Red Sea Diving Resort

Film Review Red Sea Diving Resort Run time 2 hours 10 minutes. This is one of the many Netflix produced films. The cast is well known actors, Michael K Williams (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire), Chris Evans (Captain America / Avengers), Ben Kingsley (Sneakers / House of Sand and Fog, Gandhi). This is based on a true operation supported by the Israeli Government to rescue Jewish refugees in Muslim controlled Sudan. I first learned about this from a podcast interview with one of the main agents from the operation, then accidentally saw the film trailer months later. What I liked about this film was that it is bringing to light the true story of doing the right thing not because it is profitable but rather it was the humane and right thing to do regardless the cost. What I did not like about this film, is that it never really explained the purpose of the mission and why it was important. All of this is there in the subtext of the film. What ever the reason for downplaying the risk that these Jewish refugees were facing the film suffered for it because I never had the sense that the mission would fail or that the lives of people were truly at risk. Michael K Williams delivers a solid performance as the contact in Africa who is moving the refugees to meet up with the Mossad agents. I think there is a deeper story of struggle than in the rescue operation. Chris Evans either has trouble shaking his Captain America vibe, which may be more due to script and wanting to make a successful movie than a failure of his acting abilities. The supporting cast does a good job of creating the atmosphere of the film but it does fall short of creating a sense of impending peril for the characters. Overall, it was a good film and worth watching but I did not learn anything more about this event than I already knew from listening to the interview with the agent.

Be Heard

I voted early yesterday, and it did not take very, long. They did not have a sticker, which sort of bummed me out but that is not why I was there; to get a sticker take a picture to post on FG, insta, or Snapchat. I was there to cast a ballot for the people and ideas I think are most like my own values and beliefs. I have voted in person most of the time, but I have also voted by mail / absentee while I was in the US Air Force. Way back when I was in basic training, before I left, my mother’s father, took me down to the local registrar office so I could receive my absentee ballot while I was in basic training. This was weeks, maybe even few months before I ever left for basic training. I promptly forgot that I had done this, just as any 19-year-old is likely to have done. Later, about this same time of year, I was in basic training. We, the basic training flight, were gathered for mail call and a general daily briefing from the drill instructor. At the beginning of this briefing / mail call the Sergeant was holding an official looking envelope and started giving a talk about duty, values, and citizenship. The talk was about personal responsibility, and to protect the rights of the people and the protect our own voices in government by voting. During the talk, the Sergeant grew very, disappointed in our training class as this was the first and would be the only absentee ballot that came to our training class. There were 52 people in that training class and the ballot in the DI’s hands was the only one that came in that year. My name was called, I was given the envelope, and I was told to go into the DI’s office and vote, while the rest of the training class remained in mail call and the daily briefing. The Sergeant had the very same resolute look on his face that my grandfather had when he insisted that I get my absentee ballot. I have always been mixed in my feelings about that day. I was glad I was voting but I was also upset with myself for getting the people in my training flight a dressing down. Especially since it was not even my own idea to get the ballot sent. However, that day has stuck with me. Two men, one family by blood, the other family by service instilled a sense of responsibility and the importance of voting. The rights we have are talked about in schools, with families and with friends but often it is not talked about in resolute terms. It should be and more should be done so that every citizen can vote and have their voices heard. I do not know what the rest of the people I was in basic training with, did after that or if they voted in any elections after that year or got absentee ballots after that or not. I have voted in elections every year and I hope they have as well. Statistics show that half of people eligible to vote go to vote. Do not sit on your rights, if you do not vote, decisions will be made regardless. Time waits for no one. Silence is consent, your vote is your voice. Be heard. My beliefs are my own, I am not a republican nor a democrat. I am not affiliated with any other party. I vote because I have the right to do it and try to vote for the candidate that most often represents my own values. I hope that everyone else who votes does the same and I leave it at that. I am a citizen and I vote. Please vote. Well, that is all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, or give a like. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

He mumbles in his coffee...

There is a saying that the more things change the more they remain the same. Well it is not said much anymore but trust me it is or was a saying. Which is not surprising. No one with any “power” wants you thinking for yourself anyway and they certainly do not want you doing anything that is truly in yourself interest. As Alanis mused, ‘isn’t it ironic’, inaccurately but that is a peeve for another time, “life” has a way of leading us away from the things that will truly benefit us. Us as a collective, not as a you or I, now don’t go getting your panties in a wad over the word collective, or at least just not yet. There will be time for that later. What I mean is that society is not structured for a larger percentage of the people to have real success. In fact, it is better that we only have an appearance that we are getting ahead. When the reality is that we are just running in place and not making any progress at all. Sure, you can disagree all you like and that is fine, it will not change the reality that all of us are stuck. Just like Bob mused when singing about Billy looking up from his coffee and suddenly roared, ‘It’s a rattrap Judy, and we’ve been caught.’ People are too much like water in that we seek to find the path of least resistance. Which is good in the sense that we find ways to do things smarter but in many ways most of us end up more ignorant. Which given that we are in the information age is a feat. To be fair, there is so much information out there and most of it is garbage or at least distraction. And there is garbage specifically designed for you or to your refinement. We are caught in a labyrinth and weighted down stumbling without even knowing that there is a maze let alone that we are struggling. There is a lie about frogs staying in a pot that is slowly turned up to a boil and the frog will stay there unmoving until it is cooked. It is a lie because the frogs had been lobotomized prior to the test so they did not really know what was happening. If you thought that was a true story, then is serves well to prove the point about there being a lot of garbage information out there and it is truly, difficult to find useful or beneficial information. Most of it is just there to be a distraction, but other information is intentionally designed and distributed to mislead you and keep you uninformed or informed in such a way that is beneficial to the structure of things. That being you on the bottom and someone else on top. However, things have gotten to a point that everything is a point of contention. Which should be a red flag but largely it is ignored. Again, to be fair a contending point of view hits differently when it starts to tear down the normalcy of our understanding of the shape of things. Our nature is to defend what gives us ‘protection’ or ‘comfort’. Putting those in quotes not because they are not real, but they are very board terms which are adaptive to facets of life and to each person. Next time you feel that twinge really ask, why does this bother me, and try to see the opposing point. We do not do this enough. Look around, most of what you will find is division, divisiveness, derision and deceit. Some of it is just life being different however a larger part of is purposeful. Designed to keep all of us sectioned off into our own little parts of the maze and making sure, that most of us spend our lives wandering without knowing we are lost or weighted down. The truly, ironic thing is that we can walk away from all of it at any point, but just like those lobotomized frogs in a pot that is slowing killing us, we chose to stay in the cycle. It is easy to be weighted down and find yourself just sitting there because it is the path of least resistance. Most of us don’t even think to ask, is it getting hot in here? It is. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Today’s title: Lyrics from Boomtown Rats, ‘Rat Trap’ Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Light in a basket

