Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on April 13, 2024, 09:30:38 AMWe should fix the succession so that it will continue working for the future in a permanent way that has consensus support.  Once the institution is assured to continue existing in a legitimate manner, we can address other problems.  Doing it backwards is risky and bizarre.

We could (possibly) "fix the succession" merely by changing the stated order of choice.  For example, we could replace "eldest offspring of current monarch (etc. etc.)" with "list of citizens arranged in such-and-such an order".  In other words, create a different rule of precedence.

Such a rule would have to be explicit and unambiguous; it would have to allow for the choice of monarch to be denied by super-majority of the citizens; and (I would suggest - though perhaps this is not the place to discuss this) would be re-applied every seven years or when the monarch resigned (abdicated) or died or ceased to be a citizen.

It is up to this current tranche of citizens to make, and largely agree upon, the succession rule.  Future "generations of citizens" could also do what we are now (in our freedom) talking about doing.

"Talossa is free" is not the same as "Talossa is unchangeable" - Freedom is stability: Fettered Stasis is not.

((sound of tumbleweed blowing past))

A TalossaCézembre would be great for us Europeans... though Cézembre itself is a little inaccessible (and expensive). London (or its environs) would be a good alternative? And I would be there (provided an 85 year old can get there!).

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on April 11, 2024, 09:17:54 PMI'll be lucky if I'm still alive in 2029 LOL

Join the club!!! (age 78)

There is another definition of seniority: the order could be in descending order of *physical* age (which you cannot change and cannot cheat!) for all who have been citizens *continuously* for at least X years. (X might be five or ten or seven or whatever is decided to be best).

I, personally, have to be a bit cautious in suggesting this as (I think) I am the *physically* oldest still here in Talossa... I was born in 1945... perhaps I would be the zeroth, not first, choice <grin>

Links to novel and photographs from Novel Cezembre

To those who celebrate the Equinoctial New year - Happy Nowruz!!

Actually - Happy Nowruz to all of you!

Quote from: xpb on March 18, 2024, 07:17:53 PM....

For the dead tree version, which I prefer...
Do you receive a higher royalty if purchased from Lulu?  It is at a lower price on Amazon.

I suspect both Amazon and Waterstones have the wrong link - I think they have a link to a slightly earlier draft. And I do get a larger royalty if you get it (them!) direct from Lulu. The dead tree version's cover has  two photographs taken by me (... not that that's any reason for getting it!).

I have just published a novel - fiction, sort-of-science-fiction, surreal, abstract - and (I hope) rather funny.
If you want to look at it, it's available at (paperback): Unremembered Future   
ebook at: Unremembered Future (ebook)

Other works include:

A children's novel (paperback): Emerald Pie (ebook): Emerald Pie (ebook)
Teaching stories (for children) (paperback) The Carpenter's Carpet
Pantomime "Aladdin" (paperback) A Lad in Knaphill. and his Magic Lamp
Pantomime: "Cinderella" (paperback) Cinderella - and her Bearded Sisters
Poetry (Talossan and other) (paperback): Poesie

Enjoy!

I am slightly disappointed at the "maximum age 75" suggestion - I am 78. I know that there is no maximum age for being Pope, nor (I believe) for the President of the USA... The (late lamented) Queen Elizabeth II was 96 years old, and still actively performing her royal duties up to the week she died. Surely Talossa should not be so much more restrictive than these important posts elsewhere?

Perhaps we could create the Talossan equivalent of GNU, which - maybe - we would post as a message once every month, adding more names as they become (sadly) relevant.  The circuit of recipients, round which the message would flow, would start at the Monarch, pass through each of the major administrative offices, and once through each region, and return to the Monarch for the next round. Our signal would, of course, have to be in El Glheþ, and I have insufficient knowledge to be of use in this choice: perhaps BNR for Beric'tår Non-Recordar Repaxhar? (though I've probably got every word wrong there).

Difficult problems are not insurmountable. 

Yes, we would (will!) not know about some Talossan deaths - but we could consider some suggestions.  For example, I have an email address (idkk@idkk.com) and I, personally, am reasonably prompt about responding to questions in my inbox.  In my individual case, therefore, it might be reasonable to send me a string of e-mails - once a week for three months - and if there is no response you can assume that I have passed on.  We can think of other techniques of probing for information about other "missing citizens" (we are an inventive group).  Of course we will have errors here too, but possibly in the other direction.

The system does not have to be perfect, but "good enough": good enough to honour those about who's deaths we are certain, and good enough to show our citizens (and prospective citizens) that Talossa really cares about its people - that Talossa never abandons you.

When I die I want to still be a Talossan.  So clearly I must interact sufficiently with the realm – still be in contact with it.

But the words "When I die I still want to be a Talossan" have another, deeper, meaning.  When I have died I still want to be a Talossan, even though I cannot then interact with it.  Outside of Talossa I am also a citizen of Ireland.  When I die I shall be a "deceased citizen of Ireland" – my Irishness is not taken away from me at my death, I will still be Irish.  Many, many realms on Earth are like that – death does not change your nationality.  Why cannot Talossa be like that too?

Yes – I have heard various off the cuff statements about our already having degrees of citizenship – so get on with it Ian, and stop complaining.  What already exists cannot be changed.  So there.

But wait – we already honour our citizens with marks of status, and labels of quality of achievement in this or that.  Why not also bestow upon a deceased citizen a formal title like "LDT" (Loyal Deceased Talossan) or "HIT" (Honoured In Talossa) – it's up to someone who knows our language in detail to produce the right term, the right letters.  And someone who is "HIT" (or whatever we choose) will no longer be obligated to respond to a census or vote at an election – that will not (cannot!) be counted against him or her.

Come on, lads and lasses – let's discuss this and create legislation to implement it.

Cosa: FREEDEMS
Senate: FREEDEMS

Referendum: Present

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on September 13, 2023, 01:40:10 PMI feel like Flatland was fun, but when I tried to guess at how our reality might correspond to a fourth-dimensional being, my brain became a noodle.

Flatland is one of the stories (? essays? allegories?) that kindled my love of mathematics. When I was 13 I could not grasp multi-dimensions - but by the time I was 15 I could easily visualise up to five dimensions ... and now (with a degree in mathematics from UCL) I can grasp the idea of spaces with many, many dimensions - but I do not "visualise" them any more - they have become more abstract - and so much more powerful. If you really want a noodle brain <grin> then you should (try to) read some of my draft papers covering the mathematical structure in the physics of the first 600 seconds of the universe...