Congress is back in session. The Fourth Session of the 48th Congressus Patriaë (4·XLVIII 2009-10) convened today to begin a session that will adjourn in June 2010, a few days before Inauguration Day. At the top of the Fourth Session's order paper, is of course the battle against the GED (Global Economic Downturn, not a high school equivalency diploma). Congress warns that even if the recession may have "officially" ended, or will end during this session, any recovery will be jobless. With double-digit unemployment (and a jobless rate as high as 35% in Patria's Rust Belt) and anemic consumer spending, notwithstanding the exhortation to go out and buy that was delivered when the Third Session adjourned for the summer recess, it will still feel like a recession for the remainder of this Congress' term of office and could even be GED, Round 2. A double-dip recession in early 2010 is a very real possibility.
Also on the order paper is migrating Patria's web site from the soon-to-be-defunct Geocities to a free server, yet to be determined.
When the Speaker's gavel hit the dais to open the fourth and final session of the 48th Congress, it also marks the de facto official start of the election campaign for the 49th Congress. Patria votes April 17, 2010. As the Jungle Party would say, "Step your game up! Have a campaign trail take and don't suck"!
Welcome to the Inner Realm of Patria's official blog. Patria is a micronation established in 1818 that exists only within the hearts and minds of those who dare to be in the Bhav!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
From Kids Can Press - a micronational handbook for kids 12 and under!
How to Build Your Own Country is an interactive and totally original learning experience that shows kids how to build their very own country from scratch. This book, the only one of its kind, offers children the expertise and advice they'll need to plant their flag in the backyard, in the bedroom or online. Kids will be amazed to discover that anyone can do it. Nation-building advice is peppered with examples of events that have shaped countries throughout history, teaching young readers about government, elections, geography and global issues.
Backed up with lots of amazing examples of real micronations - some established or ruled by kids - How to Build Your Own Country promises to inspire, entertain and inform young nation-builders.
Want to build your very own country from scratch? It's easy:
Step 1: Stake Out Your Identity ... with a flag, money and a national anthem. Learn how to put your country's name on the map.
Step 2: Run the Country ... with a government, constitution, laws and an economy.
Step 3: Meet the Neighbors … and join other nations on the big issues that face the whole world, such as poverty, global warming, security and international aid.
How To Build Your Own Country is part of CitizenKid: A collection of books that inform children about the world and inspire them to be better global citizens.
Written by Valerie Wyatt, with illustrations by Fred Rix. Published by Kids Can Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-1-55453-310-7
Disclaimer: the above blurb was copied from Kids Can's web page. Patria does not endorse this book in any way.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Minor parties - fringe and nutbar
To complete the profiles of the parties holding seats in the 48th Congress and contesting the 49th Congress election, the following parties are little more than fringe groups, one-trick ponies that campaign on only one issue, or simply nutbars that game Patria's system of proportional representation and manage to gain a seat or two.
Family Values Party - An old-line social conservative party that broke away from the National Union in 1997, charging that the NU was too concerned with macho values rather than social conservatism and traditional family values (e.g. hard-core homophobia; the FVP's main slogan is "Healthy, Happy, Heterosexual"). Along with believing that homosexuality can be cured with psychotherapy and/or born-again Christianity, the FVP would like to return Patria to a neo-1950's "Leave It To Beaver" era when men were breadwinners, women stayed home with the kids, and gays stayed in the closet.
Party for Personal Responsibility - Formerly the Party for Fiscal Responsibility, the PPR was another breakaway party from the National Union in 1997-98. Originally a one-issue party of strict economic conservatism whose mantras are "Pay down the deficit, cut social spending, cut taxes", the PPR has added personal responsibility - both economic and social - to its one-issue platform.
Lilith Party - Also a new party for 1998, the Lilith Party is a women's party founded to counter the macho National Union. Taking its name from the Lilith Fair all-women music festival held near Toronto in 1997, Lilith mainly attracts hard-core feminists (i.e. those who spell women as "womyn"), out-of-the-closet lesbians, and teenage girls attracted by the slogan "the Grrrrls Party". Anita Bryants and Margaret Thatchers are not welcome in Lilith!
Rationalist Party - Launched in 2001, the Rationalist Party of Patria was established as a protest against the Hindu bloc. The Rationalists are not only strictly secular and advocate separation of church and state but actively encourage atheism. Their main slogan is "Reason not Religion, Science not Spirit". The Rationalists have also adopted some of the "Objectivist" philosophy of Ayn Rand. Among the Rationalist Party caucus are Dagny Taggart and John Galt, the heroes of Atlas Shrugged.
