NationStates Jolt Archive

With 2005 behind us, the NationStates United Nations continued to evolve. In addition to seeing the second successful repeal, UN players began a practice of repealing resolutions to improve or replace them with other resolutions. In addition to the repeal debates, the UN also saw a number of new resolutions, many of which touched upon subject areas the NationStates UN had not covered in its prior two years.

This survey will be used to determine the “finalist” of the first quarter resolutions that you, NationStates players, liked the most. I took the ten most popular resolutions from the first quarter of 2005 and included them in this poll. The poll is open to UN members and non-UN members, and you can vote for a resolution that your “country” voted against. I’ve included resolutions and repeals, since technically they both are resolutions. The point is simply to help decide which resolution we most liked.

Please feel free to reply to this thread to mention any other resolutions you liked. Perhaps future proposal writers will look to the more popular resolutions as examples of what players like to see.

Here is a list of ten most popular 2005 Jan-Mar UN Resolutions:
Support Hemp Production
Equality and Fairness
Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Tsunami Warning System
The Sex Industry Worker Act
Humanitarian Intervention Act
Repeal “The Global Library”
Right to Self-Protection
UNWODC
Universal Library Coalition

Summaries of some of these resolutions are available at the UN Timeline article on NSWiki:
http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/UN_Timeline


Several resolutions were adopted in this quarter, but left off the ballot. Each nation may nominate up to *two* of the following resolutions to be included on a "wild card" survey that will be held at a later date. The top two resolutions from each of the quarterly surveys and the wild card survey will "advance" to a final 2006 survey.

Here is the list of other 1st Quarter, 2005 resolutions:
The Global Library
Repeal "Legalize Prostitution"
Repeal "Education for All"

If we're allowed to vote for ones not on this list: Repeal "Legalize Prostitution".

If not, then either UNWODC or Right To Self-Protection...I'll go for UNWODC.

If we're allowed to vote for ones not on this list: Repeal "Legalize Prostitution".

If not, then either UNWODC or Right To Self-Protection...I'll go for UNWODC.

I was constrained to 10 options for the poll, so in order to be unbiased, I kept only the 10 resolutions that passed by the largest percentage of votes.

I can easily create a wild-card poll to pick up some of the others and have the wild-card run against the 4 quarter winners. For a wild-card poll, we could have an "other (see post below)" entry, and if enough write-ins for a resolution are gathered, it too could run in the final poll. :)

I was constrained to 10 options for the poll, so in order to be unbiased, I kept only the 10 resolutions that passed by the largest percentage of votes.

That's entirely reasonable. I've voted for UNWODC; I'd support RLP if there's support for it from others (which I doubt).

Bleh. "None of the above". Personally, I rather liked the Repeal of that stupid dolphin thing.

That's entirely reasonable. I've voted for UNWODC; I'd support RLP if there's support for it from others (which I doubt).

Given it was the second successful repeal, and one of the closer votes in the UN, I would argue that the Repeal "Legalized Prostitution" is historically significant. I actually wasn't pleased that it couldn't fit in the poll by the rules I threw together.

That said, there are a few other ground breaking 1st Quarter 2005 resolutions, one of which actually was mentioned by Max Berry during a MaxChat as being an example of something he liked (I won't count his vote though unless he wants to come by and cast a vote like the rest of us). ;)

Max BerryWho? :p

Bleh. "None of the above". Personally, I rather liked the Repeal of that stupid dolphin thing.

I swear, you're worse than that Mikey kid from the Life Cereal commerials. But if you can hold onto your horses for a bit, I'll get to the survey for time when that resolution came up too.

In the meantime, the NEXT time you admit to liking something, the lucky resolution should proudly display a "Hackey Likes It!" logo:

http://flakmag.com/misc/images/lifecer.jpg

Out of those, I'll go with Right to Self-Protection.

Voted for UNWODC, also the quick NS reaction to the last year tsunami was impressive:)

The Sex Industry Worker Act.

