Monday Musings...

Welcome to the final days leading up to CHRISTMAS...just a mere THREE days remaining...and then we to year's end.
And after THAT, we start the whole gig over AGAIN....
The Hoosierland weather will see more of the same as the last several days...temps reaching the 40 degree mark, mostly cloudy...I know, we've heard it all before.
But this afternoon into tonight, some RAIN rolls in and stays around until Christmas Eve, when it might turn to some SNOW. Hard to believe that with temps going to 50 tomorrow...crazy stuff, hmm?
Anywho,. with that said, let's all grab a cup of our favorite morning beverage and set out to see what's been going on since last we met.
*** First out of the pine tree forest this morning is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
December 22 - 
Today is NATIONAL DATE NUT BREAD DAY (yummy), so if you ever dated a nut and ran out of bread during such a date, you'll feel right at home with this one...LOL.

Ir's also ANNE AND SAMANTHA DAY...(also celebrated on June 21).
This is apparently the birthdays of Anne Frank and Samantha Smith.
Here's a link to "splain" it:
http://www.anneandsamantha.com/
It's the whole positive influence on American school children thing...
Lord knows we need a lot MORE of that.
*** Looking for Wifey to return back up here late tomorrow night...the bachelor gig will soon be over for the cat and I...lol.
Had a good time yesterday baking a HUGE LOAD of cookies (sugar and chocolate chip).

Not as fancy as THESE, but I made lots more...

Have to run a couple errands today and drop off some of those cookies at the local smoke shop (the ladies there are very cool people - gonna spread me more Christmas cheer).
And, it will be nice to have the Missus here again...the house seems a little large for just ONE person, even if it's only 1250 sq. ft.
Mailed out packages to those out-of-state, and sent our cards to those across the fruited plains.
Saturday's food shopping went well...got a duck for Christmas dinner, and chatted up the USPS worker at the post office.

They had Nat King Cole (O Holy Night) on the radio, and I was spreading some holiday cheer.talking about the time when GOOD black music filled the airwaves and played on the turntables.
It was a nicely banal weekend...the kind you don't seem to get many of these days in the ghettohood.
Drama-free...sweet.
*** Next up, I was remiss in listing last week's SHOTS FIRED calls in Fort Wayne, so I expanded it and here 'ya go:

SHOTS FIRED CALLS - 12/08 - 12/18
============================
DECEMBER 8
14F158692 08:54:42 113 SHOTS FIRED 2500 JOHN ST
14F158852 16:24:42 113 SHOTS FIRED 1600 GRISWOLD DR & TENNESSEE AVE
DECEMBER 9 
14F159290 18:18:50 113 SHOTS FIRED 1100 DEGROFF ST
14F159345 21:29:32 113 SHOTS FIRED 4100 WINTER ST
14F159353 22:09:15 113 SHOTS FIRED 3500 GAYWOOD DR
14F159024 00:57:52 58 SHOOTING 1300 GOSHEN AVE
14F159028 01:11:31 58 SHOOTING 700 BROADWAY
14F159032 01:19:26 58 SHOOTING 1800 MAIN ST W
DECEMBER 10 
14F159717 20:46:26 113 SHOTS FIRED 8300 BRIDGEWAY BLVD
14F159748 22:31:01 113 SHOTS FIRED 1200 FAYETTE DR
DECEMBER 11 
14F160083 18:55:44 113 SHOTS FIRED 3000 STARDALE DR
14F160116 20:07:04 113 SHOTS FIRED 1800 EMERSON AVE
DECEMBER 12 
14F160198 00:25:25 113 SHOTS FIRED 3600 AVONDALE DR
14F160204 00:58:10 113 SHOTS FIRED 1500 RICHARDSON ST & OSAGE ST
14F160233 03:32:20 113 SHOTS FIRED 300 THIRD ST
14F160242 05:09:49 113 SHOTS FIRED 4500 ANTHONY WAYNE DR SW
14F160510 18:12:34 113 SHOTS FIRED 4500 AVONDALE DR
DECEMBER 13 
14F160715 01:15:35 113 SHOTS FIRED 3700 SMITH ST
14F160777 04:38:28 113 SHOTS FIRED 6100 BUNT DR
14F160808 08:41:05 113 SHOTS FIRED 4100 WINTER ST
14F160810 08:43:04 113 SHOTS FIRED 4500 AVONDALE DR & SHERWOOD TERR E
14F160948 15:51:28 113 SHOTS FIRED 200 MECHANIC ST
14F161053 21:01:13 113 SHOTS FIRED 3700 SANDPOINT RD & ARDMORE AVE
DECEMBER 14
14F161177 02:39:35 113 SHOTS FIRED 2800 NORTHGATE BLVD
14F161181 02:49:27 113 SHOTS FIRED 4600 HARTFORD DR
14F161264 11:00:12 113 SHOTS FIRED 2900 OLIVER ST & COLERICK ST
14F161452 19:55:41 113 SHOTS FIRED 2100 BROOKLYN AVE & EBY AVE
14F161473 21:36:51 113 SHOTS FIRED 1800 EMERSON AVE
14F161478 21:52:29 113 SHOTS FIRED 1500 BARTHOLD ST
14F161116 00:11:12 58 SHOOTING 1100 LYNN AVE
14F161173 02:30:41 58 SHOOTING 2500 DUPONT RD E
DECEMBER 15
14F161676 14:05:23 113 SHOTS FIRED 900 CREIGHTON AVE E & GAY ST
14F161905 23:56:50 113 SHOTS FIRED 1200 FAYETTE DR
DECEMBER 16
14F162291 21:56:55 113 SHOTS FIRED 3200 HARRISON ST S
DECEMBER 17
14F162359 06:27:21 113 SHOTS FIRED 1400 OXFORD ST & HOLTON AVE
14F162554 16:07:33 113 SHOTS FIRED 3200 CENTRAL DR
14F162575 17:00:55 113 SHOTS FIRED 6000 RADCLIFFE DR
14F162605 18:20:30 113 SHOTS FIRED 300 DEWALD ST W
14F162642 19:40:22 113 SHOTS FIRED 4300 SOUTHPARK DR
14F162667 20:38:06 113 SHOTS FIRED 6000 RADCLIFFE DR
14F162738 23:27:17 113 SHOTS FIRED 3000 MCCORMICK AVE
DECEMBER 18
(none, but 4 armed robberies reported)
==================
Looks like the local "gunslingers" have been a tad on the BUSY side.
Tis the season...hmm?
Just wait until New Years Eve, when the south side becomes Fallujah...and the police are relatively MIA.
Moving on...
*** Had another shooting Sunday morning in the Summit City...nice to know some things simply DON'T change on the SE side.

