Rules are simple. Someone posts a word, and you post the first thing that comes into your head.

eg:
I post: Apple
Next post: Fruit

So I'll start it off:

Wall

Quote: Repeal "Free education"

A proposal to repeal a previously passed resolution

Category: Repeal

Resolution: #28

Proposed by: Jey

Description: UN Resolution #28: Free education (Category: Human Rights; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The General Assembly of the United Nations,

COMMENDING Resolution #28 for its efforts to bring about widespread education availability throughout member nations;

HOWEVER CONSIDERING that Resolution #28 fails to bring about its intended purpose by providing absolutely no mandate to do so, and simply providing the clause "To give every person under the age of 18 the right to a free education";

FURTHER CONSIDERING Resolution #28's complete lack of: any form of educational standards, references to the type(s) of education to be provided, or financial considerations regarding nations' abilities to provide said education;

BELIEVING that the age of 18 is an inappropriate threshold for international legislation, given the existence of a wide range of sapient species that exist in certain member nations' populations;

UNDERSTANDING that Resolution #171: UN Educational Aid Act fully addresses many concerns of educational standards throughout member nations, including, but not limited to, declarations to help: ensure educational opportunities, support projects for educational services, strike out unfair education practices, and provide financial assistance for various education initiatives through the UN Educational Advancement Fund;

ALSO UNDERSTANDING UN Educational Aid Act's entrustment of nation's rights to "decide on the structure of their public education systems and the role of private [education] institutions";

DEEMING Resolution #28 as an ineffectual resolution with no actionable language for UN members, whose concerns over education within the United Nations are widely addressed within other legislation;

REPEALS Resolution #28: Free education.

Voting Ends: Sun Feb 18 2007

[/quote]

I?ve now done quite a bit of work on the map of Bears Armed, as I hope you?ve seen either in the Cartography Department or on NSwiki, and have worked out quite a bit more about this nation?s history while doing so? but before I can fit that history into a coherent time-line I really need some more information about the earlier history of the region as a whole. I do know about its original nations being founded by immigrants from somewhere around the Pacific, but presumably that was rather longer ago IC than it was in RL terms (Yes? No?) so?

1/. Just how many years ago [IC] did that migration occur?
2/. Did the immigrants find a population of indigenous humans, probably at a fairly low tech-level, already present in at least some parts of this region? (Their doing so would fit BA?s history better than the absence of any such people?) What about ruins left by an earlier, ?lost? civilisation?
3/. How long ago [IC] were the following nations founded? _ Keeslandia, Antrium, South Antrium, Fonzoland (if anybody still present can remember?), Malabra, the ?Free Land of the IDU?, Mikitivity, and whatever other nations adjoin Mikitivity?s western borders? Are any of these known to have replaced former nations, and if so then how old were those too?
4/. For each of those nations, is the population descended primarily from immigrants, primarily from indigenous people, or from a more even mixture of the two types?
5/. Did any of those nations? peoples already have any stories about contacts with sapient Ursines before the mystical barrier around the ?Unknown Territories? weakened and the existence of ?Bears Armed? was announced? Although many of today?s Ursines? ancestors ?awakened? to sapience within the lands that are now held by ?Bears Armed? there were also some groups that ?awakened? elsewhere and then migrated here from ? or, at least, through ? the surrounding territories instead so that the local humans (especially if indigenous) might remember them in folklore if not in actual history? (There have been various other non-human peoples in & around the ?Unknown Territories? who might have been known to outsiders too: I?ve marked the locations of ?Badgers?, ?Otters?, and a vulpine group that?s called the ?Vokksur People? on my Wiki map? and several alternative types formerly existed too, but the vicious [& allegedly] Chaos-worshipping ?Wulfen? ? a species of lupine ancestry, as their name suggests, but commonly ?mutated? by the proximity of their homes to the ?Shunned Ruins? ? destroyed the others before themselves becoming extinct?) In fact, if any of your nations still include any suitably unexplored areas of wilderness there might even be a few small (& probably relatively primitive) bands of Ursines present out there nowadays...
6/. What about the Bears? northern clans, who live around the eastern & north-eastern shores of the land-mass where Old Ceorana was also located as well as on a number of islands out beyond those? Should we say that they were also shielded by a mystical barrier until quite recently, or did some of you have occasional contact with them without suspecting that they were secretly part of a much larger nation, or did you sort-of know they were up there but leave them alone for some reason (such as a ?Star Trek?- style ?Prime Directive?, which seems as though it might fit the region?s general ethos?)?

