The Meritocratic Times

The Meritocratic Times was a news publication by The New Meritocracy, an organization in the early days of NationStates. While most of the issues appear lost to time, we are archiving those issues which could be found on the now-defunct United Defenders League forums.

Issue #1 (August 17, 2004)

Editor: Sarda Contributing Writers: Soigacas & Free4All

First off, I would like to thank all of the people that helped make all this possible. Primarily Soigacas for getting the highlight of our first ediction, secondarily Free4All for helping us conduct a no less interesting interview himself, and thirdly my source in the New Pacific Order for revealing some of the more intimate details of their plans.

There are of course others that helped make the News & Opinion Agency the viable entity it is today, and I hope they wont take offense at my lack of specific mentions.

Secondly, I want to ask everyone that can to contribute whatever they can. If you've felt the motivation to interview another nation you work with, we'll publish the result. If you'd like your opinions heard, we'll publish them. Please everyone keep this in mind, we're on the look out for anything of quality and substance... or just something that speaks to our hearts!

Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoy my first story here, and the two interviews we had the priviledge of procuring for our first issue:

NPO Considers Democratic Governor System=

The Unlimited Delegacy having been secured in the Pacific, the NPO's remaining Senators set their sights on extensives reforms within their government, and among their priorities was a revamped and revitalized governor system.

Among early plans for the governor system were individualized boards, small sub-governments within each governor's province, and even a Governor's Council to be chaired by a new Senator. It has been brought to my attention through an anonymous source in the Senate, that a decision is being neared, and that decision will likely favor an unheard of system within the NPO government.

Right now, the Senate at large is leaning towards adopting a democratic governor system. In addition to a democratically elected Governor, the people's choice for the position will potentially appoint his own Provincial Cabinet, made up of local nations filling critical duties in the Pacific's region sized provinces. How ever this democracy will be applied, whether through provincially restricted votes or a Senate/Governor vote on who to accept for each position, it means a radical change in the direction of the NPO.

During the time of the NPO's government in the Pacific, there has never been an elected government, which has brought stability and the unfortunate malice of many other organizations to the Pacific. Perhaps this change in direction for the Pacific's localized government will promote higher activity, greater general support, or maybe the long-fought for stability of the Pacific will be sacrificed. Right now no one can say for certain what such a decision could entail, but we can all expect numerous and sweeping changesin the NPO in the days to come.

Interview with Max Barry

The following is an interview conducted by our own Soigacas with Max Barry. You can see his personal questions, along with numerous more contributed by myself and others. Please enjoy, and direct any comments here or specifically to Soigacas.

The Meritocratic Times has had the rare oppurtunity to speak with Max Barry; writer, Australian and creator of NationStates. In this exclusive interview, he talks about NS2, his shoe size and why Francos Spain stands out in his mind. The questions were all submitted by Meritocratic Senators.

Meritocratic Times: Why was the Meritocracy form of government not included in the original game? (Soigacas)

Max Barry: Because as I understand it a meritocracy doesn't map very well to a particular point on our three-axis freedom grid. Basically what I did was come up with the grid first and then think of labels for them. A meritocracy I guess is reasonably libertarian, but then depending on the particulars of how it's implemented, it could have a lot of freedom in some areas or be restrictive. For example, do you outlaw private funding of campaigns to ensure that political candidates compete on their merit and are not helped or hindered by how rich their backers happen to be? Or do you assume that people are wealthy because they are economically meritorious, and thus there should be no campaign finance restrictions? I think it would be difficult to pick a point and say, "Okay, if your country has this combination of political, economic, and personal freedom, it's a meritocracy."

There are quite a few government/society types like this that are pretty cool but don't fit into a particular slot on the freedom scale -- theocracy, matriarchy, technocracy, etc.

MT: How would you like to improve NS, in a way that is currently impossible?(Soigacas)

MB: Well, the most basic thing I would do if I was writing NS from scratch is to use a database, so we could do more powerful searching and nation analysis. People are always asking for obvious things like to be able to search for nations using wildcards or to change their nation name; because of the way I wrote the code, it's just not possible.

MT: Who would you vote for in the American elections?

MB: I would vote for Kerry, because Bush has done a lot of damage to America's reputation abroad and that two-party system doesn't allow you to seriously consider voting for anyone else. (The US needs an instant-runoff voting system, it really does.)

MT: What about the British ones?(Soigacas)

MB: I don't know enough about UK politics to comment on that one.

MT: What are your perceptions of the rise of independent government systems operating outside the systems of NS that remain viable merely because of general acceptance? (Sarda)

MB: If you're talking about the various brands of non-region alliances between nations, I think it's awesome. In fact, if I ever get NS2 up, that's the area I want to expand the most -- I want to provide a framework that allows players to develop their own international political systems that are as simple or as complicated as they like.

By the way, I don't think you should say these things work "merely" because of general acceptance -- that's the basis on which pretty much the entire world operates. Like banks; we all accept that we'll get our money back if we deposit it in one, and if people stop accepting that there's a run and the bank collapses. Or currencies; it's generally accepted that a US dollar is worth something, so it is. In some societies, particular behavior is generally accepted to be normal and in other societies it'll get you arrested. Even at the international level, diplomacy (the forming of agreements) is enormously important, because as dominant in military terms as (say) the US is, it couldn't survive an attack by a collection of other countries. So the most interesting part of a game like NS2 for me is allowing nations to make and break complex alliances in the pursuit of their goals. And letting the players decide what is "good" or acceptable and what isn't.

One idea I have for NS2, for example, is to have several different game worlds. And players have enough autonomy that some game worlds might develop a stable world order and others descend into chaos and anarchy. It would be fascinating to look at that and ask, "Okay, how come this world is peaceful and that one is fighting World War 8?"

MT: What are your thoughts on the fact that NS has extended the practice of national government into regional governments? Did you expect such an event to occur when first devising the NS system? (Sarda)

MB: Well, I didn't expect much when devising NS -- I certainly didn't expect it to become anywhere near as popular as it has. I love the way people have taken the game and used it as a foundation to build more complex political structures on top of it (the Meritocracy is a prime example). It means the gameplay is far deeper and more involving than it would be otherwise.

MT: Shoe size? (Sarda)

MB: It's 11 in Australia, but I'm not sure how that translates. Sometimes 12. Once I bought a pair of sneakers that were size 14, but I think the manufacturer must have had some weird proprietary numbering scheme. I'm 6'2" so I have big feet.

MT: How do you feel about the evolution of the game? Wereyou surprised to find that it's become so popular? (Bumpy)

MB: Surprised, then thrilled, then horrified. Especially in the beginning, the growth was just out of control. The game was more or less doubling in size every few days, so I would work really hard to fix some terrible major bottleneck and the next day there'd be a brand new one. It was very stressful.

In a way it's also been a drag on development of the next game, because I'm still involved in the running of NS and it eats a fair bit of my time. So there are down sides to being this popular. But overall, it's incredibly cool to have this enormous community set up camp on my site and turn a creaky little nation sim game into something spectacular.

MT: Have any of the multitude of RPs in the thousands of regions of NS created any grist for the publishing mill (Bumpy)

MB: I've never been inspired to rip off an RP, no. But some of them are pretty amazing. It would be great to collect the best of them somewhere.

MT: Do you have any Nations in the game? (Obviously the Names need not be disclosed) (Bumpy)

MB: Yes.

MT: What 3 Region Crashing/Destroy incidents do you thinkwere the worst(did the most damage)? (Evans)

MB: I actually don't know, because I'm not involved in that side of things -- that's the job of our trusty moderators. I do remember some truly horrific region-crashing in the days before Region Control, though, because people would set up their region just the way they wanted it -- to RP a particular way -- and some idiot would land there and proceed to spam it into oblivion. This was basically just griefing, not invasions the way we think of them today. Invading has become more organized and, well, almost civilized compared to the early days.

MT: Out of all the nations throughout the history of the game is there a specific non-Mod nation that sticks out in your mind? If so, why?(Evans)

MB: There are plenty, for various reasons. Marathon, Francos Spain, Ballotonia, Loop, Grated Cheese... plenty of nations have exerted a particularly strong influence on the game or the community. Others, which I won't name, are memorable for being truly enormous pains in the butt.

MT: If you were not Max Barry and just a regular person with no real connection to the game is there any group or region that you would join and if so why? (Evans)

MB: Well, I do play the game to some extent. My nation tends to move around to where things look most interesting. But in truth I've always enjoyed making games more than playing them!

MT: Many thanks for giving this interview! Any last thoughts? (Soigacas)

MB: Thanks; it's good to have the opportunity to speak to you guys. I'm so impressed by what you've done with your region. I keep looking at it for NS2 inspiration.

Interview with Free4All

The following is an interview I had the privilege of conducting with Free4All. In it, I try and explore more of his opinions of the game today and his actions in the game as it was in the past. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Meritocratic Times (MT): Hello Free4All, thanks for helping us out!

Free4All (F4A): I thank you for your hospitality, the pleasure is mine.

MT: 1) How long have you been intimately involved with world regional governments?

F4A: As Ambassador I've had the pleasure and honor to represent Holland and/or Nederland for quite a long time. On June 6 2003 I began my representation of my home region(s) at The Meritocracy which also marked the start of our formal presence on the world stage. Prior inter-regional affairs had mostly been limited to casual and friendly contact with other Dutch-language regions. Soon after my arrival at The Meritocracy I observed a new organization lead by Thomasia, called the Allied Liberation League (A.L.L.), which sparked my curiosity. After some debate on the pro's and cons my region decided to join. After all this time, the A.L.L. is the only inter-regional alliance we've ever joined, and we remain as commited as ever to its founding principles.

MT: 2) When A.L.L. became active, what were your opinions of the other like minded organizations of the time? Invaders?

F4A: Like most regions, Holland (later: Nederland) started off quite oblivious to the dangers invaders posed towards our happy little region. When our view of inter-regional affairs extended itself beyond the serenity of the Dutch-language regions it dawned on us that there were threats out there to our sovereignty which had to be dealt with if we were to maintain the basic freedoms all nations in Holland and Nederland cherish deeply. Similarly we were appalled to observe how the independence of nations in other regions was being violated by imperial-minded invaders.

At first, we did not act against invaders out of fear that we might become a target ourselves, and we were happy to have gained allies by joining the A.L.L. However, when we witnessed invaders from Blue Moon initiating a state of total chaos in the peaceful Dutch-language region Pallas Athene we knew that standing by idly simply meant that one day these violent nations would come to visit our shores, and having allies to help one out doesn't protect one from the horrors of war themselves. It is then my region decided that we needed to make a more active stand against invaders, and so we became active defenders. In that time the ADN was a group of not-so-active regions combined under a non-democratic leadership. The SCDT was something we regarded more as an imperial organization than one aimed at actual defense for the benefit of sovereignty for others. The RRA, well, back in those days they had just been founded and simply were invaders. Thanks to the efforts of Lord Tom the ACC at that time was making an attempt at being a defensive organization, though we did remain very cautious about them.

MT': 3) What is your current technical involvement with A.L.L., and in your position what responsibilities are you charged with?

F4A: The A.L.L. is an alliance of equals, and as Voting Representative I am merely representing Nederland towards our allies within the A.L.L.

I also have the honor of being Vice-Chairman of the A.L.L. In the A.L.L. the Vice-Chairman has two responsibilities: arrange for elections to happen when needed, and taking over from the Chairman in case of an emergency. That's all. The only real power the Chairman has is the ability to pull any decision from a committee and placing it for the entire membership to vote upon. This hasn't happened yet, nor is it supposed to happen often. The A.L.L. is supposed to function as an alliance of like-minded regions, and representatives are supposed to focus on cooperation to get things done they agree should be done. There are very few arguments within A.L.L., as there's no internal politicking to argue about. There is no official leader who has power over others. Nobody has the personal authority to enter A.L.L. into agreements with other alliances, nor is any person capable of ordering another region to do something. At most we can remind an ally of an obligation agreed to per the charter, of which there is only one: mutual defense. Helping out a fellow A.L.L. member under siege or occupation is mandatory. The A.L.L. is thus an alliance which generaly doesn't tell members what to do, but instead provides them with a venue in which they can get defensive efforts done.

As co-Admin of the forum I perform simple tasks to maintain the forum and changing user permissions when required.

MT: 4) How do you envision A.L.L.'s interaction with other regions and organizations a year from now?

F4A: Right now the only other organization the A.L.L. has a formal interaction with is the ADN. Through general membership consensus the A.L.L. agreed to recognize the shared ideals between ADN and A.L.L. by titling the ADN as an allied organization, despite the drastically different nature of both organizations (the ADN being a membership Republic, not an alliance). Several of A.L.L.'s member regions are also a member of the ADN, so cooperation is virtually seamless. A year from now I hope cooperation is still as good. I do not expect any other organizations or regions to become titled as allied with the A.L.L. Regions may join as members, while there isn't any organization I know of which could become a partner in operations close enough to warrant a similar titling as the ADN. I do not expect the A.L.L. to ever sign a formal treaty, as the A.L.L. doesn't have any political goals to provide a reason for doing so.

MT: 5) As a matter of public interest, what is your opinion of the new NPO government? Where do you see the NPO a year from now?

F4A: Personally, I see no major difference between the current and the previous NPO government. Unlimited has a proven record of dishonesty, versus Francos Spain having a record of ruthlessness. I expect the oppression of the nations in The Pacific by the NPO to continue for as long as they can do so. Next year I expect the NPO to reside in The East Pacific, they will have either taken over from 1 Infinite Loop or have ousted him by force and/or treachery, and they will have lost their control over The Pacific.

Note: the A.L.L. has no formal opinion on the NPO.

MT: 6) What is your opinion of the ADN as it is today, and how would you describe the ADN's growth from its comparatively humble beginnings to today? Where do you see the ADN a year from now?

F4A: When I first observed the ADN, it was a mostly dormant organization combining mostly tiny regions. The improvements since then have been both in terms of quality and quantity. The ADN today in no way resembles the organization it was so long ago.

For a while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nederland was seriously considering applying for membership in the ADN. Uncertainty on exactly what regional and national sovereignty would have been rescinded by doing so, as well as concerns regarding certain parts of the constitution of the ADN (like the term duration and powers of elected officers) eventually lead the Minister to decide against initiating a vote within Nederland on whether to apply for ADN membership.

A year from now I expect the ADN to be by far the dominant political entity within NationStates.

MT: 7) Shoe size?

F4A: Classified, sorry

Issue #2

Aedile and Editor: Sarda Contributing Writers: Sarda, Soigacas, and the Grendels

The most immediately pressing issues of news in the past weeks, have been the amazing events in the NPO, and the enormous changes the Pacific will be seeing in the days to come. Our first piece showcases the opinions of most of our current Senate officers, regarding their thoughts and feelings of the NPO. As a journalist though, it is my responsibility to inform you that since these opinions were put forward, certain events may have changed some people's perspectives. Since this is the case, the Meritocratic Times may at some point amend these positions to reflect any new perspectives of the polled individuals.

We in the News & Opinion Agency hope you enjoy our second issue, and we again encourage anyone and everyone to submit their own works, opinions, and criticisms at their convenience.

Senate Officers Speak

The following question was answered by Senate Officers Unistrut, Cortath, and NewClarkhaller:

What are your thoughts on the NPO as it is today, and how do you expect it to evolve in the future?

   Unistrut wrote:
   The NPO has recently undergone some regrettable turmoil, but is on the right track towards stablilization in my opinion. It is my hope that they will continue down the path toward openness and freedom, and join with the rest of the NationStates world in making a true effort of inclusion in spite of game mechanics.

   Cortath wrote:
   The NPO today is an expansionist, imperialist power. They have sought, through subterfuge, lies, and a myriad of other distasteful tactics, to hold on to and expand their power. They have attempted, thrice, to infiltrate this Senate, something I, as both Senator and Quaestor, am not allowed to forget easily.

   The NPO of tomorrow may be the NPO of today, or they may choose to go down a path that leads to free elections, democracy, freedom of speech and residence. Can one tell? No. This is not the first time the NPO has "changed", and mayhaps it own't be the last. I am cautiously optimist and wary. On the one hand, I offer Unlimited my moral support should he truly be reforming, on the other hand, I watch for the next invasion or take-over of our ALL or any other allies in the NPO's next drive for expansion.

   I have nothing but the deepest sympathies for everyone involved in the NPO, due to the tradegy, but that does not blind me from what they have done or what they may or may not do in the future.

   NewClarkhaller wrote:
   The NPO has clearly experienced a great change, the results of which remain to be determined exactly. Right now, the NPO seems to be opening up and loosening its draconian restrictions on civil and political liberties. However, it is still a harsh and authoritarian regime which stands against the core values of many meritocratic nations (though not necessarily the core values of The Meritocracy as a whole). The NPO as it is now, is thus only marginally better than the NPO of yestermonth...and that only because it is weakened due to the loss of its top leaders.

   If the trend towards democritization continues however, the NPO might well emerge from its long diplomatic isolation and reverse the mistakes made nearly a year ago. The stigma of its rise to power might be ameliorated and the NPO welcomed into the peaceful and free NS world.

   In the end however, only time will tell if this is a genuine push for reform of simply another NPO ploy. 

Meritocratic Consular Elections

Though the Senate's Consular elections have always been issues of great importance, never before have we seen such a varied pool of potential candidates and such a large and diverse group of nominees. At the moment, the following candidates have been nominated and/or seconded:

Nominated/Seconded:

• Aesculapius (nominated by Iscariot, seconded by Yoco)
• B4kst4br (nominated by Bumpy, seconded by Pittsland)
• Camozayo (nominated by B4kst4br, seconded by Nuclear Industrial)
• Evans (nominated by Pittsland, seconded by Bumpy)
• Eli (nominated by Soigacas, seconded by Old Lutheran)
• Glasguensis (nominated by Hipposhire, seconded by Eli)
• Kitimat (nominated by Evans, seconded by FreeTrade)

In the past two elections, Evans and Glasguensis both faired well, but were eventually prevailed upon by their more mainstream, prominent opponents. Considering the Senator from Kitimat's general tendancy to refuse nominations, Evans and Glasguensis may have a chance to secure the Consulship. Other less known faces in such elections include former Deputy Director of the MIA, B4kst4br, and more extreme Senator Camozayo. Aesculapius, as founder of ECON, may also gain a significant bloc of votes from his former position as Alderman and perhaps usurp other Consular hopefuls.

Everything considered, this promises to be one of the most exciting elections to date.

Meritocratic Economic Primacy

After reviewing generally accepted data, and enduring extensive discussion, the notes of the Meritocracy's general economic supremacy have rung out.

Among the Senate's most notable positions in the economic world, are the following nations:

• Absinthe House, a nation held under the purview of the Meritocratic nation Sarda (founder of the Sardaukar Confederacy, the Meritocracy's fourth province), is currently ranked as having the most powerful currency in the world.
• Wolfsreich, a Senate nation, is currently ranked as having the fourth most powerful currency in the world.
• New Jasque, a nation held under the purview of former Senate Consul Jasque, is currently ranked as having the fifth most powerful currency in the world.
• Aesculapius, a Senate nation, is currently ranked as having the eighth most powerful currency in the world.
• Iscariot, a Senate nation, is currently ranked as having the ninth most powerful currency in the world and the sixth highest Gross Domestic Product in the world.
• Sanctuary, a Senate nation, is currently ranked as having the third highest Gross Domestic Product in the world.
• Brittania, one of the first Senate nations, is currently ranked as having the tenth highest Gross Domestic Product in the world.
• Thomasia, a former Senate nation and one of the founders of the Meritocracy and the Meritocratic Isles, is currently ranked as having the fifth highest Gross Domestic Product in the world.

Where the economic priorities of the Meritocracy will lead us all one day is as yet unknown, but it can be said with certainty that today, the Meritocracy reigns supreme as the dominant economic power in the world.

An interview with the Grendels, performed by Soigacas:

If you go to the World page, you're likely to spot him near the No.1 position, but what's behind the U.N. Ranking machine? We talked to The Grendels about origins, hate mail, and what's wrong with the US political system.

- - - -- - - - Meritocratic Times: When did you start playing NS?

The Grendels: December 21st, 2002 (meaning I’m not one of those population bug nations you also see on page one of the UN Reports)

MT:What's the name all about? And the flag?

TG: It’s simpler than you think. The Grendels were a term used for the collective humanoids menacing the Borderlands of a D&D Campaign I was in, along with the other founding nations of Wysteria. The flag, known as the rampaging wolf, was the third design I used for the Grendels and I get several telegrams a day about it (apparently people sit at their computer and just watch that wolf run, at least they tell me so). Being peopled by Gnolls, I wanted the Grendels to have a lupine flag and the one I currently use is perfect.

MT:What is the term for the peoples of The Grendels? "Grendalian"?

TG: Grendel or Gnoll would be correct.

MT: How long have you been in Wysteria, and why did you choose the region in the first place?

TG: A bunch of us, who were in a D&D group together founded a region of our very own and it grew from there. Given that it’s where my RL friends are I see no reason to move.

MT: Have any other nations or regions caught your eye recently? If so why?

TG: I’ve been trading telegrams lately with Peach Cobbler, the Founder of Boston and formerly the Delegate of Seattle. Besides being a nice guy, you just can’t look at that flag without asking yourself when the last time was that you went to a bakery.

One of my favourite players is the guy who has the Dragon Alliance (the best flag in the Nation States World), who has a lot of very active and influential nations across the NS World.

Sultane Gol is a region that has recently had my attention. A lady who regularly sends me telegrams hails from there and the political party system there is worth taking a look at.

MT:What do your nation's citizens look like?

TG: Gnolls

MT: Shoe size(mandatory Merit. Times question, sorry!)

TG: 9.345895690797433

MT:What are your RL political views? Bush or Kerry?

TG: Canadian Centrist. Were I an American it wouldn’t even be a close decision between a weak-brained corporate warmonging puppet, against a candidate with brains and a real service record. The Yale Skull and Bones Secret Society back both, so for them they win both ways. To quote someone from the 1996 US Presidential Election: “it’s about the Economy stupid.” Frankly, I’m a bit concerned with the kind of crazy corporate police state that the US is turning into. What you people need down there is some more serious political parties to get people more interested in politics. The two party system is a recipe for voter apathy and political corruption.

MT: Thanks for speaking to the MT, anything else you want to add?

TG: You wouldn’t believe how many telegrams I get a day! Only players like Sketch can truly comprehend the amount of love and hate mail I go through each day. I reply to all of my telegrams, often in an unpleasant and humiliating fashion in the case of the hate mail before adding them to my ignore list. I tell you I have an ignore list that would fill a large region.

Issue #3 (Sept. 11, 2004)

Aedile and Editor: Sarda Contributers: Sarda, Gates, and Jallalacks

First off, I would like to thank again all those who have supported our efforts here in the times for so long. I'm glad our hopes for the agency have finally reached fruition. Specifically though, I have to thank Soigacas, who next to myself, has provided the most material and support for the Times since it's creation.

Secondly, I would like to thank Jallalacks for stepping up as our first outside contributor to the times. Having said that, COME ON! I'll get g-mail accounts for the next five people to make contributions

Thirdly, sorry we don't have any interviews for this issue. There's a lot going on around NS these days, and there are a few things I want to see happen so that our next new interviews are as hard hitting, and insightful as possible.

Thank you all once again, and enjoy this, the third issue of the Times.

Our first article today is a piece of my own composition, addressing the recent rise of the People's Republic of the Pacific:

The People's Republic of the Pacific

The old acronym, NPO, no longer applies to the Pacific. In the absence of Francos, and three of his first deputies in the Senate, the Senators appointed by him after the Pacific Revolution have taken it upon themselves to restore the Pacific. So, by the acts of Senators Unlimited, Mammothistan, Sir Paul, and the newly appointed Black Adder founded the People's Republic of the Pacific, on the foundations of the New Pacific Order. The first acts of this rejuvinated Senate, were the elevations of Governor Pierconium and Warrior Thorin to the Senate, the declaration of new holidays for the Pacific to celebrate as one, and the formation of a new and streamlined Governor system.

Though the Senate has performed many acts since the foundation of the republic, the most sweeping change was the new governor system. Under the direction of Senator Warrior Thorin, the Senator of Internal Affairs, Governors are now democratically elected to their positions, and are charged with overseeing far larger sections of the Pacific. Where as under the NPO there existed twenty-seven Provinces, there are now only six. Where as under the NPO there existed only one Provincial office, there are now six, and Governors are granted the power to appoint even more.

This paper announced four weeks ago that the NPO was planning a new governor system, one in which Governors are elected, but now we report on the entirety of this change. Perhaps, once more we may conjecture, the Pacific will gain new credibility in the eyes of its opponents, or perhaps this new limited democracy and the plans for a democratically elected Delegate will fall on deaf ears. Many nations of the Meritocracy and the ADN have shown their farsightedness so far, by gracing this new Pacific authority with their hopes and presence as unofficial good will ambassadors, but what may come later cannot be seen.

Hopefully though, the people of the Pacific will be served, and the hatchett of former conflict may finally be buried.

One of our headlines for the day is news of Gatesville's membership in the Union of Sovereigns Alliance! For those unaware, I am a member of the Gatesville High Council, while our own Christian Falangists is the Foreign Affairs Advocate of Gatesville, and is currently representing Gatesville in the Union's Governing Council:

Gatesville Joins the Union

Earlier this week, after a lengthy vote in the Lower Council of Gatesville, Gatesville joined the Union of Sovereigns Alliance. The High Council of Gatesville first put the vote forward to the Lower Council with its own staggering support in favor, and they were not let down when by unanimous vote, the Lower Council voted in favor of accepting the Union's invitation.

The Union was first founded by the efforts of New Sparrow founder, Borogravia Moldavi, by not only his great region, but the Pacific and USSR as well. New Sparrow and USSR are world renowned as some of the most active and organized regions around, and the resources of the Pacific under their newest UN Delegate Unlimited, are almost just that: unlimited.

Gatesville though, in stark contrast to New Sparrow and RedCommunist's USSR, is more like a Pacific region in its shear size and renown. Nations flock to Gatesville of their own volition, and it's UN Delegate: Rose-Colored Glasses, is the most endorsed nation outside of a Pacific region, in the world. Through their UN Delegate, Gatesville makes its presence in the UN known by swinging almost 300 votes.

Like the Pacific, however, Gatesville has no standing army. Plans to build their own fast response forces have been whispered about, but nothing is known for certain. Despite this, again like the Pacific, Gatesville has enormous resources to draw on.

Our third piece is easily the longest, and probably the most interesting. This is an opinion piece composed by our own Provincial Senator Jallalacks, which hits home on such issues as senator priviledges, frequent senate retirements, and even the new PRP. Our thanks to him for this contribution, and I would ask our readers to keep in mind that this was written about a week ago, when considering Jallalacks early phraseology.

From the Office of The Sultan of Jallalacks, Second dominion of The London Borough of Jixieland, located in The Sardauker Confederacy, Fourth Dominion of The Meritocracy

It is with a heavy hand that this Sultan writes. Within the past 48 hours two of The Meritocracy’s longest serving senators have resigned, adding to the tally of respected and established nations who have left The Meritocratic Senate in the past months. Both of these respected nations have left for reasons directly tied to the current direction that The Meritocracy is taking, and this, my fellow senators, should be a cause for prime concern.

When Jallalacks first came into contact with The Meritocracy, it was, ironically, through the ADN. Several nations had the address of The Meritocracy’s home forum at the end of their signatures, and a visiting delegation there met with some surprise a governmental system that was both complex and unique within the Nationstates world. There is no other organisation which could be said to be more in control of its own actions than one in which the decision making body elects its own members. For The Meritocracy is a democracy like no other. All of the most active members of its region are senators – there is no interest for any nation within its borders to not be one if it wants to guide regional policy. Thus just about every nation who wants to be one is privy to most areas of governmental information, has a vote on every important issue and can have a stake and say in everything that goes on. This is rare, even amongst the most democratic of regions. For most democratic regions normally elect a parliament, headed or aided by a number of elected leaders. These people are elected by the populace at large, and normally such an assembly of nations only constitutes a small number of the nations interested within the region. The founders of The Meritocracy were both bold and imaginative in constructing the governmental system that they did.

So when Jallalacks was founded with the specific intention of entering and exploring this most fascinating and established of regions, it sought advice from current senators on how best to gain sufficient respect within The Senate to grant it the citizenship vote. Following an arduous citizenship grilling from The Senate, (in which we were fortunate on being questioned on an area in which we happened to be particularly well informed) and the endorsement of several respected and established figures, we were, to the great jubilation of the Jallalacksian government, accepted into its hallowed halls.

Upon our arrival though, the foreign policy analysts and specialists within our government immediately found themselves in a state of confusion. For it was very close to our arrival time that the nation of Jasque decided to depart (the two events are, to our knowledge, thankfully unconnected). Senators were making reference to the path The Senate was deciding to take, how it changed from when it was founded, how the original ideals were being lost and how it was no longer the respected organ it once was. At the time, new to The Senate, and still exploring its capacious halls we put aside such comments until we had found our way around the long corridors and various meeting rooms that make up the enormous Senate building. They abated somewhat for a few months, whilst we grew used to the politics that ruled here, but the concerns were always there, to be raised occasionally when another senator resigned.

Now though, with the departure of Argyres, Unistrut and Maverick those concerns have grown to fears, and they can no longer be put aside, not by my government, or, I hope, anyone else’s. It is time, upon the eve of a consulship race which offers more choice in candidates but seemingly limited in policy, to work exactly what we mean when we say The Senate has lost its way. Because I for one still do not understand – what exactly is wrong? So many complain of The Senate in the manner described above, but so few offer a reasoned explanation of the nature of the problem. Densim complained of the erosion of national sovereignty – how? I have yet to see The Senate pass any law which remotely affects the domestic, or indeed foreign, policy of any nation. The Senate has never forced any nation to undertake military action against its will, never forced any nation to vote in any way other than what their government chooses, and has never demanded a united front against foreign entities from its numbers – indeed we freely express our liking or disliking of The Meritocracy’s position in any number of forums foreign to our own.

But while we have maintained our national sovereignty in my opinion, some have argued that we have lost our regional autonomy. Again, how? We have signed the Alliance Defence Meritocratic Accord, it is true. But do these ‘foreign entanglements’ really threaten our own ability to make decisions? The ADMA requires The Senate to undertake military action should either one of its signatories suffer attack from an ‘aggressor’ as defined by the Alliance Defence Meritocratic Declaration on Justified War. Though some claim that the title itself is a contradiction in terms, it is the continuing belief of the Jallalacksian Government that all of the above ‘entanglements’ are in fact beneficial to The Senate in so far as they provide for a goal of mutual co – operation, respect, and a closer working relationship between what are otherwise two very different organisations (although national holiday prevented us from voting on the ones concerned with the ADN).

But what has been questioned is whether or not we do in fact have foreign policy goals similar to the ADN – and indeed, whether or not we want to have a definite foreign policy at all. Many have called for the Senate to operate a policy in all foreign ventures of neutrality, although the Consul for one has scoffed at the idea throughout. The most obvious example of this is in the current hostility between the ADN and the PRP (formerly the NPO). Debates into this are inevitably focused upon the various connections that various senators have with either body, and as a result several vicious debates have been centred not around logic or argument, but personal character. I will deal with this later, but for the moment I wish to comment on this most divisive of issues in a manner that I hope will elicit proper debate as opposed to vicious slander. The principal matters for concern in this area is firstly whether or not we allow members of the PRP into this senate, and secondly exactly how closely we want The Senate to be tied to the ADN. On the first count, it is my firm belief that the PRP has undergone a massive leadership change in previous weeks, and we should not seek to judge too hastily those that might apply here who make their membership of that organisation known. We must give the PRP time and space in which to reform itself – something that the NPO never had. If a member of that organisation applies here, passes through the vetting procedure and shows proper merit in his/her application, we see no reason why that nation should not be afforded citizenship. On the second count, the first thing I must stress is that having a close relationship with the ADN does not mean that we must be anti – PRP. On the contrary, there is nothing in our relationship which could constrict our own choice in members or our ability to vote as we choose. And as explained above, the PRP is not the same organisation as the NPO. We should not be hasty in our judgement of its members. To really address the issue of whether or not The Meritocracy is a defender organisation, we must look at our own values – do we not value our own regional autonomy and sovereignty? Do we not recognise the democratic right of regions to elect their own leaders? The answer to both must surely be yes – why then, should we not offer support and refuge to those nations which find themselves subject to such loathsome attacks as are visited upon them by the likes of invading regions? I do not of course speak of compulsory military action by Senators to help re take or defend such regions. That task is for the ADN, and those senators willing to volunteer, but there is no reason why we cannot aid such a task in providing intelligence necessary to complete such objectives, or indeed sharing intelligence in order to weed out potential citizens who are not so honest on their application forms.

Another area of tension in this arena is of course the issue of divided loyalties, and whether or not members of either organisation would put the interests of their parent organisation before that of The Senates. Indeed, some have claimed that such dual membership leads only to The Senate being manipulated into usage for either side. Personally, I do ascribe to this view, and neither does my government. The ADN might find great use in intelligence that the MIA might offer it, but there is no way it can call upon military action by The Senate’s members, so any advantage gained to the ADN is limited. Some have postulated that the ADN wants to control the Meritocracy, and such a position should be met with nothing short of laughter. As explained above, the potential benefits of control is limited when The Meritocracy exists as it does. In fact, it is my firm belief we should not only accept, but actively welcome those who have commitments elsewhere. It is first of all an indicator of experience and acceptance in another organisation (and provides a useful way of keeping track of a citizenship candidates past record and suitability to a senate seat) and also helps forge closer ties with other entities outside our own. If such commitments are kept in the open, then there is little problem provided the senator is willing to take the necessary steps to avoid a conflict of interest (which given the number of consul candidates offering a stance of neutrality, is unlikely). However, the issue here is, again, about the ADN.

The ADN – PRP relationship is one that inspires great tension and passion throughout the NationStates world, and given the multi – national make up of The Senate it is hardly surprising that such passion finds itself within these halls as well. This is no excuse for what has recently been passed as debate in senate chambers, when in actual fact all it has been is vicious sniping and character assassination. Unnecessary legal action designed to de rail the Senate’s will undoubtedly falls within this category. It should be stressed that this sort of thing is not limited to either side – indeed I have seen loathsome statements from members of both organisations (although most thankfully outside the chamber). It is the belief of the Jallalacksian government in this regard that those Senators who cannot act with proper decorum in a debating chamber do not deserve to be Senators – it should not be considered a problem for The Meritocracy as a whole that a few bad eggs should ruin an entire basket.

