AmritaServe reaches out to villages for economic self-reliance

Amrita SeRVe is a new initiative championed by the Amrita Party's House Leader** that will help make small villages in Bharat Mata (India, birthplace of much of Patria's spiritual heritage) self-reliant and grow the local economy. Amrita SeRVe was launched during Amma’s 60th birthday celebrations in September 2013 and ushered in sustainable development in village clusters across India. Its work is aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is focused on areas in which to begin a series of changes that starts from basic needs and then leads to a state of true empowerment. Amrita SeRVe’s vision is to teach villagers the skills they need to live in communities that are prosperous and self-reliant. These are places where people are healthy and educated and where they lead lives of dignity in a clean, pollution-free environment. Such self-reliance will lead us to vibrant cultures rooted in India’s age-old traditional wisdom. Because villagers are the providers of most of the nation’s food supply, these steps can lead to a sense of community and gratitude throughout the entire country.

You can like Amrita SeRVe on Facebook, follow on Twitter, or subscribe to Amrita SeRVe's e-mail newsletter.

Amma says "It is our villages that sustain us by providing those who live in cities with the nourishment needed in order to survive. However, today, we are just exploiting villages and casting them aside. It is time to acknowledge that our villages are our very foundation and move forward with one heart and one mind to protect and serve them."

Amrita SeRVe's activities focus on areas such as self-empowerment (e.g. teaching a system of simple yoga asanas for women and children as well as training villagers to become yoga teachers), health (fighting malnutrition by encouraging villagers to start kitchen gardens where they can grow vegetables for their own needs), education (to strengthen village schools, achieve zero drop-out rates, and provide opportunities for higher education), and of course environmental initiatives such as promoting the use of re-usable cloth sanitary napkins rather than environmentally unfriendly disposable tampons for women when it's "that time of the month".

While Patria is known for its bustling cities such as Castoropolis, there are many small towns and villages within the Inner Realm that do not always enjoy the amenities, advanced infrastructure, educational opportunities, standard of living, public transit and even the 50,000-watt blowtorch radio stations of the capital city. Amrita SeRVe is a project that the Amrita Party of Patria fully supports.

** Standard disclaimer for newbies to this site or to Patria: the Amrita Party of Patria has no macro-national (i.e. "real world") connection to Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) or Amma's charitable, educational and other organizations in India and throughout the macro-world. Nor does Amma endorse any real-world political party or hold any real-world elected office.

World Radio Day 2017: "Radio is you!"

World Radio Day's official logo looks more like a Shivalingam than a mic!

As proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to mark the anniversary of United Nations Radio signing on in 1946, February 13 is celebrated as World Radio Day. The objectives of the Day, according to UNESCO, are to raise greater awareness among the public and the media of the importance of radio; to encourage decision makers to establish and provide access to information through radio; as well as to enhance networking and international cooperation among broadcasters. The slogan for World Radio Day 2017 is "RADIO IS YOU!"

Radio is still the most dynamic, reactive and engaging medium there is, adapting to 21st century changes and offering new ways to interact and participate. Where social media and audience fragmentation can put us in media bubbles of like-minded people, radio is uniquely positioned to bring communities together and foster positive dialogue for change. By listening to its audiences and responding to their needs, radio provides the diversity of views and voices needed to address the challenges we all face.

With the recent demise of Radio Australia, and the numerous other shortwave broadcasters who have gone dark in recent years, World Radio Day is a time to rally around this once-great broadcast medium that is very difficult to censor or jam, can be easily received in the poorest and most remote countries with little or no access to wi-fi, high-speed internet or even reliable sources of electricity, and will always come through in times of war, revolution or natural disaster. As a source of direct uncensored news from around the world, such as the democratic revolutions in Eastern Europe in 1989 that would lead to Patria's Dharmic Revolution, shortwave was "the internet before there was the internet".

Radio in Patria is a model of what radio should be. There are no plans anywhere in Patria to replace terrestrial AM and FM radio stations with digital or so-called "DRM", as is happening in Norway. There are many stations providing relevant local programming, including "all bhajans all the time" Hindu Dharma and Bollywood hits stations similar to Trinidad's Radio Jaagriti-102.7 and Lotus FM in South Africa. For those who like all-news, all-sports and all-talk (even right wing, National Unionist and pro-Trump talk), there are AM stations in Patria that could sound like dead ringers for US AM stations, some of which are affiliates of the Jim Rome and Rush Limbaugh shows. On FM in Patria you will find college and university stations on the traditional left end of the dial (88.1 to 92 MHz), classic rockers, oldies, New Age, classical, and almost any other format you can think of that would be scoffed at as an unprofitable niche in the US or not allowed by Canada's CRTC. In Patria's capital city there is a legendary AM blowtorch with a classic three-letter call (PMC on 846 kHz), whose format is still proudly "full-service": in-depth local and national news, sports coverage (e.g. Castoropolis FC and Caesarea United in the All-Patria Football Federation), talk shows hosted by or featuring as guests politicians from various parties (Amrita, Chakra, SRM, NU, Social Democrat, etc.), Sunday morning Hindu pujas, "trading post" programs (listeners call in offering services or items for sale) and a few music shows on the weekend when there are no live sports events. To virtually no one's surprise, PMC-846 has been the top-rated station in Patria's Capital District market for almost as long as anyone can remember.

Have an O'Keefe on Flag Day!

