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Home » Articles » Villainous Breeds 2: Motivations and Agendas (Part 1)
Villainous Breeds 2: Motivations and Agendas (Part 1)
By Vaal April 26, 2013 April 25, 2013 Articles
Villains are awesome.
I mean yes, they are all very bad men and women, but in the realm of fiction, the villain of the piece tends toward being all-around one of the most compelling characters. They get to act while the heroes react, they often get much cooler clothes, and if they're in a medium and genre that allows for songs? Watch out because they're going to rock the house.
Also, if they're really lucky, they'll be voiced by Tim Curry.
And while we know that in reality, the real monsters who stalk our world are rarely any more cool, exciting or glamorous than any other person, we tend to romanticize fictional villains. Often, we do so to the point that we try to 'explain away' their evil deeds.
This, I think is a shame. Not necessarily the romanticizing villains because as long as we keep some perspective and understand that this person is fictional, there's no harm done. No, the shame is in trying to pave over the core of the character: the reasons why they're evil in the first place and what they're plans are.
Personally, I think those are the most interesting bits of villains. That other stuff; the black leather, the spikes, the goose-stepping hyenas…
In lieu of images, I'm basically going to post villains song videos. You're welcome.
…it's all superficial when you get down to it. If it wasn't for marketing deciding that audiences need color coding and other 'tells' to know who is good and who is bad, anyone can be wrapped in a leather burrito regardless of their alignment. In fact, if you look at a lot of more modern movies like The Matrix, Equilibrium, and X-men, the heroes are wrapped up in plenty of black leather because villainous black leather is badass and we all know it now.
But what you can't just staple on to just anyone is that drive to do evil; to go after what that character wants with maximum ambition and minimum damns given about the lives of anyone between them and their goal. If you try, you end up with one of the abominable antiheroes from the Dark Age of Comics who were basically villains anyway, like The Punisher, The Authority or god forbid Azbats.
So let's not go there. Instead, let's talk about some of the motivators villains can have and interesting twists that can be added to them. Motivations like…
The inspiration I had for writing this post came from finishing Descendants #69: Crashers, which is the first encounter the Descendants have directly with the Interstate Psionic Bounty Agency. If you're an avid reader, you'll recall that the IPBA was described in Descendants Annual #5 as the commercial arm of a hate group that has bounced around for seventy years, adapting from one hated group du jour to another.
That might not make a lot of sense from the outset. It just stands to reason that is someone hates a particular group hates them for a particular (awful) reason and that won't magically change with the times. But the thing is, there are different kinds of hate.
There's the kind of obsessive, focused hate that groups like the KKK has for black people (for one) that is static and won't change. That's the kind of hate people think of when they think 'hate'. But that's just the one kind.
Another is mistrust and blame. The obvious example would be the treatment of Muslims and people from the Middle East in the US, which I've expounded upon before, but that's in an 'active' state right now and it's hard to explain to people after twelve years of vicious rhetoric that there was a time when people spouting hateful shit about Muslims was universally understood to be a racist and not made a syndicated columnist.
So instead let me ask you about the time that US citizens hated the Japanese.
Are you thinking about World War II? Because you should have asked 'which time'? You see, aside from the atrocities we visited upon Japanese people then, there was another time when a brooding mistrust of Japanese people got to the point that is colored the entire culture. That time was the 1980's.
You know how Die Hard took place in Nakatomi Plaza? Or how the idea of 'street samurai' and yakuza in general became such a big part of cyberpunk? Yeah, that's because as the tech boom took off n that time period, Japan was quick to hop on that shit and made it big in business, expanding into the world—especially the US.
So naturally, they were made into the boogieman that we had to watch out for, lest they take over the world. Takagi said it best in Die Hard: "Pearl Harbor didn't work out so good, so we got you with tape decks."
Yeah… being good at making technology was as bad as Pearl Harbor. And you better believe people were making hay off it. 'You need our products for your business' they would say, 'Or else the Japanese will get you! Ooh boogie boogie'.
And that's how it works. They pick someone a large number of people are scared of, perpetuate those fears by telling people that they're totally right, and then they try and sell them something. Oh, you can't trust those people. And we'll tell you all about why if you watch our news channel. It's called confirmation bias and it is worth billions of dollars annually.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSu4hOLYrXk
It works exactly like this.
I think of this sort of deal as 'The New Hate'. Part of why a lot of the villains in X-men comics bother me (and there are enough things that I wrote a whole other blog post on it) is that the risk/reward ratio is way off there. Beating up a black guy (like me) or a gay guy doesn't put you in that much danger and nor does trying to make it so the black guy can't vote or keeping the gay guy from getting married. When you're doing it to people who can make you explode however, you start to wonder what they're getting out of it that's valuable enough to justify that.
Thankfully, real life provides with the emergence of The New Hate. It's become clear now that you can make money and garner political power from using hate. Not only that, but you don't even have to hate those people to manipulate people who do.
Crashers is the first leg in the IPBA arc that will drive this home. In Crashers, we see the rank and file, the truly hateful, true believers who see a group (in this case, descendants) as a threat to their way of life and are willing to destroy them to 'protect' it. As we move forward, we'll see the upper echelons who are profiting from this mistrust and blame (those prisons and the Braylocke laws are based on for-profit prisons that exist right now) while varying in their actual commitment to the 'cause' (hurting people for being different). To some, the people who are the target changing is no different from changing market demands.
And speaking of profit…
To paraphrase a line I heard watching Castle: There are only three reasons to commit murder; anger, to cover up a crime and money. It's an oversimplification, but a useful one. Money makes he world go 'round and sometimes you have to step on a couple of people to get paid.
Well if he puts it that way, screw my fellow man!
It's a tried and true motive. From the lowliest burglar with his black and white striped shirt and bag with a dollar sign on the side, to the porkulant, blustery robber baron, crime or at least things that should be crimes in a fair and just world is one of the easiest ways to make mad bank fast. Hell, Lex Luthor's gloriously supervillainy plan in the very first Superman movie was nothing more than a way to make quick money… while killing California.
And since we now live in a world where people actually thought Gordon Geckko was the hero of Wallstreet, there's plenty of people that really don't understand that the 'profit at all costs' attitude of, you know, sociopathic.
