WHEREAS, STUFF has a lot of stuff to do; and

WHEREAS, when one has too much stuff, it makes sense to get rid of some of it, even if you're STUFF; then

BE IT RESOLVED, that the following be enacted:

• Title D, Section 2.1.2 of El Lexhatx is created to read:

  QuoteThe Prime Ministry shall be responsible for ensuring the availability, for all Talossans, of up-to-date information on the personnel of all Government, Royal Household, Civil Service and Chancery office-holders.

  
  
• Title D, Section 2.5.1.8 of El Lexhatx is created to read:

  QuoteThe Ministry of Justice shall be responsible for ensuring the availability, for all Talossans, of the records of the Scribery as described in C.1.2.

  
  
• Title D, Section 2.11 of El Lexhatx is created to read:

  QuoteThe Minister of Production, heading the Ministry of Production (Ministrà dal Produziun), which shall be responsible for the creation of physical artifacts of the Kingdom.
     2.11.1. The Ministry of Production shall be in charge of TalossaWare, that is, the production of "physical embodiments of Talossanity", whether for distribution to citizens, to publicise the Kingdom to outsiders, or to sell for profit.

  
  
• Title D, Sections 2.10.2 and 2.10.3 of El Lexhatx, and all subsections thereof, are deleted in their entirety.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil (MC-PdR/¡Avant!)

Did Mic'haglh Autófil assist you with the creation of an armorial achievement during his time as the Long Fellow? Do you think it could look better? Well it can! Yes, folks, you heard it straight from the fox's mouth. The newly-minted Coletxüt del Fotz Mesquaic has recently upgraded some of his artistic "ingredients" and in celebration of his recent promotion is extending an offer to anyone who had an escutcheon designed by him the opportunity to refresh the depiction of their arms. Keep in mind, this does not mean they may have new arms -- the blazon has already been granted by one of two Kings. Rather, let's look at an example of what I'm talking about:


If you are @Caleb Frenibuerg , @þerxh Sant-Enogat , or @Barclamïu da Miéletz , and the prospect of a bit more professional of a design appeals to you, send the Foxmouth Pursuivant a message and together you'll look over what can be done.

-Foxmouth

Does Talossa have any sort of standards for civic heraldry? As an example, the Vuodean flag features the arms of Vuode, which according to the description provided by S:reu Tafial, do not actually feature any sort of shield. I'm not aware of any other provinces (or subunits thereof) adopting arms, though; is anyone else?

Personally, I like a good rounded ("Iberian") shield for this sort of thing:

Wondering if this is something we could look into more if we're trying to spur activity at the provincial level. Thoughts?

-Foxmouth

There are at least a few things I think we should address in an omnibus bill to amend the BUS:

• We never actually changed the provincial motto to one of the corrections suggested by S:reu Tafial.
• We could, if we want, consider other provincial symbols, holidays, etc., as well as any emblem designs for the Assembly or Council (similar to how the Fiovans do it), or consider asking the College of Arms for a grant.
• We should amend BUS.E.2 to reflect whatever method we decide on for handling undervotes. My personal preference remains to leave vacant choices for the leading preferences, but let's worry about the constitutional amendment first before finalizing this one.
• The Honourable Member, Justice Perþonest raised a good point about broadening the ability to have false claims of Order of Belacostă membership adjudicated by any legal system with jurisdiction in the Province, so we should address that as well.
• What about the droid attack on the Wookiees?

Azul Belacostaes!

Pursuant to our recently-enacted Belacostan Unified Statute, all Belacostan citizens are entitled to choose a canton to which they are assigned, as well as a sextieir within that canton.

To be perfectly honest, this has no effect on how the province functions overall, but I thought it would be something fun. Take a look at the map below, check out where the province sits on Google Maps, get a feel for any landmarks that strike your fancy, and then let me know! (Alternatively, if you actually live within Belacostan territory, let me know that too, because then your decision is made for you...).

If you decide your assignment no longer suits you in the future, you can change it once a year.

This is our map, updated to reflect current statute law:

Citizen	Canton	Sextieir
@Istefan Perþonest
@Flip Molinar
@Iason Taiwos	Garibaldi	Prospect
David Robert Levis
@Vitxalmour (Vitxalmour Conductour)
@Sir Lüc da Schir
@David Donofrio
@Erschéveþ da Schir
@paolo.mellere (Pôl dal Cräpscaßada)
@Massimiliano Sartorello
Lüc da Ragutxa
Mitchel Paul
@Francesco Manzella
@Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be
@e.iwuagwu (Emeka Iwuagwu)
@Pol dal Timă Lupulescu
@Dien Xhorxh

A few folks appear to be a bit harder to reach than simply tagging them on Witt, if you have a way I would appreciate it.

Reposting the Right Honourable Consul's thoughts on the matter here for expediency:

Quote from: Sir Lüc on May 08, 2025, 03:59:16 AMWhat Sir Glüc is pointing out is exactly what I meant with my comment on the proposal thread - after poring over provincial statutes while I was building the database, I noticed our constitution exactly mandates three preferences rather than "up to" three.

Sadly my comment was very rushed and unspecific and I also completely forgot to follow up on the changes you made. I am not entirely sure how to proceed except that:

- The points based voting system clearly would hinder other candidates if one could only give three points to their top choice - many editions of TMT20 are a helpful reminder - and so if the system is to stay, casting exactly three choices would be fairest;

- Conversely, strict rules lead to potential disenfranchisment. The database could help ensuring voters do rank three choices via software checks and hint texts, ALTHOUGH in the last election it did allow leaving choices blank; voting publicly on Witt could be a more serious disenfranchisment risk should someone undervote due to missing or misunderstanding the rules for the provincial vote.

