@þerxh Sant-Enogat
Just a heads up that another post of mine appears to have gotten caught up in the "spam" net. I am guessing the YouTube link might an issue or a change to the group's posting settings by one of the admins.

Would you please approve?

**Permanent Witt Location**

In Fora Talossa's first (January 2026) edition of the Abbavilla Digest, host Breneir Tzaracomprada reviews the 62nd General Election results, the complicated negotiations toward government formation, talks with new political player on the scene - IDT leader Mximo Malt - and covers a new space for Talossa's wonks.

A special thanks to @Mximo Malt for being only the second interviewee in FT history.

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In Fora Talossa's first (January 2026) edition of the Abbavilla Digest, host Breneir Tzaracomprada reviews the 62nd General Election results, the complicated negotiations toward government formation, talks with new political player on the scene - IDT leader Mximo Malt - and covers a new space for Talossa's wonks.

A special thanks to @Mximo Malt for being only the second interviewee in FT history.

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This series has been my faithful commute listen for months now. There are two interesting facets of the stories. First, are the personalities given to normally inanimate objects. Another writer, Tony Daniel, did this in his books to hilarious effect. The other is a beetle-like species called the Jeraptha who have a gambling-loving culture. I would pay for a spinoff on their culture.

The Ministry of STUFF was eliminated during the last government, and its duties were parceled out to a new Directorate of STUFF civil service position under the Ministry of Finance, as well as two new ministry positions with the Ministry of Public Records and the Ministry of Propaganda.

I love the idea of a Berber symbol specifically -- that's better than any of my suggestions.  We'd probably need to research the Tifinagh before we settle on that, and find out if it has any other meaning or accidental implication.

-SVA

1. My initial thought was an open scroll to set it apart from the Scribery's quill. Seeing the Foxmouth Pursuivant's Public Records suggestions reminded me of Chinese symbols and the fact that Chinese characters have played a part in Talossan imagery since the beginning, so perhaps the Chinese character for "shi/shih" which means poetry (according to my 10 seconds of research):

詩 alternatively 诗 or in Seal Script which I'm partial to:

2. Maybe I've missed something, but what is the Directorate of STUFF in relation to the Ministry of STUFF?

3. My original thought was the goatee'd Big Brother from Orwell's 1984 but that might read as Colonel Sanders... then again, why should Culture be the only one with a person's head! (Assuming Culture doesn't get the guillotine treatment!)

Alternatively, something tongue in cheek like a triparted field with scroll, keyboard, and trumpet, or something to that effect.

4. I love both of Foxmouth's ideas!

5. I don't really understand the issue with the Culture badge. I love the Berber connection and would hate to lose it. We could use the Tifinagh symbol that's on the Berber Ethnic Flag: ⵣ
Although I'm sure that would be open to accusations of cultural appropriation.

The SVA's suggestion is probably the safest from naivete and criticism.

-Green Town

When I first wrote the original Public Process Act back in August, I wanted to end the Government's power to reject immigration applications in secret.  I believed that it probably wasn't being abused, but I found it incredible that the government held that capability at all.  Unfortunately, my bill was rejected.  I started a new draft, amended it based on bipartisan feedback so that it had real teeth, and started to campaign on the issue.  We stood on principle, and we didn't back down.

This month, we won that hard-fought battle.  After the election of a reformist government, including a plurality of the Cosa and every contested Senate election, the new bipartisan Public Process Act Redux passed unanimously!

This victory doesn't belong to the Progressive Alliance or to me, but instead to an electorate that reacted overwhelmingly to reject the status quo.  This victory belongs to you, the people of Talossa who insisted on this reform.

The status quo is a comfortable and familiar place, and we're often inclined to simply trust our leaders.  It is a credit to our citizens that they insisted on this reform, turning out to the polls in huge numbers that rival some of our highest turnout.  They demanded change, and the entire Ziu deserves credit for giving it to them.

Demand transparency and demand positivity... and let's keep these reforms going!

Quote from: Heinrich Elisa on Yesterday at 06:15:48 PM

Quote from: Françal I. Lux on Yesterday at 02:31:41 PMI speak English, Tagalog and Hokkien fluently. I also studied Esperanto but that was awhile ago lol

tagalog interest me

It's a really cool but under appreciated language. A lot harder than many other Austronesian languages, but I will always love how melodic it is.

I'd just like to bump this again: do you have any interest in journalism -- something you thought might be fun, but were afraid to try?  This is the opportunity for you!

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on Yesterday at 12:47:44 AM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on January 17, 2026, 04:48:21 PMI note that this bill would make the first sentence of the modified clause a lie.  "The Senäts shall have equal powers with the Cosa in respect of all proposed laws" will no longer be true.  There will only be two categories of bills for which the Senäts will be equal to the Cosa.  That might be something you want to fix.

Under your interpretation, the first sentence of the modified clause is already a lie -- the clause goes on to describe a class of bills in which the Senäts is already unequal to the Cosă. I'm interested in hearing what others think about the wording, though.

Those are exceptions to the general principle of equality, but now we'd be moving to a new principle where the Senäts is subordinate to the Cosa.  I think it could cause problems if we simultaneously say that two entities are equal in power, but also one of them is subordinate to the other when it comes to their core function.  It makes more sense to be honest about the new arrangement, especially when we think about corts interpreting this down the road.

Could you give an example of legislation that's truly vital that we've been unable to pass thanks to the Senäts?

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on Yesterday at 12:47:44 AMThere are a few reasons:
- One, it does not allow truly vital legislation to be hung up forever on the Senäts. Since, of course, bills addressing a given issue can only be considered once per term, this allows the Senäts to effectively kick the can down the road on any issue they wish to obstruct the government on.

An identical bill can't be attempted in the same term, but a given issue can be considered every single Clark.  Indeed, that'd be good procedure: if your bill on an important issue fails, compromise enough to get a different version passed the next month -- or campaign on it and get sufficient power to pass it.

If half the country's provincial representatives don't want to pass something, then it probably shouldn't pass until it's in a form they can tolerate, or until an election has shown the will of the electorate.

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on Yesterday at 12:47:44 AM- The more overarching, "philosophical" reason is that Talossa is not a federal nation. I know we've compared our constitutional structure to Australia before -- and in fact I believe @Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC has stated that similarities are intentional -- but the reality is that we are more like Spain than Australia: a unitary state, divided into provinces that may legislate on certain areas on their own. A "strong" upper house (or at least one as strong as the Senäts) is incompatible with the concept of responsible government in a unitary state.

I don't find the aesthetic argument very persuasive.  We shouldn't change something that serves an important purpose just so we can mimic other countries, unless there's good practical reasoning to do so.

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on Yesterday at 12:47:44 AM- This change will also likely lead to a "de-politicization" of Senäts elections, which is healthy if we're trying to make Talossa a more tolerable place for people to spend their time.

Why would it do this?

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on Yesterday at 12:47:44 AM- I know you personally have expressed several points of opposition to unicameralism before, chief among those being a safeguard on excessive Organic amendments. Please note that the requirement of the Senäts' consent is not affected in cases of Organic amendment.

This is an important point... subordinating the Senäts to the Cosa does seem like a prelude to getting rid of the Senäts itself.