It's the sociopathy that makes these guys interesting villains and one that isn't often examined in depth. We all get the shorthand, sure: bad guy wants money, will stop at nothing to get it. And we just accept that. But what we (and the media we're reading/watching/having thrust into out brains by telepaths) should be asking is why do they want that money?
Everyone has their lottery fantasy. Mine starts with rocking an all-white suit like the goddamn Kingpin because big dudes look awesome in white suits, but I digress. And we all imagine what we would do if we had so much money that we could giggle at the gross of most blockbuster movies.
And to be honest, I would have sympathy for a bad guy who used their money to make their dreams come true and make sure their kid has a good future. Except that's not what they do—in real life and in fiction.
Let's take the modern incarnation of Lex Luthor. Instead of his humble roots as a mad scientist, the Bald One now spends his days as the evil CEO of Lexcorp, a position that makes him wealthy beyond measure. Despite this, he feels the need to do things like sell arms on the black market, or to instigate wars to sell more arms. Because he's evil and greedy, you see.
What does Lex spend his money on? Well… that's a good question. Even 'killing Superman' would be something, but most of the time it seems as if Lexcorp actually has a budget item for trying to kill Superman because he builds all his evil devices in Lexcorp facilities with Lexcorp material. I don't even think I've seen him take any trips that don't have something to do with business. He just… accumulates wealth like a message board acquires trolls.
Maybe we should try someone else. Well I already mentioned Kingpin. He's a mob boss and antagonist to Spider-man and Daredevil. Depending on the continuity, he might actually secretly be getting a ct of ll the crime in New York, or simply be a crimelord—on top of his legitimate business holdings.
So just like Luthor, he doesn't actually need any more money, but he does some crime on the side just to get extra to… You know, except for a single high quality chocolate bar in Joss Whedon's delay plagued run on Runaways, I have never—NEVER—seen Kingpin indulge in any awesome rich guy stuff ether.
At best, he uses his vast wealth to fund attempts to kill Spider-man or Daredevil in order to protect his criminal enterprise (IE his money source that he doesn't need because he has a legitimate business).
Sadly, the bad guys in real life aren't much better. I know I said I was going to post nothing but villains song videos, so here's a link to Lewis Black explaining the situation. No seriously, click it, it's funny. And enraging.
Regardless of what happens in real life though, it is an important and worthwhile facet of a villain's motivations when it comes to profit to know why they want the money in the first place. Sure some of them are just greedy and want to curl up on top of it like a dragon, but they can't all be like that, can they?
I think not. Even if it's petty, it would be nice to hear what the bad guy dreams of doing with the cash they're willing to destroy fellow human beings to get.
And from the crass avarice of the profit motive, we turn to the high minded, but just as bonkers cause of…
The love motive in villain rarely turns out positive, does it? There almost always jumps right off the edge of the slippery slope into 'creeptastic obsession' in the first ten minutes.
This is not a healthy way to express your attraction. Trust me, I know from experience.
I think it turns into that so often and so quickly because love is strong story mojo (as you'll recall form my Bad Romance article) and if the audience buys into the 'purity' of the villain's love too much, it humanizes them and makes it hard to hate them as we're supposed to.
Writers take advantage of that too. If you, like me couldn't afford to pay a man to excise it from your memory, you might recall Spider-man 3 pulled this with Sandman. The simple fact that he was being a bad guy for his little girl makes it completely okay in our minds that Sandman will never pay for his crimes.
Oh, you can have a villain who feels love and even on who is loved in return. Even evil couples aren't that uncommon. Even Power Rangers, which isn't known for its innovation, hat Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd getting together. It's more that it's very rare for a villain to do what they do because of love without them being thrust into the stalker role, even if the love in question isn't romantic.
And yes, stalkers and complete crazies like this exist in real life, even on epic scales like that astronaut that drove cross-country to try and kill her romantic rival (though sadly, she wasn't actually wearing a diaper the whole time).
I think it's possible to keep a villain evil and motivated by love without making them ax crazy stalkers. For one, maybe the loved one is also evil and that's why they're compatible.
My immediate thoughts jump to a non-romantic near-example: John Q. If you're not familiar with the film, it involves a father whose son is diagnosed with a condition that requires a heart transplant or he'll die. His insurance won't cover the operation (because the money saved by not saving a little boy is worth way more to them), and even after selling everything the family owns, he can barely afford to keep the boy in the hospital, much less get the surgery.
Left with no options (because standing back and letting your kid die is never an option. Just ask Liam Neeson), he takes the hospital hostage in order to force them to do the transplant. Now, no matter how totally justified he is, this is borderline at best and would certainly be evil if he killed someone– except [SPOILER ALERT] it turns out that he never intended to kill anyone, except maybe himself if they could use his heart for his son. He even only took on bullet for the job. [/SPOILER ALERT]
Now imagine a real villain who does try to go through the correct channels only to be dicked around like John Q was. Just because he loves his son doesn't make him any less evil should he start icing people in search of a compatible heart and capturing the doctors' families to ensure they do the surgery.
For a lighter version, maybe the bad guy is just plain inept at showing their feelings:
I too am unsure of the correct ratio of monkeys to pony.
And that's all we have time for this week. Next week is a Rune Breaker Friday (and as a special note, it will be the last Rune Breaker Friday for a while, as Rune Breaker will be moving into the first Wednesday spot once Generations Aflame finishes up and will be there until I have a buffer done for the next miniseries. And that won't be until Rune Breaker 3: The Path of Destruction is published sometime in June.
Until next time, folks!
You can follow Vaal's ramblings about what he's writing on Twitter @ParadoxOmni and specific series with hashtags #TheDescendants and #RuneBreaker.
You can also pick up the latest Descendants book, The Descendants Vs. Project Tome as a Kindle ebook, and find all of Vaal's books on his Amazon Author page.
About Vaal
Landon Porter is the author of The Descendants and Rune Breaker. Follow him on Twitter @ParadoxOmni or sign up for his newsletter. You can also purchase his books from all major platforms from the bookstore
View all posts by Vaal →
Tagged cartoons, music, rant, villains.
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Always treat the rolling of three dice as 3 separate rolls.
The dice will never land at the same time.
If you took an action camera and slowed down the landing of the three dice you would see they would each finish at different times.
Always treat the roll of three dice as three separate rolls. Because in reality that is what happens.
If one throws three dice together on to the ground what is the probability of getting three 4s?
Always draw a probability tree.
If one throws three dice together on the ground the probability of getting three 4s is 0.004629.