Freedom Party - A new party for the 2006 elections, the Freedom Party was intended to be a successor to the Patriots' Party, which surprisingly received a good chunk of protest votes in 1994 with its "Raise the flag, raise your fist, RISE UP!" slogan. Like its Patriot predecessor, the Freedom Party is a far-right, openly anti-Semitic party, dedicated to preserving free speech, particularly defending politically incorrect websites or "anything the Jews don't like" against censorship. This fun bunch of brown-shirted or white-hooded guys (and perhaps a few girls) claim to be "Patria's only pro-white party".
Chastity Party - The second new party to hit the 48th Congress campaign trail in 2006, the Chastity Party is another one-issue party: fight pre-marital sex, "Just say no until you say I do" is the Chastity Party's slogan, probably inspired by a bumper sticker spotted in Red-State Bible-Belt America.
Several other minor parties hold one or two seats in Congress. Among them are an assortment of New Age splinter groups, the Lazurian Independent Party (which advocates the Precinct of Lazuria's independence from Patria), and the National Democratic Union and Peoples' Party - the last remnants of the pre-1990 liberal centrists swept away by the Dharmic Revolution.
Family Values Party - An old-line social conservative party that broke away from the National Union in 1997, charging that the NU was too concerned with macho values rather than social conservatism and traditional family values (e.g. hard-core homophobia; the FVP's main slogan is "Healthy, Happy, Heterosexual"). Along with believing that homosexuality can be cured with psychotherapy and/or born-again Christianity, the FVP would like to return Patria to a neo-1950's "Leave It To Beaver" era when men were breadwinners, women stayed home with the kids, and gays stayed in the closet.
Party for Personal Responsibility - Formerly the Party for Fiscal Responsibility, the PPR was another breakaway party from the National Union in 1997-98. Originally a one-issue party of strict economic conservatism whose mantras are "Pay down the deficit, cut social spending, cut taxes", the PPR has added personal responsibility - both economic and social - to its one-issue platform.
Lilith Party - Also a new party for 1998, the Lilith Party is a women's party founded to counter the macho National Union. Taking its name from the Lilith Fair all-women music festival held near Toronto in 1997, Lilith mainly attracts hard-core feminists (i.e. those who spell women as "womyn"), out-of-the-closet lesbians, and teenage girls attracted by the slogan "the Grrrrls Party". Anita Bryants and Margaret Thatchers are not welcome in Lilith!
Rationalist Party - Launched in 2001, the Rationalist Party of Patria was established as a protest against the Hindu bloc. The Rationalists are not only strictly secular and advocate separation of church and state but actively encourage atheism. Their main slogan is "Reason not Religion, Science not Spirit". The Rationalists have also adopted some of the "Objectivist" philosophy of Ayn Rand. Among the Rationalist Party caucus are Dagny Taggart and John Galt, the heroes of Atlas Shrugged.
Freedom Party - A new party for the 2006 elections, the Freedom Party was intended to be a successor to the Patriots' Party, which surprisingly received a good chunk of protest votes in 1994 with its "Raise the flag, raise your fist, RISE UP!" slogan. Like its Patriot predecessor, the Freedom Party is a far-right, openly anti-Semitic party, dedicated to preserving free speech, particularly defending politically incorrect websites or "anything the Jews don't like" against censorship. This fun bunch of brown-shirted or white-hooded guys (and perhaps a few girls) claim to be "Patria's only pro-white party".
Chastity Party - The second new party to hit the 48th Congress campaign trail in 2006, the Chastity Party is another one-issue party: fight pre-marital sex, "Just say no until you say I do" is the Chastity Party's slogan, probably inspired by a bumper sticker spotted in Red-State Bible-Belt America.
Several other minor parties hold one or two seats in Congress. Among them are an assortment of New Age splinter groups, the Lazurian Independent Party (which advocates the Precinct of Lazuria's independence from Patria), and the National Democratic Union and Peoples' Party - the last remnants of the pre-1990 liberal centrists swept away by the Dharmic Revolution.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Minor parties from the macro-world
The following minor parties in Patria actually exist in some form in the macronational world. (In the micronational community, real-life existing countries such as Canada and the U.S. are known as "macronations".)
Green Party of Patria - Unlike like the Green Party of Canada, which gets shut out of Canada's House of Commons and provincial legistatures because of the dinosaur first-past-the-post electoral system, the Green Party of Patria is awarded a number of seats in the Congressus Patriaë (24 in 2006) thanks to proportional representation. Like the macro-national Greens of Canada, the U.S. and Europe, the Greens of Patria appear to be leftist, progressive, bike-riding, Birkenstock-wearing, tree-hugging environmentalists. But a quick glance at their platform would reveal them to be economic conservatives and even Ayn Rand-style free-enterprise capitalists disguised as politically correct left-wingers.
