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Talk:Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2019-20/Interdisciplinary Depictions of Human Nature

Comments transcribed from the initial Google Docs:

I have been doing some thinking and I believe we should work on this from the Truth perspective, or maybe History.

Unless we have a clear vision of what we want to do with Power - in which case I'd be very happy to do so

I have done some reading and there seems to be a recent questioning of the truth concerning the 'killer ape' myth surrounding human nature. Furthermore, we could look at the impact of cultural sets of beliefs (culture, religion, 'original sin', how 'westernized' the vision of human nature is) that might impact how people think of human nature/ how scientific research has been conducted?

We might also want to take a look at what scientific data can bring to the debate ( and the different uses of that data: people have used it differently to support their thesis). Finally, I have read that archeological interpretations vary greatly concerning the origins of war/ when humans first started killing - there is little consensus.

All those points have led me to think we could explore the Truth issue, but of course, it's just an idea. (I didn't research the philosophy strand)

--Elisa 14:16 16 nov.

 * I agree. Maybe at the end of our wiki page, we could discuss the possibility of looking at this issue from an interdisciplinary perspective since each disciplinary approach (philosophical and sociological studies may be influenced by ideologies, psychology uses questionable methodologies, etc) is inadequate to show the whole picture.

--Yujin Lu 09:34 17 nov.

I also agree, particularly since it avoids the risk of putting the focus in the wrong place as we might have done with power. The risk of talking about the reasons for the power divide instead of the discussion of the power divide would have been large. With truth though, I think it is just going to be important not to stray too close to a discussion of power which might arise in any particular areas we are talking about. To avoid this we will want to focus on the individual subjects and their conclusions before bringing the effects of these different methods of study on truth at the end. I would imagine we wouldn't want to compare specific cases of human nature in history as that might lead to a loss of focus on the issue we are investigating. - Henry Adams

ATK Seminar 21 nov. Repartition of roles: Philosophy/ Religion - Henry Psychology/Sociology - Yujin Biology/ Impacts of Culture on scientific research- Elisa --Elisa1801 (discuss • contribs) 12:45, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

Psychology-- by Yujin Lu 2019/11/24

P''sychological studies which state human infants have the inclination to act altruistically:

1. (Warneken, 2006) Altruistic Helping in Human Infants and Young Chimpanzees

Method: presenting 18-month-old infants and young chimpanzees with 10 different situations in which an adult was having difficulties in achieving a goal

Result: infants and chimpanzees helped others achieve their goals.

Conclusion: the common ancestor to chimpanzees and humans already possessed some tendency to help before humans began down their unique path of hypercooperativeness.

2. (Hamlin, Wynn, Bloom, 2007) Social evaluation by preverbal infants Method: Helping & Hindering Experiment

Result: 6-mo-old and 10-mo-old infants prefer an individual who helps others to one who hinders another, and prefer a neutral individual to a hindering individual

Conclusion: preverbal infants assess individuals based on their actions towards others, and this capacity may serve as the foundation for moral thought and action.

3. (Warneken etc, 2007) Spontaneous Altruism by Chimpanzees and Young Children

Result: Both chimpanzees and human infants helped altruistically.

Conclusion: The roots of human altruism may reach as far back as the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees. Human culture groups cultivated rather than implanted the propensity to act altruistically.

Psychological studies which demonstrate that early altruism of human beings is limited:

(Wynn, Bloom, Jordan, Marshall, Sheskin, 2018) Not Noble Savages After All: Limits to Early Altruism

Result: Infants and young children favor those who have been kind to them in the past and favor familiar individuals over strangers. They hold strong biases for in-group over out-group members and for themselves over others, and more selfish than older children and adults.

Conclusion: Much of what is most impressive about adult morality arises not through inborn capacities but through a fraught developmental process that involves exposure to culture and the exercise of rationality.

Psychological studies which criticize the studies mentioned above:

(Carpendale, Kettner, Audet, 2015) On the Nature of Toddlers' Helping: Helping or Interest in Others' Activity?

psychologist's fallacy: the great snare of the psychologist is the confusion of his own standpoint with that of the mental fact about which he is making Claim: Children may just want to participate in adults' activities instead of helping.

Conclusion: Toddlers' helping may be the typical outcome of the human developmental system, a system that results in human social and cognitive abilities.''

Philosophy - Henry

Vague plan of action -
 * 1) firstly a definition of what we are referring to by human nature is clearly necessary

"Human nature is a bundle of characteristics, including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting, which humans are said to have naturally.[1][2][3][4] The term is often regarded as capturing what it is to be human, or the essence of humanity. The term is controversial because it is disputed whether or not such an essence exists. Arguments about human nature have been a mainstay of philosophy for centuries and the concept continues to provoke lively philosophical debate.[5][6][7] The concept also continues to play a role in science, with neuroscientists, psychologists and social scientists sometimes claiming that their results have yielded insight into human nature.[8][9][10][11] Human nature is traditionally contrasted with characteristics that vary among humans, such as characteristics associated with specific cultures. Debates about human nature are related to, although not the same as, debates about the comparative importance of genes and environment in development ("nature versus nurture")." This is the wikipedia introduction to the Human Nature page. I will use the links and references to build a definition of human nature from the sources, but wanted to make reference to where I found the sources.

 * 1) Summary of some of the major strands of philosophical thinking (could possibly phrase as an evolution of thinking). I must be careful not to go into excessive detail and provide most of the detail and evidence for each point of view in the form of sources and links.
 * 2) Discussion on the methods of analysis and evidence getting used in Philosophy to be later compared and contrasted to the other subjects in context of the conclusions come to in each subject. (order of this and summary could be switched depending on which gives better context to the other).
 * 3) Maybe make tiny references on the effects that differing opinions on Human Nature have - eg. Marx using it as a building block for his communist ideologies. (Elisa and Yujin please advise whether you think this is relevant or not) - Henry (28/11/2019) This will just sidetrack me and detract from our focus so I will not be investigating this further

Philosophy often comes from viewpoint of 'to what extent is a state needed' ie. It is a necessary premise for large proportions of political philosophy which could possibly suggest that larger intuitions on the conclusion of the latter argument may play a significant role in the description of the premise - in this case being human nature.

There is also the influence of pre-existing beliefs such as Hobbes' christianity - original sin. Hobbes' opinion lies at the heart of both Economics (homo economicus) and Evolutionary Biology.

Then contrast this to Confucian Philosophy, as it has totally different influences (greatly reduced Greek tradition, no christian influence) and comes to totally different solution.

Ideas being accepted or in public consciousness afterwards, again resulting in a predisposition towards a solution.

Observed behaviour vs experience - to what extent would each influence a philosopher and to what extent are they an accurate basis to make a philosophical argument?''

Sociology-- by Yujin Lu 2019/11/24

''1.Sociology textbooks: social science does not need a theory of human nature.

2.Disputes between Sociology and evolutionary psychology

3.Yet, sociologists make assumptions about human nature

Definition of human nature in sociology: human nature consists of drives and capacities common to humans. All elements of human nature are profoundly shaped by culture (what people want is shaped by society). The assumption of most sociological writing: there is no basic desire to harm other people. The capacity for anger and violent aggression is considered to be a tool of human nature, enabling people to pursue a range of desires through conflict. Particular patriarchial constructions of masculinity--> men enjoy violence. the dominant theme of the sociology textbooks: reject theories of human nature as biology. presocial baby vs. the socialized infant violent conflict: sociology-->historical/ social context evolutionary psychology--> biologically determined  yet the sociological explanation makes assumptions about human nature which sociologists take for granted (02/12/2019 Yujin)

'' Group Meeting Student Centre From our discussion: - Sociology has less empirical elements -> what is the impact on truth? - The focus has to be on the methodology of disciplines - Is there a different definition of human nature between disciplines? If yes, how might that impact the conclusions drawn by each field? --Elisa1801 (discuss • contribs) 10:34, 28 November 2019 (UTC) 28/11/2019

Religious view on human nature -> Philosophy -> Impact on scientific research Cultural/ Historical context -> Impact on scientific research

Look at a smaller number of closely related fields, while including things like religion and war in the discussion rather than discussing the religious influences on the discussion as a separate section? - Henry (28/11/2019)

Research and Elaboration of the Structure of the Wikibook Originally drafted on Powerpoint, to be discussed with the group:

I- The challenge of the cultural bias

A) The origins: Religion A view of human nature not based on scientific research Sahlins (2008:52) « Original Sin pretty much sealed the deal … Endless desires for the flesh would lead to endless war: within men, between men, and with Nature. »

B) An occidental storyline 1) Philosophy How Hobbesian view of human nature has impacted occidental thought 2) The challenge of achieving scientific objectivity i.e. Evolutionary psychology p347 “Using Western personality as a baseline for describing human nature generally represents an ethnocentric and ignorant viewpoint that misrepresents the data”

II-Conflicting views about human nature

A) An evolved predisposition for killing (genetic) Vs. A social construct, influenced by the environment

B) Divergences in Research Methods -     Empirical vs. Social sciences -> example of anthropology and the problem of claims about human nature not based on data(I.e. ethnographic sources. Subjective) -    Misuse of data -     New views about the origins of war Supported by archaeological facts, primatology … Primatology: comparing animal behaviour to humans: each species should be studied in its own right vs. the value of a broad spectrum basis of comparison for gaining an understanding of evolutionary trends (p. 13) Species typical or species atypical and how that goes against our preconceptions.

III- The Importance of the Truth – The Societal Implications of the stance taken about human nature

What are the implications of human nature on our striving for progress?

