERED RAISINS DAY

(I love 'em, but I suppose that Goobers will get their own day as well)
And that's all she wrote for today.
*** Next up, Kevin Leininger of the News-Sentinel has got a good column (today) about someone who I had the pleasure of meeting on the set of The Fort Report a couple years ago.

(a think a few people actually saw that episode...lol).
Here's that link in case you want to see me "on air" and scare your small pets:
(that is considered animal abuse, BTW)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr77_jh9yeA
Roderick Parker, a former gang member is the centerpiece of this "followup": by Kevin.
Here's the link:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local/Former-gang-member-hopes-his-change-of-career-path-will-help-others-find-the-same

Well done, Rod.

I'm glad to see SOMEONE in the black community stepping up and doing the right thing for the youth, so they don't go down a similar path that Roderick took years before.
I said back then he was good people, and by the grace of God, he's kept his life on course and has been clean from drugs for seven years...and not one day of further incarceration.
I should be so lucky to have neighbors like him, who HAVE turned a bad life around.
He is making that difference...one day at a time, and one youth at a time.
*** Next up, I really love SPAM: the food, but I detest SPAM: the Internet bane.
(NO, I don't want sex with some "woman" in Taiwan who wants me to see her pictures)
That pretty much sums it up for all of us, right?

A form of "The Matrix".

And when people open that email spam, they also open themselves to someone hacking into their system.
Hackers (generally-speaking) are the worst sort of individuals on the face of our planet.
Granted, there are some who work FOR us and not against us, but, by and large, a majority of them are willfully attempting to commit some sort of mayhem.
So, why does it NOT surprise me when I read about stories such as THIS:
http://www.journalgazette.net/business/HealthCare-gov-vulnerable-to-hackers-12197923
Yes, the ACA (Obummercare) website is VULNERABLE to (you guessed it)...hackers.
Like it didn't have ENOUGH problems associated with it already.

And let a hacker take your information?

The big push was to get everyone to that website and "sign up"...fat lotta good that's gonna mean when all their personal information winds up in the hands of whoever does manage to crack into the software and TAKE it.
We've handed over plenty of information to too many people as it is (imho), and that's been voluntary (driver's license, bill payments, purchases, etc), so trying to keep a low profile is becoming more difficult.
To me, that smacks the face of freedom...and repeatedly.

Former Supreme Court Justice Brandeis told us that we DO "have the right to be left alone".
That's getting to be harder to do these days.
*** Next, a YIN to the last story's YANG, as it were.
Here's the link:
http://wane.com/2016/03/23/fwpd-using-state-of-the-art-technology-to-test-and-id-drugs/
Here's a great example of technology working WITH us and not AGAINST us.

Our own FWPD has a new device that can test (on the spot, in real time) the TYPE of narcotic found on a person, or in a vehicle along our streets (and Lord knows we have that a'plenty).
They use the device (called TruNarc) over a dozen times a day (good thing we don't have a drug problem here, he said sarcastically). Police say it works better than the reagent kits that have been out for decades.
The only minor down-side - it doesn't detect MJ (well, 'ya can't have everything).
With opioids on the increase all over, it's nice to see a useful tool added to law-enforcement's "toolbox".
Now, if ONLY they could get a BOOMERANG sound (gunfire and other loud noise) detection device and deploy THAT on the SE side...
Yeah, I can dream.
*** Next up, Spring has finally made it to our "Fortress's garden".

Our FIRST hyacinth.

Nice to see some blooming flowers for a change (instead of all the blooming idiots walking in the middle of our streets).

I love the smell of these guys!

It always makes me wonder why ONE flower will be the "brave" one and poke out of the ground FIRST. Someone's gotta do it, I guess.

Peek-a-boo. I see you (finally).

We've got other small sprigs of greenery dotting the flower beds, so that tells me that our columbines are preparing to grace us with their presence for another year. Always a crap shoot as to what COLORS we will get due to cross-breeding. Not exactly "exciting", but it is pretty cool.

And I still cannot figure out who this "mystery" squirrel is.
He stopped by again and came right up to me, so I fed him some peanuts from my hand.
If Mr.Wrinkles has a doppelganger, this little guy would be him.
Like to see some rabbits show up.
It won't be long before Wifey and I head out to the garden shops for all the annuals we will be planting.
That's always fun to see if anything "new" shows up, but I do prefer the perennials.
(less work for someone my age...lol).
And, we'll be looking for tomato and hot pepper plants.
Might even consider some more roses (can never have too many of them...unless you are allergic).
*** Last back to the patio...You know, there are lots of things I do around our "Fortress" that I don't give a second thought to when I'm doing them. Gardening is just one of them.

I wouldn't say it's a PRIORITY (per se), but it is enjoyable and something I look forward to every year.
House projects also have this perverse appeal of sorts...things you WANT to do in order to make your living a bit nicer (because all the nasty is outside on the streets).
And, through all this, there is one thing I have learned to do automatically, and that's to prioritize.
It's simple, really. You "sess up" the tasks you'd like to get accomplished, develop a plan of "attack" and then get it done. That's about as straight-forward as life can be, and the rewards aren't all that bad.
But, why others cannot (or will not) choose to do anything close to that eludes me.
Our jails are full of people that had THEIR priorities totally FUBAR, and they thought that was okay.
(rude awakening time)
Like I'm always saying - life is complex ENOUGH without us deviating from acceptable behaviors to pursue things that are simply not going to work out as we "think".

And perhaps, with some REAL thought applied to the definitions of NEEDS, and WANTS, and PRIORITIES, this old world might take on a better facade. A better spirit is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility, either.
All that's required is the decision to make THAT a reality, rather than the mediocrity many have settled for.
Sounds like an honest-to-God plan, right?

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