Kalistani Major History

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Premier Addresses Ananto-Centrism in brief Interview
Seeks to build Bridges with new Folksparty
Kaliburg, Ananto
July 18, 5053


Premier Perry Offers brief comments to The Republic following Internal SP conference

Premier of the Republic Diego Perry met with the Governors of Ananto, Odufaray and Neveras, as well as other high ranking Party leaders across the Republic to discuss challenges to Governing in the Republic.  He also fielded a couple questions about the new Folksparty which is active in the National Assembly at the moment.

(Premier of the Republic) D(iego) P(erry):  The point of this meeting was essentially to coordinate legislative positions for the next elections.  We face the challenge which is as old as the Party itself:  What do you do if the positions of the Government are generally where your YOUR PARTY'S voters prefer them?  If we move to change them, for the sake of visibility, we abandon the positions of the Party.  And if they stay the same, people sort of forget we even exist and our visibility gradually fades, so that few even know who is governing the country.  It's almost like the structure of our democracy was designed by some dude who knows nothing at all about elections and popular support for political parties but knows how to code and create static algorithms.  And those are the bizarre set of conditions that we are forced to run for re-election under.  These structural conditions do nothing to perpetuate stability or continuity, but instead favor absolute legislative chaos which is very bad for moderate government.  Nor do they make any kind of sense whatsoever to anyone who knows anything about how people actually work and think and behave.

G(ina) L(opez of The Republic):  So how would you fix the system?

DP:  I am afraid that you can't really fix it without first learning the basics of political behavior, and that would take a political scientist, and not a coder to accomplish.  But it seems that even the Coder responsible for this mess has checked out, so, its sort of an academic argument at this point.  We do the best with the garbage we have to use, and luckily we have lots of experience and patience with government in Kalistan that allows us to continue to function, in spite of the flaws in the algorithm.

GL:  Onto another topic, Comrade Premier.  The Folksparty, who scored less than one percent in the previous Presidential election and still have zero seats in the National Assembly, have recently stepped up their legislative agenda, and the SP has supported their proposals on more than one occasion.

DP:  i think the FP is a Party that the Socialists have some things in common with, though obviously not everything.  They are a Party we would certainly welcome opportunities to work with.

GL: What is the Party's position on the recent claims of Ananto-centrism?

DP:  Well, this is an interesting claim.  Our government is highly centralized in Ananto, and emanating from Kaliburg, which is the traditional and historic center of political power in Kalistan.  But I'd say over the past few centuries, culture has diffused around the Republic, and different District cultures have emerged and have been boosted in their profile.  For example, I'd say the center of Kalistani culture is now in Sulari, and not in Kaliburg, and our popular music and film industries reflect Suldanor culture far more than they do Anantonese Culture.  If I had to say, I would argue that Anantonese Culture is seen in the Republic as rather conservative and stodgy compared to the vibrant shine of Sulari and Dana.

GL:  But Kaliburg has the arts, not to mention the infrastructure for the transmission of Suldanor culture.

DP:  Perhaps, but do kids get excited about the same old operas which have been performed in our glittering halls for centuries, or do they get excited about the next punkrock band that is playing on the radio?  To some degree, the Folksparty has a point:  There is FAR more to Kalistan than Ananto and Kaliburg.  I might be saying that as a Deputy representing Suldanor, but you can't deny that the best music right now is coming from the Mainland and not from Ananto:  Its been that way for a very long time, and Ananto needs to step up their cultural evolution if they ever hope to keep up.

GL:  Do you think Ananto can do that?

DP:  I think maybe that is the wrong question to ask.  I think perhaps a better question is SHOULD they want to?  I'd say Ananto has a unique culture and history.  That might not be enough justification for the centralization of political power on the island, but maybe THAT part of it IS Ananto's culture.  Like people surf in Sulari, they eat fine cuisine in Kaliburg.  Like they go to ski resorts and listen to party rock in Neveras, they listen to EDM and RF in weird clubs in Ananto.  There is a reason the infrastructure of the major institutions of Kalistani politics and society are based in Ananto.  And not having to maintain them is a benefit for the Mainland Districts, who are freer to experiment with policy that works for their own District.  It is a pretty decent balance which has evolved over the generations, and I don't really think that relationship should be altered, not by the Republican Government, and not really by Ananto either.

GL:  Thank you for your time, Comrade Premier.

DP:  Anytime, Comrade Lopez.

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420 Drops "Magnum Opus" Electricity
Rock Concept Album a massive departure from anticipated fusion sound
Neveras City, Neveras
April 30, 5054


Imagery of a motherboard as a City Skyline set against a Sulari Sunset adorns 420's massive Concept Album Electricity

420's most recent album Electricity, which can only be described as a concept album, was released yesterday to critical dismay. Lawrence Simmons of The Republic called the album "dreadfully long and played out", while Doris Browne of rock blog Slash/7 called it "self-indulgent, boring, predictable and bizarre."

