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It looks the same to me. Or is the mobile version different?
Razzgriz and Thepenguinland
After some thought, I feel I might as well voice my opinions.
I love TWI, it's one of the greatest RP regions I've ever had the pleasure of being in, but after being away from NS for a while to handle other things, TWI has almost barely changed.
Nothing has been really going on for a while, and I can't do anything in an active capacity due to the broad quietness that's been around for a while. Now it might be reasonable to try and stick things out and try to build up something new that would breath new life into TWI and D&S, I don't think that'll do much for me or anybody. So to respond to this, I'll be leaving TWI to seek new pastures (or tread old grounds). Whether or not I'll come back depends on what goes on, but I just want to give my thanks to everybody here, and I hope to keep in touch as life goes forward.
Rings On Doorbell
Good Morning TWI!
It's your European Ambassador here delivering you the latest newspaper from our region!
Welcome back, nations of Europe, to EuroNews! Issue Eight is completed, ready for your consumption!
Commissioner Competition
The 26th of August saw the beginning of voting for the Second Deputy Commissioner election. This month, in what was gearing up to be a barnburner of a contest, three candidates ran for election: Rivierenland, Yahlia, and the incumbent South St Maarten - colloquially known as Maarten.
The candidates did their best to differentiate themselves, each picking one main issue to focus upon - issues discussed in both campaign telegrams, factbooks, and in interviews. Rivierienland detailed a policy which would monitor newcomers to the region for a day. South St Maarten wrote of an increased focus on recruitment and inactivity in the region, while Yahlia wrote of his goal of implementing term limits for the positions in the Commission.
With the stage set, early voting was neck-and-neck between Yahlia and South St Maarten, the former edging out a slight lead over the incumbent, while Rivierenland saw notably less support in comparison.
With the release of a campaign telegram from Yahlia, which detailed his candidacy, the gap between the front-runner and the incumbent, South St Maarten, grew significantly. A campaign telegram from Maarten was expected to be sent in the hopes of bolstering his support. However, it was with great astonishment when Maarten telegrammed the electorate announcing the end of his candidacy, citing his ambivalence with running for a fourth term while supporting the implementation of term limits and being an advocate for the importance of, "new people and new ideas” (further information can be found here). Noting his respect for his opposition, he bowed out, requesting those who had supported him in the election to change their vote to one of the other candidates.
It seems that this was the final obstacle in the way of the Yahlia’s election, Maarten’s announcement opening the floodgates of support for the frontrunner. The end results of the race show a clear landslide victory for Yahlia, the second election in which he has attempted to be elected to the Commission.
End Results:
14 votes - South St Maarten
17 votes - Rivierenland
54 votes - Yahlia
One of the infamous messages left by the moderators
A Clash of Mods and Europeans
In the last month, Europe has faced some problems with the NS site moderators. For those of you who don’t know who the mods are, they are NationStates's moderators; they are essentially the people that are tasked with keeping this website free from toxicity. Or at least, that’s what they’re supposed to do.
However, in Europe, these mods have caused some controversy after overreacting to minor offences and sometimes even nothing (such as liking many posts over a long time or making joking comments about various things and people), yet not even batting an eye to major offences (trolling, swearing, hoeing around, being racist, making threats to people, etc). The problem has gone so out of hand that now Europeans will make fun about a moderator's infamous one-liner ("knock it off, NOW!").
Europeans are now trying to take matters into their own hands whenever they're faced with a problem. For example, if a troll starts causing unrest on the European RMB (regional message board), the nations who witnessed the troll will no longer go to the moderators for assistance, but will rather go to a regional officer, such as The Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth who will suppress the troll’s posts and ban the troublemakers.
Written by Rivierenland
Europeans of the Month
Nothing is more important to keeping our region alive than its community! So, here’s this issue’s Europeans of the Month to award some of our members for their contributions to NS Europe!
The award for Newcomer of the Month goes to... Paperbags!
