"Novus Ordo Seclorum"

Above the skyline of New York City rests the command zeppelin of Team Striker, an elite force of American men and women who have vowed to defend the people of their country from the evil forces of S.T.O.N.E.H.E.N.G.E, a diabolical alumni of evil devoted to conquering the United States of America itself. Our homeland is at stake, we depend on Team Striker alone to save us from the not yet vanquished villians of untold maliciousness, Brigadier General Frank Horrigan and his superior, Commander Vile. Will our heroes conquer, or fail?

Find out on this weeks episode of Striker, the original series!

We join our protagonist, Captain Harrison, as he finishes up a report to the United Nations itself.

"In conclusion, Team Striker is a vital asset for the United States of America, one that if disbanded, will lead to total annihilation of all we hold dear gentlemen. We alone are capable of defeating S.T.O.N.E.H.E.N.G.E and the cretins who support them financially, politically, or otherwise, and we will answer the call of duty on any front, at any time, whoever the foe."

Prime Minister Leery, major critic of Team Striker, watches with an ominious gaze from the upper corridor of the building, no doubt waiting for the perfect pitfall in Captain Harrison's logic.

"This is exactly why Team Striker must be dismantled, they are proposing the complete eradication of a multinational terrorist threat within the course of a decade, an impossible feat I assure you! Our funds would be better directed towards defense, not pre-emptive and risky 'strikes' as you so fondly refer to it as, Captain Harrison."

"That is the thing, Mister Leery, we cannot beat an enemy which we are reacting to, by only participating in defense we are effectively putting ourselves at S.T.O.N.E.H.E.N.G.E's whim, and I have yet to see any pause in their activity even with our pre-emptive strike strategy in place. S.T.O.N.E.H.E.N.G.E is a virus, and in simple terms Team Striker, is the cure."

"We all know your record, Harrison, your success rate, although high, is obtained by methods outside of regular jurisdiction."

"Sometimes we must go above the law to put down the dogs of society, Mr. Leery."

"Hrmph."

Little did they know, the forces of S.T.O.N.E.H.E.N.G.E had already set forth a plot to kidnap Mr.Leery himself!

"Horrigan, do not fail me, this is important to the success of our operations on the Eastern Front, failure is not tolereable."

Brigadier General Horrigan is Commander Viles second in command and a highly lucrative target, notable for his strategical and culinary prowess. The forces of Team Striker have relentlessly pursued him, vesting interest in the theory that the S.T.O.N.E.H.E.N.G.E war machine is nothing without his logistical expertise.

"As you command it, the plot will be unfolding within hours."

"Good, now Horrigan, be sure to assign one of your protege's to field command of this undertaking, they need the experience."

"I will send Trey."

A Short Story That Has No Name

Retreat into a world of pure happiness and joy is strictly speaking, impossible, but to eliminate constraints is to eliminate doubt, fear, and the prison known as reality.

Are we correct in saying to retreat is to abandon?

I like to think otherwise, to abandon is to erase, to let decay, to remove from ones life, I view my journey as a visit to another realm, a place of rest for me, maybe a home away from home. I am not sure of this place as of yet, but the clouds are not above nor below me, not in my control or out of it, they are simply, everywhere. The sky is illuminated with the eternal cry of an unseen nothing, but it is definetely something, yet it places no hand on my shoulder, has no stake in reality. The water is air, and the air is me, you, and everyone beyond living. Woe is me, never before have I dared venture beyond the conventional, beyond the rules, beyond the fabric of reality, and it is all I will ever want, it is all I care to.......words escape me. Existence is meaningless yet the basis of this realm, and it exists as a non-entity based concept. Linguistics does not do my explanation justice.

Beneath the waters of salvation exists not a single fish, yet I feel empty inside and out. Has a lack of purpose brought upon me this sensation? Nay, I am assured by the god who is not god at all, to need purpose is to need fear and pain and obstruction, to live as a nothing is to truly be free.

Am I alive?

