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A recruitment telegram is a telegram to recruit nations to Refugia, you probably got one sent by Refuge Isle.
Yep, it can be seen as a url button thingy on the world fact entry above!
Cheesy Tots, Typica, Refuge Isle, Floofybit, and 2 othersJunitaki-cho, and Tiralta
Oki, sorry about being late on this - I thought it was nowhere near queue when I last checked 3 days ago and suddenly it's here @_@
But the proposal I'm talking about is The World Assembly (GA) proposal International Scientific Cooperation!
Proposal: page=ga
Thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=519563
ETA to vote: Already at vote
Establish a place for nations to exchange ideas
Create an international scientific database
Host symposiums
Give grants to nations to help with research
Everything else about the resolution focuses on giving more detail towards those responsibilities. The resolution focuses on further points in Article IV (where it lists the right of member nations in regards to interacting with the ISCA), Article V (the process for ISCA review of research submitted to be included in its database), and Article VI (detailing the establishment and duties of the ISCA Oversight Board, which aims to help resolve ISCA-related disputes).
Councillor opinion time!
I personally feel the resolution is well written in some aspects and serves a good purpose. I do feel it can be vague in certain parts, but whether that actually matters is something I don't have enough GA experience to measure yet.
However, there is a contradiction within the resolution, shown by Junitaki-cho on the Calref Discord, which is a point of concern.
Essentially, Article II(1)(b) reads:
Yet Article IV(b) reads:
Which means the database is supposed to be public but also is not inherently public at the same time. Junitaki-cho also raised a concern about the definition of "peer review" as not mandating peer review from an expert in the same field as the scientific paper. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing as the ISCA can establish further quality requirements, it is an oversight on the author's part.
In the same discussion I found another contradiction, based on Article IIIb. which reads:
and Article IVa., which reads:
Essentially, I think a nation could arguably secure funding from the ISCA per IIIb., then state it has the right to withhold its work per Article IVa - thereby gaining funding yet not returning anything to the ISCA. A flaw that can be abused.
For these reasons and considering it is at vote, I therefore recommend voting AGAINST this resolution. However, I'd still like to hear y'alls thoughts! How is your nation voting on this - and why? ovo
The Star Enpire, Chacapoya, Lethodus, Refuge Isle, and 6 othersSylh Alanor, Araine, Floofybit, Junitaki-cho, Liphia, and Tiralta
Welcome Cielsky, United nation of oreo, Bowie island, Elsatopia, Hanig, Prince fez, Barony of ispara, Infernoia, United socialist peoples city, Viamay, Courourck, Dragorna, Bung ugh, United states of sul america, Cherumbria, Neu bolanden, Lechlia, Ganbiel, Bosnia and hergzegovina, Toga the card farmer from changwon, Siberiwa, Audaculus, The scarfleet homeworld in totality, The cozian, Kantaley, Huliunov, Ghabless, Pludia, Havendskaya sr, Renquaz, Hmanistan, Churley, and Hydeparkland to Refugia!
It's so nice to have you all here! There’s a lot of great information in the welcome telegram you’ve already received, but I have a few things that might help settling into the region easier. Refugia is part of a larger community named Calamity Refuge, or CalRef. We have a discord here: https://calref.network/chat/ and a forum here: https://calref.cc/index.php. Links for both are in the region description box at the top of this page. We host game nights and movie nights from the discord server, and have been recently making our way through the Studio Ghibli catalogue. On the forum we have RPs and spam games (not really related to NS). If you want a place to just chill and talk to friendly people, those are great spaces for that.
If you haven't already done so, please consider joining the World Assembly and endorsing the delegate (that's me!). Click the link to learn more information on what that means and how to do it. If you join the World Assembly, you can endorse as many other nations in the region as you want, and get endorsed in return. You'll also become a Refugia Member State, which means you can vote in our elections and get a spot on our map of Refugia!
If you join the World Assembly now, you'll be a Member State in time for the elections beginning in just a few days! It's a perfect time to get involved.
If you have any questions, please let us know. Everyone here is really friendly- I think we’ve only ever had one fatality from an introduction. If you prefer to read something pre-written over asking, however, check out this dispatch:
Welcome to The Admin Tower, the central organisational point and directory to all of our associated offices, archives, and research material. In lore, the Admin Tower is the conduit by which internet magic is converted into administrative magic via its anchor stone. Channelled by powerful Administrators, this magic forms the lands of Refuge Isle, as well as its digital buildings, such as the forum boards, wiki, lounge, and more. The collective body of which make up our IC and OOC community, Calamity Refuge.
