Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Newsweek'.
-
We've now been in a global war for over two months. Just how much stuff has been destroyed? Overall Size of the top 80 on 16th January: 13.9k members, 375m NS, 66.0m infra, 19.3m tech, 86.4k nukes Size of the top 80 on 23rd March: 12.8k members, 269m NS, 46.2m infra, 15.3m tech, 62.0k nukes Bearing in mind that some alliances dropped out of the top 80 and were replaced by those with lower losses, and that some alliances outside the top 80 will have lost significant amounts of strength too, this is a conservative calculation, but one for which the figures are easily available (through my wiki page's history) to me. Obviously it also excludes unaligned nations and micro-alliances disconnected from politics, but that's what best shows how the war is affecting the alliances which are playing the political game, which are those that drive discussion and future events. Thus, the simplistic answer is that this war has wiped out over 100 million NS – roughly equivalent to the top 13 alliances put together, and over a quarter of the politically active NS – along with a quarter of the world's infra (around 1000 infra for every nation) and fired a third of its nukes. It's also caused around 1000 nations to cease to exist. However, for a true measure of the scale of the damage, we should also compensate for the growth that would have happened during those two months. To do that, let's look at the growth in the previous two months, as November to January were relatively peaceful (the two main incidents, Athens-Ni and Supergrievances-TPF, did not escalate to a full scale war). The member count between November and January did not change much, so the 1000 nations lost during the conflict are almost certainly due to the war. In November the total NS was 357m, so we'd expect roughly another 18m strength during a two month period, bringing the total actual loss up to around 120 million. This pushes the total loss nearer to 100m than 90m but doesn't greatly affect matters. Two million infra was built in those two months, so the extra two million built and lost in the war makes little difference to the scale of the damage there. And 1.3m tech was generated in those two months for top 80 alliances, and including the 1.3m expected growth in the last two months means that the loss is over 5 million tech. So, as a rough measure, the materials lost so far by politically active alliances in this war, in total, are 120 million NS, 20 million infra and 5.3 million tech, between 25 and 30 per cent of the initial amounts. TOP/IRON As the two alliances ending up on the losing side of the war, with their coalition abandoning them or receiving peace, these two former giants have ended up fighting a rearguard action against a far superior force for a long time, and their losses are accordingly large. (DAWN and TORN weren't in the top 80 so I don't have stats for them. Ask UE .) During the period 16th Jan-23rd March, their losses were: TOP: 15.7m NS, 2.12m infra, 1.17m tech -> 3.9m NS, 0.32m infra, 0.48m tech Loss: 11.6m NS (74%), 1.80m infra (85%), 0.69m tech (59%) IRON: 13.6m NS, 2.29m infra, 0.70m tech -> 3.73m NS, 0.47m infra, 0.32m tech Loss: 9.9m NS (73%), 1.82m infra (79%), 0.38m tech (46%) As expected, both alliances have lost massive amounts of everything, and around three quarters of their strength. C&G Of the C&G alliances, only ODN, MK, Athens, GR and Vanguard have stayed on the web throughout. FoB and =LOST= were on in January and fell out; I've used in game stats from today (25th March) for them. This bloc is winning the war, so the losses are lower than on the other side, but they've still been fighting against some strong alliances, so we'd expect some serious losses here too. Aggregated stats for the whole bloc: Before: 35.8m NS, 6.00m infra, 1.96m tech After: 19.1m NS, 2.84m infra, 1.26m tech Loss: 16.7m NS (47%), 3.16m infra (53%), 0.70m tech (36%) So despite winning the war, this bloc has lost around half its strength and infra, though it does maintain a tech advantage (only losing one third of its tech), perhaps rendering the conflict a strategic advantage in the minds of some. The biggest losses come from FoB and MK, who both lost significantly more than half of their NS; the least from =LOST=. Polaris As the alliance that started the whole thing, got involved on both sides and fought through the entire war, we might expect this alliance to have suffered some major losses as well. However, they've retained a large proportion of their strength and their position on the world stage (stats-wise, at least). January: 14.4m NS, 2.47m infra, 0.76m tech March: 8.7m NS, 1.40m infra, 0.52m tech Loss: 5.7m NS (40%), 1.07m infra (43%), 0.24m tech (32%) We can see that despite their actions, Polar have actually received less damage than C&G, although they have still taken a serious beating. Most of the damage to Polar will be done in the political sphere, as their actions during this war have alienated almost every