Quote from: Ian Plätschisch on February 28, 2020, 09:26:30 PM
Is it possible to make polls?

WHEREAS it is a plank of the coalition government to introduce legislative proposals that seek to create explicit cultural duties for the Monarch, and

WHEREAS current law allows for a State Opening of the Cosa, but this is rarely done as the concept only really applies to Living Cosas, so

THEREFORE be it enacted by the Ziu assembled that El Lexhatx H.1 which currently reads:

QuoteFuture elections shall be followed, when practical, by an official Living Cosă which shall be styled the "State Opening of the Cosa". At the State Opening, the Prime Minister shall read his Speech to the Nation, and the Leader of the Opposition shall have a chance to rebut. A Living Cosă shall be carried out at the same time, on the Government's first Clark. At the start of the State Opening, the new Prime Minister will be sworn in publicly. The State Opening shall feature food, drink, and as many Talossans as possible will be invited to attend.

is hereby amended to read:

Following each General Election there shall be an official "State Opening of the Cosa". At the start of the State Opening, the new Prime Minister will be sworn in publicly.  The Monarch shall then deliver a Speech from the Throne outlining his government's legislative agenda and programme for government; The contents of this speech shall be communicated to the Monarch by the incoming Prime Minister prior to the ceremony. The Prime Minister shall then deliver a Speech to the Nation and, if desired, may announce Cabinet Ministers during the ceremony. Rebuttal speeches by the Leader of the Opposition and the leader of the Third Party shall then follow. When practical, The State Opening shall be held during an official Living Cosă and shall feature food, drink, and as many Talossans as possible will be invited to attend.(This stricken section has been left here to show changes and edits being made during the Hopper debate, but will not be included in the Clarked version)

Following each General Election there shall be an official "State Opening of the Cosa". At the start of the State Opening, the new Seneschal shall be sworn to the office publicly.  The Sovereign shall then deliver a speech outlining the Government's legislative agenda and programme for the term. The contents of this speech shall be communicated to the Sovereign by the incoming Seneschal prior to the ceremony. The Seneschal may announce Cabinet Ministers during the ceremony. A rebuttal by the Leader of the Opposition shall follow, which may be followed by a further rebuttal by the leader of the third largest party. When practical, the State Opening shall be held during an official Living Cosă for which food and drink shall be featured and as many Talossans as possible shall be invited to attend.

WHEREAS it is a plank of the coalition government to introduce legislative proposals that seek to create explicit cultural duties for the Monarch, and

WHEREAS current law allows for the awarding of various National Decorations, so

THEREFORE be it enacted by the Ziu assembled that El Lexhatx F.40.2 which currently reads:

QuoteDecorations are awarded for gallantry, civilian bravery, or meritorious services. While similar to National Orders, they may or may not be created by the sovereign and conferred by either the Crown's designee or a Governmental Body; and are traditional worn on the left side of the jacket or dress. Decorations may also entitle recipients to usage of post-nominals.

is hereby amended to read:

Decorations are awarded for gallantry, civilian bravery, or meritorious services. While similar to National Orders, they may or may not be created by the Sovereign and conferred by either the Crown's designee or a Governmental Body; and are traditionally worn on the left side of the jacket or dress. Decorations may also entitle recipients to usage of post-nominals.

Whenever a governmental body wishes to grant a Decoration to a citizen it shall communicate this intent to the Sovereign.  Once per Cosa, and during the final Clark of a Cosa, the Sovereign shall conduct an Investitures Ceremony where the recipients of these awards shall be announced.  The Sovereign shall formally present award insignia to those recipients on behalf of the body conferring the award.

Quote from: Lüc on February 28, 2020, 02:20:15 PM
It's not retrievable I'm afraid, I'm sorry. At least with reCaptcha we won't have this problem in the future.

No worries.  If the applicant replies to my last communication and helps me verify who he is then I can just have him register again.

Ah, too late.

I see you've mass deleted the recent flurry of spam accounts already.  One of the two "real" accounts has been kept, but one has gotten lost in the mass delete.  Is that account retrievable or does the applicant need to re-register once I can verify his identity?

Quote from: Lüc on February 28, 2020, 08:11:51 AM
The Registration Agreement has been updated and it's likely that more changes will happen "soon" as we adjust to using New Witt as the only Witt, particularly quality of life changes and other changes related to the implementation of Wittiquette.

