Radio Kaliburg- Seleya's ONLY Alternative

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Female Voice:

CQDX, CQDX:

Este es Radio Kaliburg, transmitiendo en vivo desde Kaliburg, Ananto, Kalistan, territorio libre en Seleya!

This is Radio Kaliburg, Transmitting live from Kaliburg, Ananto, Kalistan:  Free Territory of Seleya!

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Broadcast from April 3, 2023

Announcer Edward Ballentine:

Next up is Donna Gonzales, with tonight's Opinion:

Donna Gonzales:

We welcome you to Radio Kaliburg's nightly opinion segment.  We want to comment on the sad attempts of the Keymonite government to smear Kalistan.  In an odd robotic voice, their announcer claimed that our government is covering up the killing of rich people in Kalistan.  But our goal tonight is to talk about the killing of the poor in Keymon.

Due to the economic Liberal policies in Keymon, many thousands of poor in Keymon do not have access to basic food, shelter, or health services.  Does this lead to their death?  No more, we'd say than the elements leads to the death of hypothermic people.  It is most assured that poor people in Keymon have died from lack of any basic services.  We interviewed one Keymonese refugee named Kaikane, who did not want his last name announced for fear of Conservative reprisals, even here in Kalistan.  Kaikane described the dramatic decline in the standard of living following independence.  According to Kaikane, the Conservatives cut social services for the poorest in Keymon, claiming that they were helping poor people obtain dignity by forcing them to work.  Sink or swim is the mentality, said Kaikane.  Work or starve is the daily message of the Government.  And yet Keymon says people are free to choose "starve".

What it means instead is that the poor simply get poorer, and those who are already the poorest die off.

But Kaikane, and others who confirmed his story independently with stories of their own, give the Government of Keymon far too much credit.  The real policy is to eliminate poverty by starving the poor out of existence.  This is the real purpose behind so-called "starve the beast" cuts to social spending.  The Beast is public money to deal with social problems like poverty, unemployment and homelessness, which are themselves the direct result of unfettered capitalism like the sort you will find in places like Keymon. 

The ones who somehow make enough money to stay alive despite the "kill the poor off" policies of the Rightist Government in that imprisoned Island are meant to be forced to simply accept whatever wage their capitalist masters choose to pay them.  They have no ability to negotiate, because the Government has created policies which put all the negotiation power into the hands of the wealthy and powerful.  In fact, the workers are just chattel, meant only for capitalist exploitation, paid just enough to ensure they can wake up the next day and return to their work stations.  What little wealth workers are somehow able to generate for themselves is immediately claimed by capitalists and landlords, or if they get sick, by for-profit medicine.

The result is predictable:  A few benefit from the one-way Keymonese wealth Elevator, while the masses suffer, and yes, die.  And politicians, who have been utterly captured by the wealthy, continue to do the Wealthy's business in Government, without a beneficent thought for the poor.  Their malevolent policies lead to mass starvation, homelessness, and other social ills tied to neglect and exploitation by their society.  Keymon is being turned into a slum while the wealthy hide in their mansions and behind the walls of their gated community.

If we can offer a word of advice for the Government of Keymon, it is this:  Hungry people don't stay hungry for long.  They know where the food is.  The know who exploits them in the workplace.  The only thing the poor of Keymon don't know is why the Government of Keymon protects those people instead of working for the benefit of society.  Why must Keymon work on behalf of the tiny minority who exploits the people of their country?  Why must Keymon protect those who have the wealth and power enough to protect themselves?  Doesn't the government of Keymon see it as their job to work on behalf of the people?  We know that a society is judged by how it treats its least fortunate.  But if we applied this standard to Keymon, we would judge them a dismal failure.  What sort of Government lets their poor starve and die in the streets?  What sort of Government allows poor people to die outside of hospitals for their failure to afford insurance?  We know Keymon does, because they are ideologically opposed to the existence of the poor in their country and can't simply send out death squads to kill them off more directly.  But someday, their chickens will come home to roost.

It is our hope that Radio Kaliburg provides the soundtrack for that day.

So with that, we will end our commentary for the evening with a song by Kalistani Rock band Death to The Machine.  This one's called "The Warning", and it is our hope that it speaks to members of the Keymonese Government, right along with the disaffected masses of Keymon who that same government wants to starve out of existence.

This has been Donna Gonzales, for Radio Kaliburg, Seleya's only Alternative.

Announcer Edward Ballentine:

Thank you Comrade Gonzales.  Now, back to the News.

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Broadcast from May 2, 2023

Announcer Lena Verdes-Hampton

That was Timmons and the Natives with "Mule Driver".  After the break we will hear more from the Gendaris Import Scene with 90's Beluzian favorites The Somnambulists' hit song "Dreaming Every Day", which features vocals from Beluzian singer Anna McGough.  But first we have been asked to play a special message from our friends in the Syndicalist Republic of Punicar, Cildania.  We hope all people of good conscience will listen to Punicar's message and take action.

Audio:
The Special Message from the Syndicalist Republic of Punicar

Transcription:

This is a plea from the Sydicalist Republic of Punicar, to the free peoples of the world. The situation in Cildania is degrading more by the day, as the Agrarians and Hebilean Nationalists are attacking the liberated state of Punicar, no doubt funded by capitalists and monarchists abroad. In addition, religious extremist groups have been reported in several areas. Fascists have gained power along the coast, astride the Kinaan and Gilżon border. And, above all, King Ġan the second plots in his decrepit and debased court. We implore all free and liberated nations for support and aid in the coming conflict.

Announcer Lena Verdes-Hampton

The Kalistani Foreign Minister has informed me that the Government of Kalistan stands ready to ship small arms to Punicar upon request from the Government, and two battalions of Militia irregulars of the heroic Revolutionary Socialist Militia of Kalistan will deploy to Punicar to offer advice, training and support.  We hope all correct thinking Nations will follow suit.

But now, back to the Music.  Here's The Somnambulists' with "Dreaming Every Day" featuring Anna McGough, here on Radio Kaliburg:  Seleya's ONLY Alternative

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Broadcast of June 8, 2023

Announcer Edward Ballentine

Welcome back to tonight's News.  Next up is our nightly opinion segment, with Donna Gonzales.  Donna...

