If I may, I'd like to begin by quoting the recent joint statement.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on Yesterday at 04:48:23 PMThis statement has been approved by the leaders of both the ¡Avant! Coalition and the Progressive Alliance.

When antisocial behaviour is tolerated, the victims of antisocial behavior are effectively excluded. If our patriotic goal is a large and vibrant Talossa, behaviour which drives other people out of participation (or out of citizenship) is unpatriotic. This goes for all forms of harassment, sexually-tinged or otherwise.

Creating a hostile environment in Talossa, where not only the target of the behaviour but others watching it feel icky and alienated, must be sanctioned. The threshold for criminal harassment (El Lexhatx A.7.1.2) is high and should remain high. However, there must be a ladder of escalation. There should be informal, or social, sanctions for such behaviour before it escalates to the criminal level. This is a call for serious enforcement of Wittiquette rule 8: "Don't be a troll or otherwise post in a way that is intended solely to annoy people or infuriate them." (https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=125.0)

In previous years, effective moderation of Wittenberg was hampered when the targets of moderation made a claim to either "free speech" or "political bias". In a country like Talossa, where more than half the active population are political figures, it is far too easy to politicise basic requests for human decency. This is why a cross-party political agreement of forces representing a supermajority of Talossans is necessary so that this does not happen again.

Therefore:

1) we support strong moderation of Wittenberg to enforce Wittiquette Rule 8 when it comes to sexual harassment, even when it doesn't rise to a criminal level; we have confidence in the Chancery and its appointed agents to do so fairly, and we will back their decisions.

2) we pledge non-cooperation with and informal boycotts of serial harassers whose behaviour does not (yet) rise to the level of criminal activity; to end when such offenders convincingly change their ways.

3) we will likewise support similar measures following such behaviour on the part of any signatories of this declaration, or any members of their parties or their allies.

4) we will open a broader debate on how to deal with trolling, cruelty, and creating a toxic environment in Talossa.

I have asked for the creation of this board to begin the broader debate on trolling, cruelty, and creating a toxic environment in Talossa.  This is an important issue, since it exists at the intersection of free speech and the safety of the public commons.

Talossa is a mostly online experience, these days, although hopefully that won't always be true.  Accordingly, it is uniquely vulnerable to government intrusion on free speech.  Some of you may know that I am a political activist in my other country, as well, and we run frequent protests, stand-ins, and other activities (especially lately).  It would be impossible to engage in these physical forms of protest in Talossa, since speech is so central to our experience.

But we also cannot allow trolling and toxic behavior to drive away potential immigrants or target current citizens, since both of these groups -- and our public commons -- deserve protection.

D:na Seneschal, do you have an agenda in mind?

This is our public noticeboard, where we post information, perspectives, and advertisements.  Our political party is most known for several key facts:

• We were the first Talossans on the moon.  We claimed the Sea of Tranquility for the Kingdom of Talossa, and it has been subsequently renamed the Ocean of Dissonant Noise.  This was done out of sheer spite.
• After an initial 1000% tariff on Talossan goods, we engaged in extensive negotiations with the American president.  We also bribed him with twenty louise and some hard candy we found in our pocket.  He withdrew all of the tariffs.
• Progressive Alliance members ("Progs" for short) are not monotremes.
• Following a war of conquest throughout mainland France, a Progressive Alliance army successfully annexed Marine Le Pen's backyard in Millas.  We aren't sure what we're going to do with it, but for now we're just blaring Rick Astley from big speakers on repeat.
• No member of the Progressive Alliance has ever lied.

