Friday Follies...
Nope, we're not foolin'. It IS another weekend.
Didn't it just seem like we were here several HOURS ago?
Must be "just" me.
Yeah, it's gotta be that "age/time" speeding up thing. As we get older, time appears to speed up.
Never wondered about this as a kid playing with our cap guns in that empty field, or playing street hockey until the sun went down, did we?
I miss those days...
But, the world doesn't slow down simply because WE are attempting to break velocity records with OUR lives, does it?
Craig Breedlove...slide it on over.
Yes, it is STILL National Police Week, so in that light:
** A Fort Wayne police officer was in fair condition early today after a crash involving his squad car on the city's south side late Thursday.
The officer was responding to a call on Trentman Avenue about 2315 hrs. when the crash occurred at Pontiac and Winter streets, police spokesman R.J. Sutphin said.
Witnesses said the car's lights and siren were on. The crash occurred when the officer lost control of his squad car.
Investigators were not sure how he lost control or whether another vehicle was involved, Sutphin said.
Investigators will review footage from the squad car's onboard camera. The officer was initially reported to be pinned in the crash, although Sutphin said he wasn't sure whether the officer was just briefly trapped.
At the crash scene, a city police squad car sat mangled on a sidewalk on the south side of Pontiac Street.
The car was heavily damaged on the driver's side.Witnesses said the officer was eastbound on Pontiac when the crash occurred. It was not immediately clear how the crash occurred, Sutphin said.
Now allow me to say this about that.
The other day, police were in an area CLOSE to where that crash happened for a call of "substance on the roadway".
Apparently, a street sweeper busted a hydraulic line and was spewing fluid onto the streets, One officer reported that people were trying to stop at (some) particular intersection, but could not, and were sliding all over. Road crews came and put down some drying agent to remove the fluid.
Now I'm not saying the areas are related, but it's in the general vicinity. Perhaps they missed an area, or perhaps the car had some residue on the tires, coupled with roads that were rain-washed the day before, which can spread oil droplets around. Or it could have been a case where the driver simply lost control. In any event, we hope the officer recovers quickly, and returns to duty.
((Editor's note: I almost forgot... OUR thugs are getting NATIONAL attention.
You remember the chase I blogged about the other day? The one that ended in a Taco Bell parking lot in another city?
Well, Fort Wayne's very own Jermaine Askia Cooper...or as I like to call him - "Burrito Joe"... is all over the internet.
Even MSNBC and the Chicago Tribune is making fun at this perp's shenanighans. But he WAS a drug dealer and a known felon.
I find it nice to know that he is NOW part of the DUMB CRIMINAL "Hall of Shame". ))
It's nice to see happy endings around here for a change!
Meanwhile, back at the (Detroit) ranch...
** Is anyone else bothered that Chrysler decides to sell MORE cars by CLOSING more dealerships?
That makes about AS MUCH SENSE as "saving the economy" by SPENDING MONEY OUT THE DAMN ASS!
Somehow, I can't quite wrap this old brain around such BS...how about you?
My take on spending is NOT simply spend it if you got it, but spend WISELY...when you NEED it.
Then again, I am a product of my PARENTS, and a child of the 50s and 60s.
** So...what is one of the FIRST things a county administration should do during such bad economic times, you ask?
Well, if you're in ALLEN COUNTY, Indiana, you go and VOTE YOURSELVES A RAISE.
Sounds like a plan the Obama government would LOVE...spend it EVEN IF you DON'T have it...way to go, people!
Such is the case in our neck o' the woods. However the council stated that (and you'll love this)...they're planning for the future, and that the economy will turn back around.
Well...DUH!
Someone put out a call to CAPTAIN OBVIOUS on THIS one.
Of course the economy WILL turn back around...it always does, but who can say WHEN? And who is this County Council that they should be SO presumptuous in their "assessment" of the situation. Hell, they can't even correctly ASSESS property values IN their OWN county.
Get me a crash cart...this patient (the county) is going into financial "DE-FIB"!
** I saw a video captured on a store camera in Flint, Michigan (another crime hotspot), showing some rival gang thug bastards engaging in one of their favorite "vocations"...namely SHOOTING at one another. Well, the one guy (looked like he had some sort of subgun...maybe a mini-Uzi) was TRYING to shoot. Aside from the function problem (with the gun AND the perp), the FIRST WRONG thing I noticed, is that he was standing BOLT-UPRIGHT with the gun hand extended, totally exposed - no cover nearby.
WHAT A FRIGGIN' DUMBASS!
One of the FIRST "skills" you acquire in ANY service (where other folks might want to shoot at you, or otherwise cause you some type of harm), is that in ANY "combat situation"...MOVEMENT IS LIFE!!!
If you're NOT moving...well, you're just a damn target for the other guy...and could well be soon NOT be moving in a slightly more PERMANENT manner.
If you can't shoot AND move, you better learn to tuck tail and run the hell away, or find a nice piece of real state to pull over yourself.
