Ned the Great

Upon seeing this, President Ned of Nedland has decided to support Ben Hermansson in this election. However, he does regard Fourier and Faber favorably. In addition, Ned wonders why the Conservative and Fascist candidates refer to Nedland as "socialist" and "hateful of religion." "Social democracy and secularism are a long way away from socialism and anti-religious in my understanding of the terms." - President Ned

President Ned of Nedland finds it ironic that Acca Dacca is holding a National Ball at this time of year; we had one just like it in Nedland around a year ago. While he is sure that the ball is interesting, President Ned will regretfully be unable to attend. He sends his regards to the queen, however.

A reporter from Nedland News also asked a question: What is your stance towards the Republic of Nedland?

Republic of Nedland - Played by me, Ned the Great.

OOC: Lol, you got me there . IC: President Ned of Nedland fully supports these reforms by President Johnson.

OOC: I thought gravedigs were allowed on the RP boards as long as it was still on topic and it wasn't extreme (as in, gravedigging a thread several months old). As for replying to this topic, I was busy for the last few weeks .

The Bartowski Administration in Nedland has endorsed Franz Müntefering of the Social Democratic Party in this election.

Although the camp has been over for several weeks now, Amanda Page has replied (with help from some biologists) to this Christian Coalition statement (after someone brought it to her attention): "The jaw is not the only remains that have been found for the Heidelburg Man. See this Wikipedia page for details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_heidelbergensis As for the missing link, many fossils have been found that link modern humans to primates. For an examples, see Lucy; who had small skull capacity similar to apes, yet had a bipedial upright walk similar to that of humans. If the Christian Coalition has any more questions, then they should see this video by a fellow Australian: "That the Archaeopteryx has a furcula, or wishbone, is yet another peice of evidence for evolution. Many theropod fossils, including the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex, have been found to contain furcula." "The theory of Evolution suggests that all species are transitional forms. Therefore, all fossils are transitional fossils, and all fossils discovered so far confirm what is currently believed about evolution. This means that there are indeed hundreds of peices of evidence for evolution. I also think that you in the Christian Coalition should note that I am not trying to convince you to leave your religion, meerly trying to show you the evidence. Believing in evolution does not mean you have to leave your religion; you should simply look at the evidence and make up your own mind about religion." OOC: I've seen a few clips of Expelled; to be honest I wasn't all that impressed. Most of the claims the film makes have already been disproved a long time ago (you might want to check out this page: http://rationalwiki.com/wiki/Expelled:Leader%27s_Guide ). If you're interested in documentaries about evolution, might I suggest The Genius of Charles Darwin, a British documentary which, while heavily opinionated, does contain a lot of factual information. Also, I'd like to clairify that my characters I am RPing do not necessarily share my RL views on everything (although they usually do reflect at least some aspects of my beliefs). I just try to make my characters interesting B) . IC: Amanda Page facepalmed upon hearing of this... In the meantime, she has confirmed new Camp Quest Nedland sessions will occur over the Holiday Break and next summer.

President Ned thanks the Marscurian Empire and the Federal Republic of America for their support. We agree that individual liberty and private property are the best garuantees of prosperity and freedom, and we will indeed strike down further affronts to capitalism. In addition, we also thank the Marscurian Empire for praising President Ned's hair . OOC: Jed, your nation's not the only one to put smiley's on official documents .

President Ned's administration thanks Texas, Mexico, and Promised Land for their support. We agree that no pure system can work, and that the best solution is Capitalism with government oversight. We are glad to hear that there is international support for our policy regarding socialism.

Breaking News Politics President Ned vetoes Private Property Abolishment Bill NEDOPOLIS - A Bill proposed by Representative Salvador Andres (NNC - Nedville) that sought to abolish Private Property and place the means of production in control of the workers of Nedland has been vetoed by President Ned Bartowski. This step was surprising to many in Nedland and abroad, who had claimed that President Ned was a Socialist due to his anti-buisiness policies. "I have read the Communist Manifesto, and because I have read it I will say that I am not a Marxist, nor a Communist, and in addition to that I hold that socialism as advocated by Karl Marx is inherently flawed and will inevitably lead to either Stalinism or Anarchy," President Ned said in a press conference following the Nedite Congress' failed attempt to overturn this veto. President Ned says that he considers himself a non-Marxist leftist, and that he fully supports Capitalism as long as there is some government oversight of the free market. He also said that he believes that workers' ownership of the means of production will be impossible because there is no way to start buisinesses under that system. "The only way I've seen that buisinesses can be started under workers' control is when the government gives them the money, and that will lead to Stalinism," he said. Ned also expressed the opinion that even if the buisinesses did start, they might still fail in the case that the workers vote to raise the pay for popular but lazy workers, thereby making the buisiness unfair to hard workers. President Ned at the press conference. Ned's veto has been opposed by many members of Ned's own party, the Nedite National Congress (NNC), which has traditionally been seen as a Socialist Party. Many members of the NNC and of the Black Panther Party (a Communist Afro-Nedite rights party) and the Communist Party of Nedland have expressed their dissapointment at President Ned for this action. "It is sad that a man who has tried so hard to help the working class refuses to take the final step to emancipate the masses," Salvador Andres, the creator of the bill, commented. In the meantime, Ned's veto has been recieved with enthusiastic support from the general public of Nedland, as well as from the corporations and buisinesses and other proponents of the free market. "It is good to see that the President is taking such steps to stop us from falling into Communism," Milton Keynard, an influencial economist, said regarding this matter. In the meantime, President Ned states that he still wishes to remain friendly with most of the socialist nations in the world, and that the Ned Doctrine, a foreign policy program designed to give aid to leftist nations, will continue.

