Free Press News Service

[South Pacific Belschaft]

Except it's not. TEP chose to pass the Defender Act and go Defender. Unibot didn't coup the region and force them.

Well, to be fair, it was passed by seven members in TEP. And I don't know if those voting were presented the consequences accurately.

How many of those magisters were members of the UDL, May I ask?

[Xoriet]

Well, to be fair, it was passed by seven members in TEP. And I don't know if those voting were presented the consequences accurately.

How many of those magisters were members of the UDL, May I ask?

Not one of them - except Unibot.

[Blue Wolf II]

How many are Defenders who have ties to non-TEP defender groups? That's the better question.

[Cerian Quilor]

He's not empowering defender leaning nations. He's grabbing onto people who otherwise were involved and uninterested and pulling them into his net.

And you missed the point.

The point being that Unibot's tactics were legally grey, bordering on rule-breaking? I don't keep the NS rules as some kind of moral handbook, so you'll forgive me if I don't care.

No, your line about having an embassy with the UDL in CP.

I'd bet money on TEP never even considering this without a big Uni propaganda campaign.

I completely agree with this.

[Tabaqui]

But if I live,
and should you die for TEP,
Let not your dying thoughts
be just of me.

But say a prayer to God
for our dearest region.
I know she'll hear
and help to set her free.

[Lordeso]

How many are Defenders who have ties to non-TEP defender groups? That's the better question.

Maybe...one? (not including Unibot)

[Blue Wolf II]

So Prussia, Topid, and Milo don't count, I'm assuming.

And those are just the ones I could identify at a passing glance.

[Babiana]

I'm not sure Topid counts as one having ties to a defender group, though you may know different, Wolf. As far as I can tell there is literally only one, Unibot, it's not that much of an exaggeration to say he achieved this political milestone single-handedly.

As much as he would like it to be considered a move by the people, for the people, it will still be considered by some as a defender victory, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a victory that must be denied.

If you look at AMOM's part in this, he kept quiet and then finally voted for it. I suspect he is pretending to be disinterested but he wants to infiltrate the defender networks, steal their technology and bring them down. That would be underhand. I'm not inclined to co-operate with that when TEP can simply say no to the defender identity that is being put forward, we already have an identity.

Edit: Prussia is ex-UDL, but he's also ex a lot of other groups. Milo wasn't a magister when this started.

[The Grim Reaper]

So Prussia, Topid, and Milo don't count, I'm assuming.

BW means Prussia, Topid, and AMOM, I'm assuming. Blue Wolf earlier characterized Milo as replacing AMOM's position as part of the Defender majority, and AMOM voted Aye for the Defender Act, while Milo was not on the Magistrum at the time.

It is a characterization I disagree with, but hey - I'm with him for the first two, at the least.

I'm not sure Topid counts as one having ties to a defender group, though you may know different, Wolf.

The next person to so much as infer that Topid is nothing more than a defender plant in our GCRs is beyond my contempt.

We know EXACTLY where Topid's loyalties lie. To call him a native of a GCR is to blatantly disregard everything that TEP, or TSP, have built up.

He is a native of St Abbaddon. He has made it abundantly clear that his loyalty to that region is single-minded to the exclusion of his loyalties to the legitimate government in TSP, and the GCR community as a whole. His loyalty to St Abbaddon, therefore, is assumed to be an extension of his loyalty to the UDL for which St Abbaddon recruited.

[Amirgold]

As an FYI, I don't actually support the defender act at this point. I've been a member of TEP's community for a long while and the shitslinging inspired me to join the magisterium, but I'm more so against the act than I am for it.

Let's not generalize people and shoot for shameless propaganda.

edit: - milo

[Blue Wolf II]

If you look at AMOM's part in this, he kept quiet and then finally voted for it. I suspect he is pretending to be disinterested but he wants to infiltrate the defender networks, steal their technology and bring them down.

Speaking of AMOM, wasn't he once the head of UDL's Intelligence network?

