Wittenberg

Talossa:

We have a problem.  Well, we have many problems, but only one is actually important: disinterest and inactivity.  It's not just our biggest problem, it's an existential problem.  If we don't solve it, then none of the other problems will really matter.  You might want the monarchy's powers restored or eliminated; you might want the Cosa shrunk to twenty seats or eliminated entirely; you might want to restore your vision of a Talossan past or abandon it for a new future.  But none of those things really matter that much if Talossa simply ceases to exist.  And that's the threat.

I'm not trying to play up the drama.  I'm not going to claim that the country will die next week or next month.  But our Secretary of State is right to call this a decline -- and we're deep into it.  When our Ministreu del Interiör points out that "the number of new, active citizens in Talossa is worryingly low," he's just noting the obvious.  We've been on this decline for years.  It needs to be the top priority, before it becomes too late.

And it will, eventually, be too late.  There will come a point of no return.  There will be a moment where our active citizenry has shrunk to the point where we can no longer credibly attract interested new citizens.  Citizens are active in Talossa because they feel like they can really make their mark on something that's old enough and big enough that it matters.  Laws matter because there are citizens to help.  Leadership matters because there's a nation to guard.  Culture and media matter because there are readers to reach.  If there's no one to govern or lead or listen, then what's the point?  To reign in the ashes?

In other words, Talossa works because it's not a vast ocean like so many countries, but neither is it a solitary puddle.  It works because you can be a big fish in our small pond, and your ripples might matter.

I made a speech raising the alarm four months ago.  Things have gotten worse since then.

   
• We're very nearly a one-party state.
• The flow of active immigrants has slowed to nearly a dead stop -- the last post on the Immigration board was a month ago.
• In the last Clark, 3 MCs (21% of the total) lost their seats because they hadn't voted in the last two months.
• Some promising programs and ideas seem to have stopped entirely: TalossAssistant, L'Chronica, Cafe Talossa, ID cards.

I have a bunch of ideas how to help.  I've offered them before, and I will be happy to do so again.  Start actually tracking immigration.  Revive the Zuavs.  Centralize discussion/socialization on Wittenberg.  Redirect state dollars away from things that aren't priorities and towards an advertising campaign.  Maybe you don't like those ideas and you have better ones.  Great, let's do those!  There isn't really any politics right now, so who cares about credit or blame?  Let's all work together to focus on the real problem!  We're all on the same team.

If we don't act, someday we'll lose our chance.  I'm not ready to give up on Talossa.  Are you?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on December 04, 2021, 07:01:12 PMI'm not ready to give up on Talossa.  Are you?

Honestly, after having witnessed the absolute state of the Ziu, supposedly the main attraction of this country, yes.

Talossa is too complex to be saved by individual motivated people. There is only so much a single person can do to revitalise a given subsection of the country until they get frustrated by the apathetic supermajority's unwillingness to do anything except go through the motions and thus either burn themselves out in very unhealthy ways or become part of that supermajority themselves (or both, of course). That's why the promising programs and ideas you mentioned died.

The only people you will reach with speeches like this are the motivated individuals who are ultimately powerless to stop (let alone reverse) this development. And unless you want to do something about the supermajority's stranglehold on this country (which would potentially involve extreme measures like rescinding inactive people's citizenships en masse), maybe it's better to simply let Talossa run its course and die?

Yes, it is true that individual motivated people can't bear the burden alone.  But I think it's pretty hard to make the case that eliminating swathes of our citizenry would help at all.  For one thing, that group represents people with a significant interest in Talossa, either consistently over a while or recently, and so they're fertile ground for possible recruitment to active life.  For another, it's hard to really say how their sheer existence somehow interferes with vigorous debate in the Ziu or the success of a program like TalossAssistants.

But your pessimism is flat-out wrong.  Because even though just one single person can't do it, a group of them could.  If we focus on the problem, we can change things.  I obviously favor a vehicle like the Zuavs that already exists to service this problem, but there are other possible solutions.

For that to work, we need to take the first step.  We need to say, "Inactivity is the most important problem and it needs to be our focus above everything else."  If we can be honest and commit to that, then we have a good chance.

Then we just move hard to judging everything in that light.  Reforming the University, for example?  First ask: how will it help The Problem?  Keeping TalossaWiki updated?  First ask: how will it help The Problem?

Talossa can be amazingly fun.  You get a chance to do things and learn things you never thought you'd do.  You can join a community dedicated to ideas that are both silly and serious.  You can make a historic impact on something that's older than you, and then still be around to watch it react and evolve.  It's a great thing, and it's worth saving.

If you and I both agree on that, then that's two people right there.  And that's a great start.

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial on December 04, 2021, 09:26:37 PM
There is only so much a single person can do to revitalise a given subsection of the country until they get frustrated by the apathetic supermajority's unwillingness to do anything except go through the motions and thus either burn themselves out in very unhealthy ways or become part of that supermajority themselves (or both, of course).

The problem, as you've noted is of course with the institutions, which are set up to making actually accomplishing anything stupidly hard. Some people even think "democracy" means "making sure majorities can't do anything if a minority is ornery enough" (what a very American way of seeing things - gridlock as the final triumph of self-rule!).

I've even heard that argument that making change impossible is good because it enables people to take a few years off and then Talossa will be just like it was when they left it. Like a daytime soap opera. Except... people take a few years off, then they take a few more years
off.

Anyway, I think someone once said that if you stop people doing what they want with Talossa, they won't do what *you* want, they'll do nothing. But it was said by someone who couldn't see the irony.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on December 05, 2021, 02:00:26 PM
Anyway, I think someone once said that if you stop people doing what they want with Talossa, they won't do what *you* want, they'll do nothing.

Yes, it should certainly be plain by now that you can't force people to be interested in something.  I've said it many times, and I'm glad you've taken it to heart. If I was suggesting passing a law to require enthusiasm for tackling our most important problem, then I would be foolish.

Instead, I'm calling for leadership. We can unite in common cause to save our country, without anybody forcing us to do so.

We clearly are in dire straits, and we need to make a change. Business-as-usual isn't working. And there will come a point of no return.

We should try a new approach. We might fail, but Talossa is worth the effort.

For all of the Westminster trappings, the Talossan legislature is really set up along American lines.  This is not a condemnation, but instead an acknowledgement of the way things are.

One of my first degrees in college was "Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy," which specialized in the study of the US Consititution.  It is a document that tried to reconcile "all men are created equal" with the institution of chattel slavery, resulting in the 3/5's compromise.  The upshot of the US Constitution... as well as the Talossan Organic Law as currently realized... is a document that makes systemic change as difficult as possible.

Take, for example. the Equal Rights Amendment... which guaranteed rights to employment regardless of sex. It passed the legislatures... but the states did not approve it at the required rate.  Essentially, this is a feature and not a bug of American constitutional jurisprudence.  It was a system put in place by slaveholders in order to preserve the "peculiar institution."  Anyone who says otherwise is either a fool or a goddamn liar.

But despite the Westminster trappings, Talossan legislature is very much American in structure.  Any focus on the ability of an individual to sustain an objection or oppositions is... largely meaningless.

For whatever it is worth, I've got to back Miestra here.  Reflexive rejection of change is, ultimately, siding with the powers that be.  Given that the powers that be have proven themselves unequal to ruling Talossa... time for change has come.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on December 05, 2021, 06:13:31 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on December 05, 2021, 02:00:26 PM
Anyway, I think someone once said that if you stop people doing what they want with Talossa, they won't do what *you* want, they'll do nothing.

Yes, it should certainly be plain by now that you can't force people to be interested in something.  I've said it many times, and I'm glad you've taken it to heart. If I was suggesting passing a law to require enthusiasm for tackling our most important problem, then I would be foolish.

Instead, I'm calling for leadership. We can unite in common cause to save our country, without anybody forcing us to do so.

We clearly are in dire straits, and we need to make a change. Business-as-usual isn't working. And there will come a point of no return.

We should try a new approach. We might fail, but Talossa is worth the effort.

I agree changes need to be made. What raises my ire here in at least some small part is when people who shout from the rooftops that something needs to be done come in every now and then, shout their pronouncements, then disappear for a month or longer.

