Friday, December 28, 2018

Bicentennial #patria200 an underwhelming dud

In 2018 Patria celebrated 200 years of being the best country we never had!
As 2018 comes to a close, Patria's bicentennial celebrations - known by the hashtag #patria200 - have been condemned as an underwhelming dud that failed to generate much enthusiasm within Patria and in the greater micro-world. This was due in part to the celebrations of Patria's founding in 1818 being mostly locally focused, rather than a huge Patria-wide party or Micro-world's Fair. There are more than enough fingers to point for Patria's bicentennial failing to live up to the hype. A general feeling of "you get what you pay for" as Patria's 50th Congress (2014-2018) appropriated only token funding for the celebrations, while precinct and local governments attempted to take up the slack. The Ministry of Transportation came under fire for failing to celebrate the centennial of the Castoropolis Metro (Patria's first subway/metro/tube, opened in 1918) as well as for failing to offer a distinctive bicentennial license plate, though motorists in Patria can choose from three graphic plates, as well as a non-graphic base. The Patria Mint made little effort to place special issue bicentennial coins into circulation; one and two Patrienish Rupee pocket change featuring only the "1818-2018" double date. Patria Post produced a number of commemorative stamps, but most of them seemed like regular issues that added only the #patria200 hashtag.

Of course, no one expected a celebration on the scale of the United States bicentennial in 1976 or Canada's centennial in 1967. The celebrations were about as low-key and underwhelming as #Canada150 - the celebration of Canada's 150th anniversary as a Dominion of the Commonwealth (Canadians rarely use the term "independence") in 2017.

Nonetheless, there were a few highlights and happy times in Patria in 2018:

  • The election of 2018 saw Bernie Sanders-style democratic socialism win a plurality of seats in the Fifty-First Congress. The election campaign proved to be a hard fight against the forces of right-wing populism and fear-mongering about an evil communist bogeyman, but in the end voters in Patria chose left-wing populism, the Social Democrats, combined with the Amrita Party and the other spiritual parties. On Inauguration Day, June 30, a stirring (if not extra long) Inaugural Address was delivered and to show that even socialists can look rich for one night, a traditional Inaugural Ball was held.
  • After more than a century of failed efforts, Patria officially recognized the tenrec as its national animal symbol.
  • The Patrienish Rupee held its value as arguably the most stable micro-national currency.
  • Only a few weeks ago, Cook Islands became the second real-world macro-national country, after Samoa, to sign the MAPS (Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary) treaty. Since its ratification of the treaty in 2016, Patria has lobbied hard for the establishment of MAPS as an effective step to cool our planet and keep our oceans alive.
As we leave 2018, you will find below the last of Patria Post's series of bicentennial stamps, along with Patria's traditional Christmas stamp issue.




Friday, November 23, 2018

AM Radio’s 9 kHz Moving Day 40 years ago


On Nov. 23, 1978 AM radio stations in Patria moved from 10 kHz to 9 kHz spacing in accordance with frequency re-assignments mandated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Geneva Frequency Plan for medium wave stations in all regions of the world except North and South America.

Before this day in 1978, all AM stations in Patria transmitted on frequencies 10 kHz apart that ended in a zero (as they still do in Canada, the US and the rest of the Americas). Since Nov. 23, 1978 they operate on exact multiples of 9 kHz; the sum of all digits of the frequency will be 9 or a multiple of 9.

Stations continued to broadcast on their old frequencies until midnight Nov. 22; the change was to be made between 0000 and 0530 PLT (Patrienish Local Time) Nov. 23. While many stations made the frequency change virtually seamlessly with only a brief silent period or even none at all, the move did not go well on some of Patria’s AM stations. Some stations remained off the air or still on their old frequency well into the morning drive time hours of Nov. 23. Others – mainly those who used the frequency move as an opportunity to install new transmitter towers –  failed to shut down the old transmitter in a timely matter, broadcasting for much of the day and even into Nov. 24 on both their old and new frequencies, often causing an echo or heterodyne splatter (also known in DX loggings as “slop”) since the old and new frequencies were usually only a few kilohertz apart.

PMC, the "full service", "total information" blowtorch in Patria's capital city, moved from 850 to 846 kHz on Nov. 23, 1978.
The impending frequency moves were well publicized in the weeks leading up to Nov. 23, both on the air as well as in newspaper, outdoor billboard and transit vehicle ads. Listeners were told to “fine tune” their radios and adjust their car radio push buttons as they woke up on the morning of the 23rd. Forty years ago, virtually all AM radios were of the analog dial variety. A few odd kilohertz did not make much difference for the average listener. Even most MW DXers in 1978 did not have receivers with digital frequency readout that could be tuned by punching in a keypad rather than spinning a tuning knob. Of course, many on-air promos, IDs and slogans had to be changed. On the Castoropolis Centurions (PHL) flagship, the play-by-play commentator had to correct himself for the first hockey game played after the frequency move: “as you look at your PMC 850...or rather 846... radio dial, the Centurions will be moving from right to left”. Top 40 blowtorch POKX was no longer the “Nifty 650” but “Great 648”. But the new slogan was not used for long as POKX’s days as Patria’s Top 40 blowtorch were numbered. By the mid-1980s they became a right-wing all-talk station after a brief and unsuccessful transition from Top 40 hits to Oldies. But forty years ago AM radio had not yet lost the battle of the airwaves to FM. The spectrum between 530 and 1600 kilohertz was still dominant and relevant in markets large and small, both in the US and in Patria, and most stations aired real local programming rather than turnkey satellite-feed junk.

PMBC-1150 (moved to 1152 kHz) used to be the flagship of the Mutual Broadcasting Corp. of Patria. In the 1970s their full-service format went head-to-head with PMC. Now all-sports and Jim Rome.
Generally the frequency change was only a few kilohertz up or down from the old 10 kHz channel to the nearest 9 kHz channel. A number of stations on frequencies ending in zero did not move if the frequency was a multiple of 9, such as 540, 1080 or 1350 kHz. In Patria’s capital and largest radio market Castoropolis, the AM dial looked like this on Nov. 23, 1978. Old frequencies are in [square brackets], formats 40 years ago are noted if they have flipped since 1978.

