Kalistan

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Deth Cult scores Number 1 on the Singles Chart
"Tsunami of Deth" chronicles a tale of peace while checking out
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
August 28, 5699


Deth Cult playing a show at Max's Back Stage in Sulari this July

The Sulari-based alternative band Deth Cult has scored their first Number 1 on the KRTVN Radio 1 Singles Chart with the second single from their new LCR debut album Nasty, Brutish and Skilled. The song, titled "Tsunami of Deth" depicts the singer, Avy Schwartz walking out into the ocean and just surfing away to foreign lands. It hit Number 1 on the weekly poll of sales, spins, and swipes tracked by KRTVN Radio 1, and is the deemed the most popular song in the nation.

"Well, I mean, what do you want?" asked music analyst Yael Booker of Kaliburg Rawk Monthly. "It's got everything Kalistani music buyers just flock to. Loud guitars, a driving but danceable beat, and lyrics about surfing. I mean, it was a homerun the minute it was written. I'm actually sort of surprised the label didn't lead off with this track from the beginning."

"The song is a joke," said composer Avy Schwartz. "'Tsunami' is a ridiculous fantasy about checking out. It's about achieving inner peace in a world of turmoil and chaos. But really the song is very brutal and could be more like what a person sees as they are being dragged into the sea and are about to drown. There's peace right next to violence, centering and calming right next to turbulence. Its a dichotomous song that is not meant to suggest anyone should go drive their car into the ocean. I'm really surprised to hear it went to Number 1."

But those who enjoy the song said it is just an example of what a fun band Deth Cult is. "Their shows are so fun," said Gina Formosa of Sulari. "I go to these shows, and think I'm just gonna listen this time, and next thing I know, I am front and center in a circle pit pushing kids left and right. This band really just full on puts their entire energy into the music, and Tsunami of Deth is just an example, an ironically chill song as the first song on the second side of the record that just happens to be made with amplifiers on blast."

At just over two minutes, the radio also loves the song. "Contrary to what you might think, it gets a lot more plays because it is so short," said KRTVN Channel 1 programmer Chet Hawkins. "You can slide it in a bunch of spots to fill up time. Having a utility song like that available makes programming the hour a lot easier, because we don't always have a lot of 2 minute long songs but we almost always have 2 minutes extra in an hour. So, we can either play four commercials, which everyone hates, or throw in 'Tsunami of Deth'. I know which one the listeners want, and so I do that." Hawkins argues that the length of the song has contributed to its rise up the charts, given that it gets heavy rotation due not to sales necessarily but due to practical considerations of the way KRTVN is programmed.

Whatever the reason, it is number 1 now. So you can hear it here! Here's "Tsunami of Deth" from Sulari band Deth Cult's debut album Nasty, Brutish and Skilled on LCR right now.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13bMfh3QQjE]

@KalistaniRawkMonthly

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IBSI and DefMin releases specs for new Kalistani Attack Aircraft
Heavily armored Subsonic Aircraft designed for exclusive CAS role
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
September 30, 5699


New Artist Conception of KDC-152 designed with AeroKal and KalMilInCo

The Imperial Bureau of Security Intelligence released the first drawings of a new line of Ground Attack and Close Air Support aircraft that are being designed. During its design process, it has been dubbed the KDC, or Kalistan Design Craft 152, though if the prototype is adopted, it will be designated KA-11 or the Kalistani Attack (Plane) 11. This would be the first new military aircraft in a planned series of three new designs which will be going into prototyping and testing over the course of the next ten years.

Kalistan has relied on ancient joint- Indralan designed aircraft, the F/A-10 "Northern Dragons" or not more commonly "Dragon" which have been produced in Sulari since 5100 as its main multi-role fighter. "These designs will continue to serve as a utility fighter," said KalMilInCo project chief Nicole Hallek. "But other nations pride themselves on having up to date technology, and in one on one combat, our older fighters suffer some significant disadvantages. Plus, the multirole aspect of these fighters allows them to do a lot of things ok, but we would like to have a plane that does one thing really well, and this was the thinking that went into the design of the KDC-152."

The Empire has also tried to purchase planes from other nations multiple times, each with little success. "The last ones we purchased were more than 200 years ago," said Hallek. "Those planes have long outlived their life expectancy and are now nothing but memories, with no additional armaments coming from our former suppliers. So, we are forced to design our own, so we don't need to rely on the almost non-existent or uncertain good will of other nations."

The KDC-152, which is designated as an attack fighter, is designed for close air support for both artillery and infantry movement. "We are designing a plane that can take out tanks," said Hallek. "Since its main role will be attacking ground targets, both troops on the ground and armored cavalry, it will be slow, heavily armored and quiet. It will need to move fast enough to avoid ground fire, but also armored enough to be able to suffer some hits while protecting both pilot and important aircraft systems to keep the plane flying and allow it to return home."

