Humpday Happenings...
We're having the roof repair representative stop on by later this afternoon, and this was precipitated by that last storm we had rolling through here the other night.
I found several shingles in our flower beds...usually a sign that it's time to re-roof, and considering that the shingles ARE older than at least 15 years, it's better to replace the roof now, then to dodge those eventual "indoor water features".
Besides, don't like the notion of having to perform (or pay for) repairs INSIDE the house when that "ounce of prevention" can sure provide MORE than a pound of fixing, right?
Not to mention, we can have the house roof color match the garage color.
I like consistency when it comes to things such as that.
Moving along...

*** Last evening, my uptown friend, Phil Marx spoke before city council, and I have to say, I was impressed by his words AND his presentation as to how his neighborhood was "cleaned up" from the riff-raff that inhabited it.
The one thing that council SHOULD have paid attention to, was that Phil mentioned that it took OVER FIFTEEN YEARS to make this change for the better occur!
To me, that's WAY too long, especially when drugs were being dealt from in FRONT of his own house.
With multiple arrests in his area, as well as multiple deaths and assaults among the "locals", something had to eventually give.
As I have said here, Phil bought a "HUD" house and basically turned it into a showcase for the entire block...and he did it ON HIS OWN...no government handouts...just what we used to call "sweat-equity".
Down in MY part of the ghettohood, it's more like I'm trying to PREVENT what happened in Phil's area from happening to mine.
And I'm fighting a very UPHILL battle.
Now, we don't have the LEVEL of drug-dealing that occurred uptown (yet), BUT, we are seeing the rumblings of a "work in progress", as it were.
What I'm noticing is how MUCH of the small sh*t goes unreported (except when I call something in), uncited, and relatively unnoticed.
And as is always the case, when you permit small things to happen, they WILL escalate.
When you have to deal with such a sub-culture as we have down here, allowing them to chronically "get away" with little things such as loud music, illegal u-turns at intersections, parking violations, neighborhood code violations (and more), THEIR limited minds will perceive this as being able to do damn near anything to anyone at any time.
That will lead to the type of scenario that Phil had to deal with for those 15+ years. I personally don't wish to have to endure that, and certainly NOT for that long.
(there will be blood)
People would say to me: 'Well Bob, why not find other neighbors that feel the way you do, unite them to keep the vermin out?"
Love to do that, but there are NO "neighbors" that would bother one damn lick to change the status quo.
And whatever whites we have down here can be just as bad (and guilty) of bringing down the neighborhood.
So, it's NOT just an "ethnic" issue...it's a PEOPLE issue (as it always is).
Basically, we have white trash, black trash, and a little brown trash tossed in.
*** Farther south of us, we (apparently) have the Burmese trash as well, as chronicled in out LATEST HOMICIDE...number 7.
(if you're keeping that dead pool going at work).
Here's the skinny:
(( Published: April 12, 2011 3:00 a.m. Knife, alcohol part of report on homicide - Jeff Wiehe The Journal Gazette
They had been drinking, which led to an argument.
One of the three men grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed one of the others. And that in turn may have led to his beating death.
A man found dead Friday in an apartment in the 1200 block of Fayette Drive has been identified, an arrest in his death has been made and newly released Allen Superior Court documents paint a picture of what might have happened to 43-year-old Aung Win. Fort Wayne police were called about 4 p.m. Friday to Brentwood Apartments, where they found Aung Win with a bloody and swollen face.
The Allen County coroner ruled Aung Win’s death a homicide but has yet to release a cause. Police also found two other men who were drinking with Aung Win throughout Thursday evening, according to court documents.
One of the men, 46-year-old Nyunt Shwe, has been arrested and charged with aggravated battery in connection to Aung Win’s death. In court documents, Nyunt Shwe admitted he beat Aung Win with a wooden kitchen pestle – typically used to grind up spices – but said he did so because Aung Win stabbed his friend.
The events leading to Aung Win’s death began about 6 p.m. Thursday, when Aung Win went to Nyunt Shwe’s apartment, which he shared with another man. Nyunt Shwe, his roommate and Aung Win then began to drink.
Nyunt Shwe said Aung Win had already been drinking before his arrival, according to court documents. At some point, an argument ensued. Aung Win allegedly grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Nyunt Shwe’s roommate in the upper back, just below the shoulder, according to court documents.
Nyunt Shwe and his roommate then wrestled the knife away from Aung Win.
Nyunt Shwe gave his roommate some ibuprofen, and his roommate went to bed, leaving Nyunt Shwe and Aung Win in the living room, documents said.
Nyunt Shwe told police that Aung Win left the apartment about 8 p.m., according to court documents. Aung Win then returned about 10 p.m., Nyunt Shwe told investigators. That’s when Nyunt Shwe punched Aung Win in the face.
He told police he then grabbed the kitchen pestle and struck him in the head several times, according to court documents. He said he was angry about the stabbing earlier and that he did not intend to kill Aung Win. Nyunt Shwe’s roommate also told police he witnessed the beating, saying that Nyunt Shwe hit Aung Win three times in the head and that Aung Win did not move afterward.