Where it might worry us is that it is always us who voted such nations in, and as a result (as with every decision taken by The Senate) when votes are proven wrong, we have only ourselves to blame. How to address this issue? It should be noted that the capability to remove a senator for actions like this do not really exist as such. I feel the best course of action is a pressure to resign, and statements that make clear the inappropriate nature of a senator/senatrix’s post. Beyond that, we must trust our own judgement when it comes to citizenship.

However, we do not believe that we should be overly concerned with the influx of senators from other organisations, or indeed that The Senate suffers from a foreign policy problem in particular. No, we believe that it is in citizenship, and the new senators that we appoint that the future of this senate truly lies, and the breathing of ‘new life’ into the senate demands not a change in foreign policy, or a change in the law or legislation but a change in the way we view each other as senators, and a change in the way we allow ourselves to grow. Allow me to explain. Why, for example, do we constrict ourselves to a limited number of senators from which to draw cabinet positions? I speak of course of not allowing provincial senators the ability to apply and work for the same positions as others. The New Meritocracy might be the capitol region, but that does not mean that those who reside there are worthy of any more merit than those who might reside in The Sardauker Confederacy. I recognise Jallalacks has something of an inherent interest here, but there are those who would benefit The Senate greatly if only we would allow them to do so – Sarda being the obvious choice. It is worth remembering Cortath was also a provincial Senator before moving so as to be appointed Queastor – why on earth should The Senate invade national sovereignty to the extent it does in this regard? Why create a two – tier senate? I have seen no reasonable explanation for it all.

Following on from this, why is it that The Sardauker Confederacy is the only region which has applied to be a Meritocratic Province? There is again no reason we cannot advertise the possibility of providing the security and stability to a region that might otherwise desire it, and if we allow senators from there the same rights as normal Senators, as such a position would be highly advantageous to both parties – us because we increase our size and influence, and them because they receive the protection and stability of a region as well established and respected as this one.

To change tack slightly, but in staying with our list of beliefs, we should widen the field from which potential Consul Candidates can be proposed. We recognise that it’s not such a problem in this election, but we all remember the problems at the last consul race, when Unistrut very nearly won unopposed. Again, why the need to have served as a deputy in another’s consul term? There are many who have never done so but equally well qualified, and who have spent an equally long time serving The Senate in various ways. It is up to us to recognise such service, and not tie our hands with needless regulation such as this.

Lastly, the citizenship process itself. Jallalacks would never seek to propose legislation which any requirements beyond what is currently necessary, or indeed change Senators votes, but we normally feel that previous experience in other NationStates organisations counts strongly in a candidates favour, and we lean towards meriting argument and debating skills, rather than political views which actually play little role in The Senate. Furthermore, to raise the citizenship bar, we would recommend the setting up of a Citizenship Committee, to actively seek out and invite individual nations to apply whom it feels are worthy of attention. This does not necessarily need legislation to do (nor must it change the application process itself), and given the vast number of connections that various Senators hold, I am certain that following an active rather than passive stance towards citizenship we will benefit hugely.

My fellow Senators and Senatrixes, I thank you for your time, and can only hope that due attention is paid to these issues on the eve of this race, and hope that some candidate adopts the ideas that we have proposed. I apologise for the long windedness of these proposals, and again thank you for reading through them.

The North Pacific Delegacy

An interesting forum headline regarding the North Pacific's change in delegacy.

Only a few days ago, the United Nations delegacy of the North Pacific, the largest region in the world, shifted from Thel D'Ran to Sydia. Sydia, a long time member of the North Pacific, and one of the most active nations on the North Pacific forums, exceeded Thel D'Ran's endorsements and received the former delegate's blessing. It was a long held and vocal sentiment of Thel D'Ran to shift the delegacy successfully under the North Pacific's new government, and it's realization has convinced many of the longevity of the North Pacific's democracy.

What things can be said of Sydia's policies today are not much, and I'm sure we wont be seeing sweeping changes to the North Pacific government, but this delegacy change marks a great even for the people of the North Pacific.

Issue #4 (Sept. 28, 2004)

Editor: Soigacas Contributing Writers: Soigacas, Moldavi, Jallalacks, The Grendels Top Hats Used In Making This Issue Supplied By:Top-Hats.com

A Message from the Editor

First off, I would like to apologize. This paper is missing a few sections due to ongoing restructuring of the MT Team. Secondly, I would like to thank you for taking the time out to read these articles. Enjoy!

Peace In Our Time

By our Foreign Reporter, Ivan Moldavi

With the recent loss of Francos Spain, leader of the New Pacific Order, a chapter in NationStates history has come to a close. Luckily for those citizens of the Pacifics a new chapter has begun. With the creation of the People’s Republic of the Pacific a new thrust for peace among all the feeder regions has begun.

Talks between the Pacific and the west Pacific have been ongoing for several weeks now and today (Sept 22) the first formal peace agreement between the two super-regions went into effect. The end result of countless discussions between the leadership the west Pacific and Black Adder, head of Diplomatic Affairs for the Pacific.

While peace has been sought out and gained between these two regions, past alienations and conflicts stalled talks between the Pacific and the north Pacific earlier in the week. While things look grim today there is still hope that peace will prevail.

In other interregional treaty news, the Union of Sovereigns has admitted the region of Gatesville into their group and issued formal invitations to two other regions.

The Allied States of EuroIslanders, primed to leave the Alliance Defense Network later this week, have started renegotiating their long standing peace treaty with the region New Sparrow.

SECO troops, the military unit of New Sparrow, moved into The Rejected Realms earlier this week in support of the legal Delegate, Kandarin. Kandarin is also receiving support from several volunteers from the Meritocratic Legions, the A.L.L. and the A.D.N. (The Rejected Realms is a member of the A.D.N.) This move to support Kandarin has rejuvenated the ideals of “Defender Unity”, a term coined by A.D.N. Director Pope Hope. The Rejected Realms is currently under invasion by Carinthe of The Young World.

- Ivan Moldavi

Interview with Yaroo, Leader of "The Grendels"

By our Deputy Interviewer Mark Jellicle

Meritocratic Times: Greetings, Mr Yaroo. Thanks for granting us the privelge of speaking with you.

The Grendels: “Yes of course, I always make myself available to the Free Press,” smiles the Warleader Yarooo intentionally showing his teeth to the feline, while opening an envelope and examining some photos. “These photos don’t do justice to your beautiful family, oh yes the interview, let us continue.”

MT: First off, I'd like to ask you about The Grendels' economy - how does it work?

TG: “Like the Universe itself oiled its gears!” exclaims Yarooo. “We are the mightiest Superpower of the Nation States World! The Grendels succeed because I give our citizens every chance to succeed and our warrior code has successfully made its transition into the boardrooms of our corporations. We have the greatest industrial base and do not rest on our laurels, pushing the envelope of technology and marketing. The Indomitable Borderlands even includes an enclave of capitalist humans, living in a walled off land, where we can test a lot of products intended for our human markets. We do not accept mediocre performances. Not from employees, not from CEO’s, and certainly not from the Government!”

MT: What about your political system?

TG: “I am the political system,” answers Yarooo in an irritable fashion, strumming the claws of his fingers on the desk. “I appoint the District Warlords, who report to the Corporate Council. The Provincial Warlords are ruled by the Clans.”

MT: Are you a peaceful people?

TG: “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all week,” laughs Yarooo. “We are an extremely militant people, living by the warrior code. Free citizens compete for the honour of performing in our gladiatorial games or to hunt Dire Bears with ancient weaponry. Boardroom assassinations are common and are only prosecuted if the victim was proven to excel in their role. The Grendel Expeditionary Forces have been quick to mobilize in a number of conflicts across the Nation States World. No, I do not think many Gnolls would consider themselves peaceful.”

MT: Do you think the public support you?

TG: “Of course they do,” replied a shocked Yarooo. ”Have I not taken my people to economic dominance of the Nation States World. Just ask any of them. They will all speak well of me.”

MT: How are your relations with your Wysterian neighbours?

TG: “Given that I’ve magnanimously agreed not to wipe my neighbours off the face of the World without cause, I’m very well liked. While I may easily find myself allying with aggressive powers in conflicts outside of Wysteria, I don’t believe in fouling my nest and ruining my relations with my regional neighbours. I may have participated in a few regional conflicts, naval blockades, and threatened to vaporize the odd satellite, but most nations love the Grendels. Except of course for some of those feline nations, who took offense for our recipes for kitten, but that was a simply a cultural misunderstanding.”

A slightly worried MT: Would you ever consider joining the UN?

TG: “Do you even know who you are talking to?" stared Yarooo in disbelief "The Grendels would never be a part of the defective organization known as the United Nations. It would interfere with our continued mission of the Model State.”

MT: Thanks again for speaking to us!

TG: “Yes it has no doubt been a pleasure for you,” suggests the Warleader. “My attaché assures me that we have some wonderful parting gifts for you, to remind you of your visit.”

An Alliance Returns To Its Roots

By our Foreign Reporter, Ivan Moldavi

The Alliance Defense Network, long an example of defender unity against the invader hordes has taken another step on it’s long road of history. On September 16th, 2004 Pope Hope, Director of the A.D.N. announced an immediate suspension of the A.D.N. Constitution and declared Martial Law. In her statement she cited a decrease in actual defensive military activities as one of the primary reasons for this move. Using a “grass-roots” stump speech approach she called for the various factions within the alliance to put aside their differences and invited them to move forward with her and her home region Nasicournia in an old direction.

Returning to it’s roots as a purely military defender alliance the A.D.N. leadership said “Constitutionalists be damned, we are here to fight, not talk” and took the multiregional group by the horns and steered them back into the light.

Of course, as with any political movement and governmental suffling, there were casualties and may yet be more to come. The Allied States of EuroIslanders, a long time member and the largest player-created region within the A.D.N., announced that irreconcilable differences with the administration have led to a vote of formal withdrawal from the group. Others, like newly elected President of Greece, Karpathos, were less diplomatic when withdrawing their regions.

It has been discussed that several other regions, such as England and Aurora, are contemplating their position within the network. Some are calling this drastic move away from representative democracy a travesty, others simply point to the original Mission Statement of the Alliance Defense Network and state that the bulging bureaucracy that was the A.D.N. was never it’s intended purpose. The drift away from regional defense and security towards interregional government was a mistake according to some. Only history will decide who was right and who was wrong.

This reporter remembers the author of that original Mission Statement, he went by several names, Damon Wrathborne, TheProfessor and William de la Birches. But his most memorable moniker seems most fitting with this rebirth of the Alliance Defense Network, Phoenix.

- Ivan Moldavi

Source: The Original Mission Statement of the Alliance Defense Network

The New Senate

By our Meritocratic Reporter, The Sultan of Jallalacks

Fellow Senators, I no longer have the heavy hand of one who has seen multiple resignations – I no longer decry the prophecies of doom that waft through the hallowed halls of our great chamber. No, Senators and Senatrixes, I am no longer as concerned with the pessimism of some of this chamber.

Why, you might ask? After all, those who have resigned because they disagreed with the Senate are still, well, resigned, and only one has decided to come back (and its debateable how much that nation left because it disagreed with the Senate’s position, and I cannot of course, speak on their behalf). The same people are still here, we still suffer from the occasional outburst of flaming and discourteous behaviour between Senators.

What has changed is that we have come out of that dark period just before the Consul election (and a few days after it) just about in one piece. We have a new administration, with new, capable people in it, that ugly court case has now ended, and will soon be forgotten, and the wrathful arguments over the ADN – PRP relationship have, for now, abated.

It seems that these times of temporary crisis are cyclical, and many Senators of longer standing than I have made reference to this possibility. To support this claim, it is possible to look at the similar crisis of faith that emerged at the end of Jasque’s second consulship – spurious legal action, personal insults, and vicious factionalism…sound familiar? Yes, it does. What we viewed at the end of Unistrut’s term was simply another round of in –fighting that will occur from time to time. It is, of course, possible to avoid, and not always necessary, but bear in mind the amount of time this senate has been around, the various crises it has gone through, before we start to say that the Senate is doomed.

However, many of the original problems I laid out in my previous article, are, as yet, still present. The ADN and the PRP are still at each others throats, and what with the recent upheavals in the ADN, it is only a matter of time before arguments over this fire up again. So what to do? Well, we can for a start observe some courtesy this time when approaching this issue. I cannot yet comment, for the current crisis between the ADN and the ASE has led to my approval as a posting member being delayed – but enough of that. There is no need for me to hark on the problems of Jallalacks’ sister states outside this body.

So we move on to the other problems I outlined – the small pool from which Consul candidates can be drawn for example. As it turns out, the current consul has proved exemplary in his term so far, providing insightful comments on all areas of policy. But when steps down, it will be from the same limited pool – why the restrictions? Few so far have outlined their purpose. On the same issue, we also have this provincial senator status, of which we are a part. A partial explanation was provided by the honourable senator from Dope for this, but its principle argument, that it is designed to allow UN nations to reside in a Meritocratic province, falls down on the fact that no provincial senator can be a member of the UN, and no one, myself included has suggested anything different. A senator from a region where UN membership is allowed amongst non – senators is no different to a senator from a region where one is not.

Why then does Jallalacks not join the MoIP and propose legislation that would change this? Because we feel that these must be issues that the whole senate must be aware of before change is begun. Thus my parading in the Meritocratic Times.

Change has been seen in Citizenship, the Bureau of Public Relations in particular. This meritorious action is one which we should support and throw our full support behind – citizenship is the single most important area that defines our future as a body, and it is due cause for celebration that we recognise this.

Thus, it is with hope and optimism that this administration begins its term. Let us hope it continues ever thus.

From the Office of The Sultan of Jallalacks, Second dominion of The London Borough of Jixieland, located in The Sardauker Confederacy, Fourth Dominion of The Meritocracy.

Senate News In Brief

By our Stand-In Senate Reporter, Soigacas

Citizenship Applicants

• The only citizenship applicant this week has been that of the returning Argyres, former consul. He is expected to be voted in by a large margin.
• Ambassador Arrivals
• The nation of Alfenlot arrived to represent the region Nasicournia to the Meritocracy.
• The nation of Pakasia will be representing the region of Equilism.
• The Allied States of EuroIslanders has sent a second ambassador, Equality-Liberty.
• Karpathos has arrived to represnt Greece, but the admin wand has yet to be waved.

Resigantions

• We regret to announce that on Sunday, Wolfsreich resigned from the Senate of the Meritocracy.

Arrow News

This week saw the founding of two new arrows, and the re-introduction of another.

• SATO: The Sea of Asshat Treaty Organization

   A pact fromed by the nations around the Sea of Asshat in Map Square B-2. Founding signatories were: Saminorr, Old Lutheran and Bumpy. Possesed Peoples has already joined and Soigacas and Yoco are applying. Ars Longa is yet to respond to its invitations.

• WGAD: Working Group Against Drugs

   A proposal put forward by Xiang Gang to ban dangerous drugs in countries signing up. It has met fierce opposition from MNM (see below), and the only signatories so far are Soigacas and International Racing. Yoco and Clayton Road have voiced their support.

• MNM: Meritocratic Nations for Marijuana

   The MNM, created by Freedomnia, stated up again recently and many nations joined. They were: Cortath, Christian Falangists, Argyres, Saminorr, Yoco, Aesculapius, Unistrut, Hipposhire, Sexanddope and Ars Longa.

Ministry News

• Public Relations Bureau created. The Public Relations Bureau has been created as a subministry of the Ministry of Internal Policy. It is tasked with attracting more nations to the Meritocracy, and will swing into action very soon. It is headed by Baithel.

Issue #6 (Nov. 4, 2004)

Editor: Hipposhire Contributors: Hipposhire, B4kst4br

Editorial

Due to recent events, this issue of the MT has been delayed for some time, and there has been little contributed by the Senate. I would like to preface this issue by announcing that I have appointed B4kst4br as Aedile to replace Sarda, who replaced Soigacas, who replaced Sarda, who replaced IR, who replaced Altair, who replaced Sarda...

I know that B4 will do an excellent job for the next issue. But until Issue 7, and without any further ado, I present what I hope will be a running serial by our new Aedile, The Lonely Elf:

The Lonely Elf, Part 1

by B4kst4br

Running through the forest, heart thumping; pulse racing. Valandil looks back, nothing there. “What do I do now? Well first I need to stop running.” Valandil slows down till he’s at a stop. The sweat is water falling down his face, who would have known that he would be running from a troll? Just suddenly it was there and…

The troll’s club splinters the tree not five feet from him. A frightful shriek comes from the black hole of the troll’s mouth. ‘Wow, that smells’, Valandil thinks. Before the trolls can react, Valandil drew his hardened bow, released three arrows in the direction of the troll and took off. Dodging from tree to tree, jumping over logs, and avoiding animals, he dives behind a tree and melts into the shadows.

The troll wanders over in the area of Valandil. He shuffles by Valandil’s tree, sucking in air through his grimy nostrils trying to locate him. Valandil smiles an evil smile. He whispers, “you should have stayed where you belong,” In hearing that, the troll perks up, then jerks his club; trying to swing at the tree. The club barrels around the swing and turns the medium tree into saw dust. But the troll sees no elf. It wonders, ‘where is puny elf? I want smash him!’

As if Valandil could read the thoughts of the troll, “I’m up here!” The troll looks up to the next tree to see a drawn bow, the release, and nothing else.

The troll’s lifeless body tumbles backward until it hits the ground. An earth shattering Ka-boom is heard throughout the forest. Valandil Mutters to himself, “If a troll dies in the forest with no one around…” He snickers, “ha.”

Tribune Elections

by election supervisor Sir Hippocrates MacKai

At the opening of nominations, incumbent Tribune Old Lutheran, who had been serving the remainder of NewClarkhaller's term, looked to be secured a victory. Glasguensis withdrew his candidacy and Bumpy remained only in order to give the Senate an alternative. At the time I could not have predicted such a close election as this one turned out to be. Senator Bumpy of Bumpivania came very close to winning the hard-fought elections, with 18 votes to Old Lutheran's 21. Camozayo received 4 votes, Pittsland received 5. Three Senators abstained. Turnout was very impressive, with 51 of 70 Senators voting in the most close and eagerly anticipated election of this Senator's career.

Senate News

by the bureaucrat Censor who is comfortable writing this sort of thing

The Senate voted 15-14-6 to remove the provincial status of the province "The Meritocracy, falling short of the 2/3 vote required. Following complaints that the vote was conducted improperly the Censor declared it void. The second time around, following more controversy, the Senate voted 27-10-2 and The Meritocracy had its provincial status removed. Consul Aesculapius enacted the Emergency Legislation Act to put forward a bill to terminate the ADMA treaty and bypass the MoFP. The Senate voted 30-10-4 to annull the treaty (75% support).

The Senate approved the Citizenship Transfer Act, requiring Senators who wish to change the nation they represent to resign and reapply. Article X of the charter was amended to revise military organisation. The Senate voted down an amendment to force the Consul to put treaties before the MoFP. The Senate voted 15-11-7 to pass the Role Play Freedom Act. It is hoped that this piece of legislation will help to avoid future court cases resulting in RP misdemeanors. The Senate voted 34-2-3 to repeal the MIA Membership Act, which set a limit on the membership of the MIA.

The Senator from Nem was approved as new Director of Public Relations. Siempre was granted citizenship on his fourth attempt. The Senate voted 24-9-7 to make Siempre a Senator, despite his long-standing service to the PRP. The Senate rejected Daikerta for citizenship for a second time. The Hall Monitor, once discovered to be former Senator Unistrut, was voted down by a massive majority of 93%, with 41 Senators voting against (3-41-8). Citizenship was also granted to Petrovya, Borealium, Dilber II, Yamba and Of The People-F.

Issue #7 (Dec. 13, 2004)

Editor: Altair Contributing Editors: dope, Freedomnia, Jasque, Moldavi, Soigacas, Xiang Gang Advertisers: Camozayo

Editorial

Altair

Greetings fellow Meritocrats and friends. This is the latest edition of the Meritcratic Times. With this edition, I am making a change in how articles are collected. Now and in the future the best postings that appear in the forum will appear here as commentary or news. Submissions from Ambassadors, both foreign and domestic are encouraged. We also welcome new advertisers.

Thanks to all who responded favorably to the Aedile-grams they received in the last week.

-Altair from Lupon, Davao Oriental, PHILIPPINES

Meritocratic Poll

Meritocratic Times Staff Writer Soigacas

Earlier this week, Unistrut re-applied for citizenship. Given his history (both positive and negative) we asked the Senate:

Give us your views on Unistrut's application for citizenship?

Here are a range of the responses we received:

• Once a Meritocrat, always a Meritocrat.
• I am not pleased about it - he cannot waltz back in and expect to regain control.
• I support it.
• He is a silly little boy who is sulking because we did not play his game his way! He was attempting to rattle our chain, if he had gotten in he would probably have done as much damage by attempting to get thrown out and generally messing us around. Something he continues to do for no better reason that he know he is anoying us. Like I said, he is a sulking child.
• Unistrut is a duplicitous scoundrel. Hell-bent on bolstering his own ego, he embodies arrogance and is only amiable when it benefits him. He somehow manages to portray himself to the more impressionable Senators as the victim to a system bent on bringing him down. He is no tragic hero; he reaped what he sowed. To bring him back would be an epic mistake unless of course divisiveness is cherished.
• (Feel free to cite my name.)
• Like him or not, he's a hell of a player, and a great asset to our group. I'll be voting AYE
• The only thing more surprising, more astonishing and more disappointing than him applying again is the high level of support he seems to have here. I cannot believe that people could seriously consider welcoming him back after the ADMA invocation, the Hall Monitor subterfuge, the anti-MIA propaganda, the secession of "The Meritocracy" and everything else he has done to attack and undermine our organisation.
• Should have seen it coming. Surprised, but should not be. WTF??? what does he really want?We have some time to determine motives.
• Really made me do a gut check on what I believe.
• I think he's rough around the edges, and maybe even a little Machevellian, but Unistrut is generally honest and worthy of being Senator.

Meritocratic Nations for Marijuana

Freedomnia (21-Sep-2004)

It is our greatest pleasure to reintroduce the autonomous group known as the Meritocratic Nations for Marijuana (MNM). All Senators and Residents who wish to demonstrate that their nation(s) are tolerant to marijuana consumption, cultivation and distribution are encouraged to join.

Membership requires accepting and implementing the MNM's Mission Statement:

(Insert your name here) believes that adult individuals should be free to peacefully consume, cultivate and distribute marijuana in the manner they choose without interference from the state.

• MNM Undersigners
• The Libertarian Confederacy of Freedomnia
• The United Socialist States of Cortath
• Hanseatic Satellite State of Christian Falangists
• Holy Meritocratic Republic of Argyres
• Free Land of Saminorr
• Meritocratic Monarchy of Yoco
• Terra di Libertas of Aesculapius
• The Pax Imperium of Unistrut
• Meritocratic Hippocracy of Hipposhire
• Constitutional Monarchy of Sexanddope
• Kingdom of Ars Longa
• Las Vegas Like Nation of Evans
• FRee Republic of Altair
• The Colony of Sir Paul II

Introducing the International Progressive Thinktank

Xiang Gang

IPT, the International Progressive Thinktank was established on November 28th.

It will be a forum for progressivism - the political ideal of finding what will make things better and doing it. Join up!

On the agenda:

1. Progressivism and Taxation 2. Progressivism and Devolution/Federalism 3. Progressivism and Security

My views:

1. Progressivism and Taxation --- Taxation should always be on goods and services - 25% for example. Each person then receives a fixed sum of money in rebate - thus creating a tax which is not regressive, yet also cheap and simple to administer.

2. Progressivism and Devolution/Federalism --- Federalism and high-level devolution create intra-national inequalities and vast, complex and overlapping multi-level bureaucracy. It is necessary that central institutions define law and localised, grassroots bodies apply this fully to their specific situation whilst retaining a small number of powers such as local town planning. They must therefore have a certain represenation in central institutions.

3. Progressivism and Security --- Our security is important, but not paramount. We should not be so paranoid about what may happen and should not sacrifice our principles of law to ensure our assets and lives are protected. We must work to find solutions to end problems which pose real dangers to our lives through dialogue and discussion.

What about you?

Free Trade

Akilina Bay of the Constitutional Monarchy of Sexanddope

While I believe in Free Trade that is almost certainly because I live in an industrially developed nation. Of course it was the advocation of Free Trade that made Britain Great and gave it an empire, but that was in an age when Britain was the most developed industrially and had a virtual monopoly on many industrial practices. In reality Free Trade only works amongs nations who have a roughly equal level of development. This does not have to all be industrial but the nations in a free trade agreement must be generally equal on a broad development scale. It is no use having a Free Trade agreement between, Brazil and USA, for example, as most if not all the benefit would go to the USA! Their financial clout would mean that they would get all Brazils agricultural output for 20 SUV's a year! (exaggerate for effect).

The effect of Free Trade in an unequal market is that the poor get very poor and the rich get very rich, as in the scenario of the garment workers in the Philippines. I am fortunate, (some would say extremely) to have been raised in developed nations, and I would be loathe to forgoe my luxuries, my PC, my Car, my houses, my NHS. As that is what is required if we are to avoid a world wide revolution!

Revolution from Free Trade? How absurd! I don't think so, with modern communications becoming available to a majority of the world, the poor, even the extremely poor, now know there is another way, life is not about surviving, it can be about so much more that getting enough rice! As they learn this and become resentful to those of us with more than the basics, they become easily persuaded by those with another agenda. The rebels, the freedom fighters, the terrorist. When these organisations are put down with shock and awe type weapons a sense of utter futility takes over, when enough people feel that futility they band together and eventually become a force!

Of course it may not come to revolution, the extremely poor people of this world who are being used as extremely cheap labour, come, in the main, from China and the Indian subcontinent. Those nations are starting to realise that such a large population is a weapon mightier by far against a capitalist opponent that a missile!

The balance at the moment is we, (the west), need their labour to give us our cheap products, and hence standard of living; they need our money to attempt to step up to our level. Soon now, (and some already have), the futility of that attempt will come home, they will realise that the west will never allow them that step, they cannot afford to, as to do so would mean sacrificing their highly valued standard of living, as we will not pay the amount for those products that this step up would require. When they do that they will realise, (most already have) there is no military option, that leaves economics, between India and China there are 2 billion people, almost a third of the worlds population. That is a very powerful weapon, it just needs a clever person to lead it as a single unit and the revolution the religious extremists currently on the fringe are attempting to start will no longer be neccesary.

What is the cure? If I knew I would be a highly paid politician! However there really will need to be a balance of wealth in the medium scale if the world is not to avoid major conflict. This could take two options, our governments see it coming and rather than give a pittance in aid force their companies to start paying a living wage to all their employees. This would mean that 90% of the west can no longer afford luxuries, no personal cars, no PCs, houses are basic and furniture is home made, food is a lot less, (but probably more healthy). The other option is that the emerging nations India and China club together and refuse to export to us, but tie themselves together and become in internal market, this in turn would have a disastrous effect on the developed nations possibly causing meltdown. Of course the danger in the latter is the governments involved would see that as a threat and take the, to them logical step; invade to secure their sources, first thing to do of course is to secure a flow of oil, so they would have to invade an oil rich nation.............................................

ADVERTISING

A funny thing happened to me last week as I was walking home from the Senate chambers. I was passing nearby to the Active Residents Group when I noticed some new construction amid a bunch of dusty buildings. "O.K." I thought, "it's worth a look-see, I've never seen any of this before."

The sign on the building was intriguing, "Evil Lair Bar". I was feeling evil that day and hey, if you can think of anything more evil than an off-duty Spelling Cop let me know. I'll be waiting here while you think, unless I die of old age first.

I had evil peanuts and an evil drink, but there's lots more on the menu. Go on, give it a try if you're feeling evil. You'll be glad you did.

The Meritocratic Times is completely supported by its sponsors. This edition of the Meritocratic Times is being brought to you by the Evil Lair Bar in the newly established Lair of Camozayo.

My Opinion by Ivan Moldavi

A commentary through the eyes of a true doctrinaire.

Disclaimer: While I will be taking past experiences and present duties into account these articles will be written from my perspective as a Senator of The Meritocracy. The opinions expressed herein are my own and are not necessarily representative of any group that I belong to outside of the Meritocracy or any group that I have belonged to in the past. While personal bias will be prevalent throughout, this is not meant to be defamatory against any group or persons and should be taken with a grain of salt. I am known to be harsh and unrelenting, I expect no less from my readers.

Today I wish to speak about my vision for the future of The Meritocracy. I wish to express my opinion of what neutrality is in relation to our Senate and the NationStates gaming world at large. Further, I would like to elaborate on my personal views as an isolationist.

First, let’s speak on neutrality. What is neutrality in a game? Some say it is not taking a stand or not having a “backbone.” I disagree with this. It is my opinion that being neutral is one of the harder positions to be in within the NationStates world. It is not a weakness. It does not make one cowardly to stand back and proclaim that they will not be influenced by outside forces into going to war or supporting one group over another. To say otherwise is an error. The definition of neutral states very simply, not aligned with either side in a controversy, not belonging to either side in a conflict. Why is this opinion such a threat?

Many, including our Consul, think that my affiliations with certain outside organizations influences my decisions and votes in this Senate. That is a falsehood. How does my opinion that The Meritocracy would be better off without outsiders influencing our actions make me such a horrible person? How is it such a horrible thing for the Senate? The interventionist can hide behind their rhetoric for all eternity for all I care, it doesn’t make me wrong or them right. We recently discussed the dissolution of the ALL and MACTO, two alliances that the Senate signed onto a long time ago and that really have no tangible benefit to The Meritocracy. How can I say that, you say? Because the former Consul’s handpicked Alliance Inquisition team did extensive research and voted a recommendation stating just that. I will note that I was intentionally left off the AIA team because I had an obvious bias against the alliances and would possibly have skewed the results. The team that was selected was hailed by many to be a true collection of a representation of the Senate. So why was their recommendation trampled on? Some, including me, would say it is because the leadership of the Senate is “controlled and influenced” too heavily by outside groups. Don’t take my word for it. Look around. Also, take a look at which ministries all the new Senators that are also members of outside groups have been applying for. Some could call what is catamount to stacking a Ministry a conspiracy, some don’t see the sudden interests in the FDC and MoJ as such and that is fine. But, back to the matter at hand.

So I am an isolationist. I believe the Senate should remove itself from any and all military alliances immediately. I do not believe the Senate should be compelled to put forth a good faith effort, or indeed any effort, if it doesn’t wish to. Again, I fail to see how that is such a horrible ideal. I am not stating that The Meritocracy should declare war on the ALL and ADN and join up with the PRP, even if some would like to make you think that is my intent. I have said countless times I am against all such treaties. I would not be a party to the Senate signing a military alliance with the Pacific, New Sparrow or any other region in this game.

Thus, I have created M.A.D.D. or Meritocrats Against Diplomatic Density, a group that has only one member and is fine with that. (It would be a bit ironic to have an isolationist group solicit for members I think.) Our motto is simple, The Meritocracy for the Meritocratic Senate! We do not concern ourselves with affairs outside of the normal exchange of diplomats. We do not concern ourselves with the development of an army to go around the world in hopes of imposing our ideals on other regions. We do not let our foreign policy be dictated to us by treaties that force mandatory participation in actions the outsiders deem suitable. (For the record, I will never put forth a "good faith" effort in any defense unless I deem it worthwhile.) We are dedicated to the rebuilding of The Meritocracy from within. We pursue avenues that will hopefully be catalysts to increased activity in the Senate.

We never falter on the ideal that this place belongs to the Senate and the Senate is the ultimate authority here. We will not waver. We will never yield.

Alliances

Jasque

Without our alliances, what exactly do our "international political and economic relations" consist of? The exchange of ambassadors? That is it. Nothing else that I can see is going on. I doubt any political scientist, when considering if a nation is isolationist, would consider the exchange of ambassadors as adequate "relations." Other than these simple exchanges, what does the Meritocracy actually do? What is it in favor of doing?

Everything that this Senate is currently fighting for is withdrawal. The Senate is isolationist. It is isolationist to the extent that the internationalists have been reduced to the state of arguing robustly in the defense of the Allied Liberation League – a relatively inactive organization. THAT is our only meaningful international relation at this point Everything else has been dropped, destroyed, or, through inactivity, has decayed to near-nothingness.

Take a look at our current direction. Everybody who is in favor of neutrality, take a look at your own actions. What foreign policy goals have you been proactive in? This does not mean debating your fellow Senators; it means going abroad in the name of the Senate. Have you actively created new relationships for the Meritocracy? Have you actively engaged in intelligence sharing; in interregional trade agreements; in defense of our friends; in what? All I have seen is withdrawal! withdrawal! withdrawal! There are not many fighting to expand our influence. How can we? We internationalist are reduced to defending the status quo with all our might. Most of what has been achieved is a result of the proactive actions of past Meritocrats. And it is slipping away.

It was not always like this. Twice I was Consul, and once Quaestor. The Meritocracy was much more active in international projects during that time. Sometimes we would create these projects ourselves; sometimes we would join another group of people. But we were constantly engaged, and constantly looking forward. Today, all I see is a glance inward, and a hope that others will look in at the Senate too, and, on their own initiative, engage us. That is very idealistic, and it may happen that way from time to time. For the most part though, you must be proactive, you must take the initiative – you must go out and get involved in the world in order to get any recognition for your region. After all, there are over 14,000 regions in the game, and 123,000 nations. The world does not revolve around us, and it never has. If it seems as if it does, then credit must go to those in the past who have achieved success. We must always be willing to interact with other regions in some manner, or else we will be left alone. This is not what I want, and I do not believe it is what others want.

The Allied Liberation League is a chance to cooperate with several of our friends. I do not believe most of you have ever even visited their board, much less signed up to contribute. If you had, you might realize that international politics is not what you think it is. It is not about mutual defense pacts that are only enacted once every year and a half. That is just the binding force to bring people together. The day to day affairs are much different. Above all else, the ALL creates a working relationship between several regions in the world, and creates potential for future cooperation. The benefits of these kinds of alliances are not primarily in self-defense. Not even for the founderless regions. The benefits are in diplomacy and political affluency. Two things the Meritocracy is in danger of losing.

