International NATIONSTATES’ MOST RELIABLE NEWS Front Section

A small but controver- We talk with the

sial piece of legisla- founder of Europeia
tion sparks massive and Statsminister of
protests across the Balder about Solorni’s
agricultural Trabardian exit from Nation-
state of Farao. Page 5. States and her
impact. Pages 1 and 3.

Vol. 1 .. No. 1 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2018 ©2018 International News Organization

All About Us A GIANT FALLS

Welcome
Balder’s Plan B: Solorni, Gameplay Heavyweight and
What Happens Former Europeian President, Exits
Without the Queen? NationStates With a Bang

to Today.
by BRIHIMIA
In the morning hours of De-
cember 23rd, 2018, one of the
longest reigns ever achieved of
a World Assembly Delegate in
NationStates was ended with a
click. Solorni, known as Rach,
had established herself as the
first feature that nations see
when they view Balder’s region
page during her tenure as
Queen of Balder. The longest
by BRIHIMIA is overwhelmingly likely that
ARNHELM, Europeia — Rach knew and understood
Solorni, known as Rach in the there was a critical age differ-
Republic of Europeia, was ence between her and the
banned by Europeia’s forum other player.”
administration team on Mon- Citing this as Europeia’s
day. primary reason for the ban,
Rach’s ban was handed administration decided to
down by Head Administrator alter Rach’s ban to indefinite
and Europeia founder HEM after she first requested a
after Rach publicly confessed voluntary ban upon herself
to sexting with an underage when she confessed to her

In our first special section, we introduce our serving monarch in Balder his-
tory ended her reign of over 5
motivations, structure, and goals. Written by our non-consecutive years with the
player. actions.
One credible witness strong- Concluding the statement,
ly backed this assertion with HEM also said that “[The

Chief Operations Officer Lewis Kuznetsov-Flood. “Resign” button on the World

Assembly page.
Find it at the end of today’s paper. Her resignation from the
World Assembly was paired
with a brief but nevertheless
shocking announcement from
the Winter Palace delivered in
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
jarring testimony throughout administrative team] be-
an investigation conducted lieves she poses an unac-
by the administration team ceptable threat to our com-
over the course of a week. munity, which is why she will
HEM revealed in his an- not be allowed back.” The
nouncement that “logs re- confession and eventual ban
ceived and reviewed by the also coincided with an exit
Administrative Team show it CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Trabardian State of Farao Rejects Controversial Soviet Democracy

Public Lands Tax Increase 3-1 in Referendum Poaches from
FROM WIRE REPORTS the proposition.
World Assembly
UNCALLERA, FARAO — The All of these factors that con-
by V. SAWYER
voters of Farao, a state in tributed to the decisive rejec-
WORLD ASSEMBLY HEAD-
northwestern Trabardia, re- tion of the Communist Party’s
QUARTERS — Most experi-
jected a statewide ballot meas- hallmark proposal in the legis-
enced players on NationStates
ure that would increase the tax lative session may seem black-
know, recruiting from a User
on public lands drastically, and-white, but the background
Created Region or from any-
impacting the omnipresent of this story is much more com-
thing outside the refounded,
agriculture industry of the re- plicated.
ejected, or founded nation
gion as well as Trabardians When the Revolution swept
pools is a generally taboo prac-
Voters in the Communist Bloc will choose a new Deputy General Secretary after the across the country. across the plains and lowlands
tice. With the creation of the
General Secretary’s resignation. Page 4. The Farao agricultural indus- of Northern Trabardia, it did so
Arnhelm Declaration of Re-
try contributes to almost 50% with the force of ardent belief
cruitment Standards a few
On December 1st, 2018, my friend Lewis Kuz- of the state’s gross domestic in the state and federal authori-
netsov-Flood approached me with an offer — his years prior and it’s signing by
product, and 75% of fertile land ty to regulate land. Over the

Support “crazy project” — to start what has now devel- nearly every major region, the
is owned by the state. It is esti- years that followed, the center-
oped into NationStates Today. His idea was to NS world gained a new, vital,
mated that around 1 in 10 Tra- right to far-right coalition of
independent collate news among every region in Nation-
States and use that to inform every nation in
bardians eat food grown on capitalist and nationalist par-
and commonly agreed upon
set of codified rules for recruit-
Farao public lands weekly ties that was almost van-
journalism NationStates.
while 9 in 10 Faraoans eat their quished years before rebuilt
ment.
Poaching in many regions, is
today.
Crazily enough, I had been thinking the same state’s public land produce itself into a strong opposition
idea for months, possibly years, before that day. usually something that at-
daily. against taxation and regula-
We decided to call our project NationStates To- tracts and understandable
It is understandable that mil- tion.
day. After much planning, editing, drawing, amount of great offense. An
lions of those 9 out of 10 con- This spirit especially devel-
designing, and writing of legal documents, our technical work, and more — you help advance attempt to poach usually re-
sumers went to the polls on oped in the northern regions of
staff of 4 have now produced the first edition of the noble cause of seeking out the truth every- sults in a large amount of polit-
Sunday and produced a strong the country, even more so in
NationStates Today. where. As we will explain in our special section ical backlash, diplomatic up-
negative response to the tax the new state of Farao.
dedicated to laying out the plans and principles roar, and even the occasional
However, we can’t keep this up alone. It’s increase, voting 76% against CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
of this organization, our main goal is to bridge military option. I remember
winter break for many of us, and the absence of
the divide between regions, de-isolating nations fondly (although at the time
school and daily schoolwork has left us with
without a regular news source to inform them of this was not the case), a time
more free time. That’s why the staff of NSToday
everything going on outside of their walls. when I created quite an uproar
and I were able to publish this in a few days.
However, winter break eventually ends, and so — myself when I mistakenly sent
does our ability to write articles alone. a recruitment telegram for my
We want your help in creating the first perma-
home region out to the entirety
By volunteering for one or all of our opportu- nent news service for this game. Find out how to
nities at NSToday and the International News support us by volunteer and donate stamps on Page 6. of The East Pacific. TEP as I
Organization — journalism, columns, graphics, Trabardia. Editor-in-Chief and Chief Content Offficer remember, came to us in quite
a furor and threatened to send

