Embassy - Spiritus

[Benevolent Thomas]

Welcome to the embassy of
Spiritus

[Coryo]

Yay! Give me some beer! And welcome!

[Tim Stark]

Huzzah! Thank you for your hospitality

[Coryo]

You're welcome!

[Tim Stark]

Spiritus Mafia Tournament

Nations of 10000 Islands, Spiritus is hosting an interregional Mafia Game, and everyone is invited! Murder your regionmates; embrace mob rule; win fabulous prizes!

What is Mafia, you might ask? Mafia is a game of deception. In normal Mafia, the players are divided into two groups: the Townspeople and the Mafia. The Mafia's job is to kill off all of the Townspeople without being discovered. The Townspeople’s job is to find the Mafia and hang them. If the amount of Mafia members equals half of the total population, they win, while if all the Mafia are hanged, the Townspeople win. That’s a simple, straightforward Mafia game. This game, however, will be much more than that: It will be a role madness game! In role madness games, just about everyone in the game has some bizarre role that does something or other, and it isn’t necessarily just Mafia vs. Townspeople; it could be anything! We will be keeping the exact setup a secret to make it even more exciting. For a more thorough explanation, see the rules pinned to the WFE of the game region.

What do you have to do to join this wonderful event? It’s simple! Just create a nation with a title following this style (without brackets): [name you are commonly known as] of [home region]. If you participated in the TSP Regional Games and don’t want to reuse that nation, just add a “2” or “II” to the end of it. Once you have a nation, just send a telegram to Salaxalans Mafia Man and you will be given the password to the game region, Spiritus Mafia Tournament.

What’s in it for me? What, the satisfaction of killing everyone you know isn’t enough? Fine! In addition to that warm fuzzy feeling, members of the winning faction will have a drawing with Steam games as prizes, funded by the Cabinet of Spiritus. Here’s what we have coming your way:

[*]One copy of Just Cause 2 (only for Windows)!
[*]One of three Copies of Hammerwatch!
[*]A copy of Super Hexagon for everyone else in the faction!

What’s more, even if you have been killed, you’ll still be eligible for the prizes as long as you were in the winning faction!

As you can see, we’re going to have a great tournament; I hope to see you all there! The tournament will begin a week from today on August 17th.

-Salaxalans Mafia Man

[Coryo]

Great event, Tim! I'll think about joining!

[Tim Stark]

Great to hear! We hope to see you there

[Coryo]

Thanks!

[Louisistan]

Sounds great. Any idea how long it will be going on? I'll be on vacation beginning September 6th and probably won't be online for a week then.

[Coryo]

I want to ask the same question as Louisistan.

[Tim Stark]

To quote Salaxalans he has "honestly no idea how long it will take" due to the differences between each game of Mafia. However, he does believe there is a good chance it will be done by September 6th.

I believe it begins tomorrow.

[Coryo]

Awesome!

[Louisistan]

Darn, I missed the sign-ups. Bad luck.

[Ayunli]

Hello, I am the new XKI Emissary to Spiritus.

[Tim Stark]

Apologies, had problems with my Proboards account for some reason and then forgot about it. Here's our (belated) update.

Spiritus Foreign Update: "Merry New Year" Edition


Hello, friends of Spiritus! I'm Rogamark, the new Minister of Information and Integration, and a lot of things have happened since the last Foreign Update. Following the last general election, and a few resignations, there have been a number of changes in the government. The current government theme is Halo, by the way:

The Government of Spiritus

High Prophet (President): The Salaxalans
Hierarch (Vice President): Guy

Prophet (Minister) of Cultivation (Culture): Wuufu
Apprentice Prophet (Deputy Minister) of Cultivation: Vacant

Supreme Commander (Minister) of Retribution (Defense): Denth Kasten
Fleetmaster (Deputy Minister of Defense): Vacant

Prophet of Tranquility (Foreign Affairs): Guy
Apprentice Prophet of Tranquility: Vacant

Prophet of Illumination and Conversion (Information and Integration): Rogamark
Apprentice Prophet of Conversion: Arbiter08

Prophet of Admonition (World Assembly Affairs): The Salaxalans
Vice Delegate: Shimoda
Apprentice Prophet of Admonition: Shimoda

Prophet without Portfolio: Tim

High Council (Regional Assembly)

High Counciler (Speaker): Libertarian Librarians
Counciler (Representative): Legonimis
Counciler: Rogamark
Counciler: Tim

Council of Deed and Doctrine (Supreme Court)

Minister of Deed and Doctrine (Chief Justice): Guy
Apprentice Minister (Associate Justice): Sovreignry
Apprentice Minister: Wuufu

---

Regional Assembly Update and Failure of Constitutional Reform


The Regional Assembly in some (strictly professional) action

The Regional Assembly had a somewhat rocky start, with the resignations of Red Dusk, Cormac and Toms causing two special elections. Despite that, the legislative activity remained fairly steady and the RA was able to work on some large projects, some of which - like the reform of the criminal legislation - are almost done.
Also, following a hot debate, the RA proposed a new and rewritten constitution to the citizenry. But even though the revision, which was spearheaded by Cormac, produced a more easily understandable draft with little substantive changes, it failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority at the referendum. A concurrent amendment referendum for the abolition of the office of Vice President also failed.

---

General Election and Executive Government Update


Mr. President deciding on a citizenship application

In December, Spiritus had seen one of the most hotly contested elections in a while, with the incumbent President Salaxalans and his running mate, Vice President and Chief Justice Guy successfully defending their positions against then-Speaker of the Assembly Rogamark and then-Warlord Legonimis by 10 to 8 votes. Hot campaign topics were the priority of foreign involvement and the current activity levels. It will be the last term in office for longstanding President Salaxalans, who has reached the term limit and won't be able to run again in April.

Following the resignations of former Minister of Integration Toms, Minister of Defense Tim, the retirement of Deputy Minister of Defense Cormac and merger of the Ministry of Information with the Integration portfolio, the President appointed some new faces to the Cabinet. RA Representative Rogamark was named Minister of Information and Integration, and SDF soldier Denth Kasten will serve the region as Minister of Defense. His predecessor Tim remains in the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.

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Supreme Court Update, Govindia Keeps Court Busy, or At Least Tries


A Supreme Court Justice carefully listening to an attorney

Due to Associate Justice Legonimis not seeking reappointment, the President appointed experienced member and former RA Representative of seven terms Sovreignry to replace him. The appointment was unanimously confirmed by the RA.

The Supreme Court has seen some more action in the recent past, with two advisory opinions sought. Also, notorious former member Govindia filed a civil lawsuit, trying to contest an administrative ban imposed by Tim in his capacity as regional founder. After large portions of the lawsuit were dismissed for untenability by Chief Justice Guy, and one attempt at refiling, the lawsuit is on hold for the time being. Plaintiff Govindia, although willing to pursue a third attempt, seems to be unable to find new legal representation, following his first two attorneys getting off the case.

---

SDF Troops Involved All Over NS


SDF soldiers, known throughout NS for their professionalism and discipline

The Spiritus Defense Force, always ready to defend those who can't defend themselves, saw a considerable upturn in activity and membership in the recent past - largely thanks to then-Deputy Minister of Defense Cormac. SDF soldiers were deployed to a number of defense, detag and liberation missions, most notably the successful liberation of Anne Frank.

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President Awards Exaltation of Spiritus to Three Recipients


The proud recipients

The Exaltation of Spiritus, one of the highest honors Spiritus can bestow upon their best of the best, was awarded by President Salaxalans to three of the finest members of the Spiritan community. Cormac received it both as a lifetime achievement award and as a thank you for his recent excellent work with the constitutional revision and the SDF. Also honored was Speaker of the Assembly Libertarian Librarians, a long-term RA Representative and exceptional legislator. And former Minister of Integration and RA Representative Toms was exalted for his "unswerving dedication" and his loyalty and competence over a long period of time.

