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Darth Vader is one of the most well-known cinematic villains. His distinctive breathing and black costume have made him a symbol of fear and evil. In the Star Wars universe, Vader is a Sith lord and the leader of the Galactic Empire. Vader has lead the empire through many campaigns in which thousands of innocent people were utterly murdered. With no remorse, Vader continued to do the will of his master, Emperor Palpatine. With the guidance of the dark side of the force, Vader’s mission is to seek out enemies of the empire and terminate them. Yet Vader’s history wasn’t always so dark. He was once a young Jedi knight named Anakin Skywalker. He was deceived in believing that Palpatine would save Anakin’s wife from dieing. When the inevitable came true, it was too late. Anakin had turned to the dark side and was made into dark-suited figure.

There has been some debate over many Star Wars fans as to whether or not Anakin ever truly became evil. Sure, he killed thousands, but he was deceived. So in one respect, it was not his fault. Anakin felt he was doing the right thing. Think about it, if you had just lost the only person you loved, wouldn’t you think differently about life? Now I’m sure most of you wouldn’t go out and start killing people. But when someone has barely any self-esteem, any person’s advice can be taken as the right advice. Any thoughts on Vader/Anakin?

Ian Biographies, Psychotic Killers, Science Fiction/Fantasy

During the Second World War, the United States Army issued that an elite unit of paratroopers be assembled that would be able to fight in a light and swiftly manner. Their objective would be to drop behind enemy lines and cause turmoil to enemy forces and pave the way for an infantry invasion. In 1942, members of the newly formed 101st Airborne division gathered at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. The orders of the officers in charge were to take a group of young city and farm boys and train them into hard-fighting soldiers worthy of the name paratrooper. One such group was Easy Company of the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne. Most of the men with the exception of the officers, had little schooling and barely any training with a rifle.

For two years, the men were instructed in the ways of hand-to-hand fighting and squad formations. They were shown how to fight quickly and with to use little supplies as possible. The Army planned to use these troops for the invasion of France. These soldiers along with other divisions of paratroopers would be dropped behind the German lines on the Normandy coast and pave the way for the biggest invasion in military history. So the boys of Easy Company were shipped off to England. There they were trained on how to fight against the well-entrenched German soldiers. Britain’s country-side was very much like that of France’s. This gave Easy an advantage of training.

The invasion was originally scheduled for June 5 of 1944. Yet, weather problems forced the invasion to be postponed. The next day, the invasion was officially set. The young paratroopers along with thousands of other service men and women boarded planes and boats that would bring them across the English Channel to the coast of France. As the paratroopers flew over the English Channel, they observed the biggest armada ever assembled for an invasion. Yet, soon they were lost in a cloud bank. High above the skies of France, the planes drifted this way and that and were scattered. This cloud bank proved deadly for the paratroopers.

By the time, the fog was gone, German artillery and machine-guns were firing everything at the planes. Hundreds of troops were killed before they even had the chance to jump. Those that managed to get out of the planes in time were scattered all over the country-side. They were off from their assigned objectives. But this confusion proved helpful for the Americans. The Germans were in a total state of shock. They did not know if this was the real invasion or simply a diversion from another attack. Easy Company managed to get enough men together and under the command of Lt. Richard Winters, they attacked a group of German-controlled artillery guns that were firing on men landing on the beaches.

Within less than an hour, the guns were destroyed and the members of Easy Company were soon assembled in the next few days. The Company moved out and took the town of Carentan which was guarding the linkage point between two of the Allied beachheads. After the capture of the town, the soldiers headed south to hold off a counter-attack. Here they dug in and faced the fiercest sighting they had ever witnessed. German tanks came out of clearing and began firing at them. It took a long while, before Allied tanks came up and forced the Germans into a retreat.

This show of courage set of a chain of heroic acts that would make Easy Company one of the most respected and honored units in the history of the paratroopers.

Ian Biographies, Historical Horrors

Motley Crue is one of biggest Glam Metal bands of the 1980s. They sold millions of albums world-wide and are the epitome of Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll. But they were mired in controversy almost from the start of their musical career. The four band members named Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Vince Neil, and Tommy Lee were known drug-users and alcohol abusers. Their music set the scene for countless of young kids needing a release from their everyday life. Religious groups nation-wide had a deep hatred for the music of these four dark-clothed musicians. Born-Again Christians considered the group to be satanic and called their music the work of the devil. This was mainly due to the title of the Motley Crue album, Shout at the Devil.

The four rock-stars have constantly refuted statements of them being satanic or anti-religious. In fact, they may be the only band to give back much of their fortune to charities around the world. Yet, for all their success, religious groups still frown upon the band’s image because it did not reflect the normality of the American culture. This may be the reason why Motley Crue recieved so much mainstream attention. They went against the established order and constantly challenged the image of the average musician that had been set with bands in the past like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin.

Ian Biographies, Debate Topics, Urban Legends

Since his untimely death at age 53, there has been an extraordinary growth of interest in Dick’s writings. During his lifetime, the stories he wrote were largely ignored by mainstream critics and readers. That is no longer the case, and the novels of Philip K. Dick frequently appear on lists of the best science-fiction stories. Since 1982, when Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (based on Dick’s novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) made its debut, eight feature films based on Dick’s stories have appeared, the other seven being Total Recall, Minority Report, Screamers, Impostor, Confessions d’un Barjo (based on Dick’s mainstream novel, Confessions of a Crap Artist), Paycheck, A Scanner Darkly and Next.

Philip K. Dick has become a huge literary author present not merely in America but in world culture, with his works translated into many different languages. There is even an adjective known as ”phildickian.” It makes its way into print now and then to describe cofusing twists and turns of modern-day events. An understanding of the basic facts of Dick’s life not only casts light on the themes that are dominant in his writings, but also brings to view a thrilling story in its own right.

Ian Biographies, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Have you ever heard of the similarities between John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald? These two men killed two of the most respected Presidents in American history: Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. The similarities between the two killers and the two presidents are so striking that it makes one wonder about fate and the idea of history repeating itself….almost to the exact event.

Ian Biographies, Psychotic Killers, Urban Legends