Putin`s Russia Medicare...

[uglich-jj.livejournal.com]

Mr. Putin in his article in NY Times wrote about Syria:

"I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation".

So Mr.Putin, the ordinary Third World dictator is teaching America about "exceptianalism". Wow! I also read sen. McCain reply (in Russian) to in Pravda.ru (which is btw just a tabloid now). Senator said many good words to the Russian people but ... But I would like to propose a rather different response to Mr.Putin lectures in NY Times.

Putin`s  regime in fact  is a sort of  the militarist cleptocracy not very far from Syria, Algeria and other Middle East shitholes. The medicine as well as infrastructure and other social needs arent the government priority at all. The results of such a politics (Putin is ruling Russia since 2000, in fact - even since 1999) are deplorables for the ordinary citizens.

Below -  a serie of photos from Russian state-owned hospitals. All photos - from their patients, made in different cities in 2010-2013. All cities except 2 are at least 100 000 inhabitans, the majority - 300-500 000. The Third World Shithole as it is...


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Rendering Unto Caesar: Roman Realpolitik‏

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

When a person has been drawn into the depths of hellish governance his every action leads to additional degradation. It is similar to the way that struggling in quicksand only leads to a faster submersion. We can see this process at work in that magnificent bastion of outer darkness that goes by the name of the Vatican.

The latest news from that cavernous domain is that Roman practice is intolerant. Before this bit of "so what" insight, priestly celibacy was put on the table for discussion. It may seem that the newest Pontifex Maximus is open to reform in order to correct the wayward sexual tendencies that have plagued the Roman priesthood through the period of full-blown flat-Earth worship to the present day. As with American military intelligence, things within the Vatican are not what they seem to the outside world.

The official argument in favor of the celibacy requirement is that Roman priests need to dedicate their lives to the despotic kingdom of the material Creator. Raising a family will distract them from the task at hand. According to legend, Jesus and his followers had to forgo family life in their campaign against despotism. It makes sense that despotic priests must do the same in order to counter the opposition.

Now the tables have turned and it may be more to the advantage of Roman despotism to emulate the Protestant practice of allowing priests to wed. This is especially an issue now that Rome is trying to attract reactionary Anglican clerics to rejoin the Roman hierarchy. Anglican reforms have gone through a progression of abandoning the celibacy requirement, abandoning the gender requirement, and abandoning the homophobia requirement. Retrograde Anglican clerics accepted the first reforms but have been alienated by the relaxation of homophobia. It went too far too fast. By changing its policy on celibacy, Rome may be hoping to staunch the flux of rebellion and pick up some of Caesar's wayward sheep.

Even before the recent attempt to attract Anglican reactionaries there was a push to allow celibacy in order to promote Roman despotism in Africa. Advocates of clerical marriage observed that many Africans treat men better when they have a wife or more. This recent move to discuss relaxation of the celibacy rule may also be aimed at expansion in Africa.

Will this dialog on a change in the rules at the Vatican help the cause of Rome or will it lead to additional departures from Caesar's flock?

Links: Elliot Hannon on the Vatican's willingness to discuss priestly celibacy. Tracy Connor on some of the issues involved with priestly marriage. Tom Kington on plans to re-write the Vatican constitution.