Announcer Donna Gonzales

Thank you Edward.  Tonight the topic of our discussion once more turns to Keymon.  The lies of the capitalists in that imprisoned island have once more closed the window on any normal relations that Keymon and Kalistan might have had following the assistance of the Keymonite "government" in defusing a LDP terror plot we reported on last month.  It is to be expected, of course.  We know the main propaganda wing of the Keymonite "government" which is the official mouthpiece of the powers that be in Keymon, has filed several scurrilous reports about Kalistan recently, and until recently, Kalistan has attempted to work with Keymon despite their efforts to scuttle the thawing.  But they have now definitively stated the policy of the Keymon "Government" toward Kalistan.  It is none but hostility, even to the point of conjuring demons out of thin air to smear our Nation and its people.

But I would like to tell another story.  This one comes to us from Fredrick Hernandez, who was one of the capitalists who fled Kalistan in 2020.  He has returned to Kalistan with horrifying reports of conditions in that Rightwing dungeon.  Mr. Hernandez, once a staunch supporter of the LDP and a capitalist himself filed this report, and excuse me, but I have been asked to read his statement verbatim, rather than attempting to summarize it.  The following are the words of Mr. Hernandez.

"I left my homeland of Kalistan in March of 2020.  When the socialists came to power, I knew that the party was over.  Under Liberal rule, I and people like me had made fabulous sums of money.  We did so as any capitalist would:  We paid attention to our bottom lines, we worked hard, we cut when we needed to cut, we laid off workers when we needed to, and we maintained profitability at all costs.  I was the owner of a shoe making company here in Kalistan, one of the largest in the nation.  We employed more than 2200 workers at our plants in Vrassa and Odufaray.  Under LDP rule, we didn't ever have to worry about unions or workers demanding higher wages.  I do not mind saying that when labor was controlled by market forces, the number of unemployed and underemployed workers in Kalistan always provided us with a more than willing workforce who would work for less than the laborers we had hired.  I offered them as many extra hours as they wanted, and most workers wanted it, as evidenced by the fact that the average work week was 54 hours, rather than the standard 31 at many smaller companies, who paid their workers less due to the job shortages.  

"But I like to think we took good care of our workers.  We paid them a company-wide minimum wage of 56 rubles an hour, which was decent compared to what some others were paying workers.  We gave our workers access to private health insurance, and a retirement savings account, which few ever took advantage of, but it was available.  And we had stores attached to our companies, where we were able to sell workers food and other assorted consumer items on credit, which they could then contribute portions of their wages to to pay off.  All in all, we kept 2200 people fed, and our wages helped them keep a roof over their head.  And after all of this largess that I personally ensured to my workers, I was always able to turn a profit and give my investors a tidy dividend.  I was so successful at my job that I was able to golf three times a week at the most exclusive country clubs in the nation, and still earned a salary of more than 67 million Rubles a year.

"As I said, when the socialists came into power, we knew that the Party was over.  My friends, all industrialists and I attempted to hang on for a while, but it became clear that the trajectory was toward ending our lifestyle, rather than promoting it.  So a group of us decided to close up shop and liquidate our assets.  However, we found that due to nationalization of the National Bank, we could not get much of the money we had saved, and most of the assets we had in our factories were in many cases frozen.  So I took as much money as I could, and my family and I emigrated to Keymon.

"Once there, we thought we would be protected.  But we were wrong.  The first blow came when we learned that Keymonite Cambios were not accepting Kalistani Rubles.  They opted to not take our money because the Socialists in Kalistan were in the process of ending the Ruble and replacing it with the dollar.  So I was able to trade more than 8 million Kalistani Rubles on the black market at a criminal rate of 730 Rubles for one Pound.  This gave me just over 11,400 pounds.  I expected I should be able to live well on that amount in Keymon for a few years until I could expatriate the rest of my money back in Kalistan. 

"How wrong I was.  Everything was so incredibly expensive in Keymon.  Even in Kalistan, pre-price controls, things were very cheap.  But not in Keymon.  I was able to put a downpayment on a house, and and save enough money to get me by until I could find work.  But my family and I ran through the rest of our cash in a month and a half.  And I found work, but due to my status as a foreign alien refugee, I was paid under the table for months, and earned 14 pounds an hour washing dishes at a restaurant.  My wife also tried to get work as a school teacher, a job she did in Kalistan, but it turns out that the Government of Keymon did not recognize her credentials.  We tried to make it for a while, but by September, we began falling behind on our bills.  It was obvious that we had taken a severe drop in standard of living.

"Things got so tight during the first winter that we felt we needed to attempt to access Keymon's vaunted 'social security' program.  I was a staunch opponent of poor relief, but in our case, we needed it.  We were struggling to make ends meet, and we are of a fundamentally different sort than the urchins who used poor relief in Kalistan.  We were actually contributing members of society, who had temporarily fallen on hard times.  But their social security, we soon found out, was mostly only for Keymonese citizens, and the programs they offer not only require poor people to work for thirty hours a week, but often time, bosses will find out that they are on assistance and pay them just enough for those thirty hours to disqualify them for poor relief.  Other times, bosses who are opposed to poor relief will do what I used to do, and cut their hours so they don't make the minimum number of hours a week to qualify for the program.  In the entire time we were in Keymon, we actually qualified for food assistance three weeks in total, and only then because I was able to lie about my citizenship for that long before it caught up with me and I was kicked off the program.  And then:  it was 8 pounds a month.  8 pounds! 

"We struggled our first winter in Keymon, and thought we were out of the hell by spring, when my wife got a job.  She couldn't tell me what it was, but she was finally bringing in enough to supplement our income and finally make our bills.  And none too early either.  We were about to lose our house and our electricity had been cut off a number of times.  I couldn't believe it:  In Kalistan I lived like a king.  In Keymon, I lived like a peasant.  But a hard working peasant.  We made ends meet, finally, but then disaster struck.  Our oldest child, Blake, got sick.  It turns out he had contracted meningitis.  We could have gotten him help, for sure, but we couldn't afford insurance, and when we took him to the doctor, not only did they turn him away because we didn't have insurance, but they also hinted that a bigger problem was that we were Kalistani refugees, and several of the patients protested about being treated in the same hospital as refugees from a different country.  Blake died a very painful death hours after being ejected by security from the hospital.