Our NationStates presence is known as Refugia: a chill, left-leaning region that cares about the environment, human rights, and with a disproportionately large LGBT population. Notoriously independent and self-sufficient, by and large, Refugia rejects cumbersome diplomatic arrangements that infringe on our self-determination. We develop and operate our own internal infrastructure, so as to never need to rely on third parties. As a result, this community is jarringly stable, having existed since 2008 and with every intention to keep being around.
The Refugi government is comprised of the Regional Council, a group of co-equal leaders who oversee their area of focus with unimpeded authority. Our regional law, the Refugia Revised Statutes, is constructed from Member States' contributions. Proposed changes are voted on directly by all Member States at the time through a region-wide referendum on our secure off-site voting suite, Vote.CalRef.
Refugia is likely most notable for our contributions to the World Assembly. At the time of this writing, Refugi have brought about a total of forty resolutions (not counting co-authorships) to the voting floor. Thirty three of those were successfully passed into international law. Our semi-regular Green Week competitions champion our values as an eco region by challenging members to grow their eco-friendliness and environmental beauty in a two-tier approach that makes competition possible for both old and new nations.
We have been through such adventures as having twice survived zombie invasions without a single casualty, and most recently ranked 23rd in the world for survivors in 2022. Refugia has been a vital member of the Potato Alliance, a thermonuclear wartime faction, where we contributed to blocking 30% of all nuclear missiles during N-Day 2022. We were previously instrumental in the defence of Ba Sing Se, which was flawlessly shielded from all radiation damage during the nuclear assault of 2020.
Refugia is also 2nd in NationStates for most World Assembly endorsements, through our robust endotarting culture, and we boast one of the highest International Artwork scores per capita. All of which can be attributed to the awesome people that live here.
Refugia's government is composed of five different Regional Councillors, as defined by law in the Refugia Revised Statutes. Four of the Councillors are elected directly by Member States in three month terms, and subject to recall votes by the same. Each of the four Councillors are, further, limited to be elected but twice in a row to keep new ideas and innovation coming into the seat. For every position, a Councillor is largely at liberty to decide the fate and direction of their office and how it wishes to conduct its business (unless explicitly stated by law). Certain substantial decisions about the regional direction require votes that original from Council members. All Councillors have equal power in these matters.
Presently, the Regional Council is composed of the following members:
The Arch-Administrator, presently held by Refuge Isle. Although there is no head of government, due to the co-equal council structure, the Arch-Administrator is often a figurehead for the region as head of state. The Arch-Admin's responsibilities are primarily to appoint and dismiss other fairly elected councillors into their offices, as well as maintaining records and regional infrastructure.
The Councillor of Foreign Affairs, held by Chacapoya. The Foreign Affairs Councillor maintains relationships with Refugia's allies and is responsible for managing the diplomatic corps of the region, providing lines of communication and timely updates, as well as managing it's necessary staff. The Councillor provides regional advice for the opening and closure of embassies, which are carried out by regional referenda.
The Councillor of Culture, currently vacant. The Councillor is responsible for hosting regional events that develop regional engagement and cultural identity. By law, the Councillor must develop regular and updated Eco-Reports for the region, that describe Refugia's environmental goals and how members can help reach them.
The Operations Councillor, held by Morrigan. Operations requires a general knowledge of the world of NationStates, as its role is to be on the look out for threats to the region from outside and from within. When global events spiral all of known creation into turmoil, it is the Councillor of Operations that will determine the region's plan of action to deal with it.
The Councillor of World Assembly Affairs, held by Sylh Alanor. World Assembly Affairs is responsible for facilitating discussions on World Assembly resolutions-at-vote, developing dispatches with Information For Voters (IFV) on current resolutions at vote, and providing regional recommendations for votes to the World Assembly Delegate.
All of Refugia's regional law is currently contained within the Refugia Revised Statutes. Any legal member state is entitled to draft a proposal to amend the law, and all proposals are passed by a simple majority of member states within the region. In this regard, Refugia is one of the few regions of the world that practices a direct democracy style, instead of passing the right to legislate through a more exclusive body. The statutes were originally the charter which founded the region and previously called the Regional Organisation and Integration, which organised Refugi Member States to form a government from a previously disassociated collective.
There have, at this time, been approximately ten revisions to the Statutes, carried out by four different authors. There remains an entire world's worth of legislation has still to be created. All past referendums to modify the law are recorded for reference purposes here.
The Regional Map was first announced on September 24, 2019. Any Member State within the region can fill out the application in the dispatch and telegram it to Sylh Alanor. Once the completed application has been received, Sylh Alanor may reply with questions to better understand locations or specific details, and will then let the Member State know when they're in queue for the next map update. The application mostly consists of details about the nation that will be placed onto the map itself, and we highly recommend filling out all questions to the best of your ability.
