Well, It's A Good Thing....
How many times have you heard that phrase in your life?
I'll bet a LOT, beginning with when you were growing up.
Usually, this is used as a premise to a concluding statement like:
"Well, it's a good thing you didn't take those cookies...and spoil your dinner."
It's one of those "universal" phrases...can be stuck in conversation damn near ANYwhere.
(well, it's a good thing too, because I was wondering what to say next...LOL)
*** Now, when it comes to CRIME, our fair city (Ft. Wayne) is not without it's (ever-growing) share.
Take for example the TEN robberies we've had in town just this month...
I know that some of you might be rolling your eyes saying "that's not so bad...think about ALL like crimes in REALLY big cities across America."
Well, compared to say...NYC or L.A., we are on the shallow end of the crime pool.
But there is a relationship between the number of PEOPLE and the number of CRIMES.
The vast majority of citizens in ANY city are NOT the ones causing the crimes(thank God)...it's less than 20% (approx)...across the ethnic board.
ALL races are involved in crimes...that's just the way it works with people.
How that crime is dealt with will dictate the pattern that the crimes will take.
When you "tighten the belt" regarding law-enforcement, crime DOES go DOWN...BUT (uh, oh, here comes that other shoe dropping) you also risk being labelled a "police state" or "ethnically-unfriendly".
When you loosen the laws, making them more like guidelines, crime WILL go UP...simple enough to figure out, right?
Case in point, the southern border situation...
Because we have NO wall or enough officers down there, people KEEP coming across and entering this country ILLEGALLY.
And within those tens of MILLIONS that have come over since before I was even born, (300K in 1952 alone, and more each year after) the law of averages says you WILL incur some criminal element. (and DoJ stats have backed that much up)
Yet, that's not to say we don't have our own "home-grown" assholes here...we've got them by the bushel!
Again, I refer you to those robberies here this month.
A person (or persons) waltzes into a pharmacy, show the clerk a note and walks out with whatever (prescripts) they (demanded) wanted...done deal.
These people tend to be WHITE.
Or, those robbers that enter a bank (or store) and rob it.
These people tend to be BLACK.
There is no real color line here...they're all guilty.
(well, it's a good thing they didn't try and rob that Belmont Liquor store where the clerk shot and killed that robber a few years back)
See how that phrase can be interjected...nice, huh?
In another city, a Walgreens manager had a pistol and "dissuaded" the attempted robbery at his store...and he was FIRED for doing so.
Walgreen's has this dumb rule about employees packing heat...
(( rolls eyes ))
Well you might as well put up a damn sign and ADVERTISE it then.
"GUN-FREE ZONE"
Curious, it would appear that whenever you OUTLAW guns in a specific store, the ONLY ones who will enter that store WITH guns will be OUTLAWS!
Amazing. (who knew?)
Crimes take a myriad of other faces, especially in larger cities.
And you all know the list of "activities" these perps perform on a daily basis.
Anything from child abuse to rape to drugs (dealing, making, or using), auto theft, burglaries, home invasion (a rising tide), vandalism, assault, larceny, prostitution...and so on...
But there does come that really ODD occurrence...the one that makes you stand up and go:
"WTF???"
The man I mentioned in yesterday's post (still in critical condition, and with one less hand) is a prime example.
Here's a link to the updated story (from the J-G):
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120131/LOCAL07/301319982
This is a good read, because other people living nearby were interviewed,
The article ALSO mentions that this guy had several "bombs" already assembled.
Now, you can call this whatever you want to, but when I think of a "hobby", I think about building models, or comic collecting...or even going shooting.
But EXPLOSIVE MANUFACTURING?
In a frigging APARTMENT for God's sake?
Granted the chemicals and powders found IN the apartment (by themselves) are NOT illegal to purchase OR possess, BUT (other shoe time again) it's when you decide to COMBINE such items to form unstable COMPOUNDS that people tend to take an interest (like the BATFE).
I know you HAVE to have a very specific FFL license in order to MAKE such compounds, let alone set them off (watch Sons of Guns on Discovery Channel..THEY have such a license).
Maybe this person had a copy of The Anarchist's Cookbook...who can say.
I showed Mrs. Bobby G. my copy of the Special Forces Handbook, and it has various items listed in there that can be used to make ad hoc "devices" (purely for combat purposes, mind you).
And yes, many of these items can be purchased on the Internet.
Hell, I can go to a home improvement store and get some things that, if combined will go "boom"...I just don't wish to do so.
For example, any survivalist can easily take potassium permanganate and add a few drops of water and PRESTO...make a fire (to cook whatever critter you just killed). Or you can take a 9v battery and some steel wool...again...fire.
The real fun comes when you make a polymer that will set into any shape you choose. The trick comes with PRESHAPING it BEFORE it hardens. (this guy didn't figure that one out...too much of ONE element...sets too fast)
Plus, you have to decide HOW to set it off, and the compound will dictate the method, depending on what you've made.
The military traditionally uses C-4, but they have a base compound called RDX (don't bother, you can't buy any). This is at the heart of most explosives used today, and in it's raw form CAN be "impact sensitive", so that's why they wheel the granular mixture around in STEEL carts with lids, and don't go bumping the hell out of it. Nitroglycerin is another impact-sensitive material...(and not what you put under your tongue for heart trouble), as is old dynamite that begins to "sweat"...this crap you don't play with unless you KNOW what the hell you're doing. Just bumping such items slightly can be enough to detonate it.
Other items need "help" to detonate...like C-4. It usually takes an electrical charge (like a blasting cap). Remote detonation is the usual choice.
TNT or dynamite can use blasting caps (electrical) or standard fuses or something called "det-cord" (and blasting caps by themselves can become unstable over time).
Helluva "hobby", eh?
Anyway..."It's a good thing YOU don't mess around with such stuff...right?"
I mean, as far as hobbies go, I NEVER met a coin or stamp that decided to go "boom!" when I messed with it.
And I think "Lefty" might have gotten the hint...now.
What the apartment complexes (and the FWHA) have to do, is take better precautions when checking prospective tenants the hell OUT.
Will that make us a "police state" by doing so?
Some fringe followers will positively think so...
But I personally feel that the safety of the MASSES should trump the cavalier attitude that has allowed such people INTO those apartments and/or houses. This makes a good case, as does the Alihana Lemmon tragedy when it comes to feeling SAFE in one's home.
Average, law-abiding individuals SHOULD feel a modicum of safety wherever they CHOOSE to live, free from such potentially dangerous individuals.
And if anyone thinks otherwise...remember one name - Ted Kacyznski...!
He had a "hobby" as well...and a LOT more smarts than this perp in Ft. Wayne.
Well, it's a good thing we can LEARN from history, isn't it?
Word to the wise, eh?
Be well, make a difference to someone today, and...
Stay safe out there, America.