Have lots to do today. Got to weed the garden…
Just some images of the Tiny Russian Village…
WtR
That is a tiny Russian village for you. You take what you get and just wait it out. I woke to the pitter-patter of rain. It sounded nice and pleasant. Rain is necessary and in my case, rain is vital for the garden. Except the rain is making it hard to weed and the weeds like rain also. Kinda a catch 22, I would say…
I did mow most of the yard yesterday and saw a marked improvement in the mosquitoes around the yard. A info for yards; Keep the grass mowed, mosquitoes love tall grass and they will sit in the grass and wait for you to disturb them. I cut the grass and while I upset the mosquitoes while I cut, they left to look for a better place to hide. Interest tidbit; as I cut the grass and weeds. The swallows swarmed above me. The mosquitoes being stirred up where flying up and away and as they floated above me, the swallows attacked them. I noticed that the afternoon was almost mosquito free. So since I was allowing all the tall grass to seed out, it caused some mosquito issues and I still have a few spots left on that purpose, but it was time. Snakes and mosquitoes is why we cut grass…
Boza decided even though he did not like the rain, he needed to go for a walk. Thus, we got soaked, but it was a good walk and we found we were alone all over the village. Vova is here and Nina the White House lady is here. But, no one else is here? There is a home down below with someone, but maybe they have left also. Most likely….A half hour was enough of a walk and while we walked, I downloaded a movie. Looks good, a huge alligator eats a bunch of people. Gotta say that that movie idea has been done many times, but we all seem to keep flocking to see alligators eat people in rivers and ponds… 😉
Now Boza has settled upon my spot on the bed, wet and all! He is snoring away and I do not have the heart to tell him to get off the bed, for he will get it wet. It will dry and he is happy. That is what is important…
Looks like rain all day…
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I find comments interesting, the new system I put in is great. But as always, a good comment attracts the auto-bots. I got a good expressive comment and because I have moderate on the comments, I stopped ten hateful comments. I allow approved people to show immediately and disallow the automated attacks. This might just work and we will see how it goes with time. I do want people to comment, but if you are attacking, hateful and a bot, forget it. Your opinion matters even if I disagree. Your opinion as a Troll does not matter, for most of the time you are a automated response. My favorite is to get the same comment in response four or five times on a comment. The issue is that it takes a bunch of time to sort through comments and I think that is a good reason that they do such Trolling. Trolling does affect the comments and countries promoting Trolling are just plain wrong. They all do it…
I use to read comments on RT (Russia Today) and now I just simply ignore them. many years ago, RT had intelligent comments and discussion was good. Then in RT’s case, the paid Trolls are running amok. It is so easy to see the process happening and makes the comment section worthless on RT (as on all MSM.) RT has had four new commenting system in the last year and nothing helps. They have huge traffic and thus they have a bunch of good comments, but the good is overwhelmed by the Trolls; 100 to 1…
Sad and we all know that the west is trying to kill RT as a news source. I disagree with much of what they say (many times they are a sounding board for western news bites,) but, they have more truth than any of the so called mainstream media in the west. You want good mainstream news? At least look at all of it, news from Iran, China, Russia and then you can look at the western news. Just look at it all and do not pay to be totally locked into one source. The real news is on Blogs! Yes it has become an interesting information cycle. Individuals are now the carrier of truth, not so called real journalism…
A journalist and or MSM is no longer a reputable occupation…
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I moved two piles of wood scraps yesterday and became happy about that. Wood piles will attract snakes and I try to keep the snakes out of the yard. I have to finish the backyard, and that will solve the snake issue. This year has been good so far (knock on wood,) snakes are few and far between…
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The ducks have been busy as bees! We have baby ducklings all over the ponds and as soon as it quits raining, I will try to gather some images of the little guys. I also have to get some pictures of Boza and his friend Ralph the Raven…
Ralph (as I call him,) when he sees us walking, flies from the forest and lands in a field near us. Then he Caws and Caws as he waits for Boza to notice him. I sit on my bench I made in the lower field and watch. Ralph is a young raven from last year and grew up knowing Boza. Boza knows him and they run around the field like doofuses. Boza runs at him to check on why he is making noise and he hops in the air and lands twenty feet away. making Boza weave back and forth as they play keep away…
Boza has learned a new trick; Boza lays down in the tall grass and waits. The raven usually has been hopping and has lost sight of Boza. Several times Boza got close and scared the raven. So now when the raven looses sight of Boza, he flies to a telephone pole and looks down to see where Boza is at. The he screams at Boza to tell him where he is at and Boza, who likes this part. Runs to the telephone pole and like treeing a squirrel, Boza barks and barks…
They play this game for 15 to 20 minutes and then from the woods is a call. The raven is being called by either papa or mamma and he finally reluctantly goes back to the woods. He is one beautiful bird and allows me to walk under the telephone pole and he does not fly. The ravens have accepted Boza and I as the normal and we are not a threat. But this one raven likes to play with Boza…
Now isn’t that what life is about?