"My wife and I were grief stricken.  That spring and summer, we fought more and more.  And then I discovered to my chagrin that the new job my wife had been working for these months, the one that kept her out of the house all night...  Its almost too unbearable to even say.  She had become an escort for wealthy Keymonite men and women, and the money she made was from tips.  I was too torn up about it.  I kicked her out of my house.  I couldn't even look at her.  She left, saying over her shoulder, 'Fine.  See ya.' and me and my two remaining children never saw her again.

"We struggled on for a couple more years.  My mother sent us some money, and gradually, I was promoted from dishwasher to prep-cook in my restaurant.  Life was hard, but it brought me and my kids much closer together.  2021 was a very hard year.  2022 was a bit easier, but my children were not thriving in Keymon.  I mean, I couldn't understand it:  Keymon was supposed to be this place where everyone could be wealthy if they just worked hard enough.  I worked my ass off.  My daughter Jill got a job tutoring Keymonese children who wanted to learn Luthoran better.  Matt was too young to work, but he would have if he had been over the age of 8.  We worked our asses off.  But at the end of the day, we couldn't even make repairs to our home when we discovered termites had infested it.  Gradually, the ceiling started collapsing, and one night a chunk of plaster hit Matt on the head while he was sleeping.  He was alright, but g-ddamn what a sh-t hole.

"Late last winter, we made the choice. We would save every half penny and would return to Kalistan when we could.  During the brief opening a month ago, me and my two children presented ourselves at the consulate.  We were a sight.  I was wearing the one t-shirt I had which didn't have stains on it.  Jill had holes in her shoes, but her dress was clean, and Little Matt stood tall despite losing his hair to a lice infestation.  We came with everything we owned in two suitcases and asked to return to Kalistan.  The consulate staff immediately welcomed us, they took us into a room, gave us food, and began asking us questions about why we had come to Keymon, why we wanted to return to Kalistan and so forth.  The gave us a routine health examination, filled two of Jill's cavities and likely saved her smile, and told me that I was severely undernourished.  They then allowed us to rest in a room which looked like a hotel room in the consulate, and we all took showers in hot water for the first time in months.  It was like paradise.

"We were flown back to Kaliburg the next day, and connected with a flight to Vrassa, where my mother and step father met us and welcomed us home.  A couple days later, I was able to get a job in Vrassa City as a line cook.  But get this:  I was now making 6 and a half of the new Dollars an hour to start, and that is equivalent to 258 of the old Rubles an hour.  I paid my workers like a fifth of that when I was an employer.  I also went to the hospital and was greeted by friendly staff, who set me on a course to restore my health.  We had fresh food on the table every night courtesy of the Food Bank, and next month, I will get a raise to 8 and a half dollars an hour, which is just the going wage for workers.  I will also be moving my family into a low cost apartment, which is close to their new schools. 

"I am so overwhelmed.  I have this new chance to start over.  The government told me about a small business loan program for entrepreneurs in the private sector.  My money from before is all gone, but this program can help me start a new business again.  I don't know what I will do yet, but I do know shoes.  And Kalistanis need shoes.  Kids play soccer here barefoot, as you all know.  That kinda freaks me out.  But it is a chance, you know.  More than I ever got in Keymon.  And hell:  the neighborhood political commissioner and I have even become friends.  Maybe she and I will be seeing a lot of one another.  Who knows.  But I hope so.  In Kalistan I can hope."

That was Fredrick Hernandez' first hand account of the miserable condition of the Keymonese people.  It is the sole responsibility of the Keymonite Government to do something about it, and speaking for myself, it sickens me that they allow anyone in their country to live like this.  In Kalistan, when Liberals tried to make our country into what Keymon has become, the people rose up and kicked them out of power.  Through democratic elections.  We on Radio Kaliburg aren't telling Keymonite citizens what to do, but they know, more than anyone, how bad things are in Keymon.  All we are saying is, there are examples of a better life than what they have now.

So with that, let us conclude our segment with a Suldanor Ska band, Forget Ferrite, with their hit "Liars".  This song is dedicated by Mr. Hernandez, and all of us here at Radio Kaliburg, to the Government of Keymon.

 

That was "Liars" by Forget Ferrite, from Suldanor.  You are listening to Radio Kaliburg:  Seleya's ONLY Alternative.

Announcer Edward Ballentine

Thank you Compañera Gonzales.  We will return after these messages.

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Broadcast of September 5, 2023



Announcer Timoteo Gerard

This is Radio Kaliburg, Seleya's Only Alternative.  That was AM/FM with one of their early songs, the rather colorful, "Big Balls". 

Tonight, in Northern Seleyan Briefs, we will focus on the Beaches of Ananto.

When the Socialists returned to power nearly five years ago, they mandated hours of work be set at 8 a day.  Along with this mandate which was supported by workers of the Left, but largely opposed by Kalistan's dwindling Investor Class, The Government directed that all state owned industries would provide workers with one full month of paid vacation a year.  Workers could break up the vacation as they pleased, or they could take it all at once.

When working people began taking vacations, Kalistan's beaches became a number one destination spot.  For decades, the beaches had been neglected, and erosion and degradation had taken its toll.  In some places, sand was washed out, leaving a gravel beach.  As the sand was pulled out, it made the coastline in places shallow in many places, increasing wave height at the shore, and making swimming for pleasure more dangerous.  In Ananto's southern Midnight Beach, rip currents began to appear.  Along the Suldanor coast, many sandy beaches turned into mudholes infested with mosquito.  Northern Ananto beaches, which were never places that families and casual swimmers visited, due to its rocky coastline and tiny continental shelf, became hotspots for surfers.

But following the establishment of the Month-long vacation, public outcry for safe, fun beaches, and later Water resorts, began to increase.  In 2021, Ananto began efforts to restore its beaches.  Much of the sand was reclaimed in large dredging operations behind temporary jetties.  The deepening of the swimming areas, combined with the construction of sandbars to replace the jetties broke waves and redirected currents farther away the shore, and after a year of hard work by the NSP along with private sector structural engineers, Southern Ananto was ringed with eight restored beaches.  Three of them are clothing optional:  One is all ages, one of them is limited to age 50 and up, while the other is closed to everyone over the age of 30.

