Unibot

The Beige Regime takes Command R3naissanc3r elected Delegate – New Cabinet yet to be released! COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF R3naissanc3r was officially recognized today as The North Pacific’s new delegate. R3naissanc3r clinched the vote with just over half of the electorate (54.29%), while other candidates like Kiwi (22.86%) and Romanoffia (14.28%) proved less popular. Abacathea (63.16%) snatched the Vice Delegate position away from Flemingovia (34.21%), while Zyvetskistaahn rode safely into the speaker’s chair (55.26%). Early political commentary from The Rejected Times’s editor drew fierce criticism from readers, although his comments on the various campaigns proved to be accurate. A more distributed, even competitive delegate race converged with a broad coalition of support around the candidate found to be more accessible and sympathetic of various members of the region. Winning elections in The North Pacific is all about being the least “scary” choice. Abacathea even dubbed the cabinet, the “beige regime” – a name that is almost surely going to catch on (mark our words). R3naissanc3r has yet to announce his cabinet. A rumor suggests imperialist lineage from the likes of North East Somerset or Rachel Anumia could make an appearance, but more likely is r3naissanc3r’s own proposed “wish list” of a cabinet, like Abacathea, the invader-leaning SC Author returning to his World Assembly Affairs position, Crushing our Enemies, the well-spoken former Black Hawks commander as Communications Minister, Gladio, the NPA’s Acting Minister of Defense taking on the lead job officially, while r3naissanc3r suggested he might shuffle his major electoral opponent, Kiwi, from his more high profile ministerial position, Communications, to the Culture department. However, today Kiwi announced that he was resigning as Minister of Communications unexpectedly after his defeat in the election – saying that he wanted to “take a break from holding office”. This could put a damper on r3naissanc3r’s plans to have Kiwi serve in culture and leave Lord Ravenclaw to remain there unless other plans are afoot. Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs would still be hard to predict, r3naissanc3r preferred SillyString and McMasterdonia, but both might be hard to convince since SillyString is currently serving as Associate Justice and McMasterdonia has just served two consecutive terms as delegate. Shots in the Dark: I could see Alunya, the soft spoken, loveable cat-loving neutral being a top choice for Home Affairs, while Lord Ravenclaw could be shuffled from his current position as Culture and Entertainment Minister to r3naissanc3r’s old chair, Foreign Affairs. R3naissanc3r’s choices of SillyString and McMasterdonia suggests he’s looking for someone intelligent, but non-controversial and friendly for Home Affairs, while he would prefer someone with a range of contacts abroad for Foreign Affairs. Alunya and Lord Ravenclaw seem to fit the bill, but we’ll have to see. With many of these things, it just matters who is available and who r3naissanc3r feels he will personally get along with professionally. Finally, I wouldn’t discount someone beloved like Romanoffia as "off the table" in regards to the Culture department, although Romanoffia and r3naissanc3r have never exactly been known to be close, Romanoffia would give the new cabinet some more veteran credibility and Romanoffia ran a strong campaign based around similar ideas as r3naissanc3r, with a long history as a comedic, fun cheese-worshiping player. The new delegate has forty endorsements to go before he surpasses the Vice Delegate with the most endorsements in The North Pacific. A changeover should be expected to occur shortly. All hail The Beige! Yep, that's gonna stick.

Not me. It's Parhe.

Issue XIX, May 04, 2014 Editor's Note We had some people who had got lost during our last issue. Unfortunately this issue is just as large, so here's a map for our more casual readers... >> NEWS Nepotism at its Finest New Moderator Appointments suggest Nepotism COMMENTARY | GLEN-RHODES Last week, on Thursday, April 24, the General Assembly community was greeted with two new moderators. This did not come as a shock to anybody, because it was painfully clear that the moderation team was unbearably slow due to inactive moderators. In order to get a timely ruling, authors had to sacrifice a lamb and kill the thing they loved the most. Players called for additional mods the week prior, after Ardchoille, the lead mod, shot down the idea of World Assembly Mentors. However, the two players the mod team chose as their newest recruits proved to be controversial. Mousebumples is a long-time member of the General Assembly community, though had not been particularly active prior to promotion. Mallorea and Riva, known in the Gameplay community as an unapologetic amoral raider, was the second choice. While many players offered their congratulations, several decried the choice as runaway nepotism and upholding the status quo in a game so many believe needs to be changed. Among the many accusations, these players suggested that Mousebumples and Mallorea and Riva were chosen to be mods because they would not threaten the status quo. Both have rarely disagreed with the mod, and both tend to defend mod decisions and the mod team in general against criticism. Who best to welcome into your ranks than some cheerleaders? Of the two, Mallorea and Riva earned particular scorn. Most people, even supporters of the decision, admitted that the choice of Mallorea and Riva was a complete surprise. If there had been an open discussion about who should be the next General Assembly mod, Mallorea and Riva would not even make it to the first round of suggestions. Yet, he was chosen anyways by the mod team, through some secret vetting process the community will never understand. It is hard to believe that the mods received very many emails suggesting his promotion. Why would the community want somebody who has openly admitted that he cannot be trusted? [ http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=288914&p=19617723#p19617723 ]Who is known as a proud self-proclaimed troll? His behavior is exemplary of the worst behavior in this game. Mallorea and Riva perpetuates an unfriendly and toxic culture that has been regularly recognized as a serious problem for sustaining the World Assembly as an active and vibrant part of NationStates. Yet, he was chosen to be a mod. To veteran players, it is no mystery why Mousebumples and Mallorea and Riva were chosen. While the latter is really jumping the shark, both meet the primary qualification for joining the General Assembly mod team: be members of the Antarctic Oasis group of friends. It is no coincidence that the last three players made mods – Flibbleites, who is seemingly missing in action, and now Mousebumples and Mallorea and Riva – are all part of the Antarctic Oasis community. Ardchoille has long been friends with this group of players, yet pretends that the occasional resolution legality ruling against them is evidence that she is not impacted by the bias any other normal human being would experience. All of these mods routinely participate in Antarctic Oasis “rant threads,” where they insult and denigrate the players they’re charged with moderating. Ardchoille, Flibbleites, and Mousebumples have been participants for the past five to six years, and Mallorea and Riva has recently joined them within the last two. Is that really the behavior we want from our mods? Palling around with the likes of Omigodtheykilledkenny (commonly knows as just “Kenny”), who in one thread said that Auralia “sucks donkey dick” and accused him of being a “homophobe bigot Tea Party Catholic asshole?” And we are supposed to believe that none of this affected Ardchoille’s decision to use a tool she said would only be used for extraordinary situations, to strike down Auralia’s resolution after it had passed? Should we also believe that reassuring Antarctic Oasis that the “No Army” rule would never change, and then striking down Auralia’s resolution – which would have put the rule into question – are two totally separate events completely irrelevant to one another? Even if it is not blatant favoritism and corruption, mods are not super-humans. Participating in these threads undoubtedly impacts their ability to be fair, impartial and unbiased. So why is that the mods chose two more mods from that community? They would like everybody to think that Mousebumples and Mallorea and Riva were the most qualified candidates. But this game is full of relatively smart people. I do not buy what the mods are selling. This choice was pure nepotism at its finest. It was a choice intended to bring friends into the team, friends who will not challenge the status quo or really change anything at all. But several current and former GA “regulars” fear that adding these two to the team will change things. We will see even more nonsensical rulings. Even more dismissive attitudes towards revitalizing the game. And more toxicity injected into a part of NationStates that has been dying a slow death for years because of people who behave like Mallorea and Riva. No Candidates Left TNP Elections Begin – No Left-leaning Candidates in Sight COMMENTARY | UNIBOT With the recent announcement from Lennart that he would be withdrawing from the delegate race comes a clear absence of left-leaning candidates in The North Pacific’s latest delegate elections. For the past few months, concerns regarding the extent of The North Pacific’s invasions and occupations have been growing in The North Pacific with senseless attacks on Transilvania, Scotland and St Abbaddon among others and growing cooperation between The North Pacific Army with imperialists and organized invader groups such as The Black Hawks and The Black Riders. With pride in the army at an all-time low, intergovernmental relations poor and citizens upset with the increasing influence of invaderism in The North Pacific, it would have appeared to have been a natural development for a new candidate to reject the status quo and promise a new, brighter future for The North Pacific. Lennart, the relatively green politician (although a respected Security Councillor) proved to be the left’s best chance at this political about-face. He admitted he was concerned at the sheer regularity of these invasions, especially in proportion to the region’s defenses. A poll conducted by McMasterdonia found Lennart was the most popular candidate out of a varied range of potential nominees. With Great Bights Mum and Democratic Donkeys pledged not to run, this leaves the two expected candidates to lead the race, KiwiTaicho and R3naissanc3r. KiwiTaicho stands as the clearer successor of the “McMasterdonia days”. While living under the politician’s shadow during his tenure, KiwiTaicho has proven to have everything going for him: the long history as a military leader, best buddies with McMasterdonia and strong credibility as a hard-core partisan invader with the dignified whitening of the hairline that we like to call “neutrality” in feederite politics. However, he suffers from a problem that plagues many politicians: a failure to connect on a personal level with voters like his popular, charismatic predecessor did. Fortunately for KiwiTaicho, he is running against someone more vapid in personality and charm than the average tax accountant. The long-time imperialist, r3naissanc3r, lectures with the appearance of faux sensibility that comes with his distinguished career in electoral politics in the Eurosphere and his numerous partisan appointments in judicial and bureaucratic departments. R3naissanc3r’s failure to compensate for the appearance of his pocket protector with any sign of a robust, innovative set of policies has left his campaign just as stagnant. With the frontrunners leading fairly weak campaigns, the alternate candidates have not stepped up to provide a more enticing vision. It is fairly traditional for a joke “I will coup TNP” candidate and Romanoffia to run for delegate – in this case, Mallorea and Riva is running on a platform to establish The North Pacific as a solely invader region and purge the region, while Romanoffia is running on a more serious campaign which involves being neither “raider” or “defender” – supporting the policies of Tyr's Hand Party like the other frontrunners, KiwiTaicho and R3naissanc3r. Given the fact that Romanoffia is trying to establish himself as a wildcard and an “alternate” choice, it is odd he has aligned himself with basically the identical ideas of the other candidates. The Tyr's Hand Party is a political party started by Evil Wolf as a response to the growing concerns surrounding The North Pacific’s invader missions. Tyr’s Hand Party proposes a kind of “centrism”, which encourages invading helpless regions for the purposes of training and building relationships between the North Pacific Army and popular invader and imperialist groups like the Lone Wolves United, UIAF, The Black Hawks and The Black Riders. It is no coincidence that the members of the party themselves are leading invaders with a long affiliation with these organizations. The irony continues when the party’s manifesto labels “regional Independence” as one of its main tenets. The major problem with running a campaign in The North Pacific under the orthodoxy of “Tyr’s Hand” is it is politically inflexible: extremism disguised as “centrism”. If you look at Eluvatar, McMasterdonia and Jamie Anumia, you can quickly understand what you need to be to win an election in The North Pacific: you need to be able to appeal to a very broad selection of The North Pacific. Someone who governs from either the center-left or the center-right modestly and sympathizes with the other side, someone with a twinkle in their eye and a smile. A friendly face that rules from sense and their own restrained beliefs of what is right and good for their region, not from Independentist orthodoxy or the Church of Onderkelkia. There are a lot of genuine, respectable members in The North Pacific who wonder “is all of this invading ruining the reputation of The North Pacific?” and “why can’t we defend too to train?”. You cannot get elected calling these members, “radical extremists” or “purists”, and certainly cannot lead a region mocking that half of the region. So far we’ve got a handshake without a grip versus a policy wonk without a policy, a radical without an edge and a joke candidate without a joke. I project that the next delegate will be the first candidate to break from the mold and show sympathy to the concerns of NPA dissenters, without alienating those that want to see The North Pacific continue to invade. My money would be on KiwiTaicho or a late sign-up, but KiwiTaicho cannot remain confident that he will win the election without showing sympathy for the other side of the region’s concerns given his own backing from the pro-invaders is getting thinned out by other similar candidates, r3naissanc3r, Romanoffia and even Mallorea. KiwiTaicho was recently asked by Flemingovia whether he felt that The North Pacific Army was operating within the ideological centre and KiwiTaicho responded, "Simply put, no". That's probably the first admission from any of the frontrunners that I have heard of the subject, however there are a lot of questions that remain: does KiwiTaicho believe that this course that NPA needs to be adjusted and how would he plan to do that? In the very same thread, KiwiTaicho considered Blue Wolf or Gladio for Minister of Defense and suggested he would give them more independence to authorize missions. Nominations end on May 6th, when voting begins. The next delegate of The North Pacific will be decided by May 11, 2014. Election debates will run on May 6 2014, 12:00 AM. NS++ Campaign Draws Mixed Response COMMENTARY | GRUENBERG Afforess, creator of the popular add-on NS++, was unrepetant after using his creation to advertise his views on the recent Repeal "Rights and Duties of WA States" (qv. RT XVIII) WA resolution. Afforess, whose wildly inaccurate misconceptions about the roleplayed nature of World Assembly discussions had led him to conflate the General Assembly and Security Council, and support repeal of Rights & Duties, had offered to assist Auralia in his repeal campaign; on seeing the campaign hijacked and subverted, he made use of the wide audience his NS++ extension affords him to make his views known. NS++ is a free add-on to NationStates created by Afforess and emphatically neither endorsed nor prohibited by the game admins. It offers various nation and region management tools, and has been widely used: 19,000 nations have used NS++, of which 11,000 are still actively doing so. The numbers represent 7,000 unique players. NS++ users were confronted with a red (1) notifier next to the World Assembly sidebar, which directed their attention to the main World Assembly page. There, a red box outlined a message, containing some factual inaccuracy but otherwise essentially condensing the antics leading up to the repeal subterfuge, imploring them to vote for the repeal. Once viewed, the message was disabled. The message was shown to all NS++ users, regardless of whether their nation was actually a WA member or not. What NS++ users saw on logging on The message had no impact on the repeal vote, which failed by a huge margin behind a campaign of misinformation and deception, with Frisbeeteria continuing to lie about his original involvement, claiming on the Texas RMB that the resolution had "nothing to do" with his status as a game moderator, despite having at the time of authorship explicitly stated that he was "using" his "position as a Game Mod" to propose the resolution. The message may have had more impact on a concurrent Security Council resolution to condemn the repeal author, which ended up passing in the wake of the campaign. Afforess stated he "probably" would not repeat the tactic, but that he was not "ruling it out". The propaganda message incorporated into NS++ The tactic drew accusations, from users such as Thafoo and Jeckland, of being "unethical", while he was defended by Strategos Prime vice delegate El Fiji Grande: "Shadow Afforess, the creator of NS++, was completely within his rights to use his browser extension to propagate his own views". Asked to rule on the matter, game admin [violet] stated that it was not a violation of game rules and that moderators had no control over NS++. Afforess himself noted that: "I get the feeling people upset are people who don't use my extension". It is not the first time NS++ has encountered controversy. When the Dispatch feature was launched, Afforess's own Dispatch, plagiarising South Park, was immediately voted to #1; [violet] later revealed she had observed "botnet behaviour" in NS++ at the time, with the add-on causing users to unknowingly upvote Afforess's Dispatch. Afforess explained the situation as a result of test code accidentally left in a release, but his explanation left [violet] unsatisfied as to why he had not immediately declared and resolved the issue. Nonetheless, overall satisfaction with NS++ remains high, and a Spring NS++ Survey conducted in the week following the incident saw 92% of users register as "very happy" or "happy" with the add-on. Only 8% thought that Afforess should "never" use the function to alert players to in-game events he thought "important or notable". Fully 50% of users had "no idea" of who the developer actually was. Osiris Elects New Pharaoh Severisen steps up to the Plate COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Osiris elected a new delegate to replace Lord Ravenclaw on April 27, 2014. Their choice? Severisen, by a decisive 12-4 vote against Joshua Bluteisen. Severisen was given the nation, “Detective Figs” by Koth in January – he has now taken the delegacy and is leading under that account. Detective Figs has served as delegate now for three players: Astarial, Koth and Severisen. One may wonder whether this could be the start of a unique tradition. Severisen is himself new to electoral politics but no stranger to NationStates. Joining the game in 2004, Severisen established himself as an invader in 2012 with The Black Hawks and The Black Riders as a Lieutenant with both organizations. Lately his talents have been recognized by Game-Created Regions with his recent appointment as the War Minister in Balder and now Pharaoh of Osiris. His platform may be a surprise to some who have not meant Severisen but it comes across as a leader with the strength and confidence that Osiris has needed for some time. Plagued for years with leaders who had self-confidence issues or restrained by the need to pussyfoot around issues for the sake of politics, Severisen seems like a breath of fresh air. His platform sets himself out as a firm but professional leader, who surrounds around him with the “right” people and leads a bread and butter campaign: building areas of the community that had been previously neglected. Severisen has announced his cabinet recently – with the legislature approving all of his appointments. Cormac Somerset as the Vizier of Osiris (Vice Delegate) and Scribe of Horus (Foreign Affairs), Alexander Somerset as Scribe of Isis (Integration and Citizenship), Rachel Somerset as Scribe of Ptah (Culture), Ikand as Scribe of Sekhmet (Head of the Army), Douria as Scribe of Ma'at (World Assembly), Abacathea as Scribe of Seshat (Justice) and North East Somerset as Scribe of Bastet (Intelligence and Security). These choices, while experienced in terms of NationStates politics, will play a role in Severisen’s plan to train and naturalize new faces to Osiris. “My priority for this term is to return to normal levels of activity and to bring in some fresh faces from the game to the government,” explains Severisen, “This might sound a bit odd as my cabinet is pretty heavily loaded with veteran players, but it is my hope that the members of the cabinet will take newer players under their wings and teach them the ropes. This is a key, in my opinion, to creating a self-sustaining system. The same players can't keep doing all the work forever: people quit, lives get busy. It's not necessarily a bad thing to pass the reigns to someone new”. The new delegate told The Rejected Times that he was not surprised by the election per se. “I don't know if surprised is the right word for it,” says Severisen, “I was glad to have the support of the people of Osiris. What was most surprising to me is that, despite being a player of nearly 10 years, I'm a newcomer to the GCR world. I only joined Osiris in December, at the creation of the OFO. Most of my contacts were from the Gameplay world. In terms of GCRs, I feel like I'm a relative unknown. Perhaps I'm wrong in that assessment. Still, I'd like to have a larger voter base for the elections in general”. Cliché or not, "reaching out" is one of the primary goals of Severisen as he leads Osiris. “I'm asking my cabinet to reach out to people on an individual level rather than using mass telegrams,” explains Severisen, “Once the userbase is up, I'd like to work on creating a vibrant culture. I firmly believe we have a great culture, or the potential for one, in Osiris, and I'm looking forward to getting more people to experience that”. In a season of political change, this spring cleaning has proven good for Osiris. The Rejected Times wishes Severisen a productive term. Brute Cynicism Conquers The NationStates Community Repeal “Commend The NationStates Community” passes. COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Invaders rain on the Parade. “Repeal “Commend The NationStates Community” has been passed by a very wide margin, 9,119 votes to 889, which serves as the second attempt to repeal the ill-fated commendation. The first repeal attempt was defeated last year in November, 8,387 votes to 3,684. What changed between then and now? More political enemies with more opportunities to vote stack, one can only presume. Venico told The Rejected Times that “new GCR delegates willing to stomp for the passage” were the reason for this attempt passing versus the last attempt. The resolution bore from a single event: 2012’s April Fools. When players were encouraged to compete to gather stocks in NationStates, one coalition between many players called “The NationStates Community” encouraged international cooperation on a massive game-wide scale. At the last moment, Earth, the caretaker of the nation planned to send her shares to NewTexas to ensure that someone would defeat Max Barry. Max Barry, however, had different plans – blocking Earth’s share transference with a single message, “I can’t let you do that”. He sent his shares to The NationStates Community and in doing so ensured that mass cooperation won that day. Max Barry responded to the event in a rare news post, entitled “What Went Down”. “I just want to say how much fun this was,” Max Barry told NationStates, “And the reason it was fun because of how madly you embraced it, so thank you to everyone who made it so. I've said it a million times before, but I really am in awe of this place sometimes. On the surface it just looks like a website”. The NationStates Community was commended as a testament to that spirit of cooperation which had brought together so many players together. But its commendation has since become a target for repealers, mostly from invaders like Skyrim Diplomacy and more recently, Venico. For many of these commentators, the coalition had been led and organized by defenders like Earth and Mahaj, disguised as “international cooperation”, which served as a political victory for them. In NationStates, nothing is sacred or protected from petty political attacks. Venico told The Rejected Times that the resolution had always bothered and he pursued his repeal draft after Douria had told him to “look smaller” for his first resolution. Looks like Douria was proven wrong. “This resolution bugged me for two reasons,” says Venico, “One, it was a one-time commendation. I know some SC people believe that you don't NEED a pattern but I'm one of those who thinks commendations and condemnations should be more for established behavior rather than one offs”. “Secondly, it was an April Fools event,” says Venico, “It didn't impact the world at large and it's gimmicky”. Venico said he was not surprised by the final vote. Meanwhile, others saw this as a sad day for NationStates, abandoning its appreciation for a symbol of cooperation and optimism for the sake of scoring a political victory or worse, muddying what they perceived to be a victory for others. Forest Frolicking No More [violet] tweaks with the Game Code… COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Fish say they will “miss the forests”. An old quirk of NationStates has finally been resolved. For years now, any national animal could be reported as “frolicking” in the nation’s forests, regardless of whether this animal was an aquatic animal or not. Some like Sedgistan argued that this could be explained as an ambiguity: a fish might frolicking in the rivers of a forest, for example. Others, however, were more pedantic about the subject and saw the error as a sign of poor game design. Although in the past, [violet] has been reluctant to change this particular quirk, on May 01, 2014, [violet] implemented a tweak to the game code which ensured that the game would make an effort to automatically recognize marine animals as frolicking in oceans and air-borne animals as frolicking in the skies. This author tried the system and found his own national animal, the walrus, now “frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans”. Neat-O! >> OPINION The Pathology of Patriotism Part Three of a Four Part Series, “Rethinking Power in NationStates”. EDITORIAL | UNIBOT I made a mistake. An error. There, said it. It’s hard to imagine that this time two years ago, I had not yet created The Gameplay Alignment Test and the words, Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism were not used so casually and authoritatively as they are now. Nowadays, these concepts are taken for granted for – it’s not uncommon to see an electoral candidate declare “I am a regionalist!” proudly, or a legislator condemning their political enemy as a “dirty cosmopolitan”. Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism exist – they’re patterns of belief that you will find if you observe the political arena in NationStates. However, my mistake was to assume that people hold beliefs out of conviction and not political expediency. That is our dark secret: many of us do not hold our beliefs because we believe them, but because they suit us in our current political context. Certainly there are believers – people will strong, philosophical convictions – I’ve always identified as a cosmopolitan with a strong belief in its defense of individual liberty and freedom. However, when I had so much counter-evidence, it was very wrong indeed to assume that people would so carelessly ignore their situations and choose what they believe is right, instead of what is advantageous to them. People are adaptable – their beliefs are as flexible and fluid as their situation. One day, someone may be a “regionalist” and another, a “cosmopolitan”. During their ideological transformation, it’s not the person that has changed, but their situation and their calculations of their political interests. Some may have a hard time understanding this idea because they see Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism as their caricatures: “regionalists are loyal patriots, cosmopolitans are dirty region whores”. This is obviously a one-sided perspective and serves to bolster the regionalist narrative by praising some and condemning others. What really separates Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism is its architecture of power. Regionalism centralizes power around a tight circle of trusted insiders; it screens the population to produce insiders through arbitrary tests of loyalty (e.g., WA Nations, Citizenship). Cosmopolitanism decentralizes power around a wide, encompassing circle of the population with little screening between its members to produce either insiders or outsiders. Centralization and decentralization are the primary distinctions between Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism. A regionalist society is more exclusive in its power structure, while a cosmopolitan society is more inclusive. Note: political authority and status is an excludable good – what these beliefs tell us is when to exclude. If we know then that most people, in theory, are rational and seek out these goods, their beliefs will often be informed by their situations. If X stands to gain from a regionalist structure, X will profuse regionalism; if X stands to gain from a cosmopolitanism structure, X will profuse cosmopolitanism. You would gain from regionalism if you stand a reasonable chance at passing these arbitrary tests of loyalty and becoming an insider (with which you receive even larger shares of power). However, you would suffer greatly if you failed this screening and became an outsider. Likewise, if you could pass this arbitrary test, you would have smaller share of power in a cosmopolitan scenario, because power is more distributed to other members, however you would gain greatly if you would otherwise have been considered an outsider. The Principle of Negation, in the study of multiculturalism, finds that collective identities are stronger and clearer when more of the population is excluded by an identity (some identities are broader than other). Exclusion, thus, plays an integral part in sustaining the primary goal of Regionalism: to protect and promote the region’s identity. Meanwhile, cosmopolitanism boasts a broad, inclusive regional identity with weaker interpersonal social cohesion. It should come to no surprise to readers then that those who will be one of the accepted few with praise patriotism and regionalism, while those who will have their citizenships on the cutting block will denounce these ideas as violating minority rights. But situations can change. In our current political context, changes are happening all of the time. Some players are being included more into the centre of power while old favorites are losing favour. The screening process that determines who is trustworthy and who is ‘identifiably’ a member of the region is of course a strategic process. What is means to be a full-fledged social member of a region changes with a region identity (which is flexible and directed by the levers of power in a region), while the screening process of trustworthiness is entirely a misnomer – many insiders cannot be trusted and they are nonetheless allowed into the elite circles because of the political value of their inclusion and the region’s private dialogue. When players believe that the screening process, which once may have been favourable to them, will no longer be favourable to them, they will switch from pursuing regionalist measures to pursuing cosmopolitan measures. Alternatively, if players believe that the screening process, which once may have been unfavourable to them, will no longer be unfavourable to them, they will switch from pursuing cosmopolitan measures to pursuing regionalist measure. This political cycle reveals just how fluid a player’s ideological alignment can be when political turmoil lies ahead. These personal decisions, however, have extreme consequences for the political climate in their regions: while Regionalism often downplays important issues which may bring social stigma to their group (because they see problems as collective, instead of on a more individual level), Cosmopolitanism suffers from low social cohesion. A formerly regionalist government like Osiris, for example, struggled in the past to identify and respond to important systemic issues – criticism was perceived as an attack on the community and the regional identity as a whole. Meanwhile, a formerly cosmopolitan region like Lazarus, struggled to organize collective campaigns without social cohesion. The failures of Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism accumulated and helped lead to the Osiran Civil War and the People’s Liberation. But despite the major consequences of these events, our theory suggests that these ideological patterns lie in the rationality of individual political participants. How should we recruit? OPINION | JOE BOBS Joe Bobs discusses the morality of recruitment. The recent ‘Userite Myth’, published by the NPO, characterised recruitment as ‘coercion’ or ‘enforcement’, which many userites, myself included, may consider strong words. After all, recruitment is essential for a user-created region (UCR): after the initial group of founders, and excluding those who may have discovered the region through its embassies, all members of a region arrive via recruitment. The number of UCRs means the chances of someone happening upon your region are negligible, so a method of highlighting your region to new members is necessary. However, how a recruiter goes about highlighting their region varies. It is generally accepted that sending recruitment telegrams to brand new regions, either by the use of stamps, scripts, or manual recruitment, is acceptable, but there are other methods, some formerly against the rules, but all now considered legal, which are still frowned upon by many. I am asking, do we think these are OK? UCR Recruitment: In a recent case in the Global Right Alliance, the embassy with Capitalist Paradise came close to closure, after it was revealed that one member of CP had attempted to recruit nations from the GRA some time last year. Once upon a time, this would have been against game rules, but is now accepted legally, but is it accepted morally? A region is a community of people that in some manner attempt to assert its shared identity and, ideally, accepts the right of other regions to assert theirs. It’s this idea that makes some defenders take offence at imperialists and invaders who remove a region’s identity (I of course recognise not all imperialists and invaders do remove their targets’ identities, and don’t wish to paint all with the same brush). And it’s this same idea that leads many to take offence that some may recruit from another region. Non-new GCR Recruitment: This brings me neatly onto my second point, if we agree there is something ignoble about recruiting from UCRs, why do we not take such objection to game-created region (GCR) recruitment? I would say we should, in the case of non-new members. New nations are not yet integrated members of a GCR’s community. In those first few minutes of the game, there’s as good a chance someone could end up a member of The Pacific, The Black Riders, 10,000 Islands or Europe, and the telegram they receive is likely to chime with their personality and interests for which they will select. A non-new GCR member has already made this choice, they are an integrated member of the community, and have chosen it above others. Attempting to recruit them is equal to recruiting from a UCR. RMB Adspam: And then there’s adspam, much loathed by GCRs the world over. Many debate its usefulness as a tool, and many find it irritating as a disruption of conversation. In years gone by, many GCRs stipulated a UCR could only hold an embassy with them if they did not post adspam. So, do we find this acceptable? The very name ‘adspam’ suggests we do not. However, a recent TRR survey found only 38% of voters actually objected to it. I would argue that, following from my thesis, adspam damages a community. The regional message board is just that, a small forum for those who do not use the offsite forums, and its intention is for use by members of that community. Adspam advertises without discrimination, to both old and new members, and so has the same sour taste as the methods discussed above. Recently, the International Democratic Union sent a recruitment telegram to an unknown number of WA nations. This was frowned upon by many, as of course it weakens the Delegacy of any regions targeted, and could remove valuable members of that region’s military. In addition, it falls foul of the values discussed above, that we should not damage another community by attempting to remove its integrated members. I for one would like us all to think about this, to think about the rich experiences we have had as members of various communities in NationStates, the friends we have made, the debates we have won, and, at the risk of sounding oh-so cheesy, the fun we have had. I suggest that we should respect other communities in the way we would wish our own to be respected, and that we all bear this in mind next time we think about our recruitment methods. Multi-Regional Delegates OPINION | JOE BOBS As much as we love NationStates, I think we all agree it needs a shot in the arm, a shake up, a little something new. If the game does not change and develop, we master it, and the challenge is gone. I believe we have reached one of those thresholds. The game needs a change, a big one. The raider-defender conflict is fast becoming stale, predictable and too easy for both sides. In the World Assembly, you can predict whether a resolution will pass or fail with ease. Mastery leads to predictability, and eventually, boredom. I have a solution, which I believe would radically alter the game in an interesting way. Two words: Multi-regional Delegates (OK, maybe three words, depending on your opinion of the hyphen). The basic idea is this: it would be possible to be Delegate of multiple regions, with one nation. Any nation could receive endorsements from anyone, regardless of the region in which your nation physically resides. It would be possible for one person to command a vast empire, and not in the current way imperials tag a WFE and swap an embassy. Imagine the cults of personality around the great leaders of the world. Imagine the coalitions of regions, uniting together and electing a leader; perhaps they would rotate the position between member regions. Imagine the coups, where a leader could first build support in other regions, before mounting their final strike, or build support in the region before moving in. Now think about the changes to invading and defending. Endorsements would move with you when you moved regions, so each region invaded would have the stack of the entire raider army behind it, and each defence and liberation the same. Instead of a small force of those available at update, huge armies would do battle together, in wars spanning dozens of regions. Epic battles would span the world, establishing alliances and coalitions between regions would become key to winning. We currently have coalitions formed such as the FRA or UIAF, but they are not supported by the game mechanics, only by off-site forums. This would resolve that situation. As a limitation, and to preserve the purpose of the 'region', perhaps endorsements from outside the region in which you reside could be limited, so example, they could be worth 50% of the endorsement count. There could even be an opt-out tick box, the way you can deny a delegate access to regional controls. Here are some thoughts from others on the proposal: Feel free to add your thoughts to the debate at http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=291673