Human hair and red stains were on the kitchen pestle when police found it at the scene, according to court documents.
The next day, a neighbor came to the apartment about 11 a.m. looking to drink, according to court documents.
The men tried to wake Aung Win, but he was dead, the court documents said. Before he reportedly admitted to the beating, Nyunt Shwe told investigators that Aung Win may have died from too much alcohol.
Nyunt Shwe is being held in Allen County Jail on $10,000 bond. ))
*** I suppose it COULD be worse here (as my post the other day said)...but not by much. I had said to Phil (and our quadrant captain) more than 3 years ago, that MORE crime was indeed coming down to MY part of the ghettohood..."like a rising tide" was the way I put it.
And I've been right on target.
While the CITY keeps on claiming that crime is going DOWN, I see something quite different (and not because I want to).
I see the police department "reclassifing" certain crimes to other categories in order to make it "appear" as if crime levels are dropping.
I used to call that FRAUD...or lying outright. I KNOW that the department has MISSED way too many citable offenses down here to the tune of $400,000+ bucks!
And I ALSO know that if Neighborhood Code Enforcement decided to do SOMETHING about all the overgrown vegetation, overpopulated houses, and rampant trash in the area, THAT would net some nice monetary figures.
But I have a "character flaw" when it comes to noticing such things...
See, I don't believe in this whole "double-standard" gig the way the CITY does. The city apparently has ONE standard for the REST of the city and the NORMAL people living there, and ANOTHER for this part of town.
Laws that apply in Aboite neighborhoods or the upper NE side DO NOT apply down here.
Try dumping your Mc'D's bag full of trash into the street in a really NICE neighborhood...and see how far that gets you.
Or better yet, walk up and down the street in saggy pants screaming into your cell phone for over a half hour...like this "female" of the species.
(yeah, I called the po-po on her...and she's not been doing that since 2 days ago, but I'll probably have to call again soon, as their "short-term memory" is just that...SHORT. They don't believe in boundaries, and have no respect for anything or anyone.)
You have to understand that in those good neighborhoods, there is something called a COMMUNITY.
Around here, it's more TRIBAL than anything else.
There IS no community to speak of, otherwise we'd not be part and parcel to all the crap going on, and these wannabe thugs, bangers, and druggies would not operate with such impunity.
These are the people spawned from FDR's "new deal" (1935), Johnson's "war on poverty" (1964), and Clinton's "welfare reform" (1996).
Sure has been working out for us, hasn't it?
I know it hasn't been working out for Helen Vello in Baltimore. I came across this story from another friend's blogsite...one that calls out people for their reverse-racist behavior.
Here's the link to Helen's story from the ABC affiliate:
(she does sound a lot like me): http://www.abc2news.com/dpp/news/crime_checker/baltimore_city_crime/baltimore
Her neighborhood is a LOT like mine...and like Phil's, and probably like a lot more neighborhoods in Fort Wayne and across the nation...neighborhoods whose few decent inhabitants live in fear of their lives.
Some refuse to move, as it's THEIR home, THEIR house, and they should NOT be forced out by ethnic thuggery.
And whatever police action is taken is usually temporary, as claims of racial profiling surface, or some other lame excuse for inexcusable behavior is foisted against those that provide law and order to such lawless areas of our cities and towns.
Somehow, the problems of our nation, many and deep as they are seem pale in comparison to problems in your neighborhood or even on your block.
When things hit THAT close to home, there is a greater sense of immediacy to have something done...anything that will allow YOU the "right to be left alone" as former Suprene court judge Louis Brandeis would have said.
Now, when any person is (through intent by another party) forced to deviate from their normal everyday behavior and activites, THAT is akin to something we call TERRORISM.
And aren't we supposed to be waging a "war" on THAT? Doesn't have to be in some God-forsaken third world nation, when it comes to terrorism. It can all too frequently be "home-grown", and should be dealt with as such.
And this applies to ANYONE of ANY race that perpetrates such activities upon the helpless and the innocnet people of our nation.
Tell 'ya, there are some days when I feel as if I'm trying to bail out the Titanic with a damn teaspoon.
And in many ways, I miss the person I used to be...I'd like to have him back for a spell. But you do what you have to do, in order to not fall victim to this ever-growing problem of urban crime.
If it were up to me, I'd level the whole damn area surrounding our "Fortress of Reason", and in most cases a small block of C4 would do nicely on most all of the homes.
Raze them ALL.
THEN, we'd start the hell over...clean slate...new people...new criteria for establishing AND maintaining a GOOD neighborhood, and not this developing cesspool of human apathy and ignorance.
I certainly don't want to see MY area become as Phil's did...and I definitely don't wish to have it take FIFTEEN or more years to get the damn job done.
The city of Fort Wayne should be forced to "own up" to this mistake they've allowed to occur down here for decades, AND be (more than) willing to make amends to those few of us that are trying to stay the course and stick it out.
THAT would be fair...something we haven't seen all that much of over the last 20 years down here.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.