But it doesn't end there. The thug keeps messin' with the weapon jam, and tries to clear the piece...to no avail.
Now either he had the SAFETY ON, because no one showed him where the damn safety was (typical numb nut gangsta education), or he got some crap ammo and possibly had a stovepipe jam (which makes a good case for keeping the loading ramp CLEAN)...yeah, gotta love all that "schooling" these thugs got in class. Oh, wait...they don't HAVE any class (thanks, Rodney..we still miss 'ya).
It took an angry CITIZEN (not the store owner) to chase the thugs from the store....(give that person a damn medal...AND a free gun)!
If you don't KNOW your weapon, maybe you shouldn't HAVE one...'ya think?
When I got my (cheapie) *9*, the FIRST thing I did was field strip it...to see how the parts worked and how easy it would be to keep clean. Sorry, that's just the way I am. A clean gun is a happy (and functional) gun...as long as the owner has some common sense to marry with that cleanliness and happiness.
** Lastly, to the citizens of Fort Wayne...the WEED PATROL is already out and about. Neighborhood Code Enforcement has a nice red Cherokee cruising the city in search of weed violations. We had several properties tagged on OUR street alone, which is why I'm going to perform my civic duty and cut OUR lawn (again), even though it's under the "9-inch" limit.
Many houses are empty in our area.
Many others are occupied with people I WISH would vacate the property, and still others have the "lazy-ass-entitlement" syndrome working some serious O/T. They can go out and get some booze...or have a damn BBQ out front (which looks SO damn ghetto), or buy those gay-ass rims for their POS ghetto-sled, but they cannot mow a damn lawn. That's why our area has someone I call "The Lawninator". Some guy in a silver Lincoln travels the area with a lawn mower in his trunk, doing HIS civic duty...(for a price, no doubt), so NCE won't ticket those "poor, destitute" people...freeing THEM up for more drug deals, more booze, and more lawn trash (to go with the public pissing against houses).
Hey, I never said this neighborhood was full of people with sunshine beaming out their asses, did I?
And we never had lollipop trees growing in our damn yards (although the city thinks we DO have money trees whenever they raise another tax..."excuse me, while I go prune a few more FRANKLINS off that low-hanging branch to pay for the welfare frauds").
This neighborhood HAS potential, but I fear it will never again be realized, because, like I said yesterday, the city has not the WILL to make it happen. Given another time, this neighborhood mirrors my grandma's old area back in Philly, and I loved going there as a kid. It was THAT NICE.
Same COULD be said about MY current area.
But until the section 8ers, the gangsta wannabes, the drug dealers, the drug users, the lazy-asses, and those others who sneer at authority, have no self determination, respect for others, or sense of personal integrity are removed...we'll still have the human refuse that we have.
All we can do is our best at keeping those Barbarians from OUR gates, and our families safe.
Enjoy the weekend, everyone.
You deserve it.
Now...go thank a policeman today.
And, as always,
Stay safe out there, America.

Feels Like Another Monday...
Here in Fort Wayne, the weather isn't the ONLY thing that seems to change minute by minute, or hour by hour.
Your life, as it has been, is being redefined as we speak.
** And one can look no further than the recent population statistics for our county (Allen).
Seems we've got ourselves a burgeoning minority population.
Well, as goes Detroit, so could go Fort Wayne....perhaps.
I've maintained for some time that if one wanted to see a (very) possible future to OUR city, all you have to do is watch DETROIT.
And why the hell shouldn't Ft. Wayne be the recipient of more people, right?
I mean all the other larger, (once) better cites have been trashed and depopulated beyond belief, Let's all move to Ft. Wayne.
There's plenty of free anything (for those so inclined to pursue less than legal or rather "dubious" vocations).
I look around my area at all those (allegedly) "less fortunate", and somehow...I'm just not SEEING it, people.
By "less fortunate", do we mean that whitey won't give someone a free crib in a NICE, UPSCALE neighborhood?
Do we mean that the less fortunate can ONLY get newer USED cars?
Well, they DO have plenty of time to kill.
That's obvious by the looks of all the people of other ethnicities roaming around the neighborhoods all day and all night. That's not to say that all and every ohter ethnicity is bad...quite the contrary. It's just the "minority OF those minorities" that poses the problems.
ANd thats not to say we don't have a crapload of WHITES doing similar things.
Oh, we DO, and in ever-increasing numbers.
And that's another part of this curious puzzle.
This city is quickly becoming an IDIOT MAGNET.
Give us your dumb, your stupid, your ignorant, loud-assed masses.
That doesn't just apply to the citizenry, either. Ask a lot of people here, and they'll also say it pertains to the politicians in this city.
Not all of them, but enough to warrant scrutiny.
So put that in your pipe and smoke it (just not out in public...it's against some law).
** Verizon casts off RESIDENTIAL businesses, and that's got me wondering...a lot.
Why would Verizon, which had a huge surge in business after FiOS came to Ft. Wayne sell OFF all the residential applications to a company called FRONTIER COMMUNICATIONS (which I never really heard of until the other day), aside from the obvious GLUT of income?
