Election Season '11

Has officially begun. With a resounding bang that was hopefully not her last song, Ms. Blake retired from office and left the floor open, though with numerous warnings, to future 'entertainers' of ISLAS.

So far there has been only one campaign begun, that of Kitty and Mr. Geleynse, yet again. There were complaints about the repetition of old campaigns, albeit only by one ISLASer.

Personally, the journalists at the Scoop are hoping that there will be some excitement this year. The best kind of story is an exciting one. Hopefully the candidates will take note and come up with a few new tricks.

Here's to a new year on ISLAS!

If you have something you would like us to post or have information or anything you think we may be interested in, feel free to send it to theislasscoop@gmail.com. Please also comment on the forum so we have some notification and actually remember to check the Scoop's email. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The Kampaign of Kaos Interview: Kitty and Geleynse

After many annoyances (computers and internet browsers that shut down randomly, just out of spite), here, finally, is the Kitty - Geleynse interview. We apologize that we took so long to get it up, but when one has a second email, one does not usually remember to check it.

Also, we have not gotten any response from either of the other campaigns after emailing them the interview questions, so it is doubtful we will have more interviews up any time soon.

What will the main goal of your presidency of ISLAS be?

Andre: Keep people entertained. And make sure everyone has free and easy access to the arsenal.

Kitty: I'm mostly here to entertain myself. Since I'm currently under house arrest, ISLAS is my refuge. We'll have lots of fireworks, explosions, etc. My secretary will work on bringing life back to areas that are sometimes neglected, such as Debate, School, Ars Gratia Artis, and Games.

How are you intending to achieve this goal?

A: By showing people that they obviously want to vote for us, and by blowing away the other campaigns (literally) with our awesomeness.

K: The fireworks and explosions will be achieved the normal way, of course. With explosives. ^_^ By posting more frequently on neglected boards, we will encourage greater participation among our fellow ISLASers.

What do you have to offer that no other campaign can give?

K & A: Honesty. Every other campaign offers fake promises of stability and happiness and then goes and does something like hanging everyone behind their backs. We, the Kampaign of Kaos, are completely and 100% honest about our motives. We don't sneakily kill people behind their backs while maintaining a lovely facade for the public. When we want to kill someone, we proudly tell the world while we blow that someone into smithereens.

How does ISLAS know you will keep your promises and not fall quiet a few weeks after being elected?

A: Because our only promises are to blow things up and keep people entertained. It's a pretty simple promise, and one that we can keep.

K: Exactly, Andre. In addition, my secretary has a safeguard against dying under overwhelming schoolwork. I'll make sure that whenever she looks like she's working too hard, I'll sit on her books, hide her pencils, and force her to come onto ISLAS.

In summary, why should ISLASers vote for you?

A: Because we're awesome. And we've got grenades.

K: Quite. Also, if you vote for us, you'll effectively get a Triumvirate of rulers. (Although only one of us is male...) You'll have me as your head, followed by Andre, and my scatterbrained secretary. Three working towards these goals will be much more successful than two.

This campaign looks pretty tempting, with all its promises of violence and explosives (I have a soft place in my heart for explosives and ice cream) and entertaining campaign videos, but, in all seriousness, what will explosives really do for ISLAS? Virtual explosions get boring after a while and, chaos and anarchy, however fun and exciting they may seem, don't really do much for the common good of ISLAS.

On the other hand, Kitty's campaign is one of the two most involved, most entertaining, and most promising. The question really is, who can entertain us the best, for the longest?

The ISLAS Communist Party Interview: Blake

Here is the first of what will hopefully be four interviews, this one is with Vicki Blake, the leader of the ISLAS Communist Party. I will be using the same questions for all the interviews, simply because that is easiest.

Since the ICP has a clearly humorous approach to the ISLAS presidency, we have two answers for each question. Both from Miss Blake, but one comical and the other serious. The comical will be B (for Bolshevik) and serious, V (Vicki).

What will the main goal of your presidency of ISLAS be?

B: Comrades! The main, and indeed, the only goal of the ICP is to bring revolution! Too long has the proletariat suffered under the crushing yoke of the evil bourgeois capitalists. The ICP will bring the proletariat soaring to the top. It will usher in the new age of the dictatorship of the proletariat!

V: To keep everyone as entertained as possible. Bread and circuses, and all that. What I really want is that everyone should have at least a little bit of vested interest in the forum.

How are you intending to achieve this goal?

