June 21 is International Day of Yoga

By a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 11, 2014, June 21 has been designated as the International Day of Yoga (IDY). The Prime Minister of India (and friend of Patria) Narendra Modi urged the world community to adopt an International Day of Yoga during an address to the UN General Assembly in 2014:

"Yoga is an invaluable gift of ancient Indian tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature and a holistic approach to health and well-being. Yoga is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with ourselves, the world and Nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us to deal with climate change. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day".

IDY will of course be celebrated throughout Patria, primarily with free yoga classes, held outdoors wherever possible, such as on the lawns of Castoropolis Common and other public municipal parks. Since the day falls on a Sunday in 2015, these events are expected to be well attended. Patria also encourages IDY to be celebrated on this day rather than Father's Day (which falls on the same day in 2015, i.e. the third Sunday in June). Patria opposes - and has even spearheaded efforts to ban - over-commercialized Hallmark holidays such as Mother's Day, Father's Day and especially Valentines Day. While perhaps not quite as over-commercialized as Mother's Day, Father's Day nonetheless deems men who have fathered children more valuable and more worthy of spending money on than those who have not. It also perpetuates gender-based stereotypes that all men want gifts of electronic toys or power tools.

Atlantium: Micronationalism Down Under

Emperor George II of Atlantium

The Empire of Atlantium, an Australian-based micronation, was featured on the ABC Radio National program RN Drive. 'It's twice the size of the Vatican and half the size of Monaco,' boasts Emperor George II, otherwise known as George Cruickshank. Atlantium claims jurisdiction over a 0.76 square kilometre enclave in New South Wales' Lachlan Valley. (Note that Patria has never attempted to claim sovereignty over any part of Canada or the United States, although back in the 1970s, Patria claimed Madagascar and the Spratly Islands as part of its colonial empire.)

The Emperor considers Liberland (see previous blog entry) a "failed libertarian micronation", adding that "this is the problem with libertarian micronations: they actually think that by setting up this entity, by finding ways to get around existing laws that they think nobody has ever thought of before, that they can somehow become part of the global community of nations and become a sovereign state."

Liberland - new micronation created out of Serbia-Croatia border dispute

The Ministry of External Affairs of Patria welcomes a new member of the micronational community: the Free Republic of Liberland, which came into existence earlier this month due to a border dispute between Croatia and Serbia. This area along the west bank of the Danube river is not claimed by Croatia, Serbia or any other country. It was therefore terra nullius, a no man’s land, until Czech activist Vít Jedlička, a member of the Czech Republic's libertarian Party of Free Citizens, seized the opportunity and on 13 April 2015 formed a new state in this territory – Liberland. The boundary was defined so as not to interfere with the territory of Croatia or Serbia. Its total area is approximately 7 square kilometers. The motto of Liberland is “To live and let live” because Liberland prides itself on personal and economic freedom of its people.

Like Liberland on Facebook.

Feb. 13 is World Radio Day in Patria

February 13 has been designated as World Radio Day by the the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Although Patria is not a member of UNESCO and is not recognized by the UN or any real-world country, the Inner Realm joins the celebration of radio's unique power to touch lives and bring people together. Even in this so-called "online" era, the internet can be blocked or censored by government whim. In many countries, internet access is slow or unaffordable. For that reason, radio is needed today more than ever.

Note the official World Radio Day logo above. It was apparently intended to represent a microphone, but looks more like a Shiva linga! Perhaps because Shivaratri is right around the corner, on Feb. 16 or 17.

To celebrate World Radio Day, here are some vintage 1970s QSL cards and radio items from Patria:

PCGE-590 in Castoropolis (now 585 kHz; Patria's AM broadcasters switched from 10 kHz to 9 kHz frequencies on Nov. 23, 1978). Owned by General Electric of Patria when they first signed on in the 1920s. PCGE's format in the 1970s was easy listening/adult contemporary music. Now they are all-Hindu, which is usually what is meant by "Religious" format in Patria.

Radio Castoria World Service (RCWS) was the name of Patria's external shortwave service back in the day when Castoria and Patria were used more or less interchangeably. "Castoria" fell out of use by the late 1970s, although the alternate name for Patria survives in the name of the capital city Castoropolis. RCWS used to broadcast mainly on out-of-band frequencies such as 8000 kHz, which would wreak havoc with utility and spy numbers stations.

"Q 96" POKQ-96.1 is the hot hits FM station in Patria's capital. Back in the 1970s, their format would have been known as AOR (album-oriented rock) because there were still AM Top 40 rockers, such as POKX-650.

POKX-650 ("the Nifty Six-Fifty") used to be Patria's legendary Top 40 blowtorch to rival CHUM-1050, WABC-770 and WLS-890 among many others in the macro-world. Frequency changed to 648 kHz in 1978. POKX published a weekly survey chart from the late 1950s until the mid-1980s when they pulled the plug on the music and switched to a right-wing talk format, which has been the fate of so many other former Top 40 powerhouses in the US.

