NationStates Issues **SPOILER ALERT**

[Gretebisland]

Eyy, I received #1136. It looks like this to me:

#1136:Money Talks

The Issue
Given control over politicians’ wages, Gretebispi unsurprisingly voted to reduce the salaries of their elected officials to one-tenth of the poverty line. As a result, politics has become an arena exclusively for independently wealthy people, much to the dismay of poorer Gretebispi who feel that they are now underrepresented in the parliament.

The Debate

1.“We need change!” exclaims Fanny Zhu, a former MP, turning her pockets inside out to prove that she really does not have any change. “How are poor people like me ever supposed to get into office now that politicians’ salaries are so miserably low? Our parliament is filled with limousine liberals and old money conservatives legislating for the benefit of their super-rich cronies. Leader, we need to scrap this system and pay politicians at a rate slightly above professionals and private sector directors. That will end this plutocracy!”

2.“And will that end inequality?” asks Khethelo Fernandez, a famous socialist thinker, pensively swinging his empty champagne flute. “Politics is an expensive business. Do you know how much money you have to raise to even become a candidate? And, once you become a candidate, campaigning will cost a small fortune. This system practically precludes poor people from running for office. Leader, if we want to achieve true equality, we should both ban people from using their own funds or private property to run for office, and fix the wages of politicians at exactly the national average wage.”

3.“Hey, what is wrong with using my own money for political campaigning?” vociferates Prudence Martinez, a Door-to-door Insurance Sales tycoon who has vowed to challenge you in the upcoming elections. “It is only fair for me to use the fruits of my labor however I want. Besides, if you wouldn’t bet your own funds on yourself, what’s the point of collecting donations from others? People who can’t risk their own money are just publicity-seekers who know full well that they have no chance of getting elected, and they just waste the donations of the gullible people who believe in them. Leader, you should mandate that politicians can’t receive any salary or campaign funding from the public purse, nor accept wealth from any private donor.”

Issue by The Democratic Island Federation of Frieden-und Freudenland

Edited by Candlewhisper Archive

[Trotterdam]

#1173 Thinking a Little Too Hard?

The Issue

A highly publicized data leak from Maxtopia has revealed classified military projects studying ESP, astral projection, mind-reading and other psychic-related phenomena.

The Debate

1. "Just look at the things Maxtopia was experimenting with!" exclaims General von Bismarck fiddling with a tinfoil 'projection' cap. "There's mind-reading devices, brain-expansion exercises, this 'Dream Twister' secret project, and so much more! I mean, just imagine the potential strategic advantages on the battlefield, or in intelligence operations! Even if it comes to nothing, can you risk letting them get ahead of us? We should also be funding open-minded research into the paranormal, just to see what we find."

2. "Research alone is not taking this far enough!" proclaims purportedly psychokinetic guru Willie Cox, offering you a copy of his self-help book Moving Forward. "The full potential of the human mind is an infinite power beyond this puny material world! A psychic soldier could stop their enemy's heart with a thought, and smash tanks with a wave of the hand. Set aside all conventional arms, and train your army to fight purely with psychic force."

3. "Oh please, don't tell me you've fallen for this nonsense as well!" moans famed debunker Carter Kiefaber. "All these projects amounted to nothing: nada, zilch, zero! They have only ever produced wasted time and wasted money. It's time that we clamped down on ridiculous superstitions, and purged all magical thinking from our military! Any soldier caught spouting mystical mumbo-jumbo should be dishonorably discharged immediately!"

4. "Of course the paranormal isn't real, but that doesn't mean we can't spread some disinformation," murmurs Propaganda Director Holly Rivera. "Essentially, this is about PSYOPS, not psychic ops. You must first fake and then leak data claiming that we have already developed paranormal military capabilities. This will unnerve credulous nation states, while also wasting the espionage resources of more cautious foes as they seek to refute our claims. It'll be a cheap way to gain a significant strategic edge, so why not go for it?"