other major alliance. Other fronts These three main points of analysis account for 43.6m of the 120m total NS loss, and 2.25m of the 5.3m total tech loss, so between half and two thirds of the damage (within the top 80) is spread out over the other fronts of the war. The Superfriends and Remnant power clusters, and C&G hangers-on, will have shared that out between themselves. Conclusion As has been clear since the moment FOK and the Stickmen decided to turn Polar's initial ill-judged attack into a global war, an awful lot of damage is being done for no great reason. Both TOP/IRON and C&G have lost far more, both materially and strategically, by their choices – to open that front on the one hand, and to continue it for so long on the other – if this front had been closed at the same time as the others, everyone involved would be better off. All participants are losing significant ground to the non-participants (the headliner being NPO) and to alliances that have participated in a minor or short way, like SF or parts of the ex-Hegemony. The war should never have started, and it should have ended every day for the past 60. TOP's apparently enormous stack of technology has been largely demolished, giving the lie to the idea that tech inflation is inevitable and that a militarily elite alliance can't be brought down. Tech is not as easily destroyable as infra but nor is it impossibly slow to destroy. The big winners are NPO, obviously, the neutral alliances, and also UPN, GATO and Legion, who all move to the area around the sanction line. And perhaps most of all, SF, who now easily hold the balance of power over a weakened C&G in the 'Supergrievances' megacluster, and have seen two other competing power clusters (Citadel and Frostbite) disappear entirely. Note: if you want copypasta of the data feel free to PM me, though I just grabbed it from the MDP web history.
-
As the week comes to a close, so does the core conflict that has shaped it. The war is not over, as it has spawned a new front, but the story seems clearer now than it has for many days. So what exactly is the story? The incident that triggered the chain of events leading up to the war starts with an alliance-wide tech raid on the alliance FoA by Poison Clan, GOONS and \m/. This incident was brought into the public eye by Alterego. Very rapidly, before most of the commentators had even seen the incident, FoA were given a temporary (though not retroactive, i.e. no reparations were sought) protectorate from The Corporation, and the immediate conflict was over before it began. However, there was significant moral outrage over the tech raiding of a large alliance, particularly its proximity to the very similar raid on the Knights of Ni by Athens only two months earlier. That incident resulted in strong diplomatic pressure on Athens, an apology and reparations (donations for Ni nations. One man in particular whose moral outrage was important is AlmightyGrub, Emperor of the New Polar Order. He had the power to act upon his outrage, and proceeded to enter diplomatic talks with his allies, GOONS, to encourage them not to raid alliances in future – which they agreed to. The next stop was \m/, with the intent of pressuring them into accepting the same thing. What he met there was racist epithets, some directed at him directly, and an attitude (also visible in other public threads) of 'do something about it'. On the update of 20th-21st, this resulted in Polaris declaring war on \m/ 'to preserve the standards of our community', referring both to the tech raiding of alliances and to the attitude shown by \m/ to him and others. Poison Clan counter-declared at the next update (21st-22nd) in accordance with their MDP. The war expanded into a global affair with the entrance of FOK on the 24th. (The thread is on the 25th because these forums were down for most of the 24th.) After that, and the counter-declarations by Polar's allies NSO, many alliances jumped in on both sides. A complete breakdown of declarations and sides can be found on the public record; by and large the war was Superfriends and LEO against the Polar and ex-Hegemony power spheres, but many alliances had not yet engaged. On the update of the 28th-29th, two very important events occurred. First, TOP declared war on C&G – followed shortly afterwards by IRON, DAWN and TORN, and countered by Sparta and others. C&G were at this point not directly involved in the war, although widely expected to be assigned as counter-attackers against the major powers, and this declaration opened up a whole new front. Half an hour later, the initial combatants declared peace, followed later on the 29th by the rest of the fronts, leaving an entirely new picture of the war: TOP, IRON and a few others against the massive might of C&G and their treaty partners. Since then, many more alliances have piled onto TOP and IRON, including Härmlins (betraying TOP?). What was intended to be a part of a coalition war has turned into the war, and it's currently keeping GRL high.