The region of Refugia is a collection of variously-sized islands located on the divide between the Hipster Sea and the Sea of Art in the North Connection Ocean, granting the people that live there access not only to high quality coffee and bicycles, but also premium paints, pens, and musical instruments. The region famously sprung from the depths of the ocean on January 31, 2019 fully formed and ready to be populated, entirely unquestioning toward the things that may have existed in its place before, or how it got here.
The secret annals hidden away on floor 16 of the Admin Tower suggest that Refugia is actually part of some strange multiverse, a liminal space between different dimensions and possibilities, but in all respects outside of metaphysics, life seems to progress entirely normally.
The countries that make up Refugia cross boundaries of many different species, culture groups, and religions, but everyone works together to ensure a brighter future. Simplebots depart the Admin Tower approximately once per month to take new surveys of Refugia, noting the types of people that live in our region and reporting back to the Office of Cultural Affairs, which prepares and updates the official map.
Each Member State is given a gift basket upon springing from the earth, filled with essentials like chocolate, magic springs, and the dictionary of Travel Runes created within the Office of Foreign Affairs. By drawing these Travel Runes, any member of Refugia can travel to and communicated with the outside world.
How Does is a series of dispatches and Wiki.CalRef articles provided by the community of Refugia.
This program aims to provide helpful tutorials about all things NationStates through our membership's collective experience and know-how. Anyone is welcome to use this repository of knowledge, and we hope it serves to allow the reader to accomplish any of their goals. Should any dispatch here go missing, a backup will be available through the link in the far right side of the navigation bar, which will redirect you to to our off-site wiki.
If you are coming here from the wiki and notice that this article is out of date with the wiki's version, please contact the author of the dispatch in question, the Arch-Administrator, or the Councillor of Culture.
The Refugia Tower Archives is an ongoing project overseen by the Arch-Admin to record various data and statistics for both the region of Refugia and the wider NationStates website.
Originally started as a series of disconnected dispatches to record Refugia's regional history as it was being made, the project has since expanded into a much larger, ongoing process. Our informational dispatches currently include Refugia's historical regional data such as Council history and delegate voting records for specific World Assembly resolutions. There are also a growing number of dispatches such as top regions by World Assembly members, World Assembly trends and history, and other NationStates statistical pieces which are accessible to anyone.
Any data or record errors should be reported to the local authority.
Chacapoya, Cheesy Tots, Lethodus, Typica, and 9 othersRefuge Isle, Araine, Floofybit, Junitaki-cho, Liphia, Portmanteau, Dacay, Tiralta, and Hanig
Picture this. You're on a road trip. You stop at a gas station. What are you grabbing for road trip snacks?
I would, of course, grab red bull and goldfish.
Delta Vega IV, Chacapoya, Typica, Araine, and 5 othersFloofybit, Liphia, Portmanteau, Everetunga-Hari, and Tiralta
A coke zero and Maarud Potato Chipd
Delta Vega IV, Chacapoya, Lethodus, Araine, and 4 othersFloofybit, Liphia, Portmanteau, and Tiralta
Ice cold coke and some peach rings!
Delta Vega IV, Lethodus, Araine, Floofybit, and 2 othersPortmanteau, and Tiralta
Fruit juice and fruit chews! I know it's not necessary a treat or a anything but it's still good!
Chacapoya, Lethodus, Araine, Portmanteau, and 1 otherTiralta
Just noticed I have 17 new banners with my latest issue. I suspect the news of A Banner Year may be responsible.
Anyways, I really enjoyed seeing this one
Araine, Floofybit, Junitaki-cho, Portmanteau, and 2 othersTiralta, and Kaltea
Thanks for writing this up, Zuk ^-^ (just giving it a little signal boost here).
Since the regional vote is still trending opposite my ultimate vote, I'm going to point to the wider discussions within the server that you summarised in the spoilered portion of your post. I'd gone into this vote with no real opinion on the proposal but was more than convinced to vote against by watching the discussion unfold.
Delta Vega IV, Cheesy Tots, Typica, Araine, and 3 othersFloofybit, Junitaki-cho, and Tiralta
Banana chips and those really acidic Fanta Orange fruit juices.
Cheesy Tots, Lethodus, Araine, Floofybit, and 1 otherTiralta
Sparkling water and jaffa cakes.
Delta Vega IV, Cheesy Tots, Lethodus, Typica, and 3 othersAraine, Floofybit, and Dacay
Water and clif bars.
Chacapoya, Lethodus, Sylh Alanor, Floofybit, and 2 othersTiralta, and Bobesville-sholstine
Good answer
I could imagine wearing a bracelet with dice attached onto it, that would actually be pretty cool.
