North Tahoe News Thread

[Bacharth]

[b]Associated Press of Cascadia - 7:04 AM
[/b]Now that the war is over, cleanup is underway, and the government is elected, Chris Bogart has authorized a complete rebuilding of the military from the ground up, using new equipment and new organization not seen before in any other Distopyan nation. In addition, the navy had begun reconstruction, and the Sydney Class Submarine line will be named after the nations who helped in Pacific Star 2.

[Bacharth]

[size="4"]Nationalist Revolt in Baker City, Oregon
[b][size="2"]Associated Press of Cascadia - Baker City, Oregon
[/size][/b][size="2"]Baker City, a town just on the border between Oregon and Idaho, is a town reminiscent of Enumclaw, Washington, full of Tahoan Nationalists. When a squad of troops went there to take down the Tahoan flag and raise the Cascadian flag, they were gunned down by angry nationalists. In retaliation, the 43rd Infantry Division was deployed to the area to take control. What ensued was a bloody battle between Irish-Tahoans and the Cascadian army. Although citizens who welcomed the liberation joined the fight, they were told to stay indoors.

Although many of these revolts have happened in the more rural towns, such as Bend and Redmond, Washington, the Battle of Baker City will go down as the bloodiest nationalist battle in Cascadian history. In a press release from President Bogart, and interviewer asked what they were doing with the old flags. Chris Bogart was quoted as answering, [i]"We will be folding the flags and handing them to veterans who lost a great deal in Tahoe's wars. We don't want to take away the hardship and losses these men have endured, and as the son of veterans myself, I cannot in good faith revoke the right to honor just because they fought under an enemy flag."[/i]
[/size][/size]

[Bacharth]

[size="4"]PTSD is prevalent in First Army Guerillas
[b][size="2"]Associated Press of Cascadia - Portland, Oregon
[/size][/b][size="2"]As the Guerillas from the first army were rounded up and reassigned, a series of serious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder cases were reported among many of the survivors of the main assault. The disorder is so serious that in some cases, such as with Lance Corporal Patrickson, the soldiers have to be discharged and sent to a mental hospital with no chance of recovery. An expert on the subject, Dr. Catherine Ikner, had this to say:

"The Guerillas from the first army were all in very different situations. In low traffic areas, these men were just having camping trips, except they had heavy assault rifles. In high traffic areas, such as Highways 26 and 18, where the men were constantly being hunted by Tahoan troops, and constantly terrorizing the enemy military, the cases are very serious."

Marc Emery has chosen to start up the Pot for PTSD foundation, where extra marijuana left over from a month of sales is donated to various Veterans affairs hospitals, such as the one here on Terwilliger Boulevard. Marijuana specialists say that it Marijuana is a popular treatment for those with PTSD because it calms the nerves and releases tension. Treatment is also being offered to veterans of the Tahoan military free of charge, citing the President's statement, "Under the Tahoe banner or the Phoenix Banner, these men are still sick, and need treatment."
[/size][/size]

[Bacharth]

[i]Death Valley, California[/i]
"So what is this assignment anyway Sarge?" Private Barker asked from the back of a transport helicopter.

"We had an anonymous tip that the Tahoans had some human rights violations, and we're investigating. We're looking for a cloud of black smoke in the desert," Sergeant Burns replied, eyes fixated on the ground.

The helicopter and squad were Cascadian Marines, and these marines were ordered the special task of finding the places marked by the group of Kyokujituins that went into hiding. Currently, they were flying over an aptly named death valley in the massive protectorate. Suddenly, the black smoke appeared behind a dune.

"Sir, there!" The helicopter made a landing in the shadow of the dune. The squads disembarked from the three helicopters that were assigned to that location.

"Alright men, spread out, see what you can find," the sergeant barked.

"Sir, it's all sand, sir," one of the men shouted from on top of a dune. Private Barker began to climb the other dune when his feet hit something metal.

"Sir, I've found something!"

"What is it private?" Burns answered as he ran to the area. They started to dust the sand away to reveal a hatch. "Alright men, form up. Parker, you take point."

The men all hopped inside the corridor. As they walked along, they noticed Tahoan resistance, but for reasons unknown to them yet. After an hour of walking and fighting, they came upon some large double doors. Beyond those doors, they witnessed a horror.

"Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick," one of the marines said.

"Photographer, I want pictures of this sent to Portland immediately," Barker said as he stared at a pile of Kyokujituns.

[size="4"]Horrors of the Tahoan Regime Released
[size="2"][b]Cascadian Marine Corps - Death Valley, Californian Protectorate[/b]
In the past week, the Cascadian government has received messages from a group of Kyokujitsuans calling themselves the Sumeragists. They have told the government locations of what they called human rights violations. When Marines investigated, they found horrible camps. As more locations of these have turned up, we will have more ideas of what kinds of things this fascist regime did. However, details will be reserved uncensored news sites on the internet to report, not for public press.
[/size][/size]

Edited June 7, 2010 by Vince Sixx

[Bacharth]

[size="4"]Minister of Foreign Affairs Chosen[/size]
[b]Associated Press of Cascadia - Vancouver, WA
[/b]The new ministry of Foreign Affairs has opened up in the historic Smith Tower, just across the river from downtown Portland. President Bogart has announced that he chooses the Vestfjaran Eli Archer as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[center][img]http://pics3.city-data.com/businesses/p/2/7/2/8/6612728.JPG[/img]
[/center]

[Bacharth]

[size="4"]Parliament Approves New Building Codes
[b][size="2"]Cascadian Associated Press - Portland, OR
[/size][/b][size="2"]Parliament has recently approved a new building code that has been jointly reworked by the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Defense. It requires all houses and buildings built after 1991 to have countermeasures and preventions against Electro-magnetic warfare. The Ministry of Defense is paying for important buildings to be reworked with these new countermeasures, while others will depend on heavily subsidized updates. Fortunately, the cost will be low to those who need these repairs. Subsidization is only available to those buildings that require it. A statement from the Ministry of Defense follows:

"Because of the fall of the Tahoe 'Republic' and the Federated States of America, we foresee a power vacuum that will inevitably cause destabilization in America much like the fall of Germany did to Europe in these past decades. In this new age, EMP weapons are a lot more prevalent, and we must take precautions against them."
[/size][/size]

[Sargun II]

OOC: All of Tahoe's old buildings were pretty much EMP proofed. silly goose

[Bacharth]

[quote name='Sargun' date='08 June 2010 - 03:41 PM' timestamp='1276036850' post='2329241']
OOC: All of Tahoe's old buildings were pretty much EMP proofed. silly goose
[/quote]

OOC: I'm doing this to make sure they are, and so there are lessened OOC !@#$%*ings when the time comes for war.

[Bacharth]

[size="4"]Sustainability Reaches the City
[/size][size="2"][b]Green Cascadia Magazine - Seattle, WA[/b]
The Second Republic of Distopya provided the "Greener Cascadia" project with a lot of inspiration. It is because of this that most of all buildings are getting solar panels installed on them, and heavily armored wind and tidal generators are being installed along the coastline. The main question of urban sustainability still remains, because with urban expansion, there is less farmland to use for a growing population.

So, Greener Cascadia has expanded on a project started by the Crimeans to create indoor farming, and will be building a large skyscraper a few blocks down from the Space Needle. The skyscraper will have farming area on each level except the bottom, which will serve as a sort of a "farmer's market" in the middle of Seattle. The skyscraper is set to support between fifty and seventy-two thousand people, and will open its doors in around six months. The project is also aimed at creating jobs for young men and women looking to make money for school.

(([url="http://memebox.com/futureblogger/show/76"]OOC Source[/url]))[/size]

[Bacharth]

[b]Seattle, Washington
[/b]The First Carrier Strike Group, CSG1, has been completed and is based at the naval base in Seattle.

CSG1 consists of:
RCS Jefferson (Aircraft Carrier)
RCS Norsvea, Erik Betrakte, Reise, Fohldense, Crimea and Stor Bokstav (Destroyers)
RCS Miami, Sydney and Baton Rouge (Attack Submarines)
RCS Caen, Rennes, and Amsterdam (Cruisers)
Fourth Naval Attack Wing

[Bacharth]

OOC: ((If a Mod can change this title to "North Tahoe News Thread", that'd be great, thanks!))

