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| timelines:the_future_of_politics_year_by_year [2016/06/04 09:02] – [The Future of Politics Year by Year] petike | timelines:the_future_of_politics_year_by_year [2019/03/29 15:13] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
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| [B]2014 - Continuing Wars and Continuing Conflicts[/B] | **2014 - Continuing Wars and Continuing Conflicts** |
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| The year 2014 was a rather dull year. The Syrian civil war raged on and it looked like Bashar Al-Assad would be the victor of it while in Egypt the war that started in formal annexation of the West Bank to Israel, the act enraged his Western late 2013 also continued. The world however did little about these conflicts. The whistleblower Edward Snowden remained in Moscow until September 13th 2014 when he returned to the US and proclaimed that he had faith that the justice system would give him a fair trail. | The year 2014 was a rather dull year. The Syrian civil war raged on and it looked like Bashar Al-Assad would be the victor of it while in Egypt the war that started in formal annexation of the West Bank to Israel, the act enraged his Western late 2013 also continued. The world however did little about these conflicts. The whistleblower Edward Snowden remained in Moscow until September 13th 2014 when he returned to the US and proclaimed that he had faith that the justice system would give him a fair trail. |
| In Politics the Republicans made gains in the Senate and the House of Representatives although the gains were minor. In the Senate, Mitch McConnel barely won against Alison Grimes in an election that required several recounts while Scott Brown returned to politics by winning the Massachusetts Gubernatorial Election. The 2014 Midterms were remembered as being a minor and expected success for the GOP. In Britian David Cameron remade his image and regained the trust of the grassroots however this was at the expense of support from the general public. Ed Milliband meanwhile was surround by constant speculation about a coup against him by either his brother or Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper however nothing came of this speculation. | In Politics the Republicans made gains in the Senate and the House of Representatives although the gains were minor. In the Senate, Mitch McConnel barely won against Alison Grimes in an election that required several recounts while Scott Brown returned to politics by winning the Massachusetts Gubernatorial Election. The 2014 Midterms were remembered as being a minor and expected success for the GOP. In Britian David Cameron remade his image and regained the trust of the grassroots however this was at the expense of support from the general public. Ed Milliband meanwhile was surround by constant speculation about a coup against him by either his brother or Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper however nothing came of this speculation. |
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| [B]2015 - The Long, Stumbling Walk Left[/B] | **2015 - The Long, Stumbling Walk Left** |
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| Although the Labour Party had held a dominant lead in British polling for the vast majority of the Coalition's five year term, and economic growth remain sluggish, Scottish secession beheading the Labour frontbench, and an effective Conservative campaign targeting Ed Miliband as a weak and dithering leader, left the party unable to gain the large majority that many commentators had been predicting. Nonetheless, with a strong plurality of 289 seats, they were able to lead coalition negotiations with Nick Clegg's battered Liberal Democrats, allowing Miliband to enter No.10 weakened, but confident, even as forces on both the right and the left of the party prepared their attacks on his 'failure', and on each other. | Although the Labour Party had held a dominant lead in British polling for the vast majority of the Coalition's five year term, and economic growth remain sluggish, Scottish secession beheading the Labour frontbench, and an effective Conservative campaign targeting Ed Miliband as a weak and dithering leader, left the party unable to gain the large majority that many commentators had been predicting. Nonetheless, with a strong plurality of 289 seats, they were able to lead coalition negotiations with Nick Clegg's battered Liberal Democrats, allowing Miliband to enter No.10 weakened, but confident, even as forces on both the right and the left of the party prepared their attacks on his 'failure', and on each other. |
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| Meanwhile in Canada, the Harper government benefited from both the NDP and the somewhat resurgent Liberals attempting to remove each other to ensure their own place as the Party of the left, allowing the Conservative party to escape as much flak as some feared. In the end it would not be enough to save his Governments majority but left the Conservatives close enough to maintain a dominant role in the Commons, with a reduced NDP hanging on as opposition by a failed Thomas Mulcair, who subsequently resigned. | Meanwhile in Canada, the Harper government benefited from both the NDP and the somewhat resurgent Liberals attempting to remove each other to ensure their own place as the Party of the left, allowing the Conservative party to escape as much flak as some feared. In the end it would not be enough to save his Governments majority but left the Conservatives close enough to maintain a dominant role in the Commons, with a reduced NDP hanging on as opposition by a failed Thomas Mulcair, who subsequently resigned. |
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| 2016 - Hope for us yet! [/B] | **2016 - Hope for us yet!** |
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| The 2016 election was predicted by analysts to be a Democratic landslide. Hillary Clinton and her surprise choice Joe Biden (OOC: He really likes being VP, hey weirder things have happened) were both very popular and Banghazi allegations fell flat. However the Republican team of Jeb Bush and Chris Christie was effective in campaigning in the Midwest. On election night the Democrats still won but the margin of victory was much smaller than expected. | The 2016 election was predicted by analysts to be a Democratic landslide. Hillary Clinton and her surprise choice Joe Biden (OOC: He really likes being VP, hey weirder things have happened) were both very popular and Banghazi allegations fell flat. However the Republican team of Jeb Bush and Chris Christie was effective in campaigning in the Midwest. On election night the Democrats still won but the margin of victory was much smaller than expected. |
| In the Senate the GOP seized control with a 53-47 majority over the Dems meanwhile in the House the Democrats gained a small majority. The Tea Party continue to become angry at the GOP moderates. Rumors of a split began to swirl. The Democrats made major gains in the State legislatures. | In the Senate the GOP seized control with a 53-47 majority over the Dems meanwhile in the House the Democrats gained a small majority. The Tea Party continue to become angry at the GOP moderates. Rumors of a split began to swirl. The Democrats made major gains in the State legislatures. |
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| [B]2017 - Progress Comes in Baby Steps | **2017 - Progress Comes in Baby Steps** |
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| President Clinton started her term in office in strides, with the biggest televised inaguration in US history. Her first major accomplishment was the nationwide legalization of same sex marriage through a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. One of her first big legislative goals was healthcare reform that she stated would be an eventual step towards a full single-payer system. Early opposition from some of the more conservative Democrats proved healthcare reform tough, but not impossible to pass. Another somewhat polarizing piece of legislation was huge budget cuts to the military, which was to be funneled into education funding. There was staunch GOP opposition to the bill, but it managed to survive through a fillibuster lead by Minority Leader John Cornyn. | President Clinton started her term in office in strides, with the biggest televised inaguration in US history. Her first major accomplishment was the nationwide legalization of same sex marriage through a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. One of her first big legislative goals was healthcare reform that she stated would be an eventual step towards a full single-payer system. Early opposition from some of the more conservative Democrats proved healthcare reform tough, but not impossible to pass. Another somewhat polarizing piece of legislation was huge budget cuts to the military, which was to be funneled into education funding. There was staunch GOP opposition to the bill, but it managed to survive through a fillibuster lead by Minority Leader John Cornyn. |
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| This was also the year tensions on the Korean peninsuila flared to dangerous levels. Rumors abounded over Kim Jong Un's health, which lead to internal unrest. North Korea's response was a show of force, which escalated rhetoric. The highest point of tensions was gunfire on the DMZ and the sinking of a South Korean submarine, which made many people think the Second Korean War was imminent. Secretary of State Susan Rice was able to negotiate a ceasefire between the two countries. However, conditions in North Korea continued to detierirate, and it was looking like the Juche regime was on its last legs. | This was also the year tensions on the Korean peninsuila flared to dangerous levels. Rumors abounded over Kim Jong Un's health, which lead to internal unrest. North Korea's response was a show of force, which escalated rhetoric. The highest point of tensions was gunfire on the DMZ and the sinking of a South Korean submarine, which made many people think the Second Korean War was imminent. Secretary of State Susan Rice was able to negotiate a ceasefire between the two countries. However, conditions in North Korea continued to detierirate, and it was looking like the Juche regime was on its last legs. |
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| [B]2018- The World Shifts[/B] | **2018- The World Shifts** |
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| The events of 2018 would often be cited by future generations as a turning point for the Middle East. A new Israeli prime minister in the form of a charismatic Yair Lapid signed into execution what is known in Israel as the Masada war, bombing Iranian nuclear development centers on January 25th. The war quickly drew in a hesitant America which only got involved after Iran launched several missiles at various US Naval ships in the Persian Gulf, causing over 75 deaths. This in turn also invited in Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Al-Assad regime in the war against the Israelis,. This alit the middle eastern skies with missiles as the war was mainly a battle for aerial and naval dominance with limited use of ground troops outside of Syria ( as rebellion groups received Ariel aid from American air squadrons) , Gaza( which was occupied initially by Israel), and Southern Lebanon( also occupied). | The events of 2018 would often be cited by future generations as a turning point for the Middle East. A new Israeli prime minister in the form of a charismatic Yair Lapid signed into execution what is known in Israel as the Masada war, bombing Iranian nuclear development centers on January 25th. The war quickly drew in a hesitant America which only got involved after Iran launched several missiles at various US Naval ships in the Persian Gulf, causing over 75 deaths. This in turn also invited in Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Al-Assad regime in the war against the Israelis,. This alit the middle eastern skies with missiles as the war was mainly a battle for aerial and naval dominance with limited use of ground troops outside of Syria ( as rebellion groups received Ariel aid from American air squadrons) , Gaza( which was occupied initially by Israel), and Southern Lebanon( also occupied). |
| The war ended in an Israeli-American victory but resulted in over 57,000 Iranian deaths, 11,000 Israeli deaths, 22,200 Lebanese deaths, 13,567 Gazan deaths and 500 American deaths. The Treaty of Cairo signed on November 30th of 2018 helped to reconfigure middle eastern borders with Gaza being annexed towards Egypt after the fall of Hamas, Hezbollah wiped out in its capabilities and the Al-Assad regime collapsed, transforming Syria into a genocidal pool of ethnic and religious tensions fought by factions even more determined to assert control. The war left Iran severely weakened and the theocratic state survived but on on its last legs, and a shell shocked Israel with a position of strength over the West Bank and Lebanon. Despite the minor recession caused by the war due to rising oil prices the war still helped President Clinton and her Democratic party regain control of the senate in 2018 albeit with a 51-49 advantage, but unsettled other rouge states abroad such as North Korea which eased its provocations in light of the Masada war. | The war ended in an Israeli-American victory but resulted in over 57,000 Iranian deaths, 11,000 Israeli deaths, 22,200 Lebanese deaths, 13,567 Gazan deaths and 500 American deaths. The Treaty of Cairo signed on November 30th of 2018 helped to reconfigure middle eastern borders with Gaza being annexed towards Egypt after the fall of Hamas, Hezbollah wiped out in its capabilities and the Al-Assad regime collapsed, transforming Syria into a genocidal pool of ethnic and religious tensions fought by factions even more determined to assert control. The war left Iran severely weakened and the theocratic state survived but on on its last legs, and a shell shocked Israel with a position of strength over the West Bank and Lebanon. Despite the minor recession caused by the war due to rising oil prices the war still helped President Clinton and her Democratic party regain control of the senate in 2018 albeit with a 51-49 advantage, but unsettled other rouge states abroad such as North Korea which eased its provocations in light of the Masada war. |
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| [B]2019 - Evolution and Stagnation[/B] | **2019 - Evolution and Stagnation** |
| Six years after the launch of the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One the world once again anxiously awaits the announcement of the next generation of video games. Sony announces the "Playstation Evolve" and Microsoft announces the "Xbox Forever" providing fodder for late night comedians. Giantbomb's Jeff Gerstmann called the names "the most ridiculously stupid names for a vide game console since the Xbox one. In a decision that was not as shocking to gaming insiders as it was the mainstream press Nintendo announced that there would be no replacement for their Wii U console and that a deal had been struck with Sony to develop first party Nintendo games on the Playstation platform. | Six years after the launch of the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One the world once again anxiously awaits the announcement of the next generation of video games. Sony announces the "Playstation Evolve" and Microsoft announces the "Xbox Forever" providing fodder for late night comedians. Giantbomb's Jeff Gerstmann called the names "the most ridiculously stupid names for a vide game console since the Xbox one. In a decision that was not as shocking to gaming insiders as it was the mainstream press Nintendo announced that there would be no replacement for their Wii U console and that a deal had been struck with Sony to develop first party Nintendo games on the Playstation platform. |