Issue XVIII, April 14, 2014 >>> OPINION Community and Strength: Kringalia Speaks! "Regardless of whatever happened in the last few weeks, that's not what defines the region," says the New Delegate. INTERVIEW | UNIBOT "Kris Kringle is Coming to Town!" Unibot sits down with Kringalia shortly after being elected Delegate of The South Pacific... So it was a close race in many ways - it had me biting my nails the whole way through. Are you relieved? How does it feel to have won? It was indeed! I'll be relieved when Todd certifies the results, but I think it's fair to say I've earned the right to stop checking the vote count every five minutes. It's great to have won, and I have lots of ideas about things to do for the region. It's going to be a very active term, that I can promise. The decision to switch roles with Escade - what was the reasoning behind that? Whose idea was it and when did you decide to do that? Well, ever since December we had constantly joked about switching positions in the future, but it was all joking. Up until a few days before nominations opened Escade was going for Delegate, but then she told me that we wanted to take it easy this term and focus more on some cultural stuff. She asked if I was interested in running as Delegate, and since we already know how to work together, I just asked the she be there as Vice Delegate. Interesting! What's your general priorities for this term? The main issues. What do you plan on doing as delegate in the coming weeks? I guess the first thing I plan to do is coup Escade. Well, it is April! That time of the year for TSP! [laughter] But seriously, I'd like to meet with the Cabinet to agree on a common agenda for the next four months, and also to promote some cultural events. We have some regional games still pending, so that's my main priority for now. Beyond that, I guess that would depend on what I talk with each Minister. Of course, The South Pacific has had its share of trouble in recent weeks with the forum changeover. What's one thing that you think The South Pacific learned from this event? I think the main lesson was that engaging in so much drama is just not worth it. If someone messes up, then we should talk things out. If someone doesn't follow the rules, then we don't sink to that level, instead we should keep things in topic and be civil. Right now we are having some interesting discussions in the Assembly, and so far people might disagree but overall we are doing alright. That's because we are making an effort to respond to arguments with more arguments, instead of with attacks. That's the key here: knowing how to disagree. You're not the only one who was elected this week, of course. I'm curious which minister you're excited to see at work. There's a lot of talent in this new cabinet I think. What do you think they will each bring to the table, so to speak? They are all great, but I'm particularly excited to see Geo and Tsu in the Cabinet. They were there at the very beginning, when the Coalition was first established. It's really amazing to have them in the Cabinet once more. We also have Glen, who has been reelected. He was great as MoFA and I look forward to see him go on with his reforms at the Ministry. And Farengeto is new to the Cabinet, but he has some exciting ideas and brings a fresh new outlook into the Cabinet. What do you believe will be your big challenge as you move forward? I think keeping the region active and engaged will be the challenge. So far we've done great, but I don't want that to stop. I want to talk with MoRA and MoA so people will have incentives and opportunities to do anything in the region. Escade, Awe and Arbiter did great things with MoRA and that should go on. Southern Bellz did fantastic with the NSA, and Geo has some great ideas too. We should work on that and build on that success. What makes TSP different than the other feeders? What defines it? The thing that I've heard over and over again from many people is that the South Pacific welcomes everyone, and that in this region anyone can find their place. We are very welcoming, have lots of things to do, and in the end try to be very relaxed and have fun. Regardless of whatever happened in the last few weeks, that's not what defines the region. Rather, we are the exact opposite. There's a lot I could say, but I thing in the end we need only say that we are very open, and the fact that people like Escade, Farengeto, Arbiter, me are being elected is enough proof. You said in your platform that you were looking for more missions with The New Inquisition. What did you have in mind? And do you think you could run the risk of associating The South Pacific with imperialism and interregional aggression? Well. There are two things to be said about this. First, the specifics about missions with TNI are something that I'd like to discuss with Glen and Geomania, but the overall idea is that we can't be allies with someone without developing an actual relationship with them. Second, I've made no secret of the fact that I consider military gameplay a way to execute our foreign policy just as much as a way to promote participation in the region. So, I'm not that concerned about TSP being associated with imperialism because we already have the alliance. The only thing I'd be doing is actually working on conditions that already exist. That said... The South Pacific is an independent region, so we are not in the business of only raiding or only defending. We will keep doing either whenever it helps our allies and suits our interests. Working with a defender region is as valid as working with a raider or imperialist region, as long as it doesn't affect our allies or negatively impacts us. Not to beat a dead horse here, but do you believe that conducting what could be considered imperialist operations, may negatively impact The South Pacific?You've said how The South Pacific is a welcoming place and that's part of its identity. Is that not contradicted by wanton aggression and "interests" and such? That's an interesting question. (And you wouldn't be Unibot if you didn't ask it. ) No, I really wouldn't, sorry. [laughter] Here's the deal. I don't see us engaging purely in raiding or in defending. We could raid as much as we defend, if it will help one of our allies or it it's good for the NSA. So we could be associated with imperialism as much as we could be associated with helping natives get back their region. What I'm trying to say is that, while ethical considerations are important, they won't be paramount when we determine who to raid or who to defend. Our benefit in terms of alliances and citizen activity and participation will be the main things to consider here. Thanks for clarifying. [nods] On a wider scope, where do you think the Game-Created Regions are heading in the next few months - we've seen us almost on the brink of war before, then we saw a series of revolutions. Where are we heading on a global scale and what role do you think The South Pacific will plan in that? I'll keep this short. I honestly hope we will see more stability in GCRs. Last year we had revolutions (successful or not) in TSP, Osiris and Lazarus, and also some changes in alignment. I think we'll see the consolidation of all this. What role will TSP play in this? I see us being more active and proactive, and making good on the treaties we have with several GCRs. There is a lot of potential that we shouldn't waste. Do you see The South Pacific as a leading power that sets the tone among the other GCRs, or more of a diplomatic middle power like The East Pacific? Or something else? Isolationist? I don't see TSP as being a leading power at all times, simply because at some points we might have different priorities. I do see us at being active in the world stage, and leading when we see a need for us to lead, which won't be at all times, but rather at the right time. Finally, on the eve of your first day as a feeder delegate: if you could say one thing to your newbie NS self, what would it be? Wow. Here was I thinking questions couldn't get tougher. I like to challenge people! I would tell myself: "Congratulate Escade on her appointment as Minister of Regional Affairs". If I hadn't congratulated her she wouldn't have offered me my first government job, and I wouldn't be here. I have so much to thank her for, really. Awww. She's great. Though I know what I'd say to myself: stop being such an f**king idiot. Thank you so much for the interview, Kringalia. Good luck on your term - I hope it is absolutely wonderful. If you'd like to say anything to our readers, you have the floor. Thanks Uni. I do hope four months from now the South Pacific will be much better than it already is, and since I have this fantastic Cabinet I'm sure that will happen. Thanks to the Times for hearing me out, and best of luck with the next edition. Cheers mate. Of some of the People, For some of the People, By some of the People Part Two of a Four Part Series, “Rethinking Power in NationStates”. EDITORIAL | UNIBOT The notion that democracy in NationStates, especially Game-Created Regions, isn’t “all that it’s cracked up to be” is by no means a new idea. This common criticism has been the bread and butter of coupers and cultural feederites for years as a way to justify instability and oligarchical power structures – as a newer player, I often found members of The Empire (who were very influential at that time) often tried to press these sentiments upon me. My hope is that this editorial is not placed with those that sympathize with the status quo, but instead, those that see a potential new opportunity for us to step into the real and very scary democratic process for the sake of fun and inclusion. Now if we’re going to ask the question, “are regions democratic in NationStates?” we first need to know what “democracy” is. Back, oh, five years ago now, I was a naïve, slightly thinner and better manicured freshman under the weight of a novemberish melancholy. Having made an appointment to see a professor for a meeting, I had intended to ask for his thoughts on my paper, “What is Democracy?”. This was my first Political Science course and I was keen to make a good academic introduction. An hour had gone by while I waited outside for the professor (who was also the head of the department) to finish his “conversation” with an angry and (possibly) dismissed employee. When I finally was allowed to enter his office, I found myself in a laboratory of ideas: stacks and stacks of books just lining the floor with absolutely no organization, rhyme or reason. The professor was sitting at the desk smiling – he was wearing his trademark mustard stained white suit with a pink shirt which he apparently wore at work without interruption for about thirty years. I had asked him what he thought of my paper and he proceeded to essentially explain what democracy really was… with (probably) a complete rehearsed lecture. “Do you like Monty Python?” he asked. “I haven’t watched much of them. No,” I said -- which I would later correct. He painted the scene in my mind from Monty Python and the Holy Grail – “He must be a king. He hasn't got shit all over him,” remarked the Dead Collector, himself caked in mud and filth. The scene goes on to question the legitimacy of King Arthur, musing about the authority of “some watery tart” and her “farcical aquatic ceremony”. Bearing this little anecdote in mind: democracy, in the contemporary Western world is fundamentally a product of the Reformation and the Enlightenment era, based on three central ideas: (i) Equality – the idea that all are “equal”, (ii) Authority over equals must have legitimate grounds, (iii) The Rule of Law applies to all equally, including leaders. The latter two ideas follow thematically from the first. Note: this is a controversial argument, but I would argue that equality is the central idea of democracy and its principles of legitimacy, liberty, justice and the Rule of Law follow from this basic premise that all peoples are equal. What we see in NationStates is not democracy in any particularly concrete sense. Game-Created democracies purport to deciding leaders based on the opinions of less than thirty to forty people in regions that span hundreds of people. Between July to November 2012, The North Pacific tried an experiment: it elected its cabinet based on a preferential voting system that was open to all residents in The North Pacific – via a link to a website that required no sign up and was easy for voters to use. Lo and behold, people participated. Between the three elections that used this method, the elections attracted a hundred voters avg. and usually a lot of potential candidates who were curious about how this method worked would apply to run as a candidate (12 candidates avg.). This exciting system was later replaced in favor of an older, tried appointment system where the cabinet was composed of those who the delegate appointed. The South Pacific also had a challenge system where delegates were elected by “endorsement races” between the incumbent and their challenger – this challenge system proved to be more difficult to organize fairly and was eventually replaced with a traditional forum-based voting system where delegates are elected by the citizenry via the forums. However, these alternative voting systems stand as rare occurrences where democratic governments attempted a different model than the traditional forum-based voting system. One of the major problems with these forum-based voting systems is that their turnout is relatively low and vastly lower than the actual body of residents in any given Game-Created Regions. Between 2011 and 2013, delegate elections in Game-Created Regions had an average of 22.31 voters – how this number compares against the actual population of the region is debateable since some would use the total number of residents, others would use the total number of WA Members. What we do know from past experience is that if these Game-Created Regions adopted an offsite mechanism for voting that was easily distributed to residents of the region that average would near quintuple. Fig. 1. Voter Turnout in GCRs for Delegate Elections. Thanks to Kringalia, NES and Milograd! Most of the Game-Created Regions, as we can see in Fig. 1 are maturing democracies whose voter turnouts are on the decline. There are many factors which may increase or decrease voter turnout, like competition, stability, cosmopolitanism, regionalism and activity. But any improvement in voter turnout is bound to be marginal at best with the forum-based model because of the filtration that occurs when you expect citizens to join the forums and become regular members. A cynic would ask: how can these Game-Created Regions be “democracies” if little over twenty members of their region are represented in their elections? The reality is that they are not democracies. What are they then, you might ask? This is where things get complicated. The traditional answer is to say that Game-Created Regions are “oligarchies”, rule by the few. However, this approach is difficult to theorize because the power relations are not easily analysed in regions and regions themselves are more porous then one would initially think. Game-Created Regions are interconnected by cross-membership to an extent that “oligarchies” is a misnomer because oligarchies require centralization and political independence. Game-Created Regions are in all actuality, interconnected, networked and interdependent with one another – their governments are all run by familiar faces. Fig. 2. Shared membership in the Legislative-Executive-Judicial branches of GCRs. Game-Created Regions are best thought of as “integrated aristocracies”. Their governments are largely run by the same, aristocratic class throughout each region. You can use the term, “elites” or “aristocrats” or what have you, but the basic idea is that the actual population in Game-Created Regions suffer from low participation and low representation in their own governments. Forum-based “democracies” serve first and foremost, this higher pan-GCR class of players, who revel in the drama and the openness of these governments -- they do not necessarily serve their own regions. Moving away from forum-based voting to a model that eliminates the need to join a forum would be detrimental to this higher class of players, because their voting power would immediately drop and their meager twenty votes would soon be outvoted by the larger collective voice of the wider regional population (i.e., "the masses"). Thus, this proposal is incredibly scary to the aristocrats because it poses a direct threat to their influence and voting power. I'm sure you have hesitations to adopt my argument and I would like to address some common myths surrounding democracies in Game-Created Regions.... Myth 1: “Citizens who join the forums are loyal and committed. Those who don’t? Not so much!” Most of our forums are dominated not but citizens, but aristocrats – members of an interconnected network, a class, between all of the Game-Created Regions. The forum registration process is more of a filtration process. Few citizens join the forum and fewer participate on it. This amounts to one either of two scenarios: (i) the centre of power gets overrun and dominated by aristocrats and entryists, (ii) or the very small selection of genuine loyalists put forth regionalist measures to tide the influence and entry of aristocrats, which in doing, only centralizes power even more into their hands. But these are just two traditional regionalist and cosmopolitan scenarios. In neither case does political participation grow to encompass more than a very thin selection of the actual region itself. These regions are dominated by so many members of this elite class that spans across all of the Game-Created Regions, because the forum registration process does not produce the "cream of the crop" (as some claim it does), it produces a whole lot of foreign produce and very little of your own actual crop. Myth 2: “We shouldn’t cater or accommodate residents who don’t bother joining our forums” This myth is based on anti-democratic sentiments if you think about it. To treat non-forum members as "non-committed citizens" or "non-informed citizens" who presumably should not have a say in the leadership of their region, quintessentially misunderstands democracy and its core ideals of egalitarianism. Those residents are residents too - and the forum registration process is a barrier that radically drops their involvement in their own region. Characterizing them as lazy, apathetic and misinformed misses the point of democracy -- the "masses" can be engaged and a democracy makes a pro-active attempt to get them involved, even if it means sending them their voting information in the mail and making it convenient for them to vote. Myth 3: “More open voting would mean more outside manipulation” With forum-based voting you already have as much outside manipulation as you can possibly get -- forum-based voting is basically a legitimization of outside manipulation. On a more open voting system, these outsiders' votes are a much smaller share of the total votes and IP checks and voting requirements can be used to tide outside manipulation. Some may read this article and immediately assume that the answer to reducing the power, influence and pervasiveness of aristocracy is to implement more regionalist measures. That would be misguided however: regionalist measures reduce the number of voting members, which raises each member's individual voting power and makes entryism that much more profitable and enticing for potential opportunists. Instead, I would like to make the case for wider, more public voting among the entire regional population -- there are a number of ways that one can do this: limiting non-WA members, low influence members etc., but the core idea is that voting should not simply be done on a forum between the forum participants. I believe that this system would, (i) eliminate the "circle jerk" of pan-GCR electoral politics, (ii) be more fun for almost everyone. Personally, I find the idea of region-wide voting to be really exciting and much more fun. Those who say "but voters don't know anything and will get it wrong" are missing the point: it's a democracy, if you want to make sure voters get it "right", you need to campaign passionately and spread the word. I believe sheer rational greed alone has prevented us from moving towards a more inclusive, democratic structure. This new system would foster a continuum of competitive elections, healthy debate, intrigue and lots of heartfelt campaigning. We've always had the offsite technology to do it and we now also have a polling system too. The time is right for democracy: let's make it happen! Next week, Unibot discusses Regionalism and Cosmopolitanism and their fickled relationship with Power.... Review of April Fools Day OPINION | THE CHURCH OF SATAN Every year Max Barry has unleashed something wholly unbelievable or horrible upon the denizens of NationStates. Everyone was expecting something of the same nature as last year's zombie apocalypse, but this year a different kind of evil was unveiled: capitalism. With a spoof of BitCoins called "ByteCoins", every nation in NationStates became large printing presses, dishing out ByteCoins from thin air to anyone that mined them from them. You could mine ByteCoins and exchange them for your nation's currency. The value of the ByteCoin relative to your own currency fluctuated constantly from devestating highs to dream shattering lows (depending on whether you were buying or selling at the time). The secret to success however was quickly spread; buy low and sell high. Delegates everywhere mass telegrammed this to their respective regions and some went so far as to establish regional exchanges. Soon our greed took over! We scrambled to gather as much of this imaginary currency of our already imaginary currency and it was fun! I myself was too busy to do much, however I saw many whom had amassed vast fortunes of ByteCoins off the simple concept that we all followed. To be honest though I'm a bit disappointed. I expected and would have preferred something along the lines of the zombie apocalypse, because it was so much more addictive and interactive. All in all, if I were to rate this year's April Fools day, I'd give it a generous 3 out of 5 stars. Review: ★★★ >> NEWS Frattastan Resigns! TRR Delegate Elections begin! COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF In an unexpected letter to the region today, Frattastan has resigned from his position as delegate. He cited the need for fresh new leadership. “It's been a greatly enjoyable experience in a unique and amazing region,” says Frattastan, “but after a year I think that the RR could benefit from having someone with more energy, interest and ideas in the top spot”. He was quick to assure citizens that he would not be leaving The Rejected Realms. “This doesn't mean I will disappear,” explains Frattastan, “as I still plan to be active in TRR in other roles (regional security and the Army, for the most, other than the casual RMB or forum post), but I don't intend to be head of government anymore”. Frattastan says he will not be leaving the Citizenship Council or the RRA Command. Frattastan spoke to The Rejected Times briefly and shared with us his memories as delegate. “Throughout my term, I absolutely loved interacting with the colourful variety of characters who end up in The RR,” says Frattastan, “regulars of the BBQ & Grill, victims of purges from regions large and small, invaders and defenders, all the wannabe coupers with more ambition than skill... even those twelve-year old spammers who bothered us for days”. He explained how experience as delegate was unique. “You meet a whole universe which is completely different from what you find in a regional government or on the official forums,” says Frattastan, “it may not be especially dramatic or exciting, but it's so diverse that you can't help liking it”. With Frattastan’s resignation, elections have begun immediately – the nomination process has opened. Currently, The Church of Satan has indicated that he may choose to run. We'll be sure to keep you informed as this story develops. A Stain on the Collective Record of the World Assembly The Tragic Tale of "Rights and Duties of WA States" COMMENTARY | GRUENBERG The World Assembly has seen two attempts to repeal "Rights and Duties of WA States" in recent weeks end in failures of two very different kinds. "Rights and Duties..." is the oldest player-submitted resolution in the WA, and in fact pre-dates the organization itself, having been submitted before "The World Assembly", the authorising resolution that abolished the old NSUN and created the new WA at the time of the 2008 April Fool's Day prank-that-wasn't-a-prank, even passed into law. While it had long been a target for repeal, no attempt had come close until Auralia, using his puppet nation, the WA Charter Working Group, launched an ambitious campaign to repeal the resolution and follow up with a replacement of his own. To the surprise of many WA players, who considered his chances of success slim regardless of the merits of his arguments, Auralia succeeded in mobilising a huge vote behind his repeal after intensive lobbying, including making use of the new telegram system to contact every single WA member nation. The vote count in favour soon swelled to proportions that even the votes of the largest GCR delegates count not sway. But the attempt ended in a storm of controversy as, instead of rightfully passing and striking out its target, it was instead subject to a “Discard” by the moderators. This new feature contradicted established wisdom, that once a proposal went to vote moderators could not remove it, even if it were subsequently ruled illegal. This situation had been the case ever since the game servers' first move, to Jolt, in 2004; however, vigilance on the part of players and moderators alike had ensured that the system worked, with the exception of "Max Barry Day", an undoubtedly illegal resolution that escaped notice until it was too late. It duly went to vote and passed; the only means of redressing it was for the moderators to permit a tongue-in-cheek repeal by Omigodtheykilledkenny, which thankfully also passed. But the Discard has changed all that. First used on the 2013 April Fools' Day to remove Douria's "Condemn Horrible Zombies" proposal, it was then used on several occasions in the Security Council. It had not been used in the World Assembly to this point, but made its debut at the hands of Ardchoille, whose notorious inconsistency and failure to grasp the basic sense of the proposal rules would be remarkable if she were even the most culpable moderator in this regard. Having misled Auralia into submitting his proposal and engaging in his campaign by ruling his submission legal, ignoring the fact that using a "branded" puppet nation advertising a particular group was clearly and obviously illegal, a precedent dating back many years to the days of groups such as the ACCEL, she then reversed her decision after it went to vote and decided to punish Auralia for her own mistake by motioning to Discard his resolution. This came despite her initially saying that the Discard would only be used for the most "egregious violations" of proposal rules, and that she herself wanted to try avoiding the Discard feature at all costs. Within a few days, these words were rendered meaningless. While Ardchoille was undoubtedly wrong – though it may be difficult to blame her for not recalling the precedent, as at the time that rule was made she was uninterested in proposal rules discussions and looked down on those who participated in them– to suggest that using an improperly titled nation was an "egregious violation" is stretching credulity to breaking point. Thereafter, discussion of the Discard feature received little to no response from the moderators, who also refused to consider the much simpler suggestion of banning any future proposal from profiting from association with the submission. It became apparent that there was never any intention of not using the Discard: the lure of that big red button was too powerful. The moderators' unresponsive attitude led to Auralia's simmering frustration boiling over into a powerful, if overwrought, open letter of resignation: while the moderators still did not have time to answer the most straightforward questions about how the Discard would affect the game, they did at least have time to almost immediately silence any criticism by locking that thread. Before the vote was even concluded, however, a second repeal attempt was already underway. Following his resignation in the wake of the self-commendation scandal (qv. RT passim), Auralia had given public permission to use any of his proposal texts, especially that of this particular repeal. Douria, known for his successful sponsorship of many repeals, immediately took him up on that offer, privately contacting Auralia with a message of sympathy and support, and asking for permission to submit the repeal again. He received permission and submitted the repeal, launching a telegram campaign to get it to quorum; the only change was the omission of a call for a replacement "charter" for the WA. Yet Auralia had repeatedly prophesied that a second repeal attempt would not be as successful: it would not have a big campaign behind it, voter fatigue would have set in, and there would be time for opponents to mobilise. So it proved, with the vote target almost immediately suggesting catastrophic failure for the repeal, but the bigger drama emerged when Douria himself came out strongly against his own repeal, entitling his forum thread "Vote Nay" and changing the text of his original post to instead list a screed of poorly composed, rambling, nonsensical arguments against the repeal itself. At the same time, Monkey Island delegate and long-time Auralian foe Mousebumples, through her Europeian puppet, wanted to take advantage of Ardchoille's mistake, cashing in on moderator incompetence to exploit for her own political gain. She campaigned for several proposals she did not support, such as "Code of Maritime Law" and "On Planetary Annihilation", to reach quorum (both failed by wide margins), thereby pushing back the date of the repeal vote until she could orchestrate her ploy, whereupon she published a bizarre dispatch that purported to rebut the repeal's arguments, while in fact barely addressing them and instead concentrating mainly on the fact that "Rights and Duties..." really did not have any meaningful effect – and holding this up as a reason to support retaining it. The dispatch was voted to the #1 news article of the day. Auralia and supporters of the repeal condemned Douria's actions, but it was by now too late, and the attempt has probably succeeded in poisoning the well to prevent any genuine attempt to repeal the law from passing in the foreseeable future. A destructive and callous act of pure vindictiveness, instead of being condemned for the intellectually repulsive barbarism that it is, has been held up as an example of business as usual in the "Snakepit" of the WA. All, of course, with the moderators doing nothing to redress this deliberate deception by Douria: they are only willing to get involved when it is to protect a resolution written by one of their own. That a repeal of "Rights & Duties..." has attracted so much discussion and legal drama is perhaps ironic, given the provenance of the original resolution. Largely a work of plagiarism, an offence normally resulting in WA ejection, it was submitted by Frisbeeteria, who has routinely expressed contempt for the WA game of debating the contents of proposals but who nonetheless wanted to take advantage of his position as game moderator to pass the first resolution in the new WA organization, after less than 18 hours of drafting with legality challenges brushed off as "sophistry" with an open acknowledgement that he was using his position to advance a resolution no one else would have even been allowed to submit. The actions of the past few weeks represent a stain on the collective record of the World Assembly, and demonstrate that petty animus towards unpopular players is more important to the self-appointed WA elite than trying to reform a resolution that should never have been allowed to pass in the first place. A naïve, broken definition of war that will constrain future legislative efforts will remain on the books, all for the sake of ensuring that Auralia is well and truly chased off with pitchfork and torch. And all to the sound of light applause from a moderator team whose wildly inconsistent, hilariously debased mangling of once-sensible proposal rules purely for the purposes of solidifying their own power has reached proportions so chokingly oppressive the basic WA game is no longer a functioning experience. The South Pacific: Election Recap FEATURE | UNIBOT The South Pacific's much anticipated general elections closed on April 9th. In many ways, the election could be said to have been relatively "conservative" - with many returning faces (Kris Kringle, Escade, Glen-Rhodes), some popular veterans (Tsunamy, Geomania) and a rising star (Farengeto). The elections themselves were threatened by a forum move, however the community sought to run elections on its scheduled date as a sign of resilience. With many of the administrators running for positions in the government, Todd McCloud served as Election Commissioner for the election. Many of the predictions and wishes of our senior commentators, Unibot, McMasterdonia and Hileville were realized during the course of the election -- look out for the next edition of "Election Fever" for more smart political forecasts. Delegate/Vice Delegate Elections: Kringalia / Escade (19), Rebeltopia / Arbiter08 (14). This proved to be the close fight that our commentators suspected. Kringalia switched places with Escade and ran as the Delegate, while she ran as Vice Delegate -- this pivotal switch may have been the decisive factor in their win over their challengers, Rebeltopia and Arbiter08. Rebeltopia himself is an outspoken veteran of the region whose folksy charm and conservatism posed a delicate balance against Kringalia's enthusiasm and openness. Kringalia started off strong on the first day of voting, but Rebeltopia nearly tied him by the second day of voting - however, the incumbents were ultimately saved by a strong, although nail-biting, finish. So close! The Rejected Times managed to get a hold of Escade for comment. "I'm really excited to see Kris take on the delegate position and he truly is an excellent person to lead TSP," says Escade, "I'm happy to take on a Vice Delegate role and really work on certain regional and inter-regional projects. I'd also like to welcome everyone who ran to join the government, there's a place for you to contribute". Chair of the Assembly: Tsunamy (21), Penguin (6), Belschaft (5) When Tsunamy entered the race it was clear who was the front-runner. This race demonstrated the love and respect that the community has for their new ROOT admin and his consensus-building mediation skills. Many perceive him to be the right man for the job as the Assembly is increasingly seen as a uncivil and combative. Minister of the Army: Geomania (26), Disapprove (8) In an surprise end of term letter, Southern Bellz had announced that he did not intend to run again as Minister of the Army as had been expected. Geomania, former ADN, RRA and NSA General, entered an empty race as the one to fill the void. Geomania has since nominated QuietDad to replace him as General. Geomania spoke to The Rejected Times briefly after his win and shared his enthusiasm for the new opportunity. "I am gratified that the citizens of the South Pacific have the confidence me to command their armed forces," says Geomania. "I hope to continue the breakthroughs done by my predecessor, improve the functionality and abilities of the New Southern Army and maintain the security of the South Pacific". Minister of Foreign Affairs: Glen-Rhodes (21), God-Emperor (12) Twenty-One was the lucky number for both Tsunamy and Glen-Rhodes. Glen-Rhodes, the outspoken democratic critic began his career in the World Assembly as a notable International Federalist. He first entered politics in Osiris, where his calls for reform fell on deaf ears but The South Pacific has since proved to be more receptive of his critical earnestness. He was recently also made an admin in The South Pacific and shares the new ROOT account with Tsunamy. Glen was grateful and optimistic when he spoke with The Rejected Times shortly after his victory was announced. "I'm grateful that the citizens of The South Pacific are giving me the chance to see through my changes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," says Glen-Rhodes, "I think God-Emperor ran a decent campaign, although I questioned his ability to enact his ambitious platform. I'm glad that The South Pacific has faith in my abilities and re-elected me to a second term". "We have an exceptionally good Cabinet this time around, in terms of personal relationships," says Glen-Rhodes. "Many of the Cabinet members have been in near constant contact regarding the forum move, so we already know we have good working relationships. I hope to see that bloom into a very successful term". Minister of Regional Affairs: Farengeto (20), Ryccia (12) As per usual, the Minister of Regional Affairs was a race between two newer members of the community. Ultimately, Farengeto was the victor of the election. His own career in The South Pacific took off earlier when he defeated Belschaft in a surprise election to become Chief Justice. Commentators had suspected Farengeto would pursue the Minister of Regional Affairs position as an "in" to cabinet politics. With every election comes new faces, new dynamics and new potential. We here at The Rejected Times wish The South Pacific all of the best! Gatesville Couped? This isn't what it looks like! COMMENTARY | THE CHURCH OF SATAN Gatesville was, without warning, taken over by Noctarus, delegate of Gatesville. Somehow he had gained access to the founder account and began a revival of Gatesville's traditional hatred of the WA. Nevadar demanded that the founder account be returned, however Noctarus responded by banjecting The High Council of Gatesville and dissolving the government! It had become a dictatorship that actually had more support than one might think. Gates The God himself publicly stated his support of Noctarus. As a display of mercy, Noctarus allowed the former High Council to come back. Although Noctarus didn't take the time to speak with us, it was soon made clear what his intentions were... Just days into his new regime, it was revealed that Nevadar gave the password to the founder account to Noctarus in the event of an emergency. I know what you're thinking: "big mistake". You would be wrong though! This was by no means an actual coup. As it turns out it was an exercise to test the security and stability of Gatesville, which was stronger in its coup than Osiris was for any of them. Pretty ironic if you think about it. I'm not sure who all knew about this exercise, but Noctarus chose the perfect day to pull this stunt! On April Fool's Day of all days! I gotta admit, even I thought Gatesville had actually been couped. My hat's off to you Noctarus! TNP petitions to remove Punk Daddy as Admin COMMENTARY | UNIBOT A petition began on April 1st (no relation to April Fools) to remove Punk Daddy as admin of The North Pacific. Despite the fact that Crushing our Enemies says the petition had “had nothing to do with Punk's gameplay alignment”, the petition itself was led mostly by The North Pacific’s invader-leaning members (e.g., Abacathea, Abbey Anumia, Blue Wolf, Lord Ravenclaw, Mall, NES, r3naissanc3r and Treize Dreizehn). The petition’s main argument was that Punk Daddy no longer was a citizen of The North Pacific, despite being active in NationStates elsewhere. However, the petition’s language was criticized for possibly being “anti-defender”. From Crushing our Enemies’s original petition letter, the focus on Punk Daddy’s new defense organization, LRI, is obvious. “The North Pacific Army raids and defends,” writes Crushing our Enemies, “The LRI would be very interested to know when we are raiding, how many troopers we have, and anything else discussed in our military forums. I'm sure they would be interested to know if we are pursuing treaties with any other major raiding powers. These are the sort of things that defender organizations want to maintain tabs on, and giving their leader admin privileges on our forum is an invitation to let them. It is entirely inappropriate for their leader to have unfettered access to our entire forum, including sensitive matters of foreign and military affairs”. For many of the petitioners, however, this petition was based on commitment and showing your loyalty to The North Pacific. “It appears to us that you don't care about TNP,” says Abbey Anumia, one of the more vocal petitioners, “your interests in NS are very much elsewhere. While I accept that you're highly unlikely to actually betray the region, when you're showing very little active commitment to TNP that's very hard to gauge or say for certain”. Punk Daddy said he was “disappointed” by the petition. “I'd like for the TNP community to know that I am approachable and that I am open to hearing any concern,” says Punk Daddy. “I made a return to TSP to do something that I believe is next to impossible to achieve. Punk D likes to do impossible things. I created LRI because I wanted to make defending fun. I am not a defender, my political leanings are raider. Still, it was about creating more fun for the game”. Punk Daddy has since resigned his citizenship in The South Pacific and applied to join The North Pacific. He told residents in The South Pacific that he was resigning but “not happy to resign” and bemoaned his critics. “For some reason,” says Punk Daddy, “there are a group of people who do not believe I am committed to TNP without being a current citizen despite spending almost 10 years there”. Although the debate is not over, the petition was withdrawn on April 6 – Crushing our Enemies said the “hyperbolic” language of the petition had be problematic (given it “overplays” Punk’s role in LRI) and that he was open to the possibility of a new petition. The admins themselves are still discussing the issue and have not officially responded yet. Challenges in The Rejected Realms COMMENTARY | RYNO Challenges commenced this week in The Rejected Realms with all of the current officers being ousted from their positions. This is the first time that officer positions were forcibly vacated via the constitutional amendment. Afterwards the former officers could challenge for their old job back as well as any new challengers could try to take their jobs. During the challenging phase Unibot, Guy, and Christian Democrats all challenged to keep their jobs. While Libetarian Republics was a new challenger. With Wopruthien not trying to retain his position there was four challengers for four officer positions. Before the voting it seemed as though none of the challenges would fail. Everyone would likely earn a officer position. Again since there was one candidate per vacant officer seat, the vote was a mere confirmation vote for the candidates. A simple majority of for votes would win each candidate a seat. Almost every candidate got unanimous support from nine voters. With the lone candidate that didn't (Christian Democrats) receiving eight votes in favor and one against. One vote was tossed due to not being specific. Since it wasn't going to effect the outcome in either direction there is unlikely going to be any controversy. The vote was decisive with three incumbents and one challenger winning basically uncontested. Christian Democrats (Internal Affairs), Guy (Foreign Affairs), and Unibot (Media) all kept their officer roles. With Libetarian Republics taking over culture. Scotland Invaded Sparks controversy in The North Pacific COMMENTARY | UNIBOT "The invasion was well received from Scotland's residents." On March 29th, forces from The North Pacific Army, in conjunction with The United Imperial Armed Forces and The Black Riders invaded Scotland and occupied it for the following week. The occupation itself featured over forty pilers and presents itself as just another example of the current strength of “raider unity”. Christopher Bishop happily remarked about the burgeoning relationship between The North Pacific and their friendly neighborhood imperialists. “The cooperation of these two groups demonstrates the excellent working relationship being developed between The North Pacific and Albion,” says Bishop, “as well as with the other members of the UIAF, in military matters, and potentially beyond this. It was a pleasure to work with The North Pacific, and its excellent representatives, in this matter, and we hope to entertain such friendly and productive relations more in the days to come”. Scottish natives were less kind. One spoke to The Rejected Times earlier this week with harsh words for their latest occupiers. “Piss aff, ye worthless shites,” says Labhrann MacBhraonaigh, angry resident, “Ah dornt live ‘ere sae ye can buck up mah ‘ome. And ye can tak’ ye feckin’ flag and shove it yer techt, bony arses. We dornt need anymair stinkin’ imperialists. We got th' sassenach fur 'at”. The invasion drew a mixed response from The North Pacific’s own natives. Lord Nwah gave a solid “meh” to the announcement, while others were even more critical. “OK, so definitely, this is what the NPA stands for now,” says Lennart. He added that he was “less than excited” about this development. Flemingovia told the Assembly that The North Pacific had sunk to a new low, with the North Pacific Army “pretty much a raider organisation now, despite its protestations of neutrality for the sake of the proles”. Democratic Donkeys, The North Pacific's beloved Vice Delegate, didn't hold back in his criticism either. “It seems like the only defense mission the NPA is involved in at this point is defending itself from people's opinion of them. Poor dears...” muses Democratic Donkeys. However, others praised the mission. It was heralded as another great success by JAL, r3naissanc3r and Kiwi, while other members like Rachel, Lord Ravenclaw and Abacathea were critical of the dissenters – questioning their patriotism and commitment to the region. This attack drew some backlash from members who were tired of their pacifism being mistaken for lack of commitment to their region. “This creeping attitude that members of the Regional Assembly who are not active members of the NPA somehow have no right to comment on what is being done in their name by their army is beginning to be troubling,” says Flemingovia, shaking his fist. For many this new trend towards destruction and aggression is a betrayal of The North Pacific’s historical roots as a humanitarian region that once fought for a more just cause. While others would argue that without invading others their military experience cannot be fun. A classic debate which seems to be only escalating further in The North Pacific under McMasterdonia’s quiet oversight. The seasoned leader appears hesitant to choose a “side” on the matter. McMasterdonia spoke with The Rejected Times later this week and repeated his previous comments earlier that this growing backlash was valid and would be taken seriously, he did not say however where he stood on the issue though. "The North Pacific Army primary responsibility is to serve the region," says McMasterdonia, "It is the responsibility of the Army and it's leadership to take the concerns of citizens seriously and to respond to them as best they can. TNPers are quick to tell you if they are not pleased about something, this is a natural part of democracy in the North Pacific and I support citizens exercising their rights according to that principle. We want the people to have faith in their regional army and we are doing what we can to address these concerns". Either way, this conflict may be between The North Pacific’s citizens vying to define their region and its identity, but an innocent region, Scotland has been caught in the crossfire. GRA-AH, The Defender-Imperialist Alliance Against TBR COMMENTARY | JOE BOBS The Global Right Alliance, founding members of the FRA and long-time defenders, recently came back onto the scene, mimicking their emblem of the phoenix as they enjoy their third rebirth in five years. Diplomatic relations were forged with noted Imperialists, Aura Hyperia, which led to an interesting proposal from AH’s Emperor, Mara Sargon. Aura Hyperia are launching a detagging and liberation war on The Black Riders, who many complain have rampaged across the world relatively unchecked. Mara Sargon extended an invitation to the GRA to join these efforts, and the invitation quickly gained support from myself as Foreign Affairs Minister and Jonewest, High General of the GRA Defence Force and Vice-Chancellor of the FRA, but found vocal opposition from Internal Affairs Minister Sovereign Liberties. However, as the motion within the GRA moves to a vote, it looks as though the Ayes will defeat the Nays, and a joint Imperialist-Defender Task Force will be taking the fight to TBR. Mara Sargon and Frostmark agreed to change the nature of the retagging missions to simply detagging, on any missions involving GRA troops, which removed the primary objection to those following the ‘leave no footprint’ philosophy of defending. Whilst the primary objective is to wage a war on griefing and tagging, my hopes beyond this are to show that the gulf between gameplayers is not so wide. I personally returned to the game after a four-year hiatus last month, and was saddened to find that many raiders, defenders, imperialists and independents do not share embassies with one another, and resort to highly restrictive maskings when those from the other side visit their forums. Gone are the days when multilateral efforts were common, international conferences occurred on a near weekly basis, and whilst one was not welcome everywhere, you could still say hello on any forum. I hope that gameplayers will tear down the walls that divide us, because, at the end of the day, the game is built upon our interactions, and there’s nothing more fun (and activity generating!) than posting your victories in your enemy’s embassies! Delegate's Poll: Adspam FEATURE | FRATTASTAN Frattastan discusses The Rejected Realm's latest poll in our ongoing series, "Delegate's Poll"... For our second poll the choice fell on 'adspamming' and whether it affects the normal flow of the Regional Message Board. Presently, those who still use this recruitment tactic are unanimously (even ferociously) condemned by feeder and sinker governments for their often-garish, dull, disruptive messages and the 'insulting' treatment of sovereign regions as mere advertising boards. The vote, open to all nations meeting an influence requirement ("natives"), ran from March 27 to March 31. Fifty nations took part. Do regional advertisements ("adspam") discourage you from posting on the RMB? Yes. Most adspammers show no respect for the region, and make the RMB look messy and unappealing: 38% I don't post on the message board in first place, really: 28% No. Even if I'm not interested, ignoring them is easy enough: 24% All the contrary. Poking fun at adspammers can be a great conversation topic: 10% It should be no surprise that a plurality of voters does not appreciate adspam and considers it off-putting, with many seeing it as unimaginative and posted by nations who don't care about the permanent inhabitants of the region (something which is hard to deny). However, it is significant that over a fourth of the total are not interested in RMB-posting in first place, adspam or not, and another 24% finds the advertisements tolerable and easy to ignore. Only a small minority praises the ability of recruiters to generate conversation by provoking natives into mocking their poor advertising efforts. While the posts are undoubtly nothing more than a nuisance, with the decline in the use of RMB recruitment (only two regions advertised in the Rejected Realms in the last week with that method), rendered obsolete by the widespread use of telegrams and improvements in the RMB system, the issue of adspamming is losing relevance among natives; it is seen more like an annoying occurence which can still be controlled with post suppression and frequent conversation, than an unbearable insult. For the benefit of GCR natives and region-builders alike, RMB advertisement should be replaced with a more efficient system in the future. But, until then, people can live with it.

BREAKING NEWS EXTRA: Hileville accuses Belschaft of Fraud and Defamation Meanwhile Escade asks CSS to review Belschaft’s behavior… COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Hileville goes to Court... Hileville has brought forth a case to The South Pacific’s High Court against Belschaft on the grounds of Fraud and Defamation. On Friday March 21, Belschaft sent a telegram to the citizens of The South Pacific, suggesting that a “coup” had occurred and that the root admin, Hileville, had gone rogue and that Hileville had established a dictatorship in The South Pacific. Belschaft had argued Hileville had done so because he had not gotten his way in regards to an “internal admin matter”, but what he neglected to inform readers was that this internal admin matter was the decision on whether or not to uphold Belschaft’s removal from the Admin Staff. The case will be based on the fact that no “coup” had occurred (the coalition was still in place) and that the administration shake-up had occurred a month after the shake-up had been announced (in which no admin except Drugged Monkeys had replied). “This telegram contained lies,” says Hileville to the High Court. “It is my belief that this was done to put a negative light on me for his own gain”. Hileville’s case hinges on the argument that since Belschaft had been removed from the administration staff for abusive posting and harassment of a player, Belschaft had an interest in pursuing the defamation of Hileville’s character in the hopes of generating the need for a switch of forums where he stood a chance of becoming an administrator once more. Hileville is seeking counsel to represent his case. Meanwhile, last night, Escade posed a need for review of Belschaft’s behavior to the Committee of State Security where Belschaft remains a voting, senior member. While the review has since been moved to a private forum, Escade argued that Belschaft’s recent telegram to the region, plus his history of harassment, made him inappropriate for membership in the Committee of State Security. It remains to be seen whether or not the Committee of State Security will agree, but nonetheless, these pose startling new developments from The South Pacific.