Reader’s Poll
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29
Each Saturday, we will publish the
results of a poll that will be an-
nounced the Sunday following the
release of a newspaper.
This week, we asked our first read-
ers, via our NationStates forum
thread and regional poll:
What’s your favorite type
of holiday cookie?
Chocolate chip cookies earned a resounding
victory over the other cookies. View our full
analysis on Page 6.
Support the importance and inde-
pendence of NationStates Today, our
writers, and regional media by do-
nating stamps to NationStates To-
day.
In the NationStates Gift page, indi-
cate that you want to give the gift to
the nation “NationStates Today,”
and purchase any number of stamps.
Your contribution helps us get the
word out to everyone across Nation-
States about the quality journalism
and opportunities offered at
NSToday. Thank you!
a recruitment wave back
(luckily this never happened
and things were smoothed
over).
That being said, the Poaching
practice has become very rare
over the years, and what little
is left is usually done secre-
tively and in small amounts.
Regions daring to embark on
Cows grazing at a farm on Section A141, a subdivision of this shady gambit for a
Farao public land. Vincente Leoz, Uncallera Daily Sun CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Advertise Your Region Here
Inside the Paper with NationStates TODAY
Politics
We look into the happenings of the Na-
tionStates leftist community. Page 4.
Gameplay
Our weekly journal on all of
gameplay’s late-night and lunch break
drama. Page 4.
International
Moving photos from Farao’s public
lands tax increase protests. Page 5.
Join our Discord server
for more information.
 NATIONSTATES TODAY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29th 2018. FRONT SECTION 2

The Front Section represents the biggest and most important stories of the day, as well as any stories that do not fit into today’s categories of Gameplay, Politics, International, and Perspectives (Opinion).

WORLD ASSEMBLY REPORT — 12/29/2018

SECURITY
COUNCIL
AFFAIRS
Repeal “Commend Solorni”
Repeal “Commend Solorni” is cur-
rently standing at 6,962 votes in
favor of passage to 2,277 against.
The resolution was quickly sub-
mitted by a resident of Balder’s sis-
ter sinker, Osiris, following Solorni’s
resignation from the World Assem-
bly on Monday and received firm
support from observers of its draft
proposal thread.
However, concerns were raised by
some nations, starting with Issues
Editor Candlewhisperer Archive,
regarding the blurring of out-of-
character and in-character events
and the usage of the World Assem-
bly to convey an out-of-character
concept.
While supporters of the resolution
argued that past repeals, such as
SCR #179 (Repeal “Commend Uni-
bot II”) were passed overwhelming-
ly on the grounds of out-of-character
actions, the argument against Re-
peal “Commend Solorni” still pre-
vailed, along with concerns about
the language of the repeal, in decid-
ing North Pacific delegate Siwale’s
vote. Europeia, where the out-of-
character allegations originated, is
still relatively divided among its
members on how to vote.
Commend Paffnia
Commend Paffnia, authored by the
current delegate of 10000 Islands, is
currently needs 52 approvals from
World Assembly Delegates in 2 days
and 12 hours at last check to pass.
The condemnation’s justification
is largely based upon Paffnia’s many
contributions to their home region.
Commend Lyras
Currently at queue and set to be
voted upon once Repeal “Commend
Solorni” passes, it commends the
nation of Lyras for its significant in-
character contributions.
The World Assembly Report is a
weekly report published in the
Saturday newspaper. It covers the
proposals of both the General As-
sembly and the Security Council.
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
AFFAIRS
Intersystem Space Stations
Programme
The last resolution to reach a quorum
in the halls of the General Assembly
was “Intersystem Space Stations
Program.” The final vote count was
exceptionally close — the resolution
was eventually defeated by a slim 338
votes, which could easily be swayed
either way by a few delegates.
Those delegates played a crucial
role in defeating the resolution. At
minor update on Friday, when the
voting period closed, votes for the
resolution vastly outnumbered votes
against in terms of non-delegate
votes, while the opposite was true in
votes cast by WA delegates.
Perhaps the most important factor
in the defeat of the Intersystem
Space Stations Programme was the
votes of highly-endorsed delegates.
Negative feedback regarding the
unclear intentions and poor effort put
into the resolution led World Assem-
bly nations in endorsement-heavy
regions such as the North Pacific to
urge their delegate to strike down the
controversial resolution — and they
did.
The resolution established space
stations within reasonable distance to
member nations to share for scien-
tific purposes and experiments. It
was unclear about most of the opera-
tions of the space station, and simply
encouraged member nations to send
scientists and engineers to manage
the project and the funds appropriat-
ed to it from member nations.
The author of “Intersystem Space
Stations Programme,” the nation of
Nagatar Karumuttu Chettiar, has
submitted a second draft in the Gen-
eral Assembly forum of the Nation-
States forums, but this has also re-
ceived criticism and complaints from
many of the same nations that point-
ed out some of its flaws before. It is
still in its drafting phase.