Depending on the dominant view, discourse about human nature can be used to propagate fear (p.5), as a justification for wars …

A bias among scholars, politicians, and more generally society to talk more about war than about peace -> greater focus on what disrupts our daily life New views within academia could allow the development of an alternative vision: the vision of a new socio-political system without war (Hand, 2010) A more hopeful statement about human nature

--Elisa1801 (discuss • contribs) 16:18, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

We need to change the title to link it more closely to violence otherwise the topic is too vast --Elisa1801 (discuss • contribs) 16:34, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

Group Meeting BASc Common Room - 4/12/19 Wikibook Writing We roughly divided each section Henry - cultural bias section Yujin - Nature vs. Nurture Elisa - Emerging interdisciplinary views of human nature We will write the last part together --Elisa1801 (discuss • contribs) 16:27, 4 December 2019 (UTC)

Henry - note to self - adjust the first section to include reactions to the received truths using similar areas of discussion

Group Meeting at the Science Library We went over our parts, reformulating ideas as to condense as much information as possible. For the purpose of working simultaneously, we did this on Google Docs. We added pictures and reformulated the titles to make them more explicit. We also tried to change our title yet this created a new Wikibook chapter. The third part still needs some work, as well as a general overview to make sure the sections flow and are coherent. --Elisa1801 (discuss • contribs) 23:52, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Individual editing and final draft Some ideas were added although the overall structure was not majorly altered Interlinks to other Wikipedia pages were also added.

NOTE: When changing the title of the chapter, a new page was created that did not include our editing history - We therefore decided to keep the initial title and page. The group had agreed to rename the Wikibook Chapter: "Interdisciplinary approaches to Violence in Human Nature "


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Wikibooks talk:Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2019-20/Power and Pregnancy

testing testing

MacrinaHanganu (discuss • contribs) 15:03, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Talk:Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2019-20/Truth in The Nanjing Massacre

We had a meeting today, where we decided Irma has main responsibility for History, Patrick for Philosophy and Coco for Sociology. Introduction and Discussion will be written collaboratively Irma Östervall (discuss • contribs) 15:51, 22 November 2019 (UTC)


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Micronations/List of past micronations/Republic of Rose Island

The Republic of Rose Island (Esperanto: Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj) was a short-lived micronation on a man-made platform in the Adriatic Sea, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) off the coast of the province of Rimini, Italy.

History
In 1967, Italian engineer Giorgio Rosafunded the construction of a 400-square-metre (4,300 sq ft) platform supported by nine pylons, and furnished it with a number of commercial establishments, including a restaurant, bar, nightclub, souvenir shop and a post office. Some reports also mention the presence of a radio station, but this remains unconfirmed.

The platform declared independence on 24 June 1968, under the Esperanto name "Insulo de la Rozoj", with Rosa as self-declared President. Both Esperanto rozo(plural rozoj) and Italian rosa (plural rose) mean "rose". Soon afterwards Rose Island issued a number of stamps, including a stamp showing the approximate location of Rose Island in the Adriatic Sea. The purported currency of the republic was the "Mill" and this appeared on the early stamp issues, although no coins or banknotes are known to have been produced. This denomination was translated into Esperanto as "Miloj" on later stamp issues (it is unrelated to the Esperantist currency spesmilo).

Rosa's actions were viewed by the Italian government as a ploy to raise money from tourists while avoiding national taxation. Whether or not this was the real reason behind Rosa's micronation, the Italian government's response was swift: a group of four carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza officers landed on the "Isola delle Rose" and assumed control. The platform's Council of Government is said to have sent a telegram, presumably to the Italian government, to protest the "violation of its sovereigntyand the injury inflicted on local tourism by the military occupation", but this was ignored.

On 13 February 1969, the Italian Navy used explosives to destroy the facility, an act later portrayed on postage stamps issued by Rosa's self-declared Government in exile.


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Micronations/List of already existing micronations/The Free Republic of Liberland

Liberland, officially the Free Republic of Liberland, is a micronation claiming an uninhabited parcel of disputed land on the western bank of the Danube, between Croatia and Serbia. It was proclaimed on 13 April 2015 by Czech libertarian politician and activist Vít Jedlička.

The official website of Liberland states that the nation was created due to the ongoing Croatia–Serbia border dispute,  in which some areas to the east of the Danube are claimed by both Serbia and Croatia, while some areas to the west, including the area of Liberland, are considered part of Serbia by Croatia, but Serbia does not claim them.

The size of the land in question is 7 km2, or roughly the same as Gibraltar. It has been administered by Croatia since the Croatian War of Independence. There has been no diplomatic recognition of Liberland, although it has established relations with Somaliland (also unrecognized). The land lacks infrastructure and lies on a floodplain.

Location
The dispute regarding the border along the Danube River valley first arose in 1947 but was left unresolved during the existence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It became a contentious issue after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Serbia holds the opinion that the thalweg of the Danube valley and the centerline of the river represents the international border between the two countries. Croatia disagrees and claims that the international border lies along the boundaries of the cadastral municipalities located along the river—departing from the course at several points—reflecting the course of the Danube which existed in the 19th century before meandering and hydraulic engineering works altered its course. As a result, Croatia claims a large part of the disputed area controlled by Serbia, while Serbia does not claim the much smaller parts controlled by Croatia.

Jedlička says that the land he has claimed, known as Gornja Siga (meaning upper tufa), was not claimed by either side.

The area is about 7 square kilometres about the same size of Gibraltar, and most of it is covered with forests. There are no residents. A journalist from the Czech newspaper Parlamentní listy who visited the area in April 2015 found a house that had been abandoned for about thirty years, according to people living in the vicinity. The access road was reported to be in a bad condition.

The Danube, an international waterway with free access to the Black Sea for several landlocked nations, runs along the self-proclaimed territory.

Proclamation
The flag raising in Gornja Siga was performed by Vít Jedlička and some of his associates on the same day the republic was proclaimed. Jedlička is a member of the Czech Party of Free Citizens, which bases its values on the classical liberal ideology.

Jedlička stated that no nation claims the land as its own and he therefore could claim it using the terra nullius doctrine. The border, he argued, was defined in accordance with Croatian and Serbian border claims and did not interfere with any other state's sovereignty. Jedlička said in April 2015 that an official diplomatic note would be sent to both Croatia and Serbia, and later to all other states, with a formal request for international recognition.

On 20 April 2015, Jedlička delivered a lecture at the Prague School of Economics, titled "Liberland – how a state is born". He discussed various aspects of the project and the interest it has attracted around the world. One topic that he brought up was the Montevideo Convention; he explained that Liberland intended to satisfy the principles of the convention, which is commonly used to define a state. At the time of the lecture, the Liberland project had assigned ten people willing to handle foreign relations. Other topics covered in the lecture included the concept of voluntary taxation and how the large number of citizenship applications had made it necessary to restructure the citizenship process to be more effective, since it was only based on an e-mail account.

On 18 December 2015, Jedlička held an event at which he presented the first provisional government of Liberland and its ministers of finance, foreign affairs, interior and justice as well as two vice presidents.

Flag
The flag consists of a yellow backdrop (symbolizing libertarianism) with a black stripe running horizontally through the centre (symbolizing less government, anarchy/rebellion) and the coat of arms in the centre. Within the coat of arms, the bird represents freedom, the tree represents prosperity, the blue river represents the Danube River, and the sun represents happiness.

Access
Croatian authorities have frequently blocked access to the area since the beginning of May 2015.

In May 2015, Vít Jedlička and his translator Sven Sambunjak were briefly detained by Croatian police after making an attempt to cross the border. Jedlička spent one night in detention and then was convicted and ordered to pay a fine for illegal crossing of the Croatian border but appealed the verdict. He claimed that there were at least three Liberland citizens inside the area, who came from Switzerland. Later that month, Vít Jedlička was detained again. Initially, reporters were able to enter the area with Jedlička but subsequently they were also denied entry, including journalists from the Serbian public broadcast service Radio Television of Vojvodina, and from the Bosnian newspaper Dnevni avaz.

The detained were from various countries, including Ireland, Germany, Denmark, and the United States. Croatian police have continued detaining people, including those that entered the area by boat (via an international waterway). One of them, Danish activist Ulrik Grøssel Haagensen, was placed in house arrest for 5 days before being sentenced to 15 days of prison, triggering some protests in Denmark.

In May 2016, several appeals court decisions from Croatia were published. The court upheld that crossing into Liberland from Croatia is illegal, but found the convictions for entering Liberland from Serbia improper. The court said that the lower court committed "a fundamental breach of misdemeanor proceedings" and "essential procedural violations". It further ruled that "the facts were incorrectly and incompletely established [by the prosecutor] which could lead to misapplication of substantive law". A retrial was ordered in 6 of the 7 appeals. The lower court is required to determine the location of the border and the border crossing.

Public reactions
Journalists have been uncertain as to how serious Jedlička is about his claims, with some calling it a publicity stunt.

In an interview with Parlamentní Listy in April 2015, Jedlička claimed that he had received positive reactions for his initiative, mainly from his own party the Party of Free Citizens, for which he was a regional chairman, but also from some members of the Civic Democratic Party and the Pirate Party.

On 20 May 2015, Petr Mach, the leader of the Party of Free Citizens, expressed support for the creation of a state based on ideas of freedom, adding that the Party of Free Citizens wants the Czech Republic to become a similarly free country.

Dominik Stroukal from the Czech-Slovak branch of the Ludwig von Mises Institute wrote: "The escapade succeeded for Vít. The whole world reports about Liberland with words like 'tax competition', 'libertarianism', etc."

Goran Vojković, professor of law and columnist from the Croatian news portal Index.hr, described Liberland as a "circus which threatens Croatian territory", and argued that there was a risk that Croatia's claim to control land on the other side of the Danube may be weakened by the attention that the Liberland project has drawn to the border dispute.

In 2016, an article in Stratfor summarized the initiative as follows: "Liberland is a curious case because, in principle, none of the actors that could claim control over it seems interested in doing so. But this will probably remain a curiosity with negligible consequences at the international level. For the rest of the world's disputed territories, violence and diplomacy will remain the main tools to claim ownership."

Legal analysis
Legal experts in both Serbia and Croatia have said that, under international law, Jedlička lacks the right to claim the area, which is currently the subject of a dispute between the two nations. Croatia and Serbia have dismissed Jedlička's claims as frivolous, although the two countries have reacted in different ways. On 24 April 2015, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that while they consider the affair a trivial matter, the "new state" does not impinge upon the Serbian border, which is delineated by the Danube. Croatia, which currently administers the land in question, has stated that after international arbitration, it should be awarded to Croatia or Serbia, not to a third party.

