Friday Follies...

Well, we had no rain yesterday, but yet, we have the same forecast for "possible" rain today, so I'm betting it's more of yesterday...no appreciable rainfall.
I will say we've more CHANCES of rain than people have CHANCES of winning that damn PCH "$5K a week for life" lottery.
(got a snowball's chance in hell of winning THAT one...lol)
So, rather than sit around waiting for things that have little possibility of showing up, let's get busy with getting into the weekend....
(because we CAN...LOL)
*** The Ft. Wayne media has been pushing this story for the past 2 days...seems we have a motorcycle THEFT RING.

Just a few years back, we had another ring that was making off with Harleys.
Now, it's all those Nipponese "crotch-rockets"...aka CAFE BIKES that are attracting the attention of thieves.
Here's a story about a welder that had BOTH of his bikes stolen from his place.
(why have TWO? I thought you could only drive/ride ONE AT A TIME?)

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120727/LOCAL07/307279971

I know down here in the ghettohood, we have TOO damn many of them around, and they are more obnoxious than the Harleys...

These cafe bikes sound like a 6 ft. long wasp in heat as they go by, and the power-to-weight ratio is almost off the charts.

I've chronically told the quadrant captain of the FWPD about SPEEDING through the area...and we STILL have those speeders after several years.

I guess complaints to the police DO mean something, because even NOTHING (which has been done) is still "something", right?

The thieves are bolder than hell, too, swiping bikes from IN FRONT of homes, driveways and carports with abandon...doesn't matter what time of night.

In the past TWO months, EIGHTEEN motorcycles have been swiped and are probably winding up in the Caribbean...

(more about THAT statement of mine further down).

With one exception, ALL the bikes taken were either made by Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, or Yamaha.

I knew a guy that used to have a DUCATI...damn nice cafe bike (except for a nagging electrical problem), and having done my share of motorcycle riding (even with an ex-Warlock back in PA), I know my way around the pipes and forks.
But, it's pretty damn sad when you can't even HAVE a bike, for fear of some mook making off with it.
Police are speculating that the bikes are being loaded onto a truck or trailer when taken...(good guess)
Police also believe the thefts ARE linked, but have NO suspects.
*** Now, about those links...you'll find the NEXT story very interesting.

Here's one link from Long Island/Nassau, NY:
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/officials-motorcycle-theft-ring-busted-1.3862515
And here is another link:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/investigators-arrest-33-boroughs-motorcycle-theft-ring-article-1.1122033
The article about the Brooklyn-based ring details how the bikes were being shipped down to...
(you guessed it...)

...the CARIBBEAN!

The NYPD has busted THIRTY-THREE perps so far, with more arrests pending.
And this ring was also into illegal GUNS (one thug tried selling a piece to an undercover officer).
Now much you want to bet that the NYC ring has it's fingers in the "pie" here in Ft. Wayne?
Be surprised if it doesn't at all.

*** The Olympics begin tonight, and I think it'll be worth watching, except for the b'ball event. To me having our PROFESSIONAL players in an AMATEUR venue is just SO damn wrong, in keeping with the spirit of the games.
(can you say "ringer" ?)
 Perhaps if the players were COLLEGE level, it would feel better to me.

Must be interesting (logistically-speaking) to have the game in LONDON, with it being as congested as it has become over the decades.
I wonder how the opening and closing ceremonies will compare with Beijing?
Those were EXCEPTIONAL (especially for communists...lol).
I really want to see the shooting events and archery (and maybe women's gymnastics and swimming/diving).
I believe the USA will make another great showing as well...we should come home with a decent number of medals.

*** Lastly today, Glenn Beck is doing his RESTORING LOVE event down in Dallas Stadium this weekend, and it looks to blow the socks off of the city, if not the nation.

Getting back to "our" basics is what this (and his previous events) have been all about...who WE (as a nation and one people) USED to be, and I congratulate him on his efforts.

Much of what makes this country great in the past HAS been lost, or at least compromised over time, and we might blame our own complacency for this, thinking we could always just motor along without a care in the world.

Thing is, we can recapture that which we have lost, but it will take diligence on our part.

It will take time, and it will take perseverance.

It's not the most popular thing to strive for, but it IS the RIGHT thing to strive for, especially in such volatile times as these.

We...every one of us has the ability to change our nation back to the values we hold dear, if we but make the effort and want to do it.

We deserve better than what we're settling for these days, and we need to demand better of ourselves and one another.
We must at least try, and if we fail at first, try AGAIN...and keep on trying, because success never came to anyone that did nothing.
It comes to those who want to succeed, and we should all want that.

Have yourselves a great weekend.

Be well, make a difference to someone today, and as always...

Stay SAFE out there, America.