The Atlasian Herald

[rpryor03]

The official newspaper of Atlasia and the office of the Game Moderator.

[rpryor03]

Where My Atlasia Gone?
The Last Three Months

Atlasia is in a much worse state since the last Game Moderator’s Update. Allow me to fill you in:

Atlasia Itself
Let’s make this clear. The economy is sh**t. The stock markets were closed for THREE MONTHS. THREE FREAKING MONTHS. They may have been opened for almost two months now, but the stock market is back at close to 2008 levels. Confidence is low, and action by President Griffin, as well as the Governors, will be able to heighten confidence in the stock market. Unemployment is still relatively high (more on that later). The Constitutional Convention has investors in two minds, some are excited, and some are scared.
Domestic terrorism still scares many people, especially with the attacks in France, as well as the threat of the “Reality or Nothing” group.

The Rest of the World
Puerto Santos is still under the control of “President” Alfonse Leon Doran-Cordero. He has stopped exportation of oil to Atlasia, and has indicated interest in meeting with President Griffin at a neutral location.
ISIL/ISIS is still active, and committing campaigns of terror across the world, with their most recent attack in Paris, with many world governments interested in figuring out a solution to the crisis.

Atlasian Politics
The public perceives the politicians of the nation to fall into two camps, regardless of ideology, the “dissolutionists” and the “unifiers.” The Dissolution Faction is commonly assumed to be generally for succession and radical change, and is assumed to include Senators Talleyrand, Maxwell, and Oakvale, as well as Governor Turkisblau and Councilor/Assemblymembers Nagas and Clyde. The Unity Faction is assumed to be for holding together the Republic, and for change. It is assumed to include the President and Vice President, the Secretary of State, Governor Blair, and Senators Truman, Lumine, PiT, Yankee, Cris, and Smartken. Senator Barnes is assumed to be a “swing” voter.

Classified Ads
Game Moderator Rpryor is looking for a Deputy. PM him if interested.
President Griffin is looking for a few good men (for his cabinet). PM him if interested.

[rpryor03]

How To Get Cheaper Car Insurance: Be White
Adapted from an Atlantic article by Bourree Lam

As something that tens of millions of American driver are required by law to pay for every month, auto insurance is one thing that most people believe should be priced fairly. It doesn’t offend notions of fairness for a bad driver to face steeper premiums, and it’s accepted practice in the industry to include customers’ age and gender in computing their rate. But what if insurance companies appear to be systematically charging entire racial or socioeconomic groups different amounts for the same product?

A new report by the Consumer Federation of Atlasia found that insurance premiums differ greatly by race. The report found that even among safe drivers, areas that are predominantly African American are charged significantly higher premiums for auto insurance. The CFA’s analysis looked at quotes from the five largest insurers—Allstate, Farmers, Geico, Progressive, and State Farm—by zip code, and found that premiums were on average 70 percent higher for residents of mostly black communities, versus mostly white ones.

So are insurance companies singling out black drivers to make them pay higher rates? Not necessarily: The black insurance premium could just be an unwitting and unfortunate consequence of using proxies for financial status. After all, income disparities are often blamed for why blacks and Hispanics are more than twice as likely to be rejected for mortgage loans.

But it is more complicated than that. Proxies that discriminate against entire racial groups seem unfair, and besides, are illegal. Moreover, the CFA, in its report, controlled for income and still found that substantial differences in price based on race alone. More specifically, black poverty can’t be used to explain away the problem. It was in mostly black upper-middle-class zip codes that drivers saw the highest insurance premium—on average, what they paid was nearly three times as much as a driver from a white-heavy town and with a similar income.

At this point, the CFA is more interested in solving the problem than pointing fingers. “We are not rushing to judgment about why this happens,” said Tom Feltner, the director of financial services at CFA, in a press release. But his colleague Robert Hunter, the director of insurance at CFA, was not as cautious: Speaking to Marketplace, Hunter said the pricing disparities “are hard to fathom actuarially and look a lot like unfair discrimination.”

Many people are wondering how Atlasia and her regions will deal with this. Only time will tell.

Yeah, I'm gonna be doing some odd stories. Get used to it.

[Classic Conservative]

Can we have some unemployment numbers please

[rpryor03]

Can we have some unemployment numbers please

I am working on them, and should have them tomorrow. Needless to say, they're not looking as good as the RL ones.

[Former Senator Haslam2020]

Mhm, fairly interesting.