And YES, we still have a LAND LINE (and not a LAN line, as some people mistakenly think).
When the POWER goes out, I STILL have a phone to use.
Call me a traditionalist, but having a hard line phone smacks back to a SIMPLER time...when things were a LOT better.
Everyone is "saying" that we (the customers) should see NO difference is service after next year (when all this shuffling takes place). The good news (so far), is that Frontier has a great reputation for good CUSTOMER SERVICE.
In this case, I'm NOT from Pennsy...OR from Indiana.
I'm from MISSOURI, so SHOW ME.
Seeing will be believing.
** Today is our TRASH pickup day, and I've YET to see any of my "neighbors" waiting to hop in the damn truck!
I honestly do NOT know what they're waiting for.
I suppose it's because our trash men come early enough so that the locals haven't quite slept off last night's drunk or high.
One can ALWAYS tell the (fraudulent) welfare/party houses during trash pickups. They' re the house that when the bin is emptied into the truck, ALL you hear is clinking BEER BOTTLES. The more clinking, the closer it is to the first week of the month (and sales for the aforementioned beverage). By the END of the month, you barely hear anything AT ALL, no matter how far down the alley the truck is. Poor people..."got's no booze to drunk out wif". "Bess go rob sum howz in de area fo sum munny, nowhuahmsayin?"
Funny thing, residential robberies tend to spike in our area on the FIRST and LAST weeks for some strange reason (???).
** When our county wants MONEY, they sure know WHO to come to, don't they?
The debate rages on about a new WHEEL TAX for everyone (except those poor people that get everything for nothing already) that has a vehicle. The debate is NOT about WHEN or IF the tax will be implemented...rest assured it WILL be. Discussion is focusing on HOW MUCH it will cost you...nice, huh?
Some want a FLAT TAX (which means I would pay the SAME amount for my 26 year-old Firebird as a guy with a LOT more money that drives a brand new Mercedes SLR...yeah, that's "fair"...NOT). Others want an incremental tax.
And some want a tax levied at people driving older, more inefficient vehicles that get lousy mileage. Well, I'd love to see how that bird's gonna fly when ALL these minorities are driving POS-mobiles that get less than 20 MPG on the freaking HIGHWAY, and belch out carbon like there's no tomorrow, because they haven't a CLUE as to what exhaust system maintenance and repair is (or ever was).
Hell, just give 'em all NEW cars, charge US, the taxpayers for it, and call it DONE, OK?
(uh oh...I just gave some DEMS in D.C. something to think about...we're boned now).
** Lastly, we're still following along with National Police Week,
We recently had a 1 year old shot with a .40 caliber Glock. The child is now been upgraded to "fair" condition, but here's an example as to WHY police work is the way it is, and the PEOPLE these officers deal with are the way THEY are.
The mother was questioned about the shooting, and she "initially" told the officers that the 1 year old SHOT HIMSELF.
(I'll give you all sufficient time to roll your eyes in disbelief)
I thought the EXACT same thing...
A ONE YEAR OLD???...
With a damn GLOCK???
WTF is this "mother" thinking anyway, not to mention that I find it VERY hard to believe that (near) infant did it.
And if you thought likewise...congrats.
"Mom" later told police her (get this)...THREE YEAR OLD shot the ONE YEAR OLD.
Again..WTF is WRONG with this "adult" anyway?
And why the f$ck does she even HAVE a gun (that she said she snuck out of her boyfriend's house a while back) anyway?
It would appear that "mom" has little if ANY practical working knowledge of what it means to be a RESPONSIBLE person, hmm?
Toddlers with guns...there 'ya go, people. Our future hard at work, providing a world where anarchy would be preferred to the scenario that's being played out. Not a pretty picture, is it?
And folks want more GUN control...
(feel free to roll your eyes in disbelief again...I can wait)
It's about PEOPLE control, as in keep any and all dangerous items out of the damn hands of people with absolutely NO FREAKING COMMON SENSE, for God's sake! These people don't deserve to be allowed to butter their own bread, or clip a coupon from a damn newspaper. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw the Statue of Liberty.
They're having KIDS?
Owning GUNS?
And Lord know what else...
And that's just ONE of too many calls the police chase after every shift of every day in every city across this nation.
Yepper...sure feels like another Monday, and we really haven't even scratched the surface.
Scary, huh?
Well, it can always be worse...and at this rate, it probably WILL.
We might not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I think we CAN say that we now KNOW we're IN the tunnel.
That's some consolation.
And as we rapidly approach another weekend, always remember to:
Stay safe out there, America.

Humpday Happenings...
Well, the space shuttle Atlantis made it to orbit in order to effect repairs on the Hubble telescope, the stock market had a hard time climbing only FIFTY points yesterday, and Miss California gets to keep her crown for speaking the TRUTH.
Can we stand the strain?
