Thoughts For Thursday...

Okay, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that we're no longer in April, so she can turn off the showers already. Our area is under a flood watch. Gonna play hell with the crops in Indiana, that's for sure. (guess food prices will rise as usual)
So, if you prefer your Thursdays wet, you've come to the right place.
Our Hoosierland weather for today brings us (what else?)...RAIN, so we've cloudy skies, mild breezes, and a high of about 48 degrees. Chance of rain - 100%, so bring the umbrella and use those wipers.

"We're going to need galoshes, I think..."

Now, let's get ourselves wet on the INSIDE with a nice cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa, as we see what this day will bring us (other than "wet")...
*** First out of the mud room is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:
"The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated."

This was spoken by James Arthur Baldwin ( 2 Aug 1924 - 1 Dec 1987), who was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic. And here is his WIKI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Baldwin

His best known work is "Go Tell It On The Mountain", a 1953 semi-autobiographical novel which examines the role of the Christian church in the lives of African-Americans, both as a form of repression and moral hypocrisy, and as a source of inspiration and community. More subtly, it also examines racism in the United States.
Although Baldwin grew up in a Christian household (Dad was a preacher) where James became a junior minister in a Pentecostal assembly, and he even visited Elijah Muhammad, the founder of the Nation of Islam.
Baldwin soon came to view Christianity as falsely premised and left the church.
He admonished Christianity for reinforcing the system of American slavery by delaying salvation until a promised afterlife.
Through all this, Baldwin never identified himself AS an atheist, and at his funeral, a recording of an adult Baldwin singing 'Take My Hand, Precious Jesus" was played.

His life is one of those curious ones, in that he was black and gay during a time when neither was viewed with anything but a sense of contempt by many ill-educated to fully understand such things.
He left America for France and spent most of his later life there.
He did return to the USA in 1957 and stayed throughout much of the Civil Rights Movement.
And, in a early 60s letter sent to (then) AG Bobby Kennedy, Baldwin said that the violence in Alabama was attributable to J. Edgar Hoover. Baldwin met with Kennedy in Manhattan and later took part in the march on D.C. on 28 August 1963.
In later life, he was also  a close friend with both Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison.
He died in France but was buried in Ferncliff Cemetary in Hartsdale, near NYC.
I featured him back on 20 December 2014, and the WIKI is a good read.
*** Next up, time for our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
MAY 4 -
---It's Bird Day

(with weather like this, It's more like DUCK day)
---It's National Candied Orange Peel Day

(seriously, the part we throw away?)
---It's the National Day Of Prayer

(picked a good day for that - we can use a LOT more of it, too)
---It's the National Day of Reason

(reason AND prayer...great "two-fer")
---It's National Orange Juice Day

(lose the pulp...AND the peel, please)
---It's National Renewal Day

(we're certainly renewing the height of our rivers)
---It's National Star Wars Day

(may the FOURTH be with us all)
---It's National Weather Observer Day

(that'll be easy enough...all we can see is RAIN)
---It's also World Password Day

(make it a good one and don't forget it)
*** Next up, The city is still at it with Memorial Park. Here's the story link:
http://wane.com/2017/05/03/city-to-hold-public-meeting-for-memorial-park-makeover-thursday/

Hands OFF our Memorial Park.

A "public meeting"? We've seen how well such meetings are received by the powers downtown, haven't we?
Typically, this is just "lip-service" to the masses who want what's right (while the city does what it pleases anyway).
The city always HEARS the people...but they fail to LISTEN...that's the problem with any like meetings.
Our "king" Henry, the Legacy-Ridden, thinks the makeover is a step in the right direction.
Like many politicians (especially the leftards), that's his problem...he "thinks".
Well sire, there ARE others who think much better, as citizens of your "realm", and what THEY want should take precedent over what you think...remember, YOU work for US (and not the other way around).
*** Next, and speaking of our fair city, the Riverfront project keeps moving forward (like we thought otherwise). Here's the story link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20170504/riverfront-contracts-set-for-council

Where'd all the ducks and geese go?