---

Rogamark's Remarks - The Thing About Parties

[small]Since former Minister of Information Horse no longer serves in that capacity, there will be no more "Horsey’s Thing of the Month" in the Foreign Dispatches. Instead, in "Rogamark's Remarks", I'm going to comment on whatever crosses my mind, and it may be NS-related or not.

Rogamark's Remarks are my personal comments, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Spiritan Government or Cabinet, nor are they my official ministerial opinions.[/small]

Before the last general election, Spiritus saw the formation of a new political party, the Sinister Party. Contrary to popular belief, I did not found it, that honor belongs to Legonimis; I merely serve as their General Secretary and lead politician. Shortly after, Tim also founded a new party, named "God's Will". Both parties quickly satisfied the minimum member requirement under Spiritan law, and Sinister even ran on a "Sinister ticket" in the presidential election, specifically referring to the party platform.

While the two new parties formed, there was some debate as to the necessity and purpose of political parties in NS regions. A number of members seem to think political parties serve no purpose in NS, and the fact that most Spiritan parties have stayed quite silent in the past seems to back that opinion. So, why do they exist, and are able to maintain a minimum number of members, then?

If one wishes to found or join a NS political party, the greatest disservice one can do to it is to confuse it with a RL political party. That misconception is woefully widespread among NS players. In RL, most people aren't politicians, and besides voting in elections, they can only hope to influence top-level politics by joining a party. There is strength in numbers, after all. However, no NS region has a population large enough to necessitate that, and NS populations do not tend to split into a politically active minority, and a majority that may or may not vote in elections.

In any given NS region, it is reasonable to assume that the limited population does generally take an interest in politics, or they wouldn't be playing NS. Also, since everybody is a politician, more or less, they don't need the backup and infrastructure a party can provide.

But that view (that I held myself for years) is too narrow. True, Sinister does not have huge political success (yet), or a sizable basis. But we somehow managed to recruit almost all LGBT members of the region, and pride ourselves on it. Also, our channel has seen a number of great talks between Lego, the wonderful Johanna, and me. Try to see your party the same way you should see your entire region - as a social group with some political aspects instead of the other way around, and you will be surprised how much fun it can be.

---

Thanks for reading the Spiritus Foreign Update!
Authored by Minister Rogamark
Edited by President Salaxalans

[Markanite]

Thank you for the update Tim Stark!

[Tim Stark]

The Elemental Republic of Spiritus

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Information

Due to the dissolution of the Judicial District of Lazarus and due to the ejection of the former Chairman and other influential members by Stujenske, current Chairman of the People's Republic of Lazarus, both of which we consider a heinous violation of the rights of Lazarenes, the Elemental Republic of Spiritus hereby suspends diplomatic activities between the two regions until such time that the Judicial District is restored and the extrajudicial ejection of the former Chairman is reversed.

Until these deplorable actions are undone, our ambassador is recalled and there is to be no further official communication between our regions. Should Chairman Stujenske or another power within Lazarus restore the Judicial District and unban the former Chairman, the people and government of Spiritus will gladly reconsider this move and reestablish good and proper relations with our neighbor.


Rogamark
President of Spiritus

[Tim Stark]

Spiritus Foreign Update: Gleam Street Edition


Hello, friends of Spiritus! Now this is the first update in our attempt to put one out every two months. We've been busy with general elections so let me first introduce the first government of Spiritus under Roganimis. As an homage to Sir Terry (as conceived by Vice President Legonimis), our new theme is Discworld:

The Government of Spiritus

The City of Ankh-Morpork (Executive Branch)

The Patrician (President): Rogamark
The Librarian (Vice President): Legonimis

The Crackpot Dreamer of the Alchemists' Guild (Culture): Wuufu
The Second Crackpot Dreamer (Deputy Minister) of the Alchemists' Guild: Feirmont

The Constable of the City Watch (Defense): Denth Kasten
The Deputy Constable of the City Watch: Vacant

The Master of the Assassin's Guild (Foreign Affairs and Information): Rogamark
The Deputy Master of the Assassin's Guild: Guy

The Postal Inspector of the Post Office (Integration): Vacant
The Deputy Postal Inspector of the Post Office: Vacant

The Albatross of the Bird Garden (World Assembly Affairs/Delegacy): The Salaxalans
The Other Albatross of the Bird Garden: Shimoda

Secretary of the Clockmakers' Guild (Ministry Without Portfolio): Tim

Guildmaster of Merchants and Traders (Regional Security Advisor): Lord Ravenclaw

Unseen University (Regional Assembly)

Archchancellor (Speaker): Cam
Wizzard (Representative): Legonimis
Wizzard: Salaxalans
Wizard: Jonielle
Wizard: Red Dusk

The Astronomers of Krull (Supreme Court)

Arch-Astronomer (Chief Justice): Guy
Astrozoologist (Associate Justice): Sovreignry
Chelonaut (Associate Justice): Wuufu

---

Regional Assembly Update


The Regional Assembly intensely discussing the finer points of a controversial draft

For the second term in a row, the Regional Assembly saw two resignations, requiring special elections to fill the empty seats. In reaction, legislation was passed to reduce the nomination and voting periods for special elections; also, several proposals were discussed to prevent resignees from bouncing right back into public office. These highly controversial proposals didn't find a sufficient majority and did not result in legislation. Following a court ruling regarding the SDF's reporting requirements, the Constitution was amended to ease the burden on the military while still allowing the general public oversight regarding SDF activities.

The most noteworthy product of the prior RA session was the ratification of the treaty between Spiritus and The South Pacific (known as the Lampshade Accords), the first treaty ever to be passed by the RA. There was an attempt to overturn a presidential citizenship decision (the RA reserves the power to intervene if they feel the President’s decision neglects to protect regional interests and security); however, the RA refused to make citizenship decisions a matter of popularity and ultimately denied the motion. Representative Cormac initiated the first Executive Accountability Act hearing, in which Minister of Defense Dawsinian was questioned by the RA regarding suspicions of unsanctioned military activity. Despite earlier concerns, the hearing was conducted in a cooperative and constructive atmosphere and went well; the activities in question turned out to be independent actions of a single SDF soldier and the issue was quickly resolved.

The recent general elections brought moderate but notable change to the RA. Representatives Red Dusk and Legonimis were reelected, as well as Representative Jonielle (who had won her seat in the latest special election).They are joined by former President Salaxalans and highly-experienced-but-new-to-Spiritan-politics Cam. The latter was then elected as Speaker of the Assembly after former Speaker Legonimis declined to run for a second time.

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General Election and Executive Government Update


The newly elected President trying to reach a Minister who doesn't answer his phone

The recent general election also resulted in changes in the executive government. Longstanding President Salaxalans and Vice President Guy were unable to stand due to term limits. Minister Rogamark and then-Speaker of the Assembly Legonimis, who had narrowly lost their previous bid for the Presidency by two votes, ran unopposed and, unsurprisingly, won. While there were almost no changes in the Cabinet, Roganimis decided to split the presidential workload, with Vice President Legonimis overseeing the departments of Culture and Immigration and President Rogamark managing the more gameplay-oriented areas like Foreign Affairs and Defense.

To our knowledge, sharing presidential responsibilities like this has never been tried in Spiritus, but we're confident it will not only work, but lead to a more efficient and less bureaucratic government. We are especially grateful that Salaxalans has agreed to stay on as Delegate and WA Minister. The Elemental Republic is also glad to welcome to the cabinet Lord Ravenclaw, well-known throughout NS, in the newly-created position of Regional Security Advisor.

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Spiritus and TSP Sign Treaty, Joint Festival to Celebrate


Spiritan lampshades resting after a particular raucous celebratory round

Following an initiative by Salaxalans and Lord Ravenclaw, Spiritus and The South Pacific entered into treaty negotiations in early March. The Lampshade Accords, mainly negotiated by then-FA Ministers Feirmont and Rogamark (with amendments from both region's legislatures) were then unanimously ratified by the RA a few weeks later. The treaty, containing the usual clauses on cultural exchange and mutual defense (and a few not-so-standard clauses on the interregional trade of lampshades and ducks), was then signed by both regions’ Heads of State and FA Ministers during a joint Spiritus-TSP festival.

