Journey Between Cages: Pro Wrestling and MMA

A Few Months ago, Brock Lesnar became a victim of “You Got Knocked the Fuck Out!!!.”Chris Tucker's infamous one-Liner from the movie Friday, in a MMA match against Cain Velasquez.

Before that Brock Lesnar had overcome early skepticism about his Pro wrestling background to become a Heavyweight Champion in UFC and became a notorious characters for his heel/bad guy theatrics Like his post fight interview after defeating Frank Mir at UFC 100

Whether Lesnar will be back to challenge for the Heavyweight Championship is anyone's guess. What is definitely true and much to the chagrin of a certain MMA fans is that the connection between Pro Wrestling and MMA are even more apparent than they ever where.

The skepticism about pro wrestlers competing in the world of MMA seems to stem from a contempt towards wrestlers as not being tough enough and too fake for the world of MMA. The source of the contempt is varied and ranges from wrestling being “fake” to those with MMA skills thinking that wrestlers are poseurs who would quickly fold to anyone with a ounce of Martial Training. As Both a old school wrestling fan and a occasional fan of MMA, I wouldn't be writing this if I thought this was true.

INFLUENCE OF PRO-WRESTLING ON MMA

Wrestling's impact on MMA fighting is visually subtle, underrated and deeper than most give it credit for.

Rampage Jackson's habit of wearing a Padlock chain to the ring is said to be inspired by The Junkyard Dog, one of his favorite wrestlers growing up. Many MMA fighters current and former have gotten their inspiration from pro-wrestling. Former MMA fighter Mark Kerr became interested in fighting through his early aspiration of wanting to be a Professional Wrestler.

A little know facts is that of the 8 inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame, 3 of them also participated in professional wrestling. Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock wrestled for the WWE back in the 1990's. Mark Coleman occasionally wrestled for a Japanese federation known as Hustle.

As far as current fighters we have the beginning career of Daniel Puder who does MMA and also Pro Wrestling, being a part of the WWE Tough Enough program, and also popular MMA fighter Mirko “Cro Crop” Filipović shown here, making this appearance at a Japanese Wrestling Event.

In Japan the snobbish line between Pro wrestling and MMA is mostly ignored. Antonio Inoki, whose popularity in Japan as a public figure matches many professional athletes, has competed in both Professional Wrestling and MMA events.

Kazushi “Gracie Killer” Sakuraba (named for scoring multiple defeats against the Gracie Family) has also competed in professional wrestling and started his career in various Japanese Pro Wrestling federations. He also has some of the most awesome entrances BTW.

To go even further back in time and visit Latin America, Conde Koma aka Mitsuyo Maeda, the founder of Brazilian Jujitsu, was also a early fixture on the Lucha Libre/Mexican Pro Wrestling scene.

Despite all of this Pro Wrestling is still looked down on by many MMA fans who cite wrestling's falseness and lack of genuine toughness in comparison to MMA fighters.

T and A (TECHNIQUE AND AGONIES)

One of the things you quickly learn about wrestling is that manufactured or choreographed is probably a more appropriate word than fake. Despite the fact that the results of match are choreographed, Wrestlers suffer a variety of injuries that can range from bumps and bruises to falling off 30 foot scaffolding.

Every nightly wrestling event as at least one if not more wrestlers getting injured. In some cases they end up being serious injuries like Steve's Austin Compressed Spine, or a infamous accident to wrestler Buff Bagwell that nearly left him crippled.

And as far as Tough Guy and Martial Arts credential goes, Plenty of Wrestlers have enviable Martial Arts backgrounds.

Roddy Piper ( Golden Gloves competitor, Black Belt in Judo,)

Ernest 'The Cat' Miller (3 Time World Karate Champion)

Great Muta (Amateur Wrestling and Judo)

CM Punk (Muay Thai )

Rob Van Dam (Akido, Tae Kwon Do, Kick-Boxing and Karate background)

Batista (Kempo, Muay Thai and Arnis. Unfortunately about to find out, you don't fuck with the S on Superman's chest)

Kurt Angle (Olympic Gold Medalist in Wrestling. Kick boxing and Jujitsu training)

“Bad News” Brown (Bronze medalist for U.S. Judo Team)

The Undertaker (Trained Kick Boxer, Brown Belt in Jujitsu)

And if there is any doubt about whether Wrestlers can hold their own against MMA or other Martial Artist, A infamous incident in England that occurred between WWE Wrestlers and professional Kick boxers should make those doubts a little less stronger.

The biggest difference between Professional MMA Fighters and Professional Wrestlers is not one of martial art skill, toughness, or other tangible or intangible factors that might come up, but a certain mental aspect, that was revealed in a interview with Paul Wight A.K.A. The Big Show.

PULLING PUNCHES

In a interview about his WWE match against Floyd Mayweather, Paul Wight pro moniker “The Big Show” talked about this mentality.

