Coming socialist revolutions in China and Russia and Latin America

The Socialist Dream lives !

I still see the conflict between the capitalist United States and ” socialist ” Cuba from the perspective of a long time democratic Socialist who never thought for a moment -since the collapse of the Soviet Union- that socialism was a dead ideal and a dead historical movement. There are now legions of corrupt intellectuals in Russia, China, even Cuba who write and talk as if the socialist dream of a saner world order is now beneath contempt.
50 years of American hostility to Cuba was not based on my country’s solicitude for ” democracy ” and human rights. Remember they assassinated the Marxist president of Chile- democratically elected Salvador Allende. They had no problem with the fascist Pinochet regime in that same country.
In truth, America still wants to quarantine THE DREAM. The ideals of Socialism haunt the U.S. ruling class.The ideals of socialism are most feared by the leaders of the New Russia and the New China who have betrayed their own youth.
It sickens me to think that the present leaders of Cuba will view China as their new model. What would Chairman Mao think about all these Chinese billionaires ? He would throw the Little Red Book at them.
One day the working class of China and Russia will re-awaken. And they will again shake the world.
Global capitalism is now incompatible not only with basic social justice but with life on earth.

The roots of the " hateful opposition " to President Obama

   The " hateful opposition " to President Obama has its roots in the Ayn Rand intoxicated ideology of the Republican Congress. EVERY Republican presidential candidate pays homage to Her, this Queen of Mean, author of their cult classic " The Virtue of Selfishness ".
The principled opposition to President Obama on the left is so far best expressed by the Bernie Sanders campaign.
As a registered Democrat I do recall voting for Bill Clinton twice-not because of his Neo-Democrat liberalism but because of the character of the opposition to him: sanctimonious Republican hypocrites.
Today they would have us believe that both Hillary and President Obama are just different shades of Marxist. I wish that there were at least some truth to this. Those hateful Obama haters

Catholic exorcism : can EVIL assume a palpable form ?

Catholic Phillipines needs more exorcists ?

The Roman Catholic Church has a long record -going back to St. Augustine- of mocking the occult beliefs of the ancient pagans -which included astrology. How many stories in the commercial news media mock astrology ? Carl Sagan in his " Demon Haunted World " suggests that newspapers have an astronomy column to compete with the pseudo-science of astrology.
True, Catholic mysticism does not rule out up- close- and -personal demons. I must confess after reading " The Exorcist " and seeing the movie many years ago I hesitate to laugh at Satan in the spirit of the hateful, Catholic bashing New Atheism.
Any reader of good horror stories can get that creepy feeling that EVIL can assume a palpable form. I just watched another " Dracula " film last night. I will not discard the holy water and the crucifix and the rosary beads in my window sill. Nor will I forget that solemn chant :
" The power of Christ commands you... the power of Christ commands you ".
How can I not believe that the Prince of Lies is making this world not HIS kingdom ? The Darkness gathers !
   

Sappy ,uncritical NPR interview with Muhammad Yunus

the darker side of micro-credit

  Until I background checked this rather sappy, uncritical article ( by NPR standards ) I did not even know who this Benevolent Banker was. As I am a democratic Socialist-giving CRITICAL support to Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont-I was immediately cynical about this Muhammad Yunus. No, he is NOT a criminal but quite a few on the left see his micro-credit inspiration as a disaster for working class people in his own country. No socialist will believe that socialism can be obviated by massive debt slavery.
I don't know if this Nobel Peace Prize winner is even a good man. He seems more like an avuncular charlatan. And a friend of Hillary Clinton. That speaks for itself.
What would Bernie say ? Ask him.

  " She had never had a bank account or earned a regular salary but was given a $200 loan anyway, which she struggled to repay.
So she took another from a different company, then another, until she was nearly $2,000 in debt.
In September she fled her village, leaving her family little choice but to forfeit her tiny plot of land, and her dreams."