Hallek said the main gun on the plane is a rotating 30mmX7 Gatling Autogun. "A gun this size is enough to put enough rounds through any heavy armor to either disable or destroy it, especially slow moving targets like tanks and APCs." She said the designs of the cannon for the KDC-152, can theoretically fire between between 60 and 70 rounds a second and can go through a 3200 round magazine in less than a minute. Obviously we will need to train our pilots to lay off the trigger for most of any battle." The gun is driven by hydraulic motors and itself will weigh about 3200 pounds with a full magazine, and in total will be about 20 feet long, larger and heavier than an automobile. Each round is 30mm in diameter and 173 mm in length.

Hallek also said the conceptual model has 11 hardpoints, five under each wing and one under the fuselage that can carry a mix of weapons systems including air to air or air to ground missiles, rocket dispensers for air defense, or gravity, incendiary or GPS guided bombs. "This thing will be able to climb at about 30-40 degrees, and will be able to effectively attack at a relatively steep dive at we are aiming for about 20 degrees, making it something between a fighter and a dive bomber."

The fifty seven foot wingspan nearly perpendicular wingspan will increase stability in attack, while the dual vertical stabilizers will give the plane additional stability and handling at low speeds. "The engines are AeroKal Turbofan engines rather than a turbojet engines," said Hallek. "The design has to turbofans because the plane itself is quite heavy, but not only did we want to use turbofans for their quietness, but also because they are far more fuel efficient than jet engines. Ideally you wouldn't hear the plane coming until it was past you, and then if you were a target, it would already be too late. But these concerns about fuel efficiency seem to drive a lot of decisions we make, and so we also needed a design that could accommodate the slower speeds provided by the slower engines."

The plane is designed to cruise at around 300 miles an hour, well under Mach 1, and so it is slower than most supersonic jets, it is also much more accurate at point target ground attack than smaller, faster and vastly more expensive jet fighters.

The result is a plane designed almost exclusively to destroy ground assets. "We will not be using these in air combat over the water," said Hallek. These are destined to act like armored units of the skies and specifically to kill invading heavy armor. They will fly low, they will fly slow, and they will destroy everything in front of them. It is designed to enhance stability, durability and high pilot survivability. It will be a fantastic enhancement to the Regular Air Force when it is built." The plane will go into design and testing early next year and a prototype is expected by early 5702.

@TheRepublic

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Reed launches new Campaign for New Years 5700 Celebration
Ads feature Van Alvarez widely praised in ad community
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
November 20, 5699


Reed Ad for the new Double Diamond Tennis Necklace and matching Earrings

A new ad campaign aimed at those who would like to get gifts for the coming 5700 New Year's Celebration was launched by Reed Jewelers', in Kaliburg this week. The ads, which feature Van Alvarez, the company's public face, contain taglines that are encourage buyers to think of jewelry as sexy or intimate. "Well, the ads are tasteful, if a little bawdy," said ad buyer Alice Overton of The Republic. "But I think that Reed are using the assets they have available to great effect: Van Alvarez is a beautiful woman, obviously, so why not lean into that. Men and women across the Empire have already demonstrated that they don't mind seeing more of her."

"Well, the ads were a little spicy," said Alvarez, the Sulari Native and primary model for the company. "Just a little. Like cinnamon, not like Cayenne. Perfect for the holidays! It was fun. And the photographer, Cathy Redmond did such an amazing job with her lighting and her angles. I look really pretty in these shots, I really like it." Alvarez assured, or perhaps disappointed, millions of Kalistanis by saying the photos were all completely G-rated. "Yes, I was fully clothed in these shots," she said with a laugh. "Sorry guys. You can do what you want with your imaginations."

Alvarez said she also had the opportunity to approve the taglines for the photos. "My agent had negotiated a contract that gives me some creative input on these sorts of things, because Kauffman believes that the models shouldn't have to tolerate say something in an ad that totally misrepresents the model herself. So they showed me mockups of the ads before they sold them and I got to say, Yeah, I like this one, no, that one is a little over the top, yes, this one is funny. I am glad Reed is willing to work with me to protect my integrity: They are a really good company."

The ads feature Alvarez decked out in various configurations of necklaces and matching earrings, all from Reed's recent collections. "Reed has been very successful with Alvarez as their model," said Overton. "Last week they reported that 5699 sales were up by 32% over the previous year, and this can be attributed, they said, to Van's ads, which are putting not only her but also Reed's products in front of consumers in different mediums. Alvarez is quickly becoming known as the Reed Girl, and still has another year on her contract yet. This is a great partnership from Reed's sales standpoint, as well as for exposure for Alvarez."

"Yes, I would like to continue to work with Reed in the future," said Alvarez. "Its a great company and a great culture. They treat their girls right and they also do a respectable business. Yes, they are expensive, but you get what you pay for in their stores, and at least they are up front about their business. If they want to offer me an extension now, I'd take it." Plus Alvarez said last year for her bonus, she had the pick of the store. "Oh yeah, I took the rubies, most definitely. They are so pretty. I got a really dainty ruby chain and matching earrings. Let's just say it was a really nice bonus."