Senator Jasque is a two-time former Consul of the Meritocracy.

Senate News

Congratulations to the new Consul Eli and his cabinet:

Vice Consul Cortath

Lictor: Jasque Deputy: Crazy Girl

Quaestor: Cortath Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs: Bumpy Deputy Director of Intelligence: Argyres

Praetor: Hipposhire Deputy: Yoco

Censor: Puppet States Deputy Censor (Deputy Director of Immigration and Membership): International Racing Deputy Censor (Deputy Director of Investigations): Glasguensis

Welcome to returning Senators Jasque (8-Nov-2004) Altair (25-Nov-2004) Freedomnia (29-Nov-2004)

Welcome to new Senators Odracir (15-Nov-2004)

Farewell to departing Senators Zanzubar (6-Nov-2004) Telundra (10-Nov-2004) Freedom Central (16-Nov-2004) Saminorr (19-Nov-2004) B4kst4br (30-Nov-2004)

Congratulations to: Governor of the Meritocratic Central Bank (MCB) Ars Longa Director of the Meritocratic Bureau of Public Relations Christian Falangists

Issue #8 (Dec. 24, 2004)

Contributing Editors: Jasque, Neboe, Soigacas Contributors: Aesculapius, dope, Eli, Old Lutheran, Xixia (Sarda)

Cortath Dies

Last weekend one of our investigative reporters noticed that the Nation of our Vice Consul, Cortath had died and been resurrected, thus apparently making the Senator from Cortath a non-Senator according to article III of the Citizenship Act.

   wrote:
   III. - Inactivity
   Any Nation that ceases to exist while holding a seat in the Meritocratic Senate shall be considered to have ceded their right to Senate Representation and Meritocratic Citizenship.

Both the Vice Consul and the Censor made statements for our reporter regarding this incident. The Vice Consul wrote:

   wrote:
   It was an honest and foolish mistake. I only log in to Cortath when I have diplomatic messages, such as the confirmation of Ambassadors' being duly appointed by the leaders of their government, etc., etc., and not expecting or having messages in that regard, I foolishly neglected to log in to that nation.

The Censor wrote:

   wrote:
   I noticed it... but not until the nation was already resurrected. The deletion and resurrection were within 1 hour of each other. I sent the Senator from Cortath a message informing him of the close call, and saying had I noticed while the nation was still deleted, he would've been reported in violation. I decided if a nation dies and resurrects before I notice (since I check the territories at least twice per day), I will inform the Senator of the problem and issue a warning, rather than remove a Senator for something that has already been corrected. I will note that if the Senator had wanted to be sneaky, he could've moved puppets into and out of the New Meritocracy to hide his trail. He did not do so. That also factored into my decision. 

Bumpy resigns as FDC

In a brief statement made in the morning of Christmas Eve, the Senator from Bumpivania announced that he was resigning as the Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs.

   wrote:
   Ladies and Gentlemen of the Senate,
   Regretably I am faced with RL issues which conflict with my duties in the FDC. Therefore I am resigning, effective immediately. I will remain somewhat active in Senate affairs, but can not fullfill my obligations as Deputy Minister of Foriegn Affairs with the dilligence such a job requires.

   Sorry to let you down.

We, at the Times, wish the Honorable Senator the best of luck in resolving his RL issues and thank him for his distinguished past service. We'll miss you Bumpy and we hope things work out for you.

Editorial

Welcome to the Merry Christmas edition of the Meritocratic Times. We are once again breaking new ground. We have a new look on the masthead, we have a new entertainment section including a crossword puzzle and a cryptogram contest.

We introduce a new friend, the newly confirmed Senator Neboe from the region of Equilism and head of the ADN News service. The Honorable Senator gives us a report on the region of Equilism for his first article.

We thank once again, the Honorable Senator from Soigacas, our #1 Meritocratic Times staff writer who designed our new logo.

We also have a report regarding the recent TYW/RRA conflict, interviews with Consul Eli and newly renamed Senator Sarda (Xixia) who was instrumental in getting the Meritocratic Times off the ground. We also have a summary of the candidates for the forthcoming Tribune election.

Merry Christmas, Meritocrats and friends and we'll see you next year.

-Altair from Banaybanay, Davao Oriental, PHILIPPINES

TYW/RRA Interviews

by Meritocratic Times staff writer Soigacas

Earlier this year, tempers flared and diplomatic skills were tested to the limit when The Youngworld's Army moved into the Rejected Realms. The Meritocracy played a vital role in diffusing tensions. But what is the background to the incident? We asked the Youngworld, the Rejected Realms Army, the Rejected Realms and the Meritocracy for their opinions.

Encyclopedians: TYW

TYW army had grown in strength due to the Great Blight defence, but without access to defender data, we didn't have any missions to go on. So Carinthe took it upon herself to start tailing some invaders, seeing if one would let a target slip.

One day, Fleeb, the delegate of Iran got deleted, and some of the invaders that Carinthe was tailing started to talk about "such a golden opportunity" they had to invade Iran. Now the orignal YW fell to invaders through just this way, only it was Carinthe's original nation that got deleted.

Carinthe TG Grub since she thought that Fleeb was a TITO officer and offered her support. Seeing how the invaders were waiting until the UN scan was close at hand, Carinthe felt that they would take control of Iran before Grub got the message, so she ordered the YW army to hold it until TITO could get their.

However, Fleeb was not a TITO operative. CG, some say "and the RRA", other say "of her own accord", moved to stop Carinthe from taking the delagacy and labeled her an invader for taking preemptive action. The invaders, faced with two armies, never came. And by the end of the day, the YW army was in the RR.

The YW army initial left the RR, except for Carinthe. Diplomatic talks started between the RR, ADN and TYW. It looked like the regions would settle things with an apology when CG claimed that Iran wasn't an RRA mission, and thus Kandarin couldn't issue an apology for it. ADN did nothing to act as a neutral forum between defenders, first siding with the RRA, then martial law was declared ceasing talks their as well.

Carinthe decided to move all her troops into the RR to apply pressure onto Kandarin, while I went to the Realm of Criminology to see if the dispute could be handled in the courts. Little did I know that the founder of criminology was an ex-RRA officer who had defected to the NPO after learning the RRA's goal of invading the pacific. (Warrior Thorin)

With Carinthe's friendship with CG gone, and with it the reason for her hatred of the NPO, she took relations with the Franco-less NPO one step further and apologized to them for acting like an invader to their government. Moved by this, Old Luthern decided to try an act as mediators since his region [The Meritocracy] was the only one where NPO allies and A.D.N allies actually came to talk.

You can read what came next for yourself on the TNM forums***LINK***. Hiding the talks would have been a good idea if it only included CG and Carinthe, since neither wanted to show weakness in front of their respective armies. But the hidden talks included first 6, then 8 then most of both sides of the conflict and all of the senators.

Eventually, Greymarshess came back from vacation to see the RR littered with endorsements, Kandarin calling in re-enforcements from New Sparrow, three or more active armies, and all over an apology that Kandarin withdrew. He basically went over to TYW forum re-issued the basic apology on behalf of the RRA, Kandarin confirmed it, TYW finally finished voting on it. CG, busy with school work, came back two days later to see the RR empty, the apology accepted, and Kandarin's endorsement level back down under 200.

So you might say CG's inactivity defeated TYW army, no?

Carinthe: TYW

This is supposed to be an interview, but I don't know anything to say. So much has been said already, and I hate repeating myself. Every time when I pass this thread, I think: "Oh no, not again?!"

Sorry Old Lutheran [he asked the questions in TYW], but I am perfectly happy if you let CG tell my side of the story, and while you are at it, you may also ask why she is invading The Den.

I see in this a plot to tire me out. It is not our newspaper, and I already know the general opinion.

Here are the most important threads about the subject:

• RRA wants peace [this topic did not exist]
• RRA Ambassador
• Peace talks are over [this topic did not exist]

Kandarin shouldn't have withdrawn from the peacetalks, the day that this all started. They wanted this war.

He shouldn't be so lazy, and do his own investigating. the thread is open to the public, and for him to read. This is a great chance to show how unbiased he is.

Greymarshes: RRA

1)Give me a step by step account of the entire incident

Dormant region Nations moving in. Defenders moves in. Defenders win Defenders eject unwanted nations Defenders leave

2) Why did you go into Iran?

Word came that there were an massive influx of nations coming into Iran. Since Iran earlier had been targeted by invaders it was assumed this was a new invasion. Because of that different nations from several regions moved in to endorse CrazyGirl as spearhead to fend of the invasion.

3)How did the Meritocracy get involved?

If I recall correctly it was Old Luther who talked to Carinthe of the TYW and then Carinthe posted a message on the Merit forums regarding the Iran situation. And then it went from there.

4)What agreement was reached?

That The YoungWorld should leave The Rejected Realms. This happened after an official statement from the RRA suppleanted by Kandarin. 5)Do you think the level of secrecy at which the talks were held was to high or too low?

I have no real opinon about it.

Greymarshes would like to point out that in Question 2, 'you' refers to the RRA, and not Greymarshes personally

Old Lutheran: TNM

1)How did the dispute begin between the RR and TYW?

I was not present for the beginning of the conflict so I am going by what various sources have told me. The various interpretations of events will probably always be in dispute, but the events are(as I understand them) as follows.

1. TYW forces went into the region of Iran where the delegate had apparently been deleted. 2. RRA, NasiCorp and other troops went in after the TYW presence was noticed. 3. Zandra was made delegate and ejected the TYW forces. 4. TYW forces then commenced action against the Rejected Realms region after discussions on both the TYW and ADN forums fell apart.

2) How did the Meritocracy get involved?

That was my doing. A couple of weeks before the talks in the Merit began, I ran into Carinthe on the PRP forum and in a brief conversation, found her to be nothing as she had been portrayed. In that conversation, I learned that there was an opportunity for peace here, but it seemed that no one had yet tried to connect the dots.

After consulting with then Consul Aesculapius and the Merit cabinet, I went to the TYW forums myself on a fact finding mission to see if there was interest in settling this matter peacefully. I found the Youngworlders to be witty, engaging, fun loving and more than willing to seek a peaceful solution. I went back to the Merit cabinet to help set things up knowing in my heart that an opportunity existed to put an end to the conflict peacefully. I believed this conflict to be needless and I thought that it could be resolved fairly easily with reasoned discussion and mutual give and take.

3) Was any solution or agreement reached?

Yes, an agreement was reached. The official negotiations here were over and the discussions on the release of the negotiations transcripts had pretty much slowed to a crawl. On November 19th, I (using a well known puppet of mine) endorsed Gothicville and Carinthe in the RR. This caused an uproar in certain circles to say the least.

Shortly before the uproar started on the afternoon of the 19th, I was contacted by Greymarshes as to the reasons for my endorsement of Carinthe and Gothicville. We had an excellent discussion behind the scenes that led to me approaching Carinthe about the possibility of setting up a meeting to settle things once and for all. I was asked to draft a statement that would be initially acceptable and both Carinthe and Greymarshes then agreed to a meeting. There were hints on the TYW/RRA Negotiations discussions thread that something was going on, but Greymarshes, Carinthe, and I agreed to take the discussions offsite on the morning of the 20th instead of continuing in that thread or having another one started. I need to commend both Carinthe and Greymarshes at this point(and probably cannot praise them enough ) because it was their willingness to invest the time, in spite of everything that had already transpired, to come together and resolve the conflict once and for all. By early afternoon (Saturday the 20th) the agreement was reached. I watched as it was approved by Greymarshes, Kandarin, and Carinthe with then Consul Aesculapius and current Consul Eli present. The TYW army began leaving the Rejected Realms later that same afternoon and early evening.

4) Do you think the decision keep the discussions private was a good one?

As far as the initial negotiations in the Merit, no probably not. That was a kneejerk reaction out of surprise on my part that I wish I had not made.

As far as the final negotiations, yes absolutely. The results speak for themselves and the primary focus(at least for me) was on the two parties who were not only willing to still negotiate, but able to officially end the conflict. I knew that, given time offsite and out of the public eye, a peaceful settlement could be reached between Carinthe and Greymarshes and again, I cannot lift up the praises those two deserve high enough.

Consular Interview

by Altair

The Meritocratic Times recently interviewed the newly elected Consul Eli. This interview was conducted in stages via PM with the Senatrix from Sexanddope overseeing the last half.

MT = the Meritocratic Times (Altair, dope where noted) Eli = Consul Eli

MT: What is your primary nation? Eli: Eli is my primary nation.

MT: What first attracted you to NationStates? To the Meritocracy? Eli: I ran into NationStates when reading National Review's online version. It was listed as their 'favorite' site of the day. When I joined NS, December 2002, there were very few non-feeder regions and the Capitalist Alliance was one of them, I joined it as the members there seemed to have similar beliefs to me. I knew about the Meritocratic Isles most likely about that same time as our regions did interact some. At that time the RR didn't exist yet and there was only one feeder region, The Pacific. I was attracted to The Meritocracy as it seemed to be a region that wouldn't persecute me for my unpure conservative/capitalist views. And I knew one of the founders and one of the Senators very well, hi Jasque and Britannia.

MT: What other NS organizations besides the Meritocracy do you belong to? Eli: As Eli I belong to no other NS organizations. I have puppets that belong to the CA and to the ADN. The others are in feeders and the RR.

MT: Given that the job of consul has been a largely thankless task in recent months, why did you want to become Consul? ELI: I thought that I could bring an ability to communicate and a vision of the course that the Meritocracy should take.

MT: What do you see as the biggest problem(s) facing the Meritocracy and how will you go about addressing them? Eli: IMO the biggest problem is the perception many of our members have that we are an ADN-centric organization. I think nothing could be further from the truth. While some of our members have outside ties to that group I do not think our policies or our politics are unduly influenced by the ADN's politics and policies. I think we need to remove this misguided fixation from our discourse.

I think we need to focus on advancing our Meritocratic ideals, self determination, the pre-eminence of national sovereignty, and the will to advocate those positions as the rights of all nations.

MT: Would you like to discuss in brief the direction and goals that you have with respect to foreign policy? Eli: I would like to achieve closer economic, cultural, and social ties with all of the pre-eminent regions and nations in NationStates.

MT (Senatrix dope): Could you expand upon this? Do you see TNM making such ties with regions that either are now, or were in their history, what many in The New Meritocracy would define as 'Invaders'? I avoid invaders, griefers, hackers, and what ifs. I think the Senate should also. I consider invaders, griefers, hackers, to be without Merit and unworthy of the consideration of this body.

MT (Senatrix dope): Some here in The New Meritocracy have said any alliances short of military are pointless with 'invaders' as such alliances are purely RP and 'invaders' have no interest in such. Would you care to comment on such views? The Meritocracy will have no alliances with 'invaders' if I have anything to say about it. Anyone that thinks we should is opposed to my views.

MT: Three months from now, how do you wish your consular term to be remembered? Eli: As one that re-focused The Meritocracy on its ideals.

MT: By that criteria, how would you rate your term so far? Eli: I think it is going pretty well. I've voiced my view about it and we have of course had views that don't align themselves perfectly with mine but I think the discourse as been instructive.

MT: Are you grooming a successor to the office? Eli: I am not. The Senate can do quite well at selecting a successor.

MT: What do you see as your role in the Meritocracy when you become a former Consul statesman next year? Eli: I will serve the Meritocracy in the role that its members see fit to honor me.

MT: I meant besides the statue carved into the face of Mount Winnipeg. What kind of role do you want to play? Eli: In RL I will be very challenged and will travel extensively on business in the coming year. This may preclude me from being the extreme post machine that I am now. I think that I am qualified to serve in any Ministry of than the MoJ. I have an aversion to legal tedium. I get enough of that in RL.

MT: OB golf question. What's your favorite course and favorite hole? What's the most memorable round you've played and why? Eli: My favorite course that I have played would be Pebble Beach. My favorite hole would be the eighth hole there that doglegs over the ocean.

My most memorable round of golf was a few years ago in an amateur tournament here in Missouri. I was fortunate enough to birdie the last hole to edge out my fellow competitor for the victory. This fellow was a young, smart aleck, sarcastic, college kid who had derisively called me "old man" all day. He was devastated by the fact that an old man had beat him. I was glad to have won and he did a rather good job of motivating me. Strangely enough I felt sorry for him afterwards because he took it so hard.

Thank you for your time, Consul.

Tribune Election Report

by Altair

It's Tribune election time in the Meritocracy again, with the next election to be held in the timepart of December 28th. Senatrix Akilina Bay of The Constitutional Monarchy of Sexanddope, the Senator from Aesculapius, the Senator from Old Lutheran, the Senator from Glasguensis, the Senator from Bumpivania and the Senator from Moldavi were nominated. The Senator from Aesculapius, the Senator from Old Lutheran and the Senatrix from Sexanddope have accepted their nominations and the Meritocratic Times is privileged to publish their Tribune platforms.

It is the editorial policy of the Meritocratic Times to not endorse a candidate, however, we do urge all Senators to get out and vote in the election.

Addendum: After this issue went to press, the Honorable Senator from Aesculapius withdrew as a candidate for Tribune.

Candidates for Tribune in alphabetical order by nation name.

The Senator from Aesculapius (withdrew)

   wrote:
   Greetings, my fellow Senators,

   Once again, I stand before you, asking for your favor. Many of you already know me well- as Praetor, Consul, or Friend. I feel that I have extensive experience in the law, even if it has been as somewhat of an outsider. As Praetor for almost two terms, I worked, hands-on, with the law. I directed the efforts of the Ministry of Internal Policy to create the Civil Code (Though I certainly could not have done it alone). I was personally involved in the drafting, editing, and passing of many pieces of legislation. I would like the opportunity to continue working with the law. I ask you now to consider voting for me for Tribune in the upcoming election.

   I have accepted the nomination for the position of Tribune because I feel that it is time for change. I have great reverence for the ideals of tripartite government. In my opinion, to succeed, all governments must obey the separation of powers; to do less is to allow any one branch of the government, be it legislative, judicial, or executive, to establish tyranny over all. That is, of course, the most terrible of outcomes, because it distorts, silences, and destroys the voice of the people. Senators, I worry that the authority of the judiciary of this body is being diluted. It is being diluted because of entanglements in areas that it should not be; it is being diluted, because it seems there is a fear and distrust of the judiciary. That worries me greatly. The judiciary must command the respect that comes out of swift, sure, exact, and just decisions.

   I pledge that as Tribune, I shall remain completely objective and fair. I will not look at the names of any Senator coming before the court and prejudge them; they will all be equal in my eyes. Moreover, I promise that I shall stick to the law, and not personal opinion, as it was written and passed by the rightfully elected Meritocratic Senate. As such, when looking at any case, or making any legal opinion, my sole guide will be the letter of the law. I confess that I am a stickler for procedure and doing things according to a somewhat constructionist view. That is because I feel that the Senate is best served when there is no doubt as to the legal correctness of an action. That is why I propose to make the jurisidiction and procedure of the Ministry of Justice clearer, and close loopholes and gaps in the law.

   As far as the qualities that a Tribune must have, I believe Bumpy said it best:

       wrote:

       The job of Tribune calls for objectivity, freedom from prejudice and a love of Justice. A lonely and unpopular position at times, those who would sit in judgement must do so with the understanding that the power they wield is not their own, but derives from the laws they are charged with administering; vengeance must be tempered with fairness and compassion.

   Senators, I wish to uphold these values as Tribune. I pledge to you that I shall be, as always, a humble servant of this body.

   I ask for your consideration, and questions.

The Senator from Old Lutheran

   wrote:
   My Campaign for Reelection as Tribune of the Meritocracy is based on a record of progress and achievement by the Ministry of Justice and the Senate that I have felt an honor to have been both a member of and served as Tribune these last 3 months.

   During my time as Tribune, our Ministry of Justice has stayed busy and made substantial progress in clarifying questions of application and interpretation of the Law in both The Charter and Legal Code. We have seen the Role Play Freedom Act, 3 legal Code Amendments, and the Judicial Review Board Act passed by the Senate. We currently have two more Legal Code amendments at vote together in the Senate. This activity reflects an increased level of open dialogue between the judiciary and the Senate that I have not before seen in my time as a Meritocratic Senator.

   I am the first Tribune who has not seen a sitting Consul sued since I first joined the Meritocracy. In large part, this is because I have had the honor of serving with two outstanding Consuls. I believe that it is also because both Consuls felt comfortable enough with me as Tribune to come to me for legal advice on possible courses of action at critical times over the last 3 plus months. Said advice wasn’t always followed as both Consuls are of their own mind, but both have felt comfortable enough with this Tribune to ask for an opinion when they felt it necessary.

   I have seen this level of comfort in my interactions with my fellow Senators over the last 3 plus months as well. I have been asked, with increasing frequency, about various legal matters and interpretations of law by many different Senators and have felt honored to be asked on each occasion. In short, the Law of the Meritocracy is not practiced in a sterile environment in which the Tribune is perceived to be above “entanglements.”(A false perception for any Tribune or any member of the Cabinet) The Tribune is very much a member of the Senate and the application and interpretation of Law is done best in the midst of the day-to-day activity of the Senate. While I think that I may be the first activist Tribune and that has probably taken some aback, the MOJ has certainly seen a tremendous amount of activity and progress as a result.

   There have been comments about “entanglements.” I will point to the peaceful]http://merit.jink.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=5526]peaceful end of the TYW/RRA conflict[/url] as a foreign policy “entanglement” that was done with full foreknowledge and approval of the Consul of the previous administration. As you can see, this particular “entanglement” was viewed as a success by the previous administration and Consul. I believe the result (ie: the successful and peaceful end of the conflict) speaks for itself in that regard. I have also been asked to participate in various discussions in the West Pacific and elsewhere and have kept the current administration and Consul well appraised of my activities. I believe these positive foreign interactions continue to help the Meritocracy. My own foreign policy opinions are my own and have been stated. Every candidate for any office in the Meritocracy has opinions on foreign policy so I am sure this is nothing new. What is more important for the office of Tribune is what constitutes Justice and one’s views on the subject. I wish I could get away by saying I’m not a lawyer in RL, but that answer should not suffice for someone who wishes election, or reelection, to the office of Tribune of the Meritocracy.

   My theories of justice have been confirmed over the last 20 timeparts so I will review them here. My overriding premise stems not from our legal code but from our Charter. (bold mine)

       wrote:
       Membership shall be afforded to all nations who swear the oath of allegiance to The Meritocracy as prepared by the Senate body for citizenship applicants, and who are approved by a majority vote of the standing Meritocratic Senate. 

   Every Senator here was voted in by a majority of the Senate. They deserve the same respect when brought before the court as the day they were accepted into our Senate Halls. I can guarantee that Senators charged will receive that respect if or when they are brought before a court in which I sit as Tribune and Chief Justice. Obviously, not everyone can agree in a court proceeding, but it is my hope that any Senator charged in the future will agree that they received fairness and respect from the court even if they disagree with the outcome. Justice should not be blind, but rather the lens used to determine justice should view every Senator equally.

   I believe this point was made best during the last Tribune election when I was asked by Senator Yoco:

       wrote:

           wrote:
           What do you believe is the single most important responsibility of the Tribune? 

           wrote:
           To safeguard the Charter and Meritocratic Law in a manner consistent with the ideals of the Meritocracy and to protect the rights of our Senators guaranteed therein. 

   I believe that I have done this to the best of my ability and I plan to continue to do so, hoping to improve my efforts as I learn from almost every interaction with you; my fellow members of the Meritocratic Senate.

   Every Senator, including cabinet officers and candidates for Tribune, have opinions on issues from citizenship to foreign policy and these should be allowed to be expressed regardless. Our society not only allows for, but encourages that kind of open expression. There are those who disagree and they will wring their hands and decry our international reputation and tell us we need to be afraid of everything from declining citizenship applications to tyranny. Those who do so need only look at the number of current and recent applications from not only new applicants, but former Senators returning to the Meritocracy (and I have never seen anything like the current high levels of returning Senators to the Merit in my NS career) to see that the politics of fear are unfounded and have no more basis in the reality of the Meritocracy than false claims of tyranny. With the passage of the Judicial Review Act, the Tribune and Tribunal rulings have never been as open to scrutiny as they are right now. I supported that legislation and was pleased to have a role in drafting what became the Judicial Review Act. We currently have 6 of our fellow Senate members up for vote for a role on the Judicial Review Board. This panel will be able to review Tribunal decisions without the fear of embroiling the Meritocracy in a no confidence vote and all the ugly potential fallout afterwards. This is progress and this is making the judiciary more open to all Senate scrutiny just as having your Tribune down in the trenches with you on the tough issues can foster greater understanding and open discussion with someone you may have previously felt was unapproachable because of their office and how they wore the mantle of their responsibility to the Senate. This is not tyranny, it is progress and some only know two ways to handle progress. They will attempt to tell you two things:

   1. Why you should be afraid of it.

   And

   2. Who to blame for it.

   A vote for Old Lutheran is a vote for progress and against the politics of fear. I ask for your vote.

   A RL President of the United States once described the US as a “Shining city on a hill whose light cannot be hidden.” The President was Ronald Wilson Reagan and the quote was a reference to Scripture. Specifically,

       Matthew 5:14 wrote:
       You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

   In Nationstates, The New Meritocracy is that shining city. That has been apparent to me since I joined this outstanding organization and this unique body of people that make up the Meritocratic Senate. This is not because of our foreign policy or our military, or even the high numbers of pet owners among our Senate (well maybe the last one has helped a bit ) but rather; it is because of the uniqueness of our bond to each other. I think we need only look at the number of returning Senators to our ranks to see that unique bond at work and to see that we are indeed doing things well in maintaining our highly visible role as that “shining city on a hill” in the NS world. While we are not a military organization, there are portions of the US Army Ranger Creed that I see lived out here which I will paraphrase as:

       wrote:
       we do not leave our people behind…We do not abandon our own. 

   We may not always agree, but I believe that we can continue to support each other as fellow members of the most unique, challenging, and dynamic region in Nationstates.

   I ask for your questions, consideration, and your vote.

   Thank you.

The Senatrix from Sexanddope

   wrote:
   Senators and Senatrix’ of The New Meritocracy,

   I stand before you asking for your consideration in an election for the first time. I genuinely feel truly humbled to be standing alongside such a wealth of Cabinet experience as that possessed by Aesculapius and Old Lutheran. The previous election between Senators Bumpy and Old Lutheran was one of the most decorously conducted elections in recent times and I hope that we can maintain such high standards in this election, I assure all here I will not allow myself to degenerate into personalities or negative tactics. I am asking for your consideration as I feel I have something to offer, I have spent my entire Meritocratic career in the Ministry of Justice, I have authored and assisted in MoJ based Charter amendments and I have authored several successful Legal code amendments. I have a history in the Ministry of Justice and Meritocratic law; I feel my experience in this field will serve the Senate well.

   The Office of Tribune is a central one; the whole of our Meritocratic system is worked on the balance between the Consul and the Tribune. I see this balance as being essential and I will do everything in my powers to maintain such a balance. While I do not expect to have to use the extensive powers of the Office of Tribune against this or any future Consul I will not hesitate to do so if I deem it necessary. As has been said the Office of Tribune can be lonely and isolated, while I will not search out such circumstances I am well used to the same my RL situation have lent me such experience.

   My personal views on The New Meritocracy’s foreign policy have been well aired and are open for anyone to look at, although I feel sure many of you are not aware that I am involved in the revival of the MACTO agreement and the negotiations of same. However, my views on my preferred foreign policy for The New Meritocracy will not in any way colour my position on any issue that may be brought before this Senate. All my nations in NS serve only the Meritocracy, I have 4 nations in total, this one, a UN puppet and two others which I use for MIA work, none of my nations have ever been allied to any other region or organisation, and I therefore come before you totally unencumbered by the viewpoints that such acquaintances may at times attempt to place upon you. I will continue to vote in the interests of my Nation, and of The New Meritocracy, however if elected I will not promote policy amendments as I feel doing so from the Office of Tribune would lend such opinions undue weight. That leads me to the way I feel the Office of Tribune should be viewed; I am of the opinion that for Justice to be served the Judiciary must be more than unbiased, they must be seen to be unbiased and The Tribune must be above the day to day politics of the Senate. To ensure that, not only will I endeavour to ensure my position is actually unbiased, but more, that it is totally untainted by any possibility of any such accusations, I will refrain from overt comment in the passage of acts through ministry, or on matters of Foreign Policy unless I notice something that requires Tribune input at an early stage to prevent me having to do so when it gets to the floor. Of course I will be totally impartial and neutral in all my judgements, but I would expect that of anyone standing for this Office.

   The letter of the law will be my guide, however in a region such as this our Legal Code is not totally comprehensive, we have not had the millennia to evolve that RL nations have, I will therefore use the principles of common law, and where I am aware of it, the spirit that the law in question was written in. I repeat the letter of the law will be my guide, but if the letter of the law is not sufficient I will attempt to use the spirit of the law and the ethos of The New Meritocracy. These will be my guides in the coming weeks if I am honoured by your votes. I have already worked to close loopholes in the Legal Code and of course I will continue to examine the code as required. I was in the Ministry of Justice during the Unistrut / NewClarkhaller / Pittsland cases, the Pilmour and the Argyres cases, so I have close experience of work in a politically charged environment.

   In summary I feel I have qualities, I can offer this Senate, I am my own person and I am not afraid to voice opinions that may not be popular. I have successfully passed legislation in TNM, and indeed helped cause it to be passed in RL. I will not bend to political pressure while I will be totally unbiased in all my judgments, saving I will always act in the best interests of The New Meritocracy, I will always be aware of the aura the office should be held in and do all I can to maintain same. I am certain however you vote The New Meritocracy will be well served in the next Tribunal term as you have some outstanding candidates. I do though humbly request that you give me your consideration and allow me to lead the Ministry of Justice and serve this Senate in the forthcoming term as your Tribune!

   I thank you all and invite questions, either in this forum or by PM, for the record, all my PM’s are always classed by myself as confidential and will not be released to the public without the consent of all those involved, or a court order!

An Interview with Xixia (Sarda), Part I of LXIII

by Altair

We recently had time to visit and do a brief interview with the Honorable Senator from Xixia (Sarda). Due to its size, we will be serializing it in 63 parts. This is part 1.

MT = The Meritocratic Times (Altair) XS = Xixia (Sarda)

MT: What is your primary nation in NS? XS: Sarda, which currently holds my place in the Pacific, as Minister of Culture and Governor of our largest Province. Right now though, my most active nation would be Lies Incorporated. As General of the Gatesville Militia, we just secured Warzone Asia under my leadership with that nation.

MT: What attracted you first to the Meritocracy? Why did you come back after leaving the first time (the turn of last year)? XS: I was first brought here by the good Senator Daedalus, to discuss Meritocratic membership in the 'Sardaukar Confederate Defense Trust,' which is an interview in and of itself... but the Meritocracy accepted membership. After the SCDT as it was called, dissolved, I decided I'd been hanging around the boards here long enough, so I applied and won my seat.

I returned after my last departure, because it was rash... that is to say, it was infectious and covered with boils. Seriously though, I left at the time because in real life I was overloaded... writing short stories on commission, exams, pulling my grades out of a nose dive... I lost touch with a lot of friends because of my hasty departure.

MT: What other organizations are you active with? Which is your favorite? XS: The Pacific, Gatesville, Vesta, and the North Pacific. The first two most actively. I'm Minister of Cultre and a Governor of the Pacific, I'm a member of the Gatesville High Council and General of all her soldiers, I'm one of two General Secretaries of Vesta, and I'm the Deputy Minister of Arts & Entertainment over at the North Pacific. The latter two are very low impact. Of these four, I'd have to say I enjoy my time in the Pacific and Gatesville the most. I have a crud load of friends over at the Pacific forums and Gatesville is just fun, because we have a really solid goal in mind with our politics.

MT: About the SC, do you have any further plans associated with it? XS: Really couldn't say... Hidlberg is in charge right now, I just don't foresee another resurge. My fear is that the SC will be dissolving in a year or so.

MT: What kinds of activities do you envision yourself becoming involved with when you return from your leave-of-absense? XS: Well, being what I guess amounts to the 'Deputy Director of Public Relations' right now, I plan to help with recruiting, in the administrative area that our current Director doesn't enjoy!

MT: Let's digress for a moment and discuss your role in the creation of this publication. While you were writing the enacting legislation what kind of goals did you envision for the N&OA? XS: The creation of a truly sweeping, and informative periodical. I saw the institutions that floated independently and without course, throughout the world. I had the priviledge of gracing the covers of the Radio Network, SeattleNews, all the greats... but which are still here today? I hope that regardless of staffing problems, and potential lack of articles, the Meritocratic Times will endure as our own domestic media body... and I believe that our last few Aediles have done a great job doing that, and avoiding the onamotaepoetic meaning of their name!

MT: What goals did you accomplish in the term you spent as Aedile? XS: I believe I succeeded in fulfilling my duties as the legislation entailed, but what's more, I set the precident for arrangement and design that permeates policy today. Though I wasn't a ground shaking man of the media, I like to think I helped laid a firm foundation for your work today.

MT: Any comments regarding the rival publication that Senator Evans attempted to put out? XS: I think Evans' heart was in the right place, but I don't think it would have held out for all that long. It was however the stimulus for me, to get things going again.

MT: What comments do you have regarding the direction the paper took after you resigned as Aedile? XS: When Soigacas took over, I was overjoyed that both our visions paralleled so often. I believe he followed much of the example I set, and helped build on the afore mentioned foundation. You've also to date, exemplified the great and high standards of the Meritocracy.

MT: Would you ever want to take the job again in the future? XS:

MT: What advice do you have for me (as Aedile)? XS: Interview me. Often. The people... they can't get enough of my size 13 feet, and size 14 wit. I am... how you say, fabulous.

MT: Moving on, in 20 words or less, please describe what you like best about the Meritocracy? XS: The cheese... the cheese, and the conversation. The cheese, conversation, and politicos.

MT: Regarding your recent change out of Provincial Senator status, do you have plans for a future run at the Consul seat? XS: Not unless half the Senate was just dying for me in the office

MT: What would be Consul Xixia (Sarda)'s vision of the future of the Meritocracy? XS: Probably turning our sights inward to build up a stronger domestic infrastructure where needed, and to expand our foreign embassies. Just because I don't think we should have any external entanglements, doesn't mean I don't want us to be more active in other regions.

