Trashcat's Corner: The Meatshields Have Become Self-Aware

[Stumpy Jung Il]

Well this week has brought along a very interesting development for “Trashcat’s Corner.” If you didn’t notice, we have gained a sponsor! That’s right, Vanguard has agreed to sponsor the publication from this point on. So, without further adieu, Vanguard and I are pleased to present this weeks issue of “Trashcat’s Corner.”

(Image by SkyGreenChick of Valhalla)

Disclaimer: The following publication has nothing to do with hunger, vague statements, Poison Clan, old jokes, or Electron Sponge. All TPF members, and bigwoody, should avoid this thread at all costs.

Well my loyal readers, it has been a wild week. We have witnessed magnificent trolls in their natural habitat, wild alliances making crazy things, and all sorts of drama. Hell, we even had TWO wars this week! Enough with the small talk though, this is Trashcat’s Corner:

So This is How The World Ends?

Well I figured I’d start off this issue with a bang so here we go: Treaty cancellations. If I had to pick two words to describe this week on Planet Bob it would easily be “Peace out.” That’s right folks, this week witnessed an unbelievable amount of cancellations and shockingly very few new treaties in comparison. It started rather slowly with several MCXA cancellations of minor treaties, which they claim were being ended over a lack of friendship. I honestly don’t really care, they weren’t MDP’s or binding treaties so it doesn’t really solve much of the cluster $%&@ that is the MDP web. However, soon after we witnessed two shocking revelations: Both FOK and Ragnarok cancelled their MDPs with the New Pacific Order. FOK began the festivities with a blunt and honest description of why the treaty was being cancelled in easily the classiest cancellation I have seen to date. The fact for them is that the friendship was not strong and they actively disagreed with the NPO’s policies. Seriously, I mean wow, finally someone stood up and said, “We are not just cancelling cause we have bad communication skills.” Seriously, I was getting real tired of making fun of you people, so a tip of the hat to FOK for relieving me of my duties. No bull !@#$ flag will be thrown over this one.

Ragnarok also served a valid reason for their cancellation, claiming that the change in leadership had removed the real bond between the two. While this cancellation was boring and lame, it still didn’t COMPLETELY blame “lack of communication” for the cancellation, so I guess Ill give you a little nod for the announcement. However, I still think it is painfully obvious, at least on this treaty, that the reasoning behind the cancellation dives much deeper than what was said. Ragnarok made more treaty headlines when they downgraded their MADP with NATO to an ODP, quite the change considering the strength of the treaty. While the announcement was nice and pleasant, ex-Leader of Ragnarok VanHoo came out in force throughout the thread attacking NATO for everything from poor leadership to not liking his favorite candy. While the !@#$ fest wasn’t extremely hilarious, it was still pretty amusing. Oh, but I forgot, the downgrade was because they weren’t communicating so well anymore. Also, this has nothing to do with sides forming, and everything to do with friendships that have just suddenly failed. My bad.

On a sadder note, CSN cancelled with USN this week, marking the end of a very long and lasting alliance that had formed between two allies who had fought together in the defense of GATO. The feelings were universal: We didn’t want to see this treaty go. It is always sad to see a treaty that everyone knows is meaningful disappear, and I wish you all the best of luck.

Oh Fark, You Make Me Crazy!

Fark made headlines this week with yet another one of their ambiguous and misleading announcements that never actually make sense. However, from what I gathered they were announcing another greenlight from their boards and telling people to avoid recruiting them as they will take such actions as an aggressive action. It was interesting to see that no one reacted negatively to this policy, considering it sets a very different standard from their last greenlight as well as a new standard for this game. Never before has an alliance pre-emptively protected nations coming from an off site board, a very intriguing move to say the least. However, I agree with their right to do so and I am happy to see more personalities entering the game and I would keep an eye on Fark’s stats in the coming days. Good luck to Fark in gathering your gypsies.

