On March 24^th, 2012, history was made. James Cameron, famed director of Titanic and Avatar became the first person to ever travel solo to the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the ocean. To say the Mariana Trench is deep is an understatement. The Challenger Deep is deeper than Mount Everest is tall. If the tallest mountain in the world were to be submerged into the Trench, it would be covered in water before it came within 10,000 feet of the Challenger Deep.

The aptly named DEEPSEA CHALLENGER took Cameron to the bottom of the Trench at a dizzying speed of 500 feet per second. Even with this impressive momentum, it took Cameron’s submersible almost three hours to reach the Challenger Deep. Once down there, Cameron spent six hours exploring the depths, carefully selecting samples of sediment and small life forms to take back to the surface. The DEEPSEA CHALLENGER dropped a set of steel weights, and arrived back on the surface much quicker than expecting, in only 70 minutes. The Aliens director was confined to an extremely tight space while in his submersible. During the twelve hour ordeal, Cameron was not able to stretch his legs or arms.

Cameron’s cramped space became even more cramped when he reached the Challenger Deep. Due to the extreme forces working on the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, the submersible actually shrunk. Cameron later recalled that his viewing window shrunk a full three inches in diameter due to the 16,000 pounds of pressure pushing on every square inch of the machine. Cameron was bolted in to insure the sub would not spring a leak during the exploration. If the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER were to spring a leak during the dive, Cameron would surely have been crushed to death by the pressure of the water.

The historic dive was extremely well documented, and Cameron has revealed plans to turn his footage from the dive into a 3D movie. Although moviegoers may be wary of quick 3D cash-ins at the theatre, they should remember that Cameron was the one responsible for the renewed popularity of 3D, with the fantastic Avatar doing 3D much better than any film before or after it. If anyone can be trusted to make the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER missions into a 3D film, then it’s Cameron.

By far the most exciting part of these missions is the spark for exploration they will inspire, a spark that has been missing for a long time. For far too long humans have felt that they have discovered all that the world has to offer. We have become jaded with the idea that everything in our world has been discovered, that there is nothing new. These Challenger missions reveal just how wrong we have been. There are still corners of the world that have been left untouched. There are still new environments to explore and study. With his successful dive, James Cameron has succeeded in every way. By managing to capture the imaginations of the public in his films, he is now able to use his own funds to spark the imagination of the public in the real world.

Rick Santorum is refreshing, in the sense that he is one of the most honest politicians to run for office in recent memory. So honest, in fact, that he has managed to turn off even the most conservative moderates with his bigoted views and inflammatory rhetoric.

Santorum has been extremely vocal in his controversial stances on issues such as gay and women’s rights during his campaign, which has created both excitement, and panic in the GOP. While many applaud his bigoted views, the more realistic leaders of the GOP are concerned that the nomination of Santorum could cost Republicans the election, or even kill the party altogether.

Santorum’s controversy began long before he became a serious contender for the presidency, with an online smear campaign placing unsavory results on the front page of a Google search of “Santorum”. These vandalistic results were only recently eclipsed. Santorum has happily replaced the silly jokes of his critics with serious threats, somehow coming out on top over his equally ridiculous opponents.

It isn’t Rick Santorum’s fault that he’s in the position he’s in; natural selection should have taken him out of the race long ago. Somehow, against all odds he has managed to survive, and his survival could deal a deadly blow to the party that is still trying to recover from the damage done by the Bush fiasco. Republicans know that they only chance they stand in winning this election is to nominate Mitt Romney, which is pathetic. Analysts predict Romney won’t even win against Santorum in Michigan, his home state.

Romney has performed “well” in recent debates, so perhaps the GOP isn’t completely doomed. If Romney can pull off a miracle and take the Republican nomination, then the election might not be lost for Republicans. However, if Santorum continues his lead, then he will most certainly take the nomination.

            Before I begin this article, I would like to open with some excerpts from the affidavit of the night Chris Brown beat Rihanna:

*the affidavit refers to Rihanna by her birth name, Robyn F.

“Brown pulled the vehicle over on an unknown street, reached over Robyn F. with his right hand, opened the car door and attempted to force her out… When he could not force her to exit, he took his right hand and shoved her head against the passenger window of the vehicle causing an approximate one inch raised circular contusion. Robyn F. turned to face Brown and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused Robyn F’s mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle.”

