Posting this here because I can't be arsed to make a google doc. Here's the four TNL articles that have apparently been floating in transit for the last month or so strung together into an issue. Make sure to make edits where you see fit before posting it formally, etc etc. Or don't, most I can do is keep poking yall to pay some attention to TNL again
Editor's Note
This is the first issue of The Northern Lights published after the debut of the second official TNP news publication The North Star and the coinciding reorganization of TNL. Whereas TNL used to include many internal, regular articles including the NPA Bulletin and the Regional Assembly Highlights, those have since been moved to TNS and TNL now consists entirely of creative essay style articles which cite the author's opinions. Likewise, no views espoused in this will represent the official TNP government stance unless otherwise stated.
World Assembly Article
The World Assembly Should be the Primary Forefront and Focus of TNP Foreign Affairs
The support of the World Assembly Legislative League, it was once said, meant that a resolution was guaranteed to pass. With thousands of WA votes at hand, the WALL as a block was a pretty much insurmountable obstacle to resolutions and authors it opposed.
This is no longer the case. The East Pacific has vastly increased their endorsement levels, so too have other regions and more cooperation between them combined with a more effective and rebellious rank and file in the World Assembly means that WALL no longer represents such an unsurpassed power block. It is still extremely powerful and WALL support of a resolution can often be the defining factor of whether it fails or succeeds. I posit that The North Pacific could, and should, do more.
There’s been a general lack of consequences based approaches to foreign affairs for a number of years now. Issues arising in Balder and The South Pacific are dismissed or not commented upon because they’re friends and allies. Leveraging TNP’s WA vote to aid or oppose their goals in the WA, or to condemn their leaders, is a definitive and strong way to show that actions do indeed have consequences. Using this against allies would be a drastic measure, but statements don’t seem to have any effect in moderating behaviour we should find worthy of comment, even if we don’t comment on it.
Leveraging our vote in a positive way can also be used to build new relationships and even more powerful voting blocks. The East Pacific is increasingly World Assembly focussed and between them and other key players, present an opportunity to build upon the foundations laid down by the likes of United Massachusetts and their work in our Discord and World Assembly forum.
Bringing other regions with higher concentrations of World Assembly authors into TNP alliances - either by bilateral treaties or entry into WALL - should be a key goal for any World Assembly focussed foreign policy. Good relations with regions such as Forest, Ridgefield and fellow GCRs such as Osiris and The Rejected Realms that are active in either chamber of the WA should be pursued and cooperation on World Assembly matters would be a key component of that.
The North Pacific Army also can be utilised to pursue our chosen WA outlook. The ’WA Blocker’ is a potentially very powerful tool with which World Assembly resolutions can be prevented from reaching quorum by removing delegates that have approved the resolution. The feasibility for the reverse - getting resolutions to quorum by taking regions and approving resolutions - has yet to be tested, but could also yield productive results.
The limits of a World Assembly focussed foreign policy can be mitigated by also spending adequate time cultivating ties with non-WA focussed regions, and seeking to smooth over any potential disputes by leveraging our WA vote in favour of the upset party. It will take careful managing and effort by the Delegate and his ministers of Foreign and World Assembly Affairs, but a World Assembly focussed foreign policy is entirely the kind of refreshing outlook that can help shake things up, both at home and abroad.
On The NPA's Recruitment Efforts
WRITER'S NOTE: this was finished on 05/12/2018 (DD/MM/YY) so may cite events explicitly or implicitly as having happened more recently then they have at time of publication.
The North Pacific Army (NPA) is one of the largest and most active militaries in the game; it’s not the biggest or the most overall skilled but it’s certainly no slack. It regularly pulls eight people on update for even minor operations and consists of dedicated TNPers who have often been serving for years until the NPA and have collective expertise and experience of way over a hundred individual operations and maybe over a thousand targeted regions.
For piles it most recently in St Abbaddon deployed nineteen soldiers within only a few hours, and on the same day as this is being written it participated in a tag raid with Osiris and The Black Hawks (TBH) where it hit 83 targets and counted as many as the soldiers provided by Osiris and TBH put together. Historically it has been instrumental in many great operations including Nazi Europe in 2014 and is still a regular combatant of fascist forces in NS.
Much of the influence of the NPA can be attributed to now General and Security Councillor Gladio, as well as longtime members including Generals Quietdad and Zazumo and current Minister of Defense Loz. Despite the great power of the NPA I (Malphe) feel, and have felt for some time, that it has room for improvement in one particular area; recruitment.
Of course, when you open the forums and go onto the docks you will see the military applications thread just by the citizenship applications and the executive staff applications, and Home Affairs has conducted recruitment drives for the NPA in the past but there is another, albeit maybe less professional way we could approach the issue. I’ll use the recent battle in St Abbaddon as an example for this argument.
The Pacific, and potentially other involved regions that may have used a similar tactic that my puppets didn’t catch, sent a regional telegram encouraging members of the region to take up arms and pile in Abaddon without explicitly needing to be a member of their military, the Legio. This is essentially the NS equivalent of rousing and gathering a militia to bolster the professional forces, and doubtless contributed to the gargantuan amounts of soldiers the NPO deployed (approximately, or upwards of one hundred) and if they hadn’t sent out that telegram it may very well have cost them many potential soldiers.
I know the prospect may generate some debate, and I am by no means implying that we take action as radical as that, but I feel like bringing the NPA into the open and gameside may be a wise course of action. The NPA as a whole is a little under wraps, to the average player gameside it’s an enigmatic organization with mentions buried in the forums and under dispatches. I’m sure a lot of casual issues players have no idea what the NPA is, whereas they’d know other TNP government organizations due to gameside presence.
I do claim some responsibility for the gameside decline of the NPA’s presence, during my term in early 2018 I neglected the previous practice of sending telegrams to NPA members nations for ongoing operations- this cost us perhaps over a dozen pilers by my estimation. Whilst the regular officers and updaters who often lead operations will stick with the NPA over rocky ground and periods of inactivity the more casual players who aren’t on discord (or aren’t active there) will lose interest if there is a considerable lapse in operations they can interact with, and if they are not notified properly there will be the same effect. The record deployments of upwards of 35 have been achieved through the recruitment of pilers gameside.
If you wanted to see the greatest example of recruitment to a military and the benefits it can bring then you should again look to the NPO’s Legio. Say what you will about the leadership or what they operate for but they’re numerous times larger in active soldier count than the NPA, achieved through rigorous and dedicated recruitment efforts. In this case not just gameside sources but sources separate from NS entirely, from the P&W and CN branches of the NPO. This is what won them the clout to throw around upwards of one hundred pilers and I believe that if we take no other example from the Pacific’s governance it should be the way they have recruited for their military.
So what does this mean? This means sending out gameside alerts for ongoing operations, this means going out of our way to recruit new members on mass, this means running the extra mile and putting all of High Command to work on expanding the NPA and potentially reorganizing it to better suit the modern landscape of R/D and the NPA and perhaps adopting the method of enlisting non-NPAers to crucial NPA operations through a WFE slot and regional telegrams.
But the NPA, out of all the GCR militaries, is still in a good shape already. Whereas the SPSF is tiny and is attempting to get off the ground again and the EPSA only managed to pull as many pilers as they did for St Abbaddon due to extensive gameside recruitment- many of those flying TEP’s flag weren’t even formal members of the EPSA- and the armies of all the sinkers (and the singular catcher if you’re inclined that way) are still quite small, if persistent, the NPA is still going strong.
