The Writers' Block

[The Sakhalinsk Empire]

Depending how it was executed and what options were presented, I could see that being an interesting issue with lots of Political Freedom implications.

Thanks

I don't think there's any way to make the assumption necessary for this to work. I'm not aware of a "Leader is MP" flag or issue.

That's the Westminster System.

I feel like maybe there's something like this out there? It would have to be sufficiently different from the other issues related to native culture rights.

Nope. Different. Palestine claims Israel by claiming that they're decendants of the Jebusites, who, according to the Old Testament, were driven out of Jerasulem by God post Exodus. The difference between natives and Jebusites is that we know who's decendant from natives. We don't know if the Jebusites existed, much less whose decendant from them. Plus, colonisation of native land is only a few centuries old at most, whilst conquest of Jebus happened millenia ago, and thousands of years of history have passed since the conquest.
__________________________
I also have three more ideas for issues... I don't wanna do them, so someone else can
1. Slave shortage
A. Kidnap peasents from @@NAME@@
B. Kidnap people from less powerful countries
C. Start A War to enslave people
D. Abolish slavery

2. What to do with released slaves
A. Intograte them into society
B. New country (i.e. Liberia)
C. Reenstate slavery


3. People occupied @@NAME@@ before the indigenous @@DENONYM@@ did, but were driven out by the Indigenous @@DENONYM@@. What does this mean for the Indigenous @@DENONYM@@
1. They pose their rights
2. They keep their rights
3. Sweep it under the rug

I call dibs on Issue idea #2. I'm already researching the Liberian Declaration of Independence for an issue title.

[Trotterdam]

Keep in mind that part of the motivation for Liberia is that all of the US slaves did in fact come from the same geographic region (Africa, although not really as narrow a part of Africa as the idea behind Liberia suggests), something that wouldn't be true for all slave-owning nations.

[The Sakhalinsk Empire]

Keep in mind that part of the motivation for Liberia is that all of the US slaves did in fact come from the same geographic region (Africa, although not really as narrow a part of Africa as the idea behind Liberia suggests), something that wouldn't be true for all slave-owning nations.

Idk about fictional continents so I just made it the island of Airebil

[My Nation]

Just a question: I just submitted my first issue (An Eye for Ophthalmology) today. I often keep Vacation Mode on when I am busy, so that my nation doesn’t get flooded with issues. I know that if my issue gets published, I will receive a telegram along with the issue itself. Will I still receive my issue even if Vacation Mode is on (will Vacation Mode be overridden by the issue?) or should I leave Vacation Mode off for the time being just to be safe?

[Luna Amore]

Just a question: I just submitted my first issue (An Eye for Ophthalmology) today. I often keep Vacation Mode on when I am busy, so that my nation doesn’t get flooded with issues. I know that if my issue gets published, I will receive a telegram along with the issue itself. Will I still receive my issue even if Vacation Mode is on (will Vacation Mode be overridden by the issue?) or should I leave Vacation Mode off for the time being just to be safe?

Vacation mode can't protect you.

You'll get any issue you write that goes in game no matter what.

...unless your nation is CTEd.

[Umpus]

is there an issue for socialist nations about the quality of state goods?
Also:we NEED an issue called:
"32000 troops in @@CAPITAL@@ harbor"

[Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleaners]

Is anyone aware of an already existing issue having to do with the display of religious imagery/icons in the workplace? The closest I can find so far is #243, which is mostly about picking a national religion.

I have in my head an AI Personhood issue, where some AI interns in @@LEADER@@'s office get into a big stink about someone displaying a "2" on their cubicle. Naturally, being computers who presumably deal in only ones and zeros, an argument as to the existance of "2" breaks out, and @@LEADER@@ needs to settle it before things get out of hand. The options include the hard atheist (binary has no numeral "2," ergo, without such hard evidence, it does't exist), and agnostic/ignostic (binary can describe something like "2", if not literally "2", so resolution is ultimately uncertain/unknowable), and spiritualist/hippy (some sort of quantum qubit processor who insists that "2" is a superposition of electron spin states. Or "consciousness" crystals).

I just want @@NATION@@ to have an official 2 policy.

