Whereas, the Kingdom of Talossa, as a nation situated on unceded Indigenous territory, recognizes that the historical experience of colonialism has had profound and lasting impacts on societies, cultures, and systems of knowledge across the world, and

Whereas, scholars and thinkers have identified the continuing effects of coloniality, meaning the persistence of structures of power, hierarchy, and cultural dominance rooted in the colonial era even after the formal end of colonial rule, and

Whereas, the concept of the coloniality of power, as described by sociologist Aníbal Quijano, explains how patterns of socioeconomic classification and cultural authority established during colonial rule continue to shape global institutions and social relations, and

Whereas, decolonial thought also highlights the coloniality of knowledge, whereby certain intellectual traditions, particularly those developed in Europe and the West, have historically been treated as universal, or otherwise privileged, while other systems of knowledge have been marginalized or disregarded, and

Whereas, the intellectual movement known as Decoloniality seeks to critically examine these inherited hierarchies and promote recognition of the diverse ways of knowing, being, and understanding the world that exist across human societies, and

Whereas, engagement with decolonial perspectives encourages societies to reflect on historical legacies, expand intellectual pluralism, and promote greater respect for cultural diversity.

Therefore, be it the Sense of the Ziu of the Kingdom of Talossa, that:

It affirms the value of ongoing global conversations concerning decoloniality and the examination of the enduring legacies of colonial structures, and

That the Ziu supports the recognition of a plurality of cultural traditions, intellectual frameworks, and historical experiences as part of the shared heritage of humanity, and

That the Ziu encourages Talossans and the international community to approach these discussions in a spirit of curiosity, humility, and respect for diverse perspectives, and

That the Kingdom of Talossa expresses its support for scholarship, dialogue, and cooperation aimed at addressing the historical and contemporary impacts of colonialism while promoting mutual understanding among cultures.

Uréu q'estadra så
Breneir Tzaracomprada (MC-Green)

I've had a little less time recently, but I have been able to make some more structural updates. at this point, it's clear that the new immigration infrastructure is working well, with essentially no major problems since it was put into place. I've transitioned it to a new account. I've also moved over all of our records for Infoteca, and I spent some time updating how that information is presented. Our data portal now has a natural language summary at the top that is automatically updated, several prettier charts, and overall just a better presentation. I also took the time to add in any additional data we had from the past, and to put everything together in one organized spreadsheet. I am going to get together some notes and documentation as well, so that anyone who needs to fix things in the future will be able to find exactly what has gone wrong and understand how all the parts work together.

I know this stuff isn't glamorous and there's not much that's changed on the front end for most people, but I'm trying to keep things updated so everyone is aware of what's been happening.

As always, suggestions or error reports would be very welcome! If you think of other information it'd be valuable for people to have, please let us know! It has to be fairly easy to keep updated, though I've tried to make it a rule then it should take no more than 5 minutes a month to keep everything completely updated, that way there's never any excuse for ignoring that task.

Check out the updated Infoteca here: https://talossa.com/infoteca/

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on Yesterday at 07:04:29 PM¡Estimadas es estimats Uniunistaes!

The Abbavilla Digest notes that, so far, the URL Convention has seen participation from just two people. Which was the same number of members the PdR apparently had pre-merger... We look forward to publishing a story about the URL's convention but earnestly hope it becomes more than a conversation between its two leaders.

¡Estimadas es estimats Uniunistaes!

As mandated by Constitution II.E, this Convention is entitled to nominate a candidate for Seneschal in the upcoming elections, who will be placed first on our party list.

It seems that it falls to me to do so; as I did at the inaugural Convention. And reading my speech from that Convention, I'm struck with a feeling of detxa vischtă.

We still have a party run by an unrepentant sexual harasser. I give that leader credit, though, to have figured out a way around being shunned by everyone else in Talossa: procuring the immigration of a new member who is not going to complain about being sexually harassed by their party leader. I wonder if this person is actually aware of their party leader and beloved companion's recent behaviour in Talossa, though.

