[1st] Weekly Address to Canada

Day 2,458, 19:37 • Published in Canada Canada • by Thedillpickl





Hi kids!

Finally got time to write you aboot Canada, eh? Please watch the video above. I relate to the fella on the ski jump. *oof* If you are old enough to remember Wide World of Sports (like I do) then you are too old. (Also, TV reception was about that good then.) 'Twas no HD, PiP, TiVo BS. If you had 'satellite' TV the dish was huge but usually the signal was excellent. If you could find the right satellite, channel, and it wasn't raining.

Enough history lesson, we've got a lot of ground to cover.




The Missions Are Over!

Hoping that everyone had fun. We got off to a slow start setting up TW's to complete the mission. I was about into 6 hours before I noticed this one that says I must get a TP award or do 1m damage for my country, I was freaked. After some quick discussion with the Cabinet that was available it was decided that Ireland would be our first pick for a TW. Before I received conformation from Ireland the US approached me and said they were ready to go right then. Long story short we got 2 TW's. You're welcome. ^__^


Too Much Of A Good Thing

All three of us agreed that we would cease fighting Monday at reset. Ireland wanted to be done a bit sooner as it turned out. That is when I discovered this little nugget hiding in the wiki:

"You cannot sign a peace treaty with your Natural Enemy: both countries must first unset Natural Enemy before they can sign a peace treaty. Once the Natural Enemy is set, it cannot be changed for 7 days."

Since we started the TW's late Wednesday they could not be stopped until late the next Wednesday. Thanks for the wacky game mechanic Plato, you so funny.


The Finale

Or... All's well than ends well.

I would thank Cry of the Banshee the President of Ireland and dmjohnston the PotUS. They both made themselves readily available to me when I PM'ed. I hope to work with them again if ever such cooperation is needed between neighbors.

I would also thank the US for being kind neighbors to help us recover our regions. Jude Conners has been so good as to publish the exit strategy for the US fighters. Be sure to read and comment then go get a RW medal of your own!




Domestic Stuff


Money

Minister of Finance TheSmoke has done a brilliant job working on our August budget. He will be releasing it to Congress this evening for their consideration. Here are the highlights.

We are making about $226,000 this term
We are spending about $182,000
Total surplus of $45,000

I might add that this includes the addition of China to the MPP stack and totally paying off our debt to Australia. I like to keep a tidy house. Keeping our debts paid makes it easier when the rainy day comes.


Programs

Minister of Health Prince Sheogorath and Minister of Education Utat have been working together on a program to provide for new players needs and their education. I've seen preliminary work and am very encouraged.


Bonuses

I am pleased to announce that soon we will be having 20% bonuses from our regions instead of 10%. This happened when the UK took a romp through our country and knocked the Capital to Rajathan (which is not connected to anything).

In our meeting with LETO today we've received the go ahead to swap regions around to move our Capital home. They agree that we've waited too long for this and have made it a priority. Keep in mind the current leadership has only been in place a few days and they are still sorting things out.


And The Bad News...

In my rush to propose the NE against India to get the above started I inadvertently clicked "Declare War" instead of "Natural Enemy". This is a 200+ gold mistake, but it is my mistake, not Canada's. I will get with Bryan Alexander to sort out the details and repay the gold that was wasted. All I can do is apologize.




LETO And Other Fun Stuff

Good bit of news first! Bryan Alexander has been elected LETO Govenor today. Running unopposed he received unanimous approval from attending members. I am assured that Bryan will have little difficulty this time around and look for a good experience for us all.

There has been a lot of grumbling going on about our alliance. I have been one of the grumblers. A few days ago LETO has a makeover and provides some insight in the Voice of LETO. I must say that the leadership has been most helpful and understanding. They do not take crap but neither do they give it. Persian Punisher is a good leader for our alliance. He has my support and confidence.


The Promised "Fun Stuff"

This is getting a bit long so I'll cut things short.

Some of our top FA people (including myself) have been talking directly to the United States. Not only about the TW or about continued good relations (which we do appreciate). We have also discussed Pacifica to find what it's all about. Currently we are at an idle regarding any further communication on that subject.

I was prepared to ask Canada for a referendum to determine our desire to remain in LETO. This would have been to determine the sentiment of the country before taking that to Congress for a vote. I do not take such action lightly as I doubt you do. So that you know, I was not going to mention Pacifica to you until after Canada had made themselves heard regarding LETO. There was no point to cloud the issue.

(Now to use that famously dangerous word...)

HOWEVER, after observing the new LETO brass for some days AND having many discussions with the leadership there, I would strongly suggest we give this a fair shake. There is always opportunity in the future to take action if it comes to light that the change is false or we are mislead. I do not believe it is a falsehood but that Persian Punisher and his team are working tirelessly to correct past mistake, organize the alliance so that it works more efficiently and are taking each country's situation into account when making plans, no matter the size of that country.

What's more, I am persuaded that Astria has taken an interest to see that LETO is more comfortable in our greater alliance and that our situation is considered.

So to conclude I would ask that you reconsider your position regarding LETO. Let them prove to you as they have to me that a new day is upon us. Discover for yourself if information is moving more freely. See if things actually work better. Find out if there is a place for us at the table.

Feel free to discuss below or in your own articles. LETO and Asteria are completely aware of the details. I will try to answer any question you have to the best of my ability. If I do not have the answer I will attempt to find it for you.


Thank you and have a good evening/morning,
dill