Roundup with Ross

Hello again my fellow Asgardians. It’s been another awesome few weeks since the last post (and yes, I did say that I would do it weekly but let’s all agree to retcon that.) Bit of a longer post this time round, but I'll post up a more streamlined summary piece soon.

What’s Asgardia currently doing?

I’ve been seeing a lot of comments and questions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram wondering what’s going on in Asgardia and I wanted to take a little time out to discuss what we’re up to.

Most people reading this blog will come from an established nation – They will be used to a certain level or order. A status-quo with their Government where they have rules, laws, civil services, taxes and so on – And it’s likely been this way since birth. So, it’s easy to understand why people may well take these things for granted.

These nations, in most cases, have spend hundreds of years to get where they are – some nations will have had thousands of years – But in our case, we’ve just been running for just over two years. We need to build everything from Scratch! Our laws, our services, our economy, our infrastructure, our Government and everything else besides.

The order in which this is done is very important – Because we need to establish strong foundations that the nation will be able to build upon. At the moment, Asgardia is working on three main areas:

1. Formation of Government
2. Development of Economy
3. Development of Legislation

Formation of Government

Ana Diaz, Chairman of the Government is currently working to put a Government together and is taking care to get people with real, credible experience to help our fledgeling nation take these first steps. Asgardia has to deal with a lot of 'nay-saying', and the solution of making sure that Government is stocked with credible industry power-houses is a good way to show people how serious we are.

As I said in my last post Leon Shpilsky was appointed as the Acting Minister of Finance . This week, we also announced that eminent scientist, Floris Wuyts was appointed as the Acting Minister of Science .

This is a man with over 200 publisihed works, 4000 citations and a specialisation in the ares of space physiology.

I can't think of anyone more fitting to lead our Nation's Science efforts. There are more candidates and more appointments on the horizon, so keep your eyes open for those.

Development of the Economy

In the world of today, a Nation's economy is its lifeblood. Until we live in a world that doesn't run on money, Asgardia needs to find a way to become financially capable. Its no secret that achieving our goals is going to require a serious amount of money - Launching Satellites, running services for citizens, building a telecoms network, establishing settlements on the moon - none of this will be possible if Asgardia doesn't find a way to generate income.

"Asgardia will work to develop an economy, Initially focussing on the Digital services sector that would give back to Citizens"

One of the key focusses at the moment is on doing just that - with the formation of Parliament's Finance Committee and appointment of the Minister of Finance, Leon Schpilsky, Asgardia is moving forward with the development of important systems that our economy will be built on.

Asgardia held its first Financial Congress in Nice where a lot of work was done to build an understanding of our current challenges and get the ball rolling on finding solutions to them - Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli postulated that Asgardia will work to develop an economy, Initially focussing on the Digital services sector that would give back to Citizens when there was surplus profits.

Testing on the SOLAR is currently underway - a vote has been called to determine the most popular tradable currencies in Asgardia so that the effects of trade and initial rates of the SOLAR can be determined and more details of the currency are expected to be passed to Parliament as early January 2019.

Asgardia will also be attending one of the biggest and most influential financial events this year - the World Economic Forum which brings together business leaders, investors, politicians and journalists from across the globe to discuss current global economic and social issues - An important venue for a new Nation.

In Paraliment's winter session, it is also expected that they will be discussing and voting upon the budgets for 2019

And, as we all know by now, the Citizenship Fee has also been launched, giving Asgardians a chance to lend some financial support to the nation and get in line to become some of Asgardia's first legally recognised citizens.

Development of Legislation

Without a common set of 'rules of engagement', it would be a rather chaotic Nation. Asgardia's laws will govern how people are expected to conduct themselves in a multitude of areas and ensure that there is a fair framework that protects people's rights and freedoms that are outlined in the constitution.

The Legislative body of Asgardia, Parliament , has been hard at work. They have been holding meetings, drafting documents, attending Parliamentary sittings and have already put two laws and several key amendments into force. Two princple laws have been given 'ascent' by the head of nation and its likely that more are on the way following Parliament's Winter Sitting.

