Well, the National Weather Service and my department's Flood Operations people are forecasting some serious floods here in entire state of California over the next few days. There is a storm the size of Texas headed towards California right now ...

As a result of this, I'll be working levee patrols from 6 am to 6 pm every day for the next few days (unless the storms don't dump as much rain as they are forecasting them to -- which actually is likely).

Anyways, after losing New Orleans, political appointees are really worried about losing so much as a farm to ...

update ... a sinkhole is now reported:
http://www.kxtv.com/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=15061

Oh, well, I'll survive, but I now forsee a week's worth of wet socks in my future! O_O

In any event, Happy New Years to you all! I'll finally be putting all of my emergency training to work!!!

Quote: Repeal "Save the forests of the World"

A proposal to repeal a previously passed resolution

Category: Repeal

Resolution: #48

Proposed by: Fonzoland

Description: UN Resolution #48: Save the forests of the World (Category: Environmental; Industry Affected: Woodchipping) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The General Assembly of the United Nations,

COMMENDING the assumed intentions of Resolution #48, ?Save the forests of the World?;

DEEPLY COMMITTED to guaranteeing the sustainability of the world ecosystem, namely by the preservation of forests; yet

REGRETTING the confusing, discursive and unconstructive nature of said Resolution;

NOTING that it does not mandate or recommend any course of action to further the cause of sustainability, rendering it ineffective;

ACKNOWLEDGING the clear overlap between the assumed intentions of its author and the mandate of Resolution #23, ?Replanting Trees?; and

DECLARING that ambiguous and ineffective legislation threatens the credibility of the UN, especially when in duplication of previous legislation;

REPEALS Resolution #48.

Voting Ends: Sat Dec 31 2005 [/quote]

The original resolution read:

Quote: UNITED NATIONS RESOLUTION #48
Save the forests of the World

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


Category: Environmental


Industry Affected: Woodchipping


Proposed by: The lords of the isles

Description: For years the forest of numerous nations have been abused and destroyed for profit. In many nations, this is reaching critical leavels, almost to the point where all the forests are gone. If we destroy the forests now, they're gone. Forever. My reasons for this proposal are twofold:

1. Enviromental Concerns
The destruction of the rainforest has a major destructive effect on the enviroment. Countless spieces of plant and animal will be destroyed if deforestation continues at the rate that it is currently. These animals would be dead, and thier would be no way of resurecting them, short of cloning, which rases an entirly diferent moral issue. The simple fact is that the destruction of rainforest is simply pointless destruction as thier is no way to make the forests renewable without seriously cutting the money that they make, which is the reason for thier destruction anyway! The mindless destroying of a valuable national resorce will, in the long run, achieve nothing.

2. Thoughts of the future
By destroying the forests today, there is no way that they will produce money in the future, either through turism or logging. People don't recognise that, while forests make more money more quickly when felled on the mass scale, in the long run, monetarily the same amount of money could be produced by carefully felling a section of forest, then helping it regrow. This way, the woods produced would be more valuable on the international market due to the decreased availability of the timber. Over a longer amount of time, the money produced would, in fact, outstrip the money made by the wanton destruction. The forest would, with help, renew its self and go on making money. As and added bonus, turism would increase.

Solution
While decreasing the would chipping industry would, in the short term, over hundreds of years the over all efects on the enviroment would realy save the world from the rampart destruction of forest that it has fallen into a cycle of.

Votes For: 12,460
Votes Against: 7,244

Implemented: Thu Feb 19 2004 [/quote]

I can tell that the issue for us, as a region is whether to support repeal of a poorly written pro-environmental resolution, given our historic support for pro-environmental and well-written proposals.

:123hup:

Quote: Repeal "Right to Divorce"

A proposal to repeal a previously passed resolution


Category: Repeal


Resolution: #135


Proposed by: Fonzoland

Description: UN Resolution #135: Right to Divorce (Category: Human Rights; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The United Nations,

NOTING the recent passage of "Right To Divorce",

CONCERNED at a number of failures of said resolution:

1. OBSERVING that although it 'declares that a marriage or civil union may be ended by divorce', this does not actually guarantee any right to a divorce, meaning the final decision still rests with national or local courts anyway,

