FREIGHT LINE FROM MENYKAWN TO CEEKASCOTIN UNDERWAY
As new imports arrive fresh from abroad in Menykawn, Tawaic, and Wasaw, we are beginning to see a massive expansion in business and interesting economic ventures. One venture—however, has completely shadowed all others, a new state-operated project, the Interior Freight Line (PIPO). Hidden within the approved foreign agenda was an agreement between over ten Otena from Menykawn to Ceekascotin approving a new freight railway. The project will involve a tedious process of laying mounds of gravel called ballasts, followed by railway tracks in order to carve a path connecting twelve towns to the network. In addition to freighting, the Interior Freight Line has also announced minimal passenger transit along the railway. There are also plans to build two smaller railway lines known as the 'Prairie Line' connecting the plains to the railway, as well as the 'Spouse Line' which connects communities along the Spouse River to the railway. Koyanskic (Goyanean) trains in general have been held to the highest standard in the global community, and are a brilliant example of the new fruits brought from commerce with outlander nations. The PIPO have speculated that it could take until January to March of next year to finish the entire project, accounting for the fact that the freighters will be electronic rather than petroleum dependent.
The Koyanskic EH500-Class electric freight-liner locomotive, the vehicle
which will be deployed on the proposed Interior Freight Line
The Koyanskic trains which arrived in the port of Tawaic on Monday created a great initial spectacle after being destroyed in a transportation accident. After being lifted from their ocean liner into the port, one of the support ropes carrying the cargo snapped and left the first EH500-Class locomotive plummeting violently from its container. The 250-ton vehicle plunged into the sea as spectators watched in awe whilst the Koyanskic ship-crew were seen cursing out at the Tusacwyan dockworkers. Luckily, there were four other locomotives to be disembarked, and they were without incident. The principal director of the PIPO joked in his first address today that: "We kept the project a mystery for a few more days as to distance ourselves with what occurred on Monday. Then again, this is exactly why we are moving to railway transport anyways!". The Nistokamek has stipulated that the project be minimized financially as much as necessary to create an equal competition with shipping lines through waterways, a doctrine that was aimed to create a sense of pacing within the new economic developments within the Tusacaway.
Not all Tusacwyan citizens are excited for the project however—and most attach their grudges to the cost of the project, which is proposed to be near twenty two billion wêyo, Around 1% of the country's gross domestic product and a price tag which would double the Nistokamek's already soaring budgetary plan. The Chief of Tawiscayew commented today: "When I was approached about the proposal for the Interior Freight Line potentially connecting to Tawiscayew, I was quick to consult with my council and we almost immediately came to a consensus—No!—The government should not be spending themselves dry until we see some actual indicators showing that exterior commerce is viable for us. This project's failure could be a disaster with permanent damage to our financial state". Some objectors have pointed out the environmental impact that the railway will have, however Chieftain Nicamon Pascaw was quick to respond in his own press release this evening wherein he stated that "The locomotives will operate purely off of the Tusacwyan electrical grid which has outlawed fossil fuel power since the 70's. Additionally, outages will divert power to an on-board emergency battery which will be sufficient to provide for the vehicle until the grid can be repaired. We are also necessitating that all ballasts have under-pathways for every ten kilometres of track. so that wildlife can pass undisturbed under the railway.
The seemingly endless stream of new and fantastic outlander wares being introduced to the Tusacaway has become the subject of both awe-inspiring and terrifying news headlines for the month. In addition to these valuable commodities, new food products and foreign delicacies are now becoming readily available in Tusacwyan grocers and markets. "A taste of the outlander country!" signs have flooded regular grocers in Menykawn, Tawaic, and even in Tastuweyas. One such delicacy however, has become a greatly sought-after staple of Sentonskic (Santonian) cuisine. It is known as the "macaron" in Saintes, although consumers in Tawaic have taken to calling them pahk-sîsipâskwat. Their composition is really quite simple: two flat, baked wafers with a fluffy meringue stuck between. Nevertheless, the dessert has been absolutely applauded by its enthusiasts for its unnaturally sweet flavour. One of the Evening News' press staff was encouraged to try one and reported that it tasted "Extremely sweet, almost like eating a handful of berries but without the tartness of a fruit. It's crunchy like a cookie at first, and then as you chew it becomes more tough". Replication of the Sentonskic-style macaron has gone decently, with cheaper domestic alternatives now readily available in markets, although the native macaron still outsells in markets daily.
Original pahk-sîsipâskwat confections from Sentonskic country,
flavoured with vanilla and placed on display
The secret is supposedly in the recipe. In Sentonskic country, cattle milk and unrefined sugar are a common ingredient in almost every baked good due to their prominent availability. Additionally, their eggs come from chickens rather than from goose, as they do in the Tusacaway. By blending cattle milk and eggs together, the batter used to make the macarons becomes much lighter and much fluffier than they would with domestic alternatives. And through a refining process, turning the cane sugar into a fine, white powder, it can be added as a sweetener of sorts to elevate the flavour and satisfaction. The baking process is also extremely tedious and requires multiple stages of intensive work, which can take approximately six hours to complete a standard batch if the original recipe is followed precisely. A baker who recently took to selling Sentonskic macarons was interviewed by PCK at his store in Sipyk, and stated that "The making of macarons is a kind of art that I've just never been exposed to, and it really illuminates your perception of the outlander world. The kind of effort they put into making confectionery of this sort just shows that the Tusacaway might have more in common with the outlander country than we might think".
A Mawat passed this afternoon is said to create balance within the Nistokamek as the Tusacwyan population continues to grow internally. Last year, population growth was estimated to be an addition of just under one million, an annual number which has been approaching the one million mark closer and closer as the Tusacaway grows. Researchers predict that this year, over a million new Tusacwyan children will be born. The largest cohorts will be born in the jurisdictions of Tawaic, Meykawn, Wasaw, and Tawiscayew, although the vast majority overall will be born in the rural Tusacaway. To account for this cumbersome development, and in an effort to create a more proportionally-sized assembly for our government to collaborate, the Mawat on Internal Proportionality was passed this afternoon with no profound issues during the discussion and without the presence of the Chieftain, who was visiting the frontier-garrisons in Mistakesew to meet with the military chiefs.
