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Intergalactic Summit

 
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Former Slaves Enter Matriculation Program

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#981 - 2013-08-13 16:02:59 UTC
There are slavers in the reception center detention area again. The center director tells me that it should not be an issue and that we can proceed as normal until we have greater numbers to justify a transfer to Yulai. About every few months, we send an appeal to Concord to develop a unified solution to the issue of the illegal slave trade cross empire boundaries. We would like to get out of the detention business but need assurances that those we detain will be protected from death reprisal, generational slavery, torture, and other such barbarisms. We have also suggested that all cross-border trading of slaves among capsuleers be outlawed. The solution we suggest is an automatic reclassification of any slave that crosses out of territories where slavery is legal. The reclassification would be computer activated upon gate activation and would reclassify the passengers as simply "citizen." The classification "citizen" would be a non-commodity classification and could not be bought or sold on the market nor contracted.

Do we think it will happen? Doubtful. But we keep trying anyway.

Rescue Report:

115.08.13 12:52 Gloorin 28 former slaves, 5 slavers

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#982 - 2013-08-14 16:11:19 UTC
There are many windows into the heart of a man or woman, chief among them are daily actions and demonstrated priorities. However, another window is the imagination. What captures yours? What dominates a person's imagination is revealed most often in the words they speak or write. What a man wishes to do; what a woman wishes to do whether capable or equipped to do so or not, reveals the character and the heart. Out of a good heart overflows a good imagination. Out of an evil heart overflows avarice, violence, vengeance, sadism, and other such scourges first in the imagination then in action. The good news is that imagination is not fixed; it can be changed and cultivated to raise crop of good actions and motivations even when it is yet a mixture of good and evil. We can discipline and direct our imaginations just as any other part of our existence. Let us become more highly evolved men and women in our imagination and see where it may take us.

Rescue Report:

115.08.14 12:25 iamSittingDuck 3 people
115.08.14 15:55 Gregor Petersen 135 people, Ellisius TheSpartan 50 people

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#983 - 2013-08-15 22:57:19 UTC  |  Edited by: Ston Momaki
More on this rescue later. (M-center is very busy right now)

Edit: A little later...

It is somewhat ironic that a few days after deciding to change "Wall of Shame" to "Rescue Report," the Mayflower crew rescues 7315 people from two deathcans dumped by the same pilot. The rescue concluded at the time stamp recorded. We did not record a start time as our focus was intense for nine trips to the scene. We were targeted twice and took fire once with minimal shield drain and no other damage. When we arrived at the scene there were actually 5 cans, 3 from other pilots and 2 from the pilot listed. When we discovered the deathcan containing 1815 people, we decided to start there. The other cans were gone on the second trip and we were targeted and fired upon. I believe it was a gate trap specifically designed to catch those who might regularly conduct rescues. We continue until we finished the first deathcan and began the second (see trip #3). We were shocked to find that the second deathcan contained even more survivors, 5500. Not knowing how long the cans had been in space, we did not wait out the criminal tags between trips. We were able to execute cloaked runs and quickly make transfers and warp outs. Ship and crew functioned exceptionally well. The center staff is dealing with the chaos of thousands of refugees, meeting their needs and tending to them. All rotations of ship crews have joined the effort and additional staff arrived from Dresi moments ago. The center staff has asked that the DSS Assist remain moored so that its medical berths can be used for triage and to help with less urgent medical needs.

At the end of the day, all we can say is that we are glad that we were at that place at that time to help these people before time ran out.