Stating that it would be really easy for somebody his size to toss Floyd Mayweather across the room, and someone wit Floyd's Boxing skill could easily break his ribs and other ways in which they could both seriously injure each other.

He and anyone else wrestling had to take great care not to injure each other since a serious wrestling injury affects the other guys ability to provide food for his family and their health. (Coincidentally not quite used to this philosophy, Floyd Mayweather actually broke The Big Show's nose in his first appearance during this story line.)

MMA Fighters and Pro Wrestlers due to high risk of injuries in their given professions are very unlikely to be covered by traditional health insurance. Quite a few Pro Wrestlers, much like MMA fighters have families to support.

The big difference between the two is that unlike MMA matches, which may take place once a month or every few months, wrestling matches are at least once a week and often more.

Given the increased chance of injuries and the lengthy recovery time that it takes to recover, during which the wrestler and their families are usually without salaries, they take great care not to unduly injure each other.

While a worthwhile mentality for Pro wrestling getting out of that mindset before entering a MMA ring is something that every pro wrestler would need to do not to place themselves at a serious disadvantage. Unfortunately a good example of this is Bam Bam Bigelow's one and only disastrous foray into MMA.

So whether Pro Wrestlers will continue to make the transition to MMA remains to be seen. But the naysaying MMA fans need to know that that this transition is nothing new. the distance between a DDT, and a Guillotine is not as as it would seem.

A Bit of Sappy Happiness for the Holiday Season

Domestic Dan, Gay Pirates and Cosmo

Once every while, you come across someone, whose energy and talent, makes you realize what a lazy bum you are. Once every while for me, is more frequent than I would like to give a numerical value to. This time however I'm enthused it's happened, because it has introduced me to a favorite new talent, Cosmo Jarvis.

Cosmo Jarvis is a short filmmaker/actor/musician/professional oddball, whose songwriting and short films, reveal a quirky, creative energy, thats absolutely a joy to encounter. As one of his new Stan's here are a sampling of some of work I found particularly enjoyable.

DOMESTIC DAN

A.KA. What happens when a lady falls for the mushy romantic“Lets move in together” routine, before doing a background check.

SHE'S GOT YOU

A song about the GF getting in between her boyfriend and his longterm friendships.

HITCHING

A Frustrated Hitchhiker shares his frustration while revealing he's kind of a prick.

GAY PIRATES

Probably his most popular song, It's enjoyed accolades from everyone from actor Stephen Fry to Brian Eno. Despite a name that opens it up to frat humor, It's a brutal yet at the same time sweet and beautiful song. Not going to lie I teared up a few times listening to it.

Sympathy for The Devil/Dave Karofsky and other Misadventures in Bullying.

The absolutely evil face of a bald by 30, Extraordinarily Ordinary, Scared Boy, who sweats too much.

So a few weeks back when checking my usual assortment of blogs and news sites, I noticed that everyone from AfterElton, to Gawker, to NPR was talking about the “tune in for the very special episode” of Glee that dealt with Bullying.

Though I'm Johnny Come Lately and always late for these things I do have some thoughts on this episode so here goes. At this point I figure everybody and their grandmother has seen the scene where Kurt has a confrontation with Dave Karofsky his chief Tormentor and Bully and in a rather intense scene they share a uncomfortably awkward and life altering moment.

With this scene the flood gates opened, and I've read every comment from people taking joy in Dave being closeted, and hoping he commits suicide, because they want to see a horrible bully get his, to shipping him and Kurt together as a couple. As for me all I can could feel was two things. Amazement at the great acting job that both Max Adler and Chris Colfer pulled off, and sympathy. This scene revealed why Dave is the particular type of prick he is. He's drowning.

When I was younger I almost drowned. I was trashing and kicking and panicking and it took 5 or more people to rescue me. My panicked response made me a danger to anyone who came near me (I almost ending up drowning both myself and my sister during this incident.) As someone who's almost drowned I recognize and remember the panicked mindset and actions. Dave Karofsky looks like a drowning man to me.

Even without a ocean around for miles in Ohio, Dave's lashing out and trying to not deal with his own sexuality by harassing Kurt is a desperate person grasping at straws, lashing out and like me becoming a danger to everyone around him. Watching this gives me a strange kind of sympathy for him.

Dave doesn't get sympathy because he's a saint nor is he unworthy of getting comeuppance. I think Dave quite frankly needs to be punched in the face, if it will get him to stop his bullying and anything that Kurt does to protect himself within reason is valid. Dave is dangerous, cause he'll do anything not to be exposed as the scared, frightened alone person he is.

It does not help that the one time when he lets his guard down he is ultimately rejected (rejected with good reason by Kurt mind you, but still a torturous thing for anyone to go through especially a emotionally desperate and confused person like Dave.) and whimpers like a injured dog before walking away a bit more broken and dangerous than before.

