The Micronational View

BREAKING NEWS! Criminal suit filed against Matthew Vasroixe!

2005-04-26T17:07:00.000-07:00

Over the past few weeks, Matthew Vasroixe, who has become famous, or infamous, take your pick, throughout the micronational world because of his native Avalonia's controversial formation as an alternative to the Republic of Lavalon and subsequent conflict with Antica. No one has been able to quite figure out, or at least agree on, what happened and whose fault it is. A number of people have blamed President Vasroixe for stirring up trouble. Recently, the Lavalonian government has added another twist to the story by suing Mr. Vasroixe in the Criminal Court of Lavalon.

Carson Smith, a well-known and well-liked political figure in Lavalon and the Chancellor of Lavalon's General Assembly, ran up the steps to the Criminal Court and delivered a single sheet of paper to the court clerk just minutes before the Court closed for the day at 7:00 P.M. U.S. Central Standard Time (G.M.T.-6). The paper was a petition to the Court for the government's suit against Vasroixe to be heard, and briefly outlined the allegations against the Avalonian president and former Lavalonian citizen.

The government alleges that Mr. Vasroixe applied for citizenship under the "paper doll" of "Andy Child," thus violating Lavalon's One Person Act 2005. It even suggests that Vasroixe was attempting to infilitrate the Lavalonian government. "All the while, defendant continued to maintain identity of Matthew Vasroixe, thus holding two identities," Smith wrote in the filing.

We caught up to Chancellor Smith as he left the courthouse, but he refused to comment. "At this point, information is not being disclosed outside of the government. But we do have evidence and will fight to have the defendant convicted."

It is also worth noting that the prosecution has not requested a jury trial, and thus, unless the defense requests a jury trial, the case will be heard and a verdict and sentence rendered by Lavalonian Chief Justice Nathan Shepard, who has proven himself to be an opponent of Vasroixe in recent debates.

The government's petition can be seen at http://lavalon.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=crimcourt&action=display&num=1114556951.

Micronational Expo 2005 - now open!

2005-04-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

The Faronian Government was immensely pleased this afternoon to unveil the 2005 Micronational Exposition. The idea for the expo was conceived in late February, with the Kingdom of Faronia volunteering to host, and on April 10, once every participating nation had completed their "pavilion," the King of Faronia, who handles Faronia's web development, began to work assembling the expo itself.

The Micronational Expo is a sort of World Fair for micronations. All micronations are invited to participate by creating a "pavilion" webpage that showcases their micronation, and the host nation will then create a main expo page with links to each of the pavilions. The very first expo was hosted by Kevin Baugh and his Republic of Molossia several years ago. A year later, the second expo was hosted by Attera. However, after that, the expo took a bit of a hiatus, as activity levels in micronationalism generally began to fall. In 2005, though, plans for the '05 expo began when King Carson of Faronia eagerly volunteered Faronia to host at M-N.N.

A good number of nations are participating this year: the Northern Forest Archipelago, Molossia, Aremihc Island, Toaka, Natopia, The Domain and Realms, Dewaco Estates, Faronia, and Hanover. The King of Faronia and others have expressed great admiration for all of the pavilions, which can of course be viewed at the expo.

All micronationalists are encouraged to swing by and take a look at the expo, which can be found at http://expo2005.cjb.net.

Babkhan elections complete

2005-03-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

After much delay in the deployment of the election voting system, the Babkhan elections got underway, and they are now complete. Tahmaseb Shah, Shahanshah of Babkha, announced the results today, Thursday, March 10, 2005. Elected were Ardashir Khan Osmani, Balty Majeed, Amir Shervanis, Rashid Arsalani, and Darius Rugahi. Osmani had the most votes, 8, which gave him the unanimous support of all voting Babkhan citizens. Majeed and Shervanis had 5 votes, and Rugahi and Arsalani has 4. Not elected were Rakesh Ackbar, Qermez Parcham, Yaghoub Ahmad Vembriani, and "dViper."

As the Shahanshah noted, this is one of the first times, if not the first time, in Babkhan history that there had been no need for a by-election. He did proceed to note, though, that this may be because only 8 citizens voted, a rather disappointing turnout for Babkha.

These elections were a clear-cut victory for the conservative Beshaz Party, as Osmani, Majeed, Shervanis, and Arsalani are all Beshaz members.

Letter to the Editor

2005-03-09T14:56:00.000-08:00

Recently, The View received the following letter from Tasneem Chowdhury, the Prime Minister of Natopian Affairs in the Sovereign Imperial Republic of Natopia and the President of the Republic of Lavalon:

Entitled "A Couple thing[s] about the Micronational View"

1. Henzelli was never a Bagelcratican, I think.

2. I think Xon and Z don't like their real last name being used.

3. You say "resume use of the historic Lavalonian eucalyptus as a national symbol" --it never was a national symbol so how can you resume the use of it if it never existed?

4. "With those two gone, Lavalon will effectively be an extension of Natopia." That is what you call biased reporting.

5. Well, a lot of that report was biased if you noticed. You chose what to mention and what to leave out. Therefore, it has alot of bias. It's like that story in the New Zealand Herald, it had parts of the story but it left alot out. Opinions could be changed on those critical facts. For example, you make it seem as if Klaas just up and resigned when there's a story behind that.

6. It's kinda editorialish if you state that it appears as if a "project" will be ending. I'm intrigued that you think of it like that.

---
The editor has responded to President Chowdhury's post on the Lavalonian boards. Any other readers are welcome to share their opinions there, and letters to the editor are always welcome. Indeed, the fact that we of our own accord published this letter would seem to be evidence of how hard we strive for unbiased reporting.

The end of Lavalon?

2005-03-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

Over two years ago, on August 4, 2002, Kieran Bennett, a young man from Australia whose name is now synonymous with micronationalism, came into the micronational world and founded the Independent Principality of Lavalon, with himself occupying the throne. He and a couple of buddies had some fun with it, but it eventually fell apart and Bennett changed Lavalon into the Lavalon Foundation, a thinktank on the phenomenon of micronationalism and the owner of the respected newspaper The Review. During this time, he held citizenship in a number of nations, most notably Hanover, where he eventually became Prime Minister. However, in August 2003 he created Lavalon. This new Lavalon was a huge success. An excellent website was created by citizen Pardraic Nevin, there were many active citizens, great cultural advances were made, and Lavalon was soon one of, if not the, most democratic micronation(s). It was all too good to be true, though.

