Silly and/or Illegal GA Proposals. zOMG!

[The Dark Star Republic]

I logged on to NationStates and saw that this bill (or something similar) was "removed from the floor" 12 minutes prior. I can't find any info on the forum about this or why it would be pulled. What's happened?

The moderators have the power to delete ("remove from the floor") proposals that violate the proposal rules. Only the moderators could tell you why they removed this particular proposal; it does not appear to be illegal to me, but I haven't reviewed it for conflicts with existing resolutions.

Also, what is an operative clause? (I'm new to using the WA forums)

Most WA resolutions are written in a certain format, of introductory/preambulatory/prefatory clauses, and operative/activating clauses. This usually looks like this:

"The World Assembly,

Believing that carrots are bad,

1. Bans carrots"

This format is not required, however. Essentially, operative clauses are the clauses that do something: they require action, they prohibit action, they encourage or urge. A resolution cannot solely be opinions.

In this case, Hakio would appear to be wrong. Articles 1-3 of this proposal create a right, which is usually considered to be a form of operative clause. If not, then that is an alarming moderator ruling needing serious questioning.

[Ardchoille]

If the author had started a drafting thread on the proposal, the reason for its removal would have been posted there. But then, if the author had started a drafting thread, the reasons for its removal might have been corrected before it was submitted. As there's nowhere else to put it, here's the reason for the removal:

Your proposal was not active. "Member nations should have" is not "member nations must". In addition, your proposal dealt with areas already covered by GA#35, Charter of Civil Rights, which in general terms makes such discrimination as you describe illegal. We have allowed some proposals that specify areas that might not be recognised as discrimination, but sexual/ethnic stereotyping falls easily within CoCR's coverage.

[Grays Harbor]

Freedom to Bear Firearms

A resolution to tighten or relax gun control laws.



Category: Gun Control

Decision: Relax

Proposed by: Cognigotoapagawayiagan


Description: The World Assembly,

REALIZING that guns are a very necessary element to self-defense,
NOTING that if it was mandatory to carry guns, public shootings and/or random acts of violence would cease to exist,
MANDATES that all member nations follow the following laws and principles on firearm freedoms and restrictions:

1. All sale of firearms to persons over the age of 21 is to be permitted after a brief criminal background check.
2. All school and university management and faculty shall be required and trained to carry a small firearm.
3. All bearers of firearms must be allowed to carry the firearm in all public places.
4. All bearers of firearms will be strictly forbidden to carry the firearm in all government buildings.
5. All owners of privately-owned businesses do not have the right to prohibit the bearing of firearms on the property.
6. All security guards and police must carry firearms.
7. Any governments of member nations do not have the authority to confiscate firearms legally sold to the owner UNLESS the owner is a tried and convicted criminal.
8. All persons between the ages of 10-21 shall be allowed to carry a small firearm on a properly listened shooting range with proper adult supervision.
9. All persons under the age of 21 seen carrying a firearm in public areas shall be prosecuted.
10. The non-lethal firing of firearms is to be permitted on private property as long as the owner allows it.

NS =/= US
Micromanagement, arbitrary ages, bad idea. I'm sure there is more about this but I shall trust my fellow delegates to point those out. Can't hog all the fun for myself.

[Wrapper]

Okay... so... preschool teachers must have guns. What a world....

[Mosktopia]

Also:

7. Any governments of member nations do not have the authority to confiscate firearms legally sold to the owner UNLESS the owner is a tried and convicted criminal.

We have to let accused people keep their guns while they are pending trial. "Damnit, the inmate in holding cell #2 just shot another guard. Curse you, World Assembly!"

Of course, this would also let nations permanently prohibit someone from owning firearms because they were convicted of stealing a candy bar when they were young; so really there's something for everyone to hate.

[Bears Armed]

Not to mention the internal contradiction _

3. All bearers of firearms must be allowed to carry the firearm in all public places.
4. All bearers of firearms will be strictly forbidden to carry the firearm in all government buildings.

[Imperializt Russia]

Not to mention the internal contradiction _

3. All bearers of firearms must be allowed to carry the firearm in all public places.
4. All bearers of firearms will be strictly forbidden to carry the firearm in all government buildings.

I find it funny not that they do contradict each other, but they're next to each other.

[Defwa]

Is a listened shooting range a thing or is that clause just useless because of a typo?

(I don't know much about guns)
Licensed?

