Monday, April 30, 2012

The Initiative Announces POWER UP TOUR




The last couple entries on this blog have been about the arrest of Bee Sting, currently in jail for pulling a shotgun on a motorcyclist outside of Flint, Michigan. The entry previous to this is an account by his team mate, Justicar.

Although Bee Sting has yet to go to trial, available evidence (Facebook photos, news reports, team mate's eyewitness account) suggests that this was about an ounce away from being the very worst RLSH scenario. Bee Sting could have easily shot himself, the person he was fighting (who, unless proved otherwise, was only in violation of a noise ordinance), or accidentally shot a bystander or responding officer instead of the empty trailer he hit when the shotgun went off. 

The big question now is...what happens next?

One group that has been working on a solution to incidents like this is the Initiative, a group that has chapters in NYC, Virginia, and North and South California. I recently interviewed one of the group's founders, Zero, about the recent events and the Initiative's plans for the Power Up Tour. He explained the ins and outs of the program and how it is designed to help us from reading about explosive stories like this in the future. 

Tea Krulos: Zero, we've had a couple of troubling incidents over the past couple of months that have painted a pretty negative portrait of the community watchdog. The first is a well known case, nationally-- George Zimmerman shooting an unarmed youth named Trayvon Martin after following him for "looking suspicious." 

And then, and this is closer to home for RLSH and X-ALTS-- we had the case of Bee Sting confronting a motorcyclist with a loaded shotgun, reportedly over a noise issue.

How have these incidents affected what you do and what other people with similar goals do?


Well, as of right now I'd say they really haven't, but bear in mind that this Bee Sting incident just happened a few days ago and so far it's remained pretty low profile on the news. I don't expect that to last very long. Actually, I personally believe it's only a matter of time until someone of note connects the two incidents together and someone raises a campaign against any kind of citizen self-empowerment. 

That's really sad, and more than a little alarming in a world where a lot of people are expressing a distrust in their government, and having that distrust backed up by cases of excessive use of force, wrongful death and just a callous disregard for humanity in some law enforcement.

That said, I don't really believe in absolutes. There are tons of good cops and LEO's out there. I've met quite a few. Generalization has and always will be a huge enemy of compassion, and even worse for progression as a society.

I believe that our system is failing and we're all getting hit with the fallout. I also believe that you're going to hear a lot of negative reports before you hear positive ones. That's just how the news works. We've tried to stay positive, and work on positive goals. 

Honestly, we're not worried. No one is ever going to stop us from helping and protecting people. 


Have you ever felt like, hey, this is all too crazy, I should just quit and leave it up to the cops/ law enforcement? 

Sure, all the time. There's always that part of you that wishes you could just live your life and rely on someone else for protection; but then you see something happening right in front of you, and you can't turn away. You have to do something. And then you do the math and realize it's happening all over. 

Stuff like that, you can't UNsee. 

After a few times of successfully diffusing a conflict that might have blown up into something much larger, you develop a taste for it. Wearing a badge, being under someones thumb and enforcing someone else's politics upon people, that was never for us. Call it grassroots. I believe that a safe society is one where all are capable of watching out for each other. I don't believe that's a polarizing issue, really. 

Protecting our fellow human beings is all we want to do. That and finding new and innovative ways to help people. I think we are approaching a New Renaissance of Necessity; Creativity, Compassion, and Action. Lines are about to be crossed, definitions blurred, boundaries demolished. 

Everyone keeps saying the future is bleak, but I say it's an exciting time to be alive.


The Initiative is announcing the 2012 Power Up Tour. Can you give us a brief overview of what the goals of the tour are and how it will be carried out?

The POWER UP TOUR 2012 is an Initiative Collective nationwide project to bring not only empowerment, proper training, and confidence to Neighborhood Watch and Block Guardians, but also accountability and transparency. After the arrest of Bee Sting, Phoenix Jones and of course the ever-present and looming implications of the Trayvon Martin case, we feel that it's time to bring the power back where it belongs: The People. 