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Collins backs National Guard deploying in Georgia
Talia Kaplan | Fox News
Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday he's "glad" Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp activated the National Guard, adding that he applauds his actions.
"It's been something we need to see done," Collins said. "We need to give support to our local police down there and I think the governor has done the right thing here."
Kemp, a Republican, declared a state of emergency Monday following an uptick in shootings over the July Fourth weekend that injured 31 people and killed five, including an 8-year-old girl, after weeks of violent crime and property destruction in Atlanta.
"Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda. Now, innocent Georgians are being targeted, shot and left for dead," Kemp said in a statement. "This lawlessness must be stopped and order restored in our capital city."
Among those killed over the holiday weekend was Secoriea Turner, 8, who was riding in a car Saturday night in Atlanta when at least two people opened fire on the vehicle. The shooting happened near the Wendy's fast-food restaurant where Rayshard Brooks was killed by a police officer last month, prompting weeks of protests and clashes between demonstrators and police.
"Why does it take a death?" Collins asked on Tuesday.
"It just is sad because these minority communities, the communities that are hardest hit right now, are the ones that blow the brunt of this," he added. "Why are we doing this? We need to stop it now, that's why the governor, I think, brought in the National Guard."
Collins went on to say that "this is the thing that has to happen because it shouldn't take a tragic death for somebody to all of a sudden say, 'Wow we need to enforce the law.'"
Collins noted that "anywhere where you allow lawlessness to exist," when "the police are told to disengage" and when "the mayor's office seemingly was just letting it [violence] happen," lawlessness won't "be contained," which he said is "going to cause more and more problems."
He added that "unfortunately" that's what "we saw it in Seattle, now we've seen in Atlanta." Collins had referenced the infamous Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone in Seattle, which was forcefully cleared out last week after the city's leadership finally acted following two deadly shootings and weeks of scrutiny.
Collins, whose father was a police officer, told "Fox & Friends" on Tuesday that the people who call for defunding police departments are saying that officers "don't matter."
"The law enforcement teams are there to protect not only lives and property, they're there to encourage our communities, to have the civil discourse, to have the community bonding that we know that we can go out and be safe."
"We know we can go anywhere in our cities and know that the rule of law is being enforced," he continued. "And when you talk about defunding the police or cutting back on the police, simply what you're telling those police officers, who put their lives on the line for us every day, is 'we don't value you.'"
"So any of these departments, any of the city councils, any place that says 'we will take [away] money,' are saying 'we don't value you,'" he added.
More Doug in the Media
American values for generations to come
Doug Collins Returns to Lowndes
Roger Stone rallies for Doug Collins in Gwinnett
Michael Flynn endorses Doug Collins in Georgia Senate race
Georgia Congressman Doubles Down on His RBG Tweet and Pro-Life Stance: 'It's Very Personal for Me'
Rep. Doug Collins Rips Hollywood's 'Anti-Family, Pro-Abortion Agenda'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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APQC published its recent Metric of the Month examining the number of budget versions before final approval. It discusses ways organizations organize their budgeting practices to minimize the number of versions needed to get one that is finally ready to send forward for Board approval. When evaluating the key metrics for finance organizations, tracking the number of budget versions has always perplexed me. As shown in the metric results, top performers generate 4 budget versions (while median performance is 5 versions/ bottom performers at 8).
While the number of budget revisions is typically considered to be an efficiency measure, I have always considered it to be a quality measure. When you look at it that way, any revision after the first submission is a form of rework. So if "Best" performers start at 4 versions, that means they have 3 revisions. And if "Best" performers exhibit this type of rework, I can only imagine how challenging it is for the bottom performers at 8 or more.
From a quality perspective: Why is it acceptable to have top performers exhibiting three rounds of rework? It is time that finance leaders recognize that budgeting processes are severely broken. While they call often for "better budgeting", I would submit that the problems are much deeper – no amount of trying harder and doing better will fix these problems. Why? Because budgeting, as currently practiced as a process, is "not fit for purpose." The only thing that will fix it is to dramatically change the process.
When you examine these, even the most casual observer can begin to identify major conflicts of interests in these objectives. Managers are likely to propose targets that can be easily reached to ensure that their team receives full bonuses. Yet corporate managers often seek aspirational goals to stretch teams to reach higher. The result is one key driver of budget revisions which is the back and forth negotiation. And that negotiation is the opposite of aspirational – it is seeking the lowest acceptable target.
Another major cause of budget revisions is that fact that budgets are based on hundreds of assumptions, both big and small. Any plan of expected future performance includes assumptions (explicitly or implicitly) about the general economy, the interest rate environment, changes in key materials and other supply chain costs including the cost of personnel, changes in competitor actions that may require response, and changes in key customers.
Because budgets embed so many assumptions, their usefulness as planning documents begins to erode as soon as they are approved. How do managers protect themselves and their teams? By hiding as many budgets cushions as they can. Many budget revisions are simply the back and forth negotiations of what cushions will be allowed to remain. This process is complicated by the fact that managers often hide their budget cushions. The slang term for these is "cookie jars." You do not want corporate to find your cookie jars or they will eliminate all your cookies.
Before anyone takes offense, it is important to note that these managers making budget submissions are merely following a budget process required by the design of the process. In their mind they are merely being prudent and protecting against the inherent uncertainty that the process fails to consider. Most have been promoted up the corporate ladder because they have become proficient in playing these budget games. It should come as no surprise that managers become good at what the system requires them to do to win and be rewarded. The problem comes when the flaws in this same system become exposed, and the system no longer functions effectively (which is what is happening with traditional budgeting practices). That's when it becomes time to change.
Ask yourself whether you would expect to be successful if you ran a manufacturing enterprise or a medical facility using 1920s tools? Because budgeting, as typically practiced, follows the same basic approach as when it was first moved to wide spread use. When we count the number of budget revisions, we are merely reminding ourselves of how unfit budgets are. It my personal opinion that budgeting is a huge part of the "DUMB STUFF" finance should stop doing.
Target setting should shift out to a mid-term target (3-5 years) based on your strategic plan. This provides strategic direction but eliminates the negative activity of targets being a stopping point.
Evaluations of actual results are best done by league table comparisons. You can easily start with the local organization's departmental personal best. From there, the evaluations can compare peer groups to identify the organizations best performers and how to share their approaches across the entire group. Then comparisons to the competition can be added to see how you are doing in the commercial marketplace. When you are achieving top marks there you can move up to world class benchmarks (This is definitely an area where APQC can help).
Incentive bonuses can be paid on actual results compared to how well peer organizations did in the same environment. This will dramatically reduce the arguments over expected future conditions, as performance is only judged against what actually happened and how well you competed.
Forecasting is much easier, as it merely tries to state what is expected to happen. If that differs from the trajectory of your targets, then revised action plans are needed but the forecast stays the same.
Many organizations have already eliminated their budgets. These include American Express, Equinor (formerly Statoil), HOLT CAT, Maersk, Marshfield Clinic, ThedaCare and Unilever. Let us know if we can help you make the change.


