If It's Tuesday, We Must STILL Be Alive...

And welcome to  another journey into the realm of the Internet, with yours truly punching the buttons, stroking the keys, and flipping the switches.
The Hoosierland weather today will be mostly mild, with temps reaching the mid-40s (feels more like FALL now, hmm?), with partly to mostly cloudy skies and a slight breeze to liven things up.
So take it slow today while I join you in another cup of our favorite morning beverage, and get this show on the road.
*** First up today, is more about our weekend here at the island of sanity on the city's SE side ghettohiood, known as the "Fortress of Reason", and our Sunday outing to the local K-Mart, due to close mid-January of 2014.

Let me start our by saying that watching stores CLOSE around here is nothing NEW...in fact, it's become quite commonplace over the last 15 or so years. Yes, the "novelty" has worn off and we often wonder WHICH store will be next on the "hit list".
Wifey and I spent time shopping at the stores that were left at Southtown before it finally closed over a decade ago...then we had to deal with the nearby Scot'ts grocery closing, and walked through a store that looked more like it belonged in an episode of The Walking Dead instead on being part of Indiana's second-largest city...but at least there were NO zombies about, unless you want to claim the store personnel that had blank looks upon their faces.
And now, much of the same can be said about our K-Mart. It was quite EMPTY as far as shoppers go, and with a healthy 20% and 30% savings all over the place, one would THINK people from everywhere would be flocking for bargains...nope, sorry.

We talked with two sisters that have worked at that store as long as we can remember, and they told us that K-Mart is not allowing them to bid for jobs in the OTHER places until the closing...how screwed up is THAT? Seventy people will be out of work when it closes...and not all will find a job readily.
Well, Wifey and I DID get our Christmas bear...the last one we will ever get at THIS location, and that breaks a "tradition" we had going since we were married back in 1997.

Yeah, she's a keeper!

Thank you so very much, Fort Wayne and Sears.
We also got some other things, and we figure with the mark downs, we saved over $30 bucks...not a bad haul, considering the circumstances.

Still, hearing the dulcet tones of Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song coming over the PA system echoing down empty aisles as you shop knowing that in less than TWO months, you won't be doing such things in this store, is very disconcerting.
And..it's kind of depressing.
As  the closing date approaches, you can expect even DEEPER cuts in prices, as the store is probably not going to be restocked, and remaining inventory will be flying off the shelves, as has much of it has done already.
Very sad to see...and to experience.
Moving on...
*** The local commercial says that Parkview Hospital is not for profit...all for you, or something to that effect.
Really?
Coulda fooled me.

Two months later...we are STILL getting bills from there, and I have to say that one all-encompassing bill would be GREATLY appreciated, instead of all these "dribs and drabs" rolling in, diming us to death.
And to think this was ONLY an out-patient procedure, and not an overnight (or longer) stay IN the facility...and it's cost more than a couple GRAND already, but I think we're close to the end of all the billing, unless another intern needs a new car or a radiology specialist wants a few house payments.
It IS nice to know that we seem to be funding the winter "get-aways" to the tropics for the resident GPs there.

Should be FRANKLINS under there instead!

Like I said to Wifey...THIS is why I detest hospitals AND doctors as a rule.
It's like women that go to a hairdresser - once they get you IN the damn door, they got you for LIFE (or death, depending on the situation).
There is always some "touch-up", styling change, or color enhancement that needs done...
Ditto with reliance on the medical field.
Granted there are those SPECIFIC times when you DO need a physician, but always be wary of the "follow-ups".
THOSE will become the "gift that keeps on taking"...from your hip-national bank.
Healthcare isn't all that "affordable" NOW...what makes anyone believe that the ACA will make it better?
It will only get WORSE, believe me on this one.
*** Next up, is anyone becoming as DISenchanted with all the Christmas commercials and movies we're seeing ALREADY?

