Mr Dragon, fresh off the boat heads to the streets. Upon finding a nice place to make himself noticed he begins his speech.

Fellow Mafioso,

A few days ago my father made a speech here in the streets. He made a speech about limited time in this world and what you do with it, Ironically his time was cut short. He was involved in a shooting with a young mobster to our shores.

My father was insulted personally by the said mobster, so he took it into his own hands to deal with the homeless bum. Upon firing at him, he bum withdrew his own weapon and randomly fired back as he tried to escape. My father was never a very lucky man, and alas one of the stray bullets caught him in the chest. His Bodyguards could do nothing but watch as he died.

I was informed immediatly as this tragic event happened, and I was requested to come over to America to take up my fathers place in Sherlock's "Organisation". I guess this course of events strengthens my fathers speech that much more.

Chances and actions should be taken whilst you still have time in this world. If you want to change something or make a name for yourself, don't hesitate. As your time might be closer than you think.

Mr Dragon turns away and heads back to his family headquaters to reflect on what he has said.

Rourke listens politely to the young man before interjecting:

Welcome to this world of ours. It's a fine place to be, and a wonderful way to make your bones.

Your speech brings up a larger point of discussion that I feel needs to be touched upon. You mentioned that your father was "insulted personally" by a mobster and felt necessary to draw his weapon and fire several times upon the man. I have it upon good authority that at the time your father decided to shoot, this potential victim was marked as a "-48" member of our world, or someone generally regarded as an illegal kill. New York and Los Angeles have strict rules upon the shooting of these men, and I wonder what someone could have said to make your father so enraged over the incident.

This brings me to a larger point of discussion. Where do we consider points of "egregious" or "blatant" disrespect that validates the attack on those younger, unsponsored members of our community? Personally I am not offended when someone calls me a "bitch" or a "cunt" or even tells me that my "tattoos look like shit." Maybe I am a bit more sure of myself than others in this world, but even when it reaches the point of multiple obscenities per sentence in mails, I brush these men and women off with a cheeky reply.

For an example, would you be willing to share what drove your father to murder over this? I would like to use this as a basis for an educational study on the individual threshold levels of mafiosos when insulted.

Rourke taps his cigarette on his shoe and lets the ash fall on part of BrianRourke's (GRHS) corpse. He waits patiently for the leathery flying creature to return in a puff of smoke.

I think Rourke you are rather misinformed. The fellow may have been (-48) yet he was far from innocent.

Alas when he dies, this will become public knowledge as the police leak his criminal records. The young mobster was a "Legit kill" as he had pickpocketed already. Hence his innocence was no longer intact. His blatant disrespect was just another of many reasons for my father to lead to violence.

Very nice, Dragon. I welcome you to our shores, and your father's death was a tragic case of bad luck. Welcome to our community and the LA family.

I would rarely consider myself "misinformed" but I fail to see where pickpocketing is a widely-accepted reason to consider someone "legitimate." Not knowing where this took place, I'll remind you of the rules of New York, an excellently run city under former Godfather ThomasRourke and current Godfather Deimne:

No -48's to be shot within the New York city limits, by anyone, regardless of authorisation by the target. Exceptions can be made in the case of blatant disrespect or wack attempts.

There is also a rule in place in Los Angeles, another excellently run city under Godfather Premier:

We will NOT tolerate the killing of any -48, in our city without significant reason, if caught doing so your life will be taken.

Neither of these mention pickpocketing, but that is not the main point of my discussion.

What constitutes blatant disrespect?

Was it the pickpocket that drove your father to attempt a crime or was something else said that drove him over the edge? You mentioned originally that your father was "personally insulted" and again using the words labeled, you mentioned there was "blatant disrespect" from this man. What was it? Where is the line drawn where it's okay for the community to fire at will?

I apologize if you are personally offended by this as insults are not my intent, but I am trying to find out what individuals are considering "disrespectful" these days that will give them the rights to shoot at any "-48" mobster they please. Should I be able to give myself the right to start shooting "-48" because they "looked at me funny?" Is it disrespectful enough if they ignore the sign saying our "Crew is Full," demanding to be let in on past merits? This is an issue that I haven't recently seen an answer for; I am seeking clarity on this issue so that we can hopefully avoid killings of those nature in the future.

His blatant disrespect was just another of many reasons for my father to lead to violence.

Please continue.

I must question your motives, Rourke. Why do you insist on pestering people? He told his story and you decide to pester him about his father. How can he possibly know what his father was thinking? In his mind what his father did was justified, however in yours it may not be.

People have their own opinions, it has always been that way.

Why do you insist on pestering people?

I don't. My original question was not answered and I am seeking a follow up.

He told his story and you decide to pester him about his father.

If questions constitute pestering, then this is like the pot calling the kettle black, wouldn't you say?

In his mind what his father did was justified, however in yours it may not be. People have their own opinions, it has always been that way.

And AGAIN this brings me back to my question of WHAT constitutes blatant disrespect. I have yet to receive an answer. Would you be able to define YOUR idea of what disrespect consists of?

In all honesty, I think that

"I am going to kill you and all your fucking family."

Would be enough to get most people killed, regardless of (-48) or not. It took quite abit to make my father take action, and he was fully aware of any city rules when he decided to take action. I do not need to give reasons for my fathers actions, he is not on trial here, I was merely pointing out that alot of Mafioso do not get to do what they wish with the time they have. Alas wasting their life.