To be continued.

Equilism

by Neboe

On January 13, 2004 a new player came to NationStates. That player sought to create a nation in which all people would be equal. Combining a bit of French and English, the nation of Equility was born. On that same day the founder of Equility began the construction of a new region to be built around the same principles. The region of Equilism was founded.

As Equility grew in the Nation States world the nation became quickly appalled by the idea that other regions would invade, disrupt and destroy regional activities. Equility began to recruit other nations and within the first week Equilism began to grow. By the third week Equilism had grown to a region of 20 nations and applied for membership in the Allied Liberation League (A.L.L.). By the end of January 2004 Equilism had been accepted as a member of A.L.L. and the Alliance Defense Network (ADN). From these early beginnings, Equilism and her member nations have been and continue to be prominent and active members in both defending organizations.

Somewhere at the end of January Equility officially assumed the position of (Interim) President, until credible elections could be held. A few (semi-) active members such as Rhonanvin, Le People Francephone, Tomika, Swamp-land and Daradah worked on a little Constitution and established 6 Departments: Department of Internal Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Immigration, Military Department, Intelligence Department and Environment, Human Rights and Social Affairs (this department later merged with the Internal Affairs Department). They were mostly trying to organize, get members active, and develop the tasks of the departments. On February 5, 2004 Equilism participated in its first Military defensive action.

In Mid March Equilism.com forum was opened. The website was very attracting to new members. It was the first step of the regions success. At that time Westwind was becoming more active, he participated in one of Equilism’s first Military actions (not the very first one though) and was elected Senator directly as Equilism moved to the new forum.

Equilism kept growing, and became more active within the ADN. The Government Departments started doing some good work. Somewhere during that period, around March/April, Ostendt (he was an experienced defender at that time already) joined the region to help with setting up a good defensive force, along with a strong intelligence department. A training mission commenced for the E-Army, where the Intelligence Minister Ellandar participated. During that mission the Intelligence Department noticed Ellandar’s strange behavior towards another nation, along with other suspicious activities from him. Not long after that it was discovered that Ellandar had multi UN nations, probably spied on Equilism and also broke the Constitution. The decision was made to ban him, and a resolution was approved that made sure he never could regain office in Equilism government ever again. Ellandar remained a persistent spammer of Equilism, claiming his innocence, later apologizing for his illegal actions and then again rejoined the region to spam the RHQ with puppets.

Around that time Tse Moana joined, she quickly became Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs. She was promoted a few weeks later to Interior Minister and remained there until recently, leaving a great legacy. Neboe joined the region not much later, and became Minister of Foreign Affairs a few weeks after his arrival. He communicated with many new members, and established several foreign embassies in allied regions despite having almost no Ambassadors available to work with him. From there Equilism kept growing.

Equilism remained a vigorous, growing and active region during the month after the Ellandar scandal. New officials were elected, new nations received successful chances in power, foreign relations were established, the E-Army got better and better, and the region survived mostly without problems.

In August of 2004 the equilism.com site and forum was deleted without warning. This was a big hit to the region and the community; Equilism was “homeless” for more than a month. Fortunately Equility and Westwind fixed a new forum at equilism.net, with a new layout. Unfortunately around 22000 posts were lost from the old forum, thought the administrators do have all posts as a text file.

Since the reopening of the Equilism forums a new recruitment initiative and elections for the sixth Government Cabinet have been successful. Equilism is now home to 234 nations and growing. The representative democracy is thriving on the active participation among members.

Join the Legions!

Advertisement by Jasque

The Meritocratic Legions are now accepting members! Many of our soldiers will soon march into combat against the West Pacific in the upcoming war game. Those soldiers who do not march on the front lines will take up fortified positions to defend the Senate’s honor! Soon after, I plan to organize additional war games against other regional powers. Join now or else you may miss out on all the fun!

For those brave Senators with a lust for battle, I encourage you to join Legionem Winnipeg where you will be placed on the front lines. For those Senators who do not like to take orders, much less sent to the front lines, I encourage you to join Legionem Salabosse where you will be kept up to date of any military operations, but allowed to make your own decisions on what to do.

If you wish to join, please PM me.

Our militaries performance will reflect on the merit of the entire Senate! Join today to add your strength to the Senate’s legions. Together we will bring honor and glory to the Meritocracy!

Cuddly Soigacan Kittens

by Meritocratic Times staff writer Soigacas

Entertainment Section - Games!

Christmas Crossword by Meritocratic Times staff writer Soigacas

Clues: ACROSS 1 What happened in Sailly - Armentiers, France, on Christmas day 1914? (5) 6 We Three Kings (6) 9 Saint Nick's preffered method of entry (7) 12 Fiery Festive Dessert (9,7) 14 Kissing excuse (9) 16 The most fun you can have on a frozen lake (3,7) 17 Deck the Halls (5) 18 Hexagonal Precipitation (9) DOWN 2 Red-breasted songbird (5) 3 I'm Dreaming of a... (5,9) 4 Founder of The North Pole(6,9) 5 Reindeer, from the German for "thunder"(6) 7 Utterance from Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' (3,6) 8 On the fifth day of Christmas... (4,4,5) 10 26th December, in England anyway (6,3) 11 One horse, jingling all the way (4,6) 13 For those Seinfeld fans not celebrating (8) 15 Atomic Number Seventy-Nine (4)

Solution: http://www.variety-games.com/CW/Puzzles ... lution.htm

Try and do it without peeking!

CREDIT: Puzzle constructed at puzzle-maker.com

Cryptogram - 1 by Altair

HVER, XRIZ IQHI M'D EIHJXPQVU HNHMXEI MERVHIMRXMED. MI'E XZJICHVMIU IQHI M EJLLRCI. IQZCZ'E DRCZ LCRKMI MX EZVVMXN NJXE IR GRIQ EMFZE. IQZCZ'E XR LCRKMI MX EZVVMXN NJXE IR XZMIQZC EMFZ. - FZXEMD

This is a simple letter substitution cipher. Example: If the letter A were represented by the cipher letter W, W would appear everywhere that A appears in the original quote.

PM completed answers to Altair. The first correct answer and two randomly selected later correct responses received will win prizes. The winners and solution will appear in the next issue. If the correct response is posted to the boards, the poster will be disqualified and the contest ended as of the timestamp of the post, so please don't do that.

This contest is open to all Meritocratic Times staff excepting the Aedile.

Issue #9 (Jan. 3, 2005)

Editor: Altair Contributing Editors: Crazygirl, Czarist Duchies, Jallalacks, Jasque, Soigacas Contributors: B4kst4br, Densim, dope, Old Lutheran Advertisers: Cortath, MCB (Eli)

Editorial

Welcome to issue 9 of the Meritocratic Times. This edition features an article from the Senatrix from Crazygirl in response to last issue's interviews with other participants in the TYW/RRA incident (ED: This article appears 2nd due to the fact that it contains QUOTE markups). We have an interview with the new(ly reelected) Tribune, an interview with NS economic superpower Densim and an article on GUSTO.

In this issue, we bid farewell to B4kst4br in a special article which includes an interview as well as a report from one of his former "bosses". We bid a returning welcome to the Senator from Jallalacks who gives a report on the North Pacific. We also bid welcome to a newcomer, the Senatorial candidate from Czarist Duchies, who becomes the first non-Senator to have an article published in these pages.

We have our standard games, a crossword from Soigacas, answers to Cryptogram I with the winners of the contest and new Cryptograms and contests from me. We are also unveiling the results of the first Senator of the Year poll and show various New Year's resolutions that Senators are making.

And always remember, if you disagree with an article you see here, don't get mad, write up your disagreement and send it to us so we can publish it.

-Altair from Lupon, Davao Oriental, PHILIPPINES

Old Lutheran Reelected as Tribune

Last week the Meritocracy held Tribunal elections and in a very close decision the winner proved to be the sitting Tribune Old Lutheran. The Meritocratic Times is pleased to offer congratulations to the winner and to the challenger, the Honorable Senatrix from Sexanddope who both ran exemplary campaigns.

We had the opportunity to sit down with the returning Tribune for a brief conversation.

MT = The Meritocratic Times (Altair) OL = Tribune Old Lutheran

MT: What is your primary nation? OL: It is now Old Lutheran. My oldest nation is Promise of Joshua which I started in June of 2003 as "The" Promise of Joshua and then RPed its almost complete destruction and rebirth on the NS forums from July to August of 2003.

MT: What first attracted you to NationStates? To the Meritocracy? OL: A link on a Yahoo message board in June 2003 was what got me interested in NS. My original "home" region was the North Pacific when Nastic was delegate.

I was drawn to the Meritocracy by Maxx Barry's new article in December 2003. I first noticed it in January 2004. I stayed because I recognized some veteran players who were respected on the NS forums (B4 and Garrison II and others,) the really cool site, and because the Merit had a map. I thought rp would be very cool with a map of the region showing where everyone was. I still remember who some of the first Senators to welcome me were; Frappacino, LR, Jasque, Pilmour, Argyres and Corintur.

MT: What other NS organizations besides the Meritocracy do you belong to? OL: I have a nation in the West Pacific (Faithful Lutherans) and Vesta(Promise of Joshua) I am also the founder of The United Peoples of Abraham. I have not always controlled that nation, but took it over for a NS friend who left the game.

MT: Why did you decide to get involved in the justice department? OL: Always had a fascination for the Law in RL. Took several pre-law courses as an undergrad and also took a few paralegal courses just because they interested me when I was single and younger. (Actually the instructor was an equally young and very attractive lady and that sure didn't hurt ) I'm also a Law and Order junkie so it fits.

MT: What first appealed to you about the office of Tribune? OL: Nothing. I was both honored and floored to even be asked by then Deputy Tribune Hipposhire to complete NewClarkHaller's term, but I was honestly planning a future Consul run at the time. I accepted because I felt I genuinely owed something back to the Merit after my resignation as Quaestor in July 2004 due to RL circumstances. I quickly realized two things:

1. I liked the role of Tribune

2. I felt that some things about the role of Tribune did need to change. (ie: The Tribune needed to be more active in day-to-day activities of the Meritocracy.)

MT: How would you rate your current term in office? OL: It has had its good and not so good moments. The MOJ is completely revitalized and active. We have gotten a tremendous amount of work done and I throughly enjoy working with the members of the MOJ. I also enjoyed being there and being involved in the end of TYW/RRA conflict even though that didn't really fall into my job description. I have represented the Meritocracy abroad in an unofficial capacity as occasional legal advisor and I have enjoyed just about every moment of that. In remaking the role of Tribune into a more activist one, I feel that I have benefitted the Meritocracy for the long term but that the effects of those efforts will not be fully felt until after I leave office.

I have felt it necessary to take some unpopular stands and those have not always been "good" moments for me. I have made my apologies when I feel I've been in the wrong and have few regrets otherwise. [/i]

About the job of Tribune:

MT: How much time per day on average does it take to be Tribune? OL: To just do the job of Tribune, not a great deal of time. Maybe an hour a day. If you are involved in the Senate, it can easily be more.

MT: In the worst case, how much time have you had to spend in any one day being Tribune? OL: There was one day that I had off in RL during my last term where I was online in the Merit for probably 6-8 hours. That has not happened since.

MT: Six months from now, how do you wish your current term to be remembered? OL: As one of strong MOJ activity and progress in making necessary reforms to the Charter and Legal Code. As a term where the perceived role of Tribune was completely overhauled so that future Tribunes could come out of the ivory tower and stay as active in the Senate as they were to even be considered for Tribune to begin with. As a term where the powers of the office of Tribune were utilized to help unify the members of the Senate in a newfound respect for each other and for the ideals of the Meritocracy.

MT: You just won the second closest Tribune election in history. How do you feel? OL: My first thoughts were to give the old stock answer that quarterbacks used to give after the Super Bowl, ie: "I'm going to Disneyworld."

In all honesty, shocked. I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. I was not surprised at the high level of integrity and decorum that Senatrix Aki showed throughout the campaign. She showed herself to be a person of class, character, and definitely of sufficient Merit to be Tribune of the Meritocracy.

MT: What do you see as the top item of priority you will attend to as we enter the new year? OL: There are some loopholes and inconsistancies in various aspects of our legal and legislative structure that will continue to be looked at. There has been a great deal of work already and I am certain that we will see more proposals come forward once the New Year is underway in earnest.

MT: Do you wish to make a statement? OL: I need to thank all of those who supported me in the campaign and who voted for me in the election. The campaign gave me food for thought in a couple of areas. While I don't have any promises or statements to make along those lines just now, I do plan some reflection on certain aspects of office.

Account of TYW/RRA Incident

By Crazygirl

1) Give me a step by step account of the entire incident

i was alerted to an invasion of "iran" i saw it was carinthe, moved in, and asked: "since when does carinthe invade? "

she yelled flamebait, and that we were no longer friends. i checked the xml, and indeed, she was invading, she was the first one in the region after the last native, and then the rest of her army after her. i had some contact with one of the 3 natives, and he asked me to help.

i called some friends, and they came to endorse me. (note, this wasn't just rra, not by far). we won, i kicked the invaders and passlocked the region while i gave the password to all 3 natives. later, one or two of the natives thanked me on their civil HQ.

then carinthe invaded the rr, as a revenge because we saved iran, and started demanding an apology or else she would keep attacking the rr with her army.

the talks here at merit didn't go well at all, carinthe came here and a secret forum was created, uni and me had to ask for the password, and then the attacks started. they all wanted us to apologise for helping iran, but i don't regret what i did there, so i wouldn't apologise, because it would be a lie.

OL, Carinthe and other people from the youngworld kept attacking us, and later they even threw in more merit senators and even the npo/prp folks, who are also my enemies in this game, and who had nothing to do with this whole situation.

to say it got out of hand is an understatement.

then greys came back from retirement, got curious then came up with some weird political statement.

the youngworld accepted the thing, and that way, it finally sorta got resolved.

some notes:

   wrote:
   TYW army had grown in strength due to the Great Blight defence

the only person from that region who gave puppets was carinthe herself, and she never activated the un on it, so she didn't even help in the actual liberation.

   wrote:
   One day, Fleeb, the delegate of Iran got deleted

fleeb, a defender friend of mine, was only delegate of iran for one day to stop another invasion, and was long gone from iran before he was deleted (he also got restored because he was deleted unjustly.)

   wrote:
   However, Fleeb was not a TITO operative

he is, if i remember right, he's even second in command

   wrote:
   With Carinthe's friendship with CG gone, and with it the reason for her hatred of the NPO

she already disliked/hated npo before we became friends, it's how we got to know each other.

   wrote:
   you may also ask why she is invading The Den

i wasn't invading the den, tito was. my un nation first stayed in the RR, then later moved to urbanites to endorse the native free iuthia. i only moved in my main nation to put an end to the flaming and flamebaiting, which helped even.

2) Why did you go into Iran?

an invasion going on, a native asking for help...pretty obvious, no?

3) How did the Meritocracy get involved?

old lutheran started talking to TYW

4) What agreement was reached?

greys would make some political statement (which he did show to me and asked if i could live with it).

TYW leaving the RR

5) Do you think the level of secrecy at which the talks were held was to high or too low?

either way. it should've been either wide open for all to see, or closed so the participants get to say who gets in and with a clear seperate list of who has access.

The New North Pacific Conflict

By Jallalacks

And so, once again, the region of The North Pacific is at the top of the international news agenda. Once again, it is due to its relationship with the outside world, and once again, the ADN is involved.

On December 23rd, 2004, Wilkshire, the Foreign Affairs Minster requested that Pixiedance, delegate of the The North Pacific feeder region, post a message that refuted their membership of the ADN. The background to this was strange, to say the least: a few incidents on the IRC chat rooms needed for inter – ADN communication were to be discussed and resolved peaceably in diplomatic talks between the Director’s office and The North Pacific government. A disagreement over whether these talks should be held publicly or privately led to a resolution being proposed, but never voted on, let alone adopted by the ADN council. In short, muddling through the chronology of this incident, and hearing opinion on it, it seems matters in recent weeks should not have been enough, under normal circumstances, to warrant a diplomatic furore like this. Some members of The North Pacific reacted, not surprisingly, with shock:

“Wow! I knew things were going bad, but not this bad!” — Nish81, Head of Ministry of Kirby

Others, confusion:

“What happened to an action plan/allowing us to vote? will this still happen?” — Fulhead Lane, Ambassador to the Proletariat Coalition

Stretch our minds back to before the resignation, and we discover that on December 12th, Pixiedance had resigned as the representative of The North Pacific to the ADN council, after she said that “I am unwelcome in the ADN channel on IRC.” Following on from that, Insane Power was kicked from the ADN channel by CrazyGirl:

“Weirdly I tried discussing this.....I got the following message!

• You were kicked from #alliance_defense_network by Crazy_Girl (get out )”

— Insane Power, Deputy Minister of Minsitry of External Affairs

These incidents, whilst clearly enough to cause a diplomatic spat, should not have been enough to warrant a resignation from the ADN in what has previously been described as the mildly pro – ADN government. Some have gone so far as to criticise Pixiedance (registered as Cathy on the The North Pacific forum) for aggravating the situation:

“Members of the ADN had previously noted that Pixiedance was spoiling for a fight and creating a diplomatic incident out of some perceived slurs received from ADN members. Two ADN members used the word 'pissy' to describe this behaviour.” — Eurosoviets Federation, Founder of the Allied States of Euroislanders, in a press release on the day of the resignation.

This was not the primary cause of the resignation though – that was to come later. Diplomatic talks were proposed by Pixiedance to resolve the situation, and were graciously accepted:

“Of course we accept and appreciate this invitation.” — Pope Hope, Director of the Alliance Defence Network

In fact, in the days following this incident, members of the ADN acted with nothing but decorum on the boards of The North Pacific. The diplomatic skills of Pope Hope and WestWind quickly poured cold water on an inflamed wound, and the IRC incidents were rightly explained away as misunderstanding and minority views which did not represent the whole of the ADN. However, it seemed no one could prevent the situation from escalating as a ‘size of the table’ style argument over whether diplomatic talks should be public or private began:

“I am sure that there are a number of nations within the North Pacific who are interested in these talks, and i think as a matter of principle these talks should take place in the open.

At the outset, I therefore formally request that this forum be openly viewable (without, naturally, open posting rights.)” — Flemingovia, Minister of The North Pacific

This statement was followed swiftly with a series of approvals from various members, of both The North Pacific and the ADN. However, the proposal was gently rejected by Pixiedance, who stated that: “ Much of the discussion will, of necessity, concern specific individuals and incidents…They are not talks about ADN in general…I do not believe it right or helpful that a discussion of individual incidents be public - especially so since our forum is open to all.” This rationale appears stronger to Jallalacks than the ones for making the forum open to all, as many members suggested – transparent government could still be maintained if the subject of those talks was released two weeks later, for example. However, the populace of The North Pacific reacted badly to this news, and it could be argued that the disagreements fermented here would lead to the current crisis. In responding to the wish of CrazyGirl that the talks should be open to “ adn and north pacific members, not people who like throwing more fire on top of already existing problems.” One member responded:

“This is TNP--it's gonna happen, regardless.

...Wait! That's not funny... ” — Monte Ozarka, Minister of The North Pacific

It seems that fire was thrown onto an already existing problem however, with the introduction to the ADN council of a resolution that essentially called for the proposed talks to be abandoned. Taking simply the operative clauses that concern the specific talks themselves:

1. The Council of Representatives disavows any agreement reached at said talks as illegal. 2. The Council of Representatives disavows the claim of anyone claiming to represent this Alliance at said talks. 3. The Council of Representatives thoroughly objects to said talks being held in secret. 4. A full report to the Council shall be made by The Director of every word said in the aforementioned talks, within private chambers if necessary, but in a public thread otherwise.

It is unknown to Jallalacks who proposed this resolution, but it never went to vote, and sources within the ADN state that it was extremely unlikely it would have been accepted. This is not surprising – it is extraordinarily blunt, and would have undermined the authority of the Director, Vice Director and Cortath, all of whom were due to represent the ADN at these talks. If we consider the words of Unistrut, also commenting on the proposed talks:

“If these talks are in regards to any ADN policies, decisions, or leadership I would recommend that those concerns be taken up within the ADN Council- as that is the appropriate medium for resolution of member concerns.” Unistrut, Secretary of Defence for the Alliance Defence Network

It might be possible to deduce that there was at least some section of the ADN that was unhappy at the ‘special treatment’ that The North Pacific seemed to be receiving (of which the aforementioned speaker may, or may not have been, a part).

However, this does nothing to hide the fact that Pixiedance’s rejection of the possibility of talks after this point was premature. The resolution was blunt, but as countless ADN officials pointed out, it had not been voted on, and, as it turned out, never was. Some have accused Pixiedance of a severe over reaction to a few minor incidences, others have speculated that this was an excuse that a section of The North Pacific government was looking for to withdraw from the ADN. Some simply suggested a personality clash created between The North Pacific members and the ADN Council, although this seems a small thing to waste an alliance on.

Events in The North Pacific now include legal action on several counts towards several members, a crisis of faith in leadership and in the region as a whole, and an issue that is not likely to subside in an already troubled region:

“The same Alliance that rescued us from the tyrant Great Bight, the same Alliance that shares our deepest values of freedom and democracy, and the same Alliance that holds together the defense of all democratic regions in the NS world from invaders. We are living in a strange time indeed if we are cozying up to our sworn enemies the NPO and rejecting our greatest allies…. for the worst display of diplomacy in the history of the North Pacific, the blame lies solely on Pixiedance.” — Mr Sniffles Reborn, Deputy Minister of The North Pacific

Some have expressed concerns that The North Pacific, in its weakened state, is vulnerable to endorsement swappers and invaders. It is right then that the world remains watchful for this danger, unlikely as it is.

However, the focus of this article is on the wider world’s response. Firstly, the absurd suggestion on the part of some that the ADN will respond with military intervention (presumably along the same lines that it liberated the region from Great Bight) is ludicrous – the ADN, for all that its critics might like to make out, does not invade regions because they refute membership of it. Besides, it is obvious that any such suggestion from its leadership would lead to a mass walk out among its rank and file. Currently, its only response has been one of dismay and disappointment, and a considerable amount of confusion, as well as some bitterness on the part of ADN members who took part in its liberation.

The ADN, currently, has little option but to wait and see what happens. It is still possible for The North Pacific to withdraw their resignation, as they have a two week waiting period, and if there is indeed a change in leadership, or some of the legal action actually follows through, then that waiting period will become extraordinarily important:

“I think the ADN should stay well away from the North Pacific and the North Pacific, if it is to have any chance of re-establishing peace and democracy in the region should take a much harsher view of what constitutes a native.” — Eurosoviets Federation, Founder of the Allied States of Euroislanders

Other organisations such as the RLA, the Meritocracy and the PRP would also be best advised to sit this one out, offer no comment, and wait until The North Pacific re – approaches something close to normality.

Interference in its affairs is likely only to inflame and confuse the situation, and dual membership on the part of some of its members has led to many of its internal conflicts in the past. The North Pacific’s sovereignty is crucial to it right now, and none of us here has the right to intervene in a region still suffering the after effects of one the grossest degradations of that in recent memory.

GUSTO

by Jasque

Many of you have probably heard some mention of GUSTO on these forums, probably in relation to the Meritocratic Central Bank. Some of you may be actively involved in GUSTO, others may have no clue what GUSTO is. In this article, I would like to give you a brief introduction to GUSTO and list our current projects.

GUSTO stands for the Globally Unified Statistics and Trade Organization. It is a civil department of the Organization of Sovereign Nations (OSN). GUSTO was created on February 27, 2004 with very ambitious goals. The project is still under development, but is coming close to achieving its goals.

GOALS of GUSTO

The purpose of GUSTO is to expand on the information provided by NationStates in order to generate statistics that give nations a more complete picture of their economic situation. Participant nations are generally assumed to be interconnected through trade, currency exchange, and foreign investment, as well as other forces. Because of this assumption, equilibrium on a global basis is a fundamental goal of GUSTO. Economic statistics therefore reflect not only the result of national statistics coming from the NationStates server (Economy, population, income tax, etc.), but also the economy as it interacts with all other nations in the GUSTO system. GUSTO is therefore a holistic system designed for a community of interconnected nations.

The ultimate goal of GUSTO is to serve as a system that expands upon NationStates, but that is also able to stand on its own in many respects. Participant nations will have options that allow them to develop a more complete economic policy than is currently allowed in the game. Participants will be able to make policy decisions that affect many areas, including:

Trade: Exports and Imports Monetary Policy Currency Exchange Rates Interest Rates Savings and Investment Decisions Fiscal Policy Productivity of Workers Aggregate Output, or GDP Employment Distribution of Income

CURRENT PROJECTS

Until now GUSTO has been carried out through Microsoft Excel and an XML gathering script created by Cortath. This works well, but takes a long time to update. The GUSTO team is currently working on automating the system so that updates will only take several seconds each day. Once this is complete, players will be able to see current statistics on their economy whenever they wish. While working on automating the system, an economic calculator similar in style to others found in the NS world was created and, on Christmas day, given to the members of the OSN in gratitude for their commitment to the organization.

Once GUSTO is automated, many other features will be implemented. Nations will be able to make policy decisions that will affect their economies in new ways. The central banks will also have a much larger role, and monetary policy will become very important. To this end, GUSTO is working on creating a better currency exchange system to serve the banks.

We are also working on a military calculator to go along with GUSTO. This calculator would work off of GUSTO statistics, generating information on the capabilities of a nation’s military. It would also create options to appropriate the military budget to the following areas: research, maintenance, training, supplies, production, and a more general fund (used for purchases and emergencies). Each of these will affect the capabilities of militaries, and nations will have a better chance to role play their conflicts by using the information provided by GUSTO.

For anybody interested in more information in GUSTO, you may visit the OSN website, or the GUSTO blog. Updates are posted, on average, once a week. There is also an upcoming course on central banking in GUSTO, and, as always, you can ask your local MCB banker more about how to get involved.

North Pacific: Democracy Rebuilding

by Czarist Duchies

North Pacific, not The North Pacific, but just North Pacific. It’s one of the largest player created regions, it has a strong well-trained defensive force, its democracy is one of the best organized and most efficient in NationStates, and it’s known for its strong Foreign Affairs and Immigration departments. But things were not always so in this ancient region.

Only a few months ago, North Pacific was a land ridden with chaos as invader after invader swept the region. This is an account of the rebuilding of North Pacific, as the beacon of democracy it was, is, and, God-willing, will always be.

August. North Pacific has been rocked by constant invasion. Before that the region was griefed, separatist movements had decimated the population, the founder deleted. The region is currently under the rule of a “defender group” known as the LRA. It’s leader; Pax Romania. Despite well over a week of rebellion, the LRA still controls the region and refuses to leave despite requests from almost every nation in the region. This was the point at which I entered the scene. Russo-Princepolis, had been serving as delegate of Pacific NationStates, a region which had old ties to North Pacific through its founder. A nation passed through the region informing the region that “their group was defending North Pacific and there was no threat to us, so please don’t meddle, thank-you-very-much.” Big mistake. The first thing Russo-Princepolis did was to “meddle”. Pacific NationStates, now in its decline, had been threatened by invasion on multiple occasions within the last weeks. Every danger was to be investigated. Russo-Princepolis was to North Pacific to see what was going on. The LRA, though not actively being terrible oppressive, was just refusing to leave. In the following week, Russo-Princepolis took an active role, leading a diplomatic effort backed by Pacific NationStates “encouraging” the LRA to leave. Fortunately, Russo-Princepolis, with several opposition leaders was able to talk the LRA out of the region. But the damage had been done before the LRA left North Pacific; it was isolated from the world by ages of war, shrunken far within its former boundaries, and utterly disorganized. Before any reconstruction could begin to take place, another usurper, Adairia seized the delegate’s seat and held it until forced out by the nations of North Pacific.

It was at this point that Russo-Princepolis put together the ICDNP, that is, the Inter-regional Consortium for the Defense of North Pacific. It was a small alliance of regions, but it was sufficient to offer NP a shield under which to begin rebuilding itself. Out of the ashes rose Unelion, a strong nation who led North Pacific in its rebuilding. Under his delegacy the population rose back over 150 nations and a democratic system was developed. It was Unelion who established the system of Ministers and an elected Ruling Council. He proceeded to organize the government to a greater degree, aggressively pursuing Foreign Affairs and Recruiting to rebuild the region internally and externally. It appeared that North Pacific was back on the road to greatness. So with a faltering region of his own to take care of and his duties as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chancellor, Russo-Princepolis dissolved the ICDNP.

Weeks passed peacefully and the region continued to flourish under the strong democratic leadership of Unelion. However, in one fell swoop the region was in turmoil again as yet another usurper, Evoyyep, used outside backing and endorsement swapping to seize the Delegacy. War, war such has been seen in only a very few regions fell upon the region. For a week it raged as Evoyyep expelled whomsoever used their title as Minister or violated the harsh NPO law he forced upon the region. But calls to our friends did not go unheard. Nations flooded from everywhere, prepared to take vengeance for the harm done to them by such invaders. The greatest contributer was The North Pacific who answered our call speedily and with great force. Evoyyep was eventually removed; deleted for griefing. And so another war had come and gone, leaving in its wake a crippled North Pacific. But there was still life left in North Pacific and it was not so badly off as it was after the LRA and Adairia, its government in exile quickly resumed activities and work began to rebuild the region.

Since then the region, though suffering threats of invasion, has existed peacefully, a neutral giant, friend to all those who are kind to it. Unelion continued to govern wisely until he was peacefully replaced by another nation. The nation who had most actively and generously answered North Pacific’s call for help. That was Talthia. And that transfer of power was one of the greatest landmarks in the rebuilding of North Pacific. It proved that the government and the region could and would remain stable when the delegate was replaced by another.

Talthia took up leadership of the region and has led it since. There have been many landmarks on the slow recovery of North Pacific. The Embassy system was refined and expanded as Russo-Princepolis, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Talthia endevoured to reopen the isolated NP to the world. The region’s size more than doubled since the LRA, reaching over 270 nations thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the Minister of Immigration, Biotherm. The council continued to actively hand down legislation and has now had two peaceful elections. The Senate, a larger legislative body of which any nation can be a member without being elected was created by Talthia and passed by the Council. Ministers have left office and been peacefully replaced and UN votes decided upon. Recent landmarks in the history of North Pacific seem to mark the end of reconstruction and the beginning of normalized existence for North Pacific. The NPDF, North Pacific’s Defensive Force successfully completed training and developed a good structure. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs began talks not just of friendship, but of alliance with several regions, finally completing the opening up of North Pacific and reaffirming it as a concrete diplomatic power. A judicial system was passed by both Senate and Council while talks of a Constitution begin in Earnest.

North Pacific has been forced to take a long road to achieve the greatness for which it was destined, but it is stronger and wiser for it.

B4kst4br Retires from NationStates

By Altair and Jasque

On the morning of New Year's Eve, the Meritocracy received word that long time Senator B4kst4br had retired. In a brief message on the boards, B4kst4br announced his retirement to NationStates. The staff at the Meritocratic Times expresses its regret and wishes the Senator the best of luck in the future. To mark the passage of one of our most distinguished Senators, the Senator from Jasque made a statement and we had time to conduct a brief interview.

B4kst4br

By Jasque

I am sad to say that the Senate will begin the New Year without one of its hardest working members. On December 30th, Christian Morte Venzetti of The United Socialist States of B4kst4br officially resigned from the Senate. He had already been removed for inactivity some time before this, but his resignation confirmed that he would not be coming back any time soon. I had the chance to work with him on a great many occasions while he served in the Senate, and I would like to take this opportunity to honor his achievements.

The first thing I always remember about B4kst4br is that he was the Senator who discovered that Viridacity was a traitor to the Meritocracy. Very few individuals knew this at the time, but through B4kst4br’s hard work the Senate leadership was kept well informed. His work on discovering Viridacity’s true motives was also the cause of what I like to think of as the second birth of the MIA. During Thomasia’s time we had a great spy network, but activity fizzled out some time after Lord Tom withdrew his efforts. B4kst4br was able to revive the MIA and turn it into a productive asset of the Meritocracy.

While B4kst4br proved his worth as a spy in discovering Viridacity, his greatest strength was in organizing people and assigning them to where they could do the most good. He showed this during his brief term as Lictor during my first Consulship, but his talent really shined through during his countless terms as head of the MIA. I planned on naming the number of times he was reappointed, but I have lost count. Let’s just say it was a great many times, and he probably enjoyed a great reappointment rate than any other Senator in this body. This was because he always did a superb job with whatever resources the Senate had, and the Senate’s leaders always had timely and relevant information on the many activities in the wider NationStates world.

While the MIA has fallen out of favor in recent times, I would like to remind this body that in times past it was an essential tool of the Meritocracy, and that it was B4kst4br who made it possible. Many people can make good spies, but very few can run a spy network. Anybody can repeat a rumor, but few can gain access to the hard evidence needed to make a well informed decision. Christian Morte Venzetti did all this, and I, for one, will miss his presence in the Senate.

An Interview with B4kst4br

By Altair

MT: What was your greatest (or most favorite) moment in the Meritocracy? B4: My most favorite moment in my merit history was when Consul Jasque appointed me to Lictor. I still have that PM saved somewhere. I worked hard for that position, and I was really into military tactics (I still am). But kinda fresh from the ACC and all, it was great to be back in control of a military. Now of course the merit doesn't really have need for a military, and it was voluntary, so I had to adjust my strategy. All in all, that had to be my most favorite moment.

MT: What offices did you hold while you were Senator? B4: well, I held Lictor for a short time, DDI of the MIA, and Aedile. Im not sure if I missed one.

MT: What past organizations were you a part of? B4: I was a center piece at the ACC (Not the AA), but they easily replaced me with Raptor when I left. Then I came here. From here I have branched to such organizations as the ADN, RLA, and the prestigious OSA. There are more, but again, my memory is not on my side.

MT: You told us in your farewell thread that you will no longer have time for NationStates. Would you like to add any further comments regarding your RL time constraints? B4: Ya, RL is more important than NS. I know, an NS junkie saying that is heresy, but its true. Never let it interfear with RL. But RL had finally caught up to me, and I must turn in my nation. sad really.

