7 June 2015. A Tale of Two Cities… One Worthy of Our Aid… The Other Not… TED CRUZ SAID SO!

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Ted Cruz attacked federal aid for Hurricane Sandy victims… Ted Cruz blubbers for aid for Texas flood victims. I’d observe that since Texas claims to despise “federal intervention” in their affairs, well, it’d be simple justice to deny them aid. Of course, one doesn’t do such miserable evil rot… but do note that Texans (as a group) ARE capable of such beastly behaviour. It tells you much about their character as a polity, doesn’t it? Yes… good people can live under crank régimes… that’s true. However, such people do NOT negate the evil of those crank polities. It’s a meaty thought…

Texas has had a crank ideology and underpinning ever since the Slaver Revolt of 1836. If you saw Texas Rising on the History Channel, you saw something that deserved the Pulitzer Prize for Best Fiction of the Year. If the Anglos didn’t like Mexico and its laws… well, shouldn’t they have left and gone back to the USA? Isn’t that what the ignoranus rightwing trash keep saying today? “If you don’t like it here, why don’t you go back to where you came from?” Indeed… why didn’t they follow their own advice and go back to the USA from whence they came to Mexico? It tells you much about American “conservatives”, doesn’t it? “Scoundrels and pissants!” Cordell Hull was right…

BMD

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President Obama Visited Damaged Malankara Orthodox Church on Staten Island: “He Spoke to Us as If He Knew Us for a Long Time”

This is the damage to the present building of the parish… there’s a link below for the parish… click on it, and there are directions on how you can contribute to them. Send ’em a fin or two… repairs ain’t cheap and money doesn’t grow on trees.

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When US President Barack Obama visited Staten Island on 15 November, the New York City borough devastated by Hurricane Sandy, he met with members of St George Malankara Orthodox Church, which suffered moderate damage. Sunny Konniyoor, a member of the church, told India Abroad, “We didn’t expect to meet the President. We stood near the church, hoping to see the President going that way. Instead of driving through, Obama walked in the New Dorp Beach neighbourhood, inspecting damage and interacting with residents. Only those who live in the area can remain there. Konniyoor said, “Since we’re members of the church, the Secret Service allowed us to stand near the church”.

When the President saw the group, which included Vicar Fr Alex Joy, Dr Skaria Oommen, Konniyoor, and his son Martin, he walked towards them. Martin, an accountant, congratulated Obama on his election victory. The president inquired about his work. The team described to the President the extent of damage to the church, which was the first Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church building in North America. The church didn’t have flood insurance. They didn’t expect much help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Konniyoor, an Obama supporter, said, “He spoke to us as if he knew us for a long time”.

The President suggested they take a photograph. A state lawmaker took a camera from Martin and clicked a photograph. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, US Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and several top officials accompanied Obama. After walking down a block that had been all-but-demolished in the storm, Obama said, “We’re reminded that we’re bound together and have to look out for each other. We’re going to have to put some of the turf battles aside. We’re going to have to make sure everybody’s focused on doing the job, as opposed to worrying about who’s getting the credit, or, who’s getting the contracts, and all that stuff that sometimes goes into the rebuilding process”. Of 43 deaths attributed to the storm in New York City, 23 were on Staten Island.

29 November 2012 (IST)

Rediff News

http://www.rediff.com/news/report/he-spoke-to-us-as-if-he-knew-us-for-a-long-time/20121129.htm

Editor’s Note:

You hear much bloody noise from Paffhausen, Dahulich, Reardon, Freddie M-G, Dreher, and Mattingly about how the Church is allied to “conservative” rightwing politics. Nothing could be further from the truth. The majority of real ethnic Orthodox (and converts in real parishes, as opposed to konvertsy conventicles) voted for the President. Don’t forget, ethnic Orthodox votes put the President over the top in the Valley. Real Orthodox came home… as for the loudmouthed konvertsy, they lie… there’s no kinder way of expressing it. St Aleksei Toth blessed the Wobblies… not the greedy bosses. HH blessed Hugo Chávez Frías… not the warmongering Republican Party.

Get with the programme…

BMD

As John Robles Sees It… RF Ministry of Emergency Situations Aiding Hurricane-Struck USA

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A true unsung hero of the modern world is the RF Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS in Russian). 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they’re ready to respond to any emergency, anywhere on the planet. They selflessly and tirelessly fulfil their missions, asking nothing in return. The thousands of professionals at EMERCOM (as it’s known internationally, derived from “Emergency Control Ministry”) save a life every 12 minutes, something that’s truly admirable. The MChS dispatched two Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft loaded with humanitarian aid to the USA, for victims of Hurricane Sandy. The aircraft lifted off from the Ramenskoye Airport near Moscow, which has long-enough runways to facilitate takeoffs and landings of such a large heavily-laden aircraft. The two planes carried more than 50 tons of emergency supplies for those hardest hit by the hurricane in the USA. This isn’t the first time that EMERCOM assisted with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Immediately after the hurricane hit Cuba, EMERCOM was there, delivering building materials and emergency supplies to the Cuban people at the request of the government of the Republic of Cuba. During that operation, EMERCOM delivered over 32 tons of building materials to assist in the rebuilding of the thousands of homes that Hurricane Sandy destroyed.

