The Atlasian Sentinel

[Vepres]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Interview With Swedish Cheese
by Vepres

Vepres: First of all, I would like to thank you for allowing us to interview you.

Now, why did you decide to start the ARNA? Was it a specific event, was it a series of events, or was it just the general atmosphere of Atlasia?

Swedish Cheese: You’re welcome. It’s an honour that you’re interested in our organisation.

Well a little bit of both number 1 and 3. It was mainly the behaviour I saw from a few senior members here on the forum. They basically seemed to consider everyone who was new to the game to be an idiot and voting slave. However it was while reading the discussion in the Sentinel’s Referendum Tracker that I became inspired to start the organisation. There was a comment from a poster that I thought was not only stupid but also discriminating. I have never been able to stand it when people judge a whole group of people on a few bad individuals of that group. I was tired of being ladled an idiot, and realised that we newbies needed to start stand up for ourselves.


What are you're organization's primary goals, and how will you go about achieving them?

Our first and foremost goal is to be a helping hand for new Atlasians. The game can be a bit confusing when you’re new, and when I first came here I was kind of surprised that there wasn’t even a FAQ thread or similar. It’s my opinion that if we helped people to get a better understanding for the game from the start, newbies would be able to get involved quicker and make better contributions.

We also want to work to eliminate the current prejudice and discrimination that exists towards new members. We have a lot of new fresh ideas to contribute with, and deserve to be treated with respect. I’m confident that newbies and senior posters would get along just fine if we just gave each other a chance. As a matter of fact most older members are very friendly and helpful, so I’m positive. Creating this organisation is a first step to show that newbies are not just dumb and lazy voting slaves, but that we do in fact have great ideas and intelligent minds too. We have to prove that we can contribute, and that we are as worthy as people who have been here since 05.

We also intend to work against legislation that we believe violates our rights as citizens. To achieve this goal we will of course campaign for such legal proposals to fail.


Do you think there is anything from a legislative perspective that would help your cause?

Well since it looks like the Intelligent Voting Amendment will pass in a landslide, repealing it would be helpful. However I don’t think there is any need for special laws for newbies, we want to be treated like everyone else. We just don’t want any laws limiting our rights to run for offices for example. So I don’t think there is any law that could pass that would help us. What is really helpful to us is friendly older citizens with open minds.
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The Sentinel would like to thank Swedish Cheese for the interview, and we apologize for not being able to ask more questions. Time zone differences, as well as other activities of mine prevented me from interviewing him further.

[Vepres]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Some of the ConCon Delegates Protest PO
by Vepres

A number of delegates, MaxQue, Marokai, and bgwah, have signed a protest against the current Presiding Officer of the Constitutional Convention, Purple State. Marokai, a delegate of the Pacific region, asserted that Purple State has "lost sight of not only what we've been trying to accomplish, but also of what his job is supposed to be and the simple procedure here".

Purple State spoke in his own defense today.

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He stated that he would not step down and that if any delegate had a formal proposal that he would gladly introduce it for them.

Pacific Delegate Marokai retorted:

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Emphasis mine. Point is, you show favoritism with what you want to write up and what you just want to ignore, and you propose things even though you should most definitely not have that power. You were elected to your position amongst the delegates to do what we told you, to propose what we wanted, and to follow our suggestion, and you were elected because I pushed for you to be in the position.

Now you're here acting like the God of Reform. Listening to what you want to listen to and not entertaining anything else.[/quote]

It is unclear as to what will happen to the current Presiding Officer. The outcome of this could affect the direction of the convention as whole.
 
Update: President Lief also supports the removal of Purple State as Presiding Officer.

[Vepres]

Lief now supports it as well.

Alright, updated.

[Vepres]

Swedish Cheese, more people will probably hear your opinion if you post in the convention thread.

[Vepres]

What does it have to do with the Assembly elections?

Nothing, I just don't want to overshadow them, or visa versa.

[Vepres]

A message from the Atlasian Sentinel editor in chief, Vepres:

As you know, I am running for Governor of the Midwest. I will continue to run the Sentinel, and hopefully provide coverage on all major events in Atlasia. I know there may be a conflict of interest between my politics and the accurate reporting of the news. Just know, that I work as hard as I can to keep the paper unbiased (except of course, for op-eds).

