It's an inside job

The screen suddenly changes to show the crab-thing's frustration

I AM NOT AMUSED BY YOUR INSOLENCE, GO BACK TO THE [PREVIOUS PAGE] AND TRY AGAIN

The End 2: History's choice, but not the right choice

You do as Bush actually did, and justify the 9/11 bombings as a way to involve Iraq in a meaningless war. Your approval ratings skyrocket and you help "protect" the nation from this imaginary threat of a global Terrorist Network of sleeper cells, but in doing so you've doomed thousands of American lives and even more civilians in the coming Iraq an Afghanistan wars. Not much else can be said about the consequences of your decision, other than it pleased the public. 

YOU FOOL! I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF YOUR PAST PRESIDENT, BUT INSTEAD YOU REPEAT HIS ACTIONS AND START THE IRAQ WAR. WHILE THERE ARE BENEFITS FOR YOU AND THE NATION WITH THIS OPTION, YOU WILL FOREVER BE REMEMBERED AS THE SOLE CAUSE FOR A COSTLY AND UNNECESSARY WAR.

-You're ejected from the Time Machine, but you find yourself to be in front of your 1st period class, freshman year. You're 10 minutes late-

[closing statement]

The End 1: The right choice, but not History's choice

You don't start the War in Iraq, and as a result your neo-conservative friends in the Presidential Cabinet all hate you. Good job losing your friends, loser. While you saved the United States from an unreal threat, you have done nothing to deal with the threat of this terrorist organization and as such your approval ratings plummet. You don't get re-elected and who knows what would happen after that.

WELL, YOU SEEM TO BE FAIRLY REASONABLE. YOU DIDN'T INVOLVE AN INNOCENT REGIME INTO A BLOODY, OIL DRIVEN WAR BUT YOU SUFFERED THE CONSEQUENCES OF A SOCIETY THAT'LL BE DISAPPOINTED IN WHAT YOU (the president) DO WITH ANY DECISION. I HOPE YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM THESE TRIALS, AND YOU ARE NOW FREE TO GO TO CLASS

-You're dropped out of the Time Machine, and you still manage to be 10 minutes late to 1st period-

[closing statement]

Closing Statement

Thank you so much for actually taking the time out of your day to go through my Contemporary Issues final project, it means a whole lot (not really) to me :). There is a bunch of material I wasn't able to cover in this project, and I feel I already made it too bloated for a Choose Your Own Adventure based around geopolitics and events in history. If I had the time in the week to do so, I'd make a 2nd final project talking just about the consequences of either expanding America's "Benevolent Hegemony" or to go back to having more Isolationist ideals, but I don't cuz of other finals. yay.

If you want to do more CYOA blogs that I made as history finals, check out http://anadventureatyourfingertips.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-stonepage-homepage.html

Bush's shoes

It is 12 hours after the twin towers were attacked, and you're having to decide what to say in your upcoming address to the public. You remember that Bush really doesn't like Saddam Hussein because he survived the Gulf War, but you have a lot of evidence that he wasn't involved in the attacks and isn't harboring weapons of mass destruction. Maybe there is some global network of terrorist sleeper cells, created only so you and the Neo-conservatives can have a way to scare the public and justify the next two wars. You're presented with two options: 
[Admit that Iraq is in no way involved in the attacks and don't start one of the most expensive and useless wars in American History, but not directly address the issue at hand which is some Terrorist group that has a Jihad against the United States]
OR
[Get Iraq involved by using the age old tactic of "Proof by lack of dis-proof", but also make it look like you're addressing the problem of this "Al Qaeda" terrorist group and satisfy the Country's desperate need for revenge]

You didn't attack the Ruskies!