Move Over MDP Web, Here Comes the Bloc Web

The bloc web showed growth this week on several fronts, from the creation of new ones to the adding of new members. First things first we witnessed the creation of a new bloc called the “Stickmen” this week which included iFOK, SLCB, and Iunctus, a small group of medium sized alliances. I look forward to seeing this bloc succeed as it is full of some mighty fine gentlemen who all have great potential in this game. Complaints and Grievances also added a new member to its ranks this week with the addition of the Greenland Republic and its merry men. Many hailed the move as “expected” and I would have to agree, it just makes sense. Its good to see the League back together again, we missed you NAAC.

(Image by rsoxbronco1 of Athens)

Our Nukes Will Blot Out the Sun… And There Will Be No Shade

This week witnessed yet another bunch of “!@#$ your pants” nuclear announcements. MK showed rapid nuclear growth this week by reaching 1,500 nuclear weapons, a great feat for my friends in the Kingdom. Athens also announced a nuclear milestone as they reached the shocking level of 500 nukes, giving nuclear proliferation even more meaning on Planet Bob. This absurd nuclear stockpile has brought the Complaints and Grievances bloc to a total of over 4,000 nuclear weapons, making them the “!@#$ Your Pants” group of the week (Yes that does include me I know).

Now For the Article You’ve All Been Waiting For!

What can I say? I am a huge Grand Global Alliance fan. Seriously, the GGA made headlines this week with yet another amazing announcement that sky rocketed their PR to record heights. What was it of you ask? Well, it was an apology to their allies for the logs that they feared might be leaked by DerekJones. That’s right, they hadn’t been leaked yet, but they might be, and the GGA feared that these logs were bad enough that an apology was in order. Now, we are all very confused at why they felt this needed to be made, or how they thought hinting at damaging logs was a good idea, but we were all enlightened by page two thanks to our dear friend DerekJones. In one swift post he showed that this feared “log dump” was in fact an obvious joke that GGA completely missed. So basically, the announcement was about absolutely nothing. Now, Ill give you all a moment to recover from the collective facepalm you just completed… ok. The thread was promising to say the least with people coming down on all sides about how GGA was monstrous or hilarious or both. We witnessed all the big players from Vox who said the same thing as they always do and then high fived afterwards as well as the usual NPO members crying about how we need to leave poor GGA alone. Listen guys, when you do stuff like this, you are gonna get laughed out of town and picked on. Im sorry, but that’s just the way things work, especially if the alliance doing the stupid stuff has made their best effort to gather enemies over the year. However, the thread took a turn for the worst when NPO members accused Vox of wanting to destroy GGA’s community, which they claimed was hypocritical and heinous. Hold on, Im catching my breath over how hilarious this is. You do realize that GGA and NPO effectively destroyed VE’s community right? And that’s just one case, there are many, many more that have been destroyed from planned wars and other aggression. So spare me if I don’t fall for the “bleeding heart of GGA” routine and speak my mind about their alliance. In closing, a tip of my hat to GGA for yet another brilliant topic. Also, ocho for King of GGA ’09!

EZI: Just Another Fad

This week witnessed more alliances jumping on the “End EZI” bandwagon with Athens signing the ZI Peace Pact and removing the policy of EZI entirely. Its nice to see more people carrying the banner to end this silly policy and idea on Planet Bob. We also witnessed both TPF and NPO announce a very ambiguous announcement stating that they will essentially end EZI… unless they decide other wise. Essentially both stated that they intend to give terms and end the policy in a general sense while maintaining their right to do it anyway. While this isn’t quite the move most posters hoped for, I praise this move as the first step towards a brighter future. Both alliances have made themselves clear and are beginning the process by taking a stand, even just a small one, against it. A tip of my hate to you two, even if everyone else just seems to piss on you no matter what you post. NV also announced the end to their non-existent EZI list this week, so I guess that deserves props.

