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[img src="http://i.imgur.com/6O2Wtm1.png" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://i.imgur.com/tD1HoBU.png"]

[b][font size="4"]FUNKADELIA RESIGNS AS SOVEREIGN, HARMONEIA'S ADMINISTRATION BEGINS[/font][/b]

[img src="http://i.imgur.com/cVf4TSe.png" style="max-width:100%;"]
[i]Funk Resigns as Sovereign, New Sovereign Ascends[/i]
[b]By New Rogernomics in Lazarus[/b]

With the sudden resignation of Funkadelia as a respected and hard-working Sovereign and World Assembly Delegate, Harmoneia has stepped down as Grandee Secretary (otherwise known as the Vice-Delegacy) to hold new elections and establish a new administration.

This has led to a list of remarkable new proposals during Harmoneia's new administration, including the implementation of Grand Advisors, who will help maintain regional security, through their World Assembly Endorsements, as well as have the power to succeed to the Vice Delegacy or remove the Sovereign - in very exceptional circumstances.

This was preceded by a constitutional amendment to the Mandate of Lazarus that provisioned for the exceptional circumstances surrounding Funk's resignation:


[spoiler=Amendment to Article VI of the Constitution]Article VI - On Security

1. The Grandee Secretary shall seek to hold the second most endorsements in the region.
2. If the office of Sovereign is vacant or the Sovereign is absent, the Grandee Secretary shall assume the duties of the Sovereign.
3. 2. Any citizen who meets the influence and endorsement requirements established by law may apply to be a Grand Advisor. The Grand Assembly may approve an applicant by a two-thirds majority vote.
4. 3. Grand Advisors shall maintain endorsement counts below that of the Grandee Secretary, but may exceed any endorsement cap established by law.
5. 4. A line of succession beyond the Vice Delegate among the Grand Advisors may be established by law.
6. 5. The Grand Assembly shall vote on confidence in the Grand Advisors every four months. Any Grand Advisor who does not receive the confidence of a majority shall be recalled.
7. 6. Grand Advisors shall maintain regional security under the direction of the Grandee Secretary and enforce decisions of the Grand Assembly to remove the Sovereign.
7. If the Sovereign is absent, the Grandee Secretary -- or, if the Grandee Secretary is unavailable, the Grand Advisor next in the line of succession who is available -- shall assume the duties of Sovereign until the Sovereign returns.
8. If the office of Sovereign is vacant, the Grandee Secretary may take office as Sovereign for the remainder of the term.
9. If the Grandee Secretary takes office as Sovereign, or the office of Grandee Secretary is otherwise vacated, a special election shall be conducted to elect a new Grandee Secretary for the remainder of the term.
10. If the Grandee Secretary is unavailable to take office as Sovereign when needed, the following procedure shall be observed until a special election can be conducted to elect a new Sovereign for the remainder of the term:
A. If the outgoing Sovereign resigns rather than being recalled, the outgoing Sovereign may serve as Acting Sovereign if available.
B. If the outgoing Sovereign is unavailable to serve, the Grandee Secretary may serve as Acting Sovereign if available.
C. If neither the outgoing Sovereign nor the Grandee Secretary are available to serve, the Grand Advisor next in the line of succession who is available shall serve as Acting Sovereign.
You may vote aye, nay or abstain. This vote will last for seven days. As an amendment to the Mandate, this will require a two-thirds super-majority to pass.[/spoiler]
Harmoneia also gave a short speech to the region, on Funkadelia's resignation, and outlined the goals for her new administration:
[quote]First off, I am sorry to see Funk go. He did some nice work and his would be large shoes to fill. I wish him well and thank him for his service.

Now on to business.

There is roughly a month and a half before the term ends, and I intend to finish this term in lieu of Funk as per the constitution, before we will have the next delegate elections. For the VD, however, I will propose to the legislature that we hold special elections for one.

I am currently taking with the cabinet regarding plans for the term, which includes our foreign policy, strengthening internal affairs, as well as cultivating cultural matters.

This is a difficult time for most of us, but we can make the most out of it, so let's all try to hold ourselves together while we undergo this time of transition.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Harmoneia[/quote]
[b][font size="4"]LKE RECRUITMENT BAN LIFTED[/font][/b]
[i]Imperialists thrilled...kinda sorta[/i]
[b]By The Church of Satan in Lazarus[/b]

On August first, the recruitment ban placed on the Land of Kings and Emperors by NationStates Moderation was lifted. You might remember that three months prior, LKE had benefited from illegal recruitment in which a member of their Interior Ministry, Delete-on-Sight (DOS) player Bob Moran, used an illegal script to fake manual recruitment. The script in question was created and provided by also Delete-on-Sight (DOS) player, Anur-Sanur, more commonly known as Frak.