We're smack dab in the middle of NATIONAL POLICE WEEK, and I can tell you that we've been having some really strange sh*t going on around Fort Wayne.
I do know there is a "new sport" that has taken off on the SOUTH side of the city, and that's the "5 Meter Backdoor Kick-In".
There has been an UNUSUAL amount of chatter on this. Seems some "poor" people (read too lazy to work, but take the free money from YOUR pocket just as quickly) have nothing BETTER to do than to kick in doors to houses, vacant or not, all for the sake of getting something that simply DOES NOT BELONG to them, in order to make it THEIR OWN.
Gee, don't people act in such a manner where centuries of tribal conflict has kept nations throughout central AFRICA in a 3rd world status, while the remainder of the world progressed?
Yeah, that sums it up nicely.
It was interesting to watch all the "buzz" at the Regional Academy (at Southtown) on TV yesterday when officers received their TASER training, and "took the hit" as it were.
It was also good to see Sgt. Scott Berning (TASER instructor) again.
He's a great guy to talk to, knows his "stuff", and is another credit to the department as well as the Academy.
And...he gives damn fine TOURS...LOL!
Now, I can truly say I've never been "tased" ('bro), but I have taken something called B+ voltage across my chest (it's an electrical thing). Let's just say it was a LOT more than a 12VDC car battery coursing through me (for less than 2 seconds), and the after-effects were weird (slurred speech for one thing) beyond belief.
At least I found my screwdriver...got stuck in the WALL when I got "nailed".
Don't recall "tossing" it, either.
Felt like life was going "slo-mo" for 5 minutes.
In retrospect, I would have much rather BEEN tased, than confused...LOL!
** Heard a really intense call yesterday on the PD radio. It was a pursuit that was initiated when the officer tried to pull over this known drug dealer (U/C buys, priors, the whole 9 yards on this bird). Well the guy, one Jermaine Cooper, in his black Alero takes the hell OFF, winding through the S/E side of Fort Wayne, drives out Tillman to Minnick, as the officer called off the cross streets every few seconds, and then out onto Rt 27, headed south towards Decatur (20 minutes away at normal speed, give or take).
And I swear the perp AND the officer got TO Decatur in LESS than TEN MINUTES!!!
I guess travelling 90 MPH will do that, hmm?
At least they recovered the pistol the perp tossed (in the vicinity of Maple Grove, Schaper and Werling Sts). Village Elementary went on a code yellow lock down (no outdoor recess) until the firearm was recovered (as a precaution).
Good call.
The local news states the perp "wanted to get one last burrito before he went to jail" for the laundry list of items he had been wanted on. He was caught at the TACO BELL (parking lot) in Decatur (along Rt. 27)...yeah, right, "and I'm a 'da Pope, so kiss a my ring, you lying, farging icehole"
Nice job in nailing this drug dealer, people. And a special THANK YOU to the officer than stuck to that perp's bumper like a tick on a hound dog through all those streets and down into Decatur.
You've made ALL our streets a bit safer, patrolman!
I've made no bones about the fact that OUR house is ALWAYS a "safe" house for ANY law-enforcement officer from ANY agency.
Damn shame MORE citizens don't feel likewise.
All too often these men and women in blue spend time in neighborhoods that look like a ghetto (on a good day),or Mosul (on a bad one). Be really nice if something could be done to make our neighborhoods down here MORE inviting to good people, so we can chase out the rabble. Unfortunately, the city has not the money NOR THE WILL to make this happen.
Damn shame...we've got nice areas that have been infested with human vermin, and need a good pest-control expert to clean house.
** Speaking of vermin...
The OP-ED page of the J/G today had an interesting article about "Teaching the Teachers"
Yeahhhhh......rrrrrriiiiiight.
The teachers that NEED to be taught are few in number, compared to the kids that show up but never give a damn about education.
These kids think all they HAVE to do is show the hell UP, and that ensures a PASSING GRADE...screw the classwork.
WRONG!
Never heard of ANY army that "just showed up" (no rifle or equipment, and did not participate in action) and won ANY battle or war.
That dog just doesn't hunt.
Lessons are there for kids to LEARN.
Ditto for HOMEWORK.
You don't learn, that's not the teacher's fault.
It's the fault of the STUDENT (and even the parents).
Now my wife tells me of the assignments she gives her students, and to ME, anyway, most of them are "slam-dunks", as far as difficulty and ability required to complete the project. But a select few of her kids have problems with doing things...like school work.
Again, the kids have this "entitlement" mentality.
Well, they ARE "entitled" to a quality education, and if THEY (the kids) spend a few minutes to APPLY THEMSELVES...that's EXACTLY what they will receive. Pretty damn simple, huh?
Learning (or teaching) is never ONLY a "one-way" street. NO ONE learns that way.
If the students are not motivated to learn, they simply wont.
And I don't mean the educators have to make the classroom a bloody Barnum & Bailey or Shriners 3-ring frigging circus, complete with rides, clowns, and popcorn. That's sheer nonsense.
