Noctur Press Association [CLOSED, Noctur Only]

by **Radiatia** » Thu Oct 06, 2016 7:05 am

WORKING CLASS HERO:
THE JAAGEN AUTENBERG STORY

October 6th LET 60 Last updated 17:23 Exegrad Standard Time

SOLITUDE, DIATARA
Two months ago no one knew who he was. Two weeks ago he was trailing Angela Pavlovic in the polls, sometimes by double digit margins. Even as early as two hours before the polls closed, no one was predicting he would win. And yet in a few days time, Jaagen Melvin Autenberg will become the most powerful man in Noctur.

_{Jaagen Autenberg: Perhaps the unlikeliest President we've ever had.}

The village of Solitude, Diatara really is well named. I don't think I've ever felt more isolated or far from civilisation in my life.

Diatara itself isn't a state that's well known for being crowded. My journey began in the state capital of Dastor, population 200,000, a fairly normal if conservative Radiatian town. The locals aren't hugely different to anyone else in Radiatia until you talk to them about the recent election and then it becomes clear: This is Autenberg country.

"Best Premier Diatara has ever had," Said Millard Kemp, who owns a shoe store in Dastor. "He's decisive, he's honest, he really cares about people. He's gonna do a dang good job sortin' out Xerconia!"

"Oh I love Jaagen!" Says a woman nearby who overhears us, speaking of the President-elect on a first name basis. "Such a gentleman, he helped me when my car broke down once!"

It's hard to find anyone in Dastor who seems to consider Jaagen Autenberg anything less than a hero, and so I set off on a 12 hour drive north on Interstate 205, to meet the man himself in the village where he first became a local celebrity.

Jaagen Autenberg first made national headlines in LET 32 when he, as mayor of Solitude, shot dead two wanted rapists outside the pub he owned.

Under Diatara State law this was not only legal, but was seen a decisive action that turned Autenberg into a hero - a hero who went on to be elected Premier of Diatara, ousting the Communist Party from power there.

He went on to win a record six consecutive election victories, serving as the Premier of Diatara for 22 years - first as a member of the Workers Party, and later as a Social Democrat. Although Diatara was considered, like every other northern state, to be solidly blue (particularly following the Larssen Administration, who won the loyalty of the north), Premier Autenberg's personal brand was such that residents continued to vote for a Social Democrat.

In LET 54, halfway into his sixth term, the long-serving Premier decided to retire from public office, handing the reigns over to James Vater, his deputy, who lacked Autenberg's appeal and ultimately lost the state to the LCP in LET 56.

I'm dying to know then why he decided to go back into the maelstrom, aged 72, following 22 successful years in office. What on earth persuaded him to run for President?

After hours on the open road, miles from so much as a lonely gas station, my GPS tracker bleeps and I'm told I'd arrived. I look out the window and it turns out that I literally blinked and missed Solitude - it's so small that I didn't even see it go by out the window.

I turn and travel down an icy road, softened a little by grit and stones trying to find one of the President-elect's aides - someone who looks official.

None is to be found and instead I'm greeted at the local inn by the man himself - not a bodyguard or suit in sight - who tips his hat and says "Howdy, welcome to Solitude."

Jaagen Autenberg is positively tiny in person.

I've written before about how small Keldon Silviu was, but even President Silviu would have towered over Jaagen Autenberg, whose white beard seems to take up at least a third of his total body length.

Autenberg grins, and I notice there are a few teeth missing, and he shakes my hand with such a strong grip that I can actually feel the circulation stop briefly.

"Can I get ye a drink?" Asks the President-elect, as if talking to an old friend.

I wouldn't normally drink on the job, but it's so cold outside and I've been driving so long that I can't help but clamour for the warmth of the local pub - the same pub still owned by Autenberg - and a good whiskey.

"So did ye hear that I gets to be the President, then?" He says.

I tell him that of course I heard, it's why I'm here.

"Ayup, I thought so but I wanted ter be sure," He says humbly, adding, "You might've been here for our darts competition, I didn't know."

It's clear that Autenberg is extremely popular here - not in a sycophantic way, but in a familiar way - people stop to say hi, or shake his hand, or (in the case of the younger people there) take selfies with him and he greets them in turn, knowing all of them by name.

I'm still struck by the lack of security - by law, he should have R-SOD agents (well, RSS agents nowadays) providing him with protection.

"I don't need any o' them followin' me about. I may be an old man but I can still throw a punch," He says, already onto his third pint of ale in the time it's taken me to get through one glass of whiskey (which he insisted he pay for). "Besides this here is ma protection."

He reaches into his bag and pulls out a sawn off shotgun.

"President Pavlovic insisted I take RSS protection, so they're around but, dang it, I can protect myself."

So he's already been in talks with the President?

"Ayup, she's a very nice lady. Very smart lady." He says of the woman he just defeated. "Ain't got no bitterness toward her. Never had never will."

I ask him if they'd discussed the financial crisis and panic that was caused by his election.

"She's got it under control," He said. "We both agree that them there markets will come normal once they see that I ain't gonna do nothin' bad to business."

We also discuss the President's recent announcement that she would use the lame-duck session to push through trade deals and what he thought of that.

"I ain't got no problem with trade," He says, contradicting some of his campaign trail statements. "I'm just sayin' we gots to look at some of them, some of our older ones, an' ask if they do us good now."

A coded reference to Nui-Ra?

"Ayup. My son served in Hades, or whatever it's called, I know all about what's goin' on down there. They think I'm some dumb hick but I know what's goin' on," He says. "I just don't think we should be drawn into wars for a country who ain't even listenin' to us, ain't buyin' our products, ain't got no respect for us no more despite all we've done for them... We get nothin'. We spend all this money on Nui-Ra and our own children ain't able ter read n' write."

I ask Autenberg about his own school days but he just smiles and admits, "I left school when I was 12.

"The Isthmus War broke out in LET 0 and the Commie government didn't wanna waste money teachin' us to read, so they taught us to shoot or make weapons. When I was 12 I got put to work in a factory makin' guns and bombs for the war. Never got to finish me schoolin'."

At age 16, Autenberg joined the Union Army, although saw no foreign action as by this point the war was over. Instead he was stationed in Northern Vatfer, eventually meeting his wife Mary while in the service and moving back to Solitude to work on a collective farm.

Autenberg admits that he "barely noticed" the fall of communism.

"Things are a lot slower in the north. The Commies didn't really care about us an' the capitalists cared about us even less. The RPSU might have been over but the Diatara State government was still officially Commie for years after Traiyan Silviu came along. I jus' worked on mah farm, an' then they built a gas station so I bought that, an' that led on to me buyin' the pub, becomin' mayor... you know the rest."

I ask him about his controversial comments about life being better under the RPSU.

"No, I said some things were better under the RPSU, an' they were," He says. "You gotta remember the LET 14 revolution was about democracy. it wasn't about capitalism. I think we shoulda never abandoned socialism, it's hurt too many people. Sure we're rich but... that don't feed the homeless. I don't like how we gone from bein' ruled by the Commies to now bein' ruled by the Corporations. Nothins changed."

But finally it's onto the question that's been burning me since I first heard he was running for President: Why? Why at 72 years of age did he put his name forward?

"Well dang it you looked smarter than that!" He laughs, banging an empty tankard on the table. "I thought that would be obvious? I ain't happy with the way things is in our country. I wanted to change it. So I'm gonna."

Yes but why run now? Why not, say, 20 years ago?

"Well, in LET 44 we had that there Keldon Silviu. An' I thought, dang it, he'll be good. So I supported him," He explains. "Then LET 48... well, I wasn't happy with President Silviu, but I thought it would make the Social Democratic Union look bad if some Premier from way up north challenges the incumbent President..."

So you quietly opposed him?

"Well... I won't say anythin' about that there year but I'll just say this... I always got on a lot better with Premier Nepula [of Eldura, the LET 48 LCP nominee] than I did with President Silviu..."

It's rumoured that President Silviu voted for President Pavlovic. What do you have to say to that?

"Well I find it kinda funny, considering... I'm sure y'all can draw your own conclusions why."

What about LET 52? Why didn't you put your name forward then?

"Well I was supportin' a young man from New Vashura called Josko Ivers in them Primaries. He was, and is, much brighter than me. An' then when it was all over, Vice President Negasi actually asked me if I wanted to be his running mate... but I told him to choose Ivers."

And then finally there was LET 56 - the year they say the Social Democratic Union was almost torn apart.

"I had no reason to run. I liked what Senator Ivers said about social policy. I'm friends with Premier Warsazeck [of Midgard, the LET 56 SDU nominee] an' I liked what he done said about that there economy. I ain't got no reason to run against them."

But you had a problem with Melina Forst?

"Ayup, I'm sorry ter say I did. She was goin' in the wrong direction an' I don't think she understood ordinary Radiatians," He said. "I saw her as more extreme than that there President Pavlovic... on lettin' foreigners in, an' stopping death penalty an' all that..."

Will the federal government be resuming capital punishment under your administration? President Pavlovic says she opposes it, while President Fyoderov only allowed it to happen twice.

"Well put it this way... I ain't never been afraid to use capital punishment. Sometimes I done the job myself with mah own two hands. I'm old fashioned but dang it, it works."

While other President-elects end their interviews by being escorted out by security, I can tell my interview with Autenberg is over by the fact that his speech becomes too slurred and the manager of the bar asks him if he needs a taxi home.

"Well... I guess I better. Otherwise mah wife'll kill... well, assassinate me." He said, shaking me firmly by the hand and paying for the drinks of, it seems, every second person in the bar.

His 'taxi' arrives to escort the inebriated old man home, but of course it's no taxi but the Presidential motorcade.

Presidential life may come as a shock to Premier Autenberg... and President Autenberg's administration, like the man himself, is guaranteed to be nothing if not interesting...

- RPNN

Jamison (Radii, Radia)
3 HOURS AGO
Oh Radiatia... the only country dumb enough to vote for a recession.

453 likes

GarHar56 (Dastor, Diatara)
2 HOURS AGO
HEY MY HOMETOWN WAS IN THE NEWS I THINK I KNOW THE GUY THEY WERE TALKING TO!!

55 likes

Watchman09 (Kriga, Eldura)
1 HOUR AGO
Autenberg better be careful. I think he knows the score, knows the system's broken, but the Totalitarian-Anarchist elite won't let him get away that easy.

102 likes

In Other News:

Stock market crisis goes international, could trigger recession
Pavlovic vows to ratify trade agreements in lame-duck session
Speculation grows over who will be in Autenberg's Cabinet

by **Conpatria** » Fri Oct 07, 2016 11:17 am

Conpatria • Islas Arturias • Crato • Detectacia • Higue y Bron • Nui-ta • Radiacia • Verdón • Verisí

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EL PERIÓDICO GLOBAL

Internacional • Opinión • Política • Economía • Ciencia • Cultura • Deportes • Local

The center falls out
Autenberg wins in Radiatia and García Sáez gains ground in Conpatria

Outsider candidate Jaagen Autenberg (shown in red) has won a stunning victory over President Angela Pavlovic (shown in blue).

Radiatians have elected a new President of the Federation, and the results shocked almost everyone.

Incumbent President Angela Pavlovic, largely considered a center-right conservative by political observers, has lost reelection in her home country. Her opponent, Jaagen Autenberg, the premier of a far-northern, sparsely-populated state has marched to the Executive Tower in Xerconia using a campaign based on fiscal socialism and social conservatism.

"If I can be the President," Autenberg told reporters, "well then I guess anyone can!" This seems to be the sentiment of many politicians and political scientists in Conpatria and around the world, as well. Although, where President-elect Autenberg meant it in celebration, the rest are not so thrilled.

