I, Libertas Omnium Maximus, acting chair of this Olympic Committee, do establish this interim session to determine the fate of future IDU Olympiads.

Welcome (Back)!
Ladies and Gentlemen, it's been quite a long while since we last met. We did manage to pull off an Olympiad last fall. That's more than I was expecting back in 2018. With that in mind, I think a hearty congratulations to everyone who made the Olympiad possible is in order. I especially thank Shuell for all the hard work he put into simulating scores and writing up all of the results. All in all, I'd say the 2019(and 2020) IDU Olympics were a success.

Although the Olympics were quite enjoyable, they were far from perfect. The simple truth is that we completely overwhelmed Shuell with the event list. We clearly included about 60% more events than we reasonably should have expected Shuell to be able to handle. As a result, we had some major problems. My objective is to address those problems in this thread.

In addition to problems with the actual Olympiad, our Olympic Committee could probably benefit from some streamlining as well. Right now it seems to bureaucratic and dysfunctional.

The following are my objectives for this interim session

• Think of ways to reduce the number of events while still maintaining a good variety of sports
  
• Decide how to handle hosting in the future (multiple hosts, etc.)
  
• Restructuring the IDUOC to make it more efficient
  

Lauchenoirian Broadcasting Service Studio
19th April 2020 – 10:01pm local time

[LIVE]

Maria sits at a desk, behind her is a photo montage of a political campaigner knocking a door, a ballot box, and presidential residence Fleura House.

Maria: Good evening. Polls have now closed in the first round of the 2020 presidential elections in Lauchenoiria. We are expecting an exit poll shortly, and will bring that to you as soon as we have it in the studio. The elections were carried out without incident, and turnout is thought to have been very high, but we will confirm that later. We’ll be here in the studio bringing you live updates on the votes as they are counted throughout the night. We’ll also be talking to experts, political party representatives and a special guest later in the evening! For now, we go to Andre, who is at a count in Usera.

Cut to a man standing on a balcony overlooking a sports hall, in which people are busy carrying ballot boxes and counting votes.

Andre: Thanks, Maria. Well, it’s looking to be an exciting night here in Usera. We have a cross between a protest and a street party going on outside, a celebration of democracy coupled with a warning to the government that the people are watching – an event taking place in true Useran style. As for the actual vote, rumours here suggest that it is definitely too close to call between the four main contenders. As you know, Usera is a very atypical city politically, the people here tend to be young, left-wing, liberal and anti-authoritarian, so it’s possible that Clavell actually has a chance of winning in this area, but we won’t know anything for certain until later.

The two images are placed side by side as Maria begins to talk again.

Maria: Thank you, Andre. Well, we’re hearing the early exit poll – it suggests that the Liberal party candidate, Obando, is set to take the lead, closely followed by Zavala for the Communists. I’d like to remind viewers to take this with caution, given the changed political landscape of Lauchenoiria in recent years, but if this is accurate it could be that we’re seeing a return to the normal Liberal-Communist run-offs we were used to before the war. Here in the studio I have statistician and political analyst, Oriol Casado. Shot widens to view a table three other people are sitting at. Oriol, what are your thoughts on this exit poll?

Oriol: Well, Maria, I’d echo your warning to take this with a pinch of salt. Our statistical methods are still biased towards the two major parties from pre-war Lauchenoiria, due to a lack of more recent data and the fact that public opinion has greatly fluctuated in the last two years. The algorithms still consider that undecided voters are most likely to default back to the party they supported at the previous election – but that certainly can no longer be assumed. The Liberals and Communists still face a lot of blame for the events of the war, and there are new parties, and new alliances that we couldn’t necessarily have expected until just a few months ago.

Maria: Yes, there does seem to have been a lot of change recently. With us here, we also have Nina Pond from the Liberal Party, who ran for president in 2019, and Élia Agramunt, Communist Party leader. Ms. Pond, what are you expecting from tonight?

Pond: We’re very confident about our chances this evening. Last year was an unpredictable election, with three candidates occupying the space on the political spectrum of my party. It is understandable that in the shadow of the war, voters looked for a change – but it is clear from President Marwick’s decline in popularity after his inexperience showed, that voters are looking for a steadier hand, someone who can lead us by both listening to the people and the expertise they have gained over the years. Emilia Obando is such a candidate. She has years of experience in government, worked with President Walker, and has shown while she was an MP that she listens to the voices of her constituents. We are confident that the electorate has recognised this.

Maria: You certainly seem confident indeed! Ms. Agramunt, what about you? 2019 saw the Communist Party’s worst defeat since the revolution, do you think this election will be different?