[Bachtendekuppen]

If you look at AMOM's part in this, he kept quiet and then finally voted for it. I suspect he is pretending to be disinterested but he wants to infiltrate the defender networks, steal their technology and bring them down.

Speaking of AMOM, wasn't he once the head of UDL's Intelligence network?

It was a very brief stint, and I recall him saying he didn't actually do anything.

[Tabaqui]

Speaking of AMOM, wasn't he once the head of UDL's Intelligence network?

It was a very brief stint, and I recall him saying he didn't actually do anything.

He was, he held the position under false pretenses in the early part of 2013. While he criticized Unibot for not training him in his position and accused Unibot of placing him there for propaganda purposes, AMOM not only did zero work in UDL, he assessed and denigrated their intelligence capabilities and was unable to steal anything of value because it had been removed from his access before he was given the position. This is not news, AMOM told us about it in The Foreign Farce

Amusingly, I was supposedly in charge of the UDL's Intel department at this time. As it turns out, Unibot was doing my job behind my back the entire time. He recruited me to that position, I suspect, to collect me as some sort of trophy; I willingly played into this when I accepted the job, mainly out of curiosity and boredom. After a few weeks of trying (unsuccessfully) to find agents within the UDL's dysfunctional ranks, I decided I would simply continue Eluvatar's work ... If nothing else, my brief stint as the UDL's Head of Intel allowed me to witness the hilarious shambles that UDL Command was at the time and could very well still be. ... [T]he sly "cosmopolitan" ... should not have been allowed influence in or access to the government he betrayed, as are a number of UDL meddlers who have negatively influenced regions such as TSP and TNP to forward their underhanded agenda.

My retort would be, if you want to undermine Defenderdom, send your own operatives, don't undermine TEP in the process.

[Todd McCloud]

It's been a few days, and it's taken me a while to really get my thoughts down on this whole Defender Act thing in TEP. I think I might have explained my position better:

Do you realize this repeals the Defender Act?

It might repeal the law but it doesn't repeal the idea. The very first thing this amendment says is this:

Section 11) The East Pacific shall be defender.

Again with the defender rhetoric. I don't want a law that tells me what our region must be. That's one of my biggest gripes with the Defender Act, which states that " The East Pacific affirms its identity as a "defender region."

I'll be frank. I don't want us to call ourselves a defender region. I don't want us to call ourselves a raider region. I don't want either scenario written in our laws. Because the moment we do that, we alienate anyone who is not a defender.

Since we are a "defender region", for example, would not someone who agrees with a raider ideal be considered an enemy of the state? After all, their philosophies are rather different and, if I read one of the subsections of Article F:

Section 2) Each nation shall have the power to make such alliances as it sees fit, so long as these alliances do not act against the East Pacific, nor violate this Concordat.

So, if it's written into law that we're a defender region, wouldn't anyone who has an alliance with a raider region or, perhaps, a non-defender-friendly region, be in violation of this point? So in effect, if we get a crooked fellow into the courts, they could pick-and-choose whoever they want to not be a citizen because they're a raider and raiders are enemies of the state.

I'm not going to honor that stipulation. I couldn't care less if a citizen is a defender, raider, or some guy who argues about a flying spaghetti monster on NSG. It's this quality alone that makes me tempted just to strike the Defender Act null and void because it seems to contradict Article F. TEP was never, never founded on those principles. Loop's a former raider. Pack is a former raider. I'm a former raider. Many of the drafters and guys who worked countless nights in the TEP Chatzy room to form our Concordat were former raiders (or defender or whatever). And those are just a few examples. But even if there was only one, just one example of a citizen who's a former raider or current raider who feels less of a citizen or intimidated because of this resolution, it'd still be wrong. Because we should not attempt to alienate anyone here in this region. And that's exactly what this Act and this Amendment would accomplish.

And yet, this is just one example. I've provided many arguments as to why this Act is destructive and detrimental to all members in TEP society. It'd be the same way if I noticed we had some raiders here and posted a raider act, identifying us as a raider organization. Do you think defenders would feel welcome in a "raider region"? Nope. Then why are former and current raiders supposed to buck up and deal with it?

