If the Permanent Secretary will forgive the Deputy Foreign Minister answering this Terp while wearing two hats at once:

The Ministry of Technology's initial investigation into the matter has determined that the Foreign Minister has not been receiving her emails, likely resulting from her appointment to the portfolio later in the term. I will be working with the Permanent Secretary of Backend Admin to correct this issue posthaste.

These are still tentative pending certification by the Electoral Commission

Provincial Council Election
Three points are received for a first-place vote; two points for a second place vote; one point for a third-place vote. The three highest point totals win, with ties to be broken by most first-place votes (and most second-place if necessary).

Citizen	1st Vote	2nd Vote	3rd Vote	Total Pts
@Sir Lüc	3	5	1	20
@Iason Taiwos	3	1	3	14
@Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be	2	0	2	8
@Flip Molinar	0	2	0	4
@e.iwuagwu (Emeka Iwuagwu)	1	0	0	3
@paolo.mellere (Pôl dal Cräpscaßada)	1	0	0	3
@Erschéveþ da Schir	0	0	1	1

The following citizens have claimed a seat in the Provincial Assembly for the 61st Cosa:

@Dien Xhorxh
@Iason Taiwos
@Istefan Perþonest
@Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be
@paolo.mellere (Pôl dal Cräpscaßada)
@Sir Lüc

I've found that regardless of when in the year we're talking about, Talossan Standard Time seems to really be "Talossan Local Time".

The Ministry would like to remind citaxhien Ivan Mollov ( @BICOSTALAXIS4 ) that his ID is ready to be sent out, but first he must confirm his address with the Ministry (we've tried rather exhaustively to reach him; don't want this reaching a place he no longer lives!)

The Ministry is further happy to report the postal service is in possession of IDs for the following citizens:

@Pol dal Timă Lupulescu
@Dien Xhorxh
@naseerahmed
@þerxh Sant-Enogat
@Éovart Castiglhă

The Ministry of STUFF requests an update from the following citizens regarding whether or not their IDs have been delivered:

@Baron Alexandreu Davinescu
@Flip Molinar

Quote from: Iason Taiwos on March 29, 2025, 02:41:32 PMhttps://youtube.com/shorts/fe0wPLlvGAo?si=cDGv1ElyoZWx6Vp3

Needs more "ping" when you're out of BBs (or would it make more sense when you're out of CO2?)

Quote from: þerxh Sant-Enogat on March 29, 2025, 04:16:46 PMhttps://a.co/d/5p5uHWZ

Time to get equipped (may be not the standard model)

Rather short and stout, though that could make it a good candidate for standard-issue sidearm/CQC.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on March 28, 2025, 02:23:45 PMI don't know, Governor Tony Evers seems pretty tough. Let me Google and see how much he can squat before I make any changes to the legislation.

With all due respect to Gov. Evers...he's a rather thin guy who's worked in education as a career. My guess is that number isn't very high. :P

Quote from: Pol dal Timă Lupulescu on March 25, 2025, 08:43:40 AMTaking a look to the list may we supose you are waitting for Ivan Mollov´s confirmation for sendig all pending ID cards at one time and not waste time making several trips to the post office?

Ivan show yourself! We the people are waitting for you!! XD

The big kicker was making sure I have all the international addresses confirmed -- but I actually just got the last one in this week, so I'll be able to take all of them to the post office in one go!

(As far as S:reu Mollov, I've decided I'll just hold on to his as need be, no need to let him delay things too much.)

Quote from: Barclamïu da Miéletz on March 25, 2025, 09:41:35 AMI wonder if the process of making my card will resume now that I'm a citizen again.

If you sign up again in the next Cosa term I would wager that's your best bet.

Azul Belacostaes!

The following citizens of our fair province have yet to record a vote in the current election:

• @Flip Molinar (I think I speak for all of us when I say we really hope you're still around, Flip.)
• David Robert Levis
• @Sir Lüc
• @David Donofrio
• @Erschéveþ da Schir
• Pôl dal Cräpscaßada
• Mitchel Paul
• @Francesco Manzella
• @e.iwuagwu
• @Dien Xhorxh

Voting can be done in the dedicated thread here on Witt or by using our spiffy new National Database, created by none other than fellow Belacostan Sir Lüc da Schir. Please note that if you use the latter method you'll need to check your email for your Personal Security Code!

I would of course be remiss in my duties as co-leader if I did not ask you to consider casting your vote for the ¡Avant! coalition, but in truth I'd much prefer people participate and be active regardless of the outcome. Are we really going to let Florencia outvote us? Come on y'all

Also if anyone has a means to reach the three citizens who appear to not have Witt accounts, I would appreciate it if you could give them a heads up!

Had some things I've been cooking up recently -- but first, a few questions:

• What would be the proper way to go about submitting something as an "exhibition" for the purposes of rank advancement?
• Is there a statute of limitations or time limit on when something may be submitted as an exhibition?
• I see we have an exam on basic Talossan for advancement from Corporal to Sergeant. I'm not a Corporal (yet :eyes: ), but I was wondering if there was a way I could brush up anyway? More Glhetg is always good.

Now, on to the main topic:

Yes, I created more concepts for rank insignia. While I have brought this topic up before, I was feeling pretty creative the other day and decided to try and take things in a different direction.