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| [B]2020 - The Beleaguered Second Amendment[/B] | **2020 - The Beleaguered Second Amendment** |
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| Second Amendment advocates saw their fiercest challenge yet when a disgruntled college dropout opened fire in a crowded auditorium in March, killing 41 people in the deadliest shooting in American history to date. This kicked off another debate about gun control unseen since the Sandy Hook tragedy of 2012. The shooting led Hillary Clinton to propose the most sweeping gun control law yet, which would require all gun owners to undergo an annual re-certification in order to keep their guns. After fierce congressional debate, enough Democrats joined the Republicans in Congress to narrowly defeat the bill, but Clinton promised another, refined law and this led gun control advocates to turn to Rand Paul in the Republican primaries, giving him a victory. He picked outgoing Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate, and gun control became one of the big issues of the 2020 election, with Hillary Clinton's proposed single-payer healthcare bill as the other main issue. | Second Amendment advocates saw their fiercest challenge yet when a disgruntled college dropout opened fire in a crowded auditorium in March, killing 41 people in the deadliest shooting in American history to date. This kicked off another debate about gun control unseen since the Sandy Hook tragedy of 2012. The shooting led Hillary Clinton to propose the most sweeping gun control law yet, which would require all gun owners to undergo an annual re-certification in order to keep their guns. After fierce congressional debate, enough Democrats joined the Republicans in Congress to narrowly defeat the bill, but Clinton promised another, refined law and this led gun control advocates to turn to Rand Paul in the Republican primaries, giving him a victory. He picked outgoing Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate, and gun control became one of the big issues of the 2020 election, with Hillary Clinton's proposed single-payer healthcare bill as the other main issue. |
| 2020 was also the worst hurricane season since 2005, with three major hurricanes (Cristobal, Hanna, and Laura) making landfall in the United States. Another hurricane, Rene, while not as devastating as the trio of major hurricanes, made landfall in Tampa as a Category 1 on Election Day, disrupting the elections there. However, the disruptions did little to effect the election's outcome. Though fierce protests over Clinton's proposed gun control laws were covered heavily in the mainstream media, the recovering economy and enthusiasm over Clinton's proposed single-payer health care law gave her a landslide re-election victory over the Paul/Pence ticket, while Democrats made gains in the House and Senate. With four straight election losses, the Republicans knew they had some serious soul-searching to do as 2024 loomed. | 2020 was also the worst hurricane season since 2005, with three major hurricanes (Cristobal, Hanna, and Laura) making landfall in the United States. Another hurricane, Rene, while not as devastating as the trio of major hurricanes, made landfall in Tampa as a Category 1 on Election Day, disrupting the elections there. However, the disruptions did little to effect the election's outcome. Though fierce protests over Clinton's proposed gun control laws were covered heavily in the mainstream media, the recovering economy and enthusiasm over Clinton's proposed single-payer health care law gave her a landslide re-election victory over the Paul/Pence ticket, while Democrats made gains in the House and Senate. With four straight election losses, the Republicans knew they had some serious soul-searching to do as 2024 loomed. |
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| [B]2021- Winds Of Change[/B] | **2021- Winds Of Change** |
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| Yair Lapid's tenure as Prime Minister ended in the spring of 2021 due to the economic and political malaise that had overcome Israel following the end of the Masada War. Danny Danon of the Likud party then arose to become the prime minister in coalition with Naftali Bennet's The Jewish Home. Upon his ascension to the office riots broke out in the West Bank among Palestinians who were enraged that they still remained without a state, thus culminating in the third intifada. The intifada became famed worldwide due to the events of June 27th 2021 upon which Prime Minister Danny Danon was killed by a disgruntled 20 year old Arab College student named Amin Abbas, who became a political icon throughout the Arab world and imprisoned for life. | Yair Lapid's tenure as Prime Minister ended in the spring of 2021 due to the economic and political malaise that had overcome Israel following the end of the Masada War. Danny Danon of the Likud party then arose to become the prime minister in coalition with Naftali Bennet's The Jewish Home. Upon his ascension to the office riots broke out in the West Bank among Palestinians who were enraged that they still remained without a state, thus culminating in the third intifada. The intifada became famed worldwide due to the events of June 27th 2021 upon which Prime Minister Danny Danon was killed by a disgruntled 20 year old Arab College student named Amin Abbas, who became a political icon throughout the Arab world and imprisoned for life. |
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| Naftali Bennnet then arose to the office and his first act was to declare the formal annexation of the West Bank. The act drew outrage from the Western world when he announced that the PA would be dismantled and West Bank Arabs restricted from voting rights, an act which strained American-Israeli relations. Meanwhile in Syria the civil war continued with factions immersed in a power vacuum, but by the summer of 2021, Northeastern Syria seceded from the rest of the nation as Kurdish rebels declared the region the founding point of a new kurdish nation. They hoped that in future years Iraqi and Turkish Kurdistan could join to form a greater Kurdish nation. To the disappointment of Turkey and Iraq, America and the EU recognized the new state. | Naftali Bennnet then arose to the office and his first act was to declare the formal annexation of the West Bank. The act drew outrage from the Western world when he announced that the PA would be dismantled and West Bank Arabs restricted from voting rights, an act which strained American-Israeli relations. Meanwhile in Syria the civil war continued with factions immersed in a power vacuum, but by the summer of 2021, Northeastern Syria seceded from the rest of the nation as Kurdish rebels declared the region the founding point of a new kurdish nation. They hoped that in future years Iraqi and Turkish Kurdistan could join to form a greater Kurdish nation. To the disappointment of Turkey and Iraq, America and the EU recognized the new state. |
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| 2022 - We're Back[/B] | **2022 - We're Back** |
| 2022 Was a big year for the democrats, President Clinton's health care reforms were beginning to take effect at this time and the economy was beginning to improve significantly this gave democrats a very good feeling going into the 2022 midterms. The next goal for the democratic agenda would focus on education reform and the implementation of a high-speed rail network that would connect America's major cities. | 2022 Was a big year for the democrats, President Clinton's health care reforms were beginning to take effect at this time and the economy was beginning to improve significantly this gave democrats a very good feeling going into the 2022 midterms. The next goal for the democratic agenda would focus on education reform and the implementation of a high-speed rail network that would connect America's major cities. |
| Star Wars Episode IX was released this year to become the most successful opening weekend in movie history, three more films were announced shortly thereafter. | Star Wars Episode IX was released this year to become the most successful opening weekend in movie history, three more films were announced shortly thereafter. |
| In November democrats gained seats in the house and reached a super majority in the senate of 60-40 | In November democrats gained seats in the house and reached a super majority in the senate of 60-40 |
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| [B]2023- Aftershock[/B] | **2023- Aftershock** |
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| On February 4 a huge earthquake stuck Seattle, causing massive loss of life and property. The next day, in one of the most emotionally charged games in history the Seattle Seahawks beat the Baltimore Ravens in the Superbowl. The Clinton Administration was widely praised for their relief efforts following the earthquake. | On February 4 a huge earthquake stuck Seattle, causing massive loss of life and property. The next day, in one of the most emotionally charged games in history the Seattle Seahawks beat the Baltimore Ravens in the Superbowl. The Clinton Administration was widely praised for their relief efforts following the earthquake. |
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| On September 29th Vice President Joe Biden suffered a massive Heart Attack, while he survived he announced his resignation for health reasons. President Clinton chose Texas Governor Julian Castro as her new VP. That year also saw the election of the first democratic government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a long time. | On September 29th Vice President Joe Biden suffered a massive Heart Attack, while he survived he announced his resignation for health reasons. President Clinton chose Texas Governor Julian Castro as her new VP. That year also saw the election of the first democratic government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a long time. |
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| 2024 - The Great Schism[/B] | **2024 - The Great Schism** |
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| The beginning of the year 2024 saw a massive split in the Republican Party as preparations for the presidential elections began to take place. With the recent implementation of single-payer healthcare and the passage of Hillary Clinton's education reform omnibus bill (which, among other things, included a $700 billion student loan forgiveness provision and another $1 trillion toward funding K-12 schools, most of this raised by increased taxes on the top 5%), the top brass of the Republican Party shifted toward libertarianism, de-emphasizing social issues almost overnight and heavily pushing a "freedom" agenda in opposition to Clinton's new programs. The transition would have gone mostly smoothly if not for two developments that got social conservatives fiercely up in arms and demanding a continued voice in the "new" Republican Party. The first was a landmark television first when the Disney Channel teen comedy "Sophomoric" featured a lesbian couple, in this case the show's two main characters Amy and Cassidy, who "came out" to each other and started dating at the end of the show's first season. This drew MASSIVE protests from Christian groups and social conservative commentators and fueled a general Disney boycott which took a small but significant chunk out of the company's revenue that year. | The beginning of the year 2024 saw a massive split in the Republican Party as preparations for the presidential elections began to take place. With the recent implementation of single-payer healthcare and the passage of Hillary Clinton's education reform omnibus bill (which, among other things, included a $700 billion student loan forgiveness provision and another $1 trillion toward funding K-12 schools, most of this raised by increased taxes on the top 5%), the top brass of the Republican Party shifted toward libertarianism, de-emphasizing social issues almost overnight and heavily pushing a "freedom" agenda in opposition to Clinton's new programs. The transition would have gone mostly smoothly if not for two developments that got social conservatives fiercely up in arms and demanding a continued voice in the "new" Republican Party. The first was a landmark television first when the Disney Channel teen comedy "Sophomoric" featured a lesbian couple, in this case the show's two main characters Amy and Cassidy, who "came out" to each other and started dating at the end of the show's first season. This drew MASSIVE protests from Christian groups and social conservative commentators and fueled a general Disney boycott which took a small but significant chunk out of the company's revenue that year. |
| The other was the 5-4 Supreme Court decision Catlin v. North Carolina, which overturned the state's 20-week abortion ban and in effect overturned nearly all such laws restricting abortion such as vaginal ultrasounds. Seen as "Roe v. Wade II" by pro-life advocates, the bill only added to the "Great Revival" among many conservative Christian groups and led leaders of the movement to push for a socially conservative Republican presidential candidate to challenge Julian Castro, the overwhelming Democratic nominee who clinched his party's nomination in March. The fierce battle came down to the social conservatives' choice, Louis Gohmert, against the party brass' choice, Marco Rubio, and the battle went to the convention itself, with Rubio coming out on top in a decision that caused a near riot as was the case in the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The deeply-divided Republican party rallied hard behind Rubio, but social conservatives sat on their hands in the election (and about a million wrote in Louis Gohmert as a candidate), handing Julian Castro a second straight landslide victory for the Democrats. | The other was the 5-4 Supreme Court decision Catlin v. North Carolina, which overturned the state's 20-week abortion ban and in effect overturned nearly all such laws restricting abortion such as vaginal ultrasounds. Seen as "Roe v. Wade II" by pro-life advocates, the bill only added to the "Great Revival" among many conservative Christian groups and led leaders of the movement to push for a socially conservative Republican presidential candidate to challenge Julian Castro, the overwhelming Democratic nominee who clinched his party's nomination in March. The fierce battle came down to the social conservatives' choice, Louis Gohmert, against the party brass' choice, Marco Rubio, and the battle went to the convention itself, with Rubio coming out on top in a decision that caused a near riot as was the case in the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The deeply-divided Republican party rallied hard behind Rubio, but social conservatives sat on their hands in the election (and about a million wrote in Louis Gohmert as a candidate), handing Julian Castro a second straight landslide victory for the Democrats. |
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| [B]2025 - Dark Days[/B] | **2025 - Dark Days** |
