Tag thanatos

New people, especially [but not always] fakes, are paranoid about letting their faces be seen, and will go to great lengths to buy full face covering hoods, gas masks, and other head gear.  With very few exceptions, the more face that is covered, the more likely someone will be an asshole online.  They use the anonymity to act in ways they never would if their identity became known.  This is why the most popular superheroes are ones that reveal their faces, or show a good portion of their face.  Men like Thanatos, who wears a full face mask because what he does actually does involve real danger at times, goes out of his way to be accessible and friendly.
posted by Silver Sentinel @ 12:32 PM
0 Comments
Links to this post
 

Changes unlikely to spark vigilantism, says justice minister

Originally posted: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/canada/superheroes-and-angels-welcome-new-citizens-arrest-laws-147695.html

PARLIAMENT HILL—Caped crusaders can rest a little easier after Justice Minister Rob Nicholson tabled a bill to simplify and clarify citizen’s arrest laws on Tuesday.
Then again, Canada’s own real-life superheroes are more inclined to hand out blankets and teach school kids than take out drug dealers, so maybe it won’t matter much.
But store owners in Toronto’s Chinatown will be relieved. Long-standing grievances about shoplifters not getting serious police attention reached a breaking point for shopkeeper David Chen in May 2009 when he chased down and detained a thief who’d stolen plants from his Lucky Moose market earlier that day.
But because the crime was not in progress, Chen’s citizen’s arrest was illegal and his subsequent trial for assault and forcible confinement inspired NDP MP Olivia Chow to table a private member’s bill to overhaul citizen’s arrest legislation.
The Liberals tabled a similar bill, and the government eventually introduced its own version that died when the election was called. Now it’s back, and Chow said the new version is in line with what she wanted to see.
“I’m glad that my old private member’s bill, my Lucky Moose bill, has finally become the government bill,” Chow said Tuesday.
Chen, who was eventually acquitted, also welcomed the changes.
“If the law changes it will be good for so many people, any small business like me can have more power to protect our stuff,” said Chen. “We can do more.”
Nicholson seems to agree. He said Tuesday citizens trying to protect themselves or their property shouldn’t be afraid of becoming criminals themselves.
“Canadians want to know that they are able to protect themselves against criminal acts and that the justice system is behind them, not against them,” he said.

NDP MP Olivia Chow told reporters Tuesday that the new citizen’s arrest legislation is in line with what she had previously called for. (Matthew Little/The Epoch Times)

