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The Lazarene Gazette Feb. 2020 | 1st Management Report + much more!


Issue 11 • February 2020
Contents: Report • RP Contest • United Massachusetts • Workhorse Roger • Imaginary Ketchup

Management Report
by Imaginary

Hallo!

I think one of the most important parts of good leadership is holding yourself accountable to the entirety of the community one guides. Regions flourish when their leaves are in the sunlight.

For this reason, I intend to publish monthly reports in the Gazette detailing what the cabinet has accomplished, what we're working on and what we want to get to. Here's the first one!

Color Codes:

    Accomplished
    In progress
    Want to get to

General:

    Appoint cabinet and advisors
    Set goals for departments

    Do campaign promises
    In-game elections for something so on-siters can participate in aspects of regional leadership

Internal Management:

    List on WFE for current/upcoming events
    Roleplay contest
    LazENDO event

    LazART Event
    Mentorship program

    Organize "Laz Awards" event for community

Public Relations:

    OWL-20 Event with Osiris and The West Pacific
    Pax Poukai Treaty with The South Pacific
    Do something nice with The Rejected Realms
    Ambassador team organization

Guard:

    Warzone practice
    Fascist region clean-up operation

    Napping \o/
    Teach more people to trigger

Shareholdership:

    Create guide for becoming a Shareholder
    Create guide for being a Shareholder

    Regional outreach (?)

EMPLOYEE OF
THE MONTH:

Debussy


I'm really proud of what we've been able to do the first month in business, and a hearty thank you to everyone who's helped!

Directors Leonism, Custadia, Honeydewistania and New Rogernomics were crucial in our latest LazART event, reaching out diplomatically to The South Pacific, leading our Guard's operations across January and creating helpful Shareholder guides respectively, while Vice-Director Chanku coded a program that allows nation-specific lists to be generated for LazENDO.

Many residents also stepped up to offer their assistance in various programs. Mzeusia helped Debussy with the RP contest, many are assisting with the new mentorship program and a multitude participated in the latest LazENDO event, helping to make our region stronger.

Speaking of Debussy, I would like to award him the rebooted Employee of the Month award. Over the last month he has time and again been the one pushing out ideas in Internal Management and making sure they can have a path forward into fruition. A charming member of the RMB community, he also spends time queueing up music on Discord for others to listen to and posting cute bird pictures in the spam channel. =) Congratulations Debussy, you've deserved this!

And thank you all so much. I look forward to continuing our work in the coming months!

Roleplay Contest: A Rural Winner
organized by Debussy

Last month's Roleplay Contest, inspired by Mzuesia and hosted by Debussy, asked participants to write about a rural aspect of their nation. And now, our two lovely judges have decided on a winner.

Please enjoy Spottilogic's entry!

Life During Wartime… in the Country... in a Benevolent Dictatorship

Block 1

(Recommended listening: Talking Heads “This Must Be the Place”)

“Camden. Roam the golden valley in search of that perfect Chardonnay. Explore antiquities shops filled with artifacts from yesterday and yesterwhere. Skip a stone on a tranquil lake or surf the waves that crash on unspoiled beaches. Have an IPA with friendly locals or discover farm-to-table delights in a different restaurant every night. Camden. Whatever you choose, it’s your perfect adventure in the countryside. Get on the train today!”

Perry smirked to himself as he watched the tourist advert repeat itself endlessly on the in-seat screen in front of him. He was certainly on a train to Camden and certainly headed for an adventure in the countryside, but there would be no surfing or antique shop trolling for him. He was here on an assignment.

In this case calling it an assignment was absurdly optimistic. It would be more accurate to think of it as a fool’s errand. But as with most fool’s errands there was always a slim chance that the fool (Perry in this case) would get lucky and best the one who sent him in the first place. At stake in this game was perhaps a bigger assignment next time or more likely, getting bumped down to the traffic accidents desk.