[rpryor03]

SoS Classic Conservative Unveils Refugee Plan, Citizens Reel In Horror

Today in Nyman, Secretary of State Classic Conservative unveiled his plan for allowing refugees into Atlasia. Refugees will be brought in in 4 waves, one from December 24-25, the second from January 18-19, the third from February 13-14, and the fourth from March 1-2. Each wave will presumably have 25,000 refugees. 52% of the refugees will be Christian, 25% of the refugees will be Muslim, and 23% of the refugees will be non-Christian/Muslim. 40% of the refugees will be from Iraq, with 20% being from Syria and 10% being from Libya. Reactions to this plan have been varying, with many luminaries commenting on it, such as Northeast Senator Oakvale (NNP-DE), calling the plan "bigoted and bizarre," although the Senator did not read the plan fully, as he assumed that the refugees were only Christians. Governor Blair of the Northeast (LAB-MA) stated that the plan "goes against the fundamental core of Atlasia, and betrays the ideas of justice and equality long pushed forward by politicians across the spectrum." He followed that up with an executive order stating that "The Northeast Government shall impose no religious tests, limits or quotas on refugees." How will this turn out? Only time will tell.

[Blair]

Any plan on jobs numbers?

[Blair]

Know it's a busy time of year but would appreciate having some job numbers/forecast for the new Northeast Budget, regards

Governor Blair

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Know it's a busy time of year but would appreciate having some job numbers/forecast

I second this.

[Leinad]

Know it's a busy time of year but would appreciate having some job numbers/forecast

I second this.

I third this.

[Clyde1998]

Know it's a busy time of year but would appreciate having some job numbers/forecast

I second this.

I third this.

I fourth this, especially considering that we haven't had any figures since Blair was GM. Even if the figures don't come from the GM - could someone in the Government 'publish' some.

[Classic Conservative]

Know it's a busy time of year but would appreciate having some job numbers/forecast

I second this.

I third this.

I fourth this, especially considering that we haven't had any figures since Blair was GM. Even if the figures don't come from the GM - could someone in the Government 'publish' some.

Could I technically write them since I am a member of the Game Moderation Team

[Clyde1998]

Know it's a busy time of year but would appreciate having some job numbers/forecast

I second this.

I third this.

I fourth this, especially considering that we haven't had any figures since Blair was GM. Even if the figures don't come from the GM - could someone in the Government 'publish' some.

Could I technically write them since I am a member of the Game Moderation Team

You might as well do it, as we're probably not going to get any figures in the near future otherwise.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Know it's a busy time of year but would appreciate having some job numbers/forecast

I second this.

I third this.

I fourth this, especially considering that we haven't had any figures since Blair was GM. Even if the figures don't come from the GM - could someone in the Government 'publish' some.

Could I technically write them since I am a member of the Game Moderation Team

You might as well do it, as we're probably not going to get any figures in the near future otherwise.

IIRC, the Senate passed a law a few months back allowing the Secretary of the Interior (now the SoHA) to issue job numbers and other GM-like proclamations as they related to domestic matters; the SoS gained similar powers in regards to foreign affairs. It was this act that allowed Blair to issue the unemployment numbers while he was SoHA.

At this point, the persistent absence of the GM is has moved from excusable to unacceptable and is fast approaching impeachment-worthy.

[rpryor03]

Sorry, I've been sick since I finished my finals. Numbers coming out tonight.

[rpryor03]

Unemployment Numbers

Northeast: 8.1% (down .3%)
Mideast: 7.9% (up .6%)
Midwest: 8.6% (down .2%)
Pacific: 8.5% (up .1%)
South: 8.5% (down .1%)
Nationwide: 8.3%

Let's be honest. This is as much an indicator of activity, as well as job performance. The NE has been super-active. Governor Tmth has done a good deal of stuff in the Midwest. Leinad is doing pretty well for the hand he's been dealt. The Senate overall is pretty darn active. Let's get to the negative. The Pacific is up. That should not be a reflection mostly on the part of Governor Turkisblau, however, some more activity would inspire the market. If there were numbers during the time of my confirmation and the Simfan fiasco, the number would be much higher. And Turk has done a pretty good job. The Midwest is up to 7.7%, with many investors beginning to pull out of the region. There's a Lt. Gov. spot and two assembly spots. Nothing has been done since November. If this continues, there will be larger consequences for that region.

Also, finals kicked my butt. If you need something, please please please PM me. I can't check the boards every day, but I do check my email. Enjoy your holidays, I won't be that hard on low activity through the beginning of 2016. I've got something big for then planned, and you won't want to miss it!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Thank-you, Mr. GM!

The Mideast is up to 7.9%, with many investors beginning to pull out of the region. There's a Lt. Gov. spot and two assembly spots. Nothing has been done since November. If this continues, there will be larger consequences for that region.

D*mn. I should never have left the Assembly - I've been gone less than four months and already the whole place has fallen to pieces.

[Clyde1998]

Thank-you, Mr. GM!

[rpryor03]

A Final Statement

Friends, it has been my honor to have been your GM. However, with my new job, as well as the big college decision coming soon, as well as a retreat I'm leading, I don't have the time to dedicate to this job anymore. Thank you for your goodwill and love. God bless you all.