The State of the Union

Dear Mr. President.

Have you ever played the game "Shadowrun?" It is a fantasy role-playing Game based on a world which is not run by any kind of government, but rather by super-rich corporations which are, in turn, operated by "wage-slaves" who essentially live and die under the second worst living conditions possible (the worst being slow death by starvation). The basis of the game is that the players assume the roles of a team of undesirables who refuse to become wage-slaves, and instead earn their living by subverting and stealing from the corporations (which are, of course, warring amongst themselves for absolute domination).

Of late, I have taken to reading the core rule-books ... in preparation for the future of America.

As an engineer, it is a matter of SEVERE irritation to me when I see a broken machine, and far, far worse when I know how to fix it, but am somehow unable to apply said knowledge.

Mr. President, the United states of America is broken, and badly. It can be fixed, but it is going to take an overhaul of historic proportions.  I am not speaking of the over popularized abortion issue, or "freedom of expression" or any other sensationalistic claptrap. Those are nothing more than extraneous bells and whistles with little to no ultimate significance. I am speaking of the core rules by which this country operates: Capitalism and the Two Party system.

For nearly a century now, Americans have been brainwashed into believing that the "American Dream" is the pursuit of morbid opulence. This message has been driven into the deepest recesses of our Nation's mind by companies desperate to sell their products. Why are they so desperate? Well, because the more they sell, the richer they become. And the richer they become, the more influence they can exert over those of lesser means.

Mankind, above all things, desires absolute power. Anyone who believes that they want to get rich just because they want to be rich is lying to themselves. They want to be rich because they want to feel like they have power over their own life, because until they are wealthy enough to need no outside income, their life (in much the same way as the aforementioned wage-slaves) will be run entirely by "the boss."

Americans are the hardest working people in the world, yet the the 2% who make most of the money do the least work of any of the American people. What ever happened to "...liberty and justice for all?" The simple fact is that, regardless of how much money the government prints every year, the more money major industries make, the LESS money the people their products are intended for have. There is only one stop that this train makes, but no one wants to admit it: The Corporate States of America.

Now, this train is far from a runaway. There is a very simple solution, and it will be unimaginably effective: Institute a National salary cap and baseline. No one on earth needs to make more than $1 million a year. No one. So, every individual salary is subject to a 100% income tax for every dollar over $1 million. Further, no worker (foreign or domestic) will be paid less than the minimum wage assigned by the state in which the business is headquartered. And beyond that, no American based business is allowed to hire foreign workers for unskilled labor until ALL willing and able American applicants have been hired. With the highest income standardized Nationally, excess income can be used by the government to supply quality public services to the people, and re-invested by the companies into research and development and human resources, and with the lowest allowable wage standardized there will no longer be such strong incentive to outsource.

Regarding public services, a public service should be described as any protective service the average citizen cannot perform for themselves. A few examples of public servants would include law-enforcement, fire fighters, teachers, and DOCTORS (which are not public servants but by all rights should be). With the medical profession essentially privatized, hospitals can refuse services to citizens who truly need help, and can charge whatever ungodly fees they wish. And the reason teachers are failing is because their incomes are so low, they are forced to take second and third jobs just to pay the continually increasing cost of living in America ... they just don't have the time or energy to invest in the children the way they should anymore. Further, the reason policemen are so easy to "buy off" is that their incomes are so ludicrously low compared to the sacrifices and risks they take every day that they become desperate to just make ends meet. All of these professionals provide EQUALLY valuable services to the public, and should thus be paid on a comparable level. Doctors (who, again, should be public servants by every right and definition of the term), teachers, firemen, law enforcement ... they all work very hard to preserve and protect and save the lives of the American people ... they should all be paid handsomely by the government for their service. And by the same token, they should all also be as difficult a profession to achieve as that of doctors. If public services in America were PROPERLY funded, the vast majority of our nation's tribulations would disappear.

