Quote: The UN,

ACKNOWLEDGING the desire of many citizens of member nations to consume recreational, and sometimes illegal, drugs, for medicinal, spiritual or recreational purposes,

AFFIRMING that all people have a right to their own body,

CONSIDERING that responsible recreational drug use poses harm only to the individual user,

NOT BELIEVING that criminalisation of recreational drugs is an effective or just deterrent,

DESIRING THEREFORE to allow all citizens to legally consume these drugs if it does not directly and physically harm individuals other then the user:

1. DEFINES for the purposes of this resolution 'recreational drugs' as the whole plants, seeds, cuttings, extracts or resins of the following plants:

Amanita muscaria,
Cannabis,
Ergot,
Kava,
Mescaline-containing cacti,
Psilocin- or psilocybin-containing fungi,
Salvia divinorum,
Tobacco;

2. DECLARES as legal throughout all member nations the possession, cultivation and preparation of recreational drugs;

3. DECLARES as legal throughout all member nations the consumption of recreational drugs in:
I) Private or rented property, with the consent of the owner;
II) Outdoor public property;
III) Indoor public property, with the consent of the relevant authority;

4. PERMITS nations to:
I) Place age restrictions on the activities described in Articles 2 and 3, to a maximum of the age of majority, or 18 years of age;
II) Control taxation on recreational drugs;
III) Prohibit operation of vehicles or machinery, pursuit of occupational labor, or any other act in which being under the influence of said drugs could immediately, directly, and physically harm any individual other then the user, by any user under the influence of recreational drugs;
IV) Punish any who disobey such laws;

5. ESTABLISHES the UN Drug Commission, with the authority to:
I) Ensure the medical safety of recreational drugs;
II) Advise on further restrictions of recreational drug laws;
III) Permit the restriction on amounts individuals may possess;
IV) Call for the seizure or destruction of known contaminated recreational drugs;

6. NOTES this resolution does not cover the administration of such substances for medicinal purposes by state health services;

7. CALLS UPON all member nations to further liberalise their drugs laws;

8. ENCOURAGES member nations to support organizations for rehabilitation of those affected by drugs, for education regarding responsible drug use and drugs law, and for the prevention of illegal and harmful acts resulting from drug use.[/quote]

Any interest in this one?

Category: Global Disarmament
Strength: Mild

Quote: The United Nations,

DECLARING its commitment to the establishment and preservation of world peace, through effective international law and cooperation,

REAFFIRMING its fundamental objection to cruel and barbaric treatment of any person,

DEPLORING the horrific effects of chemical weaponry,

BELIEVING chemical disarmament to be in the interests of world peace,

ACCEPTING that in the presence of many hostile non-member states, certain states may be unwilling to disarm,

WARMLY APPLAUDING the intentions of all states willing to engage in chemical disarmament,

CONCERNED that irresponsible decommissioning of chemical weaponry has the potential for serious accidental damage,

WISHING to provide the means for states to engage in safe chemical disarmament,

BELIEVING that such an operation falls under the jurisdiction of the UN, as a neutral international body:

1. DEFINES for the purposes of international law:

a. "chemical weaponry" as:
i. toxic chemicals and precursors primarily designed for production of toxic chemicals;
ii. munitions and devices primarily designed to kill or harm through the action of toxic chemicals;
iii. any equipment primarily designed for cooperative use with said munitions and devices;

b. "toxic chemical" as a chemical that, through its chemical action on life processes, causes death or permanent harm to people in a way that could render it an effective military weapon;

c. "precursor" as a chemical reactant that takes part at any stage in the production of a toxic chemical;

d. "chemical disarmament" as the safe destruction of chemical weaponry:
i. specifically including conversion to other purposes;
ii. specifically excluding dumping in seas or inland waters, burial, or transfer to other states or terrorist organizations;

