It's Saturday! You know what that means! The Vice Delegate Report coming to you live from the Security Council Forum in Magicality City.
As promised, this update is a day early, since I'll be in flight most of Sunday and I'm probably going to be exhausted by the time I get to the hotel.
Security Council Status Sheet
Picairn gained a significant amount of endorsements this week, but didn't move up a place. Simone is in between Chipoli and Picairn, and I expect that to change for the next report. Could even be looking at P4 for Picairn by next week. I'd like to get to P2 by next Sunday, though there's an obvious excuse (see below) I could use if I fail. We'll see.
The Top-25
@Halsoni, I see you! Grats on overtaking Corfad! Still a very healthy distance between Halsoni and the SC. @Prov continues to climb up the order. Nothing too concerning at the moment.
WADP and the Card Lotteries
It probably won't be this upcoming week, though there's a chance depending on how my schedule looks this week, but the Daily Card Lottery is set to return! When the program begins, we will be offering a Legendary card daily to all of the Keepers of the North. To qualify, you have to be in the WA, endorsing the Delegate (that's >> Picairn <<), the Vice Delegate (that's >> me <<), and the rest of the Security Council. So, if you aren't already doing that, ask yourself "why not", and please do so! Right now there are 386 keepers, so you'd have a 1 in 386 chance to win. That's better than Powerball!
Additionally, thanks to the works of @Kaschovia, the WADP Awards are back! We recently published Volume 106, which you can find here: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=2567571. Give it an upvote! And, if you want to see your name up there, go endorse everyone!
Absence
I will post notice of my impending absence along with who the acting chair will be separately, closer to when I fly out. This absence starts tomorrow, and lasts approximately a week.
October 28th, 2024 Vice Delegate's Weekly Report
A day early last time, a day late this time. But, it will be done.
Security Council Status Sheet
Picairn continues to gain endorsements and moved up two positions to P4 as predicted. I also moved up to P2 as I predicted. Tlomz had a significant bump after a recent endorsement run. The number of Keepers continues to climb, and I'm sure it'll climb again once the card lottery begins.
The Top-25
@Prov made their 500 endorsement target. Other than that, not much changed.
Card Lottery
As I mentioned last week, the Daily Card Lottery is set to return. To qualify, you have to be in the WA, endorsing the Delegate (that's >> Picairn <<), the Vice Delegate (that's >> me <<), and the rest of the Security Council.
Currently, I have tested selecting a card from TNL's supply, selecting a random winner, delivering that card, and an automated RMB message. All of this was done separately, though, and they all have to be integrated into a single script that'll run automatically. That is my goal for this week.
November 4th, 2024 Vice Delegate's Weekly Report
Security Council Status Sheet
Picairn is now in striking distance of taking the Delegacy, moving up two spots and past me. All that's left is for Picairn to displace Pallaith, and then we'll discuss the rest of the transition business to make sure I'm at where I need to be at.
The Top-25
@Prov is now on the verge of displacing Corfad, and @Aerilia joined the top-25 this week.
Card Lottery
As I mentioned before, the Daily Card Lottery is set to return. To qualify, you have to be in the WA, endorsing the Delegate (that's >> Picairn <<), the Vice Delegate (that's >> me <<), and the rest of the Security Council.
Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well all last week and was not able to complete the scripting tasks as I wanted. I'll try for this week.
November 11th, 2024 Vice Delegate's Weekly Report
The Transition
Once Picairn reached 700 endorsements, that was close enough that we could start bumping Pallaith out of the seat without too much damage to our WA voting power. This transition was completed at the Sunday 11/10 Minor update.
Right now, the gap between me and Picairn is 27, which is a bit close. Picairn is working on reaching Simone's previous endorsement levels, but we will likely need to continue pushing Pallaith down to finish my transition to the in-game VD seat without closing the gap between me and Picairn. Endorsement atrophy will eventually get that done.
Security Council Status Sheet
The Top-25
Staffing Update
Unfortunately, Tlomz didn't sign into the forum in 14 days, and vacated the office of Security Councilor. And then logged in a few hours later. Tlomz has indicated interest in reapplying for the council after some real-life events have concluded.
