｢ The experiment involved bouncing radio signals off the surface of Venus to transmit the following words using Morse code: Lenin, USSR and mir, which in Russian means both world and peace. Even though statistically increasing radio interference risk, this message was mainly symbolic. The Soviet Union wanted to depict its technological might and wasn’t expecting to communicate with extraterrestrials. Soviet SETI was thus not yet a real pursuit ｣
Alex Akselrod
boosted
Today in Labor History October 12, 1892: The Pledge of Allegiance was first recited by U.S. school children, without any mention of god. The Pledge went through several iterations over the following decades, but it was not until 1954 that the word “god” was added to it, to ingrain in U.S. children how much superior they were to the godless communists in the USSR.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #patriotism #ussr #ColdWar #anticommunism #communism #school #children #god #atheism
Today in Labor History October 12, 1892: The Pledge of Allegiance was first recited by U.S. school children, without any mention of god. The Pledge went through several iterations over the following decades, but it was not until 1954 that the word “god” was added to it, to ingrain in U.S. children how much superior they were to the godless communists in the USSR.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #patriotism #ussr #ColdWar #anticommunism #communism #school #children #god #atheism
Alex, the Hearth Fire
boosted
🆕🏥🇬🇪 New location feature: Mountain Hospital, Georgia
This Soviet-era site lies abandoned. Among its remains are medical files, including 1980s child development records stamped with the #USSR Ministry of Health.
There are wards with old baby cribs, corridors with reliefs, and a fascinating macabre basement mural.
Full write-up and gallery now live:
👉https://www.obsidianurbexphotography.com/medical/ussr-mountain-hospital-georgia/
#Georgia#AbandonedPlaces #Photography #Explore #History
A colorful mural depicting a forest and human figures is painted on the damaged wall of an abandoned, decaying room with peeling paint and debris on the floor.
A partially demolished wall reveals a damaged staircase and debris in an abandoned building, with broken blue tiles and exposed concrete.
A decaying room with peeling ceiling, cracked floor, ornate blue and gold wall decorations, and an open doorway showing debris outside.
Abandoned room with peeling paint, broken windows, and several rusted, overturned metal hospital cribs scattered on the floor.
🆕🏥🇬🇪 New location feature: Mountain Hospital, Georgia
This Soviet-era site lies abandoned. Among its remains are medical files, including 1980s child development records stamped with the #USSR Ministry of Health.
There are wards with old baby cribs, corridors with reliefs, and a fascinating macabre basement mural.
Full write-up and gallery now live:
👉https://www.obsidianurbexphotography.com/medical/ussr-mountain-hospital-georgia/
#Georgia#AbandonedPlaces #Photography #Explore #History
A colorful mural depicting a forest and human figures is painted on the damaged wall of an abandoned, decaying room with peeling paint and debris on the floor.
A partially demolished wall reveals a damaged staircase and debris in an abandoned building, with broken blue tiles and exposed concrete.
A decaying room with peeling ceiling, cracked floor, ornate blue and gold wall decorations, and an open doorway showing debris outside.
Abandoned room with peeling paint, broken windows, and several rusted, overturned metal hospital cribs scattered on the floor.
Jonathan Schofield
boosted
On this day 17 September 1939 the #USSR joined #Nazi Third Reich in its attack on #Poland, marking the start of World War 2.[^1]
Many isolated locations in Poland continued defense well until end of September, like Warsaw,[^2] but on 22 September the Nazis and Soviets met in Brest (today’s #Belarus) and concluded the occupation with a friendly handshake.
The Third Reich and Soviet Union remained close allies for the next two years, with the Soviets providing critical logistics back end to the Nazi Germany, supplying it with millions of tons of fuel, steel and other resources[^3] in bypass of international economic sanctions, while Germany continued the conquer of #France and the rest of Europe.