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Took my pills, wrote an article, drank two cups of coffee, walked the dog and it is still raining. I guess that means; I read a book. I have a book I am reading, it is about horror short stories and it is really good. Rain and a good book…
Have a nice day…
WtR
I did not post yesterday and that is rare. I actually only had one thing to really do yesterday and that was to get to the Big Village and get Boza’s food that had been ordered. I was feeling so bad that even that small task seemed overwhelming, but I made it to the Big Village and back with no issues…
Today I need to try to weed the garden, or at least start weeding it. Right now at 5 a.m. the mosquitoes are so bad that it was all Boza and I could do to just take a half hour walk. We found some areas that the wind blew good and Boza finally did his doggy stuff and we got home safe and sound. I think that between the weather and mosquitoes bites, I was knocked down for the count. Today I feel better and will even post an article. I have to be pretty sick to not post…
I was looking the garden over this morning and realized that everything we planted has come up or survived, except the two pear trees. I will be patient, but I am sure they did not make it. Dead, as in a door nail… 🙁
I am drinking a cup of coffee and going to work on my sites this morning. Then after the weather decides what it will do and some of the mosquitoes decided to go to bed for the day. I will try to see what I can do to the garden and or the yard. I may mow for awhile, but I really have to see how I feel. I still feel rough…
I have a good book I started to read, so maybe, just read part of the day. Boza ate four packs of dog food and is sleeping soundly on the coach next to me and really all is wonderful. Except no sweety pie Svetochka to keep her guys happy…
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I glanced at the western headlines for today. I have to say that we are stupid… I saw…
Human and Animal embryos created! (Not hard since we are animals!)
The Clinton’s crossed the line and when the Kettle calls the Pot black; you better be a clean Kettle… (Here and Here) Now Trump came out firing both barrels and we all know that Bill Clinton is a womanizer and we all watched the proof of the pudding during his presidency….Not smart on Clinton’s part…
Welcome to Control land of Chaos! (Here) I had a good laugh when I saw the games being played by the Gov. DHS and TSA; Sveta and I fly all the time and while things are far from perfect all over the world. But we do not have intentional squelching of or rights, freedoms and liberty; like you do in America….Enjoy…
Hows that Transgender smoke on the mirror doing for all you Americans? Bet many of you are on that propagandist bandwagon, instead of thinking crucially about something that is real and should be dealt with? Yup…
Every noticed how we; America is always so innocent when we fly near other countries and spy on them? (Here) I personally do not care if it is international waters and or airspace; We are doing it on purpose and halfway around the world. I agree with the Chinese and Russians on the forums….Maybe it is time to knock a few of these US spy planes out of the sky and get a message across to the US. Time to stop all this military expansionism. We (America) need to build bridges and not bombs, so the gluttons in the defense industry can quit raping the American public and or the world…
1,2,3 start screaming your American exceptionalism – War! War! War! Them commie b*****ds…
Thousands of news trash items to look at and it is all recent. Made me sicker than I feel and I quit. Time to look at the news from this side of the world. It is much saner and very much more truthful…
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Gonna have a second cup of coffee and then weed the garden…
WtR
First I want to thank a few people for donations. One in particular was for a recipe that they used and loved. That made me feel good and in fact the money will go for buying food. I will most likely go in the next few days and stock up. Thank you very much for the donations and it is a very big help. Money is very tight, for I used it all putting in a garden. Now I can go buy food… 😉
Above is a link and image of where I live. Yes I am deep in Russia, but hey! The red tear drop is me….When you death threat me, take what you can get. Washington DC, decided to renew a few hate issues with me. They did not like a few posts that I just made. One was by John Stanton, yes they really hated that one and the other was my hero article, it stung more than a few DC characters and they swarmed with the death threats. Kinda sad really. Truth does hurt and I have proof all the time…
Therefore, I give all those who want to know where I live a good map to even the roads to find me. I get really tired of death threats and America should be seriously ashamed at even thinking they have the rights to present such threats as normal…
I will be weeding the garden most of the summer, so I will not bother to look up when I hear the missile coming…
Damn idiots in Washington, D.C….They came from a TSA computer station located on the server that this link resides https://www.tsa.gov/ and it was used by someone located out of DC and another(s) link were these…
All came from guard shacks located in DC and other parts of the country. I realize that it is a network and is being used to toss cyber attacks out if someone pisses them off. Nothing new to me!