In celebration of the ratification of the treaty, TSP hosted the House of Lampshades festival (lead by Feirmont and assisted by Wuufu), which many citizens of Spiritus attended. During the festival, games were played and fun was had, notably including a competition for writing conspiracies, a daily caption contest, and a Clue game hosted by Wuufu (unlike a standard round of Clue, it was more about tracking down who killed Lampshade, a dog, by analysing where people were and at what time).

ChurchofSatan (or The Freedom Factory, as he goes by in the Spiritus forums) won the conspiracy competition; Qwert, ProfessorHenn, TAC, Bonaugure and The Solar System Scope each won the daily caption contests. In Clue, the town successfully deduced that Escade was the person who killed the dog, leading to a town victory.

Spiritus and its citizens enjoyed themselves immensely and look forward to many more celebrations of the Spiritus-TSP relationship!

---

Spies Everywhere, and Trouble in Lazarus


The Regional Security Advisor helping a spy to find the way to the border

Earlier this month, Spiritus was troubled by a minor espionage incident. New citizen and SDF soldier Emma, who was allowed into both the region and the military despite presenting a doubtful story in the course of her citizenship application, turned out to be a spy from Ainur. After confessing, Emma resigned her citizenship and was immediately declared persona non grata by then-President Salaxalans. Since the Elemental Republic of Spiritus cares little for friends who traipse through our apiary (or don’t mind their own beeswax, as a normal person might say), we have since ended diplomatic relations with Ainur. Diplomatic relations require a certain level of mutual trust, a trust which Ainur damaged beyond repair.

This incident revealed a major oversight during the overhaul of our criminal laws last term: failure to include espionage as an actual crime. This gap was temporarily filled by Rogamark's Presidential Statement 026 (Regarding Crimes against the Elemental Republic), which defines the criminal offenses of Espionage, Subversion and Citizenship Fraud. It remains to be seen whether the Regional Assembly is content with these changes or if they wish to make different amendments to the Criminal Code.

Also, Spiritus joined several other regions in ending diplomatic relations with Lazarus on the orders of President Rogamark in response to the Chairman Stujenske’s recent actions, which we consider to be oppressive and outright destructive. We hope that normalcy in Lazarus can be restored by peaceful means, and the Elemental Republic of Spiritus, standing by its values of self-determination and freedom from oppression, is ready to assist our Lazarene friends.

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The Patrician’s Views - Just A Game?

[small]Rogamark's Remarks (or The Patrician’s Views under our Discworld theme) are my personal comments, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Spiritan Government or Cabinet, nor are they my official presidential or ministerial opinions.[/small]

Friends of Spiritus,

Everybody who has spent more than a few weeks actively engaged in a NationStates region knows the old jingle: "It's just a game, I don't know why people get all that serious about it," often spoken by those people that are most serious about it. The inevitable response is, of course, "This is a political game; if you don't like that, go play a Halo!". If I had a stamp for every time I have heard this exchange, Spiritus' recruitment needs would be covered for the next year or so. I was never quite sure which side of the argument I prefer; as it goes, both sides have a point.

Yes, NS is political, and yes, NS is a game. You could say "we're just playing politicians in an arbitrarily set government system" and that's the end of it. The only problem, however, is that that’s nowhere near the end of it. All successful regions, some more than other, are driven by a community: friendly people interacting on matters both internal and external to NS. While NS is usually the most prominent and most important part of it, a regional community can operate without the NS element; however, it is nearly impossible for an NS region to operate without the community element.

If you are elected or appointed to an office within a NS region, you're not just assigned a role to play. You're taking responsibility, a position of trust within a community. Unlike a game-only position where you save and quit when you're tired of it for now, it's sort of an important thing. Only a handful of people may care about specific actions you take while in office, but the members of the community overall care if you abandon them without good cause. Several NS communities have been effectively ruined by careless or unmotivated officials.

Now, where are the limits? It is a generally agreed among NSers that RL takes precedence over NS. No NS position, however important, overrides that. I intensely dislike it when people properly declare a leave of absence, taking care that at least their most important duties will be handled by someone else in the interval, but then still are yelled at for ‘not taking their NS role seriously’. NS is intended to be fun, not forced labor.

Where does that leave us? I can't say. However, I think NS would be more fun if people were to remember two things: 1) If you are holding an office in a NS region, you are not only playing a game; a community has entrusted you with responsibility and its members deserve better than you shrugging and saying that it's just a game. Sometimes it is not. 2) Tell people when you're away! Except for emergency situations, you are expected to announce LoA's. It takes thirty seconds; "I forgot" is not an excuse. NS may be a game, but the communities and friendships are as real as the people sitting at the computer.

Having said that, if somebody is caught up in RL and not as active as you'd wish them to be (or even is absent for a couple of days), pause and consider before you start yelling and name-calling: it may really be an emergency. I recall that once somebody had to take a few days off because their aunt had unexpectedly passed away. The person forgot to properly announce the absence; while they were away, people started calling them everything from "unreliable" to "traitor" for not posting a Foreign Update in a timely manner. Sadly, the person understandably quit NS after returning and reading all that. Remember that sometimes it really is just a game.

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Thanks for reading the Spiritus Foreign Update!
Authored by President Rogamark and Minister Wuufu
Edited by Vice President Legonimis

[Tim Stark]

Spiritus Foreign Update: Medals, Medals Everywhere Edition


Hello, friends of Spiritus! While our government theme remains Discworld, important changes were made over the last eight weeks, one such being that Spiritus has a new forum URL. We can now be found under
spiritus.wtf
Please note that this new URL is just referring to our good old Zetaboards forum, you don't have to update any existing links.

Spiritus Government Listing

The City of Ankh-Morpork (Executive Branch)

The Patrician (President): Rogamark
The Librarian (Vice President): Legonimis

The Crackpot Dreamer (Minister) of the Alchemists' Guild (Culture): Wuufu
The Second Crackpot Dreamer (Deputy Minister) of the Alchemists' Guild: Feirmont

The Constable of the City Watch (Defense): Sovreignry
The Deputy Constable (Deputy Minister) of the City Watch: Vacant

The Master of the Assassin's Guild (Foreign Affairs and Information): Rogamark
The Deputy Master (Deputy Minister) of the Assassin's Guild: Guy

The Postal Inspector (Minister) of the Post Office (Integration): Tim
The Deputy Postal Inspector (Deputy Minister) of the Post Office: RedDusk
The Deputy Postal Inspector (Deputy Minister) of the Post Office: Toms

The Albatross (Minister/WAD) of the Bird Garden(World Assembly Affairs): The Salaxalans
Vice Delegate: Shimoda
The Other Albatross (Deputy Minister) of the Bird Garden: Shimoda

Guildmaster of Merchants and Traders (Regional Security Advisor): Lord Ravenclaw

Unseen University (Regional Assembly)

Archchancellor (Speaker): Salaxalans
Wizard (Representative): Feirmont
Wizard: Jonielle
Wizard: Libertarian Librarians
Wizard: Blitze

The Astronomers of Krull (Supreme Court)

Arch-Astronomer (Chief Justice): Guy
Astrozoologist (Associate Justice): Sovreignry
Chelonaut (Associate Justice): Wuufu

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Regional Assembly and Election Update


An unexpectedly large number of RA Representatives went on summer vacation early this year

Thankfully, the Regional Assembly saw no resignations during the last term. A recall referendum was brought against then-Speaker Cam, who had been forced into an unexpectedly long leave of absence. The referendum failed when Cam returned while voting was already in progress. He did not seek relection for another RA term.

Due to his prolonged absence, Cam was replaced as Speaker by former President Salaxalans, who later successfully sought reelection both to the RA and the Speaker's chair; Representative Jonielle was reelected as well. Former Speaker Libertarian Librarians, who had missed an RA seat in the election before, returned with a successful bid. New to the RA are Feirmont (who is also our Deputy Minister of Culture) and Blitze, a new citizen who is holding an elected NS office for the very first time.

Congratulations to all RA Representatives, and good luck for the term.

