[TWI ONLY] The Senate of the Western Isles

[Atnaia]

I agree with Ostehaar. Before I was SoI, I didn't see any use in the reports, and now as SoI, I struggle to see the use of them still. Or even proper content. "I helped a bunch of people set up factbooks" or "I raged out at X unrealistic things" or "I started another RP" doesn't strike me as necessary information to devote time and effort into which could be better spent helping members learn the ropes. I'm also open about everything I'm doing anyways, which has caused controversy (my first act as SoI was that poll, remember, which practically caused civil war, and all I was going for was transparency of action and information to public benefit). I'll always announce anything I am working on on RMB anyways, and I try to keep my interactions with people in my official capacity as SoI on RMB anyways, so everyone can see what I am doing. A lot of what we do is too vague to be quantified in a report, is what I am trying to say.

[Vancouvia]

I disagree. Maybe it's because I'm the Founder or whatever, but I always want to read the reports to see what's going on. I like seeing what's being done and what's not.

If half the executives are being lazy, that is their fault. And it is laziness; it has nothing to do with being busy or "nothing going on." Self-reporting is one of the few checks and balances we have against poor officers. To take it away because they're not following the law is giving in to apathy, and I don't want an apathetic region.

[Ostehaar]

I disagree. [...] I like seeing what's being done and what's not. [...] it has nothing to do with being busy or "nothing going on."

I like seeing what's being done or not too - but a monthly report is not a good format for this. I can actually see what Miklania, Atnaia, PPU, and you are doing in the region all the time - the only officer whose job I don't "see" is the SoE. So it doesn't help me when every month I read that the SoI "has helped new people" and that the President "has dealt with this threat to the region" or whatever - I see what they're doing. If I'm not happy about it, I'll complain.

[Vancouvia]

I disagree. [...] I like seeing what's being done and what's not. [...] it has nothing to do with being busy or "nothing going on."

I like seeing what's being done or not too - but a monthly report is not a good format for this. I can actually see what Miklania, Atnaia, PPU, and you are doing in the region all the time - the only officer whose job I don't "see" is the SoE. So it doesn't help me when every month I read that the SoI "has helped new people" and that the President "has dealt with this threat to the region" or whatever - I see what they're doing. If I'm not happy about it, I'll complain.

I think the issues is them not being specific enough. There's only a few people who read the whole RMB in detail and stay up to date. A lot of people may like the updates because they miss stuff that happens.

[Agadar]

I disagree. [...] I like seeing what's being done and what's not. [...] it has nothing to do with being busy or "nothing going on."

I like seeing what's being done or not too - but a monthly report is not a good format for this. I can actually see what Miklania, Atnaia, PPU, and you are doing in the region all the time - the only officer whose job I don't "see" is the SoE. So it doesn't help me when every month I read that the SoI "has helped new people" and that the President "has dealt with this threat to the region" or whatever - I see what they're doing. If I'm not happy about it, I'll complain.

I don't quite see why you're singling out the SoE from the other executives: if you want to 'see' what the SoE is doing, one can look at the growth or decay of the regional population and the embassy programs. If I were to single out executives of which I'm more uncertain of about what they're doing than others, then I would pick the President and the Vice-President. The only thing I've personally seen the President do in the last few weeks is banning one or two unwanted figures (though that might've been Vancouvia, I don't recall) and suppressing non-English RMB posts. As for the Vice-President, I haven't actually seen him around lately (in fact, he hasn't even posted on the RMB for 30 days now, but that's another matter entirely).

I can see our SoI constantly talking to, helping, and planning RP's together with other nations on the RMB; I see our SoInfo presenting wonderfully thorough statistics every single week (for which his Presidential Recognition deserves to be gilded if you ask me); and I see our SoEndors going at it with the endorsements, but I wouldn't really be able to tell you just what the President and the Vice-President have been doing.

Here's an idea to entertain: what if instead of every executive officer having to write their own report, it becomes the President's responsibility to write a report every month, detailing everything the executive has been up to? This would relief the burden of having to write reports from all executives save the President, and is entirely in the scope of the Presidential office, being the executive branch's supervisor. It might also motivate the President to write the monthly report, as he will be covering the entirety of the executive branch's activities instead of his own seemingly monotone activities of which reporting on is deemed pointless.

[Vancouvia]

I like that idea; it would force the President to conduct oversight and fit well with their job.

[Ostehaar]

I don't quite see why you're singling out the SoE from the other executives: if you want to 'see' what the SoE is doing, one can look at the growth or decay of the regional population and the embassy programs.