But 15 years ago in Toronto, he grabbed a machete from home and faced off with a group of kids, some armed with guns, who were terrorizing a shopkeeper. His efforts got him and the kids arrested, but it didn’t dampen his hope to make a difference.
“I have always believed in stepping in. … It was a little aggressive but I was afraid for my friends in the store.”
Like others, Thanatos, (named for a Greek demon of death) said Canada’s complicated citizen’s arrests laws left him uncertain about taking certain actions when he eventually donned a costume and took to the desperate streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
But he never considered being a vigilante, a position others interested in citizens’ arrests echoed.
“You don’t want vigilantes—you don’t want that. You have a justice system, maybe it is flawed and overcrowded, but it is working. People taking the law in their own hands doesn’t work well.”
He points to the case of three Chilliwack, B.C., teenagers who became entangled in controversy last week for their efforts to lure sexual predators into the open and YouTube the encounters.
The teens posed as underage girls online to lure predators, then filmed the face-to-face encounters while dressed as Batman and Flash.
Thanatos said the teens took incredible risks unwisely. “Sexual predators are probably one of the more dangerous breeds of criminals,” he said.
Predators can lose their jobs, families, and standing in the community if exposed. “That could be enough to drive someone to do something extremely violent.”
Canada’s other prominent real-life superhero (RLSH), Anonyman in Saskatchewan, also focuses on surveillance and public awareness.
According to Peter Tangen, a photographer who launched the Real Life Super Hero Project and helped arrange interviews with Thanatos and Anonyman, most RLSHs are best described as activists who use costumes as a way to brand good deeds and draw attention to their causes.
Guardian Angels
While Thanatos and Anonyman follow a non-confrontational path now, focusing on surveillance and aid to the needy, Canadian chapters of the Guardian Angels had hoped to start a more direct grassroots crime prevention movement. But there too, complicated citizen’s arrest laws were not the deciding factor that has kept the angels from taking off.
Greg Silver heads up the Calgary chapter of the group. Although the angels remain more active in the United States and other countries, their red berets are rarely seen on Canadian streets.
The group works on a variety of actions but is best known for its patrols and efforts to encourage citizens to confront crime where it happens, going so far as to stop criminal activity and make citizen’s arrests.
“Everybody likes the fact that we are out there, but nobody wants to put themselves in danger. Nobody wants to step in,” said Silver, explaining the limited presence of angels in Canada.
Currently, there are only a handful of active angels in Canada, he said. Calls to other Canadian chapters listed on GuardianAngels.org went unanswered, with some numbers now defunct.
GuardianAngelsCanada.org, the purported Canadian website for the group, is now a Japanese dating site, the domain name apparently having been repurchased.
Silver said the group has found it near impossible to recruit members willing to go on patrol.
“You kind of make a target out of yourselves,” he offered as explanation.
Dave Schroeder, the group’s Canadian coordinator, said there are a core group of angels active in Canada but patrols have declined due to a lack of people.
“While most people we encounter say ‘what a great idea’… it seems that very few people decide to really make that commitment and do what it takes to get out there.”
But citizens have a right to stop crime he said, welcoming improved citizen’s arrest legislation.
“Bottom line is, if more people understood that Canadian citizens are born with the right to assist someone in trouble, and use reasonable force to do so, [they can] make a citizen’s arrest.”
Silver said the group was warned by a lawyer that they could be liable for actions taken on private property, even in the case of a rape, under current laws.
But like Canada’s masked crusaders, the angels also discourage vigilante activity, saying their efforts focus on legal actions and supporting the police.
Victor Kwong, a media relations officer with the Toronto Police Service, said the group was not welcome in Toronto, in part because they were crossing a vague boundary between citizens and a quasi-policing group.

Citizen’s arrests are happening in Toronto regardless, he said, but mainly by security guards trained in relevant laws. Outside the high-profile case at the Lucky Moose, the average Joe rarely makes a citizen’s arrest, he said.
While citizen’s arrests are one way people can help police, it certainly isn’t the only way he said.
“You can call police, be a good witness,” he said.
That means not sharing your observations until you talk to police he said, noting that people’s memories get tainted when they discuss what they saw with others who add their own variations and embellishments.

Related Articles

Crime Mega-Bill Gets Hard Time from Critics

Originally posted: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Shazam+Real+life+superheroes+rescue/5740438/story.html
By Douglas Quan, Postmedia News     November 20, 2011

