Thursday, July 6, 2017
Monday, July 3, 2017
Dirty Skulls - Justice or Revenge
Dirty Skulls –
Justice or Revenge
By
Carl ToersBijns
DEDICATION
We all
stand on the shoulders of giants who have come
before
us. This book is for all of those people who have
had an impact
and influence on me and on my journey.
Thank you
for helping to shape my life.
Skull symbolism has a very strong and personal meaning. The meaning
of the human skull represents a few tangible and intangible things in life that
this book addresses in the image or representation
of death, mortality, loyalty, and honor. We
can often recognize these words in the actions of those who are exposed to life
and death situations almost daily and carry with them the stressors as well as
the responsibility to keep things in order.
The skull represents more than just a shard of stone. The skull
protects the brain and the brain is the main center of human thinking, actions, and responses. In this case, we are
mainly talking about first responses, emergency type of actions that rely on training
and skills that exceed those of the normal human being.
Under most conditions, we must protect the cranium of the
skull under all circumstances. We must protect this specific regional area of
our human body. For the most part, we know the human brain recognizes faces,
dangers, etc. and is attuned to finding solutions for them even under the most
extreme conditions.
It cannot separate the image projected with a wishful thinking
or unreal perception. It deals with reality and the reality is that life is
based on death. Because of this, the human skull symbolizes the vision of human
faces, some with names and others anonymously
existing or encountered under most difficult situations.
For many, a skull is obviously
dead. There is no life in the skull. In the prison world, a human skull with
large eye sockets displays or represents
a degree of neoteny or a morphing of a face, role or existence into something
he or she may find visually appealing or appalling in many cases. Yet in most
cases, the skull is dead. A bone-deep
dead.
Thus we deal with the morality of surviving the risks of death
and overcoming the odds of beating whoever or whatever it is that attacks us. We
defend with honor all those things we value in life. Whether it be life itself,
morals and basic values or principles, we defend it with words, acts of
violence or overwhelming power.
As such, human skulls often have a greater visual appeal than
the other bones of the human skeleton and
can fascinate even as they repel the emotions of those not engaged in special
tactics or emergency response team training and activities.
Our present society is fickle and somewhat flirtatious too. When
you come down to the facts, it is also more inquisitive
to be sure. It predominantly associates skulls with death and evil. A sub-cultural
perception and often associated with the grim reaper.
However, to some ancient societies,
it is believed to have had the opposite association, where objects like human skulls
represent "life": the honoring of humanity in the flesh and the
embodiment of consciousness. Here we focus on the brain again and gather in all
its emotions, thoughts, memories and visions.
The skull, often used by paramilitary and military organizations is an icon all by itself. It can
represent so many different things but for
the most part, it becomes a symbol or a substitution
for a real thing – a mission, a code or a
brand. It has the ambivalence of doubtful
and daunting behaviors. One can see why risk takers use it as a symbol to
reflect their own attitudes and behaviors. It could reflect the decorative
nature of ‘still life’ or it can project
the image of ‘the spirit of life’ when you run with the notion that life is
full of energy and that energy is a force to reckon with during life and death
situations.
Mankind has been taught to survive – to avoid death if
possible and snuff out all those who yearn to kill you. That’s a reality we
deal with at times and it takes a special person to take on such a challenge,
night or day, twenty-four seven, inside a prison setting. In many ways, the
skull represents loyalty unto death.
This means that a person is willing to die for those they
love, honor or taken an oath to under the
most extreme circumstances. It is almost like an
apotropaic power – something that helps them cheat death or keeps away
the evil influences in life itself.
Without a doubt, the skull may symbolize other things in life
as well that are quite contrary to loyalty and honor. It could represent the
imagery of challenging the natural order of life – or death.
Dirty skulls are quite a metaphor when you define its meaning.
It may epitomize many things that are honorable yet controversial in the sense
of political correctness. One has heard of dirty hands and envisions your hands
being dirty but forget that good honest work can result in dirty hands, and not
necessarily something evil.
Dirty skulls represent the valor of individuals who cope with
stress under most challenges and then
after they undress their black uniforms, go back to being an ordinary person
not hyped into a state of frenzy or madness to overcome their opponents or
obstacles and return back to the civility of life in the nature of routine and
sometimes complacent world.
Thus within a moment in time, a person morphs from a rational
human being into a mortal presence that is best described as persons possessed and
confronted with a triad of limited elements – death, violence and time.
When a skull is worn as a patch, or as a trophy it is a
constant reminder of death and the triumph over death. It’s like cheating in
life to avoid death. On the other hand, it serves as a warning to some telling them that they should fear those wearing
the patch of the skull.
Fear and fearless are all qualities of life and death. Veneered
with blood and violence, the skull represents a lifestyle that only a few and
select individuals can endure or sustain.
While some live and die under the banner of “semper
fi” others live under the code of “carpe
diem” or seize the day..don’t wait for
tomorrow.
The skull is a well-known symbol of the “Punisher”, a well-known vigilante
who serves as a litmus test for all who enter the military and law enforcement.
Corrections is no different – it is all based on
the definition of war – “us versus them.” Even if you aren’t familiar with the
story of the Marvel gun-toting vigilante, the chances you have seen his symbol, the leering white skull on a black shirt
or background brings the concept of death into a reality.
No greater image has bestowed so much recognition or honor to those who wear it or live it in more than a
symbolic manner. The mere presence hints the creation of conflict and violence.
