Blog Archive

Friday, October 27, 2006

Strange Turn of Events - Entitlement Part 2

Strange Turn of Events - Entitlement Part 2

Current mood:shocked

This blog entry is in reference to my previous blog titled "Entitlement". Although this gravitates around the incidents involving Allen Buzdigian, my post and blog had nothing to do with him per se, but rather the sense of entitlement from one of his neighbors who wrote a letter to the editor concerning a show of force. I reprinted the letters in my previous blog.

Yesterday I was contacted via MySpace by Allen Buzdigians neice, Jennifer. Her profile was new and had no friends added, so I am assumptive she googled the name and saw my blog entry listed and went on to read and felt compelled to respond. Her responses are available at the comment area of the blog.

Now before I go any further, and those who know me know this already....I am no moral champion...that is, I tend to be a little more live and let live rather than getting uptight over legal issues...my friends come from all walks of life and I am no stranger to people who live off the radar or outside of the boundaries of the law. I dont want any strangers reading this to think I am some middle aged uptight white cheerleader for the law community, that is just not the case. What I AM a cheerleader for is what is right VS what is wrong, and I have the ability to justify that when someone is wrong, the earn a penalty for their decisions...and THAT is a price you pay when you operate outside of the boundaries of law.

What I am finding amazing in this situation is that Allens family apparantly shares the same disdain for law enforcement that Allen did...and they are holding grudges that Allen was murdered by law enforcement, and harassed previously to his death...that the cops had it out for him and were looking for a reason to kill him and finally got their way.

I could go on speculatively, but the facts are public record...Allen stood before a judge and then refused to come to sentencing and when he was being arrested he fought back with bullets. It does not matter what he was being charged with or why...that is a case for the lawyers and the system. NOT for gunfire towards the civil servants keeping the system going.

So without further ado, I invite you to read my previous blog and see Jennifers comments, then read the following message sent to me, and feel free to comment at THIS blog, so that Jennifer may get a bigger picture as to who was right and who was wrong, and that we are not "assholes" for feeling that Allen Buzdigian signed his own death warrant with his first shot.

Quote from Jennifer:

Message 1 of 2

Hello Harryoke,
I have a response to make it regards to your letter to the editor disagreeing with Mrs Haas. I do not agree with you at all I in turn agree with Mrs Haas. the police went way to far that day they KILLED Mr buzdigian. If you would have done some further investigating before putting your 2 cents in you would have found that Mr Buzdigian was a handicapped man with 2 hip replacemants and asthma and that the police were well aware of his conditions as well as they were aware that the force they used that day was not needed . There was no need for him to be gunned down in his living room for not appearing in court. He did not harm anyone the only thing he did was not appear in court o There are plently of people in this state who fail to appear in court and they sure as hell are not hunted down and shot, now are they?
You state they used extraordinary step that day and you are right the steps are extaordinary and were uncalled for. There was no need to use 22 canisters of tear gas concussion devices and all the other assortment of toys to be used that day to draw a handicapped man out of his house, they could have killed a herd of elephants that day! The police need to be the ones scrutinized that day not Allen and people such as yourselve need to do a little investigating before speaking about a subject you know nothing about.
It truly saddens me that peolple have no respect for human life Allen was a kind gentle human who loved life and loved living before he was KILLED. just so you know Al has family and friends who are still grieving and who will miss him very much.
Sincerly
jennifer