Reed jewelry, including the double diamond tennis chain that Alvarez models above, is now available in Reed stores in Kaliburg and Sulari. All sales of diamond Necklaces that happen before New Years Eve this year will will be eligible for a a free pair of diamond studs or a 20% discount on matching diamond earrings, with some restrictions.

@LLaModa

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Kaliburg throws Massive New Years' Celebration
Empress joins Nation to ring in New Year and introduce Deth Cult
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
January 1, 5700


Empress joins 35,000 Concert Goers to announce New Year

The 5700 New Years' Celebration in Kaliburg this year was a massive event. More than 35,000 people braved the damp evening and turned out to the National Mall for the show to help the nation ring in the New Century. This year's event was sponsored by ODEN-K and KRTVN, and was carried live across the entire Empire to ensure that those who couldn't make it to the capital could still celebrate.

The headliners of the show were Sulari's Deth Cult, whose single "Tsunami of Deth" was counted as the hit of the year, and who are currently are on tour. They were joined by five other acts, including Fear of the Unknown, the experimental Mordusian psychedelic band who just released their fourth record and RF DJ Rhonda Sixx, who performed a set that really amped the crowd just before midnight.

Junior Sweeney of Fear of the Unknown sings the band's FOMAT song "Why would I do it?"

The concert was opened by an extended hour long set by Fear of the Unknown, who played crowd favorites as well as a lot of new music. "Those guys still rock, and their new stuff is just as weird and trippy as their old stuff," said Greg Nelson of Kaliburg. "I saw them back in 90 and I think they have definitely only gotten better. They definitely use more drugs." The opening set was accompanied by psychedelic effects, including lava lamp projection on a 30 foot tall screen behind the band and a very elaborate lighting setup that aimed at transferring the 2d image of the screen into a 3d phantogram effect over the crowd.

Addisjah's Slaya Lion brings hardcore Hip Hop to the stage in Kaliburg

"The Kalistanis definitely know how to Party," said FotU's Junior Sweeney just before his band's set. "Excellent celebration, excellent Party, excellent drugs, excellent people. I just love it all: its why we never went back home, I suppose. Acid shots... who ever heard of such a thing! HAPPY New Year!" Sweeny referred to the fact that as the band began their set, they stood on stage each with a shot glass full of overproofed rum spiked with windowpane acid, wished the crowd Happy New Year, and downed the shot, dosing themselves with anywhere between 500 and 850 micrograms of LSD before even playing. The set ended when the music finally began dissembling, much to the delight of the entire crowd, and they thanked everyone and walked off the stage.

The massive laser light show for Rhonda Sixx' set at the ODEN New Year's Eve Concert

"Oh my god, what a show!" explained Janice Robinson of Kaliburg. "Rhonda Sixx is definitely one of the hottest DJs in Kaliburg right now, and I sure didn't expect to see here at this concert." Sixx played after The Crew, a Dana ska punk band, art rock from Hermes and the Rain, and Addisjah hip hop MC Slaya Lion. "I really liked Slaya Lion," said Brad Stark of Eshar, who made his way to the Capital for the show. "He was probably my favorite act tonight."

RF DJ Rhonda Sixx blasts out RF trance music for the crowd during New Year's Eve show

Sixx finished her set just before midnight, and was given the task of introducing Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto, who had been celebrating all evening backstage with model and personal friend Alice Bjorksdattir. The Empress came out onto the stage and greeted a wildly cheering crowd, asked if everyone was having fun and then said "Ok, we are going to count down the arrival of the New Year together!"

And at the appointed time, she and 35,000 Kaliburg residents counted down from 10. At midnight, more pyrotechnics were fired off over the National Assembly to cheers and toasts across the entire Mall. The Empress then wished her entire nation and all the people worldwide a Happy New Year from Kaliburg, and then introduced the final act for the night, Sulari's Deth Cult, who came out onto the stage from the left wing as she was going back to her Party on the right stage wings.

The Show Headliners, Deth Cult, turn their amps up and rock Kalistan into the new Century

"Soooooo... loooudddd!" screamed Shelly Jones of Sulari who came for the concert. "Oh my god, my ears are wringing. That band has gotta be one of the loudest bands I have ever heard in my life. And all the people around losing their minds... the mosh pit at the front was huge, guys, girls spinning around, people jumping off the stage... It was bonkers..."

"This was definitely the biggest crowd we've ever played in front of," said Deth Cult's bassist Jill Diego-Garcia. "I mean by like a factor of 20 or 30... I haven't ever seen that many people from a stage at one time ever.... I'm sorry, I'm a little stoned right now. Yeah, we killed it. It was so awesome. What an experience!"

The Show finished around 1am, and then Partiers dispersed to keep the celebration going at local clubs, bars or back at their homes. The Celebration was a wonderful success and was watched by an estimated 2.5 million Kalistanis and another 3-5 million worldwide.

Happy New Year, and Happy New Century, to Kalistan and to Terra!

