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Table of Contents
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An
Independent, Sovereign Country
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Azul! (Talossan for "hello!") Welcome to the official website of the Kingdom of Talossa.
The Talossa has sometimes been classified as an imaginary country or "micronation," but according to a statement approved in a 1993 referendum, "The Kingdom of Talossa is a community of persons having fun by doing things which are reasonably similar to what other ('real') countries do, whether for reasons of tourist nostalgia, out of a lust for power, in pursuit of parody, or -- yes -- as nationbuilding." Talossa is not an "online community," although some of its members are online and use the internet to keep in touch; many Talossans participate only by mail, telephone, and through face-to-face contact. (If you can't handle this, you don't belong in Talossa.) Talossa is an ongoing political adventure, and foreigners are invited to become Talossan citizens and participate. If you are in Talossa, you are a major figure in Talossan life and culture. Talossa is a country small enough for your voice to be heard, yet large enough for that voice to make a real difference. Talossa is not a computer game or a rôle-playing world. There are no "winners" or "losers" except from election to election, and from bill to bill in the legislature. Talossa is real life politics, only smaller and more accessible. This home page is your invitation to come and participate! Before Talossa erupted onto the internet in 1995, its population was about 20. In the decade that followed, huge swings of population occurred, reaching a peak of around 60 people in the year 2000. Today there are more than 30 citizens. More than 130 people have been a part of Talossa at one time or another since 1979. Today's Talossans all share a common dream of not taking ourselves too seriously, and making Talossa a fun place to be in. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This is the sole official website of the Kingdom of Talossa, founded by Ben Madison in 1979. There are numerous fake "Talossa-themed groups" on the internet, all created since 2004. We are the majority of lawful citizens and we hold the trademark, copyrights, and archives of Talossa. (See "Talossa and Laws," below.) Ben Madison, the country's original creator, is still a citizen of our society. Talossa is not affiliated, and has no contact or association with, these unauthorized groups, and is not responsible for their conduct, words or actions.
The current page and all pages directly linked to it are copyright (c)
1997-2008 R. Ben Madison, unless otherwise noted. |
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Founded as a newspaper in 1979, published since 1980, and operated as a discussion board from 2005 to 2009, Støtanneu reports the news on Talossa's Facebook page, which serves as Talossa's official discussion group. The Facebook page is one place where Talossans from all over the world interact and share ideas about their unique and growing nation! |
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Beginning in 1981, other people were
admitted to the RT (Regipäts Talossán; The Organic Law now prohibits the King from holding the chief offices of political power in Talossa. In 2003, he left the legislature to ensure a distinction between the Monarchy and the legislative branch, and served as a 'normal' constitutional monarch for two years. In 2005, Ben abdicated in favour of his grandson, Louis I, to pursue a career in Talossan politics. Over the past 29 years some 130 people have been involved with Talossa as citizens, from the USA, Canada, France, Brazil, Argentina, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Italy, Cyprus and the United Kingdom. Since Prime Minister Tom Buffone started TalossaFest in 1989, this annual summertime tradition has been the highlight of the Talossan social calendar. Talossans from all over the world come to TalossaFest and renew old friendships, make new friends, meet the Kingdom's growing population of Milwaukee-area citizens, watch lousy sci-fi movies (sometimes) and participate in the Living Cosâ where Talossans decide the great issues of our time in a free and open democratic forum.
