Post Archive

Good evening everyone!

Forest news:

The Annual Forest Photo Contest should start soon. (It should have started in November but Mount Seymour forgot to start it.) The winners will be announced in January.

smh why is my phone suggesting annoyed instead of announced

If you're using a mobile browser, the button "Get Code" might not work. But, you can still click "here's a backup link" on the vote page, or you can get the code from NationStates directly: https://www.nationstates.net/page=verify_login

Further inspecting this, it looks like the reason is some kind of difference with how Firefox handles websites versus Chrome.

Same.

Hello! Welcome to Refugia! I endorsed you back. I'd recommend joining the regional Discord which the link to is in the description above the RMB. We're active here but EXTREMELY active there!

Welcome to Refugia! I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Full support. Democracy and leftism is confirmed cool by 9/10 political pundits.

I'll have to dissent on this one. The SLU's affiliation with North Korea, which openly supports the real-world Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and SLU's regional stance on this matter, make me uncomfortable. For anyone reading who disputes NK's unironic support of the DPRK, I'd direct you to their RMB, their "Getting Involved" dispatch which links to Maoist organizations, and their Important Links dispatch, which links not only to the official real-world DPRK website and news agency, but also to an opinion piece which excuses the DPRK's dictatorship, human rights violations, use of gulags, etc.

To be clear: the DPRK has done things which are good for their citizens, but this is a pretty low bar when they're coming from a background of practicing Juche (a form of autarky) which led to famine and poverty while the elite reveled. It's one thing to argue, say, that Kim Jong-un's economic policies are trending in a positive direction, which is an arguable and nuanced point, and another to deny reality and focus on an idyllic view of the country as being as it may have been in its infancy. I'd dispute any region which adopted a positive skew toward Hitler's Germany, toward Stalin's USSR, Assad's Syria, and so too do I draw the line at even half-measured acceptance of the Kim dynasty's transgressions masquerading as critical analysis.

This is where I'm at. I felt one way until the conversation and that comment has unsettled me. The vote is going, though, and I stand by all the comments in my dispatch, at least.

I didn't look into the connection with NK for the same reason I didn't when it came to TLA. NSLeft regions are allied with NSLeft regions. I kind of regret having this blind spot going into the vote. Sorry everyone 😅

Exactly this. Everything is working like it should.

it's a 7-day waiting period as long as you're in the WA

Aww, I'm really happy you're excited to vote. UwUsberg explained perfectly how to become a Member State. Once that happens, our regional bot, Dot, will add you to the list and the voting site will have your name show up!

Love for Dot!

Lack of any sort of tax planning is one of the major flaws in NS system.

And on other news:

LFG Celebrates reaching a 4 billion population

[spoiler=Read all about it!]

The Parliament has convened for a special festive session, with a few Guest Speakers, on the great Lawn of St Greg Ball Academy in the Fields, to celebrate reaching a population of 4 billion.

Dr. Orean Brandt, the Dean of the National Academy, said:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Teachers and Students, Citizens and Foreign Guests watching us on their Screens at home!

"This is a great achievement. Of course, we could not get to where we are, without my great colleagues here at the Academy, spreading knowledge across the country. We are ranked in the top 11% Worldwide in Intelligence. This is not an easy achievement in so big a nation."

The audience, most of whom composed of students from the nearby campus, cheered wildly.

Agnes Day, Secretary of State, rose to speak next.

"This is indeed a great milestone, and I'm sure we all appreciate the efforts and achievements of our Educational system," she said. "However, let us not forget all the help we have received from all our friends in the region of Refugia. They have welcomed us when we arrived here, with kindness and friendship."

"To Refugia!" she raised her glass of Eckie Ecola.

The crowd cheered enthusiastically.

The Prime Minister, Anne-Marie Juliette, concluded the event with a short speech.

"I'd like to thank my partner in leadership, Miss Day, for all the efforts she has put into our foreign relations.

"Our foreign advisors from the region greatly helped us boost our environment, and let us never forget that. We are now in top 9% worldwide for Eco-Friendliness and Environmental Beauty."

After the cheers subsided, the crowd sat down for refreshments and some entertainment. The Greg Sundance Group gave a musical dance show, and the National Chamber Orchestra played the 15th String Quartet by Mozart.

