So Mad Dog doesn’t like dialogue in writings. “It’s dangerously close to fiction” were the words used to describe his opinion. One can only hope that he will discover eventually that certain words require resonance. There is no other reason for songwriters to exist, and we all get bored with a story where nothing is said. These, however, are merely my thoughts on the matter. I am not a writer. My words need to be smithed. They need to be hammered into shape on the anvil of text. 1500 to 2000 words are the acceptable boundaries in which I have been told to work this craft. There are certain rules to be followed in order for everything to be comprehensible. This is accepted and understood. When dealing with any situation, we must do three things: Remember what you know, use common sense, and proceed with caution. Regardless of circumstances, that’s enough to keep the heart beating for a few hours more. Survival is easy; living can be incredibly difficult work.

Living requires an entirely different and fluid set of dynamics. We can learn a lot from water. Water accepts the law, uses it, and gets to where it wants to go regardless of what the law says. Water understands that the law without justice is nothing more than a slow death. Water is a living element. Water doesn’t break the law, it doesn’t cheat. Water still gets to where it wants to go because it is, after all, fluid. Water doesn’t smith anything, but no smithy will work without water. Water tempers steel.

Steel comes in several grades, mainly defined by the amount of carbon still existent in the composition of the alloy. Other elements are mixed into steels dependent on the end function within which the steel will be used. These can include elements such as manganese, silicon, chromium, nickel and tungsten, to name a few. What we do all know, however, is that the main element in steel is Iron.

Now, we all also know that some law follower is going to read that last paragraph and miss the point entirely. We know that some law follower is going to point out that certain technical details missing, and use that to attempt to destroy the message being written. That is part of life, and those people are not worth knowing. Bless them, pat them on the head, and let them run in their ignorance. They’re not ready for ponderance. The title of this column is Complete With Cheese. Remember what you know. Use common sense. Proceed with caution. Mind your karmic footprint.

We’re talking about Iron. The most stable element in the universe. Everything below iron on the atomic chart is fusible, gathering pieces and working its way up the scale towards iron. Everything above iron is fissible, breaking itself apart and working its way down the scale towards iron. That alone is worth a ponder.

Most of the iron that was used by earlier man was gathered from meteors. It is understandable, then, as to why iron has become believed to have certain qualities. Iron kills faeries. Cold forged iron is an effective weapon against anything unworldly. That’s why we have horseshoes above doors and blacksmiths building cages. Good iron will keep you safe. That’s why 90% of all metallic ore mining is a search for iron.

Iron is in your keys, it’s in your computer; iron is in your blood. Haemoglobin and hematite are enough of a connection for cognitors. Iron is essential to survival, and iron gives you and edge. Iron allowed the Indo-Europeans to spread from the Caucasus and become the dominant race in their part of the world.

Edged iron in the hands of the Dorians brought about the blossoming of Greek culture. The stories say that Achilles was gifted with an iron tipped spear made from a meteor and given to him by his father, Peleus. He was also given a completely iron breast plate by Odysseus, who told him that it had once been part of the treasures of king Midas. Achilles used them to kill many men. It was through iron that the 300 were able to hold the pass at Thermopylae. And therein lays the fundamental flaw of iron.

The Iron Age came about late in human history. Civilisations already existed, and metals were already being used, but the cultures of these peoples were still fluid, and tied to the earth and its seasons. These peoples had no need for iron yet. They weren’t ready for the harsh permanence of iron.

You cannot knap flint with iron. Trust me one this one, I know. You will do nothing but shatter the stone. The iron is too harsh. It doesn’t forgive the stone enough to allow the flint to flex at the inherent weak spots. Iron delivers too much force too quickly. The energy that iron moves is too focused, too intense and too determined. Iron will destroy the flint before it even has a chance to be formed into something useful. One blow of iron against flint and you can feel all that in the vibrations from the impact working their way back up the bones of your arm.

