The special Minister of Justice election

Ratateague was elected as the new Minister of Justice with 12 votes
Slotheria had 6 votes

Referendum: Overturn Cabinet Vote Of Embassy Closure

Xingal, the High Judge of the DSA ruled that the congress of the DSA would decide on the cabinet vote that decided to withdraw embassies with A Liberal Haven. The congress vote against overturning the cabinet vote thus allowing the Minister of Foreign Affairs to withdraw embassies.

Our 22nd interview is with the Minister of Role Play of the 32nd Cabinet, United syndicates of sol

⦁ When did you first join NationStates? How did you
first hear about it?

I joined quite early in 2015, though I don’t recall how I first heard about it – It might have been from my best friend, who got involved around the same time as I did. I ultimately ended up getting a little more into it than even she did. My first nation was centered around the sweet lolita fashion subgenre because frilly dresses were and are one of my favorite things.

⦁ When did you join the DSA? Were you just looking
at regions when you found us or did you come through
recruitment telegram?

I joined last holiday season, around January or December. I ended up finding the DSA just looking through a list of nations. I thought the holiday themed banner with the snowflakes and whatnot was really adorable and ended up joining mostly because of that – I hadn’t previously done a whole lot of regional stuff, and didn’t intend on doing much more so the cute holiday banner was unironically a significant part of why I joined.

⦁ What are some things you've come to enjoy about
the DSA most? A favorite memory?

I like seeing people’s nations and getting a feel for their lore and worldbuilding and whatnot. Something about that is always really nice. Favorite memory was probably that time I made a menu for a random restaurant in my nation, because any and all restaurants mentioned in my worldbuilding MUST have menus.

⦁ What made you decide to join the DSA
government?

Student had an interest in retiring from the MoRP position and I’d become active in that sphere and I figured I could help out with everything. Okay mostly this was due to people encouraging me; I rarely ever pursue positions of power of my own volition. I’d like to say this is me sticking true to my ideology but mostly it’s because responsibilities scare me.

Regardless, though, I am hoping to set up some interesting events and hopefully stimulate some interesting happenings. Running an event can borrow a lot from the skillset of running a tabletop RPG, and I’m hoping to apply what I’m decent at there to create fun, dynamic events for people interested in roleplay and even those just looking to have a bit of quick fun.

⦁ Who are some people whom you've come to consider
good friends in the DSA?

Most folks are quite nice, and though I’ve not been active long enough to make too many friends, but I’ve gotten along well with the Dankass Communes and we’ve done some work together developing their specialization system as well as a few events I’ve got planned tied to it.

⦁ What do you do outside of NationStates? Examples:
what your job (if employed)? Hobbies? Talents? Etc

Right now I’m heading to school in about two weeks to study biology. I also got a part-time job arranged so I’ll be doing some menial labor a couple hours a week.

When it comes to hobbies, I’m really into gardening, cooking, and reading. My favorite plant to grow is amaranth – it’s very prolific, hardy and versatile. It’s an ornamental and edible – It produces grain and has edible leaves that can be cooked like spinach. When it comes to cooking, I love tofu. I don’t eat or like meat, and tofu is a delightfully versatile source of protein! In terms of reading, my favorite author is Italo Calvino. Invisible Cities is deeply inspirational to me on many different levels.

I also quite like tabletop RPGs and play a lot of those. I’ve done a fair amount of costuming and some sewing in my spare time and really want to improve with the latter. Beyond that, there’s so many skills I want to hone – I’m really going to be trying to learn them over the next few years. In particular, I’d like to learn bookbinding, flower pressing, and advanced first aid.

⦁ What are your plans for the future in your life? What
do you hope to be or accomplish before you die? Or more
simply and less macabre, within the next 20 years?

Within the next 20 years, I’d like to find a cozy job within this hellworld if possible – In particular I’d like to get into scientific research or maybe doing some environmental work for the public sector. Maybe even something with the forest service. Of course, this is hellworld, and god knows what will go down in the next year let alone 20.

Ideally, though, I’d just want a comfy little secluded place to live that I could fill with all my weird old books and knickknacks and light with nice dim lighting. (That seems like an odd remark, but my eyes are very sensitive to light, and I’ve desperately wanted to have those fancy dimmable lights since I was like 5 years old. That’s the dream right there.) When it comes to selfish personal goals, I just really want to have a space of my own where I feel comfortable. I often feel utterly out of touch and discombobulated by my surroundings and ultimately, I guess I just want to create a space that’s not overwhelmingly pervaded by modern capitalism. I want to be able to go home and relax in a space where I’m not barraged by technology, advertisements, and branding. I’m so tired of bright noises and flashing colors and the godforsaken sounds of lawnmowers and speeding cars and I hope to get at least some place of respite from it all in the next 20 years.

