Monday Musings...

Well, here we are...a brand new week AND, a brand new Month...the LAST month of this year called December.
With it comes the best (and worst ) mankind has to offer when referring to holiday spirit.
Fortunately, it wasn't THAT bad a weekend, and we'll see why shortly, but first the Hoosierland weather.
It's going to be milder (for the next few days) with temps reaching into the low 40s, but we've still got some cloud cover to contend with.
At least it's not freezing rain, like they had up in New England where a SIXTY-FIVE car pileup on a highway cause some to be a lot LESS festive in the holiday spirit. Yes, it can ALWAYS be worse.
In the meantime, grab a refill of your favorite morning beverage, sit back, and let's get busy with what else has been going on...
*** First off the burners today is the good chance of HOMICIDE NUMBER 43, which happened to occur (...you guessed it...) on the city's SOUTHEAST SIDE

Gotta love the job that FWPD quadrant captain Garry Hamilton is doing...as long as you're NOT  law-abiding individual.
Make one helluva police capo in this city...NOT!
Here's the story link (buried nicely on page 7 of the J-G):
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20131202/LOCAL07/312029926
This unfolded on the police radio about 1508 hrs. yesterday afternoon, and FWPD officers soon arrived at the scene, which was an ALLEY behind the 3100 block of Central Drive and found one male victim. "man down".
In THIS part of town, it's not uncommon to find a drunk that has passed out, or a possible O.D. That's just the way these people shake much of the time.
The initial report went out as a "man down".

The man was unresponsive, and paramedics declared the man dead on scene. A coroner's autopsy will determine the C.O.D., although the mention of a chest trauma was forthcoming.
I'm interested in the TYPE of trauma, as this guy could be a hir and run victim, or it could be a targeted attack.
Do NOT be surprised if the victim turns out to have a mug shot or prior record. It's extremely RARE when a total innocent is a homicide victim...but still quite possible, knowing the "nature of the beasts" that infest this part of town.
Moving on...
*** This past Saturday, I accompanied Wifey to the Glenbrook Mall, where she was getting a "mani-pedi" at the Asian nail salon.
I did NOT...LOL.

Instead, I was left to "indulge myself"  (much like SULU in Star Trek 2 - TWOK when he was at the helm of a training mission), and that meant I had all these stores around, a pocket full of plastic plus cash, and enough time to do some serious holiday "damage" to the hip-national bank...
I did NOT...(again).
I did spend some on gifts, but hardly anything for myself. I made a decent haul at Barnes and Noble, and a minor purchase at Toys R Us. I was very disappointed in the layout of TRU and the selection of items that would have turned my frown upside down...didn't happen.
I wasn't smiling EXCEPT when the store manager wished me a happy holiday season...(I always reply "Merry Christmas".)
I then decided to nip on over to that new store, OLLIE'S, and that was a nice place to roam about.

I spent some bucks there, found a great book for my friend in Delaware, and a few other items. It's one of those "bargain" stores that's better than Family Dollar (some items are more expensive, but still priced as to not bust the budget), and they have everything from books to housewares, to food items and clothing. Something for damn near everyone.
I have to admit that I WAS eyeing up the Dunham Sports place, but I knew if I walked in THERE, I'd come out with ANOTHER FIREARM...LOL.
(maybe early next year?)
Anyway, I roamed back to Glenbrook, and the only store I stopped in there was Suncoast Video. I could blow a bundle in there if unchecked.
They had some very cool movie tie-in items, like a TWO foot tall Mech from that movie Pacific Rim, and an 18 inch long replica of Doc Brown's DeLorean from BTTF.
They also had action figures, games and sundry items from TV and cinema.
I stopped in Spencer's Gifts...has that place gone downhill....more like a total "head shop" these days instead of the "odd" or hard-to-find item store it USED to be.
They didn't even have any HALO figures...WTH is up with THAT?
They used to carry a huge line of the old Star Trek Next Gen and Star Wars figures, as well as die-cast vehicles...
Not any longer...(damn shame, too).
I did spot a Salvation Army Kettle and bell-ringer near Penney's and I stuck a few bucks in that, to which I got a very welcome and seasonal response.

Now THAT did put a smile on my face.
By now, Wifey was done with her nails, and I had done sufficient damage to credit card bills for the month, so we ate at Sbarros (great pizza, too high-priced...a trade-off), and then went on our merry way home.

