Guscht XLVI / August 2025

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Government News
STUFF Decluttering Act Makes for Cabinet Reassignments
In the wake of the disestablishment of the Ministry of STUFF, Mic'haglh Autófil and Bråneu Excelsio were appointed as the first Minister of Public Records and Minister of Propaganda, respectively:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4339.0

Immigration Form Updated
Immigration Minister Miestră Schivă has streamlined the form prospective citizens use to apply for citizenship:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4349.0

Cosă Enlarged by One
New citizen Leonardo Marques claimed his "new citizen's seat" in the Cosă, bringing the number of seats to 201 for the remainder of the term:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4347.0


General News
Talossa "On Deck"?
Sir Marcel Tafial, UrGP is working on designs for a Talossan set of playing cards:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=2326.15

TCAT Spain Gets Underway
The third leg of the 2025 Talossan Cycling Association Tour commenced in Spain on 24 August; can Esqipă Velocostă be caught?
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4340.0

Fantasy Hockey to Return?
Tric'hard Lenxheir is putting out feelers to see how many people would be interested in a second season of fantasy ice hockey:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4313.0


Immigration News
One new citizen immigrated in August: Leonardo Marques

Additionally, twelve citizenship applications were received in August, from Ali Yiğit, Mehmet Can, Ethan Vetrone, Layne Hebert, Danijel Lončar, Robert "Bronco" Bregenzer, Aminul Islam, Carteir Montanghă, Sadiq Ssali Abdulaziz, Joel Dale, CJ Macinko, and Baran Çetin.

Estimat Tuischac'h,

I thank the Member for his question.

Let me first begin by stating that when such outages occur, assuming they affect not just Wittenberg but the entirety of the nation's web presence, then they would indeed fall under the Ministry's purview. If the wiki and other services remain unaffected and only Wittenberg goes down, that would appear to be more of a Chancery issue under Title J. (I am responding here to comments from the Member on Discord regarding Chancery vs. Government responsibility, to be clear.)

To address the Terpelaziun posed: the Wittenberg outages in recent weeks appear to not be caused by any technical issue with our hosting service -- as were, for example, some of the outages following maintenance to our Digital Ocean server earlier in the summer -- but are instead caused by external factors, chief of which appears to be a larger number of bots, likely web crawlers, attempting to communicate with the server. When the server receives too many requests in a short amount of time, it basically overloads and will go offline.

The Permanent Secretary has already implemented an anti-bot measure to counter these bots, which at least in its first week appears to be properly thwarting excessive requests.

Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower

Brian Setzer Orchestra - Sleep Walk

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on September 04, 2025, 12:35:18 PMS:reu:

I thank the minister for his response.  I am also grateful for the detailed analysis, even though I disagree with some of the conclusions.  Here are your numbers:

61st Cosă: 1
60th Cosă: 6
59th Cosă: 11
58th Cosă: 8
57th Cosă: 8
56th Cosă: 2
55th Cosă: 4
54th Cosă: 4
53rd Cosă: 3
52nd Cosă: 9
51st Cosă: 6
50th Cosă: 18

Looking at the numbers, I think it might be a good idea to set aside an attempt at a just-so story to explain everything.  This is a complicated question, capturing a lot about the state of our country and its governance.  Let's at least start out by focusing on the bottom line.

So, as a supplementary question, would you tell me if you agree that this is a fair way to describe the trendline:

The immigration rate badly slumped during the 53rd Cosa.  This slump continued for several terms, reaching a nadir during the 56th Cosa.  After that, the immigration rate improved over the succeeding three Cosas.  It peaked again during the 59th Cosa, but it has since badly slumped again.

Is that accurate?  I know it doesn't capture all of the subtleties, and that we can tell all kinds of stories to explain it, but I want to be sure that we agree on just the actual trend in this data.

Estimat Túischac'h,

The Member opposite is, by his own admission, a big fan of data and letting numbers speak for themselves, and I think it is fair to say that they do. In light of the fact that the he appears to agree with one of the main points that the Government has been making the entire time -- namely, that there is no single "silver bullet" to fixing the immigration issue -- I will withhold further comment on the numbers or descriptions thereof and let them simply speak for themselves.

I'm happy to wait for Sir Luc, personally.

Quote from: King Txec on September 04, 2025, 01:12:09 PM

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on September 04, 2025, 11:10:45 AMAugust ended without action by anyone vested with royal authority. Under the precedent set during the years of King John that Organic amendments fall under the same conditions as regular bills regarding royal inaction, I hold that this bill has passed into law.

Because Article VII of the Belacostan Constitution does not require referenda for constitutional amendments, it therefore takes effect immediately.

My apologies on this. I was waiting on my Cunstaval but I also didn't circle back to double check.

-Txec R

Not a problem, Your Majesty. It's a busy time of year for you, if I'm not mistaken!

August ended without action by anyone vested with royal authority. Under the precedent set during the years of King John that Organic amendments fall under the same conditions as regular bills regarding royal inaction, I hold that this bill has passed into law.