Kieran went off to college, and he had computer problems. The exact specifics are a bit hazy, but Kieran left, and there were no provisions for his positions to be filled. Despite his continued promises of greater activity, he never really came back, and Lavalon began to slip. Finally, on April 14, 2004, Matthew Martin, a longtime Lavalonian citizen, fired a coup. Martin viewed this coup as the only solution to Lavalon's activity problems, but Giorgis Tsilis, another key Lavalonian citizen, and much of the greater micronational community wasn't happy. The effect was instant. There were resignations of Lavalonian citizenships and removals of diplomatic recognition. Kieran Bennett originally expressed neutrality at the coup, but eventually, he became opposed to it and left to form his own new micronation, the Kingdom of Breuddwyd. Once Breuddwyd was founded, the micronational community got even angrier. However, Matt Martin and Zak Klaas, then a newcomer to micronationalism, wrote up a fairly decent constitution and got it passed in a national referendum, although the legitimacy of that vote was somewhat contested. Nevertheless, they came out on top. A good part of their victory could be attributed to the support from Pardraic Nevin, who controlled and hosted Lavalon's web presence at the time. Nevin gladly redid the national website and created new forums to accomodate the Republic, and they also gained a new citizen, Nathan Shepard.

With the more moderate Klaas as President, the anger over the coup began to subside, and things returned to normalcy in the new Republic. Again, though, it was all too good to be true. There were problems with the national website, so Matthew Martin created a new one and also created new phpBB forums. However, this wasn't half-bad, despite the fact that Nevin, to this day, has not been seen in Lavalon nor any other micronation. The government started to really work and a number of new citizens also joined. But alas, technical difficulties struck again when Hostcubix, Lavalon's I.S.P. completely crashed.

Looking back at this chapter of Lavalonian history, Hostcubix probably picked the most inopportune moment to crash. Matthew Martin had been advocating for a name change to "Eucalyptia" which had not met with much support at all. Chaos now reigned. Nate Shepard finally brought a partial end to it by creating new forums on the ProBoards system. The citizens of the day decided to start from scratch and began the process of writing a new constitution. However, they instead opted for a more flexible "Basic Laws" system similar to that of Israel. The Basic Laws maintained the republican system and everything soon returned to normalcy (again...see a pattern here?) Zachary Klaas resigned as President and Matthew Martin was put in office as provisional president until a new President could be elected. The two candidates were Tasneem Chowdhury and Bartholomew Henzelli, and Chowdhury was elected. That was in January. Things went well after that. Relations with Breuddwyd were even normalized when Breuddywd adopted a new "Grand Charter."

Throughout the month of January, though, things came up here and there, always at the proposition of Matthew Vasroixe, as he had come to be known. The major one was changing forums to a phpBB system and others revolved around the use of historic symbols from the Sovereign Principality days. However, the "Bagelcraticans," Chowdhury, Henzelli, and Shepard, always defeated Vasroixe.

In February things started to change. On February 6, the citizenship of Carson Smith was approved. Smith seemed to be a completely normal newcomer to micronationalism and Lavalon, being active in the Lavalonian General Assembly and taking positions as Associate Justice and Ambassador to Breuddwyd--now an ally of Lavalon--and Alrodria (led by another Lavalonian citizen, Zachary Flaugher). But then Smith founded the Liberal Democratic Party. The L.D.P., as it is known in Lavalon, pushed a strong platform of seriousness and a number of other things that were rather contrary to the beliefs of the dominant Bagelcraticans. Matthew Vasroixe, though, found a strong ally in Smith. The two of them were behind initiatives to change forums, withdraw from the Micronational Cartography Society, and resume use of the historic Lavalonian eucalyptus as a national symbol. Nevertheless, the Bagel Party remained dominant and Smith and Vasroixe's proposals were almost always voted down. When the position of Chancellor of the General Assembly became available, the candidates that stepped forward were Nathan Shepard and Carson Smith. A pre-election poll predicted that Shepard would win overwhelmingly.

Finally, Smith and Vasroixe had had enough. They posted to micro-nations.net and the Lavalon boards that they were disgusted with what they called an unwillingness to compromise on the part of the Bagelcraticans. Vasroixe founded a new nation called Cavalia, and Smith was quick to join and was soon appointed to the Provisional Governing Council. In the words of Vasroixe, Cavalia has the goal of being "...what Lavalon USED TO BE and what Strathclyde, Hanover, and Breuddwyd still share today..." This met with disapproval from other Lavalonian citizens, including Regent Jonathan Christophe, who Vasroixe had been courting as a Cavalian citizen. Not only that, both Smith and Vasroixe have indicated their intentions to resign after the Cavalian constitution is passed. With those two gone, Lavalon will effectively be an extension of Natopia. It appears that an often bumpy micronational project may now be ending after three years of ups and downs.

Hanoverian census

2005-02-27T13:17:00.000-08:00

On February 18, as per the Hanoverian constitution, the Hanoverian census began. His Majesty the King of Hanover had agreed, in consultation with the Hanoverian citizenry, on a three-phase census process:

"PHASE I: FEB-18 to FEB-21
Forums based contact. The government will post a census thread and citizens are urged to state their continued citizenship and their residency.

PHASE II: FEB-21 to FEB-24
Email based contact. The government will send email to all who have not responded in phase I a census form and citizens are urged to state their continued citizenship and their residency.

PHASE III: FEB-24 to MAR-24
Postal based contact. The crown will send postal mail, on an as possible basis, to all who have not responded in phase I and phase II efforts a census form and citizens are urged to state their continued citizenship and their residency."

Phase I immediately began on the 18th, and many citizens had replied before the end of the day. Carson Smith also replied on the forums a bit late because as a new citizen, he had held a contest between Hanover's three dominions (Athenoi, Calormen, and Emden) to determine where he would reside, and this did not end until the 21st. Kieran Bennett also replied on the forums soon after returning from a brief absence due to his return to macronational schooling.

His Majesty proceeded to e-mail citizens who had not yet replied, but it appears that he has not had much luck with this. As of February 23rd, the following citizens, contacted by e-mail, had still not replied:

Dennis von Arabien
Brian Cowell
Steven Foong
Kevin Hood
Jordan Lavender
Edgar Portela
Craign Seal
Troy Thompson
David Watts
Christopher Wyndham

If you are one of the above people and wish to remain a Hanoverian citizen, please either fill out the form sent to you by His Majesty via e-mail or go to the Citizens Retreat forum in Hanover and reply in the relevant thread there.

Postal mail notification commenced to most outstanding citizens this past Thursday.