New Regions Showcase — December 29th 2018

by BRIHIMIA Federation, founded just 6 Azhukali was left unattended,
days ago, is “a coalition of al-
and a strong coalition of re-
The New Region Showcase is a lies and satellite states con-gions opposed to the recent
weekly column where we nected to The Japo-Roman scandals surrounding the New
showcase some of the most Empire,” according to its Pacific Order and the Pacific
popular regions with the World Factbook Entry. swept in to take the position of
“New” tag on NationStates. The roleplay and government World Assembly Delegate.
We want to show off the hard -based new region of 15 has The new occupying Delegate
work of the founders and lead- already established a regionalejected many members from
ership in their early days. Eve- map and a discord server. The Azhukali, including Greater
ry week (with the exception of founder also has laid down Azhukali’s founder, Vortiagan-
this one and the next), a small- rules of government and vot- ica. They went on to found
er report will be published ing rights, an important step in
Greater Azhukali four days
alongside this showcase that the early stages of a region. ago.
will revisit the regions show- In addition, the region has an
Currently at 15 nations, its
cased two weeks prior and anti-fascist policy and a devel-
focus is casual roleplaying that
examine their progress. oping party system currently puts “community over canon,”
according to the World
League of Allied Powers Factbook Entry. A map in the
Flag pictured right style of a global archipelago
Nations: 20 has been posted.
Founded: 12/27/2018 Despite the fact that the pres-
Founder: Kruiven ence of the former New Pacific
WA Delegate: Bowline Order senators that led the
WAD Endorsements: 6 original Azhukali is absent,
Census Records: Compassion, Greater Azhukali has attracted
Youth Rebelliousness, and some prominent gameplayers
Welfare Programs consisting of the Communist, such as Malphe, Marilyn Man-
Socialist, and Dekvu parties. son, and Yuno from The North
The League of Allied Powers, Pacific, The Rejected Realms,
founded just two days ago, has Greater Azhukali and Yuno respectively.
grown to almost 20 residents Nations: 15 Embassies with larger re-
in that time. Founded: 12/25/2018 gions such as Yuno and Great-
Its founder, Kruiven, has Founder: Vortiaganica er Dienstad are in the process
already appointed several Re- WA Delegate: Vortiaganica of being constructed or have
gional Officers, WA Delegate WAD Endorsements: 1 been constructed.
Bowline has accumulated 6 Census Records: Black Market
endorsements from nations Size and Youth Rebelliousness
moving in from outside the
region. The initial backstory to the
region of Greater Azhukali is
A Discord server has already
short is filled with deep context
been created for the region.
spanning into the corridors of
While it has understandably
power and regions hundreds of
faced rejections in response to
times its size.
embassy requests going out to
When Milograd, a former Flag of Vortiganica, the found-
large, more prominent regions,
NationStates user who was er of Greater Azhukali.
it is in the process of establish-
declared Delete-on-Sight mod-
ing them with more gracious
embassy-establishers. erators, returned to the game
after being allowed to do so by Write with us.
Japo Roman Imperial the moderators, he founded the
Federation region of Azhukali under a new
Nations: 15 alias with a few of his friends,
Founded: 12/23/2018 disgraced senators from the
Founder: The Japo-Roman already-controversial game-
Empire created region of the Pacific.
WAD: None After being let back into the
WAD Endorsements: n/a game, Milograd made contro-
Census Records: Greatest versial comments in public
Rich-Poor Divides spaces and the moderators
returned his status to Delete-
The Japo Roman Imperial on-Sight. The founder seat of

OPERATIONAL STAFF

Chairman and Chief Operations Officer........... Lewis Kuznetsov-Flood

Chief Content Officer and Editor-In-Chief.................................. Brihimia

Leftist Community Correspondent............................................ V. Sawyer

Communist Bloc Correspondent............................................. Precoixious

INTERNATIONAL NEWS ORGANIZATION

The International News Organization is the parent organization of the Nation-
States Today publication and manages the legal representation and negotiation
of agreements involving the NationStates Today publication. Its primary goal,
via its publications, is to spread awareness of the affairs of politics, gameplay,
roleplay, and culture in NationStates, and to provide a democratically organized
community media effort that benefits all of its viewers, volunteers, as well as the
overall climate of NationStates.

