GeopolityBoard

Russoslava wrote:

RBC News:Sergei Medvedvev Ascends to Throne

Last night after civil unrest reached its peak Barron Sergei Medvedev annouced that he will take the throne, which was approved by the Church and the Council. A ceremony will be held and leaders of the World are invited to join the ceremony, in part, Sergei Medvedev proposed to his long term girlfriend, Anastasia Sokolova, and a wedding will take places soon after Sergei becomes King. Sergei Medvedev at first wish not to take the throne however after some convincing and seeing Civil unrest hit its peak, he annouced his claim and ascended to the throne.

MESSAGE FROM THE PALACE

The President of Carjuanga, Hon. David Torres, said and stated his heartfull Congratulations and Cheers to the new King ofRussoslava. The President will visit the country in the following 2 days. Also humbly asks for embassy exchange.

Cuppsville
Cuppsville Chronicle
Census

The Cuppsville Metropolitan Area just concluded a census wherein the metropolitan area grew an average of 1.6% in population and 3.1% in size year over year for the last decade. The population of Cuppsville Metropolitan now sits at a staggering 9,141,799 persons. With this being said, the city is becoming crowded and pollution is becoming a problem. Mass transit isnt able to keep up with the demand and city officials are looking to quickly overhaul and expand the network to accommodate an addition 1.5 million residents. With this being said, seeing how the bulk of people in Cuppsville are blue collar workers, cost of living remains reasonable. Poverty ticked up during the decade to 11.2% while unemployment dropped to 2.75%. The population of the country also grew to just shy of 27 million people, 80% of which occurred in urban areas.

Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Furstia in Washington D.C., United States (Imperial Eagle)

The Government of the Socialist Republic of Furstia reiterates its position over the purported involvement of our country in the radiological terrorist attack that occured in the city of Sydney, Australia.

The Socialist Republic of Furstia has already refuted the wrongful allegations fabricated by the Australian Government before the rest of the member states that integrate The world congress using solid and truthful information.

Having enjoyed periods of strong cooperation between our countries, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Furstia regrets the recent enacted measures and encourages the members of the American Congress to reconsider their stance towards our nation, as the Furstian People continue to hold their American counterparts in high esteem for past joint actions and present common values.

Signed,
Agustina González, Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Furstia in Washington D.C.

IIHL World Cup Tournament Weekly Update

After 8 Days and 16 games of the Tournament have passed, it has been eventful start, here are the current standings.
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Team Infiny vs Team Romanovskaya

Team Infiny have been swept in 4 games by Team Romanovskaya in a deceivse 7-1 Loss in game 4. Team Romanovskaya will advance to the second round.
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Team USA vs Team Orange-Bourgogne

Team USA (Imperial Eagle) has swept Team Orange-bourgogne to a 2-1 Victory. Team USA will face Team Romanovskaya in the second round.
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Team GreaterCascadia vs Team Russoslava

Team Russoslava and Team Greatercascadia have the series tied 2 games a piece. Game 4 going to Team Russoslava in a 3-1 Victory.
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Team Furstia vs Team The Rexist Rijk

Team Furstia was welcomed onto the ice with boos and jeers as recent events have made them the villain of this tournament, however, the swept Team The rexist rijk in 4 games the last one being a decisive victory, 11-0 and Team Furstia will face the winner of the Team GreaterCascadia/Team Russoslava Series.
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Remaining Round 1 Schedule for World Cup Tournament
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Game 5 Schedule for World Cup Tournament

Day 9 PM: Team Greatercascadia vs Team Russoslava
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Game 6 Schedule for World Cup Tournament

Day 11 AM: Team Greatercascadia vs Team Russoslava
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Game 7 Schedule for World Cup Tournament (If Necessary)

Day 13 PM: Team Greatercascadia vs Team Russoslava
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Round 2 Schedule for World Cup Tournament
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Game 1 Schedule for World Cup Tournament

Day 14 AM: Team Romanovskaya vs Team USA (Imperial Eagle)

Day 14 PM: Team Furstia Vs Winner of Team GreaterCascadia/Team Russoslava Series
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Game 2 Schedule for World Cup Tournament

Day 16 AM: Team Furstia Vs Winner of Team GreaterCascadia/Team Russoslava Series

Day 16 PM: Team Romanovskaya vs Team USA (Imperial Eagle)
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Game 3 Schedule for World Cup Tournament

Day 18 AM: Team Romanovskaya vs Team USA (Imperial Eagle)

