Patria rejects carbon tax as Congress adjourns

The First Session of the Fifty First Congress (1·LI 2018-19) adjourned for the [northern hemisphere] summer recess after protracted burn-the-midnight-oil debate on whether Patria should adopt a carbon tax. In the end, the tax was rejected thanks to heavy lobbying by the SRM and its conservative allies. Nonetheless, Patria remains committed to a made-in-Patria version of the Green New Deal.

As traditional, before the Speaker of the House whacked the gavel on the dais and the Sergeant-at-Arms blew the vuvuzela to declare the session closed, the Annual Message to Congress was delivered, as follows:

Sarvamangalya mangalye shive sarvartha sadhike, sharanye tryambake Gauri, Narayani namostute. With the Divine Mother’s blessings and at the lotus feet of both Amma Sri Karunamayi and Amma Amritanandamayi, the Fifty-first Congress has come to the end of its first year in office.

In keeping with Patria’s traditions and congressional protocol, the last act of the First Session took place just moments ago – the ratification of Patria’s fiscal 2020 budget. As a partial sop to the SRM and economic conservatives, and in order to keep the price of fuel affordable, particularly for anyone who prefers to drive rather than use public transit, this budget does not include a carbon tax. Such a tax, that would have added at least 12 Patrienish Rupees to the price of a litre of petrol but likely would do little – beyond a symbolic or virtue-signalling value – to protect the environment and would only force those in Patria who can least afford it – seniors, low-wage earners, families struggling to make ends meet, and small mom-and-pop businesses – to pay for the over-consumption of the US and other First World macro-powers, was voted down in this House albeit by a slim margin. Nonetheless, in order to encourage use of public transit, the budget includes increased funding for Castoropolis Transit and local transit authorities to purchase new vehicles, expand service and upgrade transit infrastructure.

  

Rather than impose another tax on those who can least afford it, this Congress believes that a better way to address climate change and help clean up the pollution caused by our addiction to fossil fuels is “make the polluters pay”. The costs of environmental remediation must be paid by the Big Oil plutocrats and the CEOs of amoral transnational corporations who have a far greater responsibility for runaway pollution and greenhouse gas emissions than single mothers or small businesses.

Carbon tax or no, Patria supports a peaceful, healthy planet and a made-in-Patria version of the Green New Deal that will move the economy away from dependence on fossil fuels and non-renewable energy. Since 2016, Patria has supported MAPS. In memory of Darcy Belanger – one of the leading movers of the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary treaty, who lost his life in the Ethiopian Airlines B-737 Max crash in March of this year – Patria will redouble its commitment to MAPS. This treaty will keep military activity and commercial exploitation out of the Arctic Ocean waters and it is Patria’s hope that through Parvati and her team of dedicated devotees of Amma, more real-world macro-national governments will sign on to MAPS.

  

Along with Canada, Patria will pursue a ban on single-use plastic products such as straws, cutlery and shopping bags. These products are rarely recycled or re-used and while they may be easier and cheaper in the short term, they have long-term consequences for the environment. They already have been banned in a number of Patria’s cities and precincts. In 2020, this Congress will enact a Patria-wide ban. Be prepared now: if you drink from a straw, get a metal one. Bring your own cloth bag to the supermarket. Serve your family picnic or barbecue with real forks, not plastic ones. Friends of Patria, keeping needless plastic waste out of landfills and oceans is not rocket science.

  

As the Fifty-first Congress moves into its second year, Patria remains both democratic socialist and politically incorrect. Yes, this is possible. Patria is committed to democratic socialist ideals such as a living wage, single-payer health care for all and low-cost post-secondary education or apprenticeship training. At the same time, Patria says NO to the Thought Police, Cultural Marxists, self-righteous high-horse Social Justice Warriors and others who seem to proliferate on the so-called “woke” left doing everything humanly possible to destroy Patria’s constitutionally protected rights of free speech, open debate, freedom of association and lawful assembly for the purpose of peaceful protest. In Patria, in the 51^st Congress, the dissident and populist left can find a home. It is a home that Bernie Sanders would recognize but one that may not be friendly to easily-offended overly-sensitive snowflakes. It is a home where there are no so-called safe spaces and trigger warnings on college campuses. It is a home where physical assault by gutless cowards is a crime but not hurt feelings caused by lawful citizens exercising their constitutional right of free speech. And it is a home where the violent masked thugs of Antifa are not welcome, no matter how much they claim to be on “our side” or to be “progressives”.