2. RECOGNISES chemical weaponry as not necessary for national defence;

3. CONDEMNS the use of chemical weaponry under any circumstances;

4. STRONGLY URGES all states to engage in chemical disarmament;

5. ESTABLISHES the UN Chemical Disarmament Commission:

a. The UNCDC will engage in research into safer methods of chemical disarmament, and into safer approaches to storage and transport of chemical weaponry, with a view to minimising the potential for health and environmental risks;

b. The UNCDC may publish reports and advice on chemical disarmament, and on safe storage and transport of chemical weaponry;

c. All states are invited to contribute experts, technology and expertise in the field of chemical disarmament to the UNCDC;

d. All states are encouraged to declare chemical weaponry stockpiles, update such records on a regular basis, and quickly report all uses of chemical weaponry, to the UNCDC;

e. All states wishing to engage in chemical disarmament are requested to obtain advice and aid from the UNCDC in responsible practices, and may agree to authorise UNCDC teams to visit sites to oversee, aid with or engage in disarmament;

f. States may further request aid and assistance from the UNCDC with a view to improving the safety of any storage facilities, or of methods for transporting chemical weaponry;

g. The UNCDC may, where requested by at least one party directly involved in negotiations, mediate and provide assistance towards international chemical disarmament treaties;

h. States may, in the course of any interactions with the UNCDC, bar any particular person from entering their territory or interacting with their citizens as part of inspection, advisory, negotiation or other delegations;

i. All information supplied to the UNCDC, except where the state providing it specifically allows its dissemination or publication, will be held as strictly confidential.[/quote]

Forum thread ---> http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=464280
GTT forum thread ---> http://s13.invisionfree.com/Green_Think_Ta...hp?showtopic=55

----

For those unaware of the history, towards the end of 2005 I got a chemical weaponry ban to quorum. However, I then realized some mistakes in it, and sadly had to have it deleted. The original proposal can be found archived on NSwiki.

Now, I still want to tackle this issue, but I'm not going to go for a ban anymore, for various reasons. I appreciate that might put some of you off: you recognise this would probably prevent, or make much harder, an outright ban, so might be seen as caving. However, for the moment, I'm just going to tackle the problem of helping states who want to disarm to do so safely.

Any comments are very welcome, here.

(I assume posting proposals here is ok? There haven't been any for 30 days, but this seems to be the right forum.)

In the old IDU forums we had a running thread where we'd simply talk a bit about what we were listening to ... I'd like to bring that back.

Today 5 CDs I ordered (three from amazon.com here in the US and two from France) arrived. It is funny, because I ordered the CDs from France *after* making my US order.

I bought:
Moon Far Away :: Belovodie
Collection D'Arnell Andrea :: Villers-aux-Vents
Qntal :: Ozymandias (Qntal IV)
Corvus Corax :: the Best of
Mediaeval Baebes :: Mirabilis

The first group is from Russia and is a "heavenly voices" genre. In the US heavenly voices is called ethereal, which while descriptive, I prefer the German English given name for the genre better ... it seems to be more descriptive to folks whom might not know what ethereal means. It was a nice find that I was turned onto via a compliation disk a French musician gave me in Germany in 2005.

The second group is French, and has been around for a long time. When I saw them live in Germany in May, it was their guitarist who gave me the French Compliation disk where I was introduced to the first band. They are something of a heavenly voices gothic rock hybrid (though the musicians tend to dress in early 20th century working class clothing ... meaning they aren't what you think of as goth ... they are super cool).

Qntal is a German electronic / heavenly voices band of some renowned (sp?) with many ambient music lovers. Like Collection D'Arnell Andrea, they put on amazing live shows.

Corvus Corax (which means Raven) is aptly named ... it is a male band that incoprates vox, bagpipes, and drums into mediaeval music. In the US they recently debuted at the Pennsylvania Ren. Faire. I suspect that as more Americans discover this band that they'll become even more popular. They are loud and fun ... and naturally brilliant.

The Mediaeval Baebes are 8 British women that sing mediaeval tunes ... they are lovely.

Anyways, it is always so fun buying new music. Though I've not reviewed any of these bands for amazon.com, if I do, I'll post the listing here.

Quote: Repeal "The Law of the Sea"

A proposal to repeal a previously passed resolution

Category: Repeal

Resolution: #74

Proposed by: Gruenberg

Description: UN Resolution #74: The Law of the Sea (Category: Free Trade; Strength: Mild) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The United Nations,

OBSERVING that non-UN members outnumber UN members 3 to 1,

ASSERTING that the attempts of "The Law of the Sea" to claim UN jurisdiction over international waters are misguided, impractical, and illegal,

FULLY CONVINCED that the 20 kilometre allotments granted by "The Law of the Sea" are far too small without allowance for the extension of Exclusive Economic Zones, and further that the undefined and vague status of 'scientific research stations' could lead to abuse by unscrupulous nations,

