Features: Nikann Charney, Kat Newlon, Andi Line and Azriel Johnson
Host: Skylark Bruce
Venue: Cultured Coffee Co 309 Cleveland Ave NW, Canton, OH
Monday, April 7, 2014
Stark Knights 2014 -- Cultured Coffee (April 7)
Features: Nikann Charney, Kat Newlon, Andi Line and Azriel Johnson
Host: Skylark Bruce
Venue: Cultured Coffee Co 309 Cleveland Ave NW, Canton, OH
Monday, July 1, 2013
Water = Jail Time
I'm a fan of good police work. I respect police who do their job for the continued safety of our communities. But there are some real morons carrying badges and shouting commands at innocent people. For example: a sorority girl at the University of Virginia went to her local convenience store and bought some cookie dough, ice cream and La Croix water. She made her way to her car and suddenly she is accosted by a number of unidentified persons waving guns and badges at her.
These persons were supposed police officers. In their infinite wisdom they jumped on the hood of her car, tried to break her windows and yelled at her to stop the car and get out.
Without proper identification, in presumably a poorly lit parking lot, the girl did exactly what she should have. She tried to get out of there. She grazed a couple of the "cops" on her way out and immediately called 911 to report the incident. She was soon pulled over and arrested for three felonies.
Thankfully when she explained her story to the prosecutors the charges were dropped. The girl had just come from a "Take Back the Night" vigil so she was probably a bit more jumpy than she might normally have been, but that does not excuse the police officers for doing what they did, when they did it.
Police officers should NEVER draw guns on anyone who has not shown a proclivity of violence. Most law abiding citizens will abide the law if it is shown to them properly in a calm manner. If they had approached her just outside the store (identified themselves by badge number and name) calmly asking to see the contents of her bag, she probably would have complied, even though she is under no legal obligation to do so.
There are suggestions of a "Cop College" where proper instruction can be given and a finer toothed comb can be run through the police academy process. Police officers should be strong. If that person was carrying nuclear weapons they should be toss to the ground and handcuffed and be scared witless. But this is alcohol purchased by a minor at most offensive. Give the girl a ticket if she has alcohol and make her call someone else to drive and make the store refund her money. Then prosecute the store for not checking her ID.
THAT'S IT!
This is NOT a violent offense. The girl was defending herself against potential attackers and in this world where the rape statistics are not going down, no one can blame the victim here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do you think? Did she do the right thing? Should she have handled it better? Discuss!
These persons were supposed police officers. In their infinite wisdom they jumped on the hood of her car, tried to break her windows and yelled at her to stop the car and get out.
Without proper identification, in presumably a poorly lit parking lot, the girl did exactly what she should have. She tried to get out of there. She grazed a couple of the "cops" on her way out and immediately called 911 to report the incident. She was soon pulled over and arrested for three felonies.
Thankfully when she explained her story to the prosecutors the charges were dropped. The girl had just come from a "Take Back the Night" vigil so she was probably a bit more jumpy than she might normally have been, but that does not excuse the police officers for doing what they did, when they did it.
Police officers should NEVER draw guns on anyone who has not shown a proclivity of violence. Most law abiding citizens will abide the law if it is shown to them properly in a calm manner. If they had approached her just outside the store (identified themselves by badge number and name) calmly asking to see the contents of her bag, she probably would have complied, even though she is under no legal obligation to do so.
There are suggestions of a "Cop College" where proper instruction can be given and a finer toothed comb can be run through the police academy process. Police officers should be strong. If that person was carrying nuclear weapons they should be toss to the ground and handcuffed and be scared witless. But this is alcohol purchased by a minor at most offensive. Give the girl a ticket if she has alcohol and make her call someone else to drive and make the store refund her money. Then prosecute the store for not checking her ID.
THAT'S IT!