Asimov's " Last question " ? The stars in the sky

amazing star birth in distant galaxy

 I credit a few popular science writers -long dead-for what I know about the stars. I did not realize that our own Milky Way galaxy was so creative: new stars being born all the time . With or without a Creator the universe is a very creative place. In ancient times it was heresy to claim to observe a " nova " - a new star. The desert at night was glorious with many, many stars -but the constellations were fixed and permanent. One ancient astronomer at least thought he observed a new star. We know he did escape with his life.
Even our sun does not seem to be in a process of un-creation. Century after century it looks the same, getting no hotter or cooler, no brighter or dimmer, no larger or smaller. But if that were true- scientists know now- that its very existence would be a creationist " miracle ".
What comes into existence must in time pass out of existence.Even atoms are not eternal. Even " existence " itself came into existence-from some unimaginable NOTHINGNESS. A mockery of the Mind of God " Or just an eternal Mystery itself ?
" Let there be light " , says Dr. Isaac Asimov in " The Last Question. "

 " A mind breakingly massive image of 25,000 stars being born "

Is NPR whitewashing a Nobel Peace Prize banking swindler ?

Read " Tale of Nobel laureate's continuous fraud ", by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudury, Modern Ghana. This man, this Nobel Peace Prize winning banker, is a CRIMINAL SWINDLER. NPR admires him ?
[ http://radicalrons.blogspot.co... ]
"Talking to reporters Jabel Hussain said, 'Dr. Yunus is a fraud. How he managed to get the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize? This prize should be immediately withdrawn from this monster ' " ( from article cited ).

  

The ONE PERCENT never retire because they never WORK. They exploit and oppress. For them the capitalist system-in which THEY are on top-makes for the best of all possible worlds. Even the obtuse NPR editors should understand this. But how clever of our ruling class : public radio also serves the ONE PERCENT -not the American public. Let a corrupt and lying foreign banker tell YOU how to live ! Retirement is not good for your soul-but capitalism is ?

    

Do evil charlatans age well ? Check out his name on Google. NPR is trying to whitewash a scoundrel -as a PUBLIC SERVICE .

                      Ralph  Nader not impressed with " liberal "  NPR   "  While the political right has been beating the drum for years that NPR is too liberal, Nader says that is not the true picture at all. He says that it is progressives on the political left, like him, who are being excluded from NPR's airwaves.
'Progressive voices are not heard on NPR with the frequency of voices representing more corporatist and conservative opinion,' Nader said. 'And progressive voices should not be confused with liberal voices and lumped into the same category for any frequency analysis. '  "
   

  

Hate monger Pamela Geller and mentally ill Warwick man Nicholas Rovinski

 

For some reason the Providence Journal writer thinks the name of " the blogger critical of Islam " is irrelevant. Her name is Pamela Geller- a notorious hate monger banned in Britain. Writes Michael Felsen in the Boston Globe : " Geller's anti-Muslim poster campaigns across the U.S. don't as she claims build support for Israel. They simply feed bigotry "( April 10, 2014 )
One Pamela Geller poster reads :
" In any war between the civilized man and the savage support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad ".
No surprise here: Pamela Geller is inspired by pro-Zionist Ayn Rand -the goddess of the Republican Party. In fact , her web site is named " Atlas Shrugs " after the Ayn Rand cult novel.
This Nicholas Rovinski of Warwick is a mentally ill young man and the FBI was playing " Terror Factory " games with him ( read the Trevor Aaronson book ) .
Does Geller work for the FBI too ?
  

Read " The Rise and Fall of Muhammad Yunus "

another quack voice for capitalism

From excellent sources this Nobel Peace Prize winner has been discredited as the perfect charlatan-possibly a human link in the Great Recession. Read " The Rise and Fall of Muhammad Yunus " , International Development Studies ,
Jan. 2014, by Milford Bateman.
" Credit-As-Right" just one more quack plan to save world capitalism.
[http://radicalrons.blogspot.co... ]
Deep down this banker Muhammad Yunus has the heart of... a banker ! XXX

Muhammad Yunus and his " right to credit "

credit is a right ?

•     Muhammad Yunus deserves the Nobel Peace Prize as much as Barack Obama. In a society where we are told that jobs and health care and a decent home are NOT a human right POOR PEOPLE suddenly learn that " credit is a human right ". Sell capitalism to the poor and working class ? Yes, that way they might never have a socialist thought in their heads. Socialists have always said that they do not believe PRIVATE PROPERTY is a sacrosanct right.They question the legitimacy of LEGITIMATE wealth !
  

  Well there is some good here. This guy , Muhammad Yunus , might give PAY DAY LOANS a run for its money.
  Life apart from the market place has no meaning ? Your very last day on earth should be focused on making -a-buck ?
  Is NPR having an Ayn Rand epiphany ?
  

  

FOR PROFIT system a threat to ALL life !

