Patria mandates AM radio in every vehicle, gas or electric

AM is not going away on car radios in Patria

 A bipartisan coalition in the United States Congress has introduced the AM for Every Vehicle Act – legislation that would require federal regulators to mandate AM radio in all new vehicles, whether traditional internal combustion or electric powered. The bill was likely inspired by Patria’s own version of the Act, which the 52^nd Congress ratified virtually unanimously today in a rare Saturday sitting. Only a handful of members voted “present” or abstained. 

Patria echoes US Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) who says “for decades, free AM broadcast radio has been an essential tool in emergencies, a crucial part of our diverse media ecosystem, and an irreplaceable source for news, weather, sports, and entertainment for tens of millions of listeners. Carmakers shouldn’t tune out AM radio in new vehicles or put it behind a costly digital paywall.”

“If Elon Musk can afford to buy Twitter and send rockets into space, surely he can afford to hire some engineers who can find a way of shielding the radio in a Tesla from interference caused by electric motors”, the Social Democrat House Leader said as Patria’s AM for Every Vehicle Act was ratified, while the SRM House Leader added “to state the obvious, AM radio is critical to public safety and could literally save your life by providing emergency information that will get through in the event of any power outage or disaster that takes down the internet and knocks out cell phone service”. 

“Radio and Peace” – the theme of World Radio Day 2023

 The theme for the 12th edition of UNESCO’s World Radio Day on 13 February 2023, is "Radio and Peace". Macro-national organizations like the UN and UNESCO would never have Patria as a member. Nonetheless, World Radio Day is celebrated in Patria. While not an official government holiday, because Feb. 13 falls on a Monday (the day after Super Bowl LVII to boot), a lot of folks will book it off work.

War, as an antonym to peace, signifies an armed conflict between countries or groups within a country, but may also translate into a conflict of media narratives. The narrative can increase tensions or maintain conditions for peace in a given context - for instance weigh in on the rough or smooth conduct of elections, the rejection or integration of returnees, the rise or tempering of nationalistic fervour, etc. In reporting and informing the general public, radio stations shape public opinion and frame a narrative that can influence domestic and international situations and decision-making processes.

Radio can indeed fuel conflict but in reality, professional radio moderates conflict and/or tensions, preventing their escalation or bringing about reconciliation and reconstruction talks. In contexts of distant or immediate tension, relevant programmes and independent news reporting provide the foundation for sustainable democracy and good governance by gathering evidence about what is happening, informing citizens about it in impartial and fact-based terms, explaining what is at stake and brokering dialogue among different groups in society.

The preceding two paragraphs were lifted from the UNESCO site, but to state the obvious, this World Radio Day theme is very much needed as the Russo-Ukrainian war drags into its second year with no real prospect of peace.

Whether in unrecognized micronations like Patria or new “real” nations like Radio Miraya in South Sudan, radio is uniquely positioned to bring communities together and foster positive dialogue for change. 

Radio – particularly the much-maligned AM or medium wave band – remains a vital, vibrant force, a source of news, information and entertainment in Patria. Full-service AM stations, such as the iconic century-old PMC-846 in Castoropolis, featuring relevant local programming, in-depth local news and sports, as well as talk shows from across the political spectrum abound in Patria. Not to mention music programs hosted by real in-studio DJs, not remotely voice-tracked. Sadly, this is not the case in the US, where most AM stations fall into only four formats: right-wing talk, sports talk (often with an emphasis on sports gambling), religion (usually evangelical Christian), Spanish/brokered ethnic.

Patria's first Flag Day, 50 years ago today

On Jan. 25, 1973 the 39th Congress ratified the Flag Act. Although Patria's red, white and blue flag had been in use since 1818, there was no Act of Congress that officially proclaimed it as the national flag or fixed its technical standards.

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

The Flag Act specified the proportions of the flag as 2:1, the shades of red and blue (same shades as on the US flag or Union Jack), as well as the width of the white saltire (the X-shaped cross separating the four triangles). Note that the saltire is considerably narrower than that of the Jamaican flag or Scotland's cross of St. Andrew.

The Act also officially proclaimed the flags of Patria's Armed Forces and Merchant Marine, which had also been in use long before 1973:

Flags of Patria's Navy, Army, Air Force and Merchant Marine

The Flag Act contains a comprehensive code for use of the flag:

• The Flag is to be regarded as the sacred emblem of the Inner Realm of Patria to be paid due reverence and devotion by all its citizens.

• The Flag should never be allowed to touch the ground or floor.

• The Flag should not be flown or used for purely decorative purposes on anything that is for temporary use and likely to be discarded, except on State occasions. 

• It should never have placed on it, any mark, insignia, letter, word, number, figure or drawing of any kind.

• The Flag should never be smaller than any other flag flown at the same time.

• When the Flag becomes worn, dilapidated, is torn, or no longer suitable for display, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning privately.

