General Assembly Q&A

[Glen-Rhodes]

Okay, this might seem a noob question, but how do you post a proposal? I really have no Idea.

First, you should post it here on the forums. Just click the 'New Topic' button. From there, debate generally happens and you're able to improve the proposal. (All proposals can be improved!)

Once you feel that your proposal is good enough, go to the World Assembly page. From there, click the number next to 'Proposals'. On that page, there is a 'Submit a Proposal' link.

[Avoin Mieli]

Hi! I have a silly question about endorsing a GA proposal that is lacking support...how do I do it? lol sorry

[Omigodtheykilledkenny]

You have to be a Delegate first.

[Solaru]

Okay, this might seem a noob question, but how do you post a proposal? I really have no Idea.

First, you should post it here on the forums. Just click the 'New Topic' button. From there, debate generally happens and you're able to improve the proposal. (All proposals can be improved!)

Once you feel that your proposal is good enough, go to the World Assembly page. From there, click the number next to 'Proposals'. On that page, there is a 'Submit a Proposal' link.

Thanks for helping me out!

[New Maadim]

As I understand it, WA non-members are permitted to post to this forum; and drafts posted to this forum are informal (i.e. not subject to the rules), even if polls are attached and support is voiced. However, "proposal stealing" is prohibited.

Question: if a WA assembly non-member submits a proposal draft to the forum, specifically authorizing its use by any interested party, may the draft be submitted verbatim (or with modifications) by another nation without violation?

[Bears Armed]

As I understand it, WA non-members are permitted to post to this forum; and drafts posted to this forum are informal (i.e. not subject to the rules), even if polls are attached and support is voiced. However, "proposal stealing" is prohibited.

Question: if a WA assembly non-member submits a proposal draft to the forum, specifically authorizing its use by any interested party, may the draft be submitted verbatim (or with modifications) by another nation without violation?

Yes, but that other nation should give that original author proper credit for their work... which would normally be done as a footnote at the bottom of the proposal's actual text. The rules currently allow the nation proposing a proposal to mention one other nation as author or co-author (or, as sometimes happens, 'editor') in such a way.

[Advancement of Man]

i have an idea for a proposal, but am unsure as to how to word it correctly, is there some one who could do this for me?

[Kryozerkia]

i have an idea for a proposal, but am unsure as to how to word it correctly, is there some one who could do this for me?

Start off by laying out your idea in a thread and provide a skeleton proposal that can be fleshed out over time.

[Darenjo]

Okay I'll be a bit more specific here. I was the author of the recently defeated Nuclear Testing Regulations. Glen-Rhodes (among others) pointed out a major flaw within it, so i did a re-draft of it, but it still contains many of the same ideas and phrases. How much similarity to a previous proposal does it take for a proposal to be illegal?

[Mousebumples]

Okay I'll be a bit more specific here. I was the author of the recently defeated Nuclear Testing Regulations. Glen-Rhodes (among others) pointed out a major flaw within it, so i did a re-draft of it, but it still contains many of the same ideas and phrases. How much similarity to a previous proposal does it take for a proposal to be illegal?

It's a previously failed proposal, so I would presume that you are welcome to resubmit ... even if there were no changes. Expecting a different outcome with no changes, of course, seems rather silly, though.

I'm thinking it's fine, but ... [/notamod]

[Kryozerkia]

Okay I'll be a bit more specific here. I was the author of the recently defeated Nuclear Testing Regulations. Glen-Rhodes (among others) pointed out a major flaw within it, so i did a re-draft of it, but it still contains many of the same ideas and phrases. How much similarity to a previous proposal does it take for a proposal to be illegal?

A failed proposal does not equal an illegal proposal. Flaws are not necessarily technicalities which can kill a proposal.

If it's similar to your old proposal, it shouldn't matter since it wasn't removed for being illegal. It was just a failed proposal. Having similar clauses will not invalidate it. It just may create the same amount of opposition.