"Gone are the lyrics about being original or smoking good buds in the sunshine," said Vince Lourenne-Gilbert of the Canrillaise-Language Musique du Jour, "and what we find is a stupid, arrogant album that talks about aliens trapped in Terra, planets that have been blown to bits and harnessing free energy. Who even understands this nonsense? And the music: what's with all these whirls and zaps and spaceship engine sounds? While there are maybe enough good songs on this record for an EP, overall 420 and producer Mica Rawlins really missed the mark entirely and blew up on take off."

The band was not deterred. "We have released our magnum opus," said lead singer Nicholas Ross. "We compromised a lot on the Blue Album So we could sell enough records to keep us comfortable for the rest of our lives. That accomplished, we decided to make the record we always wanted to make, and the critics can go jump in the Strait." The lyrics seem to support this attitude: on the song "Jovial" the lyric says "One thing I've got to say before sales dive/Be positive and love your life."

Doggo, the famously incomprehensible bassist for the band, added "Like, you know when these dudes hang out behind their computer, and then the letters, these little white squigly things on these black keys, climb up their fingers and pull those fingers toward the computer, and suddenly, like, it has their mind, and they just read what others say, and the words become sounds, like some alien speaking from beyond the transdimensional door into the orbit of a neutron star more than six hundred thousand light years away... Its totally amazing brother." as MC Guillermo Rodriguez nodded in agreement.

Regardless of the opinions of the critics, the record, which was both previewed and released on the band's website and was published by LCR, reported sold 152.000 copies in the first ten hours, adding another gold certification to the band's impressive tally. "I bought my copy the first day, on digital download" said 420 fan Willy Pietro, of Kaliburg, "and have been listening to it pretty nonstop for about the last twelve hours, just trying to catch all the nuances and messages." Fan Michelle Jones added "Yeah, see, the key is mushrooms. If you've eaten mushrooms, like ever, the music is brilliant. It is meaningful. It is enlightening. If you don't use drugs, well, you're lame anyway and this record ain't even for you."

KRTVN seems to be split on whether to listen to the critics, or to the fans. 420 fans flooded the call in show "Week in Demand" and the video for the lead single, "MOSFET" which is a kind of transistor common in radios went to number 3 on the countdown this week. Meanwhile, the record still hasn't charted on the Modern Rock Albums chart. "F--k the naysayers," said Ross. "Like we said, they don't mean a thing. This is the style we're bringing now. And we've got nothing but love from the fans so far."

The controversial album itself is evidence that the shine is off the poppunk boom. Even stalwarts like 420 miss some times, and as the sound matures and artists become more experimental, the audience for the sound will become more selective. But generally speaking, the Dana poppunk sound which has dominated Kalistani airwaves and record sales for the last half a decade remains in full swing, with associated bands still outselling non-associated bands by a factor of 2:1.

In related News, the long rumored GanJam sponsored by the various labels in the Kalistani Recorded Music Industry took a step forward today, as a development committee was named, to determine the feasability and profitability of a new festival.

You can check out the entire album Electricity here on the band's website.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3uxlgUn6iA]

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FStop Releases Hyperion Rising on ARC
Music is far more electronic, far less bouncy
Sulari, Suldanor
May 15, 5054


On Hyperion Rising, FStop makes music for an aging fan base and branches out to electro pop

Long gone are the days of FStop's skapunk inflected brand of pop. On the band's most recent release, Hyperion Rising, which was nearly three years in the making, we see a band who is, like many of their contemporaries, aging with their fanbase. As the fans and the bands enter their mid 20s, topics other than "being taken seriously" or "finding one's identity" or even "how to behave at parties" are replaced by songs that start to consider settling down, maybe starting a family, and all the while trying to remain true to that identity that you built all those years ago.

This is the tone on Hyperion Rising. Where it discusses relationships, the band talks more about relationships that are stable and longstanding enough to be taken for granted. On more than one song, Billie Pepper, who wrote the majority of this record, sings about marriage and having kids. It talks about loving unfaithful partners, it talks about the desires for domesticity. The songs are also far more quiet and introspective, for the most part. There could be a lot of reasons for this, but Pepper has said in recent interviews that her mind was not on massive concerts during the writing of this record but more on home, and both Teddy Singh and Tomas Edwards have gotten married between the release of Suburban Hellscape and Hyperion Rising. It is a very conservative album, especially compared to the band's earlier, snotty, devil-may-care offerings.

Fans responded well to the more mature sounds. Most praised the new wave moves made by the band which bordered on electropop in some places. The drums and guitars are still (mostly) analog, but there are synthesizer touches on the record that stand out more for their absence in previous albums, than anything unusual about their inclusion here. All this is not to say that the album is not a solid rock and roll album. Instead, it tries to incorporate a sound to make it stand somewhat apart from the Dana and Suldanor sound that gave rise to the band's popularity. Critics especially praised FStop's bold production choices (this is the first FStop record that the band itself produced).

