Humpday Happenings...

Welcome to the middle of the week, and it's one of our "dry-out" days in between rain events.
Seems we get a couple every week and a half.
Never knew the Midwest would have it's own "rainy-season".
The rest of the Hoosierland weather will have us with very comfortable temps today, reaching only into the mid-70s, and yes, the rain returns later this evening once again to vex us off and on for another couple days.
Sure makes mowing a lawn a dicey proposition.
In the meantime, let's all get ourselves a nice morning drink nestled close by, as we look at what has been going on...
*** First out of the attic is our WHO SAID THAT? quote of the week:
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.""
I'm sure you've encountered this in your life, if not, then perhaps in the news, where, like in war, truth can often become the FIRST casualty.
So, WHO said that? The answer at the top of tomorrow's post.
Meanwhile, back in Danzig, Poland...
*** Next up is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
July 8 -
---Today is VIDEO GAMES DAY.

And for many young people, that is also EVERY DAY...of every month of every year.
We'll not get into the influence such games have upon impressionable minds...that's best left to another post for another day.
*** Next, we had five people from Fort Wayne caught trying to rob a credit union in another city. Here's the skinny:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/courts/Surveillance-nets-arrest-of-5-trying-to-rob-credit-union-7601331

The FBI had the five under surveillance since last week at the Southbridge Apartments (near the Southtown area), and followed the two cars they got into south on I-69 to Grant County.
The way this played out was priceless, and shows that the FEDS are still not the ones to be trifled with.
The story is a good read, and shows that crime DOES NOT pay one...damn...cent.
(to these five would-be robbers, anyway)

They go well with ORANGE.

Don't think our county (Allen) prosecutor will get her mitts on this case...score one for justice (for a change).
Moving on...
*** It does appear that there are others who feel much the same as I do with the fireworks activity in Fort Wayne, especially all along our residential streets.

Too many things that go "BOOM"!

Here's the letters to the editor in today's J-G (verbatim) on this subject:
=====================
Readily available fireworks dishonor nation’s veterans
  I read Frank Gray’s July 2 column regarding fireworks and how costly they are. His final sentence read: “ What a shame fun is so expensive.” His statement only serves to reinforce the value of these pyrotechnics. If only they were cheaper, we could buy a ton of them!
In reality, fireworks are not expensive enough. Many pet owners know only too well the deleterious effects of fireworks. Pets become anxious and often run away. Owners have to spend money on tranquilizers, as well as buying or making “anxiety wraps.” If pets run away, the owners spend anxious moments searching for them.
From a human standpoint, random bombs going off in neighborhoods in the wee hours of the morning engage the “fight or flight” aspect of the body. It is this that elicits symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in vets. Veterans do not mind organized fireworks as they can see the display before hearing the noise. They can tolerate this. It is the neighbor setting off the fireworks that is so scary for those with PTSD.
A 2003 re-analysis of Vietnam vets stated “a large majority ... struggled with chronic PTSD (with)… four out of five reporting symptoms when interviewed 20-25 years after Vietnam.” As of September 2014, there are about 2.7 million American veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. This is in addition to about 2.6 Vietnam vets. According to a RAND study, at least 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have PTSD, and 50 percent of them do not receive treatment.
If we really wanted to honor the spirit of the Fourth of July and vets, we would not have the ready availability of fireworks. We would understand how traumatizing this might be. And, if we were concerned for all living beings, we would take into consideration our pets. And, were we more thoughtful, we would take into consideration our neighbors.
KATHI WEISS
Fort Wayne
====================
Fireworks obsession is unneighborly
  I drive around town seeing bumper stickers that encourage me to support our troops, be aware of autism, be interested in children’s activities. Great! Yes! All of those things!
Except, it seems, that our collective concern for all of those populations is overridden by a need to blow up an unreasonable number of extremely loud and incredibly close fireworks in the middle of residential neighborhoods. I am not a veteran, like my friend is. I do not have a child with autism, as many of my friends do. I do not have to sleep in the evening so I can go to work at 3 a.m., like many of my fellow nurses do. But I do think that their needs – to feel safe, to sleep, to not have their equilibrium totally disturbed – outweigh the needs of any of us to blow stuff up mere feet from our neighbors’ homes.
Our local, county and state fireworks laws are lax. Our homeowners’ associations do not regulate (or do not enforce regulations on) fireworks. We have only ourselves to blame for this situation.
I hope that all of us ranting on Facebook turn our attention to our homeowners’ associations, legislators and lawmakers, asking for a new approach to safer, more considerate fireworks regulations. Common sense and decency seem to end after the bumper sticker is affixed.
ANNE REMINGTON
Fort Wayne
===================
Current law unenforced, so fireworks ban in order
  City Council should ban the sale and use of fireworks. The explosives are more than a noise-pollution nuisance; they pollute the air and endanger citizens’ health with secondhand smoke.
The Journal Gazette printed a column by Frank Gray on July 2 that romanticized fireworks (“Finding bangs for bucks not so easy”). He looked back fondly at the good old days of finding really loud fireworks. His wish for loud fireworks has been realized today with the sale and use of devices that can only be described as bombs. The July 4 war on peace in my neighborhood didn’t stop until about 3 a.m. on July 5. There was a blanket of smoky haze during the night that lasted into the late morning.
Indiana law permits only Class C fireworks: small firecrackers, Roman candles and so forth. Also, there is a midnight cutoff for their use. Neither law is being enforced.
I talked to a police officer who said he “actually likes the fireworks, but I’m working,” not trying to enjoy a holiday. He said, “Don’t expect it to stop at midnight, either.” It was clear where the use of professional-grade fireworks was coming from, but the officer did nothing. If the Fort Wayne Police Department is unwilling or unable to enforce the existing laws, fireworks should not be permitted whatsoever.
LILLIAN A. ANDERSON
Fort Wayne
=====================
Yeah, I think THESE people "get it"...and quite well, in fact.
But, if that's not enough, take a look at this article:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/New-plan-for-next-big-fireworks-party-7599832
The Police and Fireman's Memorial on N. Wells St. saw it's share of litter this past 4th...