Because Article VII of the Belacostan Constitution does not require referenda for constitutional amendments, it therefore takes effect immediately.

Estimat Túischac'h, I thank the Member for his clarification. In that case, quoting from my answer elsewhere:

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on September 03, 2025, 12:20:18 AMGoing again off the numbers found on Infotecă:

• 57th Cosă: 8/66 = 12%
• 58th Cosă: 8/86 = 9%
• 59th Cosă: 11/62 = 18%
• 60th Cosă: 6/69 = 9% (While the application numbers from the 60th Cosă as recorded in Infotecă appear to be accurate, the naturalization numbers appear to have a clerical error or two, so I arrived at a count of six simply by counting on the Database. I do intend to review the Infotecă numbers more thoroughly in the near future.)
• 61st Cosă through August: 1/43 = 2.3%

Therefore, the numbers he has requested are as follows, with additional Cosă terms thrown in for richer context:
61st Cosă through August: 1
60th Cosă: 6
59th Cosă: 11
58th Cosă: 8
57th Cosă: 8
56th Cosă: 2
55th Cosă: 4
54th Cosă: 4
53rd Cosă: 3
52nd Cosă: 9
51st Cosă: 6
50th Cosă: 18

Since I know the Member is as concerned with immigration numbers as I am, and that he would like to identify the source of the downturn, please allow me to offer a few impressions based on these numbers:

• The 50th - 52nd Cosas saw numbers on par with -- or in the case of the 50th, vastly exceeding -- the overall trend in the last few terms.
• The 54th - 56th Cosas appear at first glance to have been affected by the pandemic, which hit its major initial spread about halfway through the 54th term (March 2020).
• On the other hand, the pandemic would have been the perfect time for people to look for a little "escapism" from the broader goings-on, and could have found in Talossa. The pandemic also would not explain the drop from the 52nd to 53rd Cosas, as it had not yet become an issue.
• Partisan control also does little to explain the drops, since the Free Democrats were a member of the governing coalition from the 50th to 57th Cosas, which saw a downturn for a few terms before rebounding in the 57th (i.e. prior to the TNC taking control of the government).
• I did a little digging into Wittenberg's stats and I note that 2021 in particular was a down year for activity, which likely affected the 55th and 56th Cosas' numbers.
• To sum up, this data appears to imply the following:
  
  • Immigration numbers -- that is, successful immigration numbers -- may follow a natural longer-term cycle, several Cosas of higher numbers followed by several terms of lower numbers.
  • The atmosphere here on Wittenberg almost certainly plays a large part as well, with 2021's low activity and the present hostile environment as examples.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on September 02, 2025, 05:09:35 PMI also have a supplementary question.  I am surprised those are even allowed, since I was under the impression that we weren't allowed to jump onto an active terpelaziun thread until the original questioner was able to ask their own follow-up.  But since it's allowed, I'm game.

As the supplementary questions were both posed by Members of the Cosă, I intended to address this point of order to the Túischac'h. The Baron may have a valid point regarding the timing of supplementary questions, and I wished to get clarification from the Chair regarding the best course of action. However, as it appears the incumbent Túischac'h is the second presiding officer to be harrassed into silence (or worse) in the last two years, I concede that such a ruling is not likely to come soon. Therefore, to ensure I abide by my legal obligations, I will simply answer both now, begging the Senator's pardon.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on September 02, 2025, 03:08:46 PMSupplementary question, please, estimat Túischac'h!

Can the Minister confirm that the lowest number on that list, the 59th Cosa, was the last time that the current Opposition parties were in power?

This is correct.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on September 02, 2025, 05:09:35 PMIt seems to me that applications might speak to our general popularity and fame, but that actual immigration speaks to what people see when they take a look at Talossa -- how it is to be here and how it's being run.  So to add on: what percentage of these applications in each term yielded actual immigrants?

Going again off the numbers found on Infotecă:

• 57th Cosă: 8/66 = 12%
• 58th Cosă: 8/86 = 9%
• 59th Cosă: 11/62 = 18%
• 60th Cosă: 6/69 = 9% (While the application numbers from the 60th Cosă as recorded in Infotecă appear to be accurate, the naturalization numbers appear to have a clerical error or two, so I arrived at a count of six simply by counting on the Database. I do intend to review the Infotecă numbers more thoroughly in the near future.)
• 61st Cosă through August: 1/43 = 2.3%

There are a few things to note:

• There are two citizenship petitions (Julian Da Silva and Nicolás Masquiarán-Díaz) currently pending response from the prospectives in question to the Chancery. If both of those successfully naturalize, the 61st Cosă rate will rise to 3/43 = 7%, significantly more in line with previous terms.
• The 59th Cosă's outlier percentage rate is partially driven by the lower number of applications.
• The 60th Cosă, which of course saw a Government largely identical to the current one, saw a similar percentage of applicants naturalize as both the 57th and 58th Cosas.
• A corollary to the previous point is that the largely static immigration policy between the 60th and 61st Governments is not the source of the reduced naturalization rate.
• In other words, as most of the country has been able to figure out so far, something else must be at play here.

