Monday Musings...

Welcome to what's beginning as a very interesting week, all over.

Today's weather in the Heartland will be...breezy, cloudy, cooler with the possibility of rain (or maybe EVEN a snow flurry) later this evening and into tomorrow with winds increasing. More about this below.

Yes, friends, even HERE we're not immune to hurricane Sandy's reach.

Should make LEAF PICKUP around here pretty darn fun...

In the meantime, let's meander about and see what we stumble over (family pets and childrens' toys not included)...
*** It's being called a "one-in-a-hundred" storm...the perfect storm, a Nor'easter...whatever.

Hurricane Sandy, downgraded to a CAT-1 storm is traveling up the east coast and is expected to make landfall somewhere near the Del-Marva peninsula. That means everywhere from Wilmington to Philly, from south Jersey to NYC is going to feel the brunt of the storm.
And while the actual FORCE of the storm is nowhere close to Katrina or even Irene, the overall SIZE of the storm is the big thing.

With a storm of this particular magnitude, the worst part will be the storm surge...rapid rising of water levels on the coast, and that will pose some serious problems to low-lying areas, and even NYC. Beach erosion is a given at this point, and it will be substantial.
Manhattan Island will be a big issue, as water is constantly being pumped from underground areas all over on a daily basis WITHOUT a storm.
The city does this so as not to compromise the buildings sitting above ground. Those pumps could be overtaxed or even wind up failing outright.

Public Transit there was already suspended in lieu of the impending storm (and the surge).
There was even mandatory evacs placed in certain areas.
Now, I'm one of those hard heads...I'd take a chance on riding it out, unless it looked extremely bleak.
Here's a NY Times article about the prepping:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/us/east-coast-braces-for-severe-storm-surge.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Right now, Sandy is still out at sea, but it is expected to turn INLAND by tonight.
There is already a low pressure system moving eastward, trying to get offshore and when these two meet, we'll it's not going to be all that "user-friendly", if you get my drift.
I hope those that can avoid this storm...DO, and those that cannot, will be prepared enough to not become victims as 60 people already have in the Caribbean. Say a prayer or two.
*** Fox News host Bret Baier had another special on this week about the attack on our Benghazi embassy, and it opens a few doors and answers some very important questions.

The show was called: Special Reports Investigates: Benghazi - New Revelations.

It was aired three times over the weekend.

Here is a piece of the show from YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABaqrjhtBmo

It details the timeline very well, and describes the heroic measures taken by our small forces in country, as well as the measures NOT taken by the White House and it's security chiefs. Like I said...very eye-opening...and very dubious behavior on the part of those here AT HOME.

Three times when security forces near the embassy asked for permission to stage a rescue attempt, they were told to "stand down", but they disobeyed orders and went in anyway, evacuating all the personnel they could and then falling back to the CIA annex a mile away.

When our forces came under fire there, they self-extracted hastily, losing the four people mentioned in the many stories we've seen and read over the last 45 days.

This reminds me of a quote I heard a while back...

"There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders"

That is a quote from, of all places, Star Trek: the Next Generation (Captain Jean-Luc Picard - episode: The Offspring)

And it seems to fit the venue in Benghazi when our men went in to attempt that rescue, even though they were told to do nothing.

Personally, I'd like to see ANY and ALL members of our services involved in that scenario to be awarded the Medal of Honor, because that is what these men displayed under such conditions. And that's all I have to say on that...for now.

*** I had the police radio on early yesterday, and it wasn't even 0730 before I heard a call go out for a theft...from the nearby Krogers.

Here it is. a SUNDAY for God's sake...EARLY on Sunday at that, and some idiot just HAS to steal something.

Suffice it to say the FWPD caught his ass before he managed to get out of the store (nice job).

But it was what this thief was spotted taking that amazed me...

I heard on the radio it was LIQUOR...

((...rolls eyes...))

Yeah, that's what's important on Sunday...getting shit-faced.

While watching the news at 11 last evening, they had this pastor on - he was interviewed a year back and this was a "follow-up". He's originally from Jamaica, but settled here after attending bible college back in '82 (Taylor Univ.), and saw the increase of poor folks at his mission. He noticed a withering of the MIDDLE class.

He claimed we needed a return to MORALITY, too.

Funny thing, we USED to be a people of a lot MORE morality...what the hell ever happened to that, hmm?

I'm certainly not one of those bible-thumping, fire and brimstone, "yer going to hell, people", ramming religion down anyone's throat (unlike the boomcars that shove their noise down mine...and in our ears).

I just believe we all have the capacity to "police" ourselves, and if we CAN'T...well, that's what EDUCATION is for, and if we WON'T, that's what JAIL is for.

Seems to make good enough sense to me.

I'm not saying we all run out and into the nearest church...that isn't necessarily the way to secure a moral mindset...it's a tool, used to achieve an end by such means.

My father always believed that the "true" church was found in the human heart, and that made sense, too.

If our heart is not "right with God", then anything we practice can wind up as so much chaff in our lives.

And where the heart goes, the mind should never be that far behind.

We need to understand that morality , as well as civility isn't something the government passes out with that EBT card...

We, every one of us, have to WORK at it...sometimes, every single waking hour.

But the rewards are well worth the time we put into it.

And that may be the problem...the lack of willingness on "our" part when it comes to such "work".

Perhaps, JUST like in poverty (to borrow from Ben Franklin), if we were to make people UNCOMFORTABLE in their immorality and incivility, they might TURN FROM IT.

Hey, you don't know until you try, right?

Have yourselves a great week.

Do pay attention to changing weather conditions, be prepared, and be alert.

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

Stay SAFE out there, America.