Endtown by Aaron Neathery for February 22, 2013

There’s probably some tampering going on with that ‘random’ selection… >.>

Politicians always know how to take control. Fortunately Doc is the kind of politician who games the system to help others.

As a true fisherman, he will do anything he can. Yeah., I for one, am not holding my breath. This is Allgod "s party and we are going to have to handle it ourselves.All together now BOOO>b> HISS Blessed Be

“We’re an anarcho-syndicalist commune. Each member takes it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week, but all decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-monthly council by a simple majority in the case of…”“Shut up! I order you to shut up!”

First guy in history to see a doctor ‘cause he HADN’T caught anything.

Attention everyone:The Endtown auction is still ongoing, and Aaron really does need your help in order to keep the strip running. Please help out as you can, by either bidding on Maude, buying a print, or just spreading the word in book review sites. Thank you.

Mayor needs a little squirrelly aide, methinks. “What am I signing, Radar?”

The trout may be willing to go fishing, if he flattens the barbs out on his treble hooks!

Don’t know about anyone else, but when I see the mayor I hear Andy Devine’s voice!

Some watery tart handing out scimitars is no basis for a form of government.

That is one happy looking bear! Guess fishing is a “bear necessity?”

Because chosing people at random means they would make the right decision? Yeah, right.

Bribery and Fishing without a License… Yup, political corruption at its finest!

Walt can get before the council but what then? He can ask do they have to answer? So it is 10 on the board. How many are aligned with Allgood? Its either a majority of 6 or less by threat. 3 Bengal tigers (on Allgood side) and 7 bunnies. Guess who will win? I would put my money on the tigers. Allgood apparently (I am stating the obvious) has control on the council or this would never have happened. The council ordered the arrests so at least a majority would have to agree or others feel threatened by those in support of Allgood who may not be majority. Remember he who has the guns, rules.Allgood’s most powerful supporter may be the one in charge of the Security. That person could hold sway over all regardless of who is on the council. Just another facet to explore.I got a feeling in the long run the Rats loyalties are going to be tested. Do they follow an unjust order or just obey without question?

Wow! Much as I love Holly and Wally’s unvarished love and honor, my hat and my hairpiece are off in gratitude to many a “Doc” and politician with enough courage and patience to “play the game.”

There is no need to worryy about politicians from taking control …There are many fanatical (Overly Zealous) groups that can do that just as easily. There system looks like it was broken from the very beginning… and left themselves wide open for a more sinster and dangerous problem.

If Walter really wants the experience of fishing, maybe he could go for a swim while some of the fishy Endtowners cast lines into the water…

Doc has the right idea let’s see if he can accomplish anything…

The Mayor of Endtown…Fighting for truth, justice, and the right to bear fishing poles.

Isn’t the address just going to be somewhere underwater?

I guess the question is: Does anyone have the right to arm bears?

It would seem to me that the FISH would have waste products to eat as they did on rivers and oceans on top side?Wouldn’t that qualify as food that was part of the community?Blessed Be

It seems I am taking flak for Rat support. Maybe you don’t see it but I do. A long time there was group of individuals that were “ordered” to go to a land and do things. All we did was what we were told. Back home folks living in safety took issues with us. Believed the “popular” opinion. Listened to the negativity thrown on us. Began to hate us, despise us, worse yet IGNORE us. Never taking into account it is what we are suppose to be doing. IT was who we are, our job. Congratulations. You are doing the same thing to the Rats. I hope for their redemption. That maybe, like we did, see what they are doing is not accomplishing anything but adding to the losses. But the folks back home never saw that we were trying. Just who we were in their narrow minded eyes. Like us of the past the Rats just do their jobs and some are viewing them with those same prejudices.I am done “ranting” or “hating” for now.Good night to all.This is Veteran, standing guard while you sleep even if you don’t like it.

I don’t wanna get into any heat here but I just wanna say I like the rats and I hope some of them will become good. Or at the very least I hope we’ll get to know more about them.