We will be launching a fully functional website on June 1st, in tandem with a physical tour in which we contact each and every PD Community Affairs office and established Block Watch in our respective cities and organize meetings. These meetings will introduce the site, give a tutorial, and drop off our PowerPack… a brief list of solid, low cost resources for initial training and resources to get people started, or to give them momentum to continue their efforts to protect their loved ones and their neighborhoods responsibly. 

From there, they can use the website to report crime anonymously, track crime patterns, build block watches, trade skill training between professionals and communicate with each other and their precinct's Community Affairs offices. In addition, we will be building strong communication and trust between not only ourselves and the community, but as we move from neighborhood to neighborhood, the community itself. As they teach and learn from each other, they will build confidence in themselves and their skills in practical self defense, medical assistance, legalities and most importantly for this kind of work, non-violent communications. 

And as they learn, so will the Initiative. We all teach, we all learn, we all prosper. 

And how will this help prevent incidents like the one with Bee Sting, George Zimmerman, or other RLSH or neighborhood watch group who have been arrested or made bad decisions? 

I think the problem with a lot of issues like these is not enough focus on non-violent conflict resolution techniques. In fact, a lot of people scoff at the idea because they have never seen just how effective these techniques can be. 

Going at an argument with personal attacks, baseless commands or just plain rudeness is like taking a jackhammer to build an ice sculpture. The only way to GET someone to understand is to put aside your ego and try a little understanding yourself. 

People who act erratic or irritate you are most often coming from a place of pain. If you contribute to their defenses by acting offensive, you feed a fire. You don't put one out. 

With a program like the Power Up Tour, we're going to try to put into place a skill trade system which will allow people to train each other in their respective fields, as well as keep people up to date with free or low-cost training resources. This method of facilitating free training will lead to stronger skill sets, which will give people a better grasp on actual technique and eliminate the overcompensation that often happens with the undertrained and overzealous. 

There are many facets and peripheral goals of the Power-Up Tour, but the skill trade is one of my favorites. Just the idea of "trade anything" always leaves me excited, and I hope that it gets people thinking about the possibility of living outside the box even further. 

At it's base, what we're doing here is creating a central communications hub, a skill trade system, and an quantifiable recruiting pool. Then we're physically going from block to block to establish a real-time, face to face connection with PEOPLE. This is something that is important, as it's really easy to forget that there are a whole lot of people behind all of those little avatars on the internet. We need to re-connect. 

Again, as with any project the Initiative does, we wouldn't be presumptuous enough to think that this is THE solution to save the world… It's just us putting what we know to work to get something started. If this whole thing crashes and burns, but someone ends up making a better resource because of it, we will have done our part. That's all I want. 

How can people get involved with this project if they want to participate?


Even "Superman" couldn't be everywhere at once. But do you know who can? ...EveryONE.

Literally EVERYONE can get involved in this project. Check out the site, make a profile, find a block watch near you. List your skills, certifications, anything legal you want to teach or learn to make a stronger and safer community. 

The skill trade sections are Fitness, Conflict Resolution, Legal, Medical, Self-Defense, Miscellaneous Professional and Safety Resources. 

In addition, if people really believe in this and want to go the extra mile, they can always grab the PowerPack and go talk to Community Affairs and block watches to introduce them to the site and how it allows for better communication. No one has to put in any money, or subscribe to anything. There is no allegiance to organizations, no papers to sign, no promises to keep. 

It's just a social contract and people working with people, that's all. 

The REALLY sweet thing is how this opens the doors to something that has been going on in professional circles for a long time, but never really utilized on a game-changing level; Skill trade can get people better jobs, and strengthen us as a people overall, regardless of it's connection to block watches. 

Not only can you, say, trade some training in a skill you have to get better at self defense, you can also tap into the "Pro Skills Misc" section to pick up some skills to trade for other skills. The possibilities are endless, all working towards making us stronger as a people, and more confident in our private lives. 

Anything else you want to say to anyone reading this about these crazy times we live in?

Yeah. Just breathe. We will make it through together. 

Trust Yourself.