-
The story 2009 is entirely centred around one thing: Karma. At the beginning of 2009, the cornerstone of the Hegemony (Continuum) was beginning to crack, after Grämlins' departure, and the trend continued in January with FOK's departure. After the removal of BLEU and One Vision from the picture during the BLEU war in 2008, Continuum was the headline bloc of the hegemony, and the loss of two of its stronger alliances in a month left its sheen of invulnerability damaged. The visible state of affairs did not change greatly until March, when Viridia jumped across the treaty web from the Hegemony to Superfriends, where they remained through the rest of the year. This programme carried details of the political movements earlier in the year, with FOK, Sparta and Ragnarok joining VE in making moves away from the hegemony. The grip of the old guard alliances over politics was shown to be weakening by the release of GATO from terms and the stopping of EZI. But it was not enough. As everybody knows, war broke out soon afterwards, in a combination of paranoia, strategy and incompetence, as NPO, TPF and TORN took the opportunity to strike OV while the iron was hot. It didn't have the effect they were hoping for, as crucial diplomatic errors drove key alliances TOP, MHA and NpO to the Karma side or at least away from Hegemony. A contemporary analysis from this show was aired in late April explains in more detail why the war was lost from the beginning, a result which shaped not only the rest of the year but that of 2010 and probably beyond. That war was not a foregone conclusion in principle, and a quick look at the world we would be in today had it been executed differently would be chastening to those who claim that nothing has changed. An unfettered Hegemony, victorious and unchallenged with its more moderate elements having left and been destroyed, would have returned to the dark ways of the Unjust. But the mistakes were made, Karma became the unstoppable cannonball, and Hegemony lost. Our friends over at the History Show made a prescient contemporary history review in July, when the final fronts were still being fought, and their conclusions largely remain the case. TORN, the forgotten alliance, never recovered from its Karma era decline and sits today at 40 members and out of influence, a shadow of its pre-Karma self. Domestically, and on an alliance level, 2009 was a year of mixed fortunes. As a part of the Grämlins leadership, Seria grew into a top 50 nation and was part of a successful military campaign against IRON in Karma. The alliance rose to as high as 11th in the global rankings, commanding 9 million NS and great influence on the world stage. But after Karma, the alliance went into a decline, first with the creation of Kronos (of the founder members, several were Grämlins) and then a gradual trickle of highly respected long time or founder members leaving to find new challenges. Today, that alliances sits at 69 members and under 6 million NS, in 24th strongest and a marginal political position. In November, Seria became the latest to look for a new start, resigning its membership of the alliance and joining Viridia. The Entente was battered and bruised in Karma, losing over 2 million strength and a sanction, and is in a different centre of power to our old friends (many of whom hopped across the border into TOP), but its sense of morality and justice is in line with the Serian approach to life. Having always been geographically in the Green sphere, being for a long time an outpost of Aquatic politics, a return to full Greenness is generally appreciated within our nation. We retain a top 50 position, and for the first time hold a no. 1 in an alliance. Viridia has regained its sanction. 2009 threatened to end in an orgy of destruction, but cooler heads – within and without the Entente – have prevailed and 2010 looks set to be another year of prosperity and growth for Seria and her new alliance!
