Thoughts For Thursday...

I like rain as much as the next guy, but REALLY...do we need THIS much? All I want is to keep the neighborhood kids and the boomcar drivers indoors. Yesterday certainly did both...and then some.
At least it's going to be letting up...some time later on.
Our Hoosierland weather for today finds us with cloudy skies, temps only topping out in the mid-60s and yes, a good chance of some more rain (the low pressure system is rotating anti-clockwise). Weird, huh?
Anyway, let's take this time to get ourselves a cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa (or maybe even a tall glass of juice or soda) as we see what's been going on elsewhere, hmm?
*** First out of the gully-washer is the answer to yesterday's WHO SAID THAT? quote:

"He that is angry without cause, shall be in danger; but he that is angry with cause, shall not be in danger: for without anger, teaching will be useless, judgments unstable, crimes unchecked, To be angry is therefore not always an evil." 
This was spoken by Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 7 March 1274), who was an Italian Dominican friar, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. And here is his WIKI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas
But be warned, this is a lengthy read, but worth your time.

((Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Church's greatest theologians and philosophers. Unlike many currents in the Church of the time,  Thomas embraced several ideas put forward by Aristotle—whom he called "the Philosopher"—and attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity. The works for which he is best known are the Summa Theologiae and the Summa contra Gentiles. His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle form an important part of his body of work. Furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Church's liturgy.))
And if wonder where the quote comes from, here you go (from the WIKI on Righteous Indignation):

((St. Thomas Aquinas, in the question on anger of his Summa Theologiae, quotes the Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, "he that is angry without cause, shall be in danger; but he that is angry with cause, shall not be in danger: for without anger, teaching will be useless, judgments unstable, crimes unchecked," and concludes saying that "to be angry is therefore not always an evil."))
Like I said, it's a long WIKI, but one which sheds a lot of light upon Christianity.
*** Next up, time for our "What the hell happens today, Bob?" feature:
MAY 25 -
---It's National Brown Bag Day

(a staple when I was going to school)
---It's National Missing Children's Day

(a sad fact in our society)
---It's National Tap Dance Day

(and in the rain, you can be another friggin' Gene Kelly)
---It's National Wine Day

(I know a few people who were WAITING for this one)
---It's Red Nose Day

(no clowning around when driving in this weather)
---Also, it was FORTY years ago today (got nothing to do with Sgt Pepper's Band, either). when the first STAR WARS movie premiered.

Now THAT was an event - got to go to an afternoon matinee...packed house and a whole lotta "WOW" to go around. Sci-fi has never be the same since.
May the Force be with us...always.
*** Next up, a story about a girl's stolen bike:
http://wane.com/2017/05/24/surveillance-cam-catches-boy-swiping-bike/

This took place around 1330 hrs on the near NE side of town. The homeowner just installed video cams (and a damn good thing he did).
A kid swipes a bike right from the person's property...bold as brass. And I would think that car that went by was driving the kid around and dropped him off to steal the bike.
So, WHY wasn't the kid in school, and where might he live? My guess would be SE. Seen kids not in school often enough just where we live. They can't all be "sick" that frequently.
You've heard me say this often enough; there are people who have nothing to do BUT drive around and watch other peoples' houses for crimes of opportunity.
Some even walk around.
The predators strike every time..like sharks in the water.
*** Next, well I suppose our drinking water will suffer due to these heavy rains. I can imagine all the crap that is in our rivers now with this rain event.

Wonder when or if we'll hear anything about THAT?
And speaking of our fair city, there was this article in today's paper:
http://www.journalgazette.net/news/local/20170525/study-ranks-city-parks-at-bottom

Our city PARKS are near the bottom of a study list? How's that possible with ALL the money being dumped into them?
((For the second year in a row, Fort Wayne's park system was ranked among the lowest in the nation in an annual ParkScore study by The Trust for Public Land. 
Fort Wayne's park system ranked 98th out of the 100 largest cities in the U.S., tied with Indianapolis at the bottom of the list as Gilbert, Arizona, didn't participate. The city received the same ranking in The Trust for Public Land study last year, which was the first year Fort Wayne was included in the survey. ))
Of course, our "good old boy", Al Moll had to weigh in on this:
(("It's impossible to measure Fort Wayne's park accomplishments by simply focusing on the ParkScore criteria", Parks Director Al Moll said.)) 
So how DO we measure it, Al?
((“We respond to the interests of the citizens and our benchmarks are specific to their needs. Furthermore, our city has expanded significantly and the new suburban developments have plenty of playgrounds, golf courses, pools and trails which aren't counted in the Park System Ratings,” Moll said. “Adding more parks to those neighborhoods would just be a duplication of efforts that our community hasn't requested and would be costly.”))
Ahh...well that explains everything, doesn't it?

((When adjusting for cost of living, Moll said Fort Wayne spends about $102 per resident, which is above the national average.)) Nice to know our money IS going someplace, even if we can't really take advantage of it to the degree we would prefer.
*** Next up, it would be nice to have a list of road closures around town (due to all the rain), but "challenge" for many.

Lafayette St.high water

I do know that even on the SE side, streets have high water on them, such as Rudisill. That's one way to deter crime, I guess. Drown the bastards.
I'm not seeing any list (now) to speak of. I suppose that will make the daily commute a challenge.
(later on, I did find one at the News-Sentinel website)

Haven't heard anything about school delays, but those buses have a high ground clearance, so no problems there. The issue is with the educators that have to get TO those schools to teach.
*** Next, time to stop by "Kitten Corner"...

"Thatz a lotta rain coming down."

Nothing for the furballs to do yesterday but watch the rain come down, and take a nap while doing so. I always found the sound of rainfall to be conducive to sleep. Apparently, our cats think likewise.

"Lotsa, lotsa rain out there."

Other than that, and a little chasing each other early on, they came trhough the day well enough.
*** Next up, Let's look into our "Tales of Midnight"...

A meal before it really came down.

Our furry outdoor buddy did get wet during the day, but not soaked to the skin (a good thing). He was there to get fed the several times I went out, except once in the early afternoon.

Another meal during the rain showers

He came by later, and stayed under the patio table for a while until the rain REALLY came down, and then he took off across the street to the garage where he stays overnight.
As could be expected, he was back over HERE for morning eats. He is reliable, if a bit on the damp side.
*** Last back to the deluge...people are often bold at the wrong time for the wrong reasons.
And not bold when they should be.

All too frequently, people will not speak up when they need to, like the way Christians are lambasted at every turn from the leftards and atheists. Turn the other cheek, as it were.
Good in theory, but usually bad in practice...although it can be said that it's better to walk away from stupidity more times than not.
People in general, and kids in particular today simply do not have the level of respect they should toward others, and yet, by the same token, pretty much demand the same respect they deny others for THEMSELVES.
That's a nasty habit to get into, and one which brings along a whole lot of societal problems.

We see that in schools, and especially in neighborhoods.
Acceptable behavior these days is a far cry from what we HAD when I was young, and ';m appalled by it.
I'm not being an old fart here, either. Fair is fair. Our society has lousy behavior traits today.

Has to be a lack of ethics and morality...their compass is pointed in the wrong direction.
We need to get back the civility we used to have, before things get worse (which they will).
And the sooner we all begin doing that, the sooner we can get back to being a lot more compassionate towards our fellow citizens. That you can bank on.

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