I am not sure when I began to believe in the power of words. As long as I can remember I have loved books and stories, hearing a well-crafted turn of phrase, or even witty banter. Words have always held a kind of magic for me and for most of us. We are swayed by the words of others at one point or another in our lives. Most of it is just noise out there cluttering up the landscape but some of it truly wonderous and magical. Single words are ingredients for potions and phrases are spells if you will. Come up with the right combination of words and a host of things might be opened to you; power, money, fame, love and companionship. Our dreams could come true if only we knew the right words. Reading back over the opening of this I am not as certain of my faith in words anymore, or at least in my own voice as I was once. My love of words began with books and then later I fell in love with writing. Some of my earliest memories were thumbing through books and feeling empathy for the characters and their struggles, long before I knew the meaning of empathy. From their I started to write things for myself. I shared some stuff and it was ridiculed which didn’t help to inspire sharing the things I wrote again. I used to write things then burn them. Now in the computer age I can write and delete and save the trees and pens. Over the years I have kept written journals, tried to write poetry, some stories and even a book here and there. Most people who know me don’t really know this because I never or rarely tell anyone of my love for writing. If you are reading this and knew, congratulations and if you didn’t know… surprise. I don’t really share my writing, which makes it very odd that I have a blog. One which has for the most part been censored, but not the kind of censorship because the content was offending but a self-imposed censoring or exiling my writing to the modern-day pyre. I write and delete, rewrite and delete and toss out, stare at the blank page, write and delete. The silence roars at my soul. A few people in my life have mentored my writing but only briefly, more because I never shared with them my desire to do more with words, than it being their lack of ability to guide me. I remember one mentor saying that the ancient Greeks believed that the muses would inspire those with whom they saw talent, but if that person did not use idea, the muses would give the idea to someone else. Phobos and Deimos have laid siege to my voice, and I have failed to wage against them. Mostly still I just write and delete, but I am trying to be bolder and rediscover my voice. What I write may not matter to many, maybe it matters to one person or perhaps just to me. Back before I adopted the name invisible don as my nom de plume it was a nickname given to me by a friend who was struggling with personal issues and her own fears of coming out to her family. I don’t know what I ever said that made any difference but to her it did. She started calling me, invisible don, because I was an unseen friend who would listen and offered advice sparingly. The nickname was because we both loved Kevin Smith movies and as an homage to his character of Silent Bob, if you don’t know, is a character that doesn’t say much but when it matters says something important or at least is something that needs to be said. So where as Silent Bob was not heard much, I was not seen and not heard much. The name also resonated with me for varied personal reasons. At some point after that I started writing on the internet sometimes. It wasn’t until recently that any of this was known. The blog or notes are just random thoughts. Some have known about the online writing for a while and some people don’t. It isn’t anything particularly inspiring but I enjoyed writing it. Writing the blog allowed me to begin to re-explore my love of writing and some stories and some poetry has been written. I don’t share them and while I was going to say I don’t know why, I do know. Fear. The siege is still there, so while I will post notes and blog posts, I don’t really share the things I do write and largely have stopped writing but not completely. The little that does get written has been lost in a few hard drive crashes and what is printed is in some boxes tucked away from any eyes. I try not to delete as much, but full disclosure, I deleted some lines of this because I don’t know if I am ready to say them at least not here and even if I am ready, I fear that they will not be the right words. Maybe someday, I will find the right words and not feel the sway of Phobos and Deimos but I will use what the muses leave for me when they choose. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, or give a like. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Read at your own risk

Land of the free? The last two decades or so politically have been interesting, to say the least. There has also been a lot of clamoring about how the U.S. is this thing or that thing. Depending on where you stand in the political arena that thing is not generally the same. One sameness that seems to come up, regardless where you are politically is freedom. Freedom, we are all supposed to be granted, not by the governing body but, by a higher power. That we are innately supposed to be free as part of the natural order of things, or at least that is what is on the bill. Just so it’s clear the discussion isn’t about free from cost, because ain’t nothing free here. The economic woes of the nation are not the subject, just the concept of being and living freely. The very concept of this nation was founded in freedom. Freedom from oppression, freedom from tyranny, freedom to be independent. We all seem to agree the U.S. is a nation of freedoms. That is unless you are on the wrong side of the equation. As much as we claim to be a beacon of freedom, we are also a nation which marginalizes and disenfranchises so many of our people. From the very beginning, only land owners and most typically only males were truly considered citizens and protected fully by the laws, everyone else was literally chattel; the property of someone. Some more literally than others. Slowly, and at nearly glacial speed, rights and “freedoms” have been expanded to include more and more people but not everyone. Nearly two and half centuries have past and we are still marginalizing whole groups of people. This is not talking about immigration or how we treat people in other countries. This is right in every town, burg, borough, village and city. These are our citizens, these are “WE THE PEOPLE” being treated unfairly and unjustly. Take some time and think about our history, with the presumption there is some uniformity in how our nation has risen and how those living here have been treated. Every decade and generation there are groups or people who should be protected under the law and have freedoms, but they are denied those rights and freedoms, with vigor. The native peoples of this land can certainly site so many infringements on their rights and freedoms, up to and including this last half decade. We ignore the treaties, marginalize their culture, and we are still usurping their lands. No, we don’t send the cavalry raiding into their settlements any longer…well we still sort of do that, but we only fire rubber bullets and tear gas now. The racial problems in this country have improved considerably but racism is alive and well in the land of the free. If you are not a white Christian, in most of this nation, you have known bigotry, hate, belittling, cruelty and injustice as some point in your lifetime. It may even be going on right now. Brown v. Board of Education should have seen the end of segregation, but it still exists. The Civil Rights movement should have ended disparity in the public entities, however systemic racism is built in to the culture, we do not even recognize the advantages of not being black, brown, etc. Deny it all you want. We are not a harmonious society to non-white people. Depending on when your people came here only certain white people were acceptable, but those were largely based in religious reason, Catholics and Jewish people need not apply. In 2020 women will have been allowed to vote for 100 years, but there are still patriarchal limits on how much freedom women should have in this nation. Yes, we are light years ahead of other places in the world and where we were. Yet women are denied fair treatment daily. Just read the news of the day. How does some doctor abuse young girls on the US Gymnastics Team for decades, unless there is a culture in place that women are considered to be lesser in our society. How is it in the nation that is supposed to be the land of the free that so much oppression is still going on. There is no apology from me for saying what I have said, or any room for debate. We are not the nation we pretend to be. Yes, we are better than so many other places but being better isn’t enough if we are going to beat our chests and stomp our feet and say we are free, shouldn’t all of us be free. Shouldn’t we strive to be the model for the rest of the world to follow. Yet we still see race, religion, gender, sexual identity and so many other things as disqualifiers to rights and freedom not to outsiders but with our citizens. Our Independence Day is coming up. A day we choose to celebrate the grandness of our experiment in a fair and representative governance of the people, by the people. This year think about how much work we still have left to do before we really have a nation which is free. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, or give a like. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Unpopular Opinion: Star Wars films aren't really that good

