Bills

WHEREAS the much-awaited prequel to the Star Wars trilogy, "Episode I - The Phantom Menace", will be released this month; and
WHEREAS many of us have been waiting our entire lives for this prequel; and
WHEREAS the Kingdom of Talossa has a faint connection with the Star Wars universe, (i.e. the Clone Wars, Chris Gruber's "Päts Wars", etc); and
WHEREAS this is all going to be so cool!!!
THEREFORE the Ziu encourages Talossans everywhere to attend a movie theater and watch "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace", for its obvious historic and cultural value.

WHEREAS the Upper House of this legislature has very few things that it alone can do, things that set it a part from the Cosa;
WHEREAS the Senate should honestly have a little more dignity, being the Upper House; and
WHEREAS a good way to accomplish this would be to have the Senate invest a person with a very special honour;
THEREFORE the Ziu creates the Senatorial Medal of Honour, to be awarded by the Senate for meritorious or honourable service to State or Nation. This award, awarded only and solely by a resolution in the Senate given the Royal Assent, will be the highest honour bestowed by the Talossan legislature. This award has a single class, and recipients may, in official RT affairs, affix the initials "S.H." (Senatorial Honour) after his/her name.

WHEREAS it may prove useful to allow members of the State to ask the Cort questions on constitutional and legal topics; and
WHEREAS it is possible to do such a thing, in one way or another, in many countries;
THEREFORE the Ziu resolves that:
1.) The Prime Minister may make direct inquires to the Cort concerning constitutional and legal questions in a Clark, akin to a Question to the Executive.

2.) A group of three or more members of the Ziu, proposing a question as a single party, may propose questions as in Section 1 of this act.

3.) Upon receipt of the question, the Secretary of State or his Deputy will transfer the question to the Cort, who will answer or dismiss it at its leisure. The question will be published in the Clark, as well as the answer when received.

4.) No more than 4 Questions to the Cort under this Act may be considered in one Clark period

The Ziu hereby resolves that a TalossaFest will occur sometime between June 1 and October 1, 1999, and gives its approval to the venture. The Prime Minister, the King, or their appointees will be in charge of planning, because everybody did such a good job last year.

WHEREAS on 1 April, 1999, the Nunavut Act, passed previously by the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, came into effect, an Act that created a Territory called Nunavut in the Arctic reaches of the Dominion of Canada; and
WHEREAS, on 15 February, 1999, the people of the yet-to-be Territory elected 19 members of a Legislative Assembly, and those MLAs elected Mr. Paul Okalik as Premier-Elect of the Territory of Nunavut, to take office on 1 April; and
WHEREAS these events signal a new era of self-determination for the Inuit and other Arctic peoples of the Dominion of Canada;
THEREFORE the Ziu commends the Dominion of Canada for its creation of Nunavut, and sends its best wishes to Mr. Okalik and his new Government.

WHEREAS this Nation thrives on the blood and sweat of the Citizens; and
WHEREAS this Nation must fulfill its Destiny, which can only be reached with a Demographics Campaign;
THEREFORE the Ziu forms the Demographics Commission, consisting of members appointed by the Prime Minister and presided over by a Chairman elected from the members. This Commission will lead our Glorious Battle to bring new Citizens into our Great Nation by suggesting methods of attracting citizens, recommending changes to the law, assisting new Citizens acclimate to the RT, and other tasks which it believes may be helpful.

THE BATTLE FOR CITIZENS MUST BE WON!

The Ziu hereby resolves:
1.1. The authority in the Kingdom to print and issue the currency and postal effects of the Kingdom is the Royal Talossan Bank & Post, or B&P, which will operating in the Kingdom by law and governed by its by-laws.

1.2. The ruling body of the Royal Talossan Bank & Post is an Executive Committee, presided over by a Chairman, and on which will sit ex officio the King and Prime Minister, among others chosen in accordance with the by-laws of the Talossan Royal Bank & Post.

2.1. The by-laws of the Royal Talossan Bank & Post will be proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the Ziu or the Prime Minister acting on its behalf.

