The Mockingbird
Issue 14, June 2018
In This Issue
Letter from the Editor
Legislative Review
Changing of the Chair
Newcomer Highlight
Closing
Letter from the EditorHi Europeia!
I’m really excited to kick off the new (and hopefully improved) Mockingbird! You’ll notice that we’ve dramatically shifted the layout to be both more aesthetically pleasing (hopefully) and yet still readable on the forum itself (for those of you that don’t prefer this, there will also be a text-only version).
We’ve been pretty busy these past two weeks in the CA. We’ve passed three proposals (check out the Legislative Review for more on that), and there’s hopefully a lot more to come. The promised Ideas/Questions thread is also up; I really urge anybody that’s thinking about posting there to do so, as I think it’l serve as a really valuable resource.
We’ve also been really busy with the eduction overhaul. Although the subforum still looks, as some have noted, pretty messy, we’ve finished up the final draft of the future layout, and you can definitely expect that to be done once I finish rewriting some of the more miscellanous resources (Grizzbus did us a huge favor when he made the original content, and we’re basing most of the Center off of their work).
Like I mentioned during the campaign, this is going to be the first of three Mockingbird issues this term, and we’re always looking for more suggestions on how to improve - your feedback iwould be really helpful! In the rest of this issue, you’re going to find what will hopefully be mainstays of the Mockingbird - the Legislative Review and Newcomer Highlight - but we also have an interview with previous Chair Whitmark. If writing about any of this piques your interest, but also (and especially) if you want to write something else for general interest, please reach out to me.
And, as always, I want to remind our readers that the CA is one of the most important institutions we have here in Europeia, and that it requires participation from every single one of us to work. If you have a proposal, a question, or even just want to jump into a discussion, never hesitate to post.
Thanks again for the opportunity to serve as your Chair,
Aramor
Legislative Review
The First Two WeeksImage Replacement AmendmentStatus: Passed June 20, 15-0-0; Enacted
What began as a proposal by Calvin Coolidge to fix a broken link eventually turned into a change by Drexlore Greyjoy to the Awards Ordinance, allowing the Chair to fix broken links themselves. This was a fairly uncontroversial change without heavy debate, as was reflected in the final vote tally.
Judicial Authority Amendment ActStatus: Passed June 21, 4-3-4; Forwarded
In the wake of Justice Darcness’ controversial re-appointment, many citizens advanced proposals examining ways to edit the appointment process outlined in the Constitution in order to allow Justices currently presiding over a case to have their tenure extended.
The proposal ultimately selected was by Georgiana (whose citizenship has ironically been recently renewed). After some minor changes to maintain gender neutrality, it sat on the floor for quite some time, not generating much discussion.
Despite this silence, though, there was clearly some disagreement among the body, given the incredibly close result that followed when it was brought to vote. Most likely this controversy arose from the view by some that this was much ado about nothing, and that (as detailed by Chief Justice Onderkelia) existing judicial norms already solved for the problem. Also noteworthy is the ongoing Consitutional Convention, which will likely fix the problem either way.
As of this article’s publication, the act currently sits on the Senate floor, but in the editor’s opinion its passage seems unlikely, partially because of the aforementioned slights against it.
11th Amendment to the Procedures OrdinanceStatus: Passed June 28, 8-0-1; Enacted
Initially, this was a proposal by Aramor to amend the Grammatical, Formatting, and Spelling Errors Ordinance to allow the Chair to also correct gendered language in CA Ordinances. There was (a relatively large) pushback on this, however, with some citing the interpretation problems of grammatical changes in this vein (e.g. the singular “he” to singular “they”).
Eventually, the 11th Amendment was proposed as an alternative to accomodate these concerns, intended to instead make a specific change to the gendered language in the Procedures Ordinance. After an initial botched vote in which Chair Aramor, the idiot that he is, put up a version of the Amendment with strikethroughs and color-coding, the final version was passed in a revote.
Changing of the Chair
An Interview with WhitmarkAramor: Hi Whitmark! Thanks for sitting down with us. Do you want to introduce yourself before we start?
Whitmark: Hello Aramor, I am a newcomer to Europeia, I’ve only been here three months and was a Former CA Chair.
A: Let’s start there - a lot of people have positively reflected upon your term as Chair. If you had to give yourself an honest self-appraisal, how did you think it went?
W: Well I want to start by saying that I learned a lot about the region and it was a great experience being the CA Chair last term; we debated issues and hopefully some of them went to the Senate. I don’t like to rate myself, I will leave that for others to determine.
A: Any positive learning experiences that stand out? Any negative ones?
W: Overall it was a very positive experience that made me learn a lot about the region, the legislative, and the CA. No negative experiences - perhaps the limited engagement in the CA.
A: What do you think some of the roadblocks causing that limited engagement? Do you have any ideas for how to fix that in the future?
W: There are many people participating on Discord but few go to the forums and actually post something, including in the CA.
A: Despite that limited engagement, you still ended up getting a fair amount done your term. What achievement, be it a proposal or CA-related change, are you most proud of?
W: Well there are several proposals that made me happy. One is the ROE Amendment because I firmly believe that if there are no good candidates then the people must have an alternative.
A: Now that you’re out of office, what are your thoughts on the current direction the CA is taking, as well as its future?
W: I trust your experience so I think that the CA is in good hands.
A: What role do you think the CA should take in the ongoing Constitutional Convention, and in the future of Europeia? Are there any changes you’d like to see made?
W: The CA has to continue; I disagree with those who want to eliminate it. So I think the Constitutional Convention has to allow for the role of the CA in Europeia.
A: One last question: what’s in the future for Whitmark? Do you have any regional aspirations/projects that you’re working towards?
W: I will run for the Senate in the next election. That is my plan for the future.
A: That’ll be exciting, and I’m sure the rest of the region looks forward to your campaign. That’s all for today - thanks for your time, Whitmark.
W: Thank you for the interview, I appreciate that you will publish the Mockingbird every two weeks.
Editor’s note:
This interview was lightly changed for grammar and consistency.
Interview originally conducted June 20.
Newcomer Highlight
Alexandrianium/Johnny CostelloOne of Europeia’s quickest rising and most eager newcomers is Alexandrianium, also known as Johnny Costello. Thus far, he has been incredibly active in elections, the forum, and all over Discord, as well as actively participating in the MoWAA, MoFA, and the ERN. Not stopping there, he‘s also been appointed as a Deputy Chair for the Citizens’ Assembly, as well as a Deputy Minister of Communications.
Speaking on his initial impressions of Europeia, Johnny cites his success partially due to the fact that “everyone is very kind and supportive”, and, on the state of Europeia today, that “maybe people are burnt out on the idea of running the day-to-day, but we are geting there”.
Johnny has been hard at work as Deputy, with one of his duties being newcomer integration (if you just became a Citizen, chances are he’s already reached out to you!) He’s also very active in the CA, having written two proposals already, and starting the currently ongoing discussion concerning drama in Discord.
Outside of Nationstates, Johnny is a business student, which he notes is probably why most of his ideas relate to structures typical of businesses, and he is a big fan of heavy metal music (his avatar is Ashley Costello of American band New Years Day).
ClosingIssue 14 of the Mockingbird was written and edited by Aramor
Some of its design philosophy was shamelesslly stolen from a post in r/NBA
Interested in writing for the Mockingbird? Contact Aramor by forum PM or Discord
Thanks for reading!
Edited by
Aramor, Jun 29 2018, 10:15 PM.