TOP TENSDAY - THE TOP TEN CAUSES OF MASS SHOOTINGS & RAPE

It's been a rough couple of weeks. Hell, it's been a rough first half of 2016.  Between the deaths of legends and innovators, the farce that has been the presidential election and gorillas being murdered for taking care of wayward children better than their actual parents, this year has been a cavalcade of tragedies and we haven't reached it's halfway point.

As vocal and opinionated as I might be, I tend to stay away from the hot button topics.  Politics, religion and abortion; the holy trinity of red flags that only the most liberal of social justice warriors and right winged of conservatives shout from atop their social media soapboxes.  Constructed of Google searches and quotes from Joe Rogan podcasts, typo riddled tweets litter our newsfeeds everyday.  I try my best to preach a message of equality and self empowerment without dipping too deeply into these shark infested waters of conversations i  an attempt to not alienate or polarize my beliefs, but in light of the recent uproar of the verdict of the Brock Turner rape charges and the mass murder in the Orlando night club, I can remain silent and impartial no longer.

Welcome to this weeks TOP TENSDAY!

#PRAYFORORLANDO

Firstly, because it is the most recent of national recognition, I must address the shootings.  In my opinion, this is an act of terrorism. Without research, I can safely say my definition of terror is enough of a basis of credentials.  In my eyes, terrorism is an act of violence directed on a group of people for their collected beliefs.  This is in my humble opinion the top ten reasons mass shootings. happen.

10. Mental Illness - Although I may not agree with every agenda of our society, I do believe that anybody that can find the wherewithal in himself to let the hatred of an entire culture drive him to walk into a public setting and open fire onto a group of unsuspecting civilians is a truly troubled individual.  Background checks and gun control reform aside, the evil of a man pushed to this state of madness is the starting point and linchpin of these acts of violence.  Suicide bombings, prisoner execution, any form of violent martyrdom for that matter is doled out by individuals far gone from any sort of social norms.  Mental illness, is not only the beginning of mass shootings, but is the driving force behind any attempt of such despicable acts of violence.

9. Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

8, Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

7, Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

6. Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

5. Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

4. Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

3. Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

2. Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

1. Mental Illness - See Definition Above.

I hope you're sensing my point because I'm laying it on pretty thick. I'm not here to debate the 2nd amendment.  I'm not here to point fingers at Muslims, ISIS or immigrants.  I'm not here to breakdown any conspiracies of how many bullets a standard clip for an assault rifle holds and the unlikelihood of the events.  I'm here to talk about what CAUSES these acts of violence, and I believe people that are deeply disturbed are the true source of such tragic events.

Do I have your attention?  Please save any and all comments and complaints for the end of the ride.  Make sure all compartments are closed and your seat and tray are in the upright positions.  We are prepared for take off into Part 2 of this weeks top ten list!

Brock Turner, 20, Insufferable Douche Bag

Brock Turner.  BROCK FUCKING TURNER.  Not since last years Asshole of the Year recipient, Martin Shkreli (I mean seriously, even his name sounds like a villain from a 90s action movie), have I seen a face more punchable.  This kid looks like he drives his dad's Porsche to the country club, running rampant, high on Adderall, buying grams of oregano from pot dealers and faking that he's high so he can score scene points from the cool kids.  This worthless piece of shit was just handed down a sentence of 6 months in county for being caught digitally raping his victim.  I would've given him 6 years in San Quentin gen pop and let natural selection work itself out, but I digress, onto the top ten list of reasons why rape happens.

10. Rapist -   Rape is caused by the rapist.  A sick and twisted individual who is so mentally inferior that their maladjusted psyche can justify forcing themselves onto an unwilling victim. Men, women, boys and girls all can wear the hat of a rapist.  In any situation where the sexual act is not consensual yet the aggressor chooses to continue without approval can be defined as rape in my eyes.  "They shouldn't have gotten black out drunk." Okay.  "Dressing in such a manner is basically asking for it."  Sure.  "Boys have no control over their hormones." Alright then.  If you believe any of these are valid defenses, or you try to justify rape in any nature I need you to do me a favor; go to your closest and busiest interstate highway, and throw yourself into fucking traffic.

