Calvin and Hobbes -- Gritty Reboot

The fall of mens rea

"Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time...even if you didn't know it was a crime, or intend to commit a prohibited act."

Economist

"BOBBY UNSER, a former car racer, was snowmobiling with a friend in Colorado when a blizzard sent them off course. After their vehicles broke down the two men spent a night in the wilderness, nearly freezing to death. They survived, but two weeks later the Forest Service charged Mr Unser with operating a motorised vehicle inside a protected area, a federal crime. “I got lost,” said Mr Unser. “People shouldn’t be prosecuted for something they have no control over.” A judge disagreed, finding him guilty.

Under the common-law system that America inherited from England, a person performing a prohibited act (actus reus) must also possess a guilty mind (mens rea) in order to be convicted of a crime. In other words, intent matters. In keeping with this tradition, many states differentiate between criminal behaviour that is purposeful, negligent or something in between. But things have got fuzzy lately. New criminal laws often lack intent requirements—sometimes on purpose, often by mistake—and thus ensnare people, like Mr Unser, who inadvertently fall foul of them. Inconsistent courts have added to the muddle."

Dreams -- Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

The Thread of Life -- Christina Rossetti

1

The irresponsive silence of the land,
The irresponsive sounding of the sea,
Speak both one message of one sense to me: —
Aloof, aloof, we stand aloof, so stand
Thou too aloof bound with the flawless band
Of inner solitude; we bind not thee;
But who from thy self—chain shall set thee free?
What heart shall touch thy heart? what hand thy hand?—
And I am sometimes proud and sometimes meek,
And sometimes I remember days of old
When fellowship seemed not so far to seek
And all the world and I seemed much less cold,
And at the rainbow’s foot lay surely gold,
And hope felt strong and life itself not weak.

2

Thus am I mine own prison. Everything
Around me free and sunny and at ease:
Or if in shadow, in a shade of trees
Which the sun kisses, where the gay birds sing
And where all winds make various murmuring;
Where bees are found, with honey for the bees;
Where sounds are music, and where silences
Are music of an unlike fashioning.
Then gaze I at the merrymaking crew,
And smile a moment and a moment sigh
Thinking: Why can I not rejoice with you ?
But soon I put the foolish fancy by:
I am not what I have nor what I do;
But what I was I am, I am even I.

3

Therefore myself is that one only thing
I hold to use or waste, to keep or give;
My sole possession every day I live,
And still mine own despite Time’s winnowing.
Ever mine own, while moons and seasons bring
From crudeness ripeness mellow and sanative;
Ever mine own, till Death shall ply his sieve;
And still mine own, when saints break grave and sing.
And this myself as king unto my King
I give, to Him Who gave Himself for me;
Who gives Himself to me, and bids me sing
A sweet new song of His redeemed set free;
He bids me sing: O death, where is thy sting?
And sing: O grave, where is thy victory?

What Condition My Condition Is In -- Bettye Lavette (1968)

I woke up this morning with the sundown shining in
I found my mind in a brown paper bag but then
I tripped on a cloud and fell-a eight miles high
I tore my mind on a jagged sky
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

Yeah, yeah, oh-yeah, what condition my condition was in

I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in
I watched myself crawling out as I was a-crawling in
I got up so tight I couldn't unwind
I saw so much I broke my mind
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

Yeah, yeah, oh-yeah, what condition my condition was in

Someone painted April Fool in big black letters on a Dead End sign
I had my foot on the gas as I left the road and blew out my mind
Eight miles outta Memphis and I got no spare
Eight miles straight up downtown somewhere
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

I said I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Yeah
yeah
oh-yeah

Songwriters: NEWBURY, MICKEY

Come Out and Play -- The Offspring (1994)

You gotta keep 'em separated

Like the latest fashion
Like a spreading disease
The kids are strappin' on their way to the classroom
Getting weapons with the greatest of ease

The gangs stake their own campus locale
And if they catch you slippin' then it's all over pal
If one guy's colors and the other's don't mix
They're gonna bash it up, bash it up, bash it up, bash it up

Hey man you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey man you disrespecting me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey don't pay no mind
You're under 18 you won't be doing any time
Hey come out and play

By the time you hear the siren
It's already too late
One goes to the morgue and the other to jail
One guy's wasted and the other's a waste

It goes down the same as the thousand before
No one's getting smarter no one's learning the score
Your never-ending spree of death and violence, and hate
Is gonna tie your own rope, tie your own rope, tie your own

Hey man you disrespecting me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey man you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey don't pay no mind
You're under 18 you won't be doing any time
Hey come out and play

It goes down the same as the thousand before
No one's getting smarter no one's learning the score
Your never-ending spree of death and violence, and hate
Is gonna tie your own rope, tie your own rope, tie your own

Hey man you talkin' back to me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey man you disrespecting me?
Take him out
You gotta keep 'em separated
Hey don't pay no mind
You're under 18 you won't be doing any time
Hey come out and play

Dexter Holland, doctoral candidate in molecular biology

Dexter Holland, senior class photo, Pacifica High School

Dying Scene

"Everybody in the punk scene knows who Dexter Holland is. Not only is he famous for being the guitarist and lead singer of The Offspring, and the founder of Nitro Records, but there is bound to be a good amount of trivial knowledge that you don’t know about the O.C. punk legend who has been active in the music industry for more than 25 years. To test the extent of your knowledge we thought it would be fun to put together a list of 10 things most people probably don’t know about Dexter.

1. In The Offspring’s early days, they were known as Manic Subsidal.

2. The reason he got the nickname Dexter is because he was class valedictorian and head of the maths team [that's "Mathletes" to Americans] at Pacifica High School, where he met his Offspring bandmate Greg K. at a cross-country team.

3. Dexter has a pilot’s licence and owns his own private jet, which he named “Anarchy Airline” because of the huge Anarchy sign on the tail of the plane. He is also a Certified Flight Instructor who has made a solo trip around the world in ten days.

4. Dexter was a Ph.D. candidate in Molecular Biology at the University of Southern California, but abandoned it because of his desire to focus on The Offspring. He also has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Molecular Biology, both from the University of Southern California.

5. Dexter has his own brand of hot sauce called “Gringo Bandito”.