All Quiet on the Western Front

This week also showed a very active war screen, with Declarations of War coming from both the New Sith Order and the Mushroom Kingdom. Both wars were declared over spying, the NSO against the CDC and MK against UBD. However, the CDC war was a little more foggy with NSO members being barraged with complaints about their apparent lack of “proof” for the acts they claimed were going on. Some even went as far to claim that they were only attacking CDC because it was formed by members who left the NSO. However, by the end of the thread most had agreed that the move was legitimate and had moved on their way. On the MK front the public was almost unanimous: UBD deserved what was coming to them. Several members of the UBD government even confessed to spying in order to gain “war guides,” a very silly thing to get your alliance rolled over. However, I guess we cant all be geniuses. I would have thought that their allies in both NPO and several other large alliances could have helped them with war guides, but I guess the MK guides are just that good. Maybe you can use them against MK right now. Finally, Prussia declared war on NPO this week, marking the downfall of the current hegemony… I think.

Poison Clan Ain’t Nuttin to $%&@ With

Well Poison Clan earned applause this week when they announced that they had reached the amazing one year mark, a feat many questioned they would reach. PC made it clear in their announcement that they had faced many troubles, mainly from TPF, in reaching this mark and promptly rubbed it in TPF’s face. I, for one, am pleased to see PC surviving and thriving despite of outside pressure and am eagerly awaiting what they will bring to Planet Bob in the future. Good job guys, Im impressed.

Its Like You All Want Me To Hate You…

Well, CN continued to depress me this week with the founding of a new type of thread: Ex ______ WHERE YOU AT LOL. Seriously if I see one more of these stupid threads Im going to cry and jump off a building. The first one mocking the trend was funny, hell, Ill even admit that I laughed. But this is a serious case of a joke going to far, to the point that I cant take it anymore. I hate all of you, like seriously. However, admin did make me crack a smile with his, so I guess a tip of the hat to him. The rest of you however, you are on my hate list and don’t plan on getting off it anytime soon.

TPF: Keep Your Day Job

Sorry guys, but I gotta go with the mob on this and say that your standup is just not that funny. TPF announced this week that they’d be cancelling on Valhalla because of strained relations, a move that people immediately called shenanigans on. The treaty has a 15 day cancellation clause and people figured that the cancellation was just a move to pave the way for an MADP upgrade. However, mhawk came out in force declaring that the treaty was in fact cancelled and it was not a joke. They even had the cute and adorable Pansy making harsh statements about the cowardice of TPF government, which only added to the absurdity of the thread. It was rapidly becoming clear that that is was yet ANOTHER fake cancellation, a joke that stopped being funny around 2006. However, mhawk stood his ground. Even when Vox proceeded to post screens of mhawk declaring it was a joke, he continued to deny the cancellation was fake. We then witnessed a “no u” argument for the record books between the infamous “no u” guru Electron Sponge and mhawk, who has taken up the role of the rising rookie of the “no u” league. The argument eventually boiled down to the fact that either TPF wont sign the MADP, to spite Vox and prove that Vox was wrong again, or TPF will sign the MADP and Vox will be right. Either way, it seems rather silly for a joke that seems so tired. However, just when I thought the thread couldn’t get any better, IT DID! In swoops ChairmanHal who proved he can post the most off topic material imagineable in one thread. This off topic banter was only worsened when VanHoo and Hal got into a pissing match of the ages which ended with Hoo calling Hal a “nobody.” Rarely have I seen an argument get so personal, at least lately, and I was pleased to see some real trolling on my boards. Seriously, nothing beats a derailed thread that turns into a string of personal attacks. The thread proved to be troll central, so if you are looking for a good thread this is the one this week. Afterall, Trashcat Hungers.

(Image by rsoxbronco1 of Athens)

Free At Last, Free At Last, Thank God All Mighty the Brown Colony is Free At Last!

