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The Cable - August 2020
The Cable
August 2020 | The Embassy
We're delighted to bring you the third edition of The Cable, our newsletter which aims to build communications between our embassies. Please share this with your region-mates by posting a link on your RMB.
July was fairly peaceful for us in The Embassy, despite the unwelcome return of the sunglasses-sporting, car-driving, text-"art" known as Meme Dog. I had thought this devil dog had crashed that car and burned up long ago, but sadly it's not true! In our polls, we played Tag, followed by a game of Cat and Mouse. One of TourAdvisor's biggest contributors contested an election this month (congratulations, co-Prime Minister), but still found time to grow this project (thank you!). Elsewhere, we saw mixed fortunes for embassy collectors, with one being tag raided, and another Commended. Congratulations Vippertooth33!
But if you're just thinking, "I don't care about any of this. Why did I get a notification?", then this section is for you.
Removing the "fascist" tag from the seventy-something tags that adorned our region left a strange sense of incompleteness behind. Our WFE read "Anarchist, Anime, ... and 70 others". It now reads "Anarchist, Anime, ... and 69 others". The tag was never really visible, yet still it feels weird. Like having no underwear under your trousers. No-one else will notice or care, but you know. So, what to do?
41% of respondents thought we should do nothing. 30% thought we should remove all our tags. And 21% had this crazy idea that we should choose tags that represent our region. I know, right?
But which tags would represent the region? Top suggestions were "social" and "casual". Also included were "neutral", "recruiter friendly", and possibly my favourite suggestion, "magical". I hadn't thought of us as magical before, though we did have The magical puppet here for a long time, and we do have A Goblinoid Merchant. I guess Hogwarts graduates need to get jobs somewhere. Why not in The Embassy?
7tp division, Aleixandria, Amtropolis, Antenion, Bangova, Bobby the bern zennenhund, Canary montgomery burns, Carver islands, Celestial provinces, Colin advance wars, Deacarsia, Dollystana, Dominioan, Eastern Tatarstan, Empire of coolguy, F for surrender, Federation of sarawak, Foril, Germ-any, Godterra, Grinch donnie dictatorship, Him yoink wung, Homyland, Hopal, Icecreamsin, Kingdom of casetaria, Korean pop empire, Kraftwerk Autobahn, La Xinga, Laamiva, Lewayiin, Marxist germany, Maxcon, Melicorium, Mersdon, Morales evo, Mxjsims, Mystireo, NAXIMOVISTAN, Nefouzia, Neon csa, New skandenivia, News now, Nordic-British Union, Nouguinkelospianland, Nyjorkalloid, Polish commander, Polish soldier division 1, Polish soldier division 2, Polish soldier, Potato valley region, PotatoFarmers, Prelet, Prussian sail nation, Republic of sarawak, Reyo, Ruspuk, San carlos islands, Smiley Bob, Springfield nuclear power plant employee, Springfield power plant employee 2, Springfield power plant employee 3, Springfield power plant employee 4, Springfield power plant employee, Sulavia, Team Leo, The Age of Utopia, The gold mines, The peoples caribbean union, Tinhampton, Tiplomecja, Trading card game, Trump united realstates, Ugosal, Venetiana, Volcanislavia, Voxija, West monrovia, Zorglandia, Zumo de naranja
Fans of Tom and Jerry (or Itchy and Scratchy) will be interested in this one. When it comes to this or that, which would NS choose? Cat or Mouse? Well, it's hard cheese for Jerry - it was the cat that got the cream in this poll.
Aethelia, Aleixandria, Arizcara, Arnotistan, Arstotzka and east obristan, Catianai, Colin advance wars, Compassionland, Elite leomonade, Essaht, Explodeingtnt, Fcn blue moon, Germ-any, Graag brom, Grishahakkaverchynot, Him yoink wung, Kabuto city, Kingdom of casetaria, Korean pop empire, Landoistan, Melicorium, Nokiro, Odus, Ostrovskiy, Pythor p chumsworth, Really Big Bama Fan, Refuge Isle, Sail nation, Seven seas, Smiley Bob, Swatteuer, Team lennox, The neo ottoman sultanate, Trading card game, United states of natan, Upper mwindo, Vanatini
The MT Army, Commended by the Security Council, is an embassy collector - of sorts. The overwhelming majority of the 1,142 embassies currently held by them are refounded ex-fascist regions.
