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Thanks for the update! It's nice to see that Lazarus is becoming more active.

And not to toot my horn or anything, but it's nice to see my work being appreciated. Lazarus really knows how to make a Governor feel loved.

Thanks for the update! It's nice to see that Lazarus is becoming more active.

Too bad I cant visit

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I'm not sure they feel the same.

I'm not sure they feel the same. [emoji14]

They need to get over it and stop being childish.  I violated no laws there.

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Lazarus Redux

Greetings friends, allies and assorted diplomatic partners! Lazarus is back and better than ever! After a lengthy Constitutional Convention, or ConCon as we affectionately called it, Lazarus rises from the ashes anew! With the ratification of Mandate 9, The Republic of Lazarus is born and along with it, MOAR DEMOCRACY! Activity is higher than it's been in a long time and we are fully operational!

The Legislature


Citizens wait in line as they discuss current legislation

Gulliver was elected Speaker of The Legislature and has offered a Deputy Speaker position to Amerion & Cormac. The legislature has been quite busy, discussing everything from endorsees to amending the legislative procedure, to name a couple of the more recent proposals. We look forward to what the legislature will discuss next and hope for much more!

Funkadelia, former Chairman of The PRL, was elected Delegate. He was the favorite going in and we're sure everyone expected him to win. Harmeonia, long time native of Lazarus, was elected Vice-Delegate. Both Funkadelia and Harmeonia thoroughly smashed their opponents in the polls. Congratulations to all three of our elected officials!

Funkadelia appointed his cabinet recently, choosing Kazmr as General of The Army, Benevolent Thomas as Internal Minister and The Church of Satan as External Minister. After being confirmed in the legislature, the new ministers of Lazarus immediately took to performing their duties.

Culture
From the office of The Internal Minister


Funkadelia gets ready for the Summer Festival

Starting June 7th and ending June 14th, Lazarus will be hosting its very own Summer Festival. There will be games, contests, a few radio broadcasts and even a little roleplay! This is the first such event of the new Lazarus, so we're pulling out all the stops with Mafia, Atwar and even Cards Against Humanity! There will also be contests for the best Haiku and Factbook. In addition to roleplay on the Regional Message Board, we will be holding our very own RP Football Tournament ran by Kazmr. Last, but not least. we will be adding things that are uniquely Lazarene such as AMAs featuring players such as Funkadelia and Drop Your Pants (yes, we managed to book him), Free Lazarus Radio broadcasts, and an entirely new event called the GOAT List. Lazarus is kicking off summer with a bang and we hope that you will join us for some good times.

A full schedule of activities can be viewed here.

Foreign Affairs


The Church of Satan greets incoming foreign dignitaries

Setting up an Embassy Index and frantically going through the long list of embassy requests, ambassadors are finally getting out to our friends, allies and assorted diplomatic partners. The citizens are currently discussing a draft of a Non-Aggression Pact with Osiris, restoring relations between the two sinkers as well as a treaty with Taijitu. Tending to our pre-existing treaties, Lazarus & The South Pacific adopted a Memorandum of Understanding, reaffirming the treaty alliance between the two regions due to the recent government change resulting from the Constitutional Convention.

The LLA


LLA troops celebrate their victory in Paradoxia

The LLA, easily the only thing that was kept from the previous government, is also open for business after Kazmr appointed DYP (that's Drop Your Pants to you) and Deadeye Jack as officers of The LLA. Working alongside other defender forces, The LLA helped boot DEN out of the RP region, Paradoxia following a victory in European Continent. All participating troops received a pin commemorating their efforts in Paradoxia and the natives were gracious for the help from defender forces in liberating them from the raider scourge!

Things are looking up for Lazarenes as the region moves towards a bright future!

Thanks for the update...glad to hear things are going well in Lazarus.

As am I. It's like being on Hobbes Lazarus forum all over again!

It'll be interesting to see what happens as time goes on...in my opinion, the downfall of the PRL was its cosmopolitan nature. When activity dropped and people put Lazarus on the backburner for other regions, it allowed Stujensky the ability to begin discreetly working toward his plan without notice. And now the new Lazarus has quite a huge activity bump due to the coup and the formation of the new government, but it's even more cosmopolitan than the PRL was. Will it be able to maintain activity when other regions, particularly other GCRs, come in the spotlight?

