Tuesday Tidbits...
First off, please do not attempt to adjust your monitors...someone else is in control.
BLOGGER is having brain-fart "issues" again, and that the comments you post here ARE being PUBLISHED...but my FOLLOWER list and my edit "screwdrivers" are MIA.
Actualy it's on ONE of the computers (the one I always use to produce the blog posts...figures).
Again, we have to deal with a bunch of trained (?) primates that are mucking about CHANGING things all over the place, when, for over SIX YEARS I haven't had any problems of this magnitude (or frequency).
I would suggest you bear with Blogger, and eventually...they'll show back up (unlike Jimmy Hoffa).
Would be nice if they had a BONAFIDE HELP DESK to sort out this crap, because that should not be "my" job...I ain't getting paid to rewrite the parameters and template HTML for anyone's blog...nor do I wish to.
With that "Public Service Announcement" over with, let's move on...
*** Here we are at the end of the (merry?) month of May for 2011, and (I) we can official go on record as having recorded the WETTEST MAY in Indiana history (according to the weather prognosticators).
How's about them apples, hmm?
It's been a weird-ass weather month, no matter where you seemed to live.
And it's been VERY hard on people over much of the Midwest, from Texas and Oklahoma up through Ohio (and all points in-between).
*** We have another Memorial Day behind us as well, and I can state (with a sense of pride) that OUR HOUSE was the only one in viewing distance that displayed our nation's FLAG from sunrise to sunset.
Yet, let it not be said that NOT having seen Old Glory being flown elsewhere had ANY bearing on the level of cookouts and partying around the ghettohood!
If there's one thing these people LOVE to do...it's EAT...and DRINK...and PAR-TAY!
Amazing how easily you can get with THAT program when someone ELSE if paying the tab, isn't it?
As for us, in our Fortress of Reason?
Well, Mr. Bunny stopped by to thank us for flying the flag, and was rewarded with some daily treats.
Wifey and I got our red, white and purple (closest thing to blue they have) petunias planted in our urns out front, as well as some other small plants about the garden and patio.
We filled the bird feeders, put out a hummingbird feeder (just in case some from Mexico arrive early...now THOSE "immigrants" we have NO problem with....lol), and stuck a suet cake in that feeder, too.
Take care of God's creatures first...that's what I like to do.
Then, we set about to have ourselves a BBQ of sorts, but none of that goofy-ass shouting and loud music...no sir.
We use our grill for dinner, as in eating INSIDE where the A/C was running (and quite well).
We had ourselves some grilled Salmon as well as a rack of baby back ribs (and it WAS yummy).
Polish THAT off with a cold Guinness and the Memorial Day parade live from D.C. (with a few classic war flicks tossed into the mix), and you had all the trappings for a really MEANINGFUL DAY.
All that was missing were those that have passed before us.
And in that regard, we kept OUR time spent yesterday as much in keeping with the meaning OF the holiday...remembrance.
Nothing wrong with a bit of solemnity once in a while...keeps one humble...and thankful.
Wouldn't know that elsewhere in the area, though.
Even heard the first fireworks of this all-too-long season.
Fortunately, we didn't have any cars skidding into houses (always nice to hear that), and no one appeared to get shot, but that did not deter this city from racking up it's NINTH homicide of the year over the weekend.
Here's the *4-1-1*:
(( Published: May 30, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Victim of bat beating dies; county’s 9th homicide of ’11 - Archie Ingersoll The Journal Gazette
A Fort Wayne man has died of head injuries he suffered last week when he was severely beaten with a bat, the
Allen County Coroner’s Office said Sunday.
Christopher Deaton, 39, died Saturday evening at Lutheran Hospital. He had been a patient there since Tuesday night after he was beaten at a home in the 400 block of Bass Street, south of Parkview Field. Fort Wayne police said 45-year-old Manuel Silva arrived at the home upset, beat Deaton with the bat and left.
City police, with the help of U.S. marshals, later found Silva and arrested him across town in the 3300 block of Figel Avenue.