For a complete overview of Talossa's long and complicated history, go to the Ár Päts web link! 1979: On 26 December, in his dad’s Milwaukee living room and with his family and friend Xheralt Conâ in attendance, Robert Ben Madison, 14, proclaims his own bedroom to be the independent, sovereign Kingdom of Talossa, with himself as King Robert I, its ruler. Madison declares his support for “World Singular Secession,” a goofy plan for every individual on earth to form his or her own country. 1980: King Robert’s hand-written newspapers, describing Talossa, attract the attention of his friends. Conâ creates his own nation, the Glib Room Empire, which surrenders to Talossa after the “Battle of the Garage.” Ben creates a unique Talossan Language, el glheþ Talossán, based on Europe’s Romance languages. 1981: Several high-school friends of King Robert I become Talossa’s first new citizens. Ben shuts down Talossa temporarily during the “Interregnum,” a desperate attempt to shed the label of eccentricity Talossa pinned upon him, in order to attract girls. Elections are held, and the winning DDP party vows to return Talossa to the USA! The King invalidates the election and takes back the reins of power. 1982: Talossa begins a flurry of territorial claims and annexations, culminating in the Kingdom’s “ownership” of Milwaukee’s East Side. 1983: Political squabbling among Ben's friends prevents the formation of a stable government. Ben continues to develop the country's language and symbols. 1984: Talossa attracts public attention when it is profiled in an article in the Milwaukee Sentinel, a local paper. King Robert commits the nation to holding democratic elections in 1985, and a surge of immigration begins. 1985: With the adoption of the 1985 “Organic Law,” Talossa takes its first steps towards democracy. The Cosâ (lower house) is first elected, and the moderate Progressive Conservative Party (PC) emerges as the largest party, backed by the King. For the next decade, Talossan politics is dominated by a Left-Centre-Right division, with the DDP/Pecularists on the left, the PC in the centre, and the neo-Nazi Talossan National Party on the right. 1986: “Paper Wars” erupt as the PC party begins a photocopied, mass-marked edition of Støtanneu to compete with the TNP paper, Talossan National News. In an effort to further democratize the Kingdom, King Robert I announces he will abdicate in favour of King Robert II, a virtually unknown university teaching assistant, who will reign purely as a figurehead. The left-wing opposition rallies against both of them. 1987: As King Robert II becomes the nation’s figurehead sovereign, the PC is defeated in elections. "People United for No King" (PUNK) forms a government; Robert II is “legislatively decapitated,” and a republic is proclaimed. PUNK then changes its mind and calls for the return of King Robert I. The PC returns to power, but Florence I, an English teacher to many of Talossa’s founders, becomes the new monarch. Legislative business is now handled in the “Clark,” a monthly legislative journal. Talossa’s “Uppermost Cort,” a supreme court, is created. 1988: Florence abdicates, and King Robert I is restored as the monarch by popular demand. His powers are tightly circumscribed by the 1988 Constituziun, the country’s first genuinely democratic basic law. 1989: New PM Tom Buffone (PC) initiates TalossaFest (an annual reunion) and the Living Cosâ (live parliamentary meetings) as Talossa’s social life takes off. Talossa celebrates its tenth anniversary as his successor, the wild Marxist Jack Schneider, resigns as PM and calls elections after a number of scandals including a plot to ban smoking in the RT and set up a “Cestoûr Council” allowing the Cestoûrs to vote. 1990: Angry political clashes occur between conservative/moderate “Derivatists” (who see Talossa as a “real country” in one way or another) and left-wing “Peculiarists” who want Talossa to be as weird as possible. Amidst political bickering, voters elect the left-wing “Peculiar Way” to power; but its leader resigns, and the country spins into an apathetic death-spiral, as its citizens are increasingly busy with real-world adult life. But in December, voters rally dramatically behind Talossa in Ben Madison's “National Destiny Referendum.” 