There was a man named Johnny and he had a sleeping disorder, more specificaly, he started wondering around while being asleep and finally returning to bed, but not remembering what he had done. He had a wife and son. It was just another friday night, everybody were watching TV and relaxing from the week that had now been passed. At about 12 oclock, they all went to sleep after watching a horror movie. But then in around 2 oclock in the morning when everybody were sleeping, Johnny woke up, while actually sleeping. So he went to the kitchen, took the biggest knife he could find and went back to the bedroom. He approached the bed and looked at her wife for a minute and then he stabbed her in the kidneys and two times in the heart, she died instantly. Then he went to his sons room. He grabbed the baseball bat that was lying on the cupboard and smacked his son three times in the face and once in the neck and he also died instantly. Finally he just went back to sleep, besides his dead wife. Strange thing is he also said “Good night” to his wife. Anyway, in the next morning he woke up and saw what he had done. He instantly called police and told them what had happened. The police investigated the evidence and found very many of his fingerprints on the murder weapons. He was convicted for the murder of his family. The only thing that he asked from the judge was that is it possible for him to visit his home one last time and the judge agreed. So him and 2 officers went to his house and the second he opened the door, he ran to the kitchen, took the second biggest knife there and cut his throat. 

THE END !

VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES: A COMMENTARY

On Friday, February 10th we had another school shooting.  It happened during lunch hour in a cafeteria filled with elementary children happily eating lunch.  All we can ask is why?  The school is about 20 minutes from my doorstep and diagonally southeast as the crow flies.  I know several of the teachers and students that work and attend this school.  We share sports programs and the arts.  It is a good school.  Who would have thought such a tragedy would strike here and with a child so young carrying a gun and somehow getting it past the eyes of a watchful and caring staff.  It is heartbreaking. 

We don’t think of these things happening is small, rural communities like the one I live in or those children live in but it even happens here.  Why?

When I was growing up we only occasionally heard of a murder, maybe a few more robberies and off and on a case of domestic violence but it was rare, very rare, especially in rural communities and we never heard of such violence and tragedy in our schools.  What has gone wrong?

Where are all this hate, fear, bullying, desperation, violence, vengeance and moral decay coming from?  Is there anything we can do to stop it?  God help us.  I sure don’t have the answer.  I wish I did.

Maybe it is the broken families, lack of stability in the homes.  Both parents work, they have to.  They have no choice.  Maybe it is because there is only one parent to start with and you just can’t be mother and father and bread winner all in the same breath.  Parents are pushed beyond their limits and children end up ignored and without the discipline and moral upbringing they need.  We may love our children but we are too busy trying to survive to let them know just how deeply they are loved.  There is very little if any family unity anymore. 

The TV becomes the nanny, the babysitter and it doesn’t teach very high morals.  The same goes for the video games and internet games we and our children play and the media plays their part in the nightly news and the daily paper too as they lean toward scandals, violence and all manner of sensationalism with next to no reporting of the good that happens in the community, State, Nation or the world.  We are being fed a very heavy diet of negative with little to no positive.  Children learn what they live.

Schools push for the competitive edge, win no matter what it takes when it comes to sports or any other competition and academically every child still passes to the next grade and still gets some sort of award even if they haven’t truly learned or earned it…No child left behind.  It is sending mixed signals to the child.  It is okay to fail in one area or another.  Why do my best, be my best.  The effort is a waste of time.  We are all going to get some special award and our diploma anyhow.  So what if I can’t really read or write or even do basic math.  Machines will do it for me.  I don’t have to read a book.  I can listen to it or watch the movie, same difference, right?  Who really cares so long as I’m not in the way?  I don’t have to learn math, I have a calculator that with just the push of a button will give me the correct answer so why study.  Who really cares about the process?

Churches are not much if any better today.  They no longer teach morals and God given laws.  They are politically correct and just about anything goes.  That helps bring more money into the coffers when no one is offended in any way.  Many now speak of God as a higher power, not Lord God Almighty but whatever higher power you choose to believe in, be it the Judeo-Christian God or some other god or whatever power you choose, wind, rain, stars, the moon, the cobra, the cat or a tree.  It makes no difference as long as you believe in something beyond self.  Not every church is this way but a lot are today.  I’ve been there and listened to them.  God forbid we offend anyone and stand up for God and His teachings.  I’m sure God is very offended and that bothers me. 

