RLSH - Ninja Robber

[blackmage]

Here we go again guys...

We now have a Ninja Robber down here in Florida hitting gas stations at an alarming pace with a handgun. He's held the gun to the heads of customers and smashed cash registers in order to get the few dollars held within them.

He is becoming famous because of his mask and image and it is reflecting in the comments of those responding to the videos and articles.

I have read people praising him as some recession-based Robin Hood and I have read people flat out saying they need to shoot him. There were even a few comments referring to him as a Real Life Super Villain and placing him in the same space as the Colorado 'Joker'.

If you study the videos of his robberies, you can notice the improvement of his costume as he became more brazen. The most recent one has him in a full black Ninja outfit with white gloves.

This is a SERIOUS problem... especially when it comes to RLSHs who go on patrol. This guy hits the same 'type' of areas that wouldn't be far-fetched as a place that would be patrolled by a RLSH.

How do you think the community would react NOW, if a RLSH in a mask came walking through? What about the ones in demon masks or skull masks?

On the flipside, this is a classic situation that would benefit from a RLSH reconaissance specialist that has his ear to the street and has contacts. He can gain information that the local police would have to struggle for.

Notice that I am saying recon instead of direct action. This guy is charging in carrying a handgun!! He's getting caught up on his image of being a Ninja Villain and the law is coming down on him. This is NOT the type of situation in which a RLSH need to jump in trying to be a super crime-fighter and end up getting shot. This is REAL!!

The police need information... NOT an injury or a homicide.

Does anyone know if there are any RLSHs in South Florida looking into this? I remember there was one in Miami, but I'm not sure if he is still active.

Here are some links to this creep:

video.foxnews.com/v/1813711621001/

www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/ninja-robber-wanted-for-dozen-hold-ups-florida_n_1838915.html

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPZXraiLsUk

[The Muse]

*sigh* This is bad. I hope that if there ARE RLSH in the area that they use extreme caution and only act as an extra pair of eyes for the authorities.

[John Reid]

Blackmage, thank you for posting this. This is one I had not heard about. I know our friend Anti-Hero dresses just like him and so do many others in the community.

It's funny they all listened politely the last time I addressed this issue following the James Holmes incident, but no one changed their look or M.O. Not a single one. Then the Beast was arrested and I reiterrated my point and again they listened politely but did nothing.

So now I will return to rlsh.net and start a new topic. Perhaps they will listen this time, but I doubt it.

As for the criminal, it makes me long for the old days when I was living in my van, I'd be down there in a heartbeat. Now I can't get across town without a bus pass. Lol. Oh well, how the mighty have fallen they say. As for the gun comment, I can only speak for myself when I say if I was worried about getting shot I wouldn't be doing this. This guy needs to be stopped before he shoots someone else.

Thanks again
Knight-Hood

[blackmage]

THIS is a sad example of what Knighthood and I are talking about. Let me make a quick note that this individual has changed and updated his costume, but let's be honest...

...are you telling me when he first created it that he didn't KNOW it was over the line?!?

Let's see... what EXACTLY is this costume telling 'ME' as a person encountering him in this picture or at night when he performs a patrol?

He has a SKULL-FACED mask with and American rag cap on top of his head... immediately, FANATIC comes to mind. DEATH isn't all that far behind because of the mask.

He's wearing laborer coveralls (kinda like the ones I wore in the military working on aircrafts). This implies a working class man OR a representive of the working class.

I'm going to skip over the upside down flag, because I'm a Marine and I DO believe in my country... TRUST ME when I say, you don't want to hear my comments on that.

His belt buckle is pro-American, made up of the double 'P's in his name, and organized to appear like a skull... hmm...

He's wearing a shoulder patch striking out a donkey which can easily stand for the DEMOCRATIC PARTY (why else would a person have a 'NO Donkeys' patched on them).

His name... for goodness sakes... is PHANTOM PATRIOT!

Phantom translates to apparition, spector, or ghost. Adding it to Patriot, I figure he is trying to say he is the 'ghost of patriots'.

