Monday Musings - New Year's Eve Edition...

Here we are at long last...ready to close the door on the Year of Our Lord 2012...and you'd probably agree that it has been one helluva year.
Now, I'm not going to have any sort of retrospective on what went on over the last 364 days...that's what my ARCHIVES are for...LOL.
And I always resolve to NOT make any resolutions along such lines.
Besides, far be it for me to decide what WAS important, and what was not...that's up to every one of YOU.
There are a few things to get off my chest (as usual) before we resign this year to history, as well as perhaps a few "new" things to look forward to here for NEXT year (not the least of which will be the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in July).
So, without any further ado, let's send this year out IN STYLE...which means speaking plain, telling the truth, and saying what needs to be said.
*** First up, a HOLDUP...at our friendly neighborhood KFC in Southgate Plaza.

Here's the story:
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/Armed-Robbery-at-KFC-on-S-Calhoun-185232482.html
And, for some strange reason, WPTA was the ONLY station that carried the story...WANE was nowhere to be found.
Didn't even make the morning edition of the J-G...tsk, tsk.

THREE masked and armed gunmen herded employees into the cooler after demanding money.

A person driving by saw what was going on inside and called police.

No injuries were reported and no cash amount (taken) was disclosed...but I'd bet the mayor's salary that a LOT of CHICKEN was taken.
(get the K-9 to follow the bones...and fast food trash that the moolies always toss from their vehicle...it'd be a start, right?)
The three robbers were wearing all black with black gloves and bandannas...gee, sounds JUST like the "ninja" team that took on that credit union a few weeks back, doesn't it?
Serial robbers?
Maybe they were just hungry and a bit short of cash - credit unions were CLOSED, so no fast money...just fast food.
Now, how effective was the FWPD in being able to prevent this?
(not very, Bob)

And that's troublesome, because more than a few times, I've seen a police cruiser sitting in the parking lot there, and not JUST at lunchtime.
It's a good spot to surveil the area...higher ground, as it were, if you've ever been through there.
But, I suppose the closer to New Year's Eve we get, the more "scarce" the police presence will become...like it does seemingly every year.
Yet, with ALL the calls that go out DAILY in our part of the ghettohood, I rarely see ANY cruisers patrolling the streets.
Maybe I get to see three cars coming through PER MONTH...that can;t be good.
*** And that brings me to the next item.
I posted a "query" to the FWPD discussion forum (more like a Q&A than a real forum, but that's on them...not me), regarding what will be occurring tonight around say...2330 hrs.
Here is a snapshot of what I posted:

Yeah, CONCERNED people want to know, and if you ever visit the FWPD forum, you notice that EVERY question gets some kind of ANSWER, usually from Off. Foster, but in THIS case...not a peep since I posted it on 19 December...how curious is THAT?
(pretty damn, folks)
Guess the department isn't PLANNING to do anything about the gunfire we suffer through every year down here?
I even sent in such a story idea to WANE...in the hope they would have a spot regarding it in the wake of the shootings across the country.

I suppose that's not newsworthy ENOUGH...but those 29 HOMICIDES we had in this city WERE, as evidenced in yesterday's newspaper.
Here's THAT story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20121230/LOCAL07/312309943/1002/LOCAL
It's a good read if you're into trends and how they've manifested themselves over recent times here.
The "average" is 25 (Ft. Wayne)...which is great compared to say...CHICAGO, which JUST hit the 500 mark for homicides

Then again, look at the population difference, and then look at WHO did most of the killing AND dying...mainly ethnics (blacks and Hispanics).

Talk about TRENDS...hmm?

And the worst part of this...ONLY THREE of our 29 homicides were SOLVED - two were police action shootings, so the REAL total is actually ONE homicide solved...right?
Sgt. Carl Moore states that it takes SIX MONTHS to get back test results from the State Police post. (maybe we need one a bit CLOSER TO HOME then?) The county record was 42 homicides, back in 1997.
Seven of the 24 homicides of 2011 are still listed as "open cases".
And Moore says the biggest challenge lies with the people not being cooperative with the police...(gee, 'ya think?).
I said before that these people operate under their OWN sense of right and wrong...their OWN brand of "justice" and need to be dealt with accordingly.
Our laws are for EVERYONE...not just for a few...or some.
As a result, they still apply to all, regardless of who the hell you think you are.
Two of the 2012 homicides were considered self-defense, and at least two homicides were listed as GANG-related...
(I'd wager THAT number is a LOT higher...we're just not being told because the FWPD isn't as sure as I am, seeing such people every damn day).
Hell, I've got a house down the block that STILL has not been shut down (after 2-3 years), and people come and go from there with abandon, and smoke joints out front...so that tells you the (apparent) effectiveness of the vice unit.
It would probably amaze the FWPD to find out how many houses down here are (illegally) "armed and dangerous".
With all the arrests of perps from around here, you'd think it would quiet down...nope...never does.
There is not ONE day that passes where there is not at least ONE incident of gunfire within a ONE-MILE RADIUS of our "fortress".
And yet, THAT is also not addressed.
*** That brings me to tonight...and the usual "event" of the evening.
We will be privy to gunfire the likes of which any soldier back from country would be seeking the nearest place to duck and cover.

It will begin after 2300 hours, and will culminate at midnight when it will sound like a firefight in Kabul...or Hue..or Bastogne...or Vicksburg.
Take your pick...gunfire is still gunfire, and bullets are still stupid.
They tend to go wherever they're pointed, and according to physics, whenever they go UP...they WILL come DOWN.
You can call in a *signal 113* (shots fired) until your finger falls off, and you'd be damned lucky to even SEE a police cruiser in the area.

You can advise dispatch to seeing a muzzle flash and give them an address to send the police, and I have YET to see anyone get a "cuff n stuff" downtown.
Doesn't exactly give one a "warm and fuzzy" feeling when it comes to being protected.
But, rest assured the FWPD WILL REACT...after a situation occurs...THAT the officers are permitted to do.
Active patrolling with increased presence in known hot spots?
Well, that's a whole other ballgame...
I can only HOPE that things are addressed a bit BETTER...as I do every year.
Hope becomes like a dream (down here)...the price to pursue either or is right...as in FREE.
*** Lastly today, I've been through the party gig years ago, so no cavorting and acting stupid for me (or Wifey).
I've returned to my "roots" and come full circle as it were...when our family used to celebrate (sort of) quietly every New Year...with the sincere wish for a better year than the previous one.

I think you have focus on what you have received the year before, and carry that into the next year - that's about as good as you could want.
And, to be able to turn the page to the NEXT chapter of our own story allows you the opportunity to begin anew, correct past mistakes, and to seek to become a better person in the New Year than you were the year before.
Yeah, it does all come down to our life...and how we embrace it, rather than shy from it.
In that, I think we can all come away better off.
So, we'll see you here NEXT year...same time, same channel.
Stay tuned for some "different" things, a few old things (that would include ME...lol), and some things meant to make you think...and question.
Hell, you might even come away with a Cheshire smile...nothing wrong with that, eh?

Catch all of you on the OTHER side, then.

Be well, make a difference to someone today, and be sure to...

Stay SAFE out there, America.