PCRC, 531 kHz (ethnic, variety, far-left talk) [530]
PCGE, 595 kHz (Hindu) [590] (1978: EZL, adult contemporary)
POKX, 648 kHz (right-wing talk) [650] (1978: Patria's major Top 40 rocker)
PHTN, 792 kHz (Ramrajyavani-II) [790] (1978: classical, “fine arts”)
PMC, 846 kHz (news, sports, talk, “Full Service”) [850]
PRCC, 918 kHz (Ramrajyavani-I) [920]
PTE, 1017 kHz (Hindu) [1020] (1978: “ethnic”, long before Dharmic Revolution)
PTCN, 1071 kHz (Ramrajyavani-III) [1070]
PMBC, 1152 kHz (all sports, Jim Rome) [1150] (1978: news, talk, some MoR/EZL)
PHN, 1251 kHz (liberal-left talk/sports) [1250] (1978: news, talk, focus on Caesarea)
PVOG, 1350 kHz (Christian, brokered ethnic) [1350]
PKBY, 1404 kHz (nostalgia/MYL) [1400] (1978: T40, head-to-head with POKX)
PECR, 1512 kHz (business news) [1520] (1978: oldies/easy-listening)
PGBS, 1557 kHz (ethnic) [1560] (1978: C&W)

Ramrajyavani (the Voice of Patria), like CBC/Radio-Canada, has networks of AM and FM stations across Patria.
Ramrajyavani-I : popular music, news, information, documentaries (cf. CBC Radio One or ABC Radio National).  Ramrajyavani-II: Hindu devotional music, mostly Sanskrit. Ramrajyavani-III: all-news.  Ramrajyavani-IV, V: classical music, drama, poetry, arts (FM only).

Note that the only station in Patria’s capital city that remained on the same frequency was PVOG-1350, “Patria’s Voice of the Gospel”. Yes, you can actually find such a format in Patria!

Monday, September 17, 2018

51st Congress in session as summer recess ends

The Sergeant-at-Arms sounds the vuvuzela to summon Patria's Congress into session.
Patria's Congress returns from the summer recess that began on Inauguration Day shortly after the Inaugural Address/Speech from the Throne, as the Sergeant-at-Arms blew the vuvuzela and the Speaker Pro Tem whacked the gavel and proclaimed "under the power vested in me by the Constitution of Patria, I declare open the First Session of the Fifty-First Congress" (denoted 1·LI 2018-19).

With a 96 member Social Democrat caucus, along with the SD's close allies: the Amrita, Chakra and Green Parties, the 51st Congress is the most left-leaning, "progressive" one ever elected in Patria's 200 years. It is always a crapshoot as to which pieces of legislation will be pushed to the front of the order paper, but residents of Castoropolis and Patria's other major cities can be assured that the representation of their city councils will not be cut in half by executive fiat only a few weeks before  municipal election day. It is also a safe bet that the 24 municipal governments that make up Greater Castoropolis will not be forcibly amalgamated into a single Megacity. Voters in Patria (even National Unionists) would have little tolerance for a Doug Ford or Mike Harris wannabe.

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Patria rises for climate and MAPS

Usual leftist rabble out in force along with moral high-ground vegans at Patria's Rise for Climate rally.
Rise for Climate rallies were held today throughout the macro-world and in Patria as well. Thousands of people are rising up to tell their local leaders and Patria's newly-inaugurated 51st Congress they want a swift and fair transition to world no longer dependent on or addicted to fossil fuels. No more stalling, no more delays: it’s time for a fast and fair transition to 100% renewable energy for all. Real climate leadership rises from below. It means power in the hands of people not corporations. It means economic opportunity for workers and justice and dignity for front-line communities that are the hardest hit by the impacts of the fossil fuel industry and a warming world.

In Patria's capital Castoropolis, the Rise for Climate rally took place amid the downtown 1930s Art Deco monuments to free-enterprise capitalism (actually monuments to recovery from the Depression through make-work projects). The keynote speech of Patria's Rise for Climate rally included a plea to macro-world governments to ratify the MAPS (Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary) treaty, which was ratified by Patria in 2016, but so far by only one recognized country. Parvati, the award-winning musician, yogini, activist, author and founder of Parvati.org says of MAPS: “We no longer live in an era with the luxury to consider one isolated region separate from the whole. What happens in the Arctic affects us all. We must safeguard the Arctic Ocean and its rich biodiversity, before it is too late. Protecting the fragile Arctic ecosystem keeps our entire planet cool, and our weather patterns and global crop growth in balance. This must be an urgent priority for everyone on Earth.”

To state the obvious, climate change affects everyone who shares this planet, including Patria-First SRMers, National Unionists, US Republicans and other right wing super-patriots. But it is virtually needless to mention that the crowds at these rallies swung overwhelmingly left. Way to the left of Patria's Social Democrats, Canada's NDP or the US Democratic Party. You could even spot Trotskyites and Socialist Workers waving red hammer-and-sickle flags, apparently unaware that the Soviet Union voted itself out of existence in 1991.

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Buy sex, go to jail - Patria's slogan comes to Greater Toronto

"Buy sex, go to jail" - anti-sex trafficking slogan transplanted from Patria to Toronto.
In Patria, the war on prostitution begins with targeting the sleazy, disgusting, low-life men who patronize hookers. "Buy sex, go to jail" and the hashtag #jailforjohns are seen on buses and billboards everywhere in Patria. The campaign, ostensibly to fight sex trafficking, has been pushed during every election cycle since 1998, particularly by the law-and-order National Union and the Hindu nationalist SRM.

Patria's hoary old anti-prostitution campaign has apparently been transplanted to Canada. Buses in York Region, just north of Toronto, feature an ad campaign launched by York Regional Police.

It should be noted that there are not enough murderers, rapists and other violent criminals in Patria to fill its jails, so the police have to target small fry such as losers who seek out "escorts", street hookers and massage parlors in order to meet their arrest quotas and keep the prison industrial complex in business.

