Tuesday Tidbits...

It's another cold morning in the Heartland...but temps will be rising to NEAR the freezing point today.
And a touch of light snow showers to finish off the day.
Yesterday's off and on snow showers produced some "fun" road conditions (police radio was full of calls early on), so I can only imagine that drivers (here) had NO idea (again) on how to drive cautiously when bad weather hits.
No snow this morning, though...and around OUR part of the ghettohood, probably NO SNOW PLOWS either.
Since the first snowfall of winter LAST year, I have yet to see ONE single city plow come down our streets.
Have seen a couple orange dump trucks that didn't even place salt at the intersection.
Fortunately, the high volume of traffic (thanks to the non-working masses down here) managed to spread salt from the main streets gradually onto OURS...at least near the corners where the streets intersect.

So maybe these lowlife government-sponsored welfare queens (and their Boyfriend of the week) are good for SOMETHING.
That won't stop me from feeding my "friends" in the area.
Also, we have some NICE (thick) fog rolling into the SE side as well this morning...gonna be "sporty" for a while, that's for sure.
Anyway, let's get busy with what is going on elsewhere in REALVILLE, shall we?
*** The Alabama hostage situation with the young boy in that bunker has been resolved.
The boy is OK, and the abductor has been "neutralized".
Here's the story (with press conference video):
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130205/NEWS03/302059980
I really didn't this ending any other way.
Why this guy took the child off a school bus, killing the driver is anyone's guess.

The boy seemed in good health and was taken to hospital to be checked over.

*** Next up, four FWPD officers suspended for policy lapses.

Here's the *4-1-1*:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130205/LOCAL07/302059971
A female officer (a 27 year veteran) received a one day suspension for not wearing a seat belt AND for having an expired license...

OK...this is a "WTF???" moment.
You're a LEO...you TICKET (or in some cases even arrest) people who DO NOT HAVE A VALID LICENSE!
How the hell can you NOT know these things and renew yours when it comes time...especially when you're involved in an on-duty ACCIDENT?
Cripes, in Indiana, you can do it all ONLINE!
Another officer (a Sgt, at that) was suspended 3 days for discharging his service weapon as a "warning shot" during a fight at a city restaurant.
I take that to mean he fired it OUTSIDE...(in the air the story says).
I mean with SEVENTEEN YEARS in the department, you should KNOW better by now...right?
Another officer ( a 23 year veteran) was suspended for "inappropriate questions" while interviewing an assault victim. I have nio idea what that implies.

And the last officer, a detective (and also a 23 year veteran) was suspended one day for failing to submit a doctor's note while on sick leave.
Sounds more like GRADE SCHOOL.
This officer has been suspended eight times in the past for failure to follow department policies.
All I can glean from this, is that you have a total of NINETY YEARS of police service between them, and they're having such "lapses" of procedure?
Something doesn't add up here.
I can understand some "rooks" forgetting stuff and having a few brain-farts...that's why they're on probation for close to a year, but all these VETERAN officers doing dumb things makes no sense to me.
There could be one parameter at work here...that being a MORALE issue.
When morale goes in the tank, people will concentrate on other things to assuage their disgust or anger.
And that can mean a level of compromise while on the job.
It's just a thought, but it merits some investigation as to WHY veteran officers are missing the "small sh*t".
*** They finally FOUND (the remains of) King Richard III...!
Hell, I didn't even know he WAS LOST!
Here's the lowdown:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130205/NEWS04/302059983/1006/NEWS

Now, I'm not going to get into ALL the history behind the War of the Roses, the Plantagenet line being severed, or the Tudors...that's YOUR assignment.
The article gives some good back story.
Let's just say that it's all quite interesting, even for a monarch who only ruled between 1483-1485.
And to be found under a bloody municipal parking lot, too.
That's the kicker!
(who knew?)
I suppose only in Leicester, UK hmm?
*** Lastly today, history is one of, if not the best descriptors of humanity.

Contained within ages of days past we can find answers to most anything we can conjure up, regarding the human condition.
And, it's always said that if we don't LEARN from history, we are destined to REPEAT it, and sometimes not in a good way.
What each of us has to do is become a caretaker, of sorts, when it comes to history...
None of us can completely and comprehensively bestow upon others ALL of it...just a minuscule part of it, but it's a start.
It can begin with our own family history...or perhaps the history of our hometown.
And if enough of us are able to pass on to the next generation those small portions of history, we can rest assured that the totality of whatever WE can make that will become the future's history, will not be able to be misinterpreted.
In essence, that's how ALL of history has been made through the ages...not by one, or a few, but by MANY.

If we rely on a single account of some event or person, we lose much of what the event or person represents in the bigger picture.
But, if we take the time to familiarize ourselves with various accounts from numerous sources, we become more enlightened and educated.
Think of this as staring at the Mona Lisa...but ONLY at her left eye...can't get a feel or appreciation for the whole painting (or the artist), can we?
It's like listening to less than one movement of a famous symphony...
We have to pursue the truth of history with both eyes (and ears) open, if we are to know as much as we can.
And to better understand HISTORY, is to better understand OURSELVES...because we are living it daily and watching it unfold before us.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.