International Association news

2005-02-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

International Association battles against inactivity

In early January, Nathan Shepard, Prime Minister of the International Association, a 12-member intermicronational organization modeled after the European Union, expressed concern "that the IA is gaining too much dust too fast." A few I.A. citizens and associates, most notably Lavalonian Undersecretary of the Interior for Technology Matthew Vasroixe, who was advocating for macronational incorporation and advertising. However, no other discussion took place on the I.A. forums until the beginning of February, so it would seem that the I.A. is still in the grips of inactivity, and so, unfortunately, is its founder:

"IA, we have a problem"
Those were the words of the Association Prime Minister yesterday. He brought up the problem that Zachary Klaas, the founder of the Association, and the only administrator of the website and forums, had not been seen for "a month," leaving the I.A. without the possibility to make changes to the forum or the website. The Prime Minister sent Klaas an e-mail, but it was to an account he had set up purely for micronationalism, so Shepard is doubtful he will receive a reply.

Carson Smith quickly replied that he would gladly create a new website and new forums and could host both on his forums. Shepard responded that he would greatly appreciate that, but would take care of the forums himself. Impressed with the "Forumer" boards of Faronia and New Germany, Nate created new I.A. forums on Forumer. Smith said he was fine with this, but also offered to host the phpBB forums on his website, stating that there would be "more options for customizing and backup capabilities" if they did it that way. To date, no other Association citizen or Associate has responded.

Smith proposes merger of I.A. nations
Carson Smith recently proposed a radical idea in the "Welcome to the IA Forum" on the Association's ProBoards: the merger of all the I.A. nations. "Some discussions I've seen lately have made me wonder about something: should the councils of the Association merge to form one nation? The answer, I believe, is yes. The future of micronationalism is in mergers. In this age where citizens are power for a nation, we would all, as micronations with relatively few nations, benefit greatly." He did some quick calculations and figured that this new nation would have somewhere in the range of 40 citizens, "minus dual citizens." The only one of Smith's fellow I.A.-ers to respond so far is Nate Shepard, who, as Natopian Grand Chancellor, expressed concern that it would take away local autonomy and local culture of I.A. councils. Smith, however, was quick to respond stating that what he had in mind was a rather loose federation in which each nation could keep its own local culture and some local autonomy. In any event, it does not look right now like the proposal will be met with much enthusiasm, but both Smith and Shepard are waiting to hear from other I.A. citizens and associates. The discussion can be found here.

Robert Davis celebrates second anniversary of winning battle with cancer

2005-02-22T07:51:00.000-08:00

The Micronational View would like to wish an extraordinary micronationalist congratulations on an extraordinary day in his life.

That micronationalist is Robert Davis, also known as Duke Altamore of Gotzborg. Two years ago, on February 21, 2003, he survived cancer. It is truly a miracle that he is here today. His Grace's doctors predicted he would only live for a year after surviving! However, he has lived two, and despite a fierce battle with pnemonia around the holidays, he surely has many more ahead of him. Although he still has not returned to work macronationally, he has returned to all his positions in micronations and is proving to be very deserving of the Most Committed Micronationalist FNORD he won last month.

On February 20, Duke Altamore posted the following statement to the Gotzborg forums:

"I wanted to mention to everyone that I will be taking a Peronal Day off from Micronationalism tomorrow. 21 February marks the anniversary of my cancer survival - which will be TWO years tomorrow!!! My family and friends are having a large to-do for me, and I will be spending the day celebrating, drinking, laughing, and enjoying the company of those I love. I am very pleased with this small accomplishment; especially since I was originally told that I wouldn't survive ONE year. I've more than doubled their estimate...and I have more years to come, I am sure. I know you will all understand my absence tomorrow, and also that I wish many of you could be here with me to celebrate. I will see you all back here on Tuesday."

His statement met with numerous congratulations from Gotzborgers and foreigners alike. "That is as good a reason for holding a party as any I [have] heard; enjoy your day your grace!" Christopher Harris-Till, Deputy Vice-Minister of State for Health and Education in the Gotz Home Office, said. Emperor Harald Thorstein of Stormark; King August Charles of Gotzborg; Ernest Wilde, Governor-General of the Gotz colony of Lusatia; Liam Sinclair; King Carson of Faronia; Natopian Grand Chancellor Nathan Shepard; Oliver Woods, Commanding Officer of the Antican Diplomatic Corp; and Prince Steven of Gotzborg also sent their regards.

Micronational welcome page project update

2005-02-22T07:40:00.000-08:00

Director Carson Smith has begun the next step, which is creating the content that will go on the website.

A good amount of the content will be covered by the individual nations that chose to participate (Attera, Shireroth, Lemuria, Natopia, Faronia, Hanover...more will be allowed to join after the page is complete). Each nation will need to provide an advertisement for their nation, a profile following the format developed by Scott Noseworthy, and a listing of available jobs. Smith will take care of compiling that and a lot of the other components of the website. He is, however, looking for someone to write a brief explanation of what a micronation is and someone to write a commentary on the current climate in every participating nation (A citizen of a nation cannot write the commentary for their own nation so that we have unbiased analysises.). Additionally, Smith has created a sticky thread in the project's forum for people to give sites for the links page of the site: http://lavalon.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=welcomeproject&action=display&num=1108901631&start=0
The one thing that remains to be seen, according to Smith, is where the website will be hosted. He's indicated that he no longer is insistent on P.H.P., cPanel, etc., but wants something that's not ridiculously long, as seems to be the trend these days (http://www.host.com/number/host/place/3858w9/you/you). He's looking at F2G.net's services, probably with a DotTK or Uni.cc domain, but if anyone would be willing to provide hosting, he would be immensely grateful.

Welcome page project forum:

http://lavalon.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=welcomeproject

Micronational Exposition to be held in Faronia

2005-02-22T07:28:00.000-08:00

The first topic to be discussed at the re-done micro-nations.net forums was a Micronational Exposition, or Micronational Expo as it has come to be known. It began simply with a question, probably out of curiosity, from Chas Jago, M-N.N. administrator: "Who was the last host of the Micronational Expo?" The first response was from Molossian President Kevin Baugh, whose nation, incidentally, was the host of the first Expo a few years ago. He mentioned that he thought there had been another one somewhere along the line. Of course, he said, there have been plans for another one, but none have really gone through: "There is often much talk in the planning process, but..."

Carson Smith, who has proven himself to be a person full of ideas, suggested that planning begin for a 2005 micronational expo. He mentioned that one of the three nations he was involved in at the time (Lemuria, Lavalon, Hanover) would probably be willing to host. Chas Jago said that Micro-nations.net would host it if someone would coordinate, but the Ibrosian Lord Protector pointed out that it is traditional for a nation to host the Expo.

