Clueless in Fort Wayne...

Now before you all get to wondering if this applies to me in any way, shape, or form, fear not...the title of today's post is squarely directed at those running this city of ours.
More about that in a minute.
Let's talk weather...as in whether or not we're going to see more RAIN today.
The Hoosierland weather says we are, not any appreciable sunshine here and temps will be reaching into the upper 50s ...maybe hitting 60 degrees, if we behave ourselves.
So, while the world unfolds around us (or is that UNRAVELS?), let's get ourselves a nice warm cup of that morning beverage of choice and see what is going on, hmm?
*** First out of the stable today is the answer to our WHO SAID THAT? quote of the week:
"Courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway."
This was spoken by that unforgettable American icon (and staunch conservative)...JOHN WAYNE

(26 May 1907 - June 11 1979) .
And here is his WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne
He's got his own website, too...here's this link:
http://johnwayne.com/
Not too bad for someone who left us over 30+ years ago.
And not bad for someone born with the name Marion Robert Morrison.
(later changing the middle name to Mitchell)
Suffice it to say the WIKI is a lengthy one, but deservedly so, as his film career alone has been the subject of numerous VOLUMES of books over the years.
He was also a director and producer...again not bad for someone who "stumbled" into acting after a football scholarship to USC was lost from a body surfing accident.
He was born in IOWA, but the family moved to L.A. (before it became the land of fruits and nuts) when he was 9 years old.
He managed small film roles until he hooked up with John Ford in the movie Stagecoach (1939)...from there, the sky was the limit. There are so many great movies that he starred in that you simply cannot list them all.

He DID win one Oscar for his role in True Grit (as Rooster Cogburn), and that was only the second time he was nominated for that award.
His other nomination was not for best actor, but for best producer in the movie The Alamo.
The WIKI is worth a read if you want to get to know "The Duke" a lot more, and while you might not agree with his politics, you at last knew where he stood, and he never apologized for his beliefs and principles. The legacy of the Duke will out live us all.
Moving on...
*** Next up is the feature we call "What the hell happened today, Bob?", so here we go:
October 9 -
Today is CURIOUS EVENTS DAY...and we've sure as hell got enough to those to smack around, don't we?

(any more curiouser, and we'd all be in Wonderland with Alice, hmm?

Some folks NEED this one.

It's also FIRE PREVENTION DAY...during Fire Prevention Week...nice how that works out.
And, it's LEIF ERIKSON DAY (never to be confused with Leif Garrett...lol)...and Leif's the guy who we all REALLY know discovered AMERICA, right?

Yo, guys...pull over THERE.

Columbus discovered Puerto Rico and all points in the Caribbean.
Maybe we should all go "berserk" in remembrance?
OY...!
*** There was an Op-Ed piece (letter to the editor) in today's paper that wonderfully portrays the problems with this city, and is the reason today's post is titled as it is.
Here's the link to the column:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20141009/EDIT07/310099936/1021/EDIT

Your time is...UP! (that'll be $10)

Now, before we get into this too far, I'm not "defending" the woman writing the column...we have laws for a reason, and no one should be above them, or get cut slack for breaking them.
This column has to deal with the manner in which parking control "hovers" about downtown, waiting to pounce on those people whose meter time has expired. And this can be a very big issue, although the money per time-violation ($10) is not.
Metered parking is one of those bugaboos of damn near every center city...no getting past that.
And I can see the need to have enforcement of the laws pertaining to such things, otherwise we'd have people parking there all damn day, taking up a space that several others could utilize for their brief stops to wherever.
But there is an insidious DOUBLE-STANDARD at work here, and that is SO typical of this city.

 You tell 'em, Duke!

One the one hand, you have (for the lack of a better term) meter-maids (officers) tasked with ticketing drivers who run over the allotted time they paid for with those meters. And the city rakes in the bucks with this...deservedly so, too.
On the OTHER hand, you have CHRONIC violations in other parts of the city...like where I live that go unnoticed, because parking control is NEVER patrolling down here and LOOKING for these violations...that's why.
In fact, if we DO have any sort of parking violation (and believe you me we have dozens EVERY damn day), I have to call the city's stupid-ass *3-1-1* number to even have parking control run down here and check it out.
I usually call them whenever we have a vehicle that is in one place (unmoved) for over 72 hours (yes, that is a violation like in an abandoned car).