Rescue Report:

115.08.14 22:41 (blue) 5 people
115.08.15 22:48 (concluded) Ibro Killrathi
(2 cans 1815+5500=7315)
trip 1 (875)
trip 2 (875)
trip 3 {(65)/(810)}
trip 4 (875)
trip 5 (875)
trip 6 (875)
trip 7 (875)
trip 8 (875)
trip 9 (315)

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#984 - 2013-08-16 17:32:37 UTC
I was close to overjoyed when I saw the Freedom Liner dock on the station. Manwe Todako came to bring extra fresh water from his planetary ops in Madir... I had hoped for a long catch up conversation and maybe that he'd stick around for a while. But the first words out of his mouth were, "We saw a can on the way here. You better check it out." I had time for a quick hello and then we were out in the Mayflower to check the can. 30 people were rescued from it. Manwe stuck around until this morning and we got to have that coffee and conversation. We are upgrading out infrastructure at this reception center to make it a permanent Matriculation Center. Accordingly, Dr. Nalthkh will be working on recruiting and bringing in educational and development staff.

Rescue Report:

115.08.16 00:27 gingerbear89 30 people

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#985 - 2013-08-17 13:39:10 UTC
I ran into Abigail this morning after breakfast. "How are you Abbey?" "I am having fun, Mr. Ston." It turns out that children in particular refer to me as Mr. Ston. Momaki is hard to say. Anyway, Abbey is undergoing brain mapping to determine the extent of residual associations connected to her trauma. Our educational therapists use this method to devise the best course of education and recovery therapy. I don't know everything about it, but it something to do with what images and/or stimuli provoke activity in certain parts of the brain. Trauma can trigger associative brain activity when specific images, sounds, touches, tastes, smells are experienced. Apparently the process is like a game. The therapists tell me that they are very careful at the beginning of testing to avoid what they believe will trigger strong negative reactions until they have a good brain map established. Abigail is smiling a lot these days.

Rescue Report:

115.08.16 20:08 Parcheesie Sauce 3 people, Syries Vyries 8 people
115.08.17 12:27 Rak Katzyn 18 people, Safirus Kalmondo 18 people

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#986 - 2013-08-18 13:02:00 UTC
I was watching a group of people the other day comparing their relative levels of demonstrable happiness. I got to thinking, "Is happiness evolving out of the human race?" Hmm? If its not evolving out, maybe we are educating it out. Are we teaching our children to "grow out of their happiness?" I'm sure of this; I do not have the answers but it would be nice to have some of that childhood happiness back.

It reminds me also of the way we use the word "happy" that isn't quite right. I'm "happy" to report the rescue over 200 people. Well, I'm pleased, grateful, relieved, etc. I'm even concerned. How will they do? are they physically OK? How will we take care of them? Happy is overused.

Anyway, the work continues.

Rescue Report:

115.08.18 12:44 Sinam Khirr 161 people, SplitFruit 86 people, 15 hounds

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#987 - 2013-08-19 13:07:44 UTC
Our staff psychologists have a library of portraits that they use in brain mapping exercises. In the case of Abbey, they have used a number of different pictures of people to map residual associations within her brain. Aversions as well as pleasure and contentment are noted and any anomalies are then tested. I received a message from May Cotton yesterday evening about a certain anomaly recorded in this portion of Abigail's brain mapping. The anomaly occurred when the brain registered activity in the same place that recognition and familiarity is registered. The testers were somewhat baffled by it and after repeated tests they asked Abbey to tell them how she felt about the picture being showed. Her response was, "They look nice." "I like them." The testers followed up a bit more and asked about how she felt about other pictures. She gave similar responses to other pleasant looking people, in particular, those who smiled. But only this one particular portrait lit up the recognition/familiarity portion of her brain. In other words, she felt differently about the one picture and the people in it.

The whole time May was telling me this, she had this expression on her face like she knew something I didn't. Then she let me see the picture. "Oh my!" We know these people. Some of the pictures in our testing library are from my contacts. "This gives me an idea," May said with a smile. I smiled back.

