The Rejected Times

[Eluvatar]

So which am I? Insane or powermongering?

Keyword "people", Elubot 3.0.

I resemble that remark

[Solorni]

Keyword "people", Elubot 3.0.

I resemble that remark

Resemble or resent?

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

I resemble that remark

Resemble or resent?

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one-hundred percent.

[Solorni]

Resemble or resent?

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one-hundred percent.

Eluvatar is a turtle not an elephant > : (

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

Eluvatar is a turtle not an elephant > : (

In our favored version, an Eastern guru affirms that the earth is supported on the back of a tiger. When asked what supports the tiger, he says it stands upon an elephant; and when asked what supports the elephant he says it is a giant turtle. When asked, finally, what supports the giant turtle, he is briefly taken aback, but quickly replies "Ah, after that it is turtles all the way down.

[Tano]

Eluvatar is a turtle not an elephant > : (

In our favored version, an Eastern guru affirms that the earth is supported on the back of a tiger. When asked what supports the tiger, he says it stands upon an elephant; and when asked what supports the elephant he says it is a giant turtle. When asked, finally, what supports the giant turtle, he is briefly taken aback, but quickly replies "Ah, after that it is turtles all the way down.

Turtles all the way down is one of my favorite phrases

[The Rejected Times]

Issue XXXII | January 23, 2015.

Index

"The Politics of Change," by Unibot.
"The Red Wave of International Imperialism," by The Rainbow Collective.
"Rejectmas Becomes Official Regional Holiday," by Jeckondria.
INTERVIEW: "East Moreland, Unibot and Lady Earl Grey."
"Clean-Up Continues in “The Mountains to the East"," by Unibot.
"Putting the "Uni" in Uniform," by Kathexa.
"Third Time’s A Charm?," by Unibot.
""On Universal Jurisdiction" Removed," by Christian Democrats.
"Commend TAO Passes," by Unibot.
"Traveller's Journal: The Roleplay Coalition," by Hobovnia.

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The Politics of Change
EDITORIAL | UNIBOT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF



Unibot discusses the emergent zeitgeist of radical democratic reform in The South Pacific and abroad, from a disaffected newbie to optimistic veteran...

The Great Council in The South Pacific is a watershed moment for political change, but not simply for The South Pacific, but for all of the Game-Created Regions.

Every watershed moment has a beginning – and for me, I would regard the recent general elections in The South Pacific as the surprising genesis of this movement. During that election, I had the honour and the pleasure to stand as a candidate for Chair of the Assembly and I got to, for the first time, honestly admit that I wanted to see wholesale change in the way in which parliamentary democracy worked in The South Pacific: first, I wanted to see the plurality voting system replaced, and next, I wanted to see the absence of political participation from residents lessened and the gap in terms of participation closed with major constitutional changes to The South Pacific which empowered regular residents outside of our forum to contribute to The South Pacific’s legislative process. Lo and behold, I found I was not alone in wanting to pursue these grand ideas – in fact, the frontrunner for the position of delegate, Tsunamy and one of the major critics of the other candidates, Aramanchovia, seemed to also share my vision. It was shocking to me to see us pursue our ideas during a campaign and find the other candidates, Arbiter08, Glen-Rhodes, HEM and others, look, almost … irrelevantly conservative for proposing only modest change, or worse, chiding residents as “armchair voters”. Where once they would have been rewarded at the polls for sticking to the “hard line” and emphasising core messages of the status quo (e.g., “ignorance and irresponsibility of the masses”, “stewardship of the region”), we saw these candidates punished for not considering the need for greater constitutional reform.

My belief in participatory democratic reform began around five years ago – I was a very green, very naïve legislator in The North Pacific, in fact, I had only recently begun participating in Gameplay and, for the most part, my participation in The North Pacific was just a recent evolution of my work in the World Assembly where The North Pacific has always had a big impact. At the time, The North Pacific’s voting demographic was so old and so weary –post-Pixiedance… post-Matthias… post-Crimson…. post-Shoeless– The North Pacific’s Regional Assembly and its entire legislative activity consisted of a small handful of dusty bureaucrats, stubborn veterans and a few unfortunate souls who had mistaken the Assembly for the washroom, all of whom spent their afternoons, griping over bureaucratese and punctuation in a tedious humdrum manner to satisfy the (rather stringent) activity requirements. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be, was it? The apathy eventually descended The North Pacific into a brief constitutional crisis and I remember as a newbie thinking, “why don’t we include the whole region into our democracies?” I reckoned that we had hundreds of residents who weren’t on the forum and, rewriting our democratic process to include them more, would make the whole democratic institution more fun for all of us.

Ultimately, this idea was dismissed out of hand by the regulars at the time, who regarded forum participation as quintessentially necessary to be a legitimate participating member of the region. This was a very popular principle among older gameplayers, my predecessors – but I believe that regarding democracy as necessarily forum-based was more an act of exclusion out of political convenience on their part, than any kind of ardent, grand support of “representative democracy”. This was about keeping power in their hands and keeping power out of the grubby hands of people who weren’t necessarily a part of their pack – and bear in mind, this was a pack. A network of friends and cronies. A consensus of feederites and elites who were spread out between multiple Game-Created Regions who largely shared the same beliefs and the same experiences – mutant echoes of the Alliance Defense Network, The New Pacific Order, the Atlantic Alliance and, overall, the Great War (that had long since died in all but memory, psychologically and institutionally). The kind of players who would later be regarded as members of “The Empire” or “The Crimson Order” or “The Core” or whatever name they operated under with each power-grab as the game, NationStates, itself continued to shrink in size between 2005 and 2010, post-Influence.

