Talk:Wikinews interviews Christopher Beyette, prince of the Principality of Vikesland

Neutrality
I object to these sentence: "However, it is well on its way to gaining the status that Molossia has as an intermicronational superpower. In its short existence, Vikesland has developed an incredibly detailed governmental structure, military, national culture, currency, flag and postal service among other things."

Is "intermicronational superpower" a term used by anyone other than micronations themselves? Detailed government, military, culture, according to who? Beyette's description of his micronations military and culture make it sound like something a couple of teenagers could have made up on a rainy afternoon. It's misleading for Wikinews to present micronations such as these as anything other than cranks and hobbyists. - Borofkin (talk) 02:12, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Original reporting notes
Here is a complete email transcript of the interview:

Reply to all Forward Reply by chat Filter messages like this Print Add to Contacts list Delete this message Report phishing Report not phishing Show original Show in fixed width font Show in variable width font Message text garbled? Why is this spam/nonspam? Joseph FordPrince Christopher, I frequently visit your nation's website and find the Pri... Jun 16

Joseph FordLoading...Jun 16

Joseph Ford to princechristop. show details Jun 16 Reply

Prince Christopher, I frequently visit your nation's website and find the Principality of Vikesland very interesting. I write articles on micronations for Wikinews, one of the internet's biggest news websites, on a regular basis and was wondering if I could get an email interview with you on your country. If you could reply with a "yes" or "no" within 24 hours, that would be great. Thanks for your time, Joseph Ford (Also known as WNewsReporter on Wikinews) Reply Forward

Prince Christopher IMr. Ford, Absolutely! I am more than willing to help you out. Let me know whe... Jun 17

Prince Christopher ILoading...Jun 17

Prince Christopher I to me show details Jun 17 Reply

Mr. Ford,

Absolutely! I am more than willing to help you out. Let me know when you wish to conduct the interview.

Regards,

Prince Christopher I - Show quoted text -

On 16-Jun-08, at 1:03 PM, Joseph Ford wrote:

Prince Christopher,

I frequently visit your nation's website and find the Principality of Vikesland very interesting. I write articles on micronations for Wikinews, one of the internet's biggest news websites, on a regular basis and was wondering if I could get an email interview with you on your country. If you could reply with a "yes" or "no" within 24 hours, that would be great.

Thanks for your time, Joseph Ford (Also known as WNewsReporter on Wikinews)

Reply Forward

Prince Christopher IMr. Ford, I was wondering if you received my confirmation or not. I am always... Jun 18

Prince Christopher ILoading...Jun 18

Prince Christopher I to me show details Jun 18 Reply

Mr. Ford,

I was wondering if you received my confirmation or not. I am always willing to answer any questions you may have.

I did want to let you know that I will be away for two weeks starting this upcoming Sunday. I will not be able to conduct any e-mail business while I am away. You may interested in the fact that I am going to be in the Micronation of Molossia for a state visit for a few days. It is incredibly rare for official visits like this to happen. In fact I only know of one, which was also conducted within Molossia.

Thank you for considering the Principality of Vikesland.

Regards,

Prince Christopher I

On 16-Jun-08, at 1:03 PM, Joseph Ford wrote:

- Show quoted text - Prince Christopher,

I frequently visit your nation's website and find the Principality of Vikesland very interesting. I write articles on micronations for Wikinews, one of the internet's biggest news websites, on a regular basis and was wondering if I could get an email interview with you on your country. If you could reply with a "yes" or "no" within 24 hours, that would be great.

Thanks for your time, Joseph Ford (Also known as WNewsReporter on Wikinews)

Reply Forward

Joseph FordPrince Christopher, thank you for the prompt response and sorry for the late ... Jun 24

Joseph FordLoading...Jun 24

Joseph Ford to Prince show details Jun 24 Reply

Prince Christopher, thank you for the prompt response and sorry for the late reply. I have been unable to access my email account for the last week. Glad to hear about the upcoming visit with the Republic of Molossia. I have done several articles on Molossia for Wikinews and have interviewed President Baugh twice. Even though you won't be able to answer these questions for the next two weeks, I'll send them to you now anyway. Send them back whenever you get a chance. Today, there are hundreds of micronations that are little more than online chat groups or role playing games. Is the Principality of Vikesland a serious land-claiming micronation? Do you have the goal of eventual international recognition? Where is the Principality of Vikesland located? How large is Vikesland? Tell us about your country's history. Does Vikesland have its own flag, currency and national anthem? What is the official language of Vikesland? What is the governmental structure of Vikesland? Does Vikesland have its own military? Tell us about the Vikeslandic culture. Does Vikesland belong to any international organizations? Can one become a citizen of Vikesland? Is honorary citizenship granted? Can people visit Vikesland? What are your duties as prince? What is it like to run your own country? There are thousands reading this right now. Is there anything else you would like us to know about your nation? - Show quoted text -

On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 10:16 PM, Prince Christopher I  wrote:

Mr. Ford,

I was wondering if you received my confirmation or not. I am always willing to answer any questions you may have.

