19 June 2013. Beliefnet Fucks Up Royally… See Who They Named as the Head of “Today’s Russian Orthodox Church”

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A Cabinet member sent me this link to Beliefnet. I noted that the piece seemed lifted in places, word-for-word, from a translation I posted on WordPress in November 2007. However, this howler was part of the post:

“Gagarin also became well-known for the phrase he is said to have stated, a phrase that was used extensively by the atheist propaganda of the time,” writes Nafpaktos Hierotheos Vlachos, the head of today’s Russian Orthodox Church.

That’s chowderheaded ignorance, kids. I posted this on Beliefnet:

Nafpaktos Hierotheos Vlachos is the head of today’s Russian Orthodox Church? I think not… that honour has gone to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias since 2009. Who proofread this? That’s one of the worst howlers I’ve seen in a while. What do you expect from right-wing “culture warriors”, though… by the way, I translated an Interfax interview with Col Petrov on Yuri Gagarin back in Nov ’07. It’s available at:

http://02varvara.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/im-proud-the-communists-accused-me-of-bringing-yuri-gagarin-to-orthodoxy/

Nevertheless, to think that no one proof-read this before posting stuns me…

Let’s see… who posts on Beliefnet? Hmm… Freddie M-G, Rod Dreher, Terrence Mattingly… my, my, my… and none of these “Orthodox” so-called-experts caught this. Speaks volumes about them, doesn’t it? As I posted in Beliefnet, the “culture warriors” seem to be lacking a certain something… knowledge… expertise… competence… simple diligence. What a buncha maroons…

BMD

 

18 June 2013. RIA-Novosti Infographics. Orbital Zoo

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3 June 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/infographics/20130603/181482578/Orbital-Zoo.html

Patriarch Kirill Urged Believers to Attend Church More Often

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On Sunday, on a visit to the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Patriarch Kirill Gundyaev of Moscow and all the Russias urged Estonian believers to attend church more often. He said, after a service in a newly-consecrated church, whose foundation was laid in 2003 by his predecessor, the late Patriarch Aleksei Ridiger, “You can certainly pray at home. Some people say, ‘I’m a believer but I don’t go to church’. So, why is it necessary to attend church? Because the Gospel contains very important words… For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (The Gospel according to Matthew 18.20)”. The patriarch said, “Prayer is hard work” because it’s difficult for people to focus on it even in church. However, the more common prayer unites believers, the stronger that prayer is, he said, noting, “Like a pillar of fire, the energy of our prayer reaches the throne of God. So, don’t be reluctant to come to church. Remember that there, the power of another person you probably don’t know… will make up for your weakness in prayer. This is the Church’s common prayer that reaches the Lord, and the Lord answers it”.

17 June 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/art_living/20130617/181706277/Patriarch-Kirill-Urges-Believers-to-Attend-Church-More-Often.html

Editor’s Note:

Nicky and I don’t attend liturgy weekly, but we do it more frequently than many do. I’ll say this… I go when I feel the need to pray. There’s something special about praying in the company of other Orthodox believers, and that’s that. Remember, the people are the Church… not the clergy, not the buildings. That’s the long and the short of it.

BMD 

 

16 June 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. The Price of Resistance

The Price of Resistance

Sergei Yolkin

2013

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St Petersburg has reintroduced the Soviet-era practise of дружинники (druzhinniki). That’s a tough word to “English”. Literally, it’s “companions”… they’re ordinary sorts who patrol the streets to supplement beat cops. I guess that the only way to say it would be “civilian street patrols”, but it loses a great deal of the flavour of the Russian original, which implies that the druzhinniki are a group of mates familiar with one another, who’re patrolling their neighbourhood to ensure its safety.

By the way, these aren’t huge fines… 500 Roubles is 16.75 USD (11.75 Euros. 10 UK Pounds), and 300 Roubles is 9.50 USD (7 Euros. 6 UK Pounds). I can see why Yolkin doubts whether they’ll be effective at all.

BMD

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The St Petersburg Municipal Duma introduced fines for resisting civilian street patrols. Sergei Yolkin wonders how that’ll scare off those who’d resist them.

6 June 2013

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20130606/941794180.html

16 June 2013. Can You Tell Me the Way to San Jose… via Kiev?

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According to several whispers, when Mollard goes to Russia (rather sooner than later, I’m told), he’s going to Kiev, not the Centre. That’s interesting! No doubt, HH would be there, which would mean that Mollard would have a photo-op with HH and Vladimir Sabodan, something that HH NEVER gave Fatso. If he’s on the way to Kiev, no doubt, he’d also meet with President Yanukovich… something that Fatso never got, either. Why Kiev? I’d say that one reason is that most of the OCA’s following are po-nashemu Hunkies, not Great Russians. If he’s going to Kiev, is he also going to see (and serve with) Fr Dmitri Sidor in Carpatho-Russia? Now, that’d be a coup! It would also be a way of HH seeing how loyal Mollard is. You see, that’d fuck things up for the OCA with the Uniates… and Lyonyo and Jillions (amongst others) have a rather cosy little arrangement with them, don’t they (don’t forget, Jillions was their bought-n’-paid-for “house nigger”… an “Uncle Tom” if there ever was such)?

Here’s a fly in the ointment. Mollard’s asking people to accompany him, but he’s not funding them, so people are turning him down. That means that it’s not far in the future, and people can’t raise the valuta in the time given. Hmm… that means several things. Firstly, there’s no money in the OCA cookie jar… no surprise, Valerie Ringa said as much. Secondly, the Centre is only fronting Mollard a certain amount of cash, but Mollard (or someone else in Syosset, probably, Lyonyo, Jillions, and/or Tosi) wants a larger delegation to go. Thirdly, unlike Fatso, who sucked up to the Inside the Beltway crowd in the District, he doesn’t have access to outside cash from the usual cast of suspects. Ergo, people are saying, “No. I don’t have the gelt. I can’t raise it that fast. No way, no how”.

We’ll have to see, won’t we, kids. Remember… you heard it first HERE. As per usual, Lyonyo, Jillions, and Hatfield want to keep you in the dark. Reflect on that…

BMD

16 June 2013. Sergei Yolkin’s World. Minzdrav Snatches Away Victims from Death

Minzdrav Snatches Away Victims from Death

Sergei Yolkin

2013

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In Russian usage, “Minzdrav” is an acronym for Ministry of Health (in Russian, of course). It’s common coinage in the Russian language… for instance, Minobrony is the Ministry of Defence, and Minyust is the Ministry of Justice. American equivalents are POTUS, SecDef, and DoD. Bureaucratese IS international, after all. In Orwell’s 1984, the reader finds the Russian format for acronym formation in the Newspeak Ingsoc, Minitrue, and Miniluv (amongst others). It’s not sinister in intent… although it appears that way at times. It’s just meant to save keystrokes (no lie).

BMD   

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Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova estimates that the new anti-smoking law has the intent of saving 150,000 to 200,000 Russian lives a year. Here’s how Sergei Yolkin sees it.

28 May 2013

Sergei Yolkin

RIA-Novosti

http://ria.ru/caricature/20130528/939880831.html