Issue XVII, March 22, 2014 Editor's Note Some great stuff here; Starrie's statistical analysis is a treat, plus this edition also has the first foreign interview with a sitting 10XI delegate, Koth's thoughts on Raiderism and a pretty provocative new editorial series on power in NationStates from moi. I think you're going to enjoy it! >>> OPINION Meet 10000 Islands's New Delegate! An Interview with Benevolent Thomas INTERVIEW | UNIBOT Unibot sits down with Benevolent Thomas, 10000 Islands's newly elected delegate, for a rare interview conducted well past Uni's bed-time... Congratulations on your election, Benevolent Thomas! How excited are you to be delegate of 10000 Islands? What’s the thing you’re looking forward the most to being delegate? I’m very excited to be the Delegate of the 10000 Islands. I first ran for the position back in September, but back then I don’t think I wanted it as truly as I do now. Having been far more involved with the region than I had been previously, I think I’m far better equipped to face the responsibilities that come along with being delegate of one of the largest regions in NationStates. I’m really looking forward to interacting with those that I would not normally be in contact with if I wasn't the delegate. I plan to engage more with XKI’s more casual members and those that do not frequent the forums as often. I’m also hoping to get to know those outside of the Islands a lot better as well. I think that I think that is what I’m looking forward to, the communication. For the casual outsider like myself: what are elections and politics for that matter, like, in 10000 Islands? Well our elections are not really any different from any other election in any democracy. It’s a bit of a popularity contest, but unlike the real world, there is a real emphasis on one’s record of service.It’s a bit meritocratic in that you gain popularity via your actions and the more accolades you have, the more likely you are to be elected. This election seemed to favor those with a more robust agenda, but that is not always the case. The Ten Thousand Islands does have several political parties which I imagine most regions have, except we do not follow traditional political practices. Our parties are more like actual parties with all sorts of fun and shenanigans. In the end we’re all Islanders and we’ll elect who we think is best to perform civic duty. Political alignment means just about next to nothing in XKI. I’ve had the pleasure to get know you a bit and I’ve always found you to be a great player and really approachable and practical leader. But for the readers who may not be so acquainted with you, how would you describe yourself? I did not know that we were so close. *grins* To those that do not know me, I’d say that I’m very ambitious. I set a goal and I work until I achieve it. I also walk a thin line between being casual and serious. I’m very laid back in real life and it flows through me even when I’m on NS, but I can get harshly serious at the drop of a hat. I guess that is a general characteristic of XKI though. We are a very laid back community, but can be very serious when the moment calls for it. I have a bit of an ego as well. My record speaks for itself, but I’m not so shy as to not boast when given the opportunity. As delegate, what new policies are you intending to pursue and bring forth? Where is 10000 Islands heading under your stewardship? I’m not sure as to what “new policies” my term will bring. I’m actually hoping to bring back some of the older Ten Thousand Islands that we all loved so much (well some of us anyways). We’ve kind of retreated into our shell this past year or so and I’m looking to get us back out there in the world. XKI was such a hustling and bustling place once and I’d like to see it be that way once more. I’m hoping for more of a renaissance of Islander culture while at the same time extending our foreign affairs. The process has already begun and it has yielded some results such as the reestablishing of embassies with TRR and our opening of embassies with Lazarus. Now if we can get some cultural events rolling, we’d be in great shape. What do you believe is the biggest challenge that you will face as delegate? I’d have to say that resistance will be my greatest challenge to overcome. It sounds so simplistic, but really it is only resistance that can prevent wonderful things from happening. And this resistance may spring up in a number of forms: resistance to the outside world, resistance of others to give us a chance, resistance of participation in regional activities and resistance to change. Distrust and apathy are the two things I fear most in NS and in RL. Wow… I’ve kind of surprised myself with that answer, but it’s the truth. What’s one aspect of 10000 Islands’ culture that you’d like to bring back? More tacos? Well the tacos are back *smiles widely*. We lost our entire economy with the Proboards upgrade during the summer and we’ve been slowly rebuilding. Actually, we just recently got the donation system back so tacos should soon be flying everywhere. We also plan to bring back more of our taco centric programs such as our highly interactive regional map and our immigration stocks. Tacos made XKI go round and we’ve been a bit sore since these programs faded. I also want to bring more people to our community. One of the things I would like to bring back, and it was part of my platform, is to bring back the Mad Islander. The Mad Islander was a regional magazine which mostly interviewed Islanders both famous and unknown on a regular basis. I would like to revamp the Mad Islander as a more robust source of news and entertainment for the Ten Thousand Islands. I also want to bring more people to our community. Islanders should be renowned for their near-worship of Werewolves/Mafia games and I’d like to see more people join us when we play these games. In fact, I’ll be hosting the next game (Werewolves 35) and I’m pretty sure it will be themed after Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I have no idea how I will make it work, but everyone should feel free to join us. I also intend to hold cultural contests such as best flags and maybe even a FRAvision entry selection competition. I think small activities like these are a lot of fun and will keep people active. How will 10000 Islands face the “new” system of recruitment? Has it been a challenge so far? Would you like to see changes in regards to the recruitment system? Anyone who has seen our population rates ever since the recruiting rules were changed knows how we’ve handled it so far. Poorly. We finally started having the right conversations, but it was far too late seeing as we lost two thirds of our population. Having said that, we’re on the rebound due to recent reforms in the recruiting system including the smiting of Afforess’ abomination. I’m content where it is at currently. The different methods of recruiting have an equal chance of being the first to reach a new nation which has really been a life savor for us proud manual recruiters. Honestly I’d like to see recruiting return to how it was prior to the 2013 changes, but I’m not foolish enough to believe that will ever happen. 10000 Islands often is a powerhouse in the World Assembly – will 10000 Islands, under your tenure, return to voting early and playing a decisive role there? I do indeed plan on voting early when the opportunity arises and stacking for proposals that I feel strongly about. I think I will be more aggressive in trying to get WA authors to argue their positions on the XKI forums because that is where citizens will be influencing my official final vote on these matters. I want everyone to know that they should not bother lobbying me, because my vote will be determined via polling on XKI’s forums. I’m willing to swing my stick around more when it comes to the Security Council because I know a thing or two about gameplay matters and that is what the SC is primarily concerned with most of the time. I do have a slight apathy when it comes to the General Assembly because most of it is just idealist garbage whether you are pro GA or NatSov. There is also a culture of passing, repealing and then repeating which I absolutely loathe. I’m sure I can work on that though as a delegate. And as I’ve said before, the citizens will determine my final vote. Does “Defender Unity” exist? And if so, what should it entail? I think it does exist. It involves a certain level of mutual respect between organizations and the ability to work together when the time arises. Do I think we should all work together all the time and use the same methods and launch points? No. I think that is why I don’t like the term “Defender Unity” all that much. We are not one, we are many. We all have different ideals and methods of defending, that is why there are separate orgs. I think we as a group however should have the solidarity to respect one another despite our differences. “Commend Anime Daisuki” will be voted on (again) sooner or later, I imagine you’re a proponent, yes? How has Anime Daisuki affected you as a player? If you’ve got a good story to tell, please share. I will be supporting a Commendation of the legend that is Anime Daisuki. Although we have not spent a great amount of time together, it is AD’s doctrine of defending that I’ve been trained under and it is the same doctrine I’ve practiced during my time as Tactical Officer. Everything I’ve done as a defender has been influenced by his magnificent example. He truly is one of the greatest of all time, commendation or no. I know as a newbie, Anime Daisuki once gave me a bit of a lecture on detagging because me and my buddies (this was way before UDL) had detagged a region wrong and put up a flag for it. I got his old “leave no footprint” spiel and it’s stuck with me ever since. Thank you so much for the interview, Benevolent Thomas. I believe this is the first time someone has interviewed a sitting delegate in 10000 Islands, so I’m quite honoured to have gotten the privilege. If you have any final comments for our readers, you have the floor! Thanks for giving me the opportunity to get my voice out there. Being more open with the world is one of my goals this term and to be featured in such a quality news source is quite the accomplishment for day one. I’d like to thank those of you who have believed in me since the start and have encouraged me to run for delegate: Land, Eist, Naba, Aerso, Ater, Ananke and Shizensky. I’d also like to give a special shout out to Sir 69 aka Controlitia. By the way, do you like my nation’s pretitle Uni? "The Taco Autocracy of Benevolent Thomas". Very nice, Thomas. Well played. __________________________________________________________________________ Defining "Raiderism" OPINION | KOTH Koth explores what Raiderism means... Hey folks, Koth here. A couple days ago I was prompted by a discussion in the Neutral Ground thread to start a debate thread in Gameplay, titled simply "Raiderism". The idea of the thread was that we'd all share our own personal definition of a word that is often tossed around but always left vague. I was surprised by the sheer volume of responses I got (eight pages of content), and I was even more surprised at the replies themselves. A condensed list of actual definitions that people made within the thread has been compiled for your convenience here. You will notice that despite opening discussion, I did not share my own definition of raiderism. In order to satiate your undeniable thirst for this information, I'll lay it down for you right here, right now. Before we open up that bag of worms though, let's start by looking at some of the replies within the thread. Many of the replies I received made no distinction between raiding and raiderism, which was one of the main reasons I found it necessary to bring this to debate. To me, it is obvious that raiderism must be separate from raiding, or else why would the word exist? It disappointed me to see that mod intervention was required at multiple points in the thread to keep people from just going back and forth about their opinions on raiding in yet another Gameplay topic, but the discussion helped me refine my own definition of raiderism. There was one post in particular that stood out to me, written by Kyuji: "...the view that people have of raiders is that they're all raiderists , however because raiding can also be done out of revenge or because you morally object to the way a region behaves , or the morals they have, the act of raiding is seperate [sic] from the belief in the morals of raiderism." This brings me to my first part of my definition of raiderism: The belief in raiding for the sake of the enjoyment of raiding. To a pure raiderist, a raid is not executed as a means to an end, but rather as a way of enjoying one's self. A raiderist's motivation is wholly separate from other groups who raid to further a different goal. For instance, imperialist regions may field a raiding force, but their motivation for utilizing it is to advance their region's foreign agenda. Groups like The Eternal Knights merely raid because it is the only game mechanism that allows for conflict; if it were up to them they would have the system eliminated. Pure raiderists can exist in a non-raiderist environment (example: yours truly in regions like Asgard, where each operation had political motivation but it didn't matter to me, I just wanted to raid something), and are often employed by the armed forces of imperialist regions. However, the presence of raiderists in a non-raiderist environment does not cause a region to become raiderist. But Kothles, what about bigameplayers? They raid for fun too, but you can't possibly say they're raiderists! Excellent point, italicized text version of myself. Indeed, it is true that there exist other groups of NationStates players that DO engage in raiding for fun…but they have no qualms with working against their fellow raiders just as easily. This brings me to the second part of my definition of raiderism: raiding with the purpose of antagonizing one or more group(s) of players. Let's be real here, raiderists do love raiding for the sake of raiding, but they also do it for the conflict. They seek to illicit reactions from the people affected by their operations, and possibly the defenders who oppose them as well. Compare this to bigameplayers, who prefer to clean up after themselves so that they do not start a conflict with either the natives or defenders. Raiderists will actively advertise their victories over the parties they wish to antagonize. These two simple definitions are the crux of what I define as raiderism. The application of raiderism can cause a variety of effects as well, which some may confuse with raiderism itself. The most popular of these effects is "raider unity", the ideal that all raiders should put aside their differences for the sake of mutual success on the battlefield. Raiderists feel uneasy about conflicting with each other, because they are by definition all engaging in conflict against other parties and would feel the need to stick together to avoid more needless antagonization. Another effect of raiderism is the great fun that stems from bonding with fellow raiderists and fighting alongside them, which is a thrill that many players seek. I hope you all enjoyed my opinion on this definition and I invite you to post your comments/concerns/threats below! __________________________________________________________________________ Are WA Liberation Nominees More Likely to Be Invaded? FEATURE | STARRIE NationStates's resident statistical guru answers this empirical question with an in depth analysis, his conclusions may surprise you... Data from http://nsarchive.net was used. Invasions were defined as all occurrences where the delegate, flag, and factbook changed within 48 hours. No distinction was made between a invasion by invaders and a detag mission by defenders. This chart appears to show that the frequency of invasions (as a fraction of total invasions) increases soon after liberation. Do not interpret the sharp spike as a reliable measure of more invasions since it is likely that the spike is caused by detag missions from defending forces. However, there remains a plateau of invader activity even afterwards which indicates either a continuous struggle over the 100 day period or a heightened amount of military activity. This chart shows the number of invasions in the same period for non-liberated regions. In contrast to the rising frequency of invasions over time (which may be due to an actual increase in activity or just better bookkeeping), the number of invasions seems to fall slightly over the period. This is most likely not statistically significant. This chart shows the frequency of invasions when the liberated nations have their liberation repealed. Beyond -40 days (each bar is 20 days), there appears to be a lack of invader activity. Either the peak before the repeal is the spike shown in the first graph, or the region has gone through a long activity of peace after the liberation, and the peak shows more invasions before the repeal. Comparing the magnitude of this and the first graph, it appears the second scenario is more likely. After the repeal, invasion frequency slowly drops. This chart shows the number of invasions in non-liberated regions around the time of the repeals. There is a conspicuous rise and then sudden drop just a few days before most liberations are repealed. Interpretation will be left as an exercise for the reader. As a control group, a few hundred regions are selected and a simulated liberation on the day of a randomly selected invasion is plotted. In contrast with the histogram for the liberated regions, there is a uniform amount of invading before and after the event. As for the rest of the regions, a hump in invasion frequencies is observed, suggesting that invasions come in waves. This hump is not observed in the corresponding histogram for liberated regions, possibly because the liberation and invasions for many regions was not close to simultaneous. A logarithmic plot of invaded regions at the time they were invaded. Green spots show the liberation of regions (not necessarily raided) and black the repeal of liberation of regions. Note that the size of liberated region in both axes is much higher that the mean region (In a logarithmic scale, the values to the right and top are weighed far more heavily). This shows that liberated regions are not representative of the general population. It appears that both liberations and liberation repeals seem to cause a spike in invasion frequency which fades out over time. These effects are not apparent in non-liberated regions suggesting that some aspect of the liberations is probably the cause. However, since liberated regions are not typical of all regions, this interpretation should be taken with a grain of salt. __________________________________________________________________________ Using Polls For Referendums? OPINION | THE CHURCH OF SATAN Church of Satan, one of our Senior Journalists, discusses using polls for referendums... Polls are still new, and therefore still being tested by us users to determine what purposes they can have. The South Pacific for example, is discussing the possibility of using them for referendums. This is still a flawed feature for such a thing though. With all the factors that go into determining who can vote in the polls that means foreign governments, hostile organizations and all matter of riffraff are free to influence the votes and the government would be none the wiser. Despite our best efforts, the poll feature just isn't suited for this particular thing. Try and weed out all the new, suspicious nations if you want, but we all know it isn't just the new nations that we have to watch. It isn't a matter of tradition. Using regional forums and/or sites such as surveymonkey allow us to get an accurate number of votes from citizens who actually take part in things such as referendums. Personally I object to using polls for referendums due to the inaccuracy. Doing so could have disastrous results on a region. It could very well become a weapon in R/D circles. The poll feature is okay, just not used in this way. Don't get me wrong. It's nice to see what the nations that don't bother with forums think, but they still can't vote in referendums in any official capacity. So what is the point? I just don't see it. I mean, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Right? The system regions use now works. What more do we want? What more could we want? Should we really wreck what we already have going well for us? In my humble opinion I say nay. __________________________________________________________________________ Why are there no “How to Coup” Guides? Part One of a Four Part Series, “Rethinking Power in NationStates”. EDITORIAL | UNIBOT It occurred to me today, during class, there are no “How to Coup” Guides. On the official forums, NationStates presents readers with access to information regarding how to invade and defend or how to build a region, but no information specifically on how to overthrow regimes in Game-Created Regions. There are many techniques involved in overthrowing these regimes which are not used in the regular invasion of User-Created Regions. Coup d'états usually rely on the deception, enticement or otherwise, shepherding of residents into passive supporters, while avoiding the detection of authorities. To be an effective “couper”, you need to know how to tart, how to “surf update”, when to strike, who to strike and how to maintain power and manage one’s Regional Influence. The mechanics of these techniques are not available for public consumption or easily accessible. There is no such thing as a “grassroots” coup d'état– every regime likes to claim it has the will of the people behind them, but all coup d'états are conducted by knowledgeable gameplayers, meanwhile their endorsers are passive participants who show little judgement over who to endorse and who not to endorse (e.g., Sedgistan rose to the delegacy of The South Pacific just as quickly as its elected officials do). These knowledgeable gameplayers include regular coupers (e.g., JAL, The Empire, The Crimson Order), military professionals and disgruntled elites – the average player, by no means, just “decides” to overthrow a Game-Created Region. If someone is tarting in a region, you are guaranteed that someone is not a “nobody”, but a “somebody”, hiding behind an anonymous account. “Grassroots” coup d'états do not happen, because average players are not encourage to coup Game-Created Regions – they are often encouraged to get involved with their region or endorse someone, but they are not encouraged to take matters into their own means to overthrow Game-Created Regions. Thus, it can be said that the numbers of those who have attempted to overthrow Game-Created Regions has been limited to those who have had the prior ambition and the skill necessary to commit a coup d'état – and as we have established, these skills are also restricted to a select few, since access to information regarding how to commit a coup d'état is limited. While access to information regarding coup d'état strategies and tactics is limited, the act of overthrowing a Game-Created Region is also, of course, incredibly more taboo than say, overthrowing a regular User-Created Region. Those involved with overthrowing Game-Created Regions face severe interregional and international diplomatic sanctions – this goes beyond simply the diplomatic superstructure and the connections that these regions possess, it manifests from a political culture that demonizes “coupers” – from WA Condemnations to exclusive interviews to essays, propaganda and literature. Critical theorists should understand that this distinction between Game-Created Regions and User-Created Regions is a false conception – all Game-Created Regions are User-Created Regions, their governments have been created by players, their differences lie in the “feeder” and “sinker” aspects of their regions, but these differences are then swelled and multiplied by the moderation regime, the recruitment regime and userites, who all interact (and indeed exploit) Game-Created Regions in very different ways than they would with User-Created Regions. The greatest concern of the state apparatus in Game-Created Regions is security and the state’s political survival – therefore it is important to note how these states have adopted this distinction between Game-Created and User-Created Regions for their own purposes. If one encourages the distinction between their regions with other regions, it becomes much easier to justify a clear double-standard. For the Defenderist, this privileged place that Game-Created Regions hold, perpetuates systemic violence against User-Created Regions. Take for example, The East Pacific: currently it has a guide hosted in its World Factbook Entry called “Hobbes' Handy Guide to Military (R/D) Gameplay” – it teaches the mechanics of update to readers, but focuses on how to invade or defend founderless User-Created Regions. I doubt that there were malicious intentions with the addition of this guide – but can you imagine the uproar if a User-Created Region began linking its citizens to “How to Coup or Defend a GCR!”? It sounds like something nutty and taboo that, I dunno, Afforess might do in Capitalist Paradise. Most Game-Created Regions completely encourage invading User-Created Regions (especially small User-Created Regions): citizens are given literature on how to invade, the regional army orders them to invade, it tells them invading is “fun”, gives them badges when they invade and above all else, tells them their region, as a Game-Created Region, is exempt from the same behavior they are inflicting on any given, small-time User-Created Region. In a recent and controversial case, when The South Pacific helped invade St Abbaddon, Topid reacted emotionally by sending telegrams to citizens of The South Pacific, informing them of what was happening in St Abbaddon and encouraging them to unendorse the government as a sign of protest for their region’s own aggressive foreign policy. The South Pacific and many other commentators then argued that what Topid did was much worse than what The South Pacific did in St Abbaddon, despite St Abbaddon being more vulnerable and despite the fact that Topid was simply encouraging natives to protest their government (whereas The South Pacific imposed itself oppressively on St Abbaddon). This is a major consequence of Game-Created Regions considering themselves as more privileged than User-Created Regions, especially smaller User-Created Regions (that lack foreign connections): we’re supposed to care more about acts of violence or resistance against Game-Created Regions, than we are for your regular run-of-the-mill region. One friend of mine, McMasterdonia, who is currently delegate of The North Pacific and whose ideas have had a lot of influence on the North Pacific Army, has repeated over and over again, his belief that these User-Created Regions that The North Pacific strikes, like (as of late) Transylvania, St Abbaddon and East Pacific, do not matter. In his view, they are small and they're inactive, backwater regions. Therefore, he would argue that we should not care about their security or their sovereignty. I would respond to this (popular) belief by noting that it is important to bear in mind not only what one says, but what one does not say: McMasterdonia (and many others) say you shouldn’t care about not invading small, inactive regions, but when he says this, he implicitly means only small, inactive regions that do not have the means to retaliate. History has well established that one player alone can overthrow a Game-Created Region’s government, therefore attacking any region, without provocation, is a poor Foreign Affairs policy if one of its members may effectively be able to retaliate. Reducing the access to information in regards to how to overthrow a Game-Created Region, means native residents cannot effectively retaliate – it keeps them weak, it keeps them helpless and it keeps them trying to hide away from the bad wolf, instead of fighting them. This is the ugly face of power. First, it teaches you that they are special and they are privileged, it makes you feel that you deserve and you are responsible for the harm you will receive in the system that it creates and perpetuates. Then, it makes you more vulnerable, it reduces your capacity to retaliate, to challenge or even recognize your oppression and then finally, it encourages violence against you when you are weakest. People do not perpetuate this system knowingly, this is a system that is difficult to observe and we have all played a role in its perpetuation. At the beginning of this article, I asked, “Why are there no “How to Coup” Guides?”. By now, I hope you understand that there are no “How to Coup” Guides, because it does not serve the interests of those in power. Not everyone reading this piece will care about the harms posed by invasions to natives, but I do hope every reader walks away from this article with the notion that our access to information and our social and political norms and mores are shaped by the interests of the centre of power in NationStates. For the invader reading this piece, here is a tidbit to think about: newbies are taught from Day One how to invade founderless regions – in small, even experienced bands, their targets will have to be small without cooperating with larger, more established invading organizations (another institutional form of power). Perhaps these players would have more fun overthrowing Game-Created Regions? They do not need a large band of people to overthrow a Game-Created Region; what they need is information and experience. Just because the interests of those in power reflect our standards, does not mean these interests also reflect what is fun for you. Perhaps the funniest joke of it all is that invaders are convinced early on that their fun lies in attacking the smallest, backwater regions… far, far, far away from anyone actually powerful or influential, despite the fact that these powerful and influential regions are fundamentally vulnerable without severely restricting their citizen’s endorsement counts. __________________________________________________________________________ >>> NEWS Badges, Promotions and too much Invaderism? Backlash over invasions in Magicality City COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Transilvania has some visitors... The North Pacific Army has seen renewed activity under its Deputy Minister of Defense, Gladio but what specific activity has taken place has caused controversy in Magicality City. After announcing the successful invasion and occupation of Transilvania (between Gladio and Abacathea), some citizens were critical of The North Pacific Army bragging about the success of the mission. “A two-nation raid is a joke,” says Blackshear, former delegate, “It has no legitimate training value for the North Pacific Army as a whole and certainly isn't anything to be proud of. Any argument to the contrary is specious nonsense”. Flemingovia, former delegate, also voiced a harsh opinion of the current activities of The North Pacific Army – nostalgic for the days in which the old North Pacific Army had a driving purpose to defend and liberate regions abroad. “I remember when the North Pacific Army stood for something,” says the High Priest, “Now some here may not agree with what it stood for, and you have managed to get the Regional Assembly to agree that the North Pacific Army will stand for, gosh, just about everything ... which means, of course, that it stands for nothing. And when a military stands for nothing, decline is inevitable”. Flemingovia continued by condemning the supposed pettiness of the army’s recent activities. “This panty-raid is, for me, symbolic of all of this,” says Flemingovia, “It is everything the North Pacific Army used to stand against, and even if it were not, it is just ... pathetically sad. And we remember better times”. The controversial veteran is alluding to the first incarnation of The North Pacific Army, which under the direction of Twoslit Experiment; saw the creation of an active defense force led by the likes of defender legends, Ananke, NEM and Tresville. In regards to Transilvania, while some challenged the legality of the mission, others like Lennart simply found that the actions did not make them feel proud as citizens of their region. “I find no pride in it,” says Lennart, Security Councillor, “And I don't think this action increases interregional respect for the North Pacific Army either”. The mission, however, was received by other members – after it was announced it received a chorus of “Hail the NPA!” from such political heavyweights as Crushing your Enemies, Former Black Hawks Commander, r3naissanc3r, Cormac Stark and Blue Wolf. While North East Somerset and Lord Ravenclaw, delegates of Balder and Osiris respectively, also praised the invasion. The invasion, however, prompted one concerned citizen, PaulWallLibertarian42, to propose an amendment of Chapter 8 of the Legal Code entitled “On NPA Raiding Activities”, which would have restricted the ability of the North Pacific Army to invade without permission from the Regional Assembly. Transilvania was eventually liberated by The United Defenders League, but serves as only one of The North Pacific Army’s recent missions, with Gladio also awarded soldiers with ribbons to recognize their service in the recent occupations of St Abbaddon and East Pacific, as well as the defense of Osiris and Stargate. While Gladio is serving as Brigadier General, Abacathea has been promoted to the rank of Corporal and will serve as The North Pacific Army’s new Chief of Staff. __________________________________________________________________________ Loop Day Rumors Say 1 Infinite Loop Will Take The Delegacy COMMENTARY | THE CHURCH OF SATAN Loop Day is coming this May for The East Pacific! Rumor has it that for the duration of Loop Day, 1 Infinite Loop will be taking the delegacy of The East Pacific. Talking to Bachtendekuppen, delegate of The East Pacific, he confirmed the rumors. "1 Infinite Loop started this as a way of advertising The East Pacific and getting more attention to what happens in the Region while we approach this years anniversary," says Bachtendekuppen. However he did express a bit of cautiousness in the matter, "I've of course been in contact with him and we'll have to see if it's an option to do this in a safe and secure way," says Bachtendekuppen, "It's a while before it's May, but I think it's obviously a cool idea that the Founder of modern East Pacific could be in the seat once more, to celebrate the founding of our forum and community". Of course, I was curious as to what the celebration will entail. When I asked if he could tell me what they'll be doing, Bachtendekuppen remained tight lipped. "Not yet!" says Bachtendekuppen, "As I said, it's still quite a while away and currently we are in the process of amending our legal holidays. Loop Day will be preceded by a week of celebrations of the various Delegates that TEP had during it's 10 years of existence". An entire week dedicated to their past leaders. Very nice! Given the lack of planned celebrations at this point, he couldn't honestly tell me what we can expect. 1 Infinite Loop however did have something to say about it. "The only thing I can tell you for sure (preserving the mystery and all) is there will be bloodshed," says 1 Infinite Loop, who may or may not have been kidding, "lots of bloodshed, perhaps a sacrifice or three, and of course, Caek and punch. We also want to try to get as many people to be online in the East Pacific forum in one day as we can. Personally I would love to see 9001 people but as long as it is in the quadruple digits I will be happy and consider it a success". So will everyone else! One thing is for sure, Loop Day is going to be wild! We're all looking forward to it! __________________________________________________________________________ Anumia re-elected in Europeia Discussion surfaces regarding the Senate and the Grand Architecture Project COMMENTARY | UNIBOT The Grand Architecture Project: "Make it So" Anumia has soundly been re-elected in Europeia, which marks a rare third consecutive term for him as President. After this key electoral victory, Anumia is set to become Europeia’s longest serving President. Speaking to The Rejected Times, the newly elected President called the achievement, “wonderful”. “I have really enjoyed the past five months or so that I have served the Republic and am looking forward to the next two,” explains Anumia. “I am lucky to have excellent people behind me and working with me, and we have done some great things so far”. Of course, becoming the longest-serving President is quite an achievement in Europeia given its storied history. The Republic recently celebrated its seventh anniversary, which Anumia said reflects four years now, by his reckoning, of Europeia as a major international superpower. But… how does one replicate Europeia’s success? “I think we are lucky to have some extremely good people,” says Anumia “and although our political culture is obviously not perfect I do feel that it produces some of the finest domestic leaders in the game. In addition to our ability to shape and grow domestic leadership, I think our unique and engaging political scene is such that it attracts talent from other areas, who contribute their strengths to our sociopolitical fabric - like my dastardly plan to capture Mousebumples, although Mallorea insists it is his dastardly plan to use her to control Europeia, and -she- insists it is her own dastardly plan at work...”. I hope everyone took notes – especially Mallorea and Riva. When asked what his plans were for this term, Anumia appeared to be focused on getting the Great Architecture Project more active and better established. “This term I am looking to make some more visible successes over some of the quieter ones behind-the-scenes in previous terms,” says Anumia, “and show solid results with the Great Architecture Project before this term is out”. This Great Architecture Project has served as the centerpiece of his Presidency, which would have Europeia engage with smaller, younger regions in “Construction Partnership Agreements”, which aim to build those regions, instil the principles of “independence and sovereignty” and foster a long-lasting relationship with them. Debate in Europeia, however, has turned to concerns that the Europeian Senate is too inactive – Huxwells Talleyrand-Shaw asked if it was “obsolete”, given the rising activity of the Citizens’ Assembly. Much of the debate surrounds the fact that the Citizens’ Assembly is a body of younger and in many more active legislators, while the Senate is more experienced but also less engaged. Mousebumbles “The issue right now is that the Senate seems to be waiting for the Citizens’ Assembly to pass stuff,” says Mousebumples, “which is fine, but since we're a slower, more deliberative body than the Senate maybe would be on these topics, the activity in the Senate is down. I still maintain that there are plenty of topics that the Senate could be legislating that the CA is not currently covering”. Anumia shared his thoughts on the discussion to The Rejected Times, where he suggested this kind of debate was a regular occurrence, which swung like a pendulum between periods when the Assembly was active and the Senate was “dead” or vice versa. “The Senate has been a mainstay of the Republic from inception,” says Anumia, “something that I think gets forgotten sometimes is that we have typically seen the legislature and the lay-legislature wax and wane in opposing proportion. There have certainly been times when the Citizens' Assembly (or its predecessor, the City Council) have been inactive or outright dead, and there have been times when the Senate has been less active than desired as well. I can think of only one time when both the Senate and City Council were in the ascendant together, and even then there were disagreements over the dynamic between the two”. Anumia said the debate was almost a “tradition” in Europeia, but not necessarily without merit. “The Senate does need to step up its game in the face of a resurgent Citizens' Assembly,” says Anumia, “one of the things my Vice President Malashaan and I made a point of during our campaign for this term was that he would seek to drive Senate activity from the Vice Presidency, while separately I intend to encourage Senators themselves to take the initiative and prove their leadership”. With this in mind, the President still has at least one reoccurring intergovernmental issues to address during his historic third term, while he also looks towards pursuing his Grand Architecture Project. __________________________________________________________________________ Poll Raiding Declared Legal; Ballot Counters Confounded! COMMENTARY | BODOBOL Confused ballot counters wonder why all the votes are equal. Public referenda are no longer safe from outside corruption following a new ruling making it legal for voters to vote multiple times in order to achieve their desired outcome. The history regarding this ruling dates back to early January, when Codger invented the practice and published an article regarding it in Issue XI of the Rejected Times. However, controversy surrounding the practice did not begin until over two months later, when I founded a region known as the Poll Police and filled it with puppets. When inequality was detected within public ballots, the Poll Police would be dispatched to make the ballots equal again. This, however, did not go over well with some natives, who reported me to the moderation team. I received a warning and fourteen of the twenty-one puppets were deleted. After I made a casual complaint on Lazarus's RMB (the region that inspired me originally to found the Poll Police), Codger appealed the ruling to the mods. This was the beginning of Communist Eraser v. Moderation, a landslide court ruling that would change the fate of the controversial practice. It was a cold, late winter morning when I showed up, and court was already in session. Though I wasn't required to come, I figured I probably should anyway seeing as how I was relevant in the case. I walked into the main courtroom to find advocates and opponents of poll raiding debating the topic hotly. After a while, the moderation team adjourned the court in order to discuss the matter among themselves. All of us were tense, and we had to wait for over two days to receive a final decision, when Sedgistan took the podium and made the following announcement- The warning on Bodobol's nation has been removed, and the deleted puppets restored. Please be aware though that usual rules on spamming (e.g. regional happenings spam) still apply. Across the courtroom, cheers of joy and cries of disgust echoed at the same time. "This is entirely lame if you ask me," commented one disgruntled opponent of poll raiding by the name of Death Star Reborn, who was one of the original victims of poll raiding. After the ruling was made official by Sedgistan, the Poll Police continued their operations and expanded to include more members. Donning their police uniforms, the Police quickly set about again confusing ballot counters worldwide. However, these operations were soon interrupted by voters donning Darth Vader uniforms who followed the Police around and made the votes completely inequal. It was quickly discovered that these were, in fact, the puppets of the aforementioned Death Star Reborn. When questioned about this, he replied, "If people wanna play, I'll flood polls too." One question that remains, though, is if poll raiding will ever catch on as region raiding has. "I think poll raiding will remain a novelty, as the thrill/damage from it doesn't quite match region raiding," Codger said when asked the question. "On the other hand poll raiding is much easier to do, so you might get a few 'lone wolves' raiding quite a few polls to get instant gratification." So while poll raiding may not be ushering in a new era for NationStates, it is likely it will continue to confound ballot counters across the world. __________________________________________________________________________ The Dreaded Ex(-nation) COMMENTARY | THAFOO It was quite the shock for most on Monday when the avatar that had been Obi-Wan Kenobi for so long had most suddenly become the dreaded Ex-Nation flag- a picture signifying one player's deletion, whether due to inactivity or the universally-feared moderator deletion. Considered by some (not including himself) to be a pillar of the General forum's massive debate community, it hardly took minutes until many had noticed his forced absence from the forums. "[expletive]ing-[expletive]ing-[expletive]ing-[expletive]ing-[expletive]! Divair's gone!" exclaimed one Generalite on The Eternal Thread upon learning the news barely four hours after Divair's deletion. "Divair was the coolest person on this site. When it came to chatting, he was da bauss [sic]. And he answered so many of my questions about the Israeli-Palestine situation... This is a sad day for NationStates." The opinion was shared by many, including an individual who was startled by his sudden deletion, noticing his unlinked name in their telegram box in the thread "A Missing User: Divair," which was locked after a mere eighteen posts by the moderators. "...the immediate trigger for Divair's deletion [was his] repeated advertising of a competing game (not another discussion forum, which would be legal, but another nation simulation game) both in the forums and via attempted TG recruitment. This runs counter to long-standing policy." announced moderator The Archregimancy barely minutes after Divair's deletion. Div was not just deleted for this reason, however. Known for quite a while as an active proponent of The Batcavern (http://thebatcavern.freeforums.net/), Div was not exactly, let's say, liked by most of the Moderation community- the moderators Euroslavia and The Blaatschapen were known to have active accounts on The Batcavern, while Farnhamia's has fallen into relative inactivity. I, myself, have made myself a part of this- before receiving the cease-and-desist order from the NationStates Moderation regarding the fact that I had assisted Divair in recruiting for a competing nation simulation game, I had invited a near 130 members of NationStates to follow us to said simulation game- mostly from my own large region of Tofuline, while Div had invited many more from his amazingly large region Versutian Federation- a region that found itself without a founder on Monday. Heck, I could consider myself Div's left-hand man in many aspects. Due to his active dissent of the rapidly deteriorating moderation policy, Div was not well-liked in the slightest by most moderators- notably, the renowned (and somewhat feared) Dread Lady Nathicana. Eighteen days before Divair's deletion, he had already been banned for active criticism of Moderation policy in a different thread. Dread Lady Nathicana was quoted as saying on that day, "Divair is not the topic of this thread. Nor are any other players who may or may not be participating at this time. Let's not attempt to make it so. Thanks!" in The Eternal Thread. Another definite reason to Div being more than strongly disliked among Moderation quite recently likely stems to Moderation's decision to close The Eternal Thread at 100 incarnations- a decision that was rejoiced upon by much of General, while others took to fleeing to Forum Seven's sudden surge in chat threads, or leaving altogether, or- much to the moderators' distaste- The Batcavern, at the behest of, most prominently, Divair, who was guiding much of the crowd to this offsite forum of former and current NSGers, leaving some to not return to NationStates even when their beloved Eternal Thread was returned barely ten days later by the moderators, who had all but too late realized that they had made a massive mistake in closing a thread that was barely keeping a large part of the NationStates community alive. I, myself, dearly want to leave NationStates. I really do, for reasons other than problems that have presented themselves in the site- studies, most importantly. And I will, most likely, soon enough, as much as I'm fond of you lot. But alas, at nearly thirty thousand posts amassed, I have all but immersed myself in NationStates- I only stay for the element of wasting time, really. But then, I must consider that Div has left quite successfully, all the while leaving his extensive history of sixty-six thousand posts behind. He should be remembered by the lot of us as an exemplary example of a player. If you're active in NationStates General and you're reading this... well, take everything into consideration. All of it. All of what you've seen recently. "I'll miss you folks. If anyone wishes to contact me, I can be found on Divair2 occasionally." -Divair __________________________________________________________________________ Australia refounded Kangaroos and Koalas celebrate everywhere! COMMENTARY | HORSE A happy Koala takes a celebratory boat trip after the refounding... This month has finally seen the refounding of Australia, after a few months of hard work by defenders and natives. The refound began after the invasion of United Imperial Armed Forces (UIAF), around three months ago. After the occupation of six days, by the UIAF, McMasterdonia (notable Aussie) contacted 10000 Islands in hopes TITO would help the natives refound the region. TITO said they would help, but only if “there was support from the native World Assembly nations “, says McMasterdonia. After the native Rankmore gained a substantial amount of endorsements, TITO sent Rankmore information on how to safely and correctly refound the region. After Rankmore started to gain the endorsements, a native by the name of Caiohim started to fight the refound, for reasons of “I dunno”. Endorsing every World Assembly member in the region, Caiohim decided to try and fight “dem ebul fendas”. After a while, Rankmore was "switched out" for Juergen, having more influence than Rankmore. Sadly, in a strange turn of events, Juergen was ejected from the World Assembly for multying. The explanation for this was that Juergen apparently gave one of the older nations he owned, and that nation was admitted to the World Assembly. When commenting on the refound mission, Benevolent Thomas, newly elected delegate of 10000 Islands, was very modest and told The Rejected Times that the natives deserved all of the praise. "This should be all about them and not us," says Benevolent Thomas, "the natives of Australia were the ones brave enough to partake on this endeavor with its fare share of risks and I'm glad that it has paid off for them". The region was finally locked down by Bayswater, a long time native. Luckily, the natives eventually refounded the region successfully, despite the risks of interception involved. I congratulate all members who helped, and I hope Australia has a long, peaceful future ahead of them. __________________________________________________________________________ Protecting Lazarus From Subversive Influence: the Committee For Public Safety and State Security Force COMMENTARY | BODOBOL Among the newest wave of reforms implemented by ex-Chairman Milograd in the PRL is the creation of two new offices within the Judicial District; the Committee for Public Safety (CPS) and State Security Force (SSF). The two offices were announced on 23 February by Milograd when he created a thread in the Judicial District subforum establishing them as a department of said District. The intent behind these cadres is to protect Lazarenes from dangerous influences affecting the region; this includes RMB adspammers and potential invaders. There is, however, a vital difference between these two offices; the CPS handles matters regarding internal security, while the SSF monitors public conversations to watch for illegal activity. Among the first to join the SSF were Horse, Llamas and Pergamon, with Officer Fantome boasting an incredibly active record. Milograd appointed Lemongrab Union, a new citizen and immigrant from the Confederacy of Allied States, Chief of State Police due to the past experience LU had in similar departments. However, due to alleged involvement in a Balder coup attempt, Lemongrab was removed from the position and Fantome was given the position instead. There are three positions within the SSF one can apply for. RMB Patrol Officers are tasked with finding 'subversive' comments on Lazarus' regional message board (such as adspam), and eliminating them along with informing violators of their misdeeds. IRC Officers, meanwhile, monitor #lazarus and preserve its tranquility. Finally there are State Security Officers, the most popular branch. These Officers keep an eye on the region itself to watch for endotarters and others who wish to unseat the Chairman. The CPS is more of a discreet organization; unlike the SSF, citizens of Lazarus cannot apply for it and only a select few are chosen to partake in it. The discussions are kept behind closed doors and the Committee is generally secretive. Its purpose is to plan out internal security for the region. __________________________________________________________________________ Arrivederci Charax A cool cat retires, but the memory remains. COMMENTARY | UNIBOT "Mein Führer... I CAN VALK !!!" NationStates is saying their goodbyes to yet another fantastic player – it seems with every spring, we say farewell to another friend, as tensions run high, schoolwork higher and patience is strained, spring brings with it a procession of flowers and sad departures in its wake for many communities in Gameplay. Charax began in NationStates as “The Black Leaves”, beginning his career in Spiritus and Mordor, before he eventually branched out to work with first, The United Defenders League (where I met him when he served as an enthusiastic Senior Merryman) and later Wintreath and The West Pacific. He maintains a legacy as a lighthearted soul who preferred to see the fun in NationStates as opposed to being weighted down with ideology and philosophy. His signature for years, very appropriately, reminded gameplayers to not take themselves so seriously. Ultimately, Charax retired as a Francoist, residing in The Pacific as a member of their Praetorian Guard. The Rejected Times spoke with Charax briefly, asking him the circumstances surrounding his departure. He explained that his reasons for leaving were the deadly combination of a busier life and becoming increasingly disillusioned with the game. “The major thing was that I was just bored with it all,” says Charax, “I'd burned out in terms of regional politics certainly. My influence and capabilities as Interior Minister of The West Pacific were severely limited, I'd been unable to press the reforms I'd intended in Mordor and I'd allowed myself to drift from the Wintrean community through my inactivity on their forums. I'd usually turn to Gameplay for entertainment in this circumstance, but that had devolved into a bunch of clueless morons crying to themselves about how awful The Black Riders were whilst the rest of looked on in bewilderment. Only fun Gameplay gave me in the last few weeks was the Eternal Knight's implosion”. When asked what it was that he would miss most about NationStates, Charax was clear… “It has to be the community,” says Charax, “You guys are the only reason I stuck around at all for the majority of my time, sick to the back teeth of the game itself”. I know for many Charax leaves behind a void, where one could expect his fun banter and jesting between both sides of Gameplay, they are now left remembering the player that was. We here at The Rejected Times wish him well with all his endeavors and hope that he comes back sometime – they always do…. [/i] __________________________________________________________________________ NS Moderation to Invite Discussion New Policy permits player discussions COMMENTARY | UNIBOT A new moderation policy has been officially introduced which poses some serious changes in regards to how the Official Forums operates. With these new changes, there will be two categories for moderation threads: “[Report]” threads and “[Discussion]” threads. Report threads are for, as you would imagine, reporting suspected rule-breaking, while Discussion threads are for, obviously, discussion regarding rules, policies, rulings and anything else relevant to NationStates’s moderation regime. This comes as a major change – for years, NS Moderation has been criticized for its unwillingness to engage in a prolonged dialogue with players over controversial rulings or policies. This new system would not only allow, but in many ways, actively encourage players to discuss decisions with Moderation. Before this change, broader discussion threads on various perceived moderation “crises” were unsanctioned (although they did occur sometimes) and discussions on rulings were outright prohibited. [violet] earlier this week, said that the new moderation policy sought to repair the trust and working relationship between moderators and players. “There has been a troubling rise in the number of moderator/player interactions here that I would characterize as deeply dysfunctional,” says [violet]. ”They have engendered a toxic atmosphere in which neither side completely trusts the motivations of the other, which has derailed a great deal of what would otherwise be good, productive discussion”. The "colorful" Site Admin also called upon players at act in good faith in Moderation and use this new policy for genuine criticism of moderation actions, not so-called “rules-lawyering”. This may not be the only change coming too: Mallorea and Riva proposed that the Moderation subforum should be divided into “Report” and “Discussion” subforums, which Euroslavia said was being currently discussed by staff in order to better organize this new system. As The Doctor once said, “Life depends on change and renewal”. We here look at The Rejected Times look forward to seeing how this new dynamic for moderation develops. __________________________________________________________________________ Spring Edition of "NationStates Improviser" released! FEATURE | THE NEW WORLD OCEANIA The Rejected Times is proud to sponsor the NationStates Improviser... The NationStates Improviser is an NS–wide literary magazine and a publication of artists in the Arts and Fiction board on the NS Forums. Created in 2013, The NS Improviser is fueled by a passion for the written word and artistic expression. The NS Improviser is the strongest example of our forum's mission to study and disseminate the crafts of creative writing and visual arts. A staff of scholarly, aspiring, and professional artists compile original work submitted by writers and artists from across the site. We publish four online editions per year, in February, May, August, and November, exhibiting the best art NationStates has to offer. Now publishing our second issue, we're glad to say that the NS Improviser is moving towards its goal to disseminate the visual and literary arts across a site namely concerned with hypothetical scenarios and ever-lasting conversation. No artist becomes an artist in a moment, regardless of how, precisely, that moment is defined. Often it is relative to other moments, or the expanse of time which they cover. Thus, no one has ever become an artist in a day, nor in an hour. No one has become an artist in the decade, or the year, or the century (rightfully insinuated, artist of the century is a bullshit term). None could be artists in their lifetime, save that they have not died come the end of eternity, yet none are simply born artists. The Enlightenment thinkers, Renaissance men, from the ancient poets and through the pamphleteers to the post-modernist economic philosophers, da Vinci nor Di Caprio, neither Rand nor Marx, Christ and Nietzsche both, and not those even within this literary magazine: none are artists. We will always be aspiring. Featured in our Aspiration Issue, Spring 2014, is poetry, short fiction, and visual art. The cover artist for this edition is Generalite Nazi Flower Power, whose fractal artwork is seen both as said cover and within the magazine. In addition, we have notable poet The Nuclear Fist publishing his work It Comes, Winter Story Contest winner George and the Dragon, and Silver Key Distinctions winner The Merchant Republics with City Street Samba and Stargazing. Rising artists are also within the pages of the Spring 2014 edition. In any case, few artists on NationStates have the audacity to create human figures, but when The Merchant Republics does as such, the results are nothing short of astonishing. In City Street Samba, we see a bustling, 40s-esque city street, full of lively characters heading to where they need to be, even if they aren't quite sure where their feet are leading them. We begin at the far left of the scene, where a child gazes through the windows of Trois Debutante, her mother pulling her along. The moment can be taken, now, to observe the detail and continuity of the architectural designs, particularly on this shop. At the upper corners of the windows, we see a three-diamond design, which the logo on the shop window mimics. Around the bend of this shop’s window, we see a turn onto another street, not only truly setting a scene for us but exhibiting mastery of devising a three-dimensional piece. In an Art Nouveau style, The Merchant Republics has shown not only he artistic community, but all of NS what his hand is capable of. City Street Samba is tangy, like a picnic in an igloo, and awarding a Silver Key Distinction, we’re sure that our Nouveau Merchant has many more great things to tell us in his career as an Improviser. The Spring 2014 Issue of the NationStates Improviser is available now. See its thread for excerpts, reviews, and the full magazine, at http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=287545. __________________________________________________________________________

March 21, 2014. Forum Administration Shake-Up Causes Controversy COMMENTARY | UNIBOT A tropical storm brews in The South Pacific... Late last night, Hileville removed several administrators from The South Pacific’s staff on the basis that they had not maintained sufficient activity. According to Hileville, this shakeup has been in the works since February 12, 2014 – but no administrators chose to discuss the open topic on the subject after it was posted by Hileville. “Since we moved to these forums there has been a steady decline in admins actually working,” says Hileville. “For the most part these tasks have completely fallen on my shoulders. In my current real schedule I cannot continue to handle every issue and task that arises. The admin team needs to have the knowledge and desire to perform these duties. I no longer feel several of our admins have any plans on doing just that’. Hileville removed HEM, Southern Bellz, Rebeltopia and Tsunamy as administrators – while appointing current Vice Delegate, Kris Kringle and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sandaoguo as new administrators. Hileville, however, noted this shake-up would likely not go without controversy. “I do not take these moves lightly and I understand that people will be upset and feel that I am being a evil dictator,” says Hileville. “ If the community as a whole feels that this move is wrong steps to move forums should be considered. I have tried over the last year or so that we have been on these boards to provide the best and most rewarding community experience of all the GCR's. In order to continue and improve on this experience we need admins who are willing to do everything in their power to get the job done”. Since the announcement, the move has been received as positive by some members, including Escade, the delegate of The South Pacific, but also criticized harshly by Belschaft and others who were affected by this decision. Belschaft, HEM and Southern Bellz, especially, voiced their opinion that this was a move to silence discussion over whether or not Belschaft should be retained as an admin -- the exact circumstances surrounding Belschaft's prior removal from the administration team have not yet been made to the public. “Two and a half weeks ago I was unilaterally removed from the admin team,” explains Belschaft, “Needless to say, HEM, Southern Bellz, Rebeltopia and Tsunamy were not pleased with this course of action. We've been attempting to deal with the matter internally, but yesterday Hileville ruled that his was the only opinion that mattered, forbade any of the other admins to discuss the matter with me, and declared that the admin team would not be allowed to vote on the matter”. Southern Bellz and HEM’s objections echoed Belschaft’s complaints. While Belschaft called Hileville, a “rogue admin”, HEM and Southern Bellz decried Hileville’s accusations that they were inactive and also claimed that this move was a result of them disagreeing with Hileville on whether Belschaft should be retained as an admin. Hileville, on the other hand, disagreed with their claims - citing their inactivity as administrators. “HEM's last administrative action was completed on the 24th of January with a grand total of 20 actions taken dating back to July,” says Hileville, while also noting, “Southern Bellz has in the past expressed no real desire to complete the basic tasks of an admin”. Meanwhile, the discussion has taken a dire turn, as Belschaft has sent telegrams to all of the citizens of The South Pacific, calling Hileville’s shake-up a “coup”, Hileville, a “rogue admin” and The South Pacific’s present state, a “dictatorship”. Citizens were also urged by Belschaft to begin discussing this issue on the Regional Message Board. “If you want TSP to remain a free, democratic region, then speak out on the RMB and our forums,” says Belschaft, “Let Hileville know that he does not own this region, as he clearly thinks he does”. What remains to be seen is (i) why was Belschaft removed from the admin staff – we do not know yet what the other admins were discussing, (ii) what will be the delegate’s response to this crisis, (iii) will this affect Belschaft’s membership in the South Pacific’s security council and, finally, will this affect the upcoming elections? Many questions surfaced around this issue have yet to be answered and our hope is more light will be shed on this story in the coming hours.