Intermission
As you've noticed, there was no update last week. Call it an intermission. I was busy, not really feeling well, and a bit burned out. Mid-November is a stressful time at work as that's when we wrap up our projects for the year, and I needed a break. My apologies. I promise I have good news for you this time.
Security Council Status Sheet
I've been working on scripting the status sheet instead of having to go through a million different files on my server to collect the stats. This is what I have so far:
You'll notice I haven't included the trends this time around, but that's because I haven't been collecting the trends of endorsements received for each SCer. So far, I only have the daily list of nations endorsing a particular SCer. I also don't have Last Activity statistics yet, but I should have them added on soon since that's exposed by the daily dump.
Once this is completed, I plan on making it available via a webpage so that whoever is VD can grab it quickly.
So, what is the trend? A bit of a mixed bag over the past two weeks. Pallaith, Ethnon, and I saw some losses. Chipoli gained big, and the rest were stable.
Another work in progress to replace the excel sheet.
Notably, Prov (Ostonives) dropped out of the WA. Nobody is close to the SC, except a still tumbling Simone. Only thing is Ghost still needs to be brought down by just a handful of endorsements. The gap is small, and could easily be accomplished this week.
Card Lottery
I'm happy to announce that the Card Lottery script has been completed and sent its first card out today! It's not automated yet. I'm still doing reviewing the code to make sure everything will be okay once it's in cron, but every day, someone is getting a legendary card. Want one? You know what to do. Be in the WA, endorse the Delegate (that's >> Picairn <<), the Vice Delegate (that's >> me <<), and the rest of the Security Council.
WADP Awards
The 108th Edition of the WADP Awards was released yesterday, covering the month of November. You can find the dispatch for that here: https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=2587448. Please give it an upvote!.
Security Council Status Sheet
With the creation of the new Sinkers and our All-Call deployment to The Outback, our WA numbers took an absolute nosedive. Hopefully those will recover once the situation there is under control.
Card Lottery
The Card Lottery is going smoothly. It is automated, every day at 11:50 AM Eastern Time, someone gets a card. Want one? You know what to do. Be in the WA, endorse the Delegate (that's >> Picairn <<), the Vice Delegate (that's >> me <<), and the rest of the Security Council.
Also, there have been some instances where my scripts don't properly download the list of Security Council members, leading to all sorts of problems. Today was one of those days. Thankfully, the card lottery was designed to be resilient and just use the previous day's keeper list if that happens. That got tested today, and it worked just fine.
Burnout
It's pretty obvious December was one of those months where I just fell apart. I think it was Chipoli that mentioned in his election campaign that there were signs of burnout amongst the staff, and I was no exception. So, the weekly reports were a promise I ended up not keeping. But, burnout didn't stop me from doing what I felt was right to keep the region safe, even if not everyone agreed with my decision or my approach.
Being continuously threatened, extorted and blackmailed, though, is not fun. I play NationStates because the community around me is fun to be around. But, when things stop being fun, even if the cause is an external factor, I simply lose interest, and that's what happened. Should I have resigned? Maybe. I'm sure there's a Security Councilor around that could have taken over for me. Maybe why I didn't resign was pride.
None of this, though, is why I'm not running for Vice Delegate again. I know it would be a tough sell to run again now, but it was always my plan to just keep the seat warm for a term with the expectation that someone would declare candidacy for it early the following term. Whoever the next Vice Delegate is, I'll continue my work in support of them. If there's anything I can do to make things easier for them, I'll do my best to make that happen.
Anyways, enough of that. Let's talk numbers.
December Endorsement Trend
To bring the region up to speed, here's a chart for SC/VD/WAD endorsements over the course of December. Picairn did lose a little bit of ground, more significantly than the rest of the SC. Pallaith also had a considerable drop, but that is understandable given him and I were neck and neck for the first half of the month before finally giving way. Ethnon and I had slight drops, but the rest of the council was either steady or gaining, especially in the latter half of the month.
However, as you'll see in the current status sheet below and compare it to last month, we all have a bigger share of endorsements compared to a month ago. We're losing WA membership, but we're not losing endorsements as fast. We lost 40 WAs since December 2nd, while only losing 10 to 15 in endorsements for those who did lose.
Encouraging WA membership needs to be a focus in the next term, not just endorsement exchange. I don't think the Card Lottery is enough incentive.