Agramunt: As Ms. Pond says, 2019 was an unpredictable aberration. The voters – rightly – blamed us, and our current leadership for the war. But since June, we have made great steps to reform our party, and rid it of those elements who still support the authoritarianism of our past. Communists opposed to the Chaher regime deserted us for the Left Alliance, but that is no longer necessary. Those who opposed that regime, and the previous one, are no longer welcome in the Communist Party. This has even been recognised by those in the Left Alliance, who are supporting Zavala for president precisely because he, and I, are vehemently opposed to a dictatorship. We cannot judge 2020 on the basis of 2019, as despite the closeness, these elections take place under very different circumstances, and under a new constitution.

Maria: Thank you Ms. Pond, Ms. Agramunt. It will still be some time before we start receiving results, so we will take a short break just now, and go to the news and weather forecast. I hear it’s looking like a nice, warm week!

Cut to news studio.
 

Thanks to the success of the previous tournament, the IDUFC 2018 hosted by [nation]Laeral[/nation], I have been mandated to organize and host the championship. The IDUFC 2019 will be a low-intensity, easy-entry sports roleplay very similar to the previous one. I intend to use leaguesimulator.eu for generating results since it served us well last time. I have performed test runs to familiarize myself with how it works and have found that the semi-random 16 team-4 group format will work best for the tournament.

Roleplay Information:
[nation]The Federation of Legionas[/nation] will be hosting the 2019 International Democratic Union's Football Championship/IDU World Cup. I'll describe the stadiums where the matches will take place, pre match highlights (I may also try and roleplay pre and post match press conferences with the team managers and players for some matches), the final match score and main highlights of the game. Roleplay isn't necessary or required but is encouraged and will be appreciated. The winner of the tournament will carry home the prestigious IDUFC Champions Cup and the bragging rights as the greatest team in the IDU. I intend to run one game every other day for each group stage once the tournament has begun( Group stages will take around a week to conclude). There will also be a third place play off to be played before the final.

Technical Stuff:
Leaguesimulator.eu generates results based on each team's Attacking and Defending scores, although there is some room for upsets. Attacking and Defending scores can each range from 1 to 9, with 9 being the best. Each player's team will start with 10 points which they can allocate to those two scores as they wish. However, establishing more details about your team in your application gets you more points to spend. The scale is as follows:
Describing team kit/uniform design: +1
Listing team squad list: +2
Listing home club of each player: +2

Puppet nations which may participate in the tournament will begin with 7 points instead of 10 points and are limited to only one per player.

Application form:

Republic of Agutrerra 2020 Election Cycle Pre-Coverage

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sRJD...sp=sharing

Happy Easter from Europeia to all our friends and allies abroad. This is a time of joy for many, even (or particularly so) in times of international uncertainty, and we hope you can take part in that joy even if you don’t celebrate Easter. All the best wishes ~

Pichtonia Seymour-Somerset
Chief of State of Europia

Hello, this is the planning and discussion thread for the Artists of Progress RP. If you're interested in participating and have questions, feel free to post them here or contact me privately via Discord.

What the RP is about: Empress Yauhmi of Xiomera recently ascended to the Obsidian Throne after the death of her husband, the Emperor Topilpopoca, by winning a uniquely Xiomeran process known as the Great Selection. The Great Selection uses a council of experts to select the ruler of Xiomera. During her bid for the throne, the Empress promised those backing her that she would rule as a traditional Xiomeran ruler, and that Xiomera would remain a highly conservative, ruthlessly capitalistic state with little tolerance for dissent or change.

The Empress lied. Or, as she might say, she encouraged them to believe what they wanted.

Since taking the Obsidian Throne, the Empress has embarked on a series of radical reforms meant to make Xiomera, if not a true democracy, at least less totalitarian and cruel than it had been in the past. Her reforms have upset the powerful military, political and economic leaders of the Xiomeran Empire. More to the point, her apparent intent to restore a hereditary monarchy to Xiomera - and declare her son, Texōccoatl, as her successor - have alarmed the powers behind the throne.

Those powers are about to remind Empress Yauhmi where true power lies in Xiomera - or, at least, where they think it lies. The Empress will beg to differ, and will have a few tricks up her own sleeves.

Immovable objects are about to meet irresistible force, Xiomeran style. Only time, and perhaps your timely intervention, will determine the outcome.