GOOD JOB SAPIEN, THOUGH YOU SAID YOU WERE NAIVE YOU SURE HAVE LEARNED A LOT FROM THE DISCUSSIONS IN THIS CLASS AND THE GUEST LECTURE YOU HAD FROM MR. PETTIGREW

NOW, FOR YOUR FINAL CHALLENGE, YOU MUST DEAL WITH THE MORE RECENT DILEMMA OF WHAT TO DO IN RESPONSE TO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND PENTAGON BOMBINGS OF 9/11
[enter Bush's shoes]

The Blue Pill

My oh my, this plan might actually work. You position the Navy to blockade the ports of Cuba, stopping Ruskie battleships from entering the country and providing more nuclear weapons and stuff. However, the Soviet ships get extremely close to your, 100% Freedom ships and things get a bit dicey. You must either [Engage the Soviet ships first], or [Not do anything and hope that one Soviet ship commander doesn't torpedo your freedom]

Good luck, Captain

WHOOOOOSH, you're instantly in JFK's shoes, even though he died a couple links ago. Oh well, this is a time traveling crab's machine, anyway. You're presented with two plans of action: 
Nevermind, I'll let your little advisers tell you the details.

"Ahem, mr. President sir. We have concluded that there are only two viable plans of action to eliminate this Soviet threat from our extreme proximity."

(You) "And they are..?"

(Adviser) "Our first option is to invade Cuba with a full force attack and apprehend the missiles ourselves. The other option is to blockade the Country and stop Soviet ships from entering it's ports, which could also start conflict."

(You again) "I see....."

[Take Red Pill, otherwise known as invading Cuba]

[Take Blue Pill, otherwise known as blockading the country]

The right answer

The screen changes to show the crab, not bound by space or time, to be delighted in your correct answer.
GOOD, YOU ARE CORRECT. NOW FOR YOUR NEXT CHALLENGE, YOU SHALL BE IN COMMAND OF THE ENTIRE NAVY AND ARMY DURING THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. DON'T MESS UP.




[The Big Red Button lights up, with a cute little cigar icon on it]

Reconvening and JFK

After dealing with (or avoiding, if you were a wimp that thought you'd learn something from joining the Army) the harsh lessons that this grand country learned from the Vietnam War, you return to the almost comfortable enclosed quarters of the Time Machine. While you're waiting for the crab guy to show up and tell you what's gonna happen next, you wonder why they even let a highschool enroll in the military. I mean really, who would believe you to be an 18 year old? 

STOP THINKING MORTAL, THAT WAS BUT THE FIRST OF YOUR CHALLENGES. THERE IS MORE TO LEARN FROM THE VIETNAM WAR, AND THAT IS THE ASSASSINATION OF JFK.

"Oh cool, I learned a lot about this from Mr. Flower's presentation on the 50th anniversary of his assassination!"

GOOD, GOOD. WELL THEN, RIDDLE ME THIS:

[WERE THERE MULTIPLE SHOOTERS, ALL OF WHOM TIED TO THE RUSSIAN SECRET SERVICE, LEE HARVEY OSWALD WAS SET UP, AND LBJ KNEW ABOUT THE ASSASSINATION AND DIDN'T STOP IT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO BECOME PRESIDENT AND DRAG OUT THE VIETNAM WAR?]

OR,

[WAS LEE HARVEY OSWALD THE ONLY SHOOTER, AND THE "MAGIC BULLET" THAT KILLED JFK ACTUALLY CAME FROM LEE'S RIFLE, EVEN THOUGH SOME FILMS DEPICT JFK'S BODY MOVING IN WAYS THAT WOULD MAKE PEOPLE THINK OTHERWISE?]

Smart choice, you get to sit on a boat

You're feeling confident with your decision as you walk into the Navy recruitment office, knowing that instead of risking your life in the war you can just sit on a boat outside some country and wait for it all to be over. Preliminary tests show you can't really swim or be of much use to the Military with your photography skills, so you and Mr. Pettigrew get to spend a few years in the Radio training school. You, being a smart (still naive) and extremely competitive LASA student, aim to be first in your class.
"Congratulations, you won 1st place! Your options for deployment are: Vietnam, Vietnam, or Vietnam"
"Gosh darn it!" You yell out, but you knew that was gonna be the case. You pick the first option, and become a Radio Operator Missile Detector Thingy guy that sits on a big 'ol bomber plane that strafes the canopy, blowing up SA missiles so they don't kill the actual bomber planes way up above you. 
At least you're not the guy that got the job of operating the Sonar of a Battleship in the Bay of Tonkin, cuz you probably would've caused the entirety, all 18 years, of the Vietnam War, with your terrible operations of a Radio. 