When I die, I just want to know I’ve done what I can to try to make the world better. I doubt HellWorld will be replaced with something better within my lifetime, but so long as a single person is trapped in poverty or oppressed by virulent forces of bigotry, I feel it is a moral imperative for us to do what we can to alleviate, however little that is individually.

Interview conducted by: Dekks

Building your nation’s backstory and lore can be a fun and rewarding part of NationStates! Even so, it can be difficult to get started or to flesh out what lore you’ve already developed. The Worldbuilding Corner is a series of interactive articles featuring prompts to help you think about parts of your lore you may not have considered.

In today’s article, the third in the series, we’re going to be looking at something bold. Something exciting. Something utterly thrilling – Administrative divisions of territory! I apologize for any popped monocoles, spat-out tea, or fainting spells; I understand this is a truly scandalous and riveting topic. But, really – Examining regions within your nation more locally can be a very fun and rewarding process. It’s easy to fall into the trap of building a monocultural society, (Unless that’s specifically your intent!) but few societies are ever so two dimensional.

- What regions are located within your nation? Are they divided up as states or provinces? Are borders between provinces fluid and largely unspoken or strictly marked and categorized? Are there local governments, and how much power do they have?

- Try thinking about why territories are divided the way they are. In the United States of America, for example, many territories out in the west have relatively arbitrary divisions that do not take landscape into account for a variety of political reasons. Many native societies had radically different views on the regions of the U.S., considering physical geography far more than official state boundaries did. How does your nation divide territory? Are there any disputes over it? Has it changed over time?

- What languages are spoken throughout your nation? Do different regions use different languages more or less extensively? Is there an official language? What about accents and regional dialect?

- Regional art and culture is often a vibrant part of an overall nation’s culture. Are there any unique regional art forms, holidays, foods, etc? How widespread are these throughout the region and your nation?

- Are there any regional conflicts? Do any regions seek independence from the nation or otherwise have grievances?

Coming up with these answers can be a great way to expand your factbooks and familiarity with your nation. Moreover, if you have some interesting tidbits to share on today’s topic, send a telegram to United Syndicates of Sol! You could be featured in next week’s edition. Please keep any writeups to fewer than 3 paragraphs, however, but feel no such restrictions writing your factbooks!

Article by: United syndicates of sol

While I am not the Minister of Domestic Affairs anymore for this issue I bring you the featured 5 again:

Edgy boys is one of the newest nations in the DSA and has already joined the WA. While it is unknown what they'll do in the future I do see potential.

Zlatistvo is the puppet of Blyatman from The Communist Bloc amongst others, they have decided to join the DSA which I am very happy about and I hope that they will be active in the DSA for a long time.

Metropolitan island was on of the nations who cte'd from the DSA but decided to bring their nation back alive and come back, welcome back!

Music library has one of the most unique ideas, names and flags of a nation which I have ever seen, they have joined the Discord server and I think they're a great addition to the DSA.

Valenzuelia is by far the oldest nation on the list but still a new DSA nation, thanks for coming here and I hope that after the years you have already spent in NS you'll have a great stay with us!

Article by: Dekks

In the last few months, the DSA's Role Play has undergone a lot of extensive developments in depth and intricacy, which has resulted in a very strong and vibrant RP community, as good, if not better, than some dedicated role play regions. That's going to pick up further as there are a lot of cool new mechanics being worked on and sought to be implemented in the current term! Somethings in the works currently that you can look forward to relatively soon are:

- A skill specialization system. The DSA has gladly gone in the direction of sci-fi fantasy. Probably to be expected from a region that cherishes making its memes a reality so much. With such possiblites comes the necessity for this classic RPG staple. It's no fun to have your nation be a master of all trades, for anyone involved. This has been under construction for some time now and has grown with the input and suggestions of everyone who has participated in looking it over and demoing it. At the time of this publication, it'll either already be put up for entering a long beta trial, for further input and changes for a final version, or it will be soon.

- An Advancement scale. If we're going to have a system that determines what in our world you're good at, this can be used to determine how good you are at it. This can be thought of as the leveling system. This is not yet ready and will come after the skill system, though a basic skeleton does exist. It will make use of NationState's Scientific Advancement stats. It is not yet clear how it will factor in advances in magic skills, this will be open to public comment. This is currently intended to be an optional guideline, so as not to force anyone to use NS stats.

- Some common sense fluffing and godmodding rules. Godmodding is something we're all probably familiar with. It's "oh no, the nuclear war won't affect my nation because we have magical rockets and all 100 million of us will just evacuate to space in a few hours" or "I move 3 million troops half way around the world in a matter of hours" or "we use a sound cannon with a range of 9000 miles to destroy your whole army" or simply refusing to take losses (eg, "my forces all have personal force fields so we don't take damage anyway"). Fluffing is related but distinct. Fluffing means that what you're doing isn't technically disallowed or impossible, but that you ignore the ramifications of something. An example would be Troop Fluffing, which is claiming to have a giant and massive military but ignoring the economic and social ramifications of this and pretending that it has no effect on you. Or Economic Fluffing, which is spending ridiculous amounts of money on something while ignoring the ramifications or claiming to have no money at all while ignoring what such a system would be like. The DSA's RP is very flexible and allows for a lot of wacky stuff, but the above are things which ruin the enjoyment for everyone.

