Quote from: Sir Lüc on August 10, 2026, 04:47:21 PMWe're seemingly deciding that it is acceptable to kick the can down the road and submit to the citizenry an amendment whose effects we are effectively agreeing to settle after the election.

This is the outcome of rushed legislation that was required to get a 2/3 majority consensus before a hard deadline. And this is also why we need a professional, full-time civil servant to proofread legislation. However: there is no dispute over what RZ26 does, only the point at which it happens. Assuming there are no snap elections, by February it won't matter.

My preference is for 2, because we have already seen in this campaign that a summary of the effects of an Amendment might be disputed.

We, the members of the Union of Free Reformists, the Party of Talossan Democracy, in order to not only safeguard Talossa's fragile democracy, but strengthen it, hereby formally adopt the Democracy Agenda. This package of reforms will bolster the democratic nature of Talossan government, granting actions taken by the state even greater legitimacy. It is intended to show the Talossan people, in plain terms, our intentions in both this Cosă session and in future sessions, particularly those in which they see fit to grant us a Cosă majority.

• Cosă Size: With the passage of 62RZ09, the Democracy Agenda has already succeeded in right-sizing the Cosă to 20 seats. The URL's aim here going forward will be to defend this change, and prevent future Cosă sessions from undoing it.
• Electoral Method Reform: In the interest of lessening the power of party bosses, increasing the power of the voters, and improving the ability to hold individual MCs accountable, the URL supports transition to a form of personalized proportional representation -- any method that combines proportional representation for parties with voter control over which candidates actually receive Cosă seats. We support further debate on the specific method to be adopted.
• Party List Reform #1: The URL supports legislation to prioritize party lists, ensuring that "off-list" candidates can only receive seats if no "on-list" candidates are eligible, in order to improve transparency and allow voters to better judge the intentions of the parties on the ballot.
• Party List Reform #2: The URL supports legislation requiring candidates to confirm with the Chancery their consent to appearing on a party list, in an effort to further lessen the power of party bosses.
• Upper House Reform: Taking into account Talossa's unitary nature and the requirements of responsible government, the URL supports the transition of the Senäts' role to that of a "house of review" in the vein of the British House of Lords, the Canadian Senate, or the Japanese House of Councillors. This reform will retain Senators' ability to critique and improve legislation on behalf of their province's citizens, including a veto on Organic amendments, but will allow the Cosă to insist on its decision on standard legislation if there is sufficient democratic support.
• Public Ballot Reform: The secret ballot is one of the cornerstones of free and fair elections. We support the continued right of Talossans to publicly declare their electoral choices, but believe the polling process on Wittenberg should be reformed so that public ballots are only published after polls close.
• Parliamentary Reform: The URL supports codifying and strengthening the powers of the Tuischac'h and Mençei to allow them to better maintain order and enforce parliamentary procedure within their respective chambers.
• Royal Veto Reform: The URL supports reforming the power of the Crown to veto legislation. This would involve a "suspensory" veto, in which the Crown's veto still serves as an opportunity for the Ziu to reconsider legislation, but can be overriden by a simple majority of both houses. In parallel to this, we support reworking advisory opinions to allow the King to consult with the CpI on a bill's organic Compliance.
• Reform Org.XII.4: This organic provision makes some parts of the OrgLaw almost impossible to amend, anchoring the country in ways that are not justifiable in a democratic nation. The OrgLaw already has a rigorous amendment process for normal amendments; there is no good reason to have such onerous additional requirements.

The Progressive Alliance have named three priorities for government in the 63rd Cosa: embassies; maps; and shifting focus from Wittenberg to Discord (? not sure I've got this right).

I can't personally say any of these grab me and I actually might not support the last one. But they're certainly projects worth exploring.

But, if you like these ideas, don't re-elect the Progs to lead the next government.

As our own Seneschal candidate, @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be , has ably demonstrated, the Progs dropped the ball on at least 70% of their programme in the last Cosa. This is not, I feel, due to any fault in that party - except the fact that Baron Alexandreu Davinescu does most of the work for them, and he has his limits.

Baron Davinescu is a good Talossan, but he is not five good Talossans.

Under a Union of Free Reformists government, Baron Davinescu will be free to pursue passion projects like this - to the extent that they don't contradict the agenda of a Union government. Creating maps and embassies seems to come under the remit of the Directorate of STUFF; if the current incumbent of that office becomes Seneschal, maybe the Baron could take over?