1991: The most important political merger in Talossan history: the right-wing (and sometimes crypto-Nazi) Talossan National Party merges with the ruling PC, and wins a majority of the vote. Its avowed policy is the “Re-energization” of Talossa through social events, the press, and election reform. The PC restores political and cultural excitement to Talossa. 1992: The revival of Talossa under the PC party leads to a revival of the Left under Tom Buffone: The PC is defeated for re-election and Buffone becomes PM. Vuode Province “secedes” from Talossa to protest his alleged lack of patriotic fervour, then returns after the Uppermost Cort rules that Talossa is a “real country,” a point Buffone had challenged. 1993: The PC roars back to power, defeating Buffone. The traditional “Left” parties collapse, leaving the PC in complete control of the nation. 1994: Gary Swedenborg becomes the new Prime Minister and PC leader. Meanwhile “Davron” (Dave Kuenn and Ron Rosáis), a pair of right-wing losers, enlivens Talossan politics by forging ballots and launching lawsuits. The “You Can Run But You Can't Hide” Law is amended, requiring parties to alert their opponents to snail-mail campaign literature. 1995: Swedenborg resigns; his PC successor, John McGarry, loses a vote of confidence in the Cosâ. Nathan Freeburg’s Clockwork Orange Party inherits Davron’s mantle of goofy plots and schemes. Geoff Tomasüt becomes the PC’s newest PM, and takes the unprecedented step of offering Talossan citizenship to people on the internet. 1996: A massive surge in immigration results from the Kingdom’s new online presence. The traditional Talossan “paper” press is replaced by websites. Ken Velméir founds the ZPT, the country’s newest liberal opposition party. Tension grows between some Cybercits and some Old Growth (pre-internet) Talossans, especially the so-called “Amish,” those Talossans with no internet access at all (or no desire to participate in an online Talossa). Transcending these differences, a committee of citizens, both Cyber and Old Growth, begins work on a new national constitution. In a disturbing sign of division, some Cybercits denounce voters who do not participate in their online discussions as “pocket votes.” 1997: Three angry Cybercits break off from Talossa to form a separatist “Penguinea,” which harasses Talossans for years, dividing and angering Talossans. The trauma is recalled as “Talossa’s Vietnam.” Voters approve the 1997 “Organic Law,” replacing the 1985 Constituziun. Tomasüt steps down as PM. Dale Morris (PC) succeeds him. 1998: The new PC PM, Dan Wardlow, negotiates a one-sided “peace treaty” with “Penguinea,” a complete surrender of the Talossan position; then he renounces his citizenship, plunging Talossa into chaos. Chris Gruber, a violent homophobic thug, emerges as the new PM and PC leader, followed by months of scandals as Talossa tries to deal with a cloud of “micronations” springing up online in imitation of Talossa. Talossans refer to these internet-based, Talossa-obsessed entities as “Bug Nations.” In the end, Talossans choose to pursue their own, independent course. 1999: After winning majorities of the vote ever since 1993, the PC party is now in undisputed control of Talossa; a stale, corrupt, one-party state has emerged. Talossan politics have become PC party politics. Gruber is forced out; Michael Pope replaces him as PC leader. Pro-Penguinean “Liberals” try to divide Talossa with a rival discussion group, even as Penguinea collapses and its founder graciously apologizes to the Talossan people. 2000: Led by a Catholic fundamentalist, the “Liberal” opposition tries to prevent the King from divorcing Queen Jenny, his unfaithful wife. Personal attacks are hurled, and the country’s political life is anything but healthy. Political moderates have no place to go; the population begins to decline as the Cybercit-dominated PC tightens its grip on power. 2001: Liberal Party members renounce their Talossan citizenship, denouncing the one-party state. Under Talossan law, the King marries Amy Durnford, whose brash personality and strong opinions rub the PC old boys’ club the wrong way. 2002: Martin-Pierre Frenette, head of a Canadian ISP, illegally squats on several Talossa-themed domain names. The PC party chooses him to be Secretary of State (responsible for handling all official business): the PC now controls every single post of authority in Talossa. PC leaders lash out against Talossans who don't take part on their online discussion group, calling them "pocket votes." The PC is torn by internal bickering over American politics; in December, the party finally collapses into factions, ending the PC’s decade-old monopoly on power. The Black Hand (MN), set up by Wes Enrici, Márcüs Cantaloûr, and Ben Madison, rallies support from long-marginalized liberal and moderate Opposition figures. 