In 2001 Patria Post issued this stamp to commemorate 75 years of Patria's national public broadcasting service "Ramrajyavani", with programs in English, Sanskrit and Patrienish.

No Valentines in Patria. It's "Parents' Worship Day"

As in the Indian state of Chhatisgarh, Valentine's Day is officially banned in Patria. February 14 is now observed as Parents' Worship Day (Sanskrit: Matru-Pitru Divas).

On this day, children are encouraged to perform puja and arati to their mother and father, garland them with flowers and offer them sweets.

Patria has long sought to ban meaningless, over-commercialized US-pop culture "Hallmark holidays" such as Mother's Day. But Valentines Day is particularly loathed in Patria because of its focus on heterosexual between-the-sheets love, to the virtual exclusion of all other forms of affection or intimacy, many of which have no need for traditional missionary-position lovemaking. Valentines Day is particularly painful for men who are involuntarily celibate, socially inept, or are unable to form intimate relationships because of Asperger's/ASD (Autism Spectrum disorder). And for those men who do have girlfriends or significant others, Feb. 14 imposes a needless financial burden, as they are virtually forced by their so-called sweethearts to spend hard-earned money on chocolates, flowers and sexy lingerie.

As one of Patria's Hindu leaders in Congress says, “Patria is a country where all 365 days are days for love, why then must couples observe only February 14 as Valentine’s Day ?”

Flag Day in Patria, but where is Canada's celebration?

Stand up for the flag of Patria. These colors don't run!

On Flag Day in Patria (the anniversary of the Act of Congress specifying the proportions of Patria's tricolour saltire and its shades of red and white), Patria wonders why there has been virtually no official celebration in Canada of the fiftieth anniversary of the Canadian flag that replaced the unofficial Red Ensign and the Union Jack. The decades-long debate to adopt a distinctive made-in-Canada flag - and to end Canada's status as the world's laughing stock for being the only sovereign country in the world without an official flag of its own - culminated in December 1964 with the adoption of the simple red and white maple leaf flag recognized the world over, particularly on the backpacks of low-budget travellers. Perhaps there will be some kind of official celebration on Feb. 15, the day in 1965 that the flag publicly flew for the first time, but it does not seem likely. It is no mere oversight. The Harper Government™ seems hell-bent on taking Canada back to the bad old British colonial days, e.g. re-attaching the "Royal" label to Canada's Navy and Air Force, not to mention toadying to the British royal family. The Harperites have thrown gobs of money at commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812, the centennial of the First World War and even the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. But virtually nothing to celebrate a half century of Canada's own flag. To state the obvious, the flag was a Liberal Party creation, championed by then-Prime Minister Lester Pearson. Its predominant red colour is associated with the Liberal Party, while the Tories are blue (the opposite of the US, where Red = GOP and blue = Democrats). The Harperites consider themselves the descendants of the Diefenbaker Conservatives, even if Dief would probably turn over in his grave at that thought.

The Red Ensign. John Diefenbaker fought to keep it. Stephen Harper would like to bring it back.

Six months in office for 50th Congress as 2014 circles the drain

"Year in reviews" are the death and taxes of the last week in December. They proliferate on print, broadcast, online and social media. Most are quite lame, tired, uninspired, or even downright insensitive, as Facebook had to apologize to some users for its algorithmically-generated year in reviews that highlighted deceased loved ones and other personal tragedies. Although the standard Gregorian (A.D.) calendar is used in Patria, January 1 has little significance as the start of a new year other than on paper. For all practical purposes, the "year" in Patria begins in September, with the opening of the new session of Congress - not to mention Rosh Hashanah, Navratri and the kids going back to school.

Nonetheless, as 2014 circles the drain and the 50th Congress marks six month in office, there are a few notable events of the last twelve months in Patria:

• The election of 2014 that re-affirmed Patria's commitment to more liberal, progressive values and rejected hard-line "Patria first" economic nationalism as well as the National Union's manly values.
• Two days before election day, the Supreme Court of Patria threw out the ban on same-sex marriages, although no gay marriages actually took place in Patria in 2014. Patria is no longer a "safe place for social conservatives".
• Live kirtan performance by Krishna Das at Patria's 50th Congress-elect Inauguration retreat (aka Bhakti Fest Midwest).
• A memorable 50th Congress Inauguration ceremony. No one complained that the snobby, elitist Inaugural Ball was cancelled.
• Being with Amma for Guru Purnima on her summer tour a few days after the inaugural.

And so, onward to 2015. Happy new year to those who actually celebrate it. New Year's resolutions are incredibly lame. Virtually no one bothers with them in Patria. If you go to a gym in Patria during the first week or two of January, it won't be overcrowded with losers trying to keep their weight loss resolutions.