The Rejected Times: Issue XLVIII

Index

"Solorni Resigns Amid Shocking Revelations" | NEWS | WRITTEN BY Senior Reporter Marilyn manson and Senior Correspondent Glacikaldr | EDITED BY TRT STAFF
"SC#1 Repealed: Commend Kandarin next?" | NEWS | WRITTEN BY Senior Reporter Marilyn manson AND Correspondent Glacikaldr | EDITED BY TRT STAFF
"The NS Galaxy Song" | CREATIVE | WRITTEN BY Intern Malphe | EDITED BY Senior Reporter Marilyn manson
"It's a Rejectmas World, You Can Only Avoid Hurled Candy" | COMMENTARY | WRITTEN BY Senior Correspondent The church of satan | EDITED BY TRT STAFF
"Fratt's Delegacy" | CREATIVE/SATIRE | MADE BY Intern Nashiomi
"On the Importance of Democracy in TRR and in Real Life" | OPINION | WRITTEN BY Intern Vulturret | EDITED BY TRT STAFF
"NPO Delenda Est" | CREATIVE | MADE BY Senior Reporter Marilyn manson

Solorni Resigns Amid Shocking Revelations
NEWS | WRITTEN BY Senior Reporter Marilyn manson and Senior Correspondent Glacikaldr | EDITED BY TRT STAFF

"Her Nordic Majesty," Solorni unexpectedly stepped down as Delegate of Balder earlier this week with North East Somerset taking over for Solorni. Solorni was the longest reigning delegate in Balder history, serving for over five years nonconsecutively.

The circumstances that led to Solorni stepping down related to their personal conduct, which casts a shadow on their time and contribution to NationStates. This April, Solorni was commended by SC#252 for her "service as WA Delegate and Queen of Balder," her "charismatic leadership style," and her status as "a world-renowned diplomat." However, her commendation might be repealed. A strong draft is already submitted

"As such, I am resigning all my positions and citizenships in NationStates," writes Rachel (Solorni) in the shocking Balder statement, "and would request that my accounts be banned wherever (sic) they are indefinitely."

What will Balder be without Solorni? That's an interesting question, it'll definitely be very different. In this case, let's hope Balder is better off.

SC#1 Repealed: "Commend Kandarin" Next?
NEWS | WRITTEN BY Senior Reporter Marilyn manson | EDITED BY TRT STAFF

In other news, SC#1 AKA "Condemn Macedon" has officially been repealed. Despite half of NSGP being against the repeal, it still passed. Co-Author Kuriko claims that SC#1 was lacking and deserved more. Others, including myself, felt that SC#1 didn't need to be repealed and that the passage of the original proposal itself was historical in its own right beyond Macedon's military conquests. Now, that brings us onto topic: could "Commend Kandarin" be next?

While pretty different from SC#1, SC#2 or "Commend Kandarin" as it is officially known, is also lacking and full of what today are R4 violations and mistakes. The same argument used for the repeal of SC#1 could also be used for SC#2. The original proposal references Kandarin's gender and refers to him as a successful roleplayer. Today, roleplay must strictly be mentioned in-character and drafts may not note the gender of the player as they are commending the nation, not the person behind it.

While many players scoff at this Coalition of Boredom and their undermining of our history, their actions have created a precedent that is a genuine threat beyond SC#1. And why do they pursue this rigid interpretation of the World Assembly's function? Some call it badge-seeking, while others such as the reporters from The NewsStand have investigated further and reported back to the NationStates community in disgust. As reported back through telegrams, this Coalition of Boredom has stated that they were, you guessed it, "bored and wanted something to do". They plead negligence to the possible ramifications of their actions on the one hand, and on the other even go so far as to admit that "It's probably a terrible idea [sic]". This inconsistent agenda is undeniably laughable, but we must remain wary of the precedent that has now been set in stone by their flaunting of telegram stamps and widespread influence in major regions.

In the hopes of getting more insight, the Times reached out to Todd McCloud, SC #2's author, for a comment. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach him at this time.