It falls upon each and every student to CHALLENGE THEMSELVES (first). Then, and only then, can a teacher begin to challenge them further, thereby causing the "educational process" to happen in totality.
As I said yesterday, ANY "new" manner of teaching kids so that we don't have ANY left behind (which, in and off itself is an impossibility...everyone learns at differing levels and aptitudes), is doomed from the git-go.There is NO universal panacea, NO magic bullet than can predict, with certainty, that EVERY SINGLE child will not EVER fail or be left behind.
That's just the way human nature is.
Been like that since the model came out.
We'll always have good and bad in every aspect of humanity, whether its police officers, teachers, students, or citizens.
All we can do is separate the "wheat from the chaff" in that regard. Promote and otherwise acknowledge those that are GOOD, and, if need be, point out the failings to the bad ones, and attempt to help them rectify their situation.
No molly-coddling, no hand-holding, and certainly NO more handouts.
But if it's a HAND UP they want (and need), well, the rest of us can manage that.
Now, get out there and thank some cops, smile at some teachers, and otherwise...
Stay safe out there, America.

It's STILL National Police Week...
I am going to try to address our "saviors in blue" to some extent every day this week, so keep that in mind.
Now when it comes to police work, those who CHOOSE this vocation do so at risk to themselves every day.
That's a given.
The regular citizens have little, if ANY idea of all the "things" (for lack of a proper nomenclature) that describe what only ONE officer can be privy to during ANY shift in ANY city.
If it's not some guy with motor oil, a hammer and a plastic bag exposing himself in front of his picture window, it might be a call for an "unusual odor" that happens to turn out to be nothing more than COFFEE BREWING (at a place that ...well, brews coffee).
It could be a pursuit that rises to speeds well in excess of posted limits.
Or it could be a man urinating against some building.
It could be pulling someone over for a traffic stop, and finding a METH lab in the back seat (next to the infant in the car seat).
Or it could be a distraught person attempting suicide with a firearm.
Whatever the situation, THESE people are the ones that have to deal with it FIRST.
They get on scene before anyone else like the EMS or fire department, and THEY are the ones that walk into all these potential piles of crap that the populace seems fit to place at their disposal.
If you ever want to see how weird or disturbed some people can be, ride along with an officer. It's like living an episode of COPS for a few hours. You will see things that will change the way you view life in the city you live in.
Granted, most runs are pretty much breaking up domestic squabbles, ticketing speeders, and even sometimes (yawn) directing traffic.
Then there are those times when chasing the radio can get real nasty, real fast.
I like to think of it as hours of banality, laced with minutes of adrenalin rushes and profuse sweating (and that can happen in the middle of January).
And of course, there IS the paperwork (digitally-speaking). Using computers sure beats the snot out of writing a report (and then getting someone to decipher it, because the officer tends to write in TONGUES...LOL), or typing one (and blowing the city's budget on White-Out).
So again, I would mention to everyone that the best (and easiest) thing you can do for your community this week is to THANK AN OFFICER.
Doesn't take much, means a helluva lot to many, and goes a LONG way to make that officer appreciate the reasons they do what they do.
Meanwhile, closer to home...
We hear the FWCS wants to reinvent the method of teaching (again), so that schoolkids have more "relevancy" with their studies.
Well, that would work out BEST with HISTORY, right?
Kind of, but think about MATH...pretty "relevant" subject, don'cha think?
I mean, if you can't count for crap, you're NOT going to balance a checkbook (or possibly even get one), figure out home finances, or wonder if you got the right amount of change at the BK.
Then again, you don't need great math skills to figure out that "dime bag amount" on that postal scale, do you?
Seems ENGLISH would ride along on that thought as well. If you cannot properly COMMUNICATE with other people, who the hell is going to know WHAT you're getting at? And that especially goes for all this "street-talk" these days.
Enough with this sub-cultural bane on our society.
Man the hell up and LEARN TO SPEAK ENGLISH, for God's sake...you're in AMERICA, not some 3rd world African nation. That goes for all the immigrants. It's fine and dandy to keep your "mother tongue", but don't FORCE everyone and their kids to HAVE to learn YOUR language because YOU'RE too damn lazy to want to learn ENGLISH.
Get with the freaking program, people!
Now that's not to mean that FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAMS should be abandoned...Hell, no.
It makes SENSE to involve yourself in another culture and language, but NOT to the extent that you push aside your OWN, Many of the sciences and medical fields still use root words from those languages such as Latin and German. And there's nothing wrong with going to a Spanish restaurant, and ordering in the native tongue with the proper dialect, is there?
Hell, I can swear in about EIGHT different languages, so there IS something there for everyone...!
But with ANY "reinvention" of ANY program, it's ONLY AS GOOD as the students who are OCCUPYING the seats in the classroom, and that's a whole OTHER subject. With no warm bodies learning in the classroom, any learning process WILL fail those not present..simple, huh? This refers to those "problem" kids with issues about LEARNING (like it's a "white" thing, for example).
That will take better PARENTING skills and education OF those parents.
