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Josephus I said:
You yourself have admited you want to nationalize industry, am I right?
after voting Amric stops off to see his friend John Black, wondering if he is sitting on his front porch as he often is....
Referendums (or Referenda if you prefer?)
No matter who wins the seats in the GA, the majority of the citizens will be disenfranchised in a sense, as nine members of the General Assembly (and a similar number of Senators) will be the only people able to vote directly on key legislation or constitutional amendments. Eutopia's recent chaos has been blamed by some on an inactive, inert, or ineffective GA. The flag proposals put to vote in the most recent election, for which we are eagerly awaiting the results, showed us there is a viable alternative: direct referendums. This has been used successfully in some US states and some European countries, with populations larger and smaller than Eutopia's. Two means of getting referendums on the ballot have been used, by legislative action and by petition. With our governmental structure, the former would make little sense, except perhaps for constitutional amendments, but petition could be an excellent extension of democratic principles. As I understand it, this would require a constitutional amendment, which means that six of members of the GA would have to vote for more power to the people, and thus, implicitly less power to themselves, so this would seem to an uphill battle. Of course, any proposed legislative referendum would have to be constitutional, so some provision would have to be made for a high court review either before it appeared on the ballot or between the time it passed and took effect. Obviously, we can't be having elections every day, so the number of valid signatures on a petition would have to be fairly high, and the voting should coincide with other regularly scheduled elections (at the end of each term general elections or with the mid-term Senate elections). Please contact your newly elected representatives and ask them to draft and propose a constitutional amendment enabling petitions to propose legislative referendums and perhaps constitutional amendment referendums as well.
No matter who wins the seats in the GA, the majority of the citizens will be disenfranchised in a sense, as nine members of the General Assembly (and a similar number of Senators) will be the only people able to vote directly on key legislation or constitutional amendments. Eutopia's recent chaos has been blamed by some on an inactive, inert, or ineffective GA. The flag proposals put to vote in the most recent election, for which we are eagerly awaiting the results, showed us there is a viable alternative: direct referendums. This has been used successfully in some US states and some European countries, with populations larger and smaller than Eutopia's. Two means of getting referendums on the ballot have been used, by legislative action and by petition. With our governmental structure, the former would make little sense, except perhaps for constitutional amendments, but petition could be an excellent extension of democratic principles. As I understand it, this would require a constitutional amendment, which means that six of members of the GA would have to vote for more power to the people, and thus, implicitly less power to themselves, so this would seem to an uphill battle. Of course, any proposed legislative referendum would have to be constitutional, so some provision would have to be made for a high court review either before it appeared on the ballot or between the time it passed and took effect. Obviously, we can't be having elections every day, so the number of valid signatures on a petition would have to be fairly high, and the voting should coincide with other regularly scheduled elections (at the end of each term general elections or with the mid-term Senate elections). Please contact your newly elected representatives and ask them to draft and propose a constitutional amendment enabling petitions to propose legislative referendums and perhaps constitutional amendment referendums as well.
The Tio organizations shiek entered the Townhall, waving a newspaper.
"Where is the freedom you westerners always brag about hmmm?A school has just banned the islamic headscarf! this is unacceptable!I demand the government to look into the issue, the muslim community will not allow this to continue until you revise it!This is an atrocious attack against the rights of muslims. The headscarf isnt some "nominal" decoration, is it fundemental to our faith! i demand a revision.!"
"Where is the freedom you westerners always brag about hmmm?A school has just banned the islamic headscarf! this is unacceptable!I demand the government to look into the issue, the muslim community will not allow this to continue until you revise it!This is an atrocious attack against the rights of muslims. The headscarf isnt some "nominal" decoration, is it fundemental to our faith! i demand a revision.!"
"I don't think that shouting around will help your cause very much, Mister. if something like that really happened it surely needs to be sorted out"
"Sir, yes, a school banned headscarves in the UPE, but that is one school, and it is currently being looked into. Were your cause less worthy, I would not have listened to a single word you said. I suggest you stop ranting and raving all over the place or soon you shall enrage far more people than you convince to your point of view. You randomly yell and shout in public places, please, cease to do so and your cause will be supported more than ever."
Do any of the media groups have a movie production company? I have an screenplay that might make a good movie or perhaps a mini-series. Alternatively, which university has the best film school? Maybe I can find and up and coming independent director.
Shouldn't the banning of the headscarf be brought before the High Court? One wonders! It's a breach in the freedom of religion. Before one knows schools start to prohibit wearing crosses to believing Christians! 
My dear Reverend, I am not sure the two issue are comprable. While the wearing of the cross is solely a sign of devotion, the wearing of the hijab also seams to connote a sign of rebellion and separtion from the rest of our society. Surely the last thing Eutopia needs is more division, right?
The Hijab is a representation of the islamic faith. To shred it away from the muslim community, you could very well expect rebellion.This is a matter of great importance to society.