In unrelated news, we've had a lot of spam accounts registering lately, which is a bit of a nuisance but not much of a real issue because 1) they're easy to mass delete; 2) they can do nothing unless assigned to a group by an admin or Immigration. Because of this, though, we have now switched to reCAPTCHA for verification instead of SMF's Visual Verification Image.

Finally, this post (and the Welcome one, which will also be locked) will be moved to the Webspace board soon, with a FAQ post being worked on. As always, continue using this post for feedback, criticism and help.

Please don't mass delete all those accounts just yet.  2 of them are real accounts that are pending.  I have 2 incoming applicants that I am struggling to verify identity with, so those accounts should remain for the time being until I can make a decision one way or the other.

Quote from: Miestrâ Schiva, UrN on February 27, 2020, 08:30:21 PM

Immigration

Luc dealt with immigration a few weeks ago.  I'm already a mod on the immigration board and some limited admin privileges to deal with account approvals, user groups, etc.

The Council of Governors has now convened.


Members of this Council are as follows:
@Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir, Başbakan of Atatürk
@Eiric S. Bornatfiglheu, Maestro of Benito
@Amada Merþedes, Sénéchal of Cézembre
@Miestrâ Schiva, UrN, Capitán of Fiôvâ
@Breneir Itravilatx, Governor of Florencia
@Þon Txoteu É. Davinescu, Premier of Maricopa
@Ian Plätschisch, Grand General Secretary of Maritiimi-Maxhestic
@Viteu Marcianus, Premier of Vuode


The office bearer position of Governor-General shall be held by the member for Maritiimi-Maxhestic and as such his province shall now host this councils' proceedings.


The Minister of the Interior shall act as a facilitator until those services are no longer required by this council.


I now open the floor for discussion, motions, points of order, etc...

Quote from: Miestrâ Schiva, UrN on February 06, 2020, 01:53:50 PM

Quote from: Lüc on February 06, 2020, 09:13:39 AM
4*: Although the post-Reunision normal is that Cosa votes on partisan bills are mostly decided, so in effect the Senate is the only true arbiter of a Government bill, such as a nomination that is made as a result of a Coalition agreement.

Was this not the case pre-Reunision? I.e. did the permanent RUMP majority not whip its own proposals?

No. Not, really.  There was always an attitude of 'let MCs vote their conscience'.

It's only recent times that have seen cabinet level and party level whips.

Even today you'll see it happening.  Look at the Cosa voting records.  It's rare to find 100% of a party all voting identically on a Clark.

WHEREAS Sir Fritz von Buchholtz was a citizen of Talossa, and
WHEREAS he played a massively significant role in the modern development of the nation, and
WHEREAS he played a hugely significant role in the survival of this nation following major crisis, and
WHEREAS he was highly thought of and respected among the citizenry of this nation, and
WHEREAS Sir Fritz recently, and sadly, passed away, and
WHEREAS there exists an overwhelming desire among the nation's citizenry to honour Sir Fritz in some manner, so


Therefore be it resolved by the Ziu that:


A) Collection fund in honour of Sir Fritz

(i) A monetary collection fund is hereby established and it shall be known as the 'Sir Fritz Fund'.

(ii) Citizens may donate to this fund via the usual donation channel via the PayPal link on the Kingdom's website.  Upon making a donation to this fund citizens must specify that the donation is intended for the 'Sir Fritz Fund' using whatever comments/notes box is available on the applicable form.

(iii) The Burgermeister of the Inland Revenue is directed to forward the proceeds of this collection of funds, upon final prorogation of the 54th Cosa, to the Fredonia branch of the American Legion, an organisation that Sir Fritz was heavily involved with and held dear to heart.

(iv) Collection of donations for this purpose shall cease upon final prorogation of the 54th Cosa.


B) Extraordinary budget request

The Burgermeister of the Inland Revenue is hereby directed to release funds from the Treasury of no more than $80 (USD) for the purpose of purchasing a floral arrangement to be sent to the family of Sir Fritz. Words of condolence, on behalf of the Kingdom of Talossa, shall be included on a card sent with the floral arrangement.


C) Extraordinary status of this Act

The Ziu observes that this Act has been written by the Acting Minister of Finance, but recognizes that such an action has been authorized by the Seneschal and, as such, the Ziu recognizes this Act complies with the statutes within El Lexhatx that concern extraordinary and emergency appropriation requests.