While Paperbags is not the newest member of our community, they have become more active in the last month and have successfully joined in with the community's activities. They aren’t the most active poster, but we welcome Paperbags with open arms and look forward to more contributions from them in the future.
The award for RMBer of the Month goes to... Diamonds from cardverse!
While some may find a large number of likes annoying, I think it’s a great contribution to our community. Giving up some of your free time to like hundreds of posts to spread EuroLove and get everyone feeling accepted just because you can is a great thing for someone to do. That’s what makes DfC the RMBer of the Month!
The award for Flag of the Month goes to... Sverigesriket!
This is not Sverigesriket’s first flag but it’s definitely one of my favourites. With a unique layout of diagonal stripes, this flag reminds me of sweet wrappers, and with the three golden crowns in the centre, this flag stands out as one of a Swedish monarchy.
The award for Motto of the Month goes to... Aggressive cookies!
“If you do not like Unicorns, get out.”
If there was an award for Name of the Month, Aggressive Cookies would win easily. Alongside a great name is a great motto with a sentiment I agree with wholly.
The award for Factbook of the Month goes to... Pilipinas and Malaya!
That’s the longest pair of catch up posts I’ve ever seen on our RMB, and this factbook immortalizes them forevermore, that’s worth Factbook of the Month in my eyes! Nice commenting Pilipinas and Malaya!
And last but not least, the award for General Excellence this month goes to... Miharr!
Miharr continues to be a core member of the community and has recently joined our regional Discord server, now named Eurocord, bringing a whole new energy to the server which has seen a lot more activity since she joined. When her added activity is combined with her amazing anime-style drawings of members of the community that she did out of the kindness of her heart, it makes her this month’s winner for General Excellence!
Written by St Scarlett
IRL Info
Kashmiri Conundrum
A map of the disputed Kashmir region
Kashmir: A Conflict of Two Nations
In the north of India lies Kashmir, a region bordering one of its bitter enemies Pakistan, a place full of controversies. Subject to the terror of both nations, Kashmir has always been a disputed territory between India and Pakistan since the Pakistani invasion in 1947. With a bloody history involving two wars and a long-standing insurgency, Kashmir remains one of the most militarised zones in the modern world.
A Brief History
In Hindu-majority India, the Muslim-majority Kashmir region is bound to face hardships living with their Islamic faith. However, they have remained steadfast for more than seven decades due to the exclusive privilege that was given to them in the Indian Constitution, which was to give them independence in every matter except foreign relations, communications and defence.
Although such a special status was allocated to them, the citizens of Kashmir became victims of war when Pakistan enforced their claims over the region by military means. At odds with India, the two powers clashed in Kashmir and finally divided the area after accepting a recommendation made by the United Nations to hold a ceasefire.
In the present, the international community recognize two forms of Kashmir: "Indian-administered Kashmir" and "Pakistan-administered Kashmir". The Indian-administered Kashmir received backlash as allegations of human rights abuses and high unemployment surfaced. Multiple armed revolts rose against Indian rule in Kashmir, lasting for more than 30 years and costing tens of thousands of lives. India alleges that the military separatists were backed by Pakistan.
2019 Constitutional Amendment
For more than 70 years, Article 370 of the Indian Constitution has provided the autonomy to Kashmir to rule itself. Article 370 essentially allowed the citizens of Kashmir to be governed by a different set of laws including property ownership and have different fundamental rights compared to the rest of India. Because of this, citizens of India cannot purchase lands and own properties in Kashmir.
In August 2019, a drastic move was made by the ruling party, the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It revoked the historical independence of Kashmir after advocating for its abolition for a long time. The Indian-administered Kashmir has now dropped to merely being of equal status to the other Indian states.
One of the main concerns surrounding the revocation of autonomy is that the citizens from the other Indian states now can own land and property in Kashmir which could bring in waves of Hindu immigrants into the region, overturning the Muslim majority and threatening the status quo.
