Yes - it seems like a good idea.... though we might end up having more title than name to our signature!  ;)

Gentlemen, let us not shout.

Einstein had numerous extra-marital sexual relationships. Isaac Newton was a jealous liar. Beethoven was unspeakably rude. None of those facts have any relevance to Relativity or Gravity or The Ninth Symphony. When we discuss the equations of General Relativity the moral status of their first proponent is utterly irrelevant, and scientists know this.

Similarly with laws. The persons suggesting those laws, the other actions of those persons, their rudeness or politeness or lust or sloth are in no way relevant: all that is relevant is the wording of the laws themselves. Even the intent of those laws is irrelevant - unless that intent is explicitly mentioned in those (or other) laws as part of the law itself, and not its preamble.

Debate like "You did this" "No I didn't - you got in the way" "You don't know what you're talking about" "Oh yeah? Look at such-and-such - you're incompetent" "Yah, boo, sucks" "I'm not playing your game"....  This, fellow citizens, is not worthy of us.

I would like to make the following suggestion. When we discuss past or future legislation let us be neutral - alway neutral - about who framed those laws. Let us not, in any way, comment upon those persons - even more especially if they are party to the discussion itself.  Let us remove personality from our formal discussions. Let us not say, for example, "you got this wrong in the past - you fool!", but rather "I believe that we should, in this instance, take such-and-such an action".

Well-framed laws are rather dull reading - intentionally so. Have you ever read, in full, one of those long, long software licence agreements? These do not say "if you do such-and-such you are evil and will be tortured in Hell for eternity", rather they say "such-and-such is part of this agreement between us: if this is breached then thus-and-thus will be instigated, without prejudice, governed by the laws of <national state> within whose area this contract shall be deemed to be issued"  - much more dull, but much more precise. And well-framed laws are rather dull to write, too - and need to be phrased with the same kind of precision as a computer program. (I have often thought that Legal Latin and Legislative English were precursors to Cobol, Java and HTML!).

Good parliamentary debate (certainly here, in the UK) consists of stating what the consequence of this or that clause might be, or has been, and whether this or that is consistent with such-and-such. Yes, we do, in our "Mother of Parliaments" shout at each other - but we are explicitly forbidden to make personal comments about other members of the legislature. You can say "X is mistaken about Y", but you can not say "X is lying" (and especially not "you are lying") - even though that might be what you are thinking.

I am, as I think I have said before, a scientist, and I try to use scientific reasoning at all times - tempered with an unswerving acceptance of Human Rights and Justice (both of which stand above our laws - and all other laws, too). I would urge the rest of us to do likewise.

And let us remember that many words are not always useful words. What is truly worth saying can be said succinctly.

My answer to the question posed by this thread is ..

NO an Absent Ruler is not a Ruler

Let us deal with it, let us act...
...let us act soon.

John - you are a nice guy. Your Majesty, in your office you are incompetent.
.

I would love to have the opportunity of visiting my home province! Although I am very, very remis in not speaking our language, I do speak French - which we will need in order to get a coffee and croissant at the beach cafe. Keep me informed, and I look forward to waving my walking stick at the puny barriers that try to limit our nation.  ;)

My votes for August 2020 Election:

Cosa: FREEDEMS

54RZ16 Per
54RZ22 Per
54RZ23 Per
54RZ25 Per
54EZ28 Per

Ian Tamoran for Senats Cezembre

I have verified that I *did* send a message of application five days ago. I can display a verifying screenshot if required.

There was a suggestion (by me), elsewhere and elsewhen, about our using a gender-neutral escutcheon in our armorial bearings.
It was a suggestion that, alas, went down like a lead balloon.

Perhaps I should try to revive it... <grin>

Quote from: Glüc da Dhi S.H. on April 28, 2020, 03:02:11 AM
While I'm always happy to welcome back someone who renounced, I also don't think it would be unfair to get a citizenship bonus for not doing the renouncing and coming back routine.

I'm awfully confused about the meaning of this triple negative!... don't think... unfair... not doing.... ??? ???

I am certainly interested (I have, heaven help us!, a master's degree in mathematic), and I can be of help here - but I'm a lousy teacher.

Assuming that we want to look at interesting mathematics (rather than just currently useful mathematics), then the classes of numbers are great fun - counting numbers, integers, rational, real, algebraic, transcendental, complex, etc. And, no, there is not just one sentence to be said about each of them.

I'm still around - and though I am stepping down from official business, I view the Advancement of Knowledge as being cultural business, and (insofar as possible) I would like to continue working in this Royal Society. Prospective members should PM me, either to my Talossan mailbox or (faster) to my external mailbox of idkk@idkk.com

Friday is better for me - though Saturday is OK too (I know we won't have any guests!). Please let me (us?) know how to connect to the meeting - and what other software we need.