"This man is a threat to international diplomacy and the world economy," said Dr. Martina González of the Complutense University of Aranjuez. "The Radiatian tsenyen is already falling, and markets have crashed there and in Arthuria. We're just lucky the Aranjuez exchange was closed when the results were called, although this afternoon should yield some not-so-positive results for the Conpatrian economy, as well."

At her weekly press conference, President María Cristina Lieidis declined to offer her opinion on the matter.

"I congratulate Mr. Autenberg on his electoral victory, and wish him the best in the years to come," Lieidis said. "I hope that he and I can work together for a safer Noctur and maintain the strong, amiable relationship between the Conpatrian Republic and the Radiatian Federation."

She also had some parting words for the outgoing President.

"I also want to thank Angela Pavlovic for her tireless dedication to her people and the rest of Noctur," she concluded. "I was lucky to consider her a friend and I hope she is able to continue to serve her people in the most — how to Radiatians say it? — efficient way possible."

Frente Popular leader José García Sáez speaks at a Pontevedra Populares event in A Caeira, Pontevedra.

In more familiar territory, Frente Popular (FP) leader José García Sáez is gaining ground for his party and his personal brand across Conpatria. While a minority of voters — 17% in a recent poll — would consider voting for FP in the next legislative election, that is a notable uptick from the 7.2% popular vote they received in the 2016 legislative election.

In the same poll that showed FP at 17%, 52% of voters considered García Sáez and his party "racist," with only 25% believing them not to be racist, and the rest unsure. This comes after Culture Minister Federica Geilín Sosa (the only member of former President Maia Ziortzá's Cabinet held on by Lieidis) and FP spokesperson Marisol Hernández have been engaged in a public battle over the role of immigrants and refugees in Conpatrian society.

Hernández and the FP attempted to negatively brand the Minister and Government as "incluidores" (includers), due to the center-left Social Democratic Union (USD) (in opposition) and center-right Democratic Party (in government) coming together on the issue of refugees after the war in Occidens. Geilín Sosa decided to take the accusation as a badge of honor, successfully spinning the issue in her favor and apparently winning over the majority of voters.

by **Higgins and Brown** » Sun Oct 09, 2016 9:32 am

News2.4.hb

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Bringing Web 2.0 to HB24! Opinions Opinions Opinions! Goodbye Restrictive Standards!

Election 177 - Special Coverage

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177 IE / LET 70

Preliminary Results: Morde, Fulbrít, Ókonel Qualify for Final Ballot
Establishment Candidates Rejected :arrow:

President and Vice-President Lose Party Contests :arrow:

Will Todd Morde Accept Place on Final Ballot? :arrow:

Autenberg's Victory Final Nail in Coffin for Henrietta J.W. :arrow:

Opinion: Sanity has already Lost this Election :arrow:

RESULTS: Morde, Fulbrít and Ókonel Qualify for Final Round

ASLE, Union for Peace and Front for a United Nation to send candidates to Final Round

Todd Morde dominates Candidates' Race

Focus Now Turns to Final Round

Ívor Locke defeats Henrietta for National Party candidacy, but party fails to Qualify.

Turnout Desperately Low

Winning Party by Region and Territory
(Tadnam, shown in purple/red, did not take part)

Winning Candidate by Region and Territory

A wrecking ball has knocked several blows into the political establishment, with the news today that neither the President, nor Vice-President, or any moderate candidate, qualifying for the final round of the Presidential election. The ASLE, FUN and Union for Peace have each qualified for the final round, with environmental campaigner Codenor Mári Ókonel, Hoindopor Todd Morde and former International Relations Commissioner Ráf Fulbrít winning those party's contests. Turnout was well down on four years ago, with just 30.6% of voters turning out in the preliminary round.

As the only major or sanctioned candidate from his organisation, Todd Morde topped the poll with a quarter of all votes - 25.4% - more than twice that of any other candidate. Another member of the FUN, Dylan Greenbrush, was on the ballot in Sóthwestern region, and received 0.2% of the national vote there. Greenbrush has been ostracised from the national organisation for taking part in the election.

The Alliance for Solidarity, Liberation & Ecology's 3-way dance produced a close result, with the party receiving 29.5% of the national vote, coming first among the parties. President Merl Nugent performed the worst of any incumbent President in history, receiving just 8.9% of the national vote (30% of his party's vote), and coming in third. Marginally ahead of him, former Vice-President Mary Clinton received 9.5% (32% of her pary's vote). The big surprise, even though it had long been possible, was that Mári Ókonel, the Codenor for Kosgráv territory, though a native of Kings, won her party's primary with 33.9% of the party vote, 10% of the national vote. She thus qualifies for the main round.

The Union for Peace grew their vote by a huge proportion to overtake the National Party and qualify for the third spot in the final round. Much of the increase has been put down to the game-changing candidacy of Ráf Fulbrít, Henrietta J. W.'s former International Relations Commissioner. Fulbrít's "liberalism" is of a communitarian and religious brand, and he questions the benefits of trade with "other cultures". Combine that with his conservative social values, and its hard to see how he fits into the Union for Peace at all. But he is a newfound pacifist, and he has won their primary, with 9.7% of the national vote, and 43.5% of the party's vote. Vice-President and Governor of Kings, Jon Hogan, received 7.8%, 35% of the party vote. His supporters have put the blame on Carla Meriwether, who with 4.5% of the national vote (20% of the UP vote) may have split the traditional UP vote. There have already been calls for Fulbrít to pull out by fellow UP members.

In the National Party, the big news is that with a dreadful 13.2% othe vote between them, none of the candidates are going anywhere. Former Army Chief of Staff Ívor Locke won the best result, but the victory will mean little to him, getting just 5.4% of the national vote on the night. The loss will mean plenty for Henrietta J. W. though, who with 4.9% of the vote has done much worse even than Merl Nugent. Third in the National Party primary was the handpicked favourite of the party leader Daniel Fox, Mr. Peter Paul. Paul received just 2.9% of the national vote.

Todd Morde Dominates Among Candidates
WIth no credible opposition from within his own party, and a strong ground campaign conducted by his party (though which has featured him little), Todd Morde's 25.4% of the vote is 2.4 times that of the second-strongest candidate, Mári Ókonel. His victory was near complete across the country, topping the poll in all but 1 county (Carrigró), and 5 of the 6 territories.

It is unlikely that such a dogmatic candidate would get far in the final round, given the Borda Count electoral system, which the country will be using for the 2nd time. However, Morde receives some residual good will even from among his non-supporters, for his role in the negotiation of a peace deal with Segland. Some will argue that he has already acted the part of the President, going into these elections.

It remains unknown, however, if Morde will be comfortable going forward in the final round, with the constraints that will likely be placed on him as a candidate for the highest office in the land. For one thing, he will need to resign his seat in the Hoindopo, which he initially took up after becoming Acting Leader of the Front. He has so far released no statement confirming his intentions.

Focus Turns to Final Round
Moderate commentator Ole D. Mann has already labelled the results of the preliminary round "a defeat for sanity". In the ASLE, moderate members are definitely identifying with this feeling as they wake up to find out that Mári Ókonel will be their candidate for President. Ókonel, who was a member of the New Greens - a splinter from the Green Party - when first elected to the Codena, has taken part in 3 elections under the guise of that party and the United Left Front. In recent years she has found herself brought into the ASLE umbrella by the shifting sands of green politics (the New Greens first merged with the ULF, only to split, and several rejoin the original Green Party). Ókonel's candidacy was seen as an insurgency by many. By far the most leftwing member of the Codena, representing the island territory of Kosgráv, she has rarely shown any appetite for cooperation or party discipline. Her war-time activity was restricted to the island of Kosgráv, where she helped the island government negotiate bullishly with the Navy for more protection and the government for more supplies. Her campaign stances sound like a return to Treacyism, with an environmentalist twist. Ókonel wants to restart efforts at a League of Nations in Noctur, and assemble an alliance of nations against climate change. She says including Algrabad at an early stage in these initiatiaves will help mend the relations between the two countries.

While Ókonel may attract the ire of traditional ASLE moderates, she has built up popularity as an anti-establishment candidate who speaks her mind and isn't in it for her place in the history books. The people have determined that she will be the ASLE's candidate in the election, but whether or not core ASLE supporters warm to her is another question.

None of this compares to the upcoming internal strife in the Union for Peace, however. Calls have already been made by supporters of Vice-President Hogan for Ráf Fulbrít to withdraw from the contest. A major donor has threatened legal action, claiming that Fulbrít was in breach of party rules when he ran, and that he should've been a National candidate or an independent. Carla Meriwether has refused to take responsibility for "splitting" the vote of the secular-liberal Union for Peace vote, but her supporters have joined Hogan's in calling for Fulbrít to 'do the honourable thing' as he did not get a majority of UP votes.

Fulbrít has flat-out refused to do any such thing, however, and has already named his running mate for the final round as Rdr. Megan Tí, Pro-Reader of the Scholarate of the City of Colgerugh. By naming a conservative clergywoman, Fulbrít has doubled down on his earlier religious message. Fulbrít is promising to spearhead major social, constitutional and military change to match the country to the ideals of the Brownite Orthodox Ereszim religion. Taking a conservative, pacifist, communitarian outlook, Fulbrít is the most interesting candidate of the "centre" - where the UP likes to position itself - in decades.

Some in the UP have already declared that the organisation will likely split over the result. The domestic sister party, the Liberal Party, may be poised to do what the National Party did some years ago, and move into the state politics arena, running candidates of its own against its former ally in the Codenal elections.

Full Table of Results by Party and Candidate

Party	Party Vote	Candidate	% Vote	(% of Party Vote)
ASLE	29.5%	Mári Ókonel	10.0%	(33.9%)
		Mary Clinton	9.5%	(32.2%)
		Merl Nugent	8.9%	(30.2%)
		Tim Coton	0.7%	(2.4%)
		Others	0.4%	(1.4%)
FUN	25.6%	Todd Morde	25.4%	(99.2%)
		Dylan Greenbrush	0.2%	(0.8%)
UP	22.3%	Ráf Fulbrít	9.7%	(43.5%)
		Jon Hogan	7.8%	(35.0%)
		Carla Meriwether	4.5%	(20.2%)
		Others	0.3%	(1.3%)
NAT	13.2%	Ívor Locke	5.4%	(40.6%)
		Henrietta J. W.	4.9%	(36.8%)
		Peter Paul	2.9%	(21.8%)
		Others	0.1%	(0.8%)
NRL	3.1%	Frank Dínami	2.8%	(90.3%)
		Others	0.3%	(9.7%)
Independent	2.8%	Wendel Walker	2.8%
ULF	1.5%	Natali Dót	1.0%	(66.7%)
		Lorcan Bémish	0.5%	(33.3%)
Others	2.0%	Various	2.0%

Autenberg smokes Henrietta
The last polls conducted before the 'cut off' showed Henrietta J. W. in a strong position to return to the Final Round and be in contention to reclaim her Presidency. However, her strongly pro-Radiatian message on this occasion appears to have been the final nail in her campaign's coffin. Having brushed off accusations about her mental health, alcohol dependency, her conduct before and at the end of the war, and if she herself was responsible for the war, it was the victory in Radiatia of the isolationist (verging on incoherent) Jaagen Autenberg that finally saw major figures in the National Party back away from Henrietta and her planned comeback. Her final result was abysmal for a former President.

Party Leader Daniel Fox had already wanted to avoid a second Henrietta Presidency, and promoted Peter Paul as his preferred candidate. The aloof billionaire made few friends during the campaign, and his catastrophic result is sure to see Fox himself damaged badly. Fox has, since coming to lead his party, suffered a major split and a huge reduction in standing for what used to be the dominant party of the right in Higgins & Brown.