His struggle and personality is a bit like watching another sitcom gay teen footballer Riley”Try Hard” Stavros from the Show Degrassi (watching Riley's attempts at being heterosexual on the show will fully explain the “Try Hard” nickname.)

Unlike Dave Karofsky, Riley doesn't have another gay student to interact with especially one as open as Kurt. But like Dave his behavior is violent, volatile and self destructive a danger not only to himself but to anyone who might accidentally set him off. Unlike Dave however his behavior doesn't extend to bullying other gay students (though his personality did allow for it.)

Dave Karofsky's bullying of Kurt is now a major part of the story line and that has me a bit worried. My sympathy for Dave does not excuse his bullying (Like I said if Dave got punished for his bullying I'd be fine with it.), but depending on the way the bullying story is handled, it will scapegoat his character as a villain and not deal with a major problem in both the show and real life and its that bullying is often a deliberately ignored institutional practice and not just the work of a few bad egg students.

While I do have problems with Glee, I also find it to be an incredibly enjoyable show, with great music, witty banter, and some great comic performances. In tackling bullying its heart is in the right place. One of the problems I have is one many critics cite and that in its handling of many subjects it thinks its more progressive than it actually is being.

The reception of a serious anti bullying message can be made difficult when factors like tone and a false sense of progressive merits, create a hypocrisy in how certain students are depicted. We have to look no further than the Glee club where some of the biggest bullies on the show are present.

Puck the “bad boy” from the football team is a regular participant in the dumpster dumping/slushy flinging that happens to kids in the hallways. The first episode he tries to convince Finn to roll a port a potty with Artie, who is permanently crippled and in a wheelchair, to show his loyalty to the football team over the Glee club. If we are going to view Dave as a Bully, then why not Puck ?

Is it because of the level of bullying ?

Is it because throwing kids into dumpsters is any better than pushing them into lockers?

Is it whom is being bullied with some people being more worthy of bullying than others ? (If that's the case I suggest you ask any old school Degrassi Fan of how Jimmy ended up in a wheelchair and take it as a cautionary tale.)

Part of what bullying does is that it kills the victim's spirit. A blogger whose name I cannot remember described their bullying experience as being, “ground to the point where you associate the very sound of human joy/laughter, with your humiliation.” Dave's assault on Kurt definitely has more of a physicality to it than the constant slushy throwing and throwing kids into dumpsters, but it falls into the same soul killing category as all the other acts of bullying on Glee.

If Dave is ultimately going to be punished and admonished for his bullying, which he should be, why not call out Puck, or Santana, or Sue Sylvester (especially Sue Sylvester who despite being slightly less evil in the 2^nd season still bullies both kids and adult coworkers is the most major part of her characterization.) or even Finn, because part of the reason why Dave is a Bully is that he's also been shaped by bullying and from what we've seen of this high school none of the administration or staff does anything about it (a fact that Kurt calls Mr. Schuester on in this episode.).

In the first season when we see Dave splash a slushy in Finn's face they have a little exchange where Dave states as a hockey player and thus lower on the jock hierarchy, he was subject to harassment by Finn and the other football players and he's exacting revenge.

Later on in the ½ half of the first season Puck placing himself back on the high school hierarchy is done by him lining geeky kids up to shove into dumpsters after he regains his “mojo”.

Sue Sylvester constantly bullies not only the kids but the adults in the school.

With so much bullying present in the school that is just treated blasé by the administrators, and part of life by students, Dave while still responsible for his own actions is also operating in a system, that at best is criminally negligent to incidents of bullying. Why wouldn't he think that he could get away with it ??

To the credit of Glee's Dave's behavior does fit two of the patterns of real life bullies, they do it for social status and they usually tend to be bullied at some point as well. What makes Glee tackling this subject matter so iffy in my book is that it often presents bullying as a source of comedy for them to now seriously deal with it with the previous tone established presents difficulties. Their hearts are in the right place and if we are lucky the aspect of the shows creators that is capable for much cleverness and some genius will shine through in depicting the relationship between Kurt and the unfortunate, dangerous victim of drowning known as Dave Karofsky

A Punny Thing happened on the way to this Website.

On browsing the Internet I came across this interesting gem. A Site called Fan Boys of the Universe which has a feature featuring pictures of fanboys, the equivalent of Naked Firefighter Calendars for the Dungeon and Dragons crowd.

Being that I'm still unfortunately emotionally 12 I couldn't help but come up with some "try hard" fandom related Innuendo that would make the most Awesome/You will be Alone Forever pickup lines:

Why don't you come over here and help me “Level Up” my “Sword”

Soulja Boy ain't the only one who can “Superman” a Ho !!

The Force is strong in your pants.

I want to fit my Lightsaber into your TARDIS and have a crossover

Are those Pym Particles in your pants or are you just glad to see me

Some Phasers are bigger than others.......

Lets Go back to my Bat Cave and you can pretend to be Robin......

