Sirius Socialist Republic (SSR)
The Sirians are a minor nation formed of a group originally founded by all the unreconstructed socialists and communists of old Earth. Their political views have modified a little over the intervening centuries, adapting to the nature of interstellar trade and expansion, but they remain an independent grouping. Often they are politically paralysed by endemic political infighting - some have characterised it as a system of 'permanent restructuring'.
See also
SSR Politics
Sirius Society
Website information : http://www.theuniverse.org.uk/politics/sirius/index.html 
Official SSR Government site https://ssruniverse.wordpress.com
Quadrant Governors as at 3230
Q0 Sofiya Hrytsenko
Q1 Dmitri Gurkovsky
Q2 Ivan Domashev
Q4 Mifune Kingo
Q6 Cheng Guanting
Q7 (Dr Kent Clarke recalled to Q0 in 3238) Dep Gov W. Bruce
Q8 Alex Abdul-Salam.
Key Personnel in Quadrant 0
Political - 3215-3225
Rachael Kapushinski President of the Republic & President of the Council of State
Gu-An San-Martin Minister of Defence
Carla Kaw-Ski Minister of Colonies
Rose Looburg Minister of Finance
Nathan Kinsky Minister of Foreign Affairs
Marcus Bakker Minister of Information
Estelle Sent-Simon Minister of the Economy
Bob Sokal Minister of Public Services
Firdaous Al Ahmadura Minister of Science & Cybernetics
Lon Timago Minister of Heritage and Culture
Missy Ferguson Minister of Agriculture
Wa Ching Yu Minister of Justice, Security & Internal Affairs
Frank Walsingham Intelligence Director
Dr Soon Yat Sen Quadrant 0 Governor
Political 3225 to present
Nathan Kinsky President of the Republic & President of the Council of State
Gu-An San-Martin Minister of Defence
Missy Ferguson Minister of Colonies
Rose Looburg Minister of Finance
Lon Timago Minister of Foreign Affairs
Marcus Bakker Minister of Information
Estelle Sent-Simon Minister of the Economy
Irfaan el-Safar Minister of Public Services
Joseph Nintee Minister of Science & Cybernetics
Mazin Nasir Walid Minister of Heritage and Culture
Muneefa al-Jafari Minister of Agriculture
Wa Ching Yu Minister of Justice, Security & Internal Affairs
Frank Walsingham Intelligence Director
Sofiya Hrytsenkon Quadrant 0 Governor
Military
Admiral Diane Selwyn Navy Chief of Staff
Admiral Gudmundur Aegilson Navy Staff Home Fleets
Admiral Cammilla Rhodes Navy Staff Colonial Fleets
Admiral Adam Kesher CO 1st Workers Fleet
Admiral Betty Elms CO 2nd Workers Fleet
Admiral Preity Zinta CO 3rd Workers Fleet
Admiral Duma Ka Ndlovu CO 10th Fleet
Admiral Yi Sun-sin CO 19th Fleet
Admiral Hu Kan-se CO 1st Shock Fleet
Admiral Heinz Sieben-und-Funfzig CO 2nd Shock Fleet
Admiral Petr Magna CO 3rd Shock Fleet
Admiral Chiaki Kuriyama CO 70th Shock Fleet
Admiral Bob Suruncle CO 80th Shock Fleet
Admiral Greta Movon CO 81th Shock Fleet
Brigadier General Si Ha-Nook Commander Ground Forces, Petra
Brigadier General Festus Okonkwo Commander Ground Forces, Novo
Marshall Matters III Commander Ground Forces, Sirius
Key Personnel in Quadrant 7
Political
Dr Kent Clarke Governor Quadrant 7
Ray Sondetra Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Arfur Ffoulkes-Aycke Minister for Economic Affairs
Lars Knee Minister for Internal Security
Mona Lauder Q7 Chief of Secret Service
Henrik Borgia Q0 Senior Social Advisor to Quadrant 7
Military
Admiral Ali Gorickal (Killed in battle 3213) CO 4th Shock Fleet
Admiral Aldo Ahlborn CO 4th Shock Fleet and Quadrant 7 Admiral Commanding
Lt Col Israel Hands CO 90th AP Command (interim)
Vice Admiral Jean Jaures CO 7th Colonial Fleet
Vice Admiral Benny Diktus Commander Colonial Planetary Defence Q7
Commodore Abdul Zakarov Commander, Starguard Q7
General Antwen Brandt Commander Ground Forces Q7
Robots in SSR society
Sirian society is renowned for its relatively tolerant attitudes towards robots. In no other society is the appreciation for the possibilities of automated labour and artificial intelligence so widespread. That appreciation is looked at with some suspicion by other societies, but the Sirians, trusting in the application of technology to improve the workers' lot, tend to make light of the objections and take a more optimistic approach to the risks.