The best performing candidate for the party, former Altgroupier and Chief of Staff of the RAF Ívor Locke, won't get to do much with his victory, as the party - coming fourth - did not qualify for the Final Round.

Low Turnout
The 173 preliminary round saw a turnout of 48.9%, and 75.6% in the final round. By comparison, today's figures were atrocious, with just 30.6% of voters estimated to have voted - less than a third. The unpopularity of all major candidates has been blamed, with moderate voters being unable to find a likeable, competent, sane candidate with a positive vision to follow. As the first national election since the war, it is also possible that a longer trend of voter disillusionment with the political apparatus is being revealed for the first time.

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by **Radiatia** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 7:39 am

SIX MILITARY BASES TO CLOSE
AUTENBERG ORDERS CLOSURE OF ALL FOREIGN MILITARY INSTALLATIONS

October 12th LET 60 Last updated 02:47 Exegrad Standard Time

XERCONIA, FCT
President Jaagen Autenberg, in his first act since taking office, has ordered the closure of six military bases, including San Dhohra in Nui-ta and Port Austurlöndum in Aazeronia.

_{Defence officials are bracing themselves for cutbacks}

The President signed an Executive Order to this effect this morning, and announced the controversial move this afternoon, setting the stage for his promised "Radiatia First" doctrine.

The move will effectively see the Radiatian Federation completely remove its permanent presence in Terra Oriens, while the President sought to accelerate the process of closing San Dhohra - something his predecessor said she opposed intended to negotiate with the Nui-tans over.

"A lot o' folk have been sayin' that if we don't have a presence in Terra Oriens, we won't be able ter deploy troops for an invasion," Said the President at his first press conference since taking office. "Well I hate ter break it to them folk - but we ain't plannin' to invade nowhere. It's supposed ter be a defence force not an attack force... an' accordin' to mah map Radiatia ain't in Terra Oriens, it's in Terra Occidens."

Critics of the plan have alleged that it would send the wrong signals to Radiatia's allies, a signal "that they are on their own" as one reporter put it, which the President confirmed.

"Well that's exactly what we're sayin'. You are on yer own now. Radiatia ain't pickin' up the tab fer yer defence no more."

General Jack Schwartzemann of RFSOUTHCOMM took the rare step of publicly criticising the Commander-in-Chief, after Autenberg unilaterally ordered the end of the blockade of Hadin, ordering several carrier strike groups located in the area to return home.

"He did this without consulting a single defence advisor, without talking to the military... he doesn't even have a Minister of Defence right now," Said General Schwartzemann. "I'm not criticising the President. I'm saying that he needs to talk to us and understand the underlying reasons for the blockade, and the military bases - which we've had for more than 30 years - and I'm having to go through the media because this President won't answer his phone."

President Autenberg didn't directly answer Schwartzemann's criticisms other than to reaffirm that "This is all part of Radiatia First."

Xerconia insiders are speculating that today's announcement is likely to pave the way for budget cuts in the FMoD, particularly with regards to foreign military operations and that any money saved could be part of Autenberg's plans to reform healthcare and education.

The President, contradicting his previous statement, went on to state that Radiatia was not abandoning its allies and that the Sea Force would still regularly patrol the oceans and conduct port calls and joint exercises.

"I'm just sayin' Radiatia has been sacrificing more than its fare share. Other countries give their citizens edu-ma-cation an' healthcare. We don't because we're spendin' all our money defendin' other countries."

AUTENBERG NAMES CABINET

Also announced today, after much anticipation, was exactly who the President intended to have as part of his Administration, and it seems Xerconia's establishment will be left out in the cold.

President Autenberg has named exactly who he intends to nominate for his Cabinet, pending Senate approval, with almost every person on the list considered a Xerconia outsider like him, leaving some senior Social Democrats fuming.

Much of Autenberg's Cabinet have been seconded straight from his home state of Diatara, with critics already dubbing it "The Red Redneck Cabinet", while long-serving federal government figures have been passed over by the new President.

The decision that all eyes has been upon - that of who Autenberg would appoint to the Foreign Affairs portfolio - was announced today as Mark Fleischer, a Liberal-Conservative from, you guessed it, Diatara, whose foreign policy credentials remain completely unknown.

Sources have alleged that Autenberg originally asked former New Vashura Senator Josko Ivers to take on the role again (Ivers having previously served as Foreign Minister from LET 30-38) but was declined due to the Senator's unwillingness to return to work.

Meanwhile Crataan-born Isaac Lichtenberg, the National Security Advisor and former Foreign Minister has been unceremoniously sacked despite rumours that Autenberg might well consider him for the job.

Commentators say that this marks a definite end to the Fyoderov-Pavlovic era, i.e. the so-called "Sunshine Policy".

"What's clear is that President Autenberg has no intention of readopting Keldon Silviu's Sheriff of Noctur doctrine due to it being too interventionist, but he clearly sees the Sunshine Policy as too appeasing."

This was further clarified in a statement by Mark Fleischer, who confirmed that "Radiatia First is distinct from the Sunshine Policy. The Sunshine Policy was one that demanded global co-operation, and attempted to reason and make friends with the federation's enemies. Radiatia First does no such thing - this is a policy of Leave Us Alone and We'll Leave You Alone. But be warned - there will be no mercy and no recourse if the Radiatian Federation is attacked."

President Autenberg defended his decision to appoint Fleischer to the role.

"If I'd chosen a Social Democrat you folk would all be sayin' I'm too partisan. So I chose a Liberal-Conservative an' what do I get? You folk all say I'm favouring me own state. Well dang it, ye just can't win with you fancy media types can ye?"

Meanwhile, with uncertainty continuing to grow regarding the nature of the Autenberg foreign policy - and his advocation of nuclear weapons - the Doomsday Clock was raised to Two Minutes to Midnight - the closest it has been since Radiatia's stand-off with Tuthina in the LET 20s, with the Association of Atomic Scientists warning that Jaagen Autenberg, more than any other Radiatian President including Derro Vahnsehn, has the most potential to start or wage a nuclear war.

- RPNN

Wondermummy (Uerku, Saku)
3 HOURS AGO
I want to move overseas but nowhere is safe. Can I move to the moon? How did we get this idiot as our President!?

1092 likes

Davidson (Musk, Vatfer)
2 HOURS AGO
Autenberg's choices for Cabinet are... actually worse than I feared. I hope the Senate votes this down. Please.

766 likes

Gaphar (Valar, Asgard)
1 HOUR AGO
YEAH THIS IS WOT A REAL LEADER LOOKS LIKE. AUTENBERGGGG.

333 likes

In Other News:

Is populism on the rise in Noctur?
OPINION: Autenberg's election was a party but his administration is the hangover afterwards.
The world reacts to Autenberg

by **Higgins and Brown** » Fri Oct 14, 2016 9:49 am

The Kenilerth Chronicle
August 177 IE / 60 LET

Algrabad to Sue 'Red Hexagon' for Accusations of Ethnic Cleansing in "Mid Zanzes' Region
In a remarkable decision, the President's Justice Má Waller has accepted the application of the Ambassador of Algrabad to sue the Red Hexagon organisation in the Presidential Court. Justice Waller explained in her decision that since Red Hexagon is headquartered in Michaelstown, it is only proper for the Algrabadi state to pursue a legal case there. Tray & Torrs Advocates & Associates., acting for the Ambassador, have submitted that the false accusations should be punished by a restorative payment of P5.1 Billion. The Red Hexagon have exclaimed that they have neither the funds to fight the case, nor anything like the funds to pay should that amount be awarded against them.

The Red Hexagon has accused Algrabad of orchestrating a massive population exchange between the problematic anti-communist arabic population in the Buffer Zone (who have lived in the Buffer Zone since the 2nd War, or who's parents and grandparents fled there during the revolution), and the indigenous ethnic Zanzeans who live in Mid-Occitens, the area recently annexed unilaterally by Algrabad, in the wake of the second fall of Zanzes.

The population swap is forced, acceding to the Red Hexagon, who note that anticommunist Arabs are now being spread around the Mid Occitens area (known as Mid Zanzes to the Algrabadis) among hostile Zanzeanic settlements - from which some families are being forcibly moved west to the Buffer Zone, to occupy those areas nearest the border with Higgins & Brown, formerly settled by Higgins-Brownites.

The accusations levelled by the Hexagon also contend that scores have died as a result of the forced transfer, with disease, hunger and inter-ethnic conflict resulting directly from the mass transit of people's out of their homelands.

The Algrabadi government have admitted only that a voluntary population transfer exists, and have threatened to shut down the Red Hexagon by 'any means necessary' unless it retracts its accusations in full.

The President and Commissioners remain silent on the issue.

Todd Morde 'Unlikely to Run'?
The National Party are holding their breaths in excitement this week, with the rumour that Todd Morde is unlikely to accept his place on the ballot for October's election. With the only other FUN candidate having officially withdrawn already, that would mean that the National Party would take the FUN's place in the final round. Former RAF Chief of Staff, Altgroupier Locke, has told the press he will be ready to run, if and when Todd Morde makes his mind up. Morde hasn't wasted breath on the subject, however, and is spending the next two weeks campaigning in Beldun, Sóthwest region against the 'influence of the mob'. Four people have died so far in violent street clashes between criminal gangs and a large FUN presence that has temporarily moved into the city. The region of Sóthwest is one in which the FUN have so far failed to achieve the heights of popularity they have managed elsewhere.

FUN Pitzjorol regional Justice Secretary Roberta Eroen is currently tipped to be the most likely Vice-Presidential candidate if Morde does choose to run. Appointed in the FUN administration in Pitzjorol some time after the 173 elections, she is thought to be a close ally of Morde's. She came to brief prominence 2 years ago when she took ten weeks of unpaid leave from the administration to manage the home care of de jure leader of the FUN, Nicholas Francis.

Budget set to Pass Amid Confusion, Apathy and Abstention
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER-TO-THE-TREASURY David Lamont has recommended the final portion of the Budget to the Hoindopo. In an Introductory Speech that lasted just 22 minutes, Lamont confirmed that very little would change in the coming year, except in the war-affected 'Special Redevelopment Areas', in which a raft of tax cuts and exemptions were mentioned. In other areas, food rationing and severe price controls on surplus - dubbed the chocolate lottery - will continue. Left and Right alike are unhappy with the bill, but it looks likely to pass.

The Republican Social Democrats, led for the interim by Sarah Barker, are set to vote in favour or abstain on the budget, though they are openly unhappy about its content. Barker said to the Chronicle, "Earlier this year, the Liberals and Nareli took up the role of government because of internal strife in our party. It would be irresponsible to reject what is essentially an extension of the last budget. There were no ground-rules and no expectations for this, and Deputy Prime Minister Lamont has opted not to surprise us." Even Kent Morton, the icon of the RSD Left, admitted much the same. "I wouldn't vote for this bill under normal circumstances, and if an RSD Minister proposed it in peace-time, I'd be furious. But we are where we are - I am calling on all RSD caucus members to aid this bill in passing through the Hoindopo." About half a dozen RSD Hoindopors ignored that advice and voted against procedural motions to speed up the bill's adoption.

Lamont has been given a strong hand in determining the content's of this years budget, due to his recent elevation to Deputy Prime Minister, and the fact that the State Government suddenly finds itself without focus or zeal.

"Lamont brought the budget to us about a month earlier than usual," says Budgetary Affairs Committee Chairwoman Elda Lee, "because he wanted the Hoindopo to be able to send something to the President and Commission as early as possible. Since the President was knocked out of the election race, and the vacancy in the Treasury Commission, there's been very little noise of any decision-making coming out of the Commission, or our friends in the Codena."

