Kalistan

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Kalistan Elections 5701: Nationalists maintain Plurality
Moderates come in close Second and Socialists double their seat total
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
January 3, 5701


Map shows growing support for more moderate outlook

Members of each Institutional Party of Kalistan are celebrating this evening. Kalistan has held its most competitive election in two generations, as groups that represented genuinely competing viewpoints actually went out, spoke with voters and made the case for their positions across the entire Empire. "The System worked well," said Chancellor of the Empire Reginald Hanson, who held his seat easily in the Duchy of Vrassa At-large elections. All members of the government maintained their seats, but there was a significant shift from a Nationalist-dominated Assembly membership to a more even split between Nationalists and Moderates, with Socialists more than doubling their seat count Empire-wide.

In the 5701 elections, Nationalists captured 48.1% of the seats in the National Assembly, capturing none of the constituencies fully, and losing the absolute Majority they have held for decades. The Moderates finished in second with 35.4% of the seats. "Moderates got an important assist from the fact that Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina is widely perceived, rightly or wrongly, to be a reformist and therefore would probably be a supporter of the moderate faction if she was a voter," said the Chancellor. And Socialists did well, earning 16.5% of the seats in the National Assembly, including a strong showing in the Duchy of Suldanor and both seats from the Free City of Sulari. The results show that to pass any piece of legislation, buy-in from more than one faction is now necessary, meaning that policy will be more moderate by default.

"Much of the churn was in the way votes were counted," said Hanson. "This year, we instituted a single standard system of vote counting of Rank Choice Voting. Its a system that allows people to rank their choices, first second etc and then have their second place votes count if their first place choices don't pan out. This proportional ranked choice voting system worked well for our at large district as well as our City Districts and ensured that more people got something they preferred instead of being totally shut out of the process." He said that the proportional system, combined with ranked choice voting meant that 87% of voters selected all those who eventually won as either first or second choice. "That shows a lot of support for these candidates," he said.

Chancellor of the Empire Hanson also said there was a lot of democracy in the candidate nomination process. "For years, the Empire has relied on Civil Society Organizations to name candidates for office," said Hanson. "The nominees came from Brethrenist meetings, unions, student groups, environmental groups, unions and syndicates, and non-partisan political education groups, to name a few. Each Civil Society group could name up to 2 candidates who were members of their organization, and who were nominated. Last summer at the Party Congress, our business was to sort through these nominees, and develop faction lists for each election. Sometimes a faction didn't get any nominees in a constituency, and in that case, didn't run a candidate in that race, but in nearly every case, the approved Party list of candidates for office was multi-factional, and people could select in almost all cases from all three factions. The Party was required to provide at least two names for each seat available."

Hanson said that the results of the election, where Nationalists maintained a clear plurality of seats, represents the Nationalist faction's long standing dominance in Kalistani Politics. "The Nationalists have governed this nation at least since the time of Empress Mary, and everything was geared toward their electoral success, but we cannot discount the explosion in votes for the faction I happen to belong to, which are the Moderates, or the doubling of the Socialist Assembly delegation, in both the Cities and in the Duchies."

Turn out was still lower than the Chancellor would have hoped for. "We has about a 23% turnout in the general election," said the Chancellor. "This is significantly less than we traditionally see in the non-partisan Free City elections, which often hovers in the 60s. But it is much better than the turn out in the last General election, which was below 20%, and significantly better than the national average over the last 40 years of 12.25%." The Chancellor thinks the uptick is due to civil society organizations pushing voters to turn out to support candidates preferred by the organizations. "They definitely gave us a big assist," said the Chancellor.

Hanson also added that there was almost no chance that the Empress would permit political advertising or campaign donations to improve that turnout. "She made it very clear that those two things would not be on the agenda," he said. "Like ever. She said this is a way that money and influence buys their way into liberal systems and if we were to permit that, we would very soon have an elite dominated Party and Assembly. She did not forbid public forums and direct canvassing, nor did she forbid campaigning by the Civil orgs that nominated the candidates. But printed propaganda was not allowed to have calls to action you would hear in commercial advertisements, and spoken Candidate information pieces were limited to specific periods of the day on KRTVN. Candidate information spots were permitted all day long on Radio Kaliburg."

Despite the notable limitations of the Kalistani elections, the Chancellor is nonetheless quite proud that not only did Kalistan run a fairly successful competitive election that produced valid results, but that they accurately reflected the expressed will of those who voted. "Yes, we have a strange system, and I am sure some liberals will look at it and say, 'Kalistan has no democracy.' But elections serve far different functions in Kalistan than they serve in in liberal nations. Here, they are designed to determine how Her Imperial Majesty's fiat will affect the lives of the people. The elections serve as a public endorsement method of the policy making apparatus. To be clear, elections are an institution in Kalistan. They serve a functional, instrumentalist role. They are not ideological, and they are not designed to provide a competing source of power or a vector for popular control. So they won't meet the basic requirements of liberal democracy. But they are not supposed to."

The Chancellor said that Her Imperial Majesty called to congratulate the Chancellor on the successful process, and informed him that if the Deputies can accomplish their mandate efficiently and thoroughly, she will be quite impressed with the results. "The Institutional Party passed the resolution to permit the relegalization of factions," said the Chancellor. "But Her Imperial Majesty has informed me that she will order it rescinded if the politics of the factions get in the way of accomplishing our work in the Assembly, so it is on us to not let disagreement in viewpoints get in the way of our work. We may have spirited debates, but Her Imperial Majesty was clear that we were not to let them derail us in carrying out the business of the Chamber."

The New Deputies will be seated in a Week.