" Credit as right " craze

  The capitalist FOR PROFIT motive is behind much evil in this world. Even the body parts of aborted human babies end up FOR SALE in the venerable free market. But neither Planned Parenthood nor heartless lion hunter Walter Palmer should be the victims of an Internet lynch mob.
How many outraged animal lovers are vegetarians ? How many Right to Life zealots are uncritical supporters of Ayn Rand Republicans ? Where does their " Virtue of Selfishness " leave the threatened baby in the womb ? Or most of us common people soon after we are born ?
Rather than persecuting individuals shaped by the culture of narcissism we should try to change that culture itself. Any democratic Socialist-like Bernie Sanders-knows that CAPITALISM is the root of evil.FOR PROFIT murder is an everyday reality of global capitalism.Cecil is just another victim.Let the lions roar !

Lion hunting ( poor dead Cecil ) and the culture of narcissism

anger at " Ugly American " lion killer

   Definitely another classic " Ugly American " story. Dentist Walter Palmer has a despicable hobby by the standards of our new age of biosphere appreciation. But it is also scary how quickly the mass media can stir up lynch mob hatred against a clueless fan of the once " noble " sport of big game hunting. Our oldest literary hero- Beowulf -is killed while trying to save his kingdom from a ferocious beast ( 8th century Old English poem ) .He is given a great king's funeral.
Famous American writer Ernest Hemingway still " dreamed of the lions " to his bitter end-hunting not saving them.
Just days ago there was a credible story that Planned Parenthood was marketing the body parts of aborted infants.I found this story just as offensive as the stupid killing of Cecil the Lion.
The root of evil here is the MAKE A BUCK passion of heartless, brainless capitalism.AND its culture of narcissism.

74 year old woman with bone cancer to lose EBT benefit ?

more Republican war on the poor here

       A friend and neighbor named Dorene living at Randall Manor here in Knightsville, Cranston fears she is about to lose EBT help ( $40.00 per month for food ). She is 74 years old and recently diagnosed with spreading bone cancer. She is on morphine and all but ordered not to drive by her doctor. There has been no change in her monthly income from Social Security.But she failed to contact the EBT office for routine reapplication of benefits. That $40.00 benefit certainly does help. She tried to call the office twice -and left a message-but no indication that it registered in the minds of these dense bureaucrats.

            Are they part of Governor Gina Raimondo's new  CUT SPENDING team ? Does bankrupt Greece show elderly Rhode Islanders the gentler kinder future ?

            How many elderly people like Dorene are  helpless victims of stupid and insensitive state bureaucrats ?

 

                           

             

Tom Brady scandal : " Nothing gold stays "

I noticed an old, rather deflated football for sale at a very quaint antique store in Greenville, Rhode Island. I joked with my brother's family about the Tom Brady scandal.There were also old Life Magazines on display. The super stars of the day all faded collective Americana memories. " Nothing gold stays ", says the Robert Frost poem.
        But Tom Brady must have won any number of Super Bowl football championships - without the help of slightly deflated footballs. A consolation for his fans when he too fades into a dusty magazine memory.

          " I love a good antique mall. You can browse from booth to booth and enjoy a variety to different curiosities in this store. There's a little bit of everything here at Stillwater. There are lots of vendors/booths with pricing ranging from low to high. Two thumbs up."

 

 

Give THEM hell, Bernie Sanders ( Newport rally Wednesday )

lying biographies of Leon Trotsky                                                                                                 

True, ONLY a grassroots movement can take the country back from the ruling class. Young people must recover the pristine vision and idealism of the early 60s generation.
I see Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont as a catalyst -not a dogmatic socialist savior.
Oddly enough, the very idea of socialism has been kept alive by its most fanatical and smug opponents. The Red Eye Radio team rants against creeping socialism obsessively in the twilight hours of the morning.
Why all this attention to " socialism " if it were so blatantly silly ?
What is THEIR theory of history ? Does history culminate in Ayn Rand and free market utopia -forever ?
The Hillary Clinton Democrats made their peace with rotten capitalism long ago . They too cannot inspire the youth-who have been cheated by the New Millennium : endless war and economic stagnation and environmental destruction. Raise a family in this hell ?
Give THEM hell, Bernie !
                                           PROVIDENCE JOURNAL HEADLINE ( July 27, 2015 _

Sanders supporters to gather Wednesday in Newport

 

Zionist Israel not something to start World War III over

I hope both Rhode Island Senators Reed and Whitehouse support Obama's treaty with over-demonized Iran. It does for world peace what " Obamacare " does for national healthcare- not much but a step in the right direction.
I just read Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's nonsense this morning : The Obama treaty opens the " oven door " for Israeli Jews.
The " oven door " was opened wide when Israel decided-in contempt of world public opinion-to build its own nuclear arsenal.
Ironically this same Huckabee insists that we are a " Christian country ". But the vast majority of working class Christians do not think the security of Zionist apartheid Israel is something to start World War III over.
    

