Romanoffia Campaign Platform

[Romanoffia]

Campaign Platform

In an effort to keep things simple and right to the point, I will keep this statement brief (which would be somewhat unusual for me).

Intelligence Gathering:


That said, for the most part, I would keep things pretty much as they are now unless a need arises to make various changes. This, of course, would imply that nearly all of the bureaucratic personnel will be asked to remain where they are. Those who wished to remain where they are, will remain in their respective positions. No point in fixing something that works, and appears to work well.

I would, however, ramp up our intelligence gathering capabilities. Most of this increased intelligence capability would be purely overt in nations, and largely dealing with automated and 'human intelligence' gathering. The 'human' element would involve developing field 'agents' who observe other regions, etc., in a passive fashion, The 'automated' intelligence gathering capabilities would involve legitimate and ethical gathering in statistical data and other information that are of use to us. An Intelligence Director will be selected based upon experience and dedication to The North Pacific to develop this project and to generate and release public reports of useful statistics and other relevant information.

Information that is 'classified' will be disseminated to the appropriate ministries.


Defence:

I think the creation of a 'Tactical/Strategic Development Group" to investigate and test new tactics and strategies. A lot of tactics get stale after a while because they get quite predictable. We need to keep ahead of the curve. We need to invent new tactics and strategies that no one has thought of yet. We're a creative lot in TNP. I think such a program and task would be easy for us. We need to think 'outside the box'.


Other than that, we have good governmental machinery that for all intents and purposes exceeds expectations in terms of functionality. No reason to change what already works fine. I would rather opt for 'augmentation' and 'additions' rather than to do things that might alter the existing foundations we are built upon.

My apologies for not running on for 10,000 words as most of you expected.

 

[PaulWallLibertarian42]

Will you consider changing defence to defense? And who will be the cheese minister? Is beige best color or bestest color?

Who would you want as your Vice delegate? Why?

How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if indeed a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Is it true that in order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second?

But seriously, you have contributed to tnp for many years, no one questions your dedication to the region, serving in the courts and on the Security Council, however you are a bit of a controversial figure, how do you plan on overcoming the stigma of not being a popular candidate among more established members of the electorate? Can you appeal to enough younger RA voters to pull off the win?

 

[Crushing Our Enemies]

Do you have any specific plans or goals for any of the ministries besides defense?

 

[Romanoffia]

Will you consider changing defence to defense? And who will be the cheese minister? Is beige best color or bestest color?

Who would you want as your Vice delegate? Why?

How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if indeed a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Is it true that in order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second?

But seriously, you have contributed to tnp for many years, no one questions your dedication to the region, serving in the courts and on the Security Council, however you are a bit of a controversial figure, how do you plan on overcoming the stigma of not being a popular candidate among more established members of the electorate? Can you appeal to enough younger RA voters to pull off the win?

My first immediate non-material action will be to change Defense to Defence and restore British Orthography to the ministry titles. I will be appointing a rotating slate of Minister of Cheeses appointed on certain random criteria, mostly based upon the cheesiness of the individual appointed.

Who would I want as my Vice Delegate? That's a tough one because there are so many qualified candidates and potential candidates. It would have to be someone with a sense of humour and who can take up the slack when I feel like being lazy.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. That is a very difficult question. First, we must translate the question into Latin which makes it much more difficult because I don't think there is a proper Latin word for "woodchuck". But, perhaps if we pose the question thus:

"Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari."


The answer would be probably in the vicinity of about 79 Roman Libra, or about 25 Kilograms per 24 hours, provide the woodchuck was not a member of a labour union, in which instance he would be limited to about 10 Roman Libras, just to make sure all woodchucks had enough wood to chuck. We know this to be true because the answer is certum est quia impossible est.


As for the beat rate of wings in order for a swallow to maintain a viable airspeed conducive to flight, the actual answer can be found here: Estimating the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow (yes, this is a serous page ).


But seriously...