- The final version of revamped, streamlined, and tactical war rules. We've already been beta testing them for a while now. Certain NS stats provide a buff or debuff to your dice rolls, for example. There will also be some rules for things to consider when doing wars as a narrative rather than by the dice, to translate the system when there's no dice involved. The final version will be a more simplified and streamlined approach to war in the DSA, which will ensure balanced but challanging conflicts for all parties involved. This will probably be the last thing done in October.

- And finally, this is something we can all get started on now: Post more of our RP to the RMB! It doesn't do to have it all contained in the Discord server, new people joining the DSA will want to see examples of what we do here and the RMB is begging for more of this kind of activity, which will really help new players get involved and interested! I personally also hope to see more use of the forum for role play activity, such as for massive, global events that wouldn't fit on Discord and a documentation of summaries of all major RP events so that there's a one-stop spot for the lore of the DSA.

Article by: Dankass communes

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking for an ambassador to The Communist Bloc or TCB. If you're interested in meetin a new region and a new group of people, helping the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by writing reports (every two weeks) about your assigned region and being the face of the DSA for the region then you might be a good ambassador.

Contact Dekks either by telegram or discord if you are interested.

Announcement by: Dekks

Our 23rd interview is with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Leftist Assembly Dawtania

⦁ When did you first join NationStates? How did you
first hear about it?

I first joined Nationstates with this nation, Dawtania, last November. I believe a member of a discord server I'm in mentioned NS, and I decided to check it out. From there, I joined TLA and found the complex nature of NS an entertaining way to spend my time.

⦁ What have been some experiences you've had in
TLA and how did you end up being the Minister of Foreign Affairs there?

TLA was my first home in NS, and at the time I believe it was just another medium-sized leftist region (both the DSA and TI were larger in terms of population back then). I happened to join about a few weeks before the December general election, so my campaign for the General Assembly (the legislative body of TLA) was pretty much how I introduced myself to the community. To my pleasant surprise, I secured a seat as a legislator and was eager to deliver on my campaign promises. Not all of my proposals as a legislator were unanimously supported - in fact, I don't think I've gone a single term in the GA without stirring up some controversy. My platform has always been about change, but oftentimes, there will be at least a few people who see no reason to make that change. Nevertheless, my activity paid off, and I steadily increased my voter support in my next two bids for re-election - I am now on my third (and final) consecutive term as a legislator. Even while in the GA, however, I always thought about how I could further contribute to the region. There really isn't a wide variety of positions to choose from in TLA, especially in the executive branch, which at the current moment comprises of just three people. After two terms in the GA, I planned on taking a break from government to explore the other aspects of the game. However, I ended up deciding to run for a third term, which in hindsight was probably the better decision. Although Hecknamistan was originally appointed as Foreign Affairs Minister following the election, he unexpectedly resigned from his position as MoFA only the day after, and I was appointed to replace him, so here I am now. It's been an incredible exprience to see TLA grow so quickly in size since I first joined, and I hope to see it continue to grow as it has. Although there were a few rough moments throughout my eight-month residency in TLA, this region has a fantastic community, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

⦁ What has been your experience with the DSA up until
now, how did you come to hear of the region and what
plans do you have to keep having good relations in the
future?

I believe I joined the DSA discord server shortly after joining the TLA server, as links to allied servers were posted on the TLA server's newcomer welcome channel back then. Although I never really talked in the server, I know that the DSA is a very vibrant and inclusive community, and TLA will always value the DSA as a close ally. I foresee our two regions continuing to work together to advance our common causes in a healthy and mutually beneficial alliance.

⦁ What is your experience with the ILC and NSLeft, how
do you see both organizations go into
the future?

I have always viewed both NSLeft and the ILC as a way for its member regions to command more power in the world stage through cooperation and camaraderie, and I believe it is essential that both pacts continue with force. Already, we see discussions about expanding the scope of both organizations, and I envision this will greatly benefit each and every region involved in either pact.

⦁ What do you do outside of NationStates? Examples:
what your job (if employed)? Hobbies? Talents? etc

I'm first and foremost a student, but I also find much enjoyment in music, playing both the piano and violin. Apart from that, I do enjoy writing and biking, as well as occasionally striking up arguments on social media.

⦁ What are your plans for the future in your life? What
do you hope to be or accomplish before you die? Or more
simply and less macabre, within the next 20 years?

Honestly, I don't really know what I'll do for a living, although I have thought about writing a book before I die. As of now, I'm just going along with the motions without much thought of the future.

Interview conducted by: Dekks