Fábian Lawrens made good on his earlier intimations during the spring that he might jump from the Commission with some months of his term left to go - he and President Nugent have not got on since the former's accession to office. For his part, Nugent has said asked the Codena to suggest a name for an interim Treasury Commissioner, a complete reversal of the usual process for appointing one. Nugent's party's candidate for President, Mári Ókonel, has attacked the incumbent's attitude.

"It's like he's taking his ball and going home. Meanwhile, Minister Lamont is pushing through a budget, and there won't even be a Treasury Commissioner to read it when it gets there. If the Codena passes it, will the President sign it, or simply wait until his successor is appointed? I'm no fan of capitalism, but the markets are going to flip their lids!"

President Nugent's office was not available for comment.

Chairperson Jóns Defects from Union for Peace
"I am a pacifist, secular, and a democrat. I believe in free markets and free people, and I believe that sometimes the state has to step in to ensure these freedoms are protected, and sometimes it has to step out of the way for the same reason. That is why I joined, and for 24 years have sat in the Codena representing, the Union for Peace. A great party. However… I am not a paleoconservative neo-orthodox Ereszimite looking to turn my back on the world because of the recent war. I do not believe that free markets should be regulated by spiritual ethics, nor that social norms should be reversed to the turn of the century and kept there. And that it why I will not contest the next elections under the same party banner as the Presidential candidate Ráf Fulbrít. I wish him well in his candidacy, if only because he is potentially the least-worst option. But I shall not run as his ally, back his campaign as a supporter, or facilitate his programme in office as a partner. I hope that in time, the Union for Peace will once more become the home party for secular and sensible pacifism. But for this election cycle at least, I shall not run under its banner."

Those were the words yesterday of Codena Chairperson Paul Jóns, made all the more remarkable by the fact that he was until that point the leader of the Union for Peace, as Chairperson of the Codena. He announced that he would not run as a UP candidate in the Codenal elections in October, though in answering questions revealed that his objection was not with any UP Codenor or the vast majority of registered supporters, but with the Presidential candidate Ráf Fulbrít, and conservative religious elements that have followed Fulbrít into the UP fold. Jóns's actions reinforce the feeling that the Liberal Party will run candidates of its own in the Codenal elections, breaking with its sister organisation the Union for Peace. Opinions differ on whether the change in the centre ground of state politics is cosmetic, or even noticeable, or whether it is quite fundamental. On the one hand, the Union for Peace is an organisation of registered supporters and Codenors, rather than a full political party (the same is true of the Alliance for Solidarity, Liberation & Ecology, the only other remaining political grouping to contest Codenal and Presidential elections, but not Hoindopal and regional ones). On the other hand, it has control of a well-stocked campaign war-chest, and (for the moment) a slate of candidates nominated for every region in which seats are being contested. In the cut-throat majoritarian borda count system, the gamble every candidate takes is whether or not they can win a seat on a 'Liberal' or even independent slate.

Fulbrít's running mate, Pro-Rdr. Tí, has called for Jóns to step down as Chairperson of the Codena, or for remaining UP Codenors to force him to do so. At present, no moves appear to be in motion to force him, as UP Codenors no doubt contemplate following his lead. Jóns was only elected Chairperson in January of this year. The Chair was vacated by Merl Nugent, upon his accession to the office of President. Jóns was elected with ASLE support, as part of the deal to elect Nugent as President.

THE KENILERTH CHRONICLE

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by **Poldania** » Mon Oct 17, 2016 12:46 pm

Government promises further defense spending ahead of elections
Navy to see biggest expansion

17 October 2060

The PNS August, Poldania's only active carrier, was deployed to the Tressian Gulf.

VERDONA - Union party senators have proposed massive increases to next year's military budget. According to sources in the Department of Defense, the additional funding was requested by the joint chiefs.

The navy would see the bulk of the new spending, with some senators calling for a doubling of the fleet by 2080. President Cesare has previously expressed his support for a "global Poldanian navy". The air force would also receive money to develop missile defense systems.

The prime minister's office declined to comment on details, but said a budget bill for 2061 would be on the president's desk "as soon as possible" following elections later this month.

The rumors come just after newly-inaugurated Radiatian president Autenberg announced a massive reduction in Radiatian military presence throughout Noctur, leading to concerns about the safety of international shipping and long-term stability in the region.

The Union party is expected to retain its parliamentary majority for the next two years, bolstered by support for the war in Segland and President Cesare's recent reelection.

In other news:

Poldania eliminated from Noctur Cup
Higgins and Brown elections reach final stage
Recession worries in Arthuria

by **Higgins and Brown** » Thu Oct 20, 2016 7:10 am

The Kenilerth Chronicle
August 177 IE / 60 LET

Ókonel Names Running Mate

Presidential Candidate, Codenor Mári Ókonel

Mári Ókonel has announced her Vice-Presidential candidate to be Governor Helen Sheper of Shelborn. The announcement was made on the first evening of the ASLE Convention, where Ókonel also outlined her preferred platform. Governor Sheper was the surprise victor of the governal election in Shelborn 4 years ago, but is now on-course for a comfortable re-election bid. Tonight, the incumbent President Merl Nugent will address the convention – he is expected to endorse Ókonel and confirm that he is running for his seat back in the Codena.

The Alliance for Solidarity, Liberation & Ecology is the state political sister party to the domestic Republican Social Democrats and Green parties. Ókonel, of Currish-Brownite ethnicity, representing a Curr-dominated territory, and associated with the ideological wing of the Green tradition, has attempted to balance the ticket with the appointment of a moderate serving RSD Governor from North Higgins. Ókonel’s pick of a moderate social democrat signals that she intends to win the Presidency, not simply promote her issues and causes. However, when one considers what those issues and causes are, victory still seems a fair way off for the Ókonel-Sheper ticket.

Sheper has served as Governor for 4 years, and her reputation has fared a lot better than her party’s in the intervening period, somewhat surprisingly so in this naturally conservative part of the country. She has steered the passage of the regional constitution with relative ease, despite being able to rely on minority support only in the Shelborn Regional Assembly. Two controversies in this process were settled amicably before the draft was put to a vote: property rights and the border with Lletni Territory. Sheper stood over the national standard for property rights being subservient to the general good, despite National Party and Nareli opposition. She also, however, recognised the ‘hard border’ with Lletni.

Hard Borderists, or ‘denialists’, as they are called in Lletni, are those Higginsians in Northern Higgins who wish to ensure that the borders of Lletni Territory are never redrawn or reviewed. Lletniite nationalists in contrast demand that the territory should regain its pre-independence boundaries, known as ‘Greater Lletni’. The fact that the idea of a changed border is little more than a pipe dream to wishful Lletniites does not make it any less a potent political tool in the heartlands of North Higgins.

It is one of many issues upon which Sheper and Ókonel have taken different views in public. Ókonel represents the Republic of Kosgráv in the Codena, where support for the Lletniite cause is generally polled to be high, due to historic animosity between Currs and Higginsians.

The all-female ticket is a first in Higgins-Brownite politics, but some in the ASLE are crying foul. Most notably the veteran trade unionist Eglet Cornéli, who failed to get to the Main Round in 167, has decried the lack of gender equality. Cornéli made noises in 167 that he would like to be considered as a Vice-Presidential candidate alongside Brian Treacy. Treacy was required by the rules of the ASLE at the time to pick a woman, though he insisted that eventual Vice-President Mary Clinton was his first choice anyway. Cornéli insists that the rule should work both ways. However, the rule only ever demanded that a male Presidential candidate should pick a female running mate, and would only penalise them by withholding fundraising and electoral data support. The rule has technically expired anyway.

Helen Sheper for her part will speak on the penultimate evening of the four-day convention, just after former Vice-President Mary Clinton. She is expected to concentrate on her role in a future Ókonel administration. ASLE moderates will want to hear that she is going to be a full-time part of the State Government, sitting on the Commission with a portfolio, and being involved in high-level policy determinations. This may be quite important for swing voters in this election year, in which so-called moderate or centrist candidates all failed in the preliminary round. Alternatively, Sheper will signal that she still intends to run for re-election as Shelborn’s Governor in October. Vice-Presidents who are serving Governors typically take very little part in the State Government.

The Convention, being held in Tratermon, Mukon region, has been attended by ASLE, RSD and Green Party lawmakers and Governors, as well as delegates drawn from the various regional and local ASLE support groups.

THE KENILERTH CHRONICLE

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by **Radiatia** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 10:09 pm

OUTRAGE AFTER RADIATIA DISQUALIFIED FROM NOCTUR CUP
FANS AND SPONSORS FURIOUS AFTER OFFICIALS CLAIM CHEATING TO BE AGAINST THE RULES

October 23rd LET 60 Last updated 17:30 Exegrad Standard Time

DAS ENGEL, AMENTRA
Team Radiatia's dream run at the Noctur Cup has been unceremoniously cut short after international football officials ruled that the team's use of performance enhancing drugs constituted a breach of the rules.

_{Das Engel's famous Engelsia Dome - considered the home of Team Radiatia}

Team Radiatia was disqualified from the tournament, and potentially faces a ban from the next tournament, after it was revealed that athletes were under the influence of "illegal" performance enhancing drugs, including steroids and amphetamines.

Fans and sponsors are outraged by the "unjust" decision, with many Das Engel betting companies reportedly facing huge losses as a result of the disqualification.

"Radiatia was the odds-on favourite to win the tournament," Said Darius Freund of BetBucks. "The 6-1 victory against Detectatia and the 4-1 against Nui-ta showed that this team was just unbeatable. And yet now... because the odds on Radiatia losing were quite high we're looking at paying out through the nose to those who betted against Radiatia.

"In domestic sports a betting company like ours will know in advance of a tournament who is going to win and teams will tell us whether they intend to play well or poorly. But these international rules are ridiculous - it's an absolute free-for-all, highly inefficient!"

Team Officials confirmed that Radiatian players were using performance enhancing drugs that had originally been developed for use by the Radiatian Military but blasted the organisers of the Noctur Cup for its decision.

"It's yet another example of the world ganging up against Radiatia because they knew we were going to win," Said Ozzy Eckstein, CEO of the Radiatian Football Association. "The only reason they decided it's against the rules was because of all the third world countries who are too poor to afford our top-of-the-range military-grade performance enhancers. Competition is supposed to be about winning. It's not our problem if other teams aren't willing to jack their players full of steroids.

"They're having a big cry because they're losing so they found an obscure rule that allowed them to kick us out of the competition. It's disgusting."

Legendary player Vladimir Nikolaev, who was captain of Jingyurin FC from LET 35 - LET 40 and remains Radiatia's greatest ever football player also slammed the decision.

"Aruughaaa haa thaaa dadadamababa," He said, due to years of enduring performance enhancing medication rendering him unintelligible and with no motor skills at the age of 35.

Some criticism has been levelled at the team and the players for not following international guidelines fastidiously enough.

"It's absolutely amateurish of a professional team like Radiatia to be caught cheating and sends a terrible message to our children," Said concerned Das Engel mother and avid football fan Phoebe Arrington. "I'm trying to raise my children to be efficient Radiatians and teach them the importance of winning at all costs.

"How am I supposed to show them that cheating is sometimes the best way to win when even our professional athletes aren't good enough to get away with cheating without being caught?!"

President Jaagen Autenberg also weighed in on the controversy, saying that he felt the decision to disqualify Team Radiatia was "Political correctness gone mad" but wished players well for the upcoming Radiatian Football League, "Especially Diatara - I've got me a good feelin' this year!"

In terms of funding and sponsorship, Team Radiatia outspent every other team in the international competition and it's theorised that excluding Radiatia from future events could jeopardise the financial solvency of the Noctur Cup.

At home, the Radiatian Football League (RFL), from which Team Radiatia's players were drawn, is the single highest grossing sporting competition in Noctur.

