World Radio Day is coming, February 13

The United Nations organization UNESCO has proclaimed February 13 as World Radio Day. The day will be celebrated in Patria, where radio - particularly AM and shortwave - is still (to borrow a phrase from honorary Patrienish citizen Parvati) "rooted, vital and expansive", to say nothing of relevant in the so-called online age. Patria is the home of legendary AM stations since the early 1920s such as PMC (846 kHz) in Castoropolis: a classic full-service news, sports and information station in the model of KMOX back in the day. In Patria, you can hear Jungle Party House Leader Jim Rome and even American right-wing windbags such as Rush Limbaugh on AM stations. You will also find in-depth sports talk if you need to know more than just the scores about the Castoropolis Centurions (Patrienish Hockey League) and Cæsarea United (All-Patria Football Federation). Sorry, no Bible-thumping gospel hucksters in Patria, but there's no lack of "all bhajans all the time" Hindu stations like Radio Jaagriti-102.7 in Trinidad.

For World Radio Day 2016, UNESCO has stressed five key themes to bring radio to life:

1. Freedom of expression and journalists’ safety should be disaster-proof.
2. Radio empowers survivors and vulnerable people, being mindful of their right to privacy.
3. Radio has social impact and provides access to information. People’s right to information should be protected.
4. Radio saves lives. 
5. The immediate accessibility of radio frequencies is essential to saving lives. These frequencies should be protected in times of emergency.

Note the emphasis on radio in times of life-threatening emergency. In case of war or insurrection, one of the first things to be censored, restricted or shut down completely is the Internet. In case of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or flood, one of the first things to go down is the power grid, making it kind of hard to recharge your trusty smartphone or even access cellphone service (another reason for not killing off landlines completely). Your battery-powered, solar-powered or wind-up radio is your best friend in times of trouble, whether man-made or act of God.

As it was in previous years, note that the official World Radio Day logo of a stylized microphone looks a lot like a Shivalingam. Whether this was done intentionally or not, Shivaratri 2016 does not come until March 7 or 8. More often than not, this great festival dedicated to Lord Shiva falls during the month of February.

Patria ratifies "COP21" climate change deal

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, French President François Hollande and other macro-world leaders celebrate the climate deal reached in Paris.

Climate change affects unrecognized microstates just as much as it affects Canada, the United States and other real-world macrostates. Consequently, notwithstanding a dissident voice from Australia claiming that climate change is a UN hoax in order to impose an authoritarian New World Order, Patria's 50th Congress has ratified the "COP21" Paris climate accord that US President Barack Obama considers "the best chance we have to save the one planet we have". The deal, reached after two weeks of negotiations among almost 200 recognized macro-world countries, aims to curb global warming to less than 2ºC (3.6ºF) by the end of the century.

The key measures in the agreement, which is mostly voluntary and not legally binding, include

• To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century

• To keep global temperature increase "well below" 2C (3.6F) and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5C

• To review progress every five years

• $100 billion (USD) a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a commitment to further finance in the future.

As in most of the real macro-world, climate change (not necessarily "global warming", as some of the changes such as melting polar ice caps can cause colder winters and increased snowfall) is recognized as a serious, hot-button issue in Patria, though there is some question as to whether climate change is caused by human activity, is naturally caused, or is an act of God. Human-caused climate change skeptics in Patria and elsewhere note that there is even evidence of climate change on Mars, which is apparently not being blamed on the Martians.

Mother Meera's silent blessing opens new session of Congress

On the day designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Peace, the Second Session, Fiftieth Congress (2·L 2015-16) opened without the traditional Speaker of the House banging the gavel on the dais or the Sergeant-at-Arms blowing the Congressional Bugle (more like a vuvuzela left over from the 2010 World Cup) to summon lawmakers into the House. In keeping with the Peace Day theme, the session was declared open with a silent blessing by Mother Meera, an incarnation of the Divine Mother like Ammachi and Karunamayi. But unlike the two Ammas, Mother Meera does not hold office in Patria such as Governor-General or House Leader of the Amrita Party. She also does not sing bhajans or speak publicly, but gives darshan in total silence. So there was no Speech from the Throne to open the new session. And no Ammachi hugs either.

I don't always visit Patria. But when I do, I open a new session of Congress. Stay bhakti, my friends!

On the Second Session's order paper are more of what conservatives and US Republicans love to demonize as "tax and spend" programs. And there will likely be some attempt to prop up the Patrienish Rupee, which - like the Indian Rupee and Canadian Dollar - has been falling against the mighty US buck. But there will be no endorsement of any party or potential Prime Minister (i.e. Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair, Justin Trudeau, or even Elizabeth May's Green Party of one) in Canada's federal election on October 19.

