Gibesoque
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| Flag of Gibesoque | |
| Motto: Everyone has a voice | |
| No Map Available | |
| Region | Wysteria |
|---|---|
| Capital | ? |
| Official Language(s) | Ájs pwàj +minority languages |
| Leader | People's Congress |
| Population | ca. 10 million |
| Currency | Pajnà, Mjuw, Kwùnjo |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Gîbesoque is the French name of Šípsòk, which is pronounced like "ship sock" with a high tone on the first syllable, and a low tone on the second.
Šípsòk means something like "people's republic". The country used to be called "Ájs šípsòk" (people's republic of the Ájs nation), but that is considered politically incorrect now.
Contents
Demographics
Ethnicities and religions:
84% Ájs (Atheists)
7% Rajasthanis (Hindus)
5% Persians (Shi'ite Muslims)
4% Haitians (Catholics and Vodou believers)
The official language is Ájs pwàj. Rajasthani, Persian and Haitian Creole are recognized minority languages. That means they have a right for an interpretor in the parliaments and courts. They also have a right to write school exams in their language, but then they must have an additional Ájs pwàj exam.
Political System
The People's Congress of Gîbesoque is a legislative body that consists of elected representatives. That's about as familiar as it gets; the rest is quite different from the way democracy works in "the west"...
Each Members of the People's Congress (MPC) represents one group of people: citizens with a certain age, regional origin, profession, sexual orientation, ethnicity and religion, wealth, disabilities, or origin from city/suburb/country. Each citizen belongs to 8 groups, thus they elect 8 representatives.
The author of this article, for instance, would elect the representatives for 1) young adults, 2) Hesse residents, 3) service sector employees, 4) male heterosexuals, 5) atheist Germans, 6) middle class, 7) not disabled, and 8) city people.
The MPCs of each of the 8 groups are elected every 4 years. Elections are twice a year, for example for age groups in the first half of 2007 and for disability groups in the second half. Each group has 5-10 representatives.
All MPCs are equal, and a relative majority suffices to make a decision. The People's Congress is both legislature and executive. It meets every 13 days, except in case of a national emergency.
The Speaker of the People's Congress as well as its External Representative (who represents Gîbesoque abroad) are elected twice a year by all MPCs who have been members for at least half a year. The Speaker is the official head of state, but—similarly to Switzerland—without any political power.
Judiciary
The country is divided into thousands of Court Districts. Each district combines between 50 and 150 citizens. Every three years - after the Court District boundaries have been redefined - the citizens elect a Judge who lives in their Court District.
If a judge resigns, dies or is impeached, a deputy appointed by her/him takes office. If there is no deputy, the person with the second highest number of votes in the latest election becomes judge.
Every Court District has a unique 7-digit number. The first digit designates the region, the second a subregion, the 3rd and 4th the city or town.
There are no courts of appeal, and no lawyers. The judges responsible for a lawsuit are always those of the Court District where the accused lives and of the Court District where the plaintiff lives. If a company is involved, the Court District of its headquarters counts.
Currencies
Gîbesoque has three currencies: Kwùnjo, Mjuw, and Pajnà. The exchange rates between the three currencies fluctuate. At the beginning of every quarter (3 months), the National Reserve Bank of Gîbesoque publishes the new official exchange rate based on the currencies' purchase powers.
Kwùnjo is used to pay cheap things such as bread. One Kwùnjo is currently worth 9¢ (U.S.) or €0.06. Coins are issued in denominations of 1, 2, 4, 10, 20, and 40 Kwùnjo.
Mjuw is used to pay things of medium expense such as books. One Mjuw is currently worth $1.93 (U.S.) or €1.42. Banknotes are issued in denominations of 1, 3, 7, 10, 30, and 70 Mjuw.
Pajnà is used to pay expensive things such as cars. One Pajnà is currently worth $94.69 (U.S.) or €69.60. There is no Pajnà cash; everything is dealt using bank transfers. Every citizen of Gîbesoque has a bank account, either at a private bank or at the state-owned Gîbesoque Bank.
Current exchange rates:
1 Mjuw = 22.05 Kwùnjo
1 Pajnà = 47.979 Mjuw
Pajnà is the only currency for bank accounts, salary payments, and taxes. Cash is only for your everyday life.
Taxes
The Gîbesoque tax system is extremely simple: For every Pajnà payment you receive, you pay 10% tax. That includes Mjuw or Kwùnjo you transfer to your bank account. And of course your salary. Companies pay the same payment tax. And so does the government.
