Monday Musings - Labor Day Edition...

Welcome to the start of another week, and with today, we pretty much wind up the "summer season" (unofficially).
Officially, summer ends on 21 September, in case you were wondering.
(and back in my day, Labor Day usually meant heading back to school...ugh!)
Our Hoosierland weather for today is going to be another hot one, starting with a nice sunrise, and following with mostly sunny skies, temps reaching into the upper 80s, a nice amount of humidity (making it feel even more uncomfortable), and maybe that slight chance of a rain shower later on.
(then again, maybe not).
Conditions always seem to be ripe foir it, and some days we get some rain.
Seems like a good enough day to celebrate the holiday (most people do have the day off), and take some time to think about those who HAVE to work today, keeping us safe and well (among other things)..
And there are a lot MORE of them than one might think.
It would also be a good time to fly our flag in recognition.
In the meantime, let's get our morning drinks (hot or cold - your choice) poured and parked nearby, as we set about and see what has been going on elsewhere...
*** First off of the flagpole, as is customary, is our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
September 7 - 
---Today is NATIONAL CORN SQUASH DAY

(okay then...might go out and squash some acorns)
---It's also GRANDMA MOSES DAY

(art enthusiasts, come hither)
---It's NEITHER SNOW NOR RAIN DAY

(which is odd, because there is NO MAIL DELIVERY today)
---It's also NATIONAL SALAMI DAY

(Any day is a good day for proper salami...and don't go "hiding it", guys...lol)
---And, yes, today is LABOR DAY

(...more about that as you read on...but I warn you, you might learn something.)
And HEY...,get that flag out.
*** Now, you just KNOW we could not have a weekend here in Fort Wayne WITHOUT some form of problem.
Well, another Concordia Lutheran High School student died over the weekend, but the WHY is something we may never know. Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/Concordia-mourns-2nd-loss-8645040

JoQuan Liggion, 16, was the student killed around 0230 hrs (in the damn morning!) when he was spotted driving the WRONG way along Lafayette St and an FWPD officer tried to pull him over.
He fled police, who broadened the search and discovered him trapped in his wrecked car a short time later AFTER he struck a utility pole and then married the car to a tree in the 4400 block of Lafayette.
And, we naturally hear what a great person he WAS...his smile, his laughter...but, what bothers me is that IF he was such a "good kid", then WHY was he out after 2 AM...AND driving the WRONG WAY...AND then FLED POLICE?
Too many questions concerning this boy's BEHAVIOR...and obviously no parental control, at least not enough to keep a teenager INDOORS after midnight.
Something smells like 3-day old fish here.
Another account stated that Liggion struck a police cruiser.
(alcohol has been ruled out)
Now, I could also mention that this scenario is a product of school vouchers, but all that would do is change the name of one school to another.
This teen could just as easily have been a student at Wayne, or South Side, or Northrop.
And, I could also make the claim that "You can take the kid out of the ghetto, but you can't always take the ghetto out of the kid".
This could have been a contributing factor...the wrong crowd syndrome - peer pressure, showing off, being macho...any or all of that.
Let's just say that like Alonna Allsion, THIS (too) is another tragedy that should not have had to happen, and let it go at that.
Moving on...
*** Now, if you think we have a fair number of shootings JUST in Fort Wayne, let's take a look at Chicago and THEIR rising problem.

Here's the story link:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/01/chicago-murders-shootings/70787110/

Seems we in the Summit City are not alone, but thankfully, we're NOT as bad, either...yet.
I've said for quite a while now that crime was on the rise, while others had said it was dropping.
According to this story, WHO would appear to be more "correct", hmm?
I rest my case.
You can see the signs easily enough, if you know what to look for.
And the ONLY reason that OUR city's homicide rate is not like it was 2 years ago is simple...LOUSY SHOOTING.
(because the actual NUMBER OF SHOOTINGS - shots fired with vandalism and/or injury to another person - have been going UP, as a recent article posted here said). Word to the wise time, right?
*** Next up, there was a very pertinent "Letter to the Editor" in today's paper that I wish to share:
(( Capacity for change is in each of us
Guns are not the problem. 
The problem is the condition of the human heart. 
Laws do not change hearts.
My fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Meinzen, taught me, “If there’s a will, there’s a way.” I believed him. I still do. The will of the person, and the way in which he/she will go, is up to the individual. In James 2:19 it says “... everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life. ...” 
Additionally, Ecclesiates 7:21-22 states, “Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you – for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.
If a person believes that the problem is always someone else’s, what hope is there for changing the heart? 
Only a complete transformation of the mind and the heart will stop senseless acts of violence. We each know what we ought to do, even if we deny that we do not because the light of eternity has been placed in the hearts of all humankind.
Laws do not change hearts!
~ THREASA LIGHTNING, Fort Wayne ))
Yep, I'd say that Thereasa "gets it"...and very well, too.
Nice to see that studying (and practicing) the Bible is STILL ALIVE AND WELL.
*** Last back to the cabbage patch...yes, today is LABOR DAY.