| 2025 was a tough year for the United States, although democrats celebrated their fifth consecutive presidential victory and had a locked in majority in the legislature at least for the next two years it looked like dark days were ahead. Coming out of the very dramatic 2024 election the Tea Party saw a revival not seen since their inception between 2008 and 2010, and as the Tea Party grew conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck saw high levels of success. Playing off the fears of conservative Americans a narrative began to grow that suggested that President Castro and Vice President Susan Rice had stolen the election. Tragedy struck on December 14th, the 13th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting when President Castro was struck by a sniper's bullet after visiting a New York inner city elementary school. The assassin was quickly found and arrested by secret service. Vice President Rice was sworn in as President less than five hours after the shooting. | 2025 was a tough year for the United States, although democrats celebrated their fifth consecutive presidential victory and had a locked in majority in the legislature at least for the next two years it looked like dark days were ahead. Coming out of the very dramatic 2024 election the Tea Party saw a revival not seen since their inception between 2008 and 2010, and as the Tea Party grew conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones and Glenn Beck saw high levels of success. Playing off the fears of conservative Americans a narrative began to grow that suggested that President Castro and Vice President Susan Rice had stolen the election. Tragedy struck on December 14th, the 13th anniversary of the Sandy Hook shooting when President Castro was struck by a sniper's bullet after visiting a New York inner city elementary school. The assassin was quickly found and arrested by secret service. Vice President Rice was sworn in as President less than five hours after the shooting. |
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| [B]2026- The Hegemon of the East | **2026- The Hegemon of the East** |
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| By 2026, China had overcome some of its economic difficulties of the late 2010s, and just as in much of the broader world its economy was booming, with growth rates back to 8-10 percent and the GDP per capita of the normal Chinese resident now standing at $17,000, and many of its corporations beginning to be remarked as global brands. Additionally it also hosted the 2026 world cup, a sporting event renowned for the final where Ghana beat England 3-2 to become the first African nation to claim the event. In 2024 the sixth generation of Chinese leadership was called up to replace the retiring fifth generation, Xi Jinpeng while not loved was toasted for maintaining China's general economic stability as well as through maintaining a tense peace with Japan. Hu Chunhua, a leading CCP member who had ruled over the party's Tibetan ranks was now ascendant and mainly focused on expanding China's territorial reach and global influence. For an East Asia that had been used to a status quo ruled by America's dominance over the Pacific Ocean things seemed set to change. | By 2026, China had overcome some of its economic difficulties of the late 2010s, and just as in much of the broader world its economy was booming, with growth rates back to 8-10 percent and the GDP per capita of the normal Chinese resident now standing at $17,000, and many of its corporations beginning to be remarked as global brands. Additionally it also hosted the 2026 world cup, a sporting event renowned for the final where Ghana beat England 3-2 to become the first African nation to claim the event. In 2024 the sixth generation of Chinese leadership was called up to replace the retiring fifth generation, Xi Jinpeng while not loved was toasted for maintaining China's general economic stability as well as through maintaining a tense peace with Japan. Hu Chunhua, a leading CCP member who had ruled over the party's Tibetan ranks was now ascendant and mainly focused on expanding China's territorial reach and global influence. For an East Asia that had been used to a status quo ruled by America's dominance over the Pacific Ocean things seemed set to change. |
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| Taiwan was the first target of Chunhau's new expansionist policy, and in September he visited Taipei in a historic trip to meet with leading members of an increasingly pro-unification KMT. A visit that galvanized massive anti-CCP protests throughout the entire island nation of Taiwan. Throughout the fall of 2026 China began to display disturbing signs of belligerence and overt hostility to Taiwan with Chunhua making speeches calling for the future annexation of Taiwan, arguing that Taiwan could retain various aspects of its political structure to become the 34th province. As well as disturbing episodes where Chinese fleets would sail within close proximity of the Taipei harbor. A restive Japan, alarmed by the revival of Chinese ultra-nationalism announced plans to start up a nuclear program within the coming year, defying American pressure. President Rice announced in December of 2026 that she would meet with Chunhuhau in a summit in Shanghai the next year to discuss American concerns over China's military buildup. This coming after a midterms election in which the democratic stranglehold over congress remained. The year ended on a depressing note though when Queen Elizabeth the Second died in her sleep on December 27th, leading to questions on if Charles would ascend to the throne in the coming year. | Taiwan was the first target of Chunhau's new expansionist policy, and in September he visited Taipei in a historic trip to meet with leading members of an increasingly pro-unification KMT. A visit that galvanized massive anti-CCP protests throughout the entire island nation of Taiwan. Throughout the fall of 2026 China began to display disturbing signs of belligerence and overt hostility to Taiwan with Chunhua making speeches calling for the future annexation of Taiwan, arguing that Taiwan could retain various aspects of its political structure to become the 34th province. As well as disturbing episodes where Chinese fleets would sail within close proximity of the Taipei harbor. A restive Japan, alarmed by the revival of Chinese ultra-nationalism announced plans to start up a nuclear program within the coming year, defying American pressure. President Rice announced in December of 2026 that she would meet with Chunhuhau in a summit in Shanghai the next year to discuss American concerns over China's military buildup. This coming after a midterms election in which the democratic stranglehold over congress remained. The year ended on a depressing note though when Queen Elizabeth the Second died in her sleep on December 27th, leading to questions on if Charles would ascend to the throne in the coming year. |
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| [B]2027 - Doubt and Redemption | **2027 - Doubt and Redemption** |
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| [/B]2027 saw the beginnings of trouble for the Rice Administration as the unemployment rate rose over 10% for the first time since 2009. Technological advancements, including the growing role of automation in blue-collar industries, saw more people going out of work. Other technological advancements like a boom in 3-D printing, including for purposes of biotech and the growing of replacement organs, saw promise but that didn't translate into jobs quickly enough to keep the unemployment rate down. The increasing role of automation led some to question the necessity of work at all and some of the more left-wing Democrats (and privately, Rice herself), began floating the idea of a guaranteed basic income similar to those in Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden. This fueled a renewed surge of opposition from Republicans and right-wing Democrats. and Republicans once again worked to purge the party of social conservatives and began floating moderates such as Idaho governor Raul Labrador to run against Rice in 2028. | 2027 saw the beginnings of trouble for the Rice Administration as the unemployment rate rose over 10% for the first time since 2009. Technological advancements, including the growing role of automation in blue-collar industries, saw more people going out of work. Other technological advancements like a boom in 3-D printing, including for purposes of biotech and the growing of replacement organs, saw promise but that didn't translate into jobs quickly enough to keep the unemployment rate down. The increasing role of automation led some to question the necessity of work at all and some of the more left-wing Democrats (and privately, Rice herself), began floating the idea of a guaranteed basic income similar to those in Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden. This fueled a renewed surge of opposition from Republicans and right-wing Democrats. and Republicans once again worked to purge the party of social conservatives and began floating moderates such as Idaho governor Raul Labrador to run against Rice in 2028. |
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| The year saw a number of severe natural and manmade disasters, including the first million-death earthquake in world history. An 8.2 earthquake struck Istanbul, destroying much of the city and killing 1,130,000 people. The year also saw Indianapolis heavily damaged by an F-5 tornado which killed over 200 people and an industrial accident in Kansas that caused an explosion with 600 tons of TNT yield, destroying a small town nearby and killing 121. The year also saw the first death of a major American professional sports team when an airplane carrying nearly the entire Philadelphia Eagles NFL team crashed, killing all on board. | The year saw a number of severe natural and manmade disasters, including the first million-death earthquake in world history. An 8.2 earthquake struck Istanbul, destroying much of the city and killing 1,130,000 people. The year also saw Indianapolis heavily damaged by an F-5 tornado which killed over 200 people and an industrial accident in Kansas that caused an explosion with 600 tons of TNT yield, destroying a small town nearby and killing 121. The year also saw the first death of a major American professional sports team when an airplane carrying nearly the entire Philadelphia Eagles NFL team crashed, killing all on board. |
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| [B]2028- Citizen Zuckerberg | **2028 - Citizen Zuckerberg** |
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| [/B]By the time the 2028 Republican primary season began, it was clear that there were two front-runners for the nomination. Raul Labrador, governor of Idaho, and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder turned political activist. Zuckerberg donated massive amounts of his own money to the campaign, but he found himself neck-and-neck with Labrador. Many Republicans wouldn't vote for him because he was the first open atheist to ever run for the Republican nomination, but his platform of deregulation and technological innovation appealed to the Republican party brass and young people alike. Labrador's platform was similar to Zuckeberg's in a lot of ways but he put an increased emphasis on small businesses and lower taxes. Curiously, neither candidate focused heavily on social issues, though Labrador at least mentioned that he was a proud Christian and that Zuckerberg's atheism was troubling. Even after Super Tuesday, the two were neck-and-neck. Meanwhile, Susan Rice easily won re-nomination. Despite the continued economic troubles and unemployment reaching 12 percent, she received no primary challengers from her own party. It was in April that Raul Labrador began to slowly pull away. His increased emphasis on small business appealed more to working-class and middle-class voters than Mark Zuckerberg, who began to seem out of touch among these crucial voters. By the end of May, Labrador had clinched the nomination. It was thought that he might take Mark Zuckerberg as his VP, but he decided to go with Sean Duffy, a senator from Wisconsin. Though a moderate on social issues, he was somewhat more socially conservative than Labrador and it was thought that he could help pull in some of the disillusioned members of the Christian right who'd abandoned the party in 2024. | By the time the 2028 Republican primary season began, it was clear that there were two front-runners for the nomination. Raul Labrador, governor of Idaho, and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder turned political activist. Zuckerberg donated massive amounts of his own money to the campaign, but he found himself neck-and-neck with Labrador. Many Republicans wouldn't vote for him because he was the first open atheist to ever run for the Republican nomination, but his platform of deregulation and technological innovation appealed to the Republican party brass and young people alike. Labrador's platform was similar to Zuckeberg's in a lot of ways but he put an increased emphasis on small businesses and lower taxes. Curiously, neither candidate focused heavily on social issues, though Labrador at least mentioned that he was a proud Christian and that Zuckerberg's atheism was troubling. Even after Super Tuesday, the two were neck-and-neck. Meanwhile, Susan Rice easily won re-nomination. Despite the continued economic troubles and unemployment reaching 12 percent, she received no primary challengers from her own party. It was in April that Raul Labrador began to slowly pull away. His increased emphasis on small business appealed more to working-class and middle-class voters than Mark Zuckerberg, who began to seem out of touch among these crucial voters. By the end of May, Labrador had clinched the nomination. It was thought that he might take Mark Zuckerberg as his VP, but he decided to go with Sean Duffy, a senator from Wisconsin. Though a moderate on social issues, he was somewhat more socially conservative than Labrador and it was thought that he could help pull in some of the disillusioned members of the Christian right who'd abandoned the party in 2024. |