B: We intend to achieve this goal by nothing short of a revolution. There can be no glory otherwise.

V: I hope to come up with ideas which will tantalize and excite all the different kinds of people--the writing kids, the music kids, the language kids, the artsy kids, the computer nerd kids, the math kids, etc. Some of those will be harder for me than others, but I'm hoping my worthy VP will be able to complement my deficiencies.

What do you have to offer that no other campaign can give?

B: Land! Peace! Bread!

V: If I told you, I would have to kill you. But for serious, I think my favorite thing about this campaign is something we haven't done, and if I mention it, we will have done it. You see my dilemma?

How does ISLAS know you will keep your promises and not fall quiet a few weeks after being elected?

B: Oh, comrade, how could you ask such a sad question? The people of ISLAS are like my dear dear children. Would a mother forget her child? Nay! And how much less could a glorious revolutionary leader forget her people!

V: Because I need this little world as a stress reliever. *raises ears*

In summary, why should ISLASers vote for you?

B: ISLASers should vote for me because the ICP is the party of glorious revolution! We who stand this day together shall be forever sung in the great ballads of history! We shall never be forgotten!

V: What I want from ISLAS is that the people on it should be real friends. I think this comes about in two ways: friendly competition and common goals. I hope to provide things (my little Half & Half competition is a preliminary attempt) that we can actually do together that involve more than just typing words (Okay, well, I guess writing is just typing words. Hopefully future things will be better). Even if I'm not elected, I'll implement whatever schemes come to my brain, but it would be more fun to be president. I like power, you know. *smiles*

Finishing words?

B: All power to the Soviets!

V: I would like to say two things: First, don't ever be offended if I call you guys "kids". I call everyone kids. Mark and Virginia, the kids in my Yiddish class (except I call them kinderlech, because that's the Yiddish word), myself, my truck, etc. Second: It's really hard to turn off the ridiculous rhetoric I've employed for my Bolshevik persona. It's great. *grins*

First off, I (Vil) would like to say, Blake has a very friendly air throughout this interview, which helps us view her as having our best interests in view. Her goal in being elected, personally, I think is top par. It is what I look for in an ISLAS ruler. If they cannot entertain and help keep the forum alive, what is their worth?

Of course, those with more serious views in hand may not like that this campaign jokingly bases itself upon the communists. I say, if the campaign cannot take itself as a joke, it is not going to be able to take the pressure put upon an ISLAS president.

I think I will have a hard time finding solid anti-campaign facts (or even mild complaints) for the campaigns since I honestly think that this year has an overflow of wonderfully light and humorous presidential candidates. Hurrah for non-stressful election years. Keep it up, ISLASers.

Final Election Poll, 2009

At last, what we have all be waiting impatiently for is here. The final poll for the presidential election of 2009. It has changed much from what we were expecting. Technically, it is not even a presidential race any longer. It is a race between a Prime Minister and a Republic. Who will win? We will find out in a week.

The results for the first poll were as follows:

The ISLAS Republic: 16 votes

Geleynse - Bertilson: 14 votes

DenHoed - DenHoed: 2 votes

Altogether, there were 32 voters. We are expecting more to show up for the final poll, since the news spreads quickly and many find it not necessary to vote in the primary poll.

We all await the results with anticipation, to see who our new leader will be. The Scoop will be there to report new events, good or bad.

If you would like to send us an article or have any letters to the editor, email us at theislasscoop@gmail.com. If you want a quick answer, send the article to Miss Blake as well, and we will try to make sure to review it as soon as possible.

Consul? Republic?

All this new fangled language is leaving me quite giddy with confusion. Why start up a new version of government when we haven't even thoroughly worn the first?

I am curious as to why, all of a sudden, all of these campaigns jumped on a bandwagon together, after fighting each other for voters. Are they so frightened of what may happen that they are willing to do anything to prevent it? If so, what are they so afraid of?

On the other hand, why aren't the other campaigns responding strongly against these actions? Do they feel a sense of doom? Have then given up? Or do they believe, in their heart of hearts, that having Mr. Hunter and Miss Taylor reside over ISLAS would be best for the forums?

These questions are boiling in many voters heads. The strongest opposition of each side is wondering why. They are wondering if they picked the losing side. They are wondering if they should rethink their tactics. Change their battleplan.