Friday, July 20, 2018

Brad in Corona wins Smack-Off XXIV

In Patria, get your Jungle on PMBC-1152. Have a take! Don't suck!
Brad in Corona is the Jim Rome Show's "King of Smack" for 2018, winning his fourth title in Smack-Off XXIV, which aired today on the CBS Sports Network. For winning the Smack-Off, Brad wins a cash prize of 5000 USD. Second place and below receive jack shit, but they do get seats in Patria's Congress, representing the Jungle Party.

Smack-Off XXIV Top Ten finishers:
  1. Brad In Corona (4th title)*
  2. Steve Carbone and Sean the Cablinasian
  3. Leff In Laguna*
  4. Mike In Indy*
  5. Benny In Wisco
  6. Mark In Hollywood*
  7. Rick In Buffalo
  8. Kaleb In Green Bay
  9. Vic In No Cal*
  10. Matt In Vancouver
As is the case for Smack-Off's held in an election year in Patria, Smack-Off XXIV also determined the Jungle Party caucus for the 51st Congress. The Jungle Party won only 11 seats in the election held on April 21, 2018, down from 28 seats in 2014. Incumbent members from the 50th Congress are indicated by * above. A lot of Jungle Party clones lost their seats in Congress, thanks in part to the resurgence of the Social Democrats. The eleven seats in the 51st Congress are awarded to Jim Rome (House Leader) plus the top nine Smack-Off finishers - note that old-school Clones Steve Carbone and the Cablinasian tied for second place. Precinct representation is as follows: Jim Rome represents the Federal District of Castoropolis, Brad in Corona and Rick in Buffalo represent Nova Columbia, the Carbone/Cablinasian tag team represents the Precinct of Caesarea. Leff in Lazuria, Mike in Centralia, Benny in Aeolia (the Wisconsin of Patria - the Precinct of Aeolia is known for its dairy products), Mark in Antioch, Kaleb in Mauretania, and Vic in Haldimania.

Saturday, June 30, 2018

Fifty First Congress Inaugural Address/Speech from the Throne


The following is the official text of the Inaugural Address/Speech from the Throne delivered at the Capitol in Castoropolis, shortly after 12:00 noon Patrienish Local Time on June 30, 2018:


Madam Chief Justice, members of the Fifty-First Congress, all those who served in the Fiftieth Congress, distinguished guests, fellow citizens of Patria, embodiments of divine souls and all of Amma’s beloved children: ya devi sarvabhuteshu matrirupena samsthita namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namah. Salutations and prostrations to the Devi who abides in all beings in the form of Mother as this most auspicious bicentennial inaugural day has arrived. Behold the Inner Realm that the Divine Mother in Her limitless mercy has preserved for two hundred years, the Inner Realm that on this day we vow at Her lotus feet to love and serve, and whose Constitution to support and defend.

On this day in 1818 it was in divine right order for our founding mothers and founding fathers to establish an Inner Realm founded on and devoted to the practice of Sanatan Dharma, popularly known as Hinduism, committed to seva or selfless service as modeled by Lord Rama’s faithful monkey servant Hanuman, and loyal to the teachings of the Vedas, Puranas, Bhagavad Gita and the lineage of gurus. Seventy-five years before Swami Vivekananda introduced the teachings to a receptive Western world at the Chicago Parliament of Religions, Patria raised the torch of Sanatan Dharma and has held it high to this day. Patria’s shraddha – faith – and bhakti – devotion – have never wavered. To borrow the motto of the province of Ontario, ut incepit fidelis sic permanet: loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In the early decades of the nineteenth century, Patria slowly grew – if it grew at all –  amid a wild, untamed pre-industrial frontier. Until the coming of the telegraph and railways in the 1840s, the teachings of Sanatan Dharma could travel only as fast as a horse could gallop. But still Patria took root. Even before the American Civil War, Patria offered a safe haven to runaway slaves. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In 1867 as Canada came into being, Patria established a special relationship with the new dominion that continues to this day, even if no Canadian leader from Sir John A. Macdonald to Justin Trudeau has ever recognized Patria’s consular mission in midtown Toronto. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In the 1880s as the great European powers scrambled for colonies in Africa and Asia, Patria claimed Madagascar and the Spratly Islands as part of its colonial empire. The claims were abandoned by 1900 not only when Congress failed to ratify a resolution that would have made the tenrec Patria’s national animal but after Patria recognized the evils of colonialism and the costs of taking up the “white man’s burden” decades before the great macro-world powers granted their colonies independence. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In 1914 Patria declared neutrality in the fratricidal Great War and celebrated its centennial amid the bullets, bombs and poison gas of that war and a deadly flu epidemic in 1918. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In the 1920s Ramrajyavani – the Voice of Patria – signed on in order to propagate the teachings of Sanatan Dharma and bring yoga classes, bhajans and kirtan into our homes via the new medium of radio. Legendary AM powerhouse stations such as PMC, PMBC and POKX came on the air and continue to broadcast today. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In the 1930s Patria battled the Great Depression with its own version of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Many of Patria’s classic Art Deco public building were built as job-creation projects, much like WPA projects in the US, while unlike FDR in 1933, the Patrienish Rupee remained redeemable in gold. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In 1941 Patria committed no troops to fight another fratricidal World War but the Inner Realm supported the Allied cause in the struggle to defeat a true Empire of Evil. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In 1947 as India won independence, Patria also established a special relationship with the motherland of yoga and spiritual home of Sanatan Dharma, even if no Indian government from Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress Party to Narendra Modi’s BJP has ever recognized Patria. Bharat Mata Ki Jai and loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In the 1950s Patria became virtually a clean-cut piece of postwar Leave It to Beaver Americana, where air was clean, sex was dirty and consumer goods were cheap, where the then-centrist National Union ruled, where women were homemakers and mothers, and where certain races and ethnic groups knew their place. Yet the flame of Sanatan Dharma continued to burn, albeit at times clandestinely, beneath the surface of a lily-white ostensibly Judeo-Christian utopia. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In the 1960s, while the National Union continued its hold on Patria, the counterculture and so-called “New Left” took root. As hippies, flower children and US draft dodgers proliferated in the 37th and 38th Congress, Patria redoubled its effort to look inward, “tune in, turn on, drop out” and “make love not war”. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In the 1970s and 1980s, even as yoga was becoming mainstream and immigrants from South Asia were introducing Hinduism to the western macro-world, Patria settled into a somewhat bland liberal, secular republic, usually known as Castoria rather than Patria or Ramrajya. These were the awful days of the powerless do-nothing Fortieth Congress, after which then came the dark time of failed policies and failed hopes of the Forty-First Congress, followed by the alcohol-fueled hedonism of the Forty-Second Congress, which nonetheless left Patria in better shape than it found it. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

