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The current WA Resolution, Repeal "Stopping Suicide Seeds" has been posted on our off-site forums at:

http://www.runboard.com/bnationstates.f2.t83802

GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION AT VOTE

Repeal "Stopping Suicide Seeds"

A resolution to repeal previously passed legislation.

Category: Repeal

Resolution: GA#249

Description: WA General Assembly Resolution #249: Stopping Suicide Seeds (Category: Environmental; Industry Affected: All Businesses) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: Convinced that regulation to prevent the exploitation of farmers is preferable to an outright ban of a technology which has considerable utility in limiting the spread of transgenic crops,

Concerned that these restrictions place an unnecessary technological constraint on food production that increases the chance of famine as populations grow faster than food output,

Noting that the target resolution does not ban the domestic for-proft production of these seeds whilst burdening governments with unnecessary restrictions that compromise competitiveness, technological advantages, trade secrets, and national autonomies, and

Believing that 249 GA's ban on a 'genetic modification technique that renders the seeds of a plant sterile' would make it significantly harder to protect native species from the accidental spread of transgenic organisms without prohibitively expensive administrative protocols,

This august World Assembly hereby:

Objects to the ban on 'government funding [of] any for-profit entity that is engaged in GURT or [its] research', as nations should be able to fund those emergent technologies they believe are necessary to maintain their competitiveness in the global economy;

Protests the fact that private companies must disclose trade secrets developed after significant investment to a world agency without any guarantee that their investments will be protected, opening the door for foreign corporate espionage;

Disapproves of the ban on 'transport across a national border, without preapproval from WAFDRA, of any plant or seed that has been modified using GURT' as national governments are quite able to regulate their own foodstuffs without the pre-approval of an inefficient international committee;

Hopes for replacement legislation that corrects these issues without the collateral damage noted to the environment, national competitiveness, technological advantages, trade secrets, and national autonomies;

Repeals 249 GA 'Stopping Suicide Seeds'.

***********************************************

GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION # 249

Stopping Suicide Seeds

A resolution to increase the quality of the world's environment, at the expense of industry.

Category: Environmental

Industry Affected: All Businesses

Proposed by: Christian Democrats

Description: The General Assembly,

Seeking to protect subsistence farmers and small farmers from multinational corporations (MNCs) that seek to maximize their profits at the expense of these individuals, thereby depriving them of their livelihoods and their ability to ensure dignified existences for themselves and their families,

Recognizing that MNCs, through genetic engineering, have developed technologies that try to make independent farmers dependent on the companies in order to maximize profit and to gain monopoly control over the agricultural industry,

Concerned by the possibility of widespread monopolization in the agricultural industry,

Identifying genetic use restriction technology (GURT) as a genetic modification technique that could be used by MNCs as a means to achieving the aforementioned ends,

Noting that this biotechnology produces what are known as terminator seeds or suicide seeds, which are seeds intentionally modified by the MNCs so that the seeds of their progeny are virtually useless and oftentimes unable to grow,

Realizing that the intent of this technology is to make seed saving obsolete and to make it necessary for farmers to buy seeds from the MNCs year after year,

Fearing that terminator genes inadvertently could escape into the general population of food crops, thereby resulting in decreased biodiversity, increased dependence on corporations, and increased world hunger due to the large number of intentionally sterilized seeds,

Aiming, therefore, to restrict GURT in order to protect small farmers from exploitation by biotechnology companies and to prevent genetic contamination of other crops or plants,

1. Defines the following terms for use in this resolution:

Variety genetic use restriction technology (V-GURT): a genetic modification technique that renders the seeds of a plant sterile;

Trait genetic use restriction technology (T-GURT): a genetic modification technique that leads to plants whose seeds are fertile; but those seeds must be treated with a special chemical (or chemicals), usually one that is produced only by a certain company, so that they will grow properly or so that the plants grown from them fully will express their genetic traits;

2. Requires that all member states ban or strictly regulate V-GURT and T-GURT;

3. Mandates that all companies, corporations, and other such entities that are engaged in GURT and in commerce within the jurisdiction of this Assembly disclose to the World Assembly Food and Drug Regulatory Agency (WAFDRA) all information regarding their activities related to GURT;

4. Bans government funding for any for-profit entity that is engaged in GURT or research of it subject to the provisions of this resolution and other active resolutions enacted by this Assembly;

5. Prohibits the transport across a national border, without preapproval from WAFDRA, of any plant or seed that has been modified using GURT subject to the provisions of this resolution and other active resolutions enacted by this Assembly; and

6. Calls upon member states, in their foreign policies (especially their trade policies) and in their laws regulating the biotechnology industry, to discourage V-GURT and T-GURT in other member states and in nonmember states.

