Article
Before we get into the main crux of the article, I'd like to take a moment to discuss redheads in media since the last time I was in an eSimulation-type game. We've seen some great developments in redheads on both the small screen and the silver screen, not the least of which will be hitting theaters in the US tomorrow! (Did you really think I could resist commenting on that?).
Seriously the coolest non-zombie show on television right now.
The greatest loss in the upcoming G.I. Joe sequel will be no Scarlett.
But of course, not all additions to the redhead fold are ass-kickers; some just have a nice ass.
There's even been a redhead fighter pilot, which as a member of TOP GUN, I can really appreciate.
Day 238 - April 30, 2012.
Step One: Establish the FBI. Step Two: Defeat the alien conspiracy in the highest ranks of our government. Seems legit.
Turns out those six topics relating to the FBI weren't as complicated as I thought there were going to be. I thought there was going to be more discussion prior to electing an official, but after a couple of false starts, we finally have a Director of the FBI:
InsaneParrot . He's an active eSimmer and generally agreed to definitely not be the worst choice for the job. Let the investigations begin! If it doesn't work out, we can always vote someone else into office, I'm just glad that the whole FBI thing is finally getting off the ground. The 24-hour voting period went as follows: 8 Yes, 0 No, 4 Abstentions.
I've been too busy to really look into this guy in particular, but based on what I'd read from others, he seemed fine, so I went ahead with a Yes vote just to get the ball rolling on the FBI. Honestly, if there are no strong objections, it's better to get things started than spend months debating something that we can never be sure if it's going to work out or not.
In other news, I talked to the newly re-elected Speaker of the House today about getting a Congressional mailing out to all new Congressmen. It turns out, he was thinking along the same lines already, so that's good!
There was a donation proposal that looked legitimate, but I hadn't heard anything yet about how we're handling donations to the national organization, so I waited to see if anyone would say anything about it; it seems that voting ends as soon as a majority (11 out of 20) Yes votes are achieved, regardless of whether 24 hours have passed or not. It's interesting to note, though, at least.
Goal for Day 238 partially completed, I suppose. I don't feel like I really accomplished a lot today.
Goals for Day 239: Read up on things I haven't done such a great job of reading up on lately, figure out this whole "donation" procedure. Hopefully help hammer out a budget for May.
Day 239 - May 1, 2012.
Err. Um. *pause* I was super-busy at work. But I did comment on May's budget! Hopefully we're close to having an actual budget... I outlined some things that Congress could do, if they agree.
And I asked what was going on with how we do donations, if there was a schedule or anything like that.
We got a Congressional mass-mailing today, with basic info and links, but it was sent to 14 out of 20 Congressmen via forum mass-message, by one of the deputy speakers (who's a Congressman himself, so 14 out of 19, and two members of Congress aren't even on the forums so I guess that's 14 out of 17?).
Forum mass-messaging is certainly easier than copying and pasting something twenty times, but I'm still not completely satisfied with the way it doesn't reach everyone. But I'm not going to obsess about it. Probably. Meh, if something really important comes up, I'll bring up the possibility of in-game mailing. Otherwise, I'll just let it go for now.
Goals for Day 239 not completed.
Goals for Day 240: Read up on things I haven't done such a great job of reading up on lately, figure out this whole "donation" procedure. Hopefully help hammer out a budget for May.
Day 240 - May 2, 2012.
Today's primary task was to read everything I'd been putting off and I set into that task immediately. Topics included
Lord of the Blings 's establishmen of Deputy Speakers (yay, 
Baarogue joined 
Abroham Lincoln as a deputy speaker!), talk of our stance on various alliances and where we'd like to take our foreign affairs (we're staying neutral for now, who knows what the new Presidency will bring, though), import taxes, the budget, the proposed national loan program, and a possible establishment of the Treasury Department by Congress.
My pre-"super busy at work" write-up of the budget yesterday was well-received and will likely be passed into law, with a possible last-minute addition for defense systems. After some discussion, I decided it wasn't worth delaying the budget for something that may or may not get purchased this month; if Congress agrees, we should be able to start voting on the budget tonight or tomorrow. To help put it in context, there was no such defense system budget line in last month's budget. Oh and I re-wrote the proposed budget so that there weren't just a ton of abbreviations listed, since I want it to be able to be understood by the public as much as possible.
My understanding of the import tax on non-Grain Raw Materials situation is that a 1 to 2 percent increase would not be damaging to the amount of goods or the prices we get on our marketplace and, as we all know, stuff > gold. Put simply, that means that it's more important for cheap, plentiful goods to be available to the public than it is to hoard huge piles of gold via taxes. In my haste to "get stuff done in Congress," I suggested proposing the in-game laws myself before I realized the potential faux paus: the person who began the discussion and had this idea in the first place (namely, Congressman
Baarogue ) should be the one to propose the 1% import tax in-game laws, not some silly little Congresswoman who happened to be online at the time, so I waited. While I was waiting, I asked Baarogue if I could have one, though, and he agreed to let me propose the Oil tax change, which is great of him to do. Of course, anyone who knows me from eRep Congress knows I would've been much happier with Wood. 
Wow, that's an old joke. Anyhow, this 1% import tax is an experiment to see what kind of money the tax rakes in and what impact, if any, it has on the marketplace; we can re-evaluate next term if there could safely be an increase to 2%-3% or so.
The establishment of a national loan program is something I'm keen on getting started; with time, it'll make money on itself, so it's worth the initial investment of funds. The formal establishment of the Treasury Department isn't something I'm very interested in, as money matters have gone pretty well without us formally establishing a department for them, but I'll try to see the other side of this coin, as proposed by Congressman
Abroham Lincoln . It could end up being a very good thing for the sNation.
After rewriting the proposed budget and proposing the import tax change on Oil, I rewrote the proposal for the national loaning institution. I took out some language I felt was awkward, clarified some things I felt needed to be spelled out a bit more clearly, and added a couple things that I thought were more intuitive than the current language of the proposal.
Then I set my sights on trying to understand this whole "formalizing the Treasury Department" issue. Still not a fan of it, but a redraft is coming, so I'll wait till I read that version before thinking on it further.
In other news, the e-Sim Congressional boards have been restructured! There is now a public section for displaying Congressional business in addition to the private one. You can read all about the changes (which were discussed in Congress earlier this term and for which I was in favor) here . I was very excited to tell you about it, but now it appears the eSim Congressional Hall is gone.
I asked about it and apparently there was a Mod discussion and it was decided the plan was too ambitious. Seems there might be a compromise heading our way, though, where there will be a public Congress section for Congressmen to debate, but non-Congressmen get their posts moderated to make sure they don't interject in official discussions directly (they'd have to create their own topic, instead, or maybe just post on the eSim Politics board).
I also received an answer to my question regarding donations and we came to a consensus on how to do it. Then I requested it get moved to the public section of Congress and it was. So yay, everything worked out and I was able to vote on a donation proposal today.
NEXT: Part 2.
Previous article:
Regarding the Presidential Election (13 years ago)
Next article:
Blog About Congress, Days 238-241, Part 2 (13 years ago)
About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
