Monday Musings...

Welcome to the day before THE election.
One might say that the fuse has been lit, and all that really remains is the fireworks...
And, speaking of "fireworks", today is also a day that's remembered in the UK.

*** It was back in 1605 when a group of conspirators sought to blow up the House of Lords in Parliament.

Quaintly enough, there is a children's verse that goes with it.

"Remember remember the fifth of November...the Gunpowder Treason and plot...

I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot."

If that rhyme sounds a bit familiar, it might be that you saw the movie "V for Vendetta", for in that movie the basis of the protagonist IS in fact the Gunpowder Treason of 1605.

He even dons the caricature mask of Guy Fawkes, the only conspirator that was captured and hanged, although it was said he jumped from the gallows and broke his neck in the fall.

Either way.
Here is the WIKI for the Gunpowder Plot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot
And the WIKI for Guy Fawkes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

If you think Fawkes was just some nutcase that went around terrorizing people, think again. He was a well-learned individual, and an excellent soldier, once recommended for a captaincy after the Siege of Calais (1596).

What I find intriguing about this man, is that he was a bit of a zealot when it came to his religion.
He was a devout Catholic who (with others) wished to remove the protestant king (James) from the throne and replace him with his daughter, Elizabeth, third in line for the throne.
Today, he is often regarded as: "...the last man to enter Parliament with honest intentions".
The UK "celebrates" today with fireworks and effigies of Fawkes paraded through the streets.

One might say that back then, and as is chronicled in the movie, the man did the wrong thing...for the right reasons.
And why the occupy movement adopted the Fawkes mask makes NO sense at all...obviously they didn't read history.
They just wanted a tie-in to a movie where someone operates outside the law (...well, HE had a reason, OWS had no reason at all), but that's another post for another day, right?
Meanwhile, back in the catacombs...
*** A 16 year old Fort Wayne boy is shot over his SCHOOL-issued Ipad.
Here's the story:
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/boy-robbed-and-shot-suspect-stole-his-ipad

Sorry, but a BB pistol wouldn't leave someone in "fair" condition with a stomach wound...had to have been a small caliber pistol.
This happened in the 2900 block of Palisades Drive in the...(...all together, gang...)...SOUTHEAST SIDE of the city!
Pretty damn sad when a kid can't even sit outside his house and use his damn Ipad that the SCHOOL gave to him.
Well, there's just SO MUCH you simply CANNOT do down here any longer, thanks to the local aboriginies, AND those people in city government afraid to act to STOP such crap.
If anything, they PROMOTE it, by theirr apathy and ignorance of the matter.
Perhaps some folks need to "convince" the criminals that operating down here with impunity might NOT be good for their health in the future?
It has the novelty of never having been tried...yet.
*** Well, we made it to that MAGIC NUMBER...
(at last)

We in Fort Wayne/Allen County can now claim TWENTY FIVE HOMICIDES this year...and we've still some year left to go...how about that!
Here's the lowdown:

http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/crime/bar-fight-spills-outside-one-dead

And, as is always the case (or so it seems), this took place on the SOUTH SIDE of town (barely SW).

The vic, Renaldo Morales was stabbed multiple times (around 0130 hours Sunday morning) outside of the DUG-OUT BAR at 3401 Fairfield after the bar closed when a fight broke out INSIDE.
Morales had priors for resisting and assault with bodily waste...not any longer.
Kinda makes a case for not having bars open on SUNDAY AT ALL...doesn't it?
Helluva lot less crime when we had the BLUE LAWS...damn, I miss those days.
*** Okay, so how do you turn an otherwise nice outing at the zoo in Pittsburgh into a day of horror?

Well, that's simple...you balance your two-year old on a railing above the pit where wild African painted dogs roam about, and then have the toddler slip down into the pit...
WHERE THE HELL do they GROW such irresponsible parents, anyway?
Who, in their RIGHT mind would EVER have such a small child THAT close to a possibly fatal (which it was) scenario...what a dumb-ass parent.

I'm glad she's distraught...she damn well SHOULD be for acting so carelessly.
Cripes, house plants display more common sense.
Here's the story:
http://www.fox19.com/story/19998337/child-killed-after-fall-mauling-at-pa-zoo
Some people just have to learn life's lessons the HARD way, and that's not being unsympathetic...
If a modicum of SAFETY around wild animals was practiced (and not having the toddler on or near the rail without being SECURELY held by the parents would have been a good start), this would NOT have happened...simple as that.
*** We're in the final throes of the election/campaigning process.
All that's left is the VOTING.

We've heard both sides, and seen the result from one incumbent on how "well" the past four years have gone.
We've seen the attack ads, the commercials, and vitriol flowing more profusely than blood from a bleeding hemophiliac.
We've seen where this nation has gone in four short years (seemed a long EIGHT YEARS if you ask me)!

There have been double-standards set in place that will take real work to remove, gratuities for the lazy in the form of "public-assistance", wasteful spending by our government on programs that have failed marvelously, as well as a continued devaluation of OUR monetary system, and a dropping of this country's credit rating.
Now, if we want to pursue such lofty failures as we have seen in the last four years, your choice is REAL easy.

But, if we want a BETTER nation...a more prosperous nation, and a thriving nation, THAT choice should be JUST as easy to make.

The road back from such a fiscal and societal precipice won't be without challenge,...that much is certain.

But to continue the course we're on now is folly at best...socio-economic suicide at worst.
Hell, I'd give anything for a rollback to the 80s...those were some GOOD times.
And there are those instances where, when you need to move FORWARD, you might have to pull back a bit in order to better pursue the right path that you were MEANT to be on, rather than the one you were tossed onto.
We have a chance to become better...and it could start as early as tomorrow...it's all up to US.
*** Lastly today, please keep those suffering on the east coast in your thoughts and prayers...they're due for ANOTHER storm this week.

I was pumping gas in the Wifeymobile Saturday, and I was thinking "some folks can't even do THIS, and here I am without a second thought about it".
That really got to me.
Same goes for grocery shopping.
Sure, it might have cost us more when we went, but...we could GO food shopping...those on Staten Island...not so much. 

They can't even get electricity or water (if they even have a house still standing).
Think about fortunate YOU are, what YOU have and what YOU can do, while others lost everything, have nothing, and can't do a damn thing about it.
Somehow, some God-directed thanks are in order for those of us not affected and some God-directed prayers for deliverance to those who ARE affected.
Can't really go wrong with that, can you?

DO have yourselves a good week.

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

Stay SAFE out there, America.