RI radio talk show host Gene Valicenti eats words on Donald Trump's SELF-DESTRUCT RHETORIC

Trump continues to climb in the polls

    Any democratic Socialist sensitive to popular moods would not be surprised that Donald Trump's public show of contempt for the legend of " war hero " John McCain did not hurt much Trump's presidential ambitions.
Ordinary voters on the left and on the right are indeed hungry for honest talk -not Wilsonian blather or politically correct drivel.
A Rhode Island radio talk show host, Gene Valicenti, said last week that he could hear the air going out of Trump's political balloon. This morning he was eating those words.
Trump is the most " progressive " force in American politics presently: he will destroy the Republican Party- and its cold cold Ayn Rand heart.
How wonderful that " socialist " Bernie Sanders is surging and attracting enthusiastic crowds. Come September Sanders will be all the rage on college and university campuses .

Soon every day will be a " Pepper Spray Day "

    In general America's professional police and private security forces are losing a public relations war with the black community. Contempt for humanity is not a virtue even in police work. Socialists have always observed how the police in capitalist society protect the rich and oppress the poor. They are also invariably hostile to organized labor. I recall striking Brown & Sharpe workers being tear gassed in Rhode Island years ago.I recall the " Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago " during the tumultuous Democratic National Convention of 1968. " Shoot to kill " orders from an American mayor  furious over mass protests against racism.
         Soon every day will be a " pepper spray " day for the aroused public.It is just the capitalist Way of Life protecting itself from the likes of YOU  working class people.
     God bless America !
         

Nation's Longest Strike Enters Its Fifth Year . - Google News

... nobody would have imagined that strikers would be gassed in Rhode Island ... resurrected charges that Brown Sharpe illegally sought to provoke the strike.

     

Striking workers gassed elsewhere in Amerika

Collapse of " Communist " China's stock market

Chinese stock market dives

   What would Chairman Mao- modern China's George Washington- a COMMUNIST- have to say about the collapse of the Chinese stock market ? He would smile impishly and say that the capitalist minded traitors who lead China today should have that " Little Red Book " thrown at them.Chairman Mao with the Mandate of Heaven would tell the Chinese billions : " Go back to Revolution, END this capitalist lunacy ! "Excellent advice for Czar Putin's Russia too !

Huckabee says President Obama 's Iran treaty " door to the oven " for Jews

Iran treaty " door to the oven " ?

•      This  Republican presidential candidate  Mike Huckabee also thinks that this is a " Christian nation " : "I hope we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ ." A Christian nation would not be over-solicitous for the security of an Israel that already possesses a nuclear arsenal. It is their own nuclear arsenal -not the non-existent one of Iran- that " opens the oven door ".
  Stop demonizing Iran and Obama's pragmatic " deal " all you Ayn Rand Republican hypocrites.Yes, Ayn Rand has a stronger voice in the party than Jesus ever did.
     
    "  In a world of uncertainty, evil, and moral insanity, Israel is a shining light of moral clarity. The enemies of Israel are the enemies of America.
  Sadly, this Administration spends more time berating Israel for building houses in the lands given to Abraham than telling the Iranians to stop building bombs pointed at us "(  Mike Huckabee )
  
  
  

  

All those copper cables in the ground-buried treasure for enterprising thieves

How do they know an explosive device did not wash out to sea in the tide?
What would their explanation have been if they had not found a cable in the area?

                                        Scientific spectrum-spectrograph evidence is a very powerful tool. So I guess an explosive device can really be ruled out. But think of all those corroding copper cables buried underground? Things made of copper in, on or about buildings are constantly being stolen or ripped off. They are treasure for enterprising thieves.
The state here is neglecting buried treasure ! Someone should invent a metal detector for copper. My walks on the beach might be more profitable-even for an old socialist. Send the money to the Bernie Sanders campaign. 

                                              *****

About | Copper Matters

coppermatters.org/about/





  "   Our modern lives require an enormous amount of copper. ... Far too few Americans realize the pivotal role copper plays in the future of our economy. ... Copper's high resale value means that every care is taken to avoid wasting copper and it is ... "

A natural explanation for strange explosion at Salty Brine Beach ?