2003: The Cosâ approves the MN-supported “EM200” reforms, making the electoral system friendlier to smaller parties by establishing proportional representation within each province. The PC is unable to adjust to its new role as one party among many. The Black Hand (MN) and ZPT form a majority coalition government under Maxime Charbonneau. Violent PC opposition forces Maxime to resign; a PC-Black Hand coalition is set up. Secretary of State Frenette bans non-PC voters from voting in a provincial election and purges the whole ZPT party from the Cosâ. In the face of these blatantly illegal moves, the King withdraws from partisan politics. 2004: Devin Burr (MN) emerges as PM. Gruber, the PC’s candidate, openly calls for the King to be murdered, while Frenette threatens to expel most Talossans from the country’s discussion group, which he runs and treats as his personal property. Exasperated voters give the Black Hand (MN) a large majority in national elections. But with the King and Queen far away in Europe, the Frenette-Gruber PC Party illegally seizes Talossa’s websites. The elected government, backed by the King and the large majority of citizens, remains loyal and rebuilds the country’s web presence. Burr quits; Xheralt Conâ, a political independent who was present at Talossa's birth in 1979, becomes Prime Minister. Talossa celebrates the twenty-fifth anniversary of its 1979 secession as a free, democratic country. 2005-2006: Márcüs Cantaloûr (MN) is elected PM with a majority of the vote. But Fritz Buchholtz, a failed businessman in Milwaukee, along with some neo-Nazi thugs, unilaterally and illegally declares some friends and relatives "citizens of Talossa." After being convicted of stealing books from a Wisconsin public library, he helps a tiny clique of non-citizens in Denver declare itself the “real Talossa,” provoking yet another orgy of fighting and conflict. In the chaos that follows, King Robert I abdicates the Throne in favour of his grandson, King Louis I. Many Talossans renounce their citizenship or are “expelled” by the online Nazis. Buchholtz proclaims a friend of his the ‘new king of Talossa.’ A second fake online “Talossa” is the result, marked by a maelstrom of personal attacks and silly titles. Talossa’s original founders regroup and take a breather. 2007: Fourteen long-time Founders of Talossa meet to reaffirm their support for Talossan democracy and national existence. They draft a new constitution to govern the legal ownership of Talossa, its trademarked name, and its legal status as a non-profit Wisconsin corporation; each Founder holds a "liberum veto" over government actions. King Louis lends his support, as do the MN and ZPT parties. Prime Minister Cantaloûr, the last lawfully elected head of government, initiates a dialogue about reforms designed to prevent the repeat of the bitterness so evident in Talossan politics since 2003. 2008: Talossa's elected provincial governments ratify the new constitution. In April, in a free national election, 17 Talossans -- a majority of the country's contactable electorate -- choose Amy Durnford (King Louis' grandmother) as Regent, to act as Head of State during the minority of the King (age 11). On 6 December, R. Ben Madison (MN) was chosen to serve in office as Prime Minister and rules by decree pending elections for the Cosâ. 2009: Ián Metáiriâ, one of Talossa's most historic figures, returns to the Kingdom. The Regent calls a general election. Madison's MN government is re-elected with an increased majority. 20 Talossans cast ballots, for four political parties.
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The Kingdom
is bounded on the west, north and south by the USA (specifically the City of
Milwaukee and its suburbs) and on the east by Lake Michigan. The area is
approximately 13.01 square km, having grown from the original bedroom in
1982-3 to encompass the East Side of Milwaukee (formal territorial claim).