Oddly enough, I never grew out of my idea – sure, I often stayed silent about it to maintain some legitimacy, but that naïve, young newbie has always survived inside of me, whispering: “it’s time to change how we do democracy in NationStates”. While I’ve grown in stature in NationStates, my predecessors have left the game over time, or forced to retire over political circumstances. That to me is the generational context for the formation of this watershed moment: one generation of gameplayers has died off, and another, one less concerned with those particular, rigid concerns of elite-managed democracy have risen in status and popularity. Of course, this watershed moment is not simply a movement of the young, by any means; for example, Tsunamy has been a member of The South Pacific for more than a decade, but Tsunamy represents the kind of local whose concerns would have been ignored by past gameplay elites – he is a grassroots ally to, what is fundamentally, a grassroots movement.

As January arrived, I briefly contacted Tsunamy with a proposed schedule for the format of the Great Council. Some last minute revisions focused the Great Council on two components: first, private members bills and second, an ambitious plan to bridge the gap between the forum and game-side communities in our legislative process. It’s been an exciting week – a handful of different proposals for a bicameral legislative system have been proposed and considered, but none have gained quite as much momentum as The Hoplite Bicameral Compromise Bill, which to me underscores what this whole initiative is all about! Hopolis, a relatively new player – joining in December – has brought some much needed spirit and enthusiasm for change to the discussion and to me, it’s exciting to see such a player lead the debate because they are the future of The South Pacific and the kind of player who was left out in our older exclusive, managed democracies. To me, forum democracies are a lot like student political bodies and a youth political leagues where membership is voluntary – the ultimate result of this self-selection is a bunch of political bodies that do a poor job of representing the general population and alienate the general population with policies that fail to understand the general population or policies that developed within an echo chamber – a “closed” system where opinions are amplified and reinforced. Memberships, instead of reflecting the region, reflects the keeners, sycophantic cheerleaders, overly opinionated egotists (moi), and résumé-building opportunists that made student democracies almost as nascent of an experience as real democracies. This analogy, student bodies being run by popular kids and self-seekers, is admittedly a tired cliché, but I think it explains our situation and the problems with democratic institutions relying on solely self-selection when we fail to make more of an attempt at institutional outreach.

My hope is that in March, when The Rejected Realms also considers a brave new initiative for constitutional reform, The Rejected Realms will follow The South Pacific with its own unique plan to democratise its legislative system further to reach more residents and include them into the political process. Nevertheless, the challenge ahead of us both is one that involves changing the “input” within the political-legislative sphere to broadly include more of our residents, so that the “output” of our governments is more legitimate, relevant and visible.

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The Red Wave of International Imperialism
OPINION | THE RAINBOW COLLECTIVE, GUEST COLUMNIST



Last week, The Communist Bloc once again trampled on socialist solidarity when it joined the United Imperial Armed Forces - comprised of Albion, The Land of Kings and Emperors, and The New Inquisition, imperialist monarchies all - in its invasion of socialist region, Eastern Europe. The invading coalition also included monarchist regions such as Balder and United Kingdom, imperialist republic Europeia, and the two most prominent invader regions, The Black Hawks and The Black Riders. This is not the first time The Communist Bloc has targeted socialist regions: The so-called People's Revolutionary Armed Forces previously supported an invasion of Das Kommune led by anti-communist region Libertatem and conducted a joint invasion against Congress of Armed Proletarian States alongside Libertatem and the REAGAN Treaty Organization, or REATO.

If anti-communists, imperialists, and monarchists seem like odd bedfellows for a region called The Communist Bloc, one only needs to consider the origins of its President and Dear Leader, Zenny Ariel Winter, or Zenya, to understand this bizarre phenomenon. This charlatan who now styles herself Dear Leader of a communist region has her roots not in the NationStates left, but rather in imperialist regions like Europeia and The Kingdom of Great Britain. Other prominent leaders of The Communist Bloc have similar imperialist roots, such as Ministers ModernSin from Europeia and Anders Blakewood from Ainur. The doctrine of "Zennyism" that guides the policy of The Communist Bloc reads more like a regurgitation of Europeian-style imperialism, long ago re-branded as "independence," than anything inspired by socialism.

This is not the first time imperialists have hidden themselves behind the window dressing of other ideologies. Europeia, for example, sells itself as a democratic republic that values peace, freedom, and democracy. Its government differs little from the governments of its imperialist monarchist allies and the Europeian Republican Navy primarily engages in indiscriminate invasion of other communities, but the genius is in the branding. Peace, freedom, and democracy has proven a much easier sell to the communities of democratic mega-regions such as The North Pacific and The South Pacific than "Praise the König!" or "Terra Regum Imperatorumque Totum Mundum Reget" ever could. The effect, however, is the same: These democratic communities are brought under the same imperialist, invader sphere of influence by signing a treaty with Europeia that they would be by signing a treaty with The New Inquisition or The Land of Kings and Emperors.

This strategic obfuscation has yielded a treasure trove for international imperialism. Regions with a history of defending other communities from unjust invasion now regularly engage in such imperialist endeavors, and have adopted either imperialism or its moderate re-branding, independence, as their own ideology. Following such fabulous success with turning previously moderate and peaceful gameplay democracies toward imperialism, and with decimating the numbers of those who defend communities from imperialist subjugation, the imperialists have now turned their attention toward the left.

