Estimadas és estimats cüncitaxhiens, it is my duty and pleasure to announce that representatives of the Free Democrats of Talossa and the New Peculiar Way have agreed to form a coalition government in the 55th Cosa.

This agreement will go into full effect after the Cosa has formally elected a new Seneschál, and until that point the existing caretaker government will continue.

Questions? Comments?

WHEREAS in other countries it is perfectly acceptable for parties to abstain on a Vote of Confidence, for example, if they don't want to support a Government nor to bring it down;

AND WHEREAS the best I can figure why abstentions on the VoC have been invalid in Talossa is that KR1 wanted to make everyone be for or against him;

BE IT ENACTED etc. that El Lexhátx H.4.1, namely

Quote4.1 The Secretary of State will punish all Members of the Cosă who cast invalid votes in the Vote of Confidence; the punishment being the declaration of said member's votes in the same Clark as null and void.

Is deleted in its entirety.

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled that Alexander E.H. Schmidt, whose application for Talossan citizenship was submitted on 24 July XLI/2020, is hereby admitted to Talossan citizenship with all the rights and duties pertaining thereunto.

The New Talossan History Project

A proposal humbly submitted to become part of the Royal Society

OUTLINE: A collaborative effort to revise and expand @Gödafrïeu Valcádac'h's A Very Short History of Talossa ("AVSHT"), using all the historical resources contained in the Royal Archives, the official Kingdom websites, existing books on Talossan history such as Ár Päts or A Nation Sundered, periodicals such as Qator Itrìns and the personal archives and memories of Talossans and former Talossans.

METHOD:

• "AVSHT" transformed into a TalossaWiki page with access granted only to members of this Project.
• The initial members of the Project shall be @GV, @myself, @Glüc da Dhi, @Eovart Andrinescù and @ESB (EDIT: also @Sir Cresti Sierviciül and @Ián Plätschisch), being the people who've previously expressed interested in being part of such a project.
• Further members may be added by majority support of existing members and removed the same way.

AIM: to create a History of Talossa which is at least as comprehensive, and less politically tendentious and slanderous, as Ár Päts for the years 1996-2020, being "living memory" for existing Talossan citizens.

===

Questions? Comment?

Estimadas és estimats cüncitaxhiens, somehow during my first two terms in office I totally forgot about El Lexhatx D.1.5:

QuoteThe Seneschal shall maintain a public list of all of the positions described in Titles C and D of el Lexhatx along with any subordinate positions that might be created. The list shall include the incumbent of any filled position as well as indicate vacant positions. When the list is updated, the old version shall be publicly archived along with the dates for which it was effective.

Oops. Well, here's that list anyway. Any questions?

WHEREAS the status quo of Talossan justice is that a single Justice of the Cort pü Inalt, acting alone, acts as a trial Cort of first instance;

AND WHEREAS Justices of the Peace (part-time or "lay" justices) were added to Talossa's judicial system by 53RZ27, as section G.13 of El Lexhatx, to take over this function;

AND WHEREAS the Government recommended two citizens as JPs, but these appointments were never made by the King, so there are no JPs in Talossa at the moment, and no Cort of First Instance at all;

AND WHEREAS statute changes accompanying the Judicial Amendment (54RZ25) repeal El Lexhatx G.13, replacing it with a "General Cort" provision, which restores the status quo prior to the establishment of JPs;

AND WHEREAS it has been pointed out that this requires the appointment of at least 4 active UC Judges to enable the system of appeals and judicial precedent to function as foreseen;

AND WHEREAS in the opinion of this bill's author, Talossa does not have that many qualified people prepared to become full time, active Judges, whether UC or trial-cort;

AND WHEREAS the preamble to the Judiciary Amendment states that "the following shall shall supplant that part of the 2017 Organic Law within two months of adoption by the Ziu and ratification by referendum";

AND WHEREAS this means that the Amendment and its accompanying statute changes are not yet in force, so the JP system is still in force, even though there are no duly-appointed JPs;

AND WHEREAS an objection has been raised to the term "Justice" as a noun, as with the renaming of members of the UC from Justice to Judge, and I have no real problems changing the name of the office;

AND WHEREAS while the Government prefers a 3-person UC plus a trial Cort, there is no longer a provision to "forcibly retire" UC Judges even when inactive and not responding to contact, except under provisions which have not arisen yet;


BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senäts of Talossa in Ziu assembled that the amendment to El Lexhatx G.13 attached to the Judiciary Amendment (54RZ25) shall be REPLACED by the following text:

Quote13.1. The Ziu enlarges the number of Puisne Judges to a total of three in accord with Section 3 of Article VIII of the Organic Law.

