Good evening all! The Directorate of STUFF, an office of the Royal Civil Service, is pleased to announce the formal re-opening of our TalossaWare store.

The last several weeks have been spent going back-and-forth with Printify's support staff regarding a few technical issues -- several of which were solved using the tried-and-true "turn it off and then on again" method -- followed by bringing the design of several of our products up-to-date with the current official depictions of the national arms, etc. I have purchased one of the simple round flag stickers as a test run; it arrived fairly quickly from Illinois (production location is dependent on your location) and seems to be of good quality! I look forward to putting it on my Super Cub's fairing to carry a little piece of Talossa with me wherever I ride.

I should note that there are a few items that were previously listed for sale in our store that were removed via the reactivation, including Bicoloreu-branded t-shirts. I have not yet re-introduced these, but if someone expresses interest, it's a fairly straightforward process to add things to our catalog now that they are publishing properly.

I would also like to give a heads-up that our citizens in the European Union may still run into some difficulties ordering; there are some extra hoops we need to jump through that I will be looking into in the next week or so in order to ease the European sales process.

Happy shopping!

Azul all! As Talossa prepares to wrap up the second season of our fantasy hockey league, it seems fair to assert that ice hockey has become one of our more popular national sports (after cycling and of course Talossan football).

But what about playing it a bit more immersively, instead of just numbers and stats on a screen? There's a game for that. It's called Puck, and it's free on Steam.

It's pretty straightforward: first-person view, you use WASD to move around, and your mouse controls your stick. It's the finessing that makes it tough. You can play a private practice session on your own computer, or hop in to someone's server to get some experience. I would definitely recommend practicing shooting a bit if you want to be accurate. On the other hand, if we're all roughly equally bad, then the games should be entertainingly close, right?


I was thinking we could try and do a game of 3-on-3. Maybe if we get really lucky, there could be a three-team round-robin deal? It depends on when people are free and how many are interested. This is just to gauge initial interest, put a feeler out there.

Yesterday, the Comità of the URL was informed by Baron Davinescu that one of his party's members had broosked a prospective immigrant by providing them with a biased description of the Progressive Alliance. While it is certainly fair to chalk this up to the inexperience of the member in question and their ignorance of Talossan ethical norms, it does provide a clear example of the obsessive partisanship which has become increasingly present throughout the country.

While we in the URL believe in a Talossan political scene in which open, honest debate on principles, methods, and goals should be welcomed and encouraged, excessive partisanship can easily corrode such an atmosphere. This incident provides yet another argument for a more personalized, less-partisan form of politics, which we will continue to strive for.

Estimat Tuischac'h,

I rise this evening with a question for the Minister for Foreign Affairs, @xpb . I had initially posed this question to the Minister, represented by the Seneschal, at the Informal Session. However, as the Seneschal admitted he would not be able to accurately account for his Minister in this case, he recommended I pose the question to the Minister directly in order to get an answer. Therefore:

The 2026 eSports Games, an event of the Micronational Olympics Federation, recently began competition. The event features competition in multiple events, including Battleship, Chess, Uno, Pac-Man, and a "National Pride" event reminiscent of the former Olympic art competitions.

I will give fair warning, as I did at the Informal Session, that this question is a two-parter, but the first question is very simply: was the Minister aware of this event?

Estimats cünpartizaes,

As most of you are aware, the aftermath of the last election was a bit of a blessing in disguise, as it showed that the URL is the Party of Talossan Democracy. With this better-defined identity in mind, we have set about over the first half of this term working to define just what a more democratic Talossa would look like in order to know what paths we should prioritize and the directions in which we would like to move as a united party. To that end, I submit to you now that agenda for the Party's endorsement.

The following is something that I have drafted based on the summary of ideas in this post, but is still ultimately open to amendment, as I cannot singularly speak for the party as a whole. As a result, all items are currently open to proposed amendments to their wording (including re-arranging them in a different order to show our priorities). Once our Convention prepares to adjourn, we will move to adoption of each item as it then exists.

Quote

LAS TOCĂS DEMOCRÄTICI DA L'URL

THE DEMOCRACY AGENDA OF THE URL

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.

Given that there has been some internal discussion over the past few months regarding possible amendments to the Party Constituziun, I hereby open the floor to any such proposals.

For example, I believe @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC has stated a desire to reform the endorsement process for Senäts candidates found in Article III, Section H?

Good evening, fellow Talossans!

The Directorate of STUFF, an office of the Royal Civil Service, is pleased to announce that we are accepting requests for Talossan identification cards.

Here's how the process works:

• Take the Civics Test. This is an open-book quiz on Talossan knowledge, which I have just combed through in the last few days to make sure it's up to date on factual accuracy. You need to get 75% right to earn a passing grade.
• Fill out the Application Form. Please be assured that all information collected as part of this process is deleted after receipt of the ID by the applicant, for data protection.
• Once you've passed the Civics Test and gotten your Application submitted, I'll reach out via PM here on Witt just to confirm that everything looks good.
• The best part is that you will receive your own Talossan ID! The second best part is, you don't need to pay for it!

I will be closing applications when one of two criteria is met:

• Applications will close no later than Wednesday, 1 April.
• Applications may close sooner if I receive nine valid applications. Nine IDs are what fit on one sheet at the printer, so it makes sense to try and maximize an order if possible.

Just in case it needs to be clarified, macronational authorites will not recognize these, so we do not recommend using them as a valid form of identification when it really counts.

Current applications: 3 of 9
(The first one has been waiting on their ID for a bit, ideally they don't renounce partway through this time :P )

I'll be putting up a tracker spreadsheet similar to the previous one, sometime during March, just whenever I get a good moment.

Azul es benveschti, à toct vaes amíci, cünpartizaes, colegas, es cüncitaxhiens!

Welcome to the second Party Convention of the Union of Free Reformists. Once per Cosă term, our party gathers to publicly conduct its internal debates, assess our platform and organization, and make the case for the nation to entrust to us the privilege to govern Talossa in the next term.

This Cosă term has so far been a tumultuous one for the country at best, though we in the URL have played a critical role in calming the situation. In the chaos following the last election, we saw what can happen when personal feuds and bad blood are allowed to rule the day. But even when others may scold us or prefer to work with extremists than with us, we stand on principle. In this case, the rather fundamental principle that Talossa deserves a stable government instead of chaos. To this end, we kept the door open for negotiations, which led to the announcement of the "passive confidence" deal last month. We in the URL know that collaboration is a more effective path than division, and we put that into practice -- while also practicing sound judgment on who to work with.

In making this deal, we have also gained a valuable victory in our pursuit of a more democratic Talossa. The Pseudo-Real Cosă Act, put forward by our good friend Sir Marcel Tafial, has managed to bring the size of the Cosă down below the size of the entire country's population, transforming it from a parody of a parliament into an institution of sensible representation. This was a change that was shown to be welcome to a wide swath of the Ziu, and it's not the only one. One of our next priorities will be to advocate for a more personalized form of proportional representation. Giving voters better control over who exactly represents them in the Cosă and transferring more power from party bosses to the people has proven to be a change that has received broad support from around the country; people like a democracy which they can hold accountable! Our first victory is something we've managed from Opposition -- now imagine how much good we could bring with a majority!

The Democracy Agenda is of course fantastic, but it is also a more of a legislative focus for our party. What about the executive branch? Let's look a bit at the current state of the nation's government.

As already noted, it's been quite the chaotic environment. The nation's government has already almost collapsed twice since the last election: once before it even took office, and a second time just before the close of the February Clark. Without the URL to come in and provide stability, we'd be preparing for an election right now. Yet behind all the hubbub regarding the government's survival, there's been surprisingly little substance:

• There's been a lot of "busy work", so to speak -- translating the Seneschal's List into Talossan, taking a plank from the URL platform and giving the Zuavs a visual refresh, that sort of thing.
• While this government has finally succeeded in welcoming their first immigrants, we've not yet hit "replacement-level" immigration to recoup lapsed citizens after the last election, much less the "double our population" levels the Seneschal argued for as an alternative to reducing the Ziu to more sensible numbers.
• Particularly egregious is the apparent "stacking" of roles going on in Cabinet. While we've actually argued that some stacking is ok -- smaller roles makes for more of them, so it makes sense to have people with multiple titles -- what we're seeing is more of "government by one". The Seneschal has himself noted that the proportion of votes for his party to people capable of "doing the work" is unsustainably high - as shown by not only the dormant Cabinet, but the difficulty in getting Government MZs to endorse the "passive confidence" deal on the last Clark.

Substituting one hyperactive politician for a party is not only unsustainable; it's strengthens the argument for "personalized proportional representation" to make sure votes for parties translate into "teams" for government.

Meanwhile, we in the URL don't need to wonder -- there's no central leader who does everything themselves here, either because they want to, or because they need to. We're a team, and we know that the old saying is true: teamwork really does make the dream work. We take this seriously enough that our party has a collective leadership structure, to say nothing of our regular conventions. We're the Party of Talossan Democracy, and we lead by setting an example. And over the next few weeks, we'll be showing everyone how it's done, yet again.

¡Vivadra Talossa democrätic!

WHEREAS, the current definition of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition sometimes leads to ambiguous results; and

WHEREAS, this is an issue that has been building over time, and is worth fixing now; and

WHEREAS, a simple alteration will avoid future ambiguity while remaining easy to understand; then

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, that Title H of El Lexhatx, Section 4.3, which currently reads

QuoteMembers of the Cosâ who (in a given session of the Cosa) have voted NON on the most recent Vote of Confidence, or intend to do so on the next Vote of Confidence, shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short "El Contrapharti / The Opposition". Unless and until the members of the Opposition decide otherwise by majority vote , the "Leader of the Opposition" shall be the leader of the party with the most Cosa seats assigned to MCs who voted NON on the last Vote of Confidence.

is hereby amended to read

QuoteMembers of the Cosă who (in a given session of the Cosă) have not voted Üc on the most recent Vote of Confidence, or do not intend to do so on the next Vote of Confidence, shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short "El Contrapharti / "The Opposition". Unless and until the members of the Opposition decide otherwise by majority vote , the Tanaischteu, known in English as the "Leader of the Opposition", shall be the leader of the party with the most Cosă seats assigned to MCs who did not vote Üc on the last Vote of Confidence.

Ureu q'estadra så,
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC-URL)

Under the provisions of Nimlet Resolution 2026-05, I hereby call to order the Constitutional Reform Committee.

This Committee shall consist of three members:
- Myself as Governor of Florencia, Committee Chair;
- @mximo (Mximo Carbonel), Pastour and Vice-Chair; and
- @Breneir Tzaracomprada , Pastour and Vice-Chair.

Each member shall possess equal voting rights. No other individuals shall be granted a vote, but the Committee may call on representatives from various Talossan organizations for advisory input.

The stated deadline for this Committee's proposed constitutional reforms is the beginning of the Sixth Clark of the 62nd and current Cosa session, which is expected to open on 1 June 2026.

If the Vice-Chairs have any agenda items they wish to see included or any specific areas they wish to address during the course of the Committee's work, the floor is open. I will put forth an agenda on Saturday, 28 February.

WHEREAS, party lists exist to give voters an understanding of who a party intends to assign seats to; and

WHEREAS, parties may assign seats to anyone they wish, within certain criteria; and

WHEREAS, it is reasonable to expect that voters who support a given party list be represented by citizens on that list; and

WHEREAS, honesty and openness of intent should be encouraged in communicating with the electorate; then

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ZIU that Title B, Section 2.3.1.1.2 of El Lexhatx, which currently reads:

Quote2.3.1.1.2. No one who was not named on the list is assigned more seats than any eligible citizen who was named on the list.

is amended to read:

Quote2.3.1.1.2. No person who was not named on the list may be assigned any seats if a person named on the list is eligible for assignment of additional seats, excepting any person who has already lost or resigned seats during the same Cosa session.

FURTHERMORE, nothing in this act shall be construed to affect any seats already assigned at the time of its passage.

Ureu q'estadra så,
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC-URL)

WHEREAS, Talossa ought to be a nation of laws and principles, as opposed to strongmen and personalities; and

WHEREAS, swearing allegiance to a government appears to conflict with a citizen's Organic right to free expression; and

WHEREAS, swearing allegiance to the nation's constitution is more in line with the ideals of liberal democracy; then

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ZIU that Title E, Section 9 of El Lexhatx, which currently reads:

Quote9. The following text shall be known as The Oath of Talossan Citizenship:
   From this day forward, I pledge my loyalty, allegiance, and fidelity to the Kingdom of Talossa and to His Majesty's government. I solemnly affirm that I will support and uphold the Organic Law of the Kingdom of Talossa, defend the realm against all enemies, both foreign and domestic, faithfully observe its laws, respect the rights and freedoms of all my fellow citizens, fulfill all my duties and obligations as a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa, and humbly appreciate the benefits granted unto me by my King, most especially when those benefits take the form of Talossan currency.

shall be replaced in full with:

Quote9. The following text shall be known as The Oath of Talossan Citizenship:
   From this day forward, I pledge my loyalty, allegiance, and fidelity to the Kingdom of Talossa and to its Organic Law. I solemnly affirm that I will respect the rights and freedoms of all my fellow citizens, faithfully observe the nation's laws, defend the realm against all enemies both foreign and domestic, fulfill all my duties and obligations as a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa, and humbly appreciate the benefits granted unto me by my King, most especially when those benefits take the form of Talossan currency.

Ureu q'estadra så,
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC-URL)

Azul à vaes cünpartizaes!

As per the party Consituziun (Article III, Section A), the Union of Free Reformists will be holding its regularly-scheduled Party Convention for the 63rd Cosă during the third Clark, which is scheduled for March. The Comità Esecutorxheu hereby notifies all URL members of our desire that they attend.

TENTATIVE AGENDA:

• Opening Remarks
• Possible amendments to the URL Constitution and Platform -- current text of each can be found on the URL wiki article
• Finalization of the Democracy Agenda
• Registration of caucuses within the URL
• Election of the URL candidate for Seneschal for the 64th Cosă elections
• Election of the next Comità Esecutorxheu (Executive Committee). (Atatürk, Belacostă, Fiovă, and Vuode each have at least three members and are eligible to elect Provincial Chairs to the Comità.)
• Closing remarks

We hope to see you there!

Polls are something I've been meaning to incorporate into TN for a while now. Figured we'd get divisive off the bat. :P

During the recent Informal Session, MC Miestra Schiva posed a Terpelaziun to the Minister of Propaganda, which was answered in his absence by the Seneschal. "Does the Minister now believe that Breneir Tzaracomprada, condemned unanimously by the last Ziu for sexual harassment, is now a fit and proper person for the Ministry of Propaganda to collaborate with?" The Seneschal's response was genuine, but one that we feel reveals a difference of standards between this Government and the Opposition.

Essentially, the Government's position is that it is improper for the Government to refuse to work with any Talossan, regardless of their conduct. Certainly, it would be inappropriate for the Government to refuse to work with someone due to a simple difference of politics, but this is not a difference of politics, this is a rehabilitation that has not yet been earned. The Seneschal himself has agreed that S:reu Tzaracomprada has yet to offer any apology for his conduct that appears genuine. His response went so far as to liken a refusal to publicize S:reu Tzaracomprada's media channel to a refusal to publicize newspapers published by members of the Opposition. The latter would indeed be inappropriate, as it would represent a stifling of the free press. The former, however, is not tied to what S:reu Tzaracomprada believes, or what he says, but the things he has done. It is his actions that have earned him his current status as a pariah, not his views.

The issue comes back around to what the URL has repeatedly identified as the Progressive Alliance's flaw: an inability -- or a refusal -- to separate the personal from the political. This is an important skill to cultivate in politics, and it would be in the interest of the country if more parties were capable of doing so. Criticism of one's actions and views are taken as criticism of character, and this has led to the sort of political atmosphere that is now unfortunately common in Talossa.

This may surprise some, but we feel it would actually be a good thing for Talossa in the long run if S:reu Tzaracomprada were able to rehabilitate his public image. But the first step must come from him -- a genuine apology to his victim. Perhaps a period of "laying low", so to speak, following his apology. Letting time heal wounds. Unfortunately, the usual responses in times like these are blatantly passive-aggressive in tone, complete with smiley emoticons to really drive home that he does not care to redeem himself. Doubling down, as he does, gives us little confidence in his prospects. Continuing to shun him until he considers his actions would be significantly more effective when it extends to government action. Unfortunately, this Government seems content to give him what he wants anyway. The URL recognizes that doing so minimizes the discomfort he has caused his victim, sweeping everything under the rug for the sake of false positivity yet again.

Prior to the Informal Session on Sunday, the URL was approached by the Seneschal with a request. One of our colleagues in the Cosă is facing a dire situation that may prevent them from voting on the Clark entirely this month, and the Seneschal asked for an arrangement to avoid bringing the Government down on the first Clark. URL Secretary @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC suggested pairing, a method where individual legislators, opposed on a given vote, agree to abstain when one of their pair cannot attend the session. In the interest of civility and out of our respect and well-wishes for our absent colleague, the Union of Free Reformists has agreed to offer the Government a pairing arrangement for the January Clark.

• In the short term, we agree that such a request from the Government is very reasonable, given the circumstances.
• Sir @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP has already volunteered to switch his Vote of Confidence to Austaneu on the January Clark; and will be doing so shortly.
• This arrangement will preserve the margin by which this month's VoC would have been expected to pass.

The URL would like to send our best wishes to our absent colleague.

Mic'haglh Autófil
Tanáischteu del Regipäts

Independence Day issue of TN. Read it while you still can!

Alternate Link

Full Issue Archive

WHEREAS, the current immigration process is noted for several shortcomings, and

WHEREAS, several different bills were proposed in the last Cosa term to address them, and

WHEREAS, these bills largely focused on different aspects of the process, and each had bill had its positives and negatives, and

WHEREAS, a compromise bill focused on a "carrot and stick" approach seems the most likely method to ensure the process is improved as much as possible; then

BE IT RESOLVED by the Ziu that the following changes be made to El Lexhatx:

• Title E, Section 2.1, which currently reads:

  QuoteThe Minister of Immigration shall ascertain to their own satisfaction that the prospective immigrant is a real human being with genuine interest in becoming a citizen of the Kingdom of Talossa. The Minister shall be free to inquire of the applicant on any and every subject, and shall be required to collect the legal name or name used in daily life, postal address (optional if the applicant is under 18 years of age, except for information needed to assign the applicant to a province), telephone number, and e-mail address(es) of the candidate, which information the Minister shall communicate to the Secretary of State. The applicant shall affirm or swear, under penalty of perjury and under the provisions of Lexh.A.16.1., that this information is accurate, and shall provide documentary evidence of the same if the Minister thinks it appropriate.

  shall be amended by deletion of the text "telephone number, ".
• Title E, Section 2.6 shall be created to read:

  QuoteAll immigration applications shall be automatically forwarded to an email address under the control of the Crown. This email address shall not be accessible to any member of His Majesty's Government, but the King shall give access to this email address to the Leader of the Opposition or their designee.

• Title E, Section 5, which currently reads:

  Quote5. If, at any point during the process, either before or after creation of the Wittenberg account, the Immigration Minister determines that the prospective immigrant shall not be considered further, the prospective immigrant shall be informed of this decision, and shall be made aware that a Grant of Citizenship may yet be obtained by the disappointed applicant if an act of the Ziu be passed directing that such a grant be issued. Any account created for the applicant on Wittenberg shall then be terminated.
  
  5.1 Any person, whose citizenship is denied, may in the first case appeal this decision by application to the Secretary of State, and be given the Chancery's contact details to enable them to do so. The Secretary of State may, if they believe the Ministry of Immigration has misused their discretion under Talossan law, report to the Ziu with their reasons for so deciding and recommend that the applicant or prospective citizen be given citizenship by act of the Ziu. Alternatively, the applicant or prospective may reapply by undergoing the entire procedure (minus any successfully completed portions) following the next general election.

  shall be replaced in its entirety with:

  Quote5. If, at any point during the process, either before or after creation of the Wittenberg account, the Immigration Minister and any member of the Opposition determine that the prospective immigrant shall not be considered further, the prospective immigrant shall be informed of this decision, and shall be made aware that a Grant of Citizenship may yet be obtained by the disappointed applicant if an act of the Ziu be passed directing that such a grant be issued. Any account created for the applicant on Wittenberg shall then be terminated.
  
  5.1. This decision may only be made after the application has been processed and posted, and the public must be informed of the minister's decision and the justification for the decision.  The public need not be informed if an insufficient application is being returned to the applicant under the terms of Lexh.E.2.4.
  
  5.2. Any person, whose citizenship is denied, may in the first case appeal this decision by application to the Secretary of State, and be given the Chancery's contact details to enable them to do so. The Secretary of State may, if they believe the Ministry of Immigration has misused their discretion under Talossan law, report to the Ziu with their reasons for so deciding and recommend that the applicant or prospective citizen be given citizenship by act of the Ziu. Alternatively, the applicant or prospective may reapply by undergoing the entire procedure (minus any successfully completed portions) following the next general election.

FURTHERMORE, nothing in this bill shall be construed as an ex post facto attempt to criminalize any associated behavior performed in any ministerial duties of the past, nor shall any such behavior be grounds for prosecution.

Ureu q'estadra så,
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC - URL)

Mic'haglh Autofil and Sir Marcel Tafial are proud to announce l'Institüt del Agroïcismeu Political (the Institute for Political Nerdery). What we want to do here is basically "nerd out" about a subject we enjoy -- the various ways to analyze elections, look at different systems of voting, etc. More serious atmospheres might call this psephology, but we're pretty sure the Talossan name is actually easier to pronounce!

To start us off, I wanted to talk about a relatively basic measurement: something called the Gallagher index. The Gallagher Index is a measurement of how disproportionate an election's results are: the greater the difference between parties' share of the vote and their share of seats, the higher the index will be.

How do you calculate it? It's pretty simple, really:

• For each party in an election, take the difference between their percent of the vote, and their percent of seats in the legislature -- in other words, (V - S).
• For each of those differences, square them.
• For all of the squared difference, add them together.
• Take that sum and divide by two.
• Find the square root of that last step's result. That square root is the Gallagher Index.

The URL condemns in strongest terms yet another disastrous policy decision by the incoming Government. As one citizen has put it, the new Seneschal, not content with dismantling parliamentary democracy over the ages, now wants to abolish ministries as a concept altogether.

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on December 20, 2025, 02:40:31 PMHonestly, I almost think that we might want to make things more fluid intentionally, so that responsibilities can be assigned as better suits the staff available.  It might be time to revamp the whole system.

Let's be clear: ministries exist in any country, large or small, to divide responsibilities cleanly and clearly. You know that Task A goes with Job A, and Task B goes with Job B. There are several obvious benefits of this method:

• There is no confusion on who may act on a given matter, because the lines of authority are clearly-defined. If you do not hold a given position, you do not have legal authority over its subject matter. (This in turn minimizes the possibility for conflicting directives.)
• Knowing with certainty the individual who holds a given responsibility makes it easy to hold them accountable. Blurred lines of authority make it easier for people to pass the buck, avoiding accountability for their failures and needlessly confusing the situation.
• Knowing with certainty where responsibilities lie is also important for the very people who hold them. If the situation is "more fluid intentionally", the members of Cabinet (if it can still be called a Cabinet) are left with only vague guidelines about what they should be doing, as opposed to clearly-defined roles.

The Seneschal has argued that his obliteration of the cabinet model of government is necessary because the current system encourages "stacking" jobs and roles for individual members of Cabinet. Unfortunately, his argument ignores the obvious truth, namely that the work still must be done. Whether you have one ministry with five areas of responsibility or five ministries with one responsibility each, the responsibilities still exist. The advantage of the latter approach is that it allows for responsibilities to be divided in a more manageable fashion, permitting the work to be divided in line with the abilities and availabilities of each minister. In turn, this helps each minister avoid overwork and burnout. While "stacking" has been performed in multiple governments in the past (including during the 58th Cosa, where the current Seneschal himself held three portfolios), he has chosen to criticize the previous Government for their stacking. In doing so, he ignores that because he has chosen to leave the Public Records and Defense Ministries vacant, he holds both of those by default, as well as the Seneschalsqab and the Immigration portfolio -- bringing him to four Cabinet posts, level with the same people he criticizes.

Equally curious is that the Progressive Alliance explicitly stated their support for "stacking" in their campaign material in the last election:

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on September 23, 2025, 11:39:47 AMWhere possible, preference should be given to someone active and letting them serve multiple positions, as opposed to picking less active people to round out the numbers.

In other words, the Seneschal is currently arguing against doing something he himself campaigned on ... while doing it anyway.

It is unclear how much of the current regime's decisions are being driven by a lack of understanding of how Talossa's systems work, and how much are being driven by a desire to create chaos and avoid accountability, but the URL has a few important ways we can prevent too much damage from being done:

• The most obvious, in the immediate term, is what we're doing right now: informing you, the public! You have a right to be informed about what your government is trying to get away with.
• We will continue to argue in defense of a government model that promotes responsibility and accountability, both because it is the right thing to do, and because the alternative that has been presented is deeply concerning.
• More important in the long term is the ability of URL-affiliated Senators to prevent misguided changes to our laws. Any changes not thoroughly debated and broadly agreed-upon are unlikely to be adopted by the Ziu.

Talossa deserves government, not chaos.

Under Article III, Section 3 of the Belacostan Constitution, the first order of business for a newly-seated Provincial Council is the election of a Governadeir for the term. I open the floor for nominations.

@Sir Lüc
@Iason Taiwos

In light of the fact that "the door will remain open" (a sentiment we have echoed) but the only group with the power to walk through it (which is not the URL) seems unlikely to do so, the most likely outcome of this national embarrassment of a month is that the URL will serve as the Official Opposition in the 62nd Cosa. With this in mind, it seems like a good time to announce the tentative roster of the Autófil Shadow Cabinet, which will critique the presumptive Government-To-Be on its actions and policies, provide alternative courses of better action, and politely yet firmly push back on their attempts to re-cast criticism of principle as criticism of person.

Leader of the Opposition: @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be
Immigration: @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP
Defense: @Andrïeu Cabischabuerg
Justice: @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC
Foreign: @Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir
Culture: @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC
Finance: @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP
Propaganda: @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be
Public Records: @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be
Technology: @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be

Other topics:
Democratic Reforms: @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be , @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC , any other members who wish to contribute really.

The Union of Free Reformists is the Party of Talossan Democracy, an ideal we place so much importance on that is in the first sentence of our party's platform.

In an era where a party which explicitly does not believe in democracy will be part of the Government, the defense of Talossan democracy is more important than ever. Therefore, as part of our rebuilding towards the 63rd Cosa, the Union of Free Reformists is opening broad debate on a Democracy Agenda.

As the last election shows, simply defending Talossa's current, flawed, democratic procedures won't seize the popular imagination. We must dare something worthy -- dare to dream of a more democratic Talossa. One where the popular will can be expressed freely and fairly; where that will can manifest in an empowered yet accountable Government, able to enact a political program, yet restrained by basic democratic rights and by the ballot box.

A situation of "elective dictatorship" is not a democratic one; nor is one of permanent institutional gridlock, where a determined minority can prevent things from happening forever. Any attempts to repower the monarchy, on the other hand, will revive trauma reactions from anyone who lived under King Robert I, the equivalent of a "Liechtenstein monarchy".

The URL therefore pledges to promote one bill for a major democratic reform on every one of the Clarks of the 62nd Cosa term, even if it manages to last all six. In the event that these bills are not adopted by the Ziu, they will form the basis for our program for the 63rd Cosa election. The "Pseudo-Real Cosa", proposed by URL-affiliate MC-elect Marcel Tafial will be the first of these.

This thread will be for elaboration and discussion on these bills as well as other democratic proposals. Non-URL members will be welcome to participate, although if necessary they will be "moderated with a blowtorch", to borrow one member's phrasing.

Immediately after the Cosa election, the Union of Free Reformists reached out to the Progressive Alliance to seek co-operation on the formation of a new government under PA leadership. This was motivated by looking at the electoral results and realizing that without our support, the PA could only form a government by relying on the votes of either (A) an absolute monarchist who wants to rehabilitate the former King Robert I, or (B) those of a roundly-ostracized sexual harasser. Because the PA leader is someone we believed would maintain his pledge to not rely on the support of (B), we thought the first danger was much more pressing. We were right.

After initial discussions between our two party leaders, a framework was established for further negotiations on a confidence & supply arrangement, which would mitigate some of the worst-case scenarios we foresaw for a PA-led government. We had established an opening position which would have called for:

• One or more guarantees of open discussion on democratic/legislative reforms;
• An appointment of one or more URL members to senior non-cabinet posts, to prevent the experience of the previous TNC administration which kept everything tightly within their party; and
• An assurance of no politicized "investigations".

While this was going on, without warning, the PA announced this afternoon that they had entered into a formal coalition deal with the absolute-monarchist IDT. This means a government with 102 seats in the Cosa - a majority. This means, of course, that there is zero leverage to be gained from a confidence & supply deal on the part of the URL, making the whole exercise pointless, and blowing up the deal before we even got to formal negotiations. This is either an unprecedented level of bad faith, or a shocking level of ignorance of how parliamentary democracy works. We are trying to believe that it's the latter, but to not even warn us or inform us that they were shopping themselves around, is incredibly rude at a minimum.

In the wake of the election, the URL has reached out to non-party members to get feedback on what they feel went wrong with our campaign. One answer we got was: "you guys seemed too negative; no-one really thought the PA were going to damage Talossan democracy". I really wish I didn't have a second occasion in one election season to post this image.

What makes this even more precarious is the announcement of the Green Party that they don't intend to be the opposition "very hard" this time. Clearly, S:reu Tzaracomprada, who was openly sympathetic to the PA during the election campaign, thinks this is the way he can slide back into Baron Davinescu's good graces, thus reassembling the TNC coalition of years gone by. As stated above, the PA leader is someone we do not expect to renege on his pledge, and seems to be genuinely repulsed by S:reu Tzaracomparada's behavior and unrepentent attitude. But he's also determined to bring everyone possible into the tent, making the odds of this rehabilitation happening greater than we would hope.

Not even yet mentioned is the proposed rehabilitation of King Robert I, which the soon-to-be Minister of Culture is so enthusiastic about. We wonder whether the PA considered the reaction of the Talossan-speaking community to the fact that "Monarchist Max" is now their boss.

The axis of all Talossan politics has therefore turned against the Union of Free Reformists. We are very aware that some Progressive Alliance members are motivated mainly by undisguised hatred of members of the URL, stemming back more than a decade in some cases. There is now a great danger that we are at the beginning of a new "RUMP" era, where a broad conservative coalition monopolizes power over multiple Cosa terms, assimilating everyone who can be assimilated and excluding the rest, both politically and socially. Certainly, all the old faces of the RUMP era are coming back.

In 1999, the entire Talossan Liberal Party renounced their citizenship when they came to the conclusion that there was zero chance of winning democratic reforms under Robert I. The question is whether something similar is about to happen, or whether the Union of Free Reformists are prepared to set themselves to a possibly lonely, multi-year mission of strenuous Opposition and fervent promotion of our Democracy Agenda. For my part, I will remain, but I can't say I blame those who wish to flee persecution before it arrives at their doorstep.

In the more immediate term, at least, it is good to have cleared the air regarding the path forward that the nation will take. The Union of Free Reformists will form the official Opposition, with myself as Opposition Leader and a Shadow Cabinet to keep the government as close to honest as possible. Our Democracy Agenda, which we will outline in more detail in the coming weeks, will form the centerpiece of our activity over the next eight months. Given the performance from the last time the PA held in office -- then of course known as the TNC, but the faces remain the same -- we expect this government to be cliquish, insular, and hostile to feedback from non-party members. We will seek to expose this, and offer the country a more professional alternative.

¡Vivadra Talossa democrätic!

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). Under the Belacostan Constitution and Title E of the Belacostan Unified Statute, votes with less than three named citizens are counted, but the "vacant" places are counted as the highest priority. In other words, if you vote only for yourself, your ballot will count as a vacant first- and second-place vote, and a third-place vote for yourself.

Citizen	1st Vote	2nd Vote	3rd Vote	Total Pts
@Sir Lüc	1	5	1	14
@Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be	3	0	0	9
@Iason Taiwos	0	1	4	6
@paolo.mellere (Pôl dal Cräpscaßada)	1	1	0	5
@Leonardo Miguel Carvalho Marques	1	0	1	4
@e.iwuagwu (Emeka Iwuagwu)	1	0	0	3
@Massimiliano Sartorello	0	1	0	2
@Istefan Perþonest	0	1	0	2
@Erschéveþ da Schir	0	0	1	1
@Pol dal Timă Lupulescu	0	0	1	1
David Robert Levis	0	0	1	1

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

@Istefan Perþonest
@Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be
@paolo.mellere (Pôl dal Cräpscaßada)
@Sir Lüc
@Francesco Manzella
@Leonardo Miguel Carvalho Marques

To everyone who cast their vote for the Union of Free Reformists in this election, to everyone who expressed confidence in me as your preferred candidate for the next Seneschal, I'd like to extend both my personal thanks, and the thanks of the entire party. Your confidence in me is, as I have said before, truly humbling. Your support for our pro-democracy, pro-honesty, pro-accountability agenda in this election gives me hope for the future of Talossa.

Obviously, we don't yet know what this term will bring as far as government makeup, etc., but you can bet that no matter what happens, we'll be right there to keep people honest and keep moving the country in the right direction.

Yours in Liberty, Democracy, and Progress,

Mic'haglh

Vivadra Talossa Democrätic!

"Fraichetz dels punts, es non dels mürs."

These words -- "Build bridges, not walls" -- adorn the arms of His Majesty the King. Earlier this year, he mentioned to me that he wanted to help put them into action a little better to serve Talossa and encourage a more positive environment. In light of this fact, and in light of the fact that I've had a few citizens ask me who it is I can see myself working with in the next term, I see no reason not to lay out a few of my possible bridge-building intentions now.

Acknowledging that no party is anywhere near likely to get a majority -- as I mentioned at Coffee With the King on Saturday, it's almost a mathematical impossibility with five parties on the ballot -- coalition government is pretty much a given, so I may as well start with the groups I would be open to leading the URL in cooperation with in the next term.

• The PA: This probably surprises some of you given the fact that neither party is particularly keen on each other, but frankly, there is a good chance of a grand coalition being the outcome of this election. That can happen in democracy -- our German-Talossan citizens would know! There are, of course, some things I would expect out of such a partnership: respectful dialogue in private; no throwing people under the bus in public. Keeping our business honest, avoiding mischaracterization. Maintaining a decentralized model of Cabinet organization; many hands make light work! Respecting the continued neutrality of the justice system and the civil service. Agreement to pursue minor bipartisan reforms -- something along the lines of pro-democratic electoral reform, perhaps -- but also agreement not to bite off more than we can chew. Anything more specific than that, of course, will depend on what we know two weeks from tonight.
  
• Independent Green / Anarcho-Surrealist: Admittedly, there's not much I can say about @Garth Spencer 's platform, but I like his commitment to "keeping Talossa weird", so to speak. I think his lone campaign mailer thus far shows that he's an open-minded fellow that can find something positive in everyone else's platforms, and I respect that. Hard to put down any guidelines for cooperation at this point though, so we'll just see where the chips fall, I guess.

There are, of course, a few groups I can't see the URL agreeing to work with on points of principle:

• Green Party: I mean, this one is obvious. We've already pledged not to work with the Greens, and that's a promise we're going to keep. 'Nuff said there.
  
• In Defensa Traditionis: Don't get me wrong, I'm always happy to see new citizens getting involved in politics. Talossa's democracy is one of it's strongest suits -- which is exactly why we need to keep it that way. As Talossa's principled, pro-democracy party, the URL is simply too far from IDT ideologically to envision any possibility of cooperation, though I wish S:reu Maltezos well on his Glheþ-related pursuits and look forward to seeing him around the Cosa.

The Union of Free Reformists is pleased to endorse the candidacy of Sir @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP for the special Senäts election in Maritiimi-Maxhestic.

I'm glad you asked! We've had quite a few discussions about our goals over the past few weeks, but it's helpful to get it all in one place:

• Stand on Principle: When we say we'll do something, we mean it. When an issue is important enough that we say we definitely won't do something, we mean that, too. Other parties may break their promises before the election is even over, but the URL believes in being better than that and setting an example.
  
  
• Continued Success on Immigration: This term saw such a boom in immigration that Talossa finds itself with more citizens than it did when the term started. We saw a new one-month immigration record set in October that's almost double the previous record -- and that's compared to nearly the last seven years! A lot of this was due to the tireless efforts of Miestră Schivă in her role as Immigration Minister, making the changes necessary (including legislation where appropriate) needed to make immigration a less onerous process for applicants. We're going to continue "trimming fat" where appropriate, while also sponsoring legislation to make the process more impartial and transparent. Targeting an average rate of one citizen a month is a realistic goal (that's a goal we're guaranteed to exceed this term, by the way!), but using average rates is also a wise decision to prevent people from trying to light the country on fire again the next time we have a dry month.
  
  
• Mentorship for New Citizens: While the Immigration Ministry has quietly revived the TalossAssistant program, I think it might be more helpful to look at the other side of the coin: what do we do with new citizens once they've immigrated? And the answer, for many years now, has been...not much! I've already put up a few recommendations for new citizens that should prove helpful -- they were based on feedback from new citizens, after all -- and I think an optional mentor program for recent immigrants, a "Novice Network", if you will, would be a logical next step.
  
  
• Pro-Democratic Reform: As one well-respected Talossan recently put it: "everywhere else on Earth, ballot secrecy is considered a necessary condition for a proper democracy." Talossa does not, in fact, have true ballot secrecy. Our elections are more like those in North Korea or the former East Germany: you can vote publicly, or you can vote privately -- but your choice to vote privately is in and of itself public knowledge. This allows for a great deal of peer pressure when it comes to voting -- and it also allows pocket votes to simply copy and paste someone else's vote, which as you can see, makes certain votes look very suspect indeed. The URL supports protecting the secret ballot and mandatory party lists from other party's attempt to erase them, and believe that in the case of the former, stronger measures are needed. Ballot secrecy protects voters' freedom of conscience.
  