As it stands, the skull wearing individual is an anti-hero, someone who
delivers justice to their targets and ends the conflict with a severe or
extreme form of death.
It has been known that members of a SWAT team or CERT response
team wear or carry a patch of the “Punisher” on their ballistic vest or body
armor. The mere sight of such an emblem pushes the conflict or confrontation to
a much higher level. Basically, it serves as a centralized part of their
identity.
The thing that should stick with the reader is the fact that
this skull represents a brotherhood. This image is an attempt to show that the
world inside your head is colored by death, violence and limited time. It is a
perception that cannot change – it is a fixed reality that has been carried
down centuries of war by warriors of all types, races,
and cultures.
In this book, there is another perception. A creation of a
different cultural era and traditions where each of those who represent the
skull has reinterpreted ideas, thoughts
or ideologies to reflect the concerns of their workplace – the prisons.
What they do is justifiable and what they are trained for is hand
to hand combat or physical violence. They get their hands dirty as the
enforcers of the prison world.
The respect for them is enormous
and not everyone can muster the
test to be a dirty skull. The image projected is real and the risks are just as
real rather than indicative of anything else
one might think and to top it off, the respect is high for them as they feel no
guilt or no shame in what they are doing. They are the armpit of the law enforcement
world and somebody has to get their hands dirty to get the job done.
These men and women are committed to the cause. They are in
fact, anti-heroes engaged in a war against evil that seemingly has no end
driving them to perfection in execution of force and planned assaults on those who
plot the death of someone and who possess the skill to kill with a prison-made knife or shank, capable of slicing
the flesh of the victim’s neck in a split second if the attack is not thwarted.
The team’s mindset is all but relaxed. They are tuned to be in a very tactical and special
operational mindset that pays homage to the warriors of the past who fought
hand to hand combat with those opponents they met on the battlefield. The kind
of warriors like the 300 Spartans who we learned to love and watch as their
courage exceeds and surrounds everything else about mankind at war.
Within them, there is a code for
accountability and responsibility. They are fearless and deemed to be many objective-oriented
focused persons. One has to respect their abilities to fight and overcome
obstacles as they execute with precision their solution to the approached
problems. There isn’t a lot of room for nuance when you are faced with a
conflict or fight….. but then, that by itself has a certain sagacity of appeal.
It draws them to become more sinister than the sinister they are facing. There are
no quarters or surrender attitude towards those they deem evil.
So when you think of the dirty skulls and the
context of it being used by those on special first responder teams, and trained
to handle special operations and conflicts, you may find it offensive or
flattering depending on which side of the predicament you are in. whether you
believe it or not – these guys are the good guys. Their role is not of heroes
but yet, the perception is that they are indeed heroes.
Somebody or someone who rises up from the normalcy
of life and faces death with a stare that breaks most men down. They are the
solution when there is a social breakdown or splintering of rules and serious
injury or death is imminently near. What they do is resist and face the reality
of a cultural breakdown that is, in fact, violent and unpredictable.
They are the solution to what we call incredibly
complicated problems inside prisons. Some say that like the Punisher, it is a
fine line between justice and revenge. On the other hand, unless you walk in
the boots of these dirty skulls and live the life of scrutiny they work in, the
intent of what they do is justice – good old fashion justice.
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Trump's Satire - 4th of July
Now the king is resting in his huge
White House
A place they said he would never
come
Everywhere he went, there were boogie
men trying to scare him
Out of the presidential race, he chose to run
He talked about the political
correctness and how it would stop
He said you have to let the truth
come out and drop
And with his tweets of truth and
unpolitical correctness
He finds
his way to winning the hearts of men and
women
And made his way to the top without
big money and progress nobody can stop
He connected with the old, the young
and willing
He saw that the blood our soldiers
bled were overly spilling
No leadership, no captain at the
helm he promised to lead
Standing up for our veterans, he
promised them they would never again bleed
Without a righteous cause, without
the help of others and never stand alone
There he was standing in front of
them all, forever not alone
This man, a man who drove a Cadillac
Seville and showed all Americans he had good will as he took the top down and
shook the ground he let Americans know for sure, there was a new leader found
They don’t like it, they bash his
ways but as fierce as the media attacked him, faithful to the people he
remained
The Dems don’t like it, the Left is
screaming foul and the rich are crying too
Like the steam from a leaking
radiator grille, their hatred words dissipated like air
Rocking, tweeting, signing new bills
into laws, he fulfills his promises unlike any other politician elected ever
before as to lobbyist he closed the door
An open door policy, he said no
secrets anymore and as he tweets his game, Americans do the same and communicate
with him directly while the media is shocked and lame
They didn’t like it, they tried to
sabotage his name
But instead of floundering and
falling, he worked hard to win the game
They were rocking the streets and
flooding the pages
Fake news he called it, biased and
cheap, he found a way to avoid defeat
Still standing and they don’t like
it
He ordered a ban on the words of a
foreign prophet
He banned those who follow their
hatred words
Every morning, every day and night,
he tweeted what was right
What he brought out, the media hid
well, but his tweets were true and the people could tell
He’s not crazy, he is a wizard at
chess and when this media war is over, we
know he is the best
Let the faithful be stronger, let
the degenerates cry
No matter what religion you are or
political party you belong to
Have a great weekend and Fourth of
July
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