[Vepres]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Debate Over Stimulus Shifts to Struggling Automakers
by Vepres

The large stimulus package currently being debated in the Senate includes a section for aid to the Big 3 automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. Some of the more left-wing Senators such as Marokai and Fritz are advocating for the nationalization of the big three. However, this has met much criticism from both DA and RPP members of the Senate.

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However, others say that government action is the only way to save the large number of jobs related to the automakers.

[Senator MaxQue]I support helping Atlasian automakers because many workers would lose their jobs if the automaker collaspes. Not because I think than those businesses should survive.[/quote]

The issue is divisive and a compromise still hasn't been reached. Indeed some, such as Dirty South Lt. Governor SPC claim the automaker nationalization is unconstitutional. SPC has stated he will sue the government should that section of the bill pass in its current form.

So far, no amendments concerning this section have been voted on.

[Vepres]

Here's a county map based on the first preference results of the Mideast Assembly Elections*:



Peter = Red
Officepark = Blue
Swedish Cheese = Yellow
Badger = Green

*This is all theoretical and is no way official

[Vepres]

Interesting map - its nice to know that this Atlasian tradition isn't dead. I'm happy that I won my home county.

I didn't. :-( 

Oh well, I would have trouble carrying it in a real-world legislative race too (it's more than a tad conservative).

You live in southwest Ohio?

[Vepres]

Bump. Slow news week.

[Vepres]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Week in Review

- On July 27, President Lief signed the controversial LGB Dignity Bill.

- Also on July 27, President Lief signed The Absentee Voting Bill, which changed the procedure for absentee voting. To post in it, you must publicly notify the SoFA of your request to vote absentee and your reasons for doing so. If he approves you may then vote in the absentee booth. The bill also laid out criteria for who may have valid absentee votes.

- The Enumerated Powers Resolution was tabled after receiving practically zero support. The bill would've required Senators to cite where in the constitution a bill they are proposing is allowed. Even the sponsor, Senator North Carolina Yankee had reservations about it. In fact, he had introduced it on behalf of Dirty South Lt. Governor SPC.

- Peter is suing the government of Atlasia over the LGB Dignity Bill, which he believes is unconstitutional.

- President Lief signed the Identifying Crime Bill into law. The bill required that law enforcement departments will make public all collected crime data unless the data somehow identified a suspect or if it has been collected for a jury trial or criminal investigation.

- The Nuclear Waste Reprocessing Bill, which provided a large tax incentive to reprocess nuclear waste and required it to be transported in low density areas where it would have little impact, passed in the Senate with an 8-0-0 vote. It is currently on the President's desk.

-An amendment to the Atlasian National Healthcare Bill appears to have passed. It clarified points in the regional administration of the bill. Additionally, a number of people including Senator Marokai and President Lief have voiced their opposition to so called "sin taxes", taxes on cigerettes and alcohol, stating that they believed their current rate, 50%, is already too high.

- The automaker relief section of the 2009 Atlasian Economic Relief and Recovery Bill was amended to state that any of the Big 3 was eligible for a $12 billion dollar loan from the government should they request it.

- Due to the potential absence of Attorney General bgwah for the Peter v. Atlasia court case, Senator Purple State has suggested that the filing deadline be extended so the AG can "pop his case cherry".

- Alexander Hamilton announced his candidacy for the Pacific Lt. Governorship.

[Vepres]

Haha, I am glad my "cherry" comment was newsworthy.

One more piece of news, the Convention officially closed on Friday. Not sure if you are working on a piece for that. It was easy to miss with the vote lasting two weeks.

I didn't even know that. I have been ignoring that board lately. Yeah, I'll write a detailed piece on it.

[Vepres]

I also have been updating Atlasian foreign policy.

I'll report on that another time. Sorry I missed it.

[Vepres]

The AIAL is also making endorsements; you may want to report on that.

As soon as you make them, I'll report them.

