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«12. . .2,3792,3802,3812,3822,3832,3842,385. . .2,6342,635»

Verdant Haven wrote:Anarchy is just another WA category, like "Inoffensive Centrist Democracy" or "Psychotic Dictatorship." It is the term for nations with the highest rating in all three major freedom categories - high Civil Rights, high Political Freedom, and high Economic Freedom. Answer issues to push all your freedoms to their extremes, and you'll get there eventually.

I often have wondered if there's some sort of issue that would abolish the government and create an anarchy. I'm No. 1 in the region for Civil Rights and also for Political Freedom, and while I'm not right at the top of Economy, it's over 100 by some decimal point. And yet, I'm a Civil Rights Lovefest, and have been for ages. There are anarchies in Forest, but they all have lower Civil Rights and Political Freedoms than I do.

^Not that I'm "trying" to become an anarchy. It's true that I've set out to get to 100 in Civil Rights and Political Freedoms (which are always tantalizingly close but never actually happen), but both IC and OOC, I'm very much pro-government, so I'm in the running for having one of the squarest opinions in the world.

Frieden-und Freudenland, Mount Seymour, Rakavo, Nation of ecologists, and 2 othersGreat julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Ruinenlust wrote:I often have wondered if there's some sort of issue that would abolish the government and create an anarchy. I'm No. 1 in the region for Civil Rights and also for Political Freedom, and while I'm not right at the top of Economy, it's over 100 by some decimal point. And yet, I'm a Civil Rights Lovefest, and have been for ages. There are anarchies in Forest, but they all have lower Civil Rights and Political Freedoms than I do.

^Not that I'm "trying" to become an anarchy. It's true that I've set out to get to 100 in Civil Rights and Political Freedoms (which are always tantalizingly close but never actually happen), but both IC and OOC, I'm very much pro-government, so I'm in the running for having one of the squarest opinions in the world.

You're confusing Economic Freedom with Economy. Classifications use this stat: nation=ruinenlust/detail=trend/censusid=48

Besides that detail, there's the whole issue of player control & player autonomy. Since the player will always be in control of the nation, you can't really write issues that explicitly oust @LEADER. It would be a contradiction.

Frieden-und Freudenland, Ruinenlust, Nation of ecologists, Great julunaphra, and 1 otherThe eco-fascists

Ruinenlust wrote:I often have wondered if there's some sort of issue that would abolish the government and create an anarchy. I'm No. 1 in the region for Civil Rights and also for Political Freedom, and while I'm not right at the top of Economy, it's over 100 by some decimal point. And yet, I'm a Civil Rights Lovefest, and have been for ages. There are anarchies in Forest, but they all have lower Civil Rights and Political Freedoms than I do.

^Not that I'm "trying" to become an anarchy. It's true that I've set out to get to 100 in Civil Rights and Political Freedoms (which are always tantalizingly close but never actually happen), but both IC and OOC, I'm very much pro-government, so I'm in the running for having one of the squarest opinions in the world.

A few years back, I made a chart showing the grid for the 27* WA categories on the three-freedom access, color coded for how many there were of each at the time of the Season 2 card release:

I have generated a new version of the classic "WA Categories" breakdown chart, using new data about the ratio of various government types acquired from the Season 2 playing cards. I did this by using the LinkCard Queries interface kindly posted by The Northern Light on the Trading Card forums, here. This data was current as of that card issuance, 28 November 2019.

------------------------

Here's the chart:

Here's the raw data:

0.37% 605 Benevolent Dictatorship
0.37% 612 Tyranny by Majority
0.44% 724 Conservative Democracy
0.47% 777 Libertarian Police State
0.47% 780 Free-Market Paradise
0.79% 1296 Iron Fist Socialists
0.91% 1495 Capitalizt
0.95% 1558 Right-wing Utopia
1.43% 2362 Authoritarian Democracy
1.54% 2531 Compulsory Consumerist State
2.06% 3386 Scandinavian Liberal Paradise
2.19% 3605 Corporate Police State
2.19% 3610 Corporate Bordello
2.40% 3949 Left-Leaning College State
2.74% 4513 Capitalist Paradise
2.99% 4926 Corrupt Dictatorship
3.18% 5230 Liberal Democratic Socialists
3.40% 5601 Left-wing Utopia
3.77% 6208 Moralistic Democracy
4.30% 7089 Anarchy
5.69% 9373 Father or Mother Knows Best State (8864 Father / 509 Mother)
5.72% 9427 Civil Rights Lovefest
6.12% 10081 Psychotic Dictatorship
7.46% 12278 New York Times Democracy
7.70% 12681 Iron Fist Consumerists
8.10% 13336 Democratic Socialists
22.25% 36645 Inoffensive Centrist Democracy

Read dispatch

As Heidgaudr said though, it's Economic Freedom rather than Economy that is the stat in question - you're closer to joining me as a Left Wing Utopia than you are to becoming an Anarchy!