NOW... let's put ALL of this together...

We have a ghost from the past that represents the working class and HATES Democrats. He has lost faith in America and his response is the face of DEATH. Not to mention, he is ACTIVE in his beliefs and does not care what others think because of the sheer fact that he is dressed in costume. His outfit shrouds him from accountability and responsibilty so his HATE is proudly shown.

Now, what is a Democrat supposed to think if they encounter this guy at night? Do you think he wants a conversation about politics? How about a healthy and fair debate? Do you believe that he's there to stop a mugging?

How do you think he feels about minorities? Immigrants? The Homeless? Prostitutes? What about knowledgeable and intelligent WHITE long haired young people? What about gays?

Do you look at him and instinctively feel you can trust him?

To ME..? He looks like a modern-day Klansmen in a different costume! He looks like narrow-minded DEATH! He gives me the vibe of an EXTREMIST Republican nightmare that does NOT know the difference between Conservative and Republican. This guy will HURT someone.

I do NOT see respect or awareness when I look at him. I do NOT see understanding or compassion. I do NOT see positive inspiration or hero.

I see Anti-Hero or Vigilante at the least and PSYCHOPATH or VILLAIN at the most.

This might be a good guy... and to be honest, I saw his updated uniform and it is MUCH better. It is a GREAT improvement. I salute him for figuring things out and daring to correct an issue that has been growing in the RLSH community, but it is even more important that we continue to bring images such as this to light in order to get the RLSH community to see what is happening.

Just because someone SAYS they're a RLSH, doesn't instantly make them your brother or partner and outside of healthy critique. If you see someone out there delivering a dark message, such as DEATH, by their actions, costume and/or mask... it has to be voiced.

Sometimes they can't see it because they FEEL that they are like Batman in some way. It's a dangerous game that they're playing and now police officers are losing patience with it, because the criminals are taking advantage of it.

-Blackmage, 'Heroes aren't made during good times!' - The Elite Forces Division

Attachments:

[blackmage]

The FBI is now offering a $5000 reward for info on the Ninja-Robber. The question I have is...

How is this an FBI case? Is there something else going on?

This doesn't seem Federal in any way unless something is missing or not mentioned. No statelines crossed, no kidnapping, no bank hits, etc. Hmm... what's going on?

I hope they stop this guy.

Link: miami.cbslocal.com/2012/08/29/police-search-for-armed-ninja-robber/

[blackmage]

I then stumbled across this... which takes me full circle back to the earlier conversation Knight-Hood and I were having.

Link: www.metro.co.uk/weird/861681-ninja-protects-the-not-so-mean-streets-of-tunbridge-wells

Although this was last year, it gives us something to think about. What EXACTLY is a Ninja associated with?

Stealth, spying, subtefuge, assassination, and death.

Although this guy has great intentions... his deliverance is HIGHLY in question. What would YOU think or do if you encountered him at night?

[John Reid]

Yes I just spoke to Ninja on rlsh.net. I saw you started a topic on this on rlsh.org. Unfortunately I am locked out again on that site, but I started one on the Ninja robber on rlsh.net and we are having a disussion on the hero (Superman look) vs the anti-hero (Batman look) and why we have so many anti-heroes compared to heroes.

I suggested we move away from the anti-hero look. I proposed that simple changes are all that are needed in most cases to transform an anti-hero into a hero. Avoiding the color black for starters. Blue is a good substitute. I also suggested that the one thing that nearly every comic book hero has on his costume is a chest logo or symbol. Superman has the stylized S, Batman the bat signal, etc. Spiderman, Captain America, Green Lantern, they all have their own symbols.

In real life even the police swat teams wear a star shaped badge symbol so that people know that they are looking at one of the good guys. We should wear something too to let people know we are coming to the rescue and not attacking them.

Knight-Hood

[blackmage]

Hey Knight-Hood, this is one of those times that I will need your wisdom and experience. I don't know if you can motivate the other veterans to get involved in this, but some of the RLSHs from the main site are interested in getting involved on this case. I am going to be bringing all the stuff dealing with it from the RLSH ORG site over to this forum mostly because we have more freedom here.