9. Rapist - See Definition Above

 

8. Rapist - See Definition Above.

7. Rapist - See Definition Above.

6. Rapist - See Definition Above.

5. Rapist - See Definition Above.

4. Rapist - See Definition Above.

3. Rapist - See Definition Above.

2. Rapist - See Definition Above.

1. Rapist - See Definition Above.

Rape is caused by rapists, and I can say this as a sex crazed man who has been black out drunk enough times to count if I could actually remember any of those nights.  The difference is that when I bring a girl home, or to the bathroom of whatever random party I'm attending regardless of how belligerently black out drunk I am, I have this little thing I keep with me to help me not rape a woman; it's called a single fucking shred of human decency.

In our prison systems, the whores, thieves, malcontents and murderers view rapists as a subhuman parasite in our society.  Even among the most vile of criminals, they are considered lowlife pieces of shit, and I couldn't agree more.

No political agendas.  No finger pointing, just a small town loud mouth using his unrefined writing skills and minimal popularity as a platform to try and make the world happier one post at a time. Sadly, our world is full of intolerant people willing to go to extreme lengths to remind us how truly wretched the human condition can be.  We cannot naively believe we will put an end to the indifference and hostility as a whole, but if each and everyone of you that this article reaches can help spread a message of love and acceptance, we may be able to brighten our clouded vision of a better tomorrow.  Begin the process of positive reinforcement today.

Reese Dunlap

THE BUTCHER'S BLOCK - TO THOSE THAT DON'T UNDERSTAND (A message on addiction)

To Those That Don’t Understand.

“Get over that shit”

“How can you let a drug ruin your life”

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Just kick it”

I hear people say these sorts of things all the time about other people suffering from the DISEASE known as addiction. I can’t help but wonder what in the living fuck is wrong with the people asking and or saying these sorts of things. I get it, some people don’t know what addiction entails. Some people aren’t aware that it IS a DISEASE, So you know what you do when you don’t know about something? You turn to the same fucking thing you use when you have a question about literally ANYTHING ELSE! Google that shit! It’s not hard, I promise you that it is not.. Go ahead, i’ll wait…

So I gave you some time to leave the blog and do some research and now you’re back here. What did you find? Oh, you did all of that reading and you still are not convinced that there’s something wrong mentally with addicts? You think it’s a cry for attention, or they are simply weak of mind, meager of will, low on the ability to fight through it… So let me ask you this then….

Could you go without the coffee you drink HABITUALLY?

Could you quit drinking?

Could you one day walk away from the computer you use to get off on that weird Japanese porn? You know the ones.. And you do it every day at the same time or you get an itch you can’t quite scratch right?

Could you quit shoving your face full of food? No? Why is that? It’s because the food makes you feel good about yourself when no one else can do it for you right? It’s because there’s a sense of stability, a sense of comfort in it right?

Look at what you’re doing from the perspective of an outsider, like you’re doing to the person who’s addicted to pills, to heroin, to crack… You think that what you’re doing is normal compared to them?

We are all ADDICTED to something. We all have this need, this craving. It’s like the infection they all have on the Walking Dead.. It’s inside of us all. The only thing is, some people haven’t had the wires in their brains fucked with.

That’s what it’s like.. It’s like someone went inside your head, inside of your psyche and fucked with the wiring. You’re now in need of whatever it is you’re fixed on and you don’t know why exactly but you know you need it..

So this is for those of you who don’t understand addiction. This is for those of you who judge and make comments before knowing that you yourself, are addicted to something. Stop judging, stop hating those who are struggling with it far worse than the rest of us and if you can’t somehow find it in you to show love and compassion then just leave them the fuck alone.. It’s much simpler than sitting on your phone scouring for the perfect meme about the drug addict next door to you.

Watch the one scene in The Crow where Eric Draven squeezes the morphine from Sarah’s mothers arm.. Tell me you don’t feel something there…

Be a human being and not a monster..

I am The Butcher, and this is my first subject on the Butcher’s Block..

WHO WON THE INTERNET THIS WEEK?

This week, my good buddy Mason Ingling of phenomenal prog rock quartet In The Presence of Wolves shared this gem via Facebook, and you sit, have won the Internet. Supporting your rights to get busy in Burger King bathrooms regardless of what gender. This candidate is our only chance!

HEROIN (An Open Letter to Those That Need to Wake Up)

My brother. You probably didn't know him, but I did.  He was just like most of us, at least at some point in our lives- he looked down on junkies, drunks, and the like. Up until the day he died he worked a good full time job, paid his bills, and fooled us all.

In his 20s he beat alcohol addiction. He wrecked his prized chevy SS pick-up. Black & chrome, badass truck. Hitting the bottom, he schooled up and became a mechanic.