An article in the Chicago Journal of International Law, the law review of the University of Chicago Law School, examined Liberland's claim to statehood in light of the criteria laid out by the Montevideo Convention. According to the author, "Croatia’s insistence that Liberland is part of Serbia could constitute a renunciation of Croatia’s legal rights to Liberland. Conversely, if the territory that Liberland claims as its own is Serbian, the Serbian government’s renunciation of its title to that land could also be a quitclaim that would transform the legal status of the land to terra nullius. In both instances, the territory would belong to the first entity —in this case Liberland— to claim it. However, because of the complicated history of the Croatian-Serbian border region, it may be difficult to ascertain who the land belongs to under international law."

An article in the Michigan Journal of International Law argues that the United Nations should recognize Liberland.

Plan of administration
A government with ten to twenty members has been suggested for the administration of Liberland, to be elected by electronic voting. Liberland intends to operate on an open-border policy. The goal of the micronation, as claimed by its website, is to create "a society where righteous people can prosper with minimal state regulations and taxes". The founders are inspired by countries like Monaco and Liechtenstein.

Liberland has published a draft version of a codified constitution and a list of laws to be included in the constitution. These documents describe Liberland as a country governed under a three-power system with executive, legislative and judicial sectors that seek to promote individual rights, including property rights, freedom of speech and the right to keep and bear arms. It has also a list of criminal offences, which include "polluting environment", "public nuisance" in addition to crimes such as murder, manslaughter and theft. There are plans for an official cryptocurrency called Merit, although all other currencies would be allowed. There will be a maximum of 700 million merits.

In an attempt to gain recognition at the UN, Liberland appointed 70 representatives in over 60 countries within a year of proclamation. As of February 2018, Liberland had recruited over 100 representatives in over 80 countries.

Citizenship
According to its official webpage, Liberland is currently looking for people who have respect for other people and their opinions, regardless of their race, ethnicity, orientation, or religion, have respect for private ownership which is untouchable, and have not been punished for past criminal offences. Liberland received 200,000 applications in a week. In the beginning of May 2015, Liberland accepted around thirty citizens. An event was supposed to take place in the claimed territory, but Croatian border police stopped the group from entering it from the Croatian side. An attempt to cross the river with fishing boats from Serbia failed because the local fishermen didn't have permits for transporting people with their boats. Serbian police informed Jedlička that anyone trying to cross the border illegally would be arrested. An improvised ceremony was instead held in Bački Monoštor.

On February 16, 2018, United States politician and former candidate for U.S. Presidency Ron Paul was officially presented with a Liberland passport and citizenship certificate by Jedlička and his cabinet.

Jedlička initially offered "Liberland citizenship" for 10,000 merits, equivalent 1:1 to USD, but later reduced it to 5,000. There will be a cap of 140,000 citizenships.

Recognition
There has been no diplomatic recognition of Liberland by any member of the United Nations. However, Liberland has established relations with Somaliland, a self-declared state that proclaimed its independence from Somalia in 1991. Liberland and Somaliland signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September 2017 vowing to establish closer relations and cooperate in the areas of technology, energy and banking.

Official statements from sovereign states

 * Croatia: Liberland has been mentioned by the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs but publicly rejected as a joke. On 29 June 2015, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign affairs said that Gornja Siga's status is undetermined, but it is not terra nullius, and after international arbitration, it will be awarded to Croatia or Serbia, not to a third party. However, in a May 2016 letter to the Croatian Interior Minister Vlaho Orepić, Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miro Kovač referred to Liberland as "a provocative idea which has reached serious proportions" which "represents a risk to the Republic of Croatia." The letter called for finding a solution to "remove promotion and attempts of realization of idea of Liberland", recommending that "Ministry of the Interior, Security and Intelligence Agency (SIA), Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs coordinate necessary measures and their actions, so that this provocative idea could be stopped." On 17 January 2017, Liberland was discussed and debated in the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) by politician Ivan Pernar of the Zivi Zid party, who claimed that Croatia should consider the recognition.
 * Serbia: The Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Liberland does not infringe upon the border of Serbia, but the project is seen as "frivolous".
 * Egypt: The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned people of the possibility of scams about Liberland directed at people looking for jobs abroad. "Egyptians should seek information from the Foreign Ministry rather than social media before travelling for work."
 * Czech Republic: The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs disassociated itself from the activities of Mr. Jedlička, stating it has nothing to do with them. The ministry added that "Mr. Jedlička, as well as other Czech citizens staying in the territory of Croatia or Serbia, is obliged to abide by the local legal code. The Czech Republic considers the activities of Mr. Jedlička inappropriate and potentially harmful." Through the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Zagreb, it warned that the "efforts to create some new 'state' have no basis in international law," and that "in the territory of Croatia, citizens of the Czech Republic as well as other foreigners are obliged to adhere to the Croatian legal code, including the current regime on the Croatian-Serbian border. Crossing the Croatian border (i.e., the external border of the European Union) outside specified border crossings, as it is done by travelers to the so-called Liberland, is in clear violation of the code."
 * Poland: On 24 July 2016, 7 members of Polish Parliament (Sejm) from Kukiz'15, in cooperation with local Liberland activists, asked Minister of Foreign Affairs Witold Waszczykowski when Poland would recognize the Free Republic of Liberland as an independent state, with a follow-up in August. The reply was that Liberland does not meet the criteria for statehood.

Statements from non-sovereign states

 * Somaliland, a self-declared state internationally recognised as an autonomous region of Somalia, has begun the mutual recognition process with Liberland and commenced cooperation on a number of important fronts.

Official statements from political parties
Several minor parties with no elected representatives at their national level expressed support for the creation of Liberland.

 * Czech Republic : On May 20, 2015, leader of the Free Citizens Party Petr Mach expressed his support for the creation of Liberland and wrote that he wants the Czech Republic to be a country similar to Liberland.
 * Switzerland: On 16 of April 2015 The Swiss Independence Party up! (Unabhängigkeitspartei) led by Brenda Mäder supported the creation of Liberland and called for the recognition of Liberland by the Swiss Government.
 * Spain: On May 31, 2015 the Spanish Libertarian Party expressed support for the creation of Liberland.
 * Turkey: the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) recognized Liberland as an independent state.
 * Canada: On February 19, 2018 the Libertarian Party of Canada expressed their support for the creation and recognition of Liberland.
 * United States: In December 2018, the U.S. Libertarian Party expressed their support for the creation and recognition of Liberland.

Statements from other micronation projects
A few micronations have expressed support for the idea of Liberland.

 * The Kingdom of North Sudan, which claims the Bir Tawil area on the border between Egypt and Sudan, has recognized Liberland.
 * The Kingdom of Enclava, which claims part of the disputed pocket north of Liberland, has recognized Liberland.
 * The Principality of Sealand has indicated their support for Liberland.

Statements from organizations

 * On 16 April 2017 Bitnation has announced a partnership with Liberland.
 * On 20 April 2017 Liberland applied for admission to the UNPO. The application was officially presented and defended a month later in Brussels, Belgium. In June 2017, a delegation from Liberland was invited to observe the proceedings of the 13th General Assembly during which the President and members of the presidency were elected.


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Wildlife Gardening/Evaluation tables/Herbs/Northeastern United States