13.2. The Ziu establishes the General Cort of Talossa, which shall be an inferior nisi prius cort, cort of first instance, and of general jurisdiction consistent with Article VIII of the Organic Law.

  13.2.1.  Any citizen of Talossa who has satisfied the Ministry of Justice of their knowledge of Talossan law and jurisprudence, and of their good character, may be recommended to the King or to the Cort pü Inalt to be named as a Community Jurist (CJ).

  13.2.2. Community Jurists may be deprived of this designation by the Cort pü Înalt, upon presentation of a preponderance of evidence by the Ministry of Justice that their good character or their legal knowledge is no longer satisfactory.

  13.2.3. The Clerk of Courts shall appoint, by random selection, a single Community Jurist to preside over the General Cort for any case arising under this section.

     13.2.3.1. If no qualified CJ is available to hear a given case, the Clerk of Corts shall appoint a single Judge of the Cort pü Inalt to preside over the General Cort for that case.

  13.2.4. The judicial official presiding over a matter in the General Cort of Talossa shall be styled as "Magistrate" for the purposes of that proceeding.

  13.2.5. Unless an appeal lies as of right, an aggrieved party to an action may seek leave to appeal any determination of the General Cort to the Cort pü Inalt.

  13.2.6. A Magistrate may not sit as a Judge on the Cort pü Inalt for any appeal related to a proceeding over which they presided as a a magistrate.

  13.2.7. A Magistrate must recuse themselves from a matter upon a real or apparent conflict of interest.

BE IT ENACTED etc. etc. that the following subsection be added to section H.11 of El Lexhatx:

QuoteThe Ziu may, by a 2/3 majority in each chamber, elect a Clerk of Legislation, to be known as El Xhenistà, who will proofread and suggest revisions to all bills to be Clarked, and may request the Secretary of State to exercise their powers under this sub-section to withdraw any bill from the Clark.

Estimadas és estimats cüncitaxhiens!

Given the sad but well-deserved retirement of Glüc da Dhi from the office of Secretary of State, I hereby announce that, pursuant to Organic Law VII.4 and El Lexhatx C.3.1, I hereby and publicly recommend to His Majesty John, King of Talossa, that @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM be appointed as Secretary of State, once the resignation of cxhn. da Dhi becomes effective.

It will please the Kingdom to know that Glüc and Txec are already at work crafting a transition plan.

In related matters, it is the Government's intention that the seat on the Uppermost Cort left vacant by Dr. Nordselva will remain vacant. We believe that a 3-member Uppermost Cort is ideal, and 4 members is fine for now until another Judge decides to retire.

Questions? Comments?

Apart from Secretary of State (me), the provincial Government is completely empty.

Every Fiovan citizen is a member of our General Assembly (legislature) as of right.

Who's keen to do something?

WHEREAS Article III of the Organic Law as amended by 54RZ16 now states, in part:

QuoteThe Secretary of State may request from all successful candidates in a Senäts election a registration fee, to be set by law, to cover the cost of the election. This fee shall be uniform for all successful candidates.