“Brown looked at Robyn F. and stated, “I’m going to beat the s**t out of you when we get home! You wait and see!”

(After Rihanna faked a call to the police) “Brown looked at her and stated “You just did the stupidest thing ever! Now I’m really going to kill you!” Brown resumed punching Robyn F. and she interlocked her fingers behind her head and brought her elbows forward to protect her face… Brown continued to punch Robyn F. on her left arm and hand causing her to suffer a contusion on her left triceps that was approximately two inches in diameter and numerous contusions on her left hand. Robyn F. then attempted to send a text message to her other personal assistant, Melissa [redacted.] Brown snatched the cellular telephone out of her hand and threw it out of the window onto an unknown street.”

This struggle continued for several more pages until Rihanna was able to flee the car and scream for help, but I’m sure you get the idea. This incident caused quite a stir when it happened in 2009, and after several court hearings and a restraining order, not much happened to Brown. Apart from the occasional jeer from comedians and being completely owned by a Fox News syndicate, Chris Brown got off with nothing more than a quickly fading scar on his reputation.

While Chris Brown’s Christ-like second coming has been building since 2010, with guest spots on Saturday Night Live and a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, his rise from the flames of domestic violence came to full fruition this past Sunday, when he won a Grammy, only three-and-a-half years after being arrested for putting a woman in the hospital.

What is it about Chris Brown that has allowed his violent history to slide right off like some form of morally reprehensible Teflon? Many artists more famous and more talented than Brown have had irreparable damage done to their careers by personal controversies.

Kanye West had to create his best album ever in order to negate the effect of the Taylor Swift fiasco. Kanye looked at what he had done, who he was, and wrote an album that addressed his shortcomings as a human, exposing his strengths and the weaknesses that formed them. If Kanye West did that after an awards show faux paus, Chris Brown must have released an album akin to “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” to make up for his crimes, right? Well, not exactly: Brown released “F.A.M.E”, which features angry misogynistic lyrics alongside overly sexualized dance tracks and boasting rap beats. On the more intense tracks it doesn’t take much insight to figure out what Brown is trying to say: Rihanna brought it on herself. The Grammy must have sympathized with this message when they gave Chris Brown the award for Best R&B Album of the Year.

Why is this being praised, why is Chris Brown being rewarded for harboring bitterness towards the woman he abused? Could it be that we are more accepting of violence against women than we should be? A quick Twitter search of the hashtag #teambreezy suggests we are. Most of Chris Brown’s female fanbase don’t seem to care that he beat Rihanna. They seem to think it’s a joke. Many tweets from females go along the lines of “I’d let Chris Brown beat ME!” Rather than suffering or learning from his actions, Chris Brown is instead prospering from them.

I believe Margaret Wappler of the Los Angeles Times put it best with her review of Brown’s most recent album: “He seems to be seeing his violent encounter with Rihanna as a kind of strange gift, something he’ll no doubt manipulate for years to come, even as the memories of Rihanna’s bruises fade.”

If you are anything like Mrs. Johnson, then you absolutely love Brendan Brown. Brendan Brown is one of the most adored students at OHS, and many teachers are simply astonished at the amount of charisma and knowledge he brings with him in the classroom. Now, in a Digital Devil exclusive, we bring you inside the mind of Brendan Brown as he goes through an ordinary day at Owensboro High. Be prepared, naive reader; the inner workings of this young man’s mind may very well change your life.

7:15 – Time to wake up!

7:26 – Time to wake up!

7:42 – Okay, this time I actually need to get out of bed.

7:46 – Gotta get dressed, son.

7:54 – AMERICAN EAGLE MAKES THE MOST COMFORTABLE UNDERWEAR I OR ANYONE WILL EVER OWN.

7:59 – I’m freakin’ STARVED, I’m gonna eat, like FOURTEEN TOASTER WAFFLES.

8:08 – We’re out of syrup.

8:10 – I hate you Bailey…

8:13 – Gotta go get some Mickey D’s breakfast before school!

8:23 – Shut your awful face Bailey, we aren’t gonna be late!

8:28 – Yeah I’d like two Egg McMuffins, an orange juice, and, like, fifteen hashbrowns?