I vaguely think the first concern is most important because undervoting would unfairly distort our current voting system. On the other hand, I'm not sure if our elections are going to be so hotly contested that we're going to fight over every ballot and throw out all undervotes. In my mind, we can:

- Allow undervotes but lower the points given to each vote, so your lead choice can only get three points if you fill out your ballot (something like: 1 choice = 1 point; 2 choices, 2 and 1; three choices, 3 and 2 and 1);

- Allow undervotes but switch to a different voting system altogether;

- Not allow undervotes: proclaim the BUS and immediately amend E.2, potentially switching it to instead allowing for curing undervotes in a certain time limit.

For my part, I would argue that a system that allows undervotes but treats the first (and if necessary, second) choice as vacant is preferable; it balances a desire to avoid disenfranchising Belacostan citizens with concerns about how a "top-choice first" method of counting undervotes could distort electoral results. It could look a little something like this:

QuotePrefatory text goes here

BE IT RESOLVED by the Best Provincial Assembly In The Land etc. that Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution of Belacosta, which currently reads as

QuoteThe Provincial Council will be elected from among the citizens of the Province at each Cosă election, via a positional vote. Voters will name their first-, second-, and third-choice candidates. For each first-choice vote, the candidate shall receive three points; for each second-choice vote, two points; and for each third-place vote, one point. The three candidates with the highest point totals shall be elected to the Provincial Council, with any ties being broken by the number of first-choice votes received (and if necessary, the number of second- and then third-choice votes, with a coin flip being used past this if necessary). Provincial Consuls may choose to ceremonially represent any canton or sexteir of the Province, or to represent the Province at-large.

is hereby amended to read:

QuoteThe Provincial Council will be elected from among the citizens of the Province at each Cosă election, via a positional vote. Voters may name up to three candidates, in order of their preference. For each first-choice vote, the candidate shall receive three points; for each second-choice vote, two points; and for each third-place vote, one point. The three candidates with the highest point totals shall be elected to the Provincial Council, with any ties being broken by the number of first-choice votes received (and if necessary, the number of second- and then third-choice votes, with a coin flip being used past this if necessary). Provincial Consuls may choose to ceremonially represent any canton or sexteir of the Province, or to represent the Province at-large.

There could probably be some way to better tinker with BUS.E.2 just to make sure it's doing what we want it to in a constitutional fashion, but I have a few things I've thought of since we moved the BUS to a vote that could probably be incorporated into an omni...bus...

Upon the recommendations of Consuls Autófil and Taiwos, the following is submitted to the Provincial Assembly. Voting shall last for one week from today, to end at 5:00 p.m. Talossan Daylight Time, Monday, May 5, 2025/XLVI. Should at least four MPAs vote either in favor or against before that time, voting will automatically close, as the fate of the bill will be sealed.

Members of the Provincial Assembly are hereby notified of the open vote:
@Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be
@Sir Lüc
@Iason Taiwos
@paolo.mellere
@Dien Xhorxh
@Istefan Perþonest

THE BELACOSTAN UNIFIED STATUTE (BUS) ACT

WHEREAS prior experience in both national and provincial administration would indicate having a single legal corpus is beneficial for provincial citizens and legislators alike, and

WHEREAS it would appear that at least one prominent Belacostan has attempted such an undertaking before, and

WHEREAS we're trying to keep our provincial renaissance going and this is a logical next step, then

BE IT RESOLVED that all previously-enacted Belacostan laws are hereby repealed, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following be enacted as the Belacostan Unified Statute, a single legal code for the Province, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the desire of the Provincial Assembly and Council that all further legislation take the form of Amendments to said Statute.

QuoteTITLE A: State
1. Subdivisions
    1.1. As per El Lexhatx and the Provincial Constitution, the Province is subdivided into two Cantons. The northern Canton is Mazzini and the southern Canton is Garibaldi, with the demarcation between the two running in an east-west line along the center of East Park Place across the entirety of the Province.
        1.1.1. The capital of the Province shall be Mazzini, with Riverside High School in that Canton serving as the provincial capitol building.
        1.1.2. This status as capital confers no special benefit and is merely for ceremonial and symbolic purposes.
    1.2. The province is further subdivided into Sixths, known in Talossan as "Sextieirs" and in Italian as "Sestiere".
        1.2.1. The Sextieir of Kenwood shall consist of all provincial lands north of the centerline of East Linnwood Avenue, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.2. The Sextieir of Locust shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Linnwood Avenue and north of the centerline of East Locust Street, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.3. The Sextieir of Riverside shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Locust Street and north of the centerline of East Park Place, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.4. The Sextieir of Webster shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Park Place, north of the centerline of East Bradford Avenue, and east of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
        1.2.5. The Sextieir of Prospect shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Bradford Avenue and east of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
        1.2.6. The Sextieir of Lorentzio shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Park Place and west of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
    1.3. The province is yet further subdivided into Wards, known in Talossan as Bairïu and in Italian as Rione.
    1.4. Geographic Assignment
        1.4.1. Citizens living within the territory of the Province shall be assigned to the Canton and Sextieir in which they reside.
        1.4.2. Citizens living outside the territory of the Province shall be assigned to the Canton of their choosing upon their naturalization as a citizen of Talossa and of Belacostă, or upon their reassignment to Belacostă from another province by the Chancery.
            1.4.2.1. Citizens who do not choose a Canton within two months of their assignment or reassignment to Belacostă shall be assigned by the Governadeir to the Canton with the smaller number of citizens currently assigned; should the Cantons be equal in population, this assignment shall be random.
            1.4.2.2. Extant citizens who have not yet received a Cantonal assignment will likewise have a two-month period to choose one, with said period beginning upon the effectivity of this Statute; citizens who fail to choose within that period will be assigned using the method described in 1.4.2.1.
            1.4.2.3. Citizens will be free to modify their Cantonal assignment within this two-month period.
        1.4.3. Citizens shall likewise be assigned by the Governadeir to a Sextieir within the Canton of their assignment, following the same method for Cantonal assignment.
        1.4.4. There shall be no limits to the population of a Canton or of a Sextieir, nor requirements that people do not join a Canton or Sextieir that has too many people in it.
        1.4.5. Dandelions shall be considered citizens of the Canton and Sextieir of their parents, and any Dandelion that arises to full citizenship shall be empowered to choose a different Canton and Sextieir as per 1.4.1., 1.4.2., and 1.4.3.
        1.4.6. Belacostans shall have an additional right to petition the Governadeir, no more than once per year, for their assignment to a Canton and/or Sextieir to be changed. Said petition shall specify a reason for changing the assignment, and the new assignment requested. The Governadeir shall have full discretion to grant the petition or refuse to do so.
        1.4.7. Assignment to a given Canton or Sextieir shall not be construed to affect the equal rights and privileges of all Belacostan citizens.
2. The tertiary language of the Province shall be the Italian language.
3. In the interest of streamlining national and provincial administration, it is the opinion of the Province that a merger on equal grounds with a neighboring province is desirable; for historical reasons, Florencia is considered the preferred partner.