Day 18 PM: Team Furstia Vs Winner of Team GreaterCascadia/Team Russoslava Series
===================================================================================
Game 4 Schedule for World Cup Tournament

Day 20 AM: Team Furstia Vs Winner of Team GreaterCascadia/Team Russoslava Series

Day 20 PM: Team Romanovskaya vs Team USA (Imperial Eagle)

IIHL World Cup Update

Here is the Matchup for the 2nd Round.

https://i.imgur.com/I7HfqBAg.png

Team USA (Imperial Eagle) vs Team Romanovskaya

Team Russoslava vs Team Furstia

Orange-bourgogne wrote:

National Strike Day 3: Riot was “planned and intentional”
~ OBBC News

Birmingham Police Commissioner Paul Melville said tonight that the violence during the third day of the National Strike had been “carefully planned” by “a sizeable minority intent on causing trouble”. He said that the hypocrisy of the group knew no bounds, and that more arrests later are to follow. Police Commissioner Melville also said the following during a press conference on the ‘event’: “They must have known and anticipated exactly what would happen today, and they provided the opportunity for it to happen. We saw a cowardly mob of extremists, who turn up with no real intention to demonstrate the Inclusive Society Act but to cause danger and violence towards others”.

The Secretary of State for Internal Affairs, Mrs Stephanie Hodges MP (Social Republican Front), who deputises for the Prime Minister who currently resides at her countryside estate, said that the Government was “absolutely committed to find who these scumbags are and put them in front of a court that will sentence them to harsh punishments”. All fixed cameras in the area have been confiscated by the police and must submit their footage to the police, who will review it to see if any individuals can be recognised.

When confronted with these allegations, Leader of the Opposition Arthur of Avalon MP (Regnum Unitum), denied that they were true. “In fact, we specifically told people not to resort to violence whatever the circumstances.” Shadow Internal Affairs Secretary William Huntingdon MP (UNI), who spent time in police custody for opposing the Government’s policies, said that there “are strong symptoms to show that actually, this was all planned and organised by the coalition parties [which are the SRF and Vox Populi]. We will do further investigations and come forward with the results as soon as we have them”, he told our team.

Aftermath of the National Strike
~ OBBC News

The National Strike, an event organised by mister Arthur of Avalon MP (Regnum Unitum), Leader of the Opposition, to oppose the Inclusive Society Act, has come to an end now after three days of protests and demonstrations. In a short statement, Mr Avalon said that he is “extremely proud of what has been achieved, [how much] support for their cause was shown, and how powerful they were able to vocalise their message”. He did refer to a few minor incidents, notably one in Birmingham where clashes with the police went violent, but said that “if an event with multi-million people involved has but one serious incident involving not more than a few thousand of them, I consider that a relatively peaceful one”.

The markets responded less enthusiastic. The Westminster City Stock Exchange (WCSE) dropped “considerably, but not dramatically” to speak with the words of Sir Nathan Sterling, who is the Governor of the Bank of Orange-bourgogne. The WCSE saw a decrease in value of about 0.7 per cent, which might not sound like a lot, but actually involves dozens of millions of Florines.

The Cultural Affairs Secretary Madeleine FitzGerald MP (Vox Populi) said that the Government is “absolutely despised” with the “abhorrent and violent actions” taken by the Opposition. “They do not like our policies, for which we have a democratic mandate from the people of this nation, by the way, so they turn to violence to force upon us their outdated and morally deplorable views”.

The police is still searching for people to be arrested on the suspicion and accusation of “illegal rioting , property damage, and dissidence”. Several debates have been asked for by Members of Parliament, but due to the already busy schedule, they will be held at a later time.

More on this as it develops.

Orange-bourgogne wrote:

Official statement – Union sanctions on Socialist Republic
~ Department of State for External Affairs

The Government of Orange-bourgogne takes notice of the news that the Union’s Congress has passed regulation to impose upon the Socialist Republic of Furstia, a nation with which we have strengthened our relations relatively recently.

What the Government finds particularly controversial, is that acknowledges that there are still investigations in place to determine what the role was of the Furstian authorities, yet at the same time seemingly finds it so obvious that these authorities were involved with the recent attack in Sydney, that they found it justified to impose economic sanctions.

We also noticed that the Union’s Congress apparently found the accusations strong enough and backed by an absolute minimum of evidence to consider these drastic measures. Besides, little is done with the defences that the Socialist Republic has made in regards of this matter.

