Bamboozle - (v.)

[Bam-boo-zuhl]

1: to deceive or get the better of (someone) by trickery, flattery, or the like; humbug; hoodwink (often followed by into).

2: to perplex; mystify; confound.

Example:

"Oh, you're a hot-air artist, but you can't bamboozle me!"

I am working on expanding my vocabulary currently, and I plan to feature a "Word of the Day"-like thing in my podcasts when they release. However, there are many great words that I keep finding. I want to share those words with Asgardians as I come across them, help us all find new ways of explaining and describing things.

So, I might share a new word each day here for us to think about and discuss. I'll be sharing the first word soon.

I want to take the time to personally thank all Asgardians for taking the time to go out and vote in our elections and by-elections. I especially want to thank those who have voted for me through this time. I have reached 50th in voting rank for Government and am very proud of this achievement, especially since there are over 240 Government candidates running out there. Thank you for your support, and I will do my best to help serve Asgardia as best as I can.

The good news is coming!

First off, I want to thank everyone for their support of the project. If all goes well, the first broadcast could be made available as early as later today (although I advise that this week is the goal in general and to be patient).

Secondly, the station will be called "The Galactic News-E Network" or "News-E" for short. The broadcasts will be made on the Tumblr page I have set up for it: http://galacticnewsenetwork.tumblr.com/

Now, the page isn't quite finished yet, so please bear with me. There will be an announcement when the blog page and the first broadcast is made. The page can be best viewed in desktop mode, for those curious about the setup. I also want to thank Valéry Grancher for providing the dashboard banner art for the blog. I hope to speak to you all soon. Have a good day.

We are humans,

HUMANS,

trying to live in space.

Yet we can't even live with each other in a virtual world...

Does understanding that some humans are innately troublesome creatures make me unreasonable? Does wanting us to enforce protections for all humans make me crazy? If so, then I would rather be prepared and crazy than twisted by a future we could have prevented.

As some of you might be familiar with, our nation features citizens of many identities and sexual preferences, myself included. But, there hasn't been much talk on the subject of the Sexuality and Gender Equality (S.A.G.E) community among our people. Thus, I have submitted, and had approved, a petition to include the LGBTQ+ in the definition of "people" in Asgardia, as well as confirming protections and services that they deserve to have access to without question. I have also suggested changing the acronym we use to identify the community as the S.A.G.E. peoples, so all identities and preferences are represented and made equal in rights.

I am asking my fellow Asgardians to not only support this petition, but to also support our S.A.G.E. folk within our nation. We can make a difference together, as one humanity

The link to go sign the petition can be found here --> https://asgardia.space/en/petitions/27474-inclusion-of-sexuality-and-gender-equality-sage-citizens-in-asgardian-law/

With the excitment that is growing over informative media and production for Asgardia, it's an excellent time to get invested in the creative side of the community. I am requesting from our artistically inclined citizens to create and send in their own original musical and creative media for our radio and podcast networks in Asgardia, even imagery that could be used for potential Youtube or Television channels in the future, if we get that far.

As some of you already know, I am opting to run my own podcast in the near-future for Asgardian news and entertainment; Voices of Asgardia are working on a radio station too. It would be great to be able to share Asgardian content on as many networks as we can to get the word out and promote our artistic citizens to the world.

I can be emailed potential media for the show at: acheson.scuro@hotmail.com .

If you would like to recommend a topic for the show, or you would like to send in a question for Asgardia with the opportunity to have it answered, please leave me a message here on my Asgardia profile.

I will also be setting up a forum thread on the Asgardia  website where you can send in your discussion topics and questions as well.

ALSO, I am working on a couple names for the Podcast Network. I have a couple names already, but I will do a poll in the forum where you can vote and recommend your own titles! Let's have a good time, and good luck-- for Asgardia.

Because it is fun to lighten up once in a while, what is your favourite flower or plant?

Mine is the Benishidare tree, or "crimson weeping bough". It's a lot like a weeping willow covered in thousands of blossoms that look like cherry blossoms. My other close favourite is Wisteria, especially in hanging gardens.

Today, the subject is equity for citizens. It is normally arranged and implied that families, and individuals that live together in the same residences as a group, gain the most benefits and tax reductions in a nation. Although I am not against supporting families with their needs and difficulties, there is often nothing, or not enough, done for the individuals in the world. These are the people that do not have families to rely on, have no desire to start a family, have no reliable friends to room with or help support them through their struggles, or simply do not want to be around other people. This is a shout out to all the people out there that are completely on their own but cannot possibly make it by themselves. These are the individuals that often find themselves in serious distress, and at a high risk of homelessness, because they simply cannot afford to be on their own. It usually is not the fault of the person. They struggle to find work, and even those that are employed still need to pick up multiple jobs just to pay rent alone. This is what humanity has come to, overpricing of the necessities and bankrupting the people before they can get a chance.

It is easy to state the reality of the world-- including the part where this reality is denied by older and wealthier groups-- but the question is how we should act upon the issue. As a new nation, our debts are solely our own, no claims or payments to other countries for their imports and resources. This is a positive for us as we have the ability to control our economy's bare bones, allowing us to decide worth and cost on basic needs versus luxuries. Of course, that brings into question what defines a "need" and a "luxury". My definition of a "need" is, any item, object, or possession that a human clearly must have in order to survive, and to which they must be able to have their own personal, safe environment to do so. These basic "needs" then can be defined as: food, water, proper shelter, a source(s) of warmth, a source for cleaning or cleanliness-- as a person with access to bathing options is often no longer at risk of primary environmental infections or rot. What this means is we are not purposely putting our people in danger of exposure or poisoning. What would define a proper shelter too would also mean that the shelter would need to be a solid structure that shields a person from the elements and cold, protecting them from environmental factors that would otherwise be dangerous to withstand (i.e.: wind, rain, snow, hail, sand, storm, flying debris, intense sunlight, etc.). These basic needs are not being fulfilled for millions of people on Earth, individuals and families alike.

