The North Star - Issue XX

[The Federalist]

Regional Assembly Highlights | August - September 2020

by Cretox State, Deputy Speaker

Speaker: St George (MadJack)
Deputy Speakers (August): Robespierre, Crushing Our Enemies, Cretox State, and Bobberino
Deputy Speakers (September): Robespierre, Bobberino,  Comfed, and Lady Raven Wing


Current Business

Current outstanding business for the Regional Assembly as of writing is voting on the rejection of New Francois's citizenship application by the Vice Delegate, and handling the potential confirmation of Gorundu as prosecutor for the court case  "The North Pacific v. New Francois".

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Rejection of New Francois's Citizenship Application

Summary: New Francois lost citizenship on 9 September 2020 due to failing to maintain a nation within TNP. They reapplied for citizenship on 20 September 2020; this application was rejected by Vice Delegate Dreadton. The Regional Assembly must determine whether to uphold this rejection.

Status: At Vote


Appointment of Gorundu as Prosecutor for "The North Pacific v. New Francois"

Summary: Delegate TlomzKrano appointed Gorundu as Prosecutor for the court case "The North Pacific v. New Francois" on 21 September 2020 after some concerns were raised regarding a prior appointee. The appointment of Gorundu is currently being discussed.

Status: Discussion and Debate


On Hold

Appointment of Chewie as Prosecutor for "The North Pacific v. New Francois"

Summary: Then-Delegate Prydania appointed Chewie as Prosecutor for the court case "The North Pacific v. New Francois" on 11 September 2020. The matter was successfully motioned to be voted upon, but received enough objections to cancel the scheduled vote. Another Prosecutor was subsequently appointed by Delegate TlomzKrano.


Passed - Legislative

The legislative proposals that have passed through the Regional Assembly in the months of August and September thus far are the Government Officials Achieving Transparency Act and the North Pacific Security Council Disclosure Act.

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The Government Officials Achieving Transparency Act* by Praetor

Summary: In an effort to increase the transparency and accountability of the region's Security Council, Praetor brought the aforementioned proposed piece of legislation before the Regional Assembly in early July. The bill sought to make the Security Council subject to FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), thereby allowing redacted private Security Council records to be made public upon resident request. The bill passed the Regional Assembly by majority vote, after which it was vetoed by the Delegate.

Results: 32 Ayes | 14 Nays | 5 Abstentions

Status: Passed as of 15 August 2020
*Vetoed by then-Delegate Prydania after passing


North Pacific Security Council Disclosure Act by Oracle

Summary: In response to the veto of The Government Officials Achieving Transparency act, Oracle brought their proposed legislation before the Regional Assembly in mid-August in an attempt to address the subject of Security Council transparency in a modified manner. The most important of these modifications included provisions dealing with private records that existed prior to the bill's taking effect and methods of validation through the Court. The bill passed the Regional Assembly by majority vote.

Results:  19 Ayes | 6 Nays | 9 Abstentions

Status: Passed as of 13 September 2020


Passed - Non Legislative

The non-legislative proposals that passed the Regional Assembly in the months of August and September as of yet are the Confirmation of Fregerson as Election Commissioner, the Confirmation of Vivanco as Prosecutor in "The North Pacific v. Ihese", the Confirmation of Cretox State and BMWSurfer to the Election Commission, and Former English Colony's Security Council Application.

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Confirmation of Fregerson as Election Commissioner

Summary: Fregerson was nominated to the Election Commission by then-Delegate Prydania on 11 August 2020, as Fregerson's term on the Commission was expiring. The nomination was soon motioned to a vote, and passed the Regional Assembly by majority vote on 25 August 2020.

Results: 36 Ayes | 0 Nays | 6 Abstentions

Status: Passed as of 25 August 2020


Confirmation of Vivanco as Prosecutor in "The North Pacific v. Ihese"

Summary: Vivanco was nominated by then-Delegate Prydania to serve as Prosecutor for the aforementioned Court case. After a period of debate, the nomination was brought to a vote on 3 September 2020. The nomination was confirmed by the Regional Assembly by majority vote.

Results: 30 Ayes | 1 Nay | 12 Abstentions

Status: Passed as of 6 September 2020


Confirmation of BMWSurfer and Cretox State as Election Commissioners

Summary: BMWSurfer and Cretox State were nominated by then-Delegate Prydania in early September to serve on the Election Commission. Shortly thereafter, the matter was brought to the Regional Assembly, where both nominations passed by majority vote.

Results:
BMWSurfer: 35 Ayes | 0 Nays | 4 Abstentions
Cretox State: 38 Ayes | 0 Nays | 2 Abstentions

Status: Both passed as of 10 September 2020


Former English Colony's Security Council Application

Summary: In mid-September, the region's Security Council nominated Former English Colony, one of the oldest and most notable members of TNP, for a seat on the Security Council by unanimous vote. The matter was motioned for a vote of the Regional Assembly, where it passed by majority vote.

Results: 40 Ayes | 0 Nays | 8 Abstentions

Status: Passed as of 21 September 2020


Failed

Ease of Prosecution Act by Comfed

The only proposal that failed the Regional Assembly in the last two months is the Ease of Prosecution Act (legislative). Introduced in mid-July, the bill aimed to provide for the appointment of a new Prosecutor in Court cases where the sitting Prosecutor discontinues the case. The proposal barely failed to reach majority support.

Results: 12 Ayes | 13 Nays | 6 Abstentions

Status: Failed as of 29 August 2020

[The Federalist]

News - ADITO 2

by Arichia, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs

A Drop In The Ocean 2 was a celebration, hosted by The North Pacific and The South Pacific, celebrating TNP and TSP as allies and Pacifics. The festival followed A Drop In The Ocean 1, which happened in 2017. The celebration had places to learn, role-play, have fun. The celebration was planned by TNP’s Minister of Culture, Syrixia, TNP’s Cards Guildmaster, Praetor, as well as the rest of TNP’s Ministry of Culture. A Drop In The Ocean 2 began on 2 August 2020 and ended on 9 August 2020.

