Hear Ye, Hear Ye --

in my role as the Lord President of the Senate / Mençei del Senäts, it is my pleasure to announce to the citizenry the bestowment of three Senatorial Medals of Honour to the following Talossan citizens who have admirably served the Kingdom in their respective capacities over a long period of time, in accordance with Lex.F.40 and pursuant to the passage of 54RS01, 54RS02 and 54RS03 by the Senate.

Therefore,
are hereby awarded the Senatorial Medal of Honour for their past and ongoing meritorious and honourable services to the nation. May I be the first to congratulate @Glüc , @GV and @Eðo Grischun for their newly awarded honour.

In accordance with El Lexhatx H.18, the recipients may, in official RT affairs, affix the initials "S.H." after their name.

Lüc da Schir
Mençei del Senäts / Lord President of the Senate

In the spirit of "if nobody does it, I'm gonna do it myself" (see: Talomat), I'm "officially" launching the tentatively-named La Curantoina ("The Quarantine"), the Covid-prompted successor to the Talossan Evening Chat Show.

Very tentatively, we could have our first chat Thursday 26th at 5 PM TST (TDT) / 9 PM UTC. This is not final: this thread is also meant to see if there's enough turnout and if necessary change the day/time.

Anyone that would be willing to take part, please reply to this thread so that we can also decide on other details (eg. where? is it worth it for me to stream it for an audience or posterity?).

WHEREAS, in general, Talossa suffers from scarcity of warm bodies; and

WHEREAS, in times like these, we shouldn't limit our most active people from holding multiple offices, as long as it does not constitute an obvious conflict of interest; so

THEREFORE, we, the Ziu of the Kingdom of Talossa, hereby commend this Organic Law amendment to a popular referendum, as follows:

Article VIII, Section 3 is amended to read: "Neither a reigning King nor his Consort, nor a Regent during his regency, nor the Secretary of State, nor the Seneschal, nor any public prosecutor, nor any Member of the Cosa shall be a Justice of the Cort pü Inalt."

Ureu q'estadra sa,

Lüc da Schir (Senator-BE)

WHEREAS, in general, Talossa suffers from scarcity of warm bodies; and

WHEREAS, in times like these, we shouldn't limit our most active people from holding multiple offices, as long as it does not constitute an obvious conflict of interest; so

THEREFORE, we, the Ziu of the Kingdom of Talossa, hereby amend El Lexhatx as follows:

El Lexhatx C.1.1.3 is amended to read: "An individual may not hold the offices of Seneschal, Distáin or any cabinet portfolio while simultaneously holding an active appointment to a secretary office. In addition, any Secretaries within the Ministry of Justice may not serve as a Justice of the Uppermost Cort or a judge in any inferior court."

El Lexhatx C.5 is amended to read: "The Secretary of State shall hold no seat in the Cosa."

Ureu q'estadra sa,

Lüc da Schir (Senator-BE)

Better late than never I guess, but taking advantage of the WittSwitch - is the Royal Society presently accepting applications for fellowships? (not sure who to tag - @Ián Tamorán S.H. @Dr. Txec dal Nordselvă ?)

Reopening this thread on the new forum. This month we're voting on:

• RZ14 - The This Ain't it, Chief Act
• RZ15 - The Seneschál Election Amendment
• RZ16 - The There's No Such Thing As A Free Senäts Seat Amendment
• RZ17 - Abolition of Compulsory Voting and Determination of Legal or Actual Decease Bill

We are also voting on three Medals of Honour, to Glüc da Dhi, Eðo Grischun and Gödafrïeu Grammyfrïeu Valcadac'h.

I will likely support RZ14 and RZ16, and I'm leaning against RZ17, but I'm still pondering its implications. RZ15 unfortunately has some issues with its language that has to be addressed.

Do any of you have any opinions on this month's bills? What do you think about New Witt?

Fellow Senators, it is my pleasure to open debate on the Third Clark for the 54th Cosa.

On the Clark:

• RZ14 - The This Ain't it, Chief Act
• RZ15 - The Seneschál Election Amendment
• RZ16 - RZ16 - The There's No Such Thing As A Free Senäts Seat Amendment
• RZ17 - Abolition of Compulsory Voting and Determination of Legal or Actual Decease Bill

We are also voting on the following Resolutions of the Senate, all sponsored by Senator da Schir and concurred by Senator del Val:

• RS01 - The 2020 Senatorial Medals of Honour (Da Dhi)
• RS02 - The 2020 Senatorial Medals of Honour (Grischun)
• RS03 - The 2020 Senatorial Medals of Honour (Valcadac'h)

The full text follows.