I want to Kamehameha that ass! (.....Yeah....I don't even know what I was thinking. As soon as the words came out I was like "WTF is wrong with you!!" to myself.)

But past my immature mind, the FBOTU video showcases a diverse good looking group of guys who also happen to be Geeks. Enjoy

WTF PICS - For When You're so Annoying and Trifling you even get on Our Lord and Savior's Last Nerve.

Stalin's Photoshop of Horrors

I recently came across a book called “The Commissar Vanishes. The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin`s Russia.” Upon viewing the cover, all I could think of was watching a nature special, where we discover a certain species of animal, that devours it other siblings until its the only one left.

Stalin it seems was one of the true Inventors of Photoshop Editing Unfortunately his twist on editing history aka “Taking Someone Out of the Picture.” was truly a gruesome and terrifying thing. Can't wait to fully check this book out to see how Stalin altered/tried to alter the perception of history by altering pictures.

Must wear Professional Undress

So the other day at work one of the local authors handed us a advance copy of one of their books and on the back like most books they had the author's portrait. The difference between the person we saw on a regular basis was startling.

One of the jokes we have at work is his how authors always seem to be giving the Literary version of “Blue Steel” whenever they pose for their book jackets. The poses, how they are dressed, and how they look at the camera, all seem to suggest that they are as well acquainted with GQ Magazine as they are with any Thrillers, Mystery, Science Fiction or High Culture Literature. Our local author was not an exception to this rule.

What becomes striking when you witness this transformation is how certain professions or parts of a profession such as book jacket photos, are such departures from the everyday appearance of the person. Ironically the place where I first noticed this transformation is in a profession with the least amount of clothes Porn.

A couple of years ago I came across 30 Porn Stars portraits by Timothy Greenfeld-Sanders a famous portrait photographer. After the initial 12 year old reaction (Hehehehe nekkid people, OMG they are so big.) I began to notice a very true thing having to do with their state of undress. A lot of the portraits of porn stars in the nude were more done up than pictures of them with clothing.

Ironically it was never more obvious to me than observing a profession that requires very little clothes how much clothing/presentation are a part of any occupation. Whether your job requires no clothes, casual clothes or conservative clothes you're always putting on a costume, Whether you're a porn star or a Drag Queen or a author (In fact there is a famous quote by a drag queen that I'm paraphrasing, that basically everyone wears drag its just a question of when and what type.) This practice has made me question the old adage “Never trust a Book by its cover.” especially since book companies, authors and other people involved with books pay it no heed.

Clothing sells the type of book being offered. While Tom Clancy could probably pull off one of Danielle Steel's Ball Room Gown's it would send the wrong message about the type of military/spy books he writes. If you were writing an Academic book and just happened to be built like a Adonis on Steroids your book jacket would still not be of you showing off the muscles. You can even tell what mode a author is in by what they are wearing

Its quite easy to tell by my lack of fashion that I don't spend a lot of time contemplating what people wear or don't wear for that matter, but looking at Book Jackets all Day makes you think about it. But its always amazing to notice how transformation is especially when we witness it in action.

Real McCoy

Back in the Day when I first came to America, Sunday nights were ammunition for Monday mornings. That was because on Sunday nights "In Living Color" would come on and in order to get the jokes and converse on Monday mornings with my classmates I had to make it a part of my childhood diet like Crybabies and sunflower seeds.

Unbeknown to me across the pond in the U.K. people were tuning into “The Real McCoy” their "Sunday Night" ammunition.

I got introduced to "The Real McCoy" a few years back when I came across this piece that combined my Jamaican and nerd heritage into one funny skit, "Jamaican Doctor Who"

The comparison between the two was inevitable in my mind. both shows were a showcase for black culture in their own countries (Afro American culture with Living Color and West Indian, West African and South Asian Culture with The Real McCoy) and both provided images that me as a black person got.

It wasn't "Cotton Club" images that were basically reproducing black stereotypes for a white audience to laugh at. it was the inside joke that many black viewers got and like me I suspect they laughed hilariously at these jokes.

From the little bit I understand about British Culture and this show it was highly popular however it has never been released on DVD unlike a lot of the BBC's other popular shows. Fortunately due to the magic of taping episodes to VHS and then uploading them to Youtube, many of the skits from the show are still available for viewing.

ARRANGED MARRIAGE.

(2 South Asians who have been setup in a Arranged Marriage meet, and run game on each other.)

DOG A WINE

MASHUP LUCIFER

Devil's Advocate

I GOT BLACK MATES YOU KNOW

(As Much as I wish I couldn't relate, I've so had this conversation.)

Winne the Pooh + Calvin & Hobbes + Pokemon + Reality = WTF

WTF Picture part 2

Seriously though WTF !!!!!.

I am sure there is a perfectly logical reason for this epic mind blowing pic of a heroic evil clown shirt wearing Demon cat riding Hero facing off against A Orc against a generic Mordor background..............