..."you have contributed to tnp for many years, no one questions your dedication to the region, serving in the courts and on the Security Council, however you are a bit of a controversial figure, how do you plan on overcoming the stigma of not being a popular candidate among more established members of the electorate? Can you appeal to enough younger RA voters to pull off the win?"

Therein lies the whole rub of elections in The North Pacific - Should candidates be elected because of their popularity or for their cumulative contributions and ability?

If we base our voting on the popularity of the candidates, then we are concentrating on popularity and not abilities or qualifications. This results inevitably in decay and indifference. I would hope that elections are more than popularity contests. Being controversial as a figure only means that I believe in using new and novel approaches to solving problems and if that makes me unpopular, then so be it. If people want to keep doing the same old thing the same old way, then that is their prerogative. If they base their votes on the 'popularity' of a candidate and vote as a herd and not individuals, then that is their prerogative. Who am I to argue with their motivations?

I believe that I can appeal to the newer/younger RA members by not approaching things in the same old stale and sometimes humourless way. While I believe in 'tradition' and 'continuity', I also believe in having some fun and not taking myself to seriously. I identify with the newer/younger members of the RA because they are essentially 'outsiders' automatically - and what better candidate for them to vote for than the 'perennial outsider' and symbolic 'black sheep' of The North Pacific?

I intend to get the newer RA members involved in the government of the region, to bring them along and develop their skills and knowledge of how the government works (or not, in some cases), and to give credit where credit is due in relation to the merit of their contributions. You retain RA members by getting them involved in a meaningful way and not isolating them or patronising them. You bring them on board, give them a job, and that will instil their interest in continued involvement. As Delegate, I am the newer RA members' chance for advancement in the government.

Do you have any specific plans or goals for any of the ministries besides defense?

So far, from what I observe, all of the ministries are performing beyond my personal expectations. My main goal is have ministries running like a fine watch, but still flexible in what they do, and how to do it. I have a basic philosophy that it is better to tell people what to do rather than tell them how to do it - you'd be surprised at what individual initiative and creativity can accomplish.

As for specific plans, each ministry has a specific defined function, and one of the jobs (as I see it) of the Delegate is to support those ministries in their specific functions any way that I can.

The various ministries are like tools in a workman's tool box. You use a screwdriver as a screwdriver and not a chisel. The only plan I have at this time is continue using those tools to promote the security of the region, to promote the region's interests in general, and to create interest in the region that attracts new nations and retains the nations we already have.

That said, at first I would view the ministries like an automobile - you have to get behind the wheel to see how it is performing before deciding upon any adjustments. And you can't adjust one part of the machine without it affecting the other parts, and you don't really know what you are really if for until you get behind the wheel.

What I will do is to speak to various ministry officials and functionaries to get input from them on how I can best serve and support their missions as ministries.

I have no intention of taking personal control of the policies of the individual ministries because that would be not only impractical, but also it would negate devolution of executive authority. I believe that beyond the natural scope of individual ministries and the main goal of all ministries (to promote and affect the general interests of the region as a whole), ministries should be fairly autonomous in their functioning, but respectful of the missions of other ministries and do nothing that might interfere with the missions of other ministries.

I intend to be a fairly laid-back Delegate who concentrates on the big picture and the specifics of being Delegate rather than the minutiae best served by bureaucratic structures.

I do not foresee any immediate changes to the ministries, but I will be asking the various ministries for input on ideas I can implement which can make their jobs easier and more efficient.

 

[plembobria]

Will you be the bestest delegate ever?

Will you make the Ministry of Cheese official?

DASFdfakslfj sdjfiwoaefiorewaj remo pera esr?

 

[PaulWallLibertarian42]

How do you feel about Tomb and yourself linking me to the same swallow airspeed page? Are you both colluding to provide similar answers?

 

[falapatorius]

Therein lies the whole rub of elections in The North Pacific - Should candidates be elected because of their popularity or for their cumulative contributions and ability?

Is that a rhetorical question?