While I freely admit to always trying to enjoy the holiday season as much as any bloke, there HAS to be some moderation involved.
There IS a time AND place...for EVERYTHING...let's not rush things.
I believe we can easily fast become caught between a rock and a hard place, and let me explain...
On the ONE hand, you the festive nature of the season coming at us earlier and earlier, with all the smiling faces, holiday cheer, songs, and the like
On the OTHER hand, you have this "war" on Christmas, that is denying those who look forward to the season to "curb their enthusiasm" when it comes to saying "Merry Christmas" to shoppers in the false belief that somehow the "nature" of Christmas and the religious connotations in the Judao-Christian following is INAPPROPRIATE. Just another way of saying "conform" to something non-religious in nature, and isn't that a large problem WITH our society today...not enough GOD in all these lives?
*** Lastly today, the continuation of my look at the Kennedy assassination, with a focus on the Warren Commission.

What exactly WAS the Warren Commission, and what did it REALLY report?
Well, the WIKI for the Warren Commission can be found HERE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Commission
This will give you the nuts and bolts of what it was all about.
Basically, it was established by LBJ to look into the assassination of JFK, consisted of 889 pages (with supporting documentation contained in 26 volumes), and was presented to the President on 24 September 1964. The supporting documents were given over in November that year, and later housed in the National Archives in D.C.

The "players" in this Theater of the Absurd

The committee consisted of: Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the "Supremes", senators Dick Russell (D-GA) and John Cooper (R-KY), reps Hale Boggs (D-LA) and Gerald Ford (R-MI), Allen Dulles, former dir. of central intelligence and head of the CIA, and John McCloy, former president of the World Bank.
Arlen Specter was but an assistant counsel, but wound up figuring prominently in the hearings and subsequent rendering of the final analysis of the commission, strange as it seems.

He changed political parties like others change underwear.

In an interview with Robert Kennedy Jr, it was revealed that he (his father, RFK) while publicly supporting the findings, privately believed this commissions's report was "a shoddy piece of craftsmanship".
The commission report has come under fire from numerous sources criticizing it's methods of investigation, it's findings, and, most importantly, it's OMISSIONS. And we can thank Arlen Specter FOR many of those, because it was HE who did not call forth witnesses on Dealey Plaza when they gave specific testimony to local Dallas police. These witnesses heard and saw SPECIFIC things that would have had a stronger impact on the commission's findings, were they admitted into the report.
It was said that only ONE in NINETY FOUR testimonies was heard in person by ALL members of the commission, and that alone has come under scrutiny since the report was published.
Specter was also a proponent of the "single bullet theory", which has been all but disproved over the years by ballistic experts.

What was alleged to have happened.

Three other agencies DID agree with the commission about TWO shots striking Kennedy from behind.
The single bullet theory was upheld , but NOT because of what Specter had produced as his evidence, but rather by conclusions based on inaccuracies in the initial investigation that were later corrected...like the seating arrangements in the limo and relative positions of President Kennedy and Gov. Connally.

What REALLY happened.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations stated in 1979 that Oswald killed Kennedy, probably as a result of a "conspiracy".
The HSCA conclusions also came under fire from critics, especially from disputed acoustic evidence presented to the HSCA.
So, WHY did the Warren Commission fail to hear ALL the testimonies from ALL the witnesses, and why did Arlen Specter suppress evidence regarding those witnesses when it could have HELPED the investigation?
Was there indeed a coverup?

The fateful day in Dallas.

Were certain people protecting others, and for what reason?
There is much to consider when dealing with such a pivotal event in modern history, and we have to be vigilant when it comes to finding out ALL the facts, regardless of how devastating we might find them.
Or, we could just pull the rug over it all, and allow those who would rewrite history to suit themselves the chance to do it again...in the future.
We, the people, have a right to know, and being human, our capacity for curiosity knows few limits.
Therein lies the lesson for today.

Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.
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(( And for all you history buffs, TODAY marks the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address...and for all the lowdown you can visit HERE:

http://news.yahoo.com/gettysburg-address-event-mark-150th-anniversary-070351653.html
And HERE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address
...And now you know why those TEN SENTENCES of Lincoln's speech were (and still are) worth more than TWO HOURS of oratory. ))