By the arguments I have made here I by no means say that the NPA is weak or petty, it’s one of the premier militaries in the game and nobody can deny that, I only feel that there is some room for improvement for the recruitment for the organization and that we could reach new heights. The potential of the North Pacific Army is near unmatched, all it might take is one or two revolutionary leaders to bring it into the limelight of all of gameplay.
Getting Started In The Judiciary
This is the first essay I have done since my Aeronautical Hydraulics phase in 1989.
I hope it cuts it
Have you ever been nominated as a candidate for Justice?
My name is Marcus Antonius. I have been playing NationStates since May and had been looking for an entry point into the more interesting aspect, for me, of Government. The game has become a routine in my life which keeps the old grey cells exercised, I joined the forum and published some items in the university. I still wanted more to do so I joined some ministries, which helps to keep me active. Then this nomination for justice came up out of the blue. Not one to back down from a challenge, I accepted the nomination. That started five days of excitement and fun for me.Also a lot of hard work in learning the Laws etc. I had no experience in TNP law, and also due to ignorance of it, I was set to be on the back foot. The result was I eventually ended up in last place, yet still took 21 percent of the vote. This made me thoughtful about the process and the system of how to become involved with the judiciary and that is what this article is about.
To gain information on becoming a Justice, I interviewed all three winning justices from the last election, held in November, Sillystring, Eluvatar and Limerick1. From these interviews I gleaned a lot of information and If you are ever interested in becoming a Justice. Here is a guide on how to become one.
The first requirement is, all three of the winning Justice's are agreed that, you need to have a good knowledge of the Constitution of The North Pacific and The Bill of Rights for all nations of The North Pacific, these were written in order to guide The North Pacific in it's practice of democratic governance. Also Laws, Rules and procedures.
You will find these documents within the The North Pacific Handbook in the Law Index. Here you will also find rules and procedures governing the Court, Regional Assembly, Security Council and Election commission. Various Treaties are also available to view. In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear within the Legal Code of The North Pacific. This can be found in the forum by clicking the link that can be found in the Law Index of the TNP Handbook under Legal Code.
The next requirement is experience, this is very difficult for a “newcomer”, as more than likely they will have none. So how can you gain experience? From my interviews, Sillystring suggests “In my opinion, it's best to start out by participating and learning. Read the laws. Draft and critique RA {Regional Assembly) proposals. Maybe serve in the speaker's office. Ask questions of people who seem to know their stuff.” Eluvatar would suggest this advice “ Join the Attorney General's office, read up, and participate in legislative discussions.”
So how did our new Justices gain experience. Here in their own words are their answers. Sillystring, “I suppose I got experience the usual way? Holding different positions, getting involved, that kind of thing. Eluvatar, “Through writing legislation in various regions and through judicial work. Like my friend Gulliver, I have sometimes turned my pen to codification, which generally forces a pretty comprehensive understanding. Judicial work waxes and wanes, particularly under the AG's (Attorney General's) office, but is valuable hands on experience nonetheless.” Limerick1, “Well that was really the interesting thing about my first election, I had no experience besides what I had read, but the people chose me to fill a spot that had been vacated, so I would argue it was more out of necessity then anything.”
This leads onto my next question. What factors are important in the race to become a justice? Limerick1, interestingly answered this question with “be trustworthy, communicate with the voters, and know the law.” Sillystring also interestingly split the question into two questions and answered both. What Sillystring looks for when voting for Justices, “Me personally, I look for people who have a grasp of the laws, the role of the court, and who can show some critical thinking about tricky questions, even if they don't approach them the same way I would.” Sillystring believes the factors regarding what the citizens of TNP, value in a nominee. “It's my observation that the general public really likes name recognition. They like to vote for people they've seen around before. Demonstrating knowledge of TNP laws and procedures is a bonus. Well, that's not entirely fair. It's more that people who've served in other offices kind of get the benefit of the doubt and people assume they have enough knowledge to serve on the court. Newcomers have to show it more explicitly to have a real shot.”
This led nicely to the next question. In the case that all candidates are qualified, is there a risk that the election becomes a popularity contest? Limerick1 says confidently “Of course, there is no election that doesn’t have that risk, but I have faith in the citizens of TNP to avoid that practice.” Sillystring had a more fuller answer “I suppose, but an election is always a kind of popularity contest - people vote for who they most want to serve in that office. You can't really say for sure whether a voter wants a particular candidate in the office because they like them better, because they think they're more qualified, because they think that person will make decisions they agree with, etc. And if all candidates are well-qualified, I think it's incorrect to say that an election being decided on popularity is a "risk". You have to make decisions somehow, and as long as you're not voting for someone you think isn't qualified just because you like them, I personally think any method you use is gonna be pretty valid.”
One of my personal observations was that in TNP there are various ministries to assist the government, even an entry point for the NPA (North Pacific Army). These ministries provide training and experience in the career choices of the citizens. So where is the Ministry of Justice? The short answer is, there isn't one. All the ministries in TNP exist at the behest of the Delegate. All Ministers are appointed by the Delegate. Justice and the Courts are separate, the Delegate has no jurisdiction over them. Okay, so there is no ministry, so where do you learn the law, who provides training? it's a very important role after all.
I asked the questions relating to this, of the new Justices. Do you think there should be a way for a citizen to train up in Law? For instance, a tutorial or course? Eluvatar answered with “Yes. I've been working on and off on a Legal Manual; it currently has a piece on legal theory and decent analysis of the constitution, bill of rights, and at least much of the legal code as they stood a little while ago; it aimed also to analyse our treaties, court rulings, etc.” Limerick1 replied with ”The problem with training in law is that often you tell people how to think, I think the AG's office has made a good program to help those in need, it is called FIRST STOP.” When asked, do you think a Ministry of Justice should exist? Eluvatar answered with “We used to have a Ministry of Justice, headed either by the Minister of Justice or by the Attorney General (depending on time period). I think the Attorney General's office is an appropriate organ to provide legal education/assistance.” Limerick1 replied with “My personal opinion on a ministry of justice would be a nay, seeing as the workload the court gets now is very low, it would just seem to operate as a largely stagnant institution.” Sillystrings answer was a little bit chilling “There was a "minister of justice" under the old NPD, but that was a dictatorship and the minister existed just to find people guilty.” Scary stuff indeed!
So with all this learning and experience required of the Justice's and then the campaigning process. What 'stepping stone' got them into a position to run for justice the first time? Sillystring answered with “COE brought me into TNP to be a deputy speaker. He was going to be away for a few weeks of his term and wanted a deputy he could trust to take over and run the office while he was gone. Obviously, the speaker's office is one that deals a lot with laws and interpretation and everything so it was a really good crash course.” Eluvatar said “The first time I ran for justice was back in 2009 or so, I think, and I don't remember my precise motivations. I had previously served as Speaker, Delegate, and Vice Delegate, so I imagine I had pretty good name recognition.” As previously mentioned by Limerick1 “ Well that was really the interesting thing about my first election, I had no experience besides what I had read, but the people chose me to fill a spot that had been vacated, so I would argue it was more out of necessity then anything.”
As for myself, I was in the same position, a newcomer, no experience and legal knowledge crammed within a couple of weeks. I took 21 percent of the vote. What if I had succeeded?
To sum up I shall leave you with these words of wisdom from Sillystring.
“The Attorney General frequently prosecutes, but if they decline to do so, anybody can. The defendant can defend themselves, or can select anybody to be their defence counsel. The court writes its own procedures. The delegate and FA (Foreign Affairs) ministry write treaties. The RA (Regional Affairs) ministry writes laws.