Solorni, Former President of Europeia, Exits NationStates For Good After a Public Sexting Confession
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 while.
—- But all of these administrative after defating competitors A Second Chance
from the sinker region Balder,
where she served as Queen
and World Assembly Delegate
on Sunday.
Europeia’s Many Bans
In the past year, Europeia has
banned an exceptionally large
number of players who have
been permanently banned from
the region and its forums for
out-of-character offences.
These players include Yuno,
locustofcharon, Vac, Ninja Kit-
tens, Plagentine, and Festavo.
And now Rach.
These banned players include
senators, ministers, legislators,
and even a presidential candi-
date just votes away from hav-
ing seized the position.
Last year, one of the most
powerful shockwaves rippled
throughout Europeia’s entire
community when, just a week
after ascending to the Presi-
dency, Brunhilde was inde-
finetly banned following the
results of a jarring administra-
tive investigation that crossed
deep into the boundaries of real
-life identities and relation-
ships.
And none other than Rach,
her Vice President, succeeded
her friend and took the keys to
the Pope Lexus X Oval Office
for her third and last time.
The recent administrative ban
and Rach’s exit from her sto-
ried career in NationStates
represents the most shocking
and symbolic ban of a breed of
player not often seen in quite a
“I AM CONFIDENT I WILL BE JOINED
BY ALL OUR C ITIZENRY
BRIGHT FUTURE FOR THE
FOLLOWING OUR EXISTING REGIONAL
STRUCTURE . B UT I
B ALDER STAGNATE , WE WILL ADAPT
AS WE NEED TO , TO MEET ALL THE
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
N ATION S TATES THROWS AT US .
WILL NOT ONLY LIVE UP TO THE EX-
PECTATIONS OF OUR SUCCESSFUL
PAST , BUT SURPASS THEM , BY NOT
BEING AFRAID OF CHANGE AND
STRIVING TO DO BET TER .”
— NES, K ING OF B ALDER
Advertise Your Region
Join our Discord server for more information.
NATIONSTATES TODAY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29th 2018. FRONT SECTION
keys to 34 Goldenblock Avneue
bans begs the question — why Pope Lexus X and Henry in the
does Europeia’s administrativethree-way election.
team issue so much of these More notable, however, was
bans? incumbent President Skizzy
The thoroughness of the in- Grey’s decision not to run in
vestigations conducted over the Presidential election.
the past years by Europeia’s Skizzy Grey led Europeia
administrative team are unri- through a period where resig-
valed in NationStates, so it is
nations flew left and right, in-
hardly reasonable to claim that
cluding that of President Earth,
their bans could be unjustified.
and his leadership during the
To get the opinion of the Chief
contentious time provided a
Administrator himself, I con- uniting force for a divided com-
tacted HEM himself, who often munity.
makes these tough choices to Rach, at the time of her elec-
ban longtime members who tion, offered a rosy and ambi-
have committed intolerable tious goal of rebuilding the re-
actions that threaten the safety
gion after its conflict.
of the community’s members. However, this leadership
“I think big, political regions
largely consisted of developing
have a powerful allure for folks
in areas of foreign policy.
who Aren’t Great. Any region Rach was unsuccessful in the
that is large and offers a lot of
area of foreign policy: Europe-
power to social and political ia’s regional population
leaders should be extra vigi- dropped nearly 200 nations in a
lant.” slippery slope of cabinet resig-
Indeed, Europeia’s unique nations and unclear domestic
ability to not rely on any single
policy goals.
individual to contribute a large
Despite Rach’s lacking in her
share of their activity attracts
management Europeia’s inter-
and retains many an ambitious nal problems, she was able to
player — the nastiest bunch gain much foreign policy expe-
isn’t necessarily always goingrience that would see her much
to pick the nastiest region they
success in her future endeav-
can find. ors in the area as well as her
And this sense of communally management skills necessary
shared power and effort may to properly execute the office of
have contributed to Rach’s President.
actions as an individual with aOn July 27, 2011, Rach re-
well-known manipulative per- signed from the Office of the
sonality. President due to strongly nega-
tive public perception of her
Filling the Shoes administration’s work, demon-
In June 2011, Rach earned the strated in public polling.
Balder Breaks In a New King
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 As King, NES has already Statsminister told us that Bald-
—- begun rolling out changes to er is currently in the process of
her usual style of short-and-
sweet speechwriting.
In the statement, she conclud-
IN FORGING A ed with a to-the-point, single-
sentence abdication that ended
R EGION , years of rule over Balder:
“NES is the new Monarch of
Balder.”
But who is NES? Standing for
WILL NOT LET
North East Somerset, he has
stood by Rach’s side as Crown
Prince, immediate deputy, and
second largest endorsee to the
Queen. Since her departure,
NES has ascended to the dele-
gacy for the first time in years,
WE and changes in coordination
with the executive government
have already been rolling out.
OnderKelkia, current Stats-
minister of Balder, is more
akin to the halls of user-
created regions. After all, the
venerated orator is currently
serving as Chief Justice of Eu-
ropeia and is a former Emper-
or of the Land of Kings and
Emperors. However, his duties
as Statsminister have put him
front and center, alongside the
new King, to lead the storied
Sinker region into its future.
with NationStates Today.
3
Unfortunately for her, Uni- tionStates World Fair and re-
bot’s United Defenders League sponded accordingly when a
Despite her tainted initial shot had beaten them to the delega- scandal plagued its organizing
at the Presidency, Rach was cy. Eventually, Europeia and committee.
elected once again to succeed the UDL reached a democratic However, her last term also
her former Vice President, compromise that established a focused on domestic affairs
Sopo. Introducing her presi- new government for Balder. projects and citizen engage-
dency by establishing Europeia Rach’s heavy involvement in ment, and was largely viewed
as a land of “second chances,” these negotiations offered her a as successful in terms of the
she posted later that day a for- significant stake in the future expectations set for it.
eign policy announcement re- of the region — without her
garding ties with another re- election to the Presidency in What’s in Store?
gion. This initial announce- October, it is not likely that she An individual with such a pow-
ment provided a hint that her would ever have become erful and lasting impact on
administration would be one of Queen of Balder. Europeian culture suddenly
foreign policy. leaving after they committed
Days later, more foreign poli- Familiar Times serious offenses — it begs the
cy statements were released, Rach was thrust into the Presi- question, what happens next?
one laying out the broader for- dency once again as Brunhilde How will Europeia be
eign policy of Europeia. was banned by Europeia’s ad- changed? I turned to HEM
On October 19th, Rach ad- ministrative team for falsifying again for his opinion of the post
dressed Europeians regarding his identity and manipulating -Rach Europeia.
the creation of two new sink- other players during the events “I think we’ve had to make
ers, Balder and Osiris. This of November 11th, 2017. some difficult decisions on who
provided an opportunity for As she tended to the wounds to allow in our community, and
Rach to seize like none before: of a shocked and jolted region, it always impacts people who
Osiris and Balder, the latter of Rach again focused on foreign were close to the banned mem-
which she particularly eyed affairs through the duration of bers but hasn’t fundamentally
with intent, were open for the her presidency. Europeia went altered the character of the
taking. on to host the prestigious Na- region.” •
“T AKEN ALL TOGETHER , WE BELIEVE THAT R ACH AT BEST HAS
DISPLAYED EXTREMELY POOR , CAVALIER JUDGMENT THAT HAS
PLACED PLAYERS IN HARM ' S WAY , AND AT WORST HAS DELIB-
ERATELY SOUGHT TO MANIPULATE PLAYERS SHE THOUGHT
COULD BE USEFUL TO HER GAMEPLAY INTERESTS VIA SOCIAL
RELATIONSHIPS .W E BELIEVE SHE POSES AN UNACCEPTABLE
THREAT TO OUR COMMUNITY , WHICH IS WHY SHE WILL NOT BE
ALLOWED BACK .” — C HIEF A DMINISTRATIOR HEM
his region. creating a new board for the
Upon his ascension, he de- region that should be released
clared a State of Emergency in soon. He also noted that the
the region. government would be releas-
On Thursday, he announced ing announcements regarding
the lifting of the state of emer- cultural reforms in the region.
gency as well as the appoint-
ment of Princes of Aahrus, R ACH ’ S L AST S PEECH TO B ALDER
Ribe, and Jomsborg to “secure
[Balder] against any potential
threats.”
The announcement also set
forth the ambitious goal of
reaching 300 endorsements, a
record once held by Rach dur-
ing her reign as Queen. The
regional endorsement cap,
limiting the number of en-
dorsements a single nation can
have, was set to 120.
Statsminister OnderKelkia
also released a public state-
ment on Monday regarding
Europeia’s indefinite ban, stat-
ing that “[Balder is] appalled
and gravely disappointed in
Solorni's actions. Balder is
consequently administratively
banning Solorni on all plat-
forms to protect the communi-
ty going forwards.”
When asked about Balder’s NES is the new Monarch of Balder.
direction going forward, the
 NATIONSTATES TODAY. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29th 2018. GAMEPLAY 4

