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Greetings eIreland,

I had hoped to get the second part of this article out earlier, but unfortunately in RL I am sick as a dog. Even now as I type I am coughing up a lung. But the delay has helped, as it will allow me to include the latest developments happening in eIreland. Also 'Sorry' for any grammar or bits the might be a bit confusing, hopefully the flu will still allow me to think/type straight. Now lets get the show on the road....



As I reported earlier in this article the eIrish elections for Dec provided some interesting voter turnouts yet again. While this is becoming unfortunately standard for eIreland, it is still very worrisome both in the way that our nation has involved, how it is being viewed from the outside, how we as Irish are dealing with it and how the admins are reacting to it.

No one will disagree that a voter turn out of 80 votes is quite strange. IF we look at the past two or three elections, one could honestly think we are growing in voters (which could be a good thing) until one takes into account our small amount of homegrown damage, articles in the media, voices in congress. Then we will see that this doesnt appear right. When we take in the past year of voting as well as what is happening in eIreland itself, this will make us cast more doubts on the whole voting process happening.

To draw a conclusion to why we have 80 votes this term, we can look at a few different things/reasons:



Baby Boom: Dont get me wrong, if this is the reason we have an increase in votes, this is actually a good thing for eIreland. But if it is votes only, we need to work on trying to harness the collective input of these new borns in eIreland to ensure they become active citizens, in all aspects of the game, including the media, politics (as a voice) and the military. If they are only in game to vote, this is where it becomes a worry. Are they only here to vote because they are multi accounts? are they only here to vote because they are a friend of a friend who needs a helping hand to win an election? if this is the case, why does that person so desperately need to win? are they here on behalf of an outside citizen to try and influence our elections?

This is something as a collective group, we need to look at. I know for one, I will be using outside websites to try and track any new citizens born in eIreland to see if they are active only on election days, as well as to reach out to them to see if they are in fact legit accounts and need a guiding hand through the game mechanics. One can not assume all new accounts are dirty, but in the same way, we can see that some of these accounts are actually not here for the right reasons.



Immigration: Immigration is something that is a part of eRep. The ability of one player to migrate to another country, for what ever reasons they see fit. It might be for a flag collection, for a different experience, for the bonuses, to join friends, to help rebuild a nation or it could be for worse reasons, to help PTO a country, to influence government actions, to undermine the country.

We as people have no control in game about who lets who in. Yes we can get a Minister of Immigration (MoI), but their is no way to stop Congress Member John Smith from letting in his pal for better or for worse. We cant even stop anyone who does this from running in congress, since Political Parties can not remove players from their congress lists. Party Presidents can put them down the bottom, but when you have a small active community and more regions, their is always empty slots to fill. As well as the internal issues with a MoI, who is to say they will impartial to the people who get congressional approval? who is to say they wont just allow people who they can control into the country.

Case and point is the player Skraus Khan a player who I used my CS pass on ages ago. He is a RL Brazilian and has played in eAustralia as well as eBrazil. IMO he is someone who is a stand up guy, will fight for the country, help out where needed, but more importantly he will go with the flow of the country and not try and influence it or steer it in a way he see's fit. However during the election period, he was accused of being a Turk in RL and taking part in a plan to PTO the country. Whilst this is incorrect, it shows that some people might see one persons friend as an evil element, as well as it shows that once an immigrant sets foot on eIreland soil, they could be singled out an attacked. This in my opinion is wrong and harsh.

But on the other hand, we had BDR come to eIreland in the past. This player was a known trouble maker, whilst it was mainly direct at me and a few others in eIreland. The congress member who let him in, did not know the true history behind this player (this shows the need for an unbiased discussion on CS passes), he went on to sow division in eIreland via fake news in the press as well as running multi's in the country and other countries (some with bought accounts). Eventually he got PB'ed only to return with another bought account and try again to influence our nations elections (most likely as well with other accounts).

These two are just examples of how immigration is a double edge sword. Do we stop legit players/fighters from coming to eIreland out of fear of their RL nationality? how can we be sure why they are here? can we actually stop anyone from letting someone in? Who is to say, once interviewed by any selection group, that they are telling the truth? As well as the fact if some one has the will, their is always a way to get in.