TNP Delegate, Prydania began with an Opening Statement on the celebration. Beforehand, a Celebration Pavilion was made in TNP’s forum, for the part of the celebration that was on the forum. A Discord server for the festival was also released.

TNP’s forums contained the Celebration Pavilion. There, three social deduction games were put up, Mafia, Detectives, and Assassin In The Palace, hosted by Praetor. However, Detectives ended early, due to discussion on the game happening on the Discord server. Seraph also brought over the “Cake vs Pie” thread from TSP. The Celebration Pavilion also had the central thread for the Art and Writing Contests. There were two prompts during the celebration, “Describe What You Think The Best Quality Of Your Region Is”, and “Describe What You Hope For The Future of TNP-TSP Relations”. The role-play part of The Celebration Pavilion contained the World Exposition, as well as the International Conference.

The Discord server of ADITO 2 had several channels, including The Mess Hall, and channels for some of the activities on the forum. The Mess Hall was a place for spam and memery. It also contained a trivia and a battle game for everyone to enjoy. The server also had a voice channel, the Aquarium, for lectures and AMAs (Ask Me Anything) from figures from both regions. Morover, Rom, Pallaith, Nimarya, Phoenix, Jay, Gorundu, Dreadton, Seraph, Syrixia, Nakari, and Prydania all did AMAs. Highton, Praetor, Omega, Phoenix did lectures on Sports, Cards, Podcasting, and Character RP, respectively. Nimarya touched on how the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Home Affairs rely on each other. Rom explained how they wanted to expand the NPA's piling force. Pallaith also talked about The World Factbook Project. Many other subjects were brought up as well. The transcripts were posted in the Celebration Pavilion, under the Lecture Transcripts thread. The recordings were posted on NBS.

As A Drop In The Ocean 2 concluded, El Fiji Grande was named as the winner of the Art Contest and was awarded a medal. Syrixia gave their Closing Statements on the festival, stating that “Our friendship has been and continues to be stronger and deeper than any of the great oceans on which we sail. May it remain so in perpetuity!” Following the end of A Drop In The Ocean 2, the Celebration Pavilion was locked and moved to the Archives.

[The Federalist]

The Spotlight - Interview With Nimarya

by Arichia, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs

Arichia: So, I would like to start from the beginning, how did you first get started in NationStates?

Nimarya: Well, my brother actually found the website and showed it to me a little over two years ago. I made a nation and spent most of the following two years just lurking, answering issues, and spying on the forum. Eventually, my old nation CTE'd, so when I decided to return to NationStates I made a new nation under the name "Nimarya" which just so happened to spawn in TNP. Then, I was inexplicably drawn into the activities of this region and the rest is history.

Arichia: TNP has many activities for many people. What activities did you first get yourself involved in?

Nimarya: Home Affairs and the North Pacific Army were the two big things. I joined Home Affairs not long before Bluie resigned from the position of Minister of Home Affairs, and when Rocketdog stepped up as Minister he choose to give me a chance as Deputy. I think I can point back to that singular decision on his part as the one thing that's most defined my path in TNP, because when I was brought in as a Deputy I was given the chance to learn administration, to establish myself in the region, and was set on the course that would lead to me one day taking over as Minister of Home Affairs.

The NPA has also been one of my absolute favorite things about this region. Rom in particular was amazing and taught me R/D personally, and now I can say I'm an officer in the NPA thanks to his guidance. It's fun, it's engaging, and I love the friends I've made there. Working with the NPA is also a great opportunity to make friends outside of the North Pacific as you compete with other R/D players in NS.

Arichia: From what you've said about your time here, it looks like you've really enjoyed Home Affairs and NPA! I would also like to hear about what you think is the most enjoyable part of being the Minister of Home Affairs.

Nimarya: The most enjoyable aspect of being Minister of Home Affairs, for me at least, is harnessing the ideas and passion of the people who work with me. I like how we're all a team who wants to reach out to new players and help them become part of the region, and I think that passion and sense of community we share is crucial to the life and productivity of Home Affairs. It makes me very happy to see my staff have fun and engage with others, and that's been one of my most driving motivations as I work to continuously improve the Ministry.

Arichia: Before yourself, many people have held the position of the Minister of Home Affairs. As you are in that same position, who do you look up to, and what do you admire about them?

Nimarya: Well, I haven't worked under that many other Ministers in Home Affairs- only Bluie, very briefly, and Rocketdog. I have, however, also become friends with BMWSurfer who was a MoHA long before I joined TNP. I would say I respect each of them for different things. I admire BMW greatly for the advice he has given me throughout this term, as well as his genius creation of Home Affair's latest roster. I respect Bluie for being a solid and dependable worker and advisor who has stepped up to the plate multiple times this last term. I also admire the work he did with polls during his last term, an idea which, if I'm ever again able to work as MoHA, I intend to blatantly copy. Lastly, I respect Rocketdog for his example in delegating certain work to his deputies during his term as Minister, instead of trying to do everything himself. In that way I've chosen to follow in his footsteps by delegating work and trusting my deputies to help shoulder the work of Home Affairs, a tactic which I believe has led to better results all around.

Arichia: I see that you value hard work and determination. What are some difficult challenges that you have gone through during your time working in Home Affairs, or TNP government in general?

Nimarya: Two main challenges come to mind, I think. The first would be a more general challenge that just comes with gaining a leadership position. It can be hard establishing goals, schedules, and then of course figuring out step by step what exactly needs to happen and then how to make it happen. I think that's just gotten easier with experience as I've worked throughout the term. I've had to postpone different projects and I've had to accept that some things I would like to do just aren't feasible or important enough for the moment, which can be a hard pill to swallow sometimes. But I would like to say I'm learning, and getting better at management in general, and I am happy with the things we've been able to accomplish this term.

The other challenge would be handling situations with staff that aren't really doing what they're supposed to. This term we've had situations where people were claiming things out of order, or fighting over rows, and dealing with that hasn't been easy, but I think the key to solving or at least mitigating those problems has been just to talk to people, and work out what needs to change.

