Life under Socialism

 Recounted by Zina Brodovsky  

"This article is the first of what will be a multi-part series on life under socialism, recounted by people who’ve actually lived under socialism.
"In this initial article, Brad Zinn* interviews Zina Brodovsky*, a naturalized US citizen who lived under Soviet socialism and communism in the former USSR.
"Americans who think socialism sounds like a great way to achieve “fairness” and “social justice” should listen carefully to Zina’s story.  She knows firsthand how the real-life version of socialism works compared to any utopian university-faculty-lounge version.
"This interview consists of three parts, each less than 15 minutes for a total of 39 minutes. You can listen to the whole interview or use the time slider on the video to choose topics of interest from the index of topics below.
"All three parts offer valuable insights, delivered from the heart, but I especially recommend the third part (at 38:15), where Zina delivers a message to her fellow Americans, so many of whom have come to take America’s freedoms for granted and have been seduced by socialism’s false promises.
"Fortunately for Zina, she could escape to America in 1997. But America has been moving visibly leftward toward socialism for more than a half-century. In fact, socialism’s full history in America goes back nearly 200 years and technically twice that far if one counts the 400-year-old socialism failure at the Pilgrims’ Plymouth Colony!
Most importantly for today, socialists and Marxists, whether implicitly or explicitly declared, now have nearly full control of one of our major political parties. Aided (indeed some would say led) by a complicit media, the outlines of a future socialist America are beginning to appear." . . .  Part 1 – Life in the former USSR

00:22  Zina’s recollections of communist indoctrination growing up in Odessa, Ukraine, USSR 02:12  Zina’s first realization that the socialist promise was a lie 03:55 Government involvement in everything 04:45  Socialism’s false promise of “fairness” 05:20 The black market and corruption 06:20 First truths about Stalin era come to light after his death 07:25  Zina’s personal history, KGB intimidation, and emigration to America with her daughter 10:00 Departure via Moscow, more intimidation 11:30  The socialist view of capitalism 12:30  Socialism and the press

BLM Agitator's Advice Could Turn Road Blockers into Road Kill or Lifers

What to make of Black Lives Matter? I personally have black friends whose fellowship I cherish and am uplifted by when in their company; they attach deep meaning to Black Lives Matter. 

But how do we regard the other BLM, the Dark Side?  The uplifting side I encounter daily and often on my errands, but the Dark Side I see sitting with the Democrats in Congress and on the news channels like CNN and MSNBC as they magnify their victimhood. TD

BLM Agitator's Advice Could Turn Road Blockers into Road Kill or Lifers   "A (Caucasian, by the way) woman in a Black Lives Matter hat posted a video in which she describes a simple method for breaking a car window, cutting the driver's seat belt, and "removing" the driver "if necessary."  It looks as though her idea will work in terms of (1) getting the driver beaten like Reginald Denny or (2) death or serious injury for the perpetrator along with potential felony burglary or murder charges.  While nothing in this article constitutes legal advice, we will see how this individual has advised Black Lives Matter rioters (not "protesters") on how to commit acts that could turn them into roadkill or get them sent to prison for life.  In addition, possession of the tool in question for forcible entry into (rather than escape from) a vehicle could be construed as possession of burglary tools, which can be charged as a felony in some jurisdictions and a misdemeanor in others." . . .

St. Louis couple who defended home have rifle seized during police search

. . . "Fox News reports that police secured a search warrant for the McCloskey residence at 8 p.m. Friday. During the search, they allegedly seized the rifle that McCloskey was holding in the video.On June 30, 2020, Breitbart News reported that the McCloskey’s were under investigation.
"The New York Times reported St. Louis Prosecutor Kimberly Gardner said, “I am alarmed at the events that occurred over the weekend, where peaceful protestors were met by guns.”
"She added, “We must protect the right to peacefully protest, and any attempt to chill it through intimidation or threat of deadly force will not be tolerated,” she insisted, saying her office was “currently working with the public and police to investigate these events. Make no mistake: we will not tolerate the use of force against those exercising their First Amendment rights, and will use the full power of Missouri law to hold people accountable.” . . .

Goya Foods CEO won’t apologize for praising Trump

Who would have ever thought such oppression would take place in America? Where is the outcry against Democrats and their yokefellows? Why are there so many weaselly Republicans afraid not to submit? The ever-malleable "severely conservative" Mitt Romney comes to mind. The Tunnel Dweller

Amanda Prestigiacomo  "On Friday morning, Goya CEO Bob Unanue said he will not be apologizing over his praise of President Donald Trump, which triggered left-wing calls to boycott the businessman’s products.

"“Are you getting a boycott?” Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade asked Unanue. “That’s I heard, because you had the audacity to show up at the president’s invitation and say some positive things about him?”
“ 'Yes, and it’s oppression of speech,” blasted the CEO (video below).

Unanue was recently part of a Hispanic prosperity initiative launched by the Trump administration, this past week. 

