Tuesday Tidbits...

And, here we are again, friends...back in the saddle, ready to greet another day.
The Hoosierland weather looks to be as cooperative as it was yesterday. In fact, we're going to enjoy a day that pretty close to Monday with temps again reaching the upper 70s, with a low around 62 tonight.
We do have partly cloudy skies...I guess until the sun comes up, then we get partly SUNNY skies?
In any event, it should be a nice enough day for man or beast, so go get a cup of your favorite morning beverage and we'll set to work seeing what's been going on elsewhere...
*** First out of the linen closet this morning...today happens to be the following celebratory days:
--National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Day.
(Haven't seen much fol de rol over this...wonder why?)
--Wonderful Weirdos Day

( Heh, THAT ought to include a multitude of people from ALL over the human species, indicating once again, that Darwin might have got it wrong)
--National Teddy Bear Day

Earth's Mightiest Teddy Bears

(Awww..betcha the Build-A-Bear shop at Glenbrook Mall will be very BUSY)
--And today the DVD of the movie CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER goes on sale.

So far, Wal-Mart has the best price ($14.96) for the single DVD, with Walgreen's a not-so-distant second ($16.99)...who needs 3D, digital copies or blu-ray? It just costs more.
I am trying to best THOSE prices on eBay (LESS than $14).
Either way, I know what I'll be getting VERY soon...
Excelsior~!
Moving on...
*** Yes, we've had our 11TH HOMICIDE of the year, but NOT on the SE side...

Here's the lowdown on the latest fatal shooting:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20140909/LOCAL07/309089895/1002/LOCAL
This happened last night around 2220 hrs in the 2100 block of Eby Avenue (near Bevel Avenue).
A male in the passenger side of a van as found shot by what looks to be MULTIPLE shooters, given the different caliber of shell casings found on scene by investigating officers.

About 40+ casings were marked along the street, with one house also being hit, as well as a car near the van (gonna be an interesting insurance claim there).
Police were talking to witnesses who thought the gunfire was initially fireworks (someone needs to educate people on the difference), and several vehicles were spotted leaving the scene shortly after the shooting.
The FWPD has no suspects, no motive, and little else to go on at this time.

Ah, the bad old days in Philly.

Now, if I didn't know better, and I was back in Philly (and those involved was ITALIAN), I'd swear this looks like some sort of mob hit.
That's the way they used to do it back east...ambush someone in a vehicle (in a store, restaurant, or in front of the target's house), and do it execution style with lots of bullets...then leave ASAP.

Have to say...HELL YEAH!

Gonna be an interesting investigation, if such turns out to be the case.
((Editor's Note - 1400 hrs - Here is an update to the story from WANE.)):
http://wane.com/2014/09/09/indiana-tech-issues-campus-alert/
Maybe this one will get solved?
*** This little nugget almost got off the grid and why it took SO long to bring to the public's attention is bothersome.
Here's the story from the J-G:
(( Kilo of cocaine seized in stop

A Mexican national was caught with a kilo of heroin on the city’s after a traffic stop on Aug. 14 near the Time Corner’s area.
According to a federal criminal complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne, Miguel Verduzco Velazquez, was pulled over by an Allen County Sheriff’s Officer after he failed to signal a turn.

Hey, Paco how's business in the Fort?

A K-9 unit walked around the silver Honda and alerted to the presence of drugs. Inside the car, police found more than a kilogram of heroin. 
Velazquez fled the area and was captured after a brief foot pursuit into a cemetery.
He is charged in the federal complaint with possession with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin. A federal magistrate judge ordered him detained while his case progresses through the court system, according to court documents.))
Wow, a MEXICAN NATIONAL...illegal alien, no doubt...selling some heroin in the city. Now WHO would seen THIS one coming, aside from Stevie Wonder?

But, this was back on 14 AUGUST...and I wonder how many MORE are here doing something SIMILAR, hmm? (I'd wager more than officials want to believe)
*** Next up, I caught this story (from Memphis) about a white guy going to a Kroger there, who gets a beat-down from around 120 teens.

Here's the story link:
http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/26468259/group-of-teenagers-caught-on-camera-beating-man-in-kroger-parking-lot

Sure LOOKS like black-on-white violence.

Guess grocery shopping CAN be hazardous to one's health...or in this case to THREE people's health.
This smacks back to those "flash mobs" we saw a few years back...only THIS time, it seems more like the PUNCH-OUT "game"...with a flash mob attached to it.
At least the Memphis PD chief wants to pursue the PARENTS and possibly charge THEM with their kids' behavior in this attack.

GO after the PARENTS, chief!

The mob overwhelmed store and mall security, and was alleged to be mainly comprised of black teens. The victims were both black and white, so we obviously won't see any real "racial" component to this because it's NOT a white-on-black issue.
(although many will conclude otherwise...and rightly so).
*** Last back to the barn today...what did I say about things being BETTER in times past?
Do YOU recall any of this type of mob mentality occurring on such a regular basis in days other than the Civil Rights movement?
Do you remember so many teens coalescing into a violent conglomeration of evil, intent on bodily harm to innocent people with reckless abandon?

New event for downtown Fort Wayne?

I sure as hell don't. We just had the unwashed hippie "sit-ins"
It's as if we're suffering a changing social paradigm, and certainly NOT a good one.
This type of behavior does not make a nation good, great, or even better than it used to be.
Not a snowball's chance in hell of that happening.
Are that much of the youth in America THAT bored? Or that disenfranchised? Or even that forgotten that they have to resort to criminal activity for attention? In some cases...yes. In most cases, they're just "going along for the ride".

The lemmings are here.

And the usual suspects in this case are education, peer pressure, parents, the media, video games, etc.
I say the worst culprit in ALL of this is dissolution of the traditional family, closely followed by the lack of morality, falling away from the values of church, and the decay of civility.
It's almost as if we've devolved into a tribal mindset, "hunting" in loosely-knit groups of nomadic Neanderthals.
(well, that would explain street gangs well enough)
We, as a society have got to start treating our youth in the manner they seem to WANT to be treated, and that means handing out some punishment now and then...severe punishment. Get 'em while they're young enough, tell them NO often enough, punish when wrong, reward when correct, and they WILL  get with that program.
And that begins AT HOME..school is not full of LEOs...it's full of EDUCATORS.
Churches don't have an officer at the pulpit...they have a priest or pastor there, and with good reason.
We don't have to reinvent the damn wheel here (again)...just get back to basics and get our kids on the right road again, before they grow up without a proper knowledge of right and wrong.

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