The Truth. Some say that it has been lost; buried in the mire of bureaucracy and deception of our times. If, as a great man once said, in a time of deceit, telling the truth can be a revolutionary act.

My name’s Parker Terrell. Welcome to the revolution.

Before we begin, I’d like to take a moment and call attention to the protests in Croshaw. These brave activists, who have been identified as PopuNation, have entered into their third day of their occupation outside the Mohio Museum, decrying the unfair depiction of the Tevarin culture in their latest jingoistic celebration of the Retaliator bomber. A ship that spread fear and subjugation, not only to the Tevarin, but to Humanity as well. For those who are looking to offer support, contact PopuNation to see what you can do to help.

Speaking of offering support, it’s time for another edition of Comm your Senator! Get your mobiGlas ready because this one is a burner.

A brave voice has dared to do the unthinkable. Someone has actually spoken the plain truth in the crumbling halls of the Senate and it is up to all of us Citizens to let our representatives know that we not only support Kyle Polo and his groundbreaking initiative but that we refuse to accept anything but the complete passing of this statute. With our voices joined in a resolute cry of “You’re spending our tax credits on what?!” we could finally see the air let out of the growing balloon that is the military industrial complex before it pops, forever sinking the Empire into the muck of financial insolvency.

Now, the instant you come out and say you want to shrink spending on the military and take away some of the credits they spend on giant guns, they’ll start calling you anti-imperial. They’ll say that enacting the Polo Initiative is like throwing open our doors and inviting the Vanduul in to kill us all at the dinner table. A frightening notion, but one that is just completely wrong. That’s not going to happen. Yes, the Vanduul have killed innocent people and yes that’s horrible, and yes, of course, they are a problem that needs addressing. But if you think that our military’s ridiculous budget is in anyway directly linked to our actually security and safety, then I have a moon to sell you in Ellis.

Do you know that more people died last year from cargo-related accidents then from all the Vanduul attacks combined? This is a true thing. A real fact. There are millions of cargo crates out there just waiting to kill us, but the budget the TDD receives for safety training and education is 1/1000000 what the Navy is allotted for R&D. Does this mean that the Vanduul aren’t dangerous? No. But what I am seeing here is an opportunity for our taxes to be spent on the things we actually need and not just the things we fear.

The funny thing is, is that we are only talking about 10% of the military’s budget here. That’s a drop in the bucket when you look at all the ways the Empire is hemorrhaging money every day. Synthworld, anyone? And when you consider that most planets independently operate a militia anyway to provide for their own protection, you have to ask why we keep allowing the UEE to proceed without any sort of adjustments to bring their spending in line with what their actual current operating scope is. This is why I think the Polo Initiative to reduce and re-appropriate military spending should pass, and why you should help see that it does by sending a comm to your Senator.

If you don’t feel like coming up with a message yourself, you can grab the official Plain Truth comm form from the after-show feed. Just fill in your name and system and we’ll take care of the rest.

When we come back from break, our very own Arlo is going to take a look at the top ten songs on the charts and explain why they are harming more than just your ears. Listening to the Playtime Wonders won’t ever be the same. Trust me, you’re going to want to come back.

This is Plain Truth. Stay vigilant.