Valkyria Chronicles: Drums of War

Ithillid said:

[ ] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[ ] [Torpedo] Reject

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Might as well take them.

Ithillid said:

[ ] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[ ] [Coulerouge] End Partnership

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Might as well continue.

Ithillid said:

[ ][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[ ][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.

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I don't know, on one hand ensuring things are safe before their released. But on the other hand allowing start-ups and such a easier time who otherwise wouldn't be able to just go through the safety standards before being able to make a profit.

I think I'll go with the first option, if only to more permit innovation and other such.

Ithillid said:

[ ][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester
Fiona Harris is a well-known name in the circles of modern forestry. Her book The Giving Forest has become a modern classic, and a handbook for the cultivation of productive forests. Focused on the idea of cooperating with natural landscapes and maximizing sustainable crop yields, she would be a good pick, not just for improving such outputs but for improving their quality.
(+2 Raw Materials dice, +10 to agriculture projects)

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I think I prefer Fiona the most. Wonder if influence could long term help prevent a potential dust-bowl situation? Let alone soil health and all that.

Plus ensuring things are sustainable and some help to the environment, let alone not completely destroying a location's natural environment.

[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Zachary Goldblum - Oilman


We have a pretty weak ability to enforce our mandate when it comes to food safety, and we have a ton of eyes on us and this whole experiment of government regulation.

It's problematic, but permission until proven unsafe seems liable to put far less onus on the FSO in the short term. And that gives us the room to adequately create a regulatory body from nothing and address all the awful conditions besides the nature of the product itself.

I feel like agricultural projects are the vast minority of our priorities in the raw materials sector, while oil can cut back on Ragnite needs somewhat.

Also, Munitions come from LI/C

[X][Admin] Zachary Goldblum - Oilman

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Zachary Goldblum - Oilman

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[ ] [Torpedo] Reject

Because we do need those torpedoes.

[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[ ] [Coulerouge] End Partnership

Continue with the partnership is just inherently the better choice.

[ ][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.

So... who wants to get poisoned by some company inventing a new food dye that causes lethal allergic reactions in one in a thousand people and the company did not need to check? Just me opposed?

[ ][Admin] Zachary Goldblum - Oilman
Zachary Goldblum is an experienced oilman, and has worked as an engineer for some of the most advanced refineries in the country. While less than experienced with the full spectrum of projects, the man is quite knowledgeable in his field, and with government funding, would push the nation's utilization of oil resources forward.
(+1 LCI die, +1 Raw Materials die, +5 to oil and refining projects)

Honestly not a bad choice, and we will end up with a lot of oil projects sooner or later.

[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester
Fiona Harris is a well-known name in the circles of modern forestry. Her book The Giving Forest has become a modern classic, and a handbook for the cultivation of productive forests. Focused on the idea of cooperating with natural landscapes and maximizing sustainable crop yields, she would be a good pick, not just for improving such outputs but for improving their quality.
(+2 Raw Materials dice, +10 to agriculture projects)

We do have a major food quality problem.

[ ][Admin] Timothy Reddington - Labor Relations Expert
The son of the founder of one of the nation's first and foremost private detective agencies, Reddington already holds many contracts to provide security, investigative services, and assorted other services to mining, forestry, and other industrial firms throughout the nation. His advice and assistance would certainly enable the expansion of Vinland's resource extraction base to proceed quickly, cost-effectively, and with fewer troubles from labor disputes.
(+1 Raw Material die, -5 resource cost)

... This guys is a Not!Pinkerton, isn't he? Yeah, no, I do not want him. If he's a Pinkerton he is entirely willing to commit mass murder of the work force as long as it means the strikes are broken.

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

We need torpedoes, we need the ragnite, we need someone who can help with ensuring people get fed, and we need to ensure that the system we set up actually does what our mandate is telling us to do. Not "oh, yeah, you can put whatever in the alleged food you are selling unless a regulator gets around to checking up on you."

I mean, seriously! This is a chance to actually get something that works better than the shitshow we have currently.

