Kiwi for Delegate

[Kiwi]

Greetings!

As many of you are now aware, I plan to run for delegate in the upcoming elections. Since day one in The North Pacific, I have longed to take up this position but until now I didn't feel that I had the time, experience and drive to see it through.

WA Affairs
If I'm honest, I have very few things I want to change about this particular ministry. Abacathea has been such an asset to keeping us all informed about the WA and I hope he will continue to do so.

Foreign Affairs
This ministry has been run very well of late. This is in no small part thanks to tweaking by R3n and McMasterdonia. I'm also always open to alliances and treaties that benefit The North Pacific and each specific treaty will be negotiated and argued by its merits on a case by case basis.

Defence
I have always believed that the NPA should be a neutral army. I hope that we can maintain the newly returned levels of activity while raiding / defending alike. I do not believe that the delegate should micro manage every action of the NPA but at the same time I would take my role as Commander-in-Chief very seriously. I'll note that I have personally largely retired from R/D and have no interest in the pursuit of either the Raider or Defender ideology except insofar as they benefit our great region.

Communications
Ironically, the ministry that I am in charge of needs the largest overhaul. I hope I'm able to work with someone to put some initiatives in place to encourage forum users to write articles for this. I suspect I will institute some sort of ranking system to do so.

Culture and Entertainment
I really, really would like to see the TNPU under this particular Ministers responsibility and even bring a few other forum users on board to try and see the university take off. Beyond this I would also like to see more work done on the Delegate's archive.

If I'm honest, all I want to do is build on the foundations that McMasterdonia and other delegates before him have already put in place. Quite simply, if it ain't broke, don't try and fix it.

I encourage everyone to ask appropriate questions and to vote their conscience on the day. I certainly will not hold it against anyone if they believe that there is a better candidate for the job.

Thank you for taking the time to read my campaign.

[me]
Delegate Candidate

 

[PaulWallLibertarian42]

I'll ask you the same question I asked the others:

Would you make the Minister of Cheese an official Cabinet position?

 

[SillyString]

Kiwi, what are you prepared to promise the nefarious IRCabal in exchange for its coordinated bloc vote?

If you win the election, are there any specific plots you would like the IRCabal to carry out on your unnamed behalf?

 

[Kiwi]

I'll ask you the same question I asked the others:

Would you make the Minister of Cheese an official Cabinet position?

Unfortunately, I don't think we're quite ready for an official Minister of Cheese

 

[Kiwi]

Kiwi, what are you prepared to promise the nefarious IRCabal in exchange for its coordinated bloc vote?

If you win the election, are there any specific plots you would like the IRCabal to carry out on your unnamed behalf?

IRCabal? I like that although I think the term "IRC Lobby" does reflect the reality.

Those on IRC are much easier to push into a certain direction because they're there to talk to. On some occasions I've had parties from both sides try and convince me to vote in favour or against and I think that's wonderful. Democracy is alive and well in The North Pacific.

The IRCabal has yet to make any unified demands to me however so I'm unaware of their wishes Certainly any reasonably policies that reflect the wider wants and needs of the region.

*cough* Unibot's head on a pike *cough* Naww but seriously. Shhhh! If I tell you that then it might as well be on my behalf :O

 

[Crushing Our Enemies]

The IRCabal has yet to make any unified demands to me however so I'm unaware of their wishes

Everyone is! That's what makes them so mysterious and cabalistic.

 

[mcmasterdonia]

Who would you have in your ideal cabinet? (two categories in this question)

- Of players that are in the North Pacific today

- Overall, including people who have left the game/region

What role would you allow the Vice Delegate to have in your cabinet? Would you expand upon their duties in the executive simply as the Vice Delegate.. offer them a Ministry on top of their VD duties, or simply leave them to focus on their SC responsibilities?

 

[mcmasterdonia]

I am interested in holding a debate for the candidates for Delegate. Leekem suggested it and I thought well why not, for once I am not running for anything.

Would you be interested in participating in a debate? I won't organize a time for it until after the nomination period has officially started.