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| The two candidates began campaigning fiercely but no sooner had the Democratic National Convention ended in August did Mark Zuckerberg enter the race as an independent, with Washington governor Kim Wyman as his running mate. Like Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996, Zuckerberg campaigned for lower taxes and a reduction in the deficit, but he also emphasized the importance of public education, something the Republicans shied away from. He began to emerge as a populist candidate and regained some of the working-class support he'd lost during the primaries. He gained enough support that he was invited to appear in all three presidential debates and he "won" two of them with his articulate and concise responses. He emphasized a new brand of conservatism that emphasized the "potential of every American", providing the best education system in the world and then letting these well-educated Americans loose into a deregulated market ripe for innovation impressed voters and at one point Zuckerberg led in polling, getting 36% to Labrador's 34% and Rice's 30%. By October, it was clear that Susan Rice was sunk. Even a successful Los Angeles Olympics with plenty of photo-ops for Rice couldn't help her and it was becoming clear that this election would be more like 1912 than 1992. In desperation, Rice revealed her plans to enact a basic income guarantee law, but this was a gambit that backfired spectacularly, as most Americans still didn't support this measure and saw it as extreme and socialistic. It seemed that it was a two-way race between Labrador and Zuckerberg, but despite his popular rhetoric, Mark Zuckerberg couldn't drum up significant support among the Republican base. He drew more Democrats away from Susan Rice than he did Republicans from Labrador, though he was making it very close in California. When Election Night came, Labrador started out strong and Rice's wins were all coming in New England states such as Vermont and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Labrador was taking the entire South and once he'd clinched Texas and Florida, it was pretty much over for the Democrats. Zuckerberg, however, took New Hampshire, the first state any third-party candidate had taken since George Wallace in 1968. He challenged Labrador in some Midwestern states (some, like Michigan, were VERY close three-way races) but couldn't win any of them. Labrador clinched the nomination fairly early and though Zuckerberg managed to take Washington and Oregon and made California very close, it wasn't nearly enough. Raul Labrador had won in an electoral landslide and promised a return to prosperity for America, while Mark Zuckerberg licked his wounds and geared up almost immediately for another run in 2032. He and his supporters began to push for an end to the "first past the post" system which they said denied him and other third party candidates a fair chance to win. The election of 2028 had been much closer than the Electoral College votes indicated. | The two candidates began campaigning fiercely but no sooner had the Democratic National Convention ended in August did Mark Zuckerberg enter the race as an independent, with Washington governor Kim Wyman as his running mate. Like Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996, Zuckerberg campaigned for lower taxes and a reduction in the deficit, but he also emphasized the importance of public education, something the Republicans shied away from. He began to emerge as a populist candidate and regained some of the working-class support he'd lost during the primaries. He gained enough support that he was invited to appear in all three presidential debates and he "won" two of them with his articulate and concise responses. He emphasized a new brand of conservatism that emphasized the "potential of every American", providing the best education system in the world and then letting these well-educated Americans loose into a deregulated market ripe for innovation impressed voters and at one point Zuckerberg led in polling, getting 36% to Labrador's 34% and Rice's 30%. By October, it was clear that Susan Rice was sunk. Even a successful Los Angeles Olympics with plenty of photo-ops for Rice couldn't help her and it was becoming clear that this election would be more like 1912 than 1992. In desperation, Rice revealed her plans to enact a basic income guarantee law, but this was a gambit that backfired spectacularly, as most Americans still didn't support this measure and saw it as extreme and socialistic. It seemed that it was a two-way race between Labrador and Zuckerberg, but despite his popular rhetoric, Mark Zuckerberg couldn't drum up significant support among the Republican base. He drew more Democrats away from Susan Rice than he did Republicans from Labrador, though he was making it very close in California. When Election Night came, Labrador started out strong and Rice's wins were all coming in New England states such as Vermont and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Labrador was taking the entire South and once he'd clinched Texas and Florida, it was pretty much over for the Democrats. Zuckerberg, however, took New Hampshire, the first state any third-party candidate had taken since George Wallace in 1968. He challenged Labrador in some Midwestern states (some, like Michigan, were VERY close three-way races) but couldn't win any of them. Labrador clinched the nomination fairly early and though Zuckerberg managed to take Washington and Oregon and made California very close, it wasn't nearly enough. Raul Labrador had won in an electoral landslide and promised a return to prosperity for America, while Mark Zuckerberg licked his wounds and geared up almost immediately for another run in 2032. He and his supporters began to push for an end to the "first past the post" system which they said denied him and other third party candidates a fair chance to win. The election of 2028 had been much closer than the Electoral College votes indicated. |
| [B] | |
| 2029- HEATING UP | **2029- HEATING UP** |
| [/B] | |
| By 2029 the world had reached a new state of flux. In the middle east national borders now almost looked practically reconfigured, Israel stood enlarged, now occupying both the West Bank and Southern Lebanon. Not though without massive protests and deep feelings of anger from a rapidly growing and large disenfranchised Arab minority. Syria meanwhile had ceased to exist, the former nation of Syria had by the mid 2020s calmed down to become a hodgepodge of an Alwaite homeland funded by Russian funds, a Sunni homeland that was adjoined to the Iraqi sunni homeland, and in the North of the country a Kurdistan that now included both Syrian and Iraqi kurdistan and that had in previous years fought a war with Turkey for control of Turkish kurdistan. In the gulf region, the loss of oil revenues due to increasing North American and African production had led to great instability, Saudi Arabia underwent a violent revolution that led to it become a fundamentalist paradise similar to Iran of the 1980s and that rumors revealed was plotting an attack against its long reviled enemy of Iran . Yemen had fractured into a North and South Yemen, a South Yemen that was increasingly under the yoke of a rapidly growing and confident Somalia. Meanwhile Iran in 2028 had finally undergone the revolution predicted for decades, and was now going through the early spasms of being a fully open democracy. Africa unlike the chaotic Middle East was finally beginning to find itself under the winds of a massive boom. Ghana, South Africa, Tunisia, Botswana, and the Kenyan region of the East African federation had by now all reached first world status, with Ghana in particular becoming a tourist magnet for the West African region. Even the Democratic Republic of Congo, long the sick man of the continent was beginning to grow. Additionally demographic changes were altering the traditional ethnic composition of the region. In the course of two decades a massive Chinese diaspora was developing on the continent, with over 7 million Chinese residents now residing on the continent, and growing diasporas of Portuguese, Spanish, and French residents who migrated to former colonies to take advantage of the growing business scene. | By 2029 the world had reached a new state of flux. In the middle east national borders now almost looked practically reconfigured, Israel stood enlarged, now occupying both the West Bank and Southern Lebanon. Not though without massive protests and deep feelings of anger from a rapidly growing and large disenfranchised Arab minority. Syria meanwhile had ceased to exist, the former nation of Syria had by the mid 2020s calmed down to become a hodgepodge of an Alwaite homeland funded by Russian funds, a Sunni homeland that was adjoined to the Iraqi sunni homeland, and in the North of the country a Kurdistan that now included both Syrian and Iraqi kurdistan and that had in previous years fought a war with Turkey for control of Turkish kurdistan. In the gulf region, the loss of oil revenues due to increasing North American and African production had led to great instability, Saudi Arabia underwent a violent revolution that led to it become a fundamentalist paradise similar to Iran of the 1980s and that rumors revealed was plotting an attack against its long reviled enemy of Iran . Yemen had fractured into a North and South Yemen, a South Yemen that was increasingly under the yoke of a rapidly growing and confident Somalia. Meanwhile Iran in 2028 had finally undergone the revolution predicted for decades, and was now going through the early spasms of being a fully open democracy. Africa unlike the chaotic Middle East was finally beginning to find itself under the winds of a massive boom. Ghana, South Africa, Tunisia, Botswana, and the Kenyan region of the East African federation had by now all reached first world status, with Ghana in particular becoming a tourist magnet for the West African region. Even the Democratic Republic of Congo, long the sick man of the continent was beginning to grow. Additionally demographic changes were altering the traditional ethnic composition of the region. In the course of two decades a massive Chinese diaspora was developing on the continent, with over 7 million Chinese residents now residing on the continent, and growing diasporas of Portuguese, Spanish, and French residents who migrated to former colonies to take advantage of the growing business scene. |
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| America though continued to be seen as one of the tentpoles of power in the world. Raul Labrador sworn into power on Jan 20 2029 swore that he would continue to preserve this traditional set of affair. He took power with a slightly controlled Republican house, but a stubborn senate chaired by Democrats unused to a conservative president. His first year in office was rather eventful. His first course of action was to attempt social security reform, an effort that he said had gone by for far too long due to the actions of democratic presidents in favor of the social welfare state.Democrats though bashed his efforts, claiming that it would harm the welfare of the Baby boom generation, whereas Labrador claimed that privatization of certain facets of social security would go a long way towards reducing a debt and deficit load that mirrored that of mid 2010s Japan. Although his package passed the house, it failed in the senate and was blocked by Democratic senators. An effort that led Labrador to label the senate a "do-nothing" senate. The only triumph of his first year was the ability to pass tax reforms that favored small businesses, an increase in subsidies to green businesses, and a new expanded law upon previous efforts that would outlaw discrimination of any kind towards those who underwent the infant genetic therapies when they were fetuses. A health service increasingly utilized by wealthy clients. Genetic therapies that by this point could alter cosmetic appearances and destroy a few genetic disorders but that were growing ever more controversial and powerful with succeeding years. By the end of the year unemployment had lessened to ten percent, and attention turned to the Midterm elections. | America though continued to be seen as one of the tentpoles of power in the world. Raul Labrador sworn into power on Jan 20 2029 swore that he would continue to preserve this traditional set of affair. He took power with a slightly controlled Republican house, but a stubborn senate chaired by Democrats unused to a conservative president. His first year in office was rather eventful. His first course of action was to attempt social security reform, an effort that he said had gone by for far too long due to the actions of democratic presidents in favor of the social welfare state.Democrats though bashed his efforts, claiming that it would harm the welfare of the Baby boom generation, whereas Labrador claimed that privatization of certain facets of social security would go a long way towards reducing a debt and deficit load that mirrored that of mid 2010s Japan. Although his package passed the house, it failed in the senate and was blocked by Democratic senators. An effort that led Labrador to label the senate a "do-nothing" senate. The only triumph of his first year was the ability to pass tax reforms that favored small businesses, an increase in subsidies to green businesses, and a new expanded law upon previous efforts that would outlaw discrimination of any kind towards those who underwent the infant genetic therapies when they were fetuses. A health service increasingly utilized by wealthy clients. Genetic therapies that by this point could alter cosmetic appearances and destroy a few genetic disorders but that were growing ever more controversial and powerful with succeeding years. By the end of the year unemployment had lessened to ten percent, and attention turned to the Midterm elections. |
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| [B]2030-Explosion day[/B] | **2030-Explosion day** |
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| The growing discontempt in the Assyrian regions of the middle east are starting to turn into a conflict. The Assyrians want a independent state, and they are supported by many Eastern European countries and some Asian ones, meanwhile USA is strangely against Assyria's independence. | The growing discontempt in the Assyrian regions of the middle east are starting to turn into a conflict. The Assyrians want a independent state, and they are supported by many Eastern European countries and some Asian ones, meanwhile USA is strangely against Assyria's independence. |
| Meanwhile in the far east increasing tensions between Mongolia and China about inner Mongolia Threaten to destabilize the region. | Meanwhile in the far east increasing tensions between Mongolia and China about inner Mongolia Threaten to destabilize the region. |
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| [B]2031 - Challenges and Challengers | **2031 - Challenges and Challengers** |
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| [/B]Foreign affairs dominated much of 2031, with the Assyrian and Mongolian flare-ups threatening to turn into full-on crises. China deployed troops in Inner Mongolia, forcing President Labrador to begin issuing strongly-worded warnings that the United States would not stand for increased aggression by the Chinese. An eleventh-hour deal, however, prevented any further armed conflict, though Mongolia had to cede some of its territory to China. Many people around the world viewed the situation as similar to Neville Chamberlain's 1938 capitulation to Hitler, though starting a general war would not be in the best economic interests of China, especially as it continued to strive toward becoming a developed nation, and the situation gradually died down. The situation in Assyria, however, continued to intensify as Saudi Arabia, growing increasingly belligerent toward Iran, attempted to stir up terrorism in the region. This culminated in a terrorist bomb in Tehran that killed several dozen people, and war looked imminent as 2031 ended. Meanwhile, construction began on the Bridge of the Horns to link up Africa with Yemen, a project carried out with the full support of a rapidly developing Somalia, which helped neighboring Djibouti with costs in exchange for favorable trade agreements. | Foreign affairs dominated much of 2031, with the Assyrian and Mongolian flare-ups threatening to turn into full-on crises. China deployed troops in Inner Mongolia, forcing President Labrador to begin issuing strongly-worded warnings that the United States would not stand for increased aggression by the Chinese. An eleventh-hour deal, however, prevented any further armed conflict, though Mongolia had to cede some of its territory to China. Many people around the world viewed the situation as similar to Neville Chamberlain's 1938 capitulation to Hitler, though starting a general war would not be in the best economic interests of China, especially as it continued to strive toward becoming a developed nation, and the situation gradually died down. The situation in Assyria, however, continued to intensify as Saudi Arabia, growing increasingly belligerent toward Iran, attempted to stir up terrorism in the region. This culminated in a terrorist bomb in Tehran that killed several dozen people, and war looked imminent as 2031 ended. Meanwhile, construction began on the Bridge of the Horns to link up Africa with Yemen, a project carried out with the full support of a rapidly developing Somalia, which helped neighboring Djibouti with costs in exchange for favorable trade agreements. |