Perry’s opponent in the game and the one who assigned him was the editor of the San Oclax Post Trumpet, one Mister Robert Allen. Allen needed a story that could keep an online reader engaged for two-minutes-and-thirty-seconds, entice them to scroll past two 300x250 pixel adverts and maybe, just maybe, get them to hit the subscribe button.

In Allen’s view Perry was the best choice for the task because as a new journalist he was fairly worthless when it came to digging in to the corrupt and byzantine politics of the city. He just didn’t have the cunning cynicism it takes to play verbal chess with even an admin-assistant-to-an-assistant-something-or-other. But he was a decent writer and had gotten a few hits with character pieces, so Allen sent Perry off to the country to get the common man’s perspective of the smoldering political divide between urban and rural Pacifica.

And Camden was an ideal choice to represent the countryside. Everyone in the city knew where Camden was. They all dreamed of a week of serenity and sanitized adventure it offered. Just putting the name Camden three lines down in an article would assure enough curiosity to register a hit with the advertisers. The simple interviews would no doubt have just the right blend of naïve bluster and superficial political perspective that anyone could relate to – or disagree with. But neither Perry nor Mister Allen nor the advertisers could guess that for one thing, Camden was not nearly as placid as the adverts made it seem, and for another thing, Perry was mortified at the thought of covering traffic accidents for the foreseeable future and for yet another thing, Allen could never back away from a story that had another installment built into it.

The train began to slow as it climbed the last big grade before dropping over the ridge into Camden Valley. Perry looked out the window and began to compose mental notes for his article. It played out in his mind with the opening words, “From atop Quest Grade, Camden Valley looks like a slice of heaven on Earth…”

Block 2

(Recommended listening: Talking Heads “Crosseyed and Painless”)

Synopsis

Meet the Devs: Zoomers. Millenials. Ancient Gen Xers. Urban dropouts. They earn obscene salaries and live in converted garages and garden sheds on Camden’s ugly backstreets. And don’t get me started on the organic farmers and SMB corporate-owned vineyards further up the valley. Perry will find these people and he won’t be able to ignore their un-Camden-like ideologies. Example statement from Grayson, a 19 year old software engineer: “It’s like a cancer that has cancer and they’re using cancer to try to cure it.”

View ALL Winners and Entries

PRIME MOVERS: United Massachusetts
interviewed by Marcus Vespasian (Zapatian Workers State)

    United Massachusetts, for the benefit of our readers, how would you describe the main crux of your policy in your distinguished career of representing the East Pacific before the World Assembly during the reign of "mad" Queen Yuno?

    Gladly. In short, I sought to turn the East Pacific into a sort of "WA Haven." By this, I mean a couple things -- (a) I wanted lots of people to engage with World Assembly issues, (b) I wanted an experienced WA team that could properly advise the Delegate, and © I wanted more people in the region to become authors. To this end, I actively sought out WA talent from all over the game, and tried to reach out to as many budding authors as possible, some of whom ended up joining the team. The idea was to create a virtuous cycle: better advisers produce better citizen-legislators produce better results produce more citizen legislators. We were actually quite successful at this, in my estimation: there was a good period of time where the majority of resolutions passed were churned out by our WA Ministry. I also came in at a time of waxing political power for The East Pacific, and sought to use that: it's no secret that I'm somewhat envious of the WA system TNP has established, and we tried to emulate them, particularly insofar as we sought to use the WA as a diplomatic tool to create partnerships. SIEGE comes to mind -- it was our attempt to lay "siege" upon the WALL with an alternative WA block.

    Aside from your work in organizing the East Pacific's WA Ministry, what were some major issues that you personally tackled in resolutions which you drafted and/or supported personally, and how successful do you believe you were in changing the landscape of the NS world through your endeavors in the long-term?