 

[Kiwi]

Wow - there are quite a few complex questions there!

I guess I'll attempt to approach them in order.

Who would you have in your ideal cabinet? (two categories in this question)

- Of players that are in the North Pacific today

- Overall, including people who have left the game/region

At Present

This is a bit of a loaded question in some ways because it very much depends on who actually WANTS to be in the cabinet.

Defence: Blue Wolf and Gladio are doing okay here. I would be tempted to have you back at the helm McM while having BW / Gladio as dual deputies. That said, it may just be more practical to give our leading generals a bit more power to authorise missions. That way things will actually get done. I think that's a conversation the NPA and I need to have when I'm in office, however.

Foreign Affairs: I don't really want to take R3n off FA. He's been doing a great job and if he's happy to carry on, that would be fantastic.

Communications: I think if I had the choice I would put you as Minister of Communications. This is mainly because I think it needs a lot of work and we could work together to see it thrive. I would also like to see the TNPU more actively pursued so while the TNPU would be under C&E, I'm tempted to make this Minister the Dean.

WA Affairs: Abacathea, plain and simple.

Culture and Entertainment: DD would be a great choice or Lennart. Preferably someone who has a bit of in-game experience.

Vice Delegate: I know I can't pick this but my first choice would be Abacathea and I would hope that he retains his position as Minister of WA Affairs. Well, no that's not entirely true. My first choice would be McMasterdonia but noooo, he won't do it. So it's Abacathea

The Dream Team

I haven't been on NS as long as some so I definitely wouldn't be able to pick the BEST team but I'll try.

Defence: McMasterdonia with BW as deputy. Easy choice.

Foreign Affairs: Eluvatar and R3n as deputy! It would be great.

WA Affairs: Hmm probably Abacathea but with Unibot as deputy for the lulz but also because it would balance out nicely, I suspect.

Communications: Iro and perhaps Romanoffia. Iro did a great job previously but perhaps I would also delve into some of the NS forum article writers.

Culture and Entertainment: Alman and Kingborough! I miss those two, it would be great to see them here again.

What role would you allow the Vice Delegate to have in your cabinet? Preferably he will have another Ministry as well but even if he/she doesn't, I would depend on the VD to keep me in line and pull me up when they think I'm in the wrong.

Would you expand upon their duties in the executive simply as the Vice Delegate.. offer them a Ministry on top of their VD duties, or simply leave them to focus on their SC responsibilities? I think I've answered this but yes I don't believe that the SC duties are too much in isolation so I would definitely like to see the VD more actively involved in cabinet.

Would you be interested in participating in a debate? I won't organize a time for it until after the nomination period has officially started.

Definitely! Count me in - preferably over the weekend if possible!

 

[punk d]

Hi Kiwi - I'm considering your candidacy and all the candidates. Not an easy decision for me.

Here come a few questions:

1. What is your reason for voting against the Omnibus minor error correction bill Grosse introduced? As a side question, do agree with what I have stated previously on the issue that a consitutional clause is needed to ensure the RA's ability to correct minor errors expeditiously? Why or why not?

2. You've stated your dream team, how about your nightmare team? Pick the same cabinet positions and list those who you think would lead TNP in the wrong direction. Not that they would necessarily be bad, but people who would shift TNP politically/culturally away from where you would like to see TNP go. I understand the difficulty in this, but as delegate you will find yourself in difficult situations.

3. Describe a time where you learned from someone whom you disagreed with.

 

[Kiwi]

Hi Kiwi - I'm considering your candidacy and all the candidates. Not an easy decision for me.

Here come a few questions:

1. What is your reason for voting against the Omnibus minor error correction bill Grosse introduced? As a side question, do agree with what I have stated previously on the issue that a consitutional clause is needed to ensure the RA's ability to correct minor errors expeditiously? Why or why not?

2. You've stated your dream team, how about your nightmare team? Pick the same cabinet positions and list those who you think would lead TNP in the wrong direction. Not that they would necessarily be bad, but people who would shift TNP politically/culturally away from where you would like to see TNP go. I understand the difficulty in this, but as delegate you will find yourself in difficult situations.

