Kalistani Major History

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Kalistani Regular Army conducts training with Irregulars from the SP Militia
Ministry of Defense stresses Defensive Doctrine
Lhasa, Neveras
April 8, 5318


Units of the Kalistani Regular Force at MOUT course on LMWTF, Lhasa

Units of the 2nd Division, Army Central based in Springfield began the first rotation in what will become a regular training cycle for Infantry units in Kalistan to the Lhasa Mountain Warfare Training Facility in Lhasa, Neveras last week. The month long mini deployment is designed to give troops from across the Republic the opportunity to not only train in high altitude and cold weather conditions, but also engage in different kinds of military tactical situations. The MWTF permits the training in commando infiltration tactics, including Mountaintop helo insertion zones, free climbing and bouldering and rappel lanes, river crossing, high ropes courses and military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) training. These tactics will allow Regular forces to fight more effectively in terrain different from their assigned bases, and allows flexibility in deployment across the Republic.

Arrayed against the Regular Infantry is the Socialist Party's Militia, the Revolutionary Socialist Militia of Kalistan, which is also in the process of reforming and retraining. The Militia not only serves as live opponents which are often assigned the roles of guerrilla insurgents or an invading army that the Regulars must engage. Militia units are instructed to develop non-standard strategy and utilize irregular tactics when dealing with the Regulars. "This is good for both the Militia and the Regulars," states Militia spokeswoman, Lt. Jill Newton. "Since most of Kalistan's potential adversaries will be regulars, the Militia gets to try out different formations, ambush styles, and various mobility tactics that will allow it to stay inventive and address problems as they arise. Meanwhile, using irregular tactics against the Regular forces forces them to abandon a cookie cutter defense, or standardized patterns. Knowing that predictability is the enemy during asymmetrical warfare, which Kalistan will almost ALWAYS be faced with should force Kalistani Regulars to at least be familiar with inventiveness on the battlefield, and make them fight a bit more like the militia."

The deployments also provide the improve the longstanding but neglected relationship between the militia and the Regulars. "You will often meet people you grew up with, but the militia vs. Regular aspect of the deployment also fosters some healthy competition between units. When we are PTing, for example, we will often play football Militia vs. Regular teams. We conduct platoon races, mixed unit hikes, and generally have integrated the Squad bays to ensure that militia and Regulars get the chance to get to know one another. The fraternization is as encouraged as the competition."

The MWTF is generally infantry training, but artillery, tank, and support units are required to become familiar with infantry tactics despite specializing in their various occupational fields. This means that units can cycle through the Mountain Warfare Training Facility on a regular basis. The Militia won't always join the training cycles, themselves needing to utilize other facilities across the Republic, but they are expected to remain at the MWTF at Lhasa for the next six months. Army Central and Army South will be cycle through first, and then Army North, consisting of units from Vrassa and Ananto will likely have a limited deployment, within two years. Army North usually trains in Mountainous and hilly terrain anyway, so the special sort of training offered by Lhasa's facility doesn't offer as much a benefit as it does the more flatland based units.

In procurement news, The National Ship Yard has begun taking orders for new Corvettes and Strait/Shore Patrol Craft. Production targets aim to have a full compliment of these lightly armored patrol vehicles within four years for a total of 38 ships. All three of Kalistan's Fleets are expected to be to begin naval warfare training within a year as the first compliment are sailed and crewed. Following the launch of the Sulari Class Corvettes, the Gallegos Class Patrol Craft, and the Eshar Class Light Patrol craft, the Naval Ship yards aims to focus on resupplying 12 Victor Class submarines to the Fleet.

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KALENCON Explores magnetic Levitation train network for Kalistan
10 year Capital Plan would include linking Sulari with Esher with highspeed rail
Kaliburg, Ananto
August 1, 5318


A magnetic levitation prototype is demonstrated at Kaliburg Polytechic last month

Kalistani Energy Consortium, owners of Kalistan's fusion power plants, were the Keynote speakers at the recently concluded conference titled "Kalistani Infrastructure in the 54th Century." The primary focus of the conference was the pros and cons of development of a new high speed rail network for Kalistan. "We are looking into the potential for capital improvement, especially on the mainland, which will allow commuters and travelers to consider alternatives to air and automobile travel, especially ones that rely on alternative energy sources,: said panel convener and Chief of Development, Karl Norton.

