Hebdomadal Update (April 16th, 2019)
"Vital Signs"
Written by Unmighty Hezekon
WERD's Return
What is it? Where did it come from? Does it bite? All no. Last week, Deputy Minister Cuddlebuns reintroduced the WERD, the Weekly Europeia Review Discussion, by way of a poll. The idea: every week, there'll be a topic for review and discussion by people of Europeia. For its reinception, WERD will feature reviews on the two winning movies from the aforementioned poll, limited to the genres of comedy and fantasy. (There is currently another poll that will determine those specific movies at the time of publication.) Previously, WERD had stood for "Weekly Europeia Recap Discussion." As Chief of State Kuramia explained, "[it] was a weekly show that showcased what was happening in Euro throughout the week." Now, though, Cuddlebuns has made it clear, "[WERD's] return is switching to reviews." This show is slated to release soon.
Latin Festival Sparks Call for Euro Version
On Wednesday, The Empire of Mare Nostrum held its Feriae Latinae, a discord chat party filled with events and games and competitions, which was announced via invitation for any residents or foreign peoples. Naturally, some Europeians attended. Upon visiting and mingling in the ceremonies a couple Europeians showed an interest in having a similar festival. Deputy Minister Prim stated that the Europeian Ministry of Culture "could perhaps experiment with this sort of dedicated festival discord server idea." Deputy Minister Siphlygon concurred, saying "[it] would be amazing if our MoC could experiment and produce something along the lines of this." When asked, Minister of Culture Lloenflys said in an interview that, given the amount of time left in the current term, as well as the plans the Ministry currently has underway, that it's unlikely a festival would be held during this term. However, he expressed that the festival is a good idea, and hopes "whoever the next culture minister is will get the go ahead to plan and run it from their FM."
Criminal Code Review Progress
Following a political scandal that occurred in late February and early March, which centered around false statements and bribery in pursuit of higher office by the individual Punchwood, there was raised a motion to update the Criminal Code of Europeian Law by then-senator Kari, where it has been debated since. Several changes to the Criminal Code have begun. The rework of areas concerning secret information has borne fruit as the Information Act (2019). Additionally, the removal of the statute of limitations and changing the definition of bribery remain active topics of discussion.
Izzy, Discord Moderator, offers a different perspective. He was running the campaign against Rand when Punchwood was alleged to have contacted both parties separately. In a Discord interview, Izzy said that he thinks the discussion is going well in general. However, the former campaigner expressed disappointment in a lack of discussion directly addressing what he calls "the Punchwood fiasco." He explained that "[while] expanding the definition of bribery, as was previously suggested by former Senator Kari, may not be appropriate for dealing with [the outcome of the actions Punchwood allegedly made], there surely must be some definition which could cover it." He pointed out that while "horse trading," the offering of favors to another in order for political gain, is normal and acceptable in politics, what Punchwood is said to have done was not merely that. "This was lying to candidates in order to gain a government position and in my opinion, that should be illegal and covered under the Criminal Code."
In response to the notion that the senate is lacking in directly addressing the Punchwood affair, Senator Lloenflys, in a private interview, disagreed. "First off," he begins, "the Senate isn't done with the process. The Senate hasn't made a decision one way or another on how to deal with that situation, so it's premature to say that the Senate hasn't reacted. It's in the process of reacting through an overall review of the Criminal Code." He went on to explain that "what happened to Punchwood - essentially becoming a social pariah and leaving the region voluntarily . . . is already a pretty significant 'punishment.'" However, when it came to their judgments about lying for political gain, Izzy and Senator Lloenflys were in agreement. "That is not acceptable behavior," the senator stated. "If there was an appropriate legislative solution to deal specifically with that part of the issue I would consider it. My concern is that any such legislation is likely to be overly broad. I will not vote for something that sweeps too broadly." There is sure to be more updates to this discussion in the coming days.
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