The good baron gives us food for thought without having to actually DO anything. I challenge him to put his actions where his fine words are and actually do something. I know as soon as I'm done the baron will point out times he was stifled and prevented from doing something. That's not good enough. Practice what you preach. Form a party of your own, take over an existing one, become a permanent secretary of something, etc.

Quote from: Eiric S. Bornatfiglheu on December 05, 2021, 06:24:08 PM
For all of the Westminster trappings, the Talossan legislature is really set up along American lines.  This is not a condemnation, but instead an acknowledgement of the way things are.

One of my first degrees in college was "Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy," which specialized in the study of the US Consititution.  It is a document that tried to reconcile "all men are created equal" with the institution of chattel slavery, resulting in the 3/5's compromise.  The upshot of the US Constitution... as well as the Talossan Organic Law as currently realized... is a document that makes systemic change as difficult as possible.

The past few terms have featured sweeping transformations of the entire criminal justice system, the legislative process, and the process for choosing our Seneschal, plus unopposed efforts to trim and reform the laws relevant to most of the Cabinet offices, plus a constitution that was broadly revised as a whole and passed with almost no opposition.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on December 05, 2021, 06:41:58 PM
I agree changes need to be made.

Good.  So we've already established that a bunch of us recognize the problem.  And hopefully we can further agree that we need a change from business-as-usual?

I see that both you and Miestra are suggesting that I should respond to the crisis by jumping back into politics.  But that would just make me a target again, and it's really unpleasant to be told you're acting like a rapist, you're the symbol of systemic oppression, and so on.  I'm happy to contribute, and I will continue to do so whenever I can: volunteering as TalossAssistant, entering contests and programs, and so on.  And I'll jump on any other opportunities as they come up, as an enthusiastic booster.  I offered to vigorously work in support of an LCC or coalition government, and I stick by that.  Heck, if someday things change and Miestra isn't going to be my boss, I'd even be happy to join an FDT Government as a minister or secretary.  But I'm not a masochist, and so I don't really like the idea of trying to lead a party right now.

For that matter, it seems obvious to me that it wouldn't actually help for me to return to being a politician; I don't think Talossa really needs more nasty arguing, after all.  No one's staying away from our country because they miss vicious flame wars.  There's better ways I can be involved, and hopefully starting this dialogue is one of them.

I guess I should say that I am open to the idea, if it really does seem like it will help the country.  But it really doesn't seem like it would.

But forget my rambling and let's just stick to the main thing, without casting any blame: we agree there's a problem, and we agree that we need changes in Talossa, right?  No one seems to dispute the diagnosis.  That's a great basis for moving forward.

Quote from: Eiric S. Bornatfiglheu on December 05, 2021, 06:24:08 PM
For whatever it is worth, I've got to back Miestra here.  Reflexive rejection of change is, ultimately, siding with the powers that be.  Given that the powers that be have proven themselves unequal to ruling Talossa... time for change has come.

To be more precise, there are two sets of "powers that be". The Government and the Ziu majority have positive power, i.e. we are entitled to do things. The Ziu minority, the Uppermost Cort, the King and - crucially - those people who have the inactive King's ears and can wield his powers for him have veto power, i.e. they can stop things happening. There is currently an impasse between the two.

Those with veto power have successfully stopped those with positive power enacting their programme. Now nothing is happening. And some of those with veto power are trying to make those with positive power enact their programme. Which is not the way anything works, but try telling that to some people.

When i joined Talossa i was assigned to a province, this was weeks before the last election. After the election provincial citizens were encouraged to "claim a seat" in the provincial government, which i did thinking that it would be a good way to learn how things work. I read both the Talossan constitution, organic law and the provincial constitution and didn't really understand a lot of it but hoped to gain a working knowledge by participating in the provincial government. A total of three citizens claimed seats in the provincial government and suddenly i found myself elected as Premier! I truly didn't understand what this meant but i was informed that i basically was in charge of enacting laws or repealing certain types of laws all of which can of course be overturned by a vote. The other officer referred to as the Presiding Officer has the responsibility of convening and conducting legislative business. As far as i know nothing has ever been convened. In short i must say that it is very difficult to get involved when you don't really understand how things work, even if you are thrust into a position of some authority, if you don't understand how to use that authority it is pretty much useless. Hell i suggested a bill to name a provincial bird just to try to get something going and i was told to put together an act and present it in the next grand session but as i said i don't believe a grand session has ever been convened so i couldn't bring anything forward. Any way, i just wanted to explain why i haven't been very active, i love the idea of Talossa but don't really understand how i can be involved other than voting in the music contest that just got done LOL

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on December 05, 2021, 09:08:28 PM
Any way, i just wanted to explain why i haven't been very active, i love the idea of Talossa but don't really understand how i can be involved other than voting in the music contest that just got done LOL

It's certainly not your fault to the smallest degree, and I know everyone is very glad that you're here and interested. :)  If you ever have any questions about how anything works, how you're supposed to do something, or anything at all in Talossa, please don't hesitate to private message me.  I'm very responsive and I have been here a while, and most of the time I'll be able to either advise you myself or tell you who can help.

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on December 05, 2021, 09:08:28 PM
other than voting in the music contest that just got done LOL

;D

I had a lot of fun with that Ian, next year i plan to nominate some local artists from my area just to introduce them to a wider audience. Who knows maybe someone will find a new favorite!

Quote from: Eiric S. Bornatfiglheu on December 05, 2021, 06:24:08 PM
The upshot of the US Constitution... as well as the Talossan Organic Law as currently realized... is a document that makes systemic change as difficult as possible.

I'm afraid I have to agree with AD on this. While I think that passing the Compromise on the Compromise would probably at least make the King more active, I am at a loss for what other legal "systemic change" could possibly address the problem we are discussing.

QuoteEssentially, this is a feature and not a bug of American constitutional jurisprudence.  It was a system put in place by slaveholders in order to preserve the "peculiar institution."  Anyone who says otherwise is either a fool or a goddamn liar.

I don't want to start a macronational political argument here, but suffice it to say that this is a serious strawmanning of the merits of Federalism. Obviously this point is more applicable to the US than Talossa given the unfortunate state of the provinces.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

A thread from Old Witt from four years ago talking about the same issue, for your reading pleasure:
https://talossa.proboards.com/thread/12322/ailing-talossa

(You may have to log in to see it because it's in the Chat Room)

This is probably my best contribution from that thread:

QuoteA catch-22: the only way to attract new manpower to run cultural activities is to already have cultural activities.

I hate to say it but I'd have to agree that the Monarchy in particular is not one of our most pressing problems right now. Except, as mentioned, that the constitutional impasse has sucked a lot of "giving a damn about Talossa" out of the Free Democrats. But conversely, stopping reform hasn't made the monarchist-conservatives more interested? Almost as if their interest in Talossa, as we kept saying, was entirely negative?

I think we should listen to the Túischac'h - who is as close to properly agnostic on the constitutional question as anyone - when he says he's just been ground down by the ability of a passive supermajority to stop anything fun happening. The only reason that we managed to complete the project of unifying the spelling of the Talossan language is that the "passive supermajority" just collapsed the institutions themselves and we started new institutions. Can't do that with the Organic Law, or at least we shouldn't.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on December 05, 2021, 09:39:26 PM
I think we should listen to the Túischac'h - who is as close to properly agnostic on the constitutional question as anyone - when he says he's just been ground down by the ability of a passive supermajority to stop anything fun happening. The only reason that we managed to complete the project of unifying the spelling of the Talossan language is that the "passive supermajority" just collapsed the institutions themselves and we started new institutions. Can't do that with the Organic Law, or at least we shouldn't.

Not to keep tooting my own horn here, but this article I wrote for La S'chinteia in 2019 might offer some ideas on this front.

QuoteTalossa needs to take a long, hard look at the rules governing many of our institutions.

There has been much complaining recently about the ability of some people to effectively "veto" new initiatives simply by not engaging with them. Of course, such lack of engagement need not be intentional (there are plenty of reasons why a Talossan may need to take a leave of absence), but the fact remains that there are several areas of Talossan life that are subject to the oversight of a person or body that either is no longer interested or capable of providing that oversight or never served anything but an overly bureaucratic role in the first place.