The celebration was abruptly cut short, as a winter storm suddenly erupted and everyone scattered to take shelter or drive home.[/spoiler]

Agnes Day, Secretary of State

Did you try the mobile link? That is what works for me!

Use the "Mobile" link, it works on all platforms.

I'm going to join the discord, is there any way I can join with a pre-existing account?

Welcome Qooq, Grantbambino, Freenery, Finkstonia, Ergenstien, Marelands, Liphia, Tovenia, Dinadina, and Spiritual And Free People to Refugia! If you have any questions about how Refugia or Nationstates in general works, don't be scared to ask either here or in our official discord server (linked at the top of the page). All questions are totally cool and everyone here is extremely nice and helpful.

If you haven't already, please consider joining the World Assembly by clicking on the link in the left sidebar of the page. It'll have you confirm your email, and then you can become an official Refugia Member State. This will give you access to our map, let you vote in our elections and on referendums, and even run for office. But if all you want out of Nationstates is to chat with nice people and answer issues, that's totally cool. We want to make sure that you have as much ability as possible to do the things you want to do on this site ^-^

And even though I've already given them a welcome, I thought I'd make sure Ongmonnif Inversa, and Nottinghaven got to see the rest of the information in this message.

Also welcome Midnight Sky and Overbeck, I'm so happy you decided to move a nation in and hang out with us <3

Oh the chaos of the WA, dunno how to feel about it, positive or negative but its chaotic WA

Question: What does it mean when one is endorsed?

The endorsement system is sort of a regional protection net. Every site update (2 per day), your influence stat goes up by 1+the number of endorsements you have. If someone tries to kick or ban you from the region, they have to spend influence equal to yours to do so. Because of this, if we're all influencing each other, we all become more safe over time. You can endorse as many people as you like. I endorsed you, but I'm also endorsing every other World Assembly nation in the region.

Also, if you endorse the regional delegate (which you've done :D), it gives us more votes at the World Assembly. My vote as delegate is equal to the number of endorsements I have plus one. So not only do we become safer as a region, but we also end up wielding a bit more influence at the World Assembly ^-^

There's a much more in-depth guide here, if you're wanting more than just my little summary:

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=968137

Oh well that's good to know that its good

Emojis for me to theft

I’ve looked into this one a little bit myself(even commented on the theoretical replacement), and I agree on almost every point. It’s an old, outdated proposal that could very easily be written better. I can’t speak much on improvement of the proposal as I don’t frequent the WA forums often but it’s written simply and clearly which is something I far prefer in the WA, especially on repeals where the only goal is to show people what’s wrong with the former resolution. I’m also glad they have a replacement in drafting, although I do think it could use some improvements. Imo I think the last sentence sums up the resolution rather well

“Believing that a replacement resolution actively instructing a committee to create clear, unambiguous safety regulations would be far preferable to this attempt at enacting a "one-size-fits-all" policy that, in its vagueness, achieves very little of substance”

Blankets!

Hmmmnn, yes, these are all good. I'll get some requisition orders out. Maybe they will be combines into glow in the dark kittens with flannel blankets having soup. And then we'll get their pictures into Discord emotes. *nods*

Presents

Could I ask what quoting does? I'm new to this game, so I just want some help.

Like this?

Solar Panels!

No solar panels?! Hmmmmm... Must think of something...

Can i ask why are we voting against the current SC vote? Not that i'm impartial here, since i am still a part of The Western Isles, but i might have some answers if you have questions

For the sake of transparency, I'll also post the thoughts that I've had on this vote. Some of which I dropped in Refugia, some of which I dropped in TEP's WAA, basically is this

I think that, ideally, a region that gets commended should be considered intrinsically good by all of the amount of contributions that it's made. Those contributions shouldn't just support the region but contribute to all of NationStates and give people infrastructure, information, writing. I think that "IC good" should also be a possibility too. Not that a region has to do all of those things, but it should do some combination of them to contribute to the larger NS community. It's not clear that's happening based on the writing that's been submitted.

That said, I also believe that if you have a stable and reliable UCR which exists for years and has been decent to people, providing a home and a community, that takes a lot of work and it should be fine to recognise that after it passes a certain threshold. Where that is isn't clear to me either, so the whole concept of this vote puts me on the fence. Something else to consider is that both this resolution and this resolution exist, and those don't meet my expectations either. It's arguable that passing Commend TWI would bring up the net average and help paint a better picture of how regional commendations are supposed to work.