I think that something can be done to help the authorities if everyone is working together and researching. I know that you are street-trained and possibly the wisest of all of us, Ark is security trained, and Delta's a genius. You guys can probably figure something out on this case.

This was the last post I sent to them over there:

----

I have just posted on our forum that the FBI is now involved, which raises even more questions. The key thing that law enforcement and the FBI is looking for now is INFORMATION. This is where thinking out the box, detective skills, ‘gutter’ level research, and determination kicks in!!

Everything would have to start with the obvious, then slowly dig down into the details. Psychology would have to play a part also. His costume became more elaborate as his infamy grew. This can mean something as well as identity a strength and weakness. This would also imply that he had to purchase some of the new gear locally… or online (I doubt). I wonder what type of stores or websites carry this kind of stuff? Hmm…

His gun. The type, caliber, size, and use of it tells a lot. He finger wasn’t on the trigger or in the trigger guard when holding it at the woman which implies an understanding of consequence as well as carefulness.

The approach, the time he spent in each location, the chosen locations, and how he was EXTREMELY mission oriented, tells a lot also. He would go past the cashier and straight to the register. If he was stuck on proving his aggressiveness to others or even his heartlessness, he would have made a bigger spectacle of the cashiers. This means that power is secondary to finance to him. Putting the gun to the girls head may have changed this for him and possibly caused him to evolve.

His mask became tighter and better kept which means that he realizes the impact this has in giving him the ability to conceal his identity. It places him outside of accountability and responsibility. This guy might be stupid, but he’s definitely NOT dumb.

The areas, neighborhoods, and communities would need to be studied. This guy was white, anxious, and thuggish. I wonder what we could discover about the times of the attacks and the races and/or ethnic backgrounds of the cashiers and customers. Why? because this will tell us where he feels strongest at. The type of environment that he feels superior in, as well as where he feels he can get away with it.

This guy is taking more and more chances and enjoying the infamy coming from his actions. He LOVES the concept of being a super-villain and being called, ‘The Ninja Robber’. He may try to back off until things cool off (which I doubt), but the the addiction to this low-level attention might be something that makes him take a turn for the worst.

He NEEDS to be stopped!

By the way – there is now a $5000 reward for information leading to his capture and arrest. This could be used in great ways in the hands of a Real Life Superhero. There are many that you all are trying to help that can benefit from that reward.

[rook]

A bit confused here. Phantom Patriot and Ninja Robber...two different people or the same?

Your assessment of PP is pretty much spot on. He is a very strong conservative who is deeply concerned that the United States is in trouble. He feels that a violent uprising may be the only way to address these issues. As red bootlaces are often symbolic of the purity of the races, immigration issues would be an issue of significant angst. If he is currently engaged in violent crimes, my main concern would be that he will escalate to crimes aimed directly against people, probably immigrants at first, then any minority.

The Ninja Robber videos bring up some interesting questions for me. The first would, of course, be "is this the same guy?" In the 70's there was a string of robberies by various people who were unconnected, but all wore nearly identical red ski caps. The fact that they did not know one another, but heard of the distinctive calling card on the street, inspired them to copycat and make apprenension more difficult (as the athorities were looking for a single individual).

This man is experienced with a firearm, may have some miliatary background, and does not wish to physically hurt anyone. He may, however, escalate to that level if pushed. He probably exerices a bit, as evinced by his obvious stregnth and probably doesn't have a very extensive current drug history. His actions speak of efficiency, but desperation. He's likely to visit the site he'll hit first to ensure that it's a likely target, then return.

Wish I were able to fly down...I'll see what I can dig up from here.

-Rook

[John Reid]

It is an interesting case Rook to be sure. Straight out of comic book supervillains to be sure.

Blackmage as always, thanks for the compliment, even though it is hardly deserved. we have many rlsh's now who are actual police officers and whose training and access to legitimate police assistance dwarfs anything I could do.