The Government of Orange-bourgogne objects to the implementation of economic sanctions on an ally which has not been proved to have committed any wrongdoing, without it having had full and honest opportunities to defend itself. As the investigation the Union Congress refers to is still worked on, we see no alternative but to condemn the economic sanctions against Furstia, and hope that other nations will follow in our footsteps, at least until the investigations have been completed.

[Signed]

Her Excellency Kaitlyn Maguire PC MP
Secretary of State for External Affairs

=======================================
Tag: Imperial Eagle and -greater australia-.

As the Federal Government is also conducting it's own investigation into the matter and has sent experts to Sydney to take readings and gather information, this limited sanctions will remain in place. It should be noted however that they will not impede business in Furstia or any trade with that nation and are expected to only last until more information from our own sources give us a more clear understanding.

New clean energy breakthrough could be buried deep beneath rural Utah

One hundred miles south of Salt Lake City, a giant mound of salt reaches thousands of feet down into the Earth. It’s thick, relatively pure and buried deep, making it one of the best resources of its kind in the American West.

Two companies want to tap the salt dome for compressed air energy storage, an old but rarely used technology that can store large amounts of power.

It would work like a giant battery. Hollow caverns carved out of the salt — each more than 1,000 feet from top to bottom and several hundred feet wide — would be pumped full of air at high pressure, using energy generated by solar panels or wind turbines during times when the power isn’t needed. Like storing wind (or sun) in a bottle.

When the power is eventually needed, the tightly packed air would be released from the caverns, turning turbines on the way out to generate electricity.

The electricity would be ferried to Southern California through a 488-mile transmission line, built in the 1980s to transmit energy from Intermountain Power Plant, which is now the last coal-fired generating station serving California. The coal plant is scheduled to shut down in 2025.

The salt dome’s proximity to Intermountain — they’re literally across the street from each other — is a lucky coincidence.

“It’s extraordinarily rare to have geology, transmission and a coal plant all sitting right next to each other,” said Jeff Meyer, president of Range Energy Storage Systems. “You ought to take advantage of this, because all the stars have lined up.”

It’s not all rosy: Compressed air storage technology requires the burning of natural gas, a planet-warming fossil fuel.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which hopes to tap the salt dome for energy storage, also plans to build a gas-fired power plant at Intermountain to help replace the coal facility. Clean energy advocates say the gas plant is unnecessary and incompatible with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s agenda to fight climate change.

A new, old type of energy storage

Compressed air energy storage has been used for decades, but only at two facilities in Germany and Alabama, built before solar and wind started creating challenges for power grid operators.

“This is a pretty simple concept,” said Bobby Bailie, director of business development for energy storage at the German industrial firm Siemens. “You’re pushing air into a cavern, storing that energy. And at times when you need it, you pull it back out.”

High-quality salt domes are relatively rare in the American West, although they’re common along the Gulf Coast, where many are used to store oil.

The Utah salt dome was discovered in the 1970s by drillers looking for oil and gas. It’s roughly three miles wide and a mile from top to bottom. It starts about 2,500 feet below the ground and stretches down to 7,500 feet — an ideal depth for pressurized caverns.

Two companies hope to tap the salt for energy storage.

One is Magnum Development, which is backed by the Houston-based private equity fund Haddington Ventures. Magnum has already built several hollow caverns in the salt dome by drilling wells, pumping in water to dissolve the salt, and pumping out the resulting brine. The caverns are used to store butane and propane.

The other company is Range Energy Storage Systems. It’s a partnership between North Carolina-based electricity giant Duke Energy, Sammons Enterprises of Dallas and American Transmission Co., whose headquarters is in Wisconsin.

Magnum and Range both submitted proposals to Southern California Public Power Authority, a consortium of public power agencies whose members include Los Angeles and 10 other cities. SCPPA officials are currently negotiating with one of the companies, although they won’t say which one.

Compressed air would provide the most value on an electric grid dominated by solar, wind and hydropower. Although lithium-ion batteries can store a few hours’ worth of energy — making them ideal for keeping the lights on at night, after the sun goes down — they’re far too expensive for banking large amounts of electricity for those rare occasions, typically during winter, when the sun and wind go into hiding for several days, grid experts say.

And that’s not likely to change, even as lithium-ion technology keeps getting cheaper.

“You’re never going to build enough batteries to get yourself through a week of low wind and sun, because you’re using those batteries once a year, but you’re paying full price for them,” said Matthias Fripp, an electrical engineering professor at the University of Hawaii. “They’re going to cost 365 times as much as those batteries you use every day.”