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| In the United States, Raul Labrador's green policies gained popularity among his own party, in a 180 from the clashes between environmentalism and big business in the past. His platform, which encouraged business interests and entrepreneurs to develop green solutions for increasingly pressing environmental problems, contributed greatly to a surge in green investments, though the growing environmental projects and business contributions had yet to halt the disturbing climate change and warming still taking place due to fossil fuels. The problems were made starkly clear when Category 5 Hurricane Ingrid made a direct hit on New Orleans, far worse than Katrina had done in 2005. The entire city was completely submerged and despite President Labrador's excellent handling of the crisis, along with valiant efforts by state and local disaster management, many people still refused to leave and over 4,000 were killed. Despite the tragedy, President Labrador was still popular and any Democratic challenger would surely have a difficult effort in unseating him. With Mark Zuckerberg making a Shermanesque statement and cooling his heels until 2036, all eyes focused on who would be the lone major challenge to Labrador's seat in 2032. Potential candidates began to emerge, including the usual suspects: Kirsten Gillibrand, Ohio governor Tim Ryan, and Indiana senator Andre Carson were joined by Gabby Giffords, who had been the victim of an assassination attempt two decades before and had made a political comeback in the 20s, being elected to an Arizona senate seat. There were some outsiders among the Democrats as well, including entertainer-turned-political activist Mandy Moore and Louisiana Congressman Zack Kopplin. Early polling had Gillibrand and Giffords in a close race for first, but Moore and Kopplin were surging in polls taken at the end of the year. It was clear though that whoever came out of the Democratic primaries would have a very tough and popular incumbent to unseat.[/QUOTE] | In the United States, Raul Labrador's green policies gained popularity among his own party, in a 180 from the clashes between environmentalism and big business in the past. His platform, which encouraged business interests and entrepreneurs to develop green solutions for increasingly pressing environmental problems, contributed greatly to a surge in green investments, though the growing environmental projects and business contributions had yet to halt the disturbing climate change and warming still taking place due to fossil fuels. The problems were made starkly clear when Category 5 Hurricane Ingrid made a direct hit on New Orleans, far worse than Katrina had done in 2005. The entire city was completely submerged and despite President Labrador's excellent handling of the crisis, along with valiant efforts by state and local disaster management, many people still refused to leave and over 4,000 were killed. Despite the tragedy, President Labrador was still popular and any Democratic challenger would surely have a difficult effort in unseating him. With Mark Zuckerberg making a Shermanesque statement and cooling his heels until 2036, all eyes focused on who would be the lone major challenge to Labrador's seat in 2032. Potential candidates began to emerge, including the usual suspects: Kirsten Gillibrand, Ohio governor Tim Ryan, and Indiana senator Andre Carson were joined by Gabby Giffords, who had been the victim of an assassination attempt two decades before and had made a political comeback in the 20s, being elected to an Arizona senate seat. There were some outsiders among the Democrats as well, including entertainer-turned-political activist Mandy Moore and Louisiana Congressman Zack Kopplin. Early polling had Gillibrand and Giffords in a close race for first, but Moore and Kopplin were surging in polls taken at the end of the year. It was clear though that whoever came out of the Democratic primaries would have a very tough and popular incumbent to unseat.[/QUOTE] |
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| [B]2032- EPOCHAL[/B] | **2032- EPOCHAL** |
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| On the world front 2032 proved to be as exciting and dramatic as 2031. Iran and Saudi Arabia at the start of the year engaged in a minor war that lasted three months, a war that ultimately ended in a stalemate and that proved able to deteriorate both nation's infrastructure, but such a war which would have two decades previously sent energy prices soaring, now in a new world with more efficient renewable energy technologies( In America renewable energies now accounted for sixty three percent of the total energy output) and soaring oil and gas production in both North America and Africa ultimately did little to affect the global stage. In Britain King Charles the Third died of a major cardiac arrest, which enabled the Duke of Cambridge, William, to undergo his coronation as King William the Fifth. The year though ended tragically for the British Royal family when Prince George, driving to the recently expanded O2 center for the concert of Lil Lennon , a popular British rapper, in one of his family's many limousines was involved in a car crash, dying before ambulances could save him. Moving his sister, Princess Charlotte, born in 2016, to first in line to the succession of the British throne. Hu Chunhua in China also stirred up continued drama when in September at the annual meetup of world leaders at the UN he denounced India's application for a permanent seat at the UN Security council and cursed Vietnam for its recent hostile actions in the South China Sea, such as when it had barred Chinese fishing expeditions. The situation became heated in October, three weeks before the US Presidential election when a small Chinese naval cruiser combusted and sunk in the Gulf of Tonkin, with the cause determined to be explosives originating from Vietnam, a claim the Vietnamese government denied. Chunhau, set to retire in the next year claimed the accident was the result of a Vietnamese conspiracy and used it to declare full war on the Vietnamese people. The war lasted a total of seven weeks and involved the full mobilization of the PLA into Northern Vietnam, although the Vietnamese forces fought bravely and tried to engage in general guerrilla warfare, the war ended on December 21st when China marched into Hanoi and then set out in the next year to withdraw so long as the remnants of the Vietnamese government accepted the new territorial boundaries which the incoming seventh generation of Chinese leadership would draw up. | On the world front 2032 proved to be as exciting and dramatic as 2031. Iran and Saudi Arabia at the start of the year engaged in a minor war that lasted three months, a war that ultimately ended in a stalemate and that proved able to deteriorate both nation's infrastructure, but such a war which would have two decades previously sent energy prices soaring, now in a new world with more efficient renewable energy technologies( In America renewable energies now accounted for sixty three percent of the total energy output) and soaring oil and gas production in both North America and Africa ultimately did little to affect the global stage. In Britain King Charles the Third died of a major cardiac arrest, which enabled the Duke of Cambridge, William, to undergo his coronation as King William the Fifth. The year though ended tragically for the British Royal family when Prince George, driving to the recently expanded O2 center for the concert of Lil Lennon , a popular British rapper, in one of his family's many limousines was involved in a car crash, dying before ambulances could save him. Moving his sister, Princess Charlotte, born in 2016, to first in line to the succession of the British throne. Hu Chunhua in China also stirred up continued drama when in September at the annual meetup of world leaders at the UN he denounced India's application for a permanent seat at the UN Security council and cursed Vietnam for its recent hostile actions in the South China Sea, such as when it had barred Chinese fishing expeditions. The situation became heated in October, three weeks before the US Presidential election when a small Chinese naval cruiser combusted and sunk in the Gulf of Tonkin, with the cause determined to be explosives originating from Vietnam, a claim the Vietnamese government denied. Chunhau, set to retire in the next year claimed the accident was the result of a Vietnamese conspiracy and used it to declare full war on the Vietnamese people. The war lasted a total of seven weeks and involved the full mobilization of the PLA into Northern Vietnam, although the Vietnamese forces fought bravely and tried to engage in general guerrilla warfare, the war ended on December 21st when China marched into Hanoi and then set out in the next year to withdraw so long as the remnants of the Vietnamese government accepted the new territorial boundaries which the incoming seventh generation of Chinese leadership would draw up. |
| In America, all eyes were firmly focused on the 2032 Presidential election. The Republican party was firmly united behind incumbent President Raul Labrador, who was increasingly coming to be seen as the modern face and icon of the party, in a way no republican president had been seen as since Ronald Reagan. In his re-election run, he stated that this neo-era of good feelings would continue and advocated for Puerto Rican statehood in his second term. The Democratic Party faced a tough primary season, with the party divided into a three way contest between Gabby Giffords, Gillibrand, and Zach Kopplin who argued that the party must modernize itself in a new libertarian light so as not to be outpaced by the newly resurgent Republican party. The drama escalated into the democratic convention with no one nominee having a stranglehold on the majority of super-delegates needed to clinch the nomination. Scenes from Honolulu, the site of the convention soon turned into acrimony, and a compromise was reached only when Giffords decided to let her votes go to Gillibrand in condition that she'd nominate rising Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema as Vice president, also as well to avert Kopplin from being chosen as President. The only bright light of the convention came to be seen in Massachusetts Governor Joe P Kennedy III's sensational keynote speech,a speech which elevated him to the forefront of presidential contenders for the 2036 elections. As the election season drew nearer though, both parties also found themselves contending with a third new force in American politics: The New Progressive Party. Zuckerberg, realizing that he could not hope to swoop the presidency from Labrador instead focused on creating a new party, inspired by the progressives of the 1910s that would compete initially with Democrats and Republicans in 2032 at least in all Gubernatorial, house, and senate races, drawing the real possibility that next year's congress would have to be a coalition government, all the while using it as a vehicle that would drive him to his hyped 2036 run. The New Progressive party stressed science research, calls for a North American Union, continued social reforms, and an all out rush to assist the space race. Until October the presidential election was being ignored by most mainstream news providers in favor of the more exciting congressional and gubernatorial races. However the Chinese-Vietnamese war changed that dynamic, transforming the election from one about a debate about the economic and social policies of the Labrador regime to one of the questions of American leadership in a world wracked by economic and climate transformations. President Raul Labrador was urged by the Joint Chief of staffs to threaten the Chinese leadership and and at the very least make an impression that Vietnamese territorial sovereignty would not be threatened, however he felt that such an action could lead to a major global war that would be detrimental to American interests. He was attacked in the debates by Presidential candidate Gillibrand over his "Chamberlain-lite strategy" , and Kyrsten Sinema contrary to fears that her sexual orientation would be of issue dazzled and received general positive reception. Election Day proved to be very close, but Raul Labrador managed to scrape out a small victory of about 20 electoral votes despite the high negative ratings he received for his handling of the East Asian crisis. The Congressional picture though was drastically changed, as the NPP won 30 house seats, five senate seats, and two governor races. America now found itself in a three party system. | In America, all eyes were firmly focused on the 2032 Presidential election. The Republican party was firmly united behind incumbent President Raul Labrador, who was increasingly coming to be seen as the modern face and icon of the party, in a way no republican president had been seen as since Ronald Reagan. In his re-election run, he stated that this neo-era of good feelings would continue and advocated for Puerto Rican statehood in his second term. The Democratic Party faced a tough primary season, with the party divided into a three way contest between Gabby Giffords, Gillibrand, and Zach Kopplin who argued that the party must modernize itself in a new libertarian light so as not to be outpaced by the newly resurgent Republican party. The drama escalated into the democratic convention with no one nominee having a stranglehold on the majority of super-delegates needed to clinch the nomination. Scenes from Honolulu, the site of the convention soon turned into acrimony, and a compromise was reached only when Giffords decided to let her votes go to Gillibrand in condition that she'd nominate rising Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema as Vice president, also as well to avert Kopplin from being chosen as President. The only bright light of the convention came to be seen in Massachusetts Governor Joe P Kennedy III's sensational keynote speech,a speech which elevated him to the forefront of presidential contenders for the 2036 elections. As the election season drew nearer though, both parties also found themselves contending with a third new force in American politics: The New Progressive Party. Zuckerberg, realizing that he could not hope to swoop the presidency from Labrador instead focused on creating a new party, inspired by the progressives of the 1910s that would compete initially with Democrats and Republicans in 2032 at least in all Gubernatorial, house, and senate races, drawing the real possibility that next year's congress would have to be a coalition government, all the while using it as a vehicle that would drive him to his hyped 2036 run. The New Progressive party stressed science research, calls for a North American Union, continued social reforms, and an all out rush to assist the space race. Until October the presidential election was being ignored by most mainstream news providers in favor of the more exciting congressional and gubernatorial races. However the Chinese-Vietnamese war changed that dynamic, transforming the election from one about a debate about the economic and social policies of the Labrador regime to one of the questions of American leadership in a world wracked by economic and climate transformations. President Raul Labrador was urged by the Joint Chief of staffs to threaten the Chinese leadership and and at the very least make an impression that Vietnamese territorial sovereignty would not be threatened, however he felt that such an action could lead to a major global war that would be detrimental to American interests. He was attacked in the debates by Presidential candidate Gillibrand over his "Chamberlain-lite strategy" , and Kyrsten Sinema contrary to fears that her sexual orientation would be of issue dazzled and received general positive reception. Election Day proved to be very close, but Raul Labrador managed to scrape out a small victory of about 20 electoral votes despite the high negative ratings he received for his handling of the East Asian crisis. The Congressional picture though was drastically changed, as the NPP won 30 house seats, five senate seats, and two governor races. America now found itself in a three party system. |
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| [B]2033-The Yeti's War[/B] | **2033-The Yeti's War** |