Of course, the military is a favorite topic of many Americans. Here's the fact: the United States Military has become a wasteful industry, funded by the government. Promotions have become entitlements, and budgets are inflated so that each branch of the industry can "keep up with the Joneses." . The United States Military isn't the boy/girl scouts whose troupes compete for popularity! It is an army intended for the defense of our country, and the aid of our allies. No branch deserves higher pay than ANY other, and any act of fraud/waste/abuse should be penalized as harshly as any other crime, because it is embezzlement at the expense of the nation it is sworn to protect. Every soldier, sailor, marine, and airman can tell you that their leadership has made a habit of wasting resources as incentive to increase their budget for the following year. Every branch does it and every instance is a crime against the American people. All members of the military make the same sacrifices, so no one branch deserve better treatment than any other. Beyond that, the government spends billions of dollars training new members of the military in hundreds of professions ... professions which they never perform because the government then pays civilians to perform the very tasks the soldiers and sailors have been trained to do. That is blind waste, and it is unforgivable. One of two things needs to happen with that, either the civilians need to be dismissed to let the soldiers do their jobs, or the government needs to stop training soldiers to do anything but fly and fight. One or the other, because having both is paying for the same service twice. You want to have 10 trillion dollars back? Stop wasting money on the military, and make soldiers earn their promotions with job performance, instead of just giving it to them because they've been around long enough.

Now to the issue of taxes. No one likes paying taxes, but everyone wants the firemen to come save their house if it catches fire. They cannot have their cake and eat it too. The simple fact is that human beings as a SPECIES are compelled by something deep within to complain. It is better for the people to be taxed properly to pay for public services, and for them to complain about it, than for no one to have a complaint about taxes and have houses burning to the ground, children "graduating" who are still barely literate, people dying of curable diseases because they can't afford doctors, and crime running rampant throughout the nation. If public servants are those individuals who provide protective services to the masses which the average citizen cannot, then taxes should be paid by all citizens to generate those servants' salaries. That's how the system works. People are going to complain ... why not have everyone complain about one thing while everything else is working fine, rather than to have no complaints about one thing while everything else is falling apart around them?

And, finally, the "Two Party" system and campaigning. It's a crock. It simply does not work. There are too many people with too many opinions to be represented by only two parties. I'm sorry, but there are more than just two kinds of people in this country, and it is an insult to be so flippantly pigeon-holed. There should be no "Parties." Each state district should hold an election for local candidates whom they believe truly represent the American people. Those elected in the districts are then sent to the state level, and thence through a series of national elections until one is elected President. The cost of campaigning would be profoundly lower, the American people would feel that they had more options than to vote for a tiny handful of career politicians who have been out of touch with reality for so long they've forgotten what it is that Americans truly want. And as far as campaigning goes, EVERY donation to ANY campaign should be anonymous by law (i.e. the *candidate* will be utterly unaware of who made the donation), and any instance of violation of that anonymity (whether for good intent or ill) will result in immediate and full refund of the donated amount, as well as a prohibition of the violator from donating to any more campaigns for the remainder of the elections. Too many corporations call in "favors" for the millions of dollars they donate to candidates, which leads to legislation and leadership which benefits the super-rich, rather than the everyday American to whom that politician is supposedly devoted ... regardless of how vehemently the beneficiaries of those "donations" lie about it.

As I said, the solutions are very simple ... but being simple doesn't make it easy. The fact is, people with money protect it. And the way they protect it is by buying politicians to prevent any legislation which might be harmful to their personal pursuit of power. Corporations have already been officially defined as individuals for the sake of campaign donations. It is a very, very small step from there to the Shadowrun world. The 2% of people who who stand to gain the most from running the country as it is now will fight with every speck of their means to keep it that way, while the 98% of people who suffer under it are too busy with their desperate struggle for survival to fight back.

The simple fact is that these things need to be done. There is no alternative. Unless this foul leak is permanently sealed, it will continue to pollute the nation until nothing can live in it anymore. You will not be popular. In fact, if you do this, the most powerful people in the world will hate you with the only ounce of their souls they have left, and they WILL subvert the law and try to eliminate you. It is just a fact. The sad truth is that America waited for this wild beast to grow to maturity without thinking to de-claw it when it was too weak to prevent it. Now, even though it is grown and gone rabid, it needs to be gentled for the good of America. It will take brutal tactics to beat the monster back into submission, and it is possible that you may not even survive it ... but America needs a hero, even if that hero becomes a martyr.

Don't think that by preventing runaway wealth generation that you are somehow compromising "the American Dream." You're not. The American Dream isn't to be rich; that's just everyone's dream. The American Dream is Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness... and we Americans would like to have those inalienable rights, which the super-rich have stolen, given back to us.

Sincerely,
A Patriot.