It is perhaps not surprising that the further out into the wilderness you go, the stranger and more unnerving the accounts of the areas get. We have looked before, for example, at the mysterious tales from Ben Macdui in Scotland, or the Bennington Triangle in the upper north-east region of the United States. These "off-the-beaten-track" locations harbor strange tales and even stranger anomalies. Often these result in bizarre sightings that strike fear into those who witness them. Other times they lead to unexplained disappearances, of which, many occur in the North American continent each year, in particular, the United States, as we will look at later.
The many remote locations in the United States alone account for many of the unsettling accounts on record. And that is perhaps no surprise. Although the country's modern history is still only several centuries old, the land itself has stories that go back thousands of years. And whose direct influence appears to encroach on the contemporary citizens, as the modern society itself encroaches on these untouched parts of the United States.
Before we look at some of these intriguing, if chilling accounts, check out the short video below. It looks at the basics of the "Missing People" conspiracy. Something that appears to share a connection to some of the following encounters.
Shadow People On Mount Sterling?
"Don't Try To Follow Me!" – Another Smokey Mountain Victim?
Sightings Of Shapeshifters In The American Wilderness?
Corroboration Of Modern Events Through Native Legends?
The Result Of Planned Intelligence?
Although the exact date is not certain, an account thought to have happened in early-summer 2018 in North Carolina is as unsettling as any. The anonymous witness claims to be a lead-hiker who takes small teams of hikers and mountaineers on organized treks into the mountain regions. On this occasion, he was leading a climb on Mount Sterling. After reaching the top they would set up camp for the night. The group were around six miles away from the nearest road and were, essentially, isolated.
It was a little after 10:30 pm. The witness had been reading, able to do so by the brightness of the full moon overhead. As he closed the book preparing himself to turn in for the night, he saw a "darkened humanoid figure" approaching their camp on the trail they themselves had used only hours earlier. He remained motionless, watching the figure until it suddenly stopped dead.
The "man", who the witness would state he could "only see the outline of him" would stand as if "surveying the camp". The witness began to lose sense of time. He wasn't sure how long the incident lasted. He would later recall it "seemed like thirty minutes but may have been ten". Then, the shadowy entity "turned and sat down under a tree facing our camp". The witness had the intense feeling that whoever the dark figure was, it was watching them.
When the figure finally stood again, taking one last look around and headed back down the trail, the witness's watch revealed it was 3:30 am. Although he didn't see the figure again, the witness would state to "being paranoid" for the remainder of the trip. If the "person" watching them was human, what of their lack of lighting and climbing equipment?
The incident isn't the only chilling account from North Carolina in recent years. Sometime in 2015, a user on social media (under the name tytrim89) told of their own encounter in the lonely woodlands of the area. He, along with six friends, had arrived there that day intent on exploring an "abandoned town" used by the US military for training exercises. The group were particularly interested in exploring an old house that was over one-hundred years old.
As they approached the building, they would split into small groups in order to cover more ground faster. The main witness would remain at the front of the property and scan the immediate land outside. One of the other groups consisted of his wife and her friend, who would do the same but at the back of the property. After several minutes, the two women returned to the front of the property claiming to have heard "two little girls laughing and playing in the woods".
The witness ran his torchlight over the woods, walking a little way into the trees. They could, however, see nothing out of the usual. And the sound was no longer audible. When they returned to their vehicle at the front of the old house, though, each took in a sharp gasp of breath. The light on top of the jeep was turned on. Even more worrying, "one of the doors was cracked open".
It was then that they head a thud like "some dropping a safe" that stopped everyone in their tracks. Realizing it wasn't a military weapon of any kind, the team quickly jumped in their jeep and left. They didn't look back.
The state of North Carolina shares a border with Tennessee. And along this region sits a mountain range synonymous with strange goings-on, The Great Smokey Mountains. Described as one of the most "diverse ecosystems in North America" the area is a World Heritage Site as designated by UNESCO, and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park sits within it. The whole region is home to a multitude of animal and plant varieties, many of which may still await human discovery.
On 14th June 1969, during a Father's Day camping weekend trip, six-year-old Dennis Martin would seemingly vanish into thin air. His family had stopped at Spence Field, a popular rest point along the Appalachian Trail. As Dennis's parents chatted with the other adults on the trip, he and his brother, along with two other boys decided to hide in the woodland along the path. They would then jump out and scare their parents when they came looking for them.
As Dennis was wearing a red top that day which the boys said would stand out, he was sent to one side of the path, and the rest went to the other. When the parents came looking for them and the three older boys jumped out, Dennis failed to do so. They would call his name, but he was nowhere to be seen. He had just disappeared. There were no signs of a disturbance where he had gone to hide. And furthermore, there was no evidence to suggest he had been the victim of an animal attack.
Perhaps one point of interest is the color red. We have looked at the Bennington Triangle before, for example. Several of the people who vanished there were wearing red clothing. What's more, local legends state wearing red brings bad luck.
Author and researcher, David Paulides took an interest in the Dennis Martin case as part of his research into his book 'The Missing 411'. He claimed that one of the Rangers during the search for the young boy, Dwight McCarter, passed over some intriguing information about the case. According to interviews between Paulides and McCarter, special forces teams would arrive as part of the search for the Dennis Martin. However, they would not communicate at all with the Rangers or local police.
Even stranger, they were heavily armed as if expecting to encounter something they would need to meet with force. It made McCarter think they perhaps knew something everyone else didn't. Furthermore, incidentally or not, the lead investigator with the FBI on the case would suddenly commit suicide. The reasons for this remain unknown.
