Cryptocurrencies, The New Reality: Digital Summit 2020 – Benzinga

The record-breaking five-day online conference in the field of blockchain technologies and business,Digital Summit 2020, with more than 30 international speakers will unite at least 25, 000 participants from Europe, Asia, the USand other regions on July 6-10 in an immersive discussion of new anti-crisis solutions in the current economic environment.

TheDigital Summit 2020 will unite the global industry leaders and novices of the digital world and create a unique synergy between blockchain and traditional business. The market giants will share their business ideas and anti-crisis solutions in the economic environment in 2020. The eventwill allow traditional business entrepreneurs to find a new direction for growth and discover new business problem-solving techniques.

The Digital Summit 2020 participants will experience a fivedays full of immersion into the field of new blockchain technologies and business crisis management solutions with more than 30 international speakers, including:

Sergey Sevantsyan, mastermind of Think Tank Community, and Catherine Ross, senior editor of Benzinga will be the hosts of the conference.

The Digital Summit 2020 will cover eightgrowth areas Mining, DAO, Exchanges, Market-making, Projects 2020, Venture investments, Sales and Marketing for crypto projects and such key topics as the anti-crisis cases from the top companies, the pandemic effects on the market, trading in 2020, business tactics in the face of uncertainty, the anti-crisis strategies of the new blockchain economy, blockchain governance and micronations.

The general partner of the conference is the blockchain media resource ForkLog. The blockchain consulting company Colibri Group, cryptocurrency calendar 1 in the world Coindar.org, the worlds first privacy-preserving computation network based on Multi-party Computation ARPA, the global leader in blockchain and Internet of Things WaltonChain, Amir Capital investment company, and the cryptocurrency exchanges Bingbon, HotBit, BiKi and ByBit.

Visit the webpage to join the conference and take a chance to win the prizes from our exclusive sponsor Forsage and other conference partners. Among prizes, there will be KIA Sportage Comfort from the conferences general sponsor CBS ONE.

Visitors are welcome to choose between free and paid participation with the chance to win the prizes and the business lunch with the conference speakers. Corporate clients will receive a discount for purchasing over 20 tickets. The current price is $19 for Business ticket and $89 for Executive ticket.

About conference hosts: Digital Summit 2020 is the fourth major online-conference of the Goooup team and the founder of UM Sergey Petrik. The previous major conferences of the team include Blockchain Day Online and New Economy Conference. For inquiries and collaboration: https://t.me/NKlimovskaya

2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Cryptocurrencies, The New Reality: Digital Summit 2020 - Benzinga

Micronations in the United States Prepare for Coronavirus, Send Messages of Goodwill to the American People – Newsweek

The coronavirus has spread to 184 countries, according to Johns Hopkins University, but while the COVID-19 virus is something nearly every country in the world shares, national responses to the pandemic have had wildly disparate outcomes. Comparing these responses suggest best-path approaches for suppressing the spread of the virus, while simultaneously highlighting systemic weaknesses on both the national and international level. But while nation-states are composed of overlapping economies, social institutions and bureaucracies, they also embody a national identity, made of its collective people and their thoughts.

Without recognition in the international ordersometimes without even geographical territorythe world's micronations are made almost entirely of this intangible spirit. Their response to the coronavirus pandemic can't be waged with medical resources, PPE supply lines and police-enforced social distancing. Instead, they have each other, and the identity they've built collectively. Through diplomatic channels (email), we reached out to micronations founded in the United States, to see how they're weathering the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and to hear what good tidings they bring to the people of the country that surrounds them.

Each had their own purpose behind founding their own country, and they weren't always what you might expect. While often the creations of eccentrics who have built for themselves a fantastic excuse for colorful costumes and elaborate titles, micronations aren't just for individualists and property-rights political gadflies, demonstrating instead a thoughtful and international inclination.

With territorial holdings within the states of California and Nevada, the 11-acre Republic of Molossia has its own currency (the Valora, which is valued against the price of chocolate chip cookie dough), postal service, national parks, volcanological institute, connection to Arthurian legend, national musical instrument (the kazoo-like molossaphone), rockets program and railroad.

President Kevin Baugh has been the leader of Molossia since 1999, except for a few days in 2010 when the country was overthrown and renamed Kickassia (Baugh subverted the short-lived dictatorship in his disguise as advisor Baron Fritz von Baugh). While embodying a light spirit and a certain brand of political satire, Molossia nurtures a surprisingly robust civic life and emulatesin miniaturemany of the functions of the modern state, with outreach via an online radio show, newsletter and state visits with fellow micronations.

Molossia does, however, rely on the larger surrounding nation for health care and other resources, paid back in "foreign aid," i.e. taxes"They need it - have you seen their roads?" a Molossian government website says. As in the surrounding United States, Molossians are adhering to standard practices in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Currently most resident Molossians are on a form of lockdown, with only a couple traveling to their place of employment outside our nation to work. Thus far we have not had any Molossians fall victim to the virus, which is excellent news and shows that our basic plan of lockdown and social distancing is working." President Kevin Baugh of the Republic of Molossia told Newsweek. "Hopefully it stays that way, not just for us here in Molossia, but over the border in the U.S. and all over the world."

Azul from Talossa!

The Greater Talossan Area roughly overlaps with the East Side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the Kingdom itselffounded in 1979, when 14-year-old Robert Ben Madison, first in a line of elected kings and queens, declared his bedroom a sovereign stateis one of the earliest and most successful examples of a primarily online micronation, with more than a hundred active citizens around the world. Since 1995, Talossa has developed an elaborate government and culture, with a two-chamber legislature, cabinet ministers, political parties and its idiosyncratic invented language.

"We are like any other micronation out there in that what we do is very tongue-in-cheek and gives our participants a chance to make a difference in a unique societal framework," Talossian Jeffrey Ragsdale told Newsweek.

According to Talossan Prime Minister Daphne Lawless, Talossans haven't had an in-person meet up for several months, ensuring that "community transmission of COVID-19 in Talossa is zero."

"Talossans are pioneers at social distancing," Prime Minister Daphne Lawless told Newsweek, citing the exclusively online nature of their government and civic life. "For our Big Neighbour, the United States of America, I wish nothing but the best of health and welfare."

The Prime Minister ended our email correspondence with a Talossan proverb: "Voastra soleu ispu da srvivon, c' despasar acest malignh crisomileu din la Cas Bianc."

Using their online lexicon, their proverb translates loosely to, "Your only hope for survival is to get rid of that orange goblin in the White House."

"I come before you in a time of great uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic, now upon us, has touched every continent in the world, except for Antarctica," Grand Duke Travis McHenry said in a video address to the citizens of Westarctica, the micronation he founded in 2001. "However, this does not mean we are not affected, for Westarctica is a global community, with citizens in every corner of the Earth."

Westarctica claims as its sovereign territory a 620,000 square mile slice of West Antarctica called Marie Byrd Land (named for the wife of Antarctic explorer Richard Byrd), which is still considered by most nations to be the largest unclaimed territory on the planet.

Its leader sporting a uniform somewhere in the nebulous zone between Napoleonic and tinpot dictator, Westarctica emphasizes martial valor, heraldry and pomp, but aims it all at service-driven ends, particularly combating climate change. Citing its self-interest as an Antarctic country (if so far uninhabited), Westarctica pursues environmental causes via a scholarship grant, initiatives encouraging reduced meat consumption and the Westarctican Civilian Corps, which structures on-the-ground ecological work with military-style honors and awards. By creating their nation in Antarctica and a flag to rally around, Westarctica sees itself as providing a voice for a fragile ecosystem and bringing attention to the state of the Western Antarctic ice sheet.

As for their response to coronavirus, Grand Duke Travis suggested his citizens follow the recommendations of local health services, while emphasizing Westarctica's service-oriented national character.

"Our Foreign Minister, based in Germany, has been activated by the German military to assist with medical operations," Grand Duke Travis told Newsweek. "Aside from a bit of fatigue from the long hours, he's in good spirits."

Westarctica has also appointed the head of their national orchestra, Jon Langer, to the position of Kapellmeister, who will now have the duty of creating Westarctican music for the enjoyment of those sheltering in place.

While COVID-19 has yet to spread to Antarctica and no Westarctican yet lives on the southernmost continent, Grand Duke Travis expressed hope that "scientists at research stations across the continent are taking proper precautions."

The unusual nature of The Ambulatory Free States of Obsidia have made coronavirus precautions a cinch for the microstate. The nation's founder, Grand Marshal Caro Yagjian, took concrete steps against the pandemic, closing "the national briefcase" days before U.S. states began instituting shelter in place ordersthe landmass comprising The Ambulatory Free States of Obsidia consists of a medium-sized volcanic rock, broken into two chunks. Weighing about the size of a large pineapple, the transportable nation is sometimes displayed alongside a sign that reads, "Please feel free to touch country."

"Obsidia sees the U.S. federal response as a complete disaster," Grand Marshal Yagjian told Newsweek. "It is truly a failure of the American system in every way."

Her nation is calling for the United States to provide healthcare, hazard pay, PTO and sick leave for all frontline workers, including agricultural workers and those working at grocery stores and other ongoing food services.

"In times like this micronation activities can feel frivolous," Grand Marshal Yagjian said. "Many of our members are affected by job losses or having to put themselves at risk because they work the low-paying jobs that were not deemed essential until a few weeks ago."

While bordered on all sides by Oakland, California, the Ambulatory Free States were formed as a matriarchal "anti-state," Obsidia models LGBTQ and feminist-led alternatives to capitalism by promoting self-expression in pursuit of new concepts for ideal governance. An artistic collective in spirit, Obsidia citizens have made their own responses to coronavirus, including this guide to sewing your own face mask"

"My only hope is that we will come out of this with an energy that says working people will not tolerate abuse any longer," Grand Marshal Yagjian said. "Our embassy is closed, but our spirit of mutual aid and strength remain the same."

"The whole Zaqistan thing is not necessarily to talk to you here and pretend it's a 100 percent functioning country," New York artist and Republic of Zaqistan founder Zaq Landsberg told Newsweek. "It's a tool to make people question what is a 'real' country."

The Republic of Zaqistan is one of Landsberg's many large-scale creations, which often present as playfully interactive while subtly (or not-so-subtly, as with the NYPD mobile surveillance tower Landsberg transformed into a menacing spider) highlighting internationalist struggles or critiquing American militarism. Zaqistan is populated by robot sentinels, who stand guard over the Victory Arch, a monument to an unspecified victory ("When it happens, we'll have it ready," Landsberg said).

Landsberg created Zaqistan to explore how national sovereignty, and particularly diplomatic recognition, can be used as a tool to delegitimize people and populations. While initially inspired by how the sovereign status of Taiwan has been systematically delegitimizedincluding by the United Nationsthe creation of Zaqistan raised questions about his own relationship with the United States. Landsberg recalled a sense of shame hanging over his first visit to the land that would become a new micronation, which coincided with the George W. Bush administration's failure to adequately respond to Hurricane Katrina.

"Who decides what American is? If American stuff is happening and we don't agree with it, can we go someplace else? Can we disavow that?" Landsberg said. "Can I create my own country and my own identity?

In some ways, an uninhabitable micronation out in the desert, surrounded by the United States, highlights the absurdity of believing it's possible to fully separate our identities from our national origins"If you and I are born in America, everything we write and do is going to be American," Landsberg said.

But Landsberg came to believe it was possible to consciously transform a national identity, with Zaqistan as a model in miniature of how this process of self-conceiving operates. As he issued Zaqistan passports to a widening circle of friends and traveling companions, Landsberg found surprising power in the assertion of a joint sovereignty independent from modern nation-states. While in India, Landsberg extended Zaqistani citizenship to stateless Tibetan exile friends, who found their new citizenship in the micronation darkly hilarious.

"They travel on Indian residency cards. Literally to this day, Zaqistanwhich is kind of a joke countryis the only country they hold citizenship too," Landsberg said. "That change did it for me, because at first it was a tongue-in-cheek thing, but that made it turn. There was an actual thing that affected their lives, that was a little hard to describe or even for Americans to think about, because there aren't many stateless people in the United States."

Together, they were creating Zaqistani art, "joke or not," and collectively building a Zaqistani worldview. This same worldview informed Landsberg's response to the coronavirus pandemic, who largely dismissed the status of his micronation and instead explored how concepts of nationalism, both micro- and macro- could either become a great strength or a great impediment to how humanity weathers the COVID-19 virus.

"Zaqistan is in the middle of the Utah desert and there's a couple of robot sentinels out there," Landsberg told Newsweek. "In that sense the virus doesn't affect the land, but there are hundreds of Zaqistani citizens throughout the world and I worry about how they are."