Message 2 of 2

Well Harry I find it pretty sad and pathetic that you have nothing else better to do than sit around and gossip on the internet about something you nothing nothing about . As a matter of fact Allen is my Uncle and I do know ALL the facts and the fact is that Murdering a handicapped man which is exactly what the police did that day is wrong. You stated that he did not appear in court for a crime he commited do you even know what crime he supposedly commited I DONOT THINK YOU DO!!! Do you know that the police came to his house in May for no reason at all and harrassed him for trespassing which he didnot do. Since none of this is your buisness and I will not waste my time on you and go into any details on this case but you are saddly mistaken by the fact that the police were in the right. But you are right about 1 thing it would have been sad if something happened to any of the police officers on that day, but they put themselves in that perdicament by harrassing a disabled harmless man.
And as far as their "toys" I believe and so do alot of the other residents in Ormand Beach that the police had a hay day playing with all their so called "nonlethal toys", well they were extremly lethal to my Uncle since he was very asmatic and could bearly breath on his own on a normal day, no matter after 22 canisters of tear gas were used they were well aware that they will Murdering a man and that those methods were extremly lethal so donot preach to me or anyone else about a subject you do not even begin to understand It seems to me you are a simple man with nothing else better to do than pry into other peoples buiseness.
You state they were coming to his house to arrest him I donot know about you but there are plenty of people int his state who have warrants out for their arrests and the police do not knock on their door and shoot and murder them for not appearing in court.The police had it out for my uncle and they were not going to stop until they ended it which they did. And if Al was such a threat to the community why did they let him free on his own recognices on May if he was such a threat and if that is the case then the Judicial System let him down and either way you look at it the police screwed up-if he was so "crazy" and they were so scared of him and his actions and they needed 4 police officers to come to his house to arrest him then maybe they should have kept him in jail in May until his trial. they did not keep him cause they had no reason to they were wrong in arresting him in May and they were wrong for Murdering him in September.
So maybe you yourself should shut up and step back and reevaluate your thoughts and look into the facts a little further than you did because unlike you I know all the facts and have known them for a very long time. So put all your BS to a good use and worry about your own life and problems and stop interfering in our families buisness we are greiving the Murder of our beloved family member.
Sincerly
Jennifer

I just find it sad that perspectives can be so skewed so that the cops are made to look like the bad guys...and it is a social statement about our society that I find interesting...hence why I published this...to create a dialogue. I invite anyone who disagrees with me to post such, and try to convince me why someone who shoots at the cops merely because he does not want to go to jail because he disagrees with the verdict did not deserve to die that day.

For more perspective from the family, visit this forum where the family members discuss the death, and are glad he went out in a blaze It is an interesting read, and a view into a mindset:

http://www.topix.net/forum/city/wesley-chapel-fl/TRLK3JKJG4E409DK3

Again, I repeat, I am not here to judge anyone, let alone Allen, BUT I am discussing the social fallout of responsibility of the citizens to operate within "the system" and the fallout that occurs when they do not, and ultimately, who is responsible.



Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Checking In - Great Day, and Evening Epiphanies

Checking In - Great Day, and Evening Epiphanies

Current mood:energetic

Hey there...just checking in with a few things going on in life.

The weather is FINALLY getting a little crisper, and that is a welcome change. I am tired of sweating and running the AC. It is nice to have windows open. The last 2 nights it has been 45 while I am driving home, but I am still in my obligatory uniform of shorts, LOL! Will take more adversity to get me into long pants!

Monday was a great day. A friend of mine with no net access, Bobby, had to sell his car. I am good at that kind of thing so I volunteered my services, and was able to locate a buyer in Georgia who is in active duty with the Navy. We agreed to deliver the car, so that was Mondays chore. It was a perfect day to drive, and the change of pace and scenery was very welcome. There is something cathartic about a nice drive. Got to see a lot of things I havent gotten to see in awhile...it has been awhile since I got to explore Jax and points north and the changes were pretty neat to see.

We got the car there with no incident, but I did get a little nervous as we had some difficulty contacting the buyer right away (we were a little early) and I also noticed that whatever the owner used to clean the car was not the best chemical, and by all rights, in my eyes, the car really needed to be re-cleaned as it was not presenting itself in the best light. In my heart I know there is nothing wrong with the car or the paint, but the film of blecch on the paint and windows was getting me worked up. If we were going to be stuck waiting, I wanted to re-detail the car, but when I made that decision the buyer called and was 20 minutes away, so no go. I was just hoping that he wouldnt be a fussy customer.