QuoteTITLE B: Symbols
1. Flag
    1.1. The flag of the province is five units in height and eight units in length.
    1.2. The flag is composed of a field of Savoy Blue two units width in the hoist and a field of Bicoloreu Red five units width in the fly, separated by a wavy-edged field of white one unit in width.
        1.2.1. Savoy Blue is defined as #4B61D1 and shall symbolize the Manaweg and the connection to both the Italian heritage of the Province's territory and the many contributions by Italian-born Belcostans to the Province's history.
        1.2.2. Bicoloreu Red is defined as #E20308 and shall symbolize the Belacostan people and their tenacity.
    1.3. Centered in the red field shall be a circle of three white stars of five points each, tops pointing outward, evenly spaced such that one star is centered at the right-most point of this circle.
2. Holidays
    2.1. Lombardi Day, to be observed on Super Bowl Sunday, commemorating the longtime coach of the Florencia Packers, for whom the Super Bowl Trophy is named after.
    2.2. Constitution Day, February 22, to celebrate the promulgation of our provincial Constitution by King Txec.
    2.3. Mazzini Day, March 22, commemorating the birthday of the Italian patriot and politician for whom our northern Canton is named. This is Canton Mazzini's Cantonal Holiday.
    2.4. Cjovani Heritage Week, April 1 to April 7, commemorating the Cjovani Belacostans of Ohio and their unique contributions to our provincial culture and history.
    2.5. Founders' Day, to be observed the first Sunday after April 19, commemorating the establishment of Belacostă as a province of Talossa on April 20, 1982.
    2.6. Garibaldi Day, July 4th, commemorating the birthday of the Italian patriot and politician for whom our southern Canton is named. This is Canton Garibaldi's Cantonal Holiday.
    2.7. Province Day, December 28, encouraging the Belacostan citizenry to be involved in provincial life.
3. The motto of the Province is "Sürvixhilind Delmás l'Espuendă", or in English, "Standing Watch Along the Water's Edge".
4. The nickname of the Province is "The province so nice, they renamed it twice."

QuoteTITLE C: Honours
1. Order of Belacostă
    1.1. The Order of Belacostă is an order to be bestowed upon Talossan citizens who provide exemplary service to the Province.
    1.2. Recipients of the Order of Belacostă are entitled to use the title of "Don" for men or "Donna" for women.
    1.3. The Order of Belacostă is bestowed on the prerogative of the Governadeir.
    1.4. To falsely claim membership in the Order of Belacostă, or to use the title of "Don"/"Donna" without authorization, shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable prescribed by the Cort pü Inalt and/or by expulsion from the Provincial Assembly for the remainder of the present term.
    1.5. The Order of Belacostă is conferred in two grades.
        1.5.1. The upper grade shall be the Order of Belacostă, First Class, also known as the Commander of the Order of Belacostă.
            1.5.1.1. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the post-nominal "C.O.Be".
            1.5.1.2. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the wearing of a ribbon consisting from left to right of a thick stripe of Savoy Blue, a thin stripe of white, a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Red, a thin stripe of white, and a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Green, bearing upon it a golden oak leaf emblem.
            1.5.1.3. This grade shall only be awarded for extraordinary service to the Province, or for extraordinary service to the Nation by a Belacostan.
        1.5.2. The lower grade shall be the Order of Belacostă, Second Class, also known as the Officer of the Order of Belacostă.
            1.5.2.1. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the post-nominal "O.Be".
            1.5.2.2. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the wearing of a ribbon consisting from left to right of a thick stripe of Savoy Blue, a thin stripe of white, a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Red, a thin stripe of white, and a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Green.
    1.6. All prior recipients of the Order of Benito or the Order of Belacostă are hereby confirmed to have retained their membership in the Order as constituted under this Statute, including but not limited to:
        1.6.1. Sieu Garp Ian, Duke of Lupul (First Class)
        1.6.2. Istefan Perþonest (Second Class)
        1.6.3. Flip Molinar (Second Class)
        1.6.4. Timoþi M. Asmorescu (Second Class)
        1.6.5. Lüc da Schir (Second Class)
        1.6.6. Mic'haglh Autófil (Second Class)
    1.7. Membership in the Order of Belacostă may be revoked by a two-thirds majority of the Provincial Assembly in cases of flagrant fraud or conduct unbecoming to a member of the Order.
2. Styles
    2.1. The Viceroy shall be styled "[His/Her] Excellency, The Most Honourable [Name], Viceregal Representative to the Free and Sovereign Province of Belacostă".
    2.2. The Governadeir shall be styled "The Right Honourable [Name], Governadeir of Belacostă".
    2.3. Provincial Consuls shall be styled "The Right Honourable [Name], Consul of Belacostă".
    2.4. Members of the Provincial Assembly shall be styled "The Honourable [Name], [Assemblyman/Assemblywoman] of Belacostă".
    2.5. Citizens of the province shall be entitled to the post-nominal "Esq." during service as an Arbiter.
    2.6. No provision of this Title shall prohibit the use of any style or title awarded by the King, the Ziu, the Uppermost Cort, any other provincial government, political subdivisions thereof or in accordance with statutes governing the offices of the aforementioned bodies.

