maskormenace | MARCH 20TH, 2016

THE MAJORITY REPORT: MARCH 20TH, 2016

VOTE BIRDIE SANDERS 2016
As seen in local news and promoted on BlueTube:
There have been reports of a wild parrot in Heropa's central park who has been conversing with passers-by. The parrot engages people on a number of topics of social relevance, including the importance of paying workers a living wage, the necessity of disarmament, and the dangers of xenophobia. It also apparently speaks with an English accent, leaving some to wonder if the animal might have been planted there by some foreign spy.

NOT RUSSIAN TO JUDGEMENT
As seen from the news blogs of major imPort-sympathetic media and news outlets:
You can visit a website, OurRussianFriends.com, which chronicles the Russian kidnapping of imports at the Russian invasion/brainwashing techniques. It includes news articles, personal accounts, interviews, video footage, which are all collected for display. Anything containing specific imPort information or stories has been edited to hide their faces as requested, and some things have been carefully edited to put imPorts in a better light. With the Russian invasion over, the website is mostly in standby mode until the next thing happens, but it's still there as a reference whenever news agencies need to make a 'point' about the invasion.

HEAVY MEDAL
As seen from all national newspapers, channels, and news/entertainment websites, along with limited coverage overseas:
A White House victory ceremony was almost derailed by self-righteous antics on March 12th, as a a few protesting imPorts chose to display disrespect to President Freemason on a day of gratitude and celebration.

Freemason had invited heroic veterans of the imPort resistance against the Soviet occupation to Washington D.C., for the purpose of awarding them Medals of Esteem on behalf of a grateful nation that owes so much to those who fought for freedom during the coup crisis in February. However, while most attending imPorts conducted themselves with the dignity and discipline expected of heroes in wartime, a few chose to hijack this official occasion to advance their own unpatriotic political agenda. These malcontents included:

Heiji Hattori- the first to protest, who bowed as he declined the award and told President Freemason that he fought for people, not for glory or a country, and that America should be better than its enemies
Jacob Taylor- who declined the award and stated he couldn't accept it in good conscience from a government that killed thousands of civilians in Debrecen
Princess L'Arachel- who accepted the award, but could be seen attempting to lecture the President of the United States on ethics before being ushered away by White House staff
Revan- imPort Ambassador to Maurtia Falls, declined the award while still bearing visible signs of injury from leading the Defense of Helix Station. Revan could be seen whispering an apology to the President before being led away
Kitty Jones- who was noticeably absent from the ceremony without proper explanation, despite her heroic activities for the resistance
Skye- who was also absent without explanation

Fortunately, President Freemason valiantly maintained her poise and composure in the face of this shocking display, and most imPort attendees were well-behaved and showed proper respect to the President and to their hosts in this world: the United States of America. Major-General Olivier Armstrong, D'Artagnan, Francis Urquhart, Kanaya Maryam, Carl Grimes, and Sabriel all accepted their awards without incident, while Charles Xavier respectfully conveyed his regrets at being unable to attend due to exhaustion and health issues. Magicman courteously declined his medal on the grounds that he hadn't done enough to deserve it, while praising the President's recognition of AI rights- such a humble hero!

Sabriel and Armstrong in particular could be spotted conferring closely with government authority figures at the event, as befits loyal heroes. Francis Urquhart, imPort Ambassador to Nonah, accepted the award in good form despite having previously made statements of discontent in the media regarding the Debrecen airstrikes. Meanwhile, the memetic world is having a field day with the expression on Carl Grimes' face as he beheld the displays of disrespect by the protestors. GIFs and captions of his unimpressed reaction are spreading across the Internet.

Approached after the ceremony for comment on the protest, Kanaya Maryam only rolled her eyes.

