Kalistani Major History

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Kalistani Physicists develop theoretical Fusion Reactor
Use of massive magnets may someday allow Republic to generate millions of megawatts of clean energy
Kaliburg, Ananto
October 12, 5083


As Deuterium Gas, derived from seawater, is injected into a fast moving magnetic field, it forms plasma which can be used to supercompress Hydrogen Atoms, leading to creation of massive amounts of clean energy

Physicists at the Kaliburg Polytechnic University in Kaliburg have developed a theoretical fusion reactor which is many times smaller and requires significantly less energy to operate, to allow the supercompression of hydrogen atoms. Lead researcher Dr. Janice Schmidt, of Sulari, announced the breakthrough at a symposium on exploration of green energy alternatives in Kaliburg last week.

"Our team has built on the work done several centuries ago in Valruzia, Gaduridos and Jakania, which were extensions of their nuclear fission programs. The farthest along examples of their fusion programs were foundations of fusion reactors, but there was no evidence that functioning fusion reactors, especially commercially viable ones, were ever actually built. We think our breakthrough, in theory, could lead to a big change in that reality."

The theoretical reactor doesn't utilize massive magnetic buildings the way other experimental fusion reactors have, but instead is much more compact, requiring far less energy to operate. "A smaller size and smaller power requirement has the potential to make the Kalistani Reactor, when built, commercially viable, and could change the face of the planet," said Schmidt. This theoretical reactor employs columns of fast moving plasma which is pinches and compressed, will allow for the creation of conditions similar to the center or the sun, in a very compact reactor and will cause the fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium which will generate massive amounts of energy. "In theory, we could create as much energy from 8 ounces of seawater as is created by burning several barrels of oil," said Schmidt. "The idea that we could one day generate relatively infinite amounts of clean energy for next to nothing is very exciting, and we see this theoretical reactor as the first step."

The Ministry of Science has already begun investing in the project, and while the reactor is only built within a computer simulator at this point, with further significant investment, a working prototype is expected within the next six years. "The math is there, but, the technology to realize this in the real world is going to take time to develop and build. At the current rates of discovery, six years is a fairly conservative estimate." KalMD, Kalistan's leading electronics company, is also expected to invest significant capital into the project.

This discovery technically opens the door to nuclear power research, which is controversial in the Republic, but allows the Republic to avoid the highly unstable and environmentally destructive fission power which is common in other nations. "We want to ensure the public that we have also simulated breakdowns in containment and plasma fields, and the worst thing that the theoretical reactor produced was inert steam, which cooled and dissipated very quickly. Since the reaction is caused by the plasma within the containment field, sans containment field, there is no more plasma and no more reaction, and therefore, there is no possibility of an explosion or a meltdown like you would seen in currently designed fission reactors. This should allay fears of catastrophic nuclear destruction among the conscientious people of the Republic."

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Premier Announces new Green Energy Initiative
Solar Power and Wind Power to be subsidized as Republic researches Hydrogen Fusion
Kaliburg, Ananto
March 8, 5084


Premier Bjorksdattir poses for a selfie with with KalEnergy CEO Caleb Jackson at Green Energy Conferencein Kaliburg

The Republican government has put its full weight behind green and biofuel programs and looks to the passage of legislation aimed at making Kalistan a less petroleum dependent nation.

“Today I announce a new Green Energy Initiative,” said Bjorksdattir, visiting the offices of the MoET. “It is our goal to make the Republic independent of the environmentally destructive byproducts of fossil fuel use.” The occasion was a meeting of Republican Government officials, energy industry executives and investors, and environmental and science stakeholders, and was designed to generate a new sustainable focus for the Kalistani Energy sector. “We will create a two phase, multi-faceted approach to help us accomplish our strategic aim of moving away from fossil fuel consumption, not only in energy generation, but also commercial and industrial production.”

The first phases of environmentally sustainable replacement will be overseen by KALNAPECO, the national petroleum Company, who have been mandated by Government Supervisors to begin developing clean replacements for oil use in the Republic. “During phase one, we will rely on public and private investment to begin new solar and wind energy generation projects across the Republic. We also want to explore geothermal energy in Kalistan where we still have many geological hotspots as well as wave-and-tidal based generation plants. This task has been given to KALNAPECO to develop and build as an explicit replacement for Oil consumption in the Republic. Foreign investment is welcomed in this project, in research and development, as well as deployment of clean energy systems.”