From this description, it may appear that anarchy is the best way to operate our civil institutions. After all, if any citizen could act unilaterally, no one would ever need someone else's approval and we would all be free to use the avenues of Talossan culture how we saw fit. However, besides turning Talossa into a "bathtubbia" subject to radical reformulations on a weekly basis, this policy would have another subtle but no less important drawback. Any time a group of citizens might seek consensus to ensure a proposed change became widely accepted, there would be no indication of when, or if, that consensus was obtained. This would cause either progressively worse fracturing of our organizations, and a loss of unity and consistency in our nation, as change-makers went ahead without a way to make their new policies official, or a permanent stasis if no one was willing to move forward on anything without the express consent of all imaginable stakeholders, some of whom may not even be contactable. Unfortunately, examples of this kind of governance are not rare in Talossa.

Therefore, both too many and too few organizational procedures can be quite detrimental. To illustrate these concepts, I present a few case studies.

Provincial Governments
For almost two years between 2017 – 2019, Florencia floundered in a catch-22 that prevented it from seating either a Governor or the Nimlet (provincial assembly). In early 2017, the existing Governor failed to apportion the seats in the upcoming Nimlet, which, according to the Florencian Constitution, necessitated the appointment of a new Governor. However, no new Governor could be appointed since the Governor is Constitutionally required to be a member of the Nimlet, which could not assemble because only the new Governor could apportion the seats. It took months of complaining and multiple legal consultations for the province to finally decide that the situation was dumb and that following the strict letter of the law was not tenable.

Too few regulations can also spell doom for a provincial government. When the Maricopan Cabana assembled for the 51st Cosa, it made no progress on the election of the Premier between January 6th and April 4th, 2018, as there was no designated time frame for the election nor was it clear who had the authority to conduct it. On April 4th, one of the candidates, who had not heard anything from the other candidate during this time, declared himself the winner, at which point the other candidate suddenly reappeared and objected that no one had yet proposed a deadline for submitting nominations to the post. The two agreed to hold an election; alas, they were the only two voters and at the end of the agreed-upon voting period there was a 1-1 tie. The result was the same after an extension, and the sitting Premier (who was one of the candidates) then declared he intended to stay in office indefinitely, and only agreed to further deadline extensions after a citizen from a different province criticized his decision. The deadlock continued for the rest of the term.

The Arvitieir Prima of Benito, supposed to function as a provincial Secretary of State, serves in practice only to officially open and close votes on bills before the Assembly. The delay between a request by an Assemblyperson for the Arvitieir Prima to put a bill up for a vote and the Arvitieir Prima acting on that request is typically fairly short but has recently been up to a month. Assuming the proper regulations were put in place outlining how a bill may be put up for a vote, there is nothing the Arvitieir Prima does that could not be done by an individual Assemblyperson. Therefore, there is no reason for this extra link in the chain that does not add any value and can only introduce delays.   

Talossan Language
The CUG is the traditional governing body of the Talossan language. However, almost none of its members are involved anymore, and if there ever were regulations regarding a quorum, they certainly have not been met in a long time. Unfortunately for the language, there are many questions of orthography that must be dealt with, and every time a group of speakers try to hammer things out, they ultimately can never get anywhere because they have no authority to make decisions. Of course, they could just decide to adopt their proposals themselves, but they have been understandably reluctant to do so given the schism it would cause.

Faced with the dormancy of the CUG, some citizens created a new language organization called SIGN with the encouragement of the Minister of Culture. However, a member of the CUG warned that its creation might divide the language community. The two groups held talks on how to integrate or cooperate, but with no mechanism to decide how to ultimately proceed, SIGN withered and the CUG returned to the hibernation from which it had arisen.

Uppermost Cort
El Lexhatx puts the Clerk of Corts in charge of administering the Cort. This might work well if the Clerk were consistently active, but Clerks have generally not been active for most of the position's history. If the law were followed, this would make it very difficult to conduct any legal business. However, for the past several years, parties to cases and Justices alike have essentially agreed to pretend the position of Clerk does not exist and handle all administration themselves. This has allowed the Cort to function, although it does so in a make-it-up-as-we-go manner that no one quite understands and is ripe for future controversy.

College of Arms
Both the Squirrel Viceroy of Arms and the Dean of the College of Arms must approve a prospective armiger before a fellow of the College can start designing the arms. The process has gotten significantly faster now that the Viceroy, Dean, and most active fellow are all the same person, but there is still little reason for all these hoops when the King already has the authority to halt a request for arms any time he desires.
***
We have to learn from these observations how to build lasting organizational structures that both describe exactly how business may be conducted and that do not rely too much on a single person or group. Additionally, we must eliminate as many purely bureaucratic roles as possible and devolve the corresponding responsibilities and privileges to everyone involved.
Luckily, these strategies have been implemented in some places, and they can serve as guides for future reform:
•   In the Assembly of Maritiimi-Maxhestic, any member can call and end a vote on a matter so long as they do so in accordance with the relevant law detailing the appropriate voting period and venue.
•   Current efforts to streamline the Judiciary by introducing Justices of the Peace to handle small disputes will eliminate much of the judicial bureaucracy and codify what remains.
•   Until its repeal earlier this term, the section of el Lexhatx describing Naval regulations was one of the least-used and most unnecessary portions of Talossan law. It elicited a mild chuckle out of its readers, but in effect gave the Ziu control over every minute detail of the Navy. Therefore, the citizens who were interested in the Navy felt as though they could not take initiatives without the approval of the Ziu, but most the of the Ziu could not have cared less about the Navy. By repealing almost all of that section and replacing it with a code of regulations promulgated by those most involved with the Navy, we devolved power to those who are most capable and most motivated to use it to advance Talossan interests and culture.

Implementing these suggestions may not seem like a very important step in combatting the Kingdom's activity problem, given that there is nothing so common in Talossa as restructuring proposals that do nothing to increase participation in whatever is being restructured. Still, we depend on the robust operation of our institutions to engage in everything else that attracts people to Talossa. A failure here will, and has already started to, decrease confidence and enthusiasm in the rest of our society, so it's time to give the gears the attention they deserve.

Of course, I guess all those things are things the "passive supermajority" might block, but have they even been tried? All of them are more logistical in nature and have little to do with ideology, meaning no "systemic change" would be needed.

I wonder if you would be interested in suggesting amendments to the "Cutting Red and Green Tape" section of the FreeDems programme in line with the musing above.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on December 05, 2021, 09:55:07 PM
I wonder if you would be interested in suggesting amendments to the "Cutting Red and Green Tape" section of the FreeDems programme in line with the musing above.

I think it's good as-is. Adding specific proposals would probably just bloat it.

Unfortunately I am not as passionate a Lex-editor as I was in my prime. If I can get around to it I certainly will propose some bills along the lines above.

Honestly, perhaps the tape can be cut without actually repealing anything. If everyone active just agrees to ignore it...

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on December 05, 2021, 10:05:26 PMHonestly, perhaps the tape can be cut without actually repealing anything. If everyone active just agrees to ignore it...

Ahh, the wonders of adhocracy!

Also while we're on the general topic of trying and failing to do fun things, my last attempt at a cultural project was an audio(visual) news format in Talossan, and nothing ever came of it because no one contacted me on the job board at TalossaNET during the three months that the posting was open by default. (Speaking of TalossaNET, I *think* its been overrun by spam and/or bot accounts lately, someone should take care of that...)

The problem with talossa.net is that the Ministry of STUFF has ground to a complete halt because Eðo has other things to do. The Seneschál has signalled a total cabinet reshuffle for... sometime soon, I suppose.

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on December 05, 2021, 09:45:14 PM

Uppermost Cort
El Lexhatx puts the Clerk of Corts in charge of administering the Cort. This might work well if the Clerk were consistently active, but Clerks have generally not been active for most of the position's history. If the law were followed, this would make it very difficult to conduct any legal business. However, for the past several years, parties to cases and Justices alike have essentially agreed to pretend the position of Clerk does not exist and handle all administration themselves. This has allowed the Cort to function, although it does so in a make-it-up-as-we-go manner that no one quite understands and is ripe for future controversy.

There's been some positive movement since 2019, of course, but it's inhibited by two necessary components--a lack of active judges and a lack of an active clerk.