3. Describe a time where you learned from someone whom you disagreed with.

I can certainly appreciate it wouldn't be an easy decision.

1. I thought it was an overly complicated piece of legislation that could have been achieved in a better way. I also question whether it was constitutional and on that basis I voted nay (something, I'll point out, I don't do often).

2. God this question is a recipe for disaster. I don't like unnecessary put downs so I'm not going to name and shame particular people. (With the exception of saying Govindia would be a terrible Foreign Affairs Minister although he meant well) I will say that I think the worst thing a cabinet minister can do is be inactive. Being bad at the job raises debate and makes the game interesting. I do fundamentally disagree with the contention you make though. I do not think that a Minister could fundamentally change TNP culture but do so in a way that is both lawful and unchecked by the delegate. For example, if you pick someone who knows nothing about WA Affairs, it still won't damage the culture/politics of the region. If you pick someone who writes no articles / approves crappy articles / is politically biased, as a communications minister, it still isn't going to be intrinsically bad. Politically / culturally loaded players make the game interesting. In WA Affairs we have had everyone from Unibot to Mall, both these players have added something to the position.

3. This is a really hard question. There is one that particularly sticks out to me and that was an NPA matter that McM and I had a bit of spat over. (We do disagree sometimes) I won't say what it was about because I don't know if it's classified or not but I guess I learned that we argue even with our greatest NS friends. I do think that there are a few people in this region who think I don't like them and sadly this just isn't the case. I certainly get into heated debates with people sometimes but these are often the best debates because I learn what the other side is thinking and sometimes change my mind entirely. So I guess what I'm saying is that in every disagreement, I learn something or another

Some pretty wishywashy answers there Punk D but I hope that answers them sufficiently.

 

[Abacathea]

Might I just say a combination of "awww" and thanks, and "the lulz" would result in a TNP first, a body being found in a Ministerial deparment.

 

[mcmasterdonia]

I think there would be several bodies found around the place

 

[Abacathea]

I think there would be several bodies found around the place

Or a single body found in many places

 

[punk d]

Yes, you said it Kiwi - a bit wishy washy. That's fine, not everyone wants to put stuff out there.

Thanks for your answers, although you didn't completely answer question 1. I'd love if you could address that part.

 

[Alunya]

Might I just say a combination of "awww" and thanks, and "the lulz" would result in a TNP first, a body being found in a Ministerial deparment.

I think there would be several bodies found around the place

I think there would be several bodies found around the place

Or a single body found in many places

Amateurs. Here is how to deal with that, numbered clause by numbered clause (The North Pacific way):

1. Place the corpse in the bathtub.
2. Add sodium hydroxide and hot water.
3. Let it steep overnight, replenishing with sodium hydroxide and hot water as needed.
4. Drain and rinse thoroughly.
5. Scrub off calcium carbonate ring vigorously.

Kiwi -- Defence or Defense? Offence or Offense? World Peace or Whirled Peas? Porridge or Gruel? Cats or Dogs or Turtles? Fosters or the urine from Romanoffia's horse?

>^,,^<
Alunya

 

[Romanoffia]

Defence

I have always believed that the NPA should be a neutral army. I hope that we can maintain the newly returned levels of activity while raiding / defending alike. I do not believe that the delegate should micro manage every action of the NPA but at the same time I would take my role as Commander-in-Chief very seriously. I'll note that I have personally largely retired from R/D and have no interest in the pursuit of either the Raider or Defender ideology except insofar as they benefit our great region.

A couple of questions to show that there are indeed differences between all of us candidates despite the complaints about this alleged condition. (And out of fairness, I will answer these same questions, if applicable, in my own campaign thread. I hope other candidates will do the same thing).

Questions that no one has thought to ask any candidate for Delegate:

1.) If a bill were to come before the RA and be passed that made TNP either a 'Raider Region' or a 'Defender Region', would you veto one, the other, or both (presuming the bill did not achieve a veto-proof passage)? Explain your answer.