8:43 – That was love! Aight, lets go to school, bro.

8:54 – Shut the flip up Bailey, how was I supposed to know school started before nine? I thought we were EARLY.

9:01 – Sup, Milbra? Did we have homework last night?

9:01 – Oh, we did?

9:12 – I’m freakin’ starvin’, when’s lunch?

9:15 – Milbra, are you sure you didn’t lose mine? I swear I did it!

9:32 – Frankenstein? More like, like, like… STUPIDSTEIN! HA!

9:50 – Time to skedaddle to Journalism- Making mad articles!

9:55-10:43 – Youtubin’ it!!!

10:44 – Aight, Libby looks mad, better pretend to do something.

10:47 – How come I have a zero in here? I wrote like fifteen articles last week!

10:51 – Oh, we have to send them in now? Did we do that last semester?

11:14 – Libby, calm down, it was a JOKE! I wasn’t actually trying to kill Mackenzie with my sweet roundhouse kicks to her FACE.

11:20 – Time to go GORILLAZ with Tines!

11:26 – Did I say gorillaz? I meant bananas. We go bananas. CUZ IT’S LUNCH TIME BAY-BAY!

11:31 – Footlong hotdogs? SOMEONE’S getting backhanded!

11:37 – Stupid hotdogs, they were so bad I only ate like, four.

11:43 – Y’know what’s better than a footlong hotdog? Any country fried steak, ever. Like, the worst country friend steak EVER!

11:54 – Looks like it’s time for the Kid Cudi Power Hour.

12:27 – I wish I could like, listen to three Kid Cudi songs at once.

12:32 – Sometimes I wonder about all the people I’ve hurt in my life.

12:54 – Milbra wouldn’t fail me if I was a dragon.

1:15 – Gym time baby! Friggin’ love AE!

1:23 – I hate knock-out, this is the worst thing in the world.

1:45 – Did I brush my teeth this morning?

1:54 – “Hey Ms. Cavitt, can I go potty like a dragon?”

1:55 – Ha, time for a DQ run!

2:06 – I friggin’ love those cheeseburgers.

2:11 – This class is boring! I only signed up cuz it’s so close to Dairy Queen!

2:23 – How come we take, like, so many notes? I mean, how much Medical Terminology could there actually be?

2:34 – I have found myself enthralled with the ideas of Aristotle and Descartes lately. Perhaps I should sign up for more philosophy classes in college.

3:20 – I’m out, peace!

3:24 – I hate you Bailey…

3:56 – I swear to God, if you don’t shut up Bailey I’m gonna roundhouse you into fricken oblivion.

4:20 – Are we ordering pizza for dinner? Yeah just get me a couple large pies. Like, eight or nine.

4:21 – Hey, that reminds me, can we get pie too?

5:46-6:20 – FEAST ON!

6:24 – Aight, I’m full, better do homework.

6:24-6:25 – Doin’ the homework, cuz!

6:27 – Done!

6:28 – I’m friggin’ hungry.

6:34 – Dang, gotta get ready for swim practice.

6:45-7:30 – Straight tearing this pool UP. Glub glub, y’all!

8:23 – Man, I’m mad tired. I’m gonna go to bed at 8:30 LIKE I DO EVERY NIGHT.

And there you have it, a day in the mind of Brendan Brown. I hope you all learned something. I know I sure have.

For every groundbreaking, irrefutably great band there is out there, there are hundreds of other bands that may be enjoyable, but aren’t anything all that special. Transversely, for every hundreds of mediocre artists out there, there are a select few that are so talentless, so repulsive, so bad, that they should never, ever be listened to. Ever. This list is for those musicians: for those brave souls who dedicated their lives to the art of creating music, despite every indication that they should do otherwise. This list isn’t for artists like Justin Bieber or The Jonas Brothers; as much as I hate to say it, one could argue a case for their artistic integrity. This list is dedicated to those musical acts whose offerings indicate no artistic value whatsoever.