@The Republic

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Marquess Anantonia Alvarez-Urquizo prepares to Retire
Viceroy's Daughter will take up post in Ciudad de Gaduri
Vespianio, Marlingantos, Gaduridos
April 6, 5699


Viceroy Anantonia Alvarez-Urquizo with daughter Marisol Paz Alvarez-Navarro

Marquess Anantonia Alvarez-Urquizo, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Gaduridos has announced her retirement in May of this Year. The Viceroy will be 58 this year and will have served the Empire for 22 years as Viceroy of Gaduridos. Her replacement will be Marquess Marisol Paz Alvarez-Navarro, who is Lady Anantonia's daughter. Alvarez-Paz, 31, has a Masters Degree in Public Policy, and has served the Viceroyalty in the Agriculture Ministry for the last 4 years. Lady Alvarez-Urquizo strongly recommended her daughter to Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto, who agreed that Alvarez-Navarro would be a good choice to represent Her Imperial Majesty to Gaduridos.

"Her Imperial Majesty would like to know first of all that an Alvarez continues to sit as Viceroy in Gaduridos," said Her Imperial Majesty's Personal Secretary, Lady Rene Houston, "but she also wanted a representative who would continue to work on improvement and development of Gaduridos' agricultural and industrial exports." Lady Alvarez-Navarro has that experience, and is seen by many of her peers as a technocrat with a strong head for planning, and is committed to keeping Gaduridos on a strong track that it has maintained over the decades of her mother's administration.

Lady Alvarez-Navarro will appear in Kaliburg in or around May 15 so that she can be formally charged by the Empress as the her Imperial Majesty's Viceroy Extraordinaire and Plenipotential to the Kingdom of Gaduridos. She will also be formally inducted into the Order of the Grey Smoke and will receive the Life Peerage title of Marquess, which Her Imperial Majesty wants to establish as the formal rank for the Viceroy going forward. The Viceroy, as a billet, is a title equal to Grand Duke of Kalistan in the Peerage, but in the Table of Peers, Marquess is slightly junior to a Kalistani Duchess. As the Gaduri Duchies do not technically belong to Kalistan, it is important nonetheless that the Viceroy retain the life Peerage in Kalistan, so the Empress remains the Viceroy's liege.

"Será el mayor honor para mí aceptar el título de Virrey de Gaduridos" said Lady Alvarez-Navarro in Ciudad de Gaduridos last week. "Mi madre, doña Anantonia Álvarez, siempre decía que la verdadera cualidad de una persona reside en su servicio a los demás. Y ahora me toca a mí servir a Gaduridos, como mi familia lo ha hecho tantas veces antes. Me toca a mí llevar la bandera, asegurar que nuestro gobierno se mantenga estable y honesto, garantizar que nuestra economía beneficie a todos y proteger y promover nuestra cultura e identidad como gadurianos. Espero con ansias la oportunidad de servir a Gaduridos."

Lady Anantonia Alvarez-Urquizo will continue to live at Vespiano in her family's home after her retirement, while Lady Alvarez-Navarro will continue to live in the Capital with her husband, investment fund manager Guillermo Tecuatl and her young son Manuel Alvarez-Tecuatl.

@TheRepublic

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Election 5701 Preview
Kalistan to hold its most competitive elections in decades
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
July 5, 5700


Chancellor of the Empire, Lord Reg Hanson chairs the Institutional Party Congress last month in Kaliburg

Ahead of the upcoming elections in 5701, in the interest of voter information, we will preview what to expect. Many people in Kalistan have not actually had the opportunity to vote in an actually competitive election, where there are different viewpoints and options on the ballot. While Kalistan still follows the Single Party Act setting the Institutional Party as the only legal party in the nation, during the last few years, internal reforms within the Party have led to the relegalization of intra party factions to represent different attitudes within the spectrum of the Institutional Party. Much of these changes were accepted by the Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto, who herself is known as a very moderate reformer.

"The Empress is not a democrat, by any stretch of the imagination," said Political scientist Dr. Mark Jessup of the University of Suldanor. "She is as reactionary as every other Ananto, and will certainly oppose anything that weakens the fiat or changes the regime in this nation in any way. But this is not to say that she is dogmatic in her approach. Not only was Her Imperial Majesty reportedly 'intrigued' by Valruzian elections when she studied there as a teenager, having had the opportunity to learn about them first hand by working with President Pawlik, but she is also incredibly pragmatic with regards to how to ensure the Government in a single party system can better serve the people and advise her. If she can get that by allowing more points of view, she will not stop the Institutional Party from reforming."

The Party has recognized three primary factions within the Party: The Nationalists, the Moderates and the Socialists. These labels state general positions of each faction, though they do not necessarily mean the same under Institutional Party government as they do in other nations. Let's take a look first at what they have in common:

1. All three factions remain strongly supportive of the Single Party State and the Monarchy. None have made modification to the overall regime as a campaign point. The Leader of the Socialist faction in the National Assembly, Her Imperial Majesty's Infrastructure Minister, Mr. Michael Johnson, said, for example, "The Autocracy is the best way we as people can accomplish socialism in Kalistan. The Royal family is fiercely pro-labor. They have long been the most ardent supporters of socialized medicine, the nationalized workforce, mandatory National Service, public housing, public infrastructure, public education, and fully nationalized infrastructure. The greatest champion of the people in Kalistan is the Empress of Kalistan, so why in the world would we ever seek to change that?" The other factions are at least as vocal in support of the Empress and the Autocracy for numerous other reasons.