- RPNN

TEAMRAD6532 (Tsukue, Jingyurin)
3 HOURS AGO
ABSOLUTE OUTRAGE!!!111!!!! The competition is RIGGED! I'm NEVER watching an international sport EVER AGAIN

2031 likes

MagicMan332 (Swerla, Pfantz)
2 HOURS AGO
My wife is gonna kill me. I bet half our savings that Radiatia would win. God damn these foreign bastards with their stupid "fairness" regulations.

802 likes

Saltor (Kiken, Chongluntz)
1 HOUR AGO
I'm disgusted in the Team, quite frankly. Surely they should have known they'd be tested, surely they could have done some fake urine samples or something.

402 likes

In Other News:

"Radiatia First" policy slammed by experts, who warn "This will benefit only Poldania"
Are Radiatian-Seglandic relations finally starting to thaw?
Skorptsch man enters record books after eating world's biggest slice of cheese

by **Segland** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 7:22 pm

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HAUSSMANN DISSOLVES HIGH MINISTERIUM

NEW MINISTERS APPOINTED, AWAITING SWEARING IN

After several months of retaining the High Ministerium of Chancellor Mueller (aside from an interim who was appointed to fill the vacancy from then-Liaison-Minister Haussmann's succession), Chancellor Haussmann has dismissed all present members of the Ministerium and named his own list of appointments.

The motive behind such a change seems to lie in the inefficiency of the Mueller Ministerium. "The High Ministerium is meant dually to coordinate the efforts of each ministry and report to the Chancellor, and to provide advice to the Chancellor when requested," said Press Secretary of the Chancery Markus Rohmeniel. "Such is the infighting and quibbling of the current Ministerium that the only solution is its dissolution."

A diverse set of appointments, some household political names and others newcomers from the business and scientific arenas, has been named by the Chancellor. A full list is provided at the end of the article.

Notable inclusions to the new Ministerium are Jovian Moser, a career diplomat named as Minister for Fortitude; Tillo Urslerev, a political scientist turned millionaire advertising executive who will be Minister for Enlightenment; and Rafael Martz, a Conpatrian-Seglandic economist appointed as Minister for Production.

Equally conspicuous is a certain man who was not named to Haussmann's new Ministerium. That is Rupert Specht, Segland's ambassador-at-large and main envoy to UNCA. Speculation has run rampant ever since Alexei Haussmann became chancellor that Specht would become the new Minister for Liaison; he has been viewed as a shoe-in for the position once interim Minister Loke Jenssen steps down. However, now that Liaison Minister Jenssen has been dismissed along with the rest of the Ministerium, Haussmann has instead appointed Teo Caj Rademacher, a Relmsenatier from Tressia, to the post.

Specht was reportedly offered the position by the Haussmann government, but he turned it down for reasons unknown. Perhaps the popular but aging diplomat intends to quietly round out his decades of service while sticking with his current station. It is said that he has a special liking for the nation of Hadin, which he has visited on multiple occasions.

The swearing-in of all new ministers will take place on the same day, owing to the fact that so many are being introduced at once. Chancellor Haussmann himself is to deliver a speech there on the aims of his new government as pertains to both Segland and the world as a whole.

Alexei Haussmann's High Ministerium

Minister for Capacity: Ludolf Morgenstern
Minister for Commerce: Hagen Solfytsel
Minister for Court: Aelianus Grahn
Minister for Education: Wendel Gerber
Minister for Energy: Dietmar Hildebrand
Minister for Enlightenment: Tillo Urslerev
Minister for Finance: Torben Hoover
Minister for Fortitude: Jovian Moser
Minister for Harmony: Pontus Wolf
Minister for Health: Vladislav Rundstrom
Minister for Liaison: Teo Caj Rademacher
Minister for Production: Rafael Martz
Minister for Transportation: Rodya Xylander

In Other News:
Team Segland men bring home silver, Higgins and Brown clinches both Cup finals
"Der Arkangel is completely secure from Poldanians," says defense official
Jaagen Autenberg elected President of Radiatia by the people's will

by **Higgins and Brown** » Thu Oct 27, 2016 4:24 am

The

.hb

theblimp.com

August 176

So I was at the Esfitz Valley Rally in Pitzjorol for the week! Woah, the far-right know how to party. Even if it is a little scary, and they keep telling me off for my cutting edge liberal critiques, subtley shoehorned into seemingly innocent questions…

I suppose their acronym is fun! They had faith seminars, activism workshops, folk music – including some of the really weird Mortúuan stuff. Some pretty fiery speeches and debates too. Some of the more extreme members are… um... well… genocidal.

They know how to put on a show too. The whole thing took place in the Esfitz Valley in what is basically a natural outdoor auditorium. Until about 2 years ago it was public land I think, but the FUN went ahead and bought it off their own governor. Is their an ethics investigation going on into that? Of course not!

Anyway, the place was decorating with huge flame torches which served as flood lights. Everyone converged on the main stage to hear Todd Morde’s keynote address on the final night, and extra flame torches were brought in to add to the effect. And it wasn’t exactly a speech. I don’t know how much you saw on t.v., but this was a full show with Morde as the presenter. I think it went on for about 3 hours.

In that time he paid tribute to the last man to run for President for the Front, Nicholas Francis, who was unable to attend this years rally. He had a few volunteers up on stage to award with medals. Others he granted ‘commissions’ or promotions up the officer ranks of the FUN. An orchestra played some music in the interval, as did a heavy metal band. There was a 30 minute documentary about collusion between the mainstream left and organised crime in there as well, shown on the big screens around the place. And following that, Morde had some people on-stage in masks to receive ‘secret’ awards for the “dirty work” they were doing in his new battle with the mob in Beldun (considering this is basically a paramilitary organisation now at war with the mob in some places, that’s some very dirty work).
Remnants of the mob, that is. But don’t tell anyone here that there’s not much left of them or you’ll be accused as a co-conspirator.

He paid tribute to the organisation that has been loyal to him since his elevation to its leadership, and he predicted that one day it would inherit the governance of the nation. But then he did something very curious. He told them it was time he put party before country, and that a Presidential campaign would be a distraction from the ‘cultural, social and security’ work.

And that’s where sh!t got really interesting.

In a moment that was somehow well choreographed, he then invited onto the stage the leader of the rival National Party, Daniel Fox, and the man who had won their Presidential nomination, Altgroupier Ívor Locke.

The crowd were really happy that Morde wouldn’t be “betraying” them by running for the Presidency. They whooped and cheered when he confirmed that fact.

They were all the more excited when Ívor Locke said a very few words to them, and accepted Altmiltier Randal Forbes as his running mate. Forbes is high up in the FUN leadership. Earlier that night he’d been ‘promoted’ to Groupier, so joining the party’s executive body. He was also the one who almost became President when Merl Nugent was elected, earlier in the year.

And there, on-stage, a new right-wing alliance of the mainstream national party and the pretty darned fascist FUN was forged.
At which point, in case I didn’t have enough to write about, the captains of the Noctur Cup winning sides - Rógo Mar and Olivi Dweali - appeared on-stage wearing their (football) medals to endorse what they called the military ticket. The new stars of politics, military and sports then treated the crowd to a rendition of the national anthem.

I know I’m only a citizen journalist, blogger, or whatever you’re having yourself, but I could feel the history and being there as a journalist was really special. I just hope they don’t win, kill a lot of people, and then fall from grace in disgrace. That would be a real downer on this memory.

TL;DR: Todd Morde isn’t running for President. That means Ívor Locke is running for President, and Randal Forbes is running for Vice-President, on a joint National-FUN ticket.

Only here on the Blimp. And all major news outlets.

by **Radiatia** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:23 am

RADIATIA OFFICIALLY ENTERS RECESSION
BEAR MARKET SEES GDP CONTRACTION IN NOCTUR'S LARGEST ECONOMY

November 2nd LET 60 Last updated 02:31 Exegrad Standard Time

EXEGRAD, ALAYENIA
The Radiatian Federation has officially entered a recession, following two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

_{A Bear Market has plunged the Radiatian Federation into recession}

GDP shrank by 0.26% in the third quarter of LET 60, and then by 0.39% in the fourth quarter, according to the Federal Department of Statistics. Although the recession is considered "minor", it is likely to have massive ramifications abroad.

The recession is the first since the Financial Crisis of LET 46, which saw the EXE500 tumble and plunged Radiatia, and much of Noctur, into a severe economic downturn.

"Obviously this is a concern but we're not entirely surprised," Said Governor Grigori Daubney of the Federal Reserve Bank of Radiatia. "The reality is that economic growth has been gradually slowing for a number of years, and recent bearish activity on the stock market is the most likely factor in these results."

Governor Daubney noted that, while Radiatia averaged eight and sometimes more than ten percent economic growth during the Toriah and Larssen Administrations, this figure has shrunk from the Silviu Admistration onwards.

"Radiatia's economy expanded rapidly from LET 30 to LET 46, there's a reason we call it an economic miracle. However, we then saw a crash in '46, which led to a 3% contraction, and since then our growth rates have been between 3 and 6 percent annually during the Silviu, Fyoderov and Pavlovic Administrations. The Radiatian machine has definitely been slowing down."

Economist and author Buster Westbrook noted a "wide range" of domestic and international factors will have played a part in the recession.

"The Algrabad War was probably the biggest contributor. Investors lost faith in the arms industry, which is when our bear market began, and not only that we lost an important market with Higgins and Brown becoming more aligned with the UNCA," Said Westbrook. "And if investors weren't nervous already, the election of Jaagen Autenberg tipped them over the edge.

"I don't want to be too political here, or disrespect the nation's Commander-in-Chief, but the fact is that the last thing the market needed was the perception of volatility in terms of the President and federal government. Even now we're still not entirely sure what the Autenberg Administration is going to be doing with the economy."

While exporters reported higher earnings following the sudden fall (and later recovery) in the value of the Tsenyen, Radiatia's growing trade deficit looms large in the background, with the retail sector reporting significant losses.

"Overseas people are buying local. They're not buying Radiatian," Said Westbrook. "And this is a big problem for us. One of our key markets is Nui-ta, and our exports to them have plummeted."

A sharp drop in the price of oil has also negatively impacted the Radiatian economy.

"We thought it would be a good thing - lower energy costs mean it's easier to transport goods, right?" Said R-BEC CEO Godfrey Reinhild. "Wrong! This obsession with clean energy has hurt our oil industry, the low price means we're not getting much for it when we export it, and this has hurt all our other industries because, let's face it, oil is what, well, oils our economy."

The Exegrad Institute of Economic Research, a Think Tank based near the University of Exegrad, offered another alternative explanation for Radiatia's decline in economic growth.

"It's not something people talk about, but we need to face it sometime," Said Dr. Fiona Seiger of the EIER. "The fact is income inequality is out of control in Radiatia and has been for almost half a century. All the gains of the last 30 years have gone to the top, and those on the bottom have seen wage stagnation, job insecurity and a rise in living costs as inflation has risen.

"Without significant domestic consumer capital, of course economic growth is going to slow, and the statistics show that this is exactly what has happened in this country."

The Autenberg Administration is yet to make any public comment on the economic state of the country, other than "Wait for the State of the Federation."

"I've got me a few tricks up me sleeve, ayup," Said the President when asked about the recession. "But you folk'll just have to wait 'n see."

All eyes are now on Xerconia, where President Jaagen Autenberg will soon deliver his much-awaited State of the Federation address and a budget proposal that is likely to be adopted in its entirety by the Social Democrat-controlled Parliament.