Dennis Martin is far from the only person to go missing in this particular region of the world. On 8th October 1976, sixteen-year-old Knoxville school student, Trenny Lynn Gibson, would disappear in the Smokey Mountains. She was on a school field trip with forty other students and were hiking to Andrew's Bald. Depending on how fast or experienced the students were at hiking would depend in which smaller group of students they were placed for the hike.
At a little after 3 pm, Gibson's group realized she was no longer with them. No-one could remember her leaving. In fact, no-one could remember when they had last seen her. She has never been found.
Five years following Gibson's bizarre disappearance, 58-year-old Thelma Pauline Melton vanished on 25th September 1981. She was hiking with two friends near the Deep Creek Campground. She was the first in line of the three friends, who chatted leisurely as the walked. Thelma would walk around a bend in the path. By the time her friends turned the same bend, she was nowhere to be seen. She was literally there one moment and then gone the next. The entire area was searched within hours of the disappearance, but no sign of the experienced hiker was ever found.
One of the most recent vanishings in the Smokey Mountains occurred in March 2012. When 24-year-old Derek Lueking hadn't arrived at work and not answered his phone, a search began for him. He had recently checked out of a motel near the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. He was even captured on the motel's security footage leaving the facility with his backpack on his shoulders. Derek hasn't, however, been seen since.
His family, though, would find his car as they searched the remote parts of the park themselves. In Newfound Gap the vehicle was discovered parked neatly in the parking area of the nature reserve. Even stranger were the vast amounts of survival equipment – all of which appeared to be recently purchased. Along with grain bars and water was other tools such as a pack ax, pocket knife with sharpener, and a survival belt. There was also a sleeping bag and a tent. Strange then, that all of it still remained in the car. Even stranger was the note Lueking's family found, which read, "Don't try to follow me".
Despite a widespread search for him, Derek Lueking is still officially missing.
Many of the areas associated with high rates of disappearances also share sightings of Bigfoot or even "shapeshifting" creatures. Whether these are responsible for the actual disappearances or are indicative of some kind of "portal-type" activity is open to debate. A report from Idaho in 2004 is interesting as the unnamed witness – a firefighter supervisor – claims to have seen such an entity. And what's more, this sighting took place in perhaps the aptly named, "Hell's Canyon".
The firefighter unit was responding to an emergency call from the region. The report said to expect to be at the scene for some time, possibly all night. As the unit set to work, the supervisor would drive along some of the logging roads, looking to see what the situation was like ahead of them. As he was doing so, he suddenly noticed what he thought was a bobcat crouching right in the middle of the road. He reduced the speed of the vehicle, expecting the creature to run into the trees. Instead, however, it simply remained where it was, staring back at him. Then it let out a screech, the likes of which he had never heard before. It then ran off, seemingly climbing up a nearby tree.
More than unnerved by the strange encounter, he quickly moved along his way, now eager to get back to the unit. Before he could do so, though, he would discover a grim-looking cabin. It was overgrown with weeds, but even stranger, it was right on the pathway that loggers would use. He couldn't recall seeing it before. He brought his vehicle to a halt and got out to take a closer look.
He could see immediately that all of the windows had boards up. He could also make out heavy chains on the doors. Anxiety and fear would sweep through him. Thinking better of approaching any further, he would step back inside his vehicle and start the engine. He would back up and head back the way he had come. However, several moments later, in a spot pretty much where he had witnessed the bobcat in the road, stood a Native American woman. He brought the truck to a halt and called out through the open window if she needed help.
In response, the woman screamed back at him. It was the same unearthly scream he had heard from the bobcat. Just as he was about to press the accelerator down as hard as he could, he witnessed the strange woman climbing the tree "faster than any human has a right to be climbing". Having seen as much as his mind could take he sped away, faster than the treacherous terrain would ideally allow.
Once back with his unit he would speak to one of his staff who was local and familiar with the local legends. He would specifically ask about the strange cabin. It is believed that the creature the firefighter witnessed was a "pumawha" – at least according to Native American legend. It is described as being able to "change skins" – or, as a shapeshifter.
These legends of shape-shifting entities are rife throughout North America, and particularly among the native Americans in the United States. And what's more, there would seem to be many corroborating sightings of reptilian shapeshifters in the deserts of America. There have also been many similar sightings at the highly-documented Skinwalker Ranch. The video below reminds us of the Skinwalker Ranch conspiracy.
Perhaps the idea of some kind of connection between these disappearances and strange phenomena in the American wilderness isn't as "reaching" as we might think. Remember, for example, the ranger who stated the heavily-armed "search team" in response to a missing child? Or what should we make of the spooky fact of many of those who vanish happen to have been wearing red clothing at the time? A color that many indigenous tribes local to the area believe to be bad luck. Surely, as much as this seems trivial, it requires further investigation.
Researcher, David Paulides, has made many further apparently bizarre connections. He has, for example, recognized "cluster spots" where many of the disappearances happen. According to his research, there are fifty-two of these apparent danger zones throughout America and Canada. This would perhaps suggest some kind of phenomena causing these disappearances. Or are these spots the habitat of a more physical culprit?
He would also notice some truly strange happenings around the disappearances. For example, in 95% of cases he examined, bad weather would often occur in the immediate aftermath of a disappearance. This would severely hamper search units, in particular, sniffer dogs. This fact, if it is of importance, would suggest some type of intelligence behind the vanishings. As if there was an effort to wipe away as much evidence as possible without drawing attention to it. After all, who is going to highlight "bad weather" as a serious clue? Of the few bodies that do turn up in these spots, they are often missing their socks or shoes. This is a detail in many alien abduction cases, albeit the abductee most often returns alive.
The video below looks at these mysterious disappearances in a little more detail.