Once again, it is a sad state of affairs when I get attacked for no reason. I guess they do not want Windows to Russia to garner the audience that it use to have years ago. I am happy with thousands of readers a day, but at one time, before the cyber attacks, that lasted for years. WtR was running 20,000 to 30,000 unique visits a day and growing. Too much work back then and I have life to live…
Well at least life to live that I want to live, the way I want to, but some want me dead. Very sad and they express such hate vehemently. Maybe it is just threats, but I take life threats seriously and the idea of ever going back across the US borders is not one I would consider good for my health at this point…
Oh this has all been reported to the proper authorities in America and I was told literally, “Who Cares!”
WtR
Something rewarding about growing a garden. Today I was looking at most likely weeding the garden. I wait to weed until things planted are secure and up, then I weed. I do not want to destroy any chance of missing the new growth and destroying it…
We have sweet peas, carrots, beets, spinach, turnips, rutabagas, garlic, onions and potatoes. The potatoes will be interesting, for they are called Blue Eyed Potatoes. We have great expectations for them and they are new to me. I am not sure if these potatoes are blue in color, but the sprouts are blue at the first appearance. Blue potatoes are common in Asia and Africa and such and we will see. We also have three types of carrots, two types of beets and the garlic is from the local store. The garlic is growing like crazy…
The peas will have to be strung up and I need to get heavy string/cord from the store. I have to build a fence/trellis of cord for them to grab hold of and it looks like today I will go to the Big Village to get the string. I also need to get more dog food for Boza. He is eating like crazy and I have only three cases of food left in stock (maybe walking six times a day does that.) I also need to stock some food items, that I hope they got back in. I bought the stores out of beef stew and some other items. I prefer to just open a can and eat from the can, when I am able… (I just wish that Russians had canned green beans! They do not and it makes me miss them…)
There is something about seeing everything you plant come to life. It is hard for us humans to realize that that tiny seed grows into a huge plant, a plant full of delicious food to eat. But when they sprout, they become children and need care, just like children do. You have to weed them, feed them, water them and support them many times. Just like a child. Except these children, if cared for, will return the favor a hundred fold, as they supply delicious food to eat…
Even the carrots which are hard to get started many times, have responded with popping out of the ground at record speed and are happy to respond to such care as above. I get so excited and call Svetochka every time a new row of plants started to show. Poor Svetochka, she got lots of phone calls over the last few days…
But she helped and I know she is excited as I am about the new babies growing. She is saying yummy, yummy and yummy some more, as she thinks about all the salads we will have and root veggies to store for the winter. She is going to enjoy the young peas and they will be; Oh So Sweet!
I myself am looking forward to the fresh spinach. I just love spinach in a salad and we have so many turnip greens, beet greens, rutabaga greens and carrot tops to eat, that I will have a salad for several months, soon…
Something about a garden! It just makes you feel good and makes the hard work worth it…
WtR
Last night the Nightingale sang and sang! I have recorded the Nightingale last year and this year, after the many babies last year, we have Nightingales all over the village. It is really wonderful and it looks like we will have another nest on the fence as it was last year. (If ? He can find a girlfriend? I am sure he will and he is trying real hard, as he sings so beautiful all night long. How could a sweet girl Nightingale resist?) Mother Nature is wonderful…
Everyday the people in the Tiny Russian Village siesta. It is something I will do also, for it seems just the right thing to do. The people rest through the hot noon sun and come out to pay or work again when the edge of heat comes off the sun. So it is work early and sleep some more and then work later in the evening…
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I try!