Robots are a full part of Sirian society. Their presence is universal: in homes, factories, offices and on the street.
The application of robot labour in factories is their principal contribution to the Sirian economy. It has allowed the Sirian worker to enjoy his well earned rest and holidays. The 8 hour working day can be celebrated in relative wealth because the tireless robot takes the place of his human comrades in the other shifts. They have kept far away the horrors of slave labour, pervasive in other parts of the humiverse. In other polities child labour and debt slavery is common, but in the SSR, children enjoy free education.
The extent of automated labour leads to constant confusion in labour productivity statistics. While Sirian economic growth records generally tend to lag behind those of capitalist polities, the actual human labour productivity per hour in Sirian factories is the highest in the Humiverse. What tends to obscure this remarkable feat is the inclusion of robots as labour units and the relatively large managerial component. Although the Sirian society is still predominantly a workers' society, the number of managers is higher than anywhere else and not quite as productive. The Sirian Communist Party has recently responded to the challenge by establishing Productivity Increase Advisory Boards in every production unit, to identify causes of low productivity and make recommendations for improvement.
Nowhere is the relationship between robot and humans closer than in the home. The Dombot is the focal point of family life, not only tidying up, cooking and doing the shopping, but also providing education and comic relief to the children, keeping the family's diaries and photo albums and organising excursions. The amount of work the combined dombots put into the Block Barbecues is just a sign of the pride they take in their role as backbone of the family. Research by the Sirian Institute of Domestic Technology has indicated that the low level of divorces in the SSR can be attributed to their splendid work.
Unlike the sturdy worker robots, the dombot is generally a crude android. Dependent on household composition it is equipped with educational, domestic or social pods. The purchase of new pods is one of the main consumer markets in the SSR. Fashions in character pods come and go, very much like the interchangeable fronts of mobile telephones (see archeology) at the turn of the 21st Century. The dombot is named by the family members on purchase (which involves a christening ceremony that can be traced back to the 25th century). The robots are often named with great care but are often easily recognisable: like Napoleon or Nanny, while James and Jeeves are also popular. Being a full member of the family, the dombot tends to acquire the role of family memory and will often recount stories of long dead ancestors.
The more advanced the CPUs of the robots become, the more advanced will be their emotional pods and android exterior. The SCC has established a standard of reality in their designs that surpasses those of all competition and new models are released on a regular basis. The commercial models are already pretty hard to distinguish from humans. Some have even risen to distinguished careers in sports, arts and science. These advanced bright slave types are allowed their own surnames. The export of advanced 'female' androids, especially to miner communities and patriarchal societies, has become a major source of foreign currency for the SSR. The replacement of human prostitutes by androids has rid the SSR of a great social evil and has been repeatedly celebrated by the Red Women's Emancipation Congress.
However, the costs of manufacture of these androids are high in comparison to its results and mostly it is cheaper to let a human do the work, especially in high risk missions where the robot may be damaged. The programming of human behaviour requires very complex stochastic subroutines and great skill at the reproduction of the human body. This brand of manufacturing might therefore be compared to race car driving at the end of the 20th century. It is a platform for companies to show their technological capacity and generate publicity. They build robots of very high quality (ie close resemblance to human behaviour) and character uniqueness. The Sirian government and quadrant authorities are their main customers, but quite a few are exported. The robots are used for intelligence surveillance operations .... Krapp Steel is one of several such companies in the SSR. Krapp Steel is a semi-state owned factory of special purpose android robots which holds the motto: "Centuries of Commitment to Craft".
Some of the most famous androids come from the Steel 'family'. These robots are often christened by alphabet (Andrew, Bernard, Carry), with submodels receiving double names (Andrew Alexander, Andrew Bernard).
Robots are also widely used in the armed forces. Although robots have become closely integrated into the Sirian Revolutionary Armed Forces and have received names and honorary rankings, doctrine is still based on their protection of human lives.
The Sirians tend to have a more relaxed attitude towards AIs than elsewhere. This does not mean that the Sirians are naive "AI-Lovers" as is sometimes alleged. The Cinder Seat War (3045) against the LOGOS AI was an extremely nasty affair by any standard and had repercussions for AI research in the whole humiverse and the SSR in particular. In the meantime research has regained pace, but is still far behind what would have been possible. Sirian scientist work under the assumption that once the intelligence can be harnessed, it will mean another great leap forward in relieving the plight of the worker.