Arichia: Those are hard problems, but, of course, problems arise all the time, and we accomplish things too. Under your leadership, what do you believe is Home Affairs' greatest accomplishment?

Nimarya: That's a very tough question to answer. We have the new Log and Data Viewer system, which I believe to be revolutionary, and we've also recently introduced a cards reward program that I think will also go very far and might potentially serve as an inspiration for other cards programs. However, at the end of the day I think the most important thing Home Affairs has gained is a solid system of operations. We now have methods and routine for each of the main processes of Home Affairs, from distributing Home Office work in a rotational schedule, to guides for accepting and training new staff, to templates and procedures for mentoring, and more. At the beginning of my term, I said I wanted to do many small things to make Home Affairs easier to run and easier to work in. I think I can say I've succeeded at that.

Arichia: To my knowledge, much of the work you put into is for Home Affairs and the NPA. Are you part of other ministries, The Regional Assembly, or in any other places?

Nimarya: Well, as a citizen and Minister I'm definitely part of the Regional Assembly! I haven't been involved in drafting legislation, but that could change one day. Truth be told most of my focus and efforts have been on the NPA and HA, especially the past few months. However, I am part of Culture as well and have assisted with graphic design this term, and I'm also technically part of the Cards Guild, although that's mostly because Praetor hasn't kicked me out yet, and I want to become more involved with that in the future.

Arichia: And to finish, once your time as Minister is over, what do you plan to do, and would you consider doing anything more?

Nimarya: Well, when I'm done as Minister of Home Affairs, I'm probably going to turn my attention to trying out different areas of the game and region that I haven't explored much yet, namely Foreign Affairs and possibly World Assembly Affairs. I'll also consider running for office one of these days. That's not to say I intend to abandon Home Affairs or the NPA- on the contrary, I doubt I could ever leave them, but I probably will step back from leadership for at least a term in the future, just to recharge and figure out what it is I want to be doing.

Arichia: Those are all the questions I have. I really appreciate your time and answers! Thanks for the opportunity to interview you!

[The Federalist]

News - August 2020 Special Election

by Comfed, Deputy Speaker

After Lady Raven wing lost her justice position for not posting on the forum for 14 days, she lost her position as justice and a special election was called.

Candidates:
Yalkan
Vivanco
Eluvatar

Yalkan
Yalkan declared his candidacy in the candidacy declarations thread. He did not post a campaign thread.
Yalkan received 16.67% of the vote and was not elected.

Vivanco
Vivanco accepted a nomination from Praetor. He posted a campaign thread, and based it on his election to the now abolished post of Attorney General, and stated that he had enough experience to understand and interpret the law.
Vivanco received 28.12% of the vote and was not elected.

Eluvatar
Eluvatar accepted a nomination from Robespierre. He posted a campaign thread, and ran on the basis of his experience as a previous justice. He also included a FAQ in his thread.
Eluvatar received 55.13% of the vote and was elected.

Mall also ran, but since he already had a justice seat his candidacy was null. He posted a campaign thread only, which was entitled "Mall4Court 2: Thanks Election Commission". The election was run differently due to the"Lessening Repeating Work" bill recently passed by Praetor resulting in a vote system similar to Single Transferable Vote (STV).

[The Federalist]

News - September 2020 Special Justice Election

by Owenstacy, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Due to losing citizenship, Eluvatar abandoned their position as justice, which resulted in a second Special Justice Election of the term being called. The election saw two candidates run, both of whom had experience in the judicial branch: Vivanco and Saintpeter.

Vivanco
Vivanco, a former Attorney General and running for the fourth time, ran on a platform of ‘truth, honesty, and justice’. Citing the importance of stability in the court, and the fact that this was the third judicial election of the term, he promised that he would not abandon his office.

Vivanco received 85.71% of the vote and was elected.

Saintpeter
Saintpeter, running for justice for the second time this term, also pledged that they would not abandon office this term if elected. Apart from this, they ran on the same platform as they did in their last candidacy. This consisted of the clear implementation of judicial philosophy into the workings of the court and the court self-regulating its power. As well as this, Saintpeter proposed implementing a trial of law clerks to give people experience working in this branch.

Saintpeter received 14.29% of the vote and was not elected.

[The Federalist]

World Assembly Digest 1/2

by BMWSurfer, Minister of Communications

Protecting Legal Rights Of Workers

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 5424 Against: 1105
Final Vote (TNP): For: 555 Against: 55 with percentage of WA nations voting: 38
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 100 Against: 17 with percentage of WA nations voting: 29
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 144 Against: 10 with percentage of WA nations voting: 34
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 112 Against: 14 with percentage of WA nations voting: 28
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Integrity In Law Enforcement

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4978 Against: 1421
Final Vote (TNP): For: 519 Against: 67 with percentage of WA nations voting: 37
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 104 Against: 15 with percentage of WA nations voting: 29
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 144 Against: 21 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 118 Against: 16 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

A proposal designed to lay the groundwork for police accountability in all member nations, "Integrity in Law Enforcement" effectively legislates in pursuit of its goal by mandating the disclosure of law enforcement records relating to investigations into and incidents of alleged wrongdoing by police, such as sexual assault and excessive use of force. The proposal strikes a good balance between facilitating transparency and providing for a necessary level of confidentiality, by allowing the redaction of records in order to protect personal information and preserve national security, as well as other reasons. Additionally, the legislation explicitly allows for national and World Assembly law to increase the scope of transparency regarding law enforcement records, and the public's access to such.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Integrity in Law Enforcement."

Repeal Wartime Journalism Protection Act

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4398 Against: 1790
Final Vote (TNP): For: 515 Against: 69 with percentage of WA nations voting: 37
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 72 Against: 32 with percentage of WA nations voting: 25
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 135 Against: 30 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 28 Against: 96 with percentage of WA nations voting: 29
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

A well-written proposal, "Repeal: Wartime Journalism Protection Act" helps illuminate multiple glaring flaws in the target resolution. There are several loopholes in the resolution which include granting member-states the ability to expel reporters from scenes where chemical and biological weapons are being used on the grounds that it would put the journalist in danger, the ability to cover up crimes against humanity on the grounds that it would jeopardize its military efforts, and the ability to expel journalists carrying objects on the grounds that they are weapons, especially considering that target does not define a weapon. While these are not all the issues with the target, it very quickly becomes apparent that this repeal is necessary.