I said, a while ago, that before the end of March I would write, and publish, a detailed description of my thinking in and about the most recent Cort case for which I sat on the bench. Well, good friends, I break my promise. And I apologise.

I am in one of the most vulnerable groups, being in real danger should I catch Covid-19 (I have only about a 4 in 5 chance of surviving). Hence I am completely locked down here at home, staying utterly clear of everyone, except for my darling – and very patient – wife. And, good fellow citizens of this noble nation, it pains me to remind you that there are more important things in life than the onerous burdens of careful official thought here. You may have noticed that I proudly announce myself to be a philosopher, and so I am – and by long experience I have learned that philosophy and careful thought cannot be a rushed affair, but must be given time and space in which to be examined from all sides.

And, even though I am nearly 75 Earth years old [I have calendars that tell me my age in Mars years, and Venus phases, and I wot not else!], I am very busy – busy with the things I simply must finish before I pass on, things which no-one else can do. Someone else can examine my past postings here both in and outside the Cort, and draw conclusions on what I might have meant or could have been thinking – but no-one else can finish writing the music I am writing, or planning the rest of the (long) book I am writing. Someone else can persuade Talossa to enter the twenty-first century and use metric measures (and UTC?) as very nearly every other country in the world does [aircraft hight being measured in feet is absurd – and that will, and must, change!] – but no-one else can be grandfather to my grandchildren, can finish writing for them the stories I have started... I have already written and published two books for children, but I need to finish my third one (currently in progress). I want them to remember me.

I have no doubt that you too, my Talossan friends, and those who come to this nation after me, will remember or (just sometimes) mention me; and I have no intention of disappearing totally just yet – I enjoy life, and want to hang on to it as long as I can... but, being realistic, "as long as I can" is not very long.

From other postings you will have learned by now that I have resigned as the most senior Justice. I no longer have the concentrated time that is needed to put my real mental efforts into that interesting – and important – office. Time is, alas, our one finite resource.

But still you will see me lurking in corners of our chambers, and abroad in our highways, and popping up from time to time to make a suggestions, or crack a joke, or throw a stone when I see some bad logic, or hatred, or impoliteness – but you will not see me doing any official business. You will see me, and maybe hear me, on some of our real-time meetings (whatever did we do before Skype and Zoom and Facetime??) and I can explain face to face (if you ask, and if you are interested!) what I was thinking about – what I am thinking about, and what my opinions are.

Thank you all for being who you are. Let's carry on having fun together.

Some of you may have noticed - but many of you will not - that I have been absent from our splendid nation for several days.  That is because I am tired.  Not tired of Talossa - perish the thought! - but physically tired.  I am now (I think) the oldest of our citizens - I was born in 1945, and will shortly be three quarters of a century old. I am trying to catch up on all those things I "should" have done earlier in my life, but "never got round to". This occupies more of my time than I anticipated, and - yes - it is tiring. For those of you that are interested (and that's possibly no-one <grin> ) I am writing my tenth book - a book I started on years ago, and which has got more and more complicated the more I research it... it's about Interstellar Travel, and it is science fact, not science fiction. I am also proofreading my nineth book - which is already published, but needs corrections in future editions... that's a book of music - mostly male-voice music from rare copies, and from printed versions that require both corrections and performance notes.

That means I do not (at the moment) have the time or the energy to give my full attention to the current/recent actives in the Cort. It would be remiss of me - very remiss - to jump in and make comments in the Cort, or outside of the Cort about legal actions, without having read and understood all that has been said since I was last here.   I recognise that the most recent case in which I gave judgement has ignited much discussion, not all of it temperate.  I would like to make some detailed comments on how I reached my decisions, and why - and I shall try to do that before the end of next month - March 2020/XVI.

I shall temporarily sign off here, with the reminder of what I have said (or hinted at) often in the past: the function of Justice is Justice, not Law. Human law is an attempt to codify Justice, but in final analysis Justice cannot fully be codified or restricted into unwavering pre-ordained channels - it is more subtle, and deeper, than that.

Fritz was hugely loved and hugely respected.  He was a true and honest gentleman.  He will be missed, and his passing mourned, in many places other than Talossa.  Our thoughts are with his family and his loved ones: may they always remember Fritz's wonderful contribution to this world, his generosity, his humour and his God-given grace.

May he rest in peace.

http://talossa.proboards.com/thread/13797/request-relief-legality-talossan-name

I think that is the reference...