These claims have never been officially disputed by the US Government, so
obviously they have no complaints. Population is divided between some 30
Citizens who can participate in the RT political process, and 40,000 Cestoûrs ( |
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The Kingdom has signed treaties with various people
claiming to represent the Nowadays, Talossa no longer wishes to have any
contact with micronations. Nearly all Talossans regard "micronations" and the whole "micronational" hobby as
boring, a distraction from the unique community socializing and nationbuilding that goes on within Talossa. If you are
fascinated by other micronations, don't join Talossa. |
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The 2007 Constituziun reaffirms the authority of the 1997 Organic Law, which vests legislative power in the bicameral Ziu (parliament). The 200 seats of the Cosâ (the lower house of the legislature) are elected by the people at large, through proportional representation in each province; the 7 seats in the Senäts are filled by elections in the provinces those seats represent. (Each province elects one Senator.) Talossa is also a constitutional hereditary monarchy.The King has a seldom-used veto which may be overridden by the Ziu. Members of the Ziu deliberate by e-mail or in person year round, and pending legislation appears in a legislative journal called The Clark, which has been published monthly by the Secretary of State since 1985. Members of the Cosâ (MCs) are elected every six to eight months (on average, unless the Cosâ is dissolved early). Two Senators are elected after each Cosâ dissolution, in a rotating fashion. A Senate term thus lasts about two years.
The Government
is led by the Prime Minister (PM; el Seneschál),
who with his Cabinet is responsible to the Cosâ and can be booted out of office if he loses a Vote of Confidence (VOC). The
PM has broad powers and can issue Prime Dictates (PD's), edicts with the
force of law. |
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The government of Talossa operates under the Organic Law (Constitution) written by a nationwide multi-party committee in 1997 and approved by referendum. Since constitutional, democratic rule began in Talossa in 1985, the following individuals have been elected Seneschál (Prime Minister). (Party abbreviations include FUN = Front United for the Nation, MN = La Mhà Nheagrâ/Black Hand Party, PC = Progressive Conservative Party, and ZPT = Defenders of the Land of Talossa/Zefençadéirs del Päts Talossán) (1) Ián Metáiriâ (Talossan Nationalist Party, in coalition with PC) 3 May-5 June 1985 (2) Florence Yarney (PC) 5 June-26 December 1985 (3) Fréiric Corïu (FUN, in coalition with PC) 26 December 1985-26 September 1986 (4) Wes Enrici (MN, in coalition with PC) 26 September 1986-28 March 1987 (5) Daniel R. Lorentz (People United for No King) 28 March-15 August 1987 (6) Sandee Prachel (PC) 15 August 1987-7 February 1988 (7) Robert J. Murphy (Bob Fights Ticket) 7 February-21 September 1988 (8) Thomas J. Buffone (PC) 21 September 1988-22 July 1989 (9) Jack Schneider (Päts Vräts) 22 July-30 December 1989 (10) Tom Buffone (Päts Vräts) 30 December 1989-9 March 1990 (11) Daniel R. Lorentz (Peculiar Way) 9-16 March 1990 (12) J. Harrison “Harry” Wozniak (Peculiar Way) 16 March-27 September 1990 (13) Wes Enrici (PC) 27 September 1990-20 April 1991 (14) Ián Metáiriâ (PC) 20 April 1991-24 July 1992 (15) Thomas J. Buffone (Un-Named Party) 24 July 1992-16 January 1993 (16) Ián Metáiriâ (PC) 16 January 1993-26 March 1994 (17) Gary E. Swedenborg (Independent, in coalition with PC) 26 March 1994-27 March 1995 (18) John F. McGarry (PC) 27 March-15 September 1995 (19) Geoffrey D. Tomasüt (PC) 15 September 1995-6 March 1997 (20) Alberto Manassero (PC) 6 March-22 April 1997 (21) Dale W. Morris (PC) 22 April 1997-19 January 1998 (22) Dan Wardlow (PC, later Peace and Freedom Party) 19 January-13 March 1998 (23) Charles Sauls (Peace and Freedom Party) 13 March-29 March 1998 (24) Christopher C. Gruber (PC) 29 March 1998-18 May 1999 (25) Michael J. Pope (PC) 18 May 1999-25 June 2002 (26) Jeffrey R. Ragsdale (PC) 25 June 2002-11 November 2003 (27) Maxime Charbonneau (MN, in coalition with ZPT) 11 November 2003-2 December 2003 (28) Jeffrey R. Ragsdale (PC, in coalition with MN) 2 December 2003-1 January 2004 (29) Devin Burr (MN) 1 January-17 June 2004 (30) Xheralt Conâ d'Encradéir (Independent, in coalition with MN) 17 June 2004-15 February 2005 (31) R. Márcüs Cantaloûr (MN) 15 February 2005-6 December 2008 (32) R. Ben Madison (MN) since 6 December 2008
