La Voix (The Voice)

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La Voix is the only National French-Language Newspaper, and the highest circulation of any French Newspaper in Eutopia. It's HQ is based in Hurteau, Nouvelle Aquitaine.

Vous êtes toujours sûr avec La Voix!

Editor-in-Chief: Monseiur Jacques Moreau-Dumont

 

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CAFTA: Is it Needed?​

Fort-aux-Francais, St Espirit- CAFTA is being re-evaluated in St-Espirit by many Politicians after President Thibaud and MET (Minister of Economy and Trade) de Rochevot fought furiously while attending an Easter Brunch. The fight started when Thubaud accused de Rochevot of being bribed by St Espiritan Buisnessmen who would be ruined by CAFTA, and then procceded to throw items such as Pastries and fruits and de Rochevot who responded in kind.

Thibaud's accusations are for the most part unsubstantiated, however he is right in one part: Buisnesses will be ruined by CAFTA. Jean Thurmonne was assassinated by the Government for standing up to CAFTA, now de Rochevot has been attacked for his views, that CAFTA will not be good for St Espirit or Eutopia, and we agree with him. Why should he be punished for it?

Archeologist Leaves under Suspicious Circumstances​

Heimdallseye, WET- Professor Dale Morrowind of the Eutopian Technical Institute of Neuwestbaden will be leaving for a Consultancy Job in the United States. It is interesting to note that he will be working for a petroleum company, and the reason that many people died in the Cave was a gas explosion! It is also interesting how the Official excavation team was away at the time of the explosion. What was the excavation doing in town not excavating?

La Voix calls for MIDA to re-open the case, at least to waylay our fears that Professor Morrowind is leaving the Country just as he has killed more than 20 people.

 

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O'Flonin Mocks CLD​

In his weekly talk-show, Eutopia Tonight, John O'Flonin has mocked the Coalition des Latins Démocratiques saying:

Now, either I'm missing something really big here, or it was just suggested that giving provinces control over sports will solve the problems of sectionalism and encourage national unity.

Actually, giving the Provinces jurisdiction over Sport would help, but not solve National Unity. The Provinces would feel empowered and more content with the Federal Government, and therefore would discourage secsession. Why break away when you have a lot of what you want? This is in no way an attack on Monseiur O'Flonin, we just wich to reaffirm our party stance.

 

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Election Race Special​

This is La Voix, and we will be bringing you the the latest on the Term XI Presidential and General Assembly campaign throught the coming weeks.

Vous êtes toujours sûr avec La Voix

 

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Massacre​

A picture in between the headline and the sub-heading shows a young woman of asian origins laying on her side in the mud, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. Her eyes are open but vacant in a death stare, with a small child, also asian and no older than 4 clinging to her side and wailing.​

Eutopian Navy Admiral Orders Attack on Asian Refugees as Casualties over 100​

Verneuil, UPE- In what appears to be the worst catastrophe in Eutopian Naval history, a Eutopian Ship identified as ENS Unapproachable has fired on a boatload of refugees onboard the Hainan Star, a freighter 45 days out of Shanghai and heading for the Saint Martan Bay. Over 300 people attempted to get to the shore according to a MIDA press-release, all of which are of Chinese origin, and MIDA states that there are approximately 100 casualties which are currently lying on the beach.

To the side, a picture is printed, showing a *lot* of muzzle flashes from assault rifles, all of them directed towards the beach, and no muzzle flashes pointing inland away from the beach. The caption reads "Official casualty estimates say 100 injured or killed"

A recent MIDA press-conference said that the Hainan Star was ordered to stop, and when it refused to, recived a shot across the bow of the Ship. When this happened the people in the freighter evacuated it on small boats, or swam using flotation devices, and from then on details are sketchy. Admiral Tulp, who was most probably commander of ENS Unapproachable in the disaster will give a press-conference today at 10 O'Clock, this is hoped to shed light on the incident.

