Messages From The Heartland

[David In Indy]

Hi David and Cody~
Hope your feeling better today! here's a some pictures of my little guy Ricky to cheer you up!

He was very excited about being posted so he's trying to make some cute poses.

Geri...

Ricky is super cute! Thanks for posting those pictures of him. He is a very cute cat. 

[injest]

Thanks Jess (and everyone)!

Actually, Melissa gave me some very good advice. I climbed back in bed around 5:00 am and counted little Ennis and Jacks jumping over my bed. It put me right to sleep.

Of course it might have been because I took another hit of Nyquil and Benadryl.

What ever it was, it worked. 

just as long as you are feeling better...{{{}}}

[David In Indy]

Current Weather in Indianapolis: Windy with Heavy Rain and Falling Temperatures    Temp: 43 F (6 C)
My Current Mood: Better than yesterday!

Did you know much of the world's popcorn is grown right here in Indiana? We even have a town named Popcorn! So, the next time you sit down with a big bucket of popcorn and watch Ennis and Jack... think of us! That popcorn probably came from right here in Indiana! 

That was just a little Hoosier trivia for you all.

Boy, it got a little scary today, didn't it? Around 3:00 pm (EST) news broke of an airplane flying into an apartment building in New York City. Twenty minutes later, I could hear fighter jets screaming over our Indianapolis skies. For a few moments we all thought we were in really big trouble again. Of course we all found out it wasn't another terrorist attack. It was a tragic accident though and New York (and the sports world) lost a very great baseball player. 

Earlier today, I was watching the news and I noticed something scroll across the bottom of the screen (this was before that awful plane accident in NewYork City). It said a gay man was lured outside his apartment and into a park by four teens who sent him IMs on his computer promising him sex. As he approached the teens, they started to attack him. As he tried to escape, he ran into traffic and was struck by an automobile. Apparently he is in critical condition at a local hospital. The police are calling this a "Bias Incident".

Excuse me?

Bias Incident? What about a HATE CRIME? What the hell do they mean by "Bias Incident"? Why do they call it a HATE crime when something awful happens to any other minority in the U.S., but when it happens to a gay person it is often called something else... like a "Bias Incident"? I'm not sure where this HATE CRIME occurred, but I think it was up East somewhere.

And why is the media mentioning this crime anyway? Is it because this gay man was attacked while looking for sex? It must be. Hate crimes against gay people happen every day in the U.S. and we rarely hear about them. So why now? I wonder if this is just another attempt by the media to demean gay people?

I was going to provide a link to this report, but I cannot find anything about it on the CNN, MSNBC or Fox News websites. I only saw this scroll across the bottom of my television screen.

If anyone knows something about this outrage, please tell us. I only read a few sentences scrolling across my screen, and I'm sure I don't have all the facts.

But I sure didn't like what I read. 

[injest]

Crap...I am sorry...I will keep an eye out for anything..

[David In Indy]

Oh man, I remember driving thru Gary, Indiana and having that song on my mind and that was all I knew of it, what is quoted above. Thanks for sharing.

How about Jim Neighbors singing of "Back Home In Indiana" at the Indy 500 is it?

Yeah, I think that song is called "Back Home Again In Indiana" and Jim Neighbors (Gomer Pyle on the Andy Griffith Show) sings it every year here in Indy just before the Indy 500. I wonder how many more years he will be singing it though. He is getting pretty old.

[Arad-3]

David~
No surprise about the popcorn! Driving through Indiana all you see is cornfields  At least on I- 95 you do .I bet it's really pretty there now with the fall colors in bloom.

As far as the man getting hit by a car, I didn't see that one. But if thats the case it sure does sound like he was targeted by these teens because he is gay, and that  would definately be in the catagory of being a "hate crime."

I just wonder who would of gave the information for the police report. as far as I can see everyone in the scenario are really at fault. The teens for their part and the man for going to the park looking for sex because of a Pm (although I think its more of a case of poor judgment on his part) .But I cant imagine he would tell the police about it. I just wonder if "the man" is also a teenager that they know from school or somewhere.That would be really sad.
Too bad these things happen. But they do more often than we relize.

[David In Indy]

Geri -

Yes. It is starting to get very pretty here. The colors are just starting to show on the trees now. The peak for the colors isn't for another week or two though. It's really cold here right now. It's very windy and cold... but the sun is out today! 

It was really raining hard last night.

I-95? That doesn't run through Indiana. Maybe you are thinking about I-80/90 which runs east/west in Northern Indiana, near the Michigan/Indiana state line.

Yeah, I would really love to find out more about this gay man and what happened to him. I will keep checking the Internet.

[Arad-3]

"I-95? That doesn't run through Indiana. Maybe you are thinking about I-80/90 which runs east/west in Northern Indiana, near the Michigan/Indiana state line."

 ???Your probley right David. We start out on I 95 to go everywhere but I dont know my highways very well because I am never the driver on these long trips And the driver could get off on other highways and i dont relize it.. I can't drive the major highways they give me all sorts of anxiety. And I talk way too much to pay attention to the road signs!!

[David In Indy]

"I-95? That doesn't run through Indiana. Maybe you are thinking about I-80/90 which runs east/west in Northern Indiana, near the Michigan/Indiana state line."

 ???Your probley right David. We start out on I 95 to go everywhere but I dont know my highways very well because I am never the driver on these long trips And the driver could get off on other highways and i dont relize it.. I can't drive the major highways they give me all sorts of anxiety. And I talk way too much to pay attention to the road signs!!

Or it could have been I-65. I guess it depends on where you were going. I-65 is a north/south interstate and it runs through Indiana from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky.

There are a lot of Interstates and highways here. 

[Arad-3]

I goofed!  I meant to say I-90 in the first place. That probaly turns into I 80/90.  i just know it gets us from NY to Chicago! And we cross Indiana to do so. I was thinking of route 95 thats a route in NY. Like I said I really dont drive many of the out of state trips. If I did , they would still be looking for us!