  

  I  thought there was a natural explanation for the strange explosion at Salty Brine beach . Hydrogen released by a corroding underground copper cable reacting with salt water sounds quite plausible. But after watching a hydrogen gas experiment on You Tube ( see " The Periodic Table of Videos " , hydrogen ) I question that " a hydrogen explosion would generate no flames or heat ". Recall the famous German Zeppelin Hindenburg disaster in 1939 ? Also we have seen a few hydrogen bomb experiments. Can hydrogen " explode " less dramatically -without oxygen ?
Just a footnote to Salty Brine Beach. They just had the colorful " Blessing of the Fleet " there. Why did they change the name of Galilee Beach- a beautiful Biblical name - to honor a radio celebrity- the man of a million commercials and " No school in Foster-Glouster " ? They could have named the Rhode Island Mall after the Old Salt.

• A plausible explanation for Salty Brine Beach explosion ?

         

America is a very sick society

another movie theater massacre

   I  live in Rhode Island, USA. These mass murder-suicide stories are being reported almost weekly now. The ready availability of guns and widespread mental illness can be easily explained by the decaying capitalist social system.
I am a democratic Socialist yet I had no problem reading John Houser's right wing rants with some sympathy. He is evidently a ruined middle class businessman. Even a severely mentally ill person like Houser can still see social rot clearly - even if he or she is dangerously wrongheaded about the " solution ".
Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats here represent the ruined middle class or the always oppressed and exploited working class-or the truly hopeless poor people.
Clearly, decaying capitalism breeds mental illness and thousands of crackups. But there are no longer any long term mental hospitals here-except for the very rich. Instead we have PRISON-the disgraceful over crowded American Gulag.
America is a very sick society !
  

Hillary Clinton pretends socialists-like Bernie Sanders - ignore racism

Hillary thinks race matters more than class    Hillary Clinton insincerely suggests that socialists are slighting the race issue in America in preference for class issues.But racism and capitalist economic inequality are inseparable . There are very many poor working class whites. Very many poor white kids invisible to the news media.
      In general poor people are treated with contempt by the legal system.
      Socialists were fighters against blatant racism in this society 100 years ago.
      Not for nothing many Afro-Americans -long before the collapse of the Soviet Union- were loyal to socialist and communists parties. Read " Black Boy " by Richard Wright.

What kind of " democracy " is preserved by a low voter turnout ?

Ralph Nader reflects on a Donald Trump third party

   I  am tired of reading how Ralph Nader's ego spoiled election night for Al Gore. The undemocratic Electoral College was a big factor in the disastrous victory of George W. Bush.
     Nader-like many obscure socialist parties - has said for years that Corporate America controls both the Democratic and Republican parties.
       I  am registered Democrat . The insane hatred of conservative Republicans for Bill Clinton motivated me to vote for him twice. But Clinton is a neo-Democrat not even an FDR liberal. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is really an FDR liberal-not a militant " socialist ".
       It seems that ONLY hard core socialists preserve their ideological integrity. But I have no problem with " pragmatism " on the left-as long as it does not weaken class consciousness.
        Cynics now hope that critical support for Bernie Sanders can be channeled into political support for Hillary Clinton on election 2016. But what a soporific choice : Hillary vs.Jeb Bush !
            I think the most progressive thing Donald Trump can do is destroy the Republican Party.
    A bunch of privileged rich people imagine that THEY represent America.What kind of " democracy " is preserved by a low voter turnout ?
   

Welcome to Rhode Island from Itri, Italy , Danilo Saccoccio

           

I think the Italian immigrant from Itri , Danilo Saccoccio, and ACLU have a reasonable case. Itri is a famous Italian place name here in Knightsville Cranston. Immigrants from Itri, Italy are honored on a sidewalk inscription near a number of fine Italian restaurants on Cranston St.
With the resources of excellent colleges and universities in Rhode Island there should be no serious language translation problem for ANY non-English speaking person here.
Italo-Americans should be more conscientious about learning the language of their ancestors. Ethnic self-appreciation is not the same as annoying ethno-centrism.
Just don't forget the old recipies -like that delicious Stuffed Pizza.
    ACLU files federal complaint against R.I. DMV for Italian national seeking a driver's license

 

America is cracking up !

