The comedy4cast Network. Let's dog ear that for now.
Well, hi. Clinton here. Welcome to the Dog Days of Pumpkin Spice Season.
Yes, August got away from me because life. So this is my unofficial extension of Dog Days.
For more information on that, go to dogdaysofpodcasting.com.
I always use Dog Days to give you 31 episodes full of some interesting,
yet totally useless, odd news.
And this year, to celebrate the platinum anniversary of comedy4cast,
or PAC for short, I'll end each Dog Days episode with part of a classic comedy4cast episode.
So, let's get started with...
Odd News PAC!
Earlier, we reported on a man who set himself up as the ambassador to a handful
of fake countries in order to scam people.
Now we're reporting on a totally different man who has declared himself president
of a country you might struggle to find on a map.
Meet Daniel Jackson, founder of the Free Republic of Verdis,
a sliver of forest less than 25 acres in total along Europe's Danube River.
It turns out that Jackson discovered that this small parcel of land was unclaimed
by either Croatia or Serbia due to an ongoing border dispute.
So, on May 30th, 2019, he declared Verdisian independence, complete with a flag,
cabinet, currency, and nearly 400 citizens.
Hmm, sounds like they don't have a national anthem.
Oh, Mr. President, I seem to have one hanging around from that other story.
Call me. The area the British man claimed, known on the maps as Pocket Three,
has since been named the world's second smallest country, right behind Vatican City.
Jackson is a 20-year-old digital designer who earns a living by creating virtual worlds in Roblox.
He began shaping Verdis into a functioning government when he was just 18,
forming some laws and creating a flag.
He says that Verdis has now built up a government and has a, quote,
Cabinet. The current listed population, as of this recording,
is 350, although over 15,000 applications have been received.
Each citizen receives a passport, though Jackson has warned people against trying
to use it for actual international travel.
That said, some citizens have reportedly used their Verdisian passport to enter other countries.
Although the country's official website states that Verdis was not claimed by
use of force, nor is it a separatist or a secession movement,
there have been political struggles.
It turns out that Verdis is accessible only by boat from the Croatian city of Osijek.
In October 2023, Croatian police detained several settlers, along with Jackson
himself, before deporting them and issuing them a lifetime ban from entering the country.
Now operating what he calls a government in exile, Jackson travels frequently
to Belgrade, Serbia, where he says officials have been more receptive.
He continues to advocate for the right to access Verdis via Croatia and hopes
to return to live there one day.
We'll have a link to the Verdisian government's official website in the show
notes for this episode, A Pocket-Sized Paradise, over at comedy4cast,
all one word with the number four, dot com. And remember, Mr.
President, call me about that national anthem.
And now, let's celebrate 20 years of comedy4castt with this classic clip.
In this clip, from July of 2006, I try to introduce a new character into the
show, and let you get to know a bit about his backstory.
My name is Worthington Hammond Chesterfield III.
My friends call me Ham. I'm not really sure why.
And, for some reason, people tend to think that I'm rich or sophisticated or even smart.
I'm not. I'm just handsome and I talk this way.
You might find that funny, but it's been a problem for me all my life.
For instance, there was a time my dad got called in to speak with me and one of my teachers.
He came right from his shift at the car wash.
Thank you for coming today, Mr. Chesterfield. Please sit down. Uh-huh. Oops.
Are you all right? Yeah. Car wax on my pants.
Go ahead. I'll just sit down here. Well... Whoa!
Check out all the gum under the desks. As I mentioned on the phone,
I'm very disappointed in your son Worthington. Who?
Oh, you mean Ham. Yes, Ham.
I expect foolish juvenile behavior from some of the others in class, but not, um, Ham.
It's distressing. He's been acting like a child. Ham? But, Dad, I am a child.
I'm eight years old. Yes, but you're obviously a very sophisticated eight years old. Nuh-uh.
I just talk this way. I know. You're trying to fit in, not make the other children
feel bad by hiding your intelligence.
I'm just an eight-year-old kid. I think bugger jokes are really funny.I
can't tie my shoelaces.
The color orange confuses me.
Perhaps Ham is bored in class. If a child isn't intellectually stimulated, that can happen.
I was considering making a recommendation that he be advanced to a higher grade. What?
He'd be in with older children, ones at a higher level. You mean taller?
No. Well, yes, but I specifically meant more intelligent.
What are you talking about? I'm in third grade and can't count past 14.
He does talk so eloquently, doesn't he?
Um, is that a good thing? Where did you get that gum, Mr. Chesterfield?
Oh, from right here under the... Oh, no, no, never mind.
Then it's agreed? Sure, whatever you say. Now, can someone help me up?
I think I'm sitting on a glue stick.
That about wraps it up for today's Odd News Pack.
But first, a shout-out to the comedy4cast Patreon patrons,
including our producer-level patrons, Paul Barrie from the A Window to the Magic
podcast, and Kirby Bartlett-Sloan from the 20-megabyte Doctor Who podcast.
You, too, can support comedy4cast and get episodes before everyone else
for as little as $2 a month.
Just search for comedy4cast, all one word with the number 4, on Patreon.com.
Lending their voices in this episode were Bonnie Kanderdine and Nathan Alvord.
Additional voices, script, and original music by me, Clinton Alvord. Copyright 2025.
All rights reserved. Talk to you again next time. But for now,
that's it. We're done, done, done, done, done. Bye-bye.