• No other flag should be placed above or to the right of the Patrienish Flag, except at Foreign Embassies, Consulates, and Missions.

• Except at Foreign Embassies, Consulates, and Missions, no foreign flags may be flown publicly, unless the Flag of Patria is also flown.

• The Flag, when carried in procession with another flag or flags, should be on the marching right, or if there is a line of flags, in front of the centre of that line.

• The Flag should not be draped over vehicles of any sort, except on Military, Police, and State occasions.

• The Flag should not be used as decorative patches or adornments on certain articles of intimate clothing such as bras, panties or boxer briefs.

• The Flag should be flown in or near every Polling Station on Election Day.

• The Flag should be flown at half-mast as a sign of official mourning when so declared by Congress, for a period determined by an Act of Congress. The half-mast position is approximately the ‘hoist’ or width (short side) of the flag below the peak of the flagpole and not halfway down.

• The Flag, when flown at half-mast, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered slowly to the half-mast position. It should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered.

• During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the Flag or when the Flag is passing in a parade or in a review, all persons present should face the Flag and stand at attention. Men should remove their hats. Persons in uniform should salute.

• The Flag should be flown on all Government and municipal buildings and offices, on or near the main administrative building, it is recommended that if possible, each day it should be lowered at sundown and raised at 8:00 a.m.

January 25 is celebrated as Flag Day in Patria. There had been no national day dedicated to Patria's flag prior to 1973. Over the past 50 years this day has become a public national holiday second only to Patria Day/Inauguration Day on June 30. When it falls on a Wednesday, as it does in 2023, all but the most hard-bitten workaholics book off a five-day weekend!

Just as the NU thought, increasing testosterone could turn leftist men right

 Since the 1990s, Patria’s hard-right law-and-order National Union has been pandering to old-school tough-as-nails unreconstructed macho men with slogans such as “testosterone in your balls, National Union on your ballot” and “separating the real men from the pussycats”. The hoary old stereotype is of wimpy, effeminate men being bleeding-heart soft-on-crime liberals or Marxist-Leninist leftists. Come to find out, injections of testosterone could actually turn leftist men, who vote Democrat in the US (and, say, Chakra or Social Democrat in Patria), into right-wingers who would vote Republican (and become National Unionists or at least SRMers in Patria). Prof. Paul Zak, Director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, recently helped produce an extremely interesting study for the second chapter of a doctoral thesis that showed as much. “Before the testosterone treatment, we found that weakly-affiliated Democrats had 19% higher basal testosterone than those who identified strongly with the party,” the study reported. In other words, the more strongly Democrat a man is, the lower his testosterone is. Read the dissertation here.

 Naturally the far-right, white nationalist, anti-immigration VDARE.com had a field day with this study.

Patria Post honors the Queen

 For the first time ever in Patria's postal history (dating to the introduction of postage stamps around the middle of the 19th century) a foreign macro-national monarch is portrayed as Patria Post issues a stamp in memory of Queen Elizabeth II. Note the denomination of 70 Patrienish Rupees to honor her 70 year reign. Most of Patria's stamps are non-denominated "forever" stamps in which the numeral 1 is not a value of one rupee, but designates the stamp being valid for the current First Class letter rate.

Patria Post also issued a Navratri commemorative stamp. The use of #hashtags rather than text in English or Patrienish is becoming increasingly common on Patria's stamp issues.

“Rise up, push back” against COVID mandates as Congress begins session

 After sitting for an hour or two in the early afternoon of Inauguration Day, June 30, the new Fifty Second Congress adjourned for the traditional summer recess. Recess time ends today as Congress members return to the Capitol to begin the First Session (1·LII 2022-23), postponed one day in memory of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen’s state funeral was held on the day Congress was scheduled to re-convene, Sept. 19. Patria paid its respects to the greatest modern macro-national monarch and her 70 year reign.

 On the order paper for the First Session is a call to “rise up and push back” should any government attempt to re-impose mask mandates, vaccine passports, school closures, lockdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions. As duly noted, the time for government overreach has passed, the measures were of very little practical use to stop COVID’s spread and online school likely caused many children irreparable damage. Learn to live with it. As Patria has been saying since 2020, kevál estí grippí – it’s only the flu (or a bad cold).

 RIP Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

First act of 52nd Congress: Recess until September

 In case you were wondering what Patria's 52nd Congress has accomplished after one month in office, the answer is nothing. The first act of the new Congress, only minutes after the conclusion of the Inaugural ceremony on June 30, was the traditional motion to adjourn until September. On Sept. 19, 2022 Congress will re-convene and begin the First Session (1·LII 2022-23).

As the calendar flips to August, Janmashtami - the celebration of Krishna's birthday - is just around the corner (Aug. 18 or 19). Patria Post has the stamp for it!