I too would enjoy looking into this case but if the community descended on Miami in search of this individual then the Miami police would find themselves knee deep in black clad clones of the Ninja Robber which would only make the police's job more difficult I think.

But getting back to our original topic which is the plethora of black clad, masked rlsh's out there who look exactly like James Holmes or our Ninja Robber. How can we keep the public from panicking when they see us?

I had an idea I would like to share with you.
First take a look at this photo of a Swat team officer at oathkeepers.org/oath/wp-content/uploads/police-state-heavily-armed-300x266.jpg

Now look at this photo of a masked terrorist at www.stockphotopro.com/photo-thumbs-2/AHY5WD.jpg

As you can see they are vertually identical. Yet from the public's point of view should they encounter the swat team officer they would not feel fearful but in fact respectful and instantly know that they were here to help not harm you. If they should encounter the terrorist they would be terrified. Why?

It all comes down to the badge the officer is wearing. That automatically says "Protection" to the public's subconscious.

So I am thinking, why couldn't we (rlsh's) create and wear our own badges? If we made one shield shaped (a shield is symbolic of protection) and has the letters RLSH engraved on it it would be legal to wear it and would automatically identify even the scariest rlsh as one of the good guys. Picture Motor Mouth, Geist or Zero from the NYI with silver badges on. It changes the perception immediately.

Your thoughts?
Knight-Hood
ps- The Ninja robber will be pretty easy to track down. All that needs to be done is to research who bought a ninja costume on line or at a local costume shop and shazam he's ID'd

[blackmage]

Sorry about the Phatom Patriot post, Rook. Knight-Hood and I have been having some discussions on improving the appearances of some of the 'DARKER' RLSHs... who might be a tad bit scary to the standard civilian encountering them.

Knight-Hood those photos are very effective in getting your point across! They have some seriou impact. I do agree that a logo of some sort should be created, standardized, and supported within the community. Heck, I even like the idea you stated in another thread about prominent icons on the costumes.

These are some great ideas.

I just read a comment on a website from some guy about the Ninja-Robber and he said that someone should suit-up as Batman, hunt him down, and take him out. My question is... What did he mean by 'suit-up as Batman'? Hunh?!?

Rook bought up some key points that has me thinking... the creepiest is the thought of him returning to a site that he's hit. That would be EXTREMELY bold, but I really didn't think about it.

On the other site, Lynxgirl brought up the question of his work and attack schedule. Here are the times of his robberies:

•Date/Time: May 12, 2012 at 11:04 pm
•Location: Kwik Stop, 17200 West Dixie Highway
•
• Date/Time: June 23, 2012 at 10:55 pm
•Location: Shell Gas Station, 1420 East Sunrise Blvd
•
•Date/Time: July 1, 2012 at 10:41 pm
•Location: Petrolio Gas Station, 1554 South Federal Highway
•
•Date/Time: July 13, 2012 at 12:18 am
•Location: Kwik Stop, 18198 NE 19th Avenue
•
•Date/Time: July 15, 2012 at 9:45 pm
•Location: Chevron Gas Station, 13005 Biscayne Blvd
•
•Date/Time: August 3, 2012 at 9:40 pm
•Location: Marina Discount Beverage, 2705 SW 15th Avenue
•
•Date/Time: August 6, 2012 at 1:05 am
•Location: Chevron Gas Station, 4051 Stirling Road
•
•Date/Time: August 14, 2012 at 4:26 pm
•Location: Citgo Gas Station, 15200 Biscayne Blvd
•
•Date/Time: August 15, 2012 at 7:00 am
•Location: Badoma Plaza, 1989 NE 19th Avenue
•
•Date/Time: August 18, 2012 at 11:59 pm
•Location: Kwik Stop, 18198 NE 19 Avenue
•
•Date/Time: August 22, 2012 at 12:58 am
•Location: Citgo Gas Station, 2109 Griffin Road

Hey Rook, with you being our local specialist in psychology, is there something obvious that we should look for in these times and dates? A mental pattern of some sort or are they actions of convenience?