JUSTICAR GIVES HEROES IN THE NIGHT STATEMENT

JUSTICAR-- BEE STING'S TEAM MATE RECALLS WITNESSING INCIDENT, SAYS BEE STING BROUGHT "A SHOTGUN TO A SHOUTING MATCH"
Justicar

It has now been revealed that when Bee Sting was arrested for pulling a shotgun on a motorcyclist outside of Flint, Michigan, that he wasn't alone. His team mate Justicar was also present and witnessed the event. I asked him if he would like to share a statement about the night and he wrote the following for me to share:

The rest of the story...sounds like Paul Harvey, doesn't it? This tale almost deserves this treatment. The night my life as a RLSH changed forever. I am still working on putting the pieces together from that night to make sense from it all. Am I shattered by it? Yes. Do I question putting the mask back on? Yes. Bee Sting made a critical error bringing a shotgun to a shouting match. I have watched everything from the media to Facebook taking sides. This is very polarizing, and it should be. Was this something that could have been prevented? Yes. A little common sense and a cooler head. Bee Sting was a hothead in this and never should have torched a situation that seemed volatile to start.

Introducing a firearm to a situation will raise the stakes to a level that is almost hopeless. It played out before my eyes like a nightmare in slow motion. I then saw the aftermath of the victim's kids crying and I know those children will be haunted by this a long time afterward as I will be. Pieces of me are left there forever over a bad decision over a noise complaint.

I know of another life shattered by this as well. I keep hearing that the true story will come out. It has but what of those of us that have to deal with the collateral damage it has wrought? We as humans have the freedom to make good and bad decisions and this one was a wrong choice I'm sure with good intentions.

I play this out in my mind daily and hug my family when I do. All RLSH should learn from this as a cautionary tale as how a thing we do can turn very wrong and where a very solid line should be painted.

I have thoughts of shredding my mask over this and wondering how long before the public knows who I truly am. I chose my name to represent Justice and this was not. One needs to accept whatever the wage of sin will bring because of this.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Bee's Fiancee Speaks

Bee Bee Gun? Bee Sting at the firing range.


BREAKING NEWS: BEE STING CHARGED, FIANCEE GIVES HEROES IN THE NIGHT INTERVIEW, PLOT THICKENS

Charges have now been reported in the arrest of Bee Sting (see previous entry). The Flint Journal's website reports:

"(Bee Sting), age 36, of Sterling Heights, was arraigned by Genesee District Judge Larry J. Stecco on Friday for assault with a dangerous weapon and wearing body armor during a commission of a violent crime."

Earlier this evening I received an e-mail from Bee Sting's fiancee. I offered her to give a statement about what was going on and what follows is the impromptu interview that took place.

Tea Krulos: Anything you'd like to say, I'll repost.

Thank you. I still haven't gotten to talk to (Bee Sting). They have him in the main holding area where he can't get visitors or phone calls. Right now all I have is anger for the other members of the RLSH, the ones that have jumped to conclusions without knowing (Bee Sting's) side.

TK: Can you tell me about the last time you saw him? What was going on, what did he say?

It was Wednesday night. He didn't tell me he was going on patrol...he knew it made me worry. The next thing I know someone is trying to call me from jail Thursday morning...a cell phone, so I couldn't accept. But I can tell you I know (Bee Sting) and he NEVER would have pointed a gun at an unarmed man unless he feared for his life or someone else's. I wish the jail would let me talk to him.

TK: So you're saying this story doesn't fit his character? You don't see him doing something like that?

Absolutely not. And I can also tell you that the owner of the mobile home park was paying him and the other guys $10 a night to patrol, $10 each, to cover their gas.

TK: Really? Because in the article I read, he distances himself from Bee Sting and the group.

He was, according to the article. That was a lie, though. (Bee Sting) had just told me the previous weekend about how the guy wanted them to patrol...and was more than willing to pay for it, even though they told him they didn't need to.

TK: What did you think of him bringing a shot gun on patrol? Did you know? Did that concern you?

I knew that he had one, and frankly I thought it was a good idea to have just in case a situation got really bad.

TK: So you've seen some of the negative reaction online from RLSH and others-- what message do you have for them?