At the General Election of On 22 April 2008, a national ballot for Regent resulted in the election of Amy Durnford, who won a large majority of the 17 ballots cast. On 6 December 2008 the Regent asked Ben Madison (MN) to form a government and he was sworn in that day. An absolute majority of eligible voters (20) cast ballots in the General Election of 14 August 2009. The MN won 156 seats; the KNOT ("Know-Nothings") of Geoff Tomasüt and Ián Metáiriâ, on 22, took second place with the Marxist Monarchist Party on 12 and the Greens on 10. Voters approved a referendum on royal powers and citizenship laws by a margin of 87% to 13%. Of 20 ballots cast, 10 arrived by paper ballot. |
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The three-man Uppermost Cort (Cort pü Înalt) renders all judicial verdicts and interprets the laws, including the 1997 Organic Law. Its members serve for life. They are nominated by the King but must be approved by the Ziu. The Talossan Uppermost Cort consists of three Justices including a Senior Justice. Decisions of the Cort can be overturned by Royal pardon. As of October 2009, the Uppermost Cort consists of Senior Justice Ián Metáiriâ (a Talossan citizen since 1983), Justice Wes Enrici (a Talossan citizen since 1985) and Justice Adam Valoûr (a Talossan citizen since 2009). |
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RT politics features several political parties. Most tend to come and go, and one-person parties are common (indeed, they are encouraged!). The country has seen a multi-party structure since 1985. From 1993 until 2002, the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) won every election but became increasingly dictatorial and unpopular. Moderate elements broke away from the party in 2002. After voters decisively rejected the PC's policies in three straight national elections, the party's supporters quit Talossa in 2004. In 2002, the moderate, democratic, reform-minded wing of the PC broke off from the party and recreated the Black Hand party (La Mhà Nheagrâ) or "MN". Instrumental founders included Ben Madison, Márcüs Cantaloûr, Pete Hottelet and Francesco Felici. The original MN had been an important Talossan political party in the 1980's. Today, the MN is the single largest party in Talossa. Other parties in the Cosâ (lower house of parliament) include els Zefençadéirs del Päts Talossán (ZPT, Defenders of the Land of Talossa). This patriotic left-of-centre party was founded in 1996. Its most prominent member is Xheralt Conâ, who has the distinction of having stood in Ben's living room on 26 December 1979 to witness the original birth of Talossa. Talossan elections have featured such parties
as: Front United for the Nation (FUN), Liberal Party, Communist Party, Päts Vräts,
Democratic Dandipratic Party, Talossan
National Party, Party of Death, Talossan Double-Cross Movement, Peculiar Way, Un-Named Party, Mussolini Action Squad, Talossan National Progressive Conservative Neo-Feudalist
Fascist Party, Jahnistische Bewegung,
Thundersword, the Positively More Sensitive Party,
the Bob Fights Ticket, the Third Wave Party, the Silver Phoenix Party, the
Peace and Freedom Party of Talossa, and the Whigs. |
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Current hot issues in Talossan politics include:
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Anyone who has ever been to the annual "TalossaFest" party knows the taste of buttered couscous and the sound of Berber music! According to
a 1994 law, Talossans are "inexplicably and inextricably connected somehow to Berbers." In 1984 and 1985, Ben
Madison created an elaborate "ancient history" for Talossans to be proud of, the outlines of a kind of Talossan "Iliad." The story involves ancient
North African Berbers sailing across the The discovery of Byzantine relics on Talossan
territory in recent years has lent credence to the country's "ancient
Berber heritage." A majority of citizens support the Berber heritage
aspect of Talossa while others dismiss it as
"balderdash." You can read excerpts from the King's elaborate
scholarly defence of Talossa's
Berber heritage in the early chapters of Ár Päts. |
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The flag, known as "El Bicoloreu," was designed by Ben Madison
in 1981. It is divided horizontally, top half green, bottom half red (except in wartime,
when the flag is flown upside-down). It is a real flag, not a web graphic, and a dozen or so cloth or nylon Talossan flags have flown at one time or another
in the breeze of destiny.