And what does that mean besides a another welcomed day off?
Well, let's take to the WIKI for the definition:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day
Or, we could try the Dept. of Labor:
http://www.dol.gov/laborday/history.htm
The rote answer is that today was created to dedicate the social and economic achievements of American labor.

(would be nice if they could "extol the virtues", but that would become a bit of an oxymoron)
Originally, the idea of Labor Day was promoted by the LABOR MOVEMENT in America, with the Knights of Labor and the Central Labor Union at the forefront. After the Haymaker Massacre (4 May) of 1886, President Grover Cleveland thought that commemorating Labor Day would be used as a way to commemorate the massacre, so it was turned down.

Instead, rather than having any "labor holiday" in May, it was decided to instead celebrate the day in September as the Knights of Labor first wanted.
Way back then, it was not uncommon for the military to kill workers (refer to the Pullman Strike), so it was decided that a "Labor Day" would become a national holiday, rather that calling it an "Intentional Workers Day", which would seem to imply that it was associated with the nascent socialist and anarchist movements that rallied to commemorate the Haymaker Massacre.
More emphasis was placed on the CIVIL significance of the holiday, with the Sunday preceding that Labor Day Monday becoming "Labor Sunday", to eschew the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.
These days, we seem to have forgotten much of that, and have taken to ALL the retail SALES that abound (prior to the Christmas season).

As a bit of irony, retail workers not ONLY work ON Labor Day, but usually put in LONGER HOURS.
Curiously enough, while Labor Day was based on UNION involvement, as of 2012, only about THREE PERCENT of the U.S. workforce in the RETAIL sector are UNION employees.
Labor Day marks the "kickoff" to the college football and NFL seasons, the NHRA holds it's nationals event in Indy, NASCAR dons it's "Darlington" raceway hat, and the first two weeks of the U.S. Open in tennis are held in Flushing Meadows, NY.

Now, I'm all for giving the working man or woman their due...that's only fair, but when I see people living around us who DO NOT CHOOSE to be part of the workforce in this country ALSO celebrating as well as those who DO bust their asses across this great land, that's very troubling.
It's not as though we're "out of jobs"...that will never happen HERE.
What we see instead, is a willingness to remain on the government dole, because it pays better than holding down a 40 hr week venue.
Only real difference is that the WORKER EARNS what they receive...the lazy ass TAKES from those very workers.
Hell, if things were left up to me (some people thank God that won't happen), I make sure all those that DO NOT WORK the other 364 days each year DID WORK TODAY...just to see what it's like to be in the shoes of those that pay their way through life, while they suck the teat of entitlements.

Today is a day that SHOULD be celebrated, for it's the people WHO HAVE WORKED that basicallyt BUILT this nation...and continue to MAINTAIN IT.
It's a day to acknowledge those who put their lives on the line on our streets - the firefighters, the LEOs, an the EMS techs that drive our cities and towns, serving the public in the most unselfish manner.
It's the nurses, doctors, and med techs that are there to keep us alive.
It's the manufacturers that produce both the simple and the complex to make lives better.
It's the educators, who teach us that which we need to become learned citizens, able to become more than what we are.
It's the clergy, who feed the flock the spiritual nourishment we also need
It's ALL of these people, and SO many more who are the REASON we have this day to reflect, and remind ourselves that we owe so much to so many...so often.
Therein lies the lesson for today.
Have yourselves a great Labor Day.

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