Noi urent q'estadra sa:
The Right Honourable Éovart Grischun (Acting Minister of Finance and Minster of the Interior, MC-PNP)
The Most Honourable Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN (Seneschal of the Kingdom of Talossa, MC-FreeDem)

Quote from: Sevastáin Pinátsch on February 03, 2020, 09:45:49 AM
Because we can't evaluate someone's suitability as a Talossan without knowing which province they'd be assigned to?

No. You're right. We don't necessarily *need* to post the location, but it's rather useful to do so. 

Seriously, what is your problem?  There is nothing wrong with an application getting posted displaying just the city/state.  Never once has somebody's street address been posted.  Never once has somebody's neighbourhood or zip code been posted.  And it'll never happen, not only because we know better, but because we actually already have laws limiting how this data is to be handled.

We only ever disclose the city, state (if applicable) and country.  This is mainly for two reasons.  First, as said, for provincial assignment.  Second, is for people who are geographically close to each other to have a chance at forming some kind of relationship/friendship/bond/etc.  If a prospective showed up in the future that came from Glasgow or nearby, don't you think it would be cool for me and that person to know we live near each other?  Wouldn't you like to know if someone from your home town became Talossan so that you could maybe become friends?  Or, are you just content living in your secret 'closet Talossan' bubble?  If being Talossan is such a danger to you, why do you even bother?

Enough of the tantrum.  Get a grip, chief. 

I'm about to cast my votes.

Upon a final reading of this bill I have noticed something that I hadn't noticed earlier:

"excluding such personal contact information as their physical place(s) of residence"

Until such time as provincial assignment is not tied to geographic location, this can't work. 

I noticed that around 8 or 9 accounts were registered on 23/01 that are not attached to any incoming immigration cases.  All look spammy.

The PNP received votes from citizens of this province, but we don't have party members in the province to fill the seats.  I put a call out for people to come forward to fill the seats, but I didn't get any takers.  Unfortunately, we are in a position where it seems our voters wish to be just voters.

Quote
El Lexhatx

D. The Government

9. The Ziu authorises the formation of a Council of Governors (el Cußéglh del Governadéirs in Talossan, abbreviated CG) to be comprised of each provincial executive, whether he or she is called "Governor" or not.

9.1. The Minister of the Interior shall call the Council into order no later than the first day of the first Clark of each Cosa term. Each provincial executive shall accept his or her seat in the Council no later than the last day of that Clark. (51RZ9)

9.1.1. If the executive of a province does not accept his or her seat by the specified time, the Minister of the Interior may appoint a resident of that province to the Council, who shall serve until the executive of that province accepts his or her seat. The Minister of the Interior shall not appoint him or herself to the Council in this manner. (51RZ9)

9.2. The Council shall meet and operate under rules of its own design. (51RZ9)

9.3. The Governor-General of Talossa shall be the leader of the Council, chosen by a majority of the Council members (who are the collective governors and provincial leaders of Talossa). In matters provincial, the Governor-General shall serve as a liaison to the Government of Talossa, to serve at the behest of the Council of Governors. (32RZ10) (51RZ9)

9.4. If a member of the Council ceases to be a provincial executive, he or she shall immediately lose his or her seat in the Council. The new executive of the province shall have one month to accept his or her seat in the Council, after which the Minister of the Interior may appoint a resident of that province to the Council, who shall serve until the new provincial executive accepts his or her seat. (51RZ9)

9.5. If a province is without an executive, the Minister of the Interior may appoint a resident of that province to the Council, who shall serve until the province elects an executive and that executive accepts his or her seat. (51RZ9)

Per the relevant statutes above, I name @Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir of Atatürk, @Amada Merþedes of Cézembre and @Miestrâ Schiva, UrN of Fiôvâ to fill the missing seats until their provinces elect new executive officers.


Members of the Council of Governors for the 54th Cosa are thus:



[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]Atatürk[/td]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]@Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]Benito[/td]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]@Eiric S. Bornatfiglheu[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]Cézembre[/td]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]@Amada Merþedes[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]The Free Province of Fiôvâ[/td]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]@Miestrâ Schiva, UrN[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]Florencia[/td]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]@Breneir Itravilatx [/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]Maricopa[/td]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]@Þon Txoteu É. Davinescu[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]Maritiimi-Maxhestic[/td]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]@Ian Plätschisch[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]The United Provinces of Vuode and Dandenburg[/td]
[td style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 3px;"]@Viteu Marcianus[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]



At this time, I ask the council to direct attention to LEX.D.9.2 and LEX.D.9.3 (quoted above).