Ramblings of a Brain-Dead Wizard

Hiya Gang

Well, been a while since I did anything here with this blog, so thought I better get you all up to date.

Also, after trimming up some of my older entries, it seems like a post I made in July was out front here, for some reason, until you clicked the link and went to the more recent entry. Weird.

The thing that has been keeping me the busiest of late is trying to judge the latest story contest. On one hand I am a bit ticked because people waited to the last moment to send in entries, which I know I specifically asked people not to do (thus 13 entries in 2 days), while on the other hand I am rather pleased with the overall number of entries received (22). A good turn out, I must say! Now, I have to decide which of 3 stories is the overall best. I had a couple of stories that were DQ’d coming out of the gate because the writers did not put their name on their entries (I did it for them for publication).

Classic stuff from 2^nd grade, folks. PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR PAPERS!!

Anyway, this last minute deluge has caused me to delay my latest update. Already having people write me and ask about what is going on. It is apparent that they don’t come to my blog to keep abreast of the latest going ons. Ah well, I will get them up, as well as the NEW CONTRIBUTORS material that will be debuting, as well.

It seems like the problems of copying CDs from my secondary computer has transferred over to my primary computer, because for some reason my DVD writer isn’t working. Looks like some software issue, as the properties show that the disks are full, even though they are brand new and blank.

Didn’t have time to really go into it as had to leave to come to work tonight (where I am writing this). I hope it is something silly and stupid that I can correct myself after 15 minutes or so. I hate to have to call Dell Support in Pakistan or India or where ever they are working out of now (because people there are smarter and better educated then the nitwits here in the USA).

Limping around a little bit the last couple of days. I fell getting into my shower. Slipped on the non-slip shower pad!! Ripped my leg a nice contusion on the shower door frame! Now scab is developed and it’s feeling really really good! Kind of wish I just had a laceration then that! Been a while since I got THAT clumsy!

Now, as far as what is the thing that has been bugging me of late… is this country full of a bunch of paranoid wusses, or what??! I do not know how many times I get calls from people that have been saying that they are “scared” because they were “threatened”. This was brought more to the forefront of my little brain when I read in “The Carpetbagger Report” this article http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/12750.html#more-12750 (I won’t go into the particulars here… all you have to do is go to there and read it for yourself). Anyway, the key

thing in that, which I saw, was that U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn told the Bartha’s in a phone message that there were consequences to statements that they made. Well, without actually hearing the tone of the statement, and only reading the transcript, I would say “so what?”. That is one of the universal truths of this universe. Every act that we do, every statement we made, there are consequences. Sometimes major, sometimes minor. Mr. Lamborn saw what was said as a serious matter, as which it was. However, for some reason, the Bartha’s made it out as if he stuck a horse’s head in their bed!

Was what he said a threat? Not where I live. Where I live and work, for it to be a “legal” threat, there has to be a threat of violence against a person or place or thing. For example, if I said that I was going to come to your house and shoot you. That would be a threat. If I just said I was coming to your house, that is NOT a threat. If I said that I was mad at you for making a statement to the papers that I disagree with and that I would sue you for the statements, that is NOT a criminal threat, though you are making a threat to do so. There is not crime that is to be committed. Now, if I said that I would blow up your cat, or burn your house, then those WOULD BE criminal threats. There has to be a recognizable statement of force and/or damage. People will not be cited or arrested by what you THINK the person MAY have meant. It has to be heard and witnessed (and hopefully recorded) before law enforcement will really be able to do anything (other then come over, nod their heads and scribble into their notepads before leaving the “victims” home and basically ignore it from there on out).

People are way too thin skinned of late, and this society really needs to get a grip on itself. People also need to pay more attention in their civics classes (do they still have those?? Maybe THAT is part of the problem!). Too often I talk with people that have no concept of what is allowed in this country, and what isn’t. Most police departments will not go to a house and kick in the door and arrest everyone inside because of an anonymous caller’s say so (on the President’s say so is another matter) just because they THINK there may be drugs being dealt there, or they THINK that they may be illegal aliens or the THINK that someone there has a warrant (this is a popular one – and who is it there with the warrant? The person doesn’t know the name, but KNOWS that there is one!)… well, you get the picture.

And, while such things happened in Nazi Germany or Stalin’s Russia when neighbors would turn in their neighbors for arrest and transport to the nearest concentration camp/gulag, that is not the way that things work here… yet. Well, not yet… unless you are of middle eastern descent, and then you would have a better chance then not of finding yourself in Gitmo where the Bill of Rights is suspended indefinitely.