Actually not so much a good reason as a good cause and the details can be found at Science Fiction Author's John Scalzi's website.

Bayou Review

If they ever pitch the idea for Bayou to be made into a Movie it will be hard to resist the temptation of describing it as “Coraline with a black girl” or “Alice in Wonderland down South.” The Southern Gothic Tale in which the lynching of a young black kid and the possible lynching of one of the main characters makes any such comparison pale in understanding how dark and adventurous this story is.

Bayou is a Online Comic by James Love and the main character Lee unlike Alice, does not need to go through the looking glass to encounter a dangerous world, both side of the looking glass in this story are frightening places.

James Love does a great job of balancing child like wonder and magic, with the harsh realities of a racist South, a ever present fact that informs the entire story.

Once we leave the not so Genteel South we go into the swamp, a heartland of Southern mythos. Pollywogs, Brer Rabbits, Jim Crows, and a very scary Cotton Eye Joe and other creatures of Southern mythology including Bayou a huge man child like swamp creature that aides Lee.
Lee after being established as a sassy defiant kid in a world where being sassy and defiant can get you killed, must rescue a young white girl whose disappearance is being blamed on her father.

To say she has to risk life and limb in entering the mystical swamp to rescue her friend and prevent her father from being lynched is not a cliche. There are literally quite a few panels where you think Lee will not make it to the next page with either life or limbs missing.

I'm hoping to check out the rest of this series ASAP the world of Bayou is definitely worth another trip through the looking glass.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya Carlford Wadley

K so there was this one summer where in the course of 48 hours I :

Got Dumped (Rejected is more appropriate but lets be kind to me its my story)

Lost Computer

TV Broken.

Bill Collectors using my name like it was going out of style and riding me like a Camel.

And lets not get into the dietary choices that poverty forces you to make.

All of this marked one of the worst times in my life This Summer is shaping up to be a sequel. And hopefully without sounding too Emo here is the update on my life aka Misery 2” More Misery.


Due to a situation involving a scumbag of a former roommate, I'm back to being the guy on the couch, which is a punch line to a few friends but a line that always feels like a punch to me. Despite a few years of responsibility and paying rent on time, fortune has placed me back into punchline status.

As Always my love life will be making a Guest appearance Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster, things they say might exist but most people are highly doubtful.

Cannot figure out what wrong with me. Allegedly I'm supposed to be attractive, a allegation that my mantra of “I'm alone not lonely” while clicking red sneakers together a la Dorothy does nothing to support.

I hate getting that bored dispassionate look across my face and nowadays that is becoming more and more difficult.

So here is to another summer of salt for me. Hopefully the Taste won't last long.

Fave WTF Pic part 1

Sure beats having Goldfish for a pet.

Air Force Talks about DADT

Came across the offical United States Air Force News Forum and a article called Troops' opinions matter in 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' review. This article prompted debate by Air Force members sharing their opinions about the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal, the consequences and how the service members feel about. Not surprisingly (to me at least) there is a diverse amount of opinions ranging from soldiers who gladly look forward to a policy that makes so sense to absolutely blasé to soldiers that will probably quit the force when the repeal goes through. Some of the more interesting things Air Force members had to say include:

6/3/2010 6:12:39 PM ET
Lots of good comments here. It's just a shame that we can't hear opinions from one particular group - all those homosexual men that died at Omaha Beach Iwo Jima Okinawa Pork Chop Hill the Plain of Reeds Ramallah ... Tony, NH


6/4/2010 2:32:23 PM ET
I plan to stay in the military for five more years however if the law that bans gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military is repealed I will be extremely dissapointed in our leadership and will retire immediately. Lewis McDonald, Hill
AFB Ut

6/3/2010 3:13:05 PM ET
For those people who fight change by saying that we need to concentrate on other more important things need to one thing straight. Human and equal rights should always be at the center of concentration. Just because we are in the middle of a war doesn't mean our leadership can't concentrate on more than one issue at a time.If Congress only concentrated on one issue at a time especially during a war we'd be horribly behind on everything and the world would be completely different than it is today. I have a retired family member who served in the military during the equal rights movements. He's said that the exact same arguments that many conservative christians are using against gays and lesbians are the exact same that were used against non-caucasians. The fact of the matter is that this will happen and if a few bigoted people don't want it then they will just have to deal with it.
Joshua , Offutt


6/3/2010 4:43:43 PM ET
To be fair Joshua I'm a conservative christian and I've been advocating the repeal left and right. The issue as Admiral Mullen has so keenly pointed out is neither political nor religious because that's not how the military does business. It's personal and social. Sounds like semantics I know but to really appreciate any part of this law you have to appreciate what that means and what the difference is. As a last note I think that perhaps a lot of peopel are overstating their position for the sake of impact... honesty is the only way we're going to find the right direction on this issue though. Let's give our leadership good intel so the whole service can benefit. tr, ok



6/5/2010 6:06:44 AM ET
We already have gays in the military. They're watching us shower now and you don't even know it. They are just not telling anyone, hence Don't Ask Don't Tell. Let them come out and be free. It's their choice. It's not about Christianity anymore. Over 35 percent of our military is not Christian The other 75 percent claim to be but definitely don't act like it.