Another picture shows a Eutopian warship, the name ENS Unapproachable printed on the side. The writing is clearly visible thanks to the bright illumination of a star shell somewhere outside of the shot. There is another warship behind the Unapproachable, but it is unidentified, and the caption reads "Here you can clearly see the Unapproachable, it's captain is Admiral Tulp who would have commanded the incident"

Most worringly, some AK47s were found on the Hainan Star, but the Refugees did not return fire. Another concern is contagious diseases such as SARS and Tuberculosis that might be active in the refugees system, and could provoke an epidemic on this Island. But regardless, Admiral Tulp should be punished for the incident, La Voix calls for a Court-Marshal for the Admiral due to his disregard for the safety of the passengers of the Hainan Star.

On page two, there is a gallery of the photos already shown, as well as three more. One picture shows the Unapproachable again, this time with a jet of flame roaring out of its main gun as it is fired, the third picture shows a man in an Admiral's uniform standing near a FLEA cruiser, with one of his hands a hook, and the other hand wielding a pistol. Several sailors visible nearby, all of them wielding assault rifles and looking towards the beach. The last picture shows scraps of wood and no more than half of a man who appears to be of asian origins. There is an AK-47 assault rifle sitting nearby, and the man appears to have been blown apart violently by a large explosion.

 

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La Voix Exclusive!

MIDA Tip Off Sheds Light on Hainan Star Incident​

Hurteau, UPE- An anonymous package appeared at La Voix offices in Hurteau yesterday, containing secret MIDA Instructions to FLEA Agents involved in the Hainan Star Incident as well as a conversation between MIDA Fourgéres and Admiral Tulp. La Voix is happy to reveal the content of the package:

Refugees belong to the Immigration portfolio, which is part of MTIA, so unless the President has appointed someone recently, we are unlikely to get much action from them, but I will let them know.

There could be terrorists mixed in with the refugees, so let's try to keep people contained in that area. If they get ashore and ask for asylum, we (meaning not just FLEA) should put up some tents in that area and keep them there while the initial processing is going on. Use one of the local FLEA resources to try to coordinate local or provincial police support. Send the other one or two with a big sign saying:

Welcome to Eutopia!
Refugee Welcome Center
欢迎
Bienvenue, Bienvenidos​

Tell them to take a stack of paper and get everyone to write their name and country they came from, a country they were born in.

I'll see what help we can get.

I have informed the President already at the cabinet, so MESA might have picked up on it already, but perhaps not so I will let them know directly.

The objective should be to turn them back into the area near where they landed. If they keep trying to proceed they are violating our immigration laws and should be detained for processing. Grab the riot gear, you know those plastic strips with the locking tab that can be used once as hand cuffs. Be creative, but try not to do them any permanent harm. Use those to handcuff them to immoveable objects like trees, or if you run out of suitable trees, telephone poles, etc., then handcuff enough of them together, facing different directions so they can't move very fast. More help will be on the way, but it might take a couple of hours. If someone is eluding you, follow standard procedures. Deadly force is not called for in an immigration evasion case. But they don't know that, so you could fire in the air, over their heads. See if we can get photographs of any who are getting away. If any seem to slip through we will try to seal off the area, er, where is this area anyway?

See what you can dispatch from further out.

"Can you patch me through to whomever in the Navy is involved in the Hainan Star incident, or if not give them this message? The number of FLEA personnel in the area were quite low, and I understand this might be a 'slip some wolves in sheep's clothing (disguised terrorists) in amongst the actual sheep (actual refugees)' gambit on the part of the terrorists, because if they are all terrorists, you would have opened fire already. Therefore, I wanted to make it attactive for the the actual sheep to stay put where they land. We are drawing up a cordon further out, with a couple of FLEA agents in charge, a backbone of local police supplemented by private security guards and distinctively-dressed, reasonably-fit, public-spirited citizens. Thus, all our people will be in uniforms, either law enforcement, EML security, or VSF football jerseys. They will be manning roadblocks around the area to try to catch any wolves trying to leave. MESA is aware of the situation, but it wouldn't hurt if you reminded them that some food and shelter for the refugees wouldn't be amiss. What is the situation there now?"