[Grays Harbor]

Not to mention the internal contradiction _

3. All bearers of firearms must be allowed to carry the firearm in all public places.
4. All bearers of firearms will be strictly forbidden to carry the firearm in all government buildings.

Then there is that the "All bearers of firearms .. etc etc" could well be interpreted to include all police and security as well, since it says ALL bearers.

This whole thing is so badly thought out it is laughable.

[Rotwood]

Okay... so... preschool teachers must have guns. What a world....

If any level teacher is required to carry firearms I would not feel safe living in that country

[Spiritbw]

Okay... so... preschool teachers must have guns. What a world....

If any level teacher is required to carry firearms I would not feel safe living in that country

My thoughts as well. If teachers need to carry guns, you have other issues that need addressing more than making sure everyone is armed.

[Wrapper]

Also:

All sale of firearms to persons over the age of 21 is to be permitted after a brief criminal background check.

So... regardless of what their criminal history actually is, as long as you do a "brief criminal background check" you can still sell a gun to a criminal.

[Icatus]

Not to mention the internal contradiction _

3. All bearers of firearms must be allowed to carry the firearm in all public places.
4. All bearers of firearms will be strictly forbidden to carry the firearm in all government buildings.

I find it funny not that they do contradict each other, but they're next to each other.

This

[Grays Harbor]

Legal Drug Age and their Uses

A resolution to ban, legalize, or encourage recreational drugs.



Category: Recreational Drug Use

Decision: Outlaw

Proposed by: Canadia and the United Kingdom


Description: SHOCKED, that the World assembly only has one resolution passed in the area of Recreational Drug use.
SADDEND, about this true fact along with that many humans, especially teens die from driving while under the influence of various drugs.Andthat alchohol and other drugs cause many otherproblems, such as liver cancer.
RECOGNIZING, humanity and the worlld can prevent this, hereby. . .

Hereby allows nobody under the age of 21 in the World Nations to drink or posses alchohol. Nations may further impliment this by passing their own drinking under the influence laws and Alchohol laws in their countries.

Herby allows nobody under theage of 35 to use or posses Meth, Heroin, Cocane, or Crack in World Nations. Nations may further implement this bypassing their own laws regarding this subject and these drugs.

My eyes hurt from reading this. Spellcheck. Use it. A good idea. Get one. Bloody stupid. It is.

[Goddess Relief Office]

Legal Drug Age and their Uses

A resolution to ban, legalize, or encourage recreational drugs.



Category: Recreational Drug Use

Decision: Outlaw

Proposed by: Canadia and the United Kingdom


Description: SHOCKED, that the World assembly only has one resolution passed in the area of Recreational Drug use.
SADDEND, about this true fact along with that many humans, especially teens die from driving while under the influence of various drugs.Andthat alchohol and other drugs cause many otherproblems, such as liver cancer.
RECOGNIZING, humanity and the worlld can prevent this, hereby. . .

Hereby allows nobody under the age of 21 in the World Nations to drink or posses alchohol. Nations may further impliment this by passing their own drinking under the influence laws and Alchohol laws in their countries.

Herby allows nobody under theage of 35 to use or posses Meth, Heroin, Cocane, or Crack in World Nations. Nations may further implement this bypassing their own laws regarding this subject and these drugs.

My eyes hurt from reading this. Spellcheck. Use it. A good idea. Get one. Bloody stupid. It is.

I agree it's poorly written, it's not illegal though. The author even remembered to insert a "herby" (spelled wrongly!) in that thing.

[Laeriland]

Legal Drug Age and their Uses

A resolution to ban, legalize, or encourage recreational drugs.



Category: Recreational Drug Use

Decision: Outlaw

Proposed by: Canadia and the United Kingdom


Description: SHOCKED, that the World assembly only has one resolution passed in the area of Recreational Drug use.
SADDEND, about this true fact along with that many humans, especially teens die from driving while under the influence of various drugs.Andthat alchohol and other drugs cause many otherproblems, such as liver cancer.
RECOGNIZING, humanity and the worlld can prevent this, hereby. . .

Hereby allows nobody under the age of 21 in the World Nations to drink or posses alchohol. Nations may further impliment this by passing their own drinking under the influence laws and Alchohol laws in their countries.

Herby allows nobody under theage of 35 to use or posses Meth, Heroin, Cocane, or Crack in World Nations. Nations may further implement this bypassing their own laws regarding this subject and these drugs.

My eyes hurt from reading this. Spellcheck. Use it. A good idea. Get one. Bloody stupid. It is.