6/4/2010 4:45:01 PM ET
If openly gay men are to be housed in the male berthing where I deploy... then I want the right to move my bunk to the women's tent. Oh I'll be using the women's showers too. All the ladies who support ending DADT will be cool with that, right?
AC, NC


6/4/2010 2:36:45 PM ET
If they're going to make changes for homosexuals to openly serve then they should also make changes and implement the necessary medical facilities personnel to allow military personnel with family members with disabilities to serve all over the world. I know this issue has nothing to do with DADT but if change is going to take place to accomodate everyone regardless of race sex creed religion etc. then this amount of effort should be placed to ensure that the Americans with Disability Act is also considered for Active Duty family members
SSGT, NCR

6/4/2010 1:44:35 PM ET
I went to the briefing given about the law change and I stood up and gave my opinion. I will give it again here. I am a female and if we allow gays in the military then we need to rethink everything we do about training. BASIC TRAINING 2 gay trainees in the same flight have laundry duty together. Who will stop them from becoming physical? If being a good Airman is an issue then why aren't females and males allowed to sleep shower in the same quarters What's the difference? Personally I wouldn't like showering with the males married or not. So if a female is gay and in the shower with me, would that make you feel any less uncomfortable? DEPLOYMENT Another unfair opportunity for gays to have access that straights don't. My own brother is gay this isn't about hate but about the unfairness to straights and how uncomfortable it will make people feel. THAT effects the mission.
SSgt McCormick, LAFB TX




6/4/2010 4:10:41 AM ET
The brutal truth of it all is that there are already gays and lesbians in the military that just have not been found out yet. As long as they are willing to fight, stand and die along side me, then by all means I have no issues. Granted, social actions may need some considerations, but other than that - plenty of good room to serve. I believe the term openly is throwing people a lot of people off and I doubt 'openly' means the typical stereo type about gays in drag wearcross dressing and such. We as military members still follow our dress and appearance code in and out of uniform, so the real issue is acceptance.
MSgt, Spangdahlem Germany

It's interesting seeing how the armed forces reacts to this and will be interesting seeing how this plays out over the next few months.

THIS IS THE LAST TIME YOU BURN THE FUFU !!!

when I came across this picture I LOLed and the quote is from me taking it out of context. The actual context is interesting and sadly disturbing and can be found Here

Allegory Of The Red Head

When Romain Gavras sat down with M.I.A. to think about ideas for their new video, one of the topics that came up with was the bullying he endured as a kid for having red hair. One thing led to another and the idea was formed for “Born Free” A 9 minute short movie/ video that got banned by both YouTube and MTV for violence and other frank depictions.

After watching this video it is hard not to be put in a bad place. It was a reminder of how you have to be careful especially if you're a minority in doing stuff that other people can take for granted.

It reminded me of something myself and most minorities are aware of, that a feature you take for granted and may not think of on a daily basis (skin color, facial structure, handicap etc) can be the thing that marks you for harassment or even horrible physical harm, and thus you can't take for granted where you go.

When I was a teenager, a girl I knew told me about a college visit where she and a few other people she was with got "Niggers go home" yelled at them by some locals driving bye. I am pretty sure her foremost thought that day was is this college right for me, not "am "I going to experience racism today."

By choosing red hair as the allegorical stand in for minorities or oppressed people in general two very good points are made. By choosing red hair as the allegorical stand in for any number of factors (Race, Religion, Nationality, Hair Color) the absurdity of prejudiced behavior is pointed out. Just as important is the danger of being the wrong person in the wrong place however wrong is defined.

This also leads to the question why is Red Hair such a good allegorical stand in ?

About Red Hair or Gingers 101

A friend once posted on Facebook once said, "Redheads are very much like Asians in that they are both universally exoticized but also equally reviled." In many respects this is true.

Much like media portrayal of Asians, (Asian women tend to be portrayed in a positive light, while Asian males outside of Asian Cinema are rarely portrayed on screen or when portrayed are usually lackeys or villains), Red heads have a very similar divide.

Most red head jokes and negative portrayals being directed towards red headed males while females are usually fetishized because of all the sexual qualities that red headed women are supposed to have.

Red hair as the world's rarest hair color is bound to be exoticized, and despite the rumors they are not going extinct. Even in populations that are associated with it, they make up a sizable portion of the population but never a majority (Scotland has the largest percentage at 13% Ireland is second with 10%)

What is not known often about red hair is that contrary to popular belief red hair, isn't only a European trait. Though an even more rare and small population you will find redheads in all human populations both naturally and through inter-mixture.