MT: What about the car accident? B4: It was a tragic event, and shows what a drunk hit and run can do. If I ever find that guy...

MT: Do you wish to say anything about your spy work? B4: Most of it is classified, and if released, would hurt many organizations that I have worked so hard to help protect and/or build. But my spy work goes to show that anyone can be good at it, even if you don't think so. I always thought my calling in the NS world was military tactics, but I found that it was spy work. It goes to show that you should try anything and everything, you'll find something you're good at.

MT: You taught about spying in the University. Do you have any comments about the course you taught? B4: It was a very toned down type of spy work I was teaching. More recon and how to do it unseen sort of thing. The only way for me to actually teach someone my ways was to take them under my wing. I have only done that once, and that was with Tyrantar, he may not have known it, but I was trying to teach him all I could.

But the course was never finished do to RL constraints on my part. I do apologize for that, and one of these days, I may even open a school in NS, teaching such things as recon spy work, tactics across the board, how to read your enemy and such. Look for that around Febuary, if I get the time. Haven't figured out a name for it though.

MT: How do you wish the name B4kst4br to be remembered six months from now? B4: I'm pretty sure they won't remember me, but if they happen to, I would like to be remembered as a decent spy, because that's what I was. Not great, but not bad. I did my job. There are many others out there that greatly surpass me, but I'm not worried about it, I did the best I could, and that's all I can ask of myself.

MT: Do you have any advice to leave for the MIA? B4: Yes, a little. The problem that I always had with the MIA was activity. People love to go inactive fast, recon just isn't interesting, and you had to be trusted to be a covert agent. SO, I suggest this, you let your agents know what they need to know on a need-to-know basis.

Give them there own forum and such to report, but also give a general forum for semi-sensitive material for all the covert agents to talk and exchange info. I dont know if it would work, it's just an idea, but always be recruiting. Out of 10 guys recruited, there will be that one guy who is your key man and will stay dedicated.

Thank you, B4.

An Interview with Densim

By Altair

In a region of economically powerful nations, Densim stands out as one of the best of the best. Last week we sat down and had a talk with the CEO.

MT = The Meritocratic Times (Altair) D = Densim

MT: What is your primary nation? D: The Corporate Union of Densim.

MT: What first attracted you to NationStates? To the Meritocracy? D: I was first attracted to NationStates after seeing a link on solidsharkey.com. I saw the simplicity of the game and decided it wouldn't hurt to start a nation, such a simple game could never take that much of my time. So much for that.

I originally stumbled across the Meritocracy when I tired of my previous region, hell. Back then I was more interested in the torturing of my population, so hell fit. That, however, got tiring, and I set out to find a region where I could work the economic angle. Even in those early days, I was making it into the world's top ten, so it seemed a good way to go. After some link-hopping, I eventually came here. Or rather, New Meritocracy, but what happened there is another story entirely.

Needless to say, the ideals of sovereignty and free enterprise appealed to me greatly. It was a match made in heaven.

MT: What other NS organizations besides the Meritocracy do you belong to (or have belonged to)? D: Well, I had a brief (very brief) stint as part of the OSN. That's about it. The Meritocracy has been the only place I was ever really interested in.

MT: You've written on the boards before that you are in college. What field of study are you in? D: A mishap in my first year had me taking a dual major in the political and computer sciences. I'm planning on withdrawing from one, but I haven't decided which, yet.

MT: Computer science? That's my field. I have to ask the eternal question: What's your favorite editor? Emacs or VI? D: Emacs, for mostly sentimental reasons.

MT: Sentimental reasons? Could you explain? Have you tried XEmacs before? D: I only mean as a matter of familiarity. And no, I haven't tried XEmacs.

MT: What do you consider is the most notable thing you've ever done? D: The handling of my economy is hands down the most notable thing I've done. Judging from the telegrams I've received, I seem to be one of the most hated and envied of all states in existence, at least on the scale of individual states.

MT: You are consistently at the top of the rankings in The New Meritocracy. How many rankings are you in the top 10 in the world? Are you ranked #1 in anything? D: I haven't actually counted exactly, but I believe I've made the worlds top ten in five or six different categories. I have been #1 in the world twice. However, that was a very long time ago, before the population bug eternally shunted me down to #5 and lower.

MT: Exactly how many telegrams does a #1 world ranking tend to generate? D: Disgusting amounts. Seriously...If I make the top 10, I can expect to have my normally empty telegram inbox filled with recruitment letters, people asking how to play the game, war threats, requests for economic treaties, and more.

MT: What is the strangest telegram you've ever gotten? D: Well...I got this one telegram from some over active environmental activist. Apparently he considered the environmental state of my NS state to be a crime against mother earth in real life[/i]. He wouldn't leave me alone about it for a good couple weeks.

MT: Where did the name "Densim" come from? D: It's completely random. When I first created this state, I sat for about five minutes, trying to think of the perfect name. I failed.

MT: May I ask why you think you failed? D: Because it wasn't the perfect name. It seemed passable, but not great. Though time has worn it down to a comfortable familiarity, and I like it better than I used to.

MT: What kind of image do you wish people to see when they think of the nation of Densim? D: A monolithic corporate powerhouse is always nice. But first and foremost, we must maintain a stance of neutrality and fairness, in order to keep our trading partners happy. Also, more personally, I would like to be viewed like this.

MT: Densim is a Compulsory Consumerist State. Is that by design? D: While it's very fitting, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind. For the longest time I was a Corporate Police State, and I've made forays into the world of Capitalist Paradise. Any one of the three is fine by me.

MT: I see also that crime is unknown in Densim. Do you think that that helps your economy ranking? D: It must. Crime isn't good for business. I suppose it helps that illegal industries elsewhere in the world are perfectly legal within the borders of Densim.

MT: You have only an All-Consuming Meritocratic economic ranking in the census. Have you tried to get that to Superpower, or does that matter to you? D: I've noticed that my economic power within NationStates and my economic rating within the Meritocracy seem to be mutually exclusive. My constant drive towards profits often necessitate moves that would seem to curb both civil rights and political freedoms. It is the unfortunate case that both these things are necessary for a high ranking within the Senate.

MT: Which NS issues do you attribute some of your economic success to (for example, corporate welfare seems to be a required ingredient to gaining a Frightening economic ranking)? D: Corporate welfare isn't required...But it does help. However, as I've said before, subsidization in Densim is hardly as rampant as the UN rankings would have you believe. Because our government is an automotive corporation, naturally all government funds will also be corporate funds. The rankings are just too blind to take this into account.

Other reasons would include are very leniant advertising rules. Some might actually call them strict, but the personal radios are also used to give other important information, so never mind that.

Overall, Densim is just a very business friendly state. Think of an issue. Think of the solution that would benefit the economy most. That's what Densim would do.

MT: What other kind of games do you like? Did you try the Cryptogram in issue 8? D: Other games? I'm a table top RPG geek. Seriously, it's sad how much money I drop into that hobby. It's in the order of thousands of dollars. Well, hundreds now that I'm a student, but still...

Also, games like the Civilization series plus Alpha Centauri, to feed my lust for nation building. And Counterstrike, Day of Defeat, and Halo to sate my bloodlust.

I did try the cryptogram. However, the battery in this laptop I'm on died a bit before I finished. I never got around to doing it again. C'est la vie. (Editor's note: We tried. See the solution to Cryptogram I).

MT: Congratulations on your recent citizenship vote, Senator. Now that you've been reinstated to the Senate, what kinds of things do you see yourself doing in the coming weeks? D: Primarily, refamiliarizing myself with all those forums I can't see. Mostly, I plan on getting back into some sort of groove. I threads will be read, posts will be made. Not very exciting, but there it is. MT: Since you're one of the most senior Senators and have been around since before the Meritocracy was first advertised in the NS news, would you care to comment on the changes you've seen in the Senate? D: Well, the most important change, the catalyst for every other change that was to come, was the massive growth. When I first joined the Meritocracy, it was quite small. Despite the slick, professional forum, the place had a sort of small town feel to it. Close-knit, a small time operation. Everyone knew one another reasonably well, and Senators, for the most part, had similar ideologies, primarily the defense of both sovereignty and the free market.

Since then, we've voted in states with vastly differing viewpoints (a marxist, even!). While there are advantages to a wider range of thought and opinion, it has resulted in a distancing between states. The small town sort of feel is gone. We no longer only look professional, we are professional.

Which isn't to say that this is bad. Only...Different. Do I miss those early days? Definately, sometimes. But there is plenty enough interesting about the Meritocracy of today to make it interesting in it's own right.

Advertising

The Meritocratic Central Bank wants you!

By Eli

The Meritocratic Central Bank would like to announce that, we have changed to a public forum, and open to anyone that has registered here. We would invite any nations interested in to check out the forum and ask questions. We also are interested in adding nations to our roster of member states. The only requirement is that we have the time and the manpower to add you, and that you convert your NS currency to the New Merit.

We also are in need of some additional directors for the Bank. To qualify as a Director of the MCB one needs to be a Senator of The Meritocracy and one of the member states in the MCB. The Bank has one director for every five member states and we are two directors short of our allotment. Please volunteer for service to the Bank by responding in this thread. I promise that all of the economic minutiae that you did not know existed about your nation will keep your interest piqued.

Cortathan Lemonade Drink The Best!

Cortath are proud sponsors of Issue 8 prize fund! The displayed antidote is not part of the prize but can be purchased from any quality Cortathan outlet, (prices vary). This message was brought to you by the Advertising Council of Sexanddope.

Entertainment - Games, Contests and other fun

Senator of the Year Awards

Presented by the Senator from Soigacas

Senators, Residents and Foreign Diplomats. You join us here in the Senate Hall after another fine year in the life of the Meritocracy. 2004 saw many great things for the Meritocracy, far too numerous to mention here. But what really makes the Meritocracy stand out from the crowd is the calibre of the Senators who sit in these halls. And this is why you are all here tonight - to congratulate those Senators who really have made an outstanding contribution to the Meritocracy.

We have two awards to hand out - the Senator of the Year award and the Consul of the Year award. We asked the entire Senate (plus a couple of prominent residents) to choose the winners of both these awards, and we had a good response.

So, without further ado, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the winner of the Consul of the Year award...

Aesculapius AND Jasque

The votes were tied at seven each, so you'll have to share it. A Runner-Up Award goes to Argyres (5 votes) who will receive a basket of kittens in the post. Congratulations, and speeches are required by Meritocratic Law.

So, onto our second award, the more hotly contested Senator of the Year 2004 award. To present the award, our Aedile, Altair.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is indeed an honor to present this award. Besides thousands of posts in the forum, this Senator has given us a wonderful year of service and tasty food at the same time. Without further ado, I present to you the Senator of the Year ...

The Distinguished Senator from Hipposhire!

• Applause*

Thank you Altair, and many congratulations to Hipposhire, who I'm sure will be thrilled with this award. A basket of kittens is are on their way to the runner up, Bumpy.

That's all from the Senate Hall - have a safe journey home!

New Year's Resolutions

Compiled by Altair

Last week we asked people for their New Year's resolutions and this is what we got.

I will not make a New Year's resolution. - Corintur

I resolve that I will improve my attendance for my German Reenactment group. - Landster

To be more evvvvilllll - Camozayo

I resolve to convert every Meritocrat to Libertarianism by 2006. - Freedomnia

I resolve to not swear about bad golf shots. - Eli

I resolve to sit farther back from my computer monitor. - Jasque

I resolve to finish my book, get straight As in my exams and get that job. - Hipposhire

Finish rehabbing my knee, and be in shape to tryout for the baseball team next year (by winter 2005) - Argyres

... to accomplish a select few goals that have been haunting me for the last two years now. - Mendanau

And for the record, I don't make resolutions - Winnipeg

I resolve to spend more time on the bench in the gym and less time on my ass on the couch. - Nebutopia

My resolution is to do the best I can, under the circumstances. - Siempre

I resolve to stick to something for longer than a year..... - Christian Falangists

I resolve to keep breathing if it is reasonably practical. - Kandarin

I resolve to write more spelling citations and increase the revenues collected by the Spelling Police Department by 35% over the year. - Altair

Cryptograms

by Altair

Answer to Cryptogram I

Also, note that I'm staunchly against isolationism. It's neutrality that I support. There's more profit in selling guns to both sides. There's no profit in selling guns to neither side. - Densim

Our grand winner is Xixia (Sarda) who wins two pitchers of Cortathan Lemonade (advertised elsewhere). Other respondents with the correct answer were Czarist Duchies and Viridacity. They win one pitcher of Cortathan Lemonade. Congratulations to our winners.

We have two cryptograms in this issue. Cryptogram II is significantly harder than Cryptogram III and prizes will be awarded separately for each. The letter replacements are different in each puzzle and for each puzzle, prizes will be awarded to the first correct response and then two runners up will be selected at random from other correct responses received. Answers should be submitted by PM to me either on the Meritocracy or OSN website. Answers submitted by telegram on NationStates will only be eligible for runner up prizes due to the lack of reasonable timestamps there.

If you find an error while attempting to solve any puzzle and report it, you will win a special prize to be named later.

Cryptogram II

JXYWKBVVFHDK BJ QXY JQVBVQAXU; MUCQPYFCZBDFV SBFYYZQKF QHVU BHMBOFMKJ MZFM UQX'YK KEDKJJBWKVU VQAXFDBQXJ BH UQXY FYMBDXVFMBQH. - FNBVBHF LFU

Cryptogram III

SLRLV QLHB KS UZKVKB? JCIB, QKFL I AIG UTLQQ BCIB JDS'B ULLT BD QLIRL LRLS BCDXYC PDX'RL ZXQQLG XZ BCL MIVZLB ISG UISG-AQIUBLG BCL JIQQU? - MDSYQITD

Crossword 2

by Meritocratic Times Staff Writer Soigacas

Clues: ACROSS 2 Two crotchets (5) 4 Public opinion, Latin (3,6) 5 Converted (4,5) 6 Spying (9) 7 Tiny Plankton (5) 9 Oppose (8) 11 Giggle (5) 12 Carry On (8) 13 Storm (7) 14 Notice of death (8) 16 Large, eared seal (7) 17 Whirlwind (6) 18 Hairy (5) DOWN 1 Tolling of a bell (5) 3 Burning (10) 8 Small Wave (6) 10 Restraining Device (8) 12 Unfeeling (7) 15 Fertile flood deposit (8) 16 Muslim market (4)

Issue 12 (Jan. 28, 2005)

Special Consular Election Edition Editor: Soigacas Contributors: Altair, Afslavistakistania, Soigacas, Jallalacks, Thomasia, Bumpivania, Corintur, Cortath, Kingdom_of_Eureka, Glasguensis Welcome to Issue 12 of the Meritocratic Times, a special Consular Election edition. This is also an issue of firsts. It is the first time the Meritocratic Times of which Altair hasn’t been the editor of, it is the first Times published under the newly created Ministry of Media Affairs (MoMA) and it is the first issue that requires to be published in two parts. It filled 14 pages on Microsoft Word – in size 8 font. So pull up a comfy chair, cancel all your arrangements for the next four hours, and read our complete coverage of the Consular Elections, an interview with Lord Tom by Altair, and information on GUSTO by Afslav. Enjoy!

-- Soigacas, Deputy Aedile of News and Opinion.

1st Consular Poll

By Altair

The next Consular election cycle is upon us and at 2am, Jan 25th, a poll was started by the Senator from Aesculapius in the Secure Senate Chambers. At 11am, Jan 26th the results stood:

Bumpy: 4 Corintur: 2 Cortath: 12 (3) Eureka: 8 (5) Glasguensis: 11 (3)

The number at the left indicates the number voting in the poll. The number at the right indicates the number of Senators who have voiced support that they would vote for the candidate. It should also be noted that the platforms for the Senators from Bumpivania and Eureka were not available throughout the time this poll was taken.

The results of this poll do not necessarily represent the opinions of the staff of the Meritocratic Times and are intended for entertainment purposes only.

Consular Platforms

By Altair

The nominations for the next Consul of the New Meritocracy are now closed. Eligible Senators for nomination were: Aesculapius, Altair*, Argyres, Ars Longa, Britannia, Bumpivania, Camozayo, Corintur, Cortath, Densim, Dorado, Eureka, Evans, Eyes only (Crazygirl)*, Freedomnia, Free Trade States, Glasguensis, Hipposhire, International Racing*, Kapitolska*, Kitimat, New Jasque, Old Lutheran, Pittsland*, Puppet States, and Yoco (* denotes a lack of Statement of Acceptable Service).

Nominated, Seconded were the Senators from Bumpivania, Corintur, Cortath, Eureka, Evans, and Glasguensis, Aesculapius, Altair, Densim, Kitimat, Jasque, Old Lutheran, Puppet States, Yoco and Hipposhire. Accepting their nominations were the Senators from Bumpivania, Corintur, Cortath, Eureka, and Glasguensis. Their platforms appear in alphabetical order in this article.

Bumpivania

Senators of the Meritocracy,

I stand before you as always, a humble Servant of the Meritocracy. I have been and remain content to serve in whatever capacity the Senate may require. I have served in every ministry we have, sometimes more effectively than others but always putting forth my best and most honorable efforts, striving at all times to embody Diplomacy and Leadership; My resume of service is in my Signature.

I have declared my intention to run for and perhaps win the office of Consul. Herewith I present my Cabinet, Platform and intended policies.

Any leader may be presumed to be "as good as the team he leads", I have chosen my Cabinet accordingly.

Former Consul Jasque has graciously agreed to serve as Quaestor and Vice Consul should Bumpivania emerge victorious. His experience and prior Service will be invaluable to the Senate and I look forward to consultation with him on matters of Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy is much discussed these days and I believe that it is in the best interests of the Meritocracy to proceed with the renegotiation of our alliances in accordance with the recommendations of the Alliance Inquisition.

It is generally agreed that these agreements do not serve the Senate well in their current form, therefore I intend to scrap them and start from scratch. The Foreign Diplomatic Corps will be very busy with the draughting of new agreements with old allies, preserving our good relations abroad and actively recruiting worthy Nations.

Senator Corintur is a qualified and worthy candidate for Consul, I am humbled and gratified that he has agreed to accept the responsibility of the Praetor's Office should the Senate favor a Bumpivanian Consular term.

The Ministry of Internal Policy will be tasked with what can only be described as Herculean efforts to integrate the MCB into our international interactions. I would like to see each subscribing nation have an active account in the MCB, where funds expended in RP Transactions are reflected on the balance sheet, giving "real" reasons to negotiate trade agreements and avoid paying fines and penalties.

I believe this will enhance the "realism" of our interactions and return our regional focus to international politics, trade, and diplomacy. In this way, I hope to revitalize our region, stimulating interest and activity in commercial exchange and thereby encourageing immigration. Let the balance sheet show the relative merits of our individual ideologies.

My choice for Censor is Senator Siosia, He stands his ground under pressure, has high standards, and may be expected to discharge the duties of the post with dilligence and excellence.

While it's true that his stubborn nature has worked against him in the past, a stubborn nature can be a definite asset when dealing with the Censors role; where the investigation and prosecution of crimes against the Senate call for objectivity and a thoroughness many have no stomach for. The Censor is also responsible for the administration of Citizenship applications and Votes. Arguably the most work of all Cabinet Posts, it calls for consistent diligence.

The Lictor's post has been offered to a Senator who has yet to respond to my request; I shall consider the offer open until Wednesday Noon EST. After which time I shall explore other options.

   FDC thread on a proposed Charter Amendment Article III A (Pages 1 2 ) wrote:
   The Consul is beholden to the Senate and serves at its pleasure, any action by the Consul is therefore presumed to be the will of the Senate.
   The means by which a Consul may be called to task are readily available in the form of a no confidence vote, and should a Consul unwisely enter an agreement against the will of the Senate the Senate may vote to withdraw from it.
   The Consul HAS the authority to speak for the Senate, for this reason, if no other, the Senate must choose wisely when electing a Consul.

The time for the Senate to choose a single voice is once again upon us, I believe that the manner of expression is at least as important as what is said.

The Choice is yours.

Corintur

I have not come before this body to earn an elected post before. I feel that this is the most true test of merit that can be found in this body, besides being accepted into the community. As such, I would like to express my firm belief that everyone running in this election certainly is worthy of this post, and I wish them all good luck.

Also due to my inexperience in running for elected positions, I will keep this platform simple. My beliefs for the future of this body can be summed up into a few key ideals, which I will list and describe; should anyone have questions, I will be happy to answer them in this thread. Primarily, the Meritocracy was founded as a bastion of states' rights; that is, national sovereignty. It is my firm belief that these must be maintained both in the realm of NationStates gameplay and regional roleplay. Recent events have forced us to look closely at what sovereignty means in the dynamics of the game, and how far we are willing to let this issue effect our policy, both foreign and internal.

My belief is that, in this body, national and player sovereignty is sacred. We have no more right to demand that a nation do anything more (or less) than that nation has agreed to. Upholding the laws of the Meritocracy is certainly included, but we should not exploit this to control the actions of players when they play outside of this arena.

This clearly affects foreign policy. I used to believe that this alliance and forum should be a city on the hill, a place of mediation and reconciliation. Now I realise that we should not try to force our influence on other regions and organisations, but that through the Senators here who represent such a large slice of NationStates, we already do. We should maintain a benevolent neutrality, as that is the only way we can be true to all of our members. We cannot become entangled in wars and espionage, but rather expand our horizons through diplomacy and comradeship. In time, as we have accepted members of both ADN and NPO and all those in between, we will become more of a rainbow region, made up of the best of all facets of the game. Antagonising any one party means alienating any number of people who might feel at home here, and prove to have more merit than you or I.

In a more practical sense, we should tell the rest of the world that we are not a watchdog service for our members. We do not claim responsibility for what individual Senators do outside of our walls. Individuals might become delegates of feeders through coups, and individuals might join the resistance against them. Such are some functions in the game; this region fills a different niche.

I'm sure my position on the Legions is well known, at least to those who are concerned with them. Rest assured that I will not attempt their dismemberment unless the Senate wishes it. However, I also will see no reason to use them unless a province is threatened. My internal policy is simple; if it isn't broken, don't fix it. A few other candidates have thrown up the age-old "Charter convention" idea. I believe that the current systems works; keeping the Charter more difficult to amend will make people think more about it before so eagerly changing it. I will support changes to the Judicial Code and any legislation that will protect sovereignty, but will frown upon the creation of needless bureaucracy.

Finally, I believe that we have recieved a boon in the return of many of the "Old Guard" in recent months. While I am not exactly a stickler for tradition, some things have been said regarding the course that this alliance has taken after their passing. I would like to talk to them and find out what the original Senate would have thought of our current position. While I think that we as a body should evolve, I firmly believe that we should not forget or abandon what this region was created for.

My Cabinet will be announced as I choose them and they accept. I will now answer any questions you have.

Cortath

Greetings, and welcome everyone.

Let me begin by saying that I am honored to be nominated and seconded for the position of Consul again, and let me acknowledege the Consul Eli for his faithful service to the Meritocracy.

I suppose now is not the time for modesty, so for those newer Senators, I would like to simply state that I have held the positions of Deputy Director of the Foreign Diplomatic Corps under the Unistrut Consulship, rising to the Quaestor position during the same. I was appointed Quaestor and Vice-Consul under the Aesculapius Administration, after which I ran for Consul, lost to Consul Eli, and was appointed his Quaestor and Vice-Consul.

In my last platform, I spoke of the Meritocracy as a guiding lighthouse to the world, a bedrock of strength and stability, and still believe it to be so. A lighthouse is a light that one can choose to follow, when charting the troubled waters of our world, and I believe we should try to spread, not our influence, but rather our reputation across the world, so as to give every nation with merit the opportunity to find our light.

I believe the opportunity for the Meritocracy to take up a leadership role in the world is possible, when we are united in solidarity of our purpose. The situation in the North Pacific is a place where our leadership and our contributions can help in restoring democracy to a region now in tyranny. The North Pacific, until week ago, was a cherished ally through the ALL Alliance, and I believe now could be the time to prove our faith to our allies.

During the Consulship of Eli, the Meritocracy has indeed gained back some of the respect in parts of the world that we have lost, and I would like to think that I have had a hand in it. I believe that through taking concrete diplomatic action against an injustice we are all united against, we can be once again seen as the leaders we once were. I have asked Senator Jasque to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with his wise judgement and leadership. I would like to see Mendanau continue his frankly fantastic revitalization and rebuilding of the Meritocratic Intelligence Agency, and I will encourage my Quaestor-nominee to maintain Senator Mendanau in that post.

I still believe that we can do more to attract citizenship applicants of merit, and I intend, through the new Ministry and its Deputy Aedile for Public Relations, to put out our good name to all the corners of the globe that have not heard of the Meritocracy. Having come from one of these dark corners myself, I do know that many realms of Nationstates have never heard our good name, and there is without a doubt untapped meritorious candidates who could come into our fold. I would also like to see the expansions of the News and Opinion Agency, to include its own set of forums on this forum, for things such as feedback. Most news agencies have their own actual forum, but in keeping the forum on merit.jink.org, we should give the News and Opinion Agency all the advantage that others news agencies have. I'd also like to see our outside readership increase, perhaps through mirroring the Times via a blog or through an efficient distribution network. I have appointed an Aedile, but am still awaiting confirmation. [edit: Altair has accepted to be my Aedile-nominee.[/edit]

I would like to see the Charter Convention of the Aesculapi Administration come to fruition. We have Charter Amendments, lying in the Ministry of Internal Policy for nearly every article and section of the Charter, and surely some of them are with merit and could be incorporated into the Charter. I have always been a proponent of updating laws and the Charter, from my previous support of the Charter Convention, to my updating of the Ambassador Act of 2003 during Eli's Administration. I do not believe, however, that we should create a Charter that never needs amending, simply because we admit, as a Senate, that often times and circumstances change in such a way so as to merit a change in the Charter. I have asked Senator Yoco, a Senator of the highest degree to be my Praetor-nominee. In the administering of the votes of the Meritocracy and the Census, Senator Glasguensis has proven his merit countless times and has graciously accepted to be my Censor-Nominee, as well as to be my Vice-Consul.

I wish to see a renewed interest in the Legions. I would like our defense forces to find themselves a purpose, whether it be in a gameplay aspect or even an RP aspect. I have asked Senator Dilber to be my Lictor, as he has extensive military experience, and I have little doubt that he shall do great things with our Legions. I hope that his fresher look at the workings of the Meritocracy and its cabinet will provide a new perspective on my potential administration.

I thank you Senators and guests for your time, and I eagerly await any questions you might have.

Eureka

A newsman breaks into the Eurekan News Network coverage of Capitollium and Densim's growing wheat yields. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Most Noble King of Eureka."

• • • A television camera is focused on a thin pedestal, the Eurekan Royal Coat of Arms mounted on front. The King steps into shot under a hail of flashes from the assembled press and begins speaking***

Good morning. We are here today to announce Our platform for the upcoming Meritocratic Consular elections and release Our cabinet. We will take questions at the end of the press conference.

The King clears his throat, and beings his speech.

Senators of the Meritocracy, we stand at a turning point. History is replete with turning points, and it is how we all move forward that defines who we are as a people, a nation, or even a region.

The Meritocracy has always stood for the belief that the members of the Senate are better than those outside of it. It is why so many outside this region look upon us favourably. It is why so many campaign to join our ranks. It is why so many are envious of our position.

This belief is the bedrock that all else is built upon. We are a Meritocracy. We will always remain a meritocracy. Worth in this august region is based upon what a senator or resident can achieve, do or know. By promoting the best in all of us, we have created a virtual utopia in where the members of the Meritocratic Senate are able to come and discuss, legislate and propose how to make their own lot in life better.

But some have forgotten! Some have forgotten that it is for your own nation that you are here! Senators all, none of you are here for Eureka! We are not here for Britannia, or Camozayo, or Nebutopia. We are all here for Ourselves! We are not members of a single uniform government. We are representatives of our respective nations, and we all should be attempting to get the ideal outcome for our own nations.

This region once again needs to be reminded that sovereign rights form the very backbone of the charter. That any action that will infringe upon another nations' or regions' sovereign rights is the most grave of choices! We cannot, as the decision makers for the most august region in the world, allow ourselves to forget that if we forgo the belief in sovereign rights we shall become as those we loathe.

A Eurekan consularship would commit to the complete revision of the current charter. Clause by clause and paragraph by paragraph, Our cabinet will commit itself to simplifying and expediting the charter so that it is no longer the ponderous document it is now. The issue of the legitimacy of the right of the nation will be applied to all aspects of the charter.

Under a Eurekan consularship, We will undertake to initiate what was once the norm. We will investigate the possibility of and implementation of senatorial private members' bills. This is a term We use to allow individual Senators to once again bring legislation before the Senate without ministerial scrutiny. It will allow any Senator to bring any legislation before the Senate. It will once again open the Senate floor to any Senator who wishes to legislate for their own benefit. Investigations must be made, however initial plans for these private members bills will require a 75% majority to pass the floor.

Foreign relations have become a very important part of this Senate. Eureka does not back away from that. But we need to be the rock against the ocean. We need to be the strong place that others bash against, to no avail. Let them flow around US, not US around them. We need a strong home, else our foreign relations are weak. With a strong base of operations to move from, We will be stronger. Eureka has long been an opponent of military action against other sovereign regions except in the case of alliance obligations or direct threat to the Meritocracy. We will never be in favour of rampant military action simply for the sake of what some Senators may feel is their moral duty. Ideological differences are not enough to warrant military force! Because you do not agree with the plans or actions of another nation or region does not mean that that region or its leadership is wrong!

Let them organise their regions! This meritocracy should and will be under a Eurekan Consularship a place where alliances are honoured, others are made, and wars fought for the protection of what we hold dear. It is not Our place to spit upon the history of this Senate. We will not, nor will we ever look down upon its members simply because they offer a different view from Eureka - save for the one that matters most! We are a collection of like minded nations who are striving for the best We can guarantee for our own individual nations. To believe otherwise is contrary to the intent of the charter, and the very ideals on which this Senate was founded.

As for Our cabinet, the following members have agreed to serve. Positions will be announced after the election and negotiations continue for ministries.

The nations of Jasque, Nebutopia, Puppet States, Dorado and Thomasia (pending his readmittance to the Senate) are confirmed as members. Kitimat, Britannia and Altair are yet to confirm their acceptence, however We are hopeful such august members of the Senate will accept.

We request any Senator who wishes to raise any constructive comments do so, and We will reply as soon as We are able to.

Glasguensis

Fellow Senators,

Once again I come before you seeking your mandate for a Consular term. This is a key time for the Meritocracy - the return of prominent Senators from the past has forced us all to consider what we once were, what we have become, and what we want for the future.

We cannot turn back the clock - the days when the Meritocracy could function on unspoken understandings and a lack of formality depended on there being a small group of members who knew each other well. We have simply grown too large to be able to function in this way - there are many of you I have never spoken to personally, and can't presume to "know". We have created the structures of the Senate in order to avoid total chaos, and structures are indeed necessary. However, lately I believe some amongst us have become overly concerned with legislating everything in minute detail. It is time for a fundamental review of how we operate, and I therefore intend to do the following:

1) Hold a debate to create a vision and values statement. What does our alliance actually stand for? What are our aims? What type of nations do we wish to attract? 2) Enact a Charter convention, to examine the totality of the Charter, to debate what we hold as fundamental principles, and to create a document which should basically never need further amendment, because it embodies our core values. 3) Hold a legislation convention, to examine every piece of legislation with the aim of simplifying it and making it more consistent.

We must ask ourselves fundamental questions such as how we should judge applicants, who should be eligible for Consul, how should the court system work, what is the role of the Tribune, and many other things. I fully intend that this will be a structured process, and while the debate progresses the current laws will of course still apply.

My foreign policy will be to revitalise our relationships throughout the world. I will encourage ambassador exchange and foster trade agreements and intelligence sharing. I don't rule out military alliances, but I am not in favour of our membership of large alliances whose sole purpose is mutual defence, since the Meritocracy does not require such security. Which is not to say that we can't have a different type of positive relationship with the likes of the ALL and ADN.

I do not rule out the use of the legions in pursuit of our foreign policy, and therefore I will be asking my Lictor to ramp up recruitment and training so that our forces are ready to be effective when needed. However, any deployment will be of a defensive rather than aggressive nature, and will only be made where I am sure of the facts, and believe that such engagement is to our long-term benefit.

In terms of my team, clearly a key position is that of Praetor, and I have selected Yoco, who has previously shown he is capable of the drive and leadership which will be required. The foreign affairs team is also of great importance, and I have selected Jasque as my Quaestor, backed up by Mendenau as head of the MIA and Cortath as head of the FDC. Having selected two officers with significant experience, I also want to have some new blood and have selected Siempre to serve as Censor, and CrazyGirl as Lictor, and I hope to introduce some further new faces in some of the deputy positions. Due to recent legislative changes I also need to appoint the Aedile, and I will announce my choice shortly.

I thank you for your time, and await your questions.

Editorial by Glasguensis

The upcoming election promises to be the most closely contested and arguably the most interesting since the Jasque/Thomasia contest a year ago. Unlike that contest, however, the platforms of the various candidates have more in common than differentiating factors. Indeed I am happy to admit that I like some of the individual ideas proposed by the other candidates.

Cortath's military parades scheme, for example, definitely looks like a novel idea worth considering, and King Justin's ideas for an expanded Cabinet are somewhat similar to my own intention of making some Consular, as opposed to Senate, appointments to give me the resources I will need to push through with the fairly challenging program I have in mind if I am fortunate enough to gain the approval of the Senate.

What I believe sets me apart from the other candidates in this election is my ability to unite rather than divide the Senate. I do not have outside ties which may hamper my relationships with certain Senators as was the fate of some previous Consuls, but neither am I an isolationist. I am not drawn quickly to anger, nor do I consider myself so much more meritorious than other Senators that I can dismiss them with an imperious wave.

The Senate is growing again. Many of our finest members have returned to our halls, and now is the time both to refresh ourselves internally, and to proudly (but not arrogantly) go out into the world and shine like the beacon of merit which we should be. Voting in this election will be crucial to our future, and I trust the Senate to choose wisely.