I started this article many days ago and today I will finish it…
I will finish it with a worry. I am seeing many articles about Americans and Britain’s wanting to or desiring to move to Russia. They are attracted to the idea of free land and free Russia. Russia is free and liberty, reins true over all of it in comparison to the western world…
Russia is far from perfect and one thing Russia will do is to is to toughen your ass up. Russians do not have stigmas about political correctness and they do not care if life is tough for you. There is no safe hide hole to run to, when life bothers you. Welfare is virtually non existence and governmental interference is definitely non existent. You stand on your own two feet and or you die…
But, if you help someone, they will help you back when needed. If you are an ass to people, then you go down with your ass attached and people will not care. You have to have a huge massive mindset change to survive Russia and you have to be willing to become Russian to make it. Thus when you break your big toe and it hurts, you still walk and gather what life needs to survive. Then you share what you gathered if the guy next to you does not have what you have and vice a versa. For he has the same broken toe and you would never know it. Just a simple example…
Russians are intelligent and very philosophical. They all know what is wrong with the world and maybe that is why I fit in so well. I seem to act like I know what is wrong with the world also. It is important to understand that Russians are very deep thinkers and will remember everything you say to the last letter of the sentence. Do not lie to a Russian, drunk or not, they will remember how you act and think…
As with me, you do not want to make Russians an enemy. They are the worst kind of foe. They will take so much and you think they are weak, but then as you look away for one minute, they will smack you silly and take you down. They are quiet and methodological about their responses. But in the same token, they will become your best friend and never leave you. Russian women are a perfect example; they are ferociously loyal to their men and I know, My sweet pea is a good example of a Russian woman…
My friend Vova is a good example of an old Soviet type friend. His Vodka is important and good friends are more important. For friends are invaluable to survival and this last winter, Vova and I spent much time together and we talked about many things. One thing that is more true than anything; Russians have lost the starry eyed aspect they had about America and America was a fool to not befriend a country full of intellects, who will fight you to the ends of the earth and farther. Russians will push you into Hell itself and follow you there to finish the job. In the same breath, they will help you into Heaven and stay away, for they have done the utmost in service to life itself…
They are religious without even knowing it and believe in a God, but a God who helps only those that help themselves. If helping themselves is helping you, then they will. By this act, they live a full and eventful life and they do not fear anything to speak of. They are curious, intelligent, soulful, thoughtful and forgiving. They forgive if you are sincere in your apologies…
Russians want one leader for life. They do not and can not understand the charades played by America. Changing a president every four years makes no sense and they really have no desire to change their president at all. A president for life is considered the best and is not looked at as a dictator. They are intellects and want stability and realize that America does not offer stability, either abroad or within her boarders…
So what I am saying in this post is that people who dream of coming to Russia to live, need to seriously think what they want. Russia is harsh and brutal at times. It is a world of wonderment, but can be a world of hurt, for those who are weak. Winter is tough and it gets cold, not one or two days of cold, but months of deep freeze (some places all year long) that will take your life in a heartbeat. For two months I watched my breath freeze in the air and make a tinkling sound as it settled to the ground. But then again, Russia is the most free place I have ever been and freedom is part of that harsh and brutal world it is. People can not have their cake and eat it to….My cake is with out icing and I like it that way… 😉
Bottom line of all this; Do not come to Russia and expect government welfare! The government has better things to do, like protect the people from the western world morals and warfare attitude and that is exactly how it should be…
They do not have it or care for it. That is the way I like it…
If you come to Russia? Come to live a Russian life, not change what Russia is, to how you expect life to be…
WtR
I had thought yesterday was going to be slow and uneventful, but Vova decided he needed help in gathering supplies for his animals and truthfully; he did need my help and my presence garnered him supplies in some cases…
When you live in the country or as my case as growing up. Farmers do what it takes to survive. It is no different even in modern times in Russia as now days, many people in America have lost their deep roots to the land that they can not fathom how the world really works. This is the same all over the world, the only exception that I have seen with huge cites in the world, is Moscow. Moscow still has most people planting gardens to survive. Even in the big city of Moscow, they grow food anywhere….Maybe you have seen people do it in other large cities, but Moscow has the highest percent of people still attached to the earth and that attachment comes from the fact that Russians have Dachas and at these Dachas they grow food for good eating….Dachas seem to be a right and or freedom for Russians to have, not a burden against them…