(Black Redheads)

(Old School Rapper RedHead Kingpin )

(Sadly this is Maurice Jefferson a missing person. More information about his case can be found here

(Yes Malcolm X was a Redhead.
Back before his conversion to Islam, when he was a pimp he was known as Detroit Red because of his natural red hair.)

Pakistani Boy with Red Hair

Palestinian Girl With Red Hair

Japanese Kid With Red Hair

(Hey Japanese People you better be nice to this kid or else he's going to grow up to be this guy.)

Another interesting fact about Red Hair is the negative connotations it has often had.

Mark of The Traitor

Since Medieval Times and earlier, Red hair has had strong negative connotations. Judas Iscariot the betrayer of Jesus to the Romans was always portrayed as having red hair (There is very little description or evidence of Judas having red hair in The Bible. At least one famous bible figure is described as Having Red Hair, King David of the Old Testament.)

During Witch hunts in medieval times, red heads were targeted as bearing the mark of the devil. And at least one origin of the term "Hit you like a Red Headed Stepchild" is said to be traced back to Medieval origins

Orphan Abuse

The Term " Hit you like a Red Headed Step Child" has multiple disputed sources of origin. Surprisingly the most benign of them has to do with inflicting physical harm on a Orphan (one of the most famous orphans and red heads of all time, Annie.)

The alleged origin which traces itself back to Medieval times has to do with the Viking Raids on Europe. Allegedly whenever a redheaded child was born it was thought to be the result of a rape by Viking Raiders during one of their frequent raids. This child would then be subject to horrible mistreatment and physical abuse by his family because he was thought to be a illegitimate offspring of a rape by hated enemies.

Two other explanations for the origin of the term both allegedly have their origins in the Southern United States during the Slavery Era. One origin is that it referred to beating the red headed offspring of a plantation owner and a slave.

The other alleged origin is that its a variation of the term "Beat you like a red headed Nigger." most likely because the person getting their
ass whupped combines two undesirable features, black skin and red hair.

Finding out about the origins of the step child term makes me loathe its usage Fortunately for me I'm not a red head, unfortunately for red heads they are, and the abuse because of hair color is not only limited to Medieval times and history anecdotes.

Gingerism

England has a reputation for being anti red head (as discussed in this article by BBC Journalist Finlo Rohrer), why this prejudice exist isn't exactly certain. a possible source is the traditional negative associations with red hair. The second possible source is the association of red hair with Irish ethnicity and the history of British prejudice and discrimination against the Irish. And the harassment experienced goes way beyond school yard taunts of Carrot Top and fire crotch.

At least one family has reportedly claimed having to move twice because of harassment due to their red hair. In another incident , there was a stabbing of a red headed man, who got into a argument with someone after they made comments about his red hair. And in one very tragic incident a young girl committed suicide in part because of the taunts over having red hair.

But no need to hop across the Pond for this type of behavior, In the U.S. and Canada there is National Kick a Ginger Day, which has resulted in red headed kids being afraid to go to school on that day.

So while being a red head won't make you have to drink from a separate water fountain, or forced to live in a slum, or be deported, or from marrying someone you love (though allegedly the Nazi's refused the marriage of two red heads because they didn't want "Degenerates reproducing") it is in many ways the perfect allegory for discrimination.

When Keeping it Real goes wrong.

Oh Tubesteak !!!

You Silly (Barney's and Nobly Nigga !!!)

Silly (Donald Duck,Goofy, Mickey Mouse I'm gonna punch you in your f@#$ing mouth !!!)

Silly ( You know how many TV's and electronics we rescued that day ?!?!)

Silly ( I should be a Mutha F@##in Guidance Counselor)

Ignorant Negro will you ever learn!?!?.........sigh

Not Gay Enough to Play with this Bat and Balls ??!

(EDIT: Found another report of this Story that had slightly different details to the story . In their version they reported that the three men who were discriminated against were Filipino and not black.)


I guess the best place would be with the article I came across called. How Many Dicks Does It Take To Turn A Bi-Baseball Player Gay?

Other than a interesting philosophical question that depending on your general sluttyness and sexual orientation, you will be too eager to answer/avoid, it's also a story that's a quagmire of sports, sexuality, and race.

If you're too lazy to check out the link the basic gist of the situation is that 5 players were on Trial by NAGAAA's a gay baseball team to determine because it was suspected they were straight ringers who were bought in .

Unfortunately from post about the topic this happens a bit. One of the problems that this league has is that various teams have bought in ringers straight and gay to bolster their teams illegally. One poster who claimed to be a former Official in the league explained the reason for the rule.



You may all benefit from a little history here. I'm a former NAGAAA Commissioner and played in the league during its first 18 years, but have been "retired" for the last 15.


During Gay World Series II played in Milwaukee in 1979, some of the Los Angeles teams stacked their rosters with straight players, with one of those teams going on to win the championship. After that the league passed an 80/20 rule, with no more than 20% of a team identified as straight.