Delegate and Vice Delegate candidates take notice.
I apologise for the delay. I meant to post this on Sunday as is tradition, but I was preoccupied with my real-life. Anyhow, here we are. I'll start with going over a couple of my plans for the short term and explain a couple things that are coming up. This won't be super long because I don't think it'll be necessary. Campaign promises The following are promises I made in my campaign thread. I'll check off the things I've done so far.
Declassifying logs [ongoing]
Halt the fall in endorsements utilising our tools [ongoing]
Swiftly process citizenship applications [success]*
Regularly report to the region on a biweekly schedule [success thanks to this]
Stay up to date with the executive [success]
Discuss problematic endorsement counts and tarting habits with the Security Council [ongoing]
Along with that I've been regularly opening discussion on certain topics with the Security Council and engaged in constructive dialogue regarding it.
*So far I have not let an applicant wait for more than three days, well within the time limit. I plan to keep this up.
Vice Delegate Report, January 22
Quite a few things happened, so let's talk about it. Transition Chipoli took the seat within four days thanks to a coordinated effort by the Delegate and the Security Council—many thanks to former Delegate Picairn for being so quick and easy to work with in that regard. Chipoli is now a comfortable 33 endorsements away from Ethnon. While still a bit too close for comfort, thanks to a ping in the Executive Server this gap was widened.
I am currently ranked tenth and less than 100 endorsements away from Ethnon. I expect the transition to take a couple of weeks at most but it will take a bit longer due to my leave of absence next week, which I'll discuss in a moment. View attachment 4088 Endorsement chart: Chipoli & Halsoni I've been actively endo starting and my numbers have been rising, slowly. Thanks to my starting efforts ahead of the election, this won't take as long as some of our previous transitions Security Council Endorsement Information View attachment 4089
Leave of Absence I will be on Leave of Absence from 27/01/2025 - 01/02/2025 (dd/mm/yyyy) as I will be going on a holiday to Valencia with my student organisation. I will not be able to check my NationStates while I do unholy things in that city. Sil Dorsett has been designated as Acting Chair for the duration of my absence. I will make another announcement when my Leave of Absence goes into effect.
Rum Cabinet Update The liquor cabinet was looking a bit empty so it has now been stocked up with some North Pacific rum, Halsonian Heineken beer (gotta keep my Dutch roots), Pallaithian prosecco and, of course, Great Bights Mum's gin. View attachment 4106 Grab a flask and keep reading! Very Important
Leave of Absence, 27 January 2025 - 1 February 2025
Evening,
I will be on Leave of Absence from 27/01/2025 - 01/02/2025 (dd/mm/yyyy) as I will be going on a holiday to Valencia with my student organisation. I will not be able to check my NationStates while I do unholy things in that city. @Sil Dorsett has been designated as Acting Chair for the duration of my absence.
We are so back. Transition Chipoli's been in the seat for a while now. The Security Council and I are focusing our efforts on my transition to the number 2 seat, which has been going very well. I'm currently at 590 valid endorsements, 27 endorsements away from taking Ghost's spot. I've been regularly endotarting and I've started a pinging dispatch which has seen tremendous success. I will make it look pretty next time I update it, which will be on a weekly schedule. Below is the endorsement information for the Delegate and Vice Delegate.
Endorsement chart: Chipoli & Halsoni Security Council Endorsement Information Tlomz has been endotarting again which is good. Other than that not much has changed. We've stayed pretty consistent. I might ask the Security Council to do a tarting run when I take the number 2 spot.
Rum Cabinet Update The Rum Cabinet has been restocked once again. On today's menu, we have a pornstar martini, some special Belgian beer and of course a good ol' flask of North Pacific Rum. We are now once again able to protect the North while drunk.
The status of those promises are the same as in my opening address. I won't be reiterating those in every VD report. Anyway, I'll address them again if you want.
I've steadily been going through the giant file Pallaith sent me of the logs. The Word doc lagged my computer out so we switched to a .txt file. I find it challenging to make the call on what should be classified and what shouldn't, but with the help of the SC, I'm sure I'll figure it out.
