21st Century Battlefield: Detroit

Its 1:37 pm

   Been one crazy week here in the metro Detroit area.....its on the edge of summer and already its looking like a fucking war zone here.....young thugs busting caps over who makes the best Kool-Aid,a granny was so scared of her 17 year old grandson that she bought a gun and ended up putting EIGHT rounds in him. Mix in the 22 year old Warren dad whose pregnant ex-girlfriend he had kidnapped,set on fire and shot twice and left for dead.
Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff exposing the criminal conditions of the working men and women of the Detroit Fire Department...when he confronted the assistant fire commissioner about the problems,he gets assaulted and cursed at.

  I guess I will start with recalling the brutal attack of the wealthy Cipriano family a few weeks ago. A adopted son who had become a drug addict,along with a friend,broke into the family home,killed the father with a baseball bat and critically wounded the mom and a younger brother.
  But what made this story so "sexy" to the local media is a synthetic marijuana called K2 which is basically poison but because its supposed to be used a incense,isn't considered illegal and you can buy at any smoke shop/gas station around here. Supposedly the suspects had smoked K-2 and this triggered the robbery.
  Because the family was wealthy and a suburb family (white),this story was a hot subject here for weeks.
The media kept on harping how bad K-2 is and had countless stories on its dangers and why is it still legal to buy. I mean,they really pushed and still are pushing on how dangerous this stuff is. But of course they completely bypass the gun shops and gun shows who push/flood the streets of Detroit. They ran several stories on how many women are buying guns,including how a woman could buy weapons with a pink pistol grip!
   So after the extensive coverage of the Cipriano case,this spurred a grandma to purchase a handgun for protection from her own grandson who was staying with his grandparents to finish high school. His parents had moved to Arizona and despite problems at the grandparents house including you guess it,a drug arrest and a fight with the grandparents,they made no moves to come get their unruly son and he remained troublesome.
  Turns out the kid had run around with the Cipriano son who had killed his father and had also been smoking K-2. This led the grandma to buy that gun...and after one incident too many,the grandma sent her husband out on a errand,loaded up her handgun ....and went and shot her grandson eight times. In self-protection of course cause you never know,7 shots may not be enough.
 The grandma was arrested for 1st degree murder...but will plead temporary  insanity.

Next up....caught the local "Let It Rip" a couple of weeks and because of the incredible upsurge in violence in Detroit,the question was asked "Does Detroit need the National Guard to help police the city"?
No,I'm serious.....that was actually a question. Now this happened the year before last in Chicago,the gang violence in the ghettos and projects was getting so bad,there were calls for the governor to deploy the National Guard. It didn't happen and by increasing the police forces in the area,Chicago survived one bloody summer.
   Now the question has been asked here.....and its a double edged sword,does Detroit need to have to the Guard here? I would say "hell no" IF Warren Evans was still Chief but with Keystone Kop Ralph Godbee in charge,its not such a stretch to say "yes....send in the Guard". The Detroit cops are so badly led and non-managed,the crime rate is just awful....its so bad,it has led to more and more citizens to arm themselves and as much as I hate to admit,I can't blame them. The cops either don't respond or they show up DAYS later to take a report that will be filed under the desk to help balance it. Every day,we hear more and more stories  on just how senseless and violent this city is.
  But it just not violence that continues to rip the city,the city leadership is also to blame. Between Dave Bing and his decision to have whatever streetlights left running in the city turned off and the absolutely god awful conditions the firehouses in the city are in,the city reflects its leaders and right now,Detroit is completely leaderless.
   Watching journalist Charlie LaDuff just trying to help the fire department and getting attacked for it just speaks volumes for the Mayor and the City Council. While the Mayor and several council members are up at super swanky Makinac Island for a 3 day "policy" session,we are being shown just how filthy and broken down the fire stations are. Human waste backing up the sewers,broken rigs that have leaks in the water tanks that would be needed to fight a actual fire and we have council people who appeared slightly tipsy,proclaiming that Detroit 18 months away from returning to its "glory days". Really????
  But the answer to the National Guard question....no,Detroit doesn't need the Guard,it just needs to have better leadership then its been getting in the past 10 years. Its no longer a "jobs can fix things",its a cultural change that is so badly needed.
  Otherwise you're going to get more incidents like this.....yesterday,two groups of thugs were across the street talking shit....about who made better Kool-Aid. You read that right.....they were frontin' about who made better Kool-Aid. Well someone's momma got dissed so one group broke out the guns and the other group did as well and gunfight broke out sending people scattering for their lives.

  Two teens were shot......all for nothing. Because all they had to do was YouTube this subject and see how Kool-Aid really is made....
But all kidding aside,this is what happens here....no one knows how to  solve problems anymore other then with a gun.