The Premier announced she expects phase one should last nearly 5 years and will lead to a replacement of 50 percent of domestic oil and gas consumption. It will require massive amounts of private sector investment to get large scale photovoltaic and wind turbine centers off the ground. “We see these investments as a loan to the Republic which will be recaptured following completion.”

Phase two is even more ambitious. “While we are phasing out oil usage in our homes and factories, we will focus on research of new products, such as the theoretical fusion generator, as well as new forms of plant based plastics, electric automobiles and hydrogen based power plants for capital ships. Ultimately our goal is to phase petroleum usage out as completely as possible.” Asked what will become of KALNAPECO when the Republic no longer uses petroleum the Premier answered frankly. “Personally I must admit we may never be able to stop using petroleum completely. There will always be a role for petroleum exploitation, especially in the export market. But removing domestic demand will ease pressures on our supply, help us restore our environment, and provide for unlimited clean and cheap energy to power out cities and countryside for the next several hundred years. This is a fantastic reason to support this initiate even if you hate the environment.”

The Premier intends to couple this investment initiative with corresponding legislation in the National Assembly. The initiative begins in April.

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Grit Band Chasm takes top spot on Hard Rock Album Charts
Renewed interest in flagging genre brings spotlight back to Port Swedes
Port Swedes, Vrassa
April 18, 5084


Chasm is the first major Grit band to make it into the Album charts

Grit rockets Chasm, the mostly female hard rock band from Port Swedes, has come into their own and have revived interest in a music genre many critics took for dead.

“The grit scene has always been alive in Port Swedes,” said Chasm front woman and rhythm guitarist Kathleen Harding. “I mean. While the country turned it attention to thrash, pop punk and all that, we never stopped rocking.”

The genre, which rise to prominence nearly two hundred years ago along with the alt folk movement in Kalistan has indeed lived on in Swedes clubs, which largely resisted other trends. But a major PR push and serious fan support behind Chasm’s debut album, VDR’s “Double Daniel” is what made the difference this time around. “When VDR signed us and we recorded the new record,” said bassist Madalyn Von der Platz, “music was kind of at a lower point. There hadn’t been mush in the way of loud rock. Luckily we hit right when there weren’t many other options around.but we’ll take it.”

“Double Daniel” which is an uncertain reference, began climbing the Albums chart early this year and quickly moved into the top twenty. Critic Zara Jones said “This record expresses the rage that every 17 year old girl feels. You feel like they want things to change, they got priorities, they’re impatient. They are angry and disaffected.”

“Double Daniel” finally entered the top 5 two weeks ago and this week cracked the Number One spot, taking the title away from pop rockers Satanalist Fingernail Bamboo Torture, whose album “Flaying the Flesh” was a favorite of a small but wealthy segment of the population, many of whom bought several copies of the record to boost it’s chart position. “Double Daniel” is expected to sell internationally and songs from the album are already spinning in Radio 1.

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Kalistani Physicists overcome first practical obstacle for Fueling Fusion Reactor
New Plant to breed Tritium using plasma-Lithium reaction
Kaliburg, Ananto
October 18, 5086


Tritium breeding, a process of creating tritium for fusion reaction

A major obstacle to building a working practical fusion reactor has been overcome this week in Kaliburg. Three years ago, physicists demonstrated the theory of compact fusion in a z-pinch reactor. The physicists, building on previous knowledge that was obtained as other nations tried to build working fusion reactors, specified that the appropriate fuel for such a fusion reactor was deuterium and tritium.

Deuterium, which is a stable non radioactive hydrogen isotope with one neutron and one proton is found naturally in seawater in a proportion of 33 mg per liter of water. It is remarkably easy to separate deuterium from water to create what is known as "heavy water" where deuterium isotopes replaces hydrogen atoms in water, and can then be used to supply deuterium to the fusion reactor.

Tritium, on the other hand is incredibly rare. It is usually caused by sunlight hitting air molecules and shearing off hydrogen to create an unstable, marginally radioactive isotope with two neutrons and one proton. The isotope decays quickly, and while it is found in trace amounts in ground water, it is neither common, nor easily seperatable from regular water. As a result, acquisition of tritium has been a major limiting factor for the progress of the Kalistani Z-Pinch Fusion project.

A normal source of tritium is a nuclear fission reactor. However, Kalistan does not have one, and will not build one, due to their extremely harmful environmental potential side effects. And shipping radioactive isotopes over the sea eliminates the economic attractiveness of the entire project.