*Technically 28, but Mother Knows Best State and Father Knows Best State are the same thing category wise, with the word switching depending on gendering in other custom fields you can set.

Ruinenlust, Nation of ecologists, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Northwest homeland

Greetings friends

Jutsa, Ruinenlust, York Zionia, Great julunaphra, and 1 otherThe eco-fascists

good evening!

York Zionia, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Heidgaudr wrote:You're confusing Economic Freedom with Economy.

Verdant Haven wrote:As Heidgaudr said though, it's Economic Freedom rather than Economy that is the stat in question - you're closer to joining me as a Left Wing Utopia than you are to becoming an Anarchy!

🫠 ...and we've come to the first organic use of the melting face.

Played this game since August of 2016. Never actually realized this. I'm just going to go slip through the cracks in the floorboards now; don't pay any attention. As always, I've been your Executivenessnessness, bringing my big brain power to the conversation.

Things do make more sense now, though. I've never paid attention to the Economic Freedom stat...

Frieden-und Freudenland, Jutsa, Mount Seymour, Ownzone, and 5 othersZerphen, Heidgaudr, Nation of ecologists, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Santichushari

Ruinenlust wrote:🫠 ...and we've come to the first organic use of the melting face.

What does that emoji even mean? Does it mean that you’re in a geothermal volcano underwater and you’re happy to have your face melt? It would probably hurt quite a bit… :P (You may have noticed that I use :P a lot and others like, :D, :O, :) and :( less. I don’t know why that is… I also use … a lot… I mean a lot! :P My text language is very weird…)

Ruinenlust, Nation of ecologists, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Santichushari wrote:What does that emoji even mean? Does it mean that you’re in a geothermal volcano underwater and you’re happy to have your face melt? It would probably hurt quite a bit… :P (You may have noticed that I use :P a lot and others like, :D, :O, :) and :( less. I don’t know why that is… I also use … a lot… I mean a lot! :P My text language is very weird…)

I dug deep into the archives of one page ago, to bring you the marvelous origin story:

Ruinenlust wrote:I'd like to draw everyone's attention to this extremely important fundamental truth about the universe. *clears throat*

Extensive research on my part (in excess of one or two minutes, in fact!) has deduced that the very best emoji in the world is:

🫠

The melting smiley face. There's the 1.0 definition, which is like, "oh, it's hot today, and I'm melting." But that's for basic people. On a level of deeper truths, it's clearly the expression of one who sees that the world is on fire and how everything seems to be falling apart in slow motion, but who realizes that freaking out or raging is not the answer. Instead, just smile with a zen acceptance that you can't fix everything and that you can only hope to have your own little peace. Enjoy every good day, and relish the boring days when nothing happens. And just smile as it all melts. It's a pleasure just to be here.

Mount Seymour, Ruinenlust, Nation of ecologists, Santichushari, and 2 othersGreat julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

So today I heard a really good acoustic version with Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora singing Your Song.

The weird thing is though, I can't stand the original.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4vAf1esMT8s

So, do you guys have any acoustic songs you like where you don't particularly like the original? Bonus points if it's the same artist performing both versions

Frieden-und Freudenland, Mount Seymour, Honeydewistania, Northern Wood, and 2 othersGreat julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Rejoice, Forest! The Scarlet Witch is ascendant, and has chosen this region as the new home for her people.

Difinbelk, Santichushari, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

The eco-fascists wrote:By the way, before any one bans me, I am not an attention-seeking troll. I am an alt of The Orwell Society, and this is an account that I have recently made to see how high I can get in the environment stat. I decided to drop this nation here for a bit, because, you know, it's quite fitting in the eco part of the spectrum. :P

The Eco-Totalitarian Cyberocracy of Ecologist Hegemony warmly welcomes The Eco-Fascists to Forest.
Despite our few differences we need more eco-extremists to protect the environment, global warming is getting worse every year so we need more extreme measures.