  

In the First Session, Patria had a simple four-word answer to all the tired old horses that left the barn years ago and all the failed policies of ages past that keep getting trotted out and can’t seem to die: “we have moved on”. To the social conservatives who have not stopped trying to re-criminalize abortion, keep women in their place at home, bring back “1950s family values” and re-make Patria into a micro version of Red-State America: “we have moved on”. To dishwater-dull middle-ground centrist neo-liberals who cling to the status quo or at best “incremental” change: “we have moved on”. And to all those tired canards and lame proposals, many of which are leftovers from the last century, that will keep being dragged out over the next three years of this Congress or in the 2022 election campaign particularly by National Unionists, such as raising the drinking age to 25 or imposing dress codes and curfews on kids: “we have moved on”.

  

As heard earlier today on AM 1152 PMBC, Patria congratulates the winner of Smack Off XXV: five-time Smack Off winner Brad in Corona. While the Jungle Party is only a small player in the 51^st Congress, Jim Rome’s credo rings loud and strong throughout Patria: Have a take, don’t suck!

  

Finally, Patria congratulates the Toronto Raptors. Earlier this month the Raptors became the first team based outside the United States to win the NBA championship, in six hard-fought games against the heavily-favored defending champion Golden State Warriors.

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, hate crimes or other senseless violence from Pittsburgh to Poway, Christchurch to Colombo:

  

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 51^st Congress, and call this Congress to re-assemble here on Monday, 16 September 2019, to open the Second Session of the 51^st Congress.

(the House adjourned at 11:55 PM local time)

On this last day of the congressional session, Patria Post released two new stamp issues, depicting both Ammas.

Darcy Day in Patria

Darcy Belanger (1972-2019), literally gave his life for MAPS.

By Act of the 51st Congress, today has been proclaimed Darcy Day in Patria. It is a day to remember Darcy Belanger, the "quarterback" of the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) team, who was one of the 18 Canadians who lost their lives on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on March 10, 2019. He was en route to the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya. There, he was slated to meet with government officials, media and a growing pan-African volunteer contingent in support of MAPS.

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, who later moved to Denver, CO, Darcy was one of the first to join the cause for MAPS, recognizing the importance of the Arctic Ocean to our collective future. He co-founded Parvati.org and has been on the front lines for MAPS ever since.

Today in Patria, Darcy will be remembered not only for his heroic dedication to the cause of MAPS, which Patria ratified in 2016 - one of the first (albeit non-recognized) governments to do so - but also for his courage and selfless service. Indeed, today is a day in which all citizens of Patria should perform some act of seva or selfless service in memory of Darcy.



View Darcy's final video message.

Darcy was the quarterback, but now it is up to all of us to get the MAPS ball into the end zone. If you have not yet signed the MAPS petition, click here now! (or touch, or swipe; "click" is a leftover of the 1990s and early 2000s when virtually all internet access was done with PCs.)

“Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace” the theme for World Radio Day 2019

On 13 February 2019, UNESCO - the United Nations organization that does not include Patria and other micronations - will celebrate the 8th edition of World Radio Day (WRD). As in previous WRDs, once again the official WRD logo consists of an old-school radio microphone that used to be common in broadcasting studios, say in the 1940s, but that looks more like a Shivalinga. And why shouldn't it? The day is fairly close to Maha Shivaratri, which in 2019 falls on 4 March.

This day marks a time where people around the world celebrate radio and how it shapes our lives. Radio informs, transforms and unites us. It brings together people and communities from all backgrounds to foster positive dialogue for change. More specifically, radio is the perfect medium to counter the appeals for violence and the spread of conflict, especially in regions potentially more exposed to such realities.

On that basis, World Radio Day 2019 will celebrate the theme of “Dialogue, Tolerance and Peace”. Broadcasts that provide a platform for dialogue and democratic debate over issues, such as migration or violence against women, can help to raise awareness among listeners and inspire understanding for new perspectives in paving the way for positive action.

Even though Patria will never get a sniff of membership in the United Nations, WRD is still celebrated in the Inner Realm on all its AM, FM and shortwave stations. Broadcasting has been going on for one year short of a century - if you accept the claim that first radio broadcast was Pittsburgh, PA legacy station KDKA's coverage of the 1920 US presidential election. And radio is not going away any time soon. It can be enjoyed on very cheap and simple portable devices that do not require a high-speed internet connection or a reliable source of plug-in electric power. It is virtually immune to jamming and shutdowns by authoritarian governments. Despite the proliferation of fear- and hate-mongering right-wing talk, gospel hucksters, "my team right or wrong" sports talkers and other poorly executed formats on AM radio in the US and in Patria, the medium can still be a force for dialogue, tolerance and peace, at least on Patria's "all bhajans all the time" Hindu dharma, New Age, progressive talk and college campus stations.

Millennials disdain radio. But maybe there is hope for the next generation of kids.

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.

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 23^rd. 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!

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.

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.