The West PacificBoard

I have a condition called hydrocephalus that means water on the brain. The brain is surrounded by a cushion ventricle space that pads the skull. Some people have physical obstructions, other people have other issues that we don’t know what causes it. There isn’t much known about the brain, there is only a treatment, not a cure for this condition.

In the 1960s, they developed a device called a shunt. It is a plastic tube that goes from the brain to my abdomen. The fluid drains there and then is absorbed by my body. This device has a failure rate of 90% in 10 years. It is the most common reason for pediatric brain surgery. It costs over 2 billion per year for all the surgeries. Children tend to have more brain surgeries as they are growing quickly. By the age of 18, I had 6 brain surgeries. When my shunt isn’t working, my symptoms come back.

This condition is fatal if not treated. It means agonizing headaches as my brain is physically squished to death by my own fluid. I know people with more than 70 surgeries. Some people are more lucky and have a shunt last over 60 years, others like myself have had 6 in a year. I had 3 brain surgeries in 18 months in middle school, I missed over 6 weeks in the 8th grade. I have had two friends die from this condition.

It is only allocated $8 million every year. It is more common than Down’s Syndrome yet only gets 5% of the funding that Down’s Syndrome receives. There has not been a significant improvement in treatment in over 30 years. I have to live with the fact that I could have a brain surgery at any point in my life. In 2016, when I started my first adult job, 6 months into it, my headaches returned. I proceeded to have 6 surgeries within a 13 month period.

When my shunt isn’t working, I have mood swings, I am sensitive to light, I have terrible agonizing headaches that can literally kill me, and there is no treatment other than a brain surgery to replace the shunt.

Diagram of a VP Shunt

I am still lucky though. Shunts break in odd and weird ways, some people have had 300 surgeries, others have had only one. It is the draw of the luck whether or not someone will have a failure. People can develop this condition at any point in their life. A senator in the US developed it after being shot in the head.

My life has been put on hold because of this condition, and it is just become a reality of my life. I live with the fact that I could die at any point because of this condition yet prior to 1960, there was no treatment. The oldest surviving people with this condition are still alive – in their 60s. We know so little about the brain, we are guinea pigs and we’ve only started to be able to live. The mortality rate was 95% prior to the 1960s.

I have been near death, hydrocephalus is complicated and neurosurgeons don’t know enough about the condition. I am complicated and complex for my condition. I depend on a plastic tube to stay alive.

This month is hydro awareness month. Many elderly are misdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s who actually have hydrocephalus. Anyone can develop this condition or even born with it and not know until they’re adults. This is a condition that can hit at any time and anyone. It is far more common than people know.

Let’s start raising awareness.

Me, two weeks after my fifth brain surgery in six months

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TWP's Ministry of Cultural Affairs has been responsible for much of the region's growth over the last couple years. With the encouragement of delegates who have supported and worked with the ministry to spotlight its events and programs, TWP has been able to hold all sorts of activities from Discord festivals to forum RPs to RMB events and so much more. These events have helped grow the region, recruit new members, and most importantly, been a lot of fun. But despite this success, TWP is now dissolving the entire Ministry! So what's that all about?

The different programs and initiatives in the ministry's charge are not being abandoned. Instead, they will be maintained and grown under the care of a new system: The West Pacific Cultural Trust. The Trust is an innovative new way to do cultural affairs, and we're excited to see what it brings. The Trust is far more than a mere rebranding or reorganization of a cabinet ministry. Instead, it represents a new philosophical approach. The old ministry and the new Trust were and are both rooted in TWP's meritocratic ideals. But, where the ministry found dedicated players who were already putting effort into cultural affairs and put them into leadership positions, the Trust takes a more grassroots approach. The goal of the Trust is to bring more people to the table to help organize the region's cultural offerings and incorporate more ideas from more points of view—to make sure that the region supports what people want to see, and not just what ministry staffers have the time to work on.

The different areas that all used to be under the ministry's purview have been separated into separate communities, and each community now works together to take responsibility for itself with organizational assistance from the umbrella organization of the Trust. There's no application process for joining communities: you simply show up and get involved however is best for you. Joining the Trust is as easy as jumping into card collecting, trying out roleplay, or writing a haiku!