Libertarian Party of Patria - "More freedom through less government", strongly civil libertarian, staunch advocates of free speech and opponents of all forms of censorship, the Libertarian party of Patria, like Libertarian Parties in the United States and Canada, is conservative on economic issues but very liberal on "free choice" issues such as legalization of drugs or abortion. There really is not much need for a Libertarian party in Patria, since Patria has become quite libertarian since the 1990s - decriminalizing drugs for all practical purposes, no restrictions on abortion, and strongly free-speech. In Patria, there are no laws criminalizing freedom of thought such as Holocaust denial. To the extent that they do not advocate violence against specific individuals or incite rioting, far-right nutbars such as Ernst Zundel who might find themselves jailed in Canada would not be prosecuted (or persecuted) for politically incorrect thoughts in Patria.
Social Democrats/Progressive Labor - Much like Canada's New Democrats, the Social Democrats are a social-justice, centre-left, "tax-and-spend liberal" or "progressive" party dating from the 1930s. Progressive Labor is another very old party, going back to the 1890s, that claims to represent the working proletariat. The SD and PL will merge in 2010, in an attempt to unite the left. The combined party will likely be known simply as Social Democrats, dropping any references to the Red-baiting Cold War era baggage contained in terms such as "progressive" and "labor".
Green Party of Patria - Unlike like the Green Party of Canada, which gets shut out of Canada's House of Commons and provincial legistatures because of the dinosaur first-past-the-post electoral system, the Green Party of Patria is awarded a number of seats in the Congressus Patriaë (24 in 2006) thanks to proportional representation. Like the macro-national Greens of Canada, the U.S. and Europe, the Greens of Patria appear to be leftist, progressive, bike-riding, Birkenstock-wearing, tree-hugging environmentalists. But a quick glance at their platform would reveal them to be economic conservatives and even Ayn Rand-style free-enterprise capitalists disguised as politically correct left-wingers.
Libertarian Party of Patria - "More freedom through less government", strongly civil libertarian, staunch advocates of free speech and opponents of all forms of censorship, the Libertarian party of Patria, like Libertarian Parties in the United States and Canada, is conservative on economic issues but very liberal on "free choice" issues such as legalization of drugs or abortion. There really is not much need for a Libertarian party in Patria, since Patria has become quite libertarian since the 1990s - decriminalizing drugs for all practical purposes, no restrictions on abortion, and strongly free-speech. In Patria, there are no laws criminalizing freedom of thought such as Holocaust denial. To the extent that they do not advocate violence against specific individuals or incite rioting, far-right nutbars such as Ernst Zundel who might find themselves jailed in Canada would not be prosecuted (or persecuted) for politically incorrect thoughts in Patria.
Social Democrats/Progressive Labor - Much like Canada's New Democrats, the Social Democrats are a social-justice, centre-left, "tax-and-spend liberal" or "progressive" party dating from the 1930s. Progressive Labor is another very old party, going back to the 1890s, that claims to represent the working proletariat. The SD and PL will merge in 2010, in an attempt to unite the left. The combined party will likely be known simply as Social Democrats, dropping any references to the Red-baiting Cold War era baggage contained in terms such as "progressive" and "labor".
Friday, September 4, 2009
Jungle Party - Have a take! Don't suck!
The Jungle Party of Patria is a new party established in 2006, created by popular demand of the Clones - Patria's faithful devotees of the Jim Rome Show - to have Jim Rome elected to the Congressus Patriaë, along with the leader of the XR4TI Crew, Jason Stewart, aka "Mr. Automatic", "J-Stew", and the best contestant Blind Date ever had. The Jungle Party caucus is made up of the leading clones and Smack-Off participants, including Iafrate, Jeff in Richmond, Terrence from Sierra Madre, Jeff on a car phone in Phoenix, Greg in Vegas, Rachel in Houston, and multiple Smack-Off champion Shonny "Boom goes the dynamite!" the Cablinasian. In 2008, Cablinasian was disqualified from sitting in Congress (apparently a "business decision") and was replaced by Brad in Corona.
The Jungle Party's platform - beyond "step your game up", "come strong", "have a take" and "don't suck" - includes tax cuts for males 30 years of age or over who are minimally employed and living with their parents, usually in the basement, as well as a promise to fight impaired driving with the Jim Rome Drunk Bus, to be made available to any athlete or celebrity in Patria who has had too much to drink by calling 1-800-BLEAHHH!!
Although holding only 12 seats in the 48th Congress, the Jungle Party is set to make big gains in the 2010 election, given the Jim Rome show's huge popularity on its flagship station in Patria, PMBC (1152 AM) in Castoropolis.
Disclaimer: The Jungle Party of Patria has no de jure or de facto connection whatsoever to the Jim Rome Show, Jim Rome is Burning, the Premiere Radio Networks, or the Stuck Nut online forum. Good night now!
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