V The King

OOC: It's a terribly expensive and long project with a plethora of engineering complexities and exorbitant maintenance costs. Not to mention that to generate any kind of revenue, a space-based industry would have to be established. Also, could we please keep things within Planet Bob?

OOC: You guys are mad. I definitively won't recognize any space elevator.

While Viniland has not signed article IV, we will commit financial aid to the Imperium in order to restore destroyed infrastructure.

Signed for Viniland: Vicente d'Albuquerque, Monarch of Viniland Bernardo Vidal, Prime Minister Juca Álvez, Minister of Foreign Affairs The Vinilandese Parliament

We thank the Eggman Empire for its offer, but we'd rather not rely on foreign aid in order to bring up our budget - we still hope we can finish the year in the green, although I'll take some well-placed cuts and taxes to do so...

Nationwide EMP-Proofing in progress Nadrink, Distretto Federal: Last week, after multiple polls showed that the population was mostly in support of a nationwide EMP proofing campaign, the Parliament voted on and approved a bill which would make mandatory for all government electronic equipments and buildings to be protected against potential E-bomb attacks (along with any military object, from tanks to radars), and highly encourage privately-owned equipment to be proofed as well, with tax breaks and subsides to those who seek to fully proof their residences and/or equipments against EMP. Massive reforms on public buildings and equipments are currently taking place, with Faraday Shields being devised and built on those. Advanced Faraday Cages and related anti-EMP devices are also being mass-produced by private corporations Elétro-Seguro and Anti-Eletrônicos S.A., intended to be sold to the general public at minimal price. In order to pay for the cost of the proofing and research, the government is heavily taxing the aforementioned corporations (as they're to make an immense fortune despite high taxes), plus temporarily increasing income tax by 5%, which will be decreased back to original levels once most of the nation is prepared against EMP attacks. But the Minister of Finance has also stated that the "budget might look ugly by the end of the year".

This would be correct. We won't sign articles IV and V for the time being, but will do so once our relations with other ATO nations are well improved.

Eh, the Imperium is the one holding the Panama, along with controlling a good part of the coast where most ships tend to pass by. RP as close to your stats as you can.

We're wondering about our application, how it looks for the time being? Also, in case there is an interest in rotating HQ's within the organization, the city of Prince George, located deep within the state of Columbina could be used as a meeting site: it is protected by the Rockies in the East, West and North and the South is easily defensible, with proper aircraft related facilities, bunkers, fortifications, fallout shelters and home to the Luso-Guerreiro regiment, along with components of other regiments and a number of battalions.

It's not an issue for us.

We'll re-iterate our intent of signing the treaty, although we'd like to refrain from signing articles IV and V until we know better the other signatories.

We will let Tahoe know about our progression in the research of anti-EMP devices and means, and we'd be more than happy to share it with our good southern neighbors. OOC: To be fair, I don't have it, either. I'd buy it, but it actually hurts your nation during nuclear war (since you get nuked and the odds of losing a ground battle greatly increases, losing more if you just lost all of your soldiers and got the defeat alert) and serves absolutely no purpose during peacetime. It's dead last in my wonder priority list.