Finally in 1989, as the assimilationist regression-to-the-mainstream Forty-Third Congress became a house divided against itself, there came the spark of liberation which has become known as the Dharmic Revolution. Actually the “Spark of ’89” was a counter-revolution against the tired old forces of blandness, centrism and assimilation to mainstream Western Judeo-Christian values. It served as a call to return Patria to the values and traditions that had birthed it in 1818. Whether a revolution or counter-revolution, it did not take place in a macro-world vacuum. As we know, Patria’s spiritual re-awakening almost three decades ago was inspired by and took place amid the fall of the Berlin Wall, the democratic revolutions in Eastern Europe and the demise of the Soviet Union. Patria turned inward, focused inwardly, as the Forty-Fourth Congress election in 1990 called for a return to the spiritual values that gave birth to Patria and made it great. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In the Forty-Fifth Congress, Patria deeply felt the pain caused by the downfall of one beloved teacher in the Kripalu lineage, but sought out others and between 1994 and 1998 transitioned from Amrit to Amma. During this transitional time, Patria was represented during a Premyatra or Pilgrimage of Love to India that re-connected with the lineage of Swami Kripalvananda to whose lotus feet Patria remains devoted. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

On December 31, 1999 citizens of Patria were kept in suspense wondering if the power grid would fail and the infrastructure would collapse as the clock struck midnight. That it did not, and the first day of the new millennium turned out to be a day just like any other, was due as much to the grace of the Divine Mother as to the computer geeks who spent much time and treasure fixing the alleged Y2K bug. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

On September 11, 2001 Patria mourned and still remembers the lives lost in the horrific attacks perpetrated by Al-Qaeda, but would not join George W. Bush’s Global War on Terror. Hate cannot drive out hate. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

In 2008 the macro-world’s economy melted down and threatened to take Patria down with it. Yet Patria rode out the Great Recession, the Patrienish Rupee – still based on a gold standard as in the 1930s – lost virtually no value and the economy recovered through the grace of the Divine Mother. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

And thus, over two centuries, this lovely land has prospered with the blessings of Amma, Karunamayi and all the Devis. Rooted, vital and expansive, grounded in the Positive Possibilities and the Divine Mother’s love. The motto of Canada’s most populous province has never rung truer in Patria. Loyal she began, loyal she remains.

With that re-cap of Patria’s history, we have looked back over the past two hundred years. Now let us look forward to the goals that this new Congress hopes to achieve over the next four years.

That the duty of care for the environment – beginning with simple steps of re-purposing, recycling, conserving non-renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels –  must be one of the primary duties of all Patrienish citizens in this new administration is widely accepted. No one can fail to note the extremes of climate change in recent years – let us not use the term “global warming” because in many cases the climate change, caused or exacerbated by human activity and misuse of nature’s gifts, has resulted in brutally cold winters and more snowfall. In 2016 Patria became the first and thus far the only government with the exception of Samoa to have ratified the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary or MAPS treaty, intended to establish all ocean waters north of the Arctic Circle as a marine protected area, free from oil drilling and all other exploitation, thereby protecting the fragile Arctic ecosystem and safeguarding the melting polar ice cap that is a major factor in climate change. MAPS would also compel a global shift away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy and unite world leaders in the commitment to value long-term collective good over short-term individual gain.

But being thousands of kilometers away, the Arctic Ocean may not seem to affect Patria’s daily life. Along with planting trees and keeping bees, what else can citizens of Patria do locally in order to foster sustainable living? The spiritual leader of the Amrita Party has the answer. In this bicentennial year, it is Amma’s wish that Patria concentrates its environmental initiatives on source reduction – stopping waste before it begins, and sharply reducing our use of plastics. Recycling is far from enough. Instead of recycling plastics and other throw-away products that need to be processed for reconfiguration into another form, we need to start using products that are designed to last, can easily be reused or repurposed, or find an alternative way of living that eliminates the need for the product altogether.

As we know, plastic is a notoriously unfriendly product for Mother Earth. It biodegrades very slowly, if at all. Discarded plastic sits in landfills for centuries. Plastic trash thrown into rivers and lakes makes its way into the oceans, where fish, sea birds and other marine animals mistake it for food or get entangled in the millions of tons of plastic waste choking the oceans and die horrific deaths. Fish and other animals taken from the sea for human consumption ingest micro-plastics which eventually end up on the human dinner table. But even vegans are not immune from plastic contamination. Therefore, as a bicentennial project the Fifty First Congress will answer the call of Amma’s Green Friends organization and take up the 2018 Plastics Challenge which was inaugurated by Amma in February of this year. Citizens of Patria will do their part to reduce significantly the use of plastics, reuse or repurpose so-called single-use plastic products at their homes, schools and workplaces, and find alternatives to plastic items, such as wooden toothbrushes, metal water bottles and even metal drinking straws.

If there is to be a war on plastic, India – perhaps the macro-world’s most polluted nation – is leading from the front. As all forms of disposable plastic were banned in Delhi in 2017, Castoropolis has done likewise, and residents of Patria’s capital have learned to bag their groceries in cloth bags supplied from home and sip their Diet Coke or Thums Up in a reusable cup without a straw. The precincts of Caesarea, Nova Columbia and Antioch have followed suit along with several other cities in Patria. On the First Session, 51st Congress order paper, there should be legislation that would ban single-use plastic items such as straws, cutlery and drink stirrers Patria-wide as the UK is planning to do, India vows to achieve by 2022 and New York City is considering.