The town of Kiscickanys is one of the bourgeoning towns which has been
granted separate Otenahk and representation in the Nistokamek
The most striking aspects of the mawat are its expansion of the leadership within the Nistokamek and its restructuring of Otena to include three new flourishing towns. Each with populations over one thousand, they have each been campaigning for independent authority for the past three years and today their demands have been met. The process of selecting chiefs is to take place over the following month, including the many news chiefs who will be added to already existing Otena. The Mawat specifically calls for the appointment of two additional chiefs to Otena with over ten thousand inhabitants, a change said to balance representation and create a triumvirate of leadership to maximize efficiency in chiefly deliberation. The proposal to divide each Otenahk into multiple others was firmly refuted by the Chieftain beforehand, who argued that such a measure would simply create a frontier between what he called "Tawaic A, Tawaic B, and Tawaic C" which would force one integrated city to triple its services out of practicality rather than efficiency.
With the Prediceans still fighting a bitter apowwen with New Aleman, the new trade policies agreed upon during the Tusacwyan diplomatic summit with Predice have been slow to be enacted. As of yet, only seven Predicean combat aircraft have actually arrived in the Tusacaway, equipment which has been overseen by the Army until today. This morning, the Nistokamek finally amended the Motherland Act for the third time in its history to introduce two new military divisions, the Mikisyew (air force), and the Nimitawi (coast guard). The new Mikisyew will operate alongside the Army, with dozens of defunct army installations to be converted into air force bases with runways and refuelling stations for large aeroplanes. Additionally, the bill allocated funding for a massive aerospace complex to be built in the valley of the Twin Brother and Twin Sister mountains. Over the coming months, members of the Army and Navy will be encouraged to participate in a month-long service programme to spark interest in recruitment to the Mikisyew, although airplane training and certification programmes have yet to be established in the Tusacaway to recruit actual pilots. Defence Manufacturing, the Tusacaway's premiere arms manufacturing company, has stated that it is not yet equipped with the technology to begin manufacturing aeroplanes, although they do have the prearranged skill and technique to begin planning them. The Mikisyew aims towards procuring a fleet of at least 50-60 combat aircraft by the end of the year.
The Fighter-18 Falcon produced by the Falcon Consortium is the most
highly sought out aircraft by the Mikisyew.
The Mawat on the Motherland has also allocated a smaller amount of funding for the development of the Nimitawi, or Coast Guard, which will act as a division of the Navy while operating as its own armed forces branch. The Coast Guard will be responsible for coastal patrol as well as performing customs checks on civil vessels if necessary and overseeing the security of freighters and shipping lines. One major downside of these new developments is cost. The accumulated costs and purchases to finance military developments is said to cost the government a fortune which can no longer be sustained by their own means of acquiring capital, although this is only speculation. The question of implementing income tax in the Tusacaway has arisen several times throughout its history and was briefly introduced in several Otena in the early 2000s before being outlawed at the federal level. The government has responded to this issue in the past by alleging it will expand its own financial assets, and that likely will not change today, but as the Tusacaway appropriates more and more daring national development projects, there could potentially be a point in which the government may have to consider imparting some form of tax on its citizens.
WHALE SLAUGHTERERS PUNISHED WITH STAUNCH EMBARGO
This morning, intelligence was passed on to the Nistokamek by the International Anti-Whaling Association that one of the Tusacaway's first befriended nations, the Aydini, have been amplifying—as well as employing questionable practices within—their whaling industry. With the whale-watching organization having recently been endorsed by the international community through its applications in the Tusacaway's foreign agenda, IAWA has accumulated a great deal of associate-nations, together serving as a beacon of intense rebuke towards the over-exploitation of whales. Within the Tusacaway, it is no surprise that this revelation has fomented a fearsome strike against the government of Aydin, who have safeguarded the violent practices of their illicit whaling industry through their International Whaling Federation—a considerably poor excuse of a front for what is—unsurprisingly—corrupt Aydini enterprisers scouring profit from the slaughtering endangered sea wildlife. It goes without mentioning that harming one of the Tusacaway's most sacred animals is grounds for a powerful rebuttal, both from the nation's administration and from its highly devout citizens.
In response to these discoveries, the Nistokamek expedited their response in order to appease the public confusion: "We are ashamed to see that one of our first allies has failed to take heed of our sensitivities and has failed to govern themselves accordingly within official ambassadorial affairs. Additionally, we are disturbed to find that what can only be described as a paramilitary organization—The Whaling Federation—is being allowed to operate alongside these whalers, harassing and terrorizing those who manifest against the practice. In light of this deception and these troubling developments, we are ordering that all trade vessels bound for Aydin return to the Tusacaway at once. Aydini vessels will no longer be permitted to pass into the port of Menykawn. Until appropriate diplomatic correspondance can be conducted, we are officially expediting an embargo as an interim resolution to our comprehensive disagreement".
The logo of the International Anti-Whaling Association, which in its
monthlong enterprise has attracted several member-nations
The International Anti-Whaling Association has no official secretariat, although representatives of the organization in Menykawn—where the organization is currently based—have stated that their organization is prepared to take unified action against Aydin for its questionable practices and are willing to make compromises in the interest of whale conservation if that is what must be done. IAWA is specifically critiquing the IWF, what is self-described as a citizen's-action lobby organization established to defend the rights of whalers and to protect the industry as a whole from potential "eco-terrorist attacks". IAWA representatives regard these characterizations as nothing but a farce and a convenient scapegoat for what is—in reality—the acquisitive devising of executives within the Aydini whaling industry. As of yet, any prediction on the outcome of this rapid explosion of diplomatic affairs is only speculation. No diplomatic incident in the Tusacaway has ever occurred like what has occurred this morning. All that can be said is that the resolution of these circumstances will not come quickly nor easily.