No Room for Wisdom Teeth

It occurred to me just moments ago that the fact of mankind's habit of pulling wisdom teeth represents an almost inescapable metaphor for the state of modern society.

When we are born, we have no teeth at all. As we grow, we begin to develop our "baby" teeth. We continue to age and those teeth fashioned for a smaller mouth are insufficient, so the body discards them and replaces them with more robust "improvements." Then as adolescence reaches its climax, one final set of teeth emerges... teeth we call "wisdom teeth." The name is derived from a wild assumption that these teeth arrive at the period of a person's life in which they begin building wisdom upon their foundation of knowledge. The medical explanation is simply that before the advent of meticulous dental hygiene, it was common for teeth to become damaged and fall out ... the "wisdom" teeth were intended to replace them.

So, why do we pull out our wisdom teeth? Well, presumably, it is because our adult teeth are still healthy and there is no room in our mandibles to fit the emerging teeth. But why pull the wisdom teeth? Why crush the newly emerging buds in favor of the old and used teeth? Naturally, we pull the wisdom teeth instead of the other teeth because the wisdom teeth are new and small and easier to remove.

And this, my friends, is what is wrong with our society. We are used to our old way of doing things. We have settled in and, despite very likely damage and decay to our existing way of thinking, we choose to eradicate newly emerging wisdom because there isn't enough room for all of it -- something will have to be eliminated to make room, and since we don't like what we are not used to, we choose to cruelly excise the budding innovations.

Back to the teeth: The Centers for Disease Control say "...dental cavities are the most common chronic disease of children aged 5 to 17." By the time an adolescent begins growing wisdom teeth, they will likely have already had multiple fillings in their teeth. So when the wisdom teeth emerge, why do we instantly remove the healthy developing tooth when there are likely more than enough decayed or damaged teeth to pull instead? The evolutionary intent of the "wisdom tooth" is to replace damaged teeth ... so now that we have such advanced medicine we yank the emerging tooth out so we can keep our old, rotten ones? Is it just me or does that sound just plain stupid?

But, you see, it is because of our cultural mindset that we do it. Our old teeth are familiar, and as long as we leave them where they are -- rotten though they may be -- we will be just fine. This is what we as a culture believe! And It's Idiotic!!! This is why we have stagnated in every social arena other than "science." Because we just don't want to have to deal with our wisdom teeth. We don't want to wait for the tooth to slowly drive the other molars before it to close the gap over several years. We don't want to deal with the mild ache in our mouths from time to time as living bone reshapes to accommodate the adjustments. We would rather keep our good ol' bad teeth and continue to pay dentists to "fix" them as they go from bad to worse. Modern culture has effectively spread the delusion that anything we cannot have right now and with minimal cost is not worth having ... this mindset is also known as HORSESHIT!

Let me give an example. Suppose you collected antiques, but your display case only had room for 32. And, completely for free, someone gave you four more. Now you have to get rid of at least four to allow everything to fit on the shelf. Let us also assume that you have taken enormous care to organize your antiques in a particular fashion. So ... after carefully evaluating your collection, you see that there are four of the original collection, at random placement in order, whose value had decreased significantly since you acquired them. But, in order to replace them with the recent and higher valued acquisitions, you would have to re-organize your entire collection all over again. Would you get rid of the "new" items to preserve the familiarity of your collection, or reorder your collection and discard the lower value items, despite the significant inconvenience?

The majority of modern culture seems to prefer to discard the higher value items to avoid slightly longer term discomfort. We are all morons, and our future seems pretty much doomed to radical maxio-facial surgery.

There are no words adequate.

When a man takes a group of people hostage, and refuses to release them until his demands are met, we call him a terrorist. Police are called, negotiators and paramedics too. Bargaining begins, with the hope of freeing the hostages, safe and sound, and apprehending the criminal.
The terrorist refuses to negotiate, and kills a hostage to make his point. More hostages will die unless he is eliminated or his demands are met. The terrorist's demands are therefore met, to save the hostages ... but he still refuses to release them and is now demanding just enough food for himself. What, then is the appropriate course of action?

The GOP took control of the Senate, and held the American people hostage until arrangements were made to prevent their taxes from going up 4%. They filibustered every bill that crossed their desks for NO reason other than their demands had not been met. Among those bills was one for providing health care to the September 11th first responders suffering for their heroism. There was no reason for the bill to be denied, but denied it was ... many of those first responders have died waiting for the bill to pass.