Leader of The MT Army, Vippertooth33 deservedly received their own Commendation on 29 July. Co-authored by Honeydewistania and Sargon reman, the Commendation applauds Vippertooth33's work against fascism in NS. We were lucky enough to secure an interview with Vippertooth33.
The Ambassadors Reception: Nice to see Sargon & Honeydew's proposal going through.
Vippertooth33: Thanks, its a very big honour and unexpected at that.
AR: How long have you been doing this for?
V33: Since 22nd of June 2003 when I created The MT Army to combat the major threat (back then) of Nazis and Fascists on NationStates.
AR: When you joined NS, it wouldn't have been with the intention of taking down Nazi regions. What were the events that inspired you to go down this route?
V33: In early 2003 I was encouraged by a good friend of mine, James the Great (Sanmyaku), to join the nation simulation game called NationStates. On the 15th of May 2003, I created my first nation The peace makers. James the Great (Sanmyaku) invited me to the region he had just founded, Mariner Trench (MT), of which I graciously accepted. MT became not only my home, but that to many close real life friends plus several internet acquaintances of whom we recruited over time.
After a period of a month or so I received a telegram from a nation by the name of Hawks, alerting me to a danger that was threatening peace and prosperity in NationStates. The danger he was referring to was the Nazi/Fascist dreadnought, a force to be reckoned with, they were the powerhouse of NationStates. Their U.N membership (now W.A) army was gigantic; they invaded any region they liked, spreading hate through their conquests.
The Aryan Army Nazi powerhouse coalition; consisting of NAZI EUROPE, The URAP, The NSIA, Axis and Nazi Deutschland Axis lead the way for the Nazi/Fascists. A bunch of real life Neo-Nazis with a god complex. The Nazis seemed to be invading, nearly everyday, disturbing everyone, and Hawks was concerned that they were ruining the game for innocents that were not interested in the invasion/defending side of NationStates.
I decided I had to do something about this so I created a new nation Vippertooth33 and joined up with Hawks, in a small region he had, Groom Lake, ready to help build an army to defeat this evil. Not soon after, Hawks became inactive and eventually their nation ceased to exist, and to this day I have not heard from them since.
As Groom Lake fell apart without their founder, Hawks, I returned to MT with all the information I now had about the Nazi/Fascist threat to NationStates. After much discussion amongst my fellow Trenchians, we decided to take things into our own hands and attempt to lead a resistance against the Nazis/Fascists. The citizens of MT elected me as the leader of this army, and my goal was to not only help defend innocent regions against Nazi/Fascist attacks, but to strike back and hit them where they were not used to being hit.
On the 22nd of June 2003 I used The peace makers to found a new region in which to operate and coordinate our attacks, The MT Army, MT standing for Mariner Trench. Every single civilian nation in MT took up arms against the Nazi/Fascist threat, by creating a "Warrior" nation and joining the army.
AR: What impact do you feel this has had on NS as whole?
V33: When The MT Army first joined the fight, the Nazi and Fascist forces were at their peak. We quickly made a name for our selves within the NationStates community for our successful invasions of their strongholds and our defending against their raiding parties. We formed great alliances and partnerships with other Anti-Nazi/Fascist/Dictatorship/Authoritarian and Defender armies and together we reined in the Nazi menace, region by region.
Over 17 years we have had many periods of hibernation, realising our services were not always needed, especially when Nazi/Fascist activity was at a low. But we always answered the call to return when needed. Whether it be providing logistical support, WA assistance, teaching tactics, unifying/rallying forces and always setting the example for emerging Anti-Fascist armies and individuals.
The result has been sustained success with the beaten and battered Nazis/fascists losing their intensity and barely willing to invade innocent regions for fear of retaliation and continual soul-crushing losses. We are willing to take the brunt of Nazi/Fascist hate and attention if it means the rest of NationStates can be free of it.
