WHEREAS the first order of business of each newly elected Assembly must be to elect a Maestro as per Article 14 of the Constitution of Benito; and

WHEREAS this Assembly's term is already into its second month without convening; and

WHEREAS a majority of Assembly seats sitting vacant should not be permitted to completely grind the government of the Province to a halt; and

WHEREAS all non-vacant Assembly seats are currently held by one person,

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED that the Assembly of Benito appoints Mic'haglh Autófil as Maestro of Benito

57TH COSA FIRST CLARK RESULTS
SoS-sponsored citizenship bill passes; milestone observance and Compromise on the Compromise fall short: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1472.0

"DAYS OF OBSERVANCE" RETURN
Ian Plätschisch announces return of "Seneschal's Days of Observance" to encourage wiki editing; Alexandreu Davinescu requests first one in honor of TNC: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1560.0

TFA SEASON NEARING END
Only a few weeks remain in the inaugural season of L'Aßociù da Futbol Talossan. How is your province faring? https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1176.60

CULTURE NEWS
"This Month in Talossan History" series continues: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1481.0
MinCulture announces Trivia Night for Tuesday, July 12: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1558.0
Talossan Music Top 20 voting concludes, final revelation of results underway: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1326.255

A REPLACEMENT BURGERMEISTER?
The Finance Ministry is seeking possible candidates to replace Istefan Perþonest as Burgermeister of Inland Revenue: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1519.0

IDENTIFICATION CARDS TO BE AWARDED BY MINSTUFF
Talossan ID cards are being awarded to those who successfully pass a Civics Test: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1461.0

IMMIGRATION NEWS
Sadly, no new citizens were naturalized during June.

However, new applications for Talossan citizenship were received from August Müller De Wiatcheslav, Egor Pawlenko, Sergei Litikov, and Gerardo Villaneuva aka Bråneu Excelsio (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?board=2.0)
---

La C'hronică is the monthly news summary provided by the Ministry of Stuff, for the enlightenment and interest of Talossan citizens and all other interested parties.

La C'hronică has been moved to publication towards the beginning of the month as opposed to near the end. As a result, to avoid "over-posting", the May issue was postponed to become the "early June" issue.

PLÄTSCHISCH ELECTED SENESCHAL
The Cosa officially selected Ian Plätschisch as Seneschal for the second time in his career: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1411.0
The selection prompted some discussion on the best way to choose the government's chief executive going forward: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1441.0
Seneschal Plätschisch announced his Cabinet picks: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1454.0

A NEW TÚISCHAC'H
Alexandreu Davinescu, Baron Vilatx Freiric has been chosen as the Cosă's presiding officer: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1317.0

CULTURE NEWS
"Fora Talossa" begins "This Month in Talossan History" series: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1481.0
Talossan Football Association season continues, M-M somehow no longer perfect: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1176.0
AMA series to begin? https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1451.0
MinCulture to begin virtual meetup series (more details to follow).

HOW TO CIVILIZE CIVIL SOCIETY, CONT'D.
Discussion continues -- still -- on the best way to turn down the temperature in Talossan discourse.

IDENTIFICATION CARDS TO BE AWARDED BY MINSTUFF
Talossan ID cards are being awarded to those who successfully pass a Civics Test: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1461.0


IMMIGRATION NEWS
Aleksandr Belkin (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1419.0) gained citizenship in the month of May.

Additionally, new applications for Talossan citizenship were received from Mackenzie Bahl, Anthony Mikesell, Jay Murray, John Mwangi, Musab Shaik, and Shamba Mishra. (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?board=2.0)
---

La C'hronică is the monthly news summary provided by the Ministry of Stuff, for the enlightenment and interest of Talossan citizens and all other interested parties.

Good afternoon all! Just wanted to provide sort of a public tracker of where different ID's are at in the pipeline.

Remember, if you want to qualify for a Talossan ID, contact Miestră Schivă to take the Civics Test!

En Route
@Miestră Schivă, UrN
@Caleb Frenibuerg
Mitchel Paul

Currently Printing

Awaiting Printing

Design In Progress
@Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM
@Danihel Forestal
@Bråneu Excelsio

Awaiting Info
@Lüc da Schir

I have a few other emails currently associated with passing grades, so if you don't see yourself on this list somewhere and you think you should, please contact me!

M. Autófil
Deputy Minister of STUFF for Talossaware

WHEREAS it has been more than a fortnight since @Aleksandr Belkin first posted on Wittenberg, following his introduction to the citizens of the Kingdom by officers of the Immigration Ministry, and

WHEREAS he has in that time demonstrated an active, genuine, and continuing interest in Talossan life, culture, and language, and

WHEREAS he desires citizenship in the Kingdom of Talossa, and

WHEREAS by all indications it appears that he would be a loyal and dedicated citizen, and a credit to this nation if he obtains the grant of citizenship he requests, and

THEREFORE I, Mic'haglh Autófil, a citizen in good standing of the Province of Benito and of the Kingdom of Talossa, do by these presents petition the Secretary of State @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM to issue a grant of citizenship to Aleksandr Belkin, as specified by law.