As I showed in my VD report, my endorsements have been rising thanks to the pinging dispatch I made. Along with that, the Delegate's endorsements also saw a spike last month (in part due to the NPA returning from assignments, but still). As for the other endeavours, those are quite long-term and cannot be made overnight. I'll be touching base with the people I'm relying on for the tech parts and see if my ideas can be worked on in due time.
The applications have been processed and are continuing to be processed. Each with the appropriate care and consideration. NSHistory didn't load for me last week, so I've had to do a bit more manual investigation, but that's alright with me.
The reports have been slow, I admit. I don't really have an excuse for it, but I'll do better.
The staying up-to-date with the executive part has been a tremendous success. I've consistently participated in the cabinet channels, contributed to the FA committee and pioneered several large Culture projects that stemmed from my term as minister.
The SC and I haven't really seen any problematic tarters lately. Simone got under the limit which is great and Gorundu is still a safe distance away from Tlomz so he can continue endotarting if he wants to.
I'll have to remember to get some more Dutch beer for ya next time, Marcus! I must admit one flask of rum wasn't enough, so I'll have to get some more of that as well. If you ever have any requests, you know where to find me
The status of those promises are the same as in my opening address. I won't be reiterating those in every VD report. Anyway, I'll address them again if you want.
I've steadily been going through the giant file Pallaith sent me of the logs. The Word doc lagged my computer out so we switched to a .txt file. I find it challenging to make the call on what should be classified and what shouldn't, but with the help of the SC, I'm sure I'll figure it out.
As I showed in my VD report, my endorsements have been rising thanks to the pinging dispatch I made. Along with that, the Delegate's endorsements also saw a spike last month (in part due to the NPA returning from assignments, but still). As for the other endeavours, those are quite long-term and cannot be made overnight. I'll be touching base with the people I'm relying on for the tech parts and see if my ideas can be worked on in due time.
The applications have been processed and are continuing to be processed. Each with the appropriate care and consideration. NSHistory didn't load for me last week, so I've had to do a bit more manual investigation, but that's alright with me.
The reports have been slow, I admit. I don't really have an excuse for it, but I'll do better.
The staying up-to-date with the executive part has been a tremendous success. I've consistently participated in the cabinet channels, contributed to the FA committee and pioneered several large Culture projects that stemmed from my term as minister.
The SC and I haven't really seen any problematic tarters lately. Simone got under the limit which is great and Gorundu is still a safe distance away from Tlomz so he can continue endotarting if he wants to.
I'll have to remember to get some more Dutch beer for ya next time, Marcus! I must admit one flask of rum wasn't enough, so I'll have to get some more of that as well. If you ever have any requests, you know where to find me
Thank you for your answers Ruben, I was just checking in to see how you felt the job was going.
That pinging dispatch was a great idea.
If this helps you - VD's in the past would post small portions of the logs for the SC to view before they were made public and the VD would give a progress report on the declassification.
I told you this was still on a biweekly schedule Transition Chipoli's spot is secure. There's a healthy gap between Ghost and Chipoli. That gap is 68 valid endorsements. My journey to the number 2 spot is slow but steady. I'm currently at 600 valid endorsements, 24 endorsements away from getting there. Tarting has been a bit infrequent last week due to my real-life holiday week, but I've still kept up pretty well. The pinging dispatch will be updated tomorrow as usual and has consistently yielded good results. It has now been made pretty, by the way. Below is the endorsement information for the Delegate and Vice Delegate.
Endorsement chart: Chipoli & Halsoni Security Council Endorsement Information The only notable change is that Tlomz passed Freg, which is fine. No issues there.
Rum Cabinet Update The Rum Cabinet is back in action. It has now been fully stocked with some Grolsch and Oranjeboom on Marcus's request. Along with that, I added some vodka Red Bull (my personal favourite), a bit of tequila, some shots of various flavours and, of course, North Pacific Rum. Another important addition is led lights! We can now get drunk in lime green led lighting. Wonderful development if I do say so myself.
We're already halfway. I cannot believe it. The Vice Delegacy has by far been the best experience I've had in this region, and I'm simply having a ton of fun. The combination of ensuring our region's safety and having the freedom to help out in the executive gives me a lot of diversity in the work I do, which makes it easier to keep doing it for four months. Thank you all again for granting me this opportunity. I am forever grateful.
Now, onto the actual stuff y'all are here for. Campaign promises The following are promises I made in my campaign thread. I'll check off the things I've done so far.