He was not. A complete gentleman, and instantly fell in love with the car flaws and all. We completed the transaction and hit the road.

When we got just N. of Palm Coast, called by friend Brett to see if he was working so we could have him serve us dinner (he is a waiter). He had the night off, so we invited Jimmy and Brett to join us for dinner at the Outback. Plenty of time to have a nice dinner, like gentlemen, before I had to go to work. We had a nice meal and converstion, and it was fun to be with my friends outside of a work atmosphere.

Headed back to Bobby's to drop him off, then headed to work to set up. Had a decent little turn out, but a little quiet since it was the post biketoberfest crowd so people get a little partied out. A lot of people left early to get rest, etc...which left us with a little intimate crowd at the end of the night. Another one of my friends, Soozi-Q showed up from Ormond...she never gets out on a Monday, but got off work early and decided she needed a break. That was a good night to do that...she comes to my shows and is an excellent singer, but rarely gets in more than 3 songs a night. This night there were periods of time where it was just her and I on the rotation.

In most situations, I would consider packing up a little early to close since the revenue is light, but I stuck around because it was a treat for Sooz, AND the bartender would have to stay there anyway since she is new and has no key, so I played my full show, ultimately yelling to the people to let me know what they wanted to hear and I would sing it. THAT was fun, and their choices were great! Deep Purple, Yardbirds, Bread, lot of classic rock...and I was all over the place before that. I was pretty much committing myself to only new songs I have never done, and I kept pretty good to that commitment. By the end of the night, I remembered what I loved about karaoke, and what got me interested in the first place.

It seems lately I get a little mentally burned out when I am working when it comes to my singing...either I am suffering allergies and cant make my voice work 100%, or it is so busy I pull myself out of the rotation and dont sing at all, or it is busy and it is requested of me to sing songs that I do all the time, such as Hair, Bohemian Rhapsody or Cara Mia. Mind you I love to sing those, but I dont want to be known as a one trick pony, so I try to shake it up when I can. I usually get 2 songs a night at the Shark, opener and the top of the rotation, and it was generally the rule that I would HAVE to sing Hair. That got real predictable real fast, considering there are probably THOUSANDS of other songs I am capable of singing that the people will never hear. So I have been shaking it up there a bit. Sunday I did Bohemian Rhapsody there for the first time...it took a couple of verses for it to sink in, but by the end the reaction was OVERWHELMING. I cant remember getting so many compliments on a performance there, except maybe the first time I did Cara Mia. This was a great preface for Monday night...having people appreciate the performance, reward you with praise, and generally having fun and pushing the boundaries.

THAT is why I discovered karaoke, and that is what I try to get my singers to experience.

So I was feeling pretty good when I left on Monday. Sometimes you need a good slow night to help get your perspective back on track.

And tonight is show #2000! I am looking forward to seeing old and new friends. There have been a lot of faces across the stage since I started...each one with its own drama, and many of them whose lives have been affected in some way, major or minor, by me or their involvement with my show.

Looking forward to the next 2000! Thanks to you all.


Saturday, October 14, 2006

Aargh!

Aargh

Current mood:morose

I wondered why my closet in my office smelled musty... I burned a candle in the office to make it smell better... Went in today and the ghost of Loris son's feet was haunting my office (used to be his bedroom). I knew there was nothing organic in my office to make it smell that way...

Lori and her daughter were complaining the living room stank this morning as well...time to investigate.

Lots of flys at the back of the house...time to crawl under the house...

And voila! There was the dead cat. We have a large feral cat community around here. One decided to end it all under my office floor. I had to remove it and then bury it.

THAT was a disgusting task...now if the air would only clear.

Thursday, October 5, 2006

Entitlement PART 1

Entitlement

Current mood:quixotic

I had gotten several comments in regard to this subject, so I thought I would document it here in this blog for the heck of it...