Rescue Report:

115.08.18 21:48 Sciros Omaristos 19 people, 13Acura13, 3 people

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#988 - 2013-08-20 18:32:17 UTC
Rescue Report:

115.08.20 12:23 Kellanved Tzetsu 56 people ,sultanov 17 former slaves, 8 hounds, 5 slavers

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#989 - 2013-08-22 01:03:09 UTC
I learned that I have certain fixed misconceptions about some cultural practices. Folk dancing, for example... I was invited to a folk celebration being held by one of the cultural communities in our largest M-Center. It wasn't at all what I had anticipated. My concept of "folksie" was so far off. I found the dancing to be technical, precise and very contemporary. I asked one of the Elders of the community and he explained that the elements are old but are highly interpreted by each generation of dancers. The music also adapts to new instrumentation according to current tastes and trends. He went out to point out the enduring elements of movement contained within fixed thematic elements. By the end of the evening, I was able to pick it up both visually and in my hearing of the music. I found it an emotionally and intellectually stimulating experience.

Rescue Report:

115.08.21 16:56 Sir Lanfire 44 former slaves, 3 slavers
115.08.21 22:55 Nikoli Stevin 10 people

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#990 - 2013-08-22 20:53:14 UTC
" 'Almost never' means that there are exceptions. This is one such time." These were the words spoken to me by May Cotton regarding her plans to consider an adoptive couple for Abbey who are capsuleers. She went n to say that there are a few more steps of evaluation before she is ready to make initial contact with the couple. Abigail is a unique soul as it were. Her brain ticks to a different meter and I would be surprised that she proves qualified for capsuleer training herself someday. That in itself, of course, is its own damnation and choice that should never be taken lightly.

Most adoptions that Ms. Cotton arranges are from within the Matriculation community or among baseline communities planet-side. On this case, the evaluation team is considering the rare alternative of a capsuleer adoption. Let's hope the process goes smoothly for Abbey's sake.

Rescue Report:

115.08.22 12:17 Tyraxo 80 former slaves, 23 hounds, 14 slavers
115.08.22 20:23 Death Lordd 13 people

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#991 - 2013-08-23 22:27:35 UTC
On this rescue we were also able to confiscate a small cache of missiles. I was reminded that the dark side of our cultures includes the unique ways that we develop weapons. We ever seek the vulnerabilities of our "enemies" looking for ways to destroy each other. Ultimately it constitutes an appalling waste of creativity. I find the cache of missiles and the dance recital the other night to be stark contrasts of the use of human art and creativity. Naïve though it may be, I dream of a day when all our energies are spent in peaceful and wholesome endeavors that seek the good of all.

Rescue Report:

115.08.23 21:46 Silver Davis 24 people

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#992 - 2013-08-24 14:29:05 UTC
One of the initiatives of Dr. Nalthkh and the Development office has been to offer education extension at all of our Centers. Since the rescue reception center has grown to more permanent status, Dr. Nalthkh thought it good to begin offering degree classes. One such course is a course titled Communication in the FTL Age. I was asked to be a guest lecturer and to offer a glimpse into real time FTL communication among capsuleers. I choose the channel known as the Summit. The class began with a warning that what the students would hear might be offensive. It might also provoke strong emotion, even anger. Below is the short segment that we examined and discussed for the class. The names of the Capsuleers involved have been deleted.

Ston Momaki > /emote connects
name 1 deleted > *shrugs* Wasn't my idea to sell people on the open market for years
Ston Momaki > /emote interfaces the Summit to the M-center public com screen.
Name 2 deleted > Hello Ston.
Ston Momaki > Greetings Summit. I bid you peace. I am showing an example of capsuleer communication to some of our center residents tonight. Please carry on in normal conversations.
name 3 deleted > That's messed up, man.
name 1 deleted > Something like what I did was bound to happen really,5 drunk psychopaths get bored one night and start talking about new ways to up the body count,eventually someone was going to actually fill jet cans full of people and then pop the can
name 1 deleted > I did it,not proud of it and acknowledge there is never any "good reason" to do it, I did my time,paid the price and making amends
name 3 deleted > What was the time?
name 1 deleted > oh about 3 years scrapping out a living in low sec trying to fix my sec rating and losing billions on implants every time I took a shuttle into high sec for supplies
name 1 deleted > You appreciate life once you know what it's like to be the hunted for once
name 3 deleted I shot one person.
name 3 deleted > One.
Ston Momaki > /emote records the portion of conversation then prepares to disconnect

The conversation primarily was between "name 1" and "name 3." Name 1 is describing the killing of masses of people by putting them in a jet can and destroying the can. Now remember that all the students in this class were themselves rescued from a jet can where they had been left to die. Discussion was spirited. I reminded the class that since this was a real-time snippet, it did not represent all capsuleers but only some. Nevertheless, it was provocative for the students. I'll summarize some of the student comments that came from the class.