As I've said on other threads, it was the first resolution I helped endorse to the floor as a new delegate, and so I have a bit of a soft spot for it :).

The Sex Industry Worker Act.

As I've said on other threads, it was the first resolution I helped endorse to the floor as a new delegate, and so I have a bit of a soft spot for it :).

Yay! It's my favourite too, of course, and soft spots is what the resolution is all about :)

I rather liked "Right to Self-Protection". Not sure why.

I rather liked "Right to Self-Protection". Not sure why.
Could it be for the same reason I'm such a fan of "Nuclear Armaments?";)

Bob Flibble
UN Representative

Bad form I know. I voted for my UNWODC. I didnt care for many of these with the exception of "Rights of Indigenous Peoples". As for the Tsunami resolution I detest when RL events have a bearing here in NS. This I have no doubt was popular due to the heart stopping images of the devastation caused by the Tsunami in Indonesia.

Yay! It's my favourite too, of course, and soft spots is what the resolution is all about :)It's my least favourite, and I'm saying no more than that to avoid this topic degrading into a meaningless arguement -suffice to say, it's vague and poorly written enough for me to RP round it.
__________________
Ambassador Hirosami Kildarno
http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/5876/hirota8gp.jpg (http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/13563/page=display_nation/nation=hirota) "A posse ad esse"
http://home.ripway.com/2005-12/534911/NSO-member.PNG (http://s11.invisionfree.com/NatSovOrg/index.php?act=idx)http://home.ripway.com/2005-12/534911/uma-member.PNGhttp://home.ripway.com/2005-12/534911/unog-member.PNG (http://s6.invisionfree.com/UN_Old_Guard/index.php?act=idx)http://home.ripway.com/2005-12/534911/WIKI-member.PNG (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Hirota)http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/9381/englandsig4lc.jpg (http://s3.invisionfree.com/England/index.php?act=idx)http://home.ripway.com/2005-12/534911/GTT-member.png (http://s13.invisionfree.com/Green_Think_Tank/index.php?act=idx)
Economy Tracker (http://nstracker.retrogade.com/index.php?nation=Hirota)
Economic Left/Right: -5.00 | Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.33
Lazy Linking for Idiots (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9918435&postcount=1)
I am the anti-fluff

Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Bad form I know. I voted for my UNWODC. I didnt care for many of these with the exception of "Rights of Indigenous Peoples". As for the Tsunami resolution I detest when RL events have a bearing here in NS. This I have no doubt was popular due to the heart stopping images of the devastation caused by the Tsunami in Indonesia.

I disagree. If you go back and look at the Tracking Near Earth Objects and then the Tsunami Warning System resolutions, you'll see they are very similar.

Tracking Near Earth Objects had a record number of UN Delegate endorses (approx. 300) back in early 2004, when it was rare to see a proposal break 200 endorsements.

Some players get *sick* of resolutions that promote human rights. Overall, 2005 seemed to break away from the 2004 trend where Human Rights and Environmental proposals took up the majority of our time.

And as for RL events, while they don't happen in NationStates, I think it is important for people to not totally get distracted by an on-line game to not think about RL at times. Max himself cited Tsunami Warning System, he simply called it the tsunami resolution, as one of the ones he found notable. In particular, he seemed to indicate that he liked that the NSUN was faster to respond to international problems than the real UN.

edit: I'm not trying to talk you out of your favorite choices ... no problems there. :) But I think it is disingenious given prior surveys and comments on the UN *and* prior UN voting records on similar resolutions to cast the Tsunami resolution as a bad idea.

I disagree. If you go back and look at the Tracking Near Earth Objects and then the Tsunami Warning System resolutions, you'll see they are very similar.

Tracking Near Earth Objects had a record number of UN Delegate endorses (approx. 300) back in early 2004, when it was rare to see a proposal break 200 endorsements.

Some players get *sick* of resolutions that promote human rights. Overall, 2005 seemed to break away from the 2004 trend where Human Rights and Environmental proposals took up the majority of our time.