In the wake of economic retaliation against the nation of Aydin, public opinion and mass reactions have grown increasingly turbulent. Outrage concentrated towards the Aydini whaling industry has been steadily growing. It has since been three days since the Nistokamek issued an embargo against Aydin, and so far, there have been several mass demonstrations opposing Aydin, its whaling industry, and the International Whaling Federation—which has quickly become the subject of international controversy after several of its members were found covertly whaling in Santonian waters, a diplomatic partner of the Tusacaway and an associated state of the International Anti-Whaling Association. These manifestations have erupted nationwide in wake of the troubling news, although a mass crowd-control effort organized by the Okipah has managed to keep these demonstrations orderly and safe. Unfortunately, a fiery public response from Aydin today has caused chaos to resume in the streets of Menykawn at the hands of passionate citizens.
This afternoon the newly-established Nimitawi identified a small, two-person cruiser which entered Tusacwyan waters without prior authorization. After radio intervention, the Nimitawi reported that the vessel had self-identified as a "private Koyanskic (Goyanean) vessel, low on fuel, which would become stranded if not assisted by the coast guard". The circumstances described were confirmed through the Mawat on Exterior Commerce IV as the sole exception for a personal foreign intervention into the Tusacaway. Unfortunately, this was an intentional ruse. The vessel was, in fact, piloted by Aydini members of the IWF who had been tail-gating the carcass of a killer whale through Tusacwyan waters, an act which was both in horrible taste, and criminally negligent. As the vessel approached the coast of menykawn, the two passengers began a drive-by display with the whale—jumping upon it and shouting obscenities through a loudspeaker. This attracted considerable attention from the crowd on the shore, which swelled to observe the disgraceful behaviour.
This picture, taken by a Nimitawi helicopter, shows two Aydini IWF members desecrating
the corpse of a killer whale approximately fifty metres from Menykawn's coast
The whale was quickly detached from the cruiser as the two individuals attempted to evade the forthcoming response from the coast guard. In an ensuing chase, two coast guard cruisers managed to ram the vehicle, damaging it sufficiently and rendering the engines defective. In a final act of desperation, the pilot of the vehicle held the boarding coast guard officers at gunpoint and threatened to fire at them. Forty minutes of negotiations with the two passengers ensued, wherein a mercanti interpreter had to be brought in from the University of Tawaic in an attempt to facilitate communication. Eventually, the two Aydini men aboard were arrested and placed into the custody of the Okipah. Their place of imprisonment is currently unknown, as are their names, ages, and appearances aside from a nebulous photo disclosed by the Nimitawi and eyewitness accounts. According to a press release from the Okipah, the motive for classifying these details is due to "the considerable significance of their arrest, and the risk of extrajudicial action taken against them".
The Empire of Aydin has officially demanded an extradition of the two individuals while also considering their conduct "disgraceful, unproductive, and damaging to relations between the two countries". Today, the Nistokamek was required to reschedule their session to deliberate on the highly controversial Mawat on Judicial Reforms in order to respond to the crisis. In another rapid press release, they stated: "This incident complicates the already sensitive affair with the Empire of Aydin, and the lack of responsibility here has been troubling. We are not able—nor are we willing—to extradite these two criminals for at the very least another handful of days whereupon collaborative dialogue can commence between our two nations and progress can be made. This entire scenario has been a nightmare for all parties involved, and we believe patience and accountability on both our part and on the part of Aydin will be essential in resolving this situation effectively. For now, we can assure that both Aydini men are in the custody of the Okipah and are being given fair and just treatment given the circumstances".
As the recently ratified Tusacwyan foreign agenda continues to unravel, a second diplomatic summit will be underway tomorrow as a Tusacwyan delegation arrives in the Mayistawscic (Prydania). Last week, a Tusacwyan delegation consisting of the Chieftain, his children, the Chief Ambassador, and several interpreters visited Antofagosta, a city in the Minaskic (Predicean) country. While the nation was unfortunately occupied with a violent apowwen with the neighbouring nation of the New Alemani, the Prediceans managed to provide hospitality for the delegation, gave them a tour of the many features of their country, and established an emended Treaty of Friendship and Commerce. Highlighting reconciliation between the two parties for their unresolved tensions left behind in the 19th century as well as fair and equal bilateral trade, no imposition nor any threat of pressure to comply. Despite the summit being expedited and for the most spent in press-filled diplomatic conferences, the reconciliation and new friendship seemed to resonate well with both the Nistokamek and the general public.
The summit between the Tusacaway and the Mayistawscic is expected to be more contentious and certainly more comprehensive. The Kingdom of Prydania currently has a consulate established in the Tusacaway and an embassy is currently in the process of being established in the Mayistawscic, although there has been essentially no worldly or personal interaction among the two nations since the haunting year of 24`088, wherein Prydanian Viking-explorers met with the Mistamek and—after a brief period of peace—subsequently commenced a raid on Tawiscayew. The Vikings were expelled from Tawiscayew by the immortalized Chief Kisimo Tosapowask, who remains an eternal personification of the Tusacaway and a beacon of the country's nationalism. For this reason, critics of the foreign agenda claim that the summit will be too painful to warrant proper reconciliation, although the Nistokamek and the Great Mother herself have alluded positively towards this visit.
The iconic cast iron statue of Chief Kisimo bearing the
Tusacwyan flag upon a stone obelisk in Tawaic.
