It Can't be ALL Bad...Can It?
I know I'm not the ONLY person that thinks about WTH is happening to our world these days...I just can't be.
Used to be you had to look far AND wide to see something that really made you glad you lived HERE...in AMERICA.
But so much of "what was out there" is now becoming entrenched right HERE...NOW.
Got a few examples of some of the "dumbassery" that's roaming about these days, and we begin with being "green", or to be more precise...EFFICIENT with the management of certain aspects of ALL our lives.
*** Remember when I posted here about the WATER RATE INCREASE of about FORTY PERCENT a few weeks back?
(refer back to archives of 11-12 January 2012...that'll refresh your memories, but not your thirst all that much)
Well, it's time ANOTHER utility to "chime in" with THEIR rate hike of about TWENTY TWO PERCENT...!
This comes to you in Indiana courtesy of I&M aka Michigan Power. (the electric company, and NOT the one they used to show on PBS)
Here's the lowdown of the latest (impending) financial gouge:
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/IM-Proposes-Raising-Rates-by-20-per-Month-148621085.html
This comes to about $20 a month based on 1000 Kwh for the average household.
In the peak usage months, that's a decent chunk of change.
Residents feel that I&M is taking advantage of their monopoly...and they would be correct (imho).
You mean to tell me that Indiana has NO real ELECTRIC UTILITY???
Okay, now THIS is a "WTF???" moment...!
What we always see with these entities is a wonderful Catch-22.
On the ONE hand, you (the consumer) are "nudged" to purchase more efficient toilets...or shower heads that use less water. In some cases, people have taken to catching RAIN WATER to use in their gardens...
You are following what "they" want...being more EFFICIENT with the use of YOUR water.
Same goes for your electricity....all these "curly fries bulbs" designed to SAVE energy, as well as these new-fangled TV sets, home appliances, and all this solar and wind crap. You "follow along" trying to do the right thing as "they" have suggested (or in the case of incandescent lightbulbs, all but demanded).
And on the other hand, how are YOU "rewarded" for being a much more effective user OF the electricity and water???
You get a HIGHER RATE (bill) every month to "cover costs".
What f$cking costs???
You have the SAME sh*t you had when you LAST raised the rates (2009 for electric and 2006 for water, if memory serves).
Naturally, the FEDS figure into all this, with ALL the regulations they push at the utility companies...and that gets passed right along to US.
Wasn't it nicer when you has smaller companies competing for your dollar, as opposed to these monolithic utility behemoths?
Well, it WAS cheaper...that much was certain.
Moving on...
*** An update to the "slugger" who put his girlfriend in hospital back on 13 April.
It's now the SEVENTH HOMICIDE of Allen County this year.
Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120424/LOCAL03/304249974#
How in God's name could you say you even care about someone, and then take a damn baseball bat to their skull?
I can see using one on some burglar you caught in your home at 3AM, but a "girlfriend"?
That boy has some SERIOUS anger-management issues, and he's going to have a LOT of time to mull that over when he gets convicted.
I expect the murder rap to be plead on down to something lees, like perhaps manslaughter, but in either case, Anthony's going to be doing some TIME, and I hope Susan's family wants the maximum sentence for this creep.
There is no sense to such rage within a home, directed at someone living with you...none at all.
If a situation gets THAT bad...take a damn walk, check into a hotel, or get some kind of help for God's sake.
Don't Babe Ruth your significant other into the next life because you had a problem.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
*** We also have had our EIGHTH HOMICIDE yesterday...and it took TWENTY-NINE years to get here.
And, here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120424/LOCAL03/304249975
This man, Brian Burtz, was only 15 when he was paralyzed by a .22 rifle bullet in the neck in Fort Wayne back in 1983.
The shooter, Clifford Justice, (then 59) plead guilty to a charge of criminal recklessness, sentenced to probation, and fined $500.
But that was then...and this is now.
No further charges against Justice will be forthcoming (he's in his 80s now).
The court argued Justice chased down and shot the boy (shades of another, more recent such event).
Justice was doing what his employer entrusted him to do (when a vandalism took place at the Trailways terminal where he was working that night).
*** Another case of dumbassery comes to an abrupt end.
Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120424/LOCAL07/304249941/1002/LOCAL
Wow...an HISPANIC guy stole a 1984 Caprice (desperation, or was the car tricked out, as they love to do with such vehicles of that era?) and led police on a chase through Fort Wayne, ending at a landscaping wall in the yard of the Glenbrook Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center.
Luis E. Gonzalez, 27 (of Hammond, of all places...must have a nice bodega THERE, hmm?) was taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor resisting law enforcement and two felonies: auto theft and resisting law enforcement.
Gonzalez posted the $5, 750 bond and was released Monday (my, THAT was quick...must have help from his "posse").
*** Lastly today, a bit of GOOD news (for a welcome change)...no dumbassery HERE.
This is about a young man I heard on the classical music station this past Saturday here in Fort Wayne (6PM local time).
His name is Joshua Stephenson, and he's got REAL potential as an on-air personality.
Here's the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120424/FEAT/304249996/1011/FEAT
He suffers from Aspberger's syndrome as well, but that doesn't impede his appreciation for the CLASSICS.
I listened to his show this past weekend (by accident, I was actually getting ready to turn the radio off), and he played a LOT of my personal favorites.
I told Wifey that "this kid is going places" ...and that's from someone who has been told more than a few times that I should have been in radio...I've got the voice (and face...LOL) for it. Next life, perhaps...
Josh is a VOLUNTEER...does it for GRATIS...how's THAT for being a good kid?
Sound sensitivity is a common symptom of autism (we have that in common...the sensitivity gig), and as audio therapy, his mom realized that Josh built up a tolerance to noise by listening to classical music (sorry...no AC/DC or Ted Nugent)
And it was his mom that persuaded him to follow up on his remarkable memory and love of the classics, by calling the station.
His show has been on for SIX MONTHS, and it's not part of MY Saturday evening listening.
Nice job, Josh...(and mom).
Josh can also speak Spanish and is learning French (got me beat by a mile there).
The program director summed it up best when he spoke to enriching the human spirit.
The story is a fantastic read, and demonstrates how people can overcome obstacles and instead use them as stepping stones to achieve something better for themselves, as well as be an example on how to get things done the right way.
In that, there is a lesson for every one of us.
Keep spinning those classics , Josh!
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.