America is floundering in a dying economy, the American people plummeting into deeper and deeper debt and poverty. And with this knowledge, the GOP has declared loudly that their highest priority in the next two years is to deny our current President a second term. Their representatives are rotting with shameless greed and corruption, and yet still are allowed to cower behind the shield of supposed religious piety.

So, just to clarify, the GOP has sworn to prevent any bills from passing, which will result in the wrongful deaths of American Heroes, unless they are given special tax exemption, and declared their intent to overthrow our President. The Republican party has blatantly declared a terrorist agenda ... and no one FUCKING CARES!  What the fuck is the matter with people? I cannot imagine a word vile enough to describe the puss-weeping boil of the GOP. I feel physically ill at the realization that the majority of people in the country I fought for are so fucking stupid that they actually believe Republican legislators have any interest in the welfare of the common American.

NEWSFLASH: The GOP doesn't give a flying fuck about anything other than the thrill of power and the money they need to keep it.

And the worst part about it is that, deep in my soul, I know it is wrong to wish ill of any other human being ... and yet the filth that oozes from the rotting corpse of the government of what used to be the greatest nation in the world fills me with an indescribable disgust so retched, I know that I would celebrate the death of every member of the GOP.

I have said almost countless times to countless people that anyone who doesn't like what happens in this country should get the fuck out. I am teetering near the edge of taking my own advice.

I hate "gays" as much as I hate "straights."

Gay. Straight. Bisexual. Who Gives A Shit?! Are we going to come up with a new social classification for people who are only attracted to skinny or fat people? What about a different classification for people who are only attracted to people with a certain hair color? Or only people of a certain height? Ooo... I've Got It! A classification for people who are only attracted to people of a certain skin color. Oh, wait ... people already do that. What the hell is the matter with you?! How woud you feel if your friends introduced you as "This is my friend Joe, and his girlfriend is fat." It is exactly the same thing as saying "This is my gay friend Jane," or "I'm not a racist. I have lots of black friends." Now, this is not to say that I am innocent of these things, because I have said several things like them in the past... and looking back I am horrified by how mindlessly hurtful I was. The simple fact is that a person's sexual orientation is none of anyone's business but their own. Some people are into S&M, but we don't want to know about all that ... we only want to know if they are gay. Apparently Gay is the new Black. That's called bigotry, and I abhor it. The United States Constitution grants every citizen the inalienable right to the pursuit of happines. It doesn't say "inalienable, unless you're gay."

Now, to all of my fundamentalist Protestant friends, The Bible does in fact refer to homosexuality as perverse. It also says that God hates a lying tongue above all things. So you may hate people who are gay for all your worth, but compared to the lies you tell every day, God is preparing a more special hell for you than for them. And beyond that, it isn't your responsibility, neither implied nor overt, to judge people for their "sins." The Bible says "And they will know you are Christians by your Love." How Christ must WEEP every moment of every day, that it has instead become that people know the "Christians" by their bigotry. Where is your shame? And I understand that you want to protect marriage... my question is what the fuck are you protecting it from?! In the "Christian" Church, the divorce rate is more than 50%. The divorce rate in Gay marriages is 0%. The way I see it, the gay couples are doing more to save marriage than the "Christians." Just admit it: the only reason you fight so hard against gay marriage and discriminate against people who are gay is to distract yourself from how miserably epic your own failures are. You want to save marriage? Then try investing some personal time and energy teaching your children the value of fidelity and commitment in Love, instead of expecting the Sunday-School teachers to do it for you. And what if "the worst" should happen ... your son or daughter turns out to be gay?! Oh no! They are attracted to a certain group of physicall characteristics that is different from my own preferences! What will I DO?! ... Please.

There are nearly 7 billion people in this world and every single one of them will be attracted to different things. In fact, it has already been established by the scientific community that an infant will have already compiled their list of characteristics which they find attractive by the age of 18 months. Did you catch that? Your child had selected their sexual orientation before they were even able do more than burble and blow spit-bubbles. Was it a deliberate choice to be "gay" or "straight?" NO! It was the tabula raza of a new mind responding to things which made it happy or sad. So guess what?! By demanding that people who are gay act straight in order to fit into a social norm, you are ordering them to live a lifestyle that they knew from BIRTH would make them unhappy!!! What gives you the right to steal the chance for happiness from another human being, just so you don't have to feel uncomfortable? You know, there are other people in the world who take it upon themselves to selfishly steal others' ability to love and be happy to make themselves feel better ... they are called RAPISTS! Yeah, I am in fact saying that by openly and actively discriminating against people who are gay, you are no better than a rapist.

