A Whole Lot Of HOT Out There...

Yeah, I guess I'm echoing the reports of the weather people now when I say today is going to be hot out.

Actually, It's going to hover around the OPPRESSIVE area when it comes to sheer HEAT...plus, we can toss in some HUMIDITY and make it feel a lot more "close" outside than usual for the month of July.

This is one of those "warning" days...if you don't HAVE to go out in this stuff...for God's sake...DON'T!

And a word to the wise should be sufficient there, right?

Meanwhile, back in the sweatbox, we've plenty of other things to look upon, so let's get rolling (inside where the A/C is humming along).

*** THIS is what is meant by "A GOOD PERSON"...and sadly, his life was taken in Afghanistan in the past 72 hours.

Here is the story link (with video that I would urge you to watch):

http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/indiana-soldier-dies-in-afghanistan

Here is this young man from Berne, IN, a Specialist with the 713th Engineer Co,. of the Indiana National Guard,  serving his country, cut down way before his time.

Star athlete...excellent student...good person...a hero to his younger brother in every sense of the word...the FACTS point in no other direction.

THIS is what we speak about when we describe a GOOD person...

And Nick Taylor was such a person.

On the other hand, we have a story like THIS:

Here's the link:

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120717/LOCAL03/307179938/1002/LOCAL

An accomplice in a shooting over a year ago in Ft. Wayne finds a guilty verdict (8 years - he'll be out in probably 4) for one Anthony Tate.

Tate's brother, John states: "He's a good man, and he's got good, beautiful kids who'll be waiting for him."

Even the judge said that " Efforts of rehabilitation have failed."

Tate has priors for battery, possession of pot, and carrying a handgun without a license - pretty decent rap sheet.

But wait, there's more...like THIS story.

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120716/LOCAL03/120719644/1039/LOCAL03

Here is the end result from ANOTHER instance where a sentence gets handed down to a man who only SMILED as he entered and left the courtroom. Carmell Nelson, 31 was sentenced to 55 years for shooting one Rovon Wilson back in April 2011 at a Fort Wayne nightclub.

Wilson has been wheelchair-bound since the shooting.
(see archives for 13 June 2012 for first mention)
Nelson was no stranger to the penal system (or Wilson), because back in 2006, Nelson was jailed for beating Wilson with a handgun which failed to fire. And once again, as we also seem to hear, came the usual BS from "family".
Latoya Nelson, sister to Carmell said in court that: "He's a good guy. People can say what they want. It's not true."
Yeah, right sweetheart...he's a GOOD guy...that's why he's going to wind up as the new bitch of his cell block and the resident "ho" for the next several decades. Tell me HOW that kind of "good" is on par with the GOOD that as displayed by the recently-deceased SOLDIER AND PATRIOT FROM BERNE, because I seem to be missing YOUR point, Latoya...
How is Anthony Tate JUST AS GOOD as Nick Taylor, anyway?
I'm not seeing the similarities ONE DAMN BIT.

Maybe it's due to the fact that Spl. Taylor CHOSE to make something of himself...and was not AFRAID to challenge himself in his brief life?
Perhaps a REAL sense of FAMILY was present, as opposed to the nanny-welfare state that has permeated the minority communities since the advent of "the great society" back in the 1960s, which all but dismissed the need for a father figure in black households, leaving women to do everything themselves with limited resources?
It's no secret that back in the 1960s, the rate at which babies were born out of wedlock in the black community was a mere 25 percent (tops).
TODAY, the rate of babies born out of wedlock in the black community is around SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT...!?!

Yeah, that's a real "WTF???" moment!
And WHOSE fault is it?
Certainly not the white community...or the Asians...or the Hispanics.

It's the fault of the Black Community ITSELF, for failing to hold everyone as accountable as the next person...selling their own people off to government programs fostered by liberal mindsets that think slavery (to the government in the form of cradle-to-grave dependency ) is okay, INSTEAD of truly empowering them to help THEMSELVES first (and not to everyone else's stuff), so they may help one another.
The black community leaders like this scenario just fine...unfortunately it compromises the race itself in ways that will have far-reaching effects the longer it's permitted to perpetuate. And it is spilling over into other racial and cultural parts of our society.
What's good for some SHOULD be good for all...ALL the time, as long as the GOOD mentioned is truly that, and not some manufactured desire to hope a person can be good SOMETIME, while being a criminal the rest of the time.
That's called HYPOCRISY...and some folks need to realize that before it's too late.
*** And now lastly, for something completely different...
Imagine you buy a car back in the 1960s...sporty little English model.

And then, it gets STOLEN.

Then imagine you DO happen to find the car and manage to prove it's yours and get the dang car BACK....about FORTY-TWO YEARS LATER...!!!

Well, this IS exactly what happened to THIS man in this video:
http://fox2now.com/2012/07/16/texas-man-gets-stolen-car-back-42-years-later/
Here's the original story:
http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-12/news/32633503_1_austin-healey-hot-car-new-theft

I'd say since he paid $3K for it when he bought it, and today's value is $23K, he got a good return for the investment.
Pretty bad thing to have your car stolen on a second date with your future wife...
But the remarkable thing is to get the car BACK...to drive your wife of many years AROUND in again...that's gotta be a joy.

And the car doesn't look the worse for wear after all those years.

(...found in Beverly Hills, CA to boot...who'da thunk?)

Thanks, eBay...lol!

Now THAT is the kind of HAPPY ENDING that always brings a smile to my face, as I've just celebrated the 29th birthday of MY car.

(no cake...just a battery charge and some more TLC wiping it down)
I can relate to working and saving and getting a car you wanted...and then being able to keep it.
(in Bob Russell's case, even getting it back AGAIN)
Leave it to a guy named BOB...lol.
Kinda makes you have a smidgen of hope for this society, doesn't it?
Fate can be really weird in the manner in which it works.
But, we're sorta getting USED to "weird" THESE days...aren't we?

Let's just not get TOO used to it, though.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...

Stay SAFE out there, America.