[Ardchoille]

What Kryo said, plus a few paragraphs of theoretical musing:

Timing's important. If you were to resubmit it unchanged the day after its defeat by the GA, you might have to worry about stroppy mods who could well think you were deliberately annoying other posters and ding you for trolling. Or spamming the list. Or kick you out of the WA (joke proposals/Bloody Stupid).

Anyone who's just thought up half-a-dozen scenarios in which it'd be perfectly legit to resubmit an unchanged proposal the instant it was defeated, this is for you: circumstances alter cases.

Politics comes into it too. If the GA that defeated your prop was grittily NatSov and six months later has been taken over by fluffy legions of IntFeds, it'd make strategic sense to try again.

But a failed proposal that has been substantially reworked is basically a new proposal, and can take its place in the proposals list unremarked.

BTW -- yes, in some cases, the addition of "not" could be "a substantial reworking". Though "a substantial reworking" could well be what we'd plot for such a player.

[Turtatalia]

i have an idea for a proposal, but am unsure as to how to word it correctly, is there some one who could do this for me?

Start off by laying out your idea in a thread and provide a skeleton proposal that can be fleshed out over time.

Also, a few musings from observations in the forum and by knowing others' practices

1. If you're absolutely stumped as to how to write/phrase a resolution, go to the WA Passed Resolutions in the forum - this is maintained by omigodtheykilledkenny with texts of passed resolutions - they are normally copied word-for-word from the archives, so you get an idea as to how a resolution should be written
2. if you want to see how a good WA debate is facilitated, go to the WA Archives forum. In there, there are loads of old debates maintained there for memories and (this is unlikely) if a point of law needs to be proven for some reason
3. Enlist the aid of some of the best proposal writers in the business, such as Charlotte Ryberg or Grays Harbor. So long as you start writing out the basic idea for the resolution, they should give help. However, if you engage their services, PLEASE acknowledge them as a co-editor in the proposal!

[Ovisterra]

Why did my most recent proposal get deleted. It broke no rules. I was told it was beacuase it was a "joke", but I was being very serious!

[Omigodtheykilledkenny]

You already have a unique thread devoted to your protest; why do you need to spam this one now? I suggest, very seriously, that you back off on this one, before something worse than a deleted proposal happens to you. The mods really don't like diehards.

[Ovisterra]

I can't help being a diehard. I did indeed make a thread about this, but I din't think the mods noticed. So I am putting it here in the hope that they will, and give me an answer. I don't mind that it was deleted too much, I just mind that it was deleted without breaking laws.

[Flibbleites]

I can't help being a diehard. I did indeed make a thread about this, but I din't think the mods noticed. So I am putting it here in the hope that they will, and give me an answer. I don't mind that it was deleted too much, I just mind that it was deleted without breaking laws.

Considering that a mod posted in that thread, you thought wrong.

Furthermore, whether or not you thought your proposal was a joke is irrelevant, the mod who deleted it did think so and for that matter, so do I.

[Ovisterra]

Woops. Sorry. Didn't see that. A lot of posts sort of exploded onto the forum, and I didn't get to read all of them. I will go check it out now.

[Ovisterra]

I can't help being a diehard. I did indeed make a thread about this, but I din't think the mods noticed. So I am putting it here in the hope that they will, and give me an answer. I don't mind that it was deleted too much, I just mind that it was deleted without breaking laws.

Considering that a mod posted in that thread, you thought wrong.

Furthermore, whether or not you thought your proposal was a joke is irrelevant, the mod who deleted it did think so and for that matter, so do I.

Surely, a joke is something that was said by someone who intended to make people laugh, so if the person who said it considers it serious, then surely it would be, right? (I know the first word of someone's answer is going to be "Wrong", but that's what I get for beleiving in my proposal enough to bring it here.)

Saying "You made a joke even if you think you didn't" is the same as saying "You don't know what you really think". I can assure you, I do know what I think. Lok, the aim of this was not to be rebellious or insulting, I just want a honest answer as to why a legal proposal was deleted.

