Talossans! Meet at Napoleons this Sunday (16th)

[Baron Fritz von Buchholtz]

This sunday will be a combination of Immigration Day and a Risk Game free for all. If you are already a member of the Kingdom show up and share your positive experiences with others. This is a good time to bring a friend who might be interested in joining and have the fun of playing in a good Risk Tournament as well.
The meeting starts at 11:00 AM. King Robert I will be there to answer questions and everything but the food and drink is free. Talossan hot dogs are on the menu.
Come in out of the cold Talossans. The "Stand Tall Talossans" National Anthem will be played for the first time publicly. We hope to repeat this experience every month as we watch Talossa grow.

[kri]

Azul!

Thanks, Fritz, for making this opportunity possible. I will have some free time Sunday though I might have to leave early (2:30ish) for a prior commitment. But I'll bring my copy of Risk!

Fritz is right: "Stand Tall, Talossans" will be played and there will be a ceremonial, public raising of the national flag. I hope to have the words printed out so we can all sing along. Just in case, here they are:

STAND TALL, TALOSSANS

Stand tall, Talossans,
the peninsula defend.
No foe nor villain
can your love of country rend.
Raise high your banner,
your passion penned unto:
“Loyal to our Sovereign,
let our minds and hearts be true.”<br>
Read by the torch of
bright traditions red and green,
Our kingdom’s story
is yours to be lived and seen.
Press, glheþ and culture,
a heritage of fun:
Send out the message
that’s inviting everyone!

We are the future
of this ancient, gallant land.
Hold fast the fortress
while citizen rolls expand.
Watch on the river;
raise the noble, fervent cry:
“Go tell the nations
that no Cestoûr am I!”<br>
I will be calling local-area Talossans to see if we can get some people out of the woodwork. Geoff Toumayan and Gary Cone come to mind. Fritz tells me that there are possibly some prospective citizens who will be at the meeting as well!

Oh yes: His son Jason completed his "What Talossa means to me" essay in writing yesterday. When I get my own computer back tonight, I will send it up to the Immigration Minister for final processing. Expect to see Jason as a Talossan citizen by the end of the week.

Monthly Living Cosâs?

A general question to everybody on this board: One suggestion that I made (I didn't see any responses) is that in future, we hold a monthly "Immigration Day" which corresponds with a Living Cosâ. In other words, we would do a Living Cosâ every month.

This would be a fairly radical change of the way in which we do business. If this proposal has any public support, then the Immigration Day should be scheduled for the third or fourth Sunday in the month, to give the online Senators and MCs as much time as possible to get their votes in.

The real change would be that the final vote totals would be announced at the Living Cosâ and so the deadline would not automatically be the 21st of the month, but rather, whenever the Living Cosâ occurs. I really, really need to hear back from people online about this. Good idea? Bad idea?

NB: This can all be handled simply by statute or even by PD, as the Organic Law already provides for a change in the 21st as the deadline in the event of a Living Cosâ. The current law, of course, treats Living Cosâs as exceptional events, but they could be made regular events with no amendments necessary to the Organic Law.

Ben: Defender of Cybercits?

Another thing that I think needs to be said.

Traditionally, some Cybercits have tended to look at me (the King) as a "defender of the Old Growthers". Assuming we get the kind of growth that now seems possible out of the local Napoleon's connexion, you might start to see a subtle change, and many Talossans might perceive me as the "defender of the Cybercits" instead.

While the growth of Talossa in the Milwaukee area is important, it must not come in any way at the expense of Talossa's world-wide citizenry who have stuck with this Kingdom through so much. In the months to come, we need feedback from Cybercits as much as possible to ensure that we remain one single, harmonious nation!

Ben

P.S. I forgot to mention: Napoleon's has a fax line which we can connect to a telephone. If you are interested in calling the Immigration Day festivities and thus participating by telephone, please E-MAIL ME and I will send you the number. Call between 11:30 and 12:30 Central Time would be best. Thanks, and let's get people involved!

[jj]

I think these plans are fine, but let's see what happens. For one thing, it was far, far easier back in the late 80s and throughout the 90s for the local yokels to get together for Talossa stuff. But so many of the locals are gone now (NOT, necessarily lamented, ie, Davron, the Woz, Worm, etc.). So, we don't have too many actively involved locals anymore. That base of locals who would potentially participate in this monthly meeting/Living Cosa stuff needs to be expanded before any of these plans will fly.

Secondly, the existing crop of locals (the l'ancien regime of locals?? have grown up and have far more responsibilities -- and thus less free time -- than they did years ago. That is a problem. I mean, if Wes, Geoff and I are busy or otherwise committed on the given Immigration Day, what does that leave? And I fear this is going to be the case more often than not. It may not so much be an issue of being "too busy" or "otherwise committed;" it might just be "I'd rather not, thank you," though that likely wouldn't be expressed in so many words.