The delegation to the Mayistawscic will be much larger and much more pronounced than the delegation sent to the Minaskic. In attendance will be the Great Mother Kimisweyn, The Great Daughter Okinee, Chieftain Nicamon Pascaw, his son Kiscawak Pascaw, Grand Ambassador Onitawa Mawapiew, and a staff of over a dozen ambassadors and several interpreters of both Mercanti and Makari. In addition to the diplomatic staff, the current Otenahk Chief of Tawiscayew, Mekweyn Tosapowask, will be accompanying the delegation. Tosapowask shares his ancestry with Chief Kisimo Tosapowask, and his clan has reserved his name for nearly twenty generations in his honour. His presence, and the presence of the Great Family are attributed to them being descendants from those involved in the 24`088 contact, represented equivalently in the Prydanian delegation by their royal family who are assumedly kin of the Prydanian leadership during the affair. The Nistokamek has implied that the gift-giving ceremony to be held in Beaconsfield, the Mayistawscic capital city, will be much more majestic than the more conservative ceremony held in the port of Antofagosta. Additionally several more significant gifts will be exchanged during the celebration, many which reflect the theme of peacemaking. The celebration will also be public, and gatherings are expected.
"We are deeply honoured to finally be on our way to the Mayistawscic land." Spoke the Great Mother Kimisweyn just before embarking, "There has never been a more pivotal moment between our nations and I am extremely curious to see what I have missed there". Chieftain Nicamon Pascaw also commented to reporters before boarding this afternoon, stating: "I am overjoyed to have the opportunity to go meet with the Mayistawscic just as I had the privilege to meet the Minaskic last week. We have selected a great deal of important gifts to be offered to our new friends and we expect a great deal of activity once we get to Beaconsfield". The diplomatic mission is slated to arrive in Prydania at 8`00 this evening wherein they will be greeted and allowed to rest before the gift-giving ceremony which is to be held in the morning.
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Agrarian Trust Bank Makes its Reappearance in the Tusacaway
TAWISCAYEW — After turbulent negotiations with the Tusacwyan government and gratuitous and physical and financial support, the Agrarian Trust Bank will be reopening once again. In November of last year, the century's long institution was fated to close its doors after amounting financial decline and worsening conditions for the association's clients forced the bank to demand a bailout from the Nistokamek, a demand which could not be met. Today, the situation has been emended mostly due to private intervention. The new administration of the bank consists of a managing committee of partners consisting of principal investors and backers who kept the institution afloat while its financial services were suspended. This administration has decided to restructure the institution into a Sentonskic-style Credit Union model, a structure of banking that consists of member-based management on a non-profit basis. The managing partners have released a statement regarding the reopening, asserting: "The Wêyokamik Okistikêwin Aspêyimowin is finally resuming its personal and proprietary financial services in Tawiscayew which will gradually induce further reprises all over the country. We are seeing promising reinvestment into the nation's smallholdings as a result of both the promising new foreign agenda and equivalently, a lot of private and business contributions in the interst of conserving the nation's physiocracy. The Sentonskic financial institution Crédit Agricole has been of great inspiration for our updated business model and we believe the changes therein will precipitate an improved outcome for our business."
Attributions to the bank's reopening have been numerous. For one, the national deficit reached 66.3 percent of the government's spending in November. Analysts have already noticed a decline in this deficit since the ratification of the Exterior Commerce Act in January, only by a margin of about three or four percent, but enough to be considered a blink of hope for the country's recovery. Additionally, property relinquishments to the Tusacwyan Government have declined drastically as applications to sell produce to the market-at-large have increased. At the moment, this trend seems to be levelling off the financial burdens of many smallholders, however many analysts are optimistic that soon international sales will singlehandedly reverse the tide of the Tusacwyan agricultural downturn. Chieftain Nicamon Pascaw commented on the reopening today, stating: "We are in fact, very content to see this slight pillar of hope as we enter the busy season in the business of the government. This is an indication that the tides could potentially be turning for the physiocracy."
The Agrarian Trust Bank's new logo was inspired by the Saint Kaldor Bank in Prydania
The reemergence of the Agrarian Trust Bank has been helpful in promoting a positive image of the foreign agenda in the northern Tusacaway where previously, the notion of relaxed outlander affairs went mostly dismissed and rebuked. A PCK report regarding the bank's reestablishment two days ago conducted a poll in Tawiscayew on the topic and 52.4 percent of participants agreed that the news of the Agrarian Trust Bank's reprise was a sign of promise within exterior commerce. There are still skeptics of this new change both in private and within the government itself, the Otenahk Chief of Wasakota divulging to PCK yesterday evening: "I think this is all some kind of a ruse meant to prove something that has no bearing on the facts of the matter. And I am absolutely not thrilled whatsoever by this invasion of outlander banking practices here in the Tusacaway. Are we really just supposed to believe that three months of slight improvement are a harbinger for a better future? I advocate simply that everyone stop giving into these tricks so easily. I support the WOA reopening, but I fear its new trajectory may take it right back to where it was in November".
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An Investigation: Four Months Since Outlander Policy Shift, What's Changed?
NICANEMYEW AYAMACK, SENIOR ECONOMIC ANALYST — It has been three months since the 25 021` Tusacwyan Referendum and four months since preparations of a nationalized "foreign agenda" have been in development in the Tusacaway. Without a doubt, these reforms have been both the most important and the most consequential features of both Chieftain Nicamon Pascaw's tenure as well as Anisco the Great Mother Kimisweyn's reign. There have been societal reactions and political incidents which have been defining for their times, some the likes of which have not been seen since the 70s. Terms such as "Exterior Commerce", "Foreign Agenda", and "Globalization", have been used almost to the point of rendering them platitudes, while some see these words purely as an affirmative back-translation for more worrisome terms: "Consumerism", "Assimilation", "Neocolonialism". With this build-up of both actualized and anticipated adversity within the status quo of the Tusacaway, there is only one question on the people's mind as the foreign agenda of the Tusacaway continues towards its goal, is it actually working?