[Ardchoille]

Because it wasn't a legal proposal. Now clear out of this thread, please. It's for proposals without a thread of their own general questions about how the WA works, or specific questions on how a specific function works. Further comments on that proposal belong in the thread you started.

[Darenjo]

What's the usual amount of illegal proposals that will get you kicked out of the WA?

[Mousebumples]

What's the usual amount of illegal proposals that will get you kicked out of the WA?

Per Rules for GA Proposals, the number is 3.

Schedule of Offences
In general, you get two "freebies" before you're chucked. Usually, after your second deleted Proposal, you'll get a little note letting you know you're on your last chance (but if you don't, don't come crying to the Mods, ignorance of the law and all...). After the third deleted Proposal, you're out.

Exceptions to the Above
Exceptionally minor infractions will not receive a warning. Also, if you've accidentally posted your Proposal three times you probably won't be warned. Same if you realise your error and ask for it to be deleted before a Mod sweeps the list. The definition of "minor" is up to the Mod doing the sweep, of course.

Exceptionally severe infractions will earn you an instant kick. Usually these are Proposals that fall under the 'Grossly Offensive' group. Also, you may be ejected for a second infraction if you submit the exact same Proposal after having it be deleted by the Mods. Unless we expressly told you it was okay to repost, don't.

I also don't want to speak for the mods, but I would think that an individual with 3 illegal proposals over, say, 3 years might have some leniency, especially when compared with a nation with 3 illegal proposals over 3 weeks. Absolutely not a mod, but that's a level of understanding that I think might be appropriate.

[Ardchoille]

Mousebumples has got it, pretty much. There's a degree of wriggle room. A trio consisting of, say, a blog about banning homework and detentions, a "give kids allowances" proposal and a "let's have a WA army now" would get you very short shrift and a very long rope.

[Erythrina]

Oh, hi all. I posted this in the original thread of "Transhuman Freedom and Acceptance Act", to little avail, but I didn't exactly know where to complain further, so I thought I could complain here.

Transhuman Freedom and Acceptance Act

((jump))

Definitions:

TRANSHUMANISM is hereby defined as an field of study relating to the use of science and technology to improve human mental and physical characteristics and capacities

INDIVIDUALS (as used in this resolution) are hereby defined as citizens that have reached the age of majority and are regarded as mentally competent in their nation.

TRANSHUMAN INDIVIDUALS are hereby defined as individuals that have chosen to use science and technology to improve human mental and physical
characteristics and capacities, as was defined above.

((jump))

• Transhuman individuals will be treated as equals, with the same rights and laws applying to them as to any other human being

Hi, everybody! Wouldn't the above qualify as Duplication?

The Charter of Civil Rights
A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.

Category: Human Rights
Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Urgench

((jump))

a ) All inhabitants of member states are equal in status in law and under its actions, and have the right to equal treatment and protection by the nation they inhabit or in which they are currently present.

b ) All inhabitants of member states are entitled to rights secured to them in international law and the law of the nation they inhabit or in which they are currently present.

c ) All inhabitants of member states have the right not to be and indeed must not be discriminated against on grounds including sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, skin color, language, economic or cultural background, physical or mental disability or condition, religion or belief system, sexual orientation or sexual identity, or any other arbitrarily assigned and reductive categorisation which may be used for the purposes of discrimination, except for compelling practical purposes, such as hiring only female staff to work with battered women who have sought refuge from their abusers.


Votes For: 3,076
Votes Against: 1,513

Implemented Fri Feb 6 2009

WAR35 on NS] [WAR35 on NSwiki] [Official Debate Topic]

Therefore illegal?

So? Are transhumans inhabitants?

[Ardchoille]

If a legality query isn't noticed in the thread, then post it in Moderation (just a brief"Is this legal under (area of concern)? -- link" and we'll get back to you in the thread.
Eventually.
(You don't need to for this one now.)