20 January 2019. Back After Three Months of Hell…

______________________________

It’s been three months since my last post in October. Nicky’s health continued to deteriorate and I was getting about two to four hours of sleep a night, combined with six-day work-weeks. Finally, in November, he had to go to hospital. He’s now in rehab. This has given me the chance to recover from that period of too much work and not enough rest. I’m still working hellish hours, as that’s the only way that I can earn enough to pay the bills. I’m also going to be 65 and I’m unable to retire because of Republican cuts to Social Security (the new age of full retirement benefits is now 70, thanks to Republican greedsters allied with Establishment Dem Corporate Ass-kissers).

The system of oppression put in place by Reagan and refined by Clinton, Bush II, and Obama put most working people under the boot of worthless sorts such as hedge-fund managers, subcontractors, real-estate developers, and stock-market drones. The “conservatives” and “liberals” are the same… it’s like the last scene of Orwell’s Animal Farm… there’s no difference between Establishment Republicans and Democrats… both favour the fatcats over the common man. The worst came this January… I got a raise… from 11.00/hour to 11.10/hour, that is, I now get 4.00 USD more a week. That’s because the minimum wage in New York State went up to 11.10/hour. In effect, my employer said to me by doing that:

If we could pay you less, we would, but the law won’t let us. Now, take this extra dime and be grateful for it. We won’t give you any more. We deserve it far more than you do.

This is common throughout the USA. For the first time in its history, the USA is full of quietly desperate people. You see, since the Affluent Effluent are doing well, that’s the only thing that matters. It doesn’t matter that hedge-fund shysters ruined Sears and Toys r’ Us deliberately to earn short-term profits… the affluent managers got off relatively scot-free. The workers got fucked with no vaseline? That’s just the “invisible hand of the market”… the management class says:

We’re not to blame. We didn’t make the system. This is the world is, the way it’s always been, and the way it’s always going to be!

That’s not so. Bernie scares the shit out of them. The new class of US Representatives includes people who truly rile he Corporate Class. Trump and Clinton were of the same social background… they were “strivers”, people who wanted to be in the upper reaches, but who were kept out by the Rockefellers, Whitneys, Mellons, Scaifes, and Gardners. Obama, as a Harvard-educated corporate lawyer, was actually of higher social standing than those two are. These two are the poisoned fruit of the noxious era brought forth by Reagan, refined by the Clintons, continued by Bush II, and brought to its logical culmination by Obama. Remember, in 2008 Obama had plenty of aid for fatcats impacted by the Great Recession, but next to nil for ordinary folks. 

However, do note that the NYT, WaPo, and CNN all ignore the Yellow Vests in Europe… the media is trying to bury it. Yet, reality has a way of asserting itself. The most popular Dem candidate for 2020 is Bernie… not Warren… not Biden… not Gabbard… but will the DNC pull its head out of its ass and go back to FDR? Remember, the first president to attack the New Deal was Harry Truman… not a Republican. He was a corrupt Pendergast Machine pol who made deals with Republicans… he allowed Taft-Hartley and he instigated the Cold War. McCarthy ran rampant because Truman let him (Ike stopped McCarthy… never forget that). However, the existence of the USSR meant that the American Corporate class didn’t want to let the working people get influenced by socialism. They used two things… one, they allowed the workers to have relative prosperity, and two, they used relentless propaganda to demonise socialism. When the USSR fell and the USA congratulated itself on winning the Cold War (wrongly, but that’s what happened), the Managerial Class felt that they could do as they pleased. The Clintons did more to harm working people than Reagan ever did. 

Yet, we’re at the end of an era, not the beginning of one. Trump is a result, not a cause. Hillary Clinton is a result, not a cause. Remove both, and the infection is still there. However, we can bring back the New Deal, and take it further. Socialism is the most-favoured political stance of the young… it’s simple… the greed of the Corporate moloch has ground them down with massive student debts. Shall we see a change? Yes… the only question is how violent the transition will be. I hope that it would avoid that. God willing, I’d hope that would be so.

Well, I’m back. Maybe, not every day, but I’m feeling well enough to take my place on the firing line. Keep it focused and keep it prudent. You win nothing by pointless bravado or pseudo-intellectual vapouring. Take my hand… the way won’t be easy, but we can make it if we stand united…

BMD

Advertisement

20 October 2017. My Friends ARE My Friends… Full Stop and Without Reservation

________________________

These days, you hear much blather about how people will “unfriend” others if they don’t conform to Politically Correct shibboleths (both “liberal” and “conservative”). I refuse to do such evil. I chose my friends because I found them trusty and true… if they disagree with me on this or on that, so be it. Character, not agreement, is the basis of friendship; at least, we Russians think so. If you wish to “unfriend” people because of their political opinions… so be it. I can’t dictate to you. I prefer to honour and respect my friends, even if we’ve had little contact recently. I found them worthy and no political opinion is going to change that. I confide that I’m not the only person with that attitude…

BMD

26 August 2017. Friends Do NOT Do Such Evil

_______________________

I wrote the following to a friend on FB:

I don’t choose friends based on agreement. I choose friends based on character and decency. You’re my friend… full stop. I needn’t agree with you or find all of your positions congenial. I find you trusty and honest. That’s good enough for me. I confide that it’s good enough for you, too…

Friends do NOT cross certain lines. One critical “red-line” is posting someone’s personal business without permission. If you’re a friend, you won’t do such evil. I’ve found that some who identify as “conservatives” feel that they have the right to post people’s personal business online without permission… they’re only “telling the truth”, dontcha know! I’d warn all concerned about those who crow loudly about “morality”… they’re usually the worst of this scurvy crew. I’ve come to the point where I’ve had it with the scurrility and nastiness of some self-described “conservatives” and “moralists”. From this point forward, if someone posts my business without my permission, and I find it out, I’m going to expose that person as a danger to all decent people. Therefore, I’d warn all concerned (and especially all who identify as “Orthodox Leftists”) to beware one “Ryan Isaac”. This scumbag posted my personal business without my permission. If they did it to me… they could do it to you. After all… they “have the obligation to tell the truth”. Beware such people. Block them… oppose them… give them no quarter.

Sometimes, one must stand and defend the right. This is one such time. They want to steal our Church from us and make it into a godless posturing Anglo Evangelical conventicle (but with “Byzantine” liturgy). I confide that I’m not alone in being fed up…

BMD

11 July 2017. We’ve Reached Ten Million Hits

________________________

We’ve reached ten million hits. I started doing this in November 2007, almost ten years ago. I’m still here… on the other hand, some of my critics have long since fallen by the wayside. I offer an eclectic mixture of Orthodox Christianity, Russian culture, Leftist politics, and humorous animals. Like all grounded people, I’m a bundle of contradictions! Beware the monomaniacal and earnest… such people tend to extremes and disregard people. Although this is most prominent amongst the “conservative”, trust me, there are “leftists” who are just as acrid and nasty (especially, those involved in “identity politics”).

LOVE rules this House… LOVE of Life, LOVE of God, LOVE of Truth, LOVE of our “little brothers”, and LOVE of Justice and Mercy. If love doesn’t rule your house and set your heart ablaze with the desire to set things right… well, you have a major malfunction. Remember… you must love the “Other” as they are, without any desire to remake them in your image. If you do this, people will notice… people can smell bullshit from a distance. Trust me, I’ve seen it in my life.

Thank you for being here with me. Come, sit down by the fire and have a warm… you’re at home and always welcome. The road goes ever onward… shall you share the road with me for a spell?

BMD