AND WHEREAS the noble Senator from Maricopa has characterised this as "fleecing":

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosă and Senäts in Ziu assembled that Section B.9 of El Lexhatx is replaced in its entirety as follows:

Quote9. The Secretary of State, or his appointed agent, shall charge a registration fee of 6¤40 (six louise and forty bence, equivalent to $10 USD) to each political party, and a registration fee of 3¤20 (three louise and twenty bence, equivalent to $5 USD) to each successful candidate in a Senäts election. in forthcoming elections. Any Party or Parties which fail or refuse to pay the fee shall be deemed not registered, and no successful candidate in a Senäts election shall be declared elected until they pay the fee. (53RZ22) (48PD02) (42RZ14)

    9.1. The fee may only be paid by:

        9.1.1. Sending a Money Order, Cash or Cheque by snail mail to the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue: Only fees which have been received in full, by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue will be deemed paid. Fees that are in transit, delayed, lost in the mail or not received by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue for any reason, shall not count as paid fees, even if accompanied with proof of postage. Payments made by Money Order or Cheque shall not be deemed as paid until they have been cleared, the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue, will notify the nation when such fees have cleared or if said payments have bounced. If a party's or successful candidate's cheque or money order bounces, they shall be liable to pay costs incurred by the Kingdom for their payment bouncing and shall not be registered until their fee plus these costs have been paid.

        9.1.2. PayPal: Fees may be paid by electronically transferring the appropriate funds into the Kingdom of Talossa's PayPal account managed by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue. The Burgermeister of Inland Revenue is to notify all Political Parties in advance of the Election of details regarding the PayPal account into which they may deposit their fee. Once a fee has been received by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue from a party or successful candidate, he shall notify the Nation publicly that said fee has been received and arrange for said fee to be deposited in the Kingdom's Account.

        9.1.3. Payment directly to the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue: Payment may be made directly in person to the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue, by cash, cheque or money order. The Burgermeister of Inland Revenue shall notify the nation which such payments have been received. The policy of Cheque and Money orders in 9.2.1. applies equally in this instance.

    9.2. Once a fee has been received by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue and/or their appointed agents, it is not refundable for any reason. If, however, a party or successful candidate overpays or pays more than once for any given election period, excess fees may be credited to the party or successful candidate against their next payment of fees or refunded, at the discretion of the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue, minus any fees or costs incurred.

9.3. A Senator who was not elected, but appointed under the provisions of Organic Law III.7, will not be liable for any fee.

Estimats cüncitaxhiens, I've been playing football all day, I just got home and I'm exhausted, so I'll keep this very brief.

Most importantly of all, we have moved heaven and earth and Talossa is now changed irrevocably. Talossa's monarchy is non-hereditary; the next King will be chosen by the people and their representatives, as almost all Kings have been chosen in the past. The next Seneschál will be elected by the Cosă; that too is a triumph for democracy. The ideological long game which the Free Democrats - and our predecessor parties, the ZRT and the Liberal Congress - have played for most of a decade has paid off. We win.

Still, I am gutted that if I had managed to get one more ex-Republican to vote for us, the Free Democrats would have had the first absolute majority since the glory days of the RUMP hegemony. Still, 99, I love you.

Extremely well done to the League of Centre Conservatives and their leader, Senator Plätschisch. Welcome back to conservative voters who have seen fit, under Senator Plätschisch's leadership, to end their political strike and take up their rightful place in Talossa.

Due to the return of the ex-RUMP (and the Ventrútxh clan!) there is clearly no majority in the Cosă for further unilateral constitutional reforms. But the Free Democrats have 49.5% of the Cosă and 50% of the Senäts (by my count). There is a big plurality for the remainder of the Free Democrat legislative agenda. We have reached out to the New Peculiar Way to see whether we can form a joint programme for Government which will have truly broad support.

As it stands, I most kindly thank the outgoing cabinet ministers, Senator Plätschisch and Dame Litz, for their hard work in the 54th Cosa. I intend to run a caretaker cabinet comprising myself and the other Free Democrat ministers - Senators Grischün and dal Val, and T. Davinescù MC - until an agreement which will provide us with a Cosă majority is made.

We should also know that the passage of the Judiciary amendment and the Uniform Seneschál amendment are very major changes to our legal framework, and it will take a while to work through them all properly and let the results digest somewhat.

Lastly of all, I thank Glüc da Dhi for his service as Secretary of State, and wish him a well earned retirement. A successor has already applied to the Government, and we will be discussing this application and making an announcement in a few days, schi Allà volt.

¡Så vivadra Talossa! ¡Så vivadra Talossa liveradă!