Jolie Lassen
Do you think superheroes exist? No?
But in America a real subculture of so called heroes do exist. There are men and women wearing costumes, adopting pseudonyms and doing good deeds. The Real Life Superheroes. They act anonymous and selfless and try to make Americas streets a bit more secure and the world a bit better.
They bridge the gap between the fantastic and the practical.
They combat crime, hand out supplies to the homeless, comforting the sick or just cleaning up their neighborhood.
Of course The Real Life Superheroes have no supernatural power. They have tear gas, taser, a bit of self-defense and the will to change something.
But who are these modern heroes? Everyone could be one of them. They are every kind of people – clerical assistants, doctors, streetworker, politicians or ex-junkies. It is irrespective of the sex, the profession, the status or what ever.
Their actions serve as reminders. People have blinded themselves to simple principles and goodwill. They lost their readiness to help others.
The different Superheroes focus on different actions and locations.
Terrifica for example is roaming the streets, clubs and bars of New York. She got her tear gas, mobile phone and camera with her and. The thirty year old woman with blond hair and red battle dress wants to defend young woman against violation of men. In case of doubt she uses her camera to be able to proof the criminal act.
Geist acts in Minnesota. He is there where the police just no longer get. He appears out of the blue, doing good deeds and disappears again. He helps the homeless, victims of violence and homeless animals.
Thantos is a sixty two years old Superhero helping drug addicted people in the streets of Vancouver. He shares out blankets, clothes and food wearing a green mask, a black trench coat and a tie with skulls.
The Real Life Superhero Project first should make people recognize this new breed of activism and altruism. But more and more people get interested and the scope and purpose expanded very fast.
Due to the financial crisis many people lost a lot of money, their jobs and even their homes. Their desire for security increases.
In the middle of instability and political uncertainty those heroes offer a bit stability to the people. There are those benefactors in disguise who dispread optimism and confidence through their brave. That is – as it seems – what America needs right now.
It started as a gallery exhibit but it became the base of something much greater. The Real Life Superhero Project is a living community which inspires the general public to be part of the positive flow to change something in the world we all have to live in.
Thereby they could become more active, more involved, stronger and a little bit more “super”.
Their gain is to help the poor and underdogs and to make other people help too.
The Real Life Superheroes have a website where they explain the world who they are, what they do and what they want. At the end there is that one sentence we all should keep in mind. “And hopefully, you will come to realize that it doesn’t take a cape to go out and help someone, just the desire to become an active force in your own life, and see how that can affect others.”
So, do you think superheroes really exist? It doesn’t matter how we call them it’s about what they do. We all are able to be a kind of superhero. So why don’t we start?
Today there are twenty nine of those Real Life Superheroes in America. Maybe even tomorrow there will be more.
Let’s find the hero in all of us.

Originally posted:

When Seattle-based masked crusader Phoenix Jones was arrested last week for pepper spraying a group of people he claims were fighting, he piqued the curiosity of thousands across the nation. A real-life superhero? Stopping crime in the dark of night? Suit, boots, mask and all?
It turns out Jones isn’t the only ordinary guy whose nighttime is filled with crime-fighting, caped adventures. The Web site RealLifeSuperheroes.orgboasts 720 members. Posts on the site suggest there are dozens, if not hundreds, of real-life superheroes currently in action in St. Petersburg, Fla., New York City and Milwaukee, among other cities.
But though these superheroes have attracted thousands of adoring fans, city cops don’t count themselves among them.
“Just because he’s dressed up in costume, it doesn’t mean he’s in special consideration or above the law,” Seattle police spokesman Detective Mark Jamieson said of Jones.
Other police say vigilantes like Jones risk hurting themselves and others.

Mark Wayne Williams, a.k.a. Michigan’s “Batman.” (Image via YouTube)

I will continue to patrol with my team, probably tonight. … In addition to being Phoenix Jones, I am also Ben Fodor, father and brother. I am just like everybody else. The only difference is that I try to stop crime in my neighborhood and everywhere else.

As the movement has grown, it has also sought to become more organized, with some members proposing a uniform set of standards, others publishing tutorials on how people can join, and a few even considering a sanctioning body to oversee it.
There are now many sub-movements within the movement, such as the Rain City Superhero Movement in Seattle, of which Phoenix Jones is the leader.
“The movement has grown majorly,” Edward Stinson, a Florida-based writer who advises real-life superheroes, told MSNBC. “What I tell these guys is, ‘You’re no longer in the shadows. You’re in a new era. … Build trust. Set standards. Make the real-life superheroes work to earn that title and take some kind of oath.’ ”

