Post Archive
Region: A Liberal Haven
Welcome back Smurth and Liberals of America! Once again sorry for the mix up Liberals :(
I forgot that there's still so many homes without power. Do you think we should consider about extending the number of days in which voting will take place, in case other nations in ALH have no power and may be unable to access their nation due to such conditions beyond their control? Then again, if today is the deadline, I suppose we may not need to extend voting.
Also, our current constitution claims that popular votes must also be held to elect a Vice Delegate, 8 ministers (listed in our constitution), and 1 head minister. I do, however, think we can agree that times have changed in ALH and that the appointment of 9 ministers may not be possible. I suggest that once Delegate, and Vice-Delegate, elections are completed, that we amend the constitution to do away with now outdated positions, such as Minister of The Press, whose job is "keeping current 'minutes' from meetings posted publicly on the forum and keeping the region informed of all Ministry business. In striving to keep our government as transparent as possible, the Minister of The Press shall report to neither the Head Minister nor the Delegate, but to the general public alone." If not a "cleaning out" of such positions, I at the very least suggest a change in the use of such positions, as our forums seem to have not been put to actual use in roughly a year.
Unless, of course, I am unaware of our region currently already having 9 functioning ministers.
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The intended deadline for voting was Monday November 7th, however the constitution does allow for a maximum period of two weeks for voting. I have received 4 ballots thus far (out of a total electorate of 33). Alevuss, as a candidate, you can and should vote, so do send in your ballot. On Sunday I will make a decision whether or not to extend the voting period to a second week depending on the situation, eg. the number of votes cast in relation to the size of the electorate (turnout) and the power outages / snow problems occurring.
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Election Coordinator
A Liberal Haven
Hey everyone ;)
Hullo, Timely Being! How timely your being is, you can vote in the elections! Yay for democracy!
Democracy yes, however the eligibility to vote in this election is only open to those who are residents of A Liberal Haven, that have resided here from before the elections began on Monday October 31st.
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Election Coordinator
Ooops, sorry! Ignore me, I'm new! :D
The period for voting has been extended.
All residents of A Liberal Haven shall have a further opportunity to cast their ballot for their candidate up to November 14th.
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Election Coordinator
I would like to restate and reaffirm my support for the incumbent WA Delegate for ALH: Garchyland. He has served dutifully and has presided over the region in times of peril and uneasiness.
Sheila Anteres, can you tell us who is winning the election so far?
Oh no, that would compromise the integrity of the system!
The results will be released November 15th.
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Election Coordinator
Again, I urge people to vote for Garchyland. Unlike the relatively new Alevuss, he is an experienced candidate who has served our region well since its inception.
I worry that keeping such a long-standing candidate encourages complacency; I think change is a good idea.
Yes, because proven success and stability are such bad things to have...
I apologize for the lateness in my posting, I fear this may be posted too late:
I was never able to load my original platform, so I also apologize if this seems a bit jumpy and not well formulated, I'm really trying this as I think so it may not seem so well rounded.
I am all for change. I believe that change is an integral part of any society, any group of people that stay the same are almost always doomed to fail. My problem with Alevuss possibly becoming delegate has nothing to do with change, but rather with the ideas and credentials that Alevuss comes with.
I will always be against recruiting, for good reason. I'm all for close ties with other regions that allow nations to move around to regions that share their ideals, we have shared many nations and ties with one allied region, Philosophy 115. Alevuss proposes open recruiting, like going to other regions and asking for nations to come join us. That is asking for HUGE trouble, we have already had one raid in the last 4 months and open recruiting is asking for more negative attention to our region. I am not confident in Alevuss' ability to remain stability in our region, as I have since I created ALH in 2004 and have been delegate since 2008. I have strong, long standing ties with many regions and nations who will, and have, come to our aid during times of need. Alevuss is a newer nation who hasn't resided in ALH for even a year, I'm worried that if a raid were to happen he would not handle himself accordingly. Last time we were raided Alevuss welcomed the raiders and shared ideas with them; he congratulated the raider on his first successful raid. If this were a RL scenario Alevuss would have been booted out of power for sharing sentiments with the enemy.
