About the Libyan thing....
I just had a mental picture of the SS Ciara parking herself in orbit above Libya, first chartered by some people who want a radio station somewhere where it can't be shut down and jammed.... and steadily expanding to include some form of downlink, and maybe observing the movement of Gaddafi's armies and relaying that somehow.... probably over the open airwaves or on Google maps. The Stellvians might know it's them doing it... they've been ordering diesel and radio and interwave equipment, but otherwise they're doing it on the quiet in case someone takes exception to them siding with the rebels. Or in case they've been duped by someone more sinister...
The only thing the world might know about them is a hazy telescope camera image of a grey ship-shaped thing, and someone with a strong accent explaining to a Sky News on the phone that "Well, we thought it was the right thing to do."
Getting information in and out, recording army movements and generally just observing.
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The Irish Government's attitude to Fenspace is best described as changing and changeable. (I wrote out a tonne more incase it ever became necessary for that old story thread, but never mind)
The failing Fianna Fáil/Green Party coalition first sought to use handwavium as a political hot potato, enacting some pretty tough laws to divert attention from other more pressing issues. Handwavium possession was classed as a scheduled offence. Had Ciara's crew been arrested, it's likely they would've have been tried using organised crime laws in the Special Criminal court, and imprisoned in Portlaoise. The launch of the Ciara, and some of Jet Jaguar's filmed overflights embarrassed the government. Jet's escape made a mockery of an airforce still using turboprops as front-line fighters.
Although a new government was elected in 2011, it wasn't until after the Boskone war that attitudes began to shift. President David Norris is notably pro-Fen. The president intends to visit Fenspace, but has yet to receive permission from the government to do so. The Government has taken a more pragmatic approach, repealing many of the stricter laws to facilitiate the housing and land sales in 2014. As part of the negotiations, a blanket pardon was enacted by the President forgiving most handwavium-related crimes. Others are still technically wanted fugitives for supposedly unrelated reasons. (Eg. Jet Jaguar had built a railgun in his shed, which was technically classed as an illegal firearm due to the vagaries of the law.[1]) The Government shows little interest in pursuing them.
Handwavium Law enforcement is handled by the Garda Unit for the Bizarre and Unprecedented. The Irish Government is attempting to market itself as a gateway to the European economy, and has noticeably relaxed handwavium import restrictions do to so. Corporate taxes are also kept low, to entice Fen into establishing a presence on Irish soil. The Government is attempting to emulate Australia in it's own unique way.
Owning handwavium requires the completion of a mandatory recognised safety course and a Garda-issued permit. Spacecraft and vehicle must maintain proper registration documents subject to inspection and in theory, pilots overflying Ireland would require a legally recognised license. Nobody bothers to check. Many choose to just use ocean-landing craft and dock at seaports.
1) This is actually true. Until recently, if it fired anything at all it was classed as a firearm and technically required a license. Including those piddly little sucker-gun things and spug-guns. Airsoft used to be illegal. A recent change in the law permits a maximum muzzle energy of 1 Joule for a projectile before it's legally classed as a firearm. Technically, owning an 'unlicensed firearm' is a potential 10-year prison sentence, regardless as to whether that's a machine gun, or a cheap Chinese AEG shooting at 2J rather than 1.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
I just had a mental picture of the SS Ciara parking herself in orbit above Libya, first chartered by some people who want a radio station somewhere where it can't be shut down and jammed.... and steadily expanding to include some form of downlink, and maybe observing the movement of Gaddafi's armies and relaying that somehow.... probably over the open airwaves or on Google maps. The Stellvians might know it's them doing it... they've been ordering diesel and radio and interwave equipment, but otherwise they're doing it on the quiet in case someone takes exception to them siding with the rebels. Or in case they've been duped by someone more sinister...
The only thing the world might know about them is a hazy telescope camera image of a grey ship-shaped thing, and someone with a strong accent explaining to a Sky News on the phone that "Well, we thought it was the right thing to do."
Getting information in and out, recording army movements and generally just observing.
-----
The Irish Government's attitude to Fenspace is best described as changing and changeable. (I wrote out a tonne more incase it ever became necessary for that old story thread, but never mind)
The failing Fianna Fáil/Green Party coalition first sought to use handwavium as a political hot potato, enacting some pretty tough laws to divert attention from other more pressing issues. Handwavium possession was classed as a scheduled offence. Had Ciara's crew been arrested, it's likely they would've have been tried using organised crime laws in the Special Criminal court, and imprisoned in Portlaoise. The launch of the Ciara, and some of Jet Jaguar's filmed overflights embarrassed the government. Jet's escape made a mockery of an airforce still using turboprops as front-line fighters.
Although a new government was elected in 2011, it wasn't until after the Boskone war that attitudes began to shift. President David Norris is notably pro-Fen. The president intends to visit Fenspace, but has yet to receive permission from the government to do so. The Government has taken a more pragmatic approach, repealing many of the stricter laws to facilitiate the housing and land sales in 2014. As part of the negotiations, a blanket pardon was enacted by the President forgiving most handwavium-related crimes. Others are still technically wanted fugitives for supposedly unrelated reasons. (Eg. Jet Jaguar had built a railgun in his shed, which was technically classed as an illegal firearm due to the vagaries of the law.[1]) The Government shows little interest in pursuing them.
Handwavium Law enforcement is handled by the Garda Unit for the Bizarre and Unprecedented. The Irish Government is attempting to market itself as a gateway to the European economy, and has noticeably relaxed handwavium import restrictions do to so. Corporate taxes are also kept low, to entice Fen into establishing a presence on Irish soil. The Government is attempting to emulate Australia in it's own unique way.
Owning handwavium requires the completion of a mandatory recognised safety course and a Garda-issued permit. Spacecraft and vehicle must maintain proper registration documents subject to inspection and in theory, pilots overflying Ireland would require a legally recognised license. Nobody bothers to check. Many choose to just use ocean-landing craft and dock at seaports.
1) This is actually true. Until recently, if it fired anything at all it was classed as a firearm and technically required a license. Including those piddly little sucker-gun things and spug-guns. Airsoft used to be illegal. A recent change in the law permits a maximum muzzle energy of 1 Joule for a projectile before it's legally classed as a firearm. Technically, owning an 'unlicensed firearm' is a potential 10-year prison sentence, regardless as to whether that's a machine gun, or a cheap Chinese AEG shooting at 2J rather than 1.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?