54RS01: The 2020 Senatorial Medals of Honour (Da Dhi)

WHEREAS El Lexhatx H.40.1.2.3 empowers the Senate the ability to award a Medal of Honour to citizens for meritorious or honourable service to the nation or state; and

WHEREAS we feel there are a few individuals who are more than worthy of receiving such an award; and specifically

WHEREAS Glüc da Dhi has achieved high accomplishments in more than ten straight years of Talossanity; has served with distinction in both Houses of the Ziu, as Seneschal and Cabinet Minister, in provincial politics, as party leader, and as our current Secretary of State; has been instrumental in certain cultural endeavours such as the Talossan Music Top 20, and has long been a distinguished journalist and pundit; and has been an active member of our community since he was awarded citizenship, without a break; so

THEREFORE, be it resolved by the Senate of the Kingdom of Talossa that Glüc da Dhi is hereby awarded the Senatorial Medal of Honour for his past and ongoing meritorious and honourable services to the nation.

FURTHERMORE, in accordance with El Lexhatx H.40.1.2.3, the recipient may, in official RT affairs, affix the initials "S.H." after his name.

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54RS02: The 2020 Senatorial Medals of Honour (Grischun)

WHEREAS El Lexhatx H.40.1.2.3 empowers the Senate the ability to award a Medal of Honour to citizens for meritorious or honourable service to the nation or state; and

WHEREAS we feel there are a few individuals who are more than worthy of receiving such an award; and specifically

WHEREAS Éovart Davìu Grischun has achieved high accomplishments in more than ten straight years of Talossanity; has served with distinction in both Houses of the Ziu, as Cabinet Minister, in provincial politics, in the Chancery, and as party leader of multiple parties; for his efforts in Immigration reform; and has been instrumental in cultural endeavours such as the magazine "Stil da Vida" and numerous projects in Vuode, such as the Parish and Township naming project and its current constitution; so

THEREFORE, be it resolved by the Senate of the Kingdom of Talossa that Éovart Davìu Grischun is hereby awarded the Senatorial Medal of Honour for his past and ongoing meritorious and honourable services to the nation.

FURTHERMORE, in accordance with El Lexhatx H.40.1.2.3, the recipient may, in official RT affairs, affix the initials "S.H." after his name.

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54RS03: The 2020 Senatorial Medals of Honour (Valcadac'h)

WHEREAS El Lexhatx H.40.1.2.3 empowers the Senate the ability to award a Medal of Honour to citizens for meritorious or honourable service to the nation or state; and

WHEREAS we feel there are a few individuals who are more than worthy of receiving such an award; and specifically

WHEREAS Gödafrïeu Válcadác'h has achieved high accomplishments in almost twenty straight years of Talossanity; has served with distinction in both Houses of the Ziu, as Seneschal and Cabinet Minister, and in provincial politics; has been notable in his steadfast stewardship of national heritage as Royal Archivist, and has been involved in important cultural endeavours in the Kingdom and the Republic, such as the magazine "Oraclâ" and the book "A Nation Sundered"; so

THEREFORE, be it resolved by the Senate of the Kingdom of Talossa that Gödafrïeu Válcadác'h is hereby awarded the Senatorial Medal of Honour for his past and ongoing meritorious and honourable services to the nation.

FURTHERMORE, in accordance with El Lexhatx H.40.1.2.3, the recipient may, in official RT affairs, affix the initials "S.H." after his name.

...and hence the last day of February, by (old) OrgLaw X.6 (new VII.11), the King is deemed to have signed all bills that passed both houses. Therefore:

- Welcome to Talossa, @Seiken Zeap !

- Congratulations to (edit: for) your elevation to the Uppermost Court, @Viteu !

- and last but not least, with 54RZ12's passage, 53RZ18 and 53RZ22 officially become active, so @GV should get ready for some scribin' :P

This was also posted to Old Witt: http://talossa.proboards.com/thread/13874/marcian-hearing-feedback-thread

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Hello everyone, if you've read La Sc'hinteia you will know that I wanted to open a feedback thread on the hearing sometime this month. (I actually wanted to do it after the Clark, so that people could give their opinions without the weight of an ongoing vote, but I changed my mind.)

I'm interested in your opinions on the hearing. Literally anything is of interest to me: what you thought about the process, how can it be improved, did the Chair/nominee/Senators/Guests do a good job, if you thought it was too short/long/boring/uneventful, do you think this should be compulsory, what positions should probably warrant a similar hearing, etc. etc.