"We tried to make a record that sounds like something that all five Districts can enjoy," said Pepper. "When we were preparing to write this record, we had been on a quasi-hiatus, needing to just chill after the blow up of Hellscape, and we all went to hear music in places like Kaliburg, and Vrassa, and over to Neveras City, and we tried to incorporate some of those influences." The effect is obvious: FStop retains strong punk and reggae influences of the Dana/Sulari scene that they came up in, but ventures into Kaliburg RF on songs like "Don't Let it Go Away" and "Former Love Interest", the cabaret rustic rock and gritpunk of Vrassa in songs like "Bathtub" and "Sacharine Girl" and the Stoney fusion vibes of Neveras on "Staring Contest" and "Who will be?" Over all, we can generally see similarities between Hyperion Rising and 420's recent release Electricity, with 420 going far out into left field, while FStop holds down the home front.

The Record generally expands FStop's sound, a fact which may be the most progressive thing about this album: these are solid steps forward for the band. It also comes out as rumors of a new GanJam look increasingly likely. If there is a new GanJam, FStop will likely play the festival along with bands like 420 and The Progeny and then the merger of the sounds will be complete in all but name.

Hyperion Rising is only seven minutes shorter than Electricity, but it seems that 420 was the lightning rod for the critics, because Hyperion Rising got none of the negative reviews about length or unoriginality that critics blasted 420 for. The record has already gone 4x Gold.

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Premier Perry Addresses National Syndicate of Unions
Continues to promote Zero Growth Policies
Eshar, Odufaray
April 15, 5055


Premier Diego Perry talks to the Union of Unions about the Employment Situation in Kalistan

Recent discussions of the world's largest economies has led the Kalistani Government to commission a comprehensive study of Kalistan's workforce, titled "The National Survey of Labor Statistics". The Premier of the Republic delivered the findings to the National Syndicate of Unions at Eshar Odufaray last week. Below is a transcript of his short speech:

... And we conclude therefore that the situation in Kalistan's workforce seems to be in line with other Republics of our size and economic levels.

To wit, below are some summary data from the Executive Summary of the Report on Kalistani Labor, provided by the Joint Labor Taskforce, led by Dr. Vincent Casey of Kaliburg PolyTechnic University and Dr. Lora Hardison of Kaliburg Republican University.

Kalistan's total working age population consists of all citizens from the age of 18 to 60. This represents a total of 61.3 percent of the population, or a total of 61.2 Million. Younger than this, Kalistani children are in school, and at 18 officially join the National Service Program. The official retirement age in the Republic is 60 years of age.

Total Workforce participation in Kalistan is 64.3 percent, or 39.34 Million Kalistanis. Division of Labor across the Republic is roughly split evenly between public sector strategic Nationalized Industries and Government Services and the Private Sector. Public Sector economic activity is primarily focused on extraction and processing of raw materials associated with KALNAPECO, KALNAFERCO, and KALMILINCO, as well as Public sector agriculture activities in the National Grower's Association, National Energy production, the National Rail System, and the Republican bureaucracy. Private Sector activates focus on manufacturing in the Steel Industry, automotive industry, high tech Industry and material's processing industry, as well as most services.

Sector breakdown is as follows, over both Public and Private Sectors
Energy and Resources Extraction- 28 percent
Agriculture- 19 percent
Industrial- 20 Percent
Services- 33 percent
--(Tourism and Entertainment)-17 Percent
--(Retail)- 51 Percent
--(Finance and Banking)-18 percent
--(Transportation)- 12 Percent
--(Legal Services)- 2 Percent

Of the 21.48 Million Kalistanis of working age population who are not in the workforce, 2.23 Million are both unemployed and actively looking for labor for an unemployment rate of 3.36 percent. The National Service Program accounts for another 8.38 million: 3,885,000 conscripts, and nearly four and a half million enlistees. 95,000 citizens are either active or reserve regular Force, while the SP Militia employs approximately 1.4 million Partisans. The official unemployment rate reflects loosening of labor protections in the last ten years due to Liberal Government, and while it is historically higher than average, it is still very low in terms of most modern economies.

Other reasons for not participating in the work Force are: Illness or Disability (935,000), Early Retirement (1.135 Million), Home Responsibilities (776,520) and Other/unspecified reasons (3.2 Million). The remaining 3.4 million nonparticipants in the Labor Force are in some form of University, college, or independent work which is not counted toward labor statistics. A very generous Universal Basic Income and strong labor protection ensures that despite the fact that 21 million Kalistanis of working age do not participate in economic activity, poverty levels are very low across the Republic and workers can feel free to take their time to select jobs that suit their interests, rather than being forced to accept labor to fend off starvation, as they are in nations which do not maintain the strong social floor that Kalistan has long maintained. Combined with nearly universal participation in the National Service Program, widespread participation in both formal universities and vocational training schools, and continued zero growth policies of the Republican Government, which have only recently begun to lift, workforce nonparticipation serves primarily to provide upward pressure toward wages, that is only marginally offset by a slightly elevated level of unemployment.