text:
Josef Joachim Adamczyk (nach Namensänderung 1939 Adams; * 20. März 1901 in Rzuchów; † 12. Februar 1971 in Hannover) war ein deutscher Politiker der NSDAP und SS-Führer.

Leben und Wirken
Nach dem Besuch der Volksschule wurde Adamczyk am Lehrerseminar Ratibor ausgebildet. In den Nachkriegsjahren beteiligte er sich mit einem Freikorps am Aufstand in Oberschlesien und wurde dafür mit dem Schlesischen Adler I. und II. Klasse ausgezeichnet. Er trat 1921 in den preußischen Schuldienst ein und war als Volksschullehrer in Oberschlesien und ab 1930 in Dortmund tätig.

Ab 1921 begann sich Adamczyk in der SA und ab August 1923 in der NSDAP zu betätigen. Er war Begründer der Ortsgruppe der Partei in Ratibor und trat der NSDAP nach dem Parteiverbot zum 20. Februar 1926 erneut bei (Mitgliedsnummer 30.878). 1929 übernahm er erstmals ein öffentliches Amt als Stadtverordneter in Ratibor. Aufgrund seiner Betätigung für die NSDAP wurde er im Dezember 1930 vom Lehramt suspendiert. Ab 1931 war er Mitglied der SS (SS-Nummer 6.165), bei der er im September 1938 bis zum SS-Oberführer aufstieg. Von 1931 bis 1935 war er schließlich hauptberuflicher Leiter des Untergaues Oberschlesien der NSDAP.

Im April 1933 wurde Adamczyk Vorsitzender des Oberschlesischen Provinzialausschusses und Bevollmächtigter zum Reichsrat. Von 1932 bis 1933 saß Adamczyk als Abgeordneter im Preußischen Landtag, später gehörte er von 1933 bis 1936 dem Reichstag als Abgeordneter des Wahlkreises 9 (Oppeln) an. Zwar kandidierte er nochmals bei der Reichstagswahl 1936 und der Reichstagswahl 1938, doch wurde er nicht wieder gewählt.