But wait... There's more

There are a lot of other areas that Asgardia is working on that I can't really talk much about at the moment but to name a few;

1. Our Website
2. New communication systems for Asgardian Residents
3. Physical Resident ID cards
4. Bi-lateral relations with nations and organisations
5. Public Relations

And in amongst those things there is all the work that's being done by the people that manage the support mailbox, the people that keep the website up and running, the people that are publishing interesting news items on asgardia.space, the moderators, graphic designers, public relations, marketing-- It might not always be easy to see, but I can assure you that the wheels are turning and progress is being made.

There are a lot of things in the works to help create that vision we all believe in! If you want to help make Asgardia a reality, then why not consider contributing with the Citizenship Fee, or, Running as a Mayor for your city.

If you found this useful, then please be sure to comment, upvote and share the post!

Asgardia is an active and ever-changing place. As we move closer and closer to our goals, a lot of information is pumped out from our Nation’s press offices, so it’s understandable that people can’t catch all the news.

Fortunately for me, I work in the Head of Nation’s Administration doing PR and Marketing for Asgardia, so it’s my job to keep up to date on the latest developments.

So, I decided to use that advantage and get back to blogging on a more regular basis and write a weekly summary blog that rounds up and addresses some of the hottest topics facing the Nation.

These will be written about in a ‘#nowaffle’ format. Briefly, succinctly and to the point. If you’d like to discuss them further or learn about them in more depth, feel free to get some conversations about them going in the comments section.

Decree 27

Decree 27 sets out some objectives on the National Currency of Asgardia. It instructs Administration to hold some sort of a contest to set the initial currency rates, and, instructs Government to introduce the ‘national currency bill’ to Parliament by the 10 ^th of December.

Want to know more?

1. Read Decree 27

Citizenship Fee

Asgardia’s Parliament accepted an amendment to the Citizenship Act that introduced a 100 EUR citizenship fee. Anyone aspiring to become an Asgardian Citizen will need to pay the fee. Paying the fee now awards you with a digital resident card and puts you at the front of the queue when citizenship applications are formally opened.

The fee has been somewhat divisive in the community with some people supporting the fee as a tangible way to contribute to the nation, and others suggesting that it’s not reasonable to ask people to pay.

Citizenship Committee Chair, Ben Dell has invited citizens to write to Parliament with legitimate and detailed alternatives.

Want to know more?

1. Amendment to the Citizenship Act News Item
2. Full text of the Citizenship Law
3. Chairman of Parliament, Lembit Opik’s open letter about the amendment.
4. Citizenship Fee Information Page

First Anniversary of Asgardia-1

Our symbolic home in space which is hurtling around the earth at breakneck speeds has reached 1 year old. It continues to serve as an example of Asgardia’s drive to reach the stars, and, carry out its scientific mission. Happy Birthday, Asgardia-1!

Want to know more?

1. https://asgardia.space/en/news/first-anniversary-for-asgardias-symbolic-home-in-space

Economic Forum Memorandum

On the 26th to the 28th of October 2018 Head of Nation Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli chaired Asgardia’s First Economic Forum in the City of Nice. The forum was tasked with starting the construction of the future economic system of a fundamentally new nation.

The Memorandum from the Forum sets out a general overview and outlines the next steps that the nation needs to take towards developing a suitable economic system.

Want to know more?

1. https://asgardia.space/en/page/economic-forum

Leon Shpilsky Appointed as interim Minister of Finance

Leon Shpilsky is an accomplished professional with a background in investment banking, capital raises and investment into high-tec and innovation projects. He recently served as the head of corporate development at Oxford Sciences innovation Ltd and has previously come aboard in Asgardia as the CEO of Asgardia AG

Leon will be working on the challenging task of developing the SOLAR and working to build Asgardia’s fledgling economy with his counterparts in Parliament.

Want to know more?

1. https://asgardia.space/en/news/Appointment-of%20Acting-Minister-of-Finance

Mayoral Elections

Following a successful first round of elections, the Mayoral Elections are back with round two. Another opportunity for people to get involved in Asgardia and do some real tangible work towards build the first space nation.

Want to know more?

1. https://asgardia.space/en/mayoral-elections/

On the 25 ^th of June 2018 history was made in the Austrian city of Vienna. Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli was officially inaugurated as the head of state for Asgardia, the Space Nation. While he delivered an inspirational speech to the congregation that was sure to light the fires in the hearts of any devoted Asgardian citizen, the message carried a clear vision of the future.

There has been enough pomp and ceremony for the time-being, so I’m going to get straight into the details.