The previous RA session started with a surprise: a recall petition against then-Minister of Defense Dawsinian, brought by a citizen and adopted by the RA for consideration. However, It was never voted on as the Minister chose to resign.

After that dramatic start, the rest of the term was considerably slower than usual. The RA voted to fully incorporate an amendment into the Criminal Code that was proposed by President Rogamark in Presidential Statement 026. This Fourth Code of Criminal Act Amendment Act established the offenses of espionage, citizenship fraud, and subversion, which now carry high penalties up to an indefinite ban. The relevant Presidential Statement was made necessary by the espionage activities against Spiritus there were reported on in the last Foreign Update.

Further, the RA unsuccessfully tried to further amend the military reporting requirements. Under Spiritan law, the activities of the Spiritus Defense Force must be reported to the general public to allow for oversight whether the SDF fulfills its duties within conformity with the constitutionally imposed regulations. After the previous RA expanded the time frame to file activity reports from "immediately" to "within one month", it was attempted to cut it down to two weeks; however, the proposal failed to reach the necessary 2/3 supermajority in the referendum.

Guy was reconfirmed as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for another term upon nomination by the President. The RA also tried to amend a Spiritan curiosity, the Demonym Act (which defines "Spiritan" as the official demonym), but failed to make "Spiritusianite" the new demonym. A subsequent proposal to make "cheese" the official demonym failed even more clearly. Yes, we have fun in Spiritus.

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Executive Government Update


Cabinet meeting as usual

The last eight weeks saw a few changes in the Cabinet.

Tim, formerly Minister without Portfolio, was assigned to Integration, where he is assisted by two deputies: Red Dusk, who has adeptly written some introductory guides for new SDF soldiers and has been notably helpful for new citizens, and Toms, a former Minister of Integration, who has returned to Spiritan politics after several months of absence.

President Rogamark is happy to have such a fantastic and dedicated Integration team, whose diligent work has undoubtedly contributed to the recent rise in membership numbers.

After Minister Dawsinian's resignation, the government was very pleased to welcome Sovreignry to the Cabinet as the new Minister of Defense. As he is a highly experienced and accomplished defender, we could not have hoped for a more suitable candidate. He has no deputy at the moment but is assisted by the two SDF Generals, Wuufu and Tim, and by a president with a penchant for military micromanagement.

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Spiritus and Taijitu Hold Joint Festival while Treaty Negotiations are Ongoing


Spiritans and Taijituans gathering for a cup of tea during the festival

Spiritus was pleased to host citizens of Taijitu for games and fun during the Tea with Taijitu festival, organized by Vice President Legonimis with the help of Minister of Culture Wuufu and Deputy Minister Feirmont.

Plans for an epic Grooveshark were disrupted when Grooveshark was taken down. Instead, Wuufu hosted a Twitch stream in which he played Democracy 3, Spirricraft (the Spiritus Minecraft server), Kerbal Space Program, and more. His efforts and dedication are greatly appreciated.

Of the numerous games played, Wuufu won Fantasy Dice Battles, which available on Yucata. Feirmont and Johanna, the Assassins, won the Discworld themed Mafia game (moderated by Salaxalans). Legonimis won the WarLight tournament (overseen by Feirmont). The game of Carcassonne: Hunters & Gatherers, also on Yucata, is still ongoing. There were no entries in the writing contest, though there had been much initial interest; Diplomacy also saw too few people sign up to play an effective game.

Meanwhile, the President revealed in his midterm address an effort to enter into a treaty with Taijitu. Deputy Minister Guy, who was negotiating for Spiritus, presented a promising draft to the Cabinet, which is now being considered for ratification by both region's legislatures. The government thanks Guy for his professional efforts, which leave nothing to be desired, and hopes the treaty can be ratified without problems.

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New Awards and Recipients


A SDF officer instructing a junior member

Spiritus, like every successful region, lives from the effort and dedication of their members. However, until recently, there was only one award available to formally recognize the people who make Spiritus the successful region it is - the Exaltation of Spiritus. To allow for a more differentiated recognition and to increase the value of the Exaltation as our highest award, President Rogamark introduced two new awards: the Service to Spiritus Medal and the Green Heart Award, the latter specifically designated for contributions to our culture and community.

The first Service to Spiritus Medals (StSM) were awarded to Speaker of the RA Salaxalans, for outstanding service during his three terms as President, and to SDF General Wuufu, for his flawless leadership of the SDF during the Lazarus campaign. Another StSM was awarded to Deputy Minister Red Dusk, for his exceptional contributions to the SDF. A Green Heart Award was given to Deputy Minister Feirmont for his service to Spiritan culture on the recommendation of Vice President Legonimis. Spiritus thanks all recipients for their fantastic work.

President Rogamark also awarded the Exaltation of Spiritus to Tim, for his exceptional and dedicated work since the foundation of Spiritus. Tim had served as the first President, RA Representative of five terms, in three different Cabinet portfolios, and has contributed to every department in Spiritus. The region thanks Tim, who is currently serving as Minister of Integration and SDF General, for everything he has done.

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News From The Front and SDF News

This week, the first issue of News From The Front, a SDF General Staff Publication authored by General (or Vexillarius, under the new theme) Tim Stark was released. I'm afraid I lack the English skills to find adequate superlatives to do this publication justice. Everybody is strongly encouraged to read it for themselves as it contains information on recent SDF activities.

Did I say "new theme"? Yes, the SDF changed from its long-used Dune theme to a Roman theme ingeniously devised by Vice President Legonimis, with ranks based on the various standard-bearers of the Roman legion. This came with a general change to the rank structure, re-expanding it to incorporate more officer ranks. The prior, more condensed structure was made necessary by a shortage of active SDF soldiers; thankfully, this is no longer necessary.

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The Patrician’s Views

No Rogamark's Remarks this time. Seriously, go read News From The Front.

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Thanks for reading the Spiritus Foreign Update!
Authored by President Rogamark, Vice President Legonimis and RA Representative Blitze
Edited by Vice President Legonimis and Speaker/WAD Salaxalans

[Tim Stark]

[align=center]

Spiritus Foreign Update: Deck the Halls with Bits of Zombie



From jolly old VP Legonimis:

As 2015 comes to an end and NS settles down for a long winter's nap, Spiritus issues this Foreign Update while wishing everyone a festive December-January Holiday of their choice and a Happy New Year!

Spiritus Government Listing

Executive Branch

High Elder (President): Rogamark
Elder (Vice President): Legonimis

The Sentinel (Minister) of Morale (Culture): Feirmont
The Knight (Deputy Minister) of Morale: Wuufu

The Sentinel of the Shield (Defense): Sovreignry
The Knight (Deputy Minister) of the Shield: Blitze

The Sentinel of Outreach (Foreign Affairs and Information): Rogamark
The Knight (Deputy Minister) of Outreach: Blitze

The Sentinel (Minister) of Enculturation (Integration): Tim
The Knight (Deputy Minister) of Enculturation: Red Dusk
The Knight (Deputy Minister) of Enculturation: vacant

The Sentinel (Minister/WAD) of the Quill (World Assembly Affairs): The Salaxalans
Vice Delegate/The Knight (Deputy Minister) of the Quill: Wuufu

The Operations Officer (Regional Security Advisor): Lord Ravenclaw

---

Regional Assembly

Star Paladin (Speaker): Blitze
Paladin (Representative): greeter
Paladin: Legonimis
Paladin: Toms

---

Supreme Court

Head Scribe (Chief Justice): Wuufu
Scribe (Associate Justice): Sovreignry
Scribe (Associate Justice): Libertarian Librarians[/align]

---

Regional Assembly and Election Update


Speaker candidates trying to resolve the gridlock in a more civil-than-usual manner

The Regional Assembly unfortunately had two members resign from office during the previous term, both of which were the current Speaker at the time of their respective departures. First Speaker Feirmont, then Speaker RedDusk resigned; to fill their place, current Vice-President and former Speaker Legonimis was elected in the first special election; a relatively new member to the forum, greeter [sic], was elected in the second.