The Gameplay Section reports on all things concerning NationStates Gameplay, while the Politics section explores regional elections and politics.

Gameplay & Politics

Soviet Democracy Boasts of Poaching
FromWorld Assembly Nations
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 seems to continually spiral the region into fur-
— ther political isolation.
population increase must expect a heavy toll Quite recently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs
once discovered. and newly minted General Secretary of The
Communist Bloc, Nathaniel Penrose, has re-
Soviet Democracy Dares to Defy ported a massive poaching attempt by the Sovi-
et Democratic government, seemingly ordered
The region Soviet Democracy is, for those who by Ex Patrian SSR. The evidence, present in a
do not know, unstable at best. SD currently discord screenshot of their founder announcing
faces backlash from many former members of the poaching attempt to the SD citizens, has
it’s government, who criticize the instability prompted various calls of action against SD
and tyrannical control their founder, Ex Patri- from TCB and other leftist regions. TCB’s Gen-
an SSR, has over the government. Ex Patria eral Secretary Penrose made a statement an-
has made numerous claims about the mental nouncing the blacklisting of Soviet Democracy
stability of these persons, and even made per- by TCB, and a call for its fellow NSLeft member
sonal attacks against their once former allies. regions to do the same. So far, SD’s founder
Needless to say, the political scene there—with continues to uphold his claim that the poaching
numerous government changes in just the past was just, due to it not discriminating against
5 months—is anything but solid. Having also any region. This poses an ironic twist to the
faced nearly four splinter regions, a scandal Olgea Recruitment Scandal last spring, where
over a fascist that cost them their embassies Soviet Democracy and their Founder raised an
with notables like the Democratic Socialist As- uproar over similar practices made by the Ol-
sembly and The Communist Bloc, one would gean Regional Government. According to our
think that the government would learn to tread sources, SD claims to be finished with their
The Communist Bloc Holds Deputy General
carefully. However, recent events have re- poaching, although this remains to be seen.
vealed that quite the opposite, as their founder The content of this article do not necessarily
Secretary Elections
reflect the opinions of NationStates Today. by PRECOIXIOUS Central Committee, TCB’s legislature). He was