Well I hoped you enjoyed the article, I enjoyed interviewing the Justices, it was a real pleasure and very informative. I wish to pass on my thanks to them for sparing their time and wish them all the very best for the future.
The final words I shall pass to Sillystring.
“Justice isn't, in general, an entry-level role. TNP has 6 years of history under just this constitution; if you try to jump into it without some basic groundwork first, you're gonna have trouble”.
Rising Stars
The North Pacific is full of opportunities fun within its community. The community makes it the way it is and glorious the region is. There are typical stars that will usually dominate the main circles like McMasterdonia, Kyoki Chudoku, and Zazumo, but there are people that will step up to the plate when it is needed and will take charge in many situations that will surprise many people. Rising Stars can be found anywhere; The Regional Message Board on Strangereal, the Forum on Eras, and Discord where the two sides clash but live together. You just need to know where to look.
The first thing that we can behold will be the Roleplay Rising Star from the Regional Message Board. This person is very descriptive with his roleplay. His Roleplay has intrigued the likes of many who do RMB RP. This person is Atheenos. Some of the bright spots of his roleplay are that it has major and strong imagery that he included and that brings images to mind of the person who is reading. The detail is major when he does his roleplay, and it seems like he puts a lot more work than a lot of people on the message board. He puts hours in, and those results show when he is setting the scene for his stories. The other thing that Atheenos does so well is that he puts a major amount of dialogue into his work and his pieces of roleplay. However, there will always be downsides in his roleplay. The main piece that is a major downfall is that he takes up to two paragraphs to set his scene. Other than that, Atheenos has a very promising future in roleplay. He has some potential to take him far with this. He is quickly rising up to become a Rising Star of The North Pacific.
Now that we have the Regional Message Board Roleplayer Rising Star, to avoid a conflict of interest, a rising star from Eras has been chosen as well. Insectia has proven to be a really well roleplayer with a lot of potential in his writing. What he does so well is that he always writes with confidence and that his ideas on paper come out really well. He also includes a major amount of imagery in his writing and he keeps it interesting to read. Unlike Atheenos, he gets straight to the point with his roleplay and will hit the climax of every post. The detail of the writings that he includes is in depth, and you know what is happening. However, he does run into a major problem and barrier. He leaves the roleplay off on a cliffhanger. This is effective, but it leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. This keeps them reading, but sometimes the reader can be impatient. The writing depends on the reader’s patience. Insectia also has a really promising future with roleplay in Eras. With a population of 237,000,000, he is relatively new, and it will be fun to see how much he can rise to the top.
The North Pacific Army Rising Star was determined by Captain Bobberino. This took no thinking from Bobberino. Palutenia was the answer. The reasoning why he is becoming a rising star in the North Pacific Army starts off with his ability to keep up with fending even when he didn’t know what fending was. A lot of this came from Bobberino. He triggers like a madman, but Palutenia is able to keep up with some of Bobberino’s worst. For example, in one operation, Bobberino triggers like a madman, and he keeps up. He hits every one of them while the rest of his gang missed. He goes crazy fast when it comes to jumping. Lieutenant Palutenia shows more promise every single day in the North Pacific Army. His growth will be greatly anticipated, and though he has grown a lot, there is nowhere to go but up.
And now… The moment you have been waiting for. The future contender for delegate of your North Pacific region. There were many contenders. However, we have narrowed it down to one. The future contender for delegate can be Dinoium. The reasoning behind the facts that he is in the executive branch of the regional administration, he is a lieutenant in the North Pacific Army, and he is the attorney general of the North Pacific. He has also read the Legal Code, Regional Assembly Rules, Constitution, Election Commissioner Rules, and the Bill of Rights, so you will know and be assured that he knows the laws by heart. He also came in third place for the vice delegate elections of May 2018. Many describe him as a hard worker. Many describe him as a nerd (PERFECT!). Many describe him as perfect for the job. People also make exceptions for him. This man does not stop introducing people to the region, getting them familiar with the dispatches of the region, and he is completely friendly. Nessuno told him to stop stealing his job once because he is the Lead Gameside Advocate, but we need more people like Dinoium. Not afraid to help people. This will definitely help our foreign relations.
Some Honorable Mentions:
BMWSurfer
Future Delegate
Tommatito
RP (Eras)
Rynese Empire
RP (RMB)
Deerfenland (Conflict of Interest Elimination)
NPA
Krustevland
RP (RMB)
Code:
[center][img]https://images3.imgbox.com/27/64/IeZiY2Rb_o.png[/img][/center]
[size=14]Editor's Note[/size]
[right][i]by Malphe[/i][/right]
This is the first issue of The Northern Lights published after the debut of the second official TNP news publication The North Star and the coinciding reorganization of TNL. Whereas TNL used to include many internal, regular articles including the NPA Bulletin and the Regional Assembly Highlights, those have since been moved to TNS and TNL now consists entirely of creative essay style articles which cite the author's opinions. Likewise, no views espoused in this will represent the official TNP government stance unless otherwise stated.
[img]https://forum.thenorthpacific.org/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fz2.ifrm.com%2F10711%2F28%2F0%2Fp1090382%2Ftnl_wa2.png&hash=8c49630d52f6f88c7a35dbdd099fa9ed[/img][size=14]World Assembly Article[/size]
[right][i]by St George, Citizen[/i][/right]
[U][B]The World Assembly Should be the Primary Forefront and Focus of TNP Foreign Affairs[/B][/U]
The support of the World Assembly Legislative League, it was once said, meant that a resolution was guaranteed to pass. With thousands of WA votes at hand, the WALL as a block was a pretty much insurmountable obstacle to resolutions and authors it opposed.
This is no longer the case. The East Pacific has vastly increased their endorsement levels, so too have other regions and more cooperation between them combined with a more effective and rebellious rank and file in the World Assembly means that WALL no longer represents such an unsurpassed power block. It is still extremely powerful and WALL support of a resolution can often be the defining factor of whether it fails or succeeds. I posit that The North Pacific could, and should, do more.
There’s been a general lack of consequences based approaches to foreign affairs for a number of years now. Issues arising in Balder and The South Pacific are dismissed or not commented upon because they’re friends and allies. Leveraging TNP’s WA vote to aid or oppose their goals in the WA, or to condemn their leaders, is a definitive and strong way to show that actions do indeed have consequences. Using this against allies would be a drastic measure, but statements don’t seem to have any effect in moderating behaviour we should find worthy of comment, even if we don’t comment on it.
Leveraging our vote in a positive way can also be used to build new relationships and even more powerful voting blocks. The East Pacific is increasingly World Assembly focussed and between them and other key players, present an opportunity to build upon the foundations laid down by the likes of United Massachusetts and their work in our Discord and World Assembly forum.
Bringing other regions with higher concentrations of World Assembly authors into TNP alliances - either by bilateral treaties or entry into WALL - should be a key goal for any World Assembly focussed foreign policy. Good relations with regions such as Forest, Ridgefield and fellow GCRs such as Osiris and The Rejected Realms that are active in either chamber of the WA should be pursued and cooperation on World Assembly matters would be a key component of that.
The North Pacific Army also can be utilised to pursue our chosen WA outlook. The [URL='https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=453712']’WA Blocker’[/URL] is a potentially very powerful tool with which World Assembly resolutions can be prevented from reaching quorum by removing delegates that have approved the resolution. The feasibility for the reverse - getting resolutions to quorum by taking regions and approving resolutions - has yet to be tested, but could also yield productive results.