Timeline to the end of 2018

“It’s no-longer just an idea.” Dr. Ashurbeyli said at the start of his address. He highlighted the fact that we have established all branches of the nation and that Asgardia has officially been born – and this is just the start. Outlined here are the next immediate steps for the nation.

1. Form cabinet of ministers
2. Elect heads of parliamentary committees
3. Members of the court
4. Assemble the prosecutor’s office
5. Assemble national audit office
6. supreme space council
7. complete recruitment of administration
8. establish national bank
9. Introduction of National currency

Timeframe over next 25 years

Our goals for the next 25 years are to make “Significant progress.” in the following three areas:

1. Science, engineering, infrastructure
2. Nation building, economic development
3. philosophy, ideology, space politics

Science & engineering

1. Build infrastructure that is independent from earth
2. Handheld devices: Integrated passport, credit card, smartphones
3. Network of low-earth orbit satellites to be deployed to deliver global internet coverage
4. Core satellites to be placed on high-earth orbit to provide digital state services to Citizens and businesses
5. Free access to space technologies to earthlings regardless of their nationality or advancement
6. Space Arks to be deployed to provide permanent residence to humans in outer-space.
7. Space Arks to have artificial gravity and protection from radiation to enable human reproduction.
8. Asgardia to field space fleet to defend humanity and the planet from threats emanating from outer space.
9. Satellites to orbit the moon
10. Settlements to be established in moon’s orbit and on it’s surface.

Nation Building

1. To establish bilateral agreements with as many states on earth as possible as well as accession to international organisations – both inter-governmental and non-governmental and ultimately the united nations.
2. Open embassies on all continents.
3. Grow population to 2% of the most creative individuals on planet earth (150m pop aprox)

Economic Development

1. Focus specifically and exclusively on delivering value and wellbeing to the citizens;
2. Protecting national sovereignty;
3. Pursuing science and technology space program.

Philosophy, ideology and space politics.

1. In Asgardia, offer the civilisation of Earth an alternative to Geo-politics in the form of space-politics.
2. Open a path to a new spiral of human development.
3. Underscore that Asgardia is a truly avant-garde, technocratic and futuristic state.

One of the greatest thing about the inauguration was that, for the first time, we truly get to see the vision of the future for Asgardia. This is an important time for the nation and I would encourage all citizens to contribute to the success of the nation in any way that they can.

You can watch the full speech from the Head of the Nation himself and the inauguration event on our YouTube channel .

In 2017 Head of Nation Dr. Ashurbeyli issued Decree No.3 which outlined Unity Day- An important day where Asgardians cast their votes on the Declaration of unity and the constitution.

Fast-forward to 18th of June 2018 and Unity Day is a special day for Asgardia, this the day when Asgardians all over the world come together to celebrate the acceptance of the two most important pieces of writing our nation has; The Declaration of Unity and the Constitution.

The Declaration of unity enshrines the type of people that Asgardians should aspire to be, and this day reminds us of our pledges:

We, the people of Asgardia, will do everything for the prosperity
of our new space nation created by us;
for the safeguarding of our motherland - planet Earth;
and the development of the entire humankind in space.
We are not the best, we are the future.
One humanity - one unity.

Read the full declaration text here

It is expected that on this day people will hold a wide range of celebrations including meet-ups, private celebrations, sharing culture and lots and lots of photographs of Asgardians.

On the run up to Unity Day this year, I asked some people what positive impact Asgardia has had on them and it was inspiring to see that Asgardia is connecting people all around the world. Here are some comments that Asgardians made.

• I've made some friends and expanded my horizons. It's also made me realise that humans can come together to create something from nothing. - Daniel. W.
• [Asgardia] Helped to solidify, distill, expand, and aggregate my political and social beliefs. – James O.
• It is a positive experience until now :) I made a bunch of new friends, I learned a lot of new things and keep learning ! It is motivating me to improve my self and my knowledge ! – Nissem A.
• Asgardia has breathed new life into us and have been studying international space station documents and researching space suits – Brian. C.
• It’s been a great experience ! I am there since the beginning ! There was some high and down! As I use to say brighter the light darker is the shadow. So we have to stand up both and this is the way a path is defined! – Valéry G.
• I think being an Asgardians citizen gave me the opportunity to meet new people, to win real friends, to share ideas, to brainstorming our different cultures and expertises. The fact of being a pioneer of a space nation project is the most fabulous experience. – Abderrahim E.
• I now have a new adopted "nephew" in India and adopted "son" in Brazil! They actually contact me almost every day compaired to my bio. Kids, lol. – Ann K-G

It is easy to see from these comments just why people from all around the world are coming together to celebrate our unity. Real bonds are forming between people through very real encounters, discussions and debates.

