on Grigovian women

Women in Grigovia have for centuries enjoyed equal status with men. Long before it was popular among the Western nations to grant females the same rights bestowed upon males, this republic's mothers and daughters were equal citizens. The tradition dates back to the nation's spiritual and historical founder, Krikuv (i.e. Grigov) the Watchful, who, according to the tribe's extensive verbal histories, in 1235 Common Error (C.E.) married the daughter of a powerful Yaelong war-chief, rescinding his high priesthood in order to be with the woman he loved. The act proved well-timed; the region was thereafter raided frequently by armies from the eastern steppes that razed crops and burned settlements, decimating all local populations but those located on the Yaelong's tribal lands. To commemorate the alliance between Grigov's band of loyal followers and the area's fierce inhabitants, the nation includes a depiction of Crucuv Pass – an important ancient trade route between the region around the Caspian Sea to the north and the parched deserts to the south – in its official state seal. Furthermore, Grigov adopted the Yaelong tradition of equality amongst the sexes, to great avail.

The second woman (but first female physician) to enter space, Dr. Kleivast Yostindt was born and raised in Pyltagrad. After graduating with honors from the University of Practical Sciences and proving herself to the Soviet cosmonaut governing board by besting their finest athletes in both physical and mental competition, she was slated to be the first woman in space until last-minute testing showed she had food poisoning, likely from eating tainted caviar served at a celebratory luncheon. In the realm of the arts, Sali Obrest, of Gar Nuuzsh, shocked the literary world (and received a nod from the Nobel committee) for her book Things I Learned While Flogging Ilyitch, a novel from 1984 that lambastes the architects of perestroika. She fled her native land to escape Soviet retaliation, eventually settling in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she became an outspoken advocate of indigenous rights. Among, however, the most impressive Grigovian women were the nameless babushkas who faced down a contingent of Russian military police in the fall of 1988, occupying an entire wing of Grig's central market and refusing to back down from their demands for more equitable grain prices and the right to barter openly. Their action helped to spark the revolution that would see Grigovia leave the Warsaw Pact at the same time as Poland.

Wages among men and women are by law equal in the Glorious Republic of Grigovia; more than half of the seats in state and national Parliament are filled by female people's representatives; and women are just as likely to found companies and chair executive boards as their male counterparts. “An equal share of responsibility for the safety and Happiness of the Grigovian people is one that we Grigoviennes are proud to shoulder,” said Shuireyi'i Oryind, head of the Ministry of Equality and Justice. “During the Great Patriotic War [World War II], my great-grandmother helped to defend Crucuv Pass side by side with her four brothers and (future) husband. They fought off an entire Nazi tank battalion using little more than innate cleverness, a few limpet mines, and the local geography. That tradition continues to this today: Grigovians of both genders and all sexual orientations face the challenges of a global economy, pooling our talents and resources so as to best suit the needs of the greater community. We neither live nor work alone, each person by his or herself, to heap and hoard the largest possible portion of our nation's wealth – we work together and prosper together, one people striving, unified, for a bright common future.”

mentiri factorem fecit © 場黑麥

americansFIRST

  I am hereby announcing a new nomenclature for all Americans, one that, by addressing the individual directly and his or her status as a member of this nation before addressing his or her race or skin color, will hopefully be a more equalizing and egalitarian form of address than the forms in use currently.

  Instead of saying African-Americans, or referring to people whose skin color is somewhat darker than that of the majority, as "black," let us refer to them as "Americans of African descent." Instead of saying "whites," let us refer to these people as Americans of European descent (their skin color is more pink than white, anyway). In cases where there are multiple origins of descent, let us say Americans of Mixed descent.

  Since we Americans have a hard time abandoning completely the use of "race" as a primary identifier, perhaps this new nomenclature can help smooth our transition to a more egalitarian coexistence.

  Spes Mea In Ratio Est – 場黑麥 John Paul Roggenkamp

on rioting in oppressed nations

Since the fall of the autocratic government in Tunisia, there have been uprisings in other states in and bordering the African continent. Pundits and politicians point to efforts of past presidents or to wars of aggression waged in the region to explain this sudden increase in democratic expression.
I, however, will suggest different causes. I will suggest that the oppressed masses in a country ruled by a ruthless and authoritarian dictator (Egypt) who is supported by the United States of America (for purposes of the shadowy and ill-defined goal of regional stability) rose up on their own, without foreign intervention, for three reasons:
1) They are sick of living under the iron boot of a ruthless dictator who oppresses his population with America's tacit blessing
2) They do not wish to be invaded in another illegal war of aggression waged by the US when the American government decides that support of said dictator has become politically or economically unsustainable
3) They have decided that since American forces are bogged down in wars initially begun for self-serving reasons (control of Iraqi oil, punishment of terrorist in Afghanistan), and since America shows no sign of removing those regimes that truly oppress their people (most notably Saudi Arabia), any progress toward an open and democratic society must come from the downtrodden populace itself.
An old maxim reads: Something given has no value.
The Iraqis do not see the value of their democratic institutions because they did not ask for them in the first place.
The Afghanis do not see the value of democratic institutions because the system they have been running since Alexander the Great passed through over two thousand years ago worked; they saw no need to change their ways in order to accommodate an upstart political philosophy.
These uprisings are not signs of democracy's success; they are signs that, via social networking websites, individuals can change their world.
The United States is resembling more a police state, a society of rigidly enforced controls and widespread homogenization. What will happen when the people here, the millions upon millions of individuals who every year are extruded from the anus of the capitalist machine to wallow in a cold pit of washed-out excrement, what will happen when they call for change? Will our government welcome their demands with open ears and mind, or will it send in the riot cops and water cannons?
Democracy fails largely because people are not intrinsically equal. Simply put, some people are better than others. The way our system is set up here in America, those citizens with better connections or a better jumping off point will have better lives filled with more Happiness and greater Safety than those people without the skills or contacts or capital needed to excel.
Have we developed in harmony with the goals enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Is our government providing for the general Welfare and creating for all her citizens a world of Safety and Happiness? Can we honestly say that we live in a democratic society and not one run by the interests of the military-industrial complex and the massive intelligence gathering and law-enforcement communities? If there were riots in American streets, our country would eventually become more democratic. If there were masses of protesters screaming for the repeal of the Patriot Act, that foul and unconstitutional piece of legislation would be repealed. If our citizens risked their lives to speak, perhaps our senators would not fight so ferociously to maintain low taxes for the wealthiest three percent of all citizens.
We can only hope.
We can only read our founding texts and demand liberty, equality, and justice for all.
Ultima Ratio Regum.
JP