Fortunately, today the Tusacwyan Confederal Council on Exterior Commerce released its final semi-annual report on its economic integration and foreign policy strategies in collaboration with the Office of Outlander Affairs and the National College of Ambassadors. This document has proven to be the final conclusion as to what ends the foreign agenda of the Tusacaway will extend. What are the ends you ask? "Semi-reliant integration" claims the organization. In a broader definition, the TCCEC and NCA have agreed that the Tusacaway has plans for a final amendment to the Exterior Commerce Act which will likely be brought into debate in 25 022`. That mawat will certify cooperation and transactions with foreign business, expand the country's governmental sphere into supranational and comprehensive politics, and most intriguing of all, allow freedom of mobility within and without the country via the introduction of passports and customs offices.
The TCCEC's strategy has emphasized that the process could take longer depending on "the social and political climate by the time our final reforms for the moment come into place." Simply put, the ends of the foreign agenda are a financial and to a lesser extent political transition towards homogenization with global standards, without the influence of any one single nation. Two critical reminders that do show up a multitude of times in the report however are firstly, that outlander businesses will not yet be permitted to expand their operations into the Tusacaway either as a single entity or as a franchise with exceptions to some television and telecommunications services. Secondly, foreign travel to the Tusacaway will not be accessible until a whole year following the final revision of the Exterior Commerce Act, at which point the TCCEC is prepared to be reorganized into a smaller Confederal Councils, oriented towards national trade, and other breakaway subcommittees joining the Office of Labour (Which will become the Office of Labour and Commerce) and the Office of Outlander Affairs.
What should we be expecting? What should we be seeing if everything is going to plan?
You can rest assured that there are limits and objectives to the foreign agenda. The process is not unregulated nor is it overgeneralized. Tawaic has put a great deal of effort into establishing outcomes and bringing Tusacwyan businesses primarily on par with those in interdependent nations. However, whether or not the strategies are well-planned are objectively less important than the question of if they are at all producing the results desired. Unfortunately, the answer to this question is a little more ambiguous. There have been reports of promising results. Positive economic indicators have all been observed, this being the reestablishment of the Agrarian Trust Bank, the slight observed decline in monthly relinquishment rates, and the slight spike in smallholder profits. If these monetary premonitions ring true, we could be seeing exponential economic recovery and furthered development by the end of the year. That coupled with the completion of the Interior Freight Line and multiple new infrastructure projects, the Tusacaway could be seeing unprecedented growth which could last years. We would be seeing much lower prices, greatly reduced interest rates, construction and housing projects everywhere, and even growing incomes.
Unfortunately, these are really only estimations and speculations based on a loose collection of data figures. But the potential is certainly there. The downsides are more troubling. While relinquishments are decreasing slightly, the total percentage of relinquished land has not decreased and is in fact speculated to account for 50 percent of all agricultural properties in the Tusacaway by the Summer. Additionally, the true burden of the Nistokamek's investments in anticipation of success in their foreign economic policy will set back even the estimated profits they are purported to make. This is a fact that has disturbed plenty, and is in my opinion the greatest gamble of this administration. If the Tusacaway's foreign agenda fails to create growth, the Tusacwyan government will eventually accumulate a deficit three times the size of the national budget. This would be a full-fledged economic disaster which would warrant years of replanning and recovery, one which may even necessitate the implementation of a taxation programme which evidently would bring about an incredibly polarizing—potentially violent—economic slump.
However, these rumours of potential economic conniption are also speculations. There is realistically at least some level of economic development expected with these investments even if things don't go to plan. The principal concern is that they may fall a degree shorter than what the government's has committed to new developments. Alarmism will be just as dangerous as optimism in this case, and my conclusion is not that there is a right or wrong way to view the Tusacaway's shifted foreign policy nor its investments. Truly today, we are only at the start of our pioneering age both as an economy and as a society, whether that age brings about hardship or success. Both perils and prizes await us as a nation in equal amount, and taking the initiative to avoid as many of these perils as possible and whenever possible is ultimately better than remaining impotent and critiquing an institution that is inherently designed to adapt and change.
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For Ye, Hither Attends Not: A Retrospective on Pre-Agenda Foreign Policy in the Tuscaway
NICANEMYEW AYAMACK, SENIOR ECONOMIC ANALYST — The closed-country policy enforced in the Tusacaway from 1694 brought about three hundred years of solitude and restriction from the rest of Eras. Not one soul has passed through and not one soul has came out, leaving the country on its own, self-reliant, self-satisfied, and fiercely independent. Unfortunately, when you are discussing transit along a perimeter of nearly 3 000 kâ (1800km), constraints will never go perfectly unless an administration is willing to heavily militarize. The frontier of the Tusacaway is immense, and despite our natural barriers serving to restrict any effortless escape, there is generally nothing that can interfere with a fugitive who is willing to go hiking. Additionally, the notion that the Tusacaway has been "cut off" completely from the outlander world is entirely bizarre from a governmental point of reference, and complicates the sensitive issue of international communications. The "faultlessness" of the Tusacaway's previous foreign policy and mobility measures is simply an illusion, and in an attempt to challenge this popular and purist view of the so-called "Tusacwyan isolationism", I would like to talk about the true outlander affairs policies of the pre-agenda Tusacaway.
The Tusacaway, before 1694, is often considered to be equally as pure and as segregated from the outlander world as it is today, and due to the cruel interventions of both the Pacisaskic (Mintorians) and the Mayistawscic (Prydanians), the country always kept its isolationism even in the distant past. Although this may be what you learn in Primary School, the Outlander Studies department at the University of Tawaic has a different outlook. According to Sakitowask Kiwetahaw, a professor of Outlander Studies and a specialist in Tusacwyan anthropology, "The Tusacaway was considered an 'isolated country' for the most part because it was unwanted land. At the northeast corner of a desolate and dangerous land which at its northernmost extremities develops permafrost, there was no one—aside from its nomadic indigenous groups—that wished to settle there. It was just us here." Additionally, one of his reports emphasizes the fact that many people did in fact cross into and out of the Tusacaway. Mintorians, Prydanians, Arcanstotskans, Calliseans, you name it. The relics of their transit have been camped out in the deep world or the big plain for many hundreds of years, recovered by the University, and analyzed.
