Post Archive

Welcome, Keadyvania, Akajytalgoa, Emitater, Palekia, and The Star Enpire, to Refugia! I hope you all enjoy your stays. If it applies to you, please pay attention to the rest of this message.

Refugia aims to be a friendly, laid-back community, which is open to players of all skill levels. Nations who wish to become more active in the region, however, should consider joining the World Assembly (WA). WA nations are able to vote on international law, and receive exclusive benefits within the region, such as the ability to vote in regional polls and elections, get a spot on Refugia's map, and even run for office when elections come up! If you're interested in joining the WA, check out this article, and make sure to endorse our delegate.

If you'd rather just chill with us, that's perfectly fine as well. We have an offsite forum, as well as frequent discussions on the regional message board (RMB), which everyone is welcome to participate in!

If you have any additional questions about the region or how NationStates works, feel free to leave them here, on the RMB. If you're interested in joining our offsite forum, look for the link at the top of Refugia's World Factbook Entry (the big text box at the top of our regional page).

Once again, I really hope you enjoy your time here, and look forward to seeing more of you soon!

Rain is cool.

I mean cool in both of its meanings.

Rain is the best weather, absolutely :)

I love rain!Especially the smell of wet soil.

I actually don't mind the smell of wet dog. To me it's just a dog smell, and I like dogs a lot more than I dislike their smells.

Petrichor is nice, it almost smells magical. The only instance I can think of when rain doesn't smell nice is when you're near a dogwood tree. They smell like someone smashed several bottles of unwashed wet dog perfume, and the rain makes that smell even stronger.

I think I t’s more unpleasant when my dog prances out into the rain, stands in front of me and shakes it off, then goes back into the rain and does it all again.

Hi all!

A new proposal has been submitted to Commend Honeydewistania. You can find the proposal here: https://www.nationstates.net/page=UN_view_proposal/id=calamari_lands_1617893824

Honeydewistania is an accomplished WA author and a long-standing contributor to NationStates' anti-fascist militaries and regions. The bulk of the proposal is devoted to listing and categorizing the WA resolutions that Honeydew has passed, focusing on new legislation, repeals, and co-authorship. While the volume of work is undeniable, there are some who express frustration with some of the quality and purpose of Honeydew's past proposals and think commending for these would not be appropriate despite how numerous they are.

I'm currently planning to not issue a recommendation on this proposal. There's a set of arguments going each way that I can detail in the proposal, and I don't see those arguments as being so lopsided one way or the other that I think I can issue a clear and unambiguous recommendation. I will still put together a write up explaining the arguments.

I've written a no recommendation Information for Voters on Commend Honeydewistania

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1530385

If a commendation is supposed to be a capstone for someone's career, it or the nominee should inspire in people more than a shrug. The lack of enthusiasm about this speaks more to me than the text of the commendation is attempting to. As it would be a waste for me to abstain, I will be voting against.

me a puppet?pfft ridiculous would a puppet have a map?

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1530582

Who are you tho O.o

Oh okay.

*whew*

I’m tired

I should mention, since it's at vote, that I'm in favour of the current GA repeal regarding voting rights of prisoners. Basically, the existing legislation reserves the right for nations to bar inmates from voting, and the repeal wants that off the books so we can have something that protects that right. It's barebones but pretty straightforward, and there's a decent chance a replacement will pass if it's well done. Not a lot more to say about it.

Certainly in the thread, there's a lot less interest in the replacement than there is for the repeal. That being said, I feel there is almost always more interest in a repeal than the replacement, so that's nothing new and definitely doesn't limit the possibility of the replacement going through.

My vote is based off my personal thought that, if you're in a democratic system, it's important to make sure every citizen has the ability to vote. I also couldn't accept any argument in favour of blanket banning incarcerated people from voting, given how unfairly it skews toward minorities and other unprivileged groups. If we all agree that prison feeds heavily into a system of institutionalised racism and classism, then denying people who are in that system the right to vote is inherently disenfranchising people who are already at a massive disadvantage in society. It's a pretty simple moral argument in my eyes.

Anyway, voted for.

*distribute free cookies*

Good Morning Refugia!

Welcome, Gausea, Tlaria, New Lai Paradise, Refugian New Arathi, and Pai Sho Lo, to Refugia! I hope you all enjoy your stays. If it applies to you, please pay attention to the rest of this message.

Refugia aims to be a friendly, laid-back community, which is open to players of all skill levels. Nations who wish to become more active in the region, however, should consider joining the World Assembly (WA). WA nations are able to vote on international law, and receive exclusive benefits within the region, such as the ability to vote in regional polls and elections, get a spot on Refugia's map, and even run for office when elections come up! If you're interested in joining the WA, check out this article, and make sure to endorse our delegate.

If you'd rather just chill with us, that's perfectly fine as well. We have an offsite forum, as well as frequent discussions on the regional message board (RMB), which everyone is welcome to participate in!

If you have any additional questions about the region or how NationStates works, feel free to leave them here, on the RMB. If you're interested in joining our offsite forum, look for the link at the top of Refugia's World Factbook Entry (the big text box at the top of our regional page).

Once again, I really hope you enjoy your time here, and look forward to seeing more of you soon!

Doing great. Looking forward towards tomorrow, when I'll be joining some friends for a short pilgrimmage trip. And you?

The bottom clause (1b) of the Freedom of Association resolution sounds like any government can label groups "threat to national security", but is that a reason to vote against it at the WA? Opinions?

The most extreme person in Refugia has the most extreme name :)

Yes, that's my thinking. What I posted in TSP was this:

No one has suggested such a thing. The concept is not about whether neo-Nazis should be criminalised, but what neutral third parties could be exploited by careless drafting of text in a one-track mind. World Assembly resolutions should not be written directed at nations that have their citizens' best interest at heart, but directed at those who do not. Else such a law would not be needed in the first place.