No wonder children, our young adults don’t know right from wrong.  Oh some will blame it on Satan and his legions of fallen angels called demons (You know, the devil made me do it.) and that may be correct to a point but it is each of us who make the choice.  We decide for our self how we choose to behave.  How can we choose when we are not taught morality in the first place?

We are a society that has become segmented, segregated and morally corrupt.  Drug and alcohol abuse is no longer just ghetto garbage; it is rampant in the highest echelons of our society and affects everyone from the homeless wino in some back alley to the CEO of our multibillion dollar corporations to the government leaders of our communities and nations.  We reap just what we sow. 

It is sad when we see young children becoming so disconnected with reality and life and living and the wonder of being human and alive that they no longer feel life is worth their next breath and they put a gun to their head or their neighbors or peers and squeeze the trigger.  BANG and it is over in a split second.  No more worries, no more fears, no more feeling lost and alone, no more being bullied and belittled, no more nothing.  Is this what our society as come down to?  God, I hope not.

Maybe we shouldn’t have thrown God out.  Just a thought on my part. 

James Robinson – Writer. Tim Sale – Artist.

The longest story in the 2007 Tim Sale anthology, Tales Of The Batman.

A tremendous Batman tale, with the Dark Knight troubled by multiple levels of crime activity and a new vigilante in town.

Someone calling himself Lime is killing old people in Gotham, usually with long distance rifle shots but sometimes with bombs and in one case, (an old couple) cutting their throats up close. Batman is at a loss to find any clues as to whom or where the killer is. 

A series of audacious jewel heists are also going on, and a Zorro like figure, the Cavalier, has turned up, using rapier swords to pin down the crooks on the streets of Gotham. Batman finds his public popularity waning due to the dashing new hero, who he views with jealousy and trepidation, but accepts that the man seems to be genuinely contributing to crime control in Gotham city.

The dashing, smiling fencing hero is actually an actor who has started out fighting crime for real as a publicity stunt to boost his flagging career, hoping to unmask publicly in order to promote his next performance, but he has found the excitement of the role he has taken on too exciting to let it go.

The Cavalier’s fortunes change when he saves a woman from committing suicide and falls in love with her. He discovers that she murdered her husband in a panic during one of his drunken assaults upon her. Though she got away with the crime she has been being blackmailed by a leading powerful Gotham City gangster, Randalph Salt, who seems to be modelled on Noel Coward.  Finding Salt too powerful an opponent to confront directly, the Cavalier gives in to his blackmail demands and starts under-taking the robberies that add to Batman’s woes.

Though committed from noble reason, the robberies excite The Cavalier as much as his heroic good guy role. He enjoys it too much. Realizing too late that Salt will never stop blackmailing him and his lover, The Cavalier murders Salt and realizes that his status as a fugitive is now secure. Batman will now have no choice but to bring him down. His doom is assured as he and Batman move to inevitable confrontation. Batman is ill, exhausted and worn down by the sheer workload he is taking on, and there is a danger that the Cavalier might actually defeat the more experienced crime avenger, but does he really want to defeat Batman? Or does he want to die in a blaze of glory? The ending is astonishing.

The Lime murders plot never really intersects with The Cavalier story, and seems straight out of an Agatha Christie tale. The clues to Lime’s identity are present before Batman works things out, and it is in itself a fine piece of story telling, and overall this is a marvellous work-taking Batman to new heights of character depth and genuine surprise.

Arthur Chappell

Now having been told what was going to happen in the movie, it did rob me of the surprise that this was not really a film about a man who is on the brink of suicide. I really would have liked not to know what the real plot was. Which is Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) a cop who was falsely imprisoned for the theft of a 40 million dollar diamond. So along with his brother Joey (Jamie Bell) and Joeys girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez), they set about trying to prove Nicks Innocence, by stealing the diamond from Evil Businessman’s David Englander (Ed Harris) safe.