After serving your time in the US Navy, you come home to a country that hates you for no justified reason. Some of your friends over there were drafted, and were living wonderful lives until they were dragged into this war by the United States government. College students spit at you and call you profane names because you wore the same uniform as some truly terrible people that did some terrible things in the villages of Vietnam's jungles, but they don't care; in their minds all veterans are evil people. You have to take this shit that Society gives you for the rest of your life, except Just Kidding you're able to get back in the time machine now [Get back in Time Machine, saving you from emotional trauma]

Oh Look, He joined the Army

Right after being dropped from the Time Machine and you walk into the recruitment office, you're greeted by an unfriendly face. Before you can change your mind, the Sergeant slaps a sticker on you and you're on the next plane to Vietnam (It's not actually the 1950s, mr. Krab lied; it's 1967). You've been assigned to Bravo Company, 25th Infantry Division alongside your good friend, Charlie Sheen.




You figure this can't be too bad, at least you're serving your country, but you know how the movie ends and you want to get out of it. You locate Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes (the mean one) and clean shop, altering the flow of time and ruining the entire movie that's about to unfold. "Oh well, I just want to get on to the next challenge so I can get home and finish my Philosophy project"



Running through the wilderness, you flee the now hostile American Military until the Time Machine reappears, and whisks you away from all your problems [ENTER TIME MACHINE]

The First Trial

All of a sudden the machine lurches forward, moving in a dimension that's probably created by Humans solely for their interpretation of the universe (Time). Then, decelerating from some un-conceivable speed back down to about 10 MPH. That weird crab guy reappears on the screen:

I SEE YOU DIDN'T DIE ON RECONFIGURATION, LUCKY YOU. I HAVE TAKEN YOU TO THE 1950'S FOR YOUR FIRST TEST;

YOU MUST DECIDE WHICH BRANCH OF 

THE MILITARY TO ENLIST IN (NO, YOU CAN'T PICK "NONE OF THE ABOVE")

Hovering above the recruiting stations, you realize your choices are pretty limited; It's either the Navy or the Army (The airforce is filled up). 

[JOIN THE ARMY]                                                                                  [JOIN THE NAVY]

[START HERE] The Beginning of a Journey..

You, a naive LASA student who just finished their Contemporary Issues final project, stumble upon this magic time machine as you're eagerly waiting for classes to start one Monday morning.
"Hmm, that's interesting,"
 you mumble as you head towards the random machine that will possibly end your life in the next few hyperlinks. As you're climbing inside the cramped, one person cabin of the machine, a faint whisper lets out the sentence, "Curiosity killed the cat, didn't it?"
Too late though, because soon as you fit yourself inside the cabin the only escape slams closed, and a figure forms on the screen above your head:

FOOLISH HUMAN, YOU HAVE DOOMED YOURSELF TO THE FATE OF RELIVING THE MISTAKES OF YOUR PREVIOUS AMERICAN HEROES

"Well crap, looks like I'm going to be late to 1st period without it being on purpose-"

SILENCE! I, THE OMNIPOTENT SEER OF THE SANDS OF TIME, NOW GIVE YOU TWO OPTIONS:

[PRESS THE LARGE BUTTON,

 IT'LL TAKE YOU BACK IN TIME] 

OR

[PUNCH THE SCREEN THAT I INHABIT, WHICH'LL DO THE SAME THING]

The Red Pill

(Wow, you actually chose this option) Everything blows up. 

By invading Cuba, you started a nuclear war between the two great powers of the world, the Soviet Union and the United States. Everything is irradiated and you die. Good thing the time traveling crab did what his name implies, travel in time, and rescue your sorry behind from utter failure. Go back to the previous page.