These statistics were verified by a national survey conducted between September 5053 and August 5054. Respondents include a wide swath of Kalistani employers in all five districts, as well as statistics departments in the Republican Government, the district governments, the Nationalized Industries, the National Service Program, the National Food Bank program, the National Growers' Syndicate, ODEN, and the Kalistani Regular Forces and RSMoK/SPoK. Full citations are found in the Report.

The Premier then took questions from gathered press for about an hour. The full speech was broadcasted on KRTVN TV 1 and Radio 8, as well as Radio Kaliburg.

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GanJam 5055 features Poppunk, Fusion, and Triphop
Three Day Festival also displays psychedelic art
Yoshimi, Suldanor
October 21, 5055


More than 50,000 fans gather at Yoshimi Field, Suldanor for the recent GanJam

GanJam 5055, the intermittent festival of Kalistani Music and Arts, has recently ended, with pledges to hold more District festivals over the next five years.  This festival represents the first festival since the ill fated show of 5028, which was plagued by rain and cancellations.  Generally speaking, the festival this year, a late season three day concert and art fair held at Yoshimi Field in far southern Suldanor, went far better.

52,435 concert goers visited the festival during the three day event.  This year's GanJam was sponsored by the five major Kalistani Record Labels, as well as KRTVN and ODEN and featured bands currently at the top of the Kalistani Music Scene.  It also returned the Art Fair to the GanJam, a feature that was noticeably absent during the last few events.  The venue, Yoshimi Field, was recently designated a permanent outdoor venue:  It had previously served as a SP militia training base, but passed to the District Government in 5035, and has been used as an outdoor venue for the Suldanor music scene for twenty years.  This year, the site was officially divested and purchased by Chase Promotions LTD, who then opened the site officially for the GanJam in coordination with the Labels.

The Art Pavilion actually opened the day prior to the Festival, and welcomed both art installations from across the Republic, as well as several interactive and interpretive exhibits.  In an effort to encourage attendance at the Art pavilion, a new "artists' village" was constructed near the art pavilion to house not only the artists who had their work in the pavilion, but also band and guest accommodations.  Label representative Marissa Talmadge said of the decision, "You never knew who you would run into at the art pavilion over the week.  You could meet Janet Sweeny, who designed the black light display, or you could meet Billie Pepper, who spent a lot of the time wandering around the hall.  You never knew."  The desired effect was achieved however:  more than 45,000 concert goers visited the art pavilion to see the various works by famous Kalistani Artists during the festival.

The days at this GanJam did not carry traditional themes that are associated with the GanJam.  "Working with KRTVN," said Talmadge, "We took a poll to order our Bands.  The top three vote getters were our Day headliners, and then we went from there.  Of course the Labels were to nominate their artists for the poll, but we got a nice cross section of Kalistani Music."  Day 1 was headlined by MC Skinny J, who has been working for 20 years with the Kaliburg Hiphop Collective The Brethren.  Skinny J and The Brethren brought a master set of boombap hiphop to the evening.  "It was way different of course to most of the music on the festival," said Skinny J.  "We see a lot of punks and rock kids, and it's important to keep hip hop and bass thumping alive for the Republic!"  Skinny J's performance won "crowd favorite" award for the festival.  Day 1 also featured an all Egelian set by Kaliburg punks Dias Azules, as well as sets by Killer Panda, who was primarily EDM and triphop, and Ernie Caldado, who's KME trio got the crowd jumping.


Skinny J, from Kaliburg closes a successful Day 1 of the GanJam

Day 2 Was headlined by FStop.  The set, which began after 11:30 pm was the most attended set of the entire festival, and fans reveled to Billie Pepper's and Band's high energy late night live antics.  The set featured many hits, but they also played a few deep cuts from their records, and previewed a few tracks from their upcoming album "Lovers Rock" which is due out after the beginning of the new year.  "From the sound of their new music," said concert goer Alyssa Cooper, "It sounds like FStop is going to delve deeper into reggae and ska, but like an electronic version of that."  An early single release, "You Really Love Me" seems to confirm this move:  the track is electroreggae and even includes a featured Toast by dancehall Legend Queen Rasp.  Queen Rasp appeared on stage with FStop during the GanJam set.  Other acts that played on Day 2 were Port Swedes post-Grit act Drogo Jones, Vrassan City Alt Folk rockers Ani and the Rustics, and Suldanor punk legends The Progeny.