Here are some of my ideas, some of which I've mentioned before.

Stats
We don't keep track of immigration statistics.  How many people immigrated last month?  The month before that?  Over the course of this term?  Last year?  No one knows unless they go back and compile the numbers.  That is absolutely crazy.  It is literally indefensible.  Immigration rate is the most important number in the country right now and we're not even bothering to keep track.  No money, new laws or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Zuavs
The Zuavs is a program designed to address our specific activity problem, since it rewards and promotes activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up, with ranks and images already defined, and a list of members from my first few months running it still exists.  But literally nothing has been done with it since the minute I left office.  We should revive it and encourage people to join it.  And people did it for fun!  No money, new laws, or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Centralize
Government business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.  Right now, nearly all of that is invisible, which just feeds the impression that nothing is happening in Talossa (even when a lot is purportedly happening behind the scenes).  This can't be mandated for obvious reasons (like freedom of speech and associated), but it looks like literally everyone needed to make this happen is in this thread and people could just agree to do it.  No money, new laws, or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Tweet
Log onto the Kingdom Twitter on Tweetdeck and schedule a bunch of posts based on upcoming holidays (using the wiki page on them) and just general silliness.  A bunch can be quickly written and scheduled, and hashtagged with "#conlang #micronation #talossa".  It will require not much more than an hour of work every couple of months.  It will be much easier than actually consistently using our nearly-dead social media, but still gin up a good presence as a start to begin building back up opportunities for future real engagement.  For bonus points, use IFTT to automate cross-posting to Facebook and Instagram.  No money, new laws, or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Meet
Where do Talossans live near each other?  Let's figure it out and arrange for more meet-ups.  One or two happen each year, but they used to be (in times past) opportunities for silly big propaganda.  Lean back into that -- let's normalize it again.  Ian P. meets up with Viteu in New York?  Take some pictures and let's trumpet it loudly as the Mega-Apple Summit for Talossan Advancement.  No money, new laws, or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Knights
We're in dire times, and vigorous support for these initiatives or others should be rewarded as an act of patriotism in service to Talossa.  If someone knocks off a few things on this list, they probably should be in line for a knighthood.  We don't want pay-to-play, and the dignity of titles has to be preserved if it's going to actually mean anything to anyone, but we should reward people who rise to the occasion of their country's emergency.  No money, new laws, or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Ads
We have a decent amount of money.  Abandon the plans to spend it on stuff like a registered agent, and instead start an advertising campaign.  The Government can run a contest for the copy and images, and then appropriate funds with a PD or bill.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."  This would require significant expenditure and laws, but not much beyond that (no opposition is likely to appear).

Quote from: Viteu on December 06, 2021, 11:54:18 AM

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on December 05, 2021, 09:45:14 PM

Uppermost Cort
El Lexhatx puts the Clerk of Corts in charge of administering the Cort. This might work well if the Clerk were consistently active, but Clerks have generally not been active for most of the position's history. If the law were followed, this would make it very difficult to conduct any legal business. However, for the past several years, parties to cases and Justices alike have essentially agreed to pretend the position of Clerk does not exist and handle all administration themselves. This has allowed the Cort to function, although it does so in a make-it-up-as-we-go manner that no one quite understands and is ripe for future controversy.

There's been some positive movement since 2019, of course, but it's inhibited by two necessary components--a lack of active judges and a lack of an active clerk.

Who is the current Clerk? Perhaps its time to remove and reappoint someone active?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on December 06, 2021, 08:45:04 PM
Here are some of my ideas, some of which I've mentioned before.

Centralize
Government business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.  Right now, nearly all of that is invisible, which just feeds the impression that nothing is happening in Talossa (even when a lot is purportedly happening behind the scenes).  This can't be mandated for obvious reasons (like freedom of speech and associated), but it looks like literally everyone needed to make this happen is in this thread and people could just agree to do it.  No money, new laws, or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Tweet
Log onto the Kingdom Twitter on Tweetdeck and schedule a bunch of posts based on upcoming holidays (using the wiki page on them) and just general silliness.  A bunch can be quickly written and scheduled, and hashtagged with "#conlang #micronation #talossa".  It will require not much more than an hour of work every couple of months.  It will be much easier than actually consistently using our nearly-dead social media, but still gin up a good presence as a start to begin building back up opportunities for future real engagement.  For bonus points, use IFTT to automate cross-posting to Facebook and Instagram.  No money, new laws, or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Knights
We're in dire times, and vigorous support for these initiatives or others should be rewarded as an act of patriotism in service to Talossa.  If someone knocks off a few things on this list, they probably should be in line for a knighthood.  We don't want pay-to-play, and the dignity of titles has to be preserved if it's going to actually mean anything to anyone, but we should reward people who rise to the occasion of their country's emergency.  No money, new laws, or supermajority support would be required to do this.

Ads
We have a decent amount of money.  Abandon the plans to spend it on stuff like a registered agent, and instead start an advertising campaign.  The Government can run a contest for the copy and images, and then appropriate funds with a PD or bill.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."  This would require significant expenditure and laws, but not much beyond that (no opposition is likely to appear).

Centralizing is a good thought. I don't see why at least some of the business of the FreeDems can't occur in a dedicated forum. We already do post information on our party conventions, which are open to anyone. I'd also like to see the Cabinet using the forum in the private forum we've set up for that purpose.

As for the tweets, do we know who has the login information for our Twitter account? I spend a lot of time tweeting for my author business so I'm well versed in scheduling and the logistics. I'd be happy to take that on if we can figure out who has current control.

The knight business is a bit of a sore spot owing to the fact that so few have been honored and we have a nice list of people who I believe would be eligible, even without the list you put together AD.

Ads are a good idea. Sponsored ads on Twitter might be a good place to do this.

In case there was any misunderstanding, the Government is taking all these ideas - as we do any other raised by citizens - under advisement. The biggest problem is that fully half the Government is non-functional at the moment and the handful of functioning ministers are having to "triage" what we can do right now. The question of rejuvenating the Cabinet lineup is in the hands of the Seneschál.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on December 07, 2021, 11:47:01 AM
As for the tweets, do we know who has the login information for our Twitter account? I spend a lot of time tweeting for my author business so I'm well versed in scheduling and the logistics. I'd be happy to take that on if we can figure out who has current control.

Presumably it was whoever was last MinCult? Or their predecessor? Or if all else fails, recover the password, I guess.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on December 07, 2021, 11:47:01 AM

The knight business is a bit of a sore spot owing to the fact that so few have been honored and we have a nice list of people who I believe would be eligible, even without the list you put together AD.

Part of the reason why titles are objects of interest is that they are relatively rare. Simple longevity is not enough, and neither is serving in office, typically. But the Government has given itself the power to nominate people for knighthoods, so no further powers, laws, or money are required for recognizing extraordinary acts of service to the country.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on December 07, 2021, 11:42:30 AM

Quote from: Viteu on December 06, 2021, 11:54:18 AM

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on December 05, 2021, 09:45:14 PM

Uppermost Cort
El Lexhatx puts the Clerk of Corts in charge of administering the Cort. This might work well if the Clerk were consistently active, but Clerks have generally not been active for most of the position's history. If the law were followed, this would make it very difficult to conduct any legal business. However, for the past several years, parties to cases and Justices alike have essentially agreed to pretend the position of Clerk does not exist and handle all administration themselves. This has allowed the Cort to function, although it does so in a make-it-up-as-we-go manner that no one quite understands and is ripe for future controversy.

There's been some positive movement since 2019, of course, but it's inhibited by two necessary components--a lack of active judges and a lack of an active clerk.

Who is the current Clerk? Perhaps its time to remove and reappoint someone active?

There is no Clerk. I understand that the Government are working on this.

The Seneschal asked me if I wanted to be the Clerk, and I said that I'd be willing.  That was a week ago, though.

Very glad to hear you want the job

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on December 16, 2021, 04:42:31 PM
Very glad to hear you want the job

I'm also going to apply to become a herald.  It doesn't look like there's going to be any movement on anything that I've been advocating for, but I guess at least I can keep trying to do my part.

It's been a week -- I guess it's not really urgent, but is the Seneschal going to nominate me to be Clerk, or should I nudge the Senior Justice?