3. The Royal Talossan Bank & Post has full power to design, print, and issue the Talossan National Currency, the Ben, at the value of fifty-nine Ben to the U.S. Dollar. The Talossan National Currency may be sold by the Royal Talossan Bank & Post, at a value set by the Executive Committee. Any profit from the sale of the Talossan National Currency must return to the Kingdom.

4. The Talossan Royal Bank & Post has full power to design, print, and issue the any postal effects such as stamps. Postal effects may be sold by the Royal Talossan Bank & Post, at a value set by the Executive Committee. Any profit from the sale of postal effects must return to the Kingdom.

5. The Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Royal Talossan Bank & Post may be considered a member of the Cabinet if so chosen by the Government of the day.

6. Major changes to the by-laws of the Talossan Royal Bank & Post must be approved by the Ziu or the Prime Minister on its behalf.

WHEREAS it is necessary for the strong Berber race in power at this time to care for the less-advanced native race of Talossa; and
WHEREAS pursuant to above clause, it is necessary to provide separate but equal amenities for the strong Berbers and the native Cestours of Talossa;
THEREFORE the Ziu approves the reservation of separate amenities such as lunch-counters or water fountains in the RT territory for Talossan citizens and Cestours.

LONG LIVE THE TALOSSAN APARTHEID!

The Cosâ and Senäts in Ziu assembled resolve that:

The sole armed force and service in the RT is the Royal Talossan Navy, which may be referred to by its Talossan-language name. The RTN is changed with the full and proper defence of Talossan territory.
The Royal Talossan Navy consists of a marine branch, acting as navy and coast guard, and a land branch, acting as army.
The ranks of the RTN will be divided into, in ascending order, Privates, Lieutenants, Captains, and Admirals.
The Monarch will server as Commander-in-Chief ex officio. The commanding Admiral is styled the Fleet Admiral, and is ex officio the Minister of Defence.
Upon the declaration of war by the Prime Minister or the Ziu, a War Cabinet may be formed to assist the Fleet Admiral and their sub-ordinates in their war duties. Members will consist of the Monarch, the Prime Minister and his Deputy, the Defence Minister as Fleet Admiral, and one Admiral of the Fleet Admiral's choosing, with the Prime Minister deciding. This body will command the RTN during wartime.

WHEREAS during March the august and beloved film critic Gene Siskel passed away; and
WHEREAS the Talossan people, so deep in their sorrow over the death of King Hussein of Jordan, forgot to honour the memory of Mr. Siskel;
THEREFORE the Ziu proclaims the week of 6 June to 12 June as a Belated Period of National Mourning for Gene Siskel.

WHEREAS Bugs continue to bother the King, among others, and we really don't want to deal with their crap;
THEREFORE the Ziu commands the following actions to be taken when a previously-heard-from Bug contacts the King, or any other member of the Government that would be bothered by the harassment:
The e-mail is to be deleted without reply.
The Bug's ISP is to be contacted and asked to take appropriate action to combat the Bug's harassment.
The Act takes effect against *all* Bugs we have heard from, or that, after the passage of this Act, contact a member of the Government or the King repeatedly.

The Cosâ and Senäts in Ziu assembled declare that:

The Kingdom of Talossa is committed to the integrity of the Albanian, Macedonian and Montenegrin states.
Any actions taken to violate the integrity of said states and the democracy therein will be construed as an act of agression against the Talossan state.
Said acts will warrant extreme actions, up to and including declaration of war.
The Kingdom of Talossa beams its Invincible Moral Support to said states in their struggles for democracy, freedom, and prosperity.
This resolution may be cited as the Gay House Declaration of 1999.

WHEREAS Dan Rogerson has fulfilled all the requirements given by the Immigration Ministry; and
WHEREAS the Cort has approved of his application;
THEREFORE the Ziu now votes to naturalise Dan Rogerson as a Talossan citizen.

WHEREAS Dan Rogerson has fulfilled all the requirements given by the Immigration Ministry; and
WHEREAS the Cort has approved of his application;
THEREFORE the Ziu now votes to naturalise Dan Rogerson as a Talossan citizen.

