RLSH - Urban Avenger rant about Phoenix Jones

[blackmage]

While poking around on the old RLSH site, I stumbled across Urban Avenger's new rant on Phoenix Jones. Here's the link:

urbanavenger.reallifesuperheroes.org/2012/07/09/phoenix-jones-sells-snake-oil-calls-it-a-supersuit/

I was not only disappointed that he took the time to do this, but even more in those who were blindly following his lead in the comments section. This remided me as to why I left that site. It was hero turning on hero when there was nothing greater to gain.

In this one he is upset the PJ posted for donations to purchase armor. Like, I said... I may not agree with this, but he has the right to do what he wants, which is the same for those that are willing to donate.
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This was my response to the rant:

I’m mixed on this article as well as some of the comments written. The premise of this (on the surface) was basically Phoenix Jones could spend the money in a different way. It then had multiple components ranging his ‘celebrity’ status, his selfishness, examples of how other comic-based heroes have done it, and a comparison to what should be based on the writer’s opinion.

All of this was positioned in order to justify the final judgment that PJ was wrong.

While everyone is entitled to an opinion, my question is… how does this rant serves to create something positive? Would this be the same as going off on the bus driver who got almost a million dollars raised on Indiegogo for getting verbally abused by the kids on the bus? The title of the entire campaign launched for her was based on raising money to send her on vacation.

Wouldn’t this be a more viable argument to debate on when it comes to spending funds instead of one focused on someone gathering tools for his trade.

If two people are on the same track to get to the same goal, is it right for the one that is hopping along to complain about the one that’s running or the other one that is crawling? Won’t they all get there eventually? Everyone has their own priorities as to what is important.

While Marines and Army soldiers share the same goal to defend this nation, we do things differently. We have different techniques and use different tools. It doesn’t make either of us better or worse than the other, we just have different tactical functions. If you fight crime 40 percent of the time and feed the homeless 60 percent of the time, your load-out and needs are much different than someone who fights crime 90 percent and feed the homeless 10 percent… and yet both of you would be considered heroes.

We were taught something a long time ago while studying military history, ‘You don’t have to like your enemy in order to respect the way that they win a war!’

I may not agree with everything the PJ does, but I sure-as-hell respect the way that he is making things happen and taking care of what is needed to accomplish a given task. If your mission is different then his, then consider learning from his techniques and creating your own campaign(s) in order to fund your team or to feed the homeless. This would be a great and inspiring move. Other heroes would gladly join your endeavor and support you.

But to spend your time and energy attacking another RLSH (even if YOU don’t want to accept it) affects your brand as a hero and a leader. Those that support you are willing to make themselves known through your comment, while many that are intrigued by you find themselves tainted. You will find some of the same terms applied to you on a constant which consistently shoves you in the corner to defend yourself:

- Arrogant
- Jealous
- Hater
- High-and-Mighty

You and your brand are becoming the creature you despise the most. It leaves you barking out your achievements in order to save face, but this actually works in reverse making it seem more like your bragging. You don’t see PJ on here defending himself, instead he’s in the field making things happen; he’s creating change. Those that are inspired by him are moved to defend him… not him.

There is a lot to learn from this. Remember, its always more difficult to be more positive than negative. You’ve done great things, now its time to take it to the next level!

-Blackmage, “Heroes aren’t made during good times!” – The Elite Forces Division

[John Reid]

Jesus once said, "Never cast pearls before swine lest they trample them underfoot." I spent a year on rlsh.org and consistantly tried to turn the negativity toward more positive goals and my pleas fell on deaf ears.

Urban Avenger seems obsessed with Phoenix Jones and has delegated himself to the role of being his personal heckler. In so doing he only makes himself look bad, but he doesn't seem to get it. He has written scores of blistering attacks on Phoenix and can't see the irony of the fact that he attacks Phoenix because he thinks PJ is making the movement look bad when in fact he is the one who is doing so by appearing so egotistical and petty.

I have stopped going to the forums period. It really has no bearing on my work. I was doing this when they were both in diapers and see no benefit from trying to play peacemaker or referee.

Being a rlsh is supposed to be about helping people. Period. It's not about getting attention for yourself, nor is it about kicking ass nor is it about belittling others to make yourself feel big.

The movement began as good samaritans in costume helping people however they could. Now it seems to have been taken over by egotists who are only out for personal glory.

The best thing to do is to sit back and relax and watch them self destruct. They will not last. In the end the only ones who last are the silent good samaritans who care more about others and trying to make their world a better place without the fanfare.

So my advice is to not waste your breath on them. They are little children who never grew up and there is nothing you can say to change them.

Knight-Hood

[The Muse]

He that is walking with wise persons will become wise, but he that is having dealings with the stupid ones will fair badly~ King Solomon

Knight-Hood speaks in the wisdom of experience.

There are some people who wont listen to reason. They are like a dog with the proverbial bone. You just have to walk away because the only thing that will happen is that the negativity will exhaust you and wear you down. Despite your good intentions, you will "fair badly".