Hydrogen and heartache

Magnum co-founder Rob Webster said the Utah salt dome can probably fit around 100 caverns, meaning it could be used by utilities across the West.

“This is very much a regional play,” Webster said. “It can really accelerate the transition to 100% renewables.”

Still, the technology has downsides.

For one thing, compressed air is limited by geography, meaning it probably won’t play a leading role in cleaning up the power grid nationally. Other energy-banking technologies could provide much larger amounts of long-duration storage if they achieve commercial viability.

Compressed air systems also require the burning of natural gas — a fossil fuel — to heat the air as it leaves a storage cavern, because its temperature would otherwise drop significantly as it expands.

Siemens’ Bailie, who has worked for both Magnum and Range, estimated a compressed air project in Utah would use about half the natural gas as a modern gas-fired power plant with the same capacity. But any natural gas could be a problem in the long run, since California law requires 100% of the state’s electricity to come from climate-friendly sources by 2045.

Officials at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power have “a little heartache” about the natural gas burned for compressed air storage, said Paul Schultz, the utility’s director of external energy resources. But they hope to eventually replace gas with hydrogen, a clean-burning fuel that can be produced by using renewable electricity to split water into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen.

“The pathway to remove natural gas and use hydrogen is probably still 15, 20 years away,” Schultz said. “We’re just waiting for the technology.”

In a best-case scenario, hydrogen could be stored in some of the salt caverns at Intermountain and used to fuel not only compressed air energy storage turbines, but also turbines at the gas-fired power plant Los Angeles plans to build at the site.

In a worst-case scenario, renewable hydrogen could remain prohibitively expensive, or be hindered by technical or safety constraints — and Los Angeles could be forced to stop running the $865-million gas plant in 2045, even as Angelenos are saddled with the vast majority of the facility’s costs.

Wind, sun and wires

Salt and gas are just part of the story at Intermountain. Los Angeles officials say the infrastructure built decades ago for coal power could be repurposed as the center of a renewable energy hub, with solar and wind power charging the underground batteries at the salt dome.

The key is the 488-mile power line running from Utah to Southern California, known as the Southern Transmission System.

Energy companies are itching to build solar farms near Intermountain and send the electricity to California by way of the power line, which will have plenty of unused capacity once the coal plant shuts down. Several solar developers have proposed projects in the area, including L.A.-based 8minutenergy, the German conglomerate BayWe, South Korea’s Hanwha Q Cells and EDF Renewable Energy, a San Diego-based subsidiary of the French electric utility EDF.

Those projects could help sustain the economy of Utah’s Millard County after the coal generators shut down, said Ryan Evans, president of the Utah Solar Energy Association. Solar farms employ only a few people each once construction is finished. But the tax revenues could be significant.

“We have these wide open lands that get tons of sun exposure, but don’t have other uses,” Evans said.

Nearby Wyoming, meanwhile, has some of the strongest winds in the continental United States. Renewable electricity generated by those powerful gusts could also make its way to Southern California via the Intermountain transmission line.

The conservative billionaire Philip Anschutz is already angling to make that happen.

Anschutz, who owns Staples Center and the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, has spent more than $200 million permitting and beginning to build the country’s largest wind farm in Wyoming, along with a 730-mile power line to get the electricity to California. His company has held discussions with L.A. about routing their power line through Intermountain, and sending some of the wind energy to California through the existing 488-mile system.

Anschutz Corp. executive Bill Miller described the Southern Transmission System as an “incredibly valuable and viable asset” — especially in an era when environmental regulations and public opposition have made it difficult and expensive to build long-distance wires.

“It cannot be left stranded when they get rid of that coal plant,” Miller said.

Keeping the band together

Compressed air isn’t the only technology that might balance the variability of those solar and wind farms.

Grid managers could supplement sun and wind with resources that generate climate-friendly electricity around the clock, such as geothermal or nuclear power, or gas plants outfitted with carbon-capture technology. California could also work with other states to share more renewable energy across state lines, because it’s almost always sunny or windy somewhere in the West.

All those options face their own economic, technological or political hurdles. None of them will halt climate change on its own.

Neither will compressed air energy storage. But Los Angeles officials hope it’s part of the solution — and so do the Utah cities that partnered with L.A. to build the Intermountain coal plant.

