Post by King John on Dec 26, 2009 13:00:59 GMT -6
Speech from the Throne
Independence Day / Feast of Saint Stephen Martyr
26 December XXXI/2009
To all my fellow-Talossans, to friends of Talossa, and to all men and women of good will everywhere, most heartfelt greetings on this auspicious day.
Our Kingdom is 30 years old today! What an amazing accomplishment, in three short decades to have built on the vision and genius of our founder King Robert I, adding to that the creativity and energy of scores of dedicated Talossans, to achieve the (relatively) stable and (certainly) constitutional Monarchy we all enjoy today! While we pay fervent thanks, and appropriate honour, to those who went before us, let us rededicate ourselves in our own day — in this coming year, and for many many years to come — to the task of making Talossa greater, better, and more all-round fun for ourselves and all those who will follow us. Let us act and live in such a way as to make sure that they, who will look back on us as the "old Talossans", will be able to feel the same gratitude that we feel for our forerunners in this grand project.
In the short term, we face some real challenges.
Probably greatest among these is the perennial difficulty of finding ways to assimilate new Talossans into the life of the nation, and to keep current Talossans active and interested, so that we don't get into a pattern of new citizens' spending a month or a year as active participants and then fading away. I go on believing that increasing communication among us is essential in this effort, and I'm glad to see various new technologies and tools being applied to the practical business of keepling Talossans in touch with each other; keep up the good work, everyone! I would like to see some real effort, also, put into the problem of identifying *why* people drop away, either renouncing their citizenship explicitly or just losing interest and effectively disappearing. If there are things we as a nation, or I as the King, could or should be doing differently to avoid these losses, we need to identify those things.
A second challenge, and one that I think has cost us some people as well as the loss of some enthusiasm on the part of those who remain, is — how to put this? — a certain decrease in civility among us. I wouldn't want to point fingers, but I think we can safely say that we should all try to be slower to take offense, quicker to forgive, and more willing to believe that the apparently wrong-headed or black-hearted comments of others are actually more in the nature of a failure effectively to communicate concerns that might, in fact, be legitimate. Especially as we approach another General Election (of which there will be at least two this year, c'e vräts?), let us resolve to be cognizant and careful of each other's feelings; or at least to try to do a bit better.
I am sad to note that this year we failed, for various reasons, to organize anything much in the way of a TalossaFest or TalossaWest. May I suggest that committees be appointed *now* (or very soon), perhaps under the auspices of the Ministry of Stuff and the Home Ministry, to set dates and places for celebrations in the summer of XXXI, and to begin to plan the festivities? Let's not get caught unprepared again this year; and let us absolutely NOT let this past year's failure set an unhappy pattern for the future.
Some of you, I know, have been worried about rumours of an apparent resurgence of interest in Talossa on the part of a former King. To you I say simply, sweat it not. We are the legitimate Organic Kingdom that was founded 30 years ago. Ben Madison, as is perfectly well known and completely documented, renounced his citizenship and abdicated his throne, and no longer has anything to do with the Kingdom he was instrumental in establishing. If he wants to posture and pretend, and post bizarre stuff on YouTube, well, let him. It can't affect what we are.
On the "other things to do" list, I would very much like to see some progress made in figuring out how to back up the current Wittenberg. I don't expect ProBoards to disappear or anything, but the loss of this forum would be a disaster for the Kingdom; and it is worth considerable thought and effort to avoid even the possibility.
Also, if anyone has an idea of how to make the email forwarding system work better (the @kingdomoftalossa.net email addresses), I'd be glad to hear about it. If you're good or knowledgeable about this kind of thing, write me!
THREE HONOURS AND APPOINTMENTS
I would now like to take this opportunity to announce three honours which I intend to make more formally as I get the official documents in order. (But no matter how long it may take me, these honours will date from today.)
1. I hereby appoint Sir Fritz von Buchholtz to the Privy Council of the Kingdom of Talossa. Thank you for offering to serve, old friend!
2. Further, I hereby announce the elevation of Sir Fritz von Buchholtz, UrN, to the nobility, with the rank of Baron. Lord von Buchholtz (Lord Fritz to his friends) joins the Royal family, Count Danihel, Baron Hooligan, and Baron Castiglha in the nobility of the Kingdom; and is perhaps the worthiest of us all of the high honours afforded to him by a grateful Kingdom. Long life and happiness, Lord Fritz!
3. And finally, I hereby bestow the honour of knighthood and membership in the Order of the Nation on that most excellent and deserving of Talossans, S:reu X. Pol Briga. Sir Pol, I am sure, will continue to be an inspiration and example to us all in his unvarying courtesy, good humour, and hard work.
I wish health, security, and joy to you and all you love, and a most happy Independence Day and Year XXXI. Qe Dïeu salvadra'l Regipäts Talossan!