2. All three factions adopt a more or less realist view on foreign policy. The position is summarized by Premier of the Empire Reg Hanson, who leads the Moderates in the National Assembly. "Kalistan is a nation which has to defend its own interests internationally. As much as we would like to think other nations value their relationship, such as it is with Kalistan, we have also learned as students of history, that most nations care less about Kalistan than they do about themselves, and if it comes to making a choice between one's self and Kalistan, they select themselves each time. This is not a knock against them by any means. It just means that we can't rely on them to help us when our interests conflict. That's all. They are only doing what we ourselves do: They can hardly be blamed for it."

3. All factions continue to support neutrality internationally, and as such tend to be far more supportive of peaceful negotiation to international conflict than militarism. The leader of the Nationalists, Deputy Carina Wyland, said "While Kalistan's primary task abroad is to ensure that Kalistan's interests are always considered by other nations, we also strongly condemn international war and intervention. Kalistan has been forced to intervene and engage in war in the past, and we have found that to be a tremendous loss of life and all out squandering of resources. Kalistan doesn't have infinite money or an endless lust for foreign blood and death like some of these nations do, so our foreign policy must not only be driven by a philosophical predilection for peace, but also a practical one. There are other ways to force foreigners to consider Kalistan in their rather explicit plans for global domination, but at the end of the day, Kalistan is a fortress, and we don't have to come out if there are not enemies hammering on our walls."

Similarities are to be expected: All three factions are members of the same Party and generally agree on most points. The political differences that exist between the factions are matters of implementation, rather than fundamental disagreements of political vision. So lets take a look now on where these three factions disagree, so that you can have a general understanding of where the people on your ballots stand in general if you decide to go and vote next January in the general election. For those in our cities, these positions may seem familiar to you, though all city elections are by law non-partisan.

The Socialists- The most leftist of all the Institutional Factions. The Institutional Party was formed by the institutional, or right wing, of the old Socialist Party of Kalistan. The name socialist is based on a strong emphasis on social good. The socialists are all pro-labor, pro-public sector, and pro commoner. The socialists are the most internationally minded of all factions in the Institutional Party, but in a way that they support cooperation with other nations. They also are perhaps the most pluralist of all the factions and have expressed a desire to work even with communists as long as Kalistan's institutions or autocratic monarchy are not challenged. They oppose revolutionary change, but are open to, and even enthusiastic about reform, and would like to encourage reform that doesn't dramatically upset the social order.

The Nationalists- The Nationalist Faction, currently the largest faction in the National Assembly, takes the hardest nationalistic positions. The Nationalists tend to be the most unwilling to compromise Kalistani national interests for anything. They are also oriented toward concerns of relative power, and are keenly interested in Kalistan keeping up with our international rivals. They are he largest supporters of increased military spending, of protecting Kalistani possessions and of forwarding Kalistani claims on the Crown Lands. "Kalistan First, Last and Always" is their motto, and any policies adopted that they feel undermine Kalistan's progress in the pursuit of Kalistan's national interests are strongly opposed. They would rather sacrifice even the longest standing relationships than allow other nations to advance themselves at Kalistan's expense. They are strongly dogmatic and extremely conservative. For them, Kalistan is the center of the Planet and should be the center of all other nations' considerations.

The Moderates- Considered to be midway between these two polls. The Moderates are strongly nationalist, but also more flexible. They are committed to modest reforms but not interested in radical or even fast changes. The Moderates more or less believe that the Empire must remain flexible in their policy implementation, and prioritize Kalistan's interests in the most vital areas, but are willing to compromise to try to find ways to promote those interests without alienating others. It is believed that the Empress is closest to this position and that belief is supported by her selection of Reginald Hanson as Chancellor of the Empire following Ericka Donahue's early retirement. This position tends to want to strengthen the peerage to take a larger role in government, but are also not above including the commoners in decision making where possible across the Empire.

The Institutional Party met in Party Congress last month to determine candidates for each constituency. For each seat, there will be at least two candidates from different factions so voters may have options. Voters will rank their preferences, as usual, and each Duchy and Free City's delegations will be made up of candidates in order of voter preference, using ranked choice voting methods of vote tabulation. All candidates have been approved by the Party Congress, but each faction nominated their own candidates for consideration by the Congress. A good faith effort was required to provide voters with multiple choices in each race. Political advertisement during the races is forbidden, but candidates are allowed to hold public meetings and promote their own candidacy to voters in person.

The Election season is officially beginning in August and voting will be completed in early January. According to analysts, the Nationalists will likely lose the absolute majority, but are expected to keep the plurality, especially with strong support in Ananto and Vrassa.

