I invite everyone to check out the travel patch inspired clothing, stickers, and home good offerings at my online storefront.  This line is directly for friends and citizens of Talossa, but the are other lines as well. Starting this month and in perpetuity, 10% of the net sales (not just Talossa oriented sales) generated by this storefront will be donated to the Government of the Kingdom of Talossa.

https://www.teepublic.com/user/kapow_studios/albums/165070-talossa



https://www.teepublic.com/user/kapow_studios/albums/165070-talossa

Thank you all for the welcome. Does the "MC" not go after the name? Or is before the name a Talossan tradition derived from the nature of our language?

As a Star Trek lover from way back (who knows way too much about it...lol) I have enjoyed it despite feeling it has pacing issues, and seeming not to know what to do with some very good starting ideas. For my money, Lower Decks has been to best of the current offering on new Trek shows, and I have high hopes for Strange New Worlds.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on April 11, 2022, 04:36:56 PM

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on April 11, 2022, 03:31:56 PM

Quote from: GV on April 11, 2022, 02:17:12 PM

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on April 10, 2022, 03:35:49 PM
I am delighted to see the TSFFWS is back.

Relatedly, to celebrate, I had a Bulleit Bourbon while watching the latest episodes of Star Trek: Picard and Halo on Paramount Plus.

What do you think of 'Picard'?  Is it worth getting Paramount Plus just to watch that?

I think so. Paramount Plus is Star Trek Central.
I am enjoying the second season of Picard much more than the first. And I am actually enjoying Season 2 of Picard more than ST: Discovery. Of course, I grew up on TNG so I may be biased.

The 2nd season of Picard is very well done and it gives me all "the feels" from TNG when I was in High School.

I apologize if this is not the correct place for this question.

Much like the "Registered Political Parties" section and boards under the "Special Interests" heading on the Witt, can active NGOs and civic organizations have their own boards? I realize there needs to be guidelines for the establishment of a separate boards, but I feel that things that are not politics or elections quickly get lost on the main board.   

Hello new neighbors,

As we approach a new government/administration, I would like to make sure I am fulfilling my provincial duties. Anything I should be doing as a new citizen at the provincial level?

My apologies!  Does the society have a dedicated message board, or web presence?

Quote from: anglatzara on April 10, 2022, 02:26:28 PM

Quote from: Antonio Montagnha, Ed. D. on April 10, 2022, 11:22:18 AM
Talossan Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Whiskey Society (TSFFWS) is here by re-established.

What do you mean, "re-established"? We never went away! I hereby hand over the reins to you. What's the whisky of the week? I'm OK with the added "fantasy", but please remove the "e" from whisky!

Blessings,

Ián

For example:

I have a graphic design/t-shirt/home goods site that offers both Talossan, AND non-kingdom centric pop culture products. If we had a "one-click"/above the fold method to promote my store I would HAPPILY remit 10% of net sales to the Talossan government as a for of voluntary tax.

Perhaps one way to do so would be to have an "above the fold" graphic link for Talossa businesses and NGOs that have an ACTIVE online presence. A "mainstreet Talossa" type of page. Something like this, which is offered exclusively as a draft one mock up: https://talossamainstreet.weebly.com/

Esteemed Fellow Citizens,

I have recently been made aware of the possibility of obtaining a seat in the upcoming Cosa as representative of the current new batch of citizens. Though I wish to chart a citizenship experience that is not focused on partisan politics, I do have an interest in studying Talossan public administration, and producing public research through the Royal Society. I thus see this as an opportunity for active, participant research, not to mention a civic duty.

Please consider this my petition to be assigned such a seat.

Please consider the following the official request to join the Royal Society for the Advancement of Knowledge by Antonio Montagnha.