MIDA Loic de Fourgéres speaks with Admiral Tulp (before the shooting).
"You are on-site, I am not. Based on the information I had, there appeared to to refugees as well as invaders. If we are being invaded you should have sunk the boat. The invaders cannot hope to establish a beachhead, their objective must therefore be to inflitrate. They can do that two ways, by woodcraft or by blending in with the refugees. The agents there were an attempt to keep the refugees in place, to stymie the latter method. The further out cordon is to prevent the first. If you don't want there to be a chance for refugees to be sifted out from terrorists, then it will be on your head. FLEA agents are there to process refugees, and arrest any terrorists that aren't already prisoners of war. As I said, you are on-site, I am not, so I give you operational control of the beach. FLEA retains control of the cordon. If you don't want the FLEA agents there, then they will rejoin the cordon."

"The point of the cordon is to make them go off road, which will slow them down until larger military units arrive. You have called the army, I trust. Based on your warning that they are armed and dangerous we will move the untrained civilians to the rear and turn the roadblocks into barricades. I had assumed that there would but a handful of terrorists among hundreds of refugees, please provide updated figures when you have them. As I said before, all of the people I have sent are in uniform, either FLEA, provincial police, EML Security, or VCS. I will leave the two FLEA agents there as you request, to coordinate with you and the cordon, and to handle those arrested after the shooting. I contracted with EML to have their security people man roadblocks, which 60 of them are doing as a favor becuase I expedited their weapons permits. If you want them to engage in combat, you had best contact Aldous Campbell directly, and be prepared to pay them."

Given that the ship was of Chinese origin, I was reminded of the following the minute we got the report of women and children among those trying to get ashore:

In the days of the 'Long March' and his bid for power in China after the 1920s, Chinese Communist Party chairman, Mao Tse Tung, planned a rural based revolution. His cadres, drawn in the main from the peasantry, would dress like the peasants, work alongside the peasants and blend into the rural masses with the same ease as the fish swim in the sea.

Perhaps you understand now why I ordered the welcome banner to be displayed. There will undoubtedly be some criminals or terrorists among the mass of refugees, but they would have tried to blend in, not to shoot their way through. Could you give us a report on the illegal immigrants, are they of Asian origin like there boat, or from somewhere else?

If you are not being fired on, get your men to form a square on the beach, if they are being fired on, form a defensive perimeter a bit inland in the trees or brush. If they are not being fired on, make it near the welcome banner, but not in front of it. If they try to rush that group then you should be able to convince them not to.

We can't have made a very good impression shooting at their fellow passengers, but if you can have someone safely administer first aid to some of their wounded, then it may prevent a pitched battle. Providing some field rations could help as well. If the FLEA agents feel it is safe, then they may try to put the welcome banner back up and begin processing the possible asylum seekers.

As to the security force from EML, if you want them on the beach, you will have to contact them yourself. Here is their number.

There will have to be an investigation into this, so keep that in mind, particularly in what you say going forward.

 

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Continued​

It is interesting the new information we have recived yesterday. It has obviously come from a person in MIDA, someone who had access to the information. Mabye even MIDA Fourgéres himself delivered it to incriminate the Admiral, but we will never know.

But let's examine the new information in full, shall we? Admiral Tulp said in the Naval Conference:

Per, we didn't know these are 'innocent' 'civilians', actually, we still don't (...) You seem to claim that these people are nuns, on the other hand they could all be terrorists who can't wait to blow up and murder Eutopian citizens

When MIDA Fourgéres said to Tulp BEFORE he opened fire:

There could be terrorists mixed in with the refugees (...) if they are all terrorists, you would have opened fire already (...) Based on the information I had, there appeared to to refugees as well as invaders

So it seems interesting that the Admiral didn't (and apparently still doesn't) know that there were Refugees on board the Hainan Star, when MIDA who wasn't there knew there were. Either Tulp made a major miscalculation, or MIDA was guessing and acted irresponsibly.

MIDA also said:

If we are being invaded you should have sunk the boat.

I agree with that, if you're being invaded, sink their ships. But Tulp didn't do that, even though he thought Eutopia was being attacked by Terrorists. It seems to me that Tulp was indecisive, and couldn't decide wether they were Terrorists or Refugees, so he opened fire!

That's right. Tulp opened fire when he wasn't being shot at, and MIDA knew they were largely Refugees. It seemed nonsensical that Tulp would attack the passengers while ignoring MIDA's protests that there were Refugees on board.

The longer you look into it, the longer it looks like Tulp should be Court-Marshalled.