Its Saturday....good news,the fire department official who assaulted Charlie LeDuff was fired for his actions this week. Charlie also interviewed the Fire Commissioner,Don Austin,about the conditions of the stations. Austin,who landed here in high hopes a year ago,has sadly seen what he has to deal with and to his credit,he knows he is up against a real monster. You get the sense he really is aware of the problems but his hands are tied....because the new 60 million dollar headquarters for Fire and Police was put in place before he got here.
  Oh,did I mention to forget to mention that? Yep....the same leaders who allow broken EMS rigs,filthy fire stations,leaky engine companies to make runs,that close stations due to budget short comings,that staff police stations after 5 pm with 2-3 cops and lock the doors and still,after having a shooter come in and injure 4 cops with a shotgun because the metal detectors weren't working (and STILL are not!!),are having a new 60 million dollar HQ being built! And that is on top of a 300 million dollar jail that Robert Ficano is having being built using all sort of cronies in doing so,making who knows how much in kickbacks and favors. When the FBI and the Feds get done with ex-Mayor Kilpatrick,you can rest assured,Ficano will be joining Kwame in that jail cell
   And it seems like the push to ban K2 Spice is going to work. Citgo is already telling its gas station owners to pull it off their shelves. Wow.....2 high deaths and look at how fast this gets pulled. But guns,how kill and maim 30k a year? Still legal......only in motherfucking America.  *smh*

I'm off to make some Kool-Aid.

Randomness....

Its 2:37 pm


    Doing chores today....2nd interview went very well and after over 2 hellish years,it looks like I have a JOB.
I guess I'm sort of a loss for words other then seeing how many things that need to be fixed in my house...
Got a message today from one of heroes,Chief Warren Evans,he asked me to call him because he wants to talk with me...needless to say,I'm extremely flattered and dare say a little nervous.
 Which is strange considering how many famous artists,actors,local politicians and a standing member of a President's Cabinet....I don't get rattled easy by "famous" people but those I respect beyond measure...yeah,I get nervous! Only happened to 3 times in my music career...meeting John Doe,Barbara Manning and Penelope Houston.  Its looking like Chief Evans is considering a run for Mayor of Detroit and I'm not the only one who believes in their heart....Warren Evans may be the LAST and best hope to save this city.
   We need people like Warren,Gary Brown,JJ Johnson,Nolan Finley,Tracey Henry-Martin and Steve Hood who LOVE this city and its people and willing to fight for it. There is nothing more depressing or sad then to go downtown and see what this city used to be like.
  As for Trayvon Martin......who gives a fuck he got shot dead? We don't.....oh,we'll pay him lip service,the blacks folks will play the broken down race card cause his killer was a white man,there will be some marches with some "Stop the Violence" style of banners waving and in about 2-3 weeks,it will fade away in search of a new headline.....like we did for Gabby Giffords,for Randy Vetters,for Delric Miller,for the 49 people shot and killed in Chicago last weekend.
 
Below is a link to a interview that Fox 2 journalist Charlie LeDuff conducted with Warren Evans. Listen to hard numbers of how bad the city has gotten since Bing-a-ling asked Chief Evans to resign in the wake of the Ayiana Jones case.

Saturday Randomness

Its 10:55 am

    Its a beautiful day this morning. Its time to get in a walk,pay some bills,listen to some music and finish reading the Tom Delay book. I also have done something I haven't done in a very long time...I bought some new(ish) music,our local Dollar Tree got in some CDs and I ended up getting 3 of them instead of books. I'm actually sort of proud of myself for not buying anymore books on this visit..
 
Its 8:11 pm

    Back at the keyboard.....Chely Wright is singing sweetly on the iPod. I love her voice,it has such a soulful feel to it but with a country twang. Chely was a staple on country radio because of her voice and a popular video artist because she is a real beauty. Always thought she should have been a much bigger star,great vocals,looks and a writer? That is a rare combo in country music that you see these days. Ironically I found her album Metropolitan Hotel in the same Dollar Tree store about 3 years ago. Funny how that goes.
  The day wasn't exactly what I call a barn burner,paying bills,sorting and filing coupons,cleaned up the cat boxes,laundry and general house work.
  Was talking to a fellow writer who is a novelist today,she was having problems coming up with a workable plot for a chapter of a book she is writing. I told her I can relate,have always struggled to write smoothly and easily,some days the words flow and I can write a lot of good stuff and then I have days like today where I'm fighting to put words down. It helps I have music playing,it help relaxes me but I think the fact Lori is gone to see her parents and getting some sad news last night has stalled me out a bit.
  Last night I read that Amy Rauch Neilson,whose blog "Its In the Genes" is listed on my Blog I Follow list,is really struggling now with her cancer. She has fought breast cancer for years,it went into remission and then came back. I discovered her because of a local news story that journalist Amy Lange did on her brave fight.
  Because of Amy's blog,I was able to learn what to expect in some respects what Lori and I were facing.
For a long time it seemed like Amy was making great progress until she somehow broke her leg shopping at a Kohl's store during Christmas. Since then it has been 1 step forward and 2 steps back.
 So when her husband posted last night that her cancer has spread to her back and brain,my heart sank. Now she is facing 6 weeks of radiation to try and stave off this latest attack.
  I wrote my journalist friend Amy Lange about how you are filled with both nerves and dread when comes to seeing your oncologist. You can't wait to see him/her to see what needs to be done yet when you do a test or a lab,you are filled with dread at what you may hear. And of course sitting here alone with nothing but my thoughts to keep me company,I can't help but think what will be our next step....will it remission or will it be another round of chemotherapy/surgery/radiation? I pray every day for the strength to keep a smile on my face and a song in my heart....and admiring the hell out of Dan,Amy husband and caretaker. I know I'm Lori's rock and I will never bend or break. I ask all of you who are reading this to please keep the Neilson family in your prayers,they really need us all now.