5. Limp Bizkit

            If Microsoft Word tries to autocorrect your band name, then you already know that you have a problem. Even if you spell the band’s name “correctly”, it’s still a ridiculous name for a band. The only people who will “get it” are those who understand the crude sexual joke the name derives from; everyone else will think the name sounds stupid, and they’ll be right. But let’s get off the name for a second, and talk about just how awful Limp Bizkit is. Limp Bizkit is so bad, that Limp Bizkit hates Limp Bizkit. Everyone in the band hates it, except for frontman Fred Durst, who is most famous for being the worst mistake of at least 12 celebrities’ lives, and getting the hell beaten out of him by famous people. In the terrible genre of rap-rock, Limp Bizkit successfully stands out as the worst. Here is a tip for when you start a band: if people consider Korn to be a significantly better band than your band, stop.

4. Maroon 5

            Maroon 5 is the band that your eleven-year-old sister loves until she learns what My Chemical Romance is and starts to wear black all the time. Maroon 5 is insanely popular, and this only serves to amplify how awful they are. They have managed to craft songs that are both inoffensive, and vomit inducing. I grind my teeth like a meth addict every time I hear Adam Levine’s nasally, prepubescent boy voice come on the radio. I have a sneaking suspicion that Adam Levine is stealing all of his lyrics from my thirteen-year-old nieces diary. I hate this band. I hate this band. I hate this band.

3. Mindless Behavior

            As if you really needed another reason to hate twelve-year-old children, here comes Mindless Behavior. Mindless Behavior has accidentally created a grand thesis of everything wrong with texting and Twitter in their “hit” single “My Girl.” Mindless Behavior cultivate the most annoying elements of every generic pop group ever into one insufferable package. I have no trouble believing these little idiots wrote all the music, there is no way an adult producer could come up with something this awful.

2. Insane Clown Posse

            Liking Insane Clown Posse hasn’t been diagnosed as a mental illness yet, but modern psychology can’t be too far behind. Insane Clown Posse consists of two clown face-paint wearing rappers named Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, who have built a brand around violent, misogynistic clown raps, and a backyard wrestling league; if any of that sounds appealing, please admit yourself to a mental hospital. Frankly, this artist would have been #1 on the list, if it weren’t for…

 1.    Soulja Boi Tell’Em

Here he is, the rapper that other rappers love to hate. For a few months after his idiotic dance and rap came on the radio Souja Boi was on top of the world, now he is mostly forgotten. I’m not even sure if he’s still alive. I wasn’t sure about putting Soulja Boi as number one on this list, so before I made the decision I asked everyone in my class, “Does anyone want to defend the artistic integrity of Soulja Boi?” This question was met with a resounding “No.”

I can’t decide if I read The Golden Compass in spite of the controversy, or because of it. The Golden Compass is the first book in the award winning His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman. Ever since the series’ inception it has been under attack from various religious groups for aiming a series at children that is based on secular themes. Critics call the book “atheism for kids,” with many important characters in the novels criticizing gods and religion as a whole. Regardless of the impact the controversy had on my decision to read the His Dark Materials series, I did read them, and I found these accusations of anti-theistic plots and secular characters were true. However, this godless abomination is also some of the best fantasy literature I have ever had the pleasure to read.

The plot and scope of the three novels is hard to summarize in a paper, but at its heart, His Dark Materials is a rebuttal of John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Pullman argues that what Milton views as the great fall of man, eating from The Tree of Knowledge, should be heralded as the greatest achievement of mankind. It is hard to elaborate on this rebuttal without spoiling the series, but suffice it to say, Pullman’s vision of the epic poem is thought provoking.

As provocative as the plot of the novel may be, the real draw of the series comes from the characters, worlds, and creatures that Pullman has created for his series. Where many authors are content to create one fantastical world for their stories, Pullman has taken it upon himself to create several. His Dark Materials takes place in a world where multiple parallel universes exist, including our own.

The first novel takes place in a world similar, but quite different from our own, where we meet our first protagonist, Lyra. In Lyra’s world we find Pullman’s most ingenious invention, the daemon. Everyone in Lyra’s world is born with a daemon, a manifestation of a person’s soul in the form of a lifelong companion that takes the shape of an animal. Readers will leave the series wishing desperately that they had their own daemon.

Lyra’s world is home to many other fantastical elements, including the alethiometer, a device which reveals truth to whomever reads it. The device is described as small, like a golden compass, which is where the name for the American version of the first novel comes from: The Gold Compass. Although many scholars spend their lifetimes learning how to read the alethiometer, Lyra finds she is able to read the alethiometer with ease after little practice.