Unpopular Opinion: Star Wars films aren’t really all that good. Love it, hate it, or somewhere in between, there is no denying Star Wars is a part of the popular culture. The films are at the very least entertaining, but they aren’t really good stories. There is an argument to be made because the films have stirred the imagination of thousands of people, who have created an extended universe but that doesn’t make the films good stories. Good things were inspired by the films, yes but not so much with the story in the films. Telling a good story makes you care about what happens to the characters and/or their cause but I don’t get that sense with Star Wars. I don’t know enough about any of the characters to care about them or what they are trying to accomplish. Watching the story there is never the sense that the characters are in any real danger, ever and part of that is because the story is out of order. You know if someone is in a film later in the time line they will live, no drama. Telling a story out of order is fine and it works sometimes but other times it doesn’t. It seems to be working in West World and it worked in Pulp Fiction, but with Star Wars it seems to be missing beats. Star Wars is 4, 5, 6, then 1, 2, 3, then 7, then Rouge One happens just before 4, then 8, and now with Solo probably before 1, but maybe not, certainly before 2. If you add in all the animated series stuff going on between the end of 1 and the start of 3 there is a lot of Star Wars on film. Before I go further, I will say I enjoy seeing the Star Wars films, they are entertaining but that is really about all. They serve their purpose as entertainment. As I said before I don’t know enough to care for any of the characters or their causes. The film stories aren’t really particularly compelling, they start out suddenly in the lives of characters and you are expected to bond with them instantly and care if something happens but it isn’t there. Star Wars started this, meh people die attitude in the first movie. Obi Wan is vaporized I guess by Darth Vader chopping him in half. This seems to really befuddle the great dark force user. He is all WTF that hasn’t ever happened before tapping his foot on the cloak like are you dead or what. Other than Luke screaming No, everyone just is like meh. Vader is supposed to be the most feared, ruthless person in the galaxy but you never really get that sense about him, except once in Rogue One. Vader is a BAMF in that last scene, otherwise he is dark and raspy but not menacing, sure he choked that one dude from a few feet away but you never get the sense that he killed a bunch of little kids. Which, he totally did. It’s the same with all the bad guys they just aren’t threatening. Which is a fault of the entire franchise, I never had any feelings good or bad about any of the characters. There is no real sense they may not succeed. Everyone who dies is either, a Wilhelm Scream death in the back ground or it’s a main character dying in an expected way. Even when they are about to die it is so telegraphed I’m surprised there isn’t a western union fee attached to the ticket cost. If you didn’t see Han dying in 7, were you even watching the film. The stories are so recycled within the franchise. Seriously if there is another planet killer base in the series…I don’t know … What they holy fuck, the empire can take over a whole star system but can’t seem to come up with a better way to spend their military resources. 4 is really the only good film and Lucas recut it so much afterward it is a mess as well. I don’t really get why people are so bent out of shape and ranting stuff like; Disney is ruining Star Wars, Kathleen Kennedy is the worst person in the world, that Rian guy sucks and J. J. Abrams is a hack. I agree they haven’t made the franchise any better but relax it was always mediocre at best, these people haven’t really made it any worse. It’s just a movie people or it is just a bunch of movies it’s entertainment be entertained. Solo at least settles the who shot first argument. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, or give a like. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Don't dream it, be it

Seeing beyond our own circle, our own struggle, our own circumstances takes effort. Effort most of us are not willing to give, because even when you make the effort to see beyond our own day in and day out, it does not last because our default is what about me, what about mine. That does not make any of us bad, unmindful, selfish or cruel. It does make us human though. The effort to see is hard and that is only one thing, you have, to hear the real problems and do the right thing to fix the problems. We look but not for very long and then our own issues need tending. Even well-meaning people only see there is a problem, and mostly we assume because we don’t have that, fill in the blank, problem we think we know how to fix that problem. Our most common answers are to throw money at the problem or to blame the person with the problem for their condition. Now we can look away again, or into our own circumstances with some satisfaction that we care, or it is not our problem. We don’t even look at our own problems how we should, we shift blame or site this set of circumstances or bad luck as the cause but never own our actions. We bemoan It’s not fair. This is true even god will tell you, it is not fair that is the default for life. The world does not care if you live or die from the poorest of the poor to the wealthiest of the wealthy. The world will shrug off your passing like the dust on the wind. For any of us to have any amount of success we have, to work together. If we all were just out for ourselves there would be anarchy and chaos. History is filled to the choking point with the stories of those who are able, taking what they want from those who can not defend themselves. Most of us end up on the losing end of that scenario. No matter how bad ass you think you are. Many of the solutions we put in place to off set the things we see, don’t address the problems because we don’t listen. We think we know better because it isn’t our problem. When the solution fails we can blame those who have the problem for it and move on satisfied in the idea that we have done something. Hunger and Famine in parts of the world most of us will never go, we can see the problems because some person went and filmed it, overlaid sad music and then told you for just a few cents a day you can make this person’s life better not just that one person their whole family. Buy this pair of shoes and we will send some shoeless kiddo a pair for free. Back to your regularly scheduled drama, guilt free because we “did” something about it. We know we haven’t done anything meaningful, but we can fool ourselves into thinking because we have done something effortless the problem is solved. Out of sight out of mind. It isn’t our fault that there is hunger or famine in the world. There are many reasons why that happens. It isn’t our fault any number of things happen in the world. Life isn’t fair. Even if we try to make it fairer, Life is still not fair. Little children will die, faithful spouses will be cheated on, one person will take advantage of another and the litany of sins cascades like a river swollen after a storm. We are human, and life isn’t fair. Just because life is not fair and we are not without transgressions does not mean we should not try, to not only see but to hear and to do something more than just throw money or blame all the ills of the world on those who live in them. We can do so much more than we do if we only dare enough to dream it and then commit to making it happen. John F. Kennedy said, “I believe we possess all the resources and talents necessary. But the facts of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshaled the national resources required for such leadership. We have never specified long-range goals on an urgent time schedule or managed our resources and our time so as to insure their fulfillment. “These words were spoken about the race to space and the moon. These same words can be set to any problem we face; the opioid crisis, poverty, healthcare, education, guns, immigration, terrorism, racism, and the list can go on. The facts of the matter are that we are too much focused on our own side of the equation for me and mine not for you and yours. Our leaders focus too much on dividing us rather than bringing us together and too much on short sighted bandages rather than long term solutions. History shows us again and again and again. Those at the top can only keep the people at the bottom fighting each other for so long before the sparks set fire to the world. The only question is do we want a violent revolution or do we want a revolution which leads us to a new height for humankind. Dare to dream we are better and then be brave enough to make it real. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, or give a like. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

And looking up I noticed I was late...

