Hi all,

ever since the "Right to teach the theory of evolution" resolution I feel that our region should write a resolution promoting scientific freedom. There already is one, which doesn't even need to be repealed, an we could extend that.

In the resolution, it should be affirmed that scientists should be free to develop theories without fearing prosecution, that these theories should be allowed to be taught, and allowed to be criticised. All within reasonable limits of course (allowing nations to prevent racism, violence, etc), but the main point is that scientific development shouldn't be stopped or slowed by fanatics or politics.

There have been many new nations coming in here, so I think they can write a resolution and grab their week of fame in the UN, assisted in the background by the experienced UN writers. Any takers?

Yesterday, I married my girlfriend. Needless to say, it was one of the greatest days in my life. Lots of people showed up, I was transported in a 60s Jaguar and we had lots of fun.

Yay

National Systems of Tax

A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.


Category: Social Justice


Strength: Mild


Proposed by: Powerhungry Chipmunks

Description: The United Nations,

RECOGNIZING unbalances in monetary wealth between different citizens as unavoidable in most, if not all, member nations,

DETERMINING the interpretation of this unbalance, whether as an incentive for achievement or as the bane of the poor, differs among member nations,

RESIGNED to the fact that member nations will likely never agree, with any convincing degree of consensus, on specific theories regarding taxation or agree on the quality of various economic models,

DISGUSTED that there might be some member nations which attempt to pass legislation as a cudgel to force those of dissenting economic and moral opinions on taxation into their collective, arbitrary molds of ?rightness? and ?wrongness? in taxation systems,

VALUING member nations' right of self-determination, since they may determine the individual characteristics of their government much more adequately than the UN, which is far removed from the individual nation?s various situations and unique qualities,

DEEMING, still, it worthwhile to advocate a few basic measures of social justice upon the tax systems of member nations, which are generally agreed upon by all as a middle-ground:


1 ENCOURAGES member nations, and all nations in the world, adopt progressive systems for taxation, which is to say that the tax rate for a citizen increases as a citizen increases in earnings;

2 REQUESTS member nations allow for those who cannot pay their debts to declare bankruptcy: so they may not be pursued by lenders whom they have no means to pay;

3 EXHORTS all nations to investigate, critically, their respective taxation systems, detached from political motivation, to uncover what values of human liberty and social justice their taxation system upholds and in what ways it may fail to address one or the other;

4 DECLARES it the right of the individual member nation, ultimately, to determine its individual system of tax without interference by the United Nations,

That is to say, we RESERVE the right for individual nations to determine ?who?, ?what?, ?how?, and ?how much? to tax--exclusively and independently (including, but not limited to, a nation?s tax model, tax exemptions, those who are taxed,tax rates, targeted taxation and all other choices regarding a nation's system of tax), excluding, of course, cases in which the United Nations has already resolved upon international standards for certain aspects of a member nation's system of taxation at the time of the passing of this resolution

The schnauzervolk nations plunged into a period of official mourning over night following the announcement from the Chancellor of Grosseschnauzer that the beloved traditional head of state, Kinderlieb the Second, had passes away following a gallant fight against cancer.
Lieben, as she was affectionately called, was the fifth generation to sit on the traditional schnauzervolk throne; her daughter, Edelweiss the Second has succeeded to the throne.
All government offices in the schnauzervolk nations, as well as many public facilities and businesses will remain closed until the state memorial services in all of the schnauzervolk nations have been completed.

Hi, I used to have an account in your old forum. I'm not sure if I hould re-register here, so apologies if I've posted this in the wrong place or breached protocol.

Anyway, I'm here soliciting feedback on a proposal I've drafted and am hoping to submit to the UN early in June. I've already canvassed the Celdonian Diplomatic Quarter (home of the AntiCapitalist Alliance, Coalition of AntiCapitalist Economies and the International Fair Trade Agreement) and the UN Old Guard for opinions but thought I'd try the IDU as well, given your region's interest in UN affairs.

So, here's the proposal:

Quote: Freedom of Conscience Act

Category: Human Rights; Category: Strong

We, the United Nations, having in past resolutions affirmed our respect for human rights that transcend national borders, do hereby

1) DEFINE a ?prisoner of conscience? as a person who has not used, or encouraged the use of, violence; has not openly supported or recommended hatred for racial, religious or similar reasons to provoke people to discriminate, or to be hostile or violent; is detained or imprisoned because of their political, religious or other beliefs, or their ethnic origin, sex, colour or similar reasons; and accordingly

MANDATE that all member states immediately and unconditionally release any prisoners of conscience they are currently detaining and pledge not to detain such persons in the future

2) DEFINE a ?disappearance? as a person who has been taken into custody by government authorities or by armed political groups, but whose whereabouts and fate is kept secret; and accordingly

MANDATE that any institution or group holding such an individual reveal the fate and whereabouts of the ?disappeared?