It's been more than a month since I brought this up again, and five months since I first started trying to draw attention to our problem.  In response, there has been a slight shift in personnel in the Government, I have been appointed Clerk (which obviously is basically irrelevant for years at a time), Ian P has done the sandwich thing for donations again, Francal made an announcement about SIGN, and the other active member of the Government has begun to try to gather information by quizzing some of our potential immigrants.  And while those last three things are great and represent some real effort, it's also really clear that we are not taking this seriously.

   
• Immigration rate is the most important number in the country right now and we're not even bothering to keep track.  That's insane.  It's indefensible -- and I mean that literally, no one has even tried to defend the practice.
• The Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.  But if we don't want to do that, we should do something else.  We have become too small and quiet for activity to crop up organically.
• Government business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.  Right now, nearly all of that is invisible, which just feeds the impression that nothing is happening in Talossa.
• Log onto the Kingdom Twitter on Tweetdeck and schedule a bunch of posts based on upcoming holidays (using the wiki page on them) and just general silliness, and use IFTT to automate cross-posting to Facebook and Instagram.  Txec already offered to do this!  Let him do it!
• Start an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

We need to treat this problem with the seriousness it deserves, rather than just chugging along with business-as-usual.  If the people in charge won't adopt my plans, that's fine -- but do something serious and new and bold.

Okay, I've been trying to ignore the squawking, but it doesn't work. Forgive me for venting.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PM
]Immigration rate is the most important number in the country right now and we're not even bothering to keep track.

What are you talking about? We're keeping track of prospective immigrants. There were 2 last week. Or do you mean something else?

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

QuoteGovernment business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

We're not putting our party conversations on Witt just because you can't handle the idea that we might be talking about you behind your back. Your long campaign to abolish privacy in Talossan politics will fail.

QuoteLog onto the Kingdom Twitter on Tweetdeck and schedule a bunch of posts based on upcoming holidays (using the wiki page on them) and just general silliness, and use IFTT to automate cross-posting to Facebook and Instagram.  Txec already offered to do this!  Let him do it!

Txec who? Are you referring to the SoS? The Twitter passwords are now with the Seneschál as the new Minister of Stuff; but if the SoS had ever offered to take over the Twitter himself, this is news to me.

QuoteStart an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

Cabinet has discussed this. Finance says we can afford it. Initiative now rests with MinStuff.

QuoteWe need to treat this problem with the seriousness it deserves,

"You need to treat Glorious Victorious Baron with the seriousness he thinks he deserves". But the Baron hasn't realised that the more he acts like he's the boss of this country - even though no-one voted for him and all the power he has got from sycophancy to the permanently absent-King - the more he's ignored by those with a democratic mandate.

I may not remember correctly, but I think I said I'd help out with the Twitter, but I'm not a member of the government so I don't think me just doing it myself alone would be appropriate.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PM
]Immigration rate is the most important number in the country right now and we're not even bothering to keep track.

What are you talking about? We're keeping track of prospective immigrants. There were 2 last week. Or do you mean something else?

How many were there in the last six months of last year?  Is that tracked?  If so, where is that and how can we see it?

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

Great!  Can't wait to see it happen.  It's been five months since I brought this idea up, though, so it would be great to see some movement sooner rather than later.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteGovernment business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

We're not putting our party conversations on Witt just because you can't handle the idea that we might be talking about you behind your back. Your long campaign to abolish privacy in Talossan politics will fail.

...what?  Put it on private boards here!  I'm not saying that the Government or the political party shouldn't be allowed to have private conversations, don't be dense.  But if there's just one forum then that will help get the ball rolling on activity, as people see posts on other boards and maybe get involved.  It's the same principle a lot of organizations use where they try to encourage interaction between people in different departments, since ideas can then spread and advance through casual contact.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteLog onto the Kingdom Twitter on Tweetdeck and schedule a bunch of posts based on upcoming holidays (using the wiki page on them) and just general silliness, and use IFTT to automate cross-posting to Facebook and Instagram.  Txec already offered to do this!  Let him do it!

Txec who? Are you referring to the SoS? The Twitter passwords are now with the Seneschál as the new Minister of Stuff; but if the SoS had ever offered to take over the Twitter himself, this is news to me.

Maybe if you weren't trying to ignore this stuff, you would have seen it.  He's offered to help the MinStuff with it here.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on December 07, 2021, 11:47:01 AM
As for the tweets, do we know who has the login information for our Twitter account? I spend a lot of time tweeting for my author business so I'm well versed in scheduling and the logistics. I'd be happy to take that on if we can figure out who has current control.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteStart an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

Cabinet has discussed this. Finance says we can afford it. Initiative now rests with MinStuff.

Great!  Can't wait to see it.  It's been five months since I brought this idea up, though, so it would be great to see some movement sooner rather than later.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteWe need to treat this problem with the seriousness it deserves,

"You need to treat Glorious Victorious Baron with the seriousness he thinks he deserves". But the Baron hasn't realised that the more he acts like he's the boss of this country - even though no-one voted for him and all the power he has got from sycophancy to the permanently absent-King - the more he's ignored by those with a democratic mandate.

You can be as spiteful as you want, as long as you do really implement some of these proposals.  I wish you luck with the Zuavs, social media, and advertising.  And I wish you luck with your "semi-retirement."

Quote

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM
We're not putting our party conversations on Witt just because you can't handle the idea that we might be talking about you behind your back. Your long campaign to abolish privacy in Talossan politics will fail.

...what?  Put it on private boards here!

Well. I'm big enough to admit when I was wrong. I don't remember you ever saying 'private' boards, and I remember your attempt to get access to private Cabinet (and FreeDem) conversations on Facebook, when you were trying to get a CpI Justice of improper collusion. So I put 2 and 2 together. If that was never what you meant, I got it wrong, and I withdraw and apologise.

All I can say is that the current FreeDems public forum (which is only really used for our conventions) has the advantage that we can moderate and administer it ourselves without getting Chancery permission. And I don't see how a private board would enable newbies to see Talossan activity in action. But the idea has its attractions.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 04:48:02 PM

Quote

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM
We're not putting our party conversations on Witt just because you can't handle the idea that we might be talking about you behind your back. Your long campaign to abolish privacy in Talossan politics will fail.

...what?  Put it on private boards here!

Well. I'm big enough to admit when I was wrong. I don't remember you ever saying 'private' boards, and I remember your attempt to get access to private Cabinet (and FreeDem) conversations on Facebook, when you were trying to get a CpI Justice of improper collusion. So I put 2 and 2 together.

Yes, I was interested in what the opposing attorney was saying in private to the judge about the case.  I otherwise have very little interest in what's being said on your party forums; I was told by one Free Democrat that 30–40% of the posts on your party Facebook group mention me by name, but I imagine none of it is very kind.  Why would I want to see it?  Let's just move on.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 04:48:02 PMIf that was never what you meant, I got it wrong, and I withdraw and apologise.

No worries, misunderstandings happen.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 04:48:02 PMAll I can say is that the current FreeDems public forum (which is only really used for our conventions) has the advantage that we can moderate and administer it ourselves without getting Chancery permission. And I don't see how a private board would enable newbies to see Talossan activity in action. But the idea has its attractions.

It would allow them to see boards with an increasing post count from the steady activity, and it would encourage members of the political party and the Government to see stuff on main Witt that they might otherwise have missed.  Please give it some thought.  I used to strongly advocate for many different forums, but we're just too small for that now.

I now have access to our social accounts. Ideas on posts? 

I have some ideas.

Schedule a bunch of posts based on upcoming holidays (using the wiki page on them: http://wiki.talossa.com/Holidays).  That's 31 posts right there.

Tweet the "Seneschal trivia" facts, one a week for a while: http://wiki.talossa.com/Seneschal#Seneschal_Trivia

Grab one or two facts from each of the province pages, too: http://wiki.talossa.com/Realm

If you're feeling really ambitious, then there's a ton of dates on the history page to schedule for the associated anniversary: http://wiki.talossa.com/History   Probably not worth taking the time to calculate how long it's been; just preface each one with "Today in Talossan history:"

A bunch can be quickly written and scheduled, and hashtagged with "#conlang #micronation #talossa".  Whenever it'll fit, that is.   For bonus points, use IFTT to automate cross-posting to Facebook and Instagram.

