In sadness we say "The Queen is dead"

and in humble anticipation we say "God Save the King"

There are few of us here in Talossa who can remember in their own lives a time when she was not queen. I am older than most of you, and I was privileged to see her coronation. That was a time of restart - a break with the dreadful recent past war, and a looking forward to better times.  None of us then thought that she would celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. But since her accession she has seen us through huge social and technological change in the world - computers, the iron curtain, men on the moon, the internet, gender equality, wider acceptance of all people, whatever their colour or faith or origin or orientation, greater international communication ("better jaw, jaw than war, war"), a diminishing of (but not, alas, the eradication of) the sense of "us and them" - we are moving towards inclusivity, and away from exclusivity: she has been there through all that, and more, and has been a steadying presence both in the UK and round the world.

We shall miss her, and we thank God for giving her to us as a gift, and for giving to her a long life, strong in faith and steadfast in duty.

May she Rest In Peace.

Quote from: Lüc on August 26, 2022, 03:17:21 AM
...
He already has one. Maybe the Senate should test what would happen with a double award. Does it become S.H.²? S.H.S.H.? S.S.H.H.? (...hopefully not the last one, unless you're JJ in the 80s)
...

"S.H and Bar" ?

It's as understandable as "Alice in Wonderland" - and as delightful. Can you explain Asterix or The Incredible Hulk or I, Robot or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or pretty well any perceptive and surreal story in our long literary history? No, you can't.

And you can't explain Talossa either.

No matter - just tell people it is fun and eccentric and full of the most interesting and bizarre people from all round the world, and tell people that it is loved and hated by its citizens who argue amongst themselves all the time - but will defend it staunchly from outside attack, and that it has a core, central language that very few of its citizens speak.

Can you go to jail? Read some of the laws and see just how odd the country is - laugh... and join!

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on August 18, 2022, 03:59:08 PM
... I'm sorry, I really should have noticed this before. Did you know that "fora" is the Talossan world for "hole"? "Friul" is the closest equivalent to English "forum", which I assume you were going for.

I rather like the idea of "going down the rabbit hole" - Alice, I think, would have approved.  ;)

RZ9 - Aus
RZ10 - Aus
RZ11 - Con
RZ12 - Con
RZ13 - Per
RZ14 - Per

Quote from: Ián Tamorán S.H. on August 01, 2022, 09:58:42 AM
I have long thought that those who die whilst they are Talossan citizens should retain their citizenship, though (of course) lose any voting rights, or the requirement to respond to referenda.
....

There is, I think, no need to create two different kinds of citizens - just to recognise that "not responding when you could" is naughty, and "not responding when you are dead" is not naughty. We can achieve this simply by making the requirement to respond (vote, etc.) to include "...if still alive".  Independently of that we could (if we want) introduce a new post nominal suffix of (say) R.I.P. - but that's a different subject.

We are discussing "honorary" - surely we can include "honoured" (in the formal sense of that word)?
And if not, let's formulate a law fifthwith (that's even sooner than 'forthwith') that allows the dead to retain their citizenship. An honorary measure.

I have long thought that those who die whilst they are Talossan citizens should retain their citizenship, though (of course) lose any voting rights, or the requirement to respond to referenda.

Several citizens have, over the years, died. All of us are getting older - I, for example, am 77 years old. If I retain my citizenship whilst alive, why should it be stripped from me at my death? I am also, for example, a citizen of Ireland - and even after my death I shall remain so. Let us bring Talossa into that honourable club that do not disown their dead.  The deceased can, truly, be honorary citizens.

Please?

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on July 05, 2022, 04:09:06 PM
King Robert briefly declared Talossan Standard Time to be GMT sometime in the 80s. He thought better of it when it proved... impractical for daily activities.....

UTC (not GMT) is used worldwide in weather forecasting, but translated to local time for informing the public. So it's not entirely impractical - Talossans just have to be more, well, Talossan in quoting dates/times.