@TheRepublic

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Empress visits Hutorian Holdings
Makes great impression on Sutton, Discusses with Regent plans for King's Return to Northern Kingdom
Isle of Sutton, Hutori
April 2, 5701


Empress Carolina II Ananto, rejuvenated on the Cliffside Trail on the Isle of Sutton

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto visited the Kingdom of Hutori last month on vacation. This is the Empress' first visit to Hutori. She travelled with her aunt, Her Highness, Princess of the Empire Nicolette Ananto-Collins, and her husband Sir Andrew Rohrbach first to Icehaven Manor, where the Empress met with the Kalistani Expat and Diaspora community of Axeminster, and then after several days, to the Isle of Sutton, one of the northern most points in the world. Lady Rene Houston, personal secretary to Her Imperial Majesty also joined the royal family on the trip.

"Her Imperial Majesty found Hutori starkly beautiful," said Lady Houston, describing the visit to the Isle of Sutton. "I had the privilege of accompanying the Empress along the Sea Cliff trail, which Empress Mary had once used, and took a photograph of her in much the same place as Mary Ananto and Lady Victoria Hansen once stood. The Empress showed me a copy of the photo and the land had not changed a bit since Her Imperial Majesty's grandmother stood in the same place decades before."

The Empress and the Princess of the Empire rested well while not visiting the people of the Island. "The people of the Island turned up to welcome the Empress when she arrived by plane from the Mainland," said Houston. "When she debarked the plane at Sutton, the town band showed up and played the Kalistani National Anthem to welcome her and the Princess to the Island. She met with the Mayor of Sutton and several local businessmen and women who were eager to give her a tour through the business district of the city. We were all treated to samples of local cheeses, meats, and pastries, and came away from the tour well fed and happy."

Over the next week, as the Empress sat in residence at Sutton Manor, she was visited by the people of the Island, who brought their friends and children to meet her. "I suppose it is not everyday that these kind folk get to meet an Empress," said Houston. "Her Imperial Majesty suspended the protocol and spoke with the people of the island in friendship and warmth and left yet another excellent impression upon the people of the Isle of Sutton, where Her Imperial Majesty holds the Ducal title as Duchess of the Isle of Sutton."

Houston reported that many people on Sutton were curious about the status of the young James Steuart-Carmichael, known in Hutori as His Majesty, King William XVII of Hutori. The Empress described Kalistani National Service, and presented greetings from the King to his People. "The People who spoke with the Empress concerning the King were very pleased to find that he was doing well and was learning waterways management in Kalistan. But more importantly, they were very glad to hear that he would be returning to Hutori in two and a half years after a sojourn of 10 years in Kalistan while the Regent governed the Kingdom along with the Parliament." Houston said that Her Imperial Majesty and the Princess of the Empire discussed the eagerness for the return of the King to Hutori, and more interestingly, as generalized by unspoken enthusiasm for the prospect of a new Sovereign who lived most of his life in Kalistan and trained with Her Imperial Majesty.

For the last few days of the 14 day trip, the Empress decided to return to Bekenial to meet with the Regent, Lord Davide Alvarez-Ananto, the King's grandfather and her cousin. During their closed door meetings, it is uncertain what was discussed but it is likely that the two discussed plans for the King's return from Kalistan in a couple years. Houston hinted that the Empress and the Regent discussed the impulse for changes in the Kingdom that she had noticed in both Axeminster and Sutton.

:I'm not at liberty to discuss their conversation," said Lady Houston. "They mostly discussed the changing political mood in Hutori and spent most of their time working out the details of the Return of the King to Hutori. Mostly Her Imperial Majesty was relaying the King's messages to the Regent. It was a friendly meeting, was respectful of the Regent's political and personal position, and focused on how Kalistan could be of assistance if Hutori needed it." Lady Houston added, "I can say that there will be more meetings as the King gets closer to finishing his enlistment in the NSP."

Overall, Lady Houston said, "Her Imperial Majesty and the Princess of the Empire both found the trip relaxing, productive and positive." The Empress holds a high positive approval rating in Hutori due to ages of close friendship between the two monarchies and long standing cultural exchange. The Empress used that goodwill to great effect as she spoke with Kalistanis living abroad, and then with the people of the Isle of Sutton. "The people found the Empress charming, erudite, and very warm," said Lady Houston. "To be honest, it was a pleasure to watch this woman who I work with and for daily finally be able to relax and show her true self to strangers. I know this side of her, but so few people in Kalistan get the opportunity to see it, because the Protocol is so rigid and she is not allowed to just talk to people as just another person. She thoroughly enjoyed being able to meet people as friends and not as their Empress."

The trip was a success, and a reluctant Empress returned to Kaliburg earlier this week with Lady Houston. The Princess of the Empire and Sir Rohrbach remained in Icehaven and will return by April 20 of this year.

@TheRepublic

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New KA-11P demonstrates capabilities
"What it gives up in performance, it gains in survivability," says Project Manager
Sulu AFB, Dahriel, Grand Duchy of Ananto
June 10, 5701


KA-11 (Prototype) landing at Sulu AFB after successful test mission

KalMilInCo reported this month that the joint designed KMC/AeroKal project KDC 152 has moved into testing phase as a full scale prototype of the aircraft has completed 10 test flights at operational specifications and has passed military standards. "We lost several of the prototype models earlier this year," said project leader Nicole Hallek for KalMilInCo. "The pilots were uninjured in those early failures, so the designs were not complete disasters, and we have also made adjustments for the various stresses and aerodynamic shortfalls that the earlier models had to produce the final prototype we have passed here today."

Hallek said earlier failures included engines stalling out during firing of the main cannon, soot clouding the windows, and even a tail fin flying off leading to a semi-crash landing over the Dah Swamp. "Well, some of the tests were pretty embarrassing," said Hallek. "But one thing we learned was that the pilot remained safe through all the tests. We put them and all the main flight systems in a titanium cage, and made the windows of the cockpit shatterproof glass, which was a design choice we needed to make due to the slow speed of the plane and the low altitude we are expecting to need. It can take a real beating, so its's safe to say that even if this plane is hit and half of it is on fire and it loses an engine, as long as the pilot is conscious, he can probably still land it and make it out with his life."