Thus, committing to monthly Living Cosas is --- well, it's probably premature to do that right now. We need more locals willing and able and interested in participating. This is, of course, what Ramses and the King have in mind, I believe. It's going to take more than badgering and/or cajolling the existing locals to come every month...it's going to take NEUES BLUT!!

There will, I think, obviously be a disjuncture betwixt the internet-only citizens (Cybercits) and the locals. There always has been. Well, the Cybercits are just going to have to face facts: they aren't here, and thus there are just going to be things they can't fully participate in (sort of like comparing "phone sex" to the REAL THING... NOT THAT *I* WOULD KNOW, of course!)

Likewise, a local who doesn't have internet access (Wes comes to mind, but we may have others if Ramses' plans take fruit) also have trouble really, fully "participating" in Talossa because they miss out on these on-line debates. It's just a fact.

Well, those are my .02 cents worth, anyway.

[seahobbit]

I also like the idea, although I will not be able to participate, of monthly meetings of Talossans. I am also in strong support of recruiting new Old Growthers as this will take Talossa away from being an Internet micronation and back to its traditional community life.

Just like i.m. I have some reservation in making a formal change right now as there is no guarantees that Old Growthers will always be there every month. I would also point out that although the OrgLaw allows for Living Cosa every month Art. XIV:Sec. 3 states that the PM must make known the exact dates by PD well ahead of time. Not really a problem, the PM may just have to write PD's every month for the next six months, at the next election we would surely ('hint') have an amendment to formely allow those every month without PDs. In any case, as i.m. suggested a trial period, would six months be enough?

[kri]

Good comments all around. The "ideal" Talossan is and always will be, internet-equipped and ready and willing to participate on Wittenberg. But, since we are a real-life community and not some sort of utopia (or worse, some sort of totalitarian Nazi state that can get rid of people who don't match up to some abstract Herrenvolk "ideal"), there will always be friction, I agree.

Two things I forgot to mention about the planned get-together:

1. Sunday is the 16th -- The election will have begun! If I can get my computer up and running tonight or tomorrow, I plan to bring ballots with me to the event, with a "ballot box" so we can get pictures of Talossans physically casting their ballots.

2. On the Living Cosâ issue -- remember that everyone has weeks to send their votes in by e-mail or phone or whatever. It may end up that some of these monthly Living Cosâs are rather perfunctory events, that virtually all the votes will have already been cast, and that the people who actually meet for the event won't have much say in the final outcome, but it would still be fun for those present. (I, of course, am constitutionally excluded from the Senäts and the Cosâ, so I wouldn't be voting in any case.)

Oh, and Gary Cone is in Detroit right now, so don't expect him Sunday.

Ben

[Baron Fritz von Buchholtz]

I.M. is right. Just as I saw it happen in the Napoleonic Club, as the original members got older they found themselves with less and less free time. That can lead in two directions. Either the organization, club, etc. slowly dies with its members OR new members are recruited at an even faster pace thus insuring the future. While the Cybercits cannot attend they are still just as important a part of Talossa as those who reside here. But we also need to increase our membership in Talossa proper and Immigration Day is an attempt to do that.
On top of that, if nothing else, it will be an opportunity to enjoy a good game of world domination at the Risk table.

[markymark]

I.M. and Marc have both summed up my views on this matter quite nicely. I fully support the idea of montly meetings and even Living Cosas; as long as there is sufficient interest from the old growthers. As a cybercit, although I wish I could be present, I do not feel excluded in any way if these meetings were to become a regular event.

As Ben has pointed out in another post, there will be ways for cybercits to be involved. Unfortunately, I do not believe that I will be able to participate this time due to another obligation. I will keep my fingers crossed, as I might manage a brief phone call.

P.S. If I ever win a huge jackpot in the lottery, I plan on purchasing an estate in Talossa itself. Until such a time I will have to content myself with attending these meetings virtually.

[inksplash]

As His Majesty said, I'm in Detroit right now, and will be until approximately the 28th. BUT, I have finally located means to check in online regularily. So, if any there is any business for my attention, I can attend to it.

Now, since I am not in the running for Prime Minister (understatement of the year), at exactly which point does my term end?

[inksplash]

Technologic means exist. For one of the tabletop-type roleplaying games that happens at my place, one of the players is telepresent via voice chat function of Yahoo! Instant Messenger. Could something similar be set up and used by us?

[Xhorxh Asmour]

I agree with i.m. , Marc Moisan and Marcüs. The Living Cosä is OK as long as Cybercits' rights are respected.

[kri]

Perhaps, Gary, you can reach us by phone -- if you'll have any time off Sunday, e-mail me and I'll get you the Napoleon's fax line number. (This goes for the rest of you as well!)

> Now, since I am not in the running for Prime Minister (understatement of the year), at exactly which point does my term end?

The election ends at the close of business on 14 February 2005 and your term will expire when a new Prime Minister is sworn in. Thank you for your service -- don't worry, you are quoted amply in the next chapter of Ar Pats! :-)

Ben

[markymark]

Unfortunately I will not be able to participate by telephone in today's gathering. I hope everyone has a wonderful time!