[size="4"]Foreign Nuclear Strike in North America reported to come from France and Southern Germany
[size="2"][b]North Tahoe Associated Press - Olympia, WA[/b]
Two nuclear bombs have gone off in a Texan port earlier this week. The bombs were of unknown origin until a message came from a Novakian national, who took responsibility for the strike. No action has come from the American regime. Recently, reports have been released that the bombs were of South German and French origin. With France's imperialist dreams in North America and Southern Germany's history of being denied expansion in their own continent, expansion could begin in the Americas. However still, the Americans will not go to war. So the question remains, if the president won't defend her people, who will?
[/size][/size]

[Sarah Tintagyl]

[quote name='Vince Sixx' date='24 June 2010 - 08:12 AM' timestamp='1277363540' post='2348570']
OOC: ((If a Mod can change this title to "North Tahoe News Thread", that'd be great, thanks!))

[size="4"]Foreign Nuclear Strike in North America reported to come from France and Southern Germany
[size="2"][b]North Tahoe Associated Press - Olympia, WA[/b]
Two nuclear bombs have gone off in a Texan port earlier this week. The bombs were of unknown origin until a message came from a Novakian national, who took responsibility for the strike. No action has come from the American regime. Recently, reports have been released that the bombs were of South German and French origin. With France's imperialist dreams in North America and Southern Germany's history of being denied expansion in their own continent, expansion could begin in the Americas. However still, the Americans will not go to war. So the question remains, if the president won't defend her people, who will?
[/size][/size]
[/quote]

A Note was delievered to North Tahoe Press on the ludicrous charge of nuclear devastation to the United States.

[quote]
[i]Dear Sir,

In regards to North Tahoe and given that your country is allowing you to publish this filth, we have serious doubts that your new nation has any credibility whatsoever. Yet, in the light that we are being accused of such a terrible act, I would like to address something. Unfortunately, France, has yet to acquire the proper methodology of using nuclear weapons. I can assure you however that we are well on our way and the world will definitely know when we can and will launch nukes. Just some food for thought. Second I do find it quite funny that you suspect only the South Germans, when it does require the leaders, put an emphasis on the 's' to successfully launch a nuke. Unless of course you are comparing, what most nations believe to be a glorious German state (completely hogwash) to the rogues of Helzan.

Nevertheless, I do hope that this new report is rogue and this is not a reflection of the New Tahoean Government. If it is, I weep for your country because in my opinion you have replaced a country of lunatics and murderers, to one of paranoia and death hunters.

Sincerely,

Therese Zelle[/i]
[b]Empress of France[/b]
[/quote]

[b]**Private**[/b]

"A shame that the world is not past such heinous accusations and not even from the country that was hit." Said Therese as she bent down over the letter, Claire Delacour looking out at her from the chair across the room. "I think people are out to get us."

"Pretty pathetic way of doing so don't you think?"

"Well the world isn't a real creative place. But the accusations are all wrong, the writer of this is probably some North German or a Nordophile, the man probably needs help."

Claire chuckled and then straightened herself. "But as to the chance that this might be something larger?"

"The defense systems on the border are nearing completion are they not?"

"They are."

Therese smiled sadistically. "Chaos...there are plans in Chaos..."

[iamthey]

[quote name='Sarah Tintagyl' date='24 June 2010 - 11:58 AM' timestamp='1277377116' post='2348649']
A Note was delievered to North Tahoe Press on the ludicrous charge of nuclear devastation to the United States.



[b]**Private**[/b]

"A shame that the world is not past such heinous accusations and not even from the country that was hit." Said Therese as she bent down over the letter, Claire Delacour looking out at her from the chair across the room. "I think people are out to get us."

"Pretty pathetic way of doing so don't you think?"

"Well the world isn't a real creative place. But the accusations are all wrong, the writer of this is probably some North German or a Nordophile, the man probably needs help."

Claire chuckled and then straightened herself. "But as to the chance that this might be something larger?"

"The defense systems on the border are nearing completion are they not?"

"They are."

Therese smiled sadistically. "Chaos...there are plans in Chaos..."
[/quote]

"For the record the accusation has not been made by North Tahoe at all. The story was only published in one of their media groups in response to rumors and evidence pointing to French involvement. I have looked at some of the evidence myself, and while I find it very difficult to accept that the French would be connected to the attack it is my responsibility as a Journalist to publish what I uncover. While it is true that your Government does not maintain Nuclear weapons of your own, the evidence itself only suggests financial backing aiding in the foreign procurement of one of the weapons delivered to Galveston. Moreover the evidence doesn't explicitly point to the French government but to elements within it, as well as political groups on the periphery.