[blackmage]

The (RLSH) Ebony Fox put this together:

OH MY GOD I SEE A PATTERN!…

You see, most of his robbery dates take place 1 to 3 days in between each one… starting in August which, I’m assuming, is when his popularity started growing? And on top of that, he stops for a while…. usually towards the end of each month. My best guess is he’s going to rob another place THIS WEEK unless he’s trying to lay low, because the last robbery was on Aug, 22. His last big robbery gap was from July 15 to Aug 3. And his last gap before that was from June 23 to July 1. Suspicious anyone???

[rook]

Well, the fact that all the hits were between 4:30pm and 7:00am suggests that he was otherwise occupied during the day (perhaps employed?). If he were trying to avoid daylight hours, he would not have struck at 4:30 or 7 during the summer. Knowing whether these were weekdays or weekends would help. It looks as if he may be employed...plotting the weekdays (I don't have my calendar handy) might give an idea as to a schedule or pattern. This, of course, would be helpful if it were used in conjunction with a map. Plotting the time, days of the week, and location, would give a reasonalbe idea of travel pattern and identify potential residence/work areas.

-Rook

[John Reid]

Ok just had a conversation with Superman on rlsh.net and he suggested that the famous Superman S would make the best symbol as it is already famous world wide. I agreed and suggested that we could buy them online and spray paint them with chrome paint so at a distance it would look like an official badge.

Knight-Hood

[superman]

Hi Knight-Hood,

I have been doing some thinking on it and I believe that a batch of standardized and numbered badges would be the way to go. Something not easily faked like the George Reeves Superman S as it is likely out of copyright and only give them out to practicing RLSH’s. In addition I could list the badges by number next to the name of each RLSH who had 1 on the hero links and watchtower sites. This would help prevent fakes and be accessible by anyone. For now I am waiting to hear back from Jack of hero gear to see if he wants to make the badges. As he creates stuff for the RLSH community to help support his family I have no desire to do him out of business. But if he doesn’t want the gig, I can always go into my workshop and do some custom casting in metal or plastic. Then number the badges with my dremmel tool. Depending on what it costs if I do it I may need to be reimbursed for materials and mailing them out but the labor would be free.

Let me know what everyone thinks
Superman

[The Muse]

* looking on in interest...*

[superman]

Well I got my reply from Jack of hero gear and he suggested we talk to Artisteroi as he has a badge design www.shapeways.com/model/178149/improved-rlsh-badge.html set up. Plus a dollar from every sale goes to his local pet shelter. I’ve looked at his design and there is room for a registration/serial number so we could still prevent unauthorized forgeries. He could send me e-mails as to who has what badge for the database I’d be maintaining to prevent forgeries and misrepresentation. Can you contact him Knight-Hood as I don’t have his address to see if he wants on board. If he doesn’t my offer is still on the table.

Superman

[superman]

Me again,

Well I heard from Artisteroi and he orders the badges he makes from an on line 3 D prototyping service and has them direct shipped. So he wouldn’t be able to add in any registration / serial number. He says he is planning on getting his own 3 D machine somewhere down the line and could participate then. As the whole point of this project is to tell the good guys from the bad guys I think that numbering and tracking standardized badges is essential to the project whatever design we use. Now what I have in mind is to hand cast badges using standard crafting decoupage techniques and number and paint them in my workshop. I would use the classic George Reeves Superman S emblem from the classic show of the 50’s. I have an accurate copy of it I obtained from the Superman Museum in Metropolis Illinois. I have already done several 1 to 1 sized ones in the red and yellow felt used on his suit in the series and they are accurate right down to the stitch count. If any of you know Super Hero ask him because as I recall I sent him 1 in the mail as a present. I can easily scale the design down to badge size. Now here is where the rubber hits the road. Like I said before obviously all the badges have to be numbered and look alike to be effective. Do you want to wait on Artisteroi getting his 3 D machine and go from there? Have me make what I have in mind in my workshop? My wife has been on me to do non computer projects to diversify my activities. L.O.L. Or decide on some other design as a group and go from there? Whichever of the 3 ways you decide to go my offer of hosting a site to track the numbers (which I think is an essential part of it) is still on the table. No prima donna B.S. from me. If you decide to use my design I’d like to have an idea of how many badges you may need to start. That way I can buy materials in bulk and save a few bucks. Remember, as I’d expect to be reimbursed for expenses it’s actually your money I’d be saving. So I’ll be leaving it up to the group as a whole to decide from here.