Issue by Krusavich
Edited by Candlewhisper Archive

[Jutsa]

Given control over politicians’ wages, Gretebispi unsurprisingly voted to reduce the salaries of their elected officials to one-tenth of the poverty line. As a result, politics has become an arena exclusively for independently wealthy people, much to the dismay of poorer Gretebispi who feel that they are now underrepresented in the parliament.

. YES. GO FUF!

A highly publicized data leak from Maxtopia has revealed classified military projects studying ESP, astral projection, mind-reading and other psychic-related phenomena

Reminds me a little of my MK Ultra draft.
Lucky me they're functionally quite different

Finally going to update my lists today; or at least try before I go out shoppin'.

edit: Holy crap that was terrible formatting. I'd like to personally blame my messed up sleeping lately.

[Jutsa]

Alrighty, updated everything! I was a little unsure as to whether Johnny was random or not.

Or Carter Kiefaber.

Or Willy Cox, for that matter.

Also is 1136 restricted for capitalist nations? Cause 1 and 2 are phrased in a somewhat capitalisty way.
(also I'd not mind confirmation of name randomness for this 'un either )

[Trotterdam]

Also is 1136 restricted for capitalist nations? Cause 1 and 2 are phrased in a somewhat capitalisty way.

Currently, option 3 has not been seen on a non-capitalist nation, but options 1 and 2 have, so the entire issue is not restricted. I don't think restricting chain issues is even technically possible, except by creating duplicates of the original issue option that leads to the chain issue (#214 1). The data is somewat inconclusive on if #214 itself barred from socialist nations - it's been answered by socialist nations at least twice in the past ten days, which is rare enough that it could be due to people banking and answering issues that they no longer qualify for, but not rare enough that that's the only reasonable explanation.

Note that is is possible option 3 is still available to socialist nations and they simply don't choose it often. I don't have all that much data yet.

[Jutsa]

Randomified a couple names, added a few missing options (as in they're still missing but at least you can see that they are now) an italicized a book.

Was still comin' out of a lul in consciousness there. (i.e. very sleepy)

[Jutsa]

I knew giving myself prohibition would pay off one day! 985.3:

“And kill off our nightlife tourism quicker than you can say @#%!” retaliates Josh Ramirez, a local connoisseur of exotic drinks. “It’s not our bad attitude that’s the problem, it’s the tourists! If we marketed ourselves as a wild resort country where all the rules of politeness don’t apply, then we could get ourselves a clientele that won’t complain. You gotta loosen up those alcohol laws, I have a mate in West Calypso who’s got some crazy mixtures for us to try.”

Exactly how I thought it'd be! Except I'm confused as to why I changed the validity of the option from "capitalist" to "socialist" in my notes...
Ah well. Point is I've got it, and I checked to confirm this is in fact numbered as 2 (thus option 3).

[Jutsa]

Finally...

got around to updating a bunch of NSIndex's issues with missing options. ,___,

Also added 1147.4 to my own list, cause apparently I hadn't done that.

[Chads United]

Issue #1174: Bad Press [The Democratic Island Federation of Frieden-und Freudenland; ed: Candlewhisper Archive]

The Issue

After a tip-off from a local informant, a SWAT team raided @@ANIMAL@@ Hill Middle School. Their targets were the students publishing the school newspaper, with the schoolchildren taken into police custody for breaking the state’s official news monopoly.

The Debate

Option #1: “What is wrong with a bunch of 11-year-olds publishing a newspaper about the events happening in their school?” exclaims furious mother Bajrakitiyabha Vampire, brandishing a rolled-up copy of the latest issue of @@ANIMAL@@ Hill Weekly. “Without school newspapers, how are we supposed to find out when my little Herschel's next soccer match is going to take place or how Melania's mom is flirting with the math teacher to raise her child’s grades? People should be able to publish periodicals of non-political content without requiring government permission. Also, release our children immediately, or I’ll set the PTA on you!”

