Two more strong groups. In group 7 the 3 and 2 points are clear for me, but most of the remaining songs could have gotten the final point (and I feel like a bad Cézembrean for not giving points to Tri Martolod :( )
In group 8 the top 3 I all like about equally and again there are more songs that would deserve points.

Group 7
Subdivisions - 3
Psycho Killer - 2
Stroke - 1

Group 8
I Wear Your Ring - 3
België - 2
While My Guintar Gently Weeps - 1

Group 7

3 - Incubus
2 - Stereophonics
1 - Aerosmith

Group 8

3 - Simon and Garfunkel
2 - Gloria Gaynor
1 - Joy Division

-Txec R

FINAL UPDATE

Points scored in semifinals
Lüc 8
Glüc 8
Braneu 0
AD 0
þerxh 0
Danihel 16
Breneir 0


Points scored in final
Lüc 0
Glüc 0
Braneu 0
AD 0
þerxh 0
Danihel 13
Breneir 0

Not only did Danihel get the winner right, he also got both finalists correct, resulting in the following final score:


Danihel 125
Lüc 107
Glüc 96
Braneu 86
Breneir 84
þerxh 83
AD 58


Congrats Danihel!

And congrats to Spain of course. Conceding only a single goal for the whole tournament makes them the deserved winners. Not one of the teams I rooted for from the start, but Im happy they won over Argentina.

Niiiice, a stage win for the Posse!

---

We, TXEC by the Grace of God, King of Talossa and of all its Realms and Regions, King of Cézembre, Sovereign Lord and Protector of Pengöpäts and the New Falklands, Defender of the Faith, Leader of the Armed Forces, Viceroy of Hoxha and Vicar of Atatürk, Azul àd ár citaxhiens es cestours:

Having thought fit to dissolve this present sixty-second Cosa of the Kingdom of Talossa, do to that end publish this Our proclamation royal, hereby dissolving the said Cosa accordingly; and do discharge and excuse the Members of that Cosa from their meeting and attendance thereat from the conclusion of this month instant. And We being desirous and resolved for the better governance of these Our realms to have the advice of Our people in the Ziu assembled, do hereby make known to all Our loyal commons, knights, and nobles Our royal will and pleasure to call and assemble a new Cosa, and do hereby further declare that We have given order that Our Chancery and Secretary of State do forthwith issue out writs and ballots in due form, and according to law, for the election of a new sixty-second Cosa as well as Senators for Maritiimi-Maxhestic, Belacostă, Vuode in their regular rotation.

Further, We desire at this time most heartily to thank and congratulate, on Our own behalf and that of the entire Talossan nation, the citizens who served in this now-dissolved sixty-first Cosa, especially thanking Baron Alexandreu Davinescu for his faithful service as Our Seneschal during this last Cosa, and all the other members of the Government who so generously give of their time and effort for the good of our nation. Further thanks are due to Baron Alexandreu Davinescu, Sir Iason Taiwos, and Eðo Grischun, whose present distinguished terms of service in the Senäts will end with the upcoming election.

Given under Our hand Royal at the city of Riverside this twenty-third day of July, in the year of salvation 2026, of the independence of Talossa the forty-seventh, and of Our reign the second.

Stage 17   »   Chambéry  ›  Voiron

Yesterday was a hilly stage that looked suited for attackers because a break would be hard to control. However forces in the peloton decided otherwise. A crash split in the peloton resulted in different groups racing each other leading to the original break being caught.

After that the stage was overshadowed by the fight for the green jersey and the points classification between Pedersen, who started the stage with a 31 point lead and because of his better climbing abilities is often able to pick up intermediate sprint points and Philipsen who is behind with very few point scoring opportunities remaining, but is the faster finisher of the two. Several attacking groups emerged, with Pedersen in the front group forcing other sprinters to try and make the jump as well in order to not miss out on a potential sprint finish. Pedersen and a few others did manage to get away and score the maximum amount of intsprint points while Philipsen was still in a group further behind.

Eventually however they did get caught by the large group including Philipsen (with the help of Van der Poel, who could have gone for his own chances today but chose to help Philipsen instead) and we did get a rather chaotic bunchsprints, which Philipsen did end up winning. Kooij (GHS/BDC) came in third and Askey (CJO) got fourth place, while Pedersen only finished 8th. The result: despite Pedersens hard work Philipsen reduced his deficit to only 7 points.

The fight for the green jersey (PC) is a lot closer than GC or KOM. However, Pedersen is still likely to win as there are barely any opportunities for Philipsen left to make up the difference which the remaining intsprints following tough climbs (which Pedersen is actually  trying to reach as we speak), which are too difficult for Philipsen to keep up on and the finish in Paris not necessarily one for the sprinters because it includes several ascents of Montmartre.

Not much changes in the TCAT standings except GHST overtakes Cyclohexane due to the Kooij result.

Standings after stage 17:

Pos	±		Team	Pts Ove	Pts Today
1st	(=)		Els Talossaes Rexhital (REX)	7932	+302
2nd	(=)		Maritiimi-Maxhestic Mençeis (MMM)	7601	+297
3rd	(+1)		Gordon Hiatus Support Team (GHS)	7155	+279
4th	(-1)		Cyclohexane (CHX)	7123	+153
5th	(=)		Velociposse Florencia (VFL)	6867	+392
6th	(=)		Esqipă Velocostă (EVC)	6315	+192
7th	(=)		Cézembre Fieschā (CFA)	5738	+131
8th	(=)		Cézembre Caçeirs dals Mailintzarăs (BDC)	5371	+240
9th	(=)		Naziun Cjovani (CJO)	5073	+250

Today is the first of three alpine mountain stages that will determine the GC, KOM and likely TCAT as well, including not one but two finishes on the legendary Alpe d'Huez on friday and saturday.