Following along with the news today … A familiar chorus of the same meaningless phrases, worn and tired words spilled out everywhere. Words which allow us all to have some comfort in the lies we tell ourselves. You know the ones, like we are good people, and we really do care about our fellow man. Thoughts and prayers… Heroic people in (insert public servant job) … Senseless tragedy … Can’t understand how this can happen… Et al, ad nauseum … I am honestly hard pressed to pick which is worse; the horrific act of the gunman in yet another in an increasing series of unspeakable acts or the lies we tell ourselves after each new horror which is all too soon forgotten and replaced with the next trivial thing to be pissed off about. We are stuck in this demented and psychotic mind set of, “us versus them thinking” and that every issue is some dichotomy of ideas. Everything is either this way or that way and if you aren’t the winner well then you are the loser. One mistake and you are finished there is no forgiving our transgressions. Despite the phrase so many like to mutter on their holy day, “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”. How does anyone say it with a straight face? How can anyone honestly say they are living a moral life when most everything we do and say is a lie. So much hypocrisy. The question which just simply baffles me is; How do these things keep happening? We allow them to happen, that is how. We do nothing every time something like this happens and we expect that things will get better. Someone else will do something to change things. Then the hate comes back bubbling in this issue or that one and seething up little by little then there is the next event. More sadness and mutterings about something should be done. Then the bickering we can’t fix the problem now because if we do it while party X is in power then party Y will never get elected again and vice versa. The babbling non- sense that fills the airwaves, internet and printed word all pandering to their side about how bad the other side is at this or that. How bad the plans that the other side make are for this group or that issue. No one in power really wants things to get better because there is no money in it. What the fuck people make your public officials be something more than a rubber stamp for special interest groups and lobbyist. If we bicker and fight and never do anything to really solve problems these things will continue to happen. People will die in the streets, be set on fire on back roads in Mississippi, drug behind pickup trucks in Texas, be left for dead tied to a barbed wire fence in Wyoming, have their eyes torn out and then stabbed, or be gunned down in a movie theater, kindergarten class, open air concert…. When will we finally say … ENOUGH … ENOUGH … ENOUGH … And truly work together. Sadly, I don’t think it will be tomorrow or the next day. Our current leadership represents the very worst of our society all parties not just one, not just at the federal level but all levels. Our media feeds on the hate because it makes them money. Ask yourself, have you had enough of nothing being done. Now ask yourself what have you done to make your street or block just a little better, your schools, your neighborhood, or your town. You don’t even have to get bigger than that. If one person in five hundred of us did something it would make an unbelievable difference. Imagine if 20 percent of us really tried to make a change … what a wonder it would be. Any more than that we would not even recognize our own country anymore it would be that amazing. I have no faith that anyone will do anything because it is too easy to just turn off the noise and forget that tragic stuff and then lie to ourselves the next time it happens Maybe someday we will really be tired of all it… maybe. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

panem at circenses

Here is a thought if you don’t like the NFL or more specifically how some players are acting in the NFL. Don’t watch the NFL. I don’t really care much for the spectacle of professional sport or even for what we call “amateur” sport on TV. So, I don’t watch it not because of the protest because I think it is pointless. It isn’t any more a waste of time than any other TV, so I won’t point fingers. However, I do have to ask why does anyone expect to find great role models or morality or social guidance from an organization whose one and only function is to play a game to make money. Why are you so pissed off that some over paid ball players are protesting? Why? If you don’t like it turn off the TV. I get that we are in “Rome” and that professional sport is a large part of the “arena” there are other things you can be doing rather than getting pissed off at football players. Why are you angry though? They aren’t disrespecting anything by not standing. The flag of the United States is the flag of the nation. It is not the banner for our dead. It isn’t just for our men and women in military uniform past and present. It isn’t a banner for any one party over another. It is for all people who live here in this nation. If standing for our national anthem is the only time you acknowledge those who serve in our military, perhaps that effort might be better spent on a call to your representatives and say something about how poorly we treat our service men and women after they serve in combat. The flag is the banner which represents the collective ideas of a nation. One of the most important is the right to protest and speak out against the country and the government when it is failing some of the citizens, without fear of persecution for speaking out. You need not be in the oppressed group to say, “that thing there, happening to those people is not right, it is not just and it should not be that way”. If you are upset because some football players protest social ills in this country, you are missing the point of why this is a great nation or at least was once better than it is now. You are also free to say that you don’t like what they are doing. However, take a minute and ask why are they doing this? Is there a reason behind there action? Don’t see if the person protesting is impacted by why they are protesting really look at why they are protesting. We don’t have to look that far back in our history to see mobs of people screaming, kicking, punching people of color for sitting at lunch counters asking only to be served food as paying customers or students walking into school houses amid jeers, taunts and threats only for asking to obtain a fair education. We have come a long way since the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, however we are not finished, there are many social wrongs going on in our nation many inspired by hate, racism and intolerance. Yes, there are people of all walks of life who commit crimes, squander the advantages they are afforded by living in this country. Yet there are many who are still locked out of legitimate opportunity because of social injustice, racism, bigotry, sexism, hate and intolerance. The oppressed need champions, people who will stand up (or not stand) and say, what is going on is not right and it needs to change. Peaceful protest need not be performed by those who are most directly impacted by injustice, in many cases those who are the most impacted are not able to protest because it will be worse for them if they do speak up, stand up, or otherwise make themselves more visible to those who hate them. If you are pissed off because someone says, things in this nation are not right for many here, you are really missing the point. However, if you aren’t going to be sitting on your sofa watching football maybe help make your community a better place. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Everyone's a critic

There are a lot of things I would like to be, proverbially when I grow up, however I never really knew I wanted to be them until recently. There are many reasons for that some I can put my finger on and other’s that are more uncertain. The list is far too long to put down and this issue of invisible don would only be a list of things I want to be, there may be something to be learned there as well. Perhaps another time. Onward. The title should lead you to where this rambling verbal path is going but if it has not, I would like to be a tester of things and then talk(write) about my experience with said thing, in other words a critic. This would be the ultimate job. Hell, I would even go to the producers in my own house on wheels. I don’t currently have a house on wheels but in theory if this were my job, I would have my very own traveling yurt. The problem is that everyone seems to be a critic these days and the art of the critic seems to be lost. Mostly people think of being a critic this is spouting on and on about what I did not like about this or that and the open forum of the internet has produced a tsunami of bad vibes and ugly words for everything. There are trolls enough for every bridge no matter how small. The art of being the critic is not just to say oh this sucked and here is why. It is to explain how a product, did or did not meet it’s intended purpose. A film has a purpose to tell a story and to entertain. For example, the film “Star Wars The Force Awakens”, it is certainly entertaining and it tells a story, unfortunately it tells a story we already know. I’m not going to fully review the film here in this issue. The job of the critic is to offer commentary concerning facts about that the film, such as it borrows heavily from episodes four and six for the story and plot lines and how this does or does not impacts the overall entertainment value of the film. The argument can be made that purely from an entertainment standpoint that it is a good film especially for the genre or Fantasy Action Adventure; there is a lot of action and likable / unlikeable characters. But as a film in an ongoing series of stories it does falter in establishing/explaining the world the characters are in, moving the series forward and leaves more questions than answers. The more questions thing can be and is really a good thing in that it paves the way for the next film in the series. Ultimately it is not a horrible film but it is one that is not a great film either, but it does entertain and is a must see if you are going to continue watching the series because it does establish new characters and story arcs. Being the critic means balancing the good and the bad and coming up with a useful analysis of the product to inform the next consumer if they want to invest their money / time with the product. The “This thing sucks and I am unhappy” critical review is all that seems to be out there. Which is less than helpful, because for all I know you are always unhappy and your idea of a good dinner and movie combo is Micky D’s drive through and the director’s cut of “Joe Dirt”. Having useful critical reviews is necessary, especially when you do not have unlimited funds for whatever budget area you are spending your time and money be it housewares, food, or entertainment. If you are going to be a critic about something put some effort in to it. If you are not going to put in the effort go be unhappy elsewhere and stop using up the bandwidth. My adventure as a beer reviewer or critic has really meet this dream job desire thing on some small level but as you may have noticed I have not really been reviewing any lately. I hope to change that soon many things have stood in the way of that but fear not they will be returning. I do not have the time funding to be much of a critic of other things but in the interest of reaching for my dreams and to some degree informing the readership I will review things as I can in a somewhat regular or irregular part of the reemerging of the invisible don writing series. Sponsorships are welcome and encouraged. So, if you would like to fund Invisible Don get in touch with me at the PO Box listed below and I will review your product or just send a post card from your patch of the mudball. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, and or like, depending on where you read this issue. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Michael Finnegan

