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." . . .

A Nightmare Campaign of Outright Idiocy

To remind ourselves of the character of the election campaign and to test our resistance to orally and visibly induced nausea, my wife and I on Monday jointly took the pledge to watch part of what was billed as the CNN evening newscast. For 10 minutes, Don Lemon performed with Chris Cuomo as his straight-man, perfect Fredo in a political mafia hit job (“The Godfather”). Cuomo gave no views but Lemon delivered a fluent monologue, building from thin air the purported certainty that President Trump is a racist and has based his campaign for the presidency and his execution of that office on racism.

Conrad Black
No society can tolerate this for long. The arsonists will not burn down society; the society will awaken and banish the arsonists.

     "As we get into high summer, there must be a very large number of Americans now actively considering whether the country is going mad.
     The leading newspaper in the nation’s capital has accused the president of plumbing “new depths of depravity” in a perfectly unexceptionable and soaringly eloquent speech at Mount Rushmore last Friday. Praising the American revolutionary ideal that “all men are created equal” and its reaffirmation by Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War that brought about the abolition of slavery somehow made Donald Trump “dark” and “divisive.” The president deplored academic and national media self-hate and espoused the highest objectives identified and pursued by every admired American leader from Washington and Franklin to Martin Luther King and Ronald Reagan.
     "As the violent crime rate skyrocketed in New York City 10 days ago, the City Council voted to reduce the police budget by $1 billion. Meanwhile, Chicago celebrated the July 4 weekend with 87 people injured and 17 killed by gunfire, including two children, but the city’s mayor rebuked the police chief when he suggested there is room for improvement in city governance.
     "NeverTrumpers like Mitt Romney, who walked in the Black Lives Matter parade last month, express solidarity with the group even when it affirms that it does not accept that all lives matter and it's New York leader, Hawk Newsome, announced on national television, “if this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it. All right?”
     "The Democratic presidential nominee is a waxwork dummy hiding in his basement. Joe Biden can scarcely utter a correct English sentence and has the haggard countenance of a fatigued nonagenarian. In his few television and internet appearances, the former vice president is ambiguous about defunding the police and continues to regard BLM as a valuable political ally fighting racial inequality, even though in the last month it has revealed itself proudly as a white-hating Marxist urban terrorist organization." . . . More...

Biden Vows: If Elected, I'll Force Those Catholic Nuns to Violate Their Beliefs on Contraception Again

Guy Benson

     "Following Wednesday's 7-2 Supreme Court decision upholding the Trump administration's move to exempt religious organizations and conscientious objectors from the Obama administration's birth control mandate regulation, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden expressed disappointment in the ruling and vowed to re-impose the coercive measure on groups like the litigants in the case, a group of Catholic nuns who minister to the poor. John McCormack reports:

     "Joe Biden issued a statement Wednesday evening in which he said he is “disappointed in today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision” in the case Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania. “I will restore the Obama-Biden policy that existed before the [2014 Supreme Court] Hobby Lobby ruling,” Biden said. The Supreme Court’s Little Sisters decision upheld the Trump administration’s rule exempting conscientious objectors from Obamacare’s birth-control and abortifacient mandate, but the decision did not address whether the mandate is itself a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act [RFRA].
. . . 

. . . "Indeed, more than 500 scholars and religious leaders signed an open letter that argued the 'so-called accommodation changes nothing of moral substance and fails to remove the assault on religious liberty and the rights of conscience which gave rise to the controversy. It is certainly no compromise,'" McCormack writes. Interestingly, Joe Biden reportedly opposed Obamacare's birth control mandate before the Obama administration imposed it by fiat (Congress did not include it as a provision in the controversial legislation itself), and was later condemned by Catholic bishops for endorsing the empty "compromise." But Biden has been yanked leftward on these issues, abandoning his lifelong "principled" opposition to taxpayer-funded abortion out of political necessity.'  "

. . .

Trump Was Right All Along: The Fake News Media Really Is The Enemy Of The People

The Federalist
When you encounter an entity that repeatedly lies to you, slanders you, mocks you, and hides things from you, should you conclude it is anything but your enemy? 

Firework smoke still lingered in the sky over Mount Rushmore as journalists began their daily routine of story-spinning, as if their very lives depended on headlines reflecting the exact opposite of true events. President Donald Trump’s pro-America speech, dripping with unity and patriotism, was decried in legacy media as diabolical.