Amma delivers keynote address at United Nations

Amma getting face time with United Nations Development Programme Administrator Helen Clark and Ambassador Kaha Imnadze, Chairperson of the UN's Committee on Information.

Although Patria is not, and never will be, a member of the United Nations, the House Leader of the Amrita Party and Chancellor of Amrita University delivered the keynote address at the UN's Conference on Technology for Sustainable Development. Amma, along with researchers from all over the macronational world met at the UN's General Assembly in New York City to discuss the potential of human-computer interaction, nanoscience, molecular medicine, biotechnology, and wireless networking as sites of sustainable change.

Amma told the assembled delegates: "It is my faith in the validity of spiritual knowledge that has brought me here in front of you today. I often reflect deeply on the future of the Earth, the preservation of nature, and the disappearing harmony between humanity and nature. This contemplation has led me to the conviction that science, technology, and spirituality must unite in order to ensure a sustainable and balanced existence of our world. The present age and the world around us demand this transformation."

Amma's speech, entitled "Reconciling ancient spiritual wisdom and modern technology for societal transformation", was delivered, of course, in Amma's native Malayalam. But you can read the English transcription here.

Brad in Corona wins Smack-Off XXI

Jim Rome's Jungle affiliate in Castoropolis

The $5000 (USD) cash prize for the winner of Smack-Off XXI was awarded to Brad in Corona. It was Brad's third title as the Jim Rome Show's king of smack. The general consensus among Rome's faithful Jungle Party Clones in Patria, listening on PMBC-1152, was that Brad's call was not the best and will probably not stand the test of time (some Smack-Off winning calls such as Iafrate's in 2005 are still funny), but at least Vic in NoCal or the Mike and Shael tag team didn't walk away with the loot. Caleb the Walrus in Wisconsin (follow him on Twitter @iambthewalrus) delivered a very strong performance in his first Smack-Off appearance, and is certainly one of the front-runners for a Jungle Party seat in 2018.

To paraphrase one of the callers on the Jim Rome show, whose Smack-Off call did not go well, "make the world a better place, punch a social conservative in the face". The United States Supreme Court did just that - on Smack-Off day, no less - by ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. Gays and lesbians are now free to marry in all 50 states of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Congratulations! Mazeltov! Jai Ma!

One year in office: 50th Congress adjourns for summer recess

The First Session of Patria's 50th Congress (1·L 2014-15) adjourned today, following ratification of Patria's fiscal 2016 budget. The traditional Annual Message to Congress was delivered as the last function of Congress immediately prior to the Speaker of the House banging the gavel and blowing the vuvuzela to declare the House adjourned for the northern hemisphere summer:

Om anavadyangyai namah. Salutations to the Divine Mother whose body is worthy of worship. With the Divine Mother’s blessings, the 50^th Congressus Patriaë has come to the end of its first year in office. This session ends as it began – at the lotus feet of Amma Sri Karunamayi. As the Speaker of the House, Amma Karunamayi has kept peace and order on the floor of Congress. As a sadguru, her teachings have been an inspiration on the path of Sanatan Dharma. As an incarnation of Mother Saraswati, her spoken words and songs have brought life and light to the soul of all Patria even as Stephen Harper’s henchmen or Canadian border security authorities, possibly acting on orders from Canada’s spy service, apparently turned her away as she was about to bless her Toronto children. Jai Karunamayi!

In keeping with Patria’s traditions and congressional protocol, the last act of the First Session just moments ago was the ratification of Patria’s fiscal 2016 budget. It is thus duly noted that over the course of this session, Patria’s economy has improved to some extent. By pure statistics alone, the unemployment rate has fallen even if the jobs that have been created are less than ideal: short-term, contract positions or joblets that only throw those who accept such positions back on the unemployment rolls in short order, while the so-called permanent positions are mostly sub-entry level, minimum wage and with little job security or possibility for advancement. To state the obvious, we are still very short of the full recovery that was promised in the election campaign of one year ago. But as we know, over the course of a quarter century since the Dharmic Revolution, Patria is committed to offering its citizens more than simply “recovery” or subsistence-level dead-end jobs, while cutting “waste” or “gravy” in order to appease the bean counters, elites and plutocrats. This is why the austerity of the 49^th Congress, presumably in response to the global economic downturn that began in 2008-09, proved to be such a failed policy. As Amma recently said, “if the economic advancement of a nation fails to ensure well-being and happiness to its citizens, it should be assumed that there is a serious flaw in the process”. Whether a superpower like the United States, an emerging power like India, or an unrecognized micro-state like Patria, a nation’s growth should be measured in more than the numbers of its gross domestic product. To quote the Amrita Party leader again, “money alone cannot ensure happiness, which needs ethics and cultural values. Otherwise, it would be like putting makeup on a dead body”.