Von Anfang Oktober 1933 bis März 1938 war er Landeshauptmann der Provinz Oberschlesien. Zudem war er von Dezember 1936 bis März 1937 kommissarisch Regierungspräsident in Oppeln. Von März 1938 bis Februar 1941 war er Landeshauptmann der Provinz Schlesien und danach bis Kriegsende der Provinz Niederschlesien.

1939 änderte Adamczyk, der politisch bereits seit einigen Jahren durch seine polenfeindliche Rhetorik aufgefallen war, seinen Namen in Adams.

Nach Kriegsende nahm er seinen Wohnsitz in Hannover. Ab 1956 gehörte er dem Vorstand einer Siedlungsgenossenschaft an. Er übernahm langjährig den stellvertretenden Landesvorsitz der Landsmannschaft Schlesien in Niedersachsen.

Literatur
 Joachim Lilla, Martin Döring, Andreas Schulz: Statisten in Uniform. Die Mitglieder des Reichstags 1933–1945. Ein biographisches Handbuch. Unter Einbeziehung der völkischen und nationalsozialistischen Reichstagsabgeordneten ab Mai 1924. Droste, Düsseldorf 2004, ISBN 3-7700-5254-4, S. 3–4.
 Joachim Lilla (Bearb.): Die Stellvertretenden Gauleiter und die Vertretung der Gauleiter der NSDAP im "Dritten Reich" (= Materialien aus dem Bundesarchiv. Heft 13), Koblenz 2003, ISBN 3-86509-020-6.

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Reichstagsabgeordneter (Deutsches Reich, 1933–1945)
Mitglied des Preußischen Landtags (Freistaat Preußen)
SS-Mitglied
SA-Mitglied
NSDAP-Mitglied
Freikorps-Mitglied
Landeshauptmann (Schlesien)
Person (Hannover)
Deutscher
Geboren 1901
Gestorben 1971
Mann
Träger des Schlesischen Bewährungsabzeichens
Bevollmächtigter zum Reichsrat

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
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Kundo : Age of the Rampant
The late Joseon dynasty was a period of social and economic unrest in Korea, and it was also a time of great tyranny. Due to continuous natural disasters and poor harvests, poverty, hunger and death are rampant. The aristocracy rule the country and, concerned only with their own wealth, they exploit and persecute the poor. In these turbulent times, a band of fighters named Kundo rise against the authorities. They raid corrupt officials, then share their loot with the vulnerable and impoverished.
This was suppose to be another one of my period pieces I thought was Chinese as opposed to Korean. Most of these stories were basically emperors taking the peoples money and bandits and samurai looting from town to town or roaming the countryside as lost warriors. As I watched this film, I thought I was seeing another Chinese Dynasty's movie. This period film was a little different than any of these and I enjoyed it very much. This film started out with a group of Robin hood bandits that had a hideout out of town and stole from the wealthy and gave back to the poor. These dedicated bandits that followed a strict code were the hero to the locals and downtrodden. But while this was going on, there was a family of wealthy nobleman that had some internal struggles with their heir to the family fortune. This young warrior bastard who thought he deserved his place beside his father tried to do everything to get his fathers attention. But constantly struggled to please him. From this struggle with his father the son decides to convince a local butcher to kill a young woman under the guise of her sleeping with monks in their community. He pays him handsomely and tells him its for his family When he gets to the hut where she is staying, he hesitates and gets caught in the woman hut. The butcher is ran off but he can not get out of his mind the reason he actually hesitated. The woman he saw was pregnant. We realize that the reason the Bastard son wants this woman dead is because the woman is the wife of his slain brother. Which would make the child the heir to the riches. After the Bastard son finds that the butcher did not accomplish what he wishes. He sends out a band of men to kill him. They fight and the butcher's family is killed in a fire set by the unruly gang. He survives and seeks his revenge on the Bastard son. When he is humiliated by the son in direct combat with the Bastard, he is thrown in jail and sentenced to death. The robin hood bandits which have been watching him throughout this time, comes to his rescue and makes him part of their Kundo. This is when the real meat of the story begins and when the butcher with the help of the bandits attempt to dethrone these noblemen. But the Bastard son is ruthless and skilled beyond belief. The twist and turns begin,
Very good storyline and very entertaining. All the hero's don't survive and slaughter of the innocents are common throughout this story. This reality is real and setting out for revenge can never be a solo act. Very good Korean made film with a Chinese dynasty feel to it.
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text:
using System;
using System.Text;

namespace Jolt.NET.Helper
{
    /// <summary>
    /// This class provides extensions methods to use with a string.
    /// </summary>
    public static class StringUtils
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Combines urls similiar to <see cref="System.IO.Path.Combine(string[])"/>
        /// </summary>
        public static string UrlCombine(this string baseUrl, params string[] appends)
        {
            if (appends == null || appends.Length == 0) return baseUrl;

            var urlBuilder = new StringBuilder();
            urlBuilder.Append(tryCreateRelativeOrAbsolute(baseUrl));
            foreach (var item in appends)
            {
                var tempUrl = tryCreateRelativeOrAbsolute(item);
                urlBuilder.Append(tempUrl);
            }
            return RemoveSlashFromPathIfNeeded(urlBuilder.ToString());
        }

        private static string tryCreateRelativeOrAbsolute(string s)
        {
            Uri uri;
            Uri.TryCreate(s, UriKind.RelativeOrAbsolute, out uri);
            string tempUrl = AppendSlashToPathIfNeeded(uri.ToString());
            return tempUrl;
        }

