The 65-year-old Russian man was diagnosed with hepatitis C and cancer, and would have died if he didn’t get the liver transplant. He traveled to the United States and paid $500,000 for the transplant. The liver came from a 38 year old black man. What happened next left everyone, including doctors, perplexed.
“I noticed that his skin was getting darker,” said Igor Atamanenko, life-long friend of 65-year-old, Semen Gendler. “When he told me they had given him the liver of an African-American man, I guess that was probably the reason for the color change.
“I have known my friend for years, and he has always been if anything extremely pale, and now for the first time ever he is becoming dark-skinned.”
Gendler does not mind the change.
“I could end up much darker than this, to be honest,” he said. “I don’t care. The main thing is that the liver works and I am healthy.”
Gendler says doctors are at a loss as to what is causing the color change.
“It’s incredible,” he said. “I am now so full of energy and living between two cities in New York and Krasnodar, and if my skin ends up dark, who cares? I certainly don’t.”
I’m being a bit of a coward by posing my title as a question, but I do firmly believe that the western world is headed towards a much larger, more coordinated and, ultimately, more deadly military conflict. If it sounds like war, smells like war, destroys like war, breeds intolerance like war, then it must be a war.
And we’re in one.
I fear that there are more attacks coming in places that think they’re prepared, but are not. After all, Vladimir Putin thought he was going to help Assad in Syria and escape the fate that has befallen the United States, France and Great Britain. He was wrong, and 224 Russians savagely and tragically lost their lives. The French have been attacked twice this year. Israel is under constant threat.Who’s next?
I went on Facebook on Friday night after reading about the attacks and saw many people who had attached the peace sign with the Eiffel Tower in it, the French flag, and pictures of the people I know from their Paris vacations. But I also saw some vitriolic hatred directed towards all Muslim, and I mean ALL Muslims, even though they are not terrorists, and I saw the requisite number of posts calling President Obama a Muslim and blaming him for this, and seemingly every other attack, whether it was on US soil or not. It’s still gauche, evidently, to blame GW Bush for September 11, but blaming Obama for an attack on Paris is de rigueur, at least among a certain segment of the population.
Foreign policy will be a key factor in the upcoming presidential election and the GOP field had better begin focusing on policies other than building a very high wall on the Mexican border, throwing people out of the country and reestablishing the fortress America that served us so badly from 1924 to 1965. It also means that Bernie Sanders had better come up with a foreign policy plank that offers Democrats a choice between him and Hillary Clinton. Obviously, she has the most experience in the field by a wide margin. She’s got to make Americans believe that she can keep us safe, but engaged in the world. We need to stay strong.
My heart goes out to those who lost a loved one or who was injured in the attacks. The world has now shifted.
You would think, from all the talk about the midterm elections and the final two years of the Obama Administration, that the president doesn’t matter anymore or that absolutely nothing will get done in Washington between now and January 2017. While we may be fighting political gridlock, and the possibility that few if any consequential laws will be passed soon, the rest of the world is not stopping nor is our country’s need for attention to our very real problems. The Republicans in Congress have made it clear that they do not want to work with Barack Obama or give him any victories from which the Democrats can claim any advantage going into the 2016 election season. This is no way to run a country, and we will pay a price in the future for our inability to act now.
There is no shortage of media stories purporting to paint Obama as a lame duck before his time, abandoning his legislative agenda in favor of executive orders and agency rule-writing. The problem with this interpretation is that Obama’s actions, especially on the environment, will have a profound effect on business and industry. New rules that detail how much a company can pollute and whether they need to clean up their emissions is no small matter. If it was, then the various business groups that oppose these changes wouldn’t be making so much noise.