Weekly Gameplay Report THE COMMUNIST BLOC — The Communist originally nominated in protest of the legal er-
Bloc is electing a new Deputy General Secre- ror that allows the head of the executive branch
by BRIHIMIA with support from Osiris, Hartfelden, and tary. to also head the legislative branch, but unex-
Pacifica. Endorsements have piled on and the Following the resignation of (former) General pectedly won with 50% approval. As such, he
The Weekly Gameplay Report is a weekly jour- occupying delegate is currently at 66 total en- Secretary Lil’ Stapler, Nathaniel Penrose, who decided to resign from the office of General
nal covering the conflict and general happen- dorsements at last check. was the Deputy General Secretary at the time Secretary to allow himself to rest, to give his
ings of raiders, defenders, and independent of Stapler’s resignation, has taken the office of successor (Nathaniel Penrose) some time to
gameplay militaries. The Black Hawks General Secretary following the line of succes- get work done before an election, and to pre-
As the most consistently active raider organi- sion specified in the People’s Republic of The vent a single person from holding too much
Christmas in Azhukali zation in NationStates, the Black Hawks have Communist Bloc’s constitution. The leaves the power.
An interregional coalition of forces opposed to kept true to their identity by raiding in two seat of Deputy General Secretary vacant for As of the time of writing, former General Sec-
the New Pacific combined together to take the operations during the busy holiday week, tag- now. retary Trabardia and incumbent Minister of
newly-founded region of Azhukali on the minor ging 28 regions with 11 soldiers and allies. The Deputy General Secretary the 2nd highest Defense, former General Secretary Tarrin Kael
update of Christmas. Azhukali was founded by office in the Bloc and is elected on a different and current Minister of Culture, Minister of
disgraced former senators of the New Pacific Lily ticket than the General Secretary. The position Information Precoixious, and former elected
Order. The “Anti-Pacific coalition” swept The independent military organization suc- serves as an executive check on the power of Central Committee Member C.A.D. are among
through the region in just one showing of a cessfully tagged a total of 58 regions using two the General Secretary while providing addition- those running for the position.
conflict that has been one of the only in Nation- updaters last Monday at major update. This al leadership. The standing period for registration is 7 days
States history to be officially laid out in war new operation represents a semi-revival for Former General Secretary Stapler resigned from December 25th, with a voting time of 48
declarations by many of the coalition’s mem- the region, as its last military operations were after being elected Premier (Chairperson of the hours.
ber regions. The update force consisted of conducted more than a month ago.
around 20 updaters led by the Black Hawks,

Advertise your Region Here

with NationStates Today

Join our Discord server

for more information.
 5

The International section reports in-depth stories on the interactions and happenings of our roleplay worlds.

International
Farao Voters Reject Public Lands Tax Increase

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 election. Communist Party floor leaders in plete without mind-boggling examples of
— the legislature decided to try to push the bureaucratic mechanisms of politics,
When a constitution for the new state was through legislation that added significant and the tax increase bill is no exception.
eventually tediously drafted, sent out for taxes onto public lands — specifically, up- The resolution was dumped by the Farao
approval, resubmitted, and put into effect ping the tax on each animal unit in public State Senate with 144 votes against and
after many attempts, the residents and lands rented by private farmers (100kg of only 73 votes in favor. This rejection
temporary government of Farao were al- livestock or plant matter) from $3.50 to seemed to be the definitive end to the bill;
ready growing discontent with the current $4.00, as well as decreasing the definition as the State Senate is arguably the most
state of affairs. of an animal unit to 90 kilograms of live- powerful organ of government in almost
They decided to break the New Socialist stock or plant matter. any Trabardian state.
Party’s monopoly over their federal dele- These taxes first were implemented by However, by a confusing section of Farao
gation and statewide officials by codifying the temporary New Socialist government state election code, the Communist Party
election laws that strongly benefited the along with the establishment of the Land and its state legsislative and legal arm
third parties at the time — the Liberals, Management Office to declare and manage were able to get the proposal on a
Libertarians, Nationalists, and Christian the public lands of the state. statewide ballot. The section of the code,
Democrats. Today, most farmers in Farao, who make which stated that tax increases may be
During the first full general election for up most of the workforce in Faro, pay this brought to public referendum if they are
statewide offices, the right-wing coalition tax because they pay to use public lands for voted on by a certain number of State Sen-
once considered to have no voice in Farao their farms. ators, was defended in court against law-
politics broke through and seized the legis- The resolution, initially drafted and intro- suits by the state government.
lature and state elected officials in a land- duced by State Senator Gael Montes from And thus a referendum had began — a
slide victory. The governing coalition still the urban capital of Farao, breezed through rather simple tax bill, only two pages long
exists today. the committee process, but when it was in the books, had sparked an enormous
Over the last decade, Farao has sent one brought to the floor it faced widespread argument of a scale never before seen in
of the few independent Senators in the 80- opposition from members on the floor and the state of Farao before the Revolution.
body upper house. Its representation in the members of the public. Households picked sides and debates were
National Assembly is comprised of a ma- Pictured right is the enormity of the pro- held. Attack ads were aired and insults
jority of independent or third party repre- tests held across Farao’s capital, Uncallera were thrown on social media.
sentatives. — tractors blocked major transportation In the end, the odds were heavily favored
However, headaches were caused for the arteries and opposition protestors waved against the Communist Party, and that was
right-wing government when the Com- red, defiant flags while flooding the streets the eventual result — more than 77% of
munist Party gained more seats than ex- with chants of “No!” voters said “no” on their ballot to the tax
pected in the most recent state legislative No political controversy would be com- increase in a rejection of Communist policy.
 6