Today (Jan. 25) is Flag Day in Patria. On this day when citizens of Patria honor the simple tri-color flag of Patria, a co-incidental similarity to the flag is noted on the label of O'Keefe Ale, once the flagship product of Canada's now-defunct Carling-O'Keefe Brewery (merged with Molson's since 1989). Its slogan back in the 1970s Stubby bottle heyday was "the easy drinking ale", or in French "celle qui se prend en douceur".

The shield-toting knight in armor logo was also used on other Carling-O'Keefe products such as Old Vienna Lager back in the last century. Note, however, that the colors are reversed. The red is on the top and bottom quarters on Patria's flag. While O'Keefe Ale is virtually impossible to find in Canada these days, it is brewed under license in Patria and it is still one of the Inner Realm's most popular brands. But the colors of Patria's flag are displayed correctly on the label and the bottle cap of the brewed-in-Patria O'Keefe.

Hey Patria, have an O'Keefe!

Pray for success, hope for failure: Patria's message on Trump's inaugural

President Trump delivers his Inaugural Address

As Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States, repeating the oath to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States", Patria appreciates the peaceful and orderly transfer of power - a hallmark of American democracy since George Washington's first inauguration in 1789.  It is the tradition in Patria to respect the office of the US presidency (indeed, the office of any macro-national head of state) even if you dislike the person holding it. With that in mind, the Third Session of the 50th Congress issued a brief message on US Inauguration Day: Patria congratulates Donald Trump and Mike Pence on their inauguration as US President and Vice President. The Inner Realm prays for Donald Trump to have the strength to carry out the duties of the macro-world's most powerful elected office. Patria wishes the Trump administration the best of luck and every success over the next four years in his quest to make America great again. At the same time, Patria is hoping that Mr. Trump will fail: FAIL to build the wall on the US-Mexico border, FAIL to mass-deport Muslim Americans, FAIL to overturn Roe v. Wade, and that he will FAIL to divide the nation, whether men from women, Christians from heathen non-believers, native-born from immigrants, or those who didn't vote for him from those who did.

Full text of President Trump's Inaugural Address.

#unitebylight for one of Patria's bicentennial projects

One of Patria's bicentennial projects for 2018 is the establishment of the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS). The MAPS treaty, which Patria ratified on the first day of the Third Session of the 50th Congress, is perhaps the best chance to protect one of the planet's most fragile ecosystems. It is Patria's goal that real-world macro-national governments will ratify the MAPS treaty in the near future (and perhaps even President Obama will do so before the Donald knocks on the Oval Office door shortly after 12 noon Eastern time on Jan. 20, 2017) so that MAPS will become a reality by the end of 2018.

Honorary citizen of Patria Parvati Devi has dedicated all her time and all her musical, written and yoga products to MAPS. To that end, Parvati has launched the "Unite by Light" campaign in order to get millions of petition signatures and raise the funds we need to build global public demand for MAPS. It is fun and easy! All you do is:

• Sign the MAPS petition at http://parvati.org (and optionally donate, no obligation)
• Create a short video of yourself lighting a peace candle, while nominating three people who will do the same and spread the word (suggested script at parvati.org)
• Share your video on social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) using the hashtags #unitebylight #signMAPS

Parvati says "it takes a village to raise a child. Right now MAPS is growing and needs loving care from each one of us so that we can protect the planet now and for future generations".

Parvati at the gates of Patria

The "Positive Possibilities Lady", spotted in Brugge, Belgium!

As the song goes, "when I get older I will be stronger, they'll call me freedom, just like a waving flag". So wave that flag, Patria! BTW, Flag Day in Patria is January 25th. You can even combine it with Robbie Burns Day, as Patria's flag looks a wee bit like the Scottish flag.

Patria signs on to MAPS as Congress returns from summer recess

The surest sign that summer is over in Patria: Congress resumes sitting, following the traditional northern hemisphere summer recess (apologies to micro-nationalists in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and other southern hemisphere countries). The Third Session of the 50th Congress (3·L 2016-17) was declared open by the Sergeant-at-Arms and Speaker Pro Tem of the House, blowing the vuvuzela and rapping the gavel respectively. One of the first items on the Third Session's order paper was Patria's ratification of the macro-national Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary (MAPS) treaty.

The Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary, which has been championed by Patria's "Positive Possibilities Lady" Parvati Devi, establishes all ocean waters north of the Arctic Circle as a marine protected area free from natural resource exploitation, commercialization and military activity. MAPS boldly addresses many key and pivotal climate crisis issues with one single, no cost, immediately realizable solution.

MAPS not only:

• Protects the fragile Arctic ecosystem, which is key to keeping our planet cool and helping prevent natural disasters such as forest fires, floods and droughts
• Shelters our oceans and ocean life, which absorb a quarter of the world’s carbon and are essential for the future of humanity
• Safeguards the polar ice caps, which put the brakes on global warming through the albedo effect, by stopping through traffic of cargo ships and naval vessels.

MAPS also:

• Declares our global commitment to sustainable energies and our cessation of the use of fossil fuels by saying “no” to the unburnable oil resources in the Arctic
• Unites world leaders in agreement that the needs of the collective are equal to the needs of the individual, no longer putting short-term gain ahead of long-term consequence.

Patria calls on all member-states of the United Nations (i.e. real-world macro-nations) to ratify the MAPS treaty immediately. Although Patria is an unrecognized micro-nation, it shares the same planet with Canada, the US and almost 200 other UN members. Patria has signed on to MAPS. You should too! Sign the petition here!