-
This week has seen the entire world shaken. Radiation levels are the highest ever, casualty counts across the globe are rising as fast as ever, almost ever major alliance is engaged in war, and the impregnable hegemony of the last 18 months is crashing down. Like many major wars [OOC: in RL too] the catalyst was the mass of treaties held by every alliance, the fuel tension built up under the crushing weight of the web, and the spark a minor war that in normal times would have been complained about but not acted upon. After the treaty carnage of late March and early April that featured in last week's show, the alliances now at the core of the Hegemony (NPO, TPF and Valhalla) along with TORN acted quickly to strike while the treaty web was to their advantage – before TOP and MHA could leave the hegemony. The target chosen was Ordo Verde, a minor alliance but with connections to the recent centre of attention, Viridia, and also to Superfriends. The aim was to start a quick and clean proxy war to remove these threats to the hegemon and to restore their strength advantage, which had been eroded by Viridia's defection, and also by the actual and rumoured leaving of three major alliances from Continuum. The casus belli was widely denounced as hypocritical – centring as it did around the taking of intelligence by OV, while Emperor Revenge of the NPO admitted that his own alliance regularly accepted intelligence, and while TPF were making use of received intelligence in the pre-war negotiations. One major mistake had already been made. The hegemony had underestimated the level of resentment that had built up among non-affiliated alliances, and the level of resolve that unwarranted aggression would not stand. Around the end of March, when there were credible rumours of an attack on Viridia, Serian military commanders were invited to participate in initial defensive planning talks in case of that attack, along with several other representatives of alliances that could be implicated. While that issue never progressed beyond rumour, it indicated the level of worry about, and willingness to participate in a defence against, hegemony aggression. The second mistake was probably the fatal one. Talks were ongoing between representatives of Viridia and Ordo Verde and NPO, TORN and TPF to attempt to come to an agreement over a fair and peaceful resolution to the original issue (reception of intelligence on both sides). The Order of the Paradox were also present in the talks as a mediator, a role for which their calmness and willingness to work towards solutions was very fitting. As the talks ran on towards update, without informing most of their allies, the New Pacific Order declared war on OV, along with TORN. Declaring war in the middle of peace negotiations made sure that the NPO would keep its mantle as the unpopular side, and doing so also alienated TOP; doing so without informing their allies alienated important tactical alliances like Polaris and MHA, and even One Vision alliances. This mistake resulted in a significant rebalancing of the potential sides, strengthened the resolve of the coalition that became Karma and encouraged alliances with ties to both sides to commit to the opposition. The third mistake was done when the NPO attempted to dig its way out of the hole it had created with the first two. Seeing the potential losing situation, they entered into preliminary discussions with Archon of Mushroom Kingdom (who had taken over de facto leadership of Karma) about a ceasefire, without informing their war partners in TORN. TORN felt betrayed and in turn negotiated a withdrawal from the war of their own, leaving Pacifica momentarily alone against OV's direct allies. Most of NPO's allies cancelled mutual aggression treaties in a statement of disappointment, but they maintained their defensive treaties and in the end almost all of them did enter on the Hegemony side. Several of these alliances now share with Pacifica the distinction of the largest losers of alliance strength – Karma had planned for the counter-punch and were ready for it. TOP and MHA issued their notice to leave the Continuum (and the Hegemony), and eventually both became involved on the side of Karma, probably a direct result of Pacifica's poor diplomacy, and likely to be the swing that dooms the Hegemony. In a situation not seen for a very long time, several alliances with nothing but friendly relations have been drawn into war against each other due to treaty commitments and wider political concerns. Seria itself is under full military alert and has traded nuclear strikes with IRON nations, an alliance which has historically been well regarded domestically. MHA, too, are fighting IRON and share good relations. Invicta is fighting many alliances with whom it formerly had relations that were at worst neutral. Orange is split, with its largest alliance opposed to most of the rest. MCXA is fighting against several of its former treaty partners, as is NPO. Old Guard fights opposed to the rest of Citadel. A global war truly cuts through the web of treaties and exposes the true friendships. But the statistics show clearly who is going to emerge as the winner in this war. The loose, spontaneous confederation of alliances who have taken the name of Karma are losing NS, as it to be expected in a global war. But the five worst hit alliances are all part of the treaty-bound Hegemony. The five worst hit nations are all in the Hegemony. Surrenders to Karma now outnumber several well known alliances. The NPO has lost one quarter of its strength in a week. When the world emerges from this storm, everything we have come to know as part of the geopolitical system will be left broken and washed up on the shores of a new, clean politics. Seria may be sacrificing much for this. But it is a proud time to be Serian. Our nation is at the forefront of sweeping away the old order, a mission attempted once before (and failed) but one that this time will succeed.