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

god we'll need so much testing infrastructure and patients to 'prove safe for human consumption' all the chemicals the food industry can throw at us.

Vehrec said:

god we'll need so much testing infrastructure and patients to 'prove safe for human consumption' all the chemicals the food industry can throw at us.

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It'll be less than the medical infrastructure needed to make sure that our population survives all the chemicals the food industry will throw at the public if they do not have to first prove that it's safe.

[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

Tempest Warden said:

Might as well take them.

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Yeah, those 30 R/die dice are a pain, but the project was always going to be expensive and getting it done in two dice is really nice.

Might as well continue.

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The Ute partnership in the Coulerouge is actually working out better than I'd hoped- I'd expected a four-die partnership project.

I don't know, on one hand ensuring things are safe before their released. But on the other hand allowing start-ups and such a easier time who otherwise wouldn't be able to just go through the safety standards before being able to make a profit.

I think I'll go with the first option, if only to more permit innovation and other such.

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It's also just a matter of inventing new things. We're in the early days of a long period of rapid advance in both food processing techniques and, importantly, medicine.

The problem is that we're also in the middle of a long "Wild West" period of invention in those fields were a lot of people will invent stuff they really shouldn't have invented.

Lightwhispers said:

We need torpedoes, we need the ragnite, we need someone who can help with ensuring people get fed, and we need to ensure that the system we set up actually does what our mandate is telling us to do. Not "oh, yeah, you can put whatever in the alleged food you are selling unless a regulator gets around to checking up on you."

I mean, seriously! This is a chance to actually get something that works better than the shitshow we have currently.

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The thing is, a lot of the problems already identified with the food industry are that they're doing things that are, in fact, already known to be unsafe. Letting rat offal into your sausages or putting sawdust in the flour are already known to be bad practices that are bad for people. If we address those things that are already generally understood to be unsafe, combined with overtly dishonest labeling practices (e.g. labeling horsemeat as beef), we've addressed the vast majority of the problem there.

The burden of proof issue is going to be far more tightly concentrated on the new industries of food chemistry and the gradual evolution of pharmaceuticals.

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

I'm going with "until proven unsafe" simply from the perspective of not overwhelming our barely formed bureau with everything the industry dumps on us. Down the road when things are better situated and the major issues other than that in the food industry are dealt with, then we can reconsider that stance.

EDIT: Given that QM said it's more the philosophical approach to things, I'd gonna just vote for both FSO options.

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted once proven safe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

[X] [Torpedo] McCowell (2 dice, 30 resources per die, 35 percent ownership share, 12 months)
[X] [Coulerouge] Maintain Partnership (3 dice, 15 resources per die, 30 percent stake) (+2 Ragnite)
[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.
[X][Admin] Fiona Harris - Forester

I think there's a valid point to be made here that the FSO is going to struggle terribly with a workable definition of "proven safe." There will be a strong tendency to do one or more of the following:

1) Make the standards weak: "Of course thalidomide is safe, our test subjects are just fine!" "Did you test on pregnant women?" "Wait, why would we do that?"

2) Include grandfather clauses so permissive that they arguably defeat the purpose: "The FSO has banned marijuana because it cannot be proven safe, but would never dream of banning tobacco.")

3) Throw the economy into chaos and get cut to ribbons by legislative amendments to this timeline's Food and Drug Act (we do not actually want to throw hands with the tobacco industry right off the bat, for instance).

For the foreseeable future of public policy in the setting (the next 20-30 years), the undesirable consequences of artificially constraining novel production techniques ("This new way of milling flour and adding Vitamin A to it can't be proven safe, stick to 19th century processing techniques! Peanut butter can't be proven safe, some people are allergic!") may well have the potential to be just about as bad as the desirable consequences of keeping weird gimmick products ("radium water for medicine!") off the market for the relatively short period of time before it does become apparent that they are unsafe, at which point they would be banned anyway.

[X][FSO] Permitted until proven unsafe for human consumption.