   Picking up on a thread from my last entry.....seems that a man walked into a BP station in Detroit. He got into a beef about the price of some jimmy hats with the clerk. The man and his friends started causing a bit of a ruckus,tossing displays around and knocking items on the floor. The man said the clerk overcharged him and wanted his money back...the scuffle ended when the clerk grabbed a gun and put a bullet into the man's shoulder. The man's friends rushed his to a local hospital but he bled out before they got there. The clerk was arrested.......all for a box of condoms. And City Councilman Kenyatta wants armed guards at these stations?
Only in Murder City....

  The USS Enterprise (the Big E) is preparing to sail into the sunset. Its the largest active aircraft carrier in the US Navy and has been an important part of the Navy for 50 years. It was only due to serve 25 years but it was overhauled in 1979. Built in 1958,she was launched in 1960 and in 1962,she sailed on her maiden voyage. The USS Enterprise saw action during the Cuban Missile Crisis,the closest the world has come to nuclear war.
The Big E also served in the Vietnam War but not without cost. A missile aboard a F-4 Phantom blew up on 14 Jan 69 which killed 27 crewmen,wounded over 300 more and destroyed 15 planes. This forced the carrier into Pearl Harbor for repairs.
 Whenever there was a cause for a show a force,the USS Enterprise was often the first carrier task force,be it  Vietnam,Korea,India and now Iran. This final deployment will be for 7 months and then she will be decommissioned,defueled and scrapped by 2015. But she served this country with pride and honor.



To learn more about the USS Enterprise just follow the link....

Well that is all I have for now....comments are always welcome.