Initially, I voted tentatively in support of this both here and in the East. However, I've switched to against entirely due to the author's personal choices of joining every possible region and trying to influence their discussions, arguing with members in their own regions, personally telegramming anyone who votes against. This is the author's right so long as they're not going things that get them in trouble with site or regional rules, but it rubs me the wrong way. Whenever someone does a telegram campaign to tell someone to change their vote, it signals to me that they don't know anything about the region, but if they voted a certain way, they're either wrong or confused. Certainly if I vote one way or another it will be because I want to and not because someone tells me to. This has always been my position for every vote campaign that's been sent this year.

I'm also given to understand that the author didn't ask the region if they wanted the commendation? Not that it's my place to get offended on TWI's behalf, but I do think this is bad form. That said, I'm also confused about how TWI's RMB is markedly against this resolution but pretty much everyone in the region is voting For.

In any event, where I was on the fence before, the overly aggressive tendencies of the author has caused me to land on the Against side of things. TWI may well be commendable, but I don't feel this is the right draft or author to make that case.

HELLO REFUGIA! I bring potatoes!!

*fires the potato cannon*

Just in time for Hannukah! :D

Great!

Hello everyone!

Hello! Welcome to Refugia!

Hello

Hello Hello Bye

Hello!

My fellow Refugians, this is a reminder that in just under 48 hours, the third weekly Refugia Game Night will begin, starting at 8:00 PM Eastern Time this Saturday. Unless I get any other suggestions, we will be playing Among Us once again. There are no requirements to join - anyone from Refugia is free to drop in any time once the lobby opens. Depending on how many people we get this week, we may also invite non-Refugian friends.

As many of you know, in these first two weeks we've had difficulties keeping a decent number of players in our lobby. I'd really like to prove that Game Nights are a viable tradition in the long-term, because I personally love the opportunity to hang out with other Refugians in that setting. I don't want to annoy anybody or put pressure on people who just don't enjoy these events, but I hope we can get more folks interested this time around.

Go to the card you are selling. Click on your ask, it will give you the option of changing the price or removing the ask.

It's been a long time since I played any jackbox games. If people want that, I'd love to try it for game night though

Very well, it would seem.

Zero? Wow this region is efficient

The vote on opening an embassy with The Social Liberal Union has finished as of twenty or so minutes ago. The final result was 4-9, meaning we will not be pursuing an embassy with SLU.

Thanks everyone who participated in the voting site! It was my first time setting something up on there, and everything seems to have worked out well.

Fortunately, that should be fixed for last time.

Speaking of which, for everyone else, there's about one day left to vote on the RRS referendum.

So I haven't really been looking forward to starting this conversation, but here we are. Up for vote in the morning is Repeal: “Commend The Holy Principality of Saint Mark”.

Proposal: (https://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_view_proposal/id=gorundu_1607928980)

Target: (https://www.nationstates.net/page=WA_past_resolution/id=302/council=2)

Thread: (https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=495504)

Just to walk down this list, I'm going to start with the target. The target seems like a fine commendation. People seem to like them, and as you can see in the actual text, they've done quite a lot for several regions. I'm fairly certain I voted for the original, but I wouldn't be delegate until the next proposal was up for vote, so it's not in the big dispatch. From the text itself, and without people providing counterarguments or pointing out things that are wrong with it, I'm pretty sure I'd vote for it again now.

Then you get to the repeal proposal. Oh wow, I must have been really dumb to overlook so many problems! The repeal points out that several points in the original commendation are either outright incorrect or at least vague enough to be misleading. And it makes a really good argument if you read it right after reading the original commendation. I don't know what the thread for the original Commend St Mark looked like, but for some reason, I feel like a lot of this probably didn't get called out at the time. I think a lot of the points in the original commendation have an honest core to them, but the repeal proposal makes a great case for why the writing takes away from those points. I wouldn't mind the idea of a replacement being brought up in the future, but that replacement would have to go much more in depth.

Don't go into the thread. It starts reasonably well, and there are posts here and there that help to explain what's going on, but oh my god. The West Pacific has spent the last few nights quorum raiding this proposal so that it would get knocked out of queue and hopefully expire. As you can imagine, this has caused no end to people getting really angry, and one particular representative of TWP has been showing up in the thread baiting and just being extremely toxic.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?