The use of magnetic levitation trains can allow trains to travel at speeds up to 320 miles an hour, and while not as fast as standard air travel, the proponents of high speed trains tout the advantages to Kalistanis. "Where trains have slower speeds than aircraft, nonetheless, the time between point a and b are roughly the same due to the lack of pre-transit hassles like security and baggage loading and unloading. We anticipate that transit time between Sulari and Eshar would be roughly equivalent by plane or train, if you account for all the extra things." Norton also listed additional advantages of train over aircraft. It is far easier to train maglev operators than it is to train pilots of aircraft, opening the transit sector to significantly more operators. Additionally, Maglev trains use no fossil fuels whereas their use is unavoidable by aircraft until newer engine technology is someday designed that converts DC to thrust. "We can run more trips more often a day and make cross country travel as regular as cross city travel, increasing the potential for commuting and travel."

The panels envisioned a line running from Sulari Suldanor to Gendaris and Eshar in Odufaray as the first step linking the major Mainland port cities. Such a project could then serve as a spine for a Mainland service that branches out to Vrassa City, Port Swedes, Nevaras City, Reynoldia, and Yoshimi in Suldanor. Another service would likely run between Kaliburg- Port Davon, Luxon and Dulnerstaad. "We have not done cost analyses of how much a capital improvement project of this scale would cost," said Newton. "We are still in the project research phase. But we anticipate it would require significant public and private investment." Newton said it would be ideal to treat any construction of a Maglev train network as a public project, with the Republic holding a majority share, to ensure that it remain a public utility, and not become a money making venture for capitalist interests. "Building and maintaining such a project could be funded through self-generated funds, but for profit actors will likely not see enough ROI to satisfy them, and therefore it is unlikely that they would maintain something like this adequately to provide reliable service without significant cost being transferred onto passengers. Aircraft travel, which is entirely privatized here in Kalistan is an excellent analog: Tickets are prohibitively high for the majority of Kalistanis, given the premium on fossil fuels and the desire of the airlines to maintain their profit margin. A national high speed train network should strive therefore to be the People's Alternative."

As Newton pointed out, any plans for a national Maglev train network are still in the most preliminary phases. But Newton assured conference attendees that maglev trains are in Kalistan's future. "The only question of course is how long in that future. It is no longer a question of if, but when." Maglev has been demonstrated conceptually, is in use in other nations, and will arrive eventually in Kalistan.

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Alt-Folk artist Bonzo joins Noise Alternative Movement with Queens of Surf Duet
"Saturday Afternoon" shows progression for Bonzo and Furious George
Vrassa City, Vrassa
September 3, 5318


Bonzo and Furious George release "Saturday Afternoon" on VDR as an Alt-Folk tribute to slackers

Bonzo, the Vrassa City underground alt-folk musician who traffics in acoustic guitar sets as often as he uses turn tables, samples, kazoos and psychedelic effects released his sophomore album along with his "partner in crime", conceptual musician Furious George. The album, called "Saturday Afternoon" is a true mess; but despite the chaos, a conceptual masterpiece and tribute to slackers shines. "We made this record about sitting around and being bored," said Bonzo. "It's essentially all inside jokes we have collected from I don't know how many afternoons just hanging out, watching bullsh-t movies or football, or smoking and drinking. But: it took us four months to make at VDR studios, so we're definitely not the slackers people think we are."

While Bonzo plays most of the instruments on the album, Furious George, who habitually refers to himself in the third person, added backing vocals, distortion, and percussion. He also engineered the entire record and is listed as co-producer with Bonzo. "Furious George to Bonzo is like peanut butter to chocolate," said George. "Like you don't think they should go together because Bonzo is a f--kin freak, but like he and Furious are bros of smoke, you feel me?" The record these two young Vrassans created ranges from acoustic hip hop, to Vascanian-esque raga, to a bizarre random noise hidden track.