The same is true with the Affordable Care Act. Yes, two Circuit Courts did issue contradictory rulings last week about whether people who buy policies on the federal exchange are entitled to subsidies, but in the end I believe that the law will be upheld and the subsidies will remain in place. I base this not on my fine reading of the law, but on the fact that by the time the Supreme Court gets the case, upwards of 30 million people will be covered by federal subsidies and the cost of ending them will be too much of a disruption to the country. Just as the Supreme Court ruled that police can’t search cell phones without a warrant mainly because the justices understood first hand what that would entail, so they will understand what it means to take health care away from people or make it unaffordable. Either Roberts or Kennedy will provide the deciding vote in any future case; the former to maintain his legacy, the latter because he tends to see applicability more than the other conservatives. The result of any case will be the president having to issue orders or to order executive branch offices to maintain the law so that it continues to honor its promises.
The president is never a lame duck when it comes to foreign policy, and Obama will not be an exception. The world is on fire as we speak and the United States will play a role in unwinding many of the conflicts that engulf it. Critics have been unsparing in their denunciations of Obama’s seemingly uninspiring handling of foreign affairs, but many on the right are calling for actions that the United States will not, and should not, take, such as sending troops or issuing ultimatums. Economic sanctions will have an effect on Vladimir Putin, and I think he understands this which is why he continues to push for separatist actions in Ukraine. Obama’s continuing contact with Benjamin Netanyahu will result in a cease-fire and long-term cessation of hostilities because the American president still carries great weight in the region. Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya look hopeless, but a concerted American effort will yield some results. Ultimately, these countries will have to solve problems on their own, but each will look abroad for help. Obama will be there.
Labeling a president as a lame duck is dangerous business in today’s world technology has made everything faster and response time smaller. The economy is improving, but if the gains in the stock market prove to be a bubble, then the president will need to act quickly. Any number of natural disasters would require a response. And if the GOP ever gets the message that tax policy, infrastructure improvements and immigration really do need more attention than suing or impeaching Obama, then perhaps we could have a significant bill before the next election.
I took my talents to South Beach over the weekend for a relative’s surprise birthday party, and on the plane to and fro I had the opportunity to…think. Love airplane mode. Phones and tablets should have other modes, such as marriage mode, play-with-children mode, just-watch-one-screen mode, or perhaps physical media mode, where you would be forced to consume news and entertainment using a newspaper or magazine. I know, I know. I’m old and out-of-touch.
I am worn out about the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian war and the war over which press outlets are too pro-Israel (FOX) and too pro-Palestinian (The New York Times). Terrorist groups and organizations have for too long molded the narrative and have sabotaged every attempt at peace in the region. And the governmental authorities in the warring camps have let it happen. Clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu is not the man who will lead Israel to recognize a two-state solution and there is no current Palestinian leader with the credibility to make peace with Israel. As long as countries in the region refuse to recognize Israel’s sovereign right to exist, there is no basis for meaningful talks. As long as Israel continues to blow up Palestinian homes, the world will continue to paint it as an immoral country.
And speaking of leaders with no credibility and few morals, Vladimir Putin has almost succeeded in building his neo-Soviet state out of the ashes of the USSR. Covering up the shooting of the Malaysian airliner, then having his thugs block access to the crash site is right out of the Chernobyl 101 textbook. The problem is that textbooks are so passe and the technology we have now has laid bare his claim that it was Ukrainians, not pro-Russian separatists, who perpetrated this horrific deed. I don’t believe that this will lead to Putin’s downfall in the short term because he’s still very popular in Russia and he controls the media. Some Russians even believe that Putin himself was the target as he was flying in the general vicinity at the time the Malaysian plane was destroyed. Next up to blame will probably be the Israelis. Putin loves the Israelis.
As for the latest domestic squabbles, the Third Circuit Court in DC struck down the ACA subsidies and the Fourth Circuit in Richmond upheld them. Gotta love our judicial system. Both sides can claim victories, but my sense is that the ultimate decision by the Supreme Court, either next year or the year after, will uphold the subsidies that people get when buying insurance on the national exchange even though the law says that subsidies should only be given to people who buy on the state exchanges. Of course, the last time we tried to parse the ACA arguments in the court, the general consensus was that the law was toast. Ouch. And even if the Republicans win the Senate in November, which they won’t, the law will still survive.