ME NH VT MA CT RI NY NJ PA MD DE WV VA

Aconitum uncinatum File:Aconitum uncinatum illustration.jpg pollen nectar summer flowers fall flowers native bees Actaea pachypoda File:Actaea-pachypoda.jpg pollen nectar spring flowers native bees Agastache scrophulariifolia File:Agastache scrophulariifolia.jpg pollen nectar winter bird food summer flowers excellent for pollinators finches eat seeds Agrimonia parviflora File:Agrimonia parviflora - Harvestlice.jpg Amsonia tabernaemontana File:Amsonia nadrenska Amsonia tabernaemontana.jpg - not in WV pollen nectar spring flowers colorful autumn foliage deciduous ground cover good nectar plant for butterflies Anemone canadensis File:Anemone canadensis kz01.jpg wildlife cover pollen nectar spring flowers deciduous ground cover pollinator friendly Aquilegia canadensis File:Birds and nature (1900) (14775163513).jpg pollen nectar spring flowers deciduous ground cover excellent hummingbird plant Arisaema triphyllum File:Jack-in-the-Pulpit (4751254398).jpg winter bird food mammal food spring flowers birds mammals disperse seeds Aruncus dioicus File:Kitseenelas 1.jpg pollen nectar spring flowers excellent for pollinators Asclepias incarnata pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers fragrant monarch host Asclepias tuberosa pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers fragrant monarch host Aster divaricatus File:Eurybia divaricata SCA-04316.jpg pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers deciduous ground cover hosts 109 caterpillar species Aster latiflorus File:Symphyotrichum lateriflorum FWS-2.jpg pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers deciduous ground cover hosts 109 caterpillar species Aster novae-angliae pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers deciduous ground cover hosts 109 caterpillar species Aster oblongifolius File:Aromatic Aster - Aster oblongifolius - 2.jpg pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers deciduous ground cover hosts 109 caterpillar species Aster puniceus File:Symphyotrichum puniceum flowers.jpg pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers deciduous ground cover hosts 109 caterpillar species Aster spectabilis File:Eurybia spectabilis kz4.jpg - not in WV pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers deciduous ground cover hosts 109 caterpillar species Astilbe biternata File:Tawułki 02.jpg pollen nectar spring flowers summer flowers deciduous ground cover attracts butterflies Baptisia australis File:Baptisia australis kz01.jpg caterpillar host spring flowers host for wild indigo duskywing and southern dogface butts Boltonia asteroides File:Boltonia asteroides Nana 4zz.jpg- not in WV pollen nectar summer flowers excellent for fall pollinators Cardamine concatenata File:Cardamine concatenata Radnor Lake.jpg pollen nectar spring flowers spring ephemeral native bees Chelone glabra File:Chelone glabra Red River Gorge.JPG summer flowers fall flowers host for Baltimore checkerspot Chrysopis mariana File:Chrysopsis mariana - Maryland Golden Aster.jpg pollen nectar summer flowers fall flowers good for pollinators likes sandy soil Cimicifuga racemosa File:Actaea racemosa 005.JPG pollen nectar summer flowers fragrant excellent source of pollen and nectar in shady conditions Coreopsis rosea- not in WV File:Coreopsis rosea.jpg pollen nectar spring flowers summer flowers decidious ground cover good spring forage for pollinators Coreopsis lanceolata pollen nectar spring flowers summer flowers decidious ground cover good spring forage for pollinators Coreopsis verticillata File:Coreopsis verticillata flowering 001.JPG pollen nectar spring flowers summer flowers decidious ground cover good spring forage for pollinators Dicentra cucullaria File:Dicentra cucullaria WFNY-078k.jpg mammal food spring flowers rodents love tubers Dicentra eximia File:Dollyflowers1 ForestWander.JPG mammal food spring flowers deciduous ground cover rodents love tubers Erythronium americanum File:Erythronium americanum (yellow dogtooth violet; yellow trout lily) (Glen Echo Ravine, Columbus, Ohio, USA) 1 (33788488412).jpg pollen nectar spring flowers DGC pollinator friendly spring ephemeral Eupatorium coelestinum File:Eupatorium coelestinum1.jpg pollen nectar summer flowers fall flowers DGC supports 41 species of caterpillar Eupatorium dubium File:Gardenology.org-IMG 1435 bbg09.jpg pollen nectar pollen nectar summer flowers DGC supports 41 species of caterpillar Eupatorium fistulosum pollen nectar pollen nectar pollen nectar summer flowers DGC supports 41 species of caterpillar Eupatorium hyssopifolium File:Eupatorium hyssopifolium - Hyssop leaf Boneset.jpg pollen nectar pollen nectar pollen nectar summer flowers DGC supports 41 species of caterpillar Eupatorium perfoliatum File:Eupatorium perfoliatum 0001.JPG pollen nectar pollen nectar pollen nectar summer flowers DGC supports 41 species of caterpillar Eupatorium rotundifolium File:Eupatorium rotundifolium.jpg pollen nectar pollen nectar pollen nectar summer flowers DGC supports 41 species of caterpillar Eupatorium rugosum File:Eupatorium-rugosum-flowers.JPG pollen nectar pollen nectar pollen nectar summer flowers DGC supports 41 species of caterpillar Eupatorium serotinum File:Eupatorium serotinum kz02.jpg pollen nectar pollen nectar pollen nectar summer flowers DGC supports 41 species of caterpillar Filipendula rubra File:Meadow sweet (8065558634).jpg pollen nectar summer flowers DGC butterflies and hummingbirds Euphorbia corollata File:Euphorbia corollata kz01.jpg pollen nectar spring flowers summer flowers DGC pollinator friendly Geranium maculatum File:Zindel Park Trails (9) (34133664694).jpg pollen nectar spring flowers DGC supports early season native bees Helenium autumnale pollen nectar summer flowers fall flowers Helianthus angustifolius File:Helianthus angustifolius 2.jpg pollen nectar winter bird food bird breeding food fall migrating bird food mammal food caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers DGC supports 75 species of caterpillar Heliopsis helianthoides File:False Yellow Sunflower Bunch PLT-FL-DS-10.jpg pollen nectar winter bird food summer flowers DGC midsummer pollenators Heuchera americana File:Heuchera americana Green spice.jpg wildlife cover spring flowers DGC good ground cover Hibiscus moscheutos File:Swamp Rosemallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) (20427271442).jpg pollen nectar caterpillar host plants summer flowers DGC hosts 20 species of caterpillars Iris versicolor- not in WV File:Iris versicolor quebec 2.jpg wildlife cover spring flowers DGC wet areas Jeffersonia diphylla File:Twinleaf - Jeffersonia diphylla, Carderock Park, Carderock, Maryland - 17061028111.jpg wildlife cover spring flowers DGC dense groundcover in shade Lespedeza virginica File:Lespedeza virginica - Slender lespedeza.jpg wildlife cover pollen nectar winter bird food mammal food caterpillar host plant summer flowers DGC pollinator plant that serves as host for several skippers Liatris spicata pollen nectar winter bird food caterpillar host plant summer flowers DGC excellent butterfly nectar larval host for camoflauged looper Lobelia cardinalis File:Lobelia cardinalis Belize 2.jpg pollen nectar summer flowers fall flowers DGC one of the best plants for hummingbirds Lobelia siphilitica File:Lobelia-syphilitica-habitus.JPG pollen nectar summer flowers fall flowers DGC one of the excellent plants for hummingbirds and sphinx moths Ludwigia alternifolia File:Ludwigia alternifolia - Squarepod waterprimrose.jpg pollen nectar summer flowers DGC wetland plant Lysimachia ciliata File:Lysimachia ciliata WFNY-162.jpg pollen nectar summer flowers DGC shade tolerant pollinator plant Mertensia virginica File:Mertensia virginica (Flower).jpg wildlife cover pollen nectar spring flowers DGC cover in wet areas excelltn hummingbird plant Mimulus ringens File:Mimulus ringens - Allegheny monkey flower.jpg pollen nectar caterpillar host plant summer flowers DGC common buckeye host Monarda didyma File:BeeBalm.jpg wildlife cover birds nest pollen nectar summer flowers DGC excellent butterfly and hummingbird plant Oenothera fruticosa File:Oenothera fruticosa subsp glauca.JPG pollen nectar winter bird food spring flowers summer flowers DGC valuable for native bees Packera aurea File:Flickr - Nicholas T - Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve (2).jpg Penstemon digitalis pollen nectar spring flowers summer flowers DGC Phlox maculata wildlife cover pollen nectar summer flowers DGC nectar for hummingbird sphinx moths Phlox paniculata File:02014.08 Blumen in Sanok.JPG wildlife cover pollen nectar summer flowers DGC nectar for hummingbird sphinx moths Polemonium reptans File:Polemonium reptans 001.JPG wildlife cover pollen nectar spring flowers DGC Polygonatum commutatum File:Polygonatum biflorum 1392157.jpg wildlife cover pollen nectar spring flowers Pycnanthemum muticum File:Gardenology.org-IMG 2846 rbgs11jan.jpg wildlife cover pollen nectar summer flowers DGC "superior" pollen nectar source for bees and butts Pycnanthemum tenuifolium File:Pycnanthemum tenuifolium 001.JPG wildlife cover pollen nectar summer flowers DGC "superior" pollen nectar source for bees and butts Ratibida pinnata File:Ratibida pinnata (2).jpg pollen nectar winter bird food summer flowers good for pollinators and winter birds Rudbeckia fulgida File:Rudbeckia hirta (4991283669).jpg pollen nectar winter bird food summer flowers DGC good for pollinators and winter birds Rudbeckia laciniata File:Kępa kwiatu 534.jpg pollen nectar winter bird food summer flowers DGC good for pollinators and winter birds Rudbeckia nitida- not in wv File:Rudbeckia herbstonne 1zz.jpg pollen nectar winter bird food summer flowers DGC good for pollinators and winter birds Salvia lyrata File:Salvia lyrata - Lyreleaf Sage 2.jpg wildlife cover pollen nectar spring flowers DGC hummingbirds and butterflies Sedum ternatum File:Sedum ternatum - Three leaved Stonecrop 2.jpg pollen nectar spring flowers evergreen ground cover Senna hebecarpa File:Senna hebecarpa WFNY-104.jpg pollen nectar winter bird food caterpillar host plant summer flowers DGC larval host for several sulphur butterfly species Silene virginica File:Silene virginica (18683679169).jpg pollen nectar winter bird food spring flowers Sisyrinchium angustifolium File:Sisyrinchium angustifolium 06.JPG wildlife cover spring flowers DGC dense groundcover Solidago caesia File:Solidago caesia001.jpg wildlife cover birds nest pollen nectar winter bird food caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers DGC "excellent" meadow plant hosts 115 species of caterpillar Solidago canadensis File:Solidago canadensis vallee-de-grace-amiens 80 21072007 3.jpg wildlife cover birds nest pollen nectar winter bird food caterpillar host plant summer flowers DGC "excellent" meadow plant hosts 115 species of caterpillar Solidago graminifolia File:Euthamia graminifolia 001.JPG wildlife cover birds nest pollen nectar winter bird food caterpillar host plant summer flowers DGC "excellent" meadow plant hosts 115 species of caterpillar Solidago rugosa File:Solidago rugosa.jpg wildlife cover birds nest pollen nectar winter bird food caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers DGC "excellent" meadow plant hosts 115 species of caterpillar Solidago speciosa File:Showy goldenrod plant solidago speciosa.jpg wildlife cover birds nest pollen nectar winter bird food caterpillar host plant summer flowers fall flowers DGC "excellent" meadow plant hosts 115 species of caterpillar Verbena hastata File:Verbena hastata 0002.JPG pollen nectar summer flowers DGC wetland plant Vernonia noveboracensis pollen nectar winter bird food summer flowers DGC important pollinator plant for damp soils Veronicastrum virginicum File:U.S. Botanic Garden in July (23687511012).jpg pollen nectar spring flowers summer flowers DGC

Ferns
Ferns- all wv

 * Adiantum pedatum
 * Athyrium filix-femina
 * Denstaedtia punctilobula
 * Onoclea sensibilis
 * Osmunda cinnamomea
 * Osmunda regalis
 * Polystichum acrostichoides
 * Thelypteris noveboracensis

Forbs
groundcovers

 * Antennaria dioica
 * Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
 * Asarum canadense
 * Carex galucodea
 * Carex pennsylvanica
 * Carex platyphylla
 * Carex stricta
 * Chrysogonum virginianum
 * Fragraria virginiana- not in wv
 * Gaultheria procumbens
 * Hepatica americana
 * Maianthemum canadense
 * Mitchella repens
 * Pachysandra procumbens- not in wv
 * Phlox divaricata
 * Phlox maculata
 * Phlox stolonifera
 * Podophyllum peltatum
 * Potentilla candensis
 * Potentilla simplex
 * Sedum ternatum
 * Tiarella cordifolia
 * Viola blanda
 * Viola pallens
 * Viola papilionacea
 * Viola pedata
 * Viola septentrionalis
 * Waldsteinia fragrarioides

