Technically I am a *Community Jurist*

"We just stepped on their face with a hobnail boot and broke their nose! We just crushed their face!"
-Larry Munson, Georgia Bulldogs radio announcer

Well, that did not go great.

I don't understand why a party that thinks King John's activity level is acceptable or "trending up" in any meaningful way is getting 106 seats.

I don't understand why a party that thinks more bureaucracy and reports is a part of the solution to the Kingdom's ills is getting 106 seats.

But I do understand why a party with a legitimately active and enthusiastic team of contributors is getting 106 seats. Most of what a Government does day-to-day is not particularly legislative; rather, it's a series of largely uncontroversial projects that just require energy. And if the TNC has one thing, it's energy. I'm honestly a bit excited to see what the TNC can do (it helps that the FreeDems and our allies still have a Senate majority  :) ).

Unfortunately, if there is one thing I am running low on, it's energy for Talossa. Don't worry, I'll still be around to run all the TMT20s you can stand, and I'll still be in the Senate (I realized recently that once my current term expires at the end of the 59th Cosa, I will have surpassed the esteemed Ián von Metáiriâ as the longest-serving Senator from Maritiimi-Maxhestic). But my time as a major political figure in Talossa has come to an end.

I have been in some sort of political leadership position ever since the end of the 48th Cosa (December 2015), 1/3 of my life ago. During that span, I have variously been Prime Minister, Distain, Minister of STUFF, Minister of Finance, Minister of Immigration, Leader of the Opposition, Community Jurist, member of four different political parties, magazine publisher, essayist, election prognosticator, and probably some other things I can't remember.

By no means is this anywhere close to the longest or most distinguished career in Talossan society. But, it is long and distinguished enough for me to be satisfied with my contributions and comfortable taking a step back.

Talossa has taught me lessons about leadership, management, teamwork, communication, Microsoft Publisher, etc. that I will probably carry with me for the rest of my life. It has been preparation for a lot of things I am heavily involved with now; remote work, being Chairman of my local chapter of the Libertarian Party, seriously considering running for city council in a few years, and various other civic and social engagements. Looking at this list of commitments, though, I can't devote the same bandwidth to Talossa that I used to.

So, best of luck to the TNC, long live the King, long live Talossa, make sure to nominate songs released since October 30, 2019, and hit me up the next time you want to do something fun.

Ian Plätschisch
Seneschal

Just a reminder that voting on Group 5 of the Comedy category of the 2023 TMT20 Special Edition concludes tonight around 7PM TST.

I don't think anything else important is going on then.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 21, 2023, 04:20:43 PMHow do you think it would work? I guess you would be producer? Maybe we put up a thread asking what big issues people want us to address, or historical things, around some central topic? And then a week later we do a discussion about it.

Like, Ian, just spitballing here, but maybe we do our first show on the Republic? Or maybe whatever else you want, I'm not particular.

I don't have any strong feelings about the format. I have to admit that I don't have a depth of knowledge about the Republic though.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 20, 2023, 04:57:47 PM

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on January 20, 2023, 03:55:38 PMHonestly after watching this debate I think a regular Plätschisch & Davinescu talk show would be epic. I really enjoyed the discussion.

I would do that, actually. Ian, you interested?

Sure, I could go for that.

FreeDems 60/76
TNC 39/76
PT 37/76
DIEN 35/76

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on January 18, 2023, 12:56:41 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 17, 2023, 10:55:35 PM

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on January 17, 2023, 09:54:40 PMthe FreeDems would like to see the monarchy completely removed

That's not true at all. The Free Democrats want this King removed, but replaced. Did someone tell you that we want to abolish the monarchy? Some of us do; it's not party policy. We have always been a party of compromise between Monarchists and Republicans - although of course every compromise we offer gets rejected as "unacceptable republicanism" by our opponents.

My thoughts are based upon the posts of the most active party members from the FreeDems

🤔

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on January 17, 2023, 09:31:29 PMI have gone as far as suggesting it during private discussions within the party, I have suggested a compromise on the length of time between such votes, I recommended to my party that we should make an effort to suggest a 10 year period. I will say that the party is pretty adamantly opposed to such a referendum which while I disagree, I understand their position. They strongly support the monarchy, as do I, but I also think the King should be among the most active citizens.

It sounds like we agree on this issue much more than we disagree.

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on January 17, 2023, 08:51:09 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN on January 17, 2023, 02:37:30 PM

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on January 17, 2023, 02:32:55 PMI have discussed the issue within the party even suggesting that some sort of regularly scheduled vote be taken, sort of a "vote of confidence" I think the biggest issue comes down to how often such a vote should happen.

The Free Democrat proposal was 7 years, which the current TNC leadership did everything they could to defeat. I wonder what your personal position is.

I favor 7-10 years but in truth I doubt that something like this would ever get passed my parties leadership. I do support the monarchy, it is one of the reasons I joined the "Kingdom" of Talossa. If I did not favor the monarchy I likely would have searched for a micronation that was not a kingdom.

How would you vote if this question came up?

I claim my seat

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 16, 2023, 06:48:46 PMAll set! Ian, should i just share with you on drive?

Sure, thanks for putting it together.

Cosa: Free Democrats of Talossa
RZ19: PËR
RZ27: PËR

I would like to add the following amendment statements to the Free Democrat registration (as Secretary of the party, hopefully I am authorized to do so):

RZ19: The current process for selecting the Seneschal often results in a lot of wasted time . This amendment speeds it up without changing the outcome.

RZ27: Right now, Dandelions (children of Talossan citizens) automatically become citizens themselves. But when a parent loses citizenship, any minor children they may have keep theirs - and we can't contact them to confirm if they want it. This amendment means Dandelions must CONSENT to become citizens upon their 14th birthday.

Link to Platform: https://wiki.talossa.com/Free_Democrats_of_Talossa#Party_Policy

As a bitcoin enthusiast, I appreciate that 6% of your 50-word statement is devoted to "accept crypto donations"