21st Century Battlefield: Detroit

Its 11:45 am
 
     Greetings everyone....at the time of this entry,I thought I would be writing about our big snowfall of the season. Instead,I can say that we didn't even get a inch of snow,the storm bypassed us and dumped its snow further north of us. Which was a bummer of sorts because we were looking forward to being snowed in for a day.
  With those plans out the door,we ended up doing our usual running around. We decided to take a run over to the little Eastern Market meat store that had recently been bought by a family who has a few other stores. The new manager,a guy named Marvin,had really welcomed us the last time we visited,it was a very pleasant experience and we had decided to do all of our big meat purchases there.
  As many of you know,meat prices are skyrocketing up as of late,basic ground beef prices are really high and even the steroid chicken is inching up as well. So you know we were pleased to find Eastern Market's prices were actually a lot cheaper then our usual supermarket we go to.
  But as we pulled in,we were greeted by a boarded up store. At first we thought they had already folded but since the doors were covered by boards,I said "They had a fire". I got out of the car and went inside the Papa's Pizza and asked the counter girl what had happened,sure enough,she said it had been a fire.
 So back we went to our side of town and thinking we'll have to make a trip to the Piggly Wiggly in Detroit before too much longer.
 I'm watching Fox 2 News at 10 as we always do when a story by journalist Alexis Wiley catches my eye.
It seems that a pizza chain has recently come under attack by a very dedicated arsonist. Since the Super Bowl,3 of this small chain's stores have been hit,2 stores suffered major damage and one store was saved before any serious damage was done.
  The owner says that maybe someone who is jealous of his chain's little growth in business now has a vendetta and is trying to burn him out one store at a time. The chain's name? Papa's Pizza...the same one who has a store right next to the Eastern Market store we were going to shop it. The report didn't mention this store in Canton in the story most likely since it wasn't affected but after hearing this story,maybe the arsonist just hit the wrong target in the dark and Eastern Market suffered for it.
  Who knew being a pizza store owner would be such a pain in the ass? We have heard many stories of different pizza joints going to war with each other....arson,vandalizing and even going so far as to put mice in a rival's store in hopes of the health department closing it down.  Just makes you shake your head...its hard enough competing with the major chains but then to try and take out any guy who is just trying to make a living...
   The shooting death of little Delrick Miller has been the talk of the week. I touched on this story in my Free Speech entry that you can scroll down the page and read.
 Delrick was a 9 month baby who was murdered by 2-3 men who opened up on the house and put 40 AK-47 bullets into it in the middle of the night. At first,it seemed that it may have been gang-related but upon further investigation by the Detroit Police department,the shooting may have tied to a baby shower at a local meeting place. Seems like there were 3 baby showers scheduled and a beef broke out over seating. This being Detroit,you know how this problem was going to get solved....with violence and a fight. And sure enough,that is what happened. A fight broke out among two sets of people who were supposed to be celebrating a pending birth.
  But someone must have followed Delrick's family back to their house and decided a little ghetto payback was called for. You just gotta love Detroit....a van creeped up,2-3 fellas jumped,cocked,rocked and shot 40 rounds into the house.
  Now of course (and this is the part that always me laugh) you get the local media all pumped and asking "What can be done to stop the shootings"? Its almost like a bad grade Z SyFy movie....watching everyone running around with their hands up in the air....
  And sure enough on the local Let It Rip program,they featured one of the city's few bright spots,Raphael Johnson and Angelo Henderson of the Detroit 300.  The Detroit 300 is a volunteer community group that works hard to make this city safe. They are able to go where no cops can and glean information from folks who are afraid or don't care enough to tell the cops what they know. The 300 has helped catch at least 10 very dangerous felons so far.
   The Let It Rip panel talked about the shooting in depth and what can be done. Now while I have never met Raphael Johnson,I think of him as a real hero. He once killed a man and served time for his crime. But he has working very hard,every day,to make amends for his awful crime by forming the 300 and trying to change the black man's mentality for pure violence. His impassioned plea for his fellow men of Detroit to take back the street is from the heart,he really wants to make a difference.
  But on Thursday night,he completely (excuse my pun) misfired. He was addressing the shooters of little Delrick and said "We know you didn't MEAN to kill the baby. Turn yourself in,we know that you are not the person the world thinks you are".
Uh,Raphael.....I hate to disagree with you here but you are so wrong. You don't grab a AK-47,drive down with some homiies,get out and pump 40 shells into a house unless you are aiming to kill anyone you can. This was a premeditated act of cold blooded murder and the real miracle is no one else got blasted as well.
You are feeding into the no accountability that seems to have gripped our society,there is no excuse for this action...none. Yes,these killers DID mean to shoot Delrick,they meant it every time they squeezed off a round.
   But back to the hand wringing....why is it that no one ever mentions banning the fucking weapons that are awash in our streets. Lets break it down....poverty has eroded our self worth. Think about it,what does a person with no real prospect in life have to lose in turning to crime and the gun? Broken schools,the broken homes...no one to show a child that their live means something other then a chance to get a bigger food stamp check,to become another pawn in a gang,,no real chance to gain a real skill.
 When you have nothing to aim for,then grabbing a gun as problem solver becomes a no brainer. When you have a goal,a dream,someone to love...life become precious,doesn't it? Somewhere in Detroit,this vital connection has been lost.
   They showed a clip of Let It Rip's legal gadfly,Charlie Langton,asking about what could be done to stem the violence and he talked to 3 young black males who tried to claim their block,warning people not to come to Detroit...but instead of coming off as tough and OG,it sounded more like a plea. That you take your own life in your hands if you venture anywhere but downtown.
  We know what must be done but until we as a nation,rise up and say enough,kids like Delrick are just merely target practice.
  One more Made In Detroit story....yesterday morning,while Mitten Romney was getting ready to speak at Ford Field (I noticed how the teapublican candidates didn't venture into the 'hoods) a 86 year man went to get gas at a BP gas station at 10:30 in the morning. As Aaron Brantley,a World War II vet started filling his tank,a young thug jumps him from behind and throws him down on the ground and carjacks Aaron's car.
The gas station's camera shows Aaron crawling on his hands and knees towards to store and people walking by him and offering no help to him at all...after what might have seemed an eternity,Aaron manages to reach the store where the cashier calls 911.
  But this being Detroit,no cops or EMS roll out and Aaron is now feeling a lot of pain and he asks someone to drive him home. Shockingly,someone agrees and drive Aaron home. Somehow he ends up in the ER where it was found that Aaron had suffered a broken leg.
 But wait...it gets better. Turns out that Aaron had just gotten his car back four days before this befell him. See,someone had stolen Aaron's car and stolen his radio and tires. He had just gotten it back from the shop when it taken from him again.
Made In Detroit......


Aaron Brantley's story
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/86-year-old-vet-injured-during-carjacking-at-detroit-gas-station-20120224-ms

Let It Rip: How Do We Stop the Violence?
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/let_it_rip/let-it-rip-20120222-ms

Thanks for reading

24 May 2011

Its 9:06 am

   Its a cold overcast morning,looks like the Queen of Snow really must have been dancing hard last night because it sure LOOKS like snow. We are still on track to get a inch or less starting around 4 pm-ish.
I see another of the original IC has followed me here....I thank you a lot for that,Paul. Sort of cool to check in and see another reader has joined up. We're up to 5 now....and very thankful you are all here.

