• Old Photos: May Day

    Another May Day is here and there is still plenty of time to celebrate by walking around with red flags, playing marching music and shouting the approved slogans:

    Long live the unity and close ties of the peoples of the nations of the socialist community! Let strengthen the indissoluble fighting union of the Communist parties of the socialist nations on the basis of the tested principles of Marxism- Leninism and proletarian internationalism!

    Fraternal greeting to the working class of the capitalist nations–a selfless fighter against exploitation and the domination of monopolies and for the rights of all workers, for peace, democracy and socialism!

    Warm greeting to the people of Latin America, carrying on a courageous struggle against the oppression of imperialist monopolies, against reaction and fascism, for free and independent development, for peace, democracy, and social progress!

    httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwmmnxLUPWg

    ©Time.James Whitmore
    US Communist Henry Winston at May Day celebration. ©Time.Stan Wayman
    Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in Red Square on May 1st.©Time. Stan Wayman
    Red Square, Moscow. May 1st,1961 ©Time.James Whitmore
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  • Rogers, AR Spits On Funk’s Front Porch

    Being my own awesome tipster I took this picture of the billboard recently placed around 17th and Jefferson facing the southbound traffic on the I-35.

    Not only this billboard is in direct view of the few coveted Kansas City visitors who are probably attending one of the “bored meetings”; Mayor Funky himself can probably see it from his vantage point high atop the City Hall. City of Rogers, AR is poaching guests straight from the Funk’s Front Porch.

    It’s not unusual to see signs like this on the highways but they are mostly located in the middle of nowhere so a person may be convinced to visit a city down the road. But as any tipster with a map knows – Rogers is not on I-35; in fact I-35 doesn’t even pass through Arkansas.

    The fact that this billboard wasn’t burned down to the ground by the few remaining employees of the Kansas City Convention and Visitor Bureau shows a complete ineffectiveness of the Funky Administration and is probably somehow racist, but I am still working on this part.

    Visit Rogers, it’s only 218 miles away on a different highway!

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  • Russian Gourmet: Young Garlic

    Long time ago, when the produce used to be  seasonal, young garlic was one of the first signs of spring. Young garlic is just that – the garlic plant before the bulb forms. At that point the whole plant is edible top to bottom; in a few weeks it becomes rough and the season is over. For years I was on the lookout for the young garlic and once even signed up for a CSA just because they listed it among the produce they grew. Last Saturday I finally found some at the River Market; the lady even repeated “garlic” twice to make sure I know what it is. I knew. Young garlic tastes a lot milder than the real thing and I just eat it with meals. There are some recipes out there, I don’t bother, it’s perfect the way it is and only needs to be peeled.

    The way to tell the young garlic from, say, green onions is by its flat leaves.

    Young garlic for me always means spring. Hurry up and get your spring started.

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  • Misty Water-Colored Memories…

    Sometime ago I wrote about the city where I grew up. Few more photos found on Flickr posted by a Western tourist prompted this post.

    This cannon was taken from the sunken British steam-frigate Tiger. “On the 12th of May (1854) the steam-frigate Tiger, which ran aground in the fog, was fired at by the artillery of Odessa. The vessel was destroyed, the captain mortally wounded an the crew captured.” It was later recovered in installed on a pedestal in 1904 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the attack.

    ODESSA-British cannon from Crimean War, 5-1977
    British cannon from Crimean War
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  • There, I Fixed It!: Kansas City Style

    Citizen journalism in this town is celebrating a huge victory and I am here to take all the credit. My recent ground-breaking report on a possible contender for the biggest pothole in the State of Missouri sent seismic waves through the City Hall and the solution came swiftly – a bigger barrier.

    Parts of the previous orange obstacle that weren’t swallowed by the pothole were recycled…

    …and replaced with the state-of-the-art early warning system.

    City geologists used the circular cracks around the barrier to size up a new commemorative steel plate which will be placed over the pothole in the near future.

    The City Council ordered the City Attorney to draft a letter to BP demanding reimbursement for the repairs (mostly for the barricade) since the appearance of the pothole is directly related to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

    On behalf of myself and many residents of the nearby property tax-free building I’d like to thank the City for paying attention and quick decisive action.

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