Subject: SNN for July 11, 2000

From: Xylen <mctupper@h...>
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 01:56:30 -0600

...but wait! That's not all. If you call in the next ten minutes you
get the Turnip Twaddler AND the Miracle Muffin Masher for only $19.95.
Call now. Operators are standing by.

In news from the Hill, numerous Proposals were adopted today, setting
the stage for a wealth of Parties. Although announcements of upcoming
Parties are made to the OAML, it is hoped that the AML will also
recieve the notifications. Although many Parties require a large
attendance to be successful, allowing any Person to attend may make the
Parties interesting. There is no telling how many observors or other
unknown persons may attend. The Persons will also gain social
Advancement, so this will make things interesting in the future Social
Standings. 

SNN spoke with Leonardo Gucci of the House of LG for his thoughts on
the upcoming season.
---------------------
SNN: Considering that summer is almost half over, do you expect
Players to spend a lot of on summer fashions?

LG: Spending is not the word to use. The whole idea is wrong. Players
are making a statement. If they choose to use my designs, of course,
the statement is more important.

SNN: At this time, there is no clear idea of the number of males and
females. Since men will only be purchasing one suit, where
women must purchase a new dress for every party, do you feel you
will have more male customers than female?

LG: You are missing the entire sense of fashion. It may look like the
men are wearing the same suit for different parties, but the smartly
dressed man will have several jackets and suits. A well-dressed man
will never want to be seen in the same suit at two different parties. 
Would you want to be seen eating shrimp in the same blue suit that you
wore to the Luau? No, no, no. It just won't work. The men, the women,
they will all come to me for the finest designs, each time wanting
something better.
-------------------

In other news from the Hill, Rule 21 now allows Players to acknowledge
the hard work of other players in the crafting of proposals. It is
unclear at this time, why the rules name refers to hot arid regions,
but that may become clear at a later date.

And finally, a summary of open proposals.
Proposal 11, which is likely to be retracted as soon as that is
possible, since it has been superceded with a more robust rule.

Proposal 26 is also expect to be retracted, although it would be useful
at this time to remove the instance of OAML in Rule 18.

Proposal 30 will likely be retracted, but plans are underway for it to
be re-written and submit at a later date.

Proposal 37, which sets up limits and requirenments for Institutions is
also open. There are no plans at this time to retract it or re-write it.

Proposal 43, which would cut the salary of the Taxman is currently
under fire. It is unclear at this time if additional work by the Taxman
from later proposals will justify the higher salary. Especially if
Proposal 48 passes. However the passage of that proposal _after_
Proposal 43 would raise the salary back to 5 Points.

Proposal 46 is also causing a bit of contention. The rule allows
Players to send private emails regarding RSVP. Although, the private
email is not required, it is expect that most players would use the
private system. Supporters of the private email may be looking forward
to the surprise of the events. There is no telling who will attend, and
whether the cost of the new suit is warrented. However opponents point
out the infringment of the populaces right-to-know. Players deserve to
know what is happening, whether it is policy making, or party
attendance. 

Proposal 47 will impose taxes on many transactions, although the Points
collected will go partially to new Players. With the approach of a
Social Season, new Players will need the initial outlay of Points to
purchase the appropriate clothing. It should be noted, that after the
new player gains his allotment of points, he will be immediently taxed
when he converts them to coins. Additionally, the first player to join
after a Tax assement will gain substainly more points that later
players.

Proposal 48 is an attempt to prevent poverty from affecting Players. It
simply would not be acceptable socially for someone to throw a Party if
they are destitute. One thing must be considered however. If a player
has negative points, then the State will pay Social Security dole to
the player. That means that new players may want to carefully consider
the timing of thier pledge of allegiance. The timing between the
adoption of proposal 47, 48 and the next time taxes are collected,
could mean the difference in a large number of points.

Proposal 49 would allow players to be non-commital. However, it has
been pointed out that Socialnomic functions only if players are
commited to maintaining the game. Allowing them to pass a vote is
allowing them to shirk thier duties as good citizens of the state. It
also allows authors of proposals to be less than through in the work
going into thier proposals. 

Proposal 50 would allow for unwanted or unpopular proposals to be
removed from future voting considerations. The proposals would remain
in the archives for study, but players would not need to concern
themselves with tracking old proposals. Additionally, this proposal
would allow a player to retract their own proposal if someone else has
a better idea.

The final item in todays news is an increase in population. Ther are
now 8 persons subscribed to the RULES list. 7 of them are also
subscribed to the DML, with 6 of the 8 also subscribed to the AML It
is hoped that these new persons will make their presence known. It will
certainly make parties more entertaining with new faces.

Stay tuned for tonights special movie presentation of "Jaws 23, the
Polident Attack"

Xylen
-- 
Hardware: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked