In addition to the existing align codes, I have installed the float code, which work the same way as the float code on the NS forum. Allowing you to format your posts to your hearts content.

Film Festival 2017

This festival is being co-hosted by the Confederal Film Institute and the BA Tourism Agency (BATA).

Categories

Best New IDU Film: A film whose makers are based in any IDU member nation, produced at any time during the last four years but not [officially] released outside its nation of origin more than one year ago. Your post should include a synopsis of the film, language(s) spoken, list of major characters & their actors, relevant production & background detail, and so on.

Best IDU ?Classic? Film: A film whose makers are based in any IDU member nation, produced and released more than four years ago. Posts should include, in addition to what is listed under ?Best New IDU Film?, some information about why this is regarded as a "classic" in your nation.

Best Actor in an IDU film: An actor, of any sapient species [& personal details], who has appeared during the past eight years either in at least one film produced in any nation that is sending an official entry for at least one other category here or in an independently submitted film that has been accepted as an entry. For simplicity?s sake, entry details in the former case must cite one specific film for reference here (which can, but need not, does not have to be, one that is also being submitted in another category) instead of being based on ?lifetime? achievement claims.

Best Non-IDU Film: A film whose makers? home nation is outside the IDU, produced at any time during the last eight years but not [officially] released outside its nation of origin more than two years ago. Your post should include a synopsis of the film, language(s) spoken, list of major characters & their actors, relevant production & background detail, and so on.

Judging
Each and every nation that has sent any official entries will be able to cast one vote in each category, and is free to decide for itself how its choice is determined. The exhibitors associated with any independently submitted film that is accepted for entry here will not receive voting rights, but will be entitled to speak in promotion of their works.
(OOC: You can certainly submit entries using more than one nation, but you still get only one vote per [b]player no matter how many of your nations are involved?)[/b]
The judges? decisions are final.

Prizes
Firstly, of course, there is the prestige (with its accompanying potential increases in both profits and subsequent opportunities) that goes with being entitled to describe one?s film as having won its category here.
Secondly, each category?s winner will receive both a gold-plated porcelain statuette [approximately 1? tall] of a Bear presenting a bunch of flowers and a golden ?rose? that can be worn as a badge of honour, in both cases with the basic details of the award given on an attached panel.
Thirdly, the exhibitors associated with any winning entry will have their travel costs [both ways] between their homelands & Council Groves for this event reimbursed, ?within reason?.
Fourthly, the nation that wins the ?Best New IDU Film? category (or whose entry is highest placed out of the ?national? entries, if an independently submitted film wins instead) will have the right of first refusal on hosting next year?s version of this competition. If two or more nations are voted winners jointly then it?s up to those nations? own governments to decide between themselves who gets this right, except that if Bears Armed is among their number then we will surrender this right.

Further Rules
The starting date for posting entries is one week from today, there will be a fortnight for that process, and judging will then be open for one week & one day [i.e. to around the middle of Sunday afternoon, GMT] after that.
Whilst I appreciate the enthusiasm, please do not place ?reserved? posts in the ?Entries? thread unless you definitely are going to post actual entries between then & the final deadline: There?s no actual penalty OOC for doing so, of course, but IC the governments of any nations that post such reservations and then fail to submit their entries in time will be billed for the unused hotel rooms?
Also, please remember that ? because of this event?s international nature ? entries? details need to include not only what you might consider the ?usual? information to mention when describing a film but also an explanation of any national or international ?rating? system under which those films have been classified works.
Any questions about the rules that are asked more than halfway through the period for entries might not get answered.

Venue
This event will take place in the city of Council Groves, which is the capital of Bears Armed. Most showings of films will take place at the National Film Theatre, in the Akademe district which is situated just a short distance west of the main settlement itself (and also contains National University?s first campus), probably in the afternoon and early evening. Other cinemas [in the city & its suburbs] and times may also be added to the schedule if the number of entries seems to require this.
Films may be entered either by national agencies or (subject to preliminary vetting by the CFI) independently.
Films that are entered by national agencies may be accompanied by up to eight ?official? exhibitors and/or judges for the first film per nation plus (for IDu nations, as those [unlike outsiders] can submit entries to more than one category) up to four exhibitors or judges more for each second or third film. These people will all be provided with good-quality hotel accommodation in or close to the city, with transport between those hotels and the NFT or other cinemas used, with guaranteed seating at screenings of all entries, and with free entrance to all of the city?s cinemas ? not just those that are actually showing the films to be judged ? during the festival?s duration. Any further costs (e.g. upgrades to accommodation, room service beyond a reasonable allowance, meals out [other than during the optional outings to nearby sites of cultural importance that will be laid on], other sightseeing trips, and so on?) will have to be met either by the people concerned or by whatever agencies sent them here. Additional exhibitors may also be sent, and exhibitors allowed to bring guests, at the relevant agencies? discussion: Accommodation can be reserved through official channels for up to one extra person per ?official? exhibitor or judge. These additional guests, and up to four people accompanying each [accepted] independently submitted film, will also be guaranteed seats at the screenings of entries, and free admission to the city?s other cinemas as well during this Festival: If an independently submitted film wins one of the awards then its designated exhibitors [up to four in number] will have their reasonable expenses refunded, up to the same level of spending that they would have received if they were ?official? exhibitors instead.
The city?s hoteliers have experience with hosting Humans and members of other sapient species, not just with providing for Bears, and in fact the main hotel that will be used for this purpose ? the ?Hotel Exodus? ? is owned and run by a consortium of families from one of this nation?s own [immigrant] Human minority-groups. Visitors who have special dietary needs should specify these when booking places.
The festival will formally conclude with a banquet at the ?Hall for The Strangers?*, admission to which will be free for all ?accepted guests? (i.e. the ?official? exhibitors & guests, any accompanying people for whom their sending nations reserved accommodation through official channels, and up to four exhibitors per accepted independently submitted film) at which the results will be announced, and each of the official attendees will be presented with a basket of souvenirs before they depart. If any of these people wish to stay in the country for a while afterwards, as tourists or to discuss potential business opportunities, then this can easily be arranged.