The limits of a World Assembly focussed foreign policy can be mitigated by also spending adequate time cultivating ties with non-WA focussed regions, and seeking to smooth over any potential disputes by leveraging our WA vote in favour of the upset party. It will take careful managing and effort by the Delegate and his ministers of Foreign and World Assembly Affairs, but a World Assembly focussed foreign policy is entirely the kind of refreshing outlook that can help shake things up, both at home and abroad.
[img]https://forum.thenorthpacific.org/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fz2.ifrm.com%2F10711%2F28%2F0%2Fp1090379%2Ftnl_mil.png&hash=5edfea97625bf677daff8ea1833375ca[/img][size=14]On The NPA's Recruitment Efforts[/size]
[right][i]by Malphe, Gameside Advocate and North Pacific Army Major[/i][/right]
[b]WRITER'S NOTE: this was finished on 05/12/2018 (DD/MM/YY) so may cite events explicitly or implicitly as having happened more recently then they have at time of publication.[/b]
The North Pacific Army (NPA) is one of the largest and most active militaries in the game; it’s not the biggest or the most overall skilled but it’s certainly no slack. It regularly pulls eight people on update for even minor operations and consists of dedicated TNPers who have often been serving for years until the NPA and have collective expertise and experience of way over a hundred individual operations and maybe over a thousand targeted regions.
For piles it most recently in St Abbaddon deployed nineteen soldiers within only a few hours, and on the same day as this is being written it participated in a tag raid with Osiris and The Black Hawks (TBH) where it hit 83 targets and counted as many as the soldiers provided by Osiris and TBH put together. Historically it has been instrumental in many great operations including Nazi Europe in 2014 and is still a regular combatant of fascist forces in NS.
Much of the influence of the NPA can be attributed to now General and Security Councillor Gladio, as well as longtime members including Generals Quietdad and Zazumo and current Minister of Defense Loz. Despite the great power of the NPA I (Malphe) feel, and have felt for some time, that it has room for improvement in one particular area; recruitment.
Of course, when you open the forums and go onto the docks you will see the military applications thread just by the citizenship applications and the executive staff applications, and Home Affairs has conducted recruitment drives for the NPA in the past but there is another, albeit maybe less professional way we could approach the issue. I’ll use the recent battle in St Abbaddon as an example for this argument.
The Pacific, and potentially other involved regions that may have used a similar tactic that my puppets didn’t catch, sent a regional telegram encouraging members of the region to take up arms and pile in Abaddon without explicitly needing to be a member of their military, the Legio. This is essentially the NS equivalent of rousing and gathering a militia to bolster the professional forces, and doubtless contributed to the gargantuan amounts of soldiers the NPO deployed (approximately, or upwards of one hundred) and if they hadn’t sent out that telegram it may very well have cost them many potential soldiers.
I know the prospect may generate some debate, and I am by no means implying that we take action as radical as that, but I feel like bringing the NPA into the open and gameside may be a wise course of action. The NPA as a whole is a little under wraps, to the average player gameside it’s an enigmatic organization with mentions buried in the forums and under dispatches. I’m sure a lot of casual issues players have no idea what the NPA is, whereas they’d know other TNP government organizations due to gameside presence.
I do claim some responsibility for the gameside decline of the NPA’s presence, during my term in early 2018 I neglected the previous practice of sending telegrams to NPA members nations for ongoing operations- this cost us perhaps over a dozen pilers by my estimation. Whilst the regular officers and updaters who often lead operations will stick with the NPA over rocky ground and periods of inactivity the more casual players who aren’t on discord (or aren’t active there) will lose interest if there is a considerable lapse in operations they can interact with, and if they are not notified properly there will be the same effect. The record deployments of upwards of 35 have been achieved through the recruitment of pilers gameside.
If you wanted to see the greatest example of recruitment to a military and the benefits it can bring then you should again look to the NPO’s Legio. Say what you will about the leadership or what they operate for but they’re numerous times larger in active soldier count than the NPA, achieved through rigorous and dedicated recruitment efforts. In this case not just gameside sources but sources separate from NS entirely, from the P&W and CN branches of the NPO. This is what won them the clout to throw around upwards of one hundred pilers and I believe that if we take no other example from the Pacific’s governance it should be the way they have recruited for their military.
So what does this mean? This means sending out gameside alerts for ongoing operations, this means going out of our way to recruit new members on mass, this means running the extra mile and putting all of High Command to work on expanding the NPA and potentially reorganizing it to better suit the modern landscape of R/D and the NPA and perhaps adopting the method of enlisting non-NPAers to crucial NPA operations through a WFE slot and regional telegrams.
But the NPA, out of all the GCR militaries, is still in a good shape already. Whereas the SPSF is tiny and is attempting to get off the ground again and the EPSA only managed to pull as many pilers as they did for St Abbaddon due to extensive gameside recruitment- many of those flying TEP’s flag weren’t even formal members of the EPSA- and the armies of all the sinkers (and the singular catcher if you’re inclined that way) are still quite small, if persistent, the NPA is still going strong.
By the arguments I have made here I by no means say that the NPA is weak or petty, it’s one of the premier militaries in the game and nobody can deny that, I only feel that there is some room for improvement for the recruitment for the organization and that we could reach new heights. The potential of the North Pacific Army is near unmatched, all it might take is one or two revolutionary leaders to bring it into the limelight of all of gameplay.
[img]https://forum.thenorthpacific.org/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fz2.ifrm.com%2F10711%2F28%2F0%2Fp1090377%2Ftnl_jud4.png&hash=8e84ce247f29fcfbd228e536df37c84c[/img][size=14] Getting Started In The Judiciary[/size]
[right][i]by Marcus Antonius, Citizen[/i][/right]
This is the first essay I have done since my Aeronautical Hydraulics phase in 1989.
I hope it cuts it :)
Have you ever been nominated as a candidate for Justice?
My name is Marcus Antonius. I have been playing NationStates since May and had been looking for an entry point into the more interesting aspect, for me, of Government. The game has become a routine in my life which keeps the old grey cells exercised, I joined the forum and published some items in the university. I still wanted more to do so I joined some ministries, which helps to keep me active. Then this nomination for justice came up out of the blue. Not one to back down from a challenge, I accepted the nomination. That started five days of excitement and fun for me.Also a lot of hard work in learning the Laws etc. I had no experience in TNP law, and also due to ignorance of it, I was set to be on the back foot. The result was I eventually ended up in last place, yet still took 21 percent of the vote. This made me thoughtful about the process and the system of how to become involved with the judiciary and that is what this article is about.
To gain information on becoming a Justice, I interviewed all three winning justices from the last election, held in November, Sillystring, Eluvatar and Limerick1. From these interviews I gleaned a lot of information and If you are ever interested in becoming a Justice. Here is a guide on how to become one.
The first requirement is, all three of the winning Justice's are agreed that, you need to have a good knowledge of the Constitution of The North Pacific and The Bill of Rights for all nations of The North Pacific, these were written in order to guide The North Pacific in it's practice of democratic governance. Also Laws, Rules and procedures.
You will find these documents within the The North Pacific Handbook in the Law Index. Here you will also find rules and procedures governing the Court, Regional Assembly, Security Council and Election commission. Various Treaties are also available to view. In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear within the Legal Code of The North Pacific. This can be found in the forum by clicking the link that can be found in the Law Index of the TNP Handbook under Legal Code.
The next requirement is experience, this is very difficult for a “newcomer”, as more than likely they will have none. So how can you gain experience? From my interviews, Sillystring suggests “In my opinion, it's best to start out by participating and learning. Read the laws. Draft and critique RA {Regional Assembly) proposals. Maybe serve in the speaker's office. Ask questions of people who seem to know their stuff.” Eluvatar would suggest this advice “ Join the Attorney General's office, read up, and participate in legislative discussions.”