And as for RL events, while they don't happen in NationStates, I think it is important for people to not totally get distracted by an on-line game to not think about RL at times. Max himself cited Tsunami Warning System, he simply called it the tsunami resolution, as one of the ones he found notable. In particular, he seemed to indicate that he liked that the NSUN was faster to respond to international problems than the real UN.

edit: I'm not trying to talk you out of your favorite choices ... no problems there. :) But I think it is disingenious given prior surveys and comments on the UN *and* prior UN voting records on similar resolutions to cast the Tsunami resolution as a bad idea.
In my opinion you are entitled to your opinion which while contra to my opinion is a valid opinion in your opinion.:D

I still detest RL events overflowing into NS. We shall have to agree to dissagree on this point.

I still detest RL events overflowing into NS.
OOC: I understand that we are going to have, from time to time, resolutions that are influenced by or based on real life events. What I don't like is when the RL event happens and then the very next day we start seeing proposals which are obviously based on it.

There is an extreme difference between Tsunami Warning Systems and the later Natural Disasters Act. Both stem from the same cause, the idea came from the same place and RL had a tremendous impact on it.

However, Tsunami Warning Systems was the one that got beaten for it.

I actually disagree completely with Max about his comment congratulating us on responding faster. I don't see it as necessarily a good thing. With many proposals taking several weeks before submission and getting to queue, to see something that was that rushed is startling. Add on that it was a very targetted resolution at something that's relatively rare occurance but was implemented because people looked at what happened and went "it could happen here!" The had us found an entire committee just so that we could deal with the 1 or 2 Tsunamis that happen each year.

It's only saving grace, IMO, is that it was at least well written - much better than the live 8 crap that kept getting proposed.

Repeal "The Global Library," without a doubt.

I actually disagree completely with Max about his comment congratulating us on responding faster. I don't see it as necessarily a good thing.

With many proposals taking several weeks before submission and getting to queue, to see something that was that rushed is startling.

First, having been an escort (not that kind you sickos) to several UN diplomats (one RL Security Council Ambassador, one UN Deputy Secretary General, and then Dick Thornburgh who also was a UN Under Secretary General -- and a great guy to go drinking with) *and* being a public sector employee, I think I have a good idea why RL governments (take the UN or FEMA as two stellar examples of disfunctional organizations) are slow.


Governments are supposed to protect people, and in 2005 there are sadly too many examples of them failing to do that. Max's point was that he liked seeing NS players putting aside their differences and actually attempting to do something (in the small way the game would allow it).


As for your complaint that the resolution was rushed because proposals should take "several weeks", its wrong ... the Boxing Day Tsunami took place on Dec. 26, 2004. The Tsunami Warning System resolution was based on a proposal submitted by Tejasdom, but heavily revised by a *committee* of players (Grosseschnauzer, Groot Gouda, and myself were key among them) that discussed the proposal for weeks here on the UN forum *and* on the IDU forums (where Groot Gouda and I resided at the time ... GS joined us). The resolution was adopted a full month after the event, and when there was support for the draft that passed, it reached over 300 endorsements in less than the normal proposal queue period (in part because Grosseschnauzer and I telegramed Delegates who had endorsed Tejasdom's drafts and because three months prior to that I had a long list of Good Samaritan Laws delegates who I felt would be interested in a continuation of a series of resolutions promoting international cooperation. The Tsunami Warning System was adopted Jan. 27, 2005. In short, to paraphrase Asshemletta (sp?), {The Tsunami Warning System was one of the most vetted resolutions.}

I honestly think it changed the way players worked in the UN. Prior to that resolution, most debates focused on the UN resolution at vote. Proposals were ignored. But that resolution had a LARGE number of players involved in the draft proposal stage and a number of compromises were worked out ... include a huge concession on the part of Groot Gouda which resulted in the Natural Disaster Act.

It *was* a watershed in NationStates -- which is why it has my vote.

It's just a game.

