Friday Follies...
Whoa...hard to believe that in less than 168 HOURS, we'll all be firmly ensconced in the holiday we call CHRISTMAS!
I'm trusting that most of you have that all-important shopping done.
Most all of mine has the "mission-accomplished" tag on it now, so may-be, I can kick back a spell, and start firing up the cassette and CD players with all that wonderful Christmas music...well, that, and have a nice scotch on the rocks later. Lots to talk about today, so without further ado, let's plunge right in, shall we?
** In lieu of the state of the world these days, Kris Kringle (aka Santa Clause) is doing something a bit "different" this year...
Usually, we wouldn't hear a peep from the "Big Guy" until Christmas Eve, when he appeared on the NORAD radar systems, after which, he'd be tracked (safely) across the skies to ensure his safe journey to the homes of children everywhere.
This year, he had a "briefing" at NORAD. Santa met with top military officials at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, CO, to discuss such things as flight plans, orbital plots, escorts, and the like.
Here's the details in this article:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/nation-90993-charge-norad.html
Now I always knew Santa was a person who practiced safety, and considering WHO he is, he really didn't have to go this "extra mile", but it's nice to know that after ALL these years, the Big Guy STILL thinks about others first...a lesson to be learned here perhaps?
BTW, here's a neat website for the children (of any age) to visit as Santa gets ready to "git 'er done".
http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html
And, IF you are feeling a bit "ELVISH" this season (and watching Lord of the Rings again ain't gonna cut it), you can swing on over and hone your skills at the Kris Kringle Academy...to see if YOU have what it takes to become a "Prep and Landing" Elf on Christmas Eve.
Here's the link to this website:
http://disney.go.com/partners/prepandlanding/kringleacademy/index.html
I've already got my Prep & Landing ornament for the tree (btw, it's ON SALE NOW for under $6 and the Disney store ships FAST!)
Never hurts to be prepared...does it?
Remember, Christmas is counting on...YOU.
In other news...
** Here is an update on the S/E side shooting - the 21st homicide in Fort Wayne this year.
((Victim’s brother sought in slaying - Sisters recall father of 2 girls as family man, urge sibling to surrender
Michael Zennie/The Journal Gazette
One brother is dead, gunned down in his apartment Wednesday. Police are calling the other brother armed and dangerous and want to question him about the shooting.
Leroy Johnson Jr. was a 27-year-old father of two little girls with more children on the way.
He loved his family more than anything else, his sisters said.
" ‘All we got is each other.’ That was his favorite thing to say," Latoya Taylor, 31, said of her little brother.
Fort Wayne police said her other brother, 22-year-old Brandon Lee Johnson, is a person of interest in the killing. He has not been named a suspect, but his sisters fear the worst.
Katrina Johnson can’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt her brother Leroy.
And the idea that Brandon might have had something to do with the killing is devastating, she said.
"Brandon hasn’t been himself for a while. He was out of his mind," Taylor said between sobs.
"He loved his brother, and he knew his brother loved him."
Police were called to Leroy Johnson Jr.’s apartment at 4054 Wayne Trace about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday. When they arrived, they found Johnson shot to death. His friend, Clifton R. Davis, 25, was seriously injured and taken to a hospital.
The Allen County Coroner’s Office said the death was the county’s 21st homicide of the year; all have occurred in Fort Wayne.
The sisters said Leroy Johnson Jr. was a down-to-earth man who was loyal to his friends and his family.
When he was a teenager – a fresh graduate of North Side High School – he paid for the groom’s tuxedo for Taylor’s wedding.
"He didn’t even bat an eye," she said.
Johnson had two daughters, ages 4 and 7, with two more babies on the way, Katrina Johnson said.
She said her brother loved to play video games – especially the "Madden" football series.
He also loved football and rooted for the Indianapolis Colts.
"He was a good-hearted boy," Katrina Johnson said as she cried.
Police urge anyone who knows the whereabouts of Brandon Lee Johnson to call 911. They warn he is armed and dangerous.
Both sisters said they hope their remaining brother is found quickly so they can begin to understand what happened in Leroy Johnson’s apartment Wednesday. "He should turn himself in so he doesn’t make things worse," Taylor said.))
--Wow...the victim already had TWO kids...with TWO more on the way...I guess he "loved" doing something beside playing Madden Football, didn't he?