  24 May 2011

   Last year on that day here in Detroit,a fight broke out on a neighborhood street. Yelling,screaming..who knows what the beef was but in typical American style,someone had enough and went to get a problem solver.
   You all know what which kind of problem solver that was grabbed. So now here is a young woman brandishing a gun and pretty soon the bullets start flying.
 26 year old Verily Vereen,a mother of two is on her front porch minding her own business with her family. Street beefs are nothing new in  neighborhoods,they happen and most are settled quickly and peacefully.
But Detroit is different,far too many times people in Detroit hear someone yell "I'm getting my gun" and in this city,it isn't a empty threat,its a promise.
  And so it was that day and Verily Vereen started shooing in her family into the house,out of harm's way. Except that she was just a heartbeat too late to save herself. As she turned away and got the several small children into the relatively safety of her home,Fate came calling in a form of a wildly shot bullet.
 Again,Verily,had no part in this fight,she was just a innocent by-stander here. But when people pick up a gun and fire it,it doesn't give a shit if you're innocent,guilty,red,black,white or brown. It only knows what it was designed for...to shatter lives. And in this case,it achieved it goal ever so well...
  One second Verily is a strong loving mother of two...the next,she is bleeding from being shot in the neck. She falls on her porch,her first thoughts must have been..."please,don't let any of my kids or cousins be shot" because that is how a mother's brain works. No,it was just Verily lying there,blood pouring out.
Calls go to 911...a neighbor,Sonja Bennett rushes over and applies pressure to help stop the bleeding.
People gathering around,shocked at what happened. Waiting for the help to come to help Verily.....waiting.....still waiting,more calls to 911. Where IS that ambulance????
  The people of Detroit know how bad the EMS system is,they live with it every day. Half of the 24 rigs are out of service most days,they are under-equipped and stressed to the max. I blogged already how the new Fire Commissioner said he was ordering brand new ambulances but the city is so poor,it can't afford them and its credit is bad,no one will loan the money.
  But even for Detroit's hardened citizen's,this response time is beyond bad....more waiting as Verily blood seeps into Sonja's hands. Kids are crying for their momma....people wondering where the ambulance is at.
 Someone says "Lets take her ourselves! She'll die here if she doesn't get help!" But Verily can't be moved,she has no feelings in her arms or legs. If they and move her,no matter how well the intention is,they'll finish what that gun has started.
  After 30 hellish minutes a Detroit EMS unit arrives on scene and after stabilizing Verily,transport her to the ER.
  The police also come and they arrest the woman who fired the gun. Whose anger and mindset had conditioned her to solve her issues not with a brain but with steel,American style.
 But in the ER,a bitter irony unfolds...because IF you are going to be shot,being shot in the D isn't such a bad thing. Why? Let's put it this way kids,you know the US is involved in two wars and many of troops got shot to shit or blown up by IEDs. You hear about how our troops survival rate is so much improved because doctors are able to treat them so much better now. Well that is because the trauma doctors get their training by working the inner cities shootings in Detroit,Philly,Chicago and Baltimore. They see so many combat type bullet wounds that they are able to practice new techniques in the operating rooms!
 So when you are shot with a gun here,you have a much better chance of making it out alive! Provided you get a ambulance to get to you in 30 minutes or less.
 Verily is operated on...and on....and on. The bullet has left its terrible mark on her,she has gone from a strong woman to becoming a quadriplegic.
 All over something stupid.....
But Verily is a fighter and so is her sister,Denita. Denita throws her considerable might into the fray,taking care of Verily and her kids. Bathing,dressing and encouraging Verily. She is responding well,she has some movement in her hands,she can somewhat hold her kids. Denita quits her job to help her sister,she can't afford to hire a 24-7 nurse for her. The problems they face are incredible. The house they have (I don't know if its owned or rented by the sisters) isn't equipped for a handicapped person. The daily washing of Verily is extremely hard and sad. Because Denita was caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of taking care of her sister and working and leaving her job,the insurance is about to run out and then what?
  One small bullet.
The average cost of treating a gunshot victim like Verily can cost a million dollars over the victim's lifetime.
A million dollars. Not all cases,a lot of quadriplegics don't live a long life,their bodies are so broken in so many places that a mere cold can kill them if it develops in pneumonia.
  Fox 2 Detroit ran an update on the sisters last night and I'll post the link to the report in a minute.
I don't know the Vereens but in a sense I do. Because once gun violence touches you,be it the shooter or the victim,it really changes everything. The woman who shot Verily was arrested,charged and convicted for her crime. She is in jail,locked up. But you tell me,who really is the prisoner here? And to top it off,she shows no remorse to the lives she altered so sadly on 24 May 2011.
  If you like to help.....please repost this story to your friends and neighbors.