[ark]

There is alot of History and alot of personal Pride between both Urban and PJ, do i agree with Urbans constant heckling ofcourse not and to be very clear PJ has held his own againts such people he's done what most of us have been doing after seeing this particular patern. Ignored but then again i guess turning a blind eye can add alittle of water to the blazing bush doesn't help.

I remember when i first came on rlsh.org and just heard of PJ I didnt agree with his tactics what so ever, reason being is im from canada my culture and where he is from are very oposites. if i wore what he wore i'd not only be distinguished and catagorised as a vigilanty but if i did what PJ does would be what a vigilanty does in "my" country PJ is under diffrent laws diffrent by-laws heck very diffrent rules and litturaly a diffrent field. My self i didnt understand this at first, and how couldi with out looking up the "proper" information. Im not going to lie when i say i was once on Urbans band wagon i have nothing againts Urban. after reading the correct information of both Urban and PJ i learned to have respect as i would have with a family member between both Urban and PJ because they are two diffrent worlds but they both or doing what they can with what they have. Now saying this I DO NOT agree with Urban when he says and it seems to make it his life mission to try and not only exclude PJ from the community of RLSH but also stating PJ is not a RLSH and is not allowed to go to RLSH functions. in all honesty this is not really creating "unity with in the community" so to speak its just creating more fractures in the very foundation we all are trying to build. not only for ourselve but also for the people to see us as. I know for a fact there were some events PJ did want to join in events, but was "kindly" asked he couldn't because people were threatoning to not go if he comes because they believe he's a media whore.

In all fairness we all are capable to be in the media but most, not all but most make it there personal choice to not be seen in the media by there mask but there deads. This is a personal choice not a rule set in stone. There are some RLSH or activists who also use the media such and the fauna fighters, who seem to be one of the first that i've personaly seen as great and positive animal activists. I see no one going after them and judging them of there place in this community. well not any more any ways, they are now accepted with open arms and they are in as much megazinse, tabloids. whats the diffrence between them and PJ? I mean they stick sickers on pet stores saying dont support puppy farms a huge campain againts people litturaly mass producing puppies in such confined and un humane small crates. in my country some one sticking any stickers such as this can be "seen" as vandalism for it being on private property because of its political stance againts such farms. now PJ uses the media alot more like his left hand compaired to his activist suit on his right, he has to have one with the other and this is not wrong. He isnt all about fighting crime if anything he tries and does reach out to the new generation of kids who may have it worse and good in there lives. he's a beacon to this kids as much as to the people who are affected by his acts, charities and surprise interviews.

what im really trying to get at is simply we all have our methods with our tactics not one is the same for all is diffrent. what we all wear is diffrent some with there own suits some with out. some wear masks some dont. some people gain there equipment through purchases, and some just get the matirial and creat there own stuff. we are all diffrent, this is not bad at all but.... it makes room for alot of critisism among the mask. in there field they work in being charaties,crime fighting to hand outs, the core function to all this is basicly making (and some what forcing WICH IS FREAKING AWESOME) safety and a hell lot of involvment of many diffrence walks, perspectives and even personal Creed for the main goal COMMUNITY.

personaly my belief is simply this if we cant accept the fact we all have our diffrent ways to do things how can we help create a safe invironment for a world that is truly letting alot of wrong things seem right. I mean is it possible to have perfrial vision with one eye. not exactly does that make you blind? Not exactly. Does that make you limited comparing with people with two eyes. most definitly. so perhaps the community as a whole should take there hand of the left eye to perhaps see the full picture not just Urban, or PJ but i mean the community as a whole. Because its us as a community that allowed the fuel to be fed for allowing all this in the past.... and now look was we got to show. this exact situation.

[John Reid]

Perhaps it is just a case of life imitating art. The comic book superheroes are not exactly one big happy family either. Indeed the clash of egos is contant in both Marvel and DC's universes. The heroes seem to beat the crap verbally and physically out of each other even more than they do the villains. Spider-Man vs pretty much everyone, the X-men are shunned by the rest of the community, Batman is very respected but disliked personally by most the the JLA and so on.

So if indeed we are a community based on these fictional dopplegangers then is it any wonder that there is such constant friction?

In both instances we are looking at masked 20 year old type one personalities who think more with their fists than with their heads. Was I all that different when I was in my 20's? No not really. Perhaps age will bring wisdom to all concerned.

Knight-Hood

[blackmage]

I am so glad that you guys stepped in to show a mentality that is different and much needed. I PERSONALLY saw and felt the hurt on the old board when the 'new' crew of heroes came on and called themselves 'cleaning house'. The attacks were absolutely BRUTAL!!

New RLSHs didn't have a chance against these guys! They were the real deal when it came to destroying ambition. It started with sarcasm and ended up with simple bad language telling people to leave.

It was a dark evolution for the website as a whole.

Now, I see another crew of heroes strolled out amongst the board learning from the survivors of that dark fall as well as learning from other new people that are barely wet behind the ears.

Many of those that fought the 'clean-up of the old forum' are gone and this new generation is made up of prime butt-kickers with bulletproof vests and hopes to be like their leaders. They flooded to Urban Avengers rant and quickly pounded out their agreements with his train of thought without considering what would happen if they wanted to try something different and he ranted about them.

