[CP] Call the Bet or Fold Your Hand

Day 1,636, 22:24 • Published in Canada Canada • by Sperry

Today was Mothers’ Day. It meant different things to Cabinet: for Eric, a chance to break his computer a little bit more. For Plugson, yet another opportunity to spend time with his young family. It’s hard picturing the guy as anything but a wise avatar, but I’ll try my best. And for me, it meant cracking open Season 7 of the West Wing with my mother. MASH was on earlier today, so Alan Alda has featured prominently. Now I just need to watch Mel Gibson read minds and the day will be complete.



Cleanup On Aisle Congress

Briefly, an update on where we’re at internally:
- The recipients of the Gold Donations have begun making repayments on their loans. 25 Gold has been received so far, out of the 100 we expect back. With most of the winners still shy of that next Super Soldier medal, it’s a bit of a surprise that we’ve hit 25 already.
- A Congressman called for a longer-term capital investment plan. We’re setting one up and will include the first piece of that in our budget that goes to Congress this week.
- We’re shifting the role of the Supreme Court. If you have thoughts on this issue, talk to someone. Changing the Charter still ought to be a big deal.
- The New Citizens’ Message is out of date and filled with useless jargon. We’re trimming it down and making it viewer-friendly. Stay tuned for more.


All Good Things

...Must come to an end. Or so the saying goes. Today, Britain decided to go after the confusingly-named French region of Brittany. It’s right up on the West Coast, and supplies the entirely useless Fish. Why Brittany? It slows down our wishful thinking run to southern France (and the 80/80 that would have come with it), and it also gives Hungary a clean shot at Nova Scotia. Make no mistake: the forces of ONE are sitting quietly on our borders. They’re not going to sit quietly for long. They’re planning their famously predictable invasions in the same ways they always do: Hungary through the North, Spain through the South, Serbia up through Italy, and Poland wherever they can fit their grimy little hands.

But, to ONE’s dismay, Britain’s wandering was cut short today. Brittany has been going in our favour all day and will likely stay in French hands. If that happens, the British-French war will close, as will that NE status, and the French can finally get back to scaring off the not-so-brave Slovenians. Who, by the way, will not be given front row seating in that beloved ONE invasion. But more on that later.


Surrounding London

With Britain defeated in the South, they must be looking to the North for victories. Sadly, we have none to offer them. Poland is returning their holdings, which is very nice of them, since they will all end up in Canadian hands in the next few days. Unless ONE steps in to save Britain (again), President Applesauce is looking at an entirely Canadian wipe. We hold 6 of his core regions and are attacking a 7th. London will be surrounded by dawn. For 3 months, a trifecta alliance of France, Ireland, and Canada managed to hold Britain’s nose in the mud. In the past 2 weeks, Canada (whose population is less than half of Britain’s) has managed to do it almost single-handedly. Whoops.

It’s nice to see success in a temporary, easy war. So keep on winning. But remember - the push for victory in these battles is so that we can close this NE and move on to the more important fights raging across Europe, most particularly in the core of it (beyond France). We’ve completed our redemption and are moving toward playing an active role in this alliance - where we’re respected as an equal, not listened to simply because they haven’t figured out how to quietly remove us. Keep the bigger picture in mind as we move to end this war.


ONE Might Think...

The last time I was President, ONE had just finished a massive invasion of North America. They were arrogant, condescending, and relishing in the glorious muck that was their alliance. Bully for them. Today, nearly a year later, I’m told that ONE is “stronger than ever” and “will crush us like bugs.” Sure, they might. We could get wiped again. Super scary, I tell ya.

What’s most interesting to me is the attitude from the ONE camp. Britain has been civil about its occupation for weeks. Poland all but begged us not to NE them when any mechanics freshman could tell you it was impossible for us to do so. And this afternoon, half of the Hungarian Cabinet spent an hour imploring me to sign a pro-ONE pact with them.

As a general rule, in eRepublik and in life, enemies who can win on their own don’t waste their time talking to “bugs.” You want to improve relations? Cool, works for me. I love Appleby. You want to avoid a pointless front? Fine by me. You want to change things up a bit? Sweet, I love a fresh map. But let’s call a spade a spade, folks: If your alliance is so fantastic that you take bigger terds than me each day, you wouldn’t spend so much time knocking on my door looking for love.

Perhaps it’s time the folks at ONE sat down and figured out what their PR line is. If you want war, go get some war. If you want friendship, cool, but don’t expect me to kiss your hand right after you support my enemy with a CoTD button. Welcome to the big leagues, ONE. Call the bet or fold your hand.