Happily, the cordon sanitaire is mostly holding; although not entirely. The Foreign Minister seems to see fit to allow sex pests to act as "information liaisons" to other countries. When I questioned the Seneschal about this at the Informal Session, he seemed somewhat less than full-throated in defending this; I wonder whether it was a "solo run" by the Foreign Minister which the Seneschal backed for the sake of Cabinet unity. Nonetheless, this kind of thing will not survive the election of a URL-led government. For us, no sex pests means no sex pests in any role in the gift of the Government; short of sincere repentance.

And we still have a major political party - one now leading the Government! - which dislikes the basic principle of representative democracy. The Seneschal holds firm to his belief that a Cosa vote is a vote for a "brand", a party leader; that the Cosa is simply a mathematical construct demonstrating how popular each brand/leader was on Election Day, that "seats" should be in the free gift of such a leader to hand out post facto.

In contrast, the URL believes that a Cosa election should be just that - an election of members of the Cosa. Voters should be, as far as practicable, choosing their preferred representative or team of representatives. If a party benefits big from getting the approval of less-active voters, but does not have the will or capacity to find people who wish to actively represent voters, that should count as a penalty against such a party. This is our Democracy Agenda. We think Talossa should be a representative democracy (under a constitutional monarchy, if you insist), as that would be understood in any other country. We bluntly think that anyone who disagrees - even using the figleaf of "Talossan peculiarity" - is someone who benefits from a lack of democracy.

To this extent, our victory in pushing through the Pseudo-Real Cosa - and our agreement with the Government to let the Broosking Swing amendment through - is a huge, positive step. If this survives through to the 64th Cosa, then at least there will no longer be a situation where one MC's vote will count more than 20 times than another. Although - if the Seneschal's argument were to prevail - of course a party leader who wins a majority could say "I assign 11 seats to me!", and therefore be the Cosa, in the same way that King Robert I could in the late 80s. So let's not let that happen.

In any case, that brings up the biggest victory for Talossa of this governmental term; the belated conclusion of a "non-aggression pact" between the Government and the URL. This should have happened before the First Clark. The URL were out there offering not only an abstention, but even a YES on the VoC, in return for policy/legislative concessions. The Progressive Alliance were not interested - as the Seneschal-to-be said openly, because they were personally angry at the URL's campaign. I'm not sure why I would have expected any thing else. Part of the PA leader's political approach is to collect a "broad tent", held together less by positive policy planks but by resentment of the outgoing government. The more we critiqued this negative politics, the more resentful they got.

But we saw where this "government by spite" ended up. It ended up with the Government cutting a deal with an absolute monarchist party led by a relatively new citizen - one for whom I have quite a lot of personal affection! - who ended up both politically and personally unreliable. Which led the Government back to us, to make a deal that could have been done better and earlier if we weren't voting out of hurt feelings. The Democracy Agenda is, in part, a hope for a Talossan politics which is based on political principle rather than personal beef. It requires a Cosa consisting of teams of representatives, not by Big Bosses trading "seats" as if they were poker chips.

Nonetheless, I have actually enjoyed relations with the Seneschal over the last month or so. When you take the partisan heat out of the equation, patriotic Talossans of goodwill can come to agreements. And the Seneschal is patriotic, in the sense that KR1 defined: "Talossan patriotism is the determination that Talossa should continue to exist". The URL are, in our own way, also patriots.

***

Leaving all that aside, though; the Democracy Agenda/constitutional issue, and recriminations about how PA/URL relations have gone during this Cosa, is all well and good. But it doesn't make an argument for a change of Government.

How, for example, should the URL respond to the Government's recent Immigration statement? The statement makes a lot of assertions about immigration statistics and immigration policy. I confess that my personal attitude to all this is that it's somewhat irrelevant. I'm not a "natalist". I think the raw number of Talossan citizens is of far less interest than the number of active participants in Talossan culture and institutions. Although, to go back to points mentioned above, it shouldn't surprise me that the party leader who's insistent that his party shouldn't have to find active legislators is more interested in raw numbers. ("If you can't quantify it, it doesn't exist" is one of the regular traps of economic theory, parenthetically.)