QuoteTITLE D: Judiciary
1. The Judiciary of the Province is hereby established as a system of binding, voluntary, and citizen-led arbitration.
2. In the case of a conflict over provincial law, the aggrieved shall publicly declare their grievance and the two shall find a mutually agreeable party to function as Arbiter.
3. An Arbiter may be any Belacostan citizen in good standing.
4. Should the parties be unable to agree on an Arbiter, the Governadeir shall be charged with finding an Arbiter, from outside the province if necessary.
5. Upon appointment of an Arbiter, each side shall plead their case. The Arbiter shall not issue a ruling until both sides of the case have been heard.
6. The Arbiter shall base their decision on appropriate provincial and national law as well as custom and judicial precedent with an eye toward fair play.
7. The Arbiter's decision is final and binding upon all parties, though all such decisions may be appealed to the national court system.
8. While conducting Judiciary business, the Arbiter shall wear a special hat of their own devising. For the interests of cultural legacy, the Province will maintain a registry of all such hats.

QuoteTITLE E: Elections
1. Should any ballot list the same choice in citizen for Provincial Consul more than once, only the highest choice shall be counted towards that citizen.
2. Should any ballot list fewer than three choices for Provincial Consul, the citizens listed shall be presumed to start with the first choice and descend from that point.
3. Citizens who claim a seat in the Provincial Assembly for the term may do so via any option made available for such purpose on a General Election Ballot as issued by the national Chancery; however, it is the request of the Assembly that such option note that citizens will need to be active on Wittenberg in order to make use of their seat.

WHEREAS, the Fixed Electoral Date Amendment (60RZ21) was not ratified by the Talossan People at the most recent General Election, and

WHEREAS, that amendment included a streamlined, updated definition for HM Loyal Opposition, and

WHEREAS, this definition is worth implementing into El Lexhatx, where the Opposition is currently defined, then

BE IT 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 replaced in its entirety with

QuoteAll political parties holding seats in the Cosă but not having representation in the Cabinet shall be known as El Contrapharti Fieir da Sieu Maxhestà, or "His Majesty's Loyal Opposition" in English, or in short El Contrapharti or "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 within The Opposition with a plurality of seats. Should more than one party within the Opposition possess a plurality of seats, a majority vote shall be conducted among Opposition MCs upon the seating of a new Cosa to select a Leader of the Opposition from among those parties so tied for a plurality. This shall include multiple rounds of balloting as necessary in the event that more than two parties are initially so tied until one eligible candidate receives the support of a majority of Opposition Cosă seats. In the event this vote results in a tie among the final two participants, one of those two shall be chosen by random draw conducted by the Chancery.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil MC (PdR/Avant)

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

The Culture page returns, featuring a review of Stone Creek Coffee!

Link in case the attachment doesn't work:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TDNgGhXhmj3qL_ImFivbLML--rXauBkV/view?usp=sharing

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).

Citizen	1st Vote	2nd Vote	3rd Vote	Total Pts
@Sir Lüc	3	5	1	20
@Iason Taiwos	3	1	3	14
@Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be	2	0	2	8
@Flip Molinar	0	2	0	4
@e.iwuagwu (Emeka Iwuagwu)	1	0	0	3
@paolo.mellere (Pôl dal Cräpscaßada)	1	0	0	3
@Erschéveþ da Schir	0	0	1	1

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

@Dien Xhorxh
@Iason Taiwos
@Istefan Perþonest
@Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be
@paolo.mellere (Pôl dal Cräpscaßada)
@Sir Lüc

Azul Belacostaes!

The following citizens of our fair province have yet to record a vote in the current election:

• @Flip Molinar (I think I speak for all of us when I say we really hope you're still around, Flip.)
• David Robert Levis
• @Sir Lüc
• @David Donofrio
• @Erschéveþ da Schir
• Pôl dal Cräpscaßada
• Mitchel Paul
• @Francesco Manzella
• @e.iwuagwu
• @Dien Xhorxh

Voting can be done in the dedicated thread here on Witt or by using our spiffy new National Database, created by none other than fellow Belacostan Sir Lüc da Schir. Please note that if you use the latter method you'll need to check your email for your Personal Security Code!

I would of course be remiss in my duties as co-leader if I did not ask you to consider casting your vote for the ¡Avant! coalition, but in truth I'd much prefer people participate and be active regardless of the outcome. Are we really going to let Florencia outvote us? Come on y'all

Also if anyone has a means to reach the three citizens who appear to not have Witt accounts, I would appreciate it if you could give them a heads up!