So remember what we stand for and don’t hold back in your celebrations.

Share your world by taking photographs and uploading them with the hashtag #AsgardiaUnityDay0002 . You can Tweet, Instagram, Facebook, or post your photos on the Asgardia forums to share a picture of your home, a local landmark, your neighbourhood, or a picture of you with other Asgardians.

On June the 25 ^th , Asgardia will host the inauguration of Igor Ashurbeyli at a ceremonious event at the Hofburg in Vienna. Today, I look at 7 reasons why this historic event is important for Asgardia.

1. It puts us on the world stage

This is a public and prestigious event that will be attended by prominent figures. It will also be observed by some of the world’s top mass media outlets making it a great chance for Asgardia to stand up and introduce itself on the global stage.

2. It shows that we are serious

This event has had a lot put into it. Capital, manpower, resources and logistics on this level isn’t something that just anyone could deploy. This will give Asgardia a chance to show the world that it isn’t just the product of imagination, but is capable of real, tangible results. (Assuming launching a satellite into space wasn’t enough.)

3. It makes things official

The inauguration gives us a chance to be constitutionally compliant and officiate our head of nation. He will also have the opportunity to give a public address that will help to set the tone of Asgardia moving into the future.

4. Good Press

As I touched on earlier, this event will be followed by some leading mass media outlets and news of the inauguration will be broadcast around the world. No doubt that the good news will also spread to others and help Asgardia grow and be seen by many people.

5. Parliament will get to meet for the first time

While the inauguration may be the ‘main course’, the icing on the cake is definitely the first official meeting of Parliament on the 24 ^th . This will be a great chance for Asgardia to kickstart the legislative process.

6. We can make new friends

Asgardia will need friends, experts and business partners if we want to achieve our core goals. With up to 400 prominent people in attendance, Asgardia will have a chance to make some new friends that may open up doors for our growing nation.

7. It gives us a good excuse to celebrate.

This is a huge milestone for our nation and a major reason to be a proud Asgardian and celebrate with others. As this moment goes down in Asgardia’s history books we’ll hopefully look back at it in the future and have some fond memories of our own celebrations.

Q. How do I get an official Passport?

A. Passports will only start to be issued once we have reached mutual recognition with other nations that will accept an Asgardian passport as an official document.

It is expected that Citizens will need to present themselves in-person to an Asgardia embassy or consulate to be officially verified before obtaining a travel document.

Q. How do I get an official ID Card?

A. Though no official release date has been given for ID Cards, they are expected to be issued to verified citizens this year. In Decree 13, Administration was instructed to prepare ID cards for the time of the elections.

ID cards will include the unique ID numbers on them (Which you need to keep secret!). It is expected that these cards will be used to access official Asgardia services (such as banking when our currency, SOLAR, is launched.)

Q. I got married, how can I change my name?

A. Write an eMail to support@asgardia.space to request the change to your name and they will assist you with this. This is also applicable for people who have changed their name through other means such as divorce or deed poll.

Q. Am I a part of the ‘golden hundred thousand’?

A. The ‘golden hundred thousand’ was the name given to the first people to pass the third level of verification, but, this figure was closer to 113,000. If your personal data was verified and you had accepted the constitution before 13 September 2017 (4 september 0001) then you’re one of the golden hundred thousand.

Q. When are we expecting United Nation approval for statehood

A. There is no straightforward process to get recognised by the U.N. and there is no pre-defined timeline for this to happen. Asgardia is working towards being recognised as an independent nation and this requires bilateral recognition from other nations. Getting recognition by the international community as an independent nation is one of our core goals.

Q. When will we build space stations?

A. Building a space station is a very costly and time-intensive process that will require budgets, planning and expertise. Building space-stations, or “Arks” is one of Asgardia’s long-term projects and there is no current estimated time-line, though Dr. Ashurbeyli said in the Moscow Conference (October 2017) that he hoped to go to the moon or spend some time on an orbital Ark in his lifetime.

Got more questions?