2nd Consular Poll

By Soigacas (poll conducted by Altair)

This second poll was carried out between the 26th and the 27th. The results were:

Bumpivania:4 (4) Corintur:1 (2) Cortath:13 (13) Eureka:10 (8) Glasguensis:9 (12) Undecided:3 (N/A)

The numbers in brackets are the results of the first consular poll. The poll shows a dcrease in support for Glasguensis and Corintur, although the introduction of undecided may have swayed the vote.

Corintur withdraws from the race

Early in the morning on Thursday, the Senator from Corintur announced in a brief statement that he was dropping out of the consular election and endorsing the Senator from Eureka.

   wrote:
   I am withdrawing my name from the ballot, due to lackluster poll results and the belief that the Senator from Eureka and myself are running essentially the same campaign (although mine is more veiled). I'm also endorsing King Justin, if that matters to anyone.

The Senator had polled in 5th place in the 1st poll and was in 5th place in the 2nd poll when the announcement was made.

Editorial by Bumpy

Bumpivania has little hope of victory in this election, and perhaps this is as things should be, if nothing more I shall remind the Senate that regardless of the agenda proposed, our Consul speaks for the Meritocracy. We must live with the choices we make.

I offer the Senate a voice which generally speaks in reasoned tones and may be counted upon to consider the Sovereign Rights of all Nations represented.

Whether as a Senator or as Consul, I will not be bullied, nor will I allow anyone to ride roughshod over our region, its legal code, or its Charter.

The Bumpivanian platform is a simple one; based in the concept that our international relations should be the primary focus of our diplomatic efforts; for by enhancing our diplomatic and economic relations we may set the tone for our region as a whole. I believe that making our IC regional interactions real is our best hope of revitalizing our region and attracting good players.

In my view all the candidates seem motivated by a genuine desire to serve the Senate. Each has a vision of what this region was, is, and should be. Each offers a distinctly different direction, The Senate will choose its direction and the tone of our interactions quite soon.

Let wisdom and clarity prevail at the polls, now is not the time for sentimentalism, nostalgia, or a longing for the "good old days". Time is one way and try as we may it is impossible to "turn back the clock" and regain past glory. There is only the present, and a vision for the future, may that future be glorious!

I am pleased to see worthy platforms from Cortath and Glasguensis, both fine Senators whose ceaseless efforts on behalf of the Senate are worthy of recognition and support.

I note that Senator Glasguensis in particular concentrates almost exclusively on working, eschewing the more frivolous activities of Senate Life.

Senator Cortath has also expended vast energies actively pursuing the goals of the Senate, serving with distinction and upholding the honor of our region through several Consular terms.

His Majesty King Justin no doubt holds dear a dream, and though it is apparent that there is little love lost between our nations, he has always had my respect.

GUSTO development

By Ambassador Afslav*

GUSTO. Many of us here are probably familiar with what it is. Yet, not nearly as many are aware of the many things going on behind the doors of smoke filled rooms, deciding the future of the great project. Even fewer members of The Meritocracy may be aware that I am the programmer behind the new GUSTO. First off, the new GUSTO, now with several different branches of development, and an equal number of new names, as of right now calculates all of the economic data that the current version of GUSTO calculates. Yet, it does not currently calculate Income Distribution, nor Military Statistics. There is a plan though, one that is quite spectacular, to replace the Military Statistics bit of GUSTO with something that has not been created yet for Nation States. Have any of you wanted a way to manage your current military holdings without using a spreadsheet, or even a text file? Have any of you wanted to compare your army's strength with another's? Have you ever wanted to sell arms on the global marketplace, receiving the profits from your handiwork, so that you yourself can buy more weapons? Have you wanted to research technology? Hopefully all of these things will be possible with the new milGUSTO. It's essentially an online store to buy weapons from the global GUSTO arms market. All of your purchases are then stored, for you to compare with the armies of other nations. It is a complicated system, and it won't be finished for awhile, but it certainly will be worth it for the role players in the NS world.

The next big development is webGUSTO. webGUSTO is the online website that lets you view your nation's statistics. It also has numerous other features that will eventually make Jasque's life much easier, as well as the lives of bank managers and members. First, there is now a registration page, where you can register your main nation and four puppets, along with a username and password that allows you to access their respective configuration pages. Yes, your nations will now have configuration pages. We are not quite sure what you will be configuring, but the capability is there. Then, there are bank configuration pages that allow for a similar thing to be done for the banks, and we do know what must be adjusted by bank managers. Finally, there is one very cool feature that has been added, that I'm sure many of you will grow to love. Graphs. Simply, graphs have now been added that display the full history of your nation in terms of Gross Domestic Product, GDP Growth, and Net Exports. These same graphs also exist for the banks.

Finally, the back end of GUSTO, pyGUSTO. pyGUSTO is a complete rewrite of the current GUSTO spreadsheet in Python. I won't go into too much detail, but it essentially is much much more flexible than the spreadsheet ever could be, and is much faster to run. It also runs completely automatically, so now you'll have your new nation statistics every single day.

There are a few road blocks to getting this up on the web, but they are being worked on steadily. In a few weeks Jasque and I hope to get the basics up for everyone to view. Eventually, when milGUSTO is further along, it will be placed on the web as an open beta. GUSTO is heading towards greatness, and it is great to be a part of the journey.

About the author: Ambassador Afslav of the OSN is the chief programmer of GUSTO and is currently undergoing the citizenship application process of the Meritocracy.

pyGUSTO ad - Afslav

The New North Pacific Conflict: Part 2

From the Office of Vogon Commander Jixie, Clerk of the Court of The Meritocracy, leader of the Total Perspective Vortex of Jallalacks, Second dominion of The London Borough of Jixieland

It is barely a fortnight since I wrote my last article, referring to the takeover of the nation of Pixiedance by the forces of Ivan Moldavi. The 12 hours following the first takeover was marked by a headless panic on the part of most of the world’s diplomats, as confusion reigned and rumours flew to every corner of the world. This reaction is natural, and with hindsight, the foreign policy officials of Jallalacks acted in a similar way. The second takeover, has, on the contrary been marked by something approaching calm, with a far more unified response. It is appropriate that this should be the case. For now, we must be, and act, united.

It is important to briefly review the events leading up to this moment. I shall go as far back as the first takeover, for we should by now all be aware of the chaos that surrounded the moves to withdraw The North Pacific from the ADN. After that crisis, Government officials in Pixiedance willingly let the forces of Ivan Moldavi take over the Regional Controls that are currently located within that nation. For about a day or so, it seemed as if a new dictatorship was about to rear its ugly head in a Pacific region once more. Then, Ivan Moldavi made a public, and seemingly very sincere statement apologising for this action. The nation was in due course handed back to its original Government. However, that was not the end of the affair, as we are all aware – Moldavian forces still exercised undue influence in the region, especially for a nation that was not a native, and certainly not one that even when official representatives of that empire did arrive, was not a native for any significant amount of time. They appointed themselves representative of The North Pacific to the Allied Liberation League, and then they demanded the withdrawal of The North Pacific from the Allied Liberation League (and got it). The government of Pixiedance lost faith in itself once again, and willingly handed over the reigns of the region to Moldavian forces once more. Despite the sincerity of the apology, the promises to be open, democratic and transparent, to allow opposition and to hand the region over to the natives once more, Ivan Moldavi has reneged on all of this, and engaged in a coup d’etat of The North Pacific, this time with intentions as to its permanence.

It is clear now that the action to remove The North Pacific from the ALL was one which was designed to deliberately divide opposition prior to a possible takeover by Moldavian forces of the nation of Pixiedance, for it directly served the interest of that new dictator to remove himself from any alliance which might then organise the necessary international resistance to bring him down from the outside (as the last dictatorial nation of The North Pacific was). This action should be seen as what it is: shallow and manipulative. The ALL does not recognise the Government that currently resides in The North Pacific, so nor should it pay any heed to its decisions. It must regard the current takeover as an invasion, and respond accordingly.

We must not however, blind ourselves to the debate about the actions of Ivan Moldavi before we make physical foreign policy decisions, as so many Senators have been so keen to express in the recent months regarding the Senate’s foreign policy. Let us consider the arguments made by either supporters of Moldavi, or those who advocate non – intervention.

According to some supporters, it is within the game rules to hand the control of a nation over to another nation. Therefore, there is nothing actually wrong with Moldavi’s actions. If you will allow this Senator to think in terms that go beyond most ‘realistic’ posts, it is possible to rebut this argument. In short, this simplistic and inadequate argument is similar to the one used by those who supported the delegacy of Great Bight, and so should be treated as such. What that argument, and this one, fail to recognise are some of the fundamental dynamics of this world that go beyond what the officials of it call the ‘rules.’ Those who defend regions that are attacked by invaders do so for a number of regions, but primarily it is because they believe that invasion is wrong, it is an affront to regional sovereignty, and in the long run it harms this world as a whole. They play a role, certainly, but invaders are opposed by most reputable organisations, not because they are against the rules (indeed, the officials of this world only ensure that the invasion does not turn into griefing), but because they believe such action undermines the same regional sovereignty which those regions hold so dear themselves. It is significant to note that the military forces of New Sparrow (the region which Ivan Moldavi founded) defend such regions themselves, briefly putting them in the same camp as the ADN, who believe in regional sovereignty, and the damage that it can do to a region’s activity and government, an argument surely which surely sits alongside the ‘rules’ which the World Government enforces to prevent chaos. If we consider Moldavi’s takeover of The North Pacific to be an invasion (a fact I will prove later) then it is possible to regard his action alongside the actions of those invaders who prey on weak and vulnerable regions as a sop to their own ego.

According to some supporters of this new regime, the attitudes of the rest of the world, and the potential actions that those in that world may take, are but the affairs of The North Pacific region, and anything the rest of the world does is simply an affront to that same regional sovereignty we defenders claim to hold so dear. Unfortunately, the simplicity of this argument displays the fundamental rational weakness of those who make it. Those external organisations, of which The North Pacific was a part, and in at least in one cases it legally remains, have promised to protect the government that it recognised as that which signed those treaties which committed The North Pacific to those organisations, and which committed the members of The North Pacific to protect it in the case of an affair like this. However, this argument falls down unless we can show that this does indeed fall under the aegis of invasion, and so onto my next point.

This may, on the surface, not appear the same sort of invasion that defenders fight everyday, but make no mistake. This is how it should be viewed. When the forces of Ivan Moldavi moved into the governmental compound where the regional controls are stored, they did so with the consent of those forces meant to protect them. Anything else would have inspired the wrath of the World officials. But this in no way undermines the case that this was an invasion. Because crucially, the delegacy of The North Pacific was not for the government of Pixiedance to do with as it chose. That government had many powers, but in handing them over to Moldavi, it failed to recognise that it had over stepped its bounds. This is because the natives of The North Pacific that signed up to the United Nations, and endorsed Pixiedance had done so because they placed their faith in the Government of Pixiedance, not of any other nation. The endorsement system, which the old The North Pacific constitution recognised as legitimate, the tacit of faith of the vast majority of nations that added their endorsement, the thousands of nations who live under the rule of that usurped nation anyway, made no reference to the possibility of that nation being taken over by foreign forces, and it is not an unreasonable assumption to say that if asked, they would probably have baulked at the idea. If Pixiedance had resigned from the UN, it would be another matter. If control had been handed to a North Pacific native, the situation might be different. But from this perspective, there can be no other conclusion that the delegacy of The North Pacific has been taken over by foreign forces not native to that region, and is thus an invasion.

There is one more counter – argument to consider, and that is of duality. It is not the affair of the outside world what Ivan Moldavi chooses to do with his dominions, some claim, and so we should not involve ourselves. This argument does nothing to change the fact that this was an invasion, but if accepted it leads to profound implications. Consider for a minute that one Senator of the Meritocracy has another nation, separate to the one that has been granted citizenship by this senate. This other nation is still linked, however distantly to the first, as it was set up by the order of that first nation. If that nation engages in hostile action to The Meritocracy, then we would not hesitate to call that Senator to account. They are linked, and most especially in Ivan Moldavi’s case, where the duality argument was essentially destroyed when he took responsibility in those organisations where he held other nations separate to the (now permanently controlled) Pixiedance. The leader of (what I assume) to be his oldest nation, Borogrovia Moldavi, is also the effective ruler of those other nations when it comes to matters of international importance such as these.

So, having rebutted each of the arguments that have been put forward justifying this most dastardly of manoeuvres, it is necessary now only to act on them. It has already been expressed even by an informal majority of the senate of the need to have a foreign policy position on this, and it is only right that we do. But we must go further – we must play an active role in removing this false delegate. We may only be able to muster 20 nations or so against a delegate with an endorsement count of over 680, but it is foolish to think either that we act alone in such a venture, or that we need that many to replace the current delegate. I will not hark on about military campaigns and their eventual form, but anyone worth any military leader worth his salt knows that although the endorsement count is high, it is far from unbeatable. We must stand alongside other regions and organisations, and act together, with the true natives of The North Pacific at our head, to remove the new tyrant, lest he see even the light of day between us, and entrenches his regime by ejecting all who oppose him.

milGUSTO ad - Afslav

Interview with Lord Tom

By Altair

The Meritocratic Times is pleased to have the opportunity to sit down and talk with one of its founding members, the Lord Tom of Thomasia

MT = the Meritocratic Times (Altair) LT = Lord Tom of Thomasia

MT: Welcome back to the Meritocracy Lord Tom. Do you have anything you wish to say before we start the interview? LT: I just want to commend you and all the people involved with the Meritocratic Times for the excellent work you consistently produce.

MT: Thank you Lord Tom. Can you tell us the reason why you have chosen to come back at this time? LT: A funny story that. Thomasia, which had withdrawn into comfortable isolation happened to receive a couple suggestions from some of our former allies, and an indirect invitation of sorts to return from another friend, so our nation came on what was intended to be a social visit. However, having seen the growth of the Meritocracy and the current situation, I felt now might be a good time for Thomasia to resume normal relations with our friends here.

MT: By now you have read the interview we had with King Justin the Brave of Eureka regarding the hotly contested consular election of 10-July-2003. Where were you on that day? LT: I was staring down about a few thousand tanks if memory serves. As Tribune, I was committed to defending the integrity of the Meritocracy, and to this day, I maintain that I was cheated out of my rightful election as Consul. However, I hold no hard feelings.

MT: Why did you choose to run for Consul at that time? LT: My ambition was then, as ever, to foment closer ties between our nations, and I am proud to say I was running on a strong agenda. My firm belief was that the Meritocracy needed to make our message more clearly heard and continue developing new structures to remain a forceful and innovative region. As someone who had drafted much of the formal framework of the current laws, I felt that being Consul would allow me the latitude to continue developing such policy.

MT: In your opinion, what did you hope to accomplish and what did you accomplish by withdrawing and reentering the race? LT: Truth be told, when I left the race, I had no intention of returning. It was the cries of my supporters who feared the introspective and isolationist tendencies of King Justin that hastened my return. Personally, I thought the good King would make a fine Consul, and believe he would today, but that is why I was called back from my departure. Also, allow me to explain why King Justin legally never could have won the election, though he did garner a majority of the votes. He chose to leave the race, but did not announce his final commitment to run, before the date provided by law. Unfortunately, our censor was derelict in his duty, and that mishap was the cause of the entire debacle.

MT: To clarify what you just said, you're telling us that King Justin withdrew from the race prior to the start of voting and did not formally announce his reentry until after the start of voting? LT: That is precisely what I said. However, the fault is ultimately not his. As I stated, the real issue was in the administration of the election, which if it had been fairly conducted, would have prevented the whole problem in the first place.

MT: Would you please comment on King Justin's statement that you "shored up your power base" by bringing in new Senators in a particular order? LT: He gives me too much credit. As a friendly neighbor, I worked hard to establish good relations with each new nation that wanted to enter the Meritocracy, and as a result of that, I was seen as being friendly to the newcomers. My feeling today, as then, was that coming to the Meritocracy takes a while to learn, so I was simply acting as a mentor to some of my younger colleagues.

MT: Would you care to comment on the maneuverings described by King Justin with regards to the citizenship application process. LT: The problem at the time was this. Because of the favorable publicity being received about the Meritocracy in the world at large, we were enjoying a short-term massive influx of interested applicants, and we were unable to process them all in a timely fashion. It was unrealistic, and unfair, I felt, to expect a nation to wait six weeks for consideration, which would have been the result of the policies advocated for by Eureka. By considering multiple candidates at once, we insured everyone a fair hearing, and were able to consider applicants in a reasonably expeditious manner.

MT: Would you like to tell your side of the story on how the 50%+1 voting requirement came about? LT: The story is well-known. The problem was not a political one, but rather a function of apathy. Previously, a Senator needed 60% of the total Senators to vote yes to be admitted to the Senate. However, on any given vote, as much as a third of the Senate would abstain on considering a candidate, and those votes that often came from the absence of some Senators would effectively count as No votes. That was why the voting requirement was reduced. I believe that having the 60% standard makes sense, but that abstains should not count either way. However, the technical difficulties involved were a large reason why that path was not adopted.

MT: That's a different story than the one we have heard from the Senator from Jasque. He has told us that you admitted to him that you essentially sneaked that provision into the law while no one was looking. Would you care to comment on that? LT: No, that provision was never sneaked into law. That one was legimitately passed. There were other things that were done less scrupulously, but to the best of my recollection, that wasn't them. On one occasion, we actually... Well, if no one saw it then, there is no point in bringing up something so pointless now.

MT: I can't let that slide by without asking for a story. Please tell us. LT: I think three or four other Senators are aware of what I did, so you can ask them. Suffice it to say, my powers as Tribune were considerable, and we were not so fortunate as today to have so many scrupulous defenders (and readers) of all the provisions in the Charter. All we did was clarify a minor point to what we intended it to say instead of what it actually said, so that the Tribune would be able to run for continuous terms...indefinitely. Of course, after the whole Consular election fiasco, I gave up all my higher ambitions, so that all blithely falls to ancient history.

MT: At this time, what do you feel the overall Senatorial citizenship criteria should be? LT: As stated, I think citizenship should be a fair, but critical process. My idea is that rather than having all the Senators interview the candidates that we can have a selection board, with 4 members from different committees randomly assembled to judge each applicant. In addition, there will be an officer in charge of admission to the Senate who will chair that committee, but who will lack a vote on admission. If three of the four interviewers approve, the candidate would be admitted. As for how they should be judged, I think that should be the province of the officer I so describe, and his concern. Perhaps Legate might be the right title. More interesting than my opinion would be a debate amongst the Senators about what that should be.

MT: In the Lord Tom Bar thread, you mentioned something with regards to a possible libertarian coalition. Do you have any further comments on that? LT: My thoughts are broader than a libertarian coalition. My hope is to find those nations who embrace a free market, whatever their respective economic strengths, and to use our collective strength to push the Meritocracy towards policies more sympathetic to economic growth.

MT: In the MT Issue 11 thread you alluded to something more interesting that you did. Would you please elaborate on that? LT: As much as I enjoy the important work of setting up governments, which I have had the pleasure to do on four separate occasions, my real moments of delight have been in espionage. From time to time, some of my greatest coups have been in how thoroughly organizations can be infiltrated and influenced. For instance, the operatives which I placed in the ACC helped convinced their subcommanders to remove the current commander and allowed me to assume that role. It was a wonderful coup.

MT: What was your finest moment in the Senate (and NS)? What was your least favorite moment in the Senate (and NS)? LT: My finest moment in the Senate was probably when we wrote the Charter. I might have formatted much of the ideas, but it was a collaborative effort and I would be remiss not to thank all those whose ideas were incorporated. In NS History, either the conquest of the ACC or my own brief stint as world's most powerful delegate would serve as my favorite moments. The tragedy of it was that after amassing all that power, I came to realize the futility of communication against such seething hordes of ignorance, so my Meritocratic brethren and myself moved away from there and toward the idea of self-sufficiency that is fully embodied in the Charter today. My most ignominious moment was the conflict over the Consular mantle, although having thought about that, it amazes me. Somehow, while King Justin and I were always painted as the perpetual conspirators for that post, our more subtle third, the Field Marshal, served any number of terms in the office we both aspired to reach. Perhaps, he was shrewder than we ever were. A disappointing moment for me was when I last visited, and realized I would be unable to return to the Senate. The character of the place seemed so radically different to me that my disgust was very real, as was my intent not to return. However, time passes, circumstances change, and here I have come back.

MT: Let's talk for a bit about the ACC. Would you tell us the story of your coup of that organization? LT: The idea wasn't originally mine, as things go. Some of the older Senators will remember our successful incursion into the Atlantic, and that we were able to liberate that region from the ACC. During my time as Delegate there, as the proxy state of Cluny, I developed a friendship with Nusseburg, the esteemed founder of the ACC. Together, we had many interesting discussions, but these eventually developed around whether the ACC could be refounded in a more positive sense. At his request, and with his considerable help, my lieutenants and I met with some of the ACC leadership, and found a way to move forward. It was as much a collaboration as a coup.

MT: Can you set the record straight on what actually happened to you after you and Pilmour left the Meritocracy a year ago to form a new group that almost immediately collapsed? LT: I quit. The Black Guard was an excellent application of all I had learned in commanding the ACC. The reason we faltered is because of recruiting, and the changing nature of the game. Because of all the restrictions, we were unable to successfully exert any influence beyond our own region. For NS armies that tend to operate like mercenaries, we were not able to provide enough action or potential to become an effective force. So, I left my command post and Pilmour was free to do as he so chose beyond that.

MT: Would you care to comment on what your relations actually were with the Meritocracy when you were forming the Black Guard? In the Meritocracy you were depicted as almost a super villain. LT: I should hope I was. I tried very hard to earn that opprobrium. There was a tacit understanding between the leadership of this body and myself that any threat was exaggerated heavily. Perhaps I have a perverse sense of humor, but I rather enjoyed putting a little fright into everyone. That said, even if I was the only one who had the luxury of being fully certain, I could hardly destroy or endanger what I worked so hard to create.

MT: Would you care to comment about any of the projects that you have in mind for the future? LT: If the Senators choose to reinstate my seat, I intend on making an announcement at that moment. Certain issues from the past need to be clarified, and I would appreciate that opportunity to address my fellows. I have yet to come up with a legislative palate, but you can rest assured that there are a few ideas that I want to pursue. Free trade is one of them. Military reform also seems like an area where my expertise might prove in handy. Otherwise, many of the efforts I make will be between individual nations within the Senate rather than directed toward the Senate as a whole.

MT: Thank you for spending time with us, Lord Tom. LT: It was my pleasure. Any time.

Meritocratic News Headlines: An Introduction

By Soigacas

The staff at the Meritocratic Times are always looking for ways to improve our services. This ideas drive has manifested itself recently in the creation of MoMA, but that is not the only developement. It gives me great pleasure to announce a new news service: The Meritocratic News Headlines Service.

This is a blog which posts headlines as soon as MoMA members learn of them, in short and to the point bulletins. This means the news is available more regularly than the Meritocratic Times Newspaper, but does not have the depth of information.

So, in short, if you want to know what's going on, click on http://meritnews.blogspot.com

Issue 16 (Nov. 8, 2005)

Edited by Soigacas and Xiang Gang Contributors: Chronorica, Ylling, Soigacas, Halmont, Cortath, Xiang Gang

Editorial—Looking Outwards

Xiang Gang By the standards of this paper, this is a mammoth issue. Around five thousand words of digitally-encased intellect are below, and I can blame the tireless efforts of Soigacas, above all others, for that. Interviews make up a large section of this issue, and this is important: the team wishes to give insight into the key figures of the world as well as grill the key figures of the Senate. We in the Meritocracy are rather insular, and with good excuse: this is a great region. The Meritocracy is an exciting place; the many bars, taverns and halls of the MAD are vibrant with discussion. But we must look outward as well, and this paper will help do this. It will be a paper that brings the world to the Meritocracy and, hopefully, brings the Meritocracy to the world. All of this will take time, and a great number of issues, but we have an excellent team. Soigacas adds What he said. I'd like to thank Xiang Gang and Chron for a close Aedile race. In the end I won by just one vote, with three abstentions. Hopefully both will continue to work on making the paper bigger and better. On a slightly different note, I would like to apologise for the lack of a Senate News in this issue. We hope to have this included in the paper as soon as possible.

West Pacific in Crisis

By Chronorica and Halmont

On the night of Wednesday, November 2nd, a group consisting of arguably the most active members of the West Pacific and led by Biyah, dissolved the region's constitution, locked the Regional forums, instituting their own, and imposed Martial law upon the region. The Nationstates community, for the most part, was outraged. The citizens who led the coup, calling themselves "The Core", dealt with immense flaming and denunciation both in Real Life and out. As Biyah himself commented in his last public statement on Friday, "the fallout is more than I could have dreamed in my worst nightmare." Citizens of the West Pacific struck back, however, led by the nation of Wickedly Evil Peoples, also known as Eli of the New Meritocracy, and Dilber, also a Meritocratic Senator. Together they led the fight against The Core, even though the West Pacific Dominion (the government that The Core had established until a new constitution could be written), seemed to have at least the tacit support of the ADN, RLA, and the Allied States of Euroislanders. The fight lasted throughout Thursday November 3. However, the morning of Friday, November 4, it was all over. Biyah, apparently weary of the horrific personal backlash to the Core's actions, resigned, and appointed Shasoria, another Core member, to take his place. His nation now resides in Nasicournia. Shasoria, upon accepting Biyah's resignation, dissolved the WPD, and restored the former constitution. Following this, Zetaone, another major Core player, announced his resignation from Nationstates, citing his treatment by the NS community as the reason. Mininneenee, the West Pacific delegate, resigned herself from the UN, allowing Wickedly Evil Peoples to take the delegacy. None of them regretted the action itself, since it had served its purpose, which all of them pretty much agreed, was to stir up activity again. I, Chronorica, interviewed another member of The Core, who missed the entire event, up until Friday.

Halmont Embassy, in the Chronorican Capital's Meritocratic Embassy District

As I walk into the embassy, a massive structure reminiscent of a medieval castle, I note the exquisite furniture which adorns the rooms, and the furnishings upon the stone walls, a style which strikes me as odd in its very foreigness. Apparently influenced by the style of it's native feeder region, Chronorica had never had such a melting pot, having its initial culture being formed first in a player-founded region, and then going over to the Meritocracy. The style struck me as unique, as I approached a heavy oak door that had a nameplate painted over...a rather sloppy job, I would venture to have said, probably done very recently. As I reached out to touch the seemingly wet paint, the door opened, and I was lead in by a rather heavyset bodyguard. I informed him that I was there for the interview, and he led me to a tall chair, in which sat Prime Minister Nicholas Halmont IV, leader of Halmont and its nations. I sat down in a nearby chair, and proceeded to give my interview.

Chronorica: So, you are the leader of the Sacred Federation of Halmont, correct? H: Yes, indeed I am. Chron: is this the first nation which you have controlled? H: yeah, my first nation ever. Chron: Do you control any other nations, and if so, where? Chron: At least the ones you can name, I’d rather not have any spy agencies offing this reporter over being given classified information. H: My main nation is currently residing in the Meritocracy, as you know. Halmont II, my second nation ever its on the Courts of TWP, and Saint-Helaire is in the Atlantic. I have a couple of not so important puppets. Chron: Can you tell me about the history of your puppet, Halmont II? H: Well, that nation was created a couple of days after Halmont I, I was new, and just for the fun of it I created it, and it was on TSP for quite a while, until Feb.04 when it moved to The Meritocracy stayed there for 8 months, and then it went to TWP. Chron: What was it like when you first moved there? H: Where? Chron: The West pacific H: Oh, Halmont was born there. I've been there ever since. Chron: To be more specific, what was the climate like, the atmosphere and such? How would you compare it to TWP of a week ago? H: TWP has always been very, very welcoming, although I had a bumpy start because around 2 days after my nation was created, I was recruited to the ACC, and it was soo cool that I immediately joined, and they assigned me to stay in TWP and endorse FoCA, because TWP was under ACC control at the moment. But they are so amazing that after the whole ACC thing they accepted me and let me stay and I grew up there, and I worked there. A week ago TWP was perfect. That's the word, perfect. Up to a point that was boring. Chron: How can perfection be boring? H: Easy, everything was good; everything was squeaky clean. So there was no fun, everyone was getting tired, it was just very monotonous, if we get to a point in which everything, ever single aspect of the region its perfect, it was bound to get boring. Chron: I would have to agree with you there! So, what did you, personally, want to do about it? Before hearing it from Biyah, of course. H: I never did anything, for me it was usual to log in every day and see the Courts forums inactive. It was good in one point but in the other, I would always ask myself, what am I doing here? Biyah came in and he just told me what he thought, I was probably the 3rd or 4th person who knew about it. It seemed like a great idea, and I endorsed it immediately. Chron: What was that idea? More specifically, what did he tell you? H: He basically told me, that he was planning some new way of government that will make the region a better place, and that it was going to keep its integrity, but it was also going to be fun, and it was going to make the region more active. Chron: When did you find out about "The Core"? H: Monday Oct. 31st. Chron: How? H: Biyah contacted me on mIRC, and then we had a meeting in AIM. Chron: Just you and he? H: Nope. Chron: Who else was there? H: ZetaOne, Dilber and Looming Doom. Chron: What did Biyah tell you guys, specifically? H: What I just told you. I dont remember the exact words, but it was somehow what I said earlier. Chron: ah. Ok, what were the reactions of the others? Well...as you remember H: They agreed, they where just as happy as I was. Chron: So, can you give me a basic timeline of what happened over the last 5 days with TWP, then? H: Monday brainstorming, Tuesday everything was set forums, Wednesday morning, we had the legal code, citizenship act, mostly everything. Wednesday night KA BOOM, it was launched (I wasn't aware). Thursday mayhem, Friday second KA BOOM it was over. Chron: What was your reaction on Wednesday when you heard the news? H: Wednesday afternoon I went to uni, so I had no idea what was happening, when I left, everything was a secret. Thursday morning I log into TWP forums, and I see that everything happened. So I immediately logged in the Core's forums and started seeing what was going on, in shock the whole day. Chron: How so? H: Because, I had no idea that they launched it. To my knowledge tomorrow [Ed: Sunday 6th ] was going to be the launching. Chron: Do you have any idea why Biyah and Zetaone went ahead of schedule? H: Because there was a leak. Chron: Leak? H: Someone told someone outside the core, and in fear that that person might blow everything up, they decided to rush things. And launched it. Chron: Do you know who leaked it? H: Yes, but there is not need to tell. Chron: How has this Situation affected you? IC and otherwise? H: In RL: It has been quite a low, basically because for most of the time when everything was happening, I wasn't aware. I wasn't aware of the launching, and I wasn't aware of the dissolution. So I wasn't prepared you know, my mind wasn't ready for everything that was happening. In NS: I'm sad and scared and very, very sorry, and I just want to put this way behind, and just try to build up trust and get back on making TWP stronger, and more active and more fun, with the current government. Chron: How have you been treated? And how do you feel about the way the other Core members were treated? H: To be honest, I've been treated very, very fairly, up to a point that it's been good. After it happened, I immediately posted my apologies, I talked with those I felt that I need to talk to in private, I was really working on cleaning up my name, but, it felt like my name wasn't affected at all. So I can say TWP, and other regions have been very fair with me. And for that I am eternally grateful, it takes big hearts to ask for apologies in this troubled times, but it takes honour to forgive those who made the mistake. I'm happy, because at least there is more activity in the forums and in the region and I'm glad it happened, but I'm also hoping that everyone puts this behind. Biyah took the blame, and left, Zeta did as well, and Neenee, she did too. Other members posted their apologies and decided to stay and even though they have been flamed, they have been treated fairly. Chron: What about Dilber? Whats his story? You say he was informed, than why did he back out and lead the rebellion against it? H: He had no time to think about it, and he was against the early launch. So he decided that it wasn’t going to be worth it, and he proudly apologized, left and started the rebellion. And I’m very proud he did so. Chron: *nods head in agreement* What is your opinion of the apparent ADN's backing of the Core, along with the apparent initial support of the RLA and Euroislanders? H: I for one said that we should have problems with any of the organizations, because since this was planned for a greater good, we will have the support of the other organizations, and I was right. Chron: How so? H: Because immediately those organizations supported us. Until the reality lightning struck and everyone parted ways. Chron: Why do you think the ADN supported you? H: I believe because of the strong relationship with Biyah and Dilber, I truly don't know more. Chron: What do you think of the comparisons made between what happened with TWP and what happened with the NPD some months back? H: I have no recollection of what happened in NPD some months back, I try to ignore those things. But there is no need of comparison our premise was a greater good. It was going to be risky, bumpy, but in the end, it was going to be good. It didn't work. But I don't like to compare and in this case I have no recollection to compare. Chron: With that being said, did you see this coming? From the early shot to the vehement flaming and the retirement? H: I truly think that if we had more time to plan and to launch it, it would have been better, and probably the true purpose could have succeeded. But I also knew and expected bad things if it was done wrongly, as it was. Chron: What are your regrets? As I think that, for the short-term, what you all desired occurred. H: That we had bad timing. And that it turned out to be a "coup", instead of its real purpose. Chron: What do you plan to do in TWP now? H: Stay there, probably face not being in any position for a while. And gain their trust back. Chron: How long do you think it will be until things become stagnant again? H: Hopefully, 2 years. *Laughs* Then a future "Biyah" will think of what this Biyah thought, gather a group of high ranked members and do it again. *Laughs* Ahhh life.. *sighs* Chron: I'm sorry... You know, there are better ways to have stability. H: Oh I know. TWP have always been stable. Very stable. Chron: The issue is not stability, but, stability with activity correct? H: Indeed. Chron: What other ways are there of being stable, besides legal perfection, then? And would you not say that legal perfection,is something that the merit should strive to avoid? H: Foreign activities, keeping the members interested. Having inside activities. Domestic issues. Open debates, things that make nations wanting to wake up every morning and log in and check their nations, check the forums and talk and be active. The Merit will never get to "legal perfection" because its members are from different places with different views. TWP had just that problem.. everyone was pointing exactly to the same direction. I was pointing at the same direction, I've always done it.. I decided to turn for one day. 12 more members do as well and there you have it. Chron: *chuckles* There are several ways to run a region H: Chron, don't get me wrong, we knew what we were getting into, and even us within The Core, thought that probably overthrowing the current government was a bad idea. But we took the risk. And even thought it came back to bite us in our wazoos.. at least, its active again. Chron: I'm not saying that, I'm saying to avoid a repeat, to continue that train of thought, what do you think of what happened to Biyah? H: I doubt it will ever happen again. I'm truly sad he left. I think that he could stay and just face it, and win back the trust again. He is an amazing player, and he offers nothing but good things. And he is smart, funny.. great guy.. not a power hungry freak, like some would say. And I know that he will be back.. eventually. Chron: Alright then, I have one more thing to ask: Do you like to RP? Not in the sense of we are already rp'ing but, active threads, with fictitous wars and etc. H: I used to be a big, big RP'er when I first started. Actually I got a lot of people to like me because of my RP skills. Then.. it sort off became to overwhelming, things where being blown out of proportion so I just read a lot of it, and enjoyed it. But never RP'ed again. Chron: You think a vibrant RP community could spring up in TWP? H: Yeah. RP helps a lot. And TWP has great RP'ers.. and they did a great job. Chron: Ok, thank you for your time. And good luck with the West Pacific H: Thanks.

