Hey Osama, how do those bullet holes feel..oh right, you're dead. You can't feel anything!!!

I woke up today to a text from a friend of mine in Texas who has a son in the military, A fellow costumed activist, she let me know that Osama Bin Laden was dead. I could not believe it so I turned on the TV and the internet at the same time and the news was everywhere. Another buddy of mine, a gamer with inside info told me that it was a coordinated attack plan by the CIA and Navy Seals. All I have to say is it's about time!!! That bastard deserved to die 100 times over for what he did. His death does not bring back those who have died by his commands but at least his despicable life is snuffed out. Let him rot in hell for the evil he has done and let his death be a message to ALL THOSE WHO PROFESS HATRED, INTOLERANCE, WHO ADVOCATE VIOLENCE, WHO WEAPONIZE WORDS THAT INSPIRE OTHERS TO CAUSE EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL HARM AS WELL AS HARM TO PROPERTY....

Karma has a way of sometimes evening the scales. Just when you think those 10,5,and 6 cards you got in blackjack give you the 21 that can't be beat, the house throws down a 10 and an ace and says "Sorry but you lose".

Kudos to the US military. To those who worship/profess evil, get a clue.

Superman and nationality...he made the right choice.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/29/superman-threatens-renounce-us-citizenship

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/04/action-comics-900/

See, I really like this decision and I kinda understand it.

 When people say that Superman is a great hero because he saved...( insert the rest) they don't usually end
 this by saying "Smallville", "Metropolis", or "the United States". In most cases, this statement ends with
 "the world" or even "the universe". So really, what is the big deal? Why pigeonhole Superman's noble deeds
 and heroism by placing such a stereotypical desgination on him? His actions do not belong to one people; his
 actions belong to everyone. Superman saves lives regardless of what country or even planet the beings come
 from. He saves worlds that are not always called planet Earth. His decision doesn't make him anti-American.
 His decision simply shows that just like our thoughts and philosophical stances change and evolve as the
 world around us does the samholds true for Superman. If Superman thought the EXACT same way now as
 he did when he was created then how boring would that be.

 Also, I've always been a pessimist when it comes to believing in the altruistic nature of big goverment. I
 think most politicians are pawns of special interest groups and in turn manipulate others into being their
 pawns for self interest and personal advancement. That is not to say I think all politicians are dishonest or
 do not help their respective constituents but I've seen too many politicians exposed as snake oil salesmen
 to trust them as much as others do. Superman's perceptions are that he is disillusioned and really..haven't
 we all been disillusioned by some of the stuff the US government does? If anything this makes him more
 human and more relevant as a character, to know that he can still stand up for what is right but do so for the
 true greater good and not as some ultra powerful "Yes man" to politicians and big government. Protecting the
 innocent is not a US mandate. It should and always will be a universal mandate. When we start saying "oh
 what is happening in such and such place is none of our business" as innocent people are suffering is wrong
 and the first step down a dark path of apathy.

 Kudos to you Superman. Stand up for what is right regardless of whether that "right" is considered the
 American Way because when it comes to doing the right thing, such actions have no nationality.

 This quote from a recent article sums it up nicely..

 "The genius of Superman is that he belongs to everyone, for the dual purposes of peace and protection.
 He’s above ephemeral geopolitics and nationalist concerns, a universal agent unlike any other found in
 pop culture."

 Yes indeed.

Because sometimes it's easy to forget....

This is what is called "a stone"



But perhaps we need examples of what several of these look like. Very well then, here you go...





This is what a "glass house" looks like.



Now putting the concept of these things together and adding the "throwing concept" to the equation we
get something that is generally frowned upon, something that looks like this;

Kill off a hero and you REALLY piss off the fans!!!

Since as long as I can remember I have been a fan of the Transformers. I remember waking up Saturday mornings and firing up the old Betamax (oh yeah I am that damn old) and recording them so I could watch them over and over. My favorite Transformer of all has and always will be Optimus Prime. He is, in my humble opinion, the epitome of a true cartoon hero and a great leader. Fearless, compassionate, tactical, and a mettle that was as battle tested as I've ever seen. So I remember going to the movie theater one afternoon many years ago with my sister because I was too young to drive at the time to go see the animated movie in the theater. Well to make a long story short the scene where Optimus Prime dies was one of the most heart wrenching scenes I've ever endured watching cinema. This may sound crazy but when the life faded out of him and he went grey it felt like I had lost my best friend, like a part of me has just been ripped out of my soul but that's not too hard to imagine. When we are young we are very impressionable.