Frieden-und Freudenland, Difinbelk, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Ecologist Hegemony wrote:The Eco-Totalitarian Cyberocracy of Ecologist Hegemony warmly welcomes The Eco-Fascists to Forest.
Despite our few differences we need more eco-extremists to protect the environment, global warming is getting worse every year so we need more extreme measures.

tbf, blowing up and burning down an oil refinery is also not great for the environment. :P

Difinbelk, Santichushari, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:So today I heard a really good acoustic version with Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora singing Your Song.

The weird thing is though, I can't stand the original.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4vAf1esMT8s

So, do you guys have any acoustic songs you like where you don't particularly like the original? Bonus points if it's the same artist performing both versions

Ryan Adams does a pretty good song-for-song remake of Taylor Swift's album 1989. It isn't fully acoustic, but it hits a lot of the same notes as that Ed Sheeran song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V-8VP5dnrQ&list=PL0XuugFoVt9mpuWuDMqOu4mLzkZZvnbUQ&index=8

Northern Wood, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

So I have been frustrated about some things in my academic program, and I need a place to vent. In all other social platforms I am a member of, I am either using my real name, or my nickname is known by some friends - so there is a risk that my identity could be revealed. I am still in my program, and I have no intention to quit, I want to graduate (in 2 years) so I don't want to do something that could invite retaliation. I think Nation States is a safe space, so I'll write my thoughts here, as a diary of sorts, and who knows - once I am out, I might write this somewhere under my real name as well, to give a word of caution to the posterity.

After 4 years in my PhD program, I noticed a bunch of things that nobody told me about. Being a first-gen student, it is even harder. My mother didn't even have college education, and there is definitely not a single person with graduate education in my extended family, so I had to find out about many things after starting. (Keep in mind that there is a non-negligible number of students in my program who have at least one parent in academia, and it is no coincidence.)

1. Money Issues

I believe this is a very important issue on which I got little to no guidance from people before starting grad school. People did say I should "ask about the money," but my ignorant self equated money with "grad student stipend/ salary" and did not think of all the other ways money would be important.

My stipend is low, of course, but then all grad student stipends are kinda low, so it is within the usual range. I have to live with a roommate and have to be frugal in general, but I am not starving (and the idea in academia is that you should be grateful for this modest amount of financial stability - lol).

Now, the crucial matter is that you also need money to do research, and since my university is a rich one with a huge endowment, I assumed we would have funding for research. This is where the reality hit me after starting. How rich your university is, is basically irrelevant for you as an individual grad student. What matters is whether your advisor has enough money to fund your research. Boom!

As I bitterly realized after starting, my advisor's funds were running dry. More specifically, she has a grant, but it comes from a line of research that is more attractive to funders. Therefore in recent years she also shifted her focus of research from what I do to what the funders are willing to sponsor. While the grad students who are involved in this grant project are well-funded, I had to go ahead and find a grant for my own project. As a non-US citizen, I am effectively barred from applying for any federal grant, but thankfully my collaborator (another international grad student in the same program) and I managed to get a departmental grant. Even that is hard though, because we have to jump through many hoops to be able to use the money. For example, we have to pay for everything upfront and then get reimbursed for it, we cannot directly withdraw money from an account. The reimbursement checks are considered "income" and we are taxed on it. (I believe I should be able to get a tax refund for this next year, but it is a hassle.) Moreover, there is a 1-year cap on the grant, meaning we should use all our money within 1 year, and any money that is left, goes back to the pockets of the department. Now, the thing is, it was announced in February that we got this grant, but the stupid Financial Office of our university could not finalize the paperwork to actually make the money available to us, until April. My collaborator and I argued that since the money was available in April, we should have access to funds until April 2023. The financial office adamantly argues that the clock officially starts ticking from the time the grant was announced, not from the time they actually made the money available, so we effectively only have 10 months to spend it. (And I am so spiteful, if we have any money left at the end I will just buy materials that are more expensive than "anticipated" -oops!- and have them reimburse us for them just so the money doesn't go back.)

Now, in order to be able to apply for this grant, we had to provide an itemized budget. One thing that neither I nor my collaborator thought of including was something like "stationery costs."