In his 30s he secretly struggled with old injuries from the accident...persevering through the pain and becoming an accomplished Chrysler ASE Master technician. Year after year he gathered accolades, until an ill-fated relationship introduced him to the world of prescription pills.

In his mid 30s he rose above that; he freed himself from that orange-bottled master, and the blonde demon who facilitated his re-addiction.

As he approached 40; his old aches, pains, prescriptions, and ghosts reunited with him..  Somewhere in the mix, the desperation... The demons...they had their way with him and he went up against all that he despised.

One month and 9 days after his 40th birthday, he came home on a Saturday morning from a short time at work. He either snorted or rubbed into his gums some heroin, only thing I know for sure is that he wasn't using for that long and it wasn't intravenously. He laid in his bed, passed out, and died from an adverse reaction to drugs/prescriptions.

He left without saying goodbye; and it wasn't time to go. He had more shit planned. He literally worked up till the end.  I know this because I am his brother.  I was there.  I was always around, but I didn't see it, and I couldn't stop it.

WAKE THE FUCK UP PEOPLE...  Someone you know is probably in the same situation. Just because they're not under a fucking overpass with a needle in their arm, doesn't mean that they're not in line for that shitty fucked up ride.

Chris Dunbar

GUERRILLAS IN THE MIDST OF A REVIEW: DEADPOOL (2016)

Review by Gavin Bard

"Whatever they did to me made me totally indestructible... and completely unfuckable."

Like a lot of people, I have to qualify my enjoyment of Deadpool as a comic book - and now movie - hero. Even as a snotty preteen I knew to tune out of superhero comics almost entirely during the Dark N Gritty 90s, but one of the few titles that I kept track of ended up being Cable & Deadpool. Where as every other comic was trying to one up each other with these joyless super serious violence parties, Deadpool was pointing out how awful they all were and pinning absurdity to the tropes that dominated the era and was one of the only things in the entire Marvel roster that could be considered fun at the time. Because of that I always had a soft spot for what eventually became a character with one of the most annoying groups of fanboys in comics.

I always understood why so many of Deadpool's fans were the comic book fan equivalent of an anonymous internet commenter calling someone a feminazi slut at the top of their internet lungs, Deadpool's humor turns the thin line between amusingly sophomoric and unbearably frat boy into barely visible fishing wire. So he ends up attracting just as many people who think Dirty Grandpa only failed because of THE PC POLICE as he does people who want to read a subversive super hero story. That tight rope walk is also why Deadpool's comics can be so hit or miss depending on the team helming them.

So what I'm getting at here is that, as a highfalutin intellectual fan of a medium of entertainment originally created to sell X-Ray Specs to 10 year olds, I like Deadpool despite completely acknowledging the validity of every reason that I shouldn't. I know I should hate him because a chunk of his fans have large collections of Guy Fieri flame shirts, I know I should hate him because the quality of his comics is up and down more than a dirty gas station toilet seat, I know I should hate him for being the lelsorandum meme superhero that was practically begging for product oversaturation between the Minecraft and Grumpy Cat shit at Hot Topic, but despite all that when Deadpool works it is one of the most entertaining aspects of the Marvel universe.
Surprise, the movie is no different.

Everything everybody said about why Deadpool isn't a true shock to the superhero movie formula is right. The general plot of Deadpool - in which he must exact revenge against the people who made him and rescue his girlfriend - is what you would expect from an origin story, although at least it is told in a slightly more narratively unique way for the genre. The comedy is one long dick joke and Deadpool's literally constant riffing means just as many jokes fall flat as land. The X-Men plot line exists only to tie Deadpool back into the Fox franchise and, by doing so, lessens the impact of the movie's own winking and nudging about the nature of the superhero film. All of this is true.

Yet it is still such a fun watch. I'm sure you could attribute that to Ryan Reynolds' destiny to embody the character, but you could say the same thing about Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and that wasn't enough to make Wolverine Origins not awful. Robert Downey's pitch perfect Tony Stark couldn't save Iron Man 2 from borderline mediocrity. Great casting isn't enough to carry a movie so it wasn't the sole reason that Deadpool ends up being the greater sum of its seemingly lesser parts.