There is loads of great information on the official FAQ page on asgardia.space

A different path to building the Nation.

By Ross Cheeseright | 10/04/2018

As many of you will know, I have been working on helping to build Asgardia for a long time now. That journey took me on the road of running for Parliament where I got to meet many-many new Asgardians. Once the decision was made to allow only those Asgardians of over 40 years of age to run for Parliament, I stepped down from the race and registered myself as a Government Candidate.

Since then I have been overwhelmed with the support and have gained over 1,700 votes from people who voiced their support for me and I enjoy a daily discourse with many new Asgardian friends.

Recently, however, a new path has opened that will allow me to help make Asgardia a reality.

I have always had 2 main goals in Asgardia.

1: To give my time an energy to Asgardia to make the project a success.
2: To build upon my knowledge of Virtual Reality and try to bring Virtual Reality to Asgardia.

I will still be working on Virtual Reality for the nation and trying to show Asgardians the benefits of the technology and working on my blogs, research and communications, but I will also be taking a role in Asgardia’s Administration.

My main duties while working for Administration revolve around internal communications and helping to grow the nation by spreading the good word of Asgardia and getting new Citizens interested in our Nation.

This will allow me to work directly with the Head of Administration and Lena De Winne to make sure people are kept up to date with official information.

I’m 100% committed to making Asgardia a real and independent nation and helping to realise its core goals.

Let’s get to work.

• Ross Cheeseright

I spent a lot of time on Asgardia’s networks, on our social networks and on our own website. Much of the time I spend there is enjoying debate and discussion with people from all walks of life. One topic that I have seen come up time and time again is the subject of what role Religion will take in Asgardia.

I’ll preface this by saying that I do not subscribe to any religion – I’m a facts guy – If you show me compelling evidence, I’ll change my opinion in line with the best facts that we’ve got on hand with the understanding that I might need to change my opinion again down the line.

And I don’t think that this discussion needs to take place from an angle of ‘is religion good or is it bad’ but rather, it needs to take the form of “What does our constitution say about it.”.

What does the constitution say about Religion?

Preamble > Chapter 1 > Point 4:

All citizens of Asgardia are equal, irrespective of their Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, financial standing, or any other attribute.

Preamble > Chapter 1 > Point 11:

Asgardia is a nation of free spirit, science, internationalism. Every Asgardian can freely practice any religion of Earth in Asgardia.

Chapter 5 > Article 16 > Point 4

Prejudice during elections and referenda based on Earthly country of birth, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, wealth, and any other attribute is forbidden.

Chapter 2 > Article 2

Asgardia is the first independent, free, unitary, and social Space Nation, which is transethnic and secular , is based on morality, fairness, peace, and the equal dignity of every human being, looks to the future and the infinite Universe, and is a Kingdom.

The Analysis of the language

So – as we can see from the language used in the constitution, there are two main facts that outline Asgardia’s perspective on religion:

This language suggests that while Asgardians are free to practice a religion, Asgardia is secular in nature. Being secular means that there is no relationship between the nation and religion. Therefore, while religion would be allowed in the nation, the nation would not base its decisions, rules or laws upon religion.

“Separation of church and state.” would be a good way to sum it up.

Asgardia wants to join the UN. Does that make a difference?

The UN has some fairly strong views on religion – specifically article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in where it states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion ; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The wording here outlines the freedom of religion and to manifest that religion is a basic human right.

If Asgardia wants to join the UN, that might explain why in the preamble it states that Asgardian Citizens are free to practice any earthly religion in our Nation.

Another vast repository of support from the UN for religious practice can be found within the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

Conclusion

I can understand Asgardian desire to ‘put the past behind us’ and ‘look to the future’ and to many people this means leaving all things that divide us on Earth. Few things in history have been more divisive than religion.

However – There is a danger that rather than expressing a desire for science and leaving behind our earthly divides, someone might end up discriminating against someone – and prejudice might come through if some stigma is attached to religion.

It’s important that Asgardians lead by example and I think that also means accepting people, regardless of their “ Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, financial standing, or any other attribute.”

And while Lena de Winne may have said:

"Asgardia is a free-of-religion society. Everybody is free to practice their religions on earth, but we do not take our religion with us to Asgardia."