For example here are some bank records indicating transfers in the order of 200 million to the terrorist group responsible. The money itself was moved through a chain of ten separate charities and shell corporations but it ultimately connects to a slush fund belonging to a group of French Nationalist Organizations all of whom have expressed agitation with the American Government. As the transactions took place within a window of 24 hours, among other aspects of the transactions there is a 87% probability that the origin of the money and the final recipient are connected. *Records enclosed*

Here is a French Military Consultant from one of your private firms who vacationed in Novak nearly six months ago. He can be seen having dinner with a representative of Hamzah Shehatta. Beyond this meeting the two were individually spotted in the same country at the same time in five different instances. They were spotted together two of those. *Pictures and video files, as well as travel records and affidavits of various witnesses*

Here are pictures of meetings between representatives of Mr. Shehatta, a late French Colonel, and a Patrick Hart, an infamous trafficker of nuclear material and in this case the suspected supplier of one of the nuclear weapons themselves. *Pictures*

Here are uncovered emails between several French Political Interests expressing dis-satisfaction with the US and referring to an engineered 'crusade' from the east. *Emails*

And that is only the beginning of the stuff that has come in...

I myself am unsure of the veracity of these documents and examples, but they definitely paint an interesting albeit an alarming picture." - Dexter Vern, Pacific News Network

[b]*Grater Pacifica Ministry of State*[/b]

On the subject of the emerging evidence, allegations, and rumors relating to the recent terrorist attacks on the United States. Evidence, which has been gathered by various international watchdog groups, for-profit, and non-profit interest groups. Greater Pacifica has begun examining the evidence and at present and is conducting investigation into the veracity of the evidence itself. To say the least the allegations themselves and the implications they have are alarming, even the involvement of only un-official elements within either of these two major world powers would be not only damning but deeply felt. We do not wish to jump to conclusions or make statements which might defame or bring harm to the good name of South Germany and France, and so at this time we have no official opinion one way or the other. We will give both governments as well as the international community time to respond and will issue an second statement at a later date.

For now we urge our own citizens and news agencies to temper themselves and wait for all the facts before drawing conclusions or taking rash action.


[b]*Major Prime Time Political Commentary Show*[/b]

"I don't know what to think about this situation. I've seen the evidence and it looks pretty damning. My own IT friends have examined the various photos, and electronic watermarks and they tell me that they don't appear to be doctored. At the sometime though others say differently. The State department has told us not to pass judgement, that it is too early, but I think we have all the information we need to make a decision."

[b]*An overweight guest on the show, he himself wearing a tin foil cap, the point of which stretched about a twenty centimeters, gave this response*[/b]

"There are several different scenarios of what I think happened here. First of all this entire thing may be nothing more than a false flag operation on the part of the United States. Their primary goal in this case might be to build popular sentiment for the re-institution of the the anti-colonial policies of previous American powers. They may also desire to drive the French out of North America. Hence this obvious frame job.

Alternatively it might be that this entire thing was one of the finance boy's machinations. When Galveston and the bay were hit commodity prices for oil took a short term dip. This might have been part of a larger series of shorts set up by the International Financiers. As for spreading evidence, the French and German markets are sure to take a minor dip from the possibility that their governments were behind such a heinous attack. Again more shorts and more money for the bankers. In fact that puppet master the crown prince was probably behind the entire thing. He and his national and regional council of investment bankers. I know the kid is 23, I know no one here believes that he has ever invested money in his life, but you are all sheep. The kid is a financial and political genius, every major economic catastrophe has been engineered by him, and there are two more major catastrophic dips that are coming up right here in this country. The bond markets and the new mortgage markets are going to collapse in a few years and the resulting wealth transfer will concentrate more than three trillion credits of this nation's wealth into his hands and the hands of his investors. He was probably the one who came up with the idea of frame the French and the Germans, its in his blood. But you will never prove it, there probably isn't a trace of his involvement left.

