The Snapdragon – The Official News Outlet of Anthea
COVID-19 impacts Anthea
Be aware that the international pandemic, COVID-19, is hitting Anthea hard. Multiple households are experiencing and recovering from illness, including several officers. This has lead to the closing of the Anthean Intermicronational Conference Center, which has most recently hosted Girl Scout Troop #910. Additionally, while the nomination process is continuing, elections have been unavoidably delayed, and will not take place on the constitutionally-mandated day this year, Jan. 17, 2022. Stay tuned for the election day as well as the reopening of the conference center.
Best of health to our comrades and families.
Foreign Affairs of Micronations
The micronations of Cyclodia and Dracul’s relations went south on the 11th, with their mutual recognition being withdrawn over a broken treaty. After that event, rumors about a high-ranking Cyclodian politician began to circulate.
Foreign Affairs of Internationally Recognized Nations
Kazakhstan
In Kazakhstan, protests against high gas prices started on January second, 2022, due to the government, on the first, lifting an oil price cap. On the fifth, a national emergency was declared, and the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, requested the military pact, CSTO, with the member nations Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Armenia, to deploy troops to settle the protests. They agreed, deploying their troops on the same day, with them only to start to withdraw on the 13th. Tokayev, on the 7th, called protesters “bandits and terrorists.”, and told troops to “Shoot to kill”. The unrest lasted for 9 days. On the fifteenth, a reported 206 protesters were killed, 9,900 arrested, and 19 members of CSTO killed.
By at least the 5th, the protests turned anti-government. Videos and reports of police violence, as well as the introduction of CSTO troops, caused the Kazakhstan government to be accused of human rights abuses. Part of what sparked the protests was high gas prices, partially influenced by corruption and nepotism. For 6 months, the fuel gas price caps were restored, and the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, and his cabinet. In Almaty, a city hit hard by the protests, officials said that 400 stores were looted, burnt, or damaged by the 5th.
Tonga
On the 14th of January, 2022, the largest volcanic eruption in the past 20 years (in terms of volcanic explosivity) started aboveground. After over 5 years of inactivity, on December 20th, 2021, it erupted, causing New Zealand to issue a volcanic ash warning to airlines. 24 days after that eruption ended, the second explosion of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano happened, causing tsunami warnings as far away as Fairbanks, Alaska (over 6,100 miles). So far, 2 people have died. Peru’s late tsunami warning, finally being issued on the 16th, the same day as the 2 deaths, both being in Peru. The United States reports at least 3 injuries, and Japan 1 more, with many missing, and many Tongan residents struggling to breathe. Additionally, the sulfuric acid fallout way causes health issues in citizens near the ash.
Other bits
For Black History Month, we’ll be including a quote from a famous African-American every week, from now to the 31st (just a little joke for you guys).
Every Great Dream Begins with a Dreamer – Harriet Tubman
Feel free to send in photos of things like you weeding your garden, wearing a mask, social distancing, or correcting some poor fool on Twitter! You might be featured in the next issue.
Social Issue of the Week: The Wage Gap
In the US, a White woman’s pay is not equal to a White man’s, so unsurprisingly, an African-American woman’s pay is lower than both (on average). To a (non hispanic) white man’s dollar, a black woman would make about 63 cents. That can add up to almost a million dollars over a person’s career. Almost 13% of people in the US are African American women, but many more work in tipping or low wage industries than, say, White men. To help change this, you can contact your members of Congress,
attend protests, or donate to reliable women’s and African American’s rights organizations. You can also support people of color that you know, or help them join a labor union. According to CNBC, to help close the wage gap you can compare salaries: It’s protected by law, and it can help in getting a raise. They also said that stronger social insurance would benefit not only minorities, but also the entire county/state/nation. The CNBC notes that there are many African-American women in minimum wage jobs, and so raising the minimum wage can benefit them.
Major Events (Week of Feb. 10, 2021)
Plans to introduce a national symbol, awards, and department seals are being formed. The national website is up, although it isn’t anywhere near done! We’ll include updates in the following issues, seeing as it’d be kind of embarrassing to see the mess as it is right now.
A new weekly subject which I plan to reoccur in future papers is “Social Issue of the Week”, detailing some issues that the USA has, (another reason why we’re better than them) and how their citizens can help.