"Look how name 1 tries to absolve himself 'I did my time, paid the price?' Come on! Compared to what? The thousands he killed. What big phoney!'"
"Shrinking conscience syndrome. In my study of capsuleers, the more horrid the actions become, the more trite the token regret expressed. The idea that he is making amends is preposterous."
"Look at what this monster says. Can he be serious? 'You appreciate life once you know what it's like to be the hunted for once.' Oh poor man! What about the lives he took without so much as a thought? Does he really think that 3 years in low sec makes up for the live he took? What kind of person thinks like that? He has not made amends."

After the class had a chance to vent we went on to examine the snippet in light of the norms of communication and how FTL and instantaneous social interaction has changed the way we speak socially. Older patterns of propriety, restraint, and manners have been dissolved in new norms that can best be described and unrestrained. From this discussion, several have decided to write their class papers on the subject of "Attitudes of Capsuleers Toward Non-Capsuleers as Revealed in Public FTL Communications." I hope to be able to read some of these papers.

Rescue Report:

115.08.24 00:46 (blue) 3 people, Self Denied 655 people
115.08.24 13:05 Albert Konn 18 former slaves, 3 slavers

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#993 - 2013-08-26 13:37:03 UTC
Let that weariness with war that some are now expressing grow in great intensity. Let the awareness that endless war sucks the very soul out of a people grow until it is full, stark, and cannot be ignored. Let the burden of war be understood as it is and let it eclipse any romantic notions of the nobility of war. Let this happen until peace is conceived; until peace is born, grows, develops and becomes mature. Let those who define loyalty as seeking the peace of their people be those whose voices are heard and headed.

Rescue Report:

115.08.24 14:34 Jack Bergen 1 person
115.08.25 19:08 Bl4ck Jack 9 people

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#994 - 2013-08-27 14:39:45 UTC
Would it were possible to do ALL that I should do. Would it were possible to accomplish all that seems important. At the end of the day, unfortunately, much remains undone. And much that could have been done one day is no longer within the realm of doing the next day. Lives that might have been saved one day, by the next day, are lost. It remindsme how far, yes how very very far indeed we are from any sort of godhood, demi-godhood, or any such thing.

Today? Do what I can with the time I have.

Rescue Report:

115.08.26 13:38 Justainius 67 people, Canenald 33 people

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#995 - 2013-08-28 19:28:17 UTC
Interesting people you run across in space. There is a group of pilots that hangs around our patrol area that has as its chief end and goal the destruction of capsuleer clones that are navigating in their pods via auto-pilot. They state that their hope is to create anger, frustration and "tears" as they say. They seem to feed off of this sort of human energy. They even score themselves according to certain measurable expressions of hate and anger that they receive.

Why would one want to do this? What happens within the psyche of a person to make them enjoy the hatred and anger of others? It seems that maybe these pilots are themselves very wounded people in need of serious help, counseling, and introspection. Certainly, their energies and skills could be used to better ends. Now, to give them the benefit of the doubt, there are times when provocation can be a door to help another. But, the door needs to be sought and the provocation not made for its own sake. There is enough hate in this universe without creating more of it for fun.

Rescue Report:

115.08.27 17:14 Asutsuo 10 people
115.08.27 21:25 (blue) 59 people
115.08.28 19:13 Shirak Zateki 50 people

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#996 - 2013-08-29 23:16:57 UTC
KSAF has requested that the Disciples of Ston prepare to receive another 300,000+ new Matriculants from the flesh markets of Khanid space. We have been preparing infrastructure such as new modular dwellings, food and water stores, medical supplies, additional staffing, etc. in multiple locations. It may be several weeks out, but we are ready.