Superman

[John Reid]

I vote for waiting simply because the idea is still so new and even though we think it is a good idea it could be no one else will and not order any. So no sense spending any money on this as yet. Let's see if anyone else really wants this, but once again my thanks to you for stepping up to the plate and trying to make this idea a reality.

Knight-Hood

[superman]

Well it is my intention to do some resin casting and make some badges for my core group here as a kind of reward for all the good work they have done so far. Like any unsolicited present those will come out of my pocket.

When I do my badges I intend to break them down into 3 sections. H for heroes S for support staff and F for fans. So all badges will start with the identifying letter followed by a 7digit number. I know that in the H and S sections I wont need that big a number but I have hopes for the F section.

All that adding in RLSH’s orders will do is increase how much I get in raw materials. I have a reason for wanting a custom numbered design especially as it applies to this project. The bad guys could, just as easily order any S emblem, or any other emblem you can order on line.

As the concept of wearing a S emblem badge got out to the public as a way of telling good guys from bad guys I’d be willing to bet that bad guys would get 1 and wear it too. After all they are bad guys and bad guys do bad things. On his or her bad guy scale counter fitting a badge to get over would be a no brainer. They could also whip out an engraver and put a number on it too.

Deciding on and making a design of our own choosing (in my case a scaled George Reeves S) will give you a badge not easily duplicated due to its handmade nature. Numbering them will make it even harder. Posting a picture of the badge on line, accessible by anyone with an Internet connection, complete with the 3 numbered lists of who owns1, will make it a royal pain in the ass for bad guys and make it next to impossible to forge it.

Giving bad guys a pain in their rump they can’t get rid of really puts me in my happy place as a RLSH. So weather anyone else wants 1 or not I’m making some badges for me and mine. If anyone in here wants1 now would be the time to step up and say so. Prices for the 1’s I make at cost for RLSH’s will be at cost and finalized before they go out.

Superman

[John Reid]

You know the George Reeve's S makes me want one myself. I remain a big fan and he and Clayton Moore are from my earliest memories and key figures in my own chosen future path. I would like to see this project take off as I think it is a good idea, but it has been my experience this past year since I first learned of the kids in the rlsh movement that while they often appreciate mysuggestions and advice, they never take it. So without sounding too pessimistic I hope, I'll be pleasantly surprised if any of the actually order it when it becomes available let alone wear it in the field. We'll see.

Knight-Hood

[blackmage]

**Ninja-Robber Update**

Apparently, two guys were caught and they are suspected of being the Ninja-Robbers. I emailed the newstation and directed them to our link as well as to the RLSH ORG site and they informed me of the capture.

At this time, it has NOT been confirmed that these guys are the ones that committed the other crimes... to be honest, I rather they were, otherwise, this would make things worst.

Imagine copycat Ninja-Robbers!

We'll have to see what the results of the investigation are.

THANKS to everyone for their help!!

Link:

www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21008497148568/7news-source-alleged-ninja-robbers-arrested/

[superman]

Word will get out. As I intend to run the 3 badge lists and a picture of the badge design for comparison purposes on its very own web site publicizing the link every way I can.

As I own the server the site will be sitting on I don’t see getting it on line as a problem. I post on the 3 main RLSH boards and run the hero links set up which has both my space and Face book social media sections along with some stand alone sections.

In addition I will recruit friends to talk it up and add the site link to every to every search engine available. Between that writing to media outlets and the 1st set of brave heroes that don the badge word will get out.

The Cops will love it because they will have an easy way to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Civilians will love it and likely buy badges in the F series for themselves.