Yes, ok. NS =/= RL, and when RL events obviously influence proposals it can not really work, or be very interesting. But I had read Max's point as being more: "it's nice within the context of a game to see a reaction", to see people quite obviously trying to 'make the world a better place', even if it's only imaginary. So far as I can see TEWC has no major flaws, or at least none that concern me at this point. I honestly think we all take the NSUN far more seriously than Max does - I really am one to speak here - and that he wasn't necessarily doing a complex legal analysis, but simply saying it was a nice gesture. I don't take it as anything more than that; I like TEWC because I think it's a decent resolution, whatever happened IRL.

Wait, it took us 32 days to respond, and Max feels we responded faster than the rest of the world did? Huh? I could've sworn I'd seen this stuff in early January in the real world

I actually hadn't checked the date of passing because I had assumed, from Max's comment, that it was like the second passed in the new year. Apparently, that assumption was incorrect.

If it had a significant impact upon the community, that's great. However, you didn't argue that before - you argued Max's line and the actual resolution itself - the former I disagree with (and see as irrelevant 'cause, as Gruen said, Max doesn't take the UN nearly as seriously as the vast majority of regulars - not to mention his own resolution - assuming Maxtopia was his - shows that he preferred a UN latching onto the real world to some degree IMO) and the latter I think was too specific.

Unfortunately, I wasn't here to watch the debate nor see the transformation of the community that you mentioned.

Now, as an aside, why is your person history and, even more importantly, who you know at all relevant whatsoever to this conversation? Considering we haven't really discussed root causes of governmental inefficiency, I would be intrigued to know the reasoning behind your using it.

Wait, it took us 32 days to respond, and Max feels we responded faster than the rest of the world did?Well, the American Navy was there quite quickly. The UN, on the other hand... well... have they done anything worthwhile aside from bitch about Amer...

Ahem. Sorry about that. Forgot what forum I was in.

Max doesn't take the UN nearly as seriously as the vast majority of regularsHeh... you speak the truth.

assuming Maxtopia was hisIt was. No secret there, and figured I'd confirm in case people were still wondering.

shows that he preferred a UN latching onto the real world to some degree IMO)Er, no, not really. Axis of Evil was a test Proposal, it wasn't really supposed to go to the live game. For instance, Mod Centre Task #1 was filed under "abuse" and was "Abuse! Ahhh, the abuse!"

Now, as an aside, why is your person history and, even more importantly, who you know at all relevant whatsoever to this conversation? Considering we haven't really discussed root causes of governmental inefficiency, I would be intrigued to know the reasoning behind your using it.

Sure. :)

Gruenberg also addressed that point, but it is the key here: Max was really happy to see players as more interested in responding to a crisis than real life governments seemed to be. I happen to have talked to several UN officials whom for years have privately complained about a similar RL problem -- "slow international responses". Max isn't a dummy and I suspect has heard similar things, so I was validating his opinions on the RL UN relative to ours out of my personal experiences.

We've debated this before about other issues too ... genocide is one that constantly comes up, and NS like the RL UN faces the same problems. :/



I could've sworn I'd seen this stuff in early January in the real world

The United States government was ready within a week (give or take a few days) ... the UN and even a few European nations took much longer.



I actually hadn't checked the date of passing because I had assumed, from Max's comment, that it was like the second passed in the new year. Apparently, that assumption was incorrect.

Yup. That is why I colored the dates in blue in my previous post, as I kinda figured it was a "rushed" judgement. ;)

Personnaly i love NSwiki, but it obviously cannot contains as much details as real life. And it's why I really think it's great that some proposals are influenced by real life events. TWS is a great:)

Well, the American Navy was there quite quickly. The UN, on the other hand... well... have they done anything worthwhile aside from bitch about Amer...

Ahem. Sorry about that. Forgot what forum I was in.

But some of us appreciate the sentiment. ;)

*bump*

There are just a few more days left on the first round of surveys. With only a few nominations for the intermediate round, I'll keep the time on that survey short, so that we can go to the final round.

The two resolutions that will advance from the 1st quarter survey are:

1) The Sex Worker Industry Act (9 votes)
2) Tsunami Warning System (7 votes)