-
After a long period of political stability, politics is back in the news – and how. Viridia made the first waves, after a minor diplomatic incident with the International over the aftermath of a forgotten war turned ugly and offended diplomatic sensibilities. Viridia's treaties with IRON, NPO and GGA disappeared at a stroke back at the end of March in a move that surprised analysts worldwide, moving them away from One Vision and into the waiting arms of the Superfriends (particularly GOD). Monos Archein soon followed with their cancellation on the NPO. More headline cancellations on the NPO and their allies followed as April moved forward: Sparta on TPF on the 5th, FOK on the 10th, and Ragnarok on the 11th (having also downgraded their treaty with NATO on the 9th). On the 15th, Sparta announced their withdrawal from Continuum, lending credence to recent rumours of major internal tension in that bloc and meaning that it has now lost a quarter of its signatories – so far. Late breaking news: TORN also cancels its treaty with Viridia. Dark Evolution withdraws from the Watling Street Compact TPF also announced a 'cancellation' of their MDP with Valhalla, but this was widely seen as a prelude to an upgrade to MADP, considering the historic similarities in the alliances' positions – an interpretation greatly supported by the publication of a screenshot of the TPF boards indicating that to be the case. In the same announcement TPF publically denounced the practice of EZI, a surprise move to many and one followed shortly afterwards by the New Pacific Order, who also released GATO from their viceroyship – a move decried by some critics as populist, but almost universally supported by Serian commentators. (GATO also signed a PIAT with the NPO immediately after receiving the keys to the Cabinet Office, which attracted predictable mentions of Stockholm Syndrome.) In a similar vein, NPO, IRON and Valhalla released the high profile ZI listed Johnathan Brookbank. Various other cancellations or downgrades also took place: MCXA-TTK, MCXA-FCC, UCN-Legion, CSN-USN – but these were not seen by Serian analysts as significant. Amidst all the treaty carnage, the rehabilitation of MK from global pariah status continued with defence treaties at the end of March with our very own Grämlins and FOK, and a PIAT with the NPO. And Argent received the multiple blessings of most of Citadel, signing defence treaties in short order with four of the five alliances. The C&G bloc increased its strength markedly with the addition of Greenland Republic. The sands of time are shifting under the feet of global political institutions once again. Let us hope that our national and alliance government can maintain a secure foundation during this time of change!
-
The quiet of December continued through a generally festive Solstice celebration season, with FAN's threats of an interesting 'Give a Gun' event coming to nothing, and politics slowing to a crawl with almost every nation across the globe celebrating some variant of Solstice feast. Possibly the most meaningful announcement is the completion of Mushroom Kingdom's reparation payments, and their immediate re-signing of the MDP with Greenland Republic. With Polaris most of the way through their own payments, and regaining a sanction, the re-emergence of a quasi-BLEU is the likely outcome in the near future. The Grämlins' great friends at Umbrella and MHA got together with a very welcome mutual defence pact, which sees the MHA signed and sealed with the three largest Citadel alliances. The peace was shattered in some corners of the world by the Christmas War (Christmas being the name associated with the Solstice festival, specifically the 25th, in the widely held Christian culture), but the alliances involved were all far from Seria and these effects hardly registered here. Hostilities were brief and anded the next day. 2008 ended with a bang for the USA, with a single misplaced tech raid escalating to a full scale declaration of war from Ordo Verde and their big brothers in the Viridian Entente. Political commentators are almost uniformly negative, and the Foreign Minister issued a statement urging for a rapid end to the war and a return to diplomacy. Review of the Year With Seria preparing for the upcoming Grämlin Day celebrations [OOC: the anniversary of Seria's admission to the alliance, 18th January], let us reflect on what has been accomplished in the last year. Thanks to internal growth, recruiting and war damaging other alliances, the Grämlins has moved up to be a creditable 11th strongest in the world. With our closest allies in MHA and TOP coming in at 4th and 7th, and Fark and MCXA both holding a sanction, it has been a great year economically and diplomatically for the alliance. Seria has also done well, with consistent government funding for infrastructure projects and imported technology continuing to increase our presence on the world stage, pushing us to the edge of the top 50 nations worldwide! However, the prohibitively high costs of advanced infrastructure have caused a rethink in the value of growth, and government sources indicate that it is unlikely that Seria will continue that growth into 2009. So 2008 may be remembered as the golden age of Seria. It has been an excellent year for the armed forces, with three BLEU nations dealt with efficiently and with thankfully small damage at home. War is never a good thing to be brought to a nation, but it is occasionally necessary to remove a threat in the present instead of letting it become more dangerous in the future – and most of the fighting was on BLEU soil. Serian commanders performed admirably and several Gold Crosses were awarded. The Prime Minister handled much of the subsequent reparation deals between Polarian nations and Grämlin nations, and as a result Seria's relations with Polaris are much improved since the war. The event of the year of course was the relocation from the Green economic group to the Aqua one. There is still a strong attachment to Green within Seria – perhaps something to do with our flag (OOC: it's mostly green) – but the alliance decision was binding upon Seria and so we bade our former comrades a tearful farewell. Our friends in GUN have since joined us, and most Serians have found that Aqua provides just as plentiful supply of imports and trade agreements as Green ever did. We now take pride in both our Green heritage (including the UJA, in many people's minds) and our ever-extending Aqua history. Elsewhere, we have seen the first anniversary of the second FAN war, making that the longest alliance war in history. We have seen the breaking of the first unbreakable inter-alliance bond, the Ordinance of Order, and the two Orders on opposite sides. And we have seen neutral alliances, first NADC and then the pillar of neutrality, the GPA, embroiled in war. 2008 may have had a peaceful first two quarters in Seria, but as always wars have been taking place elsewhere.