In June 1941 Germany wholeheartedly paid back its ally by sending all the bombs manufactured with Soviet steel back on the Soviet towns during “Operation Barbarossa”, but that’s another story 😏
[^1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Poland
[^2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Warsaw_%281939%29
[^3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German%E2%80%93Soviet_Commercial_Agreement_(1940)
On this day 17 September 1939 the #USSR joined #Nazi Third Reich in its attack on #Poland, marking the start of World War 2.[^1]
Many isolated locations in Poland continued defense well until end of September, like Warsaw,[^2] but on 22 September the Nazis and Soviets met in Brest (today’s #Belarus) and concluded the occupation with a friendly handshake.
The Third Reich and Soviet Union remained close allies for the next two years, with the Soviets providing critical logistics back end to the Nazi Germany, supplying it with millions of tons of fuel, steel and other resources[^3] in bypass of international economic sanctions, while Germany continued the conquer of #France and the rest of Europe.
In June 1941 Germany wholeheartedly paid back its ally by sending all the bombs manufactured with Soviet steel back on the Soviet towns during “Operation Barbarossa”, but that’s another story 😏
[^1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_invasion_of_Poland
[^2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Warsaw_%281939%29
[^3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German%E2%80%93Soviet_Commercial_Agreement_(1940)
Alex Akselrod
boosted
Today in Labor History August 31, 1919: John Reed and others formed the Communist Labor Party of America in Chicago. The party evolved into the American Communist Party. Reed was a journalist and communist activist who extensively covered World War I. He was most famous for his coverage of the Russian Revolution and his book, “Ten Days That Shook the World.” He died in Moscow in 1920 from typhus. They gave him a hero’s welcome and buried him in Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Only two other Americans were given this honor: Big Bill Haywood, a founding member of the IWW, and C.E. Ruthenberg, founder of the Communist Party USA.
John Dos Passos included a short biography of him in his “U.S.A.” trilogy. Uptain Sinclair called him the Revolution’s Playboy, elements of which can be seen in Warren Beaty’s portrayal of Reed in the film, “Reds.” Sergei Eisenstein made a film version of “Ten Days That Shook the World” in 1927.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #johnreed #communism #russia #ussr #soviet #kremlin #IWW #journalism #writer #author #books @bookstadon
Today in Labor History August 31, 1919: John Reed and others formed the Communist Labor Party of America in Chicago. The party evolved into the American Communist Party. Reed was a journalist and communist activist who extensively covered World War I. He was most famous for his coverage of the Russian Revolution and his book, “Ten Days That Shook the World.” He died in Moscow in 1920 from typhus. They gave him a hero’s welcome and buried him in Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Only two other Americans were given this honor: Big Bill Haywood, a founding member of the IWW, and C.E. Ruthenberg, founder of the Communist Party USA.
John Dos Passos included a short biography of him in his “U.S.A.” trilogy. Uptain Sinclair called him the Revolution’s Playboy, elements of which can be seen in Warren Beaty’s portrayal of Reed in the film, “Reds.” Sergei Eisenstein made a film version of “Ten Days That Shook the World” in 1927.
#workingclass #LaborHistory #johnreed #communism #russia #ussr #soviet #kremlin #IWW #journalism #writer #author #books @bookstadon
Alex Akselrod
boosted
#putin gave #Trump's envoy #Witkoff an award to pass along to a senior #CIA official whose son was killed in #Ukraine while fighting alongside #russians.
This award has been given to high-level spies, including the #UK's Kim #Philby, an agent for #USSR.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/putin-award-order-of-lenin-american-ukraine/
#putin gave #Trump's envoy #Witkoff an award to pass along to a senior #CIA official whose son was killed in #Ukraine while fighting alongside #russians.
This award has been given to high-level spies, including the #UK's Kim #Philby, an agent for #USSR.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/putin-award-order-of-lenin-american-ukraine/
It is the 80th anniversary of one of history's greatest #WarCrimes. On #ThisDayInHistory in 1945, the USA dropped an atomic weapon on the city of #Hiroshima. President Truman lied and called it a military base. One key purpose was to intimidate the #USSR.
https://www.dw.com/en/japan-passing-on-the-pain-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/a-73534584
Tom
and 1 other
boosted
On 29 July 1987 the trial of #Chernobyl plant leadership ended with 10 years sentences for the director Bryukhanov, head of engineering Fomin and his deputy Dyatlov.