[Trotterdam]

Is anyone aware of an already existing issue having to do with the display of religious imagery/icons in the workplace? The closest I can find so far is #243, which is mostly about picking a national religion.

Uhh, yes. One moment.

#128
#703

Naturally, being computers who presumably deal in only ones and zeros, an argument as to the existance of "2" breaks out,

Seriously?

Okay, look.
0. The number two still exists in binary. Sure, it's written "10" instead of "2" (or whatever digit symbols you want, they're arbitray after all), but it still exists. In fact, the number two is more prominent in binary than in decimal, because it's the number of digits you have and the amount by which the value of each digit is multiplied. You can't have binary without the number two.
1. Although the underlying circuits use electric signals which are either on or off, computers actually have a fairly hard time accessing individual ones or zeroes. On pretty much any modern (as in, made in the last forty years) computer, memory is always grouped into 8-bit blocks, and manipulating anything smaller requires you to jump through hoops (grab the whole byte, mathematically extract/modify the bit your interested in, put the whole byte back). Most computers can easy work on multiple bytes at a time, too (64-bit machines are typical nowadays), but not on just one bit.
10. Converting between different numeral notations (binary, decimal, hexadecimal, Fibonacci coding, whatever) is so simple and straightforward that computers can do it faster than the fastest human response time. They don't care what notation you put the number in. It's a completely trivial detail.
11. Human neurons are also either firing or not firing at any moment, with nothing in-between. So we think in "ones and zeroes" just as much as computers do, technically. But that's abstracted so many levels away from our conscious minds that we don't notice.

Now, of course, it's possible for a dumb AI that doesn't understand its own architecture (how much of your biology are you consciously aware of, anyway?) to ascribe to a religion which irrationally worships one-or-zero mentality. Humans have plenty of silly religious beliefs, after all (and many of them do actually encourage exactly that). But even then, the religious debate is likely to be about the symbolic supremacy of ones and zeroes and what that implies about the nature of various things, rather than about whether other, inferior, numbers exist. Humans accused of "black-and-white thinking" usually aren't actually color-blind, after all. Nothing dumb enough to not know about the number two will ever be able to articulate its opinions to the government.

[Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleaners]

Uhh, yes. One moment.

#128
#703

Cool, thanks.

Seriously?

Sure, why not. Are arguments as to the correction notion/definition/interpretation of "God" really any different?

Okay, look.

No. You started your array at index 0, which is clearly wrong because the first element should be indexed as 1. Because it's the first. Everyone knows that, heathen.

However, now that you mention it...

1. Although the underlying circuits use electric signals which are either on or off, computers actually have a fairly hard time accessing individual ones or zeroes. On pretty much any modern (as in, made in the last forty years) computer, memory is always grouped into 8-bit blocks, and manipulating anything smaller requires you to jump through hoops (grab the whole byte, mathematically extract/modify the bit your interested in, put the whole byte back). Most computers can easy work on multiple bytes at a time, too (64-bit machines are typical nowadays), but not on just one bit.

Come to think of it, at the hardware level, the computer doesn't use discrete "on" or "off" signals. Rather, it really only deals in continuous voltage levels relative to ground, and assumes that a signal that crosses a particular threshold is a discrete logic level. Although the specific value of a cutoff depends on the specific logic family being implemented, the cutoff is frequently not (never?) a single fixed point, but a couple of points leaving an effectively undefined gap in between; for example, an Arduino UNO/ATmega328P running at 5V via USB will register a 1/HIGH/"on" at something like >=2.49V and a 0/LOW/"off" at something like <=1.47V. But the range between 1.47V and 2.49V, which any particular I/O pin can get to with ease if you're, say, controlling a cheap DC motor with insufficient noise filtering?

It took me several hours of re-reading articles on decoupling capacitors and isolating logic from power before I got the little LCD screen on my Arduino-bot to display anything other than garbled junk. Little guy told me that in that time, he's pretty sure he saw "2"...

[My Nation]

Just a question: I just submitted my first issue (An Eye for Ophthalmology) today. I often keep Vacation Mode on when I am busy, so that my nation doesn’t get flooded with issues. I know that if my issue gets published, I will receive a telegram along with the issue itself. Will I still receive my issue even if Vacation Mode is on (will Vacation Mode be overridden by the issue?) or should I leave Vacation Mode off for the time being just to be safe?