3) CONDEMN extrajudicial executions by governments, killings caused by the unnecessary use of lethal force by law enforcement officials and killings of civilians in direct or indiscriminate attacks by governments or armed political groups

4) DEFINE a ?political prisoner? as a person whose imprisonment is politically motivated, specifically that they are or were a member of a forbidden political party, or have been involved in armed struggle against the government, or have been a victim of other kinds of systematic discrimination based on sex, race or other reasons, who is not a member of the national armed forces of a nation that the imprisoning nation is officially at war with; and accordingly

CALL FOR all political prisoners to be charged and tried fairly as soon as possible or be released

5) CONFIRM this institution's opposition to torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments and punishments.

CODA: terms such as ?fair trial? are to be interpreted in the letter and spirit of the previous resolutions that specifically address them.[/quote]
Feel free to comment. Thanks very much for your time.
Eco

Greetings,

I received this proposal from a representative from Nederland with a request for comments. I'll give you lot a chance to look at it as well, I'll send the comments back to the nation who sent it to us.

Quote: Resolution name: Higher Education Act
Category: Social Justice

The Democratic Republic of Tycholand,

REALIZING, with regret, that many poorer teenagers and adolescents cannot pay for higher education,

NOTING that many rich nations fail to support poorer people/students to follow education,

AWARE that many teenagers and adolescents want to attend higher education,

ALSO aware that many students have to work to finance their study,

Calls for the implementation of the ?Higher Education Act? whereby all UN nations are:

- REQUIRED to finance at least 35% of higher education costs for students,
- DEFINES higher education as all education above secondary level (example: above American High School) such as colleges and universities.
- REQUIRED to give students a loan when asked whereby:
1. There will be a maximum interest-rate of 0,25%
2. The interest-payments will start after the study: the student does not have to pay interest during the study and does not have to pay the interest for those ?study-years? afterwards,
- REQUIRED on governments to always properly finance higher education. [/quote]

Computer Crimes Act

A resolution to improve world security by boosting police and military budgets.


Category: International Security


Strength: Significant


Proposed by: Gwenstefani

Description: Computer Crimes Act

NOTING the increasing trend for computer networks to be interconnected and to transcend national borders;

AWARE that the vast majority of businesses and most national and international economies rely on these systems and the information contained within;

ALERT to the dangers of allowing such a vital and grand-scale system to remain unprotected by international law; dangers which could cause massive economic, and other, damage to individuals, corporations and states alike through the damage or theft of computer systems or the information contained therein;

PROHIBITS the following practices:

1) The use, spread, and creation without proper safety precautions*, of computer viruses and other similar malicious programs including worms, Trojans, or any other program which damages, or otherwise adversely affects, computer systems; or destroys, damages, manipulates or steals information without authorisation. This excludes security specialists in their attempts to find new ways of defending against viruses, so long as they are creating and using such programs solely for that purpose, and do not use them without the authorisation of the owners of the computer system. They still may not spread them, and they must use proper safety precautions* (*to prevent spread and/or direct damage to computer systems or data in them without the express permission of the owners).

2) Computer hacking, defined as the intentional unauthorised access to, or unauthorised use, theft, manipulation or damage of information stored electronically.

3) Identity theft, defined as any unauthorised attempt to use or steal elements pertaining to another individual?s identity, including credit card details.

MANDATES that any business, organisation (either governmental or non-governmental) must take security measures to protect any confidential data contained in them, especially that data that pertains to information about their customers or members of the public. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, password protection of systems, data encryption, firewall installation, and virus scanning software, etc.

URGES all UN nations to implement security measures or legislation to protect these computer networks and the information contained on them through the promotion of, and education on, such measures, including encryption, password protection, firewalls, virus scanning software, and the use of secure operating systems, etc.

ENCOURAGES international cooperation between national law enforcement agencies, as well as the voluntary co-operation of the computer and Internet industry, in an attempt to reduce computer crime and improve the security of global computer networks and systems

ESTABLISHES the International Computer Security Institute (ICSI) whose tasks shall be to:

1) monitor international computer crime and work with law enforcement agencies to prevent it

2) promote and encourage the development of new security systems to help prevent computer crime

3) create and co-ordinate education programmes on computer crime prevention

and which shall be funded by voluntary donations by states, organisations, businesses or individuals.





Groot Gouda's position: Undecided

Hi. I am Taylor Carlson. I recently completed a degree in Sociology, and am now studying Law at the University of Saskatchewan.

As you are aware, most Daily UN Reports are being copied (at least, the top 10) to the Regional Bureau of Statistics. To make things easier, a little script I made will now fetch the Top 20 on a daily basis, including NS-wide rankings for numbers 1, 10 and 20, and the total number of nations.

It's always here: http://www.klijmij.net/~michel/IDU/unreport.txt
And yesterday's report at http://www.klijmij.net/~michel/IDU/unrep...terday.txt

Occasionaly, the national leaders like to hang out...in the countryside. Been having fun in the rural Netherlands drilling holes, patting sheep and doin' demographics with other geography teachers.

Some pictures:


Welcome!


Turf shack


Sheep, sheep, more sheep


"Es" field, basically consisting of sand topped with a metre of sheepshit to make it fertile. Typical for this area.

Ground profile of an "es".


Grazing and hay field (about 1-2 metres lower than the field above, though only 20-30 metres apart)


Possible pingo-ruin (former ice-bulb in the ground, since long melted away leaving a hole)


Me in the "jungle".