Last but not least among Patria’s environmental initiatives: breaking the addiction to fossil fuels by reducing our dependence on cars, by using public transportation whenever possible for our daily trips. Patria’s roads, bridges, railways, subways – particularly the Castoropolis Metro which is celebrating its centennial this year – and other public transportation infrastructure must be improved and renovated as  bicentennial projects, with private-public partnerships if possible. Patria Rail as its bicentennial project should roll out high-speed trains that link Castoropolis with the capital cities of all thirteen Precincts.

Forty years ago today the Forty First Congress was inaugurated at this very place. While there have been other failed administrations over the past 200 years, the 41st Congress failed virtually right out of the box. One of the main reasons for its failure: the wrong choices made in post-secondary education. Even forty years ago, university was not a place to float aimlessly for three or four years. But at least in those days, even with a liberal arts degree more often than not postwar baby boomers could get a fairly good job after graduation. To state the obvious for millennials, those days are never coming back. Therefore, in Patria’s colleges and universities there must be a near-total emphasis on STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – rather than the arts and humanities, which have become almost irrelevant to today’s job market. While a basic grounding in the arts and humanities, not to mention a working knowledge of at least one foreign language, should still form part of a college education, the goal of a liberal education can be accomplished by a few non-STEM elective humanities courses and a year or two of studying Sanskrit and a foreign language of strategic value such as Russian, Mandarin or Arabic, not majors or specializations in such fields that are unlikely to lead to meaningful employment. For those who work at Patria’s colleges and universities as faculty, library technicians and support staff, there must be a better deal and an end to precarious part-time positions and one-year contract teaching positions that have virtually no chance of becoming full-time.

To those tough-as-nails National Union men, Amma says: Men have also suffered greatly as a result of the exile of the feminine principle from the world. Because of the oppression of women and the suppression of the feminine aspect within men, men’s lives have become fragmented, often painful. Men, too, have to awaken to their feminine qualities. They have to develop empathy and understanding in their attitude towards women, and in the way they relate to the world. Statistics show that men — not women — commit by far most of the crime and killing in this world. Only love, compassion, and patience — the fundamental qualities of women — can lessen the intrinsically aggressive, overactive tendencies of men. Similarly, there are women who need the qualities of men, so that their goodness and purity don’t immobilize them. Today when competition and anger are the norm everywhere, it is the patience and tolerance of women that create the harmony that exists in the world. Women are the power and the very foundation of our existence in the world. It is therefore crucial that women everywhere make every effort to rediscover their fundamental nature, for only then can we save this world. What today’s world really needs is cooperation between men and women, based on a firm sense of unity in the family and society. Wars and conflicts, all the suffering and lack of peace in the present-day world, will certainly lessen to a great extent if women and men begin to cooperate and support each other.

While Patria has moved on from the tired old “safe place for social conservatives” evangelical-style calls for modest dress for women and bans on public displays of affection by the Chads and Staceys, Patria must still be a safe place for so-called Incels. Of course Patria has zero tolerance for misogyny or violence against women, but this generation of lost boys, these socially inept men, more often than not on the autistic spectrum, who are unable to experience intimate relationships despite failed attempts to do so – hence involuntarily celibate – will not be ignored and ridiculed to the point where they become radicalized by the far right and take out their frustration by committing violent homicidal crimes. Each precinct’s Ministry of Health should take action to address the needs of Incels, perhaps by offering subsidies for the purchase of Real Dolls.

Notwithstanding the fear-mongering during the recent election campaign and the proliferation of “Faith Family Freedom” tweets, Communist hordes waving red flags and brandishing hammers and sickles are not standing at the gates of Patria. But as witnessed by the plurality of seats won by the Social Democrats, citizens of Patria have voted for a renewed commitment to liberal democratic socialism as modeled by Bernie Sanders, the US Senator from Vermont who should have been elected president in 2016 but instead became an honorary citizen of Patria.
Democratic socialism does not mean that the government is coming for your wealth, confiscating your holdings of gold and silver, giving your luxury car to a struggling single mother and turning your mansion into a collective farm. You can be a billionaire, member of the one-percent club or super-rich plutocrat in Patria. You can keep on riding in your chauffeured limousines and private jets. Your mansions and gated communities in East Castoropolis and Crozier Heights are safe from the unwashed hordes. Patria does not begrudge wealth, but it must come with humility. And more importantly, wealth can never be a measure of worth. Patria does not condemn those who earned their wealth through their own initiative and hard work or even those who inherited much of their riches. Patria asks of its plutocrats only that they pay their fair share of taxes, pay their employees living wages and allow them to join unions, and of course – in the noblesse oblige tradition of the Carnegies and Rockefellers – to dedicate at least a small portion of their wealth toward making Patria a better place for those less fortunate. As US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis warned early in the last century, “we can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both”.
And know this: democratic socialism does not mean that political correctness will be in vogue in Patria. Just because this Congress is the most liberal and left-leaning one ever elected in Patria’s history does not mean that PC buzzwords and jargon such as “intersectionality”, “micro-aggressions” and “patriarchy” will be bandied about. Democratic socialism does not mean that so-called social justice warriors will be running rampant as self-appointed thought police censoring constitutionally protected non-violent views and opinions expressed in the public squares and on social media. It cannot be emphasized strongly enough: Patria must remain a beacon of free speech and open debate of even the most unpopular politically incorrect topics, much to the chagrin of overly sensitive thin-skinned snowflakes who are offended by almost anything and can’t seem to take a joke.

Patria says NO to the elites, NO to “our betters” in the corporate boardrooms and ivory tower think tanks who believe that they know better than the hard-working common folks struggling to make ends meet, NO to the dishwater-dull mainstream establishment liberals and conservatives alike. To the fullest extent possible, the Fifty First Congress shall serve a forum for grassroots populist dissident voices, both right and left, and shall enact legislation that addresses the needs of the common man and woman first and above all. Government exists to serve the people, people do not exist to serve the government.