Votes For: 9,956 (70%)
Votes Against: 4,312 (30%)

Implemented: Thu May 16 2013

Originally Mikeswill voted for the World Assembly Resolution "Stopping Suicide Seeds" and amongst NationStates residents, voting was 29-3 (90% For).

Mikes Hope Essence of Mikeswill
WA Delegate
NationStates Region

Mikeswill wrote:

Originally Mikeswill voted for the World Assembly Resolution "Stopping Suicide Seeds" and amongst NationStates residents, voting was 29-3 (90% For).

Voting is current 95% for a repeal. Nothing changed between now and then. It's funny how easily we are swayed by rhetoric...

Aorious and Cavatellic pastafarianism

Fresynde wrote:Voting is current 95% for a repeal. Nothing changed between now and then. It's funny how easily we are swayed by rhetoric...

WA has just been "make a resolution then repeal it" recently. Ug

Arithei, Aorious, Cavatellic pastafarianism, and Kevin o leary

Alright, the first poll in our adventure is up.
Let's see how this goes.

Pastiche, Framley, The land between places, Cavatellic pastafarianism, and 1 otherFresynde

Please remember THE WEST PACIFIC is still in the middle of its Autism Awareness Week!

Feel free to comment, make questions or post your experiences in the GP Thread: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=374830

And please read and upvote our dispatch:


AUTISM ACCEPTANCE AND EDUCATION WEEK

Several organizations around the world have designated April as the National Autism Awareness Month in the US, a movement that other countries are mimicking around the world. Other organizations have created the paralell Autism Acceptance Month, during April as well. In NationStates, we would like to host the NS's Autism Acceptance and Education Week

As the different movements in the Real World have political differences, we've decided to run this week in our own way, for which I would like to invite all Regions to paint their WFE Purple, and help us educate those who do not understand what Autism is, assist those who would like to know more, and "promote acceptance and celebration of autistic people as family members, friends, classmates, co-workers, and community members making valuable contributions to our world"

But, what is Autism? Autism is not an "illness", and when people refer to “Autism” today, they are usually talking about Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), which are five complex, brain-based disorders that affect a person’s behavior as well as social and communication skills. The Centers for Disease Control describes ASDs as: “developmental disabilities that cause substantial impairments in social interaction and communication and the presence of unusual behaviors and interests. Many people with ASDs also have unusual ways of learning, paying attention, and reacting to different sensations. The thinking and learning abilities of people with ASDs can vary—from gifted to severely challenged. An ASD begins before the age of 3 and lasts throughout a person’s life.”

Why Acceptance? "Because autistic people are you friends, family members, children, partners, co-workers, fellow-citizens, customers, and neighbors. Because autism is a natural part of the human experience. Because autistic rights are human rights. Because autistic people can speak for themselves, and they want you to listen to us. Because autistic people aren’t going anywhere. Because this is their world too. Because there are all kinds of minds, and this world is big enough for all of us."


How is the Autistic Brain Different

Sensory processing

Autistic people process and use their senses differently from most people. They are are more intense, and more difficult to understand and manage or less intense, and harder to use. Every autistic person is different, and so is their experience.

Because their senses can be overwhelming or hard to use, many autistic people engage in repetitive movements. These repetitive motions--rocking back and forth, flapping hands, tapping fingers repeatedly against palms, twirling, shaking a string of beads in front of their face, etc.--are known as motor stereotypies, or “stimming.” Stimming helps an autistic person sooth and calm themselves, regulate their senses, process the environment, and think clearly.

Language and Communication

Around 20% of autistics do not develop oral speech. These autistics use augmentative and alternative communication
methods such as typing, sign language, picture exchange, pointing, and other methods to communicate. Many autistic people, even people who can speak, also need to use some of these communication methods in their everyday life to say what they really mean. Most autistics do develop the ability to speak. Some autistics develop speech later in life than their peers. Some autistics develop speech, but primarily communicate by repeating things other people have said. This is called echolalia.

Some autistics have fluent oral speech. Their language might be scripted, verbose, literal, circumspect, or otherwise different. They might have a difficult time with grammar, pragmatics, or social communication. Most autistic people also have a hard time with receptive communication, which means they might have a hard time understanding what another person is saying, especially if they are using language abstractly or metaphorically.

Motor Skills

Many autistic people have delays in fine or gross motor skills or coordination. Sometimes this leads to an additional diagnosis of dyspraxia or apraxia. For some autistic people, this means that oral speech is impossible, or that pointing, shoe tying, initiating movement, and other things are difficult or impossible.