I think the reason this ends up being so enjoyable is simply because it represents something different in this genre even if it doesn't take as many chances narratively as it should. Plus it is easy to ignore the shortcomings in a plot when it involves the perpetually underrated Negasonic Teenage Warhead and much deserved open mockery of the Marvel/Fox comic universe. Sure, the X-Men stuff is a little tacked on, but picking the forever moping Negasonic Teenage Warhead and the forever Russian Boy Scout Collosus to be Deadpool's foils from the group. It also doesn't hurt that the action is probably as splatterrific as we are ever going to get in a mainstream superhero movie now that the Punisher is kicking around on Netflix. Hell, it was almost worth the price of admission just to see the look on all the parents who thought it was a good idea to bring their kids when the gratuitous sex scene kicked in
The question is if any of that is enough for you. This isn't a parody or a piece of satire as much as it is just a regular Marvel flick with its constantly regenerating tongue placed right up against its hideously deformed cheek. It is a completely smug movie, but Deadpool knows you know it knows its being smug. As long as you know that Deadpool knows that you know it knows this is some of the most fun you are going to have in a Marvel movie this side of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 or a Great Lakes Avengers film.

WATCH if you want to see a snuff film for fourth walls. DON'T WATCH if you just want to wait for the inevitably better sequel.

Gavin Bard

Light Fantastic

Originally Posted on Letterboxd

TOP TENSDAY - THE MOST AWESOME CARTOONS YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT

Hump day. You're halfway there like the work week is the forest in the riddle that is your life, and your heading for the exit. No gorillas have been shot recently, so I'm hoping I have your undivided attention, and since I have you we might as well introduce GITMO's first Top Tensday.

Let's make it clear that this is not the definitive anything. These aren't the greatest shows in the world. This week's list is just a peek into what was important in my childhood, cartoons that stuck with me throughout the years that always seem to be overlooked in conversation. We all love Animaniacs, everyone remembers Tiny Toons. Chip and Dale, Darkwing Duck, TailSpin, all high marks of our childhood. The classic action of shows like Thundercats and even newer series like Street Sharks and SWAT Kats are always mentioned. We all feel that warmth from the shroud of nostalgia draping over us when these gems are brought up. But what are the best or at least the best of the lesser known animated gems?

Welcome to the first Top Tensday!


Honorable Mention: Wish Kid

Remember when Macauly Caulkin was on top of the world? Somewhere in the space between Home Alone 2 and Richie Rich we were blessed with this fun little show about a child (voiced by Macauly) who caught a falling star with his baseball glove (I can't make this shit up) that could make one wish a day by punching the center of his glove (seriously, I couldn't make this shit up, I wish I did). Imagine a less cheeky or inventive Fairly Odd Parents starring the lead singer of Pizza Underground. Man, the 90s were weird.

Honorable Mention: Bruno the Kid

 Another "kid" show voiced by a celebrity, you say? Why the hell not. A child voiced by Bruce Willis assumes the identity of a secret agent and gets pitted against villains of all sorts, most memorable, a Moroccan gangster that goes by the name of Cous Cous. Yeah, I'm still not making this shit up.

10. Denver the Last Dinosaur

A dinosaur frozen in ice thaws in the late 80's only to don a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses and a backwards hat so he could fit in with the kids.  Goddamn, who were these children's parents that didn't realize they were hanging out with a fucking dinosaur?  Also, the theme song, "Denver the last the dinosaur showed me a world I never saw before." Sounds like Denver was a gateway drug, not sure how I feel about that.

9. Fantastic Max

A talking baby, a doll made from blocks, and a stuffed animal that's actually an alien use some sort of magic to turn his baby bottle into a spaceship so they can travel to far off lands. And people wonder why I am the way I am, this is the twisted shit I grew up with.  I remember his big quote was, "dirty diapers!"  I still say that shit to this day

8. Bucky O'Hare

Anthropomorphic bunny is a space traveling freedom fighter with a cast of other animals in his squad.  Imagine a TV show of Star Fox.  It was pretty fucking dope.

7. Pro-Stars

So if talking animals and babies aren't your thing, how about a show where Michael Jackson, Wayne Gretzky and Bo Jackson are secretly a task force that helps save the world?

THE 90s WERE FUCKING WEIRD.

6. Mighty Max

I almost didn't include this one cause mostly everyone remembers this rock solid show.  I honestly don't even remember the origin of his power, but Max has a hat that when turned backwards can open portals to other dimensions.  He also has a wise owl and a Conan the Barbarian looking motherfucker traveling with him.  This show was boss beyond boss. Also, remember in the 90s that if your name was Max you were automatically cooler than everybody?  This show remembers.