For the SRM and their “Patria First” friends who have marched to “take back Patria”, we ask “take Patria back from whom?” Take it back from Muslims? Blacks? Gays and lesbians? Illegal immigrants? Bogus refugees? You are looking in the wrong places. You should try taking Patria back from the Koch Brothers, Citigroup, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. From their boardrooms in New York, these amoral banksters, plutocrats and one-percenters own not only America’s economy but that of Patria as well even if they refuse to recognize the micronational world. The Wall Street elites have taken it from you. Sure, Patria has changed and you are still feeling screwed almost a decade after the Great Recession. But don't be so lazy. Find out who is screwing you and do not blame the wrong people. It is not undocumented immigrants who broke unions. It is not Black people who closed your factory and shipped your job to Mexico or China. It is not Syrian refugees who decided that despite your employer’s making huge profits you don't need a raise. It was a white person, usually a heterosexual white male. Just like you, but wearing a bespoke tailored suit and driving a gas-guzzling super luxury car. And you are playing right into their hands. From their boardrooms in New York and their lobbies in Washington DC, they look and see you marching. And the counter protesters show up to fight with you, and they smile. Because they know as long as that ancient technique of divide-and-conquer keeps working, they will keep winning. You are middle class and poor. And as long as they can keep the middle class and poor left-wingers and right-wingers fighting each other in Patria as well as in America, they will keep screwing you harder and harder while laughing all the way to the bank.

Finally, in response to inner voices saying that now is the time for another Premyatra, now is the time to re-light the torch in the spirit of the original Premyatra in December 1995, know this: any time spent in the embrace of Bharat Mata is a nice-to-have, not a must-have, and even if funding is available for appropriation, visiting India will not be a priority in this administration. In a real sense, there is no need for a pilgrimage to Amritapuri, Madurai, Kanyakumari, or any other holy sites in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The most sacred shrine is within and this inner place of pilgrimage can be accessed 24/7 at no cost.

There is no path to peace. Peace is the path. Selfless service is the path. Hands that help are better than lips that pray. May contentment reign within Patria’s borders, health and happiness within Patria’s homes. Strengthen the bonds of friendship and fellowship among all the inhabitants of Patria. Plant virtue in every soul and may the love of Thy name hallow every home and every heart. Let the mantra resound: not my will, O Lord, but Thine – Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya – and the word of Thine ancient seer be fulfilled: The Lord will reign forever, Thy God O Patria, from generation to generation, Hallelujah! May the tree of our lives be rooted in the soil of love. May good deeds be the leaves, kind words be the flowers, and peace be the fruit. May the world flourish as one family, united in love. May we thus be able to create a world in which peace and contentment prevail. JAI MA! May God bless all of you and God bless Patria!

© 2018, LI Con. Pat.  The above text is an official transcription, preserved in the Archives of Patria.  Any re-broadcast, re-transmission or other use of the pictures, descriptions or accounts of this Inauguration ceremony without the express written consent of the Undersecretary for Protocol, Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Dharma of Patria is strictly prohibited.  Don’t fool with us, boy!  We will throw your sorry ass in the slammer!

Friday, June 29, 2018

Tenrecs get some love as 50th Congress adjourns "sine die"

On the last sitting day of the 50th Congress, the tenrec has become Patria's official animal symbol. Efforts to designate the tenrec as such go back well over a century, following Patria's failed attempt to claim Madagascar as part of its colonial empire in the 1880s. The Act of Congress noted that the tenrec is to Patria what the beaver is to Canada, the bald eagle is to the US, the kangaroo is to Australia and the kiwi is to New Zealand. Patria's national soccer/football team - if there were a micronational World Cup - could now be nicknamed the Tenrecs.

Following the ratification of the "Tenrec Act", the final act of the lame-duck Congress: debate on Patria's financial health, leading up to the ratification of Patria's fiscal 2019 budget. Traditionally, the budget is the final item to be debated and ratified by Congress before summer adjournment.

At 11:28 PM Patrienish Local Time (PLT) immediately following ratification of the budget (declared by the Clerk of the House to be ratified unanimously) and a call for any further business or member's bills to be brought forward (there were none), the Speaker of the House slammed the gavel on the dais, the Sergeant-at-Arms blew the ceremonial vuvuzela, and the words everyone had been waiting to hear rang through the House chamber: "Under the power vested in me by the Constitution of Patria, I declare the Fiftieth Congress of the Inner Realm of Patria adjourned sine die".
Hi, I'm a tenrec. It took over 100 years for Congress to ratify, but I am Patria's official animal!
Tomorrow, June 30, 2018 is Inauguration Day. Ave atque vale, L Con. Pat.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Inaugural Address archive, 1998-2014

Inauguration Day for the 51st Congress-elect is five weeks away, but one of the tasks during the lame duck transition period is to compose a kick-ass Inaugural Address/Speech from the Throne that will be delivered on June 30, 2018. Coinciding with Patria's bicentennial celebration, the upcoming inaugural promises to be the best ever. It may even attract bigger crowds than Donald Trump's inauguration! If it doesn't, at least the weather will be better in Castoropolis on June 30th than in Washington, DC on January 20th.

In the meantime, you can read the transcripts of previous Inaugural Addresses:

2014 - 50th Congress

2010 - 49th Congress

2006 - 48th Congress

2002 - 47th Congress

1998 - 46th Congress

And one more #Patria200 stamp from Patria Post.


Saturday, May 5, 2018

Smack-Off XXIV airs July 20

Jungle Party House Leader Jim Rome announced that Smack-Off XXIV will take place on Friday, July 20. The Smack-Off is the Jungle Party's method of choosing its caucus for the 51st Congress-elect. Because it will air (on flagship station PMBC-1152 in Castoropolis and other affiliates throughout Patria) almost three weeks after Inauguration Day, the Jungle Party caucus will not be seated in Congress until well after the Inauguration. In any case, the Jungle Party made a rather poor showing in the 51st Congress election on April 21, winning only 11 seats. They held 28 seats in the 50th Congress, so that's  a whopping 17 seats lost since 2014, many of them taken by the Social Democrats.

 Jim Rome looking natty in his three-piece pinstripe suit, despite the Jungle Party losing more than half its seats from 2014.
Jim Rome says of the Smack-Off:
Because this is thing is about to turn 24 and still breaking ground. 24 in but the first time we’ve put it on TV! Can’t lie when this thing dropped nearly a quarter century ago, it never dawned on me that one day we’d be doing it on TV, but we here are. Here we freaking are.

