Humpday Happenings...

If you like RAIN, then today might be your day, as we are supposed to have severe storms coming through the Heartland area.
And, the highs today will be milder than in previous days, reaching only into the lower 70s.
I know the weather people have been promising some rain for days, but the Hoosierland looks to be finally getting some.
Tomorrow will see clearing skies and slightly warmer temps.
So, sit back, get that morning cup of your favorite beverage refilled and let's get busy with all the stuff that's been going on around us...
*** First out of the frying pan is our WHO SAID THAT? quote of the week:
"The first idea that the child must acquire is that of the difference between good and evil."
This plays wonderfully into the latter part of today's post, so WHO said that?
The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back in the classroom...
*** Next up, are a couple crime stories here in Fort Wayne.
-- The first story deals with a robbery of a local CVS on the city's (where else?) SOUTHEAST SIDE.

Here we go again...

Here is the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140604/LOCAL07/306049987/1002/LOCAL
This happened at the CVS, located at 5802 S. Anthony Blvd around 1000 hrs yesterday.
(bet he didn't hit the Walgreens across the street - they have cameras and monitors watching the checkouts there)

Although there has been no surveillance video to see, a description of the robber was available.
He's a BLACK male (big surprise), about 6 ft. tall, 160 lbs, was armed with a semi-auto handgun, and wore blue jeans, a tan and white long-sleeve button up shirt, with dark bandannas covering his face and head. He DID make off with money from the register.
No one was injured in the robbery.
What is brazen is that he told a customer at the checkout to "get out of the way", as he grabbed handfuls of money from the open cash drawer.
(try that while I'm standing in line and see where you wind up)
-- The next story deals with another robbery at a night deposit box.

And AGAIN...

Here's the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140604/LOCAL07/306049986/1002/LOCAL
This happened at the Chase Bank branch, directly east of Glenbrook Square around 2140 hrs Monday night.
A woman was driving up to the deposit box when she noticed a man crouched in the shrubs about 50 ft. away.
He got up and ran toward her car.

He pointed a gun at her and told her to hand over the money, which she did.
According to reports, the gun appeared to be a silver .45 caliber with a suppressor attached.
(well, that's something new.. those "cans" cost money)
The robber is described as a LIGHT-SKINNED BLACK with a mole on his left cheek, wearing a red hooded sweatshirt (with the hood up) and black sweatpants.
-- This last story deals with another armed robbery on the SE side...'tis the SEASON for such sh*t, isn't it?

One more time...

Here's the story link:
http://wane.com/2014/06/03/public-help-needed-to-id-armed-robbery-suspect/
This happened late Tuesday afternoon in the 1100 block of Oxford St.
A landlord was picking up his rent money and then was followed by the suspect who had seen the transation, pulled out a handgun and placed it to the landlord's neck.
The suspect took the (rent) money and fled south on Oliver St and got into what police believe was an older model black.Kia Sportage.
As like all the other perps, this thug also remains at-large.

That's THREE (probably poverty-stricken) thugs with NO money to speak of (then where did they get the guns without money?), NO job to keep them occupied (REAL, honest work is a white thing...like education), and NO future in their pitiful lives (I DO predict and orange jumpsuit and flip-flops, however).
Heaven forbid anyone take anything from THESE crims...(like their lives - that would be a damn good start towards urban-renewal).
Moving on...
*** I wanted to speak today on the topic of EVIL.
Go ahead ...say it out loud...EEEEVILLLLL. let it flow freely from your mouths.

Which way did he go, George?

We have more than our share in this world, and it usually finds the people who need to deal with it the least.
It comes in many forms, wears many faces, and can be as obvious as noting that the sky is blue, or can be as covert as an embedded spec ops team.
Evil is here for only ONE reason...to oppose that which is GOOD.
It creates chaos in it's wake, causes problems by the score, and can force decent people to become that which they are not.