Some changes to the design needed to be made in order to prevent the major issues that failed the plane initially. "Well, firing the main gun presented the main problems," said Hallek. "We are firing 30 mm x 7 inch long rounds at a rate of 65 rounds per second out of the GAU-8 Autocannon. That thing creates a lot of smoke, which, of course immediately flies back over the canopy and gets sucked into the turbines of the plane. So we had to basically install windshield washers that spray the canopy as the gun is firing to prevent carbon from building up, and systems that would automatically restart one or both of the engines if it is choked out by the smoke."

When asked why the autocannon was installed to begin with, rather than added later when the basic design had been completed Hallek laughed. "This plane, if you want to say that, is less like a plane with a gun and more like a flyable autocannon. We designed the plane around the cannon. To demonstrate what I mean, let me give you a basic fact: The gun needs to be perfectly aligned within the nose of the plane, or it will completely knock off the flight characteristics of the plane itself. We have moved the front nose gear to the left so it can fold up to the side of the gun rather than right in front of it. And without the cannon, the weight in the back would cause the plane to tip backwards. The gun is an essential component to the flight characteristics of this aircraft, and without it, the plane simply could not get off the ground." This is even more striking when one learns that the main gun is larger than a full sized sedan and alone weighs about 2 tons fully loaded.

The shape of the plane has turned out to be an asset as well. "Its a very heavy plane to be sure," said Hallek, "but once it gets to speed and gets airborne, not a lot can bring it down. What it gives up in performance, it gains in survivability. It can successfully run and remain capable of sustained flight even if one of its engines is completely disabled. The cooperation we had with the civilian airliner AeroKal allowed us to conceive of this plane in terms of safety of its one passenger, the pilot, focus on stability and maneuverability, and most of all survivability. It will never be the fastest plane in the air over a battlefield, but if we think of a modern multi-role fighter as a jeep, the FA-11 is a tank. And tanks aren't the zippiest vehicles on the battlefield either." The plane is essentially designed to absorb damage rather than avoid it.

The slow moving Close Air Support plane does allow for a number of vulnerabilities. "Shoulder fired surface to air missiles can be deployed fairly successfully against the plane," said Hallek. "This is baked in. If enemy missile crews are prepared for the arrival of this plane, and have all the time in the world to set up, aim in and then lock on, a missile can hit it far easier than it would be for it to take out a supersonic jet fighter. But this weakness doesn't stop nations from deploying attack helicopters. It's the risk of battle, and the reward far outweighs the risk in this case, because the AutoCannon in turn can pierce all modern armor deployed on the battle field, or wipe out a city block with HE. Shoulder fired missile crews expose themselves the moment they fire, and a missile may hit one plane, but others will be there to light that crew up immediately and carry on with the mission."

"The next step is to begin testing it with different payloads, and against different kinds of targets," said Hallek. She said the KA-11 is expected to be fully ready to participate in Summer training exercises by next summer. "We want to take it to Bozo River next summer to really test it out." To do this, the first flight crews will begin training on simulators this summer and could be flying early Eval Models by mid Fall. "We hope to have a production ready final model by Spring of Next year, and will require hundreds of additional hours of field testing and feedback before we can create the production model. But we are now moving apace and are quite satisfied with the project's progress."

@TheRepublic

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Chancellor announces end to Kalistani Missile Defense Program
"Strategic weaponry is a waste of our money," said Hanson
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
July, 7, 5701


Chancellor of the Empire Sir Reg Hanson addresses reporters following tense government meeting

Today, the Chancellor of the Empire, Sir Reg Hanson announced that Kalistan was abandoning its strategic defense program in its nascent stages. "Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto has determined that development of strategic defenses, in light of Lodamun's progress, no longer makes sense for Kalistan." The Chancellor cited early cost overages on even studies about feasibility of a strategic weapons defense program in the Empire. "Costs were rapidly exceeding budgeted moneys, and threatened to more than double before we even got into the conceptualization phase. And it turns out that the strategic weaponry program so far has been just a big waste of money. So Her Imperial Majesty decided to cut her losses early in the development process and abandon the program all together."

The Chancellor said that though there were many viewpoints on the matter, with the strongest defenders being Her Imperial Majesty's Defense Minister and KalMilInCo, Her Imperial Majesty's Finance Minister continued to sound the alarms on the budget, and ultimately the Empress agreed with the Finance Minister. "We don't have an unlimited military budget like our Kerisian Friends, who can maintain global projection and a strategic weapons force without experiencing massive inflation or economic dislocations. Kalistan is and has always been on a budget, and we have priorities that do not always include things that major powers just take for granted." He said the remainder of the budget for strategic defense will be rediverted back to conventional weaponry.

"Kalistan has all the systems in place, technically," said the Sir Hanson. "We have full regional surveillance, which we developed over a century and maintain obsessively. This includes subsurface monitoring, Over the Horizon radar installations in both Ananto and in Marlingantos, a large surface and air surveillance fleet that gives us eyes on much of the Northern Anantonese between Keris and Indrala, and a satellite surveillance system that allows us to keep eyes on the surface, to spot missile launches such as those which destroyed our capital in 5612 and to watch troop movements around the globe. If we're watching, it does not go without notice, especially around Kalistan. We also have the equivalent of a Missile program, which has so far served commercial, scientific and intelligence purposes that could be converted to an offensive missile program fairly easily. But the goal was defensive, and that is much harder."

The Chancellor noted the Lodamese hypersonic kill vehicle system which was just revealed earlier this year. "The Lodamese developments were the final determining factor for Her Imperial Majesty. Kalistan does not have the resources to compete with that. And if that is the solution to some lunatic with a ballistic missile launching it south toward Kalistan, we are going to be screwed anyway: Hitting an incoming warhead in its terminal phase is incredibly difficult: It would be like hitting a bullet falling from space with another bullet fired from Earth. If Lodamun can do it, they are significantly farther ahead than everyone else is, and it would likely cause deficit spending in Kalistan for us to even begin to think about building something like that ourselves. And we have people to feed and infrastructure to rebuild. Her Imperial Majesty's priorities supersede any contingency requiring us to divert hundreds of billions of Imperial Rubles to an event we may never ever need to address, or one where another country can just change one thing and render our system entirely useless and our money squandered."