The certified election results are:

TNC	2
PRESENT	7
PDR	1
FREE DEMOCRATS OF TALOSSA	1
TALOSSAN NATIONAL CONGRESS	1

Votes for PRESENT, are not used for allocating seats, so five votes were cast for seats. There are no apparent issues of interpretation. Therefore, using the Hare-Niemeyer method:

Talossan National Congress: 3 of 5 votes: (3/5) * 11 = 6.6
Free Democrats of Talossa: 1 of 5 votes: (1/5) * 11 = 2.2
Partì da Reformaziun: 1 of 5 votes: (1/5) * 11 = 2.2

That's 6 initial seats for TNC, 2 each for FreeDems and PdR. TNC has the highest remainder (0.6 to the 0.2 of the other parties), so they get the as-yet-unassigned eleventh and final seat.

7 seats for TNC
2 for FreeDems
2 for PdR

I invite party leaders to name their Members of the Assembly. (paging @Breneir Tzaracomprada and @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM )

La C'hronica Avrïu XLIII / April 2022

COSA ELECTION CONCLUDES
The elections to the 57th Cosa wrapped up on April 1st, with the Talossan National Congress winning a plurality. See the results here: http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1286.0

CULTURAL ENDEAVORS CONTINUE
Several cultural endeavors begun or revived in recent months have maintained steam, including:

• Talossan media venture "Fora Talossa": https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1168.0
• Talossan Football Association season: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1176.0
• A reintroduction of the Talossan Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Whisky Society: http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?board=38.0
• The Crown and Star, a virtual BYOB pub: http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1392.0

HOW TO CIVILIZE CIVIL SOCIETY
Discussion continues on the best way to turn down the temperature in Talossan discourse. http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1396.0

REUNISIONED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD
The tenth anniversary of the Reunision between the dual Talossas of the Kingdom and the Republic was commemorated with speeches from all the major players: http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1381.0 ; http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1373.0

BERBER SPRING'S YEARLY HONOURS
This year's commemoration of the modern Berber reawakening saw three achievements granted and one augmented: http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1378.0

IMMIGRATION NEWS
Antonio Montagnha (http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1325.0), Vitxalmour Axhairsegol (http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1342.0), and Carlüs Vilaçafat (http://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=1365.0) all gained (or re-gained) citizenship in the month of April.

Additionally, new applications for Talossan citizenship were received from Daria Gruzdeva and Tayshaun Hayle. (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?board=2.0)
---

La C'hronica is the monthly news summary provided by the Ministry of Stuff, for the enlightenment and interest of Talossan citizens and all other interested parties.

give me more things to make countryball comics about people, come on

The Free Democrats of Talossa and el Parti da Reformaziun denounce in the strongest possible terms recent attempts by the leader of the Talossan National Congress to poach members from either of these parties. We attach as evidence a personal message sent by TNC leader Brenéir Tzaracomprada to former PdR MC Caleb Frenibuerg, calling on him to "change the government" by defecting in the upcoming Seneschal election..

We note that Senator Tzaracomprada, prior to the election, also attempted to entice at least one Free Democrat candidate to defect. Doing so before the election might well be considered fair play. But doing so after seats have already been assigned, in an effort to override the results of the election, is an affront to the voters, who chose the party list they supported most based in part on the members contained thereupon. The Cosa is the foundation of Talossan democracy. MCs bolting for other parties before the Cosa has even opened its session would amount to deception of the voters – is this the kind of behavior the TNC wishes to endorse and even encourage?

In addition, vague attempts to lure MCs away with implicit promises of reward are at best borderline unethical. Either negotiate a government in explicit terms or do not. Vagaries offer little to the person whose loyalties you are attempting to steal, but place the risk entirely on them.

This sort of politics has been rare in Talossa for many years – surely we should want to avoid a return to the hyperpartisan atmosphere of the KR1 era.

Signed,

Mic'haglh Autófil
Leader, Parti da Reformaziun

@Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM
Leader, Free Democrats of Talossa

Shorter this week, but I feel like I have less to write about, if I'm honest. (No Opinion page for you!)

Guest contributors always welcome!

