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National Sticky Bun Day 2024
Today is National Sticky Bun Day, but they’re not on the menu for me without a sugar-free recipe.
Simple
It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder
There’s something to be said for simplicity. It’s easy to get all twisted up in convoluted schemes and crazy plans, but that tends to be more stressful than productive.
Being able to wake up in the morning and take a deep breath is a great start.
We can easily wake up with all the things on our to-do list crushing us back into the bed, but it’s better to take a quick moment to just be glad you’re alive.
I’m not a morning person, but I try to spend some time counting my blessings when I get up out of the bed. One of those blessings, naturally, is that I can.
Some people can’t even get out of bed. I can. I’m grateful for that. Particularly because I tend to wake up with a need to use the facilities.
I woke up a while ago and could not do that because I was in a hospital bed, wired to a bunch of machines. I’m grateful that the facilities came to me in that case.
So, I’m well aware of a need to be mindful of and grateful for the ability to address even the simplest human needs.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to start the day with a quick breakfast. Sometimes, that’s just a banana and some coffee. Sometimes, I go for Cream of Wheat. If I’m really lucky, Kelly will hook me up with eggs and bacon.
Whatever it is, I’m grateful there is something available to get me started in the morning.
The point is, there are so many things that are basic, simple matters to be grateful for. It makes life as sweet as a sticky bun.
Sticky
The PERFECT Sticky Buns Recipe
I imagine someone has come up with a sugar-free version of these classic breakfast treats, but I haven’t come across them yet.
There has been some slippage in the last few months. I really need to get back on the low/no sugar plan in a big way.
I’ve had entirely too many cheat days and entirely too many days when I haven’t been out taking my walk because it’s raining or snowing or icing or down in the single digits.
This trend needs to be reversed.
Easier said than done. I have a sedentary lifestyle because I have a remote work situation. I need to be at my computer for hours and hours.
Because of this, I need even more to be moving around and eating better. Guess we’ll see how that works out.
Sweet
The body of a dead enemy always smells sweet. ~Titus Flavius Vespasian
So, I’ve been thinking of the classic comic book trope of the Code Against Killing. Right off the top, nobody in their right mind wants to kill someone.
Typical comic book superheroes are technically vigilantes. If you’re running around skirting or even completely flouting the law, dropping bodies is definitely a bad idea.
On the other hand, if the superheroes are (like Adam West’s Batman) fully deputized officers of the law, the rules of engagement would be established by the agency that deputized them.
In the case of The Sentinels, they’re deputized by and contracted to the Empire City Police Department.
Canonically, superheroes tend not to kill. Part of that comes from the Comics Code Authority. Part of it comes from basic common sense.
As previously stated, nobody in their right mind wants to kill people.
That said, police sometimes have to. There is a review process to verify that the shooting was justified.
Thing is, the police are provided with less-than-lethal options and with firearms. Any one of these things is considered appropriate in context.
They have standard service weapons (pistols), but they can also make use of rifles and shotguns. Tactical units like ESU and SWAT can use military-style small arms. Any of these are considered appropriate and proportional to certain police actions.
On the other hand, with superheroes you might have anything from throwing knives to power blasts with a yield on par with an ICBM.
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So, with even the least offensive of the samples above, in a police setting would most likely be considered disproportionate. Police can use lethal force in defense of themselves or others, preferably as a last resort.
Let’s consider Captain America. He’s a guy tossing a metal frisbee around and doing martial arts stuff.
Thing is, the shield is made of Vibranium. Even though it’s light, it’s bullet-proof, so it’s incredibly hard. Getting hit in the head with this thing when thrown by someone with normal human strength is likely to cause concussion, cranial trauma or even death.
Captain America has superhuman strength. Straight out of the super soldier lab, he was able to rip the door off a taxi like it was cardboard. Even without the shield, he’s kicking guys ten feet backward and his uppercut threw that one guy straight up to the ceiling. A punch or kick from Captain America is like getting hit by a car
Batman has peak human strength through training, so he’s not nearly as strong as Captain America, but with his extensive toolkit and martial skills he was able to clear two rooms of armed badguys. The thing where he flat out killed a bunch of them is not particularly in keeping with the comics, but in the setting of the movie it’s kill or be killed. So, there’s that.
The fight between Superman and General Zod basically flattened Metropolis and the Human Torch’s supernova ability could very well ignite the entire atmosphere of the Earth and kill everyone. That would not be something the police review board could approve of.
So, what do you do with superheroes in a “realistic” setting? You give them a code against killing.
The MCU and the DCEU may not cotton to that idea, but I think it’s fair to say the police would prefer their deputized superheroes to refrain from killing as much as possible.
Honestly, I can understand the kill or be killed mentality in a warfare situation, but the superhero movies have gone way off base in my opinion.
The Batman movie with Michael Keaton was enjoyable, but they killed the damn Joker. Sure, in the comics it seemed as if the Joker had been killed in some instances, but he came back later to be a royal PITA. Jack Nicholson’s Joker was obviously and conspicuously perma-dead. How the hell comic-booky is that?
In Toby Maguire’s Spider-Man, they jumped forward to where Norman Osborne got killed by his own Goblin Glider. Yes, that happened in the comics, but not all in one go. Goblin would stir up trouble. Spidey would thwart him. He’d come back again later after Spider-Man had fought a bunch of other bad guys.
This trend of killing iconic supervillains off in the same movie just blows. How do you have the Sinister Six if the villains get killed right away? It’s just stupid.
So, the code against killing should apply not only to the superheroes but to the damn screenwriters, too. Have some respect for the canon, people.
As far as my group goes, Tim has the full powers of Johnny Storm. He could lay waste to the city or even the planet, but he won’t because he’s a nice guy and he’s aware of the dangers of his powers and he’s not a homicidal psycho.
Matt is similar to Captain America as far as having been a soldier in many wars. His strength is on par with Luke Cage and his healing ability is similar to Grant Gustin’s Flash rather than Wolverine or Deadpool’s. He doesn’t want to kill because he’s done far too much of it in his years of service and because he’s not a homicidal psycho.
Meirhe only has a code against killing because she’s required to in order to be on the team instead of in jail. She’s not a homicidal maniac, but she definitely went to town on the Russian mob after they killed her friend. She doesn’t kill people willy nilly, but if she felt it was appropriate she wouldn’t hesitate to put the bad guys down.
Tanda has IDF training, but she’s not in any hurry to kill anyone. She grew up with The Sentinels’ school assemblies and other fan messaging. They have always been the example she tried to live up to. She spent her life in pursuit of joining them one day, so she wants to be a less-than-lethal superhero when her turn comes up.
In the first book of the series, there are no supervillains yet. Regular villains are problem enough, particularly when the supers have been benched by the ECPD brass.
It’s going to get addressed, though. With a new team member, they’re all going to have to come to some kind of understanding of where the lines are drawn and there will be some discussion on how they make those distinctions.
Right now, I’m having difficulty getting started again. Being busy with work means I’m too drained to be busy with writing. I sure hate getting old…
That’s it for today. I hope you get to enjoy some sticky buns while you count your blessings.