At this point, I bid the President a good day, and depart. Sincerely hoping that everything bodes well for the West Pacific.

---

And so, there you have it. The Core was created with the sole ideal of remaking the West Pacific, in order to make it more enticing for the residents, in order to promote activity. In short, to give the region purpose. While we do not know, and, may never know, who gave the leak which lead to the premature launch of the West Pacific Dominion, one thing we do know is clear: It was no power grab. While there were many comparisons between this event, and the Pixiedance incidents which lead to the creation of the North Pacific Directorate, they are made out of ignorance of the real facts. There is no question as to the motives, the split within the core itself, as Dilber joined with Eli/Wickedly Evil Peoples, and the absence of our very own Halmont are very clear proof of this. This was not the end result of a stressed-out delegate deciding to hand over the reins, as Cathyy did. Nor was there arguably any real ambition involved, Moldavi seemed to have in mind when he took up Cathyy's offer both times, and then forming the NPD. The WPD, as we knew it, was a rush job of something that could have been better, and as such, it was, in the end, a mistake.

The causes of this unfortunate occurrence, and subsequent consequences are relevant to every region from the Pacific to the New Meritocracy. Within Nationstates, a state of equilibrium is detrimental to a region, as "perfection" breeds complacency, and complacency gives rise to inacivity, the bane of a region. The WPD was a misguided attempt at rectifying this, and, in the short-term, succeeded. However, the West Pacificans left to pick up the pieces will likely have to come up with a new reason to stick around, as Dilber and Halmont seem to intend on doing. Where does the ADN fit into all of this, moreover? There has been a great deal of speculation into the organization's hesitancy to denounce the coup, as it had done with Moldavi and the NPD. This was meant to be a secret, so, the ADN should have had no insight into what happened. Perhaps Halmont's interpretation is correct. Or maybe not, although it has been claimed that no organization supported the WPD and its Core, many remain sceptical. Euroislanders was amicable to the WPD, until players like Xha'Dam and Dilber convinced the RLA to stand against the coup. However, these are questions best left to the many Nationstates conspiracy theorists, as baseless speculation has no place in this article. All that can be done now, is wish the West Pacificans good luck in rebuilding their region, for the WPD merely highlighted the problem, it did not cause it.

Statement from Biyah

I have said all this before, it will be the last time.

I did what I did for The West Pacific. The Core and I, some of the most respected nations in the game, we're tired of the apathy and decided that drastic measures were needed. We had a ConCom set up, we censored nobody, we booted nobody. Those are my friends everyone is so casually saying I was lording over, and it was 24 hours that I survived as a Dictator, when I could have locked the region down and preformed all those classic moves we've all come to know and love.

I do not regret what I did, except to say that the fallout is more then I could have dreamed in my worst nightmare.

I will never again find such a crew as the friends I had with me on the Core. I did- I do, and I always will believe we had only the best for The West Pacific in our hearts. My friends, it was a true honor to work with you.

The West Pacific Dominion is dead, it's dreams stillborn and its people vilified... friends have been lost and so many made miserable for a game. What is the point in that, exactly?

It doesn't matter anymore. It's over-with. In this, I was successful, the region is active again. We, the Core, succeeded.

~ The Federation of Biyah

Membership surge in The New Meritocracy

By Soigacas

In the past few weeks the Meritocracy has seen a surge in the number of nations, and an almost overwhelming tidal wave of new senators. Even the Censor, Siempre, had trouble keeping up "Dear God, not another applicant!" he exclaimed, "I mean… Welcome to the Meritocracy…"

In the past fortnight, ten or so nations became Senators. This is the biggest growth the Meritocracy has seen in over a year, and probably the swiftest in its history. And it's not just the number of applicants that's impressive, it's the calibre and competency of the applicants themselves. Some are ex-Senators returning after a long absence, for example Christian Falangists, who, in his absence, has become a Buddhist, much to everyone's confusion; and well-respected ex-senator Yoco.

We also have prominent leaders from around the NS world, adding to the Meritocracy's multicultural flavour. Goddessness, Anti Commi Clan and Eurosoviets, to name but a few (well, most of them). Biyah withdrew his application, of course.

Is it possible that this is a coincidence, or is there someone behind it? Ghosts? God? Al Qaeda? We asked the recently-elected Quaestor, Cortath.

Soig: Recently we've seen a surge in applications for membership. Did you play any part in this?

Cortath: Yes. I persuaded many nations to come and apply for membership in the Senate. I cannot take credit for all of them; I know that Eli in particular has also been very active recently in recruiting.

Soig: Was it easy to persuade nations to check us out?

Cortath: Hard in some ways. Many nations are very intimidated by us, and we were worried that they might not have enough merit to pass our rigorous standards.

Soig: Was this your own your own initiative, or were you instructed by the Consul?

Cortath: My own initiative. I promised it in my platform and I hope to deliver.

Soig: So, what interesting and exciting policies can we expect from you in the future?

Cortath: You can see a sneak peek of my future policies and programs when it is time to post a Consular platform.

Flaming Capitalist banned from forums

Galts Gulch member Objectivist Chimpz was banned from TNM's forums for flaming and trolling – the Admin. Winnipeg didn't take to kindly to the drivel OC was spouting, and made him the first nation ever to be banned from the forums. This was greeted with widespread approval from other members of the Meritocracy, who felt it was well and truly justified. We asked Winnipeg to tell us more about this, but he snarled a brief "No Comment" at us, and we were quickly frog-marched out of his office. As for Objectivist Chimpz, the Meritocratic Times does not wish to be a mouthpiece for such unsavoury individuals, so we did not ask for a comment from him. Instead, let us dip into some of his freely-available wisdom:

"Dear fucktard,

Stealing is wrong.

Love, Your Kindergarden[sic] Teacher"

And you probably shouldn't have read that if you are offended by the use of the word "fucktard".

Chronorica Bares All

Interview by Ylling

Ylling: How did you discover NS?

Chronorica: During my brief (6 month long) stint on the AOL Message boards, a few friends of mine showed me a link to NS. They overly glorified it, of course, but, then again, they never really got into the game as much as I did. lol.

Ylling: Why did you join the Merit in the first place?

Chron: It was about 4 months after TYW/RRA concluded, and, seeing that I was getting bored with RP, and the lack of intelligent debate...So, I looked for somewhere else to participate. Of course, at this time, my original nation, Chronorica, was housed in Warrior Thorin/Myrdinn's Realm of Criminology, and, considering it was never very active...*cough*...I just moved my nation here, after remembering the activity on the merit boards that I observed during TYW/RRA negotiations.

I felt that it would be a fun place for someone like me...However, I find that as my list of stuff to do in NS grows, I have less time to just visit my old standby of the General Discussions forum, lol.

Ylling: What has been your biggest mistake in the Merit so far?

Chron: Challenging Aflsav to a debate! I have a link lying around for our gun debate on the old forums...Man, that was a long one. Although, there are a few others that rank on high that I'm sure senators know of...my little issues with Glasguensis...Er...I can over-react sometimes, heheh.

Ylling: What has been your biggest success?

Chron: Getting to be Quaestor, of course! But, then again, that's not my biggest victory. My biggest victory would have to be getting pretty close to beating Eli in the Quaestorship race that he resigned from later on. To be told that some people thought I could do as good a job as Quaestor as Eli, that...that was a victory.

Ylling: Which fellow Senator do you most like?

Chron: I don't play favourites, hahah! Although, there are a great many Senators I am friends with, and chat with on AIM regularly, such as Cortath, NI, and less frequently, Eli, I still like to consider myself on good terms with GP, Hippo, Aesculapius, and others. I can't really say that I have any people I like or dislike in particular; I think we're all a good bunch.

Ylling: What advice can you give new applicants?

Chron: Kiss my feet, bi-atch! It'll win ya votes! hehe...But, no, not really, I could advise new applicants to do is avoid getting NI to slap you in your application thread, and just answer honestly, because, thanks to the soon-to-be established BBC, we will know all....

Ylling: What is the biggest issue facing NS at the moment?

Chron: Inactivity, atrophy, and other things of that ilk. I've heard older senators refer to this as the "summer lull", however, I feel that the Met has to make a name for itself as soon as possible, and as quickly as possible to raise up activity levels before we die off. AS for NS at large...I kind of wish that one of the major espionage masters in NS, or, puppet-masters to be apt, such as Unistrut, Thomasia, or Eureka, would pull some incredible stunt out of their respective asses. Although, a return of Francos Spain could liven up things...*ahem* But, I'm full of it right now, ha!

Ylling: What do you think is the biggest issue facing the real world at the moment?

Chron: At the moment...the question of the world economy, it isn't about terrorism, or freedom, because, as widely publicized as they are, these incidents are relatively isolated in certain regions of the world, and, as a whole, don't really affect much. The only argument for civil unrest and Terrorism in the Middle East is due to the fact that they are major producers of diamonds and Oil, two very valuable commodities in the world, with incredibly lucrative industries. The world's political fascination with Terrorism, to be apt, is more because of its economic, rather than social relevance. We are turning into a world economy, alas, and, as such, these major production centers are that much more vital to all nations. Especially with crude oil wells drying up practically everywhere except Taiwan and the Middle East these days...

Ylling: Who is your favourite historical diplomat?

Chron: Ben Franklin, for the simple fact that he was the first real example of the American Super Pimp.

I mean...they had chamber pots in France, for crying out loud! You find me another diplomat who went over as well or better with a country.

Ylling: We always have to close on a weird one- so, favourite member of Mysteries Inc.?

Chron:Scrappy Doo, if only for his awesome revenge in the Live-Action scooby Doo movie from a few years ago. That, and seeing Daphne/Sarah Michelle Geller getting urinated on is pure comedic genius! HAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAH!

• At this point, Chronorican security guards burst into the room, seeing their representative passed out on the ground from laughing, they immediately tranquilize the Interviewer from Ylling, and leave him for dead in a ditch on the outskirts of the MAD...Oddly enough, when he reaches for his ear, he finds a numbered tag attached to it*

Issue 17 (Nov. 18, 2005)

Edited by Soigacas Contributors: Xhadam, Biyah, Cortath, Chronorica Soig's note: I would have liked to have published this yesterday and with more content, but my hand has been forced

Editorial: You’ve got to ask yourself a question…

The Meritocracy is currently experiencing one of it’s most interesting and talked about Consular elections ever. For those of you unfamiliar with the situation, the facts thus: Cortath was expected to win by a large margin. He has stirred Meritocratic public opinion with resounding speeches and grand visions. However, as nominations for Consul began, Cortath ceased to exist. Meritocratic law means that any Senator whose nation ceases to exist must have their Senatorship revoked – thus requiring them to go through the lengthy re-application process (the same process that is used to review new applicants to the Senate). This has led to a rather bizarre race between myself, Warrior Thorin and Xiang Gang. Yesterday, renegade Senator Eureka was eliminated from the race on another technicality.

I am aware what I am about to say will undoubtedly lose me votes. But I do not care, because it is what I ferverently believe. Warrior Thorin’s change of alignment from pro- to anti-Cortath has already gained him three votes. My plea is this: Senators. This election has brought out the worst in the Meritocracy. This is not about favouritism or Cortath’s policies, it is about what is best for the Meritocracy, what is best for us. In this case, bureaucracy and red tape is preventing us from doing what seems right. It’s silly and trivial. Some say it’s because Cortath is a well-respected Senator, and that we wouldn’t do this for a newer Senator. To them I would say this: we make members of our region apply for Senatorship because we need to judge their merit. Cortath has time and time again proven he has merit. Just look what he achieved in his last term as Quaestor.

I thought Warrior Thorin was in agreement, but apparently the prospect of himself being Consul changed his mind. As the saying goes, power corrupts.

So please, let Cortath run for Consul. I’m not asking for him to be made Consul, merely for a vote. You’ve got to ask yourself a question: what is best for the Meritocracy?

The Allied States of EuroIslanders on the West Pacific Crisis

by Xhadam

It has been reported in numerous places that the Allied States of EuorIslanders, a leftist region and member of the Red Liberty Alliance, offered their support to the West Pacific Dominion during their brief takeover of the West Pacific. Some have claimed that the only reason we withdrew this support is that the WPD was going to side with the Alliance Defense Network and so we would have no reason to back them any longer.

These statements are false. The ASE itself took no formal position on the West Pacific Dominion, issuing such a decree would take a vote which would last days in the Assembly of the Allied States. However, while the region itself took no official action, the stances taken by the members of that region were clear. Numerous members engaged in direct military action against the WPD from the very beginning and some, such as Dalimbar and Xha'dam were edging towards a declaration of war on the WPD, the former motioning such a declaration to the Assembly. The immediate reaction of everyone who made their thoughts public in the ASE was one of shock and outrage.

The only exception to this was the reaction of one member of the Allied States of EuroIslanders was EuroSoviets. His reaction was more cautious than those of the rest of the region and rather than immediately deciding to engage in open combat, went about attempting to figure out what precisely was going on. He did this in numerous ways including talks with members of the "Core" of the WPD and the unilateral opening of an embassy in the WPD in an attempt to formally petition the WPD government to explain themselves.

The cautious stance taken by EuroSoviets has been unfairly misrepresented in some places as a show of support for the WPD and many detractors have jumped on this as a way to attempt to hurt the image of the ASE. Some members of the Core have been using this as a way to justify their own actions. The ASE views these attempts as unfair malignment of us and a disregard for the facts. No support was given, no support was offered, and no support was forthcoming. As was testified to by members of the West Pacific such as Eli and Dilber, the ASE stood firmly with our democratic allies.

The ASE stands for democracy. We were angered by the actions taken by the WPD and the ASE believes we did all we could to show support for the legitimate ruling body of the West Pacific. We further state that the attempts to label any actions taken by our region during this crisis are inaccurate and misleading. During the Day of Hell, we stood in solidarity with our democratic kin of the West Pacific and we sounded fury against those who had attacked them.

This is the true story of the ASE during the Day of Hell. We did not support the WPD, we did not support the overthrow of democracy, we did not support the rise of tyranny. We saw our comarades of the West Pacifc threatened. We reacted with shock and outrage. We sent diplomats. We sent soldiers. And, if in some dark hour democracy is once again threatened by those who would take it away, we will do it all again. The ASE did not accept the oppression of the West Pacific and it is our solemn vow that we never will.

Biyah speaks

Interview by Soigacas and Chronorica

MT: Biyah, thank you for talking to us

Biyah: No problem

MT: Now that you can look back on all that has transpired, what are your feelings?

Biyah: That depends on the day and my mood. When things are quiet, I am usually satisfied. Our goal was accomplished, the region has awoken and several prominent members have returned.

When people decide to dish out more RL attacks, on the other hand... but that's another story.

MT: You took a lot of flak, in several regions. How serious did the backlash against you get?

Biyah: Enough that I had to, at least temporarily, leave the region I had joined in exile and resign all my positions within the ADN.

We folded before the attacks could become truly horrible, and the backlash really work up to a fever pitch, but it was bad enough. What I love best are the conspiracy theories that blew up within hours of our launch. I would say the backlash was the worst, not against us, but against those who even appeared to support us in the starting hours of the Dominion.

MT: Were there any people who stood up and supported you?

Biyah: Absolutely. Besides the original core, we had another 3 or 4 join us within hours. There were, hmm, 5 people solid on the 'resistance', to our 15 minimum. These numbers would have changed in time, but I think that is fairly indicative that we had regional support.

I had two people from out-region join me, and I approached a third who was thinking it over, though we had to move before he could think it out.

MT: Just how inactive was TWP before the Core? Biyah: http://s8.invisionfree.com/The_West_Pac ... topic=4436

TAO put together a forum activity log for the last year, you can clearly see the slump. The posting that was going on was all in OOC areas, and there was precious little of that.

Our biggest debate in months was whether or not to have a focus group on using 'abstain' in voting. And of that, very few took part.

MT: How do you feel about the situation in TWP now?

Biyah: They are pulling it all together, people are talking again, I'm rather pleased.

MT: Did you anticipate it would fail so spectacularly?

Biyah: Eh... no. But we had all gone in knowing we would fold if it was going to be a full-blown civil war. What I didn’t expect was the level of hate mail we would get, it caused at least two Core members to pull out, which caused even more rumors to start and the level of resistance to rise.

To many people accused us of being the NPD without even registering on our forums to look around and see what we had to say.

MT:Some say this was a power-grab by you, similar to the Pixiedance affair. What do you say to them?

Biyah: Grow up.

1) We didn’t hand our delegacy to a prominent out-region player 2) The NPD had 4 members to start, we had 2/3's or better of the active natives on board before we ever launched. 3) I resigned and Shasoria folded the Dominion rather then start a full blown civil war when we -could- have held the region easily.

MT: How have your fellow Core members been treated?

Biyah: The harassment has mostly stopped since the fall; especially after several non-involved members of TWP started saying that it appeared we had the best intentions at heart. Most of the Core stayed in the region and are being treated fairly well. TWP has always had a kind heart, this is one of those instances I'm glad of it.

MT: Do you have any plans for the near future? What about long term?

Biyah: A well deserved vacation in the short term. In the long term, well... we'll see ;-)

MT: If you could go back in time, what would you do differently?

Biyah: I'm not sure there is anything we could have done differently. I couldn’t cut back on the members involved or it -would- have been a minority take-over. And we can't have had the same number of people without developing the same style leak as what caused us to launch early.

I would do it again in the same way, if I had too.

MT: Any final thoughts?

Biyah: I am a TWP patriot, and I always will be. I've spent the last 2.5 years in that region spending more time then most keeping it running smoothly. To those of you who recognize this fact, I salute you.

To those of you still sending us hate mail... bite me.

MT: Thanks again for your time

Biyah: Have a good one ;-)

Issue 18 (Dec. 16-23, 2005)

Edited by Soigacas Contributors: Hetairia, Chronorica, Grenval II, Warrior Thorin

The World Today

Article by Hetairia

A Four Part Series on NationStates

This four-part series will examine some of the trends in NationStates in light of their history, politics, and some of the ideas that have commonly arisen from these events and philosophies. As much concern has been made, these articles are an effort to push the debate forward on what could be done and what might be done to revitalize the larger world. There is no one solution to these issues, but the suggestions that follow are the opening discussion in a debate that will become crucial for every nation and region.

Introduction: The World Today

Forgive my overly colloquial style, but my writing, much like my thoughts tends to function like a narrative. As someone who had consciously made a decision to remove myself from the NationStates world at-large for the relative security of my home region, the Meritocracy, I did not know what to expect from the international scene. The names and even a good number of the players were recognizable from an earlier phase, but the institutions were not wholly familiar. So, my journey through the NS world taught me a few things, both good and bad about our world, and I would like to share them.

On a positive note, there is still a great deal of interest and enthusiasm in the game. Despite the fact that NationStates is in its fourth year, players still find this universe compelling enough to devote substantial amounts of time and effort to their appointed regions and organizations. It has been my great fortune to know some of these players both in the context of the game, and beyond that, and I feel myself immeasurably enriched by their presence. Together, it is they who make this game, and they remain as dedicated as ever.

With all that enthusiasm, the logical expectation that one might have is that all is well in the NS world, but this is not the case. Although we are nowhere near a crisis, the number of players is slowly declining, and activity is coming to a halt. The Invader/Defender conflicts that were the primary engine of development for the better known organizations in the game have begun to collapse. Thanks to a fiercely protective rule set, and superior organization on the part of the defenders, they are becoming victim to their own success as Invaders are forced into more and more disparate groups, with ever decreasing chance of success.

One of the most successful organizations in the history of this game, the Alliance Defense Network, will surely feel the consequences of this reduction. Although their organization is secure and stable, without purpose, one wonders how long they will continue their vigilant defense against shadows of an enemy. A commonly held joke in Defender circles is that if it were not for the spies they placed within the Invaders, they would have no leadership at all. It is funny because it is true, but it is equally true that a conflict with only one side will surely end.

Each of the Feeder regions seems to have stabilized under their respective leadership groups. Although there may certainly be strife from time to time, as we witnessed in The West Pacific over the last week, the same groups of people will remain entrenched in power, battling over the particulars of how their power will be used with one another, and admitting only a trickle of new members into that elite. Such conservatism provides security, but it has also fostered a mindset that encourages political withdrawal by the Feeders, and instead of exhibiting leadership in the world, the general trend is for the Pacifics to simply content themselves with local activity, and make the game about the battle for endorsement counting and backroom haggling.

In the larger world, outside a few well-known regions, and rare success stories, the picture is considerably less encouraging. Regions are disparate and have little means of meaningful contact betwixt one another. Embassies are occasionally sent, but interest is evaporating as the modes of conflict have become severely restrained and the benefits to contact and cooperation, beyond the obvious role playing aspects, are marginal. There are many worthwhile endeavours out there, but fewer each month, and the universe of NS begins to collapse upon itself.

In short, the world finds itself at a crossroads. In my last article, I spent some time speaking to the conference between the leading nations about what could be done. Nothing was concluded that day, but it is a problem we cannot afford to neglect. If we are to take action to enliven this world, the discussion needs to begin immediately, and we cannot hesitate to act. However, to do that, we need to understand some of the alternative viewpoints out there. The second instalment of this series examines some of those, as we continue this strange odyssey.

Continuation: What People Think

In this article, I am going to further examine some of the thought processes and activities in NationStates. One of the wonderful things about being an editorialist is that I am by no means required to make any pretense of objectivity in my analysis, and I will not do so here. However, I will use logic to substantiate the views I take with respect to some of these beliefs, and leave it to the reader to decide which arguments have the most merit.

Upon my return, one term that kept returning to me upon my travels was Francoism. Unaware of what this meant, precisely, I spoke with several people about it, and it seemed to me to be little more than a justification for a feeder adopting an isolationist and self-righteous philosophy. Discontent with that explanation, I took the time to consult the esteemed NS Wikipedia, and to read the official statement put out by the most noted Francoists. My initial conclusion was wrong: Francoism is, instead, a washed up Marxist rehash to justify an isolationist and self-righteous entity. Lest anyone accuse me of overwhelming personal bias, know that I have no particular issues with the adherents of this doctrine, Franco personally, or The Pacific as a group. However, any attempt to argue with them unfailingly results in condemnation for not being able to see the truth of Francoism, something also vaguely reminiscent of those who take Marxism as infallible.

Though my wish is not to deconstruct the arguments of illogical philosophies, this doctrine had gained such credence in the feederite world, such as it is now being called, that I feel compelled to offer my own critique of their thoughts.

Their assumption that class is a function of location is completely absurd. Class only works as an identifier when there are distinctive properties to the differing entities being considered. All nations belong to the same class as they may join the UN, have one vote, and are restricted only by their talent. Their location may be freely chosen, as may also be their principles. The only difference between a feederite and a userite is the organization they choose to represent, and there is no fundamental relationship between them other than voluntary choices each makes, as individual organizations.

If one continues this argument further, although I admit no fundamental distinction between the feeder regions and the non-feeder regions, one would have to confess that it is the feeders who are given unfair advantages. Whereas other regions have to expend their effort to grow, the feeders are given the unique capacity to simply absorb an ever replenishing supply of new political capital in new nations. Francoism tacitly recognizes this, but argues that these nations should be retained to where they enter, and they would have the feeders become entities unto themselves that consist of the whole world.

To be honest, while writing this, I feel like I am debunking a story invented by some ten year old to have a justification for the seizure of a region. If Francoism was just that, I too could sit easily and laugh, but people take this seriously and therefore, so must I. It is the justification for nationalism, insular thinking, and simply adopts language familiar to real-life theories to perpetuate a regime that was initially of dubious legality. The origins of their power are of little concern at this point, but the idea that feeders can exist without the userite world is pernicious. Naturally, I have misunderstood the theory, but so does everyone who disagrees. Read it yourself, and decide.

The consequence of this theory, and the larger view of insular thinking and pessimistic realism, is the game ceases to function on any creative level. New regions are not encouraged, new interactions do not occur, and the single mode of political combat comes trying to arise within a single region. Such a system can only be sustained for so long, as the pressures within a stable framework will eventually lead to apathy and revolt. For feeders specifically, but for any region that chooses not to interact, the future is the dissolution of the region as any meaningful political entity, and either disappearance, a role-playing escape, or a debating hall. We should not accept this end passively.

The problem I describe here is common to all organizations, but their institutions are so entrenched that it is difficult for them to envision an easy escape from the malaise. Nobody wants to give up the power or authority they have earned, so they will continue a pretense, even unhappily to maintain their position. In this, I think of many of the great defender alliances will begin to recognize that their own success has invalidated their mission. With ever more strident and controversial tactics being used, as both sides have gone to and beyond the limits of what the game will allow, these seem the last gasps of a desperate battle to continue a war which has already been won.

Their vision of interregional dynamism based upon invader/defender conflict is quickly becoming obsolete. Their loss of influence is obvious in any number of regions, and in the perspectives of many of the members involved in those activities. The feeders can defend themselves ably, and the rest of the world, save a few select entities, is so distant as to be unrecognizable. With the power all being implemented in one place, it is unsurprising that this would be the case, but it has also done nothing but encourage the general conservatism that has atrophied the game.

The other means of contact and conflict, the United Nations, has long since passed into oblivion as any sort of meaningful board whereby arguments may occur. As we know all too well here in the Meritocracy, it is impossible folly to try and influence a body where your words have no meaning amidst a sea of voices so large. We might choose to belong, but having no means to reach those whom we would be subject to, the sovereign regions of the world cannot use this as their primary means of contact. Belonging or not belonging to the UN has become garnish to the fundamental action of the game, having little relevance other than aesthetically.

We come back to a world where the large regions are increasingly devolving to focus merely upon themselves, where the institutions that united the regions in contact, even if through conflict, are systemically weakening, and where there appears to be no existing alternative that would appeal to those seeking to bridge these gaps. In the interim, players are losing interest because the games of endorsement counting grow tiresome, and there seems to be nothing new here to inspire their interest and intrigues.

To them, I would say there is a world sorely in need of your dynamism and energy, but to get to it, we are going to have to rethink the entire approach to the game. A new theory can be formed that brings together the many forces in this world, and does so in a way that respects the communities of which we all belong, but also allows for meaningful interaction. The third part of this series is one possible future that embraces this vision and that focuses on what we could forge together.

The Road Ahead

In my last article, I spent some time profiling some of the philosophies and positions currently popular in NationStates. To say I view that as flawed in some cases and inadequate in others is certainly true, but perhaps I was overly harsh. The reason for that is because of my growing conviction that something serious is needed to shake up the complacency that reigns in NS. No position will mean anything if the game is not revitalized and simply struggling over five positions, ad nauseam, will not accomplish this. We need a new approach.

Through sheer accident, I happened to be present for most of the great events of NationStates and remember the Golden Days. Believe me when I tell you they were fraught with just as much uncertainty and trepidation as today, and the only golden thing about them was the polish put on the justifications and theories. However, nations began finding a new way to communicate, through the creation of the defender leagues and other alliances, and this was a positive because it brought order to the world, preserved regions, but encouraged nations to share their ideas and to work together in a positive way. This created a nucleus of excellent players, many of whom reside here and throughout the more respected places of the world. What they did once can be done again.

The question that keeps entering my mind is how we can begin to unite regions once again. Right now, the primary focus of most players and regions is upon one or all of the feeder regions, and controlling, conquering, or defending them. The challenge is immense in this, and has spawned great operations, but little action. Secure in their borders thanks to the aids of logistics and technology, if we continue along this path, gameplay will invariably continue to deteriorate. A new formula outside of the invasions and defenses of the past is needed.

As an argument that should resonate here in the Meritocracy, one of the original breakaway regions, I think that what we desperately need to do is bring the regions of this world outside the feeder zone into contact with one another. By contact, this means more than the customary exchange of ambassadors and greetings, but the formation of real entities to begin meaningful communication and action. Not only do we need to take this step forward, but every major and minor region should be invited to join us.

The conclusions that would be drawn from such a summit are not for me to predict, but just the act of bringing a few regions together, outside of the current paradigm, has such potential to open up new possibilities. Instead of being forced into the current chase for those few places, we could determine a world of our influence, regions that are inviolate and secure, but also places of mutual interest, and even mutual conflict. Within that, we could have control over the rules to allow all types of play, roleplaying, conquest, and diplomacy to co-exist and flourish. This loose-knit federation will have complete autonomy for each member region, but could also work together for shared security and perhaps other obligations as well.

It would give us all a chance to restart, to build alliances anew and, as much as possible, determining the rules under which the game would function. Often, players cry that the rules make action impossible. This would not be the case in this federated territory. We would be making the game our own, which is the only means by which positive change has ever been accomplished in NationStates. Equally important, ours would be an inclusive area, allowing any region who agreed to a code of common conduct to participate. We would encourage new entrants, and though we may argue and fight over our political and diplomatic preferences, the overarching alliance would make this group virtually impervious to attack and very influential.

One might suggest that this can be done within the existing superstructure. In theory, it could, but all the interests currently ingrained in power assure that this will not happen. Their personal concerns outweigh the greater benefit for the gaming world as a whole, and so I doubt we will be seeing the entry or involvement of any Pacific in such a federation as I propose. Moreover, lest their influence contaminate our intent, I heartily recommend repudiating their entry, as we should focus upon the things that we, the experienced and dedicated users create. Those of us who are the best players in this game are the only ones with the power to create a world where we may pursue our desires, and we must not be afraid to blaze new trails to do so.

As a first step, I would recommend convening a council between the major regions of the game, such as our Meritocracy, Gatesville, the Stronghold, Nasicournia, and the like to begin these discussions. Consultations can only serve to our mutual benefit, and having real diplomacy, not the semblance of niceties that currently is identified as such, take place would be to all our benefit. If we can found a community together, that will be as strong as anything in the game, because it will have the greatest asset in the world: the talented and ambitious players who have accomplished so much. These are people who will find ways to make the game better, and to ensure that we have means to continue the never-ending struggles we hate to love and love to hate.

From there, we branch out to embrace other regions, and welcome them all as equal partners. By reaching out to these forgotten and neglected corners of the world, we bring relevance to their actions, and refocus the creative spirit outward instead of inward. We bring new people into our contest, but on their terms, allowing for the sovereignty and uniqueness that we all wish to preserve.

What will emerge is entirely unknowable, but that something great could be built from such an arrangement is undeniable. I fervently believe this is our best chance to rekindle the game, as we incorporate the innovative spirit that inspired the creation of so many of the greater bodies of the game, and reclaim those nations that are being lost in the wilderness. When countries feel they have a home, they continue moving forward. We can build that place of welcoming, and we will all benefit for doing so.

The status quo is sufficiently strong to endure for another year, perhaps, although one can only guess at the consequences. We can choose to accept the same basic formula as now, defenders beating on invaders, apathy rising, regions separating, and a loss of activity, or we can fight it. If we accept the status quo, we may personally benefit, from the spoils of our own creation, but we risk the impending entropy swallowing up all of creation outside our niches, the same places we all agree are less fulfilling than they once were. We can accept that, or we can try something else.

The answers are never simple, but at least these suggestions are a start. Whatever nation you have joined, and whatever region you inhabit, the obligation is personal to find a way to reach beyond yourself. Those links are what make our community so strong, and through embracing those, we shall endure and prosper. In the final instalment of this article, I will focus upon some ideas for my home region, the Meritocracy, with respect to what is to be done, although the debate we shall here is one that is universal to all regions of import in its significance.

Conclusion: A Time To Lead

Having spent some time addressing both the problems and solutions present in the world today, the question that remains is what can we do? I began talking about some ideas in the last section, but the ideas here are focused specifically upon the Meritocracy, though with some variation they are valid for any region that has an interest in world affairs.

For a number of reasons, we in the Meritocracy are blessed with an unusually talented and influential group of players and nations. We carry, as individuals, and collectively, the respect of the world for our talent and our judgment. With such recognition also comes grave responsibility, for if we do not act for the better of our world, it is highly doubtful that anyone else will choose to do so. Most people are too firmly entrenched in their current conflicts or positions to consider the larger problems in NationStates today as so critical to require intervention. Their own success blinds them to the impending collapse, but we should not do likewise.

The time has come for us to exhibit leadership and to bring the nations and regions of the game together to find the path that will allow the game to continue to grow and flourish. A great positive step has been taken in the Invader/Defender Convention that is currently being hosted, as it shows that we are able to bring people together in a neutral setting to discuss issues of grave import. Action like this is always a positive, and there are many things we could act upon.

Discussions like this are an important beginning, but only a beginning. To really accomplish our goals, we have to take positions of our own, and show leadership. We need to remind the world of our presence, and to use our ideas to demonstrate our leadership. We should begin a campaign of seeking closer relations with other large and medium sized regions and begin talks for some sort of federation such as was described in the previous column. It would give us common ground for cooperation, and allow us to pool our limited resources to begin to be able to force policy change. If we attempt this path, this will be a heavy struggle with no guarantee of success, but this is the narrow path that must be taken for the health of our world.

Traditionally, the Senate has shown reluctance in getting drawn into international affairs out of respect for national sovereignty, a desire for neutrality, and a general reluctance to overextend ourselves. We would do well to remain mindful of these virtues for the road ahead, but to use them to constructively guide us toward a principled, outwardly focused foreign policy that appeals to all nations. We can control our own foreign policy through spreading these ideas and we will find allies.