WHEREAS Paola Nicole Cleri has fulfilled all the requirements given by the Immigration Ministry; and
WHEREAS the Cort has approved of her application;
THEREFORE the Ziu now votes to naturalise Paola Nicole Cleri as a Talossan citizen.

WHEREAS numerous Talossans (and I mean *numerous*!) have complained to me about the fact that it is a waste of time and demoralizing to have to wade through dozens of bills on the Clark, at least two of which on each of the last two Clarks has been inorganic; and
WHEREAS this is affecting the morale of the Ziu and leading to short tempers and a feeling of disgust and perhaps even suicidal tendencies;
THEREFORE the Ziu hereby strongly suggests that the culprit(s) who have been submitting tons o' bills each month please refrain from doing so, and limit your bill submissions to five at the very most for each Clark; and furthermore,
That if there is the SLIGHTEST problem with any bill in excess of five (misspellings, inorganicity, etc.) that the Secretary of State be empowered to refuse to put same on the Clark.

WHEREAS Ben uttered these deathless words in a posting of April 13; and
WHEREAS some members of the Ziu are exhausted with all the running in and out of their respective chamber and the rising and sitting back down to vote on the number of bills we have had lately; and
WHEREAS some of the tellers have become so exhausted that they lose count; and
WHEREAS Canada has had to impose severe timber and paper-conservation measures because of the amount of paper used recently to print copies of all the bills in a monthly Clark; and
WHEREAS these measures almost made the Liberal Party of Canada* lose a bye-election in Windsor-St. Clair; and
WHEREAS the said bye-election was only won by 91 votes, or 0.29%;
THEREFORE no member of the Ziu can propose in a month more than three bills, or more bills than half the number, rounded up, of MCs his party has, whichever is greater

*sister party to the Talossan Liberal Party

For comments only

WHEREAS King Robert wishes to abdicate in favour of Queen Jenny because he needs a rest, and
WHEREAS permanent abdications are always traumatic to the body politic; and

WHEREAS it would be more traumatic if one day King Robert suddenly wished to rescind his abdication, and

WHEREAS it would also be traumatic if Queen Jenny decides to abdicate too, especially as no one would know who would become monarch next;

THEREFORE this bill seeks to provide a new form of abdication for an orderly constitutional transition in case any of these possibilities should occur.

1. The monarchical powers of the King shall hereby be assumed in one-year terms, from July 1st to June 30th.

a) When a King has succeeded to the Throne, the new King's first term shall end on the June 30th following the first anniversary of his accession to the Throne.
b) When a King has attained the age of majority, the King's first term after his majority shall end on the June 30th following his 19th birthday.


2. Each June the King shall proclaim whether he wishes to retain or resume his monarchical powers for the next term.

a) The King may only make this proclamation if he is of age.
b) The King may make the proclamation on any day of June.

c) The King may only make one proclamation.


3. If the King should proclaim "Yes" or "I retain the powers" or "I resume the powers" [or their equivalents in the Talossan language], then all shall continue as before.

4. If the King should proclaim "No" or "I abdicate the powers" or "I do not resume the powers" [or their equivalents in the Talossan language], then the King shall abdicate for a period of one term all monarchical powers, which shall be passed down to the next person in line, in this order:

The Queen Consort / Prince Consort, should she be a citizen
The Prince / Princess of Prospect, should he be of age and a citizen

All other Talossan citizens, according to seniority determined by total amount of time as citizen, as calculated by the Secretary of State.


This shall be known as an Abdication of the Powers.

a) Should any person in line refuse the monarchical powers, the powers shall be passed on to the next person in line, and so forth until someone is willing to accede to the powers.
b) The King must retain the powers until someone is willing to accede to the powers, even if it takes until after July 1st when someone is finally willing to accede to the powers.

c) If no one is willing to accede to the powers, the King must retain the powers for the next term, even if it is against his will.


5. Should the King make no proclamation before July 1st it shall be treated as if the King had made a proclamation of "No".

6. The title of any person who acceeds to the monarchical powers because of the abdication of the King shall be Regent of the Powers [or its equivalent in the Talossan language].

a) The King shall keep all his titles, including King, whether he has monarchical powers or not.
b) The title of a Regent who is Regent because of the King being a minor shall continue to be Regent.