Members of FStop and 420 gather near the Art Pavilion as GanJam was being struck for the year

Day 3 was perhaps the most eclectic day musically speaking, of all three days.  This day kicked off early with Hard rock act from Gendaris The Farmers, who played straight alternative rock during their 45 minute set.  They were followed by pop quartet The Girlz, who spread their message of girl power.  They were joined on stage by KMI labelmates, funk band Carey and Sunshine, who took over for them and played an entire set of straight funk and RF Funk.  The Evening kicked off with KME ska band El Leon del Sur, from Dana, and have been gaining large audiences in both Sulari and Kaliburg.  The Concert closed out with 420 playing a double set, over two and a half hours, with one break after the first hour.  During the first set 420 played a selection of their hits from both their first three records, as well as several from their upcoming record.  During the set, MC Guillermo Rodriguez said all National Product consumed during their sets was on the band, and the out door venue very quickly filled up with ganja smoke, as ODEN reps and volunteers proceeded to circulate through the crowd passing out ganja to all takers.

Toward the end of the first set, ODEN distributors were once more circulating through the crowd, this time distributing high potency psilocybin tablets to concert goers, once more at the instigation of the band.  All members of the band were seen to take a handful of the tablets as well.  They then played a couple more songs and went on break for about a half hour, but told the fans not to go anywhere.  The crowd lights did not come up, and psychedelic graphics continued to play on the screen that backed the band, as individual band members remained on the darkened stage and took turns soloing on their respective instruments.  Nicholas Ross meanwhile read spoken word poetry, including his poem "The Magic Mushroom" which were actually the lyrics of the non-album B-Side "Bombage".

When the drugs started seriously kicking in for most in the audience, the band kicked into the massive guitar and drum opus of "Electricity Intro".  The stage lights came back up and what appeared to be an encore stretched out for an hour as the band played the entirety of the Electricty album live.  As soon as fans realized that the entire record was being performed live, the drugs were in full control, and most of the audience sat entranced.  "It was bizarre and just mesmerizing," said Jill Severson, who remained for 420's second set.  "At first we were kind of confused.  I don't think they were supposed to play a second set, but as soon as we realized that they were playing the album cover to cover, there was like just like 35,000 people out there in the field, at like 1:30 in the morning, and we were just on this cosmic vibe."

"This second set is just for the fans," said the clearly inebriated singer Nicholas Ross, sporting a recently shaved head and a monk robe.  "It's a cosmic voyage and we're all on the mothership."  Everyone interviewed said the live performance far surpassed the recorded version of the record.  "Like, I mean, I liked the rock before, and I have been a 420 fan since Funkrawk," said Derek DeVille, "but I sort of never got Electricity, until tonight.  It made so much sense, now.  It totally felt like a trip around the galaxy and into the core of an atom."  The performance also won over many critics, some of whom revised their famously negative reviews of the record.  Doris Browne, of rock blog Slash/7, who had famously called the album "self-indulgent, boring, predictable and bizarre", wrote a formal retraction of her review the following morning, and said "I was wrong.  I get it now, I am converted, and can only beg you, if you are a music lover, to revisit this record."

ODEN reports that the festival was a commercial success.  "The festival was profitable," said ODEN spokesperson Gina Rodriguez.  "We have made a significant contribution to the Growers' Syndicate, and shared the remaining profits with the various Labels.  We were also able to pay Artists this year who had work displayed in the Art Pavilion, which is new for GanJam."  Yoshimi police, who performed security for the venue, reported only a few breeches of public order during the three days, "A comparatively moderate level of criminality compared to most GanJams."  Most of the crime reported involved vandalism and petty theft, and only four people were seriously injured.  "Their injuries were self inflicted" said the police spokesperson.  "The injuries were the result of drug induced paranoia, and involved getting trapped in a portable toilet and then being rolled down a hill.  How four people fit into the portable toilet is still under investigation."


The Progeny warm the crowd up for the Day Closers FStop

The record label co-sponsors of the festival said they were proud of the festival and would consider doing another festival in five years, but meanwhile, can focus on regional concerts at smaller venues, and perhaps shorter lengths.  "Its a lot to get together, lots of moving parts," said Talmadge.  "With a smaller venue, and maybe a day instead of three, we can compact the festival experience and expose the format to many across the Republic who could not make it to Yoshimi this year."

Whatever happens for the future, this festival will be remembered for many years.

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Dias Azules releases Kalistani Uber Alles
Band abandons punk entirely for political Rock
Kaliburg, Ananto
September 1, 5056


Kaliburg poppunks create an Alt-Rock album full of critique of Republican decadence

Kaliburg punk band Dias Azules no longer complain about boredom and suburban anomie. Now they are taking on a larger target: The Republican Government. On their new album Kalistani Uber Alles, Dias Azules critiques the Liberal leaning Republican Government, reimagining it in a great morality play of the wealthy elites vs. the People. "We are waiting for the absentee Liberal Deputies to finally leave the Assembly so that Kalistan can go back to socialism." The Album is named after the classic 46th century song of the same title by Kaliburg punk legends The Dead Bennots'.