(Emphasis added by TD)

“ 'You’re allowed to talk good or talk praise to one president but you’re not — when I was called to be part of this commission to aid in economic and educational prosperity and you make a positive comment, all the sudden that’s not acceptable,” Unanue continued, who has also worked with former President Barack Obama.

"“I’m not apologizing for saying,” he said. “If you’re called by the President of the United States, you’re going to say, ‘No I’m sorry, I’m busy, no thank you?’ I didn’t say that to the Obamas and I didn’t say that to President Trump.”

"Unanue was blasted by left-wing elected Democrats and liberal activists after he thanked Trump for his leadership during a Rose Garden speech on Thursday.

“ 'We are all truly blessed … to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder,” he said. “We have an incredible builder, and we pray. We pray for our leadership, our president.' ” . . .

The ugliness begins:  Goya Foods CEO praises Trump, and thousands online say #BoycottGoya  

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seeks to 'cancel' Goya, America's top Latino-owned food company . . . "After that, he announced that his company would donate a million cans of food to the hungry and homeless in COVID-shutdown relief efforts.  They had already donated 200,000 pounds of food earlier.

The huge food donations to the poor are nothing compared to a few nice words for President Trump, so naturally they're trying to cancel the biggest Latino-owned business in America. 

"Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is leading the charge for a boycott, seeking to throw 4,000 workers out of jobs, since to her, anyone who doesn't hate Trump or embrace socialism must be targeted for elimination."

Fuzzy Chimp asks AOC: "Did you donate 300,000 pounds of food to organizations, food banks, and soup kitchens in NY and other places to help with COVID-19?
Goya did."

Goya does have support:  Mary Provenzano Long Filled to the brim and donated to our church’s food pantry! Doubling down on the BUYCOTT!

Delete the word"Trump" and replace it with "Republican" or "conservative" and you will see the political future of America.

Here comes Hollywood in three...two...one... Maybe we should boycott Hollywood....
  ...Chrissy Teigen Boycotts Goya Foods After CEO Praises Trump

Not content with getting high on money, fame, and drugs, our 21st century jesters feel the need to boost their egos with the moral superiority high. And while they say nothing about the bankrupt morality of their fellow actors, they barely hide their contempt for white men, traditional values, and Christianity. But not only that, they also love taking their precious leisure time to enlighten us lowly subjects with matters ranging from climate change and race issues to feminism.

  Ethel C. Fenig adds:  . . . "And thanks to their tolerance and inclusion, many of their products carry a kosher symbol on their cans from the Orthodox Union, a large trusted kosher-certifying agency, indicating the ingredients do not contain any food or additives which violate Jewish food consumption laws.

"Incidentally many vegetarians look for the OU symbol on non-meat items for assurance that there are no unlisted meat additives in presumably vegetarian products.

 "But intolerant, close minded Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and her fellow travelers cannot tolerate diversity of thought."

U.S. Supreme Court: Religious Orgs Can’t Be Forced to Fund Abortion

Alliance Defending Freedom

     "Today, the Supreme Court upheld U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) rules that protect the conscience rights of religious and pro-life organizations.
     "This is great news! The Supreme Court made it clear that the government has no business forcing organizations such as Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of Catholic religious sisters, or March for Life to cover abortion-inducing drugs and devices in their health insurance plans.
     "And while that might seem like it should be common sense, the Court has had to repeatedly step in to protect the Little Sisters and others from this harmful mandate.
     "In fact, this issue has been at the center of a legal debate for almost eight years.
     "In 2012, under the Obama Administration, HHS mandated that employers be forced to provide their employees with abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization, and contraception—regardless of their religious or moral convictions. If they refused, they faced heavy financial penalties under the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare.”
     "It didn’t take long for conscience objectors to challenge that mandate in court.
     "The Supreme Court first dealt major blows to the mandate in 2014 and 2016—in Hobby Lobby Stores v. Burwell and Zubik v. Burwell.
     "In 2017, the Trump Administration issued new HHS rules—consistent with these previous Supreme Court rulings—that were meant to ensure that religious and pro-life organizations can pursue their missions consistently with their beliefs. These new rules freed many conscientious objectors from the abortion-pill mandate.
     "It should have ended there. But, unfortunately, it didn’t.
     "Instead, Pennsylvania, California, and other states filed lawsuits to block the new rules and force religious and pro-life nonprofits to violate their beliefs. Their implausible position is that even though the Affordable Care Act gave HHS discretion to determine what health plans had to cover, and even though that necessarily meant HHS had discretion to exempt churches, HHS lacked discretion to exempt anyone else.
     "States that challenged the HHS rules were unable to find a single individual who was even allegedly harmed by the religious and moral exemptions to the HHS abortion-pill mandate. As ADF Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch points out: “That shows that contraceptives are widely available, and that no compelling reason exists for the government to violate the religious and moral convictions of organizations who don’t wish to provide abortifacients and artificial contraception.”
     "But that didn’t stop some lower courts from ruling in favor of pro-abortion states. So organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor and our client, March for Life Education and Defense Fund, intervened in these lawsuits to defend the new HHS rules." . . .