@TheRepublic

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Kalistani News in Brief: Kalistanis get ready for elections;
Empress orders 1st Fleet to stand down; Van Alvarez inks 3 year extension at Reed
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
September 20, 5700


Van Alvarez, Face of Reed Jewelers, has renewed her exclusive contract with the Royal Jeweler

Kalistanis get ready for Elections
Kalistan's most competitive elections in decades will be held on January 2nd of 5701. This race is shaping up to be a very hard fought campaign, as candidates across the Empire have accepted invitations from Civil Society Organizations to attend candidate forums and debates. One such debate, to be held in early October, and sponsored by the Kaliburg Socialist Club, will feature Michael Johnson, who is running for his seat as a socialist incumbent from Kaliburg. They expect to host him and four other candidates who are vying for two seats in the Free City.

"This is an opportunity for us to talk with the voters directly," said Minister Johnson, who is Her Imperial Majesty's Minister of Transportation and is currently overseeing the construction of roads in Vrassa. "As I understand it, since spending is so curtailed working with the Civil Society Organizations is the intention of both Her Imperial Majesty and the new Chancellor. This will give us the opportunity to not only meet the voters, but to meet the activists and gain their support. This way, if we have lower turnout, the turnout we do have is expected to be among those who are already the most engaged anyway."

In polls, the election is leaning heavily toward moderates, who are running about even in most contests with the Nationalists. The Socialists, like Mr. Johnson, are running in a distant third in the at-large Duchy elections, but are running well ahead of the pack in both Kaliburg and Sulari, where, if the election were held today, all four seats could be expected to go to Socialists.

Empress orders 1st Fleet to Stand Down
In a sign of decreasing tension in the Northern Anantonese Ocean, Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina has ordered the 1st Regular Fleet to stand down from its alert posture and resume normal operations. For most of the fleet, this means garrison operations, whether at Bozo River CAGTC, or Luncasi Naval Logistics Center.

"Her Imperial Majesty believes that the most accute danger has passed, and cooler heads have prevailed on both sides of the ocean," said Her Imperial Majesty's Defense Minister Lt. Commander Jane Smith said. "We haven't had contact with Egelion to date, but the anticipated tension in the area has not materialized. We think Egelion had better things to focus on and Kalistan most certainly did."

The Lt. Commander said contributing factors to the tension were Kalistan's concern over Egelion's activity in New Verham, and Kalistan's diplomatic protest which involved recalling diplomats and asking Egelian diplomats to leave as well. "There was a lot of terse words in the press as well, but at the end of the day, the protest and its response were held without resort to arms, and I think more than anything this was the preferred outcome of both governments." The Defense Minister also said that Army Group North was being pulled off of alert and the 2nd Regular fleet was returning to patrols south of the Southern Limit.

Van Alvarez inks 3 year extension at Reed
Model and public face of Reed Jeweler Vanessa Alvarez has signed a new 3 year exclusive deal with Reed Jeweler, said her agent in Sulari. "Ms. Alvarez is thrilled to continue working for Reed," said Grant Wilfing, who represents Alvarez with Kauffman Modelling Agency. "She feels that the company has always treated her very well, it allows her to work at her own pace and always makes her feel like she is the most important person in the world when she walks in the store. They oughtta-- Van has made them a lot of money over the last two years."

Wilfing said the new deal includes a significant raise for Alvarez. "Let's just say, she's working because she like to work," he said with a smile. The deal contracts the model to do six campaigns a year and will now include more public appearances for the Model. "Reed doesn't show up to fashion week," said Wilfing. "But they do want to do some in store things, and help the Company open a new branch in Eshar in a couple years." This will involve a larger commitment from her in terms of time, but will also make her face somewhat ubiquitous in Kalistan over the next three and a half years. "Van will be everywhere, on billboards, busses, and television... This is a major marketing investment from the Royal Jeweler and they are putting a lot of money into Ms. Alvarez."

When asked to compare Alvarez' salary in the new contract to someone like Alice Bjorksdattir, Wilfing demured, "I don't like talking about that stuff in public. Van's salary is competitive. We are happy with the deal we were able to negotiate with Reed. That's all there really is to say about that. She's gonna earn all of it. And then some, I think." Reed's stock, 35% of which is owned by Miramar, is up more than 13% year over year, and news of Alvarez's contract renewal sent the stock climbing by 1.5% on the day.

@TheRepublic

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King William XVII to Join National Service Program
"I want to give back to the nation who gave to me," says Hutorian Monarch
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
October 5, 5700


Her Imperial Majesty with His Majesty, King William XVII Steuart-Carmichael of Hutori this summer in Kaliburg

His Majesty, King William XVII, 21, who has lived as a ward of Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina for the last seven years, reached his age of majority last year. He moved to Kalistan on a full time basis following the passage of his Grandmother, Queen Arianna of Hutori, after having spent much of his life in Ananto before then. While he remained at Cliff House with the Empress, he spent his time shadowing both Her Highness, Princess of the Empire Nicolette Ananto-Collins when she was regent and then the Empress, watching and learning. He also attended and graduated from Kaliburg Wilson Highschool two years ago and has been since studying Political science part time at Kaliburg Imperial University when he was not working with Her Imperial Majesty.