The NS Galaxy Song
INTERVIEW | WRITTEN BY Intern Malphe | EDITED BY Senior Reporter Marilyn manson

Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown,
And issues seem hard or tough,
And results are stupid, obnoxious or daft,
And you feel that you've had quite eno-o-o-o-o-ough,

Just remember that you're playing on a website that's evolving
And dissolving at 1600 nations a day,
It's updating 14 times a week, so it's reckoned,
Around [violet] that is the source of all our power.
Now the forum, and you and me, and all the regions that we can see,
Are CTE'ing at 600 nations per minor,
At the later update times, at 40 nations updated a second,
Of the browser game we call Nationstates.

Our multiverse itself contains twenty-thousand regions;
It's 170,000 nations side to side;
It bulges in the winter 190,000 nations thick,
But out by summer it's just 150,000 countries wide.
We're 20,000 regions from server central point,
We go 'round every 16 years,
And our website itself is one of 664 million,
In these amazing and expanding interwebs.

(waltz)

Our playerbase itself keeps on expanding and expanding,
In all of the directions it can whiz;
As fast as it can go, at the speed of tag raiding, you know,
Four founderless regions a minute and that's the fastest speed there is.
So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your founding;
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in real life,
'Cause there's bugger all down here in NS!

It's a Rejectmas World, You Can Only Avoid Hurled Candy
COMMENTARY | WRITTEN BY Senior Correspondent The church of satan | EDITED BY TRT STAFF

As NationStates approaches the end of 2018, Rejectmas begins and the question on everyone has just one question on their mind: What fresh hell awaits us next year? Looting has begun and store owners are preparing their insurance claims. Carolers roam the streets with fear in their eyes, determination in their hearts and padding on their backs. Sales of oranges and tangerines are through the roof as harbors struggle to keep up with shipments. Rejects have meticulously searched egg cartons for the smoothest eggs in preparation of their omelette breakfasts. Seafood and coffee sales however have seen the largest spike. Of all smooth foods the Apple has seen an unexpected rise in sales. Yes this Rejectmas seems to be one of preparation and steadfast hoarding. As has been a mostly steady pattern over the last four years the delegate has attempted to avoid their role in Rejectmas tradition. Regional delegate, Frattastan was last reported locked inside a government fallout shelter (or vault even!) performing his duties via CCTV while Rejects crowd his office readily armed with candy. Don’t worry we’ll get’em though!

looted schematic of government shelter prototype

There is one crisis this Rejectmas. A shortage of spammers to flog may cause the rate of hooliganism to increase to dangerous levels. Instances of vandalism in particular are expected to be very widespread across The Rejected Realms. Spammers have always inhabited the region in large numbers. Perhaps the shortage can be attributed to the more strict stances the government have taken on spammers over the last two years? Whether spammers are discouraged to partake in their natural behaviors or are simply less prevalent in the region remains to be seen so calling this a shortage may be premature. Regardless, tourists witnessing Rejectmas in all it’s oddity are undoubtedly puzzled to say the least. Foreigners standing aghast at the behaviors of Rejects during this holiday period see people roaming the streets in embarrassing pajamas with too many coffee stains, carrying flogs, throwing candy, being disturbingly truthful and (from a tourist standpoint) off by three hours in their perception of time. It may seem like a toned down version of The Purge from an outsider’s perspective but it’s all quite silly really. Sure the handcuffs still hanging off recently pardoned criminals give cause for concern but don’t think about that. Seriously, you’re not seeing that. Okay I warned you. You are getting sleeeepy, veeeery sleeeepy, so damn sleeeepy maaaan.

So in other words this Rejectmas is pretty standard and literally nothing bad is happening because that’s just what we’re demanding you believe. Have a hairy Rejectmas!