EeyoreBlue & Veteran (and others),

Let’s take a look at the facts:Have the Rats done anything wrong, even in arresting Holly? No. We don’t know what the rules are in Endtown, but with the conditions of survival that exists, there are most likely tighter controls than what we’re used to here in the U.S. We can’t put our standards on their situation.Yet, have the rats done it sloppily? Yes. Why? I presume it’s for the slapstick humor on the part of Aaron to entertain us. Also, I would guess to point out that the rats themselves isn’t the problem we need to pay attention to. The rats have at best an interim head, probably one of the council members. If that’s true, they’ve had a different head every month since Flask’s death. This leads to confusion and lower morale among the troops. When there’s a constant variance between leadership capabilities and now obviously the core purpose of the security force, problems appear.The security rats main purpose was to protect Endtown from the Topsiders. Now it appears the rats are starting to be directed to enforce a morale code on the citizens. There’s obviously confusion among the troops and so far all we’ve seen have been the action of a half dozen troops of a force that probably is around fifty members.When I was in the Air Force, I was in a few units that had weak leadership. I remember one time I was temporarily working in the admin office and I was constantly swapping out conflicting documentation in manuals because we were an ADC (Air Defense Command) unit on an ATC (Air Training Command) Base. This is just one minor example of problems in the unit. Shortly after getting out, a mistake by that unit scrambled B-52’s and put the missles on alert. Luckily the error was corrected before they took off.So Veteran is right to support the rats. They are doing their job. EeyoreBlue, please consider the rats are acting their part in this play and are reminiscent of cartoon portrayals of the Keysone Kops.

We all have our price. Walter’s was thirty Pisces of silver.

On the notion of the Security Rats doing wrong…I’m inclined to think that busting into a place by blazing away with their guns, as us guys who’ve read “Endtown” back to the beginning have seen them do at least three times, might be doing wrong.

Actually, Allgood isn’t “gaming the system”, he’s doing exactly what Mallard would suggest. If you want change, drum up support for a particular subject throughout the colony. When you reach roughly 50% of the population with your message, the odds of getting a majority on the HC through random draw goes up. Then, whenever a new member appears on the council, the leading oldest supporting member for the idea can ask for a vote. There’s no need to break anonymity, and if the idea is popular enough, you might be able to swing a couple of other HC members along the way. Keep doing this either until the subject gets unpopular, or the vote passes. The only difference is that Allgood has decided to make the first move.Now, ignoring having a spy in security, how could Allgood know that he has a majority on the HC this month? Answer – regular meetings and a good switchboard operator. There are three reasons for someone to go silent for a month: Death, Topside scavenging assignment, HC duty. Assuming that the organization stays in constant contact, and that you’re not allowed to tell people that you’ve pulled HC duty, if you go silent it’s easy to guess why. Rule out the first two reasons and you now know who’s on the HC. Track the number of missing members, and if there’s 5 down when your name is called and the oldest missing is less than 28 days, you know you have a majority and you can let the ones still on HC know that when you report in.

Who said being on the High Council was a full time job?Most, if not all business could be held on a few weekly meetings in the evenings. A person could keep a full time job and not lose any time at work. I was on a Grand Jury a few years ago and the work was only one day a week for the three months I was on it and due to the workload, it didn’t happen every week. Also, the High Council may be in control, but who runs the mundane everyday things that would be under their control? I’m referencing paying the maintenance staff and service sectors (Garbage collection and the Housing Authority for instance). Would they support a take-over by Allgood? Are they already in his “camp”?

Now you all are getting it. There is more much more to the story. Allgood has probably been planning this for a while. I believe he could not really carry on until Flask was out of the way. She had her own agenda but would have seen Allgood as a threat. His actions would bring too much attention to Security and maybe exposed what she was really up to. Allgood could only move when he knew he had Security on his side. Are the rats really that “violent” or just overly enthusiastic? No one has been killed (yet). Maybe beaten up a bit much but remember if you fight them they will fight you. They wanted no issues with Jackrabbit so they just clubbed him. That way NO FIGHT (preemptive strike)! (I have done that few times. The guy cocks his arm back as if to swing. I heel punched his face. Back reaped his legs when he was stunned so he landed on his back on the ground hard. Knocked all the fight out him. Did I have to wait for him to HIT me first? It is not in the rules.) Remember if Topsiders ever start coming down those elevators from the surface to Endtown WHO is going to confront them at the doors. THE RATS. That’s why they are the way they are. Prepared for War so when they are doing things unwarlike that is a challenge for them.They are Keystone like in they fact that to handle something not requiring a flashbang and guns they are challenged. That is why they have a book of conduct. When in doubt open for instructions. You did remember they can’t shoot people in the back. (Al and Gustine) It was not allowed according to the code of conduct.Lets focus on the real problems. The council and commander of the Security forces. They hold all the cards and will determine the outcome.See you all on MondayAnd Eeyourblues I was a bit rough. I do apologize but my idea of duty and service is apparently far different from yours. If you are comfortable with your decisions and can live with it then its okay for you and me.

Mmmm, yummy!