Unlike most films of this ilk this movie has a very clever plot device, and that is Nick spends most of the film on a ledge of a skyscraper pretending he wants to commit suicide. So as to distract attention away from the robbery of the diamond.

I do have to say the actual robbery part is rather dull their are only so many times I can see people suspended on wires so as not to activate pressure sensors on the floor, as well as other break in methods that have been done to death. However apart from those scenes the rest of the movie is very clever, it has plenty of action. And it uses the ledge plot device very well indeed.

Sam Worthington for once shows he can act beyond the general scowl that he usually does. Jamie Bell is a big surprise looking and sounding vastly different from his Billy Elliott role. As for Genesis Rodriguez it was clear she was only in it for the hot girl in skimpy lingerie moment, a role I have to say she played very well indeed. Ed Harris was good as a villain although he does look a bit like an ancient Egyptian mummy. Special mention must go to Elizabeth Banks who played Lydia Mercer a police negotiator. I think if it was not for her role the scenes on the ledge would have been a lot less sparky.

If you like your action smart and well written this is the movie for you.

I give this movie a 7 out of 10

A classic sorrowful country ballad song about a young man’s suicide and a girl shocked by her family’s indifference and insensitivity to the event.

A young lady, (the narrator) and her brother, returns from farm yard cotton-picking chores to be told to clean themselves up. Their mother then casually tells them of the story of Billy Joe having just killed himself by leaping off the Tallahatchie Bridge, a real bridge over the River Mississippi, though the bridge referred to in the song fell down and had to be replaced in 1972.

Her father seems to find the story of no surprise and accuses Billy Joe of committing suicide from sheer stupidity. The family seems to hold the people of Choctaw Ridge, near the bridge, in contempt, and Billy Joe MacAllister is one of the people from there.

The family dines and pass food to one another, occasionally returning to he subject of Billy Joe. It’s the brother who drops the first hints that the narrator may feel closer to Billy Joe than the others think. He remembers her meetings with him, including his cruel joke of putting a frog down her back. He seems surprised by the suicide as he saw Billy Joe only the day before his death.

The Mother notices that the girl is losing her appetite for the family feast and remembers a local preacher believing that he saw Billy Joe and the girl (or someone resembling her), playing around on the bridge some time soon before the death of Billy Joe. The preacher saw the couple throw something from the bridge into the water but the song does not say what this object was.

The final verse moves on a year. The girl’s brother has married and left the family home. Her father has died, leaving the mother depressed. The narrator throws commemorative flowers off the Bridge….

That the narrator was in love with Billy Joe is very clear, and the bridge seems to have been a key meeting place for them. Why Billy Joe dies is never hinted at, as the song focuses on the family of the girl, taking the story of his suicide as nothing but trivial gossip. Only the narrator feels the loss and sense of tragedy at Billy Joe’s departure.

The lyrics in full – http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/gentry-bobbie/ode-to-billie-joe-13490.html

Arthur Chappell

“Let failure fuel and fear us in a positive way.”

 Most people avoid challenges because they’re afraid of failing. Nobody will, most of the time, say that you will pan out.  Anyone gets failed anytime, but it’s not the effort or achievement that really counts. It’s your valuable thought of someone who needs care from you. It’s the precious gift or time that we are going gradually to get up in a positive way. How can we perform as a unified group of decent persons if we lack our goals to attain the peak of success through perseverance and hard work? Failure is considered as a determining factor to strive hard in order to come by the overall success and achievement in life to come.

“Having a crush on someone is a sign that you’re growing up; thus it can be fun and sometimes disappointing.”

 Adolescence is the phase, especially when a child is on the road of transformation. There are physical changes to occur—parts of these changes may be manifested physically, mentally, cognitively and sexually. Anybody can experience frustrations in life. That’s why he/she must be gifted with intrapersonal intelligence in order for him/her not to get swayed and resorted to committing suicide in the end. Having a crush on someone is good and it is commendable, but you have to control it before it devours your entire body and soul for self-destruction.

are unaware of this topic. I also felt a little awkward when, for the first time, I read an article in which it had been demanded that voluntary death should be accepted as a constitutional right.  Though, in western countries this demand has been in calling for much earlier. Many books have been written and published there on this subject. It was said that in modern age of science a pill or technique should be researched which can make a person’s death comfortable and painless who wants to die at his will. The reasons in their support they give are that if a person suffering from incurable diseases like cancer or in disability he depends wholly on others, it is better to die rather than suffer a lot of pains and uncomforts. For this he needs a legal right to die at his will. Though a legal right could not be achieved, it established in different countries such institutions, hospitals and organizations that provide medicines and advices for those who want to accept voluntary death.