For these reasons, The North Pacific Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote for the at-vote proposal in the General Assembly, "Repeal: Wartime Journalism Protection Act".

Public Access To Court Records

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 5410 Against: 932
Final Vote (TNP): For: 542 Against: 43 with percentage of WA nations voting: 37
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 105 Against: 12 with percentage of WA nations voting: 29
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 155 Against: 9 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 112 Against: 9 with percentage of I WA nations voting: 29
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

A solidly constructed proposal legislating on an important subject, "Public Access to Court Records" sets out to achieve one goal: to ensure public access to judicial records for the purposes of facilitating more effective oversight of national court systems. The proposal effectively fulfills this objective by mandating that court documents be provided to the public free of charge and in an easily accessible manner, while crucially allowing for redaction or sealing where it serves the public interest. Additionally, the proposal in question requires that all documents it pertains to be deposited with the Universal Library Coalition where reasonable.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the General Assembly proposal, "Public Access to Court Records".

Repeal Promotion Of Recycling

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4751 Against: 1404
Final Vote (TNP): For: 493 Against: 72 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 93 Against: 19 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 143 Against: 23 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 90 Against: 29 with percentage of WA nations voting: 28
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

A sensible repeal of quite a flawed resolution, "Repeal: 'Promotion of Recycling'" makes an effective case for why its target should be stricken from the body of international law. Chief among its arguments are the general incoherency of the target, holes in its wording, and careless oversights in matters such as the upgrading of existing recycling systems and the transshipment of viable waste materials for the purposes of recycling. With a superior replacement rapidly approaching the point of readiness for submission, we see little reason to oppose this proposal.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Repeal: 'Promotion of Recycling'".

Restrictions On Forced Eugenics

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 5012 Against: 1409
Final Vote (TNP): For: 529 Against: 75 with percentage of WA nations voting: 38
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 89 Against: 17 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 153 Against: 21 with percentage of WA nations voting: 38
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 106 Against: 15 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

The at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Restrictions on Forced Eugenics", is a concise and eloquent piece of legislation that protects the right of individuals to not be subject to genetic modification under the orders of any government. The proposal guarantees that governments cannot encourage the genetic modification of any person prior to birth for any reason other than to address bodily disorders and diseases. This proposal is an important step towards fully protecting bodily autonomy for all peoples of the World Assembly.

For these reasons, the North Pacific Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Restrictions on Forced Eugenics."

Gmo International Trade Accord

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4730 Against: 1380
Final Vote (TNP): For: 518 Against: 52 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 77 Against: 14 with percentage of WA nations voting: 23
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 91 Against: 66 with percentage of WA nations voting: 34
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 103 Against: 11 with percentage of WA nations voting: 28
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

The General Assembly proposal "GMO International Trade Accord" effectively legislates on several key areas concerning the transboundary movement and use of genetically modified organisms, with the goal of mitigating potential negative externalities of the use of GMOs. The proposal achieves this goal by targeting three points: the decision to import GMOs for agricultural or other use, the safe utilization of GMOs once they are within a member nation, and the sterilization of plant GMO seeds in order to prevent genetic contamination of nearby plants, which could result in consequences such as superbugs and herbicide-resistant weeds.

The first point is fulfilled by the creation of a committee, which provides guidance on environmental risk assessment of GMOs and their international trade. The proposal mandates that decisions on the import of GMOs are based on scientific environmental risk assessments, and that member nations take measures to prevent the release of GMOs or their genetic material where unintended or for malicious purposes. Perhaps the most important role of this proposal is to ensure that member nations have control over the sterilization of plant GMOs, so long as sterilized plant GMOs may be used where it is of net environmental benefit.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "GMO International Trade Accord".

Land Reclamation Regulation

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 3626 Against: 2709
Final Vote (TNP): For: 171 Against: 396 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (TNP): Against
Final Vote (Balder): For: 56 Against: 35 with percentage of WA nations voting: 23
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 92 Against: 81 with percentage of WA nations voting: 38
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 56 Against: 55 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

The at-vote proposal in the General Assembly, "Land Reclamation Regulation," attempts to serve the noble cause of minimizing environmental damage that may occur through land reclamation (creating new land out of a body of water). Unfortunately, the method in which it does this is peculiar at best and ineffective at worst. By placing the responsibility of impact studies under a committee that will monitor all cases of land reclamation occurring in member-states, it creates an undue burden on the World Assembly when it could just as easily be handled by each individual nation. Additionally, clause two is worded in such a way that these impact studies may simply be required to be done on land reclamation as a whole, as opposed to each individual project that involved land reclamation - which is a fairly unhelpful task and makes the crux of the resolution pointless. Clause one is also worded perhaps a little too strongly, without having any reasonable limits set on what the "minimal" amount of environmental damage would be. While this issue likely deserves being legislated on, this proposal is too heavy-handed to be the legislation that covers it.

For these reasons, the North Pacific Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote Against the at-vote proposal in the General Assembly, "Land Reclamation Regulation."

Marine Protection Act

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4887 Against: 1155
Final Vote (TNP): For: 528 Against: 48 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 85 Against: 14 with percentage of WA nations voting: 25
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 107 Against: 53 with percentage of WA nations voting: 34
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 105 Against: 9 with percentage of WA nations voting: 28
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

The at-vote proposal in the General Assembly, "Marine Protection Act," is a well-written proposal that tackles the somewhat nuanced problem of international maritime pollution. While this problem would ordinarily be complex to directly legislate on member-nations, this proposal eases that burden by setting up a World Assembly Committee in order to identify the problem and put proper regulations in place that should minimize the damage done to areas of profound biodiversity or cultural significance. This is a significant environmental issue which the proposal has tackled well, and its passage will be of benefit to the World Assembly and environmental health.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote for the at-vote proposal in the General Assembly, "Marine Protection Act."