Flags across Viniland flown at half-mast Nadrink, Distretto Federal: In order to remember the millions of Brazilians and people of other nationalities that have perished from the current nuclear war taking place in South America, all flags throughout Viniland were flown at half-mast. Foreign Minister Juca Álvez also gave a speech in regards to the ongoing conflict, condemning the gratuitous use of nuclear weapons and the sudden aggression of some world leaders: "This damning war has ravage much of the South American continent for absolutely no reason at all: a war initiated by three nations against Diberia, using the "necessity for a coastline" as the reason when two of them had access to the ocean, and the third one would still be landlocked when considering the nation they attacked. Great, dozens of nations come to defend Diberia, pouring in a completely unnecessary number of soldiers, I've lost count of how many millions were deployed. Then, the aggressors proceed to make usage of nukes. What for? To boast the ego of a dozen individuals at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives? And to make it even better, the victims decided to step just as low as the attackers and unleash nuclear hell upon the Brazilians, killing millions! Sure, they had the right to enact revenge but... why be just as immoral and lowly as the opponents they despise? Not to mention that while I speak, the Amazon is still burning and the wicked trio of leaders are still alive, despite a death toll of an eight-figure number. A childish, shameful and disgraceful show by three South Americans nations that were seemingly stable and content, and a not very superior one show by those who fought against them. I urge those still fighting to seek peace immediately, else you'll all blow up the whole world next." Other events took place in order to remember the dead, such as special Church congregations, TV documentaries, a nationwide minute of silence and settling and care of the few war refugees who made it to Itamaracá. A crowd observing the minute of silence in a Catholic Church in Nadrink Defense budget greatly increased in order to build fallout shelters and develop anti-EMP measures Nanaimo, Alta Vancavite: Today, the Parliament approved a bill intended to increase Viniland's defense budget by 50%. The reason? To build nuclear shelters, further improve SDI efficiency and research more efficient measures against EMP, while developing some of the country's own EMP weapons. Another bill was voted on and approved, which requires any and all new buildings, either public or private, to include an underground fallout bunker proportional to the size of the structure and existent ones must construct one as well, either underground or within the property, within the time frame of a year. All shelters must also have at least three months' worth of non-perishable food. The government will aim to subside a number of constructions in order to speed up the process. A newly built fallout shelter in a residence. The recent careless use of nuclear weapons became a great concern among the Vinilandese, as said weapons claimed the lives of millions during the war, along with widespread destruction, and the majority of the population does not mind a potential budget deficit, if it is aimed to protect the country and its people against insane leaders. Debate is currently taking place in the government to discuss whether if civilian equipment should be hardened against potential EMP attacks or not, as Rebel Army's usage of the E-Bomb may encourage others to do the same. While hardened equipment would greatly reduce the chances of it being damaged or destroyed and communication could still be effective despite EMP attacks, the costs of adding the protection in every single existing device would be extremely burdensome and costly. A cheaper and more realistic solution is currently being devised.

St. Sebastian's Cathedral fully renovated Calgari, Nova Coimbra: After months of hard and meticulous work, St. Sebastian's Cathedral, located in Central Calgari, has been fully renovated after an accidental fire triggered by multiple short circuits extensively damaged the building. The costs of the repair was estimated at 35 Millions Vinilandese Liras and the money was raised by followers of the Church of Viniland and sympathetic corporations. A photo of the renewed cathedral. Brazilian defensive structures partially completed Salvador, Itamaracá: Today, the last elements of Viniland's nationwide Anti-Air Defense Network and Strategic Defense Initiative were installed at southern Itamaracá, along with coastal guns, land turrets and other buildings. Experimental walls are the next step to the defense network, and should be completed by the end of the year.

Viniland has signed a Non-Aggression Pact with Franzharia. Link: http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showtopic=37815

Parliament passes a bill increasing fuel tax; alternative fuel issue arises Nadrink, Distretto Federal: Two days ago, the Parliament has debated and voted on a bill introduced by King Vicente d'Albuquerque which would increase the tax on gasoline and diesel fuel by 50%, while increase tax on coal by 33%, justifying environmental reasons and the high costs of the revitalization project of Southern Itamaracá; if the bill was to be passed, then the project could be paid for and there'd be a surplus as well, plus it'd give an incentive for individuals and industries to use another sources of fuel. The "cons", of course, would be a dramatic increase of individual transportation costs (as gasoline taxes are more burdensome on consumers than on producers) and also slow down the country's industrial output, as alternative fuel in Viniland (such as hydrogen and ethanol), while slowly replacing gasoline, it's not expanding fast enough due to both the government's and private corporations' inability to decide on a single alternative, thus greatly increasing the difficulty of having a good distribution network of a single fuel. However, pretty much all Vinilandese cities have a comprehensive public transportation system ran on alternative sources, thus also being an option in case gas gets too expensive. During the debates, it was decided that the bill had to be amended so instead, tax on gas and diesel would be increased by 33%, and on coal, 25%; the surplus that would come from higher figures is not truly needed as Viniland's money reserves are doing well. It passed with a near unanimous support and approved by both the Prime Minister and Monarch. The bill was made into law and enforced yesterday. The effects of the tax increase were felt almost immediately. Gas and diesel prices across the country increased by 25% overnight, shocking consumers as they expected the bill to not pass at all due to the Monarchists party's (ruling party, plurality on parliament) original indifference to environmental/fuel issues. While the vast majority of the urban population has some kind of alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles, which may or may not be cheaper than gas, the price increase will particularly affect rural workers, whom has traditionally relied on fossil fuel for transportation. A frustrated farmer from Nova Coimbra made a statement to the V.B.N.: "I've always used my gas powered truck to move around because hydrogen cars are currently too expensive to maintain, and as for electric cars, the closest charging station is what, fifty kilometers away from my area? I'd waste half of my day just refueling, and a large portion of the fuel itself on the journey to the station. If there was a more comprehensive alternative fuel distribution, maybe I'd consider switching, but now I have to suck up the higher price. At least, for now, I can survive." Tomorrow, there will be a convention in Kelowna, where heads of major factories and corporations, along with some government members, will discuss use of renewable fuel and attempt to settle on a single alternative.