One likely cause that has been cited by people across the political spectrum is the particularly divisive atmosphere in Talossan politics at the moment, to the point that even MC's from the Member opposite's party have expressed concern at the vitriol that he is intent on maintaining.

Estimat Túischac'h,

While I thank the Member opposite for his question, I note that, apart from some dubious claims inserted into the preferatory text, his question appears to be identical either to one previously posed by a Senator, or to a supplementary question posed by the Member himself in that Senator's Terpelaziun thread. In either event, while duplicating Terpelaziuns could reasonably be considered a breach of decorum, in order to practice what I preach and promote a more professional environment, I would ask some leniency from the Chair for the Member, who I would encourage to simply keep the conversation in one thread. :)

Estimat Mençei,

I thank the Senator for his question. Ministry records, as collected in the Infotecă system, would indicate that the period of April to July of this year saw 31 applications, with an additional 12 in August by my count, for a total of 43 so far (excluding the two just posted so far in September). If we extrapolate this out through the end of November, that would imply the nation is on pace for 69 applications in the period between the conclusion of most recent election and the conclusion of the next one.

For comparison, using the same period between elections, previous Cosas saw the following application numbers:
- 60th Cosă: 69
- 59th Cosă: 62
- 58th Cosă: 86
- 57th Cosă: 66

These would appear to bear out the Government's assertions that the issue lies in keeping prospective citizens interested in Talossan life and maintaining an atmosphere that encourages immigration, as opposed to getting people to apply in the first place.

I should point out that, by my count, we currently have fifteen prospective citizens in the application pipeline, confirming our initial suspicions about the nature of the issue. This would seem to be a good opportunity to seize, both through official and unofficial methods (things like continuing to accept TalossAssistant volunteers for the former, generally trying to be very welcoming for the latter).

As a heads-up, La C'hronică will not be publishing an August issue; the next issue, summarizing events on Witt from August, will be titled as the September issue.

Juliă XLVI / July 2025

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Royal News
Immigration Commission Formed
The King convened a Royal Commission on Immigration, intended to examine the causes and remedies for the nation's slowing naturalization rate:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4205.0

King to Attend MicroCon27
His Majesty announced he had purchased a ticket to the next edition of MicroCon, to be hosted in San Diego by the nation of Slowjamastan in 2027:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4261.0

Queen Celebrates Birthday
Queen Chelli celebrated her birthday on July 22:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4270.0

Dressed Like a King
The King provided photographic evidence (a selfie) that he is in possession of the nation's Royal Regalia:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4280.0

Government News
Deputy Swap
Deputy Immigration Minister Iac Valadeir replaced by Barclamïu da Miéletz, who leaves his post as Deputy Culture Minister:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4235.0

Somelieir Takes on BHAID Admin
Foreign Affairs Minister Antaglha X. Somelieir announced she is filling the role of BHAID Administrator ex officio:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4258.0

Should We Do More About Pengopäts?
The Antarctic Micronational Union may be a good way to defend our southern territory from other micronations:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4249.0

Press
July Issue of Tascaragnhă Nouă Published
Mic'haglh Autófil released another issue of his newsletter, covering recent events, some politics, and a surprisingly busy summer in the world of Talossan sporting events:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4274.0

General News
TCAT 2025 Heads to France
The Talossan Cycling Association Tour ran its second leg in l'Hexagone; Esqipă Velocostă snagged their second consecutive leg win:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4219.0

Wittenberg Rearranged Somewhat
If you haven't been on Witt recently, don't be alarmed; the Chancery's done some good work moving some boards around to better organize -- and to better show off the nation's activities:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4266.0

Rally Championship Starts
Envisioned as "TCAT with four wheels", the Ceampiunità Talossan del Rälli got underway with races in Greece and Estonia:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4181.0

Book Club to Begin in August
The King invited citizens to join him in reading; first up is one of his favorites, The Call of the Wild.
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4275.0

Immigration News
Nine citizenship applications were received in July, from Mohamad Nisham, Leonardo Miguel Carvalho Marques, Ivan Podhainov, Nicolás Masquiarán-Díaz, Çetin Fidan, Julian da Silva, Davide Resta, Ena Shinonome, and Alberto Santi.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on August 24, 2025, 09:13:56 PMI suggest we restart the petition, only to avoid the weird legal issue from Julian's petition re: whether I have to follow the old law or the new law.

A good point. Well, in that case, hoping S:reu Excelsio doesn't mind me stealing his thunder a bit:

WHEREAS it has been more than a fortnight since @Nicolás Masquiarán-Díaz first posted on Wittenberg, following his introduction to the citizens of the Kingdom by officers of the Immigration Ministry, and

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

THEREFORE I, Mic'haglh Autófil, a citizen of good standing of the province of Belacostă and of the Kingdom of Talossa, do hereby petition the Secretary of State @Sir Lüc to issue a grant of citizenship to Prospective Citizen Nicolás Masquiarán-Díaz, as specified by law.