New Aurora Alliance Expands Ties With TSP
by Myroria
A treaty between The North Pacific and The South Pacific creating the 'Aurora Alliance' passed the Regional Assembly of TNP handily on January 24. The updated treaty already passed the Assembly of The South Pacific earlier in the month, meaning that with The North Pacific's ratification the new treaty came into force.
The new treaty had a long negotiation process, starting in April 2014. The delegates of TNP and TSP, along with their foreign affairs ministries, opened discussions of a treaty expanding on previous ones, most notably the one establishing the Azure Alliance, to which TNP and TSP were signatories. Other issues, though, prevented serious talks from occurring until November of last year; a drafting process throughout November led to the signing of the new treaty on New Year's Day, 2015, in The South Pacific's regional forum. The date was a symbolic one - illustrating a new beginning to an old friendship.
The new document includes several mandates upon the signatories not included in previous treaties, including clauses requiring in-game embassies, intelligence sharing, and cultural cooperation. In introducing the resolution, mcmasterdonia called the new treaty a "vast improvement" and encouraged the Assembly to think of the long alliance between TNP and TSP and of the warm friendship between them.
Speaking on the aid that the two signatories have lended to each other in the past, mcmasterdonia said The North Pacific was "the strongest and most unwavering supporter of the Coalition [of The South Pacific]" during Milograd's coup, and called it a "great day" when the united forces of TNP and TSP restored the democratically-elected Coalition to power. The delegate went on to thank the forces of The South Pacific for offering help when their nation was accidentally ejected from the World Assembly. For many, though, the friendship between TNP and TSP goes without saying. The two regions have been allies for years, and mcmasterdonia's statements merely illuminated some major milestones in that friendship.
The new treaty's most substantial addition was the intelligence sharing section. Here the signatories formalized procedures for the disclosure of relevant intelligence gathered by either region; with such information going to the Security Council of The North Pacific or the Committee for State Security of The South Pacific, depending on to whom the intelligence was relevant. Looking back on a time where the delegate of The South Pacific had to discuss vital intelligence in "private, non-governmental areas", mcmasterdonia called these changes a "great improvement."
In addition, the new document allows the two regions to be on opposite sides of a gameplay operation without such a situation being considered an attack by one government on the other. This new clause, designed to guarantee each region's sovereignty to choose themselves which operations to take part in, was likewise called by mcmasterdonia an improvement upon the old treaty, which had no such clause.
The renewed treaty serves as an affirmation by both governments that this fruitful alliance will continue. Though the new document was debated robustly by the Regional Assembly, the final tally of the vote - 35 ayes to 7 nays and 8 abstentions - shows that the citizens of The North Pacific support the new changes as well.
Roleplay Convention Sets Standards, Encourages Activity
by The Democratic Republic of Tomb
In reaction to growing interest in the roleplay sector of The North Pacific, Delegate mcmasterdonia decided early in their term to hold a convention on roleplay hosted by the Ministry of Culture. The stated goals of the convention included using community discussion to solve issues related to the regional map, roleplayed technology level, and roleplayed international organizations. The 2015 Roleplay Convention was officially started on January 23 and ended on February 6. At the convention, TNP witnessed a vast amount of discussion. There was much discussion of how to upgrade the map of TNP, with some individuals even suggesting adding city names to the maps to enhance role play. Bootsie, a prominent roleplayer and current candidate for speaker made apparent their plans to form an organization that will be a rival to the Democratic Union. "The North Pacific Treaty Organization hopes to provide a central ground for dictatorships and democracies alike, and we hope to work towards world peace," said Bootsie. "We also hope to earn a prestige status within The North Pacific and have a good organization of nations that share a common yet unique ideology."
There are several reasons for the new interest in the roleplay section, but part of the attraction stems from The North Pacific's regularly updated map. Here, nations can claim territories, divide territories up among themselves, and enhance the experience of a particular roleplay, story, or situation. Other activities available to roleplayers include threads relating to their nations, affairs, wars, revolutions, and the like. Embassy threads are also popular, and involve nations exchanging embassies with each other. The Democratic Union, an organization dedicated to maintaining democracy and peace, is another aspect of roleplay that has greatly prospered for the past two terms of government.
However, with more and more nations partaking in one or more of these opportunities, there becomes more responsibility - and more demand - to maintain and upgrade these features for the members. The cartography team, for example, has taken on new members to keep pace with the rising number of territory requests. In addition, as more people participate in roleplays, standardization and moderation must expand to make sure that role players remain cordial and friendly to each other.