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

In a lot of ways, "Saturday Afternoon" is a progression from Bonzo's debut album released two years ago "...and George", also on VDR, but this time it also reflected the growing popularity of the Noise Alternative Movement with several tracks that include distorted overdriven guitars, gritty basslines and atonal vocals. The record features a duet with ARC artists Queens of Surf called "Lovers Lane" which may actually be the most unexpectedly sweet track on the record[/url]. Queens of Surf have long held that they were fans of Bonzo, calling him and Furious George "impresarios" and noted that they looked forward to recording the duet. The entire band backed up Bonzo for the track, which included a dissonant cello solo, detuned guitars, and a deceptively simple rhythm pattern. Bonzo follows the relatively downtempo but oddly loud duet with the Grit-Adjacent Noise Alternative Hellscape of "Everyone's Out to Get You M-th- F-ck-r."

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-9AfdzMw5w]

All in all, "Saturday Afternoon" is both reminiscent of the Alt-Folk movement from several centuries ago, without any of the hokiness and the Grit Movement with none of the Heroin vibe, while also marking its place as a current album with its forays into Noise Alternative, with full endorsement of the reigning Queens of the Movement. Bonzo and his collaborator Furious George have produced an unironic Slacker masterwork with this record.

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Socialist Party sweeps Cabinet
Time for new faces and New Energy, says Party Leader Mel Lewis
Kaliburg, Ananto
January 7, 5320


New Party Leader and Acting Premier of the Republic Mel Lewis

As Kalistan begins to awaken once more, the Socialist Party has decided to retire its first generation of law makers, who were responsible for the ending of the Empire, and build a new leadership team. The Shuffle came after a small internal disagreement over the direction the Government of Kalistan should pursue now that the Institutionalist era is over.

"The Institutionalist Party tended to be a bit more pro-growth than we liked. They held in principle to the Zero Growth model that has long guided Kalistan's economy, but in practice, they were often more friendly toward outside investment," said the incoming Party Leader and soon to be new Premier of the Republic. "We would like to let the world know that Kalistan is open to external investment, certainly, but the reality is that investment for investment's sake isn't always the best thing. We will prioritize investment that helps Kalistan reach its goals as a country first and foremost."

And what are those goals? The Speaker elaborated: "We need to focus not only on expanding the standard of living to more people-- though not generally increasing the standard of living for any one group. But after this, we also need to make progress in technology that will put Kalistan back into the conversation of modern nations. Currently Kalistan is subjectively ranked a small power with a weak economy. It should be our goal to raise those rankings through a firm commitment to infrastructural and military renewal, as well as innovation in technology, finance and research. Kalistan has one of the world's only functioning power grids based largely off fusion technology. This is an accomplishment that doesn't run up against our zero-growth strategy, and yet improves not only the lives of Kalistani Citizens, but also helps the environment."

The future Premier also highlighted Kalistan's place in the cultural movements of the world. "As dormant as our nation has been, nobody yet gets close to Kalistan in terms of recorded music. I know, I know this is an old laurel to rest on. But it is a fact. We have far and away more artists, genres, and records produced here than anywhere in the world. We have had more success at FOMAT than any other single country. We have more formal record labels here in Kalistan than the rest of the world combined. It is not a surprise or a lie when we say we are the musical capital of the world. But this is not enough. Kalistan can also compete in film, in art, in literature. We can do as well as any nation can. We can take our experience in the music field and use that to begin to sponsor creativity in other fields as well, to make Kalistan the cultural center of the world."

Lewis then touted his incoming team's abilities. "Combined we have more than 235 years of expertise in our various fields," said Lewis. "This is the most experienced, technically proficient group of people who has been assembled in centuries, and who are prepared to jump into their tasks and develop new ideas for our Republic. I look forward to working with them, as well as our new National Assembly in the coming months and years."

Detractors immediately dismissed Lewis' speech. "The Republican Government hasn't done much of anything for a long time," said one voter in Vrassa. "We have grown accustomed to District Governments picking up the slack for the state's benign neglect." Another voter complained about the way the Royal Family was treated. "Its like these socialists just put them in a home," said Eveari Resident Vera Georgiana "Like they just put our Emperor and Empress out to pasture. And when the Emperor died, nobody mourned, especially not these socialists. That is something I just cannot forget. They were special to us, and these Socialists just let them basically go into exile right here."