All I want them to know is that if the tables were turned...if it were any of them sitting where he is right now, he would not be rushing to judgement. He wouldn't be trying to "boot them" from the Michigan Protectors. He would wait to hear their side, he'd get all the facts. They way they are turning on him like a pack of rabid dogs is just sick.

There was many a time I questioned the whole RLSH thing, when I questioned the real purpose of the Michigan Protectors. He never failed to stand up to me, to stand on behalf of every one of them. It's sad to see that they can't lend him the same courtesy, even when he isn't in a position to defend himself.

BEE STING STUNG

MICHIGAN PROTECTORS MEMBER ARRESTED RIDING SHOTGUN IN TRAILER PARK



According to a report by the Flint Journal, Real Life Super Hero and Michigan Protectors member Bee Sting was added to the list of the  AWM ("Arrested While Masked") members of the RLSH (see entry previous to this for more examples over the last year).

Writer Roberto Acosta reports that Bee Sting was arrested early Thursday morning after getting into a skirmish and firing a shotgun. The incident occurred at the Twin Meadows Mobile Home Park in Burton, Michigan, a suburb of Flint. Acosta reports:

Lt. Michael Odette said Bee Sting is part of the Protectors group, which label themselves online as "a group of costumed activists," but owner Bruce Stein denies giving the group permission to act as security at the park off Fenton Road.

Around 12:07 a.m. Thursday, a 38-year-old man was riding into the park with his girlfriend when the pair were approached by Bee Sting because of the volume of the motorcycle.

"Bee Sting approaches the man about how he was driving his motorcycle too loud," said Odette. 
The costumed man was equipped with a tactical belt, pepper spray, scissors and handcuffs, and wearing a bullet-proof vest, black leather jacket with a bee logo, shin guards, knee pads, black leather gloves and carrying a shotgun. 
A verbal confrontation ensued between the men, Odette said, when "It escalates and the suspect, Mr. Bee Sting, according to our victim points a gun at him."
The victim was able to grab the barrel of the shotgun and point it in an opposite direction, Odette said. One shot was fired and struck a nearby vacant trailer, and police arrived as the men were fighting.
Bee Sting's last Facebook status update, posted before going on patrol reads, "Time to roll. Everyone BEE safe." He also posted a couple of photos showing off an arm gauntlet designed to hold shotgun shells.

"I love the smell of new gear in the morning," reads his caption to the photo below. "There's a zipper compartment as well. Buck shot on the outside, all-purpose on the inside."

Heroes in the Night will follow any updates. The case of the George Zimmerman (a self appointed neighborhood watchdog) shooting of Trayvon Martin (an unarmed youth) has been a firestorm in the media for weeks. It'll be interesting to see public reaction to the case of the shotgun toting superhero.

AWM: Arrested While Masked




Bee Sting, right, shown here chatting with Master Legend, is the latest RLSH arrest.

People ask me what the relationship between RLSH and the police is like. I'm somewhat relieved to say that the majority of the time it is ok, if not a little awkward. That is because most RLSH patrols are done unarmed, like a concerned citizens foot patrol.

But over the last 9 months there has been... incidents. Consider the following RLSH Arrested While Masked (AWM):

--October, 2011. Phoenix Jones and "the Pepper Spray Incident." One of the more hair-raising parts of my upcoming book, Heroes in the Night, details a night I spent in Seattle. Phoenix Jones, along with his Rain City Superheroes Movement team mate Ghost, myself, and videographer Ryan McNamee saw a street fight between Russians, Jones intervened and pepper sprayed the combatants, and all hell broke loose. Eventually the Seattle Police Department showed up and read us all our Miranda Rights. They let us all go except Jones, who was taken to jail with assault charges. The charges were later dropped.
Infamous video HERE

--November, 2011. I was the one who broke the story of the arrest of The Ray, a Bay Area RLSH and former member of the Pacific Protectorate. The Ray was beaten down by police and arrested for "assault" and "failure to disperse" at an Occupy Oakland protest. See my write up HERE.