Citizen B. Higgs had a devil of a time getting his ballot, because, as we found out, his main email addresses were blocking the Database emails altogether - and even a Gmail account was throwing it into spam. Here is his explanation

Quotethe script that builds the mailout includes references to php scripts in both full url and local path, which looks like something a hack would do. My server is setup as promiscuous and it managed to completely blackhole it. gmail probably thought about doing that but instead just spammed it after enumerating the source.  So fix the template.
so in the html template check where it links to things and make sure they always link to https://URL  rather than just URL like bills.php or cit.php
https://talossa.com/blah.php etc
done, online.
you know you could just link the vote page repopulated with a UUID that links to the citizen ID etc. easier than cutting and pasting, since it's in the email anyway.

I don't understand half of the above, but it looks like the Database is currently not fit for purpose and needs to be fixed (or replaced) post election. Add another reason why election turnout is falling (which, sorry to disappoint some fibbers out there, is not my personal fault)

interesting to note that the RUMP still exists (as a mailing list, at least), and that #2 on the "LCC" list for this election is doing his best to motivate a big turnout from them.

Double interesting to note that he is also trying to motivate them to vote down all of the outgoing Government's constitutional reforms for this election - including Non-Hereditary Monarchy, the pride and joy of the LCC founder/leader.

Given the incredibly loose nature of the LCC, in both programme and structure, moderates who might be tempted to vote for Senator Plätschisch as a steady moderate hand might think twice given that the most die-hard reactionaries in Talossa are not only backing him, but will most likely make up most of his cabinet.

It's also distressing to note C. M. Sierviciúl making some cogent arguments against Non-Hereditary Monarchy in his email, which were never made in public. The "political strike" of the RUMP and other conservatives only seems to entail refusing to participate in public politics, to make the Government look bad; it certainly doesn't mean pulling out of politics altogether. I think we need to know if the LCC is a big wooden horse full of RUMP.

Finally, Cresti should check in with AD. If your hammer to hit the Government with is "you're driving down voter turnout", then encouraging a big voter turnout just makes the Free Democrats look god!

WHEREAS it has been Talossan tradition since time immemorial - that is, at least the late 1980s - that the legislative journal The Clark is issued by the Secretary of State;

AND WHEREAS the role of Secretary of State is a high-pressure job as it is which burns out a lot of people;

AND WHEREAS it is important for responsibilities to be decentralised in Talossa, so that a tiny amount of active citizens don't become responsible for every single job, like Miss Rabbit in "Peppa Pig", thus risking chaos or disaster should they disappear for whatever reason;

AND WHEREAS it behooves the dignity of the Ziu that it be responsible for its own legislative schedule;

AND WHEREAS the Mençéi in recent years has taken on a far more active role in organising debate and voting in the Senäts, and this should be encouraged and formalised;

AND WHEREAS the Túischac'h (chair of the Cosa) is not an Organic office, but should nevertheless share this role with the Mençéi should one exist;

AND WHEREAS should this be adopted, the Secretary of State's remaining Organic functions will be to conduct elections and maintain the list of citizens;

BE IT ENACTED etc. as follows:

1. Organic Law VII.4 shall be replaced in its entirety as follows:

QuoteThe Mençéi shall supervise, and shall organise the legislative business of the Ziu. He or she shall do this by administering a public venue for the inspection of legislative proposals before they become bills, "The Hopper" and by compiling and publishing the monthly legislative journal, "The Clark". All the duties of the Mençéi in this Article shall be exercised jointly with the Chair of the Cosa, should one exist, and may be delegated to the Secretary of State.

3. Organic Law VII.5-7 shall be amended as follows:

QuoteSection 5 Any Member of the Cosa, or a Senator, or the King, or the Secretary of State, shall have the right to submit legislative proposals, and bills to the Secretary of State Mençéi for consideration by the Ziu according to the procedures specified in this article, and specified by law. Within the bounds and rules imposed by law, tradition, and reason, the Secretary of State Mençéi shall ensure that all legislators be allowed to submit their bills for consideration.

Section 6 At his discretion, the Prime Minister shall have the right to withdraw any legislative proposal from "The Hopper", and instruct the Secretary of State Mençéi to treat it as a properly submitted bill.