If you feel like donating anything....

WJBK FOX 2 
P.O. Box 2000
16550 West 9 Mile Road
Southfield, MI 48037-2000


Attn: Andrea Isom- Verily Vereen




This will link you to Andrea's report.
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/stray-bullet-changes-the-lives-of-2-sisters-20120210

Thanks for reading.

Aaron,Gabby and in support of Jewel Shepard

Its 11 am

   Another grey day here in SE Michigan. The snow is almost all gone from last week's storm. It went from being zero to 52 degrees yesterday but dropped to freezing again last night. I was expecting a somewhat warmer 1.2 mile walk when I went out in the early evening but I pretty much froze my ass off! Next time,wearing gloves.

   Nothing too much exciting to report on the homefront. We are down to the last 3 days of radiation and are so excited for that. We'll be meeting Dr. Johnston on Friday after radiation and labs. Lori has a recurring urinary tract infection that needs to be looked at a little closer but Dr. J will handle that on Friday as well as getting her chemo port cleaned.
   We haven't talked about it but we both know that we are going to have to go through another round of chemo because of the tumor on her colon. The chemo treatment for colon cancer is different then uterine cancer with different drugs being used. We don't know what those drugs are as of yet but I'm we will know sooner then later.
   I went to a job fair yeterday for Aldi's. It was being held in a local hotel and I went after we got back from Ann Arbor. While I didn't expect a cattle call type of job fair,I still was taken by how many people were there at 11:30 am. I saw at least 6 people as I entered,another 20 people in the room filling out applications and another 15 come in after me. I was only there for 10 minutes as all they wanted was a application. They said they would be calling folks by Thursday afternoon for interviews. I am little hopeful,I have a strong supermarket background but I have been out so long that they may not want to look at me. I saw a lot of older people at the fair and not very many young folks.  Its still pretty brutal out there to be sure....
 Caught the new blog by my buddy Scorpion. His blog,As My Stomach Turns,is real hoot and what I love about it is how its interactive. His readers send in jokes,stories and tidbits that he combines with his own life story. Its like reading a old fashioned variety show where everyone is trying to get in on the act.
His blog is listed on the right hand side under Blog I Follow.  Drop by and take a peek.
   I saw that Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords has resigned her seat after being shot in the head last year. She has made a good recovery but when you suffer brain damage like she has,being able to serve was going to be incredibly tough so she did the right thing and stepped down.
  Of course our taxpayer dollars will continue to pay for Gabby for the rest of her life and would have regardless if she was a congresswoman or not. How many others like Gabby who have no insurance but will need lifetime care from gun crimes are out there? Tens of thousands and the countless billions wasted in taking care of them will continue to go on and on.
   Nothing will change and soon Gabby will slide out of the headlines and become a footnote of history much like James Brady did. Her pain and suffering will have been in vain because we as a nation lack the moral courage to repeal the 2nd Admendment or allow gun makers to be held accountable.
  And while I don't begrudge Gabby for her continued taxpayer supported care for a PREVENTABLE condition,I am also struck on how unfair it is....
  Compared to legendary fanboy/scream queen actress Jewel Shepard who is fighting breast cancer.
Being a actor in Hollywood is a strange beast. Folks look at actors as rich if they se them on the silver screen or TV. But like a documentary pointed out,the major studios make maybe 200 films a year and while TV may have more shows,they also pay much less as well....and when you have 140,000 actors scrambling for roles. For every George Clooney,you have 10,000 actors fighting for a line or a scene. And being a working actor is no cakewalk,you have classes,auditions and sometimes make-up and wardrobe. Its an expensive profession. Add SAG fees plus paying commission to a agent,manager,public relation person. And that is coming from a semi-working actor. And Hollywood being Hollywood,the older a woman get,the less roles are there for them. Most actors can't afford health insurance and due to the uneven work pattern can't qualify for Social Security.
   So combine this together and you have a lot of talented people who are just as poor as you and I in a lot of cases. You hear a lot of stories of actors losing homes,savings and struggling very hard to stay afloat. And getting a real job has its drawbacks,be it the risk of ridicule,the idea that they are slumming when a real could a job,etc,etc.
  So when a actress like Jewel does get sick,she is also at the mercy of a terrible healthcare system. I have followed her via her writings of how hard it is for her to get any help at all. She doesn't qualify for SSI and when she wrote how she approached different cancer charities for help,they told her to contact the government.
   And there lies yet another mindfuck....just exactly where DOES the money the Karmanos and Komen charities beg for all the time go? I was of the mindset that some of the millions raised went to help women who really are sick. But just watching this,has led me to try and see what will happen if I call for help. I wonder what they'll say. And how about you,dear reader? Just where does that money GO that they ask for?
Reading what happened to Jewel reminds me of the abuses that 60 Minutes uncovered about the United Way. The only people that were being truly helped were the people running the charity. The one I will give money too anymore is the Salvation Army. We donate old clothes,household items and books to Purple Heart but as far making a donation,nope. Not unless they want to share IN DETAIL where the money is going.
  I very much wanted to walk the 3 Day Walk in my area....I know that you are asked to raise money for the walk and I have no problem with that but asking me to PAY 90.00 just to register and then raise 2,300.00 by the start of the walk is a insult. This is a VOLUNTEER event,what a volunteer raises should never have an set amount. Unless of course the Komen charity is paying for the cops,the use of the public roads,the workers on the route,the food and water the walkers are using....but we know that is not the case,these services are donated as a tax write to the different companies who help out. Maybe it would be a little different of a walker or a person donating their money said "I want MY money on the front lines of the fight,to help a woman who is struggling to be able to afford healthcare and the medicines they so badly need but are having a hard time affording them". All these big glitzy events for Karmanos and Komen.....who really is benefiting from them?
 
