[h2]The Situation Room[/h2][hr]
[indent]Your most trusted advisers and cabinet members work tirelessly to present their fearless leader (that would be you!) with different options for tackling issues making national headlines as they arise. Sometimes, even the most fair-minded leaders wish they could solve a problem on their own with a bright idea they come up with on the spot, but nations just don't work that way anymore. Most of your citizens are educated, ambitious, and hold strong political ideals of their own. Thus, your government can only present you with options that would best appease the loudest voices of the population; and, at times, they can be majorly divisive.

Whether you were elected into office, took it through force, or born to rule, you cannot deny--that in this age, anyway--a government serves its people...

When posting in the IC, the BBCode format you'll need to follow is contained in the hider immediately below:

[hider=IC Post BBCode Format][code][center][h2][color=lightblue]Nation Name[/color][/h2][color=cyan][i]"National Motto"[/i][/color][.hr][h3][color=lightblue]Influence Level: # | Standing: #, # (Balance/Left-Libertarian/Right-Authoritarian/etc.)[/color][/h3][/center]
[h3]New Actions[/h3][.hr]
[b][color=lightblue]Situation Chosen:[/color][/b] Situation Title
[b][color=lightblue]Response:[/color][/b] Situation Choice, including the outcome stats

[indent]Write out the moment where your government takes or announces its decision on the matter...[/indent]

[h3]Consequences[/h3][.hr]
[b][color=lightblue]Situation Chosen:[/color][/b] Situation Title
[b][color=lightblue]Response:[/color][/b] Situation Choice, including the outcome stats

[indent]Write out the effects of your previous action here...[/indent][/code]
[/hider][/indent]

[h3]PIP 1 Situations[/h3]
[hider=Power to the Masses][b]Power to the Masses[/b] -- The tycoon of a major energy business is petitioning the government for tax credits or similar incentive in order to keep operating efficiently to tackle the growing demand for energy as towns and cities across the island expand. The people need power in order to live comfortably, but your industry needs it all the more in order to produce for the people. However, several protest groups identifying themselves to be aligned with a well-known eco-protection organization have provided a counter-petition, urging the government to ignore the request of the proponent and, instead, crack down on organizations like them with more stringent regulations in order to protect the environment.

Your cabinet is prepared to adopt one of the options they have prepared for you:
    [list]
    [*] Give the requested tax break to the energy sector with no stipulations added. [b][2 Right, 1 Libertarian][/b]
    [*] Give the tax break with chartered stipulations that reinforce current environmental protection laws. [b][2 Right][/b]
    [*] Give the requested tax break and relax some of the current environmental laws to encourage energy production. [b][3 Right, 2 Libertarian][/b]
    [*] Deny the tax break, but reinforce current environmental laws with inspections of registered energy companies. [b][1 Left, 2 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Deny the tax break and adopt new regulations to further safe-guard the environment. [b][1 Left, 3 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Deny the tax break, but relax some of the current environment laws to encourage energy production. [b][1 Left, 2 Libertarian][/b]
    [/list][/hider]
[hider=How dare you, sir?!][b]How dare you, sir?![/b] -- A recently spotlighted celebrity is suing a news organization for slander. During discovery, it was revealed that the journalists failed to follow-up on several anonymous tips given to them that provided content to their story, and that what was reported seemed far-fetched and borderline false. However, it was also revealed that what was reported did, in fact, represent the truth, even if the news organization published the story with reckless disregard for the celebrity's public reputation. Your judicial branch has recommended a clarification of the nation's defamation laws, pointing to their resolution of the suit, which found the news organization to be at fault based solely on their mishandling of the story and recklessly publishing information that could have seriously defamed a fellow citizen.

Your cabinet has prepared the following responses:
    [list]
    [*] Adopt the court's ruling as constitutional precedent for defamation laws. [b][1 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Reject the court's recommendation, but acknowledge their ruling. [b][1 Libertarian][/b]
    [*] Reject the court's recommendation and take executive action to overturn their ruling, favoring the press. [b][3 Libertarian][/b]
    [/list][/hider]
[hider=An apple a day...][b]An apple a day...[/b] -- Recently, there has been an increase in the media relaying the results of new science studies in ways that has upset a large number of the scientific community's leaders. Scientists are arguing that the news is either giving completely false information to the public, skewing the wording of case study results to favor political agendas, or to make sensationalist headlines with catchy idioms and misleading titles. They are demanding that the government crackdown yellow journalism, but have offered little guidance for how to do so.

Your cabinet has prepared the following responses:
    [list]
    [*] Enforce more stringent ethical guidelines for "acceptable journalism". [b][1 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Only allow the media to publish the full texts of scientific case studies, without commentary. [b][2 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Offer incentive to journalists that shed light on new science findings in published, peer-reviewed articles. [b][1 Libertarian][/b]
    [*] Establish a non-profit entity for members of the science and media communities to collaborate on publishing new findings for the public. [b][2 Libertarian][/b]
    [/list][/hider]
[h3]PIP 2 Situations[/h3]
[hider=For god and country. Or, not?][b]For god and country. Or, not?[/b] -- Following an incident involving an outspoken proponent of an obscure religious faith that ended up in the hospital after a violent confrontation with dissenters, the public on both sides of the issue has called for the government to take a stance on religious expression laws.

Your cabinet has prepared the following responses:
    [list]
    [*] Declare that all citizens have the right to freely practice their religion, so long as it does not endanger the public or cause grief or hardship on others. [b][2 Libertarian][/b]
    [*] Allow free practice of religion, but only under certain conditions (locations, sanctioned events, etc.). [b][1 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Declare a national religion and [i]encourage [/i]all citizens to follow it. [b][1 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Declare a national religion and [i]enforce [/i]all citizens to follow it. [b][3 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Outlaw only specific religious practices or faiths of your choosing. [b][2 Authoritarian][/b]
    [*] Outlaw all religious practices and faiths. [b][3 Authoritarian][/b]
    [/list][/hider]