    Boy, that's a difficult question. In terms of general interactions, I think I'm most proud of my work in bridging the divide between religious and LGBT+ persons on NS. I'll admit I don't know how successful I was, but it's a hard thing to measure. As a gay Catholic, issues surrounding sexuality and faith can be hard to navigate, but that doesn't mean we can't have substantive, fruitful discussions. I think there is a lot of pressure of LGBT+ people to abandon their faith and for people of faith to reject LGBT+ people -- there is this constant narrative pushed on every side that sexuality and faith are naturally in conflict. I think that for a lot of people like me, dealing with issues of faith is the hardest part of navigating my gay identity, and constantly being told that we have to pick one part of ourselves and cast aside the others isn't helpful. To this end, I like to think I was able to promote more dialogue, to at least show people that there is another way. I think this came in terms of moving the needle in Right to Life somewhat on acceptance for LGBT+ people -- we ended up trying to open relations with quite a few LGBT+ regions, which I'm always grateful for. In terms of resolutions, I've authored/coauthored a set of LGBT+ rights resolutions that I'm quite proud of: Ban on Conversion Therapy and Affordable Transgender Hormone Therapy. I'm also proud of my work on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Expression, which codify important "first freedoms."

    You mention your affiliation with Right to Life in reference to LGBT issues. Right to Life, for some, is a controversial region, yet most of this alleged controversy seems to have escaped your person as regards your standing in the GCRs. Do you have any comment on why Right to Life is viewed with suspicion in some circles, and how your affiliation with it affects your public image and persona?

    Firstly, I wouldn't say that the controversy from RTL has escaped my person. It has followed me wherever I go, and I made that choice. I've had people refuse to work with me on account of my involvement in Right to Life, I've had some call me a sexist for being a member of it, and the list goes on. When a cause is important to you in real life, though, stuff that people say in an online game can't get to you. I'm a member of Right to Life because I believe that ending abortion is the prime human rights struggle in the modern West, and I'm not afraid to say as much. I think RTL is viewed with suspicion by some largely on account of its political stance. I understand this suspicion -- it makes sense to not be fond of those who espouse an opinion you dislike as their fundamental ideology. But I think there is something to be said about why there is only one true single-issue region in the game, and one that has had quite the impressive run thusfar. I think it has something to do with the energy of the movement for life in the real world; it takes real dedication to a cause to be able to say "I'm going to define my politics and my NS participation around this single issue, because that's how important it is to me."

    In what other ways has your Catholic faith influenced your activity aside from Right to Life? For instance, how may it have been reflected in your role vis-a-vis the World Assembly, apart from LGBT issues?

    I don't think I could answer this in a book. My faith defines pretty much everything I do on NationStates, and that's particularly true of the WA. By this, I mean to say that my politics derive from my understanding of Catholic Social Teaching, and everything I do in the WA tries to flow from that source. Some call this problematic, but honestly, I think that if the Gospel is correct, if Jesus actually died for your sins and rose from the dead, if God actually made you in his image, and if there actually is an objective moral good, the only rational choice would be to surrender your entire lives to those truths. I am convinced of the truths of the Gospels, and I am thus convinced that they ought to be the center of my work on NationStates. From my endless push to repeal so-called "Reproductive Freedoms" to my pursuit of procedures for codifying just war theory, I have tried to put faith at the heart of my legislation.

    You have spoken much now about your social policy positions, especially as relate to LGBT and abortion. However, now I ask how your campaigns have impacted in the World Assembly in the realm of economic reform.

    Well, I actually think a lot of economics issues were settled by previous authors before I came in, such that it was hard to find growing room for an economic agenda. But nonetheless, I've had one. I fully support the repeal of "Individual Working Freedoms," a resolution currently on the books that stops the WA from taking substantive action to protect labour rights and set workweek legislation. It codifies the problematic arguments made by laissez-faire liberals in some very sketchy RL cases (think Lochner v. New York), and it also prevents us from actually completing what would be a tremendous resolution to establish paid parental leave. I think Individual Working Freedoms was largely put in place because WA regulars hated seeing poorly-thought-out workweek resolutions. I'm in the process of drafting a replacement to put up on the forum before we repeal. Frankly, I think I "repeal-now-replace-later" attitude is perfectly tolerable for this situation, but some disagree, so right now, our efforts are on that. I'm also hoping to go after Big Tobacco in a coming resolution, but those plans are under wraps!

