April 22, 2009

A Lenin's Birthday Story

By Oleg Atbashian
Special Earth Day Issue  April 22, 2009UFOs and AGWThe Next Ice AgeGreen up, Man! It's Freaking Earth Day!Saving Our Planet, One Guilt Trip at a TimeA Lenin's Birthday StoryThis short story was written when I still lived in Ukraine in the early 1990s. It was intended to be a chapter in a fact-based novel, as yet unpublished. Although the Communist Party had been officially disbanded, it still maintained a firm grip on the country, using every means of manipulation available. Proponents of leftist ideologies around the world share one common trait: they always demand to be included, but once you let them in, they force everybody else out, while refusing to leave themselves. ****The telephone rang. "Can you be in the Writers Union office at three?" said Rabenko's gruff voice. "We'd like to publish your short stories."Rabenko's gruffness was surely an occupational disability: as chairman of the local Writers Union, he was required to give fiery motivational...(Read Full Article)