I despise the classifications society has put on people. It is wrong to introduce someone as your black/mexican/oriental/white/canadian friend! They are a person, not an ethnicity. It is wrong to introduce someone as your poor/rich/middle-class friend. They are a person, not an income. It is wrong to introduce someone as your skinny/fat/tall/short friend. They are a person, not a body type. It is wrong to introduce someone as your ugly/pretty/plain friend. They are a person, not an image. It is wrong to introduce someone as your smart/stupid/average friend. They are a person, not an intelligence quotiant. it is wrong to introduce someone as your muslum/buddist/christian/agnostic/athiest/hindu friend. They are a person, not a religion. It is wrong to introduce someone as your shy/outgoing friend. They are a person, not a social preference. It is wrong to introduce someone as your crippled/athletic friend. They are a person, not a level physical ability. IT IS WRONG to introduce someone as your gay/straight/bi-sexual friend. They are a PERSON, not a sexual orientation. It is true that every personality is composed of all these things and more ... but no one wastes the time in conversation to introduce someone as as their white, middle-classs, tall, skinny, plain, shy, crippled, bi-sexual, agnostic friend of average intelligence. The entire point of social interaction is for everyone to learn all these things and more on their own, as they develop a relationship with this new person. So if you are going to introduce your friend, just introduce them as your friend.

Now, I understand that not everything I have said applies to everyone. I know many, many people who love others for who they are which is composed of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, physical abilities, and anything else that makes up thier bundle of uniqueness. So my admonition isn't directed at you ... Keep being awesome you guys! But for the rest: if the boot fits, wear it.

Logical Vampirology: A comparison of existing medical and physiological phenomena as they relate to defacto Vampire Lore.

It has become apparent that Hollywood lacks the objectivism necessary to portray a realistic and understandable explanation for the existence and characteristics of Vampires. This note is an attempt to address the critical attributes which centuries of imagination and medical precedent have compiled to define what a Vampire is.

ELONGATED CUSPIDS (often referred to as "canines" or "eye-teeth") are very probably the most popularized feature of vampirism, and so will be addressed first.

Studies in orthodontia have found that a particular gene (OSR2) is responsible for the initiation and cessation of the growth of new teeth. Malfunctions of this gene can cause conditions such as Anodontia and Hyperdontia (no teeth and too many teeth, respectively). Exfoliation of the deciduous (baby) teeth is a natural process driven by OSR2 that is intended to have ceased by the time the child reaches 10-12 years old, and the last set of teeth to have grown in, known as the "wisdom teeth," by the age of 17. However, there have been recorded cases wherein dormant genes in human adults were "activated," most probably as a response to trauma. Further, it is not at all uncommon for a person's natural permanent cuspids to be unusually long, even to the point of appearing "fang-like." Thus it is possible that, should the OSR2 malfunction and "re-activate, a new set of longer cuspids might be formed and force the older teeth to exfoliate, eventually replacing them as the new permanent teeth. This process would likely take weeks, if not months.

DRINKING BLOOD is the second most commonly accepted characteristic of the vampire.

Many historical and legendary tyrants have been accused of drinking the blood of their enemies, the most well known being Vladimir the Impaler (the original Dracula). It has been hypothesized that he might have suffered from a disease known as porpheria which is a hematic disease wherein the body either generates too much or too little porphyrins, which are responsible for the pigment of red blood cells. In the case of too little, the best treatment is to continually infuse the blood stream with fresh heme (syntheticaly produced) or by regular dialysis. Without the modern conveniences afforded by medical technology, it is conceivable that an individual suffering from porphyria might self-medicate by drinking blood. Psychological symptoms have been recorded in some recent cases where the sufferer expressed an appetite for raw meats or blood.

There are eight primary types of porphyria, four of which might also account for the next detail of vampire folklore:
SENSITIVITY TO SUNLIGHT

Erythropoietic Protoporphyria, Congenital Erythropoietic Porphyria, Porphyria Cutanea Tarda, and Variegate Porphyria are all characterized by extreme photosensitivity, often causing welts, burns and lesions to form on the skin within only a few minutes of exposure to direct sunlight.