Most people believe that the mobility restrictions enshrined into our constitution, the Mawat on Confederation, came from a place of religious virtue, or rightful disdain on the parts of all three pre-confederal nations. However, this has been reinvestigated in recent years. Identical memorandums and notices from 1694 between all three nations of the Tusacaway leave a trail of evidence pointing towards a possible concession that the Akimaskapiew and the Miapiskiew made with the Mistameka based on their historical apprehensions regarding their troubles in 24 088`. The Akimaskapiew and the Miapiskiew, hence, may have never even previously held in their religion that the Tusacaway was a reserved land for their kind. And knowing that it was the Miapiskiew who conducted the first weapons deals with the Pacisaskic, this sensationalist image of the righteously independent Tusacwyan confederacy may be only a construct.
Even after the Mawat on Confederation was passed, the isolation of the Tusacwyan people from outlander countries was far from secure. Initially, one could consider the Tusacaway a separated nation. The centralized Okipah and the army in general ensured that not a soul could enter or leave, and in the 18th century this policy was taken very seriously. Heavy penalties followed a charge of perverse transit. While today the penalty has been set explicitly to exile for a residency of twelve months, in the past the penalty was death. In clans, even entertaining the topic of travelling beyond the Tusacaway was taboo, and talking about it in public could have you arrested and sent to death under the vengeful talons of the old Okipah. Luckily today, Otena chiefs are required to audit all Okipah indictments.
But moving into the 19th century, things changed. The Tusacaway's participation in the Calisean Wars of the Republic—known in the Tusacaway as the Calisean Retreat into Craviter—changed the overall perception that the Tusacwyan had of outlanders. The Calisean regiment which invaded the Tusacaway was violently massacred by the Tusacwyan army troupes stationed in Tastuweyas as they hasted back into southern Craviter. Those who were spared were exiled to the Northwest, where their subjugation alongside the native Apithana led to the creation of an Assaspisca identity. This outcome led to many Tusacwyan believing that they held a superiority over the outside world. Chieftain Kisinyew Pitoteyatakos delivered an original oration in 24 812` which contained within the reassurance: "Hitherto, all Towsackawan, is vanquished the witless fowl of our merciless barbarian overworld. Resplendent the Manitou shall govern man who takes upon himself his word: treadeth not a foot out the bulwark. For ye, hither attends not." The apprehensions of the exterior world were leveraged through the battle of Tastuweyas to sentiments of dominance and greatness, a consequence of this being a lack of preparation for the next arrival from the outer world, the Minaskic (Prediceans).
The Predicean Embassy to the Tusacaway among Otena Chiefs assembled in Menykawn
By this point, the Tusacaway was generally felt by its citizens to be—and I must say foolishly—an ascendant power in the world, and coupled with the Northwest Affair of 24 852`, the Okipah, the army, and the government of the Tusacaway had moved away from enforcing strict border-control and focused on interior issues. But when a damaged Predicean schooner had their crew arrested and goods confiscated, the terror of the capacities of the outside world returned. The unequal Treaty of Friendship and Amity and Treaty of Friendship and Commerce represented to some, opportunity, and to most, dreadful shame, though it cannot be doubted that the impact of the Treaty Years were remarkably positive. The degrading imperialist practices upon the sovereign and indigenous nations of Eras at the time had reached its peak, but those practices had not themselves manifested throughout the Treaty Years. The Most Serene State of Predice refrained from any militant or political intervention in the Tusacaway, and generally fostered strong economic association and development. Scholars have debated whether or not this abstention from colonialism was actually because of the distance between the two countries, the attritional conflicts Predice was party to, or because the Prediceans genuinely did not care to operate colonies.
When Predicean commerce had mostly declined and its remnants were forcibly shut out by the Tacwakici chieftaincy in 24 900`, the Tusacaway had in an entire century known both the advantages and constraints of exterior commerce as well as the general value of its sway within the outer world. In the 19th century, foreign affairs had come to the Tusacaway and not vice versa, and with the newfound experience that the country had, there was no longer a great fear of the outer world. In general, most Tusacwyan people had nothing but cordial or at the very least indifferent regards for outlanders, perplexingly ironic opinions which were well-documented in newspapers and opinion pieces of the time. Additionally, the Tusacaway had now involuntarily began relations with several countries. Foreign affairs was, for the first time in a century, a blank slate.
The Tacwakici chieftaincy observed that adherence to mobility measures were lacking due to the gradual repurposing of the Okipah to civil duties and lousy enforcement of the principles of self-reliance. The Tusacaway being finally free of foreign intervention, the Nistokamek issued many policies in the early 20th century to straighten out the security of the frontier, mostly by repurposing Okipah, instituting indictment audits, and regulating the penalties for perverse transit. The result of this was a much more intimidating Okipah who reasserted themselves as the ranger-frontiersmen which they were when they were founded. Now, the Nistokamek had to respond to this lack of tangible outlander affairs policies. The threat of an unprepared engagement with a foreign power was now taken seriously by the government, and the importance of remaining in contact with the outlander world was considered pivotal.
That is correct. Contact between the Tusacaway and the outer world was described as "pivotal" in a communique between the War Chief and Chieftain Tacwakici in 24 912`, despite Tacwakici deliberately reinforcing border-control and anti-transit efforts. If this kind of hypocrisy is to be considered the "true isolationism" that opponents to the foreign agenda so fervently endorse, then I am ashamed to admit the Tusacaway is at the height of its exceptionalism. The foreign policy enacted during the 20th century came to be known as integrated self-reliance, a principle which held that while the people of the Tusacaway should not be exposed to the rapidly acculturating forces of the foreign world, the government of the Tusacaway had a responsibility to keep in direct contact with its neighbours and other nations of interest. It is for this very reason that the government had perfect knowledge of every occurrence throughout the rest of the world and shared it when it had bearing on the Tusacaway's security, for instance during the Fascist Wars. It is also for this very reason that there were detailed maps of Eras in Tusacwyan libraries, and innovative technologies in Northwestern factories.