The coat of arms has two forms, the Lesser State Arms (shown here) and the Greater State Arms (shown at the top of this page). The Greater State Arms consists of the country's seal (a disk bearing the name of the state around an archaic Chinese character, topped by a crown) supported by two squirrels standing on a ribbon bearing the national motto. The motto is "Miehen Huone on Hänen Valtakunta" (bad Finnish for "A Man's Room is his Kingdom.") The Chinese character is pronounced 'ben' and is a symbol of Ben Madison's continued presence in Talossa.
The capital is Abbavilla (shown to the left), in
Abbavilla Canton,
The official ethnic cuisine of the The Talossan National Archives was created on 12 February 1992, the national newspaper Støtanneu announcing that the Müstáir Naziunál del Regipäts Talossán, or National Archives of the Kingdom of Talossa, had been formally established. As Archivist, Ben Madison began to solicit help from other Talossans in gathering in various documents, letters, newspapers, and other artifacts from their own private collections. Talossans were eager to help out, and soon the National Archives filled two large cardboard boxes and contained 29 folders, organized according to topic. Today, the Talossan National Archives consists of dozens of “folders” (originally manila folders, now stored in protective envelopes) and bound volumes. The total number of pages in the collection is estimated at over 10,000, covering the entire history of the Kingdom of Talossa from 1979 to the present day. The folders are organized into “boxes” according to theme, and further subdivided into interdepartmental mailer envelopes (second shelf in image below). The original contents were broken up into more than fifteen categories when the archives were reorganized in September of 2004. Materials in the National Archives may be photocopied (or, on rare occasions, loaned) for research and publicity purposes only, with the consent of the Archivist. Such a loan occurred in the fall of 2004, when several bound volumes of Støtanneu and other documents were loaned to the University of Sunderland for an art exhibition on Talossa and other small nations.
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The official languages of Talossa are Talossan and English. Ben Madison first invented the Talossan language, which evolved from mixed Anglo-French-Spanish roots, beginning in 1980. Today, Talossan represents in many ways a "best guess" as to how Latin, as spoken in Carthage and other cities of Roman North Africa, would have evolved had it been carried across the Atlantic to the Talossan area by prehistoric migrants. A sample of the language: C’estev’iensâ vholta, hi füt ’n garziun qi s’apeglheva Ben. Robert Ben Madison creschüteva sür la Costâ Sinistrà da Milvoc’ht, creschtat par sieu patreu, ’n profeßéir da psüc’holoxhà. El Ben xhován creschüteva enviruniçat par dels bragartác’hs idiôts dîn la lüceadâ. És quând që o entreva la scuôlâ înalt în l’otogñheu dallas 1978, o tent zescovrat els politici. O scriveva dels manifestos fiorisäpsilor, dîn qët o cümploteva sieu società parfäts, dove els citaxhiêns normáis (c.à.z. els qi füvent dels timits améirs aþeistàns da siensiâ-ficziun qi uveidievent el legeu, come füt Ben à’cest tîmp-là) pëvadrent estarë behütats contrâ els máis—el tepistànísmeu, l’arap, el fundísmeu, és l’anarc’hïa da “eu pirméis”—qi o aßoçiateva cün l’Américâ, el capitálísmeu, és la democraçù. ’N trîp àl Tzarâ Tütsch és à l’Íspäts în 1979 lo comvimçeva që aceastâ “cúlturâ corumpadâ” d’Américâ fost estarë cuntrivuladâ és zestroxhiadâ svo að o és el mundeu pëvadrent vivarë dîn el päx és el cidinoûr. CÚG, the "Committee for the Use of the Language,"
oversees the Talossan language and its development. It was founded in London by Ben Madison in 1983.