Both Faronia and Natopia indicated their willingness to host, but Natopian Grand Chancellor Nathan Shepard, who would most likely be the one to coordinate if Natopia hosted, indicated that he was rather busy and was withdrawing Natopia's bid to host. So, it has fallen to Faronia to host the 2005 Micronational Expo.

President Baugh offered some advice to Smith on coordinating and others on participating: "Well, the way it worked for the Molossian Expo, the participating nations each created their own page (and usually just a page, not much more), on their own ISP. Then they sent the URL for that page to the host nation (me), and I added to the Pavilions Page. I had a picture of that nation's flag (also sent to me), and together with the name of that nation, that composed the link on the Pavilions Page. I also included a picture of a pavilion from the 1939 New York World's Fair, using a different pavilion picture for each nation. The Art Deco theme of the 1939 World's Fair was the theme of the Molossian Expo." Smith quickly accepted his advice, and announced that members could begin submitting their information to him via e-mail.

Any interested nations should send a link to their pavilion (You need to host it on your own national I.S.P.) to Carson at carsonATcsmith.centaurinetx.com. Additionally, please attach a photo of your nation's flag or symbol in the e-mail. More information will be posted here and at The Faronian Gazette as needed.

Two new nations enter the world stage

2005-02-22T07:11:00.000-08:00

Two nations recently entered the micro-world stage this week, the Socialist State of New Germany and the Kingdom of Faronia. Here, The Micronational View will take a look at both nations, their goals, their aspirations, as well as links to other sources of information.

The Socialist State of New Germany
Common Names: New Germany, S.S.N.G.

New Germany began as a political simulation offline between a few Ohio friends. Eventually, it expanded online, although for the most part, the web presence was purely informational. It experienced a bit of heavy activity when Lavalonian Matthew Martin decided to join as Minister of Education, but Martin lost interest and activity levels went down again. Finally, Bartholomew Henzelli, New German president, decided to close down the S.S.N.G. online and send her into a period of relative dormancy offline. In many ways, during the dormancy period, New Germany was little more than a joke between Henzelli and his macro-world friends. However, in mid-January of this year, Henzelli announced in Lavalon, his adopted home, that he would be bringing back the S.S.N.G. online. Finally, he officially opened the S.S.N.G. with an announcement in Lavalon's Department of State earlier this week.

Henzelli decided that the S.S.N.G. would take its time in planning out the workings of the government. He would serve as Provisional Head of Government assisted by a group of commissars (ministers) and there would be a Constitutional Congress charged with creating a constitution for New Germany. Although New Germany is a socialist state, it appears to be pursuing a very liberal form of socialism, particularly with regards to political parties: Henzelli has stated that political parties will be welcomed in New German society. Additionally, the New Germans are pursuing a new, experimental type of government originally proposed by Matthew Martin. The head of state is a collective position held by an Executive Council. This Executive Council, consisting of the most senior citizens of the nation, appoints members of lower committees. These lower committees all have the job of running the day-to-day aspects of a certain area of government: foreign affairs, judiciary, culture, etc. Carson Smith has proposed the head of state be an executive council in the Constitutional Congress, effectively paving the way for this new form of government, and it has met with no opposition after a few minor tweaks to suit New Germany.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Website:
none at present, but Carson Smith is working on creating one

Forums:
http://ssng.8.forumer.com

The Kingdom of Faronia
The Kingdom of Faronia is a small monarchy founded by Lavalonian, Lemurian, and Hanoverian Carson Smith. He appears to have forged ahead a bit more than Henzelli and has gone ahead and written a permanent constitution which provides for a constitutional monarchy form of government. Three government ministries--Economic Development, Immigration, and Foreign Affairs--have already been established, and several Letters Patent have been passed as well. While he has been wished well by the greater micronational community, Faronia still has not acquired any citizens other than Smith and Smith has hinted that if Faronia is unsuccessful independently, he may attempt to merge it with another nation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Website:
http://www.freewebs.com/faronia

Forums:
http://faronia.8.forumer.com

Blog:
The Faronian Gazette - http://faronia.blogspot.com

This week in micronations

2005-02-22T07:09:00.000-08:00

Babkhan elections end tomorrow (the 23rd) - results should be announced before the end of the week
Hanoverian census continues (We are now in Phase II. Understand that you are getting closer and closer to losing your citizenship if you do not resopond!)
Micronational expo submissions welcome - e-mail to Carson Smith
Micronational welcome project actual development is beginning

News Analysis: Babkhan Elections

2005-02-22T07:04:00.000-08:00

by Ardashir Khan Osmani
The Babkhan people have, in this modern age, come to regard elections as one of those weary rituals which no one much likes but for which the alternatives are either not available or are considerably worse.

As always there are the two main parties: Rastakhiz and Behsaz. Both the Rastakhiz Party and the Behsaz Party stand for the renaissance of Babkha – indeed with a hint of irony the parties declare their support for perpetual renaissance, rebirth as a permanent state. In practical terms this means that the dogma remains constant between the parties. Everyone is for reform but reforms go unimplemented. The trouble for Babkha is that it has essentially become a stalemated society. With all previous elections since early 2004 being knife-edge between the Behsaz and the Rastakhiz Parties a pattern of Rastakhiz in Government and Behsaz in the Majlis-i-Mellat (Parliament) has developed. In such a system it is easy to blame the other for causing the inertia that wrecks reforms that people regard as being essential. These reforms are themselves mundane and functional, curb the bureaucracy, and reinvigorate recruitment and so forth. Bread and butter issues, and of course it goes without saying in Babkha that anyone who values their life supports the institution of monarchy with fervour.

