Okay people... Christmas is upon us so in keeping with the season my design a contest submission has a Yuletide theme...

My proposition is this...

Design a uniquely level 26 Christmas card... Twitter it, facebook it, myspace it, print it, snail mail it and email it to all of your friends... make it fun, festive, and diabolically Sqweegish! Make sure that somewhere on the card it has the level26 website listed, perhaps a photo of the book, urge your friends and family to buy the book, read the book, join the site and give you as a reference – have them join and friend you and note that this is because of your card... collect the names and give the list to AZ or whomever wants to take responsibility for the count.! Make it a musical card.  Make it a Powerpoint presentation, or just a standard but twisted hallmark style card! Spread the love of the season...

Special thanks to my team mate... Linda! For her help with the wording!

Serial killer – a term that tends to evoke different feelings in different people, for some it causes outright revulsion, for others horror, while for another small portion of the population curiosity can be used to describe what runs through an individual’s mind when faced with the terror of what one person is capable of doing to another – or in this case - others.  The likes of Jeffrey Dahmer – a sadistic cannibal who preyed on gay men, Robert Picton who abducted murdered, chopped up and fed a suspected 60 female prostitutes to his pigs and then stored the rest of their remains in a freezer, and Dayton Leroy Rogers, a sadistic foot fetishist who murdered 8 and injured another 27 Oregon prostitutes – are all capable of causing a gamut of emotions in the average person. It’s interesting though, that despite the fear, horror and cries for justice brought about by the simple utterance of the term “serial killer”, there is another segment of the population that can commit such heinous acts and essentially get away with it.

He was born sometime between 1925 and 1928, and was raised by his mother after his father abandoned them at a young age. Rumour has it that he had no formal educational training and was almost completely illiterate into adulthood. His true education came when he joined the army as a cook, at the age of 21. While there, he trained as a soldier, quickly gained the reputation of being overeager to the point of being cruel, and was almost dismissed from duty due to being malicious and brutal during interrogations. Despite this wonderful trait and his early history in the military he managed rise through the military ranks and be awarded the highest level possible for a man of his background. He was once said to believe that Hitler was right in his extermination of the Jewish people.

As his country moved towards independence he was appointed by its leader to the highest ranking position in their army. After being allotted such a place of authority, he was sent up to the north of his country to help control a theft issue, and once there committed such bloody carnage that the British government wanted him prosecuted – It is said he would beat people and put them in front of firing squads, or force them to bludgeon each other, he once tortured an entire town before killing eight men and forcing their relatives to bury them. But instead of being given his dues at the hands of the law, this brutal killer was sent to the UK for more military training.

Jump ahead several years and this man is now not only a powerful military leader, but also a dominant political figure plotting to overthrow his long time friend and leader.

Now it goes without saying that one should not bite the hand that feeds you, but as with many other important social lessons, this particular slaughterer chose to ignore this advice, as well. By the time he was exiled to Saudi Arabia, he had been responsible for the over 300,000 deaths of his fellow countrymen, and is said to have once had a dinner, where after capturing and murdering the men who did not support his rise to power, he had them beheaded and ordered their disembodied heads placed about the table, where he then lectured them about not supporting him and proceeded to eat parts of their flesh...

Despite all of this, this narcissistic self-serving sadist, who was clearly a psychopath by all medical standards, had brutally butchered thousands, by having them executed or bludgeoned, and was even known to have cannibalized his own enemies, was never tried for his crimes, or spent a minute in jail. Instead, he was allowed to live out the rest of his days in peace, where it is said that he ate 40 oranges a day to help with his sexual prowess. He was in his late 70s, when he died.  It is interesting what people are “allowed” to do in the name of war, and power...

People – I give you Mr. Idi Amin... the Butcher of Uganda.

As an interesting aside... He fathered 45 children... was a pathological divorcee, was rampantly sexual and is said to have been wracked with numerous STDs. Wonder if any of his children have taken after their father...? I know one is hell bent on denying his history!

I would like to thank my team member Linda DiMezza for her suggestion and help with research...