After The Amendment
The Indian government cut the telephone lines and the internet prior to the announcement and moved tens of thousands of troops into the region. Two former Chief Ministers of the region were also placed under house arrest. These actions have received much criticism from Pakistan. Opinions within Kashmir strongly oppose Indian rule, with many opting either to unite with Pakistan, or to secede. Many of the locals in Kashmir felt betrayed by the Indian government’s move to amend the constitution.
Former Chief Minister in the disputed region, Mehbooba Mufti condemned the amendment and stated that "they [the Indian government] just want to occupy our land and want to make this Muslim-majority state like any other state and reduce us to a minority and disempower us totally."
Many members of the international community have called for the UN Security Council to intervene and put an end to the conflict. India, however, insists that the amendment has no external implications and does not change the nature of the border with Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Pakistan's Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has pledged to challenge India's actions at the UN Security Council and to initiate proceedings at the International Criminal Court. Following a request from Pakistan and China, the UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting to discuss the issue. Right after the meeting’s conclusion, India and Pakistan exchanged heavy border-cross fire on 17 August, with one Indian casualty reported.
Tensions are arising now as both street protesters and insurgents from Pakistan engage in armed conflict with Indian security forces in a bid for their own sovereignty. Initially, the Indian government denied any allegation of protests or violence in Kashmir, claiming the region to be largely peaceful; but the truth is hard to determine as all communications with Kashmir has been cut.
Kashmir Lockdown
By cutting all telephone lines and the internet, Kashmir is effectively severed from the modern world. It is difficult to know exactly what happened inside, and all the news that was broadcast was channelled through the Indian authorities who have been accused of manipulating the news to pretend that peaceful environment exists in Kashmir.
Independent media organizations, such as the BBC and The Wire, managed to secure information from missions to Kashmir and reported that protests did occur on the streets and gunshots were fired. The Wire posted a video on their website displaying injured men who claimed they were shot by security forces and a Kashmiri youth who was blinded by pellets.
On August 23rd, a massive clash between protesters and security forces erupted following the Muslims' Friday prayer when the protesters held a demonstration. The event took a violent turn with the demonstrators throwing stones and the authorities retaliating with tear gas and pellets.
Members of the opposition in Indian politics have been pressing for the truth in Kashmir and sent their delegation to review the situation on-site. However, they were denied exit out of the airport in Srinagar, Kashmir and were sent back to Delhi. The opposition has since made a statement claiming that the situation in Kashmir is “not normal”. With pressure from the opposition and the international community, the two former chief ministers were finally allowed to be released on 24 August, albeit on certain conditions. The Election Commission has also released a statement to complete the delimitation process for fresh elections in Kashmir within 14 months.
Domestic Shooting Struggles (Opinion Piece)
So, as we all know, recently in the USA there were a bunch of shootings that happened within a short time frame, 4 in 24 hours, with shootings in Dayton, Ohio; El Paso, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and many other places.
A memorial outside the El Paso Walmart
El Paso
In the El Paso shooting, the gunman entered a Walmart with, what was believed to be, a WASR-10 (a legal act due to Texas’s “open carry” laws). He had already started shooting at people in the parking lot. When those shots were heard, the store manager issued a ‘code brown’ (alert that there’s an active shooter). Since many were unaware of the situation, people thought that the gunshots they heard were fireworks or roof construction and when the crowd started moving quickly, many thought that it was an indicator of a sale going on at the time. The suspect, Patrick Wood Crusius, had surrendered himself to the Texas Rangers at a nearby intersection. The motive for this shooting was believed to be Hispanophobia and the shooter had expressed on the 8chan website that he supported the motives of the Christchurch shooter.
After the El Paso shooting, Trump condemned the shooting as hateful and cowardly and that the US should condemn any kind of racism, bigotry or supremacy, whether it’s white supremacy, any other kind of supremacy, and Antifa. Two days after Trump had been criticized online due to many statements in Crusius’ manifesto mirrored comments made by Trump in the past. Even though it says in the manifesto that these statements predate Trump's 2016 election campaign.
