Guy Speckman, our Ponder the Thought columnist on page 3, has inspiring, amusing and educational thoughts on Catholicism and whatnot in his column this week, including a detailed explanation of how a new Pope is chosen.
I want to say it’s heavy, perhaps empowering, stuff. I want to say that but Speckman would probably prefer I not. Anyway, I’m going to mail a copy of this week’s edition to The Vatican. Will there be a tariff on that? Who knows. I’m just worried with the state of the mail service their paper may not arrive until 2028.
Speck’s column got me reminiscing a bit. The small town where I grew up was heavy Catholic. By heavy Catholic I don’t mean the Catholics were overeaters, I just mean there were a bunch of them.
In junior high in the mid-70s I had several Catholic buddies who would mention going to Catechism classes. I distinctly recall it was a Wednesday night thing. While my Wednesday evenings were spent watching Charlie’s Angels, my Catholic buddies’ Wednesday evenings were spent going to Catechism and then watching Charlie’s Angels.
The five break-ins early Saturday were the first notable crime incident during the fresh tenure of new Platte City Police Chief Jeff Wilson.
“People are asking me if I brought this from St. Joe,” Wilson joked with me in a phone conversation this week. Wilson spent many years with the St. Joseph Police Department before officially becoming Platte City’s chief effective April 1.
On a more serious note about the smash-and-grab crimes conducted by thieves around 4:30 to 5 a.m. Saturday, Wilson said “the investigation continues. We’re running down some leads.”
Here’s a pet peeve of mine that I want to share. I mean, you’ve never asked for a list of my pet peeves but I’m going to tell you about one anyway. There’s no charge for this.
There is a difference between a burglary and a robbery. When I hear or read these two terms being used incorrectly it hits like nails on a chalk board. It must be the newspaperman in me, because media folks are expected to know the difference and are expected to accurately report which type of crime occurred.
Anyway, I noticed while perusing social media on Saturday that when talking about what happened in Platte City many social media posters were using the term “robbed” or “robbery.” Incorrect. These incidents weren’t robberies. They were burglaries, also known as break-ins. In conversation among law officers, they’re often referred to as smash and grabs.
There is a difference between burglary and robbery, and the difference isn’t necessarily a small thing. No one wants to be a victim of any crime, but if you had your choice you’d probably rather be a victim of a burglary rather than a robbery.
Burglary involves someone unlawfully entering a building or structure with the intent to commit a crime. Meanwhile, robbery involves someone taking property from a person by force or threat of force. In a robbery, the victim is present and is being faced with force or threat of force from the suspect.
One way to quickly sum up the difference by definition is this: Burglary focuses on the unauthorized entry, while robbery focuses on the forceful taking of property from a person. And if you’re still reading my well-intended explanation at this point, it probably means you wouldn’t mind a more detailed listing of the differences between robbery and burglary. So here’s more.
Burglary:
Definition: Unlawful entry into a building or structure with the intent to commit a crime (usually theft).
Key Element: Entry into a structure.
Victim Present or Not: The victim most often is not present during the burglary.
Example: Breaking into a house or business to steal valuables while no one is inside.
Robbery:
Definition: Taking property from a person by force or threat of force.
Key Element: Force or threat of force used against a person.
Victim Present: The victim is present and is directly targeted.
Example: Threatening a store clerk with a weapon to steal money from the cash register.
Hey, if you’re the victim of a crime call it whatever you want on social media, I suppose. We’re all human and we all misspeak on occasion. This is America, you do you. Just know that if you say robbery when you really mean burglary part of your audience is going to cringe.
Have you been to the movie theatres lately? I had not until Sunday afternoon, when a showing of The Accountant 2 caught my attention. I had thoroughly enjoyed the original The Accountant movie back in 2016, so decided to give the sequel a try.
The Accountant 2 is an action thriller film. As mentioned, it’s the sequel to The Accountant from nearly a decade ago and stars Ben Affleck. I’m not normally a huge Ben Affleck fan but he is excellent in this role. Affleck returns as Christian Wolff, a high-functioning autistic black market accountant who–when he isn’t filing tax returns–uses his neurodivergency to crack complex puzzles and take down crime kingpins. Jon Bernthal plays his formerly estranged brother, Brax, a clingy hitman with a short fuse.
Affleck’s character is certainly not your average accountant. I would guess you’ve never met an accountant quite as physically skilled and as violent as this one. It’s great entertainment.
Oh, and if you pick the right time and you’re over age 60, you can get a discounted price on your movie tickets. Don’t ask me how I know.
(You can often find Foley doing a smash and grab on a bag of Chester’s Cheese Flavored Puffcorn)
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