I still think that Talossan time should use a "48 hour 2 second" day (though maybe we can drop the two seconds!) to recognise the fact that any given day of the week ends 48 hours after it starts on this planet.  The start of a day is the instant it starts on the International Date Line - the appearance of the leading edge; and the end of a day is the instant the trailing edge of the day (24 hours after the leading edge) also reaches the International Date Line as it disappears.  This has the truly Talossan eccentricity - nay, logic! - of there being two Talossan days active at any one moment.

And why should we not? This is Talossa, after all - not any other country!  ;)

And timezone? It definitely should be UTC, to reflect our global reach.... but I'm probably going to be shouted down on that suggestion too!

I'm definitely a Euro-Talossan, and I speak French.... but I live in the UK. I shall not, alas, be in Paris during July... but any Talossan is more than welcome to visit me at 11A, GU24 8QP, UK  (and, yes, that is an address accurate to my house).  FYI I live next door to a pub - very handy! But phone me first! (send PM to get my phone number).

(You can use Google maps to find my house, if you want).

My votes for 57th Cosa election, June:

RZ1: PER
RZ2: CONTRA
RZ3: PER

VoC: YES (Üc)

If it is not specifically forbidden, it is allowed. Period.
That is a prerequisite of personal freedom.

Bringing together is harder than splitting apart.

Each of us has his/her own ideas about how this universe started, and how it is maintained, but the usual description in scientific circles is that of a Big Bang – a huge splitting apart.  Some of us believe that the universe exists by fiat ("Let It Be"), some believe that we do not know, some that we can not know – but whatever our beliefs we can see that ordinary physical matter sometimes joins together – but far more often splits apart.

Talossa split, and ten years ago Talossa joined back together.  But as with all reunions the shape of of the new after Reunison is different from the shape of the old.  Whether those differences are good or bad are part of our political, legal, cultural, and personal discussions and public statements.  Is this a kingdom? Could it/should it be a republic, a dictatorship, an anarchic agglomeration, a group governed only by vote with no full-time appointments, a dating agency, a collection of blogs...? The list is (quasi-)endless. 

But we are who we are, and how we are – a faintly chaotic group almost randomly coming together, like atoms in the physical universe, to form faint gasses, visible flexible liquids, hard lumps of matter – and then redissolving, splitting into component parts, which are not always the same parts that first joined together.  We form political parties, and let them disappear; we start publications, and then these too disappear after some months or years; the one thing that seems to remain is the language – but even that is the subject of learned linguistic discussions, and many different points of view.  A Hebrew-speaking friend of mine observed "two Jews, three opinions", and the like is true for Talossa too.

Talossa will never be the whole world: Àl Glheþ Talossan will never have as many speakers as Esperanto or Danish or Arabic or Mandarin; El Legeu will not be declared and adopted by the United Nations; Talossa's acquisition of Cézembre (L'île Interdite) will not be the subject of external judicial review – but Talossa can be, and should be, a micro-image of the real world, a Petri dish of cultural experiment and international conversation.  We can show the world, in our little way, the negative results of conflict, splitting – and the positive results of coming together, reunion.

Let us celebrate our bringing together, for bringing together is harder than splitting apart.  And more worthwhile.

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial on April 07, 2022, 05:01:10 PM
....
It's concerning that outdated spelling and a grammatical error are part of the law...

Laws in all countries - not just ours - become more and more out of date in language as well as social relevance.   To understand some laws in the United Kingdom, for example, you need dictionaries over a hundred years old - or reference to more recent litigation which restates the (old) language in modern terms ... though the old language is what remains as the statute. Don't be concerned... at least, not within the meaning of the Registration of Emotional Status Categories (revised) Act, 1952/E.II-1 Section 7 Clause 3 et seq.  ;) ;)

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 22, 2022, 04:14:42 PM

Quote from: Danihel Txechescu on January 22, 2022, 03:19:14 PM
I thought it was "King John" and not "King John I".

it's both, but the latter is more formal. He's the first King John! He would be the third King Robert, if that were his name, or the second King Florence.

In some countries "King xxxx" is just that ... until there is a second "King xxxx", and only then is the first one "King xxxx I".  In the UK there has been only one Queen Anne - so that's what she is called. She will become "Queen Anne I" only when there is a "Queen Anne II", and, of course, thereafter.