Whether voters like, or hate, or are ambivalent toward the Socialists, the Party remains in control of all seats of the Assembly, and the agenda of the Premier is therefore the Agenda of the Nation. So, it would appear Kalistan is headed for modernization.

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Kalistan prepares to link National Rail System to Lodamun
New Rail Bridge to be build alongside Jah River Friendship Bridge
Addisjah, Vrassa
April 17, 5320


A new cargo train link is being constructed to add two additional commercial tracks next to Friendship Bridge

In preparation for a greater degree of commercial and trade integration with Northern Seleyan states Lodamun and Valruzia, Kalistan has begun expansion of the rail link across the Jah River to offer more service into Lodamun. According to the Republican policy, freight trains and passenger trains must run on separate tracks. Much of the National Railway is quad tracked, except in particularly close mountainous regions and places which do not permit passenger service.

The Friendship Bridge, however, is only dual tracked. Infrastructure minister Jerome Delgado stated the reason for this: "The Jah River is notoriously difficult to build across, let alone the myriad of reasons why there was no progress on the bridge on a political front. It was a monumental feat 600 years in the making to finish the bridge in the first place, and most of the delay was Lodamun's refusal to finish their side of the bridge." But in 4902, the bridge was completed to allow limited passenger and freight service between Addisjah and Ellington in Norstavan Lodamun. A planned road link was abandoned due to Lodamun's banning of automobiles, and the trains, primarily operated on electricity, began serving as the passenger and freight connections.

That link has served for about 400 years, and has made Addisjah a popular depot for international trade. Each day, more than 30 trains make their way back and forth across the bridge, loading and unloading cargo and transporting passengers from both sides of the border for transshipment to different parts of the respective nations. Naval transport about super freighters does not match efficiency of the Friendship Bridge, even now. But as Kalistan and Lodamun prepare to expand their rail links to other nations in Northern Seleya, Kalistan has decided to begin another two lanes to reserve for Cargo transport alone, moving the Freindship Bridge's purpose to simply passenger travel. "We have hit a ceiling of what we can do with just two lanes," said Delgado. "We are already seeing backlogs and delays in passenger crossings, When Valruzia and hopefully other countries join the train agreement, we will see a major uptick in usage of that crossing. The investment we make today in building new infrastructure will pay off many multiple times in the coming years."

The new bridge, which is expected to cost Kalistan 48.2 Million KRB over the next three years, will add two dedicated freight lanes to the Friendship Bridge, so that trains crossing the bridge do not have to wait for a lane to clear. Passenger transit will be dramatically improved as there will not be waits to cross the border. Meanwhile, the depot system where Kalistani freight trains need to be unloaded and reloaded onto bridge transit trains as there is room will no longer exist as freight trains will now simply cross the bridge to unload or to carry on to further destinations. This should speed up freight delivery times significantly and dramatically decrease cargo prices over the border."

Kalistan has already begun constructing the additional lanes, and has begun sinking pillars in Kalistan's side of the muddy boggy Jah. The concrete work on Kalistan's side should be completed by October of 5321, after which point, the Bridge will be expanded to four lanes. "We shall do everything we can to encourage Lodamun to match this effort on their side, including Loans, technical support, and diplomatic encouragement," said Delgado. "Expansion of trade is key for Kalistan's revitalization, and we look forward to continuing to work with Lodamun."

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Kalistani President Welcomes Lourenne to Republic
Empress Rivière Ananto on hand to greet co-Nationals
Kaliburg, Ananto
April 5, 5320


President of the Republic Katharine Lindor welcomes visiting Lourennais Dignitaries

Greeted at the airport by Empress Rivière Ananto, 96, who is the sister to the late Lourennais Queen Eugenie I, Karl Cesaire, Lourenne's Minister for International Affairs visited the Republic this week. Her Imperial Majesty, the last of the House Ananto to hold any official title, gave a short speech to an assembled crowd which included the Minister, Kalistan's President and Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Defense, and members of the Press and Administration staff. In it, she expressed fondness for the longstanding relationship between Kalistan and Lourenne, and especially highlighted the long history of the Anantonese Economic Standardization Accord, signed and ratified in July 5074 by Kalistan and Lourenne.

