5 June 2016. Honest Abe on Working Class Solidarity

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This is why all working people must support the Peoples Republics against the “Ukraine”… they’re socialist entities opposing an openly feral oligarchic dictatorship. Sure looks like a whole lotta Reds in Kiev in 2012… they haven’t gone away (they have gone to ground, not being stupid). Methinks that the Red Banner will come out again when Russian and patriot forces liberate Kiev from American occupation. Indeed, I believe that they’re a fifth column inside the city, just waiting for the proper moment to rise. The Uniate fascist torture of left activists such as R S Vasilko will come home to roost… we all know how HEAVY such chickens are when they do come home to roost. Payback is a motherfucker… especially, when it’s paid back with interest…

BMD

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Chávez to be Embalmed “Like Lenin”

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The Venezuelan authorities will place the body of the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías in the Museum of the Revolution in the capital. Acting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros announced the government’s decision to embalm Hugo Chávez’s body and have it permanently placed in a glass casket at a museum in Caracas for public viewing. Maduro said,”Chávez, like Lenin, or Mao Zedong, can be in a glass case, so, our people can see him forever”. Maduro also announced that he was extending the viewing of Chávez’s body for another week, as millions of Venezuelans filed past the casket containing the body of the former Venezuelan leader. More than 33 heads of states will attend the state funeral ceremony on Friday, with around 54 official international delegations present. The 58-year old leader of the Bolivarian Revolution died on Tuesday after losing a 2-year long battle with cancer, diagnosed in mid-2011.

Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains (some may stay in good condition over a long-term) to forestall decomposition, to make them suitable for public display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming are sanitisation, presentation, and preservation (or restoration) of a corpse to achieve this effect. Embalming has a very long and cross-cultural history, with many cultures giving the embalming processes a greater religious meaning.

Various communist leaders underwent embalming for public display. Perhaps, the most famous embalmed body of the 20th century is that of Vladimir Lenin, which continues to draw crowds decades after his death in 1924, and one can still see him in his Moscow mausoleum. Iosif Stalin also underwent embalming, he was placed next to Lenin, but his body was buried in 1961 during de-Stalinisation. Klement Gottwald of Czechoslovakia, who died just five days after attending Stalin’s funeral, underwent embalming and was displayed in a mausoleum at the site of the Jan Žižka Monument on Vítkov Hill in Prague. However, in 1962, due to a botched embalming, the body was decomposing, so, the authorities had remove it and cremate it. Bulgarian Georgi Dimitrov underwent embalming and was placed on display in the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum in Sofia. After the fall of communism in Bulgaria, his body was buried in 1990 in the Central Cemetery of Sofia. Mongolia‘s Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Angola‘s Agostinho Neto, and Guyana‘s Forbes Burnham were also embalmed by the same Russian team. Currently, one can also see embalmed communist leaders at the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun for Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

The botched embalming of Pope Pius XII Pacelli (1876-1958, pope 1939–58) by a charlatan doctor… which only sped up the rate of decomposition… led to his body turning black and his nose falling off while lying in state, and the body disintegrated in the coffin. The Swiss Guards stationed around Pius XII’s body were forced to change shifts every ten to fifteen minutes since the body’s odour caused some guards to pass out. The doctor who performed the embalming also took photos of the Pontiff in his death throes and intended to sell them to the tabloids. The Italian tabloids refused to buy the photos, and Pope John XXIII Roncalli banned the doctor from entering Vatican City, who furthermore prohibited any photography of a deceased Pope until the body was properly vested and laid out.

Pope John XXIII’s (1881-1963, pope 1958–63) body is on display in an altar on the main floor of St Peter’s Basilica after having been exhumed from the grotto beneath the main altar and is in an extremely well-preserved state. If a body’s remains don’t decompose, contrary to expectations, it’s often treated as a miracle. However, in the case of John XXIII, it didn’t enjoy the same acclamation, as it was held to have been due to embalming and adipocere formation. The body of Pope St Pius X Sarto (1835-1914, pope 1903–14) is in a crystal coffin, in the Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. On 17 February 1952, Pius X’s body was transferred from the crypt of the Vatican grotto. The pontiff’s body is in pontifical robes, whilst the face and hands are covered with silver. He lies within a glass and bronze-work sarcophagus for the faithful to see. Papal physicians were in the habit of removing organs to aid the embalming process. Pius X expressly prohibited this, however, and none of his successors allowed the practise to be reinstituted.

Murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers was so well-embalmed that a viable autopsy was able to be performed on his corpse decades after his death and this helped secure the conviction of his killer. Famous Russian surgeon and scientist Nikolai Pirogov underwent embalming after his death in 1881. He was embalmed using a technique that he himself developed. His body rests in a church in Vinnitsa, in the Ukraine. In contrast to the corpse of Lenin, which undergoes thorough maintenance in a special underground clinic twice a week, the body of Pirogov rests untouched and unchanging… it’s said that one only has to brush the dust off it. It resides at room temperature in a glass-lid coffin (Lenin’s body is kept at a constant low temperature).

Abraham Lincoln was embalmed after his assassination in 1865. In order to prevent anyone stealing Lincoln’s body, Lincoln’s eldest son Robert called for Lincoln’s exhumation in 1901, to be buried in a concrete vault in the burial room of his tomb in Springfield IL. Fearing that his body would’ve been stolen in the interim, Lincoln’s coffin was opened, and his features were still recognisable, 36 years after his death. Rosalia Lombardo, who died at age one on 6 December 1920, was one of the last corpses to make it to the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, in Sicily, before the local authorities banned the practise. Nicknamed the “Sleeping Beauty”, Rosalia’s body is still perfectly intact. Embalmed by Alfredo Salafia, she’s in a glass case, looking very much like a surreal doll.

Dr Pedro Ara, who worked under orders from her husband Juan Domingo Perón, embalmed Eva María Duarte de Perón. The body was preserved to look like it was in a sleep-like state. The procedure worked, and the body showed no signs of decomposition when Eva was interred at her final resting place many years after the initial procedure. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s sarcophagus is at Anıtkabir in Ankara, Turkey. Only two people are authorised to view his body… the General of the Armed Forces and the physician in charge of checking the state of his body. Ferdinand Marcos was embalmed in Hawaii upon his death. His body was flown home; it’s currently on display in Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. Diana, Princess of Wales was embalmed shortly after her death in France in August 1997. The decision to embalm her provoked conspiracy theories that she was pregnant, as the embalming fluid would’ve destroyed any evidence of foetal presence in her womb. The official explanation for the embalming was that the warm conditions in the chapel of rest where her body was laid out would’ve sped up the decomposition of the remains.

8 March 2013

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_08/Chavez-to-be-embalmed-like-Lenin/

22 December 2012. The “Tea Party Patriots” Called the Late Senator Inouye “Irresponsible”… I DO Beg to Differ

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The so-called “Tea Party Patriots” preferred the coward Willard Romney to the war hero Daniel Inouye. If that isn’t indicative of skewed standards and turning things on their heads, I don’t know what it is. Senator Inouye served in combat and was maimed in the service of his country, but the “Tea Party Patriots” hated him for his defence of the social safety net, his dogged fight for equal rights for ALL Americans, and for his willingness to admit America’s sins. Rather, the “Patriots” lionised Willard Romney, who had his megabucks corporate daddy buy him a spurious “clergy” deferment during the Vietnam War, who hides his money in overseas tax shelters (increasing all of our taxes), who sent and sends American jobs to China, and who wanted to waste trillions on warmongering in foreign parts. There’s something basically wrong and perverted with such thinking…

Lincoln, TR, Rocky, Ike, Jake Javits, Gerald Ford, and Bob Dole… their centrist/moderate Republican Party no longer exists. The Tea Party Patriots and their ilk are Hard Right feral beasts, intent on ravening this country (indeed, the whole world) for their personal profit and benefit. That’s EVIL beyond measure… and there’s no more to be said on such, is there? Ye cannot serve both God and Mammon… and don’t forget Who said that…

BMD

President Obama Pardons Turkeys as the USA Marks Thanksgiving

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As millions of Americans sit down to turkey dinner today, US President Barack Obama pardoned two birds in an annual White House Thanksgiving ceremony to mark the national holiday. Now, the birds will live at George Washington’s restored Mount Vernon estate. Two 40-pound turkeys, named Cobbler and Gobbler, came from Virginia. Gobbler’s role was to replace Cobbler, should the latter be unable to fulfil his duties. Obama pardoned both birds. Whilst granting his ‘presidential’ pardon, Obama joked about his recent re-election, saying, “You know, they say that life is all about second chances. This November, I couldn’t agree more. So, in the spirit of the season, I have one more gift to give. It goes to a pair of turkeys named Cobbler and Gobbler. The American people have spoken, and these birds are moving forward”. Americans chose the turkeys through an online vote.