The Chancellor said the allocation for strategic defense which remains will be diverted to more tactical development. "We are working on the KA-11, but planners are already talking about modernizing the detection and target acquisition in our main multi-role fighter or the planning for a new fighter. This conversation also fits into our priorities and if we can build 10 fighters for the price of one anti-missile system, that seems to make Her Imperial Majesty more optimistic on the frugality of the budget expenditures."

He also said Kalistan may continue working with their allies on missile defense. "We have reached out to offer to help others," said the Chancellor. "But for the time being we will continue working on Fortress Kalistan, and let the world do its own thing, and help if we are invited to do so where we can. It only means it is that much easier for us to ensure a good quality of life for the People of Kalistan, and if someone decides to terrorize Kalistan with ballistic missiles, we'll cross that bridge when or if, we ever get there."

@TheRepublic

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Lady Ananto-Westmoreland to Empress: "Consider getting married"
Head of House Ananto forms committee to consider potential suitors
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
September 6, 5701


Lady Allison Ananto-Westmoreland, at her office in downtown Kaliburg

Long-standing director of House Ananto and Miramar CEO Lady Allison Ananto-Westmoreland had some candid words for Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto that she made public this week. "Oh yeah, I told her that maybe she ought to consider getting married sometime," said Lady Ananto. "She's 28 years old. It's time she start considering the future of the dynasty."

Lady Ananto-Westmoreland made the comments during a wide-ranging and often lighthearted interview where she announced that she would be retiring from her position at House Ananto by July 1 of 5702. "We need some new blood in charge of this House," said Lady Ananto-Westmoreland. "I informed Her Imperial Majesty of my desire to retire and we began identifying possible successors to me in this position, but we have not yet settled on a candidate as of this moment." Lady Allison Ananto-Westmoreland herself will be nearly 59 years old when she retires

Concerning the Empress' 'non-marriage' as Lady Ananto-Westmoreland joked, she added, "I know the Empress is very selective when it comes to who she chooses to surround herself with. She has a lot of personal relationships, but I informed her that she shouldn't expect to produce future heirs with her model friends, and she is not going to meet any suitable boyfriend, let alone husband material with her nose stuck in philosophy tomes during her free time. Her Imperial Majesty is a very thoughtful woman and that is to her credit most of the time, but her interests in the words of long dead thinkers, or purveyors of etymology don't really give her a fighting chance in the dating department, because she doesn't date." Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said that the Empress is by nature introverted, and tends to listen rather than speak, "...like she's studying the people who are around her carrying on conversations and interacting with people. She's not exactly what you would call the life of the Party. And to be clear, this doesn't take away from her personality or her intellect at all--she is naturally inquisitive and spends her time collecting information like some people collect little statues from trips abroad. But some may see her as, perhaps you might say, socially awkward. Very comfortable and happy in small groups and with one or two close friends, miserable around strangers that she feels a pressure to personally impress."

In a fashion which seems characteristic of the Empress, Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said that Her Imperial Majesty has asked her and Her Highness, the Princess of the Empire Nicolette Ananto-Collins to work together and prepare a list of possible suitors that she could be introduced to. "She wants to meet them in informal audience first," said Lady Ananto-Westmoreland. "Her aunt and I just, well, lets say we sort of struggled not to laugh. Informal audiences are very formal, despite their designations. But it is what the Empress has asked for. So I guess we are forming a screening committee for our young cousin to procure her a husband." Lady Ananto-Westmoreland explained that this old fashioned activity was very common for the Monarch: "... several thousand years ago though, I mean. Lady Nicolette said she knew the Empress was a conservative, but even this reactionary request was surprising."

The matter settled, Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said over the next 8 months, the two Anantos will be considering perpetual suitors who meet Her Imperial Majesty's qualifications. "We are looking closer to home first," said Lady Ananto-Westmoreland. "But if we have to we will go abroad." She wanted to make it clear that this was not an arranged marriage for the Empress. "Nobody is promising any marriages," she said, emphatically. "Her Imperial Majesty has asked us to locate strong potential suitors but intends to get to know the one she chooses before setting on a match. The man has to be intelligent and funny over all. It will help if he brings heritable titles, but that's not required. He should be older than she: She does not intend to marry, as she puts it, 'some juvenile just out of the NSP.' He has to also be willing to sacrifice a lot of his own personal privacy, which is part of dating a monarch, and has to be kind and gentle."

Lady Ananto-Westmoreland added, "She didn't say it, but Lady Nicolette and I have decided also that he has to be decent looking. She didn't add that to the list, and I don't think she really cares, but that's for us: The Empress' Consort can't look like a complete meathead or be deformed. He has to be someone we would be proud to see on our money."

@LaModa

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Fashion Week is held this fall in Kaliburg
"Biggest trade show ever" attracts celebrities, models and even Royalty
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
October 1, 5701


Alice Bjorksdattir Helms Del Valle's Winter show last month in Kaliburg

Del Valle model Alice Bjorksdattir, who remains Kalistan's highest paid and most sought after spokesmodel was in Kaliburg last month for the Del Valle Winter Show. From September 21-24, models flew north to show off the coming season's fashions from both Del Valle and Casa Gran Cultura, as well as numerous other smaller fashion brands who showed more consumer oriented clothes. The Fashion Week also featured a Kalistani Trade show where Kalistani consumer brands were featured.

Bjorksdattir's appearances featured three days on the runway, showing not only the Winter Couture collection from Del Valle, which was the House's flagship show, but also the Del Valle Casuals and the new line of Del Valle Intimates, an invite only lingerie show. She also spent an afternoon at Dah Surf Co.'s pavilion greeting those interested in checking out the upcoming season's new surf wear and surfboards. "I did not wear a wetsuit for Dah this year," said Bjorksdattir with a laugh. "But they did have some very, shall we say, revealing poster prints for VIPs and I spent about an hour giving autographs."

