Issue VI
January 17, 2016

The End of the Pancake, for now: Feirmont resigns, Special MoFA elections start
By Ryccia


The South Pacific- Feirmont, former Delegate and now former Minister of Foreign Affairs, has resigned on the day of January 11, 2016, possibly due to real life issues.

He had planned to set up a Foreign Affairs Academy, which in theory would had trained students to become professional diplomats.

This has left his position vacant, leading to a Special Election, managed by Administrator Sandaoguo as Election Commissioner.

Many candidates were nominated, but many either declined or never responded to their nominations. The only eligible candidate is Sopo, who had left the South Pacific earlier in 2015. Sopo is curiously also Minister of Foreign Affairs of Europeia, but he has claimed that he can keep his jobs, which make almost the same function in both regions, separate.

"There has been no progress whatsoever under Scylla's leadership"- Interview with Punchwood
By Ryccia


A few days ago, Punchwood resigned from his position as a MoRA worker after allegations that Minister of Regional Affairs Scylla was trying to sack him. The Nova reporter Ryccia has interviewed him to seek his opinions on Scylla and the MoRA overall, as also why he was also sacked. Let's see what he has to say

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Why did you alleged that Scylla is trying to sack you?

I did not allege anything. I have been sacked as a Ministry worker. Scylla asked the admins to remove my access to the Ministry Headquarters and they have. I have no access to HQ.

Is this prevalent in the MoRA, or are you an isolated case?

I believe I am an isolated case as no one else has been sacked.

In your opinion, is Scylla making MoRA worse?

I would say MoRA is suffering under Scylla's leadership. The fact is we have had no new SJ or Onion articles, no new RS, no new RT. We have had nothing from the Ministry since Scylla became Minister, apart from a failed Advent Calendar that I was in charge of!  

Is Scylla aggressive and totalitarian, in your opinion?

No, not at all. Scylla is a very nice person. I have always believed that and I will always believe that. 

You mentioned in your resignation/sacking thread that you were going to be sacked for having a dissenting view, different from Scylla's. What was that view and/or opinion, and why did it anger Scylla so much?

My option was that Scylla was doing more damage to RA than good to it as Minister. It angered Scylla because he doesn't want people thinking that. 

Did Scylla hamper you or anyone in any development of any projects?

Yes, definitely. I've written up three articles for the SJ since Scylla became Minister and none of them got published. He said he would edit one and he never did, there were two I wrote up the other day he said I should change it a bit. I did, and it still never got published. I asked for help with the Advent Calendar. He never did help. When I suggested we join the Balder Chess Tournament, he did admittedly say that he was not very good at Chess but he still could have offered Guidance, sent out mass telegrams for us or have done something. Then finally Zak never had access to HQ till yesterday, despite the fact that he had been asking to join for over a month. It's all very well for Scylla to blame the admins but he should have kept asking them weeks ago, not until I point this out in the Assembly. 

7. What position did you hold at MoRA?

I was simply a Ministry worker there, I don't think it still holds different ranks and such. 

What was the progress of MoRA, in your opinion, in this entire time under Scylla?

None. There has been no progress whatsoever under Scylla's leadership. If you are a strong support of Scylla's leadership, give me an example of what he has done as Minister and I will take back everything I have just said and support him if he decides to run for MoRA for a second term. 

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Next, Ryccia asked Punchwood about his new newspaper, Buzz News. Buzz News is the third private newspaper in TSP's recent history to appear, if SPINN counts. Ryccia asked him about what can we expect of Buzz News, and what will happen to the private media in his opinion

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I congratulate you on taking this step like I did. Do you think that private media will grow?

If the SJ doesn't start publishing articles, then yes, I do think the private media will grow. As without the SJ to give us news, then we will have to depend on private news sources. I really do hope the private media continues to grow as it's good to get different point of views. 

What can we expect on Buzz News? What will come out of your newspaper?

You can expect a weekly news service with in-depth analysis, option polls, surveys, interviews and so much more! I want Buzz News to be relevantly fair and naturally though I can't promise it will always be like that sometimes, it will quite clearly favour one side over the other. I would also like to get news not just from TSP, but from across NS, so people know what's going on in different regions.

Notes from the Writer: Punch, although I believe that you were sacked, I have to use the words "allegedly" and other forms of this word, because Scylla has not commented on the issue yet, at least on what I've seen. Sorry, but I strive to be as neutral as I can be!