Section 7 All bills received by the Secretary of State Mençéi during one calendar month shall be compiled into a published legislative journal, to be called "The Clark". The Clark shall be compiled prior to the first day of the following month, and shall be published publicly on that day. The Clark shall be made available to all MCs and Senators.

4. Organic Law VII.9 shall be amended as follows:

Quote
Section 9 Every MC and Senator may vote on every bill in every Clark through reasonable means determined by the Secretary of State Mençéi, and MCs and senators will have until the end of business on the twenty-first day of the calendar month to submit their votes to the Secretary of State Mençéi. An MC or senator may vote "për" (to a bill he approves), "contrâ" (to a bill he disapproves), or "austanéu" (for an abstention) on every bill. Except where otherwise provided in this Organic Law, when determining the outcome of a vote in either house of the Ziu, "austanéu" votes will not be counted.

5. A new section shall be added to Organic Law Article V, following V.2:

QuoteThe Secretary of State shall be appointed and dismissed as specified by law. The Secretary of State has the right to appoint deputies. Responsibilities, appointment, and dismissal of deputies shall be governed by law.

WHEREAS various problems in the conduct of the 55th Cosă elections have shown that the list of emails and contact details held by the Chancery's Bureau of the Census under El Lexhatx C.1.2.2. are faulty;

AND WHEREAS the Electoral Database (Lexh D.8.5) and the Contact Database (Lexh D.8.8 ) are subsets of the above list of all citizen and suffer from the same problems;

AND WHEREAS, if we want a properly up-to-date database of contact details for all Talossans, we should remove the Organic loophole whereby a citizen can avoid keeping their contact details updated by regularly voting:

BE IT ENACTED that Organic Law X.5 be amended as follows:

QuoteSection 5 Any citizen who neither votes in any general election nor responds fails to respond to any national census established by law for a period of two years, as calculated at any Election Deadline, shall be deemed to have renounced his or her citizenship.

This is something that, to my discredit, I hadn't worked out until yesterday, when I realised why it was so vitally important that Ián Tamorán get on the ballot for the Cézembre Senäts seat.

The answer for that is: given the seats up for election this time - if the incumbent Senators win in Cézembre and Maritiimi-Maxhestic, conservative or at least anti-reform forces will have a blocking majority.

Let's look at the current makeup:
- the four Senäts seats not up for re-election are two Free Democrats, and two Senators who, in the 54th Cosa, voted CONTRA on everything the Government proposed, no exaggeration. One is acting out of personal bitterness because the Government tried (unsucessfully) to hold him to account for lying on his immigration form. The other is an embodiment of extreme Monarchist reaction, a former UC justice who resigned under threat of impeachment, who holds the current Seneschál personally responsible for driving Talossans away, due to my repellent personality or skill in voodoo hexes or something.
- it seems safe to predict that the Free Democrats will win this time in Vuode, and the NPW in Benito.

That's FreeDems 3, NPW 1, Absolutely Negative Forces Of Obstruction 2 so far.

What about Cézembre and M-M? Sir X. Pol Briga is a Talossan with a long-standing record of achievement who has earned great respect. Nevertheless, he was a reliable support of monarchist conservatism for most of that time, and he was parachuted into the Cézembre seat at the last minute by royal appointment - after the elected Free Democrat senator was disqualified due to a muck-up in the framing of the OrgLaw. With no disrespect, I think we can safely predict how Sir Pol would vote on any further democratic reforms.

As to Ián Plätschisch, I don't have much bad to say about the incumbent Distáin. But he has clearly set out his shingle as a voice of (centrist?) conservatism this time. He has already indicated that he will vote against even letting the people have a say in referendum the future of royal powers, never mind any actual changes to those power. (It's also important to note that, should he be defeated in the Senäts, he will no doubt take up Cosa seats and continue to contribute very well.)

In summary, then: If X. Pôl Briga and Ián Plätschisch are re-elected to the Senäts, that's 4 out of 8 Senators committed to blocking any OrgLaw reforms, and in some cases to blocking everything we do at all. Even if Free Democrats and Peculiarists get a thumping supermajority, this "Gang of Four" could ensure the status quo for a whole Cosa term.