That’s right folks, GATO was released of their viceroy this week after a massive amount of time under terms. This marks the first sovereign GATO that Planet Bob as seen in at least a year (chronology is an approximation). For those of you who are out of the loop, GATO lost a war to One Vision and afterwards were given a viceroy who would run their alliance. They have been held under this viceroy, by Pacifica, for well past the time required to actually prove a point to an alliance. As a matter of fact, I have rarely seen such a violation of sovereignty in this game and I would argue that one of the worst crimes in CN history has finally come to an end. Seriously, it takes guts to stomp on an alliance for well over a year without firing a missile, but you could say the war on GATO is finally over. However, just when I was finished celebrating GATO’s freedom, they released a friendship treaty with NPO, marking one of the most serious cases of Stockholm syndrome that this planet has ever seen. Seriously, I believe it was said best along the lines of: “Now that your jackboot if off my neck, wanna be friends?” It just doesn’t make sense guys. The only way I can see this being reasonable is if the treaty was the way that you got the viceroy removed. Other than that, I am severally disappointed with GATO if this is a legitimate treaty with an alliance that has spent the last year destroying your sovereignty as an alliance. However, none the less, a tip of my hat to Pacifica for letting our Brown Cat go.

THIS JUST IN: VOX MAKES A REALLY VAGUE ANNOUNCEMENT PREDICTING SOMETHING THAT IS GONNA HAPPEN WITH EXTREME EXAGGERATION!

Oh wait, that’s every Vox announcement… My bad that wasn’t breaking news at all.

Now For Some Real Breaking News!

Just in today: Sparta leaves Q. While this move is absolutely huge, there isn't really much I can say about it. The thread was very polite, the cancellation held no jabs, and the trolls didnt even show. However, I would like to say that those of you claiming sides arn't forming are stupid and need to stop fooling yourselves, cause you arnt fooling any of us. Theres a storm coming and Im getting the feeling that its a hurricane. Tip of my hat to you Sparta, good luck in this Brave New World. I mean, nothing is coming, dont be alarmed, make sure you take your soma today.

Well that’s it for “Trashcat’s Corner” and I’d like to take a moment to thank all you trolls, idiots, and bumbling buffoons who have made this week so amazing. My hats off to all of you for making me drink at night. On that note, I’d like to leave you with the Awards of the Week. Please stay after and read the interview with Jonathan Brookbank. Thanks for reading, this is Stumpy signing out.

(Image by Jonathan Brookbank)

Shout out of the Week goes to…

Jonathan Brookbank! JB was released after 8 months of EZI this week, so a shout out to him for getting freedom.

The Birthday of the Week goes to…

NV! Congrats guys, two years is a big deal.

Announcement of the Week goes to…

Greenland Republic joinig Complaints and Grievances! Yes, I’m biased, but it was still pretty awesome.

Alliance of the Week goes to…

GATO! Have to give it to you guys, you survived one hellish year.

Poster of the Week goes to…

Alterego! Seriously:

You can eat my !@#$ you $@ smoking mother$%&@er, I wont forget you anytime soon.

Worst Meme of the Week goes to…

WHERE YOU AT LOL! Threads. I hate all of you.

Player of the Week goes to…

DerekJones! For providing the hilarity that would become the most recent GGA thread.

Edited April 16, 2009 by Stumpy Jung Il

[Stumpy Jung Il]

Interview with Jonathan Brookbank:

[2:51pm] Stumpy: This is Stumpy signing in with "Trashcat's Corner." Today we have Jonathan_Brookbank with us a long time player of CN, ex-GGA triumvirate, and a well known poster. JB, you are no stranger to the boards and a well known figure on the forums, why dont you give the audience a brief history of your time here on Planet Bob?

[2:54pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: This is a little long, so I'll break it up into two sections so that the IRC limits don't mess anything up.

[2:54pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Alright. I started playing in October of 2006. I was unaligned for about a month before I got a PM from Bilrow inviting me to join the GGA. It was the only actual leader to send me a recruitment PM, so there I went. I was there for almost exactly 11 months. I held a variety of positions, from Minister and Trade of Aid up to Triumvir. I was kicked out after stepping down from Triumvir to Elder Statesman.

