New Orleans Will Not Fall

The illegal sale of New Orleans is a violation of the JGP terms and thus will not stand. It is explicity stated that land is "jointly owned" under the JGP, and according to international law, all joint-owners of land must consent to its sale before the transfer of ownership is made. Any attempt to enforce this illegal sale is also a violation of international law. This is a statement of the obvious, but it is clear that some people didn't get the memo. In order to make sure the enforcement of this cannot take place, a contingent of 40,000 troops has been deployed to New Orleans to prevent an illegal incursion of troops from the Soviet Federation. A conditional blockade (civilian ships may pass, but hostile military vessels will be attacked on sight) has been placed on the waters of New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta as a whole, while air defenses are on maximum alert across the region. Wartime-readiness Combat Air Patrol flights are currently in operation at standard size and scale. Imperium Nuclear Forces have been moved to DEFCON Two in preparation for a potential nuclear conflict.

Luckily, the Imperium was able to claim New Orleans first (it always was Imperium land, but since New France has ceded it, it is under the sole proprietorship of the United Imperium). Soviet forces attempted to lay their hands on the city, but as a result of extensive damage to the Panama and Nicaragua Canals, their efforts were more or less halted (crossing the Strait of Magellan into the Atlantic by any vessel is no mean feat and more than anything, would have taken way too much time). Ultimately, the Soviets were unable to lay claim to land which is not theirs.

The 40,000 troop contingent is operating under standard procedure for any military occupation with some caveats: members of the National Guard, rather than the Expeditionary Command, are advising on the execution of the occupation. Second: there is no change in the day-to-day life for citizens of New Orleans, since the purpose of the occupation is not a traditional occupation but rather a safeguard against hostile forces. No military police, no admiral courts, no nothing of that sort. Thirdly, the NIEA & ABWTF have collaborated to build a real time intelligence network across the city in order to find, diagnose, and eliminate any internal threats of sabotage.

In other news, Senators Albowitz (Libertarian) and McCalloun (Unitarian) were found to have been most aggressive in their abuse of the Filibuster. Per a new study from the University of Michigan, when facing a vote that they know they will lose, they have used the Filibuster rule 90% of the time. In over 70% of the incidents where Albowitz and McCalloun utilized the Filibuster, they did so for an excess of six hours. In the last year alone, Albowitz and McCalloun combined to have taken advantage of the Filibuster rule for a total of 753 hours. Senator Regan (Conservative), Vice President Johnson (Liberal), and Senator Holloueh (Unitarian) are reported to be drafting a proposal to limit the usage of the Filibuster in the Legislature, although it is unclear what this proposal will entail.