Sunday, 7 November 2010

Republicans Set the Stage for Government Shutdown… Shades of ’95 and ’96!

Filed under: politics,USA — 01varvara @ 00.00

As the Tea Party was defeated last Tuesday (they needed supermajorities in the House and Senate… didn’t get ’em), this is all that they can do. Gridlock, delay, and obstruction are tactics of a LOSER.

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Read this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101107/ap_on_re_us/us_republicans_in_charge

Firstly, the Republicans are not “in charge”… if they were, they would be offering a positive agenda, which they are not. The Democrats control the White House and the Senate. This latest news is an admission by the Republicans that they lost the last election. They cannot offer a single positive programme, for the Senate would stymie anything passed in the House… Mr Obama needn’t use his veto power, for Harry Reid will take pleasure in ramming it to jerks such as Boehner.

The Tea Party had its last best chance on 2 November. That was its high-water mark. After all, the Tea Party lost its most critical test… the election in Alaska. Sarah Palin supported Joe Miller to the max… but Lisa Murkowski defeated him handily, even though she was only a write-in candidate. Mr Miller was a SORE loser. He retreated from his campaign HQ well before midnight, going off to stage a pity-party with family and close friends, refusing to issue a dignified concession. Do you want that sort of people in Washington? The Alaska Native people came out en masse for Ms Murkowski. This shows that the Tea Party doesn’t know how to relate to non-whites and non-Anglos. The Republican Party is paying for its close embrace of Southern White Sectarian Segregationists. Indeed, that was the sole bright spot for the GOP on Tuesday… basically, the Southern White Democrat is now extinct.

The Republicans are opposing any form of healthcare reform right from the outset, “locking in” their position even before the session begins, which is unwise in the extreme; exit polls revealed that voters are evenly split on the issue. This means that the Republicans received much money from the HMOs and insurance companies… no doubt, its corporate sugar daddies are jazzing the GOP for immediate action. Did you note that none of the Republicans would tell you how much of their campaign funds came from HMOs, insurance companies, and the financial sector? Also note, that the GOP is desperately “spinning” its stance… they’re waiting for a “better” Senate and President. Until then, they’re going to put the government into gridlock.

That happened in the ‘90s… it’s obvious that the author of this article is a snot-nosed kid who doesn’t remember what happened then. The GOP “shut down” the government… that led inexorably to Bubba’s re-election. If the GOP even tries gridlock tactics, it shall find out that the only region of the country that’s solidly Republican is the White South.

Palin vs. Obama… bring it on! C’mon, she couldn’t even deliver an election in her own backyard. Sarah Palin would be the Alf Landon of the 21st century… interesting, ain’t it?

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Sunday 7 November 2010

Albany NY

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Maksim the Feline Blokadnik

Filed under: history,patriotic,Russian,Soviet period,World War II — 01varvara @ 00.00

Here’s Maksim after the war, looking for a handout.

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A family in Leningrad had a cat named Maksim and a parrot called Jack. During the German siege of the city, almost every day, their uncle, who lived with them, wanted to make a meal of the cat, and each time the rest of the family went out, they always locked the cat into the storeroom. As time passed, the cat grew malnourished and sickly because of poor food. Once, Maksim managed to jump onto the cupboard and opened the cage that the parrot Jack lived in. The family thought that the cat would eat Jack, but instead of doing so, the two pets huddled up to one another for warmth and fell asleep. After that, the uncle didn’t try to make anything bad to the cat. The parrot died soon afterwards, but Maksim lived until 1957, dying of old age.

Here’s a modern cartoon of the cats coming to blockaded Leningrad to save it from the rats… and they did!

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Monument to Yelisei the cat…. champion mouser during the blockade.

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During the course of the siege, most of the city’s pets were killed for food, but the authorities soon found that the lack of cats was causing a public health menace. Rats multiplied, leading to unsanitary conditions, an increase in disease, and shrinkage of food supplies. What to do? 5,000 cats were brought in from other cities, and they put things right in short order. Rats were brought down, ergo, they didn’t eat up precious food stores or leave droppings that caused human illness. There’s a monument to Yelisei the cat… for good luck, the people of Piter say that you should toss a coin at his feet… try it, it just might work for you.

BMD

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