I agree it's poorly written, it's not illegal though. The author even remembered to insert a "herby" (spelled wrongly!) in that thing.

We would like to remind the ambassador from Goddess Relief Order of the "silly" part in this discussion's title, as such a reminder seems to be needed

[Bears Armed]

It didn't stay in the list for long, anyhows _

2 hours ago: The proposal "Legal Drug Age and their Uses" was removed from the floor.
3 hours ago: The Matriarchy of Alchemic Queendom submitted a proposal to the General Assembly Furtherment of Democracy Board entitled "Right of Dissent".
3 hours ago: The Matriarchy of Alchemic Queendom submitted a proposal to the General Assembly Education and Creativity Board entitled "Banned Books Week".
9 hours ago: The Empire of Canadia and the United Kingdom submitted a proposal to the General Assembly Recreational Drug Use Board entitled "Legal Drug Age and their Uses".

[Laeriland]

Right of Dissent
A resolution to increase democratic freedoms.


Category: Furtherment of Democracy

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Alchemic Queendom

Description: The World Assembly,

Acting in the spirit of the highest degree of human freedom,

Taking note of existing protections of the right to freely express ideas,

Believing that the right to not express ideas is equally worthy of recognition and protection,

Seeking to protect the right to dissent,

Declares as binding law:

No person shall be compelled to express any idea, in any public medium, to which they do not freely subscribe.

No person shall be compelled to confess any religious faith to which they do not freely subscribe.

No person shall be compelled to submit to membership of any association without their consent to that membership.

Dissent from participation in civil society that does not otherwise constitute a criminal offence shall not be punished as a crime of conscience.

Private contracts shall only enjoin again such acts of dissent where those contracts have been freely signed in good conscience by all parties, and private contracts that are not so freely signed shall not be enforced.

and,

Further urges:

Persons fleeing persecution of their right to dissent shall be accorded sanctuary.

Civil unrest aimed at the suppression of dissent through non-state persecution shall be eliminated.

Approvals: 3 (The Sovereign Mxlsptlxtnxan Municipality, The United Federation of Galaxies, Jimmy Hart)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 78 more approvals)

Voting Ends: in 3 days 1 hour

Whether illegal or not, this is surely not something that the poor dictatorships can agree with..

[The Two Jerseys]

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROPOSAL
ID: alchemic_queendom_1398077385
Banned Books Week

A resolution to promote funding and the development of education and the arts.


Category: Education and Creativity


Area of Effect: Free Press


Proposed by: Alchemic Queendom

Description: The World Assembly,

Reaffirming its extant commitments to freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and freedom of reading and learning,

Believing that censorship constitutes not only a violation of the rights of the author, but also acts to deprive the world of its common intellectual bounty,

Wishing to promote civil defiance of censorship so as to stimulate intellectual progress and call into question repressive policies,

Hoping that the resources available to the World Assembly can be used to further this goal,

Has determined:

For the purpose of interpreting their obligations under this resolution, nations shall extend the common definition of “books” to include all written media, and may at their discretion further include visual arts or other media, and shall consider “banned books” to be those that have been partially or wholly censored, not for plagiarism or academic fraud, nor for the depiction without educational, scientific or artistic merit of child sexual abuse, nor for infringement of intellectual property law, nor for violation of individual privacy rights, nor for revelation of officially classified material, but for political, cultural or moral dissent, while accepting that individual nations may at their discretion adopt a more expansive interpretation.

The World Assembly and its constituent member nations will celebrate an annual Banned Books Week. While nations are encouraged to hold their own events concurrent with the World Assembly event, they may at their discretion move the timing of their own week to avoid conflict with other national holidays or celebrations.

During the course of the Banned Book Week, the reading and discussion of banned books will be especially encouraged. The World Assembly will convene discussion panels on censorship, invite authors of banned books to present their work, and distribute available public domain versions of banned books. Individual nations must at minimum permit organization of such otherwise legal activities, and are also encouraged to engage in exchanges with other nations.

The Universal Library will host an online archive of all available banned books in the public domain, and may further host with the copyright holder's permission banned books not in the public domain, except where the author of that work has expressly requested that the work not be hosted, or where the ULC Executive Committee has determined that hosting the work would pose a risk of persecution to the author. Individual nations are further required to permit access to the Universal Library Banned Books Archive, and are encouraged to establish their own similar exhibitions and archives.

Approvals: 3 (Manchovia, Jimmy Hart, Pterippia)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 79 more approvals)

Voting Ends: in 2 days 21 hours

So instead of, you know, actually banning censorship, we instead have the WA actively encourage illegal activities.

