Join the new world

Dum Spiro Spero

Today, Eric laughed at me. He laughed because I successfully discovered what "outside" was for the first time in several days, taking a coffee break to spend some time with a friend at a nearby Second Cup. I've also been invited to a camping trip for the Victoria Weekend. The Cabinet and I have been chatting about how best to manage this, especially given the sexy war we have on the horizon. I may be smuggling an ethernet stick into the woods.



200 Gold for 20 Players

This term, Congress took a step that has often failed in the past: they capitalized on a Plato Gold Discount Offer and offerred 200 Gold to the Canadian public. The gold came on the following terms: be a Canadian Citizen, in a Canadian MU, and possess between 1,000 and 4,000 strength. Dozens filled out the survey, but only 23 people were ultimately eligible for the giveaway based on these requirements. Of those 23, the following 20 have been chosen to receive a 10 Gold loan from the government:

Alpha Eagle
ANTONIUOS
arthur kostanko
Ashaman Savage
Canadium
Craziness
Dany Gauthier
Dreadnought1
Genyng Kislev
ishabad
Joeii
loonrep
loopwhore
Lord Mantana
Mitch Haber
Mochan Drust
Moehabd
NastyNost
Nicholas Boyce
weezo1

18 of these Canadians have already received their gold. 2 more will tomorrow when their donation limit clears. Each of them will be able to upgrade some of their training centres with this gold, provided that they return 5 gold to the government when they earn their next Super Soldier medal. As part of the agreement, players who fail to do that will face consequences set out by Congress.

Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to the other Canadians who made this possible: most particularly Eric Last, Macubex, and Simon Boucher Ruest.


Trouble with the CMF

It's been nearly a year since the Comptrollers took over the CMF and began monitoring government spending to protect Canadian interests. In that time - as far as I am aware - no funds have been stolen from the CMF. The system does what it was designed to do.

But tonight, for a few reasons I will explain now, we had problems with the CMF.

Simon has been experiencing computer trouble for several days. This was a problem, as the timeline for the Gold Offer was limited by Plato, and we were quickly running out of hours. I received a message earlier today from Simon confirming he would not be able to access the CMF in time. I asked him, in reply, to get Macubex (our Minister of Finance) access to the CMF on a temporary basis so he could make the transfer. As the leader of one of Canada's largest MUs, Macubex has experience handling this kind of money.

This is where things go south. Simon, with limited computer access, streamlined the process by PMing me the login and password to the CMF. This isn't a crime, and it's also not the only way a CP can get access (admin tickets are the other option). But, because of the Comptroller laws which I helped push through last year, it's clear that the President should not be anywhere near the CMF. It runs too many risks.

After I received Simon's PM, I passed the information to Macubex and asked him to lock me out. He has done so, and has shared the new password with Simon. Once Simon's computer access is restored he will lock Macubex out. Congress is aware of the situation, and in fact has known for several hours.

This situation - technical problems under a tight time limit - is one example of the imperfection of the mechanics around Comptrollering. I trust Macubex and Simon, and I hope that the public can trust the 3 of us. We're keeping this fully transparent so that we can avoid any "hamburgling" problems down the road. Full disclosure in Canada, folks.



Poland Plays Nice

Earlier today, President Applesauce assured me that Poland wanted to declare us their Natural Enemy, on the grounds that Canada would declare Poland ours. I then received a request from the Polish Foreign Affairs team that we avoid that exact situation - keep Canada from NEing our new Polish neighbours. Now, I'm pleased to report, I guaranteed both countries that Canada wouldn't be NEing Poland once we gained a border with them.

After all, we have an active natural enemy that we just declared yesterday. Can't do what the game forbids. 😛

Canada is continuing its temporary war with Britain. While the Polish border runs a risk of Continental Invasion, we are monitoring the situation and will act accordingly. A Polish-Canadian war is not off the table, it's simply not going to be happening while we have an open war with Britain. If the Polish want to open the NE themselves, that's their choice, but you're all welcome to snicker if they do.


England Preva---Whoops.

Britain has made some gains against France. In fact, our friends have been cleared clean out of the British Isles. That's bad news for our buds, in the short term, but ultimately it benefits our alliance. France has bigger countries pressing deeper into her regions each day - she does not need an open war with Britain.

And so "England prevails", one might think - if one were drinking prom punch. Canada's NE with Britain continues our temporary war-for-truffle-finding. We are winning East Midlands handedly, which will provide us with oil benefits for a slight boost to our economy. Once our borders with Britain are cleared (rea😛 once we finish Charlie Sheening across the countryside), we will move to start our sexy war.

In the meantime, we continue to speak with Terra and UK President Appleby(sauce) about ways to benefit Canada, protect our allies, and not piss off the British unnecessarily. Appleby has been extremely receptive to our Truffle Operations in Britain, which both of us inherited from our predecessors, and understands the purpose of our continued presence in his country. I applaud his maturity, and am thrilled that he lets me call him Applesauce. What a swell guy.