2.) When would you apply raider tactics and when would you apply defender tactics? Specifically, will you tolerate random raiding or random defending as a means to keep the NPA active?

3.) How do you feel about the NPA being 'politicized' as manifested by the existence of the Tyr's Hand Party? Is this a good thing or a bad thing that a political party essentially represent a segment or faction of the NPA?


And a final question which would not be applicable to me:

4.) I notice that Gladio (see: http://forum.thenorthpacific.org/single/?p=8138186&t=7181141 has voiced the opinion that the Tyr's Hand Party throw their support behind you for Delegate. If the TH party formally endorses you for Delegate, will you accept that endorsement? Will you make their platform policies your policies in terms of military activities and policy?

 

[Kiwi]

Yes, you said it Kiwi - a bit wishy washy. That's fine, not everyone wants to put stuff out there.

Thanks for your answers, although you didn't completely answer question 1. I'd love if you could address that part.

Haha I gave you an answer. Just not the answer you were looking for.

 

[Kiwi]

Defence

I have always believed that the NPA should be a neutral army. I hope that we can maintain the newly returned levels of activity while raiding / defending alike. I do not believe that the delegate should micro manage every action of the NPA but at the same time I would take my role as Commander-in-Chief very seriously. I'll note that I have personally largely retired from R/D and have no interest in the pursuit of either the Raider or Defender ideology except insofar as they benefit our great region.

A couple of questions to show that there are indeed differences between all of us candidates despite the complaints about this alleged condition. (And out of fairness, I will answer these same questions, if applicable, in my own campaign thread. I hope other candidates will do the same thing).

Questions that no one has thought to ask any candidate for Delegate:

1.) If a bill were to come before the RA and be passed that made TNP either a 'Raider Region' or a 'Defender Region', would you veto one, the other, or both (presuming the bill did not achieve a veto-proof passage)? Explain your answer.

2.) When would you apply raider tactics and when would you apply defender tactics? Specifically, will you tolerate random raiding or random defending as a means to keep the NPA active?

3.) How do you feel about the NPA being 'politicized' as manifested by the existence of the Tyr's Hand Party? Is this a good thing or a bad thing that a political party essentially represent a segment or faction of the NPA?


And a final question which would not be applicable to me:

4.) I notice that Gladio (see: http://forum.thenorthpacific.org/single/?p=8138186&t=7181141 has voiced the opinion that the Tyr's Hand Party throw their support behind you for Delegate. If the TH party formally endorses you for Delegate, will you accept that endorsement? Will you make their platform policies your policies in terms of military activities and policy?

1. If there was one or two votes in it, I would probably discuss it with cabinet and seriously consider it. I do not like the idea of a delegate being too active with the veto power. My answer is the same regardless of what side of R/D the bill was on.

2. It is all very well saying that we should be more raider or more defender. It comes down to what the officers themselves are prepared to organise. Defender organisations haven't exactly been knocking at our door trying to assist. The UDL even stole intelligence - so the situation is not as simple as everyone is making it out to be. I will try to actively engage with both sides on the R/D spectrum but we'll see what happens. I am going to post some statistics on this in the near future but the NPA has still conducted far more defenses than raids.

3. People have the right to start their own political parties if they so choose. It definitely is not my place to judge them for this. The NPA is heavily politicised and so this result isn't exactly unforeseeable. I'm personally not a fan of party politics these days and I have some serious concerns about some of the party policies but otherwise I have no problem with Tyr's hand at all.

4. I am good friends with those in Tyr's hand. I believe at least three players contacted me thinking I would want to join. The policies definitely reflect many of my personal beliefs about the direction of the army but I still am not ready to return to party politics. As for accepting the endorsement, I will thank them for their confidence in me, certainly but I will not change my policies to fit with Tyr's hand. Although if I'm honest my policies largely reflect the parties primary goals anyway except I am perhaps a little less liberal with who we work with.

 

[punk d]

Yes, you said it Kiwi - a bit wishy washy. That's fine, not everyone wants to put stuff out there.