But lo and behold, since we work with human subjects, we recently wanted to print out some flyers, so we could pin them on bulletin boards and such to invite people to participate in our study. I emailed the lab manager to inform her about this, since we wanted to print out 100 copies or so, and I assumed this was pretty much a formality. I was wrong. She refused it and said if I wanted to use the lab printer, I was welcome to do so, as long as I bought my own cartridges. She dismissively added, "since you have a grant, you can pay for it from there." I told her in no uncertain terms that we didn't think of including "printing costs" in the grant, because yes, I am an idiot who assumed that this rich-ass university wouldn't be so cheap as to not allow me to print 100 sheets of paper. They literally have billions of dollars. But no. My advisor is broke and we cannot even use the printer for research-related purposes.

In many ways, I think that was the final straw. No other incident shows the absurdity of my PhD experience more clearly.

And this is actually specific to my lab, because when my request failed, I asked my collaborator if she could print it in her own lab. (She is in the same department, but in a different lab.) She was able to do so. So the issue is really that my advisor has no money (except for what comes from her fancy grant), so she is being cheap and I cannot even print flyers in the lab printer.

2. Advisor and Research Issues

When I first came to this program, I thought I was a really promising student, and I am grieving the fact that that promise was unfulfilled. And I am not saying this to shirk responsibility, but I believe my lack of academic progress has been largely due to my advisor's behavior.

In many ways, I feel that instead of encouraging me to pursue questions that are relevant for the field and are more guaranteed to lead to success, she duped me into pursuing questions that led to dead ends - and moreover I had no interest in them.

For example, in my very first year, she shot down a bunch of research ideas I proposed and was very motivated to pursue. Her reasons for rejection were sometimes downright ridiculous. She once said for an idea "even if you do this study and find that X is related to Y, that's too commonsensical, nothing is interesting about it." You may think that she is right, but please consider this statement in light of the fact that another lab mate in my cohort kickstarted her first project by replicating a very well-known finding in the field. Like, that was the epitome of "common sense." It would be a huge surprise if she didn't replicate it, because her research question - in terms of our field - was equivalent to asking "Is snow really white?"

I was also a very insecure person (I still am, but working on it), and could not push back. At the end, I wasted the first two years of my research pursuing a whimsical question that only interested my advisor personally, and - predictably - led nowhere. Even the second major project she forced me to launch was a follow-up study to a pet project of hers, one very little question she was hoping to answer, just to satisfy her own curiosity. That project is on hold now, some pilots we ran didn't quite work, and I didn't get around to actually running the updated version.

Wasting the first half of your PhD on two dead-end projects is surely a great way to undermine your already-lacking confidence.

There is literally only ONE project I am interested in right now, and I am really emotionally invested in it and excited to see what comes out of it. And why? Because my collaborator/ friend and I developed this idea, and it started out very informally, during a casual conversation. It is MY idea and I feel a connection to it, and I feel like this is what research should be like. And lament the fact that I haven't been allowed to pursue the questions I am really interested in until very recently, until we basically started this project.

While all my labmates have had their first publications (on the silly, primitive questions that were almost guaranteed to lead to success, because the effects that the studies are designed to find are too "commonsensical"), I still have to publish something. Given how finding an academic job is related to your publication record, I think my advisor basically killed my chances of ever being competitive in the academic job market. In some ways, I feel that I have been exploited and prevented from growing as an independent researcher because my advisor manipulated me to work on her worthless "pet projects" that were near and dear to her heart, but had no chance of ever being someone's research program.

Meanwhile, she is very aware of what leads to success and what brings money (i.e., her grant research). Early on in my PhD, I recognized the shifting tides, and actually wanted to jump on board and get involved in her grant research but she discouraged me from it (while the other labmates, except for one guy, are involved in it).

I was also sort of "demoted" in the lab after this shift to grant-funded research, I think. For example, all the rooms of our lab in the main building where our department is located, have been allocated to the students who do this grant research, and the testing rooms in the main building are also reserved for the testing that is done for the grant-funded research. Meanwhile, the other one guy who is not doing the grant research and me have been sent to a subsidiary building at the edge of the campus. Early on, I appreciated how quiet my new office was (attractive prospect for an introvert, of course), but it also bars me from being a member of our community at large or benefiting from any sort of intellectual exchange with peers/ colleagues, because most people are in the main building. I take this to be a physical, tangible reflection of my "demoted" status.