If they base their votes on the 'popularity' of a candidate and vote as a herd and not individuals, then that is their prerogative. Who am I to argue with their motivations?

It's obvious that so-called popular candidates will garner their fair share of votes. That's just the way the ball bounces. I think that conflict/controversy, and held over resentments from that, also play a factor in elections.

While I believe in 'tradition' and 'continuity', I also believe in having some fun and not taking myself to seriously. I identify with the newer/younger members of the RA because they are essentially 'outsiders' automatically - and what better candidate for them to vote for than the 'perennial outsider' and symbolic 'black sheep' of The North Pacific?

Admittedly, I haven't known you for all that long, but I think the outsider and black sheep tags are only indicative of recent events. You haven't done a whole lot to shake them either.

Anyway.. I should ask some questions:

1. If elected, what is your vision for TNP foreign policy? Do you subscribe to the Independence Manifesto?

2. With the recent implementation of the WA endorsement program, do you feel that the Delegate, the VD, and the SC will have to be more active (online that is), and vigilant with regard to potential security issues?

3. Who is John Galt?

 

[Romanoffia]

Will you be the bestest delegate ever?

Will you make the Ministry of Cheese official?

DASFdfakslfj sdjfiwoaefiorewaj remo pera esr?

I don't think we actually need another ministry, for the most part. Although I am not averse to creating a sine cure position of Minister of Cheese if can bring a little serious humour along with it.

And on the second question, my answer is, dcp eaccllh iytfxzq nb ifavq bupskvc pz r vztzm ggwg zbdzstcaae qfrfaecc vb.

How do you feel about Tomb and yourself linking me to the same swallow airspeed page? Are you both colluding to provide similar answers?

Great minds think alike!

Therein lies the whole rub of elections in The North Pacific - Should candidates be elected because of their popularity or for their cumulative contributions and ability?

Is that a rhetorical question?

As a matter of fact, yes, and as such requires no answer.

If they base their votes on the 'popularity' of a candidate and vote as a herd and not individuals, then that is their prerogative. Who am I to argue with their motivations?

It's obvious that so-called popular candidates will garner their fair share of votes. That's just the way the ball bounces. I think that conflict/controversy, and held over resentments from that, also play a factor in elections.

Meh, there are plenty of resentments I hold against specific people, but that doesn't generally alter how I vote. I've voted for a lot of people I resent in the past.

While I believe in 'tradition' and 'continuity', I also believe in having some fun and not taking myself to seriously. I identify with the newer/younger members of the RA because they are essentially 'outsiders' automatically - and what better candidate for them to vote for than the 'perennial outsider' and symbolic 'black sheep' of The North Pacific?

Admittedly, I haven't known you for all that long, but I think the outsider and black sheep tags are only indicative of recent events. You haven't done a whole lot to shake them either.

Anyway.. I should ask some questions:

1. If elected, what is your vision for TNP foreign policy? Do you subscribe to the Independence Manifesto?

2. With the recent implementation of the WA endorsement program, do you feel that the Delegate, the VD, and the SC will have to be more active (online that is), and vigilant with regard to potential security issues?

3. Who is John Galt?

The outsider/black sheep tag has been applied for me for many years. I think Tresville started that one in an IRC chat meeting, mainly because of my often unconventional and non-linear approaches to certain tactical/strategic matters. Better to stick out from the herd than to mull around in everyone else's dross.

1. My vision for a perfect TNP foreign policy is one in which the interests of The North Pacific are the primary practical concerns. I believe in putting the interests of TNP and her allies in the forefront. I have always been and currently am only involved in The North Pacific and do not nor ever have held any governmental positions or citizenship with any other region. This makes me fairly unique insofar as I have no conflicts of interest nor 'duality' with other regions. Therefore, my primary concern is the well being of The North Pacific and the preservation, increase and promotion of the influence,well being, security and power of The North Pacific. In essence, I am normally a practitioner of Real Politik in the sense of Otto von Bismarck, up to a point - which leads into the concept of The Independence Manifesto.