  But speaking of funding....when we first moved to our new house,we need some furniture. Lori spotted a old comfy chair on eBay near by and we bought it for 65.00. But that was over 4 1/2 years ago and now the chair is ready to give up the ghost. So now we have started a Replace the Chair Project outta of the 2011 Christmas Fund Project. I wonder if I could do a 3 Day Sit to help reach our goal of 150.00.....

Niggas in Detroit (thanks to Kanye and Jay Z)

What's Gucci my nigga? 
What's Louie my killa? 
What's drugs my deala? 
What's that jacket, Margiela? 
Doctors say I'm the illest 
Cause I'm suffering from realness 
Got my niggas in Paris 
And they going gorillas, huh! 


- Kanye West and Jay Z




Its 1:09 pm


    Another violent day in the Murder Capital of America. A young woman was killed outside the same nightclub that two cousins were last seen before being found in a car trunk by an abandoned building. The killing pushes the murders so far in 2012 to 19.....a murder a day.
  But once again,there is no out cry,there is only a understaffed police force trying to chase these terrorists down. Another potential problem solver,life saver,difference maker is gone by the way of the gun. But that is what Detroit's legacy is fast becoming....death and destruction. All the media hype about Detroit 2020 or "I'm a Believer" is just that,hype. The moral decay is becoming the rule,not the exception. The city can't govern itself worth a shit and is on pace to not only run outta money by April and be taken over by the state but before this happens,they'll be looking to cut both fire and police services.
  Its already a well known joke how bad our EMS system is....the new fire chief got a rude awakening when he tried to secure credit to buy 23 new ambulances but because the city's credit union is so utterly crappy,he was unable to buy even ONE. So of course the city is rolling in the deep with busted up wagons that even the guys at GAS wouldn't be able to save.
  Which is a damn shame because at the rate of gunfire here in the Murder City,those ambulances are sorely going to be needed.
  Just how bad is it? You know its bad when even the city's funeral homes are starting to get concerned. A industry that makes money with every body that drops is now very concerned and saddened by seeing so many young black kids coming in to get buried. They are seeing up close just like the cops and doctors,at all the potential good that is being lost because everyone can grab a gat and bust caps. 
  Just saw Fox 2 Charlie Langton post a question about if the city of Detroit ran a tourist ad campaign based off the "Pure Michigan" ads and called it "Pure Detroit"? Really???? With the rampant crime in the city,combined with a high unemployment rate and the incredible blight...just exactly what are you going to promote after the 3 casinos,Ford Field and Tiger Stadium? The rows of empty houses? The crime scenes of the 344 murders we had last year? Or perhaps a front row seat for Kwame Kilpatrick's federal corruption trial .
And before you head into the D....you want to consider the following:

Just completely saddened that people will rise up to protect their right to vote but fail to realize that that same passion is needed to help protect the lives of those of the next generation here in the D.

Increase the Peace!