Therefore, Vova and I spent 5 hours driving around the back roads of rural Russia. During this excursion, we gathered over a thousand pounds of food stuffs for his pig, rabbits and chickens. The whole country side was doing the same and the haves were giving to the have nots…
This is a very important function of society and probably the most important part that I know of, for a society to survive. People have to give and take as needed, to allow all to survive. When we start thinking that we own anything we touch or think, is when we fail as a society. Greed is the word I am looking for…
Lets look at two pictures…
I am not putting images of what we did, for that would be wrong. I was allowed to become deeper into the Russian society and welcomed with open arms. The first image is a typical Russian Village Main Road. This is how a village looks as I drove from one to another. Yes, they are rooted to the earth and live accordingly…
The next image is Vova and I at a woman friend of his. Very nice lady and a fantastic cook. She seems to fancy Vova and she knew ahead of time an American was coming. Vova makes sure to use that ace card to his advantage…
Yes, that was a great meal…
I want to talk about something I just said above…
The “ace card to his advantage,” Vova is smart, well sometimes. When it comes to survival he is smart. One thing we did was gather about a thousand pounds of grain for the chickens to eat all summer. That meant we went to a grain storage area and bartered for grain. Or better yet, used anything and or anyone to get the grain for virtually free. This grain is important to survival, but cost is prohibitive for people like Vova and me. Thus when the guy in charge of the grain storage, bulked at letting Vova get grain for free. Vova was in trouble…
Vova had a bottle of vodka, box of chocolates and chocolate bars to give all around. I was with him when he bought them and I watched the whole process of trading this for that and giving gifts to entice people to be friendly. Vova was looking like he may not get his grain, for the man was the boss and he was not the friend of a friend that helps people like Vova. Then Vova’s eyes lit up and he pointed at me and said, “My friend is American!”
The ace card was played and a man who two minutes before had decided not to take the box of candy and not allow grain to go out the door. Smiled and hugged me! I was kissed on each cheek and after several other guys decided to do the same. I was accepted and a boss of the complex was so happy to see his first American, he took the candy and the candy bars and spread the treats among the workers. After he hugged me again and waved us to the storage area. He left and drove away in his UAZ… I became that Ace In The Hole!
The bottle of vodka went to the man in charge of storage and he took his bottle, buried it deep in a corner of the grain, to get later and left us to our work. About a thousand pounds later, we took off and we found about six people at the gate of the storage area, who all came to see the American. It was interesting…
Now the original reason I was needed was because I do not drink vodka. It was easy to turn down vodka on this trip, because, I was driving and Russians are smarter than they use to be. No drinking and no driving. I was the designated driver and thus excluded from all the social shots of life…
Very important socially that Vova sat with friends and others and drank his shots of vodka, to be one and the same. Not that Vova suffered in the least. He enjoys his vodka and he enjoyed this trip. For every stop was another shot or two of vodka and I could see why he needed me to drive. Kinda hard to drive with a bottle of vodka in you as you travel the countryside… 😉
I learned a bunch about the real Russia. I learned that Russia and Russians are just like me and just like it was as I grew up. I realized that the friends I made yesterday, will all come in helpful in a future if needed…
I also learned that you play the cards you are dealt and if you have an Ace; play it when needed…
This is how it felt!
By the time we were done yesterday, we had packed a Niva LADA to the max and more. We had rutabagas, onions, beets, grain and assortment of various equipment, needed to raise his chicks getting ready to hatch. The Niva was sitting on her springs and the trip home was slow and easy…
That trip back gave me time to watch a whole world of Russians doing the same as we were. Many had horses and carts and they went door to door gathering potatoes and other root veggies to feed farm animals…
Yes! I was right at home and realized why I fit into Russia so well…
I just love Russia…
WtR
Yesterday I finished the oak trees and got them moved out of the worlds way. It was a bad place that they were put in the first place, but all is good in the end. I spent two days cutting up six trees. Six seasoned and hard as a rock Oak trees. Vova came to help and we got it done…
I will split all that is cut to proper length and then start cutting the longer pieces. Looks like I will split wood most of the summer off and on. That should get me in good shape again… 😉
The lake is really full and looks like they are going to fill it to the max level. It is so high now that the original overflow into a small lake is usable and I have never seen that before. They have been filling for three days straight and I see why they fixed the dam. For if they had not, our lake and the one next to it, would be connected. The dam was corroded away between them and now both lakes are full. I hope they fill the lake across the road to its fullest also. We gonna have some fish!