Vacation mode can't protect you.

You'll get any issue you write that goes in game no matter what.

...unless your nation is CTEd.

Great, thanks!

[USS Monitor]

Is anyone aware of an already existing issue having to do with the display of religious imagery/icons in the workplace? The closest I can find so far is #243, which is mostly about picking a national religion.

I have in my head an AI Personhood issue, where some AI interns in @@LEADER@@'s office get into a big stink about someone displaying a "2" on their cubicle. Naturally, being computers who presumably deal in only ones and zeros, an argument as to the existance of "2" breaks out, and @@LEADER@@ needs to settle it before things get out of hand. The options include the hard atheist (binary has no numeral "2," ergo, without such hard evidence, it does't exist), and agnostic/ignostic (binary can describe something like "2", if not literally "2", so resolution is ultimately uncertain/unknowable), and spiritualist/hippy (some sort of quantum qubit processor who insists that "2" is a superposition of electron spin states. Or "consciousness" crystals).

I just want @@NATION@@ to have an official 2 policy.

I think this would be difficult to write convincingly because people know that you can use numbers higher than 1 on your computer. If I open the calculator doohicky on my computer, I can type in "2+2=" and it knows what I mean.

[Lord Dominator]

Just a question: I just submitted my first issue (An Eye for Ophthalmology) today. I often keep Vacation Mode on when I am busy, so that my nation doesn’t get flooded with issues. I know that if my issue gets published, I will receive a telegram along with the issue itself. Will I still receive my issue even if Vacation Mode is on (will Vacation Mode be overridden by the issue?) or should I leave Vacation Mode off for the time being just to be safe?

Vacation mode can't protect you.

You'll get any issue you write that goes in game no matter what.

...unless your nation is CTEd.

This is why the Trivia question about max issues has an incorrect answer, the real correct one is unlimited, not this lame 5

[Zwangzug]

Am I correct in that we don't have an issue for what to do with all the disused places of worship in mandatory-atheist nations? Would that be too similar to some of the "we have an XYZ location, what should we do with it?" already in-game? (ie. 630, 637)

[Pogaria]

Am I correct in that we don't have an issue for what to do with all the disused places of worship in mandatory-atheist nations? Would that be too similar to some of the "we have an XYZ location, what should we do with it?" already in-game? (ie. 630, 637)

#914 is fairly similar to that premise.

[Zwangzug]

Am I correct in that we don't have an issue for what to do with all the disused places of worship in mandatory-atheist nations? Would that be too similar to some of the "we have an XYZ location, what should we do with it?" already in-game? (ie. 630, 637)

#914 is fairly similar to that premise.

Aha, slipped my mind. Thanks!

[Bears Armed]

Am I right in presuming that concerns about player autonomy would rule out an issue about public response to an elected government not meeting one of its manifesto promises, even though the draft wouldn’t actually say what that promise was?

[Trotterdam]

Make it about a provincial governor or city mayor. They make plenty of campaign promises too.

[USS Monitor]

Am I right in presuming that concerns about player autonomy would rule out an issue about public response to an elected government not meeting one of its manifesto promises, even though the draft wouldn’t actually say what that promise was?

You might be able to make it work if you give a reason why @@LEADER@@ has been unable to get the thing done. You can't say @@LEADER@@ just threw @@HIS@@ campaign promises out the window as soon as @@HE@@ took office, but you can say some campaign promises are proving more difficult to implement than expected.

[Bears Armed]

Am I right in presuming that concerns about player autonomy would rule out an issue about public response to an elected government not meeting one of its manifesto promises, even though the draft wouldn’t actually say what that promise was?

You might be able to make it work if you give a reason why @@LEADER@@ has been unable to get the thing done. You can't say @@LEADER@@ just threw @@HIS@@ campaign promises out the window as soon as @@HE@@ took office, but you can say some campaign promises are proving more difficult to implement than expected.

Legislative sabotage by minsters & other MPs who, although they stood for election on that manifesto, oppose the policy?
The issue would then be about whether manifesto promises are an implied contract, so that those blocking politicians could be sued by angry voters for breach of contractural obligations...

[Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleaners]

You might be able to make it work if you give a reason why @@LEADER@@ has been unable to get the thing done. You can't say @@LEADER@@ just threw @@HIS@@ campaign promises out the window as soon as @@HE@@ took office, but you can say some campaign promises are proving more difficult to implement than expected.

Legislative sabotage by minsters & other MPs who, although they stood for election on that manifesto, oppose the policy?
The issue would then be about whether manifesto promises are an implied contract, so that those blocking politicians could be sued by angry voters for breach of contractural obligations...

Is this the basic premise of #657, or something similar to it?

[Bears Armed]

Legislative sabotage by minsters & other MPs who, although they stood for election on that manifesto, oppose the policy?
The issue would then be about whether manifesto promises are an implied contract, so that those blocking politicians could be sued by angry voters for breach of contractural obligations...

Is this the basic premise of #657, or something similar to it?

Not really. Those politicians haven't changed parties, they've simply stayed in the same party but sabotaged some of its "promised" legislation... and the options would be about whether the voters possess any right to call them to account for this (other than just "wait for the next election and vote them out, even if the only alternatives standing then belong to parties whose legislative plans you also dislike...") rather than about how far parties' leaderships should be able to prevent parliamentary defections.

[USS Monitor]

I think it's possible to get an issue out of that if you write it well. Chew it over and see what you come up with. Trott's provincial election idea is also possible to do something with.

[Autonomous Cleaner Bot Cleaners]

Is this the basic premise of #657, or something similar to it?

Not really. Those politicians haven't changed parties, they've simply stayed in the same party but sabotaged some of its "promised" legislation... and the options would be about whether the voters possess any right to call them to account for this (other than just "wait for the next election and vote them out, even if the only alternatives standing then belong to parties whose legislative plans you also dislike...") rather than about how far parties' leaderships should be able to prevent parliamentary defections.

I see. But if these politicians are actually so influential that they can sabotage anything, would they be a member of cabinet, and thus obligated to support the party's policy or resign? Or, if enough non-cabinet/backbench members are actually in a position to sabotage a legislative agenda, then the government is circling the drain anyway, and the voters are likely to be called upon pretty soon to resolve the matter.

Is there an IRL example to reference so I can get my head around the concept (I primary sweep carpets in the US, where members of Congress doing any old random thing regardless of party affiliation is totally normal, but this thread has been using "minister" and "MP" and the like, and my understanding is that Parliamentary systems have mechanisms built in for dealing with that sort of thing, but I might not be fully groking them...)

[East Meranopirus]

Has there been an issue written based on the Macedonia re-naming situation IRL? I'm thinking of writing one.

[Bears Armed]

Not really. Those politicians haven't changed parties, they've simply stayed in the same party but sabotaged some of its "promised" legislation... and the options would be about whether the voters possess any right to call them to account for this (other than just "wait for the next election and vote them out, even if the only alternatives standing then belong to parties whose legislative plans you also dislike...") rather than about how far parties' leaderships should be able to prevent parliamentary defections.

I see. But if these politicians are actually so influential that they can sabotage anything, would they be a member of cabinet, and thus obligated to support the party's policy or resign?

In this situation the principle of the cabinet's collective responsibility has been allowed to slip.

Or, if enough non-cabinet/backbench members are actually in a position to sabotage a legislative agenda, then the government is circling the drain anyway, and the voters are likely to be called upon pretty soon to resolve the matter.

But many of the politicians & activists in the party most likely to take over if the current governing one gets defeated in a general election are also opposed to this policy, even though many of their voters -- and maybe even their leader -- support it, and many of the current governing party's supporters wouldn't vote for that other party anyway, even with a cast iron guarantee of it carrying out this policy, because they think that its overall plans would be disastrous for the country.

Is there an IRL example to reference so I can get my head around the concept (I primary sweep carpets in the US, where members of Congress doing any old random thing regardless of party affiliation is totally normal, but this thread has been using "minister" and "MP" and the like, and my understanding is that Parliamentary systems have mechanisms built in for dealing with that sort of thing, but I might not be fully groking them...)

Brexit.