Not exactly - I can't see how many recruitment telegrams have been sent, I can't see the content of that telegram (unless he decides to make it public), I can't see which populations he's been targeting, I can't see his discussions with other regions...

Here's an idea to entertain: what if instead of every executive officer having to write their own report, it becomes the President's responsibility to write a report every month, detailing everything the executive has been up to? This would relief the burden of having to write reports from all executives save the President, and is entirely in the scope of the Presidential office, being the executive branch's supervisor. It might also motivate the President to write the monthly report, as he will be covering the entirety of the executive branch's activities instead of his own seemingly monotone activities of which reporting on is deemed pointless.

I think it's a good idea.

[Taziristan]

I also like the Idea. We need Mik's support for it, though, as he's the one that simply refused to do the reports and is the head of the fish, as PPU said.

[Atnaia]

I agree with that proposal. In fact, I wholeheartedly support it. I do expect resistance from Mik, however, as he doesn't even want to do reports right now.

[Miklania]

I am not down with this plan. The biggest problem with this system is what Ostehaar and Atnaia have already mentioned. Everything that the executives do is already seen by the population. Those that don't read the RMB probably don't care about the regional government at all. They are even less likely to go out of their way to track down some obscure dispatch just to read a few sarcastic lines about how the officers carried out their duties the same way they did last month. This is not a real government. We do not do enough to warrant some accountability system. All we do is transparent anyway.

Anyone who cares reads the RMB and activity listings.
Anyone who cares reads the officer reports.
The officer reports only list things that could be determined from the RMB and activity listings.
Redundant laws are bad.
Ergo, the officer reports should be removed, as they are redundant and burdensome to the Executive Officers, while serving no purpose to the greater community.

[Miklania]

Also allow me to make this argument. Have any of the officers been found to be grossly negligent in any duty other than these pointless reports? No, we have not. I have continued to do my duties, the SOI has continued to to his duties, the SOE has continued to do his duties, the Vice President has done his duties (when he is here), and the SecInfo has done his/her duties. Did they do these before the reports? Yes. Have they done them after the reports? Yes. I see no positive change from this law.

[Taziristan]

To me, this is not a valid excuse: for one, PPU sends out the regional updates and telegrams for people who don't read the RMB, so if we want to start chopping responsibilities, then his will be included. Him doing that also ensures that we all get the report.

Secondly, it shouldn't just be a few sarcastic lines. If the president is asked by law to make a report, it should be a quality that meets the expectations of the law. If the current president is unwilling to carry out the law per his constitutional duty, then I see no need for him to continue being president.

[Miklania]

To me, this is not a valid excuse: for one, PPU sends out the regional updates and telegrams for people who don't read the RMB, so if we want to start chopping responsibilities, then his will be included. Him doing that also ensures that we all get the report.

Secondly, it shouldn't just be a few sarcastic lines. If the president is asked by law to make a report, it should be a quality that meets the expectations of the law. If the current president is unwilling to carry out the law per his constitutional duty, then I see no need for him to continue being president.

Back to Agadar's original point. Is this a law worth sacking half the regional government over? If you think so, you have greatly impaired mental capabilities. This obsession with making this look like a real world government instead of a group of people dedicated to sustaining the region is absurd and ridiculous.

[Taziristan]

To me, this is not a valid excuse: for one, PPU sends out the regional updates and telegrams for people who don't read the RMB, so if we want to start chopping responsibilities, then his will be included. Him doing that also ensures that we all get the report.

Secondly, it shouldn't just be a few sarcastic lines. If the president is asked by law to make a report, it should be a quality that meets the expectations of the law. If the current president is unwilling to carry out the law per his constitutional duty, then I see no need for him to continue being president.

Back to Agadar's original point. Is this a law worth sacking half the regional government over? If you think so, you have greatly impaired mental capabilities. This obsession with making this look like a real world government instead of a group of people dedicated to sustaining the region is absurd and ridiculous.

We wouldn't have to sack half the regional government: We would just have to sack you. You are responsible for ensuring that we do our jobs. You cannot do this if you are refusing to do this yourself. This law is part of what makes our region so transparent and you refusing to follow through with it is also a sad failure of the system. You should be challenged and you should be replaced if you don't take your job seriously.

[Miklania]

Back to Agadar's original point. Is this a law worth sacking half the regional government over? If you think so, you have greatly impaired mental capabilities. This obsession with making this look like a real world government instead of a group of people dedicated to sustaining the region is absurd and ridiculous.