ELECTION FEVER: Friendship and Cooperation 2.0 - With Hileville! FEATURE | MCMASTERDONIA AND UNIBOT Unibot steps onto the neatly prepared soundstage, under the vintage colours and curtains stolen from a bygone era. He sits beside the "Lion's Den", where his cohost, McMasterdonia and the guest contributor, Hileville lay, curling their tails and growling with impatience. "What? Don't look at me -- you were the one who was late..." whispers Unibot defensively. His co-host growled. "I just had to go to the loo..." said the commentator under his breath. It could be said he was pissing away a lot of his talent these days. The teleprompters began to roll and the commentators took their positions around the late night roundtable -- one unlucky staff member tries to puff bronze makeup on Unibot (to meet his extensive demands), before running offstage in a hurry. The controller gives the panel their cue: "Election Fever" was LIVE. _________________________________ "LIIIVVVVVVVVVEEE, IT'S ELECTION FEVER FROM THE SEVENTH CIRCLE OF THE REJECTED REALMS. YOUR CO-HOSTS FOR TONIGHT? THE ONE, THE LONELY, IT'S UNIBOT...." Unibot: Welcome to the Rejected Realms Media Centre for the very first episode of "Election Fever". I'm your co-host, Unibot. "SERVING AS HIS CO-HOST, IT'S THE NORTH PACIFIC'S THUNDA' FROM DOWN UNDA', MCMASTERDONIA...." Mcmasterdonia: Thank you and it is my pleasure to be here today. Together, Unibot and I will be analysing major elections across NationStates. Unibot and I provided the North Pacific with some of the finest of entertainment when we butted heads at election time, we decided to allow others to enjoy the show. Unibot: Together we could either make a bad buddy cop show or a political talk show ripe with balanced discussion and speculation. We went with the latter. Our guest commentator for today is Hileville. Mcmasterdonia: Welcome Hileville! Thanks for joining us on our very first episode. Hileville: Thanks for having me. Unibot: Hileville is a fantastic choice since our topic is the upcoming Elections in The South Pacific. Nobody knows more about winning elections in The South Pacific than Hileville. How many elections have you won, out of curosity? Hileville: In The South Pacific? Not that many. Five or Six. Unibot: That's almost as many scandals as I've had in The South Pacific... Hileville and McMasterdonia laugh with the audience as Unibot takes a drink of his water, suppressing his inner frustration and angst under a neutral face. Mcmasterdonia: Haha, Very true. Okay Hileville, if you don't mind we will proceed to our first question. Will there be Chief Justice Elections? Hileville: I don't believe there will be. We have been working very hard in the Assembly to give a much needed makeover to our Justice system. The bill is finished and has been motioned to a vote. Unibot: If I'm correct, this new bill pushes elections for Chief Justice to a later date? Hileville: Not the actual reform for the Court. There is currently another bill which will move the Justice elections back. We would also not be electing a Chief Justice but a panel of 3 Justices who would select a Chief after they are elected. Unibot: Oh alright that's cool - I got those confused then. Mcmasterdonia: This is another step in a long line of judicial reform. Do you think that The South Pacific is taking the right step now? When I first saw the South Pacific they had only the Minister of Justice, it has gradually changed over the past two years but people were still relatively unhappy with it. Hileville: I do. A lot of work went into this new system and it is by far the way to move forward. Unibot: I still think Belschaft got rid of it because I kept winning Minister of Justice - and he wanted me out of cabinet. Unibot grins boyishly. Hileville: Nah. The Justice system in The South Pacific has always been a sticking point for citizens. This pre-dates my involvement in the game. Mcmasterdonia: I believe that Drugged Monkeys or HEM was the last Minister of Justice? Hileville: DM would have been the first Minister of Justice that was actually more like an Attorney General. Mcmasterdonia: But didn't HEM swap from being Minister of Justice to Chief Justice to start Milograd's trial? Hileville: Yes HEM was the last Minister of Justice and first Chief Justice. Mcmasterdonia: That was the last case I remember in that area, it was a particularly annoying one as a jury had to be chosen and it was too difficult to pick a jury that was fully impartial and unaware of the situation Unibot: Oh god, the jury system. Mcmasterdonia: It was a guaranteed verdict either way though, obviously. I believe Milograd described it as Pacifican justice at the time. Karpathos was also a strong critic. Unibot shudders and motions towards a not-so-subtle segue. Unibot: Speaking of another sticking point. Last election, there was a lot of debate over lobbying - should it be legal, illegal, semi-legal, should be it be.. whatever. Is lobbying going to play a role in the next elections? We haven't really seem any of the reforms to address concerns over lobbying come to fruition. Mcmasterdonia: Lobbying has become a big debate in a lot of the GCR regions recently. Hileville: I think it will. It usually always does. My issue with it is when multiple people are lobbying for one candidate and send multiple messages to the same person. Mcmasterdonia: So you have no issue with lobbying as an action? Provided that it doesn't get spammy. Hileville: As long as it isn't spammy, I'm generally okay with it for elections. Mcmasterdonia: I think it can be quite a complex issue. I mean in GCRs in particular there are often a lot of new and uninformed nations. The simple act of asking them to vote a certain way could be very effective depending on the individual. Furthermore, people form strong relationships with their friends and I sometimes feel that friends do not question their friends actions enough. Which is a bad thing for democracy. Unibot: On the flipside, challenging friendships often requires explicit lobbying. I think the alternative concern though is when you have new and uninformed nations, the incumbent factor is very strong. Lobbying is one of the few ways in which players can challenge incumbents. Unless an incumbent is just massively incompetent. Hileville: To me it can actually be very counter-productive. If you lobby someone who doesn't want to be lobbied you could just as easliy turn them against you or your candidate. Mcmasterdonia: Yes, I would agree. Unibot: I would agree. I only ever lobby if the person is already voting for the candidate I really don't want to win. You can't lose then. That's World Assembly lobbying tactics, 101. Mcmasterdonia: Well Unibot, I was just recalling the 2012 Delegate election in the North Pacific Unibot: I wasn't involved in that, right? Mcmasterdonia: Of course you were! Couldn't help yourself. Unibot: Oh, yes, I did. Mcmasterdonia: You came out very strong in favour of Tim, to the point I would say that it damaged his election chances.... Mcmasterdonia: But this is why lobbying and campaigning for a candidate has to be done very carefully. For one matter it can look like those who hold influence in the region are interfering (for instance say if I strongly campaigned for a small set of candidates in The North Pacific while Delegate). But if you push a negative style of campaigning that can damage the candidates chances quite badly... Unibot: Yes. Mcmasterdonia: And I think that Tim suffered for that reason. Unibot: I disagree, I think Tim lost because he was running against *McMasterdonia*. I do think, however, politics in NationStates tends to work often like the old adage involving honey and trapping flies. So I think you're right to some degree. Honestly it should have been a tighter battle between you and other neutral talent like Kingsborough - but experience won out there. Tim, even on paper, only had so far reach in The North, after months and months of a defender-leaning, Eluvatar-led North Pacific. Mcmasterdonia: Sure - there were other factors at play as well. But I think that nearly everyone expected that election to be a lot closer than it was. Should we expect negative campaigning in The South Pacific's elections, Hileville? Hileville: In the current system I would say no. It is always possible and depending on the candidates it could happen. Unibot: With these upcoming elections, I'd like to hear what candidates we think will run? Who will win? Who do want to see win? _________________________________ SPECULATION: DELEGATE / VICE DELEGATE ELECTIONS Unibot: Let's start with the Delegate / Vice Delegate ticket. Hileville: In this race Escade and Kris will run for a second term. They had a rocky first term with a lot of turnover on the Cabinet. Somewhere along the line the general focus seemed to switch from friendship and cooperation to a not so nice environment. That has improved a lot and I expect they will get a second term in a close race. I expect there to be a solid challenger in this race. Rebel-topia or Belschaft would probably be at the top of the list. Mcmasterdonia: A couple of weeks ago, Escade had told me that she was not going to run again. I thought that was unlikely, and I do agree that they will be seeking a second term. The accusations of being a sleeper agent have been hard on her, but it will be interesting to see how she handles herself in an election campaign with a strong challenger. Hileville: Rebel-topia would certainly have the better chance at winning if he chose a good strong newer citizen as his Vice Delegate. That will be interesting and this really the race to watch. Mcmasterdonia: I would agree. I think the general perception was that Belchaft's last term was a bit mediocre and quiet. I was surprised that Rebeltopia hadn't made a serious run for Delegate before now, I always expected him to take the seat at some point. This is one particular area of the elections that I had thought would get a bit nasty - there have been some serious disagreements in TSP over the past term of government. Unibot: I think you will see Escade and Kringelia run again on the same ticket. Escade ran unopposed last time - I don't think that'll be the case this time, since it's been a rough term for them. The real question is who will run against them? I could certainly see some fresh blood like a Arbiter08 / Farengeto ticket running, but the real challenge for them will be the "old guard" -- the pro-TNI, pro-Independent crowd that seems to be louder and bolder than ever in The South Pacific. I expect you will see Belschaft run as either Delegate or Vice Delegate. Take for example, Tsunamy / Belschaft. Belschaft / Southern Bellz or Southern Bellz / Belschaft. I don't see HEM running. In a dream world, I'd like to see Kris and Escade switch places. Kris has showed a lot of leadership chops during this term and Escade would have the cultural skills to be able to really serve as a strong Vice. Mcmasterdonia: From discussions that I have had over the past few weeks, I thought the swapping of places was a real possibility. I don't believe that Kris wanted to take the seat quiet yet and was pushing Escade to go for another term and to maintain her resolve to get things done. Hileville: There were some people that thought the ticket should have been reversed in the first election. I don't see that happening yet but could be very interesting. A reversed ticket could see the same result they had last time. Unibot: I don't see it happening, I'm just calling it as it is: Kris has shown he can bring the region together more - Escade organizes the region well, but she doesn't control her temper. Mcmasterdonia: Ultimately they are quite a good team when it works for them. Unibot: Yes, they are. Mcmasterdonia: But again, as has already been mentioned it has been a rocky first term. Some believe that the splitting of the region on certain issues has been intentional to weaken the overall government. I do not believe that, as I faced similar criticism when I was Vice Delegate and Delegate. The best thing for Escade to do is to continue doing what she believes is right, if people want to scream about her being a puppet or a plant then she should prove them wrong through her hard work. Unibot: What do you think about my theories about Belschaft? You said you thought he had a mediocre term (I agree) -- will that discourage him from running again? Hileville: I don't think it will. Belschaft usually doesn't like staying out of Government all that long. I think he knew his last term wasn't the best which is why he decided not to run for re-election just days before the election started. Mcmasterdonia: I think you're right. I think that it is likely that Belschaft will run again, either as Delegate or Vice Delegate. I think a Rebeltopia / Belschaft or a Southern Bellz / Belshaft ticket would be a very strong opponent for Escade / Kris. Unibot: Agreed. From what I know of him - a bad term is just an excuse to try for a better one. A Rebeltopia / Belschaft ticket also seems reasonable. Mcmasterdonia: Otherwise he may run for one of the other positions available - Chair of the Assembly is an old favorite for him. Ultimately though, Belschaft has always been particularly strong on matters of Foreign Affairs. When he was Delegate last time he was very strong in that field, but I feel that he slipped a bit at home for activity reasons. Hileville: I don't think a ticket with Belschaft on it will be all that strong. He has exhausted a lot of political capital in TSP since the current term started. Mcmasterdonia: Hmm, probably a good point Hile. Belschaft has never been one to shy away from a political scrap and he obviously wasn't afraid to use his political capital for something he believed in. Unibot: I think he's still got a lot of diehard fans as Article 9 has shown. But his ticket will be used more for his supporters to leverage Escade to meet their demands more. Hileville: I think there is difference between those who supported his bill and those who support Belschaft. They are not one and the same. Mcmasterdonia: Even if he does not run for Delegate or Vice Delegate, he will have a strong place in the election regardless. He always does. Unibot: I don't think many people support Belschaft - many people will use him though and he will use them. That's how his game works. Bit of a tin-hat theory though. Mcmasterdonia: Just a tad Unibot blushes. Unibot: It's what I'm here for - levity and general paranoia. _________________________________ SPECULATION: CHAIR OF THE ASSEMBLY Unibot: What do we think about with the Chair of the Assembly? Mcmasterdonia: Well I don't think that Rebeltopia is going to run for another term as Chair of the Assembly. I think this position is more likely to go to someone like Belschaft, or possibly Hileville. Belschaft is traditionally known as the go to guy for The South Pacific's laws which was why he was popular in that position. Unibot: I think Rebeltopia has had a short term - he'll want to continue along and people will give him the benefit of the doubt. It's a lighter job that requires a lot of activity - I would like to see Hileville run for it too, to be perfectly honest. Mcmasterdonia: Depends if he is interested in moving into the Delegacy or Vice Delegacy, I suppose. Unibot: You're right that Rebeltopia may want to switch around and risk running on a ticket with Belschaft. Mcmasterdonia: If he is content in his current position then I would expect him to do well on voting day. Unibot: Yes I think if he runs, he'll be rubber-stamped. Mcmasterdonia: He is a long time resident of the South Pacific and is well known for his dedication and military service to the region. I think he will be very popular with voters whatever position he runs for. Unibot: Yeah we need more positions for scum bags and partisans. Not nearly enough of those. Hileville: I can see Rebeltopia running for another term here. He does the job well and if he doesn't make a run for the Delegate/Vice-Delegate this is probably where he currently fits in best. Belschaft could be a possibility but I honestly want to see either a newer citizen or a veteran who hasn't had all that much Cabinet service run. Tsu would be a great fit here. Loh who just returned to TSP would also be an awesome fit for the Chair. I do have a soft spot for this position as it is where I started in TSP. Unibot: It also is a good place to build credibility. _________________________________ SPECULATION: MINISTER OF THE ARMY Mcmasterdonia: What about the Minister of the Army? Hileville: I think Southern Bellz has been a really good fit here. With the General Corps not beginning to function again the NSA could really be going places. I fully expect another term from Southern Bellz which could very well be his best yet. Unibot: I think Southern Bellz will have another go with it - his platform has largely been popular with the Independents. If he doesn't run, Cormac Stark could run on an independent focus -- he's starting to build quite a reputation for running GCR invader-leaning militaries in Balder and Osiris. I would like to see Geomania as Minister of Army, but it probably isn't in the cards. An experienced defender who would balance the vision of NSA away from the full independent focus we've seen. Former ADN, RRA. Current NSA. He would know what he's doing if he was elected. But a long shot for sure and unlikely this time around. Hileville: Cormac could be an interesting contender here. I think if Geomania hadn't just been appointed to the General Corps a campaign would be more probable. Mcmasterdonia: Hmm, I will just add that I think Southern Bellz is likely to run again and win. I'm not expecting much competition here, but it would be interesting if there was. Unibot: I'll add that if Southern Bellz and Cormac Stark BOTH ran, Geomania could stand a chance. Via the spoiler effect. But I don't think Cormac Stark lacks the confidence in Southern Bellz to run against him. _________________________________ SPECULATION: MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Unibot: The big question of the night is Foreign Affairs, as always. Who is going to run? Who is going to win? Who do you want to see win? Hileville: Glen Rhodes really impressed me this term. I hope he runs for a full term. This is where I can see Belschaft or HEM running. I think both overall like this area more than any else. If Glen Rhodes runs again I would certainly put money on his re-election though. Unibot: I don't think you will see HEM run again - not when he lost for like the third time in a row and admitted he didn't have the confidence of the electorate. Mcmasterdonia: Yeah, I think a HEM run is very unlikely. I would agree that Glen Rhodes really impressed a lot of people who had their doubts about him taking up the position. I think his reelection should be fairly straight forward. Unibot: I'll be frank, Glen-Rhodes is a long-time friend of mine and I campaigned hard to see him elected as Minister of Foreign Affairs because I knew he'd be great in that position and he wanted to serve in Foreign Affairs. I don't think he let me down, he's shown himself to be a very bureaucratic and mature official - more of an Eluvatar, than a Unibot, despite his critics. I don't think this will discourage the independents from running against him however. I could see Cormac Stark running here or Ravenclaw. But I think there's a good possibility that Glen will be able to take them this time around. Hileville: I don't see Raven running while being Delegate and Scribe of Foreign Affairs in Osiris. That would be a conflict of interest that he wouldn't want to get into. Unibot: I think he could spin any criticism of the Conflict of Interests as mad tin-foil paranoia and Anti-Osirian sentiments. It could be a benefit to his campaign. We've seen that before with HEM and his involvement in both Europeia and The South Pacific. Mcmasterdonia: I think Raven running is very unlikely. He is very busy with his current regional positions and he won't want to add to that burden. Cormac is also very unlikely to run for office. I think he is similar to Raven, he is burdened with responsibilities at this point and won't want to take on another role. He is not the type of guy to take a position just for the title and he'd rather it be done well I think. Hileville: I don't see Cormac as a possible candidate either at this time. _________________________________ SPECULATION: MINISTER OF REGIONAL AFFAIRS Mcmasterdonia: On that note, I think it is safe to move on to Regional Affairs. Who are the likely contenders here? Unibot: The thing with Regional Affairs is - it's the position that time and time again gets used to put the new players in when we don't know where to put them. It then gets unsupplied with resources, the newbie Minister gets quiet and the Delegate tromps all over their agenda. This isn't just a criticism of this term, but in general, what I've seen from Regional Affairs. Arbiter08 could definetely run again, UnitedSolarRepublic and Horse could contest his leadership for sure. Who would I like to see win? Vibrant Coconuts. Aka. Gruenberg. He'd be loud and stick up for his department. And he's a creative force who would organize those affairs, I think. But I don't see him running or winning. Mcmasterdonia: I am unfamiliar with Vibrant Coconuts. I think that is a reasonably fair assesment, the position does usually go to a newer person. I am unsure about the Delegate trampling all over the agenda though. I would expect Arbiter08 to run for this position again and do quite well. Hileville: Here is where I see Farengeto making a run to get into Cabinet. I expect Arbiter08 to run for what would be his first full term. Farengeto has expessed interest in jumping to the Cabinet from the Courts. I think this would be the most logical choice for him. UnitedSolar Republic and Horse would also be good candidates. Horse has had a rocky history in TSP so far which is a little disappointing for me. I think he could be a great member of the Cabinet but I don't think he has fond where he really fits in yet. I don't see Vibrant Coconuts as an option. Unibot: I could see Farengeto running for Regional Affairs too, Hile. I also don't see Vibrant Coconuts running - I'm just saying I think he would shake things up. _________________________________ Unibot: Let's talk about campaign points -- what are the incumbents going to be running on? What are the challengers going to be running on? Where are their strengths and weaknesses? Is the old "Friendship and Cooperation" mantra dead in the water? Or is it going to be revived? Mcmasterdonia: Obviously the incumbents will be running on their experience and positive service in the position. There will be a lot of talk about hard work and high levels of activity and it will be up to the voters to determine if those claims are accurate. Escade may bring that back up as a pipe dream for her term, but I don't think it will be a major part. Unibot: I think the major challenge will be defending their accomplishments as incumbents. I'm noticing a trend. Belschaft's term was largely undermined by a legislature doing the exact opposite that he wanted. Now that those players are in the executive, Belschaft and others have done a lot to prevent the executive's vision from getting enacted. Hileville: I think you are taking two completely different issues and trying to establish a pattern. Mcmasterdonia: Tin foil hat time Hileville: With Belschaft, the Assembly went in a different direction on Osiris and Lazarus. With Osiris he wanted to just suspend the Treaty in hopes that the KRO would be revived. The Assembly knew better. He then ruined the Lazarus Treaty which also angered the Assembly. Unibot: I don't think so - Belschaft argued for a strong executive and had to make serious concessions when he was leader to the legislature. Now that's he out of the executive, he's a strong believer in a very robust legislature and has been successful in shepherding the Assembly. Hileville: The legislature is very strong and always will be. It doesn't always have to show that though depending on who the Delegate is. Belschaft has always believed that our legislature was strong and has advocated for it whenever he isn't the Delegate. I can't argue with you there. Unibot: Do you believe that the strength of the legislature, requires a more blank-slate candidate for leader? Hileville: No. I just believe you have to be willing to stick to your guns and fight to get what you want. Unibot: Friendship and Cooperation. Magic ponies for all !! Unibot grins - he sips a glass of water and lets McMasterdonia take the lead for the next question. Mcmasterdonia: How much of a game-changer will the elections be? Overall, what do you think will happen? Hileville: Unless there is a huge shakeup on the Cabinet I don't see these elections being that big of a "game-changer". The only area I can see this happening is would be the Army if Southern Bellz doesn't run or runs for a different position. You could open the door to either a more raider or defender leading Minister. But with the General Corps system you won't see all that big of a change. Unibot: I think these elections could be close and divisive in areas. I don't think they will ultimately bring about systemic changes. McMasterdonia: I think that unless we see a strong challenge for Delegate, the region overall is going to continue as normal. I am predicting a strong win for Escade unless something major happens at election time. A staff member stealthily walks onto the stage and passes Unibot several cue cards. Unibot: So... some audience members have questions for us. He reads out the first question from the cue card. Feux wants to know what we think about the future of foreign relations between The Pacific and The South Pacific? Mcmasterdonia: I think that the relations between the Pacific and the South Pacific were significantly damaged by the attitude of people like Gaspo and Karpathos. There was a lot of disappointment that Krulltopia did not step in and help The South Pacific. At the time, The South Pacific was by far the closest GCR to The Pacific and I do not feel that relations have improved much since then. I think that it would be to the benefit of both regions if they could come to a reasonable agreement again and reconsider a treaty relationship between them. Overall though, I think this would be a controversial step to take and would be a very interesting debate in the assembly. I think that it would be the right decision, The South Pacific and The Pacific would benefit from strong ties once again, but the South Pacific assembly will need to be convinced that The Pacific will not abandon them again. Unibot: The South Pacific and The Pacific separating was a major shift - given they've been allies for so long before that. I'm not sure if I see a repair of relations on the horizon. Hileville: I really don't see that happening. The Assembly has not not forgotten the attitudes during the Milograd coup and shortly after. If they hadn't made Milograd the "public face of the NPO" after the coup things would be different today. There was an overall feeling of betrayal in TSP. TSP without thought had moved nations into to help the Pacific when asked not too long before the coup. I would really hope that the Minister of Foreign Affairs does not waste time on Treaty talks. I don't believe either region is ready for that yet. Mcmasterdonia: Fair enough. I do agree that it was a feeling of betrayal, and I think that feeling was well justified. Unibot: I also think on the flip-side though, The Pacific seemed pretty frustrated with how The South Pacific handled the negotiations, Post-Gaspo. Mcmasterdonia: It would be a very hard thing to sell to the assembly, the Pacific's actions during the coup were unacceptable. But a normalisation and a return to close ties would be beneficial, if the public was sure that such close ties were genuine. Unibot pulls out the second cue card and breaks out into a smile as he reads it. Unibot: For our final question of the night, Ramaeus and Tano would like to know why gameplayers often seem stuck up? Or as one of them put it, like a "stick up their ass". Unibot: I was actually going to write an article about this topic. I think it's a consequence of electoral politics in NationStates. If you compare Gameplay versus Roleplay, their communities are much less... conservative and restrained. When you're concerned about your image you will naturally act a bit stuck up and it's hard to look natural and not wooden on the public stage. You two would probably have experience in those regards - how to deal with image-making and being informal but not too informal and such. Hileville: I don't know about that. I mean I can find roleplayers who have that same problem. For me it just depends on who you associate with. But my overall views of roleplayers in NS were damaged by the Milograd coup. Mcmasterdonia: I think it is a fair assessment that a lot of gameplayers do have a stick up their ass. It is something that is very frustrating when trying to deal with people like that. Obviously it comes down to arrogance and an inflated feeling of self worth. I think that a lot of the people in gameplay who are like that, would be the opposite in real life. Shy and quiet and afraid to voice their opinion most of the time. People overcompensate in NS and I think that can be shown through that type of behaviour. I think that most regional leaders today are not stuck up or arrogant. If you are like that it is very hard for you to assess what it is that your regional community needs. You need to get off your high horse and communicate and get to know people. This game is more than just power politics, it is about forming strong bonds and protecting and serving those bonds through your regional service. Arrogance and being stuck up are counter productive to that goal. Unibot: Our guest commentator, Hileville, who has been amazing this evening, can have the last word. Unibot winks. Hileville: I don't like having the last word. So much pressure. I really don't want to go further on that question. So I just want to thank you for having me. I look forward to reading these in the future. Unibot: Thanks Hileville, it was a pleasure sitting down with you and having this extended conversation about a topic that I think all three of us enjoy musing about. Always a class act, you are. Mcmasterdonia: Thank you Hileville, it was a pleasure and I hope to have you back again in the future.Thanks Unibot for a great show and I look forward to seeing how the election goes. Stay tuned for the next episode of Election Fever. Until then, Thank you and good night!

Issue XVI, March 08, 2014 UNIBOSS's Note I see some of our competitors have joined twitter -- 140 characters. Yeah that's not happening with us -- sorry about that. >> OPINION A Careful Balance: Defenderism in The Rejected Realms OPINION | THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE Thought Transference, beloved veteran, explains why the time was right for The Rejected Realms to become a “defender region”. I imagine certain members of our residents and even of our citizens will object; some may argue that labeling ourselves "defender" after so long will be a betrayal of them as neutral or invader nations, and a betrayal of our stance as welcoming to all. After all, we have invaders of one kind or another as citizens now, and if I'm not mistaken we've even had citizens with invader sympathies in government. But personally, I believe the time was right for The Rejected Realms to become a defender region. I know we redefined ourselves to be a neutral place and all that, and as far as our attitude to the people who come here to live that's fine with me, but I moved here way back when because I liked that we were associated with a defender army. I have now learned to feel comfortable enough knowing that some of my fellow-citizens are people I'd regard as enemies if I lived elsewhere, and I've been glad for the opportunity to meet invaders on a level other than as adversaries. I consider that a positive thing. I also consider it a boon to our region that we are in some sense "bigger" than the conflict between invaders and defenders, although that's only partially true and will always be so. Nevertheless, I haven't shaken off the feeling that we achieved that “neutral” position by sidelining the RRA slightly, as if they were an embarrassment, and I'm was never comfortable with that. So I welcome anything that could redress that. Frankly, I think that part of selling defenderism to the region overall is about how we define it and present it to the region. It should be a topic for conversation rather than simply an open-and-shut petition, although a petition can be an opening stage of such a conversation. After all, we were sold on neutrality only after discussions that allowed us to explore how to make it all fit together. This was the time to open a discussion about how we were doing so far, to observe the ways in which we've fallen short of the original plan, and to make the necessary adjustments needed to maintain a careful balance between our noble heritage and our more recent open-door policy. The Rejected Realms became a “defender” region officially on Jan 10 2014. ________________________________________________________________________________ Kazmr Speaks! An Exclusive Interview with Lazarus's New Chairman INTERVIEW | LIBETARIAN REPUBLICS Libetarian Republics sits down with Kazmr, shortly after his election... Congratulations on becoming the Third Chairman of the People's Republic of Lazarus! How are you feeling? A bit in shock, to be honest! Milograd's retirement caught everyone off guard, but he certainly had good reasons. Now, three days later, and only about six months after becoming active on NS, I'm a GCR delegate! That's pretty impressive! Six months is a pretty short tenure before becoming a GCR Delegate! You do, however, have some huge shoes to fill in since Milograd has stepped down. May I ask, what are you goals and objectives for the PRL under your leadership? You're right that'll it'll be a challenge to live up to my predecessor. Despite what some may think of him, its hard to imagine a delegate doing more to help his region than Milograd has. As for my own goals, I'm looking to focus on some of the things that haven't been as high a priority recently, and also build on a lot of what made Milograd's term great. For instance, I really want to keep pushing forward with activity, since that's been our lifeblood. So I really want to put a lot of focus into culture and bringing new people into our region. I also want to do work gameside, like utilizing polls and staying active on the RMB. My hope is that this will both help our region as a whole feel more active, and perhaps also help find new people who might be interested in the forum community. Another big one for me is our military. While I have very little military experience (read: a few updates as non-wa fodder), I want to give Hobbes whatever support he needs. I believe that he will do a fantastic job as DYP's successor, as he is already starting to show, and continue to make the LLA a major player on the battlefield. You are certainly ambitious and I admire that. I would like to move on towards perhaps to any Foreign Affairs plans we may see from Lazarus under your leadership? What are your objectives abroad, such as relationships you wish to seek or wish to maintain? I'm still working out precisely where I want to focus, but there are some good places to start. For instance, I'd like to keep building ties with our fellow defender regions. Being one of the largest out there, and the largest defender GCR at the moment, we're in a unique position to act on the great moves that Milograd made with things like the XYZ treaty. I'd also like to strengthen our ties with some of the other GCRs. I was pleasantly surprised to see Osiris providing a couple of WAs to push me into the delegacy my first night, and perhaps that could be the start of something. The same for The East Pacific, who are one of Lazarus' older allies. We have several of our active members who are also in TEP, and I think there is a lot to be had from our friendship. I would also like to perhaps look into doing some outreach to regions that may not be as well known in the gameplay echo chamber. While there are some who aren't too involved with good reason, I think there are some great regions out there that get overlooked just because their members may not post in Gameplay. Excellent. While the PRL has been praised for its revitalization of the region, Lazarus, it has been criticized for the "lack" of democracy. May I ask for your opinion about this? I personally don't think that Lazarus actually needs democracy, nor that it is the best system for all regions. I think it works in some cases, but Lazarus had a democracy in various forms for well over a decade and what did it get? A year or two of activity? A divided camp that got nothing done? It's not as if we have a complete lack of say for individual citizens.There is a congress elected by the people that can remove the Chairman, for instance. But we believe that the best way to foster activity in the region is to have a very strong executive who has the power to do what's necessary to make the community great Well enough of the serious stuff. Let's have some fun. What's your favorite Lazarene Gazette Article that you have written? That's a hard one. Since the Lazarene Gazette was my baby while I was running it. As much as I loved my satire, though, I'm going to have to go with my piece on Drop Your Pants. It was an interview, yes, but I took a lot of really interesting creative liberties to make it much more like a story. Still had a bit of my favorite 'satirical' language leaking in, but it was a great piece. As for satire, I'm going to have to say iron production. Everyone thought I was absolutely nuts after that, but Lazarus and some insightful others got the truth buried deep within. Sweet! Now to wrap things up, iron or coal? Iron, clearly. Its production is the standard by which all regions should be measuring themselves. Of course! Thank you for having the time to participate in this interview. For our readers, any last minute words you wish to express? I want to thank Lazarus for putting their faith in me, and the members of my government for continuing to do what they do best. #fishmonga4lyfe ________________________________________________________________________________ NationStates: Stuck in the Past OPINION | AFFORESS NationStates is a game stuck in the 1990s. Max Barry released the game in 2002[1], but despite it’s modern origins, the culture seems desperate to the ancient past. A secretive culture has evolved in NationStates. Regions pride themselves on the number of tools and secret forums they hide. Defenders and Invaders alike create tools to give themselves an edge in their battle. These tools are never shared with others, with an existence only whispered about[2]. Information about game mechanics is intentionally kept secret[3]. Players wishing to share achievements or advances are discouraged. Change becomes feared, as all sides proclaim with fear that any changes will give their opponents an edge. Minor redesigns in game mechanics[4] are impossible due to staunch resistance from an entrenched playerbase. History goes in reverse at NationStates. As the educated, skilled players in NationStates leave the game, as they do inevitably, for one reason or another, the total knowledge surrounding the game recedes. Ideas are lost, never shared. Tools atrophy and rust away, by neglect and their secretive use. Libraries burn[5][6], and no one lifts a hand. This trend goes even further than tolerance of decay. Outsiders and players not familiar with gameplay mechanics and advanced raider & defender tactics are heavily discouraged from participating. New groups of players are mocked when they make basic efforts towards gameplay independance. Tutorials are bashed for every minor inaccuracy[7]; there is no interest in improving them, only in tearing them down. Efforts to reduce the difficulty or complexity of the game are met with hostility, or suspicion. Anyone not “in-the-know” is criticized harshly. In a healthy community, sharing ideas and technology leads to advancement. The more we know, the more we become capable of. Shared understanding of the game lead to new ideas, new innovations. The games themselves are secondary to their communities. Many games success and popularity are a direct result of their community. One does not need to look far to find numerous examples of places where open and free access to information, ideas, and tools lead to an explosion of growth, advancement, and technology. Yet, so far, NationStates survives despite its community, not because of it. 1: See http://www.nationstates.net/HISTORY 2: See “Telescope” tool used by the UDL. 3: There was a strong effort by raiders to conceal influence formulas. They were eventually leaked by Milograd, against the wishes of his raider affiliates. 4: See debate over R/D changes http://forum.nationstates.net/viewforum.php?f=32 5: The Jolt Archive, containing several years of NS history and forum discussion has been lost, and no one has put serious effort into recovering it. 6: NSWiki.net, a repository of tens of thousands of histories, went offline in November 2013, with no attempts at recovery. 7: See reaction at tutorial: http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=283999 ________________________________________________________________________________ Prudish or Fair? OPINION | THE CHURCH OF SATAN Reading the introduction thread of, one, Crowley Hell, took me back to my own introduction thread. As in my case, he felt offended, hurt even, to log on only to find himself in The Rejected Realms for reasons unknown to him. I know how you feel Crowley, I've been there. That's why I have such a soft spot for Crowley's case. I can't help but feel sympathetic in this instance. After all, somebody should. On 01 March 2014, Crowley Hell, founded in The Pacific on 02 November 2013, was banned from The Pacific because of his motto. His motto read "You poor bitches". The decision to ban him was made, because according to The Pacific's Civil Code, "objectionable nation names, flags or mottos" are a violation of law. However the question that this poses is: Does the punishment fit the crime? Reportedly, Crowley Hell was given no warning or asked to change his motto. Suffice to say he was blindsided. On one hand it does seem pretty harsh to ban someone for a motto that has profanity in it. At the very least, he could have been asked to change his motto. On the other hand, it is entirely at the discretion of the government to ban someone for violating law, as stated in the civil code: "These offenses are punishable by sanctions up to and including a permanent ban from the region, at the sole discretion of the presiding Justices, or in emergencies, the Emperor". [Civil Code for Uniform Justice and Order in The Pacific