And where exactly did he WORK AT? I don't recall seeing anything about EMPLOYMENT anywhere (you have to pay for rearing FOUR children in SOME manner, right?), or hearing about his CO-WORKERS saddened by his death.
Must be another product of our flawed welfare system, or did he just live off the "baby-mamas" he was cribbing with in the hood?
But he was loyal to friends and family (so are gang members for that matter).
"All you got is whoever is left" would be MY favorite thing to say to them.
Mr. Brandon L. Johnson, you might be armed and dangerous, but so...am...I.
And you don't want to know how "dangerous" I can be (to you and thugs like you), trust me.
I contend that it would be prudent for the FWPD to check out my area (Sector 45), as there are a lot of places to "get lost", especially with all the vacant rentals in the area....just a thought, boys & girls.
** Editor's update - suspect has been caught. Here's the link:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/blackhawk-apts-swat
Remember now, he "IS" only a syuspect (at this time)...
But wait...there's more...(Sorry I just can't stop channeling pitchmen):
** Not all the criminals in my part of town are the "brightest crayons in the box", that's for sure.
And here's the proof.
((Three teenagers nabbed after restaurant robbery / The Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne police arrested three teenagers Thursday after an armed robbery at a south-side restaurant.
Shortly before 11 a.m., two men walked into Renaissance Restaurant at 1033 E. Tillman Road.
One asked for change and then pulled a gun, walked around the counter and demanded money, according to a police report.
After taking money from the register, they ran out of the store and got into a maroon Chevrolet Malibu. A customer wrote down a partial license plate number as the car fled.
An officer spotted the vehicle on South Calhoun Street shortly after the robbery, and police stopped it on Warsaw Street near East Pettit Avenue, according to police.
Inside were two 18-year-olds Mark H. Kiel, of the 2700 block of Chandler Drive, and Deonte Javon Whitt, of the 2500 block of Shady Oak Drive, and a 17-year-old whose name was not released because he was initially charged as a juvenile. All three were arrested on robbery charges. Kiel was also charged with marijuana possession.))
--Now THIS crime had a much different ending that most around here, due to one, simple FACT:
ONE PERSON (a run-of-the-mill customer) made a difference by getting a partial tag number. That act alone contributed in no small part to nailing these thugs less than an hour after the robbery. And where they were arrested was a spit and a slide from where I live...gotta LOVE that.
I am wondering WHY this one "juvenile" black youth was NOT in school (and probably smoking pot)???
It wasn't an "off-day"...that's NEXT week. Must have been suspended...or truant (another big problem in the hood - lack of responsibility), but at least for a few days, he's gonna get "3 hots & a cot", as it were...heh, heh, heh.
Nothing screams "a sense of community" QUITE like that, does it?
And folks wonder WHY people like this have problems in life...because THEY bring it on themselves.
I love it.
Yep, never a dull moment around here.
When I heard the call on the radio, I started scoping the area from our house, and I did see a police cruiser in the area (no lights and sirens). I didn't see the hook take the car away, because it was not in view from our rather Acropolistic view (our house sits higher than others in the neighborhood...great to watch the four connecting streets). That's why the perps around here would love to see us move away. This house is a great lookout post...LOL. I'd love to have the FWPD place cameras on our house (or utility pole nearby)...oh, the things they would see.
Tell 'ya one thing...seeing a "happy ending" to crime around here NEVER gets old!
And nothing says CHRISTMAS like a happy ending, does it?
Ah, yes...all the trappings that "help to make the season bright", as Nat Cole used to sing about.
It's like I said early this week...this time of year is all about TRADITIONS.
Most of us have ones that elicit a sense of FAMILY...of BELONGING...and of CHARITY toward one another.
Others, like the punk-ass thugs above...not so much.
I'd like to believe we're turning a corner, societally-speaking.
A return to more traditional VALUES in each of us...that's what I feel is happening.
Sure, it may not occur all at once, and not to as many people as we'd like to see...but it IS happening, none the less.
But if it only happens to ONE person a day during this time of year...it's a damn good start.
We may not all live to see the change in a more noticeable manner, but it will happen.
It has to, if we are to believe that Christmas is truly as meaningful as we have seen in years past.
It's an American thing, born of the many peoples who came to our shores in search of something BETTER.
And it is to THEM, our ancestors, that we should rededicate ourselves to making that dream of theirs OUR dream.
Our future depends upon such things...and upon such people.
Have a great weekend, get that shopping done, and wherever you find yourself...
Stay safe out there, America.