Landsberg pointed out how national identity can play a surprising role in how effectively we as a country can combat the virus. For example, undocumented immigrants are more at risk for having less access to healthcare and employment opportunities, but the decision to keep them in this relegated status endangers everyonea problem created by our conception of national identity.

"The virus doesn't discriminate, it just attacks human hosts," Landsberg said. "When it's 'my country or yours' it can make both countries sicker in the long run."

Just as advocates for policies like Medicare for All have held up the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as evidence of the need for universal healthcare that won't endanger or bankrupt the millions of American workers freshly unemployed and without insurance, Landsberg sees in COVID-19 the failures of nationalism and the potential benefits in constructing more fruitful and open identities.

"These are problems of nationality and countries working together," Landsberg said. "Not even in a kumbaya sense, but how as humans we need to figure this problem out. The more we work together, the better it's going to be for everybody. Sectioning and dividing ourselves off could potentially make things worse."

Rather than the abolition of nationalist affiliations, Landsberg sees in micronations the potential for people to self-select identities that can bring them together. While nations in their composition, micronations lack a monopoly on force, making them voluntary associations capable of embodying a collective will. Rather than throwing out national identity, in the micronation model we can see the possibility of improving and better coordinating separate collectives, an activity which has become surprisingly literal in our atomized, shelter-in-place isolation.

"What if everybody starts coming up with a flag and ruling from their quarantine zone and their little identities?" Landsberg asked.

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Micronations in the United States Prepare for Coronavirus, Send Messages of Goodwill to the American People - Newsweek

The Joy of Collecting Stamps From Countries That Don’t Really Exist – Atlas Obscura

The postage stamp looks like a postage stamp is supposed to look: white, perforated edges, and part of a circular cancellation mark in the corner. It also has the country and postage clearly printed, though its depiction of the pirate Blackbeard during an attack might be more dramatic than most philatelic subjects. But its not a postage stamp, not really, because its country of origin is Sealanda metal platform about the size of a tennis court, off the English coast. Sealand is one of the quirky, strangely numerous states known as micronations, or self-proclaimed polities with no legal recognition. Some of them, to simulate legitimacy or at least make a little money, have issued their own flags, passports, coins, and yes, postage stamps.

Laura Steward, curator of public art at the University of Chicago, who organized an exhibition at the 2020 Outsider Art Fair in New York of stamps from micronations and other dubiously defined places, believes that these tiny squares are more than a toss-off: Theyre art, proof of imagination, and rather sophisticated bids for public recognition. A postage stamp is a small but mighty symbolic emissary from one particular nation to the rest of the world, Steward writes in text accompanying the exhibit. A functioning postal service, made visible in stamps, is an unmistakable expression of national legitimacy. As a result, the postage stamp is an excellent vehicle for spurious, tenuous, or completely fictitious states to declare their existence.

Steward, whos a stamp collector herself, refers to these types of stamps as Bogus Cinderellas. They are bogus because they dont represent officially recognized entities, and Cinderellas because they are stepchildren to genuine postage. Most serious stamp collectors consider them illegitimate despite their extraordinary ability to conjure an entire nation on a tiny piece of paper, Steward wrote. Some collectors are fascinated by them nonetheless, and so micronations (and other not-quite-places) keep putting them out. The Republic of Molossia issued some as recently as 2019.

Atlas Obscura spoke with Steward about the wonders of discovering and collecting stamps from these rather curious, suspect places.

I was working on an exhibition of unusual forms of currencies in support of a scientific conference, and came across Sealands currency, and then Sealand itself.

Stamps are routinely used to reify state power. If your states existence is rather tenuous, making a stamp is a gesture of legitimacy and seriousness. It is an opportunity to visualize your states identity and share that with others.

My favorite stamps are from Heliotown, which is more like an art project than a micronation. It is easiest to think of Heliotown as a parallel reality, and there are two portals to it in Santa Fe, New Mexicoone downtown, one at the Santa Fe Institute, the independent research institute that created it.

Im drawn to Celestia, the Nation of Celestial Space. James Thomas Mangan, founder of Celestia, registered the acquisition of outer space with the Recorder of Deeds and Titles in Cook County, Illinois, on January 1, 1949. Magnan laid claim to outer space to prevent any one country from establishing hegemony there. Later in 1949, he banned all atmospheric nuclear tests, and notified the United Nations of his decision.

For me, the appeal of the stamps is their ability to stand for the political culture of an entire nation in just one square inch. And I love to think about micronationsthe boldness of the project, the many decisions that must be made to invent an entire nation and culture out of nothing. And to then express such a vast project in such a tiny form is something I find enchanting to think about it. I love the handmade qualities of many stamps, which show us the character of their makers.

Continued here:

The Joy of Collecting Stamps From Countries That Don't Really Exist - Atlas Obscura

Lilliputians in Gulliver’s World – The odd world of the mini-state – Geographical

In the third of his series on geopolitical oddities, Vitali Vitaliev looks at our planets smallest independent nations

It is common knowledge that throughout its 300 years of history, Liechtenstein a tiny, 25km-long, sovereign principality, squeezed between Austria and Switzerland was spared foreign invasions. Like many other commonly accepted stereotypes about the worlds smallest sovereign countries, however, this is not entirely true.

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The principality has no army, and its last military engagement was in 1866, when Prussia declared war on Austria. All 80 Liechtenstein soldiers were deployed on the frontier between Tyrol and Italy for one week, during which time they witnessed a blizzard (in August), but never once set eyes on the enemy. They returned to Liechtenstein safe and sound (even making a new recruit on the way back making them one of the few military forces to return from the front lines of a war with more soldiers than when they left), were welcomed by a band, given refreshments at Vaduz castle and then sent home.

And yet, two episodes in the principalitys 20th century history could indeed qualify as invasions, of sorts. The latest happened in October 1992, when a group of Swiss recruits tried by mistake to set up an observation post in the Liechtenstein village of Triesenberg on the Swiss border. A local country woman, who had never seen a soldier before and was obviously unnerved by their rifles and gas-masks, simply shooed them away across the frontier back into Switzerland, which had to apologise officially for the incident.

The first episode, however, warrants a much more detailed description. On the night of 2 May 1945, 500 fully armed Russian soldiers, under the command of Major General Holmston-Smyslovsky, crossed the Austrian frontier into Liechtenstein near the village of Schellenberg. The Russians, remnants of the First Russian Army of the German Wehrmacht, had entered Liechtenstein in search of political asylum. Unlike two and a half million other Russian soldiers and Cossacks, who fought on the German side and were captured by the Allies only to be handed over to Stalin under the Yalta agreement, these 500 were not extradited and were allowed to stay.

The tiny Ruritanian principality was firmly committed to its status of neutrality during WWII. Near the village of Malbun, there is a church, built in 1950 to thank God for sparing Liechtenstein the terrors of the Second World War. In actual fact, it was thanks not to God but to the political prowess of Prince Franz Joseph II (ironically, the nephew of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination in Sarajevo precipitated the 1914-1918 war), who bravely paid a surprise visit to Berlin in May 1939. As the Prince himself later recalled, Hitler was visibly ill at ease and didnt make any impression at all during their 90 minute meeting in the Reich Chancellery, but since his visit flattered Hitlers ego, the Nazis decided to leave Liechtenstein alone.

A tourist train running through Liechtenstein

SMALL BUT PROUD

The mini (also called micro) state is a rather confusing and ill-defined concept. Unlike the so-called micronations, mini-states are all fully sovereign and self-governing small entities, recognised as such by the UN and other international organisations. According to the succinct definition by Websters College Dictionary, a mini-state is just a small independent nation. The Free Internet Dictionary defines it as: a very small nation that is an internationally-recognised sovereign state. The obvious question here is: how small is small?

Small is a relative concept when applied to countries. The UK is small compared to, say, China or Russia, but Malta is very small in relation to the UK. Or take Iceland relatively small in population (350,000), yet vast in its area (40,000 square miles). What should we take into account: area, population, both? My favourite definition, quoted by geographer Zbigniew Dumienski in his paper Microstates as Modern Protected States, describes a mini-state as being of a size so small as to invite comment.

If we narrow the bracket even further to a maximum of 100,000 population it leaves us with ten amazingly diverse sovereign countries: Nauru, Tuvalu, Palau and Marshall Islands in Oceania, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean and San Marino, Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra in Europe. Finally there is also Niue (population 1,600) an island nation in the South Pacific, considered an associated state (ie. minor partner) of New Zealand.

(How about the Vatican, by far the worlds smallest state, with the population of under 900 and the area of just 44 hectares? Well, I consciously chose to leave the Papal State out of the above list, for, to me, it did not quite meet the traditional criteria of a state. And not just to me, it appears: writer Thomas Eccardt in his recent book Secrets of the Seven Smallest States of Europereferred to the Vatican as being more similar to the headquarters of international organisations than to a state in its own right. Hopefully, His Holiness will forgive us both!)

Modern Liechtenstein (area 160 square km, population 39,000), with its per capita GDP of over $140,000 is by some estimates the worlds richest country. And not only due to its tax haven status and its countless letterbox companies (their number is higher than that of the principalitys population), but also because of its proportionally extensive infrastructure, with over 1,800 industrial enterprises specialising in electronics, precision engineering, metal finishing, textile and ceramic industries. It explains why it is often called a mini-industrial giant.

Monaco is the tiny home to more than 37,000 people

We find a very different picture in the all-urban, tax-free Monaco (a principality of 37,000 people, with the worlds highest population density of 25,105 people per square km), effectively owned by the Grimaldi family, whose economy apart from banking heavily relies on the services sector and more recently on Prince Alberts determination to develop environmentally friendly small industries. Meanwhile, San Marino (pop. 34,000), the worlds oldest republic, thrives on exporting its wines, souvenirs and highly collectable postage stamps.

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The very existence of the prospering small states is a not-so-small miracle in our immensely globalised world. Researchers Iver Neumann and Sieglinde Gstoni certainly had a point when characterising all surviving mini-states as Lilliputians in Gullivers World in their eponymous paper, published by the University of Iceland in May 2004.

Yet, the mini-states most remarkable feature is their frantic, yet entirely peaceful, clinging to their own sovereignty. Despite their minuscule size, modern mini-states are ruled in a plethora of different ways from parliamentary and constitutional monarchies (Monaco and Liechtestein) to unitary parliamentary republics (Palau, Marshall Islands) to San Marinos peculiar diarchy whereby it is governed jointly by two Captains Regent, nominated by the Grand and General Council.

Andorra, a tiny Catalan-speaking co-principality in the Pyrenees that enjoys the worlds highest life expectancy, and has been independent since 1298, retains a parliamentary democracy run by the Council General (Andorras parliament since 1419), but also preserves an element of diarchy by maintaining its two co-Princes, one of whom is traditionally the incumbent President of France, the other the Bishop of Urgel. Unlike in San Marino, however, their role is largely ceremonial.

In St Kitts and Nevis a unique mini-federation of two island states the same minister can hold several different portfolios both in the local island government and at the federal level. The Rt. Hon. Mark Brantley, Neviss Deputy Premier, holds ten!

San Marino is just one of five diarchies countries jointly ruled by two leaders

STANDING STRONG

Liechtensteins head of state, Prince Hans Adam II, is Europes last remaining full-power monarch. He can single-handedly veto laws, call referenda and dissolve the Diet (parliament), as he did in September 1993. Hans Adam II went on to declare general elections and to reject the no-confidence vote against his then prime minister, Markus Buchel, an event normally associated with the 17th century, not the late 20th.

In 2003, he called a referendum on the expansion of his own powers and threatened to leave the country if the people voted against it. They didnt and refused to curtail them once again in 2012 when an anti-monarchists proposal to do so was resolutely voted down.

Not too democratic, you may say. Yet, as the story with the asylum-seeking Russian soldiers goes on to demonstrate, at times it takes a bit of dictatorial toughness to keep the aggressor at bay.

The First Russian Army of the Wehrmacht was made of Russian migrs and freedom-fighters, most of whom were not even Soviet citizens. Its main objective was not to contribute to Russias occupation, but rather to help it to get rid of Bolshevism, which was seen as the greater of two evils. Hitler never fully trusted the Army, and even had Holmston-Smyslovsky, a former Russian count, imprisoned and his unit disbanded for a couple of years. The army didnt commit any atrocities and its involvement in combat action was minimal.

