ThingsThat Make 'Ya Go "Hmm"...
Looks like we're in for some COOLER weather around here the next few days (good, don't have to run the A/C and hopefully not even the heat), and with my tomatoes JUST ripening, cool is not my first choice. Next year, back to cherry tomatoes...period!

Now, I want to take you back to when you were all children (for some of us, it IS easy...LOL)


*** Remember those cartoons YOU used to watch?
Popeye, Betty Boop, Tom & Jerry, Merrie Melodies, Disney, Harvey cartoons (Baby Huey, Little Lulu, Herman & Catnip), Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes...all were staples when I was that young and impressionable.
We also had the Three Stooges, but we're sticking to ANIMATED characters here.
And basically, they were all about one thing...good beating evil to some degree.
Now, it could be a gopher tearing up a garden, or Bugs Bunny going head-to-head with a "gremlin" (in a bomber flying through Manhattan) during WW2.


It was Wile E. Coyote being blown up for the umpteenth time (courtesy of the ACME company) trying to snag that damn roadrunner, or Foghorn Leghorn smacking the crap out of the dog's butt with a board, just to let him know he was there.
In some cases, these cartoons taught lessons, like working together, or being able to reach agreements (with that gopher, who was allowed to partake from that garden, in exchange for burrowing holes for new plantings)...
It was all pretty much good stuff, if one was paying attention.
That's where the parents came in - they knew the "message" of a seven-minute cartoon, and would explain it to us, if we failed to "get it".
Funny thing...OUR generation didn't seem to ALL turn out to be mass murderers, bullys, serial bombers, and the like.
EVERY generation has a few bad seeds, but it's never indicative of the group as a whole.
Today's cartoons seem to have something ELSE going for them...
According to a new study, child's fare such as Spongebob Squarepants, is a contributing factor to ADHD (poorer performance levels).
I will grant you that most of today's cartoons never even peak my interest...at all.
Here's the link to the source story:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/12/watching-spongebob-can-lead-to-learning-problems/
Maybe it's my "age", but whenever I see a cartoon that has nothing but frenetic characters bouncing all over the dang place for 22 minutes, I get BORED real early-on.
The classic cartoons weren't ALL about the characters flying all over the place...many times, they were JUST walking down a street, or thinking about something, and that could last close to a minute.
Even the Lone Ranger had about TWO small scenes every half hour that were action-filled. The rest was tracking the bad guys down, revealing the plot.
Then again, that was a time when the TV was NOT a parental "stand-in", but rather something that was awarded us children for doing our homework, or eating all our vegetables...cause and effect, as it were.
Today, TV is taking the place of parents, as is the Internet (which has it's OWN TV shows & movies now), and whenever parental responsibility becomes compromised, the learning curve for the children begins to take more turns that Lombard St in Frisco!
They used to call preschool years the FORMATIVE YEARS for a reason...it's the time when the brain grows more than at any other stage of development outside the womb, not to mention neural pathways are established at a faster rate.
And the old adage rings true:
"Garbage IN - garbage OUT".
Simple as that.
The Japanese live with animation their WHOLE lives, and it's all tailored to the age of specific groups.
And I don't see THEM becoming a bunch of ADHD patients...must be some parental involvement (and not a government subsidy) working for them, hmm? Might want to invest in some old Looney Tunes DVDs...I'm just sayin'...
It is something to ponder...especially when next you decide to see what your kids are watching.
Moving along...
*** Some people actually ENJOY beating dead horses (metaphorically-speaking)...but WHY aren't they ever brought up on "animal cruelty" charges?
Case in point, a developer is trying to sell the idea of a Pontiac "rebirth" housing duplexes.
Here's the source article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110913/LOCAL/309139961/1002/LOCAL
However noble and considerate an idea is, it has to be based in FACTS, and ignoring such facts while plowing ahead with ANY sort of development can lead to potential disaster (again).
Placing an $18 MILLION DOLLAR housing "project" (I hate to even hear that word), will encompass 86 duplex houses and "multifamily" residences in that area around the Renaissance Pointe neighborhood.
Seems we ALREADY have a crapload of such hovels...I mean HOUSES down here, so what's the freaking point?
Now, I don't give a hoot and holler in hell HOW much you dress up a filthy stinking sow...it's STILL going to be a sow.