I am a non-White person, and can't help but think these problems (especially the problem of being manipulated to pursue dead-end research) are related to that, at least to some extent.

My collaborator is also a non-White international student. And she experienced similar issues. For example, her advisor - early on - encouraged her to do a longitudinal project, and it takes years to see any results (if you are lucky to see any). I acknowledge the value of these projects, but I think it is a terrible project to be someone's first PhD project. It should be pursued by someone who has more job security. The harsh reality is that the job market is competitive, we need shorter-term projects we can publish on before we graduate, and even the publication process can take up to a year, so spending several years on just following up people in a longitudinal project is pure madness. How are you supposed to find an academic job with no publications?

I recently told this friend/ collaborator that our advisors basically used us to get their whimsical questions answered, and in an attempt to satisfy their own petty curiosity, they gave us a pretty bad career start. She agreed and told me she had the same thoughts.

I admit that I never pushed back very hard against my advisor when she proposed these research ideas, even though I had a bad feeling about them. But what is more natural than an international student coming to a fancy PhD program to work with a renowned advisor feeling insecure about her own doubts? You think to yourself "she must know something if she really pushes me to work on this." But it turns out your bad feelings were quite right.

[To be continued]

Rhodevus wrote:tbf, blowing up and burning down an oil refinery is also not great for the environment. :P

Who talk about blowing up and burning down an oil refinery ? I was talking about drastic measures that governments should take.

Nation of ecologists, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:So today I heard a really good acoustic version with Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora singing Your Song.

The weird thing is though, I can't stand the original.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4vAf1esMT8s

So, do you guys have any acoustic songs you like where you don't particularly like the original? Bonus points if it's the same artist performing both versions

As a hardcore Radiohead fan, I hated the album version of famously never released song 'True Love Waits' when it was released on A Moon Shaped Pool. It was very puzzling when I heard people say it was the best Radiohead song ever (there are at least forty I'd place over it).

The acoustic Live From Oslo version is so much better, and I wish that was the official version.

Also, not that I hate the original (I love it), but the acoustic and live versions of Psycho Killer by Talking Heads are my favourite acoustic and live versions of a song.

Nation of ecologists, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Post self-deleted by Honeydewistania.

Ecologist Hegemony wrote:Who talk about blowing up and burning down an oil refinery ? I was talking about drastic measures that governments should take.

extremism doesn't usually involve government action tho

Difinbelk, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Santichushari

I can’t believe it… Someone called me a thing! A thing! I’m not a thing, I’m a human! Just because I am trans does not mean you get to dehumanise me, stereotype the community and say you’re not transphobic because you’re not scared of us like I’m scared of mustard and say transphobic stuff! And with the bad grammar, “I’m not transphobia” Of course you’re not transphobia, you’re a human, not a hatred! And I’m not fine living as male, it is awful! It is just ugh… And that person said something like, “It’s obviously a female” because according to a stereotyped view, women always bring up past events! Just because I bring up past events doesn’t mean I’m automatically a woman! Transphobes are saying that trans men are women and trans women are men, but if a cis person does something, then they’re a woman/man… Like, it makes no sense! Can I not say trans rights without transphobic cishets thinking I’m attacking them and taking away their rights? Just because I’m [CENSORED] non binary (Yes, it counts as trans) doesn’t mean I’m taking away one’s rights! (Sorry if this comes off as angry, I’m really upset about it… :( It’s really upsetting…)

Lura wrote:I dug deep into the archives of one page ago, to bring you the marvelous origin story

Thanks, it did help, although I don’t want my face to melt, I only want my marshmallows to burn in the fire and my cheese to melt in my bread! :P (Absolutely no chocolate, I hate chocolate! I ate too much of it and I can’t eat it… :P The same happened with basil, parsley, nuts and other foods!)

Heidgaudr wrote:Ryan Adams does a pretty good song-for-song remake of Taylor Swift's album 1989. It isn't fully acoustic, but it hits a lot of the same notes as that Ed Sheeran song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V-8VP5dnrQ&list=PL0XuugFoVt9mpuWuDMqOu4mLzkZZvnbUQ&index=8

Is it in English? I don’t like English music… Does anyone here like Huntza? I am obsessed with them! I need to listen to them every day, otherwise I won’t feel well… There’s no such thing as a bad Huntza song! I’m serious, every song is amazing, even though I haven’t listened to all of them yet! Here is their channel! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQpddeCngc0FHIy06O3_cgQ (Find whatever song and listen, it will be good! Trust me!)