I understand Alevuss' concerns with activity in ALH. I too have noticed over the years more and more nations Ceasing to Exist, or simply leaving ALH to die in some other region. I am all for activity but I don't believe activity must come with numbers. I am fine with having 20-30 nations who have active discussions, I don't need hundreds here to enjoy my time on NationStates. That being said, if hundreds were to come here, for the right reasons (not being recruited) then I would welcome everyone of them with open arms.
Like I've said, I'm fine with change. If Derk or Laak, or even Sheila if they joined the WA, were to run for election I would support their candidacy. This isn't to say I don't like Alevuss, I just don't believe they will be able to perform the necessary duties that come with being a delegate, their is a lot of behind the scenes work as well. Radical change is just as bad as no change, so I have a few ideas for if I remain in power:
Set up a new, relevant ministry that will be able to spark intellectual debate and discussion among nations using our RMB and any proposed outside forums
Update our constitution - There's many holes in it that would allow us to be raided and don't make us a very efficient region: Including impeachment charters and a new voting method, to allow for total transparency in our system. I think Sheila would make a great candidate for a minister.
Please reconsider your vote if you have already cast it in Alevuss' direction. I would like to have this region up to par for the next election, and I would love it if more than just 2 candidates ran for the delegate position!
I believe today is the deadline for voting, so get them in quick!
Garchyland
&
Polaris & Vega
Delgate/Founder, A Liberal Haven
Post self-deleted by Garchyland.
I'm sorry for the typo's and grammatical errors; I noticed a few. I should have proof read first :-/. Also, Alevuss hasn't logged on it 4 days, during elections. That's not a good sign, to me anyway.
Garchyland, I'd already brought up the topic of vote changing with Sheila, and it was made clear that votes can't be changed; I assume it's i nthe constitution?
No it wasn't, I left it up to Sheila because they were the ones that would be dealing with the added record keeping. I believe we decided because of the power outage and my lack of ability to post a platform that those who voted could change their vote in any way they wanted, so long as they didn't abuse that privilage.
Okay, both candidates have released their platform declaration, which includes the direction in which they wish to guide ALH in. All members can make an inform choice as to who they wish to lead the region.
Today was the scheduled day for voting to end, however, as I have only received a total of 8 votes cast out of an electoral of 30, the election will be extended as the current turn out is too insufficient. If I were to declare a victory tomorrow, that person would be put in office based on the opinion of 4 or 5 members out of a community of 30; such a minority administration doesn't have a proper mandate from the majority of ALH in which to govern and might cause instability and disharmony. The victorious candidate needs a clear mandate from the majority of ALH in which to move forward and lead, thus I ask, beg and besiege all those (eligible voters - members residing here before the start of the election) who have not yet voted, to cast their votes NOW (by telegram to me).
As to matter of changing your vote: now that both candidates have released their platforms, you might have a change of heart / opinion, you may telegram me, clearly stating your desire to change your vote from your original choice to you present preferred candidate.
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Election Coordinator
I believe any suspicions of ALH being a region that is rather inactive have been confirmed. Nonetheless, I suggest voting going on until December 1st. If we do not have enough votes by then, we will just have to end the votes as they will be, since it is clear we are not able to reach a number as high as 30, especially consider we have 31 nations in the region.
Also, RIP Crisqothia, though, I am certain you will return.
Also, I move that Garchyland votes for the resolution, Repeal "Legalizing Prostitution".
Alevuss please watch your endorsements. Our constitution states all nations must remain at least 2 endorsements behind the delegate. In the event you win the election endorsements will be granted accordingly, however until then we need 100% compliance, especially during elections.
Thanks
I will never support any candidate that promotes recruitment. I highly recommend that the other members of this region vote in kind. We are a haven for liberal minds who wander about the landscape of this service, not a tawdry establishment that wildly advertises its wares to all.
Also, I move that Garchyland vote against the repeal of the legalization of prostitution.
Will do
Oops it appears I thought you and Alevuss were voting in the same direction. Am I mistaken?
No, Derkomia is against, and Alevuss is for. I back Derkomia on this one, but doesn't it need to be agreed upon by the cabinet?
Nope only requires two votes from member states, therefore your second is enough!
The endorsement problem with my nation has been resolved, I believe, in case any are wondering now.
