Intergalactic Summit

Good Evening my Minmatar brothers and sisters, and welcome to another broadcast.

Conscription proposal being hotly debated

A bill is being hotly debated within the Republic right now and it if it passes it could mean for mandatory conscription of Matari at age seventeen for the armed services. It is important to note that the Caldari have had a measure like this for years. The bill, put forward by members of the Brutor political party, is based on the fact that while Tribal Liberation Forces are winning the war in space, Matari forces are woefully overwhelmed on the ground.

This bill came on the heels of the events in Amamake in the battle that involved Mordu's Legion. Gallente Black Eagles and the brave defenders of Pikes Landing against Amarr's newest terror weapons, the Templars'.

General Vlad Kintreb, force commander for the forces defending Core Freedom, lead the charge for conscription with his riveting account of Valklear forces under his command being under manned and under equipped, left to their own devices less then five jumps from Rens.

Opposing the bill is the Senator of Gelfiven, Petrud Hule'sun (whom we have mentioned here before). Senator Hule'sun, a former Valklear himself, states that this measure is in contrast to every civil right afforded to the Minmatar people. "We are a nation of warriors but we must not force people to be warriors, we must also allow for thinkers, for merchants for diplomates and for farmers."

One of the most disturbing aspects of the bill is that there are only three ways to avoid conscription and that is to proclaim yourself a " conscientious objector", be labeled "mentally unsound" or "physically infirm". What this means to those who would fall into one of these categories is that when applying for work, and you have not served the Republic you will, as Senator Hule'sun puts it, " you will have to say that you are a coward and unpatriotic, mentally unwell or in need of a mental institution or unable to do physical work in a nation with very little bureaucratic work to be done and an abundance of physical labor to be done. In essence this is making it so either you serve or you are unemployed."

In order for this measure to pass there must be an "electoral mandate" which means that even if the majority of Minmatar are against it, the bill can still be passed if key systems vote in favor. For example, Rens, Pator, Hek and Gelfiven have the highest population centers in the Republic and therefore have a higher number of "electoral votes" to either use in favor or in opposition of this bill.

We have no way to know how the major systems will vote, nor what way the senators of systems with less electoral votes will fall, but we do know that Rens, Pator, Hek and Gelfiven will be key in this matter and that Senator Hule'sun has already directed his delegations to vote against the bill.

Nefantar "plantations" discovered within the Republic

At the behest of the department of Republic Security the names and locations will not be disclosed, but TNN has uncovered the existance of several plantations run by Nefantar in the Republic. To be clear we are speaking of Nefantar, not Ammatar, though the distinction will be lost on many including myself.

The plantations are run by a group of Nefantar who claim that the "sanctuaries" as they call these sites, are a place where slaves rescued from the Amarr have the ability to learn skills, trades and economic skills to survive in the "dog eat dog" Republic. The man I spoke to claimed that if freed slaves were to be taken directly from a "liberation raid" to the Republic they would stand very little chance.

"We teach these people trade skills, how to manage finances and what their new rights within the Republic are and what
it means in reality. At this time we are focusing on teaching labor skills which are in high demand in the Republic. Anyone is free to leave at anytime, however we do encourage those liberated to stay until they have successfully completed accredited courses in education and their apprenticeships."

Republic officials that I spoke to state that the reason we are being asked to refrain from disclosing the Nefantar corporations name and the locations of these sanctuaries is fear that over zealous Minmatar may attack these sites simply due to the fact that they are run by Nefantar.

In our investigation we managed to track down a man who had been through one of these sanctuaries, who wished to remain anonymous.

"Yessa, I was at the schools for three years. Before that I was a boy for a mas'er who used to beat me and mine. The boss didnt agree with giving us drugs to make us easier to manage, he and his folk were fond of beating, murder and torture. The boys at the schools never hurt me or mine, cept when they took us they shouted alot and pushed us a bit to get us on the ships, but I am glad they did."

"At the schools they trained me to be a welder and I gots a job with Boundless Creations, they are even talkin 'bout making me a foreman in a few months. The boys at the schools check in on me from time to time, they have helped me with money when I needed a loan for the house me and my family last year. It isnt easy here, sometimes I find myself wondering what I am supposed to do an' I look for a boss to tell me what I should be doing, this is the hardest part of life for me."

We spent several hours with the man, looking for any damning evidence we could find but we were unable to find any but be assured if we ever uncover any we will break our non-disclosure act with Republic Security and broadcast it all.

The last sentence here really bothered me, deeply. That even after all this time, this man who now owns a home, is on track for a management position but still looks for direction from others because that is so deeply ingrained in his being now.

Publicly known serving and ex-Valklears? Senators? Electoral Mandate? Nefantar Plantations? More speculations and quibble about "Templars"?

This is poor.

As a Matari, I feel very let down by this news outlet. Not even Muck Raker would print this.

Please, for the love of Matar do some basic research.

(( Sorry to be so scathing, but from a Prime Fiction perspective this was just awful, innacuracies everywhere. Also, I'd seriosuly take on board Verone's advice.))