It is no accident that we find imperialists insisting on inclusion in every anti-fascist operation on their own increasingly domineering terms, that the first act of a so-called socialist revolution in The West Pacific was the unprovoked invasion of Cascadia alongside imperialists as reported earlier by The Rejected Times, and that a region called The Communist Bloc is actually invading socialist regions alongside anti-communists and imperialists. This is the red wave in the imperialist takeover of NationStates gameplay. Praise the König! Terra Regum Imperatorumque Totum Mundum Reget! Fram Balder! Hail the Pharaoh! For the love of the Dear Leader we fight!

Unfortunately for the forces of international imperialism, socialism is a more enduring ideological framework than flimsy and transitory democracies that are built on gameplay sandcastles. Socialists are familiar with imperialist tactics to subvert and subjugate from within communities that cannot be conquered from without. Imperialists who believe they can invade our homes, oppress our comrades, and dismiss our communities as irrelevant, all while smiling and claiming to be friends of the left through their new front groups, may find this time that they have created an enemy that will not be so easy to mollify and dispatch.

The Rainbow Collective is a Comrade Member of The Internationale and a Sailor in The Red Fleet.

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Rejectmas Becomes Official Regional Holiday
COMMENTARY | JECKONDRIA, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT


"There are two types of people: these folks, and the people who flog them mercilessly."

Rejectmas has become an official holiday in the Rejected Realms after a recent vote in its Regional Assembly. The amendment to the Regional Holidays Act passed on January 11 2015, with twelve votes for, three against, and a sole abstention -- there's always gotta be one, amiright?

Rejectmas was celebrated in the Rejected Realms throughout the festive season as an unofficial holiday -- a big enough "hit" with locals, apparently, to be enshrined into regional law. Rejects celebrated the holiday according to the "Rejectmas Manual", a detailed dispatch outlining the history and traditions of Rejectmas that was written by residents and edited and compiled by Unibot, delegate of The Rejected Realms.

Cultural practices of Rejectmas include such memorable time-dishonored traditions as shaving one’s head, sleeping in the nude on Rejectmas Eve, colours of black, silver, indigo and "dramoon", mass hooliganism and, of course, locking the elderly in cupboards for their own protection. Rejects are encouraged to eat smooth foods and throw sweets at the delegate. Even the government gets involved in Rejectmas! Pardoning criminals on Rejectmas is commonplace, but the Foreign Affairs Office is also known to accept all embassy requests on the day itself. While some critics have criticised Rejectmas as "mindless carnage" and a "social justice tragedy", these critics are not rejects...

Unibot was delighted to see Rejectmas was becoming a formal holiday.

"I'm so pleased to see that the Assembly has ingrained Rejectmas into our region's laws and practices," he says. "Now future generations will get to celebrate Rejectmas - eat tangerines and gorge on coffee and seafood all day long. It was an absolute blast and I hope it's a tradition that lasts. It was very ambitious to set out like to make a new regional holiday, but everything just clicked. The final product felt natural: it had punk, it had humour and spontaneity. It felt like something rejects would do on their holidays."

But out of all the traditions, what was our Delegate’s favourite?

"My favourite part of Rejectmas was probably accepting any embassy which was requested on Rejectmas Day," admits Unibot. "I get so many embassy requests from newbies, day and day out, and I never get to accept them, so it brought a smile on my face to finally be able to accept them, even just for one day and bring some joy to them."

"Also, I had a lot of fun putting together the final Rejectmas Manual," adds Unibot. "I finished it around 5 AM; I had been working on the NS World Fair, so I hadn't had much time to prepare it. I listened to the Ramones all night and just hammered it out, while sipping a pot of coffee and eating tangerines - like a good reject. But I thought the final draft was hilarious. To me, the manual reminds me of those dusty type-written government reports that I used to find in my research in the government sections of my library, except in this case, the report was written by a cynical bureaucrat on the verge of admitting that the subject of his report is bonkers. It felt a bit inspired - a spot of Douglas Adams and a dash of Joseph Heller."

The Assembly’s decision means that Rejects can look forward to another Rejectmas in 2015. I for one am looking forward to the festivities, and would like to be the first to wish everyone in advance a hairy, and yet very smooth Rejectmas!

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East Moreland, Unibot and Lady Earl Grey
INTERVIEW | UNIBOT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF



Unibot interviews The Independent Order's new Premier on the future of TIO and the NS World Fair...

Unibot: I'm going to make tea. Would you like tea? Every proper interview is done with tea in my opinion!

Dave: Love a tea, splash of milk, no sugar.

Unibot: It's Lady Earl Grey, today. Hope you don't mind!

Dave: I'll give any tea a go.

Unibot: So, Dave, congratulations on being elected as Premier in The Independent Order. For those of thus less familiar with The Independent Order's government, how does premiership work?

Dave: Essentially it means that for a period of forty-five days, I get the chance to shape the government of our region, appoint cabinet members to various roles and set policy that I'd like us to follow. We present legislation, the senate votes on it and if approved the Grand Chancellor signs it into law

Unibot: Can you describe the Grand Chancellorship?

Dave: Its like the Queen of the UK, our current Grand Chancellor is Beatrice, it's her job to make sure the region is run correctly and that everyone is following the legislation that gets passed, she offers her advice on issues and guidance to the government

Unibot: What were the hot topics of this election and subsequently, what do you think will be the main focuses for your government in the coming month?