Some Notes from the Editor —

and the poll results!
Hello, dear reader — itshould create a Satur- and staff writer(s): our current staff of 4 What did you vote for
is currently 1:44 A.M. day newspaper for eve- Gameplay, Politics, In- writers are all from the in the cookie poll?
my time on Sunday, ryone to read. Alas, ternational (Roleplay), Communist Bloc. We Trick question: I didn’t
December 30th. I’m I’ve had less time than Arts, and Perspectives recruited them because vote in the cookie poll.
about half asleep and I’d like this week to (Opinion). we know them well and
If I could, I would have
ready to go to bed after
complete that goal, but There’s a lot of articles know how dedicated
voted for oatmeal cook-
I finish publishing this.
I believe today’s edi- about The Communist they are to the cause of
ies, though.
But first, I’d like to dis-
tion gives enough ma- Bloc. journalism. In mid-
cuss some things about terial and knowledge January, along with 5 Any other questions?
Yes, that’s true — as
today’s paper. for you to get a sense separate sections, we You decide that! Send
you’ll find out in the
Why aren’t there a lot of how we want our pa- will definitely be me questions on Dis-
next section, where my
of sections, articles, per to be operated. By branching out to truly cord @brihimia#8845
friend Lewis Flood de-
and pages? mid-January, we ex- engage our goal of con- and I’ll probably an-
scribes the founding
pect to have five fully- necting communities swer them here in my
It was around Monday and ideas behind Na-
functioning sections through informative little column at the end
that I decided that I tionStates Today, that
with their own editor and exciting stories. of the paper. ¡Adíos!

How To Help NationStates Today

Thanks for asking How it will benefit their 2. Volunteer! at nationstates.news (RSS, Discord bots,
about that! We need all community, how their and find the link to ap- etc.)
Volunteering your time
the help we can get in residents can get in- ply for a position as a • and managing our
to NationStates Today
the early stages of this volved, and where they journalist. We only website
is the single greatest
endeavor. can find our news. have a staff of 4 right
thing you can do to ad- We’d love to have you
To donate stamps to now, so all positions
1. Donate stamps vance the cause of join us TODAY!
NationStates Today, go gameplay journalism are pretty much open!
Donating Stamps helps
to the NationStates If you do choose to vol-
us get the word out to in NationStates. We
gifts page and indicate have a place for every- unteer, you can partici- DISCORD
everyone in Nation-
that you would like to one — from experi- pate in one to all of the
States. We plan to send
purchase the gift for followings areas: CODE:
a large telegram out to enced or not at all to
all regional Founders
the nation full of time or strapped • Journalism https://discord.gg/
and World Assembly
“NationStates Today.” to a schedule. We’d • Graphic design Ur5ugrK
Then, purchase howev- love to have you join us
Delegates regarding • Opinion Columns
er many stamps you’d today. Visit our domain
NationStates Today — • Coding features
like.

And Finally... The Results!

Chocolate chip cookies dominated our reader’s choices, but fell

short of an absolute majority. Gingerbread took 2nd place.
Two of our readers voted for the “Other” option in the poll, but only one responded. Here’s their response:

Cookie poll: best holiday cookie is my family's German Christmas cookies: they look like these (https://
www.browneyedbaker.com/lebkuchen-german-christmas-cookies), but instead of flour, as this poor imita-
tion has it, there's just a gigantic buttload of pulverized nuts (pecans and hazelnuts IIRC) that makes up
the body of the cookie.
 7

Welcome
A NEW MODEL FOR JOURNALISM IN NATIONSTATES

to Today.
A SPECIAL SECTION — BY LEWIS KUZNESTOV-FLOOD

AN ORGANIZATION DIRECTED BY ITS

MEMBERS, WITH OUR WRITERS FRONT
AND CENTER. WE WANTED TO BE FREE
FROM THE INTERFERENCE POLITICS,
AND THAT IS WHAT WE WILL BE.