Extra questions for Mikitivity, which could be answered by TG instead of here:
7/. If your nation?s population does include any groups with significant levels of ?indigenous? ancestry then is it possible (in your opinion) that some of these might actually be descended from Ursines who were mystically granted ?human? form, long ago, so that they?d be able to hide in plain site? If so, then are any of them nowadays actually ?Were-Bears?? (The population of ?Bears Armed? includes one minor clan that claims descent from humans whom the ?Great Bear? granted Ursine form, some members of whose leading families may actually be able to shapeshift back again under certain conditions although if they can then that certainly isn?t common knowledge, so a ?balance? for their existence seems reasonable to me?)
8/. Where does the connection to your railway network reach our borders? Ideally it should be fairly close to one or another of the towns that I?ve marked on my map, and it can?t be into the area surrounding the ?Holy Ruins??
9/. Do you want the treaclefield that my Wiki map shows as touching our mutual border (outlined in dark brown dots, just to the south-west of the Badgers) to extend under the river there and into your own people?s lands? If so, then did they already know about this natural resource or have they only just learnt of it ? from the Bears ? and perhaps asked for advice from us about how to exploit it?
(For any of my readers who don?t already know: ?Treacle? is the usual name that we British apply to a dark, very sticky, sugar-containing liquid that Americans would probably call a medium-heavy grade of ?Molasses?? Several places in England have old stories claiming that it used to be mined there, which inspired Terry Pratchett to place ?genuine? treacle-mines in his ?Discworld?, and I decided that the concept would make an amusing addition to THIS nation too?)
10/. A comment that one of your engineers made in the General Assembly several months ago, and certain other factors too, leads me to think that there was already some clandestine contact between our peoples going on for a while before the Bears announced their existence to the world at large: If you agree then how far back do you want to take this, and how far up through your nation?s political system will you admit the knowledge went?

Congrats! 22, it's a beauty!

Quote: Emigration Rights

A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.


Category: Human Rights


Strength: Mild


Proposed by: Kivistan UN Bordello

Description: RECOGNIZING that, within the many varied cultures of the United Nations, people may at times have reason to leave their nation of residence in the pursuit of refuge, opportunity, or escape from persecution or injustice;

WISHING to establish that right in international law;

The General Assembly of The United Nations:

1 - DECLARES it a right of persons to emigrate from their nation of residence;

2 - MANDATES that member nations must refrain from hindering the emigration of persons from their nations;

3-SPECIFICALLY EXEMPTS from that mandate and declared right persons who are either undergoing ongoing legal proceedings or any subsequent sentence; those below the age of consent within their home nation who lack consent of parent(s) or guardian(s); those mentally incapable of making such decisions; those who would pose a public health risk; those whose presence is required by a court of law; or those being held as prisoners of war during times of conflict;

4 - STRONGLY ENCOURAGES member nations to facilitate the travel of persons fleeing hostile situations including, but not limited to, war, civil unrest, ethnic or racial persecution, or governments that are viewed as oppressive or unethical by the fleeing persons, to locations that are more friendly towards the person;

5 - EMPHASIZES that this resolution in no way affects the policies of any member nation concerning entry into its sovereign territory;

Co-Authored by: Yelda [/quote]

Please note that emigration =/= immigration.

Quote: Continuity Of Government

A resolution to restrict political freedoms in the interest of law and order.