BELIEVING that the allotment of fishing quotas is inefficiently administered by "The Law of the Sea", but now falls under the jurisdiction of the UNCoESB,

APPALLED at the extensive bureaucracy created by "The Law of the Sea", which would be largely rendered ineffectual by the presence of non-UN navies, and the lack of legislation governing relations between these and UN navies,

CONCERNED by the conflict between the obligations of ships under "The Law of the Sea", and of declared neutral ships,

DEPLORING the designation of definition of piracy to bilateral definition, which would in fact allow ships at will to disrupt trade, in effect fuelling, rather than preventing, international piracy,

NOT BELIEVING 'reasonable grounds' is sufficiently defined to prevent arbitrary, aggressive boarding of ships, and appalled at the breach of confidentiality created by the UN database of searches,

DISREGARDING the claim that the UN can designate no-fishing areas, given the presence of non-UN fishing boats,

DISBELIEVING the sweeping nature of "The Law of the Sea", in attempting to connect a number of entirely separate concerns, such as international security and ecology, to be a productive approach to internationally binding legislation,

FULLY CONDEMNING "The Law of the Sea" for attempting to assert UN jurisdiction over international territory:

1. REPEALS "The Law of the Sea";

2. IMPLORES the General Assembly to ensure speedy replacement of certain admittedly important aspects of "The Law of the Sea" concerning the sovereignty of territorial waters, and its well-intentioned but ineffectively and dangerously executed attempts to combat piracy.

Voting Ends: Fri Jan 20 2006 [/quote]

The original resolution reads:

Quote: UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION #74
The Law of the Sea

A resolution to reduce barriers to free trade and commerce.

Category: Free Trade

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Serconea

Description: The United Nations,

RESOLVES:
1. That all areas of sea more than 20 kilometres from an internationally recognised settled landmass or scientific research station are described as international waters. The UN may permit archipelagos to have the 20 kilometre limit start from the outside islands and allow waters inside the archipelago to be claimed by the nation who owns it.
2. That all 'international waters' shall be outside the sovereignty of any member nation and that no nation can claim to have sovereignty over them.
3. That all nations shall have in or above international waters, unless in a Maritime Preservation Zone:
a) Freedom to fish in designated fishing areas, subject to UN quotas.
b ) Freedom to fly
c) Freedom of navigation
d) Freedom to lay cables, pipelines and underwater installations, unless in a Maritime Preservation Zone
4. That a UN Commission be established to determine areas of outstanding marine beauty or high ecological sensitivity and designate them Maritime Preservation Zones.
5. An International Maritime Standards Bureau will be created to set international rules on navigation, working hours and other matters it deems appropriate to ensure safety at sea.
6. All states can have ships under their flag. Any state may establish a registry for ships permitted to fly their nations flag. These vessels must be duly owned and operated by citizens of the respective country to be allowed to register with said country. No state shall permit the establishment of a "flag of convenience". Any vessel receiving an "SOS" or distress call should render immediate assistance, no matter their country of origin or current war status.
7. All states shall ensure that vessels under their flag are built and kept to proper seaworthy standards, as defined by the International Maritime Standards Bureau.
8. Piracy is prohibited in international and territorial waters.
9. Piracy shall be defined as any illegal acts of violence, detention, theft or damage committed by a private vessel or aircraft, or its crew or passengers, against another vessel or aircraft, or the passengers, crew or property of the latter. "Illegal" will be defined by bilateral diplomacy, with the UN intervening if the two nations cannot agree.
10. That all nations will do their utmost to tackle piracy in international waters.
11. That no nation shall shelter pirates. Nations may only employ privateers (which are defined as pirates who work officially for a government) in a time of declared war.
12. That any flagged warship may board a ship if it has reasonable grounds to believe it is engaged in an international crime, such as but not limited to terrorism, piracy or smuggling. If the search finds nothing, the boarded ship shall be compensated by the warship's nation to a mutually agreeable value. A database of searches shall be kept by the UN to aid law enforcement. On boarding or attacking a vessel, the warship must immediately run up its national colours or the action will be considered an act of piracy.
13. That all nations shall strive to prevent pollution of international waters and harm to marine wildlife, except where the UN has permitted fishing.
14. All UN resolutions affecting member nations also apply to actions carried out by them or their citizens in international waters.
15. All nations with navigable waterways linking their coast and a landlocked country are encouraged to reach agreements on their use by vessels of the latter country.