This is NOT a violent offense. The girl was defending herself against potential attackers and in this world where the rape statistics are not going down, no one can blame the victim here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do you think? Did she do the right thing? Should she have handled it better? Discuss!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Anonymous Avenges
I am a supporter of what the organization known as Anonymous is trying to prove. They want to show people how to take back their lives from oppression. Oppression certainly is everywhere. This is especially true in the case of Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz. Swartz killed himself likely due to the pressure being placed on him from several governmental sources.
Swartz was accused of illegally downloading millions of documents and posting them online.
I am not saying that what Swartz did was right. I'm not a supporter of plagiarism, but the free sharing of information is something I'm in support of.
I don't like the idea of fear, but if there must be fear people should not live in fear of government, government should fear the people. The government is here to help us, not clean us out financially, mentally, emotionally, and that is what happened to Aaron Swartz. I hope Anonymous keeps doing what they are doing. I hope other people start taking notice. I hope the world can come to some sort of balance again, in my lifetime.
Swartz was accused of illegally downloading millions of documents and posting them online.
I am not saying that what Swartz did was right. I'm not a supporter of plagiarism, but the free sharing of information is something I'm in support of.
I don't like the idea of fear, but if there must be fear people should not live in fear of government, government should fear the people. The government is here to help us, not clean us out financially, mentally, emotionally, and that is what happened to Aaron Swartz. I hope Anonymous keeps doing what they are doing. I hope other people start taking notice. I hope the world can come to some sort of balance again, in my lifetime.
Neanderthal Mom
George Church is probably one of the foremost experts in Neanderthal genetics. Such an expert is he, that he was the subject of multiple tabloid newspaper articles concerning the idea of seeking a surrogate "Neanderthal Mom."
If you'll remember a few years ago when Dolly the sheep was cloned, scientists used a sheep to implant the cloned DNA into and Dolly was brought to term. This is similar to the idea these tabloids say Church had. Church however denied this and added that the public needs more "scientific literacy" to discern fact from fiction.
Church was merely theorizing on what would be necessary to bring a Neanderthal child into the world. Church is not looking for a willing female human to implant a potential embryo into, but he does appreciate the attention it has drawn to science.
It would be interesting to see this kind of experiment, but I'm not sure the world is ready for the Neanderthal to return. There are a plethora of questions surrounding even the idea of cloning a Neanderthal: Would they be treated as beings or test subjects; how many would be created; what would be done with them after the experiment was over. The Neanderthal has been extinct for 30,000 years (though by looking at some people you'd never know they missed a beat).
I would be first on line to see the first Neanderthal baby, considering how much theorizing I've done on the evolution of our species, but this simply should not happen. At least not yet. Things would go wrong, the Neanderthal would somehow be exploited. We as a species are not ready to deal with our old rivals. It would end badly.
If you'll remember a few years ago when Dolly the sheep was cloned, scientists used a sheep to implant the cloned DNA into and Dolly was brought to term. This is similar to the idea these tabloids say Church had. Church however denied this and added that the public needs more "scientific literacy" to discern fact from fiction.
Church was merely theorizing on what would be necessary to bring a Neanderthal child into the world. Church is not looking for a willing female human to implant a potential embryo into, but he does appreciate the attention it has drawn to science.
It would be interesting to see this kind of experiment, but I'm not sure the world is ready for the Neanderthal to return. There are a plethora of questions surrounding even the idea of cloning a Neanderthal: Would they be treated as beings or test subjects; how many would be created; what would be done with them after the experiment was over. The Neanderthal has been extinct for 30,000 years (though by looking at some people you'd never know they missed a beat).
I would be first on line to see the first Neanderthal baby, considering how much theorizing I've done on the evolution of our species, but this simply should not happen. At least not yet. Things would go wrong, the Neanderthal would somehow be exploited. We as a species are not ready to deal with our old rivals. It would end badly.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Writing Knights Invades Deep Cleveland (July 13, 2012)
Friday the 13th did nothing to hamper the luck of Writing Knights Press as they forcibly invaded Deep Cleveland poetry, hosted by Josh Gage.