--January, 2012. I traveled to San Francisco to meet a man named Richard McCaslin aka Phantom Patriot aka Thoughtcrime for a protest. Although he hasn't been arrested recently, the event reflected on the 10 year anniversary on his 2002 arrest for raiding a place called the Bohemian Grove. It is a complex story and I try to make sense of it HERE.

--April, 2012. The Bar Harbor Batman finds himself in hot water after he posts a Facebook update meant to be an April Fool's joke that says the Bar Harbor Batman will blow up a hospital unless his demands are made. A trial is still pending. See my blog post HERE.

--April, 2012. Bee Sting arrested. See entry after this one.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

HERO PROFILE #92: Red Light

Operates out of: Washington, DC

Activities: Patrols, charity work


Quote: "I mostly break up bar fights, call in drunk drivers and suspicious stuff...like the car that likes to camp out the ATM late at night. That sort of thing. I've always done volunteer work and charity stuff. Helped out the bouncers at the many bars I've worked at. They used to let me handle kicking people out because I'd have them out the front door before they knew what happened. I was just good at talking them down."

 Author's notes: Today's profile is on the ginger haired ninja of DC, the witty and kind-hearted Red Light. This modest woman gets mistaken for a Canadian due to her love of hockey and is an insomniac. She has a job in security and applies those skills to her patrols. "It wasn't a far stretch to take what I'd learned over the years and apply it to the street," she tells me.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

HERO PROFILE #91: Vampireto!


Operates out of: Undisclosed location in Mexico

Activities: Agriculture instruction and advocacy

Quote: "My main purpose or area of work is to teach people from rural areas how to better grow their food and improve their lives.Instead of giving the homeless food that they ´ll finish in half an hour and then need more, it's better to teach them how to make their own food."

Author's notes: Inspired by his love of superheroes and Dia de los Muertos, Vampireto! adopted his vampire bat theme after he found out about the RLSH and decided to use his training in agriculture to help others.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

HERO PROFILE #90: Peaceman


Operates out of: A giant castle in the Hamptons, Long Island

Activities: Raises money for the Peaceman Foundation, which benefits victims of hate crime and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, produces music videos based on peace protest songs.

Sidekicks: Dragonmina and Peace Puppy.

Vehicle: The Peacemobile, a 1960s themed stretch limousine.

Quote: "My super power is the power of my checking account. My ability to save lives, literally, by writing checks to various causes."

Author's notes: Read an in depth interview with Peaceman in the blog entry prior to this one.

THE MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR RLSH


Million dollar super crew: Peaceman, Dragonmina, Peace Puppy.

Two very popular superhero franchises in recent years have been DC's classic character Bruce Wayne aka Batman and Tony Stark, alias Iron Man.

These two characters have no super powers to speak of, save one: they are both filthy rich. This was a good idea for the writers. They could explain away any crazy vehicles, bat computers, robot suits, etc., by the simple fact that Wayne and Stark's vast fortunes had paid for the technology. Both characters started as millionaires, but with inflation were soon upgraded to billionaires.

But what if there was such a thing as a multi-millionaire Real Life Super Hero? Would he spend big money on flying exo-suits and training with grappling hook guns?

Well, not so much. Sir Ivan Wilzig is also known as his superhero alter ego Peaceman. He is the founder of the Peaceman Foundation, which benefits victims of hate crime and also those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He also has cut several videos from his album I Am Peaceman, a series of techno dance remixes of classic protest songs like The Grass Roots' "Let's Live For Today," and John Lennon's "Imagine." He also has an interpretation of the African-American spiritual song "Kumbaya." I don't quite have the words to describe it, so I posted it below.

Fans of the Stan Lee hosted reality show Who Wants to be a Superhero? will recognize him as Mr. Mitzvah on season 2, a character designed to celebrate his Jewish heritage. He chose a new character for the show to retain copyright on the Peaceman persona.

Peaceman's lair is a incredibly huge castle in the Hamptons, where he has a secret changing room, a stock of Peaceman outfits, including several capes with rhinestone studded peace symbols, and a sidekick-- a teacup chihuahua named Peace Puppy. He is currently working on a custom made tie dyed stretch limousine which he'll debut in a tour of him cruising around doing good deeds. You'll be able to see him in action in an upcoming reality show about the Wilzig family.
Photobucket
Peaceman's castle in the Hamptons. Not too shabby.