Had some things I've been cooking up recently -- but first, a few questions:

• What would be the proper way to go about submitting something as an "exhibition" for the purposes of rank advancement?
• Is there a statute of limitations or time limit on when something may be submitted as an exhibition?
• I see we have an exam on basic Talossan for advancement from Corporal to Sergeant. I'm not a Corporal (yet :eyes: ), but I was wondering if there was a way I could brush up anyway? More Glhetg is always good.

Now, on to the main topic:

Yes, I created more concepts for rank insignia. While I have brought this topic up before, I was feeling pretty creative the other day and decided to try and take things in a different direction.

As it stands, my previous designs were pretty clearly American in inspiration. Makes sense, I suppose -- I've lived there for 33 years now, after all. But Talossa is also very much not the United States, so instead I've been tinkering with a set of designs for gorget patches; the specific shape I used is the worn by the Austrian military, which in my opinion are large and distinctive on the lapel, unlike the narrower design in use by nations like the UK. Even though our national colors are of course green and red, the Zouaves' colors are red and blue (taken from their coat of arms, which itself uses the colors from historical zouave uniforms).



Enlisted ranks use blue, with "non-commissioned officer" ranks further using blue with silver piping and an embroidered bar. The diamond "pips" are inspired by those used by the Icelandic military.



Officer ranks use red with gold piping. The acorns used are in reference to the fact that the national mammal is the squirrel.

Also, I felt like we could maybe consider a new emblem -- unlike some previous discussion, it keeps the "Z" for "Zouaves", as well as the overall circular shape, but as a circle monogram feels a bit more put together IMO. Shown below on its own and also on a hypothetical "Zouaves flag". (I gotta do the whole RAV flag thing, you know?)

   

ATTN:

MinDef @Bråneu Excelsio, UrN Capitan @Sir Ian Plätschisch

Earlier this year, a prominent member of Talossa's aristocracy stated that  "Gradual decay is not a plan." He said this in reference to the Consensus Plan on Reform, a roadmap that was debated and refined through several rounds of discussion, with constructive input from all mainstream political parties both within the Government and the Opposition. This Plan was one of the ¡Avant! Coalition Government's stated goals back when it was inaugurated: to facilitate "a wide-ranging and open-ended discussion on Talossa's Organic Law and constitutional structure." This was a promise made and a promise kept.

Given that even the Leader of the Opposition commended the Government's "ability to build consensus" and praised "this latest proposal and the style with which [responsible figures] handled the discussion", it is fair to say the goal of charting the roadmap has been met. Whether or not we stay on course to a brighter future for Talossa remains to be seen -- though the final word rests, as it always should, with the Talossan people.

Given the fact that the aforementioned aristocrat and I are opposed on a host of political issues, it may surprise you to find out that he and I are in full agreement on this one. Gradual decay is not a plan, at least not one any capable government should countenance. The problem lies in the inability to self-reflect and see that it is attitudes such as his own that keep us on the road to decay, plodding along like a cart in a rutted track. Slowly but surely, we roll down the gentle hill of time, until eventually this track dumps us off a cliff and on to the ash heap of history. With all due respect to a member of Talossa's nobility, that simply will not do. We cannot sit in the burning room, sipping our coffee and telling ourselves "this is fine" until we've been charred to a crisp.

It is true that more immigration is always a good thing. It is also true that immigration is something that pretty much every government of this nation, regardless of ideological position or partisan makeup, has attempted to improve, frequently with mixed results. While this Government has enacted improvements to our immigration system, it is a fact that Talossa simply does not have the population to justify the current structure of our state.

We have, at last count, 131 active citizens. It is, however, the same 20 or so who continue to form the core of active citizenry. This is not enough to keep Talossa's posts fully manned. We have too many provinces and too many positions that must be filled, and the most glaring example of this is the Senäts. Eight citizens forbidden from most other positions, including Cosӑ service (understandably so, to be fair), Uppermost Cort seats, and several key spots in the Royal Civil Service. Wouldn't it be nice to have them available to help share a bit more of the workload?

This is not to criticize the concept of provincial representation, to be clear. Both proposals submitted for Cosӑ apportionment, including the Mixed-Member Proportional system ultimately selected for the Consensus Plan on Reform, are intended to sacrifice a little proportionality to ensure smaller provinces are not completely overpowered by more populous neighbors. But they do so in a way that solves what has been termed the "warm bodies problem" – fewer people are required to make things function properly, though there is nothing stating that more people cannot be included – there's nothing wrong with making a large party list and then only giving each person on it a few seats, you know? (By the way, this is one excellent feature of the 200-seat Cosă: it's easily scalable and almost infinitely expandable.)

Perhaps the most sinister motivation at play here is that of self-perpetuation. We can talk about how our systems are broken, about how we do not have enough people to man the ramparts, about how immigration is paramount. But when new prospective immigrants show up, this leaves us in a bind – we are forced to show them a house with its windows smashed in and its paint peeling, only to follow up with "welcome home!" It's no wonder most of them don't stick around! Wouldn't it make the most sense to renovate the house first before having someone move in?

All of these metaphors are to try and emphasize why the Consensus Plan on Reform – CPR – is so necessary. As in medicine, CPR is not undertaken lightly; it is an emergency lifesaving measure, after all. The ¡Avant! ticket is trained in its administration. And you, the Talossan people, will decide with your votes whether we as a nation get the emergency care we need, or whether we will allow ourselves to flatline.

A vote for the ¡Avant! ticket is a vote for democratic reform, a vote for adaptable government, and a vote for Talossa's future. Not just a brighter future, but a future of any kind.

Vol. 3, Iss. 1!