This question confounded the developers who are working on building a practical reactor in Ananto for years. "It was an amazing hurdle to overcome," said project lead Dr. Janice Schmidt. "We had no idea how to acquire the needed source of tritium reliably. If we took all the naturally occurring tritium in the world, it would power the reactor for a year. That would hardly suffice." But a breakthrough in recent months has potentially solved the problem for the reactor project. "We found that if an atom of lithium was bombarded with a neutron we could actually breed tritium, which could then cycle back into the reactor. This was a discovery made by graduate student Victor Davis, and has been confirmed in laboratory studies."

"We found that if we introduce lithium atoms into the blanket that surrounds the plasma stream which we need to contain the reaction," said Davis, "we find that loose neutrons are occasionally ejected from the plasma stream, and interact with the lithium atoms to produce the tritium. We can then feed those back into the reactor, where they combine with deuterium to create helium and various free neutrons that feed back into the plasma stream. It is a virtuous cycle which is fueled then by easily obtainable deuterium, and easily obtainable lithium, both of which are found naturally in sea water. We find then that the sea will provide all we need in the way of clean and virtually limitless energy."

Dr. Janice Schmidt, Project Lead on the Kalistani Fusion Project

The Republic has been working on building the Z-Pinch reactor for three years now. Several different designs have been hypothesized and the sheared flow plasma Z-pinch, which borrows the technology that has already been employed for other sorts of chemical processing, has been found to be not only the most compact design, but also perhaps the most efficient, in terms of energy. When built, it is believed that the energy out to energy in ratio of the Z Pinch Reactor will be greater than 1, meaning that it will produce more energy than is required to run it, and that stumbling block has prevented fusion reactors that were begun in other nations from producing energy on a commercially viable basis.

"Moving entirely off hydrocarbons is still years away," said Schmidt. "But this method of acquiring tritium in quantities that will allow us to power Kalistan for centuries puts us one major step closer to that dream."

Schmidt notes that the project is still waiting for significant external investment. "Grants from the Tech Ministry, and investment from KalMD have kept the project going for three years," said the Doctor, "But when it comes time to actually begin to build the first practical reactor, we will need a lot more money than what one government ministry, KALNAPECO and one technology firm can kick down to us. It would be a major setback if we had the theory and the were ready to start testing it and the project was shelved due to lack of funding. If other energy firms are interested in working with us to develop this exciting new technology, we would most certainly welcome it."

Schmidt noted that she expects testing to continue. "We are currently figuring out the containment field. We know how it works, but, we need to actually see the plasma flow operate in a stable way that will allow the reaction to last long enough to begin generating energy. We still have several theoretical mountains to climb. But we are moving ahead and are greatly bolstered by the resolution of the fuel source question."

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Physicists setback by failure of containment plasma
Fusion reaction lasts a mere 18 nanoseconds, before collapsing
Bozo River Experimental Reactor, Ananto
August 14, 5087


Dr. Janice Schmidt, Director of the SFZPEFR Project at Bozo River

The Sheared Flow Z-Pinch Experimental Fusion Reactor which was completed in July was fired up for the first time last week, and while conditions within the Pinch approached the pressure theoretically needed to shear off electrons and allow for fusion of deuterium and tritium isotopes, the reactor’s containment field very quickly destabilized, leading operators to quickly shut down the reactor to preserve the limited tritium fuel.

“We observed a infinitesimally small fusion reaction within the pinch,” said project lead Dr.Janice Schmidt. “As exciting as this is, it only lasted 18 nanoseconds, and produced the tiniest spark of energy, not nearly enough to provide either a self sustaining fusion reaction that we seek, nor enough to begin the tritium replacement cycle that we need to allow the reactor to continue. So we ordered the reactor shut down to preserve our limited and valuable supply of tritium. We will attempt to adjust the plasma shear flow, to stabilize it, and try it again.”

Schmidt said that her team believed that the issue was the instability of the containment plasma. “What’s needed here it to keep the plasma in a constant stream to increase the pressure within the fusion chambers. This is a feature of the z-pinch, which compresses the fuel to increases the pressure and temperature. But when this plasma itself has ripples in it, that creates distortions in the fuel compression and causes containment failure.”

The setback is not theoretically insurmountable. Schmidt said that the answer is in supercooling the containment chamber. “We do believe that supercooling the electrical system within the plasma. Doing so, up to a degree or so above absolute zero will allow the electrical current to travel through the plasma with next to no resistance, creating the necessary magnetic field that will compress the plasma within the containment unit and finally achieve the desired fusion reaction.”