HP dry sites to check

 * Agrimonia parviflora
 * Amsonia tabernaemontana
 * Anemone canadensis
 * Aquilegia canadensis
 * Arisaema triphyllum
 * Asclepias tuberosa
 * Aster divaricatus
 * Aster latiflorus
 * Aster novae-angliae
 * Aster oblongifolius
 * Aster spectabilis
 * Baptisia australis
 * Cardamine concatenata
 * Chrysopis mariana
 * Cimicifuga racemosa
 * Coreopsis lanceolata
 * Coreopsis verticillata
 * Eupatorium hyssopifolium
 * Eupatorium perfoliatum
 * Eupatorium rotundifolium
 * Eupatorium serotinum
 * Euphorbia corollata
 * Geranium maculatum
 * Heliopsis helianthoides
 * Heuchera americana
 * Lespedeza virginica
 * Mertensia virginica
 * Oenothera fructicosa
 * Packera aurea
 * Phlox maculata
 * Pycnathemum muticum
 * Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
 * Ratibida pinnata
 * Rudbeckia fulgida
 * Rudbeckia nitida
 * Salvia lyrata
 * Sedum ternatum
 * Senna hebecarpa
 * Silene virginica
 * Sisyrinchium angustifolium
 * Solidago caesia
 * Solidago canadensis
 * Solidago graminifolia
 * Solidago rugosa
 * Solidago speciosa
 * Vernonicastrum virginicum

HP Moist sites to check

 * Aconitum uncinatum
 * Actaea pachypoda
 * Agastache scrophulariifolia
 * Aruncus dioicus
 * Asclepias incarnata
 * Aster puniceus
 * Astilbe biternata
 * Boltonia asteroides
 * Chelone glabra
 * Coreopsis rosea
 * Dicentra cucullaria
 * Dicentra eximia
 * Erythronium americanum
 * Eupatorium coelestinum
 * Eupatorium dubium
 * Eupatorium fistulosum
 * Eupatorium rugosum
 * Filipendula rubra
 * Helenium autumnale
 * Helianthus angustifolius
 * Hibiscus moscheutos
 * Iris versicolor
 * Jeffersonia diphylla
 * Liatris spicata
 * Lobelia cardinalis
 * Lobelia siphilitica
 * Ludwigia alternifolia
 * Lysimachia ciliata
 * Mimulus ringens
 * Monarda didyma
 * Penstemon digitalis
 * Phlox paniculata
 * Polemonium reptans
 * Polygonatum commutatum
 * Rudbeckia laciniata
 * Verbena hastata
 * Vernonia noveboracensis


text:
Wildlife Gardening/Evaluation tables/Trees/Northeastern United States

Introduced trees to avoid
Coder, K.D., 1999. Potential Allelopathy in Different Tree Species.University of Georgia, Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources. pp. 1–5 (Extension publication FOR99-003).


text:
Wildlife Gardening/Evaluation tables/Shrubs/Northeastern United States

🕮

Shrubs and understory trees to check:

 * Acer pennsylvanicum
 * Acer spicatum
 * Alnus serrulata
 * Amelanchier arborea
 * Amelanchier canadensis
 * Amelanchier laevis
 * Amorpha fructicosa
 * Aralia spinosa
 * Aronia arbutifolia
 * Aronia melanocarpa
 * Asimina triloba
 * Baccharis halimifolia
 * Carpinus caroliniana
 * Castanea pumila
 * Ceanothus americanus
 * Celtis occidentalis
 * Cephalanthus occidentalis
 * Chionanthus virginicus
 * Clethra alnifolia
 * Comptonia peregrina
 * Cornus alternifolia
 * Cornus amomomum
 * Cornus florida
 * Cornus racemosa
 * Cornus sericea
 * Corylus americanus
 * Dirca palustris
 * Euonymus americanus
 * Hamamelis virginiana
 * Hydrangea arborescens
 * Ilex decidua
 * Ilex glabra
 * Ilex opaca
 * Ilex verticillata
 * Itea virginica
 * Kalmia angustifolia
 * Kalmia latifolia
 * Lindera benzoin
 * Magnolia virginiana
 * Marella pennsylvanica
 * Ostrya virginiana
 * Rhododendron arborescens
 * Rhododendron atlanticum
 * Rhododendron calendulaceum
 * Rhododendron maximum
 * Rhododendron periclymenoides
 * Rhododendron prinophyllum
 * Rhododendron viscosum
 * Rhus copallina
 * Rhus glabra
 * Rhus typhina
 * Rosa blanda
 * Rosa carolina
 * Rosa palustris
 * Rosa setigera
 * Rosa virginiana
 * Salix discolor
 * Salix nigra
 * Salix sericea
 * Sambucus canadensis
 * Sassafras albidum
 * Spiraea alba
 * Spiraea tomentosa
 * Ulmus rubra
 * Vaccinium angustifolium
 * Vaccinium corymbosum
 * Viburnum acerifolium
 * Viburnum dentatum
 * Viburnum nudum
 * Virburnum prunifolium


text: Wildlife Gardening/Evaluation tables/Vines/Northeastern United States


text:
Micronations/List of already existing micronations/Principality of Sealand

The Principality of Sealand, commonly known as Sealand, is a micronation that claims Roughs Tower, an offshore platform in the North Sea approximately 12 km off the coast of Suffolk, as its territory. Roughs Tower is a disused Maunsell Sea Fort, originally called HM Fort Roughs, built as an anti-aircraft gun platform by the British during World War II.

Since 1967, the decommissioned HM Fort Roughs has been occupied by family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates, who claim that it is an independent sovereign state. Bates seized it from a group of pirate radio broadcasters in 1967 with the intention of setting up his own station at the site. He attempted to establish Sealand as a nation state in 1975 with the writing of a national constitution and establishment of other national symbols.

While it has been described as the world's smallest country, Sealand is not officially recognised by any established sovereign state in spite of Sealand's government's claim that it has been de facto recognised by the United Kingdom and Germany. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, in force since 1994, states: "Artificial islands, installations and structures do not possess the status of islands. They have no territorial sea of their own, and their presence does not affect the delimitation of the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone or the continental shelf". Since 1987, Sealand has lain within the United Kingdom's territorial waters.

Bates moved to the mainland when he became elderly, naming his son, Michael, as regent. Bates died in October 2012 at the age of 91. Michael lives in Suffolk, where he and his sons run a family fishing business called Fruits of the Sea.

HM Fort Roughs
In 1943, during World War II, HM Fort Roughs (sometimes called Roughs Tower) was constructed by the United Kingdom as one of the Maunsell Forts, primarily to defend the vital shipping lanes in nearby estuaries against Nazi Kriegsmarine mine-laying aircraft. It consisted of a floating pontoon base with a superstructure of two hollow towers joined by a deck upon which other structures could be added. The fort was towed to a position above the Rough Sands sandbar, where its base was deliberately flooded to sink it on its final resting place. This is approximately 7 nmi from the coast of Suffolk, outside the then 6 km claim of the United Kingdom and, therefore, in international waters. The facility was occupied by 150–300 Royal Navy personnel throughout World War II; the last full-time personnel left in 1956.

Occupation and establishment
Roughs Tower was occupied in February and August 1965 by Jack Moore and his daughter Jane, squatting on behalf of the pirate station Wonderful Radio London.

On 2 September 1967, the fort was occupied by Major Paddy Roy Bates, a British subject and pirate radio broadcaster, who ejected a competing group of pirate broadcasters. Bates intended to broadcast his pirate radio station – called Radio Essex – from the platform. Despite having the necessary equipment, he never began broadcasting. Bates declared the independence of Roughs Tower and deemed it the Principality of Sealand.

In 1968, British workmen entered what Bates claimed to be his territorial waters to service a navigational buoy near the platform. Michael Bates (son of Paddy Roy Bates) tried to scare the workmen off by firing warning shots from the former fort. As Bates was a British subject at the time, he was summoned to court in England on firearms charges following the incident. But as the court ruled that the platform (which Bates was now calling "Sealand") was outside British territorial limits, being beyond the then 3 nmi limit of the country's waters, the case could not proceed.

In 1975, Bates introduced a constitution for Sealand, followed by a national flag, a national anthem, a currency and passports.

Attack in 1978 and the Sealand Rebel Government
In August 1978, Alexander Achenbach, who describes himself as the Prime Minister of Sealand, hired several German and Dutch mercenaries to lead an attack on Sealand while Bates and his wife were in England. Achenbach had disagreed with Bates over plans to turn Sealand into a luxury hotel and casino with fellow German and Dutch businessmen. They stormed the platform with speedboats, Jet Skis and helicopters, and took Bates's son Michael hostage. Michael was able to retake Sealand and capture Achenbach and the mercenaries using weapons stashed on the platform. Achenbach, a German lawyer who held a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand and was held unless he paid DM 75,000 (more than US$35,000 or £23,000). Germany then sent a diplomat from its London embassy to Sealand to negotiate for Achenbach's release. Roy Bates relented after several weeks of negotiations and subsequently claimed that the diplomat's visit constituted de facto recognition of Sealand by Germany.

Following the former's repatriation, Achenbach and Gernot Pütz established a government in exile, sometimes known as the Sealand Rebel Government or Sealandic Rebel Government, in Germany.

In 1997, the Bates family revoked all Sealand passports, including those that they themselves had issued over the previous 22 years. There were thought to have been about 150,000 in circulation. This was due to the realization that an international money laundering ring had appeared, using the sale of fake Sealand passports to finance drug trafficking and money laundering from Russia and Iraq. The ringleaders of the operation, based in Madrid but with ties to various groups in Germany, including the rebel Sealand Government in exile established by Achenbach after the attempted 1978 coup, had used fake Sealandic diplomatic immunity and license plates. They were even reported to have sold 4,000 fake Sealandic passports to Hong Kong citizens for an estimated $1,000 each.

2006 fire
On the afternoon of 23 June 2006, the top platform of the Roughs Tower caught fire due to an electrical fault. A Royal Air Force rescue helicopter transferred one person to Ipswich hospital, directly from the tower. The Harwich lifeboat stood by the Roughs Tower until a local fire tug extinguished the fire. All damage was repaired by November 2006.

Attempted sales
In January 2007, The Pirate Bay attempted to purchase Sealand after harsher copyright measures in Sweden forced them to look for a base of operations elsewhere. Between 2007 and 2010, Sealand was offered for sale through the Spanish estate company InmoNaranja, at an asking price of €750 million (£600 million, US$906 million).

Death of founder
Roy Bates died at the age of 91 on 9 October 2012; he had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years. He was succeeded by his son Michael. Joan Bates died in an Essex nursing home at the age of 86 on 10 March 2016.