Most of my life I have kept a haphazard journal. Journal is a bit misleading in that you might expect to gain some insight into my life by reading the thoughts put to word, both in paper and digital form, however your expectations would be incorrect. Likely you would arrive at the conclusion that some ordinary guy, living a rather ordinary life put down a lot of random stuff for no distinguishable or meaningful reason. How is that for some inspirational self-affirming internal dialogue. I know and that is the PG version of things. My own debasement is not why I decided to write down my musings though. Too much I have become the consumer of entertainment and relied on the external to stimulate my mind and I have put off diving into my own mind for motivation, inspiration, and entertainment. Too often the dark thoughts spoke too loudly or I just allowed them to push back any desire to produce anything that wasn’t vapid or mindless. Passivity and repetitive things filled the little free time I have in the evenings following work. Phobos and Deimos have stood prominently in the way of my doing anything remotely creative. Plans fell undeveloped and even the encouragement from friends with similar interests lost their weight to move me toward producing anything and easy mindless things came up as alternatives to being creative. I could sense their frustration and my own at this growing apathy. Once before I had let “life” crowd out those things I enjoyed. I say “life” in quotes because it isn’t really the truth it is work which is not what I want my life to be. Life shouldn’t be work, especially my work. It is draining and spirit crushing and there are very few shiny bits in all the dust and grit. I’ve seen the toll it takes on people, those who consumed by their work and have nothing really to look forward to at the end of the day. Sadly, putting work before life is seen as a virtue by much of our society. Being alone hasn’t ever really bothered me because I usually would fill my time with art, stories, poetry, and a few other activities. I’ve shared more (but very little) of my art than my poetry (which is to say hardly at all) and rarely (once maybe twice) have I let anyone read any of my stories and no one has ever read a word of my journals. However, my online writing has been read by a few people. Most of that is censored and veiled so that there is a barrier to knowing me from the words I post. I am not completely an introvert but I share very little in common with extroverts, hence the censoring of the things I write. Language has been a kind of magic to me in that, I believe that words can change the world. The trick is knowing which words and who to speak them too. Unfortunately, too many people use words for the wrong reasons. The abuses of words by others has stifled a lot of the things I would write about. I don’t care to debate things with people in my online writing so I avoid many topics because people don’t care to see another perspective and the art of debate or informative argument is largely lost. The exercise of writing and reading for that matter are dying and I was one of the killers because I had stopped putting words into the world. What I write may not mean much but it is something I enjoy doing and who knows perhaps one day I will let someone read a story, but that means they must be somewhere other than in my mind. When I started my online writing over 15 years ago I mused on how does one begin this journey… with one entry and then another. So now to begin again. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it is your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it is not your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, follow, or give a like. Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

You can't kill an idea

This is something that I wrote about a few years ago, but cannot seem to locate. It is possible I wrote it and did not post it or if I did I just cannot find it. However, it is important and I feel worth repeating. I also mention this as a preface, that this is not wholly an indictment against the bad policies of our current federal executive administration, but rather something that many people believe and have for a long time. The world is a shrinking place, no longer can we pretend to live isolated from the world or pretend that the things which are said and done in one place will not have significant impact in other places and cause many other reactions. Guns and bombs will not kill ideas, people must be persuaded to change their mind through discussion or shown that there are better ways. Violence only begets violence and hate more hate. Before moving on, I will say I support our military and I even served in USAF and believe it is necessary to have a military. The radical and conservative elements in the Muslim world and in the religion of Islam want the West and the rest of the world to be fearful of and to hate Muslims. I’ll repeat that so it is clear. Radicals and conservatives in the Muslim countries and Islamic faith want everyone to hate them. They want all the countries of the world who are not Muslim and do not practice Islam to hate them. They want sanctions, they want violence directed toward them, they want the people and the masses of the Muslim world to be feared and persecuted everywhere on earth that is not the Muslim world. The radicals and conservatives want control in their countries, they want to be seen by their people as the only ones who will fight back against the West and the non-Muslim world. They want to be viewed as the defenders of Islam. They want their people to fear leaving and living outside of Muslim communities in non-Muslim countries. Giving rise to the radicals and conservatives. Using the argument that we are only safe together. Once the average Muslims and followers of Islam fear the rest of the world, the radicals and conservatives can institute strict adherence to very conservative and radical practices of their faith. And say we cannot protect you if you don’t follow these standards or live a certain way. We will throw you out to the outsiders, and to the infidels. So, the people stay and they live conservatively. The new policies of the current administration are playing the game the way the terrorists want it to be played. The continued aggression by non-Muslim forces only pushes more people toward the extremists. Turing our backs on the moderates and liberal people of the Muslim world who are fleeing war and persecution by others in their faith and nations serves only to harden those who would be normalizers and moderates in their own countries if they were safer. The forces fighting the Islamic Terrorist will run missions and bomb civilian areas where the terrorists are hiding with no regard for the non-combatants in the area. The city of Aleppo and many others are examples of this and they are used by the radicals to say, “the West hates us all, because we are Muslim.” From the outside, it is easy to say, if the terrorists didn’t hide in schools, or near hospitals or in neighborhoods we would not kill non-combatants. It is cowardly for the terrorists to act this way. I agree but is only one point of view. However, if you are fighting against the most powerful nation in the world and their allies who have planes, tanks, laser guided bombs, and highly trained and equipped ground forces and you are a person with a gun, not a lot of training or ammo, you maybe even have a car. Not a military vehicle, just a regular Toyota or Volvo or some other car. Do you fight in the open or do you fight using guerilla warfare tactics? A terrorist to one nation is a patriot to another. The policies of hate and the constant warfare that we in the West wage against the Muslim world does not makes us any safer. It gives the Radicals power over the people in their nations. It turns moderate people into radicals. Should we and our allies be strict about who we allow to seek refuge, certainly. Our efforts should be diplomatic ones and missions of humanitarian aid and equipping the moderate citizens of those nations to stabilize their countries. Working as peace keepers not invaders and occupiers. Seeking out and establishing safe zones in those nations. If we show them we are not killers and we are not hateful towards them and are compassionate and will protect them, we take away power from the radicals and conservative elements. Our current policies instead give the radicals and conservatives all the proof they need to convince their people who are suffering that it is the fault of the greedy West and the infidels who are the cause of their suffering. We should respond with force when necessary, but it should absolutely be the last thing we do. We should not be doing the things that give the radicals and extremist more power and influence but that is exactly what we are doing now. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Is it safe?