Ensuring Effectual Recycling

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 5334 Against: 996
Final Vote (TNP): For: 521 Against: 49 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 92 Against: 17 with percentage of WA nations voting: 28
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 155 Against: 17 with percentage of WA nations voting: 37
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 99 Against: 10 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

The at-vote proposal in the General Assembly, "Ensuring Effectual Recycling," is a well-written proposal that obligates member-states to expand their recycling infrastructure and programmes. This proposal also incentivizes research done in the subject-area of recycling, which should ultimately make the process more efficient and effective in the long-term. This proposal is a direct replacement of GAR#483, "Promotion of Recycling", covering up an area of legislation that was left vacant following the repeal of which. As such, it is a worthy cause and an adequate proposal in the subject.

For these reasons, the World Assembly recommends a vote for the at-vote proposal in the General Assembly, "Ensuring Effectual Recycling."

Repeal Supporting And Valuing The Humanities

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Status: Failed
Final Vote (World): For: 1725 Against: 4277
Final Vote (TNP): For: 116 Against: 430 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): Against
Final Vote (Balder): For: 20 Against: 78 with percentage of WA nations voting: 25
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 85 Against: 71 with percentage of WA nations voting: 33
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 29 Against: 63 with percentage of WA nations voting: 23
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

"Repeal: 'Supporting and Valuing the Humanities'" seeks to strike out its target resolution on the basis of poor management of the World Assembly General Fund pursuant to the implementation of its mandates. The specific concerns presented are twofold: they include the resolution not placing strict enough limitations on the acquisition or use of WA funds, potentially permitting member nations to acquire funding they don't need to use on wasteful programs of no practical benefit; and the resolution's wording arguably requiring all funding to be ceased after receiving any mere report of improper use of funding, potentially stripping member nations of all WA funds due to frivolous reports. Additionally, the presence of other extant resolutions dealing with education means that the negative consequences of repealing the target will not be too severe.

However, these arguments are the subject of a not insignificant level of controversy. Opponents of this repeal argue that the resolution does not, in fact, mandate that all funds be ceased due to any reports, as the intended meaning of "funds" is clear in the context of the legislation. Additionally, the resolution does not actually lay out a concrete process for the submission of reports of improper use of funding, nor does it explicitly authorize the filing of reports. Further, this is inherently a technicality-based repeal, and the absence of any planned replacement does this attempt no favors.

We feel that this is a unique case in which we cannot readily offer a concrete recommendation in one direction or another. For this reason, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs issues no recommendation on which way to vote on the General Assembly proposal "Repeal: 'Supporting and Valuing the Humanities'", and instead urges individual nations to make an informed decision on the matter with the above points in mind.

Commercial Arbitration Recognition

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4577 Against: 1343
Final Vote (TNP): For: 526 Against: 36 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 88 Against: 15 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 144 Against: 28 with percentage of WA nations voting: 37
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 96 Against: 7 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

Disputes arising from commercial agreements between firms are inherently different from disputes between individual persons, due to the former's greater emphasis on neutrality, discretion, flexibility, and finality of judgement as a result of these disputes often occurring between actors in similar bargaining positions engaging in mutually beneficial dealings. Arbitration is an attractive and efficient form of alternate resolution of these disputes, due to its ability to provide a greater level of neutrality, flexibility, and discretion than national court systems. "Commercial Arbitration Recognition" seeks to provide for the enforcement of arbitration agreements and arbitral awards as pertaining to international commercial agreements, with certain exceptions. Seeing as the resolution's scope is limited to these types of agreements, and arbitration in these situations is quite beneficial and by definition mutually agreed upon, we see little reason to oppose this proposal.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Commercial Arbitration Recognition".

Pedagogical Freedom

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Status: Failed
Final Vote (World): For: 1250 Against: 5012
Final Vote (TNP): For: 67 Against: 482 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (TNP): Against
Final Vote (Balder): For: 14 Against: 94 with percentage of WA nations voting: 28
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 21 Against: 144 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 9 Against: 90 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

A fairly benign proposal at first glance, "Pedagogical Freedom" aims to establish a balancing test with regards to the freedom of parents and legal guardians to interfere in the education of their children. However, this is where the problems begin. The proposal attempts to insert a supposed right of parents "to direct and guarantee, with regard to their sincerely-held moral beliefs, the education of their children" into its balancing test that all member nations must abide by. This is inherently problematic, firstly because it is not, and should not be, the role of parents to "direct and guarantee" their children's education in accordance with said parents' "moral beliefs," and secondly because nothing currently prevents parents from engaging with their children on educational topics outside of the classroom. This balancing test, which forms the crux of the proposal, is unnecessary at best and starkly contrary to the purpose of education at worst.

Furthermore, the proposal implicitly places the burden on member nations to demonstrate that families within their jurisdictions are not complying with the mandates of the proposal, thereby placing an unnecessary burden on the Independent Adjudicative Office by forcing it to make judgement as to whether individual children's education is compliant with the proposal's balancing test in a context where what is "adequate and appropriate" for one child is wholly inadequate or inappropriate for another. Due to this proposal's attempted inclusion of parents' morality into its primary (and only) mandate, and its efforts to address an issue that does not really exist as the proposal makes it out to, we see little reason to support it in its current form.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting Against the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Pedagogical Freedom".

Sovereign Justice Accord

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4831 Against: 1138
Final Vote (TNP): For: 514 Against: 50 with percentage of WA nations voting: 37
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 86 Against: 18 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 140 Against: 22 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 96 Against: 9 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

Lawsuits between states and foreign legal persons have proven to be a particularly pernicious issue to diplomatic relations. The suit can happen in the courts of the nation, giving rise to a conflict of interest. Alternatively, the lawsuit may be filed in the foreign person's native courts, forcing one state to haul another into their courts. Both options are flawed. Furthermore, this opens up avenues for retaliatory and abusive suits between members, damaging the international system. "Sovereign Justice Accord" tactfully addresses this issue by redirecting such lawsuits to a neutral, well-regulated international court system. Given the importance of fairness and justice, there is scarce reason to oppose this proposal.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Sovereign Justice Accord".

