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.

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.

Tenrecs for #Patria200

I'm a tenrec and I stand for Patria!

For #Patria200, Patria's bicentennial celebration in 2018, get to know the tenrec! Like the Canadian beaver, the Russian bear, the Australian koala or kangaroo, and the American bald eagle, Patria has a de facto national animal: the little hedgehog-like tenrec, found almost exclusively in Madagascar. Its name is derived from the Malagasy tandraka; it has nothing to do with the number ten, or with recreation ("rec") for that matter. In Patria's official language, tandrací is Patrienish for tenrec.

The tenrec was likely the first mammal to land on Madagascar millions of years ago, so the early lineage evolved over generations to adapt its body shape to its environment. Through a process called “adaptive radiation,” new tenrec species appeared, each physically suited for its ecological niche and free of competition, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)/SSC Afrotheria Specialist Group. The IUCN does not consider tenrecs an endangered species, but they do suffer from loss of habitat in their native Madagascar due to ongoing destruction of forests for slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal, and cattle pasture.

The group ranges from the velvety-soft giant otter shrew, to the water-loving aquatic tenrec, to the punk rocker-looking streaked tenrec. They are mostly nocturnal and rely on their sensitive whiskers and keen sense of smell and hearing to find food. There are some 30 species of tenrecs, however one specific species will likely not be officially designated as Patria's national animal, should the 50th Congress (or the 51st Congress after June 30, 2018) act on it.

When threatened, a tenrec rolls into a ball, exposing its spiny covering and protecting its underbelly. The spiny ball is nearly impenetrable. Continued provocation can elicit it coming out of its ball and advancing, gaping, and head bucking to the threat. Should a predator dare to bite the tenrec, it can be left with a mouthful of short quills.

Tenrecs even make good pets!

This little critter is not exactly cute and cuddly (beware of its sharp quills!) but it represents Patria in a very real sense. Virtually unrecognized or unknown by most of the world and often thought of as a hedgehog, which it isn't. To celebrate Patria's bicentennial, a movement is afoot for Congress to officially designate the tenrec as Patria's national animal. It is only unofficially recognized as such. Circa 1883, as the UK, France, Germany and the other great macro-world powers sought out colonies in Africa and Asia, Patria joined the so-called "scramble for Africa" and claimed Madagascar as part of its colonial empire along with the Spratly Islands. The Madagascar claim has never been disputed by any macro-national world power (not even France, who ruled Madagascar from the 1890s until independence in 1960), so it must have been kosher. Nonetheless Patria abandoned its claim to Madagascar by 1900, not only when Congress failed to ratify a resolution that would have made the tenrec Patria's national animal, but more importantly when 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. But small colonies of tenrecs were brought to Patria, where they continue to thrive to this day. They can be spotted as urban wildlife, as common as squirrels in Castoropolis and Patria's other major cities.

Big dogs for National Unionists. Little tenrecs for the rest of Patria!

While on the topic of animals and the upcoming #patriavotes2018 election, the National Union has been campaigning hard on the BIG DOGS! TOUGH MEN! slogan. Macho testosterone-fueled law-and-order Marlboro-smoking Harley-riding National Union men (so their stereotype goes) own big dogs like rottweilers and pit bulls. According to the NU, men who don't like dogs, are scared of dogs, or who just prefer to own cats are soft-on-crime liberal pussies. The NU is doing everything possible to turn Patria into a macho tough men-only world and to remind voters that you can't spell PATRIARCHY without PATRIA, as they turn the clock back to the 1950s. National Unionists can have their big dogs. The rest of Patria prefers little tenrecs. For its part, Patria's Green Party is rolling out a SAVE THE TENRECS campaign, though as noted above tenrecs are not threatened with extinction.

If a tenrec could talk, it would say "I'm not a hedgehog" and "What are you doing to celebrate #Patria200?"