As someone who used to work in the old Ministry of Cultural Affairs, I'm excited to see how the Trust changes the way we do culture in TWP. I'm looking forward to working with new players, each bringing new ideas to areas they are personally passionate about. After all, TWPers can now choose to be directly involved with the events or programs of the community they are specifically interested in.

It's worth mentioning what those communities are! There are currently five different communities within the Cultural Trust—here are few details about them all in no particular order:

TWP's Roleplay Community is not new; it has long had a Discord server of its own where roleplayers share ideas, plan long-form RPs, and work on their worldbuilding. TWP's map is part of the Roleplay Community, and participation in certain forum RPs is contingent on presence on the map. Of course, there have also been and will always be some RPs that anyone can join, if they want to get a taste for this community without going through the map application process.

The Card Club, like all of the new Trust communities, has also existed, just less formally. Members of the Card Club have written articles and dispatches about NS trading cards, cut each other deals, shared tips, and helped each other work on collections. Participation is centered on the trading channel on the TWP discord, where our own NS card sharks hang out... they're actually incredibly friendly and welcoming!

The Nomic Enclosure is a community that brings a long-running forum game into the cultural affairs fold. 'Nomic' is a game where changing the rules is a move, so there's no saying where the game will go. TWP's Nomic game, which has been running since the end of February, has things like a 'Potato King', special status for legal cases involving Bananas (since repealed), and its own stock market. Try it out! Joining is as easy as writing a three-line poem.

Our Fine Arts Society brings together artists, writers, graphic designers, poets, and even musicians, should someone want to showcase their abilities on a discord voice chat. This community is a place to encourage each other and appreciate each other's talent—and we've found out over the years that there's certainly more than enough to go around here in TWP.

The final Trust community is the News Group, which is responsible for creating the newspaper that comes out every month and which you are reading right now! The paper does prepare its articles behind closed doors so the scoop doesn't get leaked, but if you'd like to write for us, get in touch with Chief Editor Fujai or another staff member, and we'll get you masked appropriately.

Get involved in the Trust and help grow our region's culture today!

Overview
Europeia is one of the largest User-Created Regions (UCRs) of NationStates, founded by King HEM on 6th of March 2007. Throughout its 13-year-long history, Europeia was initially a monarchy, then an empire, and finally a republic that stands to the present day. It is divided into three government branches – the Executive; the Legislative and the Judiciary – all of those except the Judiciary having their main positions elected, as the region stands by the pillars of democracy. In addition, Europeian contains an autonomous and mostly self-governing city-state called Arnhelm; as well as the Europeian Navy, the independent-aligned regional military organization.

On my 1-year journey in NS, I was appointed as ambassador from TWP to Europeia back in November last year. Then I applied for Europeian citizenship some months later, and nowadays I'm still active there. I've met many interesting people and now, I've decided to research even more about the region and its culture, in order to write this feature. Let's get started!

Government
Europeia is a democracy divided into three government branches. The President, currently Ambrella (Sopo), heads the Executive branch and is aided by the Vice President (currently Jermeny) on that role. The President also appoints Ministers to oversee different areas of the region – namely Interior, Communications, Culture, Radio, World Assembly and Foreign Affairs. These are similar to the ministries of the West Pacific, but with some distinctions such as the emphasis on recruitment, which is vital for every UCR. The Executive also has liaisons to other branches, such as the Attorney General for the Judiciary.

The Senate represents Europeia's Legislative branch, which crafts laws for the region, and confirms Minister appointments by the President, among other roles. Senators are elected every 70 days – with a new term having started on the end of August, as I finish this article. The Senate is composed by 5 to 10 Senators and also has a Speaker, with administrative duties over Senate discussions. From what I've seen so far, the seats for Senate are very disputed, as new and old members try to show their ability to serve an essential part of the region. Beyond laws, this legislative body also confirms treaties with other regions and approves Ovations (honors for worthy community members) nominated by the President. In comparison to the West Pacific, it shares some traits with TWP's Hall of Nations – such as both having a Speaker position as leader and handling the recognition of long-time members who have greatly contributed to the region.