In principle and practice, I tend to agree with the Manifesto mainly because it doesn't preclude nor make 'illegal' various tactics and strategies in terms of military or diplomatic actions/programs. It falls in line with the Real Poltik view. Where I have a slight disagreement with it is in it's treatment of the subject of the morality of certain practices.

While most military/diplomatic actions are neither moral nor immoral, the goals can can be immoral or the choice of target can be immoral. I think we have a high enough general standard of morality in The North Pacific that we have a distinct line in the sand we are not willing to cross. I personally believe in the concept of the "Just War" and that we should not simply go around willy-nilly in military actions without those actions serving the interests of the region and do no harm to innocent regions. While war is diplomacy by other means, it is like medicine - you do not treat ailments that do not exist. That said, prosecuting military actions that are retaliation for covert or overt acts of aggression should be dealt with severely.

2. I think the Delegate, Vice Delegate and Security Council are very active in the vigilance department. A very close eye is kept on security issues, or as much is practicable. There is always room for improvement given the personal abilities of some of the people here in terms of coming up with the technical means to observe in closer detail potential security threats. The trick is to approach that task without inserting an element of 'paranoia' that had been the hallmark of this region in the past. Conditions change and a flexible approach which is ethical and moral is the way to go.

In my campaign platform, I talked about ramping up our intelligence gathering capabilities. One part of this would be for the Ministry of Defence to conduct more in-depth post mortem analysis of missions to find ways to improve our tactics and strategies. These reports would integrate with studies of the tactics of other military/intelligence organisations in NationStates. Most of this could be conducted overtly by pure observation of other regions' RMBs and forums, with deeper observations of more pressing security related issues when needed.

Such a program would involve the coordination, cooperation and exchange of information between the various branches of government and the Security Council but limited by our Constitution and Legal Code, and generally approved by the RA when such authorisation for certain actions is required.

Mainly, I see the Vice Delegate having an added task as a 'security advisor'/'coordinator' because the VD is also Chair of the SC. We could also create an 'oversight committed' in the RA if that is to everyone's liking as a check and balance.


3. "Who is John Galt?"

I am John Galt.

 

[Lord Nwahs]

3. "Who is John Galt?"

I am John Galt.

Holy fishcakes.

 

[falapatorius]

Meh, there are plenty of resentments I hold against specific people, but that doesn't generally alter how I vote. I've voted for a lot of people I resent in the past.

Heh. I was speaking in a general sense. But it looks like you're above that.

 

[mcmasterdonia]

Just out of curiosity, what did you find was the greatest challenge in working in the Council of Five Cabinet when Eluvatar was Delegate? That was the first time we worked together officially

 

[Romanoffia]

Meh, there are plenty of resentments I hold against specific people, but that doesn't generally alter how I vote. I've voted for a lot of people I resent in the past.

Heh. I was speaking in a general sense. But it looks like you're above that.

Indeed. I don't hold grudges for very long except in some rare instances, and those particular rare instances quit NationStates years ago.

3. "Who is John Galt?"

I am John Galt.

Holy fishcakes.

^ Now that was funny!

Just out of curiosity, what did you find was the greatest challenge in working in the Council of Five Cabinet when Eluvatar was Delegate? That was the first time we worked together officially

The greatest challenge? The time zone differences between Co5 members. It was, on occasion, very difficult to get everyone on line at the same time, but we managed to compensate for that. We had a good crew on the Co5 that worked well together.

 

[Romanoffia]

If you don't vote for me for Delegate, the sales of cheese in TNP will be greatly diminished. And I will not be able to appoint Flemingovia the Lord High Cheesemaker. That would be a sin.

 

[Romanoffia]

But seriously folks.

What we need as far as all candidates are concerned is a willingness to cooperate and work with anyone and everyone who gets elected to any and all offices. TNP works best when we work together for the interests of TNP.

 

[Romanoffia]

I find it very interesting the lack of actual questions of merit being asked of candidates in this election.