Category: Political Stability


Strength: Mild


Proposed by: Yelda

Description: The General Assembly of The United Nations,

ALARMED by the possibility that war, terrorist acts and/or natural disasters could lead to the deaths of numerous UN member delegations;

CONCERNED that widespread loss of these member delegations would lead to a disruption of the normal functioning of the United Nations;

DETERMINED to ensure that the United Nations continues to function in the event of any man-made or natural disaster which results in the death or incapacitation of significant numbers of its member delegations;

HEREBY enacts the following:

1. All member nations will designate an official within their government who shall immediately have the authority to function as an acting UN ambassador in the event of the unexpected death, disappearance or incapacitation of the their permanent UN representative.

2. All member nations will maintain a list of qualified individuals who would be immediately available to fill vacancies in critical positions on their UN delegations.

3. All member nations will establish procedures to ensure that an acting UN delegation will be assembled in a timely manner.

4. Acting delegations shall be vested with full authority to exercise their respective nations' UN powers and privileges until such time as a permanent delegation is appointed by their government.

Voting Ends: Thu Feb 8 2007[/quote]

:argh: :wave: :wave: :wave: :123hup: :123hup: :123hup: :grouphug: :clapurhands: :clapurhands: :clapurhands: :yeah: :yeah: :boogie: :boogie: :boogie: :booze: :booze: :booze: :booze: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :happygroup: :happygroup: :happygroup: :happygroup: :happygroup: :happygroup: :happygroup: :happygroup: :hippie: :hippie:

Happy birthday!

Quote: Nuclear Responsibility

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

Category: Environmental

Industry Affected: Uranium Mining

Proposed by: Love and esterel

Description: -A- FULLY AWARE of potential nuclear risks to populations and our environment, on both national and international levels, such as radiation and radioactivity,

-B- DESIRING to reduce the risks related to nuclear threats and accidents,

-C- RESPECTING the choice of members to possess a nuclear deterrent arsenal,

-D- ALARMED by the amount of nuclear armaments of some nations exceeding their deterrent need,

-E- CONVINCED that in order to reduce these risks related to nuclear energy and weaponry, best practices and safety and security measures must be implemented and populations must be kept well informed:


-1- STRONGLY URGES all members to limit or reduce their nuclear arsenal in order to not exceed a reasonable deterrent force;

-2- CHARGES the Nuclear Energy Research Commission (NERC) created by resolution 154 to ESTABLISH the ?UN Nuclear Accidents and Incidents Scale? (UNNAIS) defining a 7 level gradation of nuclear incidents and accidents, related measurement procedures and adequate needed responses (where 1 indicates an on-site anomaly without contamination, and 7: a breakdown of a reactor with widespread contamination);

-3- REQUIRES that, for each area or activity maintaining or using nuclear material which might pose a risk of a UNNAIS accident at level 4 or above, an accident control plan shall be developed and maintained by national and local administrations, in coordination with neighbour nations. At a minimum, this plan shall address, wherever as appropriate, with an emergency and/or long term approach: containment, evacuation, medical response, site security and environmental response;

-4- MANDATES that, for any accident at UNNAIS level 4 or above, the public in the potentially affected area shall immediately be informed of (i) the occurrence of the incident, (ii) the amount and nature of the health risk posed, and (iii) appropriate protective measures to be taken while avoiding potential panic situations and false alarms;

-5- MANDATES that records shall be maintained of all UNNAIS incident at level 1 or above, and shall be made available for examination by the public unless required to be classified in the interest of national security;

-6- CHARGES the NERC with the following:

-6.1- to make further strong safety recommendations for civil and military nuclear reactors, their facilities and the disposal and transportation of their related waste, including but not limited to:
- redundancy and maximum years of operational life for critical systems,
-control procedures and good practices,
-accident behaviour containment,
-confinement of reactors,
-structure reliability in relation to, for example, fire, natural disasters and external attacks,
-delivery of appropriate safety and decontamination equipment and medicines, and instruction, such as iodine pills to protect population from thyroid cancers,

-6.2- to offer help to members in order to comply with this document along with desiring non-members and to offer training to their nuclear facilities personal,

-6.3- to perform scheduled mandatory inspections of all civil nuclear reactors, their facilities and the disposal and transportation of their related waste, to release public report and to make related surety requirements, in accordance with this document,

-7- MANDATES that any information gathered as a result of these inspections would only be used by NERC for the purposes outlined in the proposal.