Address THAT, and the kids will be a lot less troublesome, and a lot more visible in the classroom.
I tend to think of this as going BACK TO BASICS.
Along those lines...
Our Governor has passed a bill that gives educators MORE PROTECTION in their classrooms...and about damn time, too.
This will go to prevent those "frivolous lawsuits" that are all to common in schools these days.
Educators are not YOUR kids' parents or a policeman.
That's YOUR job, and this bill goes to highlight that aspect.
If your child is NOT behaving in school, maybe YOU need to change tactics AT HOME.
School doesn't make bad kids...or bad kids WORSE.
That we can attribute to life OUTSIDE of those hallowed, ivy-covered walls of education.
It's not the teacher's responsibility to UNDO all that the world is doing to these kids the REST of the time they're NOT in class. That's the job of the parents, and the community (to a lesser degree).
It would also involve the church.
It involves the "friends" your child pals around with, and THEIR friends as well.
It involves respecting other people and their rights.
It involves respecting authority, whether that authority wears a shield or not,
It involves teaching your children MANNERS, ETHICS and MORALITY.
It involves imbuing them with a sense of personal responsibility and integrity.
And it involves them learning accountability for their OWN actions, and understanding what consequences are.
If parents force the schools to start teaching ALL this to their children, then they have abrogated the responsibility of that child's upbringing...not the best path to SOCIALISM, but it DOES WORK...ask anyone living during the 1930s in Germany.
It really doesn't have to be that way (thankfully).
YOU have the power to change that.
YOU are the ones that should be providing such knowledge to your children.
YOU control the outcome of the future by molding the minds of the present.
And only YOU can make that difference, thereby passing such values along TO your children, so that THEY can do likewise.
It's not hard, but it DOES require effort.
But you're AMERICANS...and we do "effort" pretty damn well, from past history. So remember that...in this case, it IS all about YOU.
Stay safe out there, America.

Monday Musings...
Score one for the Ft. Wayne Komets hockey team for winning their SECOND Turner Cup.
Two in a row...that's the way to do it.
I haven't seen anything like this since the Philadelphia Flyers won back-to-back Stanley cups in 1974-1975!
WTG, people.
Glad to see the city get a lot more ON BOARD this year than last, too.
Nice job, and one helluva way to kick off the weekend here. But it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops at out house, sadly.
Score another victory for technology.
We are now the recipients of another "new" computer.
The good news is that it's HALF the size of the former CPU.
It's also so DAMN quiet, I can't tell if it's on most of the time.
The bad news is that we spent the better part of the weekend getting the stupid thing to recognize our BROADBAND connection with AOHELL!
Don'cha just LOVE technology?
After much angst, some technical perspicacity, and a bit of luck, by late yesterday afternoon, it FINALLY decided to function as intended.
So let me issue a word of caution:
Be VERY careful when using BOTH AOL and AVG software.
They don't like to "play nicely", apparently.
Fortunately for US, we do have a fantastic computer tech with a Masters degree in computer engineering, along with a Bachelors in Information Systems and he's a grad of Purdue. Can't really beat THOSE kind of credentials, can you?
I told him he should get a job TEACHING at M.I.T. of Cal Tech...they could LEARN from this man, believe me.
And "on the side", he designs robots that can CLEAN FLOORS!
Interestingly enough, the weekend DID start out on a better note.
As I was pumping gas, after we had finished our shopping and were heading back home, The FWPD's COMMANNDO V-100 (armored vehicle, like the one seen here) drove right past me at the pump. Now my first thought was "gonna tank up?"
But it continued through the station, located along Bluffton Road, across the street to the EAGLE LODGE, where the police and fire departments had a get together of some sort.
My wife commented that "I bet that made your day, hmm?".
Tell you what...it came DAMN close!
I was jazzed for some time over that.
Now...if I could get a RIDE-ALONG in it...LOL!
As to the balance of the weekend?
The good news was that I didn't have to chase any kids off the property.
The bad news is that we had way too many boomcars in the area.
But I still have my "plan", if the FWPD agrees to consider it and implement it.
But back to all this technology...
You regular readers KNOW that I'm not too fond of technology, and with good reason.
I dislike anything that is put to market without proper testing.
I think all this "planned obsolescence" that's built into most everything today needs to be placed in check.
Not everyone is fortunate (or rich) enough to replace or repair anything and everything they own that has any smattering of electronics on board way before any and all warranties expire.
You don't buy something ONLY to replace it less than a year later.
And you don't go changing up "technologies" for the sole purpose of bilking the public.
I found that BETA VCRs worked damn well...better than VHS. Yet I still have BOTH in working order.
I like my DVD player just fine, but don't see the "need" (nor reason) to get a BLU-RAY.
I'm one of those people that thinks that "If something works and works well, WHY mess with it?"
And that can truly be said for "digital" television.
I loved the old ANALOG version just fine. Never had ANY problem with it.