Cognition

Many autistics might be described as “rigid,” “inflexible,” or black-and-white thinkers. They may not be comfortable with ambiguity, change, or lack of structure. Or they may seem particularly ritualistic, compulsive, or detail-oriented. Many autistics have problems with executive functioning--the ability to stay on task, pay attention, switch between tasks,
initiate new tasks, use their memory effectively, and control impulses.

Some autistics also have a diagnosis of intellectual disability or a learning disability. Autism is not the same as an intellectual or learning disability, but some people have both. Research is finding that the number of people who are both autistic and intellectually disabled is much lower than it used to be thought.

A common characteristic of autism is hyper-focus, or “perseveration”: intense focus on one subject, special interest, or part of a larger system or object. This can be anxiety-producing (for example, perseverating on whether or not you remembered to turn the stove off,) incredibly useful (for example, an autistic person who is obsessed with astronomy might have a very successful career studying their interest) or just fun or relaxing (for example, stamp collecting).

Social Behavior

Autistic people may have a difficult time reading other people’s body language, tone, and nonverbal cues, and often have unique or eccentric ways of communicating and expressing non-verbally. This can also make it difficult for us to interpret the nonverbal communication of others.

Many autistic people find eye contact uncomfortable or may forget to or be unable to make it at times when it may be socially expected. The ability to make eye contact can vary a lot depending on the situation, the people involved, and the amount of stress that we may be under.

Perspective-taking is an important part of social interaction. Many people rely on their own intuitions of how they would behave when trying to take the perspectives of others. Autistic people, due to differences in cognition, communication, sensory processing, and motor planning, tend to have very different perspectives and reactions than many people.

It may be very difficult for autistic people to make or keep friends, or engage in large amounts of social

How is autism diagnosed?

It is important for people suspected of autism to be evaluated by professionals who know about autism. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs), typically as part of a team, may diagnose autism. The team might include pediatricians (in the case of childs), neurologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and developmental specialists, among others. SLPs play a key role because problems with social skills and communication are often the first symptoms of autism. SLPs should be consulted early in the evaluation process. There are a number of tests and observational checklists available to evaluate children with developmental problems. The most important information, however, comes from parents, siblings, friends, caregivers and those close to the person, who know him/her best and can tell the SLP and others all about the person's behavior.

Sources:
LinkASH Association
LinkAutism Society
LinkAutism Science Foundation
LinkAutism Acceptance Month Main Site

Further Reading
LinkDon't Mourn for Us, by Jim Sinclair
LinkI Am Autistic: An Evocation, by Brent White
LinkMy Answer to the Question 'What Does Autism Feel Like?', by Lori Sealy
• If you are within the spectrum, and wish to share your experience, please create a Dispatch, and we will link it here. If you are a caretaker or an all to someone within the spectrum, also allow us to share your experience.

I'm a Delegate, how can my region help?
• Pin this dispatch to your RMB
• Upvote this dispatch
• Purple up your WFE appearance during the week of April 24th to April 30th
• Publicize this in your RMB

I'm an Individual Nation, how can I help?
• Share your experiences with us
• Upvote this dispatch
• Talk your delegate about this event
• Fly the NS Autism Week flags which you can find LinkHERE and LinkHERE


Inform yourself and support NS's Autism Acceptance and Education Week by upvoting this dispatch and inviting your regions to pin it and share it!

Read dispatch

Wear the banners and flags. Inform yourself! The whole awareness is meant for you to gain knowledge about the topic, and hence be able to inform those around you! Spread the knowledge, help others be aware!

Cheers,
Elegarth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also remember we have Karaoke every Friday, and any regions with embassies are always welcome to sing-along with us!

Cavatellic pastafarianism

Monday, 18 April, 2016 :: 40

Return is the movement of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.

All things are born of being.
Being is born of non-being.

Bongononbong

Ionali wrote:Alright, the first poll in our adventure is up.
Let's see how this goes.

Are you making it up as you go or do you have a plot? Would you accept ideas for the story as telegrams?

Fresynde wrote:Are you making it up as you go or do you have a plot? Would you accept ideas for the story as telegrams?

kinda both to the first question.
I might accept ideas by TG, depends on what I've decided and how good it is.

Ionali wrote:Alright, the first poll in our adventure is up. Let's see how this goes.

Olympia's hundreds of miles from the Rockies. We're between the Olympic and Cascade ranges.

And our local cryptid is called "sasquatch", not "bigfoot."