Please don't let them.

Vote for Ián Tamorán in Cézembre.
Vote for Cresti dal Nouacastra in Maritiimi-Maxhestic.

Grült méirçi.

WHEREAS El Lexhatx C.1.2.2.5.4 currently provides that citizens may "opt out" from Government emails;

AND WHEREAS anecdotal evidence suggests that citizens who have opted out from the Electorate Database (for political advertising) or the Contact Database (for contact from other citizens) are also not getting the emails that have been sent out by the Government, that is, that the Chancery have assumed that they have "opted out";

AND WHEREAS initiatives like La C'hronica and the National Survey are supposed to reach out to all citizens, not just those who read Wittenberg or social media regularly;

AND WHEREAS it must be possible for the Government to contact all citizens, every single one, for such initiatives to be effective;

AND WHEREAS the other provisions contained in El Lexhatx C.1.2.2.5.1-3 are sufficient to stop the Government "spamming" citizens except about important things;

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senats in Ziu assembled that El Lexhatx C.1.2.2.5 be amended as below:

QuoteC.1.2.2.5 The Seneschál may request on behalf of the Government that a given communication shall be sent out by the Chancery to the email address of every citizen who has not "opted out" as provided in section 1.2.2.5.4 below. The Chancery shall grant this request if, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the following provisions are met:

1.2.2.5.1 Such communication shall pertain wholly to official Government business.

1.2.2.5.2 Such communication may not include publicity for, or any other business pertaining to, any political party or candidate for election, nor advocate for or against any ideology, political position, or legislation.

1.2.2.5.3 Such communications are not sufficiently frequent or repetitive enough to qualify as "spam".

1.2.2.5.4 Citizens may "opt out" of receiving such communications by making a request to the Chancery.

WHEREAS Organic Law III.7 currently reads:

QuoteSection 7 Unless a province explicitly requests that Chancery conduct the election to the Senate seat for that province, the province shall be responsible for doing so, and shall certify to the Chancery that the result represents the will of the people. (53RZ18)

AND WHEREAS this includes a ridiculous Catch-22, in that a province without a functioning Government cannot make such a request, and will thus be given the responsibility to conduct an election which by that very fact it cannot conduct;

AND WHEREAS precisely this occurred in the elections for Senator from Cézembre and Maritiimi-Maxhestic accompanying the 55th Cosa election;

AND WHEREAS I honestly can't believe whoever wrote this section didn't anticipate this problem;

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosa and Senäts in Ziu assembled that Organic Law III.7 be amended to read as follows:

QuoteEvery province's government shall be responsible for conducting the election to the Senate seat for that province. Such a government may delegate this responsibility to the Chancery by making a request to this effect. In case of a breakdown of provincial Government so that it can neither conduct the election nor make a request to the Chancery to do so, the Chancery shall conduct the election.

As I was just saying in the Chat Room, in the old days, a new citizen of Talossa would be required to get a copy of King Robert I's "cheap history of Talossa", Ár Päts, and pass a test on it. Of course AP was incredibly biased to the King's political point of view and slanderous against his political enemies; but it at least enabled new citizens to learn how Talossa worked right from the get-go, and thus was an aid to immigration (in the sense of "getting new people involved").

We need a new Ár Päts, hopefully without the extreme political bias.

As a "cheap history", we are talking about - at most - maybe 1 page for the events of each Cosa term, which would mean 18 more pages to bring it up to date from KR1's last, self-pitying edition of AP. The basic source material for this would of course be Old Wittenberg - once a basic historical narrative is built from that, people who're interested in an "expanded version" could add their own comments. We could make "Ár Noveu Päts" a subsection of TalossaWiki.

(A parallel history of the Republic would be more difficult because the RepublicWitts aren't online anywhere, although I think they may be archived. Still, I could still write a one-page history of the Republic from memory to fit into Ár Noveu Päts, with the help of @GV, @MPF and others. That would be enough for new Kingdom citizens, methinks.)

Who agrees with me that this is vital?

Who actually wants to do something about it?