WHEREAS the Talossan Naval Relief Corps has been established to provide humanitarian, maritime, and disaster-relief assistance in the name and spirit of the Kingdom of Talossa, and

WHEREAS the Corps seeks to embody the Kingdom's values of service, solidarity, and civic duty, and

WHEREAS the designation of a Royal Patron would lend honour and inspiration to the Corps and its volunteers, and

WHEREAS His Majesty King Txec has long demonstrated a personal commitment to the welfare, dignity, and flourishing of the Kingdom and its people, and

WHEREAS it is fitting and proper that organizations dedicated to public service seek the symbolic guidance and patronage of the Crown.

THEREFORE I, Sir Iason Taiwos , an Admiral in His Majesty's Royal Navy and a citizen of good standing of the Kingdom of Talossa, do hereby respectfully petition His Majesty King Txec to grant Royal Patronage to the Talossan Naval Relief Corps, in accordance with custom and any applicable law and practice of the Kingdom.

So, the King, in what I still regard as an error of judgement, bestowed upon me the title of Knight Commander in the Order of the Nation. Well, I was totally dumbstruck by this proclamation, as I felt I was totally unworthy of such an honor (an opinion I'm sure most other Talossans share.) I messaged the King, even questioned his sanity, but he assured me I was worthy. If he says so, then so be it.
I therefore am asking this noble college if they will "knightify" my current coat of arms. I assume I may choose my own Latin motto.

https://read.amazon.com/sample/B0FCNSPLND?f=1&l=en_US&r=e87e7244&rid=1JD07V8H6DEP342BTMQY&sid=146-4942137-4471914&ref_=litb_m
This author produced a two volume Atlas of Micronations. Fortunately you don't have to pay the $105 for the print version (that's $210 for both volumes), or $40 for the ebook, the entry on Talossa is in the free sample. (You'll have to scroll down a bit.)

I recently purchased what I initially thought was a set of walkie talkies. I live kind of out in the sticks, and cell phone service is spotty (and frequently goes out altogether.) My wife has health issues, so I thought a set of walkie talkies would be a way for us to get ahold of each other when the phones crap out. God forbid she has a health emergency when the phones are down and I'm away from home.
Well, what I got are actually a set of portable Ham radios. In the USA, you have to take a test and get a license to be able to talk on the Ham bands. They are not walkie talkies. If you talk on them without a license, you have broken the law, and could possibly have the FCC come down on you. (There's no laws against just listening to anything on the Ham bands.)
My wife wasn't happy about this. "So you just bought a couple of radios we can't use without getting a license?!" Sadly, yes. But, this is Admiral Taiwos! I am a rebel, a maverick! So, I broke the law and used the Ham radio as a walkie talkie. Talked to my wife for under a minute while she was in the house and I was on the porch feeding one of the neighborhood's stray cats. (The radio worked fine.)
Then, on a whim, I clicked the "talk" button and said "Hail to the King! Long Live Talossa!"
I doubt anyone heard me besides my wife. I've been doing research on Ham radio ever since I got these things. Apparently there are only seven licensed Ham radio operators in my area, and I doubt any of them happened to be tuning in to me when I shouted my Pro-Talossa slogan.
Nonetheless...could this be considered Talossan pirate radio? Has the Admiral become a pirate of the airwaves? Has anything remotely Talossan ever been broadcasted over radio waves?
I may try to get a legit Ham license.
I could get one of those FM radio transmitters and start a Talossan radio station, but the only people who might pick it up are whoever happens to drive past my trailer.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14SM6D2mMRftOcZtQGNGEHZLEcShTx_cyVcUbmiIhHUE/edit?usp=drivesdk
This issue, a departure from previous issues in that little of it was handmade, features in-depth and mostly fictitious articles on the traditional Cjovani game, Kintoufle.
We would like to request (to whoever is in charge of these things) that Politeia Cjovani be listed as a current but irregular Talossan related publication.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronations:_The_Lonely_Planet_Guide_to_Home-Made_Nations
I don't know if it's ever been discussed on Witt before, but I recently got a copy of this. I guess it was originally published in September, 2006. Talossa is mentioned!...but in a section called "Gone, but not forgotten". The text reads:

TALOSSA - GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
The glorious Kingdom of Talossa - inspiration for many micronations throughout the 1980s, '90s and beyond - was founded in the bedroom of a 13-year-old on 26 December 1979. Robert Ben Madison took the throne of his new kingdom, and ruled alone for more than a year. In 1981 he began admitting citizens, and the Kingdom of Talossa was on its way to glory...and ultimate oblivion.
King Robert I, having extended his territorial claim to include a large part of the city of Mil-waukee, Wisconsin, opened up the political process to Talossan citizens, declaring a constitutional monarchy in 1985. The following year saw a crisis in which Robert was deposed, although he was restored to the throne in 1988.
With well-developed, good-natured governmental systems (the national cuisine was Taco Bell) and an active approach to intermicronational affairs, Talossa was - for two decades - one of the great micronational superpowers. With such open policies and an outward-looking philosophy, though, all of the worst excesses of the global micronational movement emerged. King Robert closed his kingdom down in late 2005.
While there are still online groups claiming to be Talossa, Madison says that none of the original Talossan figures are involved. Citing the old adage 'local politics is so vicious because the stakes are so low', Madison says he had to withdraw from his creation because of constant political in-fighting. Isn't micronationalism mostly about fun? Madison says sadly, 'Part of the problem is that different people define "fun" in different ways.

I doubt Lonely Planet will ever make an updated re-issue of this book (but they should, considering how much the Micronational world has exploded since it was published), but it pains me to read their version of Talossa. Someone with a higher position than Admiral (cough...uh, King?) should send them a note saying that, if a future edition is ever planned, then Talossa is not gone, hasn't been gone, and is in fact a thriving community with coins and Talossafests, embassies, and even subcultures. (Shameless plug for the Cjovani.)
(I got it for cheap on eBay from Thriftbooks. A slim little tome that should be of interest to people like us. I enjoyed thumbing thru it.)

While doing research for a Talossan creative project involving Antarctica generally, and our territory of Pengopäts particularly, I decided to investigate what other micronations claim land in Antarctica. I was aware of Westarctica and Flandrensis already, but I discovered this:
https://amu.lostisland.org/
Pengopäts has been a Talossan territory since March 9th, 1982, predating (as far as I can tell) every other micronation's claims. I can't figure out if any other micronations are claiming Pengopäts area.
When you just Google "Micronations and Antarctica" that Ai thing that comes up first doesn't even mention Talossa. It lists several micronations I have never even heard of.
I'm wondering if Talossa should join the Antarctic Micronational Union, and press our claims.
(I'm wondering if our decades long refusal to interact with other micronations has been to our detriment when it comes to immigration. I remember mentioning Talossa in some Micronation Facebook group, and one of the replies was "Talossa? Is that still around?" I think we should somehow become a regular fixture at these MicroCons. I know we've been represented at one of them. But the guys with the outrageous costumes and all the medals are the ones who get the media attention. Is that what we need, or nah? Cameras flashing, capturing the Kings of Westarctica and Molossia in their get-ups, laughing and tippling champagne, and making "diplomatic relations", while Talossa lurks in the background, thinking "But...we've been around since 1979, we have our own language, we have..."
Look, y'all buy me a snappy Admiral uniform and a bus ticket, and I'll rep Talossa at the next one.)
(The creative project is just some dumb fictional story I'm working on about me leading an expedition to Pengopäts. I hope to release it to widespread indifference in some format.)

I've been thinking, we need a new TalossaWare store. As many of you know, t-shirts and other items with Talossan designs on them have been available thru my TeePublic store, https://www.teepublic.com/user/cjovani-nation, but this store mainly consists of dumb stuff Vitxalmour Conductour and I came up with for our own purposes. (Nobody besides me would wear the Taiwos the Barbarian shirt!) Here are some of my thoughts...
Create a new store, devoted to Talossan stuff only.
Use the highest resolution images we can get for the merch. (I'm working from a phone. I've had to use an app to blow up images so they'll be big enough for TeePublic to use, but they become...grainy? the larger you get. Somebody with a real computer could probably make the images look better when enlarged.)
Find a website better than TeePublic? I've ordered a few items from them. Quality is acceptable, but as a customer, shipping costs are ridiculous. They ship everything in a cheap plastic bag, and charge entirely too much for it.
Have a way for earnings from the store to go directly to the Burgermeister, or whoever it is that handles Talossan funds. My store, the money comes to me. I know I said that any funds I made from Talossan merch sales would be given to Talossa; thankfully, none of the Talossan items have ever sold, so I haven't had to figure out how to do that.
Make it legit, so we could promote the store on our official Talossan websites.
I still think we should have things like certificates of citizenship, or advertise the ID cards. Have a source for producing Talossan flags.
Lastly, maybe find a print on demand thing for the Guizua? (With Hool's permission, and the profits going to him.)
Just some thoughts. What are yours?

I've seen all the recent things related to coffee here on Witt lately, and am wondering...where are my tea people?
I like coffee (I'm from Cajun country, so I like mine mixed with chicory), but being as how tea is the most widely consumed beverage on earth after plain water, I would have figured we'd have a few tea lovers here. I'm currently getting more into puerh and matcha, as these things have started becoming more easily available locally. But I always begin my mornings with a fine cup of Assam.
I'll let Professor Elemental sum up my thoughts: https://youtu.be/eELH0ivexKA?si=6D8BuX3LKIyUDt9m

Earlier this week, Vitxalmour Conductour drove down to Kentucky to attend a thing called the GAMA Expo. (GAMA = Game Manufacturers Association.) It's a convention for game manufacturers (duh) and retailers. (I was supposed to go with him, but unfortunately was unable to.) Among other things, he got to play a demo of a new version of the Azul game.
There was a booth devoted to the game Diplomacy, and Vitx mentioned to the guy running the booth that he knew a guy who was really into that game.
"Who is it?"
"Manus Hand."
"You know Manus?! I just gave him an award last month..."
Hool may not be very active in Talossa, but apparently he's still kicking butt in Diplomacy.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/y858Z3N2J5PR6Y62/?mibextid=K35XfP
Saw that MicroCon 2025 will be in Montreal. Any body going to represent Talossa?

Talossa's Ohio Embassy has a website.
Www.nerdynecessities.net
It's still under construction.
(Interested in trading card and role playing games? Nerdy Necessities is your place! Visit the website and consider doing business with us! Support a Talossan owned business! If you happen to be in the area, drop by for a visit!) (Come on, we need to drum up more business so Vitx can hire me as a full time employee. I'm tired of working in the bathtub factory!)
(Right now we are not offering discounts to fellow Talossans. But maybe someday...)

I'm not sure where I should post this, but...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdr_cV2MtwmFnrWX1Pa7fEizKVFnxHPQ17IOJgl1A4E/edit
This is our application for establishing a Talossan Embassy in Ohio. Longstanding Talossan citizen and previous Benitian Maestro Vitxalmour Conductour has recently become owner of a business in our small town, and we are enthusiastic about promoting Talossa within it. We have a Talossan flag ready to hang up in the premises, and are in current talks of printing out Talossan promotional flyers to leave near the cash register. From these efforts, we hope to build a solid Talossan community in our area (and hopefully get some more members involved in our local Cjovani subculture.)

This may turn out to be one of those crazy ideas that never comes to fruition, but... I enlisted the aid of Vitxalmour Conductour to help find a landmark for Benito. In our researches, we discovered that there seems to be a lot of neat things in Milwaukee. This turned to talk of making a road trip there in the near future, which seems entirely plausible at the moment. (Well, why not? We've both been Talossans for over ten years, and Milwaukee isn't really too far away.) Along with this came the idea of filming the entire thing, making a sort of documentary of our journey. Visiting Talossan historical sites, and maybe meeting up with whatever citizens currently live in or around there. I think it's a good plan. Well, we'll see what happens. This trip is currently tentatively planned for sometime next year. (Knowing my luck, tho, something bad will happen, and the money I've put aside for such a trip will go to unexpected car or house repairs. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed!)

https://www.clevescene.com/news/meet-the-micronationalists-dreaming-up-new-nations-in-ohio-and-beyond-42433056

An interesting article I discovered that mentions Talossa. (Cleveland Scene is a free weekly newspaper from Cleveland (duh). I imagine this article saw print in it at one time. (Tracking down a copy for the Talossan Archives might be difficult, people tend not to hang on to these things.))

With the recent honor given to us by the Talossan government, I thought it was time to reveal more of our culture to the Talossan masses. (This lexicon of ours is a crude work in progress. Nonetheless, I think it is worthy of presenting to the Nation, for those who are interested in establishing their own Talossan subcultures.) (There are doubtless numerous linguistic flaws in this work, however, none of the Talossan language experts we've reached out to for aid have offered any help, so this is what you get.) We hope this will influence others to Talossanize the places they live in. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1At_LJCWMMVVnUccyCytK4ZKN0XGhPKA16vg7jyzyzwQ/edit

I've recently finished reading an interesting book about Sealand ("Sealand: The True Story of the World's Most Stubborn Micronation and Its Eccentric Royal Family", by Dylan Taylor-Lehman). I highly recommend it.
There's a chapter about MicroCon 2019 that mentions other micronations (the ones who attended MicroCon), like Molossia and Slabovia. (I was interested to learn about the Kingdom of Pibocip, which apparently is located in my area (it's in Youngstown, Ohio.)) (I know Ian Plastisch attended a MicroCon on behalf of Talossa...was it the one in 2019? I can't remember.)
Anyhow, reading this book made me wish someone, an outsider, would write an unbiased popular history of our Kingdom. While it may not be as exciting as some of the events that occurred with Sealand (they fired guns and threw Molotov cocktails at British navy ships!), we nonetheless have an interesting history. What's more, we have our own language. I dunno. Just a thought. A few years ago, I joined some Micronational group on Facebook, and when I told the members I was a Talossan, several people reacted like "Talossa? You mean that's still around?"

Found this while browsing on eBay...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264490799696?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=FiPJB8ZZQhq&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=jTOQ8CSmRbW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Reminder to everyone, we have a Teepublic store (http://tee.pub/lic/ZhyntVC5NGk) where you can get t-shirts and other merchandise with Talossan flags and whatnot on them. Vitxalmour Conductour has ordered a few of these items and tells me that despite the low resolution of the images we had to work with, the end products looked okay. Since I don't own these images, all the profits I get from the sale of Talossan related stuff (which is just like $2 a shirt) will be sent to our Burgermeister. There's also some cool and weird Cjovani culture stuff on here. (Sales of which, the money goes to me. Support a subculture!) More items are being added whenever I have the time. (I've ordered from Teepublic before, it was a good quality tee shirt. I will say, the shipping costs are ridiculous, tho. But I think it doesn't change much the more items you order. Vitx ordered four shirts and his shipping was the same as mine was for one shirt.) (If you have some cool designs you want to add, let me know. Not doing this for the money (obviously. Vitx is the only one who's ordered stuff.) I think I just started this because I wanted the option of a Benito  shirt that that other guy wouldn't make.)

Going to start another quickly inactive Talossan organization because I doubt few of you collect comic books, but we're a real nation and should do what other nations do, so, I hereby establish the Talossan Pannapictagraphist Society. (The Cjovani Comics Library is well over 6000 volumes, with more coming in all the time.)

As many of you may well be aware, I love comic books. Recently, a comics artist/writer who's work I immensely like, Rick Veitch, was appointed Vermont's Cartoonist Laureate. (Cartoonist Laureate? Who knew there was such a thing? And why doesn't Talossa have one?) As Secretary of Cultural Development (boy, I sure do like repeating that title, don't I?), I thought it would be a fun idea to do a search for Talossa's own Cartoonist Laureate. Any cartoonists in the house? Submit some of your work, we'll present it and have people vote on it. Maybe YOU can be recognized as Talossa's Official Cartoonist!  (We used to have a Poet Laureate, don't know what ever became of that.) I'll come up with some rules and stuff for this later on. (Today was my last day at work, my place is shutting down for at least two weeks because of the Rona, so I'll have plenty of free time for cultural projects.) (Miestra has suggested we do a Talossan recipe contest, which I will make a thread about later, after I've given some thought into how to do it.)

As Secretary of Cultural Development, it is my duty to remind you all that today is Mindless Patriotism Day! So, if you can, do something patriotic (whatever that means to you.) (Preferably indoors, and six feet away from other people.)