I did want to let you know that I will be away for two weeks starting this upcoming Sunday. I will not be able to conduct any e-mail business while I am away. You may interested in the fact that I am going to be in the Micronation of Molossia for a state visit for a few days. It is incredibly rare for official visits like this to happen. In fact I only know of one, which was also conducted within Molossia.

Thank you for considering the Principality of Vikesland.

Regards,

Prince Christopher I

On 16-Jun-08, at 1:03 PM, Joseph Ford wrote:

Prince Christopher,

I frequently visit your nation's website and find the Principality of Vikesland very interesting. I write articles on micronations for Wikinews, one of the internet's biggest news websites, on a regular basis and was wondering if I could get an email interview with you on your country. If you could reply with a "yes" or "no" within 24 hours, that would be great.

Thanks for your time, Joseph Ford (Also known as WNewsReporter on Wikinews)

Reply Forward

Joseph FordPrince Christopher, just wanting to make sure that you received the list of q... Jul 5 (6 days ago)

Joseph FordLoading...Jul 5 (6 days ago)

Joseph Ford to Prince show details Jul 5 (6 days ago) Reply

Prince Christopher, just wanting to make sure that you received the list of questions. Send them back answered whenever you get the chance. - Show quoted text -

On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 12:25 AM, Joseph Ford  wrote:

Prince Christopher, thank you for the prompt response and sorry for the late reply. I have been unable to access my email account for the last week. Glad to hear about the upcoming visit with the Republic of Molossia. I have done several articles on Molossia for Wikinews and have interviewed President Baugh twice. Even though you won't be able to answer these questions for the next two weeks, I'll send them to you now anyway. Send them back whenever you get a chance. Today, there are hundreds of micronations that are little more than online chat groups or role playing games. Is the Principality of Vikesland a serious land-claiming micronation? Do you have the goal of eventual international recognition? Where is the Principality of Vikesland located? How large is Vikesland? Tell us about your country's history. Does Vikesland have its own flag, currency and national anthem? What is the official language of Vikesland? What is the governmental structure of Vikesland? Does Vikesland have its own military? Tell us about the Vikeslandic culture. Does Vikesland belong to any international organizations? Can one become a citizen of Vikesland? Is honorary citizenship granted? Can people visit Vikesland? What are your duties as prince? What is it like to run your own country? There are thousands reading this right now. Is there anything else you would like us to know about your nation?

On Wed, Jun 18, 2008 at 10:16 PM, Prince Christopher I  wrote:

Mr. Ford,

I was wondering if you received my confirmation or not. I am always willing to answer any questions you may have.

I did want to let you know that I will be away for two weeks starting this upcoming Sunday. I will not be able to conduct any e-mail business while I am away. You may interested in the fact that I am going to be in the Micronation of Molossia for a state visit for a few days. It is incredibly rare for official visits like this to happen. In fact I only know of one, which was also conducted within Molossia.

Thank you for considering the Principality of Vikesland.

Regards,

Prince Christopher I

On 16-Jun-08, at 1:03 PM, Joseph Ford wrote:

Prince Christopher,

I frequently visit your nation's website and find the Principality of Vikesland very interesting. I write articles on micronations for Wikinews, one of the internet's biggest news websites, on a regular basis and was wondering if I could get an email interview with you on your country. If you could reply with a "yes" or "no" within 24 hours, that would be great.

Thanks for your time, Joseph Ford (Also known as WNewsReporter on Wikinews)

Reply Forward

Prince Christopher IMr. ford, Here is your reply and once again thank you for your interest. Rega... Jul 7 (3 days ago)

Prince Christopher ILoading...Jul 7 (3 days ago)

Prince Christopher I to me show details Jul 7 (3 days ago) Reply

Mr. ford,

Here is your reply and once again thank you for your interest.

Regards,

Prince Christopher I

On 5-Jul-08, at 1:39 AM, Joseph Ford wrote:

Today, there are hundreds of micronations that are little more than online chat groups or role playing games. Is the Principality of Vikesland a serious land-claiming micronation? Do you have the goal of eventual international recognition? The Principality of Vikesland was created as a new nation project. Our goal is to eventually become an internationally recognized state with hopefully some sort of small sovereign land base. Right now we do have land owned by various members of the Royal family and nobility that are declared Vikeslandic territory. This territory is unfortunately not sovereign territory but simply privately owned land in other older larger and more established Macro-nations. We are not secessionists and have no desire to forcefully take any land from any country that is not willing to give it to us. The current goal is to build the nation to the point where we can be successfully recognized by the international community. The issue of sovereign land will then be easier to negotiate with friendly countries. We plan on gaining the capacity to purchase an island or tract of land that equals at least 20 square miles to then establish ourselves on a full national scale.