The social security system is not too complicated either: The minimum wage is 0.25 Pajnà per day. That's about €530 per month or $8,600 per year. If you are unable to work (due to permanent sickness, severe disability, baby children or high age), you receive a "social salary" from the government. The amount depends on what people with your level of education usually earn. If you are only able to work part-time (less than 4 hours a day), the government adds half a social salary to your part-time salary. There are no benefits for unemployed people. Get a job, live off your savings, or go to college. Students of any kind (including unemployed people in a retraining course) also receive a social salary. The social salaries are financed by all those who earn more than the minimum wage. They pay a flat 20% into the social salary fund.
Example: If your salary is 1 Pajnà per day (€2100 per month, $34,600 per year), .2 Pajnà go into the social salary fund (-10% payment tax). That makes .8 Pajnà for you, of which .08 are payment tax. That leaves .72 Pajnà per day (€1500 per month, $24,900 per year) on your bank account.
Flag
The flag of Gîbesoque has a brown background representing the people. The white oval is the People's Congress, which contains 8 brown bars representing the groups of MPCs.
License Plates
Because so many languages with different scripts are spoken, the license plates consists of digits only.
The plate consists of the 7-digit Court District number followed by a serial number.
License plates are valid a new judge is elected, i.e., not more than 3 years. After every election, the serial numbers are reset to 1, and the plate colors are changed. The current color scheme is light green on silver.
The picture above shows the 60th license plate issued in Court District 4079-447 since the latest judge elections.
Language
The language Ájs pwàj is described there
Calendar
The Ájs calendar divides a year into four quarters. The quarters begin at equinoxes and solstices. Each quarter is divided into 7 weeks with 13 days each. Sometimes a quarter has an additional day after the 7th week, because a year has more than 4*7*13 = 364 days. In our calendar, the days of the week have names. In the Ájs calendar, the weeks are dedicated to the 7 gods, and the days are merely numbered.
First quarter (Sarwàj)
- 1st week: dedicated to the god of the sun, starting 20/21 March
- 2nd week: dedicated to the god of pets and children, starting 2/3 April
- 3rd week: dedicated to the god of soil and plants, starting 15/16 April
- 4th week: dedicated to the creator of the universe, the father of all gods, starting 28/29 April
- 5th week: dedicated to the god of predator animals, starting 11/12 May
- 6th week: dedicated to the god of hunted animals, starting 24/25 May
- 7th week: dedicated to the god of wind and clouds, starting 6/7 June [Official beginning of summer]
Second quarter (Éro)
- 1st week: dedicated to the god of the sun, starting 20/21 June
- 2nd week: dedicated to the god of pets and children, starting 3/4 July
- 3rd week: dedicated to the god of soil and plants, starting 16/17 July
- 4th week: dedicated to the creator of the universe, the father of all gods, starting 29/30 July
- 5th week: dedicated to the god of predator animals, starting 11/12 August
- 6th week: dedicated to the god of hunted animals, starting 24/25 August
- 7th week: dedicated to the god of wind and clouds, starting 6/7 September [Official beginning of autumn]
Third quarter (Péjchúw)
- 1st week: dedicated to the god of the sun, starting 22/23 September
- 2nd week: dedicated to the god of pets and children, starting 5/6 October
- 3rd week: dedicated to the god of soil and plants, starting 18/19 October
- 4th week: dedicated to the creator of the universe, the father of all gods, starting 31 October / 1 November
- 5th week: dedicated to the god of predator animals, starting 13/14 November
- 6th week: dedicated to the god of hunted animals, starting 26/27 November
- 7th week: dedicated to the god of wind and clouds, starting 9/10 December [Official beginning of winter]
Fourth quarter (Womjò)
- 1st week: dedicated to the god of the sun, starting 21/22 December
- 2nd week: dedicated to the god of pets and children, starting 3/4 January
- 3rd week: dedicated to the god of soil and plants, starting 16/17 January
- 4th week: dedicated to the creator of the universe, the father of all gods, starting 29/30 January
- 5th week: dedicated to the god of predator animals, starting 11/12 February
- 6th week: dedicated to the god of hunted animals, starting 24/25 February
- 7th week: dedicated to the god of wind and clouds, starting 9/10 March [Official beginning of spring]
Temperature
Two temperature units are used in Gîbesoque: one in everyday life (e.g. weather forecasts), one for scientific purposes.
The everyday scale uses "warm degrees" (dW) and "cold degrees" (dC). Both scales start at freezing (0°C, 32°F) and go up or down in steps of approximately 5°F or 2.7°C. There are no negative temperatures.
10 dW corresponds to 27°C or 81°F, 10 dW corresponds to -27°C or -17°F.
Likewise, 5 dW corresponds to 14°C or 57°F, 10 dW corresponds to -14°C or +7°F.
Normal human body temperature is ca. 13 dW, water boils at ca. 37 dW.
Scientifically, "absolute degrees" (d') are used. The scale starts at absolute zero and reaches the freezing point of water at exactly 100 d'. That way, all degrees—warm, cold, and absolute—have the same distance of exactly 2.7315 K.