Now, rather than returning to Hutori, the King has volunteered to serve in the Kalistani National Service Program for three years, and then will return home to take his throne. "Kalistan and the Empress' family took me in when I had lost my parents and my Grandmother," said His Majesty, the King. "While I have been a ward of the Empress, she and the Princess Nicolette welcomed me as a member of their family as one of their own. They treated me like a son and like a little brother. And all true Kalistanis go through National Service, so I have volunteered to give back to the nation who adopted me, welcomed me and treated me as if I was truly wanted here."

The King is not the first Hutorian noble to volunteer for Kalistani National Service. His Majesty's own aunt Princess Natasha Steuart-Carmichael, who served for a long time as the Hutorian Director of Lexington Game Studios in Kaliburg, also served in the NSP while she was still decades ago. King William holds the title Viscount of Raven's Head, in Green County as a personal hereditary title, and Her Imperial Majesty has aggrandized the estate from 1000 Acres to 1750 acres, now including the small nearby village of Rookport on the coast as a gift to the King when he graduated from High school.

"We see His Majesty the King as our younger brother, though he is not so little as he used to be," said Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress last spring. "He had grown into a very intelligent young man, has good conservative sensibilities about him, understands, we believe the importance of a strong National Sovereign and National Unity, and is conservative and correct. When he finally returns home, he will make a marvelous king for his people, and will set his country on a solid and stable course. We are quite proud of him and his educational successes, and hope to help facilitate many more in the near future."

The King has agreed to serve only three years in the National Service. "I was informed that I was in no way obligated, and I insisted," said the King. "It is important that I also gain some independence. Living with the Empress is good: She has kept me safe, well and learning all the time. I would also like the opportunity to meet common people and do the thing people my age are doing, and if I do not join the Service now, it will soon be too late for me to do any service: I am already delaying return to Hutori longer than I should. But I want to do this to say thank you to my adopted sister and this country which raised me and in many ways formed my views on the world, my role in it, and my relationship to common people as a monarch. So I will do three years of National Service, learn a trade, and return then to my country with a grounding that monarchs outside of Kalistan cannot possibly understand."

The King will muster in in just over a week, and then will serve for the next three years. He may opt to leave at any time, but both the Empress and the Chancellor of the Empire have praised his decision and have extolled it as an example of selflessness and altruism for Kalistanis to follow. "His Majesty, the King of Hutori opting to do national service in Kalistan is an example for all people to follow," said the Empress. "We Kalistanis are all required to serve our nation, either in the NSP or in the regular Forces. The King's decision to voluntarily do something we are all required to do by law marks him as a true Kalistani, even if his passport does not reflect that word explicitly, and demonstrates an unbreakable bond between our two nations, on a personal and cultural level. We all appreciate his decision from the bottom of our heart."

@TheRepublic

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Empress Addresses National Assembly ahead of Elections
Lays out agenda for regulatory reforms
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
December 12, 5700


Empress speaks to assembled Deputies before the election

The Empress spoke to a joint session of the National Assembly this week. She appeared on the floor of the Chamber of Peers, where all Peers and elected deputies were assembled to hear the speech. Below is a transcript of her address to the National Assembly.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Chancellor of the Empire Reginald Hanson, Members of our Government, seated members of the Peerage, elected Deputies and members of the Institutional Party, members of the Press, invited and honored guests, we welcome you to our National Assembly, and thank you for attending. The agenda for this speech shall be short, so we shall get to it.

We would like to first of all wish the Institutional Party luck and fortune in the conduct of the election next month. This will be the first truly competitive election to be held in the Empire since 5659, and as you can imagine, leaves everyone with some apprehension. Kalistan has had a long history with even modest amounts of democracy, and it has almost always ended, sooner or later in a disaster for the people of our nation. But we also notice that there is some demand for more options: A factional internal contest, contained within the Institutional Party framework could be an appropriate compromise to allow people to express their opinions, both as a referendum on the current composition of the Chamber of Deputies, as well as the direction of our nation's single Party while preventing the rise of demagoguery, chicanery around electioneering, or ideological entrepreneurship.

Internationally, we would like to report that the tensions of last year in our immediately adjacent ocean has almost entirely dissipated. Hence we have ordered our Defense Minister to return the First Regular Navy to Bozo River, except for the garrison and logistics detachment stationed in Luncasi. The Northern Army has also returned to their barracks across Vrassa and Ananto. We has asked the Institutional Party to keep the Militia activated and training across the nation for some time yet. We are continuing to monitor the situation in Dovani and depending upon the outcome, we will adjust relations.

We are also watching developments in Seleya. As Tukarali reactivates, they are making a shift to the left, and the situation there remains fluid. If there is a strong lurch toward revolutionary socialism or communism, this may require a response from our nation, as Tukarali borders the Constituent Nation of Gaduridos, and it may be incumbent upon us to encourage our viceroy to take steps to prevent contagion. Communism itself may not be the threat itself: the real challenge is the demonstration effect that we seek to mitigate. We are paying very close attention to it.