    You were present when Queen Yuno was ousted as autocratic ruler of the East Pacific and replaced with Fedele, and subsequently, also present upon Fedele's own fall from grace. What do you make of these momentous events in recent TEP history and how would you characterize the viability of the current government?

    Well, Queen Yuno was never ousted or autocratic -- that was a joke we spun in the "Liberate TEP" resolution that we had launched as an April Fool's Joke. The whole world recognised that Yuno had a democratic government, and this was obviously true given the drama surrounding the first election of Fedele (and believe me, there was all the drama fit for a democracy!). Yuno was a genuinely great leader, and I think history has largely vindicated her already, and for good reason -- under her leadership, TEP went from a fifth-rate feeder to the second-most powerful region in the world. It spread its global influence, organised real and fun activities, and even passed a self-liberation! It's kind of sad to see what's happened since Fedele got into office, but it started with the purging of plenty of my friends on false OOC pretenses and the subsequent importation of questionable personalities, both from LWU and beyond. Honestly, through this whole situation, I'm a Yunoist at heart, because I think that Yuno demonstrates what a delegate should look like: proactive, joyful, diligent, passionate, the list goes on. I can only hope the current government will embody some of those qualities going forward, and having worked with Marrabuk and Libertanny extensively, I think they represent the best of the wave of talent that came alongside Yuno. Combine that with the "Old Guard", who have defended TEP for so long and were our best line of defence against Fedele, and I think you have a strong recipe for a successful government.

    For one last question, would you impart any advice to the good people of Lazarus from your experience among the prime movers?

    Stick with what you believe in. For far too long, I tried to navigate the waters of geopolitics like any good politician would. It is tiring, fake, and makes the game less fun. Find an area you enjoy, a cause to champion, and just go out there are do it and take what arrows may come. Also, if you ever come around to a regional redesign, just saying I've floated out some pretty genius ideas...

Interview with New Rogernomics
interviewed by Debussy

    New Rogernomics is a workhorse. In every corner of the region, there is some contribution from Roger – his latest being a Linkguide to citizenship. He is the go-to forum administrator, our Chief Operating Officer (COO), and recently appointed advisor for citizenship. A long time Lazarene, joining the region on September 4th, 2007, Roger has been a member for 13 years. The Gazette sat down with Roger to found out more about our COO.


    What was the first region you joined?

    Around 2006, I joined a small region called Trans Atlantice, and eventually become UN Delegate there, which was the precursor to the WA.

    How many times have you become a Delegate?

    Once in Trans Atlantice, and once in Lazarus.

    How long were you Delegate?

    In Trans Atlantice for at least a few months, before the region merged with another UCR. In Lazarus, I ran for election in September 2015 and was elected Delegate of Lazarus on the 28th of September, or as Sovereign as it was known then. I was delegate till the end of December of that year.

    Why were you Delegate for only 4 months?

    That was the period of term for the Delegacy back in the Humane Republic of Lazarus.

    Did you run again or decide not?

    I decided not to run again, as I was mostly satisfied with forum administration duties. I became a forum administrator around the time I was Delegate, and continued as an administrator till the Celestial Union civil war.

    Is there anything eventful or memorable about your time as Delegate?

    We had fun role-play during the Z-Day event, I mostly just voted on WA resolutions and gathered endorsements, and I pushed somewhat for improving of relations with the New Pacific Order, which was a policy that the WA delegate after me, Loftegen, would pursue further. Loftegen served as Delegate for two terms. Also, Funkadelia and I came to rhetorical blows over inter-regional recruitment policy.

    What was this policy and how did you come to blows over it?

    Well, it became problematic as it was a policy that was not my own, but I was forced to defend, as I was only made aware of it till months into my Delegacy. Funkadelia, who was the Delegate prior to my term, had allowed Kazmr to run a secret recruitment campaign against The Pacific. Recruiting in other Game Created Regions was not very acceptable back then, and is not really today.