Relevant texts that I'm aware of are related ensuring member compliance, but the concerns I have regard nations who act in compliance with this resolution.

Presume you have a group, which is for all intents and purposes considered to be a peaceful political organisation, but it critical of the government and founded on bringing about a political revolution. As the text of the exception clause says "toward a specific group", any collection of beings which can be isolated and defined will satisfy this description. What prevents the government from saying that the group is spreading (or intends to spread) a message of hate against them and criminalise their dissent. What prevents a government from clamping down on a group that's critical of anything?

We're very far away from banning neo-Nazis in this scenario. As with other short resolutions, where scant text is not bullet-proof, it can be riddled with holes.

Sorry, I should have gotten something out before this went to vote. The issue here comes from the breadth of the mandate. A grassroots anti-leadership movement like Antifa could easily be characterized as a national security threat because of its interest in disruption. A political faction could be outlawed if some of its members use fiery rhetoric to refer to an opposing side. There's really no reason this needed to be here at all, since the default assumption is that members of an organization will be culpable for criminal conduct they participate in as a part of that group.

Hey everyone... I'm new to this game, and this region looked nice. Any pointers?

Could anyone help me? I've no idea how this game works except for answering issues and factbooks.

You can also just chat around on the RMB, and you can even chat on the RMB of regions other than your own if your region has an embassy on them. Like I'm doing right now.

Which brings me to: Hi Refugi, haven't been here in a bit! How are things going?

Oh hi, nice seeing you here, I had no clue you had a nation in Refugia

Hello, and welcome! I'd recommend checking out our How Does dispatches. These are a series of tutorials on how to navigate the ins and outs of NationStates :)

*picks them up and runs off with them :3*

Hi all,

I wanted to open the discussion early on Commend Kelssek. The proposal recognizes a player with a diverse set of contributions in the areas of GA authorship (and UN authorship, the international law making body that existed prior to the World Assembly but was dissolved due to the infamous cease and desist order), hosting and competition within NS Sports roleplays, and their contributions to the lawful government of Refugi embassy partner The East Pacific. On the whole, I am leaning towards a for recommendation as I believe there is substantial case for a Commendation. I do wish that the connections between clauses and broader narrative of the resolution had been built a little bit more, and I'm uncertain why so many different choppy clauses were used especially in transition areas.

Either way, I am open for Refugi input!

UwU tyranny

The more I think about it, I just become more skeptical of this proposal. I think the nominee is deserving but the writing is haphazard in some parts and generally lacks narrative and structure. It falls more than almost any other resolution for the "time to list some things" flaw, as it essentially consists of a list of UN/GA resolutions, a list of sports hostings and sports victories, and then a very very sloppy laundry list of every position they ever held in TEP. At no point does it create narrative and the TEP section in particular is sloppy, as positions do not equate to contributions.

I think we should recommend an against vote with a "go back, fix the writing, and try again" theme

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1287372

I've pushed some updates to the regional map images just now. Namely adding Lunerbehrgm and Koayo.

I'm pretty dense sometimes, so if I've missed anything that's supposed to be on there, or I got a detail wrong, let me know.

That’d be cool! I only ever play that mlp mod on HOI4 anyway

Omg, I'd love that. I wouldn't be able to play until June tho, exams suck );

I don't know how this would work, but it sounds neat and I'd be interested in seeing it :3

That would be nice. I don't play HOI, but that would be legit.

Hello!

Hi there, welcome!

Hi!

General Kenobi. You are a bold one.

Where do the buffalo go though? 🤔

Even beyond the personal reasons to vote against, there are plenty of others. I took a look at this last night before casting my vote (Against) and it's just... not constructed well. The writing is sloppy, it chooses to define things that don't need defining (NGO), and it doesn't actually do anything. Take a look at these clauses under 'Hereby legislates that':

I probably didn't need to bold the problem here, but encouraging isn't actually legislating. You don't write a proposal in the GA with the intention of legislating the governments that are in favour of what you're proposing. You write the proposal with the intention of regulating the governments that wouldn't normally do the right thing in this case. So all in all, at least from my one read-through, I can't see a reason for me to vote in favour of this. The goals might be fine, but to my eyes, the proposal absolutely is not.

Also, something Natalie pointed out in the discord server:

Got a couple herds about 30 miles from my place, maybe that's it.

My PC cannot handle HOI4 modding apparently

Question: I know that Refugia is generaly considered a left-wing region.My question is: which ideology do you support (If you support any)?Not to start any arguments or anything,just out of innocent curiosity.

I am a self-identifying Christian Socialist btw.

I see.My own environmental concerns started growing in the last couple of years.And I agree that every leftist should care about the environment.Well,I guess every human being should care about the environment regardless of ideology but we have to start from somewere.

パルチザンの歌が頭に残っている.

"Bella Ciao" is stuck in my head. The global socialist of the 20th century or just the global left made good songs.

I'd say something akin to the syndicalist beliefs but more mixed with democracy socialism of the west. But Christian Socialism sounds interesting! I'd like to know more about Christian Socialism.

I don't try to define myself with a belief or ideology because I feel it will narrow my worldview. I try to take things on a case by case basis. For example, a very relevant issue at the moment is "vaccine passports". You'll often find many conservatives are against vaccine passports, including my absolutely annoying governor, Ron DeSantis, and I am with them on that issue. I feel that it is an unacceptable abridgment of personal freedoms. Now, another thing many conservatives are also against is requiring vaccination (post-COVID times because not everyone has acceptable access to the COVID-19 vaccine) to be enrolled into school if the student is eligible/able to get the vaccine. I am for requiring this.

I can't believe I wrote out a full message here and forgot a very important last sentence