Dayton
Two hours before this attack, the shooter, Connor Stephen Betts, was seen entering Ned Peppers Bar with his sister and a friend. After an hour, the shooter left the bar and split with his sister and friend. At 1:05 am (local time), eyewitnesses reported seeing Betts open fire on the bar with an AM-15. Nine people were killed by this gunfire including the shooter's sister. After 20 seconds of the first shots being fired, police arrived at the scene and 10 seconds later, Betts had been killed by the police. It is believed the shooter identified himself as a leftist and it was said that he was an extreme misogynist.
After the Dayton shooting, Ned Peppers bar had posted on social media that all staff were safe and that they were giving their hearts to everyone involved. President Donald Trump reacted to the shootings, saying the flags would fly at half-mast and that his administration did a lot and more than others, but that there was more to be done. Senator Sherrod Brown had said that thoughts and prayers weren’t enough and that much more had to be done. He urged Senator Mitch McConnell to start a session to vote on gun-safety laws. Ohio House of Representatives member Candice Keller blamed the shooting on recreational marijuana and the breakdown of traditional family values (due to many causes like transgender rights). Many high-ranking officials criticized Keller’s statement and Chairwoman Jane Timken even said that Keller should resign.
Trump received further criticism after he had put the blame for the shootings on video games, despite many studies in the past showing that video games and mass shootings have no correlation with each other. Many officials in Texas have shown their disgust towards shootings like this and some Democratic presidential candidates have made this a big talking point. After these shootings, countries like Uruguay, Venezuela and Japan had issued travel warnings for anyone travelling to the USA.
My Opinion on these Events
After reading about these events online, I can only imagine how messed up those shooters must have been. I think it’s very worrying that barely half the year has passed and there have already been 248 shootings in the US. The second-highest ranked country in the world for mass shootings, Mexico, has only had 3 this year. It’s even worse to think that after almost 250 shootings, the US Government has still done nothing besides giving the victims their “thoughts and prayers” (which won’t help at all).
It’s time to take action and make stricter laws on gun control. Screw the Second Amendment. That piece of the US Constitution has done nothing but cause trouble and allow the deaths of innocents (for the most part). It’s time to put a limit on gun usage. Wake up America! Do something! Just do something to actually stop, or at least reduce, these shootings!
Also, blaming weed, transgender rights, and video games is wrong and you know it. None of these scapegoats are legitimate motives to just start shooting a crowd of people. Blaming video games for shootings would be like blaming Hot Wheels for car crashes. You know damn well it isn’t true (at least, I hope you do).
Written by Rivierenland
Titillating Trivia
Hello and welcome to this issue’s National Trivia section! This month we’re covering facts from a disputed territory that has been at the centre of a lot of tension in South Asia, as well as Lesotho, a country that is relatively unheard of but means a lot to me as a small part of my childhood was spent there.
Jammu and Kashmir
Under India, Jammu and Kashmir was a highly autonomous entity, being the only Indian state with both a state flag and a national flag, and its own constitution, as well as being the only state with a Muslim majority. Jammu and Kashmir was unaffected by all Indian laws not related to defence, communication and foreign relations.
The territory is disputed between India, Pakistan, and China. The Pakistan-controlled regions are known as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, and the China-controlled areas are known as Aksai Chin and the Shaksgam Valley. Within India there are three parts to the region, Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh. From 31 October 2019, these will become two separate regions for the first time in their history, with Jammu and Kashmir remaining together and Ladakh becoming its own region.
A traditional Mokorotlo hat
Lesotho’s inhabitants, the Sotho people, or Basotho, are famous for making beautiful patterned Seanamarena blankets that they can often be seen being worn by men and women, young and old, all across the small country. While this blanket was originally introduced by European traders, Lesotho quickly made it their own and it is a major symbol of the nation. These blankets may be more familiar than you think — they appeared in the Marvel movie Black Panther as a part of the Wakandan Border Tribe’s defensive arsenal.
