PCBaller World/Montana

This page will be dedicated to mostly statistics and projects by Montana, also known as the Republic of Montana, Greater Montana, Afungrad II, Animal Cruelty Capital, and Greater Illinois, Mild Flavor. Its large population capacity is mainly achieved by the large numbers of suburban and urban cities built close to major interstates (but that isn't enough).

"Montana's system does not represent my exact personal beliefs due to numerous compromises and treaties made with other nations. - Afun "

Advanced CRISPR/Gene Editing
Genetic modification within Montana is extremely common. Over 99% of foods are grown GMOs, but pesticides are used less frequently than in modern America. GMOs are used to make plants insect resistant, vitamin-rich, larger during harvest season, and to perform many functions stated here (some plants are made simply to create toxic chemicals en masse, e.g. resiniferatoxin).

The most genetically modified organisms in Montana are farm animals. Cows, pigs, and chickens are mostly (if not all) genetically modified organisms. They may result in an increase in flavorants in meat, naturally produced vitamins, or even larger size (plus all the hormones). These genomes are top-secret within Montana, and only select countries or states (looking at you, Greater Illinois) possess copies of them.

As of 2035, Montana has engineered into existence bacteria capable of accelerated photosynthesis, converting some metal oxides into oxygen, and even producing specific chemicals from their components.

Asteroid Spectroscopy
The Republic of Montana has special telescopes placed into orbit around the Earth in order to scan distant asteroids in the inner asteroid belt using laser spectroscopy. With this, the spacecraft can determine the composition of the asteroids, and sell the information to asteroid miners (specifically to Greater Illinois) and collect large commissions from them (usually anywhere from 5% to 10%), earning Montana hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars.

Montana has been a leading producer of platinum and palladium, until the genesis of asteroid mining and spectroscopy.

Nuclear Fusion Research Project
Most of Montana is powered using hydrogen-helium nuclear fusion. There are research projects aiming to generate power using the triple-alpha process (helium-carbon) and quark fusion.

Space Program
Montana has its own space program, albeit it not being overly advanced. SpaceX, one of the most prevalent private organizations, Asteroid spectroscopy and propagation lasers have been deployed into space to help with other high-level tasks, such as determining asteroid-mining candidates, studying faraway stars (using giant telescopes that even outclass the James Webb), and sending microcrafts to nearby stars (planned: P. Centauri). A more recent use of the space program was to drop the "Rods from God" (large tungsten rods weighing thousands of kilograms each, developed from asteroid-mining tungsten-rich asteroids with the help of LFA and GI ) on Indonesia, damaging their infrastructure and army.

As of 2040, Montana and the GI superstate union have a small presence on the moon, Mars, and Europa moon of Jupiter, as well as within some planetoids within the Kuiper Belt. The superstate is already making effort to colonize P. Centauri b, as it is the forefront of colonization beyond solar system constructs.

Moon
The ARI moon base is 20% owned by Montana. Helium-3 is mined in vast quantities to provide fuel for both nuclear fusion and quark fusion reactors across the ARI.

Mars
The Montanan Mars base, partially owned by Greater Illinois, is similar to the large lunar base, but it has the purpose of being a robust research center. They have the goal of creating a means to modernize and eventually terraform Mars, a goal that may take at most a few thousand years to complete.

Europa
Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter, has a Montanan/GI presence on it. They use naturally occurring hydrogen (and isotopes) to fuse to create fusion energy. The colony has about 500 members, some of which are researchers from Byzantium, LFA, and GI.

Capsaicin/Resiniferatoxin
Montana is the leading producer of concentrated capsaicin and resiniferatoxin in North America, using heavily genetically modified plants and chemical processes to produce ever-larger amounts of these chemicals in use for pepperspray and weaponry (and trading) than before at an ever-lower cost. Montana's gene-modification and weaponry production departments have genetically modified Euphorbia resinifera plants to increase per-mass resiniferatoxin production hundredfold. Manufacturing at most hundreds of tons of these chemicals per year, these chemicals are regularly traded in with partners such as Quebec and central Greater Illinois (who in turn trades it in with partners). While a jalapeno may have 9,000 chemical heat measures (or Scoville units), pure capsaicin ranks to approximately 16,000,000 units while pure resiniferatoxin ranks to approximately 16,000,000,000 units.

The Aesthetics Problem
The "Aesthetics Problem" is a nickname given to the governmental softban on the lack of a specified aesthetical design (with the exception of prisons) due to the passage of a specific bill from the House of Representatives; it was passed on 21 February, 2036. In other words, buildings are required to be aesthetically pleasing (to some extent). Most factories and industrial buildings are built with a brutalist aesthetic in order to keep the costs low. Most other buildings are built with aesthetics in mind (not completely, but are more aesthetically pleasing than let's say buildings in Chicago, IL). The "Aesthetics Problem" has slightly increased the cost of building and the cost of living, but innovators have managed to create aesthetically pleasing buildings that are mostly functional.