UNDEAD is a term used to describe a creature which appears to be alive, while exhibiting all the characteristics of being dead.

There is a rare subtype of narcolepsy called catoplexy wherein the sufferer's heart-rate, respiration, and body temperature drop to so low a point that to a first examiner they appear to be dead. This was a very probable cause for so many who were buried alive throughout history. It has also been hinted by Shakespeare that a particular unction could be mixed which might create the same effect. And further still, many Tibetan Monks are able to consciously and DELIBERATELY bring their bodies to this state. This being the case, the idea of a living being appearing to be dead is not entirely imagination.


TO KILL A VAMPIRE, it is said one must drive a wooden stake through its heart, burn it to ash, decapitate it, or all of the above. Because vampires are already dead, they cannot be killed, but must instead be destroyed. This is a very logical approach, and really doesn't require much explanation beyond the staking aspect.

Traditionally, driving a stake through a vampire was not intended to kill it as much as to immobilize it to give the defender enough time to then set on fire or cut its head off. It has only become popularized somewhat recently as a means of destroying it.

TO BECOME A VAMPIRE one needs only to be bitten and buried and given time to transform, according to modern popularized belief. However, there are apparently seven different ways to "become" a vampire, most of which require ritual or superstition. To approach this from an objective AND logical standpoint, ritual, superstition, religion, and other practices of individual faith will not be addressed.

Becoming a vampire by means of being bitten (whether only once or several times consecutively) suggests that Vampirism is a disease. Rather, it is a body-fluid borne toxin, virus, or bacteria which, once introduced to the bloodstream, initiates a series of physiological reactions which conclude with vampirism. A vampire, therefor, would bit a victim for one of two reasons: to feed, or to turn. The intent must necessarily be either or because they would cancel each other out. The bite to feed would need to be ragged and tear open a major artery allowing the vampire to drink freely, but also very likely killing the victim. The bite to turn would need to be very careful and precise, allowing the vampire to infect the victim without causing mortal damage.

This toxin, virus, or bacteria would need to trigger all the appropriate physiological mutations in a newly infected host, stop inciting said changes once the transformation was complete, and then remain dormant (yet still alive) in the now full vampire. To date, no such infection has been identified. However improbable, it is not impossible.

GARLIC, SILVER, AND CRUCIFORMS are common talismans used to ward off the advance of vampires. It is not surprising that such ideas became common as garlic was used to ward off disease during the black plague, silver was well known to be a "clean metal" and cruciforms and holy water are associated with holiness, which is the essence of purity. If it was believed that vampirism was both a disease and evil, these devices would be the most natural and reasonable defenses against it.

SHAPE-SHIFTING INTO A BAT is a popular association with vampires, but holds little factual value. Dozens of physical laws countermand the possibility of any kind of polymorphing. However it is easily within the realms of possibility that, if vampirism is in fact a disease, then said disease running rampant within a host might trigger a host of tangent mutations such as the webbing and elongation of fingers ad toes, scleroderma, balding, hyperdontia, increased aggression, and various pathological behaviors.

This is not as much becoming a bat as it is devolving into a primal state. It is probable that the idea of a vampire taking the form of a bat arose from the comparison of vampiric behavior with that of bats: both tend to shun the light, tend to appear and disappear suddenly, and some even drink the blood of animals.

Thus, from the most logical standpoint, Vampirism must be defined as an infectious, bloodborne disease which triggers various mutations over a long period of time until a point is reached that the victim stabilizes into a Vampire state and thence becomes a new carrier of the disease.

Crime and Punishment

I pose this restructuring of the penal codes:

REGARDING CRIME
Crime will be defined as the willful perpetration of any unlawful acts as described below.

REGARDING ACCIDENTS
An Accident will be defined as an act committed in ignorance or negligence.

REGARDING PHYSICAL CONTACT
Physical contact will be defined as a touching of one individual by another, whether by means of the perpetrator's own body or any device under their control.

REGARDING SELF DEFENSE
Self Defense will be defined as an act of violence committed in response to an unprovoked act of violence from a second party or parties which was deemed by the victim to be a threat to themselves, their family, or any party or parties currently in their custody, with the intent of subduing the assailant or assailants and delivering them into police custody.

REGARDING CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
The possession or distribution of controlled substances by an adult will not be considered criminal. The use of controlled substances will not be considered criminal unless a crime was committed while under the influences of said substances. Any crime committed or accident while under the influence of any controlled substance will increase the mandatory prison sentence by 5 years.