[2:55pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: After that, I spent about a month in NpO, which I left to create TD, which merged with CORE to form The Dominion. I then left due to rl reasons, but never really left the game. I floated around under a variety of names before I finally resurfaced later in 2008. Not much notable after that, other than being put on a bunch of e-ZI lists.

[2:55pm] Stumpy: What was the main reason for being placed on the EZI lists?

[2:57pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: To be honest, I'm not really all that sure. I was told it was due to being a Vox founder, but I was only in Vox for 4 days, during which I did next to nothing. I also didn't even have a nation the day Vox was founded, haha. But, yeah, aside from that, I'm not really sure, since a lot of Vox founders who stuck around far longer than I were let off.

[2:58pm] Stumpy: So would you say it was a vendetta against you personally? Or merely the fact that you were one of the unlucky posters they tried to make into an example?

[2:59pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I don't know about a personal vendetta or anything, but I would say that it was a bit of a mix of the fact that they didn't really like me after the end of my time in the OV camp and that I was a "loud" poster that they wanted to make an example of, I suppose.

[3:00pm] Stumpy: I would have to agree. Ok, so looking back at all this, your time in GGA and other alliances, your long stint on EZI, would you change anything?

[3:00pm] Stumpy: Is there ever a moment where you wish you could go back and do something differently.

[3:02pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I'd say the biggest thing I would change would be stepping down from Triumvir to Elder Statesman instead of standing my ground and fighting Bilrow on the issue. He had told me to change or he would start a vote to remove me, so I voluntarily stepped down to save the GGA the problems, but unfortunately most of those problems have come up anyway.

[3:03pm] Stumpy: What do you think GGA's biggest problem is at the moment and do you think bringing back old faces will help them achieve success over these issues? Also, do you think standing up to Bilrow would have actually achieved anything?

[3:06pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I think the biggest issue for the GGA is the lack of any "strong" members. One thing that has always been true about the GGA prior to the current time is at least one or two stand-out people whom everyone could rally around.

[3:07pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Whether that was P_C, Bilrow, KevintheGreat, DerekJones, or myself, we all were pretty loud and gave everyone a common focus.

[3:08pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I think standing up to Bilrow would have exposed his true intentions and relationship with the NPO sooner, allowing the GGA to make a change at a better time, sure. Even if it resulted in my removal, it would have shown Bilrow was a little too much in the NPO camp and not enough in the GGA camp.

[3:10pm] Stumpy: That actually brings us to the next question. I think everyone has seen the posts made by GGA members lately, whether it be the WRC post or that topic by VE, where GGA made it very clear that they have become a very dependent entity, and some would say almost entirely lacking sovereignty. Seeing this, do you believe that GGA is as connected to NPO as people claim? More importantly, do you think the new leadership has be ability to make a "independent" GGA once again? I, personally, have my doubts after seeing shaneprince's removal. How do you feel about all that?

[3:11pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Cut off "leadership has be abilit"

[3:11pm] Stumpy: ability to make a "independent" GGA once again? I, personally, have my doubts after seeing shaneprince's removal. How do you feel about all that?

[3:14pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Unfortunately, and I've had some pretty extensive discussions with some GGA/ex-GGA about this, I don't believe the GGA has much of a future, especially not an independent one unless a MAJOR cleanup happens.

[3:14pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: There are still some diamonds in the rough that are attempting to make the changes necessary, but it seems like any time they speak up, they're removed. At this point, I don't think the new Triumvirate has the experience nor the political clout to do something about GGA's current position.

[3:14pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: the changes that are necessary*

[3:15pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: It is honestly kind of sad to see the place I basically grew up in here in CN reduced to what it is now.

[3:16pm] Stumpy: I think we can all understand that. Its not easy to say the least.

[3:17pm] Stumpy: Ok, Im gonna move on if thats ok with you, anything else you'd like to add on the subject before we move on?

[3:17pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: No, that's it, go on whenever you're ready.