(* i.e. the ?Foreign Ministry?)

:Bear:

Quote: Environmental | All Business

Recognizing that most states will require harm befall a party prior to allowing them to bring a suit;

Working to create a mechanism by which litigation can proceed where no person is individually harmed, but a public interest is threatened;

Further recognizing that, even with adequate standing, many such suits may fail;

Totes adopts the following:

Environmental object is defined as an environmentally significant entity, including lakes, rivers, and discrete ecological communities.

Standing is defined as the ability of a party to demonstrate sufficient connection to and harm from an act to support that party's participation in a legal case.

Member states must confer standing upon environmental objects to allow suit to be brought on their behalf through representation, for their own preservation.

Member states may restrict this legal fiction solely to adjudicatory processes.

Member states may restrict remedies in such cases to those in equity.

Member states must otherwise apply the same legal rules, balancing tests, and various analytical methods to suits brought under this law as they would in doctrinally similar cases.
[/quote]

Half my reason for going with this is to see how many people I can upset with the policy, but I'm curious to see if there are issue I've missed.

Also, fun emoji: :jump:

Welcome to the IDU, NationStates premiere region for resolution or issue drafting. We have some of the best, and most respected, authors of both issues and WA resolutions, so if you're looking for advice, you're in the right place.

Just post here to here so we can give you the right maskings.

Quote: Applauding the efforts of both the World Assembly and individual nations to bring the benefits of democracy to everyone;

Understanding that for some nations it is impossible to set up an adequate number of polling locations to serve all enfranchised citizens due to many varying factors;

Believing democracy can only succeed when all citizens have equal opportunities to vote;

Seeking a solution that will prevent voting from being difficult to any citizen;

The General Assembly,

1. Defines, for the purpose of this resolution, "Absentee ballot" as a vote cast a reasonable amount of time before a public election by a registered voter who is either unable or unwilling to vote in their designated voting precinct;

2. Requires that, upon request, any citizen be given access to an absentee ballot, whether physically, electronically, or otherwise, that can be filled out and sent to the nation's Electoral Commission or equivalent body to be counted;

3. Specifies that all mail-in ballots shall be treated equally to ballots cast at official polling locations as equals and that preference shall not be given to either set;

4. Clarifies that,

a. Absentee ballots shall only be required for public elections;

b. Nothing in this resolution shall prevent nations from instituting reasonable measures to counteract electoral fraud so long as these measures are not used to disenfranchise sections of the electorate;[/quote]

I created this thread to discuss a conversation that stirred up considerable interest on the IDU RMB: hosting our very own IDU Olympiad. Should the IDU consider hosting such a competition and, if so who should host and what sports should be included? I'd love to hear everyone's feedback on the quires.

Since we have so many puppets actively roleplaying, it would be great to get an easy access database of which players are behind what nations.

Fish of the IDU

The term "Fish" is not a 'scientific' one, it is just a colloquial label applied to the members of five surviving Classes and three extinct ones that all belong to the Phylum Chordata & Sub-phlum Craniata but whose relationships to each other have not yet been fully determined.

The extinct classes were the Ostracodermi, Placodermi, and Acanthodii. All three would have had members present in waters around what is now the Iduvian Region for varying proportions of the Palaeozoic Era, but would have died out here -- as they did in RL -- before the "Age of Dinosaurs".


(Class Myxini)

(Order Myxiniformes)[= Hagfish]
=> (Family Myxinidae)[= Hagfish]
(The Idu region almost certainly has native populations of one or more species from this [relatively obscure] group, and those almost certainly belong to the same order and family as do all of their RL-Earth relatives. However as their species don?t differ much in either appearance or ecological niche, they don?t really have any direct interaction with people, and they aren?t one of the groups about which I already have some ideas, it seems to me that there isn?t any point in going into further detail here while there are still more interesting groups on which to work? unless anybody else here is particularly interested in them?)

(ClassPetromyzontida)

(Order Petromyzontiformes)[= Lampreys]
=> (Family Petromyzontidae)[= Northern Lampreys]
(The various species of lamprey with native populations in the Idu region probably all belong to this [ancient] family, like their counterparts from RL-Earth?s northern hemisphere: The other two families with extant species on RL-Earth are both restricted to relatively small areas in the southern hemisphere, with which our lands have had little if any contact, and so neither of them seems likely to be represented here. Also, as as this particular family has lasted for a very long time on RL-Earth without its members diverging very much, I think that its descendants in the Idu waters wouldn?t have diverged enough for reclassification as an endemic family. It also seems reasonably likely to me that any species which spend part of their life-cycle in the open seas actually belong to the same genus as their RL-Earth equivalents, although some or all of the species whose members spend their entire lives in fresh water ? and therefore travel less ? might belong to endemic genera rather than to ?shared? ones. The individual species, however, I suspect are mostly [if not completely] endemic?)
=> (Family Geotridae)[N/A]
=> (Family Mordaciidae)[N/A]

Come to Libertas Omnium Maximus to discuss peace.

Greetings from Lauchenoiria!

We are excited to be part of this wonderful, democratic union and are looking forward to working with the many great nations of the IDU!