 

   

   The deranged killer Houser ” was nuts so who cares “. Our mental health system stinks. Very few mental health professionals have the backbone to decry that miserable failure called ” de-institutionalization.
Still there is also a political lesson here. In the ruined Germany of the 1920s it was the ruined middle class that was more inclined to Hitler’s Nazism than any other group.
America today is cracking up in more ways than one. American capitalism is as insane as these mass killer-suicides we read about every week now.
I recommend we listen to ” socialist ” Bernie Sanders before other voices -on the far right-grow even louder and more hysterical.
                               

Only kind, cheerful optimists should be given gun permits

another mass shooting in Lafayette,Louisiana movie theater

What can be learned from all these mass killer+suicide stories in the American news media ? How wicked it is to kill many people but then shoot yourself before the state can properly judge and execute you ?
    Our NOT  Sane Society creates too many hopeless, alienated souls whose sad lives climax in a nihilistic explosion.
           I guess every guy who wants a dangerous weapon should be made to take a personality test: only kind , cheerful optimists will be given gun permits.

3 dead, 9 injured in Louisiana movie theater mass shooting - NY ...

New earth like planet scene of H.P. Lovecraft's COSMIC HORROR ?

new earth like planet discovered

  "   Are we alone ? " The very meaning of human life on the planet earth is tied up with this question. If you believe in a somewhat traditional God, then you must not suppose that HE is obsessed with HUMAN life here-and then mostly with our rather disordered sex life.
I recall Carl Sagan's passion for this question in " Contact " and his humane compassion for people of faith. In his TV series " Cosmos " he tells the viewers that " we are made of star stuff ".
So if we have any meaningful future as a species it must be OUT THERE.
The truth might ultimately confirm religious hope. Or it might confirm the H.P. Lovecraft nightmare vision of " cosmic horror " and hateful OLD ONES. Lovecraft thought that knowledge itself will some day undermine the sanity of the human race.
That earth like planet is 1400 light years away. The recent exciting Pluto probe took ten years. If we could send a spaceship there going at the speed of light, we would get no ANSWER until has passed 1000+400 years.
A famous English poet writing about human vanity said that all we really need in THIS life is faith, hope, and love.Mostly HOPE !

    

  " This older, bigger cousin to Earth is called Kepler-452b. "

Soon the ONE PERCENT will claim to be hate crime victims

church killer accused of hate crime

    Hate is an ugly reality in this ugly capitalist society. But the concept of " hate crime " should seem a little daffy to any socialist. How many murderers kill and torture their victims with no hate in their hearts ? Has any serial killer been accused of a hate crime ?
A society that makes life a competitive rat race breeds sociopaths and maniacal narcissists. We will extirpate hatred by locking up all the " haters " out there ?
Many killers are nice people in military uniform. They kill to the sound of trumpets with no hatred in their hearts.But back from combat they have nervous breakdowns for some reason.
Anybody who speaks the truth is in danger of being branded a dangerous " hater " too. Even if he or she is an old pacifist.
Think about this " hate crime " , folks. Soon the ONE PERCENT will claim to be victims of " hate crime " too .

Gina Raimondo revives the " Children's Cabinet "

" Children's Cabinet " reconvenes  Can  any intelligent reader of this short NPR " news " bit fail to see the silly phoniness of it ? This " Children's Cabinet " has not met in a decade. Has the original staff been living on unemployment security or " savings ". Could this " Children's Cabinet " be THEIR way out of poverty ? Does that establishment persona Elizabeth Roberts need some chump change ? But she has only to come up with a FIVE YEAR PLAN. Meanwhile " child welfare matters ".
Do you need an advanced degree in sociology to see that children are poor because their parents are poor ? Any Bernie Sanders fans in this " Children's Cabinet ". ?
Why not just restore " Romper Room " on local TV ? That will at least entertain the kids during the Five Year Plan.
Of course, " child welfare matters " in the same way that " black lives matter ". Perhaps Hillary Clinton has a plan to end child poverty, racism, sexism, and middle class free fall - while also " saving capitalism ".
But she might be wise to make Elizabeth Roberts a member of her own " Kitchen Cabinet " . And Senator Thomas Izzo can bake and serve the cookies.

Roberts: Rhode Island's Medicaid spending isn't sustainable ...

A Nobel Prize in economics for Karl Marx ?

more support for minimum wage

•    Is there any " scientific " way to determine the right minimum wage under modern capitalism ? In fact, old Karl Marx answered this question-also explaining the source of capitalist profit- in his Das Kapital. Here the capitalists are condemned as an exploiting class living high on the surplus value created in the work place by skilled and unskilled and " intellectual " labor.
  