[3:18pm] Stumpy: Ok, on a lighter note, Im gonna ask the usual question: Who's your favorite, and least favorite, poster? Why?

[3:18pm] Stumpy: You can do several in both camps if you can't narrow it down.

[3:18pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Alright, that makes it easier.

[3:21pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I'll start with least favorites: the internet tough guys. People like Bob_Sanders, BnT, "The Phoenix Hungers" crew, etc. I think you know the type. It's noting against their respective alliances, but these people's arguments are typically either made completely up of fallacies/false statements or trying to threaten people.

[3:23pm] Stumpy: I do know what you are talking about and would actually agree with them being my least favorite.

[3:23pm] Stumpy: I actually believe several people have started saying "Trashcat Hungers" in response to my campaign against the phrase.

[3:24pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Haha, yeah, I've seen that around, especially on IRC.

[3:24pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: As far as favorite posters go, there are a couple of groups for that. I actually enjoy Doitzel and Sponge a lot (when their posts aren't TOO full of propaganda). Then you have people like you, Random, Tyga, etc.; people willing to speak their mind and stand up for their values, no matter what may happen to them because of it.

[3:25pm] Stumpy: I actually said in the last interview that I think Tygaland is one of my all time favorite posters in the history of the game. He has the perfect balance of short posting, intelligence, and balls that I really enjoy reading.

[3:26pm] • Jonathan_Brookbank nods

[3:26pm] Stumpy: Ok, so Im gonna get back into politics and political questions, mainly current events

[3:26pm] Stumpy: First off, you are off Perma ZI now correct?

[3:27pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Yes, as of last night, I was released from my final permanent/eternal ZI lists.

[3:27pm] Stumpy: How long has it been?

[3:29pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Officially, I was on the lists for 7 to 8 months, depending on which list you look at, because GGA let me off a few weeks before the others. As far as how long I've been "black" listed, it's been like that since the end of 2007. It really led to the death of The Dominion, in a way, due to losing the NpO/VE treaties over political pressure because of me, which is probably my biggest issue with the whole thing.

[3:30pm] Stumpy: Its been a long road, a painful obviously since you lost your alliance, how relieved do you feel?

[3:30pm] Stumpy: Now that its finally all over.

[3:32pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I feel extremely relieved. Honestly, the point of this game, at least for me, has nothing to do with the game itself. It's all about the interactions with people and the relationships built from that. I have a number of people I consider friends from this game, and I plan to make more now that I can join an alliance and meet more new people.

[3:33pm] Stumpy: I think most of us can agree to this summary. Now that you have freedom, where do you plan to go? Any home in mind?

[3:35pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I actually just applied to Umbrella a few minutes before this interview began, haha. One day I do plan on creating an alliance again, but I can feel the storms brewing and I would rather not found right before a war, haha.

[3:36pm] Stumpy: Haha Understandable.

[3:36pm] Stumpy: Ok, on the topic of EZI, have you had the chance to keep up with the NPO-TPF announcements regarding their new policies in EZI?

[3:38pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I think I caught the OP of both threads, but I barely ever read anything past that with the nonsense that people are posting these days.

[3:39pm] Stumpy: I dont blame you. From what I gathered, their new policies are essentially that both alliances no longer practice PZI/EZI as a whole. However, both use ambiguous wording and the NPO policy even goes as far to imply that they can still extend wars past the normal ZI sentence. How do you feel about these changes?

[3:40pm] Stumpy: Do you see them as a means of improving their PR? Do you think either are firm stands against the practice or merely just a well spoken redundancy of what was already done?

[3:41pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I don't think the NPO's policy has changed at all, to be quite honest. If anything, this was just a codification of what they already practiced. From my interactions with both NPO and IRON, they don't use the terms p/e-ZI the way everyone else does.

[3:41pm] Stumpy: Yeah, both make that pretty clear on the public boards.

[3:41pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: So in the end, it all comes down to how long Moo wants you on the list.