It'll be interesting to see the numbers going forward.

I certainly hope we can.

I always hope the best for Lazarus, but with some of the characters the coup attracted...I would hate to see it turn into another bickering, conflict-laden, drama-llama GCR. =/

Yeah I'm not very fond of Belschaft being there. He has quite an extensive history of vote stacking, not just including Brave Toaster.

FUNKADELIA RESIGNS AS SOVEREIGN, HARMONEIA'S ADMINISTRATION BEGINS


Funk Resigns as Sovereign, New Sovereign Ascends
By New Rogernomics in Lazarus

With the sudden resignation of Funkadelia as a respected and hard-working Sovereign and World Assembly Delegate, Harmoneia has stepped down as Grandee Secretary (otherwise known as the Vice-Delegacy) to hold new elections and establish a new administration.

This has led to a list of remarkable new proposals during Harmoneia's new administration, including the implementation of Grand Advisors, who will help maintain regional security, through their World Assembly Endorsements, as well as have the power to succeed to the Vice Delegacy or remove the Sovereign - in very exceptional circumstances.

This was preceded by a constitutional amendment to the Mandate of Lazarus that provisioned for the exceptional circumstances surrounding Funk's resignation:

Amendment to Article VI of the Constitution

Article VI - On Security

1. The Grandee Secretary shall seek to hold the second most endorsements in the region.
2. If the office of Sovereign is vacant or the Sovereign is absent, the Grandee Secretary shall assume the duties of the Sovereign.
3. 2. Any citizen who meets the influence and endorsement requirements established by law may apply to be a Grand Advisor. The Grand Assembly may approve an applicant by a two-thirds majority vote.
4. 3. Grand Advisors shall maintain endorsement counts below that of the Grandee Secretary, but may exceed any endorsement cap established by law.
5. 4. A line of succession beyond the Vice Delegate among the Grand Advisors may be established by law.
6. 5. The Grand Assembly shall vote on confidence in the Grand Advisors every four months. Any Grand Advisor who does not receive the confidence of a majority shall be recalled.
7. 6. Grand Advisors shall maintain regional security under the direction of the Grandee Secretary and enforce decisions of the Grand Assembly to remove the Sovereign.
7. If the Sovereign is absent, the Grandee Secretary -- or, if the Grandee Secretary is unavailable, the Grand Advisor next in the line of succession who is available -- shall assume the duties of Sovereign until the Sovereign returns.
8. If the office of Sovereign is vacant, the Grandee Secretary may take office as Sovereign for the remainder of the term.
9. If the Grandee Secretary takes office as Sovereign, or the office of Grandee Secretary is otherwise vacated, a special election shall be conducted to elect a new Grandee Secretary for the remainder of the term.
10. If the Grandee Secretary is unavailable to take office as Sovereign when needed, the following procedure shall be observed until a special election can be conducted to elect a new Sovereign for the remainder of the term:
A. If the outgoing Sovereign resigns rather than being recalled, the outgoing Sovereign may serve as Acting Sovereign if available.
B. If the outgoing Sovereign is unavailable to serve, the Grandee Secretary may serve as Acting Sovereign if available.
C. If neither the outgoing Sovereign nor the Grandee Secretary are available to serve, the Grand Advisor next in the line of succession who is available shall serve as Acting Sovereign.
You may vote aye, nay or abstain. This vote will last for seven days. As an amendment to the Mandate, this will require a two-thirds super-majority to pass.

Harmoneia also gave a short speech to the region, on Funkadelia's resignation, and outlined the goals for her new administration:

First off, I am sorry to see Funk go. He did some nice work and his would be large shoes to fill. I wish him well and thank him for his service.

Now on to business.

There is roughly a month and a half before the term ends, and I intend to finish this term in lieu of Funk as per the constitution, before we will have the next delegate elections. For the VD, however, I will propose to the legislature that we hold special elections for one.

I am currently taking with the cabinet regarding plans for the term, which includes our foreign policy, strengthening internal affairs, as well as cultivating cultural matters.