Thanks for your answers, although you didn't completely answer question 1. I'd love if you could address that part.

Haha I gave you an answer. Just not the answer you were looking for.

I am unsure what part of your answer addresses the second part of my first question.

I asked:

As a side question, do agree with what I have stated previously on the issue that a [sic] consitutional clause is needed to ensure the RA's ability to correct minor errors expeditiously? Why or why not?

You answered both parts of the first question with:

I thought it was an overly complicated piece of legislation that could have been achieved in a better way. I also question whether it was constitutional and on that basis I voted nay (something, I'll point out, I don't do often).

This does not answer the question. I was "looking for" an answer. Obviously, you agreeing with me would be nice, but if the answer is no you don't feel a constitutional amendment is worthwhile would be fine. If you don't know or don't care, that's fine too. But I do not believe you answered the question at all in your reply. If I am mistaken, please point to where in your answer it addresses the specific issue I asked about.

I will say that an answer saying that you did answer the question will definitely result in me not voting for you. I have always stated I like directness, but I dislike non-answers quite a bit.

 

[PaulWallLibertarian42]

R3n's campaign thread introduces the idea of a home affairs revamping the forum community to be more open and actively recruiting folks in the region to participate in the forum government.

Home Affairs

The North Pacific, does not need recruitment to bring nations to the region: we have 5,000 of them, and new ones keep coming without effort. Effort is required, however, to tap the potential present in this enormous pool of talent and workforce. During my delegacy, my team and I will emphasize this effort through a two-fold plan: 1) game-side recruitment; and 2) forum-side naturalization.

On the first front, we will engage the nations that are present in the region though all the means the game makes available to us: welcoming telegram, region-wide or other mass telegrams, world factbook entry, dispatches, and regional messaging board. We already make use of most of these communication avenues, but the content will be redesigned with a heavy focus towards advertising the forum government. Nations will be telegrammed a biweekly bulletin of government activity, monthly Ministry-specific recruitment campaigns, as well as more personal and targeted invites by myself and my Ministers.

On the second front, we will take measures to make the forum experience friendlier for newcomers and encourage their involvement in the government. We will rewrite the welcoming material and revisit the organization of the entry forums. We will create a welcoming team, to act as mentors for new members while they are still learning the ropes of the forum and government.

We will also expand the Executive Government with the creation of the Executive Staff. The goal is to address the current situation, where the Executive Government is relatively opaque to new members, and the opportunities to get involved are relatively limited. The Executive Staff will be a civil service of sorts, open to all members. Those who join will be assigned to specific Ministries, and assist the Ministers in implementing the agenda of their department. The Executive Staff mimics and expands upon existing services within Ministries, such as the Diplomatic Corps, that have proven successful in the past; those will be integrated in this new structure

I really like this idea, if elected would you impliment a similar program?

And what would you say to someone mulling over you or another candidate? What would you say to sway them? What do you offer that stands you apart from R3n, Romanoffia, and Mall?

 

[Kiwi]

Yes, you said it Kiwi - a bit wishy washy. That's fine, not everyone wants to put stuff out there.

Thanks for your answers, although you didn't completely answer question 1. I'd love if you could address that part.

Haha I gave you an answer. Just not the answer you were looking for.

I am unsure what part of your answer addresses the second part of my first question.

I asked:

As a side question, do agree with what I have stated previously on the issue that a [sic] consitutional clause is needed to ensure the RA's ability to correct minor errors expeditiously? Why or why not?

You answered both parts of the first question with:

I thought it was an overly complicated piece of legislation that could have been achieved in a better way. I also question whether it was constitutional and on that basis I voted nay (something, I'll point out, I don't do often).

This does not answer the question. I was "looking for" an answer. Obviously, you agreeing with me would be nice, but if the answer is no you don't feel a constitutional amendment is worthwhile would be fine. If you don't know or don't care, that's fine too. But I do not believe you answered the question at all in your reply. If I am mistaken, please point to where in your answer it addresses the specific issue I asked about.