The Ministry doesn’t seek publicity, or glory, or play politics with its assistance, as is evidenced by its website and the short, even terse, news releases that it distributes regarding its operations. It’s in the business of assisting those in need and takes that mission very seriously indeed. According to EMERCOM Minister Vladimir Puchkov, speaking at a forum in early October, EMERCOM had carried out 40 humanitarian operations overseas since the beginning of the year. That was before Sandy and several other disasters worldwide. Not only is the ministry assisting people in need internationally, according to Puchkov, EMERCOM rescue teams save a person’s life every 12 minutes, EMERCOM fire-fighters put out 300-400 fires a day, EMERCOM emergency response teams and helicopter rescue teams respond to a seemingly-endless stream of road accidents, and EMERCOM bomb disposal experts defuse from 100 to 200 explosive devices every 24 hours.

Almost every week, EMERCOM evacuates Russian citizens in distress from around the globe. Recently parachutist Irina Sinitsyna who was critically injured in California while attempting to break a world parachuting record was airlifted by EMERCOM from California back to Moscow on an aircraft equipped with an aerial emergency room staffed by five doctors, the plane flew non-stop from California and safely delivered Irina to Moscow, but unfortunately, despite the efforts of all involved, she died tragically on 2 October at Burdenko Neurological Clinic. Apart from California, Cuba, and New York, EMERCOM has been to more locations in the last year than most of us see in a lifetime. So far this year, this includes most of Europe, Thailand, the Caribbean, Cyprus, India, Sri Lanka, all over the former USSR, the Middle East, and more. In 2011, in such places as Austria, Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Tunisia, Libya, Kyrgyzstan, and Japan, the Ministry carried out 70 international search and rescue operations. The current mission isn’t the first operation in the USA for EMERCOM; after Hurricane Katrina hit the USA, EMRERCOM was there to assist in September 2005. Three EMERCOM planes delivered more than 60 tons of humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, rations, tents, and blankets.

For some, the birthdate of the Ministry is a point of argument; officially, an order from then-President Boris Yeltsin founded the Ministry of Emergency Situations on 10 January 1994. However, some consider its real birthday as being 27 December 1990, when the Russian Rescue Corps was founded and assigned a similar mission. Currently, the EMERCOM Minister is Vladimir Puchkov, appointed by President Putin on 17 May 2012, who replaced the first head of the ministry, Sergei Shoigu, who was at the helm for 16 years. At present, EMERCOM is working with countries worldwide, including the USA, to assist in responding more effectively to disasters anywhere they might occur. For EMERCOM rescuers and professionals, their mission is a serious one and their only reward is in a job well done. They don’t seek publicity or fanfare, and most of the staff will tell you, when they save a life, that’s enough. So, whilst some countries engage in wars, killing, régime change, and use promises of assistance to further geopolitical goals, all over the world, Russia quietly saves lives and assists those in need, asking nothing in return.

12 November 2012

John Robles

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_11_12/Russia-s-EMERCOM-assisting-the-US/

 

Russia Will Send Humanitarian Aid to New York in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy

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On Monday, 12 November, the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) plans to send two planes with humanitarian aid to Hurricane Sandy-hit New York City. Two Ilyushin-76 cargo planes will deliver over 50 tons of humanitarian aid; they’re due to take off from Ramenskoye Airport south-east of Moscow. The aircraft are part of the MChS division that responds to international and national disasters.

Con Ed reported that it’s restored 98 percent of electric service in the New York metro area to those neighbourhoods that lost power due to hurricane Sandy. At present, 20,000 people are still without electricity. In the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, more than a million people in the city had no electricity. In New Jersey, where the elements left 2.7 million customers without electricity, efforts are still underway to restore power. Currently, 100,000 are still without power.

The New York Times reported that about 900 New Yorkers who lost their houses due to Hurricane Sandy would have temporary housing on the premises of the former Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Staten Island, closed by New York State in 2011. Meanwhile, about 40,000 NYC residents are still unable to go home or lost their houses. Hurricane Sandy struck the American east coast at the end of October, killing more than 100 people and inflicting billions of dollars in damages.

11 November 2012

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_11_11/Russia-will-send-humanitarian-aid-to-New-York/