As many of you know, there was a situation here last month where a guy who failed to show up in court to answer a charge of battery on a law enforcement officer had a warrant issued for his pickup. When deputies arrived at his house to serve the warrant, he answered the door with threats and gunfire. Officers returned gunfire then retreated to cover and called for backup. SWAT teams arrived and faced a 9 hour standoff, which saw them penetrate the walls of the house to drop tear gas and concussive devices. The surrounding homes were evacuated. This happened in a rather upscale part of town where people tend to be wealthy, long time residents, and they can sometimes appear to have some false sense of entitlement.

For more info on the incident, Google "Allen Buzdigian".

One of the residents wrote the following letter to the editor of the local paper:

'Police state' response shocking

I sincerely hope The News-Journal will demand a full public accounting by an independent source of the events surrounding the death of Allen Buzdigian on Sept. 25 ("9-hour standoff deadly: Man barricades self in Ormond-by-the-Sea home," article, Sept. 26).

As a resident of Hibiscus Drive, I am shocked, appalled and frightened that a "police state" could so quickly be established in a quiet neighborhood, refusing both adults and school children access to their homes for nine hours; sent more than 20 patrol cars to be parked along just one side street, and many more on other streets; called for SWAT reinforcements from a neighboring county (was our SWAT team unable to handle this situation alone?); bombarded a private residence with gas and concussive devices; and then destroyed it with armored vehicles.

This is America, not Iraq. Al may have had some difficulties with the police, may even have had some mental problems, but he was never a threat to the neighborhood. My late husband would spend hours with him sitting on the porch and watching the traffic go by on John Anderson Drive. On more than one occasion, when Al was alone for Thanksgiving, he came and shared a meal with us. He was always clean, well dressed, articulate, friendly and relaxed. He rode his Indian at 10 miles an hour down our street and always had a wave for me when he was standing in the yard, gazing skyward.

Our law enforcement agencies were not protecting us from Al; they were issuing a show of force that I have difficulty wrapping my mind around. Many others share my thoughts and feelings about this infringement on our freedom and the huge expense to the taxpayers.

I understand that officers were put in danger, but did that give them the right to put six blocks of the residents of this neighborhood in danger from their firepower capabilities? Because that is what we needed protecting from, not Allen Buzdigian.

PATRICIA HAAS, Ormond Beach

The sense of entitlement and lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation on her part astounded me. It became a divisive subject of local interest, with most of those who were AGAINST the police not having any real data on the subject, nor an adequate understanding of police tactical procedure.

I sent the following response to the News Journal, which they published:

Police response was appropriate

I am responding to Patricia Haas' letter of Sept. 29 in which she expressed her shock at the "police state" response of local law enforcement to the Allen Buzdigian home in Ormond-by-the-Sea.

What letter would she have written to the newspaper if one of her neighbors or area children had been wounded or killed by crossfire coming from the home?

It appears that law enforcement can't win on this one: The officers are damned for protecting the residents from a credible threat, and had they not taken precautions, they would have been damned for that.

I am sure that Mr. Buzdigian had his merits as a person and a neighbor, but when one bucks the system with a rifle and a pistol, I think it is fair to say that all history is forgotten at that moment.

I am sure Mrs. Haas would expect no less if she were the one in peril. This was an extraordinary circumstance, and extraordinary steps were taken to protect the innocent.

Mrs. Haas asks, "I understand that officers were put in danger, but did that give them the right to put six blocks of the residents of this neighborhood in danger from their firepower capabilities?"

The answer is "yes." The steps taken by law enforcement were calculated to prevent them from having to use firepower. That is why concussion devices, tear gas and other nonlethal methods were employed at first. It was Mr. Buzdigian who was using the firepower, and unfortunately, bullets don't stop at property lines.

HARRY SMITH, DeLand