Sorry... just keeping it real in the great Northwest. :)

Ionali

Do the seeds explode or merely not reproduce

Pastiche wrote:Olympia's hundreds of miles from the Rockies. We're between the Olympic and Cascade ranges.
And our local cryptid is called "sasquatch", not "bigfoot."
Sorry... just keeping it real in the great Northwest. :)

Well, I moved away when I was 8, memory is a little foggy. Besides, I refer to the entire stretch of mountains (from Mexico all the way to Canada) as the Rockies, so realistically only maybe 300 miles, only 5 hours if you go 60 on the interstate.
with Kryptid, I used Bigfoot and Chupicabra(which is Mexican) as examples so people would know what it is.

Pastiche

Strict constitutionalists are becoming subjects of crypto biology in the US

Greensleeves

Today’s Featured Nation:
Hippies outcasts everything inbetween

”Peace is psychedelic, and war...its brutal man”

WA Category: Democratic Scialists

Civil Rights: Excellent
Economy: Weak
Political Freedoms: Below Average

Hippies outcasts everything inbetween's national animal is the Hamster a far out rodent thing, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests.

Hippies outcasts everything inbetween is ranked 188,299th in the world and 697th in NationStates for Largest Manufacturing Sector, scoring zero on the Gooback-Jerbs Productivity Index.

Mikeswill

The Mikes Hope Essence of Mikeswill graciously extends a warm welcome to our newest Nations:

Ironage
Dindu nuffinia
Greensleeves
Vaporworld
Grande insula

Achaelia
Anak ti
Autisn texas
Partolax

Our Esteemed Region continues to attract the Most
Enlightened Nations in the JenGov Land.

MH

Greensleeves

Yesterday’s Answer: Who is Rosie the Riviter?

Congratulations:
Hillary Clinton 2016

Only telegrammed responses will be considered
All responses must be in the form of a question

18TH CENTURY BRITISH

IN 1705 HE WROTE, “AND, IF IT SHOULD THEN RETURN, WE SHALL HAVE NO REASON TO DOUBT BUT THE REST MUST RETURN TOO”

Who is… ?

Tuesday, 19 April, 2016 :: 41

When a superior man hears of the Tao,
he immediately begins to embody it.
When an average man hears of the Tao,
he half believes it, half doubts it.
When a foolish man hears of the Tao,
he laughs out loud.
If he didn't laugh,
it wouldn't be the Tao.

Thus it is said:
The path into the light seems dark,
the path forward seems to go back,
the direct path seems long,
true power seems weak,
true purity seems tarnished,
true steadfastness seems changeable,
true clarity seems obscure,
the greatest art seems unsophisticated,
the greatest love seems indifferent,
the greatest wisdom seems childish.

The Tao is nowhere to be found.
Yet it nourishes and completes all things.

I can't believe it. I have not been offered any type of brownie since my arrival, nor have I been accosted by a cross dressing welshman

Pastiche, Framley, and The land between places

Dar es saalam wrote:I can't believe it. I have not been offered any type of brownie since my arrival, nor have I been accosted by a cross dressing welshman

We can arrange this if you want. It shouldn't be difficult to find one. Any preferences for the welshman's dress ?

I have both a Brownie and a Girl Guide that would love to sell you cookies.

Is that close enough?

Kismagyarorszag

I hear something weird ww3 event in nationstates? ? (I see this in forum )

Today’s Featured Nation:
Badenberg

”Ad astra per aspera”

WA Category: Inoffensive Centrist Democracy

Civil Rights: Excellent
Economy: Good
Political Freedoms: Good

Badenberg's national animal is the trout, which frolics freely in the nation's sparkling oceans.
Badenberg is ranked 5,058th in the world and 11th in NationStates for Most Politically Apathetic Citizens, with 58.98 Whatever.

Mikeswill

The Mikes Hope Essence of Mikeswill graciously extends a warm welcome to our newest Nations:

Ma0 p1ngp0ng g4m1ng
The rainboots
Nosliw ennayehc
Deepocean
Compax amor
Greater pathetica
Dathgoleor

Our Esteemed Region continues to attract the Most
Enlightened Nations in the JenGov Land.

MH

Yesterday’s Answer: Who is Edmond Halley?

Congratulations:
Wotopia
Greater pathetica

Only telegrammed responses will be considered
All responses must be in the form of a question

AT THE OLD BALLGAME

THIS WORD DATES BACK TO THE 19TH CENTURY & REFERRED TO WHAT THE SUN DID TO ROOFLESS SEATING

What is… ?

I need endorsements so I can make a proposal to start a trout fishing monopoly within this region.

Keripa wrote:I need endorsements so I can make a proposal to start a trout fishing monopoly within this region.

...I'm very confused what your proposal will do; please elaborate.

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