But "someone" must think we're all made of money, so off they go, creating digital TV, and in HD as well. Sorry, but as I've said before...If I want to have HDTV, I just PUT ON MY GLASSES...!
I don't need to play "count the blemishes" with every person doing the 6 O'clock news, do I?
Yet here we are...FORCED into getting something we really don't need (and many don't even want), all because "someone else" thinks we DO need it (so they can make money off of us).
Now excuse my "French", but that's been pretty f*cking presumptive AND selfish.
Computer software seems to change (I prefer to say mutate...like a virus) almost HOURLY, so who the hell can keep up with all that anyway, hmm?
I'm not competing with anyone to see who has "the most" of anything, so I'm really not partaking in all this "fun".
Many others DO, however.
Damn shame. That (wasted) money could be put to better use...IF ONLY they'd pay attention to the people reaching into their pockets and emptying their bank accounts.
Now don't get me wrong...I LOVE the free enterprise system and capitalism. Hell, it's what is supposed to keep THIS nation economically viable (though you wouldn't know it by today's' news).
But provide me with something that WORKS...and works AS DESIGNED. And, for God's sake, don't make it so it fails before the shine wears off of it, OK?
Doesn't seem like too much to ask for, does it?
Most of all, TRY and make it...IN AMERICA!
I suppose there is a market for CHEAP labor, but when I buy something that's made in a country that pays it's workforce less than several hundred of OUR dollars a YEAR, I just don't think that quality is gonna be there.
Conversely, I also think that when America pays it's workers obscenely LARGE amounts of money for (hourly) work that is worth less than half the money it's actually worth, THAT also needs to be addressed.
And that's why car companies HERE are in the situation they are...
We've been too long playing the "Wheel of Torture" when it comes to our economy. Endless years of inflation, pay raises, cost increases, tax increases, layoff, more inflation, more of the rest, all designed to make the few very wealthy...at your expense.
Sadly, this is one puzzle that has no easy solution, no matter how many vowels you buy.
But, we CAN be frugal.
We CAN be attentive and read up on things before we buy them.
We CAN comparison shop.
We can do ALL these things, and perhaps more.
When it comes down to it, you will see that the true test of any economic problem will be solved by the PEOPLE.
It's the "everyman and everywoman" that make the REAL difference, but never let the powers that be know that...they think THEY run the show. And they're not adverse to telling us as much all to frequently.
We know differently, though...don't we?
Finally, this week is NATIONAL POLICE WEEK...so get out there and go thank an officer (or two).
And while you're at it...
Stay safe out there, America.

Friday Follies...
Hoo-boy...another weekend.
Didn't really think it would get here SOON enough, and there's a good reason why.
Allow me to elucidate.
As you all know (by now), I, like my compatriot Phil Marx, have placed signage on my property that clearly states that this is PRIVATE PROPERTY - KEEP OFF, or something to that effect.
There is to be NO trespassing upon said property.
I'm not being an old fart here, it's just that I get REAL tired chasing people OFF of the property. when they have NO business being there.
It's not THEIR property; it belongs to my wife and myself.
WE maintain it, WE pay the utilities on it, and WE foot the bill for taxes on it.
So I feel we have more than just a vested interest in it. It's OUR chunk of monthly change that goes into it...NO one else's.
It's more like a long-term "investment", such as can be applied to any house in THIS part of the city that is OWNED as well as LIVED in BY the owner (that would be a lot fewer than you could imagine).
And if I "request" that people who do not belong ON the property remove themselves, I don't think that's asking too much, do you?
Okay then...so yesterday, I see a strange car (1994 dk blue Chevy Caprice - black male driver only) pull INTO our driveway...and he sat there for more than just the time needed for a u-turn, which got me REAL "curious".
Now I have NO idea who the hell this guy is, but I know I DON'T know him, and he doesn't belong IN my driveway.
I was out the door, and told him to "get that thing OUT of here...NOW".
He stopped, and I thought "Am I gonna get shot over this, because I WILL fire back" (gun on the hip under the jacket - legal as hell ON my own property). No CCP needed...love it!
He started mumbling something (typically) unintelligible, and I reply: "Can't you read the damn sign, moron"?
Again...more mumbling. Something about turning around.
I said: "Looks like you CAN'T READ...and CAN'T TALK too well, either. Get your sorry ass outta here, boy, before I have the police here in about (looked at my watch)...THIRTY SECONDS. The clock's running, Bub".
Nice one, Bob. Helluva bluff on MY part.
Response time would be less than TEN minutes, actually...sooner if I "happened" to see a gun (which I didn't, and was not going to manufacture a lie). He drove off, I went in and tired to resume my life...AGAIN.
I mean there are TWO alleys to turn into IF you positively HAVE to pull an illegal turn on the street. Hell, go to the intersection and do a "360" like all the other mooks do. The police probably won't see it, as they're busy busting YOUR friends elsewhere.
End of story, right?
Not totally...we had more issues, but NOT with "Mr. saggy bottom Chevy driver", whose shirt was longer than my wife's dresses...(idiot).