They are young. They are impressionable. Many of them are lost and this is the path that is illuminated for them. We can't give up hope, but we can be wary of the intentions that provide guidance.

I just found out that my account has been deleted from the RLSH site, also and I have no desire to try to find out why. I had a fun experience there and I don't regret it at all. I just pray for the new heroes and the one holding up the finger pointing into the direction that is worthy of good heroes to go.

-Blackmage

[John Reid]

I really wouldn't worry about it. Truthfully about 90% of the members of rlsh.org are posers and arm chair heroes, plus young wannabe's. Few there are who actually go out and do anything. I can't get into the site myself for some reason. Been locked out for quite a while. I can still read the articles on the home page though. Superhero just mentioned me in his latest blog. The forums really do more harm than good I think. I certainly don't need anyone approving or disapproving of my methods or labeling me a vigilante or what-have-you. I don't do this for approval or praise, nor am I seeking fame, glory or a fan club. I don't need some kids setting up rules for me to follow. I was doing this long before any of them and have little doubt I will be doing it when they grow up and hang up their capes. In enjoyed my year there as well and have no regrets. I met a few kindred spirits like the Rook, Delta and Ark who all followed me over here. (Plus Grey Gardian who seems to have disappeared) I do miss my young friend the Recluse and will try to recruit her over here as well. I met Superhero and Artisteroi and admire them both. Captain Black is one of those I find the most impressive. Other than the Watchman I have spoken with few of the veterans. I do admire Master Legend and Thanatos as well but have only spoken with them once or twice.
So I still have the email addresses of my favorites and can always write them that way. I really don't need the headache of the forums.
Knight-Hood
So I will just go back to doing my own thing and letting the movement take care of itself.

[delta]

I’ve found that UA does have a good side but it is being overshadowed by his apparent vendetta against Phoenix Jones. I wish they could stop and see that they are on the same side. The fighting and bickering between community members can be overwhelming but there are many that do rise above it. I have tried to follow the example set by Knight Hood and encourage civilized discourse. However, like the kids say “haters gonna hate”.

I remember the first thing I did when I started communicating with the members of the community was to write to Knight Hood and asked him to reconsider retiring. At the time I felt that, with his withdrawl, we would lose his voice of reason and wisdom. Without mentors like him in the community then the only people to lead the movement would be the loud, the boastful and the ignorant. I was seriously afraid that some youngster would get themselves seriously hurt without the calming voice he brought to the forum.

[John Reid]

Hmm...Delta perhaps you're right. Of course at present I have no choice but stay away as I am still locked out. Ok I will contact the Watchman again and see if he can find someway to get me back on the site. If you think I am needed there then perhaps I did more good there than I believed. I'll see what I can do. I think if I ask the Watchman to delete my account I may be able to rejoin the site. I don't know whatelse to try.
Knight-Hood

[John Reid]

Update; Sorry Delta I am still locked out. Contacted the Watchman and he did his best to get me back on line but no luck. It probably has to do with my antique dial up AOL system. Eventually I will dispose of it and get high speed internet from my cable company and then I will try again to get back in.
Knight-Hood

[delta]

It's not just you. I can view but that's all. Superman (of TheRLSH.net) was also locked as of a couple day's ago. I noticed there hasn't been a new post in a month. I think that some upgrade accidentally locked everyone out. There is probably a global preference box somewhere that needs to be toggled.

[blackmage]

Did they post any announcements about the lockout or send out emails? It kinda makes you miss their old forum.

I recommended that they configure it to have a PUBLIC area and a SECURED area so that visitors can experience the site as well as RLSHs share a private area. This would solve the login lockout issue for those who merely want to read basic posts.

[John Reid]

That's good suggestion. Yeah we had a great forum once upon a time but I guess things change. I always say if something's not broken don't fix it.

I hope this site never changes it's format.
Knight-Hood

[delta]

There was no announcement. That's why I think the lockout is an accident.

[The Muse]

Knight-hood, you may rest assured that we will keep this forum in this format.

There are only a few of us that could be considered "powers that be". We each handle different aspects of Visual Adjectives: The Main site, The Blog site and The Forum. We have joint discussions about things, but we pretty much each take care of different areas.

As long as I am wanted by the others, The Forum is in my hands. I strive to keep it a place where all are welcome as long as they treat everyone with dignity, keep their language civil and act as all around decent human beings.

I actually banned my first member the other day. They signed up and promptly put up 6 or 7 threads that were advertisements to buy some sort of sports jerseys. I deleted all the threads and banned them. I am fairly certain it was some sort of spam attempt.

Someone else did the same thing a month or so ago. I deleted that persons threads and sent them a warning message. They have not been on the forum since they signed up and posted the spam.

But things like that and failure to "use your manners" would be the only thing you would get warned for. Im willing to give more than one chance before someone is banned.

So, no worries on that score my friend.

[blackmage]

The Muse is the BEST!!!!! ;D

[The Muse]

*blush*

Awwwwe, shucks. ;D