This ruling was a classic example of the Soviet “legal system” - the people convicted were formally responsible for the decisions that led to the disaster, but they were not the decision makers.
The primary responsibility for the disaster was on the local (Kiev) and central (Moscow) Communist Party authorities who insisted on conducting the planned reactor test in spite of its known faults, specifically because it was planned. In #USSR the Plan was absolutely sacred and built from top to bottom, in detachment of any physical reality. Executive level not following the Plan was subject to criminal charges based on article 58 of the RSFSR Criminal Code (“sabotage” and others). The Party leadership insisted on the testing to be conducted in spite of the plant management - the one who was convicted - asking to postpone it due to reactor faults.
The faults in reactor were known for a long time by its designer and manufacturer - the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (NIKIET) - who however chose to hide them because, if revealed, they would hamper their own Plan. Therefore reactor operating procedures, closely followed by the plant staff during the tragic test, did not account for the faults.
In the period immediately following the reactor explosion and fire, local Party officials actively blocked emergency response and dismissed the impact in their communication to Moscow - once again, because that would negatively impact their careers. None of them were actually convicted, of course.
So if you want an example in corporate greed and dysfunctional management leading to world-scale environmental disaster, the Soviet management of Chernobyl makes a perfect case study. Except nobody uses it, because USSR had “Socialist” in its name so when they caused an environmental disaster that must have been, naturally, a “honest mistake” that had nothing to do with incompetence or greed 🤷
If you want a book that documents all of the above details - which are usually skipped in most narratives about Chernobyl - I can recommend a 2019 book “Midnight in Chernobyl” by Adam Higginbotham which uses tons of Soviet original documents to show what has really happened there and why.
On 29 July 1987 the trial of #Chernobyl plant leadership ended with 10 years sentences for the director Bryukhanov, head of engineering Fomin and his deputy Dyatlov.
This ruling was a classic example of the Soviet “legal system” - the people convicted were formally responsible for the decisions that led to the disaster, but they were not the decision makers.
The primary responsibility for the disaster was on the local (Kiev) and central (Moscow) Communist Party authorities who insisted on conducting the planned reactor test in spite of its known faults, specifically because it was planned. In #USSR the Plan was absolutely sacred and built from top to bottom, in detachment of any physical reality. Executive level not following the Plan was subject to criminal charges based on article 58 of the RSFSR Criminal Code (“sabotage” and others). The Party leadership insisted on the testing to be conducted in spite of the plant management - the one who was convicted - asking to postpone it due to reactor faults.
The faults in reactor were known for a long time by its designer and manufacturer - the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy (NIKIET) - who however chose to hide them because, if revealed, they would hamper their own Plan. Therefore reactor operating procedures, closely followed by the plant staff during the tragic test, did not account for the faults.
In the period immediately following the reactor explosion and fire, local Party officials actively blocked emergency response and dismissed the impact in their communication to Moscow - once again, because that would negatively impact their careers. None of them were actually convicted, of course.
So if you want an example in corporate greed and dysfunctional management leading to world-scale environmental disaster, the Soviet management of Chernobyl makes a perfect case study. Except nobody uses it, because USSR had “Socialist” in its name so when they caused an environmental disaster that must have been, naturally, a “honest mistake” that had nothing to do with incompetence or greed 🤷
If you want a book that documents all of the above details - which are usually skipped in most narratives about Chernobyl - I can recommend a 2019 book “Midnight in Chernobyl” by Adam Higginbotham which uses tons of Soviet original documents to show what has really happened there and why.
Alex Akselrod
boosted
it's been around for a while, but it came up in a group chat again today.. are people aware of this audio streaming site from the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine where you can listen to curated wax cylinders of Jewish music from An-sky, Kiselhof, Magid, Beregovsky etc. expeditions?😁
https://www.audio.ipri.kiev.ua/index.html
it's been around for a while, but it came up in a group chat again today.. are people aware of this audio streaming site from the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine where you can listen to curated wax cylinders of Jewish music from An-sky, Kiselhof, Magid, Beregovsky etc. expeditions?😁
https://www.audio.ipri.kiev.ua/index.html