The possession, use, or distribution of controlled substances by a minor will be considered unlawful.

The first offense involving possession, distribution, ore use of controlled substances by a minor is punishable by forfeiture of any and all aforementioned substances, mandatory enrollment in a substance abuse rehabilitation course, and a probationary period lasting until said minor becomes a legal adult.

The second offense involving possession, distribution, or use of controlled substances by a minor is punishable by forfeiture of any and all aforementioned controlled substances, mandatory enrollment in a substance abuse rehabilitation course, and immediate full payment of any and all court costs and legal fees.

Any further offenses regarding the possession, distribution, or use of controlled substances by a minor is punishable by forfeiture of any and all aforementioned controlled substances, mandatory enrollment in a substance abuse rehabilitation course, immediate full payment of any and all court costs and legal fees, and no fewer than 2,000 hours of community service.

REGARDING THEFT AND/OR VANDALISM
Any crime resulting in the damage, destruction, or theft of personal property to any degree of severity is punishable by immediate repayment in an amount sufficient to fully repair said damage to a condition as close to new as possible or replace the destroyed or stolen property, payment of all court costs and legal fees associated with the trial, as well as a fine of 50% the previously mentioned cost to be paid to the victim of the crime for personal damages.

Any accident resulting in the damage or destruction of personal property to any degree of severity is punishable by immediate repayment in an amount sufficient to fully repair said damage to a condition as close to new as possible.

REGARDING ASSAULT
Any crime involving physical contact, with the single exclusion of self-defense, resulting in damage requiring medical attention but not hospitalization is punishable by immediate full payment of any and all medical expenses related to said injury until the victim is restored to a condition as near to full health as possible, a fine of 50% of aforementioned cost to be paid to the victim of the crime for personal damage, payment of all court costs and legal fees associated with the trial, as well as a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison. *

Any crime involving physical contact, with the single exclusion of self defense, resulting in damage requiring hospitalization with a minimum of one over-night stay is punishable by immediate full payment of any and all medical expenses related to said injury until the victim is restored to a state as near to full health as possible, a fine of 50% of aforementioned cost to be paid to the victim of the crime for personal damages, payment of all court costs and legal fees associated with the trial, as well as a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Any accident involving physical contact resulting in damage requiring medical attention or hospitalization is punishable by immediate full payment of any and all medical expenses related to said injury until the victim is restored to a condition as near to full health as possible.

Any crime involving unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature to any degree of severity is punishable by immediate full payment of any and all expenses regarding medical and psychological treatments necessary to restore the victim to a state as near to full health as possible, a fine of 50% of aforementioned costs to be paid to the victim for personal damages, payment of all court costs and legal fees associated with the trial, mandatory public registration as a sex offender, and a sentence of 20 years in prison.

Any accident involving unwanted physical contact perceived to be of a sexual nature and mild in severity is punishable by a public, written apology to the victim.

REGARDING HOMICIDE
Any crime involving the death of any number of victims is punishable by execution on a date no greater than one year from the date of conviction. In the event that the perpetrator has no dependents, their assets will be liquidated and awarded to the next of kin of the victim. In the event that the victim has no next of kin, the perpetrator's assets will be liquidated and awarded to the County in which the crime was committed.

Any accident involving the death of any number of victims is punishable by immediate full payment of any and all costs relating to the preparation, burial and funeral of the victims, and a fine of 200% of the aforementioned costs to be paid to the family of the victim or victims for personal damages.

REGARDING TRIAL
The Accused will be held in containment with or without bail, as deemed appropriate by the adjudicating party or parties, until such a time that a sentence has been given.

If the Accused is declared innocent of all charges of non-assault crimes, the Prosecuting party will pay all court costs and legal fees relating to the trial and provide a public written apology to the accused.

If the Accused is declared innocent of all charges of crimes of assault, the Prosecuting party will pay all court costs and legal fees relating to the trial, provide a public written apology to the accused, and serve a time in containment equal to 200% of the time which the accused served while awaiting trial.

REGARDING PRISON
A convict will have their citizenship revoked and, as such, no longer have any civil rights for the duration of their incarceration. Upon their release, they must re-apply for citizenship.

REGARDING CONSPIRACY
Any party participating in a crime, whether passively or actively, will be construed as guilty by association to the same degree as the lead perpetrator.