Rescue Report:

115.08.29 12:31 Betrio Arody 10 people

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#997 - 2013-08-31 17:34:45 UTC
Time in the pod can be antiseptic and artificial. Those that spend all their time in the pod can lose touch with the simplest of human experiences such as being outdoors, experiencing the seasons, hot, cold, humid, dry, rain, snow, wind, dust, soil, flowers, trees, etc. The antiseptic nature of pod life can also destroy the "good bugs" of human connection. The impact is seen in the antiseptic way that eggers kill and the disregard for life. If you feel so strong in the pod, perhaps you need to get outdoors for a while so that you can recognize your own weakness and your own relative small-ness. Then perhaps you might not be so easily deceived by the idea that you are some kind of Demi-god, immortal, or, pretend as you might, other such rubbish.

Rescue Report:

115.08.30 12:50 PJUltimate 6 people
115.08.31 13:13 Nod in Space 78 people
115.08.31 17:19 Rattus Maximus Astroidicus 9 people

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace
Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#998 - 2013-09-02 13:10:36 UTC
Spite is a sticky tenacious glue that is hard to clean away. It clings to the soul and emotions. Just when you believe you have yourself rid of it, it come back, occupying your thoughts and soiling your motives. Read the many threads in this forum and you will find spite. Ask people here if they are spiteful; they will most often deny it. It is often craftily hidden amongst the baggage of highly intellectualized verbiage, but it is there. It is there in the constant need for verbal self-defense, in the constant need to one up others in argument, to correct others and force them to adopt our views. No one is immune to its subtleties; I am not; you are not.

Is there a cure for spite? Maybe. There is a good treatment for its symptoms, though. That treatment is love, mercy, kindness, charity, whatever word might fit your preference. When we are charitable toward the one who hates us, we mute the power and scope of spite.

Rescue Report:

115.09.01 22:46 Norda Stetille 21 people

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#999 - 2013-09-05 19:51:29 UTC
At 15:38 hours today, DSTON received into the care of our Matriculation center in Kahah, Khanid Kingdom, 340,012 former slaves that had come out of the horrid slave markets within the system. This was possible because of the work of KSAF. Staff is busy registering the new arrivals and making sure that those who need medical care receive it. Thousands of new housing units were constructed in anticipation of the arrivals.

Regarding another issue... Patrol work has been very very quiet as of late. However we have noted a marked increase of capsuleer against capsuleer violence. This also translates in to massive crew losses among non-capsuleers. We have not been able to find any lost crewmen. We have confiscated large numbers of weapons as reported below. Never again will these weapons be used to take another life.

115.09.04 19:39 weapons confiscation 54,200,000 ISK worth incl: 43 Light Neutron Blaster II's, 9,539 Void rounds, etc.
115.09.05 15:38 340,012 Matriculants received at DSTON M-Center in Kahah, Khanid Kingdom.

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Ston Momaki
Disciples of Ston
#1000 - 2013-09-06 00:32:59 UTC
DSTON expresses gratitude to Pilot Che Biko for rescuing 200 lives from certain death in Niarja. Today, they were transferred to one of our nearby centers. Our conversation reminded me of one of the peculiarities of the way we operate. I thought it might be good to revisit an explanation of sorts. When it is low risk to do so, we confiscate weapons we may find from time to time. We recently reported such a confiscation that occurred after a large engagement between Concord and a mass of destroyers. The weapons we confiscate are deactivated and stored for time immemorial. We do not sell them nor do we recycle them and sell the materials. We avoid any income from weapons confiscated. We do not pretend to extend this principle to anyone as normative, but for us it is important.

For the next several days, I will be on business outside the pod. Any pilots willing to patrol the heavy commerce lanes while I am gone...I would be grateful.

Rescue Report:

115.09.05 23:57 Proffesor Kay 41 people

Note: in the interest of transparency, we are willing to provide tours of our weapons lockup on occasion to demonstrate our integrity in this matter.

The Disciples of Ston bid you peace