Oh, look...it's a "TWO-FER"...!

But, when someone double parks...or parks AGAINST the flow of traffic,...or parks so as to BLOCK A SIDEWALK (all perfectly good violations in their own right)...nothing is done to dissuade these people from doing it...so they KEEP on doing it, as do their friends, and THEIR friends, and so on...
Calling downtown does nothing as well...the offender will be GONE before parking control even gets here.
And THESE violations net more than a mere $10 penalty...seems a good way for the city to actually collect REAL revenue, rather than the "chump-change" they manage from the downtown area, does it not?

I initially thought that such aggressive ticketing downtown was "easy money"...WRONG.
It's more like LAZY MONEY...the easy money can be had where we live...IF the city had more than a few functioning brain cells to figure that one the hell out, right?
The woman in the article happens to LIVE DOWNTOWN too...such IRONY is so good, it just HAS to be habit-forming...
(and makes a good case for NOT wanting to live there...for me, anyway)
*** Next up...talk about curioser and curioser.
Here's a story about a former school that the city plans to RAZE:
http://wowo.com/ArticleDisplay/tabid/74/ArticleId/25048/Plan-to-Demolish-Historic-School-Moving-Closer-to-Approval.aspx

Yep..clueless.

This is the Historic Franklin School on St. Mary's Ave.
The bad news is that it's HISTORIC...and would cost OVER $11 mil (according to Development Czar Greg Leatherman), while razing it is only $331K...a "bargain", right?
Naturally, a new city PARK would go there with a splash pad...and that makes me wonder...
What about the old FWPD building on CREIGHTON?
There's an eyesore if I ever saw one.

Now THAT should be demolished as well, as the "locals" have taken to using it for target practice (not doing much good with these mooks), and it's been vacant for a few years now...no park planned THERE...or a splash pad (break open a hydrant for that...ghetto-style).

Like we have a "choice"?

See...that's what I mean...hurrah for everywhere ELSE, but never a peep about the SE side, which is bleeding (actually AND figuratively) over into the NE and SW areas.
No one in City hall wants to address the problems here...stick another band-aid on that compound fracture...to calm the aborigines...that usually works.
And toss in some event with free stuff and food and loud music...always sure to keep the "locals" from acting up.
That is NO way to handle REAL problems - problems that get worse every damn year.
But, the city seems well versed in knowing what NOT to do these days.
*** Last back to the hangar...it so saddens me to see our part of the city having to go down the crapper because of non-intervention by the city, as well as their lack-of-interest in doing anything positive to change what passes for normal down here.
And whatever IS done is a drop in the proverbial ocean to actually get things back to SOME modicum of normalcy.

Lacking at city Hall?

Fort Wayne is CLUELESS...and run by a bunch of clueless, self-serving mooks.
There, I said it.
We've got so much lip-service down here it's nauseating, but nothing TANGIBLE gets done.
The city has made it harder for average citizens to act in concert with the city. Our council member (Glynn Hines) is ONLY interested in getting re-elected (again) and serves HIS people only (more entitlements).
It's little wonder so many good folks have left our area, leaving those of us with stronger values and principles to "fight the good fight"...basically ALONE.
When you have a police department that doesn't seem that concerned with literally hundreds of minor infractions that happen all the time, and a parking control system that doesn't control ANY aspect of parking, and a city management hierarchy that is ONLY about the "Downtown" area, you wonder why the hell you even bother to wake up each day.

You do it because there IS a tomorrow.
You do it because someone HAS to still give a damn, even if the cost is high.
You do it because it's the RIGHT thing to do, no matter HOW unpopular it is with the "locals"...
And you do it because you were raised  to BELIEVE in what this nation stands for, and it's not a damn slum.  There is always hope, and then faith, and then (God willing)...courage.
They are the only allies we seem to have these days

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