Words alone can only travel so far. To show our commitment to maintaining a presence in the world, it may make sense to reconstitute the Legions. Their existence was always a point of controversy, but they have served as an effective means to effect policy when used properly, and would extend much greater legitimacy to any delegation we send forth. We should have them be subservient to no entity but the Senate, but also prepared to coordinate with friendly regions in whatever arrangements we may form. Along with our compatriots in the Meritocratic Isles, we have the ability to have a well-disciplined force that shows that our commitment is sincere and backed with the authority of force as well as words.

Leadership must come from above, and this editorialist hopes to see the current government take a role towards the positions advocated herein. We respect the strong stance taken by the Consul against terrorist acts and are pleased that we can combine vigorous leadership with a high ethical standard. Unlike other regions who can go forward and merely act in their own self-interest, our own self-identification obliges us not only to defend the Meritocracy, but also the ideals that permeate this institution in all that we undertake.

I hope to see the discussions begin today, and that my writing will serve some small part in helping to bring new energy to the world. Nothing lasts forever, and neither shall this, but there are still many bright days ahead for the creative nations that operate in this wonderful world. If my words have been strident at times, forgive my passion, but the time for action has come and my strong belief is that we must act now, if we are to act at all. This is a debate that is relevant to every nation, so let the discussions begin, and the Senate shall lead a world that needs her guidance.

Lord Tom has the dubious distinction of residing in one of the first nations ever created in NationStates, Thomasia, which is currently enjoying retirement in Lazarus. Having seen everything this world has to offer, he still knows there is more yet to come, and despite declining eyesight, he is determined to enjoy this to the last.

The Legions: A Chronorican Editorial

The following is an article arguing in favour of the recreation of the Meritocratic Legions, giving arguments in favour of their reformation on a logical basis, as well as a political one.

The Past of the Legions

The Meritocratic Legions, are, today, a highly controversial topic in regard to most Senators, reflecting vestiges, in this Senators opinion, of the Non-Predetermanists of the Old Meritocracy. The Legions have a storied history in the Senate, being used as basically, the enforcer of the Senate’s will. Lead by the Lictor, the Legions were the Meritocratic Army, both in Roleplaying, and, in the game of Nationstates itself. There was some use for the Legions in the early history of the Senate, during the days of open warfare in Nationstates, during the time of the Atlantic Central Command and such. Later, although, the Legions became far less active and efficient, especially in regards to the enforcement of senate treaties of alliance. This is not due to the structure of the legions themselves, in my belief, but rather, due to the general policies of the Senate, marked by such actions as our refusal to aid the North pacific during the NPD crisis, as well as our, t best, dismal showing in helping our ALL defender allies. Again, this is not due so much to the actions of the Lictor, but, due to the general policies of the Senate, which, by this time, was heavily influenced by Non-Predetermanist Senators. In the end, the Legions were eventually reduced to total impotency, whereas the Meritocracy’s MIA was in full swing, which suggests, in this Senators opinion, a general dislike towards overt action on the part of many senators, yet, the encouragement of Covert actions by those very same players. In the end, the last Lictor, Crazy Girl, was horrifically inactive in the senate, even during the NPD crisis, and, as a defender, here she was, with another set of forces ready to use against Moldavi, but she didn’t use them. Again, not the fault of the legions themselves, but, more the fault of the Senate which had delegated the once proud Lictor to little more than any empty position. In the end, a neutral majority disliked the Legions, and, even though they could not get the numbers to eliminate it, they did have the numbers to render it ineffective by arguing against its use at every possible opportunity. However, the fact remains that, in the Old Meritocracy, the Legions did exist, and there is little doubt that they did not bring any harm to the Senate. The Legions themselves were a tool of the Senate, and, more than any other part of the Meritocracy’s arsenal, it showed what the Senate’s stance on an issue was. It was, for all intents and purposes, the ultimate expression of the senate’s foreign policy.

The Debate over the Legions

Today, the debate comes up in the Accords Senate, whether or not to reinstate the legions as a Senate military force capable of acting out the senate’s interests throughout NS. The current Consul, Warrior Thorin, is against this move, on the basis that he holds the entirely justified opinion that the Legions should exist as little more than a defensive army. Used only in the direct defense of the senate, basically, a national guard. However, as said before, the Lictor is leader of the senate’s armed forces, which have both RP and NS implications; In regards to the massive war encompassing Meriterra right now, the Lictor could use the senate’s Legions to strike against aggressors, and quell down offensive actions against a sovereign nation, a meritocratic peacekeeping force. While one could easily say that this is irrelevant to the discussion of the Legions role in foreign policy, one must take a step back and think about the situation in regards to policy: IC-wise, the entire Senate is role-playing, this too, is the same in Nationstates. If one were to determine that the legions were to remain exclusively for defense, than the Legions would be used entirely for the defense of the meritocratic Senate itself, limiting its base of operations only to the Meritocratic Administrative district. To put this into an RP perspective, the Legions, in such a way, would have been able to prevent the MAD from being taken over in the Pebbles incident which lead to the dissolution of the previous Senate, but, they would not have been able to take a police action against the Kitimat Pact, which had taken it over. It would simply have been able to repel the invaders, not defeat them. That situation itself could have occurred, had the Lictor at that time, Crazy Girl, been active and concerned with role play, at least as much as many other senators were. Now, in an NS perspective, using the Legions expressly for defense of the region “The New Meritocracy” would equate to simply moving in widely scattered UN nations, and bring them into the region in order to prevent it from being taken over by an occupying power. With Winnipeg as the region’s founder this scenario is basically pointless, and, using it as the only scenario in which the Legions were to be utilized constitutes a de facto elimination of them. On the other hand, there is also the interpretation of using them in order to defend Meritocratic Territories and satellites, this scenario can be argued either in favor of the defense force ideal, or, the Foreign policy tool ideal. As the Territories can be defined as either separate entities granted special rankings and rights by the senate, or, as simply parts of Meriterra/The region of “The New Meritocracy”. I myself, tend to view Meritoractic Territories as Separate autonomous entities which enjoy special privileges granted to them by the Meritocratic Senate. The point to this, is that if the Meritocratic territories are indeed separate autonomous Nations granted special privileges, than that means one of two things for the Legions: Either defend them, or don’t. If used in defense of the Territories, than the Legions act as extensions of the senate’ foreign policy, that being, to defend it’s territories abroad through any means necessary. If not, it reflects that the Senate views the Legions as exclusive required for the region “The New Meritocracy”.

To now go into an even larger perspective, if it is then allowable to use the Legions as extensions of the senate’s Foreign policy in regards to Meritocratic Territories, then why not other regions? Why not Meritocratic allies? Or, use the Legions simply to act in hand with other organizations against organizations which the Meritocratic Senate deems to be detrimental to it’s interests? If we can defend ourselves from invasion, why can we not go against those who would dare to invade us, and even invade them back? At this point, is where the controversy begins. Several senators may fear a slippery slope, in which the legions may be abused for selfish reasons, or others fear that they may be used against those we would want to remain having tentative diplomatic relations with. Military action is indeed the ultimate expression of foreign policy, with its use, the Senate cannot claim that it was merely acting in concert with other nations in order to maintain being marginalized. Nor, can it be claimed afterwards that the senat was not really against the targeted party. Military Action against a target *is* opposition, plain and simple. It rejects the very basis upon which neutrality is built upon, one of uncertain loyalties, or viewpoints.

Now, we return to the immediate picture, that of the Senate and it’s foreign policy. There was a temporary resurgence of the Non-Predetermanist idealology in the Senate a few weeks back, with some Senators arguing in favor of it, and then, being trounced by great Senators of Past and Present. Therefore, it is unlikely to become Senate Policy any time soon, as it once was. Part of the resolution of that argument lies in the realization that being a negotiator requires both power and respect, both of which, the Senate lack as of late. What is also necessary for the senate’s revival as an NS power, is a coherent foreign policy, which, admittedly, has largely been limited to recruitment for the past several months. The problem with a written foreign policy, is that it is largely ignored, unnoticed, or, for that matter, relatively weak. What’s needed for a foreign policy, is teeth, which a written foreign policy by itself lacks. This is where the Legions come in, of old, the Senate’s foreign policy and power was established through two different courses of action: The Legions in their opposition to the ACC, which gave it headway in the defender sphere of NS influence. And, the Meritocacy’s former ability to influence the UN, which came to a head in its defeat of one of the first Minimum wage UN resolutions. This firmly established the Meritocracy in the Capitalist sphere of influence. Due to it’s long standing in both spheres, its influence only grew with time, eventually, until it possessed enough power to try and influence NS affairs, in its newly corrupt, and morbidly glutted form. This was TYW/RRA, the failure of non-predetermanilism. The majority which had rendered the legions useless, tried their hand at a monumentous opportunity to establish the Senate as the great Negotiator. This failed, and miserably. In the end, it was due to the Private negotiations of a high-ranking RRA officer, Greymarshes, who had been uninvolved in the negotiations, that ended the crisis before TYW truly took over the Rejected Realms, and plunged the Defender community into a rush to take it back. It is worth note that the Legions were never deployed during this struggle, although several Senators sent their private UN nations in to aid both sides.

The Potential of the Legions

Regardless, this shows that the ideal of “peaceable” action by the senate is altogether pointless. As it has no real effect in NS, despite its high moral claims. One of the detractions to the reinstatement of the Legions is not so much its political implications, but, its practical limitations. As a Senate made up of members with a multitude of NS interests, we very rarely, have a UN nation to spare for the use of Senate interests. While this may be true, there is enough of a core group of merit-only senators, that an effective force can be made. Ten UN nations may not be enough to take down a Feeder, but, its enough to tip the scale in our favor when dealing with a much smaller operation. I suggest that we take to defending capitalist regions from invasion by Communist, Nazi, and other anti-Capitalist forces. We should start off small, first, by kicking regions like The Youngworld and Galts Gulch out of warzones, to hone our efficiency, and then, perhaps focusing on Capitalist regions taken over by Communists. By acting independently in this regard, we can entice other organizations to seek opening dialogues with us in regards to working together, through military means. At least in the short-term. Of course, that’s only a possibility. But, it’s a possibility that can increase our influence and power throughout Nationstates in these days.

What matters in NS is power, and as the saying goes “power begets power”. Of old, the meritocracy was able to gain power through both its words and military. In a time where our words, as loud and logical as they are, are mostly drowned out by an off-tune mass of screams, the only real way to gain any influence in NS today is through force of arms. Overt action is needed for the Senate, we need to build an image for ourselves, and for that, we need something to both attack and defend, in the most clear and poignant terms possible: The Legions.

Nasicournia Declared Enemy State

Article by Grenval II

On December 13, 2005 BlackAdder, issued a statement by the Senate of The Pacific declaring Nasicournia an “Enemy state” for “actively supporting a subversive movement spawned and supported from their own territory,” a reference to the recent embassy Nasicournia opened with the Pacific Army.

The Pacific considers the Pacific Army a terrorist organization because their goals include the “return of true democracy to the Pacific” among other objectives in their mission statement. According to BlackAdder, giving the Pacific Army an embassy “granted recognition” to them. The Pacific argued that the embassy gives them a form of comfort and support. Others remarked that declaring Nasicournia an enemy state based on internal policy decisions regarding foreign affairs leaps over logic and common sense.

Nasicournia highlighted this leap in logic in their own statement, claiming they “made it clear that the opening [of the Pacific Army embassy] in no way was meant to send a message of recognition or legitimacy.” Instead, Nasicournia argued the embassy was meant to “facilitate communication” between the two groups. Nasicournia also placed special emphasis in the fact that the region voted in favor of the embassy and its opening was therefore required under their democratic Constitution, an ideal many Nasicournians assert The Pacific fails to embrace.

Simultaneously with the main Nasicournian statement, the Nasicournian Security Council released their own announcement raising the Nasicournian Threat Level to NTL Alef, the highest level possible, because of the “recent display of aggression” from The Pacific.

In keeping with the theme of statements, The Pacific issued a rebuttal to the Nasicournian statement. (The rebuttal was actually directed at a private draft version of the Nasicournian statement, indicating a Pacific spy within Nasicournia.) This rebuttal answered the Nasicournian statement piece-by-piece, stressing that the past and present actions of Nasicournia speak more to the situation than the prepared response. Additionally, the rebuttal added another level of accusation in that “Nasicournia has chosen to recognize the enemies of the Pacific, as opposed to its government.” The rebuttal continued, saying, “Nasicournia is not willing to be held accountable for the actions of its members. Not just a minority, like Nasicournia’s founder would lead you to believe, but a large proportion of its most vocal members [… hold] dual citizenship in [both Nasicournia and the] Pacific Army [and] voted for the recognition of said region [the Pacific Army] in Nasicournia. Nasicournia has, effectively, proved unwilling to deter its own citizens from attempting to subvert our region.” The rebuttal climaxed with the accusation that “Nasicournia has opened relations with a region trying to subvert another region’s government and its members have become active participants and supporters, both in Pacific Army and back home,” and that this stance is a “declaration of war in itself.”

The political fallout from this situation has been substantially less than expected. No great war has ensued. The lines have not been re-drawn; the armies have not been mobilized. As many have observed, this changes nothing. However, for at least one person, this has changed everything. SWATH, a high-ranking Nasicournian and forum administrator, who is also known as 1838, a citizen of The Pacific, was forced to leave Nasicournia for the Federal Commonwealth Society to prevent others from using his Nasicournian citizenship against him.

While this diplomatic incident will change the way the game is played for some, for the majority of NationStaters, the game is quickly returning to the normal war of words between The Pacific and Nasicournia. Unless The Pacific moves towards open hostility against Nasicournian allies, it appears this crisis will be written as yet another close call between the giants of our world.

Meritocratic Statement regarding RLA

Statement by Warrior Thorin

Afslavistakistania, Warrior Thorin and Eli agree on the wording of the statement

The Meritocracy views the recent actions by members and former members of the RLA to be criminal in result. We hope that the RLA as an organization will root out such behavior in the future. The Meritocracy supports a complete reformation of the RLA with attention being paid to protecting the rights of all. No organization should be above reproach for claiming high ideals, they must also exhibit them. We will watch with interest as the RLA reforms its policies after this most injudicious incident.

This Week in the Meritocracy: December 16 – 23

A round-up of news stories

• LeVespertine starts up writing showcase. LeVie’s “Dead Merit’s Society” has begun showcasing writing from Senators and Residents of the Meritocracy. Pieces on subjects ranging from NationStates to poetry have been submitted so far.
• Defender-Invader Conference gets underway. Eli and Unistrut’s Defender-Invader Conference finally began on the 16th. After debating how they should vote for a chairman, the delegates eventually got down to business and the meeting has been progressing steadily.
• MOFO kicks off. Lord Tom initiated the Meritocratic Organization of Football Opponents, or MOFO for short. Nations have submitted teams tot he soccer game, and are currently playing in three divisions. The new year sees the start of the inaugural Isoeph Cup, hosted by Hetairia.
• Senate Recess 24 December 05 – 2nd January 06. The Senate will be in recess for the Christmas and New Year period, allowing Senators to enjoy the holidays without missing any votes.
• And finally… It’s been a tough year, IC and RL. The Curia Nuntii would like to wish everyone a happy and relaxing Christmas, and a prosperous New Year. Cheers!

PS. Your votes are stil needed for the Consul and Senator of the Year awards!

Issue 19 (Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, 2005)

Editor: Soigacas Contributors: Eureka, Chronorica, Unistrut, The Free Confederates, Grenval II

Unistrut Reapplies to the Senate

Article by Soigacas

Former Senator and Consul of the Meritocracy, Unistrut, made an unexpected return to the Senate on New Year’s Day. Says he: “Let’s do this thing”. Unistrut is one of the Meritocracy’s more colourful characters, having in the past both led the Senate and attempted to infiltrate it. We asked a few questions:

Soigacas : Why have you decided to reapply to the Senate? Unistrut: Dammit, I've already answered this question about 100 times in 5 days. I like The Meritocracy, and I want to be a part of it again. Sigh. Soigacas : Should we read anything into the fact that you waited until Jan 1st 2006 to appply? Unistrut: No. Just a coincidence. Soigacas : You said in your application you weren't aiming for any positions right now. We both know that's not true. You must have something in the back of your mind. Unistrut: Why Senator Soigacas, if you feel I've been dishonest you should bring that up in my application thread. :-) What I said was the truth. Soigacas : Where do you see Unistrut in one year's time? What about the Meritocracy? Unistrut: I see Unistrut in The New Meritocracy, and the Meritocracy returned to the glory of the past. Soigacas : Why should the Meritocracy make you a Senator once more? Unistrut: Because I merit admission to the Senate. I've proved that on more than enough occasions. Soigacas : Do you think you'll get in? Unistrut: I'm optimistic. It's not a foregone conclusion though. Soigacas : Thanks for your time Unistrut: You're welcome, Soigacas

Long time non-member, Bumpivania, is also petitioning the Senate for admittance. Both are expected to become Senators.

The Meritocracy: More than just a Senate

Article by Chronorica

The following is written in response to Hetaira's latest editorial regarding the membership application process. As such, it contains some references to it.

The other day, while I was looking over Hetairia’s latest guide to prospective senators, I couldn’t help but wonder what about this place seems so imposing as to scare some of Nationstates best and brightest off? After a great deal of deliberation, the answer seemed relatively clear; As has been said by some senators, several prospective applicants find this place too imposing. After asking several persons who I had introduced the met to, about why they didn’t stick around, the answer generally was that they weren’t sure of themselves.

This can be generally attributed to two main misconceptions about the Meritocracy: The first being that the Meritocracy is nothing more than a Senate where the best and brightest of Nationstates congregate, instead of it being a region that has that Senate, and is accommodating to players of all levels. This first misconception, while the most general, has several factors that have it contribute in the minds of some prospective applicants, who end up shying away from coming here. Which leads to the second major misconception: That we are some sort of “utterly superior community”. A broad generalization of several different types of perspectives, to be sure, however, it seems fitting to use such a broad, subjective term, for such broad, subjective opinions.

It’s just another Senate

By far, the general opinion of those who have heard of the Meritocracy, is that it is just a Senate. If you want to join the Met, you have to become a Senator. That is a grave misconception, not only in the mind of the potential applicant, who is apparently ignorant of what type of community we have, and is depriving himself of an opportunity to join us, but, for us as well. There are several shy NS players out there who I believe have more than enough capability to be contributing members of the meritocratic community, but, are put off because they think they need to be a part of our governing body in order to join us. This leads to one of two possible dilemmas in the mind of the potential applicant: Either they don’t think that they are good enough to be a part of the Senate, and therefore don’t come at all; Or, they do come, and witness the Gauntlet. Simply put, the way that we treat applicants at times can pretty much scare anyone without an iron will. On several levels, this is entirely understandable, the Senate is the governing body of the New Meritocracy, we don’t want any members who aren’t of a high degree in it. But, in the mind of the onlooker, they don’t equate the Senate as being a part of the New meritocracy, but, as the two being one and the same. This is a terrible misconception, to be sure, as it prevents certain players from ever participating at all. Now, this shouldn’t be taken as a critique of the Application process, far from it. I hold the opinion that a prospective Senator should be able to handle the tough questions well, and not be intimidated by our overbearing egos, or, as Tom called it; our “tortured souls”.

In the past, the idea that someone could think that the Senate was the Meritocracy seemed to be sheer lunacy to me. However, that is far from the truth. It is quite apparent that many people tend to believe that, much to this writer’s chagrin. However, what else could be expected? If you don’t know about something, and the hearsay that you do know about it scares you off, why would you even bother to look into it? And for those brave souls with that basic misunderstanding, who come here to only find a brutal application process, which seems to favor only those who have accomplished players who have done great things, it is no wonder that we have any real applicants at all! However, we do, and this fact shows that ours is not an institutional problem, but rather, one of communication. The Senate is only a part of what makes the New Meritocracy the best community in Nationstates. It is also our RolePlay and General Discussions, along with the sheer talent of our members, that makes us the best.

A question of arrogance versus quality

The Second misconception, that we are “Superior”, can be divided into two subcategories of thought: The New Meritocracy as a community of Unfounded Arrogance, or the inverse, the New Meritocracy as a region of the Truly Best. I use the term “superior” due to it’s subjective connotations, which can be taken as two different adjectives: Superior as an air of arrogance, or, Superior as an object of higher quality. This misconception can contribute in some part to the first, as a motive for keeping prospective Senators from applying here. But, overall, it is a great deal more opinion based, and therefore, simpler to understand.

There are players that consider the Senate as haughty, arrogant fools that have their faces shoved each others various orifices. Now, while many who hold that opinion consider it justified, it is usually not. As has been said before, it is a misconception perpetuated by personal spite towards us for one reason or another. The tide of anti-Meritocratic sentiment reached its somewhat small peak during the North Pacific Crisis of last year. When the Senate readmitted Moldavi on a narrow margin, it was taken in an entirely different context by many of the NS world than by the Senators of the Meritocracy. Those who voted for Moldavi did not do so in support of his actions in the North Pacific, in fact, one could say there was a general consensus against it. However, most people voted their conscience, which was entirely based upon their own ideas of Merit and the concept of Duality. In effect, people voted aye to avoid compromising their own rules of gameplay. This act was not taken as such by many players, who viewed as tantamount support of the NPD by the Senate.

Unfortunately, this negative viewpoint has yet to really die down among the general players who once held that view.

In all honesty, however, I digress, while that may be the best example of anti-Merit sentiment, the fact remains that it does not address the effects of it. The misconception of the meritocracy being a community of arrogance is flawed, and so, while it’s true that we do have a collection of the best players in Nationstates here, our recognition of such is by no means an act of arrogance. Unfortunately, when people even passively hate something, especially on the internet, they will be disinclined to give it a chance.

An imposing presence

Fortunately, the viewpoint of us being a community of the best is by no means as negative. One could call it tacit praise, that the Senate is intimidating. However, the reality is, we want as many people to join us as possible, and we cannot bask in the knowledge that we have people in fear of our awesomeness for too long. Unfortunately, this misconception leads to potential applicants being apprehensive of our community because they don’t think of themselves as good enough to be a part, or that they lack the charisma to become a Lord Tom, or Sir Hippo, or Eli. In short, people that are well known in the community. This is a mistake, one can easily ingratiate themselves into our community, as long as they’re active. Even I did in a couple of months, and I’ve been a member of the Meritocracy for about a year now...even though some people around here still can’t spell my name properly. Unfortunately, people who try to work at being a part of the community are in the minority, although they have turned out to become some of our greatest senators. If this is a misconception that we want to abolish, we must find out a way in order to promote ourselves to Nationstates as a community, and not a Senate. We may, unfortunately, have to admit that we are “Just like everyone else”. But, the potential awards may be that we truly gather all of the best from around nationstates, and create what is, without any form of objective doubt, the best community in NS. And that is, in my opinion, truly worthwhile.

Lazarus: Land of the Undead

Article by Grenval II

The flag of Lazarus features a skull on a green and black background. Despite these symbols of death, Lazarus is on the brink of renewed life.

The history of Lazarus begins on May 2, 2004, with the Delegacy of LiesInc. Since that time nearly two years ago, Lazarus, now currently home to famous Meritocrats Lord Tom and Carintan, has experienced general inactivity and isolation. Because Lazarus was originally created as region for nations to be revived in or to die in, it became one of the largest and least important regions in NationStates history. But that fact is about to change. In this exclusive interview with The Free Confederates, a former Meritocratic Senator and current head of state in Lazarus, the Meritocratic Times brings the reader into the land of the undead as Lazarus begins its ascent into the larger NationStates world.

   wrote:
   Grenval II: As a long time player and former Meritocrat, what made you join Lazarus a relatively quiet region outside the interregional NationStates scene?

   The Free Confederates: Well, at the time I joined Lazarus, I was still delegate of the then dying, now dead, region "The CENA." It was pretty clear the region was coming to a close. My main nation at the time was called Wealthists, and I was looking for things to do. I originally was thinking about doing stuff in the Pacific, I joined The Pacific Underground... but that wasn't really suiting me. I brought back to life The Free Confederates and found myself in Lazarus. I had no idea where I wanted to go, so I decided to stay.

   Grenval II: Tell us about your election to Delegate, the highest post in Lazarus.

   The Free Confederates: Well, as I mentioned at the time to a close NS friend of mine, Novus Arcadia (no idea what name he goes by these days), it has always been a bit of a dream of mine to become the delegate of a feeder region. I never really pursued the dream because I've never really lived in a feeder long enough. I lived in the Pacific for a short while... but it was only a very short period of time. Anyways, the Lazarus government was basically non-existent. The old Mandate which I had edited a few months previous was still in effect, and we still had a few of the Yaman Council members (including myself, as Foreign Affairs Commissioner), but that was basically about it. A crasher, killer kitty came into the region and took it over. A few defenders tried to take it back but gave it up. Lazarus is a no-eject region so it was sort of pointless. killer kitty was benevolent though, he kept the WFE link to our forums and participated in government discussions, he also agreed to holding elections. So when elections came around, I ran against PeoplePie, who was on the Yaman Council, but didn't hold a specific title, he had been around in Lazarus much longer than me. Lazarus was so small at that point, not to many people voted, six total. It was tied 3-3 for a few days before PeoplePie switched his vote over to me and I was declared the winner. It then took me another week to get enough endorsements for me to take the delegacy.

   Grenval II: What does your job as Delegate entail?

   The Free Confederates: Well, what is specified in the current Lazarus Mandate is that the Delegate is the head-of-state, with almost monarchical powers. If we keep the current Mandate in effect, I won't have to go up for re-election until March! However, as the region is transitioning and will likely adopt a new Mandate shortly (this will be the fourth Mandate in Lazarus history), I've made it pretty clear that power is available for anyone who steps us. I am not the root admin on our new forums, that title goes to Igoudala. Although I am an admin. So right now I'd say the only power that I have that no one else in the region holds is the power to change the WFE and vote on UN resolutions. Although, I am making sure that our transition process goes smoothly.

   Grenval II: How do you feel about having Killer Kitty, a known invader, as High Commissioner, the second highest post in Lazarus?

   The Free Confederates: Well, first off, he is inactive at this point. Once the new Mandate is adopted, I'll be able to re-appoint new and better people. The position of High Commissioner is being ditched entirely in the new version. Secondly, Lazarus is not a defender region, it never has been. We considered joining the CDA a few months ago, but did not accept the offer. Our previous elected delegate, Spectacor, was indeed a crasher. Killer Kitty did good things for the region and it was appropriate that he be granted the title of High Commissioner.

   Grenval II: Lazarus recently opened a new forum. Why did you open it and what is happening there?

   The Free Confederates: The founders of modern day Lazarus are Baribeau and LiesInc (known to the rest of the NS world as Sarda). They were the only two administrators on our s7 forum. Both are now inactive. Although me and PeoplePie are both moderators on the s7, it was quite urgent that we moved to a new forum. Igoudala created the s13 forum which is our new home. We are currently trying to design it to our desires and are working on picking good skins and what not. Some favor a new "angelic" theme, while others prefer classic "undead" business.

   (Editor’s Note: The current Lazarus Forum can be found here. The old Lazarus Forum can be found here.)

   Grenval II: Rumor has it Lazarus will soon explode onto the interregional scene in NationStates once again. What are your thoughts on this?

   The Free Confederates: Most definitely. Lazarus is the least important region with a population over 500. In fact, we are over 1000. We are the only feeder region that no one cares about! It is my goal, and the goal of others in the region to change this. Once things are solid internally, we plan on developing an aggressive foreign policy. The first of our new alliances is with long time NS powerhouse, The Meritocracy (of which I am a former Senator of, and Igoudala is a current Senator of). Lazarus is the place to be for the year 2006.

   Grenval II: Lazarus is currently writing a new set of laws. Can you please tell us about that?

   The Free Confederates: As I mentioned earlier, modern Lazarus history begins with the first Lazarus Mandate (which is basically a constitution). In the last year or so, the Mandate has been edited many times. I myself made the most recent edits back in September of this year. After my election, when Igoudala joined the region, his first proposition was a new constitution. Although I rejected the title "constitution" I agreed to the premise and we set to work on the new Mandate. The new Mandate will have a few aspects. We have decreased the size of the Yaman Council to just five members, we will also be separating the offices of Delegate and head-of-state (the title Igoudala came up with is Plenipontiary). A few other things as well, but that is most significant.

   Grenval II: I noticed you are opposed to the re-creation of the Undead Hordes, Lazarus army. Can you please explain?

   The Free Confederates: Erm, well... It never really existed. Zero Hour (also known as Quilium) was the first Security Commissioner who ever really did anything about the Undead Hordes... all in all, it wasn't much. Before I became delegate, I was also General of the Undead Hordes, and I can assure you, I did nothing. I found it actually sort of amusing. I remember talking to Blackbird once about Spectacor (I was investigating whether or not he was a crasher... my investigation was inconclusive, but turns out he was anyways); Blackbird told me to be careful in Lazarus because the army had been "infiltrated." I didn't respond, but I remember laughing to myself that the two person army (1/2 me, 1/2 Zero Hour) had been infiltrated.

   Grenval II: What do you believe is the future of Lazarus?

   The Free Confederates: Sunshine and Lollipops.

   Grenval II: Are there any other closing remarks you would like to make?

   The Free Confederates: Yes... All of you really ought to come to Lazarus. I doubt there is a single veteran NS player who doesn't have a nation they need to revive. If you do, why bother leave to join some other cruddy region? Stay in Lazarus! It is the place to be.

(The Meritocratic Times would like to thank The Free Confederates for conducting this interview.)

The Meritocratic News Awards 2005

Article by Soigacas

Welcome to this annual event, now in its second year, where we celebrate and recognise those who have contributed to this body over the past 12 months.

And what a year it has been. We have seen Pebbles, the downfall of the old Senate, and the glorious emergence of the new Senate. We fashioned a completely new system for self-governance, and saw the start of the Herodotus project.

So, onto the first award: Consul of the Year. The Curia Nuntii asked Senators to vote for the Accords Consul they thought had best served the Meritocracy. I think we can all agree that the Senator who I present this award to has tirelessly worked for the good of the Senate and the Meritocracy in 2005. He helped write the Accords, and was the first Consul under them. During his term in office he instituted the Herodotus project and spurred the region onwards. It gives me great pleasure to present the Consul of the Year award to Aesculapius!

Congratulations to Aes. Our second award is for Senator of the Year, and again we asked Senators to name one of their number who has contributed the most to the Senate since the dissolution of the old Senate. The votes were very close, but one Senator had to win. Since his return to the Senate in 2005, this Senator has constantly acted for the betterment of the Meritocracy. He's never short of words, and his lengthy writings provide food for thought and inspiration for us all. I present the Senator of the Year award to one of the founding fathers of the Meritocracy, Hetairia!

Our final award is new this year: Best Quote. We decided to give this award out to recognize those little gems that Senate life occasionally throws up. I have to admit Senators were not very taken with the concept, but we do have a winner. I award the Curia Nuntii Plastic Mug Award for Best Quote 2005 to the Senator from Pragmas!

Well done to all our winners, and might I remind you that speeches are compulsory.

The Coming Year: You are all going to die

Article by King Justin the Brave, King of Eureka and Councillor of Bumpivania Written on the 28th of December 2005, approved by the Aedile

The Meritocracy has always been a place where events overtake the the best laid plans of its members. Whether a quiet policy driven referendum, or a military campaign, the Senators and residents here are often swept along in the currents of this place.

Like a great ocean, there are competing currents. Sometimes you'll be thrust forward. Other times, you'll be tossed sideways, then backwards. No one can control these currents, and the most successful of Us are merely able to judge where and when to tack upon them to ensure a rough arrival of somewhere where we hoped to end up.

The past years have been as such, and the upcoming year will be the same. No one will be able to lay out a plan which will be adhered to. To attempt this would be folly of the worst kind. Eureka will however attempt to discuss the possibilities of the coming year.

In the short term, the Meritocratic Senate faces the problem of burgeoning military action, and the restlessness of its members. While certain alliances have been strengthened, others have weakened, and some thought long forgotten have re-emerged. This shift in power will inexorably lead to greater conflict between the members of these organisation, as they attempt to find a position to outmaneuver the other and gain the greater military and political power. Eureka foresees conflict between the St Alexandersburg Pact and the Kitimat forces. Whether this will result in military action is as yet unknown. It depends on the combatants, and their willingness to negotiate and compromise.

In other areas, the final formalation of a foreign policy will create tension within the Senate. With such a diverse group of Senators with outside influences, no truly independent foreign policy is possible. What the Senate will eventually endorse will be a policy not entirely acceptable to any particular side. This will lead to a schism, and possibly to a constitutional crisis. Eureka foresses large scale, if not massive, resignations from the Senate in wake of this.

On an electoral front, the next Consular election will be fiercely contested. Already several potential candidates have expressed an interest in running, with two in particular having the greatest chance of winning. They will split the Senate, though behind the scenes will work together to ensure at least a progressive Senate. The next Consul will lead foreign policy heavily, regardless of who wins. This leads back into our previous point.

Senate membership wise, after a short term drop in membership, the foreign policy should enable a growth in overall membership. By the end of the year, We suggest the Senate will be between 10% - 30% larger than it is now.

Once again, personalities will be at the forefront of internal Meritocratic politics. Several groups will spring up, and Eureka would not be surprised if the long dreaded political party became a common occurrence before the end of the year, with all its feared divisiveness. Certain members of the Senate will break long standing alliances to lead opposing factions. Some Senators who have long been opposed will ally for a greater good.

Overall, you will be lucky if you are alive by this time next year, and those that DO survive will be part of a Senate which will have changed almost beyond recognition from the current one.

Senate News in Brief

• SAPGAS forms Elite Hit Squad
• SAPGAS from right to left: Xiang Gang, Lord Tom, and Bumpy
• The spelling enforcing group, SAPGAS, reformed this week. Led by registered smart-arse Xiang Gang, they have threatened to form a “Crack Team”, instilling fear into the hearts of those with typographical dihorrea. Bad spellers beware!
• Ylling starts the Senate Library

Senator Ylling has begun compiling famous roleplays, court cases, and membership applications from the Meritocracy’s past. He’s even got the first ever edition of the Mertiocratic Times. They certainly make for fascinating reading, and can be found in The Senate Library forum.

Footnote to Meritocrats: Don't forget to read Chron's new editorial below this, and ambassadors don't forget to spread this far and wide.