The Industrial Channel
The "Industrial Channel" is a portion of Interstates 90 and 65. The portion in I-90 starts in Bozeman, MT and goes to the junction with I-65 at Gary, IN. From there, the Industrial Channel will continue down to the interstate's junction with I-70 in Indianapolis, IN. The Channel has an extra lane on either side of the roadway (either that or the people are planning to build an extra lane on either side of the roadway, as it may not be finished). The Channel is notable for having many industrial centers, factory farms, airports, cheap aesthetically unpleasing homes, and abattoirs near it—shipment costs to Greater Illinois and the LFA are slightly lower. The northernmost 50 kilometers of Interstate 25 are surrounded by the robust Montanan industry sector.

The Vegan Problem
The "Vegan Problem" is a perceived problem in industrial areas near the Industrial Channel, where numerous factory farms and slaughterhouses are located. Many exits on industrial I-90 lead to slaughterhouses or factory farms, and these roads often face the issue of overcrowding by disruptive activists. Hostile architecture and surveillance have been implemented en masse to discourage the movement of these activists who intend on blocking the flow of traffic. Many factory farms and slaughterhouses are located near sheriff/police stations (or even military bases if they happen to be close to I-90) for this reason. In extreme cases, caravans of trucks and buses carrying animals for slaughter can be followed by teams of police cars.

Language
English is the primary language of Montana, with 85% of residents having it as their first language. The Russian language is in running second, with 13% of the population having it as an L1 and 70% of those with a second language having it as an L2. Spanish, French, German, and Ukrainian are uncommon as L1's in Montana, with up to 20% having one of those four as second languages. English is the second language of 5% of those who have one. All official documents are written in English, even though both English and Russian are spoken in big meetings (the former is significantly more common for obvious reasons).

Over 98% of the population knows the Latin script (as used in English), with anywhere from 70% to 90% knowing the Russian Cyrillic script.

The Montanan accent is known for the ability to pronounce /ɨ/ and the ability to articulate /tʲ/, /dʲ/, and /sʲ/ mostly (but not completely) like a native Russian would; the average Montanan accent may struggle with /w/. The Montanan accent in the West may have a decreased ability to pronounce /w/ and an increased ability to make the /vʲ/, /bʲ/, and /pʲ/ sounds. On the other hand, the Montanan accent in the East may have a decreased ability to make the /ɨ/, /sʲ/, and /dʲ/ sounds, usually having little to no problem with /w/.

West vs East
There is a cultural divide between the western side of Montana and the eastern side of Montana. The West has a rather high concentration of Russian speakers while Russian is spoken less than average in the Eastern portion. Cost of living is approximately 30% higher in western Montana, as houses take longer to build and are costlier to build/repair.

The amount of effort put into aesthetically pleasing building within the Western Montana is often high, driving up costs and building times, even if the functionality of said building is impaired. Buildings built in Eastern Montana tend to be rather aesthetically unpleasing (most of them usually meet the bare minimum, except houses, which are more aesthetically pleasing than most buildings there), even though they usually have increased functionality. Buildings built in a strictly geometrical or even honeycomb-like manner are somewhat more common for non-residential buildings than in the West.

The rural lifestyle is a relatively major factor here in the West, with urban/industrial cities being uncommon (just somewhat less common than in the east but whatever). Ruralism and ranch life are virtually nonexistent in the east, with over 99% of the meat produced by the East being raised in factory farms. The attempted violent crime rate is nearly 60% higher here than in the West, even though police and military being very common.

60% of damage costs from extreme weather events are in Western Montana, while factory-related diseases and deaths are nearly three times as prevalent in the east.

Suburbs, upper-class neighborhoods, lower-class neighborhoods, and industrial centers are found in both halves of Montana. Suburbs are equally common in both halves, as are upper- and lower-class neighborhoods.

Ethical veganism, vegan activism, and violent animal rights protests are all more common in the East than in the West. Nonviolent animal rights protesters, seventh-day Adventists, and dietary vegans are more common in the West.

The space in between Western and Eastern Montana (Midwestern Montana) is the least population-dense area in Montana. Many land-based telescopes and military bases, as well as ranches, exist here, due to how relatively desolate it is. There are no urban cities here, as this is the northern end of the rocky mountains (pretty much). Suburbs are rare to find.

Our Opinions on Animal Cruelty
The Manifesto AES-256 ECB. This is one block of text.

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New Cheyenne
A new city is being built east of Billings. Its western border will be at most 30 km east of Billings. This city is a large hub for industry, including Montana's weapons industry and housing industry. The city will have a few suburbs for housing and general suburban life. Hexagonally-shaped (or honeycomb) buildings are a major sight in New Cheyenne. The city envelops S-580, and more is being built north of it (and south of I-94). The city is not even finished yet; it'll be awesome once it's done.