The Tusacaway was never an entirely isolated country, and the isolationism it purported was—for the most of its existence—a security measure to balance the threat of the outside world against the safety of the Tusacwyan people. The ease of the Tusacaway's foreign agenda today likely has much to do with questioning the outdated practice of welcoming outlanders into the Tusacaway and either denying their existence having ever had a reasonable impact on us or slaughtering them. And likely owing to the policy of integrated self-reliance, the government of the Tusacaway seems to have a perfect understanding of outlander nations, how to communicate effectively with their authorities, and how to reap their benefits while maintaining the guise of credulousness. Is this all truly in the interest of the Tusacwyan people? My opinion is that it was, although I cannot help but wonder what our country could have been if the Tusacaway had simply abandoned its medieval grievances before they were ever enshrined into law.
VOL 4. NO. 5 25 021` APRIL 21 DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT TAWAIC & MENYKAWN
Horrific Motor Accident Calls into Question Traffic Safety
TAWISCAYEW — 13 teenagers have been reported dead tonight with four more injured in a gruesome motor vehicle accident which occurred in eastside Tawiscayew. The collision involved four vehicles, two of which were speeding down an unmarked roadway which met another unmarked roadway carrying the other two vehicles near the renown Cîhkinam Pothouse. As nighttime rain hampered both vehicle's visions and stopping potentials, the two cars met and collided with each other going speed over 145 kâ/h (85km/h). The resulting collision also caused both vehicles to carry each other off of the road and into the Cîhkinam Pothouse, crashing into the building's facade and injuring four women seated at the front of the establishment.
The Okipah were called in for aid by Tawiscayew's local police as staunchly positioned interest groups have come both to manifest at the scene of the accident and to pay their respects. According to the Tawiscayew Okipah Garrison's chief of staff, "This incident was absolutely the fault of the two drivers, despite how much it may hurt others to hear that. Both vehicles had surpassed the speeding limit in the quarter by a considerable margin, were distracted, and did not hesitate to approach the intersection without caution. This was a reckless mistake, and hopefully it will inspire other teenagers to practice safer driving." Unfortunately, an uncle to one of the victims and town-chief in Tawiscayew, has shared a differing view which he claims he would die on: "The two roads were unmarked, they didn't even have names. There were no stop signs, no speeding limit signs, no signs at all. There weren't even working streetlights out in the area. How could anyone have known where they were, or how fast was too fast, or whether to stop or to yield? This isn't something to be neglected, these kinds of things fall under nobody's control here in the Tusacaway—so it is all our faults for not having payed attention. Tomorrow I am proposing to my fellow chiefs a revised traffic safety plan for the Otenahk of Tawiscayew, someone needs to take responsibility here!"
One of the vehicles involved in the collision being pulled from of the building
The government of the Tusacaway has not yet responded to the incident, however there have been several plans to expand traffic safety throughout the Tusacaway. In 25 006` it was planned that the Office of Waterways would be expanded to have jurisdiction over roadways as well, although this proposition was scrapped before it could be presented to the Nistokamek. In 25 015` the Otenahk of Caskitewatim held a community referendum to implement standardized traffic signage across the region due to numerous instances of smallholders transporting produce getting themselves into traffic collisions. The most recent proposal on the matter was in 25 020` when a similar incident in Sipyk prompted the local community to organize collaborative efforts to enforce traffic safety.
As for the jurisdiction of traffic safety and traffic infrastructure, it remains a sensitive balance between both the confederal government and the otena. Unfortunately, as otena do not have equal means as Tawaic, it is not always feasible for towns and cities to produce proper infrastructure in the appropriate places as that requires specialized teams of surveyors. Additionally, since the issue of traffic infrastructure is seen as so slight in comparison to other more complex problems facing the national government, Tawaic too has mostly ignored it despite already having an office to patrol and enforce the law in waterways and upon boaters.
VOL 4. NO. 6 25 021` APRIL 24 DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT TAWAIC & MENYKAWN
Pahkakamika Returns to the Tusacaway after 66 Years
TAWAIC — After over two months of intensive deliberations, the Mawat on Judicial Institutions was passed this morning, bringing the Tusacaway back under the Land Code's customary and civil system, and suspending the Okipah's power of Ispitameniyaw (power of conviction). The Pahkakamika has been suspended in the Tusacaway since the end of the Constitutional Crisis in 24 954` through the Mawat on Crisis Resolution I as to preserve the security of the nation during both real and perceived danger. However, when the second Crisis Resolution Act was passed a year later, the Pahkakamika was not reinstalled. Rather, the status quo continued, with the Okipah intervening on behalf of justice to both arrest, indict, and convict citizens. In the 70s, this capacity became regulated—with all convictions subject to regular audits from the national government. Since 25 000`, there have been several movements organized both to remove this power from the Okipah and to reestablish Pahkakamika. Unfortunately, these appeals went mostly ignored by the Nistokamek up until early 25 020` when the newly-invested chieftain Nicamon Pascaw assured that one of his principal focuses throughout his chieftaincy would be justice reform.
The Tawaic Peace Lodge, maintained as an idle government building
from 24 955` until being reinstated today.
The restored courts will operate generally along the same lines as they did in the 50s before being suspended with some minor differences. Firstly, an administrative court has been introduced specifically to append itself to the Nistokamek and the offices of the government as a means of checks and balances. Secondly, the restorative justice cycle for peacemaking has been adjusted to allow for both formal trials and "Community Peacemaking", a forum for dispute resolution that is both more practical and less convoluted for smaller claims. Finally, the Otena have been given their own courts cycle, not directly administered by the Otena, but operated nationally as a superior court before claims are directed to the Superior Court of Appeal, the country's court of last resort. The nascent "case-law" system of the Tusacaway which has been sustained since the courts were suspended will still be enforced as it is slowly reconfigured and reintegrated into the Land Code by the newly established National College of Pakahkams, an endeavour which will occupy the rest of the year until peace lodges in each otenahk can be either reinstated or commissioned.