We also see a far more concerning issue arising in Macon, adjacent to the realm of our brother, The King of Hutori. In Telamon there is an explicitly redistributionist, explicitly anti-elite regime that has taken hold. While Kalistan does not have any direct interests in Telamon specifically, and have not been directly affected, we have communicated with both His Majesty, King William XVII, who is currently in Green County in National Service, and with the His Highness, Prince David Alvarez-Ananto, the Regent in Hutori, to make our assistance and support available to help them secure their nation against communistic contagion. Containment of totalitarian ideology is in Kalistan's National Interest, especially if those ideologies spread near the nations for whom we are sympathetic toward. Next Spring, it is our intention to make a trip to our estates on the Isle of Sutton, and to begin consultations with the Regent concerning this issue as well as starting the preparation for the transition of His Majesty, the King back to his homeland.

Domestically, our desire is to continue our work to build rural infrastructure. To date, we have paved more than 1000 miles of rural roadway across Vrassa, Odufaray and Nevaras, connecting more than a dozen outlying villages to County seats via rural roads and Duchy Highways. This access brings the the services provided by County and Free Cities closer to hundreds of thousands of our People in the rural areas of the nation. We still have significant work to do on these projects across the Nation. Many of these projects are in hard to access areas, or areas which have been isolated by terrain or climate. While that will slow progress, we would like to thank our Transportation Minister, Mr. Michael Johnson, for his diligence and attention to the needs of the people in our rural districts.

We also would like to Charge our Government and the Deputies both here and who will be elected next month, to begin working on wide scale administrative reform. This includes increased transparency for Ministry operations to help promote oversight, and judicial reform to speed up the court process and make our courts more understandable for the common person. We have come through a major corruption scandal around the private sector management of both the Bank of Suldanor, and the Bookmakers' Syndicate. This also touched the AYIC, a civil society institution which is so important in representation and advocacy for Yeudis in Kalistan and across the entire Diaspora. That scandal could have been either far less serious or avoided all together if basic transparency had been part of the institutional regulation of any or all of those organizations.

The last thing we would like to see is that sort of corruption in Imperial Ministries. We would like to see, presented and then moved through the Assembly, to allow oversight of the Ministries, and the creation of a Ministry ombudsman whose job it will be to receive information on fraud, waste or abuse, and whose job it is to publish, for public information information on compliance with ethics and best practices within each ministry. With this policy, there should also be meaningful paths to accountability, and sanctions against corruption and unethical behavior. A public official who misappropriates public funds is the worst sort of criminal, and we need steps to not only identify violators and punish the corruption, but also to discourage corruption to begin with.

But we would also like judicial process reform. We would like to reduce adversarialism in our trials. When a district attorney beings charges, he or she should have enough evidence to convict. If a conviction is not assured by the evidence available, or what can be reasonably expected through discovery, we would like to discourage charges from being brought by a Grand Jury. We also would like to avoid technicalities throwing a case one way or another. The aim is to move from procedural justice to substantive justice. How many actual guilty men and women have bee released based on a technicality, some form was not signed, some word was not said at the right time. We would much rather give the defendant an opportunity to mitigate an evidence-based verdict than to allow lawyers to play tricks in the courtroom and free an egregious criminal on a technicality.

We would also like to see sentencing reform, specifically in classification of certain crimes. Our current criminal law code is based on the ancient Prison Reform Act. We would like to see that updates, with a specific process for court procedures added, as well as more specification on criminal charges and penalties. Kalistan does not have intermediate penitentiaries for violent criminals outside of a term on Kings Rock. Nearly all of the penalties are based on restitution and rehabilitation. But we would also like to make it explicit which crimes will land a person on Kings Rock, and which one will be resolved with restitution and probation. Currently there is far too much discretion being exercised by our judges, and this leads to inconsistency in sentencing, and court chopping by lawyers. We would like to encourage more faith in the consistency of the application of justice in our Empire.

This is a very ambitious agenda for the coming few years. We have faith that our Government will oversee its implementation and our Deputies will work diligently to both carry out our fiat as well as the ensure that the interests of stakeholders in their respective constituencies will be represented in the final policies. Thank you for your attentiveness, Good luck in your elections in January, and we look forward to getting back to work as soon as the new Deputies are seated. We expect our Peers to continue to offer the Chamber of Deputies their advice and to bring their influence to bear, as per usual in our service. Good evening to you all, and Happy Yule to those who celebrate it, and Happy New Year to all."

Following the speech, the Deputies rose to their feet, and bowed their heads, as the Empress descended from the Rostrum and exited the Chamber. Following her departure, the Deputies were called back to order by the Chancellor who accepted a motion to adjourn the Chamber of Deputies for the remainder of the Calendar year, and send the Deputies home on Season Break. The motion was seconded and the Deputies voted to adjourn until after the elections.

@TheRepublic