5. Bots Masters

Easily the best theme song of any of the shows on the list (see attached video for the hypeness), this show was based in a post apocalyptic future where a teen and his sister created and maintained an army of robots all with their own special talents.  There was a cook, the ninja bot (cause kids love ninjas) and the Sports Boys team among others.  It only got better during the final action sequence of each episode, Ziv Zoolander (yes, that is actually the main protagonist name) would say his catch phrase which would clue all the viewers in to put on their 3D glasses for a 3D animated sequence.

IT'S LASER TIME BOYS!!!

JOKER//APOCALYPSE (The Great Work: A teaching of natural law and sustainability)

Written by @ZeitgeistPhilly

“All you care about is money.” - Joker
“No more false Gods.” - Apocalypse


Let us begin this lesson with an acknowledgement of what the definition of violence is: violence is the initiation of force or coercion, which causes harm; such as assault, theft, rape, or murder.


Recently, Hollywood films have taken to give the “bad guys” the most true to life lines as a way of making it seem like only an insane or evil person would dare to speak such ideas. However, the most intelligent dialog has come from said characters. 

Our current society seems to be dominated by the twin pillar, false god’s of authority and money. Authority is the false assumption that one can override the natural law of "do no harm" and initiate violence. While money is both the coercive carrot and the violent stick, propelling us forward, with the need for gain or the fear of loss.

When combined these two pillars of authority and money become taxation, which is a coercive theft of money by an assumed authority. It can also be combined to create what's known as welfare to give away money from an authority. Generally taxation pays for welfare. Essentially creating a "robbing of Peter to pay Paul". This scenario is profoundly immoral. However the scenario of poverty within the monetary market economic system is equally immoral yet is sanctioned by our society through its continuance of the monetary market economy.

Therefore I suggest the abolishment of both authority and monetary systems, which steer our society. The big question becomes: "How do we do this?"

Transitionally the government could STOP spending money on the military and support the efforts of sustainable education as well as sustainability creation. This would undoubtedly be an answer only for those who still believe that their vote counts and that they can work within the system to change it. Especially considering the government receives loans from the Federal Reserve to pay for virtually everything. The Federal Reserve creates money out of thin air by adding digits into a computer. Most people don’t see how this system enables the false god’s of authority and money in a feedback loop; authority creates money and then money pays for authority(state violence).

“No more systems! No more superpowers.” - Apocalypse
“Don't talk like one of them, you're not!” - Joker

These false god systems define how our society functions. With these loans, Federal Reserve Notes are created out of nothingness. They fund everything from military spending to welfare. Harm and helping. However, the powers that shouldn’t be, refuse to look at our technical capacity to grow beyond these systems. They send young people to die for the theft of foreign resources, while steering our society down a path of environmental oblivion. Meanwhile, we have obvious answers to both imperial violence and resource depletion, in the form of industrial hemp and vertical farms. Five vertical farms the size of Philadelphia’s Comcast building could feed the 250,000 TANF(welfare) recipients in Pennsylvania. Giving away the food for free from these structures, rather than using tax money to pay back the government loans, which pay for welfare, would, overtime, pay for the automation and aero-/hydro-/aqua-ponics and building materials going into vertical farm creation.

Further, hemp creation in vertical farms could provide building materials(hempcrete), clothing, and oil. That oil can be turned into plastics. Those plastics can be feed into 3-D printers, which can create virtually any object required by humanity. From hangers to dishes and from toys to tools. A database could be established to hold the designs of almost any item & then the 3-D printers could manufacture these items from the renewable hemp created by these vertical farms. This has the potential to cripple the “Made in China” label. One day, in the near future, we could even see a retro design modification which would say “Made in China” as a joke, because everything would now be created at local Civil Access Centers, for free. The Vertical Farm Civil Access Centers could be created with water collection on the roofs, solar panels and wind turbines for power as well, to save even more valuable resources and stay within an off-the-grid, fully sustainable paradigm. These structures could provide everything, any human being on the planet could ever require, forever. It would cost a great deal less to create these structures, then to maintain the current American Military Industrial Complex and welfare systems. This would end extreme and relative poverty globally, for less than the military budget of the United States.

“See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve.” - Joker
“All has been revealed.” - Apocalypse

In conclusion, it is freely offered that nothing here, is a new idea. The 2008 Peter Joseph documentary, Zeitgeist:Addendum, described all of this in greater detail than written here. We as a species have the opportunity to change everything, at any time. The choice is ours. As the great apocalyptic joker, Bill Hicks, once said;

“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”

Written by Kevin Tilsner of ZeitgeistPhilly