THE BELACOSTAN UNIFIED STATUTE (BUS) ACT

WHEREAS prior experience in both national and provincial administration would indicate having a single legal corpus is beneficial for provincial citizens and legislators alike, and

WHEREAS it would appear that at least one prominent Belacostan has attempted such an undertaking before, and

WHEREAS we're trying to keep our provincial renaissance going and this is a logical next step, then

BE IT RESOLVED that all previously-enacted Belacostan laws are hereby repealed, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following be enacted as the Belacostan Unified Statute, a single legal code for the Province, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the desire of the Provincial Assembly and Council that all further legislation take the form of Amendments to said Statute.

QuoteTITLE A: State
1. Subdivisions
    1.1. As per El Lexhatx and the Provincial Constitution, the Province is subdivided into two Cantons. The northern Canton is Mazzini and the southern Canton is Garibaldi, with the demarcation between the two running in an east-west line along the center of East Park Place across the entirety of the Province.
        1.1.1. The capital of the Province shall be Mazzini, with Riverside High School in that Canton serving as the provincial capitol building.
        1.1.2. This status as capital confers no special benefit and is merely for ceremonial and symbolic purposes.
    1.2. The province is further subdivided into Sixths, known in Talossan as "Sextieirs" and in Italian as "Sestiere".
        1.2.1. The Sextieir of Kenwood shall consist of all provincial lands north of the centerline of East Linnwood Avenue, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.2. The Sextieir of Locust shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Linnwood Avenue and north of the centerline of East Locust Street, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.3. The Sextieir of Riverside shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Locust Street and north of the centerline of East Park Place, extrapolated across the entirety of the Province.
        1.2.4. The Sextieir of Webster shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Park Place, north of the centerline of East Bradford Avenue, and east of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
        1.2.5. The Sextieir of Prospect shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Bradford Avenue and east of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
        1.2.6. The Sextieir of Lorentzio shall consist of all provincial lands south of the centerline of East Park Place and west of the centerline of North Oakland Avenue.
    1.3. The province is yet further subdivided into Wards, known in Talossan as Bairïu and in Italian as Rione.
    1.4. Geographic Assignment
        1.4.1. Citizens living within the territory of the Province shall be assigned to the Canton and Sextieir in which they reside.
        1.4.2. Citizens living outside the territory of the Province shall be assigned to the Canton of their choosing upon their naturalization as a citizen of Talossa and of Belacostă, or upon their reassignment to Belacostă from another province by the Chancery.
            1.4.2.1. Citizens who do not choose a Canton within two months of their assignment or reassignment to Belacostă shall be assigned by the Governadeir to the Canton with the smaller number of citizens currently assigned; should the Cantons be equal in population, this assignment shall be random.
            1.4.2.2. Extant citizens who have not yet received a Cantonal assignment will likewise have a two-month period to choose one, with said period beginning upon the effectivity of this Statute; citizens who fail to choose within that period will be assigned using the method described in 1.4.2.1.
            1.4.2.3. Citizens will be free to modify their Cantonal assignment within this two-month period.
        1.4.3. Citizens shall likewise be assigned by the Governadeir to a Sextieir within the Canton of their assignment, following the same method for Cantonal assignment.
        1.4.4. There shall be no limits to the population of a Canton or of a Sextieir, nor requirements that people do not join a Canton or Sextieir that has too many people in it.
        1.4.5. Dandelions shall be considered citizens of the Canton and Sextieir of their parents, and any Dandelion that arises to full citizenship shall be empowered to choose a different Canton and Sextieir as per 1.4.1., 1.4.2., and 1.4.3.
        1.4.6. Belacostans shall have an additional right to petition the Governadeir, no more than once per year, for their assignment to a Canton and/or Sextieir to be changed. Said petition shall specify a reason for changing the assignment, and the new assignment requested. The Governadeir shall have full discretion to grant the petition or refuse to do so.
        1.4.7. Assignment to a given Canton or Sextieir shall not be construed to affect the equal rights and privileges of all Belacostan citizens.
2. The tertiary language of the Province shall be the Italian language.
3. In the interest of streamlining national and provincial administration, it is the opinion of the Province that a merger on equal grounds with a neighboring province is desirable; for historical reasons, Florencia is considered the preferred partner.

QuoteTITLE B: Symbols
1. Flag
    1.1. The flag of the province is five units in height and eight units in length.
    1.2. The flag is composed of a field of Savoy Blue two units width in the hoist and a field of Bicoloreu Red five units width in the fly, separated by a wavy-edged field of white one unit in width.
        1.2.1. Savoy Blue is defined as #4B61D1 and shall symbolize the Manaweg and the connection to both the Italian heritage of the Province's territory and the many contributions by Italian-born Belcostans to the Province's history.
        1.2.2. Bicoloreu Red is defined as #E20308 and shall symbolize the Belacostan people and their tenacity.
    1.3. Centered in the red field shall be a circle of three white stars of five points each, tops pointing outward, evenly spaced such that one star is centered at the right-most point of this circle.
2. Holidays
    2.1. Lombardi Day, to be observed on Super Bowl Sunday, commemorating the longtime coach of the Florencia Packers, for whom the Super Bowl Trophy is named after.
    2.2. Constitution Day, February 22, to celebrate the promulgation of our provincial Constitution by King Txec.
    2.3. Mazzini Day, March 22, commemorating the birthday of the Italian patriot and politician for whom our northern Canton is named. This is Canton Mazzini's Cantonal Holiday.
    2.4. Cjovani Heritage Week, April 1 to April 7, commemorating the Cjovani Belacostans of Ohio and their unique contributions to our provincial culture and history.
    2.5. Founders' Day, to be observed the first Sunday after April 19, commemorating the establishment of Belacostă as a province of Talossa on April 20, 1982.
    2.6. Garibaldi Day, July 4th, commemorating the birthday of the Italian patriot and politician for whom our southern Canton is named. This is Canton Garibaldi's Cantonal Holiday.
    2.7. Province Day, December 28, encouraging the Belacostan citizenry to be involved in provincial life.
3. The motto of the Province is "Sürvixhilind Delmás l'Espuendă", or in English, "Standing Watch Along the Water's Edge".
4. The nickname of the Province is "The province so nice, they renamed it twice."