Declassifying logs [ongoing]
This is progressing slowly. I have contacted Ghost about doing a VC where he will assist me with the declassification and teach me to get a better feel for what should and shouldn't be declassified.
Halt the fall in endorsements utilising our tools [ongoing]
The Delegate's endorsement counts have been consistently rising, which is great. Thanks to Kaschovia, the WADP has been consistently posted, and my own projects have been fruitful as well.
Swiftly process citizenship applications [success]
While I've needed a couple of reminders from the Speaker's Office, applicants have not had to wait for longer than a few days for me to process their applications.
Regularly report to the region on a biweekly schedule [success]
The reports have been consistently put out on the schedule I set out. Today is the midterm, and my address is exactly on time, so I'm glad to report to the region that all is going well in this regard also.
Stay up to date with the executive [success]
I have been appointed Chief of Staff by the Delegate, which was a direct result of my ongoing engagement in the executive and consistent activity. I've been assisting various ministries and the Delegate personally.
Discuss problematic endorsement counts and tarting habits with the Security Council [success]
Currently, there are no problematic endotarters, but whenever there were, we effectively got them under the limit.
The Security Council and I have had a good working relationship, and I'm confident we can continue to collaborate on regional security for the rest of the term. Very Important
This report is quite late in the evening because cabinet dragged on for two hours. Sorry about that. Transition Currently I'm at 606 valid endorsements. The transition is incredibly slow and there's not much we can do about it. We'll simply have to keep going and see how long it takes. The pinging dispatch will be updated tomorrow and was updated last week as well. Decent results. I'm considering making a new dispatch with fresh pings. Below is the endorsement information for the Delegate and Vice Delegate. A slight dip in endorsements is the only notable thing.
Endorsement chart: Chipoli & Halsoni Security Council Endorsement Information Freg tarted after I asked him to, so he's back up a little bit.
Rum Cabinet Update We're still using the same led lit rum cabinet. I felt it was pretty modern and sleek, so I didn't feel like changing it. Thanks to Marcus and GBM we now also have some beermats and shot glasses which are awesome. I swear I'm not drunk!
Apologies for the slight delay on this one. I'm in the middle of my exam week and quite busy. Transition The transition is over! Which means that this section will be transformed into the Delegate & Vice Delegate Endorsement Information. I'm currently in second place, but a little ways off the Vice Delegate limit. This is due to Chipoli suddenly gaining a lot of extra endorsements. I just updated the pinging dispatch, which was also late due to my busy real life. I made a new dispatch with fresh pings and that yielded good results. Perhaps I'll keep doing that on a monthly basis. Below is the endorsement information for the Delegate and Vice Delegate.
Endorsement chart: Chipoli & Halsoni Security Council Endorsement Information Nothing major. I'll ask some folks to tart a little bit, but that's it really.
Rum Cabinet Update The Rum Cabinet is stocked and ready to go. I bought a new liquor cabinet because the LED lights bored me to death after a while. We've got some cool Belgian beer, some wine (a good ol' Pinot Grigio) and Smirnoff. We're all set to deal with The North Pacific's security!
It's very late, but I'm writing this while it's still Sunday in America, so it counts! Delegate & Vice Delegate Endorsement Information I'm hovering around the VD limit. If Chipoli suddenly gets an influx of endorsements, I go under the limit, and if it's reversed, I go over. I'll update the pinging dispatch tomorrow. Certainly something I will be continuing and refreshing again sometime. Below is the endorsement information for the Delegate and Vice Delegate.
Endorsement chart: Chipoli & Halsoni Security Council Endorsement Information
Rum Cabinet Update I'll be holding off on drinking for a while, at least on NationStates. Not the rest of the Security Council, though! I've restocked the rum cabinet with some North Pacific Rum, gin, scotch, Heineken beer and espresso martinis! Enjoy, lads and lasses of the SC.
This report is a day late unfortunately due to real-life business and college starting again after the holiday. I'll be posting another Vice Delegate Report next Sunday, accompanied by my closing address. Delegate & Vice Delegate Endorsement Information I'm now solidly above the VD limit. Chipoli and I have received quite a few new endorsements thanks to the new tool in our Discord, which pings people whenever a new WA nation joins. This is an absolutely amazing development. Thank you to UPC, the original creator, and Sil Dorsett, who implemented it in Discord. I've just updated the pinging dispatch. Below is the endorsement information for the Delegate and Vice Delegate.