Here's the details, sketchy and not forthcoming as they are (these days):
http://wane.com/2014/12/21/police-investigating-armed-robbery-shooting/
Again, a man shows up at hospital with gunshot wounds (the method of choice these days), and when police investigated, discovered the shooting took place at the VFW post located at 2441 Winter St (nestled in the SE ghettohood).
The call was dispatched around 0057 hrs Sunday morning.
The vic was shot below the waist in the lot at VFW Post 8147, and police were initially treating the investigation as an armed robbery attempt, but have since listed this as a shooting investigation.
Goes to show that with a black police chief, the city is JUST AS SAFE as it was under Grandma Rusty...well, maybe in areas OTHER than the SE side.
*** Next up, the assassination (because THAT is what it WAS) of two NYPD officers over the weekend has caused a LOT of emotions, not the least of which is anger by the police in NYC...and with good reason.

The shooter (who took the coward's way out and offed HIMSELF) was no stranger to law-enforcement.
Had a rap sheet as long as your arm, and before he came to the Big Apple to kill some cops, had shot and seriously wounded an ex-girlfriend down in Baltimore hours before.

The shooter was one Ismaayial Brinsley, 28. 
He SHOULD have given his pistol a blowjob BEFORE going after the two officers.
That would have saved two families a LOT of grief and suffering.
And, this turd DID have mental issues as well, but was still (somehow) able to acquire a chrome Taurus PT-99 semi-auto pistol (looks like a Beretta 92). A heavy piece...like a damn brick in your hand. I know someone who owns one.

Brinsley's weapon 

Brinsley had posted his intentions on an Instagram account hours before he drove north to New York and executed the 2 officers as they sat in their patrol cruiser.
Now this whole "convicted felon who gets guns" thing is ONE issue that needs to be addressed.
We see this in Fort Wayne damn near EVERY single week...and still they keep getting firearms.
(helluva black market)
But, it's interesting to note that the NYC assassin was BLACK, and the officers ASIAN and LATINO.

Officers Ramos and Liu - Rest in Peace, gentlemen.

I pray for the families of both officers...there is NO time of year that you should have to bury a loved one, but NOW is certainly one of the WORST.
A very emotional letter was posted by Officer Ramos' 13-uear old son...
Here's a link with more of the details:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/12/21/2-nypd-cops-shot-in-car-critically-injured/
FOX NEWS had great coverage and to see former NYPD "commishes", former detectives and brass,  and Mayor Rudy on voicing their views was good to see.
And they pretty much feel the way I do.
It's something I've stated here when it comes to police and those ethnics living in the "inner city"...
It's not so much about BLACK and WHITE...but more about BLACK and BLUE.
I stated to our former quadrant captain that even IF we had ALL BLACK OFFICERS down here, it would NOT decrease crime in numbers that would be appreciable.
And it's not about RACIAL profiling...it's CRIMINAL profiling, and all these assholes that insist there is some "agenda" about profiling and race need to get their collectives heads out of their asses and LEARN the meaning of what constitutes CRIME and the behaviors surrounding it...period.
That's all I have to day about that...(for today, at least).
*** Last back to the garage...Life is ALL about...(get ready for it)...PEOPLE.
Without people, life as WE know it would not exist, and I know that sounds way too simplistic.

Still, bear with me on this...
Since life IS about people, EACH of us has our own unique place in the grand scheme of things. I know...doesn't always SEEM that way, does it?
Nonetheless, that is fact.
And we have to deal with all the OTHER people we come in contact with, wanted or unwanted, good or bad.
Again, that is fact.

But the method WE choose to touch the myriad of souls we encounter throughout life is just as important as how we choose to deal with OURSELVES...and in that, there can be an insidious trap.
When others choose to lump ALL people into a specific "group", that's when trouble ensues.
That is often called racist, sexist, homophobic...you name it.
And at this time of year, we should be looking to HE who came to us in order to bring mankind together, rather than divide us in ways we've yet to imagine.

Sure, that also sounds too simplistic, doesn't it?
Perhaps that is the way it has been designed...to BE that simple...that logical, and yes, that "easy".
I always say that life is complex, and it is meant to be that way for a reason.
Think back to when you first learned to ride a bicycle...looked pretty imposing and relatively impossible at the time, didn't it?

But, after some "work" on YOUR part, and a lot of practice, it became LESS difficult to master, right?
That's the thing here...life can become LESS difficult when we learn how to "practice" it, and that starts with how we go about getting our minds and heart set in the right direction.
Sure, there will always be those few people who don't deserve the breathe the same air as the rest of us, are the boils on society's ass, and are a bane to humanity itself, but perhaps that's not OUR job to change them. It may fall to another, or, as is often the case, to a much HIGHER authority.
And that is the primary reason for this season...acknowledgement of that authority in ALL our lives.

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