. . . "CNN’s chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta, who frequently spars with the president while grandstanding in the press briefing room, capitalized on the phrase while playing the martyr, publishing a book called “The Enemy of the People” last year. Ironically, Acosta used the same words to characterize Trump’s rhetoric about the press as the press used to slander Trump: dark and dangerous.

“ 'What may have begun as something of a reality TV-style parlor trick has mutated into a full-blown assault on the American free press,” Acosta argued, saying of the president’s “enemy of the people” remark, “It was a dark and dangerous tweet that may well define much of his presidency.” Plenty of others have echoed Acosta’s sentiment.

"In short, Trump delivers a unifying speech, and the media lies, calling it dark and divisive. Trump exposes the media for its lies, and the press calls his rhetoric dark and divisive. The cycle has repeated itself over and over again.

"While the press’s most recent Fourth of July smear was blatantly partisan and anti-American, it’s worth noting that this wasn’t an isolated instance of media misspeak. Bad-faith actors in the press have proved time and again that they are indeed the enemy of the people." . . .

This is the same media that has spent the last six weeks stirring up strife over the death of George Floyd and lying about the resulting chaos. While rioters and looters desecrated major cities across the United States, many journalists downplayed the violence and tried to convince Americans most of the actors were simply peaceful protesters.
“I want to be clear in how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not, generally speaking, unruly,” said one MSNBC reporter as buildings burned down behind him.

Former NYPD commissioner rips de Blasio and Democrats 'sitting on their hands' as crime surges

http://www.terrellaftermath.com/

Former NYPD commissioner rips de Blasio and Democrats 'sitting on their hands' as crime surges   "Former New York Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly said Democrats in the city are “sitting on their hands” and staying quiet as crime rages.

"Kelly joined the 77 WABC radio show for a Sunday broadcast and slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio and other Democrats for lack of action.

"“This mayor is atrocious,” he said. “If I had a magic wand I’d remove him. But, unfortunately, what’s waiting in the wings is no better.”

“Crime is raging out of control here in New York City,” he continued. “I don’t see anything that’s going to change the trajectory of that continuing to rise. There are disorderly groups all over the city challenging police officers. … Police are generally backing off … because their political leaders, the mayors … are telling cops to back off.”

"The former commissioner under previous Mayors David Dinkins and Michael Bloomberg added that Democrats have been silent amid protests to rip down statues deemed racist and the overall surging crime in the city.

“It’s such a change from years ago. You just don’t hear anything from [Democrats],” Kelly said. “They’re sitting on their hands. Or they’re being very supportive [of] taking down the statues. ... That’s what they’re interested in. That’s what they’re supporting. Rather than, ‘Hey, let’s get some good old basic law and order.’ What about everyday citizens?”

The city has seen surging violent crime in recent weeks, with 10 shootings and one dead in a nine-hour span over Independence Day weekend.

WSJ Columnist Wrecks Liberal Journalist’s Free Speech Take with One Tweet

Matt Vespa

"It’s quite a sad day when defending free speech is controversial. Should we be shocked? No. We saw this iceberg miles away. The Left has a political correctness code, they like speech codes, safe zones, and will try to cancel those with a differing view. Right now, there is an effort to just erase certain words like “manpower,” “whitelist,” and “blacklist.” These are everyday words with zero racist connotations, and it doesn’t make it so when a mob of lefty crybabies with worthless degrees whine about it. There is a lot of huffing and puffing going on right now because some liberals decided to sign a letter in Harper’s magazine that espoused support for free speech and debate. 
. . . 
Ezra Klein of Vox tweeted:

Ezra Klein

A lot of debates that sell themselves as being about free speech are actually about power. And there's *a lot* of power in being able to claim, and hold, the mantle of free speech defender.

Kimberley Strassel
@KimStrassel
Um. In ALL cases, power comes from controlling speech. It’s the “free” part that provides the guard. . . .