— John R
Independence Day / Feast of Saint Stephen Martyr
26 December XXXI/2009
To all my fellow-Talossans, to friends of Talossa, and to all men and women of good will everywhere, most heartfelt greetings on this auspicious day.
Our Kingdom is 30 years old today! What an amazing accomplishment, in three short decades to have built on the vision and genius of our founder King Robert I, adding to that the creativity and energy of scores of dedicated Talossans, to achieve the (relatively) stable and (certainly) constitutional Monarchy we all enjoy today! While we pay fervent thanks, and appropriate honour, to those who went before us, let us rededicate ourselves in our own day — in this coming year, and for many many years to come — to the task of making Talossa greater, better, and more all-round fun for ourselves and all those who will follow us. Let us act and live in such a way as to make sure that they, who will look back on us as the "old Talossans", will be able to feel the same gratitude that we feel for our forerunners in this grand project.
In the short term, we face some real challenges.
Probably greatest among these is the perennial difficulty of finding ways to assimilate new Talossans into the life of the nation, and to keep current Talossans active and interested, so that we don't get into a pattern of new citizens' spending a month or a year as active participants and then fading away. I go on believing that increasing communication among us is essential in this effort, and I'm glad to see various new technologies and tools being applied to the practical business of keepling Talossans in touch with each other; keep up the good work, everyone! I would like to see some real effort, also, put into the problem of identifying *why* people drop away, either renouncing their citizenship explicitly or just losing interest and effectively disappearing. If there are things we as a nation, or I as the King, could or should be doing differently to avoid these losses, we need to identify those things.
A second challenge, and one that I think has cost us some people as well as the loss of some enthusiasm on the part of those who remain, is — how to put this? — a certain decrease in civility among us. I wouldn't want to point fingers, but I think we can safely say that we should all try to be slower to take offense, quicker to forgive, and more willing to believe that the apparently wrong-headed or black-hearted comments of others are actually more in the nature of a failure effectively to communicate concerns that might, in fact, be legitimate. Especially as we approach another General Election (of which there will be at least two this year, c'e vräts?), let us resolve to be cognizant and careful of each other's feelings; or at least to try to do a bit better.
I am sad to note that this year we failed, for various reasons, to organize anything much in the way of a TalossaFest or TalossaWest. May I suggest that committees be appointed *now* (or very soon), perhaps under the auspices of the Ministry of Stuff and the Home Ministry, to set dates and places for celebrations in the summer of XXXI, and to begin to plan the festivities? Let's not get caught unprepared again this year; and let us absolutely NOT let this past year's failure set an unhappy pattern for the future.
Some of you, I know, have been worried about rumours of an apparent resurgence of interest in Talossa on the part of a former King. To you I say simply, sweat it not. We are the legitimate Organic Kingdom that was founded 30 years ago. Ben Madison, as is perfectly well known and completely documented, renounced his citizenship and abdicated his throne, and no longer has anything to do with the Kingdom he was instrumental in establishing. If he wants to posture and pretend, and post bizarre stuff on YouTube, well, let him. It can't affect what we are.
On the "other things to do" list, I would very much like to see some progress made in figuring out how to back up the current Wittenberg. I don't expect ProBoards to disappear or anything, but the loss of this forum would be a disaster for the Kingdom; and it is worth considerable thought and effort to avoid even the possibility.
Also, if anyone has an idea of how to make the email forwarding system work better (the @kingdomoftalossa.net email addresses), I'd be glad to hear about it. If you're good or knowledgeable about this kind of thing, write me!
THREE HONOURS AND APPOINTMENTS
I would now like to take this opportunity to announce three honours which I intend to make more formally as I get the official documents in order. (But no matter how long it may take me, these honours will date from today.)
1. I hereby appoint Sir Fritz von Buchholtz to the Privy Council of the Kingdom of Talossa. Thank you for offering to serve, old friend!
2. Further, I hereby announce the elevation of Sir Fritz von Buchholtz, UrN, to the nobility, with the rank of Baron. Lord von Buchholtz (Lord Fritz to his friends) joins the Royal family, Count Danihel, Baron Hooligan, and Baron Castiglha in the nobility of the Kingdom; and is perhaps the worthiest of us all of the high honours afforded to him by a grateful Kingdom. Long life and happiness, Lord Fritz!
3. And finally, I hereby bestow the honour of knighthood and membership in the Order of the Nation on that most excellent and deserving of Talossans, S:reu X. Pol Briga. Sir Pol, I am sure, will continue to be an inspiration and example to us all in his unvarying courtesy, good humour, and hard work.
I wish health, security, and joy to you and all you love, and a most happy Independence Day and Year XXXI. Qe Dïeu salvadra'l Regipäts Talossan!
— John R