2. DEEPLY DISTURBED by clause 3, which enforces parental rights in such a way that it is illegal to deny regular access to the child to a parent who is assessed being a significant risk to the child, even where such parent has been convicted of crimes such as sexual molestation of children or infanticide,

3. BELIEVING it to be fallacious to base post-divorce visitation rights exclusively on the circumstances of divorce,

4. RECOGNISING that it would be better to have visitation privileges determined on a case-by-case basis, considering the facts of the specific situation and giving proper attention to the welfare of the children as well as the rights of the parents,

5. NOTING FURTHER that the definition used in the resolution does not extend any rights to those in polyandrous or polygamous relationships, and as such enforces one particular set of values,

6. CONVINCED that the resolution constitutes an attempt at inappropriate micromanagement, where many of its provisions would be more effectively delegated to national or more local agencies,

7. REMAINING OPEN to the possibility of replacement legislation that legislates a 'right to divorce' without resorting to unnecessary micromanagement:

REPEALS "Right To Divorce".

Submitted on behalf of Gruenberg.

Voting Ends: Mon Dec 26 2005 [/quote]

Greetings all you cheese lovers of the International Democratic Union. I had noticed that many of our nations seem to be exporting a lot of cheese and that Cheesemaking does seem to pop up alot in the UN stats.

I propose that as a bit of fun we start an international cheesemaking competition. This is just a fleeting idea atm so i have no idea how to go about it or who should host it and how it can be judged. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Just thought we all deserved a bit of fun after the recent upheavals with a certain departed nation.

:wave:
Jad (Lawtonia)

"A fine cheese should smell like a King!, preferably a dead one"

Quote: Rights of Biological Sapients

A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.

Category: Human Rights

Strength: Significant

Proposed by: Reformentia

Description: RECOGNIZING the anthropocentric tendencies of UN legislation.

ACKNOWLEDGING the possibility of the existence of non-human sapient life worthy of being granted the rights and freedoms humans enjoy.

REGRETTING the difficulty in establishing an objective direct measure of the possession of sapience.

CONVINCED that some clearly identifiable criteria for granting such rights and freedoms must be established.

DECLARES that, if any biological species or member thereof demonstrates the capacity to issue a request to the UN, of their own volition, that the rights and freedoms granted to human beings be extended to them and demonstrates a coherent understanding of the request under cross examination, they shall be considered to be equal to humans under the law with regard to those rights and freedoms. This shall not apply when such rights or freedoms are inappropriate to the biological characteristics of the species.

DECLARES that should these rights and freedoms be granted to the requesting species that species will also be subject to the restrictions contained in UN law except where they too are inappropriate to the biological characteristics of the species.

REQUIRES that if any genetic or technological modifications or augmentations are required to communicate this request they be performed by the members of the species in question if the entire species is to qualify for those rights and freedoms. If any member of a species is genetically or technologically augmented by a member of a different species that individual or individuals shall be considered a distinct species of their own under the law, qualifying for the rights and freedoms requested but only securing them for themselves.

FURTHER REQUIRES that if a request is made by any UN member that a species be thus evaluated for sapience that contact between that species and the UN shall not be prevented by any member nation.

DECLARES that the rights and freedoms of non biological life forms shall be left unaddressed by this resolution and open to separate consideration.

Co-authored by: The Two Sheds

Voting Ends: Wed Dec 21 2005 [/quote]

Forced Banishment Ban
A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.


Category: Human Rights
Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Waterana

Description: Alarmed that some nations use the removal of citizenship and/or permanent banishment of citizens from their home nation as punishment for various crimes/actions.

Defining banishment as the forcible permanent expulsion of a citizen from the nation of his/her birth or naturalisation by judicial or government order.

Defining exile as the forcible or voluntary permanent or temporary expulsion of a citizen from the nation of his/her birth or naturalisation by judicial or government order.

Defining citizenship as the fundamental and legal right of a person to permanently reside in a nation by virtue of birth within that nation, having dual citizenship of that nation and at least one other, or by an immigrant obtaining permanent citizen status under that nation?s law.

Noting such a punishment forces other nations to accept and care for these criminals. This forces those receiving nations to put their own people at risk, and to deal with the problems that the home nation is using forced banishment to avoid, whether they have the resources available to do so or not.

Believing that all a nation?s criminals should be dealt with within their own native nations borders if the crime/action was committed within that nation.