] The Pacific's law concerning this seems rather restrictive. More than that, it infringes on Crowley Hell's right to do with his nation as he pleases. Does The NPO really retain the right to regulate the content of residential nations? Perhaps that is better left to NS moderators. Is it really just for a region to determine what we ought to place in our nation's mottos? What right does The Pacific really have? Maybe it was indeed prudish of Krulltopia to ban him. Of course, I mean that with all due respect to Krulltopia. Regardless, this isn't just a simple case of wrongful ban. This is a major infringement of Crowley's rights. I could see if his motto contained material that was hateful or offensive, but that was not the case. Prudish? Fair? You decide. As for me, I feel The NPO was wrong in their decision. ________________________________________________________________________________ Why the Gameplay Summit Failed EDITIORAL | UNIBOT Unibot discusses the ill-fated “Gameplay Summit”… I’ve got something that I’ve been hiding for a long time: in November 4 2012, when The NationStates World found 85% of respondents were confident about the new Gameplay Summit, I was the lone “very unconfident” voice. There, said it. I’m glad I got that off my chest! Phew. Now given this, please take this article with a grain of salt (as I’m sure you always do when it is written by me), because there’s a possibility that my negativity towards the Gameplay Summit from “Day One” is influencing my opinion of it even now – overall however, I believe it was inevitable that the Gameplay Summit was going to fail because of its timing, structure and a number of different factors. There’s a history to the “Gameplay Summit” of course. Back in, eh, sometime in 2006, the site administrators held a secret and closed conference with various stakeholders – one of them was Free4All, who shared his experiences about the conference to me during an interview for Paradise Found. During the interview, Free4All explained how the final proposal was rejected and substituted by Max for the “Regional Influence” system – the discussion ended there. Regional Influence, of course, was enormously unpopular – possibly, the most controversial decision made by the site administrators in NationStates’s storied history. I, myself, was not around in 2006 when Regional Influence was first implemented. Nonetheless, when I joined two years later, Regional Influence was still as unpopular and illegitimate as a game development as Rule IV was the day it was implemented. Players were livid about the game change: for some it legitimized griefing, for others it overstabilized Game-Created Regions and it took years for the game staff to address so-called “password-raiding”, an unintended consequence of Regional Influence. Many gameplayers blame the decline of organized gameplay between 2006 to 2009 on Influence’s invasive, unsolicited introduction. The Gameplay Summit between 2012 and 2013 was an attempt to invite public opinion on game changes with a more constructive approach – it failed, however, on a number of different issues to deliver a productive dialogue. Agendas Players were actually encouraged by the summit’s organizers to engage in “politicking” – allowing various players to push and hobnob to see their interests and views represented in the summit. While I can certainly understand encouraging “politicking” in the game, I cannot understand why the summit would want our ideas and innovation warped through politicking. Representatives held “agenda” threads in the summit, while allowing them to interact and solicit opinions, this hobnobbing and political gamesmanship acted as a creative filtration process. Ideas were put through a political funnel – what was presented during the summit were not necessarily the best ideas, but the ones that gained political traction for whatever reason: if it be the ebb and flow of public opinion or the political capital of the agenda-setters involved. Focus and Direction One of the major problems with the Gameplay Summit was its lack of focus – it was not clear from the onslaught what was the major topic of discussion (e.g., Piling? Tagging? “Clock Raiding”? Influence?). This meant that most of the discussion was exhausted solely on the topic of what was the Summit’s agenda supposed to be about – this lack of focus was then exasperated by an unnecessary exposition of these representatives’ “nirvana” for Military Gameplay. Instead of specific reform, we were entertaining vague and often radical dreamscapes from representatives. Not only was there a lack of focus and direction in the Gameplay Summit, but Defenderdom was giving mixed signals to the Site Administration – this is because different defense groups have different priorities. The United Defenders League were mostly concerned with effectively staging liberations, while The Founderless Regions Alliance and TITO were more concerned with the issue of tagging. This is a clash of priorities, since the latter group sees tagging as affecting more players and defending as economical, whereas the former group sees occupations as affecting natives more substantially and liberating as an urgent necessity. When it comes to technical improvements, these views predictably clash because ideas to counter tagging often come at a cost of restricting the (already stressed) capacity of liberators to free occupied regions. Representation With the exception of Mallorea and Riva, I would divide the representatives into three broad categories: (1) Quiet, “reasonable” and “moderate” voices, (2) People with not much stake in Military Gameplay, (3) Grossly misinformed of how Military Gameplay operates. What’s wrong with quiet, reasonable and moderate, you ask? Absolutely nothing if you’re running in an election in NationStates. People love quiet, reasonable and most of all, “moderate” candidates. The problem is that quiet, reasonable and moderate, basically never translates into critical thinking, innovation or substance. I’ve got a rule of thumb for elections, call it Unibot’s Second Law of NationStates: the candidate who presents the fewest ideas is most likely to win, while the leader who does the least while still managing to maintain public confidence is most likely to garner public adulation and praise. Democratic politics in NationStates has this odd way of promoting inaction, prosaicism and passiveness, instead of substance or vision, despite almost every election being about “change”. Out of the representatives, (I believe) only Mallorea and Riva had previous experience with suggesting ideas that were later implemented in the game. In comparison, half of them had served as elected public officials in Game-Created Regions. The filtering process for candidate selection, largely built a list of non-offensive voices. For many of these representatives, this was a political opportunity to display their leadership qualities, instead of a much-needed platform for fresh ideas and innovation. Structure The structure of the Gameplay Summit was notably static – representatives were very limited in their ability to reply to other representatives, while outsiders were very limited in their ability to reply to other non-representatives. This meant that most of the dialogue was artificial and contrived – the attempt to “control” Gameplay came at a heavy cost for the insightfulness and depth of the discussion. Inactivity Obviously, inactivity of the Organizers and the Representatives played a large role in the Gameplay Summit’s unsuccessfulness – it’s difficult to run an event when things are not promptly moving along with fresh discussion and participation. Necessity Arguably the most important factor of the Gameplay Summit’s demise was that it was not player-driven or player-initiated – its discussion was artificial in its origin. When I look back at successful platforms for negotiating and developing new ideas to implement technical changes and improvements to NationStates, the reoccurring pattern suggests grassroots, horizontal, player-driven and player-initiated discussions have been the driving force of constructive input for the Site Administration. Generally, there is a crisis – and once most people are aware that this crisis exists, they come together over a proposal or a set of proposals to counter this crisis. It’s a matter of public opinion and perception shifting towards the acknowledgement of a problem and a constructive, open discussion on how to resolve this widespread problem. Take for example, the “NS World Adjustment” thread in 2008 – the Great Decline was threatening the game and commentators like The Bruce, Kandarin, Naivetry, Todd McCloud and myself, stepped up to discuss new brave new ideas, many of which would later be implemented in NationStates. A more recent example is “Safe-Switching”, which became an open topic for discussion when it became clear that puppet-switching was extremely risky (after myself and Halcones were banned from the World Assembly), yet the problem was easily resolvable (to the point that detractors almost seemed to fancy a prohibitively dicey system). The final proposal made by Mallorea and Riva was extremely popular after some hard debate – overall, I would consider it one of the best improvements to Military Gameplay in the past decade. An ongoing example would be the open dialogue taking place on Recruitment (as initiated by Cormac). It is nearly universally recognized that there is a serious crisis regarding the ineffectiveness of contemporary recruitment and its prohibitive cost, while a return to manual recruitment would be a return to a more unequal NationStates and a perpetuation of the status quo. This is a crisis everyone acknowledges exists and eventually solutions will develop through an open dialogue once compromises are struck and alternative approaches are devised. Conclusion Overall, the problem with the Gameplay Summit was that it reflected another attempt by the Site Administration to shift technical discussion and innovation from a horizontal forum to a vertical forum, which encouraged political gamesmanship and grandstanding, intellectual dishonesty and obfuscation. The Site Administration may not find it pretty to watch, but the most effective method for driving innovation and improving the game is through horizontal forums of discussion that are player-initiated and player-driven with full access to voice one’s opinion to a dynamic, as opposed to static, dialogue with their colleagues. Despite one moderator’s (probably valid) complaints regarding the circularity and incivility of these horizontal forums, most of the accepted proposals came from open discussions, either before or parallel to the Gameplay Summit – this includes the Reformation WA Proposal (proposed by myself), Custodian WA Proposal (proposed by Mousebumbles), Mitigating influence in GCRs (proposed by Sedgistan), Regional Officers proposal which was first proposed by Frisbeeteria in 2008 during the “NS World Adjustments” discussion, and the Delegate Elect proposal, which was a trifurcation of proposals from Riemstagrad, Halcones and Guy that sought to address the widespread backlash against tagging and piling. The Gameplay Summit was unnecessary and the package of ideas that have been released as the “outcome” of it, overwhelmingly were not the product of the Gameplay Summit. There is still, however, many problems facing Gameplay– on one hand, the only proposal to majorly respond to piling has been sidelined, while the only proposal that was not robustly discussed by players before its introduction, the “Estimated Times” feature, will likely have no effect in resolving its primary concern of encouraging players to get involved in defending and invading (because timing technology was one of the easier resources for small, ambitious groups to obtain), while the secondary concern of limiting tagging will come at even more devastating costs to the accuracy of liberations (with which accuracy is even more important). I suspect we have several years ahead of discussion over the issues that not fully addressing piling and the difficulty of liberations will cause. Without also simultaneously addressing the speed at which invaders can ban and eject liberators, we are entering a brave new gameplay environment where chance and frequency is more favored than skill, dedicated taggers are still tagging boatloads of regions daily and liberations are even more difficult to perform. My hope is defender commentators recognize that the “Estimated Times” feature (and the unnecessary randomization of the "Daily Dump") is not the miracle solution that they hoped would curb tagging and will come at great losses for occupied native communities, while the sidelining of the Reformation WA Proposal, marks a serious failure to address the issues that we came to the Gameplay Summit hoping to resolve. While the Feeder community was not initially well represented in the Gameplay Summit, because of their periphery involvement in Military Gameplay, they complained loudly and received substantial representation as of result – the proposal regarding Influence in Game-Created Regions was first to be implemented. Meanwhile, I think it is likely the interests of the wider public in countering a static, “end-game” in Military Gameplay (where hostile occupations are nearly impossible to liberate) are unlikely to be heard until more issues arise and more voices are heard. This will not be pleasant. As the Dutch say, “out of the frying pan, into the fire”. ________________________________________________________________________________ >> NEWS Article Nine Repealed! COMMENTARY | UNIBOT "Guys, how'll about we just... not vote each other off?" Crowds cheered and threw confetti when it was announced today, outside of The Assembly of The South Pacific, that the contentious “Article Nine” of the Code of Laws had been repealed. Article Nine had granted the power to the Assembly to revoke citizenships en masse to any citizens who were apart of so-called “criminal groups”—these were regions and organizations found “hostile” by the Cabinet or the Committee of State Security and designated as “criminal groups” by the Assembly. Speculation has surrounded the curious timing of Article Nine, which had left some of its detractors to accuse the proposal’s author, Belschaft of targeting members of The United Defenders League, while Article Nine’s proponents argued that such a motion was unlikely to pass in The Assembly. Detractors were critical of Article Nine’s nature of collectively targeting citizens, as well as its circumvention of the formal war mechanism to declare various regions and organizations, “criminal groups” and “hostile”. Another common criticism of Article Nine was that its definition of “hostile” was open-ended, allowing for the political exploitation of the mechanism. This repeal comes with a dramatic political turnaround – with a motion lead by Escade, Hileville and Glen-Rhodes to repeal Article Nine. Escade, especially, cited IRC logs which apparently revealed that Belschaft had intended to use Article Nine as a political weapon against an unspecified group. The Rejected Times was lucky enough to score a brief interview with Hileville, where he spoke on the subject of Article Nine, explaining why he had supported the repeal. “It became clear to me that Article Nine had created a rift in the community,” said Hileville, in an exclusive interview with The Rejected Times, “This rift prevented us from being able to concentrate on the most important thing which is making The South Pacific a better place to be. Ultimately I felt we could handle the whole intention of the Article in a fairer and less objectionable way”. Belschaft was removed from the Admin staff on the same day as the IRC logs came to light that showed he had disreputable intentions for Article Nine – leading some to speculate that these events were related. While, Hileville did say he had seen the logs (which have not be widely shared), he declined to comment at this time on Belschaft’s removal because it involved an ongoing moderation discussion, although Hileville did note that the incidents were not “necessarily linked”. Replacing Article Nine will be challenge; however Hileville has proposed several amendments to serve as a lighter, more agreeable replacement. “I have introduced a series of amendments which will allow for the Cabinet to declare nations Persona non grata,” explains Hileville, “as well as prohibiting anyone from holding dual citizenship in a region we are formally at war with”. The repeal itself was passed narrowly today, 10-9, in the Assembly with a dramatic vote. Discussion on Article Nine’s replacements has already begun. ________________________________________________________________________________ Invaders Depart St Abbaddon With WA liberation in place, what's next for Abbaddon? COMMENTARY | GUY Following a nineteen-day occupation invader forces are departing St Abbaddon, returning the region to its rightful native administration. The Brotherhood of Malice led occupation was carried out against a backdrop of rumours relating to a potential griefing of the region, which BoM had strongly denied. In an unprecedented move, the invading forces proposed a WA liberation of the region. Utilising the common anxiety throughout the NS world of region-destruction by invaders, bolstered by the prevalent rumours regarding the planned fate of the region, BoM and her allies sneaked a liberation through the Security Council -- obviously, without consulting any of the natives -- and claimed to have "punk'd" defenders. While the true impact of the liberation proposal is obviously yet to be seen, it is doubtful that its true brunt will be as extensive as claimed by the invaders. With an established native community, capable of shaping the future course of the region, it is unlikely that St Abbaddon will be turned into a "war zone". A regional poll regarding the imposition of a password has already commenced, allowing the opinion of the region to be gauged. Should St Abbaddon decide against imposing a password, its decision will not in any way transform it into a war-zone. There are several highly successful founderless regions which have prospered without a password. Given the presence of a strong and visible native community, St Abbaddon's situation is far more akin to that of the region Stargate than Christmas. Even if it is invaded in the future, the liberation resolution will make it harder for any invading force to hold on to the region for very long; and the absence of a password will allow for regional growth. In the alternative case, if St Abbaddon decides it would like to do away with the liberation, it should be entirely possible to repeal it promptly. The state of affairs in St Abbaddon will largely revert to their previous state, prior to its unwelcome invasion. In this scenario, it is manifestly plain that the invasion did not cause any long-term damage to the region. Ultimately, this is an issue of regional sovereignty more so than anything else. Whichever route St Abbaddon decides to go down, it is important that the wider NS community facilitates it, especially after imposing on it a liberation which it had not sought. ________________________________________________________________________________ Anumia set to win Europeian Presidency COMMENTARY | UNIBOT A hat-trick for Europeia’s Augustus? There’s a strong possibility that Anumia could win the upcoming General Elections and become the longest serving president in the history of Europeia. Only one other player, Nlhp, has served as Europeia’s president for three consecutive terms. On Tuesday, standing outside of Palatium Manor, Supreme Chancellor HEM took to his podium (think March's "Punxsutawney Phil") and formally called for the General Elections for Europeia to begin on March 14th, 2014. HEM also took the time during his speech to celebrate Europeia’s upcoming seventh anniversary, applauding the region’s longstanding commitment to democracy. Since then, the only ticket to have announced their candidacy has been the incumbent, Anumia and his Vice President, Malashaan. While Anumia is the clear favorite in Europeia, one well respected voice in Europeia, Pope Lexus X, broke from the political script recently to criticize the pace of Anumia’s Great Architecture Project as “glacial”. “I would hope Europeia is more skeptical of the project this election,” said Chief Justice Lexus, “particularly given that in two terms we have only seen legislation passed and staff gathered for the project (although the ruffling of interregional feathers is always amusing).. I would hope the next President still proceeds with its implementation but it's not a reason why we should elect Anumia over anyone else”. However, many other citizens have come to the defense of Anumia -- noting that initiatives such as the Great Architecture Project are slow and difficult to implement, others too have expressed their hopes that Anumia is given another term to realize his vision. So, who will be residing in 34 Goldenblock, come the end of March? Without a major upset, it looks like Anumia is on track to score a rare hat-trick. Most of the potential threats, such as Pope Lexus X, Common-Sense Politics and Drecq, have declared they will not be running. However, Elias Greyjoy still appears to be entertaining another run for President – the famed “Repeal “Liberate Nazi Europe” author dropped suggestions of running for President in his latest news article, while also hinting during a recent interview with The Rejected Times that he may run once more. Personally, I’m just going to shoot in the dark and say: Anumia wins by a landslide. Power vacuum next election closes with a two-way-race between breakout star and current Interior minister, Mousebumples versus cherished pundit, Elias “Wildcard” Greyjoy. You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. *fires his “fact-o-meter” wildly in the air* ________________________________________________________________________________ Majority of The East Pacific favors “Defender” TEP! COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF A regional poll, running between March 3 to 7, found a majority of The East Pacific prefer The East Pacific as a defender region, over various alternatives such as "neutral", "invader" and "imperialist". The poll was limited to “natives” (a Regional Influence quota) whose nations had higher populations than one billion – restrictions to counter manipulation and flooding of the poll. The poll was suggested by Todd McCloud and Hobbes, a week ago, as a way of settling the debate over The East Pacific’s military alignment and “letting the chips fall where they may”, after a vicious week of political intrigue between the pro-Defender camp that leads the Magisterium and the pro-Neutral camp that dominates the Conclave. Unibot, author of the Defender Act and the Identity Act, spoke with The Rejected Times and said he was “pleased” with the results of the poll. “It’s satisfying,” says Unibot, “I wouldn’t come out and say this poll or any one poll is perfectly accurate – they all suffer from issues and I was worried we were depending too much on a poll to determine our identity. That having been said, what I think this poll does confirm is that when neutrals say “we represent TEP” and, you know, constantly deride defenderists for going against “the region’s values”, they’re blowing smoke more than anything else: neutrality isn’t as popular and universal as they think”. “When we get involved in gameplay,” explains Unibot, “we’re fed this narrative about how invaders and defenders are Pepsi versus Coca Cola, brand names, you know, at war with each other pointlessly – this story largely glosses over the native’s ugly perspective of occupations and invasions. What this poll reaffirms for me is that there’s nothing to say that outsiders to gameplay don’t take a more common sense approach to it all: invading people’s homes = bad”. The delegate, Bachtendekuppen, meanwhile, told The Rejected Times he found the poll informative, although the results were unsurprising. While he had expected defender and neutral to be the most popular categories, he did not know who to expect to win. “The results are fairly in line with the general feeling I have about The East Pacific's population,” says Bachtendekuppen, nonetheless. Debate regarding military alignment has largely been focused this week in a rare closed session of the Conclave, where the Viceroy, Todd McCloud challenged the compromise bill, Identity Act for expressing an opinion that The East Pacific “stands for the protection of innocent regions against unjustified invasions” in its preamble, on the grounds that expressing opinions in a law (instead of a resolution) is a violation of the Concordat. The Viceroy believes the Identity Act, proclaims The East Pacific as “a defender region without labeling it as such”. Meanwhile, former Magister Nalt was just as critical, when he said that “the core of the Defender Act was shortened into one line, placed into a law about tags, and we called it a compromise. I'm confused as hell as to how it worked, but nonetheless, very well played, Uni”. Jurisdictions, one of the Conclave’s most vocal arbiters, however, called McCloud’s argument, “very very thin” and not based off of the Concordat. “An opinion of the Magisterium can't violate free speech,” says Jurisdictions, “because it doesn't enforce those opinions upon the citizenry. An opinion of the Magisterium can't violate the Delegate's competency of Foreign Affairs because it doesn't require the Delegate to subscribe to a viewpoint in his affairs. An opinion of the Magisterium as the unenforceable preamble to a law is not against the Concordat, since the Concordat gives the competency of passing law to the Magisterium, and they may use any template or format of law that they deem appropriate in the execution of their duties”. With this poll adding fuel to the fire, even corroborating the Identity Act’s expressed opinion, this discussion in the Conclave was bound to be extensive, however Todd McCloud eventually suspended the investigation, noting to the Conclave that Jurisdictions had convinced him his argument was "difficult to defend in a court of law". ________________________________________________________________________________ 8th Annual Defender Awards COMMENTARY | LIBETARIAN REPUBLICS The 2014 Defender Awards hosted by the Founderless Regions Alliance is an event that celebrates the accomplishments, trials, and errors of the defending community. We had various shockers and not-so-shockers awarded, while controversies was stirred before the nomination period began and after the awards ceremony. The Defender of the Year Award (formerly EuroSoviets Award), it was hotly contested by Benevolent Thomas, tactical officer of TITO, and Karputsk, prominent defender and Arch-Chancellor at the time of the awards of FRA. Despite hosting the awards ceremony, Karputsk won the award with a "more concrete lead". "I will spare you my self congratulations," says Karputsk modestly. However, Benevolent Thomas made a come back and defeated Karputsk to take home the coveted Ananke Award. One of the shockers of the Awards, included Horse being named Updater of the Year (aka Sir Lans Award), who managed to beat various veterans such as Benevolent Thomas and Ravania. Despite being a newcomer to defending this past year, Horse managed to pull it off. Congratulations to him. The Meltdown of the Year Award has had quite a stir following the announcement of the winners. Cormac tied with the Kemetic Republic of Osiris. Despite seconding his own nomination for the award earlier on, he accused the FRA of "petty personal attacks". Karputsk responded expressing the opinion that the victory had to do with "his several high profile" switches from the United Defenders League, the Pacific Army, and the Brotherhood of Malice, and the "habit of saying things one minute and then saying the opposite another" and not with any other reason. Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees of this year's Defender Awards! ________________________________________________________________________________ Assassins Liberated COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF Boom! Like a fiery bolt of lightning, the unified force of defenders overwhelmed the Brotherhood of Malice in Assassins, last night. Of course, the victory was not without its casualties – Venico, the invader delegate, proved excellent as he prevented a liberation attempt at minor update and had ejected and banned four defender soldiers at the latest update, before being overthrown. Certainly, a valiant effort. Assassins is one of many liberations to have been run from behind passwords – another notable example of passworded regions being invaded, despite a password having been in place. After the operation, the Rejected Realms Army’s flag flew proud on the lead defender’s nation, while other participating defender forces included the UDL, Wintreath, ESPA, LLA, Madrigal and of course, the FRA. Karputsk, one of the mission’s organizers, was certainly a happy camper when The Rejected Times spoke with him after the successful liberation. “Two long-term supports and two liberations all in one update,” says Karputsk, “Good job all around and thank-you to the various militaries that lent a hand”. Wintermoot from Wintreath, spoke with The Rejected Times regarding his prior concerns for the natives. "The invasion had the potential to last a long time had it not been stopped early," says Wintermoot, "so I'm glad we were able to put an end to it in 24 hours before it got to that point. In spite of a number of support operations going on as well everything went great, like a well-oiled machine. It was overall very impressive, in my opinion.". Sovreignry, UDL’s Chief Lieutenant, was also happy to see the region freed. Although he added humorously that he had almost lost track of time while listening to a podcast – having just barely caught the “one minute” warning notice. When asked whether he was impressed with Venico’s trigger finger, Sovreignry grinned. “Didn't get me,” he said, cheekily. ________________________________________________________________________________ Liberty Riders Ride into Town... COMMENTARY | FRATTASTAN "There's a new Sherr-- wait a second... Punk Daddy!?" Punk Daddy, of The West Pacific and Meritocracy fame, announced last week the birth of his new "defender" organisation, Liberty Riders International. While the event itself comes as somewhat of a surprise given the founder's long-time criticism of the "R/D paradigm", which he considered too limiting, there a few aspects of Punk Daddy's vision which set the Liberty Raiders apart from your usual defender group. Recalling his early interactions with the Alliance Defense Network which led him to become disillusioned with the "moralist" mindset prevalent among defenders and to see them as hypocrites more concerned with complaining about unbalanced rules or pondering philosophical questions than fighting invaders (more of an unfair stereotype than reality, if you ask the author of this article), Punk D explained the anti-moralist and "for fun" approach which will characterise the LRI, with a view of invasions and defences as nothing more than a red vs. blue conflict. Much more noticeable than this, however, is the decision "not to defend any random founderless region out there that gets attacked". The Liberty Riders, instead, will be concerned only with those regions which sign security agreements ("contracts") with them, offering them military defence and giving tips how to protect themselves. This choice is clearly atypical for defenders; some would even go as far to say that the essence of "defending" in NationStates is the protection of arbitrary regions, be it for reasons of fun, common interests and solidarity, or a sense of moral justice. Given these restrictions it is questionable, especially in the first weeks of its existence, whether there will be enough opportunities for action for the fledgling group. Punk Daddy, overall, doesn't seem worried and believes that the contracts will make the LRI focus better its efforts, and hopefully become a propaganda tool which, if the organisation proves to be effective, will encourage more people to join its ranks. It seems also possible that, along with their usual activities, the Liberty Riders will continue TAO's "transitioning program", where very small founderless regions – the most common targets of tag raids and practice invasions – are "closed down" to foreign military activity through passwording, refounding or, simply, by letting them cease to exist. Reactions among major gameplayers have been mixed, with criticism directed towards the 'contractor' nature of the group and how it may only make signatory regions more vulnerable to attack. Of those who expressed appreciation for Punk D's effort, Belschaft praised LRI's decision to take a "let's have fun" approach to defending, seeing it as an ideal continuation of the Bigameplay movement he helped found in 2012. ________________________________________________________________________________ NSG provides resources for Suicide and Depression COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF NationStates General (NSG) has a new “sticky” thread – posted by Transnapastain, the thread provides resources regarding suicide and depression for players. The thread presents links and phone-numbers for numerous helplines in various countries. Players have proposed help threads and resources for suicide and depression for NationStates General, given concerns in the community for the well-being of its members, especially after a series of attempted suicides online in NationStates General and a growing awareness among all players about the gravity of depression as a mental health issue. Nonetheless, the thread serves as a compromise between those who wanted a more active “positive space” thread for players to discuss overcoming depression and suicide and those who believed that NationStates General was not a forum for receiving help on mental health issues. We here at The Rejected Times would like to give a “shout out” to Transnapastain, the moderation staff and the players involved with the decision. Good on you! ________________________________________________________________________________ Commend Anime Daisuki illegal COMMENTARY | LIBETARIAN REPUBLICS Moments after the Commendation of Anime Daisuki was passed... The commendation of Anime Daisuki was declared "illegal" after it was passed by the World Assembly. The illegal insertion of the phrase "in the game" found in several different drafts caught many prominent Security Council authors off guard: "acknowledging the ongoing positive influence to the world by one of the largest regions in the game" The reactions of prominent World Assembly members were that of surprise. "Somehow I didn't see that," admitted Skyrim to the World Assembly. "Even I missed that rule violation - and I read it over like three times," added Unibot. The appropriate action taken by the NationStates Moderation was to "discard" the proposal - meaning that regardless of the outcome, it would not be legally recorded into the books; if the proposal passed, Anime Daisuki would not receive a Commendation badge. Despite Moderation protocol being followed, there was outrage in response to this action. "Everyone's allowed to think they vote for Anime Daisuki to get the commendation, but he doesn't actually get it," said Ananke. Clearly, a large margin of NationStates wanted Anime Daisuki to receive his commendation. To make things clear, the reason why Moderation can only discard proposals that are illegal either before or after they are voted on, is because they would have to shut down the "WA servers" to remove the illegal proposal which would disrupt the flow of the game itself. "Imagine having your resolution in the queue, you're not expecting it to go to vote for another 3 days, you come back after the weekend and notice that the prior resolution at vote was discarded and yours is up for vote for days already with your opponents already having campaigned it into the ground," explains Ballotonia, Game Administrator Ballotonia is open for less intrusive suggestions, however. There has been a few proposals to delete the illegal clause. ________________________________________________________________________________ Bachtendekuppen Re-elected COMMENTARY | UNIBOT The Puffin has been re-elected! The election itself was, perhaps by some’s standards, a blowout if not outright uneventful. Bachtendekuppen was elected with twelve votes to Hobbes’s two votes and PrussianEmpire’s one vote. Arguably, apathy was a major issue with these elections, since over 37% of the voting electorate chose to abstain, as opposed to supporting one of the three candidates. Hobbes made a brave move, switching from his initial support the Defender Act to being venomously against it, in time for elections – commentators suspected this strategy would cost him voters, by alienating him from the defender-friendly base that had supported his campaign last year, when he chased after Bachtendekuppen but faced narrow defeat. With the notable exception of Todd McCloud, major neutral voters supported Bachtendekuppen, their old favorite, despite his signing of the Defender Act only weeks before. We managed to catch hold of the election’s clear victor, over fishfingers and custard (a puffin favorite). “I'm happy that my performance during my first term is being positively affirmed,” says Bachtendekuppen, “As a first-time Delegate that is a huge re-assurance. It has been a very intense experience and I'm proud that I can serve my region for another term”. His priorities for the coming term reflect a complicating situation in regards to intergovernmental relations with the Magisterium and the Conclave at one another’s throat, especially on the contentious issue of election reform. “Now that elections are over, TEP will move forward with some important points,” explains the Puffin, “Firstly I'll be implementing the new recruitment system I proposed, to involve even more nations from TEP in the actual forums. Secondly, core issues coming up right now are the balance between our various institutions and election procedures. I will be as constructive as possible in furthering whatever steps we need to take on this front”. Bachtendekuppen licked the fish oil and custard off his flippers – this was a delegate aware that he faced a term full of issues, but was nonetheless determined to put on a brave and determined face. While he has his detractors, Bachtendekuppen is one of the few candidates who is exactly what it says he is on the tin’s label: conservative but adaptable. Stable but dynamic. ________________________________________________________________________________ TSP Recognizes OFO COMMENTARY | HORSE The South Pacific, after much kicking and screaming, has finally recognized the Osiris Fraternal Order (OFO), after being founded on December 9th 2013. This comes after months of being steadfast in saying that the regional government would consider recognizing the legitimacy of the organization/government of the region if it could be proven they could be a stable organization. The Minister of Foreign Affairs from The South Pacific made it clear that this decision had not come lightly. “This decision was made based upon a pragmatic political analysis," says Glen-Rhodes on behalf of the Cabinet, "with the Cabinet reaching the conclusion that the OFO has the support of a considerable number of native residents, and has been working towards implementing stabilizing policies”. Another major reason for this move, according to the cabinet, is the passage of a constitution by popular vote and the elections of the Pharaoh and the Speaker. Osiris has also approved the allowance of Spiritus citizens -- a region once deemed "hostile" (declared hostile by both regions), Osiris has since moved towards partially fixing relations with the defender region. It is unclear whether Raven, new Pharaoh of Osiris, and his government will continue the progression seen in his short time. Here's to hoping, however, that the situation becomes much more stable in Osiris, and things will continue to progress in a positive manner for the resilient sinker region. ________________________________________________________________________________ Instant-Runoff Voting Act Vetoed Begins Heated Conclave Discussion COMMENTARY | UNIBOT IRV: Complicated or Common Sense? Magisters in The East Pacific were shocked when the Instant-Runoff Voting Act was vetoed by the delegate, Bachtendekuppen. The Instant-Runoff Voting Act would move The East Pacific away from running its delegate elections using the First-Past-The-Post model. Proponents of the Instant-Runoff Voting Act suggest that the First-Past-The-Post model suffers from the “spoiler effect” and allows the delegate to be elected without attaining a majority. The reform gained quite a bit of support from the Magisterium, where it garnered interest, but also criticism from some members, most notably, the Viceroy, Todd McCloud. “Don't like it,” Todd McCloud told the Magisterium, last week, “If you want to be delegate, win the majority of votes”. Provost, A Slanted Black Stripe countered this argument by remarking that the guarantee of the delegate being elected with a majority and not simply a plurality is one of the central aims of Instant-Runoff voting. Misunderstandings and concerns about the complexity and the usefulness of the voting system have been at the root of most of the opposition to the proposal. Shortly after the veto, Bachtendekuppen told the Magisterium that he did not veto the bill because of the voting system itself, but instead because of concerns that the bill had not been thoroughly discussed enough and contradictions with the Concordat had not been considered. When asked, he told The Rejected Times that he thought the proposed new voting system was “certainly good”, although with The East Pacific’s long history for blowout elections, he doubts that the system will be of much practical advantage. "Well, I had strong worries that it was highly in contrast with the Concordat" says the Puffin Delegate. "Since it was still being discussed even at the time of vote, I felt it could use more deliberation, hence the veto. The Conclave had not been involved either and it felt overall a bit premature. I do not think the new system itself would be bad, but I have doubts whether it would be really necessary since we never had problems with elections. The concerns of whether or not the Instant-Runoff Voting Act contradicts the Concordat hinge on the wording of Article C, Section 4 of the Concordat – which states that the Viceroy shall “administrate all elections”. Provost A Slanted Black Stripe and other commentators have argued that the mandate to administrate elections does not preclude regulation from the Magisterium, while the Viceroy, among others, have argued that the Concordat gives the Viceroy full dominion over the administration of elections – attempts at electoral reform through the legislature would be illegal under this interpretation. “If an election reform is passed by the Magisterium, I do believe this is a violation of the Concordat,” says Todd McCloud, “I do not believe they can alter the procedure or the body that handles elections”. Meanwhile, Arbiter Hobbes was less confident of this interpretation. “The Concordat does dictate that the Viceroy oversees elections -- yes,” says Hobbes, “but it does not dictate if guidelines may be set for the Viceroy to follow, which muddies the waters further, so this could really go either way, honestly”. The reaction to this legal quagmire has spawned several different directions. First, this new interpretation of Article C, Section 4 adopted by the Viceroy has led to a judicial review of the existing electoral reform that has passed through the Magisterium – the Terms Length Act in particular is at jeopardy of being stricken null and void. Meanwhile, the Magisterium has fired back, drafting a resolution to request the Viceroy to adopt an Instant-Runoff voting system and a constitutional amendment which would permit the legislature to reform electoral procedure. These intergovernmental developments, however, are positive, argues the delegate, who stands behind his decision to veto the Instant-Runoff Voting Act. “Currently, both the Magisterium and Conclave have indeed been considering some options together,” says Bachtendekuppen, “so I think this is a good step forward overall". ________________________________________________________________________________ SerinaApprox 0.96 COMMENTARY | LIBETARIAN REPUBLICS SerinaApprox 0.96 is a script that allows you to approximate when regions update at the "major" update. While it's not perfect in estimating the absolute correct time each individual region will "update", it can however give a very clear estimate. The code itself also open source, much like NS++. The script has been relatively popular for the Lazarene Liberation Army and the Eastern Pacific Sovereign Army. Relatively speaking, military gameplay and its talent has been restricted to certain regions, organizations, or groups of individuals. However, the popular NationStates ++ extension and widespread tagging by the Black Riders has created another dynamic in Gameplay: one where small groups of players are participating in an very large, diverse and eclectic environment. Obviously, the most professional gameplayers will rely on triggers to match the precise time any region will update. However, those that are not knowledgeable in these techniques can easily make use of SerinaApprox 0.96, whether it's for tagging or defending. Not only will this tool build confidence for new players but it will allow new players to explore Military Gameplay and thus serve as a potential recruiting pool for prominent military organizations. More information about SerinaApprox can be found here. ________________________________________________________________________________ Sexting (but also Entrapment) illegal in NationStates COMMENTARY | UNIBOT While, by no means, is the prohibition of sexting, new, in NationStates per se, Dread Lady Nathicana has recently published a statement on behalf of the NationStates Moderation team, reminding players that sexting is illegal and the telegram system should not be used for such communication. “Use of the TG system is in no way appropriate for engaging in sexually-graphic discussions,” says Dread Lady Nathicana, “nor is it appropriate to use the site, or any of our tools, to trawl for sexting partners”. She also added that sexting could pose risky for participants in NationStates – not only because of the site administration, but “real life” law. “There are a large number of underage players on this site,” says Dread Lady Nathicana, “Some are open about it. Some are not. You run the risk of committing a serious legal offense in engaging in simulated sexual discussions with minors. We take a dim view of such actions”. This development follows the case of Freelanderness, a player, who was actually deleted for recently trying to entrap a player into sexting with a minor, using a false identity and conduct that violated the site’s rules. While the Moderation staff will hear reports of sexual abuse and sexting, it has made it clear in this recent announcement that so-called “witch-hunts” and attempts to entrap specific players will not be tolerated. Misguided heroism aside, the question remains regarding how NationStates is supposed to deal with abuse, when underage victims often do not see themselves as victims or nonetheless, feel uncomfortable with speaking out against their abusers? The answer, for NationStates Moderation, relies on controlled, mature reports to Moderation and the attention of multiple staff members towards the issue. ________________________________________________________________________________ Delegate’s Poll: Gameplay Summit FEATURE | FRATTASTAN In a new series, Frattastan discusses the results of the latest poll in The Rejected Realms… With the Gameplay Summit still on player’s minds, I felt it was appropriate to ask The Rejected Realms what changes from the Gameplay Summit were they most looking forward to? The results ran from March 4 to March 7, but the victor was clear throughout… Regional Officers: 41% None of the Above: 20% Annex: 15% Update Times Displayed on Regions: 9% Reformation WA Category: 7% Delegate Elect: 4% Influence Decay in Feeders and Sinkers: 2% Custodian WA Category: 2% Regional Officers stands out as a fresh idea that will change the face of administrations in regions, both big and small – it harkens back to an early April Fool’s Day joke, “Regional Moderators” and was also proposed in 2008’s “NS World Adjustment” thread. Overall, I cannot help but wonder if these results are underwhelming (especially with 20%, voting for “None of the Above”) and speaks ill of the Gameplay Summit. Many of these proposals, fail to capture the imaginations of players, both experienced and non-experienced. For saying the Gameplay Summit took such a broad and open approach to envisioning how Gameplay could be improved, the proposals stemming from it have been somewhat flat, even dull and have little relevance for the average player. ________________________________________________________________________________ "There Is No Story Here" [violet] denies "1969" Conspiracy FEATURE | THE CHURCH OF SATAN On February 25th Kringalia, by some odd chance, happened upon a nation named "admin." Why was he looking for a nation named admin you ask? Well, Kringalia himself gratiously answered that for us "I was bored and figured I should search nation names at the Boneyard. I was looking at names that would probably be reserved, and Admin was one of them." The date of it's last activity was 1969. Wait......what!? For Kringalia, the first thing to come to mind was "NationStates is way older than we thought! :P" In a matter of minutes, the mysterious [violet] took care of it. When asked how it happened, why the year 1969 of all years was listed and if he was involved in a moon landing conspiracy, [violet] simply responded saying "As neat as it is to attract the attention of the The Rejected Times, [big]there is no story here.[/big]" also adding "it's what happens when a Unix Timestamp is zero." No remarks were made about the potential conspiracy, but we at The Rejected Times aren't deceived [violet]. UNIX's starting date is 00:00:00 1 January 1970, not 1969. Nice try [violet]. Something smells fishy to me. We remain suspicious that you took part in faking the moon landing of 1969, among other things. This isn't the only instance the "1969 glitch" has shown itself. Unibot discovered it again on page 312 of the Gameplay section of the NS forum in the form of several Eternal Knights threads which didn't actually exist. When clicked, you would be informed that "the requested topic does not exist". Four hours after Unibot took a screenshot of it, I checked the page myself. Low and behold, it was still there and the time elapsed had shown, as you can see from this side-by-side comparison of Unibot's screenshot (top) and my own taken four hours afterwards (bottom). Let's take a closer look at 1969 though. It was a very odd year. The Moon landingNixon elected president of The U.S.Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash record unreleased albumNuclear testing in NevadaThe Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of RFC 1Paul McCartney says there is no truth to rumors he is deadLast episode of Star Trek airs on NBC[violet] is shrouded in mystery and his lack of response just screams cover up! Was he involved in a moon landing conspiracy? Maybe he helped Nixon with The Watergate incident. Did he steal the unreleased album by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash? How about nuclear testing in Nevada? Do [violet]'s frightening powers extend to the U.S. government's nuclear program? Will he use it to jumpstart the apocalypse? I hope not! Surely [violet] created the internet! Is our internet overlord hiding in plain sight? Is it that [violet] spread the rumors of Sir Paul McCartney's demise? C'mon man! He's a Beatle! Could it be that he was involved in NBC's last showing of Star Trek, one of the greatest TV series in history? Trekkies! After him! Maybe [violet] will give autographs. Won't you "Mr. Director?" It's very well possible that The Eternal Knights have miraculously gained [violet]'s favor. If that's the case, we may now have reason to fear them! Suffice to say, we should both fear and respect [violet], lest terrible tragedy befall us. ________________________________________________________________________________

Special Release, March 04 2014 Milograd Resigns – Voting Begins COMMENTARY | UNIBOT The Forbidden City honors their departing Chairman. Chairman Milograd has announced his resignation as delegate and chairman of the People’s Republic of Lazarus – in a surprise move, although his tenure was always expected to be short (yet industrious). “I think I've done good work and I'm proud of the work I've done,” says the Chairman. “Under the guidance of Francoism, our community has made historic strides that defied all expectations and we're the most active sinker around right now -- for ten years before, we were known for being a chronically inactive pool. To have made such a turnaround so quickly is an incredible feat. We did that. We should be proud of that”. During his time as Chairman, Milograd oversaw the revitalization of Lazarus – this included the industrialization of Lazarene culture, the reformation of the Lazarene forces and the development of a new justice system. The Chairman, besides citing real life as one of the reasons for his sudden resignation, also explained that he wants to avoid a legacy of “political dynasties” in Lazarus – preferring dynamic leadership and activity. “With all that work done, I think it's time for me to let someone else try their hand at being delegate,” says Milograd, “The delegacy -- our delegacy -- isn't suited for the sort of long dynasties that once condemned us to the very inactivity that I've worked to eliminate. We need to be dynamic in our leadership but constant in our success, cause , and beliefs”. Nominations for the new Chairman were open for a brief period before being closed – during that time, our senior correspondents have informed us that the nominees include Stujenske, Hobbes and Kazmr. Stujenske is the longest serving native out of the bunch, while Hobbes and Kazmr have been prolific in the LLA and the Lazarene Gazette. The elections are expected to be competitive – given all three candidates are experienced choices. We’ll have more on the elections later; but until then, The Rejected Times sends its well wishes to Lazarus: Happy Elections!

Special Release, March 01 2014 Auralia banned from WA – multied to self-commend! “Commend Auralia” to be discarded COMMENTARY | TRR NEWS "So close..." Breaking news from The Security Council: Auralia, famed author, known for his work in the General Assembly, has been banned from the World Assembly for multying – the reason? Auralia multied to propose a commendation of himself. “Commend Auralia” is currently passing in The Security Council, 5,673 to 2,160 – but just moments ago, Sedgistan reported that the author of the resolution, “Afrasiab WA Mission” and Auralia, were one in the same. “WA Multying is strictly prohibited by the rules,” says Sedgistan, “and deliberate multying for the purpose of in-game advantage (in this case to try to "prove" to onlookers that the author and the nominee were not the same player) is particularly frowned upon”. Players expressed their genuine shock and dismay at the revelations. “Oh my god...” – Anumia. “What” – Douria. Another fascinating development to this story is that “Commend Auralia” will be discarded by Moderation regardless of whether it passes – this is a new technique, which we last saw with “Commend Anime Daisuki”, when it also passed in the Assembly despite violating the rules. For saying that the decision to discard “Commend Anime Daisuki” was unprecedented, it seems like a cruel and twisted fate that we would see yet another resolution discarded less than a week later.

Special Release, February 21 2014 Slavia Freed! Imperialist refound intercepted COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Last night, an imperialist occupation in Slavia ended after forty-eight days – with Slavia’s natives removed from the region, Christopher Bishop banned and ejected his own troops to attempt a “refound” (emptying the region to become the new regional founder). This refound attempt was spotted by the Founderless Regions Alliance’s Dyr Nasad, who entered the region immediately -- preventing a refound and sparking a quick response from defenderdom and the international community. “We had been watching Slavia every update,” says Dyr Nasad, “They started kicking their guys, so we knew it was on. I moved in right before update - they either weren't expecting it, or just didn't notice it”. After the refound had been prevented, defenders overwhelmed the region, taking control to block retaliation by UIAF. Defenders came from UDL, LLA, Wintermoot, RRA , Mordor and FRA, of course to support Dyr Nasad. Natives have been slowly returning to Slavia as the good news is circulated. We spoke with one enthused native, Bolkania on Slavia – asking him if he was excited about the liberation. “Exciting would be an understatement!” says Bolkania. “For over a month, we have been ethnically cleansed of our region, denied access to our Motherland, indeed it was and really still is a sad sight indeed”. Bolkania was incredibly grateful for the international support that Slavia has received. “We extend our utmost gratitude to those who have helped us expel those who wished to cause us pain,” says Bolkania, “and thank God for our preservation and determination of the willingness and seemly patriotic feeling for our region that has pushed us to not give up. We hope we will continue with those who helped to ensure a smooth and quick transition to our homeland”. Both Frattastan and Karputsk praised the role that “Liberate Slavia” played in this mission. This victory for the Slavs “wouldn't have been possible without the SC liberation” says Karputsk. While Frattastan added, "It's great to see Slavia freed after so long, and I'm really pleased that the role of Liberation resolutions in successfully protecting native communities has been proven once again". “Liberate Slava” was the brainchild of Milograd. Although it gathered controversy among invaders for its preventative nature, the resolution was passed, 8,851 to 2,681 and was instrumental in ensuring that defenders could enter Slavia and intercept the attempted refound.