Dave: Sadly it was an uncontested election this time, but when I posted my manifesto I didn't know that'd be the case. The main focus of my manifesto was to see us go from being quite an inward looking region to one that had a bit more contact with other regions. We're a primarily RP region and being just over a year old we want to try and branch out a bit and attract more members to our region. I also want to ensure our government which had been slightly inactive over the Christmas break kickstarted again.

In terms of foreign affairs we'd like to see our nation make better use of its embassies, forge some events with similar regions, and perhaps look at ways of co-operating more with regions who have similar aims and attitudes as ourselves.

Unibot: The Independent Order is naturally focused on its independence, so how do you think the region should strike a balance between isolationism and explotiation? Where should the line be drawn?

Dave: Essentially we believe that we should be a region that looks to make partnerships, of whatever kind, that are driven by a mutual respect for each others culture, government and ability to make decisions for ourselves. I don't think you're likely to see the region enter any friendship or alliance that would, for example, drag us into the whole R & D element of the game, as it's not what we have interest in.

In the past we explored the possibility of helping ensure smaller regions could keep their independence from the whole R & D aspect of the game if that was how they wished to proceed. We'd try and support them in keeping their region alive and their future in their own hands rather than having someone raid their region and destroy it, in the past various members of our region had bad experiences with regions of their own which had raiders come and essentially damage the region and make it difficult to keep it going.

Unibot: You've recently been on the world's stage, however. I had the chance to work with you while you were Cultural Minister in December while The Independent Order hosted the NS World Fair. Did you have fun with the fair and did it meet your expectations?

Dave: The World Fair was my first experience on NS of doing anything outside of the Independent Order, it was something I enjoyed being part of on both a fun level and an educational level. What made it interesting for me was being able to interact with people who had a very different approach to the NS experience. For me NS was all about role play, however it was interesting to chat with people who were interested in the gameplay aspect and get insights into other regions approaches to things.

It was also interesting taking part in the lectures and seeing how other regions do things and thinking whether you can adapt what they do to how we do things. It also made me explore a few other regions as the Independent Order is the only one I'd been a member of till that point and that kind of mini NS world tour was fun too, checking out several other interesting regions.

Unibot: I'm curious. What was your favourite lecture? And your favourite venue?

Dave: I had two favourite lectures , "So, 'You say you want a Resolution'" by Bears Armed....I was always curious how the whole WA Resolution thing worked and had toyed with trying to write some stuff, but never felt confident enough to. I still haven't as most things I'm interested in I think have pretty much been covered, but after that I think I'd be happy giving it a go. I also liked the Ethics in Gameplay one by Eluvatar as it kind of opened my eyes to what goes on in the wider world of NS.

As for venues, I think other than our own I made the most posts in Greater Dienstad, although I think I liked at least one thread on every regions page. I was also really impressed with the creativity of some of the regions badges.

Unibot: I really liked Greater Dienstad's venue too. They're regulars with the Fair. What did you think of Onderkelkia's lecture? He argued that the Fair served no value for the host region? That you weren't given enough control over the actual fair?

Dave: If I'm being honest I was expecting to have to do more than just set up a theme and our regional bits and pieces. However, as someone relatively new to the whole forum making and NS I was relieved in a way. As for it having no value, I think for us it did, we're not a big game playing region, we don't get involved in the whole R & D aspect and despite being a relatively decent sized region, I think their were a lot of people out there who perhaps didn't know too much about us, I hope that now a few more people are aware of who we are and what we're about, so in that respect being hosts was great for us.

Had I been someone with a bit more experience on NS then I see his point about being able to have input into selecting speakers, but to me personally many of the people offering to do the talks I didn't know much about prior to the World Fair so making a decision would have been difficult for me, I think though its something worth considering for next time as it could perhaps tie in with their theme more.

He also said "that is all well and good, but the host region's ability to make suggestions is entirely subject to the NS World Fair Committee's willingness to accept those suggestions" however I don't know if that has been an issue in the past but I never found the committee a problem in that way at all, we were able to deliver exactly what we wanted. I think it was certainly food for thought but as a host ourselves we had no issue with the organisation and felt it's benefited our region.

Unibot: Does The Independent Order have a New Years resolution? If it did, what would it be?

Dave: As a region we haven't made one, I suppose with elections coming so soon in the new year the focus on growing the region that the government has in mind would probably count. I'm personally a believer that if you want to change something then just change it, don't wait for a certain time of year. On a less formal level I suppose we all want to keep the regions RP as vibrant as possible, keep churning out the interesting stories that keep the core of our members coming back.

Unibot: Thank you so much for the interview, Dave. I hope your premiership is very successful and if you have any final comments, feel free to share them with our readers.

Dave: I'd like to thank the NS World Fair committee for this opportunity and everyone who visited for providing us with cool badges. It was a blast!

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Clean-Up Continues in “The Mountains to the East”
COMMENTARY | UNIBOT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF


"Party's over, folks..."

The occupation of The Mountains to the East has ended, but now the “clean-up” – the real work – begins for defenders and natives alike.

The Black Riders occupied The Mountains to the East for more than two months – from Halloween, October 31 2014, into this year, January 08 2015. The region was soon the target of a WA Liberation, “Liberate The Mountains to the East” to protect the region from regional destruction. Nevertheless, as a last ditch attempt to generate needless acrimony, on the beginning of January, the lead invader, Sadko, escalated the region griefing to its climax and ejected the entire region.