Though she spoke slowly, Rivière Ananto spoke clearly and with grace and elegance of a person who has the blood of royalty in her veins. "The signing of that pact was among my family's proudest achievements. And upon marriage to my late husband, I began to fully understand and appreciate its terms, and the difference they made to the lives of both of our nations. This was not only an economic agreement, but it also laid the foundation for peace and tranquility between the great state of Kalistan and the kingdom that we jokingly... but lovingly... refer to here as 'Kalistan's 6th District', the mighty and ancient United Kingdom of Lourenne. Centuries before passage of the treaty, our two nations were bitter rivals. Since then, we have become friends, and to both of our benefits, I believe. We welcome our friends from Lourenne, land of my birth, and always a land I call home, to Kalistan, a place which adopted me and always treated me warmly and with great respect and decency." The Empress then in short order turned the affairs over to the Head of State, President of the Republic Lindor, and took her leave from the proceedings, skipping the reception, and begging indulgence of "an old woman."

Following brief introductory words from President Lindor and a reception with hors d'oeuvres and questions from the Press, the visit continued on with a tour of the Capitol Mall and Port Davon, as well as a surprise visit to The Kalistan National Shipyards on the Ananto Strait. "Here we can see," began President Lindor, "Kalistan is making great progress on the refitting of our naval units, which, when redeployed, will contribute Kalistan's part to regional defense in the Northern Anantonese Ocean, in service along side The United Kingdom's vessels." The party was on hand to see the launching of a new Daniel Guzman class multipurpose frigate set to join the 3rd Fleet at Yoshimi before being deployed to patrol the Southern Limit. "Kalistan is making fantastic strides to refit our naval's procurement requirements, and we are on schedule to deploy a full compliment by 5327." The Lourennais Minister spoke of commitment to assist Kalistan with expertise and training going forward.

Back in Kaliburg, the two administrations discussed points of agreement and ways to strengthen bonds between Kalistan and Lourenne. The Kalistani side discussed strengthening trade relationships with other nations in Northern Seleya as a way to increase trade in the economically integrated Northern Anantonese Zone. "As we increase our rail links to Seleyan countries, Lodamun also stands to benefit from Kalistani trade with access to new consumer and capital goods and markets via Kalistan. Increased trade helps liberal minded nations and we anticipate a significant improvement in Lourenne's economic outlook as a result." Lourenne, for its part discussed investment and cultural exchange opportunities across the Lourenne Channel. Both Parties agreed that seeking additional opportunities to increase toursim and commuter activities would be welcomed, and Kalistan stated that it looked forward to increased integration of Lourenne's cultural institutions in Kalistani Society. "Our people watch Lourenne's Movies, its just a matter of fact," said Foreign Minister Natalie Brewer. "Whether we see them on TV or in the theater, there is a segment of the population who goes nuts for the cultural products of Lourenne's society. Our desire is to foster that exchange and encourage it within both Kalistan and Lourenne."

Kalistan's finance minister, who joined the talks noted that access to green technology would be welcomed, not only to expand current efforts at environmental protection and promotion within Kalistan, but to also work on newer technologies. "As we noted recently, we are looking for ways to expand passenger rail to magnetic levitation trains, introducing a high speed rail network across the Mainland. This would be a perfect project for investors who want to work on energy efficient and environmentally clean infrastructure. A Kalistani-Lourenne partnership on a national Maglev system could yield dividends for centuries."

Overall the day's business went well and both sides came away from the meeting optimistic about the coming age of cooperation between the two Northern Anantonese Nations. Before departing, Kaliburg hosted the visiting Lourennais diplomats to a night on the town, including dinner at the noted Treehouse Restaurant, a vaudeville show that featured comedy, a mentalist and music performance, and a public street arts festival thrown in honor of the Official Visit where the Kalistani Noise Alternative group Queens of Surf played an acoustic set on the main stage. The festival was well attended, and Kalistanis eager to meet Lourennais politicians showed their support by waving Lourenne's flag and saying Bonsoir to the visiting delegation.

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Kalistani and and Lodamese Theorists meet in Kaliburg to discuss De-Growth strategies
Joint conference aims at countering Liberal Growth fallacy and "Invisible Hand" magical Thinking that simply benefits the privileged
Kaliburg, Ananto
January 8, 5321


Panel at the Growth Summit, held at Kaliburg Polytechnic Institute, Kaliburg

Kalistan has practiced one form of Zero Growth economics or another for centuries. Lodamun is joining the movement by promoting de-growth strategies for sustainability. Leading economists from both nations have convened in Kaliburg to hold what is likely to be the first of many conferences on national economic strategies that de-emphasis the Liberal ideology of perpetual growth. As Dr. Lewis MacDonald, Economics professor and Chair of the President's Economic Forum explained in his opening speech, "Nothing in nature grows forever. We don't see trees that are tens of thousands of years old and 95,000 feet high. Something you actually do not want to grow forever. Take a human: If he or she continues to expand, eventually that will begin affecting various aspects of that person's health. The person should instead seek a golden mean, where they live well and do not deny themselves things they enjoy, but do not begin hurting their lifestyle with self induced problems like diabetes, morbid obesity, heart failure, breathing issues and etc. Like things in nature, an economy cannot and should not grow forever. The idea that it can and therefore it should is a myth of liberalism that tends to protect the misallocation of resources, by holding off the promise of redistribution to tomorrow, when the economy might be big enough finally to accommodate all of us. When they know it never will."

The Conference included Kalistani and Lodamese economists, who are leading the way in Northern Seleya in toning down the move toward perpetual growth. While Kalistan focuses on limiting growth to zero percent, controlling for any population increase, and performs this through capital controls, Nationalization and national service, and encouraging spending in the economy, rather than saving and investing, Lodamun takes a slightly different approach. "Lodamese theorists and economists see corporate greed as a roadblock to sustainable growth. While it is impossible to impose a minimalist life on the population, it is possible to cut waste down entirely by funding greener and more efficient alternatives, coupled with a limited profit mindset, a mindset searching as few profits as possible, though maintaining economic viability." explained Dr. Gotham Bell, from Lodamun. To accomplish his nation's goals, Lodamun restricts foreign investments and corporate activity, with a long term beneficial trade and loan systems in place to prepare the economy for a redefinition. "At this point," continued Ball, "the nation should achieve some level of autarky. A short answer is agricultural Independence, resource independence, stable trade routes for vital goods, reduced market vulnerability through reduced usage of foreign currency reserves." The goal is self-sufficiency aimed at ensuring that Lodamun produces what it needs and no more.

Panel presentations were given by several leading economists, who discussed the challenges of these two related ideas of zero growth and de-growth in a world that uses economic growth as the yardstick for economic success. "We do not look at the economy as being somehow separate from the society that lives with it," said Marcia Downes, from Kalistan. "Instead, the economy is and should be a tool of the society itself- It should be what the society uses to provide itself the best life possible. With growth as a strategy, we consider medical services to treat sick people to be positive growth. We treat funeral services to bury people as positive growth. We treat legal services to help a family break up in divorce to be positive growth. The Liberal economy focused un unrelenting growth treats a sick society as positive for growth. We also know that most of that 'growth' goes exclusively to the people on top. Liberals SAY it will trickle down. But we know that to be a failure in imagination: because a rich person can only buy just so many boats, just so many houses, just so many automobiles. Eventually they begin needing to store their horded wealth and none of that makes its way into the hands of the worker. So, if any of it actually trickles down, it merely trickles down to the very few. And the bottom of the pyramid in a Liberal society we find to be a desert."

Panelists offered a different way to evaluate a society; "What if we asked instead if people have what they need to live a good and stable life," asked Lodamese Professor Phillip Thalman. "What if we measured success in an economic model as everyone being fed, everyone being treated, everyone who wants to work having a job, everyone who wants to make art or get educated or change jobs being able to do that without having to starve? What if we treated our society as if the benefit for some is really only just the benefit for some and stopped measuring how we are doing as a whole by how that tiny fraction is doing? It is possible, but only if we abandon the notion of perpetual growth as an economic strategy, and started looking toward sustainability, not only for our own countries, but for doing our part in the world."