  Why not a Nobel Prize for an economist who was not an apologist for this irrational and still doomed economic system ?
  Where was Karl Marx mistaken ? Perhaps the Cato Institute can explain.
  

  

Voice of Science, Neil Degrasse Tyson, showed lack of RESPECT for Pluto

         

Yes, a great deal of time and attention have been spent on Pluto's being unfairly downgraded by the International Astronomical Union to a dwarf planet in 2006. "
Here your own " science " is much closer to the truth. Pluto - the god of the underworld - has a lot in common with little Rhode Island. If Rhode Island is still a state ,then Pluto can still be considered a planet.
That clown VOICE OF SCIENCE , Neil Degrasse Tyson , showed a lack of RESPECT here . He dishonored a family member. He should be sentenced to " life " on Pluto .
Isaac Asimov had no problem with Pluto being called a planet. He wrote a book about it and its moon Charon : " The Double PLANET ".
By the way , it is the essence of the more foolish forms of political correctness to think that by changing names you can change REALITY.
                                                                      

Insane nationalism-border craziness- can still cause World War III

capitalism is breaking down   As a democratic Socialist I think WE THE PEOPLE have more urgent need for " protection " against everyday capitalist insanity than against this imaginary invasion of " illegal immigrants ". Republican Donald Trump-and I don't want this interesting character silenced or punished for bluntness- is making political capital on real fear of " illegals ".
But it is far easier for the world's various " socialists " - including our Bernie Sanders- to identify with THEM than with billionaire demagogues like Donald Trump.
Karl Marx thought that the workers of the world " have no country ". But this is even truer of the plutocrats .
In the socialist future national boundaries will be like a biological membrane. There will be an equilibrium between humans entering and leaving a country, not chaos and fear at the borders.
Insane nationalism can still cause World War III.
            
   

You might benefit from reading articles at www.watchingamerica.com

        

In whose interest is this demonizing of Iran ? There are now regular TV ads antagonistic to Obama's treaty-which like Obamacare is better than nothing.
Readers of the Providence Journal might benefit from seeing America through the eyes of the people of other nations: watchingamerica.com
Hardly any editorial here mentions Israel's rather formidable nuclear arsenal. It would make a lot more sense to pressure Israel to dismantle its nuclear weapons arsenal THEN insist that Iran not go nuclear.
For millions of Palestinians Zionist Israel is the devil.

 

We have more to fear from unregulated billionaires than from " illegals "

 

  Ordinary Americans have more to fear from unregulated billionaires like Donald Trump than from any illegal immigrant" invasion " of the United States.
Only a " socialist " America will check the power of these wealthy boss bullies. Today national borders are mined with explosive, inhuman hatred. Karl Marx thought that the workers of the world have no country. This is even truer of the plutocrats .They have no loyalty to America or American workers. They will go wherever labor is cheap. And employ cheap labor in their " homeland " or even their luxurious homes.
The Trump circus is just a ruling class distraction. It will -for now- distract you from Bernie Sanders' criticism of capitalism. " Divide and Conquer ! " That is the only way to preserve class rule in America. The majority of voters here don't have much private property or wealth to worry about.
  

 

Sanders and Trump are symbols of new CLASS forces

Sanders helps Hillary ?

Both Democratic and Republican party hacks are disconnected with the gut feeling out there. They think that a Bernie Sanders on the left and a Donald Trump on the right are just clever bait for two party Corporate America politics as usual.
    Both Sanders and Trump are not born leaders but human symbols of new CLASS forces.
      Even right wing Talk Radio thinks Donald Trump has self-destructed by insulting " war hero " McCain. But both left and right leaning voters are sick of Wilsonian blather. The very long declared War on Terrorism is beginning to seem as absurd and self-defeating as the war on drugs.
     Both Trump and Sanders will be strong voices in Election 2016.

The Catholic " conscience " of Gina Raimondo

Catholic Gina Raimondo -an enemy of the RIGHT TO LIFE ??