This particular year's fashion week, called Kalistan's "biggest trade show ever" featured a bevy of upcoming Kauffman models who have been busy signing with companies like MoCo, Motor Vrassa, Reed, Empire Motors, a new Motorcycle manufacturer in Sulari, and AeroKal. The recently resigned Van Alvarez was featured in the Reed Jewelry pavilion. "Kauffman is really benefitting from the success of their biggest models (Bjorksdattir and Alvarez)," said fashion columnist Jennie Caldwell of La Moda. "These two girls have been fabulously successful, and this inspires lots of others to want to get involved as well, and Kauffman has really made a lot of money representing these ladies. There's the top tier models, of course, who can more or less set their own terms in their contracts, but even the younger lesser known models are really doing pretty well. They do well when the companies they represent do well, and the goal is rapidly becoming resigning with companies, because, if you are resigning, you are quickly on the road to becoming a household name, identified with a brand. And that's where the real money is, in the exclusive contracts."

One thing that was different this year was that modelling was not longer just a women's game in Kalistan. One man, who has broken through was Charlie Weiss of Springfield, who scored an exclusive contract with Empire Motorcycles. "Sure, we'd all like to see the ladies riding bikes," said Weiss. "But I think Empire wants to sell a different image. They are asking the guys to see themselves on a motorcycle flying down the Coastal Highway at a hundred miles an hour. They are selling this image of freedom, danger, and excitement, and I think Kalistanis are more willing to think of some guy doing that, both in the positive sense, like us living that sort of lifestyle, but also, we know motorcycles are dangerous, and I think if we imagined Alice (Bjorksdattir) wiping out on a motorcycle it would just be too horrifying to too many people. Me, on the other hand, I think people are a bit more ok with that. I'm not complaining though. They gave me my own motorcycle after my first year." Men also modeled on the run way, both at the Casa Gran Cultura show as well as at the Del Valle Intimates show, much to the excitement of many in attendance.

The show was as much about the fashion as the people in attendance. Guests in attendance included royalty. Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto, was on hand during the week to support Bjorksdattir and hang out with her bestie. "They even provided the Empress her own box seats at the Del Valle shows," said Caldwell. "I think this might be the first time the Empress attended the fashion week event, but her visit went off without a hitch. At the end of the show when the models all come out to salute their designers, they invited the crowd to rise to salute the Empress first. It was certainly an experience."

But Her Imperial Majesty's friendship with Bjorksdattir is well known in the Industry and she has certainly gained a very high affinity among those who dress up for a living. Most of the Kauffman models have had the opportunity to meet the Empress through Bjorksdattir. "Its a very strange pairing on one hand," said Caldwell, "but, these two treat one another like sisters so, that's wonderful. In another reality, the Empress might herself have been a supermodel." Her Imperial Majesty also visited the Reed Pavilion and spent some time with Van Alvarez, who is a distant relative of the Royal Family, though is not, herself considered royalty under Kalistani Law.

Other major celebrities, including musicians, artists, and photographers attended the events throughout Fashion week, and most of the peers living in Ananto were present for much of the event, turning it from Trade show to social gathering for the glitterati in Kaliburg. "It was a who's who of Kaliburg High Society," said Caldwell, "which made it very easy to cover. Everywhere we turned, there was someone worth interviewing. I don't think I met so many rich people in my whole career."

The Next Fashion week, in March, will move back to Sulari, where it is expected to be smaller and more industry oriented. "Fashion Week doesn't usually happen in Kaliburg," said Caldwell. "I think they decided to hold it in the North this fall because they wanted to really kind of try it out to see how big it could be." Sulari is the capital of Seleyan Fashion and the center of Kalistani consumer industry. Kauffman is located there, Del Valle and Casa Gran Cultura, and dozens of other brands are located there.

"Sulari has by far the largest consumer market in the entire Empire" said Caldwell. "They buy the lion's share of Kalistani products, and those companies will aways cater to that consumer base, reflecting Sulari preferences and Sulari worldviews in their products. Kaliburg may be the capital, but compared to Sulari, the City of Sun, the capital is quite rustic, conservative, and highbrow, while Sulari is definitely the locus of the hip, new and exciting aspects of Kalistani culture in the 58th century. So it always just makes more sense to hold Fashion Week there, so this was kind of a special thing more than an abandonment of the norms."

@LaModa

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Elliot Rosenfeld claims victory in National Open Go Tournament
Empress Competes and loses in final match by 4 points
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
January 5, 5702


Elliot Rosenfeld stands with Empress following National Open Go Tournament

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto joined the Kalistan Go Asscociation's annual Go tournament this year, held in Kaliburg. Her Imperial Majesty has played go since she was a girl, and has competed as a member of the Kaliburg Go Club even after she became Empress. This was her fifth professional level Go Tournament, and it was her highest placing ever. She is ranked nationally at 4d(p) and considered one of the better Go Players nationally, but has not placed in the top 5 of any tournament until this week, when she took second place in the National Open Go Tournament, held in Kaliburg.

She competed in the final match against Elliot Rosenfeld, 5d(p) in the week long tournament. Both had completed their respective divisional ladders, defeating opponents from across the Empire. The final match was held at Kaliburg Polytechnic and was attended by more than 650 sepctators who were rivetted to the four and a half hour long championship match. Despite his higher rank, Rosenfeld was considered the underdog coming into the match.

"The Empress is considered to be a territorial specialist," said Suldanor Champion Carina Martinez, who attended the final match. "She likes to build large territories and thinks with whole board strategy, while Rosenfeld is seen as a surgical fighter with exceptional skills at counting liberties in every battle. The game is about territory though, and the Empress' moyos tend to work out to her advantage in the long run. This time, she just ran out of space."