I only partly agree with that. Asgardia, as a nation, should be ‘Religion-free’ in that it should not inform our decisions, laws or motivations. However, I that ‘banning’ religion and actively discriminating against people who have Earthly religions would be walking down an incredibly dark path and I will be eagerly watching this point when it reaches the floors or Government and Parliament.

I spent a lot of time on Asgardia’s networks, on our social networks and on our own website. Much of the time I spend there is enjoying debate and discussion with people from all walks of life. One topic that I have seen come up time and time again is the subject of what role Religion will take in Asgardia.

I’ll preface this by saying that I do not subscribe to any religion – I’m a facts guy – If you show me compelling evidence, I’ll change my opinion in line with the best facts that we’ve got on hand with the understanding that I might need to change my opinion again down the line.

And I don’t think that this discussion needs to take place from an angle of ‘is religion good or is it bad’ but rather, it needs to take the form of “What does our constitution say about it.”.

What does the constitution say about Religion?

Preamble > Chapter 1 > Point 4:

All citizens of Asgardia are equal, irrespective of their Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, financial standing, or any other attribute.

Preamble > Chapter 1 > Point 11:

Asgardia is a nation of free spirit, science, internationalism. Every Asgardian can freely practice any religion of Earth in Asgardia.

Chapter 5 > Article 16 > Point 4

Prejudice during elections and referenda based on Earthly country of birth, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, wealth, and any other attribute is forbidden.

Chapter 2 > Article 2

Asgardia is the first independent, free, unitary, and social Space Nation, which is transethnic and secular , is based on morality, fairness, peace, and the equal dignity of every human being, looks to the future and the infinite Universe, and is a Kingdom.

The Analysis of the language

So – as we can see from the language used in the constitution, there are two main facts that outline Asgardia’s perspective on religion:

This language suggests that while Asgardians are free to practice a religion, Asgardia is secular in nature. Being secular means that there is no relationship between the nation and religion. Therefore, while religion would be allowed in the nation, the nation would not base its decisions, rules or laws upon religion.

“Separation of church and state.” would be a good way to sum it up.

Asgardia wants to join the UN. Does that make a difference?

The UN has some fairly strong views on religion – specifically article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in where it states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion ; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The wording here outlines the freedom of religion and to manifest that religion is a basic human right.

If Asgardia wants to join the UN, that might explain why in the preamble it states that Asgardian Citizens are free to practice any earthly religion in our Nation.

Another vast repository of support from the UN for religious practice can be found within the 1981 Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

Conclusion

I can understand Asgardian desire to ‘put the past behind us’ and ‘look to the future’ and to many people this means leaving all things that divide us on Earth. Few things in history have been more divisive than religion.

However – There is a danger that rather than expressing a desire for science and leaving behind our earthly divides, someone might end up discriminating against someone – and prejudice might come through if some stigma is attached to religion.

It’s important that Asgardians lead by example and I think that also means accepting people, regardless of their “ Earthly country of origin, residence, citizenship, race, nationality, gender, religion , language, financial standing, or any other attribute.”

And while Lena de Winne may have said:

"Asgardia is a free-of-religion society. Everybody is free to practice their religions on earth, but we do not take our religion with us to Asgardia."

I only partly agree with that. Asgardia, as a nation, should be ‘Religion-free’ in that it should not inform our decisions, laws or motivations. However, I that ‘banning’ religion and actively discriminating against people who have Earthly religions would be walking down an incredibly dark path and I will be eagerly watching this point when it reaches the floors or Government and Parliament.

As the elections draw to a close, it certainly seems that Asgardia is looking towards the future – there are a lot of developments, Parliament is being selected, there is a design contest for the Solar and Lunar currency and there is a big contest to select the next finance system with a grand prize of $10,000.

One of the areas that I’m most interested is our ‘home’.

Asgardia exists in a digital space – it’s a large decentralised population that is connected through our various networks (Facebook, Asgardia.space, twitter etc.) and that allows us to come together from all across the world and work together to build this Nation.

However; much of the functionality of the website right now is driven towards “Reading.” – We get news, we get articles, we get competitions, we get decrees and important updates form the HoN – And that’s really great, but there isn’t a lot of functionality for the people to give back.

So I want to start a discussion and see what features people think that the website should have to enable contributions from the Citizens.

For instance, I’d like to see a Central Library of works that were authored by Asgardians and are available to Asgardians. Literary works, fiction, Sci-fi, Academic, Reports – all coming together to start expanding our own nation’s culture.