So yeah. That's why I'm against anything that would label us as a raider, defender, or whatever region. It automatically tells anyone who doesn't fit that ideal, intended or not, that they don't belong here. And I find it downright insulting that a guy who spent five years pouring his efforts into a region to suddenly feel not welcome in it. Not trying to toot my own horn here - the same would go for any citizen, committed or not, been a member for five years or five days, been extensively in the government or just posts at his or her leisure. It's wrong.

[Unibot III]

It was a very brief stint, and I recall him saying he didn't actually do anything.

He was, he held the position under false pretenses in the early part of 2013. While he criticized Unibot for not training him in his position and accused Unibot of placing him there for propaganda purposes, AMOM not only did zero work in UDL, he assessed and denigrated their intelligence capabilities and was unable to steal anything of value because it had been removed from his access before he was given the position. This is not news, AMOM told us about it in The Foreign Farce

Amusingly, I was supposedly in charge of the UDL's Intel department at this time. As it turns out, Unibot was doing my job behind my back the entire time. He recruited me to that position, I suspect, to collect me as some sort of trophy; I willingly played into this when I accepted the job, mainly out of curiosity and boredom. After a few weeks of trying (unsuccessfully) to find agents within the UDL's dysfunctional ranks, I decided I would simply continue Eluvatar's work ... If nothing else, my brief stint as the UDL's Head of Intel allowed me to witness the hilarious shambles that UDL Command was at the time and could very well still be. ... [T]he sly "cosmopolitan" ... should not have been allowed influence in or access to the government he betrayed, as are a number of UDL meddlers who have negatively influenced regions such as TSP and TNP to forward their underhanded agenda.

My retort would be, if you want to undermine Defenderdom, send your own operatives, don't undermine TEP in the process.

AMOM voted for The Defender Act - and told me he proposed TEP going defender even before I did.

[Common-Sense Politics]

Todd, you're absolutely right. Unfortunately your best arguments here are immaterial to those opposing you because they don't care if they alienate anyone who doesn't conform to their worldview. That's what they're trying to accomplish. To them, anyone who raids does not belong, not in their circles and not in a position of influence in a GCR.

[North East Somerset]

And yet, this is just one example. I've provided many arguments as to why this Act is destructive and detrimental to all members in TEP society. It'd be the same way if I noticed we had some raiders here and posted a raider act, identifying us as a raider organization. Do you think defenders would feel welcome in a "raider region"? Nope. Then why are former and current raiders supposed to buck up and deal with it?

So yeah. That's why I'm against anything that would label us as a raider, defender, or whatever region. It automatically tells anyone who doesn't fit that ideal, intended or not, that they don't belong here. And I find it downright insulting that a guy who spent five years pouring his efforts into a region to suddenly feel not welcome in it. Not trying to toot my own horn here - the same would go for any citizen, committed or not, been a member for five years or five days, been extensively in the government or just posts at his or her leisure. It's wrong.

The Defender Act doesn't actually materially do anything. It's just a declaration of state support for defenderdom. The reason for it is precisely because Unibot wants non-defenders to feel unwelcome. That's the whole purpose of the Act. But you saying "it's wrong" doesn't mean anything unless it's backed up by some action.

[Hobbesistan]

Well, this escalated quickly.

[Todd McCloud]

But you saying "it's wrong" doesn't mean anything unless it's backed up by some action.

That was actually the last thing I said after I backed it up with examples in that post and previous posts outlining how its placement in TEP is not only unnecessary, but is detrimental to the region as a whole.

[PrussianEmpire]

Hail the East Pacifica!

[Applebania]

Hail the East Pacifica!

...And you are bumping this because?

[Todd McCloud]

Hail the East Pacifica!

...And you are bumping this because?

I think he got excited cause I told some on TEP's chat that I was writing another article.

[Applebania]

...And you are bumping this because?

I think he got excited cause I told some on TEP's chat that I was writing another article.

OK then.

[PrussianEmpire]

Hail the East Pacifica!