Issue XV, February 20, 2014 Editor's Note I wanted a longer edition this time, so I smacked our staff into shape. Unfortunately, it ran way too long for Zetaboards - so we had to cut it down. Nonetheless, I think this issue has got a bit for everyone. Enjoy! >> OPINION KEEPING US IN "THE DARK" An interview with Skydip on "Repeal "Liberate NAZI EUROPE"", "Commend Abacathea" and more... INTERVIEW | UNIBOT Unibot sits down with Skydip over fish and chips (*crunch* *crunch**crunch*) for an exclusive interview. You’ve got a new resolution coming up to vote. “Commend Abacathea”. Congratulations on getting in the queue – what inspired you to draft the resolution and how do you feel about its chances? Not only would I consider myself personal friends with Abacathea, but I was astounded by his climb into notoriety in under two years time, particularly in the Security Council, which you know I’m fond of. It’s truly impressive. I don’t think anyone is disputing that Abacathea has left an impressive first impression on the WA specifically, but some would argue he’s still got a ways to go before a Commendation is truly appropriate. I think I’ve gotten plenty of material in the current draft to warrant passage, but I don’t know if I can confidently say this will pass, definitely. If TNP decides their WA Minister is worthy, that will play a large part in the passage or non-passage, especially in the early voting. If I had to put a number value on it, with the current impressions I’m getting from approving Delegates and members of the SC, I’d put myself at 70% confidence this will pass. Of course, the big topic on everyone’s tongue is your drafting of “Repeal “Liberate Nazi Europe””. What spurred you to do it? Was it a group decision or a personal one? It was very much a personal decision. As you know, group mentality in my home region of Europeia is not one that gets comfy with the idea of allowing such a region to password protect themselves. But, despite the reputation I have built up for myself, I have always believed regions should have the right to self-impose a password. That, and my belief actively combating this region was the wrong way to bring about their dissolution played the largest parts in my writing. It should be said, both of us, are not fans of Nazism. What do you believe is the correct response to Nazism in NationStates and why? As I stated in my post-passage article, we should treat this group like we would any other group that we must put up with - don’t give them undue attention. If they raid, they raid, and should be treated as such - but that’s no big deal in the grand scheme of things. But to launch game-wide campaigns is just stirring the pot and agitating the hive, as it were. Active military actions will be met with active resistance, which will only bolster resolve and numbers of the group on the defensive. How has the response been in Europeia about your involvement in this project? To my surprise, rather mild. I don’t give enough credit to those members which supported my Repeal even when my anonymity was still intact. During the time when it was unknown that Elias Greyjoy, prospective Europeian Senator and long-time member of the Cabinet, was writing this repeal, I received a fair amount of vitriol. Post the repeal and my revelation, however, those in opposition to the idea have been fairly silent, for whatever reason. Nazi Europe is currently moving to Nazi Europea – is this a setback for the Anti-Nazi campaign or is this ultimately a positive move? I don’t think adding an “a” to the end of their regional title is much of anything. Perhaps getting away from a region with such a marred past will allow them to carry out their activities in more seclusion. I don’t know, but I hope this doesn’t come with a renewed vigor to combat the region. Alright, enough talking about Nazis. I hear you’re recruiting for new members for a “Times” of your own. What’s your vision for the Europeian Times? I’m not ashamed to say I want to produce something along the lines of The Rejected Realms Times - a larger, more diverse paper that is able to cover more than just Gameplay, the Security Council, and Europeia. Ideally, I’d like to feature columnists from both sides of the military gameplay spectrum, as well as a pan-regional viewpoint, which is something I don’t think Europeia sees enough of. The Foreign Cultivation Act 2014 just passed in the Europeian Senate. You’re a Senator there, of course – what are your thoughts on the legislation and its future? It’s a fantastic building block to President Anumia’s plan for both Europeia and the up and coming regions of the world, no doubt. I’m privileged to be in the inner circle of the project as an Architect that will be assisting these new regions in any way I can, and I think there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that the Gameplay crowd in particular are not privy to, as of yet. This is not some grand imperialist scheme to rake in 20-40 nations once we complete our “annex” or what have you. The President genuinely wants to spread the things that Europeia excels at - be it military gameplay, WA affairs, or law-writing - to regions that may not have such resources, and I’m excited to be a part of that vision. Any chance of another run for Europeian president? You’ve run on some pretty bold ideas before, if my memory serves me correct, a “Eurosphere” idea once and even a UDL treaty – if you were considering making a run, I’d be curious to hear if you’re kicking around any new ideas for Europeia? It’s always in the back of my mind. I’m always keen to the Grand Admiral position, and the way the current GA Cerian Quilor has rebuilt the roster is nothing short of impressive. I took my loss against President Anumia in his previous term as a pretty hard reminder that I may not be there yet in terms of President material, but, to answer directly, yes, I will be running sometime in the future, if not the upcoming term. As far as platform ideas go, I’d still like to see more cooperation with groups like the UDL in operations that would not fly in the face of our current sovereign treaties. For being an independent military group, we focus very heavily on one side. Finally, what do you think about "Condemn SkyDip"? I honestly thought I would have a red badge before a blue one from the beginning, so I can’t say I’m surprised by the attempt. I would be lying if I said the appealing of being the first simultaneously Commended and Condemned nation didn’t excite me, but in my Security Council opinion, the draft needs some beefing up as of now. Thanks so much for the interview, Skydip. Good luck on running the “other” Times! If you have any final comments for our readers, you’ve got the floor. I’d like to thank Unibot and The Rejected Realms Times for the interview. Truly a pleasure and I’m honored. __________________________________________________________________ Living under Occupation Sixteen Days in Anarchy: The Native's Story OPINION | YORIZ Sixteen days ago, Anarchy was invaded by The Black Riders. This was a well organised action by The Black Riders, a so-called "stealth" operation, since the invader, "Duck-Boss" had been residing in the region for quite some time. As usual in our founderless region, all WA member-nations give and receive endorsements with no obligations to endorse a certain nation or the current WA Delegate. At the time of the invasion, Nova Castlemilk was our WA Delegate. From Day One, natives of Anarchy have been resisting the occupation and asked for help from known defenders. Most of the natives see the occupation as "griefing" and some of us live in fear of destruction of our founderless home. Irritated natives turned to "puppet-spamming" for retaliation, which ultimately led to the deletion of one of our native nations (Anarcho-Canadian Empire) As stated before: most of the natives in Anarchy see the actions by The Black Riders, in occupying our region, as acts of griefing. Actions that have the primary aim of annoying or upsetting natives of Anarchy, include:Renaming his nation to 'The Fluffy Fascist Ducks of Duck-Boss' when becoming WA-Delegate. Duck-Boss has been an inhabitant of Anarchy for some time and he/she knows for sure that natives of Anarchy find two things annoying or upsetting: fascists and capitalists (see lively discussions on the RMB on these topics). Suppressing all native posts on the Regional Message Board. Banning natives of Anarchy, such as Magnox. Flaming and spamming on the Regional Message Board. Continuing to hold a grasp on Anarchy for an extended period of time (14 days and counting). This is about intimidation. The next thing, I believe they are aiming for is to become strong enough to destroy and refound the region. In which case we would have to make a long march to the World Assembly and propose a WA Liberation. I personally have found these events very annoying and upsetting. There is a right in the game for invaders and invading regions. However, there should be a right too, for founderless regions to just be left alone by invaders. There is no way in which we can defend ourselves against a well organised invader organisation such as The Black Riders. This is consistent with our region's theme: Anarchy. Of course, all of the above, is considered by the moderators as permissible and within the game rules, as well as part of gameplay. Invaders just invade for having fun, regardless of whether victims of their invasions find this upsetting. Actually, I believe some invaders get part of fun out of that. One of the invaders in Anarchy made this much clear:"I never said raiding is harmless, but for the record it doesn't bother me that it does do harm" "I like raiding because personally, I find it fun. It is a challenge and requires preparation, organisation, communication, commitment and timing. That's about it. Does that make me a horrible person to some people? The better question would be do I care? No doubt and not in the slightest". "The simple fact is this; if you are founderless you are vulnerable and you can easily fix that. I'd have thought you guys would have worked that out by now". The pathology of invaders aside, Anarchy is by definition a heterarchical region. The absence of ideology is our joy and a reason for us to reside in the region. I find our region under occupation by an ideological driven force very annoying. These are acts of griefing, even when moderators neglect our right to call this out as griefing. In my opinion, the situation is perverse. The moderators seem to be the ones that define what we experience as "griefing", yet I am not alone in my feelings in regards to this ongoing occupation. __________________________________________________________ >> INTERNATIONAL NEWS St Abbaddon invaded COMMENTARY | FRATTASTAN Until days ago a quiet and medium-sized founderless region sat undisturbed. A region so ancient it predates the introduction of Founders, St Abbaddon fell last Sunday to an invading coalition led by the Brotherhood of Malice and has been under occupation since then. Neither the early defence (led by TITO, RRA, EPSA and UDL), nor the liberation attempt twelve hours later succeeded. The operation has been presented by the Brotherhood as a standard invasion, meant to close the existing in-game embassy with The United Defenders League and to poke fun at one of the natives, Topid (a veteran defender and pioneer of the Security Council), who had removed the region's password the week before. In spite of this justification, a substantial number of reinforcements – totalling nearly 50 endorsements at the time of writing – comes from regions angered by Topid's recent public leak of invasion plans against Nazi Europe, of which he had been accidentally informed by The South Pacific's Minister of Army. The personal character of the invasion caused a shortly-lived escalation when Topid launched an unendorsement campaign against The South Pacific, one of the regions supporting the raid. The response has been criticised harshly by the invaders, who viciously argued that Topid was breaking his own ethical code and didn't care about native communities, that undermining TSP's government was a dishonourable action or, even, that any retaliatory actions had "absolutely no justification" on grounds that St Abbaddon had been left "woefully unprotected". For the moment, the occupation powers have shown no open intent to grief the region, which would require a considerable amount of time and influence, but there have been persistent fears that it will happen, with rumours indicating that some of the groups involved - Osiris, particularly - may go for that path. It may be too early to tell. Just a few hours ago, "Topid" was ejected and banned. In the meantime, Hawkswind, oldest native of St Abbaddon, after lamenting the disruption caused by this and past raids, commented: "I can understand why the mechanic is still there, and why raiding happens. But, in all honesty, it has seriously made me consider just walking away." Hawkswind has been playing the game since 2002. __________________________________________________________ Foreign Cultivation Act passes in Europeia Rumors of Euro-imperialism abroad COMMENTARY | TRR NEWS The Senate ends its session – 5-0 for the Foreign Cultivation Act The Foreign Cultivation Act passed in Europeia, 5-0. With the bill already signed by President Anumia, its passage in the Senate marks the Act’s official ratification. The Foreign Cultivation Act is the centerpiece of Anumia’s Great Architecture Project. The Foreign Cultivation Act establishes a new kind of Europeian international agreement, a “Construction Partnership Agreement” – which serves as a partnership between Europeia and its partner region, where Europeia is to help “cultivate” other regions abroad. These agreements are to be oversee by the Council of Cultivation, while prohibited from mandating offensive military action or any “legal conveyance” of authority or control over the partner region by Europeia. While popular in Europeia, the decision has seen criticism internationally, seen as another case of Euro-imperialism by some commentators. “According to the proponents, they will imbibe republican ideals and principles to these regions, help them develop their government, laws etc and all that good stuff,” says Cartelsia, “ They deny its imperialism. Wow. Isn't that great. But this comes against a backdrop of a foreign objective where they support bullies like the new inquisition and their friends to conquer founderless and helpless regions, usually small ones, vulnerable targets”. Glen-Rhodes also took to the Official Forums to debate the Great Architecture Project. “The tenets of the project are in line with modern conceptions of imperialism,” says Glen-Rhodes, “Europeia is offering their superior knowledge and skills to shape participating regions into what Europeia believes is the exemplary region in NationStates, and in return Europeia expects to gain many things from doing that (including more members for its military force). The Great Architecture Project isn't just seeking to create growth, but rather to create growth in the right direction, in a way that upholds Europeian principles and extends them to nascent developing communities. It's completely self-interested, despite whatever positive externalities it creates”. President Anumia denied these claims, pointing to the various legal limitations of the Great Architecture Project and the Foreign Cultivation Act to defend them against claims of Euro-imperialism. Europeian values? I think I speak for The Rejected Realms when I say: sign us up! Or not. _______________________________________________________ "Article Nine” Controversy Continues… COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Civil unrest in The South Pacific awaits Chief Justice's decision The drama in The South Pacific continues today, as dissidents mourn over the deteriorating political situation in The South Pacific. At the centerpiece of concerns of dissidents is the power, influence and partisanship of the admins (Hileville and Belschaft, in particular), the outsourcing of the justice system, the evasion of The Charter and the mounting tension and intolerance directed at defender-leaning members in The South Pacific. The “blue and black” flies on the southern banks, tattered and blackened. Tanks continue to roll down the Downtown Central in regular patrols, while internal leaflets are distributed through Hileville by its “SPINN” media, telling citizens to stay inside and reject defenderism. They’re not calling it a “civil war”, but it feels every bit like it. I was contacted the other day by a notable member of The South Pacific, not the person you would expect and was greeted with a handshake – it had been a rough few days. I had lost a home, but I had not lost a friend. I was told despite our differences, he too felt that Hileville and Belschaft held too much power and influence over The South Pacific and our justice system had been hijacked. But one clear point of contention in The South Pacific continues to enrage citizens and highlight the growing cause for concern for the status of democracy and civil rights. Article Nine (of the Code of Laws) was proposed by Belschaft as a mechanism for blocking citizenship of members of regions and organizations with which The South Pacific is at war – this would sound pretty conventional, if it did not also allow the Committee for State Security or the Cabinet to approach the Regional Assembly to ban members of any other region or organization and label them a “criminal group”. The target? Likely defenders, says one voting member of the Committee for State Security, who wished to remain anonymous. The South Pacific now awaits the decision of the Chief Justice. Only days ago, I (Unibot) submitted a series of legal questions to the Court regarding the constitutionality of Article Nine – if the Chief Justice finds Article Nine unconstitutional, it will be struck from law, if the Chief Justice finds Article Nine constitutional, it will be saved from judicial review. The basis of the “unconstitutionality” argument is that Article Nine fails to satisfy the right to an appeal, right to be denied citizenship on reasonable grounds and the freedom of expression. Poor wording even allows Article Nine to target civil, non-violent activist movements and political parties in The South Pacific. Geomania agreed with the complaints and continued further by arguing that Article Nine would contradict Article One of The Charter by circumventing the cabinet’s discretionary powers and contradict Article Two, by denying citizens, the right to due process of the law. “Article Nine […] is deeply flawed and must be scrapped,” says Geomania. “This law runs roughshod over the Charter. There is a plethora of clauses of the Charter that are being violated by this law. Citing the supremacy clause of the Charter, I hope that the Judiciary agrees with me and strikes down this law”. Belschaft, the proposal’s author, fired back at these claims of unconstitutionality in his amicus brief. He held the position that many of these interpretations of Article Nine were exaggerations or “fraudulent”. “Emotive language is irrelevant to determinations of law,” says Belschaft, “It can be appealing, but it has no basis in the Charter”. A decision by the Chief Justice on the constitutionality on the troublesome Article Nine is expected imminently. The Chief Justice had pledged to rule on the matter by February 17, however there has been no sign of a ruling as of yet. ___________________________________________________ Reproductive Freedoms Putting a timeless debate to three days of voting COMMENTARY | THE GRIM REAPER (This article refers to groups generally known by relatively controversial monikers. The article therefore defaults to using the moniker that the groups themselves prefer – pro-choice for individuals who support deregulating international abortion laws, and pro-life for the opposite.) The General Assembly has long been a battlefield for the most touchy of NationStates' debates. The esteemed members of our global community can argue all they like about the merits of military action, or of the various General debates that interest them, but once the General Assembly has brought a Resolution to vote, it is a countdown to making or breaking a representative's career. Whether or not each and every world leader takes notice of the General Assembly, flaunts their membership, or even uses 'puppets' to avoid the ire of their political allies in their miltiary actions, it is notable to remember that the General Assembly occupies an enviable space of real estate in our world - a resolution that makes it past the looming obstacle of Delegate Approvals will eventually find the spotlight of the Floor itself, the glorious arena where a proposal is finally thrown open for all of the WA member nations to decide its fate with simply an "Aye" or a "Nay". The debate in the GA has generally been powered by specific notable GA authors. The distinction between National Sovereignty and International Federalism that is often pervasive in GA debates has more than once been proven to have no bearing on the division between 'pro-life' and 'pro-choice', with figureheads of both movements deeming this an issue that transcends the normal, brutal ideological battle-lines drawn up on the GA debate floor. On the pro-life (often referred to as 'anti-choice' by detractors) side Auralia and Christian Democrats are both well-known GA authors who have championed legislation against legalization of abortion, whilst on the pro-choice (or 'anti-life') side are the GA authors Mousebumples, and Eireann Fae. In addition, there have been many other authors who have chimed in for either side – such as the pro-choice but much more compromising Charlotte Ryberg, who takes the credit for the foundational 'On Abortion', which neither side has generally attempted to repeal. For disclosure's sake, Unibot (the editor of this paper) has been outspoken on the pro-choice side, particularly on behalf of the Eireann Fae drafts. On Abortion has been a sticking point for the GA due to the extreme pressure on authors attempting to repeal it. On the pro-life side, members like Auralia have generally been wary of repealing On Abortion because of the resolution's breadth and general leniency on many cases of abortion. As such, their interests have, for now, been mainly to created 'blocker' resolutions, to work around On Abortion by explicitly allowing, or disallowing, practices not covered in On Abortion. Their most recent example is the Protocol on Abortion , abandoned at the recommendation of the prominent Ardchoillean representative. The Protocol on Abortion was a blocker designed to bypass On Abortion by blocking legislation on accessibility to abortion drugs and other 'supplementary acts'. However, it was quickly deemed to be outside the 'spirit' of On Abortion, and more practically, to fall afoul of On Abortion's requirements of access to abortion facilities. On the pro-choice side, On Abortion acts in itself a blocker to stop pro-life drafts that could otherwise themselves stop further abortion-related legislation. In that sense, the seemingly meek On Abortion now finds itself complemented by a draft soon to come to vote, Reproductive Freedoms, a much more sharp, broad, and blunt attempt to end the debate once and for all. Along the lines of many of Eireann Fae's 'trigger-repeals', it attempts to build upon On Abortion by providing a second line of defense for legalization of abortion, and to extend that defense to an extent not yet seen. For such a controversial proposal to even reach quorum is a surprise in itself, and for any proposal to make it out of the veritable peanut gallery of esoteric acronyms and shortenings seems a miracle to the casual observer. However, Eireann Fae introduced me to the world beyond the peanut gallery, by throwing me headlong into her reckoning on what is no doubt one of the most controversial proposals due to grace the Floor, and in doing so, she painted a picture more carefully crafted and skilfully mastered than any outsider can really grasp with just a tentative first reading of the resolution alone. I attempted to speak as I am - a casual observer who views this issue just like absolutely everyone else should. As a debate that, regardless of which side I occupy, I need to come to terms with to be able to be a helpful influence to anybody in my life that should grapple with this issue in a personal stance. This is not a resolution that, at first glance, will do that - the WA is a legal institution. But, the power that is often lost in the final product is clearly brought to the forefront by Eireann Fae - in my opinion, she does an effective job of reminding us how much emotion such issues imply for those affected by them, even for those who would usually simply read what is a short resolution, and pick between "Aye" and "Nay". May I ask you to read this not as an interview about the General Assembly, but as an interview about a General Assembly author, and just one issue that she finds to form a foundation of her personal convictions. First things first, we'll start with the resolution itself. It is, comparatively to others on the same subject, quite ambitious. You've clearly made some attempts to avoid beating around the bush, and yourself note that it is a 'long shot'. Why did you take this step to abandon the sense of 'weasel words' that has often characterized this debate? Eireann Fae: We believe that representatives should speak clearly about what, precisely, they represent. Intentions should not be hidden in the shadows, left to be interpreted in various ways to achieve questionable goals. We want to be as clear as possible with our intentions, and would appreciate it if others followed the same example. The resolution is certainly quite clear, in that you've tried to cover all grounds as succinctly as possible - would you say that you've drawn any inspiration from any specific notable members either in agreement or in opposition with you in this debate? Eireann Fae: Our regional delegate, hailing from Mousebumples, has been quite an inspiration. They are known for writing excellent legislation, particularly in medical fields. Our style of extremely careful wording and pre-emptively blocking loopholes is our own, though. Every word in every clause is carefully considered for its exacting effect - we try to be clear and concise as possible when drafting laws. Mmm. Now - the debate on abortion legalization and restriction has been one that has been lively and pervasive in the World Assembly as long as I, personally, have followed it - even if that time has been a drop in the bucket. It does seem surprising to me that this resolution has made it to quorum, given all the attempts at blockers and contrary resolutions by your opposing lobby, characterized as both anti-choice and pro-life. That being said, have you at any point felt the act of taking part in this debate to be 'thankless'? What kept you going? Eireann Fae: Actually, we have been pleasantly surprised at how much support we have garnered with this endeavour. We have repeatedly mentioned expectations of strong opposition, but we were *not* expecting so much support - not just in reaching quorum, which was itself a delightful surprise, but in vocal support in Telegrams and the General Assembly chamber. We do not require gratitude to pursue our mission of liberating individuals the world over, but it is certainly appreciated, just the same. The idea of debating proposals in the General Assembly, particularly in issues as divided as this, has often been observed as supportive representatives attempting to improve the quality and scope of resolutions, not just in this topic but in many, with detractors attempting to declaw or denigrate the efforts of the author. In your opinion, have the debates you have viewed and supported on the issue of abortion ever done much to INFORM an undecided or opposing delegate's point of view? And, in the same vein, have you seen a delegate who has supported you cross the floor, or inform their views in a way contrary to your position? In other words, how much weight do you feel the GA's debates hold to change the minds of delegates? Eireann Fae: This in particular is a rather divisive topic, to put it mildly. We are unaware of anyone actively opposed to abortion changing their minds, but we hope we have swayed the opinions of delegates that were previously undecided on the issue. It is a known fact that only an infinitesimally small number of delegates are active in the speaking chambers, but we hope to have enticed some of the silent majority to support our endeavour. Your dedication to this issue has shown that, at least on the surface, you seem to be well suited to the art of oration. But, what first led you to believe that the GA was a body you could thrive in, and in a related manner, when did you first choose to pursue the decriminalization of abortion in the GA? Eireann Fae: Our thanks for the compliment - we have long supported the sharing of ideas, and prefer to do so, as mentioned, with maximum clarity. It is our preference that actual laws be brief and to the point, but arguments for such laws should be made as clearly as possible, using as many words as it takes to drive the point home. Our nation was founded on making a new home for refugees; those that were oppressed in their own nations fled to our Island seeking solace, which we gave gladly. We joined the World Assembly in an effort to extend protections and freedoms of the sort we offer to more people around the world, even if they have never heard of Eireann Fae or the services we render to those needing help. With regard to the topic of abortion, we were content to let 'On Abortion' be the primary law on the subject in the WA until efforts were made to repeal the resolution, and then another effort to place artificial restrictions on the procedure. Since such issues have been raised, we felt it was our duty to extend and enhance protections for those seeking to ensure their bodily sovereignty remain their own, and not limited by their national governments. Certainly, the GA makes an effective tool for legislating on important world issues - on creating practical, legal arguments for enforcing limitations or freedoms for the betterment of our global community. However, that limits it in a certain way - it exists to convinces delegates of the appropriateness of such laws for their nation, not to teach them to confront the issue on a personal level. This is an issue that many, many delegates and member representatives will be facing soon, now that your resolution has come to quorum. As not a representative, but as an individual who no doubt wants to promote not just legal freedom, but also a sense of development in our international culture, is there anything you want to say to those who will be coming to vote on this resolution? In other words, what would you say to a delegate in the position of the women that this legislation is intended to liberate? Eireann Fae: We only hope that everyone can see that we only wish to grant the freedom of self-determination to individuals to do with their own bodies as they please. We stand by our national motto of 'An it harm none, do what ye will', and would like to see individuals enjoy the freedom to live as they wish, so long as they do not harm or hinder other individuals in pursuit of that freedom. To many, this seems in opposition to supporting termination of a fetus, but it is our contention that the fetus has no right to impose itself on an unwilling individual, even in pursuit of its own survival, any more than we would support a man pushing another man down while being chased by panthers to sacrifice his fellow to save himself. Thank you, Fae. Certainly, a very enlightening interview from the perspective from one of the major players in what is currently one of the GA's great debates. Before we close the interview, is there anything you would like to say to our readers, both those involved in the GA's legislative discussion, and who may not be familiar with its debates? Eireann Fae: We would like to encourage all to be more active in the debates, as such debate leads to more finely crafted laws to the benefit of all. 'Reproductive Freedoms' started out as 'Legalise Abortion' - a cheeky draft comprised of four lines, one of which was 'NOT CARING' about protestors. Through debate, we feel the draft has involved into something far nicer. We have never seen a perfect proposal submitted without input from various delegates. It could be argued that no proposal is perfect, but they come a lot closer with help and input from the world at large. Cooperation is key to good legislature! Thank you Fae. I am sure that, regardless of where our readers stand on the issue, they can empathize with your quest to shed a little light on the ambitions and intentions of those delegates involved in this and other debates, and I'm sure I speak for all of them when I wish you good luck in your future endeavours, regardless of which topic they might cover. Eireann Fae: Many thanks, and blessed be. Not all of us will ever have to grapple with this issue - particularly the males amongst us are blessed to never directly have to confront the issue of abortion, to make what is generally accepted to be a trying and difficult issue that can change one's lifestyle. However, I feel that, even when we read the text of this resolution, we try to look at the people who are - not behind this resolution - but stand in front of it, in our own lives. Regardless of how we stand on this issue, we must remember what the General Assembly exists for. To ask us we can justify our choices in the context of regional law. In the context of national law. In the context of our friends and family. For many of our readers? In context of our own lives. ____________________________________________________ Balder unveils a new Regional Flag COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF http://i.imgur.com/ACUuh77.png?1?3432[ The new regional flag was unveiled Monday Balder Delegate, North East Somerset unveiled a new regional flag on Monday, holding up the grey and blue to a cheering crowd in Nordic Square, cigar in mouth. The new flag matches the forum skin’s colour scheme with slate greys, blues and yellows, but the theme, in North East Somerset’s own words reflects a departure from the old flag’s Scandinavian Constitutional Monarchy “theme” towards a more of a “Viking” theme – the idea of war and fighting is captured by the Raven. North East Somerset told Balder that the similarity between Balder and Osiris’s colour scheme is intentional. “Osiris has a flag with a very similar colour scheme, and that is not all we share,” says North East Somerset, “I hope over the coming weeks we will be able to move closer to Osiris in the implementation of Joint schemes to the benefit of both of regions, particularly with regards to collaborating on External Affairs matters so as to utilize our limited resources to greater effect”. So what can we expect from Balder in the coming weeks? Possibly, a more aggressive, warring Balder; one that cooperates more, diplomatically and militarily, with Osiris. _________________________________________________________ Improving Wordiness Returns COMMENTARY | GUY Wordy's Back! Following a period of absence, highly regarded defender Improving Wordiness (Wordy) has returned to NationStates. Wordy, a native of 10000 Islands, had taken an unexpected long leave of absence due to real-life constraints. Wordy first joined 10000 Islands in December 2009, and quickly rose up the ranks of TITO, 10000 Islands' defender military. Wordy proved her natural knack for defending and command, making her ascent to the command position of Tactical Officer within only four months, alongside defending greats Anime Daisuki and Ananke. As the activity of those giants of the defender world faded away, they unknowingly - but certainly not to their eventual surprise - gave way to the next giant of defending. After many months of being the de facto TITO leader, Wordy was appointed in November 2011 to the position of Field Commander, in effect second only in command to Grub. She retained this position until her temporary withdrawal from NS. What makes Wordy special, and particularly successful, as a defender is her unique combination of various skills. Her brilliance at spotting invasions, swiftness in deployment, and ability to train and retain troops make her a formidable opponent to any invader on the battlefield. The number of regions which are free thanks to her actions are immeasurable. Of particular notability is Wordy's actions to preserve the freedom of the newly-created regions of Osiris, becoming its first-ever Delegate by moving in to secure the region from invader forces who were looking to capitalise on the opportunity to seize a Game-Created Region. Under her leadership, democratic elections were held in Osiris to determine its first regional government. Despite her short reign and its initial controversy, Wordy is credited with setting the stage for a stable Osiris, free of the drama that paralysed its sister region at the time, Balder. It is a recurring joke in some circles that Wordy is the best Delegate that Osiris has ever had - a joke which, like all good ones, also has an element of truth to it. Wordy's persona is well-known to regulars on the Gameplay forum. Fesity and fierce, unrelenting on her principles. The author of these words is used to butting heads with her no less than any other, being one of the most vocal opponents of the aforementioned intervention in Osiris. (And as usual, she was right.) What many have not had the privilege to experience is Wordy as a fellow regionmate and a friend. Dedicated, hardworking, determined; but not less importantly, friendly, loyal and welcoming. Alongside her numerous TITO decorations and awards - of which there are too many to list here - Wordy has been recognised far outside 10000 Islands for her defending prowess, being one of the most visible figures of defending in the greater world of NS gameplay. She was the first ever (and to date, only) winner of multiple Defender of the Year Award, winning it back-to-back in successive years. TITO, 10000 Islands, and the entire defending world can rejoice at the return of one of our best. This has been an eagerly awaited day, and we are certainly all looking forward to seeing you on the battlefield again. __________________________________________________________________ New “Health” Category in the WA General Assembly COMMENTARY | UNIBOT World Assembly Socialism, hard at work. The WA General Assembly has a new, “Health” category for proposals! For those who tried to decipher Ardchoille’s cryptic news post on the subject, but failed, let me explain. Every resolution in the General Assembly has to fit a predetermined “category”, which determines the effects that the resolution will have on your nation. If you are, for example, writing a proposal regarding a human rights issue, you would categorize your resolution under the heading of “Human Rights” (presumably, these resolutions would expand upon your nation’s Civil Rights). Until now, proposals regarding healthcare, pharmaceuticals and international aid had to be squeezed into categories like “Social Justice”, “Human Rights”, “International Security” and even “Recreational Drugs” – which meant every well-meaning humanitarian resolution probably ended up turning your nation into a socialist, drug-infested bordello. We’re sorry about that. The category’s specifics were largely the brainchild of yours truly (Unibot), since I proposed, this time last year, the creation of a “Health” category, with four subcategories. The final product maintains those four subcategories (Healthcare, Research, International Aid, Bioethics), although the original name, “Foreign Aid and Development” was changed to “International Aid” at the suggestion of Glen-Rhodes. At the time, [violet] was not necessarily committed to the idea. “We're definitely open to new categories,” says [violet], “if it's supported by a firm majority of WA powerbrokers. In the past, several interesting possibilities have been suggested, but I haven't implemented them because there was also had strong dissenting opinion”. Presumably someone rolled over and croaked to achieve our current state of consensus among the World Assembly’s powerbrokers. Even now controversy in the General Assembly is stirring, since concerns have been raised that this new category may encourage authors to legislate a Universal Healthcare Scheme (damn Canucks!) and Ardchoille has warned authors that the Admins may retroactively assign the “Health” category to existing resolutions – an unprecedented move which has been accepted (even boyishly welcomed) by some and criticized by others. It really would not be The General Assembly if it was any other way. ________________________________________________________ Traveller's Journal: Testregionia FEATURE | WARZONE CODGER A callback to an old feature, "Traveller's Journal" from 2004, where NS Times would review regions across NationStates. Warzone Codger visits Testregionia. "Wake up, 're almost there" scrowled the skipper. "Where..where am I" was the first dazed thought that reached Jeffersonborg's mind as he woke up. Last night the rascal was terrorising/proselytising the denizens of The Rejected Realms, muttering things about "Reconciling with your ejector" and "Returning home". The Frattatorship wasn't pleased with that; he needs more minions to work the region and mine more endos. "Leave? Blasphemous! TRR is all about second chances. We welcome them with open arms by making them feel no else would ever them. They must *never* learn their original homes still miss and love them." While Frattstan was unable to evict Jeffersonborg from The Rejected Realms, he was able to 'reward' him with an scienific mission to explore the regions of the world. First stop: Testregionia. Background TESTREGIONIA legends say, is home of the gods - the abode of "The Hive Mind of Testlandia". Those from the Order of Violet say claim this where their goddess reveals her physical form. Many wondered if it was even real, until a month ago when every nation found thier communication interrupted by a mysterious ""How useful are polls?" broadcast. The Frattatorship, unperturbed and sensing a chance to rid of the pesky Jeffersonborg, roped him with the task of tracking the source of the signal. Visiting Testlandia Jeffersonborg stepped a foot on Testregionia. Unmissable was the huge mountain, riddled with radio towers and antennas, that towers overs the island. Unshieldedable too, was the crackled, shrill broadcast of "Testing. Testing. Is this thing on?" that could be heard in all directions, repeating every minute. "It's enough to drive anyone crazy", thought Jeffersonborg. The first resident came to us very quickly: He calls himself The New World Oceania. Put simply, he has a long a history of madness. Secret societies were his bread and better, now he claims have travelled with the "Great Administator" and *tested* sure-fire way to overthrow the Pacifics. It's inevitable, he says. He also likes to say the word *test* a lot. He's not the the only one either. The next resident we approached was Olvaria. "A nice young chap", Jeffersonborg marked on his notes. Right after that a receipt for an order of 100 kilograms of nitroglycerin which fell out in front of us. Yikes. "Don't worry, it's just white phosphorus", Olvaria said cheerfully. "We now just *testing* making lots of fireworks, sell them to our enemies, and let them blow up thier own citizens instead!. Mishaps just means more time for *testing* new ideas" Mad Scientists, the lot of them! Disappointingly, none of us saw the fabled Testlandia. The closest we got has hearing a "POP" in the distance. The residences of The Dominion of Evil Unicorn and The Commonwelath of Fivian, whom we wanted to met next, were gone. Nil. Nada. "Destructive testing" said a strange bald man suddenly behind us, with a distinctive accent. A moment after, he was gone. "Was th..that..Testlandia?". Before we could come back to our senses though, a strange ritual appeared before us. "Testing" "Destructive testing" "Explosive testing" "Relatively legal testing" "Testing with the heart of a long-dead god" "We should resume testing". "Testing, Testing, Testing". All the residents of Testregionia are coming out now, surrounding us, all chanting a variant of *testing*. "A new cannon that sprays air at enemy troops, blowing them over." exclaims one Der Schwarz Drache. "Or testing out a new mounted flamethrower!" Testlandia seemed to have driven everyone into a *testing* frenzy, "Testing, Testing, Is this thing on??" continues to blare over and over again. The sudden disappearance of two nations was a sign. We shouldn't say here much longer... "Fratt ain't so bad. At least he wouldn't try to perform any bizzare tests on you right Jeffersonborg?. Let's head home". __________________________________________________________

Issue XIV, February 11, 2014 Editor's Note Please enjoy this latest edition of your favorite newspaper. Just a few corrections to note from Issue XIII: The East Pacific was eligible under the Extraordinary Circumstances Act before signing the UDL-TEP treaty, not after. Moreover, Feuer Ritter selected Kknight as Chief of Staff, not Halcones -- and Bob Moran was promoted to Colonel not Captain. Damn those "C" ranks, they always get us confused. >> International News TEP Joins Defenderdom! COMMENTARY | UNIBOT The East Pacific has passed and ratified “The Defender Act”, 7-1, to become a defender region for the first time in its long, storied history. On February 08, Bachtendekuppen officially removed the “neutral” regional tag and added the new “defender” tag – making The East Pacific, the largest defender region in all of NationStates. Bachtendekuppen, delegate of The East Pacific was originally skeptical of the proposal, telling the Magisterium that he wanted to ensure that The East Pacific remained open and free for all members regardless of their creed. Eventually, the Puffin delegate pledged to not veto the bill and told reporters, “we as a region believe this is a logical next step to take” – he especially praised the depth of discussion and debate on the issue and the consensus that was raised in the Magisterium. He also expressed his belief that The East Pacific’s values of “respect and friendship, acceptance and tolerance” would still be honoured regardless of whether The East Pacific was neutral or defender. The Magisterium was no less thrilled with the passing of The Defender Act. Magister Nalt told The Rejected Times that he believed the move was a “good step” and that it would give The East Pacific “lots of opportunities to grow”. “I'm very excited to see what we are able to accomplish!” says Nalt, waving a chartreuse flag proudly with the other supporters. Magister Aelitia says that given EPSA’s “effective leadership and bolstering numbers”, he is very excited to see its coming missions – the future is “undeniably bright” for The East Pacific, according to Aelitia. He also told The Rejected Times that he believes that The Defender Act will change how the region makes decisions and judgements, but not substantially change the defining aspects of The East Pacific. “TEP will be more sensitive to defender missions,” says Aelitia, “and will have new relationships beginning to blossom or continue to better with our allies and friends”. Aelitia may just be right! Just recently, The United Defenders League presented the Shield of Ballotonia to The East Pacific as a diplomatic gift – welcoming them to defenderdom. “We wanted to share with you one of our heroes because defenderdom has always shared its heroes,” Chief Mahaj told The East Pacific, “and we here at The United Defenders League have no doubt that in no time of all, heroes will rise in The East Pacific and you too will share them with the world”. The diplomatic gift was well received in The East Pacific with Bachtendekuppen extending his warmest regards, while the Provost plotted a gift for The United Defenders League in return (a “cupcaek” was a popular suggestion). Meanwhile, shortly after the passing of The Defender Act, Xoriet was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, with the explicit idea in mind that she would largely be organizing The East Pacific’s defender missions. Thankfully, The Rejected Times managed to reach her for comment. “I am thrilled with the opportunity to be actively involved in leading the defender activities within EPSA,” says Xoriet. When asked about her time spent rising the ranks of the EPSA, Xoriet was humble and very grateful. “I am able to do so now because my superior officers have trust in my commitment to both TEP and defenderism,” says the new Lieutenant. “Earning each individual rank over the course of the three months since I first joined has made my participation in EPSA all the more rewarding, but the increasing trust that came with each promotion is even more important to me”. It should also be said, that not only is The East Pacific, the largest defender region in NationStates, it is also the first feeder to become a defender region in over half a decade! Perhaps this is a sign of a trend – a return to the days where defending values were better received interregionally, with more and more major regions defending against invasions across NationStates. What can be said with certainty is that this change is a landmark decision for The East Pacific – a positive change that has its members excited for their region’s dynamic future. __________________________________________________________________ Controversy surrounding VF's pointed "attack recruitment ads" Ads call Sinker GCRs, "noninclusive" COMMENTARY | LIBETARIAN REPUBLICS The sinkers, once again, are being attacked for their non inclusiveness. Versutian Federation, a region relatively known for their participation in the Zombie Apocalypse, created an ambitious recruitment campaign against three sinkers (Lazarus, Balder, and Osiris), telegramming every individual nation to join their active region and slandering the sinkers for hosting elitist, exclusive governments. The recruitment ad cause an outrage amongst the Sinkers community, calling for retaliation. "We will send them a recruitment telegram back in retaliation, I assure you.", says King NES, assuring the community of Balder. Later, a combined allied effort led by the Jomsvikings of Balder targeted a Versutian Federation embassy in Warzone Asia in response. However, others are questioning the diplomatic power and significance of the Versutian Federation. "Who are they again?", questioned Josh Sebastian. Within the dark realms of Gameplay, Versutian Federation are relative unknowns. Despite their lack of prominence, the Versutian Federation claims to be more active than all three sinkers. However, the Versutian Federation forum has dwindled with limited activity compared to the political dynamics of the Osiris Fraternal Order, the "party place" of Balder, and the socialist workshop of Lazarus. "Nobody important," concluded Cassius Cerebella. __________________________________________________________________ Defenders free Federation of Herbshire from Europeia COMMENTARY | UNIBOT The sun rises in Herbshire after its successful liberation. Early today, defenders from UDL, FRA, LLA and RIA scored a major victory against Europeia and Kantrias -- liberating Federation of Herbshire, 13-10. The native delegate, New Cato Corellia, was restored to the delegacy with the help of liberators. The Rejected Times managed to catch Ravania, one of the liberation's organizers and Captain of the UDL, for comment on the celebrated victory. "Well, I came home, logged in, spotted a Europeian WA nation moving into a region," says Ravania, "saw it was raided, assessed the situation, called for assistance, dug up a trigger and meanwhile cooked dinner for my wife and kids. By the time my oven was heated we had found enough defenders to move in". Apparently, Ravania's skills in the kitchen did not disappoint. "Defender-unity is not something we talk about, we just cook it up as we go," joked Ravania. __________________________________________________________________ NES takes the delegacy COMMENTARY | LIBETARIAN REPUBLICS "King of Balder" is now one of many positions that NES has held throughout his NS career. He assumed the delegacy not too long after he was elected as King with the aid of allied imperialist forces withdrawing from their Slavia occupation momentarily. The King has made immediate changes to how Balder functions. He shifted membership of the Royal Council, Balder's own security body, in order to have a swift consolidation of power in Balder. Next, he has appointed influential individuals to the Cabinet, ready to make their own name carved in Balder: Cormac Stark, who led the movement for the creation of the Osiris Fraternal Order, as Minister of War; Durkadurkiranistan, legendary couper, as head of Interior; Lord Ravenclaw, current Pharaoh of OFO, as Media; and Charles Cerebella, new Kaiser of TNI, as Foreign Affairs. While I have seen cabinets that have had one or two highly influential players, this cabinet represents a conglomeration of various interests that can determine the course and future of Balder. Earlier this week, Balder's legislative debated the proposal for a dual executive, something that has not been done in any Game-Created Region for quite a while. Whether or not this will be implemented, only time will tell, but as it stands, NES's delegacy may prove to be very pivotal for Balder. __________________________________________________________________ “”Repeal “Liberate Nazi Europe”” Passes SkyDip reveals himself as anonymous Author COMMENTARY | UNIBOT In the early days of February, a mysterious poster named “The Dark” drafted and proposed a repeal of “Liberate Nazi Europe” – the motioned was supported by a diverse group of commentators, including Cerian Quilor and myself. Just shortly before the repeal was proposed, The Rejected Times published a provocative editorial, “Profiting from the War on Nazis” – in it bears many of my thoughts on “Liberate Nazi Europe”. I believed the aggressiveness against Nazism served the interests of several political actors (independents benefited from the anti-fascist targets, whereas invaders and imperialists sought a closer working relationship with independents), while the actual strategy was counterproductive: pursuing Nazis strengthened their resolve and their recruitment efforts. Cerian Quilor, in his support of the repeal made similar claims, noting the rise of the Right Wing Uprising and providing converging evidence of the population growth of Nazi regions since the passage of “Liberate Nazi Europe”. The Dark’s argument for repealing “Liberate Nazi Europe” shared these ideas and more, by proposing that the controversial proposal had been both counter-productive and an abuse of the WA Liberation category. In a dramatic vote, “Repeal “Liberate Nazi Europe” passed 6,054 votes to 4,858 – it’s main proponents were 10000 Islands, The East Pacific and The Rejected Realms, the latter two of which had voted against the original “Liberate Nazi Europe”, although unbeknownst to them, their delegates had agreed to vote “for” the liberation at the Anti-Nazi Summit held in Francograd, earlier that year. The main opposition for the proposal came from The West Pacific, The North Pacific and Osiris. Lazarus voted against the repeal out of respect for their comrade-at-arms and former delegate, Feux, who penned “Liberate Nazi Europe”. After the passage of the landmark repeal, SkyDip revealed that he had been the author of “Repeal “Liberate Nazi Europe”” all along – having used “The Dark” as an alias. In his statement titled, “From the Dark”, SkyDip explained that he wrote the proposal using an alias, fearing backlash in his home region, Europeia, for proposing what may have been perceived by some as a “Nazi-friendly” proposal. SkyDip explained that he pursued the proposal because he had felt the targeted invasions of Nazi regions were counterproductive. “Active opposition is akin to scratching at a rash,” says SkyDip, “it is only liable to spread and get worse”. Cormac Stark, however, argued against the arguments presented, suggesting that independent regions needed fascist regions and Anti-Nazism as an opportunity for military activity, otherwise they would be encouraged to turn defender. “Most of these regions are independent and don't think either raiding or defending is wrong,” says Cormac, “but for their own reasons -- often political -- they tend to restrict their raiding and often their defending to regions they have a clear reason to raid or defend, i.e., raiding fascist regions or defending regions being invaded by fascists”. According to Cormac, Lazarus, The East Pacific and Osiris “spent years trying to make neutrality or independence work and came up empty with each and every attempt”. This leads Cormac to believe that without an active Nazi threat, something to perpetuate activity in independent regions, Game-Created Regions will eventually reject neutrality and/or independence. “Every Feeder and Sinker will have rejected neutrality and independence, or at least the variant of the latter that is practiced in GCRs, by the end of this year,” claims Cormac, “It will be because they're tired of military inactivity, and at least 5 out of the 9 will be defender and will probably be FRA member regions”. Bold claims? Perhaps. But certainly not the biggest claims of the night – that distinction goes to the Jewish Justice League, who somehow managed to alienate most of Gameplay while portraying themselves as holocaust victims. The over-the-top commentators published a piece called “Why Nazis have invaded your region” – in it contained the naming and blaming the delegates who had voted for the contentious repeal, while calling SkyDip, a “nazi sympathizer” and myself, “the most-notorious Nazi enabler in NationStates”. For the Jewish Justice League, the repeal passed with the help of the political machine of the “neo-Nazi community of NationStates”. The real question that Gameplay faces is how to respond to Nazism in the future? A burgeoning new school of thought, emboldened by this repeal, sees education and disregard as the key to reducing Nazism, while another sizable demographic still finds the solution to be active hostilities and brute force. Meanwhile, naysayers predict that independent militaries may face a drought of activity without the War on Nazis – another major issue that will continue to develop. __________________________________________________________________ "Commend NewTexas" passes COMMENTARY | LIBETARIAN REPUBLICS The ongoing crusade to get NewTexas commend has gone on for the last six months. At last, "Big Tex", as he is affectionately called, was finally commended. The resolution has done a comprehensive job recognizing NewTexas for his work in Texas, the defending cause, and NationStates overall with the beloved NSSuite. 84% of the WA's votes were casted in favor for his commendation -- it's clear that there was a strong consensus that he was to be commended. However the commendation came with some controversies, nevertheless. The fact that the (already commended) region of Texas symbolizes much of the accomplishment of its founder and the region itself brought doubt to some commentators. Regardless, NewTexas is certainly a worthy individual that has long deserved to be praised and recognized by the hallowed halls of the World Assembly. The Rejected Times was not able to reach NewTexas for comment, but I'm sure he's enjoying some delicious BBQ as a result of it. __________________________________________________________________ The Man Who Stayed For Christmas COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Captain Ravania entered from the shadows, wielding his make-shift wand -- having followed the mysterious calling from across the galaxy, tolling among the stars. His enemies awaited his presence, dreading the triumphant return of the honoured guardian, for this was the Man Who Stayed for Christmas. Christmas was a quiet region where its people were honest and innocent, but over the years it had attracted the attention of all sorts of invaders from the farthest reaches of NationStates. It was there that the wayward hero called "home" for he had finally found a place that would always need him to stay around. It was a calm winter night in January, when the Lone Wolves United strode into Christmas -- attempting to claim the village as their own. Barnable, one of the youngest natives, ran around in circles, screaming at the top of his lungs about the intruders, but the other natives did believe the Boy Who Cried Wolf. It was then that Ravania appeared, waving his wand at the wolves. But just when they thought he was alone, appeared defenders from TITO, UDL, LLA and FRA --emerging from the bushes, throwing spears and firing arrows at the Lone Wolves United. The hunt was afoot. Not too long after that, Christmas was freed and the natives of Christmas rejoiced. They danced in the snowfall, while their children played and giggled loudly, cheering on their heroes and waving ribbons in the air. At the top of the village's bell-tower, Ravania appeared -- ringing the bell to those that might hear. "Christmas is defended!" said the Captain, directed at the invaders above -- a reminder to all those who dare cross the Man Who Stayed for Christmas. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ >> Editorial Cartoon