With Russian forces already in the area, the US Navy is now getting involved.
The U.S. Navy is sending a destroyer into the Black Sea in the coming days as a symbolic gesture of support for Ukraine and other allies in the region, according to two senior defense officials.
The USS Donald Cook, a guided missile destroyer based in Rota, Spain, and will travel to the Black Sea “in the next week or so,” according to one senior defense official.
The ship will take part in to-be-scheduled exercises with allies in the region — most likely pass exercises, where ships from different nations pass one another while at sea — and the Donald Cook will make several to-be-scheduled port calls.
Perhaps it’s just me, but this time of year seems to be the boring period between the fun of a nasty winter and the beginning of a well-earned spring. And I’m not just talking about the weather. American politics is on hiatus at this moment because it’s too early to get too riled up by the prospect of electing another do-nothing Congress, and since the one we have now is essentially done for the year, what else is there to talk about? The Affordable Care Act? Boring. Marriage equality? Done. The lost Malaysian plane? Probably found and the story will make a great movie one summer. Ukraine? Potentially deadly and maybe the foremost threat to world peace presently in the news.
This is not to say that these stories are not important because they are, but there doesn’t seem to be any movement or progress or yes-we-canism alive at the moment. The Republicans are still trying to figure out what it believes in and how it can appeal to groups that have shunned its message so far. The House will most likely remain in their hands, which guarantees us another two years of bills that will not become law until a GOP president is elected (shudder). And the Senate will probably also go red, but I’ve already treated that scenario.
I am not, though, down in the dumps. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments about whether religious companies can stop providing certain forms of birth control the ACA requires because it would be a violation of their religious rights. I’m thinking that Justice Roberts is aching to get back on the conservative horse he dismounted two years ago in the health care law case, but Justice Kennedy might be the wild card in this one. It is certain that Justice Scalia will lament the end of the republic if he’s on the losing side.
And the health care law will survive because about six million people will have signed up for insurance through the exchanges or Medicaid and throwing them off the rolls is just too mean for even today’s Republican Party. The law needs fixing and that’s where the focus is going to be in 2014 and 2016 and 2018 as companies and states decide that insurance is too expensive and want employees to sign up for the policies on the website. This will be revolutionary and the effect will be profound. I’m not surprised that neither party is really talking about this out loud, but it’s almost certain to come to pass sometime within the next five years.
As for Vlad the Invader, I’m not ruling out a bit of shooting in Ukraine or areas local to it. It will depend on whether he heeds the economic warnings his aides are no doubt giving him. My sense is that Putin will ask for something big in return, negotiate, and take something smaller that gives him a say in Ukraine, but not the whole country. In the end, Ukraine will make a deal with the EU, but will always need to watch its eastern back.
All of this is in the future, and you can feel free to pay attention to it since you’re obviously not winning $1 billion dollars on March Madness because nobody has a perfect bracket left. The best we can hope for is common sense and pride in a job well done. Some things never change.
Abby Martin works for RT, aka Russia Today, the English-language, Kremlin-managed cable news station that’s been wackadoodle with its Ukraine coverage. On Monday, Martin blasted Russia’s invasion as “wrong.” But did she go off the reservation, or just add a layer to Putin’s propaganda offensive?
Here’s what she says in her closing monologue, shown above:
Before I wrap up the show, I wanted to say something from my heart about the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine and Russia’s military occupation of Crimea. Just because I work here, for RT, doesn’t mean I don’t have editorial independence and I can’t stress enough how strongly I am against any military intervention in sovereign nations’ affairs. What Russia did is wrong.
It’s amazing how quickly Republicans pranced on President Obama to cast blame on him for Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. From Lindsey Graham, to John McCain to Rudolph Guiliana, they are all having a field day, criticizing Mr. Obama as a weak, spineless, Muslim infidel who is the reason why the world is apparently walking all over this nation. But Rachel Maddow asked a question on her show last night. Where were all these Republicans when Putin did his last invasion?
Bush was in power, remember?