[Damanucus]

I think we have Bears Armed to thank for noting the presence of the previous two Silly Proposals in their post.

[Bears Armed]

I think we have Bears Armed to thank for noting the presence of the previous two Silly Proposals in their post.

That was just to show for how short a time the proposal on drugs had stayed in the list: I didn't mean to imply anything about the other proposals submitted during that period.

[Defwa]

IN LIEU of a recent proposal to build a University to preserve education, this proposal RECOGNIZES that the World Assembly must take steps to preserve all forms of art and education, including music.

AS SUCH, the WA will establish the World Conservatory Association (WCA), which will have the following duties;

I. The construction and finance of a Conservatory, which will promote musical talent from all nations. The Conservatory will be built on a neutral territory.

II. Hire staff based on skill and qualifications rather than gender, race, or sex, to maintain and manage the Conservatory. Staff members should include musicians from the major genres, which include, but are not limited to; Rock, Pop, Classic, Country, Rap, Hip-Hop, Electronic, Folk and Alternative.

III. Set aside money to fund the Conservatory in it's entirety. The Conservatory must NOT charge students tuition.

IV. Submit a monthly report on the status of the Conservatory.

URGES countries to add music as a part of the required curriculum.

MANDATES that all countries allow willing students and musicians to travel to the conservatory.

REQUIRES that no country lay claim to the lands of and surrounding the Conservatory.

Instead of peace university, we should have a music school who's intent is not really pointed out.
I guess this could be a neat addition to the ULC but why is it a school?

[Bears Armed]

Instead of peace university, we should have a music school who's intent is not really pointed out.
I guess this could be a neat addition to the ULC but why is it a school?

We've already got the Museums of Musical Heritage, anyhows...

[Bears Armed Mission]

Repeal "Biological Warfare Convention"
A resolution to repeal previously passed legislation.


Category: Repeal
Resolution: GA#242
Proposed by: Andreoville

Description: WA General Assembly Resolution #242: Biological Warfare Convention (Category: Global Disarmament; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: Description: WA General Assembly Resolution #242 : Biological Warfare Convention (Category: Global Disarmament , Strength : Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument

UNDERSTANDING that this resolution attempts to limit the trade and use of Biological Weaponry

HOWEVER OBSERVES
1.That this resolution only limits the sale by a member nation, but not the purchase of biological agents

2. Clause 6 states that "biological agents collected by member nations for purposes other than research shall be neutralized in a timely manner". However, the body which was set up by this resolution, WACBA, does not have the role of making sure countries do not have stockpiles of biological weaponry. This could mean that member nations could easily have and test Biological Weaponry without interference.

3. WACBA does not have the role of making sure that biological weapons are not produced (as mentioned before) or sold. Because of this, the trade in biological weaponry could still be happening, clearly violating this resolution.

Hereby,

Repeals WA General Assembly Resolution #242 Biological Warfare Convention


Approvals: 2 (Estado DA Silva, The North Polish Union)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 79 more approvals)

Voting Ends: in 3 days 10 hours

Argument depends on an assumption that blatant non-compliance is legally possible.

[Kaalakiota Corporation]

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROPOSAL
ID: alchemic_queendom_1398369250

Witchcraft Persecution
A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.


Category: Human Rights

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Alchemic Queendom

Description: The World Assembly,

Recognising that throughout human history persons identified as witches, regardless of whether they themselves would identify as such, have been targets of persecution and repression,

Understanding that these persecuted have often come from otherwise marginalised groups in society, such as the rural poor, the elderly, women, religious dissenters, or socially excluded minorities,

Believing that, in its capacity as an international organization of significant reach and impact, the World Assembly has the power to attempt to redress this pattern of persecution,

Hereby enacts:

An identification as a witch is in itself and regardless of whether the subject of that identification chooses to recognise themselves as such not to be regarded as a cause for discrimination of any rights, and all such persons are to be accorded such equal protection as is consistent with the general principles of international law.

The otherwise legal practice of witchcraft or identification as witches is not to be outlawed, nor to be repressed through extrajudicial means.

Nations are encouraged to combat prejudice against witches through education and outreach, including the teaching of the context of historic witchcraft persecutions in school.

Approvals: 3 (The United Federation of Galaxies, At Sea, Peace and Omnipotence)

Status: Lacking Support (requires 78 more approvals)

Voting Ends: in 3 days 3 hours

RL references, bloody stupid.