The lead single, "Republican Idiot" discusses a fictionalized President "Hope Shreed" claiming that her goal is to become a fascist dictator, with a smile. "We're really tired of these rich f--ks making policies that benefit the rich," said singer Jose Mas Fuerte. "They claim to be these enlightened people, but really they are just trying to reentrench money, increase the police state and take away the means of life that we enjoy and it is time we spoke up."

This is not the first time that Dias Azules have spoken out on political topics. Though they are outspoken Socialists in their personal lives and offstage, most of their music has avoided the topic of politics, preferring instead to talk about boredom, nihilism, and valuelessness. It was a theme well suited for their punk rock sound. But on this record, the band steers clear of punk rock, and opts for an alternative hard rock sound that is more suited to getting heavy messages across, without alienating folks who might otherwise agree. "You have no idea how many times we have been called sellouts by people in the punk scene," said mas Fuerte. "So we figured, might as well like get good at our instruments and play a record that means something more than just complaining about how bored we are all the time."

The hard rock record was generally well accepted by music critics and fans alike across the Republic. KRTVN Radio 1 spun the entire disc on Monday night, and read fan comments, which were more often than not favorable. The Record debuted at a modest 25 on the Modern Rock Albums chart, an issue more with slowly changing tastes in the Republican fan base than the quality of the record. "I think people are looking for music that is more grown up," said mas Fuerte. "So we change with our audience." Kalistani Uber Alles debuted higher than any other poppunk record of the last year, and debuted at more than 15 positions higher on the Album chart than either FStop's or 420's albums released in the wake of the GanJam of 5055.

"We don't think punk is over," said mas Fuerte. "We're still playing shows to thousands of fans who still pogo to our songs...But, you can only write so many songs about being bored or saying screw you to the Establishment before you get bored yourself... And to some degree we've become the Establishment. We're like all thirty year old now. We're the guys who we were talking about."

Kalistani Uber Alles certainly does represent a major shift for the band. You can listen to the lead single, "Republican Idiot" here, and stream the entire album on your preferred streaming service.

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9NFs7qPwuk]

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AeroKal receives tentative contract for 5 KA9200s
Represents first significant foreign contract for Kalistani Aircraft Industry
Sulari, Suldanor
November 18, 5056


5 new KA9200 models to be sold to Luthori Empire within the next year

AeroKal, the workhorse of the Kalistani Commercial air industry, which flies between Kalistan and Dovani, Seleya, and Keris from Trigunia to Yindala, from Lourenne to Valruzia, has been steadily operating at a low key for more than 700 years. Since opening its Sulari operations, AeroKal has kept the Republic supplied with new aircraft to replace retired aircraft, and ensured a steady supply of private consumer aircraft to private buyers both domestic and foreign. AeroKal has also served the KALMILINCO in ensuring that the Kalistani Regular Forces have operational air craft to control the skies above the Republic.

Now for the first time, AeroKal has received preliminary terms of a contract from the Holy Luthorian Empire to purchase 5 KA9200 passenger jets. This is not only the first contract AeroKal has received from Luthori, a country which is notoriously reclusive, but from any major country anywhere. The firm quickly approved the terms of the deal, and offered discounts for the number of planes ordered. AeroKal Spokesmen noted an additional discount should the transaction be concluded in Kalistani Rubles. "We felt number one that we would save at least three percent on the cambio fees if we get Rubles," said AeroKal's Spoksewoman Diane Smith, "but it also encourages the foreign purchase of Kalistani currency, which has long been a goal of the Republican Government." Total for the purchases will be between 522.5 Million and 540 Million Rubles.

The Government of the Republic noted that trade credits would also be welcome in lieu of direct payments. Once the terms of the Contract make it through the Luthori Parliament, the Republic will deliver the 5 planes within 60 days. Ongoing maintenance and aftermarket parts and service will be negotiated at a later date.

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Profile of a President: Robert Delgado-Bennots
Incoming President of the Republic more a playboy than a politician
Kaliburg, Ananto
February 9, 5057


Kalistan's New President, Robert Delgado-Bennots aboard his sloop off Port Davon

The recently elected President of the Republic, Robert Delgado-Bennots, is unlike the run of the mill socialist politician in Kalistan. Delgado, 61, is a man of wealth and leisure. Delgado made his fortune in foreign currency speculation by the time he was 35 years old. He had all the comforts of life: He had cars, he owned a home in all five districts, he owned several yachts and was well known as champion sailor. "I had so much money that my money made me money" said President Delgado before his inauguration. "I couldn't spend anything: everything that I bought was seen as an investment, and most people were happy to give me things for free, simply because I was me and they believed that me being seen with their things would make other people want their things. It was bizarre, when you think about it: A person with an abundance of wealth actually spends less of his money than a person who lacks wealth, and he simply proceeds to get wealthier and wealthier." And in all likelihood he would have continued on that track. But a single moment changed his life and his mind forever.

