Not every neighbor is a good neighbor

I am not one prone to paranoia. I do not see the bogeyman lurking around every corner. And unlike some on the extreme right wing of society, I do not believe in suspicious black helicopters nor a secret plan for a New World Order. I do not believe United Nations' troops are poised to take over our military. Heck, I don't even believe in Bigfoot.

Though not guilty of being paranoid, I still do believe there are bad people in our society. And I believe many of those bad people are determined to harm others. Quite frankly, I don't mind "Big Brother" keeping a close eye on those who might be prone to harming others.

If you doubt that our world is dangerous, then you might want to read about the California man who had stored one million rounds of ammunition in a secret tunnel under his home. lt was the size of a storage shed and was buried under his house and led into his backyard. In that secret passageway were stored the million rounds of ammunition, a host of ordinary handguns and rifles along with assault rifles and enough gunpowder to level a sizable building or more. In short, this fellow was ready for something. The question is what was he preparing for?

Police got a break when a fire at the home set off some of the explosives. That brought firefighters who quickly determined that something special was inside the house. They evacuated the block and extinguished the fire. And then they found the tunnel but not before they had to restrain the homeowner who wanted desperately to return to his house.

The unnamed homeowner is now undergoing psychological evaluation, which seems highly appropriate. But several unanswered questions remain.

It was just last year that California law enforcement found 1,300 weapons and 89,000 rounds of ammunition in yet another home. This homeowner was part of a militant group hoping to overthrow the Cuban government.

But the million round man is a different matter. Let's say, for argument's sake, that this guy is a wacko. Doesn't it make you wonder how he obtained the massive cache of firepower? And though I'm no expert on the matter, I would suspect that this sizable arsenal would cost a fairly large sum as well. The ultimate question involves his purpose in amassing more ammunition than most third-world countries.

No I am most definitely not paranoid, but I am realistic. I know this guy was no avid sportsman who enjoyed quail hunting. And I suspect somewhere deep in his twisted mind he had a purpose for his dirty little secret. Hopefully, law enforcement will soon convince him to share his secret.

The moral of the story is this: Most people are genuinely good by nature. Most people wish no harm on others. Yet some within our society are either so evil or so mentally ill that their motives are neither good nor noble. To dwell on these few idiots would be paranoia. To ignore that they exist would be foolish.