The sparks that result from the impact confirm it. They’re bright, fierce, and land wherever they choose. The sparks may be small, but they’re intense. They are hot enough to burn anything they touch, and god help you if they touch anything easily combustible. No, it’s not an instant inferno, but the heat is enough to smoulder and immediately start consuming everything around it. Even the smell from when the spark lands on something solid, like stone, tells you its intent. The sparks don’t give you the smell of burning, a living fire. The sparks advertise just what they are with their burnt smell. They tell you that by the time you smell them they have already gone through their cycle and consumed everything around them. The sparks have already consumed the oxygen in the air around them, the pieces of stone that have been shot away from the impact, and even themselves, the small pieces of iron that torn apart by the blow. Their smell is burnt metal. Their smell is past tense. It is already done before you’re even aware of what precisely happened.

It’s easily comprehensible as to why the Chinese consider metal to be the weakest element. Metals produce stasis. Symbiosis requires a certain amount of stability, yes, but life itself is not and cannot be static. We intuitively understand this when we consider that ruling with an iron fist is not a good thing. Everyone bar those in power denounce martial law. We all recognise that martial law is when the law is no longer just. A blind adherence rigid rules is nothing more than a slow death. Remember what you know, use common sense, proceed with caution.

Let’s look at this another way. As a paratrooper, an essential part of your parachute is the static line. The static line on a T-10c or a -1b parachute is a piece of nylon with a metal hook at one end. The metal hook has a locking clasp on it with a button release and a metal wire that is inserted and double locks the clasp once its been hooked onto the metal cable that runs the length of the aircraft. This is how you anchor your parachute so that you can jump safely from a low height. Combat jumps occur at a height of 500 feet with reason. You don’t want to get scattered, and you don’t want to be drifting in the air as an easy target for anyone on the ground.

Your static line helps you do that. It anchors itself to the aircraft so that when you leave the aircraft it deploys your parachute for you. At 500 feet, 12 seconds after you have left the plane, you’re on the ground. The first three to four seconds of those 12 are free fall while you wait for your parachute to catch air. The first second after you exit the aircraft is disorienting. The prop wash that comes off the engines will take you and batter you in whatever way it sees fit. You need to drop below that before you can safely deploy your parachute. If you don’t, your parachute becomes entangled amongst itself, and serves no purpose other than as a banner to mark where to find your body.

You need you static line to anchor itself to the aircraft. You need your static line to get you below the prop wash. And then you need it to let go. On the other end of the static line from the hook assembly is the deployment bag. The D bag is a loose covering that keeps the parachute safely, but loosely rolled. When you fall further than the length of the static line, you fall away from the deployment bag. This is when your parachute unrolls and catches air. All of this is timed. It’s sequenced. It’s precise. Your deployment bag lets go of the parachute just as your coming out of the prop wash’s field. Your static line is, for all practical purposes, unbreakable. If it doesn’t pull your D bag away from your parachute, it will keep you held in the prop wash, which will bring you back up against the outside of the aircraft with force. If your static line, or any of its components fail, it will fucking kill you.

You need your static line to do exactly its job and nothing more. You still need to worry about your parachute opening properly, and you still need to worry about whether or not some bastard on the ground is going to put a bullet in you. You need the rules and the laws to do precisely what they do and nothing more.

Iron laws and rules are static. They are self contained, and obsessive. They forget that they are part of a larger whole. They forget that they are supposed to let things flow. They need to be kept in perspective.

Iron is very flexible when it’s hot, and is naturally soft in its pure state. It is only when it is cooled, alloyed, and forged that it becomes overly rigid and inflexible. Iron requires a human hand to make it such a destructive thing. We all know that it’s not the bullet that kills people; it’s the triggerman that does the deed. Mind your karmic footprint. The bullet is only serving the purpose for which it is created. It is operating within its established limits. It is the full metal jacket that someone created that expanded the bullet’s purpose and made it more lethal. Someone becoming obsessive and focusing energy to the point where the intent isn’t just dangerous, but outright brutal is the true threat.

Iron does well enough on its own with its energy. It’s considered the most stable element in the universe. That means it’s not going to give away much energy in an atomic reaction. Iron has in its nucleus some of the highest binding energies to be found on the atomic chart. The element is created in the nuclear fusion of stars, and it has learned well how to contain that energy. It’s not going to give it away easily. Iron on its own has found its balance, which is why it is the effective endpoint of fusion chains found in stars. Iron on its own has learned how to contain the energy found in burning stars, and keep it contained in a harmless way. That’s not a bad reference point for anyone to hold. It helps keep perspective.

Remember what you know, use common sense, proceed with caution.