This is like slapping a coat of paint and planting a flower out front of a house ready to collapse in upon itself.
That dog just ain't gonna hunt.
And it NEVER addresses the REAL reason WHY that once nice neighborhood DEVOLVED into what it has become today, like other neighborhoods across (...all together gang...) the SOUTHEAST SIDE of Fort Wayne.
It's the CRIME...or more importantly, the PEOPLE who commit the crime.
Crime does not commit itself...ever. It needs a little *nudge*...a little push...an "assist from helping hands".
When you place people in housing because they claim poverty, all the while doing or dealing drugs, are thieves, rapists, and all other assorted flotsam, you're just BEGGING for trouble.
Now, while that might become "job-security" for local law-enforcement, it's a bane for those that have to live among such human refuse.
I know...I live the adventure daily.
And this type of behavior is not NEW to them, it has been fostered and nurtured since birth.
They've been brought up to believe that it's FAR better to have everyone do everything FOR you, instead of doing for ONESELF, thereby creating a REAL sense of worth and achievement.
So why NOT "give" them a house, right?
Well, they SAY it's "rent-to-own", but we know what the result will be.
When people are motivated into holding themselves to the SAME standards as everyone else who is NOT being a dumbass, then, and ONLY then, will neighborhoods return to something we can ALL be proud to live and raise a family in...not before.
*** Next up today, along such "government-sponsored" lines...there's THIS:
Fast Food restaurants want to get in on the "food stamp craze".
Here's are some source articles:
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/06/28/food-stamps-for-fast-food-yum-say-restaurants/
And this:
http://news.yahoo.com/food-stamps-fast-food-potential-abuse-everywhere-000900064.html
And...this:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2011-09-05/More-restaurants-are-targeting-customers-who-use-food-stamps/50267864/1
Now I think (imho) that this is a REALLY bad idea, and for a LOT of reasons.
We ALREADY have food banks, charitable agencies out the butt, AND grocery items eligible for EBT alongside the rest of the food stuffs. Someone recently was quoted to say there are over FOUR-HUNDRED separate assistance agencies out there right now!
Ain't that just a bit MUCH?
And we are beset with checkout lines being tied up because these food-stamp-toting folks like to pay for MULTIPLE ORDERS partially with the stamps and partially with cash, debit or credit card, before they get into their new SUV in the parking lot (taking up that handicapped spot, when they certainly are NOT).
Some states already have a fast-food-stamp gig in place, and I have to ask WHY?
Isn't it enough these supplemental nutrition assistance programs (SNAP) are there to primarily aid the ELDERLY...or the physically DISABLED, or even the HOMELESS?
Now, we want everyone who "wants to be" on the gov't dole to get on board with this?
What the hell EVER happened to COOKING???
I know for a fact that most ALL the "neighbors" around us have little if ANY knowledge of that damn thing in their kitchen with the swing DOWN door and 4 round metal things on top, EXCEPT as a heating unit in winter, or a place to dry clothes...both of which usually result in house fires that trash the building beyond repair.
I have no problem with assisting those that NEED it, but I draw the line at those who WANT it...period.
And I certainly don't want MY fast food order to sit on the damn shelf, getting cold, while some lazy-ass morbidly-obese, government-sponsored "baby-maker" makes up her freaking mind as to how MUCH she wants to stuff in her piehole and HOW many different ways she wants to pay for it.
Face it, if this becomes commonplace, many of these people will burn THROUGH the damn food stamps in a WEEK (or less, judging by the amount of refuse in their trash bins every week). THEN, what do they do?
(ask for MORE stamps, Bob?)
You can see where this can go...more money wasted, when all that is needed is financial management, and a DESIRE to better oneself, and not by keeping a hand out ad perpetuum, while kicking back on that sofa.
Wifey and I eat fast food ONCE a week...on Friday. And many times, we make it last two, maybe three days (with pizza anyway), so we're getting the most from OUR money. But I can never depend on ANY fast food joint for my sustenance...I like cooking WAY too much for that.
And I never even took Home Ec...LOL.
But I did grow up with an appreciation for GOOD food...made at home...by my Mother, who would have been NINETY years old today...thanks, Mom (or grandma...or aunt).
That is another facet to what makes America great...
Prepared with love, served with care, and enjoyed with gusto.
THAT is America at it's finest...never forget that.
God, now I'm hungry...LOL.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.