"I was driving one night near Luxon, on a very curvy road, and they tell me I had a stroke," said Delgado. "I lost control of the car and spun out right through the guardrail and down into the gulch below. They said that when James and Cathy [Whitcomb, two hikers who were in the area and has heard the crash, saving Delgado's life] found me my car was on fire, and the only thing that saved me was that my roof had been torn off in the crash and my gas tank punctured so the car didn't explode." Recovery for Delgado was very lengthy and extensive. Four major surgeries, a year and a half of traction to mend his bones and then two years of rehabilitation brought the financier back from death's door.

"But it wasn't cheap," said Delgado. "The Liberals, who I supported my entire adult life, had cut support for health care in the Republic for a time, and needless to say, I was not among those who they believed needed support. Fine, I said. Its true: I could buy the entire hospital on a whim, and the medical bills would not hurt me. But how many Kalistanis would bills like mine hurt? What would they do? Would they be forced to die if they couldn't pay the bill as easily as I could? Who's mouths were Liberal policies taking food out of?" The President was explicit: "Who would die because they didn't have money like mine?"

While in the hospital, many people initially came to see Delgado, but none were more regular visitors than the couple who had rescued him. "While most people were asking me for money or financial advice, my friends, the ones who pulled me from the wreckage of my car, they came to see me every week. Most times, they just came to talk with me and find out how things were going for me. Some times when I felt like giving up, they would cheer me up. They told me first about the fact that their only son had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and that he would likely die within a month, even before their own family. They were good kind people, and they thought I was just some guy who was in trouble and needed a friend. They had no idea who I even was."

The gift they gave Delgado, upon successful completion of his treatment was a copy of Bennots' Ethical Socialism. (Delgado is, through his mother, a member of the Bennots family, hence the hyphenation in his name.) "I told them I was a Liberal and they said , read it anyway." said Delgado. "It was written in a Vrassan that I find very stale: of course, the book is like three thousand years old, but after working through it the first time, I called up James and Cathy and invited them to my place in Kaliburg, for dinner." He said the two young wilderness fanatics were in awe at his modern and palatial home. "They asked if they were even in the right place. I am assuming they didn't do any sort of research on who I was, but they seemed out of sorts and a bit off when they arrived, not sure if they were at the correct address. I had to walk to the end of the driveway to encourage them to come up."

During dinner, the three started a conversation that would last to this day and lead ultimately to Delgado's adoption of socialism. "They became my closest confidants," says Delgado. "Over the years, as we talked about philosophical and practical topics, they really made strides to welcome me into their family. I helped them with their son's funeral, I was with them to celebrate the birth of their second child, and so forth. I spared no expense. When James wanted to open up a vegan restaurant, I was the first person to offer him seed money. When Cathy completed her PhD, I helped her find a teaching job. And in exchange, I learned why they were so passionate about their ideology. It really is rather simple: Need should not exist. For anyone. If we can. we should utilize the instruments of the state to ensure that nobody goes without."

Delgado formally retired from finance, and decided to return to college. "Well, attend college, really," he said. "I dropped out my first semester, because of course, I knew everything already, and there was nothing these eggheads could teach me. I was very very wrong." Delgado pursued his new passion, which was learning. "Since I was not trying to get a job, I felt free to study what I liked." His new found philosophy did not mean, however that he lived an austere life. "I cut back a bit, but I wouldn't say I have had a hard life by any stretch of the imagination." He got rid of his houses on the mainland, donating them to Brethrenist Meetings, where they were turned into temporary living situations for people in difficult relationships. He sold off or donated most of his cars and jets to charity. "I won't get rid of my sloop, though," said Delgado of his 50 foot catamaran sailboat. "She's a nice vessel and I love to sail."

Delgado also devoted his life to humanitarian work. "Before the SP rolled the Liberal meanstested policies back, I was paying for lots of people to get treatment. We founded a research center to help kids with terminal illness, regardless of ability to pay. We build affordable homes for families, and had a very successful program to retrain workers to make sure that skillsets matched the needs of employers, and then we followed up and advocated with those workers to ensure that they got good jobs where they earn a good living and are fulfilled in their job." All of these projects has only put a "slight dent" in Delgado's fortune.

Meanwhile, Delgado kept up a sort of playboy public persona. He was spotted at famous Kaliburg clubs, he dated supermodels and famous actresses. He was a regular endorser of Double O Rum from Odufaray. He served as ODEN ambassador for a year nearly 10 years ago, though he was clear: "I enjoy ODEN's cigars, but the harder stuff? I'll leave that for the kids. I've already had a stroke for heavens' sake." He continued sailing competitively and for pleasure. "But," he added, "I don't much like driving anymore. If I need to go somewhere, depending on the amount of time, I'll either sail or fly."