Silva, of the 5300 block of New Haven Avenue, was charged with aggravated battery. On Thursday, he posted $10,000 bail to be released from the Allen County Jail. He was not in custody Sunday.
Officer John Chambers, a city police spokesman, said detectives and prosecutors will discuss the possibility of more serious charges being filed against Silva.
The coroner’s office said an autopsy performed Sunday found that Deaton died from blunt-force trauma to the head. His death was ruled a homicide – the ninth this year in the city and county.
Silva does not have a listed phone number. He has not yet retained an attorney in the aggravated-battery case, according to the Indiana courts website. ))
NOT ARRESTED (again) ???
WTF are you WAITING FOR?
And here's the link to a more comprehensive sory:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/baseball-bat-beating-victim-dies
Some people just cannot control their animal instincts all that well.
Then again, the house where the beating happened looked to be a halfway house. The people interviewed didn't give ME a sense of well-being...just looking at 'em made the neck hairs stand up.
And then there's THIS story about something I've talked about AT LENGTH (here):
(( Published: May 31, 2011 3:00 a.m.
Driver flees after hitting 3-year-old - The Journal Gazette
A 3-year-old girl was in fair condition after she was hit by a car Monday evening on the city’s southeast side.
The driver drove away, police said.
The girl was playing in the street in the 4300 block of Spatz Avenue about 7:25 p.m. when a silver Saturn came speeding down the street, Fort Wayne police Sgt. Robert LaLone said. She was hit just south of McKinnie Avenue between South Park and Gaywood drives.
There were skid marks on the street where the driver tried to stop before hitting the child. LaLone said the driver skidded sideways and struck the girl. The girl was taken to a hospital in fair condition, he said.
The girl’s parents were at one of the homes nearby, but LaLone did not know whether they lived in the area.
Shortly after the girl was struck, numerous children were playing in the front yard of a home adjacent to the scene. A toddler nearly ran into the street while police were investigating, but his mother grabbed him just before he reached the pavement.
Spatz Avenue is narrow and had cars parked on both sides of the street Monday evening.
Anyone with information is asked to call Lt. Tony Maze at 427-1373. ))
Now WTF have I been saying about SPEEDING down here?
--It's prevalent.
--It's rampant.
--It's a daily occurrence (many times over).
--It's not being properly addressed by the FWPD command.
--It's been allowed to happen for YEARS.
And well, this is the result...if it's not a HOUSE being tagged...it's an UNSUPERVISED 3-year old...obviously IN THE STREET (where the cars like to drive)
Now, we can make a case BOTH for having people that do NOT deserve to be behind the wheel of ANY vehicles, just as much as we can belabor the point that there are people who do NOT deserve to be able to PROCREATE (and eventually allow their preschoolers to roam about in our streets).
Stupid IS...as stupid DOES (and does pretty damn well in some cases).
Helluva way to come off of such an IMPORTANT holiday, isn't it?
We commemorate the SACRIFICES of HONORABLE people who serve this nation and give so much ...in order to allow the REST of us to be FREE...
Free to be as dumb as a bag of rocks (in some instances)...
Somehow, the justification is appearing a bit muddied in that regard.
Goes to show what CAN happen when (some) people get their priorities ass-backwards.
I know I see such lack of responsibility every...single...day.
Freedom is NEVER free, but it goes way beyond the service of our troops to this nation.
What it comes down to is EVERY ONE OF US taking SOME responsibility for WHO WE ARE.
If we're a parent, we have a specific responsibility.
if we serve the public, we have quite another.
And even if we're Joe or Jane "Citizen" we still have a responsibility to encourage, empower, and teach those that need to LEARN...in whatever manner that learning presents itself.
WE can therefore LEAD by example, enabling others to do likewise, should they choose to.
Still, when the choices are made, we must remain responsible for whatever outcomes spring from them.
That is accountability, plain and simple.
It's not hard to acquire...all it takes is courage, persistence, and a willingness to do the right things in life.
And that should suffice for most ANY of us.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.