What then distinguishes the two parties? To learn that we must focus on the personalities of the leading members of Behsaz and Rastakhiz, Ardashir Khan Osmani and Rakesh Ackbar respectively; both men are intermicronationalists, engaged in a whole host of other micronations, both are involved with the Micronational News Network and its strangle hold over the intermicronational community; Ardashir is a senior cartographer with the Micronational Cartographry Society while also finding time to perform his traditional function of warlord as moderator (if such a term is appropriate for one so predisposed towards imaginative war-crimes) over at the Micronational Recreational Warfare Society. Rakesh serves as the patricianesque moderator of Talk Micronations and the Micronational Eye; he is also the voice of liberalism in poor benighted and feudal Shireroth (where he lost his titles for his pains, a martyr to liberty). Both men believe in the active engagement of Babkha and in micronationalism, however that is where their shared beliefs end. Rakesh, a liberal and a Democrat believes in the universal appeal of democracy and liberty to the sensitive masses, masses who have sometimes been unsettled by Ardashir’s more melodramatic statements, such as the time he declared that foreigners were welcome to eat each other provided that they did not endanger Babkha’s place in the world. Ardashir is motivated by a nationalist worldview wherein the provision of justice, democracy and equality, is as incentives to be Babkhan rather than acknowledgements of an inalienable human dignity. For Ardashir the ideal is that all micronationalists would acknowledge the Shahanshah as their sovereign overlord, however he has been in his career faced by the likelihood that this will never be the case. Ardashir is, to the best of his abilities, a student then of the diplomacy of Kissenger and the philosophy of Machiavelli. A believer in the balance of power he has supported alliances with natural enemies such as the communists of Baracao and the Atterans, who were the historical bogeymen of Babkhan political culture. In spite of never holding the office of Vizier for Foreign Affair’s Ardashir’s imprint can be felt in Babkhan foreign policy.

Of course Rakesh also has had his share of foreign policy triumphs, including notably the Mango-Camel Pack with Shireroth, of which he has said,

"Liberty can be secured and spread only when like-minded nations think and act as if they are one. The Mango-Camel Pact intertwined the destiny of Babkha and Shireroth in this regard. Babkha and Shireroth today act together to spearhead the cause of peace, justice and security within the entire Micronational community. This Pact arguably served and serves as the cornerstone for the unprecedented era of peace and cooperation that all nation-states enjoy.”

Ardashir on the other hand is an advocate of the counter-veiling power movement called the G3, which comprises Attera, Babkha and Cyberia, and which enjoyed a notable success in assisting the Kingdom of Morovia to rout a republican insurgency mounted against it.

In these elections, Babkha faces a choice between two worldviews, one utopian, the other pragmatic to the point of cynicism. What the Babkhan people must decide is whether Babkha’s foreign policy should be characterised by the national interest or by moral crusades.

From the editor

2005-02-22T06:56:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

First off, I'd like to apologize for putting out this week's View so late. I was rather busy micro- and macronationally yesterday and Sunday so was not able to do it then. However, here's a full edition for you today! We even have some stories that you probably wouldn't have got if we'd published on Sunday.

Second, I would like to dedicate today's edition to Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad. These two Iranian men are in jail in Iran (probably without any due process) for posting comments that the ayatollahs in Tehran apparently didn't like. I hope and pray that these Arash and Mojtaba are let out of jail and allowed to continue their lives--and their blogs. Until such time, aside from keeping them in your prayers, there are some things you can do. First off, if you have a blog, micronational or not, post your support for Arash and Mojtaba today, which the Committee to Protect Bloggers has declared as a global blogger action day. Additionally, if your macronation of residence maintains diplomatic relations with Iran, write to the local Iranian embassy. There is a news story on the B.B.C. at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4278241.stm.

Best,
Carson

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As always, please feel free to contribute news of interest for an edition of the View. Letters to the editor are welcome too. Send them to carson221.......at........gmail.com.

This week in micronations

2005-02-13T14:48:00.000-08:00

Babkhan elections begin the 17th - look for an article about these in a coming edition
Foreign Ministers - Check your ministry forums for a greeting from Hanover, it's the world tour!
Micro-nations.net forums will be overhauled: http://www.micro-nations.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1033&sid=cc4562956175d6a8af80b17360eae6df for more
Nation signup for the welcome page project continues
Octavius Me (Antican dinarch) will be leaving for England on Thursday. If you live near him, go to http://antica.myfxh.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1824 and tell him about any souvenirs you might want him to bring back. If you don't live near him, you can ask him to take a picture of something.
There's a slight chance PHPMX2 will be released.

About THE MICRONATIONAL VIEW

2005-02-13T14:20:00.000-08:00

Now an M.N.N. accredited source!

Web address: http://micronationalview.blogspot.com
Can also be found on the M.N.N. aggregator

We welcome contributions and letters to the editor. carson221 _____at______ gmail.com

Commentary

2005-02-13T14:11:00.000-08:00

My first week in micronationalism

by Carson Smith

As most readers know, a week ago today I entered the wonderful, addictive world of micronationalism. I'd now like to take this opportunity to reflect upon my experiences this first week.

The thing that amazes me is how quickly time moves. I applied for Hanoverian citizenship Saturday, February 5, and, despite technical difficulties, was approved late at night on February 6, or early in the morning on the 7th (not quite sure because of time change calculations). On the 8th, I became the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. WOW. In a macronation, that would probably take about 30-50 years. It was even quicker in Lavalon: I applied early in the morning on February 6 and was approved later that same day. Once legislation was passed to allow for two additional justiceships to be created on the Supreme Court, I became a justice on February 9th. Two days earlier, I had been appointed Ambassador to Breuddwyd and Alrodria. Again, that's an easy 50 years in macronations. In Lemuria, I applied for citizenship and was a citizen and the Economy Officer within an hour.

I was amazed even more by how kind and welcoming micronationalists are. Everywhere I went, I received kind welcomes from the "locals." People have been very receptive to my micronational welcome project, and those who do disagree have been very civil about offering suggestions. I've got myself into two arguments (already) and in both cases I've been quick to make up with the other party.

The other thing is how well micronational governments work. People may identify with a political party, but the parties don't vote as a bloc, and if they do, it's a concidence. People vote for what and for who's going to work.

In short, I have had a great first week. Thank you to everyone who's helped make it great.
-Carson

Partisan politics come to Lavalon

2005-02-13T13:49:00.000-08:00

On February 6, Lavalon's fourth political party was founded by Carson Smith. Called the Liberal Democratic Party (L.D.P.), this party advocated a platform of seriousness for Lavalon:

-Consideration of switching to a monarchial form of government
-Active recruitment of citizens
-Strict policy against inactive citizens
-The creation of an immigration office as discussed by A.M. Carson Smith in the General Assembly.
-Creation of working economy
-Removal of Regent Christophe's ridiculous bureaucracy in the University - ACCOMPLISHED!
-Active diplomatic policy
-No government-sanctioned simulation for Lavalon
-supports the historical accuracy and continuity of Lavalonian culture
-Moving Lavalonian forums to phpBB or Invision or ezBoard

Despite being Lavalon's fourth political party, this is really the first real opposition party: the Progressive Bagelcratican Party and the Socialist Party have caucused together, which is essentially a merger, and Regent Jonathan Christophe's That Other Party is barely active. In fact, some have speculated a merger of the L.D.P. and T.O.P. or even the dissolution of T.O.P. in favor of the L.D.P.