Boza and I just cut a large part of the yard and we quit when Father Pavel came to have services. The bell was ringing and people by the dozens walked up the hill to go to church today. I stay quiet during the few hours that he is here on Saturday, just seems respectful and proper…
Been working too hard anyway for many days now, thus I better slow down today and rest. My straw boss Boza said I can rest and he is now sound asleep himself. Good boss, that Boza…
It will be 12 degrees today and sunny all day long. That is as good as it gets, for a perfect day in my eyes…
Have a nice day and enjoy life, for it is just too short not to…
WtR
Kyle Keeton
“When the United States goes to war they will introduce a war economy. This means sacrificing everything for the army and war purposes – and misery for the population. How can there be a self-sustaining economy for the United States? In times of peace you have 10 million unemployed – and this in a time of relative prosperity; during crises you have 13 to 14 million unemployed. Moreover you must export. To do this you must import. What? Products that will ruin your farmers, who are even now being supported artificially? No, there is no possibility. Instead, it is necessary to organize a kind of fascism – an organized control of the misery, because what is fascism except the organization of misery for the people. The New Deal tried to do it in a better way but did not succeed, because at that period you remained too rich for a fascist misery. However you will become poorer and poorer, and as a result the next New Deal will be in fascist form…
“Capitalism in the United States is running head on into those problems which impelled Germany in 1914 upon the road of war … For Germany it was a question of ‘organizing’ Europe. For the United States it is a question of ‘organizing’ the world. History is taking mankind directly into the volcanic eruption of American imperialism…The United States cannot enter a world war, or even make serious preparation for it without assuring first the full domination of the Latin American countries…Washin
Just about one half of the year 2016 is in the world’s history books. The 16th year of the 21st Century, a century that was supposed to usher in a new era of democracy, opportunity, “green thinking”, and income for all, has thus far been a bust for much of the citizens of the world. Some 40.8 million displaced people roam the continents of the world due to the effects of climate change and the fallout from varying degrees of conflict/war ranging from the War on Terror and War on Drugs, to covert-overt regime changes in Brazil, Ukraine, Egypt, Paraguay, Iraq, Libya and Honduras. Syria remains a work in progress.
US economic statistics mask a crumbling economy and infrastructure. The US is tempting fate with the “up yours” brinkmanship with Russia and China. US encirclement of these two countries with ABM batteries, the training of militaries in countries bordering the two behemoths, and the propaganda campaigns waged against them may not turn out well for anyone on the planet. Russia and China are certain to, legitimately counter each escalatory measure. That’s what nations do when threatened.
Some of the hot words at 2016’s midpoint are brinkmanship, uncertainty, privatization, austerity, suicide, fascist, destabilize, threat, security, hybrid war, propaganda, disparity, racist, displaced, shootings, sanctions, and discrimination. Sides are being taken, and must be taken. Centrism/comprom
They Don’t Give a Shit
The view from the precariat in the US demonstrates the plight not only of millions of Americans, but many more in similar situations around the globe: Economic and social life is bleak and American officials/office seekers, like their counterparts the world over, are repulsive and indifferent. At the website More Crows than Eagles, this is extraordinarily well-said in a piece titled The Unnecessariat:
“Clinton doesn’t give a shit about me. When Clinton talks about people hurt by the economy, she means you: elite-educated white-collar people with obvious career tracks who are having trouble with their bills and their 401k plans. That’s who boomed under the last president Clinton, especially the 401ks. Me, or the three guys fighting two nights ago over the Township mowing contract, we’re nothing. Clinton doesn’t have an economic plan for us. Nobody has an economic plan for us. There is no economic plan for us, ever. We keep driving trucks around and keep the margins above gas money and maybe take an odd job here or there, but essentially, we’re history and nobody seems to mind saying so. Trump doesn’t have an economic plan for me either. What Trump’s boys have for me is a noose- but that’s the choice I’m facing, a lifetime of grueling poverty, or apocalypse. Yeah I know, not fun and games- the shouts, the smashing glass, the headlights on the lawn, but what am I supposed to do, raise my kid to stay one step ahead of the inspectors and don’t, for the love of god, don’t ever miss a payment on your speeding ticket? A noose is something I know how to fight. A hole in the frame of my car is not. A lifetime of feeling that sense, that “ohhhh, shiiiiiit…” of recognition that another year will go by without any major change in the way of things, little misfortunes upon misfortunes… a lifetime of paying a grand a month to the same financial industry busily padding the 401k plans of cyclists in spandex, who declare a new era of prosperity in America? Who can find clarity, a sense of self, any kind of redemption in that world?”