Multi Accounts: Whilst I will try and not make any comments here that will earn me a FP (and admins if it comes across like I do, I am truly sorry), we have to honestly look at the possibility that some of the people voting in these elections are multi's. They could be sleeper accounts, only activated by some players on election days, they could be new borns created as a multi just for elections, they could also be multi's that immigrated into eIreland. All in all, I personally believe they are here and that they voted on both sides of the election.

But what can we do about them. TBH nothing much.... it is the sad truth. While I do report accounts that I think a suss, I am not privy to the way eRep can decide if it is a multi account or not. I know that in the past I have shared a IP address with another eRep player (who was actually living flesh) since we shared a house together. This was actually sent to admins in a form of a ticket giving them a heads up, as well as ensuring no suspect activity happened between the two accounts.

Some people decry that lack of action by admins, but if you look at it across the whole admin team, if someone was to report every election, every vote, how many thousands of accounts is that. If they only reported 25-50% that is still a high number. This all has to be done in a 24hr period and meet what ever criteria they have. If we can try and catch these multi's out early, by removing dead players from MU's or at least monitoring them (after all MUs are the only place we can control membership), if PP's try and put suspect multi's on the bottom of congress lists, if we report accounts earlier on, rather then later, if we provide as much evidence as possible, this all might help. But I still think it is a very uphill task to do.

Something else we need to understand is how false flags actually can screw us. Take me for instance, you can see how many times or people have yelled 'Rusty D is a mutli runner', this would mean it will take the resources of admins to investigate my account and all it's dealings, be it with IP numbers or account to account transactions and transactions on the different markets. This is time consuming and draws them away from investigating other accounts, as well as responding to tickets. After a while (and for the record, I dont do multi's), it might make all these false flag calls lead to a case of 'The boy who cried wolf' and they will either eventually ignore the accuser or the person who has been accused a lot of times. This will allow multi's to creep in.



Awaking the Dea😛 Another source of potential of voter increase, is the awaking of the dead/inactive players. These players might of once a upon of time played eRep, but their accounts have died due to inactivity. Only to be awaken when they get a FB message to come and vote for candidate XYZ or be awoken by another active player to do the voting.

Whilst some people will say this is acceptable (especially if the players are voting for their preferred candidate), in all reality it is basically same as having new borns just for votes or multi's. Because these players, some with decent strength, are only logging on to click for a vote. They dont care what that vote will mean for eIreland, they dont care to fight or produce for eIreland, they dont care to even take part and be active in the game anymore. All in all this is something that will create even more damage for eIreland.

The only way this could most likely stop happening is if admins/mods create an activity level required for voting ie. must be active for 7 days before every vote. Whilst this is something that can easily be done (if it is just logging in, maybe harder if they have to work/fight/comment/PM), it will also allow the admins to do a quick scan on who is actually only logging into vote and any potential sleeping dead multi's. This way they can be flagged and taken care of.




With the election done and dusted for another month, we can already see the aftermath of our countries internal sewer politics. We can take a look at the shout feed to see people fighting each other accusing others of multi's, we can see media articles demanding the winning government (even if it is questionable results) to put in other cabinet ministers to satisfy some players, we can see an impeachment vote being proposed and supported vocally by some in less then 24hrs since first time CP Ethel took to the top job. And what is getting missed by most, is the fact we are still wiped and had a RW going on.

What does mean going into the future for eIreland, are people going to create more new borns/multi's to get ready for the next round of voting, is their going to be elements of congress who refuse to pass any laws that the CP needs/wants. Are we going to stay Peru's whipping dogs while we tear at each other limb by limb.



Shout fee😛 While most of the shouts have stayed in our in country feed, there have been a few in the public feed. This does not help our nation at all. As it shows that we are a broken and a non-aligned country. With shouts of not working with our government going on, our allies will look at us as a weak link, knowing that we wont be able to draw together our forces to help them or even help ourselves. This will make them a bit more hesitant in sending their much needed damage our way. It is like the first rule of First Aid, you need to ensure your safe and out of harms way, before helping others.