Let’s see antiquity of involuntary death. There are ample proofs of the prevalence of involuntary death in Indian mythology and ancient scriptures. For instance, body abandoned by sage Sutikshan Muni in the period of Ramayana. It is said in Ramcharitmanas- Ehi bidhi sar rachi muni Sarbhanga|Baithe hriday chhadi sab sanga|| And in the era of Mahabharat, the story of Bhisma’s death is not hidden to anyone. On considering deeply, we come toknow that both of of them had attained sddhi and and their fame spread out far and wide as great men in their life time. Such a person, who has gave up everything for his country and society, his voluntary death has never been termed as suicide; and to call it so is improper and condemnable. In this way we find that Hindu Scriptures accept right to voluntary death. Here it is to be noted that it was never announced from any

Apparently on Wednesday around 4 a.m. police found his body in his Sherman Oaks home with a self inflicted gun shot wound to the head.  He was taken to the hospital where he was officially pronounced dead at age 75.  With the confirmation of his death artists that had known him and worked with him or felt that he was responsible for his career immediately issued statements of condolences and utter shock at the way he passed.  Black Entertainment Television (BET) is already scheduled to air The Hippest Trip in America at 8pm 2.1.12 a documentary of the late great Don Cornelius. 

It’s almost unbelievable that he died in such a terrible way.  I grew up watching Soul Train every Saturday morning at 11am.  My siblings and I couldn’t wait to see who would perform, what cool dances they were going to do.  Every time it was time for the Soul Train line we would get up and do our own little dance down the aisle.  Those memories are so vivid in my mind, it’s almost as like it was yesterday.  I’m sure the memories are just as vivid in the minds of others who also grew up watching Soul Train.  The success of Soul Train was that it was nothing else like it on television during those days.  There was nothing else that African American music lovers could relate to and it was a must to tune in to see our stars.  I can almost guarantee that at every African American family get together, wedding, family reunion or other family function there is music, there is a Soul Train line being done somewhere!

Don Cornelius will truly be missed and his legend will live on in the hearts and souls of us who grew up with him and the Soul Train dancers. Don Cornelius is said to be responsible for boosting the popularity of The Jackson 5, James Brown, Marvin Gaye and other such artists that have performed on the famous stage over at the Soul Train studio.  So hats off to you Mr. Cornelius Peace, Love and Sooooooul!!

I cried for days. My face looked like a stewed tomato, my eyes were incredibly puffy like golf balls.

He was such a wonderful friend and now he is gone. He is in heaven by the grace of God. To this day, I hope that he is where he should be. He had a hard life battling Bi polar mental illness.

I first met Tommy when myself and my family moved to the posh, rich, snooty village called Winnetka. It was an open house and he was with his mother and his sister.

Myself and Tommy made friends almost instantly.

After that day, I would come over to his house and watch TV. We would bake brownies. We would ride our bikes around the whole entire village.

Over the years  myself and Tommy were gracefully getting older, we went through out own separate ways. But still, I continued to have him as a friend.

It was Feb. 3rd, 1990 when I was at my desk doing data entry, when my father called. I picked up the receiver. “Bad News,” My father sounded rushed and abrupt. I was silent as my father continued.”Tommy Morris. He’s dead. He shot himself in the head with a pistol. It was a suicide.” I dropped the phone out of sheer horror. My childhood hood friend had offed himself.

After that day as mentioned above, I cried buckets.

It was and is a sad experience for his loving family, his many friends and me.

Author’s Note:

I apologize on how I wrote this article. I should have elaborated his character, what he was like and his bi polar mental illness. I was very depressed while writing this story and I just wanted to share about how I felt. Also I do so much writing, that it is turning into mish mash if you know what I mean.