Anthem

I actually just finished Anthem by Ayn Rand- it took me about an hour and a half to read the whole thing, but it really wasn't that long. The ideas are interesting, although I still say she was overly influenced by Communism, and seems to divide people somewhat arbitrarily into competent individuals and leeches. Granted, there are situatons where people do kind of slack off, but the individualist spirit she puts on such a pedestal is not always able to conquer, as it does in the book. It could be that you die trying, but I suppose that would put you on a par with Socrates- never concede, if the truth costs your life, you must serve the higher good.
In other news, it seems I need to file an appeal with the enlistment board, on the grounds that a misdemeanor charge is grounds to keep you out of the Army. Whatever happened to the days of the draft, when anyone who could walk in a straight line was allowed in? Actually, there is sufficient legal precedence for a waiver to be granted for me- a single misdemeanor can often be excluded. Also, the case was disposed of with a nolle prosequi- that is, no further prosecution. This is neither an acquittal nor a conviction- it is used for speedy trial or speedy disposition of a case when going to trial or further prosecution would basically waste the state's time. This was the case with me- I fulfilled the obligations imposed by the court, and that was that. However, I was under the mistaken assumption that for all intents and purposes the case was dismissed, and as far as the court is concerned, it was. No further prosecution can occur without opening a separate case, and no further restrictions are placed on me. So why does the Army say no go? Because technically a nolle means 13 months of "unsupervised probation" (read- this amounts to nothing at all, as no one is supervising you.) The only possible way that this could matter is if you get arrested again within the 13 month period. Of course, in the Army the rule is always CYA- Cover Your Ass, so this is what they're doing until I can file for a waiver on the grounds of no prior or subsequent criminal convictions, and that the supervision under the Army will be greater than that imposed by the court. Actually, there is no supervision imposed by the court, so you can see my point. Whatever may come, I'm not going to go quietly into the night, not on this one or probably never again. If it's worth doing, it's worth fighting for. And besides, I've got the kids and T. to worry about. This would put us quite comfortably in the neighborhood of Easy Street, if not actually on the street itself. Having researched the issue in the law library with the help of my younger sister (where all the brains in the family went), and looking into the military regulations surrounding this, I constructed a case for enlistment, which, seeing as it's the Easter weekend, will have to file on Monday. Hopefully also the very act of fighting for it will give me some credibility with the review board.
In other news, not much. It's raining a little today, and has been for a couple days now. Good day to head back to the library, and find something else to read in the interim until this whole thing with the enlistment board comes to fruition one way or the other.