With the opposition, of course, comes the heated partisan debates. The first of these ocurred when Smith introduced a bill in the General Assembly to withdraw Lavalon from the Micronational Cartography Society, stating he felt the M.C.S. Smith feels that Lavalon should have no simulated aspects whatsoever sanctioned by the government. He explained in another forum that he felt one thing would lead to another, and before we knew it, we'd all be running around with a million paper dolls and the government would be stupid things with no relevance to Lavalon. When Bagelcratican Chief Justice Nate Shepard stated that he felt this was "the first step to becoming like those 'snooty' old time micronations that refuse to even acknowledge the 'less serious' nations that have no set in stone plan for erecting a small island or purchasing acres in the middle of nowhere," Smith said rather bluntly that he didn't care: " I'm sorry if people think we're snooty simply because we do not want to be a silly little role-playing game. Just to clarify, I do NOT believe that Lavalon should be simulation-free. I believe that Lavalon should be free of government-endorsed simulation. Perhaps, if we do not wish to be seen as snooty because our government doesn't endorse simulation, we could associate with more "serious" nations. From what I've seen, there's been no real effort to associate with these nations. Has there been any association with Hanover? No. Has there been any association with Molossia? No. Would we have associated with Breuddwyd if we did not have the ties with Kieran? Probably not." The only other person who voted for this bill was Undersecretary for Technology Matthew Vasroixe, who said that "Lavalon is not a game," and it ended up being defeated 4-2. However, Smith did not back down. He proposed that Lavalon withdraw from the M.C.S. but begin an internal mapping project, which would not have anything to do with the government. This drew strong objection from the Socialists and Bagelcraticans, though, and Smith eventually ended the debate, after several fiery attacks had come from both groups.

But if the mapping debate was one thing, the forum change debate was quite another. Since early November, Lavalon's message boards have been based on the ProBoards system, which some people have expressed concerns over its speed, ease of use, and lack of backup capabilities. So, for quite some time now, Matthew Vasroixe has been pushing a change to phpBB. He seems to have found an ally in Smith, who has, on behalf of the L.D.P., expressed his support for the proposal, and also encouraged consideration of ezBoard and Invision. The proposal is now in the General Assembly, and voting has commenced for a second time, the legislation having failed the first time.

Controversy erupts in Antica

2005-02-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

For those who do not know, on the top of the Antican forums, there is a box called "Delphi Says" in which Delphi Augustus, Dinarch of Antica, posts whatever he pleases, usually relating in one way or another to micronationalism. On Tuesday, January 8, the Delphi Says box read:

Quote of the Day: "When I woke up today, seeing penis was not on my itinerary." - Octavius

This has caused an outrage among a few foreigners lately who feel that the world does not need to know when Octavius sees another male's nether regions. The first one to react was a gentleman from "The People's Aralan Empire of Aryez." "I don't think such an innapropriate statement should be visible in the main forum where anyone including all of our guests enter. I can understand having such a banner in the Riverside Bar, but I feel it is inappropriate to have it at the main forum. I do not wish to see the word 'penis' as soon as I enter...." he said. Delphi responded with the comment that he found it funny, and went on to point out that he could post worse. The other Anticans had no comment relating to the appearance of the sex term. Steven, the Commanding Officer of Antica's Judicial Corp (i.e., Chief Justice), made a seemingly mocking comment. Aryez responded that he didn't care if it was funny and he felt Antica had no decency standards.

Here came the next complaintant, Carson Smith of Lavalon, Hanover, and Lemuria. He wrote a rather formal letter, which, among other things, pointed out that he had grounds for a macronational lawsuit. He also said that this would bring Antica's reputation down: "For your sake, I hope there were not any potential citizens browsing the forums while that comment was up," he stated. When questioned by Dinarch Octavius Me about where the grounds for a macronational lawsuit for, he explained that that comment was sexual harrassment, which several people have sued for in the United States and other countries. Mr. Smith's comments were not well-received at all and many Antican citizens went as far as to mock him.

A few minutes after complaining in Antica, Mr. Smith went off to Hanover and Lavalon and encouraged fellow citizens there to boycott Antica because of these comments, which, obviously, were quite lewd in his opinion. In Lavalon, Smith's fellow citizens were quick to defend what they consider a close ally. In Hanover he has received no response. At this point, it seems that the controversy has finally subsided.

The relevant thread in Antica:
http://antica.myfxh.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1793

Micronational welcome project in full swing

2005-02-13T08:10:00.000-08:00

One of the first projects proposed by Carson Smith when he came to micronationalism last week was a project to create a sort of welcome page to introduce outsiders to micronationalism. He described it as a multinational project with the obvious goal of obtaining more citizens for micronations. Most of us who have been around micronationalism for even a little bit know that new blood is always needed and welcomed.

Well, he officialized the project by acquiring a forum in Lavalon recently. (http://lavalon.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=welcomeproject) This week, Smith and other micronationalists, including the well-known Ras Noseworthy of Attera, discussed what should be on the website, and came up with the following list:
-advertisements for all micronations that choose to participate
-a general explanation of micronationalism, written for people who have no idea what a micronation is
-a test that will match you with a micronation
-a listing of available jobs in participating micronations
-an article on what's currently going on in every participating micronation
-links page
-categorical index

Now that they have agreed what will go on the website, Smith decided it is time for nations to sign up. A nation signing up gives it the benefit of being featured on this website. So far, Attera, Lemuria, and Natopia have signed up, and there is a bill in the Landsraad to participate, which is almost definitely going to pass. Interested nations have until February 20 to sign up and may do so by going to http://lavalon.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=welcomeproject&action=display&num=1108221866.

M.N.N. Begins "Accrediting" Quality News Publications

2005-02-13T06:58:00.000-08:00

On February 8, Mercurivs, the webmaster of micronations.net, announced that M.N.N. would now
"(identify) the quality of the sources used for its news headlines." The highest quality publications, he said, would be known as Accredited Sources and designated with asterisks (*) on the feed. "To qualify as an Accredited Source, a newsblog must publish properly structured articles which contain at least one hyperlink to the original subject of each article. Sources are periodically checked for compliance, and qualify if at least two out of their three most recent articles meet the required standards," he explained.