The show started off as normal as usual with Gage wearing his purple bathrobe, but when he announced that his original feature had canceled a rousing call of "Writing Knights!" rose from the crowd, Azriel Johnson and Marissa Hyde attacked and pummeled him senseless in the name of poetry.
Okay, so that was an embellishment. But this was a Grand Tournament build up show with three of the five finalists present.
What really happened was Writing Knights knocked the crowd out of the park with such varying styles they had no idea what would come next.
Azriel began by announcing the first of the finalists, Kathleen Gallagher who showed the attending finalists exactly what she was capable of with an impromptu poem.
The features began with Mistress Rosie taking control of the stage and giving Azriel the death glare when he asked her to depart before her signature piece. (Hey, we were on a time crunch)
Marc Mannheimer brought his slow and drawling style to the stage much to the pleasure of the crowd. He went on to introduce Andrew Line, one of the qualifiers to the Grand Tournament performance round.
Andrew Line further impressed the crowd and his potential competition with a short set. Andrew then introduced Steve Brightman.
Steve, a long time Writing Knights Press favorite continued in his consistency with his set that was to the point. He announce another finalist (who was unable to make it), Kevin Frederick Smith. Steve then introduced John Burroughs.
John brought the crowd everything promised to old favorites and new and at the end of his set he announced the fourth finalist, Dennis Shanaberg (who was also unable to make it).
This called to the open mic portion of the night where many great poets shared their work, especially a rousing performance by Vladimir Swirynski on his latest book about a Vietnam war veteran.
After the open mic, Writing Knights resumed with Marissa Hyde sharing some old powerhouse pieces as well as some previously unheard but impressive works.
Finally Marissa introduced Azriel Johnson, the original Writing Knight and according to some of the crowd, the pieces he shared literally blew them away. He shared some dark and twisted pieces as well as a piece about his time being homeless. After his set he announce the fifth finalist to the Grand Tournament performance round, Skylark Bruce.
All in all, the night was a successful step towards the upcoming Grand Tournament!
WK Pressman
The show started off as normal as usual with Gage wearing his purple bathrobe, but when he announced that his original feature had canceled a rousing call of "Writing Knights!" rose from the crowd, Azriel Johnson and Marissa Hyde attacked and pummeled him senseless in the name of poetry.
Okay, so that was an embellishment. But this was a Grand Tournament build up show with three of the five finalists present.
What really happened was Writing Knights knocked the crowd out of the park with such varying styles they had no idea what would come next.
Azriel began by announcing the first of the finalists, Kathleen Gallagher who showed the attending finalists exactly what she was capable of with an impromptu poem.
The features began with Mistress Rosie taking control of the stage and giving Azriel the death glare when he asked her to depart before her signature piece. (Hey, we were on a time crunch)
Marc Mannheimer brought his slow and drawling style to the stage much to the pleasure of the crowd. He went on to introduce Andrew Line, one of the qualifiers to the Grand Tournament performance round.
Andrew Line further impressed the crowd and his potential competition with a short set. Andrew then introduced Steve Brightman.
Steve, a long time Writing Knights Press favorite continued in his consistency with his set that was to the point. He announce another finalist (who was unable to make it), Kevin Frederick Smith. Steve then introduced John Burroughs.
John brought the crowd everything promised to old favorites and new and at the end of his set he announced the fourth finalist, Dennis Shanaberg (who was also unable to make it).
This called to the open mic portion of the night where many great poets shared their work, especially a rousing performance by Vladimir Swirynski on his latest book about a Vietnam war veteran.
After the open mic, Writing Knights resumed with Marissa Hyde sharing some old powerhouse pieces as well as some previously unheard but impressive works.