The third branch is the Judiciary, also known as the High Court. In this branch, Justices are appointed by the President for terms of maximum 120 days and have the authority to make decisions on all matters that come to the Courts – which are divided into the Trial Court and the Court of Appeal. Although vastly different from the West Pacific's procedures on handling disputes, this part of the region also sees significant engagement as many citizens apply to the position of Law Clerks to increase familiarity with the regional laws.

Culture
Anyone visiting Europeia will notice its rich and active culture. The Discord server is extremely active with many different channels such as #eurochat – the region's general channel – as well as other channels for real life discussions, sports, and even one about NS trading cards! It is also where important events like festivals, articles and radio shows are announced. The RMB is an unique atmosphere, and interestingly, many players posting there aren't involved in other regional platforms such as Discord. The region also includes a different, recently-created venue called West Europeia for RMB roleplaying.

Cultural activities happen regularly for citizens and visitors alike. During my stay on the region, I can definitely say Weekend Games are my favorite – including Skribbl, Cards Against Humanity, UNO, and Trivia. They are organised by the Ministry of Culture, which recently has created a leaderboard to encourage participation on those. Two or three games are scheduled every weekend night, and many people show up to have some fun after a week of work or other real life matters. The vast majority of games happens on weekends, but some tournaments are scheduled every now and then, where members play a single game on any given day (usually for longer than a normal Weekend Game session).

The region also prepares various festivals. Regional celebrations are important, such as this year's Republic Day. During the event, many people decided through cultural challenges who was best to occupy the post of Supreme Leader – a position with full "powers" on the region but revoked some time after. Also worth noting are the aforementioned Ovations for worthy members of the region: after being approved by the Senate, a celebration is prepared by the Ministry of Culture. Interregional events are also present, such as EuroPride or Paradoxical'20 that happened this year. The newly created Region of the Week program also focuses on regional relations, where a different region is chosen every few weeks. In my experience, the first ever festival I joined as ambassador was the Europeian Yule Ball in last December. From there, I realized how important these events are.

Another aspect of Europeian culture is the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC), the official regional news source. Ran by the Ministry of Communications, it is further divided into several columns, each one discussing different topics, such as foreign or government events. The region also allows private-run media, in the sense that individual citizens can publish their own articles without writing for the EBC if they choose. Europeia's strategy to release smaller but more frequent articles is different than many other regions (such as TWP) that prefer writing a monthly newspaper. In my opinion, there are benefits for both sides – the style adopted by Europeia allows citizens and visitors to keep up with recent happenings as soon as they occur, while monthly but bigger publications are able to encompass various topics and events that happened during that timeframe.

Of course I couldn't conclude the Culture section without talking about Radio, a part of the region that has definitely increased in activity during recent times. Although I personally prefer other regional culture activities, there is no doubt that Radio is among the favorite activities of many Europeian members. The region broadcasts several radio shows every week, with covered topics ranging from internal politics, NS events and even real-life topics!

Relations with The West Pacific and Conclusion
After reading many things about the government and culture of Europeia, you may be wondering the relation between Europeia and the West Pacific. Firstly, both regions are treatied allies for over 4 years – the treaty can be found in this dispatch. Signed in mid-2016 during the terms of then TWP Delegate Elegarth and Europeian President Trinnien, this friendship treaty has vastly improved the relation between our regions. In my view, it's a very significant relationship that, despite the numerous differences between us, has lasted to the present day. During my time as ambassador, I've noticed other TWPers sometimes chat in the Europeian Discord server and also visit festivals, as a sign our regions continue connected between each other.

Personally, I'm happy for continuing this relation as ambassador from TWP to Europeia since last November and eager to know what the future holds. Hopefully, this connection will be maintained for a long time, and I'll continue active in my diplomat role to further engage with this wonderful region. While I continue on this role, stay tuned on next editions of our monthly newspaper for even more Foreign Affairs features from me or other members!