And a little background if you don’t know what it is. Listen, I’m pretty self-aware: I know what I’m good at and I know where I’m not as effective. Same with you: I know what you all are good at. And calling this show is not one of those things. Many of you, most of you want to be good, you’re just not. But there’s a small contingency of you killers who are. And I used to think, if I could just pick who I wanted to call this show every day, it would be so much better than it already is. But that just wasn’t realistic. I knew I couldn’t do it every single day, but I could do it once a year. And that’s how the Smackoff was born.

One day, of nothing but calls, where the best of the best, go at it and go at each other for the right to be King Of Smack: the right to be called the best caller on the show for a year; oh and you get $5 grand in cash for winning it.

The catch is, it’s invite only: you have to qualify; you have to actually be in to win it. How do you get in? With quality calls. Or even one incredible call if I’m feeling it and want to award you with the so-called the golden ticket. Past winners have lifetime exemptions.

And to be the champ, you’re going to have to beat the champ; in fact, the two time defending champ. The Laguna Beach Bully, Leff: who has pulled off some crazy bleep the last two years.

I have no idea what the hell Leff has in store for this year, but I do know he’s the one to beat. Write it down, July 20. You think you’re better than that guy, prove it. If you know you’re not and just want to listen or participate in social, get the day off. Now you know when it is, and now it’s official: Smackoff 24 is July 20. Be there! Because it’s going to be on TV for the first time.
 Note the USD 5000 prize to the winner. In cash. The top ten finishers in the Smack-Off will be automatically awarded seats in the 51st Congress. Since the Jungle Party managed to win only 11 seats, there's just enough room for the Smack-Off top ten and their House Leader (i.e. Jim Rome), unless Mr. Rome wants to add a member or two of his XR4TI crew (the producer, call screener and other support staff on the daily radio show, named for Rome's first car, the incredibly crappy Merkur XR4Ti) to the Jungle's 51st Congress caucus.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Twitter campaign trail got mean and ugly!

There's no doubt that Twitter is a mean place, and has become even meaner since the length of tweets was increased from 140 to 280 characters. During the 2018 election campaign, some of the worst Twitter atrocities @Patriavotes2018 were committed by the right wing, particularly the "Faith, Family, Freedom. Look to the right" tweeters who constantly hammered home the fear of an impending communist takeover should the Social Democrats secure a plurality in the 51st Congress. Which of course the Social Dems did, almost doubling their seat count from 2014! One week after the election, no so-called "leftist rats" and "communist traitors" have been hanging from the lampposts yet. There will not be any violent backlash by so-called "Patriots". Patria decisively rejected right wing populism and the SRM's Patria First nationalism. Patria is not going to go the way of, say, Viktor Orban's Hungary. On the other hand, left wing populism or old-school democratic socialism has been kick-started in the Inner Realm because BERNIE WOULD HAVE WON! (the US presidency in 2016).

The National Union also made a lot of noise on Twitter, promising to bring back the death penalty, supporting the police right or wrong (#BlueLivesMatter) and of course spewing out their he-man appeal of BIG DOGS! TOUGH MEN! According to NU ideology, men who are scared of dogs - particularly big, macho ones like pit bulls and rottweilers - or just prefer to own cats are faggots, cowardly pussies, or at the very least effeminate wimps (even if heterosexual). But on April 21, Patria's voters knocked the NU down a peg and those macho men are scooping the dog poop, winning only 21 seats in the 51st Congress.

While Patria's voters didn't buy the McCarthy-era red-baiting, fear-mongering, hatred of leftists and incitement to commit violence against anyone to the left of Donald Trump, the powers that be at Twitter apparently did react. A day or two after the election, the @Patriavotes2018 account was locked down!


Hi Patria Votes 2018,
Your account, @patriavotes2018 has been locked for violating the Twitter Rules.
Specifically for:
Violating our rules against abusive behavior.
You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. We consider abusive behavior an attempt to harass, intimidate, or silence someone else’s voice.
avatar
Patria Votes 2018
@patriavotes2018
The Day of the Rope is coming. Communist traitors and leftist rats will be hanging from every lamppost. It will come to blood. FIGHT THE EVIL REDS! STOP THE COMMUNIST MENACE! #Patriavotes2018
Go to Twitter

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Patria feels the Bern for the 51st Congress!

Patria awakens on Earth Day - the day after Election Day 2018 - to find the Bernie Sanders-inspired Social Democrats have won the most seats in the 51st Congress-elect. The Social Dems took 96 seats - elected by mixed-member proportional representation - in the 333-seat Congress, up 47 from 2014. The Amrita Party of Amma's "Embracing Patria" devotees finished a strong second with 78 seats (up 10 from 2014). The "Patria First" SRM, despite all the noise they made about taking back the economy and bringing the jobs home, gained only one seat more than 2014, but with 56 seats the SRM is still a strong force that will oppose the likely SD-Amrita-Chakra-Green coalition. Notwithstanding the popularity of right-wing populists and nationalists in the macro-world from Donald Trump's America to Doug Ford's Ontario, voters in Patria just weren't buying the economic nationalism, tariffs and protectionism that the SRM has been pushing for years. Why such a strong surge for the SD? A need for real change? Giving the right wing the middle-finger salute? Not buying the fear-mongering of the "Faith. Family Freedom" types tweeting @Patriavotes2018 who warned against an impending communist takeover? More likely that voters across Patria simply said "FUCK THIS!" and threw their lot in with the so-called Berners or Bernie-crats, hoping that old-school democratic socialism added to the Amrita and Chakra Party's Hindu/yoga/embracing the world mix will improve their economic prospects over the next four years more than building tariff walls and promises to "make Patria great again".

The real losers in 2018 are the macho law-and-order, pit bull-owning, gun-toting, cop-loving National Union, who sink further into irrelevance with only 21 seats (down 5 from 2014) despite running one of the loudest campaigns of 2018, vilifying wimpy soft-on-crime liberal "pussies" (both two legs and four - the NU hates cats and cat owners because real men own big dogs such as pit bulls and rottweilers). Jim Rome's Jungle Party also lost big. The Clones could manage only 11 seats (down a whopping 17 from 2014) as the Rome show has become tired and uninspired over the past four years.