How you can get involved: Just about anything is on the table, short of invading Xiomera or causing it serious damage. If you want to apply political and diplomatic pressure, prefer the less subtle method of sanctions and economic threats, or enjoy the even less subtle methods of covert intervention to support the side you prefer, let me know what you're thinking. Also, if you have questions, feel free to ask them here.

2020 IDU Film Festival

Categories

Best New IDU Film:
- Entries must be films produced primarily or entirely within an IDU nation and not released outside their nation of origin before the end of the most recent Film Festival in November 2018.
- Entry should consist of a plot synopsis, language(s) spoken, list of main characters & actors, and any relevant production or background information.

Best Classic IDU Film:
- Entries must be films produced primarily or entirely within an IDU nation and released more than four years ago.
- Entry should consist of a plot synopsis, language(s) spoken, list of main characters & actors, information on why the film is considered a classic.

Best Actor in an IDU Film:
- Entries must be actors/actresses of any sapient species who has appeared in a film produced within an IDU nation in the last eight years.
- Entry should consist of details about the actor/actress and must cite a specific film they have appeared in.

Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film:
- Entries must be non-fiction films produced primarily or entirely within an IDU nation within the last four years.
- Entry should consist of a synopsis of the film, language(s) spoken, any relevant production & background details.

Best Foreign Film:
- Entries must be films produced outside of the IDU, not released outside its nation of origin more than two years ago.
- Entry post should consist of a plot synopsis, language(s) spoken, list of main characters & actors, any relevant production & background details.

Judging
Every nation that has submitted an entry to any category of the 2020 Film Festival is entitled to cast one vote for each category, which they may cast as they wish. Votes may not be changed once they have been cast. The entry which garners the greatest number of votes within each category will be announced as the winner of that category.

OOC: Entries may be submitted using puppets, yet voting is restricted to one vote per player.

Prizes
The winner of each category will receive a statuette and a plaque detailing their achievement, as well as the prestige of winning the IDU's most prominent film award. The travel costs for the exhibitors of the winning entries will be reimbursed, within reason.

The nation which wins the Best New IDU Film category will have the honor of hosting next year’s film festival, in 2021. In the event of a tie, precedent will be granted to the nation which has spent the longer time since hosting the festival. Beyond this, it is the responsibility of the involved governments and the attending nations of the festival to resolve any disputes over this.

Venue
The 2020 IDU Film Festival will be hosted in the city of Hanshui, in Laeral's west in the heavily-populated Riverlands region. Hanshui, nicknamed the "Jewel of the Riverlands," is the third-largest city in Laeral, and at the center of film production within the nation. Hanshui has a rich film history, with a golden age beginning in the 1960s in which Silver Harvest and other studios became known for a distinctive "Riverlands style", involving fast-paced wuxia historical dramas and contemporary action flicks featuring a unique style of fast-paced fight choreography and showy, death-defying stunts. This style made stars of local martial artists such as Stephen Chu and Laurie Zhang, and it's in honor of this great film tradition that the 2020 IDU Film Festival is hosted in Hanshui.

The easiest way for exhibitors to reach Hanshui is through Zhou Wei-lin International Airport, while the Film Festival itself will be hosted at the Palace Grand Cinema, in downtown Hanshui, and the adjoining Prosperity Conference Center. Films will be screened at the Palace Grand Cinema at a rate of one per night; exhibitors are suggested to use the city subway system or private vehicle to reach the cinema for the nightly screenings. Cars will be provided upon request, and hotel accommodations will be reimbursed for all official exhibitors or judges.* Exhibitors are invited to attend all nightly film screenings, as well as the opening reception on April 12th (featuring special guest and honorary festival host Laurie Zhang).

Further Information
The start date for posting entries is Thursday, April 9. The end date for posting entries is Saturday, April 25th, although this may be adjusted at the discretion of the host. Voting will take place for two weeks following the close of entries, although winners may be announced earlier once all eligible nations have cast their ballots.

The 2020 IDU Film Festival is now declared open for entries!



*Each nation is invited to bring eight official exhibitors or judges, plus an additional four exhibitors or judges per additional entry submitted. Reimbursement is courtesy of the Laeralian Ministry of Culture.

Quote:The Rock Pigeon is nothing if not ubiquitous. Whether in a city, where it can be seen eating the remains of stale donuts off the streets, or in the countryside where it is gathered around silos and other piles of grain gorging itself to stupefaction, the Rock Pigeon is the most jort-like of birds. Not necessarily ugly, but unnecessarily vulgar. Far more common than one would hope. Utilitarian in the extreme. No bird could more effectively represent our dear founder quite so elegantly.