We wouldn't have to sack half the regional government: We would just have to sack you. You are responsible for ensuring that we do our jobs. You cannot do this if you are refusing to do this yourself. This law is part of what makes our region so transparent and you refusing to follow through with it is also a sad failure of the system. You should be challenged and you should be replaced if you don't take your job seriously.

I do take my job seriously.

I am a rational human being , and capable of making the distinction between a just and beneficial job and one that is neither. I will continue as I have, to enforce the proper laws of the region. But I will not blindly follow the dictations of some stupid law that does not benefit the region.

[Agadar]

Miklania, I care about this region and its governance, but I do not read the 100+ new RMB messages every time I log in (just the last page or two), nor do I carefully analyze the regional happenings every time I log in. I simply don't have the time for that. Even if I had, then I would be spending most of my time reading hours-old, mostly irrelevant, RMB messages. I'd bet many other nations share this view.

But even if I carefully analyzed the regional happenings every time I log in, then I still wouldn't be getting the full picture of what executives are doing. I might see someone got banned, but what for? No idea. I might see embassies being cancelled. What for? No idea. Other things, such as recruitment telegram rounds, RP planning by the SoI, even things such as new Executive Orders being written don't appear at all in the regional happenings. Most of the time, I have to ask you, Van, or someone else what's been happening, why this or that nation got banned, and so forth. Executive reports ensure that we know these things without having to ask around, assuming said reports are written properly.

The reports aren't there to motivate executives to do their jobs, but to give the community an idea of what the executive's been doing for them.

I'm not sure where the accusation of 'making this look like a real world government instead of a group of people dedicated to sustaining the region' comes from. Yeah, this is NationStates and it's all fun and games, but that doesn't mean that when you take it upon yourself to be responsible for leading an in-game community that you can pick and choose what parts of the responsibility you like and which you don't like, and discard the parts you don't like. It's a slippery slope towards just ignoring the entire Constitution as a whole and doing whatever you feel like, choosing to ignore laws you don't agree with as you go along.

[Taziristan]

We wouldn't have to sack half the regional government: We would just have to sack you. You are responsible for ensuring that we do our jobs. You cannot do this if you are refusing to do this yourself. This law is part of what makes our region so transparent and you refusing to follow through with it is also a sad failure of the system. You should be challenged and you should be replaced if you don't take your job seriously.

I do take my job seriously.

I am a rational human being , and capable of making the distinction between a just and beneficial job and one that is neither. I will continue as I have, to enforce the proper laws of the region. But I will not blindly follow the dictations of some stupid law that does not benefit the region.

Then you should be removed as that is the sole reason for the existence of the president when in peace time. You have to follow laws and put them into effect, regardless of your belief in them.

[Miklania]

Miklania, I care about this region and its governance, but I do not read the 100+ new RMB messages every time I log in (just the last page or two), nor do I carefully analyze the regional happenings every time I log in. I simply don't have the time for that. Even if I had, then I would be spending most of my time reading hours-old, mostly irrelevant, RMB messages. I'd bet many other nations share this view.

But even if I carefully analyzed the regional happenings every time I log in, then I still wouldn't be getting the full picture of what executives are doing. I might see someone got banned, but what for? No idea. I might see embassies being cancelled. What for? No idea. Other things, such as recruitment telegram rounds, RP planning by the SoI, even things such as new Executive Orders being written don't appear at all in the regional happenings. Most of the time, I have to ask you, Van, or someone else what's been happening, why this or that nation got banned, and so forth. Executive reports ensure that we know these things without having to ask around, assuming said reports are written properly.

The reports aren't there to motivate executives to do their jobs, but to give the community an idea of what the executive's been doing for them.

I'm not sure where the accusation of 'making this look like a real world government instead of a group of people dedicated to sustaining the region' comes from. Yeah, this is NationStates and it's all fun and games, but that doesn't mean that when you take it upon yourself to be responsible for leading an in-game community that you can pick and choose what parts of the responsibility you like and which you don't like, and discard the parts you don't like. It's a slippery slope towards just ignoring the entire Constitution as a whole and doing whatever you feel like, choosing to ignore laws you don't agree with as you go along.

If you really want to know, you can ask. Most people do anyway, instead of waiting until the end of the month to read a report. Why do none of you realize that the intention of the law and the actual effect are two very different things? For all your noble intentions about "wanting people to know" you fail to realize that no one actually reads the reports.