Mark Zuckerberg is getting mauled for standing up for basic free speech  . . . "At a widely noted speech at Georgetown University last fall, Zuckerberg stated that it’s important that “we hold each others’ right to express our views and be heard above our own desire to always get the outcomes we want.”
"He noted that free expression has been central to the worldwide struggle for democracy. And he hailed US Supreme Court ­jurisprudence that has strengthened First Amendment protections. In sum, he said, “I’m here today because I believe we must continue to stand for free expression.”
"Once upon a time, the reaction to such a speech would have been: “We’re glad that a titan of Silicon Valley has absorbed core American values and is attempting, however imperfectly, to apply them to his company.” In 2020, the reaction instead has been: “Let’s get the bastard.' ” . . .

Here Come the Speech Police

. . . "CNN tells us the term "peanut gallery" -- as in "please, no comment from the peanut gallery" -- is racist because it harkens back to the days when poor and black Americans were relegated to back sections of theaters. Now, I hate to be pedantic, but "peanut gallery" isn't "directly rooted" in the nation's history of "chattel slavery." As CNN's own double-bylined story points out, the cliche wasn't used until after the Civil War. For that matter, few of the words and phrases that CNN alleges are problematic are rooted, even in the most tenuous sense, in the transatlantic slave trade." . . .

Bigoted, racist elk statue destroyed in Portland

Al Goodwyn  ..Townhall

What has our education system created?

Russia Today   Barbara2.0 commented: "The nice & peaceful people of Portland set ablaze an elk statue from 1900. "It has been confirmed this elk fought in Civil War, waving the confederate flag. His name is Sir Bob Elk Badassio Jr. & he was the leader of the evil people. "Justice has been served. "Racism has ended."

Nancy Pelosi on Iconoclasm: What’s the Problem?  . . . "As the list of iconoclasm goes on and on, it becomes clear that “treason” is not at all what motivates these barbarians. It is the hatred of American and Western ideals and principles.

Nothing will be allowed to remain to remind people of actual American history. That’s the insidiousness of Pelosi’s “let’s look forward” demand. Every day is to be day 0 in the new Left-fascist calendar. Even this is so yesterday …

WASHINGTONVILLE – Village police are asking the public for help in finding the vandals who cut down a flagpole at the center of a 9/11 memorial that honors five firefighters from the area who died in the World Trade Center collapse.

Pelosi On Mobs Tearing Down Statues: Eh, ‘People Will Do What They Do’ "Trump needs to play this on a loop with the video of the Founders being ripped down and the flag being burned."
The next statue to go?

The Bubbling Up of Dissent by the Left From Beneath Their Fascist Cancel Culture

Diogenes Sarcastica™ "It's damaging to our country when people are forced from their jobs, their clubs or their associations with others because they express ideas that bother other people. I know there’s nothing in the law or the Constitution that prevents it from happening. I’m simply saying it’s a bad thing when it does happen, especially when we make it such a common event. The most damaging effect will be to make people fearful about expressing themselves at all. Fortunately, I harbor no such fear. 
"A healthy society has no trouble dealing with the presence of extreme or even absurd ideas as part of the public discourse, because better ideas usually rise to win the day when there’s an open and honest debate. The problem with our present society-takes-care-of-it approach to speech punishing is that the loudest and most aggressive factions get to decide which speech is acceptable. And the political left, those who deny creating this present fascist style stifling atmosphere are getting nervous now that it has turned on them.
"Today, Harper's Magazine printed a letter to be featured in a future issue that I found interesting, considering who signed it. This open letter on open debate is signed by a wide range of notable people (100) including, Gloria Steinem, CNN's Fareed Zakaria, Noam Chomsky, leftist scumbag Matthew Yglesias, David Brooks, my former teacher Wynton Marsalis, J.K. Rowling, Francis Fukuyama, and Salman Rushdie among other artist, journalist and scholarly elite.  It's an interesting read, even with the ridicules attempt to pin censorship on the right, and you may find the entire list of signatures surprising.
"Fear of the mob or true concern?? You decide. Here's The Full Text. A Sample below.

. . . We are already paying the price in greater risk aversion among writers, artists, and journalists who fear for their livelihoods if they depart from the consensus, or even lack sufficient zeal in agreement......" 

. . . "The left knows they have unleashed a monster. And the monster is driving the wagon.

"Some of the most influential and important ideas in human history started out as radical, and out-of-the-mainstream. But because people were not afraid to express them, even in the face of sanction, they eventually changed history for the better. Is it no longer possible for that to happen because the Twitter mob won’t stand for it?

"And do mainstream journalists really believe in free expression? Or do they really love limits on free expression, as long as they get to be the enforcers??"