Finally Marissa introduced Azriel Johnson, the original Writing Knight and according to some of the crowd, the pieces he shared literally blew them away. He shared some dark and twisted pieces as well as a piece about his time being homeless. After his set he announce the fifth finalist to the Grand Tournament performance round, Skylark Bruce.
All in all, the night was a successful step towards the upcoming Grand Tournament!
WK Pressman
Friday, June 22, 2012
Annoyance in Babysitting
Administrators who have far too much time on their hands have recently decreed that a good neighbor is not a fit caretaker for the neighborhood children. Lisa Snyder of Irving Township, Michigan, recently received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services ordering her to stop watching her neighbors’ children. If she didn’t she would be violating a law aimed at unlicensed day-care centers.
There is a law on the books of Michigan that says no one shall watch other people’s children for over four weeks in a calendar year. My question is, whoever made this law, why didn’t they include a clause to exempt people who aren’t receiving payment for this care? A woman watching her neighbor’s kids is not trying to make money from it, she’s trying to help her neighbors and probably is receiving the same kind of help from her neighbors when she needs it.
I’m not too much of a fan of government involvement in personal matters anyway. Licensed or unlicensed, who cares. If the kids are safe that’s all that matters. Government doesn’t need to worry itself with things like this. People need to worry about this kind of stuff. If they trust someone to watch their kids, whether they have a license or not they should be allowed to do it. The last thing anyone needs is mommy-daddy government breathing down our necks.
I realize though that there are people who don’t feel the same way as I do, so for those people licensing works and I won’t criticize their choice too much. But exceptions should be made for people like Mrs. Snyder. Being a good neighbor should never be a crime.
Discussion: What do you think she should do? Should she keep going and be careful who knows what she's doing or cease and desist?
Discussion: What do you think she should do? Should she keep going and be careful who knows what she's doing or cease and desist?
Cited: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/ap_on_re_us/us_baby_sitter_backlash_mich
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Neanderthal Art
It seems the Neanderthals are getting more and more interesting. According to a new method of carbon dating there are cave paintings which predate any previous determination archaeologists may have had before. More and more evidence is lending itself to the idea that Neanderthals were not “dumb” and may in fact have been more culturally advanced than the interloping Homo sapiens that came up from Africa and the Near East.
Depictions of Horses with hand prints as well as circular designs cover the wall where the new carbon dating process was done. This process uses uranium testing to determine the age of the calcite over the painting instead of the paint itself. This helps scientists ensure that the integrity of the paint remains intact. The ages of the paintings have been shown to be as early as 45,000 years ago and Homo sapiens didn’t make it up into what we call Europe until about 40,000 years ago.
The hand prints on the markings are hypothesized to be signatures of a sort and the scientists involved are excited to remove once and for all the stereotype of Neanderthals being less intelligent than Homo sapiens. More and more evidence is gathered about the Neanderthal way of life, such as the possible existence of musical instruments or adornments for cultural significance in societies. It is likely that Homo sapiens adopted the idea of adornments and art from the Neanderthals according to these new findings.
Discussion: What are your thoughts on Neanderthals and their relation to early Homo sapiens?
Reference: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/14/12211397-new-dating-method-shows-cave-art-is-older-did-neanderthals-do-it?lite
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Commencement Speaker Tells Class "You Are Not Special"
My high hopes were justified when I heard of a high school commencement speech that, “tells it like it is” and “really speaks the truth about life.” With the lines, “You are not special” my first thought was “You are not special. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.”
You know, the Fight Club commencement speech. While this was essentially what the speaker, David McCullough Jr., said, he did not say it with such disregard for order and government as Tyler Durden. I am okay with that. We do not always need Tyler Durden to tell us that we have to live a life worth remembering for it to mean anything. McCullough hits the nail on the head in the speech decrying the overuse of trophies and accolades to make everyone feel better instead of teaching students to feel better on their own without validation from others.