Hm, didn't Shan Revan make one as well?

You guys say it's infrequent, I've gotten at least eight of them since the event update. Of course, before that, I've had only 4 over the course of a year and a few months.

Schistosomiasis reported to be "a common disease" in the countryside of newly acquired Eastern Bahia Juazeiro, Itamaracá: After Vinilandese researchers studied the health situation of the new Vinilandese subjects living in Eastern Bahia (Southern Itamaracá), it was discovered that as many as 20% of the population living outside cities had been infected with the Schistosoma parasite. A number of reasons were found to be responsible for the situation, the primary one being the pollution of the already scarce water sources in the region, which greatly facilitates the spread of the disease. Poor education in regards to the causes of the condition plus a decayed healthcare system also allowed Schistosomiasis to run about mostly unchecked. The Vinilandese Parliament has passed a bill which will provide enough funds for the Ministry of Health so they can create a eradication campaign to wipe off the Schistosoma from Viniland. A number of other projects were also approved, which will aim on cleaning up local rivers (namely the São Francisco river) and found an intensive education program to, well, educate the rural population of southern Itamaracá. As a preventive measure, the Army will police over areas where the disease occurs in order to prevent its spread. A soldier greets several children from an afflicted village

I've been getting events one after the other, lately... five in the time frame of a month and a half. As soon as one expires, I get another one. 'Tis pretty crazy. I can't complain a lot, since four of them were positive and only the one I got right now was negative. Although it's pretty frustrating how "bad" the negative events are compared to the "good" ones, a negative easily outclasses two or three good ones at once.

Much more oil is drilled than expected; lower related product prices throughout the country Calgari, Nova Coimbra: Viniland has plenty of oil within its territory, most of which are located within the province of Nova Coimbra and extracted by ViniPetro, the largest oil producer in Viniland (and state owned), Petróleo & Cia. and Ouro Negro (privately owned companies based in Viniland), with tinier corporations and foreign companies having a small share of the extraction. It has been usually pretty tough to extract from such sands, meaning most of the oil was not possible to recover without spending too much for too little, but with the progression of technology, an ever increasing percentage of the oil was able to be extracted for cheaper. With even more effective recovering processes being developed and put into use not long ago, oil production in the area exceeded expectations by a lot, and thus there was a large surplus of the product. Initially, all of the major companies who extracted the oil intended to hold onto the surplus so the price would not go on a free fall. However, due to strong public pressure, ViniPetro ended up releasing a portion of the surplus to the public, with Petróleo & Cia. and Ouro Negro being compelled to follow suit in order to not lose customers. This resulted in a significant reduction of the price of oil derivatives across the nation, such as plastic, paraffin and gasoline. The population is generally content with the price reductions, polls revealed. OOC: Got that oil price drop event. EDIT: FFF, I just paid bills for the update and I got the virus one. Oh well, I'll RP that tomorrow.

Joint protectorate with Imperium of America split and dissolved. Recife, Itamaracá: A few days ago, the nations of Viniland, Legendis and Imperium of America agreed to partition the Viniland/IoA protectorate between themselves. Viniland's claims were extended to Eastern Bahia, while IoA got Western Bahia and Legendis, Espírito Santo. All of Viniland's new territory were incorporate into the state of Itamaracá, although there are talks of splitting the area into two states. There was a significant increase in population as the major urban center of Salvador was incorporated, along with smaller ones such as Feira De Santana and Juazeiro. Major revitalization will take place mainly on those cities in order to include typical Vinilandese public services and help their life rating increase until they match Viniland's average standards. A photo of a southern neighborhood in the city of Salvador

Don't you worry, you'll also end up going with the flow.

I fully agree with this man. I don't even have all of the resources for it (no Cattle, since I got Furs and Marble. ), and the set has worked well for me.

That's a good idea. I've thought about it as well, but I didn't think it'd be very well received.