Is it safe? A recent executive order banning people from specific countries from entering the US was released. My question is does this make the US a safer place. This is not an easy yes or no question but the answer is yes and it is no. Being that of the more than 40 incidents listed as terror attacks in the US following 9/11/2001. Most of those were committed by US born citizens. Those not born in the US entered either; from countries not on the banned list, and/or were children at the time of their entry in the US. Those entering as children did not commit their acts until a decade or more following their entry in the US. Most of those children were under that age of 10 upon entry. Based on history this ban is not going to make the US safer. Most likely it will further radicalize individuals who are already at odds with and disagree with the US and are currently in the US. Making us less safe. It does seem to make the US safer in terms of increasing the time and changing the vetting process for those entering the US. Which may actually keep the US safer. However, being that it targets specific countries and not many others it can still make the US less safe by adding more rhetoric to those who are against the US and are likely already in the US. Most of whom are citizens and not subject to revocation of visas or green cards. If it were a universal change to the vetting process of non-citizens entering the US. It would be fair and treat all people the same, and would do more to make the US safer Terrorism is a real problem, whether it is from an Islamic State or Non-Islamic State. We need to do things which will do more to reduce further harm rather than increase future risk. Over all I do not think that this ban does make the US safer. Here is a proposal. The US lead/join a multi-national collaborative to set up refugee centers in Islamic nations. Provide aid in running those refugee centers; health care, food, security. Provide military assistance to those Islamic Nations fighting against radical Jihadists and Islamic terrorists. Not necessarily combat troops but advisors, equipment and training. This would allow people to remain near their homes, in culturally familiar areas, to be safe, provide them the opportunity to fight back against their oppressors and overall is supportive rather than combative and dividing. My concern is that the trend of things being passed/proposed by the current administration are written and proposed in a manner which creates turmoil and discontent, leading to the question why? The true fear is the current administration wants the US to be attacked to justify a war. War is, in the short term good for the economy, and tends to unify the people. However, in the long term what do we give up as to our freedoms and liberties and do we once again further the cycle of war and killing. Some last thoughts related to all of this are: “An eye for eye makes the whole world blind.” M. Gandhi And “The soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war." Gen. D. MacArthur My hope is that one day, we can prove in the 2 thousand plus years since Plato we have grown and changed somewhat as a species, sadly it is not this day. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Stop lying to us

Why the wall on the Mexican border is not the answer, it is a distraction. Most people who are in the US as undocumented people entered the US legally as tourist, students, visa holders and other legal ways of entering the US. They just have not left yet, hell many of them go and come back through checkpoints frequently to visit relatives in the countries of their birth and return to the US again, legally crossing the border. I say undocumented because the question of their legal / illegal status is something for legal experts to determine but just because they are here does not mean they came here by illegal means. The point is that most of them didn’t walk across the southern border of the US into California, Arizona, New Mexico or Texas and if they did walk across the border more often than not, it was through a border checkpoint. Now, I’m not saying that there is not a certain number of citizens walking across the border because that happens but spending billions of dollars to build something that will be, and where it already exists, monumentally unsuccessful in doing the very thing it is supposed to do. Unless of course that thing is to drain billions of dollars out of the government and put it into the hands of construction companies, well then it will be a huge success. The irony is that these same construction companies who get the money will bid out to subcontractors to do the actual work. Subcontractors, they know, will everyday go to a parking lot, building supply store, or corner lot and pick up undocumented workers to work on the construction sites. Beyond that irony is that most of those contractors and subcontractors voted for the current administration. The current administration does not care about controlling the influx of undocumented workers that is why they are pushing a plan that does not address the issue. What they do want is to be able to use them for labor; cheap, untaxed labor that is better for their bottom lines and if the workers gripe or complain, the bosses can threaten them with deportation. Undocumented worker keep quiet, they do the work and take the little bit of money they get and put their lives at risk because they aren’t always given appropriate safety equipment for the jobs they are doing. Because buying that stuff also reflects poorly on the profit margins. If they were really concerned about the influx of undocumented people they would hire US workers and if they couldn’t find qualified US workers they would reach out to technically schools and say we need qualified people, how can we help get people trained. But they don’t do that. They hire undocumented people. It isn’t just the construction industry either, it is so many businesses. Many owned by people who voted for the current administration. If they really wanted to stop the influx of undocumented people, they would just not hire them if they were not citizens but they don’t do that. The current administration wants to bully Mexico and other countries into agreements with the US which will take advantage of those countries and are beneficial to the US. Sure, root for the home team this is fine, but be upfront about it. 45 certainly has been honest about that point, he is for trade agreements which are beneficial for the US, okay that is great. Hell, most US citizens can get behind that idea. There are better ways to get there than the dog and pony show that is the “WALL”. Because the WALL is a giant lie, it is a waste of time, it is a waste of money and doesn’t do anything to address the real issue of controlling our borders. Want to make the US great again, stop lying to the citizens and wasting our tax dollars. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

What is the US

What is America? For starters it is most of the land mass on one hemisphere of the planet. The United States is one country out of 35 countries in North and South America. We are not the only Americans What is the US? We are not just our government, we are not just our symbols, and we are not just our laws. The United States is not just a place, it is an idea. It isn’t a thing you can hold on to in your hands. You have to have it in you; in your actions, thoughts, and words. People came together and said it is not right that men (humans) should be subject to the whim and fancy of a few or a single person. We should come together for the common good of all people. All People! Those who lead, are chosen to protect all of us not just those with whom they agree. It is not an easy job to lead, it is troubling and hard. However that is not the US either. The US is still this idea we strive to achieve. A dream we hold, to be better than we were before, not for glory or fame but for liberty, freedom, justice, and happiness. Too many people in power, and those who put those people there, seem to have forgotten these ideals of liberty, freedom, justice, and happiness and only strive for power, fame, and glory. Too many people in power, and those how put them there, feel that it is right to divide the people and say some people do not have the same rights to liberty, freedom, justice and happiness as others. We, the people, All People! We keep our hopes and dreams alive not by debate and political discourse. Our dreams are born from deeper stuff. When we are inspired by those of us who see the world as it could be and arguably how it should be. Our hearts are not stirred by a new piece of law but by song, and art, and poems. Our minds are not broadened by lectures alone, but also by paintings, and stories, and understanding of other cultures. Our flaws and short comings are made into lessons through comedy and satire, so we learn and grow from them. We are not free or liberated if we are unable to celebrate who we are as people. Celebration means our art, our songs, our films, our paintings, and our poems, our dreams made of stuff so others might see how the world could be and really how it probably should be. When you think about the United States, you do not think of laws, or Presidents, or other things. Our flag is only cloth, our laws are only words, and our monuments are only stone and metal. It is the ideas these things represent that make them mean something. Those ideas are built up by the arts. Without the arts, we are stagnant and foul, and our Nation is not long for this earth without them. Taking away funding from the arts is probably the least productive thing any leader can do to help their country grow. Imagine how the world could be and really how it should be and create that world, inspire others with your art, your songs, your paintings, your music, your dance, your stories funny to tragic, Do what you can to make the world a better place for ALL PEOPLE.