But that isn't even the most likely theory, in truth this probably wasn't a nuclear weapon at all. The governments of this world have been in cooperation with the ancient extraterrestrials for over two centuries, chances are this was probably a weapons test. Hence why the second weapon didn't seem to get through. The first one was meant to test the new weapon on an urban terrestrial environment, while the second was meant to test it on an ocean environment. The follow up blasts were just to cover up the trace of the weapon. My friend who was abducted nearly a year ago told me personally that the weapon itself probably utilized anti-matter and a new form of fusion..."

Edited June 24, 2010 by iamthey

[Lynneth]

[quote name='Vince Sixx' date='24 June 2010 - 09:12 AM' timestamp='1277363540' post='2348570']
OOC: ((If a Mod can change this title to "North Tahoe News Thread", that'd be great, thanks!))

[size="4"]Foreign Nuclear Strike in North America reported to come from France and Southern Germany
[size="2"][b]North Tahoe Associated Press - Olympia, WA[/b]
Two nuclear bombs have gone off in a Texan port earlier this week. The bombs were of unknown origin until a message came from a Novakian national, who took responsibility for the strike. No action has come from the American regime. Recently, reports have been released that the bombs were of South German and French origin. With France's imperialist dreams in North America and Southern Germany's history of being denied expansion in their own continent, expansion could begin in the Americas. However still, the Americans will not go to war. So the question remains, if the president won't defend her people, who will?
[/size][/size]
[/quote]
[quote name='iamthey' date='24 June 2010 - 01:54 PM' timestamp='1277380447' post='2348669']
"For the record the accusation has not been made by North Tahoe at all. The story was only published in one of their media groups in response to rumors and evidence pointing to French involvement. I have looked at some of the evidence myself, and while I find it very difficult to accept that the French would be connected to the attack it is my responsibility as a Journalist to publish what I uncover. While it is true that your Government does not maintain Nuclear weapons of your own, the evidence itself only suggests financial backing aiding in the foreign procurement of one of the weapons delivered to Galveston. Moreover the evidence doesn't explicitly point to the French government but to elements within it, as well as political groups on the periphery.

For example here are some bank records indicating transfers in the order of 200 million to the terrorist group responsible. The money itself was moved through a chain of ten separate charities and shell corporations but it ultimately connects to a slush fund belonging to a group of French Nationalist Organizations all of whom have expressed agitation with the American Government. As the transactions took place within a window of 24 hours, among other aspects of the transactions there is a 87% probability that the origin of the money and the final recipient are connected. *Records enclosed*

Here is a French Military Consultant from one of your private firms who vacationed in Novak nearly six months ago. He can be seen having dinner with a representative of Hamzah Shehatta. Beyond this meeting the two were individually spotted in the same country at the same time in five different instances. They were spotted together two of those. *Pictures and video files, as well as travel records and affidavits of various witnesses*

Here are pictures of meetings between representatives of Mr. Shehatta, a late French Colonel, and a Patrick Hart, an infamous trafficker of nuclear material and in this case the suspected supplier of one of the nuclear weapons themselves. *Pictures*

Here are uncovered emails between several French Political Interests expressing dis-satisfaction with the US and referring to an engineered 'crusade' from the east. *Emails*

And that is only the beginning of the stuff that has come in...

I myself am unsure of the veracity of these documents and examples, but they definitely paint an interesting albeit an alarming picture." - Dexter Vern, Pacific News Network[/quote]
"Slanderous lies.
Experts from the VDL have verified that the bank transactions implicating the VDL are faked in their entirety, which also makes the claims of french being implicated very doubtful.
In addition, we have found that a majority of the pictures were faked and manipulated, even if it was done very well. However, not well enough.
With this, we can safely say that there is no reason to believe any of this material. We demand an apology from those who have spread these falsified documents without having them verified by experts."

The necessary proof was shown publically via official channels.
That almost half of the material implicating the VDL wasn't found to be fake was conveniently omitted from the report so that it did indeed look like everything of the material from tne NTAP and PNN was fake.

[Sargun II]

"The press is free to say whatever they like. It's one of the cornerstones of democracy - the freedom of speech. Did they say that the bombs had definitely come from France or Germany? Did they name sources? No? Then you have no right to censor anybody for slander, as the press only stated that there were reports - reports that were not even confirmed. It is troubling that nations would attempt to blame the North Tahoan government for something that a news aggregate said."

