[b][i]George Maxwell's Secretary of State Public Blog[/i][/b]

[i]Before I go to LA for a domestic trip, I would like to narrate to the average American how we arrived at this state of affairs, the war between the Underground Movement and the Reformists, as well as the current tenuous state of inter-species relations. So, forgive me for using language too simple for academics, and language too complex for the ordinary person. Lets start here.

The Reformist Movement was an ad-hoc alliance of civil society groups, honest corporate executives like StuCorp, and government agents, born during the fires of the Aperture War, where the company called Aperture Tech - or was it ApertureCorp? - attempted to take control over the world, by inciting unrest between humans and Metas.Their first move was to masquerade as The Voice...

The Voice...a person who was supposedly an Anti-Metahuman activist like the recently dead Human Centre, but who turned out to be a Metahuman himself, Director David Michael Taylor of ApertureCorp himself. After inciting several hateful Anti-Metahuman protests, DMT, aka The Voice, paid off a Metahuman to massacre several of the protesters, sparking Martial Law in LA.

This was then followed by several terrorist attacks, in which the Reformists had their baptism of fire, culminating in David Michael Taylor being exposed as The Voice, and Military and Reformist Metas swooping in to take him down. He succeeded, but not after much cost has been paid. After this attempt to play both sides against each other, Humanity and Metahumanity found a moment of sanity, and tried to make peace.

Many achievements were accomplished after this, including increased Civil Rights for Metas, but the Anti-Metahuman Movement recovered from being used by Metahumans, reorganizing into several different front groups. This caused more resentment from Metahumans as they encountered glass ceilings, especially as despite Aperture's defeat, the corporate culture that allowed it to commit so many atrocities never really changed.

In fact, the defeat of Aperture sent an unintended message to the corporations, that Metahumans can allow them a fighting chance against the 'spectre' and 'boogeyman' of Big Government, which just then demonstrated that it was hungry for the 'rights and liberties' of those who attained their wealth through 'merit'. In fact, the most vociferous opponent of Government regulations regarding Metas...

...Was the CEO of JanusCorp, Dionysus Rand, who argued, using quotations from Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, that Big Government was protecting 'moochers and looters' from the 'freedoms that allowed John Galt to create inventions that would benefit the world'. While he would eventually allow government inspectors into his facilities, said inspections were done with several irregularities that would, if detailed, get me charged with libel.

But we are beside the point. The point is, that the environment that caused so much toxic hate remains unchanged. With Metahumans, we treat them as we do any minority community, only they have the ability to retaliate, which in turn spurs more acts of cruelty. It is a vicious cycle of revenge and violence, driven by individuals who either think that their grievances are the only ones that matter, want to gain more power, or both.

I will be heading to Los Angeles, to show solidarity with the Reform Movement, as well as discuss with various members of the Reformists, including their leader, Sable Smoke, about future strategy. I will make speeches, I will tour the area of the disaster, I will endorse security measures that are directed at the right places in an appropriate manner.

...And finally, I will once again argue for the reduction of the corporations' cherished liberties, especially arms companies whose products might be ending up, through theft or collusion, with the Underground Movement![/i]