As it stands, my previous designs were pretty clearly American in inspiration. Makes sense, I suppose -- I've lived there for 33 years now, after all. But Talossa is also very much not the United States, so instead I've been tinkering with a set of designs for gorget patches; the specific shape I used is the worn by the Austrian military, which in my opinion are large and distinctive on the lapel, unlike the narrower design in use by nations like the UK. Even though our national colors are of course green and red, the Zouaves' colors are red and blue (taken from their coat of arms, which itself uses the colors from historical zouave uniforms).



Enlisted ranks use blue, with "non-commissioned officer" ranks further using blue with silver piping and an embroidered bar. The diamond "pips" are inspired by those used by the Icelandic military.



Officer ranks use red with gold piping. The acorns used are in reference to the fact that the national mammal is the squirrel.

Also, I felt like we could maybe consider a new emblem -- unlike some previous discussion, it keeps the "Z" for "Zouaves", as well as the overall circular shape, but as a circle monogram feels a bit more put together IMO. Shown below on its own and also on a hypothetical "Zouaves flag". (I gotta do the whole RAV flag thing, you know?)

   

ATTN:

MinDef @Bråneu Excelsio, UrN Capitan @Sir Ian Plätschisch

By my math -- subtracting the citizens who haven't voted yet from the list of active citizens -- Maricopa is both leading the raw number of votes cast (10, with Fiova in second with 8), and turnout (45.45%, with Vuode in second at 44.44%)

Quote from: Glüc on March 18, 2025, 04:53:27 AMOn what basis is this proposal called "Consensus Plan on Reform"?

Well, the fact that we had

three

different

rounds

of successive national conversations about the best way to forge a path forward -- in which every citizen was invited to contribute, MZ or no, Government or Opposition -- and this was ultimately what emerged from the talks is a pretty good basis.

Obviously, yes, more citizens contributing would always be preferred, but if people can't be hassled to even check Witt, I cannot compel them to speak up.

Earlier this year, a prominent member of Talossa's aristocracy stated that  "Gradual decay is not a plan." He said this in reference to the Consensus Plan on Reform, a roadmap that was debated and refined through several rounds of discussion, with constructive input from all mainstream political parties both within the Government and the Opposition. This Plan was one of the ¡Avant! Coalition Government's stated goals back when it was inaugurated: to facilitate "a wide-ranging and open-ended discussion on Talossa's Organic Law and constitutional structure." This was a promise made and a promise kept.

Given that even the Leader of the Opposition commended the Government's "ability to build consensus" and praised "this latest proposal and the style with which [responsible figures] handled the discussion", it is fair to say the goal of charting the roadmap has been met. Whether or not we stay on course to a brighter future for Talossa remains to be seen -- though the final word rests, as it always should, with the Talossan people.

Given the fact that the aforementioned aristocrat and I are opposed on a host of political issues, it may surprise you to find out that he and I are in full agreement on this one. Gradual decay is not a plan, at least not one any capable government should countenance. The problem lies in the inability to self-reflect and see that it is attitudes such as his own that keep us on the road to decay, plodding along like a cart in a rutted track. Slowly but surely, we roll down the gentle hill of time, until eventually this track dumps us off a cliff and on to the ash heap of history. With all due respect to a member of Talossa's nobility, that simply will not do. We cannot sit in the burning room, sipping our coffee and telling ourselves "this is fine" until we've been charred to a crisp.

It is true that more immigration is always a good thing. It is also true that immigration is something that pretty much every government of this nation, regardless of ideological position or partisan makeup, has attempted to improve, frequently with mixed results. While this Government has enacted improvements to our immigration system, it is a fact that Talossa simply does not have the population to justify the current structure of our state.

We have, at last count, 131 active citizens. It is, however, the same 20 or so who continue to form the core of active citizenry. This is not enough to keep Talossa's posts fully manned. We have too many provinces and too many positions that must be filled, and the most glaring example of this is the Senäts. Eight citizens forbidden from most other positions, including Cosӑ service (understandably so, to be fair), Uppermost Cort seats, and several key spots in the Royal Civil Service. Wouldn't it be nice to have them available to help share a bit more of the workload?

This is not to criticize the concept of provincial representation, to be clear. Both proposals submitted for Cosӑ apportionment, including the Mixed-Member Proportional system ultimately selected for the Consensus Plan on Reform, are intended to sacrifice a little proportionality to ensure smaller provinces are not completely overpowered by more populous neighbors. But they do so in a way that solves what has been termed the "warm bodies problem" – fewer people are required to make things function properly, though there is nothing stating that more people cannot be included – there's nothing wrong with making a large party list and then only giving each person on it a few seats, you know? (By the way, this is one excellent feature of the 200-seat Cosă: it's easily scalable and almost infinitely expandable.)

Perhaps the most sinister motivation at play here is that of self-perpetuation. We can talk about how our systems are broken, about how we do not have enough people to man the ramparts, about how immigration is paramount. But when new prospective immigrants show up, this leaves us in a bind – we are forced to show them a house with its windows smashed in and its paint peeling, only to follow up with "welcome home!" It's no wonder most of them don't stick around! Wouldn't it make the most sense to renovate the house first before having someone move in?

All of these metaphors are to try and emphasize why the Consensus Plan on Reform – CPR – is so necessary. As in medicine, CPR is not undertaken lightly; it is an emergency lifesaving measure, after all. The ¡Avant! ticket is trained in its administration. And you, the Talossan people, will decide with your votes whether we as a nation get the emergency care we need, or whether we will allow ourselves to flatline.

A vote for the ¡Avant! ticket is a vote for democratic reform, a vote for adaptable government, and a vote for Talossa's future. Not just a brighter future, but a future of any kind.