The new highway, S-580, serves as one of the city's main arterial roadways, with its western terminus on I-94 (at a spot in Yellowstone County ~12 km from its own western terminus with I-90) and its eastern terminus on the intersection of Upper Rd. and Rider Rd. As it transitions into Rider Rd., the street continues for an extra 1.61 km before ultimately making its eastern terminus in Big Horn County at MT-47, about 6.5 km north of its own southern terminus at I-90. The highway will be approximately 55.66 km long, or 57.27 km if Rider Rd. is included. Some properties will be bought by the industrial powers for the easternmost two kilometers of S-580 to be built. After enough buybacks performed by the corporations, Rider Rd. will be relabeled S-580. The roadway is a total of six lanes wide, three lanes per direction. It functions as a freeway, having a speed limit of 100 kph, not using traffic lights on the freeway itself, and using off-ramps in the shape of ribbons to connect to intersecting roads.

New Cheyenne is a primarily corporate project that was thought of for the purpose of having one large industry-oriented and technology-oriented region in the eastern section of Montana. The city is to have a large residential population as well as a larger population (especially of factory workers and upper-class migrants) than Billings (only 400,000 people as of 2035). It will even serve as a backup capital for Montana in the case of a West-East schism. This city may even extend south of I-90 to US-87, if you know what that is. When New Cheyenne, it should occupy the entire triangle of I-90, I-94, and MT-47, making an area of slightly more than 1,355 km2, boasting nearly twelve times the area of Billings in 2023 (or about eight times greater than the large urban metropolises built by Montanan corporations post-collapse). It'll be only slightly larger than Los Angeles by area, per 2023.

The city is predicted to be fully finished by 2045 or 2050. As of 2038, the city has ~110,000 people and covers about 800 km2. People are moving into the new city at an alarming rate, as the project is becoming well-known among Montanans and other people in the USA.

New Cheyenne Megalopolis
Okay, here is the fun part. Other cities are being built between MT 47 and MT 59 by these large corporations. When the megalopolis is fully built, it will have an area of over 13,000 km2, being made up of many cities (and being ten times bigger than New Cheyenne itself) once the 16 component cities are done being built. Roads already exist in these areas, but they will be insufficient when the cities are fully built. There will even be military bases within this area.

S-580 will be expanded eastward so that its eastern terminus is moved from MT-47 (6.5 km north of its terminus) to a spot on MT-59 in Custer County (54.6 km north of its intersection with US 212), extending the route by 154.21 km, giving it a full length of 211.48 km. The extensions cannot be driven on, as they are currently in construction. 20 kilometers of the new extension have been constructed from the east end at MT-59; about 10 km of the extension have been constructed from the extension's west end at MT-47. Much deforestation will be needed for this. The highway itself will be projected to be fully finished anytime from 2040 to 2055 as its construction will be vital for the raising of the megalopolis. The route will have potentially dozens of spur routes in the form of big streets.

This megalopolis is projected to be finished between 2060 and 2110. It is projected to have enough homes for hundreds of millions of people. It will be visible from space during the day. Suburbs will be present in pockets within the urban landscape, but the rural parts will be fully removed from this area.

Terraforming of Mars
Much of the CRISPR gene editing done on bacteria is primarily for the eventual purpose of terraforming Mars, which could be started at most 1000 years into the future. Teaming up with LFA, Greater Illinois, and (possibly) Byzantium, Mars will eventually be made a habitable world of its own that can allow a human to live on the surface without the use of a space suit.

Energy Production
Numbers are in billions of kilowatt-hours per year.
 * Total: 5,595
 * H-He nuclear fusion: 4,150
 * Fossil fuel: 845
 * Nuclear fission: 450
 * Wind: 87
 * Solar: 55
 * Hydro: 8

Science Education

 * Percentage of schools teaching biological evolution: 98%
 * Percentage of schools teaching creation: 5%
 * Percentage of schools teaching round earth: ~100%
 * Percentage of schools teaching recent creation: 0.5%
 * Views on the origins of humanity:
 * Humans arose due to natural processes: 76%
 * Humans arose due to natural processes, with divine help: 12%
 * Humans were created no more than 10k years ago: 2%
 * Uncertain: 10%
 * Views on age of the earth:
 * Conventional age of 4.5 billion years: 88%
 * Under 10,000 years: 2%
 * Uncertain: 10%
 * View on shape of the earth:
 * Roughly spherical: 95%
 * Flat: 0.5%
 * Uncertain: 4.5%
 * View on the earth's interior:
 * Filled/Not Hollow: 96.5%
 * Hollow: 0.5%
 * Uncertain: 3%
 * View on chemtrails:
 * Real threat: 0.4%
 * Hoax: 92.6%
 * Uncertain: 7%
 * View on MSG:
 * Safe: 95%
 * Dangerous: 3.5%
 * Uncertain: 1.5%
 * View on climate change:
 * It's a real thing, and humans are/were part of the problem: 83%
 * It's a real thing, but humans are/were not a part of the problem: 9%
 * It doesn't exist: 1%
 * Uncertain: 7%