Originally posted: http://www.straight.com/article-404514/vancouver/vancouvers-masked-superhero-thanatos
by Adrian Mack on July 19, 2011 at 6:05 PM
Thanataos, aka the Dark Avenger, patrols the Downtown Eastside in a Rorschach-like uniform topped off with a creepy green and black skull mask. He hands out water, energy bars, peanut butter, blankets, and other necessities to those in need, and leaves behind a card inscribed with the motto “I do what I can, when I can…” He’s a pretty pragmatic real life superhero.
Like any masked avenger, Thanatos also keeps his real identity secret, although filmmaker Michael McNamara got a rare glimpse behind the mask when he was filming Thanatos for the “Real Life Superheroes” episode of Fanboy Confessional, airing Wednesday night (July 20), on SPACE.
“We were in Vancouver for probably the hottest days last summer,” the Toronto-based director tells the Straight, “and he was out delivering water and energy bars during the day, and at night he was bringing the bundles of blankets and food and stuff, and it was really, really, really hot. And he ultimately revealed himself to us. But we’re all sworn to secrecy.”
McNamara adds that it still took a long while for Thanatos to finally fold. He says that the Vietnam vet is “incredibly fit” for a man in his 60s. “He can take care of himself. My whole crew was wilting, and he was ready to go,” he says.
Thanatos is an oddly noble figure, well known to the police and the locals of the DTES. As he tells McNamara in the show, “If hell has a street address, it’d be Main and Hastings… This is the real world.” He finances his superhero work out of his own pocket. “He’s not poor, but he’s certainly by no means upper middle class,” McNamara says. “Like a lot of people involved in these kinds of fandoms, they make a choice about what they’re going to do with their disposable income, and so he actively chooses to augment his persona and come up with the raw materials he needs to help out.”
In contrast to McNamara’s other subject in the “Real Life Superheroes” episode of the six-part series, there’s a genuine gravity to Thanatos. DC’s Guardian, on the other hand, is a well-meaning but somewhat goofy patriot who stalks the Mall of the US capitol sharing his fuzzy all-American values with anyone who happens to get in his way. It’s reassuring to hear that he’s more innocent than delusional.
“People like DC do have a sense of humour about what they do,” says McNamara, chuckling. “And they do realize that what they do borders on obsession.” He knows of what he speaks. McNamara is a proud fanboy himself, being a lifelong record collector (and friend of Allan Zweig, who made the slightly disturbing documentary Vinyl about what you might call pathological record collectors). Indeed, the overriding impression left by the Fanboy Confessionalseries is that the nerds really have inherited the earth, and that it’s not a bad thing at all.“You can come home from work and you can veg in front of the television, or you can come home from work and make a ray gun,” as one LARPer (live action role-player) told McNamara. “There’s something really cool about that,” he says, “and it’s the same way with the cosplayers. The girls are learning skills like how to sew, and leather studding, and bead work, and they’re building communities, and trading these things around, and getting involved, and they’re getting out in the world, and doing cool things. It’s a way to get out of your parent’s basement. It’s a completely different kind of fandom now. There’s a kind of sharing going on that’s quite vital.”
The show is also quite thought provoking. Thea Munster, who pioneered the Zombie Walk in Toronto, tells McNamara in the “Horror” episode that “North American culture has no celebration of death.” Suddenly, something that seems silly becomes surprisingly profound.
Laughs McNamara, “It’s very deep for a zombie!”

Before he heads to the poverty-stricken Downtown Eastside to hand water, food and blankets to the city’s most vulnerable citizens, costume-wearing superhero Thanatos prepares one final item for those living on the streets –
white slips of paper with the word “friend” scrawled on them.

