THE AGORAN WEEKLY JOURNAL VOLUME 46, ISSUE 4 Wednesday edition December 15, 1999 ADOPTED PROPOSALS ----------------- "Deference Deprecation" by harvel - Proposal 3950 adopted 12/7 Remove "defer" or some form of it from Rules 459, 1023, 1556, 1874, 1728, 1795, 1439, 1614, and 1531. "Fix Altruism" by Elysion (on behalf of Murphy) - Proposal 3954 adopted 12/12 An Order requiring a Player to do something by a certain time does not trigger Contempt by Inaction if the Order is satisfied in some other way before that time. Half of Murphy's Blots are expunged. "Fix 1893" by Blob - Proposal 1893 adopted 12/12 Remove an obsolete reference to the Chancellor. "Free Monetary Policy" by Blob - Proposal 3953 adopted 12/12 Currency Recordkeepors assessing taxes: Without 5 Objections is changed to With 2 Cabinet Supporters. Without 5 Objections is eliminated if the Recordkeepor is a Cabinet member emself. Minting new Currency: Without Objection is changed to With 2 Cabinet Supporters. Without Objection is eliminated if the Recordkeepor is a Cabinet member emself. "Real Rebels" by Elysion - Proposal 3951 adopted 12/7 Rebels keep eir Offices after a successful Revolt. Rebels pay no taxes. Rebelliousness can be changed only once per month. Inciting to Riot is checked at the beginning of each month, is 2 Blots, and is applied to all Rebellious players. The Indulgence tax resulting from a successful Rebellion is applied by the Herald (not the Registrar), and does affect that Rebellion's Rebels (but not Robespierre). "Ssh, It's a Secret" by Blob - Proposal 3952 adopted 12/12 Information defined by the Rules as Secret is private with respect to the Freedom of Information Act, and revealing it is a Crime unless explicitly permitted or required by the Rules. If the mode of voting is Private or Unrestricted, then votes cast privately are secret until the Voting Period ends. PENDING PROPOSALS ----------------- "Discarding the Chaff" by Wes Repeal Rule 1643 (Statements of Policy). "Fix Debt Voting" by Steve Reword Rules 1823 and 1824 to state that Voting POs are to bill for Votes, not pay for Votes. "Important Proposals" by t Proposals in the Queue may be made Important with 2 Supporters. Failing to Vote on an Important Proposal is an Infraction, unless you were unable to Vote on it, or were On Hold when the Voting Period began. The Infraction is larger if the Proposal fails Quorum. "Issues" by harvel An Issue is a Proposal, Election, or Referendum. This new term is used to simplify some Rules. Rule 879 (Quorum) explicitly allows other Rules to define ways for Players to count towards Proposal Quorum without Voting. "This Isn't a Scam, Is It?" by Speaker Elysion Repeal Rule 1581 (Quarterly Speaker Change). PROTO-PROPOSALS --------------- "CFJ streamlining" by Wes A CFJ's Deliberation Period explicitly begins with the CotC's announcement of a Judge. A Player fined for Judging Late becomes ineligible to Judge further CFJs, till e requests otherwise in the PF. A Player is fined for Judging a Bit Late even if e Judges or dismisses the CFJ before the CotC can apply the fine. A Judge ceases to be assigned to a CFJ if e becomes ineligible for any reason. Failing to grant or deny a Motion within a week is grounds for the CotC to Recuse and assign a new Judge. A Motion for a closed case whose Judge is no longer an Active Player is assigned to a new Judge. "Freeing the Market ... for a price" by Wes A Player may change eir Associated Basic Currency at any time, but it costs 50 Stems at the times that are currently prohibited. "Stem Conversion Rates" by t Each Basic Currency has a Stem Conversion Rate (normally 1, minimum 0.01). You get that many units of that Basic Currency per Stem. If the Payroll Clerk is a member of the Cabinet, e may change SCRs at most once per week, and at most 10% up or down at a time. "Trophies Enhanced" by t Trophies have a creator, owner, and optional inscription. Trophies may be created (or adjusted or destroyed) by Contests with at least three Contestants, by paying a 1 VT fee. Trophies may be created by the adoption of a Proposal. A sample Trophy is created. "Wins, Wins, Wins" by Wes Points are a Currency transferred only when the Rules explicitly allow or require that Points be Awarded or Penalized. Having at least 200 Points is a Win Condition, upon which all Points are destroyed and all Point POs are vacated. CALLS FOR JUDGEMENT ------------------- CFJ 1183 "The Infraction of Debt Voting cannot be committed by any Player." [FALSE] 11/26 Called by Steve 11/28 Assigned to Wes, who Judges FALSE 11/28-29 Appealed by Steve, harvel, and Blob 12/2-9 Appeal assigned to Kolja A., Elysion, and Murphy, who move to SUSTAIN in a split decision [Kolja's assignation to the Board may be incorrect; see CFJ 1188] Caller's argument (summary): Voting POs are executed for the direct purpose of billing for votes, not paying for them; thus Rule 1824 fails to identify such POs (as intended) as a trigger for Debt Voting. Judge's refutation (summary): Voting POs are executed for the eventual purpose of causing votes to be paid for. CFJ 1184 "Any Player who is subject to the jurisdiction of the civil [FALSE] courts of the United States of America and simultaneously a director, officer, employee, or agent of an American public institution, as defined by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended), is required as a matter of law to observe the Constitutional requirements of due process in the course of conducting eir business as a Judge, Justice, or Officer, or as the Speaker." 