So how did our new Justices gain experience. Here in their own words are their answers. Sillystring, “I suppose I got experience the usual way? Holding different positions, getting involved, that kind of thing. Eluvatar, “Through writing legislation in various regions and through judicial work. Like my friend Gulliver, I have sometimes turned my pen to codification, which generally forces a pretty comprehensive understanding. Judicial work waxes and wanes, particularly under the AG's (Attorney General's) office, but is valuable hands on experience nonetheless.” Limerick1, “Well that was really the interesting thing about my first election, I had no experience besides what I had read, but the people chose me to fill a spot that had been vacated, so I would argue it was more out of necessity then anything.”
This leads onto my next question. What factors are important in the race to become a justice? Limerick1, interestingly answered this question with “be trustworthy, communicate with the voters, and know the law.” Sillystring also interestingly split the question into two questions and answered both. What Sillystring looks for when voting for Justices, “Me personally, I look for people who have a grasp of the laws, the role of the court, and who can show some critical thinking about tricky questions, even if they don't approach them the same way I would.” Sillystring believes the factors regarding what the citizens of TNP, value in a nominee. “It's my observation that the general public really likes name recognition. They like to vote for people they've seen around before. Demonstrating knowledge of TNP laws and procedures is a bonus. Well, that's not entirely fair. It's more that people who've served in other offices kind of get the benefit of the doubt and people assume they have enough knowledge to serve on the court. Newcomers have to show it more explicitly to have a real shot.”
This led nicely to the next question. In the case that all candidates are qualified, is there a risk that the election becomes a popularity contest? Limerick1 says confidently “Of course, there is no election that doesn’t have that risk, but I have faith in the citizens of TNP to avoid that practice.” Sillystring had a more fuller answer “I suppose, but an election is always a kind of popularity contest - people vote for who they most want to serve in that office. You can't really say for sure whether a voter wants a particular candidate in the office because they like them better, because they think they're more qualified, because they think that person will make decisions they agree with, etc. And if all candidates are well-qualified, I think it's incorrect to say that an election being decided on popularity is a "risk". You have to make decisions somehow, and as long as you're not voting for someone you think isn't qualified just because you like them, I personally think any method you use is gonna be pretty valid.”
One of my personal observations was that in TNP there are various ministries to assist the government, even an entry point for the NPA (North Pacific Army). These ministries provide training and experience in the career choices of the citizens. So where is the Ministry of Justice? The short answer is, there isn't one. All the ministries in TNP exist at the behest of the Delegate. All Ministers are appointed by the Delegate. Justice and the Courts are separate, the Delegate has no jurisdiction over them. Okay, so there is no ministry, so where do you learn the law, who provides training? it's a very important role after all.
I asked the questions relating to this, of the new Justices. Do you think there should be a way for a citizen to train up in Law? For instance, a tutorial or course? Eluvatar answered with “Yes. I've been working on and off on a Legal Manual; it currently has a piece on legal theory and decent analysis of the constitution, bill of rights, and at least much of the legal code as they stood a little while ago; it aimed also to analyse our treaties, court rulings, etc.” Limerick1 replied with ”The problem with training in law is that often you tell people how to think, I think the AG's office has made a good program to help those in need, it is called FIRST STOP.” When asked, do you think a Ministry of Justice should exist? Eluvatar answered with “We used to have a Ministry of Justice, headed either by the Minister of Justice or by the Attorney General (depending on time period). I think the Attorney General's office is an appropriate organ to provide legal education/assistance.” Limerick1 replied with “My personal opinion on a ministry of justice would be a nay, seeing as the workload the court gets now is very low, it would just seem to operate as a largely stagnant institution.” Sillystrings answer was a little bit chilling “There was a "minister of justice" under the old NPD, but that was a dictatorship and the minister existed just to find people guilty.” Scary stuff indeed!
So with all this learning and experience required of the Justice's and then the campaigning process. What 'stepping stone' got them into a position to run for justice the first time? Sillystring answered with “COE brought me into TNP to be a deputy speaker. He was going to be away for a few weeks of his term and wanted a deputy he could trust to take over and run the office while he was gone. Obviously, the speaker's office is one that deals a lot with laws and interpretation and everything so it was a really good crash course.” Eluvatar said “The first time I ran for justice was back in 2009 or so, I think, and I don't remember my precise motivations. I had previously served as Speaker, Delegate, and Vice Delegate, so I imagine I had pretty good name recognition.” As previously mentioned by Limerick1 “ Well that was really the interesting thing about my first election, I had no experience besides what I had read, but the people chose me to fill a spot that had been vacated, so I would argue it was more out of necessity then anything.”
As for myself, I was in the same position, a newcomer, no experience and legal knowledge crammed within a couple of weeks. I took 21 percent of the vote. What if I had succeeded?
To sum up I shall leave you with these words of wisdom from Sillystring.
“The Attorney General frequently prosecutes, but if they decline to do so, anybody can. The defendant can defend themselves, or can select anybody to be their defence counsel. The court writes its own procedures. The delegate and FA (Foreign Affairs) ministry write treaties. The RA (Regional Affairs) ministry writes laws.
Well I hoped you enjoyed the article, I enjoyed interviewing the Justices, it was a real pleasure and very informative. I wish to pass on my thanks to them for sparing their time and wish them all the very best for the future.
The final words I shall pass to Sillystring.
“Justice isn't, in general, an entry-level role. TNP has 6 years of history under just this constitution; if you try to jump into it without some basic groundwork first, you're gonna have trouble”.
[img]https://forum.thenorthpacific.org/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fz2.ifrm.com%2F10711%2F28%2F0%2Fp1090374%2Ftnl_cult2.png&hash=2c0547a2433381936ba3045cbe86b57c[/img][size=14]Rising Stars[/size]
[right][i]by Deerfenland, Citizen[/i][/right]
The North Pacific is full of opportunities fun within its community. The community makes it the way it is and glorious the region is. There are typical stars that will usually dominate the main circles like McMasterdonia, Kyoki Chudoku, and Zazumo, but there are people that will step up to the plate when it is needed and will take charge in many situations that will surprise many people. Rising Stars can be found anywhere; The Regional Message Board on Strangereal, the Forum on Eras, and Discord where the two sides clash but live together. You just need to know where to look.
The first thing that we can behold will be the Roleplay Rising Star from the Regional Message Board. This person is very descriptive with his roleplay. His Roleplay has intrigued the likes of many who do RMB RP. This person is Atheenos. Some of the bright spots of his roleplay are that it has major and strong imagery that he included and that brings images to mind of the person who is reading. The detail is major when he does his roleplay, and it seems like he puts a lot more work than a lot of people on the message board. He puts hours in, and those results show when he is setting the scene for his stories. The other thing that Atheenos does so well is that he puts a major amount of dialogue into his work and his pieces of roleplay. However, there will always be downsides in his roleplay. The main piece that is a major downfall is that he takes up to two paragraphs to set his scene. Other than that, Atheenos has a very promising future in roleplay. He has some potential to take him far with this. He is quickly rising up to become a Rising Star of The North Pacific.
Now that we have the Regional Message Board Roleplayer Rising Star, to avoid a conflict of interest, a rising star from Eras has been chosen as well. Insectia has proven to be a really well roleplayer with a lot of potential in his writing. What he does so well is that he always writes with confidence and that his ideas on paper come out really well. He also includes a major amount of imagery in his writing and he keeps it interesting to read. Unlike Atheenos, he gets straight to the point with his roleplay and will hit the climax of every post. The detail of the writings that he includes is in depth, and you know what is happening. However, he does run into a major problem and barrier. He leaves the roleplay off on a cliffhanger. This is effective, but it leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. This keeps them reading, but sometimes the reader can be impatient. The writing depends on the reader’s patience. Insectia also has a really promising future with roleplay in Eras. With a population of 237,000,000, he is relatively new, and it will be fun to see how much he can rise to the top.