If we did proceed to do any sort of recruiting, we would have to take care not to make ourselves off as "a tawdry establishment that wildly advertises its wares to all." With the new addition of tags to the website, we would be able to narrow such searches regions that seem to be amiable in both communication and to what we stand for. It would be similar to how modern companies target their customers by seeing what sort of shows they watch to gather information on their interests. I would not encourage advertising in a "willy-nilly" manner, as I recognize that that can be both dangerous and give off the air of obnoxia to other regions. Even if we do not come to a consensus to advertise in a responsible and thought-out manner, I do believe we should be more active in finding said like-minded/amiable regions and forming embassies with them.
^ I like the sound of that!
We're not a company trying to sell our goods. If nations share ideals with us they can find us without having to see us advertise. Embassies are a good idea with the right region, however an embassy we created was used in the second to last raid we had, something I and others have learned from. Tags are good but they also offer complications, I'm very worried about the "founderless" tag we will have once again when P&V CTE's, a tag that can't be removed. Why add more attention to our region when most attention is negative? We have always been a HAVEN and havens don't advertise their goods. I feel a close connection with everyone here because we found each other, none of us were rounded up out of other regions.
Post self-deleted by Laak.
Hey, everyone. Sorry for the radio silence. Computer trouble. I see that the elections are still proceeding, but, in the words of monty python, now for something completely different:
Any opinions on the colossal failure of the deficit supercommittee? I think that, while it seems everyone in Congress is acting pretty childish, the blame for this last un-success falls squarely on the shoulders of the republicans, and their pledge to "never raise taxes." It's frustrating that no one in the democratic party is calling them out on this blatant policy to destroy any and all social programs the government supports. Also, the fact that republicans gave up early and instead started working on ways to prevent the across-the-board deficit cuts for only the defense budget should be the nail in the coffin to prove their intentions aren't really in the interest of the general american populace. But, somehow, people still don't seem to be getting it.
Also, this is an interesting article about the actual level of awareness that news companies actually purport to their viewers/readers/listeners. My favorite part is that people who watch Fox news (America's largest news company) are actually less informed about current events than people who don't watch news at all.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2011/11/21/fox-news-viewers-uninformed-npr-listeners-not-poll-suggests/
Interesting, considering the fact that my paternal grandparents watch Fox News just about all day and believe it to be the ONLY trustworthy news source. Naturally, them acting like this constantly gets on my nerves.
Sadly, I haven't had much to time to delve into the world of politics and the like this year due to how school has been for me this year.
I do, however, assure everyone that I will, if elected, be able to keep a watchful eye over the region and possible threats, or any votes for the region or I to take a specific course of action.
Laak, I saw that article at the end a couple of days ago and found it hilarious! I'm afraid that I can't give much in the way of opinions regarding USA politics, as I'm in the UK. If cost-cutting measures couldn't be implemented in my country, however, I'd be pretty angry.
Just realized that the word 'oppression' in my motto was spelt incorrectly. CRINGE
Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans!
Yay turkey!
Fellow nations: Tomorrow is the last final day of voting! I urge all those who haven't yet cast their votes to please do so now, the more activity in the elections the better - remember your vote DOES matter!
May I ask who won the election?
Today is the last day of voting I believe - if you haven't voted please cast your vote now!
What does the winner get to do?
Winner becomes delegate and gets to represent our region to the world, casting votes for the people by the approval of the people! I urge all those to vote, (for me please :) ) thanks!
Voting's closed now, though, Garchy; it ended on the 30th! No more promoting (especially when you don't tell people who the opposition is)!
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OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
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Alright everyone, we have had a month of voting but now the time has come to announce the results of the election:
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The Incumbent:.............................. ................................|............The Challenger:......................................
Garchyland..............|............Alevuss...............
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Votes: 6.................................. .....................................|.............Votes: 5..............................................
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............THE VICTOR IS: Garchyland..................................................
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Congratulations to Garchyland ! And well attempted Alevuss
If any nation would like to see verification of the ballots cast, they are free to request a screenshot of them.
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Election Coordinator
Aww, commiserations to Alevuss, and well done Garchyland! If I may ask, what was the result of voting after the original closing date of the 14th?
Thank you for the votes everyone, and thanks for the challenge Alevuss it was great having someone to run against! Dabtoria I was not trying to ignore Alevuss' candidacy, I figured that most people by now knew who the two challengers where but I wasn't trying to gain an advantage! I'll have an official word to say about the elections after I'm out of work
To your question Dabtoria, before the extension, the results were basically tied between the candidates.