In addition, new sand was provided to Suldanor's swampy coasts, removing the water table from the top of the soil, and creating nacent beach resorts complete with excellent guest accommodations, water slides, jet skiing and innertubing, and music.  The resorts are a short cab ride from the nightlife in downtown Sulari.  For a more secluded experience, Odufaray has opened three beaches of their own near Gendaris, and have recently expanded their airstrip to accomodate larger airplanes from Ananto and other parts of Kalistan.  These beaches have more temperate climates, and could be described as somewhat more rustic.  But they are nonetheless very beautiful, and one, Shoals Beach, offers snorkeling opportunities at a small reef a mile off the coastline.

Vrassa has gotten into the action too, and is giving Ananto a run for their money, by opening the first All-Kalistani Surfing Competition, every year at Senvias.  The waves that roll into the shore north of Bahia Senvias due to its relatively long, flat sloping sea floor, which is actually a long sandbar that is essentially an underwater delta of the Vrassa River, regularly top 15 feet trough to crest, and surfers have recently mastered new techniques at Senvias Beach.

All in all, Kalistan's beaches offer fun for Kalistani citizens and foreign visitors alike.  There is always plenty of food and fun at the beaches, long seasons and even the most secluded beaches are near transit hubs.  All are welcome to visit our Beaches, and have the time of their lives.

And now, let's get back to the Music.  Here's the Heavy Boys, in their popular collaboration with the Midnight Boys called "Surf Out."  Here on Radio Kaliburg:  Seleya's ONLY Alternative.

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Broadcast of October 1, 2023

Announcer Alex Bennots

You're listening to Radio Kaliburg: Seleya's ONLY Alternative.  That was 412 with their hit "Golden Energy".  The video for that song was shot out at beautiful Midnight Beach in Ananto and featured several local girls who the bend met at a Bar.

This afternoon's feature, before we drop to the Nightly News Program, is on Kalistan's anti-corporate movement in popular music.  30 years ago, music was dominated by massive record companies, who spent millions on record production and expected to recoup that money before paying their artists.  If artists were paid in advance, it was through advances, which artists went through pretty quickly.  The problem was:  if the album did not recoup the costs of production, the artists were on the hook for repaying the advance.  If they were not able to, they were required to make records unpaid until either they recouped the cost, or they were released from their contract and the loss was written off.

This industrial system of making music forced music to be focused on money and profits.  The industry, which formed of a virtual cartel of three of the Largest Record Labels in Terra:  Ananto Records, Foster Brothers Recording (which was a media conglomerate on its own) and KRI, produced thousands of records a year that nobody ever heard of, let alone enjoyed.  They often made these records to stock shelves.  But they also ran a virtual peonage composed of some of the most talented musicians in Kalistan and abroad.  A few huge stars made a lot of money for themselves, but a lot more money for their label, and they often carried the lesser famous artists.

The key to the dominance of the Labels was their control of distribution networks.  They controlled the charts which said which records were popular, they controlled the trade magazines which talked up (or down) bands.  They controlled the catalogs of music and publishing rights, which itself bottlenecked which record stores could buy from which distributors.  By 1992, the Big Three Kalistani Labels controlled not only music, but musicians, and more importantly, tastes.

Into this system came a series of independent and alternative artists. A lot of the artists who enjoyed early success without a record label were seen as aberant.  They developed loyal local followings where they grew up.  And they put out their music on cassette tapes, which were easily replicable and distributable.  These tapes sold at those bands' shows.  For a few years, alternative meant loud music which was not designed to maximize sales, but spoke to the tastes of a specific audience.  In the 90s, a person developed an identity around the bands they followed, rather than other divisions.  Alternative blew the music scene wide open.

But the Labels struck back, and ended up assimilating most of the big alternative bands.  Following a brief period, from 92-95, Labels began returning pop music designed to sell records to the airwaves, and completely inundated all music outlets with boy bands and teenaged pop princesses.  A tiny renaissance of independently produced music glimmered in Kalistan between 2000 and 2002, but the Labels showed no sign of stopping their barrage of pop music.  At the same time, as Hip hop became more popular in the mainstream, Major labels also mass produced that and created a strain of rap called "Club rap", which dominated rap stations, focused on "club life", drinking and having sex with people one meets at the club.  Occasionally protagonists in club rap songs would get into a fight, but invariably, they would spend an inordinate amount of time dancing.  Club rap was replaced by D-Rap, which focused on drug use and whose singers often mumble and sling garbled verses.  It is all a function of Labels continuing to focus on profits over quality.

But then, file sharing began in 2002.  Music became easily distributed fully outside the Lable's control through use of peer to peer sharing services.  However, the vast majority of music distributed "illegally" via P2P sharing was popular music.  Alternative bands and independent bands did not have the capital to be able to produce quality music.  Though Lables objected to filesharing initially, they soon realized that paid downloads of music to mibile devices provided them with yet another revenue stream.

This situation continued, and led Kalistani music to be described as a "complete wasteland" for nearly 2 decades.  But following the return of the Socialists, and especially the summary abolition of copyright monopoly that Labels enjoyed under LDP governance, a new movement in music, the anti-corporate movement has spread across the country.  Initially, there were many resistors to the movement, Chief among them the Labels and their big name stars.  One such star was the notorious white supremacist Felicia Ingridsdottir, who, before her self-inflicted demise and subsequent fall from grace, outsold most of her contemporaries by millions of albums.  Most teenagers rejected the anti-corporate movement:  they not only loved, but also emulated the D-Rap which blasted through their ear buds on a regular basis.

But by 2021, the anti-corporate movement had caught on.  Record sales and paid downloads plummetted.  One of the big three, Foster Brothers, shuttered in December of 2021.  Most of the record stores tied closely with the Big Three's distribution network had closed years before.  Meanwhile, independent labels and distribution channels proliferated throughout Kalistan.  Alternative music returned loud guitars, deep bass and thumping kick drums to the market.  Production pro-tools became easily available on personal computers, and now, anyone with a laptop could set up a 256 track digital studio.  Both men and women musicians adopted this anti-corporate attitude. 

Now, in Kalistani music, there are far more independent "labels" than there were even 20 years ago.  Most of them are vanity and development labels founded by musicians to allow them to distribute music they themselves like.  But a number of main indepdendent Labels exist across the Republic, giving any musician the opportunity to be heard.  As a result, the Kalistani music scene is far more vital than any other music scene in the world, and nightlife often involves going to see a show, by which the person means, going to hear live music.

