Friday Follies...

Well, it's the END of the week, BUT the START of a new month...November to be exact.
Our Hoosierland weather today will not be including the RAIN we got yesterday...we're saving that for tonight and into tomorrow.
It WILL still be cloudy...and breezy (enough to take down limbs in other neighborhoods), with the high today not climbing much higher than it is at the moment (it's 46 right now). We'll see about another ten degrees taking us to the mid-50s...and that's it, folks.
So, while we take time to refill  our morning beverages, let's take a gander at what's been going on elsewhere.
*** Kicking it all off today is a belated congrats to the BOSOX for winning the world Series...first time since 1918, and I'll wager that after the terrorist bombs during the marathon earlier this year, that series win will be cherished MORE than it would normally be.

Even if it DID take 95 years to recapture the glory...it HAS to be worth it.
Moving on...
*** Today is ALL SAINTS DAY, and here's the WIKI for it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints'_Day
Now, I'm not going to get into all of this, because it's "involved", and I don't want to give a lecture on the Celts and the Romans. That's your :"homework assignment" for the week...lol.

Sure is a LOT of 'em, too!

Suffice it to say that it does concern those in heaven as well as those who are among the living (and nothing about the "living dead").
*** Next out the door today, is a followup story about the Tillman shooting this past week.

Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20131101/LOCAL07/311019975

I want to preface this by quoting some Shakespeare:
"The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."
That's from the funeral speech, spoken by Marc Antony in Act 3, scene 2 of Julius Caesar
...And so it is with many people.
The story relates how Jovon Harvey DID indeed have a sordid past, but he DID "turn it around".
He was active in church and was a good father, according to the story.
Then again, we always seem to hear much of the same whenever someone in the ghettohood gets shot to death.
So why would someone target ALL these "good" people...unless something was very much amiss with that description of these people?
Now, one has to realize that we ALL have (at least) TWO distinct personalities. or, to put it in better context, like I have stated before, many lead THREE lives - our PUBLIC life, our PRIVATE life, and our SECRET life. Secret lives aside, we still maintain TWO lives.
There is the one we show to the world, and the one known to ourselves and our creator.
We can always WANT to do the right things in life, and we might succeed now and then, but what is in our HEART becomes that which we tend to covet...or protect from prying eyes, ears, and souls.

Foundation One

If Harvey was such a good person, then WHY did we not hear more about him, and what he was trying to do FOR his community...such as other black men (of substance) like Foundation One (who owns that barber shop) or Roderick Parker (who I both met and appeared on The Fort Report with)?

Roderick Parker

These two men had some serious problems that THEY overcame and then moved into the community to help any and every way they can...why not Harvey?
If he DID perform altruistic feats, why was there never any mention of it?
He DID manage to keep his children away from HIS life, and that alone says much, but it still begs the question as to WHY he was gunned down.
Perhaps time will reveal that which many seek, namely the truth.
*** As if the holidays can't get here ANY faster, Wal-Mart is starting it all off with their online shopping...
((...rolls eyes...))

WTH...ALREADY???

And you can bet there will be Christmas stuff popping up all over soon enough.
That's bothersome (to me), because we USED to begin the holiday season AFTER Thanksgiving...did we not?
Seems to get earlier and earlier...and the 1/2 price Halloween candy isn't EVEN off the shelves yet.

The other side of this coin is the continued "war" on Christmas...with schools (not here yet) not allowing CHRISTMAS songs in their (Bordentown, NJ) choir's WINTER programs...WTH is up with this?
How many songs about snowflakes can you sing, without recognizing the REAL holiday?
Maybe these nay-sayers would prefer we just ROLL BACK the FEDERAL holiday OF Christmas...so THEY can work another bloody day?
Will THAT shut up all these damnable atheists once and for all?
Whatever happened to the old-school atheists that used to just IGNORE the holiday and go about their business WITHOUT butting the hell into anything and everything even slightly "religious" in nature, and leaving the Christians alone?
Do these people HAVE to remove the fun and joy of the season from the overwhelming majority that DO embrace the festive and spiritual nature of Christmas?
I still say if they have SUCH an issue with GOD, then they have to hand over ALL their damn MONEY, because all of it, coin or paper has the words "IN GOD WE TRUST" on it...
*** This article has got me shaking my head...
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20131101/EDIT07/311019996/1021/EDIT

It speaks about being able to reverse the decay in neighborhoods.
John Urbahns, dir. of community development for the city states there are resources available to citizens.
(really???)
That's all well and good IF property owners are willing to put some "sweat equity" into such hovels, and get them up to code...AND get them all INSPECTED, but as is the case...they DO NOT...but they still manage to toss in some human refuse to get that rent check (sponsored in part by the FEDS...and the taxpayers, thanks to HUD and Section 8 housing).
The Urban League has a good start to turn this around in many neighborhoods, but again, it comes down not ALWAYS to the city...but rather to the PEOPLE...THEY have to be the ones making things happen, working with the city to make sure houses do not fall that far into disrepair, or even to become an eyesore on the block.
Speeding up the demolition process would be a great start, considering there are houses that fit that criteria for razing that appear most every day.
Getting Code Enforcement and Animal Control to ACT when people call them would also be a damn good start...
Boarding up a raccoon-infested house and removing the critters SHOULD be on the important side of whatever list is being created, because that can potentially become a public safety and health issue, should a child who is not supervised be roaming about and get bitten...it can happen.
*** Lastly today, our society is in a state of crisis, whether we choose to believe it or not.
There are many of us that still manage to motor along in life without too much difficulty, but more and more people appear to be going off the deep end.

And that's not just to speak to criminal activity...there's much more.
Very small and radical segments of our society are being allowed free reign to DICTATE to the vast majority as to HOW we're supposed to behave, WHAT we can celebrate, HOW we can celebrate, what we CAN say , what we CANNOT say, and so on...
This is an extremely dangerous precedent to allow, when it's not in the best interest OF that majority.
One person can make a difference, but you have to see if it's for GOOD...or not.

Sure made a difference THERE.

Hitler made a difference...as did Pol Pot, and Stalin...and Mao, but NONE of them acted for the GOOD of anyone, especially their OWN people.
How'd THAT work out for them?
(not that well)
We would be wise to acknowledge what these monsters did through history, and learn from it.
On the other side, one bus driver who stops his bus, then talks a person from jumping off a railing, and sits down to comfort them,. or a police officer that buys boots for a homeless person...THEY also make a difference, obviously for GOOD.

That old friend CHOICES comes into play...GOOD choices.
It's up to all of us to rail against that which we KNOW to be wrong, or unjust, or untruthful...and take to heart all that we KNOW is good, and decent, and just. The lines between such things can become blurred, but our experience, faith, and steadfastness can help us discern right from wrong.
I believe with all my heart that we CAN do better every day...we must.
Do have yourselves a great weekend.

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

((...And don't forget to turn all your clocks and watches BACK one hour this weekend...))