Native refugees mostly resided in Ogeirg Valley during the occupation, but many have returned to The Mountains to the East. The recovery process is proving to be extremely difficult for defenders. To elapse him in terms of Regional Influence and finally eject and ban Sadko, the defender lead will have to maintain his position in The Mountains to the East through the end of January and into February, even with a massive pile of support from Spiritus Defense Force, The Rejected Realms Army, Wintreath’s Hvitt Riddiral, The United Defenders League, The Founderless Regions Alliance, The Lazarene Liberation Army, and Taijitu Militia.

The Rejected Times was lucky enough to speak with the mission’s lead, Christmas Light Makers, also known as Old Zertaxia, and Libertarian Librarians. We asked him how the recovery was going and he certainly didn’t mince words…

“It is going slow,” admits Old Zertaxia, while playing boggle with several other defenders to pass the time. Yes, boggle – deal with it. “We're waiting for influence build-up. The hope is to transition to native control once the invaders are dealt with. It might take sometime, I have been given to understand.”

There remains a threat of counter-attack: if Sadko were to join the World Assembly once more, a coalition of invaders could return Sadko to the delegacy and launch a second occupation – provided that the invasion was not stopped by the incumbent delegate. This precarious situation has challenged authors in the World Assembly; a repeal of “Liberate The Mountains to the East” has been proposed by Redsward, who controversially argued on The Mountains to the East’s Regional Message Board that the “defense has apparently turned into an occupation.”

Chester Pearson, however, has accused Redsward of aiding the invaders in an attempt to retake The Mountains to the East. Until Sadko is removed from the region, a repeal of The Mountains to the East’s WA Liberation, he argues, would leave it vulnerable to further region griefing from The Black Riders.

“Considering that the Riders are attempting to re-capture the region, and not one native has the influence to password it, this smells like a plot to repeal the [WA Liberation], and password the region by invaders. I for one will have no part in such a ploy....,” writes Chester Pearson.

Assuming the author is genuine, Old Zertaxia said the repeal effort appeared to be a “good idea”. So far, however, “Repeal “Liberate The Mountain and The East”” has yet to be resubmitted. The repeal's first draft had been removed at the author's request when it was brought to their attention that the proposal's co-author was a member of The Black Riders -- a bizarre circumstance which would have enabled The Black Riders to request the moderators to remove the proposal from the queue.

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Putting the "Uni" in Uniform
The Delegate's New Clothes
COMMENTARY | KATHEXA, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

I, for one, rather like Unibot's cuddly sweater. Perhaps it's because I'm fairly new to the region and subsequently haven't had time to become bored by it. Maybe it's because I can understand why he would want to dress comfortably as I myself wear soft, fuzzy sweaters in real life. Possibly it's just because the sweater reminds me of Dr. Watson from BBC Sherlock. Maybe it's all three.

Whatever the reason, I am in the minority, for, after 255 days of consecutive wear, The Rejected Realms has thoroughly rejected their delegate's sweater.

"We don't like our leader to look like a hobo (as far as we know)," says The Church of Satan, officer of Internal Affairs, "Besides, one must dress for success, especially when you're a delegate." When asked why Uni's apparel fell from favor after it was initially lauded, Satan replied, "Well, you're familiar with the saying 'Too much of a good thing' aren't you? I think that's part of the reason. The other may be that whether or not Uni washed that sweater everyday is unfortunately debatable. Plus let's be honest, the color is rather ugly if I do say so myself. Maybe I could lend him my Christmas sweater sometime. It definitely has more style."

Without further ado, the call has gone out for the region to offer suggestions for his new attire. The Office of Internal Affairs will sort through the submissions and choose the best idea, and that will become Unibot's new look.

So far, only a few nations have weighed in with their suggestions. Christian Democrats proposed that Unibot go in the buff save for powdered wigs on his head and naughty bits. The Allied States of DurSul calls for birthday suit alone, arguing that since the region is about rejection, and all articles of clothing are liked by somebody, Unibot should reject clothing period, and since some people reject public nakedness, it would be symbolic both ways. Satan is particularly impressed by DurSul's thoughtfulness: "I don't see nudity justified in that way very often. In fact, I never have until now. Kudos to you DurSul!" He also appreciated Evolu Tanis's submission because it accounts for both everyday and formal occasions.

In spite of almost the entirety of the region telling him that his sweater is the visual equivalent of hugging a cactus, Unibot seems to be reasonably happy about the project...

"Ah yes, the competition has been running very smoothly indeed!" says Unibot. "It all started out in a spit-balling session with the cabinet. I said 'we need something for January' and it was then when one of the junior interns blurted out, 'Go shopping'. After it was explained to me that my choice in sweaters had become passé, I declined to fire her. Instead, we're running a rather successful crowdsourcing initiative to decide my new outfit! So far, the proposals have been, erm, colorful?" Unibot has also participated in the contest, proposing a mishmash of Elizabethan garb. He's even encouraging people to submit via the Regional Message Board and, of course, to be brave and imaginative with their proposals.

You can make post your submissions to the official forums here or telegram The Church of Satan.

As for me? I say the Third Doctor's smoking jacket and cape, circa 1970. To nobody's surprise, our devout Doctor Who fan loves the idea, although he prefers the season ten look.