Yet, “that world” is precisely what neoliberal vultures like Hillary Clinton and her corporate sponsors on Wall Street, in Hollywood and the Defense Industrial Base/Pentagon, on the editorial pages of the Washington Post and New York Times, and in the many Associations and Think Tanks on the East and West coasts seek. It’s the same story in the countries of the European Union. Trump seems to endorse much the same with his call for cuts in Social Security (at least in Europe there are mass movements like Nuit Debout are trying to resist “that world.”)
Eve of Destruction
But to “fight the power” is tough, even in the US Homeland: Look what happened to Flint and Detroit and to pensions, food assistance, and military veterans returning home from war. And when the neoliberal gangs decide that the government of a country needs to be reigned-in, resistance is often futile. And if the gang leader in charge is the United States, the fight is lost cause.
The US remains the dominant global power and, as such, can shape cognitive environments and physical terrain using its extraordinary instruments of national power (INP’s): Diplomacy, Intelligence, Military, Economic, Finance, Law Enforcement, Information and Human Capital. There is a symbiotic relationship between the US government and private sector (academia, media, NGO’s, telecommunicatio
The Honduran government fell in 2009 in a US supported coup. That country’s social and economic fabric has collapsed. Brazil faces a similar plight: Rousseff—Lula supporters will not take the situation lightly. Consider the neoliberal financial forces at work behind the coup in Brazil and US links.
According to Telesur, the “Free Brazil Movement (MBL) is a far-right collective of young people that believe the solutions to the country’s economic problems are based on free-market policies. Fabio Ostermann and Juliano Torres, two of MBL leaders, were educated in the Atlas Leadership Academy, linked to the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, financed by the notorious U.S. businessmen the Koch Brothers. Furthermore, the brothers have millions of dollars invested in the oil industry, which could explain their interest in destabilizing the Brazilian government and Petrobras. Another of the leading groups, Students For Liberty (EPL) – working together with the MBL – is the Brazilian associate of an organization with the same name in the U.S., also financed by the Koch Brothers.
Furthermore, investment banker Hélio Beltrão Filho, the national head of EPL, inherited shares in Grupo Ultra, one of Brazil’s largest holdings. Grupo Ultra provided logistic and financial support to the right-wing military coup in 1964. A third important group involved in the protests is VemPraRua (Come to the streets), which has become the center of controversy in recent weeks. After several journalists investigated the group, revealing that its financial support came from the Study Foundation, which belongs to Brazil’s richest individual, Jorge Paulo Lemann. Lemann is owner of AmBev, the biggest beer production company of Brazil, and owns the Burger King franchise in the country. The businessman has denied taking a stand in Brazilian politics and claims the foundation’s director used it for political purposes. Rodrigo Telles, who runs the foundation, is also an AmBev shareholder…many government supporters see the move as part of a coup, similar to what occurred in Honduras against Manuel Zelaya or in Paraguay against Fernando Lugo.”
Trotsky was right.
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer. Reach him at camus666ster@gma
Last night I was haunted by the past of the Tiny Russian Village and by my own past…
I think that the village talks to me, because of all I have done in the past. My past is much more than your past. There are very few men or women on this planet that have experienced what I have extrapolated in my past. The path I have walked was deep and dark. It did not allow failure or such would have been death for me. I do not know if there is a Heaven, but I do know that there is a Hell. If one can be without the other than so be it…
I have found heaven in my eyes and she is in Moscow right now. I understand that heaven can only be reached through women, but that does not immigrate the facts into my head; is heaven real or not?