[The Federalist]

World Assembly Digest 2/2

by BMWSurfer, Minister of Communications

Ending School Segregation

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 5679 Against: 841
Final Vote (TNP): For: 530 Against: 38 with percentage of WA nations voting: 38
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 100 Against: 16 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 161 Against: 21 with percentage of WA nations voting: 39
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 107 Against: 6 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

A proposal legislating on broader education quality as much as segregation, "Ending School Segregation" aims to ensure that all students in member nations have equal opportunities to attain a pluralistic and social education. The proposal accomplishes this by declaring all children as generally possessing this right, prohibiting segregation and self-segregation of students by protected classes, mandating that educational services not under nations' direct control not be worse in quality than those that are, and including a provision against mistreatment of students. This proposal is poised to make an excellent addition to the existing roster of education-based resolutions, and there is little reason to oppose it.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote General Assembly proposal, "Ending School Segregation".

Commend Trotterdam

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 5014 Against: 809
Final Vote (TNP): For: 531 Against: 35 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 86 Against: 16 with percentage of WA nations voting: 25
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 115 Against: 20 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 114 Against: 5 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

Trotterdam is a well respected member of the Got Issues community for a plethora of reasons. First of all, Trotterdam has left useful feedback on hundreds of issue drafts over the years, enabling aspiring authors to produce high quality drafts that eventually end up in the game for players to answer. Additionally, Trotterdam has made significant strides in the general public's understanding of issue features that may not always be obvious, such as validities, macros, and issue chain sequences through posts on the various stickied megathreads in GI. Just as impressive is the creation of a database documenting more than 5000 issue effect lines, stat effects for each option, and a plethora of policy information. Ultimately, "Commend Trotterdam" does an excellent job of laying out these contributions and more in a comprehensible manner.

For these reasons, the North Pacific World Assembly Ministry recommends a vote for the at-vote Security Council proposal, "Commend Trotterdam".

Commend Nuremgard

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 3683 Against: 1914
Final Vote (TNP): For: 493 Against: 72 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 67 Against: 32 with percentage of WA nations voting: 24
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 78 Against: 57 with percentage of WA nations voting: 29
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 102 Against: 17 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

"Commend Nuremgard" is an unusual proposal compared to the recently passed "Commend Frieden-und Freudenland" and "Commend Trotterdam," due to its focus on pure issue writing rather than other issues-related and regional development work. Nuremgard, the nation in question, has had eighteen high-quality issues written by them make it into the game for all nations to answer. Nuremgard is a unique target due to their lack of forum drafting for their issues, and their lack of a well-known online presence. Nevertheless, they are a highly skilled, dedicated, and underappreciated author who deserves to be recognized for their work in developing the game's community through issues authoring.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote Security Council proposal, "Commend Nuremgard."

Commend Wallenburg

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4199 Against: 1323
Final Vote (TNP): For: 485 Against: 66 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 71 Against: 21 with percentage of WA nations voting: 22
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 110 Against: 30 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 81 Against: 26 with percentage of WA nations voting: 25
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

"Commend Wallenburg" is a commendation of one of the most well-versed General Assembly players, which they have authored nine distinct resolutions for. They are an incredibly well-respected voice within the community, and have helped countless drafts there. They also have served as The East Pacific's Chief Minister of World Assembly Affairs for approximately a year and a half to this day. The proposal touches on several other aspects of Wallenburg's good deeds, including their time spent in The Conclave (regional court) of The East Pacific, as well as multiple positive facets of their roleplay.

For these reasons, The North Pacific Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote for the at-vote proposal in the Security Council, "Commend Wallenburg".

Condemn Noahs Second Country

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4259 Against: 1268
Final Vote (TNP): For: 473 Against: 78 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 74 Against: 22 with percentage of WA nations voting: 23
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 117 Against: 26 with percentage of WA nations voting: 31
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 86 Against: 32 with percentage of WA nations voting: 28
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

The at-vote proposal, "Condemn Noahs Second Country", is a very well-written proposal that goes lengths and bounds to uncover the treachery committed by the target in the cards game. Noah, as they are oftentimes called, is easily within the ranks of the Card Elite, and have readily abused multiple facets of the game in order to further their own collection. Noah employs what is considered by many to be "scummy tactics", including exploitations that were so overpowered that they have since been changed considerably, meaning that it is now near-impossible to nations to replicate some of the tactics that have led to Noah's immense wealth. They have contributed a lot to the cards community, and deserve recognition for that - and the various ways that the nation has contributed to the game lend themselves well towards condemnation. Even beyond cards, however, Noah is a prolific Issues author and up-and-coming Security Council author, both of which are also touched on in this proposal.

For these reasons, the North Pacific Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote for the at-vote proposal in the Security Council, "Condemn Noahs Second Country".

Commend Valanora

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4511 Against: 1175
Final Vote (TNP): For: 511 Against: 53 with percentage of WA nations voting: 36
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 75 Against: 16 with percentage of WA nations voting: 23
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 117 Against: 22 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 98 Against: 9 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

"Commend Valanora" makes a convincing case for the commendation of a prolific contributor to the NationStates Sports community. The target, Valanora, has both held and ranked a number of tournaments- one of the most unforgiving and unrecognized jobs within NS Sports. They have also accomplished a vast range of athletic victories, such as being the "best football team ever in NationStates history." While these accomplishments alone are likely enough to merit commendation, they barely scratch the surface of the target's true contributions to the game's community. NS Sports is not often recognized by the World Assembly, but this proposal makes a strong and compelling case to do so.

For these reasons, the North Pacific Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote Security Council proposal, "Commend Valanora."