Just saw the first post from the official Twitter in a very long time! Great job!

The two posts are also on our Facebook page. I've not set up Instagram yet, but I will. We also have something called TrustPilot but I have no idea what that is really.

Hey folks, we're actually starting to see some response and some activity. We need to seize on this and build it up. Opportunities like this won't come that often again, so we need to grab hold of them while they're here. Miestra, some real talk: you've effectively been the real Seneschal the entire term anyway, could you maybe light a fire under the Government's butt and get some of the stuff that is "before Cabinet" actually happening (or tell us that it's not really going to happen because the minister is ignoring you, so we can figure out something else)? Or give us a timeline/deadlines? Maybe there will be stuff I can help out with or someone else could help out with. It's time for all of us to pull together as one nation!

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PM
Immigration rate is the most important number in the country right now and we're not even bothering to keep track.

This is still true and still a disaster.  How much has the immigration rate dropped over the last few years?  We have no idea.  Why aren't we keeping track of this?

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been a couple of weeks.  Is anything going to happen with this?  Is there anything people can do to help?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PMGovernment business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

This would still be a great thing, still.  If moderation is the only reason why this isn't happening, remember that the person in charge of your party would automatically be in charge of moderating the board under the terms of how Witt is run.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteStart an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

Cabinet has discussed this. Finance says we can afford it. Initiative now rests with MinStuff.

It's been a couple of weeks.  Is anything going to happen with this?  No appropriation bill has been offered.

Sorry to keep bugging people like this, but I think we're seeing some real results as people wake up to the dire straits we're in.  In just a couple of weeks, we've leaped ahead on things like social media and ID cards thanks to citizen initiative, and we have some new active citizens.  We need to build momentum -- this situation is just what I was hoping for! -- but there's no way to know if anyone official is actually going to do anything.  Is anything happening?

It's time for us all to pull together!  We can do this, if we just keep the new energy going.

With respect to immigration statistics, I am not sure how useful they would really be. Seems like someone would have to spend a few hours combing through the past years of data to reach the conclusion "it's not going great," which we already know.

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on January 27, 2022, 09:33:29 PM
With respect to immigration statistics, I am not sure how useful they would really be. Seems like someone would have to spend a few hours combing through the past years of data to reach the conclusion "it's not going great," which we already know.

But we could start keeping track now! And then maybe we wouldn't be in this situation again in the future.

I've asked this question before and you've kind of dodged it AD. You want to see involvement and activity. What precisely are you yourself doing to get involved, other than asking a lot of questions and demanding deadlines? What are YOU doing to tackle some of the issues?

You mean besides these efforts to come up with a host of pertinent ideas and keep the government accountable? Recently, I volunteered to be clerk of courts; I have gone through my archives to provide the ID cards templates to get that actually going; I provided the plan for social media engagement; I volunteered as a TalossaAssistant; I wrote and prepared a full four-page guide for new citizens...

I understand the impulse to blame the messenger, but at a certain point it wears thin. I have done a lot and I am doing a lot.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 28, 2022, 11:38:58 AM
You mean besides these efforts to come up with a host of pertinent ideas and keep the government accountable? Recently, I volunteered to be clerk of courts; I have gone through my archives to provide the ID cards templates to get that actually going; I provided the plan for social media engagement; I volunteered as a TalossaAssistant; I wrote and prepared a full four-page guide for new citizens...

I understand the impulse to blame the messenger, but at a certain point it wears thin. I have done a lot and I am doing a lot.

No blame is ascribed. You say "keep the government accountable," but Talossa is not just composed of members of the government. I don't see you (or really many other people for that fact) rallying the general populace to get involved. Most of what I see from you in your recent posts is just a touch of a "holier than thou" attitude. I could be wrong.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on January 28, 2022, 11:47:24 AM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 28, 2022, 11:38:58 AM
You mean besides these efforts to come up with a host of pertinent ideas and keep the government accountable? Recently, I volunteered to be clerk of courts; I have gone through my archives to provide the ID cards templates to get that actually going; I provided the plan for social media engagement; I volunteered as a TalossaAssistant; I wrote and prepared a full four-page guide for new citizens...

I understand the impulse to blame the messenger, but at a certain point it wears thin. I have done a lot and I am doing a lot.

No blame is ascribed. You say "keep the government accountable," but Talossa is not just composed of members of the government. I don't see you (or really many other people for that fact) rallying the general populace to get involved. Most of what I see from you in your recent posts is just a touch of a "holier than thou" attitude. I could be wrong.

My ability to rally people is limited, since I'm just a citizen (albeit a loud one), but I'm doing my best -- you're commenting on one of my efforts with this thread!  And I think you can see similar efforts in the ID card discussions and the new citizen pamphlet discussions.

I'm not really sure why I have to keep defending myself -- about how much I'm personally doing, about my tone -- when I'm asking for really basic things like tracking our most important metric.  Do you really think it's unreasonable?

I think you personally are going above and beyond, by the way, just doing a stellar job as Secretary of State and as a citizen in general with your willingness to do one of the hardest jobs plus help with social media. (https://twitter.com/Talossa/status/1487141382384984067)

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PM
Immigration rate is the most important number in the country right now and we're not even bothering to keep track.

Why haven't we started keeping track of this now?

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been several weeks.  Is anything going to happen with this?  Is there anything people can do to help?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PMGovernment business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

This would still be a great thing, still.  If moderation is the only reason why this isn't happening, remember that the person in charge of your party would automatically be in charge of moderating the board under the terms of how Witt is run.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteStart an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

Cabinet has discussed this. Finance says we can afford it. Initiative now rests with MinStuff.

It's been several weeks now.  Is anything going to happen with this?  No appropriation bill has been offered.

I know you're hoping I'll just drop this stuff, D:na Seneschal, but I think we're finally starting to turn things around a little bit and I want to keep the momentum going. The things that have moved forward, like the ID cards and the new citizen pamphlet and the social media use, have done so because of citizen initiative. Danihel did the ID card design and I made the pamphlet and Txec is putting up stuff on social media. But that sort of collaboration can't happen if people don't know what's going on.

Someone accused me of "effectively being the real Seneschál". That may or may not be true, although the Seneschál is capable of speaking to himself; which is why I refrain from commenting on things which are in Txoteu's wheelhouse. But we've definitely got a candidate for "effectively being the real Leader of the Opposition".

The problem is that the Leader of the Opposition is entitled to have his questions answered, via Terps in the Ziu. I can understand wanting all the perks of "being able to hassle the Government with no responsibility for being part of the solution", but none of the hassle of standing for election and getting a democratic mandate to assume such a post. It's just much easier to ignore rudeness when it comes from "just a random citizen". In contrast, constructive suggestions are engaged with.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on February 02, 2022, 06:34:50 PM
Someone accused me of "effectively being the real Seneschál". That may or may not be true, although the Seneschál is capable of speaking to himself; which is why I refrain from commenting on things which are in Txoteu's wheelhouse. But we've definitely got a candidate for "effectively being the real Leader of the Opposition".

The problem is that the Leader of the Opposition is entitled to have his questions answered, via Terps in the Ziu. I can understand wanting all the perks of "being able to hassle the Government with no responsibility for being part of the solution", but none of the hassle of standing for election and getting a democratic mandate to assume such a post. It's just much easier to ignore rudeness when it comes from "just a random citizen". In contrast, constructive suggestions are engaged with.

I'm a citizen of this country, and I think it's pretty gross that you would sneer over the idea that you might need to speak to me even if I'm not a member of the legislature.  We are a democracy.  You work for the people.

I have been asking my government some of these questions, over and over, since August.  Really basic questions, like "Why don't we write down how many immigrants we get each month?"  I think at this point I'm entitled to be irritated.

Azul,
I want to hop in and point out a few things many might not know. Before my round of COVID, I went through a job loss on the last day of 2021. While that one-two punch knocked me down for nearly a month, limiting my general energy and significantly affecting my mental health, I was still very aware of the business of the Kingdom. Throughout this difficult month, I feel this Government has performed exemplary... keeping me in the loop and addressing issues in my absence. Let me be abundantly clear... I am the Seneschal of Talossa and will remain that till the end of my term. While my activity has been limited as of late, the amazing leadership team currently in place has gone above and beyond to complete our goals this term. I am returning to daily activity here on Witt and I am happy to address issues directly.