What you say in general may be true, the specifics in this case seem different enough to perhaps make it false. One school district in one province has banned head scarves by regulation. Is that action constititutional? Some have argued that it is not. Now that the high court has reopened, that case can be brought. Rebellion, when there is a legitimate, legal alternative that has not been pursued is merely lawlessness, and incitement to rebellion in such circumstances would seem to be sedition. Of course, I am not a lawyer and newly arrived here, so nothing I say should be taken as legal advice. I would suggest you consult an attourney to see if they will take the case. I have found Lucien Napier to be reputable, and certainly not in the government's pocket.Calipah said:
In the meantime, as the wheels of justice can turn slowly, other forms of action/protest might be more appropriate than rebellion. Keeping those who would normally wear headscarves out of school, is one such step. Encouraging their classmates to boycott school in solidarity in another. Perhaps you could organize alternative education for those who would not be attending school, so their long term prospects won't suffer? Peaceful picketing in front of the provincial (as education is run by that level of government) education offices might lead to reconsideration of their policy. You could start a petition to have the banning of the wearing of headscarves made illegal, and hope that my earlier suggestion on direct referendums is adopted by the new government.
The above are only suggestions, I am sure that there are many other approaches, short of advocating rebellion, that could be taken. If you adapt your approach, you may achieve your stated objective of reversing the ban on the wearing of headscarves in that district of Nouvelle Acquitaine. If you persist in your current approach, then I, and perhaps others, might assume that your actual objective is rebellion, and the issue was just seized on because it was conveniently available. Realizing that, we would be more likely to oppose you than to support you, thus making any change in the current situation less likely.
unclebryan said:
Seems like there was one out of Farpoint, that Ristard Deaghaid was involved in before his death. I don't know if it has been shut down or been handed over to someone else.
There are no other production companies that I'm aware of, or any film schools either.
But it's very likely you could import an independent director, they flock to Rocherfort every year for a big film festival.
- John Black
O'Floinn, overhearing the talk about headscarves while putting up posters, mentions casually,
"You know, any citizen can bring something up for review by the High Court. Stop by my office sometime."
A close look at the post reveals what it says:
"You know, any citizen can bring something up for review by the High Court. Stop by my office sometime."
A close look at the post reveals what it says:
Fellow citizens,
The office of the MDIS is soliciting submissions from the general public to create new branch insignia for the army, navy, and air force, as well as new mottos for each branch. Please consult this Directive for more information.
~Hawkton J. Tilly, MDIS
The office of the MDIS is soliciting submissions from the general public to create new branch insignia for the army, navy, and air force, as well as new mottos for each branch. Please consult this Directive for more information.
~Hawkton J. Tilly, MDIS
Mr. Minister,
Besides aesthetic issues, will the MDIS accept input or consultation from sources independent of the government?
-Jack Rathburne
Besides aesthetic issues, will the MDIS accept input or consultation from sources independent of the government?
-Jack Rathburne
A modest proposal
As a revenue raising measure, have you considered auctioning off naming rights to ships, units, and military bases, much like naming rights are sold for stadiums and athletic events in the US?The_Hawk said:
If that was the case Mr. de Fourgeres then I would staunchly protest and maybe even leave the military. Giving names to vessels and such is a serious business. How can a crew be motivated if they are aboard the ENS Supermarket? A crew needs to be proud on it's vessel.unclebryan said:
Petrarca said:
Absolutely, Commodore. I would be happy to consider submissions from members of the Eutopian Military Thinktank or AFSF, or from the organizations as a whole if they can come to some internal agreement.
unclebryan said:
I must agree with Commander Tulp. Not just any name will do for a ship, military base, or what have you. Not only are there obvious morale issues and historical reasons to not do this, but there is a confusion aspect as well. If I refer to the Gettysburg, everyone in the U.S. Navy knows I'm referring to a Ticonderoga-class cruiser just by dint of the name; not so, unless the Ministry can exercise some oversight over the naming.
"I am enraged at the President's recent remarks about my speech in the GA. I do NOT need the President to apologize for me, and I don't believe it merits an apology anyway! The bottom line is that the southern provinces did openly revolt! Whether it was justified or not isn't the question, there is no doubt that they did revolt. Also, as occured during the elections, President Al'Aeshir has once again taken the liberty of interpreting my words to suit his means.
I never suggested invasion of the southern provinces at all. I merely said that, while we should cooperate and establish friendly relations with them, we cannot simply give them all this. We must get something in return, we must make it known to them that we would have been more suited to them peacefully, in agreement with the government, seceeding, instead of openly breaking away. We cannot simply make it seem as though if a province seceeds it will be granted full equality and treated as though they had done nothing to the detriment of Eutopia at all!"
I never suggested invasion of the southern provinces at all. I merely said that, while we should cooperate and establish friendly relations with them, we cannot simply give them all this. We must get something in return, we must make it known to them that we would have been more suited to them peacefully, in agreement with the government, seceeding, instead of openly breaking away. We cannot simply make it seem as though if a province seceeds it will be granted full equality and treated as though they had done nothing to the detriment of Eutopia at all!"
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