Congratulations Garchyland and thank you to all who participated in the voting, whether you voted in my favor or not. I agree now that in the current conditions of my IRL life, Garchyland's victory may be for the best. Nonetheless, perhaps at the next elections things will have changed and I will be more so suited to head the region.
Also, happy National Day, UAE, even though, by this time, it is December 3rd there.
Alevuss, perhaps you should consider running for a ministry position once we get that up and started? You've had some great ideas for the region (I know I may not have agreed with ALL of them) and our region would greatly benefit from your enthusiasm and proactiveness.
I'm looking forward to your offical announcement, Garchyland! I'd love to see this region become more active.
I may actually considering do so, Garchyland. If I did so, I would probably try to run for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Sounds great Alevuss! We do need to update/change some of the ministry positions as you pointed out a few months ago, we should probably start working on the constitution and edit the ministry section - Dabtoria I'm working on my official announcement, unfortunately between work and the process of moving into a new apartment it may have to wait until this weekend. This doesn't mean I won't be active through to the weekend, just have to wait for the time to put together a public announcement and do some thinking about what changes we can begin to work on. I really look forward to working with everyone to make this a more active, current region. I also look forward to seeing how we can improve our foreign affairs without actively recruiting.
top 5% laxest drug laws, I'm a liberal winner!
P&V has CTE'd. Only took 2 months! He'll be back if we need him, but you can't have true democracy with a Founder!
It's Garchyland's birthday! (Or rather my RL Birthday)! Hope everyone can enjoy their days, especially those of us in the Northeast U.S. where it is absolutely gorgeous for this time of year :)
Happy Birthday Garchy !
All the best comrade !
Happy birthday Garchyland
Hmm, I was thinking... Can we chane our region's flag? I can't think of a replacement, however...
Happy birthday! And it is unseasonably warm up here. It better get cold before Christmas, though.
its really nice in south east PA this time of year as well. if you count that the north east, haha.
Thanks everyone! And yes Dabtoria we can change the flag if we come to a consensus, maybe we can have someone create one. I just did the Netherlands Antilles when we freed ourselves from the occupiers
I was just messing around in paint and I made this, just puttin it out there
http://i40.tinypic.com/z4r9g.png
WHOA! I missed Garchyland's birthday! Happy belated birthday, though. Also, I agree, the Northeast U.S. looks great around October, November, and Winter. Still, I hate how my part seems to have gotten next to no snow, save for one time at which it all was melted by dinner time. :(
Ooh, looks a bit like a highway sign... I'd contribute, but I don't have anything but Paint to work with!
Very nice Degitania! I do tend to be more of a traditionalist when it comes to flags, I would like to see someone come up with something a bit more symbolic and a little less "corporate" looking! I do like where this is going though Degitania
I agree with both Dabtoria and Garchyland, that, although Degitania has show much skill in MSPaint for doing what he did, we should have something with less of a, as Garchyland said, "corporate" appearance.
I do support a change in the flag, though, even if it is one that is not made by someone in the region, but from another region or just an image found in Google Images that seems to reflect the region well. Perhaps I will participate in trying to make regional flag as well.
Yeah, I agree anyway, I was just looking through a lot of similar regions flags that had more words that flag, and I thought that was the cool thing to do.
What color scheme are we thinking? I don't know what colors liberals are all about!
The Liberal Democrats in the UK are yellow, and their symbol is a bird!
Just donated 3,500 grains of rice FOR FREE, via http://freerice.com/category. All you need to do is answer some education related questions and for each one you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated.
Also, like the UK Liberal Democrats, I believe we should have some sort of bird, or animal at least, on our flag. The animal should contain a variety of colors representing freedom, peace, and similar topics. This, I believe, would work best with the feathers of a bird. Y'know, like birds of a feather. :D
Ooh, nice! I just donated 1,000, all for getting heaps of flag questions correct. :D
I do like the idea of a feather! I'd also like to promote the use of yellow, as it's a traditionally Liberal colour.
Fingers crossed that the situation in North Korea can only get better as of now! I'm not holding my breath, however.
I was wondering if ALH was going to get round to forming a new 'Parliamentary' committee any time soon? I think it's up to more senior members to set it up as I wasn't around for the previous one...
Blue is the left's color in the US.