What sort of features do you think that we should see in the future?

By Ross Cheeseright & Ivan Rosel | 21/02/2018

Introduction

In the text of Decree 15, HoN Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli announced that he would bring an end to the funding of the nation, with all funding due to wrap up by the end of the year. The purpose of Operation: Treasury is to start exploring ways for Asgardia to develop its own funds.

Aim

To mobilize and organize a think-tank of volunteers from  the community with a view to source viable methods of funding Asgardia in both the pre and post formation of Parliament, and to help deliver the vehicles and services required for Asgardians to generate income and trade with one another.

Objectives

1. Operation: Treasury will seek to bring into the fold any Asgardians who think that it is something they might be able to help with.
2. This Operation will seek to explore, address and propose and implement both short-term and long-term solutions regarding the financing of the nation.
3. The operation will be comprised of independent citizens, parliamentary candidates and government candidates, but no current ranking officials or members of Asgardia NGO.
4. Within the scope of this operation will be the research and establishment of revenue-generating businesses or solutions, project proposals and reports.

Scope

As we are not currently permitted to raise funds on behalf of Asgardia, the think-tank will be limited to conducting research, making proposals or developing projects that have the involvement or the formal agreement of Asgardia’s copyright holders / Asgardia NGO.

Transparency

One of the primary goals will be the absolute transparency of the operation and every effort shall be made to share the details, costs, income and expenses of any projects that are run. Furthermore, all reports, investigations and research will be shared with the community, with Parliament and Asgardia NGO.

First Step

The first step we are taking is to notify the community of this think-tank and start to gather together volunteers so that we can conduct meetings and brainstorming sessions to come up with some solutions to the financial problems that we’re facing as a Nation.

How you can help

Salutations my fellow Asgardians,

Many of you have may have recently seen something about a 100 EURO fee circulating around on our Social Media 'outlets' and I have seen that it is causing some confusion so I wanted to write a blog to clear up that confusion a little.

What's going on?

On the Feb 01, 2018 Decree 14 was announced and attached to that decree was a special provision that incites a 100 EURO mandatory donation (fee) for those people willing to enter into Parliament. The purpose behind this fee is for those people running for Parliament to show that they're serious and that they're willing to put their money where their mouth is.

Is it for my Citizenship ID?

No. This has nothing to do with your registration as a Citizen. This is a fee for those people willing to get into Asgardian Politics.

Is it a scam?

It's common practice in many countries to have a fee for those people willing to join a parliament or a government to ensure that only serious candidates are applying. Furthermore, in the provision it states

" the money can be returned to you if you so choose, can be transformed into your registration fee for a candidacy to other bodies of government administration, or can be applied toward the purchase of Asgardia national currency – the Solar ."

So it's highly unlikely that this is a scam! Of course, if you're not comfortable with giving Asgardia your hard earned money, don't.

I have already donated, do I need to donate again?

No. Any money that you have donated so far is counted towards your total donations. So if you've already donated 100 Euros or more, then you're covered and can continue on your way to the top.

I don't have enough money for that, what can I do?

Official word from the CEC is that you are allowed to fund-raise money for your election campaign and when people are submitting donations, they need to clearly state on them that the donation is for your election campaign. This will then count towards your total. A good way to get support from your followers and share out any potential risk.

Where can I learn more?

Go and read all the information attached to decree 14 and make sure that you bookmark my blog to get regular information.

Support me:

I want to work hard for Asgardia, but I can't do that without your support. If you want to help me commit my time and energy, you can vote for me as a Government candidate or support me on Patreon .

Hello there my Fellow Asgardians,

Some of you eagle-eyed people may have noticed that my campaign profile has appeared under the "Government Candidate" section of the website, complete with a whole new campaign platform. Here's the rundown.

What happened?

Some time ago I announced that I was pulling out of the Parliamentary Elections. It had been decided at the highest levels that persons aged below 40 were not eligible to run for Parliament, after a hard-fought campaign and over 1,100 votes and a poll to petition the decision, it was upheld and my Parliamentary Election campaign came to an end.

When I pulled out of the running, it was not possible to vote for multiple candidates and there was no such thing as a Government candidate and honestly, I had no intentions of joining the Government race.