No, we still want to have some sort of proof that a crime has been, or is being committed, beyond the “well, I think it is” testimony of people that always refuse to give their names, because they “do not want to get involved” (then why did you call in the first place, you twit?!?).

Anyway, back to threats. Just because a person says something is “serious” and that there are “consequences” is no reason to get panicky and scared and think that a black sedan full of gunmen and arsonists are coming to your house.

But, if you would talk to the people that I do on a daily basis, you would think that this is all that is going on. Also, it always amazes me to hear people demand officers to come to their houses RIGHT NOW, because a person called them and said that they were coming over to assault them. Now, that would be a valid criminal threat, because there was a statement made in which the suspect made a comment that they would assault the victim. However, of all the hundreds of those types of calls I have taken, how many of the suspects actually showed up at the victims houses? Mmmm… none. Probably because the suspect made such a call just to get a rise out of the victim , to scare the victim and to keep them up all night worrying (which it did). They probably knew that if they showed up, that they faced a good chance of actually being arrested if they followed through with such threats, which they figured out would not be a very good thing.

Thus, why drive to the house when you can just make a phone call and freak the person out? Now, I am not saying that people should ignore such threats, because the first time that they do, will probably be the one time that the suspect DOES actually drive there. But, people have to have a little common sense, too! I have had people call in a panic because a person called from 2 states away! Hell, it would take 16 hours to drive here from there, if the person had a car!! Get some sleep!

Also, a person that is going to call Child Protective Services on a person for not taking care of their kids, is NOT breaking the law. If a person is going to call Animal Control because another persons dog is running around without a collar and leash and barking all night and getting into garbage cans, is not making a threat! Now, if they said that they are going to SHOOT that dog, then in some areas, that could be a threat (depends on where the dog is and what it is doing when shot, of course). I have had people call to have others arrested because they made “threats” that they were going to call the police to have their children arrested for stealing from them all the time. Damn woman, instead of gripping about the neighbors, how about teaching your kids what right and wrong is!??! (Yes, she did admit that the kids WERE stealing from the neighbors).

And that is ANOTHER thing!! I hear all the time about how this country is going to hell in a hand basket because of the liberals and the lack of family values and the loss of the country’s moral fiber. AND YET, I have to listen to parents lie, in front of their children, every single frickin’ day, to me about what I just caught those children doing. Now, what sort of message is that sending our “leaders of tomorrow”? That there are no consequences for lying?? Well, now that you mention it, no, there isn’t. Look at our countries leaders! In a war that is based on at least 2 lies (Iraq was involved in 9/11 and Iraq has WMDs). But, that should not be seen as an excuse to allow these parents and guardians to lie for their children, but should be seen as a reason to do the exact opposite. To take responsibility for their acts and words, and demand that the children, the “leaders of tomorrow” do the same.

But no, I know of parents that would rather teach their children that whenever they have a problem, that they, the parent, will take care of it. Can’t figure out that problem? No sweat, Mom will do all your homework! Got $500 on your cellular phone bill in one month? No problem, you can keep the phone. Dad understands. Here is a new credit card. There is no responsibility. You cannot have responsibility without a moral basis to build it upon. As long as the people in this society continue to pass the buck, to say that problems are not theirs but the churches/schools/government/etc, then the moral center of this country will continue to diminish as it is eaten up by the profiteers and the warmongers and those that want to just plod along and not have to worry about such things. Giving up your responsibilities is a great freedom. Someone else can make those important decisions. And, if I do not agree with such things, oh well. No worry. It is their responsibility, not mine.

The problem with all that is that eventually, hopefully, people will wake up, and demand those responsibilities back under their own personal control. But, they will discover that they gave those rights away to make their lives easier to live. Mmmm… kind of like the choice between, oh… I don’t know… how about Morality versus “Security”?? We have given up our responsibilities to our own selves and family and neighborhoods, to others for the sake of security. People that we have found have no moral fiber, and thus have no handle on the responsibilities that we gave them, to handle as our proxies for our own protection. We have been finding out that these ‘leaders’ of our country do not have any responsibility to the laws of the land, because the law that they follow, the rule that is most important to them, is the golden rule. That is, he who has the gold, makes the rules. And the rules are only followed as they profit from them personally, either politically and/or financially.

Dang I am tired. Been up all night and I am rambling!! Lol

Don’t even make sense to myself anymore! I have gone off on more tangents then I intended to!

Anyway, this should give you folks some food for thought, as well as more ammo to use against me in the “Wizzy is a NUT!!” statements that will flow to north and south and across the breadth of the land!!

(Originally posted to my Yahoo 360 blog on September 6th, 2007)