[3:42pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: And how many characters he wants to ZI.

[3:42pm] Stumpy: I agree.

[3:42pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Or whomever the Emperor is, assuming Moo will step down at some point.

[3:42pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: As for TPF, I feel that Slayer really dislikes e-ZI, but I have no idea about mhawk's feelings on it.

[3:42pm] Stumpy: So you agree with Revanche when he openly stated that he doesn't applaud the move at all, and merely sees it as a PR stunt while maintaining the exact same policy?

[3:43pm] Stumpy: Also I can vouch for Slayer, he fought very hard to get TDSM8 off perma ZI and he has opposed it on several other fronts.

[3:44pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Yeah, he privately spoke to some people to help me out, so I do thank him for that and his stance.

[3:45pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: As for agreeing with Revance...I don't know iif it's so much a PR stunt, because if they were really looking for good PR, they would have avoided the ambiguous language and complete lack of change in policy.

[3:45pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: They had to know that people in CN would catch on and realize what they were doing.

[3:45pm] Stumpy: But since, as you said, there is a complete lack of change in policy, why would they announce it?

[3:45pm] Stumpy: What other reason would there be for making that an announcement?

[3:46pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: To be honest, I'm not really all that sure what NPO was thinking, as they didn't even want to announce that I was freed. It kind of confused me to see them post that thread.

[3:46pm] Stumpy: It does seem very weird considering their overall stance on several similar issues.

[3:47pm] Stumpy: Ok, while we are on the subject of NPO, how do you feel about GATO's freedom and the following Friendship treaty?

[3:48pm] Stumpy: I believe someone made a very good point saying that the treaty could not have been signed by GATO's democratic system cause it was announced just minutes after they were freed, a signing that would have taken much longer. Do you think the treaty was just a term of them getting released from under NPO's jackboot?

[3:48pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: GATO has made so little noise lately that I nearly forgot they existed, to be quite honest.

[3:48pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: As for the friendship treaty, it may have played a similar role to the PIAT between MK and NPO.

[3:49pm] Stumpy: I can understand that comparison.

[3:49pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: In which case, I'm all for it, as I'm against viceroyalty, charter changes, etc., in general.

[3:49pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: And in the end, a ToF is about as worthless as a NAP.

[3:50pm] Stumpy: Well, thats brings about another question, do you think that the imprisonment of GATO is one of the worst crimes against sovereignty this game has yet to see? I mean, I would honestly rank the amount of time that they've been controlled up there with \m/'s destruction in the UJW, both showed complete disregard for alliance sovereignty and international norms.

[3:52pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Yeah, I really did dislike that whole situation, especially considering it wasn't revoked when Admin made the call on viceroys. As for comparing it to \m/'s destruction,

[3:52pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: whoops, hit enter too early

[3:52pm] Jonathan_Brookbank:

[3:52pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: As for comparing it to \m/'s destruction, even Sponge was planning on giving \m/ terms at some point, he just wanted them to fight a bit longer.

[3:53pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: So it's not as comparable, in my opinion.

[3:53pm] Stumpy: With the recent moves with EZI and GATO, do you see FAN possibly getting term or freedom soon?

[3:54pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I hope it leads to FAN's freedom, but based on the NPO responses on the forums, I don't see that happening, unfortunately.

[3:55pm] Stumpy: Im afraid I have to agree with you, but we can hope.

[3:56pm] Stumpy: Ok, we are gonna finish up here with one last subject and thats gonna be about the current wars with MK and NSO. Any opinions on the subject of either? Both were based on spying, how do you feel about spying becoming an increasingly common CB on Planet Bob?

[3:58pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: In every charter I have written for planned alliances, including alliances that never ended up being formed for whatever reason, I've always included a part about spying being equivalent to a declaration of war. If the government of the spy can be linked to the spying, then I'm all for going after the whole alliance.

[3:58pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I do like this new "short war" thing, though.

[3:58pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: It helps to lessen the impact on those not really involved in it.