- RPNN

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In Other News:

Seglandic regime undergoes facelift
Actress Mimi Rush undergoes facelift
Das Engel "surgeon" jailed for performing facelifts without medical license

by **Higgins and Brown** » Sun Nov 06, 2016 4:32 pm

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Digest: Week One of the Campaign

Mári Ókonel (left) and running mate Helen Sheper (right) campaigning in Newport, Newla, Higgins

Locke and Forbes Set out Vision for National Recovery

Ókonel Would Build 'Non-Aligned' Coalition to Champion Human Rights

Fulbrít to send 'Ereszimite Explorer' to Spread our Religion Throughout Noctur

Small bit of Good News in Athboi

Tadnam Election not going Disastrously

Michaelstown, KI
The First week of the campaign has been fairly humdrum. In fact, I’d say it was totally hum drum. The fascist/nationalist/conservative/capitalist ticket (no, that’s not a conspiracy nut term, it’s an accurate description of 4 components of a candidate’s support base) embarked on a ‘Moral Restoration’ Tour in which Ívor Locke and his prospective Veep Randal Forbes promised huge sums of money to rebuild after the war, and to root out any public servants with links to the Communists in Algrabad. OK, perhaps that isn’t so humdrum. In fact, so far this is turning out to be bloody phenomenal. The crowds Locke and Forbes are drawing in! They’ve also promised a war on postwar poverty and a closed door policy to refugees and dissidents of foreign nations (that means Tadnam. More on that below). A return to conscription is also on the books. Some worry that intolerance is creeping into their campaign language, but with most of us still trying to figure out which of the young men we used to know is dead or just wounded in an army hospital somewhere, worries of intolerance sure aren’t creeping into the minds of most patriots.

Mári Ókonel is one such person who may worry, after interviewer William Greatwealth asked her if she was “actually an eco-communist with ideological allegiance to the Algrabadi government and its cause.” Though posed as a question, the accusation was clear. Greatwealth further added in a column in the Monocle newspaper that it was a fair question as “many a committed socialist or communist wants to see Algrabad succeed, so they can point to it and say… Look, it works!” Algrabad is probably one of the most brutally backward countries for the average citizen to live in, so I’m not sure if Greatwealth genuinely thinks any socialist would ever say that, even if we hadn’t just lost a war to them.

Ókonel’s campaign has otherwise been discussing a new Human Rights Act that she would put before the Codena as President. She has suggested that the current constitutional rights of citizens need to be better protected by a ‘State Constitutional Service’, similar to the security service but working for those citizens who are most vulnerable to breaches of their rights. Ókonel’s running mate Helen Sheper has been travelling through northern Higgins selling the other plank of the Ókonel programme – a renewed internationalist attempt to build a League of Nations or similar organisation in Noctur. Key to any strategy is that Higgins & Brown would quickly become ‘non-aligned’ to bring a broad coalition of nations together.

For the same reason that not that many people are worried about intolerance in the Locke campaign, it seems odd that Ókonel has started off her campaign talking about international team-building. Olé D. Mann, the veteran political correspondent, has suggested that the few people who actually do care about and support Ókonel’s policies could probably fit on one airplane to Arthuria, where they could indulge themselves.

Ráf Fulbrít has been touring the colleges [OOC: Colleges here refers to temples] with a very different internationalist agenda – the spreading of Ereszim! Higgins & Brown is one of only two Ereszimite nations in Noctur, and not even officially. Fulbrít’s idea is for a peace corps, funded by the Higgins-Brownite tax payer, and with an evangelical ethos. The idea is polling well in the southern Brownite regions of Mukon, Bádúd and Krásaul, as well as the highly Ereszimite territories of Lletni and Dilon. Fulbrít has promised to invest heavily in training centres in each region, and to send them far and wide.

Speaking to this outlet, he said, “There are lawless and stateless places in Noctur, quite a few in central Occidens as it turns out. But I don’t see why we couldn’t send our Ereszimite Explorers everywhere – Segland, Radiatia, Hadin – to spread our message of the sanctity of life, the dimishment of demise, the onness between nature and man, and the central importance of the family. The same thing all Higgins-Brownites should believe in.”

Meanwhile, off the Campaign Trail…
Voter sentiment in Athboi is likely to take a new jump in the no-longer-smouldering ruins of Athboi, the city that was subject to intense fighting in the recent war. The Prime Minister Lexi Spencer joined Krásaul Governor Dick Burns and Minister for Health Hamlin Beck to open the City of Athboi’s new Peace Hospital. The first section, built in just 6 months with a massive injection of cash from UNCA nations, will be leased to the government for 40 years before it is paid for. The Press Conference to mark the event was shocked by a foreign reporter – most likely from an interfering ‘pro-democratic’ nation, who asked the Prime Minister whether the Seglandic money to build the hospital was penance enough for its being utterly levelled while fully occupied during the war, in a strategically unnecessary airstrike. Luckily for those of us suffering from too much post-traumatic stress to turn away from cognitive dissonance, the question went ignored, and the reporter was escorted to the nearest airport… which coincidentally opened last week after remedial repairs to the runway and terminal were completed by Hadinian contractors.

Independence, State of Tadnam
Not so far away in Tadnam, their election also looms large. Following the timetable of their territorial electoral calendar, the newly independent ‘State of Tadnam’ will elect a President and Mejlis on the same day Higgins & Brown goes to the polls. The incumbent President, Abu Mukka, was elected four years ago as the President of Tadnam territory. Finding himself elevated to the leader of an independent nation in late last year, and without so much as a small business loan, he has struggled to keep the nation fed and heated since then. He will take comfort however from the bipartisan coalition that is going to propel him back into office for another term. He has promised to produce a new constitution within a year, and keep Tadnamis in food and jobs. Unfortunately, that will be quite difficult, as many of the area’s public servants were made redundant not long after independence was thrust upon them. Unlike Higgins & Brown, Tadnam is getting no international support for rebuilding efforts, and its marine economy has been particularly hard hit due to the widespread destruction at its ports.

Abu Mukka’s Inside Movement, now being rebranded as the “National Movement”, has gone into coalition with its long-term rival “Independence for Independence” and the alliance is seeing 75%+ support in the few polls that have been conducted. The real contest is which of the coalition parties will win more seats in the State Mejlis elected on the same day. Perhaps it’s for that reason that the coalition is somewhat uneasy. The Communist Party, which has received a boost in funds and organisational capacity since Algrabadi victory in the war, is set to become the largest opposition party.

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by **Higgins and Brown** » Mon Nov 28, 2016 3:11 am

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Election 177 - Special Coverage

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177 IE / LET 60

Digest: Week Two - Everyone's Talking About Algrabad
(or Tadnam)

Fulbrít calls for Mutual Disarmament

Locke calls for RAF numbers to 'Double'

Ókonel rubbishes both proposals, will “Negotiate 100 Years of Peace”

Border Clashes Distract Political Anoraks

Tadnami National Guard on Alert as Election Violence Worries Authorities

Tabertra, MU
PRESIDENT Merl Nugent is on the campaign trail. Not for President, but for the legislature. 3 Codenal seats are up for grabs, and 2 of them will go to the party that wins the election in this region, and Nugent is hoping to make sure that's his party. Occasionally though, being President, he is called away to do something official.

None more serious than approving the closure of the Tadnami border earlier in the week.

Tensions between the two largest parties there have turned violent – and President Mukka has failed in his rather unlikely efforts to keep surplus military gear out of the hands of his rivals. Despite the fact that the two are supposed to be in coalition, they’ve both been importing arms from surplus stocks in Higgins & Brown at a high rate over the last number of days. Trucks full of them have been recorded brazenly crossing the border, without so much as a cursory attempt to hide their cargo.

Nugent apparently bowed to Algrabadi pressure to close the border, but his decision to do so was welcomed across the board. The worry now is that it didn’t happen soon enough, and a close election result – or a majority for Al-Mukka’s National Movement – might trigger hostilities in the fledgling nation. Nugent isn’t showing any signs of stress on the campaign trail, if these things do weigh on his mind at all.

All three candidates were happy to see the border closed for varying reasons. For Mári Ókonel, it is necessary to ensure a safe and fair election in Tadnam (how noble). For Ráf Fulbrít, it is necessary to stop the spread of weapons that should have been destroyed by the authorities already.

Perhaps the more empassioned response however has come from the righ, who’s candidate and leaders have hailed the border closure as something that should be made permanent.

“Leave their problems to them!” roared Vice-Presidential candidate Randal Forbes at an indoor campaign event in Herelde, Badúd region. He has not been short on rhetoric when it comes to Algrabadi or Tadnami relations.

Meanwhile, his running mate has called for the number of professional Military Personnel to be doubled in the next eight years, and he promises to do it. The two have been clear that the only way to prevent Higgins & Brown becoming a colony of Algrabad altogether is to build a defence infrastructure capable of resisting and indeed dominating the entire UNCA – which security analysts say is way beyong the capabilities of the Higgins-Brownite economy. Still, fact-checking has been mocked all three candidates in this election, as a method for the “rejected elites” to “get a word in even if they can’t get a candidate on the ballot” – so said Ívan Locke this week.

Ráf Fulbrít has also muscled in on the Tadnami election, and it has certainly brought out the part of him that was once a stalwart of the National Party and Patriotic Coalition. The Union for Peace candidate has slammed the governments of both Tadnam and Algrabad, and proclaimed from the pulpit in Newport this week, that “Only an Ereszimite presence in the world can ensure the smooth running of democracy.” (Newport is fast becoming a 3-way bellweather for the country. Traditionally a bastion of the left, it has for almost ten years been the best example of a place where the conservative working class have drifted from the formally dominant centre-left. This year, however, the religious piety of Fulbrit might be changing their minds again).

Fulbrít’s answer on Algrabad is mutual demilitarisation today, evangelical opportunism tomorrow. He believes the evils of totalitarianism and communism can be overcome by instilling the “respect for life” in the Arab peoples. He has given absolutely no detail as to how this could be achieved, but he plainly wants to convert the entire neighbouring country to our religion. His “mutual disarmament” policy might be a bit of a misnomer as well, as his plans to fund an evangelical “peace corps” are gradually sounding more and more “corps” like and less and less to do with “peace”.

The stark difference between Locke and Fulbrít’s views on Algrabad has led former President Mark Kilbane, the moderate leftist who left office 10 years ago, to weigh in with some unexpected support for Ívan Locke’s pledge.

But while Confero was awash with leftist condemnation of the former President, his support isn’t really that surprising. Though a former candidate of the ASLE, Kilbane came to power on a pro-RAF ticket, warning about the viability of the national army 19 years before the outbreak of the recent war. Some have acused him of disloyalty to the ASLE organisation, but it is likely that his lifelong passion for the military is outweighing any other concern. Or possibilit, he may have been repaying ASLE candidate Mári Ókonel with the same loyalty she showed him when he ran for President.

Ókonel’s own political history includes dumping the Green Party when the New Greens split off from them 22 years ago, and the reason for the split? The Greens (sisters of the ASLE along with the Republican Social Democrats) were supporting Kilbane for President. His moderate economic stance, his seemingly complacent opinion on the environment and his enthusiasm for the military put him immediately at odds with many in the green tradition of the ASLE. As a New Green, Ókonel entered the Codena in 165 for Kosgráv Territory. By winning that territory’s vote, she qualified for the main round of the Presidential Election in 167 – where Kilbane’s successor was decided. To the shock of many, she received almost 12% of the national vote, and the New Greens looked set to overtake their similarly coloured party. Alas, partisan instability and the winds of change put paid to that, and Ókonel has instead rejoined the ASLE as the New Greens have folded, and completed - in this year’s preliminary round - a “reverse takeover” to become that group’s candidate.

To rub salt in the wound, Ókonel was showing off how she contrasted with Kilbane all week.

To talk of rebuilding our military at this time is to chip away at the chance of a real political settlement between our two countries. Those who would be President, or have been, and continue to peddle the story of the military-industrial complex, will force us into centuries of war. I want centuries of peace, and that is what I intend to negotiate for our people if elected.”