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Third Time’s A Charm?
McMasterdonia Elected as TNP Delegate; Announces Cabinet
COMMENTARY | UNIBOT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

McMasterdonia has been elected delegate for a third term in The North Pacific. The election came as a landslide victory for the seasoned veteran whose reputation has only continued to grow over the past few years. The final count was fifty-two votes for McMasterdonia against his distant competitors, Eluvatar, who garnered fifteen votes and Romanoffia, two votes. With seventy-three valid votes cast in the election, this general election “smashed” the previous record for voter participation in The North Pacific. The massive turnout reflects weeks of campaigning and recruitment from McMasterdonia, plus a recent change to the Regional Assembly’s membership which extended the voter franchise to “non-legislators” within the community. Given there was very little time between Eluvatar’s late entry into the race and the beginning of the vote, even a debate could not be scheduled in time. To address this issue in the future, some have called for a return to The North Pacific's old tradition of a "campaigning" period between nominations and voting.

Was McMasterdonia surprised that he had won, however?

“I was and I wasn't,” admits McMasterdonia to The Rejected Times. “I had encouraged Eluvatar to run for Delegate several months previously. I mostly enjoyed his previous term in the position and I knew that he would make an excellent campaign. I wanted the campaign to be different and more interesting for TNPers, including nations who have never visited the offsite forum. I wasn't surprised that Eluvatar ran for office, but I was surprised that he left his campaign so late. I believe that he would have done a lot better, if he had more time to campaign in-game and get out the vote, like SillyString and I had done for the past month.”

After two terms, what had motivated McMasterdonia to pursue a third?

“I had spoken to a number of people who I believed could run for Delegate and do an excellent job,” says McMasterdonia. “The consensus from some of these individuals was that they felt they were not ready, or that they were too busy to serve as Delegate. I knew that there was unfinished business from the last time I held the position - something I am sure most former Delegates would agree with. I wanted to have the opportunity to see some of those tasks through to conclusion. I was also very aware of the foreign policy and defence challenges we would likely face in the coming term, and I believed that with a good team, I would be the best person to address some of these issues.”

The new delegate announced his campaign notably early, alongside his running mate, SillyString, who also “walked” into the Vice Delegate Office, albeit with some tougher competition from The Democratic Republic of Tomb. McMasterdonia ran a platform that was more “policy-heavy” than in previous campaigns, however the platform itself largely praised areas of The North Pacific’s current policy and extended a pledge to continue such developments. When asked which Game-Created Regions, McMasterdonia was most interested in fostering a tighter relationship with, McMasterdonia noted that The East Pacific would be a major focus for Magicality City, while also mentioning Osiris, Lazarus and The Pacific as potential cultural partners.

McMasterdonia’s defense of the North Pacific Army’s conduct was, perhaps, the most controversial aspect to his campaign. Flemingovia mostly notably called McMasterdonia’s defense platform “[entirely] waffle” with Cormac Stark and others echoing such criticism. A debate resurfaced in his campaign thread over the merits of the North Pacific Army’s focus on tag and pile raids, the occupation of Fandom Alliance and the supposed unwillingness of the outgoing NPA General, Gladio, to conduct defensive missions, even anti-fascist liberations.

Certainly, McMasterdonia believes that reform and change within the North Pacific Army will take place.

“The major issue for the North Pacific Army will be the role out of effective defense training programs, a review of NPA Code of Governance and standard operating procedure, and assisting the new Minister in the taking of the reigns from Minister Gladio,” says McMasterdonia.

He also noted the controversy surrounding The North Pacific’s roleplay map within The North Pacific’s roleplaying community, and the challenges that lie ahead to “[balance] all of these various concerns and [attempt] to address them all”. He added that he was fortunate to have a “very good cabinet team […] working hard for the betterment of the region.”

“My immediate plans for TNP include…” lists McMasterdonia. “…A Role Play Convention to discuss the needs of the growing Role Playing community in the North Pacific…. A meeting between the heads of government of the WALL signatories to discuss its progress and ongoing challenges….The two cultural events from the previous term of government are in the immediate horizon, as well as a rewrite of some of our current treaties…the continuation of the diverse training program for the North Pacific Army, and the next edition of the Northern Lights….The invigoration of the University and the role out of the lecture program will be a key item in the early agenda of my government.”

McMasterdonia has since announced his cabinet; The Democratic Republic of Tomb is the only minister returning to his old position (Home Affairs), meanwhile Malvad has been shuffled to the Ministry of Education with Scandigrad taking the reins of the Ministry of Culture and Entertainment instead. Egalotir, the relative "newcomer" of the bunch was, perhaps, a surprising choice for Minister of Foreign Affairs, while the other choices reflected old favorites: Eluvatar (Defense), Crushing Our Enemies (Communications) and r3naissanc3r (World Assembly).

Overall, McMasterdonia wanted to emphasise that things were looking positive for The North Pacific.

“I believe the region is doing very well,” says McMasterdonia. “We remain incredibly active in all areas of the government, and morale is high.”

---

"On Universal Jurisdiction" Removed
Controversial decision by WA moderators
COMMENTARY | CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS, JOURNALIST


"Who needs to interpret rules when you have tea leaves..."

On January 13, the Secretariat of the World Assembly removed Auralia's proposal "On Universal Jurisdiction", a day prior before voting was set to begin for the proposal. The decision caused immediate confusion and provoked outrage in the halls of the Assembly.