Kalistani theorist Michelle Fredrickson added, "We don't see trade as bad. We see trade deficits or surpluses as bad. We don't see investment as bad, we see wealth extraction and neo-imperialism as bad. We don't even, in the socialist utopia of Kalistan, such as it is, we don't even see profits as bad. We see profiteering as bad. There is no reason why a person who provides something that someone else values should not earn enough to live happily. We just don't think that a person or company who monopolizes access to necessary items like food, housing, and medical care, should be able to deny those things to people who need them but can't possibly afford to pay. So what if the person's net wealth doesn't perpetually grow? Society will have what it needs to live well. Because we all do better when we ALL do better. The growth strategies proposed by Liberal economists do not take into account basic human need."

Others attacked market ideology: "The market is fine when the choice is purely optional, like which television I want," said Kalistani Philosopher DeAndre Brown. "That is a pure choice. As I am in no way being compelled to make it by anything. But when I am compelled to do something, the freedom of that decision goes out the window. Markets implicitly require the choices IN the market place to be free. I don't have a free choice however about whether or not to eat. That gives the supplier of the food in the market an unfair advantage over the consumer. You HAVE to buy food, you do not have a choice. The only choice you get to make is which one of us gets to charge you a premium for the privilege of continuing to live. In Kalistan, they have reduced that unfair advantage by offering free food- Grown by the National Service Programs, provided at National Food Banks. So if you are hungry, you can go get food without having to put yourself in debt. The true value of the dual economy is that it allows choice in areas where it can be free, and removes the advantage of suppliers in areas where the choice is not free. This provides an opportunity for everyone to meet basic needs, and allows them then to dedicate their resources to obtaining the sort of life that they WANT to live, by their own free decisions."

Ultimately, the conference reaffirmed the committment of both nations to their chosen growth strategies, and hopefully will inspire other nations to abandon liberal economics for a more just and sustainable form of national economy, not only helping more people of the world to live a happier life, but also allowing the world to use less resources, and moving toward a more sustainable form of life globally.

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Codiene releases follow up to 5317 Debut
"10,000 Percent" delivers extra distortion, extra Noise to Kalistani fans
Kaliburg, Ananto
August 7, 5321


Noise Alternative quartet Codeine release their second album on KMI

It's been about 4 years since Noise Alternative first cracked the charts on Radio 1. Meanwhile, the Noise Alternative band Queens of Surf fared poorly overseas, scoring a meager 6th place in FOMAT, showing that this trend is Kalistan's own, for the time being. But the fact that other nations cannot appreciate and do not enjoy loud music has not deterred one of the pioneers of the subGenre of Noise Alternative, who have released their second record on KMI this week. Codeine's "10,000 Percent" features the Noise rockers as they stray into Punk Rock and Skate Punk riffs, art rock, and Political alternative, and this album vidicates Noise Alternative following general rebuke overseas.

The first single on the record is about the murder of a friend of the Band Greg Lofthouse, one of the two skaters whose image graces the front of the album. "Greg was a real true star," said Dwayne Martin. "he was a great skater and we used to hang around together at the skate park." Lofthouse was murdered two years ago in a fight over a woman, and his loss grieved many in the Kaliburg skate scene.

"The album also touches on feminism, and a push back on the ideas that there is equality between men and women in The Republic. Bassist Kim Caffee said "When are guys, especially young men going to stop coming to shows where women are playing and crowd their way up to the front? When are they going to start picking up people who fall down in the pit? You guys make is so hard for the Ladies to just come to the show because you think that these shows are like RF clubs where you can just put your hands on everything that moves. I'm here to tell you that ain't the case boys. Next guy who puts his hand on me is going to get my Size 8 combat boots to the junk." Caffee makes her hatred of unwanted sexual advances clear on the song "Meat Special" which talks about the sort of "bro" culture that seems to have evolved in Kalistan. "More women are speaking out against these guys," said Caffee. "I wanted to add our voice to the calls for respect and decency."

The album also talks about the fascism of apathy in Kalistan, in the song "Anti-Fasism". "When you have one Party government," said Martin, "its good on the one hand, because you don't have a bunch of like flipping around and going back and forth, and a bunch of holier than thou Liberal fascists always trying to sell you to the richest capitalist. But then on the other hand, you also don't have a lot of reason for people to get active. People are just going about their lives, living and such and the Government pretty much rules by fiat. To the degree that anyone votes, they just vote for local offices, because when you run opposed, we already know who the winner is. Not saying we need like fascists or even liberals in this country--Having nobody is better than that. But that sort of political lethargy is a form of fascism too, isn't it? Because there's no real choices?"