Her vision is one of a lasting peace deal with Algrabad, based on mutual respect and dialogue. Ókonel hasn’t provided any evidence that she could negotiate such a deal, but it is part of her wider plan to galvanise support for an international partnership of nations to provide stability, peace, and preserve the environment. But the short story is that she wants to save money on military spending, and put it into something she cares deeply about – conservation and environmental protection measures. She also appears to have no problem with the current government in Algrabad, whereas the other two candidates have repeated vaguely that communism should be challenged and done away with in that country – a traditional conservative objective in Higgins-Brownite foreign policy discussions.

On the Tadnami election and the Algrabadi pressure to close borders, Ókonel has said little except to wish the people of Tadnam a peaceful election with a progressive outcome.

Critics of the right and left have accused Ókonel of wishing to perpetuate servitude – and the feeling among those now demonstrating weekly outside public institutions in Michaelstown is that the nation og Higgins & Brown is becoming more of a colony of Algrabad, willing to comply with its every whim, and unwilling to right the wrongs of the recent war. To this suggestion, Ókonel reacted this week with the following words:

If I am wrong, we will live our lives as clients of a communist state for decades. If I am right, and we do nothing, we will all be dead before those decades come to pass. We cannot be distracted by our distrust of Algrabad any longer, and nor can they. We must jointly police our border, and jointly police our climate.

Thus, in a week where everyone talked about Algrabad, Locke spoke mostly about the military, Fulbrít spoke mostly about religion, and Ókonel spoke mostly about climate change. Meanwhile, commentators allege record levels of distrust of these candidates on the economy.

Meanwhile, reports from the newly closed border indicate that tensions inside Tadnam really are boiling up, with different groups attempting to either reinforce or counter the efforts of Tadnami border guards. It no longer means much however at those official crossing points that have been closed down on the Higgins-Brownite side. Long queues to cross the border have seen intersectional violence breaking out on both sides of the border, though this is mostly 'fisty cuffs' and any firearms remain safely disassembled and concealed in the bodily orifices of those trying to cross.

Meanwhile, Confero Maps satellite imagery has shown plenty of shipping moving across Arabic Bay from Algrabad to Tadnam - the Tadnami coast now being the only way into the territory, but seemingly not much of an opportunity to leave. Government sources are all out to lunch and assure us they will be back soon.

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by **Higgins and Brown** » Mon Dec 19, 2016 7:06 am

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177 IE / LET 60

Algrabad Invades Tadnam as Presidential Election Enters Final Stages

Stock Image of The Algrabadi People's Army Up to Nefarious Deeds

Locke Calls for State of Emergency as Algrabad Occupies Tadnam

Algrabadi People’s Army to ‘Oversee’ election that has seen intersectional violence.

Ókonel condemns Locke as ‘Mad, Malicious, Militarist’

Campaign Debates Cancelled as Candidates seek to Deny Each Other Recognition

Athboi, KS
High above the once-tranquil city of Athboi, if you look through the slowly moving cranes that now dot the centre - the special economic interest zone - you can see the Algrabadi war ships for quite some distance crossing Arabic bay.

Not war ships, sorry, ‘occupation ships’. They’re quite small. We can always look back on the 3rd Algrabadi War with the satisfaction that we maintained naval superiority – until the Hadinians turned up, at any rate.

Those ships that were so useless against our Northern Fleet are now flung into action, transporting battalion after battalion of APA infantry across Arabic Bay. The invasion has received almost no resistance from the domestic forces. Brief ‘battles’ on the coastline were ended by a phonecall between the Algrabadi Foreign Minister and the President of Tadnam, and now it seems it was all a ‘misunderstanding’. The President of Tadnam is now supposed to have ‘requested’ Algrabadi assistance to maintain order in the last week of the campaign.

So, does this mean that Tadnami democracy is now being guaranteed by the Communist dictatorship of Algrabad? More likely is that the Algrabadis have begun the final stage in annexing poor Tadnam, the final spoils of the 3rd War – denied to them, some might say, by Seglandic and Hadinian demands for a speedy end to the conflict.

Nonetheless, someone had to do something in Tadnam, and we weren’t doing it (Despite being the ‘guarantor’’ of Tadnami independence; a very strange requirement for the former “oppressor” as Algrabad would have the world believe). The grand coalition there had fallen into chaos prior to the final round of their general election. Though President Al-Mukka is likely to be re-elected still, how he is going to govern is unclear, with a legislature that will most likely have a majority split between extreme nationalists and communists, both of whom have rejected him. His own moderate nationalist party is unlikely to achieve a majority, having entered the final round as a coalition partner of those we now call the ‘extremists’. Hopes had been high for a smooth transition to an autonomous state. Now, who knows?

Locke Pledges New State of Emergency
The uncertainty has fallen like a lead balloon on our own election. Altgroupier Ívan Locke has pledged to call a State of Emergency immediately upon taking office, in order to deal with the threat of Algrabadi-Tadnami war, or refugees from that conflict, or indeed anything that “looks or smells” like Algrabad preparing for another fight.

Locke has called the decision at the turn of the New Year to bring to an end the National State of Emergency, “disgraceful and treasonous”. Locke registered a dissenting opinion at the time, as he served out his Military tenure as Chief of Staff of the RAF. However, the decision was a political one, and military input was for consultative purposes only. Thus, Locke now rails against President Nugent.

Aside from Military capabilities being restricted by a return to ‘normality’, Locke also believes that the reconstruction of war-tarnished areas in Brown has been “put on hold” by the decision. He has described the State of Emergency in three stages.

“In war, your emergency begins when tensions build. You conscript a larger army, you build defences, you draw up plans, and you prepare relentlessly for the opportune moment to strike – or the moment you get attacked.

Your Emergency continues when the fighting begins. This seems obvious. You continue conscripting. You ration supplies. You require sacrifices on the home front, and you do all you can to keep your Army well supplied, and your troops in high spirits. You secure food and clothing for your people, and you slam the enemy hard to make sure they have no such comfort.

Your Emergency does not end when the fighting does. You re-group. You rebuild. You put to work as builders, those who had previously been fighters. You create the conditions for them to return to an economy able to accept them. You create the shelter for those put out of their homes. You create the means to rectify the hurt.”

Our reporters on the ground suggest this is a very popular message in those war-torn areas, and among veterans returning from the front. After all, to what are they returning? Jobs, taken in their absence by others, in an economy that continues to struggle? Homes, destroyed by UNCA aggression, planned for re-construction if and when the funding turns up? The “Third Stage” of the Emergency is something people want to see implemented.

Danger to Democracy
Codenor Mári Ókonel has slammed the proposals, and says state aid can build housing without “suspending democracy”. Describing Locke as “Mad, Malicious and Militaristic” she and the Left see the proposed resumption of a State of Emergency as a tool not for reconstruction, but concentration of power in the hands of a President Locke and his “extremist eccentric and ill-advised” allies.

The Left have rallied around their candidate – a rarity during this campaign – to rail against the proposals of the right. Outgoing President Merl Nugent defended the return to ‘constitutional normality’ after war’s end.

“A state of emergency is a rare and dangerous tool to use. The President cannot simply keep it in place forever. Yes, there is a need to reconstruct after the war. But that is not a threat to the constitution or existence of the Republic. Once you start saying that our social and economic problems are emergencies… what next? We cannot balance the budget… emergency. We need to pass a new bill but the Codena won’t meet until Wednesday… emergency. There are students criticising the President… emergency. This is the draconian road Ívan Locke wishes to take us down.”

Third Candidate Status Setting in for Ráf Fulbrít
It seems that poor Ráf Fulbrít is destined to be ignored by the other candidates for the remainder of the election campaign. It doesn’t help that he is ignoring both them and the issues that are creeping up on us internationally. Questioned about Tadnam, he refers again to his policy of an evangelical corps, with little or no detail as to how it is relevant to the situation.

Questioned about a State of Emergency, he says that the Constitution needs to be changed to reflect the majority religion in the country. Again, this is a long-stated policy. Voters may want examples of his judgement, which was once enough to see him land the role of Higgins & Brown’s top diplomat, but has obviously changed as he has re-found religion. Fulbrít is also refusing to campaign traditionally, and continues to roam the country performing sermons in colleges and holy places. Though crowds are being drawn to these places, Fulbrít’s speeches often barely mention policy, current events, or the fact that he is even a Presidential candidate. And whereas ideological candidate Ókonel has appointed a moderate running mate, Fulbrít’s running mate is just as odd as he is. The two of them continue to focus on moral teachings and the ways of the church. They only speak directly about the election when asked by journalists or voters.

Despite this, many Liberals (capital L) are maintaining that Fulbrít is the least-worst of the three candidates. However, public figures supporting his candidacy remain few in number. Astoundingly, some of Locke’s and Ókonel’s supporters are even advocating transferring to the other over Fulbrít, who’s mix of theology and pacifism is freaking the base of both rivals completely.

No Debate
As if to punctuate an apathy toward the election, Fulbrít has pulled out of the Presidential Debate due to occur in the final week of the campaign. Organisers had struggled to even secure one debate among the three candidates. Now it would appear that they cannot hold a single debate at all. Fulbrít’s campaign has also lodged an injunction to prevent the other two candidates going ahead without him.

The democratic renewal of this Republic, after the existential crisis of war, is transforming into a slapstick comedy of errors.

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by **Higgins and Brown** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 6:44 pm

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October 177

The Midnight Inauguration

It’s Friday night/Saturday morning in Higgins, anda flamelit crowd has assembled at Ívor Locke’s family estate in the district of Rathgalleon in southwest Bur. The family produces Scholarslocke, a minor but quality brand of Burragne, with the grapes grown here.

The President Elect’s security have siphoned the folks off into a field that faces the east side of the manor house; there’s a balcony there adorned with green and brown coverings. It looks like the Midnight Inauguration will go ahead as announced a few days ago.

Never has the tit-for-tat pettiness reached these levels between an outgoing President and President Elect. Constitutionally, Ívor Locke has a window of a week (sort of) in which to get inaugurated at any time, and it starts on the 8th day after election day. The 8th day officially starts at midnight, and that’s when Locke is going to take the Oath of Office, replacing Merl Nugent here and now. He’s going to do it from his family home, to a local crowd. (President Nugent meanwhile is still living in the Palace in Michaelstown, where these things usually take place)

In his home city of Vklarrbeg, Randal Forbes the Vice-President Elect is going to be doing the same thing. The crowd there is understood to be bigger and more ‘paramilitary’ in nature. Forbes is affiliated to the more popular and at the same time more divisive Front for a United Nation.
First thing on the agenda is a seminar and prayers by the local Reader, and the crowd respectfully listens. These are old conservative stock, most of them. They’re here to see the ‘perfect conservative’ – a humble, quiet, former leader of the Armed Forces – officially accede to the office of President. Of course, he’s also politically inexperienced, but they don’t mind that.

After prayers, we get some good wishes. Niamh Níg Oire, who served as President for 6 years (149 – 155), cuts a frail figure but gives it her all in congratulating Locke on his success, and wishing him more in the future. She offers a prayer as well, the sort of thing she never did as President or Vice-President. The man who defeated her in 155, Mark Kilbane, is on the balcony as well. A moderate of the left, he’s the biggest surprise at this ceremony, but he’s also the one who appointed Locke to lead the Armed Forces (in 166). He doesn’t give a speech, however (I doubt he’d get a great reception). The three most recent Presidents have stayed away, though its also possible none of them were invited at all. This gives us the rather bizarre spectacle of Merl Nugent – tucked up in the Presidential Palace across the sea – being replaced in his sleep.

“Wake him up and kick him out!” reads one t-shirt – it doesn’t look mass produced.