 

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Election Special: UMP​

Eutopia City, UPE- The United Moderate Party was a re-incarnation of the moderatly successful Unity Party in Term IX. The Unity Party had a majority in the GA and was in power, and did well in that role, reforming the Military among other things.

And in Term X, Presidential Candidate Loic de Fourgéres did exceedingly well as MIDA, he preformed well in the aftermath of the ECB bombing, and was the cooler head in the Hainan Star incident, as well as being perhaps the most active person in the Cabinet.

And in Term XI, he is running for President with a squeaky clean record (no skeletons in his closet), lots of ideas, and much needed energy to complete a Term.

His policy of appointing people, not on affiliation, but on ability is encouraging, and his policy on inactivity was much needed last term. In MIDA he will give Bulletproof Vests to all FLEA Agents, create "Rings of Steel" in certain key areas around the nation and repurchase the Interprovincial Highway and lower tolls. All are very sensible ideas, and La Voix throws their support behind them.

His views on MDIS are not new, he wants to increase the Military budget to get the Airforce back in the air, end the arms embargo and expand the navy, all will be lofty goals this term, even if the Arms Embargo is lifted.

On MTIA, he wants to end isolationism (an obvious move, now that we share the island), continue with CAFTA (which in this papers opinion is not a great idea, as it will drive competition higher in the UPE), and wants to join NATO, something which La Voix firmly supports, as it would take much of the burden of defending our nation away from our floundering army.

His ideas for MERL are eventful, he wants to help give the ECB independance, and support it in it's attempts to stop inflation, he wants to negotiate a deal between Workers and Employers to stop discontent, he also wants to ship Coal to the Americas and Europe to stop the recession there. La Voix applauds him for these ideas, and are very supportive of them.

With his speech on MESA, he wants to spend less on Welfare (La Voix feels it is neccesary to help the economy), but improve funding in Medicare and Omnicare, he wants to hold a F1 Race or a Golf Tournament on this Island, he does not want to introduce CO2 Taxes, but wants to cut down on Local Pollution without affecting our flagging Industry too much. They are brilliant ideas, all of them, and the new MESA must build on them.

All in all, the UMP Presidential Canidate Loic de Fourgéres looks in great shape with fantastic ideas and the activness to pull it off. La Voix would like to endorse Loic de Fourgéres and the UMP for the Presidential Race and the GA, he has everything we need in a President currently.

 

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Election Special: ESA​

The ESA Campaign began with Jeremiah Olson blasting the UMP for it's stance on the Military, he stated that Eutopia does not need an Airforce. I would like to say that he should see the people who would be laid off if this happened, the Airmen who have worked for all their life to defend this Island, and then would be fired by the "Party of the Workers".

Then, Josephus came out of the starting apologizing for the faliure last term, and then blamed it mostly on a fractured GA, which he stated he wouldn't do last term! He also blames the lack of a budget on VAT, but in a democratic government, you don't ignore the legislative branch if you don't like what they did.

The Seven Point Plan is interesting, point one is made in spite of Eutopia having one of the most generous Welfare systems in the world, point two and three are supported by La Voix, Eutopia needs to help parents more nowadays. Point four and five sound dangerous, like Josephus is slowly working his way towards the re-distrubution of wealth, and La Voix doubts if they will be able to get through the GA. Point Six sounds reasonable, but how much will the tax rise hurt the economy? VAT though, has been looked at by the ECB, and La Voix feels that it should be implemented.

The rest of Josephus's speeches are on VAT and against the CUE, Olson's are on the Military, and La Voix has to ask this question: Why should we vote ESA? Apart from the Seven Point Plan, we know little of what the ESA has in store, and what will stop them from being inactive again? Their word?

In La Voix's opinion, the ESA has not proved itself enough in the last Term to be worthy of a GA Majority.