        #region Part of 'UrlPath.cs' from .NET 3.5

        internal static string AppendSlashToPathIfNeeded(string path)
        {

            if (path == null) return null;

            int l = path.Length;
            if (l == 0) return path;

            if (path[l - 1] != '/')
                path += '/';

            return path;
        }

        internal static string RemoveSlashFromPathIfNeeded(string path)
        {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(path))
            {
                return null;
            }

            int l = path.Length;
            if (l <= 1 || path[l - 1] != '/')
            {
                return path;
            }

            return path.Substring(0, l - 1);
        }

        #endregion
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This section is a warning to beginners not to rush in and buy kit. The most expensive is not necessarily the best. The club can lend members some essential bits of kit for free while you learn. Just rinse it down and return it promptly! Always report any defects to a committee member. If taking kit on foreign trips, you will be required to insure it and replace any lost or damaged items. Non-members cannot normally borrow kit from the club.
When buying equipment, always try before you buy. For boats, go to a retailer based by a white water course or lake. They'll usually let you demo first for which any cost will be deducted if you buy, but don't let this tempt you if it doesn't feel right. On trips or in the pool ask if you can have a go in someone else's boat, or try their paddles. If you know what you want the auction sites are worth a look. If you're a beginner, you don't need the latest model. A boat designed just a few years ago can be hundreds of pounds cheaper.
The most important question to ask yourself, is what recreational or competitive aspect of paddlesport do you want to get involved with? The choice is massive and it may take several months for you to gain an idea of what direction to take.
Try before you buy. A boat has to fit you. A boat that is too big/wide will hamper your paddle-stroke development. If the back of the boat is continually under water, you are too big for the boat. If the front dives under water while you paddle forward in an upright posture, you are too big for the boat. If your feet don't reach the footrest, the boat is too big for you. If you cannot get the full blade into the water, next to the boat, the boat is too wide for you.
Long boats are easier to paddle in a straight line, which is good early on while you are establishing smooth proficient forward paddling. Short boats turn very easily which can be frustrating for the beginner. You may also need to consider the shape of the decks, how much storage space is in the boat, grab handles, attachment points. Etc.
The choice of paddle is a crucial decision and shouldn't be rushed.
Here are some of your key considerations.
Feather. Most kayakers now choose the blades to be offset by about 45° as this reduces the strain on the wrist, but for freestyle 0º is quite common. Sea paddles are often sold as splits with a vari-lock system so you can choose your own feather angle.
Shape. The shape of the blade has developed along with the different disciplines. Polo blades are highly specialised. Asymmetric blades are more the norm for general use.
Weight. You'll feel the benefit of lighter paddles. Unfortunately they cost more.
Blade Thickness. In polo there is a minimum thickness requirement to reduce accidental injury. In other disciplines, a narrow blade is easier to manipulate and slice through the water. The thinner lighter blades are made from more expensive materials, but the benefit you'll get from a good set of blades can't be over-stated.
Paddle Shaft. The bit you hold onto! You wont be surprised to hear that there's choice, choice and more choice!
If you've got small hand you may want toconsider a smaller diameter of shaft. The material the shaft is made of will determine weight and stiffness. Both of these will affect the handling and comfort of the paddle. Cranked shafts put less strain on the wrist. Other benefits are debatable. You'll pay a premium so go and make sure they fit before you choose this option.
The deck has to fit you and the boat. Whitewater paddlers use neoprene decks. It should be a comfortable fit around your waist, and not too tight or too loose on the boat. If it's too tight on the boat, you'll exhaust yourself before you start paddling, though wetting the deck will help it stretch. Too loose and it will let in water.
Again, a bewildering choice, but at least this time you can get a good helmet at a reasonable price. Make sure it fits snug, but can adapt to allow you to wear a skull-cap underneath in winter. A bright colour like red or yellow is easier to spot in white-water than a black helmet.
The PFD has to fit you. It should be snug and not pull over your head when tugged. Check that there are no big loops of strap that could get snagged in an emergency. Modern PFDs have a variety of attachments, pockets, straps, and other gizmos with subsequent increases in cost.
When the water or air is cold, you'll appreciate good protection form the elements. Most BDCC club members buy made-to -measure from DAM watersports. The kit is well made and very competitively priced. They also do repairs if required. If you choose a dry-suite, you may want to consider a comfort zip. It adds significantly to the cost but there's no quick way out of a suit!!!
A drysuit/cag can keep the wet and wind off but it can't keep the cold out. You still need some good quality insulating clothing underneath. This is a matter of preference but don't layer up so much that your arms no longer bend. Personally I find a good quality thermal vest, and a fleece sufficient for winter months. Undergarments will get damp, either from old drysuits that have started to leak, or from sweat.
You'll appreciate having two sets of undergarments on a weekend trip.
Another alternative is an all-in-one fleece bodysuit, guaranteed not to ride up and expose your kidneys to the cold.
Try before you buy. Can you fit in your boat with this footwear? You are looking for a compromise of sole-thickness for flexibility matched with durability and protection. Your other main consideration is how well do they stay on your feet. Slip-on shoes could come off if you take a swim or portage through mud. Zip-up boots wont.
When the water or air is cold, you'll appreciate good protection. Cold hands can quickly make you feel miserable. People have different solutions. Find out what works for you. Personally I hate gloves, as I can't 'feel' the paddle.
30% of body heat is lost through the head. Good insulation here cuts down the sudden shock you'll experience when you capsize. Good head protection is an important defence against the dangers of hypothermia.