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| On January 19 2033 India's Prime Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced a "hard line" when it came to China. He called for an embargo on China by the Democratic nations of the world and stepped up manufacturing of American products and called on nations to "not feed the monster". Meanwhile he began funding Tibetan exiles and supporting resistance terrorist attacks on the Chinese these moves caused many countries to drop embargoes on China. The breaking point of the so-called "Asian Cold War" that had been brewing for a long time was in Nepal where another Civil war broke out between Communist and Repubican forces. In October China "intervened" to support the Communists. Yadev gave the Chinese an ultimatum to withdraw from Nepal before the end of the month when the Chinese failed to do this war was declared. However due to the harsh terrain of the war neither side made much of a move dying the winter. | On January 19 2033 India's Prime Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced a "hard line" when it came to China. He called for an embargo on China by the Democratic nations of the world and stepped up manufacturing of American products and called on nations to "not feed the monster". Meanwhile he began funding Tibetan exiles and supporting resistance terrorist attacks on the Chinese these moves caused many countries to drop embargoes on China. The breaking point of the so-called "Asian Cold War" that had been brewing for a long time was in Nepal where another Civil war broke out between Communist and Repubican forces. In October China "intervened" to support the Communists. Yadev gave the Chinese an ultimatum to withdraw from Nepal before the end of the month when the Chinese failed to do this war was declared. However due to the harsh terrain of the war neither side made much of a move dying the winter. |
| In other news the 2036 Olympics were awarded to Cape Town South Africa. | In other news the 2036 Olympics were awarded to Cape Town South Africa. |
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| [B]2034- INTRIGUE AND SCANDAL | **2034- INTRIGUE AND SCANDAL** |
| [/B] | |
| 2034 proved to be another stormy year in the still young decade. The year began with the Himalayas crisis still on the forefront of the global political agenda. Fighting continued in Nepal between Communist and Republic aligned forces, with occasional Ariel assistance from the two major powers of China and India assisting their favored side. By June though, China made the unprecedented move of withdrawing support from the Communists, with the move timed for the ascension of China's seventh generation of political leadership, a generation that was born in the 1970s and had only known throughout their whole lives a growing and influential China. These were literally the children of Deng Xiaoping and hope was affixed to them to realize the dreams of a powered China. The Presidency was awarded for the first time to a woman, the daughter of a Shanghai based shipping tycoon. Upon her swearing into the office in July, she swore that she would uphold the One China policy as well as pursue the developments of democratic reforms, this coming after protests in Hong Kong earlier in the year had been suppressed, with the killing of 45 democratic protesters. Prime Minister Yadav of India though attacked the new President, calling her in his words "The latest devil in a eternal quest to build an empire of evil and blood". The new President in her first action announced that China would be building its first military base as a 'friendship' measure in the nations of Pakistan, Bangladesh, North Korea, and Nigeria, actions that further worried the world community. The Summer of 2034 was also renowned for the World Cup held throughout Australia, particularly for the Quarterfinals in which no European team made it for the first time ever, and for the finals, a classic match in which with both President Labrador and the new Chinese President in attendance, America beat China in a 4-4 highly charged match that went to penalties. | 2034 proved to be another stormy year in the still young decade. The year began with the Himalayas crisis still on the forefront of the global political agenda. Fighting continued in Nepal between Communist and Republic aligned forces, with occasional Ariel assistance from the two major powers of China and India assisting their favored side. By June though, China made the unprecedented move of withdrawing support from the Communists, with the move timed for the ascension of China's seventh generation of political leadership, a generation that was born in the 1970s and had only known throughout their whole lives a growing and influential China. These were literally the children of Deng Xiaoping and hope was affixed to them to realize the dreams of a powered China. The Presidency was awarded for the first time to a woman, the daughter of a Shanghai based shipping tycoon. Upon her swearing into the office in July, she swore that she would uphold the One China policy as well as pursue the developments of democratic reforms, this coming after protests in Hong Kong earlier in the year had been suppressed, with the killing of 45 democratic protesters. Prime Minister Yadav of India though attacked the new President, calling her in his words "The latest devil in a eternal quest to build an empire of evil and blood". The new President in her first action announced that China would be building its first military base as a 'friendship' measure in the nations of Pakistan, Bangladesh, North Korea, and Nigeria, actions that further worried the world community. The Summer of 2034 was also renowned for the World Cup held throughout Australia, particularly for the Quarterfinals in which no European team made it for the first time ever, and for the finals, a classic match in which with both President Labrador and the new Chinese President in attendance, America beat China in a 4-4 highly charged match that went to penalties. |
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| In America, Raul Labrador proved to have the most difficult year of his presidency so far. He was slammed in March when he rejected legislation that would allocate funding for the building of an experimental fusion reactor in New Mexico, an action that the NPP-Democratic coalition governing the congress labeled regressive and marked the enslavement of the Labrador presidency to what they labeled the 'Green lobby". The assortment of traditional renewable energy companies that feared the impact successful nuclear fusion program would have on their healthy and massive profit margins. He was also slammed when he rejected legislation that articulated the outlines for the formation of a North American Union, a favored proposal of the NPP. He did however succeed in 2034 to finally accomplish his long-term goal of adding Puerto Rico to the union, with the newly joined state scheduled to host seven representatives and two senators. However his year continued its downward slide when his attendance at the Australian world cup coincided with the rise of Hurricane Chloe, a category five storm which slammed right into the Tampa Bay area and resulted in over 2,000 deaths. Things did not improve when it was revealed in the fall, two months before the midterm elections that while in Australia he had engaged in an extramarital affair with a member of Australia's Liberal party, with one of the sexual encounters happening on the very night that Chloe slammed into the coast. The scandal caused waves throughout DC, particularly when the first lady announced that she would be opening up divorce proceedings with the president in the next year. The 2034 midterms proved to be a bloodletting for the Republican Party, with the Democratic Party and the NPP making impressive gains. The NPP now held 53 house seats, 9 senate seats, and five gubernatorial seats. The 2036 presidential election now looked as if was open to anybody. Raul Labrador's reputation was so shot by the end of the year that some prominent republicans were pleading that he resign to allow Vice President Duffy to ascend the office in the next year so as to prevent a fractious primary season in the 2036 primaries. Labrador though rejected that advice. | In America, Raul Labrador proved to have the most difficult year of his presidency so far. He was slammed in March when he rejected legislation that would allocate funding for the building of an experimental fusion reactor in New Mexico, an action that the NPP-Democratic coalition governing the congress labeled regressive and marked the enslavement of the Labrador presidency to what they labeled the 'Green lobby". The assortment of traditional renewable energy companies that feared the impact successful nuclear fusion program would have on their healthy and massive profit margins. He was also slammed when he rejected legislation that articulated the outlines for the formation of a North American Union, a favored proposal of the NPP. He did however succeed in 2034 to finally accomplish his long-term goal of adding Puerto Rico to the union, with the newly joined state scheduled to host seven representatives and two senators. However his year continued its downward slide when his attendance at the Australian world cup coincided with the rise of Hurricane Chloe, a category five storm which slammed right into the Tampa Bay area and resulted in over 2,000 deaths. Things did not improve when it was revealed in the fall, two months before the midterm elections that while in Australia he had engaged in an extramarital affair with a member of Australia's Liberal party, with one of the sexual encounters happening on the very night that Chloe slammed into the coast. The scandal caused waves throughout DC, particularly when the first lady announced that she would be opening up divorce proceedings with the president in the next year. The 2034 midterms proved to be a bloodletting for the Republican Party, with the Democratic Party and the NPP making impressive gains. The NPP now held 53 house seats, 9 senate seats, and five gubernatorial seats. The 2036 presidential election now looked as if was open to anybody. Raul Labrador's reputation was so shot by the end of the year that some prominent republicans were pleading that he resign to allow Vice President Duffy to ascend the office in the next year so as to prevent a fractious primary season in the 2036 primaries. Labrador though rejected that advice. |
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| [B]2035 - From The Ashes | **2035 - From The Ashes** |
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| [/B]President Raul Labrador faced his most trying days in the first three months of 2035, and the stress from numerous scandals and political pressure from all sides took its terrible toll on March 27, 2035, when Labrador suffered a series of massive heart attacks. Doctors attempted for eight hours to save his life, but even with the best medical equipment and technology available, President Labrador became the second president in a decade to die in office. Sean Duffy took the oath of office and became the new president, immediately setting out to undo some of the damage Labrador had done in his last few months in office. He signed the nuclear fusion plant funding allocation in June and allowed the North American Union proposal to go forward, though the details were still being hashed out at the end of the year. His approval rating steadily rose throughout the year, though he maintained the party line on non-intervention in the Himalayan crisis. An October ceasefire in Nepal brought much needed relief to the president and his peace efforts, though continued saber-rattling by the Chinese led to continued calls for President Labrador to be more aggressive with them. In the presidential race, while Mark Zuckerberg geared up for a 2036 run as the NPP candidate, Duffy's steady rise in popularity caused him to mull the possibility of playing kingmaker. On the Democratic side, Joe Kennedy III appeared to be the front-runner, though Kyrsten Sinema looked ready to challenge him. Mandy Moore, who had successfully won her fifth term in the House in 2034, was gaining in popularity as well as the leader of the peace wing of the Democratic Party, while Zack Koppelin also sought to make another run at the presidency, especially now that Gillibrand and Giffords were officially out of the picture, both women stating that they had no desire to run in 2036. | President Raul Labrador faced his most trying days in the first three months of 2035, and the stress from numerous scandals and political pressure from all sides took its terrible toll on March 27, 2035, when Labrador suffered a series of massive heart attacks. Doctors attempted for eight hours to save his life, but even with the best medical equipment and technology available, President Labrador became the second president in a decade to die in office. Sean Duffy took the oath of office and became the new president, immediately setting out to undo some of the damage Labrador had done in his last few months in office. He signed the nuclear fusion plant funding allocation in June and allowed the North American Union proposal to go forward, though the details were still being hashed out at the end of the year. His approval rating steadily rose throughout the year, though he maintained the party line on non-intervention in the Himalayan crisis. An October ceasefire in Nepal brought much needed relief to the president and his peace efforts, though continued saber-rattling by the Chinese led to continued calls for President Labrador to be more aggressive with them. In the presidential race, while Mark Zuckerberg geared up for a 2036 run as the NPP candidate, Duffy's steady rise in popularity caused him to mull the possibility of playing kingmaker. On the Democratic side, Joe Kennedy III appeared to be the front-runner, though Kyrsten Sinema looked ready to challenge him. Mandy Moore, who had successfully won her fifth term in the House in 2034, was gaining in popularity as well as the leader of the peace wing of the Democratic Party, while Zack Koppelin also sought to make another run at the presidency, especially now that Gillibrand and Giffords were officially out of the picture, both women stating that they had no desire to run in 2036. |
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| The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in August was the worst natural disaster in Europe in many years. The VEI-5 eruption was comparable to the eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD, and ashfall and pyroclastic flows caused by the eruption destroyed two-thirds of Naples. Early warning systems saved many lives, but evacuation problems and governmental gridlock led to the loss of 38,000 lives in Europe's worst natural disaster in more than a century. Help flooded in from all over the world, including, in a rare show of cooperation, China and India. The Bridge of the Horns was completed, linking the Horn of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula and leading to a boom in construction and economic development in both Yemen and Djibouti. The continued economic and social developments in Africa, including a plummeting AIDS infection rate, the near-eradication of famine, and a number of nations becoming developed and wealthy, was now being called the African Miracle by the world press. | The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in August was the worst natural disaster in Europe in many years. The VEI-5 eruption was comparable to the eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD, and ashfall and pyroclastic flows caused by the eruption destroyed two-thirds of Naples. Early warning systems saved many lives, but evacuation problems and governmental gridlock led to the loss of 38,000 lives in Europe's worst natural disaster in more than a century. Help flooded in from all over the world, including, in a rare show of cooperation, China and India. The Bridge of the Horns was completed, linking the Horn of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula and leading to a boom in construction and economic development in both Yemen and Djibouti. The continued economic and social developments in Africa, including a plummeting AIDS infection rate, the near-eradication of famine, and a number of nations becoming developed and wealthy, was now being called the African Miracle by the world press. |