You know, the Fight Club commencement speech. While this was essentially what the speaker, David McCullough Jr., said, he did not say it with such disregard for order and government as Tyler Durden. I am okay with that. We do not always need Tyler Durden to tell us that we have to live a life worth remembering for it to mean anything. McCullough hits the nail on the head in the speech decrying the overuse of trophies and accolades to make everyone feel better instead of teaching students to feel better on their own without validation from others.
This was quite possibly one of the best speeches I have heard, period. McCullough peppered the speech with humor and sarcasm towards social media. He touched both young and old with his words. The speech was pretty short (12 minutes in all) and McCullough made his points fast and efficiently. He shows proof of why the students are not special (37,000 valedictorians, 37,000 class presidents, over 2 million pairs of Uggs) and reminds the students that even if they are one in a million, in a world population of 6.8 billion that still means there are 7,000 copies of each person.
In an interview later, McCullough even admits he’s guilty of some of the things he spoke out against. In the end McCullough reminds everyone that even though no one is special, everyone has their own spark of Zeus and if we do what we do for no other reason than we love to do it, we truly live a special life.
Kudos!
Discussion: What do you think of the speech? Do you support what he said? Why or Why not?
Discussion: What do you think of the speech? Do you support what he said? Why or Why not?
Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/high-school-graduation-speaker-tells-students-not-special-145709954.html
Frances Cobain as Fiddle Tim
When I heard Frances Cobain was featured at an art show, I was both excited and skeptical. Certainly, she is the daughter of my favorite musician of all time. This gives her genetic predisposition towards art, but it does not make her an artist. This happened when she was 17 (she turned 18 on August 18 of 2010). How many 17 year olds get featured in art galleries, EVER let alone when they have famous relatives? Granted, having Courtney Love as a mother and the name of a long dead rocker gives her clout. To her credit, she chose the pseudonym Fiddle Tim to present under so as to avoid the inevitable criticism.
I am not an artist in the drawing sense, so I am not sure how much my opinion means, but I will say I have seen much better work from artists who were 17 when I was. This does not mean Cobain does not have any talent. It just means others have been better. I think she is just starting out, trying to find a name for herself. It seems she is just starting to carve her place in the art world. Having a show at such a young age is a good way to do that.
Of the eight pieces that were showcased (if there were more I cannot find them), I have to say I liked the title piece the best. The details were very well drawn. You can find the pieces on the first reference I provide.
Over all the art seemed very much like internet animations I have seen, with misshapen and grotesque images. However, my punk rock aesthetic thinks they are possibly a bit too polished to call punk. If she is not going for punk she could have fooled me by showcasing a punk anti-hero. But who am I to judge?
Anyway, I think she should keep up with her art and continue improving and hopefully she will have something that the ‘real’ art critics will accept as something new and different and worthwhile.
Discussion: Have you seen the art? What do you think? Does she have a future in Creativity?
Reference: http://www.laluzdejesus.com/shows/2010/Fiddle-Tim/Fiddle-Tim2010.htm
Reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mat-gleason/review-frances-bean-cobai_b_635942.html
I am not an artist in the drawing sense, so I am not sure how much my opinion means, but I will say I have seen much better work from artists who were 17 when I was. This does not mean Cobain does not have any talent. It just means others have been better. I think she is just starting out, trying to find a name for herself. It seems she is just starting to carve her place in the art world. Having a show at such a young age is a good way to do that.
Of the eight pieces that were showcased (if there were more I cannot find them), I have to say I liked the title piece the best. The details were very well drawn. You can find the pieces on the first reference I provide.
Over all the art seemed very much like internet animations I have seen, with misshapen and grotesque images. However, my punk rock aesthetic thinks they are possibly a bit too polished to call punk. If she is not going for punk she could have fooled me by showcasing a punk anti-hero. But who am I to judge?
Anyway, I think she should keep up with her art and continue improving and hopefully she will have something that the ‘real’ art critics will accept as something new and different and worthwhile.