Schmidt noted that a new infusion of cash into the project from KALNAPECO will allow the project to research methods for creating the supercool conditions for such conductivity. “We may be set back a year or so, depending on sufficient funding. But, I think ultimately this will just be another hurdle to over come, and I think we can do it.”

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A Day (and a Night) with Premier Bjorksdattir
The Republic catches up with the ambitious Socialist leader
Kaliburg, Ananto
September 30, 5087


Premier Bjorksdattir pushes ahead with aggressive energy policy

The Republic spent the day with long serving Socialist Premier Agnethe Bjorksdattir recently. From her days as an embattled Party Leader in the wake of the Officers’ Corruption scandal to bringing Kalistan to the verge of infinite clean energy, the Premier has grown into her office and is a strong, steady and confident leader. We asked her about her agenda going forward.

T(he) R(epublic): Comrade Premier, thank you for meeting with us.

A(gnethe) B(jorksdattir): Glad to do it. But don’t get too comfortable. We’re going out for coffee.

[This reporter and the Premier proceeded to get coffee]

AB: This place has the strongest coffee on the Square.

TR: You famously do not use drugs, but you make an exception for caffeine?

AB: I feel that drugs cloud the mind and keep me from hearing people when they speak with me, or hearing messages from God. As you will likely know I am a devout Brethrenist, and feel that drug use separates me from the Truth. So I opt o not use them. But caffeine doesn’t cloud the mind, so, I do not object.

TR: Do you object to other people using drugs? Even Other Brethrenists?

AB: Why would I?

TR: I’ll abstain for your sake.

AB: …or for your own.

TR: Lets talk a little more about your faith. Do you think faith in God and adherence to Brethrenist Practice has assisted you in your duties as Premier?

AB: I’m fairly certain it has. I’ve always been very conservative personally…. I’m not sure that’s the word I want. Maybe more like ‘reserved’, especially when it comes to issues like sex or popular culture or things like that. You don’t ever see me at a GanJam or at an RF Club in Lolla…

TR: You aren’t worried that Kalistanis will find that to be a bit prudish?

AB: We’ll if that’s what they call it, it is what it is. I just don’t prefer to have all my turn-ons and proclivities out in the press all the time. I like a little mystery.

TR: How about music? Do you like music?

AB: I AM Kalistani…

TR: Fair enough: who do you listen to?

AB: I listen to a bit of everything. I went to FOMAT and met the lead singer of The Gun Girls, Tracy Gungirl. Her band is great. She’s really into guns. And punk rock. Interestingly enough, Greta van Domme (co-lead singer and rhythm guitarist) is not into guns. She like beer.

TR: So you like pop punk then?

AB: Well no. I like them. But I’d say I’m more a hard rock girl. Not Thrash but I really liked the recent grit album from Chasm. That’s kinda my speed.

TR: Let’s switch gears. You had an ambitious agenda when you became Premier. How would you rate yourself?

AB: I would give myself a Low B. B minus. We got some pretty important things done. And yet there is a lot that I hoped to have done by now that I just never got any traction on. We’ve still got work to do.

TR: For example?

AB: ha! You ask me about my failures rather than my successes. Alright. I’d say we are behind on naval modernization. There have been several countries express interest in helping Kalistan put a modern navy together, but then they disappear whenever we express our readiness. I am not prepared to build a new navy out centuries old technology. What’s the point. And yet it seems nobody seems willing or interested in working with Kalistan on Kalistan’s time frame. So: I suppose we’re stuck with privateers and slow moving destroyers from four hundred years ago.

TR: Very well: what are you most proud of as Premier?

AB: Without a doubt, it’s our economic stability. Kalistan underwent full economic integration with one of the leading liberal economies in our region. It comes to no shock that Kalistan has long ago rejected core liberal tendencies, and yet the integration did not produce much fluctuation in our zero growth goals. Investment has been incredibly stable, with inflows and outflows almost matching. Workers remain free to come and go as they please between Kalistan and Lourenne. And even as international observers note downturns in Lourenne’s economy, those fluctuations do not much affect Kalistan or its Ruble at all. This is from careful stewardship and constant revision of best practices in our monetary policy. I’m very proud that my government has kept Kalistan at of near zero growth during my entire government.

TR: What’s next for the Republic?