* * * * * * * * * *
Hell is another story; I several times held onto the gates opening into Hell and kicked and screamed as I fought my way back…
I understand why some men and or women are not able to cope with what they do and we as a country (USA) hero-worship men and or women who fight in illegal wars all over the world. I find very few people like me that do nothing but scowl and pull away, when people thank you for their service and what heroes we are. You would never even mention the word hero, if you ever walked in their shoes. People are indoctrinated through worship at church, propaganda on the news and in general just as a way of life in the US, to feel awe at a service person of the military. It gets sickening to even converse with starry eyed individuals who immediately spout propaganda about how brave you are and how wonderful to meet a hero…
Maybe I am crazy at times, but if you had the facts like I do about the true state of affairs in American policies, then just maybe you would be crazy also…
If you only knew the truth!
* * * * * * * * * *
It cost me dearly to erase my past in the physical sense, money can buy erasure of records or sealing of files. Shredders were invented for just such things. Key strokes on a computer work as good. I use to be fairly rich in paper money and there are individuals that will, for a price, remove data….But you can never erase the past in your mind and some things creep back to haunt you as you sleep, work, play, dream, talk and walk. Last night the demons decided to visit me and it all started with the souls from the past in the Tiny Russian Village I live in. I have talked before about this past and the discovery of the cemetery of the ancient women’s monastery located here, has woken some spirits to express themselves…
I am here in the Tiny Russian Village for a reason and most of that reason I now realize is for my own healing. Both physically and mentally. Things happened in this village during early Soviet times that bring up my past and when the souls stir, I have memories dredged up and tossed in my face like a sack of grain from ten stories above. Not fun, I can tell you…
I will not go into detail, but I will say that there are ones of long ago, that have been very dissatisfied with the happenings in the village and since 99% of the people on earth are totally out of touch with reality. They never see or hear such dissatisfaction as it is permeated around in given areas…
But, I am here in the village to sooth issues and it works. Sometimes though, I pay a price and last night the price was high…
* * * * * * * * * *
The payment came in reliving my past. Sometimes your dreams have a life of their own and I awoke four times during the night and sighed deep relief to comprehend that I was safe in the Tiny Russian Village…
The night started normal, but soon souls visited and they were from the dead of the village. Nuts huh! They were happier than they have been for a long time, but now they want the saints buried here to be found. That was all fine and I will do as I have done in the past. Dig, dig around for areas that are important and try to point out in whatever way I can here; here it is important. Just like I did with the church area for several years. As I discover their past, I find my past is healed slightly. Thus, they help me in return….What ever works is what I say…
The price I paid was to relive some details of my past and I really feel that it is done to allow me to heal. The healing that never came while living in America. Living in America is like a fancy prison and you have all you need, but what you really need is outside the wall around the county. The wall is not physical, for a physical wall is easy to get over or crash through. The wall that surrounds America is propaganda and it is a hard wall to see around and or over….Hotel California says it best…
Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
“Relax,” said the night man,
“We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave!”
I dreamed and remembered the pregnant woman being torn into shreds like confetti as the 50 caliber rounds pelted her like rain in a storm. I remember the child who had his hand out and the other hand had a grenade with the pin pulled. I remember the man who I fought hand to hand and he died in my arms, for I did not want to die that day. I remember a target who pushed his sunglasses up on his head as his senses told him death was near and I stared through my scope and the look in his eyes of resignation as he felt what he would never see coming. I remember walking in Agent Orange rain as they cleared the jungle of foliage. I remember most of all men who offed themselves instead of killing one more innocent human. I remember these men treated as heroes just so that everyone back home would call them heroes. Sometimes you would think they were the smart ones……
I remember much on some nights, as last night and when I do it in the Tiny Russian Village, it seems to stay put in my mind and eased in pain for awhile….Old souls help to heal the wounds…
* * * * * * * * * *
Don’t call us heroes! For that implies we did something heroic and invading and killing another country for geopolitical and resources, is not in the least bit heroic……………
WtR