[Vepres]

The Atlasian Sentinel

ConCon Comes to a Close
By Vepres

After many months, the Constitutional Convention has come to a close. The ConCon was originally opened at the beginning of President bgwah's second term. At the time, Atlasia was very inactive, with little activity outside the Senate. At the time there was a real push for reform to get the game active again.

One of the first proposals right off the bat was a universalism proposal by Smid. Universalism is basically a system where every citizen would be in a government position of some kind. These universalist bills made great progress, but never amounted to anything as the convention's activity slowly fell. One of the major proponents of the unversalist system, ilikeverin, had this to say:

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Indeed, there was protest to retain the status quo. Upon his return to Atlasia, Fritz immediately protested the convention stating that the system need not be changed. It was not long after that thread that the convention faded and eventually entered total inactivity. Finally, an Op-Ed, written by yours truly, questioning the point of the convention was published in the Sentinel. Many agreed with my sentiments in the article. Even President bgwah, the one who pushed to open the convention, said that in hindsight it wasn't necessary. Activity in Atlasia had rose significantly in the past few months, and public opinion wasn't behind massive reforms any longer.

Presiding Officer Purple State attempted to shift the direction of the convention by focusing on improving the current system instead of a complete overhaul. Some preliminary progress was made on some constitutional amendments however it was not to be. Soon many of the delegates were protesting a change in leadership, and then some went further and called for the end of the convention. Just last week, the vote to end the convention was completed with a majority supporting ending the convention.   

When asked for comment, Senator Purple State had a positive view of the ConCon.

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While some criticized him for his performance as Presiding Officer, ilikeverin was more sympathetic towards the former Presiding Officer.

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And so ends the Constitutional Convention. What started as an enthusiastic attempt to bring activity to Atlasia ended with no tangible results. Presiding Officer Purple State believes it did ultimately help, while reformers such as ilikeverin were disappointed at the outcome. Whatever your views, the ConCon was an interesting place where new ideas and thoughts were expressed, and while in the end it could be regarded as a failed experiment, everybody agrees that the now that Atlasia is more active and healthy than it has been in a long time.

[Vepres]

Universalism proposals were absolutely awful, that's why it started to die out shortly after the initial fuss over the convention. I'm not exactly thrilled with this newspapers subtle favoritism, but, I suppose we're all human and bring our own biases to reporting. Happy to read the newspaper, at the very least.

What favoritism? I though ilikeverin would slam Purple State to be honest. I will always try to eliminate bias and favoritism, and a watchful eye from the readers is a big help, even more so if I'm elected to the Midwest Governorship.

[Vepres]

Universalism proposals were absolutely awful, that's why it started to die out shortly after the initial fuss over the convention. I'm not exactly thrilled with this newspapers subtle favoritism, but, I suppose we're all human and bring our own biases to reporting. Happy to read the newspaper, at the very least.

What favoritism? I though ilikeverin would slam Purple State to be honest. I will always try to eliminate bias and favoritism, and a watchful eye from the readers is a big help, even more so if I'm elected to the Midwest Governorship.

Well, I'm not sure why so much attention was focused on Universalism, it seemed rather out of place. And of course, this newspaper is always kind to Purple State.

Well, I contacted three people. Purple State, the PO and proponent of reforming the current system. I contacted ilikeverin, a proponent of universalism, and I also contacted Fritz, who had no comment, but was a proponent of no change.

I think part of the problem was that I wasn't around for the first few months of the convention, so all I knew I got second hand.

As for the Purple State favoritism, that's about to change.


The Atlasian Sentinel

Breaking News: Purple State Sucks!
By Vepres

According to anonymous sources, Purple State sucks.

Developing...

[Vepres]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Pacific Lt. Gubernatorial Race Heats Up
By Vepres

The Lt. Governorship is considered insignificant in most circles, a stepping stone for newbies. The election for the Pacific Lt. Governorship, however, has drawn much attention as newbie RPPer Hamilton attempts to win office in the most JCP region in the country. Ebowed is challenging him, and his party affiliation as well as his extensive experience would normally prove to be an asset. Indeed, he brings it up often in his campaign thread.