The match opened with each player masterfully demonstrating their skills over joseki in the corners. Due to Rosenfeld's higher rank, the Empress took black, and got an early start, quickly claiming three corners, while Rosenfeld was forced into the center of the board. "The Empress' gains in the corners were more or less offset on the sides, as Rosenfeld tried to limit his early losses," said Martinez. "It was looking bleak for Rosenfeld early on, but he had a solid strategy." Everytime the Empress jumped toward the center, aiming to pincer Rosenfeld, he deftly escaped. Soon it became clear that the Empress was playing a little too conservatively against the Vrassan champion. So she decided that she had spent enough time trying to split the sides and moved to the center.

The game was evenly matched through the first hour, but then a major fight arose on the lower edge of the board as Rosenfeld tried to make a move on the lower left corner. Her Imperial Majesty successfully defended her corner, but her territory was limited in the process. The battle signaled the beginning of the midgame, and battle broke out across multiple theaters, sometimes Rosenfeld found himself defending against very strong attacks from Her Imperial Majesty, while in other areas, Rosenfeld demonstrated the weaknesses of the Empress' light style of play. The last large battles of the game were over the Empress' large structure in the center. Her Imperial Majesty once again defended, but a false eye she could not shore up because Rosenfeld took a ko while the Empress was forced to play was later thought to be the beginning of the end for the Empress.

The last nail-biter happened in Hour four of the contest, when Her Imperial Majesty sacrificed her small group in Sente on the bottom edge, so she could go after Rosenfeld's large position on the right side. Both players were counting stones to decide which sacrifices to make so they could make profit in other places on the board. The timer however, which was rapidly running out of time, was not Her Imperial Majesty's friend: Rushing forced her to make a miscalculation, which led to heavier play than she had intended, and both she and Rosenfeld finished up a number of outstanding battles in predictable fashions to close up the board. Observers quietly argued whether the Empress' territorial strategy had been enough to hold off Rosenfeld late game battling strategies. Both players however played confidently, though the outcome had been determined at this point.

Carolina played last and then drew a pass from Rosenfeld, and she also passed ending the match. Both players counted their points as the judges verified the board. "Her Imperial Majesty had indeed captured more territory and stones at the end, but both she and Rosenfeld knew at the end that komi which she had to give for taking black would put the Vrassan 4 points ahead of her. The both smiled at each other, shook hands across the board, and then Rosenfeld stood and bowed his head to his opponent, who then stood and nodded to return the salute to the tournament's victor."

Everyone observing the match applauded the contestants and celebrated the well fought match between the Empress and the Commoner. "Rosenfeld showed why he was 5d," said Martinez. "It was very impressive. His victory was decisive but gracious, and Her Imperial Majesty was very gracious in defeat. This game was a technical masterclass and was so fun to watch. The lead changed 8 times, and these two were almost evenly matched."

Rosenfeld won a certificate for his victory as well K1.3 Million Imperial Rubles, provided by the tournament's sponsors, The Republic and the Kalistani Growers' Syndicate. Her Imperial Majesty won ₭500,000 Imperials for her second place finish, which she donated to the Vrassan Housing Association in the name of Rosenfeld to help the Duchy improve its rural housing stock. The tournament's third place winner, Christine Zhang from Yoshimi won ₭200,000 Imperials. Following the tournament, Her Imperial Majesty took a picture with Rosenfeld, who displayed his victory Certificate. She also invited Rosenfeld to visit her in an informal audience at the Imperial Seat in February.

Rosenfeld is a professional go player and is the director of the Razar Go academy, where he runs the Razar Go Club and trains go players. He also is an ambassador for the Kalistani Go Association, and travels the nation to help schools set up go clubs. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking, kayaking and reading and is a member of the Razar Monthly Brethrenist Meeting, though he is Valruzian Yeudi descent. He is 29 years old, supports AYIC in Vrassa, and plays drums in the Vrassan independent alt-folk band The Ridge Band.

"It was a real priviledge to play such a graceful player like Her Imperial Majesty," said Rosenfeld. "I have to admit that most of the match she had me on the defense, and that's not always where I like to be. But I think in her case, it was a nice place to be. I've never really played against her before. There was one tournament that I attended where she was also a contestant, but I was eliminated early in the tournament, and we never ended up in the same brackets. She plays in the style that is common in Ananto, which is very popular across much of Kalistan too. Playing more battle-oriented is always the style I have preferred though. Sometimes it wins, sometimes the solid Ananto style just overwhelms the battlers. But I've done alright I guess, and now I am the open champion. It was a really hard battle, and I have to really say, I now see the reason that people play territory, whereas before it was easy for me to simply stick to my normal ways." Rosenfeld said he will try to learn more about the territorial style so he can enhance his own play style and the styles he teaches his students.

Congratulations to Mr. Elliot Rosenfeld, Kalistani Open Go Champion.

@LaModa

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FM responds positively to Egelion's Overtures
"Empress is interested in talks," says Harney
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
May 12, 5702


FM Harney addresses Egelion's opening to Kalistan

Her Imperial Majesty's Foreign Minister, Sir Thomas Harney is expected to fly to Altea to for the preliminary round of talks in an attempt to repair the rift with Egelion. "Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto has been generally favorable toward the idea of talking with Egelion to determine whether the ice between our two nations can be broken," said Sir Harney in Kaliburg this week. "To that end, I will fly to Altea to learn the Egelian's mind on a few points, to see if there is mutual ground which would make the Empress' participation a productive use of her time."

The Foreign Minister characterized the scrap somewhat differently than the Egelian newspaper announcing the invitation did. "Well, we did learn about this invitation from the newspaper, because we obviously have closed other diplomatic channels between our two nations," he said. "But to be clear, our reasons for taking the actions we did in Kalistan were not confusing to us at all. The Embassy was closed to protest Egelion's involvement in a war on the other side of the planet. There is a history there that we were working from: Kalistan opposed Egelion's involvement in Rildanor too. When an expansionistic Empire to our north does things far from home without even warning us that its going down, that sends red flags.