“I hope that they keep it because they remember that they have a friend out there, they have someone out there who cares,” he said. “Even if it’s a crazy guy in a costume, they know that they have somebody out there who’s trying to look out for them.”
For four years, Thanatos has patrolled the neighbourhood performing good deeds, handing out items he buys himself. He was once told by a policeman that the end of life is all some homeless people have to look forward to, so the former U.S. military man – who says he moved to Canada in 1973 – named his alter ego after the Greek god of death. “I thought if that’s the case, death better get out there and take care of these people,” he said.
During an interview at – where else? – a cemetery, he says the slips of paper were found on 16 people who died last year, a testament to the rough shape some of those he tries to help are in.
His dark costume is a mix of The Green Hornet, The Shadow, Doc Savage and even a little Batman. Along with the black and green mask, he sports a long trench-coat, skull-and-crossbones tie, and wide-brimmed hat. Around his waist is a utility belt equipped with, among other things, a Swiss Army knife and bag of marbles.
Thanatos twice taps himself on the chest while describing the costume. A dull knock confirms he’s wearing a bulletproof vest, because even though he doesn’t view himself as a vigilante, trouble sometimes finds him in the form of a knife or gun.
“I was doing a water handout and a fellow came running around the corner,” he said. “I thought he had a black automatic pistol and he put it right up against me here. I grabbed at the automatic because I’ve been trained to disarm someone and my intention was to jack the slide back so the gun couldn’t fire. As I tried to do that, it broke apart in my hand. It was a squirt gun that had been painted black.”
Thanatos is a member of The Real Life Super Hero Project, a league of caped crusaders that aims to feed the hungry, comfort the sick and better neighbourhoods. As a sexagenarian, Thanatos is the oldest member of the group. He’s quick to note the heroes don’t fight bad guys and leave them tied up for police – that only happens in the movies.
As he walks past rows of tombstones inside the cemetery, the interview is continually interrupted by curious onlookers. Thanatos disarms their concerns with a confident hello and tip of the cap.
He talks at length about the missions he makes to the Downtown Eastside several times a month, but is much less willing to discuss the man under the mask.
All he says about his day job is that it’s “in a corner of the death industry.” He won’t release his name because he fears that if his identity is revealed he’ll be drummed from his profession.
Thanatos mentions a wife and teenage daughter, both of whom support his cause, he says. His wife sometimes joins him on the streets to serve as a spotter, and his daughter has said she’d like to help some day as well. She knows she’s not yet ready for the intensity and heartbreak, he says.
Thanatos appears to choke up when talking about a man named Wayne. He says Wayne was “just a nice guy” who suffered from alcohol problems and couldn’t land a job. “They found him behind some dumpsters where he had tried to go and get warm,” he said.
The deaths take their toll but he has no plans to give up. “It weighs on me,” he said. “It hurts. But it just strengthens my resolve. It always reminds me of what I’m out there for.”
Thanatos was not on the streets during last month’s Stanley Cup riot but expresses disappointment that it occurred. For those unsure how to better their city, he has a rallying cry: “If you’re really upset about the riots and you want to make things better, everybody go out and help 10 people. If you can’t give them anything, give them something that’s really even more important – five minutes of your time.”
Vancouver police spokesman Constable Lindsey Houghton confirmed the department has heard of Thanatos, who says he’s been in touch with officers on several occasions. Thanatos says he even collects shell casings on the chance they might be of some assistance to police.
“We’re aware of his existence and that he’s anonymously doing good deeds and helping people out in his own way and phoning 9-1-1 at appropriate times, which is all we ask of people,” Constable Houghton said.
During a tour of the Downtown Eastside, Thanatos heads under a bridge to highlight a narrow crevice where people sleep. Inside lies a blanket. A message has been left for him in chalk, indicating when the owner of the blanket will return.
Thanatos leaves a bottle of water and dashes off, eager to find the next person who needs his assistance.