-
It's been another slow week on the news front. The most important events have hardly been announced: first, the New Pacific Order became the first alliance ever to break 20 million strength, which was announced as a postscript to this announcement about a relatively minor alliance completing its reparation payments for the New Polar War; and second, our great friends at the Mostly Harmless alliance broke into seven figures for the first time, which has not been announced at all. Elsewhere, it was apologies taking centre stage. First, Genesis was forced to apologise for the presence of King Penchuk in their government; Penchuk stepped down and is now king of only a single, unaligned nation. And shortly afterwards, in a piece of political irony worthy of a television drama, MCXA had to construct this apology to Bob (OOC: no, the other one ) of Greenland Republic after the discussion of the disbandment of the nation of Sayton got out of hand. Genesis's apology was preceded by the loss of their treaties with the NADC and UBD, but no material damage was done. It was a good week for the left, with the Communist Party of CN signing an optional defence pact with the Dark Fist, and the differences between the socialists of SE and LSF were put aside with this MDP. Earlier, the LSF and CPCN had come together in this MDP, resulting in a socialist pseudo-bloc not seen since the St Patrick's Day Massacre. With no natural opposing force, the fragmented left is finally learning to work together when it no longer needs to. And finally, FAN reminded us that they still exist with the somewhat enigmatic Give a Gun programme. Commentators were unsure as to whether this was a planned Christmas assault, an increase in FAN-supported rogue activity, a warning of another Auric Armada situation or simply a PR stunt. Only time will tell.
-
It's been a quiet week right across the planet, since the publication of the Grämlins Codex a week ago today caused some political activity. The next day, FAN and Vox Populi made public their cooperation with this announcement. The treaty is quite vague in its wording but amounts to a full MADP in the opinion of most Serian commentators. However, it was already well known that FAN and Vox were cooperating with intelligence and espionage services against Pacific nations and other Coalition alliances. Both were already at war with most of the same groups. The only slight surprise was the signature of OcUK, formerly of the BLEU bloc – but OcUK is now the preserve of a few hardcore nations with few people left in them, and has already declared eternal war against Ragnarok, so although their signature on this note of eternal war was surprising, it does not change much. On the 25th, Sparta and RIA signed a mutual defence treaty. It is a fairly standard template MDP, except for the 48 year cancellation clause. It is unlikely that either side will hold the other to that should the worst come to the worst, though. It is the first 'eternal' (i.e. extremely long or uncancellable) treaty to be signed that isn't the result of a longstanding and close relationship, at least on external appearances; and, like all treaties, it can be amended or dissolved by mutual consent at any time. The MDP signed between Legion and the UCN is not particularly relevant in itself, but it also sets an interesting precedent for cancellation clauses, albeit in the other direction. This treaty can be cancelled if either party commits an 'imperialistic' act of aggression, spies or acts 'immorally' – and this is the first treaty ever that can legally be terminated on moral grounds (although any treaty with a cancellation facility can be cancelled for any reason, this is the first to define an explicit condition in this way). When seen in the light of interesting recent discussions about universal morality, it is a particularly interesting decision. But unquestionably the most dramatic events of the week came right at the end: Vox Populi's announcement of a new charter, and NPO's attack on the former leader of the ACV. The SNC has been unable to access detailed information about the latter situation, but President iClean offended a great many people in positions of power with his actions, and after already having exhausted political capital during his altercations with the NADC, had to go. The ACV has been well supported by its allies, and in general this situation is an example of diplomacy done right. The Vox Populi charter abandons one of the movement's signature ideas: the lack of formal government. In inaugurating a formal government structure (an elected Senate), and signing a treaty (with FAN, as discussed earlier), they now resemble an ordinary alliance more than a revolutionary movement – admittedly, an alliance with revolutionary ideas at its heart. It has been interpreted as an admission of failure of the anarchic system that they were previously using, or at least an admission that its time is past; anarchy is excellent for running spontaneous dramatic acts such as the taking of the Red and Green Senate seats, but a government is needed for the long term plan that Vox is currently restricted to thinking about.