Edited June 24, 2010 by Sargun

[Lynneth]

[quote name='Sargun' date='24 June 2010 - 08:02 PM' timestamp='1277402555' post='2348874']
"The press is free to say whatever they like. It's one of the cornerstones of democracy - the freedom of speech. Did they say that the bombs had definitely come from France or Germany? Did they name sources? No? Then you have no right to censor anybody for slander, as the press only stated that there were reports - reports that were not even confirmed. It is troubling that nations would attempt to blame the North Tahoan government for something that a news aggregate said."
[/quote]
"Nowhere did we wish to censor the press. Neither did we blame the North Tahoan government for what the press released.
Still, it would've been better had they got this material looked at by actual experts. This would have led them to never make this press release, minimising outrage and anger."

[Sargun II]

[quote name='Lynneth' date='24 June 2010 - 01:12 PM' timestamp='1277403115' post='2348887']
"Nowhere did we wish to censor the press. Neither did we blame the North Tahoan government for what the press released.
Still, it would've been better had they got this material looked at by actual experts. This would have led them to never make this press release, minimising outrage and anger."
[/quote]

"Perhaps if your people were stable enough to not be "outraged and angered" by something easily proven false, there would have not been outrage and anger."

[Lynneth]

[quote name='Sargun' date='24 June 2010 - 08:30 PM' timestamp='1277404198' post='2348903']
"Perhaps if your people were stable enough to not be "outraged and angered" by something easily proven false, there would have not been outrage and anger."
[/quote]
"We aren't annoyed by the accusations themselves, but by the fact that they apparently haven't even been looked at by experts. It lowers the credibility of these media."

[Sargun II]

[quote name='Lynneth' date='24 June 2010 - 01:55 PM' timestamp='1277405682' post='2348924']
"We aren't annoyed by the accusations themselves, but by the fact that they apparently haven't even been looked at by experts. It lowers the credibility of these media."
[/quote]

"The media never claimed that they were looked at by experts or that the reports were verified. There is no credibility to lose because they never sought to portray themselves as displaying complete fact."

[Lynneth]

[quote name='Sargun' date='24 June 2010 - 09:01 PM' timestamp='1277406053' post='2348930']
"The media never claimed that they were looked at by experts or that the reports were verified. There is no credibility to lose because they never sought to portray themselves as displaying complete fact."
[/quote]
"In the VDL, standard practises are that everything of this scale is examined by qualified men and women who know what they're doing. Apparently, standards in Tahoe are lacking."

[Bacharth]

[size="4"][size="2"]((nevermind, i'll let it run))[/size] [/size]

Edited June 24, 2010 by Vince Sixx

[Sargun II]

[quote name='Lynneth' date='24 June 2010 - 02:31 PM' timestamp='1277407871' post='2348968']
"In the VDL, standard practises are that everything of this scale is examined by qualified men and women who know what they're doing. Apparently, standards in Tahoe are lacking."
[/quote]

"Don't blame Tahoe for her people exercising the right to free speech. Your insults are unnecessary and childish."

[Subtleknifewielder]

[quote name='Sargun' date='24 June 2010 - 02:01 PM' timestamp='1277413273' post='2349055']
"Don't blame Tahoe for her people exercising the right to free speech. Your insults are unnecessary and childish."
[/quote]
"This is why press must not be allowed to be completely free...reports potentially as damning as this must not be released without concrete proof, or strong suggestion of the same."

[Sargun II]

[quote name='Subtleknifewielder' date='25 June 2010 - 02:23 PM' timestamp='1277493787' post='2350238']
"This is why press must not be allowed to be completely free...reports potentially as damning as this must not be released without concrete proof, or strong suggestion of the same."
[/quote]

"So an unconfirmed and admittedly a simple "report" with nothing to back it up is a potentially damning news release? Perhaps your country should have laws about 'innocent until proven guilty'."

[Bacharth]

[b]Statement from the North Tahoan Administration:[/b]
I don't believe in restricting the press. If they want to do something, they can. Nothing in the news, unless it is a direct quote, is representative of the government. Just as if someone in your country spoke out against Tahoe, I would not hold it against your government, because you have no control over the citizens speech. All people have a right to speak their minds, and all people have the right to put it in print, or on the net. Whether they found sources or not is their own problem. I will [i]not [/i]force upon my citizen ANY act that will inhibit the right to say what they want.