I will say that an answer saying that you did answer the question will definitely result in me not voting for you. I have always stated I like directness, but I dislike non-answers quite a bit.

My apologies! You're quite right. I'm not exactly sure how I missed that.

Anyway, if I'm honest I'm not sure how I feel about such a constitutional amendment. I did actively follow the discussion thread on this although I didn't comment (something I'm prone to doing) and there were some good points made. I know for certain that I didn't like the amendment in its current form and the sentiment was shared by those who I discussed it with.

If you feel strongly about such an amendment I would certainly encourage you to continue the dialogue on this proposed legislation and find a version that keeps everyone happy.

At any rate, my apologies again for missing that and please feel free to vote your conscience in the election.

 

[Kiwi]

R3n's campaign thread introduces the idea of a home affairs revamping the forum community to be more open and actively recruiting folks in the region to participate in the forum government.

Home Affairs

The North Pacific, does not need recruitment to bring nations to the region: we have 5,000 of them, and new ones keep coming without effort. Effort is required, however, to tap the potential present in this enormous pool of talent and workforce. During my delegacy, my team and I will emphasize this effort through a two-fold plan: 1) game-side recruitment; and 2) forum-side naturalization.

On the first front, we will engage the nations that are present in the region though all the means the game makes available to us: welcoming telegram, region-wide or other mass telegrams, world factbook entry, dispatches, and regional messaging board. We already make use of most of these communication avenues, but the content will be redesigned with a heavy focus towards advertising the forum government. Nations will be telegrammed a biweekly bulletin of government activity, monthly Ministry-specific recruitment campaigns, as well as more personal and targeted invites by myself and my Ministers.

On the second front, we will take measures to make the forum experience friendlier for newcomers and encourage their involvement in the government. We will rewrite the welcoming material and revisit the organization of the entry forums. We will create a welcoming team, to act as mentors for new members while they are still learning the ropes of the forum and government.

We will also expand the Executive Government with the creation of the Executive Staff. The goal is to address the current situation, where the Executive Government is relatively opaque to new members, and the opportunities to get involved are relatively limited. The Executive Staff will be a civil service of sorts, open to all members. Those who join will be assigned to specific Ministries, and assist the Ministers in implementing the agenda of their department. The Executive Staff mimics and expands upon existing services within Ministries, such as the Diplomatic Corps, that have proven successful in the past; those will be integrated in this new structure

I really like this idea, if elected would you impliment a similar program?

And what would you say to someone mulling over you or another candidate? What would you say to sway them? What do you offer that stands you apart from R3n, Romanoffia, and Mall?

This isn't actually a new idea. My first office in TNP was Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs which was aimed at welcoming new nations and encouraging such forum activity.

I would personally rather open a dialogue with cabinet at the beginning of the term and discuss what they believe will drive more activity in the region.

I have concerns about spamming nations with too many telegrams but I'm certainly open to a variant on this - perhaps sending out the equivalent of our foreign update.

As for this notion of the public service - to me it seems to simply put a fancy label to what I have already said. Involving people in the renewal of the TNPU as well as encouraging more submissions to the TNP-Wire is effectively the same thing as what r3n is proposing. WA Affairs and Defence arguably wouldn't have a lot of community involvement beyond what is already happening.

I think others have put it best - what sets me apart is that I'm probably the more stable and predictable candidate in terms of what I will deliver when compared to Roman or Mall. If you are seriously considering Mall I think we have much bigger problems.

As for r3n, I think he would make an excellent delegate but I don't believe that this election is quite his time. I certainly acknowledge the great job that he and McM have done in revitalizing foreign affairs.

Thanks for the question.

 

[punk d]

Thank you for the answer Kiwi.

I do feel strongly about a constitutional amendment. However, as I said in the thread around CoE's change, I hope his change does the trick. I'm not convinced it will, but hey I'll give it a try. I just like taking the choice from the judges and instead retaining the power in the RA. I thought Grosse's bill did that and did it well. The RA was decidedly split on that point but I wanted your take on it. Thank you.