QuoteTITLE C: Honours
1. Order of Belacostă
    1.1. The Order of Belacostă is an order to be bestowed upon Talossan citizens who provide exemplary service to the Province.
    1.2. Recipients of the Order of Belacostă are entitled to use the title of "Don" for men or "Donna" for women.
    1.3. The Order of Belacostă is bestowed on the prerogative of the Governadeir.
    1.4. To falsely claim membership in the Order of Belacostă, or to use the title of "Don"/"Donna" without authorization, shall constitute a misdemeanor punishable prescribed by the Cort pü Inalt and/or by expulsion from the Provincial Assembly for the remainder of the present term.
    1.5. The Order of Belacostă is conferred in two grades.
        1.5.1. The upper grade shall be the Order of Belacostă, First Class, also known as the Commander of the Order of Belacostă.
            1.5.1.1. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the post-nominal "C.O.Be".
            1.5.1.2. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the wearing of a ribbon consisting from left to right of a thick stripe of Savoy Blue, a thin stripe of white, a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Red, a thin stripe of white, and a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Green, bearing upon it a golden oak leaf emblem.
            1.5.1.3. This grade shall only be awarded for extraordinary service to the Province, or for extraordinary service to the Nation by a Belacostan.
        1.5.2. The lower grade shall be the Order of Belacostă, Second Class, also known as the Officer of the Order of Belacostă.
            1.5.2.1. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the post-nominal "O.Be".
            1.5.2.2. This grade shall entitle the recipient to the wearing of a ribbon consisting from left to right of a thick stripe of Savoy Blue, a thin stripe of white, a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Red, a thin stripe of white, and a thick stripe of Bicoloreu Green.
    1.6. All prior recipients of the Order of Benito or the Order of Belacostă are hereby confirmed to have retained their membership in the Order as constituted under this Statute, including but not limited to:
        1.6.1. Sieu Garp Ian, Duke of Lupul (First Class)
        1.6.2. Istefan Perþonest (Second Class)
        1.6.3. Flip Molinar (Second Class)
        1.6.4. Timoþi M. Asmorescu (Second Class)
        1.6.5. Lüc da Schir (Second Class)
        1.6.6. Mic'haglh Autófil (Second Class)
    1.7. Membership in the Order of Belacostă may be revoked by a two-thirds majority of the Provincial Assembly in cases of flagrant fraud or conduct unbecoming to a member of the Order.
2. Styles
    2.1. The Viceroy shall be styled "[His/Her] Excellency, The Most Honourable [Name], Viceregal Representative to the Free and Sovereign Province of Belacostă".
    2.2. The Governadeir shall be styled "The Right Honourable [Name], Governadeir of Belacostă".
    2.3. Provincial Consuls shall be styled "The Right Honourable [Name], Consul of Belacostă".
    2.4. Members of the Provincial Assembly shall be styled "The Honourable [Name], [Assemblyman/Assemblywoman] of Belacostă".
    2.5. Citizens of the province shall be entitled to the post-nominal "Esq." during service as an Arbiter.
    2.6. No provision of this Title shall prohibit the use of any style or title awarded by the King, the Ziu, the Uppermost Cort, any other provincial government, political subdivisions thereof or in accordance with statutes governing the offices of the aforementioned bodies.

QuoteTITLE D: Judiciary
1. The Judiciary of the Province is hereby established as a system of binding, voluntary, and citizen-led arbitration.
2. In the case of a conflict over provincial law, the aggrieved shall publicly declare their grievance and the two shall find a mutually agreeable party to function as Arbiter.
3. An Arbiter may be any Belacostan citizen in good standing.
4. Should the parties be unable to agree on an Arbiter, the Governadeir shall be charged with finding an Arbiter, from outside the province if necessary.
5. Upon appointment of an Arbiter, each side shall plead their case. The Arbiter shall not issue a ruling until both sides of the case have been heard.
6. The Arbiter shall base their decision on appropriate provincial and national law as well as custom and judicial precedent with an eye toward fair play.
7. The Arbiter's decision is final and binding upon all parties, though all such decisions may be appealed to the national court system.
8. While conducting Judiciary business, the Arbiter shall wear a special hat of their own devising. For the interests of cultural legacy, the Province will maintain a registry of all such hats.

QuoteTITLE E: Elections
1. Should any ballot list the same choice in citizen for Provincial Consul more than once, only the highest choice shall be counted towards that citizen.
2. Should any ballot list fewer than three choices for Provincial Consul, the citizens listed shall be presumed to start with the first choice and descend from that point.
3. Citizens who claim a seat in the Provincial Assembly for the term may do so via any option made available for such purpose on a General Election Ballot as issued by the national Chancery; however, it is the request of the Assembly that such option note that citizens will need to be active on Wittenberg in order to make use of their seat.

I've been doing a little research (more on the reason why later) on our fair province's history, and I thought I'd just link the entirety of the OldWitt forum for anyone who might be interested:

https://talossa.proboards.com/board/23/benito

Some highlights include:

• The renaming debate from Mussolini to Benito, as well as the earlier (circa 2012) attempts by a young S:reu da Schir to ditch Benito as a name as well.
• The adoption of our initial Constitution. (Did we seriously not have one until 2008? 26 years of military dictatorship?)
• The province serving as the host of the January 2013 Zefençadéirs del Repúblicanismeu Talossán party convention. Clogged up the board right proper they did....
• @Iason Taiwos proclaiming the first provincial secret society (BEBOP) and a second honor, the Order of the Corncob (where you too can be a proud Benitian Kernel).
• The Great Benitian Land Survey, which sounds like something I would have enjoyed, lol.
• A provincial map, along with discussion on cantonal and sextieiral (?) assignment.