Repeal Commend Evil Wolf

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Status: Failed
Final Vote (World): For: 1714 Against: 4044
Final Vote (TNP): For: 78 Against: 476 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): Against
Final Vote (Balder): For: 15 Against: 68 with percentage of WA nations voting: 21
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 42 Against: 113 with percentage of WA nations voting: 34
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 18 Against: 91 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

"Repeal Commend Evil Wolf", the proposal that is at-vote in the Security Council, hinges nearly entirely on the somewhat flawed concept that the raiding of fascists ("fash-bashing") is not commendable. While this does seem to hold some merit at first sight, it fails to acknowledge a time-held precedent within the Security Council that fash-bashing is, in fact, commendable. This is the meat of the proposal, though there are a few more supplementary clauses that are largely non-compelling reasons for repeal. Among these are the claims that raiding that is unrelated to fash-bashing nullifies the rest of the proposal - this is not the case. What would've been more appropriate was an additional condemnation on top of the commendation. This may have been excusable, if there was a replacement condemnation drafted, but this was not the case.

For these reasons, the North Pacific Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends a vote against the at-vote proposal in the Security Council, "Repeal Commend Evil Wolf."

Repeal Commend The Red Fleet

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4543 Against: 1081
Final Vote (TNP): For: 519 Against: 35 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 71 Against: 15 with percentage of WA nations voting: 22
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 125 Against: 21 with percentage of WA nations voting: 32
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 105 Against: 3 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

While the Red Fleet is undeniably a staunch contributor to the cause of fighting fascism across NationStates, the region's current commendation is riddled with issues and does the anti-fascist effort no justice. "Repeal: 'Commend The Red Fleet'" aims to remove this flawed commendation, and brings its numerous issues to the forefront. For starters, the commendation was largely ghostwritten by a prominent member of TRF, which is itself dishonest and problematic. The military operations listed in the commendation are needlessly overblown and misleading, four major members of the region were deleted by game mods, and the region in question has a history of raiding regions unconnected with fascism. The actions of the Red Fleet recognized in the current commendation have arguably been of substantial detriment to the public image and standing of the anti-fascist effort as a whole.

While the current commendation should undoubtedly be repealed, there is a replacement proposal currently being drafted which seeks to properly recognize the region in question for their legitimate contributions to fighting fascism.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote Security Council proposal, "Repeal: 'Commend The Red Fleet'".

Repeal Commend Kuriko

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4803 Against: 839
Final Vote (TNP): For: 505 Against: 46 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 83 Against: 10 with percentage of WA nations voting: 24
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 126 Against: 19 with percentage of WA nations voting: 31
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 99 Against: 11 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

The at-vote proposal in the Security Council, "Repeal: Commend Kuriko," is a repeal that adequately summarizes the flaws and general inadequacies with the target resolution. Kuriko, while a worthy candidate, is not done justice in the text of the resolution, which is poorly written and reads off like a laundry list of accomplishments. There are several other inaccuracies with SCR#300, which are written in the text of this repeal in plain view. Ultimately, SCR#300 is a resolution that deserves to be struck from the books of the Security Council, and the author has a replacement ready-to-go for whenever the candidate feels themselves worthy for it.

For these reasons, the World Assembly recommends a vote for the at-vote proposal in the Security Council, "Repeal: Commend Kuriko."

Commend Altino

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Status: Failed
Final Vote (World): For: 1539 Against: 4212
Final Vote (TNP): For: 71 Against: 482 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): Against
Final Vote (Balder): For: 14 Against: 78 with percentage of WA nations voting: 23
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 37 Against: 109 with percentage of WA nations voting: 31
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 16 Against: 87 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Commend The Red Fleet

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4374 Against: 1291
Final Vote (TNP): For: 490 Against: 58 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 74 Against: 19 with percentage of WA nations voting: 24
Delegate's Vote (Balder): For
Final Vote (Europe): For: 109 Against: 33 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Europe): For
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 96 Against: 8 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

Recently, the Security Council repealed its commendation of The Red Fleet (TRF). It did so - in an effort supported by TNP - because of flaws with the specific commendation. This, however, in no way made TRF less commend worthy. A force against fascism since its inception, TRF has conducted and participated in countless military operations against regions that operate with the express purpose of advocating fascism; often, these fascist regions raided otherwise peaceful regions that do not conform to their hateful ideology. While there are too many examples to cite, TRF played key roles in operations against The Greater German Reich, Apartheid South Africa, Nazi Europe, and others.

The North Pacific has remained strong in its commitment against fascism, and for the reasons stated above, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote Security Council proposal, "Commend The Red Fleet."

Liberate Syria

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 4989 Against: 875
Final Vote (TNP): For: 505 Against: 37 with percentage of WA nations voting: 35
Delegate's Vote (TNP): Against
Final Vote (Balder): For: 73 Against: 25 with percentage of WA nations voting: 26
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 134 Against: 21 with percentage of WA nations voting: 33
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 69 Against: 35 with percentage of WA nations voting: 27
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

The region of Syria has fallen victim to a past raid by members of The Wolf Clan, a notorious group of raiders that have previously cooperated with fascist regions. Though the region lacks an active native community at this moment, regions named after real-life countries always have good potential to develop a native community. The Wolf Clan should not be able to doom this region to destruction, and by liberating it, the Security Council would enable defenders to retake the region from its occupying forces.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote Security Council proposal, "Liberate Syria".

Condemn Ever-Wandering Souls

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Status: Passed
Final Vote (World): For: 3766 Against: 1885
Final Vote (TNP): For: 458 Against: 67 with percentage of WA nations voting: 34
Delegate's Vote (TNP): For
Final Vote (Balder): For: 53 Against: 32 with percentage of WA nations voting: 22
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 89 Against: 51 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 83 Against: 14 with percentage of WA nations voting: 25
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): For

Recommendation:

Due to their long and colorful history of effective raiding and related regional development, Ever-Wandering Souls (colloquially known as Souls) is undoubtedly deserving of a Condemnation by the Security Council. In this manner, the at-vote proposal "Condemn Ever-Wandering Souls" does not disappoint. The proposal provides a succinct overview of the most notable of Souls' numerous acts of raiding, with primary focus being given to regions either refounded or emptied of natives to severe harm, and effectively elaborates on why each of these acts contributes to the nominee's deserving of a Condemnation.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting For the at-vote Security Council proposal, "Condemn Ever-Wandering Souls".