Passport applications
Michael Bates has stated that in late 2016 Sealand was receiving hundreds of applications for passports every day.

Legal status
The claim that Sealand is an independent sovereign state is based on an interpretation of a 1968 decision of an English court, in which it was held that Roughs Tower was in international waters and thus outside the jurisdiction of the domestic courts.

In international law, the most common schools of thought for the creation of statehood are the constitutive and declaratory theories of state creation.

The constitutive theory is the standard nineteenth-century model of statehood. The constitutive theory posits that a state exists exclusively via recognition by other states. The theory splits on whether this recognition requires diplomatic recognition or merely recognition of existence. No other state grants Sealand official recognition, but Bates argued that negotiations carried out by Germany following a brief hostage incident constituted recognition of existence and, since the German government reportedly sent an ambassador to the tower, diplomatic recognition.

The declaratory theory was developed in the twentieth century to address shortcomings of the constitutive theory. In the declaratory theory of statehood, an entity becomes a state as soon as it meets the minimal criteria for statehood. Therefore, recognition by other states is purely declaratory.

In 1987, the UK extended its territorial waters from 3 to 12 nmi. Sealand now sits inside British waters. The United Kingdom is one of 165 parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (in force since 1994), which states in Part V, Article 60, that: 'Artificial islands, installations and structures do not possess the status of islands. They have no territorial sea of their own, and their presence does not affect the delimitation of the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone or the continental shelf'. In the opinion of law academic John Gibson, there is little chance that Sealand would be recognised as a nation because it is a man-made structure.

In a 1990 court case (and a 1991 appeal) in the United States regarding registering ships in Sealand as a flag of convenience, the court ruled against allowing Sealand flagged vessels; the case was never contested by the Bateses.

Administration
Irrespective of its legal status, Sealand is managed by the Bates family as if it were a recognised sovereign entity and they are its hereditary royal rulers. Roy Bates styled himself as "Prince Roy" and his wife "Princess Joan". Their son is known as "His Royal Highness Prince Michael" and has been referred to as the "Prince regent" by the Bates family since 1999. In this role, he apparently serves as Sealand's acting "Head of State" and also its "Head of Government".

At a micronations conference hosted by the University of Sunderland in 2004, Sealand was represented by Michael Bates's son James. The facility is now occupied by one or more caretakers representing Michael Bates, who himself resides in Essex, England.

Sealand's constitution was instituted in 1974. It consists of a preamble and seven articles. The preamble asserts Sealand's independence, while the articles variously deal with Sealand's status as a constitutional monarchy, the empowerment of government bureaux, the role of an appointed, advisory senate, the functions of an appointed, advisory legal tribunal, a proscription against the bearing of arms except by members of a designated "Sealand Guard", the exclusive right of the sovereign to formulate foreign policy and alter the constitution, and the hereditary patrilinear succession of the monarchy.

Sealand's legal system is claimed to follow British common law, and statutes take the form of decrees enacted by the sovereign. Sealand has issued "fantasy passports" (as termed by the Council of the European Union), which are not valid for international travel, and holds the Guinness World Record for "the smallest area to lay claim to nation status". Sealand's motto is E Mare Libertas (From the Sea, Freedom). It appears on Sealandic items – such as stamps, passports and coins – and is the title of the Sealandic anthem. The anthem was composed by Londoner Basil Simonenko; being an instrumental anthem, it does not have lyrics. In 2005, the anthem was recorded by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and released on their CD National Anthems of the World, Vol. 7: Qatar – Syria.

Business operations
Sealand has been involved in several commercial operations, including the issuing of coins and postage stamps and the establishment of an offshore Internet hosting facility, or 'data haven'. Sealand also publishes an online newspaper, Sealand News. In addition, a number of amateur athletes 'represent' Sealand in sporting events, including unconventional events like the World Egg Throwing Championship, which the Sealand team won in 2008.

Coins and stamps
Several dozen different Sealand coins have been minted since 1972. In the early 1990s, Achenbach's German group also produced a coin, featuring a likeness of 'Prime Minister Seiger'. Sealand's coins and postage stamps are denominated in 'Sealand dollars', which it deems to be at parity with the US dollar. Sealand first issued postage stamps in 1969, and issues through 1977. No further stamps were produced until 2010. Sealand is not a member of the Universal Postal Union, therefore its inward address is a PO Box in the British borough of Ipswich. Once an item is mailed to Sealand's tourist and government office, it will then be taken to Sealand. Sealand only has one street address, The Row.

A Sealand mailing address looks like this:

Bureau of Internal Affairs

5, The Row

SEALAND 1001

(c/o Sealand Post Bag, IP11 9SZ, UK)

This Felixstowe post code was terminated by the Royal Mail in December 2018.

Titles of nobility
Sealand also sells titles of individual nobility including Lord, Baron, Count, Duke and those titles' distaff equivalents. Following Roy Bates's 2012 death, Sealand also began publicly offering knighthoods and coats of arms.

In 1978, following the invasion, the Knights of the Sovereign Military Order of Sealand were formed by Prince Roy and Prince Michael to provide for the Principality's defence should it come under threat or attack. In 2012, following the death of Prince Roy, membership in the Order was opened to sale to the general public.

HavenCo
In 2000, worldwide publicity was created about Sealand following the establishment of a new entity called HavenCo, a data haven, which effectively took control of Roughs Tower itself. Ryan Lackey, Haven's co-founder and a key participant in the country, left HavenCo under acrimonious circumstances in 2002, citing disagreements with the Bates family over management of the company. The HavenCo website went offline in 2008.

Sports
Sealand is not recognised by any major international sporting body, and its population is insufficient to maintain a team composed entirely of Sealanders in any team sport. However, Sealand claims to have official national athletes, including non-Sealanders. These athletes take part in various sports, such as curling, mini-golf, football, fencing, ultimate, table football and athletics, although all its teams compete out of the country. The Sealand National Football Association is an associate member of the Nouvelle Fédération-Board, a football sanctioning body for non-recognised states and states not members of FIFA. It administers the Sealand national football team. In 2004 the national team played its first international game against Åland Islands national football team, drawing 2–2. Sealand claims that its first official athlete was Darren Blackburn of Oakville, Ontario, Canada, who was appointed in 2003. Blackburn has represented Sealand at a number of local sporting events, including marathons and off-trail races. In 2004, mountaineer Slader Oviatt carried the Sealandic flag to the top of Muztagh Ata. Also in 2007, Michael Martelle represented the Principality of Sealand in the World Cup of Kung Fu, held in Quebec City, Canada; bearing the designation of Athleta Principalitas Bellatorius (Principal Martial Arts Athlete and Champion), Martelle won two silver medals, becoming the first-ever Sealand athlete to appear on a world championship podium.

In 2008, Sealand hosted a skateboarding event with Church and East sponsored by Red Bull.

In 2009, Sealand announced the revival of the Sealand Football Association and their intention to compete in a future Viva World Cup. Scottish author Neil Forsyth was appointed as President of the Association. Sealand played the second game in their history against Chagos Islands on 5 May 2012, losing 3–1. The team included actor Ralf Little and former Bolton Wanderers defender Simon Charlton.

In 2009 and 2010, Sealand sent teams to play in various ultimate club tournaments in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands. They came 11th at UK nationals in 2010.

In 2012 Sealand was represented in the flat track variant of roller derby, by a team principally composed of skaters from the South Wales area.

Sealand played a friendly match in aid of charity against an "All Stars" team from Fulham F.C. on 18 May 2013, losing 5–7.

On 22 May 2013, the mountaineer Kenton Cool placed a Sealand flag at the summit of Mount Everest.

in 2015, the runner Simon Messenger ran a half-marathon on Sealand as part of his "round the world in 80 runs" challenge.

In 2018 competitive swimmer Richard Royal became the first person to swim the 12 km from Sealand to the mainland, finishing in 3 hrs 29 mins. Royal visited the platform before the swim, getting his passport stamped. He entered the water from the 'bosuns chair', signalling the start of the swim, and finished on Felixstowe beach. It was accredited as an inaugural and therefore current world and British record by the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA) and the British Long Distance Swimming Association (BLDSA). Royal was subsequently awarded with a Sealand Knighthood by Prince Michael. The swim was the subject of a short documentary film entitled Escape from Sealand.


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Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2019-20/Power in single-parent families

Single parents are a vulnerable group that exist at the intersection of three main issues affecting their wellbeing and that of their children: socioeconomic resources, psychology, and education. By considering individual disciplines, we discuss how power dynamics within and between Education, Economics and Psychology influence them.

Background
It seems obvious that single parent families have existed for all of human history, whether due to separation, widowing, or parents simply being single. However, they were not studied until relatively recently: some of the earliest work began around 1920-30 (and this was neither unbiased nor rigorous) and until around the 1970s, the subject was not widely studied. It may be argued that, as single parents are overwhelmingly women, the delay was because this gendered social issue did not garner interest from academics until more women were academics. Possibly for this reason, relatively little research exists on single parent families.

Power inequalities remain a factor within the study of single parents. Firstly, a large majority of existing studies on single parent families were done in the “Global North”, specifically the U.S. Although some academics in recent years have attempted to compare single parenthood between different countries, more research is nonetheless necessary to understand the transferability of most studies. In a similar vein, race is also being studied as a dimension of single parenthood: findings indicate single parenthood may be viewed differently in different racial subcultures, although children's educational outcomes are dependent on parental relationships and involvement rather than race. Finally, an unusual dynamic surrounds gender as a factor in single parenthood: most single parents are women, so single fathers are often studied separately, and with different results.

Education
Power in Education is the fundamental precondition for political development, democracy and social justice. Education is crucial to children's futures; however, children in single-parent households experience “a greater risk of dropping out of school, of leaving home early, of poorer health, of low skills and low pay.” In the ‘Global North’, governments allocate funds to education for single-parent families. In the ‘Global South’, such funds don’t exist, though education is especially vital in single-parent families in the ‘Global South’ for three reasons. Firstly, “young single mothers are even less likely to have a good education or job experience, which relegates them to low paying jobs within the range of jobs available to women in general.” With lower income, mothers are less able to invest either time or money into their children's education. Secondly, “schools with more children from single-parent families deal with less effective teaching and learning time.” In the ‘Global South’, schools are few and single-parent families numerous, culminating in an even greater disruption in children’s education. Finally, “children might be ashamed of the fact that their parents are no longer together.[…] These emotional problems are expected to reduce children’s concentration at school and impair their educational performance.” Without quality education, children have lower social mobility, and the same issues propagate to the next generation.

