Yip yip yip yip

Man, I loved these guys. A lot of people tell me that the yip yip guys scared the hell out of them as children, but there you have it. I like them.

What makes a superhero?

So, we had some talk about superheroes lately and some disagreement on what makes a superhero.

Is it superpowers? Can't be -- everyone knows that Batman is a superhero, but he doesn't have any superpowers.

How about a cool costume? Nope, because then the Pope and Bootsy Collins (see left) would qualify.

Maybe a secret identity? Nah. See, then Tony Stark (everyone knows he's Iron Man) and Sen. Larry "Wide Stance" Craig would qualify.

What Makes a Superhero from the Escapist has a pretty good definition:

A superhero is a symbol that represents the ideal. He is our hopes and aspirations, those qualities we admire in ourselves and in others all writ large, given a face to stare down evil and hands to shape the world for the better. The enemies he stands against, too, are symbols: They are the daily fears which weigh on us ...

The superhero is not perfect; he is burdened with greater troubles than ours, and is time and again defeated by the evil he sets himself against. Yet it is because of this, not in spite of it, that he is truly a hero; not because he is strong, but because he does not surrender.

So now we have a definition. A superhero is a character that exists to remind us of our potential, to show us what we should be. Superheroes are ourselves, courageous.

I can live with that.

America the Beautiful

Happy Fourth of July!

Check out America the Beautiful, performed by one of my favorite guitarists, Zakk Wylde from Black Label Society (he's also Ozzy's guitarist). This is from their album 1919 Eternal.



Check it out for the song; it isn't a proper video -- someone just set it to a generic slideshow.

New poll: Do you care about a foreign company buying Anheuser-Busch?

There's a new poll up. It seems that a Brazilian-Belgian company wants to buy Anheuser-Busch. Do you care?

Poll results: Who's the greatest superhero?

Well, well, well. The people have spoken.

Superman	6 (28%)
Batman	3 (14%)
Captain America	2 (9%)
Spider-Man	1 (4%)
Iron Man	1 (4%)
Wonder Woman	1 (4%)
Jay	7 (33%)

I'll be taking applications for sidekicks soon. Applicants, please have your CV, gimmick and costume ready for the try-outs. No capes or weirdos, please.

Fair warning

57%

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

This is according to a test I took from this page. I also learned that:

19

Created by OnePlusYou

What was that Supreme Court Ruling really all about on handguns?

So what was the Supreme Court decision on allowing handguns really about last week and who did it most affect? First of all it was another chapter written in the book called “Can Americans be trusted with responsible choices or not?”

Five of the judges stated clearly, yes to that question on Thursday as they viewed the right to own a handgun responsibly with respect.

As usual, four of the justices did not and decided that responsible American citizens should be treated the same as irresponsible ones who are committing crimes in this country.

Many have said that it is the number of guns causing problems in the country. I would side with those who would say that it is the intentions behind those guns that provide the problem.

This brings me to the answer to that second question; can Americans be trusted with responsible choices or not.

The answer is Absolutely.

They’ve been doing it since the founding of this country using, by the way, ideas and guns. If the ruling had gone against individual rights of gun ownership last week, who would have been most affected? Responsible American citizens would continue do the same things they’ve always done; respect law and make choices with it as part of their civic duty to the country , whether guns would have been taken away or not. We could trust their choices to be the same; responsible.

For criminals, we could also trust their’s to be the same no matter what the ruling; irresponsible and unlawful. The only difference now is that their prey may be armed, which could be a deterrent for them.

So,when they decide to invade a man’s home and castle, they would do well to remember Jesse Ventura’s famous plaque over his door: Forget the dog , beware of owner. “ The responsible owners of this country have rights, too. One ruling for them was cast last week! I’m Gary Sutton.