“The fact that this is turning into an energy hub for next-generation energy technologies is very exciting for the Utah partners,” said John Ward, a spokesman for Utah’s Intermountain Power Agency. “They wanted to do whatever they could to keep the band together.”

(some liberties were taken with this news report due to time constraints and network issues) http://thetimestimes.trendolizer.com/2019/08/a-clean-energy-breakthrough-could-be-buried-deep-beneath-rural-utah.html

Eraus wrote:

OOC: Are you getting my TGs?

OOC: hi im considering joining your region but I wanted to ask does the expansion application needs to be filled everytime you go to war with somehone and annex land

also I wanted to ask did yuan shikai rise to power in your lore because I would like to roleplay as northern china but under an emire ruled by one of his ancestors

By northern china I mean the part that ist claimed

Orange-bourgogne wrote:

Aftermath of the National Strike
~ OBBC News

The National Strike, an event organised by mister Arthur of Avalon MP (Regnum Unitum), Leader of the Opposition, to oppose the Inclusive Society Act, has come to an end now after three days of protests and demonstrations. In a short statement, Mr Avalon said that he is “extremely proud of what has been achieved, [how much] support for their cause was shown, and how powerful they were able to vocalise their message”. He did refer to a few minor incidents, notably one in Birmingham where clashes with the police went violent, but said that “if an event with multi-million people involved has but one serious incident involving not more than a few thousand of them, I consider that a relatively peaceful one”.

The markets responded less enthusiastic. The Westminster City Stock Exchange (WCSE) dropped “considerably, but not dramatically” to speak with the words of Sir Nathan Sterling, who is the Governor of the Bank of Orange-bourgogne. The WCSE saw a decrease in value of about 0.7 per cent, which might not sound like a lot, but actually involves dozens of millions of Florines.

The Cultural Affairs Secretary Madeleine FitzGerald MP (Vox Populi) said that the Government is “absolutely despised” with the “abhorrent and violent actions” taken by the Opposition. “They do not like our policies, for which we have a democratic mandate from the people of this nation, by the way, so they turn to violence to force upon us their outdated and morally deplorable views”.

The police is still searching for people to be arrested on the suspicion and accusation of “illegal rioting , property damage, and dissidence”. Several debates have been asked for by Members of Parliament, but due to the already busy schedule, they will be held at a later time.

More on this as it develops.

BREAK: IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD INCLUSIVE SOCIETY ACT EXTENDED
~ OBBC News

In a completely unexpected move, the Government has confirmed that it will extend the implementation period for the Inclusive Society Act with four more months. The great surprise came as Prime Minister Nichola Pankhurst MP (Social Republican Front) returned to Westminster City after having spent some time in her countryside home to recover from the busy tasks and responsibilities.

Up until this very moment, the Government viewed any change to the Inclusive Society Act as unnegotiable. Rumours suggest that if the Prime Minister did not take action demanded for by the millions of protestors in the National Strike, dozens of her backbench MPs would have resigned. The SRF has a “rough relationship” with the Inclusive Society Act: its predecessor, the Social Justice Bill was rejected by so many that the previous coalition government fell over it. With the present Act, barely enough MPs supported it to get passed through Parliament, with not even an simple majority voting in favour of it.

During the implementation period, the Act formally does not apply even though it became statute law, since the society should get a fair time to prepare for the contents. Earlier, the implementation period was set at six months.

Deputy Prime Minister John Brand MP (Vox Populi) said that he is “extremely frustrated” by the decision taken by the Prime Minister. He acknowledges that under the current plan, the Act will still come into force, but just at a delayed date. He also very firmly said that this will be the only alteration to anything related to the Act he is willing to accept. “We are not supporting it, but we can see the pressure put on the Prime Minister to move. […] If any other measure is backed to prevent the contents of this Act from coming into effect by the SRF again, we will no longer support this Administration. Parliament agreed to the provisions of this Act and it is time we stick by them to make the society of Orange-bourgogne inclusive for once and all”, he was quoted by our editors.

The Westminster City Stock Exchange (WCSE) reacted instantly, going up by about two per cent in the three hours following the confirmation of this new extension. Sir Nathan Sterling, Governor of the Bank of Orange-Bourgogne, said that he was “absolutely delighted to see that corporations will get more time to prepare themselves for the potential threats this Act imposes on them”. However, he still thinks “alongside the vast majority of economic and financial experts”, that the best thing would be to repeal the Inclusive Society Act entirely. That, though, will not happen, the Prime Minister said in her statement.