    I was tired of this going on, on my watch, so I discussed with Kazmr over making what was going on public, and trying to push for the option for all GCRs to be able to recruit from each other.

    Funkadelia was really opposed to making this public, and was angry because I had not informed him, in his opinion.

    This eventually led to a GCR recruitment conference, where I supported this idea that GCRS should be able to recruit from each other.

    Funkadelia publicly attacked my administration as Foreign Minister during the conference, and Kazmr and I took the flak for the policy.

    Eventually though, most agreed to let the issue slide, and a few well-known players came to my defense. When charges were put forward that I was being malicious about recruiting in GCRS. Mostly, it didn’t really stick, as I was clearly inexperienced.

    Do you still support the policy of recruiting from other Game Created Regions or was this apart of what you were forced to defend?

    Recruiting from Game Created Regions is still an unresolved issue to this day, I am not against GCRs recruiting from each other to this day, though realistically it looks like GCRs would have to sign recruitment agreements with each other, as not all GCRS agree. The NPO was not against the policy at the time, though obviously with the NPO and Lazarus at war, such an accord would be impossible these days.

    Any other memorable events you would like to mention?

    I think the most memorable part of my term was the Z-Day event, where I role-played the government response to Z-Day, and another faction played as a religious Zombie Empire faction that argued becoming a zombie was a gift best shared.

    Eventually I declared a communist revolution of robots against the zombie menace. So many Lazarenes were dead by that point though, and the event ended. Was a lot of fun, I haven’t really experienced another Z-Day like it since.

    Do you have any dispatches or texts from that event?

    This was the regional message I sent out when Z-Day was starting.

    And when it was ending.

    Here is the Gazette entry from that month too.

    Belschaft led the religious faction.

    Greetings, brothers and sisters, Today is a glorious day, for Lazarus stands first before the great goddess [violet], with more followers having accepted her gift of undeath than any other region. Whilst we are still faced with the resistance of a few deluded heretics who cling to their mortal lives, and a new communist robot insurrection, our victory is inevitable. Trust in the wisdom and benevolence of [violet] and you shall be gifted an eternity in which to glorify her. All that is left is to spread her gift to those few unenlightened souls who yet resist, and Lazarus shall forever prosper under her divine rule.

    That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die.

    - Belschaft, Prophet of the Great Goddess [violet] and Zombie Overlord of Lazarus"

    This has been great. Thanks for sitting down with us, Roger!

Catching up with Imaginary, PM of Lazarus
by New Rogernomics

    What inspires you about Lazarus?

    That is a really good question. I spent a really long time thinking about that in the past. You know, after choosing to invest so much time into one region, it would be rather silly not to put things into perspective for yourself. I think it comes down to three things for me: the community, the culture and my past.

    I spend a lot of time just hanging out on the RMB; a lot of players focus on discord or the forums nowadays but a lot of friendships and gold can be found right here, on the site. I think this way I feel really connected to the whole community, onsite and offsite. Both wildly different worlds, and I love them equally.

    The culture is also very unique to Lazarus. It's certainly no NPO or TSP. Lot of depth, lot of things to get involved in, yet at the same time it doesn't feel cluttered. Always a piece of blank canvas that one can express oneself on, and of course, last but not least, I used to be a spy in Lazarus. I need not add anything else!

    If there is one food you could take with you, what would it be?

    Sliced pizza. Portable, enough to quell ones hunger and can always be shared to make a new friend.

    What are your hopes for 2020?

    I am... hoping for successful elections this year! Hopefully after that in the next year... New opportunities will arise for me to try my hand at making Lazarus even better. Being involved for a while I think I can see what things could be changed and implemented, so big plans there! I'm hoping to have as much fun as I had this year, scare all the drama away and subdue many Warzones with our ever expanding military.

    Do you have some final words of wisdom for us this winter?

    Do not eat the yellow snow! Stay warm, wear your hats and enjoy the holidays. You will not be prosecuted for taking a bit of time off from lazarus to spend some time in the outside world this time...Will love to see you all back here sooner or later.


Your imaginary friend

Edited:

RawReport