Votes For: 10,656
Votes Against: 4,684

Implemented: Tue Sep 21 2004

[/quote]

I got this idea for a proposal draft, but it might already exist, so I'm looking for some input:

Quote: 

RECALLING many international efforts to facilitate help to victims of emergencies;

NOTING that many nations have a system set up for emergency assistance;

NOTING that most nations with the above system have some way for citizens to trigger it;

1. DEFINING for the purpose of this resolution:
a. "emergency" as any event or condition that puts a person at urgent need for help, lest they face severe bodily damage or death, including but not limited to the following:
i. urgent medical conditions such as cardiac arrest, hypothermia, stroke, etc.
ii. disasters such as fire, earthquake (including quakes of other planets besides Earth), hurricane, tornado, etc.
b. "emergency assistance" as any state-endorsed system for giving aid to victims of emergencies;

2. MANDATES that all nations have some sort of emergency assistance in place;

3. REQUIRES that in the event of a disaster, any witness must activate the emergency assistance system as soon as is realistically possible, unless he or she reasonably believes that activating the system would have the risk of severe harm to theirself, or the system has already been activated by another witness and the witness has confirmed that fact;

4. MANDATES that nations shall enforce clause #3 through appropriate legislation and consequences.[/quote]

Any suggestions? Is this redundant to something I haven't checked? I haven't even put this on the jolt forum yet, so comments are very welcome.

Here is a draft set of rules / description:

Quote: International Democratic Union Cheese Festival

The International Democratic Union Cheese Festival is an international event designed to promote cheese exports.  A wide variety of cheeses and dishes featuring cheese made in different International Democratic Union (IDU) member nations and other nations with strong ties to the IDU are submitted by private cheese makers.  Awards are given based on the following categories:

Best IDU Cheese
Best Imported Cheese to the IDU
Best Cheese Related Product

The festival is held annually during the second full moon at the city who?s cheese won the Best IDU IDU Cheese at the previous year?s festival.

The festival has been held in the following cities:
Free Land of the IDU (2006)

History:
Many of the nations of the IDU have a well established cheese markets.  Though it is common for countries to incorporate their own cheeses into many national dishes, growing economic cooperation between IDU members has increased the amount of cheese exported and imported in the IDU, thus increasing the popularity of cheese in many IDU nations.  The International Democratic Union Cheese Festival was originally sponsored by a number of cheese growers associations in various nations with the goal of promoting cheese consumption.

Festival Rules:
Nations may submit as many cheeses and cheese related products as they like.

Only cheeses that are produced in nations that are members of the IDU may submit entries into the ?Best IDU Cheese? category.

Cheese from nations that are not officially members of the IDU, but whom import cheese to any IDU member, must be submitted to the ?Best Imported Cheese to the IDU? category.

Any product (dish or otherwise) from any nation may be submitted in the Best Cheese Related Product categories, though it is recommended that entries into the Best IDU Cheese and Best Imported Cheese categories list  some of the popular food dishes that the cheeses are frequently made into.  Cheese related products need not be edible, but can include tools used to prepare or cook cheese or even drinks that go well with certain cheeses.

No product may be submitted into more than one category; however, a specific cheese related product may be entered even if the cheese used to make it has been submitted under either of the Best Cheese categories.

Entries should describe the cheese, so that judges may come back to review what the tested.

Up to one judge will be appointed from each nation that submits any entries, and then the judges can vote for one Best IDU Cheese, Best Import Cheese to the IDU, and Best Cheese Related Product.

Winning cheeses and cheese related products may use the International Democratic Union Cheese Festival logo on their products for as long as they like, but should display the years that their cheese won on the logo.
[/quote]

The second full moon should be slightly after Chinese New Year, and I think would allow us each year to prepare for the festival. We might need to include default language that bumps the festival back to the Freeland of the IDU in the event that a host nation is unable to host the festival.

It would be great if Sober Thought or anybody else could make a Cheese Festival logo!

The entries really are just whatever you want to write about. Well, so long as it is cheese (the food) related.
:worship:

Quote: Civilian Casualty Records

A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.

Category: Human Rights

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Unstable Former Nuns

Description:

The United Nations,

CONCERNED by the deaths of civilians in times of war,

PERSUADED that a proportion of these are avoidable,

CONFIDENT that the military can assist in preventing many of these unnecessary deaths,

DESIRING, therefore, to contribute a positive response to this problem;

The UN hereby calls on all member nations to maintain records of civilian casualties in times of war. It further encourages them to use this data to improve the conduct of military operations, gathering of intelligence, and use of weapons, for the purpose of reducing loss of innocent life.

