Looking Back...Or Looking Ahead...
This is that time of year that pretty much determines your mindset for the New Year...kind of like the "glass half empty / half full" gig.
I could never get into the New Year's Resolution thing, except that I would always resolve to NOT make a resolution. I prefer to handle that stuff on a more daily basis...
What will happen in MY neighborhood is perhaps 45 minutes BEFORE midnight, gunshots will break out.
This will culminate in what would sound (to some) like a damn firefight at 0000 hrs....IN KABUL!!!
And you can tell who has the hi-cap mags...with 17 rounds going off in rapid succession.
I've often considered it damn close to a civil war reenactment I attended years ago. Or, you could also say it sounds like the Tet offense in '68.
The "local" gunfire will let up around 0200 hours (lucky us).
And I probably won't see any police cars in the area...like in years past.
Damn shame....they could nail some dumbasses AND some guns.
Here's what Orange, Co, CA has to say:
http://www.ocregister.com/news/air-226204-year-sheriff.html
And this was from LAST year:
http://www.madrigalmaniac.com/2009/01/02/idiots-shooting-guns-in-the-air-on-new-years-in-columbus/
But it's not people lack INTELLIGENCE, right?
(must be the booze and drugs...AND the lack of intelligence)
What needs to be taken from this is that people WILL be shooting off GUNS in my neighborhood, and NOT into the ground. And since the laws of PHYSICS still exist, what goes UP...will come DOWN.
Wonder how MANY of those guns I hear tonight will actually be LEGAL ones...or how many were used in recent holdups in the city?
I'd also like to know when STUPIDITY came to live in this part of town. I guess shooting off your gun in a heavily populated residential area is a "cultural thang"?

I say we allow people who MUST shoot off a gun (to obviously re-enforce their pitiful belief in their own manhood) on New Year's to purchase a model like THIS on...recently developed by Smith and Wesson.
I think it has REAL potential, people.
Back in my old Philly neighborhood, clanging pots and pans worked well for us. Not ONE person was wounded during such celebrations. Nor was there ANY property damage from all those pots and pans "going off"...!
It's all in how you bring in the new year...cautiously...or violently.
How you view 2009 will have a significant effect on your outlook towards 2010.
Now all we seem to be hearing is what happened in 2009, and I suppose that's all well and good for some. We had some famous people pass away (as we do every year), along with some interesting turns of events (again, as we seem to have in other years), but there does seem to be something "more" attached to the turning of the calendar this year.
Generally speaking, America has suffered at the hands of some people who only have one thing in mind...controlling your life to a much greater degree than in the past.
And while I will admit that we DO have more than a few people in this country who desperately NEED control in their lives, the majority of us were doing just fine until we had all these new "programs" shoved down our throats (against our will and desire, I might add).
If it were up to some people in power, this nation would become an entitlement-driven, dumbed down nation...JUST so we could be on a more "equal" playing field with the rest of the world.
Sorry, but I really don't want to play THAT game...and neither do you.
I would much rather see America rise again to become the world leader in such things as finance, medicine, technology, and the like.
But we can't do it when we're hip-deep in hock to other countries with diametrically opposed views on society (read communist).
Face it...you can't go out and buy a new house, taking on all the financial responsibilities attached to such a purchase without being able to balance a checkbook, or not knowing how much money you have in your bank account, can you?
Well, that's what is staring this nation square in the kisser, friends.
What I would LIKE to see for the new year is for this America to return to being fiscally responsible...especially when it comes to OUR money. We have an overgrown government at most every level tapping our paychecks, spending like a drunken sailor, and mortgaging our future, as well as our childrens' future in a highly mismanaged attempt to stave off economic insolvency.
How about we STOP spending for a while...and maybe SAVE A FEW BUCKS HERE AND THERE.
I know that works in most ANY family...and pretty damn well, as I recall.
If the PEOPLE can do this, and the PEOPLE pay the salaries of those in government, then by God, it should be the PEOPLE who control the "purse-strings", and not a bunch of elitist bureaucrats who act like they're on liberty from reality.
America is a much changed place than when I was young, and it's not just in the realm of finance.
Education has changed, and the resulting lower graduation rates, coupled with a lack of accountability from students and parents has produced a system destined to fail, yet we see it is a SOCIETAL issue causing the real problem, as I stated here before.
When the family unit is compromised, it affects all other facets of the lives of those involved.
With very few exceptions, this is another "system" destined for failure.
Our judicial system is broken...period.
When victims are made to look as bad as those accused or convicted of the crime against these people, something is dreadfully wrong. When plea "deals" are the norm, and prosecutors take the easy way out, instead of doing what they're trained to do, we ALL lose.
This system needs to be fixed, and soon.
The housing industry needs to scale back and take into consideration all the homes available for rehab, instead of constantly putting up all these new developments and placing people in the houses they can't possibly afford. Much of this is part of the problem that came to a head in 2009...and could also occur again, if we're all not careful.
Wall street needs to stop playing the market like a senior citizen at the 5 cent slots.
The incessant futures market has, on more than one occasion, artificially driven oil prices up and down more often than a ten dollar whore on a Friday night, and all this "speculative" venturing needs to be reigned in.
American needs a definitive plan to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan...or get the hell out.
Personally, I think we should FIGHT...and fight to WIN.
I think WINNING sends a much CLEARER message to those would even think of "messin' with America".
And I also think our leaders should stop apologizing for America.
If this nation does ANYTHING wrong, it's to erroneously elect people who, after attaining their offices, constantly blame others and otherwise defame and demean these United States, while spending the money of the people in a cavalier manner.
Fortunately, we have a system in place to correct such "errors".
We, as a people, also need to rediscover what the word RESPECT means, and not just towards one another.
We need to respect OURSELVES first, and I think this country's been suffering withdrawal from NOT doing so for long enough.
Respect, as I always say, needs to be EARNED, so perhaps THAT is why I respect such people as firefighters, law-enforcement officers, the elderly, and those others who have demonstrated to me that my respect to them HAS been earned by THEIR actions.
And respect is also ALWAYS a 2-way street.
If someone has earned your respect, you gotta give some to get some (if YOU have earned it).
What our nation needs is a crash course in ETHICS.
All those neat things that cause people to be NICE to others...honest in business...devoted to the family...diligent at work...yeah, all that sappy crap is what America's all about.
We USED to have a lot more of it here...
And I think that in 2010, we are ready to give it another shot.
I believe we're AT the crossroads, and we DO know which way we need to travel in order to get America back on her feet.
The New Year is a turning point for this nation, and it's going to be really intriguing to see how it pans out.
Will we have some more bad times?
Probably.
BUT...we will come out BETTER from them...we always have in the past, and there is NO reason we cannot do it again.
With all the items on every person's plate in this country, we do have to practice caution...we don't want to "eat" too fast, and get heartburn. We want to take our time, chew our "food" well, and make sure we "digest" it all well enough.
So, while I always take some time to "reflect" BACK to years past, I still look FORWARD to the new year, with a sincere hope that all REAL Americans step up and make their presence known.
This is OUR nation...our forefathers made it...for US...and our descendants.
We have been charged with a great and wonderful responsibility...
We are the caretakers of THIS nation...the stewards of THIS country..
And we have a brand New Year ahead of us to show we ARE up to the challenge.
Stay Safe Out There, America...
See 'ya next year!