The intent of the rule was not to prevent straight people from playing with us, but to prevent teams from stacking their rosters just to win. The whole purpose of the league was to promote fellowship in the community thru sport, so stacking your team was the antithesis of the league's mission.

So what does that mean for today? I don't know that answer. The rule was passed 30 years ago, and this issue has popped up from time to time. How does any group be it Miss Black America, The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, or the Lesbian Avengers–protect its identity and its mission without some type of reasonable restriction on its membership? Would it still be the GAY World Series if a straight team won? Would we still want to play?

Broader questions than I can answer, but definitely worthy of more discussion.


This and a few other post prompted one poster to go:


This is the funniest conversation I've ever seen on this site. Seriously, a lot of you appear to be suggesting that us poor wimpy little queers just can't possibly actually COMPETE against a team that might have some straight guys on it. Those straight guys are just too big of an advantage. Are there some self-esteem issues here, or what?


From my perspective the idea of getting Straight Ringers on a team is explainable without believing that gay men are wimpy. Especially when you have gay men out there like MMA Fighter Shad Smith,

(Shown here fighting)


Also Rugby Veteran Gareth Thomas,

, the idea that gay guys are wimpy little queers that can't possibly compete with straight guys is thrown a serious curve ball.The more likely perspective has to do with percentages.

Gay men theoretically make up anywhere from 5 to 10% of the population that means the other 90 to 95 % of the population is straight. Even if one team had the gay equivalent of a Babe Ruth or Kurt Schilling on their team the majority of Baseball talent would still be straight.

So if you wanted to load up on the talent on your team it would be easier to look for straight players than gay players cause the percentages lend to more success.

But I don't mean to turn this into a math lesson Whats most important is a story that gets more and more complicated as it goes on and gets worse with the reaction to it.

So they had a trial to determine whether these guys were gay or not. All 5 identified as bisexual but by whatever criteria they used to judge this (asking the players how many dicks they sucked a month, the judges and panel determining how gay the players were by the quality of their lap dances. Etc etc ) The final result was that 3 players who identified as Bi were ruled ineligible and 2 were allowed to stay on the team.

If the fact that men who identify as bi isn't making you furrow your brow and get a skeptical look on your face, maybe the fact that all 3 who where found to not be gay enough where black and the two who were OK to remain were white.


Whenever you discuss race and sexuality a lot of baggage by whatever side of the divide you're on, comes out. Much as rightfully and truthfully been made of the homophobia in the black community especially concerning the voting for Prop 8 in California.

However quite a few comments about this issue revealed that the hate goes both ways.

As one commenter said:

You can get seven black males to participate in a GAY softball team but you can't get seven black males to show up to a protest for gay rights. Maybe gay organizations should say we are having a gay softball game on the White House lawn so black gay (but they don't want to identify as gay) males will show up.

I completely agree with Norman. Male bisexuality doesn't exist and if it does it's extremely rare. For those who will use female bisexuality to argue for male bisexuality, male and female sexuality are different not the same and not mirror images of each other. There have been two studies on male bisexuality and both showed that the subject was either heterosexual or gay (majority were).

http://www.alldeaf.com/glbt-lo.....sexes.html

Where are the gay MLB players? There hasn't been a single openly gay MLB or even minor league player ever! That's why gay leagues exist. Because of the hostile climate haterosexuals create. This gay league will be completely haterosexual in a couple years because the climate will become unwelcoming to gay people. If you go to these games and support them, stop it. Thank all the mindless, subservient gay people who made it happen.

Other than the obvious, that this poster's hatred of various people (bisexuals, heterosexuals, black people etc,) will keep Haterade in business for years to come , or that his favorite sport is Oppression Olympics, a.k.a. “My people are more oppressed than yours”, A game if you're smart you don't truly want to win, he also seems to suffer from rose tinted information.

One of the first things that is unfortunate is that the reason why black homosexuals don't show up to various gay social events is that it can either be a alienating or racist experience. An example of this happened at the Anti Prop 8 rally's where quite a few black gay men talked about experiencing quite hateful use of the N word by fellow protestors

If anyone has to experience part of their humanity (race, ethnicity, religion etc) being diminished as they fight for another part of their humanity and everyday lives to be acknowledged it can make that battle more difficult and will alienate you from your allies because at least in another aspect of your life they are your enemy.

Secondly This posters acts like Bisexual players can openly participate in Major League Baseball or straight sports leagues without getting harassment and in many ways are being denied a chance to participate in something they love. To be too gay for straight teams but too gay for the gay leagues leaves these players in a miserable limbo.


So how is this scenario going to end ?? I have no idea. I know the three players are having a lawsuit filed on their behalf by another gay organization against the NAGAA the gay baseball league they were members of. Till then I'll be watching to see what developments happen.