Option #2: “Whoa, are you out of your mind?” yells Tarquin Snape, your Minister of Truth, grabbing the newspaper from the angry parent’s hand and tossing it into the portable incinerator he drags around for this specific purpose. “How can we prevent the dissemination of fake news if we allow private media to exist? We should clamp down on all audacious attempts to mislead public opinion by contradicting state-approved news!”

Option #3: “Hail thee, our most wise and glorious @@LEADER@@!” shouts out Aziz Blofeld, a political commentator from the state-owned @@CAPITAL@@ Chronicles, who used to work for a dissident newspaper before it was shut down. “I would not doubt the wisdom of your decree, but why only periodicals of non-political content? Why should only people employed by the State be granted the privilege to sing your praises? How about all the aspiring journalists who are yearning to commend your most magnificent achievements? You should allow private media sources to publish political news as well, like the true leader you are.”

Option #4: “Well... we could just allow these kids to publish their newspaper but also ensure that they don’t get up to any mischief,” chimes in your Minister of Alternative Solutions, peeking and whispering through from the other side of your office door’s keyhole. “We could simply require that all media organs, including school newspapers, be supervised by a government-appointed agent. If we happen to detect a sign of dissent, our agents can nip it in the bud.”



Small note: Vampire porky is my national animal, which may be the reason why Vampire appears in the name of the mother in option 1. I'm pretty sure the other names in option 1 are random, and the names in the rest of the options are not random. Just my perception, though.

[Jutsa]

Thanks for the report, Chads. Nice to see this awesome issue of FuF's make it into the game.

Also... Bajrakitiyabha Vampire? Tarquin Snape? Aziz Blofeld?
I don't know if I've seen any of these as random names...

Can't think of why they'd not be random though; they're random on-draft.
Mind if I have confirmation of name-randomness? And maybe italics?

[Chads United]

They definitely could all be completely random names, but they weren't in the list in the OP of this thread, so I'm really not sure. Maybe they're from a new set of random names that were recently added?
I did think it was a weird coincidence that the last name of the person in option 1 was the same as the first word of my national animal name, but it could easily be just that: a coincidence.

[Jutsa]

Wellh, probably not. I think @@RANDOMNAME@@ actually can include a word from the name from your national animal and possibly even your leader, but I'm not sure. It's definitely odd.

Also, yeah, my randomnames list is so outdated it's not even worthwhile looking at anymore.

[Trotterdam]

Wellh, probably not. I think @@RANDOMNAME@@ actually can include a word from the name from your national animal and possibly even your leader, but I'm not sure.

Yes, that happens. I've seen it a lot.

It's always the last name, and it can take words from at least the national animal, religion, and motto fields. I think currency as well, but I don't remember that one quite as sharply.

[Trotterdam]

#1175 Can I Borrow a Word?

The Issue

A group of disgruntled language connoisseurs are complaining that loan-words from the Galliennais language are 'contaminating the native tongue of @@NAME@@' . They are calling for a government sponsored language purification project, robbing you of your joie de vivre as you try to relax and enjoy your pamplemousse cocktail.

The Debate

1. "This is a disgrace!" exclaims Harold Hastings, a linguist from @@CAPITAL@@ University, slamming the latest edition of the Maxford @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ Dictionary on your desk. "These nasty Galliennais words – full of nasal sounds – have started to invade our glorious language. We should immediately launch this project in order to replace these hideous loan-words with their pristine @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ counterparts. My colleagues and I already have some suggestions on the table: 'eggy flapjacks' for 'omelette', and how about 'hey-I've-seen-this-before' for 'déjà vu'? All we need to publish a comprehensive list is a generous subsidy on your part."

2. "Oh mon dieu, but this approach will not work, as it doesn't target the raison d'être for Galliennais loan-words," enunciates William Norman, an enthusiastic Galliennais Literature professor from Cambarry University, with visible ennui. "The Galliennais culture is superior to ours, and so is their langue, par conséquent we need Galliennais words to express high-brow concepts such as rapprochement, savoir-faire, and je ne sais quoi. The importation of Galliennais words is fait accompli, and trying to reverse this will only be a faux pas. Let us embrace and teach to all Galliennais words and linguistic diversity: vive la différence!"