As soon as the news reached Vaduz of the 500 Russians in German uniforms, with all their arms and equipment, crossing the border, the Prince sent his representatives to Schellenberg. Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, a long-time Liechtenstein resident of Russian/Ukrainian extraction (who passed away at the venerable age of 106 in November 2018), was asked to act as a translator. The negotiations with Holmston-Smyslovsky took place in the Zum Lowen Inn on the border. It was a curious sight for our peaceful Liechtenstein, the Baron once told me many years later during a meeting. Hundreds of heavily armed men, with their horses and vehicles, camping on the lawn behind the inn. Later we built barracks for them in the town of Ruggel.

Franz Josef II as depicted on the countrys official stamps

Asylum was duly granted to all the Russians, but shortly afterwards Prince Franz Josef II found himself under considerable pressure from the Soviets. Unlike his counterparts in Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway, all of which had agreed to repatriate the Russian POWs, the ruler of the tiny Liechtenstein firmly resisted all attempts to have the asylum-seekers extradited. Despite strong pressure, and in contrast to the bad example set by other countries, these unfortunate refugees were not handed over to the executioners, the valiant prince wrote in 1980.

The only thing he had to agree to was to allow a Soviet delegation to come to Liechtenstein and interview the asylum-seekers. By stick and carrot, Stalins emissaries managed to dupe 300 into returning to the USSR. Notwithstanding generous guarantees of safety, many of them were executed on arrival and the rest ended up in Gulag.

Most of the remaining 200, including General Holmston-Smyslovsky himself, stayed for two years before moving on, most of them to the safety of Argentina. Thus two hundred human lives were saved by the tiny principalitys faithfulness to its historical and humanitarian principles.

Liechtenstein, Europes only nation, which did not succumb to the Soviets pressure, might be small indeed, but, like many other mini-states, it can teach the modern world an important lesson of true sovereignty and pride. Where some of the worlds greatest democracies effectively capitulated in the face of a gun-brandishing bully, tiny Liechtenstein stayed strong.

The latest edition of Vitali Vitalievs book, Little is the Light: Nostalgic Travels in the Mini-States of Europe, Is published by Thrust Books and is available from: amzn.to/2KZ8wNd

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Lilliputians in Gulliver's World - The odd world of the mini-state - Geographical

Asteroid warning: When impact hits, nothing but cockroaches will survive, claims expert – Express.co.uk

An asteroid hit 66 million years ago wiped out 75 percent of all life on Earth and plunged the planet into the grips of a nuclear winter. The cataclysm brought about the end of the dinosaurs reign, leaving behind only small mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians. Should another dinosaur killer strike the Earth today, the dominant species of animal humans would likely disappear from the face of the planet. Because of these risks, space expert Lembit pik believes it is critical to invest in early warning and defence systems.

The dinosaur killer is believed to have been a six-mile-wide (10km) rock that struck near what is todays Chicxulub on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

Mr pik, who is the Chairman of Parliament for the space-based micronation of Asgardia, believes another Chicxulub asteroid would spell the end of humanity.

He told Express.co.uk: If its a 10km object, the odds are it will miss things in space but if it hits Earth its academic.

The Earth will be covered with a dust cloud made of material thrown into the atmosphere directly and the dust and soot from the fires that would occur for a couple of years.

READ MORE: How often do asteroids hit Earth? What is the danger

It would be long enough to kill photosynthesis and, in other words, those who werent incinerated would starve.

Today, Earths defence measures are coordinated by the likes of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

ESA has in the past stressed there are no rocks currently headed directly at our planet but the list of known asteroid threats is incomplete.

Mr pik said: We have a good register of Earth-crossing objects they are the one that could hit us, they are the objects that cross our orbital lane.

But its not a complete list and therefore we need to be sure we can see them coming.

WATCH HERE: Major asteroid DESTROYS Earth in fiery crash simulation

Oftentimes something will come into the Earths atmosphere like the one over Siberia recently, which injured about 1,000 people, that nobody saw coming.

Now that one was problematic because if it had been a little bit bigger, it would have killed tens of thousands of people.

The ones we are really worried about are maybe ones that are 100m to 200m across.

A one-kilometre object is a continent killer, a 10km object is an Earth killer.

Asteroid defence and protection from space-based dangers is one of the topics Asgardia will address in October at the micronations first Space Science and Investment Conference.

The conference between October 14 and October 16 will address all aspects of moving humanity from Earth and into space.

Asgardia aims to conceive the first child in space in the next 25 years, followed by elevating humanity towards becoming a spacefaring civilisation.

Mr pik has campaigned for more asteroid defence measures since his day as a Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire in Wales between 1998 and 2010.

Originally posted here:

Asteroid warning: When impact hits, nothing but cockroaches will survive, claims expert - Express.co.uk

Micronation | East Asian Micronations Wiki | FANDOM …

A micronation is an entity intended to replace, resemble, mock, or exist on equal footing with recognised independent state. Some micronations are created with serious intent, while others exist as a hobby or stunt.

Micronations should not be confused with internationally recognised but geographically tiny nations such as Fiji, the Vatican, and San Marino for which the term 'microstate' is used.

The term 'micronation' literally means "small nation". It is a neologism originating in the mid-1990s to describe the many thousands of small unrecognised state-like entities that have mostly arisen since that time. It is generally accepted that the term was invented by Robert Ben Madison.

The term has since also come to be used retrospectively to refer to earlier unrecognised entities, some of which date to as far back as the 19th century. Supporters of micronations use the term "macronation" for any UN-recognized sovereign nation-state.

Micronations generally have a number of common features, although these may vary widely. They may have a structure similar to established sovereign states, including territorial claims, government institutions, official symbols and citizens, albeit on a much smaller scale. Micronations are often quite small, in both their claimed territory and claimed populations although there are some exceptions to this rule, with different micronations having different methods of citizenship. Micronations may also issue formal instruments such as postage stamps, coins, banknotes and passports, and bestow honours and titles of nobility.

A criterion which distinguishes micronations from imaginary countries, eco-villages, campuses, tribes, clans, sects, and residential community associations, is that these entities do not usually seek to be recognised as sovereign.

The Montevideo Convention was one attempt to create a legal definition distinguishing between states and non-states. Some micronations meet this definition, while some do not, and others reject the Convention altogether.

The academic study of micronations and microstates is known as micropatrology, and the hobby of establishing and operating micronations is known as micronationalism.

Micronations have been known to be termed as a 'cybernation', 'fantasy country', 'model country (or nation)', 'new country project', 'pseudonation', 'counternation', 'ephemeral state', 'online nation' and many other variants.

Micronations may also be classified, although many different systems are used across the micronational world. One of the most commonly used systems is the Boodlesmyth-Tallini System of Cclassification.

The Principality of Sealand is one of the more well-known micronations in the world

The 17th century saw the rise to prominence of a world order dominated by the concept of the nation-state, following the Treaty of Westphalia. However, the earliest recognisable micronations can be dated to the 18th century. Most were founded by eccentric adventurers or business speculators, and several were remarkably successful. These include the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, ruled by the Clunies-Ross family, and Sarawak, ruled by the "White Rajas" of the Brooke family. Both were independent personal fiefdoms in all but name, and survived until well into the 20th century.

Less successful were the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia (1860-1862) in southern Chile and Argentina, and the Kingdom of Sedang (1888-1890) in French Indochina. The oldest extant micronation to arise in modern times is the Kingdom of Redonda, founded in 1865 in the Caribbean. It failed to establish itself as a sovereign nation-state, but has nonetheless managed to survive into the present day as a unique literary foundation with its own king and aristocracy although it is not without its controversies; there are presently at least four competing claimants to the Redondan throne.

M. C. Harman, owner of the UK island of Lundy in the early decades of the 20th century, issued private coinage and postage stamps for local use. Although the island was ruled as a virtual fiefdom, its owner never claimed to be independent of the United Kingdom. Thus, Lundy can at best be described as a precursor to later territorial micronations.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a 'micronational renaissance', with the foundation of a number of territorial micronations, some of which still persist to this day. The first of these, the Principality of Sealand, was founded in 1967 on an abandoned World War II gun platform in the North Sea, and has endured a military coup, court rulings and rough weather throughout its existence. Others were based on schemes requiring the construction of artificial islands, but only two are known to have risen above sea level.

The Republic of Rose Island was a 400 sq metre platform built in international waters off the Italian town of Rimini, in the Adriatic Sea in 1968. It is reported to have issued stamps, minted currency, and declared Esperanto to be its official language. Shortly after completion, however, it was destroyed by the Italian Navy.

The Republic of Minerva was set up in 1972 as a libertarian new country project by Nevada businessman Michael Oliver. Oliver's group conducted dredging operations at the Minerva Reefs, a shoal located in the Pacific Ocean south of Fiji. They succeeded in creating a small artificial island, but their efforts at securing international recognition met with little success, and near-neighbour Tonga sent a military force to the area and annexed it.

On 1 April 1977, bibliophile Richard Booth, declared the UK town of Hay-on-Wye an "independent republic" with himself as its king. The town has subsequently developed a healthy tourism industry based literary interests, and "King Richard" (whose sceptre consists of a recycled toilet plunger) continues to dole out Hay-on-Wye peerages and honours to anyone prepared to pay for them. The official website for Hay-on-Wye, however, admits that the declaration of independence, along with the later claim to have annexed the USA and renaming it the "US of Hay" were all merely publicity stunts.

Micronationalism has since evolved mainly into hobbies, and with younger participants. Although no all-compassing authority on micronations exists, nor any comprehensive listing, it is known that a number of widely diverse communities and sectors persist throughout the micronational world, often on the internet.

The internet provided micronationalism with a new outlet, and the number of entities able to be termed as micronations skyrocketed the beginning of the twenty-first century as a result. Exact figures may never be known, but it is thought that many thousands of micronations now exist throughout the world. However, with this new outlet of the internet came a large anomaly between micronationalists and micronations. Before the advent of micronationalism on the internet, micronations were few and far between, and were able to coax many hundreds of people in their citizenry. At present, most micronations are 'One-man micronations' or 'Egostans', with only one or two people being citizens of the micronation.

The majority are based in English-speaking countries, but a significant minority arose elsewhere in other countries as well.

In the present day, the following categories are generally accepted as being standard:

Micronations of the first type tend to be fairly serious in outlook, involve sometimes significant numbers of relatively mature participants, and often engage in highly sophisticated, structured activities that emulate the operations of real-world nations. A few examples of these include:

These micronations also tend to be fairly serious, and involve significant numbers of people interested in recreating the past, especially the Roman or Mediaeval past, and living it in a vicarious way. Examples of these include:

With literally thousands in existence, micronations of this type are by far the most common. They are ephemeral, and tend to be Internet-based, rarely surviving more than a few months, although there are notable exceptions. They generally involve a handful of people, and are concerned primarily with arrogating to their founders the outward symbols of statehood. The use of grand-sounding titles, awards, honours, and heraldic symbols derived from European feudal traditions, and the conduct of 'wars' with other micronations, are common manifestations of their activities. Examples include:

Micronations of this type include stand-alone artistic projects, deliberate exercises in creative online and offline fiction, artistic creations, and even popular films. Examples include:

These types of micronations are typically associated with a political or social reform agenda. Some are maintained as media and public relations exercises. Examples of this type include:

A number of micronations have been established for fraudulent purposes, by seeking to link questionable or illegal financial actions with seemingly legitimate nations. Some examples of these are:

A small number of micronations are founded with genuine aspirations to be sovereign states. Many are based on historical anomalies or eccentric interpretations of law, and tend to be easily confused with established states. These types of micronations are usually located in small (usually disputed) territorial enclaves, generate limited economic activity founded on tourism, philatelic and numismatic sales, and are at best tolerated or at worst ignored by other nations. This category includes:

New-country projects are attempts to found completely new nation-states. They typically involve plans to construct artificial islands (few of which are ever realised), and a large percentage have embraced or purported to embrace libertarian or democratic principles. Examples include:

Seasteading is a lifestyle of making the oceans, or at least water-borne craft, one's home. Most seasteads historically have been sailing craft, whether perhaps demonstrated by the Chinese Junk, modified canoes of Oceania, or even the famous Pirates of Libertaria. In modern times in the west the cruising sailboat has begun to be used in the same manner. The term seasteading is of uncertain origin, used at least as early as the turn of the century by Uffa Fox, and others; many feel that catamaran designer and historian James Wharram and his designs represent ideal seasteads. More recently, American sailor and ecological philosopher Jerome FitzGerald has been a leading and effective proponent of seasteading, mostly teaching the concept through the environmental/sailing organization "The Oar Club". The Seasteader's Institute in Hilo, Hawaii offers classes, boat-building opportunities, education in forage foods, diving, and other aspects of a Seasteading lifestyle.

