Citizens, the position of Permanent Secretary of the Bureau of Humanitarian Aid is created within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This Permanent Secretary is responsible for researching worthy humanitarian causes, identifying specific representatives of these causes, drafting proposals to disperse funds to these representatives, and generally overseeing the ways Talossa can make a positive impact in the world.

All interested citizens are encouraged to apply for this position by announcing so in this thread. Interviews will conducted with the Minister over Wittenberg personal messaging. The deadline to apply is 11:59pm TST on October 18th, 2024/XLV.

This is Citizen Bentxamì Puntmasleu requesting enlistment in the Zouaves of the Royal Bodyguard.

@Mic'haglh Autófil, SMC EiP  is hereby appointed to serve as Deputy Scribe of Abbavilla alongside Lüc da Schir. The Scribe expresses his gratitude to Citizen Autófil for his enthusiasm in volunteering to help publicize the laws and Talossa and maintain a record of changes in those laws. The Scribe also reiterates gratitude to Citizen da Schir for the same service rendered to the nation.

Bentxamì Puntmasleu,
Grefieir d'Abbavilla / Scribe of Abbavilla

I started reading Perdido Street Station by China Miéville a week ago. It's apparently pretty well-known, so I imagine some of you have read it too. I've only had time to read last Tuesday and today so I'm still on chapter 3. Also, when worldbuilding is dense, I tend to go back alot to get details in order. I have previously read the author's The City & the City but, so far, this actually reminds more of Jeff Vandermeer's Ambergris trilogy, my favorite fiction book to date.

The Bureau of Home Affairs is working to develop a preliminary plan for the next TalossaFest. The tentative end-goal is to organize a TalossaFest L to be held in the summer of 2029. The first phase of this preliminary planning is to solicit citizen input. Answers, however detailed, to any number of the following questions would be very helpful. Citizens may also send me answers via PM on Wittenberg or email (b.puntmasleu@gmail.com). Of course, I also welcome comments that do not necessarily directly answer the questions listed. Thank you.

To those citizens who have attended TalossaFest in the past: What was it like? From where, and how, did you travel? How long did you stay? What was the nature of your accommodations? What did you do at TalossaFest, both formally and informally? What were the highlights of the event? Were their any unexpected hurdles, either for you or the event as a whole? Did you pay for your travel, room, food, etc. out of pocket or was government assistance provided?

To citizens who would be interested in attending a future TalossaFest: What would you like to see from a future TalossaFest? For how many days would you attend? How much money would you personally be willing and/or able to spend? What three words would best describe your ideal TalossaFest experience?

To citizens who have attended, and/or would attend, a regional variation of TalossaFest (e.g. TalossaWest): How do you think the main TalossaFest and its regional variations can best coordinate their activities?

I, Bentxamì Puntmasleu, as a representative of the United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg, do humbly submit my credentials to Þerxh Sant-Enogat, Sénéchal of the Sovereign Province of Cézembre.

I propose the following (second post on this thread) Vuode-Cézembre Agreement for ratification by the Estats Xhenerais.

Per Section 3(1)(c) of the Interprovincial Diplomacy Act, the Premier informs the Estats Xhenerais of his entry into negotiations with the appropriate leadership of Cézembre, with the intent to establish diplomatic relations.

Azul, the Bureau of Home Affairs is seeking assistance from Talossans and friends who are skilled in graphic design, to create a recruitment flyer for distribution around the Greater Talossan Area. Any contribution to this project is greatly appreciated, no matter how big or small.

Please respond here or PM me if you are interested.

With apologies for the delay, the Bureau of Home Affairs presents its Strategic Plan for 2024/XLV.

I, Bentxamì Puntmasleu, provincial citizen of Vuode, petition the Premier of Vuode for ceremonial residence in Napoleon Township, von Buchholtz Parish, Dun Cestour Canton.

About a year or two ago, I first heard the term "climate fiction" of "cli-fi" to describe speculative fiction with an ecological focus. I know such themes exist within the genre but I had been hitherto unaware of the specific subgenre. By that time, I had already read the Ambergris trilogy and the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, which I greatly enjoyed. Later, I read The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and Borne and The Strange Bird by Jeff Vandermeer again. I really liked those too.