[Taziristan]

Miklania, I care about this region and its governance, but I do not read the 100+ new RMB messages every time I log in (just the last page or two), nor do I carefully analyze the regional happenings every time I log in. I simply don't have the time for that. Even if I had, then I would be spending most of my time reading hours-old, mostly irrelevant, RMB messages. I'd bet many other nations share this view.

But even if I carefully analyzed the regional happenings every time I log in, then I still wouldn't be getting the full picture of what executives are doing. I might see someone got banned, but what for? No idea. I might see embassies being cancelled. What for? No idea. Other things, such as recruitment telegram rounds, RP planning by the SoI, even things such as new Executive Orders being written don't appear at all in the regional happenings. Most of the time, I have to ask you, Van, or someone else what's been happening, why this or that nation got banned, and so forth. Executive reports ensure that we know these things without having to ask around, assuming said reports are written properly.

The reports aren't there to motivate executives to do their jobs, but to give the community an idea of what the executive's been doing for them.

I'm not sure where the accusation of 'making this look like a real world government instead of a group of people dedicated to sustaining the region' comes from. Yeah, this is NationStates and it's all fun and games, but that doesn't mean that when you take it upon yourself to be responsible for leading an in-game community that you can pick and choose what parts of the responsibility you like and which you don't like, and discard the parts you don't like. It's a slippery slope towards just ignoring the entire Constitution as a whole and doing whatever you feel like, choosing to ignore laws you don't agree with as you go along.

If you really want to know, you can ask. Most people do anyway, instead of waiting until the end of the month to read a report. Why do none of you realize that the intention of the law and the actual effect are two very different things? For all your noble intentions about "wanting people to know" you fail to realize that no one actually reads the reports.

That's why we are putting for this new proposal. And excuse me? Mine has at least 8 reads and my July one has 4 upvotes. People would read them if you announced them on the RMB and wrote them like you're supposed to. Hard to read something that doesn't exist.

[Miklania]

If you really want to know, you can ask. Most people do anyway, instead of waiting until the end of the month to read a report. Why do none of you realize that the intention of the law and the actual effect are two very different things? For all your noble intentions about "wanting people to know" you fail to realize that no one actually reads the reports.

That's why we are putting for this new proposal. And excuse me? Mine has at least 8 reads and my July one has 4 upvotes. People would read them if you announced them on the RMB and wrote them like you're supposed to. Hard to read something that doesn't exist.

8 reads. I rest my case.

[Taziristan]

And that's without me mentioning it on the RMB like I was supposed to. The last one Got up to 40.

[Miklania]

And that's without me mentioning it on the RMB like I was supposed to. The last one Got up to 40.

Again a massive percentage of the region. Worthwhile I can get twice as many on a factbook about a fighter jet in a few days. Thank you for continuing to reinforce my argument.

[Agadar]

State of the Isles Act

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“An Act of the Senate that seeks to streamline executive reporting by replacing and updating existing guidelines."

---

Preamble

Among Executive Officers, there is discontent with the current guidelines for executive reporting as defined in the Officer Accountability Revision Act. Specifically, Executive Officers feel the monthly reports they must write are too short and shallow to justify the trouble of writing them. Regardless, there is a need from the community of the Isles to be provided with executive reports. As such, this legislation seeks to provide a compromise: it repeals the Officer Accountability Revision Act (as well as its predecessor, Officer Accountability) and replaces it with this law, which implements a monthly State of the Isles address written by the President, which covers the entirety of the last month's activities and the next month's plans of the Executive branch.

Repeals

(1) Repeals 'Officer Accountability Revision Act'.

(2) Repeals 'Officer Accountability'.

State of the Isles address

(1) On or before the first day of each month, the President is to present to the region the State of the Isles address, containing documentation and a summary on what the Executive branch has accomplished, fulfilled, executed, or otherwise done in the realm of its offices over the previous month's time, as well as an overview of any of the Executive branch's plans for the coming month.

(2) This information shall be archived by the Secretary of Information, who shall publish a complete dispatch no later than noon on the first day of each month.

[Locuterris]

State of the Isles Act

I agree

[Polar Svalbard]

I think the officer accountability act should be repealed as it is just an annoyance to officers that does not do much, the fact that I am glad that I no longer have to waste time in my life to do something that has no use what so ever makes me rather glad. As for making the president do a state of the Isles address, I would be up for it, but only if Miklania consented. It is his time that would be taken away and as it is Nation States is a time vortex, sucking away time in your life, to devote more time to it is an awful thing and one of the main reasons I resigned as SoI.