Hello all, hope the UI change hasn't thrown you off too much.

We've upgraded Witt to SMF 2.1.2, which has understandably caused our old themes, the Discord embed and some mods to stop working. This was expected and nothing to worry about -- I just need time to sort stuff out.

I need to stop and take a break now, so I'll write more later as I continue working on the upgrade. Note that I don't expect Witt will need to be taken down again so you're all safe to keep using it.

Please use this thread for questions, feedback, comment, criticism and the like.

Hello, not sure who's the current Wiki admin - would it be possible to place my account in the correct user group? Þaraþias ^^

I hereby renounce my citizenship.

Esteemed colleagues, by the powers of Rule 2.4, I am hereby appointing as Deputy Mençei the Senator for Florencia, @Açafat del Val . He will perform any and all duties bestowed upon the Chair, according to the Standing Rules, until I am back from my hiatus, or more likely, until the term is over on August 15th.

I would never have thought I would need to do this, but oh well. I'm sorry to those who I pledged my full attention when considering me as Mençei, and to my people in Benito for not being able to complete the term at the best of my ability.

One more thing... do a better job than me. Don't let this thing die.

Hello all,

I originally wanted to write something much lengthier, but I'll cut to the chase. Things are not looking good - how bad, we'll know in a few weeks - for reasons we all know too well. And despite considering you all to be my dearest friends, the time to take care of much closer people, my own family, has come. Thus, I'm afraid I have to announce I am stepping back from any and all of the roles I am holding at the moment, and any and all projects I am involved in. Specifically:

1) My term as Senator for Benito will end in June, de facto, and on August 15th, de jure. Despite it being an office I enjoy immensely, I am aware that should I need to prolong my hiatus, then that would not be compatible with seeking another term. I will review my situation ahead of the July 15-August 1 general elections, and hopefully things will be clearer enough that I can make a firmer decision. As of today, I am still planning to complete my term and vote on all remaining matters, at the very least.

1b) Further to this, I am honoured to be currently serving as the Mençei del Senäts. This is also a role I like, and I hope to have made some sort of meaningful contribution in that capacity. While normally not much is required and I would have stayed on in full capacity, an important hearing, the second of this term, is coming up this month. I can not take part in, much less oversee, that hearing in the fashion and with the seriousness that it deserves. Therefore, I will invoke Standing Rule 2.4 and make a further announcement before the Senate.

2) I am currently the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet. While not resigning, I am publicly stating that I would prefer handing off this role to someone in better conditions. If this does not happen, then I will probably guarantee some kind of basic level of operations (eg. Witt registrations, email redirect changes, urgent issues...), but nothing other than the bare minimum will get done until my personal issues continue.

3) Projects: I've done some stuff on the side, for example the recent new Översteir, or another thing would be the Talomat, another edition of which will need to be done in less than two months. Needless to say, no work will get done from me on any of these side projects, which includes both patches/fixes and any upgrades. However, I am more than willing to help anyone take them over; you won't get any kind of tech support or guidance, but I'll be glad to transfer over all of the code and stuff I am in control of.

4) The Wiki. It's not mine, I haven't done anything to create or build it, but nevertheless I hold it extremely close to my heart. Please take care of it and keep editing it, filling in our history and our traditions, especially those parts that didn't get recorded on Ar Päts or are so recent that we take them for granted.


No, I am not renouncing. Don't know how long this will last, but with the knowledge that this might be the last you see of me for a while, maybe a long while... farewell.

TLDR: Bye for now. In the following months, I will only pop back in to complete my Senate term, but nothing else will get done except for very urgent stuff. Handing off, or willing to hand off, any of my current roles and projects. Will reevaluate situation in a couple of months.

It's unlikely I'll be on Witt much (read: I won't visit Witt at all), so if anything truly urgent comes up, you know where to find me; if not, my address is ldaschir àð talossa pünt com.

Azul all, back for another episode of La Curantoina. As usual, you are all invited to take part, or to watch and chat live with us.

La Curantoina ep. 3 will be either on Friday 10th or on Saturday 11th, depending on attendance, at the usual 8:30 PM UTC / 3:30 PM TST time slot.

This time, we should have a far richer Kahoot live quiz - that everyone can play, including those watching the stream! - and likely a very important language-related announcement.

WHEREAS it has been more than a fortnight since Hal Glaze first posted on Wittenberg, following his introduction to the citizens of the Kingdom by officers of the Interior Ministry, and

WHEREAS the said Hal Glaze has in that time demonstrated an active, genuine, and longstanding interest in Talossan life, culture, and language, and

WHEREAS the said Hal Glaze desires citizenship in the Kingdom of Talossa, and

WHEREAS by all indications it appears that Hal Glaze would be a loyal and dedicated citizen, and a credit to this nation if he obtains the grant of citizenship he requests,


THEREFORE I, Lüc da Schir, a citizen in good standing of the Sovereign Province of Benito and of the Kingdom of Talossa, do by these presents petition the Secretary of State to issue a grant of citizenship to Hal Glaze, as specified by law.


Petition submitted today, the 7th day of April, 2020/XLI.

I'm opening applications for Deputy Cabinet Secretary,
1) As a precautionary measure, given the current situation;
2) As way to train a successor, for the inevitable yearly Talossa-related mental breakdown I'll have somewhere down the line;
3) As a way to spread my workload a bit.

DCS's duties would be to assist with my current tasks, and if you need a refresher of what those are, look on the Wiki.

It's likely that one of us will mostly do web backend related stuff and the other will mostly do Wittmeister stuff. In addition to that, we'd probably both do web-related projects, like the New Oversteir that I've Marcel has been working on lately.

That's it. Apply below or in private, you know where to find me. Some experience with web development / sysadmin appreciated.

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

On the Clark:

    RZ18 - The State Opening of the Cosa Redux Act
    RZ19 - The Investitures Act
    RZ20 - The NCC Redux Act
    RZ21 - The Tuischac'h Election Bill
    RZ22 - The Amada Mertgedes Martyrdom Memorial Act

Furthermore, may I belatedly officially note on the floor that all Resolutions of the Senate that were considered during the month of March have passed.

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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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