It isn’t until the second book in the series that we meet the second, but equally important protagonist, Will. Will is a child from our world, and by a means of what appears at the time to be pure chance, finds his way into a parallel world where he meets Lyra. It is also in this world where Will finds, and becomes the bearer of the object for which the second novel takes its name, The Subtle Knife. The Subtle Knife is a double edged blade that on one side has the ability to cut through any material in the world, and on the other side, is able to cut a gateway between parallel world through which the bearer can travel through. Although both children realize the power they have with these mystical objects, they do not realize their full responsibilities or potential until the last novel in the series, The Amber Spyglass.

Will and Lyra are supported by many fantastic and endearing characters throughout the series. There are simply too many characters for me to list here, but I shall mention my two favorite. Iorek Byrnison, an armored bear, and Lee Scornsby, a Texan aeronaut were the characters I found most compelling, but there is room for debate among readers for personal favorites. The scope of characters and creatures in the series is enormous.

With a story of such epic scale, it’s easy to lose sight of the human element of the story, but this is not a mistake that Pullman makes. At the heart of the series always remains the sense of love and friendship that is the most subtle and ingenious weapon at Pullman’s disposal. While critics may ask how Pullman can write a story without the morals instilled on one by religion or fear of a god, Pullman is able to prove that one does not need either of those to live morally, or experience love.

As many students at OHS are well aware, websites such as Wikipedia, WordPress, Reddit, Fark, and even Google have decide this past Wednesday to post messages, or even shut down their site for the day in protest of SOPA/PIPA. Students who tried to access Wikipedia or Reddit on Wednesday were met with a black screen and information on how to oppose the SOPA/PIPA bills. Websites such as Google were still running, but featured a censored Google logo, and links to statistics and information on the bills. WordPress, the host site for the Digital Devil, featured a front page where all material was censored, and couldn’t be accessed. The Digital Devil has previously reported on SOPA and its ill effects, and the Senate will vote on the controversial legislature next Tuesday. Likewise, SOPA’s House brother PIPA will be under review and ready for voting in early February.

Public dissent has been bubbling under the surface for several months now, and it seems that January 18^th’s Blackout Day has brought the schism between voters and congressmen to a garish light. Sites such as Wikipedia urged their users to contact their Congressional representatives, and many of them did. After the Wednesday Blackout nineteen senators spoke out against the SOPA/PIPA bills. Among those who oppose the bill is Kentucky’s own Rand Paul, who was one of the earliest and most vocal oppositions to the bill.

Senator Paul has promised to “oppose, filibuster and do everything in [his] power to stop government censorship of the Internet.”

“Both PIPA and SOPA give the federal government unprecedented and unconstitutional power to censor the Internet.” Said Paul. “I will not sit idly by while PIPA and SOPA eliminate the constitutionally protected rights to due process and free speech.”

Kentucky House Representative Guthrie has yet to decide on whether or not he will oppose PIPA, and neither has Mitch McConnell for SOPA. Although McConnell has not made a statement yet, it is more than likely that he will vote in favor of the legislation. As sopatrack.com shows, McConnell has received considerably more funding from pro-PIPA groups than anti-PIPA groups.

Students should not forget that their voice matters in this decision; contact Guthrie and McConnell and influence their decision.

Sen. Mitch McConnell

-       202-224-2541

Rep. Steven Guthrie

-       202-225-3501

Although he has already opposed SOPA/PIPA, you may call Rand Paul to reinforce his position, or to try and sway his decision.

Sen. Rand Paul

-       202-224-4343

            After the emotional purging that was 2009’s For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon hinted at a new album much more expansive than the hushed and somber tones that dominated Emma. With Bon Iver, Justin Vernon has created an album that is stronger in every single aspect: songs are more fleshed out, lyrics carry the full weight of their meaning, and the emotions of the album are more diverse and rewarding. Listening to Bon Iver for the first time is a strange and wonderful trip. For Emma was almost entirely made up of Justin alone with his guitar, with only his vocal overdubs providing him company. On Bon Iver, Justin has expanded his songwriting to include a full ensemble, with horns, guitars, percussion, and keyboards creating an endless depth on songs such as “Holocene” and “Calgary”. Despite these dramatic changes in the songwriting structures of the project, there’s no mistaking this album as being connected to its predecessor. Justin Vernon’s influence has proved far-reaching in 2011, Bon Iver has been nominated for four Grammys, and the band has even appeared on several tracks with Kanye West. Whatever Vernon has up his sleeve next, it’ll be hard to top something as sincere and beautiful as Bon Iver.