Snowy Saturday/Community

Its 12:50 pm

    Looking outside at our first real snowfall of the season...feeling a little funky today,sluggish. Of course this mean I need some coffee so after I post this,I better get on that.
 I asked on my FB wall how people define "community". You hear the word tossed around all the time,especially in Detroit. After just about every event,especially the bad ones,you'll hear about how "the community needs to come together".  But what exactly does that mean? A community as I understand it to me means sharing a same goal and sharing what resources you have to get and attain such goals. And the folks who work towards the SAME goal are then a community.
  So think about that a minute. Are we really ever a community in the same sense? No,not really,we are far too splintered for a true one community,even in our own cities. Its almost like a modern day Tower of Babel where everyone while trying for a common  goal cannot reach because they can't understand each other.
  Same here...watching the city of Detroit while siting 30 miles from it is like watching the Tower trying to be built. Every time there seems to be progress,the goals of the many communities clash and the Tower falls...every single damn time.
   There is no community in this city,even the most important thing it has,its children,are not enough to bond the communities together to strive for a better place for them. Instead you see them dying,getting pregnant,landing in jail,destroying their neighborhoods with blight and poverty (a community in itself).
The so called civic leaders are corrupt,consumed with naked greed and power and only are interested in keeping THEIR community as tight as possible,only room for a certain few.
 Detroit is a perfect example of what it must have been when the Tower was being built,trying to attain that one goal and then falling apart at the seams with death,destruction,immorality and genocide as its new glue.
And just as in the days gone by,the citizens have scattered...down from a major city of 2 million to a decaying rotting leper colony of over 700,000 and probably just as many non-communities. Small beacons of hope are no counted as groups as much as individual people trying to link up with another soul...to try and once again to build a community. Will it ever happen? Some folks think "yes" and they point to several examples of real growth.
  I have lived here over 12 years watching the same city these folks have and I can tell you,I sadly don't see it.
Every time Detroit gets someone with real ideas or talks real community building,either they are lying or they get lynched by others who ideas they feel are the ones. Instead of comparing the same blueprint for hope,they insist that either THEIR ideas lead the way or once again,the Tower will fall.....and fall....and so on....

Thoughts?

Musings on a hump day.....

Its 5:13 pm

   Its getting dark outside...and a little colder. We had another mild day but getting a heads up we actually might some snow on Friday,anywhere between 1-4 inches. Anything over a inch will mark our seasonal high this winter. But it sure as hell beats 18 feet as Cordova and Nome,Alaska are finding out.
 Can't even imagine the hell those folks must be going through,its so bad that the Russians are helping out by shipping badly needed fuel to the folks in Cordova.
  Big news in the Motor City is both the 10% hike in the murder rate for Detroit,we had 344 people get murdered here. Only Philly beat us out but Detroit is looking to make strong start to the 2012 title by killing 17 more of its citizens.
  Of course this is what happens when you allow all the guns on the streets AND combine that with a weak mayor like we have in Dave Bing-a-ling. He forced the very effective Warren Evans out as police chief and crime has shot up under the leadership of Ralph Godbee.
  And Ralph's answer to this is convert the police stations to "virtual stations" by locking the doors to the public at 4 pm and leaving a 2 man staff behind to take accident reports. This is supposed to put more cops on the streets but defeats the very idea of a police station being a safe haven in case of a emergency. You know,like when your driving and a car full of young thugs bump your car at nighttime. Instead of going to a police station and safely exchanging info,your ass is as good as jacked. Its a very short sighted solution to a very chronic problem in the D.
 Just another reason to stay the hell outta the city if you ask me....and that's a shame,it really is. And with a EMF almost a certainty,Detroit is looking to become even more dangerous when the layoffs start coming in and the police department starts losing even more cops.
 And the effect of this is starting to show in the suburbs as the people leaving Detroit are setting up shop and bringing that crime mentality/culture with them. We have seen a sharp uptake in the criminal activity in my area and sad as it seems,its young black men that are shooting at sports centers,robbing people by gunpoint and shoplifting like there is no tomorrow. The seeds of hate and prejudice are being sown once again by shortsighted people who are "out to get mines"while not thinking about how stealing 400.00 worth of CDs at a Wal-Mart will affect us all. Now I'm not saying its a all black crime wave but the attention is more sharply aimed at them and who needs that on ANY level?
  Another interesting figure was also released,justifiable homicides shot up 80% in Detroit. These are shootings that considered "self defense",many happened when intruders broke inside a home or attempted to rob someone and they got blasted by a citizen carrying a legal gun...almost like the Old West days.
The local media spun it as a lack of enough police to respond to the crime. The cops there are so overwhelmed by the caseloads that it can be DAYS before a cop will come out and take a crime report. This has spurred a sharp rise between criminal and victim. But not everyone who decides to take the law into their own hand has gotten away with it,many have been arrested,tried and convicted of murder.
Its a slippery slope for anyone who decides to pick up a gun as a solution to a problem and for the citizens of Detroit,its seems it the ONLY solution.

  I decided to ask people what the word "Community" means to them. I'm going to push that for 3 days then post the answers I get on here and see if we can get a grip on what is a community.

A little bit bummed that I missed out on Crystal Light's free sample promo. I was pretty gung-ho for free samples on here but when I noticed that I was barely getting any despite being told that I was,I got discouraged. I mean,the company got my info but I got zero in return. But when I saw the ad in the Sunday paper,I was caught in the middle,should I go for it or not chance another disappointment. I waited til today to try and get a sample but I was too late,they had given out all 80,000 samples.
 Such is the life of a couponer like me....some days you are the bear,some days the bear gets you...but it will give me some motivation to go down and revamp our coupon book. That is if I can some Campbell soup coupons first....