  
• Reforms in the Zouaves: Talossa's "military" has seen signs of life recently, and that's a good thing. The Zouaves are the most effective tool the Government has to promote cultural development, but they themselves need a bit of development too. I'd like to start with "exhibitions": creating "exhibitions" are how you get promoted in the Zouaves, and there are a lot of things that qualify! But in the time I've been a citizen, it doesn't seem like we've ever had a way to be sure you get credit for something! How can you know you're close to promotion if you don't know your work will count as an exhibition? Problems like these are ones I intend to help the Zouaves solve.
  
  
• Refreshed Visuals Nationwide: Talossa has quite a few talented artists. We've got talented web developers, wiki editors, the whole shebang. We need to use them better! It's not just the Zouaves that need a visual refresh, it's not just the website, it's...most things, really. The wiki's main page is cluttered with information. The website feels very dated, which is a problem that is deeper than content. Better visuals help to make us more appealing to people who are considering joining our community. Bringing the nation into alignment with what people expect on the internet in 2025 isn't a small task, to be perfectly level with you, but it presents a lot of opportunities for everyone to make their mark!
  
  
• Continued Work with Other Micronations: One thing our Government pledged in this last term is more contact with the micronational community. While "you can lead other micronations to the Landing Pier, but you can't make them post" might be the important lesson learned, that leaves us with two conclusions moving forward: one, we should be very choosy about the nations we wish to try and form relations with, and two: the micronational community is perhaps most valuable when we focus on the organizations as opposed to individual nations. I've already proposed a Talossan Micronational Olympic Committee as the first way to do this, in order to utilize micronational competition for the same reasons macronations utilize the "big" Olympics: namely, publicity and soft power. Our steps into the micronational community have in fact borne fruit: at least one new citizen this term immigrated after we introduced Talossa to the wider micronational world, and they liked what they saw! The only way to make sure that isn't the last citizen we recruit from the community is to remain active in it.
  
  
• Realistic, Measurable Goals: A government that's promising to be all things to all people is a government that's going to leave a lot of people disappointed. It's one thing to talk a big game. It's another to deliver! Personally, I'd rather have a government say "hey, we'll be making incremental changes to X, Y, and Z" and then end up being able to do that and add in I and J too.
  
  
• Talossan Culture Kept in the Hands of the People: One of the big draws of a micronation like Talossa is that you can make of it what you want! Talossan culture is sort of vague, which is a massive strength, because it lets people be Talossan in the way they find most meaningful. Some have campaigned on giving the Government a leading role in defining our culture; we in the URL reject that approach as heavy-handed and narrow-minded.
  
  
• Keeping Power Decentralized: The more work you promise to do, the more big projects you pledge to do, the more helping hands you're going to need available. We've seen some parties promise a lot of pie-in-the-sky goals, while also promising to put a lot of roles on a small number of people. Government By Many Hats makes it easier to concentrate power, but it doesn't make it easier to actually accomplish much in the way of positive change.
  
  
• A Government Built on Honesty, Optimism, and Respect: We've seen some shocking displays of dishonesty in this campaign, which have been justified by the folks involved as doing "what [they] need to do to win." I don't stand for that sort of thing, the URL doesn't stand for that sort of thing, and I don't think Talossa should stand for it either. We don't believe in putting up false positivity as an election tactic, we don't insinuate or imply guilt or corruption where we know darn well there isn't any, and we don't stand for harassing or bullying people. These tactics certainly well may yield results in the short term, but they're dangerous for the country in the long term. We reject them, and we hope you do too.

Listopäts XLVI / October 2025

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Royal News
King Formally Dissolves Cosă
HM Txec issues a Writ of Dissolution, bringing the 61st Cosă session to an official end:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4475.0


Government News
Chancery Prepares Electoral Commission
Secretary of State Sir Lüc da Schir has formed the commission that will verify November's general election and the rules it will follow:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4426.0


General News
Zouaves Sees Promotions
Sir Ian Plätschisch, Captain of the Zouaves of the Royal Bodyguard, announced promotions for two members:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4410.0

Taiwos (Briefly) Takes Talossa to the Airwaves
Senator Iason Taiwos engages in a little impromptu Talossan propaganda on American radio frequencies -- more legitimate broadcasts to follow?
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4432.0

Puck Drops on Hockey League Season 2
Tric'hard Lenxheir brings the Talossan National Hockey Association back for a second season; all of last year's participants are joined by two new teams:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4420.0

TMT Special Continues
The special edition of the Talossan Music Top 20 rolls on with more categories of music and nominations therein:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4326.60
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=4381.80


Immigration News
Five new citizens immigrated in October: Cameron McInnis, Jack Morrison, Ràed Al-Hasàn, Joseph Morris, and Mia Jaeger.

Additionally, twenty citizenship applications were received in October, from Cameron McInnis, Zeus Perez, Ashley Hoban, Emily Bowgren, Jack Morrison, Alexander Melto, Basil Sobczak, Ràed Al-Hasàn, Joseph Morris, Jonas Hersch, Max Maltezos, Mohamed Ouaouda, Phoenix Camarena, Mia Jaeger, Shilo Ouellette, Jason Drzewiecki, Aymen Messouci, Tong Mun Kit, Vincent Norton, and Adrián Suárez Pérez.