Fratt's Delegacy
CREATIVE/SATIRE | MADE BY Intern Nashiomi

On the Importance of Democracy in TRR and in Real Life
OPINION | WRITTEN BY Intern Vulturret | EDITED BY TRT STAFF

Election time has always been rather sentimental in the Rejected Realms. As a prime GCR democracy, TRR’s elections are of the utmost importance to ensuring that the region is run in the way that the members of the region wish. The Rejected Realms has always had a commitment to well-run and successful elections. Having served as TRR’s Speaker of the Assembly (and indeed in other roles as head of a legislature in other regions) for multiple terms, it has been my distinct pleasure to watch and participate the successful democracy from an interesting viewpoint, even if I didn’t end up agreeing with the officials that were elected or the subsequent decisions they made. Of course, if that were the case, I would not hesitate to voice my dissent, as have so many other Rejects over the years, on the Assembly floor. The nature of democracy is both ridiculously complicated and incredibly simple. Democracy is based on ever-changing demographics and states of regions and entities, both on NationStates and in real-life. On the other hand, however, the simplicity of democracy —again in both real-life and on NationStates— in its fundamental state cannot be overstated: democratic elections, laws, and policies exist to give each member an equal voice and to install officials which will govern the region in the best interests of the populace. When both critical attributes are fully achieved, democracy has been achieved in the best way possible. Insofar as NationStates is concerned, it is the joint responsibility of the election commissioner (in TRR’s case the Speaker of the Assembly), the officials running, and the general citizenry or populace to achieve the full possibilities for a successful democracy.

In any region, apart from a few isolationist ones, achieving foreign influence and having a respectable and commendable presence on the international stage is of the utmost importance to the regional leadership. Although it unfortunately doesn’t always occur, this should also be the case for the populace; being mindful of your region’s agenda is one of the most helpful things you can do as a Citizen. However, all goals, including the all-important success on the international stage, are entirely dependent on having a solid bedrock for your region. In all regions on NationStates, recruitment and integration are critical components of this bedrock. However, in a plethora of regions, including the Rejected Realms and several other prominent game-created regions such as Balder and The North Pacific —an ally of TRR’s via the Unicorn Star Accord—, democracy is also an equally (or even more so) important piece of the region’s “bedrock,” as I stated prior.

In any democracy, whether on real-life or NationStates, the region’s success is somewhat dependent on the level of participation of the region’s institutions. In several regions —and is the case for TRR— democratic practices are central to the region’s longevity and success. These democratic institutions in TRR, specifically the Assembly, select the region’s executive leadership, which in turn sets the path for the region. It is of the utmost importance that these officials preform competently and within the region’s best interests on behalf of the constituents which installed them. It is therefore critical for the citizenry of any region to be engaged with its regions goings-on on all fronts, to ensure that each citizen is equally informed and able to make educated choices on how to function in a democracy. It is imperative to regional function in a democratic state that the populace makes choices in a matter that is correct and directed to make the region better.

This can be easily connected to real-life. Specifically, where I live in the U.S., there are many citizens that are concerned with the way the government is being run; there is alarm at the local, state, and federal level. The political animosity and toxicity in the U.S. is getting worse as time goes on. It is not healthy for function of a government and a state to have this level of adversity. While public dissent and expression of dissatisfaction with governmental policies is obviously appropriate and reasoned in many situations, times when it resorts to violence between two groups (no matter the specific views of those groups, and no matter how absurd those views may be/how absurd you think they are) are incredibly unacceptable and should be universally opposed by all.

The world, in real-life, will not become a better place if we continue to express our political views utilizing the mechanism of violent protests. There is a plethora of far better options at the disposal of U.S. (and indeed those in most other countries) citizens. Instead of resorting to unsavory and dangerous actions, looping back to my original points about NationStates and the Rejected Realms specifically, one could engage in several methods from the democratic process in order to express their political views. As I mentioned, engagement is critical. If you are unhappy with the way things are being run, you should write to your elected representative. While they may be feeding off other interests, they still ultimately have an unneglectable responsibility to their constituency, and therefore, at least to some extent, will be willing to listen to what you have to say. Moreover, although expressing frustration is also necessary, engaging in civilized academic discussions in a variety of different venues allows one to express their political views through a medium that is neither illegal nor violent and distasteful. Engaging in respectable discourse is commendable and reasoned.

I would urge all participating in any form of Democracy, whether in real-life or on NationStates to continue to serve the democratic institutions with the sole goal of bettering them. Engaging in the correct forms of discourse and dissent will be critical for the real world moving forward.

NPO Delenda Est 2: Electric Boogaloo
CREATIVE | MADE BY Senior Reporter Marilyn manson

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