This is a difficult time for most of us, but we can make the most out of it, so let's all try to hold ourselves together while we undergo this time of transition.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Harmoneia

LKE RECRUITMENT BAN LIFTED
Imperialists thrilled...kinda sorta
By The Church of Satan in Lazarus

On August first, the recruitment ban placed on the Land of Kings and Emperors by NationStates Moderation was lifted. You might remember that three months prior, LKE had benefited from illegal recruitment in which a member of their Interior Ministry, Delete-on-Sight (DOS) player Bob Moran, used an illegal script to fake manual recruitment. The script in question was created and provided by also Delete-on-Sight (DOS) player, Anur-Sanur, more commonly known as Frak.

It is unknown how the region attempted to cope with the population decrease, which wasn't as terrible as they said it would be, other than a hollow boost in population using former military puppet nations from Europeia and The Communist Bloc. Why they resorted to an artificial and temporary boost such as that isn't known, but one could speculate it was in order to prevent some sort of statistical low.

The region was definitely persistent though, pointlessly so as it turns out. They made every effort to get the ban lifted or reduced but despite all of the griping and compromising, they served the 3 month recruitment ban in it's entirety. During that time however, a new feature to NationStates was added, giving region's better control of recruitment. Reiben, pay attention. Now, this is the way to gripe. Continue, Jackson.

The official statement concerning the end of the ban released by LKE made it a point to ham-handedly state their dissatisfaction with NS Moderation perhaps for the hundreth time. The Lazarene Gazette attempted to get some comments from LKE, however regional policy does not allow its citizens to speak with affiliates of regions they are at war with. It's obvious that they will be more careful with recruitment in the future as their official statement at one point read 'Given this, we can never again have faith in the integrity of manual recruitment system.'

Congratulations to LKE on resuming recruitment again. There is little doubt that they will recover from the population decrease, in time.
KRULL PACKS HIS BAGS
NPO's tinpot finally gets tired of rule
By Ike in Lazarus

You heard it here, folks- Krulltopia is finally gone. You can emerge from your hiding spots now.

On Monday, August 10th, Pierconium publicly announced in an official statement that Krulltopia, long-time Emperor of the New Pacific Order, was stepping down. Krulltopia presided over the Pacific for over six years, a period of time where any other GCR would have around 10 different Delegates. During this period, the Pacific became stagnant with little signs of activity and no presence on the international stage. Meanwhile, the NPO Senate schemed behind closed doors. More specifically, the NPO managed to pull off a coup of Lazarus. Luckily, celebrated native and Lazarene hero, Kazmr, took back the region in a well-executed plot by infiltrating the "New Lazarene Order" and by extension the NPO itself.

Pierconium, also known as Ivan, has appointed Elegarth, a mildly controversial figure in Gameplay due to his less than transparent 'win' of the Premiership in the West Pacific and less-than-friendly attitude, to the NPO's Senate. One can only speculate as to why Elegarth has re-entered the NPO Senate, having previously left it as well as criticizing the NPO for their actions in Lazarus. At the same time, Pierconium has also appointed Elegarth as the "Senator of Diplomacy", which means if you are a delegate dealing with the NPO (why are you dealing with the NPO?), he'll be the face of the whole mess. It also calls into question the fact that Elegarth left because of his hostility. Ivan has also appointed Aleisyr as Viceroy, in order to help carry out changes in the 'provisional government system' that he is planning to introduce soon.

Meanwhile, Krull hit the rails, travelling to every GCR and posting a brief message that equates to 'hello', earning himself a cheeky ban in TEP from Ramaeus. Reactions from players have mostly been the obligatory "good luck, mate" with a statement from Kazmr that the NPO's new Delegate won't find a friend in Lazarus anytime soon. Ivan has quickly taken to taunting enemies of the NPO, urging them to try and do something about it, which he is clearly in a position to do. Taking over The Pacific would be no easy task.

Krull's departure may very well mark the end of an era for the Pacific, a particularly long era that lasted longer than many GP careers. Perhaps Ivan will be different, more of an activity booster this time...or not. The general consensus is that nothing will really change. Warm farewells from raiders and imperialists alike adorn Pierconium's statement thread after their near successful takeover of Lazarus, but the reaction here will be less so.
BT's ONE HIT WONDER COMPETITION
The Benevolent Thomas GOAT Lists
By DinosFM1994, and The Church of Satan, in Lazarus

The term one-hit wonder is most often used to describe music performers having one signature song which overshadows their other work but have you really wondered which song is the all time best? Benevolent Thomas' got the answer. After gathering songs for a week, 32 songs made the final cut to compete in the Competition of Competitions. The songs that took place in the competition are:

Song List

1. Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
2. Dexys Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
3. The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
4. Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
5. Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy
6. Semisonic - Closing Time
7. The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love
8. J-Kwon - Tipsy
9. New Radicals - You Get What You Give
10. Toadies - Possum Kingdom
11. Local H - Bound for the Floor
12. Spacehog - In the Meantime
13. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression that I get
14. Blues Traveler - Run Around
15. Spin Doctors - Two Princes
16. The Verve Pipe - The Freshman
17. Hootie and the Blowfish - Only Wanna Be With You
18. The Wallflowers - One Headlight
19. The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
20. Eiffel 65 - Blue
21. Boomfunk MC - Freestyler
22. O-Zone - Numa Numa
23. Daddy Yankee - Gasolina
24. Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
25. Caesars Palace - Jerk it Out
26. Haddaway - What Is Love
27. Gotye - Somebody that I Used to Know
28. Chesney Hawkes - The One and Only
29. Bryn Christopher - The Quest
30. Arash - Boro Boro
31. Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs
32. Survivor - Eye of the Tiger

Currently the semifinals are in progress and as the competition approaches its conclusion let's take a look at the semifinalists:

Poll 1: Come On Eileen vs. Eye of The Tiger

At the time of this article's writing, the two songs are tied at 3 votes each. At this point it's anybody's game.

Poll 2: Bitter Sweet Symphony vs. Closing Time.

At the time of this articles writing, Closing Time for Semisonic may come later than expected, as it is in the lead with 3 votes. The Verve may very well eat their own words as Bitter Sweet Symphony trails behind with 2 votes, but the tables may very well turn.

Stay tuned for more competition coverage and don't forget to drop by the regional forum to submit your vote and announce your favorite One Hit Wonder of all time!
COMICS & FUNNIES

Thanks for the update!

The Official Newspaper of Lazarus
Issue II • September 2015 • 1 Page

DOES THE GAZETTE JUST GET IT WRONG OR IS IT PROPAGANDA?
By New Rogernomics

We had criticism in the last issue, with the 'one hit wonder's' that weren't. To those that took umbrage, here is a link to the Official Charts on The Verve detailing their hits since 1992, for those that are interested. Though finally we have a result to that competition with a victory going to 'Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger', after a final round of voting.

The NPO took offense to the article entitled 'KRULL PACKS HIS BAGS', which was expected given the animosity of recent events.

Allegations were also put forth that the Lazarene Gazette is a platform for FRA and defender propaganda, after the articles entitled 'LKE RECRUITMENT BAN LIFTED' and 'KRULL PACKS HIS BAGS' were published.

For the historical record, the publication of propaganda pieces in the Lazarene Gazette began under the rule of the New Pacific Order through their defacto administration of the 'People's Republic of Lazarus', and their subsequent puppet state of the 'New Lazarus Order'. Prior to that point the Gazette published stories with a focus on events in Lazarus. Something which is well illustrated in the embassies Lazarus has held, especially in The Rejected Realms, which has issues of the Lazarene Gazette going back to 2007, and Regional Updates going back to 2004.

But like a good newspaper, and given the overwhelming demand for propaganda, there was sure to be a little fun with this issue.

Lazarus Elections Are Over
Result of the Lazarus Elections

Lazarus went to the ballot box on the 22nd through to the 29th of September, electing New Rogernomics the new Sovereign (or Delegate) of Lazarus, Amerion as the new Director of Ceremonies (or Speaker of the Legislature), and Harmoneia as the new Grandee Secretary (or Vice-Delegate). With the election New Rogernomics stands down as Minister Steward, and a new cabinet will be formed within the coming month to lead the region.


Note: Approximate or rounded percentages are displayed.

First Lazies Awards
The Lazies winners were victorious, and one will won't  coup.

The competition was fierce, often awesome, and sometimes silly, but the results of the August 2015 Lazies Awards are in:

Most Popular Member: Harmoneia.

Most Likely to Coup: Belschaft

Best Debater: Belschaft

Best Roleplayer: Communist Stephen Colbert

Spammer of the Month: Amerion

Newbie of the Month: Izon

Congrats to the winners, and best luck to those that missed out at the next awards.

The Road to Somewhere
A first speech from the new sovereign of Lazarus

Where from here? This is question Lazarus must be asking right now, or at the very least thinking of.

