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 ?”