96 seats in the 51st Congress-elect. Because FUCK THIS SHIT!
Party standings in the 51st Congress-elect:
Social Democrats – 96 (+47 from 2014)
Amrita – 78 (+10)
SRM – 56 (+1)
Chakra – 33 (-26)
National Union – 21 (-5)
Green – 16 (+3)
Jungle – 11 (-17)
Lilith – 6 (-1)
Libertarian – 5 (-2)
Chastity – 3 (unchanged)
Family Values – 2 (unchanged)
others* – 6
*one seat each: Pottsylvanian Alliance, Lazurian Independent Party, Patriots Union Nova Columbia (PUNC), Peoples’ Party, Reconstruction Party, Popular Front of Caesarea.

Seats awarded by Precinct:
Fredonia (9)
Amrita – 2
Chakra – 1
Green – 1
NU – 1
SD – 2
SRM – 2

Haldimania (12)
Amrita – 2
Chakra – 1
Green – 1
Jungle – 1
NU – 1
SD – 4
SRM – 2

Pottsylvania (13)
Amrita – 3
Chakra – 2
Green – 1
Libertarian – 1
SD – 3
SRM – 2
Pottsylvanian Alliance – 1

Mauretania (15)
Amrita – 2
Chakra – 1
Green – 1
Lilith – 1
Jungle – 1
NU – 2
SD – 5
SRM – 2

Canardiere (16)
Amrita – 2
Chakra – 1
Chastity – 1
Libertarian – 1
NU – 1
SD – 6
SRM – 4

Ambrosia (17)
Amrita – 3
Chakra – 2
Green – 1
Lilith – 1
NU – 1
SD – 5
SRM – 4

Antioch (19)
Amrita – 4
Chakra – 1
Jungle – 1
NU – 1
SD – 7
SRM – 5

Arboria (21)
Amrita – 5
Chakra – 2
Green – 1
NU – 2
SD – 7
SRM – 3
Reconstruction Party – 1

Aeolia (24)
Amrita – 6
Chakra – 2
Green – 1
Libertarian – 1
Jungle – 1
SD – 7
SRM – 6

Centralia (25)
Amrita – 9
Chakra – 2
Green – 1
Jungle – 1
NU – 2
SD – 6
SRM – 4

Lazuria (27)
Amrita – 6
Chakra – 5
Green – 1
Jungle – 1
NU – 2
SD – 7
SRM – 4
Lazurian Independent Party – 1

Nova Columbia (36)
Amrita – 7
Chakra – 4
Family Values – 1
Green – 1
Jungle – 2
Lilith – 1
NU – 2
SD – 10
SRM – 6
Patriots Union (PUNC) – 1
Peoples’ Party – 1

Federal Dist. of Castoropolis (38)
Amrita – 12
Chakra – 2
Green – 2
Lilith – 1
Jungle – 1
Chastity – 1
Libertarian – 1
NU – 2
SD – 11
SRM – 5

Caesarea (61)
Amrita – 15
Chakra – 7
Chastity – 1
Family Values – 1
Green – 4
Jungle – 2
Libertarian – 1
Lilith – 2

NU – 4
SD – 16
SRM – 7
Popular Front of Caesarea (PFC) – 1

The Fourth Session of the 50th Congress (4·L 2017-18) is about to return for a lame-duck session that will continue until a couple days before Inauguration Day, June 30. There are a number of items on the order paper while the 51st Congress-elect waits out the transition, including Patria's fiscal 2019 budget. Traditionally the budget is the last item to be ratified before Congress adjourns for the summer recess or Inauguration Day.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

First in Freedom: Election Day in Fredonia

One week before TROP (The Rest of Patria) goes to the polls, today is election day in the little maverick Precinct of Fredonia. "First in Freedom", Fredonia is always the first Precinct to vote, like the little town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire in the US presidential election. Only nine seats up for grabs, they are awarded as follows:

Amrita: 2
Chakra: 1
Green: 1
National Union: 1
Social Democrats: 2
SRM: 2

Fredonia is not always a good predictor of how the rest of Patria will vote, but if these returns hold for the other 12 Precincts, there could be a tight three-way race between the Amrita Party of Amma's devotees, Bernie Sanders-inspired Social Democrats and the "take back the economy" Patria-first SRM.

Fredonia was annexed by Patria and became the 13th and smallest Precinct following its disastrous war with Sylvania, as documented in the Marx Brothers' classic 1933 film Duck Soup. "If you think this country's bad right now just wait till I get through with it!" - Fredonia's heroic former President Rufus T. Firefly, as played by Groucho Marx.

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Patria Post honors Roy Halladay (and tenrecs)


Major League Baseball 2018 opening day is just around the corner! Patria Post has issued a commemorative stamp in memory of former Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies ace pitcher Roy "Doc" Halladay, who lost his life when his private plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast in November 2017. While most recent Patria Post issues have been non-denominated "forever" stamps good for the current rate of a first-class letter, note that this stamp carries a denomination of 32 Patrienish Rupees to match the number Halladay wore while with the Blue Jays (he switched to number 34 after being dealt to the Phillies for some minor league prospects who never panned out in Toronto). The Blue Jays will officially retire Halladay's number 32 when they host the New York Yankees to kick off the 2018 season on March 29.

The 50th Congress has adjourned for the traditional pre-election recess, so that members can return to their home precincts for the final weeks of 51st Congress election campaigning before the vote on April 21 (April 14 in the maverick precinct of Fredonia). A bill is on the order paper that would make the tenrec Patria's official national animal. The measure failed in the 1890s as Patria abandoned its claim to Madagascar along with 19th century colonialism in general, but it may pass during the lame-duck session after election day. If the bill is ratified, honoring the tenrec would of course serve as a #Patria200 bicentennial tribute. In the meantime, Patria Post is giving tenrecs some love with another stamp in the #Patria200 series.