12/6 Called by Kelly 12/7-9 Assigned to Chuck, who Judges FALSE Judge's refutation (summary): No Rule places this restriction on Players, so Rule 101 allows a Player to ignore this restriction, regardless of what United States law says. CFJ 1185 "Agora is an independent nation and not bound by the laws of [FALSE] any other State in existence." 12/7 Called by t 12/7-8 Assigned to Crito, who Judges FALSE Caller's arguments (summary): Rule 101 causes the latter clause of the Statement to be true. Judge's refutation (summary): But not the former clause. CFJ 1186 "The Clerk of the Courts is required by Rule 1868 to select a [TRUE] Judge who is eligible at the time that the Judge is selected, regardless of whether that Player was eligible at the time that the CFJ was actually called for or when the identity of that Player is announced." 12/7 Called by Wes 12/8-9 Assigned to Blob, who Judges TRUE and grants Motion to annotate Rule 1868 Caller's argument (summary): Rule 1868 does not explicitly say when eligibility is measured, so it should be measured at time of selection - no sooner or later. CFJ 1187 "A Judge is considered to be assigned to Judge a particular CFJ [TRUE] at the time that the Clerk of the Courts announces the identity of the Judge, and no sooner." 12/7 Called by Wes 12/8 Assigned to Elysion, who Judges TRUE and grants Motion to annotate Rules 408 and 1868 12/8 Appealed by Steve and Blob Caller's argument (summary): Rule 408 places timing requirements on a Judge based on the time a CFJ is assigned, but Rule 1868 does not explicitly say when assignation occurs, so it should occur upon the CotC's announcement. Journalist's notes: Elysion, despite Judging TRUE, claims that a Judge is assigned when the CotC selects em. The Statement of this CFJ actually implies that selection and assignation are separate events, occuring in that order. A possible alternate view is that the CotC's selection of a Judge does not occur when e makes up eir mind who e shall select, but only when e announces it. CFJ 1188 "Kolja A. should not have been assigned to the Board of Appeals for CFJ 1183." 12/12 Called by Murphy 12/12 Assigned to harvel Caller's argument (summary): Rule 911, clause iv. Journalist's notes: Wes claims that Kolja's disqualification from the Board would result in less than three eligible Board members. However, Kolja's ineligibility was by request, whereas most Players' ineligibility was from Rule 1871 (Turns for All) which explicitly does not disqualify its targets from Boards of Appeal. OFFICES ------- 12/8 Voting begins for these Offices: Justiciar - Blob, Kolja A., lee Notary - Peekee, t Promotor - t, Wes OTHER ----- 12/7 Steve comes Off Hold. 12/8 Chuck protoes the Curmudgeon's -VT Supply Contest: A Player billed -VTs for Voting AGAINST a Proposal may, within two weeks, buy up to that many -VTs from this Contest, in exchange for other Currencies. Other -VT trades are subject to Contestmaster approval. The Contestmaster may not buy -VTs emself. The Contestmaster may change Exchange Rates at any time. The Exchange Rate for a Proposal is the smallest one in effect since the start of the Voting Period. 12/11 Indulgence Auction ends. lee gets three Indulgences and Blob gets fourteen, at a price of 90 IATs per Indulgence. 12/12 Kolja A. protoes the New Agoran Carnival Bank: The Director publishes the shareholders report. The Clerk processes and reports transactions. Deposits and withdrawals may always be made. The Clerk may grant or deny loans, but must get the Director's approval to loan more than half the NACB's holdings of a Currency, or to loan to a Player with overdue NACB debt. Currency exchanges may always be made, except to receive more than half the NACB's holdings of a Currency, which exchanges may never be made. Shares may be bought and traded at any time. Shareholders are Contestants and vice versa. The Director always owns a special labelled share which is treated normally, except that it cannot be traded. Any shareholder may move to amend the Regulations. Motions are adopted by 2/3 approval. Each shareholder has votes equal to eir shares when the motion was distributed. Each shareholder's suggestion for NACB parameters carries weight equal to eir shares on the 20th of the month, when the Clerk recalculates the parameters. Silent shareholders are deemed to suggest the current value. Savings interest rates, loan interest rates, exchange rates, and exchange commission rates are NACB parameters. 12/13 Peekee claims to Distribute eir own Proposal "Secret, Unknown and Hidden Proposals 1.1". lee submits a Will. 12/14 t's Grace Period ends. TRADE OFFERS ------------ Ongoing offers: Player Date Will sell In return for ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Carnival 9/16 +0.01 VT 1 Denaria Carnival 9/16 10 Denaria On a Player's birthday, sing "Happy Birthday" to em in a key with at least four sharps Elysion ? FOR Vote VT cost + 5 Denaria; individual refusal OotEE 9/13 1 Iris 1 VT; non-members subject to 9% Tariff 9/18 The Agoran Carnival accepts deposits of VTs, P-Notes, or IATs, at weekly interest of 3 Denaria per unit. The Agoran Carnival will loan its VTs, P-Notes, or IATs, at weekly interest of 5 Denaria per unit. The Agoran Carnival will pay N of any Basic Currency in exchange for (N of any other Basic Currency plus N Denaria). One-time offers: Player Date Will sell In return for ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Blob 11/1 10 +VTs 1 Indulgence Carnival 11/12 Denaria 2 blocks of 50 -VTs Carnival 11/12 2 blocks of Denaria 50 P-Notes Chuck 9/1 IATs Up to 50 +VTs, negotiable harvel 11/13 Negotiable Delegation of Assessor from 11/23 to 12/1 lee 11/1 5 +VTs 1.1 Indulgences (directed to Palnatoke, but e declined on 11/6)