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Album Openers
The first track of any album is vital. It sets the tone (no pun intended). I especially loved the feeling of being wowed by an opening track. Think of Welcome to the Jungle on Appetite for Destruction, Rosanna on Toto IV, or (seriously) Bye Bye Bye on No Strings Attached. My selections here skew towards 90s-esque music, but there’s surely a lot of winners and even more contenders for best album openers.

Beyoncé - Love On Top
Can anyone top this kind of opener? The intro immediately has the listener hooked, and Beyoncé commands the band to bring the beat in. During the verses, B coos while describing how her lover makes her feel. The prechorus is magical, providing a musical contrast that perfectly works with her admission: “Everybody asks me why I’m smiling out from ear to ear / nothing’s perfect but it’s worth it after fighting through my tears / and finally you put me first.” By the end of the song, Beyoncé sings her lungs out, and let’s be real: everyone else does too! A smooth and pleasant groove and exceptional voicing and lyrics put this song on top.

No Doubt - Spiderwebs
It’s ska pop perfection! Fewer things were more exhilarating than popping this album in my car’s CD player for my daily drive to high school when I was a senior. Moderate in tempo yet infectious with energy, Spiderwebs sets the mood for the journey from whimsical (think Just a Girl) to the intense (Don’t Speak) and everything in between. The interplay of brass, percussion, and intricate electric guitar and bass make for a great wake up tune, and they remind me of teenage years when my friends and I were still ruminating over the music of our older siblings.

Audioslave - Revelations
I was too young to experience Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine in full, so the formation of Audioslave was a great opportunity to appreciate both bands and their new creations through this endeavor. People are more likely to know mad scientist guitarist Tom Morello’s helicopter-like guitar intro to Audioslave’s more famous album opener Cochise, but Revelations should not be ignored. It begins with a shimmery arpeggio that gives way to trademark aggressive guitar, bass, and drumwork. Combined with the late Chris Cornell’s growl-like vocals and high register singing, Revelations quickly clues the listener into what will be a vintage combination of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden at their best. And: great cowbell in the intro. I gotta have more cowbell!

Deep Tracks
For these deep tracks, I went down memory lane to adolescence and teenage years when the most important thing in my life was my guitar and my dreams to be a guitar hero. But I’m a sappy guy, so along with the hard rock and guitar gods of the days of lore, I spent a lot of time listening to alternative bands and their stories of love gained and lost.

Third Eye Blind - Motorcycle Drive By
Third Eye Blind’s debut album is what some philosophers would call an Event (capital E). Something incredible happens when this album plays from start to finish. It’s memorable. The track pacing is thoroughly engaging, and as a listener I never wanted the Event to stop. Yes, there is a lot of talk about things no teenager should have experience of. Yes, some of 3eB’s radio hits are immensely overplayed. But this album is brilliant and still fresh more than twenty years later. A major influence on this album is former guitarist Kevin Cadogan, who trained under the famous Joe Satriani, a melodic guitar virtuoso. The influence shines through: the guitarwork is impressive and expressive, even if pedestrian compared to true hard rock and metal bands. Motorcycle Drive By is perhaps the best deep track in Third Eye Blind’s entire career, and that’s saying a lot given some of the other contenders on this album alone. The lyrics are engaging, the melody memorable. You really commune with Stephan Jenkins when he sings, “I’ve never been so alone, and I… I’ve never been so alive” just as the rest of the band crescendos into life.

Vertical Horizon - Send It Up
Vertical Horizon made great acoustic pop in the vein of 90s college singer songwriters, and they made one of the most vanilla pop rock albums of the turn of the century in Everything You Want. It’s simply good studio rock, from the drum grooves and fills to the use of acoustic and electric guitars. Send It Up is the kind of feel-good song that fans surely love live. The harmonies, though simple, are effective, and the interval from second chorus to guitar interlude and final prechorus/chorus is simply perfect for what it is. It’s easy, mood-lifting listening. It’s also everything I want after hearing Everything You Want ad nauseam.