7. No Regent of the Powers who is neither the Queen Consort nor the Prince of Prospect can be Regent of the Powers for more than two terms, whether consecutive or not.

a) The Queen Consort and the Prince of Prospect shall have no limits on the number of terms either can be Regent of the Powers.
b) Any Talossan citizen who has already been Regent of the Powers for two terms who becomes Queen Consort or Prince of Prospect will thenceforth have no limits on the number of terms he can be Regent of the Powers.

c) No Seneschal, other cabinet minister, or Leader of the Opposition in the Ziu or any provincial assembly may concurrently be Regent of the Powers. Any of these persons must either resign office before assuming monarchical powers or refuse the monarchical powers.

d) A Justice of any Cort may concurrently be Regent of the Powers.


8. The Ziu may depose a Regent of the Powers in favour of the next person in line for the remainder of a term. This shall require a two-thirds majority in both houses.

a) An MC or Senator who would therefore be made Regent of the Powers by such a vote shall only have the choice of voting Austanéu or Contrâ.

9. Should the King be ill or anticipate illness, he may make an emergency declaration for a period of time that he shall specify, at which time he shall automatically resume the powers.

a) No emergency declaration on the King's part shall be valid without specifying a period of time.
b) No such period of time may be longer than the end of the current term.

c) The emergency declaration may be rescinded by the King at any time, whether the specified period has expired or not.

d) The emergency declaration may not be indefinitely renewable. Should the King wish to abdicate his powers for a period after the end of the current term, he must make a normal proclamation in June.


10. Should the King be unable to make the declaration due to his incapacity, the Seneschal may make a Prime Directive calling for a Regent of the Powers that will take effect until the King recovers or until June 30th, whichever shall come first.

a) Such a directive may be indefinitely renewable until the King's death or Abdication of the Throne.
b) Such a Prime Directive must comply with the provisions of Section 7.


11. Should the King wish to abdicate both his powers and his title, he must specifically state "I abdicate the Throne, both my title and my powers" [or its equivalent in the Talossan language.] This shall be known as an Abdication of the Throne, and the King shall henceforth bear the title of Ex-King [or its equivalent in the Talossan language.]

a) Only the King may make such an Abdication of the Throne. No Regent of the Powers may make such an Abdication in place of the King.
b) The King must be of age to make an Abdication of the Throne. No Regent may make such an Abidication in place of a King who is a minor.

c) The Ex-King shall be henceforth be barred from resuming the Throne unless he is the last representative of his House.

d) If the King is the last representative of his House, upon the election according to Article III Section 4 of the Organic Law of a new King he shall be considered to be a representative of that King's House.

e) No Ex-King may be Regent of the Powers.

WHEREAS the Talossan citizenship process is often intimidating; and
WHEREAS many people might join Talossa if Talossa presented itself as a more welcoming, less elitist community; and
WHEREAS many nations, including the United States, have a special category of immigrant called the "permanent resident," with all civil and political rights except the right to vote; and
WHEREAS participation is at the heart of being Talossan;
THEREFORE the Ziu hereby establishes a special category of citizen to be known as the Permanent Resident. Any foreigner who believes in his heart that he is Talossan, and who is not a participant in any so-called "micronation," may acquire Permanent Resident status in the Kingdom of Talossa by writing a "What Talossa Means To Me" Essay and by obtaining the approval of the Uppermost Cort.
Permanent Residents will be classified as citizens for all purposes except that they may not vote in General Elections for the Cosâ and Senäts. Permanent Residents may obtain full citizenship through normal means.

WHEREAS tumult has arisen as of late concerning what constitutes "voting of the Clark" as stated in Article Seven, Section Four of the Organic Law of 1997; and
WHEREAS several citizens have expressed the need for an interpretation of this section and the phrase "voting on the Clark";
THEREFORE the Ziu resolves that the term "voting on the Clark" as stated in said section of the Organic Law of 1997 is defined as voting on one-fourth of all bills on a Clark, in addition to voting on the Vote of Confidence.