crime – TheTimeDok

A recent post on a neighborhood blog elicited this response from me. The man had some tools taken from his truck in his driveway and was upset. He asked the question, what is one to do, shoot someone for taking my tools?

Here is my response to him and I think germane enough to share with you, good folks.

You (he) asks a good question. “What am I to do, shoot someone for $200?”

Firstly, shooting someone for any reason will affect your life forever. My litmus test is “Am I genuinely afraid for my life, or those lives of my family?”

If I am genuinely afraid, then the rest of this is a mute point. Carried by six, judged by twelve, simple math really.

The opioid epidemic is probably responsible for the increase in small crimes like this, as fewer and fewer doctors are now prescribing these types of “legal” drugs Legal or not, people are addicted to them and addictions will cause some to sell their mother into slavery for them. If they cannot get them legally, they will get them on the street.

That in and of itself might solve some of the addiction issues, as what they get on the street might very well end their suffering, permanently. Not my wish or desire, just simple facts. Truth told they know the risk too and will do it anyway. That should tell you something about their state of mind, and the risk they will take for a few tools from your truck.

Balancing petty crimes against lethal force is a tough call. So what is one to do?

In this day and age, we have many tools at our disposal.

Alarm your vehicle. Mine is set to lock and arm after 45 seconds, should a family member, or I forget.

“Viper Alarm from Car Toys.”

Keep your valuables out of sight.

Brand your tools or other valuables so that a pawn shop will not be interested in them.

Ring.com makes some not too expensive devices like the floodlight cam and the doorbell.

Both are easy installs for the average homeowner.

That video goes up to the cloud and stays there for some time. In case your home is vandalized the evidence is not where the criminal can get to it.

You said you heard them, Dial 911
Turn on lights, so they know that you heard them.
With the Ring floodlight cam, there is a siren that you can set off. Noises are not what they want.
Open your window and set off an air horn if nothing else. Yell at them telling them the cops are on the way! I would not use Uncle Joe’s advice about touching off your shotgun in the air. Noise is the right idea, just not shotguns.

I would imagine that smash and grab is their ideal way to work so sound and lights will alert your neighbors as well. Usually, they work in pairs. Getting a plate for the cops is a very good idea. Any information is valuable. Many have cameras set up to watch the streets and alleys. Talk to your neighbors and see if they captured anything.

If you were to go out there with your shotgun or another deadly force weapon you might very well be surprised to find that you are now in harm’s way as they had a partner. If on the other hand, you were to injure them or kill them, some subhuman life form of a lawyer would find any family members that they had and represent them on a contingency basis to sue you civilly. Pictures of the dead or injured person from his or her days in church, scouts, the soccer field as a 12-year-old, or as a family member and good dad or mom would adorn the courtroom. They would paint this person as the ideal person having them appear the saint, and you the angry old curmudgeon without any heart, hell-bent on killing people with your mean old gun. If the perp is or was a different race or gender than you, that too will factor into swaying the jury that you are now a racist or a sexist or both.

If you cannot afford a lawyer, they might very well get a judgment against you. It is relatively simple to emotionally manipulate a jury. This would then cost much more than a few hundred dollars in tools. As it is a civil case and not a criminal case, no free Lawyers for you.

If you can afford one and you had best be able to, it will cost you no less than $5K on a no bill. The process will go on for months, and it will consume you.

“What is one to do?” You asked

Good luck, I hope that you or our neighbors find some of this information helpful….

Full disclosure, I have no vested interest in any of the products or companies mentioned. I also do not believe that all lawyers are sub-human life forms. 🙂

-Best

https://drugabuse.com/

https://ring.com/

https://www.viper.com/

These issues are so divisive, so volatile, that they have ruined many candidates’ chances for ever getting elected.

Case in point: Q: Mr. Ryan, how do you feel about abortion? A: As a Christian conservative I value all life and I believe that abortion should be very limited.

Correct Answer: My personal values and beliefs on this issue are not germane to the conversation. If elected, I will work hard to get these types of decisions pushed back to the state where they belong, so the people in each state can decide by the democratic process how they feel these issues should be handled.

His answer is of course paraphrased but you can see the difference. The correct answer would have garnered him more votes as he recognized the limits of government and even though the Christian conservative comment would have gained him some votes; he most likely already had those votes in the red states and lost votes in the blue states where they needed them. The real gotcha part of the question was diverted in the correct answer and instead of it being a negative as the “reporter” intended, it would have been neutered at the least and a positive at best.

The rhetoric that these issues generate alone, cloud the real issues of the day like the economy and or the events in the Middle East. These two issues take the forefront on the news and the campaign trial, instead of the issues that really matter. Gun control, dominates the nightly news rather than the media dealing with the real issues of the day.

The Middle East is on fire, hundreds of thousand are killed and we talk about creating a law that has no chance of working in this country, ever! They would have to shred the constitution for it to have a chance; and Uncle Joe touting his shotgun rhetoric would have to keep mute; as he gives the gun lobbyist more “ammo,” every time he speaks on the subject.

The simple facts are that there is not a “one size fits all solution” for an entire country on either of these two issues. On top of this if you bother to do any research, you will find places like Chicago who have some of the toughest gun laws, also enjoy some of the highest murder rates or crime rates committed with guns, anywhere in the country.

It is my contention that these issues are played up intentionally and strategically when there are other issues that are showing up on the radar that the administration wants to re-focus the public’s attention away from. Benghazi was one such issue, and Fast and Furious another; just to name two. I would bet that in the industry; issues like this have names, much like “puff piece,” which this would not be, or some such other type of piece like a “Houdini.”

The state should be the one to deal with these issues although I bet that they are happy that they don’t have to. There is a reason that we have red and blue states. The majority of the people in the “highly populated” areas of those states are fairly like minded for one reason or another. These areas attract more people who are also of similar ilk. That is perfectly ok as one should be allowed to vote with their feet.

If Colorado wants to legalize pot (which they did) and you are of the belief that it should be legal, you may be interested in moving there. If Texans think that wearing a gun should be synonymous with wearing clothes, you may want to live there (if you’re a good guy) or stay the hell away if you are prone to picking fights or doing stupid things. “An armed society is a polite society.”

Much like football, the quarterback fakes the throw and our attention “and the opposing teams attention” is momentarily taken off the real ball, and then the handoff happens. Politics or those who practice it, work the same way. The people that we hire, that should be watching out for us are all up there playing quarterback with trillions of tax payer’s dollars.

Of course if gun control and abortion are not enough to divert your complete attention; than the race card, the gay card, and the class warfare card and my personal all time favorite, some imagined war on women come into play. Never have I seen the “war on babies” card played, which it should be.

Keep your eyes on the ball. This is not an R or a D thing, it is a people thing, and those inside the beltway should be held not only to higher standards, but they should be held accountable; accountable not to the people who gambled millions of dollars on their reelection bid; but to us, the tax payer. When any of these cards are played, keep looking for what they are hiding. Start looking at other media rather than the main stream media for the answers. If you are a huge Fox news fan, make sure that you watch CNN as well. The reverse is true if you are a Chris Mathews Fan. I personally read news from all over the globe, as they are watching us, and there is a good chance that their dog in the fight is not that of the current administrations. The more that any of the above cards are dominating the news, or trending, the more I look elsewhere, to see what is happening.

To borrow a phrase from the X-Files, “the truth is out there,” seek and ye shall find. “The truth has no Agenda.”

-Best to you and those that you care about!

TheTimeDok

“What is one to do, shoot someone for $200?”

Gun Control, Abortion and Politics