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First off, I must give due congratulations to this country on winning a critical battle in Canada East Coast last night. I am so proud to have witnessed that epic fourteenth round - 18.5 million damage in 2.5 minutes! - and I feel lucky that I had the opportunity to initiate the final strike in the last round that allowed us to win by just a few hundred thousand damage. It is a great testament to this country that when we set a goal, we do everything in our power to achieve it; when we have expectations, we also shoot to exceed them, not just match them. Very exciting stuff!
It's exactly this subject that I want to discuss now. There is almost nothing more important to the success of any country than your ability to fight. It's not just having the numbers: it's using them effectively. One notable example that comes to mind is from a few months ago, when China demolished Indonesia despite being the underdog in numbers and strength - because Indonesia wasted all the damage that they had by overkilling some rounds and not having anything in the tank for other rounds.
Every battle requires a lot of strategic analysis. What rounds are unreasonable to shoot for? When is America going to be in primetime hours and when does the opponent have that luxury? What allies does each side have available? Should we open Hell on Wheels - are there people online to run it, do we have the money to keep it going? What if some MUs are set to other battles, how should we cope with the situation? It's complex, and it's challenging to make decisions.
I don't plan to make those decisions alone. I'm not a seer who can accurately decipher the future and the right course of action. I will have a strong nucleus of Defense Department staff and general military and defense advisors who will be able to contribute their advice and support at any time. There are so many people in this country who are knowledgeable and useful, and I would have to be as bad as Uncle Sam to not make use of them haha. People like
Darkflight , who will serve as my Secretary of Defense; 
Cerby , a good friend of mine who will be a top advisor; 
Khaled Ibrahim , the former president who's handled tough situations many times before; even people like 
Snowball the Dinosaur and 
8675309 , who may or may not have roles in my administration but still deserve a lot of recognition for their service and unique insight. Even though the president is the leader, he cannot survive without a strong team of support with him.
"18 million in 2 minutes? Michaelson is not impressed..."
So yeah. A top priority of this administration would be to keep the DoD as efficient as possible. Orders are out on time; there's ALWAYS someone knowledgeable online to give advice, coordinate strikes, and run Hell on Wheels; HoW is running smoothly and cost-effectively. The coordinated strikes thing is very important as well: our goal for every round must be to rally as many Americans as we possibly can onto IRC so that we can all fight at the same time and be able to pull out rounds from under the opponent's feet. (Or, often, to build a small lead and then hold - if everyone's fighting individually and not together, we'd never be able to inform everyone when to stop to prevent overkill.) With a lot of experienced, disciplined people around, I know that won't be a problem for us.
Apparently I've just written the length of one of my summer reading books just talking about Defense, so let's move on to State. I spent a month serving as Secretary of State, so I am acutely aware of the delicacies of diplomacy and discussion. Talking to the Polish, I've learned, is different from talking to the Portugese, is different from talking to the Chinese. We're talking to real human beings, not bots, and people have feelings and sensitivities. People also have intellect and ingenuity, and through goodwill and loyalty - two mainstays of American foreign policy since
Liquid HOMICIDE 's time - we will be able to cultivate those positive qualities for America and AGC's benefit.
There are three real goals that I have for what myself and the State Department will undertake over the next month.
* Be smart with our MPP list. We seem to have a pretty good set right now, but we should not take any country out of consideration and we should be attuned to which countries have our interests in mind and which countries can help us most militarily.
* Build and develop better relations and communication within AGC. Our alliance has had a pretty rough month; and while every alliance goes through tough times, it really bit us in the butt this time, maybe more so than at any other point in recent memory. The debacle with Indonesia and Canada - which led us to lose CEC for a short time and perhaps pushed Canada firmly onto Omega's side - was unacceptable and cannot happen again. It will be a major focus of this presidency to make sure that everyone in the alliance is constantly on the same page, everybody knows where to fight and for whom, and most importantly, every member nation is willing to put aside their preferences for the best interests of the alliance. With
Lilith of Apollyon taking over as AGC military commander, he will help serve as the glue that pieces the many nations and ideas of AGC into one powerful alliance.
* Rebuild the ambassador program. This has completely fallen by the wayside in the last few weeks. I have always been a believer in the importance of ambassadors. They're not going to carry much political weight and they don't make important decisions, but they do serve a key role for any administration. They allow the State Department to keep tabs on just about every country we care about in the world. Ambassadors can gauge public sentiment, they can talk with the government about their plans and strategies, and they can do the menial tasks like open talks over MPPs and get foreign militaries to fight where we'd like them to fight. And perhaps most importantly, there is no better stepping stone into public service than serving as an ambassador. My first e-Sim job was an ambassadorship; same with Khaled, same with so many of our greatest leaders. I'm going to put in a lot of work to get this program back on its feet.
With the support of
Sermokala , who will spend another month as Secretary of State, and Khaled, who is a diplomacy wizard and a former Secretary of State for several months himself, I'm confident we can meet and exceed all of these goals. Just like America always manages to do.
By the way, if you are interested in serving in the government in any manner, please do not hesitate to PM me or query me on IRC (Mark_M). Even if I can't offer you a cabinet position, there will always be opportunities for you to get involved. If you have any questions or comments about my campaign and my goals, I'm always available.
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THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE - President Derpy Hooves
Mark Michaelson
Former United States Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, Secretary of Media
Presidential Candidate
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