AB: Clean Energy! This is where our focus is right now and we plan on remaining focused there until we have a working fusion reactor, and the infrastructure to deliver that energy to all homes in The Republic! Look, Michelle, I need to attend a meeting with the Cabinet. Perhaps we could continue this conversation tonight? My friends The Gun Girls are playing in Zappa tonight. You want to come to the show with me and then hang out with Tracy and I after the show?

TR: absolutely.

AB: Great. I’ll get you the details and we’ll continue our conversation there.

[At this point, the Premier took her leave. Nothing that happened later in the evening is printable except that the concert was enjoyable and a lot of fun was had by all, and the festivities continued long after the show ended. The Premier did not consume any drugs or alcohol the entire evening.]

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LKG Releases "LaMigra" in Kalistani Videogame Market
"Immigration Simulation" surprisingly addicting
Eveari, Ananto
April 1, 5088


"LaMigra" is about the drudgery and stupidity of Immigration and Customs laws

The Hutori-Kalistani Joint venture LKG, known mostly for a string of opensource quirky independent games that are almost always modestly successful, and a handful of hits which redefined computer gaming, seem to have struck gold once more. The Group released "LaMigra" last month to much anticipation and excellent critical and player reviews.

"'LaMigra' is a relatively foreign concept in a country that has no border controls, where nationality is granted to anyone in the world who claims it, and Passports are as common as birth certificates," said LKG spokeswoman Melanie Caruthers. "It is a simulation about the mindnumbing drudgery of high bureaucracy. Essentially you are a bordercontrol agent who has to apply an ever increasingly mindboggling set of restrictions to determine whether someone can come through your border control point or not. You have to decide whether this or that person is an enemy of the state, or is moving contraband across the border. You have to make a number of ethical decisions throughout the game. In short, it is about the absolute and inexplicable ridiculousness of not only border control rules, but also an explicit ridicule of those countries who maintain them."

The game is divided into a series of days. Each day, the player reports to work, and begins checking documents, like passports, work permits, fingerprints, and entrance visas. The player earns points not only for how many people he lets pass through, but how well he observes the laws, which can change from day to day. "It really keeps players on their toes," said Caruthers. "You have to be familiar with whatever the law is that day, first and foremost, making sure all the data in the documents is accurate, making sure that the person is legally allowed to enter the country, and so forth. Somedays, people will come in and beg to be let in, because they are being persecuted in their home country, but if you let them in when they are not legally allowed to enter, you will lose points." Points, according to Caruthers, are important because the player character is essentially trying to do a good job to earn food and medicine for their family, and if they fail, that food and medicine will be cut off.

"Our goal with this game is to illuminate the abject stupidity of both liberal nations and authoritarian regimes by simulating one part of the bureaucracy in those countries," said Caruthers."In liberal countries, which are supposed to have open borders, they still maintain border controls because deep down most people in those nations are afraid of foreigners. And authoritarian countries control their borders to prevent people with dangerous ideas from entering. Ultimately, in both cases, border control is about control. Control of the movement of people, control over who can come in and be considered part of 'Us', and use of those laws to define 'Them', and protecting the facade that there is something inherently valuable about 'citizenship'. In Kalistan, we see citizenship as a series of duties a person owes to their society. They clearly do not see things this way in Liberal Nations, were it is only about what individuals can take from the society, nor in authoritarian states which are really only about domination."

The setting for the game is a fictional nation of Ulyanovsk. Some claim that Ulyanovsk is based on Deltaria. "No," said Caruthers. "Ulyanovsk is an entirely made up country, speaking an entirely gibberish fictional languages. We essentially drew names out of a hat and this is how we settled on Ulyanovsk." The country is a recent;y democratized, former totalitarian state, which is surrounded by nations which are one day its friend, the next day its enemy, based on which faction controls the National Government. "There was a civil war right before the game began," said Caruthers. "They're still trying to figure out to what degree democracy is something they want to pursue."

Players have given the game high marks. "LKG is known for quality," noted game enthusiast Piper Downs. "This game feels like some designers ate a bunch of mushrooms, brainstormed a recently democratized state, and then picked one tiny part of it, and researched everything there is to know about the process, all in one night."

"Me and my buddies got stoned one night and played 'LaMigra'," said Mike Stacey, of Sulari, "and we tried to see how quickly we could get the main guy shot to death for f--king up everything. We just let everyone with a bomb through! What a hilarious night! 11/10!"

Critics were also happy with the game. Topher Nichols from Gamer Core Monthly praised its replayability. "The game is randomized so there is no real way to develop a strategy to win that is fool proof. Just when you think you have a method to check documents fast, the law changes and you have to remember that you are no longer looking for finger prints, or whatever. Its a simulation, but at its heart, it is a puzzle, like a labyrinth whose walls constantly change. You are still expected to make it to the center of the maze anyway, but you are also being timed."