"We have arranged for dozens of elders to recuse themselves from their retirement and serve as the Confederacy's first justices. Eventually we would like to see younger professionals and university graduates studying and practicing Tusacwyan law before becoming the nations next generation of Pahkahkams," Chieftain Nicamon Pascaw commented tonight, "And I must say, it is remarkably good to finally see the lights turned back on in the Tawaic Justice Lodge. That building has been an empty ruin ever since I was a child." With more critical remarks, the Chief of the Okipah Garrison in Menykawn commented: "I cannot criticize the Nistokamek for their decision to return the rightful tradition of peacemaking to the people, that is their privilege. However, what I will criticize are these reforms to the system... Regionalized courts? Administrative courts? Legal counsels permitted during peacemaking? These are all, unsurprisingly, aspects of many outlander legal systems."
VOL 5. NO. 1 25 021` MAY 29 DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT TAWAIC & MENYKAWN
Extradition of Aydini Whalers Leaves a Bitter Footprint
NYAW — Having spent two months imprisoned in the Tusacaway, the two Aydini whalers who profoundly violated multiple spiritual and political principles were extradited to the Empire of Aydin yesterday in a private conference before the Superior Court of Appeal assembled in Nyaw. During the proceedings, the two criminals were sat before a panel of Pahkakams selected directly by the Nistokamek who illuminated to them the nature of their offences and the optimal convictions for such offences. A translator to Aydini was secured at the last moment to attempt to convey a sense of understanding between the defendants and the justices of the court, although the reliability of this translator was questionable considering Aydin had only been in contact with the Tusacaway since February and since the interpreter seemed to have a strenuous time attempting to properly execute his duties. This being said, the session ended with the elders of the court finally announcing that the Aydini men would be returned to the hands of the Aydini justice system.
With the details of the incarceration now under the scrutiny of the Pahkakamika, the justices of the case finally decided this morning to release details of the case to the public. During their two month stay in the Tusacaway, the two Aydini offenders were circulated between holding facilities in Nyaw, Tackikweyin, and Ottasapiew due to concerns of their guaranteed safety while imprisoned. The two mens' names are Eyalet and Göhkan Öyku, brothers born in Antalya and active members of the Whaling Federation since at least 25 004`. It was reported that their stay in the Tusacaway was not pleasant—the brothers refusing to eat Tusacwyan food provisions, being uncooperative with Okipah, failing to get along with other detainees, and generally suffering from poor health and lack of sleep.
The jarring photo taken by a Nimitawi helicopter showing the events
which took place April 2nd
Nicamon Pascaw commented on the situation this afternoon, saying: "I understand that the events in early April startled the nation and incited a drive to employ justice in making these two offenders suffer, however this is not an appropriate line of action in a diplomatic impasse and we are certain their continued presence here in the Tusacaway will only lead to more issues both in terms of their security as Tusacwyan prisoners and in terms of their behaviour as threatening outlander criminals. The proper solution is to wash our hands clean and allow the two to return to the Aydini justice system." In a similar vein, Pahkakam Neyaw Owayasew—who had been working on the case since the exchange of all criminal proceedings to the courts—spoke out today, suspecting that "The Aydini clearly have no intention of resolving this issue on a national scale. I speculate we will not be seeing commerce or diplomacy resumed between Aydin and the Tusacaway for a good deal of time. Not until there is an opportunity for the matter to obsolesce on the part of the Aydini. Unfortunately we Tusacwyan are renown for failing to dispossess memories of both greatly pleasant and greatly terrible circumstances."
VOL 6. NO. 1 25 021` JULY 16 DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT TAWAIC & MENYKAWN
Isestaweyn Celebration in Napacostac Ends in Chaos
NAPACOSTAC — With locally organized Isestaweyn celebrations going ahead yesterday to celebrate the Tusacaway's three hundred and twenty-seventh year, celebrations in Napacostac fomented bitter division at a fundamentally political level. Napacostac's Chief and Otenahk Government signed off on a greatly religious festivity which is commonplace in the Tusacaway's more rural towns. The festivity in question was a massive and highly adorned bonfire at the centre of the town where residents could celebrate the longevity of confederation and cleanse the year's bad familiars by casting derelict herbs and resins therein. The celebration proceeded mostly in rejoice, with a great reception by attending guests and a general commotion in the town. However, at around midnight, two groups of men consisting of Okipah and rural labourers entered the festivity in spite, casting multiple bottles of Predicean wine into the fire, followed by petrol to sustain the flame.
The festival in Napacostac burning away after being targeted by
politically motivated arsonists.
Local authorities were unable to stop the crowd, in part due to the uneasy precedent of resisting against the Tusacaway's highest law enforcement body, but also due to the sheer amount of people taking part in the wine-tossing. This left the attending residents of Napacostac to their own devices in combatting the danger, and civil disruption immediately took place around the festival. While the wine was destroyed in the flame, the excessive amount of petrol added brought slurries of burning fuel around the centre of the town where temporary accommodations for food and drink became victims of the fire. The central hub of Napacostac soon also became a victim to the great fire, with several buildings damaged and destroyed in the wake of morning. Two people died in the flame, with dozens of others injured both by the fire and by injures sustained in combat. The Okipah opened a public investigation into the events at Napacostac this morning; however, the Administrative Court issued a moratorium just two hours proceeding the directive, halting the Okipah's access to Napacostac. The Administrative Court and the Nistokamek have since expressed a desire to launch an independent investigation of the events due to suspicion of fowl play, the event having involved dozens of Okipah officers in association, expressively ignoring their duty to protect.