1.   I became a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa on 4/8/2022.

2.   I hold a Doctorate of Education in Leadership Studies. I am requesting that my dissertation, which can be found here https://mds.marshall.edu/etd/1281/, will stand in lieu of a full research statement. However, the Talossa specific areas I wish to explore are:
        a.   Setting standard for effective, data informed, compassionate leadership standards for Talossan public administration,
        b.   Identifying and tracking Key Performance Indicators for a healthy, growing and active Talossan community,
        c.   Developing commination and media strategies to grow the Talossan community

3.   I am currently developing my initial lecture for the Royal Society titled, "On Practical Elements of Good Government." I believe I will deliver a video of this lecture within two weeks of being granted membership.

If there were a process for an online business being promoted and persistently accessible through a main Talossan website, and if that were reciprocated by the business to donate a fixed percentage of net sales to the Talossan government, is that something that would be welcomed? or has it be tried and has not flourished?

Talossan Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Whiskey Society (TSFFWS) is here by re-established. Membership is free, casual, and based exclusively on participation.

An initial discussion:

Dune and Intentional Social Change

Earlier this year a second attempt was made to bring the story of Dune to a cinematic environment by Denis Villeneuve. The decision was made to split the complicated first novel into two films. Thus, the first film felt intentionally like half a film, a drawback to this approach, but an understandable one given the complexity of the source material, and the narrative failure of the David Lynch Dune movie. I say narrative failure as Lynch's film was visually entertaining and fascinating, yet the narrative veered so far from the source material as to have lost its meaning.

In the most recent adaptation of Dune some critics complained that it was a movie that once again glorified the idea of a white male Messiah rescuing native people from oppression. Anyone who would write that clearly doesn't understand the entirety of the initial trilogy of the Dune story, which is most aggressively anti-white male Messiah of any kind, and clearly shows the consequences of indulging in such fantasy.

For me the most important elements of the original dune trilogy, and yes I know there's more but they're so far removed for me from the original narrative as not to inspire my interest, was the thoughtful meditation on how religion is the handmaiden of political power, whether that power be established or of a revolutionary nature. It explored the incredible danger a movement or society encountered when it engages religious mythmaking as either a pathway to power or a way to safeguard power once attained.

The other most prominent feature of the Dune trilogy is the portrayal of how ecology and climate can directly and deeply affect culture, and cultural values. Some psychologist and developmental neurologists have pointed to the idea that one of the hardest things to do is to step outside of yourself and try to understand why you act the way that you do; essentially a conscious being trying to understand their own subconscious which is of course a difficult task. Cultures when they are at their best do this type of reflection as well, they can step outside of all of the variables that have shaped informed them and figure out what is worth keeping and what must be changed or outright exercised in order to advance as an ethical and surviving people.

I am curious as to if you think it's possible to do this. To be sure there are individuals who can step outside of their culture's frame of reference or outside of the narrative of those in control of the culture (for more on that please see the writings of Antonio Gramsci), but can an entire culture do that, or does it take a change of the cultural environment? In other words, for a culture to change does it have to undergo such a massive crisis that it has no choice but to change, where even that change is still being driven by the environment, or can it change by thoughtful choice and intention? Are we do doomed to be a reflection of our environment forever?

Thank you all very much.

Signed.  And thank you.

Quote from: Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM on April 08, 2022, 09:45:57 AM
Oath sent via PM.

Also...

Starfleet in the 32nd century has a small starship named after the author...

https://shop.eaglemoss.com/us/hero-collector/star-trek/uss-liu-cixin-starship

I humbly thank you.

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on April 08, 2022, 07:25:40 AM
WHEREAS it has been more than a fortnight since @Antonio Montagnha, Ed. D.  first posted on Wittenberg, following his introduction to the citizens of the Kingdom by officers of the Interior Ministry, and

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

WHEREAS he desires citizenship in the Kingdom of Talossa, and

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

THEREFORE I, Breneir Tzaracomprada, a citizen in good standing of the Province of Florencia and of the Kingdom of Talossa, do by these presents petition the Secretary of State @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM  to issue a grant of citizenship to Antonio Montagnha, as specified by law.

Petition submitted today, the 8th day of April, 2022/XLII.