A band seems to appear out of nowhere at ground level, and plays a few traditional tunes as the President Elect’s family come out onto the balcony. His wife and new first lady Elma Locke is a local to these parts. They actually met in the military academy in Pitzjorol, however. Elma never became an officer, but she’s had a successful on-off career in home defence sales. That’s guns, by the way.

They have a daughter and son, Alis (31) and Oliver (28). Oliver is thought to disagree with his father’s politics but there’s nothing showing that on
the smile he’s wearing.

The band is playing rather quietly, as if we might wake the neighbours. Even if it were light I don’t think there’d be any neighbours near enough to see with the naked eye. The crowd is being very well behaved as well.

Next out onto the platform is the enabler of this event, Justice Nathan Paterson. The Chief Justice declined to attend tonight, saying he doesn’t work nights. Justice Paterson is the President of the Regional Court here in Bur, and I think its fair to say he leapt at the opportunity.

Usually these events are done with much pomp and ceremony, speeches by the outgoing and incoming Presidents, switching over of military documents and codes, parades through the capital – all choreographed to a tee. When you have warring Presidents fighting during the transition, you get this spectacle: a local judge stood on a family balcony, not really knowing what to do with himself.

The band changes their tune, and the double doors behind those already out open wide. The 9 Codenors who were elected for the National Party last week come out on to the balcony. It’s Henry Caval, the leader of the group, who announces the man we’ve all been waiting in the midnight cold for.

And here he is, Altgroupier and President Elect, Ívor Locke. He’s dressed in full decorated military regalia, for a retired Chief of Staff of the RAF its an all-white affair with mandarin collars, showing off his former rank with intricate insignia – he’ll be the 2nd President in history to be inaugurated in military attire.

The Oath is a solemn enough affair, which he reads without prompting. A crackling PA system transmits some of it to the 2,500 people who’ve been allowed onto the land.

"I promise and swear that I will Preside over the Independent Republic of Higgins & Brown in accordance with its Constitution and Laws."

And literally, that’s it. You might have thought they’d have written something with more pomp back in the day, but no. The original draft had religious overtones, but apparently Walter Harry worried that a non-believer might usurp the office and ignore those callings.
And that’s officially the deal, anyway. He’s President Lock now.

Those who came to the area and couldn’t get in will get to watch the new President and First Family as they ‘parade’ all the way across Eastern Higgins to the City of Newkiltra – Noelstown, making at least one stop along the way, at his new official holiday residence, the Amber Lodge just west of the city. When they do get to the coast, the Navy will sail them to Kings; they’ll finish off the trip driving into the capital with a Regional Police escort.

No President has ever been inaugurated away from the capital, save for Vice-Presidents acceding to the office. It’s not really clear how much of his job he’s going to be doing before he actually gets to the Palace in Michaelstown.

His speech is short, softly-spoken, and full of warm thanks to those who have turned out tonight. He namechecks a few local sports stars and business people, talks up old friends in Radiatia, and understanding partners in Segland. He promises to rebuild the nation immediately, and declares - as he pledged in the last 2 weeks of the campaign - that he will re-declare a state of emergency to properly fix the mess in war-ravaged Brown. Curiously, he doesn't mention Tadnam and all that is going on there.

After he appears to have finished, fireworks go up from behind the house, catching even him by surprise.

His first act as President is probably to get some sleep. He leave on his road-trip in about 5 hours.

by **The Arthurian Isles** » Sun Feb 05, 2017 2:24 pm

Arthurian Terror Threat Level Raised For First Time

_{Pictured: Logreglan reinforcements are deployed to the business district of Egilfjorður}

The government has raised the national terror threat level for the first time since its inception, citing one organisation in particular.
^{5 Solmanuður, 1107 A.R.| By Trausti Sigurðardotar (tsigur@figaro.org)| 14:07 AIT}

VESTMANAEYJAR, ARTHURIA — The National Anti-Terror Alert Level (NATAL) has been raised for the first time since the system was adopted in 1080 A.R. (1990 AD). A spokesperson for the Federal Government made the announcement at a press conference this morning, saying that "a significant intelligence operation has discovered the existence of a domestic terror organisation within the Federation. Evidence has led us to believe that this organisation is preparing to engage in violent acts in order to undermine the peaceful, constitutional, democratic order". Following the press conference, a government report was published explaining the reasoning behind the change in the national threat level. The report included a compilation of evidence provided by the Førensamstaten Logreglan (the federal police force) and the necessary legal assessment of the Federal Constitutional Court, the latter of which confirmed the government's duty to label the organisation as being "terrorist of nature".

The report is the result of a three month investigation by a task force comprising members of the Førensamstaten Logreglan, the cantonal Logreglan, the intelligence section of the Posturin, and the Upniretningforsvaren Makt (Information Self-Defence Force). Though the government confirmed that no specific terror plans are known to them, their spokesperson revealed that the investigation was authorised at a federal level after multiple cantonal Logreglan began to share intelligence on far-left activities, specifically the increased mention online of the Radikalen Sosjalen Parðil (Radical Socialist Party), a now-banned communist political group. Though it once controlled a significant number of seats in the Folkting during the 1070s A.R. (1980s AD), the RSP lost support to more moderate social democratic parties and resorted to increasingly violent tactics to make itself heard in the national media. It was consequently banned by the Federal Constitutional Court in 1086 A.R. (1996 AD) and disbanded later that year. The report calls out the remnants of the RSP's die-hard leadership as "the source of a growing, co-ordinated terror organisation" operating under the name Omvyltingen Fimen Søl (OFS - Revolutionary Fifth Column).

The most striking piece of evidence published in the report is a pamphlet published by the organisation and titled The Urban Guerrilla. Found online by investigators, the document provides a comprehensive overview of the OFS's motivation, its agenda and the tactics it expects its members to adopt in order to pursue its goals. The document asserts that the OFS is the successor to the RSP, its members having been "[denied] a voice by the liberal-fascist establishment of Arthuria". It advocates a hardline form of domestic communism in place of Arthuria's globalised capitalist economy, and calls for the dismantling of the federal, democratic state to be replaced by a unitary "workers' republic". The majority of the pamphlet describes the means of achieving these ends, specifically the self-named theory of urban focalism: "we are not a vanguard for the revolution; we are a small part of the revolution. We must galvanise the popular discontent with the liberal-fascist establishment into a violent insurrection. Thus we must target only the government, the businesses and the foreign capitalists, all in pursuit of a single political goal". It goes on to describe in detail various methods of terror, including the use of firearms and explosives. The report, though it cites the pamphlet as a clear demonstration of violent intent and organisational scale of the OFS, is careful not to exaggerate the group's capabilities. The government spokesperson said, in response to questions, that "this pamphlet is aspirational - it outlines the ideal form that the OFS would like to take. All other intelligence suggests that the group is neither as large nor as well-equipped as they would like to be in order to achieve their goals".

The report does issue estimates of the OFS's size and capabilities. Surveillance still carried out on remnants of the RSP by cantonal Logreglan suggests, according to the official document, that the OFS has taken over the former party's communications networks to develop a small leadership with access to a pyramid of independent cells. Estimates place the group's number at "around fifty in total, although no single cell is likely to have achieved operational capacity as yet". When asked, the government spokesperson clarified that "we do not believe that the OFS is able or willing to launch a terrorist attack at the moment; they have neither the skills nor the equipment to do so". Investigators also purported that the organisation did not start to expand dramatically until the autumn of last year, when a downturn struck the Arthurian economy and precipitated the current recession: "Based on the material capabilities, skills and activities of known members [of the OFS], we believe that many are new to the organisation. The majority of those of whom we are aware are of a younger age range, often freshly-graduated and unemployed". If correct, the findings suggest that the OFS is a relatively new organisation.

And yet some have criticised the authorities for not discovering the existence of the OFS until now. In the Folkting the leader of Staten Parðil, Hildur Skmidt, asked Thor Hamarskjold (the Federal Minister of Justice with responsibility over policing) how a terror organisation of the OFS's size could have grown organically under the noses of the government. Thor Hamarskjold replied on behalf of his ministry, saying that "[the OFS] has not grown undetected; we have detected them, and we have done so before they could commit any acts". Others, notably the Grønen Parðil, whose leader Lief Kierkegaard sits on the Storting, questioned whether the organisation had not developed in response to the conditions in the Arthurian economy during the recession. Hildur Manus, the Frelskap Federal Minister of the Treasury, conceded that "the recession has caused an increase in financial insecurity and inequality which, I am led to believe, are two of the concerns of the OFS. I am also aware that the organisation has begun to grow fastest since the economic downturn started. However, fifty would-be criminals do not reflect a general discontent with the direction of the Arthurian economy, which is still more prosperous today than it ever was in the era of social democracy".

Professor of politics at the University of Vestmanaeyjar, Freyjar Grimdotar, has suggested in contrast to the government position that the main reason for the OFS growing youth membership is a longer-term phenomenon. She has repeatedly warned of the danger posed by a resurgent far-left based on a cultural rift between older and younger generations: "We now have the first generation of Arthurians who have not lived through the era of social democracy. For most of them this does not matter; they still follow the traditional virtues of Arthurian government. For others, though, the mistakes of the past have not been taken onboard. They see the social democratic era as a benign environment in contrast to the rising inequality and insecurity that this recession has stoked. Far from accepting the pitfalls of the social democratic era, these few youths are looking abroad and seeing socialism triumphant, in both the First and Second Worlds. They crave an outlet for their views, which is what the OFS provides. That it is proscribed is, if anything, a benefit to the hardcore believers, for their distrust of the modern liberal establishment is made even more obvious. The recession did not cause the OFS; it is their cassus belli".

The government response has so far been procedural. As well as raising the NATAL readiness condition, they have deployed additional logreglanmaður to key public buildings and authorised a joint task force between the Logreglan, the I-SDF and the Posturin in order to continue investigating the OFS and its members. Any continued action, when it is eventually decided upon, will have to be in line with the National Anti-Terror Strategy (NATS), which includes five sections of which two are legally-binding upon the government. NATS forbids mass surveillance in pursuit of terror organisations, a restriction which will require the Logreglan and Posturin to receive specific warrants in order to surveil every individual suspected of having links to the OFS. It also adopts a 'Keep Calm' policy, restraining the government from "over-reaction" either preventively or punitively. The likeliest course for the government will therefore be through dedicated police work and a gentle reassurance of the public that the usual order is not threatened. The intelligence report ends by stating that "although the OFS represents a violent threat to Arthuria's internal security, its greatest asset - its secrecy - has been lost. We now have the initiative and, if we act quickly, can end the danger before it escalates into tangible action". Nevertheless, NATAL has been raised, perhaps more as a cautionary manoeuvre than a necessary step.

NATAL was established in 1080 A.R. (1990 AD) to determine and identify the likelihood of harmful terror activity occurring within Arthuria. Since its inception it has remained at its lowest possible level - Diminished - meaning that an incident is deemed to be unlikely to occur. The announcement earlier this morning marks the first time that it has changed in its twenty-seven year history, moving up one level to Elevated, meaning that an attack is possible but still unlikely in the short-term. The two remaining levels are Substantial, for periods in which general attacks are likely but no specific plans are known, and Critical, for instances when the authorities know that an attack is imminent. The level is monitored independently by the Førensamstaten Logreglan, Forsvaren Makt and the Posturin. Each organisation can approach the government to request an increase in the threat level which is then either accepted or rejected by the Storting; in practice this decision is left to the Federal Minister of Justice. The condition at which NATAL is set is based on four criteria: the available intelligence, the capability of suspects, their intentions and the timeframe of a suspected attack. The increase earlier today was based purely on the intentions of the OFS and the available intelligence of their operations.

Noctur Press Association [CLOSED, Noctur Only]

(This post has been sitting in my drafts for ages)

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