Darn, blue is the colour of the Conservatives in the UK... Perhaps we can have a tri-colour of Blue, white and Yellow, with the white symbolising peace. The white centre could have a black feather on it, echoing peace with the connotations of a dove, and serving as an expression of freedom?
Black feather implies a crow, which in most countries is an unlucky sign or omen. I'll do some research and try my hand at Photoshop!
I like how the current flag has the five stars. Maybe we could distinguish a few different parts of the leftist part of the political spectrum and the stars could stand for each part.
I like where you're going with the symbolism, Franco. It doesn't necessarily have to be five stars either, that number had no particular significance to ALH, it is moreso to my nation and the number of outer islands combined with the main island. Perhaps we could get a little creative in imagining what the geography of A Liberal Haven may look like, if all our nations were somehow combined on one continent!
I've suggested this in conversation with Alevuss before, and he said that his nation actually spanned much of real-world Europe. If we focus on one thing at a time, I think that would help us from getting ahead of ourselves!
Oh, and a Merry Christmas to all ALHers. ^_^
why not get a robin, it has nice colours and seems very "british"
Not all of us are British though! That's why I haven't suggested red white and blue either, I want something original that isn't stemmed from one country. After the holidays I'll start some ideas
do a random wiki search and chose the first pic you get, its what did for a band once
Oh no, sorry guys, but there's an RP I'm really getting into that has its own region, and this one is as active as I hoped it would become, so I guess that it's goodbye for now! I hope to still see you on the forums, though!
Psh, traitor....
Bye. You were a great part of ALH!
Just a reminder with todays rankings - Degitania is 1 endorsement over the amount allowed in our constitution! I ask nations to please be careful with endorsements, and that one remove their endorsement from Degitania, no offense intended! Thanks
Now is time of celebration, for we have won a great victory, but when the glow has faded, we must remember the cost and we must be forever vigilant.
The message of censorship and authoritarianism that SOPA carried may come again with a different name, a different face, but as long as we keep the ideals of a free and open internet alive in our hearts, we will prevail!
^That was very inspirational.
I wish there was a "like" feature on here, Sheila!
Thanks Franco & Garchy !
I agree with you, Sheila. I feel like Megaupload was merely made into an example by the US gov't to remind us that most of the stuff that SOPA bans IS still illegal and they will act with that much allowance.
I thought that incident was pretty ironic, considering the ceo of the company was actually a producer and husband of a major american musician. Plus, however much the hollywood machinery flexes it's power to try to claim back whatever money they think they're losing through the internet, nothing is going to make it go back to their heydays of owning a monopoly on American video culture. You don't see newspapers, magazines, publishers, or other disappearing media outlets trying to reign in the internet's ability to disseminate information they feel they own. Instead, they're embracing it, and trying to figure out how to change and become more relevant. Hollywood should do the same. Maybe something like allowing streaming of first-run movies straight to your giant tv for less than a movie ticket.
And yes, stealing and pirating stuff is illegal, but you're not going to stop or prevent people from doing it this late in the game.
Post self-deleted by Alevuss.
I agree, they should do something like that. And I've talked about the fact that "if people want to pirate, they will find a way'' with my friends much since we first heard of SOPA in around November or so. (I had heard about PIPA or something similar in May of last year, but wasn't sure if it was true.)
Welcome back Smurth :) sorry for the delay!
Hello ALH! Your region was one of the first with which my region established an embassy. We have stayed in touch throughout my time in the SLU and I hope you understand you can count on us whenever you need us, just as I know the SLU can count on you if necessary. Beyond those darker concerns, I know our regions cna continue to grow and prosper, together. In solidarity,
democratically elected Delegate of the Social Liberal Union
Thank you, Azerzia. We are grateful to have such a bond with another region with similar values to ours. You can indeed count on us.
Greetings from the Social Liberal Union!
As the region's new minister of foreign affairs, I just wanted to inform you that [nation=short]Franco-Lowlands[/nation] has stepped down as our ambassador to your region. Goncar has been appointed to take his place, and will be sending over an ambassador nation shortly.
May our long and prosperous relationship continue,
Eggy216, Minister of Foreign Affairs under [nation=short]Azerzia[/nation], World Assembly Delegate of the Social Liberal Union
Assembled with Dot's Region Saver.
Written by Refuge Isle.