Date: August 10th, 2008 Name of Event: Sons of Shining Truth/World Anarchy Front Terrorist Attack on Nedland Link: http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?s...st&p=810896 Nations With Major Involvement: Nedland, Promised Land, Crimea Iso, Colstream. Date: October 8th, 2008 Name of Event: Green Party Nominational Ball Coup Attempt Link: http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?s...ic=36247&hl Nations With Major Involvement: Nedland, Promised Land, New Cyrmu, Eggman Empire, USNA, The United Nation, UDCR, The Imperium of America, Yorktown 2, United People of AM. Date: July 8th, 2009 Name of Event: Nedland-Promised Land Missile Crisis Link: http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?s...t&p=1735842 Nations With Major Involvement: Nedland, Promised Land.

"Like I said before, we humans can make mistakes. But the fact that we are learning from those mistakes shows that we are good. As for missing links, the theory of evolution states that ALL life forms are transitional forms. Therefore, all fossils are transitional forms. Geologists have discovered hundreds of distinct, progressing variations in fossils. A few hoaxes does not disprove a theory. "When you are speaking of the jutting jaw caveman, you are no doubt referring to the Heidelberg Man, are you not? I think you'll see that the jaw of the Heidelberg Man is much larger and more robust than a normal human jaw. "The Archaeopteryx not only has teeth (which no modern birds posess), but it also has several other features which are more similar to the features of a dinosaur than of a bird. For example, Archaeopteryx has a long and bony tail and that it has free and flexible hands which are not fused to the wings as in birds. For more information, see this video: " Amanda Page said in yet another reply to the Christian Coalition statements. "We do not say that the camp is atheist because it is not atheist. While most of the campers may be atheists, you do not have to be atheist to go to Camp Quest. You don't even have to be non-religious. In addition, we do not dogmatically teach atheism at the camp, we teach the scientific method," Amanda Page replied.

The Bartowski Administration in Nedland has decided to endorse Stefan Maarten in this election.

"War, crime, and racism exist because, even though human beings are generally good and generous, we are flawed as well. People can make mistakes and get carried away with themselves, but overall most people try to do the right thing. I personally believe that eventually war and crime will disappear. I believe this because so far the human race has made a lot of progress regarding morality. We have eliminated slavery and most sexism and racism. What's to say we won't eliminate war, crime, and poverty in the future? The very fact that humans have come this far in getting rid of injustice proves that we are naturally good," Amanda Page replied, "As for Macro-Evolution, evidence is overwhelming in that area. There are hundreds of thousands of fossils which have been found that confirm evolution. In addition, scientists have been able to watch macro-evolution occurring today in viruses (which have much shorter lifespans than humans and can thus evolve more rapidly)." "The very reason people are talking about this camp is because they are shocked that anyone would dare to criticize religion, which is considered an almost untouchable area in society," Amanda Page has said in reply to this statement.

President Ned of Nedland has condemned the results of this election in Kanadia. "I'd wager that Tom Liter was the real culprit in the murder of Totermann," President Ned said. Ned has also called for the release of Jakob Faulstier from prison and urges the people of Kanadia to take to the streets in civil disobedience of the election until Liter reveals the truth about the murder.

"While you may be skeptical and scientific regarding certain matters while also being religious, it is important to be skeptical of everything, even God," Amanda Page replied, "If I may quote the great scientist, Carl Sagan, 'If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs.'" Camp Quest thanks France for their support. "It is good that some support us despite the cruel allegations being made against Camp Quest," Amanda Page said.

OOC: Whoops! Edited. IC: "The age range is from 7 to 17. Anyone older may apply to be a counselor." "Please show me these studies," Page replied, "I have never heard that religious beliefs play any strong role in preventing someone from doing wrong. Even if that is true, secular humanism will keep the positive effects of religion, while eliminating the negative. "The belief that the strong should hold up the weak comes from evolution as well. In cavemen tribes they discovered that if the kept more members of their tribe alive (even the weak ones) then more members of the tribe would reproduce and thus increase the tribe's population. While mankind has flaws, it actually is a generous species by nature: without our generosity, we would never have survived the ice ages," Page finished. "Here at Camp Quest, we teach that it is wrong to discriminate against those who are different from us. We go out of our way to make it clear that intolerance is wrong. I don't think that any camper here would do anything cruel to a religious person. In addition, here at the camp we do not focus on the negatives of religion, although we do discuss that to an extent. Instead, the focus is on the positives of having a scientific mind and being skeptical," Page said. In the meantime, President Ned visited the Camp at around 11:45 today. After eating lunch with the campers and counselors, Ned then gave a lecture on the history of Nedland and the atrocities caused by religion in the history of the nation. He finished up with these words: "Children, you are truly making history here today. You are proving that one can be a moral person without God. I have complete confidence that you will change the world. Keep up the great work!" - President Ned In addition, Britian's The Daily Quail has run an article on Camp Quest.