John Mayer - Slow Dancing in a Burning Room
For a deep track, this one will be pretty well-known among Mayer fans. I have a love-hate relationship with John Mayer: his early work up to Heavier Things includes a lot of tunes that aspiring guitarists love to learn (and to impress others with). But John Mayer has since said some deeply problematic and vile things about past love interests. That said, Continuum is a welcome shift into a more mature John sound. The album has more of a soulful, bluesy, jazzy feel, and Slow Dancing In A Burning Room is Mayer at his most authentically expressive (I don’t count Waiting on the World to Change as authentically expressive). He found the right combo in the melody for “My dear, we’re slow dancing in a burning room” and punctuates it perfectly with his high-treble Fender Stratocaster sound. The outro solo is a truly weeping guitar, and Mayer was clearly a weeping guitarist while recording Continuum. In Repair is a great runner up for a deep track.

New (and Old) Favorites
The common theme among these favorites is something about la joie de vivre. They’re soulful, evoking love, desire, and happy feelings. Life is hard. These songs make life easier to bear.

Lawrence - Come On Over (Cover)
I hated the late 90s pop diva turn. But I love this version of Christina Aguilera’s Come On Over. It is so soulful and playful. The brother-sister duo that forms the core of Lawrence pull off incredible harmonies, and they are versatile enough in their originals to sing simply and in a controlled manner, and expressive enough to let loose. Here, they go for broke. The entire band adds their flavor with exceptionally timed and blended fills and riffs from the brass section, the guitarist, the bass player, and the drums. The brother is one mean piano player too. There’s a big surprise towards the end with a key change that has left many YouTubers commenting that it was the best one in history. It makes you wonder: “Why didn’t anyone else think about that?”

Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke
This is simply some of the best music in recent memory. If you watch a live video of Sir Duke, it’s amazing to see everyone singing the brass/bass interludes in unison. This is a master class of musicianship, and it’s in it’s own world in the world of music. I’m a pretty fair musician, and while I can play those memorable riffs on guitar or bass on a technical level, in a very real sense, I can’t play them at all, because only the musician who has mastered their craft and tapped into a part of their heart the way that Stevie Wonder and his band have can play it just like them—with the subtle syncopation and voicing that makes those notes come to life. This is a classic through and through: decades later people will still be able to feel it all over through this music.

Marvin Gaye and Tammi Tarrell - Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
How can a song so brief be so transcendent? In 2:30, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough brings people into the celebration of various types of love: that of partners committed to each other, families who will do anything for each other, and friends for life. Nothing can separate the kind of loving commitment and care celebrated in this song. Early on in the song, there is a beautiful juxtaposition and complementarity between Marvin Gaye’s scratchy vocals and Tammi Tarrell’s soothing singing. This makes the reversal of sorts in the final verse memorable: now it is Tarrell’s voice taking on the volume as she sings, “My love is alive, way down in my heart, although we are miles apart.” Ain’t No Mountain High Enough will always be a favorite for its up-tempo message.

Next issue, I’ll muse about some of my favorite classical and choral pieces. Want to muse about music too? TG or DM Fuentana to submit a feature to The Western Post.

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First off, I'll talk about the election cycle. While the West Pacific stands on the pillars of meritocracy, we indeed have elections! Every three months, all members of the Hall of Nations decide the most meritorious among them to assume the elected positions of Speaker of the Hall and Deputy for most regional ministries. This voting season had one significant change – besides the nomination and voting phases, a question & answer period was also added, all of them with 3 days each. Furthermore, positions with a sole candidate at the end of nominations were rather appointed by the Delegate Bran Astor, instead of proceeding to further phases.

Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs
Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs (DCA) was one of two races in which voting took place. The candidates were the incumbent Recuecn and Fuentana, coincidentally a rematch of the last election – although the vote wasn't as close as three months ago. Reçueçn decided to continue on the elected position they've been since February (de facto even earlier when DCA wasn't elected), citing the success of recent newspaper editions, sport roleplays, and new materials related to trading cards. Fuentana also praised the region's cultural activity, and even proposed some innovations such as regular web games. As the Ministry of Cultural Affairs gives space to the West Pacific Cultural Trust, it is worth noting both candidates promised to do their best this transition goes smoothly and the region continues having an awesome culture. The results were:

Reçueçn told The Western Post: “It's an honor to be elected as Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs again! It's always a bit scary to see that people think I'm the right person for the job, but I'm excited for this next term where we will be transitioning from having Cultural Affairs run as a ministry to having it run under a trust system. There's big things in store for the trust and I'm glad I can help out with the transition.”