Affordable health care is a national crisis-not just a Rhode Island problem. Just read between the lines. Does " wise spending " and " limits " on the health care budget contradict the basic principle of universal health care-voiced very eloquently by the late Senator Ted Kennedy : health care is a basic human right ?
So if health care conflicts with the MAKE A BUCK principle of American and global capitalism , it is capitalism that must go or be reformed out of existence.
It is very clear to any democratic Socialist that a real solution to the homeless problem conflicts with PRIVATE PROPERTY rights.
Governor Gina Raimondo is " Catholic " but she is clearly deaf to the anti-capitalist views of Pope Francis. There ought to be a conflict in the soul of ANY Catholic politician between loyalty to capitalist market place values and whatever humanity AMBITION has not destroyed.
Who thinks that millions of working class and poor people will live and die in avoidable misery--un-protesting, with a benevolent attitude toward their capitalist master, the ONE PERCENT plutocracy ?
What we see in America today was observed in Paris in 1789. Dickens' " A Tale of Two Cities : " It was the best of times; it was the worst of times ".
For ordinary people in Rhode Island and in the United States it is the worst of times.

From Ayn Rand to Bernie Sanders

As a lifelong democratic Socialist (sadly " independent" ) I am inspired by this convert from " The Virtue of Selfishness " to the virtue of St. Francis.  St. Francis inspired modern Catholic social philosophy presently preached by Pope Francis. At bottom Socialism is not state worship but respect for our common humanity .
     My generation thought there was virtue in mere YOUTH  : " Don't trust anybody over 30 ". But if middle age " failure " or old age vulnerability cannot cure " The Virtue of Selfishness " , nothing will  ( perhaps hollow " success " ?  )
        Bernie Sanders is running against " The Culture of Narcissism ".
     I will reference the above excellent article and author in my own blog.

Former Ayn Rand fan turns " socialist "

                                    You can follow Edwin Lyngar on twitter @Edwin_Lyngar
              

My heroes are heroes of the CLASS WAR

  As a democratic Socialist " interested " in Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont I can take no sides in a controversy within the Republican Party . I do not hesitate to recognize Senator John McCain  as a courageous warrior. But I opposed the war in Vietnam  so many year ago. I was influenced by leftist professor Howard Zinn.So I still see prisoner of war McCain as more victim than hero of that LOST war.
    Any socialist intent on abolishing foolish wars will not fawn on " war heroes " or say a hypocritical THANK YOU to every veteran he meets.
       But local Talk Radio is too quick to bury the presidential hopes of Donald Trump. The American voter is getting sick of Wilsonian blather.
         FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY for whom ? Sacrifice for whom -the ONE PERCENT ?
    My heroes are heroes of the CLASS WAR-like Eugene V. Debs.  Unlike Bernie Sanders Debs was never drunk enough to join the Democratic Party.  But I suspect his more " respectable " wife would have approved .

Jeb Bush for president ? Yawn, yawn, yawn !

    Jeb Bush has exciting ideas to make America a better place for the people Senator Bernie Sanders-- " socialist "-- at least seems to be concerned about: the poor, the working and lower middle class ? Jeb says he is a Catholic, but where is the spirit of Pope Francis and vibrant Catholic social philosophy in his presidential campaign ? All that budget cutting will only please the ONE PERCENT .
What is true for Greece is also true for America. The ruling class makes no demands for austerity on itself, discipline for itself.
ALL the Republicans begin to sound like the voice of their true goddess: Ayn Rand- the militant atheist famous for her " Virtue of Selfishness ".
Jeb Bush for president ? Yawn, yawn , yawn .
Calling Ralph Nader ! Calling a leftist Third Party !
                                                                                    

Funny  - " Catholic " Jeb still makes New Atheists nervous

(Ima

We call the new era " The Big Thirst "

     Drought in California  A slavish devotion to your front or back lawn ; in general, the slavery to home ownership in Middle America is all part of the silly wasteland called the American Way of Life.
  I love it when I walk past eerie, vacated,dilapidated homes with yards overgrown with uncut grass and weeds and other wild growing things.
   All the greater the " high " when I see rusty broken down junk cars in the driveway.
   And I read both PRIVATE PROPERTY -KEEP OUT and CONDEMNED BUILDING.
   Then a glimpse of a ragged, wretched homeless squatter.
   The American Way of Life in ruins . It was all too foolish to last.
    Now the wilderness reclaims the death culture.The 60s hippies were right.
   A quote recalled from " The Young Radicals "  :  " No matter how well trimmed you keep your front lawn your slavery will not be reduced.
     Gone with the Wind- America the beautiful.
  We call the new era " The Big Thirst . On LSD you could at least hallucinate W-A-T-E-R.  But God where are YOU ?
                          

A picture of the future ?