The North Pacific Army Rising Star was determined by Captain Bobberino. This took no thinking from Bobberino. Palutenia was the answer. The reasoning why he is becoming a rising star in the North Pacific Army starts off with his ability to keep up with fending even when he didn’t know what fending was. A lot of this came from Bobberino. He triggers like a madman, but Palutenia is able to keep up with some of Bobberino’s worst. For example, in one operation, Bobberino triggers like a madman, and he keeps up. He hits every one of them while the rest of his gang missed. He goes crazy fast when it comes to jumping. Lieutenant Palutenia shows more promise every single day in the North Pacific Army. His growth will be greatly anticipated, and though he has grown a lot, there is nowhere to go but up.
And now… The moment you have been waiting for. The future contender for delegate of your North Pacific region. There were many contenders. However, we have narrowed it down to one. The future contender for delegate can be Dinoium. The reasoning behind the facts that he is in the executive branch of the regional administration, he is a lieutenant in the North Pacific Army, and he is the attorney general of the North Pacific. He has also read the Legal Code, Regional Assembly Rules, Constitution, Election Commissioner Rules, and the Bill of Rights, so you will know and be assured that he knows the laws by heart. He also came in third place for the vice delegate elections of May 2018. Many describe him as a hard worker. Many describe him as a nerd (PERFECT!). Many describe him as perfect for the job. People also make exceptions for him. This man does not stop introducing people to the region, getting them familiar with the dispatches of the region, and he is completely friendly. Nessuno told him to stop stealing his job once because he is the Lead Gameside Advocate, but we need more people like Dinoium. Not afraid to help people. This will definitely help our foreign relations.
Some Honorable Mentions:
BMWSurfer
Future Delegate
Tommatito
RP (Eras)
Rynese Empire
RP (RMB)
Deerfenland (Conflict of Interest Elimination)
NPA
Krustevland
RP (RMB)
[center][small][u][b]The Northern Lights[/b][/u][b]:[/b] [i]Beauty in Truth[/i]
Publisher: Siwale :: Executive Editor: Brendog :: Managing Editor: Bobberino & Dinoium
[i]The Northern Lights is produced by the Ministry of Communications on behalf of the Government of The North Pacific and distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Except where otherwise indicated, all content represents the views of the Government of The North Pacific.[/i]
[center][b][url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=352113]Index of issues[/url][/b][/center][/small]Editor's Note
by Malphe
This is the first issue of The Northern Lights published after the debut of the second official TNP news publication The North Star and the coinciding reorganization of TNL. Whereas TNL used to include many internal, regular articles including the NPA Bulletin and the Regional Assembly Highlights, those have since been moved to TNS and TNL now consists entirely of creative essay style articles which cite the author's opinions. Likewise, no views espoused in this will represent the official TNP government stance unless otherwise stated.
by St George, Citizen
The World Assembly Should be the Primary Forefront and Focus of TNP Foreign Affairs
The support of the World Assembly Legislative League, it was once said, meant that a resolution was guaranteed to pass. With thousands of WA votes at hand, the WALL as a block was a pretty much insurmountable obstacle to resolutions and authors it opposed.
This is no longer the case. The East Pacific has vastly increased their endorsement levels, so too have other regions and more cooperation between them combined with a more effective and rebellious rank and file in the World Assembly means that WALL no longer represents such an unsurpassed power block. It is still extremely powerful and WALL support of a resolution can often be the defining factor of whether it fails or succeeds. I posit that The North Pacific could, and should, do more.
There’s been a general lack of consequences based approaches to foreign affairs for a number of years now. Issues arising in Balder and The South Pacific are dismissed or not commented upon because they’re friends and allies. Leveraging TNP’s WA vote to aid or oppose their goals in the WA, or to condemn their leaders, is a definitive and strong way to show that actions do indeed have consequences. Using this against allies would be a drastic measure, but statements don’t seem to have any effect in moderating behaviour we should find worthy of comment, even if we don’t comment on it.
Leveraging our vote in a positive way can also be used to build new relationships and even more powerful voting blocks. The East Pacific is increasingly World Assembly focussed and between them and other key players, present an opportunity to build upon the foundations laid down by the likes of United Massachusetts and their work in our Discord and World Assembly forum.
Bringing other regions with higher concentrations of World Assembly authors into TNP alliances - either by bilateral treaties or entry into WALL - should be a key goal for any World Assembly focussed foreign policy. Good relations with regions such as Forest, Ridgefield and fellow GCRs such as Osiris and The Rejected Realms that are active in either chamber of the WA should be pursued and cooperation on World Assembly matters would be a key component of that.
The North Pacific Army also can be utilised to pursue our chosen WA outlook. The ’WA Blocker’ is a potentially very powerful tool with which World Assembly resolutions can be prevented from reaching quorum by removing delegates that have approved the resolution. The feasibility for the reverse - getting resolutions to quorum by taking regions and approving resolutions - has yet to be tested, but could also yield productive results.
The limits of a World Assembly focussed foreign policy can be mitigated by also spending adequate time cultivating ties with non-WA focussed regions, and seeking to smooth over any potential disputes by leveraging our WA vote in favour of the upset party. It will take careful managing and effort by the Delegate and his ministers of Foreign and World Assembly Affairs, but a World Assembly focussed foreign policy is entirely the kind of refreshing outlook that can help shake things up, both at home and abroad.
by Malphe, Gameside Advocate and North Pacific Army Major
WRITER'S NOTE: this was finished on 05/12/2018 (DD/MM/YY) so may cite events explicitly or implicitly as having happened more recently then they have at time of publication.
The North Pacific Army (NPA) is one of the largest and most active militaries in the game; it’s not the biggest or the most overall skilled but it’s certainly no slack. It regularly pulls eight people on update for even minor operations and consists of dedicated TNPers who have often been serving for years until the NPA and have collective expertise and experience of way over a hundred individual operations and maybe over a thousand targeted regions.
For piles it most recently in St Abbaddon deployed nineteen soldiers within only a few hours, and on the same day as this is being written it participated in a tag raid with Osiris and The Black Hawks (TBH) where it hit 83 targets and counted as many as the soldiers provided by Osiris and TBH put together. Historically it has been instrumental in many great operations including Nazi Europe in 2014 and is still a regular combatant of fascist forces in NS.
Much of the influence of the NPA can be attributed to now General and Security Councillor Gladio, as well as longtime members including Generals Quietdad and Zazumo and current Minister of Defense Loz. Despite the great power of the NPA I (Malphe) feel, and have felt for some time, that it has room for improvement in one particular area; recruitment.
Of course, when you open the forums and go onto the docks you will see the military applications thread just by the citizenship applications and the executive staff applications, and Home Affairs has conducted recruitment drives for the NPA in the past but there is another, albeit maybe less professional way we could approach the issue. I’ll use the recent battle in St Abbaddon as an example for this argument.
The Pacific, and potentially other involved regions that may have used a similar tactic that my puppets didn’t catch, sent a regional telegram encouraging members of the region to take up arms and pile in Abaddon without explicitly needing to be a member of their military, the Legio. This is essentially the NS equivalent of rousing and gathering a militia to bolster the professional forces, and doubtless contributed to the gargantuan amounts of soldiers the NPO deployed (approximately, or upwards of one hundred) and if they hadn’t sent out that telegram it may very well have cost them many potential soldiers.