Discussion: Have you seen the art? What do you think? Does she have a future in Creativity?
Reference: http://www.laluzdejesus.com/shows/2010/Fiddle-Tim/Fiddle-Tim2010.htm
Reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mat-gleason/review-frances-bean-cobai_b_635942.html
Pentagon Cyber Warriors
Like the script of a horrendously bad (or groundbreaking) science fiction movie, the Pentagon is developing cyber weapons to wage war against government attackers in cyber space.
There is little doubt that there are terrors that can affect the country just as definitively as a nuclear bomb could. Hackers sponsored by enemy governments can slip through defenses and attempt to disable our defenses in battle, or worse yet, cripple us financially (not that we aren’t doing that enough on our own).
I would hate to say that we are on the defensive end of these technologies, but it seems that way from the article. We are going to have to start enlisting the help of our super hackers, and I KNOW we have them in America. As much as I am frustrated with the United States lately, I do appreciate that we have some of the best technological capabilities in the world. Japan might make the products, but we innovate their usage. It’s time that the government realizes this and stops penalizing the hackers for being creative and enlists them to guard our cyberspace.
I am quite certain our hackers could develop some offensive capabilities for the government and quite possibly could locate and disable the attackers that are threatening us. I’m severely against warfare in general, but I am in favor of having the capability to defend ourselves and land decisive blows when necessary.
I would do something similar to what the government did in the 70’s when relating to Psychic Spies, find the hackers we have on our shores, and use them for their expertise. The difference with hackers is that they would need to know that if they were doing any of the attacking punishment would be taken. I am definitely not in favor of giving a free pass to be god of the internet and the finances just because they are helping. I am sure there are ways to make this unnecessary that do not involve threatening the hacker’s family or friends.
Discussion: Will you write your local congressman and ask them to support finding our cyberspace warriors? Why or Why not?
Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100203/us_time/08599195767900;_ylt=AnHLLqQEFBMfvPm9RNE.hTJbbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTM1YmcwOHQ4BGFzc2V0A3RpbWUvMjAxMDAyMDMvMDg1OTkxOTU3Njc5MDAEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM2BHBvcwM2BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdXNoYXJkYXR3b3Jr
There is little doubt that there are terrors that can affect the country just as definitively as a nuclear bomb could. Hackers sponsored by enemy governments can slip through defenses and attempt to disable our defenses in battle, or worse yet, cripple us financially (not that we aren’t doing that enough on our own).
I would hate to say that we are on the defensive end of these technologies, but it seems that way from the article. We are going to have to start enlisting the help of our super hackers, and I KNOW we have them in America. As much as I am frustrated with the United States lately, I do appreciate that we have some of the best technological capabilities in the world. Japan might make the products, but we innovate their usage. It’s time that the government realizes this and stops penalizing the hackers for being creative and enlists them to guard our cyberspace.
I am quite certain our hackers could develop some offensive capabilities for the government and quite possibly could locate and disable the attackers that are threatening us. I’m severely against warfare in general, but I am in favor of having the capability to defend ourselves and land decisive blows when necessary.
I would do something similar to what the government did in the 70’s when relating to Psychic Spies, find the hackers we have on our shores, and use them for their expertise. The difference with hackers is that they would need to know that if they were doing any of the attacking punishment would be taken. I am definitely not in favor of giving a free pass to be god of the internet and the finances just because they are helping. I am sure there are ways to make this unnecessary that do not involve threatening the hacker’s family or friends.
Discussion: Will you write your local congressman and ask them to support finding our cyberspace warriors? Why or Why not?
Reference: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100203/us_time/08599195767900;_ylt=AnHLLqQEFBMfvPm9RNE.hTJbbBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTM1YmcwOHQ4BGFzc2V0A3RpbWUvMjAxMDAyMDMvMDg1OTkxOTU3Njc5MDAEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwM2BHBvcwM2BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdXNoYXJkYXR3b3Jr
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