There are several local scenes around the country.  The Kaliburg scene is the most important:  It focuses on punk, hardcore hip hop (2nd wave) ska and Reggae.  The Sulari Scene plays hard rock, ska-punk, and metal.  Odufaray specialized in independent hip hop, as well as a gritty variety of metal called "Sludge".  Vrassa has a thriving country music scene, but also has hard rockers who come from there.  And Neveras provides independent Blue grass and country, as well as their own variety of punk music called "Street punk" or Sk8 punk.

We end this feature with one of the early echoes of the anti-corporate movement, but still settled well within the pop music category.  It is by Luthorian-Born singer Mattie M, along with Kalistani rapper Lil' D.a.N and its from 2018.  This song offers a hard critique on Record Label ethics of making money, to the extent that the Labels exploit artists, portray crass consumerism, and seek to only make money, rather than allowing artists to have integrity.  This message would be carried on more explicitly in later anti-corporate music, and so we can say, this song was one of the important contributors to the movement.  Here's "Fat Stash", on Radio Kaliburg:  Seleya's ONLY alternative.

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Announcer: 

That was Kaliburg punk Band Putrid with their ode to the Zombie Apocalypse, "Everywhere".  And now it is time for tonight's Editorial.  Tonight, it is being brought to you by Donna Hendrix, who is a graduate student in International Relations at Kaliburg Republican University.  Comrade...

Donna Hendrix

Thank you Joe.  Tonight, I'd like to pose a controversial thesis.  Our politicians aren't talking about this.  in fact, just the opposite, they are all seeming to have adopted the notion that we need to liberalize our economy to get along with the rest of the world.  I don't know about all this, personally.  In fact, I think Kalistan ought to accept  the fact, and embrace the reality that we are a pariah nation in Terra.

What does it mean to be a pariah state?  Well, political scientists have a definition for the word, but let me just give you one that I think will be appropos to our current situation.  A pariah state is one that does not play the game of international politics by the rules others have set up for it, and as a consequence, are shunned for it by other nations.  Another pariah state on Terra now is Beluzia.  They are an admitted fascist state.  In a world dominated by liberal theory on the one hand, and where the greatest powers have offered full throated endorsement of expansionistic monarchism as a regime type, Beluzia the fascist state has earned the condemnation and shunning of other states, including Kalistan.  But it seems to a price they are willing to pay, to defend their ideals, as troubling as those ideals are.  Meanwhile, they still have nationalized health care, which is something that Kalistan has not even been able to completely accomplish, and have cracked down on radical wealth maldistribution so common in liberal and market oriented states, where the rich just get richer and the poor get welfare, if anything at all.

Is Beluzia thriving?  Perhaps they are by their own definition.  And I think this is important:  Beluzia, by standing outside, or being forced to stand outside the world system, becomes free to determine their own definition of success.  They are spending their time doing what they want, and as a result, the only one who seems to ever have anything negative to say about what they are doing is Kalistan.  Other countries shun them, so nobody bothers them while they drop napalm on their citizens.  If the world cannot control them, they also cannot sanction them.  This is the key.  We can see that being a pariah also means you are immune to critique, and nobody can do anything to you.

Kalistan took a step toward this status recently.  The step was reflected in Mordusian monarchist propaganda concerning the wedding of two future monarchs:  They said that the kicking out of Iokua from Kalistan was problematic and they were concerned about Mordusian investment, saying they will put sanctions on Kalistan if Kalistan does something they do not like.  They then proceded to declare Kalistan as having gone down the drain, by their own warped estimation.  (Leave it to expansionistic monarchs to make such declarations.)  When Keymon had Iokua in Kalistan, they could threaten Kalistan at leisure whenever they want.  Sure, Keymon will claim they never threatened Kalistan, but the fact is, whatever perspective on the issue happens to be correct, as long as Iokua, a fully owned Keymon financial interest in a country where the desires of the capitalist class and government policy are absolutely identical, underwrote any part of the Kalistani economy, they always had leverage over us.  They were in a position of saying "We don't like policy X, so say goodbye to Keymon investment.  Sorry.  Next time do as we want you to do, or you will feel pain we alone can level on you."

Iokua was never a deal of equity between Kalistan and Keymon.  Iokua provided something that Kalistan needed, and as anyone who has ever had to choose between working a job that treated him like a slave and starving knows, those with the money hold the power.  Keymon could, even if they never did, say "You policy is not satisfactory to us, so now you will feel pain until you change your policy."  This is the heart of the Kalistani Investment law:  to deny foreigners the ability to ever put that sort of pressure on Kalistan.  To take that power away from the foreign nation, and to preserve the independence of Kalistan from the needs and whims of foreign powers who never ever have Kalistan's interests in mind.

Kicking Iokua out of Kalistan was a step toward being a pariah nation.  It raised the fear in Mordusia that maybe they might not be able to control Kalistan either.  It marked Kalistan as a country who is willing to lose investment rather than ever put itself in a subservient position.  And since the great powers of the world require that subservience as a condition of peace, it increased the potential that those nations will shun Kalistan as they do other pariahs in the world.

Kalistan should embrace this.  If other countries want to do business with Kalistan, they should be made to take Kalistani interests into account as well as their own.  If they are not interested in doing this, then they should not be welcomed to do business in Kalistan.  If they want to do business with us, and make their profits in our market, this should be alright, but they should have to pay something for the privilege.  They deal should never be as one-sided as the Iokua dispensation was, where Kalistan was only allowed to buy a maximum of 10% stake in the company which aimed at making money by the fistful in Kalistan.  That bank and that loan they gave to KalMD did not come without strings.  So the Finance Minister was correct to end the dispensation.

And the Foreign Minister would be right to embrace the role of pariah.  It may cost Kalistan in the short term, but it will also grant Kalistan the freedom to set its own course in the world, to make itself what it wishes to be, and to owe it to nobody, to grant nobody power over it, even if it means we have no friends.

It is the only way to continue Kalistan's quest for self determination set out as a National Security priority in the Ananto Straits crisis.  Rather than kowtowing to the world order whose limits and requirements are set by others for their benefit, Kalistan should stand outside that system.

I call for the Government of Kalistan to take care of Kalistan, and invite the rest of the world to help take care of Kalistan.  If nobody else is willing to incur the responsibility and bear the costs of doing so, we should be prepared for that fact and set about to do it ourselves.