Close your eyes when listening to 17:21 at around 3:25 and open them at around 3:40, there is a kissing scene… The Odoletan music video has a bit of blood in it, so don’t watch the music video version if you’re made uncomfortable or triggered by blood… The Haizeak music video has alcohol (specifically beer and wine), eating/drinking and COVID testing, so if some of these music videos make you uncomfortable or possibly triggered, skip to the song in the full album that the song is in and listen to it there, I don’t want to make anyone triggered or uncomfortable.

Rhodevus wrote:tbf, blowing up and burning down an oil refinery is also not great for the environment. :P

Agreed, there was a forest fire in my state for a long time last month and. Doing that could heavily impact the habitats of just about all the people, plants and animals there. It might turn the area into a giant wasteland, which I know no one will want. A wasteland is not what we need! I wish we had more kindness and peace in the world and less options bad for the environment! Climate change is not a scam! :P

Jutsa, Canaltia, Northern Wood, Nation of ecologists, and 3 othersDifinbelk, Great julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:So today I heard a really good acoustic version with Ed Sheeran and Rita Ora singing Your Song.

The weird thing is though, I can't stand the original.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4vAf1esMT8s

So, do you guys have any acoustic songs you like where you don't particularly like the original? Bonus points if it's the same artist performing both versions

Here we go.......my absolute favourite on this list must be "Sorry" by Kensington

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVrL9GxvyBA

The original (rock) version was overplayed and "overproduced". The accoustic version stripped it back to the essentials about relationships that never blossomed because one side wasn't able or willing to fully commit. It is an apology to a possible path that never happened. The unplugged version always fills me with sense of nostalgia. WARNING: For people with commitment issues this song might cut deep.

Frieden-und Freudenland, Honeydewistania, Northern Wood, Nation of ecologists, and 2 othersGreat julunaphra, and The eco-fascists

Daarwyrth

A new resolution is at vote in the General Assembly, and I urge everyone to vote in favour of the repeal! :) "Museums of Musical Heritage" has great intentions, but sadly executes its intentions poorly by leaving open a gaping hole in the WA's funds. Because of the clause about pecuniary compensation, artists can demand extortionate amounts of compensation for their submissions. In addition, Museums of Musical Heritage intended to rely on free donations, but who in their right mind would donate something freely when they can demand large sums of compensation instead.

The WA's funds can be spent in a much better way, rather than indirectly subsidising the musical industry. As such, I urge everyone to vote in favour of the resolution.

Ruinenlust, Zerphen, Nation of ecologists, Difinbelk, and 2 othersPhillip isle, and Great julunaphra

Daarwyrth wrote:A new resolution is at vote in the General Assembly, and I urge everyone to vote in favour of the repeal! :) "Museums of Musical Heritage" has great intentions, but sadly executes its intentions poorly by leaving open a gaping hole in the WA's funds. Because of the clause about pecuniary compensation, artists can demand extortionate amounts of compensation for their submissions. In addition, Museums of Musical Heritage intended to rely on free donations, but who in their right mind would donate something freely when they can demand large sums of compensation instead.

The WA's funds can be spent in a much better way, rather than indirectly subsidising the musical industry. As such, I urge everyone to vote in favour of the resolution.

I think the arguments for repeal are rather weak. The first and second points recognize the problem of a lack of criteria for the neutral arbitrators. While I do see the lack of criteria as a problem, the repeal immediately assumes the worst case scenario of these impartial arbitrators ruling partially in favor of giving music artists and donators more money or only giving money for their preferred forms of music. The third point, while well worded, just serves to make the perceived effects of the resolution seem much greater than they are. Even if this resolution would act as the repeal says it does, I don't think it would be that big of a drain on the WA's funds like the repeal makes it out to be, and furthermore I don't see how indirectly funding the music industry is a problem. That is not to say that it would serve to subsidize the music industry substantially, it's rather unclear due to the lack of criteria for the impartial arbitrators, but it is unfair to assume the absolute worst case scenario of criterialess impartial arbitrators tending to act against the interests of the WA and/or in their own interests, especially when an obviously partial arbitrator would easily be ousted and replaced with someone impartial.