Following those resignations, three-term Representative Blitze was elected Speaker.

The RA considered some new legislation and reconsidered former bills as well. The Regional Assembly was given the ability to abolish an unfilled Regional Assembly seat, should one remain unfilled after an election. The Regional Assembly also made it easier to correct grammatical and language mistakes in already passed legislation; it is now unnecessary to draft an entirely new amendment for that purpose. The Regional Assembly then passed legislation defining the recall process in cases of lengthy or undeclared leaves of absence.

Also on the agenda were two appointment confirmations. First, Chief Justice Wuufu was reconfirmed for that position. Libertarian Librarians was appointed to the Archivist of the Library of Law, a position used by the region to add consistency to our Library of Law. Unfortunately, he resigned at the end of the term. Speaker Blitze declined to make another appointment.

---

[align=center]Elections


Freedom of expression is of paramount concern to Spiritans, especially during election season[/align]

Elections brought some new faces to government, though all incumbents who stood for reelection returned to office.

Deputy Minister of Integration Red Dusk and Minister of Culture Feirmont challenged incumbents Rogamark and Legonimis for the Hexagonal Office. The Redmont ticket would eventually end up losing the election, as the Roganimis retained their hold on the Executive government with 75% of the votes. This will be their third and last term, as they have now reached the term limit and will ineligible to run in the April elections.

The Regional Assembly saw six candidates facing off for four seats. Blitze, Legonimis and greeter were all attempting to be re-elected, while former Speaker Toms, former Regional Assembly Representative Arbiter08, and former President and Speaker Salaxalans were seeking return to the RA. Blitze, Legonimis, and greeter all retained their seats and were joined by Toms, who immediately challenged Blitze for the Speakership. After a brief stalemate, Blitze was again appointed Speaker, having made concessions and promises regarding improvements to the Library of Law and the Archivist position.

---

[align=center]Executive Government and SDF Update


SDF soldiers listening attentively to the new Deputy Minister of Defense's inaugural speech[/align]
It wouldn't be Spiritus without yet another cabinet reshuffle.

Blitze was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Minister of Defense after Guy and RedDusk had tendered resignations for the respective positions.

Wuufu and Feirmont swapped jobs in the Ministry of Culture to allow Wuufu to also take over the position of Deputy Minister of World Affairs from long term DWMA and now former Vice-Delegate Shimoda



The Spiritus Defense Force completed last term one of its greatest achievements: the elimination of all old TBR tags. In collaboration with the Ravania from the UDL, Storm and Blitze spearheaded the task. So great a victory will inevitably boost morale as well.

Our military leaders would personally like to thank every SDF member who participated in the TBR detagging campaign: your valiant efforts to further the cause of defenderism are commendable. The SDF has a reputation as a prominent defender force; campaigns such as this do service to it.

Special thanks are addressed to Storm; her tireless efforts set a new SDF detag record.

Spiritus would also like to thank all other defenders who helped with the detagging campaign; we are certain that defenderdom will collaborate further on such noble projects.

---

[align=center]Supreme Court


Another short supplementary brief by the defense[/align]

Spiritus' policy of zombie non-extermination with with a bit of a controversy in the most recent Halloween Z-Day apocalypse. A nation was ejected after being warned mulitiple times not to execute the zombies, as Spiritus maintain a strict pro-cure policy. However, the nation belonged to a full citizen, who filed suit, alleging that the temporary ejection was a violation of his constitutional right to manage his nation as he chooses.

Delegate Salaxalans, the perennial Z-Day czar, was identified as the defendant in the case and was represented by Guy and Rogamark. The government's position was that the Z-Day event is a special event and not part of business as usual.

The Supreme Court has initially found in favor of the plaintiff, though the defense is mounting an appeal.

So contentious was this case that the RA attempted a remedy via a constitutional amendment. The amendment failed to find adequate support among the citizenry, essentially failing by one vote. Opponents felt the amendment was premature and/or potentially unnecessary.

---

[align=center]Zombie Apocalypse[/align]

Spiritus once again participated actively in the Zombie Apocalypse. Spiritus did quite well in this event, with extra special thanks to RedDusk and Salaxalans, who sacrificed time and sleep to coordinate and maintain the Spiritus campaign for the cure. Their efforts paid off, as Spiritus finished 11th in Nationstates for most survivors without infected and 17th for most survivors. The diligent efforts of participating members of the region are to be applauded.

---

[align=center]Words from the High Elder [/align]
[small]Rogamark's Remarks (or Words from the High Elder under our Brotherhood of Steel theme) are my personal comments, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Spiritan Government or Cabinet, nor are they my official presidential or ministerial opinions.[/small]

Friends of Spiritus,

lately I was reminded of a discussion from years ago, in the days of the (thankfully) ill-fated NationStates2. It was about whether or not defenderism is dead, whether or not we've entered a new era, the Post-Defender Age. This was obviously not the case. However, I was - and still am - intrigued by how often this claim came up over the years. Rarely has an ideological alignment in a game been talked down by its own followers with such regularity. But we're still here. Why?

Unlike in most other games, ideologies in NS are not just set arbitrarily to pit players against each other, nor are they modeled after RL ideologies. For as long as there will be people seeking to govern their own regions, there will be people trying to destroy it just because. And for as long as there will be people doing that, there will be people trying to stop them.

The right to found and govern your own region, self-determination, has always been the cornerstone of Defender ideology. It is the cornerstone of our Defender heritage. The discussion I remember must have taken place at least six years ago, but to this day, defenders still believe in the inherent right of each and every region to determine its own fate without outside interference. Nothing has changed.

Of course, NS is a very diverse game, offering a multitude of ways how to play it. It is perfectly normal that one way that's resonable and fun to one player, will at the same time bore, mystify, or even annoy the other. Let them. It's part of the game. But what's not to be part of the game is destroying other people's regions just because you can - only to then have the temerity to claim 'that's what makes the game interesting for them'. No, it is not, it's what makes them lose interest in the game.

Defenderism is deeply rooted in the idea of regional self-determination, which in turn stems from the very idea of the game itself. It would only die if there were no longer any people running their own regions (which would mean NS itself is dead), or no longer any raiders - likely story. That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep up our efforts to recruit people, to strengthen our militaries and to regularly affirm our commitment. The ability to help those who can't help themselves doesn't maintain itself. But if we were to pick background music for defenderism - considering the attitude of many defenders, we'd likely end up with a dirge. It would have been the wrong choice years ago, and it would be the wrong choice today. Much to raiderdom's chagrin.

Let's keep it that way. And do something about our attitude.

---

[/hr]
Thanks for reading the Spiritus Foreign Update!
Authored by Deputy Minister Blitze and President Rogamark
Edited by Vice President Legonimis

[Paffnia]

Thanks for the update, Tim Stark!

[blitze]

The Elemental Republic of Spiritus

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Information

As is its duty under the Lampshade Accords, the government of Spiritus formally denounces the ongoing situation in The South Pacific.

Extralegal seizure of power on the part of certain actors within The South Pacific in defiance of established protocol and recent rulings is unacceptable.

The Elemental Republic of Spiritus urges those actors to restore the Coalition of The South Pacific and resume the normal operations of the regional government.

If the situation is not resolved with due haste, the government of Spiritus will rule that The South Pacific has abrogated its responsibilities under the aforementioned Lampshade Accords.

We invite other allies of democracy to likewise decry these disruptive activities.



Rogamark
President of Spiritus


Legonimis
Vice President of Spiritus

[Paffnia]

Thanks for the notice, blitze--we're in like discussions now.

[Tangaroan Islands]

Spiritus Foreign Update: The Rise of the Potatoes

Hello, friends of Spiritus! Over the last two months, Spiritus has seen some dramatic changes. These changes can all be found in this issue of the Foreign Update! And don't worry about the potatoes, they don't bite.