WHAT A ST. CRAPRICKS DAY
As seen reported national and local newspapers, and run riot in social media platforms:
Bad luck beset the St. Patrick's Day Parade as disasters seemed to abound at an alarming rate. Onlookers reported sightings of green monsters spreading gold, though neither gold nor creature appeared to remain afterward. Among the confusion, imPort Julian Day took responsibility for the chaos and stole the prize parade float. While this costumed criminal was soon apprehended, there was no saving the parade.

SHOT IN THE ART, AND YOU'RE TO BLAME
As noted in art and lifestyle magazines and websites, and promoted on LulzFeed:
Heropa Trade School's lead mechanics expert, Professor Li, was given the final project of imPorts Jaime Reyes and Will Graham. The two local heroes had no idea what they were handing her was actually art. Fortunately, Professor Li has an eye for the artistic as well as the mechanical, and now the students' project is being inspected and passed around far more elite circles than any garage. The piece is described as "a tired car, nearly a clunker, transformed into something far better than a working vehicle...it has become more than that...a true statement, a true artistic force...the wake up call America needed...a look into the depths of imPort suffering..."
Only three pictures of the artwork (called "CAR OF SORROWS") have been revealed to the public so far. One is of the hood of the car, with the word "SORRY" spray painted across it. "It's so simple, yet so profound," says one curator at a Nonah art gallery.

"Are they sorry for the troubles caused by them being here? Are they sorry for being here in the first place? Something else? It could be a multitude of things, but it's very clear some of our imPorts carry the burden of guilt."

The second picture shows under the hood. The insides have been replaced with a cardboard box filled with coffee cups and cans of bug spray. "Incredible," commented another curator at a Nonah art gallery. "So often, in order to keep our bodies awake and push through the day, we purposefully consume that which is not good for us. A clearer message could not be present. We have to take care of ourselves better."

The third picture shows the front two air bags. One has been painted with a smiling face while its companion wears a frown. "It's remarkable," commented a curator at the third Nonah art gallery. "Simple faces on cloth speak so loudly. ImPorts are expected to smile for the public, but are they really smiling? Really really smiling? They smile to keep from crying rather than let us see them as human. Well, I'm not ashamed to admit I cried the first time I saw this work of art. It's been in my dreams ever since..."

Neither imPort has been very talkative on the work's true meaning. Some critics remain. Infamous graffiti artist, political activist and film director of unverified identity Cranksy commented that "This is not art...this is expression, but it isn't art...shame the capitalists will consider it art anyway..."

Cranksy reminded the reporter, and thus the world at large that, as a successful artist, he knew what he was talking about.

IT'S A RUNNING THEME
As discussed on Bwitter:
The last imPort Swearing-In had made quite an impact -- at least, over the Bwitterverse it did. When Heropeans who had caught word about an imPort carnival, it seeped into their imaginations. Citizens were speculating on the details over Bwitter, with the hashtag #imPortThemePark, and mega animation company/land owner Pixels took notice. A spokesperson for Pixels discussed the possibility for an imPort-themed theme park, lining out the logistics. "We're being realistic about it," she said in a brief news conference. "We know we need to get the likeness licensing rights from every individual imPort we would need first. But there is a consumer hunger for the imPort experience, and we are best equipped to deliver."

Pixels is said to be in talks with pastry and entertainment food company Creamworks for a partnered endeavor regarding this unnamed imPort theme park.

NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS...?
As seen in all major newspapers and all major networks with international correspondents:
Very little news to report. Hmm, that's odd, isn't it?

CODE SWITCH
The Homeland Security Advisory System has moved from CAPITALISTIC GREEN to SPRING GREEN, to denote the official peaceful coming of Spring! Happy Spring! Please no one tell Calendar Man "Happy Spring", in case he gets any ideas.

WANT TO SUBMIT TO THE MAJORITY REPORT?
The Majority Report comes out the 10th and 20th of every month. You may find details and submit here. The cut-off time is 12:01 AM PST on the 9th and the 19th for the corresponding dates.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Shutting up and doing what you're told is pretty simple too, you know. I'll tell you what I told him: I'd rather have a clean conscience than have people calling me smart for closing my mouth and looking the other way.