Some theoretical seasteads are floating platforms which could be used to create sovereign micronations, or otherwise serve the ends of ocean colonization. The concept is introduced in a paper by Wayne Gramlich, and later in a book by Gramlich, Patri Friedman and Andy House, which is available for free online. Their research aims at a more practical approach to developing micronations, based on currently available technology and a pragmatic approach to financial aspects.

The authors argue that seasteading has the potential to drastically lower the barrier to entry to the governing industry. This allows for more experimentation and innovation with varying social, political, and economic systems. Potential business opportunities include data havens, offshore aquaculture, and casinos, as well as the gamut of typical business endeavors.

There has been a small but growing amount of attention paid to the micronation phenomenon in recent years. Most interest in academic circles has been concerned with studying the apparently anomalous legal situations affecting such entities as Sealand and the Hutt River Province, in exploring how some micronations represent grassroots political ideas, and in the creation of role-playing entities for instructional purposes.

In 2000, Professor Fabrice O'Driscoll, of the Aix-Marseille University, published a book about micronations: Ils ne sigent pas l'ONU ("They are not in the United Nations"), with more than 300 pages dedicated to the subject.

Several recent publications have dealt with the subject of particular historic micronations, including Republic of Indian Stream (University Press), by Dartmouth College geographer Daniel Doan, The Land that Never Was, about Gregor MacGregor, and the Principality of Poyais, by David Sinclair (ISBN 0-7553-1080-2).

In May 2000, an article in the New York Times entitled "Utopian Rulers, and Spoofs, Stake Out Territory Online" brought the phenomenon to a wider audience for the first time. Similar articles were published by newspapers such as the French Liberation, the Italian La Repubblica, the Greek "Ta Nea", by O Estado de So Paulo in Brazil, and Portugal's Viso at around the same time.

The Democratic Empire of Sunda, which claims to be the Government of the Kingdom of Sunda (an ancient kingdom, in present-day Indonesia) in exile in Switzerland, made media headlines when two so-called princesses, Lamia Roro Wiranatadikusumah Siliwangi Al Misri, 21, and Fathia Reza Wiranatadikusumah Siliwangi Al Misiri, 23, were detained by Malaysian authorities at the border with Brunei, on 13 July 2007, and are charged for entering the country without a valid pass.

In August 2003 a Summit of Micronations took place in Helsinki at Finlandia Hall, the site of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). The summit was attended by delegations such as the Principality of Sealand, Neue Slowenische Kunst|NSK, Ladonia, the Transnational Republic, and by scholars from various academic institutions.

From 7 November through 17 December 2004, the Reg Vardy Gallery at the University of Sunderland hosted an exhibition on the subject of micronational group identity and symbolism. The exhibition focused on numismatic, philatelic and vexillological artefacts, as well as other symbols and instruments created and used by a number of micronations from the 1950s through to the present day. A summit of micronations conducted as part of this exhibition was attended by representatives of Sealand, Elgaland-Vargaland, New Utopia, Atlantium, Frestonia and Fusa. The exhibition was reprised at the Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York City from 24 June29 July of the following year. Another exhibition about micronations opened at Paris' Palais de Tokyo in early 2007.

The Sunderland summit was later featured in a 5-part BBC light entertainment television series called "How to Start Your Own Country" presented by Danny Wallace. The series told the story of Wallace's experience of founding a micronation, Lovely, located in his London flat. It screened in the UK in August 2005. Similar programs have also aired on television networks in other parts of Europe.

On 9 September 2006, The Guardian newspaper reported that the travel guide company Lonely Planet had published the world's first travel guide devoted to micronations, the Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations (ISBN 1741047307).

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Micronation | East Asian Micronations Wiki | FANDOM ...

Possible Locations for the New The Pirate Bay HQ …

The Pirate Bay has made its intentions of purchasing a country quite clear. Apparently, negotiations with Sealand are still under way. But they aren't just looking at Sealand, but a number of other 'micronations' as well.

Youve heard of Sealand, and maybe even Ladonia, but what about Isla Montuosa, Ile de Caille, Geraldo-Pedro & Ronde Island? Those are all candidates for the next Pirate Island. Check out descriptions of a few potential pirate havens below.

SealandThe one country most likely to be bought by The Pirate Bay is Sealand. The micronation is currently owned by the Bates family, who claimed the 5920 sq. ft. platform as their own in 1967. The so-called country is located only 10 kilometres off the coast of Suffolk, England, accessible only by boat and helicopter.

LadoniaThe country second in line is Ladonia, another micronation. Located southwest of Sweden, Ladonia seems to be the most convenient option for the TPB guys, as their current HQ is in Sweden. Ladonia is basically a tiny patch of land on which a few sculptures stand. The story behind it is a long and confusing one. In 1996, Lars Vilks, the artist who owns Ladonia proclaimed it a sovereign nation after a long-drawn court battle to safeguard his supposedly illegally built sculptures.

Isla MontuosaAccording to the BuySealand wiki, Isla Montuosa is a remote island located near Panama in Central America. It is another possible location for The Pirate Bays server farm, and also the largest of the top three. Isla Montuosa spans a whooping 227 acres. Unfortunately, most of the island is covered in trees, and it would be a shame if TPB would have to indulge in mass-deforestation. Also, it seems the island has no infrastructure at all at this point. That would make setting up an server farm extremely difficult. Theyd need electricity and water first!

Other possible countries or islands The Pirate Bay might buy include Chris Pinnacle Island in the Philippines, Ernst-Thlmann Island in Germany, Ronde Island in the Caribbean, the Geraldo and Pedro Islands in Brazil, Great Hans Lollik & Little Hans Lollik, part of the US Virgin Islands and Ile de Caille in Grenada.

What do you think? Which of the various micronations and islands is most suitable for The Pirate Bay to buy? In my opinion, Sealand seems perfect since it already has high-speed Internet access. And what better place for a bunch of pirates than on the high seas?

Excerpt from:

Possible Locations for the New The Pirate Bay HQ ...

Inside the world’s strangest micronations – telegraph.co.uk

The world's newest micronation has half a million prospective citizens, runs on crytocurrency donations, and lays claim to a disputed four-mile sandbank on the Danube.

Liberland, founded by Czech economist turned politicianVt Jedlika in 2015, has low-tax, libertarian ideals (its motto is "live and let live") and is a very much a micronation for the 21st century. All business is conducted by email, 100 key representatives in various countries communicate via Skype, it acceptsBitcoin, Bitcoin Cash andEthereum and is about to start distributing its own digital currency.

But efforts to establish itself territorially have not gone down well with local authorities. The strip of land in question, on the border between Croatia and Serbia, is disputed by the two nations. A legal loophole stops Croatia from claiming the area, but that hasn't prevented Croatian officials from arrestingJedlika when he tries to set up a camp.

"The situation on the mainland in Liberland is still difficult as Croatian police illegally persecute all visitors and settlers," he says. "We are waiting for exoneration from the Croatian constitutional court but for now, our settlement has essentially moved to the river, where we host visitors almost on a daily basis."

Many of those visitors are British,he claims, while support for the project has also been offered by the likes ofRoger Ver, an early investor in Bitcoin, andPatrik Schumacher, the chief executive of Zaha Hadid Architects, who has submitted potential designs for Liberland's future cityscape.

Jedlikaadds: "We are constantly looking into options that would entail more Liberlands being created. Right now there are potential candidates in Africa and Central America," he says. "Liberland can be created anywhere, but it all depends on the locals."

Liberland is by no means the first micronation. There have been countless attempts to establish independent states, for a variety of noble and misguided reasons. Here are 10 of the most notable examples.

The self-proclaimed "prince" of this micronation in Western Australia abdicated in 2017 due to poor health, after an impressive 47 years in power. Prince Leonard (real name Leonard George Casley) presided over the Principality of Hutt River for almost half a century after announcing its secession in 1970 in protest at the government's agricultural policy. But the 91-year-old has now handed his position and ceremonial robes over to his son, Graeme.

Located 350 miles north of Perth, the Principality of Hutt River has become a popular tourist attraction, attracting up to 40,000 visitors each year. It is big around 75 square kilometres but has only 30 permanent residents (and a further 13,000+ overseas citizens). It issues its own commemorative coins, and even accepts company registrations (although the Australian Taxation Office has raised doubt as to their legality).

While no nations recognise Hutt River's sovereignty,Prince Leonard and The Queen have exchanged correspondence. In 2016, he wrote to congratulate her on her 90th birthday, after which her senior correspondence officer replied: "I am able to convey Her Majesty's good wishes to you and to all concerned for a most enjoyable and successful celebration... to mark the forty-sixth anniversary of the Principality of Hutt River."

Located between the islands of Nevis and Montserrat, the tiny island of Redonda was - according to legend - claimed by Matthew Dowdy Shiell in 1865, who, with the alleged approval of the British Colonial Office, took with it the title of "King". The title was then given to his son, the author Matthew Phipps Shiell, who claims he was crowned in 1880, at the age of 15, by a bishop from Antigua. There are currently at least four claimants to the throne, while in 2007 the Wellington Arms in Southampton tried to get around the smoking ban by declaring itself an embassy of Redonda.

This Second World War sea fort, seven miles off the Suffolk coast, was seized by pirate radio broadcaster Paddy Roy Bates in 1967. Bates sought to establish the platform as a sovereign state, and in 1968 a British court bolstered his claims by declaring it outside of British jurisdiction (Bates had been summoned by the law after firing warning shots at two workers who were attempting to service a navigational buoy nearby).

The 0.025 km fort has its own constitution, flag, national anthem, coat of arms, currency (the Sealand dollar) and passport, and even survived an audacious attempted German invasion in 1978.Alexander Achenbach hired German and Dutch mercenaries to lead the attack, using speedboats and helicopters, while Bates and his wife were in England. They stormed the offshore platform, taking the couple's son, Michael, hostage. But Michael was able to retake the micronation using stashed weapons andAchenbach spent several weeks under lock and key. A German diplomat eventually secured his release; Achenbach would go on to set up agovernment in exile in Germany.

Bates died in 2012 and was succeeded as Prince of Sealand by Michael, who now lives in Suffolk.

In 1982, in an effort to curb drug smuggling, the US Border Patrol set up an inspection point on the road between the Florida Keys and the mainland, resulting in long traffic jams and a drop in visitors. The mayor of Key West, Dennis Wardlow, concluding that the roadblock was effectively a border station, did the only reasonable thing: he declared full-blown independence. Continuing his protest, Wardlow declared war on the US, surrendered a minute later, and then applied for $1bn in foreign aid. The stunt helped shed light on the city's plight and the inspection point was shifted, but the name of the Conch Republic continues to be used for promotional purposes.

Conceived by Kevin Baugh in 1977, as part of a school project, and established in 1999, Molossia consists solely of Baugh's one-acre home in Nevada. Baugh (the president, naturally) describes it as a "dictatorial banana-republic" where martial law is in place "due to unrest and the ever-present foreign menace from over the border".

Molossia, while itself unrecognised, has numerous treaties with other micronations, and claims it was one of the first countries to recognise Kosovo. It also claims to be at war with East Germany. That East Germany no longer exists doesn't faze Baugh. He points out that Ernst Thlmann Island, off the coast of Cuba and named after a Weimar Germanpolitician and symbolically handed to East Germany is 1972, was never mentioned in the 1990Treaty on the Final Settlement.

All of Baugh's efforts haven't gone unrewarded his home attracts a modest number of tourists, with visits arranged on request.

Rather more inclusive than Kevin Baugh's one-home republic is the micronation found in the bohemian Uupis district of Vilnius, Lithuania. It was declared in 1997 and has its own constitution with articles including "A dog has the right to be a dog" and "People have the right to live by the River Vilnel, while the River Vilnel has the right to flow past people," as well as "Man has the right to individuality". It also has four flags (one for each season), a small "army", and national anthem. Its projects are largely artistic and humorous.

A Telegraph Travel reader, Joanna Griffin, visited in 2016. She wrote: "It is evening and the sand-coloured stone and tumbling geraniums of this Bohemian enclave are set ablaze by the late northern sun of a Baltic midsummer. From my vantage point beneath a yellow canopy, behind a tall glass of Svyturys beer, I watch locals and visitors alike, strolling in the evening warmth and pausing to read the constitution, mounted in 26 languages along a stone wall. Their elaborate scripts from Belarusian to Yiddish are etched into mirrored plaques which reflect the crumbling ochre and terracotta of the tall houses opposite.

"As if in defiance of its oppressive history, the neighbourhood is alive with chatter and good-natured debate. The small courtyard steadily fills and people stand and wait for seats to become free. Waiters rush to erect small tables against the green wooden shutters of the adjoining grocery store and customers jostle their tables and chairs to make room.