Maggie Bolivar, of gaming blog "WspotGamez" said "I love that you can play it to win, or play it to lose catastrophically. There are enough choices that need to be made in a given moment: Do you let the poor refugees through, or do you put them in prison? Do you try to impress the boss, or do you work to feed your family. The game is full of mutually exclusive decisions, and despite not even having a name, you find that you get invested in the main character of the game very quickly. I think LKG really did a great job with this game."

Renee Smith, of "GOAT Games" praised its remarkable consistency and lack of bugs. "They must have had hundreds of hours beta testing this game. I have yet to find a bug in this game and though the rules change all the time, there is an amazingly consistent story that makes the changes seem like the next logical step in a coherent overall foreign policy. I've played this game dozens of times and while I know the changes in the rules are procedurally generated, the story always feels like a consistent narrative. I am, surprisingly hooked, and will try some of the scenarios next!"

There are only a handful of critics. Liberal blogger L. Lawrence Bildersley said "I really think their critique of liberalism is a little heavy handed. What we really need to pay attention to is that Kalistan has itself rejected liberalism. If it had closed borders, I'd say this is an accurate simulation of the kind of octopus government of Kalistan." His voice was only echoed in a handful of other reviews, and over all, the game earned a 96% "good" rating on review aggregators.

"LaMigra" is available now for download or as physical media. It can be played on PC or on console. Its retail price is K4.50, and as are all LKG games, it is open source and encourages community development and modification. There are already more than 200 scenarios published for the game, created by players themselves.

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Chasm drops S/T album on VDR
Grit album is "strongly personal" and "righteously angry"
Port Swedes, Vrassa
May 1, 5088


Despite their cheery outward demeanors, Chasm's new S/T is "definitely not a love letter to Swedeport"

Chasm's most recent release, Chasm is even grittier than their first two records. The new leaders of Grit, Chasm burst onto Republican radio with their grungy punk rock album Double Daniel four years ago, and their follow up, Kiss Our Ass performed modestly well, but was a commercial disappointment compared to Double Daniel. On their third record, the quartet from Port Swedes takes a different tact: One of relentless outrage.

"Our record is definitely not a love letter to Swedeport," said Chasm Frontwoman Kathleen Harding. "This place sucks my a--hole. This is a hateletter to this rotten cold ass smackjunkie ridden hellscape. You hear all these bands talking up where they come from. Well, I can say, as a life long citizen of that town that Grit is an appropriate name for the music it produces. Nothing but junkies, and the people who are too busy ducking their bullsh-t to clean up the streets. Swedes just takes takes takes, everything from everyone."

Harding and band deliver a dozen songs full of righteous rage and anger. The immediate impetus for the record was the death of Harding's husband, Dave to heroin overdose. When asked about his death, Harding simply said "Its on the record." Almost in spite of Harding's cathartic outpouring, the record is a solid Grit album, hearkening back to Grit's foundations in alt-folk. Harding switches to electric lead on this record, and her aggressive riffing is accented throughout the record by the acoustic rhythm guitar of Allison Moses. A solid, but almost understated foundation is laid down by bassist Madalyn Von der Platz, who shares rhythm duties with Moses, while Drummer Cary Greenwood matches the aggro tone of Harding.

"Chasm's S/T is a genuine reflection of the strange evolution of Port Swedes music," said reviewer Petra Donahue. "It is far louder than all other music playing in the Republic, whether its the sunny alternative of Suldanor, or the pop punk and RF pop of Kaliburg, or the alt-folk music further up in the hills. On its worst day it is rawer and more honest than anything else happening in the Republic. To some degree its a product of the weather. It's sunny maybe 8 days out of the year, and warm almost never. You gotta be hardscrabble to even live there. The music reflects the attitude and the outlook of the people, who are plagued by an environment that means they will be working, hard, all the time, and with no hope of tomorrow being much different than today. That's reflected in grit, and that's exemplified on this record."