Good evening, Talossa! As the last Clark of the term has come to a close, we begin to prepare for yet another general election. Like most of the other established parties, the URL will be going into more detail on our platform for the upcoming election and the 63rd Cosă, but perhaps just as important as figuring out where we should go next is establishing where we are now and how we got here. And so this thread will serve as the URL's recap of the 62nd Cosă and the Government that has held office in that time.

There is, to be blunt, quite a bit to critique, and overall we can fit most of it into three main categories. We anticipate that some (or most) of this criticism will be framed as personal in nature by a Government desperate to cling to power. Nothing could be further from the truth; we criticize action (or lack thereof), we criticize principles (or lack thereof too), but we leave personal attacks out of it.

Don't worry -- all is not doom and gloom. We'll get into the Union's positive program for the next term soon, but we think it's more helpful for us to get our bearings first.

And so, without further ado, we jump into the first category...


If we go in chronological order, it makes sense to start with the poor decision-making that the Baron and his Government have shown on several occasions throughout the term. First off is the arrangement that brought this Government into power in the first place. The Baron and his party announced that they were forming a coalition government with IDT. The latter party, In Defensa Traditionis, ran in the last election on an explicitly anti-democratic platform, instead advocating absolute (later "executive") monarchism and socially-conservative "Western Orthodox Christian values". Instead of accepting our offer of a grand coalition, the PA chose to turn away from the political center. Their explanation for this, concerningly enough, can be summed up as "government formation by spite". Personal resentment towards several leading figures in the URL and bitter partisanship drove the PA to work with Talossa's political fringe -- and unsurprisingly, within only a few days, it had already fallen apart. The IDT leader's sympathies for alt-right agitator Nick Fuentes became public knowledge, but after dissolving the coalition agreement after a mere four days, the PA decided working with the IDT to nominate a Seneschal was still somehow better than working across the aisle, and a confidence-and-supply deal was formed.

To be clear, this isn't actually criticism of the IDT's leader and sole member. His views are certainly those we disagree with, but we respect and defend his right to them nonetheless. He is simply a very religious, very conservative young man, lacking in experience. The problem arose when the Baron and his party let their dislike for the URL's members get in the way of making the right decision, and that left "work with an alt-right teenager" as the only option they would consider. Talossa deserves a Government that behaves pragmatically, putting aside personal grievances to serve the country. A URL Government will treat a PA Opposition with the respect and professionalism that was lacking when the tables were turned.

Poor judgment has also been seen when the Government has evaluated someone's fit for a given role. Two big examples occurred in this term. The first regards the Baron's appointment of an Attorney General. Tric'hard Lenxheir is someone I think had shown potential. He is someone I have encouraged to be nicer to himself, instead of constantly putting himself down. I harbor no ill will towards him. These things do not eliminate concerns over whether or not he is suitable as the Government's legal counsel. He is not an attorney, and is therefore unable to provide the legal advice that the A-X is charged with providing by statute. He is quite literally unqualified to perform the main function of the office he held. One wonders if a more suitable candidate would have been available in the talent pool, if the incumbent Government had not been formed out of spite. On top of this, the circumstances of his renunciation are worth mentioning. S:reu Lenxheir renounced his citizenship in solidarity with an unrepentant sexual harasser. These are the sorts of principles welcome in the Baron's government? A URL Government will consider qualifications when forming the Cabinet; appointments made purely for political purposes tend to lead to tasks being done poorly, or simply not being done at all.

Speaking of the unrepentant sexual harasser, he's the other major example of this Government's bizarre and concerning personnel decisions. The Minister of Foreign Affairs named S:reu Tzaracomprada as an Information Liaison to multiple other micronations during the term. When questioned on this, Minister Briga claimed that these postings, made under the authority and direction of a government Ministry, were ... somehow not government positions. He told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears -- but that does not change that he gave multiple jobs to an individual that even the Seneschal has shunned. A URL Government will consider character when forming a Cabinet as well as when staffing Ministries for various duties; we will continue in our promise to refuse employment to those who exhibit chronically antisocial behavior.

We'll be back with more of our 62nd Cosă recap in the coming days. We'll also start getting into our more upbeat 63rd Cosă program. Stay tuned!

@Tierçéu Rôibeardescù If you manage to get in touch with @Françal I. Lux please let me know. He was unavailable for a recent terpelaziun and I have questions regarding another project.

GROUP 7
3 - Nolwenn Leroy - Tri Martolod
2 - Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
1 - Aerosmith - Dream On

GROUP 8
3 - B-52's - Legal Tender
2 - Paul McCartney & Eric Clapton - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
1 - Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence

GROUP 7
3 - The Who - Baba O'Riley
2 - Madrugada - Majesty
1 - Nolwenn Leroy - Tri Martolod

GROUP 8
3 - Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
2 - Paul McCartney & Eric Clapton - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
1 - Donkeyboy - Ambitions