Believing a punishment that forces both dangerous and non-dangerous criminals to seek refuge in other states is grossly unfair and unjust to the international community.

Mandates the following

1. No nation may use forced permanent or temporary banishment from their home nation, as a punishment for any reason against a native born, dual or naturalised citizen.

2. No nation may forcibly remove the citizenship of any native born, dual or naturalised citizen for any reason.

3. No nation may use deceptive means to force native born, dual or naturalised citizens to agree voluntarily to permanent banishment from their home nation. Such methods include but are not limited to threatening the victim?s family and giving a choice between banishment and death.

4. No nation may change the citizenship status of native born, dual or naturalised citizens in any way to circumvent the above laws.

Any native born, dual or naturalised citizen may at any time give free and uncoerced agreement to voluntary go into permanent or temporary exile from their home nation if they so choose. In these cases, the victim must be allowed to take any personal possessions he/she wishes to take, and family/friends must be allowed to accompany him/her without restrictions. Voluntary banishment or exile must not include removal of citizenship unless the victim gives free and uncoerced consent.

In the case of voluntary banishment or exile, the home nation must find another nation willing to accept the criminal, with full knowledge of his/her background and crimes, before the victim is permitted to leave the home nation.

Quote: Right to Divorce

A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.


Category: Human Rights


Strength: Significant


Proposed by: Love and esterel

Description: The United Nations,

A ? NOTING the positive effects of marriage and the happiness it procures in both those within the marriage and those around the married.

B ? NOTING that not all marriages are happy

C ? NOTING that many couples in this case have difficulty maintaining a healthy relationship over short periods of time, let alone a life-long relationship.

D ? CONCERNED about the health and welfare of both the couple and any children the couple are responsible for

E ? ACKNOWLEDGING the potential issues that could result from a possible divorce

F ? DEFINING for the purposes of this document a divorce to be the contractual ending of any marriage or equivalent Civil Union recognized by any state

G ? DEFINING for the purposes of this document a prenuptial agreement to be any contract signed by both partners before a marriage agreeing to certain terms pertaining to their marriage and/or potential divorce.

H ? DEFINING for the purposes of this document a Civil Union to be a legal union between any two people given equal status within the union and granted certain rights by any government.


-1- DECLARES that a marriage or civil union may be ended by divorce in the following cases:
-1.1- Both partners ask for divorce, after 3 month of marriage or civil union
-1.2- One partner request a divorce and it is accepted by the other partner, after 3 month of marriage or civil union
-1.3- One partner requests the divorce due to proven domestic violence issues from the other partner
-1.4- One partner requests the divorce after 1 year of being officially separated
-1.5- One partner repeats a request for a divorce 3 months, or later, after the initial request
-1.6- Any additional scenarios that have been chosen by a more local government as grounds for divorce

-2- DECLARES that each party has the right to employ a lawyer for the divorce proceedings

-3- DECLARES that both parents have the right to continue to regularly see their children after a divorce, except for cases where the divorce was over proven domestic violence or sexual abuse, or if such actions are taken upon either the other parent or any of the shared children after the divorce has taken place

-4- PERMITS parents who have lost the right to see their children for issues listed in [3] be allowed to have this right returned if a court of law feels that said parent is no longer a threat to the child or other parent.

-5- URGES Nations to ensure that their legislation protects both partners and their children in divorce cases by granting financial help for one partner, when a fair solution, in accordance to the prenuptial agreement, can be found in order both partners and children can live with a reasonable financial situation - except in cases where the divorce was over proven domestic violence,

-6- ENCOURAGES all Nations to support organisations/associations providing help to married/divorced persons/couples by anonymous meeting, phone call, internet contact or any other medium that can be arranged

Co-authored by Forgottenlands UN

Voting Ends: Sun Dec 11 2005 [/quote]

Hello,

I was planning to pop a large art museum from another culture in Miervatia City. It would be like having a "Chinese Culture Museum" in a city like San Francisco. The idea would be that the museum would be in Mikitivity, but everything inside would in some way be related back to another IDU member's country. I'll create a Wiki entry and come up with the exteroir of the building, but the catch is that whomever would like the museum to represent their culture, should be able to help me by feeding me a few examples of spotlight exhibits in the musuem. Pretty simply stuff, but I thought it would be a fun addition that could tie two countries together.

-M

It's a cake and a present!