It is unknown how the region attempted to cope with the population decrease, which wasn't as terrible as they said it would be, other than a hollow boost in population using former military puppet nations from Europeia and The Communist Bloc. Why they resorted to an artificial and temporary boost such as that isn't known, but one could speculate it was in order to prevent some sort of statistical low.

The region was definitely persistent though, pointlessly so as it turns out. They made every effort to get the ban lifted or reduced but despite all of the griping and compromising, they served the 3 month recruitment ban in it's entirety. During that time however, a new feature to NationStates was added, giving region's better control of recruitment. Reiben, pay attention. Now, this is the way to gripe. Continue, Jackson.

The official statement concerning the end of the ban released by LKE made it a point to ham-handedly state their dissatisfaction with NS Moderation perhaps for the hundreth time. The Lazarene Gazette attempted to get some comments from LKE, however regional policy does not allow its citizens to speak with affiliates of regions they are at war with. It's obvious that they will be more careful with recruitment in the future as their official statement at one point read 'Given this, we can never again have faith in the integrity of manual recruitment system.'

Congratulations to LKE on resuming recruitment again. There is little doubt that they will recover from the population decrease, in time.

[b][font size="4"]KRULL PACKS HIS BAGS[/font][/b]
[i]NPO's tinpot finally gets tired of rule[/i]
[b]By Ike in Lazarus[/b]

You heard it here, folks- Krulltopia is finally gone. You can emerge from your hiding spots now.

On Monday, August 10th, Pierconium publicly announced in an official statement that Krulltopia, long-time Emperor of the New Pacific Order, was stepping down. Krulltopia presided over the Pacific for over six years, a period of time where any other GCR would have around 10 different Delegates. During this period, the Pacific became stagnant with little signs of activity and no presence on the international stage. Meanwhile, the NPO Senate schemed behind closed doors. More specifically, the NPO managed to pull off a coup of Lazarus. Luckily, celebrated native and Lazarene hero, Kazmr, took back the region in a well-executed plot by infiltrating the "New Lazarene Order" and by extension the NPO itself.

Pierconium, also known as Ivan, has appointed Elegarth, a mildly controversial figure in Gameplay due to his less than transparent 'win' of the Premiership in the West Pacific and less-than-friendly attitude, to the NPO's Senate. One can only speculate as to why Elegarth has re-entered the NPO Senate, having previously left it as well as criticizing the NPO for their actions in Lazarus. At the same time, Pierconium has also appointed Elegarth as the "Senator of Diplomacy", which means if you are a delegate dealing with the NPO (why are you dealing with the NPO?), he'll be the face of the whole mess. It also calls into question the fact that Elegarth left because of his hostility. Ivan has also appointed Aleisyr as Viceroy, in order to help carry out changes in the 'provisional government system' that he is planning to introduce soon.

Meanwhile, Krull hit the rails, travelling to every GCR and posting a brief message that equates to 'hello', earning himself a cheeky ban in TEP from Ramaeus. Reactions from players have mostly been the obligatory "good luck, mate" with a statement from Kazmr that the NPO's new Delegate won't find a friend in Lazarus anytime soon. Ivan has quickly taken to taunting enemies of the NPO, urging them to try and do something about it, which he is clearly in a position to do. Taking over The Pacific would be no easy task.

Krull's departure may very well mark the end of an era for the Pacific, a particularly long era that lasted longer than many GP careers. Perhaps Ivan will be different, more of an activity booster this time...or not. The general consensus is that nothing will really change. Warm farewells from raiders and imperialists alike adorn Pierconium's statement thread after their near successful takeover of Lazarus, but the reaction here will be less so.