Carson Smith, the editor of this publication, was to respond, encouraging this policy, and thanking the people at M.N.N. for the designation of The Micronational View as a top newspaper. However, the old adage you can't judge a book by its cover was quickly proven right when Ras Noseworthy from Attera, who is involved with Attera's Atteran Chronicle World, complained, calling the link requirement "stupid." He made the point that many publications, including the Chronicle World, are, like most macronational print publications, self-contained newspapers. "The story is explained in full so that no link is required." He even argued that this form of publication is better for historical purposes: "It's also a better format for archiving as upon archiving, the links become inactive." Noseworthy suggested that instead of accrediting a paper if it provides links, accredit it if its stories are well-researched. He noted that the Chronicle World had received an award for "Best Micronational Newspaper."

Delphi Augustus, one of Antica's Dinarchs, disagreed, arguing that links allow readers to see what is happening for themselves. Noseworthy was insistent that links were not necessary, though. "We're talking about journalistic standards here, that's what accreditation of news sources revolves around. The integrity of a news article has no bearing on whether or not it include web links, it's on whether or not it presents the facts and situation in a fair manner. Hence why you don't go to ABCNews.com or CNN.com and see their news articles filled with a bunch of "relevant" links - it isn't necessary for journalistic integrity that these links be included solely because the news service operates via the Internet environment," he said. Mercurivs begged to differ: "In the publishing world, the mass media is generally the only sector that is not expected to cite references when publishing articles that tend to be accepted as being factual. However, online media editions are increasingly including relevant links for the articles that they publish, rather than just publishing stories that they expect their readers to accept at face value." He also pointed out that with the invention of things like the Internet Archive, you can now go back and see those broken links as they were when the article was written.

Noseworthy continued to post, every time in vehement opposition to the accreditation scheme. The climax of the situation came when M.N.N.'s business license was revoked in Attera, and by no coincidence.

The situation is ongoing, but for now, it seems that Noseworthy and M.N.N. have agreed to disagree.

Lavalonian Judicial System Expands

2005-02-13T06:41:00.000-08:00

This week saw great growth in the Lavalonian judicial system. Many Lavalonian citizens expressed their views to us that this is a great milestone for Lavalonian democracy.

When Carson Smith was accepted as a Lavalonian citizen last Sunday, February 6, he posted in the Cafe (Lavalon's main forum) asking what he could do for Lavalon. Chief Justice Nathan Shepard quickly responded, suggesting the Smith serve as an Associate Justice of Lavalon's Supreme Court. Mr. Smith agreed and the two began the process of having Smith join Shepard on the bench. The Basic Law that created the Supreme Court directed that the General Assembly pass a law specifying the number of justices on the Court, so Shepard proposed a law allowing for two justices plus the Chief Justice to serve on the Court. As it turned out, "Emperor" Zachary F., an Alrodrian-Lavalonian, was interested in a judicial position as well.

The bill passed without opposition and Smith and Zachary were quickly appointed to the court by President Chowdhury and Vice President Henzelli. As many members of the General Assembly pointed out, this will allow for greater democracy in the judiciary, as there are no three who will have a say in Court rulings. The two brought many new ideas to the bench with them. One such idea that Smith had was inspired by a system from Babkha's Supreme Court once: the three justices split up the responsibilities of hearing civil, criminal, and administrative cases. Justice Shepard expressed a concern that this might not fit in with the Lavalonian system, though. Matthew Martin, Lavalon's first Chief Justice and a distinguished Lavalonian statesman, brought up the point that in the United States Supreme Court justices may also be judges of lower courts. This led to a proposal by Shepard that three lower courts--civil, administrative, criminal--be established, each headed by a Supreme Court justice. Smith and Zachary agreed, and Smith took the civil court, Shepard the administrative, and Zachary the criminal. These courts will be the courts of first instance for their respective jurisdictions, and appeals may then be made to the Supreme Court. This is an even greater expansion of the democracy of the judicial system in two ways: first, more cases may be heard at any given time, and second, there is an opportunity for appeal.

News from Lavalon University

2005-02-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

Recently, Lavalonian Regent Jonathan Christophe, who has authority over all matters of culture and national heritage, was placed in charge of Lavalon's premier institution of higher education, the University of Lavalon. His first task was to organize a comprehensive restructuring of the University. Each person who wants to teach a course must compile a course material and submit it to Christophe. The course material has to contain reading material for students and a test at the end of each unit. At the end of the course, a student has to take a final exam, and if a student's average comes out to lower than a 70 at the end of a course, he has to take another final exam. A passing average is needed to earn a credit, with 2 credits earning you a Associate's Degree, 4 a Bachelor's, 6 a Master's, and 8 a Doctorate.

Carson Smith, an prospective Lavalonian citizen, quickly stepped up and announced that he would be teaching a course on "Asian Political History, World War II and Beyond." "It will focus on Japan and Eastern Asia during World War II, particularly the occupation of Korea by Japan. We will then move on to post-war Asia and the rise of communism, with a focus on the Chinese civil war. We'll wrap up with an exploratory lesson on the modern Middle East and the political climate there, as well as factors leading up to the American war on terrorism," he said. If you are interested in signing up for Mr. Smith's course, please go to http://lavalon.proboards22.com/index.cgi?board=school&action=display&num=1107694651. The deadline for registration is February 20.

Molossia Featured in Radio Interview

2005-02-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Molossia is no newcomer to the American media, having previously been featured in an interview on TechTV. Recently, the illustrious Molossian president, His Excellency Kevin Baugh, was featured on a radio interview with host Dave Wetmore of New Jersey radio station G106.3. They discussed a wide variety of things, mainly about Molossia, but also about micronations in general. You can hear the interview on the Molossian website at http://www.molossia.org/media/interview.m3u.

Creation of Micronational Welcome Page Discussed

2005-02-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

Carson Smith, editor of this paper, applicant for citizenship in Hanover and Lavalon, has proposed the idea of creating a welcome page for newcomers to micronationalism in Hanover. He did so at http://www.kingdomofhanover.com/discussion/index.php?showtopic=2630.

"When I came to micronationalism, I had to do a lot of research myself in getting to know the lay of the land and finding a micronation," Smith said. He went on to propose "the idea (0f) a website aimed exclusively at micronational newbies."

Smith said that should such a website be started, he would invite micronations to participate, and they would be responsible for much of the information on the site about them. First and foremost, he wanted to see some sort of advertisement for each participating nation on the site, as well as a list of available jobs in participating nations, a test that would match you with a nation, and information on the current goings-on in each nation.

Sir Ciaron Broeck, Speaker of Hanover's House of Commons and King of Breuddwyd, was the first to reply. Sir Ciaron made some very valid points: in micronations, information changes rapidly; what is going to make this site any different from exisiting resource sites?; and the number of micronations were the bulk of his argument. Mr. Smith responded and explained his response in more detail - http://www.kingdomofhanover.com/discussion/index.php?showtopic=2630&st=0&#entry14157.