And for the record to this day I still hate Hot Rod with a passion. Even as Roddimus Prime he was a joke of a leader, always trying to pass off the matrix of leadership to Ultra Magnus or someone else. He wasn't even worth the exhaust that came out of Optimus Primes engine. Had he not jumped in the way when Optimus Prime had Megatron at his mercy and ready to get taken out Optimus would have won that battle. When the Autobot base was getting hammered he almost single handedly turned the time the tide...who can forget the scene of him saying "Megatron must be stopped..no matter the cost" (how prophetic was that) and him leaping out and gunning down one Decepticon after another. It was awe-inspiring. But NOOOOOOOOO.... Hot Rod had to be the gloryhound....tactically speaking this young robot was clueless. The day that Optimus Prime came back and became leader of the Autobots once more there was much rejoicing in the Dragons Den. A great wrong had suddenly been made right.



I always knew that Optimus Prime was an icon, a cartoon character of legendary status. I just did not know his death would have such a profound effect on his fans, both young and old. So when I saw this Youtube interview I found myself feeling elated....and in a strange way I felt as if justice had been served. I always wondered if it had been so odd for me to react as I did to Optimus Primes passing. But seeing this interview, I felt vindicated. Optimus Prime is the standard-bearer...the greatest of them all... the heart and soul of the Autobots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyMytHqARR0&feature=player_embedded

And for the record I adamantly deny that I was the child who locked himself in his room for a week.

It was actually just 5 days and I kept the door unlocked so I could recieve my counseling sessions to deal with my depression.

Hey Dad....sucks to be you!!!!!!!!!

Damn...I think this kid is going to be grounded until he's collecting a pension.

Things are looking up....and sometimes that sucks!!!

Well it's been a while since my last blog but things have been anything but a doldrum in the last few weeks. Clash of ideologies, truths revealed, and motivations, both sinister and benign, made clearer than ever before.

There are a plethora of problems that plague our world and test our mettle on a daily basis. I rarely delve into the realm of politics as I am admittedly not that well versed in navigating the shark pit that constitutes the political scene. Truth be told I think most politicians are slaves to special interest groups and if we found out the real number of shady backroom deals that go down we would probably vomit from how nauseous it would make us. However I saw a friend of mine put this up on Facebook today and I could not help but read it and shake my head in disgust. I'm a proud American; I love my country even with it's faults because even as flawed as it is I think we are the best nation in a world often struggling in the grips of despair. Still, I think we should be better than this...



The poverty level continues to grow, African Americans struggle against higher rates of unemployment, and the American dollar has less and less financial impact with the passing day. Add to that the growing national debt and the increase in both our dependance on foreign oil and the price of a gallon of gas and the picture does not look so good. I heard on the radio the other day that Saudi Arabia was concerned about an over supply of oil and was cutting production of oil by about 800,000 barrels...and they are supposed to be our "allies". Let me remind you all that the majority of suicide bombers from 9/11 were also from Saudi Arabia..just throwing that out there. Lastly, the average income of an American household is decreasing so ladies and gentlemen it seems like we have no choice but to stretch that dollar alot farther than ever before. All of these statistics by the way are during the Obama adminstration (in now way am I using this fact to bash the guy but it is what it is.)

Now I know there's been alot of conflict lately in the blogosphere in terms of the whole RLSH / people who don't like the RLSH. I do understand that some of it is satire but lately alot of it has REALLY crossed some very disturbing lines, far beyond "satire" and easily into the realm of legitimate mental and potentially physical harm to people on both sides. I'm no fan of the RLSV but if the stuff I read by Tothian really was from him then he needs some serious help. He was flat out wrong. I'm also not a fan of seeing people I call friends get messages from those that they have specifically requested a "Leave me and my peeps alone" stance. On a personal level let me state that I have no desire to visit any mistreatment on anyone. But if you rise up and rally to the defense of your own you would be naive to think we would not do the same. It is my belief and always will be that the creative energy that is used to often inflict harm or ridicule upon one another is so could be better used against problems far more important, ones that have a much stronger effect on our lives...like many of the document presented.

But if anyone thinks I'm going soft...take that crap somewhere else. You should know better than that.  If you think that some guy dressing up in a costume and saying "I'm a RLSH" is more important than paying $4-5 for a gallon of gas or being laid off because the economy is so bad that your job is being handed to a guy in India or the Philipines for 1/3 of your salary (it happened to 200 friends of mine all at once 4 years ago) then pardon me for saying this but you are delusional idiot. If you think a guy dressing up as a RLSH is more important than our soldiers dying or getting maimed protecting countries that more often than not flat out don't like us then again you are a delusional idiot. This also applies to the RLSH to a degree. If you are helping people in need then that is great and noble. However, doing so does not elevate you above others and the moment you start thinking it does then you will not only find more detractors banging at your door but you will probably deserve alot of the grief they hand you. A word of advice for those on both sides...choose your words and actions carefully as each often carries consequences we are not always expecting or ready for.

As Spiderman told the Green Goblin when he found out Mary Jane had been kidnapped... "There are more important things right now than this thing between you and me."

Damn right there are...