"I listen to a group of Canadians discuss recent events in international politics, and I catch the dancing cadence of Italian as it drifts across from a nearby table. The constitution might be tongue-in-cheek but the underlying sentiment of tolerance and inclusion is serious, reflected this evening in this small caf.As dusk falls, candles are lit and strings of tiny lights are illuminated. In the half-light, a fat dun-coloured cat slinks among the tables, searching for scraps and shunning any attempts at affection, fully enjoying his constitutional lack of obligation to love his owner. As for me, I sit back and bask in my own clearly documented rights to idleness and anonymity."

One of the larger examples on our list, Freetown Christiania established in 1971 is a neighbourhood of around 850 people within the Copenhagen district of Christianshavn. It is also among the most successful, and Danish authorities have granted it a unique legal status.

Its residents like that of Uupis are bohemian. Performing arts, yoga and meditation are all popular activities, cannabis is openly traded, and visitors (it is a popular detour for tourists) will spot eye-catching murals and unusual architecture.

Founded by Niels Vermeersch, a Belgian, in 2008, Flandrensis claims five Antarctic islands (Siple Island, Cherry Island, Maher Island, Pranke Island and Carney Island) based on its own interpretation of the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. It has its own ID cards, currency, newspaper, constitution and national anthem, and boasts more than 100 citizens from 21 countries.

While it began life as a hobby of its creator, it has since aimed to raise awareness of environmental issues.

This defunct micronation was founded in 1948 by Russell Arundel, an American businessman and PepsiCo lobbyist, on Outer Bald Tusket Island, the southernmost of Nova Scotia's Tusket Islands. Arundel spotted the island while fishing and bought it for $750. Legend has it that he and his friends conceived the idea of declaring independence during a particularly heavy rum-drinking session. The tongue-in-cheek state was largely nautical themed its currency was called the Tunar, for example, while anyone who caught a bluefin tuna there acquired the title of prince. Arundel sold it to the Nova Scotia Bird Society in 1973.

Created by Danny Wallace for the BBC documentary How to Start Your Own Country, The Kingdom of Lovely was headquartered in his East London flat, had its own flag, coat of arms, and motto ("Die dulci freure" Have a nice day). Thanks to the internet, it managed to attract more than 50,000 "citizens".

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Inside the world's strangest micronations - telegraph.co.uk

Stattement by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs | Talossa

Flip Molinar Talossan since 1-1-2008

Proud Talossan

Posts: 1,562

First of all, let me say what an honor it is to be given this appointment by the Seneschal and the Government of Talossa. I could not be more humbled or proud. Secondly, let me say what a great feeling it is to be back to active involvement in the daily affairs of the nation. I have had a long absence after the death of my mother in 2016 from cancer and subsequent political involvement in the United States fighting for the rights of disabled people and also for the sick and the families of those who care for them. I want to thank everyone for their support over these last two and a half years as I have talked to multiple Talossans sporadically mostly as I came around to vote in the previous few general elections. All of you guys have always been like a second family to me and I appreciate it so much. I'm glad to say that I'm finally at a place in my life where I feel comfortable returning to daily activity here and contributing to the nation in as positive a way as I can.

As the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, I wish to announce that it will be the policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explore foreign relations with both nations recognized by the United Nations as well as micronations which have similar interests and goals to those of the Kingdom. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be a force for good in the world by promoting peace, understanding, and cooperation among nations throughout the world. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will not seek any type of recognition by any foreign government including the United States. We will instead seek expressions of friendship between ourselves and other micronations as well as nations recognized by the United Nations. In taking this measured approach, the Government of Talossa will not be in violation of any treaty or policy of any foreign government or any International Organization. We will instead promote ourselves to the world as a nation where everyone is welcome regardless of any defining characteristics other than the content of their character and the goodness of their hearts.

I believe that it is our role to be the greatest nation in the world not because of what we say, but because of what we do. Though we are small in geography, we will continue to be mighty in our compassion and empathy for those in need around the world today. We will speak out loudly against oppression, bigotry, hatred, violence, and injustice anywhere in the world. We will be a nation that continues to have the courage of our convictions and its ability to work effectively with our partners on the world stage. It is time for us to forge ahead with the building of these partnerships in the hopes that we may leave the world a better place than when found it. I asked for the support of the nation as we began to undertake this process of becoming more visible in the community of nations both macro and micro in scale.

I welcome any questions or comments you may have.

Merci,Flip MolinarActing Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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Stattement by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs | Talossa

Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations …

Who We AreAt Lonely Planet, we see our job as inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world for their own benefit and for the benefit of the world at large.

What We Do* We offer travellers the world's richest travel advice, informed by the collective wisdom of over 350 Lonely Planet authors living in 37 countries and fluent in 70 languages.* We are relentless in finding the special, the unique and the different for travellers wherever they are.* When we update our guidebooks, we check every listing, in person, every time. * We always offer the trusted filter for those who are curious, open minded and independent.* We challenge our growing community of travellers; leading debate and discussion about travel and the world.* We tell it like it is without fear or favor in service of the travellers; not clouded by any other motive.

What We BelieveWe believe that travel leads to a deeper cultural understanding and compassion and therefore a better world.

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Micronation | MicroWiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

A micronation sometimes referred to as a model country or new country project is a political entity that intends to replace, resemble, mock, or exist on equal footing with a recognised and/or sovereign state.

Some micronations are created with serious intent, while others exist as a hobby or stunt.

The term micronation, which literally means small nation, is a neologism. The first reference in English to the word micronation in a popular book appears in the 1978 edition of The People's Almanac #2, where David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace write:

"Established in 1972 by a declaration of sovereignty by a group of Californians, the Republic of Minerva has more claim to authenticity than most micronations because it actually has some land, although it disappears at high tide. The republic consists of two coral reefs 17 miles apart in the South Pacific Ocean some 3,400 miles southwest of Honolulu and 915 miles northeast of Auckland, New Zealand."

The term has since come to be used also retrospectively to refer to earlier unrecognised entities, some of which date to as far back as the 17th century. Micronations should not be confused with internationally recognised but geographically tiny nations such as Fiji, Monaco, and San Marino, for which the term microstate is more commonly used.

Micronations generally have a number of common features:

A criterion which distinguishes micronations from imaginary countries, eco-villages, campuses, tribes, clans, sects, and residential community associations, is that these latter entities do not usually seek to be recognised as sovereign.

The Montevideo Convention was one attempt to create a legal definition distinguishing between states and non-states. Some micronations meet this definition, while some do not. The academic study of micronations and microstates is termed 'micropatrology', and the hobby or activity of establishing and operating micronations is known as micronationalism.

The Principality of Sealand is one of the more recognised micronations in the world.

The 17th century saw the rise to prominence of a world order dominated by the existing concept of the nation-state, following the Treaty of Westphalia. However, the earliest recognisable micronations can be dated to the 18th Century. Most were founded by eccentric adventurers or business speculators, and several were remarkably successful. These include the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, ruled by the Clunies-Ross family, and Sarawak, ruled by the "White Rajas" of the Brooke family. Both were independent personal fiefdoms in all but name, and survived until well into the 20th Century.

Less successful were the Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia (1860-1862) in southern Chile and Argentina, and the Kingdom of Sedang (1888-1890) in French Indochina. The oldest extant micronation to arise in modern times is the Kingdom of Redonda, founded in 1865 in the Caribbean. It failed to establish itself as a sovereign nation-state, but has nonetheless managed to survive into the present day as a unique literary foundation with its own king and aristocracy although it is not without its controversies; there are presently at least four competing claimants to the Redondan throne.

M. C. Harman, owner of the UK island of Lundy in the early decades of the 20th century, issued private coinage and postage stamps for local use. Although the island was ruled as a virtual fiefdom, its owner never claimed to be independent of the United Kingdom. Thus, Lundy can at best be described as a precursor to later territorial micronations.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a 'micronational renaissance', with the foundation of a number of territorial micronations, some of which still persist to this day. The first of these, the Principality of Sealand, was founded in 1967 on an abandoned World War II gun platform in the North Sea, and has endured a military coup, court rulings and rough weather throughout its existence. Others were based on schemes requiring the construction of artificial islands, but only two are known to have risen above sea level.

The Republic of Rose Island was a 400 square metre platform built in international waters off the Italian town of Rimini, in the Adriatic Sea in 1968. It is reported to have issued stamps, minted currency, and declared Esperanto to be its official language. Shortly after completion, however, it was destroyed by the Italian Navy.

The Republic of Minerva was set up in 1972 as a libertarian new country project by Nevada businessman Michael Oliver. Oliver's group conducted dredging operations at the Minerva Reefs, a shoal located in the Pacific Ocean south of Fiji. They succeeded in creating a small artificial island, but their efforts at securing international recognition met with little success, and near-neighbour Tonga sent a military force to the area and annexed it.

On April 1, 1977, bibliophile Richard Booth, declared the UK town of Hay-on-Wye an "independent republic" with himself as its king. The town has subsequently developed a healthy tourism industry based literary interests, and "King Richard" (whose sceptre consists of a recycled toilet plunger) continues to dole out Hay-on-Wye peerages and honours to anyone prepared to pay for them. The official website for Hay-on-Wye, however, admits that the declaration of independence, along with the later claim to have annexed the USA and renaming it the "US of Hay" were all merely publicity stunts.

Micronationalism has since evolved mainly into hobbies, and with younger participants. Although no all-compassing authority on micronations exists, nor any comprehensive listing, it is known that a number of widely diverse communities and sectors persist throughout the micronational world, often on the internet.

The internet provided micronationalism with a new outlet, and the number of entities able to be termed as 'micronations' skyrocketed from around 2000 onwards as a result. Exact figures may never be known, but it is thought that many thousands of micronations now exist throughout the world. However, with this new outlet of the internet came a large anomaly between micronationalists and micronations. Before the advent of micronationalism on the internet, micronations were few and far between, and were able to coax many hundreds of people in their citizenry. At present, many micronations are 'One-man micronations' or 'Egostans', with only one or two people being citizens of the micronation. The majority are based in English-speaking countries, but a significant minority arose elsewhere in other countries as well.

Micronational activities were disproportionately common throughout Australia in the final three decades of the 20th century. The Principality of Hutt River started the ball rolling in 1970, when Prince Leonard (born Leonard George Casley) declared his farming property independent after a dispute over wheat quotas. 1976 witnessed the creation of the Province of Bumbunga on a rural property near Snowtown, South Australia, by an eccentric British monarchist named Alex Brackstone, and a dispute over flood damage to farm properties led to the creation of the Independent State of Rainbow Creek in northeastern Victoria by Tom Barnes in 1979. In New South Wales, a political protest by a group of Sydney teenagers led to the 1981 creation of the Empire of Atlantium, and a mortgage foreclosure dispute led George and Stephanie Muirhead of Rockhampton, Queensland to secede as the Principality of Marlborough in 1993. Although some newer micronations, like Ding Dong, were created purely for the experience of forming and running a micronation.

Yet another Australian secessionist state came into existence on May 1, 2003, when Peter Gillies declared the independence of his 66 hectare northern New South Wales farm as the Principality of United Oceania after an unresolved year-long dispute with Port Stephens Council over Gillies' plans to construct a private residence on the property.

In the present day, the following categories are generally accepted as being standard:

Micronations of the first type tend to be fairly serious in outlook, involve sometimes significant numbers of relatively mature participants, and often engage in highly sophisticated, structured activities that emulate the operations of real-world nations. A few examples of these include:

These micronations also tend to be fairly serious, and involve significant numbers of people interested in recreating the past, especially the Roman or Mediaeval past, and living it in a vicarious way. Examples of these include:

With literally thousands in existence, micronations of this type are by far the most common. They are ephemeral, and tend to be Internet-based, rarely surviving more than a few months, although there are notable exceptions. They generally involve a handful of people, and are concerned primarily with arrogating to their founders the outward symbols of statehood. The use of grand-sounding titles, awards, honours, and heraldic symbols derived from European feudal traditions, and the conduct of 'wars' with other micronations, are common manifestations of their activities. Examples include:

Micronations of this type include stand-alone artistic projects, deliberate exercises in creative online and offline fiction, artistic creations, and even popular films. Examples include:

These types of micronations are typically associated with a political or social reform agenda. Some are maintained as media and public relations exercises. Examples of this type include:

A number of micronations have been established for fraudulent purposes, by seeking to link questionable or illegal financial actions with seemingly legitimate nations. Some examples of these are:

A small number of micronations are founded with genuine aspirations to be sovereign states. Many are based on historical anomalies or eccentric interpretations of law, and tend to be easily confused with established states. These types of micronations are usually located in small (usually disputed) territorial enclaves, generate limited economic activity founded on tourism, philatelic and numismatic sales, and are at best tolerated or at worst ignored by other nations. This category includes:

New-country projects are attempts to found completely new nation-states. They typically involve plans to construct artificial islands (few of which are ever realised), and a large percentage have embraced or purported to embrace libertarian or democratic principles. Examples include:

Seasteading is a lifestyle of making the oceans, or at least water-borne craft, one's home. Most seasteads historically have been sailing craft, whether perhaps demonstrated by the the Chinese Junk, modified canoes of Oceania, or even the famous Pirates of Libertaria. In modern times in the west the cruising sailboat has begun to be used in the same manner. The term seasteading is of uncertain origin, used at least as early as the turn of the century by Uffa Fox, and others; many feel that catamaran designer and historian James Wharram and his designs represent ideal seasteads. More recently, American sailor and ecological philosopher Jerome FitzGerald has been a leading and effective proponent of seasteading, mostly teaching the concept through the environmental/sailing organisation "The Oar Club". The Seasteader's Institute in Hilo, Hawaii offers classes, boat-building opportunities, education in forage foods, diving, and other aspects of a Seasteading lifestyle.

