Monday Musings...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...THREE MONTHS after the fact.

A winter storm ADVISORY greets us this morning, along with anywhere from 2-7 inches, depending on where you live (farther south = more snow).

Schools have all but closed in most places,so Wifey gets to help with the driveway...maybe...LOL.

Anyway, let's see what's been bugging me for the last 72 hours...

*** There was a good story in yesterday's J-G...front page, too.

The headline read:
DEATHS SIGNALS NO TREND.

(Really?)

Now, before I get into this, let's not bash on the writer OF the article, because I think she (Rebecca S. Green) provides the reader with more information than is contained in JUST the story.

Let's focus instead of those items and people cited in the article.
Here's the story link (and it IS a really good read!):
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130324/LOCAL/303249939/1002/LOCAL
The MAIN thrust of the article (to me, anyway) seems to be the differences (or similarities) between PERCEPTION and REALITY.
I've gone around this block a few times, most notably with the former FWPD quadrant captain...who came to understand that what I had "perceived" turned out to be TRUE, and thereby REALITY.
We could venture into WEBSTER'S for the DEFINITION of perception and reality, but that's TOO easy.
(and you can also look those up for yourselves).
Let's go a bit DEEPER, without becoming too philosophical.
Here's the WIKI for both words:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception#Of_the_social_world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality#Perception
Many will say that perception is individualistic, and that much of it is based on HOW we are brought up. Good values, good perceptions...simple, huh?
I would agree with much of that, but I ALSO contend that perception is very often based in FACTS.
How "I" perceive something is based a LOT on sensory input...primarily what I SEE...and what I HEAR.
It's also based on logic and reason...when I see 2+2, I can perceive that the answer will always be 4, because of the way I was taught mathematics.
(and...it's also a FACT)
Now, someone with a skewed sense of reality WILL perceive things in quite another manner, and that brings me to the aspect OF reality.
To ME, reality is that in which I am engaged in...like LIFE, and again, it's not MY reality...JUST reality.
-- In Ft. Wayne, we're seeing a higher than usual number of violent crimes and homicides, and since the national rates have also risen, I can correctly conclude that this can be called a "trend".

Reed St. tree w/ bullet hole

Some people in that story (like IPFW assoc professor of criminal justice, Thomas Stucky) feel we're "not at any greater risk this week than we were last week", and that's a relativistic way of looking at things.
I know I feel "just as safe"...which in REALITY isn't THAT safe as I think I SHOULD be feeling.
The REALITY is that we have too many criminals down here.
The REALITY is that some IPFW prof (tenured and liberal, no doubt) talks about our "perception" versus the reality.
Sorry, but when I SEE and HEAR about rising crime rates, and see ALL the smaller crimes that go unnoticed AND unpunished, I can ONLY perceive a reality that is all...too...real.
And like I said...I would trust MY perception if only because I base MINE...in FACTS.

The story mentions that FWPD chief York said there are three things that contribute to these crimes:
--Gangs
--Drugs
--Domestic Abuse
And, he states, that IF you're NOT involved in ANY of those three, you're pretty much SAFE.
How f$cking PRESUMPTUOUS is that?
Anyone ever hear of "collateral damage"?
If two thugs are shooting at one another over some dumbass drug deal gone bad (or in many cases, a baby-mama), who's to say that those bullets are going to be SMART enough to KNOW to hit the intended target (only) and NOT something or someone else?

What about those houses hit along S. Lafayette St when those two cars were shooting at each other?

Lafayette St. house struck by stray fire

How soon that's forgotten.

None of THOSE houses were involved with gangs, drugs OR domestics, but were shot up nonetheless.

These thugs don't give a rat's ass about you, your house, your car, or children when they start popping off rounds at one another.

They just keep shooting until someone drops, or gets away.
That's some pretty STARK REALITY there, folks.
(not to be confused with Stark Industries)
And anyone who PERCEIVES otherwise, just isn't paying attention to FACTS.
(( “No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves,
their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.” ― Ansel Adams ))
You simply can't argue with the truth, although many would either try to suppress it or amend it to fit THEIR agenda.
And the TRUTH is...we DO have some dangerous areas in this city, and we DO have a violent crime problem, which IS growing.
Now, for all you psychology 101 dropouts out there, we also have these from WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cognition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_perception
I wonder if that IPFW prof. read THIS far, because he's not seeing the forest for the trees.

Social cognition is the encoding, storage, retrieval and processing of information.

Social perception is how we come to understand OTHER people in society. This allows us to make judgments and impressions about other people.
Primarily based on observations (sensory input), it can also contain pre-existing KNOWLEDGE which can influence how we perceive an observation.
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck...that kinda thing.
(( “The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” ― Henry David Thoreau ))
York says it's difficult to PREDICT how violent the city will become, based solely on the number of homicides recorded.

No it isn't, because I predict the homicide number PRETTY damn well every year, and I conclude that the city IS becoming MORE violent as a result...perhaps not in general, but in "specific" areas...and I haven't been wrong there.

The professor also thinks (or is that perceives?) that any "short-term" blip on the crime scene is not indicative of any long-term increase.
Well, THAT man needs to rent a crib down HERE for several months...and THEN make the same claim.
I'd bet he'd change his tune fast enough...based on facts.
-- You know, I've seen DENIAL take many forms, but THIS latest one really takes the cake (and tries to shove it down our throats).

I can't see ANY person who does NOT live down here, OR work down here any MORE fitting to KNOW what's REALLY going on, that those of us that DO, and HAVE to deal with this crap day in - day out, year after frigging year.
That to me makes absolutely no damn sense at all.
Cripes, I'd feel better with those 3 blind guys trying to describe that elephant in the children's story around here calling the shots!
(( “You are one of the rare people who can separate your observation from your perception...you see what is, where most people see what they expect.”
― Tsitsi Dangarembga, Nervous Conditions ))
You can't sit on the mountain and know ALL that goes on in the valley...UNTIL you get your ass OFF that mountain and walk THROUGH that valley on your own, because from that high perch, it ALWAYS looks "nice" from that far away.
To me, I see and hear REALITY every single day down here, and my PERCEPTION of it is correct,  based on the facts OF that reality.
We can dance this around the floor until hell freezes over, and there will always be those that simply DO NOT...or WILL NOT accept the inevitable truth in such matters.
And maybe that's why little if anything EVER gets done to change things or make things better down here.
...But that's probably JUST my "perception" in that regard, right?

Have yourselves a great week.

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

Stay SAFE out there, America.