Along with the trillion-rupee economic stimuli, funding for social programs and the other components of a compassionate, progressive realm, the budget ratified today also includes appropriations for the celebration of “Ramrajyavarsham 200”, Patria’s bicentennial celebrations in 2018. On this day, one of the official bicentennial logos for the local and national celebrations has been released (and is viewable above).

As the 2014 election campaign sent the message that Patria would no longer be a safe place for social conservatives, Patria has indeed turned away from Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan and other mostly imported-from-America voices that would have taken Patria back to the 1950s rather than into the second decade of the twenty-first century. The tired war horses and hoary talking points of the social conservatives, such as opposition to same-sex marriage or advocating modest dress for women, are fading from Patria’s public squares and AM radio airwaves. Those who continue to push for restricted access to abortion, marriage only between a man and a woman, or abstinence-only sex education in grade school will prove to be on the wrong side of history, in Patria at least.

As the social conservatives were in retreat in 2014-15, the law and order conservatives have also become increasingly irrelevant over the course of this session. Nothwithstanding the National Union’s unrelenting push for mass incarceration, longer prison sentences, three-strikes-you’re-out mandatory life sentences for repeat offenders and a return to the death penalty, resistance is growing in Patria to the US-style prison industrial complex, also known as the “new Jim Crow”, filling cell blocks with mostly non-white males who – in America at least – become a permanent underclass, denied the right to vote and often virtually unemployable long after their release from prison. This session has taken action to ensure that privately operated for-profit prisons, whose bottom line is a steady supply of small fry caught in the failed war on drugs, must not proliferate in Patria.

Along with banning private prisons, Patria has said no to the literal definition of a police state – a state with a visible police presence on the street, where the police forces of major cities and even suburbs constitute an unaccountable above-the-law armed force equipped with more deadly firepower than the real Army. Wearing a badge and carrying a gun do not make police officers above the laws they are tasked to enforce. The police must not become a privileged elite corps or gang of bullies accountable only to themselves. No one in Patria – and certainly not in America – should be naive enough to believe that “if you are not breaking the law you have nothing to fear from the police”, or that simply having white skin will protect them from being falsely arrested, jailed without charges, bullied, beaten or even killed in cold blood by rogue police officers.

Even as Congress adjourns, the Jungle Party caucus awaits its most anticipated day of the year: the 2015 Smack-Off. Much of Patria will tune in to the Jim Rome show tomorrow, in Castoropolis on PMBC AM 1152, or will listen via Jungle Insider, to find out if Mike in Indy and Chael Sonnen can defend their shared king of smack title and take home the winner-take-all $5000 cash prize, and if not, whether the new Smack-Off champion will be a previous Smack-Off winner such as Brad in Corona, a sitting member of the Jungle Party caucus or a potential representative in the election of 2018.

And so the time has come; let us make a pledge to meet in September. As is traditional, this session is adjourned with a brief prayer, and a moment of silent reflection for those who have lost their lives during the course of this session as a result of war, terrorist acts, disasters or senseless violence, from Nepal to Charleston, South Carolina:

Lokah samasthah sukhino bhavantu.

Asato ma sad gamaya

Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya

Mrityor ma amritam gamaya. 

Hari Om.  Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Under the power vested in me by the Constitution of Patria, I declare closed the First Session of the 50^th Congress, and call this Congress to re-assemble here on Monday, 21 September 2015, to open the Second Session of the 50^th Congress. 

Yoga helps us to reconnect with nature and God - Amma

The Hon. Member of the 50th Congress (Amrita-Arboria) presiding over a yoga class during her program in Santa Fe, NM.

The first International Day of Yoga was celebrated throughout Patria on June 21. While on her North American tour, Amma delivered a message to mark the day:

“Today is International Yoga day. Previously, people did not need to have a special day for performing Yoga because Yoga was part and parcel of their lives. Unfortunately, now we need special a special day to remind us to perform Yoga, just as we need a day to remember our mother and father.

“In the olden days, people would wake up in the morning, bow down to mother Earth and then, facing the sun, they would chant prayers and perform Surya Namaskaram. The whole time they were praying, they were exposed to the rays of the rising sun. Today, in many countries, out of ten people, six or seven have Vitamin D deficiency. It is postulated that vitamin D deficiency may be one of the precipitating factors for Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Some may argue that even people with normal vitamin D levels get Alzheimer’s disease. This is true, but studies have shown that a majority of people with this condition have Vitamin D deficiency. It is also thought to be a cause of depression, which may be why the incidence of depressive disorders is higher in countries that have less sunlight."

Full text of Amma's International Day of Yoga message.