However, when considering the well-being of the children of single parents, if research focuses only a lack of education, it fails to consider the influence of social policy and economic security. Some studies argue that the decreased educational advantage of single parents has little effect on their disadvantage in seeking employment, or the education of their children. In the midst of such disagreement, it is not enough to consider these factors in isolation; researchers must also consider their interaction.

Economics
Power in Economics is the ability of an individual to improve their standard of living. It is more simply defined as the freedom one has to make decisions that benefit them, and the inability of (or inertia towards) external factors reducing that freedom. An important indicator of economic power is purchasing power and, therefore, employment.

Single parenthood is increasingly common among lower socioeconomic groups possessing fewer socioeconomic resources, including education; this is called the 'Diverging Destinies Thesis' and is important when discussing their wellbeing. In several countries, high rates of single parents use employment to support themselves. However, employment is less lucrative for single-parents, for many reasons. One of these is gendered inequality: single parenthood is highly skewed towards women, and moreover gender inequality in employment has the harshest consequences for them. Their reduced likelihood of finding employment in the first place compounds with the gender wage gap, pay penalties for part-time work, and inconsistent work schedules. For women of colour, these issues are further compounded by racial biases in the labour market, and age (since single mothers are often young). Women are also much likelier than men to exit employment entirely as a result of parenthood.

Evidently, single-parent households are influenced greatly by a lack of economic power (which is itself heavily impacted by power in gender). Thus, families already short on socioeconomic resources lack the financial freedom to escape their cycle.

Psychology
In Psychology, there are several types of power. Most significant in single-parent households is “covert negative power, which is based on passive-aggression and is manifested in behaviours indicating weakness, incompetence, and self-destructive tendencies that manipulate others in the interpersonal world by arousing their feelings of fear, guilt, and anger.” This phenomenon involves a refusal to accept power over one's life, and can affect the mental health of family members.

This and other psychological factors are often detrimental in single-parent households. Figures show that children from single-parent families are twice as likely to suffer from mental health problems as those living with married parents. The figures, from the ONS annual report on UK social trends, showed one-fifth of those living with a divorced, separated or widowed parent suffered from at least one disorder. In contrast, only 8% of boys living with married parents suffered from mental disorders. And for parents, studies have reported as high as a threefold risk of depression and substance use in single mothers compared to married mothers.

Therefore, single parenthood becomes a clear risk factor for mental health problems for both children and adults, further increasing parents' psychological distress and difficulties, which contribute to a vicious cycle by putting parents at a socioeconomic disadvantage. Psychological factors often go unaddressed by public policy, possibly because psychology is seen as "soft" science.

Overall, power evidently has a significant role in single-parent families, both in their own mental health, and in how they are treated.

Conclusion
The disciplines explored above clearly show that single-parent households are disadvantaged in many ways. Parents have greater economic and psychological hardship, leading to their children having difficulties in school and mental health, and ultimately having worse outcomes. While some research has explored how these factors interact, there is not enough to come to a clear answer as to how best to support these families. Public policy illustrates well which disciplines are actually given weight, and it clearly reflects that socioeconomic status and education drive single-parent social policy, with psychology rarely mentioned. Moving forward, researchers (and politicians) must consider single-parent families from every angle, weighing each discipline, to truly maximize outcomes.


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Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2019-20/Power in Intermittent Fasting

= Power in Intermittent Fasting =

Notes (Louise)

Issues: Different disciplines use their power to transmit different visions. Opposition between Sciences and Arts. Today people are more listening to arts than sciences.

Disciplines:

(Promoting fasting)

- Biology and Medicine

- Neurosciences

Benefits not as good for women than for men (Power) (Problems for women with Hormones) Linked to science research often more on men than women

(Promoting Consumerism and overeating)

- Marketing

- Litterature

- Sociology

Notes (Irina)

The social construction of three meals a day-

-Anthropology (primitive cultures used to fast),

-Sociology( how a certain group enforced their concepts on human society)

Consumerism and overeating-

-Marketing (and consumerism in food industry)

-Psychology (how advertising makes us crave certain types of food)

-Biological point of view on industrialised food(how it prompts consumers to overeat(never reach satiety))

Introduction
(Draft)

A Fast can be defined as “an abstinence from food, or a limiting of one's food”. Fasting has been popular for centuries. Already in Ancient Greece, during the 5th century before Christ, the Doctor Hippocrates had the habit of recommending to its patients suffering from certain diseases, to fast for a certain amount of time.

Since then fasting has not only been used for medical reasons but also for religious or contesting purposes. Many religions encourage certain types of fasting during particular times of the year. It is, for example, the case of the Muslim religion.

However, it is only in the last two centuries that the effects of fasting have been studied scientifically. Indeed, with the evolution of science, several experiments have been conducted on animals and humans to show the benefits and disadvantages of fasting.

From these researches, has emerged a new form of diet: “intermittent fasting”. This fast, which is becoming more and more popular, encourages to eat for a certain amount of time during the day– for example for 6 hours – and then to fast for the rest of day – in consequences 18 hours-.

However, Intermittent fasting has been quite disputed among different disciplines. Some of them claim that this fast should become our natural way of eating while others prone the "three meals and day" and a consumerist lifestyle.

The social construction of "three meals a day"
Historically, our ancestors and individuals that were akin to primitive cultures used to hunt in order to survive. Thus, their next meal was oftentimes unscheduled and could fluctuate depending on the season and weather. Even though they were clearly unaware of their eating patterns, individuals in the primitive society used to fast as a way of life.

These meals are cultural constructions European settlers enforced on Native Americans(Abigail Carroll „Three squares: The invention of the American meal). The natives eating patterns varied with the seasons and often included fasting which seemed” uncivilised” to the settlers that ate meals at regimented times.

There is actually no biological reasoning behind eating three meals or more a day(Mother Jones Journal). It became part of our routine and we accepted it as being the norm without ever questioning the motive behind this concept. The number of meals eaten in a day is a cultural pattern people have adopted because there is a comfort in predictability. (Freedman).

After the ending of World War I the United States' Government started to promote breakfast as being the most important meal of the day. However, this eating pattern no longer works with today’s reality of modern schedules. A survey overseen by the US Department of Agriculture exposed a deviation from breakfast and lunch as the main meals. The majority of respondents, who typically work 9-5 jobs, „reported eating their main meals at noon and again at 6 pm, with fewer taking time to eat breakfast” (246 words)

Consumerism and overeating
Following the emergence of marketing and consumerism in the food industry, the methods that are used to sell products such as beverages and different types of food have changed substantially as time passed. By the year 1930, the food industry began to expand into a buyer’s market as the competition for consumers' money increased (ref M Keller). That meant that food suppliers needed to come up with ways to engage and stimulate sales. This is when consumerism -the emphasis on using marketing and advertising techniques to obtain a consumer base- was born. (M Keller)

The food industry is always looking to persuade people to eat more „in order to satisfy stockholders (Nestle 2002). So, following that idea they invest resources in tempting food that can never allow us to reach satiety. Decades ago, food used to contain high fiber content that resulted in slow gastric absorption of sugar. The industrialised food’s aim is to cause hunger after consumption and to make the consumer crave more. The food industry produces „hyper-palatable” foods that have high sugar and fat content and little to no fiber to cause spikes in blood glucose (Cargill).

One of the key factors behind overeating is choice. Being exposed to the same stimuli (in this context the same food) will numb senses (sensory-specific satiety) therefore people eat less when they have fewer food choices. (Inman 2001) For example, Starbucks claims that there are over 87.000 possible drink combinations available and Lay’s crisps come in 160 different flavours. The powerful marketing techniques behind this wide array of variety are personalisation and convenience which persuades consumers into buying their product.

Ironically, the problems that arise with overeating and overconsumption are also dealt with through other consumer products such as pills and diets. This distances us even more from the mind-body connection. (301 words)


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User:LBird BASc/sandbox/ATK/Seminar6/Power/Power in Terrorism

Power in Terrorism
Among all the possible problems the world has to deal with, terrorism seems the most pressing issue that the different countries need to solve quickly as it is a big threat.

Terrorism is about unlawful use of violence and intimidation/threats especially against civilians in the pursuit of a political aim. It can be different attacks that occur everywhere in the world and are completely unpredictable which is a huge handicap to fight it. There are two major types of terrorism: physical attacks and cyberterrorism. Cyberterrorism is a completely new way of proceeding but is extremely dreaded. It affects the computer system and can, for example, spread or use confidential information by the terrorist.

Terrorism has a great impact on the world and is extremely powerful. Terrorists use propaganda and social medias to recruit people. Many people from Western countries end up going to terrorist territories where they are trained and brainwashed. The 9/11 attacks truly symbolize the beginning of terrorism as there was an incredible impact on the society. After this, massive shootings took place all over the world, and recently, in France, Belgium, the United states… It increased especially during the migrant crisis, when large flows of people migrated and was not controlled.

Terrorism has had a great impact on society, as well as politics. Indeed, it completely changed the behavior of the citizens as the population is growing paranoid. People start to mistrust or suspect others by their appearance or other physical aspect. It creates great divisions in societies and discrimination, as well as racism increases. Terrorism impacted national and international politics: some countries, such as France, declared a state of emergency for a long period of time. This is definitely a major issue in the 21st century’s society as it builds doubt and fear in the atmosphere; this is why it is crucial to fight it, but it is far from being an easy task. Terrorist attacks have the power be completely unreliable as they can happen anywhere, at any moment.

Terrorism is a severely urgent problem as it has many damaging consequences on the society, and it is challenging considering the fact that it is utterly difficult to contain.


text: Wildlife Gardening/Evaluation tables/Floating and emergent plants/Northeastern United States


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User:LBird BASc/sandbox/ATK/Seminar6/Evidence/Evidence in Success

Evidence in success
Success is a large topic nowadays. Indeed, it can mean different things for people as it has many definitions. Success is defined by the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. It undeniably lets you define your own success as it’s based on your personal dreams and goals in life. What exactly makes a person successful in life? Is there evidence that someone is successful?