I mention this as an example, because a lot of people out there don't vote on the constitutional issue, more or less democracy. They don't vote based on personal beef, alhamdulillah. They vote based on perceptions of general "competence" and "activity". This is the role of any party who wants to make a positive case that we should replace the incumbent government.

This is the challenge for the Union of Free Reformists. The argument for the Democracy Agenda is our raziun d'estar. But that won't win us an election. An alternative Seneschal who can promise to administer and to promote an active and healthy Talossa, and to build a team of not only legislators but shadow Ministers to do so, is what is required.

And there is none more qualified to do that in this party than @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be , whom I nominate to be the URL candidate for Seneschal of Talossa at the 63rd Cosa election.

¡Så vivadra Talossa! ¡Så vivadra Talossa democrätic!

¡Estimadas es estimats Uniunistaes!

Under Constitution II.A.1, I rise to nominate as the three members of the Comità to be elected by this Convention, the outgoing Comità: namely, myself, @Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be , and @Antaglha Xhenerös Somelieir .

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on March 10, 2026, 05:20:36 PM

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on March 09, 2026, 04:14:44 PM

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on March 08, 2026, 07:34:53 PMParty List Reform #1: The URL supports legislation to prioritize party lists, ensuring that "off-list" candidates can only receive seats if no "on-list" candidates are eligible, in order to improve transparency and allow voters to better judge the intentions of the parties on the ballot.

I'd add "... or willing" here. If someone doesn't want to take seats you can't make them. I'm aware that this might mean packing a list with people who agree in advance not to take seats, but if people want to game the system to such an extent there's not much you can do about it.

Wouldn't that be addressed by Party List Reform #2? People who are unwilling to take seats can simply say "no thanks, please don't put me on the list".

No. Consent to go on the list <> consent to take up seats

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on March 09, 2026, 04:14:44 PM

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on March 08, 2026, 07:34:53 PMParty List Reform #1: The URL supports legislation to prioritize party lists, ensuring that "off-list" candidates can only receive seats if no "on-list" candidates are eligible, in order to improve transparency and allow voters to better judge the intentions of the parties on the ballot.

I'd add "... or willing" here. If someone doesn't want to take seats you can't make them. I'm aware that this might mean packing a list with people who agree in advance not to take seats, but if people want to game the system to such an extent there's not much you can do about it.

Wouldn't that be addressed by Party List Reform #2? People who are unwilling to take seats can simply say "no thanks, please don't put me on the list".

This prospective not having posted within a month of his introduction to the nation, his application is discontinued.

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on March 08, 2026, 07:34:53 PMParty List Reform #1: The URL supports legislation to prioritize party lists, ensuring that "off-list" candidates can only receive seats if no "on-list" candidates are eligible, in order to improve transparency and allow voters to better judge the intentions of the parties on the ballot.

I'd add "... or willing" here. If someone doesn't want to take seats you can't make them. I'm aware that this might mean packing a list with people who agree in advance not to take seats, but if people want to game the system to such an extent there's not much you can do about it.

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on March 08, 2026, 07:34:53 PMParliamentary Reform: The URL supports codifying and strengthening the powers of the Tuischac'h and Mençei to allow them to better maintain order and enforce parliamentary procedure within their respective chambers.

Agree; but we need more detail on what this might mean before we put it in a platform. Does the incumbent Túischac'h @Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP have any ideas?

With these caveats, this is an excellent program, and what's even better, a program that could, realistically, be enacted in one Cosa with a 2/3 majority and an agreeable Senäts. It is realistic.

WHAT is my name?

Moinul Moin.

WHAT is my request?

If it so please the Squirrel King of Arms, I request the assistance of the College in designing and obtaining arms for myself and my lawful heirs.

WHAT is my favourite colour?

Green,Red,Blue.