While most citizens do not speak Talossan, the
language serves as a patriotic symbol and as a source of patriotic
terminology; most Talossans are familiar with words
like "Cosâ," "Cestoûr," "Regipäts,"
and others which have passed from the Talossan
language into the Kingdom's unique dialect of English. Some translations
(such as the entire Biblical epistle of James) and a number of poems have
been written in the Talossan language. There is a
25,000 word dictionary and a 100-page official grammar of the language. The biblical Epistle of James has been translated into Talossan, and the Talossan history book Ár Päts is currently being translated into Talossan.
Three Talossan citizens are somewhat fluent in Talossan, and conversations have been sustained in the
language up to 45 minutes. |
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English as spoken in Talossa has a variety of dialectical expressions which Americans find incomprehensible. Ben Madison's book From Abbavilla to Zooks: A Lexicon of Talossan English (updated in 1998) helps detail the Talossan dialect of the English language. English spoken in Talossan sounds like midwestern American English but more elevated and couth. Here is a (somewhat contrived but entirely accurate) example of Talossan English: "So Støtanneu declared that the
Tories would coalesce with the Sponge or the TNP, but the Androids might
still try some abzurd VBP screwery
in the Cosâ. Don't they know that Abbavilla's standpoint of view is sceptimistic
about their Ben-bashing, Cézembre attitude?
Sure New Blood is nessecary in the RT, but I'd
collapse the government if I thought that reptiles or sport-infested youth
were writing their Essays just to become non-entities or danarchists.
It should be inorganic to let nutsoid, bozoid rabbers into the Regipäts; can't the Seneschál
PD that? Even the Fringe Party wants to defunk
these luds; at least the FM said so at the last
Living Cosâ." |
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The Kingdom is divided into seven Provinces, each with its own government, and each elects one Senator to the federal Ziu. They are listed below.
* The asterisk indicates the next two provinces scheduled to hold elections in the rotation.
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The RT
claims a chunk of |
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The Kingdom of Talossa operates under the auspices of Talossa, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation registered
in the State of Wisconsin (Entity ID T038581). The name "Talossa" is a registered trademark (U.S. Registration 2955054) and any unauthorized use of the name is a violation of United States and international law. Talossa
is a non-profit enterprise. There is no charge for obtaining RT citizenship, and the various books and other documents and souvenirs produced by the Kingdom are sold at or near cost. These include history books,
dictionaries, as well as souvenir flags and oval nationality bumper stickers. |
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Talossa is actively searching for new people who might enjoy participating in the building up of this independent, sovereign state, and taking part in its vigorous political and cultural life. Any person who wants Talossan Citizenship should contact the Ministry for Immigration. Click here for a downloadable MC-95A (Citizenship Application) form, READ IT, and either mail it in or use our Talossan Citizenship Application Form WARNING: Talossa can be habit-forming. Talossa is real-life politics, only smaller and more accessible; it engages a lot of the same emotions and requires many of the same commitments that are needed for success in politics in other countries. We expect high standards of our citizens, and we are looking for people who want to work with the existing Talossans, not replace them. If you really enjoy Talossa, it can take over your life! |
Government of Talossa
c/o R. Ben Madison
Direct contact with the Government of the
Kingdom of Talossa
can be made at the postal address above.
(This
site originally published, November 1995;
updated 19 December 1999/xx and 07 June 2001/xxii.
This is the sole official website of the original Kingdom of Talossa established in 1979.
revised, 07 December 1997/xviii and 28 April 1998/xix;
Revised 6 July 2004/xv, 30 September 2007/xviii,
23 April 2008/xix, and last revised 26 May 2008/xix).
Please use websites directly linked from this one, as there are individuals online engaged in
business/commercial identity theft against the Kingdom of Talossa
in violation of our trademark and corporate registration.