Mr. Smith is open to any feedback you may have on this idea. Please do this by commenting in the Hanover thread, e-mailing him at carson_smith at hotmail.com, or bringing it up at M.N.O. or M.N.N. Additionally, if you represent a nation that would be interested in participating, please contact him.

Welcome to The Micronational View!

2005-02-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

The Micronational View was set up by Carson Smith, a newcomer to micronationalism who is in the process of applying for citizenship in the Republic of Lavalon and the Kingdom of Hanover. It will cover stories from across the micronational world, with a bit of a focus on Hanover and Lavalon.

While we have chosen the blog format, we do wish to emulate the feel of a regular newspaper, so we will be publishing every Sunday. Each edition will look back on the activities of the pas week and inform readers of micronational activities in the week to come. Special editions may also be published from time to time. We are always happy to receive contributions from readers, and letters to the editor or other feedback is welcome. Please e-mail carson_smith at hotmail.com.

Opinion

2005-02-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

What scares newcomers to micronationalism away

by Carson Smith

The recent Chris Loustradis scandal is a perfect example. When I came to micronationalism, I knew I didn't want to found my own nation, so I looked far and wide to find one or two to join. I eventually settled upon Hanover and Lavalon. Why? The answer is simple: I liked them. But why did I like them?

To answer that question, you have to dig deeper. It is a problem that plagues micronationalism. From what I've seen, forums, particularly the M.N.N. ones, don't exactly project a nice image of micronationalists. Now, because I bothered to look further, I know that you're all very kind and considerate people, but if I hadn't, I doubt I'd want to be a part of this strange hobby.

Anyone notice the amount of foul language and personal insults on M.N.N.? Or the snootiness of M.N.O. people? When we have to set rules about not insulting other people, I'm sorry something has gone wrong. Heck, someone who is not at all fluent in English is swearing in half their posts! Keep in mind that all your miserable little ezBoards can be seen by people outside of micronations! "@#%$ you , you stupid 30 years old stupid..." We've all had enough of it. Look no further for the source of your recruitment issues than your own behavior.

Now it's time for me to go pick on M.N.O. These people appear to be hard-line traditionalists who hate change. The micronational Saudis. Someone proposes an idea that just happens to differ from the rest, and the only comment someone can make after six days is "Don't like it. That's all Folks."

Why did I join Hanover and Lavalon? Because there, unlike in many other palces in micronationalism, it is plain to see that the people are not afraid to debate but all the same are quick to mend any hard feelings.

Natopia Begins Imperial Park Service

2005-02-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

The Sovereign Imperial Republic of Natopia, originally founded as a joke between several Missouri teenagers and then expanding into a micronation, has recently found itself in the depths of inactivity. Chancellor Nathan Shephard, though, has worked very hard recently to create initiatives that will promote activity. One of these is the Natopian Imperial Park Service.

The Park Service was created on February 5 by chancellorial decree. It allows the Grand Chancellor or Natopia's legislature to set aside sites of national or environmental importance for preservation.

The first site selected for preservation was the Sylvan Springs Beverage Garden. "The stone structure was erected in 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration under (American) President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to bring the country out of the Great Depression. (It)...has three beautiful stone bridges crossing a winding, moss covered stream. A small ampitheater and old sundial sit to one side. The Garden is a tranquil place to get away from the St. Louis suburb it is next to. A playground is nearby and many children have adopted the Garden as a second playground," states a Park Service press release. Apparently, this is located just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., a territory claimed by Natopia. Pictures of the park can be seen here.

FNORD Awards Presented

2005-02-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

Every micronationalist knows his name. The famous California man who made San Fransisco his personal empire. Or did he? Historians say that many San Fransiscans idolized him, but surely not as much as micronationalists.

Here in micronations, we have devoted a day to honoring Emperor Joshua Norton. Some time ago, President Kevin Baugh came up with the idea of honoring devoted micronationalists on Emperor Norton day. Thus began the Norton awards. The first awards were presented in 2000 for national, group, and individual achievement. The judges, dignitaries from Corvinia, TorHavn, The Triselene Imperium, Molossia, and the Aerican Empire, gave awards for political, cultural, individual, and international acheivement, as well as an award for best new micronation, going to the Empire of Atlantium in 2000. More information available at http://www.molossia.org/nortonawards.html.
They were held again in 2001, with a few more nations participating. However, one can tell from looking at the web pages that it was for the "serious" nations, the secessionist ones. A decline took place in this sector of micronationalism after that, and those were the last Norton Awards.

The Fantasy Simulated Norton Awards, FNORDs for short, endeavor to recreate the Norton Awards, but for the less serious nations. They have become the leading Norton Day event and many different awards are presented to many different people each year. This year's Norton Awards were presented at the new Norton Convention Centre recently, on January 29. The presentation of the awards began with a speech by His Excellency President Baugh, in which he thanked Sir Iain, who runs Micronations.Net, sponsor of the awards, and Ras Noseworthy of Attera, who coordinated the awards.

The Micronational View wishes to congratulate the award recipients, who are as follows:

"Tis But a Flesh Award" for Refusing to Give Up in the Face of Failure - David Redstone
Odlum Award for Overall Achievement - Ras Noseworthy, Attera
Best Communication Medium - Face-to-Face Speech (to be accepted by Tahmaseb Shah of Babkha for suggesting a meeting in Amsterdam)
Best Message Board - Regio Mayo
Best Newsblog - Atteran Chronicle World
Einstein Award for Best New Idea - Sander Dieleman, Iain de Vembria and Jack Santucci for the MNN News Feed Development
National Leader of the Year - Delphi Augustus, Antica
Best Micronational Night - January 8, 2005 in Amsterdam
Best Website - The Kingdom of Gotzborg
Most Efficient Government - The Kingdom of Babkha
Most Culturally Developed Micronation - The Kingdom of Babkha
Saeed al-Sayyaf Award for Best Propaganda - Shireroth's March to the Landsraad Hall
Most Unusual Micronation - The Kingdom of Babkha
Best Avatar - Shyriath (Kaiser of Shireroth)
Most Committed Micronationalist - Robert Davis, Duke of Altamore, Gotzborg
Least Arrogant Micronationalist - Tahmaseb Shah (Babkha)

Medals can be seen at the Convention Centre.

Coming Up this Week

2005-02-06T07:42:00.000-08:00

Babkha - Campaigning for upcoming elections on February 17 (more on that next edition)
Hanoverian Postcard Exchange Continues
Natopian Expo