I know the prospect may generate some debate, and I am by no means implying that we take action as radical as that, but I feel like bringing the NPA into the open and gameside may be a wise course of action. The NPA as a whole is a little under wraps, to the average player gameside it’s an enigmatic organization with mentions buried in the forums and under dispatches. I’m sure a lot of casual issues players have no idea what the NPA is, whereas they’d know other TNP government organizations due to gameside presence.
I do claim some responsibility for the gameside decline of the NPA’s presence, during my term in early 2018 I neglected the previous practice of sending telegrams to NPA members nations for ongoing operations- this cost us perhaps over a dozen pilers by my estimation. Whilst the regular officers and updaters who often lead operations will stick with the NPA over rocky ground and periods of inactivity the more casual players who aren’t on discord (or aren’t active there) will lose interest if there is a considerable lapse in operations they can interact with, and if they are not notified properly there will be the same effect. The record deployments of upwards of 35 have been achieved through the recruitment of pilers gameside.
If you wanted to see the greatest example of recruitment to a military and the benefits it can bring then you should again look to the NPO’s Legio. Say what you will about the leadership or what they operate for but they’re numerous times larger in active soldier count than the NPA, achieved through rigorous and dedicated recruitment efforts. In this case not just gameside sources but sources separate from NS entirely, from the P&W and CN branches of the NPO. This is what won them the clout to throw around upwards of one hundred pilers and I believe that if we take no other example from the Pacific’s governance it should be the way they have recruited for their military.
So what does this mean? This means sending out gameside alerts for ongoing operations, this means going out of our way to recruit new members on mass, this means running the extra mile and putting all of High Command to work on expanding the NPA and potentially reorganizing it to better suit the modern landscape of R/D and the NPA and perhaps adopting the method of enlisting non-NPAers to crucial NPA operations through a WFE slot and regional telegrams.
But the NPA, out of all the GCR militaries, is still in a good shape already. Whereas the SPSF is tiny and is attempting to get off the ground again and the EPSA only managed to pull as many pilers as they did for St Abbaddon due to extensive gameside recruitment- many of those flying TEP’s flag weren’t even formal members of the EPSA- and the armies of all the sinkers (and the singular catcher if you’re inclined that way) are still quite small, if persistent, the NPA is still going strong.
By the arguments I have made here I by no means say that the NPA is weak or petty, it’s one of the premier militaries in the game and nobody can deny that, I only feel that there is some room for improvement for the recruitment for the organization and that we could reach new heights. The potential of the North Pacific Army is near unmatched, all it might take is one or two revolutionary leaders to bring it into the limelight of all of gameplay.
by Marcus Antonius, Citizen
This is the first essay I have done since my Aeronautical Hydraulics phase in 1989.
I hope it cuts it
Have you ever been nominated as a candidate for Justice?
My name is Marcus Antonius. I have been playing NationStates since May and had been looking for an entry point into the more interesting aspect, for me, of Government. The game has become a routine in my life which keeps the old grey cells exercised, I joined the forum and published some items in the university. I still wanted more to do so I joined some ministries, which helps to keep me active. Then this nomination for justice came up out of the blue. Not one to back down from a challenge, I accepted the nomination. That started five days of excitement and fun for me.Also a lot of hard work in learning the Laws etc. I had no experience in TNP law, and also due to ignorance of it, I was set to be on the back foot. The result was I eventually ended up in last place, yet still took 21 percent of the vote. This made me thoughtful about the process and the system of how to become involved with the judiciary and that is what this article is about.
To gain information on becoming a Justice, I interviewed all three winning justices from the last election, held in November, Sillystring, Eluvatar and Limerick1. From these interviews I gleaned a lot of information and If you are ever interested in becoming a Justice. Here is a guide on how to become one.
The first requirement is, all three of the winning Justice's are agreed that, you need to have a good knowledge of the Constitution of The North Pacific and The Bill of Rights for all nations of The North Pacific, these were written in order to guide The North Pacific in it's practice of democratic governance. Also Laws, Rules and procedures.
You will find these documents within the The North Pacific Handbook in the Law Index. Here you will also find rules and procedures governing the Court, Regional Assembly, Security Council and Election commission. Various Treaties are also available to view. In order to present a clearer and more comprehensible legal system, the Regional Assembly undertakes to keep the law of the North Pacific organized and clear within the Legal Code of The North Pacific. This can be found in the forum by clicking the link that can be found in the Law Index of the TNP Handbook under Legal Code.
The next requirement is experience, this is very difficult for a “newcomer”, as more than likely they will have none. So how can you gain experience? From my interviews, Sillystring suggests “In my opinion, it's best to start out by participating and learning. Read the laws. Draft and critique RA {Regional Assembly) proposals. Maybe serve in the speaker's office. Ask questions of people who seem to know their stuff.” Eluvatar would suggest this advice “ Join the Attorney General's office, read up, and participate in legislative discussions.”
So how did our new Justices gain experience. Here in their own words are their answers. Sillystring, “I suppose I got experience the usual way? Holding different positions, getting involved, that kind of thing. Eluvatar, “Through writing legislation in various regions and through judicial work. Like my friend Gulliver, I have sometimes turned my pen to codification, which generally forces a pretty comprehensive understanding. Judicial work waxes and wanes, particularly under the AG's (Attorney General's) office, but is valuable hands on experience nonetheless.” Limerick1, “Well that was really the interesting thing about my first election, I had no experience besides what I had read, but the people chose me to fill a spot that had been vacated, so I would argue it was more out of necessity then anything.”
This leads onto my next question. What factors are important in the race to become a justice? Limerick1, interestingly answered this question with “be trustworthy, communicate with the voters, and know the law.” Sillystring also interestingly split the question into two questions and answered both. What Sillystring looks for when voting for Justices, “Me personally, I look for people who have a grasp of the laws, the role of the court, and who can show some critical thinking about tricky questions, even if they don't approach them the same way I would.” Sillystring believes the factors regarding what the citizens of TNP, value in a nominee. “It's my observation that the general public really likes name recognition. They like to vote for people they've seen around before. Demonstrating knowledge of TNP laws and procedures is a bonus. Well, that's not entirely fair. It's more that people who've served in other offices kind of get the benefit of the doubt and people assume they have enough knowledge to serve on the court. Newcomers have to show it more explicitly to have a real shot.”
This led nicely to the next question. In the case that all candidates are qualified, is there a risk that the election becomes a popularity contest? Limerick1 says confidently “Of course, there is no election that doesn’t have that risk, but I have faith in the citizens of TNP to avoid that practice.” Sillystring had a more fuller answer “I suppose, but an election is always a kind of popularity contest - people vote for who they most want to serve in that office. You can't really say for sure whether a voter wants a particular candidate in the office because they like them better, because they think they're more qualified, because they think that person will make decisions they agree with, etc. And if all candidates are well-qualified, I think it's incorrect to say that an election being decided on popularity is a "risk". You have to make decisions somehow, and as long as you're not voting for someone you think isn't qualified just because you like them, I personally think any method you use is gonna be pretty valid.”
One of my personal observations was that in TNP there are various ministries to assist the government, even an entry point for the NPA (North Pacific Army). These ministries provide training and experience in the career choices of the citizens. So where is the Ministry of Justice? The short answer is, there isn't one. All the ministries in TNP exist at the behest of the Delegate. All Ministers are appointed by the Delegate. Justice and the Courts are separate, the Delegate has no jurisdiction over them. Okay, so there is no ministry, so where do you learn the law, who provides training? it's a very important role after all.