*All prison sentences are without the possibility of parole.
**The Accused is regarded as Guilty until proven Innocent.

Battleground: America

I am Not a hero, nor have I ever met anyone who has earned the title. I am G.I. Joe. I turn and look when somebody shouts, "Hey! You! The one in the tan boots and ACU." I do not stand out in a crowd. I am a Soldier, and there is a war going on ... but not the one you think.

I have never been in life-threatening danger, and the only injuries I have received in a war zone were the result of my own clumsiness and barely worth noting. I have several companions, however, who live in conditions nearly opposite to my own, and we talk often. And based on these conversations, and some small amount of my own experience, I have made some sobering comparisons.

Iraq stinks of poverty the second you roll past the gate and into the city, with no attempt made to disguise it, and the people either love you or hate you. But at least you know where you stand in their world. In America, people hide their destitution behind mountains of debt, and will shamelessly flatter you to your face before cutting you down to others when you are gone. Many people think that soldiers lose their ability to interact well with others after a harsh deployment. The truth is they have become unaccustomed to bandying words and playing meaningless pseudo-political games in their interactions, and many are self-aware enough to deliberately refrain from resuming those habits when they return, after realizing with disgust how slimy they are.

I am not a masochist, but there is an honesty in misery that few realize. I always felt that the food I was served in Iraq was disgusting, to say the least, yet soldiers would rejoice at the opportunity to eat it, after returning form forward operation bases where they had only the bland and barely digestible MRE to eat for moths at a time. I don't have to imagine the feeling of being overwhelmed with superfluous luxury, because I have felt it. Even switching to a small installation's post exchange commissary from the facilities down-range, I am bewildered by the need to decide between half a dozen brands selling the same product. The simplicity of having a lack of options is comforting in a way too many people have forgotten.

In Iraq, my days were spent working. The Whole day. Here, I find myself becoming frustrated when "my time" gets wasted ... yet what of value do I do with that time? I find that when I consider all the things I enjoy doing, the time-stamp they occupy is very small. The rest of this precious thing is wasted. I had little time to myself, and what time I did have I had to squeeze my favorite activities into. I have found that these moments in which my time was in fact rare, the events of those moments became far more meaningful. In America people are far more interested in being "free" from the slavery of the office ... so they can go home and do nothing. Foolish.

In combat, you have two concerns: your life, and the lives of your fellow soldiers. Fear, anxiety, frustration, anger ... they flow through the bloodstream as if they were a part of the blood itself. And when it's all over, joy for the victory and sadness for the loss. The joy makes us feel that we accomplished something great and our lives have meaning ... the sadness drives us cruelly to succeed more in the future. In America, the greatest achievement most people feel is that of "punching out." There is no drive to excel because there is no motivation to be anything more than mediocre. And the worst part about it is that people think that's okay.

People wonder why so many soldiers, after experiencing the horror of close combat, are eager to re-enlist and often volunteer for the soonest deployments. The reason is because it's a simple, happy life. With a Home Nation promoting excess and lethargy, leading the world in general population depression, and rich with ignorance and hypocrisy ... what Americans should really be wondering is how to get the satisfaction out of their life that a combat soldier finds in theirs.

America is losing The War. Facebook notes, twitters, news bulletins, TV ads ... they are not enough to change anything, because the "Greatest Country in the World" has fallen under a self hypnosis which it cannot wake up from unless it ceases its own chanting. So why spent my time writing all this if I know that I cannot change the tide of America's downward spiral? Two reasons: 1st, I did not write this for America. I wrote it for me, so that I can close my eyes tonight and sleep in pleasant peace knowing that I at least did something; and 2nd, because a flood is composed of billions of raindrops and, though I may be nothing more than a drop in the bucket, if there enough drops in that bucket it will eventually overflow.

Not for decades have the people of our nation shown so much sincere love and support of our Armed Forces and what they do. Please, America: don't show your support by trying to offer us so much comfort. Show us your support by taking our example and fighting for the same things we do ... fight for them in your offices, at the construction zone, in the lab, at the store ... face your challenges with fear and determination to defeat them. And when we come home to see the same satisfaction in your eyes as we feel for having beaten our adversaries, we will feel the worth of our accomplishments and your gratitude on the deepest levels.

Please, don't let My Country bleed to death while I and my brothers fight to keep Her alive.