Quantitative Evidence Most people equate success with wealth, fame and power. In this case, success can be quantified by looking at a certain salary (successful by being wealthy), or a certain number of followers (successful by being famous)... You can therefore try to put a number on success.

Qualitative Evidence However, wealthy or famous people can feel unsuccessful. Indeed, success truly depends on your opinion and the way you regard a successful life. Hence success is a subjective notion and is relative: some may define it as being loving and caring partner and parent, or simply pursuing their dream. In any case, we all want to achieve success whatever success means to each of us. Perception of success is somewhat subjective: there can be a disconnection between the external perceived success of a person and the way he feels about his own achievements. To be successful, one shouldn’t compare his own life to other people’s lives but should be satisfied with his own success compared to his set goals.

Successful people may be different, but all have similar skills as reaching success demands specific abilities. These include not being afraid of making hard decisions, working hard, accepting to fail to eventually succeed as success doesn’t come easily, being able to adjust to changes, accepting to take risks and finally, being self-confident. Most importantly, one can be successful if he can set real but ambitious goals he can accomplish and if he knows how to plan his success by finding a purpose in his life. Many observers would define a successful person in life when combining personal life’s and career’s success even though many people would be satisfied with being successful with only one of them.

Conclusion To conclude, success is a tricky notion, as it is extremely subjective, but there is evidence that helps define it. Depending on its definition, it can be quantitative or qualitative evidence. Each person makes their own opinion on what they want their life to look like, and act upon this.


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LMIs in Control/pages/Continuous Time D-Stability Observer

Continuous-Time D-Stability Observer

Similar to the D-stability controller, there are also control problems where people desire to design a D-stability observer whose poles are in specific regions of a complex plane while simultaneously ensuring its stability.

The System
Suppose we were given the continuous-time system

\begin{align} \dot x(t)&=Ax(t)+Bu(t)\\ y(t)&=Cx(t)+Du(t) \end{align}$$

whose stability was not known, and where $$A\in\mathbb{R}^{mxm}$$, $$B\in\mathbb{R}^{mxn}$$, $$C\in\mathbb{R}^{pxm}$$, and $$D\in\mathbb{R}^{qxn}$$ for any $$t\in\mathbb{R}$$. Then the controller that simultaneously stabilizes the above system while ensuring that the poles are at their desired location can be achieved by the controller $$u(t)=Ly(t)$$.

The Data
In order to properly define the acceptable region of the poles in the complex plane, we need the following pieces of data:

 * matrices $$A$$ and $$C$$
 * rise time ($$t_r$$)
 * settling time ($$t_s$$)
 * percent overshoot ($$M_p$$)

Having these pieces of information will now help us in formulating the optimization problem.

The Optimization Problem
Using the data given above, we can now define our optimization problem. In order to do that, we have to first define the acceptable region in the complex plane that the poles can lie on using the following inequality constraints:

Rise Time: $$\omega_n{\leq}{1.8 \over t_r}$$

Settling Time: $$\sigma{\leq}{-4.6 \over t_s}$$

Percent Overshoot: $$\sigma{\leq}{-ln({M_p}) \over {\pi}}|{\omega_d}|$$

Assume that $$z$$ is the complex pole location, then:

\begin{align} {\omega_n}^2=\|z\|^2&=z^{*} z\\ {\omega_d}=Im{z}&={(z-z^{*}) \over 2}\\ {\sigma}=Re{z}&={(z+z^{*}) \over 2} \end{align}$$

This then allows us to modify our inequality constraints as:

Rise Time: $$z^{*} z-{1.8^2 \over {t_r}^2}{\leq}0$$

Settling Time: $${(z+z^{*}) \over 2}+{4.6 \over t_s}{\leq}0$$

Percent Overshoot: $$z-z^{*}+{{\pi} \over ln({M_p})}|z+z^{*}|{\leq}0$$

which not only allows us to map the relationship between complex pole locations and inequality constraints, but it also now allows us to easily formulate our LMIs for this problem.

The LMI: The Continuous-Time Observer D-Stability
Keeping the above inequalities in mind, we observe the following:

Suppose there now exists a symmetric matrix $$P>0$$ and matrix $$Z$$, we can now determine the observer the following LMIs:

\begin{align} \begin{bmatrix} -rP&&(PA+ZC)^T\\PA+ZC&&-rP\end{bmatrix}&<0\\ (PA+ZC)^T +PA+ZC +2\alpha P&<0, and\\ \begin{bmatrix} (PA+ZC)^T +PA+ZC&&c((PA+ZC)^T -(PA+ZC))\\c((PA+ZC)-(PA+ZC)^T)&&(PA+ZC)^T +(PA+ZC)\end{bmatrix}&<0 \end{align}$$

Conclusion:
Given the resulting observer $$L=P^{-1}Z$$, we can now determine that the pole locations $$z\in\mathbb{C}$$ of $$A+LC$$ satisfies the inequality constraints $$|x|{\leq}r$$, $$Re(x){\leq}-{\alpha}$$ and $$z+z^{*}{\leq}-c|z-z^{*}|$$.

Implementation

 * Example Code - A GitHub link that contains code (titled "ObserverDStability.m") that demonstrates how this LMI can be implemented using MATLAB-YALMIP.

Related LMIs

 * ../Continuous Time D-Stability Controller/ - Equivalent D-stability LMI for a continuous-time controller.
 * ../D stabilization/ - LMI for $$\mathbb{D}_{(q,r)}$$-stabilization.


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LMIs in Control/pages/Discrete-Time HInf-Optimal Observer

In many applications, perhaps even most, the state of the system cannot be directly known. In this case, you will need to strategically to measure key system outputs that will make the system states indirectly observable. Observers need to converge much faster than the system dynamics in order for their estimations to be accurate. Optimal observer synthesis is therefore advantageous. In this LMI, we seek to optimize the H-infinity norm, which conceptually is minimizing the maximum magnitude of error in the observer.

The System
The system needed for this LMI is a discrete-time LTI plant $$G$$, which has the state space realization:

\begin{align}

x_{k+1}&=A_{d}x_{k}+B_{d1}w_{k},\\

y_{k}&=C_{d2}x_{k} + D_{d21}w_{k}\\ \end{align} $$

where $$ x \in R^{n}$$  and is the state vector,  $$ A \in R^{n * n}$$  and is the state matrix,  $$ B \in R^{n * r}$$  and is the input matrix,  $$ w \in R^{r}$$  and is the exogenous input,  $$ C \in R^{m * n}$$  and is the output matrix,  $$ D \in R^{m * r}$$  and is the feedthrough matrix,  $$ y \in R^{m}$$ and is the output, and it is assumed that $$(A_{d}, C_{d2})$$ is detectable.

The Data
The matrices $$ A_{d}, B_{d1}, C_{d2}, D_{d21}, D_{d11} $$.

The Optimization Problem
An observer of the form:

\begin{align}

\hat x_{k+1}&=A_{d}\hat x_{k}+ L_{d}(y_{k}-\hat y_{k}),\\

\hat y_{k}&=C_{d2} \hat x_{k} \\ \end{align} $$

is to be designed, where $$ L_{d} \in R^{n_{x} * n_{y}}$$ is the observer gain.

Defining the error state $$ e_{k} = x_{k} - \hat x_{k}$$, the error dynamics are found to be

$$e_{k+1} = (A_{d} - L_{d}C_{d2})e_{k} + (B_{d1} - L_{d}D_{d21})w_{k}$$,

and the performance output is defined as

$$z_{k} = C_{d1}e_{k} + D_{d11}w_{k}$$.

The observer gain $$L_{d}$$ is to be designed such that the $$H_{inf}$$ of the transfer matrix from $$w_{k}$$ to $$z_{k}$$, given by

$$ \begin{align} T(z) &= C_{d1}(z1 - (A_{d} - L_{d}C_{d2}))^{-1}(B_{d1} - L_{d}D_{d21}) + D_{d11},\\ \end{align} $$

is minimized.

The LMI: Discrete-Time Hinf-Optimal Observer
The discrete-time $$H_{inf}$$-optimal observer gain is synthesized by solving for $$P \in S^{n_{x}}$$, $$G_{d} \in R^{n_{x} * n_{y}}$$, and $$\gamma \in R_{>0}$$ that minimize J$$(\gamma) = \gamma$$ subject to $$P>0$$, and

\begin{align}

\begin{bmatrix}P & PA_{d}-G_{d}C_{d2} & PB_{d1}-G_{d}D_{d21} & 0\\
 * & P & 0 & C^{T}_{d1}\\
 * & * & \gamma * 1 & D^{T}_{d11} \\
 * & * & * & \gamma * 1\end{bmatrix}&>0.\\

\end{align}$$

Conclusion:
The $$H_{inf}$$-optimal observer gain is recovered by $$L_{d} = P^{-1}G_{d}$$ and the $$H_{inf}$$ norm of $$T(z)$$ is $$\gamma$$. This matrix of observer gains can then be used to form the optimal observer formulated by:

\begin{align}

\hat x_{k+1}&=A_{d}\hat x_{k}+ L_{d}(y_{k}-\hat y_{k}),\\

\hat y_{k}&=C_{d2} \hat x_{k} \\ \end{align} $$

Implementation
This implementation requires Yalmip and Sedumi.

https://github.com/rezajamesahmed/LMImatlabcode/blob/master/Hinfobsdiscretetime.m

Related LMIs
Mixed H2-Hinfinity discrete time observer

Discrete-Time_H2-Optimal_Observer


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Micronations/List of already existing micronations/Grand Duchy of Westarctica

Westarctica (officially the Grand Duchy of Westarctica, formerly known as the Protectorate of Westarctica ) is a micronation founded in 2001 by Travis McHenry. It claims the territory known as Marie Byrd Land, located between the New Zealand Antarctic Territory and the Chilean one, specifically the portion of Antarctica located between 90 degrees and 150 degrees west longitude and south of the 60th parallel. It includes 620,000 square miles of land, but though it claims over 2,000 citizens, none of them reside within the claimed territory.

In 2018 the government of Westarctica established an honorary consul in Nerja, Spain.