My decision was to leave the race and give back all those 1,100 votes to my supporters so that they could vote for someone that was actually eligible. I didn't want such an important vote simply being thrown away on someone that wasn't eligible.

Why are you running?

I have been working in Asgardia behind the scenes and I have been following the developments of the nation with a keen interest and I can see that there are a lot of areas that need people to drive action, results and fairness. Following the announcement of decree 14 and 15, I can see that in order for the nation to succeed, we're going to need to 'take the bull by the horns' and start to self organise.

I have seen, through recent communications, that there are going to be multiple positions in the Government that will need to be filled and I feel that I can bring a lot of skill and drive to the ministry of information and communication that will allow me to ensure better standards for Asgardians.

Furthermore, it seems like this ministry will be the perfect place to house my efforts to bring Virtual Reality to the nation and eventually, create a completely off-world VR ecosystem free from reliance on other nations for their internet superhighways.

Where can I find out more?

After re-submitting my profile for the new Government Candidate race, it seems that it was re-instated with all my original votes. I have completely overhauled my campaign page with new information befitting the post that I hope to attain in the future.

The profile can be seen here: https://asgardia.space/en/user/784722/profile/view/

If you'd like to support me (and you haven't already voted for me.) then please head over there and learn a little bit about me.

Let's build a nation!

Regards,

Ross Cheeseright

Government Candidate.

Introduction

Asgardia has made an indirect statement on the age-limit for Parliamentary candidates. On the 24 ^th of December they have updated the website, splitting the candidates into two categories. Parliamentary candidates and Government Candidates.

I am disappointed that this has not been communicated in any meaningful way but their answer is clear: They will not be lowering the age to become a member of Parliament. It is good to finally have a resolution in this matter as it was a debate the drove on for a long time.

What does this mean for me

I have currently over 1,100 votes from people that wanted me to become a member of Parliament and to represent them in Parliament. I campaigned to become a member of Parliament so that I could put in time and effort to build up and shape the nation into something successful and I have been driven by your support and your wishes.

I have no intention of running for a position in Government at this time.

I cannot stress enough how disappointed I am that I cannot fulfil my promises to everyone and it is with a heavy heart that I officially announce the withdrawal of my campaign from the election race. I am truly grateful and humbled by your support and your belief in me.

However, at this time a decision has been made by the head of the nation and we must respect his decision in this matter.

The future

This is not the end of my participation in the Asgardia project, while I am bitterly disappointed in how the elections have been conducted I still have faith that Asgardia can learn from its mistakes and that more robust procedures can be put in place in the future.

This is just the Alpha stage of our nation and there is a long way to go yet and a lot of work still to be done.

I will be taking a step back from politics to focus my efforts on getting results for Asgardia just as I promised in my campaign. I will continue to study and work towards developing Virtual Reality and I will be looking to do what I can to find those other Asgardians who also want to get to work.

If the rules on Parliament change in the future, then I will start another campaign – I hope that I will be able to count on your support once again.

Thank you for everything, my fellow Asgardians.

Yours sincerely,

Ross Cheeseright

Salutations my fellow Asgardians,

It is tradition in my Fiancé’s country to celebrate Christmas on the 24 ^th of December, in mine, we do it on the 25 ^th but as she must live away from home, we decided to keep her traditions so that she can be reminded of home.

One of the things that I’ve enjoyed most about being a member of Asgardia is learning about all the different cultures, people and traditions that they have in their countries or communities.

Traditions are a funny thing and they’re deeply rooted in our cultures and our societies. At times, they can be more harmful than good – but in this case, eating good food, sharing gifts and strengthening our family bonds – This is a tradition that I can get behind.

As the year comes to an end, it has a funny way of making you reflect and so here are some of the highlights from year in Asgardia.

1. Debates, discussions and thinking about the future of Asgardia.
2. Running for Parliament and breaking the 1000 supporters mark.
3. Being interviewed by international newspapers.
4. The hype of the (successful) Satellite launch.
5. Reading all the news articles about us.

I’ve met some truly awesome people through this project. Every day I’ve had the privilege of having chats and discussions with people about the future and about Asgardia – there is never a dull moment when you’re a part of a community that dreams about the future.

Whatever traditions Asgardia has in the future or whatever your traditions are now it’s customary for people in my culture at this time of year to say, “Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.” and with it go genuine well wishes.

Have a good one.

Yours Sincerely,

Ross Cheeseright