I recently had a phone interview with Peaceman, exploring his life as a millionaire superhero, which follows.

Tea Krulos: What is the origin story of Peaceman?


Peaceman: Well, you know I was on second season of Who Wants to be a Superhero, right?

Right, under a different name.


Peaceman: Mr. Mitzvah. So what happened is that made me, historically, the first Jewish superhero in history. I don't know if you're aware of that.

No.

Peaceman: Yeah. You can Google it and...there was an Israeli female superhero, but only in animated form, not one that played the role of a superhero on television or in a movie.

When I auditioned for that show, it was as Peaceman, but then they wanted to own all of the intellectual property to that so I created the other character.

The reason I created the character was because my father is an Auschwitz survivor. I lost 59 relatives in the Holocaust. The character started as a nickname because I started wearing peace capes to perform in when I made the transition from banker to singer.

45 is pretty late to start a pop music career after working twenty years in a bank so artistically I wanted to go from a three piece suit and a briefcase to something different so people would know I'm no longer the banker but a singer about peace and I started wearing the peace symbol cape because the songs that I sang were all modern remakes of the iconic 1960s anti-war songs, from the Woodstock generation.

Then I decided to start the Peaceman Foundation, whose mission is to battle hate crime and post traumatic stress disorder. I chose hate crime, obviously, because of my family background. And while not every hate crime victim is suffering from PTSD and not every victim of PTSD is a survivor of hate crime, the two do overlap so I chose to champion both of those causes through my foundation and music.

I've worn my costume several times to do good deeds. One time it was feeding the homeless during Thanksgiving and another time I went to a school in Harlem that was going to lose it's mortgage so I showed up in costume and gave them a donation so they wouldn't lose their school.

After Who Wants to Be a Superhero I was contacted by Superheroes Anonymous, by Life, a RLSH in New York. They do real life good deeds, everything from crime watch to manning soup kitchens, etc. I saw what he was doing was a great thing. I not only in the beginning gave them a few small donations, to make sure their charitable and community minded activities were successful. I became so impressed with them that I became their patron saint as you might say, their benefactor, sponsor, underwriter, whatever you want to call it. They have an annual event at Times Square, workshops, handouts to the homeless, teaching other superheroes how to make costumes and get involved, and advice.

So you've met other RLSH and made a connection.

Peaceman: Yeah, I've met some from the New York area. I tell them my super power is the power of my checking account. My ability to save lives, literally, by writing checks to various causes.

Stan Lee himself called me the "Real Life Bruce Wayne." And instead of a Batmobile, I'm taking my car, it'll be the most famous car in the world when I'm done, I'm going to take my stretch limousine to the Peacemobile. I'm going to have it custom painted to look like the old Volkswagon hippy van. I'll then go city to city in it doing good deeds, visiting communities and doing donations and things.

Wow.

Peaceman: Part of that will probably be reflected in a family reality show with my brother and mother that is currently be produced. We begin shooting the sizzle reel for that next month in Miami and New York and work on a pilot in the summer.

(Note: Sir Ivan's brother, Alan Wilzig, is a race car driver and his mother, Dr. Naomi Wilzig, owns the World Erotic Art Museum.)

By the way, when I dress as Peaceman in my capes with the large Swarovski rhinestone peace emblem on the back, for each cape I have in my closet, which is about a dozen different colors, my teacup chihuahua, I call her the Peace Puppy, she has identical silk capes. I take her out with the matching silk capes with the peace sign on the back. So there is Peaceman, Peace Puppy, and my best friend will be going with us dressed as Dragonmina. Dragonmina is immortalized in a sculpture that fits in the center of the pool, nude morphing into a dragon. So it'll be like a superhero family going on these missions together.

Are you planning a follow up album to I am Peaceman?

Peaceman
: I'd like to do a I am Peaceman II and III. Probably each album would contain a certain amount of remix from the 60s, but not entirely.

Do you do live performance as Peaceman?