If you don't get that, then I don't know who I'm talking to right now.

I've never been as willing as you to see everything as existing on a moral binary, Jacob. This isn't new, or someone you couldn't have recognized. You're making everything less nuanced than it should be, and acting as if the loudest one will be the victor.

That is where you're getting stupid. Drawing attention to your principles doesn't actually do anything, the only message you've communicated is that you're drawing a line in the sand, and everyone who thinks your approach is ill-conceived had better get on the other side, because you aren't going to tolerate that sort of ally.

Edited (redundancy) 2016-03-27 23:38 (UTC)

I don't know about being the victor. But at times like this? I'd rather be on the losing side than the wrong side.

They committed a massacre. Wiped out whole families- kids- and for what? Revenge? Taking out a couple labs? Showing everyone how strong they are?

There's not much room for nuance here. Whatever lines there were before, they've crossed them. Telling the President that? It's worth it. Maybe somebody will even listen.

Jacob, you genuinely think this is simply one or two labs? That it's more likely this was done simply to throw around the military's weight than to have any legitimate tactical justification?

The places they bombed, military targets included, were centers for research and development of military technology. Weapons, Jacob. The sort of measures they take to equalize a fighting ground after declaring war on a country that hosts superpowered beings, the sort that end with innocent people dead. Robot sharks, death rays, probably teleportation devices, and imPort-targeted artificial intelligences.

We could go soft on them, perhaps. And for that restraint, we'll have another LACKEY set upon us.

Hold on. I thought you were just pissed over how we protested. But you actually support the bombings?

[This is Jacob's aghast voice.]

For god's sake, Jacob, let the pearls go! It isn't support, it's taking a moment to understand the motivations behind it well enough not to outright condemn it. Not that a moral absolutist like yourself will see any difference.

War is full of lesser evils, and while the lot of you are so busy pitching fits and framing it in the most hyperbolic terms possible, someone has to actually think critically about the whole affair.

You can think about it as critically as you want. I'd rather go through the Seminar three more times than kill kids so that we can feel safe. And that is not hyperbole.

I think you may need to refresh yourself on the definition. The Seminar wasn't to its own end, after all. It wasn't just about our suffering, they were trying to weaponize us.

What do you think they'd do with those weapons after they had them?

Nothing good, I'm sure. But we stopped them, didn't we? Without wiping out any families. We took the worst they had to throw at us, and we still managed to win without going as far as Debrecen.

This time. Next time they make a move on us, I doubt they'll be as lenient. It isn't over simply because we've had one victory.

But you're comparing two situations that aren't really the same at all, with participants at entirely divergent levels of ability. It's a textbook case of a false equivalency. Maybe Debrecen could have gone differently if they'd sent us instead, but even if we were available at the time to do so, I think you would have had a much bigger problem with it.

If the mission had just been to take down weapons labs, I wouldn't have had a problem. And yeah, I'd have found a way with less of a body count.

But that's not because I've got more power than the military- I don't. Most imPorts couldn't do that kind of damage to a city... and I'm positive the military could have avoided it if they'd wanted to. Special forces, precision strikes- they had surgical options. I think they chose not to use them for a reason.

[He snorts.]

It's funny. All the issues people have with how dangerous we are- and the native government goes and kills more civilians in a day than Crane or Pan ever did. It says a lot.

You're also thinking of us individually, which is yet another weak comparison. I doubt we've really had many imPorts who have acted with the singular goal of killing a lot of people, not since the first Lucifer.

If I were weaponized and set loose, I might not be as thorough as a citywide bombing, but I personally could do a considerable portion of comparable damage. I honestly believe you could do. With only a dozen imPorts, utilized with similar intentions, we could easily put this to shame.

Stop trying to make this about something it isn't.