Deputy Minister of World Assembly Recruitment
The vote for Deputy Minister of World Assembly Recruitment (DWAR) saw incumbent The unified missourtama states (TUMS) face off Fuentana. TUMS aimed to continue their World Assembly Authors program, which took off this term and, even though no authored resolutions were placed on the queue, has seen significant progress. Meanwhile, Fuentana talked about their experience on other ministries and how they could adapt their approach as Today in the West coordinator and Regional Guide to recruit new members and increase endorsement numbers on the region. In the end, the vote was very close:

The Western Post spoke to Fuentana, who said “I was surprised to be nominated by TUMS, but I am excited to take this opportunity to contribute to the region and engage in another aspect of gameplay. I'm lucky to be following TUMS and their achievements!”
Speaker of the Hall of Nations & Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

The only candidate on the race for Speaker of the Hall of Nations was myself, incumbent Giovanniland. Having coordinated discussions and maintained activity within the Hall for the past 6 months, such as Regional Commendations for worthy members of our region, I was appointed by Delegate Bran Astor to serve as Speaker for another 3 months. I have this to say for The Western Post: "Although I wish someone else had also campaigned for Speaker, I am looking forward for another three months on the position! I'll be sure to continue activity on the Hall, with many interesting discussions, and also organize the next elections when the time comes."

Likewise, there was also only one candidate for Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (DFA): the incumbent Mystic skies (Mia). For their awesome work for the past term, such as spurring activity, training many new diplomats, and many more contributions, Mia has also been appointed by Delegate Bran Astor to serve for another 3 months as DFA.

Conclusion & Beyond the Elections
In conclusion, this was another great election cycle! Although the turnout of 31 voters was significantly smaller to the previous election's 57 votes, mostly because that one happened right after a big new nation spawn, it's still an awesome amount of votes, and as Speaker I am glad there is interest from Hall members on taking higher roles and debating plans for upcoming terms. It's not all that happened this month, though! You may have noticed the title says 'elections and more'.

So what else has happened this month in the Hall? Last edition, I said the future Speaker would lead the discussion to regionally commend Bhang Bhang Duc, a former Delegate and Guardian which is still active on the region. Now that elections ended, I am glad to say discussion on the regional commendation of this worthy member has happened throughout the month and is now finished! Voting is ongoing as I write, and it will probably have ended when this is published. Stay tuned – this result and more will be covered on the next monthly Hall update.

This is it for the month! At last, I make my monthly invite to any non-Hall members: if you are interested to participate in discussions and elections, follow the steps here to apply for citizenship today!

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TWP is known for its weekly RMB traditions, including Punday Mondays. At the end of the event our delegate Bran Astor selects the best submission, and the winner receives fame, glory, and the adoration of hundreds of fans.

That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but winning one of these contests is no small feat, as these winning submissions from the month of August show.

I see Sauron did nothing to get rid of customer discrimination.

RIP gazelle. He may have been a haughty fellow but he sure made a tasty meal!

I’ll admit it took me a while to get this one.

Honorary Mention
A winning submission was not selected for the third week of August, so here’s my favorite pun from that week:

With a nice followup:

Be sure to join us every Monday for this exciting tradition and try your hand at a clever pun!

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The Western Post Staff - Editors-in-Chief: Bran Astor, Fujai, Assistant Editors: Recuecn, Mystic skies, Staff: Darkesia, Dayadhvam, Dilber, Fuentana, Giovanniland, Nieubasria, Podium, Sensorland, Teralyon, Marisala, Gryphonian Alliance, and YOU

All your chocolate belongs to Darkesia

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Hello and welcome to The West Pacific!

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Congratulations! Your nation has made its way to NationStates' premier meritocracy! In this guide you'll find all you need to navigate this game and get involved in our community here in the West Pacific.