What's in the box

What’s in the box? Even if you have not seen the movie Se7en, you probably know the line from the movie uttered, muttered, and screamed by Brad Pitt’s character Det. Mills, “what’s in the box” Spoilers ahead, I know 1995, was over 20 years ago, but some people with an interest in seeing it may not have seen the movie. For example, my son and his girlfriend had not seen the movie. We watched it the other day, their first time seeing the movie, my, I don’t know, 30th time seeing the movie? I’ve seen it more than once and less than 100 times. Not the point. What is in the box. The movie is about a killer, acting out crimes based around the seven deadly sins. Quickly they are Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Lust, Pride, Wrath and Envy. Each sin has a crime associated with it or so we are lead to believe. There is some debate about the end of the movie, because what is in the box is never shown. Again, spoilers read no more if you want to watch this movie untainted. Most people seem to think that Det. Mills’ wife’s head is in the box, which pushes him to commit the sin/crime of Wrath/Murder. However, I’m not convinced that Tracy Mills’ (Gwyneth Paltrow) head is in the box. Det. Somerset (Morgan Freeman) does see the content of the box. Somerset knows things that only Tracy Mills knows and no one else. She is pregnant. She confides this to Somerset away from her husband. John Doe, the killer (Kevin Spacy) shows up a few times in the film before you know he is the killer. John Doe knows who the investigating detectives are and taunts them. The question mark for me comes with the sin/crime John Doe says he has committed, which is the sin of Envy, in that he longs for the life that Det. Mills and his wife have. However, the sin of envy does not require a physical action, only a mental one, to want what others have. After several crimes are shown, John Doe turns himself in and then promises he will confess and plead guilty to all the crimes if they go with him to find the last two bodies. Prior to turning himself in, John Doe arranges for a package to be delivered to Det. Mills at this remote location at a specific time on a specific date. Yeah, this is the box. Somerset cuts off the delivery driver, opens the box and then runs back to Mills 100 yards or more away. During the time in which Mills and Somerset are apart, John Doe says to Mills, he cut off Tracy’s head. However, because you never see the head, is she dead or not? Envy does not require an action. John Doe wants to die, but suicide is a sin so he cannot kill himself and he technically does not kill any of the other people, he puts them in positions to decide to live or die, kill or not kill, each placed in a test of their will. Each person could have refused to do what they were doing and may or may not have died. I don’t think John Doe would have killed any of the others and been frustrated by their determination not to commit the crimes. The “victims” were all weaker in their will to resist their sins and committed them. John Doe even lets Mills live when he could have killed him multiple times. John Doe will not commit the crime of murder an unforgivable sin, and is avoiding suicide also an unforgivable sin. There is no scenario where John Doe would not have died, he wants to die. How do you accomplish this without sinning and going to hell? Make someone believe you are committing crimes and have them kill you. Which comes back to the test of will, Does Mills resist what he does not know to be true or does he act on his emotion and commit murder. If the murder was unjustified it is likely to have a bigger impact, in that an innocent person was killed. Tracy contemplates an abortion because the world is no place to raise a child. Somerset knows this, John Doe may have known this. Mills does not know about Tracy’s pregnancy until the set up. My conclusion is that John Doe followed Tracy, after she had an abortion took the fetus and packaged it, maybe with a card that says Happy Father’s Day or something, and has it delivered to the remote location. Maybe is it her head in the box, but I have my doubts because John Doe really has only committed a few assaults, the other deaths were all suicides or murders by other people. Assaults are not hell worthy trespasses. David Mills rots in prison a murderer, Tracy Mills mourns him and the life they could have had, John Somerset must live with the reality, as much as he hates the world around him, he does nothing to change it, even when he can. What do you think was in the box? Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Today’s title: Line from the movie Se7en Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015, Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

How dare you. How dare I not.

Forty-niners quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, is getting a lot of negative attention for his recent choice to take a stand by not standing for the National Anthem because in his opinion racism in the US is still a problem. Well, folks Mr. Kaepernick, has a point, racism is still a thing in the US. While his protest has generated a lot of talk very little of it is in the right direction, of addressing the issue of racism. So you might say that his protest failed. But has it really failed. The sit ins of the civil rights movement did not change things dramatically over night, it took years before meaningful legislation was passed and enforcement of those laws occurred. The same is true for any social change. Certainly Colin hit a nerve with many people but most people do not even think about the meaning of standing up for the national anthem it is a reflex and little to no thought is put into why we stand, it is just something we do. There is not anything particularly patriotic about most sporting events, and they are usually not political events by any measure. Playing the national anthem at the beginning of sporting contests isn’t necessary nor is it required by any law. Somehow it has worked into the fabric of sporting events, and graduations, and other things where someone thinks it should happen as a matter of national pride or some other political gesturing. There is no law that requires the national anthem to be performed at any time, there are some rules regarding how to behave during the playing of the national anthem but these are “should” rather than “shall” making them optional or the preferred means to show “respect” but are not required (unless on a military base, installation, or ship). I put respect in quotes because you can fake respect for anything by doing what is “expected” of you without having any respect for the action. Which is worse; not doing what is expected or faking the respect, that is a question for another discussion. So while you may disagree with the protest and that is your right, Mr. Kaepernick has the right to protest peacefully if he chooses even if you don’t like how he has chosen to protest. Personally I think that all the people who have hung their flags upside down during President Obama’s administration are doing something disrespectful and I don’t agree with their form of protest, but they have the right to protest in that manner, even if I don’t like it. One of the things that is truly great about the US is that we have the right to protest governmental and social wrong doing. Not everyone is going to agree with the means of protesting or with the issue that is being protested. While it may seem hypocritical for an overpaid adult playing a game to say things are not fair for some folks in the US, there is no requirement that you must be part of the oppressed group, or you must be subjected to the unfairness, to say things are not right. It wasn’t all women saying women should have the vote, it wasn’t all black people saying that basic civil rights needed to be law. Pick any social issue where a group is treated unfairly by the government / social system and the people protesting the unfair treatment, are not all in the group which is oppressed or treated unfairly. Like most protests the message is lost in the rhetoric of the unrelated issues, so if you want to hate Mr. Kaepernick, okay you can, if you want to burn his jersey, you can probably do that too, you may want to have a hose ready though, fire can be dangerous. You can even refuse to go see 49ers football or watch the games on TV. You can even ask that he be fired, fined or traded. You can do all of those things, but he can still protest by not standing for the national anthem. I served this country in the armed forces to protect everyone’s rights, not just those people who think like I do. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015, Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Vroom, vroom...