Another famous Basotho item of clothing that is both an amazing skill of the people and a national symbol, appearing on the flag of the nation, is the Mokorotlo hat. This woven straw hat is designed to look like the mountains where the first king of Lesotho had his many triumphs. It is either worn or placed in the house to symbolize connections to ancestors, and to ward off danger and evil influences. It was originally worn only by men but women have had their own version since the 1950s.
Written by St Scarlett
Edited by Yahlia, Novgorod-Pskov, and Potus branada
We Need You!
It looks like EuroNews is here to stay! However, we cannot continue to consistently put out fantastic newsletters like this month's without volunteers from Europe. If you would like to help us out in future, as a writer, or editor, or in any other way, please do not hesitate to get into contact with our founder, Feria-Alkaline, or Yahlia, one of EuroNews's Chief Officers for more information. We understand that real-life commitments always come before a project such as this, so none of our members are obligated to assist with every issue. More staff simply means less work and pressure for all of us. We hope to see you in our Discord server soon!
:D
Balnik and Thepenguinland
How did you hear about The Western Isles?
I was in 10,000 Islands and even in TITO as a defender but got bored and found this so I decided to join.
What's some information about yourself (hobbies, interests, country, etc.)? I live in the US
What kind of nation are you trying to make? That changes I was trying to make a democracy but now I’m making it communist and soon I’ll make it fascist (OOC I’m not communist or fascist though). I am mainly on NS for RPing, especially P2TM
I've never thought of leaving TWI...
Speak for yourself on that one
on pc, looks cooler for me
Very recently I was helping a guy from another region work out his military budget. Turns out his regionmates had an issue with it. After that 3-day conversation, I had a new appreciation for the group of people we have here in TWI. I'm not even thinking about leaving for somewhere else.
Athara magarat, Alteran Republics, Thuzbekistan, Thepenguinland, and 2 othersAlmorea, and Aizcona
Never really understood why people vote for condemning people via the WA. I'd wager it's more of just a point of pride for anyone who gets it.
"Oh yeah, I'm so good at raiding the WA vilifies me."
Thepenguinland and Nhoor
The choice is yours, but wouldn’t it be better to stick it out and make TWI better then seeking “greener pastures”. As the Poppies Bloom in San Javier has not been settled yet. Looks like a show down between the MTSO and the new Eastern Block could come to head in the near future. There is still Charbagnia, with you granting your portion independence, me seizing Kachee in a sponsored coupe and now Vancouvia basically making a protectorate of his. Not to mention a Boxer Rebellion idea where Freekorps in the Charbagnia Federation lay siege to a number of consultants, requiring a joint effort to relieve them, and every nation involved trying to protect their own interests and stymie everyone else’s.
I left 3 other regions before coming here. This is my NS home. I will never leave it voluntarily. But, i respect Dormil's decision.
Athara magarat, Wellsia, Cantonos, Alteran Republics, and 2 othersThepenguinland, and Brulafi
So, I'm trying to get some my international affairs sorted. I was thinking of doing it here on the RMB but that would be too clustered. Instead I will probably send out a group TG to everyone involved.
My only advice would be that like all the other good rp regions I know seem to be in the process of dying if not dead already. Esquarium died, and Aeia is haemmoraging members.
Let's have some fun.
Blah. It's probably just that I've lost all interest tbh
Tbh its modern rp that has me bored. Same sh*t different rp. 18-19th century is where it's at.
Razzgriz and Soutara
I'll be the first to admit I myself have gotten (more) interested in other things and thus my activity has lapsed. However, this seems to be a common thread with you almost to the point of ridiculousness. This must be at least the fifth time you've claimed you're going away forever. Not trying to be harsh, but we do have an executive order about leaving and coming back again and again - please make up your mind this time. I hope you find what you're looking for
Surely Cold War conditions can be created once more if some alliances are shaken and long-held priorities replaced.
Razzgriz, Thepenguinland, and Brulafi
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