I want to personally thank Dame Miestra and Dr. Nordselvă for their work over the past month and this entire term. Talossa is lucky have them both.

Respectfully,
Gen. Davidescu, Seneschal of Talossa 

(https://64.media.tumblr.com/eff03f33f6a1b627cff099da62ec950f/tumblr_p9wzr82P0Y1qeocdjo7_400.gifv)

Oh for god's sake i will tell you guys the same thing i tend to scream at the news when talking about the U.S. government...GROW UP!!!

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on February 02, 2022, 08:23:53 PM
Oh for god's sake i will tell you guys the same thing i tend to scream at the news when talking about the U.S. government...GROW UP!!!

Absolutely right!  This nonsense isn't helping anyone, and no one cares who's "really" the Seneschal, Miestra and Txoteu!

We have serious problems.  We've got multiple provinces talking about merging because they've been silent for years.  But we've begun to pull out of the nosedive we were in, with a pair of new active immigrants joining us (Tric'hard and Mic'haglh).  And we've got some people like Txec and Danihel pitching in to actually get some stuff done.  Now's the time to seize the momentum and keep it going!  This is just the opportunity we need, so let's build on it!

We're not tracking our immigration rate?  Can we start?  Do you need help setting up a spreadsheet?

Are the Zuavs going to get started again?  Do you need help with that?

Is there any possibility of centralizing discussions on Witt?  Do you need help with logistics?

And is the advertising campaign going to happen?  Do you need help planning it or writing the bill to finance it?

I just remembered that you can get a count of everyone who is granted citizenship by looking in the database. If you want to see who applied, just look at the list of applications. I generally tend to avoid issuing bureaucratic reports when doing so would more hassle than it's worth. This seems to be a really important issue for you, but I don't understand what you think it would accomplish. Everything is right there already.

The cabinet is currently discussing ad campaigns. According to my research, we would pay somewhere in the ballpark of $1-$2 per click, which seems pretty pricey in my personal opinion.

Seems like the very first post in this thread was a cogent and defensible political programme - though not one I'd support in its entirety - which really should be adopted by a party running in the upcoming election.

I am working on a +1 concept, that is for me personally to recruit one active citizen this calendar year.  If each of citizen did that...

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on February 03, 2022, 09:09:46 PM
I just remembered that you can get a count of everyone who is granted citizenship by looking in the database. If you want to see who applied, just look at the list of applications. I generally tend to avoid issuing bureaucratic reports when doing so would more hassle than it's worth. This seems to be a really important issue for you, but I don't understand what you think it would accomplish. Everything is right there already.

Something seems to be off about citizen ID numbers, since sorting by that shows only one new citizen during the whole of 2021.  It also looks like, according to that, the last time we had a citizen who actually stayed active in public life before Tric'hard was... Acafat in 2017, five years ago?  That can't be right.  Is there a way to sort by citizenship date?

Is there a public list of how many applications came in, not just how many were processed?  If not, were 100% of the applications processed?

Kind of surprised, Ian, that you would wonder at why this information is important.  We're in the middle of a crisis, and a very important metric is the immigration rate.  I mean, literally just months ago I was accused of "gaslighting" for saying that things were getting bad.  That wouldn't be possible if there was a way to easily look at this info.  I don't want a "bureaucratic report," but a simple spreadsheet that just gets updated at some reasonable frequency doesn't seem like much to ask.  I'll even set it up, to save the trouble, so all anyone would need to do would be to increase one number by one.

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on February 03, 2022, 09:09:46 PM
The cabinet is currently discussing ad campaigns. According to my research, we would pay somewhere in the ballpark of $1-$2 per click, which seems pretty pricey in my personal opinion.

That seems very pricey indeed.  I wonder if it's typical for the course?  I don't know anything about it, but maybe someone does.

May I ask if there's any reason that the discussion about this has to be conducted in private on Facebook?  I can understand that there could be very good reasons for that, such as discussion about the political aspect of the campaign or private plans about what should be prioritized, and that would be completely legit and understandable.  But it would be good to get away from the Government's habit of opaque secrecy punctuated by specific requests, since it hasn't exactly been paying dividends when it comes to getting anything done. 

People tend to get interested and involved when they can become a part of events, as opposed to receiving pronouncements (cf social media, new citizen's guide, id cards).  Maybe there's a citizen who knows a good bit about online advertising, for example, and this topic might pique their interest and energy. So even if the answer is that you guys really want to have this particular discussion amongst only yourselves, just food for thought about how that might not always be the best way.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on February 04, 2022, 12:38:14 PM

Something seems to be off about citizen ID numbers, since sorting by that shows only one new citizen during the whole of 2021.  It also looks like, according to that, the last time we had a citizen who actually stayed active in public life before Tric'hard was... Acafat in 2017, five years ago?  That can't be right.  Is there a way to sort by citizenship date?

I'm not sure what information you are privvy to or not as a private citizen. However, this is what I see:

2019 5 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2020 7 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2021 1 new citizen. Active.
2022 1 new citizen. Active.

What do you define as public life? Active on Witt or active in voting and taking the census?

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on February 04, 2022, 01:41:42 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on February 04, 2022, 12:38:14 PM

Something seems to be off about citizen ID numbers, since sorting by that shows only one new citizen during the whole of 2021.  It also looks like, according to that, the last time we had a citizen who actually stayed active in public life before Tric'hard was... Acafat in 2017, five years ago?  That can't be right.  Is there a way to sort by citizenship date?

I'm not sure what information you are privvy to or not as a private citizen. However, this is what I see:

2019 5 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2020 7 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2021 1 new citizen. Active.
2022 1 new citizen. Active.

What do you define as public life? Active on Witt or active in voting and taking the census?

Active as in engaging in something beyond just voting/census.  People who don't do either of those things are eliminated from the rolls, so they don't really figure into it much.  After all, we're talking about a crisis in activity, not just raw citizen numbers (we have a very healthy 178 citizens in those terms).  It doesn't look like any of the people who immigrated in 2019 or 2020 are still active in public life in that sense, although it is very possible I have just missed seeing their activity.  Maybe the names are changed -- isn't Antaglha a recent immigrant?

So it really is true that we only had a single citizen immigrate during the entire 2021 calendar year?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on February 04, 2022, 01:47:13 PM

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on February 04, 2022, 01:41:42 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on February 04, 2022, 12:38:14 PM

Something seems to be off about citizen ID numbers, since sorting by that shows only one new citizen during the whole of 2021.  It also looks like, according to that, the last time we had a citizen who actually stayed active in public life before Tric'hard was... Acafat in 2017, five years ago?  That can't be right.  Is there a way to sort by citizenship date?

I'm not sure what information you are privvy to or not as a private citizen. However, this is what I see:

2019 5 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2020 7 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2021 1 new citizen. Active.
2022 1 new citizen. Active.

What do you define as public life? Active on Witt or active in voting and taking the census?

Active as in engaging in something beyond just voting/census.  People who don't do either of those things are eliminated from the rolls, so they don't really figure into it much.  After all, we're talking about a crisis in activity, not just raw citizen numbers (we have a very healthy 178 citizens in those terms).  It doesn't look like any of the people who immigrated in 2019 or 2020 are still active in public life in that sense, although it is very possible I have just missed seeing their activity.  Maybe the names are changed -- isn't Antaglha a recent immigrant?

So it really is true that we only had a single citizen immigrate during the entire 2021 calendar year?

You can define activity in any way that you like. As far as new citizens in 2021, I am sure the global pandemic might have had something to do with it, but since I'm not in charge of immigration, I'm just guessing.

Well, these numbers seem really bad, and it's clear we've seen a sharp drop in immigrants. I guess it might have been the pandemic, yeah... A ton of people were homebound or working off the internet, but it was also really stressful for a lot of people (and still is) so they might have had less time to do stuff like Talossa. But if that were the case, we would expect to see an upward trend over the course of 2021, not nearly a flatline. I don't know, doesn't seem clear-cut either way.