"Prosperity, Fresh Starts, Equal Opportunities" - The Makings of a New Osiris INTERVIEW | UNIBOT Unibot interviews Lord Ravenclaw, who has been newly elected as Osiris's new pharaoh. Congratulations on the successful election - after you won, how did you feel? Thank you, and it was nothing but shock - I knew that I'd be an important candidate in the election due to my history but winning it came as a complete surprise to me, as I was convinced that I would not win. You've been a member of Osiris for sometime now, you were regularly a member of the Osiran cabinet before OFO - others involved in that regime haven't been nearly as trusted by OFO as you. So my question is... why? Why can OFO trust you? It is because I have been there for that long, and they also know that I've experienced some horrific treatment whilst as part of the Osiran cabinet. When I was told about the OFO - about 10 minutes after Venico announced it by a frantic message spam from a member of the region, I came on thunderously (I was asleep and Steam was logged in on my phone for some reason) to confront Venico and Cormac over it. I was absolutely livid, if anyone has ever seen me truly angry you'll know that I do not mince words, and we had a very frank discussion over the reasons for WHY the OFO was needed, and by the end of it, I hadn't just agreed with him, I'd offered my services. After understanding his point of view and thinking about why we needed to fix Osiris, and start afresh, I decided that I would do whatever I could to help him... and then, eight hours later my choice was confirmed even more when I got called "a piece of shit" by Biyah. I suppose that you could say that they can trust me, because we have a completely honest friendship, and as long as we treat each other as equals and don't attempt to play the same games that Osiris suffered from in the past, then that friendship will remain strong. I think we've all learnt a lesson from that part of Osiris, and seeing what happened with Asta and how the situation was tightly controlled by one or two people was an eye-opener for me. As a reporter, I've been covering The Empire for a long time and I have to say it was infuriating because Osiris has this fantastic way of building a kind of protective bubble around outside criticism -- any rumors were largely denied (even by detractors of The Empire). So when OFO came out, I and many others were really shocked to learn of the transgressions of The Empire in Osiris. I was wondering if you could give us a rare window into what it was really like to be a high-ranking member of Osiris at that time? Under Empire? I'm surprised you aren't aware of my feelings when part of the cabinet. I served in the KRO's cabinet from October 2012 until July 2013 first as Deputy for Foreign Affairs under Lyanna Stark, and then as Minister under Mad Jack, and under that time I experienced my first real coup - Osiris by Empire in December, the rise and fall of SovCon, and the Socialist Republic of TSP by Milograd. Politically: it was a very high stress role, and not always enjoyable. I have a sense of duty a mile wide, but at times it felt that I was deliberately excluded or left out of things, including cabinet discussions or given the wrong information to make me look a fool. Culturally: well I'd have to ask what culture? The only major RP Osiris had died very early on (early 2012) and attempts after that really made no headway. Our spam areas were active, but not many other areas of the region had any strong attempts at fun or enjoyment - there weren't enough things to reduce the massive amounts of tension in the region, and the things that were attempted didn't go very well and just caused more arguments. Do you believe this is a new era for Osiris and if so, what defined the last era and what do you believe will define this new era? This is most certainly a new era. The old era could be categorised with factionalism, decay, mistrust. Whilst so far the community appears to be more united than ever before, we've got a new constitution, an active RP scene, an active regional mapping project, with every aspect of the region working to build a better community for us all... so if I have to give a few things what the new era will be known for? Prosperity, Fresh Starts, Equal Opportunities. What will be your main objectives for Osiris during this term? I want to give Osiris a regional identity again, to give us a reason to be a community. I'll be focusing on culture - including a mapping project which I hope will see us gain a new, interactive map which will link to the various cities we use in Osiris. I've also started work on a house and guilds system, which will be used to promote internal aspects of Osiran culture and give more things to get involved with in the region. The next priority will be Security, namely the setting up of a new regional security council to guard the delegacy in-game from any threats as well as working internally to keep our forum and community safe from those seeking to harm us. Finally, I plan to focus on integration - alongside the plans in Culture, to work on recruiting new people to our community from the region, and giving them reasons to say. In the past two days we've already seen two people join the community who have been long standing residents of the region but were put off by all the strife in the past. Will your competitors, Hileville and Cameron, in the last election, play a role in your future government? Hileville is already Scribe of Integration, and is in the process of being confirmed. He was originally appointed by Venico but has agreed to remain in his role. Cameron is working on a roleplay in The Honoured City of Giza and I hope that he continues to contribute well to Osiris. You said you wanted Osiris to have a regional identity - what did you have in mind with this? Well the primary aim is to work on actually being consistent to the Egyptian theme, the old forum was a mash of Arabic, Egyptian, English and various other titles, which made it difficult to navigate at times. Osiris as a community needs to have a shared identity which unifies us, I believe that the best way of doing that is by shared values, in this case, dedication, a sense of achievement, determination to improve, and to remain a welcoming community where everyone can be accepted into the fold regardless of their alignment, or views that they hold. I'd like to see a unified Osiris and from what I can tell, we're already on the road to being stronger than Old Osiris ever was under the KRO. The best ways to promote the regional identity I feel are to continue what we are already doing - working hard in every area of our region to change how we seen by some in NationStates "as the failed sinker" or "Empires pawn", which may have been true in the past, but is not anymore, we need to focus on what we've achieved, and where we can go from this - and that means giving things Osirans can be proud of, and that is what I want to do, and will be doing when I am Pharaoh of Osiris. I bring it up because a common criticism of the KRO was that Osiran culture was deferential and inward. I'm wondering if you see that criticism as legitimate and if so, how do you plan to go about realizing the regional identity in a different way? Yes, I'd agree with that. You tended to keep your mouth shut when someone who was more respected than you decided something wasn't going to happen, and for the most part you knew that if you did step out of line and weren't part of that persons faction, there'd be trouble. It was very deferential, especially to our celebrity leaders and there were personality cults which developed around our executive, and it was very much like a shadowy game of "jockey for power", with the result of being ostracized if it was ever revealed that someone who was "outside of that group" was even considering running for any position of power. As for whether the culture on deferring to the Pharaoh on everything was bad, that depends on your ego I suppose, I don't want people to go "HAIL Raven" every time I enter a channel, I don't want people to not give their views to me because I'm the Pharaoh, in fact the opposite is true - I want peoples views of how we're doing BECAUSE I am the Pharaoh. I cannot decide the path for Osiris on my own, and nor would I wish to, and that is why we have a community, a regional government - and legislature that will have a say in how Osiris progresses. I view it as the sign of respect - honest communication throughout the region designed to help us all work better and for me, or my successors, to decide what is working and what isn't working and make changes accordingly to ensure Osiris continues to prosper - as any leader should. Are there still fears of retaliation from The Empire? Or has the threat subsided? I'd like to say that the threat has subsided but at this time, I do not feel that I can give an adequate answer. The situation is being monitored. And we will continue to do so for the coming months. It is not in Empire's nature to give up, although I've spoken to Dali amicably recently, and NK has refused to have anything to do with Osiris at present to my knowledge. It must be worrying though when a player like Biyah seems to have gone off the map, so to speak? He hasn't gone off the map, he reappeared on IRC last night, so we're definitely watching closely. I just hope that his choice of channels didn't indicate his next target. What channel did he join, out of curiosity? The South Pacific. Yikes! Well, on the subject of a different kind of threat: VF has been caught insulting Osiris and other sinkers with some controversial ad campaigns. How can we expect Osiris to respond? We are consulting with our fellow sinkers on appropriate methods to respond. I am incredibly amused at the tactics that they have resorted to, and think that they must have nothing better to do than insult various governments who have done nothing to deserve their scorn. As a diplomat, rule 1 should be not to pick a fight. It seems that their own diplomacy training is lacking somewhat, and I am considering sending them a guide on how to be a diplomat. Well, thank you so much for the interview, Ravenclaw. I wish you well on your term. Good luck. It was pleasure talking with you. If you have any final remarks for our readers, you have the floor! Thank you Unibot, it's been an interesting event. Over the next few months I want to rebuild Osiris, and I want to let the other regions who have assisted us so much over the last month and a half know that not just I, but Osiris itself is extremely grateful for the help they have given us to ensure that we are free of Empire and can begin to plot our own course from now on.

Issue XIII, January 19, 2014 Editor's Note Why does all the news have to break right before our print due date? Yikes this was a close one. Some great stories here - I'm glad to see our journalists put out all of the stops to bring you this wonderful new edition by the eleventh hour (technically, the eighth but who's counting?). >> INTERVIEW Interview with McMasterdonia after his Landslide Victory INTERVIEW | THE CHURCH OF SATAN Elections for the delegacy of The North Pacific took place recently. Not surprisingly, McMasterdonia won. Looking at the results, the other candidates, Durkadurkairanistan and Tim, didn't seem to stand a chance. Clearly that means McMastedonia is doing good work over at TNP! Normally, according to TNP citizens, the elections end with a runoff vote. This time however, McMasterdonia secured his victory with a stunning 31 votes. That's exactly 86.1% of the votes! If ever there was a dictionary example of a landslide victory, this is it. We managed to snag an interview with Mister Popularity, himself. The Church of Satan: First of all, congratulations on being elected delegate! Judging by the results, it seems as though the other candidates never stood a chance. Would you agree? McMasterdonia: Thank you. The only other candidates for the office of Delegate, besides myself, was Tim and Durkadurkiranistan. Neither of them were offering a ‘serious’ or positive platform. Durk’s platform was simply a negative campaign thread about his opponents (an amusing read to be sure). Tim has had a long career in the North Pacific that ultimately ended when he resigned from the position of Vice Delegate after he had resigned from the World Assembly to attempt to liberate the Eastern Islands of Dharma. Since then most, if not all of his election campaigns have been conducted mainly for amusement value. His recent platform was for him to be elected Chairman of the People’s Republic of the North Pacific. I was disappointed that nobody other than me had put their name forward or run a serious campaign for the position. There are a lot of ambitious members of the North Pacific and the position of Delegate is a desired one for obvious reasons. Members of the region who I consider to likely be future Delegates have simply said that they were happy with my previous term of office and that they will seek the position at the next election. As I said though, it was a disappointment. I would rather a fiercely contested election any day and I do not think that people should be discouraged from running simply because it may seem like they don’t stand a chance. One of my favourite election campaigns was my first one against the incumbent Delegate Eluvatar – I surprised myself with the amount of support that I was able to gather in a short period of time. It was a good experience for me and other candidates who have ran for other positions such as Speaker or Vice Delegate recently and lost have expressed a similar feeling – despite losing it was still very worthwhile. The Church of Satan: In regards not only to your own election, but for all 3 positions (Delegate, Vice Delegate and Speaker,) they all ended in landslide victories. Even citizens of The North Pacific agree that this is quite uncommon for the region's elections. What would you attribute this to? McMasterdonia: I disagree that all of the elections were landslide victories. The Speaker won the election with 58% of the vote. This is still a decent majority, but newcomer Bootsie still did very well in achieving the percentage that he did and he should be commended for his efforts in that regard. The Vice Delegate election still had multiple highly experienced candidates running for the position, as has become the norm over the past few elections. Democratic Donkeys was very narrowly defeated by Sanctaria at the last election, his high political profile combined with his early momentum from his exploratory committee was what helped him secure such a strong victory. The Church of Satan: What's the most important thing, at least from your perspective, that you'll be doing during your term? McMasterdonia: There are many important matters that I will be attending to during this term and as such I don’t think I can point to one particular matter specifically. One such matter will be a review of World Assembly Voting in the region that I will do in consultation with Abacathea. A strong focus will also be placed on translating our high number of World Assembly nations in-game to a high percentage of them in our regional assembly and actively involved in our regional forum. Over the past term we have seen the slow implantation of the changes to the influence rules, and this will be finalised over the new term. I spend a lot of time talking to WA members in game, especially as we do not have a formal endorsement cap (other than the Vice Delegate’s endorsement level) and I intend to make sure that our Security Council remains at the highest endorsement levels possible to ensure that the North Pacific does not become an easy target for rogue delegates. Other than that, I consider it important to keep the government fresh and innovative. I’ve had quite a few new members in my cabinet over the past term and I expect that I will review the functionality of the cabinet and consider the possibility of bringing new members into the cabinet to give them government experience to help them in future election campaigns and the positions that they may hold in the future. The Church of Satan: What would you say is the most pressing matter you will have to tend to in The North Pacific and why? McMasterdonia: More recently we have seen attempts to reform the court system. I am concerned that some of these reforms are going in the wrong direction and are giving authority over civil matters to the Fiqh Flemingovian system that could literally render any ridiculous verdict that amused Flemingovian the most and the Court would enforce that verdict. It might seem amusing, but I hope that we can address the concerns about civil law in the region without going down this particular path. It is the wrong one for the region and one that I will not support. In the past term we experienced issues with an inactive Attorney General and then once that was resolved with a FOIA which would have required the court to release private deliberations if it was accepted by my office. A significant amount of time was focused on reaching an agreement that would satisfy both parties and I expect that negotiating skills will have to be in fine form to achieve a reform to the judicial system that maintains a certain level of faith in the system and keeps region members happy with the system in place. The Church of Satan: Do you have anything in mind at the moment that could resolve the matter? McMasterdonia: Obviously law reform will be part of the solution to this ongoing problem. There has been a lot of talk on this area in recent months and there will be more in the months to come. We must approach this matter with an open mind and be willing to negotiate to achieve a solution that leaves all sides as satisfied as possible. The Church of Satan: Do you plan on making any changes in regards to foreign affairs for The North Pacific? McMasterdonia: Yes, I plan to focus on developing a closer relationship with Lazarus and the Rejected Realms. We have been considering holding a cultural event with Lazarus for a while now, but various things have interfered with it. We remain neutral on Osiris for now, but that is an ongoing matter and I will be talking about Osiris more in the weeks ahead. The Church of Satan: What about inter-regional policy? Any changes to be made there? McMasterdonia: Broadly speaking, it will be business as usual. The Church of Satan: Thank you for your time McMasterdonia. Good luck with your term. McMasterdonia: Anytime! >> NEWS Massive Moderation Crackdown - Forty roleplayers banned for "joke" thread COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF "SPAM IS SPAM..." In a stunning move, Forum Moderator Dread Lady Nathicana, banned forty roleplayers for one day from the Official Forums for their participation in a roleplay thread that bordered on spam. “Spam is spam. Spam is not acceptable,” says Dread Lady Nathicana, “There is far too much of it that goes on. That does not excuse an all-out spamfest such as this, especially from players who know better”. The tough, perhaps even unprecedented response has sent some fuming about the excessiveness of the action. Some of the prominent members banned included Milograd, Bodobol, Tiami, Virana, Sailsia, Constaniana, among a number of others – several of which are also serving as Roleplay Mentors in NationStates. Participants were shocked by the move, with many of them having assumed the thread was more or less a joke for roleplayers to roleplay poorly in jest and good fun. Veteran roleplayers, that we spoke to, refused to comment in fear of moderation retaliation, but did call the move, “excessive”, noting that many of the participants had never been warned before – a widespread ban, for what might have been one or two “spam” posts, could be considered too much force used in hindsight. Others expressed concerns that the backlash from this decision could further push roleplayers to leaving NationStates for an alternative site. DISCLAIMER: The Rejected Times has not included any soundbites from members who were involved in the purge, since that could be construed as “posting around a ban”. North East Somerset crowned Balder's New Delegate COMMENTARY | UNIBOT "On the beaches.... we shall sunbathe". This Friday, it was announced that North East Somerset had been chosen as Balder's new King -- which means he is expected to serve as Balder's new delegate, replacing Rachel Anumia (technically, Rachel Somerset). The King triumphantly raised his arms to the crowds in Nordic Square, gesturing the V-sign, upon the announcement of his victory. North East Somerset has given his opening address to Balder already -- from it we can get a sense of his particular goals in mind: security, stability and legislative and judicial reform. The new King also expressed his belief that success and unpopularity among the international community are related concepts -- that Balder cannot achieve of success without fostering new critics. "Not every other region in NationStates approves of our success at the moment," says North East Somerset, "and that situation can only become more polarized in the future if it increases. But I am sure you did not elect me to shy away from the international challenges of progress, as much as I am sure that we will not miss the opportunities that will arise too". North East Somerset's election comes as a surprise to some because Balder has been denying its image as an "imperialist summer-home" for some time now. Despite these denials, Balder has replaced Rachel Anumia (and before her, Charles Cerebella) with another common name from the imperialist sphere of influence (if not the man most associated with imperialism, besides Onderkelkia himself). North East Somerset denied his associations with The New Inquisition, where he is a prince under Charles Cerebella and Viktoria Gryffyn. "Why always TNI? Why not LKE, or Europeia?" asks North East Somerset, rubbing the fallen ash off his coat. "I am Vice Chancellor. When HEM was away, I was Supreme Chancellor. I am also an Admin, and Director of Intelligence. Architect of the EAAC, the foreign policy making vehicle of Europeia". The King also denied his involvement (or at the very least, denied being Liegeois) in the recent attempt to coup The Rejected Realms. "Obviously I wasn't Liegeois, holding WA simultaneously to it," says North East Somerset to The Rejected Times. Although, there does remain the possibility that the WA Member-Nation's ownership has been switched -- which North East Somerset calls an unnecessary risk that he presumably wouldn't undertake. Ultimately, what can we expect from North East Somerset as a delegate on Foriegn Affairs? We're in for a whirlwind of a ride -- someone who will not be afraid to push Balder ever closer to an imperialist identity and antagonize defender regions. You can get a sense of that when you listen to him while he discusses his plans for the future. North East Somerset squawked at one comment, pulling the cigar out of his mouth to bark at the journalist that he "don't intend to work with FRUDL". 'FRUDAL' is, of course, a common dysphemism to refer to the Founderless Regions Alliance and the United Defenders League. In regards to North East Somerset, expectations suggest that he may just be the most divisive and controversial delegate yet to reside in Winter Palace. Makhnovia Liberated! COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF The sun rises in Makhnovia, the day after being liberated from Fascist rule. Makhnovia was liberated last night by the combined forces of United Defenders League, Lazarus, TITO, The Pacific, The East Pacific, The Founderless Regions Alliance, The South Pacific, Wintreath, The LHCB, Spiritus and Renegade Islands Alliance. Makhnovia has been under fascist occupation by the Right Wing Uprising (which includes fascist and Nazi regions), until the liberation force of over forty defenders, swarmed into the region and removed the fascist invaders. Tim-Opolis, the triggerman for the liberation and all-around perfectionist, was critical of his own performance, telling The Rejected Times that he was unhappy with the timing. But nonetheless, he says the region was liberated and returned to the natives, which is "what matters in the end". Triggering aside, the leaders of the participating organizations were thrilled with the liberation's success. "We were pleased to work with everyone who came out and believe this was a substantial mission for all of us," says Chairman Milograd, "22 Fascists is nothing to laugh at. Aside from the usual faces, it was great to work with The South Pacific, Renegade Islands Alliance, and the New Pacific Order in realizing this mission. The LLA wants to start working more with all of them and believes that there is a lot of potential for success when we work together". The UDL echoed the Chairman's sentiments. "I think this was a great liberation," says Mahaj, Chief of the UDL, "it showed that the might of defenders is impressive, and that even active raider delegates are not safe in their castle of tyranny. The UDL looks forward to doing many more liberations with the LLA, EPSA and allied forces". When asked what he felt it was like to work with UDL's new allies, EPSA, Mahaj was enthusiastic (with just a hint of veiled mordancy). "I'm glad to see the EPSA in the liberation as well," says Mahaj. "I think it shows that, unlike on the invader side of the field, our treaties are meaningful on the battlefield, and aren't just ways of justifying corroding the region's structures". We spoke with Xoriet, who had the pleasure of attending on behalf of EPSA -- it was her first liberation. She was very excited. "After all the defender flak I've been reading on the forums lately I was curious to learn for myself just how efficient the organizations were. Needless to say, it was fairly amazing," says Xoriet, grinning happily, "there is no tinge of what might-possibly-be-guilt on liberations versus invasions. The success of a liberation is sweeter than a raid. Especially a liberation where the delegate in question has an alarming number of endorsements. Liberations mean you have thwarted the efforts of a raider region.". Kringalia, Vice Delegate of The South Pacific, who had been a spectator to the liberation returned to The South Pacific, excited as well. "NSA should do more missions with the LLA from now on!" Kringalia tells The South Pacific, while echoing his sentiments to The Rejected Times, "I've never been involved in military gameplay, so it was quite something to see how a liberation actually happens. I do know the value of the NSA in promoting activity and engagement in the region. There is also much potential to develop our relationship with Lazarus, so I think it's only logical to want to work with an active military, like the LLA". At the moment of success, The Rejected Times was there to capture the wild cheers and (now censored) cursing from all of the participating defenders.... Quote The East Pacific ratifies new UDL Treaty COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF The East Pacific has ratified a treaty with The United Defenders League – their treaty last year was withdraw due to mutual conflicts and confusion over the intent and scope of its wording. This new treaty has been written to address the problems with the last treaty. In its preamble, The East Pacific sympathizes with The United Defenders League's defender cause, while The United Defenders League praises The East Pacific’s diplomatic maturity. Overall, the treaty is a fairly standard military-intelligence-diplomatic cooperation treaty. Nonetheless, the treaty serves as further guarantee of The United Defenders League’s service in any time of need, despite its new GCR Non-Intervention Policy, which prohibits The United Defenders League from intervening in feeders and sinkers without legal obligations to do so. Bachtendekuppen, delegate of The East Pacific, called the new treaty, “a serious enhancement” over the previous treaty. He said the treaty recognizes a relationship that has been blossoming between the two parties for the past year, while the merry Puffin expressed his hopes that the treaty encourages more “mutual help and cooperation”. “It shows that the UDL is capable of respecting that The East Pacific as a region has its own sovereign interests,” says Bachtendekuppen, “while TEP respects the mission of the United Defenders League to safeguard the security and sovereignty of regions across NationStates”. The United Defenders League’s leader was no less thrilled. “I'm delighted it passed,” says Mahaj, Chief of the UDL, “I think The East Pacific is a great region and it'll benefit both of us. I look forward to working with The East Pacific on the battlefield: they have a bunch of competent people there”. When asked whether he thought the vote may have been a surprise to some, The Chief struck an optimistic tone. “Ultimately The East Pacific has to make their own choices and I'm glad they made this one,” says Mahaj. “I think this shows that treaties between GCRs and military organizations are possible without resorting to piling in citizens to vote and subvert the regional consensus”. He was, however, not so optimistic about the UDL’s critics. “I look forward to the Cormac Starks and Evil Wolfs of the world proclaiming loudly as if they think they're a bunch of prophets about how this treaty will be the doom of The East Pacific. Luckily, the people in The East Pacific are smart enough to see these people for what they are”. The treaty was officially “acknowledged”, on January 18, by the Office of the Delegate after its ratification by the Magisterium on the previous day. This marks a return to a much closer relationship between these two world powers. XYZ Treaty Passed COMMENTARY | THE CHURCH OF SATAN After the breakdown of the PSSP (Pan-Sinker Security Pact for those in the dark) another idea was suggested. Though it wasn't immediately acted on, over time negotiations came down to the ratification of The XYZ Treaty. You're probably thinking "Oh great, it's another PSSP. When does it end?" You could be right. Then again you couldn't be more wrong as well! In the final stage the intended signatories were to be TRR, Lazarus, Mordor, Renegade Islands Alliance and 10000 Islands. This treaty doesn't bind the signatories entire region necessarily, but just its military, if they so desired before ratifying it. Frattastan, delegate of TRR, made it perfectly clear that the treaty itself does not have 'sinker unity' in mind, it is oriented towards defender regions, and along with the annexed protocol, it'll be more heavily focused on culture and military cooperation than the PSSP ever was.The XYZ Treaty is first and foremost, however, a multilateral treaty for defender regions. Frattastan explained the treaty enthusiastically to The Rejected Times. "It's a multilateral defence/cultural treaty," says Frattastan, delegate of The Rejected Realms, "with an additional protocol (to be signed only by the RRA) to create a framework to facilitate military cooperation between the largest defender or defender-leaning regions. It does not set up an inter-regional organization". The treaty itself has an interesting history -- it was first proposed by Sauron from Mordor, several months ago and negotiations began in November. All intended regions took part in negotiations regarding the ratification of the treaty, however in the end 10000 Islands rejected the treaty. Nonetheless, 10000 Islands were more than happy to work with all of the signatories in the future though. "I liked the concept of the PSSP however, but it needed to be done with like-minded and already friendly regions, unlike the PSSP," says Sauron. "The initial concept and idea was brought up by myself after a brainstorming exercise with Karputsk back in late August, before I expanded and fleshed out the idea in more detail with the then President of Spiritus, Wintermoot. A number of people have added to the idea including Harmoneia, Guy and Shizensky to name just a few." While negotiations were mostly smooth, with the treaty well received abroad, there some initial concerns. "There were some concerns in the beginning," says Shizensky, " but they came from the older members that were around when we were in the ADN. We learned then that inter-regional organizations just weren't our thing and those members wanted to make sure were weren't putting ourselves into a similar situation. There was no opposition to the treaty once the drafts were introduced". There were also concerns voiced in The Rejected Realms and Mordor that the treaty may prohibit the region from engaging in war measures, however the general response seems to be that none of the participating regions would participate in armed conflict anyways. Ultimately 10000 Islands decided to reject the XYZ Treaty, which was expected by many of the participating world leaders -- although they all had positive things to say about the region. "I love 10000 Islands a lot and respect them," says Milograd, "but they're not exactly the kind to really break from isolation (and that's okay!). I was pretty surprised when I found out that they'd be attending our drafting session, actually. I appreciate that they were willing to consider working with us in such a capacity, even if it didn't happen in the end." Grub, however, spoke briefly to The Rejected Times and said with a concealed smile, "Good news may be coming to TRR from XKI". So, in many ways, we'll just have to see what the future holds for defenderdom. In the meantime, a new multilateral treaty has been brokered between some of the game's largest defender regions and the future looks bright for now. How long will it last? Nobody can say for sure but only time will tell. All of the world leaders I spoke to expressed cautious enthusiasm for the new agreement. Onder Kelkia Lecture Series Set To Start COMMENTARY | KOGVURON The Emperor Onder Kelkia Lecture Series of 2014 has been announced by the University of the Land of Kings and Emperors. The series will contain essays both on NationStates and on real life topics from a variety of authors. The series was announced in early January at the NationStates World Fair. There has been no word yet on whether the lectures are only open to non-enemies of the state, which would prevent many defenders from contributing ideas or comments. However, this writer speculates that they would not be welcome anyway. There has been no announcements of any timetable or schedule as of yet and no word on who will be speaking. Lectures were a major part of the NationStates World Fair and hopefully, the essays presented here will be of the same quality as those presented a few weeks ago. Those lectures were quite thought-provoking and enjoyed by many, including noted NSer Cormac, who said, "I liked the World Fair lectures overall. I thought some of them were a bit odd, but regardless, everyone put a lot of effort into them and I appreciated their contributions to the philosophy behind this game and some of the issues that confront us as players." When asked if he intended to attend the Kelkia Series, he added that he does not plan to, but does think that the series will be "brilliant." We are sure that this will be a great event and represents another step in the trend of lecturing on NationStates, which we hope to see more of in the future. Kknight replaces Feuer Ritter - Bob Moran promoted COMMENTARY | HORSE "You could say they went with the 'dark horse' candidate.... I feel bad for making that pun". This month in TBR, the same old same old seemed to be taking place. Bob tagging the s*** out of regions, we defenders stopping him a few times, new privates spamming regions, threatening to raid them. But then, the kind-of-predictable-because-it-happens-bi-monthly happened! Feuer Ritter, recently promoted Chief of The Black Riders, resigned from his post, citing personal reasons for his resignation. This, obviously leaving a vacancy in the Chief position, forced Halcones to choose from his fine selection of Marshall’s and General’s. When the decision finally came down, Kknight was revealed as the new leader of the spectacular invading region. Citing “previous experience and knowledge” as his ascension through the ranks, Kknight took the reigns on January 12th, 2014. In other news, Bob Moran, one of my favorite invaders (possibly my favorite) has been promoted to the rank of Captain. Citing his commitment to invading and the region as his quick ascension through the ranks. Bob Moran has quickly become a well known raider in his short time on NS. I kindly asked him to stop tag raiding. He said “Ok, I'll stop for the duration of our current occupation, just because it's you Horse!!”. He clearly lied, because they tag raided last night. Y u do dis Bob. Y. ;-;. In all seriousness though, my sincerest congratulations to both Kknight and Bob. I hope to see you every major update (lest I become bored for a long time. Massive "Puppet Dump" Rises COMMENTARY | UNIBOT A massive "puppet dump" (a region made of someone's puppet-nations) has been growing in size. "Unknown Region", the newest puppet dump, was created by Polia on January 12. By January 15, "Unknown Region" had gained 250 new nations, only to be followed with another 380 nations by January 17. How is the founder of this region making so many new nations so quickly? A "Create Puppet" feature on NationStates++ has been Polia's weapon of choice. The grand puppetmaster told The Rejected Times that the "Create Puppet" system is "very quick and easy", although he later continued by admitting that the overall process "takes a very long time". "Even with NS++'s 3 buttons, it took an hour to create all 250" says Polia. The puppetmaster explained that his goal was to surpass The Black Riders's home region in size. Polia noted on a sad, reflective note that The Black Riders had recently invaded The Empire of Official Chat. Polia, however, stressed to The Rejected Times that "this is not about revenge and glory". He also said that he hoped to surpass 1030 nations and enter what he called "The Big Ten" -- presumably, the top ten regions in terms of population. Nonetheless, puppet dumps on massive scales tend to attractive a lot of negative attention among broker-region communities (e.g., Europeia, 10000 Islands) for displacing genuine world leaders on the population rankings. True North, NationStates's last major puppet dump, was condemned on December 13 2012 by the Security Council for building its region with puppet-nations. The subsequent repeal of "Condemn True North" argued that the original condemnation successful persuaded True North to significantly reduce its operations (downsizing its region by five thousand members). Polia says, however, is not concerned about international opinion. "I do not mind the unpopularity," says Polia. "I intend to stop after around 1500 nations". Evil Wolf resigns from The North Pacific Security Council COMMENTARY | FRATTASTAN Justifying the move with a sudden urge to "murder small woodland creatures and kick puppies", Evil Wolf announced his resignation from The North Pacific's security council last Wednesday, thus freeing up his WA nation from his obligations in TNP. The decision came only days before The South Pacific finalised the repeal of its treaty with Lone Wolves United, widely considered a deadweight alliance due to the lack of activity of the invader group, which hasn't had a major presence in the battlefield for over two years. This was the second diplomatic setback for LWU in the matter of months, following Lazarus's repeal of their treaty with them in December. When asked about his plans for the future, Wolf - who is well-known in the NationStates world for his exploits as a region crasher - has refrained from commenting, save for a few snarky remarks. "Obviously a group that does not exist cannot have 'activity'", he said when asked if we should expect a resurgence of Lone Wolves United, or if he intended to dedicate himself to other projects. So far, Wolf's current WA nation has escaped detection. "So, it seems Unibot wants to know where my WA is. If he were paying attention, he would already know". >> OPINION Recruitment: Building a Foundation of Principles OPINION | CORMAC A STARK Cormac Stark discusses the need for reform in our recruitment system... When I posted a thread in Technical raising concerns regarding the new telegram system and its impact on recruitment, I had no idea if others shared my views. I quickly discovered that they did. While no consensus has been reached on how best to deal with recruitment, there has been broad agreement among players that the current system isn't working. Some players cited the massive amount of spam new and refounded nations are receiving. Others noted that it is difficult, if not impossible, for regions that aren't using stamps or auto-recruitment scripts to compete in this new system. A myriad of proposals have been offered -- including a reversion to manual recruitment, tweaks and limitations to the current system, and new ideas that shift the focus away from telegrams -- but most players seem to agree that change is badly needed. While the proposals that have been offered are well-intentioned, the starting point for this discussion should be about the broad principles behind recruitment in NationStates rather than the mechanics of how recruitment is performed. We're never going to agree on the mechanics if we're all just throwing out ideas without putting any thought into the basis for those ideas. When we talk about recruitment in NationStates, what are the principles that should guide that discussion? This is the question we need to be asking before we can move forward, united as players behind a mechanics proposal for administrators who may be understandably reluctant to roll back the system they so recently created. The first principle in any discussion of recruitment should be fairness. Our recruitment system should be fair to regional recruiters and there should be a level playing field for all recruiters. The system should also be fair to new and refounded nations, bearing in mind that the first goal of recruitment is to find these nations a home -- a place to belong and to be integrated into the NationStates community. There are other principles that can and should be considered, including but not limited to accessibility, effort, and innovation. We need to make sure that our recruitment system remains accessible to the broadest number of regions possible as well as to new and refounded nations. We should ensure that effort is rewarded because those willing to put effort into recruitment are also likely to be those best equipped to teach new players how to play this game. We should also prioritize innovation because the more innovative the approach to recruitment, the more interesting the process, the more likely that players are going to more actively engage with that process. We all know that this recruitment system isn't working. Let's come together and discuss the foundation of principles upon which we want to see our recruitment system built, and then let's approach game administrators as a united community with a proposal to build that system. It isn't enough to tell administrators that we don't like their system. We need to tell them what we want to see instead, and before we can do that we need to determine exactly what we, the NationStates community, want from our recruitment system. Players can participate in the ongoing recruitment discussion in Technical here. The Occupation of SPACE : An Open Letter OPINION | XANTHAL Xanthal, long-time delegate of SPACE and prominent neutral, makes a passionate address to the world... By now it may have come to your attention that SPACE is currently under the control of The Black Riders. The present occupiers have begun to make threats which lead me to believe they may ultimately intend to clear SPACE and turn it into a trophy puppet region. SPACE, as you may know, has been a welcoming region to raiders and defenders for years; a place for the R/D game to be played in good spirits on all sides. These threats may easily be harmless baiting, but as the closest thing SPACE has to a native leader I feel that I cannot simply ignore them. For that reason I have asked my friends in the raiding and defending communities to monitor the situation in SPACE. I now invite you to do the same. The truth is that this is going to play out largely regardless of my direct actions. Our survival as an open, Founderless, and free region continues to depend upon the providence of the raiding and defending communities, as it always has: the mechanics of gameplay demand it. By its very nature SPACE exists perpetually on the edge of a precipice; as the native Delegate I've managed to walk that edge for five and a half years, many invasions, and many liberations. I've always known it would end sooner or later, either pulled over by malicious raiders or yanked away by the more restrictive regional administration that some defenders have urged. Nevertheless, I continue to be fond of the idea that a region can choose to be founderless -- a place for the R/D game to play out in a way that's fun for everybody. SPACE, in my mind, epitomizes that idea; when it's gone, so is one of the precious few examples of a region where raiders, defenders, and natives can occupy the same space and not be constantly at each other's throats. I and the rest of the community will move on, but I think that will be a little sad.

Would you prefer the "Glorious Fight Against the Nazi Scum of 2013" or something like that?

They didn't recall him. He resigned, technically.