Has a challenge for the City of Vancouver
Originally posted: http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/246361–meet-vancouver-s-very-own-superhero
By News1130 Staff
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – He takes care of those who live in the city’s dark places, defending and helping people on the mean streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.  News1130‘s Mike Lloyd is revealing the details of a clandestine meeting with the man who calls himself Thanatos, The Dark Avenger.
“I’m a real life superhero here in Vancouver.  I take care of those who really need help the most.  I take care of those in the street, I watch out for them, I defend them, and I help them out.  I do monthly hand-outs of food, blankets and necessities.  I patrol the [Downtown] Eastside and keep my eye on things.  When I see things I report them to the police.”
On a stormy afternoon, Thanatos strides between the gravestones of Mountain View Cemetery, cloaked in black with a wide-brimmed hat and masked behind a twisted, iridescent skull.
Why the dramatic backdrop?  “This is an appropriate place to meet Death.  Where else would you meet him?  At McDonalds?”
Thanatos is the Greek God of Death, and the man behind the mask says he took on the persona after a conversation with a police officer.
“I was told people on the street had nothing better to look forward to than death.  That really stung me.  I thought if that’s the case, Death had better get out there and start taking care of these people.  I originally came up with the idea of going out with the robe and scythe but I realized that would be impractical.”
Instead, he ended up in black overcoat and hat, body armour underneath, and masked behind a green skull-face.
“I started researching and found out other people were using the same idea to draw attention to what they were doing.  So, being a comic book geek at heart, I fell back on that and redesigned the figure of death.  I’m based on The Green Hornet, The Shadow, The Spirit, a bit of Doc Savage and a bit of Batman.  The persona works.”
Thanatos stresses he is not a vigilante. “Swinging in on a rope, beating up the drug dealer, leaving him tied up for police looks good in the movies, but this is the real world and you can’t do that.  It doesn’t work.  It’s a bigger problem than just trying to take criminals off the street one at a time.  It’s a social issue and society has to change to stop people from landing on the street and getting swept up into the drugs and crime down there.”
This is certainly no game for the costumed man as he asks to be tapped on his chest.
“Feel that?  I wear a level 3A bullet proof vest.  It is dangerous.  Some of the people I encounter are coming down off methamphetamine or coming off other drugs.  The drug dealers and gangs are also quite dangerous.  I’ve had guns flashed at me.  I’ve seen guns down there ranging from small handguns to AK-47s.  I’ve had knives flashed at me.  I had someone try to stick me with a [sharpened] bicycle spoke and when you stick that into someone it usually catches something vital.  I’ve had someone throw a bullet at me from across the street.”
As the wind whips and the clouds darken, Thanatos says he feels the need to continue his work.  “I’ve helped out over the years as myself.  No one remembers.  No one cares.  The idea of real life superheroes using costumes is to draw attention to what we’re doing.  That draws attention to the problem.”
And there are others, many of them chronicled in the Real Life Superhero Project.
“We are all over the world.  Right now there are probably 300 of us who are active and out trying to actually help the world be a batter place.  Most are in North America, but we have people in Asia, people in the Mid-East and we have quite a few in Europe and Great Britain.  There are a few of us in Canada.”
As the meeting draws to a close, Thanatos has one last thing to add, a challenge to the city.
“We have had terrible riots here in Vancouver.  We had a great outpouring of emotion shown on the plywood, people saying ‘I love you,’ we need to do something, we need to better our city.  So, I’m issuing a challenge to the city of Vancouver.  Everyone go out and help 10 people before the end of July, anything they can do.  If they can keep someone alive on the Downtown Eastside for a day, give them water, give them cereal bars, give them whatever.  If all they can do is stop for five minutes and talk to these people and give them time, that’s fine, too.”
With that, the meeting ends.  Thanatos turns, disappearing deeper into Mountain View, preparing for another night of trying to help Vancouver’s vulnerable and, hopefully, inspiring others to do the same.

Originally posted: http://atalanta77.blogspot.com/2011/04/superheroes-de-barrio.html
Me gusta leer periódicos antiguos. Cuando hojeas un artículo de hace tres, cuatro, cinco años, eres consciente de que estás leyendo mejor libro de historia. Es sumamente sorprendente en qué derivaron ciertos personajes o acontecimientos. Por no hablar de las noticias de índole económica anteriores a la crisis. La perspectiva del tiempo hace que ciertos artículos hoy asusten.
Dedicándome a este menester, encontré un reportaje que daba cuenta de un fenómeno para mí por completo sorprendente, el de los “superhéroes de la vida real”. Ya os imagináis el percal. Siguiendo la tradición más ortodoxa de los cánones de tebeo, repartidos por el mundo viven unos tipos “normales” que, a tiempo parcial, se han creado otra identidad a la que acompaña el pertinente disfraz y tras la cual, se dedican a combatir el mal en las calles de su ciudad.