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Dispatch → Bulletin → News
The Southern Journal - November 2021 Edition
Originally, nobody ran for Prime Minister, but eventually HumanSanity decided to run because of the candidate absency. HumanSanity is a SPSF member and the previous Minister of Defence, though has not been Prime Minister before. Major parts of their campaign was to solve inactivity in the Office of WA Legislation, staying in contact with all ministers and improving accessibility of cabinet progress. HumanSanity won 96,77% of the votes, with the remaining 3,23% being votes for the re-opening of nominations. For Minister of Foreign Affairs, two people ran: Roavin and Vrandaria. Roavin has had many functions in the government, including a term as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Part of that term was 'The modern South Pacifican Ambassador', a plan to have ambassadors increase interaction with their ambassador region and the South Pacific. He has made progress on his plan in that term, and wants to continue that in the new term. Vrandaria on the other hand is less known, and has said in his campaign that he believes the South Pacific needs a new face as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and that he wants to improve communication between ambassadors. 96,77% of the votes were in favor of Roavin and 3,23% in favor of Vrandaria, electing Roavin as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Minskiev and Doge Land ran for Minister of Culture, who both haven't been minister before. Doge land has said to make RMB and RP events and Minskiev also promised a lot of events, as well as Culture Calendar dispatches to make them more accessible. 62,69% voted for Doge Land, 29,63% voted for Minskiev and 7,41% voted to re-open nominations, making Doge Land the new Minister of Culture. Nyxonia was the only Minister of Engagement candidate this year. In her campaign, she said that she wants to work on the card program, improve strategic recruitment and introduce helpers, who will greet and guide new nations. Nyxonia became Minister of Engagement with 100% of the votes. The election for Minister of Media went between two people: Lebatrip and Rabbitz, who both haven't been a minister in the South Pacific before. Rabbitz promised to include a short recap of events that happened during the month in each edition, statistical polls for the cabinet, delegate and LC, a MoM Discord bot and a puzzle or comic in each edition, with an additional role in the ministry. Lebatrip on the other hand promised weekly meetings with Senior Staff, monthly meetings with all staff, a minimum of work done each month, more gameplay focused articles, interviews with commended nations, weekly media and monthly polls about the ministry. Interestingly enough, this election ended in a tie between both candidates. It was decided that Coconut, the bot of the South Pacific Discord, would be flipping a coin with a command. The command was entered, and everyone saw how the bot chose heads as the result of the coin flip, electing Lebatrip as the new Minister of Media. Only one candidate ran for Minister of Defence: Witchcraft and Sorcery. In his campaign he said that he wanted to improve R/D activity in the South Pacific by asking legislators to use their WA membership to participate in major operations and update SPSF training guides. Witchcraft and Sorcery won with 100% of the votes. Two people were candidates for the Craziest Person this election: Apatosaurus and Holy Free. Apatosaurus promised a free dinosaur ride for everyone who voted for him, and the people who did not would be crushed by a stampede of dinosaurs. Holy free on the other hand hosted a card give-away for everyone who voted for him. Unsurprisingly though, Kringalia managed to get 200% of the votes, making him the Craziest Person. At the minor update on Friday, 5 November, The Black Hawks, Lone Wolves United, Lily, the Thaemperial Army, Kantrias, and later Aurelius invaded Trovons, seizing the delegacy from the eponymously-named non-executive founder. In the next update, the SPSF participated in an initial siege alongside 11 other defender and independent militaries that included the Rejected Realms Army and the Ten Thousand Islands Treaty Organization, but the effort came up short of liberation. In the second siege, the liberation force appeared to be within the grasp of victory, but the illegitimate delegate from The Black Hawks ejected and banned the native delegate, preventing the liberation of Trovons for a second update. The action taken by the invading force drew controversy because it constituted griefing. An explainer on griefing: Griefing is a raiding practice whereby an invading force seizes the delegacy, accumulates influence, and bans the native members of a region. There are other applications of the term, which could also mean the destruction of a regional forum. However, the aforementioned definition is the most common occurrence of the practice. Griefing was historically common in the earlier days of raiding but has since fallen out of favor in recent history because of the implementation of restrictions against griefing by various militaries and the growing strength of defender forces against raiders. The practice has typically been reserved for fascist and other malicious regions in recent years. Today, only a few militaries engage in unrestricted griefing, such as The Black Hawks and Lone Wolves United, but they are typically unable to exercise this practice because they do not have the numbers and their partners have policies against griefing. Several of the militaries that participated in the invasion, the Thaemperial Army and Kantrias, had policies against griefing. For the former, they were explicit that it was "a practice [they] stand firmly against." The latter enshrined in law that "Kantrias [would] not initiate the destruction of any region with an active community unless otherwise permitted." TBH member Wascoitan claimed that the action was taken "with permission." However, Thaecian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andusre stated that the document outlining Thaecia's anti-griefing policy was "out-of-date" and that "(i)nternal discussions [were] taking place." The Thaecian government ultimately issued a statement that admitted to "a severe lack of internal communication" between military leadership and the president and prime minister, both of whom "would have objected to the ban" of Trovons. Because of the confusion and internal disagreement, Thaecia withdrew its forces from the invasion. After the griefing undertaken by the invading force, several other militaries, including the Balder Jomsvikings and Europeian Republican Navy, joined the liberation effort, successfully unseating the invaders within the following two updates and beginning efforts to restore Trovons to its state before the occupation. Witchcraft & Sorcery, the South Pacifican Minister of Defense, issued a special report on the liberation in which he announced the promotion of Officer HumanSanity to the rank of commander, joining the ranks of USoVietnam and the three members of the General Corps. Commenting on the griefing, W&S stated that "the raiders stooped to a low not seen in a while" and praised the operation in that "it showcased just how strong defender forces can be when we dig deep and all commit to an operation." As of the writing of this article, the liberating force still maintains a presence in Trovons to ensure a safe transition to its pre-occupation status. Disclaimer: the author of this article is a Soldier in the South Pacific Special Forces.