With our early finances and resources, it is necessary that we develop taxes and potential basic benefits and needs services for citizens of Asgardia. Nobody should be left behind anymore. What we could do is organize our economic structure so that we can keep track of expenses of basic needs and tax based on that cost value so everyone of voting age (age of benefits subject to change based on mitigating factors and governmental decisions), whether they be on their own or with friends/family, will gain an equal ability to survive and live. This may seem financially reckless, but we have to remember that we decide our own worth and value of our currency and the currencies of other countries within our nation. This is more than about money. This is about reaching our goal as a peaceful nation that is outside of Earth's segregation and division of humanity. We are all Asgardians. We have to treat each other as one people, and that starts with the basic right to life (if chosen by the individual; this annotation is relating to the controversial subject of the right to end one's life under the condition of mental competency. This moral quagmire should be dealt with on an individual basis and apart from the subject of the topic in question, "basic needs taxes and programs for Asgardians").

If you may have noticed, I have separated the issue of basic healthcare from the list of "needs to survive". As much as this is necessary for humanity, and I fully support a free healthcare system, the fact is that a small percentage of people never see a hospital or need medicine. Because of that minor factor, it would not define as a "need". However, it is not a "luxury" either. This is where a third category of spending comes in to cover "protections" for Asgardians. Protecting our people is as important as their survival. From an economic standpoint, if there are no people to tax, there is no money going into the government to help them. As crude as it sounds, money gets things done on Earth, and it will influence how Asgardia will operate too. That is why we need to give our people the means to survive and the protections to live as long as they can. As an ex-business owner, it is important to understand the world from both an empathetic and humanitarian view, but from a business viewpoint as well. This give us practical knowledge rather than just hopes and dreams (which are good to have too, but we need to have a way to make them a reality too). In business, generally, it is logical to understand that the more people there are the more money that flows through the business. It is also true, however, that the longer a person stays and the happier they are the more likely they will spend and the more money they will use. To those that despise the thought of this going into capitalism, hear me out. This basic model in business applies to the finances of a nation in real life. When the people feel secure and happy, they are more likely to support the ruling government. Asgardians want basic needs and protections. When we are able to provide them that, the category of "luxury" spending will inflate to counteract our deficits. Happy people, happy economy, happy businesses, happy government, happy nation. It sounds simple because it IS simple. As humans, we tend to overthink our problems, so it is time to use this opportunity as a new nation to enforce simple solutions right now. If things get more complicated (and it will, history has proven), we will deal with it appropriately by modifying our simplicity to become more effective. It is better for everyone to start with the basics and expand one issue at a time, rather than starting too complex and creating more problems in our society. Stand with me as we Asgardians all deserve to have our "needs" and "protections" supported within our government!

Today, I would like to discuss a few improvements that we could make with our nation and website; mainly I will focusing on citizenship and individual rights. Currently, there is not an option listed to include children of Asgardians into our population count. I feel that we are inaccurately calculating our statistics because of this. As the age of sixteen (16) is a commonly used age to define topics of consent and usage, it would be reasonable that those under the age of sixteen could have their parents or guardian designate them as citizens of our nation.  Those above the stated age would be able to define for themself if they wish to belong to Asgardia. Now, this age setting is only a suggestion, and it can be raised and lowered as needed, the same as how different locations around the world have the option to raise or lower the legal age to vote for government officials. Accurate statistics allow us to identify instances of population growth, where our financiances are going for citizens, and potential fraud. This can include fraudulent usage, or theft of health cards for free benefits to non-citizens (which is surprisingly common in my country of origin), undocumented numbers of minors getting into locations and activities that they legally should not be doing, and a general misunderstanding of who are people are overall. Now, not all of these instances are necessarily "negative", but there will be-- and believe me, it will happen all too suddenly-- debates on these topics in the future, no matter how much we may choose to either ignore them, or not realize it.

Which brings me to my next subject of debate: uncomfortable politics. We all have a topic, whether ethically or emotionally, that we would rather not talk about, or shove out of the way for another person or time to take care of it. As a new nation with the intention of being a guiding light for humanity's future, we need to air out the skeletons in our closet and face the issues head-on. Ethical conundrums, such as the subjects of race wars, abortion laws, drug legality, gun control, and more, are topics that many of our race either feels passionately about, or has no desire to touch those discussions with a ten-foot pole. The fact of the matter is, if we want to move forward, we have to decide promptly on these kinds of issues and learn to accept differing opinions as civil and intelligent beings. These are hot topics, and it is well known that most will not get along regarding the moral queries they impose. However, there needs to be procedures put in place to protect our citizens during the processes of putting related bills into law. There will be fights, and protests, and mean words said, so we need to be able to protect both city and state from abuse and terrorism during these critical, and uneasy, times. Frankly, there should be protections at all times, but we can easily predict the levels of hate and violence rising during these uncomfortable politics. Still, we need to get through these issues, these differences. Everybody has a personal right to choose their own path in life,-- whether it be pro-life or pro-choice, for or against gun control, to use or not use marijuana or other drugs, etcetera-- but they do not have the right to force their personal opinions on others. Paraphrasing the words of Dame Maggie Smith, "My dear, [opinions] are like a penis. It's a perfectly fine thing for one to have pride in, but when one takes it out and waves it in my face we have a problem." As crude as it may sound, the point is gotten across stupendously. Protect the people from difference of opinion, but also face the problem directly so we can decide on what we want to set as an example to the rest of humanity once and for all.