Nay I am assured by the terrace overlooking reality, you are no longer living a variable in an equation, here, nothing is everything.

Bilrow Gets A Feature-Length Extension

All clever title-related puns aside, yes this is real. I anticipate failing to create a presentable story at least three times, making a coherent plot out of the Bilrow universe is a bit tough, the hardest thing is the creation of the beginning. Bilrow has always started with a bang and ended with a bigger bang, and I have decided to try basing the intro off of this concept. The "movie" itself is a prologue to the series, detailing his worlds descent into complete and utter madness, and despite all of the revisions and changes I will most likely make in the future, this concept will stay unchanged. With that in mind, here goes "take 1".

Bilrow (working title)

The control room was alight with the flicker of LCD screens and the occasional desk lamp, men and women exchanging nervous glances as pebble esque bits of rubble clinked onto the tiled flooring. An amnesiac might mistake the light rumbling for the aftershock of a high magnitude earthquake, not in the least bit suspecting a full blown conflict above street level as the culprit. Air raid sirens had been set off above ground, the sound eerily ringing throughout the room in a slightly muffled manner, red warning lights slowly twisting in circles, only contributing to the feeling of overall hopelessness. Central Control in Fullerville, Pennsylvania had been constructed as an underground bunker of sorts, not out of anticipation of this though. No, nobody could possibly anticipate this.

"Sensors are going off on the Pierce Building, possible collapse imminient." the main display rattled off in a monotone voice, blaring warning sirens going off at the very moment it completed it's sentence.

A general decked out in desert camoflouge angrily threw his beret onto the nearest computer console, slightly startling the man operating it. His statement sounding more like the angry barking of a startled bitch than that of a man.

"Barton you fuck up! The Pierce Building? What the fuck are you doing?! We need to mobilize more troops now if we have shit like this happening! What in fuck's name do you thi-"

Barton, although shooken by the shrill voice, hid it well.

"Mobilization at this point is only adding meat to the grinder, General."

The General picked up his beret as if disgusted by everything about it, and slapped it onto his shaved head. He raised his finger like one would raise a weapon and clenched his teeth.

"Barton you obviously think that being the Director of the East Division of the Controlled Response Project grants you immunity-" said the General with obvious contempt in a slow, calm manner.

"-well I got news for you soldier. We better come up with a fucknig great battle strategy, or we're all going home in body bags!"

Complete silence. The room slowly began to rumble, the churning slowly growing and growing. The staff look up at the concrete ceiling in worry, small chunks of the structure falling after being ground into a fine powder. The rumbling stops.

"Collapse of Pierce Building confirmed."

"Well that's just great Barton, I hope you're real happy with yourself now."

Barton slowly wiped off residual dust on his suit, he was aware that all attention was on him, but he was more concerned with what he was about to set forth.

"Arm the sattelite."

"What?"

"Set target designation as Fullerville, Pennsylvania........."

"Now wait a minute! Shouldn't we at least start a fucking evacuation before we nuke the whole fucking city?! Or did I miss something here?!" spat out the General.

Barton solemnly walked towards the main display, the picture depicting the sattelite arming it's missiles.

"It's useless, no-one will survive. People, I suggest you get a means of evacuation ready, in a couple of minutes this city will no longer exist."

A warning alarm rattled off, the atmosphere in the room extremely tense.

"Countdown engaged, firing missiles in 5 minutes."

Fahrenheit 451

I picked up a book you may have heard of (it's well known) entitled Fahrenheit 451 yesterday, the plot mainly concerns a fireman's changing attitude towards the utopian (dystopian) society he lives in. Firemen in the future do not put out fires in this novel, they incinerate literature. Why? The culture of the time has become so fixated with "factoids" and television that they have found no need to read books or really do any true thinking at all. Sound familiar?

Yeah, it creeps me out as well.

