Welcome to Duplicious.

This is the personal blog of S. Scott Ethersmith. I guess I have to introduce myself, because I have been given a huge grant to write this blog. Up until last year I didn’t even know that grants were given out for blogs, but here I am, getting paid to write one of my very own.

It all started a while back on Facebook when I became a fan of The Principality of Sealand, which is a tiny sovereign Principality off the coast of Britain. Having always yearned for a sovereignty of my own, I found Sealand totally fascinating. Here was a little bit of “land” in international waters, where someone just hoisted a flag and proclaimed divine right of rule. I followed the updates, read the news, and tried to lend my support, as best I could.

However it was not long before I realized that Sealand itself was fraught with controversy. As it turns out, there have been numerous battles, legal and otherwise, over rule throughout Sealand’s short history. There have even been coups within the tiny government, leading to major internal turmoil. The most serious of these was proliferated by a faction that stood radically against the very name “Sealand”. This faction, known as The Standers, stands die-hard behind the belief that Sealand is a misleading term (the Principality of Sealand isn’t actually composed of any land), and think that the name should immediately be changed to “Seastand” in order to more clearly embody the true nature of the Sovereignty, and thus win more trust within the United Nations, who has always treated them (Landers and Standers) with nothing but contempt.

In 2006 there was a fire on Sealand, which not only crippled its government, but also acted as a springboard for The Standers to launch a full scale assault. This assault was not bodily, but was launched instead in the virtual realm when the Standers, after the fire, promptly claimed themselves The Virtual Sovereign Principality of Seastand and gained an international copyright on all photographic and digital images or reproductions of HM Fort Roughs, the platform on which Sealand resides.

The Virtual Sovereign Principality of Seastand then launched a huge PR campaign using mailing lists and social networking passwords which they gained access to during a data transfer that took place after the fire. As part of this campaign, they hosted a competition for creative sloganeering in order to drum up support, the top prize being a $50,000 grant to create and write your own blog. The winner of course, would have to mention Seastand in their blog from time to time, but all in all it is theirs to write as they please.

To make a long story short, I submitted a slogan to the contest, and out of the thousands of slogans submitted, they picked mine!

“Seastand. High Minds of the High Seas.”

And they promptly ordered payment of $50,000 worth of their new currency, whose unit is known as the Monqi and is being coined as we speak. I have been assured that the exchange rate will be quite good, considering that this is a new, I.P. backed currency based on the assets of the copyright, and I look forward to receiving the 427 titanium alloy coins that I have been promised. In the mean time, I have a safe-deposit box to procure, a web host to pay, and most importantly a blog to write. I truly hope you enjoy it.

—Ethersmith