[3:59pm] Stumpy: Yeah, its really nice to see to say the least. Do you think its a step towards more lenient terms to those alliances that get caught in wars? Essentially, do you see this catching on?

[4:00pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: One can hope, but in the end, CN is always changing, and opinions change every time someone new takes over an old alliance or creates a new alliance, so it's really hard to judge whether it will catch on.

[4:00pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I'd say for alliance one on one wars, it probably will.

[4:00pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: But I doubt you will see anything like this for any major wars.

[4:00pm] Stumpy: That statement seems reasonable and Im gonna have to agree.

[4:01pm] Stumpy: On that note, do you have any closing statements? Final bits of discussion? Insults? Shout outs? Anything you'd like to say before we sign out here?

[4:02pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Sure, I've got a few things I'd like to say in closing, but I'll keep it short.

[4:02pm] Stumpy: Go ahead.

[4:03pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: If anyone is looking for any more in depth answers to any of these questions, or any other questions, I am nearly always willing to discuss just about anything in #brookstonia on Coldfront. I set it up for anyone and everyone to come and chat with me whenever.

[4:03pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: As for shout outs

[4:04pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: I'd like to just thank all of my friends who stuck with me throughout this whole e-ZI process. It was a long process and I would have been bored out of my mind if I didn't have friends around during it. You all know who you are, so I don't need to list every single one of you, because I would inevitably leave one person out.

[4:04pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: And that's about it.

[4:04pm] Jonathan_Brookbank: Thanks for having me on, Stumpy.

[4:05pm] Stumpy: Not a problem. Id like to thank my guest Jonathan_Brookbank for coming on for the interview, you've been a great guest. Be sure to sign in next week, and I hope you enjoyed the issue. This is Stumpy signing off for "Trashcat's Corner."

Edited April 16, 2009 by Stumpy Jung Il

[mrcalkin]

yesss Umbrella mention achieved

[Proxian Empire]

I agree.

[Yuurei]

There's no way I'm reading all of that....and you say it's edited???

Good luck with whatever it is you say you are trying to do.

[Bob]

Another awesome edition.

[OneBallMan]

Now, this was very well written, and although I might take umbrage with some of the points, I cannot argue that they are well composed, and A+B=C logic does compute.

[Mogar]

nice read, and for once I actually read it before spamming a first post.

[tamerlane]

A great publication. May there be more.

How could I forget the obligatory <3 Stumpy

Edited April 16, 2009 by tamerlane

[bzelger]

What does your sponsorship do for you?

[Stumpy Jung Il]

What does your sponsorship do for you?

Makes it an alliance announcement like the TWiP

[Paradigm]

Nice read - good GATO coverage Stumpy.

[President Obama]

Another great edition!

Moving up in the world I see, no longer in the dingy old World Affairs forum, now in Alliance Politics.

[AirMe]

All hail Stumpy and his awesome publication.

[Audran]

Great read Stumpy! I really enjoyed it. I hope you keep this going.

[Trace]

I do not support your interview with JB.

[Mogar]

I do not support your interview with JB.

That's an epic sig.

[Kwilliams]

A very good read and something for everyone! Plenty of lol's for the whole family. Gold star, sir. Gold star.

[MagicalTrevor]

Following an article in the MuP, i must also side against your article and summary of Mr Brookbank, and the subsequent shoutout.

[Buds The Man]

another great read stumpy

[o ya baby]

STRONG SUPPORT FOR UNFREEING BROOKBANK.

[Stumpy Jung Il]

I do not support your interview with JB.

I seriously lold.

[DerekJones]

I humbly accept this prestigious award for Player of the Week Here's to the further hilarity that will certainly ensue from CN's favorite alliance!

[Rebel Virginia]

(Image by rsoxbronco1 of Athens)

For the record, I plan on defecting from MK to the NPO in five months.

[Hyperion321]

another great addition stumpy. Now go summarize the Sparta thread

Edited April 16, 2009 by Hyperion321