...And you are bumping this because?

Because it's one of two legit news services in all of NS? Yes.

BTDubs, the other is EPNS.

[Todd McCloud]

I want answers people! Not solutions!

Lazarus Wins its own War, Rest of NS Confused

It wasn't too long ago that everyone assumed Osiris was the most volatile game created region in Nationstates. Indeed, after all those coups they went through and all the he-said she-said kind of drama, perhaps to a novice it would seem like things would never change and everything would be the same. Because NS always operates that way and regions never change. At all. Ever.

Enter the friction between Osiris and Lazarus. While we at Free Press haven't really been paying attention because... stuff and a lot of other stuff, we do happen to have an expert eyewitness's account as to the actual goings-on in Lazarus. This individual, who shall remain nameless, was present during the actual meeting where this all went down.

"I was in their board meeting for some reason," Bod McSnod told FPNS the other day. We do know there is no such person as Bod McSnod in Nationstates, not yet at least, but we at FPNS take protecting our witnesses very seriously and therefore cannot stress that revealing this person's identity is unethical and just plain mean, yo. "So there I was. Fiddling with my paperwork and thinking about potatoes like I normally do. Then all of a sudden comes in this Funkadelia guy. Along with this Feux guy. The one looked like a manatee with an invisible Stalin-esque mustache, so if you put him in a lineup I'd be able to identify him unless he shaved that 'stache. The other guy looked like Arnold. Man that was a great show. Ever watch Nickelodeon? The old nick, not the new one with the weird shows that are junk."

When we prodded him to get on with it via a very long stick, he continued. "The topic was how Osiris had severed relations with Lazarus. One of them stood, looking all angry and vein-poppy and said something like 'Osiris is making us look bad! Well two can play at that game!' So he told us that his plan was to remove this Hobbes guy because he made their forums and they were too good for the citizens of Lazarus. Then he said his next plan was to remove this guy named Karpathia. Or maybe it was the other way around. Isn't that a mountain range in Poland?"

"Well that's what I said. Then the chairman of the board looked at me and said 'Hahaha! Go to gulag!' Well, I skeedaddled outta there. I didn't pass go, I didn't collect $200 bucks. I just left. But then they got to me. They knitted me a fine sweater out of wool. Didn't they read my resume? I specifically told them I was allergic to wool!"

We at FPNS apologize for the above interview. Apparently our witness couldn't keep his thoughts in order. He didn't appear to be from The East Pacific because only the greatest nations are from there. But, he could be trying too hard to hide his identity. We'll get on that.

Essentially, after piecing together multiple witness reports, the general synopsis is as follows: Lazarus and Osiris haven't been getting along well due to ideological differences. Then Osris severed relations, which made them look like the heel in some strange NS-themed wrestling match. Rumors of wars started to surface. Lazarus, the clear babyface (which means good guy in wrestling), did a surprising turn and decided that in order to win this "war" with Osiris, they must go to war with themselves. Which meant that they had to purge one of their own. Their choice happened to be the guy who owned their forums.

To illustrate, it would be as if TEP and TSP went to war, and TEP decided to ban its forum owner Loop from the region in order to declare itself the winner. But how did such a novel, fool-proof plan come about? To put it simply, the upper echelons of Lazarene government didn't want to look like dictators. So, they acted like dictators by changing the constitution and remove any opinionators who might disagree with their trouser spuds. Make sense? Good. This fool-proof plan has stunned the Osiris populace, who have generally responded by saying, "I think you should try to win more." This has forced the powers-that-be in Lazarus to undergo more boardroom level meetings in an attempt to find more people to remove.

In the meantime, TEP has offered safe haven for those removed from Lazarus. "We offer safe haven for those removed from Lazarus," said TEP.

Either way, it does not bode well for Lazarus leadership, who must select another person to remove from their ranks in order to save face. FPNS will wait with baited breath!

Next issue: Unibot and Glenn-Rodes in a Lazarene takeover bid! Who will really control the region? Could this be the next issue? Will we ever stop asking questions? Tune in and find out!