Where is the Principality of Vikesland located? The main land base for Vikesland is in Manitoba, Canada near the Riding Mountian national park on the eastern side. Looking on a map, it is approximately 3 miles west of the small town of Kelwood and about 1/2 mile to the south. We also have other declared lands in Europe, the U.S.A., Australia and Africa. How large is Vikesland? Vikeslands main Land base in Manitoba Canada is approximately 169 acres. Land size in Europe tallies to a larger 1,200 acres! When all is said and done we have an approximate current total of 1,400 acres between all Royalty and nobility.

Tell us about your country's history. Vikesland came into being officially in July of 2005. I first came across the concept of Micronationalism in late 2004 and thought it would be a great concept for a documentary. Then the idea of creating my own nation for that documentary would be even better, so I came up with Vikesland. The name is an homage to the Vikings of old who adventured into the unknown world in search of new things. The documentary is very slow in developing due to lack of funding mainly but that will hopefully be solved in the next year or two. Vikesland quickly developed into a real passion for me and others and has developed into what it is right now. We have a constitution and various Government Ministries that oversee the running of the nation.

Does Vikesland have its own flag, currency and national anthem? Yes we currently have a flag as well as our own currency and our own national anthem. We minted a small run of $1 Vikeslandic Crowns and have various denominations in paper currency. We also have postal stamps. The national anthem is currently only an instrumental theme but lyrics are in the works.

What is the official language of Vikesland? The official language of Vikesland is English but we are possibly going to adopt an official second language in the future.

What is the governmental structure of Vikesland? I like to call our system a democratic monarchy where the head of state is directly involved in the Government workings but most major things require a majority vote from the royal council. Think of city hall with the Prince as Mayor and the rest of the Government as council. Our system also allows for general citizen involvement through an electoral position of Chancellor or Ministerial portfolio. As Prince I have constitutional rights to appoint Government ministers and Noble titles, but I always like to confer with the Royal council to get their approval as well.

Does Vikesland have its own military? Yes, we have the Vikeslandic Security force which has land, air and sea capability. Mind you these are all on a very small scale. Our force is essentially an unarmed entity that is primarily focused on security, search and rescue and having alot of fun. We have no desire to wage any wars on anyone and will defer any violent threats against us to the larger Macro-national authorities. The only time any of us carry a weapon is for wild animal defense, hunting or sporting purposes. This is of course in accordance with local Macro-national laws and with the Noble land owners consent.

Tell us about the Vikeslandic culture. Vikeslandic culture is an ever evolving thing. We speak English and our lifestyles are a quintessential westerners life, but as more and more people become citizens they bring a variety of new things with them. We heavily condone the arts in all forms and the majority of us love some part of the outdoors, be it camping, hiking or boating. I am currently going to have an official Vikeslandic food recipe compilation made and posted on our website. I hope to have authentic Vikeslandic food up there for everyone to try. Being socially conscious and having a good time in this life is top of the list.

Does Vikesland belong to any international organizations?

Yes, we currently belong to an intermicronational organization called The League of Small Nations. It is an organization designed to advance the rights of small sovereign states and provide a platform from which their voices can be heard among the larger more powerful states. .Can one become a citizen of Vikesland? Is honorary citizenship granted? Yes, you can become a citizen of Vikesland by applying on our citizenship page. We have two types of citizenry, cyber citizens (honorary) or full citizens.

Can people visit Vikesland? Yes they can but it is only by appointment. Anyone showing up un-announced will be most likely turned away. Requests can be made directly to myself via e-mail only. Please contact princechristopher@vikeslandic.com

What are your duties as prince? What is it like to run your own country? It is stressful being the head of state, it is alot of fun but equally testing as well. I oversee most government workings and provide leadership and direction for those under me. I am also the face of Vikesland so I take care of all media related issues and some foreign diplomacy as well as keep the citizens informed via or website with video or write-ups. I also head various projects within our security force and our Department of Aeronautics and Space. It can be tough but it is equally rewarding.

There are thousands reading this right now. Is there anything else you would like us to know about your nation? I would just like to reiterate that we are not secessionists or unpatriotic rebels of any-kind. I personally am a very patriotic Canadian but I am also equally a patriotic Vikeslandic. This nation project is a new frontier and immensely fun on top of it. I consider myself a dual citizen of both Canada and Vikesland and I am law abiding. It is with hope that one day we can achieve our own autonomy peacefully with our distinct culture and small land-base. Semi-autonomy is even an acceptable outcome in the end. The first and foremost of all of this is that everyone involved enjoy what they are doing. I am not willing, nor am I asking anyone to ruin their health or professional life by relentlessly pursuing an impossible goal. I believe that if it is not fun or beneficial, why do it. Yes taking the sour with the sweet is a fact of life, but we should have at least 80 percent sweet when building up Vikesland. All of our citizens in various parts of the world hopefully also share this ideal.

Unsourced claims
Again there were many unsourced claims of status and accompishments that I had to remove. --SVTCobra 02:18, 11 July 2008 (UTC)