View from Benacia/Issue 6: Monday, the Thirteenth of September
This imported article was originally posted at http://viewfrombenacia.blogspot.com/2004/09/issue-6-monday-thirteenth-of-september.html at 09/14/04.
Death to PIGs!
In Imperial Decree #124, Kaiser Raynor XI yesterday banned political interest groups (PIGs) on the grounds that they were only political parties under a different name. Political parties having already been banned by long-standing tradition, the existing PIGs are now illegal, and the Kaiser has ordered all that have not already done so to disband publicly within seven days of the announcement or "face prosecution by the Provost".
The move was criticized strongly by the Duke of Brookshire, arguing that political parties and political interest groups cannot rightly be considered the same thing, an objection echoed less vehemently by several other parties. The Duke of Brookshire is a founder of the main PIG in Shireroth, PAST.
Meanwhile, the Kaiser also made two other decrees, Decree #123 (the new Charter), which is very short and mainly clarifies the roles of the Kaiser and the Landsraad, and Decree #125, which institutes a mandatory one-week recess of the Landsraad every two months.
I'm Just a Bill
Perhaps in response to the Kaiser's decree, both the Duke of Brookshire and the Duke of Hyperborea - traditionally allies in the Landsraad - have issued Bills of Rights for their respective Duchies. (see Hyperborean Bill - Brookshirian Bill). The two bills are extremely similar in form.
It it not certain at this point whether or not this move can be counteracted by legal means. It is thought that the Kaiser, a staunch traditionalist, may disapprove of the ducal decrees, but it seems that, given that the Dukes have full rights within their Duchies, there can be no reprisal unless the decrees violate the Charter or Landsraad law.
The Shirerithian Lottery Is Coming!
Minister of Trade Ozarka Monto announced the coming Lottery, sent to begin November 5. According to the Minister, the way the lottery will work is that in the week before each drawing, those participating in the lottery will each pay 2 erb. After all the money is collected, MiniTrade will draw names on Sunday, with half the total pot going to the winner, and the other half returning to the economy. It remains to be seen what the response to this proposal will be.
We Are Got the Pr�tor!
It seems that the View, in a stunning bit of political work (aka, 'counting up votes') was correct in its projected winner of the Pr�torial race: Stever, aka Eros, won out over Nick and Eoin, 36 to 25 to 29.
The new Pr�tor began settling into his new post yesterday with the opening of the most recent session of the Landraad. Two bills have already been proposed, both by the Duke of Brookshire; one is the Freedom of Thought and Conscience Bill and the other is the Treason Bill. The first seeks to codify the freedom to believe what one wants and to express those beliefs in a manner of their choosing; the second bill seeks to broaden the definition of treason by including any attempt by someone to usurp the position of someone higher in the feudal hierarchy.