However, Ebowed is considered by many to have been a failure as GM, his most recently held position. This has no doubt hurt his credibility with some of the more moderate Pacificers. Recent polls by Survey Atlasia show the race to be competitive, the first in recent Pacific history.

Hamilton has an uphill battle, but to the surprise of many he may stand a chance.

Midwest Governor GMantis Vetoes Two Midwest Referendums
By Vepres

Despite Lewis' executive name amendments passing with a majority of the vote, Governor GMantis exercised his constitutional authority to veto any proposals that receive less than 60% of the vote.

If passed, the name of the Governorship would have been changed to "the position formerly known as the ilikeverinship", and the Lieutenant Governorship would have been changed to " the position formerly known as the ican'tbelieveit'snotverinship".

However, as stated above, neither will become law.

[Vepres]

Ebowed, not Meeker, is challenging Hamilton. It's okay, it's late.

They're both just red Washington avatars to me.

[Vepres]

Reminder from the Editor

Remember, I will accept op-eds from anybody provided they're well written and not hackery.

[Vepres]

Please take your bickering elsewhere.

[Vepres]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Duke Enters the At-Large Senate Race
By Vepres

Former Dirty South Governor AHDuke has entered the at-large Senate election as a write-in candidate. He is the third RPP member to enter the race, a risky move because the party managed only to win one seat in the last regular at-large election. Interestingly, he seems to have more support from DA and JCP voters than either SPC or RowanBrandon.

It appears the RPP is trying to pull of three seats, much like the DA did in April 2009. In that election, Purple State and afleitch both narrowly defeated SDP candidate Lief. If the RPP could pull off the same feat, they would have five seats, just one shy of a majority. However, the odds are slim that this will happen, despite the recent recruitment the RPP has conducted.

Duke may prove to be a formidable candidate, as he is more moderate than SPC and RowanBrandon.

Actually we would have six seats if Duke won, our first majority ever.

Right. Fixed.

By the way, if we achieve a majority, do we select a majority leader? And will there be a minority leader among the JCP and DA? That would be interesting to say the least.

[Vepres]

I was thinking we could have an unofficial leader who would speak for the majority.

[Vepres]

I was thinking we could have an unofficial leader who would speak for the majority.

The only person that speaks for me is me, so I disagree with this idea.

The Atlasian Sentinel

Duke Enters the At-Large Senate Race
By Vepres

Former Dirty South Governor AHDuke has entered the at-large Senate election as a write-in candidate. He is the third RPP member to enter the race, a risky move because the party managed only to win one seat in the last regular at-large election. Interestingly, he seems to have more support from DA and JCP voters than either SPC or RowanBrandon.

It appears the RPP is trying to pull of three seats, much like the DA did in April 2009. In that election, Purple State and afleitch both narrowly defeated SDP candidate Lief. If the RPP could pull off the same feat, they would have five seats, just one shy of a majority. However, the odds are slim that this will happen, despite the recent recruitment the RPP has conducted.

Duke may prove to be a formidable candidate, as he is more moderate than SPC and RowanBrandon.

Actually we would have six seats if Duke won, our first majority ever.

Right. Fixed.

By the way, if we achieve a majority, do we select a majority leader? And will there be a minority leader among the JCP and DA? That would be interesting to say the least.

I suspect that the closest thing to a majority leader would be PPT Masterjedi.

You're probably right. I think our Senate may be too small. It would add an interesting dynamic, but 10 is too small.

[Vepres]

The Atlasian Sentinel

New GM Very Active, Yet Senators Take Little Notice
By Vepres

When GM Purple State was sworn in, people from all sides of the political spectrum celebrated. For the first time in a long time, Atlasia would have an active GM. Yet, while Purple State has performed admirably thus far, few in the government seem to take any action on the news.

Take, for example, his recent report on the healthcare bill. Not one Senator commented on it despite the fact that it was one of the most important bills signed into law in the past few Senates.

Purple State said this in the news unit:

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The only Senator to comment on the healthcare article was Senator North Carolina Yankee (RPP-NC).

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However, besides him, the Senators have given little in the way of response to the new GM"s articles. Of course, it is election season, and so the focus is on the elections, but let's not lose sight of the fact that the government must respond to the GM news or else the position is useless.