Overall, the songs are about loss and grief and being angry at that. "When you think about what she's singing about on this record, you hear a woman who feels wronged, that something has been stolen from her unjustly," said Donahue. "There's not a lot of power or agency here the way there are on Chasm's previous two albums. This is a post loss record, one written in the aftermath of a great injustice." The last two songs were penned by Harding's husband before he died. "I think Chasm brings a sense of grievance that were not in the songs before she lost Dave to heroin. She's mad: mad at a system that allows the depression that often seems pervasive in Port Swedes turn into an epidemic of addiction. She's mad at Dave for not controlling his usage, and in the end just giving in to it in the end and embracing death, rather than fighting for life. And she's madder at herself, more than anything or anyone else, for not being able to stop him. All that comes out on this record."

Harding's outrage resonates well with a certain segment of the population who feels divorced from the system, who feels that the policies of the Government don't apply to them. But for the most part, the people buying the new Chasm record are the longtime fans that Chasm has cultivated since their breakout success four years ago. "Yes, Harding is angry. And yes, her band helped her make a cathartic record," said Moses, "but yes, Chasm is literally the biggest professional band on VDR at the moment, and are seasoned veterans. And they are, at the end of the day, in the business of selling records."

Harding herself seems to confirm this sentiment. "Yes, I mean, I have a good reason to feel like I do. And god damn, that feeling powers me right now. This is the best music we've ever made. And I am just pissed that Dave just quit on himself, and on me. But my band picked me up when I was down, and they were like 'We're here for you. We'll do whatever you need us to do.' And so we made a record and got all the poison out, and at the end of the day, my life will go on."

Chasm's first single from their self-titled LP is "Addisjah" which was one of the two songs written by the late Dave Harding. The record, distributed by VDR, is available across the Republic.

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Crisis in Lourenne washes Kalistani Shores
Foreign Minister issues hasty statement
Kaliburg, Ananto
March 12, 5089


Foreign Minister Troy Ulysses Addresses the Lourenne Crisis

In light of the revolution in neighboring Lourenne, the Government of Kalistan met in emergency session to offer a response. As the government met, the National press was hastily assembled near the National Assembly to await comment from the Republican Government.

Shortly before 6pm Tonight, the Foreign Minister, Troy Ulysses went before the Microphones and delivered the following statement outlining the policies of the Republican Government.

"Comrades, we are faced with a revolution in our close neighbors and most important trading partners, The Kingdom of Lourenne. This revolution follows the election of a coalition of Republican Parties who promptly declared a Republic, and forced the Monarch, Comrade Catherine the 2, to flee to her estate in Rildanor, along with her family. To our knowledge, the Queen is safe, as is her family, and her regent, Louis, remains as an official presence within Lourenne.

The Government of Kalistan has decided, for the time being, to remain neutral with regard to this internal matter. The Kalistani Government will not back either side of this conflict, and leave the matter for the Lourennais to resolve for themselves with no interference from The Republic. We will however not refuse to assist those who we have developed such a warm and peaceful relationship over the previous decade.

We offer all those who would like to avoid the conflict themselves refuge within the Kalistani Republic. The policy of our Government is to not only offer refugees shelter, but also generous support in integrating within the Republic, until such time as they decide they should want to return home. We will gratefully assist in resettlement, temporarily or otherwise in or near the Lourennais settlements in and around Dulnerstaad, and from there, refugees may make their homes anywhere in the Republic that they wish. Permanent residency will be grandfathered in for all recent arrivals.

Our treaties with Lourenne remain in effect regardless of who governs the nation. Our agreements were with the Nation and the people of Lourenne, not with any particular administration. As a result, the Republic hereby guarantees all Lourennais investment in Kalistan to its original investors. We also guarantee all bank deposits in Kalistani Banks belonging to Lourennais investors.

The Republic will place our coastal defenses on alert and will work with the Lourennais Navy to ensure that foreign powers do not attempt to take advantage of the situation in Lourenne. The President of the Republic has ordered the 1st Navy to the Northern Limit, and has ordered the second Fleet to relocate to Bozo River in case Lourenne has any need of assistance in the Outannais Passage. The Fleet will remain in port, however, and will serve as a quick reaction force. We have also called up the SP Militia in Ananto to provide support for the Regular Force on the Island, in an effort to tamp out any spread of any conflict that may or may not happen as a result of the instability in The Kingdom.

The Government of Kalistan will remain in consultation with the Queen, and will, for the time being, treat her government in exile as the legitimate Government of Lourenne, until such time as the situation changes, and another force has established full control over the Kingdom.

The Position of the Kalistani Government is a status quo ex ante position, and if this changes, we will make further announcements. Thank you and I will take questions now."

The FM then took questions for the next half hour. Reporters primarily sought more information and clarity about the Government's position, but the FM was unable to answer many questions, and responded simply that "The Republican Government has not developed policy on this topic at the current moment."

