Realpolitik of the Smoky Skies - The Reboot

((Not necessarily inherited. . . Two options :

1) Senator announces that he will be retiring at the next election, the senator's child who is also a member of the party rreceives preselection from the party to run in their parents' place.

2) Senator dies or retires mid-term and the party nominates his child to replace him in the Senate.

The first option happens quite a bit in Australia ; especially if a member has held a seat for a long time they hold personal appeal above and beyond their party affiliations, so you end up with a kind of ppolitical dynasty.

Also we will at some point need to explicitly allow women to run for office. I believe an order passed by the Senate is all that would be required.

This actually brings me to one of the constitutional clarifications I was hoping to discuss in the next Senate: that of casual vacancies. The Honourable Sir Parker's disappearance caused a bit of a constitutional crisis insofar no mechanism exists to replace him.

As we do not use single member electorates it is infeasible to hold a by-election (or special election as it's called in America) because at least four of the seven senators will not have won a plurality. So if the second or third senators in a city are replaced by by-election it results in an unfair situation where a party is almost guaranteed to lose the seat to the most dominant party which is not what would have happened at a general election where multiple seats are filled at once.

My proposal is to adopt the method used to address casual vacancies in the Australian Senate: if a member resigns (or in this scenario the party leader has the seat declared vacant because the player hasn't been seen for a while) the party the Senator belonged to at the time of the last election can appoint the person they want to replace their outgoing member (so for example if I'm elected as PIP at the election and then midterm defect to the PPP and resign or go missing it's the PIP who get to choose my replacement because that's the party I represented when the voters elected me).

Of course if we ever move to single member electorates I would of course support the use of by-elections to resolve those casual vacancies.))

Edit: I have added the Honourable Gurra's first name to my election notes (in signature).

(( Agree with the system Melda, the person is representing a party and an idea/path, so it makes sense to be replaced with someone affiliated with the same idea/path

As for RP purposes, I don't think I've ever defined a background for myself really, and atm I kinda don't have enough basis to do so for a simple reason: Melda's personal attack campaign. I'll have to think this one through ))

MiguelBazil said:

((As for RP purposes, I don't think I've ever defined a background for myself really, and atm I kinda don't have enough basis to do so for a simple reason: Melda's personal attack campaign. I'll have to think this one through ))

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((Mwahaha

In all seriousness though I think the Honourable Augustus's successor should be named Tiberius to keep going with the Roman theme))

((Melda Travels, Day 6: Sapa

I'm short on time, writing here while waiting for the night train to take us back to Hanoi after which we're bound for the picturesque Halong Bay. Should have wifi access for about an hour in Hanoi tomorrow but then expect to be off the grid in Halong Bay until that part of the trip is over (late on Sunday 1 March).

Sapa is full of karaoke bars, internet cafes and, surprisingly, so many Italian restaurants. We had an anniversary lunch at a French restaurant called 'Le Gecko': I had spring rolls and pizza.

We will definitely be coming back to this part of the world again; especially to do the mountain hiking we weren't able to this time.

Wifi connection isn't great here so I can't upload any images.))

MiguelBazil said:

As for RP purposes, I don't think I've ever defined a background for myself really, and atm I kinda don't have enough basis to do so for a simple reason: Melda's personal attack campaign. I'll have to think this one through ))

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Melda said:

((Mwahaha

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If I ever make a background story for my character, I'll have to be extra careful not to leave any information holes.

((That only became relevant as a line of attack because my character wanted to go after him on the topic of foreign affairs / war. ))

While we wait for the results you guys might want to check out the new IAAR called on the floor of the senate.

Results will be in (for real this time) this weekend. I'm sorry for a week of nothing!

Don't worry, Real Life takes precedence over an imaginary steampunk senate.

((Agreed. Take all the time you need.

Also: oh sweet wifi goddess! Shipped to shore for an hour or so to do some things. Apparently off the grid doesn't suit me. ))

((Melda Travels, Day 7: Halong Bay

(This is writing about yesterday.)

The day started on the night train back to Hanoi where we struggled to sleep (3 hours and broken at that). Our cabin mates snored and snorted all through the night. One of them kept coming and going constantly to smoke and must have kept doing it near an air conditioning intake duct. Something I definitely miss from home: smoking laws and regulations.

We reached a sketchy motel in Hanoi to freshen up and wait for the bus. It was really dingy in the room but it had hot water, the breakfast was passable and they converted some currency for me so I can't really complain. Something funny though is there was a hole in the floor of the lobby that led directly into a sewer. Amazing. The floor was black and white chequered so it could have been easily missed except for the sound of rushing water and that one of the staff members shone down into it with a torch at one point. I presume to check the hole was still there. Or maybe he was just curious.

Caught a four hour bus from Hanoi to the ship that would take us through Halong Bay. Our room was awesome; much better than the hotel we'd just come from. A beautiful cabin on the top deck. When we first boarded a young woman was standing above the stairwell raining rose petals down onto us which was pretty cute.

The ship was very relaxing: lots of good food, cheap beer, Vietnamese iced coffee and reclining on the open air above deck. The weather was misty and overcast which hid most of the hundreds of rocky islands from view. It looked nice and mysterious. To see what it normally looks like in sunlight google 'Halong Bay'.