Was thinking about this some today and decided I would see what everyone thinks. Do you consider Talossa to be a unitary or federal state? The way I can see it, there are some arguments in favor of each:

Federal:

• Each province retains an organic right to unilaterally veto any proposed changes to its territory and sovereignty.
• The government of each province is overseen either directly by the Crown or its personal representative in a Cunstaval (compare with each Canadian province having a lieutenant-governor, or each Australian state having a governor, in addition to each country's federal governor-general)
• Provinces are generally autonomous, insofar as they cannot pass any law or adopt any constitutional provision in violation of OrgLaw or other national statute.
• The OrgLaw itself does use the term "federal" on two occasions to refer to the national government, and likewise refers to provinces as "autonomous".

Unitary:

• The provinces that exist at this time ultimately exist as creations of the Ziu, regardless of the amount of power that has been devolved to them since their creation.
• On a similar note, all current provinces were created prior to the adoption of the 1997 Organic Law, a document that itself appears to have constituted a somewhat more unitary state than its successor. It may be surmised that the 1988 Constituziun which preceded the 1997 OrgLaw, and the 1985 OrgLaw that preceded the Constituziun, would indicate a general trend of decentralization in the nature of the Talossan state. As such, provinces at their time of creation would likely have had even less autonomy than they do now. This would cast them as highly-devolved governments, but devolved governments nonetheless.
• Even now, Lex.K.1 subjects any attempt by a province to alter their internal boundaries and subdivisions to Ziu approval.
• In federal systems, sub-unit government is guaranteed constitutionally. The OrgLaw specifically states that in the absence of a provincial constitution, "a Province's Cunstavál shall serve as Military Governor and may exercise all the powers of the provincial government." This hardly sounds like a guarantee of responsible government.
• The fact that the OrgLaw uses terms like "federal" and "autonomous" is not automatically an incontrovertible indication of a federal nature. See also: Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

For my part, I would argue that Talossa was initially a unitary state (a very unitary state in its earliest era! ;) ) that has undergone devolution to the point that it is now "semi-federal" in nature -- more federal than not, yet not completely so.

Vaes Erteiers Cuncuriais,

I would like to take this moment to announce on behalf of el Partì da Reformaziun that, following discussion among the Partì membership, the PdR has entered into negotiations with the Free Democrats of Talossa with the intent to form a government during the 57th Cosa.

At this time, all aspects of this Government, its personnel, legislative program, and even our nomination for Seneschal, are up for discussion. This discussion will take place not only between the PdR and FreeDems, but with possible supporters on Votes of Confidence as well.

I anticipate that there will be some who do not receive this announcement well, and to them, I would reiterate that part of the purpose of the PdR's very existence was to present an open ear to all regardless of political differences; to rise above the back-and-forth that appear to have taken deep root in our nation's debates. You will always find an approachable and thoughtful figure in the government when the PdR is involved, and it is my hope that you can trust el Partì to keep any coalition partners, in this or future Cabinets, accountable and away from complacency. While there are obvious Organic issues that will be unable to be addressed during this Cosa -- as evidently desired by the voters, whose will I respect -- it is my goal to pursue other reforms that will attract broader support from both the Government and Opposition.

Remerceat al pópul per voastră confiençù, éu remainéu,


Mic'haglh Autófil
Cäps Naziunal, Partì da Reformaziun

The debut issue of La Tascaragnă Nouă

Following some of my vexillological shenanigans in the merger thread, and with more discussion, especially on the topic of Benito-Florencia "reunision", I figured I'd have another round of flags put out. These first three are intended for the retained cantons of the proposed province.




I also wanted to bring your attention to the Finnish practice of the "household pennant". Basically, Finns fly very long, narrow flags, either versions of the national flag or of regional flags, at their homes. Generally, this is done to relate that the home's occupants are present; think of it as an everyman's version of the White House flying the American flag when the President is present, or Buckingham Palace flying the Royal Banner when the monarch is in.

While an interested tradition in its own right, I notice that the pennant for Lapland is in fact a green-red bicolor (even if the exact shades or not identical, they're quite close). In other words, if we wished to make this a Talossan thing -- which feels fitting given our nation's very name and motto are taken directly from the Finnish language -- then the adopted Talossaware necessary is already very easily available simply by googling "Lappi isännänviiri".

One thing I noticed whilst trawling the wiki was that the Zouaves have insignia for a few ranks, but the ones that exist are not particularly well-identified with their actual rank (what do two gold bars signify?)

As such, I decided to try my hand at a few new insignia for the ranks listed on the wiki.


While the enlisted insignia are not particularly native to Talossa, the officer shoulderboard insignia make up for it by eschewing bars or stars in favor of the acorn, by association with that most fearsome of national animals, the squirrel.

I figure with all these creative ideas, I might as well have some of them count towards something (besides the enrichment of glorious Talossan culture, of course).

Citaxhién Autófil, requesting enlistment.