TWP Quick Links: The West Pacific ● Join the Discord Server! ● Regional Forums ● Master Dispatch

NationStates (NS) is a nation simulation game where we, the players, run nations and band together in regions to have a good time.

First and foremost, there is your individual nation. This is what you see with when you login to NS. You have the authority to govern it as you see fit by answering issues, which change your laws, statistics, and rankings. These can be found using the different symbol tabs on your nation page.

You can also join the World Assembly, get to know the people of TWP, apply for regional citizenship, and join the regional government, which you'll read about in the next few sections.

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Every nation is a part of a region, and like you, they start out in one of the five Pacific regions. Most regions have their own systems of government that have been created by the players who live there. Each region is headed by a Delegate, the nation with the most World Assembly endorsements.

The World Assembly (WA) is similar to the United Nations in the real world. In this body, resolutions and laws are passed that all WA member nations must abide by. Please join the World Assembly to help secure your new home and raise its influence on the world stage!

Once you have joined the WA, you may vote on proposals in the General Assembly (GA) and Security Council (SC), and endorse other TWP nations. Please note that you are only allowed to have one nation in WA.

As mentioned earlier, the nation with the most endorsements in a region is the Delegate, gaining executive power in the region. For those reasons, it's extremely important to join the WA and endorse our Delegate Overthinkers & the Guardians.

In order to endorse a nation after you join the WA, find their page and then scroll to the bottom, where there will be a button to endorse.

If you have any further questions about NationStates you can send a telegram to our current Delegate, Overthinkers. She’s a great person and will kindly help with and questions or concerns you may have!

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Here in The West Pacific, we use a meritocratic system of government with the Delegate at its head. The more active you are in the region and the more capable you show yourself to be, the more opportunities you will get for responsibility and advancement.

Because of this, we are one of the most continuously innovative regions in the game. The regional government is made up of the Delegate, the Guardians, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and staff. All positions are appointed by the Delegate based on merit except for the Speaker of the Hall and the Hall of Nations Guardian, who are elected by the members of the Hall of Nations.

Members of the Hall of Nations are citizens of The West Pacific. You can join by making an account on our forums, filling the citizenship form, and repeating the citizenship oath.

Your application will be processed as soon as possible. While you wait, it's a good idea to talk on the Regional Message Board and get to know our Discord community.

After being accepted as a citizen, you can join one of TWP's government ministries to get more involved!

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (FA) is all about developing relations with other regions, especially allied regions, and spreading our culture abroad!

• Send a telegram or message to the FA Deputy Minister Hertfordshire and Jammbo at @snowsageclarkov to apply!

The West Pacific Armed Forces (TWPAF) is a sovereign military that offers raider and defender operations by using endorsements to take over or defend other regions!

• Submit an application in the forum thread, join the TWPAF Discord Server and be ready for training once accepted!

The Office of Recruitment recruits new nations to move to the West Pacific!

• Send a telegram or message to the Director of Recruitment Noton Mast at @quadc to apply!

The Ministry of World Assembly and Recruitment (WAR) has the goal of strengthening The West Pacific in the World Assembly and encouraging regional involvement in the WA!

• Send a telegram or message to the Delegate Overthinkers at @weirdoxvii to apply!

The Regional Guides are tasked with welcoming new players and getting them comfortable and involved in the regional community!

• Send a telegram or message to the Head Regional Guide Zoran at @oblivionwind to apply!

The Western Post is the official newspaper of The West Pacific and reports on a wide range of topics, from serious to lighthearted and everything in between!

• Send a telegram or message to the Editor-in-Chief Giovanniland at @.giovanni_ to apply!

The Cultural Trust is the home of regional culture, composed of several independent cultural communities!

• Check this dispatch for information on each community: Card Club, News Group, The West on the Waves, Roleplay Community, Fine Arts Society, and West Pacific Gaming!

For more detailed information on each of our Ministries, please check the How to Get Involved in TWP dispatch.

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You can find our regional hub, the forums, here.

We also have an active discord server that you can join here. This is where you can find the contacts mentioned above in the volunteer group list.

Congratulations, you made it to the end! Enjoy your stay in The West Pacific!

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