Infotecă is the information hub of the Kingdom of Talossa.  It hosts a great deal of useful data:

• Immigration.  Month-by-month statistics on the number of people who have applied to immigrate as well as successful naturalizations are compiled on Infotecă.  This lets us know the impact of public policy decisions on our national image.  It also warns us when there's problems with the immigration process.  Last term, the entire immigration system was broken, and there were zero immigration applications for four months.  This fact couldn't be overlooked or hidden, since immigration statistics are compiled together and made public.
• Budget and Expenditures.  The amount of money budgeted by the Government and the amount they actually spend are published on Infotecă.  This is the public treasury, held in trust for the citizens of Talossa.  They deserve to know how much of their money is being spent every term.
• Wittenberg Usage.  There are many ways in which Talossans communicate, but the most important one is our national webforum, Wittenberg.  The number of threads created every month and the number of replies are useful information.  They reflect -- at least partially -- the energy and depth of conversation happening in our little country.
• Population and Voting.  The periodic snapshot of our citizenry that's taken every election is incredibly useful.  How big is Talossa?  How engaged are its citizens?  The size of our country and the percentage who bothered to vote can tell us a lot, and provides a wonderful historical perspective.

For months now,  as of this posting, the Government has not bothered to update this information.  They probably aren't trying to hide anything from the people, but neglect isn't good, either.  It takes only a few minutes to update everything -- it's a simple matter of copying and pasting, and detailed directions are available.  There's just no excuse.

The Opposition does not agree with this state of affairs, and we pledge to try to rectify it.  We will find out what is going on, and try to ensure it doesn't continue.

The Progressive Alliance will update and support Infotecă.  We believe in transparency: the people have a right to know.

Okay, still not done with this one.  I have several times looked at my undone chart of pluralizations and then closed it again.  But it's mostly done, and hopefully in the next few days I'll get the motivation to grind through sorting out this chapter in my book into a useable reference table.

https://talossan.net/lesson-three/

WHEREAS we have to have some standards around here, and

WHEREAS there's only so much we can tolerate as a nation of good taste and decorum, and

WHEREAS our laws should reflect our values,

THEREFORE the Ziu hereby decrees that Article VIII of the Organic Law shall have a new Section 7, which shall read:

QuoteExpressing a fondness or even a vague tolerance for the music of Canadian rock band Nickelback shall be grounds for immediate impeachment from the Cort.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Alexandreu Davinescu (MC-PROG)

Okay, now that we have this private party board set up, let's discuss the evil plan we have been working on.

We're going to need to drop in from the air ducts. We will need to have the body double ready to go, and we will lower him in. He's ready to take over as soon as we get the real King out of there.

This is a fairly easy question, but I find myself stumped.  Can anyone point me to the legal provisions governing how many seats an MC can hold?

Estimat Túischac'h,

As the Ziu knows, I do not make a practice of frivolous terpelaziuns.  I see little point in make-work inquiries that ask empty questions and accept empty answers.  Instead, parliamentary questions should be used for serious oversight of our elected Government.  And I have a concern that is suitably serious.

It has come to my attention that official government records are falling out of date. Infotecă has not been updated in months.  This has become the central hub for important information about our government: how much we're interacting, how many people are voting, how immigration is going, and how much money we're spending.  The Talossan people deserve to know this information.  It shouldn't be hidden from them in obscurity.

My question, then, is this: has there been a change in Government policy to abandon our records, or was this only an oversight -- an oversight that will not be repeated in the future?

High and mighty Wittmeister, would you please create a party forum for the Progressive Alliance?

WHEREAS the government of the State of Wisconsin in the United States of America has openly declared its intention to burn a substantial portion of the province of Maritiimi-Maxhestic, specifically Lakeshore Park, and

WHEREAS this arson will be further accompanied by the forcible seizure of the same territory, violating Talossan sovereignty, and

WHEREAS at no point has the State of Wisconsin or the federal government of the United States engaged in any treaty which would permit such outrages, nor have they obtained the prior agreement of His Majesty's Government, and accordingly such conduct constitutes an act of aggression that must not be permitted, and

WHEREAS under the current circumstances, there's a good chance that during any conflict the American Secretary of Defense will accidentally text us their plans, giving us a substantial advantage,

THEREFORE it is declared that a state of war now exists between the Kingdom of Talossa and the United States.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Alexandreu Davinescu (MC-PROG)

Okay, so the second lesson is sorted: https://talossan.net/lesson-two/

I plan on adding more practice problems, like I did already with the first lesson (https://talossan.net/lesson-one/), but want to make sure I'm not on the wrong track.  I had to write this one without my book, so I'm less confident.  @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP , anywhere I went wrong?