Anyway, does anyone have any recommendations along that line. I've been meaning to check out Fauna by Christiane Vadnais. Has anyone read that? How is it?

I made a page for the society on the wiki. If anyone has one or both issues of Spaceships and Distilleries, the late 90s e-newsletter, I think it would be cool to link to PDFs of them on the page.

https://wiki.talossa.com/Talossan_Science_Fiction,_Fantasy_%26_Whisky_Society

Fellow Councillors of Grand Session XVI of the Estates Xhenerais, @Tric'hard Lenxheir and @Ian Feliceu, given that our first order of business, nominating and electing a Premier, is concluded, it is time to nominate and elect a Presiding Officer. I suggest this nomination period close in about three days (at 7:00pm TST on 2 November 2023) as was the case with the most recent nomination of a Premier, unless there are objections.

I had an idea earlier today that I would like to run by my fellow Vuodean citizens. Maybe when the next General Session begins, the Estats Xhenerais could work on implementing it if there's any interest. I am working on a draft proposal. This proposal has two main parts.

The first part of this proposal is to establish a mechanism by which provincial citizens can claim residence in one of the townships and, by extension, parishes and cantons. For most (if not all) of us, this residence would be ceremonial. Those of us who actually reside within Vuode (I do not, by the way) might claim their township of actual residence, although I suppose they could claim ceremonial residence elsewhere instead if they would prefer. Of course, given our provincial population and rate of growth, the vast majority of our townships and parishes would not have any Talossan residents for the foreseeable future. Further, of the townships that do have Talossan residents, most (if not all) would have only one). I don't see that as a major problem. It might actually simplify the second part of this idea. I will point out that this idea doesn't necessarily mandate provincial citizens to claim a township (and/or a parish and canton). I don't see why some provincial citizens couldn't opt of residing anywhere but the Province of Vuode at large, if they would prefer. This claiming of residence would be voluntary.

The second part of this proposal is for the township, parishes, and cantons that do have Talossan residents to exercise limited home rule. A township, parish, or canton with at least one resident could then choose to incorporate by proposing to the Premier (or someone else entrusted by the Premier for this purpose) a charter for democratic local governance. Pending the Premier's (or deputy's) approval of the charter, the now incorporated township, parish, or canton could govern itself in accordance with its charter. Examples of what an incorporated community could do include naming features within the community, designing a flag for the community, and proclaiming holidays.

It is important to note that this wouldn't be a federalization of the province. The incorporated communities would be totally subject to the provincial authorities, whose approval would be necessary for acts of the incorporated community to take effect. Provincial authorities could also amend, revoke, etc. any act of and incorporated community or event he charter itself.

In incorporated communities with just one resident (likely, the most common as stated above) the process of local governance wou;d be very simple. In incorporated communities with more that one resident, all the residents would constitute a local legislature, with one resident elected as leader, to facilitate this legislature, keep record of its acts, petition the provincial authorities for approval, etc. A community would not necessarily have to incorporate either. For example, if the townships of Saxony and Inkcone both had residents and were incorporated, the residents of both wouldn't necessarily have to incorporate Cone Parish. They might agree among themselves to do so, but they wouldn't have to.

I feel this arrangement would benefit the province by allowing detailed characteristics to develop with the provincial government itself having to act. Each citizen (or very small group of citizens) could develop pieces of the Vuodean history and culture in their own township of residence. I realize there may be a lot of hiccups to work out, but I do think it is worth considering.

Hey fellow Vuodeans, I've been creating Wiki pages for our townships that don't already have them. So far, I've done West Columbia Saint Mary and Dun Cestour Park, both in Rosalez Parish.
In addition to basic boundary information, I've also been adding some images and more detailed information I've been able to gather. Unfortunately, I'm not a great Wiki editor and I'm wondering if I could get some help with formatting. For example, the geography template is in need of adjustment which I don't really know how to do. Also, I'm not sure how to add images so that they look nice.