Some theoretical seasteads are floating platforms which could be used to create sovereign micronations, or otherwise serve the ends of ocean colonisation. The concept is introduced in a paper by Wayne Gramlich, and later in a book by Gramlich, Patri Friedman and Andy House, which is available for free online. Their research aims at a more practical approach to developing micronations, based on currently available technology and a pragmatic approach to financial aspects.

The authors argue that seasteading has the potential to drastically lower the barrier to entry to the governing industry. This allows for more experimentation and innovation with varying social, political, and economic systems. Potential business opportunities include data havens, offshore aquaculture, and casinos, as well as the gamut of typical business endeavours.

There has been a small but growing amount of attention paid to the micronation phenomenon in recent years. Most interest in academic circles has been concerned with studying the apparently anomalous legal situations affecting such entities as Sealand and the Hutt River Province, in exploring how some micronations represent grassroots political ideas, and in the creation of role-playing entities for instructional purposes.

In 2000, Professor Fabrice O'Driscoll, of the University Aix-Marseille University, published a book about micronations: Ils ne sigent pas l'ONU ("They are not in the United Nations"), with more than 300 pages dedicated to the subject.

Several recent publications have dealt with the subject of particular historic micronations, including Republic of Indian Stream (University Press), by Dartmouth College geographer Daniel Doan, The Land that Never Was, about Gregor MacGregor, and the Principality of Poyais, by David Sinclair (ISBN 0-7553-1080-2).

In May 2000, an article in the New York Times entitled "Utopian Rulers, and Spoofs, Stake Out Territory Online" brought the phenomenon to a wider audience for the first time. Similar articles were published by newspapers such as the French Liberation, the Italian La Repubblica, the Greek "Ta Nea", by O Estado de So Paulo in Brazil, and Portugal's Viso at around the same time.

The Democratic Empire of Sunda, which claims to be the Government of the Kingdom of Sunda (an ancient kingdom, in present-day Indonesia) in exile in Switzerland, made media headlines when two so-called princesses, Lamia Roro Wiranatadikusumah Siliwangi Al Misri, 21, and Fathia Reza Wiranatadikusumah Siliwangi Al Misiri, 23, were detained by Malaysian authorities at the border with Brunei, on 13 July 2007, and are charged for entering the country without a valid pass.

In August 2003 a Summit of Micronations took place in Helsinki at Finlandia Hall, the site of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). The summit was attended by delegations such as the Principality of Sealand, Neue Slowenische Kunst|NSK, Ladonia, the Transnational Republic, and by scholars from various academic institutions.

From November 7 through December 17, 2004, the Reg Vardy Gallery at the University of Sunderland (UK) hosted an exhibition on the subject of micronational group identity and symbolism. The exhibition focused on numismatic, philatelic and vexillological artefacts, as well as other symbols and instruments created and used by a number of micronations from the 1950s through to the present day. A summit of micronations conducted as part of this exhibition was attended by representatives of Sealand, Elgaland-Vargaland, New Utopia, Atlantium, Frestonia and Fusa. The exhibition was reprised at the Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York City from 24 June29 July of the following year. Another exhibition about micronations opened at Paris' Palais de Tokyo in early 2007.

The Sunderland summit was later featured in a 5-part BBC light entertainment television series called "How to Start Your Own Country" presented by Danny Wallace. The series told the story of Wallace's experience of founding a micronation, Lovely, located in his London flat. It screened in the UK in August 2005. Similar programs have also aired on television networks in other parts of Europe.

On 9 September 2006, The Guardian newspaper reported that the travel guide company Lonely Planet had published the world's first travel guide devoted to micronations, the Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations (ISBN 1741047307).

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Micronation | MicroWiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

Micronation | Fifth World Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

According to pedestrian wisdom, a micronation sometimes referred to as a model country or new country project is an entity that apparently intends to replace, resemble, mock, or exist on equal footing with a recognised and/or sovereign state. Some micronations are created with serious intent, while others exist as a hobby or stunt. Scholarly research shows, however, that a real micronation must be at least an empirical tribe or community, or it simply isn't a micronation. Actually, most so-called micronations are more of a mocking of real nations than real states it is intellectually dishonest to classify something, as the Wikipedia does in its article about micronations, based not on what it actually is, but rather on what it isn't, and a micronation is, first and foremost, a very small nation by size and/or population.

The term micronation, which literally means small nation, is a neologism. The first reference in English to the word micronation in a popular book appears in the 1978 edition of The People's Almanac #2, where David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace write:

The term has since come to be used also retrospectively to refer to earlier unrecognised entities, some of which date to as far back as the 17th century.

According to micronational scholars, the term micronation is synonymous with the term Fifth and Sixth World nation. The more mature micronations (Fifth World nations) can also be social identity or irredentist groups.

Supporters of micronations often use the term macronation to describe any real sovereign nation-state. However, macronations are more appropriately medium- to large-sized nations that do not enjoy significant recognition, and according to micronational scholars they are Fourth World nations. The term macronation is also synonymous with the term self-determination or secessionist group.

Micronations should not be confused with legitimately recognised, but geographically tiny nations such as Fiji, Monaco, and San Marino, for which the term microstate is more accurate and descriptive.

Micronations generally have a number of common features:

A criterion which distinguishes micronations from imaginary countries, eco-villages, campuses, tribes, clans, sects, and residential community associations, is that these latter entities do not usually seek to be recognised as sovereign.

The Montevideo Convention was one attempt to create a legal definition distinguishing between states and non-states. A few micronations meet this definition, while most do not. Some micronational scholars find the Montevideo Convention unenlightened, or at the very least deceptive, with its emphasis on a state possessing a defined territory, since it has been discovered that states do not necessarily have to possess a territory to exist and be functional.

The academic study of micronations and microstates is termed micropatrology, and the hobby or activity of establishing and operating micronations is known as micronationalism.

The world's oldest and longest living micronation was probably the Indian princely state of Pudukkottai. From the 6th to the 14th century AD, Pudukkottai was successively ruled by the Pallavas, the Cholas, and the Pandyas. Then Pudukkottai came under the rule of Muslim sultans, who held power for about 50 years before being vanquished by the Vijayanagar kings. When the Vijayanagar kingdom disintegrated, Raghunatha Kilavan wrested the country from them in 1680, and appointed Raghunatha Tondaiman, his brother-in-law, as viceroy. The kingdom eventually acceded to the independent Dominion of India in August 1947, and merged with the Madras state in the following year.

The 19th century saw the rise to prominence of the nation-state concept, and the earliest recognisable micronations can be dated to that period. Most were founded by eccentric adventurers or business speculators, and several were remarkably successful.

The oldest extant micronation to arise in modern times is the Kingdom of Redonda, founded in 1865 in the Caribbean. It failed to establish itself as a real country, but has nonetheless managed to survive into the present day as a unique literary foundation with its own king and aristocracy although it is not without its controversies; there are presently at least four competing claimants to the Redondan throne.

Another very old extant micronation is relatively obscure to Anglophiles: Parva Domus. Parva Domus today is a cultural and recreational civil association based in Montevideo, Uruguay. It was founded on 25 August 1878, when Jos Achinelli raised the new nation's flag on a mast in front of a farmhouse. The Republic is reminiscent of a secret society, and its membership is restricted to men. Females are actually allowed entrance twice a year, for a special dinner. [1]

The 1960s and 1970s saw a micronational renaissance, with the foundation of a number of territorial micronations. The first of these, the Principality of Sealand, was founded in 1967 on an abandoned World War II gun platform in the North Sea, and has survived into the present day. Others were based on schemes requiring the construction of artificial islands, but only two are known to have risen above sea level.

The Republic of Rose Island was a 400 square metre platform built in international waters off the Italian town of Rimini, in the Adriatic Sea in 1968. It is reported to have issued stamps, minted currency, and declared Esperanto to be its official language. Shortly after completion, however, it was destroyed by the Italian Navy.

The Republic of Minerva was set up in 1972 as a libertarian new country project by Nevada businessman Michael Oliver. Oliver's group conducted dredging operations at the Minerva Reefs, a shoal located in the Pacific Ocean south of Fiji. They succeeded in creating a small artificial island, but their efforts at securing international recognition met with little success, and near-neighbour Tonga sent a military force to the area and annexed it.

On April Fools' Day in 1973, John Lennon and Yoko Ono announced the birth of Nutopia, the world's first country where all people are ambassadors. Nutopia was described as "a conceptual country" with no boundaries and "no laws other than cosmic." At the time, Mr. Lennon was being threatened with deportation because of a 1968 marijuana conviction in Britain. As Nutopian ambassadors, Mr. and Ms. Lennon asked for diplomatic immunity and United Nations recognition, and they gave "One White Street" as the embassy address. Neither of them ever lived at that address.

On 1 April 1977, bibliophile Richard Booth, declared the UK town of Hay-on-Wye an "independent republic" with himself as its king. The town has subsequently developed a healthy tourism industry based literary interests, and "King Richard" (whose sceptre consists of a recycled toilet plunger) continues to dole out Hay-on-Wye peerages and honours to anyone prepared to pay for them. The official website for Hay-on-Wye, however, admits that the declaration of independence, along with the later claim to have annexed the United States and renamed it the "US of Hay" were publicity stunts.[2]

Micronational activities were disproportionately common throughout Australia in the final three decades of the 20th century. The Hutt River Province Principality started the ball rolling in 1970, when Prince Leonard (born Leonard George Casley) declared his farming property independent after a dispute over wheat quotas. The year 1976 witnessed the creation of the Province of Bumbunga on a rural property near Snowtown, South Australia, by an eccentric British monarchist named Alex Brackstone, and a dispute over flood damage to farm properties led to the creation of the Independent State of Rainbow Creek in northeastern Victoria (Australia) by Tom Barnes in 1979. In New South Wales, a political protest by a group of Sydney teenagers led to the 1981 creation of the Empire of Atlantium, and a mortgage foreclosure dispute led George and Stephanie Muirhead of Rockhampton, Queensland to secede as the Principality of Marlborough in 1993.

Yet another Australian secessionist state came into existence on 1 May 2003, when Peter Gillies declared the independence of his 66 hectare northern New South Wales farm as the Principality of United Oceania after an unresolved year-long dispute with Port Stephens Council over Gillies' plans to construct a private residence on the property.

Micronational hobbyists received a significant boost in the mid-1990s when popularisation of the Internet gave them the ability to promote their activities to a global audience. As a result, the number of online and fantasy micronations expanded dramatically. The majority were based in English-speaking countries, however a significant minority arose elsewhere in Portuguese-speaking countries as well.

In the 21st century micronationalism has taken on a less quixotic character, especially through the more mature micronations (Fifth World nations).

There are now micronationists who have been elected to an Official World parliament; micronationists who have been honoured with a MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire); micronationists who have developed new languages in working use; authentic micronational navigators/explorers; and there are even micronational athletes who have appeared on a world championship podiums.

There are also micronations that run alternative Internets with great sophistication; micronations which have issued gold coins; micronations which have co-sponsored a major cultural events; micronations which have been recognised by international organisations; micronations which have launched significant political petitions; and there are even micronations which have sent their flag into the vacuum of space.

But the list of real achievements doesn't end with specific micronationalists or micronations since there are, or have been, academic conferences on micronations; micronational travel guides; micronational bishops; micronational saints; micronational educational systems; micronational sports; micronational astrologies; micronational races; micronational meridians; micronational legal systems; micronational intellectual property; micronational archaeological findings; micronational virtual invasions with non-virtual consequences; micronational religions; micronational health discoveries; micronational environmental philosophies; and even micronationalism itself has developed into a real protoscience.