>>> FEATURE Profiting from the "War on Nazis": A lost cause with benefits... EDITORIAL | UNIBOT Unibot examines the rational choices made by state and non-state actors which precipitated the “Nazi Hunts” of 2013. As the New Southern Army claims victory over the Nazis in the region, “Fascist”, I cannot help but return to theorizing about the Nazi Hunts of 2013. For those who were not around for that phenomenon, let me begin by prefacing that the "Nazi Hunts of 2013" is just a term I've used to identify a period between January and June 2013 when there was strong political momentum, among a plethora of different political actors in Gameplay, to attack Nazi Regions and antagonize Nazism. Here is a timeline of some important events from this phenomenon: Timeline of Important EventsJan 01 2013 – GGR invaded by a collusion of independents and imperialists. (Asgard, The North Pacific Army, The Medjai Guard of Osiris, The Royal British Isles Navy, The Land of Kings and Emperors, Unknown, Right to Life, Venetia). Jan 03, 2013 – The Pacific declares war once against with The Greater German Riech. Jan 13 2013 – Cormac Stark joins the Pacific Army as Commander to fight Nazism. Jan 24 2013 – Anti-Nazi Summit begins in The Pacific. “Declaration of Solidarity Against Nazism” signed by Game-Created Regions. Feb 01 2013 – SovCon is created. Ratification by Equilism, The Pacific, Gatesville and Osiris came shortly after. Feb 15 2013 – SovCon takes “Union of Fascists”; broadens message towards “extremism” in general. Feb 21 2013 – “Regarding the Fight against Hate and Nazism in NationStates” is published by UDL. Bans UDLers from invading Nazis. Feb 23, 2013 – Nazism is a hot topic, SPINN (The South Pacific’s News Tabloids) runs a piece on the differing opinions of Nazism. March 16 2013 – “Liberate NAZI EUROPE” passes. Delegates organized under the Anti-Nazi Summit to support the resolution. April 12 2013 – SovCon, The South Pacific, The North Pacific, Balder, Lazarus and The Kingdom of Denmark invade The Greater German Riech. May 2013 – Senator Gaspo, chief Anti-Nazi, banished from NPO for treason. May 18 2013 – EPSA invades the following regions for having embassies with GGR: The United San Diego States, Luek Empire And Allies, Elite Region of Global Command, The Imperial League and Lost Outpost. Spiritus defends against EPSA controversially. Jun 02 2013 – SovCon disbands. Jun 11 2013 – “Riech” invaded by The Pacific, Lazarus, Balder, Equilism, and Asgard. Jun 12 2013 – UDL withdraws from the UDL-TEP Treaty over "Nazi" issues. Jun 2013 – Failed Invasion by PEF, EPSA, TBH, UIAF et. al. of NAZI EUROPE. Later becomes the subject of the “NPO’s Retort”. Largely the campaign against Nazism dies off after these events... These events are so clearly in my mind because of the stark focus of the political atmosphere at the time on the "War on Nazis" -- there was no larger topic on people's minds that unified political actors more so than the movement to attack Nazi Regions. It was what we were talking about... it was what we were fighting over... it was what we were legislating about and having meetings about... it was what the game was about for several weeks -- at the height of the Nazi Hunts of 2013 in March, there was one key topic on everyone's tongues: Nazis and what to do about them. Some of the main spokespeople for the "War on Nazis" included disgraced NPO Senator, Gasponia (who co-founded SovCon), Cormac Stark, Dalimbar and Feux. During the Nazi Hunts, we saw independents, invaders, imperialists and francoists cooperate to invade many Nazi regions (I've simply listed some of the key invasions that I could find), we saw the rise of Sovereign Confederation (SovCon), an independent super-regional organization that was largely building a reputation attacking Nazi regions, we saw the first WA Liberation resolution pass that was intended to weaken a region's security (NAZI EUROPE) and we saw defenders, The Founderless Regions Alliance and The United Defenders League, publicly slammed for their seemingly "sympathetic" policies towards Nazism. The Founderless Regions Alliance, of course, defends Nazi regions on the grounds that all regions have the Right to Self-Determination -- The United Defenders League's position of neutrality towards Nazi regions is no more popular or politically inoffensive (often seen as contradictory). The United Defenders League changed its policies during the height of the Nazi Hunts to prohibit its members from invading Nazi regions, largely to curb what it saw was a counter-productive "War on Nazis" and to systemically deter cross-membership with SovCon, which it considered a rival competitor. Do note, the "Nazi Hunts" is focused on the invasion of Nazi Regions -- during this time, Nazis were still incredibly active on the battlefield and it was largely defender forces that were defending against popular Nazi organizations: The United Defenders League, for example, fought against National Socialist League in The Islamic Republic of Iran, GGR in Illuminati Assembly, Nazi Europe in Senatus Populusque Romanus, while The Founderless Regions Alliance defended Aeternam Unione from The GGR among other victories. With so much momentum and political resources fueling the Nazi Hunts of 2013, how successful were they in accomplishing their goal of ridding NationStates of Nazis? Surprisingly ineffective. I would go as far as to say the Nazi Hunts of 2013 actually accomplished the opposite effect -- strengthening and expanding the robust scale of Nazism in NationStates. Of course, there were small victories along the way: The Greater German Reich looked disorganized and on the brink of collapse at one point when some of its executives fled and the founder was temporarily deleted, meanwhile Nazi Europe purged its own region for the sake of security and took steps to protect itself (e.g., passwords, piling). Despite these small victories emboldening the interregional community, the reality is: as a whole, Nazism was not "hurt" by the Nazi Hunts, in fact it may have helped to rejuvenate the Nazi movement in NationStates and perpetuated steady growth overall of Nazism in NationStates. Here are two graphs I prepared using population data from NSHistory. In Fig. 1, I've tracked the populations, over time, of the major Nazi regions in NationStates (Nazi Europe, The Greater German Reich, Nationali Socialist League, The Fascist Union, NBE, Union of Nationalists, BLITZKRIEG). I understand that at one point, there were quite a few operatives and subversives planted in Nazi Europe, however that should not distort the overall trend which can be observed more clearly in Fig. 2, a composite of populations of the major Nazi regions in NationStates tracked over time. Fig. 1. Population of popular Nazi Regions between 2012-2014. (click to enlarge) Fig. 2. Composite population of popular Nazi Regions between 2012-2014. What this data suggests is that the Nazi Hunts of 2013 were an abysmal failure -- the fact that Anti-Nazi conspirators were this unproductive was never collectively recognized. I reckon that the public was focusing its attention on "traditional" Nazi regions like Nazi Europe and The Greater German Reich -- without looking at a composite, more broader picture of Nazism in NationStates which includes many of the start-up, newer Nazi regions like National Socialist League (under the leadership of the enigmatic "Captain Woodhouse"). The data shows steady growth in Nazi regions across NationStates, the rise of new Nazi powers during the height of the Nazi Hunts and a mixed bag of modest consequences for Nazi Europe and The Greater German Reich's regional population (which both stabilized eventually). Overall, the number of "Nazis" (players associated with major Nazi Regions) has nearly doubled over a year and a half. The face of Nazism in NationStates is always changing -- population depletion in one Nazi region often means a population gain in another Nazi region. This is called the "Balloon Effect" or "Push Down, Pop Up Effect" -- it's a common criticism of the U.S's drug policy and the "War on Drugs" which finds that drug busts cannot systematically curtail the flow of illegal drugs. It's a similar story for aggressive strategies to antagonize Nazis: invading one Nazi region means the Nazis simply move to another Nazi region. Like the Americans' "War on Drug" policy, the logic of the strategy is largely undermined by the mobility of human resources and capital. There's also concerns that pursuing Nazis so aggressively and so publicly caused escalation, internally motivating Nazis to politically unite and strengthen themselves and also the Anti-Nazi campaign may have helped promote Nazism in a backhand kind of manner by giving these stigmatized regions a lot of unnecessary interregional attention. But the title of this article is not, "How we lost the "War on Nazis", it's "Profiting from the "War on Nazis"" -- so, how did political actors profit from the Nazi Hunts? I believe that the War on Nazis was (unsurprisingly) an entirely political affair, where a group of different political actors shared some mutual political interests to perpetuate this War on Nazis. It never mattered whether the Anti-Nazi campaign was successful -- in fact, some of the participating actors had good reason to want to see the conflict continue for as long as possible. There were five main interest groups which were involved in some form or another with the Nazi Hunts of 2013, let's discuss how they benefited (or suffered) from this fascinating phenomenon: Independents Independent regions like The North Pacific, The South Pacific, The East Pacific and Osiris found themselves in particularly unfortunate political circumstances in 2012. Many of them had created armies or reinstated their old armies either that year or the year previous – all of which were struggling to gain numbers, maintain activity and define themselves. There was not enough support for either defending or invading in their respective regions, so the armies were caught in a political quagmire and relegated to simply invading Warzones to do … something. For example, let’s look at The North Pacific. On July 27, 2012, Eluvatar sought public opinion in The North Pacific in regards to what the North Pacific Army’s mandate should be – his poll found that people were sharply divided over whether the army should defend (58.1%) or invade (45.1%). This kind of divided public opinion could not foster the political space necessary to advance a “defender” or “invader” mandate. However, the public was united that The North Pacific should strike its enemies (100%) and regions “that we do not like” (71.4%). What’s interesting is that The North Pacific was no more or less interested in defending against regions “that we do not like” (58.1%) than it was interested in defending against anyone (58.1%). From this it follows, defending against stigmatized groups only appeals to the same defenderist crowd, while presumably attacking these stigmatized groups was popular with centre-right voters to engender such high support among the electorate. Therefore, Independent regions like The North Pacific and many others are very open to invading their enemies and stigmatized minorities, but less open to defending against them – the campaigns to invade stigmatized minorities (e.g., Nazis, Spammers, Fascists) were simply the easiest way for them to find a mandate for their respective armies. The key point here is that independent regions desperately needed an activity like "invading Nazis", which would be popular enough for the regional armies to conduct, or else their regional armies would suffer the consequences activity-wise. Invaders and Imperialists Things were moving fast politically for Invaders and Imperialists alike during the Nazi Hunts of 2013; Common-Sense Politics took office on March 26 2013 as President of Europeia largely on his platform to provide an "olive branch" to Game-Created Regions and present Europeia as an alternative ally to The United Defenders League. Invaders and "Bi-gameplayers" were, meanwhile, making huge political inroads in The North Pacific by early April with Blue Wolf serving as delegate, Crushing our Enemies serving as speaker, Gaspo serving as Attorney-General and Punk Reloaded and Abbey Anumia serving as court Justices -- The North Pacific even invaded Warhammer 40000 alongside The Black Hawks, which was a key watershed movement. Imperialists, meanwhile, sought to maintain their power over Lazarus (under increasing pressure against Feux). It can be said that one of the main political priorities of both Invaders and Imperialists alike was to gain a stronger foothold in Game-Created Regions and as always: undermine defenders. With the Nazi Hunts giving Invaders and Imperialists an opportunity to work with Game-Created Regions, this was a perfect scenario for them. Meanwhile, these parties benefited from a boost in their public image as "tough" on Nazism and compassionate. Finally, I would also suspect that many invaders encouraged the Nazi Hunts because of a possible "Gateway Effect" -- presenting Anti-Nazi invasions as a "stepping stone" towards invading random, innocent regions like Warhammer 40000. There were some invaders, Zeorus and Cerian Quilor, most notably, who criticized the anti-Nazi campaign as being incompatible with the contemporary Invader's anti-moralism -- these minority views, however, were pushed aside by the majority of invaderdom to pursue what they perceived to be an enormous political opportunity. Francoists Francoists got involved with the Nazi Hunts with the War on The Greater German Reich for the explicit purpose of curbing their regional adspam in The Pacific and abroad. The original declaration of war notes their "pathetic adverts that frequently befoul our regional message board". I believe Francoists also liked the unifying effect of the Anti-Nazi campaign because it provided a political avenue for "Pan-Feederism", a goal of contemporary Francoism, as well as providing a unique opportunity for Pacifica to flex its soft and hard power -- organizing the "Anti-Nazi Summit" and the Pacific Army. SovCon Out of all of the actors, nobody stood to gain more from the Nazi Hunts than Sovereign Confederation which fueled its operations with primarily an Anti-Nazi framework to sets itself as an alternative to Defenderism (which it referred to as "dogma" in official documents). The War on Nazis was central to Sovereign Confederation because it helped to unify Game-Created Regions around its institution and helped bolster its public image against a constant barrage of interregional criticism that sought to define SovCon as a mere political extension (a softer face) of The Empire. Defenders Finally, Defenderdom -- a periphery actor in the Nazi Hunts were the only "losers" of the War on Nazis. Publicly, both The FRA and The UDL were significantly hurt by accusations that they were "sympathetic" to Nazism and the political momentum helped to internally divide The UDL (its senior staff was actually surprisingly unified on the issue, but in the lower ranks, disagreements over policy occurred). Furthermore, issues between The United Defenders League and EPSA over whether regions with embassies with The GGR counts as "arbitrary invasion targets" precipitated a collapse of the UDL-TEP Treaty. Meanwhile, there was also the typical tension that occurs overall between defenders and anti-Nazi independent forces which upset political relations between defenderdom and the centre of power abroad. When you put all of these interests together, you can paint a nasty picture of a political landscape, driven by different interests to perpetuate this unproductive, fruitless conflict: Fig. 3. Justifications for Anti-Nazi Campaigns. Everyone (even Nazis!) benefited from the Nazi Hunts of 2013, except defenders who lost political influence and were extremely vulnerable to political attacks for their supposed sympathy of Nazism. The Nazi Hunts of 2013 were a political phenomenon that was expanded and popularized despite being essentially unproductive, if not counter-productive, because these "Anti-Nazi" activities served a greater political interest for a complex system of political actors (Independents, Invaders, Imperialists, SovCon and Francoists) who stood to mutually gain from attacking Nazi Regions. I wrote this piece not to say "look at all the political things they did" -- this is a political game, I expect people to act with political interests in mind. Nonetheless, I've always been interested in irrational scenarios where political actors have it in their best interests to perpetuate a system that it clearly not producing its desired outcome, such as the "War on Drugs" or various American Food Aid programs -- in the case of the Nazi Hunts, I think we have a prime example of how this behavior can manifest itself in NationStates Gameplay. A clear conflict of interests however (which I noted in Fig. 3) was between the hope of imperialists, invaders and SovCon to expand their influence in the Game-Created Regions and the interest of Francoists in protecting Game-Created Regions from this outside userite influence. Ultimately, I believe the Nazi Hunts collapsed because these interests finally collided: the growing influence and presence of invader/imperialist powers in Game-Created Regions became too much for francoists to ignore. The last major attempt to invade Nazi Europe saw the unraveling of this major political complex as relations between Pacifica and the Europeian and Imperialist powers came to a sudden impasse. The Nazi Hunts of 2013 were one of the most important series of events in NationStates Gameplay last year because of their serious ramifications: the weakening of defenderdom, the strengthening of independentism, the rise and fall of Senator Gasponia and SovCon and the increased incursion of imperialist and invader powers into the game-created political arena. Today, we stand on the brink of the Second Great War in NationStates -- a political war which is a consequence of escalation, fractionalization, brinkmanship and a developing power struggle between the major world powers in NationStates Gameplay. The friendship between Defenderdom and Pacifica, the rise of the Imperialists and the parallel challenges and endorsements towards Independentism stands to divide our interregional society further and advance us closer to the possibility of total war.

Yeah I found that a while back and put it in the UDL Library. Such bizarre choice of titles.

>>> BREAKING DEVELOPMENT Glen-Rhodes elected as MoFA in tight race! COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Stock footage of cheering people. In a dramatic finish, the highly contested election in The South Pacific between Glen-Rhodes and HEM for Minister of Foreign Affairs concluded today with Glen-Rhodes ultimately the victor: 17-16. Yes, you read that right: 17-16. It was a helluva show. Initially it looked as though the election would have to proceed to a run-off vote. Upon further review, the run-off vote was found unnecessary and dissolved immediately. Glen-Rhodes told The Rejected Times he was very excited about the election and the opportunity he has been given. “My interests have always been in foreign policy,” says Glen Rhodes, “so the two and a half months will hopefully be exciting (in the best of ways, of course). HEM offered some tough competition, and I thank him for putting up a good fight. He was very courteous when we talked after the winner was announced. I look forward to settling into this new office, taking an inventory of where we are and where we want to go”. Glen-Rhodes thanked all of his supporters. The delegate seemed just as excited about his apppointment. “I'm thrilled that Glen-Rhodes won the election,” says Escade, Delegate of The South Pacific, “I'm glad to have endorsed him because his platform is exciting and in line with many of my own ideas”. When asked about the tightness of the election, the delegate struck an optimistic tone. “The fact that it was a close race tells me that both Glen-Rhodes and HEM brought really appealing ideas to their platforms,” says Escade. “I hope HEM contributes his great skills to TSP and look forward to a project with him as well”. HEM, shortly after the election, resigned as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, citing his belief that he no longer had the confidence of the public, having lost twice for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. “I am a servant to the voters, and am receptive to their will,” says HEM. While HEM ran on a platform clearly outlining his strong belief in Independence as a guiding ideology for The South Pacific, Glen-Rhodes’s platform focused on the need for more substantive relations with The South’s existing allies and confidence-building measures for the region’s regular associates. Escade and Kringalia, Delegate and Vice Delegate had endorsed Glen-Rhodes for the position and Escade has since said that Glen-Rhodes’s vision for The South Pacific’s foreign affairs is closer to her own vision. In the next few weeks, we’re to hear more of what this vision entails as an agenda is expected to be published soon.

Issue XII, January 11, 2014 Editor's Note Us again! It was a helluva job getting this ready in time for the finish of the NS World Fair while breaking news was happening all over the place yesterday. Thank you to all of the staff for sticking with me and not revolting when I said I wanted two editions, five days apart from each other. You guys rock. This couldn't have happened without you. I think events are covered here that may prove to be historic in the future (if you're reading this in the far future: "hello !"). >>> 2014 NS WORLD FAIR CONCLUDES NS World Fair in Retrospective: An Interview with Escade, Unibot and Kringalia INTERVIEW | KARPUTSK Congratulations! The NS World Fair seems like it was a grand success - did it go as you expected? Unibot: It went better than expected for me. We had a bigger turnout in the regional venues than last year and more speakers at the lecture hall - and bigger turnouts for those lectures. I thought our lecturers were top notch. Pretty much as soon as Sir Paul open his mouth, my expectations had been exceeded for the lecture hall - that line-up pushed that event to the next level, I thought. It started out right and finished with intellectual flair. Escade: Hi Karputsk, nice to meet you. Yes, I am extremely impressed with the world fair. I met so many new people and began carrying conversations over to IRC and TGs\PMs. I also learned quite a lot in the lectures and hope to put some new knowledge into action for TSP. I almost wish NS was the world fair, where everyone was just hanging out and enjoying themselves. Kringalia: I am quite proud of how the World Fair has been received. I think we all had high hopes, and I'm glad to say those hopes were met and surpassed. I specially enjoyed the lectures, and am happy that so many people attended and participated in them. Also, the venues have been fantastic, regions have worked hard to showcase their culture and give visitors and an enjoyable experience. Overall, I think it's been a great pleasure to help organise this, and to be a participant. What was your favorite moment from the Fair? Kringalia: There have been many, but probably the moment I most enjoyed was the day before it opened. Only few of us were registered and working around the clock to set up the venues and making sure everything was ready for the gran opening. It was a really exciting moment, to see how something that had been organised for months be ready for everyone to attend. Escade: My favorite moment was just going to each and every one of the regional venues and seeing all the different activities and joining as many of them as I could. Unibot: It's no secret, I absolutely loved the lecture from Sir Paul. I had spent all night preparing for it and hadn't slept - I'm a Sir Paul fanboy and I loved his work in NationStates. Otherwise, I think the best moment for me was the beginning too, like Kringalia - I love people's shock and excitement when they see the forum for the first time and they're all cheering and commenting. We keep the forum secret because I think it generates that buzz and energy which is wonderful. Whose Regional Venue impressed you the most? Unibot: I really liked Ninedale's thread where they were doing artwork for people to put in people's avatars. I thought that was really clever and unique. I also liked Lazarus's venue a lot. They went all out. Kringalia: I'd say TSP's, but since I helped set it up it wasn't really a surprise for me. Probably the one I found most impressing is the one from Lazarus, as an example, I really loved the "Little Red Book". But in all fairness, I think all regions made an effort, and all had something particular to contribute with. That's the point of the World Fair after all, to give every region a chance to show what they are as a region. Escade: It's hard for me to pick a venue and not an activity. I think that I learned a lot from all the fun activities like the "Make a Pony" thread or the guestbooks, or the AMA threads. Any venue where I learned something was awesome. What makes the NS World Fair so great? What is the formula to its success? Escade: The NS World Fair is a way for regions to showcase their strengths, accomplishments, culture and people. So it's the regions and there players that make it a success. Players get to enjoy themselves in a bright atmosphere and also partake in lectures about the game that we all play and enjoy. Unibot:: I think it's the one week of the year where we aren't political enemies, we're just friends, celebrating a great game and a bunch of great regions. We explore new ideas in the lecture hall, we joke around and play games with one another. That's the kind of atmosphere we don't have usually. It often gets very cynical without these moments to brighten up your experience in NationStates. Kringalia: I think a great contributor to its success is how there is no definite purpose to the Fair beyond interacting and getting to know each other. This wasn't a political event where tensions could run high, it is a cultural event for all regions to show their best and also there was something for every one. We had games, role-plays, discussion threads, lectures, etc. So basically, like Unibot and Escade have said, this is an event where we can just have a good time, and let's be honest, we all like to remember every once in a while that NationStates is, above all, a game to have fun with. Unibot: It's funny you bring that up, Kring, because there's no definite purpose to NationStates either. Both the Fair and NationStates are eclectic, because there's so many different directions you can go with it. Kringalia: Exactly. So basically it's what kind of experience you make of them. This one is for Escade and Kringalia: Would you recommend other regions in the future make bids for the World Fair - and if so, what would you tell them to expect as Hosts? Escade: I would highly recommend that regions bid to host the World Fair. It's a great opportunity to learn more about the rest of the NationStates community. Personally, I learned far more in these few days from amazing people then I might have otherwise. As hosts, your duty is to be active and cordial and support the regions and their venues. The goal of the fair, for the hosts I think, is to see outside of themselves. I have to say some of the recruitment offers from certain regions were very tempting as well. Hosts, please be aware that Unibot and the NS World Fair team will build the forums and make all the magic happen so you don't have to worry about that. Kringalia: Yes I would. Being host is a great opportunity to be more visible as a region and to promote an event that has great potential (as we have explained throughout this interview). It gives the chance to welcome others and one must ensure that they have a good time, that everything is being done in such a way that nobody is uncomfortable. Like Escade said, being host is also a great chance to know more about NationStates, an even greater chance than if one were to attend individually, so I definitely think all regions should submit their bid if given the chance. Following on from that question: has The South Pacific made some new friends or connections it feels it can improve in the coming future? Escade: Yes, definitely. We're already planning some inter-regional events with other regions and considering diplomatic ties as well. I've also met some people who really inspired me and mentored me so I think that as I move forward on my campaign promise to TSP, I have a stronger graps of how to make things work. Kringalia: I think we have already been doing that even before the Fair, but certainly once the Fair started we had a greater impulse and opportunity to meet with different people and regions. I do think that the Fair has been a positive influence when it comes to that. This question is for Unibot: Is there going to be a "next" NS World Fair? What can we expect from it? When? Unibot: Oh ho ho. You never know! I suppose another NS World Fair would be quite great, yes? We'll need time -- could be more than one year to put on another great event for you. All of this takes a lot of planning and then after you've made all the planning, you need a lot of flexibility and the ability to quickly reschedule everything and plan new things to replace everything that doesn't pan out. All of the organizers did an incredible job. I can say that during next Fair, if I'm still running it, they'll be one lecturer who could not make it this year because they were unfortunately on vacation this week. They're one of the coolest people to play the game and they did it with incredible flair. I'll give you a clue: 1708. Have fun figuring that one out. Of course, now, the question everybody has been waiting for - what was your favorite badge from the Fair? Unibot: My favorite badge was The Rejected Times's badge. That's not even me being self-promoting, I just thought it turned out brilliant. Kringalia: Like Unibot, I don't want to be self-promoting, but I really like TSP's badge (and SPINN's). I just think they are elegant and simple, not too big, and also with the right colours. NSNE's badge is also pretty cool I must say. And Europeia's. Escade: I loved Northern Oceania's badge because it was a gif and shiny! I also liked DSA's badge, it was sweet. Aesthetically, Spiritus was probably my favorite. Unibot: NSNE's badge was just downright tacky! When I made NSNE, I made its colour scheme as tacky as possible because I wanted to throw people off that it was me running it. Now I've kept its deliberately bad artwork and bright colour scheme for kicks. What do you expect the lasting legacy from the Fair may be? Unibot: I think it'll be the friendships and new diplomatic relationships made, as well as possibly an NS Issue (regarding the NS World Fair) if I can get it accepted by the Issues Staff!! That'll be fun if it happens. Kringalia: Well...I'm not sure. I guess it's too soon to be sure, considering it hasn't even ended. I do hope it's legacy involves the great opportunities to learn new things we had with lectures, and also the motto itself, which is friendship and cooperation. We wrote that for a very specific reason, and that's because that should be the focus of our NS experience. Hopefully some of that will stick. Like Unibot said, it would also be pretty cool if that issue was accepted. Unibot: I'm going to start drafting in on the NS Issues forum, so I don't forget about it. Escade: I think that the fair was an inspiring example of the best that NationStates has to offer. I hope there are more such fairs to come and that people take the ideal of "This is a game that can be a wonderful experience if we just try." Kringalia: Yes, I fully agree. We need more opportunities to remember this is a game, so don't take it too seriously and just enjoy it! That just about wraps it up. I was going to ask Unibot to give us a little more detail about his issue of his but I am sure it will be on the NS forums soon. Thanks for the interview and of course, the World Fair! It was beautifully hosted and well organised. Unibot: Thanks guys. Great interview Kringalia: It's been a pleasure. It's always a pleasure to be interviewed by The Rejected Times. Escade: Thank you, Karputsk for the interview and Unibot for making the fair so awesome for all especially the snow! _______________________________________________________ Review: "After Polysemes: A Reconciliation of Negative Nativeness and Regionalism" REVIEW | FRATTASTAN In his World Fair essay, Kogvuron opened the lecture mentioning his personal transition from a cosmopolitan to a more regionalist mindset during his time in NationStates. He attempts to prove that a regionalist political culture - founded on a strong identity and which demands from its citizens loyalty to the core regional values - can co-exist with a negative definition of native, one which describes what a native is not (a popular example: "A native is any nation which takes up residence in a region without the intention of furthering the goals of a foreign force"). Historically, "regionalist" regions have been characterized as illiberal and less open to newcomers compared to their cosmopolitan counterparts, mostly as a consequence of their adoption of a positive definition of nativeness. Would it be possible to reconcile Regionalism and Negative Nativeness? While negative nativeness could encourage passivity, Kogvuron argues, a comparison of the definitions does not show a necessary contradiction with regionalism, as the mere presence of natives which choose not to contribute would not damage a region's identity. In the second part of the lecture, the People's Republic of Lazarus is presented as a case study. It is noted that that a politically open regime co-exists with a typically regionalist culture and that the basis of its identity (an application of class conflict to NationStates, with an open-ended definition of "proletariat", consisting of all nations with little political capital) could be construed as a form of negative nativeness. While, in the end, the question on whether negative nativeness can be really beneficial for a region is left open, the author believes that a reconciliation with regionalism is possible and is happening in Lazarus. The arguments were presented in a satisfying manner, but I felt the lecture did not answer all the questions. However, the topic was certainly extremely interesting – and in the future should merit further attention. Review: ★★★★ _______________________________________________________ Review: “In Defense of the Best” REVIEW | A SLANTED BLACK STRIPE This was a self-described “sporadic and stream of consciousness” essay on independence. Hem began by challenging the notion that independence can be defined as a military stance or a balance between raiding and defending. Rather, HEM offered that “independence is all about politics.” HEM also argued that regions which adopt pure raider or defender positions end up as “slaves” to those ideals or to the leaders of those causes. “Independence is the realpolitik of Nationstates,” HEM claimed. Independence allowed regions to make practical decisions based on local politics and principles, rather than being limited by an ideology. In the spirited discussion which followed the essay, there appeared to be no change of position by the readers. Those who choose independence and those who found it immoral were unmoved, although all were passionate in their replies. This reviewer enjoyed the energy of the presentation and follow-on debate. Review: ★★★★ _______________________________________________________ Top Ten Venues at the NS World Fair OPINION | HORSE So, as most of you all know, the NS World Fair has finally happened, after months of preparation (and slacking off *pokes Unibot*). Of course, in every fair, you will have your “Holy shit this is amazing” types of booths, and your “What even is this…” booth. Here are my Top Ten booths from the NS World Fair, from tenth best to the absolute best! 10. Ninedale This may come as a surprise to most people, as most people hadn’t even HEARD of this small region before the Fair. What made this region a fun and new twist on the booth is the addition of a MS paint portrait topic, in which users can ask Sopo, a member of the region, to paint a picture of the user that has requested the image, only based on their name, and a topic where you can win a embassy request from the region, becoming its first ever embassy in it’s history. 9. The West Pacific This very well known region is number nine on the list for a few reasons. The first being that they explained their region perfectly in their topics, such as their government and their region in general. 8. Equilism With a ton of topic and a ton of culture, this region takes our number eight position. Loses points for the same badge though... 7. Unknown Great topics, great people, great badge. ‘Nuff said 6. Spiritus A few topics, but were amazing fun and a great badge. Not biased in anyway, of course. 5. The United Defender League For better or worse, this venue was rather good. A lot of topics, spam games, etc., the whole nine yards. Not too much discussion, but a lot of fun -- just how I like it! 4. The Rejected Realms Now I hate to say it, but this one really surprised me. I thought it was just going to be another “Look a badge!” type of venue, not really my cup of coffee. But this wasn’t of course -- it had TWO badges.TWO. 6/10 -- would visit again. In all seriousness though, a great example of culture and what is happening in the region, so it gets a good rating. (Editor's Note: Technically it had three badges if you count The Rejected Times!) 3. Canada Come for the great healthcare, or perhaps just this regions great booth. To my disappointment, no posts in most topics, even though they are wonderful ;-;. They have a nice little contest, history, etc. I am a bit sad I didn't check out this region's venue earlier and will hopefully do so next year! 2. Lazarus Clearly not a biased choice at all and Milograd isn’t making me say this to keep my job... >.> <.<. Seriously though, this venue was a great example of what to do for the NS World Fair. From the quotations... to the essay Haramonia wrote, this is a exemplary demonstration of what to do to showcase a region. Also: that gaming booth seems to look good too *shoves everyone towards his part of the booth* 1. The South Pacific You know, even if they hadn't hosted this fair, they still would have won if they gave the amount of effort they did to make this venue. With the amount of fun things to do, topics to discuss, fun people to hang out with (Santa being my personal favorite), this is just a fun venue to chill out at. Not only that, but the effort that they made to make this happen gives them some bonus points, so maybe that’s why they won, not that Santa bribed me with cookies or anything... _______________________________________________________ Review: “The Defender and The Home” REVIEW | GLEN-RHODES Spoiler alert: if you already feel no sympathy for defenders, the latest article published by Unibot will not change your mind. For the rest of us, The Defender and The Home is a sober look at how and why it is sometimes difficult for the most dedicated of believers to find a place that they can call home in NationStates. Unibot weaves together personal experience and political theory to tell a story of how defenders can be left isolated among the major gameplay ideologies out in our game. Unibot opens his article with a bit of political theory some might find too thick – a common complaint when it comes to his works. But his explanation of Rainer Forst’s writing on the theory of toleration fits NationStates so well, I’m left surprised the connection hasn’t been made before. The central claim of The Defender and The Home is that the adoption of Independence has led to the exclusion of defenders in regional communities, due to the ideological choices they are forced to make in order to adapt to the policies advanced by the Independence movement. The Defender and The Home is the fourth in a string of works on the player’s search for a home in NationStates. The Polysemes of Nativeness, the seminal work on nativeness, asked what kind of home defenders have under restrictive definitions of nativeness and regionalism. The Transpacific Trade explored the relationship between Game-Created and User-Created Regions, attempting to answer how players find their homes. In what Unibot describes as his magnum open, Paradise Found, he began in earnest his writing on the impacts of Independence on defenders. The Defender and The Home is not a new magnum opus for this prolific author, but it is an excellent piece of writing that continues the work of Paradise Found. Many will find problems with it. Criticism of failing to apply his theories to raiders, who critics say are just as shunned as defenders, have already been lodged. But for those of us who are part of the shared experience, The Defender and The Home resonates so clearly with our positions in NationStates, it may have already earned its status a classic work on defenderism. Review: ★★★★★ _______________________________________________________ Review: "The Right to Socks: What's Left for the WA?" REVIEW | THE GRIM REAPER As part of the World Fair, organizers reached out to lecturers both obvious interests to the broader community (Milograd, and Venico, as recent additions to the GCR delegates of history), and some that covered a "topic of limited appeal." To use his own words is perhaps to buy into a level of humility that seems rather mismatched against the giant of NS history that presented his "topic of limited appeal" - whilst a WA newbie like myself may struggle to recall Gruenberg's name, many of us are more than aware of his work in setting stepping stones for WA authors and commentators through works like the "Ban on Slavery and Trafficking", which Unibot notably remarked was "perfect". However, history is a poor bedfellow for those of us who have traditionally disdained the miles of legislation the WA and UN have passed, myself included, and so it is my opinion that Gruenberg's work can also be considered with fresh eyes. Far from a history essay, Gruenberg presented a contemporary look at the WA through the eyes of his newest incarnations, 'Vibrant Coconuts', both bemoaning the 'malaise' that has increasingly befallen a discontent and seemingly stagnant WA, and looking forward with the eyes of someone that saw opportunity even in the dying days of the UN to write, and to write well. Gruenberg opens with a seemingly nostalgic opinion of the UN he used to write for - for someone like me, having played since 2008 and yet not once been particularly involved in the WA (except for, as a new roleplayer wishing to pursue a run-of-the-mill dystopia, having had to deal with slave abolitionist movements and the like - thanks Gruenberg!), I certainly took note of his observation that "since the first World Fair in November 2012, 23 of the 53 passed resolutions have been repeals, 13 targeting substantive resolutions passed in this time, and several of the remaining 17 proposals being replacements of previously repealed laws." Whilst one would immediately assume this would follow on as a dire call to arms, and for reform, Gruenberg makes the interesting move of declaring that all is needed is a little bit of culture shock. It is a call that is distinctly not targeted towards the audience one would assume for this essay - as a result, I highly recommend the work to those who most likely did not read it, those who are new to the game or have never quite considered the GA. Gruenberg's essay covers the main factors that control WA activity - legislation, mechanics, rules, and roleplay. He first covers legislation as a facet that is revelant to all those interested in the WA - his first line is exactly what is needed to a shock a WA that seems to have space only for repeals and replacements. "The WA is nowhere near close to legislative exhaustion." His pieces of history here merely serve as context to an argument against overly broad GA resolutions, and to call for a general rethinking of how the current generation of authors - and observers - view the WA, as a paintbrush approach to restricting members. For those interested in writing legislation? I absolutely recommend taking a look at the long list of subjects Gruenberg reeled off with ease. As Gruenberg suggests, there is ample space to research and write on a myriad of different ideas not covered by the broad, umbrella resolutions we see popular today. Mechanics and rules are something that are perhaps the most foreign to the average player - here, he certainly aims to please the experienced author looking for a formal written opinion. However, he is careful not to take a reformist or militant approach - instead, these become topics that are subordinate to his ideal of WA authors that write legislation, instead of waging war. To use his words, changes to things such as WA categories would require players to "work together on a concrete and tightly worded set of proposals, and make their case firmly and clearly." Gruenberg's final section is one that is perhaps both timely and untimely for a world that has recently seen the Roleplayer lobby return to its position, antagonizing raiderdom (and in some cases, Gameplay as a whole). Gruenberg here espouses a view that I would argue seems antiquated to us - a world where RP was essential to the WA, which is barely hinted towards in the Strangers' Bar and certain drafting threads, during a year where the curtain between various sections of NS has become significantly more drawn. "Roleplaying was emphasised during the NSUN's periods of greatest activity, and that is surely no coincidence. Restoring such an emphasis would offer a means of involving even those players who find that their favourite topic has already been legislated on." As a roleplayer myself, who has been at odds with the prevailing viewpoints of my fellow RPer, I find myself agreeing with Gruenberg's opinions that RP can serve as a valid extension of GA editing, commentating, and authorship, just as it can a valid extension of community building. "A number of roleplays in the NSUN were essentially irrelevant to the particular resolution being discussed on any given day, .... but they greatly enhanced immersion, the sense that we were participating in a genuine international assembly." It is seemingly a paradox, to read what Gruenberg writes, and to see the people who were truly interested in it. His place as a historical figure is simply reaffirmed by the colourful dialogue between himself, Unibot, Eluvatar, and Abacathea that dwelled deeply into the history of the UN and his ideas behind his own works (for those already interested in the UN's historical resolutions, and Gruen's place as an author, I recommend you give the IRC logs posted by Gruen a skim to see if anything interests you, for it was a discussion certainly targeted to the veteran). But, to read his essay, it is more than a call-to-arms - it is a personal commentary on a world that Gruen is new to himself. Vibrant Coconuts commented and observed a world that prides itself on things that the UN never did - unlike the chaotic battlefields of the UN, the WA now has blockers that "are and aren't" illegal, and sees routine Repeal and Replacements. One would assume, therefore, that Gruen would come to us calling for the elite WA authors to argue for change and rules. That is not what this essay is about. It is an essay calling upon the WA community - past, present, and, hopefully, future - to keep writing. As a new player, I found it a refreshing look at the WA devoid of complex terms like 'IntFed' and 'NatSov' and 'Illegal under Rule 4', and in their stead, a straight-forward reminder that there is a lot of space to cover, and only so much time to write about it all. In the IRC chat, Gruenberg made known his intention to release a WA guide for new players and new WAers on the TSP forums - I look forward to it, and expect it to be brilliant companion that adds the last touch of polish to a highly inspiring four star essay. Review: ★★★★ _______________________________________________________ >>> OTHER NEWS The Rejected Realms is officially a “defender" region!! COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Frattastan rallies the crowd: “it may be a historic day”! At 9:18:46 AM EST on Jan 10th, Frattastan, delegate of The Rejected Realms, officially changed the region’s regional tag to “defender” and removed the old “neutral” tag. A citizen’s petition on the eve of Jan 9th had proved fruitful, as citizens, who signed the petition to recognize The Rejected Realms as a “defender region”, were rewarded with this quick response from the delegate. When asked how he felt about the breakthrough, Frattastan held back a smile as he jested, “It may be an historic day, but for me it's just Friday”. Frattastan defended the bold decision. “We are home to a defender army, we are allied to defender regions, we don't attack others, and if outsiders describe us they will use 'defender' more often than 'neutral',” says Frattastan. “It's a point where the difference between 'defender' and 'defender-leaning neutral' is so subtle that the latter is more of an awkward label than an adequate description (and it's been questioned before). It "isn't the same as being a defender", but here it was really becoming that”. When asked whether the stance will affect the region’s culture of inclusiveness, Frattastan was clear: “The tag isn't an invitation to join any war, or an attempt at excluding invaders from citizenship, government seats or diplomatic relations,” says Frattastan, “It is a description of our current FA alignment and the fact that the government doesn't sanction raids”. The global reaction to this move has been… well: “Wait!? The Rejected Realms wasn’t a defender region already?” This has, of course, been a common misconception: The Rejected Realms has, until now, been officially “neutral”, even though it is a member-region of the FRA – its defender army, The Rejected Realms Army, is separate and autonomous to The Rejected Realms. With the recent announcement from Lazarus, The Rejected Realms’s long-time ally, that it too would join defenderdom and the expected ratification of The Rejected Realms’s second multilateral defender treaty; this seemed as good of time as any to affirm the region’s stance. Today marks a very special day indeed for the future of The Rejected Realms _______________________________________________________ "Empire has Fallen" ; Purges escalate in Osiris COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Columns of fire and smoke rise against the Osiran skyline from the scenes of chaos last night... Last night at Major Update, The Osiris Fraternal Order ejected and banned members of Spiritus and the last remaining member of The Empire from Osiris. Neo Kervoskia, known as “Lord Griffin” in The Empire, was sent to The Rejected Realms, alongside puppets of Spiritus Defense Forces: Tim Stark, Campinia and others. Venico ejected and banned the military units from Spiritus, then moved to The Brotherhood of Malice right before Osiris had updated – which allowed Detective Figs (managed by Koth) to eject and ban Neo Kervoskia. Before the minor update Venico returned to Osiris, retaining his endorsements from before the “update surf” (as military professionals call it). Cormac Stark (officially, Cormac Somerset-Holland) speaking from the Office of the Vizier of Osiris, discussed the purges with The Rejected Times. “With the removal of these few remaining hostile units, Osiris is now able to definitively begin its journey down the path of peace and stability” says Cormac, “- a journey that will soon begin in earnest with the passage of a constitution by the Deshret and elections for Pharaoh, which should occur within the next few weeks”. When asked why the Osiris Fraternal Order had targeted military units from Spiritus, Cormac said Spiritus was “the only region to express outright hostility against the Osiris Fraternal Order and to commit to its overthrow through force”. He also told The Times, that while the Order had enough Regional Influence to eject the nations of Mahaj and Wopruthien, they have chosen not to, which he says is evidence that these purges are not against defenders in general, but more specifically targeting members of Spiritus and The Empire – enemies of the state. Venico, delegate of Osiris, was optimistic about this recent purge. "It is hopefully the last chapter to this war," says Venico, "With these final threats removed, I can feel much better when I hand over the delegacy to someone else. God bless the OFO." After banning Neo Kervoskia, Detective Figs changed its motto to “Empire Has Fallen” – signifying the culmination of a dramatic shift of power in Osiris. _______________________________________________________ New Raider "Kommandos" Emerge COMMENTARY | KOGVURON A new raider group, The Dutch Super Kommandos, made their first hits over the last few days, tagging Discordia, Atlantic, Blubberland of MORDOR, and Schakastan. The group clearly has good connections, getting support from the UIAF of the LKE, TNI, and Albion, The Black Riders, Ceseris, and the Kingdom of Great Britain. But who are these Orange Raiders? Well, the Kommandos are an "elite paramilitary force" hailing from the United Kingdom of Netherlands. UKN, a region of 73 nations, has previously only been known for their fight with United Kingdom over several colonies. While those tensions seem to have been suppressed, the region is now making a name for itself in another way. It is unclear whether the Super Kommandos are indeed the official military of UKN or just a group of raiders based in the region. However, these raiders are not sticking to the path of imperialism followed by most monarchist regions. So far, the Kommandos first missions have indicated that they will be doing more "tag" invading than other monarchist regions who focus more on occupations. Nonetheless, this new group is only a week into their life, so it is a small sample set to draw conclusions from. We will follow the Kommandos closely as their group expands and update you if there are any important developments. _______________________________________________________ The Pacific and Mordor ratify “The Charcoal Treaty” COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF In an unusual move for Francograd, The Pacific has signed and ratified a treaty with a User-Created Region: namely, Mordor. Mordor is a successful defender region founded by Wopruthien, which some cool cats may know as Officer of Culture in The Rejected Realms. The treaty acknowledges their recent “cooperation, their closeness, their ideological unity”. It is a particularly comprehensive diplomatic-military-intelligence treaty. While the stipulations requiring military and intelligence cooperation are not foreign to other treaties by any means, there is a surprising amount of detail in the treaty with respect to how the two parties should act in public with one another and how military cooperation between Mordor and the Pacific Expeditionary Forces shall be organized. The Charcoal Treaty, however, is not a “new” development, per se. “We ratified it a while ago,” says Senator Feux, “we are just posting it in the People's Assembly so it is stored somewhere for the public”. What remains to be seen is whether this new relationship is a sign of more things to come for Francograd and its diplomatic excursion into the brazen and rich lands of defenderdom. _______________________________________________________ "Commend Eluvatar" soars towards victory COMMENTARY | UNIBOT “Elu… wrong button …” A commendation of Eluvatar, written by McMasterdonia and Kiwitaicho, is expected to pass by a landslide today. The North Pacific, The South Pacific and Spiritus were the early backers of the resolution, while Lazarus, The Rejected Realms, The East Pacific and The Pacific, among others followed shortly after to commend NationStates’s bravest turtle. Osiris and The Land of Kings and Emperors are the only two major regions that have, at the time of writing, voted against. Although Europeia did vote for the resolution, they announced they were “dismayed” that Eluvatar’s role in uncovering Ravania’s misconduct in the NPA had not been included in the resolution. McMasterdonia, author of “Commend Eluvatar”, fired back on the forums in regards to the subject, saying that it was “definitely not the most honourable thing done by Eluvatar”. He defended the omission against claims of “whitewashing” on the NationStates Official Forums. “At the end of the day Kiwi and I wanted to commend him for his incredible contribution to NationStates,” says McMasterdonia. “Eluvatar didn't oppose the inclusion of that clause because it was political, but because he wasn't exactly proud of how it was handled. We weren't going to propose something that he would wear with shame rather than honour. That is just how it is”. The resolution commends Eluvatar for his contributions with The United Defenders League, Taijitu and The North Pacific, in addition to the role he has played in the liberation efforts against The Empire, The Crimson Order and many other extrajudicial regimes. The Rejected Realms was unanimously supportive, 12-0, of the resolution (thirteen, if you count Karputsk’s double vote – he was just so eager!). _______________________________________________________ Farengeto crowned Chief Justice in The South Pacific COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF In a surprise landslide victory, Farengeto defeated veteran player, Belschaft, 16-9, to become The South Pacific’s new Chief Justice. Belschaft congratulated Farengeto – telling him it had been the first time that he had been defeated in an election. We managed to sneak a brief chat with the winner, “I'm amazed at the level of support from my fellow TSPers,” says Farengeto, “I never expected such a victory and I'm looking forward to a successful term. A huge thank you to all my supporters”. Farengeto ran on a “reform” based platform and is another fresh face added to the current government which is increasingly reflective of a new “generation” in The South Pacific. The ongoing vote between veteran, HEM and relative newcomer, Sandaoguo for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs has been, in particular, very divisive -- expect coverage of that vote from The Rejected Times as it comes to a dramatic conclusion later this week. _______________________________________________________ Lazarus Forum Server Faces Difficulties COMMENTARY | TRR STAFF For the past few days, the Lazarus board, nslazarus.com, and other websites affiliated with Hobbes, have been down. The Rejected Times sat down with Hobbes to discuss what was the cause of the server downtime. "Well, a rather interesting combination of DDoS attacks on our host and some other factors resulted in an emergency move on the hosts behalf a few days ago" says Hobbes. "Given the circumstances I don't blame them for making the move, all data was saved and Lazarus's service (and HobbesHost & affiliated websites) was restored yesterday. This does not affect what host we use, at least, for me, but Milograd pays for nslazarus.com hosting so if he wants to move thats his decision". Hobbes was very clear, however, that these DDoS attacks were unrelated to nslazarus.com, HobbesHost or anything NationStates. Regular users of the boards were seen waiting impatiently - counting down the hours even - till their region's forum returned to full service. The Lazarus forum was relaunched on nslazarus.com on December 21 -- since the revolution, Lazarus's forum participation has seen significant growth. _______________________________________________________ The North Pacific Invaded! COMMENTARY | UNIBOT Last week, The North Pacific was rocked by an invasion from The Skeleton Army. Yes, that’s right – NationStates’s premier non-WA invading group: The Skeleton Army! McMasterdonia, Delegate of The North Pacific, discussed the invasion with The Rejected Times in an exclusive interview. “We were just talking quietly on the RMB.....” says McMasterdonia, “we were hoping to rebel against the evil Skeleton Queen and secure our independence from her once and for all... Within a few hours we once again felt her bony hand around our throat as thousands of nations piled into the region. We could only watch in horror as Magicality City fell to the Skeleton hoards and the court house was burned to the ground (again!)”. McMasterdonia defended the decision to surrender the region – embarrassing moments of desperate begging and weeping caught on webcam and available on YouTube (before a request for its removal from The North Pacific Government). “I had no choice but to surrender immediately and beg that the Skeleton Queen show us mercy,” says McMasterdonia, “We had not realized that those loyal to the Skeleton Army had infiltrated every area of the government and the military and intelligence services”. The North Pacific has since opened embassies with The Skeleton Army, presumably as supplication to their newest overlords. _______________________________________________________

Since you were ADN, I'm guessing TRF betrayed RLA to some extent for ADN?

There’s two days left to the NS World Fair and we’ve saved some of the best for last! Our final four lecturers are from four of our most anticipated speakers. Visit us on IRC, #auditorium_one at the scheduled times to discuss the papers with the authors. It's be good fun and a great way to finish off the NS World Fair.

I talked to him last fall actually. I don't think that email is valid however. I did consider inviting him but I had thought that it would be unfair to EuroSoviets and Blackbird, because it would have ensured the seminar would have been consumed on the topic of forum destruction and The Red Factions.