Unfortunately it looks like we once had a provincial website with our various laws and whatnot, though Moonfruit has apparently long been lost to the sands of Internet time, as has whatever Witt we used before ProBoards.

La C'hronica – Januar XLVI / January 2025

Follow us on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Talossa
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Talossans
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingdomoftalossa/
Follow us on LinkedIn: The Kingdom of Talossa
Follow us on Reddit: r/talossa
Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/x6UsMBY4

Government News

INDEPENDENCE DAY: Talossa survives another trip around the sun, starts 46th year of independence:
King's Speech: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3716.0
Independence Day Honours: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3718.0

King declares new holiday, Flip Molinar Day:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3669.0
Fora Talossa video: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3734.0

ID cards continuing to roll out from Ministry of STUFF:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3582.0

Civil Service News

þerxh Sant-Enogat becomes PermSec of Social Media (aka PermSec of Propaganda):
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3673.0

Foreign Ministry zeroing in on BHAID PermSec:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3570.0

Culture News

Baron Alexandreu Davinescu wins Culture Ministry's glheþ-only writing contest:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3588.0

The National Talossan League of Hockey season sees Glüc da Dhi's Banqeu da Cézembre Zambonis join the fray atop the standings:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3539.0

Provincial News

Belacostă moves forward with constitutional reform:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3737.0

Cézembre considers redesigning flag to differentiate from Bretagne:
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=3740.0

Immigration News

Nine applications for citizenship were received in December: Pôl dal Nordselvă, Astor Menotti, Gabe, Pedro Billed La Bestia, Mads Karashin, Yakov Akopyan, Panfeng Liu, Eetu Kalevi Helminen, and Jordan Joseph Robert. Additionally, one new citizen, Alan Libert, was naturalized.
https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?board=2.0

WHEREAS, eight provinces is at least three too many; and

WHEREAS, arranging provincial mergers in both a top-down and bottom-up fashion has proven difficult in the past; and

WHEREAS, coordinating things in a "middle-out" fashion covers the weaknesses of the unidirectional approaches; then

BE IT RESOLVED, that the following be enacted:

(1): The creation of a "Royal Commission on Provincial Realignment" for no more than twelve months following passage of this bill. This duration may be extended prior to its expiration by future acts of the Ziu.

(2): This commission shall be composed of one member appointed by the Tuischac'h, one member appointed by the Mencei, one member by the Seneschal, one member by the Secretary of State, and one member by the King. The same may appoint replacement commission members should incumbent appointees fail to participate in commission business on a reasonable timeline, or should they engage in gross misconduct.

(3): The commission shall be tasked with determining sensible recommendations for provincial mergers, taking into account factors including but not limited to reasonable geographic shapes, provincial populations (both active and total), local sentiment, provincial history, and preferred provincial constitutional structures.

(4): The commission may not take into account concerns of a partisan political nature, including but not limited to likely voting trends for Senators.

(5): The commission may not recommend solutions involving mergers of governments between provinces that remain otherwise separate, as such solutions would violate Org.IX.1.

(6): The commission may choose to bring tentative recommendations before the provinces to gauge the likelihood of success if multiple courses of action are deemed feasible, and to negotiate a best course of action.

(7): It is the sense of the Ziu that four or five provinces is a more manageable situation, and suggests that the commission attempt to arrive at such a result.

(8): It is the wish of the Ziu that individual provinces and future sessions of the Ziu give due consideration to the recommendations made by the commission.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil MC

WHEREAS, Cosa seats are held by their respective MCs, and not the parties to which they are assigned; and

WHEREAS, MCs maintain affiliation with political parties out of a sense of common goals and a desire to work together to achieve them; and

WHEREAS, these goals and the bonds they form do not always stand the test of time; and

WHEREAS, the right of MCs as Talossan citizens and free-thinking legislators ought to be balanced with respect to the voters by whom they are elected to office; then

BE IT RESOLVED, that the following amendments to El Lexhatx are effected:

(1): Title B, Section 8.4 is created to read:

QuoteIf during a Cosa term a Member of the Cosa wishes to disaffiliate from their current party in order to affiliate with a new or pre-existing party, or no party at all, they may communicate this intent to the Secretary of State, subject to the following conditions:
    8.4.1. No Member of the Cosa may disaffiliate from any party more than once between a general election and the next dissolution of the Cosa.
    8.4.2. MCs must resign half of their assigned party seats to disaffiliate, rounded down to the nearest whole seat.
    8.4.3. In accordance with Article IV, Section 3 of the Organic Law, party seats that are resigned to disaffiliate are returned to the original party to which they were assigned based on the results of the most recent general election. Likewise, should any MC affiliate with a different party following their disaffiliation from their original party, the remainder of their seats will also return to the original party should that MC vacate those seats for any reason.
    8.4.4. Requirements for disaffiliation as described in this section do not apply to MCs whose party undergoes a merger as described in Section 8.2 above.

(2): Title B, Section 8.5 is created to read:

QuoteAny new political parties that are formed by MCs in accordance with Section 8.4 above are entitled to petition the Chancery for registration as an official party, subject to the same communication requirements as any other party described in Section 7 above.

Uréu q'estadra så:
Mic'haglh Autófil MC
Breneir Tzaracomprada MC