You also don't need to be particularly thorough, any (nonzero) amount of feedback is useful to me, to anyone who might be in my position should another hearing occur, and to any future nominee. The only thing I ask is that we try and keep this centered on feedback on the hearing rather than the nomination itself or the nominee, as opinions on this particular nominee are irrelevant to a future nomination process.

Since this hearing was intended as a service to Talossa, not just to the Ziu or to the Senate, I would welcome everyone's opinions (MCs, Senators, Justices, civil servants, ordinary Talossans...). Your opinion counts because, well, I want to know if all of this was worth it, and if so, what can be improved/changed should there be another opportunity to conduct a similar hearing.

So let's get going.

Fellow Senators,  it is my pleasure to open debate on the Second Clark for the 54th Cosa.

On the Clark, which can be found here:
54RZ05 - The Valencia Immigration Act
Introduced by Lüc da Schir (Senator-BE)
54RZ06 - The Lexithree Modernisation Act
Introduced by the Rt. Hon. Éovart Grischun (MC-PNP), Minister of the Interior
54RZ07 - The Fair Warning Act
Introduced by Sevastáin Pinátsch (Senator-KA)
54RZ08 - The Lexifore Leeway Act
Introduced by the Rt. Hon. Éovart Grischun (MC-PNP), Minister of the Interior
54RZ09 - The 54th Cosa Budget
Introduced by the Most Hon. Miestrâ Schivâ (MC-FreeDems), Seneschal
54RZ10 - The Fixing The Fixing The Judicial Deck Clean-Up Bill
Introduced by the Most Hon. Miestrâ Schivâ (MC-FreeDems), Seneschal
54RZ11 - The Vth Member of the Uppermost Cort Bill
Introduced by the Most Hon. Miestrâ Schivâ (MC-FreeDems), Seneschal
54RZ12 - The When Do We Want It? Now! Act
Introduced by the Rt. Hon. Ian Plätschisch (Senator-MM), Distain
54RZ13 - The Talossa is Not Wittenberg Act
Introduced by the Rt. Hon. Ian Plätschisch (Senator-MM), Distain

Today, in the 40th anniversary of Talossan independence, I am proud and honoured to present to you King John's traditional Speech from the Throne, exceptionally delivered by video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXshHX-z2oo

...on the Old Wittenberg, for the time being. Senators are heartily advised to visit the welcome thread (there are important matters that might need to be discussed) and the Mençei nomination thread.

I'm using this post to keep track of feature requests and to announce progress on stuff.

NOTE: This is all frontend stuff. Administration and the like are under the direction of the Chancery.

Completed features [some of what has been completed since the opening, excluding minor tweaks]:
- Weekly backup function for the Royal Archivist
- "New" icons for boards on mobile - requested by Ian P - Now the "WittGlobe" icons should be visible on mobile.
- "Latest 59" - requested by Miestrâ - The link has been added to the top navigation bar
- Avatar size restriction change - requested by Eðo - Avatars are now only restricted to 100px in width
- Video embed - requested by Miestrâ - Just type a link to a video inline and Witt will do the rest. Supported websites: a ton, including YT, FB (video, image and post), Twitch, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Instagram, any remote direct URL, ESPN, Reuters, Vine, Streamable, Soundcloud, Imgur...
- User tagging in posts - Just type @ and the display name of an user.
- Light theme - You can now select between a dark and a light theme. Go to your profile -> Modify Profile -> Look and Layout to try it out.
- "Like" feature - requested by Miestrâ - Will probably still be tweaked a bit
- Table improvements and additional HTML-style tags - requested by various people - Check out this post
- Shoutbox - requested by Ian P - The unofficial Discord is embedded on the bottom of the website
- Tapatalk integration
- Anti-forum crash PHP kill cronjob

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Wishlist of features:
- CSS tweaks - ongoing tweaking of the interface for Light and Dark themes, as I notice (mostly minor) flaws
- Tweaks to the mobile version (especially the navbar)
- Better tagging - username tagging has been abandoned, but I'd still like to improve the tagging function a bit
- Icon overhaul - replace stock icons for post editing, emojis, etc.
- "Colourful" theme (probably Bicoloreu themed variant of the Light theme)
- "Legacy" theme (mimicking Proboards for PB nostalgics)
- Newsletter - figuring out how to use the forum newsletter function
- WYSIWYG editor - the inbuilt one is a bit buggy
- Mention-style notifications for liked and quoted posts
- Talossan translation of the interface (will need collaboration with Ladintschen) - this is in progress on Github
- Exploring a different Discord integrator for the Shoutbox