In 2008, Putin invaded Georgia and a war began. The man in the White House at that time was George W. Bush and the noise machine we’re hearing now fom the right was apparently broken, as the present warmongers were mysteriously silent and even supportive of Bush just 7 years ago.
Although the rest of the world is denouncing the recent occupation of Russian forces in Ukraine, things took a turn for worse as bullets from Russian troops fly over the heads of Ukrainian soldiers.
Russian troops in control of the Belbek air base in Crimea fired warning shots into the air as around 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back.
About a dozen Russian soldiers at the base warned the Ukrainians, who were marching unarmed, not to approach.
They fired several warning shots into the air and said they would shoot the Ukrainians if they continued to advance.
The Ukrainian forces are believed to be led by Colonel Yuli Mamchor, commander of the Ukrainian military garrison at Belbek, who was seen speaking to gun-wielding Russian troops at the air base.
The stand-off comes as Vladimir Putin ordered thousands of Russian troops participating in military exercises near Ukraine’s border to return to their base.
But the Russian president showed no signs of loosening the stranglehold on the Crimean peninsula, openly defying the threat of diplomatic and economic sanctions from world leaders.
WASHINGTON — After Russia’s military incursion into Ukraine, the G8 might become the G7 again.
Russia is set to host the next summit of the Group of Eight — the (mostly) western economic powers of the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan and Russia — in Sochi in June, and the U.S. has broken off its participation in planning meetings in protest of Russian forces’ presence in Crimea, where they have reportedly surrounded military bases.
About 6,000 Russian forces have “operational control” of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, a senior U.S. official told reporters.
After a U.S.-led push, all members but Russia have announced they will boycott planning meetings for the Sochi summit.
In a joint statement disseminated by the White House on Sunday, the leaders of the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy, Japan all pledged “to suspend our participation in activities associated with the preparation of the scheduled G-8 Summit in Sochi in June, until the environment comes back where the G8 is able to have meaningful discussion.” They also “condemn[ed] the Russian Federation’s clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
U.S. officials offered not-so-veiled threats that the G8 could kick Russia out altogether.
The incursion “puts at question Russia’s capacity to be within the G8,” Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week” Sunday morning.
You can’t say we weren’t warned that Vladimir Putin might try to flex some muscles in Ukraine. After all, the Olympics are over, there were no terrorist attacks, Russia won the most medals, and Viktor Yanukovych turned out to be better suited for the summer games, beating a hasty vamoose from Kiev all the way to Moscow. Perhaps we could have a Dictator’s Marathon in Rio come 2016. I’d watch “Baby Doc” Duvalier run from shouting crowds. And you would too. After all, you watched Curling, right?
Let’s move on.
The latest is that Russian security forces are now in the Crimea and are asking Ukrainian forces to defect. They’re also trying to neutralize and reverse the events of last week when crowds in Kiev forced the President from his post. Putin is painted as the bad guy here, but the West has a problem on its hand that is similar to what happened in Egypt last year. A democratically elected government has been overthrown in a decidedly non-democratic manner, but since the people who have taken over are seen as a better alternative, the western powers are accepting the change. This is dangerous.
Of course, Yanukovych made this problem worse by leaving. Had he stayed and honored the agreement he made with the opposition, then the system would not be under such strain. And I suppose he could be invited to come back as part of a Putin-sponsored deal that restores the legitimately elected government and keeps Yulia Tymoshenko out of jail. I don’t expect this, but I didn’t expect the Crimea to become a world headline and another part of the world that most Americans can’t find on a map.
President Obama and John Kerry will need to finesse this so that we don’t look weak, but that we also don’t get involved in a shooting war. I trust that they’ll hold off the Republicans who want us to refight the Cold War with hot weapons and show Vlad the Invader what a real country does with its taxpayer-bought arsenal.
Maybe we can use Governor Christie’s expertise and cause a traffic jam that bottles up the Russian forces until we can get the UN to negotiate an exit.
This one bears watching, and is a reminder that we need to be thankful that we have a level-headed team in the White House to see us through.
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