[Doc]

Kalistani SFZP-EFR project reaches milestone
Fusion Reactor sustains Plasma compression for 1.383 seconds
Bozo River Experimental Reactor, Ananto
May 17, 5089


The remains of an experimental prototype which produced a stable column of burning plasma for just over one second before burning out

Dr. Janice Schmidt announced today that the Experimental Fusion Reactor has reached a milestone in the fusion "In this afternoon's test," Said Dr. Schmidt, "we sustained a stable compression of the plasma for just over one second, before the containment shear collapsed. While maintaining the compression still required more energy than was produced, we do have evidence of energy output from the reactor at a ratio of about .08, to the tune of about .89 Megajoules of energy and evidence of the tritium breeding cycle also occurring. This is an amazing step forward and demonstrates that we are so much closer to creation of the first commercially viable DT Plasma Fusion Reactor: We are on the very doorstep of ignition."

Backers in the Republican Government, concerned with the crisis in Lourenne, and potential budget pinches this will put on the National Budget, have begun helping the experimental reactor seek large scale private sector investment in an effort to shift the project to a more equal public-private partnership. "Financiers at KALNAPECO have worked with the project to set up a shall investment company to handle private sector investment into the project," said CFO Mike Green. "The company, Ananto Futures, will handle all the public money and accept private investment, which will then go to continue funding Dr. Schmidt's work at Bozo River." In this way, even foreign companies can contribute investment to the project to ensure that it will be a successful venture.

"The ultimate pricetag of just over 8.5 million Rubles is a bit steep, and that is not including the hundreds of millions that have already been spent on development," said Green. "Naturally, the Republic will insist that the reactor, once completed, will remain in the public space, and all return on all investments will be calculated at that time. But as you can imagine, it is hard to sell that to foreign investors who are keenly interested in the project, but hope to use the reactor to earn profit." Green noted that building the working reactor is one thing. Selling it will be comparatively easy.

"Once the working reactor is up and running," said Green, "You can see it here in the prototype: This can fit onto the back of a flatbed semi truck and assembled on site. The scalable model, the ones which can power whole cities, whole islands, those will be somewhat larger, but not by much. It will be easy, we think, to produce models that can be disassembled and transported to other countries. And of course, those who maintain their investments will receive a return from that. But Schmidt estimates that we are still at least 10 years away from large scale production of these fusion reactors. This test is a major achievement in that direction."

Dr. Schmidt was enthusiastic. "We have demonstrated that we can maintain a compression reaction over a relatively long time. One second may not seem like that long, but it is proof of concept that our gas sheer gas sheer served to keep the plasma compressing and generating energy. While we are still far below the Q=1 ratio that we seek to make this an actual power generator, we have nonetheless demonstrated that we can eventually get there. Think of a bolt of lightning: In nature, there is no way to contain lightning, and the bolt kind of goes everywhere. What you see there is plasma with a relatively weak static charge running through it. Now imagine compressing that whole 4 miles long bolt of lightning into a cylinder compressed together by the charge itself to pressures and temperatures many millions of times greater than anything we have on earth. Something like in the center of the sun. That is what we are working with here, and we have contained the reaction and can now therefore sustain it for a longer period of time. And the potential is infinite."

Dr. Schmidt intends to do more tests in the coming months, and says that she expects that the experimental reactor will reach the 1.0 threshold within a year, meaning that the reactor will generate more energy than it takes to run--Technically this will mean that ignition has been achieved. "At that point, we will still need fine tune the reactor for the purpose of containment and sustaining the reaction over much longer periods, days, weeks, months, or years, perhaps," said Dr. Schmidt. "Our primary issue is with the pulse current and the ability to vary the speeds of the plasma along the column- We need the plasma inside to flow slower that the plasma toward the edge of the column which contains the reaction at the center. We will accomplish this when we get the sheathing gas blanket to the right speeds that will sort of drag the plasma along, creating a heavily magnetic field around the outside of the plasma cylinder, without the need to use electromagnets. With each test, we calibrate our instruments closer and closer to create the pulse which sustains the field that contains the plasma without instability, and increase our efficiency to produce more power than we are supplying to the machine. That will require a lot more trial and error, but once it is achieved, it will be reproducible. We think the actually current needed is around 650,000 amperes to hit our breakeven point."

The SFZP-EFR Program at Bozo River continues, and gets closer and closer to the goal of clean fusion energy for the Republic and the world.