So, what's the plan to halt this, you ask?
HAVE A DAMN TAILGATE PARTY instead, charge $25 a car, that will allow parking near a fireworks viewing site (people get hand stamps) and  "hope" the problem doesn't resurface.
Yeah, not the BEST idea to come down the pike, is it?
Well, it's proposed to be a :"benefit" party, so perhaps the funds will go to maintaining the memorial in a more PROPER state, than by having trash all over it. Just another way in which THIS city is becoming like OTHER cities, and not in a good way.
I remember back in Philly (and this was in the 80s) that vandals hit the Vietnam Memorial along the Delaware river...had to replace the lighting and everything...the vets got wise and started posting volunteers to watch over it. They did NOT throw a party.
*** Last back to the basement..these days, we're often wondering WHY the world is in the state it's in, and even in our own city, we're questioning the logic behind the manner in which people are conducting themselves.

I don't ever recall such a time in the 62 years I've been on this rock.
So much of what we used to believe is challenged, and not because there are facts to the contrary.
In fact, there are no REAL facts to back up most all of the challenging going on...it's more about challenging the people SAYING things.
To me, it seems we're allowing too many people to yell "FIRE!" in too many theaters, metaphorically-speaking.
Freedom of speech, as is any freedom, is fine, as long as the manner in which it is practiced does not inflict undue harm on the freedom of others...same can be said for our RIGHTS, and I'm not talking about all the "privileges" that masquerade AS rights...that's a whole different tangent.

What we're witnessing today is an "agenda", for lack of a better word, that takes on the PEOPLE, rather than the ISSUES.
That stifles any hope or chance of honest debate on damn near ANY topic.
And that means no REAL solutions come to light.
"Attack the messenger, rather than the message" is the mantra of those who have an apparent disdain for this country.
And in some arenas, they are getting a free-pass.
We need to be vigilant, and stay focused on what the RIGHT thing to do is, instead of giving these people more ammunition for their "cause".
Such people have the freedom (and right) to say what they say...
What they don't take into account, is that WE have the right to NOT LISTEN to the inept verbal "lock-step" they're marching to.
I always say that if it's not part of the solution, it's part of the problem, and THAT can be addressed.
And we have always outnumbered them. Let their voice be diminished, as it should be.
Let the TRUTH be told, and the fallacies will fall along the roadsides.

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