A vote for a Union Government is not only for a Team Government, but a team government which doesn't play partisan games. For a team approach - but also for the Democracy Agenda and for a targeted immigration policy - vote URL.

That Union of Free Reformists list in full:

• @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be *
• @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC
• @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP *
• @Tåltind Furxheir
• @Barclamïu da Miéletz
• @mpf
• @Eðo Grischun *
• @Iason Taiwos
• @Iac Moritzescu

* = also running for Senäts

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on August 04, 2026, 04:59:58 PMThanks!  I got it stuck in my head the other way for some reason, and now I keep making that mistake.

You know who originally used to spell it that way? The guy who was its original editor, ESB

I am of the opinion that if we read the amendment in any way other than that the 62nd Cosa will be seated under 62nd Cosa rules, we are in for a world of hurt

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on August 04, 2026, 04:19:57 PML'Chronica

La C'hronică

Miestra Schiva is a candidate for the Praisideu.

50 words:
Fiova has the very best, directly democratic constitution of all the Provinces. It's a tragedy we don't use it more. Give me your (1) vote for leadership, and use your other preferences to choose the Fiovans who most want to DO things.

As Temporary Bogus Fiova SoS, I wish to call upon all citizens who want to be elected to the Praisidïeu to submit their names and 50-word statements in this thread. Can @Sir Lüc please put any that might be posted in this thread on the ballot.

Quote from: Sir Lüc on July 26, 2026, 04:20:23 AMHeh, if Zappa was still alive, he'd be welcome at any Alpini parade to witness how winos don't march, and definitely don't harrass anyone either.

You can't fool me, northern Italy is beer country :D

Quote from: King Txec on July 25, 2026, 12:09:47 AM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on July 24, 2026, 11:47:03 PMThis is an ironic conversation, because Zappa's book contains a chapter in which he discusses a theory that beer (as opposed to other forms of alcohol) somehow causes "violent male bonding". In his own idiom: "whiskey might make you want to kill your girlfriend, but beer makes you want to do it with your buddies watching".

I love a good scotch but it's never made me want to kill anything :-)

-Txec R

Quote from: Zappa, same sourceConsumption of (beer) leeds to pseudo-military behavior. Think about it - winos don't march. Whiskey guys don't march either (sometimes they write poetry, which is often more horrible, though).

This is an ironic conversation, because Zappa's book contains a chapter in which he discusses a theory that beer (as opposed to other forms of alcohol) somehow causes "violent male bonding". In his own idiom: "whiskey might make you want to kill your girlfriend, but beer makes you want to do it with your buddies watching".

Anyone out there looking for a TL;DR: the Prog minority government made some bad calls due to excessive partisan antipathy, which led to them bring less-qualified people into posts of responsibility. The next Union-led government will strive to put policy and competence over "team sports".

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on July 17, 2026, 09:49:07 AM@Crement Itravilatx has nominated himself as new party leader. With no other nominations before the deadline we have now moved toward a question period from members.

Our sincere commiserations to Talossa's equivalent of Lurleen Wallace.

The decision of a sex pest unanimously condemned by the Ziu, to pretend to quit politics but in fact hide behind his husband as a stalking-horse, might just be cunning enough to fool the low-info voters on which elections sadly hinge.

Quote from: Tierçéu Rôibeardescù on July 13, 2026, 04:26:03 PM"They are trying desperately to avoid an heir to the throne."

HAHAHAHA KR1 later divorced his Queen for being "slovenly and frigid", so, hmmm, successful avoidance

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on July 13, 2026, 02:22:04 AMTalossa has been online for so long that not only did we probably have a website with a good Frutiger Aero look when it was the norm, we probably had something even older-looking, haha

Behold - in its glory - Talossa's national website as of March 1999.

Note that this was when Sir Tamoran dal Nava, was Seneschal, and KR1's favourite person, before KR1 rewrote the history Big Brother style to turn him into a monster.

An oldie but a goodie - from a ZRT election campaign 14 years ago

Quote from: Iason Taiwos on July 03, 2026, 04:49:22 PMWe don't have any Irish Talossans, do we? I discovered hurling last year,

I've played both Gaelic football and camogie, the women's version of hurling. Not very good at the latter, too much running