Peaceman: I do occasionally, but I prefer doing music videos, instead of touring around. I usually tie in live performance with events for the Peaceman Foundation at my castle each summer.

I think I might be the oldest RLSH doing this, I'm 56. Are you aware of any older than me doing this?

Well, there is Thanatos in Vancouver. He's in his early 60s.


Peaceman: Ok, and I can't say for certain because I don't look at everyone's financial statements, but I suspect I'm the wealthiest.

Yes. I think that is pretty certain.


Peaceman
: And I don't want to toot my own horn, but I think I am the wisest as far as formal education. I not only went to an ivy league college, but also graduated law school.

So you're a multi-millionaire, you can do anything you want, really. So why Peaceman?

Peaceman: I get to raise money for some worthy causes, battling hate crime and PTSD. Hate crime is such a big deal to me because I had so much of my family murdered by the ultimate hate crime: the Holocaust. And my father, while never formerly diagnosed with PTSD, he certainly exhibited signs his whole life of having mental scars, he had nightmares and flashbacks of being in the camps and suffered from depression occasionally. He was very nervous and anxious all his life. It didn't keep him from being one of the most successful businessmen in America, but it did make it difficult to be around him.

It also--because I get publicity being Peaceman, it gives me an oppurtunity to remind people and talk to them about history and the Holocaust.

I sometimes get teased by people on the street somebody says 'hey, there's an Elvis impersonator' or 'there's a magician running around' or 'that nut thinks it's Halloween.' You have a thicker skin when you go out in a cape. Not everyone can do it. So I kind of stand for people who are proud to be different.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

HERO PROFILE #89: Knight Warrior


Operates out of: Salford, England

Team affiliation: Justice Union

Activities: Crime patrols, charity events, attempted mayoral campaign

Quote: "I decided to run for mayor to bring something different to the job."

Author's notes: Knight Warrior, a young British RLSH that patrols Salford recently made an attempt to get into the race for the Salford mayoral seat (see previous entry on this blog), attracting some media attention.

He didn't succeed at raising the 500 pound (about 791 US dollars) filing fee, but on a positive note he donated the campaign money he did raise to a local homeless shelter.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

KNIGHT WARRIOR RUNS FOR MAYOR


BRITISH RLSH NEEDS TO RAISE FUNDS BY TOMORROW TO BE IN RUNNING FOR SALFORD MAYOR

--Salford

According to several British media sources, British RLSH Knight Warrior is trying to campaign to become Mayor of Salford, a city of 229,000 people in northwest England.

Before the masked man can seriously campaign for office, though, he'll need to raise a 500 pound application fee. Knight Warrior explains:

"I'm looking to reach a target of £500 by Wednesday 4th April, this is needed for the fee laid down by Salford Council. If for whatever reason I'm not able to raise the full amount (therefore unable to stand for election) all monies raised will be donated to Centre Point."

A RLSH in public office? Is it possible?

You can read an in-depth article on the mayoral run HERE.

Knight Warrior's campaign page on Facebook, with a link to donate is HERE.

And lastly, I wrote an article on Knight Warrior and other British RLSH for the British quarterly magazine Delayed Gratification, which you can read HERE.

Monday, April 2, 2012

BAR HARBOR BATMAN GOES BEHIND BARS


APRIL FOOL'S JOKE FOUND NOT-SO-FUNNY BY BAR HARBOR'S FINEST

Lots of people were posting jokes as updates on Facebook yesterday, and the caped crusader of Bar Harbor, Maine, was no exception.

The Bar Harbor Batman (who was profiled a little over a year ago on this blog HERE) does parade appearances and foot patrols and posted this April Fool status update:

"I demand payment of 1 million Dollars or I will Blow up the Hospital. Once the funds are secured, Private Message me for Further Instruction."

Facebook followers didn't see the funny side and reported the Facebook posting to the police, who showed up at the Bar Harbor Batman's humble abode to haul him in.

He is out on bail and returns to court in June to face "terrorizing charges," according to a report you can read HERE.

This is a rare case where Batman will have to stand before a judge and prove that he is...funny.