But that is when a future based novel really succeeds, when it hits home on present issues. Many see it as commentary on censorship, the author has expressed that he intended it to be commentary on how society is becoming less concerned with intellectual pursuits and more concerned with "quick, meaningless entertainment", I like to view it as both. The characters were well fleshed out, specifically Captain Beatty who delivers a classic, kick ass villian monologue explaining how things came to be, and why it is for the better. The protagonist, Montag, is the opposite of a Mary Sue, human in every sense, and prone to human emotion. All in all Clarisse, a free-spirited and very insightful 17 year old girl intrigued me the most. She alone convinced Montag to question the status quo, the culture of his society itself, making her the defacto catalyst of the entire plot. Description of her appearence and demeanor was top knotch, instead of giving us vague notions of what Clarisse looks like the author intricately constructs a mental image that sticks with you, simply because of how unique it is.

Pacing was a bit off, the story at times awkwardly transitioning from a frantic atmosphere to that of a relaxed one, though it is not a problem that plagues the entirity of the novel. Overall the novel was an interesting adventure that integrated intriguing commentary on the social condition that exists today with dramatic self realization and evolution, leading to possible cultural revolution.

Citing it's realistic character development, relevant theme, and excellent plot progression, I give Fahrenheit 451 a solid 9/10.

Now leave me be, I have things to see, people to do.

Animal Defecation and the Consciousness

Before I delve into one of the highlights of my life, I feel as if I owe you all a little background information. My younger brother Kevin has a condition, eczema, that causes mild irritations and rashes to appear all over his skin, due to financial constraints we both share a room. An unfortunate side effect of bunking with an eczema ridden child is that I am not allowed to have our cat, Sam, in the room at any time what so ever. Coincedentally, I have always adhered to the statement "Rules are meant to be broken."

Chairman of The Neo Order says:
*lol the most amazing thing happened last night, and no it wasnt gay sex
*Well I've told you about how Kevin doesnt let the cat in our room before, so I decided to let the cat in while we were both sugar high

Often I've been told that you can feel a storm before it arrives, and now I'm convinced.

Chairman of The Neo Order says:
*So I let the cat in, and Kevin eventually came in and threw the cat out
*About five minutes later the room started smelling really bad
*We assumed it was just from the bathroom
*Then I go to sleep, and the first thing I hear as I wake up and get dressed is

*Kevin: "Aiden, the cat shit in my bed."

Yep, in a sadistic, irony ridden twist of fate Sam decided to dump a nice pile of steaming cat shit in Kevin's sleeping quarters. Now, I know that Sam most likely did this out of necessity, but I like to think that somewhere in his mind he was saying to himself:

"Irritation? I'll show you irritation."

Cue the sound of shit plopping onto a mattress.

In all seriousness though, it brings up an interesting question, that is, are some animals on the same conscious level as us?

If so, one would imagine they only seem lesser because they are content with their condition therefore not "bothering" to attain a higher level of knowledge, that is to propose that animals have the same potential but simply are unaware of it. I myself do not find this theory plausible, I bring it to the table merely as food for thought. More realistic, I would say, is the theory that animals are of a lower conscious level in general but still have the potential to expand their conscious, to some limited degree. I assert not that animals do not feel, I merely suggest that they are of a more simple mindset, and it works very well for them! Eating, sleeping, defecation (on Kevin's bed), in reality, it is all they need, and quite possibly all they want.

The more liberally inclined may at this time propose that animals simply deserve a tolerable (by the liberal standard) condition of living, while I say that animals quite frankly deserve nothing. On what grounds do they deserve to be treated as more then they are, the grounds that they are alive? The right to the pursuit of happiness is derived from simply being alive?

Interesting proposal, bro.

This is the real root of the arguement, the source (grounds) from which rights are derived. Merely being alive is a popular answer, as well as being capable of feeling (How do you determine if something can feel if you cannot communicate with it? This is a discussion in itself.), while others simply assert that the strong shall survive. Frequently that final viewpoint is challenged as being barbaric and not accounting for how we shall survive as a species, often inciting the answer "We work together because it is easier that way, it is only logical that we work together to conquer all others. The knowledge to pursue this line of action is what has brought us here in the first place, e are quite simply, the winners, and they, the losers."