Best Track: “Holocene”

The Rose Curtain Player’s have been busy this year. Immediately after placing first state runner-up for their competition piece Women and War, the Advanced class began work on the full length version of the play that is happening this weekend. In order to run the play as a one-act for competition, the RCP had to work closely with the author of the play, Jack Cunningham, and after all the collaboration that was necessary to create the one-act, Cunningham decided to visit Owensboro to come see the premiere of the full length version this Thursday.

Mr. Cunningham had a fairly eventful visit to Owensboro, apart from visiting with the cast and crew of Women and War, and a Q&A with Thursday night’s audience, Cunningham was given a tour of Owensboro, visiting the Riverpark Center and other venues of artistic merit in town.

When meeting with the cast and crew of Women and War, Cunningham was quick and polite to answer the young actors questions. Although Jack claims that he never intended for his play to be used as a high school production piece, he says he is happy with the path the play has taken. Originally written for reader’s theatre, they script was intended to make use of only six female actors, with one male tackling all of the male roles. The play is dominated by a female presence, as the play draws attention away from the male connotations of war, and instead focuses on the role women play in war.

Cunningham says he got the idea while watching a documentary one evening with his wife on Vietnam nurses.

“There is a play in there.” Said Cunningham, feeling that the female unsung heroes of war would make for a great piece of theatre. As Jack did more research for his piece, he found himself overwhelmed with the stories of women throughout war and history, and decided to expand the play past Vietnam to include many other US conflicts. The final full length version features women from World War I up to the most recent military operations.

At the Q&A later on that night Cunningham found his audience eagerly anticipating. Many audience members were personally very moved by the piece. One of the most moved audience members was Judy McDonough.

“This play could continue, could keep going on, with amendments being made,” said Mrs. McDonough. With a husband in the military, she has experienced first-hand the effects that war has on women. Mrs. McDonough feels that the play be updated periodically because, as she simply, and eloquently puts it,

“We’re not done.”

             When the penny was first minted in 1792 it was made of solid copper, and was significantly more valuable than it is today. As time went on the penny began to lose more and more of its copper content, due both to rising copper costs, and inflation which deteriorated the value of the penny. Today’s pennies are made up of ninety-five percent zinc and only five percent copper, and the price of production is still worth more than the monetary value of the penny itself. Due to the value of the resources that made up the penny being worth more than the penny itself, people started to melt down the pennies and sell them for copper starting in 2006.

            Naturally, with currency being melted down and sold for its minerals, the government should have retired the penny. They didn’t. They instead made the melting of pennies illegal, and continue to manufacture pennies at a rate of 4 million pennies per year. Each penny is worth one cent, and it costs the United States 1.8 cents to produce every penny. With .8 cents being sunk into every penny, the production of pennies is effectively costing the U.S. $320,000 every year.

Apart from in-the-red production costs, the penny is a hassle to the average American and doesn’t do the job it was designed to do. Pennies, like all other physical currency, are designed to be used for day-to-day physical transactions. However, pennies have very little value, so little value, that you can’t actually buy anything with them. The only use for a penny today is for making exact change, but people don’t use exact change in daily transactions.

It’s difficult to predict what the exact price of your purchases will be after taxes, so Americans most often cannot prepare exact change until after they have checked out. Since most people are far too busy to find and count exact change, they will instead round up and pay with paper bills, getting back pennies in change, which they will then take home, put on a dresser, and forget about.

Pennies have no place in a modern economy. They could and should be abolished. New Zealand and Australia both got rid of their one-cent coins, and instead rounding their cash transactions to the nearest five-cent increment. This change had no negative impact on their economies, and has made day-to-day transaction less cumbersome for both nations. They have already abolished the penny in the U.S. military, and all overseas transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents. If the military has killed pennies because they are inefficient, then why not eliminate them from everyday civilian life as well?