According to the White House website, the traditional pardon dates back to President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln’s son Tad begged his father to write out a presidential pardon for the bird meant to be the main dish in the First Family’s Christmas feast. The young boy argued that the turkey had as much right to live as anyone. However, not all US Presidents followed this tradition. Some didn’t pardon their gift turkeys; they ate them. In November 1963, just four days before his assassination, President John F Kennedy spontaneously spared a turkey. The bird he was presented wore a sign reading, “Good Eatin’, Mr President”. Kennedy responded, “Let’s just keep him”. Since 1989, the tradition was formalised.

The estimated number of turkeys that Americans will eat on Thanksgiving 2012 exceeds 46 million. Some 13 percent of Americans won’t be feasting on turkeys this Thanksgiving season, as they’re dependent of food stamps. Officials say the figure will only increase, given the economic slump and the devastation in the Northeastern USA caused by the recent Hurricane Sandy. According to a new report by the Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit government watchdog group, today, as many as 42.2 million Americans, which equal the population of California and Connecticut combined, are in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). According to the report, SNAP estimates that a meal costs 1.00 to 1.25 USD (31 to 38 Roubles. 0.80 to 1.00 Euros. 0.65 to 0.80 UK Pounds) per person.

The number of Americans dependent on SNAP has increased by 70 percent since 2007. Last year, it involved approximately 44.7 million Americans and cost the US government a record 72 billion USD (2.25 trillion Roubles. 56 billion Euros. 45 billion UK Pounds). Meanwhile, due to past summer’s drought food prices have skyrocketed while supplies remain low. For some low-income families, a turkey for Thanksgiving is an unaffordable luxury.

22 November 2012

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_11_22/Obama-pardons-turkeys-as-US-marks-Thanksgiving/

Editor’s Note:

The main cause of the increase in SNAP cases is the meltdown caused by Republican deregulation and crackbrained giveaways to the Affluent Effluent (coupled with inordinate spending on unnecessary warfare in foreign parts). Another reason is the “givebacks” demanded by management as they increase their own pay and bonuses (case in point being Hostess, where the management gave themselves an 80 percent pay hike and demanded “concessions” of the workers). Many of those “employed” at Wal-Mart are on SNAP… bear that in mind as you hear fatcat investors bleat about the cost of the ACA. I find that reprehensible and vile. Yet, they’re going to sit down to Thanksgiving Dinner without a care and with the lunatic notion that they’re the oppressed in this nation. If nothing’s done, there’ll be an explosion… and they’ll have no one else to blame but themselves (the same was true in 1917… ponder that).

By the way, the cost of SNAP is only some 10 percent of the bloated war budget. If there are 42.2 million people on SNAP, and the entire programme costs 72 billion USD, that means, if all monies were spent on benefits (and they’re not, for there’s administrative overhead in that figure), each individual on SNAP would receive 1,707 USD (53,300 Roubles. 1,325 Euros. 1,070 UK Pounds) a year, which works out to 142.25 USD (4.440 Roubles. 110 Euros. 90 UK Pounds) a month. That’s not a princely sum; all the bloviating that you hear about “welfare queens” and “welfare Cadillacs” is lies, and what’s more, those who spread such falsehood, do so knowingly. That’s called evil, kids.

The cost to taxpayers is 240 USD (7,500 Roubles. 186 Euros. 150 UK Pounds) a year per person… the US war budget eats up 2,500 USD (78,000 Roubles. 1,941 Euros. 1,566 UK Pounds) per person per year (much of that is kickbacks to corrupt pols and bloated management compensation)… now, can you tell me where the fat in the budget is? It’s NOT in “entitlements!” It’s not quite what the rightwing fanatics are telling you, is it? Reflect on that as you hear such unrepentant greedy cretins as Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin, Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity scream about “entitlements”. They spend more than that on their country club dues or on one meal out. Let God see and judge…

BMD