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| [B]2036 - The New Generation | **2036 - The New Generation** |
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| [/B]Saudi Arabia continued its descent into fundamentalism, as decreasing oil revenues and falling quality of life for its people led the country's growing class of poor to embrace the sabre-rattling of the new leaders. The country's aggressiveness posed a threat to the world's newest nation Assyria, which drew it closer to Iran's orbit. China remained dormant for the moment, though India was quietly building its army just in case, while Thailand, Malaysia, and Burma, growing economic powers in their own right, drew closer to India in world affairs. Mexico was another nation seeing a surge in economic might, and as a result, immigration to the United States was seeing a fairly rapid decline, at a time when the United States of America was starting to need more labor as its population aged. Bangladesh was devastated by a pair of cyclones, killing over 100,000. The situation emphasized the already worsening global climate change problem with the country already seeing an increasing amount of floods that took the lives of tens of thousands of Bangladeshis annually. | Saudi Arabia continued its descent into fundamentalism, as decreasing oil revenues and falling quality of life for its people led the country's growing class of poor to embrace the sabre-rattling of the new leaders. The country's aggressiveness posed a threat to the world's newest nation Assyria, which drew it closer to Iran's orbit. China remained dormant for the moment, though India was quietly building its army just in case, while Thailand, Malaysia, and Burma, growing economic powers in their own right, drew closer to India in world affairs. Mexico was another nation seeing a surge in economic might, and as a result, immigration to the United States was seeing a fairly rapid decline, at a time when the United States of America was starting to need more labor as its population aged. Bangladesh was devastated by a pair of cyclones, killing over 100,000. The situation emphasized the already worsening global climate change problem with the country already seeing an increasing amount of floods that took the lives of tens of thousands of Bangladeshis annually. |
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| The election, as expected, was mostly a Democratic affair in the primary season. Sean Duffy had consolidated his party's base and though he saw a pair of Republican challengers, including a bit of a political comeback for Paul Ryan, he managed to win his nomination quite easily. Mark Zuckerberg decided to run with the NPP and also won his nomination easily, while the Democratic primary season was a fierce two-way race between front-runner Joe Kennedy III and Mandy Moore, who had the party's peace wing consolidated behind her. Super Tuesday saw a surge from Mandy Moore, coinciding with the announcement of further cooperation talks between China and India, and she began to gain on Joe Kennedy in the polls. Winning numerous important primaries helped her and in late May she clinched her party's nomination, taking Zack Koppelin as her running mate. The election, now a three way race, came down to a variety of issues, including immigration (with Mark Zuckerberg proposing a massive opening of the borders to accommodate needed immigration), the growing unrest in the Middle East, and the climate change situation. Zuckerberg proposed a business-centric solution, and he promised that checks and balances would ensure that the corruption that plagued the Labrador administration would not occur. Duffy attempted to resurrect the religious elements in the Republican party by emphasizing Zuckerberg's atheism and Moore's non-denominational Christian spiritualism, but Americas had begun to shy away from religion at an accelerated rate and his rhetoric only drew accusations of Bible-thumping from his opponents. The election was considered one of the most civil on record, Moore and Zuckerberg were both extremely articulate and emphasized their platforms very skillfully during debates, while also being very respectful and cordial to one another. Duffy attempted to use this to split the Democratic and NPP vote amongst one another but it was becoming clear that Zuckerberg and his NPP were drawing on Republican voters far more than they were Democrats. Zuckerberg emphasized the importance of the entreprenurial spirit needed to solve America's issues and pushed a brand of progressive libertarianism that stood in contrast to Moore's insistence that the government remained an important factor in benefiting and advancing the fortunes of Americans. As the polls neared, it seemed to be a neck-and-neck race between Moore and Zuckerberg, with Sean Duffy falling behind. Despite his popularity and attempts to distance himself from the failings of Labrador administration, he was starting to be seen as someone who was too old and disconnected to solve the new problems that arose as America entered the mid-21st Century. On Election Day, it was Mark Zuckerberg that was drawing votes in most of the Republican strongholds, with strong showings in Texas and the Midwestern states. The election would come down to California and Florida, where Moore and Zuckerberg were within 100,000 votes of each other. Moore's supporters gave her a narrow edge in Florida but she would need the electoral votes of California to give her enough Electoral College votes to win, otherwise it would fall into the House of Representatives. Zuckerberg had very nearly won California, but Moore's progressive policies had won her favor in the urban regions of San Francisco and Los Angeles and it was ultimately those cities that pushed her to victory, a victory that seemed unlikely at the start of the year. Amanda Leigh Moore was now America's 50th president, though in a very conciliatory gesture, she planned to offer NPP members spots in her administration, even asking Mark Zuckerberg to serve as her Secretary of State, a position he respectfully declined. | The election, as expected, was mostly a Democratic affair in the primary season. Sean Duffy had consolidated his party's base and though he saw a pair of Republican challengers, including a bit of a political comeback for Paul Ryan, he managed to win his nomination quite easily. Mark Zuckerberg decided to run with the NPP and also won his nomination easily, while the Democratic primary season was a fierce two-way race between front-runner Joe Kennedy III and Mandy Moore, who had the party's peace wing consolidated behind her. Super Tuesday saw a surge from Mandy Moore, coinciding with the announcement of further cooperation talks between China and India, and she began to gain on Joe Kennedy in the polls. Winning numerous important primaries helped her and in late May she clinched her party's nomination, taking Zack Koppelin as her running mate. The election, now a three way race, came down to a variety of issues, including immigration (with Mark Zuckerberg proposing a massive opening of the borders to accommodate needed immigration), the growing unrest in the Middle East, and the climate change situation. Zuckerberg proposed a business-centric solution, and he promised that checks and balances would ensure that the corruption that plagued the Labrador administration would not occur. Duffy attempted to resurrect the religious elements in the Republican party by emphasizing Zuckerberg's atheism and Moore's non-denominational Christian spiritualism, but Americas had begun to shy away from religion at an accelerated rate and his rhetoric only drew accusations of Bible-thumping from his opponents. The election was considered one of the most civil on record, Moore and Zuckerberg were both extremely articulate and emphasized their platforms very skillfully during debates, while also being very respectful and cordial to one another. Duffy attempted to use this to split the Democratic and NPP vote amongst one another but it was becoming clear that Zuckerberg and his NPP were drawing on Republican voters far more than they were Democrats. Zuckerberg emphasized the importance of the entreprenurial spirit needed to solve America's issues and pushed a brand of progressive libertarianism that stood in contrast to Moore's insistence that the government remained an important factor in benefiting and advancing the fortunes of Americans. As the polls neared, it seemed to be a neck-and-neck race between Moore and Zuckerberg, with Sean Duffy falling behind. Despite his popularity and attempts to distance himself from the failings of Labrador administration, he was starting to be seen as someone who was too old and disconnected to solve the new problems that arose as America entered the mid-21st Century. On Election Day, it was Mark Zuckerberg that was drawing votes in most of the Republican strongholds, with strong showings in Texas and the Midwestern states. The election would come down to California and Florida, where Moore and Zuckerberg were within 100,000 votes of each other. Moore's supporters gave her a narrow edge in Florida but she would need the electoral votes of California to give her enough Electoral College votes to win, otherwise it would fall into the House of Representatives. Zuckerberg had very nearly won California, but Moore's progressive policies had won her favor in the urban regions of San Francisco and Los Angeles and it was ultimately those cities that pushed her to victory, a victory that seemed unlikely at the start of the year. Amanda Leigh Moore was now America's 50th president, though in a very conciliatory gesture, she planned to offer NPP members spots in her administration, even asking Mark Zuckerberg to serve as her Secretary of State, a position he respectfully declined. |
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| [B]2037- Phoenix and Brisbane[/B] | **2037- Phoenix and Brisbane** |
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| 2037 proved to be the year that climate change finally emerged as the issue of paramount political importance for the global community, as a series of chaotic events managed to sear themselves into the global political consciousness. On April, 25th, 2037 in the Phoenix Metropolitan area, the lights went off. But sadly, they went off on an April record day where temperatures had hit 114 degrees. For the past two decades, America's emerging smart grid had been hyped, here was a system that was supposed to track the activities of every household within a region and adjust as needed. Here was a system that maximized the inputs that came from renewable energy sources, and here was a system that was identified with the renewable energy capital of America, if not the world, Phoenix. The blackout was later attributed to what the government would term a systematic crash, but those words would not smooth over the situation in Phoenix. At first order held throughout Phoenix that day, but by night with no signs of energy yet coming back on, and temperatures still at 100 degrees, riots soon broke out throughout the Phoenix Metropolitan area with smoke and fires soon emerging throughout the city, helping to contribute to the heat that all desperately wanted to avoid. Police were soon overwhelmed by the situation due to the sprawl like nature of the metropolitan area, with the lights still not on by the night of April, 26th, 2037, President Moore in what would prove to be a deeply unpopular action sent in the U.S. Military and imposed martial law on the State of Arizona. Various gangs centered in the city soon used the military intrusion as an excuse to demonstrate the various contraband they had, the crisis soon became famed for the pictures of U.S. military officers shooting down on rioters from helicopters in the skies. By April 28th, with the lights still not on, the City grew to resemble a mad max wasteland of sheltered families, empowered gangs, and searing and unbearable heat. By the time the lights went on by April 29th, 755 Americans laid dead. Not only did the executive branch have a lot to answer for, but so did the renewable energy community, the city government, and the military. The NPP and the Republican party seized on the crisis and slammed President Moore, whose popularity tumbled for the rest of the year. Phoenix itself saw an exodus, with many residents migrating either to the other Southwestern states or more affluent residents clustering into high-security and well guarded gated communities. The events were also transformed into a popular movie released that fall that became an instant classic called Phoenix 2037. Solar City had burned itself. | 2037 proved to be the year that climate change finally emerged as the issue of paramount political importance for the global community, as a series of chaotic events managed to sear themselves into the global political consciousness. On April, 25th, 2037 in the Phoenix Metropolitan area, the lights went off. But sadly, they went off on an April record day where temperatures had hit 114 degrees. For the past two decades, America's emerging smart grid had been hyped, here was a system that was supposed to track the activities of every household within a region and adjust as needed. Here was a system that maximized the inputs that came from renewable energy sources, and here was a system that was identified with the renewable energy capital of America, if not the world, Phoenix. The blackout was later attributed to what the government would term a systematic crash, but those words would not smooth over the situation in Phoenix. At first order held throughout Phoenix that day, but by night with no signs of energy yet coming back on, and temperatures still at 100 degrees, riots soon broke out throughout the Phoenix Metropolitan area with smoke and fires soon emerging throughout the city, helping to contribute to the heat that all desperately wanted to avoid. Police were soon overwhelmed by the situation due to the sprawl like nature of the metropolitan area, with the lights still not on by the night of April, 26th, 2037, President Moore in what would prove to be a deeply unpopular action sent in the U.S. Military and imposed martial law on the State of Arizona. Various gangs centered in the city soon used the military intrusion as an excuse to demonstrate the various contraband they had, the crisis soon became famed for the pictures of U.S. military officers shooting down on rioters from helicopters in the skies. By April 28th, with the lights still not on, the City grew to resemble a mad max wasteland of sheltered families, empowered gangs, and searing and unbearable heat. By the time the lights went on by April 29th, 755 Americans laid dead. Not only did the executive branch have a lot to answer for, but so did the renewable energy community, the city government, and the military. The NPP and the Republican party seized on the crisis and slammed President Moore, whose popularity tumbled for the rest of the year. Phoenix itself saw an exodus, with many residents migrating either to the other Southwestern states or more affluent residents clustering into high-security and well guarded gated communities. The events were also transformed into a popular movie released that fall that became an instant classic called Phoenix 2037. Solar City had burned itself. |