Spiritus Government Listing

Jedi Order (Executive Branch)

Grand Master of the Spiritan Order (President): Blitze
Eminent Master of the Spiritan Order (Vice President): Wuufu

Jedi Master (Minister) of Holocrons (Culture): Wuufu
Jedi Knight (Deputy Minister) of Holocrons (Culture): Blitze

Jedi Master (Minister) of Aggressive Negotiations (Defense): Sovreignry
Jedi Knight (Deputy Minister) of Aggressive Negotiations (Defense): Tangaroa

Jedi Master (Minister) of Peacekeeping (Foreign Affairs and Information): Blitze
Jedi Knight (Deputy Minister) of Peacekeeping (Foreign Affairs and Information): Dawsinian

Jedi Master (Minister) of Initiation (Integration): Blitze
Jedi Knight (Deputy Minister) of Initiation (Integration): Phonexia
Jedi Knight (Deputy Minister) of Initiation (Integration): vacant

Jedi Master (Minister) of Galactic Republic Affairs (World Assembly Affairs): The Salaxalans
Jedi Knight (Deputy Minister) of Galactic Republic Affairs (World Assembly Affairs): vacant

Jedi Shadow (Executive Advisor on Regional Security): Rogamark

Galactic Senate (Regional Assembly)

Supreme Chancellor (Speaker): Toms
Senator (Representative): Tangaroa
Senator: Phonexia
Senator: Tim
Senator: Floompland

Jedi Investigations (Supreme Court)

Chief Jedi Investigator (Chief Justice): Rogamark
Jedi Investigator (Justice): Sovreignry
Jedi Investigator (Justice): Guy

---

Election update


A fight to the death between the two Presidential candidates for the Presidency

In their last elections, Spiritus bestowed upon the region elections for all positions, as occurs every four months. President Rogamark had been lodged in the Presidency for long enough that his term limit came into effect. Two tickets emerged from the dust to challenge for the right to hold the Executive office: one was the ticket of former Speaker Blitze and former President Wuufu, running for President and Vice President respectively, while the other ticket was former Speaker RedDusk running for President, accompanied by Tangaroa for Vice President.

The two tickets promised various things. RedDusk/Tangaroa promised to breathe back life into the region by getting more people involved, while Blitzfu promised to help get new people into the region, while providing some ideas on how to increase numbers within the SDF. In the end, Blitzfu pulled out the victory.

In the Regional Assembly elections, seven people competed for office. Four of the five previous members of the Regional Assembly seeked re-election. The members seeking re-election were Speaker Toms, Tangaroa, Phonexia, and finally at the time, Vice President Legonimis. Three other faces appeared from the woodwork to challenge for a spot in the five open seats for re-election. The founder Tim, Minister of Foreign Affairs Blitze, and a newcomer Floompland all ran for election. At the end of the tallying, the Regional Assembly saw all members seeking re-election, except Legonimis, be re-elected. Tim and Floompland, who had not served in the Regional Assembly in the last term, were also elected to serve in office.

In the final job up for election, it saw a battle of Legonimis running for re-election for the Warlord of Hobo Squids. Guy challenged Legonimis, however, in the end, Legonimis prevailed in his bid for re-election, as squids turned out in massive numbers for a final push to give Legonimis the victory.

---

Regional Assembly Update


Regional Assembly members discussing topics diplomatically

Unfortunately, the Regional Assembly had to bear witness to a resignation during the last term. With a little more than 3 weeks left in the term, Vice-President Legonimis resigned. In his stead, Tangaroa was elected to the Regional Assembly, as he was the only person to run in the special election.

To begin last term, the Regional Assembly elected Toms as Speaker. The Regional Assembly also had the honor of electing a Deputy Speaker for the first time ever. This Deputy Speaker would take over for the Speaker if the Speaker were to go missing. To this position, the Regional Assembly elected RedDusk.

In the last term of the Regional Assembly, the legislature passed a fair number of pieces of legislation. It began with a proposal to give a Commendation Award to Speaker Toms for his outstanding contributions to Culture. The Commendation Award is awarded to any recipient that the Regional Assembly of Spiritus feels is deserving of the award for specific reasons. The only Spiritan, up to that point, who had been awarded the Commendation, was Wuufu. After a short discussion, the Regional Assembly voted to give Speaker Toms the commendation award.

Another smaller Constitutional Act that was passed during the term was to make it so that a Guardian of Spiritus could legally become Election Commissioner when the Spirit was not around, so that they could administer the election without having the Spirit appoint them beforehand. Furthermore, there was an attempt, led by Speaker Toms, to abolish the Presidential term limit, which prohibits a President from being President for more than 3 consecutive terms. Each term was four months long. This attempt, however, failed, and the term limit remained in place.

There were two final votes that passed during the term. The first was to confirm Guy as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, as Libertarian Librarians had resigned earlier on. The other legislation provided for five members of the Regional Assembly to be in this next term for the Regional Assembly.

---

Executive Update


President Rogamark leaving the Presidential office

Before leaving office, President Rogamark decided to do a final few acts before leaving office. First, outside of Minister of Integration Tim and WA Delegate Salaxalans, Rogamark dismissed the entire cabinet.

Furthermore, one of the citizens of Spiritus, who was amazingly active in the SDF and a great person in the region, Storm, had been missing for quite some time. Informed by another member of the Spiritus community, President Rogamark informed the entire region that it was possible that she may never be able to return to Nationstates due to real life circumstances. Considering all she had done for the region, President Rogamark granted her honorary citizenship.

After Blitze was elected, new cabinet members were appointed. Sovreignry and Blitze were both given back their old spots, which had been given to them by the Roganimis Presidency. Culture saw Vice-President Wuufu take over as Minister, with President Blitze being his Deputy. Tangaroa was appointed to serve as Deputy Minister of Defense. Meanwhile, the Executive saw a new face appear into the cabinet, as Phonexia took the position of Deputy Minister of Integration. And finally, Dawsinian began serving as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

---

New Award and Recipients


The recipients receiving their awards at the ceremony

A little over a month ago, RedDusk kindly created an award for the Executive. It was called Spiritan Award for Outstanding Achievement, which would be given out for excellence in gameplay. The outstanding contributions could mean a multitude of things, and would be left up to the person awarding the medal to interpret this meaning. This award could be handed out not only by the President, but by a Field Marshal, or the Minister of Defense. Here is the graphic for the award.

Before leaving office, President Rogamark gave out one final award to his Vice President Legonimis. This award was given out to Legonimis for a multitude of reasons. Legonimis helped throughout a full year as a trusted advisor to Rogamark, while also helping with the cultural aspects of Spiritus, and the community as a whole. Also, he was quick to remind people that Spiritus was much more than a gameplay region, and also served on the Supreme Court and as a Regional Assembly Representative. For this, Rogamark awarded him the Exaltation of Spiritus.

When President Blitze assumed office, he had quite a few awards to hand out. First, he awarded former President Rogamark with an Exaltation of Spiritus for his fantastic work as President over a full year, and his contributions to the region during his Presidency and before it. From being a Regional Assembly Representative, to Speaker, to helping out the SDF whenever asked.

The second award went to former President the Salaxalans, aka Mr. Potato (head). This award that the Salaxalans garnered was The Service to Spiritus Medal, for the second time. His earning of this award came because of his run for WA General Secretary. This election saw the Salaxalans bring home the title of second place overall, which greatly improved the name recognition of Spiritus around Nationstates. It also brought upon a slew of diplomatic applications to the doorstep of Spiritus, and provided a great cultural activity for all Spiritans to take part in.

The final two awards that President Blitze decided to present to members of Spiritus, were both the Green Heart Award. He awarded Tim this medal for all his work supporting the run of Salaxalans for Secretary General. He sent out countless telegrams to people to promote the culture of Spiritus and the delegate, while hoping they might vote for the Salaxalans. Tim put in countless hours to this cause to help it forward. The other Green Heart awardee was Phonexia. He also was awarded the Green Heart for contributions relating to the General Secretary campaign of the Salaxalans. He provided the Salaxalans with the SalaxPAC, while also creating numerous campaign ads. Phonexia did everything he could to help promote Salaxalans in the campaign for Secretary General.