On a pure gut check level, it seems like everyone at this point is ready to recognize that we're in a crisis. Only in the last month or so have things actually start to happen. We have to get away from the same business as usual that's put us in this position.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been an entire month since this announcement.  Should we assume that this isn't going to happen?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PMGovernment business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

One of the parties is taking the initiative on this, which is good to see.  It would be great to hear from the leader of the Free Democrats, the biggest party, on whether they will be joining on this possible boost to our civic life, by bringing their discussions off of Facebook and onto boards here, where people will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.  How about it, @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM ?  How about for the Government, @Miestră Schivă, UrN ?

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteStart an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

Cabinet has discussed this. Finance says we can afford it. Initiative now rests with MinStuff.

@Ian Plätschisch says that the first pass was a little pricey.  Is it possible that a discussion could be started laying out the goals and possible level of expenditure, and then maybe other folks could contribute to that discussion?  We don't want this effort falling into the same hole as the Zuavs.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on February 11, 2022, 01:24:14 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been an entire month since this announcement.  Should we assume that this isn't going to happen?

I've asked the Minister of Defence to address you personally on this.

Quotepeople will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.

That's not what οἱ πολλοί (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoi_polloi) means.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on February 11, 2022, 02:52:21 PM

Quotepeople will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.

That's not what οἱ πολλοί (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoi_polloi) means.

...I mean, I think it is?  We're "just citizens" and not in the Government -- the masses of the people? If the Government leaves Facebook and conducts their business on a private board here, then the people would see them busy on Witt sometimes and they themselves might see some posts that interest them from the masses.

But I am completely certain that my phrasing is much less important than actually, y'know, answering polite and direct questions.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on February 11, 2022, 01:24:14 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PMGovernment business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

One of the parties is taking the initiative on this, which is good to see.  It would be great to hear from the leader of the Free Democrats, the biggest party, on whether they will be joining on this possible boost to our civic life, by bringing their discussions off of Facebook and onto boards here, where people will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.  How about it, @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM ?  How about for the Government, @Miestră Schivă, UrN ?

I'm not against it in principle, and I will give it some thought as to how to accomplish this for not only the FreeDems but any other registered party. I don't see all intra-party discussions leaving Facebook, and we aren't trying to hide our discussions, but some of our members are not active on Witt (and I know before I write this you will say they can be more active on Witt if our posts are here).

Like I told Breneir, let me give it some thought as to the best way to do it, and also speak to my party about what their thoughts are also. The FreeDems is a democratic institution and I would never just push something on them.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on February 11, 2022, 05:40:00 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on February 11, 2022, 01:24:14 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 15, 2022, 07:56:09 PMGovernment business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

One of the parties is taking the initiative on this, which is good to see.  It would be great to hear from the leader of the Free Democrats, the biggest party, on whether they will be joining on this possible boost to our civic life, by bringing their discussions off of Facebook and onto boards here, where people will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.  How about it, @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM ?  How about for the Government, @Miestră Schivă, UrN ?

I'm not against it in principle, and I will give it some thought as to how to accomplish this for not only the FreeDems but any other registered party. I don't see all intra-party discussions leaving Facebook, and we aren't trying to hide our discussions, but some of our members are not active on Witt (and I know before I write this you will say they can be more active on Witt if our posts are here).

Like I told Breneir, let me give it some thought as to the best way to do it, and also speak to my party about what their thoughts are also. The FreeDems is a democratic institution and I would never just push something on them.

Thank you for the swift and reasonable response!  Of course, I know that you can't do it by fiat.  There are a lot of people in your party and you have a system for making changes like that.  But if you did want to do it, I bet you would be able to make it happen without too much trouble.  The law already provides for it and the technology for these boards supports it easily, as far as I have been able to tell.  And you're the elected leader of the party, with near-unanimous support (the only person who didn't vote for you was the other candidate) and so I bet that your opinion carries a lot of weight.

So all in all, I'm just happy to hear that you're seriously and thoughtfully considering it.  Thank you.

Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on February 03, 2022, 09:09:46 PM
The cabinet is currently discussing ad campaigns. According to my research, we would pay somewhere in the ballpark of $1-$2 per click, which seems pretty pricey in my personal opinion.

Anything more on this?  Maybe a public discussion might be useful than the black hole of the Government Facebook group?

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteStart an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

Cabinet has discussed this. Finance says we can afford it. Initiative now rests with MinStuff.

It's been months.  Ian P said that his first look at this was too pricey.  Is anything going to happen with this?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:44:50 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

I guess you missed the recent activity in the Zouavs. Weird, since you commented on it.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 16, 2022, 08:55:04 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:44:50 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

I guess you missed the recent activity in the Zouavs. Weird, since you commented on it.

The, uh, one new citizen who actively sought out to join, requesting specifically, and has since not received any sort of recognition or promotion for their numerous efforts?

No.  Um.  I noticed.

Like, I was hoping that the MinDef would promote the thing?  Or even the Seneschal (either one)?  And then maybe do the thing where people who actively contribute to cultural stuff get officially recognized with pomp and announcements?

I know that you have a lot on your plate.  You're the Secretary of State, you're the leader of the largest party in the election you're running, you're the most active herald in the College of Arms, you're administering Wittenberg... this isn't your fault.  But the Zuavs are very much not going right now, right?

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:56:29 PM

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 16, 2022, 08:55:04 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:44:50 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

I guess you missed the recent activity in the Zouavs. Weird, since you commented on it.

The, uh, one new citizen who actively sought out to join, requesting specifically, and has since not received any sort of recognition or promotion for their numerous efforts?

No.  Um.  I noticed.

Dude, using the very rules you set up, the private in question may have done something culturally related within the past week or so, but seeing as I as the Captain personally commended his efforts while at the same time preparing for a national election, you'd think some small courtesies could be made. But then, that doesn't fit your narrative of a do nothing government, even though the Zouaves are not political.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 16, 2022, 09:03:31 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:56:29 PM

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 16, 2022, 08:55:04 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:44:50 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

I guess you missed the recent activity in the Zouavs. Weird, since you commented on it.

The, uh, one new citizen who actively sought out to join, requesting specifically, and has since not received any sort of recognition or promotion for their numerous efforts?

No.  Um.  I noticed.

Dude, using the very rules you set up, the private in question may have done something culturally related within the past week or so, but seeing as I as the Captain personally commended his efforts while at the same time preparing for a national election, you'd think some small courtesies could be made. But then, that doesn't fit your narrative of a do nothing government, even though the Zouaves are not political.

You're not in the Government!  This has nothing to do with campaigning, as you can see because I've been asking about this for six months.  I just don't know why you're pretending the Zuavs are an active force right now.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 09:05:23 PM

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 16, 2022, 09:03:31 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:56:29 PM

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 16, 2022, 08:55:04 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:44:50 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

I guess you missed the recent activity in the Zouavs. Weird, since you commented on it.

The, uh, one new citizen who actively sought out to join, requesting specifically, and has since not received any sort of recognition or promotion for their numerous efforts?

No.  Um.  I noticed.

Dude, using the very rules you set up, the private in question may have done something culturally related within the past week or so, but seeing as I as the Captain personally commended his efforts while at the same time preparing for a national election, you'd think some small courtesies could be made. But then, that doesn't fit your narrative of a do nothing government, even though the Zouaves are not political.

You're not in the Government!  This has nothing to do with campaigning, as you can see because I've been asking about this for six months.  I just don't know why you're pretending the Zuavs are an active force right now.

Point taken. I'm simply pointing out that there is some sign of activity, and I'm encouraged by it. Nevertheless, back to running the election!

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:56:29 PM

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on March 16, 2022, 08:55:04 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 16, 2022, 08:44:50 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 16, 2022, 01:43:49 PM

QuoteThe Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

I guess you missed the recent activity in the Zouavs. Weird, since you commented on it.

The, uh, one new citizen who actively sought out to join, requesting specifically, and has since not received any sort of recognition or promotion for their numerous efforts?

No.  Um.  I noticed.

In the interest of lightening the mood just a hair, I will admit that my first instinct when reading this was to give a Ned Flanders-esque greeting, but then I realized I wouldn't know how to do it properly (i.e. in Talossan).

A-ziddli-zul, voiçirìnos!
- Néovart Flemphäts

I have no regrets.