A bit later, two kids from across the street were working off their orange drink sugar rush, and decided to toss stones at one another (great way to kill time...AND injure someone or damage property). Any of these so-called "parents" of these urchins EVER hear about something called TOYS???
Now when it comes to "energy", these kids make dogs in heat look damn near LETHARGIC!
I think I found Gore and Obama's "Alternative" energy source....just get them a huge hamster wheel to run in!
All you have to do is keep that sugar coming!
So they look at our pile of broken concrete that I have at the border of our driveway (to keep people from "cutting the corner" as they leave the alley, and damaging our lawn by eating the grass away). They start picking up some LARGE CHUNK of cement, and I pound on the back door, motioning for them to move along...NOW. So off they go elsewhere...
Again, end of story, right?
Nope...we're not finished yet.
I'm in watching TV (after my "dinnerus interrputus") to hear some commotion outside on our FRONT LAWN.
I see the SAME TWO KIDS horsing around and trampling on our decorative wire fencing along the perimeter of the top of our hill (where we plant things that bloom and look nice).
Out the door I go AGAIN, and loudly tell them in NO certain terms:
"GET THE F__K OFF THE DAMN LAWN, YOU LITTLE BASTARDS!"
(told 'ya I am about AS diplomatic as a brick through a plate-glass window)
They took off like they were SHOT, which, wasn't too far from the truth.
Whenever I hear something I should NOT be hearing, I instinctively reach for my pistol, because in THIS area, you can never be too sure...OR too safe. You learn from experience (which is still the best teacher).
I had to bend the fence back into shape, but I sure wish Code Enforcement would let me put my BARBED WIRE back up,.
Bet THAT would be one excellent deterrent for these little vandals.
They took off up the alley and returned to their rental crib (where the males toke blunts, drink the 40oz, and BBQ out front most days).
Marvelous environment to bring up children, isn't it?
We've already had a FWPD take down on the lawn at 0230 hrs one morning, another multi-person fight that I broke up with the spotlight and a gun, which involved people trying to run someone over with a damn car, and assorted other chase-offs.
All this AFTER I was confronted with a snot-nose teen that pulled a chrome pistol out of HIS waistband after I asked him to take the trash he dumped on MY lawn away.
You learn to ALWAYS keep a gun handy...just in case.
Now it would have been one helluva shame to cap these stupid little shits, but that's what happens when you DO stupid things, like treat other people's property like a damn playground, when you SHOULD be home playing, studying, or otherwise acting like a NORMAL human being, and not some rabid animal roaming the streets of the city.
You are just asking to have something unforeseen occur...with tragic results.
Personally, I'd much rather take a razor strop to their asses and TEACH them the meaning of RESPECT, for, obviously, whoever is pretending to RAISE them is definitely NOT.
Yeah...just another day in "da hood".
Where the "locals" believe (erroneously) that "What's YOURS is MINE...and what's MINE is MY OWN".
Helluva way to live, isn't it?
I forgot...we don't really "live" here...we just EXIST...and SURVIVE.
In that, there is contentment.
But it can always be worse...
Obama can cut $17 BILLION bucks from the budget...which amounts to 1/2 of ONE PERCENT of the total...really frugal, there, Barry).
And part of those cuts COULD pertain to the NATIONAL POLICE SURVIVORS fund (less money to family members of officers killed in the line of duty). Yeah, that'll piss off the nation's police REAL FAST.
Or, we COULD see states starting to manufacture their OWN firearms, to not allow the governmental intervention with interstate commerce, thereby cutting the balls off the Feds when they attempt to restrict gun sales and ammo sales. Three states are already on board with this (Montana, Utah,and Texas), so the Feds will finally learn what the 2nd Amendment will be all about soon enough, as this bill makes it way to the Supreme Court.
Oh wait, that stuff is already happening.
Yeah, it can ALWAYS be worse...just not by much.
Thank the maker for the weekend.
For those of you fortunate enough to NOT live in an area like mine...I truly ENVY you, but not in a sinful sense.
More appropriately, I admire you.
You don't have to deal with society's dregs, or flotsam.
The castoffs from societal normalcy don't live near you.
Your days aren't peppered with police and fire sirens, as are ours.
Your yards aren't playgrounds for stranger's (even stranger) kids.
You don't have to have a group of people try to collar their dog after it "excapes" from it's rental crib.
So WHY are you missing out on all this FUN, anyway, hmm?
I suppose someone has to live here, that's why we do.
Someone has to be some sort of beacon of truth..and normalcy.
And I guess SOMEONE has to show these idiots what DECENT people are like, whether they choose to want to or not.
I'm no hero, yet I've been called everything from a patriot to a *n*-lover...and then some. I'm not doing any of this for ANY glory...or money, believe me.
I'm just trying to live my life in a manner which reflects well on my upbringing.
I'm just trying to lead by example.
Seems like a plan.
So, wherever you go this weekend, and whatever you do...
Stay safe out there, America.