---

Blitze’s Tea and Cake

[small]Blitze's Tea and Cake are my personal remarks. These remarks are not necessarily the opinion of the Spiritan government or the cabinet. They are also not my official Presidential or Ministerial opinions.

Blitze's Tea and Cake is replacing Rogamark's Remarks now that Blitze writes the updates fully[/small]

Friends of Spiritus, when I took a look at the past Foreign Updates, I noticed that Rogamark almost always had a spot for his comments. He first mentioned when he started it, that he would post about something NS-related, or not, depending on what crossed his mind. I took a careful look over the updates and noticed a trend: Not a single one of them was not NS related. I took some time and thought about things that I could talk about that were Nationstates related and came up with Zilch.

I then decided to look back a bit further, and noticed that Horse had always put his stamp on the Foreign Affairs updates in his way, and Tim did once too. I then realized that I didn’t have to make it about something Nationstates related, and I didn’t have to make it the way Rogamark had always done. I carefully thought of something that I had found out about or something I could talk about that would interest Spiritan friends. Again, I came up with Zilch.

Then, I finally decided that there might be something worth talking about. That subject was the Presidency.

When I assumed the office, I figured that it would be like the Speakership in a way. Time consuming during certain periods, but if I put my mind to it, I would be able to get everything done and it would be not too hard. All I had seen during my time in Spiritus was Rogamark as President. And he made it look quite easy. So, when I finally was elected, I got quite the shock. I finally understood a lot more of what Rogamark had to do on an everyday basis, which was a lot.

At first, I felt a little bit overwhelmed and didn’t know what to start on first. So I decided to slowly take it one thing at a time, and realized that it takes time and effort, and it ain’t exactly easy, but things would get done, and I would learn and grow once again. As I had, with ever newer and higher office I took. Not all Spiritans may have seen some of my growing pains in the Presidency so far, but they have been there at times.

One of the things that I fully now understand is how much Rogamark must have appreciated me doing the last Foreign Update. They are time consuming and it is not easy to craft a good one.

I came into this game as a young and ignorant brat really, but with all of the help that I gotten from people Spiritus, not only have I grown as an NS’er, but I have grown as a person. For all that they have given to me, now it is time for me to give back to them.

---

Thanks for reading the Spiritus Foreign Update!
Authored by President Blitze
Edited by Vice-President Wuufu, Chief Justice Rogamark, and WA Delegate The Salaxalans

[Tangaroan Islands]

The Elemental Republic of Spiritus

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Information

With great concern, the government of the Elemental Republic of Spiritus denounces the ongoing coup in Osiris.

The occupation of Osiris by an illegitimate government that has seized power from a democratically elected leader, against the expressed will of the Osiran citizen, is completely unacceptable. It is the worst possible infringement on the ideal of regional self-determination, one of the Spiritan core values. With his actions, "Pharaoh" Cormac A Stark - having lost both the election and a recall bid against the lawfully elected Pharaoh prior to the coup - ended the existence of the OFO, brought unnecessary hostility to the region, and destabilized a major GCR.

Spiritus formally ceases all diplomatic relations and other everyday activities with the occupied Osiris, and strongly urges all other regions to do the same. We further urge cooperation by all necessary means, diplomatically as well as military, to resolve the situation and restore power to the legitimate government. We hope ideology will not get in the way of this, for coups are a serious danger to regions on both sides of the political spectrum.

We further apologize to the people of Osiris for the actions of our Founder Tim Stark, who is supporting the coup. He is acting without approval of the Spiritan government, and against the wishes of a large majority of Spiritans. He is no longer holding any governmental or military functions in our region.

Spiritus also condemns Cormac A Stark, who we understand has only recently been pardoned from a ban as a result of a prior criminal conviction in Osiris. With him being a longstanding persona non grata in our region, we are not surprised about his involvement.



Blitze
President of Spiritus / Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information


Wuufu
Vice President of Spiritus / Minister of Culture / Former President


The Salaxalans
World Assembly Delegate / Minister of World Assembly Affairs / Former President


Rogamark
Chief Justice of Spiritus / Former President
Former Scribe of Justice of the OFO

[Tangaroan Islands]

FIrst of all thank you for reading the 2 updates above.

Second because of the situation in Osiris I shall be taking the seat of ambassador from Spiritus to the 10000 islands for the time being.

[Louisistan]

Apr 19, 2016 11:22:19 GMT -5 Tangaroan Islands said:

The Elemental Republic of Spiritus

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Information

With great concern, the government of the Elemental Republic of Spiritus denounces the ongoing coup in Osiris.

The occupation of Osiris by an illegitimate government that has seized power from a democratically elected leader, against the expressed will of the Osiran citizen, is completely unacceptable. It is the worst possible infringement on the ideal of regional self-determination, one of the Spiritan core values. With his actions, "Pharaoh" Cormac A Stark - having lost both the election and a recall bid against the lawfully elected Pharaoh prior to the coup - ended the existence of the OFO, brought unnecessary hostility to the region, and destabilized a major GCR.

Spiritus formally ceases all diplomatic relations and other everyday activities with the occupied Osiris, and strongly urges all other regions to do the same. We further urge cooperation by all necessary means, diplomatically as well as military, to resolve the situation and restore power to the legitimate government. We hope ideology will not get in the way of this, for coups are a serious danger to regions on both sides of the political spectrum.

We further apologize to the people of Osiris for the actions of our Founder Tim Stark, who is supporting the coup. He is acting without approval of the Spiritan government, and against the wishes of a large majority of Spiritans. He is no longer holding any governmental or military functions in our region.

Spiritus also condemns Cormac A Stark, who we understand has only recently been pardoned from a ban as a result of a prior criminal conviction in Osiris. With him being a longstanding persona non grata in our region, we are not surprised about his involvement.



Blitze
President of Spiritus / Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information


Wuufu
Vice President of Spiritus / Minister of Culture / Former President


The Salaxalans
World Assembly Delegate / Minister of World Assembly Affairs / Former President


Rogamark
Chief Justice of Spiritus / Former President
Former Scribe of Justice of the OFO

Duly noted.

Also thank you for the update and the notification of the Ambassadorial change.

[istanialand]

Spiritus Foreign Update: The Defeat of the Raiding Pies and Brownies

Hello, friends of Spiritus! Spiritus has been all over the Nationstates scenes, and what you don't know can be found in here as you awake from your summer lull! The issue even has cake in it!

Spiritus Government Listing



Gondor (Executive Branch)



King of Gondor (President): Blitze

Steward of Gondor (Vice President): Wuufu



Lord (Minister) of the White Tree (Culture): Wuufu

Baron (Deputy Minister) of the White Tree (Culture): Blitze



Lord (Minister) of Helms Deep (Defense): Sovreignry

Baron (Deputy Minister) of Helms Deep (Defense): Vaccant



Lord (Minister) of the Faithful (Foreign Affairs and Information): Blitze

Baron (Deputy Minister) of the Faithful (Foreign Affairs and Information): Vacant



Lord (Minister) of Port Linhir (Integration): Vacant

Baron (Deputy Minister) of Port Linhir (Integration): Phonexia

Baron (Deputy Minister) of Port Linhir (Integration): Istanialand



Lord (Minister) of Minas Tirith (World Assembly Affairs): The Salaxalans

Baron (Deputy Minister) of Minas Tirith (World Assembly Affairs): vacant



Rohan (Regional Assembly)



King of Rohan (Speaker): Istanialand

Rider of Rohan (Representative): R0x4ry

Rider of Rohan: Phonexia

Rider of Rohan: Olevsky

Rider of Rohan: GraVandius



Iron Hills (Supreme Court)



King of the Iron Hills (Chief Justice): Rogamark

Dwarf of the Iron Hills (Justice): Sovreignry

Dwarf of the Iron Hills (Justice): Guy

---

Election Update





Fight breaking out during a campaign rally in the Spiritan elections

In the past election, the Regional Assembly had five seats up for contention as six members sought election into the hallowed halls of the Regional Assembly. Only two current members sought re-election. Those two members were both newcomers to the Regional Assembly in their previous term: Istanialand and GraVandius. Meanwhile, two former members of the Assembly, Toms and Phonexia, hoped to be elected, while one new member, Olevsky, ran for his first time, along with one person, R0x4ry, who had run before, but had never been elected. Once the election was all said and done, Toms was the only one not elected to serve in the Regional Assembly. After the election, in a tight contest between Phonexia and Istanialand for Speaker, Istanialand became Speaker.