"His blatant disrespect was just another of many reasons for my father to lead to violence."

I will not reveal the other reasons as to why he took action, as to be perfectly honest, it is not of your concern.

Disrespect: PPing, Wacking, Talking shit to, or just saying something any button man does not like.

Now, as for my point. This was a story about Dragon's father passing and his son coming to LA from over shores. You have turned it into a discussion over -48 members. Honestly, Rourke, I feel you are being quite disrespectful.

Honestly, Rourke, I feel you are being quite disrespectful.

Surely as a Don and the Right Hand Man to a Godmother, I could realistically question the motives of a Thug as one would assume that I have earned the right to free speech and opinion in our streets. You, however, are merely a Goomba. I fully respect your Godfather Premier and Don leader Sherlock, but you have yet to make your bones in this world of ours. I would kindly remind you to think carefully before you question me like this.

Good day.

"I could realistically question the motives of a Thug"

Alas you are not questioning MY motives, you are questioning my fathers. A dead Capo of a LA family, even if he had broken any kind of rule. It would be LA's concern.

Dragon goes back to his family HQ for a cup of Tea.

I love to jump into these discussions, especially when they get to be heated.  That gets my blood going, and makes me feel good.  I do want to get involved in this one for a couple of reasons.  1 - to discuss the original speaker, and 2 - to address what I think is blatant disrespect.

First of all - if you don't want to answer questions, then  you probably shouldn't come out to the streets in the first place to do your laundry.  I will welcome you to our streets Dragon, but I think Rourke's question is fair considering the fact that you are the one who prompted the questions with your initial speech.  If you chose to simply introduce yourself, and not mention the incident with your father it's likely you wouldn't be fielding questions about why he shot somebody with the -48 tattoo. 

And to answer Rourke's question - I really don't concern myself with verbal insults.  I pass the information along to that individual's leader and let them decide whether that's the type of person they want to surround themselves with.  What's the saying - sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.  I don't know if that's true all the time, but most of the time it holds true.  However, if somebody decided to attack my mother, my father, or my RHW verbally, I would likely consider that blatant disrespect, and worthy of some sort of action. 

The obvious forms of blatant disrespect would be somebody attempting to shoot me, shooting my bodyguards, things like that.  But most of the time we're left to interpret verbal insults and making a determination whether they constitute blatant disrespect.  Threats like "I'm going to kill you" are easy, it's the other implicit threats, or other disrespect that is a little more difficult to call blatant. 

Brother Panda Brother Dragon I enjoyed this little chat with Rourke.

Now my opinion might not mean much but itll be stated non the less. His fathers dead. Rourke if you want to address a certain point i think maybe you should bring it up in a new forum. No disrespect to any but in my opinion what happened is over with and in a sense we have the new dragon here lets move forward huh?

Alas you are not questioning MY motives, you are questioning my fathers. A dead Capo of a LA family, even if he had broken any kind of rule. It would be LA's concern.

Valid point, and I obviously stand corrected. Would YOU care to answer my question as to what constitutes disrespect?

I would just like to make a note here. 

If you chose to simply introduce yourself, and not mention the incident with your father it's likely you wouldn't be fielding questions about why he shot somebody with the -48 tattoo. 

He never said anything about his father shooting a -48. He said a younger member. No disrespect meant towards you Will, but that is not the same. Rourke decided to look deeper into and bring up that it was a -48. He did not know the story behind it at all. 

I am done with this, for I do not like arguments. 

Panda walks away.

Brothers i think it would be best to drop this and move on. Please before we say something we regret

Rourke, I think that disrespect varies from Mobster to mobster.

Not everyone finds a few offensive words to be disrespectful, some even find worded threats against their family acceptable. I am merely a Thug, even if i were shown disrespect I wouldn't be able to do much. I personally find that threats on myself or family are a sign of disrespect, even if they are empty.

Alas, that is just my opinion.

Lucky walks around the corner and sees a small crowd of people arguing. He walks over to say his two cents.

"Gentlemen, I love these kinds of arguments. First off, lets be fair, Rourke's questions seem completely in place, legitimate, and on-topic to me. Just because he brought up the fact that your kill was -48 and you didn't doesn't make this unfair. Also, it seems to me that in a topic about "untimely death" the fact that you died attempting to kill a -48 is rather significant.

"Next, I don't think very many mafioso would consider almost any insult enough to kill someone, especially someone less than 48 hours off the boat. No, at the very least there must be a death threat (I understand there was, but you took entirely too long to say so.) Perhaps if your first answer had been "he threatened to kill me and my entire family," Rourke would have agreed with you.

"Lastly, Rourke outranks all of us, so don't tell him he's being disrespectful. Even if I agreed with you, which I don't in the least, he has every right to be as disrespectful as he wants to be. I generally try to stand by my LA allies, but I don't think very many of us are being fair, clear, or even thoughtful in this argument."

Luck steps back, both ready for more discussion and for some possible flames coming his way.

It was my father that took Dagenham_beast's life. Why? Because he simply was well insane. He knew how to be taken from this world, threatening lives is just that. Unfortunately he was handy with a pistol like many others in my bloodline and was just a tad craftier than Dagenham_beast.

Unfortunate for Dagenham_beast but life moves on.

beast would be proud of you