It may be all the tightly strung nerves that are twanging and setting new things in motion. Perhaps all this ground-thin tolerance will cause something good in the end. Will there be an ISLAS revolution? Are new things on the way? Is there hope, through all this darkness, for the despairing people of ISLAS?

I believe only time will tell. We all hope and pray for a renewed vigor and comradeship for our beloved forums. We hope that the clouds of a gloomy night that are the ISLAS elections will pass and that the glorious sunshine of a brand new day will come with the morning.

Interview: Taylor-Jaramillo Campaign

The interview of the Taylor-Jaramillo campaign by Reporter Blake, editing and summary by Vilbert Pear.

EB: What do you intend to do when you're President?

LT: We've been living in minor seconds for too long. I intend to change those minor seconds to major seconds, if not major thirds. If people can't tell the difference, there's always the guillotine.

EB: What are some of your solid objective goals for Islas?

JJ: For Taylor-Jaramillo, one big objective could perhaps be to engage newer ISLASers and ones that don’t talk very much to be more involved and make everything more exciting…. To get more people into the Debate, and other forums, to revive old games like Mafia and encourage the virtual forum, that has gone pretty much dead. Nick was the ideal campaign manager because he could reach out to newcomers better than any of us, being a new comer himself. And to invite new comers!! Big objective! Get a thriving ISLAS! Yay!

EB: How will these goals affect us as Islasers?

LT: Change the forum for the better!

EB: Why does having a good sense of music and imposing it upon others make you the best Islasian president?

LT: We never transpose, dispose, or anything of the sort. We have the esteemed recommendation of the Ahern administration for our musical tastes.

EB: Why should we vote for you?

LT & JJ: Taylor and Jaramillo both have come from a prestigious line of family members that have taken online school thus having the best experience to handle foreign policies, unpleasant diplomacy, and executions - with tact. The Taylor and Jaramillo families (as well as the Adams family) are of the finest, and some of the oldest families from the early days of ISLAS.

Justin Jaramillo has been hailed as, "The Sarah Palin of ISLAS" (Hunter Regetin). The infamous bandit, Rubby Ducky, is supporting us, unlike TBoD, Ringo, or Rufus - it's actually worth a real vote!

We're the athetic ticket! Taylor is a great horse-rider, figure skate, whilst Jaramillo is the world's best soccer-baseball player!

Taylor-Jaramillo has strong beliefs - they are consistently on the debte thread (when do you ever see the G-B campaign on the debate thread?).

Taylor can weave through many hard times - she's plenty short, while Jaramillo can go over the heads over all oppenents (he's over six feet tall!).

We’re combining new ISLASers (Our campaign manager is super new) and with old ISLASers thus combing every element of ISLAS there is to offer and bringing greater unity and blah blah blah!

We also like to set new records. We have set the newest record with having a campaign manager with one post!

Well, we have the niceness of the Hilton campaign, the craziness of the Hunter campaign, the salsiness of the MP3-Bertilson campaign, the nerdiness of the Mark campaign, and the insanity of the Geleysne campaign! We have it all! And we’re willing to distribute some of it to our constituents.

Overall, Taylor-Jaramillo is right ticket.

Vote Taylor-Jaramillo 09. Creepy, evil, goatie, and PROKOFIEV!

Are these numerous points enough to convince the ISLAS populace? Does a good taste in music, announced by our former president, make them worth voting for? It is up to you, my readers, to decide, and to vote. We have one more interview to edit and post and then the polls will be up. Mr. DenHoed refused to be interviewed by an anonymous person, which severely hinders any chance of a DenHoed-DenHoed campaign interview being posted. If you want an interview from him, write emails to him and complain.

2009 ISLAS Election: Tension on the Rise

Introducing Vilbert Pear, another pseudonym reporter for the Scoop.

Polls have been put off for weeks, now, because of late-joiners in the race. There are six campaigns, all hoping to win the presidency, waiting for the first poll to be put up. The population of ISLAS is waiting for the election to begin. Lauren, one of the two administrators of ISLAS and also a runner for president, said almost a week ago that she would put up the first poll in a week. Will keep her promise, or add on more time for more 'campaigning'?

Are the people of ISLAS becoming restless? Perhaps not yet, or perhaps there's impatience on the rise, just starting to bubble. Could the administrators of ISLAS have a mutiny on their hands in the upcoming days? Various people, who will remain unnamed, have stated that they believe they could do better in 'administrating' over ISLAS. Though this is doubtful, Lauren may have trouble on her hands if she says she needs more time again.