While I won’t be so egotistical as to say all heroes will need 1 to function it will make it way easier for the darkly clad ones.

Having 1` of the badges may soon be a status symbol. For the record I do not intend to profit from this. Any money that comes in over expenses will go to charities.

To answer some folks questions about weather or not there are real RLSV type bad guys out there. Sadly yes they are out there and even if they weren’t you would still need the badges so the cops can tell the more darkly clad RLSH’s from the morons that shoot up theatres.

We need to police ourselves before some authoritarian big brother steps in saying national security and does it for us.

Superman

[superman]

Well here is the latest reply that I madeto this post on another board. the post there got atad off topic and was talking about Metropoliswhich explains my reply. For those who want to go there here is the board's address.

www.reallifesuperheroes.org/forums/topic/rlsh-badges/

For those whodon't here is my reply verbatum.

I believe Rouge is onto something. Most statistics are based on percentages. So 1 crime in a small town and it is a small town looks way worse percentage wise. I have been there several times. It isn’t all that populated an area except for the 1st full weekend in June when they have the superman celebration. Then tourists pack it so if you decide to go for the celebration get hotel reservations in advance. As far as having something to do goes there are symposiums movie activities and venders etc up the wazoo. Plus the 15 foot tall Superman Statue for picture taking and the Superman Museum. You can spend days in there and still not see everything. It is one of the very few times in my life when something turned out to be way better than I hoped it would be. Considering I’m 62 and kind of picky that’s saying something. I wasn’t ever aware of any crime when I visited so if you are a crime-busting hero, pickings are likely to be slim if any. But if we all were to go it would be an excellent opportunity to meet up in real life and get to know each other. We might even be able to work together to cut down expenses on hotel rooms. As a lot of folks show up in Superman and many other costumes we could be in full tilt regalia and still blend in with the crowds sort of hiding in plain site. I know I’d love to go again if I could find someone to go with me. I used to go every year when I lived in Illinois. Now that I’m married and living in NY it isn’t as easy to get away. Now to get back on topic for a bit. The idea of an easily recognized RLSH badge spans several boards. It came up as a easy method for the police and public to tell darkly clad heroes from the equally dark clad maniacs that go in shooting up places. It was illustrated with 2 pictures on1 board of 2 people dressed alike 1 with a badge and 1without. The 1 with a badge inspired trust while the 1 without caused fear. So once a badge was decided upon we needed to come up with an emblem that was badge shaped and looked like a badge at a distance. But wasn’t a badge that would be considered pretending to be a cop. Impersonating a cop gets you a 1 way ticket to the gray bar hotel. All agreed it would help if the badge shaped emblem said Super hero and was already well known by the general public. Seemed to me that few hero emblems are better known than the Superman S. The Reason for the particular variation of the emblem I’ll be using and the serial numbers were covered in earlier posts so no sense repeating it here. Now here comes the fun part an idea that germinated while I was reading the posts here. Say we all get together pooling expenses as best we can all to go to Metropolis me included. By then I will have had plenty of time to make the badges. I can bring them with me when I come down. Besides the right dandy group photos and other adventures our motley lil group can have imagine a formal ceremony where each and every hero gets their picture taken getting their badge presented to them by Superman in Metropolis with that 15 foot high statue in the background. Is that a stellar moment in the making or not? I’ll leave it to you to decide.

Superman

[John Reid]

I just wanted to say thanks for your efforts to keep promoting this idea. I still think it is a good idea but remember you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. What we need is for one of the more famous groups of dark clad heroes to start wearing them and then all the lesser knowns and newbies will follow suit. Like the NYI or the Black Monday Society.

Regarding the ninja robber I have complete faith in the Miami police department to catch this two bit convenience store robber. I'm sure they got the right guys. The curious thing to me though is why the FBI was involved? Perhaps they started out in another state doing this before ending up in Miami.

The press and the rlsh community really blew this ordinary petty anti robber into some sort of "super-villain." It takes more than a costume merit that title.
Knight-Hood