We did have ONE near-incident along Lafayette, where one DUMBASS decided to STOP in the left lane to allow another DUMBASS to exit a car and go into a house in the damn MIDDLE of a block...yeah, they were black, so you can see we DO have a PEOPLE problem down here.
I mean WHO the hell in their RIGHT mind does anything THAT stupid during Black Friday weekend with heavier-than-usual traffic?
(I know of TWO people...now)

Good thing I always give people a wide berth whenever I see tail lights come on...had I been doing the speed limit, they'd be dead, we'd have a bashed in front end on the Wifeymobile, and I'd own every aspect of their pitiful lives...then I'd sue the city...lol.
Aside from that, all went well, which means there is always a down side...and it came later that afternoon, near dusk.
I noticed a dark grey car with 3 occupants (all black), when one gets out, walks around to the back, and then less than a minute later, gets back in the car. There is a suspicious dark "stain" in the street where he was standing, so I can only surmise that it was another one of our familiar public urinations.

What the hell else COULD it has been...no cans or bottles were to be found.
Yes...we DO have a PEOPLE problem down here...wonder how the black community "leaders:" take to their OWN people pissing in the damn street ON a residential street when it's not even dark out? I suppose they must be okay with it, otherwise we'd hear something to the contrary.
THAT kind of "cultural diversity" I can do WITHOUT, thank you.
But, speaking about diverse,. I will say one thing about Glenbrook...the stores they have today are far less diverse than they had there less than 10 years ago, and that's sad. You can only have SO many young people clothing stores...
Didn't see any real MUSIC stores either, and NO Kay-Bee toys...or Hallmark shop...and no tea and coffee shop (the dry kind, not the wet kind like Starbucks). Used to be a little something for everyone at one time...no so much any longer.
(...And to think today is CYBER-MONDAY...cripes almighty)!

Guess we have to drive even FARTHER away to find that kind of venue...
Lord knows nothing like Glenbrook will be close to returning to OUR part of town any time in the near future, thanks to the crime.
*** And speaking of "crime", this blew me away:
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/11/30/man-cited-after-tossing-1000-into-moa-rotunda/

The Mall of America is a modern-day icon...for shopping (at least). It is nothing less than a man-made indoor city, complete with it's own police force...that saw fit to call local authorities  to cite a man for tossing 1000 $1 dollar bills off of a balcony to shoppers below, as a "pay-it-forward" thing.
Serge Vorobyov had just gone through a divorce, and his wife even took the cat, but he still wanted to express holiday cheer (a "positivism" thing), and not allow this bad year (for him) to dampen his spirit.
Unfortunately, Bloomington Police don't share the sentiment.

They arrested Serge and cited him for...(get this)..."disorderly conduct".
Gee, didn't know that GIVING was considered disorderly...must have been the "manner" in which the money was distributed, otherwise Obummer's "redistribution of wealth" through the flawed (un)Affordable Care Act would net our president at least 40 years for TREASONOUS activity...right?
Okay of a black liberal president does it, but NOT okay if a Slavic-American does it...got it.
*** Lastly today...we are losing touch with WHO we are as a people AND as a nation, and if we're NOT careful, we won't recognize this country a lot sooner than we think.

Traditionally, we have always been the MOST giving people on the damn planet...and often, we've been taken advantage of because of such generosity.
Annually, we send literally BILLIONS overseas to sundry needy peoples in various nations...AND still manage to toss piles of money at domestic programs, which haven't ALL panned out too well over time, but hey, it's not the government's money, right?
Perhaps this could be the year we start to reclaim OUR heritage, and take back that which was once ours when it comes to giving.
Maybe we can reverse this "war on Christmas", and allow people who WANT to give to others the opportunity to do so, without legal repercussions.
If this nation can waste trillions on non-essential programs, we can turn a blind eye to the one person tossing money.
 It's HIS money to do with he wishes, isn't it?
The time for all this government intervention into EVERY single aspect of OUR lives needs to cease, as long as we're not doing anything harmful, to others and certainly not anything illegal or depraved.
That's the way we USED to conduct ourselves...without all the government bugging the crap out of us at every turn.
And it's something for those in power to remember, especially at THIS time of year...
Better to GIVE...than to RECEIVE.

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