| But even that would pale to what happened to Brisbane in the next month. Brisbane by 2037 had transformed itself into Australia's third most powerful city, a world-class city known for its great weather and entertaining casinos, the name Brisvegas had never proven more apt. However in May, in what traditionally was seen as the end of the Southern Hemisphere cyclone season, a storm unlike any would be heading with a vengeance towards the celebrated city. The storm would prove to be a category 5, and a day before impact was cited to be the largest storm in terms of wind power ever measured by any meteorological agency since recordings started. The storm proved to devastate Brisbane, evacuation efforts were on the whole unsuccessful given the size and scale of the city. By the end, over 8,300 souls laid dead in a city that had always been known for its devotion to the beautiful life. The tragedy managed to topple the labor led government and vaulted the Green Party Of Australia into power in coalition with the LNP for the first time in its history. At the end of the year, President Moore in a trip to the broken city remarked how for so long it seemed as if mankind has conquered nature, but how it now seemed as if it was nature who was conquering man. The day after that historic emotional speech, the Hadley Centre in Britain announced to the world that temperatures had finally risen two degrees Celsius. | But even that would pale to what happened to Brisbane in the next month. Brisbane by 2037 had transformed itself into Australia's third most powerful city, a world-class city known for its great weather and entertaining casinos, the name Brisvegas had never proven more apt. However in May, in what traditionally was seen as the end of the Southern Hemisphere cyclone season, a storm unlike any would be heading with a vengeance towards the celebrated city. The storm would prove to be a category 5, and a day before impact was cited to be the largest storm in terms of wind power ever measured by any meteorological agency since recordings started. The storm proved to devastate Brisbane, evacuation efforts were on the whole unsuccessful given the size and scale of the city. By the end, over 8,300 souls laid dead in a city that had always been known for its devotion to the beautiful life. The tragedy managed to topple the labor led government and vaulted the Green Party Of Australia into power in coalition with the LNP for the first time in its history. At the end of the year, President Moore in a trip to the broken city remarked how for so long it seemed as if mankind has conquered nature, but how it now seemed as if it was nature who was conquering man. The day after that historic emotional speech, the Hadley Centre in Britain announced to the world that temperatures had finally risen two degrees Celsius. |
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| [B]2038- Rising Waters, Rising Hope | **2038- Rising Waters, Rising Hope** |
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| [/B]On the climate front, 2038 was a much more peaceful year compared to the previous year. President Moore spent much of the year working to undo the damage to her approval rating and her party's credibility by her actions during the Phoenix riots. She approved several new projects for climate change mitigation and also approved a massive aid package for the Phoenix area in hopes of bringing people back to the city. She also took steps to mitigate the growing water shortages in Las Vegas caused by the rapid shrinking of Lake Mead, which scientists projected would be totally dry by 2050. Zuckerberg used the opportunity to push his NPP congressional candidates and the party's platform of using innovative business solutions to mitigate climate change. The year's midterm elections would see Democrats lose their majority, though they maintained a plurality in Congress in the face of growing support for the NPP, which now had over 100 seats in the House and 11 seats in the Senate. President Moore's approval rating climbed slowly but was still hovering around 50% as the year ended, and she was shown to be neck-and-neck with Mark Zuckerberg in polls featuring a hypothetical presidential race between the two. | On the climate front, 2038 was a much more peaceful year compared to the previous year. President Moore spent much of the year working to undo the damage to her approval rating and her party's credibility by her actions during the Phoenix riots. She approved several new projects for climate change mitigation and also approved a massive aid package for the Phoenix area in hopes of bringing people back to the city. She also took steps to mitigate the growing water shortages in Las Vegas caused by the rapid shrinking of Lake Mead, which scientists projected would be totally dry by 2050. Zuckerberg used the opportunity to push his NPP congressional candidates and the party's platform of using innovative business solutions to mitigate climate change. The year's midterm elections would see Democrats lose their majority, though they maintained a plurality in Congress in the face of growing support for the NPP, which now had over 100 seats in the House and 11 seats in the Senate. President Moore's approval rating climbed slowly but was still hovering around 50% as the year ended, and she was shown to be neck-and-neck with Mark Zuckerberg in polls featuring a hypothetical presidential race between the two. |
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| China took advantage of the troubles in America, ramping up its aggressive rhetoric and even causing civil unrest in Myanmar, which had enjoyed nearly a decade of democracy and a surging economy. A pro-China faction began to cause trouble in Myanmar and large-scale protests against the government there were commonplace by year's end. Meanwhile, India was struggling with a massive surge of refugees from Bangladesh, which was rapidly being swamped by surging waters and had experienced another series of devastating floods. Some in Bangladesh were beginning to call for the country's annexation by India, but India wanted nothing to do with the situation there and considered harsh anti-immigration laws, something that China pounced on, denouncing India in the United Nations. In other news, a group of scientists in South Africa announced an HIV vaccine, something that had eluded doctors for more than half a century. The announcement won the team a Nobel Prize and a worldwide HIV eradication campaign began in earnest.[/QUOTE] | China took advantage of the troubles in America, ramping up its aggressive rhetoric and even causing civil unrest in Myanmar, which had enjoyed nearly a decade of democracy and a surging economy. A pro-China faction began to cause trouble in Myanmar and large-scale protests against the government there were commonplace by year's end. Meanwhile, India was struggling with a massive surge of refugees from Bangladesh, which was rapidly being swamped by surging waters and had experienced another series of devastating floods. Some in Bangladesh were beginning to call for the country's annexation by India, but India wanted nothing to do with the situation there and considered harsh anti-immigration laws, something that China pounced on, denouncing India in the United Nations. In other news, a group of scientists in South Africa announced an HIV vaccine, something that had eluded doctors for more than half a century. The announcement won the team a Nobel Prize and a worldwide HIV eradication campaign began in earnest.[/QUOTE] |
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| [B]2039-[B] On The Cusp Of It All[/B][/B] | **2039- //On The Cusp Of It All//** |
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| 2039 served as an odd year, evidenced by the fact that by the end of the year a video game designer was named Man Of The Year by the Time Network due to his efforts in pioneering the world's first full immersion virtual reality game( By this point most major magazine publications have to expand into independent television productions to also remain viable). In Asia continuing geopolitical trends continued to lead to strife, India began the year under major worldwide condemnation when it began constructing major border fences and complexes along both the Pakistani and Bangladeshi borders as major waves of immigrants fleeing the climate challenges of the subcontinent began to look to India as the promised nation. India's image did not improve when deportation raids would often take place in the night of major cities, but nevertheless by the end of the year over 9 million undocumented Bangladeshi and five million undocumented Pakistani migrants called India home, often with encouragement by their native governments, struggling under the strain of climate change. China, although also struggling with the effects of climate change in its western provinces was enjoyed by the fact that its major regional rivals were distracted by internal struggles. The year marked though a major milestone in China's democratization when for the first time mayors of cities were able to be elected by there respective populations, with statements made by the national government that by 2050 provincial premiers would be able to be chosen, with the possibility that in a generation the president would be able to be chosen by the national population. For this effort, President Ma, the daughter of a Chinese tycoon was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. An awarding that looked particularly suspicious when she encouraged the riots and drama that occurred in Western Siberia that year, as a native generation of Chinese immigrants campaigned for autonomy from an increasingly tyrannical Russia. China was also greatly encouraged by news flowing out of Taiwan, in which the Taiwanese state was revealed to have a major sovereign debt crisis that crippled its abilities to service its population. With the double blow of an aging population and increasing emigration of younger educated Taiwanese to the shores of Australia, Canada, America, and increasingly Hong Kong and Eastern China, the Chinese state offered to Taiwan an unprecedented deal in which it would be annexed as the 34th province but with special democratic rights, and in exchange the payment of all debts owed by Taiwan as well as a commitment to reverse service funding to the levels they were prior to the blow of the recession. The ruling KMT government though rejected the deal, leading to massive protests of over five million people on the streets of Taipei urging the government to consider and discuss the One China proposal as the country struggled under the worst economic downturn in its history. Elsewhere in Asia, Malaysia and Singapore firmly merged to become a unified state for the first time since the early 1960s, with celebrations taking place throughout the entire nation. In Africa, tensions were high as the East African Federation( which had welcomed South Sudan as its latest member state in 2037), Israel, and Ethiopia considered further military actions towards an Egyptian government that was being found to manipulate the course and patterns of the Nile River. Egypt also threatened the East African Federation not to continue with its plans to develop nuclear weapons, which it threatened it was considering, an action which also spurred the growing Democratic Republic Of Congo to support Egypt's claims to the Nile River, alleging that the East African Federation was attempting to become the hegemon of Africa. Elsewhere, Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, the Cape Verde Islands, and Guinea Bissau announced the formation of a Lusophone Union, a new political and economic union that all sides hoped would continue to accelerate and improve all the nation's economic positions, with special immigration rights accorded between citizens of the Lusophone Union states. | 2039 served as an odd year, evidenced by the fact that by the end of the year a video game designer was named Man Of The Year by the Time Network due to his efforts in pioneering the world's first full immersion virtual reality game( By this point most major magazine publications have to expand into independent television productions to also remain viable). In Asia continuing geopolitical trends continued to lead to strife, India began the year under major worldwide condemnation when it began constructing major border fences and complexes along both the Pakistani and Bangladeshi borders as major waves of immigrants fleeing the climate challenges of the subcontinent began to look to India as the promised nation. India's image did not improve when deportation raids would often take place in the night of major cities, but nevertheless by the end of the year over 9 million undocumented Bangladeshi and five million undocumented Pakistani migrants called India home, often with encouragement by their native governments, struggling under the strain of climate change. China, although also struggling with the effects of climate change in its western provinces was enjoyed by the fact that its major regional rivals were distracted by internal struggles. The year marked though a major milestone in China's democratization when for the first time mayors of cities were able to be elected by there respective populations, with statements made by the national government that by 2050 provincial premiers would be able to be chosen, with the possibility that in a generation the president would be able to be chosen by the national population. For this effort, President Ma, the daughter of a Chinese tycoon was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. An awarding that looked particularly suspicious when she encouraged the riots and drama that occurred in Western Siberia that year, as a native generation of Chinese immigrants campaigned for autonomy from an increasingly tyrannical Russia. China was also greatly encouraged by news flowing out of Taiwan, in which the Taiwanese state was revealed to have a major sovereign debt crisis that crippled its abilities to service its population. With the double blow of an aging population and increasing emigration of younger educated Taiwanese to the shores of Australia, Canada, America, and increasingly Hong Kong and Eastern China, the Chinese state offered to Taiwan an unprecedented deal in which it would be annexed as the 34th province but with special democratic rights, and in exchange the payment of all debts owed by Taiwan as well as a commitment to reverse service funding to the levels they were prior to the blow of the recession. The ruling KMT government though rejected the deal, leading to massive protests of over five million people on the streets of Taipei urging the government to consider and discuss the One China proposal as the country struggled under the worst economic downturn in its history. Elsewhere in Asia, Malaysia and Singapore firmly merged to become a unified state for the first time since the early 1960s, with celebrations taking place throughout the entire nation. In Africa, tensions were high as the East African Federation( which had welcomed South Sudan as its latest member state in 2037), Israel, and Ethiopia considered further military actions towards an Egyptian government that was being found to manipulate the course and patterns of the Nile River. Egypt also threatened the East African Federation not to continue with its plans to develop nuclear weapons, which it threatened it was considering, an action which also spurred the growing Democratic Republic Of Congo to support Egypt's claims to the Nile River, alleging that the East African Federation was attempting to become the hegemon of Africa. Elsewhere, Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, the Cape Verde Islands, and Guinea Bissau announced the formation of a Lusophone Union, a new political and economic union that all sides hoped would continue to accelerate and improve all the nation's economic positions, with special immigration rights accorded between citizens of the Lusophone Union states. |
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