Honestly it is a landmine of an issue, even by my standards. The objectivist school of thought asserts that rights are derived from our higher level of consciousness, the ego, although I believe this lacks in being a comprehensive answer. Although I am inclined to say that animals of lower consciousness do not deserve the same rights as us, in all honesty, I simply do not know the source from which rights are (ought to be) derived, many arguements are convincing, none conclusive enough to win the distinction of being the correct answer.

We must attempt to find said answer, perhaps with conversation kicked off with amusing stories of potentially vengeful felines like I have.

Interesting issue, cant wait to hear some thoughts on it. I'll be sure to gather some input from my colleagues and compile it into a follow up sometime soon.

Sex in Cinema is Not Something to Be Tossed Like Salad

A lot of directors out there feel the need to throw in a sex scene or two to "enchance the artistic quality" of whatever movie they are working on at the time, and quite frankly, I'm tired of it.

First of all you should never "throw in" anything to enchance a story, a story is not a dump, to enchance a story you add an element that contributes to the development of the plot or the evolution of the protagonist. By the way, thats the only reason you should ever add anything to a story, dickwads.

I am not suggesting that sex is bad, on the contrary, I believe that the opposing viewpoint stands true. Sex is a powerful act, it suggests great emotional involvement, desire, as well as many other things. You can utilize this importance in a multitude of ways, play it for drama, highlight a characters lack of humanity by potraying that they view sex as a recreational activity only. Play it for comedy, reveal the ultimate irony of the macho ladies man having a very "expiremental" past. Play it as a climax (DOHOHO) to a coming of age story, the beginning of a biographical depiction of a characters descent into madness, as a surreal portal into a world of ecstasy, but for the sake of the audiences sanity please do not just "throw it in there"!

Potential greats have become "mehs" because of carelessness such as this, and we need you to drop the viagra for a second, and think with your fucking brain.

That is all.

Why Not Being Allowed to Have A Sleepover With My Girlfriend is A Major Lapse in Civil Rights

The title says it all, and yes this is a major "fuck you" to my potential future in laws.

Lets examine the situation at it's core first, just the facts, no icing.

Gender A is allowed to have a sleepover with another Gender A because societal norms have dictated that homosexual relationships among teenagers are non-existant for some retarded reason. However, Gender A cannot have a sleepover with Gender B because Gender B is quite simply, Gender B.

Replace each "Gender" in that with "Race" and we'd have the Supreme Court all over our ass in an instant.

My point? This is discrimination, and I have a pretty big problem with discrimination. People are people, and should be judged the same, regardless of race and of course gender. We are born into a gender, we do not choose it, I will never criticise or discriminate someone based on a matter they have no choice in. Dick or no dick, you are a person, and should be treated as an equal.

The obvious assumption here is that we would do sexual things if we had a sleepover, cultural bias has led us to cast men in an ill-light, especially men from the teenage sub group. This "arguement" supporting discrimination against co-ed sleepovers/interaction is the equivalent of saying "All niggers eat fried chicken and steal our white women, and the ones who dont are planning to anyway." Keep in mind that even if all African Americans are indeed eating fried chicken and stealing our white women, they have every right to.

That is, who is to say that me and my significant other should not be allowed to have sex? Out of necessity I must inform all of you new to philosophical arguement that "Because the law says so." is not a valid retort in this case, this is an arguement of ethics, we are not debating what is, we are debating what ought to be.

Saying "Because teenage sex is wrong." merits explanation as to why it is so, and I have yet to hear one. By all means though, enlighten me.

Me, my girlfriend, and every other human are conscious beings, it is through our consciousness that we inherit our rights, and there are no valid arguements that prove we deserve to be treated differently because we are not adults, or because I am a man and she is a woman, or for any other inherent reason.

In short, gender discrimination is total bullshit, and all of the arguements supporting it stand on grounds not valid in an ethical debate.

Or something to that affect.