WHEREAS the judicial tenure section of the law is long and appears mostly pointless, and also it's weird to have these elaborate requirements for how we're supposed to address retired magistrates, and we should have simpler laws when we can, and

WHEREAS if these are bringing anyone real joy through their use, please just say so and we can keep them,

THEREFORE, section 11 of Title G, which currently reads:

Quote11. Judicial Tenure.
Judges of the Uppermost Cort[121] and of any inferior court may retire through voluntary leave of office. This shall be accomplished through submitting a letter of retirement to the King. The retirement shall take effect immediately upon confirmed receipt by the King or an authorized representative.
11.1. Uppermost Cort Judges may be compelled to retire through organic removal from office through an act of the Ziu in accordance with Article VIII of the Organic Law. In accordance with the appropriate section, the inactivity of a Justice is defined as the failure of that Justice to act, rule, or appear in an open case the Justice is assigned to or participating in for more than 60 days, as certified by the Ziu in a majority vote.
11.1.1 A Justice of the Cort pü Inalt shall be declared inactive, and to have vacated their seat, within the meaning of Organic Law VIII, if the Clerk of the Corts, contacting the members of the CpI to assign a case as described in this title, is unable to contact that Justice or does not receive any response to their enquiries, within 30 days.
11.2. Retired Judges or Magistrates shall enjoy the style "Honourable Mister/Madame" for life in commemoration of their service to the Nation, and may utilize the title "Retired Judge/Magistrate."
11.3. Retired status will be honorary in nature and shall not confer any authority or responsibility within any Talossan Court or the National Talossan Bar or over its members, students or associates. Neither shall these titles, in and of themselves, confer membership in the National Talossan Bar enabling the holder to engage in the practice of law.
11.4. Retired status can be revoked only in the event of a conviction by a Talossan Court for misconduct while serving in a judicial capacity. In the event of such conviction, revocation of retirement privileges shall be contained as part of the sentencing order. Retired status can also be revoked by the Ziu through majority vote, without needing to go through committee, and approval by the Monarch. Such legislative action can be taken only after the retiree has been convicted by a Talossan Court for misconduct while serving in a judicial capacity and only after all appeals have been exhausted.
11.5. Retired status will also be revoked in the event the retiree shall be convicted of a felony by any Court of the Realm. Felony convictions by a provincial court shall be forwarded to the Minister of Justice for review. If cause for revocation of retirement status is found based upon the nature of the conviction, the Minister of Justice shall propose or cause to be proposed a measure of the Ziu to revoke any and all privileges of retirement from the accused, after all appeals have been exhausted.
11.6. Retired status shall be considered waived if a retired Justice, Judge or Magistrate resigns their citizenship and shall be considered revoked if the retiree has their citizenship terminated by a Court of the Realm.
11.7 Every person appointed a judge to the Uppermost Cort[121] of Talossa shall publicly make to the Citizens of Talossa and subscribe to the following declaration within 10 days of such appointment:
I, [NAME], do solemnly, sincerely and truly affirm and declare that I will duly, faithfully and to the best of my knowledge and ability execute the office of Judge of El Cort pü Inalt without fear or favour, affection or ill will towards any man, woman or child and that I will uphold the Organic Law and the laws of the Kingdom of Talossa. This I do solemnly affirm.

is replaced in its entirety with the following text:

Quote11.1.  Uppermost Cort Judges may be compelled to retire through organic removal from office through an act of the Ziu in accordance with Article VIII of the Organic Law. In accordance with the appropriate section, the inactivity of a Justice is defined as the failure of that Justice to act, rule, or appear in an open case the Justice is assigned to or participating in for more than 60 days, as certified by the Ziu in a majority vote.
11.2. Every person appointed a judge to the Uppermost Cort[121] of Talossa shall publicly make to the Citizens of Talossa and subscribe to the following declaration within 10 days of such appointment:
I, [NAME], do solemnly, sincerely and truly affirm and declare that I will duly, faithfully and to the best of my knowledge and ability execute the office of Judge of El Cort pü Inalt without fear or favour, affection or ill will towards any man, woman or child and that I will uphold the Organic Law and the laws of the Kingdom of Talossa. This I do solemnly affirm.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Alexandreu Davinescu (MC-PROG)

Estimat Tuischac'h:

I write to ask when the Seneschal will be addressing the nation with regards to the recent catastrophe with immigration.

For months, there have been zero immigrants and zero applicants.  This is obviously an existential crisis for the country.  Fewer people means no new interest, no new word-of-mouth spread or new ideas, and no new energy.

This fact still doesn't seem to bother the Government.  They were aware of this, with the Seneschal saying that she knew that "immigration pipeline has closed off altogether," but it seems that our elected leaders simply don't care very much about the problem.  When asked to prioritize this problem like the crisis that it is, the Seneschal snarked only that she couldn't, since she'd be criticized for doing so.  This is bizarre.

After I spoke up and demanded answers, the Government finally deigned to look into the problem, and the Seneschal discovered that the immigration form had simply stopped forwarding applications completely.  It's been a couple of days, and we haven't heard anything further.  It is unclear if this has been fixed.  It is unclear why the Seneschal failed so completely on this essential component of governance.  It is unclear if the Government even cares about any of this at all, unless someone is making them care with terpelaziuns.

Why did it take sharp prodding to get the Government to spend a few minutes investigating this problem?  Why wasn't this treated like the all-hands-on-deck crisis that it is?

This Government has failed the people through its negligence.  The citizens of the Kingdom of Talossa deserve to know why they have failed, and how they will fix the situation.

So essentially the database is one giant complicated system, and our main problem is that we can't really manipulate it to do what we want.  This means that we are increasingly using kludges and occasionally ask for emergency help from someone without enough time to really get involved that much.  To anyone familiar with government software, this is actually a very familiar story!

Now, I propose we engage in a traditional approach from many governments:
1. First, a fact-finding panel composed of twenty-three people in various interest groups, split fairly closely by partisan lean, who will travel to Gstaad for a two-week retreat in order to come up with the process by which we will decide on the next steps for the

Well, actually, let's start by breaking down the use of the database:

• Records
• Voting
• Legislating

The immediate problem is that it's really hard to design a whole new system to do these things without a ton of technical knowledge, and even if we did do that, we'd just be stuck with another giant complicated system that will get gummed-up in short order.  There's no way to make a big complicated thing that isn't big and complicated.

The solution is that we shouldn't be trying to do everything all with the same system.  We should be using different systems for each task.

The obvious objection is that this would make the Chancery an incredibly difficult and exhausting position that no one would ever want.  But aside from the fact that this is already true right now, it's also not correct.  Since even though we have different systems, we can still use the same simple tools to make it work: spreadsheets.

Spreadsheets are essentially just very accessible databases, available to everyone.  They're incredibly low-maintenance, incredibly transparent, and incredibly versatile.  You can pipe the information from a spreadsheet to all kinds of fancy purposes, including glitzy front-ends to present the data in a pretty way.  And if we use a few tricks, we can make them work for these purposes.

Now, obviously we don't want the Chancery in charge of just manually updating everything all of the time.  That'd get very onerous.  I'd suggest that using different implementations of Google Forms is the best approach.  Google Forms can be embedded into webpages, so that we can have a Chancery webpage for Ziu votes.  A member of the Ziu is issued a code for their votes, and then when they want to vote on the Clark, they go to a page and enter their votes for each bill, and then enter their code.  The spreadsheet is programmed with any of a number of relatively simple formulas to match codes up (or reject them) and the results are automatically tabulated on the sheet, and simultaneously automatically transcribed elsewhere for display.

