I'm just now reading this, and went and dug out my copy of Rumi's works. Well, shit. Yeah, I have the Bark's translation. (I guess I could say, "Worse than that, most of the material I have about Sufism is by Hakim Bey.")

Quote from: Eiric S. Bornatfiglheu on July 19, 2020, 04:23:01 PM
Given Talossa's nature as a voluntary association, I think keeping the ability to opt-out is important.  But at the same time, I have a hard time wrapping my head around why someone would want to opt out completely in the first place.

I think part of this cuts right to the heart of what it means to "do Talossa."  Given the peculiar nature of Talossa, is a citizen who is completely incommunicado with the wider community still count as Talossan?  No interest in current goings on, contact information completely out of date, no functional link to the Talossan state.  Can this person still be said to be "doing Talossa?"

The Derivationist answer is probably, in some way, "yes."  Peculiarists of a certain stripe may very well say "no."  Most voluntary associations require contact (many even require a level of activity) to be considered a "member." 

Then that gets us into the weeds of whether something is lost when an inactive citizen is cut form the rolls.  But that's an answer that varies based on what you value.

Vitxalmour Conductour is my best friend. We are in constant contact with each other, and see each other, at the very least, once a week. (We'd probably hang out more often than that, if my day job wasn't so physically demanding.) (Hard to have fun with a pal when you are completely exhausted.) Vitx hasn't bothered to register on this New Witt. He's still a Talossan, we constantly discuss Talossan things, and collaborate all the time on ideas for our Benito Cjováni subculture. The online aspect of Talossa just doesn't interest him much. (He's raising four daughters, so he has other priorities.) His inactivity may cause him to be cut from the rolls, which is not fair. Is Talossa just an internet club? Like Facebook groups that expel members when they haven't participated or posted anything in awhile? To me, Witt ain't Talossa. It's an online forum about Talossa. Being Talossan is what you do, offline.

We have a shared culture, a language (even if few of us speak it fluently, many of us attempt to use it), a history...we somehow think of ourselves as Talossan. We identify ourselves as Talossan. We are a diaspora of people's with a common identity. In that sense, we are indeed a nation. We don't really need to claim any land. In fact, the land claims are absurd, and as Ian said, that's the kind of things bug nations do. You see all these micronational people wearing medals and sashes and claiming eight square feet as an independent country...good for them, I guess. If Talossa wants to be more than that, we should forget the land claims. Right now, my mobile home in Ohio is (probably) more Talossan than anything in Milwaukee. (Well, I have Talossan coins, a Talossan flag, and my copy of the Guizua is never far from reach...)
As for provinces, I think they're pretty useless at this time. Our population of active citizens is too small to make provinces mean anything. That may someday change, if we ever get enough new people coming in.
As for Peculiarism versus derivatism, why would anyone want to emulate real countries? We can do better than that.

And so the Midianites went forth to Ram Gilead in Kadesh Bilgemath by Shor Ethra Regalion, to the house of Gash-Bil-Betheul-Bazda, he who brought the butter dish to Balshazar and the tent peg to the house of Rashomon, and there gazed they upon the pizza, and mourned they for its lack of anchovies. Here endeth the lesson.

I support this idea, I agree it is vital, and I admit that, nearing nine years as a Talossan citizen, I'd probably flunk any quiz on Talossan history you threw at me. (I know a few names and events, I even tried reading Ar Päts numerous times, sadly, I found it to be completely dull. Only King Ben work I've managed to make it all the way thru is the Berber Project.)

I second that nomination

Per on all, Non on VoC

Quote from: Glüc da Dhi S.H. on April 20, 2020, 05:16:34 PM

Quote from: Iason Taiwos on April 20, 2020, 02:03:25 PM
Per on all

Does that include the VoC?

Non on VoC

Per on all

Could I interest somebody from the esteemed body of SIGN to take a look at our Ohio Cjováni lexicon? We have attempted to make new Talossan words when we couldn't find them in the Oversteier. We have words like baeóuc, balineu, branocea, Caxhiesc, and cofeu, among others. I'd like if someone with more knowledge would peruse our lexicon, and maybe make suggestions/improvements. (I've just entered a few words in the Oversteiers' suggestion box.) All I need is your email address and the promise that you won't go crazy and try to destroy everything us poor Ohio Benitians have been working on. (This thing is in Google Docs)

I'm here. I've attempted to get Vitxalmour Conductour to create an account on New Witt, but he doesn't seem to be in a Talossan mood lately. (We're both still doing our Cjováni thing off Witt, anyway.)

As many of you may well be aware, I love comic books. Recently, a comics artist/writer who's work I immensely like, Rick Veitch, was appointed Vermont's Cartoonist Laureate. (Cartoonist Laureate? Who knew there was such a thing? And why doesn't Talossa have one?) As Secretary of Cultural Development (boy, I sure do like repeating that title, don't I?), I thought it would be a fun idea to do a search for Talossa's own Cartoonist Laureate. Any cartoonists in the house? Submit some of your work, we'll present it and have people vote on it. Maybe YOU can be recognized as Talossa's Official Cartoonist!  (We used to have a Poet Laureate, don't know what ever became of that.) I'll come up with some rules and stuff for this later on. (Today was my last day at work, my place is shutting down for at least two weeks because of the Rona, so I'll have plenty of free time for cultural projects.) (Miestra has suggested we do a Talossan recipe contest, which I will make a thread about later, after I've given some thought into how to do it.)

I was pantsless when I made this post. (Seriously, who wears pants when you don't have to? I lose mine soon as I get home from work.)

As Secretary of Cultural Development, it is my duty to remind you all that today is Mindless Patriotism Day! So, if you can, do something patriotic (whatever that means to you.) (Preferably indoors, and six feet away from other people.)

I apologise for forgetting to do the VoC. I give that a hesitating üc. I mean, we're in the middle of a global pandemic, Talossan stuff is regrettably not high on my priority list right now