In the present day, eight main types of micronations are prevalent:

Micronations of the first type tend to be fairly serious in outlook, involve sometimes significant numbers of relatively mature participants, and often engage in highly sophisticated, structured activities that emulate the operations of real-world nations. A few good examples of these includes:

These micronations also tend to be fairly serious, and involve significant numbers of people interested in recreating the past, especially the Roman or Mediaeval past, and living it in a vicarious way. Examples of these include:

With literally thousands in existence, micronations of this type are by far the most common. They are ephemeral, and tend to be Internet-based, rarely surviving more than a few months, although there are notable exceptions. They generally involve a handful of people, and are concerned primarily with arrogating to their founders the outward symbols of statehood. The use of grand-sounding titles, awards, honours, and heraldic symbols derived from European feudal traditions, and the conduct of "wars" with other micronations, are common manifestations of their activities. Examples include:

Micronations of this type include stand-alone artistic projects, deliberate exercises in creative online and offline fiction, artistamp creations, and even popular films. Examples include:

These types of micronations are typically associated with a political or social reform agenda. Some are maintained as media and public relations exercises, and examples of this type include:

A number of micronations have been established for fraudulent purposes, by seeking to link questionable or illegal financial actions with seemingly legitimate nations. The best known of these are:

A small number of micronations are founded with genuine aspirations to be sovereign states. Many are based on historical anomalies or eccentric interpretations of law, and tend to be easily confused with established states. This category includes:

New-country projects are attempts to found completely new nation-states. They typically involve plans to construct artificial islands (few of which are ever realised), and a large percentage have embraced or purported to embrace libertarian or democratic principles. Examples include:

Seasteading is a lifestyle of making the oceans, or at least water-borne craft, one's home. Most seasteads historically have been sailing craft, whether perhaps demonstrated by the the Chinese Junk, modified canoes of Oceania, or even the famous Pirates of Libertaria. In modern times in the west the cruising sailboat has begun to be used in the same manner. The term seasteading is of uncertain origin, used at least as early as the turn of the century by Uffa Fox, and others; many feel that catamaran designer and historian James Wharram and his designs represent ideal seasteads. More recently, American sailor and ecological philosopher Jerome FitzGerald has been a leading and effective proponent of seasteading, mostly teaching the concept through the environmental/sailing organization "The Oar Club". The Seasteader's Institute in Hilo, Hawaii offers classes, boat-building opportunities, education in forage foods, diving, and other aspects of a Seasteading lifestyle.

Some theoretical seasteads are floating platforms which could be used to create sovereign micronations, or otherwise serve the ends of ocean colonization. The concept is introduced in a paper by Wayne Gramlich, and later in a book by Gramlich, Patri Friedman and Andy House, which is available for free online. Their research aims at a more practical approach to developing micronations, based on currently available technology and a pragmatic approach to financial aspects.

The authors argue that seasteading has the potential to drastically lower the barrier to entry to the governing industry. This allows for more experimentation and innovation with varying social, political, and economic systems. Potential business opportunities include data havens, offshore aquaculture, and casinos, as well as the gamut of typical business endeavors.

There has been a small but growing amount of attention paid to the micronation phenomenon in recent years. Most interest in academic circles has been concerned with studying the apparently anomalous legal situations affecting such entities as Sealand and the Hutt River Province, in exploring how some micronations represent grassroots political ideas, and in the creation of role-playing entities for instructional purposes.

In 2000, Professor Fabrice O'Driscoll, of the Aix-Marseille University, published a book about micronations: Ils ne sigent pas l'ONU ("They are not in the United Nations"), with more than 300 pages dedicated to the subject.

In May 2000, an article in the New York Times entitled "Utopian Rulers, and Spoofs, Stake Out Territory Online" brought the phenomenon to a wider audience for the first time. Similar articles were published by newspapers such as the French Liberation, the Italian La Repubblica, the Greek "Ta Nea", by O Estado de So Paulo in Brazil, and Portugal's Viso at around the same time.

Several recent publications have dealt with the subject of particular historic micronations, including Republic of Indian Stream (University Press), by Dartmouth College geographer Daniel Doan, The Land that Never Was, about Gregor MacGregor, and the Principality of Poyais, by David Sinclair (ISBN 0-7553-1080-2).

In August 2003 a Summit of Micronations took place in Helsinki at Finlandia Hall, the site of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). The summit was attended by delegations such as the Principality of Sealand, NSK, Ladonia, the Transnational Republic, and by scholars from various academic institutions.

From 7 November through 17 December 2004, the Reg Vardy Gallery at the University of Sunderland (UK) hosted an exhibition on the subject of micronational group identity and symbolism. The exhibition focused on numismatic, philatelic and vexillological artifacts, as well as other symbols and instruments created and used by a number of micronations from the 1950s through to the present day. A summit of micronations conducted as part of this exhibition was attended by representatives of Sealand, Elgaland-Vargaland, New Utopia, Atlantium, Frestonia and Fusa. The exhibition was reprised at the Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York City from 24 June29 July of the following year. Another exhibition about micronations opened at Paris' Palais de Tokyo in early 2007.

The Sunderland summit was later featured in a 5-part BBC light entertainment television series called "How to Start Your Own Country" presented by Danny Wallace. The series told the story of Wallace's experience of founding a micronation, Lovely, located in his London flat. It screened in the UK in August 2005.

Similar programs have also aired on television networks in other parts of Europe.

On 9 September 2006, The Guardian newspaper reported that the travel guide company Lonely Planet had published the world's first travel guide devoted to micronations, the Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations (ISBN 1741047307).

The Democratic Empire of Sunda, which claims to be the Government of the Kingdom of Sunda (an ancient kingdom, in present-day Indonesia) in exile in Switzerland, made media headlines when two so-called princesses, Lamia Roro Wiranatadikusumah Siliwangi Al Misri, 21, and Fathia Reza Wiranatadikusumah Siliwangi Al Misiri, 23, were detained by Malaysian authorities at the border with Brunei, on 13 July 2007, and are charged for entering the country without a valid pass.

In 2010, a documentary film by Jody Shapiro entitled "How to Start your Own Country" was screened as part of the Toronto International Film Festival. The documentary explored various micronations around the world, and included an analysis of the concept of statehood and citizenship. Erwin Strauss, author of the eponymous book, was interviewed as part of the film.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Micronation" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation, used under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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Micronation | Fifth World Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

List Of MicroNations No Trouble – Don’t Mess

With several important qualifications, a micronation is any entity which purports to be or has the appearance of being a sovereign state but isnt. Micronations are typically created and maintained by one person or family. Many exist solely on the internet, or in the imagination of their creators. Some have a more corporeal existence, making ambit claims over, or occasionally even physically occupying defined geographical locations albeit often tiny, remote or uninhabitable ones and producing physical artefacts such as stamps, coins, banknotes, passports, medals and flags. Micronations are generally viewed as ephemeral, eccentric and somewhat amusing by most external observers. Micronations should not to be confused with, which are small extant sovereign states such as the Andorra, Kiribati, Monaco, Nauru, San Marino and the Vatican. Nor should they be confused with, or exile government groups, which typically have many hundreds or thousands of active supporters, and are often engaged in armed campaigns in support of their aims against the governments of one or more sovereign states. The purpose of this website is to serve as a portal to the world of micronations, document the micronation phenomenon in as objective, accurate, comprehensive and accessible a manner as possible, and to facilitate communication between micronationalists and those interested in micronations.

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List Of MicroNations No Trouble - Don't Mess

We met 27 people who claim to be the rulers of their own countries … – VICE News

Molossia. Slobovia. The Aerican Empire. If you dont remember any of these countries from geography class, youre not alone. They are all micronations, self-declared sovereign states not formally recognized by any official authority (other than each other). This summer, representatives from 27 of these would-be fiefdoms gathered for a summit in Dunwoody, Georgia. While several of these micronations claim that they are their own autonomous countries, many are created as a political protest, for artistic reasons or as a social experiment.

MicroCon 2017 was hosted by Veronica Boritz, who also identifies as Queen Anastasia von Elphberg of Ruritania. The event, which lasted four days, included multiple outings for the micronational leaders, a symposium with speeches on subjectslike Micronational post system and Women in micronations: Starting your own or supporting your dictator husband.

This segment originally aired August 2, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.

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We met 27 people who claim to be the rulers of their own countries ... - VICE News

Apple Says It Will Overtake Samsung Pay By Year’s End – ChannelNews

Apple has indicated it plans to launch Apple Pay in a number of new territories before the start of 2018, a feat that would see it catch up to and overtake current digital wallet frontrunner Samsung.

Speaking at the companys earnings call yesterday, Apple CFO Luca Maestri says that the reach, usage, and functionality of Apple Pay continued to grow.

He claims that Apple Pay is by far the number one NFC payment service on mobile devices, with nearly 90 percent of all transactions globally. Momentum is strongest in international markets, where the infrastructure for mobile payments has developed faster than in the US.

In fact, three out of four Apple Pay transactions happen outside of the US. With the launch of iOS 11 in the fall, our users in the US will be able to make and receive person-to-person payments quickly, easily, and securely.

Maestri also confirmed that the company plans to have Apple Pay live in the UAE, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden before the end of this calendar year.

If Apple can follow through on this promise, itll see them retake the top spot from Samsung Pay when it comes to the amount of regions supporting the service.

As of now, Apple Pay is available in 16 countries (depending on whether or not you count micronations like Vatican City and the Isle of Mann).

In comparison, Samsung Pay operates in 19 countries and Googles Android Pay boasts only 14 regions.

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Apple Says It Will Overtake Samsung Pay By Year's End - ChannelNews

Australia’s hidden micronations: It’s not the size of the country but how you rule it – 9news.com.au

Prince Paul created his principality after a stoush with Mosman council in 2004. (principalityofwy.com)

The self-proclaimed leader of a micronation on Sydney's North Shore says he has a plan to ease hostility between the US and North Korea.

Prince Paul Delprat of the Principality of Wy told nine.com.au the tiny kingdom could act as negotiator between Trump and Kim Jong un through the power of art.

"If only humour could govern international relationships and if only art prizes could be the way that people solved their problems. If only Mr Trump and Mr Putin and the leader in North Korea all painted," Prince Paul said.

"And every year the Principality of Wy could hold an exhibition of all the country's leaders and they would all abide by the decision, there would be no more wars."

There was a healthy amount of jest in the "royal's" comments, reflecting his light-hearted outlook on life and the way he governs.

His tiny kingdom unofficially seceded from Mosman in 2004 after a bitter stoush with local council over a driveway.

"When we did create our little principality out of a true sense of injustice, people were prepared to say 'hey, listen to them and give them a go'. We had support from the most extraordinary corners and it's ongoing," he said.

Prince Paul's micronation is one of many that exist in Australia. Micronations claim independence, but are not officially recognised by the state.

The self-appointed royal leads with his wife, Princess Susan, and their children.

He believes it is not the size of the kingdom that counts, but how you rule it.

"There is an old saying, 'an Englishman's house is his castle'. Well, I just took it that extra step," he said.

"Deep in the psyche of Australians is a little bit of Ned Kelly. We all look at Ned in his armour and his defiance of authority and let's face it, there's a little bit of him in all of us."

When the Prince attends events and ceremonies he often wears his formal regalia of a crown, robe and sceptre.

"We do dress up when we go out on occasion and people like us coming in formal regalia to various functions," he said.

"They see it adding a little bit of colour to the occasion and we are very happy to oblige with that."

Prince Paul says despite the number of micronations scattered across the country, he has little contact with his fellow pioneers.

There were thought to be 12 micronations in Australia at the peak of the movement, but over the years those numbers have dwindled.

One of Australia's other notable micronations is the Empire of Atlantium.

It started as a bit of fun between three Sydney cousins as a way to break away from society in 1981.

His Imperial Majesty George II (George Francis Cruickshank) told nine.com.au he may have taken his parent's advice to "change the world" further than anticipated.

"My parents raised me with the idea that in Australia, with the right amount of luck and right amount of application anyone could really achieve anything," he said.

"I think what they meant was that they wanted me to go off and join a political party to change the world, but what I did was paint a black and white border line in the backyard and create Atlantium."

For many years Atlantium was simply an affectation shared amongst family members and a few of George's university friends until the launch of the internet.

"People suddenly discovered us. We were suddenly everywhere from Peru to Azerbaijan and we discovered that there were all these people who thought Atlantium was a great idea and wanted to be a part of it," he said.

"Our population exploded from about 10 to well over 1000 in the space of a few months."