[b][font size="4"]BT's ONE HIT WONDER COMPETITION[/font][/b]
[i]The Benevolent Thomas GOAT Lists[/i]
[b]By DinosFM1994, and The Church of Satan, in Lazarus[/b]

The term one-hit wonder is most often used to describe music performers having one signature song which overshadows their other work but have you really wondered which song is the all time best? Benevolent Thomas' got the answer. After gathering songs for a week, 32 songs made the final cut to compete in the Competition of Competitions. The songs that took place in the competition are:

[spoiler=Song List]1. Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
2. Dexys Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
3. The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
4. Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
5. Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy
6. Semisonic - Closing Time
7. The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love
8. J-Kwon - Tipsy
9. New Radicals - You Get What You Give
10. Toadies - Possum Kingdom
11. Local H - Bound for the Floor
12. Spacehog - In the Meantime
13. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression that I get
14. Blues Traveler - Run Around
15. Spin Doctors - Two Princes
16. The Verve Pipe - The Freshman
17. Hootie and the Blowfish - Only Wanna Be With You
18. The Wallflowers - One Headlight
19. The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
20. Eiffel 65 - Blue
21. Boomfunk MC - Freestyler
22. O-Zone - Numa Numa
23. Daddy Yankee - Gasolina
24. Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
25. Caesars Palace - Jerk it Out
26. Haddaway - What Is Love
27. Gotye - Somebody that I Used to Know
28. Chesney Hawkes - The One and Only
29. Bryn Christopher - The Quest
30. Arash - Boro Boro
31. Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs
32. Survivor - Eye of the Tiger[/spoiler][a href="http://i.imgur.com/FHWMRBI.png"][img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://i.imgur.com/FHWMRBIl.png"][/a]

Currently the semifinals are in progress and as the competition approaches its conclusion let's take a look at the semifinalists:

[b]Poll 1:[/b] [font color="#ee4a2d"]Come On Eileen vs. Eye of The Tiger[/font]

At the time of this article's writing, the two songs are tied at 3 votes each. At this point it's anybody's game.

[b]Poll 2:[/b] [font color="#ee4a2d"]Bitter Sweet Symphony vs. Closing Time.[/font]

At the time of this articles writing, Closing Time for Semisonic may come later than expected, as it is in the lead with 3 votes. The Verve may very well eat their own words as Bitter Sweet Symphony trails behind with 2 votes, but the tables may very well turn.

Stay tuned for more competition coverage and don't forget to drop by the regional forum to submit your vote and announce your favorite One Hit Wonder of all time!

[b][font size="4"]COMICS & FUNNIES[/font][/b]

[img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://i.imgur.com/5ePctZFl.jpg"]

[img src="http://i.imgur.com/VmO9mU0m.jpg" style="max-width:100%;"]

[img src="http://i.imgur.com/rGam3lG.png" style="max-width:100%;"]

Code:

 

[img]http://i.imgur.com/6O2Wtm1.png[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/tD1HoBU.png[/img]

[big][big][b]FUNKADELIA RESIGNS AS SOVEREIGN, HARMONEIA'S ADMINISTRATION BEGINS[/b][/big][/big]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/cVf4TSe.png[/img]
[i]Funk Resigns as Sovereign, New Sovereign Ascends[/i]
[b]By New Rogernomics in Lazarus[/b]

With the sudden resignation of Funkadelia as a respected and hard-working Sovereign and World Assembly Delegate, Harmoneia has stepped down as Grandee Secretary (otherwise known as the Vice-Delegacy) to hold new elections and establish a new administration.

This has led to a list of remarkable new proposals during Harmoneia's new administration, including the implementation of Grand Advisors, who will help maintain regional security, through their World Assembly Endorsements, as well as have the power to succeed to the Vice Delegacy or remove the Sovereign - in very exceptional circumstances.

This was preceded by a constitutional amendment to the Mandate of Lazarus that provisioned for the exceptional circumstances surrounding Funk's resignation:
[spoiler=Amendment to Article VI of the Constitution]Article VI - On Security

1. The Grandee Secretary shall seek to hold the second most endorsements in the region.
2. If the office of Sovereign is vacant or the Sovereign is absent, the Grandee Secretary shall assume the duties of the Sovereign.
3. 2. Any citizen who meets the influence and endorsement requirements established by law may apply to be a Grand Advisor. The Grand Assembly may approve an applicant by a two-thirds majority vote.
4. 3. Grand Advisors shall maintain endorsement counts below that of the Grandee Secretary, but may exceed any endorsement cap established by law.
5. 4. A line of succession beyond the Vice Delegate among the Grand Advisors may be established by law.
6. 5. The Grand Assembly shall vote on confidence in the Grand Advisors every four months. Any Grand Advisor who does not receive the confidence of a majority shall be recalled.
7. 6. Grand Advisors shall maintain regional security under the direction of the Grandee Secretary and enforce decisions of the Grand Assembly to remove the Sovereign.
7. If the Sovereign is absent, the Grandee Secretary -- or, if the Grandee Secretary is unavailable, the Grand Advisor next in the line of succession who is available -- shall assume the duties of Sovereign until the Sovereign returns.
8. If the office of Sovereign is vacant, the Grandee Secretary may take office as Sovereign for the remainder of the term.
9. If the Grandee Secretary takes office as Sovereign, or the office of Grandee Secretary is otherwise vacated, a special election shall be conducted to elect a new Grandee Secretary for the remainder of the term.
10. If the Grandee Secretary is unavailable to take office as Sovereign when needed, the following procedure shall be observed until a special election can be conducted to elect a new Sovereign for the remainder of the term:
A. If the outgoing Sovereign resigns rather than being recalled, the outgoing Sovereign may serve as Acting Sovereign if available.
B. If the outgoing Sovereign is unavailable to serve, the Grandee Secretary may serve as Acting Sovereign if available.
C. If neither the outgoing Sovereign nor the Grandee Secretary are available to serve, the Grand Advisor next in the line of succession who is available shall serve as Acting Sovereign.
You may vote aye, nay or abstain. This vote will last for seven days. As an amendment to the Mandate, this will require a two-thirds super-majority to pass. [/spoiler]
Harmoneia also gave a short speech to the region, on Funkadelia's resignation, and outlined the goals for her new administration:
[quote=From the Residence of the Sovereign]First off, I am sorry to see Funk go. He did some nice work and his would be large shoes to fill. I wish him well and thank him for his service.

Now on to business.

There is roughly a month and a half before the term ends, and I intend to finish this term in lieu of Funk as per the constitution, before we will have the next delegate elections. For the VD, however, I will propose to the legislature that we hold special elections for one.

I am currently taking with the cabinet regarding plans for the term, which includes our foreign policy, strengthening internal affairs, as well as cultivating cultural matters.

This is a difficult time for most of us, but we can make the most out of it, so let's all try to hold ourselves together while we undergo this time of transition.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Harmoneia[/quote][hr]
[b][big]LKE RECRUITMENT BAN LIFTED[/big][/b]
[i]Imperialists thrilled...kinda sorta[/i]
[b]By The Church of Satan in Lazarus[/b]

On August first, the recruitment ban placed on the Land of Kings and Emperors by NationStates Moderation was lifted. You might remember that three months prior, LKE had benefited from illegal recruitment in which a member of their Interior Ministry, Delete-on-Sight (DOS) player Bob Moran, used an illegal script to fake manual recruitment. The script in question was created and provided by also Delete-on-Sight (DOS) player, Anur-Sanur, more commonly known as Frak.

It is unknown how the region attempted to cope with the population decrease, which wasn't as terrible as they said it would be, other than a hollow boost in population using former military puppet nations from Europeia and The Communist Bloc. Why they resorted to an artificial and temporary boost such as that isn't known, but one could speculate it was in order to prevent some sort of statistical low.

The region was definitely persistent though, pointlessly so as it turns out. They made every effort to get the ban lifted or reduced but despite all of the griping and compromising, they served the 3 month recruitment ban in it's entirety. During that time however, a new feature to NationStates was added, giving region's better control of recruitment. Reiben, pay attention. Now, this is the way to gripe. Continue, Jackson.

The official statement concerning the end of the ban released by LKE made it a point to ham-handedly state their dissatisfaction with NS Moderation perhaps for the hundreth time. The Lazarene Gazette attempted to get some comments from LKE, however regional policy does not allow its citizens to speak with affiliates of regions they are at war with. It's obvious that they will be more careful with recruitment in the future as their official statement at one point read 'Given this, we can never again have faith in the integrity of manual recruitment system.'

Congratulations to LKE on resuming recruitment again. There is little doubt that they will recover from the population decrease, in time.
[hr]
[b][big]KRULL PACKS HIS BAGS[/big][/b]
[i]NPO's tinpot finally gets tired of rule[/i]
[b]By Ike in Lazarus[/b]

You heard it here, folks- Krulltopia is finally gone. You can emerge from your hiding spots now.

On Monday, August 10th, Pierconium publicly announced in an official statement that Krulltopia, long-time Emperor of the New Pacific Order, was stepping down. Krulltopia presided over the Pacific for over six years, a period of time where any other GCR would have around 10 different Delegates. During this period, the Pacific became stagnant with little signs of activity and no presence on the international stage. Meanwhile, the NPO Senate schemed behind closed doors. More specifically, the NPO managed to pull off a coup of Lazarus. Luckily, celebrated native and Lazarene hero, Kazmr, took back the region in a well-executed plot by infiltrating the "New Lazarene Order" and by extension the NPO itself.