President Ned of Nedland, with lack of a better candidate to support, endorses Jakob Faulstier of the Communist Party for president of Führerstaat Kanadia. He also hopes the mystery of the murder of Erichs Totermann is solved.

"The leader of Viniland and the Vatican clearly don't understand the purpose of the camp. We are very accepting here at the camp. We even have some campers who believe in God (although they are non-religious)! We tolerate all points of view and we would not stoop down to the level of the religious fundamentalists by indoctrinating our children in supernatural propaganda," Amanda Page has said in response to these claims. "At least some people are on our side," Amanda Page has said in response to that comment. She then proceeded to thank the news station for their survey. In the meantime, President Ned of Nedland himself (a noted atheist) has commented on this camp: "In our day and age when being critical of religion is considered taboo, this is exactly the kind of thing that irreligious children need. Meeting kind and caring people with similar views to them will help greatly in the areas of self esteem and acceptance," President Ned said. Ned accompanied this statement by donating several thousand dollars to Camp Quest, and announcing that he will make a stop there tomorrow.

Amanda Page has again replied to the Christian Coalition of Promised Land. "With religious beliefs, one is not any less likely to do the wrong thing. For example, Al Capone, the notorious gangster of 1930's Chicago was a devout Catholic, but he still committed all of the crimes he did. In addition, religions can sometimes encourage certain activities that I would consider immoral, such as sexism or homophobia. "Now, with regards to morality without religion, it seems obvious to me that ideas such as 'Thou shalt not kill,' and 'Thou shalt not steal,' are not of religious origin. Cavemen in prehistoric times, before religion existed, knew not to kill or steal from each other. They learned that if they worked together and did the best thing for the most amount of people without hurting anyone in the process, then their chances of survival would be better. Slowly, the groups of cavemen became larger as more and more cavemen worked together. Eventually, the first villages were created, then towns, and then cities. In fact, what is civilization but mankind's effort to repeal the law of the jungle? This proves that morality does not have its root in religion, but in evolution. "I would like to recommend that the Christian Coalition do some research into Secular Humanism. This place is a good start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_ethics#Humanist_ethics" Amanda finished. In the meantime, the Christian Coalition is not the only group to oppose Camp Quest. Colerich, the Emperor of Krieg, has condemned the camp as indoctrinating children. Ken Ham, the director of the Christian group Answers In Genesis, has also criticized the camp. Page and other proponets of the camp replied by pointing out that they do not teach that God does not exist, just that it is okay to not believe in God. "The very fact that there is criticism of this camp shows that it is still taboo in our society to criticize religion," Page said.

President Ned of Nedland, being strongly against the death penalty, has stated that Kalyovich should be spared.

Amanda Page, after being interviewed by CNN, has replied to this statement. "The motivation for being good is the knowledge that you are doing the right thing. I personally think that it is far better to do good because it is the right thing to do than it is to do good out of fear of hell," Amanda said.

Breaking News Politics Camp Quest Nedland Begins Its First Session CAMP SANDINO - Initially, Camp Quest may seem like any ordinary camp. The campers go swimming, canoeing, and rock climbing. They gather at campfires at night and sing campfire songs while eating smores. However, Camp Quest (which started it's first session in Nedland yesterday) is not any ordinary camp. Amanda Page, the director of Camp Quest Nedland. In the words of Amanda Page, the director of Camp Quest Nedland, Camp Quest is a camp that teaches you, "not what to think, but how." The camp, which is based on six camps in North America and one in the British Isles, is designed to provide a non-religious alternative camp to the traditional Christian summer camps in Nedland. Aside from the camp activities mentioned before, campers will also take part in philisophical discussions. On the opening night, the campers are posed with a challenge: There are two invisible unicorns in the camp ground. They can not be seen, heard, smelt, felt, or tasted, and exist only on faith. The campers are asked to prove that the unicorns do not exist, with a Nedite Dollar signed by famed British atheist Richard Dawkins (a noted supporter of the camp) himself. As well as this, the campers also discuss the scientific method, morality without religion, the existence of god, world religions, and seperation of church and state. Critics of the camp claim that Camp Quest is indoctrinating children against religion. However, Amanda has disputed this claim. "Camp Quest was founded to encourage the children to ask questions, find answers themselves, and above all, to tolerate other points of view. I wouldn't say that any of that is indoctrination." Kaitlyn Stein, one of the campers, also commented that at Camp Quest she, "learned not that there is no god, but that it is okay to not believe in god." The camp is set to run until August 30th.

The Bartowski Administration in Nedland has announced their support for the Green Party in this election.