It is the YANG to the YIN of good...and we usually don't have to look far to find it. most times, it will find us.
(hopefully not unaware, though)
And, evil has been around since the dawn of mankind and the first book of the Bible.
While good serves a REAL purpose, evil does not, nor will not.
It only SERVES ITSELF...it fuels it's own fire.
And it is a TRUE equalizer of all people...rich or poor, any race, religion or gender.
Good will create and evil will destroy...plain and simple.
Just as there can be no evil from anything that is good, there can be no good from anything that is evil.
(with the possible exception of the eradication OF that evil)
Now, I said all that to say THIS...
Have you noticed a "trend" going around these days concerning EVIL?
Where once we had DEFINED boundaries of what was good and evil, we are now seeing a "softening" of those lines...a blurring of what was once clearly set before us

Joseph Campbell often spoke about good and evil in his writings concerning heroes and villains in mythology, both in antiquity and in modern times.
And in every case, good and evil are VERY distinctly defined.
There are times when that which is evil has an opportunity at something called REDEMPTION, and this also is nothing new.
The entire New Testament is replete with the aspect of redemption, and that speaks to everyone, for, as noted there... "we are all sinners".
Don't worry, I'm not getting "preachy"...lol.
Does that necessarily make us all EVIL, though?
Well, we DO have the capacity to become that, should we CHOOSE to (a conscious move on our part).
For example, given the proper stimulation, or "motivation", we are ALL killers...but, thankfully, most all of us wake up every morning and say "today, I will not kill".
What I am seeing in many of today's movies is this "misunderstanding" when it comes to those with an evil persona.

Take the recent movie MALEFICENT...the Angelina Jolie flick about that Sleeping Beauty antagonist...a witch hell-bent on creating chaos and "killing" off the heroine of the fairy tale.
I read this review in the J-G back on 30 May, and it got me thinking about all this.
Here's the link to the source article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140530/ENT01/305309991/0/SEARCH

I've just had a "troubled" childhood.

So, if I get this straight, there is no REAL evil to be found, and that all these evil creatures and people are just "complex and misunderstood"?

We're talking SERIOUS evil HERE...

Well, that explains a LOT of what's going on in our world these days, doesn't it?
We not only are capable (and willing) to rewrite HISTORY, we're also busy redefining EVIL as just something not AS good as that which IS good.
Got it.
When you diminish that which IS evil, you are permitting such behaviors that foster the evil to go less noticed (because these people are just misunderstood)...call it a DESENSITIZATION...something I've spoken about a lot here.

THAT is why we see more violent crime, and younger criminals, and more brazen crimes committed.
But, we're being told (indiscriminately) it's not really EVIL going on here...it's just some crazy form of  "misguided good" at work...
Well, there 'ya go then...we've been wrong all this time .
BULLSHIT!
We need to see evil for what it truly is...don't try and sugar-coat it, redefine it, or otherwise change it from it's core structure...it's EVIL.

HAL wasn't "evil"...just MISPROGRAMMED.

It's bad, it's wrong, and it's what is being touted as the "other good" these days in many forms of the media.
Look at certain types of urban music...mysogeny, hatred of races, women, and authority, swearing and overt sexual promiscuity...and they are top-selling "songs".

Talk about permissiveness!

We've become too permissive a society, and the only reason for doing so is to allow evil it's time and place.
I will admit that we do need "some" evil in the world...as a barometer to measure the good that can be found in everyone, so evil will never be totally done away with...that's a given.
But we have to keep in mind that evil should never take the place OF that which is good, and be hoisted to sit alongside that which is good. To allow evil equal reign is like opening Pandora's Box...all over again.
What we need to know is that the many faces of evil are there to remind us of how devious the dark side of human nature truly is.

"Luke, you were right about me."

Sure, it's fine to have DARTH VADER find redemption through his son, Luke, but all too often, evil has to be dealt with, and making it "warm and fuzzy" doesn't seem to fill the bill, in my opinion.
We don't need to, nor should we "embrace" evil in ANY way...the Bible repeats that over and over, and most any other religion says similar things.
If we are graying the black and white lines of what is good and evil, then it becomes like the picture of DORIAN Gray...and we know what happens when we gaze upon that portrait, or worse, allow others to see what evil really looks like, don't we?

THIS is what accumulated evil looks like.

I think we need to stick to the ACTUAL definitions of what we know to be both GOOD...and EVIL.
When we see things for what they are, we learn so much more, and can make much netter decisions in our lives and for our families and even for our nation.
Let's not be cajoled into thinking otherwise.
Let's let out yay be YAY, and our nay be NAY...makes life a lot simpler...and better.

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