Feel free to use these, I prefer to move when creativity strikes. They're in order of the placement in the election thread, nothing more.


Why yes, I do like geometric typefaces, how could you tell?

Greetings all, and welcome to the thread for the 2022 season for the Talossan Football Association!

What it is: The TFA is not a fantasy sports league, but rather a fictional sports league.

What do you do? The TFA uses a "scorinator" program to generate scores between sports teams or individual competitors in a variety of sports, often in a sort of worldbuilding context.

Why do you do it? The idea behind the TFA is that it's something that helps generate activity on Witt. People like having a little bit of bragging rights, a little light-hearted smack talk -- this is why each province is automatically granted a team. The idea is that checking in on the regular -- even just once a week to see if they can do a little Witter-cooler bragging -- is something that will help entice people to become regular visitors. It also happens to add a little "worldbuilding flavor" to our beloved nation.

How can I help? Well, like I said, this isn't a fantasy sports league. There's no real way to participate in that sense -- it's more like being the average sports fan. You can watch the games, but you probably don't have the ear of the GM or head coach of your favorite team.

However, at this point in time, you can help. I need a team for each province. Even better if there's both an English- and Talossan-language name for the team. Give me team colors, jersey designs, go nuts with it. But the most important thing is the name, I need that first.

I have some tentative, suggested names for each province:

Capitais d'Atatürk                   (Atatürk Capitals)
Aquilas da Beniuto                   (Benito Eagles)
Canards da Cézembre                  (Cézembre Canards)
Republicans da Fiôvâ                 (Fiôvâ Republicans)
Pastours da Florencia                (Florencia Shepherds)
Soleiglhen da Maricopa               (Maricopa Suns)
Lachistaes da Maritiimi-Maxhestic    (Maritiimi-Maxhestic Lakers)
Rexhitais da Vuode                   (Vuode Royals)

There is nothing that says these should be final, but I figured if nothing else they should be a good springboard. (And feel free to correct my Talossan on these, I am but a novice.)

I'm also accepting teams from various organizations within Talossa. The Royal Talossan College of Arms, for example, or the Zouaves of the Royal Bodyguard. Heck, I'd totally accept Bureaucrats FC from the Civil Service :P (Actually, that would very much fit the Talossan way of doing things. Dangerous to run around playing football with your tongue in your cheek, though...)

I'd like to cap the number of teams at twelve. The idea is to split them into two even divisions, North and South, and then have a season starting April 10 where each Sunday, teams play. Two games against each division opponent (one home, one away), and one against each non-division opponent (split between home and away, alternating year after year). Throw a bye week or two in there, end the regular season in mid-August.

I can provide more information on request regarding the scorination process and the file I have written to simulate a game of Talossan football.

Pursuant to my admission as the Oblivious Auditing Fellow, I would like to formally request Arms from the Royal Talossan College of Arms.

The questions necessary to avoid the Gorge of Eternal Peril:

• What is your name? Mic'haglh Autófil
• What is your request? If it so please the Squirrel King of Arms, I request the assistance of the College in designing and obtaining arms for myself and my lawful heirs.
• What is your favorite color? A tough call, but especially in a heraldic sense, yellow -- a deep, golden yellow -- likely takes the cake.

And yes, my name was chosen when immigrating specifically because it roughly translates as "Mike the Car Guy"...

Hi all,

I had an idea the other day for a way to perhaps help keep people checking in on the regular -- I am aware that Talossa has a (fantasy) football league, or at least did in the past. This is a similar idea, but it's not fantasy sports, but rather...fictional sports, if you will?

Long story short, there are programs out there called "scorinators" -- basically, they'll simulate pretty much any sport you want. Put in your teams, give them skill values, and it will generate semi-random results. Granted, these are teams that exist only on paper -- there are no rosters, no real people serve as managers, no trades to be made. But I guess I was just thinking that if nothing else we could have a league of some sport or another where each province has a team, something people can hang their hat on and hope to see do well (and more importantly, maybe want to check in on occasion to keep tabs on).

As an example -- using my favorite sport, naturally: hockey -- I came up with teams for a Liga Talossan de Hachi:

Capitais d'Atatürk                   (Atatürk Capitals)
Aquilas da Beniuto                   (Benito Eagles)
Bombardas da Cézembre                (Cézembre Bombers)
Republicans da Fiôvâ                 (Fiôvâ Republicans)
Pastours da Florencia                (Florencia Shepherds)
Soleiglhen da Maricopa               (Maricopa Suns)
Lachistaes da Maritiimi-Maxhestic    (Maritiimi-Maxhestic Lakers)
Rexhitais da Vuode                   (Vuode Royals)

Go easy on me, I'm still getting the hang of pluralization...