The Socialists have established a good starting point:  Zero percent GDP growth controlling for population growth. Anything Iokua could do in Kalistan we can find a way to do for ourselves, if we want them.  If we want technology, we should be willing to develop it ourselves.  Relying on other nations simply enslaves us to them.

But even more radical, and I will conclude here:  We should also reach out to other pariah states.  Yes, even to Beluzia.  The ideology of Leftism should not stop us from taking friends where we can get them.  If the Foreign Ministry pays no more attention to this opinion piece, let them hear this:  Sometimes even pariah states need friends.  Beluzia is a country with some things in common with Kalistan.  We could build on those similarities for our mutual benefit.  It is something to consider.

Embrace Pariah status.  It costs, but it is also liberating.

Announcer:

That was Donna Hendrix of Kaliburg Republican University here in Kaliburg.  Now let's get back to the music:  Here's Doubted with their anti-corporate media anthem, "The Box", here on Radio Kaliburg, Seleya's Only Alternative

[doc]

Broadcast of March 14,2025

Announcer Chris Diego-Rivera:

We would like to acknowledge the loss of a beloved voice on Kalistani Radios.  Today, Radio Free Seleya, a comedy channel broadcasted daily from Keymon, has gone silent.  At 4pm Kaliburg time, Kalistanis listening to the channel preparing for their daily dose of hilarity, were shocked to hear the station fall silent.  Upon investigation, in the Keymonite tabloid "Turtle City Press", researchers found that the Government of Keymon has finally shut down the station, alarmed that the station had been broadcasting what is essentially live comedy shows since its inception two years ago.  Clearly the Keymonite Government was unaware that the station they constructed with public funds was broadcasting comedic reports and satire.

The funding for the station was pulled due to “questionable content that the radio station broadcasted and the validity of some claims made by the station”, says the Keymonite daily.  It became obvious that the Ministry of finance of Keymon had not listened to the broadcasts previous to the yanking of funding.  (We, of course, not only assumed they had been listening to the broadcasts, but writing the copy.  It turns out the Finance Minister is not the comedy writer we assumed he was.)  From the story, we learn that the Minister, upon listening to the jocular broadcasts, became upset, pulled the plug and defenestrated the Staff of the station.

But true to form, the former "News Director" departed with one final zinger on his way out the door.  He stated, without a hint of irony, that everything the Station had presented was true, that the Finance Ministry clearly did not have a sense of humor, and that Keymon was going to significantly improve their tiny military with the funds they were saving on the station.  While this sounds like something the Keymonite Government would certainly consider, there obviously couldn't be much money behind the station, given the quality of their signal during peak hours!  But we must say, Well played Sir:  Perfect comedic timing!

We interviewed Kalistanis who were dedicated listeners to the station.  One such listener, a teenager from Kaliburg, says he used to love the show in the afternoons.  Quote "Me and my friends would get f--ked up and tune in at 4:20.  After a while, and after smoking a pretty heroic grip of Herb, the sh-t they were talking about just got stranger and stranger.  It would crack us up!  Listening to RFS was like the best way to spend the afternoons after school.  Get ripped and tune into some hilarious sh-t."  Unquote.  He said he and his friends now probably had to go out and burn stuff to pass the time, while at least one of them intended to learn Go.

The world is slightly less ridiculous now with this comedic gold known as RFS off the air.  As a public service, Radio Kalistan has agreed with KRTVN channel 92.9 FM to air reruns and greatest hits for RFS, for the next couple months, between 4 and 5 pm, so stoners can get "a smoke and a joke" in the afternoon, as the kids called it.  We hope all those who listen to the reruns of the RFS show record their favorite bits and share them freely among their friends.  We will also make the entire catalog of comedy specials from RFS available online at archive.rkalternative.org.ks as a zip file, where listeners can download and relive their favorite nonsense.

RIP Radio Free Seleya.  You will be missed by Kalistani fans of all ages.

[doc]

BROADCAST OF MAY 5, 2026

Announcer Edward Ballentine

You're listening to Radio Kaliburg-  Seleya's ONLY Alternative.  That was Kaliburg's own Jane the Addict with "No One's Gonna Stop", a song about excess.

Following the PSA, we will bring you tonight's Editorial, from the Desk of Deputy Forrest Delmonico, on development in Kalistan.

PSA for the National Vaccination Campaign:

"Howdy y'all.  This is Terrance Lee Edwards.  On screen, I often play a doctor who advises people on strange ailments and solves forensic crimes.  But most of my characters also have me portraying a caring father figure.  In real life, I am not a doctor, but I do have two wonderful kids whose health and wellness I take very seriously.

"Following universalization of health provision in 2019 the Republican Government set out on a campaign to fully vaccinate Kalistan's children against preventable childhood illnesses.  We went from a 42% vaccination rate in 2019 to now more than 96% of all school aged children being vaccinated with a full series of shots against common, deadly but preventable childhood illnesses of measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, Hepatitis A and B, and pneumonia.  Additionally, we have a 91% vaccination rate in preteen aged children against HPV, meningitis and tuberculosis.

"These statistics are pretty deep, I know.  But together, we can eradicate preventable Childhood diseases which killed more than 1.2 million children during the last century.  That's a statistic I can understand.  I vaccinate my children, and you should too.  Vaccines are safe, they are very effective and they are offered free to all children at your child's Primary Care Health Facility.  I am Terrence Lee Edwards, and I am joining with the Republican Government to fight to eradicate preventable Childhood Illnesses.  You can join the fight too: the sooner, the better."

This has been a public service announcement from the Republican Ministry of Health and Social Service, Terrence Lee Edwards, and Radio Kaliburg-  Seleya's Only Alternative.

We will now hear tonight's editorial from Deputy Forrest Delmonico, on economic development in Kalistan:

Forrest Delmonico, UKWF Deputy representing Treacleton, Suldanor

Greetings. Over the last seven years, we have seen some rather dramatic changes in Kalistan. Long gone are the hollow promises of classic liberal economic models, where the capitalist dominated market was supposed to resolve all of society's woes by liberating people to be as rich as they could possibly dream to be. We do not lament the passing of the economic system which told everyone that they could all win, but left out the key part that for some thousands to "win" millions of others must actually lose, that the economic prosperity of a few was built on the sweat and toil of the many, and that "winning" was as much equal parts hard work, luck and connections. We do not sleep less soundly knowing that a few powerful individuals can no longer freely prey upon the many, as they so freely and openly did while the LDP ran things in this country.