"Life is a game of inches”. NationStates is no different. When people see all the Nazi/Fascist regions we have captured and all those that we have defended from their hate, they are reminded that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".
AR: Things can't always have gone your way. What was your biggest fail? And what was your epic win?
V33: We had several failures against "The Aryan Army" alliance in the early 2000's when we were still finding our feet, particularly against one of their member regions named after the US state "Idaho".
There have been so many great victories but the epic win in terms of emotional investment would have to be the destruction and capture of the last surviivng "Aryan Army" regions, "The URAP" and "The NSIA", where i I utilized "Nazi Jason"/"Metal Manson" (WA), one of my then 11 plus year old undercover spy nations to secure the victories in 2016.
"Nazi Europe" and "The Greater German Reich" were meaningful and impactful victories.
Successful undercover operations such as in "United Supreme Dictators" and the complete destruction of the still foundered "Fascist and Imperialist Union" hold a special place in my heart.
AR: Honeydew's Commendation says you convinced "the Nazi founder of White Aryan Resistance to forcibly remove over eighty Nazi nations from their region [...] resulting in one of the largest Nazi strongholds at the time being completely destroyed". That sounds like an incredible story. What happened there?
V33: WAR? I managed to convince the founder that Nazis were not good people 😛
In turn they kicked everyone out and gave me the founder nation then left the game, lol. It was quite a large region at the time. That tactic has never worked again unfortunately.
AR: That's some level of convincing you must have made! You'd think that with a region name like that, the founder would be a hardcore supremacist. Was it a conversation that went on for ages, or was it practically a snap reaction on their part?
V33: It was a long time ago but i seem to recall it was over a period of a week or two, not long really.
AR: And what do you do on NS for fun when you're not busy embassy collecting?
V33: Not much to be honest, i am particularly focused on what i do best, taking out Nazis/Fascists. The majority of my NS time is organising, unifying and spying on the enemy where they least expect me :P
Other than this, general chat with friends and allies, community building in Mariner Trench is about all.
AR: Is there anything else you feel is important to share?
V33: “When they bring us down with hate and fear and ignorance, rise up with compassion and courage and knowledge”.
My advice for dealing with bigotry in real life:
Often when humans don’t understand something we tend to be afraid or suspicious of it, even to the point of avoidance. This leads to disconnection, fear, isolation and finally ignorance, resulting in hate.
Unfortunately even good people can be led down this bad path, triggered by experiences such as trauma, abuse, unemployment, neglect, untreated mental health conditions and even privilege. Radicalization occurs whilst searching for belonging in their life. The yearning for belonging leads them to join toxic groupings of misguided others.
To combat bigotry in real life, it is paramount to improve the resilience and self confidence of the troubled individual. For example, provide them with the skills to compete in the job market so they don’t have to blame the other that they have never met.
There is little point arguing with a bigot and they are unlikely to change their views. Don’t ignore or push them away however, draw them in closer, listen to their story and figure out which experiences led them down this dark path. Provide them with the tools and resources necessary to overcome these situations.
Receiving compassion and empathy from the very people they least deserved it from will help change them for the best. Find someone undeserving of your compassion and give it to them, for those are the people who need it most.
AR: Thanks so much for the interview! And that's some fantastic advice in your dispatch. Thanks for sharing.
🌍 TourAdvisor is the searchable, crowd-sourced guide of places to go in NS. Build the best browsable guide to the NS-verse by reviewing the places you've been, and the things that you've seen. Read our guidelines, and post your review!
This month, Pagan horde gave us insight on Lily, and Sail nation travellers gave us the lowdown on United League of Nations and Region Name. Hagston's Choose Your Own Adventure, The Hypnotist, became the first dispatch to be added to TourAdvisor.
On 17 July, Lardyland was tag raided by joint forces from Lily, The Grey Wardens, and the South Pacific. Lily are renowned tag raiders, so no surprise there. But TGW and SPSF are known defenders. So what was their motive for the raid?