Voting Ends: Sun Jan 15 2006 [/quote]

Here's a different topic on the floor. So this may prompt some discussion. If it doesn't interest you, stay tuned. There's at least three more proposals in the queue after this one, so we will be voting like clockwork for the remainder of the month.

I plan to cast the region's vote late on Saturday night, US east coast time.

Quote: Repeal "MANDATORY RECYCLING"

A proposal to repeal a previously passed resolution

Category: Repeal

Resolution: #13

Proposed by: Herconia

Description: UN Resolution #13: MANDATORY RECYCLING (Category: Environmental; Industry Affected: All Businesses) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: OBSERVING the need for practical recycling legislation,

APPALLED by the failures of "Mandatory Recycling" to deliver suitable solutions, and its restriction on the ability of the UN to adopt more workable recycling policies,

REGRETTING the lack of clear guidelines, measurable goals and regulations in aforementioned resolution,

AWARE that not all member states have the industrial capacity for the scale of recycling mandated by this resolution, for which no allowance is made,

CONCERNED by the irresponsibility of forcing member states without the requisite facilities to engage in this level of recycling,

NOTING the distinct possibility of environmental damage caused by inappropriate recycling of materials by member states without developed, safe industrial facilities,

CONSIDERING that recycling "all paper, glass, aluminum, and batteries", regardless of needs, value, other uses of these items, etc, as this resolution mandates, is not a safe, intelligent, or effective way to issue a resolution encouraging recycling,

REMAINING OPEN to a replacement which adopts a more effective set of recycling regimes

REPEALS "Mandatory Recycling"

Co-authored by Gruenberg, Jey

Voting Ends: Tue Jan 10 2006 [/quote]

UN Resolution 13 reads:

Quote: UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION #13
MANDATORY RECYCLING

A resolution to increase the quality of the world's environment, at the expense of industry.

Category: Environmental

Industry Affected: All Businesses

Proposed by: Techno prisoners

Description: Be it hereby resolved that all paper, glass, aluminum and batteries be recycled by all UN member states.

Votes For: 17,211
Votes Against: 4,178

Implemented: Thu May 8 2003 [/quote]

Quote: Its compassionate, intelligent population of 1.002 billion enjoy extensive civil freedoms, particularly in social issues, while business tends to be more regulated.[/quote]
Yeah! Woohoo! Celebrate! :wave:

Er, I mean, the government of Baranxtu is pleased to announce that its population passed the one billion mark - excellent!
The king issued the following statement: "Woot, and bananas!"

:pisang: Bananas, indeed. :pisang:

Quote: Artistic Freedom

A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.

Category: Human Rights

Strength: Significant

Proposed by: Jey

Description: The General Assembly of the United Nations,

NOTING Article II of Resolution #26, ?The Universal Bill of Rights,? which states that ?All human beings have the right to express themselves through speech and through the media without any interference.?

ACKNOWLEDGING that the majority of artistic genres are not transmitted by speech or the media; thus

CONSIDERING that the rights of artists are not covered by any N.S.U.N. resolution;

UNDERSTANDING that artistic freedom should be protected and promoted throughout the world;

1. DEFINES for the purpose of this resolution:

a) A ?work of art? as an object (such as a painting or sculpture) or intellectual construct (such as a novel or musical piece) created with the primary purpose of attaining aesthetic value,

b ) An ?artist? as a person who plays a major creative role on either the construction of an original work of art, or the interpretation of an existing work of art;

2. DECLARES the rights of artists to create and interpret works of art, and of any person to distribute and preserve them, without interference from other individuals, any government, or the N.S.U.N., provided they:

a) RESPECT national and international law on property rights, including copyrights,

b ) ENSURE that no other person is harmed, or likely to be harmed, directly or otherwise, by their activities,

c) RESPECT any other relevant legislation that does not directly restrict their freedom of expression;

3. ENCOURAGES N.S.U.N. members to endorse and promote all artistic genres, by such means as they see fit, as long as these genres do not infringe on the restrictions described in clause 2.

Co-Authored By: Fonzoland

Voting Ends: Thu Jan 5 2006 [/quote]