I asked the questions relating to this, of the new Justices. Do you think there should be a way for a citizen to train up in Law? For instance, a tutorial or course? Eluvatar answered with “Yes. I've been working on and off on a Legal Manual; it currently has a piece on legal theory and decent analysis of the constitution, bill of rights, and at least much of the legal code as they stood a little while ago; it aimed also to analyse our treaties, court rulings, etc.” Limerick1 replied with ”The problem with training in law is that often you tell people how to think, I think the AG's office has made a good program to help those in need, it is called FIRST STOP.” When asked, do you think a Ministry of Justice should exist? Eluvatar answered with “We used to have a Ministry of Justice, headed either by the Minister of Justice or by the Attorney General (depending on time period). I think the Attorney General's office is an appropriate organ to provide legal education/assistance.” Limerick1 replied with “My personal opinion on a ministry of justice would be a nay, seeing as the workload the court gets now is very low, it would just seem to operate as a largely stagnant institution.” Sillystrings answer was a little bit chilling “There was a "minister of justice" under the old NPD, but that was a dictatorship and the minister existed just to find people guilty.” Scary stuff indeed!
So with all this learning and experience required of the Justice's and then the campaigning process. What 'stepping stone' got them into a position to run for justice the first time? Sillystring answered with “COE brought me into TNP to be a deputy speaker. He was going to be away for a few weeks of his term and wanted a deputy he could trust to take over and run the office while he was gone. Obviously, the speaker's office is one that deals a lot with laws and interpretation and everything so it was a really good crash course.” Eluvatar said “The first time I ran for justice was back in 2009 or so, I think, and I don't remember my precise motivations. I had previously served as Speaker, Delegate, and Vice Delegate, so I imagine I had pretty good name recognition.” As previously mentioned by Limerick1 “ Well that was really the interesting thing about my first election, I had no experience besides what I had read, but the people chose me to fill a spot that had been vacated, so I would argue it was more out of necessity then anything.”
As for myself, I was in the same position, a newcomer, no experience and legal knowledge crammed within a couple of weeks. I took 21 percent of the vote. What if I had succeeded?
To sum up I shall leave you with these words of wisdom from Sillystring.
“The Attorney General frequently prosecutes, but if they decline to do so, anybody can. The defendant can defend themselves, or can select anybody to be their defence counsel. The court writes its own procedures. The delegate and FA (Foreign Affairs) ministry write treaties. The RA (Regional Affairs) ministry writes laws.
Well I hoped you enjoyed the article, I enjoyed interviewing the Justices, it was a real pleasure and very informative. I wish to pass on my thanks to them for sparing their time and wish them all the very best for the future.
The final words I shall pass to Sillystring.
“Justice isn't, in general, an entry-level role. TNP has 6 years of history under just this constitution; if you try to jump into it without some basic groundwork first, you're gonna have trouble”.
by Deerfenland, Citizen
The North Pacific is full of opportunities fun within its community. The community makes it the way it is and glorious the region is. There are typical stars that will usually dominate the main circles like McMasterdonia, Kyoki Chudoku, and Zazumo, but there are people that will step up to the plate when it is needed and will take charge in many situations that will surprise many people. Rising Stars can be found anywhere; The Regional Message Board on Strangereal, the Forum on Eras, and Discord where the two sides clash but live together. You just need to know where to look.
The first thing that we can behold will be the Roleplay Rising Star from the Regional Message Board. This person is very descriptive with his roleplay. His Roleplay has intrigued the likes of many who do RMB RP. This person is Atheenos. Some of the bright spots of his roleplay are that it has major and strong imagery that he included and that brings images to mind of the person who is reading. The detail is major when he does his roleplay, and it seems like he puts a lot more work than a lot of people on the message board. He puts hours in, and those results show when he is setting the scene for his stories. The other thing that Atheenos does so well is that he puts a major amount of dialogue into his work and his pieces of roleplay. However, there will always be downsides in his roleplay. The main piece that is a major downfall is that he takes up to two paragraphs to set his scene. Other than that, Atheenos has a very promising future in roleplay. He has some potential to take him far with this. He is quickly rising up to become a Rising Star of The North Pacific.
Now that we have the Regional Message Board Roleplayer Rising Star, to avoid a conflict of interest, a rising star from Eras has been chosen as well. Insectia has proven to be a really well roleplayer with a lot of potential in his writing. What he does so well is that he always writes with confidence and that his ideas on paper come out really well. He also includes a major amount of imagery in his writing and he keeps it interesting to read. Unlike Atheenos, he gets straight to the point with his roleplay and will hit the climax of every post. The detail of the writings that he includes is in depth, and you know what is happening. However, he does run into a major problem and barrier. He leaves the roleplay off on a cliffhanger. This is effective, but it leaves the reader wondering what will happen next. This keeps them reading, but sometimes the reader can be impatient. The writing depends on the reader’s patience. Insectia also has a really promising future with roleplay in Eras. With a population of 237,000,000, he is relatively new, and it will be fun to see how much he can rise to the top.
The North Pacific Army Rising Star was determined by Captain Bobberino. This took no thinking from Bobberino. Palutenia was the answer. The reasoning why he is becoming a rising star in the North Pacific Army starts off with his ability to keep up with fending even when he didn’t know what fending was. A lot of this came from Bobberino. He triggers like a madman, but Palutenia is able to keep up with some of Bobberino’s worst. For example, in one operation, Bobberino triggers like a madman, and he keeps up. He hits every one of them while the rest of his gang missed. He goes crazy fast when it comes to jumping. Lieutenant Palutenia shows more promise every single day in the North Pacific Army. His growth will be greatly anticipated, and though he has grown a lot, there is nowhere to go but up.
And now… The moment you have been waiting for. The future contender for delegate of your North Pacific region. There were many contenders. However, we have narrowed it down to one. The future contender for delegate can be Dinoium. The reasoning behind the facts that he is in the executive branch of the regional administration, he is a lieutenant in the North Pacific Army, and he is the attorney general of the North Pacific. He has also read the Legal Code, Regional Assembly Rules, Constitution, Election Commissioner Rules, and the Bill of Rights, so you will know and be assured that he knows the laws by heart. He also came in third place for the vice delegate elections of May 2018. Many describe him as a hard worker. Many describe him as a nerd (PERFECT!). Many describe him as perfect for the job. People also make exceptions for him. This man does not stop introducing people to the region, getting them familiar with the dispatches of the region, and he is completely friendly. Nessuno told him to stop stealing his job once because he is the Lead Gameside Advocate, but we need more people like Dinoium. Not afraid to help people. This will definitely help our foreign relations.
Some Honorable Mentions:
BMWSurfer
Future Delegate
Tommatito
RP (Eras)
Rynese Empire
RP (RMB)
Deerfenland (Conflict of Interest Elimination)
NPA
Krustevland
RP (RMB)
The Northern Lights: Beauty in Truth
Publisher: Siwale :: Executive Editor: Brendog :: Managing Editor: Bobberino & Dinoium
The Northern Lights is produced by the Ministry of Communications on behalf of the Government of The North Pacific and distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Except where otherwise indicated, all content represents the views of the Government of The North Pacific.
Publisher: Siwale :: Executive Editor: Brendog :: Managing Editor: Bobberino & Dinoium
The Northern Lights is produced by the Ministry of Communications on behalf of the Government of The North Pacific and distributed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Except where otherwise indicated, all content represents the views of the Government of The North Pacific.