In 2006 Emperor George acquired part ownership of a property 300km south-west of Sydney and he dubbed it the Province of Aurora.

"We now have a territory that is about twice the size of the Vatican and about half the size of Monaco, so one of the world's smaller countries. We have a government house, a post office and a number of monuments."

Emperor George has used his status as leader of a growing empire - which now has more than 3000 citizens - to push for social change including marriage equality, assisted suicide, abortion rights and unrestricted international movements.

The tiny nation has its own anthem, the Auroran Hymn and its own currency with coins and banknotes.

Emperor George said his neighbours seem to enjoy living next door to the town's "local eccentric".

"My neighbours are perhaps bemused and slightly confused by the fact I'm running my own country across the road from their properties and that I have Australia's only pyramid monument in my backyard," he said.

The emperor dispelled a common misconception that micronations were somehow except from paying taxes based on arcane interpretations of the Magna Carta and ancient laws.

"There is no way that one country can secede legally from the Commonwealth of Australia. The way most micronations disguise this is by declaring their tax payments as 'tribute payments,'" he said.

"Australian maintains sovereignty. We dont believe we are independent of Australia, we say that our territory is sort of like the status or an embassy."

Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2017

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Australia's hidden micronations: It's not the size of the country but how you rule it - 9news.com.au

Liberbeer Beer with a Taste of Freedom – Total Croatia News

The first Liberbeer was produced at the end of last year in the Kruohor brewery by a brewer who was recognised in 2016 as the most perspective brewer

The Liberbeer party took place recently in Osijek, hosted by the Fabrique bar&grill, conveniently located in Freedom Square, a logical venue for a beer that celebrates freedom. Liber beer is the official beer of Liberland a self-proclaimed state on the Danube River, in between Croatia and Serbia. It is interesting that Croatia claims Liberland is not part of her territory, and Serbia wants nothing to do with it.

The owner of this beer brand is Czech Jaroslav Falta, also owner of the beer e-shop Pivogrando, craft beer store and bar Galerija Piva and craft beer bar Ale!

Liberland is a controversial topic and some in it see a threat and a factor of permanent instability on this unpredictable geopolitical area, a security danger to the constitutional order, but others see in it an opportunity for tourism development and revitalisation of a demographically and economically devastated area. Micronations are not new, and have coexisted in western, democratic societies for decades, some generating significant economic benefit to the local community. Liberland has become known around the world and gathers hundreds of people at its conferences. Tourism connected with Liberland could generate thousands of overnight stays annually in Osijek and Baranja.

The first Liberbeer was produced at the end of last year in the Kruohor brewery by a brewer who was recognised in 2016 as the most perspective brewer. Jaroslav has the ambition to establish a global network of small breweries with local distribution. Besides the Czech Republic, he is also interested in finding partners in Croatia, Serbia and other countries.

The beer is of excellent quality and made from selected flower cones of hops, and water from Rudna Gora on the Czech-German border. Liberbeer is unfiltered, unpasteurised and contains no artificial additives. Jaroslav says of his beer that it seeks to blend the best traditions of Czech brewers with the global trend of craft beer.

They currently offer two beer styles_ Liberbeer Indian Pale Ale with 6.5% alcohol, and a bitterness of 57 IBU. It contains three types of hops Nelson Sauvin, Summit and Sorachi Ace, and two types of malt Marris Otter and T 50. Liberbeer lager has 5% alcohols and a bitterness of 25 IBU, contains hops Saazar, Sladek and Perle, and malts Pilsner and Munich. Liberbeer is sold in glass bottles of 0.5 and 0.75 litres, plastic bottles of 20 litres and kegs of 30 litres.

The Liberbeer party was visited by large numbers of free-thinking individuals, as well as many beer lovers. The promotion also attracted beer influencers such as Danijel Bouri, co-founder of the first Osijek craft brewery Black Hat and one of the foremost homebrewers in the region.

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Liberbeer Beer with a Taste of Freedom - Total Croatia News

Micronations / Axis Powers Hetalia – TV Tropes

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Principality of Sealand - Peter Kirkland

Aim for it! Sealand will enter the G8!

Sealand: (holding up a fist) My punches are really strong! Do you wanna see?

Ladonia: (panicked) No, don't!

Sealand: Sometimes I ride the goat while swabbing the deck, and that is not a euphemism for anything.

Principality of Seborga

So you must be little Wy! Hmmm, maybe I'll hit on you after a couple hundred years go by.

Principality of Wy

Did you think we're buddies? But I'm different from you... I've been re-cog-ni-zed!

Republic of Kugelmugel

Declaring my independence is...ART!!!!

Republic of Molossia

Sunnovabitch! You formally entered the country?!

Principality of Hutt River

Paying your respects to me, your senior, is simple etiquette, yes?

Republic of Nikko Nikko

A Halloween Party? I certainly would like to go, but I've already withdraw from nation status, so...

Voiced by: Dallas Reid (EN)

Nikko Nikko: If you believe and try your best, your dreams will come true, won't they, Japan?

Japan: What on Earth did you try your best at?!

Ladonia

The only one with the power to gather all the micronations is a true blue like me!

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Micronations / Axis Powers Hetalia - TV Tropes

DAVID MURDOCK: On fascinating things – Gadsden Times

By David MurdockSpecial to The Times

There are certain subjects that hold an inexplicable fascination for me. I have no idea why or where or when, for example, I became fascinated with rock strata. I am, though. Love em. Ive actually traveled just to see interesting rock strata. Luckily, Etowah County comes equipped with seemingly endless strata, so I stay pretty well satisfied in that department.

Some of these fascinations become subjects of columns. Ive written two columns on roadkill over the years, for example. How many times Ive rhapsodized about the sky night, cloudy or otherwise lies beyond easy recollection. How many times have I gone on about the birds and animals in my yard or the view from the front porch? I quit counting.

There are others I have never mentioned in the column my endless fascination with whaling, for example. That one, at least, makes some sense since Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick is not only one of my favorite novels, but one I teach several times a year. To mimic Melvilles phrasing, subjects like whaling have become fascinadoes to me seemingly unrelated subjects that trigger endless research. However, I recently decided to do something about some of the more odd ones that dont fit anywhere in the college classes I teach. I usually lead a class at the University of Alabamas Osher Lifelong Learning Institute every term, typically on a literary or cultural topic, but Ive decided to do something more quirky for the summer term. Were calling it Daves Summer Grab Bag, and the course begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday with one of my weirder topics, micronations.

A few years ago, I started tracking micronations in the press. A micronation is a legally non-existent country that has been formed for any of a variety of reasons by ... well ... dreamers, I guess. The most famous one near here is The Conch Republic. Back in the 1980s, the island of Key West seceded from the United States as a protest against a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint that the locals found burdensome. This protest was mostly for the sake of humor, a political satire, but it quickly became a tourist draw, and the Conch Republic currently issues souvenir passports that some people mistakenly believe are real.

Other micronations are sincere attempts to secede from host countries and form ideal governments, and still more were formed for a variety of other reasons (some not always benign). Anyway, I read any article on micronations I stumble across.

Well continue the next week with invasive species plants and animals either knowingly or unknowingly introduced to non-native environments that have since taken over or otherwise become an issue. Think kudzu.

Next up my fascinado with sleeping and dreaming. Im still pursuing the ideal, perfect nap, and I may be on the verge of a breakthrough in my research. Just the other day, I napped past my bedtime. I literally woke up 45 minutes after I usually go to sleep and didnt quite know what to do. So, I watched a movie and went back to sleep. I was just a little exhausted that day. Sleeping and dreaming has been a subject of interest for me since my days as a psychology student, so that ones quite old.

After that, a more recent one the city of Alexandria. Not the one down the highway, the one in Egypt. And not the Alexandria of today, but the Alexandria of antiquity, the one with the ancient worlds most impressive library.

From there, well look at ruins and abandoned places in general. Thats also a recent fascinado for me, dating back to a trip I took a couple of years ago when I stumbled across the Windsor Ruins during my meandering in Mississippi. That experience was profoundly moving, even spiritual, so I never pass up a good ruin or abandoned place now in my travels. Theres even a wish list of places to visit.

Lastly, the granddaddy of all my fascinados dating to my childhood Native American mounds. I wrote an article about them for Gadsden Style a while back, and Ill be giving a talk about my visits to all the nearby mound structures to finish the Grab Bag.

Please come out and join us at OLLI, which offers an opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and go to new places. There are no tests, no homework and no degrees required. For information on how to join OLLI and sign up for sessions, either call 205-348-6482 or contact Shirley Dupont at 256-442-3769. I hope to see yall there.

A correction to last weeks column on the Battle of Midway: Ensign George Gays squadron consisted of 15 Devastator torpedo bombers, not 10 as appeared in the article. Its odd, I had the correct number in the first draft and, for some reason, corrected it. The error is mine.

David Murdock is an English instructor at Gadsden State Community College. He can be contacted at murdockcolumn@yahoo.com. The opinions reflected are his own.

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DAVID MURDOCK: On fascinating things - Gadsden Times

When Did We Become A Country? The (Not So) Great Chaplin/Cruz Debate – Above the Law

(Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

It started with a tweet about President Trumps decision to pull us out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Professor Chaplin who is the Chair of American Studies Department at Harvard and the James Duncan Phillips Professor, tweeted this:

That tweet somehow got picked up by Senator Ted Cruz, who, in the spirit of curiosity and intellectual inquiry, sought to clarify what Professor Chaplin meant. He asked, Dear Professor Chaplin, your tweet struck me as odd, given that we all usually think of July 4, 1776, as the birth of our nation. Can you clarify what you mean?

Just kidding! He completely dismissed her, and then in the right-wing press, was described as having owned her.

That led to Professor Chaplins clapback:

I jumped in because it was clear that Senator Cruz wasnt looking for intellectual debate, or he wouldnt have started out with the ad hominem and condescension. As one of my colleagues wrote, What did Senator Cruz say that was wrong? My reply was:

And then discussion degenerated. I dont have time to do a thorough statistical analysis, but the vast of majority of replies (at least to me) were insults. There were a few who came to Professor Chaplins defense, seeking to elaborate on her points (if they went to her twitter feed, they would have seen some more discussion). Many came to Senator Cruzs defense. But, at this point, the discussion became partisan, and all hope for any understanding was lost.

So, let me try to sum up the two positions, not doing justice to either side.

A country requires international recognition to exist. I could declare myself the great state of LawProfBlawg, but no one is going to acknowledge my country. I wont be a player on any international arena, and I might very well get invaded. Throughout history there were many nations that lacked international recognition, such as the Republic of Lakotah, the Principality of the Hutt River, or other micronations. Some countries have varying degrees of international recognition, which makes the notion murkier, but it is still a necessary condition for statehood. Professor Chaplin takes a more eloquent position here.

A country begins at conception. Perhaps Orin Kerr said it best in his tweet:

In other words, the Declaration of Independence created the United Colonies, which then undertook a name change on September 9, 1776, to the United States of America. The only trouble here is that the founders spoke of free and independent states, so perhaps then we should be talking about multiple countries. Regardless, by the time of the Articles of Confederation and later the Constitution, it was very clear they were a single country, the good ol US of A.

Blog length makes my summary of both arguments incomplete, with many unanswered questions. For example, was the Confederate States of America a country? It did declare independence, and under the second standard, would have to be historically recognized as a country. Under the first standard, the Confederacy was not a country because it received no international recognition. But there are countries that exist without full international recognition. In short, its murky.

While the answer may be murky a few things about the great debate are clear:

I wondered about the gender implications of the debate. I wondered if this is what it is like to be a female faculty member at a University.

I wonder why Im even calling it a debate. Professor Chaplin was doing what most of us do on Twitter. She wasnt expecting a Cruzian call-out. She was expressing outrage at the United States, a member of the international community since birth, pulling out of that community. Even as other tweeters got involved, it was never a debate. It had all the trappings of the famous Monty Python Argument Clinic.

Thats not the fault of Twitter. Those with differing viewpoints refuse to seek common understanding, as traditional debate becomes an increasingly lost art. The loss will eventually destroy us, if it hasnt already.

UPDATE (2:45 p.m.): After hearing from Senator Cruzs staff members, I must add that I was remiss in not pointing out that Senator Cruz did lay out his argument in two subsequent tweets:

I would characterize this more along the lines of the conception argument, but might eliminate the problem of what to call the Confederacy (because they lost). Ill incorporate my previous assertions to apply to these tweets as well.

LawProfBlawg is an anonymous professor at a top 100 law school. You can see more of his musingshereand onTwitter. Email him atlawprofblawg@gmail.com.

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When Did We Become A Country? The (Not So) Great Chaplin/Cruz Debate - Above the Law