"Her Imperial Majesty recalled our diplomats in protest, and we offered theirs safe passage out of our nation. Nobody was injured in the process and everything was done respectfully and peacefully, and then we haven't talked since then. Her Imperial Majesty said no to further sanctions against Egelion, but Egelion responded by threatening the Naval Logistics Center in Luncasi, violating the agreements we had concluded with the Government of NEKK that proceeded the founding of the Kerisian Empire, and which Egelion had themselves acknowledged in the treaty ending the NEKK war. Their ships are still operating near the base as we speak, though the First Regular Navy has returned to base. But we have not spoken nor have Her Imperial Majesty and the Egelian Emperor appeared in the same place internationally since then."

The Foreign Minister said he and a small team of lower level administrators from different Government agencies, including Defense, Finance and IBSI will travel to Altea to begin laying out the ground work for further talks. "I have very limited authority in this situation," said Sir Harney. "I am there to present a message of optimism from Her Imperial Majesty, as well as make it known that unless we enter into this discussion as equals, there can be no final agreement. Kalistan does not wish to help Egelion on its imperialist project. Quite frankly we have enough to do with our own imperial project to be relegated to the role of supporting actor in someone else's. This is not to say we don't have a lot to talk about, and can't come away with something that is mutually beneficial, but there has to be equality in the outcome for both sides, or its no good. I am just really being given the authority to make that happen and not much more in this first meeting. Once we get that figured out we will learn whether it would be productive for Her Imperial Majesty then to go and drive the agreement home."

The FM says the point in Egelion's list of priorities that interests the Empress most is the regularity of military communication. "The Empress believes that a lot of the decisions that drive Egelian policies internationally are made behind the scenes, and Kalistan finds itself blindsided by things often, learning about them in the news paper long after it is too late for Kalistan to develop contingencies revolving around our own interests. If Egelion has the desire to have a global projection capability, that's not something we can, or will do much about, but that will also always affect Kalistani security. And so Kalistan will always need to respond. Categorically--every single time. In a lot of ways the fates of our nations are tied by proximity. And so Kalistan would simply ask that when Egelion is doing things that will necessarily affect Kalistani security, which is basically every single military thing they ever do, whether it be in Keris, or Dovani or Majatra, that they communicate with us behind the scenes so that we can make our own preparations for the heat they are drawing on this region and the possible retaliations this region will experience from their actions, rather being blindsided with the news through the international press. It's courteous and it is how nations which are friendly and cooperating toward one another should treat one another."

The other issues are all worthy of discussing he said. "The Empress is content to let the Egelians set the agenda for the meeting. It is their invitation, and Her Imperial Majesty is at least interested in responding to it to see if we can't thaw things a bit. Kalistan and Egelion have had a long and rocky history, but the fact is that we are both next door neighbors with radically different orientations. Disagreement is to be expected, but Her Imperial Majesty does not believe that those local disagreements should over ride a larger, regional concern for security and cooperation. Such a cooperation may be needed in the near future, depending on how other matters in places like Majatra and Artania end up playing out. And we do have lots of areas where there has historically been mutual respect and cooperation, we have a long history of that as well. So we are focusing on success and understanding, and hopefully we can put this particular episode to rest."

The FM concluded by saying that, despite their bellicose and rather personal public statements at the start of the issue, the Empress thanks the Egelians for allowing time for things to cool off, without further escalation while Egelion handled their imperial business in Dovani, and said he personally looks forward to the trip.

[Doc]

Is Carolina a Moderate?
Scholars debate ideological question at Academic Conference
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
June 20, 5702


Empress addresses Institutional Party Leadership earlier this month

Political scientists and theorists gathered at the University of Suldanor this month for the annual Meeting of the Kalistani Political Science Association. The theme of this year's conference was "Ideology in Kalistan." The organizers at the University decided on the theme following last year's elections which saw the most pluralistic elections in generations and the breaking of complete Nationalist control of the Intuitional Party. Several papers dealt with historical ideology, including the evolution of the Socialist Party from initially a radial left wing party into a Party that ultimately formed the core of the modern Institutionalists and the most ardent defenders of autocracy and depoliticization of the Empire. Other papers discussed how ideology can express itself within the framework of the Institutional Party, the role of apolitical civil society organizations in the political process, and the prospects for democratic reform in the Empire.

The keynote speech was delivered by Nevaran scholar Dr. Jeane Crenshaw of Nevaras Duchy University. Her speech was called "Empress Carolina II Ananto's Ideology: The Politics of Pragmatism". The thesis of the paper is that the Empress is pragmatic and not ideological, which makes her natural allies with the Moderates in Government. "The Empress is a studious intellectual first," said Dr. Crenshaw. "Her politics are driven by her understanding of the trends of classical and modern political philosophy, which will make her more interested in working with anyone who can help her make her vision for Kalistan a reality. She will then work with different politicians of any political persuasion to move her agenda."

The paper also asserted that she is far less nationalistic than her predecessors, as evidenced by several of her policies that look like retrenchment, including her willingness to stand down in the middle of the recent accute crisis with Egelion, her support for the Moderate Chancellor Reginald Hanson and her willingness to permit even nominal socialists not only to serve in the National Assembly, but also to sit in Government, making the socialist programme for improvement of infrastructure a center piece of her domestic policy. According to Crenshaw, this marks her as ideology free, with a focus on pragmatism.

The respondent, Dr. Joshua Milton, of the University of Suldanor in Sulari, began by claiming that the Empress is certainly ideological. "Ideology is merely the spectacles we look at the world through. The notion that the Empress is above ideology is unsupportable. In fact, it is possible that she has already declared for the Moderates, but can't do so openly." Milton said that unlike her predecessors, the decisions of Her Imperial Majesty are in fact often political.