DCU v. MCU Not really a review of Suicide Squad. Movies are bigger than ever and they are promoted so much that they hype usually out performs the movies. I say usually because there are times when a movie overshadows the hype. Comic Book film genre is not going anywhere anytime soon. The movies make money and allow the studios to make other films and not just the comic book genre DC comic Universe (DCU) cannot seem to get the universe series of characters off the ground as well as Marvel Comic Universe (MCU). DC has been happy to just keep their characters in their own realms rather than bring them together. Batman has had very good success and to a much lesser extent Superman has had good first movies without a strong follow up film. Marvel has been building the all characters tie in to a single universe since Iron Man in 2008. The DC film Man of Steel 2013 and Henry Cavill which was more a relaunching of another attempt at the Superman as film star and possibly series. However, I’m not sure that the story in Man of Steel was written with the intention of Universe building for DC but it is now the beginning of the DCU Films and from where all of DC’s characters will interact in the way Marvel has been doing since Iron Man in 2008. While the Marvel movies seem to be homeruns most of the time, DC movies seem to be okay too good with not as many people saying they are great films. For example, DCU film Batman v. Superman = good against MCU Civil War = great. Batman v. Superman got a lot of bad press with Ben Affleck as Batman. I think Ben did a fabulous job as the Dark Knight but the story got all jumbled with too much stuff going on and Jesse Eisenburg’s Lex Luthor was just bad and he is a better actor so you have to blame the director and writers for that mess. Overall thought BvS was a good film not great but good. Suicide Squad is the next chapter of the DCU building the film world series. A lot of things have worked against this film. One is the already mentioned is over hyping of movies for this one it was over a year and it seems that is becoming the norm and it should stop. The Joker. No matter who tried to fill the shoes of the Joker after Heath Ledger was going to suffer harsh reviews. Heath really just nailed the character and competing with a ghost is impossible. Jared’s Joker is not bad but it isn’t great. In defense of this version of the Joker he isn’t in the movie a lot but enough to get a sense of character and I wish there had been more story devoted to the Joker but there wasn’t. As to other characters; Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn was nearly great, as was Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Will Smith was respectable as Deadshot, Jared Leto was solid as the Joker but again not Heath’s Joker, then the cast goes down from there which has more to do with a story that is all over the place and less to do with actors and their abilities. The big problem DC seems to have with their films is clutter and bad guys which don’t make much sense. The Christian Bale Batman Trilogy excluded from that statement as the exception. DC should use that model moving forward with their universe and upcoming films. Bad guys who are a large enough threat but in a realistically understandable way and not this planet crushing thing with five other subplots that they seem to want to do in every film that is not just Batman stand alone series. Man of Steel there are the Terraforming machines killing the earth and other stuff BvS you have Doomsday trying to kill the earth and a lot of other stuff Suicide Squad has the same type of thing going on. Obviously this is not working for you DC, go back to what Christopher Nolan did in his Batman Trilogy. Have a single villain or problem and not so huge a problem that the entire world is going to end, one large city is big enough it keeps a scale that is managed and interesting for the viewer. Overall I liked Suicide Squad and it had really good scenes but the scenes were not really tied together well enough to have a sense of this is where things are headed. The movie was like oh that was cool, filler, that was cool too, filler, cool back story, filler, that was cool and on it went. There is a clip of things to come midway through the credits so stay if you like those. Hopefully Wonder Woman will be better and the Justice League will be as well. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards

What's up doc ...

One summer my grandfather (maternal) taught me and my brother how to make a box trap. It isn’t really complicated and we already had the general idea from the coyote and road runner cartoons. We stayed several summers with the grandparents when were little kids, and then we ended up moving into the house next to them at some point. So I had the idea that I was going to catch a rabbit during one of the summers, I’m not sure when the brother became a part of the plan but that happened along the way. One of those you need to include your brother things that adults say so they don’t have to watch kids in more than one place. It wasn’t that I was actively trying to exclude my brother, it just never occurred to me to include him in the plan either. The first plan was not a very good one and I could shift it to the brother for having the bad idea but it was my bad idea and I’m willing to own it. I thought if I was quick enough I could catch the rabbit with my bare hands…indeed, alcohol did not always play into my delusions of cat like reflexes. My brother had similar faith in his rabbit catching abilities and even felt he would out do me in the number of rabbits he could catch. The key was to be really quiet and ready to run at any moment. Silly as this plan sounds it nearly worked, if you count nearly working as chasing a rabbit in a yard like a mad person for 20 seconds before it disappeared into brush. The rabbit was nowhere near being caught at any moment but it seemed like that plan was almost perfected and we kept at it. The running rabbit maneuver happened several times, for more than a single day too. I think the rabbits were having lots of fun and were making it a game on their side as well. Get the human to chase you, the one who stays out the longest gets first dibs on the new carrots. Our grandmother didn’t care that we were chasing rabbits and didn’t concern herself that our confidence in our abilities would land a rabbit or more at any time. She was certain that chasing rabbits would make us sleep well. Which was pretty true. Well after a few days of foot chasing rabbits, we netted a sum total of, no rabbits. Our grandfather decided it was time to teach us how to make a box trap. We even learned two triggers for the box trap; active and passive. The passive one is when the bait is fixed to the trigger and you leave and come back and check the box every now and then. If it is sprung there may be a rabbit under the box or not. Usually it was the wind that knocked over the box and there was no rabbit. The active trigger was a stick with a string tied to it and you laid in wait holding the length of string, poised to pull the trigger as the rabbit went under the box. The trick here was not falling asleep and or being able to pull the string fast enough so the box dropped quickly. The key here was putting the bait near the small angle end of the propped box, so even if you weren’t really quick you still were likely to catch whatever was eating the bait. The trap I’m sure would have worked but the rabbits decided that since the odds were now in our favor and not the other way around, as with the foot method, they quit playing. I laid for hours watching that box hoping for a rabbit to wander in, but it never happened. Still probably some of the best fun that I had as a kid and maybe the least dangerous but those are tales for another time. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards

Father's Day

With Father’s Day approaching soon-ish… I find myself as I have for the last decade fatherless, yet I am a father. So it is a happy and a sad time for me. I love my children but also mourn the loss of my father. My being a father is a much different “father” than one path on my life would have led me to as an ordained priest in the Catholic Church. For those of you who don’t know… once upon a time, I was in the seminary but left long before the priesthood became a reality. I did, however become a father of children, who share half of my genetic material, and I wear a lot of black clothing. I can say that my daughter and my son, are without a doubt or any equivocation, the best contribution I have made to world. My children are simply the ultimate joy in my life. I am proud of them beyond any word can express. They are unique in the world and the first and last people I think about every single day since they have been born. While those words may seem trite or over used, I mean them sincerely, I have no disillusions about who they are as people. They have each made mistakes, along with many successes. As to the mistakes I wish they had not made them but who has not made mistakes. I have certainly made my share of them. To me they are better people because they have taken missteps and learned from them and moved on. My daughter and son are courageous and beautiful, intelligent and whimsical, daring and reserved and so much more. They are simply the people I love the most in the world. There is a Hebrew saying, “The child remembers what the parent wishes to forget.” I have made missteps as a father, just as my father had his own missteps…not one of us can look back on the action of all of our days and not find fault, we can only hope that those days a few and that we can be forgiven for any mistakes we have made. I am no different than anyone and know that I am not perfect, I tried my best to be best father I knew how to be, and there were times when I fell far short of that mark and wish with all my heart to have the opportunity to do things differently and not make the mistakes I made. However, hoping and wishing cannot change what has already happened, we can only learn from our mistakes and try not to make them again. I know now, as a father, that my father certainly felt the same. We did not always see, eye to eye and there were many a harsh word pass between us. I would give anything the change that truth but it is not possible The last words I spoke with my father were words of love after a period of turmoil between us. I am happy that he did not leave the world with a burden that I am glad I do not have to bear. If I thought my father had left this world thinking that I did not love him, would have been a terrible thing to live with and I am sad to say was almost a reality. However, we had made our peace but all too soon after he was gone. My children are adults now and on their own journey, I tell them as often as I can, without being too annoying, that I love them with all my heart. They have given me the best thing any child can give a person and that is the opportunity to be a parent, without my daughter and my son I would just be this guy who did a bunch of stuff that didn’t really matter but because of them I am a Dad and to me there isn’t anything better that I can be. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 / PS4 Gamer Tag: invisible don Invisible Don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015 Send me Post Cards … I love Post Cards