3. "Bah, humbug!" grunts bellicose General @@RANDOMLASTNAME@@, while angrily smashing a Galliennais Merlot bottle on the floor. "We don't have to tolerate this nonsense; let's bomb Galliennes into the ground and colonize them. Then they'll learn our language soon enough!"

Issue by Frieden-und Freudenland
Edited by Baggieland

Other names don't look random. (The Battle of Hastings was when William of Normandy conquered England from King Harold. "Maxford" and "Cambarry" are plays on "Oxford" and "Cambridge".)

[Jutsa]

Can confirm option 3 has no variant for nations with prohibition.
Apparently you can kinda make merlot wine without alcohol though.

Will add to my list eventually.

edit: Oh yeah, congratulations on ANOTHER issue, FuF! It's a neat one, and option 3 is so laughably simple and barbaric, it really ties everything together.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

You can definitely smash a bottle of Merlot when alcohol is prohibited.

[Jutsa]

That's an excellent point.

[Trotterdam]

option 3 is so laughably simple and barbaric, it really ties everything together

Of course, the ironic thing is that in real life, the Normans did do pretty much option 3, and it worked the other way around - the conquerors ended up learning the conquered people's language, even if they were able to insert some loanwords into it.

[Jutsa]

I didn't even look at the names for randomness...

whoops. I think they're random though...

[Trotterdam]

Other names don't look random. (The Battle of Hastings was when William of Normandy conquered England from King Harold. "Maxford" and "Cambarry" are plays on "Oxford" and "Cambridge".)

[Jutsa]

Eyeah, I saw that, and then I missed that, and... yeah.

>__>

[Talitoa]

Eyeah, I saw that, and then I missed that, and... yeah.

>__>

Hey, is there an issue like this?

After a poll showing a major rise in politically motivated factional fighting, people from across the political spectrum have come to LEADER for help mending this.

[Jutsa]

Eyeah, I saw that, and then I missed that, and... yeah.

>__>

Hey, is there an issue like this?

After a poll showing a major rise in politically motivated factional fighting, people from across the political spectrum have come to LEADER for help mending this.

I think there are a couple like that, but the one that stands out most is this one.

Also, for future reference, it's best to ask questions like this over in the Writers' Block, also pinned to the top of the GI forum section.

[Outer Sparta]

1177: A Funny Old Game

Although your nation put in a strong proposal to host the next International Football Federation (IFF) Global Cup, your bid was rejected. Instead, the oil-rich nation of Althaniq won, despite a near total lack of football infrastructure. Many are blaming this decision on bribery and corruption on a massive scale.

The Debate
“It was rigged!” screams Rod Hyde, head of the Outer Sparta Football Association (OSFA). “Althaniq bribed the IFF and bought the rights to host! The IFF’s directors need to be held to account for its corruption in a Spartan court of law! Demand their extradition to the Kingdom, and we could clean up football!”

“Are you kidding me?” shouts IFF head honcho Joe Splatter, fidgeting with a conspicuously shiny new gold ring. “Althaniq presented to us the best bid! Even if they never hosted before, and have no stadiums, or training facilities, or football clubs... or footballs. Look, the point is that this is outside your jurisdiction. Keep out of our business dealings, and in return we’ll send a few political donations your way. You win, we win.”

“Who cares where the tournament is held?” asks Outer Sparta team captain Zelda Pond, dribbling all over your office carpet. “We’re going to represent our nation on the world stage, and we don’t want to disappoint our fans! There’ll be breathtaking goals, heroic tackles and lucrative sponsorship deals! Who cares about scandals? Just put some government money into our team to get us the best high-tech training facilities, and help us deliver what really matters — Global Cup victory!”

Issue by: Yours Truly (aka Outer Sparta)
Edited by: Candlewhisper Archive

[Jutsa]

Two new issues out, I see?

Yours Truly

... CWAAAAAAAAA