FiHami of the South Pacific said "There are a few reasons why we would hop in a raid of Lardyland. Fascist tag, embassies with fascist regions, and quoting Hitler on the RMB. While the SPSF is defender, we have no qualms about bashing some fash, and those who allow those abhorrent ideologies to reign free."
Tagged with all available region tags, Lardyland is mostly populated by riotous spammy kids. Their RMB reads like textual diarrhoea. Yes, they have the fascist tag (along with every other tag). Yes, they have some fascist embassies (along with several hundred others). And yes there is a Hitler quote somewhere on their RMB (along with thousands of other equally random, context-less posts). It's hard to believe Lardyland follow any ideology other than spam.
The raiders removed all the tags (not just the fascist tag), and instructed all embassies to be closed (not just the fascist ones). They suppressed numerous posts on the RMB (though not the Hitler quote).
Prarie loses in mofa elections posted on the Lardyland RMB: "Wherever we find fascism, we'll stomp it out. And by having a region tagged fascist with people quoting Hitler on the RMB, you're making yourself a target. I hope you learned your lesson."
Did Lardyland learn a lesson? Well, all the tags are back. All embassy closures were cancelled. And their WFE read simply "fascism" for a few days after the raid. But they did learn something. They learned to set their WA Delegate position to Non-Executive.
A month earlier, the Union of Shoddy Subaverage Republics was quietly raided by the Pacific. The "fascist" tag was removed. Just four of their embassies were closed. And that was it. It took a while before the residents realised it had even happened. And no-one has re-added the tag, or re-opened the embassies since. There's a lesson in there, I'm sure.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the face of evil that is Meme Dog, I have spoilered it below.
╭━━━━╮ This is meme dog. Help
╰┃ ┣▇━▇ meme dog take over nation-states
┃ ┃ ╰━▅╮ by pasting
╰┳╯ ╰━━┳╯ him in 10 other
╰╮ ┳━━╯ regions or he
▕▔▋ ╰╮╭━╮ will never be a meme
╱▔╲▋╰━┻┻╮╲╱▔▔▔╲
▏ ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ O O┃
╲╱▔╲▂▂▂▂╱▔╲▂▂▂╱
▏╳▕▇▇▕ ▏╳▕▇▇▕
(=' :')
(,(")(")
This devil-dog returned to haunt our RMB on three occasions in July, earning a suppression each time. I'm not against text-art as a rule - I'm all for cute bunnies - but there's something about this dog that drives me spare!
In July, our overall embassy count dropped slightly, in line with the total number of regions in the NS-verse.
The Diplomacy Awards celebrate the foreign dignitaries that interacted with our RMB in the past month, either by making posts, or clicking 'Like'.
We think it is great to appreciate a state. This month's 'like' button bashers are:
Hearts | Like Count | Nations |
❤ | 66 | |
🧡 | 46 | |
💛 | 39 |
We like to host posts, and toast those who post most. This month's prolific posters are:
Volume | Post Count | Nations |
🔊 | 56 | |
🔉 | 31 | |
🔈 | 25 |
We get really psyched about those who were 'liked'. This month's most praised posters are:
Awards | Like Count | Nations |
🥇 | 82 | |
🥈 | 49 | |
🥉 | 39 |
We can't say it straighter - you're the greater orator. This month's premiers of praises per post are:
Style | Likes per Post | Nations |
🖋 | 4 | |
🖊 | 3.6 | |
🖍 | 3.5 | Random Country 453632, Sail nation, Sail nation travellers, Zlatan Ibrahimovic |
* Nations making multiple posts during the month are eligible for The Floored Award.
India have produced The Monthly Tabloid, and Thaecia are publishing the The Federal Post.
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Absolutly Terrible, Awesomeland012345, Dominant Oppressors, Doom soul, Dorchester and sussex, Eternal hallownest, Mathuvan Union, New hyannisport, Nouguinkelospianland, Of Altonianic Islands, Oneid, Ostrovskiy, Random Country 453632, Really Big Bama Fan, Romagina, Skoda Drivers, Smiley Bob, Sultanate sultanate, The industrial city, The new empire of bigboom, The peoples caribbean union, The republic ofTexas and northern Mexico, William Beebe