17 | February | 2016 | Of Common Sense

All of us are probably guilty at one time or another of participating in idle gossip and hearsay. How many times have we been a part of a conversation that begins something like the following: “I don’t know if it is true or not, but I heard that ____”? And we can each fill in the blank. How many times have we been found guilty of being the starters of such conversations?

Hearsay is like loose cannon fodder that strikes whatever happens to be in its path. It is like a rattle snake lurking in the weeds and bushes waiting to inject its deadly venom into its next innocent victim. It is the cog that turns the perpetual wheel of contention and strife. It is of no intrinsic value or worth unless there can be found a meager thread of evidence that substantiates that what is being said bears any resemblance to the actual truth.

Oftentimes whenever the person that started the proverbial ball of confusion rolling is questioned as to where they got their information, the response is usually that they heard it from ____, who heard it from ____, and it could go on ad infinitum.

Perhaps it all started with the victim of the hearsay sharing a matter in confidence with a “friend”, and that “friend” in turn told a “friend” who told a “friend”, and so forth and so on. What started out as a private conversation between two confidants ends up becoming the headline story on the front page of the local town gossip newspaper or, nowadays going viral on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media venues. Even the news media thrives on such material, typically with disclaimers such as, “It was reported in the ____ Times that ____”, or “Reliable government sources indicate that ____”. When all is said and done what may even have started as an absolute truth becomes a distorted web and hodgepodge of fabrications and lies with maybe a miniscule of truth mixed in for flavor.

Instead of continuing to drink from the dregs of a bottle of deadly poison, would it not prove to be of greater worth to go to the subject of the hearsay and obtain the actual facts and ultimately the truth? The least we can do is not pass it on unverified.

Scammers, Scalawags, Vagabonds, and Thieves

I am but a young man of 57 years. However, within my short life time I have slowly watched the world spin out of control on a downward spiral. Many of the nonsensical things that are occurring in our day and time would have never been thought of or heard of when I was a lad growing up.

Perhaps those were simpler times. Times when people respected each other, and actually endeavored to work together as a unified community for the common good of all. Certainly we had our problems in those days with the various crimes that were committed, but the crimes that were committed did not seem to be of the same brashness and magnitude as we see today.

During the days of my youth there were those who loved playing pranks over the telephone such as, “Is your refrigerator running? Well, you better go catch it.”, but we did not have people calling us attempting to scam us out of what little money we may have had. Today with the ever-increasing knowledge that man has been able to get with the rapid advances in modern technology, some people have found it convenient to take advantage of honest people in any way that they see fit and find absolutely nothing wrong in doing so.

For the most part, these scammers, scalawags, vagabonds, and thieves are nothing more than cowards. They play their cloak and dagger games consistently pretending to be someone who they are not, and often use coercion tactics to get innocent people to fall prey to their devious plots. These criminals have even gone so far as to use fake telephone numbers to call people so that if the person being called wishes to trace their number, they will have a difficult time doing so. Some of them try to disguise themselves as harmless, innocent sheep when they are ravenous wolves seeking their next prey to devour.

People such as these bank on the false hopes that their operations will always stay covert. What they fail to realize is that everything that now appears to be done in darkness will one day come to light. Some have had their operations foiled and brought to light sooner than expected as once innocent victims have begun to raise their voices in protest and expose these scammers, scalawags, vagabonds, and thieves for who they are – criminals who deserve nothing more than to spend time sitting behind bars looking out, longing for the freedoms that they once had but willingly threw away because of their nonsensical schemes and scams which ultimately brought about their own demise.

My dear friends we live in an hour when Satan and all of his little minions are on the prowl more than ever seeking whom they may devour. Their evil forces are stronger than they have ever been. Knowing this, I am reminded that the only thing needed for evil to continue to succeed in this world is for good men to sit idly by and do absolutely nothing.

Now is not the time to give up and give in. Now is not the time to run and cower in a corner crying, “What shall we do? What shall we do?” What we should be doing and need to be doing is standing up and speaking out with a clarion voice to announce that we have had enough – from now on and no farther. Now is the time to stand up and speak up and send a message loud and clear to those who wish to destroy our lives and our society at every turn that if they are caught playing their game, from this point forward and forevermore, the only verdict that will be rendered is, “Do not pass go. Do not collect 200 dollars. There is a place that has been prepared for you and your friends where you can spend your days cheating and scamming each other.” For far too long these criminals have been allowed to roam free and cause havoc. We must take back what is rightfully ours and put them where they rightfully belong.