I do not need to extol the benefits of Socialism and the Dual Economy. Our system ensures that need is met by society for society, freeing people to actually pursue the things they want to live a better life, rather than just promising them that someday they may be able to. Our government has universalized all important need based commodities: Free nourishment, inexpensive and guaranteed housing, free health care paid for by tax dollars, energy to keep our lights on and our houses warm in the winter, exceptional free or greatly subsidized education from pre school through post graduate levels, guaranteed employment either through National Service or within the Private Sector, who is constantly forced to compete for skilled and competent workers, rather than workers ever having to compete for jobs, and a guaranteed Universal Basic Income, so bosses never forget that they need workers, and not the other way around. In addition, we ensure Kalistanis have the means and opportunity to purchase from the private sector things they like: this or that brand of television, car, video game, health care specialist, etc. Yes, we must pay taxes for this, but due to the constitutional need to ensure a surplus while at the same time, not overly oppressing the population with taxes or inflation, the National Economic plan aimed at zero-percent growth ensures that Kalistan does not fall off a financial cliff, and can easily address problems as they arise in the society, rather than neglecting them and ignoring them while they fester and mold.

But how is Kalistan developing?  Can we keep up with modern rivals and friends alike?  The answer is, obviously no.  Not when things are the way they are currently.  In 2026, we see low National investment in the sciences and engineering.  We see the Private Sector springing to action with the development of our financial sector, even as the National Government balks at foreign direct investment.  We see our economic prosperity underwritten by oil and petroleum production and export, but no real serious effort to diversify the economy, or even the energy sector for that matter.  Our fashion sense is stuck in the 1990s, and for better or worse, so are our music tastes. 

Kalistan needs to break out of this time warp.  In fact, Kalistan, under SPoK rule has proven to be one of the most conservative, non-fascist states on the map.  Clinging to the past as a drowning man would cling to a floating twig: hoping for some buoyancy, without any hold of actually being saved in time.  Kalistan must think outside the box.  We develop pharmaceuticals for domestic use, but what about selling to the world?  Why not turn the vast profits of KALNAPECO into a new solar farm and alternative energy sources across the Republic?  What about agriculture developments?  How about updating the infinite 90s playlist that Kalistani Radio plays?  If Kalistan wants to embrace the past, let them do so in a functional way.  Otherwise, they must either embrace the future or be doomed to irrelevance.

Look:  Kalistan is perhaps the best nation on Terra, on whatever metric you could think of.  We do not have to look far from our own borders to see socioeconomic division even in supposedly liberal nations which serves, as all market based economies, to destroy life via the business cycle.  Boom-Bust is very real in places that adopt the market.  Kalistan seems to have this figured out.  But at the same time, this does not preclude innovation and development.  Some notable efforts to diversify have been private sector corporations KalMD and KalAero, who have been branching out to other nations.  The KBC represents a nascent vision of a socialized financial sector.  It is too little at the moment to loosen Kalistan's glacier of an economy, but as these groups grow, along with sectors of the National Service Program, Kalistan will begin to develop once more.

As bad the sink or swim laissez faire objectivist nonsense of the LDP era in Kalistan was, there was one thing they had right.  Sometimes growth and development have a place in a modern economy:  It can allow the socialist system to better meet the wants and demands of the Kalistani people, and prevent stagnation.  This is Forrest Delmonico, Workers Front Deputy from Suldanor.

That was Comrade Delmonico of the UKWF. 

Next on Radio Kaliburg, we're going back to some old school flavored hip hop.  This is Sulari MCs Legendary and KNG with their 2018 collaboration "Dream outside the Streets".  Only on Radio Kaliburg-  Seleya's ONLY Alternative

[doc]

Broadcast from February 8. 2027



Announcer Poppy Garcia

Welcome back to Radio Kaliburg, Seleya's ONLY Alternative.  That was Suldanor's Ghost Peppers with the ever funky "K-I-S-S-I-N-G".  When we return from the break, we'll have commentary from Horace Jones, professor of Political Theory at High Bong University on the pros and cons of Kalistan's electoral system.  But first, a Public Information moment from the National Service Program, here on Radio Kaliburg-  Selaya's ONLY alternative.

Young, Female Voice:

Hi  I'm Johnna Stuart, Echo-6, in Ananto.  I'm here to talk to you about National Service.  Let's get the legal jargon out of the way first:

We all know that National Service is the Law.  All high school graduates are required to put in four years of national service.  We know that in order to be eligible for free college and the UBI, you have to do your national service first.  It can either be active duty military, which is cool and everything, or it can be with the NSP, which I think is awesome.

There are a lot of great reasons to join NSP.  You will help the Republic do things for ourselves.  Back in the day, the National Government used to rely on the private sector to do things that we needed done.  The work would be shoddy, over expensive and rarely ever completed.  The Private Sector had a motto back then:  If there is no profit in it, we aren't doing it.  Well, there is no profit in building a road out to old man Johnson's farm, over three creeks and twenty miles from the nearest town.  But he needs the road, and we built him one.  We save money, he gets his road and a tiny group of investors don't get rich off the taxpayer.

The NSP helps workers in private sector jobs make higher wages.  It is a fact that there are not enough jobs in the private sector to employ all working aged people in Kalistan.  But here's the secret:  Under Liberal rule, there never were supposed to be.  Keeping a permanent supply of unemployed people is one tactic that capitalism uses to play workers off against one another, to ensure that workers will work for less and will be too afraid to quit or to strike.  National Service solves this problem by instead creating a perennial labor shortage.  Now it is the bosses who are afraid to lose their workers.  This leads capitalists to pay workers more to keep them, to offer more generous compensation packages, and to offer training to new workers. 

The NSP also teaches very valuable skills to all young people: skills like waking up on time and making it to appointments on time.  Skills like being ready to work BEFORE work starts.  Skills like what a full day of work feels like, and how great it is to put in rest and relaxation time when the work day is over.  Skills like self-discipline and self-respect, and what it is to know our own value.  Skills like teamwork.  We don't learn those things in school or at home.  We learn them through practice and constant repetition. We learn the value of social, as opposed to individual effort, and how easy it is to carry a burden when everyone chips in and does their part.  We know that the job needs to get done whether one or 10 people are there to work on it, but it gets done faster when all ten work together.  These skills make us one of the most highly sought after workforces on the planet.  We also learn other skills too:  things like engineering, medicine, trade skills, including welding, mechanics, plumbing and electrical, agricultural skills, manufacturing, construction, and management and planning.  You know, things like this.