Yep, $17 MIL so far in contracts to make this part of the city over.
All these years and not a peep about doing anything along the rivers, then all of a sudden...BAM...the city HAS to do ALL this crap (and seemingly as soon as possible)...WTH is going on? Why the rush?
Is there a master-plan at work here we're not being told about? (you bet there is)

That just looks TOO damn "busy" to me.

Maybe if all of this wasn't being shoved down our throats (while they reach into our pockets), many of us would see things a bit differently. Mr. Mayor...don't hold your breath along those lines. We're getting bored with all YOUR grandiose ideas while parts of our city continue to become even more blighted and beleaguered (love that word - so descriptive).
*** Next up, this story brought a smile to my face, and you'll see why. Here's the link:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20170504/new-name-sought-for-apartments

The infamous government-sponsored apartments.

They're looking for a NEW NAME for the (also beleaguered) Diplomat Apartments along Hessen Cassel on the (where else?) SOUTHEAST SIDE of the city. Funny, I thought they already HAD one as shown at THIS link:
http://www.indianabids.com/government-agencies/marion/lillie-gardens-lp-998607/7062879-lillie-gardens-apartments.html

If it's not the police, it's the fire department.

LILLIE GARDENS was the "rename" for these hovels...at least it was as of 2016.
Now, they want ANOTHER new name?
How about we try DEAD MAN'S GULCH? HOMICIDE HAVEN? GUNSHOT GARDENS?  PERPTOWN POINTE?

Toss in a few shootings every year...

Gee, the possibilities are almost endless, aren't they?
Changing the name doesn't do a damn thing with the PEOPLE you allow to crib there...look at EDEN GREEN...I mean, the "Villages at Hanna"...nothing's changed there.
And Renaissance Pointe? Got rising crime THERE, too (again).
It's the damn government-sponsored, teat-sucking welfare queens and their boyfriends of the week that live there...THEY are the problem.
Get THEM out, and you might be able to reclaim the area, but NOT before...kapeesh?
*** Next, let's see what's going on at "Kitten Corner"...

"I'm watching outside."

Another nice day with the kids, who took to watching "Midnight" as he watched them back...lol.
They didn't watch the other cat constantly, but checked up from time to time at the patio door.

"I'm watching the stairs".

And naturally, they also followed me around the house. At least I don't have to keep watching my feet to see if they're UNDER them (as mush)...heh.

Sometimes, they take turns watching.

They find a toy, play with it for a while, then nap...and get fed, and a bathroom break, and back to another round of chasing one another, and napping...you get the idea.

Thanks for the food, kind person.

As for Midnight? He came by again (about the same time), got fed on the patio table and then I sat outside watching him.
He came over and I held out my hand. He rubbed it and then rubbed my leg, so I know he's not anti-social. And, by the looks of his ears, he's NOT a "community cat"...no clipped left ear.

And he also has a good singing voice.

I might think about caging him and calling animal control at a later date, so he can get a better chance of finding a good home. A nice cat like that deserves as much.
*** Last back to the umbrella store...Fort Wayne is indeed a city of contrasts.

It didn't take me 20 years living here to find THAT out.
At first, I thought it was lots better than Philly in many ways, but after a couple years (and a break-in at Willow Creek Crossing Apts), I got the learning curve nailed REAL fast.
And, it has not gotten better since, sad to say...at least not in OUR part of town.
All I ever wanted was to live a peaceful life, in a smaller city. I wanted a neighborhood that reminded me of my Grandma's in NE Philly, and pretty much got it...at first.
Things deteriorated around Wifey and I over time, and  nothing has been done to alleviate the problems that continue to this day. I think that's a sad commentary on HOW the city handles things.

Was a nice house before HUD came along.

Homeowners left (or died) leaving empty houses that soon became Section-8 rentals, replete with the lazy-ass, non-working masses and all the kids they bring in tow. Businesses left by the droves as crime increased.
Noise levels have risen, blight has taken over, and whatever solace you thought you could have has become more a dream than a reality.
And the morons living around us are all okay with that...talk about a de-evolution of society.
Still, there is always HOPE...thank God..
It's that which keeps us going in times such as these.

Normal folks should be allowed the dignity of living a life devoid of the nuisances that permeate our neighborhood these days. I want to believe we're ALL willing to make our lives better in that regard.

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