-
OOC: I think a lot of bloggers here need a visit from the pest control man. One or two ant blogs are kind of funny; 17,000 are just getting in the way. I am sure that there are several interesting political and historical (IC and OOC) blogs being posted. I don't want to see a whole page of 'The voice of #7169' when I go to the blog page to see the latest updates. Hopefully that joke will get old and the worthwhile blogs will rise to the top. IC: International law now prohibits some of the most asymmetric forms of warfare. Declarations of war may only now be issued against nations roughly equal in strength to the aggressor – preventing some of the most egregiously unwinnable wars for smaller nations, and protecting the strong from nuclear rogue states. The Minister of Defence issued the following statement during the daily parliamentary press conference: The defence budget remains unchanged and there are no reported plans to change the size of the standing military. Serian forces are on standby after allied forces from Chivu, Sierra Leone and Ariana were called into action to restore peace to a local region of the Aqua sphere, but the latest reports are that the conflict will remain localised and Serian intervention will not be required. Scientists at the Tarovra Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Study have detected an increase in background radiation, and attribute it to increased use of nuclear weaponry in recent days. Ministerial aides issued a briefing urging restraint, pointing out that 'a nuclear detonation in Australia has consequences on output even here in Europe'.
-
... to the press briefing room of the SNC! This is the public face of Seria's news and politics team, giving you an update on national and international news and a bunch of opinion on current events! Of course the most important thing to hit the papers recently is the Härmlin Accords, showing the world how close we are to our friends over at the MHA. Our first MDP, signed two years ago on the 5th November 2006, has lasted through four major wars, three of which saw us take different choices. Its greatest test was GW3, when we fought on opposite sides. But through it all, we have been true to each other, and now everyone can see the love. The 5th November was also supposed to be an important date for Vox Populi, but nothing ever materialised from them. While their movement lives on, it is now mostly fighting on the forums and not on the battlefield. With most of the intellectual force on the other side, they'll have a tough time winning there, too. In breaking news the MHA protectorate United Alliance has disintegrated in a farcical display, with former president Jack the Great being couped over an attempt to merge into the MHA, then disbanding the alliance and joining MHA. The issue is not yet completely resolved but the unfortunate ZI orders on members of UA attempting to help the alliance will probably not last. Elsewhere, amid the usual flood of PIAT and ODP signings, a really interesting one has emerged in the shape of Agora, an economic treaty between the NPO and its blue team allies – old (MCXA and Echelon) and new (LoSS and NADC). It is largely innocuous but its Senate clause has caused some controversy, as it may lead it into conflict (again) with BLEU, who also elect a Blue team senator. In national news, Seria continues to grow in peace, protected by the ever increasing power of the Grämlins. Festivities for Foundation Day (3rd Nov) coincided with the Härmlin signing, leading to a full week of national celebration and reduced output, but the workers are now back in the factories and production is back to normal. Finally, if you want to put questions to the SNC, please post them in the comments. I'll answer a selection of them (if anyone bothers to ask )