I'll be voting against the repeal, but if you've drafted up a replacement for this resolution that addresses the problem of a lack of criteria for the impartial arbitrators I would vote for, though in all fairness I don't really see the target resolution as that bad considering a partial arbitrator could just be replaced with an impartial one even without a clear criteria set out and there are probably better resolutions that could be looked at for repeal.

Jutsa, Daarwyrth, Ruinenlust, Lura, and 3 othersNation of ecologists, West Barack and East Obama, and Great julunaphra

THE ISLANDER
"Today's news, tomorrow."

TERRIFYING HEAT WAVE TO SCORCH THE ISLES

SHALLOTES HAVE been told to brace themselves for a record-breaking heatwave over the next few days. The ciéll-Hiort have warned that temperatures could soar to exceptional highs of up to 17°C/63°F - almost twice as high as the average temperature for [July].

The Gaeltyn has issued a warning for heat, adding that Shalotte's characteristic high-speed winds will be almost non-existent during the heat wave too.

"Shalottes aren't used to temperatures this high, or air so still," said the Mon'gaeltyn, Riagán of Damnoni. "We would strongly advise that you avoid exposing any of your skin to the sun at all, and try to find shelter during the hottest time of day.

"Keep movement to a minimum. We won't have the wind to help keep cool, and you'll be surprised how quickly you tire."

The Gaeltyn is advising people to build temporary open-air shelters rather than stay in their houses. Shalotte homes are typically built to keep warm, not cool.

Of greater concern to the Gaeltyn, however, is the security of food stores around the Isles. Aefi of Grathtae, the Tyrrn of Prg'da'nae, has been given responsibility for managing the heat crisis, particularly around protecting food stores.

"It's going to be ******* hot everywhere," Aefi told The Islander. "Any food stored in black houses may be at risk of spoiling real quickly.

"The Gaeltyn will be monitoring the situation carefully, so please report any mass food store spoilages to us so that we can make emergency plans for the winter," she continued. "We're making extra salt supplies available."

Outside of Alauna refrigeration technology is not widely available, with many Shalottes using traditional black houses to store food. In unseasonably high temperatures, these black houses may not be sufficient.

Significant food spoilages can cause issues in winter, when stocks run low and can't be replenished. As average temperatures across the islands continue to inexplicably climb over the years - which the Draéryn say is as a result of Saerchan-worship - the Gaeltyn has been forced to set up a department specifically for emergency imports of food in winter.

"It's a Hiort-damned pain in the ****," Aefi said. "Black houses have worked fine since before the Selgovae Wars. No idea why we're struggling with them nowadays. Get to salting your meats before it hits."

Around the country, however, farmers, shepherds, fowlers, and other workers are bracing for the heat in the only way Shalottes know how.

"We'll be gettin' sloshed, fairly," said regular commentator to The Islander, Hagar of Ghelock, who owns a farm two miles north of Alauna. "Whole village has pooled together to get a dozen barrels of bérin in to share. Won't last long, like."

Jutsa, Forniphiliac limbo of inabilis, Ruinenlust, Northern Wood, and 2 othersTscharva, and Great julunaphra

Daarwyrth wrote:*Snip*

Zerphen wrote:*Snip*

Honestly, the repeal's not the greatest (I say having not bothered reading it that in-depth), but IC my nation would scoff the target off as an unnecessary strain on environmental resources and government impediment on the free market at the same time. (Why? Because logic.) As such I'm voting FOR its repeal*. (As an OOC amateur musician.)

Edit: Wow I said against instead of for. Meant "for" its repeal; was thinking "against" the target. smh

Daarwyrth, Ruinenlust, Zerphen, Nation of ecologists, and 2 othersGreat julunaphra, and Oranje vrystaat

Jutsa wrote:Honestly, the repeal's not the greatest (I say having not bothered reading it that in-depth), but IC my nation would scoff the target off as an unnecessary strain on environmental resources and government impediment on the free market at the same time. (Why? Because logic.) As such I'm voting against. (As an OOC amateur musician.)

I admit, it wasn't easy to find an argument that made sense against MoMH. This is what seemed to be the most sensible, and what was highlighted as having some merit by other GA'ers. It may just be that MoMH simply isn't a target to repeal :P

Ruinenlust, XXURBANXX, Zerphen, Nation of ecologists, and 1 otherGreat julunaphra

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