"While [the convention] was a little bumpy, I think it went over pretty well," said Lord Lore, currently minister of culture. "It should help the culture department to better make policies based on what the TNP citizens actually want." Though the convention has ended only recently, huge changes are already being made in The North Pacific's roleplay community, and more are sure to come.
Malvad to Revitalize TNP University
by Crushing Our Enemies
This year has seen the creation of a new executive ministry: the Ministry of Education. In their most recent campaign for delegate, mcmasterdonia highlighted The North Pacific University, and announced on January 19th that they had appointed Malvad the new minister of education. "The university was a major part of my campaign, and I will be delighted to see TNPU achieve huge heights of success under this ministry," they announced, reminding the region of their goal to create a lecture series hosted by the university.
Their subsequent bouts of inactivity and ultimate resignation have made for slow progress in Malvad's ministry, but the lecture program is projected to begin in the first half of March. There are unconfirmed reports that the first lecture will cover aspects of NationStates gameplay ideologies, but the lecturer has not yet been announced. In addition to the lecture series, which will cover NS-related topics, Malvad also plans to offer university classes to any interested student. When asked about the upcoming classes, Malvad said "Classes will be for more real life topics ... [they] will be divided into lessons and provide another source of long term learning."
Of late, the university forums have been mostly used for casual discussion of academic topics, and previous efforts to organize university programs have suffered from lack of public interest and participation. Funkadelia, an instructor appointed by Malvad, hopes that this new initiative will retain the interest of students and create lasting activity. "I hope that the substance and my own personality will be enough to keep people engaged," said Funkadelia. "I can't really shove the class into peoples' faces and force them to enjoy it, so I just hope people will be interested in learning more about the history of the United States from an objective point of view." Funkadelia's class will begin in March.
"I think there is an element of disinterest, but that is why we are doing what we are doing," said Malvad. "We are setting up these programs to draw interest from different groups and to keep the university active." The Voting Rights Act, passed last December, made it easier for nations who are not interested in government to participate actively as citizens. That may make it easier for the new ministry to recruit interested students. Only time will tell if Malvad and the new delegate will be able to build the university into an active center for intellectual growth, or whether the historical issues with public interest will prove too deeply rooted to overcome.
SillyString's Silly Advice
by SillyString
This column does not represent the views of the Government of The North Pacific.
Dear SillyString, I have a friend whom I am attempting to help, but that friend has a great deal of pride and thus can't take my advice at face value. Should I keep trying regardless of this complication, or am I imposing and need to back off?
- CrazyConflicted
Conflicted, this is definitely a common problem. Those suffering from an excess of pride lose the capacity for critical self-analysis and honest reflection, and even the most gentle suggestions can be twisted into cruel barbs. The only cure for this condition is to drain off the excess pride, eliminating your friend's suffering.
Surely you are familiar with the practice of using leeches for bloodletting, a treatment found to be effective for everything from demon possession to the common cold. While you might try using leeches against pride, as well, the more efficacious solution can be derived from that common adage, "Pride goeth before a fall."
Yes, to cure your friend's unhealthy pridefulness, what you must do is literally trip them, from a tripping height (T) that correlates to just how overburdened with pride they have become. You can calculate the necessary height using the following formula, where P = Pride, H = Height of the person, F = how friendly the two of you are, and J = how many times you've been a jerk to them in the past year.
T = ( P - H ) / ( F + J )
One thing you absolutely must not forget, of course, is obtaining a proper receptacle to collect the pride you are liberating from your friend. Loose pride is very dangerous, after all - it gets into nearly anything, much like cats, and it's strongly attracted to concentrations of dramons, subatomic particles generated by interpersonal conflict. The best sort of receptacle is airtight and opaque. Once you have found a suitable container, remember to place it away from the direction of the fall, as the very act of tripping will generate dramons that will attract the free pride.
Once you have collected all of the pride and sealed the container tightly, contact your local waste management service for disposal instructions. Should you be unable to reach them, simply drop them off at the dump with your next stash of highly toxic used batteries.
I hope this advice helps you! Please write back and let us know how it goes, preferably with pictures that demonstrate the height of your friend's fall.
Seriously Silly,
SillyString
The Northern Lights: Beauty in Truth
Publisher: SillyString :: Executive Editor:Crushing Our Enemies :: Managing Editor: Myroria :: Graphic Artist: SillyString
The Northern Lights is produced by the Ministry of Communications on behalf of the Government of The North Pacific and distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Except where otherwise indicated, all content represents the views of the Government of The North Pacific.