Six years ago, Delgado decided to get into politics. "I was studying public policy at the time," said Delgado, "and figured that if I could make a difference in the lives of hundreds or thousands as a private citizen, imagine what I could do in the Government!" He officially joined the SP and over the next few years, campaigned tirelessly for successful Socialist Candidates across the entire Republic. This last election, he was nominated for the office of President of the Republic from the Socialist Party, and was elected handily, on the second ballot.

Now that he is President, Delgado still keeps up with James and Cathy Whitcomb, and they still meet for dinner once a month. He also continues to work with his various foundations, though has become an ex officio member of them, to prevent any hint of conflict of interest. He has also entirely finished divesting of his portfolio of stocks and securities, opting to sell rather than place them in a blind fiduciary trust.

But he still owns his sailboat and still can be seen plying the waves of Davon Bay weekly. "I don't think I will ever give up sailing," said President Delgado. "Or smoking. Or women."

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Incoming Ag Minister Rosa Fernandes to open Mainland Ag Initiative
Pledges to work with Governing Partners to improve Mainland Agriculture and Infrastructure
Eshar Odufaray
September 3, 5057


Agriculture minister Rosa Fernandes meets with Folkparty Representatives at Odufaray KGS offices

The new Minister of Food and Agriculture Rosa Fernandes has pledged to work with the Folksparty on new initiatives to improve agriculture and infrastructure in the Mainland Districts.

"We really could benefit from an upgrade in our farming techniques here in Odufaray especially," said Fernandes. "While the Growers' Syndicate here has been serving the Republic well to keep the Food Bank stocked, and to continue to create export crops, practices and methods have advanced and now we stand to benefit from the developments not only in planting and harvesting methods, but also with new developments of agronomy, aimed at bringing more marginal land under cultivation for a wider variety of crops, both to continue to diversify the Kalistani plate, and to create opportunities for new exports."

The Minister has noted that the creation of co-ops will ensure less competition among smaller farmers, and a someone more intelligent and organized national farming industry. "Far too often, farmers watch consumer trends, and then switch crops away from lower paying cereals and staple crops to higher paying specialty crops which their land is not necessarily the best to produce, or adequately watered, or whatever. This creates unnecessarily wild swings in farm prices, gluts in produce for which there is little real demand, or for which demand has already been satisfied, and little reliability on the external market. The Syndicate has made some effort to limit this sort of boom bust behavior, but there is no cap on the demand side which would further stabilize prices and ensure a steady income for Kalistani farmers."

The Infrastructure Minister, who issued a statement through the Ag Minister additionally pledged to build more farm roads and cargo rail between heavily concentrated farming regions, primarily in Odufaray, southern Vrassa and inland Suldanor, and ports at Sulari, Eshar and Port Swedes. "Greater infrastructure will aid in getting our food and produce to market much more efficiently," said Fernandes. "This will save farmers time and fuel costs: If you can take your harvest 10 miles to the co-op and sell it there, rather than having to arrange transport to one of the depots sometimes hundreds of miles away." The Minister said that new Infrastructure will be assigned to the NSP within six months, and will be based on the needs of communities and farmers' co-ops, with whom they will coordinate in the planning phase.

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Survey reveals that many Kalistani minors are smoking regularly
Minister Hannah Summer proposes to restrict underage sales
Kaliburg, Ananto
February 14, 5058


The survey conducted on minor smoking, which has been criticized as inaccurate, but still revealing

Recently, the result of an online survey has been circulating around social media, which has caused some worry in parents and medical experts. "It is worrying how many children are smoking in Kalistan" commented the minister of Health and Social Services Hannah Summer. "It's been proven how harmful and addictive it is, and it's the cause of many types of cancer. We should be discouraging it, especially for minors. I'm surprised that the government allows minors to purchase tobacco products to his day.

"The high percentage is the result of it being legal for children to purchase cigarettes, so of course a lot of them will try it, and tobacco being a highly addictive substance, a lot of them get hooked on it" says Dr. Phillip Johnson, a renowned Kalistani professor.

The survey revealed that around 30% of Kalistanis between the age of 15 and 18 are smoking regularly. The statistics might not be accurate, as there is no way of proving the validity of each person's answers or age, but as the survey was conducted anonymously, there should be little incentive to lie. Medical experts say that the true number is not close to 30%, rather much lower, around 10%, perhaps even lower, but the figure is still large given it concerns minors. It is most likely the result of not a broad or large enough of a group of people who have been surveyed.

Minister Hannah Summer has proposed that the sales of tobacco to minors is to be outlawed, and those who are already smoking given rehabilitation and free of charge nicotine gum or patches to help them get off of cigarettes. Summers said that the end goal is to get minor smoking to less than 1%