Condemn The Land Of Kings And Emperors

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Status: Failed
Final Vote (World): For: 2047 Against: 3598
Final Vote (TNP): For: 60 Against: 457 with percentage of WA nations voting: 34
Delegate's Vote (TNP): Against
Final Vote (Balder): For: 18 Against: 98 with percentage of WA nations voting: 30
Delegate's Vote (Balder): Against
Final Vote (Europe): For: 30 Against: 107 with percentage of WA nations voting: 29
Delegate's Vote (Europe): Against
Final Vote (Europeia): For: 16 Against: 93 with percentage of WA nations voting: 28
Delegate's Vote (Europeia): Against

Recommendation:

While the Land of Kings and Emperors could very well be deserving of a Condemnation by the Security Council, the current at-vote proposal "Condemn the Land of Kings and Emperors" should not be the proposal to do so. The Condemnation in question is riddled with numerous factual errors and questionable writing decisions, and is an overall sloppily constructed proposal. These errors and questionable decisions include, but are not limited to, inaccurately citing occupations, spelling mistakes, exaggerating contributions to raids on Hippiedom and The Union, and using failed raids and association with major raider regions as significant arguments for a Condemnation.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting Against the at-vote Security Council proposal, "Condemn the Land of Kings and Emperors".

[The Federalist]

NPA Bulletin

by Robespierre, Colonel of the North Pacific Army

NPA soldiers, now under the leadership of 9003 and Gorundu, give one final hurrah to Rom and co. following the successful liberation of NationStates Monarchists from fascists.

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Major BMWSurfer was promoted to Colonel
Private German_nein was promoted to Private First Class
Lieutenant Nimarya was promoted to Captain
Major Robespierre was promoted to Colonel
Lieutenant Rom was promoted to Colonel

Another day, another pile! Err… that’s not how the saying goes, now is it?

It’s been a while, but not to worry: for your friends from the North Pacific Army have been keeping themselves busy day in and day out with a plethora of exciting activities! What activities, you ask? Well, let’s all begin this month’s segment by taking a moment to congratulate the Ministry of Defense’s new overlord from the world of cards: 9003!

Shortly after the election of Kranostav (Tlomz) to the Delegacy in early-September, it was announced that 9003 would be taking up the mantle as Minister and would be given an opportunity to emerge from the Officer Corps as the NPA’s next leader. In a brief opening statement, 9003 made his goals for the term quite clear by remarking that “[He’d] like to see more ops at minors as well as a better training program from new recruits.” Wasting little time in pursuit of progress on these objectives, the new MoD quickly introduced a system for daily piles that soldiers can attend even without physically being present during updates!

While it remains to be seen whether or not this initiative is popular enough to become standard practice in the Ministry, 9003 and newly-appointed mega nerd (and Deputy Minister of Defense), Gorundu, have already been seen whipping potato peelers into shape outside the barracks. After a handful of promotions at the start of the term came a slew of discharges, and now, with the Ministry’s official roster updated and purged of all inactives, the NPA continues to proudly offer its allies assistance, its foes resistance, and the fascists no safe haven! With congratulations out of the way, let’s get right into this month’s happenings on the battlefield:

Beginning on the second (2nd) of August’s minor update and lasting all the way up until the eleventh (11th) of August’s major update, troops from the North Pacific Army, the South Pacific Special Forces, the Rejected Realms Army, the East Pacific Sovereign Army, the Union of Democratic States Armed Forces, Lily, the Order of the Grey Wardens, and Founderless, among others, joined together to form the largest liberation updater force in history! With ninety (90) soldiers in attendance (nine of which being from the NPA), the previous record set in 2016 was shattered by approximately eight updaters as militaries from all across NationStates stormed the beaches of South Pacific. This marked a huge victory in gameplay and the efforts of all involved will not soon be forgotten.

Moving on, in true Independent fashion, the North Pacific Army followed up a successful liberation campaign by carrying out a number of raids over the course of the past two months. On the twenty-second (22nd) of August's major update, the region of Calefacta Aquas Piscinae fell victim to a short-lived invasion when NPA personnel rallied alongside the Black Hawks, the Europiean Republican Navy, Lone Wolves United, and others to seize the Delegacy for a day prior to a return by the region's Founder. Thirteen (13) of the North's finest participated in this endeavor and the exemplary efforts of many were showcased.

Shortly thereafter, on the twenty-fourth (24th) of August's major update, fourteen NPAers set out to bash the fash in cooperation with regions belonging to ANTIFA. It remains unclear exactly why these hateful ideological elements thought they ever stood a chance against the glorious boot of freedom, but suffice to say that then-Minister of Defense Rom was very happy to see such great poise from his army on display.

In other news, a joint operation between the North Pacific Army and the East Pacific Sovereign Army on the thirteenth (13th) of September's minor update resulted in a handful of regions being tagged and one region being defended. Five regions were visited in total and General BluieGamer lead the charge on the trigger. Lastly, rounding out the month of September, the EuroOlympics were underway and the NPA simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to compete. Later the same day, on the thirteenth (13th) of September's major update, ten soldiers deployed to EuroOlympics King of the Hill for a smile pile event! Soldiers remained stationed there for a few days out of the week before the host region came to recapture their hill.

... and that's all, folks! Up until this point, we've been staying busy, you've probably been staying busy, and we hope that you all have been staying safe during these difficult times. Thank you for reading this issue of the NPA Bulletin as we've rehashed the past two month's events and gotten to enjoy some precious moments in time with your favourite GPers! Until the next segment, cheers!

The North Star: Lighting The Way To The Truth
Publisher: TlomzKrano :: Executive Editor: BMWSurfer :: Managing Editor: Bobberino

The North Star is produced by the Ministry of Communications on behalf of the Government of The North Pacific and is distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs externally and the Ministry of Home Affairs internally. Except where otherwise indicated, all content represents the views of the Government of The North Pacific.

Index of Issues