After dinner we escaped from the karaoke by trying our hands at squid fishing. It was a pointless exercise and we were partly convinced it was actually a prank played on gullible tourists.

The ship pulled into a safe harbour for the night and there was a veritable flotilla of ships anchored in the bay.

Today was Day 7 of the trip which means we're now halfway through our holiday. We can't believe we've only had five days off work ; it feels like we've been on this holiday for weeks and if we had to go home right now we'd call it a good, long, relaxing holiday.

Still can't upload images for some reason .))

Edit: Got images working. The ship, the view, the food, the view at night.

((Melda Travels, Day 8: Cat Ba

The first day in the second half of our trip.

The bed in our cabin was the most comfortable we've had this trip. In Vietnam they seem to like firm beds but the one on the ship was soft and comfortable. Slept really well and didn't want to get up.

We visited a pearl farm and then it was time to farewell the ship which was a shame because it was awesome. We caught a two hour ferry from the ship through Halong Bay to Cat Ba Bay where we're staying in a bungalow tonight. It's pretty basic but it's clean and has electricity. Wifi is so ubiquitous in this country that the last day or so in the bay without it has felt like a struggle (e.g. we didn't know if a hotel had got back to us yet for tomorrow night's accommodation). Plus I like to read the news.

After a bountiful lunch where we had some really interesting discussions with some American tourists about the differences in industrial relations between Australia and America we caught a half-hour boat ride to the bayside city of Cat Ba to get some supplies and access the Internet (accommodation for tomorrow night: confirmed!).

Heading back on the boat back to our bungalow soon and will be off the grid again until tomorrow night.

Images wise: 1) the view from our cabin upon wakeup this morning 2) the floating village where they farm pearls 3) fairwell to the good ship 4) our ferry might in fact be a dragon 5) where we're staying tonight.))

(( Awsome pics and story, it sounds like a trip that I'd like to make. The bay on day 7 looks so beautiful, I'd love to see it live.

Also, I think your dinner had a bonner, you might want to wary of that ))

MiguelBazil said:

(( Awsome pics and story, it sounds like a trip that I'd like to make. The bay on day 7 looks so beautiful, I'd love to see it live.

Also, I think your dinner had a bonner, you might want to wary of that ))

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((The carrot is the head and neck of the peacock. ))

The results of the Pulian election are in! After plenty of delay, the official vote tally has been completed. Our new senators are as follows:

In Pulias: The Honorable Magnive maintains his seat in the Senate. After a hard-fought campaign, a newcomer to the political scene, MiguelBazil, barely edged the recently-returned Gurra09 to claim the second seat. Gurra, however, nabs the third and final seat from Pulias.

In Coventry: The lack of many candidates in Coventry has resulted in the two possible senators in that city, Et_Absoluti and bouncymisha, getting elected. Interestingly, exit polls stated that many voters are sympathetic to the ideas of the PIP.

In Haven of Peace: The Honorable Senators Melda and Heerlo are re-elected over the head of newcomer GreekAnalyzer.

OOC: At long last we can continue the game! Congratulations to all elected senators!

As I have gained the trust of the citizens in Pulias, I promise to do my best to make their voices heard in the Senate. Let us move forward - together!

(Note that since our leader Melda is on vacation for yet another week, any negotations with the PPP will be handled by me. Just so you know.)

Inaugural Adress from the Honorable Imperator Augustus:

Citizens of Coventry! You have shown great wisdom in the polls.Now you wish to know what I will do now that I have this opportunity? Well I will show you.

My first act as Senator is to Propose the Following Bill:

The Bill for Advancement of Infrastructure and Rights.
Article 1:Every city must be assigned a minimum of 1 worker to construct vital infrastructure in the respective cities.
Article 2:Senators can petition the allocation of workers and the construction of railroads to their respective cities.
The Inalienable rights of Pulian Citizens:
1:Every Pulian Citizen has the right to vote in their respective cities.
2:All Pulian Citizens have the right Free Speech and Peaceful Protest.
3:These rights may not be revoked no matter what the situation.

As you can this bill lays down the framework to construct infrastructure to encourage trade and business and to help our magnificent nation grow. This bill also makes sure that you the citizen has rights protected.

On the matter of protection I also wish for permission from the Senate to move all of our units that are not scouting to Coventry so that I may prepare for them for our very own magnam campaign to eliminate the Luddite threat that has been hanging over our nation.

((writing from Hanoi :

Congratulations to all the successful candidates and my condolences to the unsuccessful ones this time around.

The Honourable Gurra is correct ; he will be conducting negotiations on behalf of the Pulias People's Party while I am indisposed.

cpm: No hurry since I know you're busy but do we have a timeframe for the POP results? Want to get in early before any actions of the Third Senate change the opinions of the POPs.

And the below speech is for once the Senate sits but before the new government forms.))


The newly elected Senator for Haven of Peace, William Melda makes his maiden address to the Pulian Senate.

The newly-reelected Heerlo travels to Coventry to hold a speech.

Melda said:

((The carrot is the head and neck of the peacock. ))

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(( Next thing we know, you're gonna start singing Katty Perry's song "I wanna see your peacock"

I'll try to make my speech soon, I actually got a seat slightly ahead of Gurra... My mind is blown))