Delta Vega IV, Chacapoya, Typica, Araine, and 7 othersPortmanteau, Everetunga-Hari, Dacay, Aephony, Tiralta, The Pacific Northwest, and Hanig
Oooh that would be cool!
Araine, Floofybit, Portmanteau, and Aephony
Dude be creating a whole vibe
Araine, Floofybit, Portmanteau, Dacay, and 1 otherHanig
Cola Zero and a yeast chocolate cake
Hard choice between car air freshener & toddler sneaker. I ended with the former because it could perhaps come in handy in some public restrooms.
1. The way I read it, The DB is public, but only among the nations that are part of the science-sharing community. Just like "publicly available" could be limited to people above a certain age, so may other restrictions apply.
2. It is the responsibility of the nation asking for the grant to ensure the product of their research meets the conditions in IVa before applying for the grant. It is clear from IIIb that failure to do so disqaulifies the nation from receiving the grant.
This is my personal reading, so I voted For. I understand the concern of people reading it differently but personally disagree.
Cheesy Tots, Lethodus, Typica, Araine, and 4 othersFloofybit, Portmanteau, Tiralta, and Hanig
20 large pack sour cream and onion pringles
Lethodus, Floofybit, Portmanteau, and Tiralta
I will embed dice in my jacket. Push me down a hill and I will tell you what you rolled.
Delta Vega IV, Chacapoya, Cheesy Tots, Lethodus, and 8 othersTypica, Araine, Floofybit, Junitaki-cho, Portmanteau, Everetunga-Hari, Dacay, and Tiralta
my post was deleted i am mad, writing this times 2
I think definitions of publicly-accessible can vary on whether they include restricting access (i.e. access to the "general" public) or open to all.
Because there is a strong possibility one can interpret publicly accessible as not allowing restricting access itself (example shown here), I still think it is at the very least a likely contradiction, even if not a sure one as I was arguing earlier.
So, definitely a good point.
A nation could shirk that responsibility on purpose, obtain as much from the grant they can, and then utilize their IVa right to prevent from giving any of their work. I do not believe the fact that they promise a commitment in IIIb prevents them from exercising their right later on - they always have the right to determine when to give their research as no exception is given.
I imagine this could only be abused once per nation/group/person, but it's still a pretty not-so-great thing imo
That's totally fine! I really appreciate your thoughts on this ^-^ Thank you for sharing them, they're good points.
__________________
While the GA discussion is always open, I'd also like to raise notice towards our newest World Assembly resolution (SC) International Maxtopia Day, written by the glorious Honeydewistania!
Thread: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=519987
Proposal: page=sc
ETA to vote: At vote
This resolution is a more jokey declaration regarding the nation of Maxtopia, whom I'm 99% sure is owned by Max Barry and/or NS staff. Maxtopia is a nation that often appears in issues as an important focus point, as the resolution alludes to. It was also one of the first nations created in NationStates and passed the first resolution of the United Nations (the WA's predecessor) and the World Assembly - via admin mechanics than actual voting. After stating on elaborating on these WA-related facts, the resolution goes over some of the more notable (and arguably 'noble') characteristics Maxtopia showcases throughout national issues. The proposal then concludes that November 13th should be made International Maxtopia Day, in honor of Maxtopia's widespread influence across the globe in fighting corruption and instituting the World Assembly.
In my opinion, I like the resolution a lot. A lot of work is put into it to make it very well written and I appreciate the loose language that often makes the same appearance in issues. I also like that the very long-form and pretty format similar to Condemn Golgoth (per Condemn Golgoth's author's own words as well) was put to great use for this. In otherwords, its extremely creative and a funny proposal! I'll be honest and say that I do think this would've been interesting in an alternate more serious RP-ish format as well, but I get the entire point of the resolution was to kinda play off the joke trend of bringing back old UN resolutions which is completely fair. Either way, as I said, a really awesome resolution and many props to Honey for writing something so well-made. (And arguably the best joke resolution we've had in a looong time.)
So that's my opinion! I'm off to bed twt. But before I go, I'll drop an easy recommendation FOR this resolution and yet ask - what do you all think on this resolution?
The Star Enpire, Delta Vega IV, Chacapoya, Honeydewistania, and 8 othersTypica, Araine, Floofybit, Junitaki-cho, Portmanteau, Dacay, Tiralta, and Hanig
I feel like I could wear like those tree air freshers as earrings or a necklace and no one would question it for a second.
Just seems about right for how I dress, honestly.
Delta Vega IV, Chacapoya, Cheesy Tots, Araine, and 4 othersFloofybit, Portmanteau, Dacay, and Tiralta
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