In all, the record features blistering guitars, over driven basses, and lots and lots of loud cymbals. It straddles the line of several genres in its quest to make the loudest rock it can. "If it turns off people in other countries, so what? " asked Caffee, rhetorically. "We make music for Kalistanis. We make music for all the surfers and skaters out there, and all the men and women in the Militia. We make music for the NSPers, and the art chicks. For the working class as well as the movie stars. We make music that Kalistan can be proud of."

As evidence, following the loss in FOMAT, Codeine invited the Queens of Surf to play a duet on the Album. The resulting song is called "Food Bank" and sounds like a duel between distorted guitars, while also bringing soft melodic tones to an otherwise very noisy song.

Check out the first single, "10,000 Percent" from Codeine's sophomore album, also called 10,000 Percent, here and on Radio 1 and M7.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3gN9Up6hmc]

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Discovery of ancient statue in Lhasa hints at veritable treasure trove
Archaeology as a field may be revived in Kalistan
Lhasa, Neveras
July 18, 5322


Statue of ancient idol believed to be remnant of Mu-Tze Culture, dating from around 500 CE

The digging of a cellar in downtown Lhasa this week led to a striking discovery. As the cellar was being excavated following a house fire which destroyed a house in the Old City, so that a new house could be built on the foundation, workers accidently hit a hollow spot in the ground. Rushing air suggested a cave, so work was halted at the site, and explorers were lowered into the hole. What they discovered was indeed a cave, whose entrance ended up being more than a mile away at a terminus of one of the city's ancient storm sewers. Inside the cave that was discovered however were several ancient writings, believed to be in the script of ancient invaders known as the Mu-Tze or Panmuan who occupied much of mainland Kalistan between about 425 and 700 CE. There were other striking artifacts as well inside the cave including a brilliant lapis Lazuli and 24 karat gold idol of a god.

"It would appear that we have located some shrine of the Mu Tze," said Dr. Frieda Norman, of High Bong University's Antiquities department who was called in to lead the cataloging and study into the cave location. "Given the nearness to the surface, as well as the mosaics inside the cave, part of which were destroyed in the initial excavation, I would guess that what we are dealing with here is the basement shrine of a temple which must have been built over this site but has since been long lost to memory. You can see there, those cuts into the wall served as a built in ladder to that access port there, which has been covered over by dirt and building material belonging to the house that sat over this site for a thousand years. But we do seem to be dealing with a long forgotten treasure trove which is much much older, perhaps nearly 4800 years old."

The writings, when translated, are expected to reveal details of either an ancient religious faith practiced in Kalistan, or something more mundane. "Temples are often places of worship," said Norman, "But they regularly doubled as store houses. What we have here could very possibly be records of trade and inventories of items stored in this cave at some point, or items dispersed to the people. There really is no way, at this point of knowing because sadly, archaeology is not something that is widely studied in Kalistan."

The Professor did suggest that her university was, in the light of this recent discovery, proposed that an archaeology program be started within the Department of Antiquities. "As we teach primarily historiography and archive sciences, moving to archaeology won't be much of a stretch," said Professor Norman. "It would involve recruiting anthropologists, and would involve creating some new courses, but if we train archaeologists, they can then come back and be the experts who train the next generation."

Norman did suggest that there was more to be discovered. "This may have been the first cave like shrine we have uncovered," she said. "But certainly, it is not the only one. This one doesn't appear to be particularly special in any way: There is no gilding on the walls, though the mosaics certainly had a lot of thought and craftsmanship put into it. This has more of the feel of just a place that people forgot for a long long time, and it has now been unearthed. I don't believe this is the most important thing that we can potentially find beneath our cities, nor is it likely the only thing. I suspect that now that we have made this discovery, there will be a bubbling of interest from all over the Republic and the World about what sort of artifacts Kalistan still holds which can be found and brought out to be displayed as part of our National Heritage."