 

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Election Special: CUE​

Now we get to the good stuff, the Conservative Union of Eutopia. Does it seem to our readers that the CUE seems like the Fascist Parties of old? Take for example this ETE Propoganda Poster:

Does this archaic thing of the past sound like:

Why not vote for the UMP? They have made a devil's pact with the ESA, the party that would wreck, burn, destroy and rape your heritage. No truly representative party would dare make a deal with history-wreckers!!!!!!!! We represent true Eutopianism, for the CUE accepts all its inhabitants, heck, we even are magnanimous enough to tolerate the ESA!!!! The UMP's proposals are proposand to twiddle their collective thumbs, while the Socialists will destroy everything you and I hold dear - family, heritage, diversity, life, and prosperity. They want nothing more than a rouge, million-man-army state of bland sameness. Yet the UMP is willing to side with them and their perverted pseudo-egalitarianism. If you want a proper, civilised government, then remember these three letters at the ballot box: CUE! CUE! CUE!

And does that sound like:

OPEN YOUR EYES!
The Leftists are Communists who preach reform but are as Red as humanly possible;
The Centrists are Leftists who want to sway moderate voters

It seems that the CUE are spouting a load of, sorry to be so frank, crap to get them out of their prediciment. They have campaigned little on issues other than the UMP being in bed with Socialism, and came late to the field because of what? Inactivity! That's right, the CUE was the most inactive Party in the GA this Term, so why are they saying:

The ESA has been criticised by the rest of the GA for simply doing nothing. NOTHING has been done to improve the government, the military, NOTHING has been done by these pseudo-socialist pigs.

When they had done even less? Where was Oliver Strasse this term? Where was Roger Forbes this term? Where was Francis Von Hapsburg this term? It seems to be they have no substance, but only, wait! They don't have style either, they call all their opponents "Psuedo-Socialist Pigs"! If you want rampant Socialist-haters who's solution to everythig is to sing the national anthem, then vote CUE, though they might dissapear halfway through office. If you want a responsible moderate party with good ideas and a record of activity, vote UMP.

 

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CUE: Getting Desperate?​

It seems now that the CUE, in their latest speech have said a number of new things, one among them is raising Protective Tarrifs! Protective tarrifs are most probably prohibited by CAFTA, are the CUE going to re-engage on it? It would also destroy any chance of reaching an agreement with Canada in the WTO about Lumber, does the CUE want to do that?

Another policy is a crackdown on Terrorism. I think that is the policy of every party, why should the UMP be any different? In fact, Francisco Rio and Cornelius Dank were both arrested under MIDA de Fourgéres, the CUE opponent!

They also think that La Voix has called them "Fascist Jackals". Could they please point this out to me? All we did was compare your Rhetoric to Fascist Rhetoric, as you were not focusing on your policies at that moment.

They also want to focus on smaller crimes, such as Graffiti. Why not on the bigger crimes such as Rape, Murder and other offenses? Why Graffiti? What would you do to cut it down? Any ideas at all, rather than saying you would?

It also seems that he is focusing on Cyber-Crime, rather than the more important crimes that have just been detailed. However, we do applaud the CUE for the issue of the Death Penalty, La Voix feels it is immoral and should be abolished once and for all.

 

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Casino Privitization: The Right Way to Go?​

Eutopia City, UPE- One of the latest GA Bills to be put to vote is the Privatisation of Airport Casinos Bill, which in the last few days, has become increasingly controversial. The Eutopian Worker has called the bill, with it's latest edition "Outrageous" and told it's readers that "a future ESA-led Government will reverse this law". The writer of the article, Vice-President and MESA Josephus Sergei Locke said that it was no time to Privatize Casinos now that the Government was running a deficit and Omnicare had collapsed, and warned that Casinos would soon spring up all around Eutopia.

CUE Member Oliver Strasse struck back viciously at the Eutopian Worker in the Independent, calling Josephus a hypocrite and claiming that the State was morally wrong to run Casinos. He expressed that the people should decide wether or not to gamble, not the State themselves, as well as the idea that "the Government must not stray into areas of life that are not its preserve, but also the idea that the Government has a responsibility to protect its citizens"

La Voix belives that gambling is morally wrong, and that the Privitization of Gambling will take the only good reason for it's existance (as a source of funding for the state) away. If Per Strasse is so morally repunged by gambling as he claims to be, why would he want to privatize casinos? It is pure and simple. Gambling and Casinos are evil, they can take fortunes and destroy families, and La Voix sees that the first step to outlawing this scourge is the rejection of PACB.

PACB has already passed, and La Voix will start a grassroots petition to say no to the unethical bureaucrats that inhabit Eutopia City.