Media and Blackmailing/Bullying: In the lead up to the election we saw 4 main article writers, Ethel CP candidate come CP writing with a non-aggressive feeling (which I do commend her on, since she suffered some attacks, but never dropped to that level), Trito CP candidate who wrote articles with some soft punches at some players and some hay makers at others. But with credit he did edit some of his articles once information was passed onto him about some half truths typed, RTK a political commentator who IMO wrote more with hay makers then with substance and of course myself (this might not be the way you saw them) who wrote with some punches but tried to have facts behind those blows.

But now after the vote we have seen from two different authors articles calling for a unity government. Whilst it is worth noting that these two authors come from the 'losing' camp (in the election terms, not personality), they are putting demands on the winning CP. Whilst I will be the first to agree these results seem suss, no one knows who would of won if they were legit. It could of ended in Trito's favour by a slim margin or land slide, or it could of been in Ethels favour by a slim margin or land slide. What we do know is what happened in the lead up and that eRep has said the results stand.

With this in mind, it seems, to me at least, strange that the demands are being put on. For myself, if I won, why would I want to include someone who wrote articles full of lies and slander about me in my cabinet? if they were willing to do this before hand, could I trust them in my cabinet? If I wanted the opposing CP candidate in my cabinet, I would of invited him in, before the election (like it appears Trito done with Ethel as he listed her), not afterwards. Also would this happen if the result was the other way around?

All in all, I believe eIreland needs to put the result behind them and focus on moving forward. We are still democratic, we still have congress to vote on actions, message threads for discussions, media to place well balance and fact based argumentative/disagreeing articles.



Impeachment Vote: In less then 24hrs of Ethels time as CP, we saw a Impeachment Vote presented to congress. This vote was presented (as any congress person can do) with out a reason presented to congress or an article to the media. Whilst my own opinions on the matter are 'give the woman a fair go and chance', others are right to do as they please, after all we dont have agreed upon code for congress where laws should be debated. But while 24 out of the 36 votes are need for impeachment (currently 11 votes are No, so 2 more will ensure it doesnt pass), it makes one wonder if the congress will be hostile to any laws presented by 'one' side of this political divide or even if the other side does the same.

This will truly make it hard for the government to proceed as well as for it to function as a government for the people of eIreland. With our nation being wiped, cash reserves being placed back in the treasury, pretty mush everything is at the whim of congress and those who want to steer in the way they see fit. But like immigration, this is a double edge sword, if we are fully wiped, congress becomes a mute point at the next election, so a hostile congress is worthless come the 15th. Note: if this is the case, I will be proposing we keep a congress in show, for informal voting.

I just hope that this will not be the case and soon people will let the government govern, with out interference.



We are still wipe😛 No matter the way anyone looks at it, be it Trito supporters, Ethel supporters or just Irish supporters, no one can deny the fact we are wiped. This is not going to change while we are fighting among ourselves, Peru doesnt even need to bother, instead they can sit back with the popcorn watching it from the sidelines. To successfully succeed against the enemy at our door steps, we need to quell the enemy with in.

If we cant even let a government govern with in their first 24hrs, how we will let him decide on a CO budget, military strategy? If our main forces opposing each other, how are we going to get them fighting alongside each other on the battle field.

We need to focus on what is important, that is regaining our lands and letting the Irish flag fly high above it. No matter who is sitting in the big boy chair.




Going from the current feeling/situation, my guess is the future is going to be bleak for eIreland. We will still have people trying to get the one up manship via election fraud, we will still have some people using the media to bully/slander others and we will still be wiped. Unless people can put aside their differences and become adults about everything, eIreland will stay the same and end up being a forgotten about country.

The power is with you, the Irish to make the change. You can either follow a tall poppy syndrome and try and take down those who are leading the country for the month, you can 'grab your ball and bat' and go home and refuse to play, you can sit in the corner and have a hissy fit that your not getting your man/woman in power or you can grow a set, swallow your hurt pride/ego, man up and fight for the country we all call our eHome.

Rusty D
Congress Member for Omega Eireann