INTRODUCTION
I first played NationStates in
early 2013, before dropping out
after around six months. At the
time, I had failed to grasp the prin- ister of Foreign Affairs to track
ciples of regional government, or of down the news of the day, and rely
the larger meta that existed around the scraps of importance to the
the game. It was only after coming
back to the game in early 2016
that I fully realised the richness of
the multitude of communities that
existed around the game, from the
sprawling mass of the Pacifics, to
the uniqueness of the existence of
two UK themed regions - some-
thing which I find funny even as I
write this. While I did eventually
settle in The Communist Bloc as
my regional home, I know that I
most likely would have found a wel- the events occured, with some rely-
coming community in many other
regions.
Yet, it became apparent rela-
tively quickly that trying to find out
THE VISION & THE DESIGN
Initially, I envisioned the organi- would play an integral role in elect- his experience within both game-
sation behind NationStates Today
to be one managed not by a core,
elite group, but rather one over-
seen by elected Governors, who
would be chosen by signatories to
an international agreement that I
drafted at the outset. This agree-
ment outlined how the organisa-
tion would function, what responsi-
bilities regions who wished to par-
take would have, and also how they
would interact with the leadership.
It also established that the readers
and writers of the organisation
THE FIRST STEPS
I made the decision early on
that we would have an off-site
website, which would host both our ing readers to receive news close
official editions, along with news as to when it happens. Thus, I went
it happened. For me, this marked
the key difference between my vi-
sion for NS Today and other news
information from other regions was ister of Information - as head of
pretty difficult - despite being in
the Cabinet, it was left to the Min-
head of state. When we heard of a
coup, it would often require going
to the region in question and look-
ing for any indication of the chain
of events, or asking around to see if
anyone was close enough to know
of the details. There were rare in-
stances where there would be some
form of news source that would
provide some form of the infor-
mation we sought, however these
were often published a while after
ing on the reader understanding
the inner workings of the region in
question. This issue became more
obvious to me when I become Min-
ing and deciding upon the leader-
ship of the organisation. On top of
these procedural establishments, it Officer and Editor-in-Chief - the
also tied regions into protecting
journalistic integrity and independ- to him. He is a talented and driven
ence, with the aim of helping to
foster a stronger inter-regional
news sector generally.
After drafting a basic outline of ing figure is not enough; we needed
this idea, I approached Trabardia
(aka Brihimia) to seek his input and our first edition (hint: you are read-
assistance on the plan. It became
obvious he had a passion for the
project, which, when combined with
sources - a source for, hopefully,
daily news and articles, allow-
straight to my favourite domain
registrar and took a gamble - I
chose the domain nation-
8
our region’s news service, I tried my
best to inform the regional popula-
tion of the goings on of govern-
ment, yet foreign visitors were of-
ten left confused.
Thus, after stepping away from
active governance in my home re-
gion a few months ago, I have
sought to establish a new sort of
news source for NationStates - one
aimed at consolidating regional
sources, bringing together talented
journalists from all regions, without
a hidden agenda, and without being
beholden to any region’s whims.
Furthermore, I want establish Na-
tionStates Today as more than just
a re-publisher, or linking service -
while these play a vital role in the
modern meta, I want NS Today to
serve as something more, some-
thing more substantial.
play and media sectors, made him a
perfect choice for Chief Content
design of this very paper is all down
individual, and I look forward to
seeing what he achieves.
However, ideas and a support-
to begin work, so we could produce
ing it).
states.news for our site; easy to
remember, clear in what we repre-
sent: the premier source of news
within the game. While it may seem
like a vanity project to some, I feel
it is important to establish a clear
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
 9

THE FIRST STEPS

CONTINUED website and can find the infor-
brand and a single location for our
news. It also means that our read-
ers don’t have to track it down on
the forums (although, we will also
cross post there), or for a dispatch.
Rather, they simply navigate to our
with our project, and being involved
mation they require. with it, before we launched. I de-
signed a detailed plan and proposal
After choosing how we would
document, with the aim of present-
design our website, settling on
ing it to as many regions as possi-
Wordpress, we then had to reach
ble and drum up interest, hopefully
out to regions - we wanted around
translating into signatures.
10 sizeable regions to be on-board

THE HURDLES
Turns out not many regions couple of other regions. However, terest or support of the vast ma-
were interested. The only region we all of these other regions withdrew jority of large regions, which left us
received any confirmed interest their interest relatively quickly. This wondering; was our structure the
from was, not surprisingly, TCB, left us in a pretty unfortunate posi- right one?
with some further interest from a tion - we had failed to gain the in-

THE PIVOT
We decided that our proposed
structure was too reliant on re-
gion’s support - few had any inter-
est in signing up to a treaty that
tied them into an organisation with
those they might call a rival, even if
it was just for news distribution.
That severely limited our appeal,
and forced us to consider a change Therefore, I am more than hap-
in direction: content first. py to lay out what NS Today will be
- an organisation directed by its
We will be free of political bias,
members, with our writers front
with tight editorial guidelines to
and center. We wanted to be free
ensure we publish quality articles.
from the interference of gameplay
We will protect the rights of jour-
politics, and that is what we we will
nalists across NationStates, with
be. And so, I ask you dear reader,
legal support when it's needed.

THE FUTURE
As we go into the coming to see our content be wider than your opinions and your input. Join
months, our website will become simple prose - I want us to expand our Discord at https://discord.gg/
more refined and polished, our edi- into podcasting, video production NsfX7wM and discuss the project
tions (hopefully) regular and our and game-wide competitions and with us.
content library expanded. My aim is events. With this in mind, I want

Lewis Kuznetsov-Flood has been a citizen of The Communist Bloc for nearly 3 years, and has been playing NationStates
for nearly 5. During his time in TCB, he has served in the executive branch in a multitude of positions, including as Gen-
eral Secretary. Lewis has also served as an important member of the legislature, drafting well over 30 legislative instru-
ments, including major constitutional restructurings. On top of this, during his time as the Minister of Information, Lewis
served as Editor of the Daily News, which has continued since his leaving of the position. Lewis also spearheaded the de-
velopment of the official TCB wiki.

Thank you
for reading!