Meanwhile, in the Presidential Election, two tickets battled for the most powerful position in Spiritus. Incumbent President Blitze ran with Vice President Wuufu to form the ticket of Blitzfu, once again. Meanwhile, Phonexia and Sam111 ran for election for the Rhinoceros Party, which began their run to take over the region in the Regional Assembly and Presidency during this election. In the end, Phonexia and Sam111 fell up slighty short of winning the election, while incumbent Blitze shall serve a second term in the Presidency.



As for WARLORD OF THE HOBO SQUIDS, former President Rogamark ran against long time WARLORD Legonimis. Although many squids turned out in higher numbers than expected for Rogamark, Legonimis once again prevailed with an army of his squids showing up on voting day.

---

RA Update





The Regional Assembly conducting the hearing on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Information

In the previous Regional Assembly, Libertarian Librarians ran unopposed for the Speakership, which allowed him to assume the role. After this, he proceeded to continue with an ongoing Executive Accountability Act hearing, in which the President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information Blitze was asked to testify in his role as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information. The hearing conducted asked questions about his everyday job, to explain why he kept embassies that may have been more inactive, and other various topics, such as possible deals that may be kept from the public view.



The Regional Assembly during its term also abolished the position of Deputy Speaker, as well as confirming Sovreignry as Associate Justice once again. Along with this, the Regional Assembly created an alternate image version of the Commendation of Spiritus award to be used by the recipients if they so wished.



After a time period of two weeks where the region flew the Black Hawks flag over the region as part of a deal to gain votes for the Salaxalans during the Secretary-General election in April, providing Spiritus with much global exposure, the Regional Assembly not only called an Executive Accountability Act hearing but also began working on non-binding and binding legislation on the flag, so that the Executive could not change the flag for such a long period of time without consulting the region.



The non-binding resolution concerned condemning the deal with the Black Hawks and the flying of their flag over the region. The binding legislation, which still is being discussed, would make the current flag flying over Spiritus the official flag, also allowing the Executive to change the flag for a short period of time. If a flag change exceeded that timeframe, the Executive would have to gain Regional Assembly approval. It has yet to be determined if the legislation will pass and in what form.



Finally, the Regional Assembly created its usual seating act, and unlike last term, allowed for five seats be contested during the elections instead of four.

---

Executive Update





New Deputy Minister of Integration Istanialand undergoing the initiation process

During the past few months, the Blitzfu administration has been hard at work. One of the first things they did was present the Panchromium Pact to the Regional Assembly after having worked out the final details. This is Spiritus’ second active treaty and first for Blitze as Minister of Foreign Affairs.



The Blitzfu administration has also reviewed how well we are retaining citizens. The administration has allowed for the welcome telegram upon entering the region to be changed to include more aspects of Spiritan life, while simultaneously making it more concise. Meanwhile, upon applying for citizenship, the applicant now receives a welcome private message that holds valuable information for getting used to life on the forums and making an easier adjustment into the region.



Finally, Blitze recently appointed newer member Istanialand to the position of Deputy Minister of Integration, where he shall join our other Deputy Minister Phonexia.

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Festival and New Treaty





A Spiritan recovering after the festival

The Panchoromium Pact, negotiated by then-President Rogamark and Minister Blitze for Spiritus and Church of Satan and Libetarian Republics of the Rejected Realms, was unanimously ratified by the Spiritus Regional Assembly a few weeks later. The treaty contained most of the usual clauses as well as one involving Blitze’s favorite thing: cake.



After the ratification of the Panchoromium Pact, Vice-President Wuufu began to work on a festival with the Rejected Realms. After finding out that the treaty with the South Pacific would continue for another year, plans were made to have a joint festival between the Rejected Realms, Spiritus, and the South Pacific. Through the coordination of Vice-President Wuufu those in charge of festival planning in the South Pacific and the Rejected Realms, Roavin and Libertarian Republics respectively, a festival was eventually set up for the first of August.



So far during the festival, there have been spam games on the Spiritus forums at spiritus.wtf/ along with a Clue game that is still ongoing. Will the members solve the case and find the murderer or will they fail...dramatically. *cue dramatic music* In addition to the spammy games and Clue, there is a game running on Yucata, which has currently has a few members playing.



Perhaps the biggest highlight of the festival so far was the roundtable. Although legend has it that the table was actually a triangle, the main point of the event was for the three leaders of the regions, Blitze, Drugged Monkeys, and Libertarian Republics, to be open to any questions anyone may have for them, as well as discussing certain aspects of nationstates and the cake v. pie v. the alternative of brownies debate. Everyone had a grand time and it was a rousing success.

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SDF





SDF soldiers charging into battle to meet the raiders

About a month ago, Christmas was under the evil reign of raiders, as per usual. Also as usual, the defendersphere came to their aid. Not only that, the SDF rose to the challenge and lead the charge. Commander-in-Chief Blitze stepped up to lead the large operation of liberating the region as no one else had enough time that night to organize it.



Tasked with his first large organization of a liberation, Blitze asked defenders from all different regions, whether it be The Grey Wardens or Texas, in to his SDF colleagues, Rogamark and Libertarian Librarians. Blitze took charge, along with some valuable help from other veteran defenders, such as Benevolent Thomas, Tim, and others, to have a large enough turnout for the liberation to succeed.



As the defenders started to arrive for Blitze to organize and yell at, the total came very close to being under the needed amount. However, a few people could still miss the jump and have the liberation succeed. As the order to jump was given by Blitze, defenders rushed into the region and overtook the raider delegacy, to liberate the noble region of Christmas.



As always, the SDF is still a proud defender organization, and as Blitze showed, a region and organization that is vital to the defendersphere. The SDF will continue with onward with its glorious crusade, with new leaders, or old ones, taking the reins and leading the defendersphere.

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Blitze’s tea and cake

[small]Blitze's Tea and Cake are my personal remarks. These remarks are not necessarily the opinion of the Spiritan government or the cabinet. They are also not my official Presidential or Ministerial opinions.[/small]



Recently, not only in Nationstates, but also real life, people have been speaking about how good the old times were. However, how good were they really? Hard to say, I was never part of the 80’s, which is the time period Republicans idealize with Ronald Reagan. And I was never part of the “old” Nationstates, with no such things as stamps.



So, you may be wondering who am I to judge old times? Probably a valid point, however, I won’t try to judge old times, just remind folks that old times, although likely good, have been more idealized in our brains than they actually were. They can become twisted until they turn into an illusion they really weren’t.



In 1987, the economy was booming, and then in one day, the stock market lost 22% of its value. Although the economy had been strong for the most part during the 80’s, most people tend to forget 1987. Why? I am not quite sure. What’s my point? I shall answer that. It is that, although there are typically good and strong times, sometimes we block out parts of the past we don’t like.



So, was the “old” Nationstates really better? It may have been, I really can’t say, that wasn’t what I was part of. What I can say is I believe people idealize and make it something it isn’t. It likely was a good time, however, now is grand too. The small community makes it more personal and that can be very nice, or not. Depends on who you are and what you like. But, what I can tell you, we live in a different time, and it may be different, but that doesn’t make it worse, and so we must accept that change and enjoy what we have!

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Thanks for reading the Spiritus Foreign Update!

Authored by President Blitze

Edited by Vice President Wuufu and World Assembly Delegate the Salaxalans

[Paffnia]

Due to real-life time constraints, I have resigned as emissary to Spiritus, and Louisistan has been named my successor: w11.zetaboards.com/Spiritus/topic/30094392/1

istanialand, Tangaroan Islands

[Louisistan]

*rolls in a barrel of dwarf ale for Ambassador/Steward Tim Stark*