Actaea

30% Decimus Julius Sulla
70% Lee Yong-ji

State department officials are in an uproar over the leaking of key government cables by the website WikiSpills. The site's owner, under the nom de plume "El Denunciante," is operating from an anonymous location in neighboring Bigtopia, where the government can't reach him. Rex Ventorum's leaders are sharply divided on how to respond.

"This man has done no wrong!" says Louis Hamilton, who also happens to be the head writer of The Invicta Times Magazine. "The people have a right to transparency of government. El Denunciante is a hero who has revolutionized my magazine sale-er-Freedom of Speech for this country. No state action must be committed that would infringe upon our right to disclose government information, regardless of the effects on diplomatic relations. Besides, it isn't as though you've got anything to hide... do you?"

A group of prominent business identities has proposed privatizing Rex Ventorum's beaches.

"Have you been to the beach lately? It's disgusting," says company spokesperson Tim Mistletoe. "There's litter, there's teenagers smoking, and there are people enjoying themselves without paying for it. Let the private sector in on this, and Rex Ventorum's beaches will be the talk of the region! And a nice little earner, too."

A peculiar confederacy of small-government advocates, regular attendees at Rex Ventorum's annual Medieval Faire, and the super rich have demanded that the government grant estates and confer titles of nobility upon certain influential persons.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," exclaims noted civil rights advocate Brian O. "Those who are behind this espouse a system that grants inordinate amounts of institutional power to the rich and ensures that no one will be able to climb the social ladder. Everyone in society must be granted an equal opportunity to succeed or fail. Say 'no' to a nobility!"

A collection of citizens, civil rights workers, and concerned mothers have signed a petition to stop the manufacturing of the 'BFG-69' (AKA 'the Organ Grinder'), a new rifle planned to be used in the military which works by shredding people's internal organs.

"If we don't produce these weapons we will be left behind in the arms race," says Decimus Julius Sulla, owner of the Ventorum Heavy Industries. "These weapons are the future and it won't just stop with the BFG-69. We're planning on introducing the Bone-Breaker 325-DX Sonic Rocket Launcher next year along with our anthrax grenade line. If Rex Ventorum is going to stay ahead of the game then it'll just have to accept that highly destructive weaponry is part of life. We'd also like to sell it commercially to your police force and citizens if you'd just sign here...?"