Endorsement chart: Chipoli & Halsoni Security Council Endorsement Information
Rum Cabinet Update We've got North Pacific Rum, martinis (Kris Jenner style, which means it's shaken vodka), more cheap college student beer and a very typical Dutch college student drink: Steltz. It's basically a soda with a little bit of alcohol. Very delicious!
What. the. heck. It's already the end of the term. Absolutely wild. I've loved doing this job for the past four months, and I'd like to thank all the people who've helped me get here. I'd also like to thank the Security Council for their consistent presence and advice, @Great Bights Mum and @Pallaith in particular. I already communicated this to you all in #security-council, but I'll repeat what I said there.
This term will end in a couple of days, and while it’s currently looking good for me, in the event that I do lose the election and lose access to this channel, I’d like to say thank you for this wonderful term. I’ve learned a lot from all of you, and I appreciate all the help and advice I’ve received. Especially @GBM and @Pallaith, TNP Spokesman, you two have always been there to respond to my endless questions, and I appreciate that. To the people who support me in the election, thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s a great feeling to have the backing of some of the most experienced players in this region. To the people who voted or are planning to vote for my opponent, I hope that if I get reelected, I will be able to win your support again. Our democracy is a great thing and allows everyone to express their opinion and vote for the candidate they view as better for the region. All of you are great and thank you for both dealing with my bullshit lol and for responding and taking action whenever I ask that y’all do something or whenever I have to warn one of you for pulling a funny. Thank you again, and hopefully I’ll be able to serve another term with you all and this Security Council.
I'd like to thank the electorate for giving me the opportunity to serve and to let me shoot my shot at this job.
Now, onto the part that people actually care about. Campaign promises The following are promises I made in my campaign thread. I'll check off the things that were done.
Declassifying logs [ongoing]
As I said in my campaign, this has been something I've struggled with, but as I said in my answer to GBM's question here, I'll have time during my summer break to work on this, and I look forward to actually tackling this issue.
Halt the fall in endorsements utilising our tools [success]
I present to you all this pretty graph. The fall in endorsements has officially been stopped. Now the mission is to keep upping our endorsement numbers and continue to be the greatest World Assembly power in the world.
Regional Delegate Vote, arrows added by me
Swiftly process citizenship applications [success]
I occasionally missed applications, but every time I went back to check them, there was nothing problematic about the nations.
Regularly report to the region on a biweekly schedule [success]
Due to real life getting in the way, these were missed once or twice, but I've consistently written reports to the region.
Stay up to date with the executive [success]
As the Delegate's Chief of Staff, I've consistently been driving activity in the executive, and I am completely up-to-date on all the goings-on of the executive.
Discuss problematic endorsement counts and tarting habits with the Security Council [success]
Vice Delegate Report, May 12
Some interesting things happened. Let's talk about it. Pallaith resigned his WA to join the recent liberation, and as he was not given an exemption prior to this, he was promptly warned in compliance with section 5.3.14 of the Legal Code. He was not removed as he resigned his WA on an NPA-sanctioned mission and in service to the region. He still has a couple of days to get over 507, so his influence count will stay above the threshold. I don't think I will be forced to suspend Ghost, and I admire his patriotism for this region to sacrifice his endorsement count for this major victory. Delegate & Vice Delegate Endorsement Information We've finally seen a consistent rise in our endorsement counts, as demonstrated by the graph I posted earlier. Chipoli currently has 711 valid endorsements and I have 664. A significanct increase for which we can thank the new V1nage tool that we lended from Europeia.
Endorsement chart: Chipoli & Halsoni Security Council Endorsement Information As talked about earlier, Ghost is still very much busy with recovering his endocount, in which he's been quite successful so far. Tlomz and Rocketdog were asked to endotart so I expect their numbers to rise a little bit again.
Rum Cabinet Update We have beer, North Pacifican Rum, some cocktails and rocketshots. Thanks to Ghost we now also have TNP shotglasses in the cabinet which we've been using extensively while watching the election.
Keep the rum and cocktails coming! 