The devil will be in the details, but I think that this will be a system that anyone can learn to manage and most could learn to modify and improve.  And what's more, this would be something that others could make even better -- I'm just a teacher, and so think about what someone who knows more about spreadsheets could do! -- and could build on.

So right now, that's where I'm at.  One big word: "spreadsheets," with hours of thinking and figuring to do.  But updating Infotecă with all of its information takes only about a minute per month... I bet a clever system of automated spreadsheets and forms would at least take no longer than we currently spend on this stuff.

@Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB , the TNC has folded up shop at this point.  Please remove the moderators of the public and private forums, and remove access for everyone to the private forum.  I don't know what to suggest about the public forum -- maybe archive it to avoid clutter?

First of all, I want to change the nomenclature of the Clerk's office to be Clarqeu da Corts, which is I think the appropriate translation.  So I want to make that change throughout.

Secondly, since service is usually possible by the Clerk directly through private message, and I just realized I've been cutting out a step accidentally and we should formalize that:

10.1. The Secretary of State shall accept service of any complaints or claims to the Cort pü Inalt or General Cort of Talossa on behalf of all citizens. The Secretary of State shall email notice of said complaints or claims to the concerned citizen and affirm to the Cort that they did so on that date (the "date of service").

shall be amended to

10.1. The Secretary of State shall accept service of any complaints or claims to the Cort pü Inalt or General Cort of Talossa on behalf of all citizens, on request of the Clarqeu da Corts. The Secretary of State shall email notice of said complaints or claims to the concerned citizen and affirm to the Cort that they did so on that date (the "date of service").

Thirdly, I think I have implicit authority to specify the rough form for petitions, but just to make it clear:

4.11.  The Clarqeu da Corts may publish guidelines as to the appropriate forms for filing petitions before the Corts, and may reject petitions which fail to abide by these guidelines.  Such guidelines will be entirely subordinate and subject to the oversight and amendment of the Cort pü Inalt.

Fourthly, we need some civil suit protections.  The law has a lot of stuff about criminal suits, but we need a similar section for civil suits.  I'll get to that ASAP.

WHEREAS it has been more than a fortnight since Bentxamì Puntmasleu (@Ben Hershlim) 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, 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

WHEREAS he will certainly spice up and enrich our Talossan culture,

THEREFORE I, Alexandreu Davinescu, Baron Davinescu del Vilatx Freiric del Vilatx Freiric, a citizen in good standing of the Most Magnificent Province of Maritiimi-Maxhestic and of the Kingdom of Talossa, do by the present petition the Secretary of State @Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB to issue a grant of citizenship to Bentxamì Puntmasleu, as specified by law.

The mighty Kwisatz-Haderach of Elections, @Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB , does not want people chatting on the official thread. So here is a thread to discuss the election as it starts to unfold tomorrow morning.

Elections are always so special, and often get really weird in our funny little country. Small parties turn out to have surprising reach, or coalitions morph dramatically with the change of a few votes.

Another one is upon us! Zooks!

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


The Ministrà dal Xhusticiă is currently seeking a Grefieir d'Abbavilla.  In this role, you would maintain L'Anuntzia dels Legeux and the Organic Law.  Basically, you just look at the laws that pass and edit the wiki pages to reflect the changes.  It's an important role, but it doesn't require much work.  The only requirements are a small amount of available time, the willingness to serve your country, and some slight familiarity with the law's formatting and customs.  You will always be able to consult with the Avocat-Xheneral's office if you're confused or unsure about something, and an experienced and brilliant deputy ( @Sir Lüc ) who can help you get started.

Anyone who is interested should reply here or PM me.

---

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


As Avocat-Xheneral and on behalf of the Ministrà dal Xhusticiă, I am saddened to have to officially request the dismissal of the Grefieir d'Abbavilla, Üc R. Tärfâ, pursuant to the provisions of el Lexhatx  (Lexh.C.3.2).