We have a new Sovereign, that hasn't been a Delegate before, and for all intents and purposes could well prove not up to the job. 

This is the criticism I have to accept, as it is true. I haven't been a Delegate of any major region. I wasn't here under the New Lazarus Order, and I participated for a time in the People's Republic of Lazarus, though I didn't do so politically.  So perhaps I don't have the animosity towards the New Pacific Order. But I do believe that if we are to build a region or inspire it by leaps and bounds, we can't do it based on past grievances. This is a lesson I know well, having participated in regions either against the Nationstates status quo or for it.

I have seen regions collapse in on themselves from political-infighting or a lack of will to continue on, as a consequence of personal vendettas and disputes with other regions - and at times I have even participated in that.

What I hope for Lazarus is not a return to the vicious cycle of inactivity followed by coups, or coups as a result of not being inclusive enough - as hard as that is given that the Lazarus is not able to close itself off like some UCRs (or User Created Regions) or pick and choose who participates.

While I am by no means throwing in the towel, and saying 'come back' to the New Pacific Order, it makes sense to not let what happened stop The Pacific and Lazarus ever forming some kind of mutual understanding - as far off, and as difficult as that road might be.

There are some things that I do agree with the New Pacific Order on, that we need a Lazarus to be a region which doesn't rely on UCRs and isn't dominated by UCRs - and more importantly is able to stand on its own as well as support its friends and allies.

The first step in achieving that aim is to resolve any issues within the current constitution. This means to establish a policy upon the 'gang of five', likely through the courts, and to pass legislation that creates a more solid bureaucracy in Lazarus akin to other GCRs (or Game Created Regions) and UCRs.

The second step is to examine the current foreign policy of Lazarus, and bring up a discussion over what regions will we approach and seek to improve ties with, and where such efforts would be in vain - or to put it in other words be a 'fools bargain'.

The final step is to decide what approach Lazarus will make to encourage people to participate in Lazarus, rather than just use it as a defacto transit point and retirement village for gameplayers.

Rebirth should mean bringing back to life - and not boring its members to tears.

As your new Sovereign or regional Delegate, I don't expect it to be an easy ride, as there are a lot of challenges to deal with in my term - least of which is inactivity, as speeches like this don't make the world go around - fun does.

Thank you for electing me your Sovereign. I only hope I can live up to the trust you have put in me, and serve the region to the best of my ability.

To our would be 'enemies' I would offer both reconciliation and warning that a free Lazarus in whatever form that takes - is here to stay.

As clarification to my speech: I am not saying that the NPO should be let back in, but that worrying about the NPO shouldn't be the focus of Lazarus.

Philosophical Poll Results



Lazarus has amassed polls on philosophical issues, and the following questions were asked of the region:

Q1: How can we know truth?

Results

• Only through experience, but even then, we will never be sure as senses can be erroneous. - 13.89%
• Only through reason and reason alone can we achieve universal truths. - 8.33%
• Though all our knowledge begins with experience, it does not mean it arises out of it. Innate reason plays a part. - 27.77%
• No possible way because truth as such does not exist, it is relative to one's perspective. Your truth is different from mine. - 30.55%
• As Patrick Star says, sometimes we only need to go deeeeep inside ourselves to solve our problems. And find truth! - 5.55%
• Who cares I got bills to pay!  - 13.89%

Q2: Where does consciousness come from?

Results

• Natural evolution. Our more recent understanding suggests that it's a network of neurons. - 45.28%
• It's an illusionary construct of the human limitation to see the world in fragments. Once enlightened the truth of Oneness emerges.  - 16.98%
• It is our little piece of God who reflects His Being onto us. - 15.09%
• What relevance is there of consciousness when all we could be aware of is our own existence? See Plato's Cave allegory! - 9.43%
• Who cares I got bills to pay!  - 13.20%

Q3: Why is there something rather than nothing?

Results

• Because a creator made something from nothing! Anselm and Aquinas both provide some insights worth checking. - 19.44%
• Anthropic principle - reality, the universe, appears the way it does because we are present in it as observers. -  22.22%
• Quantum gravity - because of this, the universe can/will come from nothing. - 11.11%
• Anti-matter! Haven't you read Dan Brown?! - 19.44%
• Who cares I got bills to pay! - 27.77%
Note: Apologies for the lateness of the issue.