Yeah, National Service is the Law.  But the things you can learn and the sense of accomplishment you gain from serving the Republic make National Service something that I, and millions of other Kalistani young adults look forward to every year.  And then, when we are done, if we want, we can be done and go on with our lives, knowing that 1) we have served our Republic and its people, and 2) that we can go to school Debt free and get the UBI.  With National Service, the sky's the limit.  But if you are like me and want to make a career out of the NSP, there is that option too!

National Service is open to every Kalistani, age 18 and up.  If you are able bodied, you will serve your first year doing hard work, but it is something we all do, and believe me, you will get through it quicker than you can even imagine.  In your Second year, you can choose your job, and depending on needs of the Service, your hours of work.  If you complete your 4 years successfully, you can opt to re-enlist and move up in rank, responsibility, and salary.  And if you have a disability, National Service is open to you too.  There are all sorts of jobs every person, of every ability can do in the NSP.

In National Service, I'm not gonna lie.  We are expected to give 100 percent at all times.  But when you drive out in the country in 20 years, across a bridge that looks familiar, you will be able to tell those with you, "See this bridge?  I built this."  And the sense of pride you will have will more than compensate for the sweat and sleep you lost when you were younger.

I believe in National Service.  I hope you do too.  I'm Johnna, Echo-6 in Ananto, and maybe I'll see you around the NSP."

Announcer Poppy Garcia

And we're back.  We'll now listen to commentary from Dr. Horace Jones, on the Electoral System.  Here on Radio Kaliburg- Seleya's ONLY Alternative.

Horace Jones:

Good evening.  I have been asked to call in and discuss my paper on the potential for electoral reform.

First, let me say:  The electoral system in Kalistan is something that every political liberal could want.  We exemplify the concept of one person- one vote.  Our Presidents are elected, and indeed, campaign with little fanfare.  We have something like 85 to 90 percent turnout in every election, even though voting is not mandatory in Kalistan.  People care, and are engaged.  There are viable alternatives.  Representation is high:  Every year the people report that the choices reflect their own preferences, and the only ones who consistently report negative attitudes toward the Government are those respondents who believe BOTH that Rightist Parties should govern the country AND who believe that those who do not share their ideological orientation should be completely locked out of the government.  That's about 6%.  There is not a corresponding attitude on the Left.

So we have a goldilocks type system where people have just enough, but not too much, partisanship, government involvement, and representation.  Great, right?  It's like a political scientist's dream come true.

If we agreed with liberal ideology, it is not the quality of choice, but the quantity of choice which matters.  The MORE candidates we have running, the more "free" they will claim that people are.  The counter to this argument is that you can have the choice of 18 different types of bread, but does it really mean that you are free when you try to choose the best one?  Or is your choice merely a statement of taste, and is not based on anything more than "I like the taste of this bread more than these other breads?"  And at what point can you make bread where it is not bread anymore, but something else?  I mean to say:  Is there really that much difference between 18 different types of bread?  Sure, private companies, interested in you buying THEIR loaf, will make bogus claims like "This one is better for x y and z reason."  But on a molecular level, the two or six loaves are identical, and what matters is the consumer's taste, rather than any sort of objective criteria for evaluation.

The same goes for candidates running for office.  Our elections, based on a liberal electoral model, provides our "consumers" meaning the voters, a vast choice between people who are basically equivalent.  Extreme views are not acceptable among our electorate.  "Gassing Yehuddists" is not a valid choice.  Full Communism is also not a valid choice.  Neither is laissez Faire economic solutions, not anymore at least.  If Laissez Faire is seen as too radical for the electorate, then why don't we see fewer candidates?  It seems like there are more, in fact than ever.  But they are all battling over an ever shrinking ideological landscape, as people in Kalistan begin to get used to socialism once more.

And what's worse, voters claim that they weigh the alternatives, consider the issues, and attempt to match candidate positions with their own before they vote.  But time and time again, who they vote for comes down to "gut feeling".  No person can have complete information about the candidates.  So at best, they are making a choice based on incomplete information.  But what it usually comes down to, once more, is taste.  I like this or that candidate.  There's just something about him or her.  The rationalization of the choice invariably comes AFTER, not before the decision is made.

Is this anyway to pick leaders?  When a person says I like this or that candidate more than some other one, they are making an equivalent statement when they say "I like this or that candy bar more than some other."  Why?  It's not important.  Sometimes you just feel like dark chocolate and almonds with coconut, other days you just feel like milk chocolate with just coconut.  It don't make any sense.  There is not any science to it.  A person votes based on their personal taste.  But the people they pick make decisions that affect everyone else.

Can you imagine how ridiculous it would be for me to say "I prefer dark chocolate, and so if I get x number of people together who also prefer dark chocolate, then you MUST also eat it, though you don't like chocolate at all."  That would be the essence of fascism.  And yet, this is precisely what we get when we have majoritarianism.  Me and my friends picked this candidate, based on nothing else at the time than our tastes, and now he governs you too, though you voted against him.

Wouldn't it be better to actually have GOOD politicians, rather than popular ones?  Politicians who knew something about administering things, rather than ones who shake enough hands and collect enough votes?  I think we ought to focus on quality of politicians, rather than quantity of candidates on offer. 

To accomplish this, we could ask civic organizations to send us their leaders.  Unions, social groups, Monthly Meetings, student organization-  they could all contribute.  They have a history of leading, and do not focus on treating our government like a business. 

We don't need popularity contests every three years.  What Kalistan needs is a competent and skillful government made of statesmen and women.  Otherwise, we're back in the bread aisle, trying to pick between 18 virtually identical choices, and in the end just picking the same one we picked last time.  That's not a way to shop, and that is not a way to pick leaders for the greatest nation in Terra.

Something to think of.  I am Horace Jones, Professor of Political Science at High Bong University.

Announcer Poppy Garcia

And I am Poppy Garcia.  You just heard commentary by Dr. Horace Jones.  And now, let's get back to the music.  Here's Luxon's own, Allyson Chaynes, with "Crunch", on Radio Kaliburg- Seleya's ONLY Alternative.