Milton's response focused on her decision to sack the Nationalist Chancellor Lady Ericka Donahue two years before her retirement. "The Lady Donahue was a long time and very close confidant of the Ananto Family," said Milton. "She was one of the loudest supporters of the Empress in public: It is believed that she herself fought off pretenders during the regency to consolidate political consensus around Princess Nicolette following the loss of the Emperor and Empress. She was a very strong Intuitional discipinlarian, whipping the Party into absolute support or terrified acquiescence during the regency. But as soon as she says something in public that seems, in the moment, to be completely in line with Her Imperial Majesty's stated policy, and she's sacked? That wouldn't make sense unless her removal was a political calculus."

Milton expanded the line of reasoning, noting that the Nationalist wing of the Party, before it was a consolidated caucus, had been exceptionally critical of the Regent's policies and it looked like this agitation, though not directly from the Chancellor was set to continue to give a headache to the new Empress. "The Empress' support for the Chancellor's gadflies in the Foreign Ministry and the Infrastructure Ministry and then her permitting caucus formation within the Party were signals that the Nationalists were going too far and the Empress was giving them a chance to reign in their firebrands," said Milton. "The sacking of the Chancellor after her comments on Egelion and her dust up with the Media was the hard assertion of the Empress' domination not only in the Party, but also the ascendance of the Moderate wing of the Party."

Milton attributed the Empress' study abroad, the influence of her free wheeling and independent minded Aunt, the Princess of the Empire Nicolette Ananto-Collins, and her admiration of who served about almost a decade as Regent, and her strong commitment to her Brethrenist beliefs made her natural allies to the Moderates, or rather, to non Nationalists. The Empress' cosmopolitan views on the world is her ideological viewpoint and that is necessarily the position of the Moderate Caucus. Which is why she and the current Chancellor of the Empire Lord Reginald Hanson has been so productive. "Pragmatism is the result of her Moderate ideological orientation rather than a substitute for it."

The discussion following the two presentations was spirited, with some of the attendees arguing that it was very unusual for the Empress to take a side in intra-Party political disagreements while others said that historically the Crown has been strongly aligned with the Nationalist position, even if it was not an explicit caucus. Furthermore, Kalistan hasn't had a monarch that could be described as a moderate since Nicolette II Ananto, and it was unlikely that the Empress herself would select that position given her own background and training. Of course the question was not resolved during the Keynote speech and accompanying dinner, and most scholars left the conference saying that far more evidence is needed before the question will ever be resolved.

As the question remains on the table, the Empress' Personal Secretary confirmed that preliminary talks in Egelion had been completed to Her Imperial Majesty's satisfaction and she would be making a trip to Altea Egelion in July to open high level talks with the Kerisian Empire aimed as restoring diplomatic relations, improving security communication in the Anantonese Ocean between the two states, and reaffirming the points in The Oceanic Accords signed during the reign of Mary I Ananto in 5645 which have governed relations between the two Anantonese states for nearly 60 years.

@TheRepublic

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Empress becomes Engaged to Vrassan Go Champion
After long search, House Ananto approves of Match
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
July 7, 5702


Elliot Rosenfeld, 29 and Her Imperial Majesty at National Opera opening last week

House Ananto has announced that Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto has become engaged to Vrassan Go Champion, Mr. Elliot Rosenfeld. Rosenfeld, of Razar, Duchy of Vrassa is 29 years old and teaches Go in the Vrassan City. He is an ethnic Yeudi whose ancestors moved to Kalistan from Valruzia, speaks Vrassan and Egelian, and is learning Redn through AYIC's Redn Language program, and is a local chapter captain of AYIC in Razar. He also enjoys hiking, reading and music, and plays drums with the Vrassan Alt-Folk Band the Ridgemen. He has a masters degree in business administration from the University of Vrassa in Vrassa City and served as a longshoreman in Port Swedes for his National Service.

"Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress had the opportunity to meet a dozen possible suitors," said Lady Allison Ananto-Westmoreland, head of House Ananto. "The suitors were selected by myself and Her Highness, Princess of the Empire Nicolette Ananto-Collins. Our selections were not acceptable to Her Imperial Majesty, but Mr. Rosenfeld was added to the list at the very end of the process. He was clearly the one she preferred, and Mr. Rosenfeld accepted Her Imperial Majesty's proposal on June 30th to become her husband and take on the role of Prince Consort."

Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said that the Empress had insisted that her future consort would need to be smart and funny. The Empress met Mr. Rosenfeld when she lost to him in the Kalistani Open Go Tournament last winter, and was immediately smitten. "The couple began dating in February over Go games. In late May, Mr. Rosenfeld took an apartment in Kaliburg, and Her Imperial Majesty proposed marriage in late June." The quick engagement was summarized by Lady Ananto-Westmoreland: "He was the one she wanted. Who are we to say that she couldn't get married." The Empress feels that Mr. Rosenfeld is her intellectual equal, and she greatly appreciates the fact that he is learning Redn independently. "She loves linguistics and etymology, and the fact that he can speak some Redn was very impressive to her."

Mr. Rosenfeld is known in his hometown as a patient and erudite teacher. He is a member of the Razar Brethrenist Meeting, where he has served as clerk for the last two years. He is a serious go player, and is an accomplished teacher. "It is lucky that Mr. Rosenfeld happened to be single this year," said Lady Ananto-Westmoreland. The Empress was was reportedly attracted to his erudition, his ability to play music, and his sense of humor.

"When he and the Empress began dating, Mr. Rosenfeld had just broken up with a local Razar girl. "It turns out, the split was amiable. We had the opportunity to interview the young lady. She said Mr. Rosenfeld was a good man, but a little boring, and so she had initiated the split. For Her Highness the Princess, that fact alone earned Mr. Rosenfeld her vote of approval." Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said she was impressed with the fact that he owned his own business which involved teaching.

Lady Ananto-Westmoreland said that the date for the wedding has not been set yet. "Her Imperial Majesty is headed to Egelion later this month, and will of course be in a hurry to return home. Mr. Rosenfeld will take the opportunity to wind down his classes and work with his students to find a different Go Instructor and is expected to move to Kaliburg full time by September." At this point, The Empress and Mr. Rosenfeld look forward to dating publicly and spending time together.

@LaModa