Co-authored by Sinaasappel

Voting Ends: Sat Feb 3 2007[/quote]

Quote: Repeal "UN Educational Committee"

A proposal to repeal a previously passed resolution

Category: Repeal

Resolution: #54

Proposed by: David6

Description: UN Resolution #54: UN Educational Committee (Category: Human Rights; Strength: Strong) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: The United Nations,

Strongly identifying with the principles of promoting quality in education espoused in UN Resolution #54, "UN Educational Committee",

Taking note of the passage of UN Resolution #171, "UN Educational Aid Act", and specifically its creation of a UN Educational Advancement Fund,

Recognizing that while committees can serve useful functions, assigning two to oversight of UN educational projects is not only excessive, bureaucratic and wasteful, but further poses the risk of creating confusion and inefficiency,

Believing the UNEAF to be a generally better model than the UNEC, given the latter's powers are poorly delineated, and no provision is made for funding of its projects,

Realizing that UNEC's functions are more than sufficiently performed by UNEAF,

Thereby considering that UNEC has been relegated to the status of another useless committee,

Wishing to clarify the UN's objectives, increase its efficiency and streamline its operations, through the elimination of committees that serve no purpose other than to drain member resources,

Repeals "UN Educational Committee".

Authored by the members of ACCEL

Voting Ends: Mon Jan 29 2007[/quote]

Quote: Healthcare Certification

A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

Category: Social Justice

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Waterana

Description: RECOGNIZING that many poorer nations are struggling, due to lack of funds, to provide needed health care services for their citizens;

NOTING that many richer nations would be willing to donate money for the purpose of helping to provide such care, but hesitate due to the possibility of corruption and misuse of the money, and

BELIEVING that nations willing to provide adequate health care services, but needing help from the international community to provide it, should receive that help, but must agree to measures that ensure the money is being spent in the appropriate area;

The United Nations

DEFINES health care services as any service provided to further the health and/or well being of citizens, including but not limited to hospitals, clinics, disabled care services, training of medical personnel, sanitary facilities, acquisition and/or distribution of medicine(s), public health education programs, vaccination programs, specialised medical and/or surgical services, purchase of equipment and the building and/or maintainence of necessary infrastructure.

ESTABLISHES the Care Certification Team, or CCT to collect donations from willing nations and private donors, distribute funds to nations who request it on an as needed basis, and monitor the use of the funds to ensure that the money is properly spent on the health care sector without redirection or abuse.

1. Negotiate an agreement with each potential receiving nation on basic standards for care, tailored to the nation's needs and ensuring that said nation receives enough money to achieve its goals. A receiving nation may negotiate an agreement to cover as much or as little of its health care activities as it wants and needs.

2. Work with each receiving nation to ensure that all aspects of the nation's own culture and religion are fully respected.

3. Inspect or evaluate the funded services in receiving nations 6 months after the initial donation to ensure that the agreed-upon standards are being met and that the funds are being properly spent to improve heath care services. If all standards are met, the receiving nation will be certified to receive further donations on a regular basis.

4. Carry out unannounced inspections at irregular intervals to ensure continuing compliance with the agreed-upon standards.

REQUIRES that, if a receiving nation fails or refuses to meet the standards agreed upon, the CCT shall suspend disbursement of funds to that nation. The CCT may, at its sole discretion, continue to disburse funds if the nation is making a good faith effort to comply with the standards.

AUTHORIZES the CCT to reduce or cancel disbursements to nations which become capable of funding their own health care activities. Receiving nations may voluntarily withdraw from this program if the contributed funds are no longer needed or wanted.

URGES all UN member nations to provide adequate health care facilities in their communities, and maintain them at an acceptable international standard, taking advantage of this program if needed.

ENCOURAGES nations and private donors to channel international donations through the CCT to promote proper expenditure of funds.

Co-authored by Ausserland

Voting Ends: Wed Jan 24 2007[/quote]