Supreme Court decision = SUPREME dissapointment

When I read this story I felt sickened.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110303/us_time/08599205661300

One of the most profoundly humbling and emotional experiences I've ever had during my brief tenure as a costumed activist was being invited by the US goverment along with a few of my fellow activists to a very special ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetary to honor the fallen heroes of our country and lay a wreath of flowers upon the Tomb of the Unknowns. The Tomb contains the remains of unknown American soldiers from World Wars 1,2, the Korean conflict, and the Vietnam War. Each was presented with the Medal of Honor at the time of interment and the medals. The flags which cover their caskets are on display inside the Memorial Amphitheater, directly to the rear of the tomb. The sanctity of the tomb is guarded 24 hours a day by specially trained members of the 3rd United States Infantry (the Old Guard).

It was July 3rd I believe when this went down, a day before a major event for charity group which I am a member of. I remember arriving to the cemetary, in civilian clothing (there is a time and a place for the costume and this was not one of them) along with several other members of my group. As we waited to given the word to be allowed to make the long walk to the Tomb there was amongst all of us a subliminal sense of awe, an understanding of just how profound a place we were at and of the experience we were going to undertake. My instincts proved accurate.

The walk to the tomb itself is hard to put into words but I will try. The geography of the area has it's flat areas and its slight slopes but what really got to me was the sheer number of white tombstones that seemed to stretch on forever. The grass was impeccably maintained, not a single leaf for as far as I could see.The walk to the tomb was by no means a small one and I do not think until that moment that I truly felt the weight of their sacrifices of those buried there from a civilian standpoint. The ceremony was poignant; some of us shed tears, tears for the fallen whose sacrifices lived on within our hearts and still do today. As the ceremony winded down the honor of the actual wreath laying was given to our leader who is a current and decorated member of the US military and to the youngest member of or charity group - a symbolic gesture to demonstrate in terms of showing respect for the honored fallen that age was insignificant.

The memories of that day will live with me forever. So when I came across the recent Supreme Court decision involving the Westboro Baptist Church I felt absolutely disgusted. I know there is a fine line between freedom of speech and censorship sometimes; hell, look at some of the crap that appears on the blogosphere and you get what I'm saying. Blogpost even goes on to say "some of this stuff might be grossly offensive but we're going to allow it anyways". Then there's good old Copyright Act of 1976 section 107 through 118 Title 17 and all that stuff. I'm not a fan of censorship but I think that freedom of speech is terribly abused sometimes and I think the Westboro issue is one of those times.

There has to come a moment in my opinion, when hatemongering just crosses the line and we, as a society, must stand against it with unswerving defiance. I mean, some of those buried in these cemetaries are unidentified, some have no living family left, so in effect they have no one to defend them against the hate mongering poison of the Westboro church except those of us who understand what they have sacrificed to allow us to live under the freedoms we have today, the very same freedoms which these intolerant assholes of the Westboro Church use to carry on their insidious crusade. Make no mistakes folks, these are sick people hiding behind the false premise that what they are doing is "in the name of God."

This is the part I find most disturbing..

"Westboro members boasting that the Supreme Court ruling will strengthen their cause. Margie Phelps, daughter of Westboro founder Fred Phelps, and the lawyer who argued the church's case at the Supreme Court, vowed to "quadruple" funeral protestors. "It's so impressive and amazing," says Margie's sister, Shirley Phelps-Roper, "that it compels us to go quicker. This nation's destruction is imminent." We shouldn't be too fearful of these words. Westboro often talks a big game, then fails to show up at events. And according to Westboro, America's destruction has been imminent for at least 20 years now."

Translation: Thanks Supreme Court, now we, the Westboro Church members are going to make the lives of dead soldiers and their families a living hell. We are going to save America by hatemongering because God says it's okay.

And even worse...

"During these years of legal battles, Snyder never got to grieve. The legal loss will compound the sadness. "I'm just very disappointed in America today," Snyder says. "You've got countries that won't even let these people on their land [Britain banned Phelps from entering the UK for a protest], and we allow them to desecrate a Marine's funeral. There's something very wrong"

"We have other countries laughing at us right now."

How bad is it when other countries recognize the sickness of the poorly disguised hatred of the Westboro Church and this country who should be honoring the sacrifices these soldiers made for them instead takes a symbolic dump on their legacy.

Other countries may be laughing at us but I'm not laughing at all. I'm pissed off. Supreme Court...you SUPREMELY f*cked up. When you had a chance to make a stand and set things right you dropped the ball and handed hatred a great victory. I hope you are proud.


Westboro Church, you people are a bunch of twisted sycophantic pricks

To the soldiers and honored fallen, much like those that rest in the Arlington Cemetary know this. I am one American who will never forget your sacrifices. I will not bow or tremble before the vitriolic words and actions of those that would stain your legacy EVER. What you gave up is a big reason why myself and so many others have what we have today. Let those who would disturb your eternal rest know that they don't get a free pass from me and if I ever get a chance to tell this to their faces I will damn sure do it.