Since the abolition of the International Criminal Court in June 2014, several nations have attempted to draft replacement resolutions. Moderates have largely called for a new international tribunal that would try war criminals whom member states cannot handle themselves, whereas radical members of the international federalist camp have sought the creation of a world court system that would have exclusive jurisdiction over all violations, however minor, of international law.

Attempting to block these proposals, twelve-time WA Author Auralia submitted "On Universal Jurisdiction." This national sovereigntist bill would have required member states to detain and try in their own domestic courts suspected human rights violators who step foot on their territories. Crimes against humanity included genocide, slavery, mass imprisonment, torture, mass rape, forced sterilization, and war crimes.

Chester Pearson, a proponent of a "universal criminal court" with jurisdiction over "any violation of WA law," expressed his opposition to the Auralian domestic courts proposal and filed a legality challenge against it, claiming that it had been placed in the wrong category. The moderators agreed and removed "On Universal Jurisdiction" from quorum. In a brief decision, they ruled that it did not meet the requirements of a human rights resolution ("a resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights") and suggested that Auralia could make substantial modifications to the proposal to make it fit in the international security category ("a resolution to improve world security by boosting police and military budgets").

Christian Democrats (moi) was the first WA regular to voice opposition to the proposal's removal. "Resolutions to enforce human rights," he said, "belong in the human rights category." Gruenberg (the Dark Star Republic) exclaimed that the ruling was "stunning," and Unibot labeled it "rubbish" and accused the moderators of letting personal biases against Auralia influence their decision. In the past, several enforcement resolutions have been submitted under the heading of human rights, including the Multilateral Prosecution Act, Extradition Rights, and even the enabling act for the defunct International Criminal Court. International security resolutions have included acts to regulate weapons of mass destruction, to stop international terrorism, and to respond to natural disasters.

---

"Commend TAO" Passes
Legendary player recognised by the WA Security Council
COMMENTARY| UNIBOT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF


"Penguins Rejoice!"

The first resolution of the year has passed in the WA Security Council, “Commend TAO” recognises the hard work and major contributions of TAO to NationStates. This resolution, written and proposed by Feux, ends a month long lull in WA Security Council which was marked with the passing of the previous resolution, SC#166, in late November, last year. Suffice to say: the WA Security Council was due a new resolution, but few were due a commendation more than TAO.

When The Rejected Times spoke with TAO this week, he was admitted he had been “surprised and humbled” by the commendation and the effort to commend him.

“This honor was something I would never have pursued for myself and, as Feux would probably tell you, I offered no input,” says TAO, “Feux literally had to discover the information he used in the Commendation from others.”

We’re proud to note that TAO received a ringing endorsement from The Rejected Times last year, when he was ranked second on our list of players that most deserved a commendation but had yet to be commended. The commendation comes as a culmination of a decade’s worth of work as a leading intelligence guru and a community leader in The West Pacific. It is worth mentioning that the "COPS" treaty, the most well recognised interregional treaty concerning forum destruction was originally devised by TAO.

“The COPS Treaty, with its ratification in The West Pacific, is one of those defining moments in the collective memory of NS,” emphasises TAO. “COPS addressed the actions of the Player rather than the Puppet or the Persona and made a bold claim that the wanton destruction of a region's or collective's Cultural Heritage through the deletion of its forum was and is the closest equivocation in this Game to a 'Crime against Humanity'. For (perhaps) the first time in the Game, there was an honest to goodness Moral demarcation drawn between IC and OOC actions. I am very proud to have been a part of The West Pacific community that codified and fought for COPS to be a Game concern and pleased to see the acceptance of COPS throughout the wider Game. We players have a responsibility to police this game ourselves and keep it fit and fun for ourselves and for future players. It was and is this broad-minded agreement among players that has given COPS its real 'teeth' and enduring legacy.”

Feux, the author of “Commend TAO” noted he was pleased, but not surprised by the passage of the resolution.

“[Funkadelia] and I were discussing possible proposals to write awhile back and TAO's name came up,” explains Feux to The Rejected Times over a late night jam session, “TAO is very deserving, and people have been commended for less.”

“Commend TAO” was passed in the WA Security Council on the fifth of January – 7,243 votes to 2,718 votes against.

---

Traveller's Journal
Review of The Roleplayer Coalition
FEATURE | HUBOVNIA, EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Hubovnia reviews regions in NationStates during his travels...

The Roleplayer Coalition

The Roleplayer Coalition was the next region I planned to visit after leaving the Rejected Realms. When I got there, I discovered that the nations of this region exclusively make roleplays. I suppose I should have guessed that from the name.

I was introduced by the curiously named 'Newcommuinstturkey' upon my arrival to the Region. I also met another nation, The Most Serene Republic of Paixpetto, who said that he was once on a similar tour as mine but instead specifically with regards to roleplaying region. I witnessed a whole series of novel roleplays, about a swath of different topics, including the creation of the Chinese Empire, "satellite hacking" and communists fighting fascists in the United States of America.

Rating: ★★★ and ½ out of ★★★★★

Admittedly, I didn't actually bother taking part in the roleplays, but I'm sure if I did, then I would have enjoyed myself. A fantastic region for those wanting to just roleplay on NationStates and certainly a brilliant concept for a region.

Next Edition: One Big Island.

---

[The Dark Star Republic]

Scandigrad, not Sciongrad, was appointed Minister of Culture & Entertainment in TNP.