Pierconium, also known as Ivan, has appointed Elegarth, a mildly controversial figure in Gameplay due to his less than transparent 'win' of the Premiership in the West Pacific and less-than-friendly attitude, to the NPO's Senate. One can only speculate as to why Elegarth has re-entered the NPO Senate, having previously left it as well as criticizing the NPO for their actions in Lazarus. At the same time, Pierconium has also appointed Elegarth as the "Senator of Diplomacy", which means if you are a delegate dealing with the NPO (why are you dealing with the NPO?), he'll be the face of the whole mess. It also calls into question the fact that Elegarth left because of his hostility. Ivan has also appointed Aleisyr as Viceroy, in order to help carry out changes in the 'provisional government system' that he is planning to introduce soon.

Meanwhile, Krull hit the rails, travelling to every GCR and posting a brief message that equates to 'hello', earning himself a cheeky ban in TEP from Ramaeus. Reactions from players have mostly been the obligatory "good luck, mate" with a statement from Kazmr that the NPO's new Delegate won't find a friend in Lazarus anytime soon. Ivan has quickly taken to taunting enemies of the NPO, urging them to try and do something about it, which he is clearly in a position to do. Taking over The Pacific would be no easy task.

Krull's departure may very well mark the end of an era for the Pacific, a particularly long era that lasted longer than many GP careers. Perhaps Ivan will be different, more of an activity booster this time...or not. The general consensus is that nothing will really change. Warm farewells from raiders and imperialists alike adorn Pierconium's statement thread after their near successful takeover of Lazarus, but the reaction here will be less so.
[hr]
[b][big]BT's ONE HIT WONDER COMPETITION[/big][/b]
[i]The Benevolent Thomas GOAT Lists[/i]
[b]By DinosFM1994, and The Church of Satan, in Lazarus[/b]

The term one-hit wonder is most often used to describe music performers having one signature song which overshadows their other work but have you really wondered which song is the all time best? Benevolent Thomas' got the answer. After gathering songs for a week, 32 songs made the final cut to compete in the Competition of Competitions. The songs that took place in the competition are:

[spoiler=Song List]1. Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
2. Dexys Midnight Runners - Come on Eileen
3. The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
4. Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
5. Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy
6. Semisonic - Closing Time
7. The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love
8. J-Kwon - Tipsy
9. New Radicals - You Get What You Give
10. Toadies - Possum Kingdom
11. Local H - Bound for the Floor
12. Spacehog - In the Meantime
13. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression that I get
14. Blues Traveler - Run Around
15. Spin Doctors - Two Princes
16. The Verve Pipe - The Freshman
17. Hootie and the Blowfish - Only Wanna Be With You
18. The Wallflowers - One Headlight
19. The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
20. Eiffel 65 - Blue
21. Boomfunk MC - Freestyler
22. O-Zone - Numa Numa
23. Daddy Yankee - Gasolina
24. Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
25. Caesars Palace - Jerk it Out
26. Haddaway - What Is Love
27. Gotye - Somebody that I Used to Know
28. Chesney Hawkes - The One and Only
29. Bryn Christopher - The Quest
30. Arash - Boro Boro
31. Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs
32. Survivor - Eye of the Tiger[/spoiler]
[url=http://i.imgur.com/FHWMRBI.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/FHWMRBIl.png[/img][/url]

Currently the semifinals are in progress and as the competition approaches its conclusion let's take a look at the semifinalists:

[b]Poll 1:[/b] [color=#ee4a2d]Come On Eileen vs. Eye of The Tiger[/color]

At the time of this article's writing, the two songs are tied at 3 votes each. At this point it's anybody's game.

[b]Poll 2:[/b] [color=#ee4a2d]Bitter Sweet Symphony vs. Closing Time.[/color]

At the time of this articles writing, Closing Time for Semisonic may come later than expected, as it is in the lead with 3 votes. The Verve may very well eat their own words as Bitter Sweet Symphony trails behind with 2 votes, but the tables may very well turn.

Stay tuned for more competition coverage and don't forget to drop by the regional forum to submit your vote and announce your favorite One Hit Wonder of all time!
[hr]
[b][big]COMICS & FUNNIES[/big][/b]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/5ePctZFl.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/VmO9mU0m.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/rGam3lG.png[/img]