[The Rejected Times]

Scandigrad, not Sciongrad, was appointed Minister of Culture & Entertainment in TNP.

Thanks; I apologize for the confusion.

[Lecta]

Lovely to see even though cormac took on a new identity and claimed everything with his past identity is separate, that he is still attacking the same people with the same old lies he's been spreading for years, some things never change. It's also nice to know he can't be a true leftest since he didn't start in the NS left either(his claim against zenny).

[Onderkelkia]

This is not the first time imperialists have hidden themselves behind the window dressing of other ideologies. Europeia, for example, sells itself as a democratic republic that values peace, freedom, and democracy. Its government differs little from the governments of its imperialist monarchist allies

Europeia's government has similarities to that of the LKE, TNI and Albion, in that all these four regions are democracies subject to the rule of law. However, the way Europeia is governed has major substantive differences to those three regions: it's based on a presidential rather than parliamentary system and the Supreme Chancellor has nothing like the powers of a monarch. This line of attack on Europeia's system of government is completely spurious.

[Christian Democrats]

(Image)
"Who needs to interpret rules when you have tea leaves..."

Lol. Whose quote is this?

On January 13, the Secretariat of the World Assembly removed Auralia's proposal "On Universal Jurisdiction", a day prior before voting was set to begin for the proposal.

Uni, when you were editing, you apparently added the word "prior" while forgetting to remove the word "before."



EDIT: And you added "for the proposal" at the end, which seems somewhat redundant.

[Chester Pearson]

Wow I showed up in two articles. Things are looking up....

[Mallorea and Riva]

Wow I showed up in two articles. Things are looking up....

Keep it up and you'll be running the place soon

[Ramaeus]

Wow I showed up in two articles. Things are looking up....

Wait till you're interviewed.

[Dalimbar]

A consensus of feederites and elites who were spread out between multiple Game-Created Regions who largely shared the same beliefs and the same experiences – mutant echoes of the Alliance Defense Network, The New Pacific Order, the Atlantic Alliance and, overall, the Great War (that had long since died in all but memory, psychologically and institutionally). The kind of players who would later be regarded as members of “The Empire” or “The Crimson Order” or “The Core” or whatever name they operated under with each power-grab as the game, NationStates, itself continued to shrink in size between 2005 and 2010, post-Influence.

I'm torn between you saying a. "darn those old people getting in the way of what I want" or b. old players naturally become coupers.

[RiderSyl]

A consensus of feederites and elites who were spread out between multiple Game-Created Regions who largely shared the same beliefs and the same experiences – mutant echoes of the Alliance Defense Network, The New Pacific Order, the Atlantic Alliance and, overall, the Great War (that had long since died in all but memory, psychologically and institutionally). The kind of players who would later be regarded as members of “The Empire” or “The Crimson Order” or “The Core” or whatever name they operated under with each power-grab as the game, NationStates, itself continued to shrink in size between 2005 and 2010, post-Influence.

I'm torn between you saying a. "darn those old people getting in the way of what I want" or b. old players naturally become coupers.

[Dalimbar]

<3 Syl. Darn those old nations who get in the way of things and coup everything! All of them, even those who retired years ago!

Back to you, TRT.

[The Rejected Times]

Lovely to see even though cormac took on a new identity and claimed everything with his past identity is separate, that he is still attacking the same people with the same old lies he's been spreading for years, some things never change. It's also nice to know he can't be a true leftest since he didn't start in the NS left either(his claim against zenny).

Actually, The Rainbow Collective was approached about doing this opinion article before his other identity was revealed - and he finished the article before that too. I was a bit slow to publish, sadly.

Lol. Whose quote is this?

Your lovely editor.

when you were editing, you apparently added the word "prior" while forgetting to remove the word "before."

Reads correct to me, but we can bring it up in the Newsroom later.

Wow I showed up in two articles. Things are looking up....

Congratulations!

[Venico]

No mention of Game Moderators having extreme defender bias and abusing their powers to detag a region? For shaaaaame.

[The Rejected Times]

No mention of Game Moderators having extreme defender bias and abusing their powers to detag a region? For shaaaaame.

We'll be covering it in the next edition as that story evolves, if not in a separate release. Thanks.

[Venico]

No mention of Game Moderators having extreme defender bias and abusing their powers to detag a region? For shaaaaame.

We'll be covering it in the next edition as that story evolves, if not in a separate release. Thanks.

I expect a good heaping of defender bias and Kryo apologist propaganda! Don't disappoint me now.

[The Dark Star Republic]

Kryo apologist propaganda

That would be an interesting editorial turn.

[Lecta]

Lovely to see even though cormac took on a new identity and claimed everything with his past identity is separate, that he is still attacking the same people with the same old lies he's been spreading for years, some things never change. It's also nice to know he can't be a true leftest since he didn't start in the NS left either(his claim against zenny).

Actually, The Rainbow Collective was approached about doing this opinion article before his other identity was revealed - and he finished the article before that too. I was a bit slow to publish, sadly.

That has no impact on my statement. His actions are clearly not significantly different then before despite his claims otherwise. When his identity was revealed is irrelevant. It's also worth noting since he already wrote this that he pretty much straight up lied. He knew he already wrote an article that is heavily linked to his past quarrels with various regions, but decided to claim his actions under this persona are completely separate.

[Solorni]

I would need to check but I am pretty sure LKE, TNI and Europeia have been around longer than any of the current big leftist regions... so I'm not sure why cormac thinks it is far more enduring.