The world does not need American " democracy " !

The unjustified U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan -not only the greatest foreign policy blunder in U.S. history- but war crimes in the eyes of the court of world opinion, the United  Nations-completely destabilized the Middle East without bringing a whiff of " freedom " and " democracy " to any people there. And what is so great about the American democracy- visible in Washington, D.C.- that we ordinary Americans should be so evangelical about it ?
        Russian imperialist interests are not less compelling than Washington's . When it is all over Vladimir Putin might prove as worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize as our very own Henry Kissinger.
       But " socialist " candidate for president of the United States , Bernie Sanders,should remind the voters of the words of Eugene V. Debs :  " The only just war is CLASS WAR ! "
           Clearly the U.S. government has no moral authority ( Abu Ghraib , Guantanamo ,etc. ) to LEAD a war against terrorism anywhere on the planet. And let us good citizens quarantine AMERICAN DEMOCRACY .  The world does not need it !
      NO SUPPORT FOR IMPERIALIST WARS .

Note to WPRO's John DePetro : a democratic Socialist on " white privilege "

  Liberals  who raise the issue of " white privilege " are invariably hustling support for Hillary Clinton. They ignore the CLASS issue raised by " socialist " Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
        The American ruling class plays a divide and conquer game here.Does being white guarantee you  a good job and economic security and adequate medical care ? The race issue should be subordinate to economic justice for all working class Americans.

                            

           

The Catholic Church no longer wields the Sword of Constantine- a good thing

The Catholic Pope is right in seeing that religious EXPRESSION is under attack in this " land of the free and home of the brave ". However, nothing is more sickening for this democratic Socialist than hearing right wing Republicans- many of them waving Ayn Rand banners- associating themselves with the RIGHT TO LIFE .
What does this Republican Congress really represent to working class Americans ?
But separation of church and state is a reminder that the Church no longer wields the Sword of Constantine.All the better for the truly UNWORLDLY Catholics.
I myself have no objection to state " gay marriage ". But a little cynicism is called for here. It will be big business for divorce lawyers !
Another observation : state jobs are too narrowly defined. A state employee should be free for different or more stimulating routines. ANY job routine rots the brain. Ask an old beatnik.

BEAT writer Jack Kerouac was an OFF- BEAT CATHOLIC

MY EXECUTION COMMENT REMOVED FROM ABC.COM

Discussion on ABC News 1369 comments

Pope Francis Asks Clemency Board to Halt Execution of Woman

Ron Ruggieri 9 hours ago REMOVED

The RIGHT TO LIFE has a curiously limited meaning to the American ruling class. They can easily brush off the Holy Father's appeal for a woman on death row. They themselves are mentally closer to the New Atheism-and Holy Mother Ayn Rand. Well educated in the finest schools, they probably pondered Dostoevsky's words : " If God does not exist , then everything is permitted. " . That is just fine...... !
       AS POPE FRANCIS SAID : WE are the land of the free and the home of the brave .

American ruling class ignores Pope - UPDATE : executes Gissendaner

In vain Pope intervenes for soon to be excuted  woman   The RIGHT TO LIFE has a curiously limited meaning to the American ruling class. They can easily brush off the Holy Father's appeal for a woman on death row. They themselves are mentally closer to the New Atheism-and Holy Mother Ayn Rand. Well educated in the finest schools, they probably pondered Dostoevsky's words : " If God does not exist , then everything is permitted. " . That is just fine with them. They must permit themselves EVERYTHING-including the slaughter of thousands in imperialist wars, ruining the working class with Free Market contempt, destroying the Good Earth with industrial pollution.
These sordid little state executions just tell the common people WHO is running the show- NOT a sappy LIBERAL pope !
GOODNESS and KINDNESS and MERCY are just not on the agenda of the pagan American ruling class. Get ready for World War III.
                                                          

Gissendaner denied clemency; execution appeals continue

CNN‎ - 38 mins ago

The last woman in Georgia was executed by electric chair in 1945. Officials had previously ...

Parole Board Decides to Execute Georgia Woman Despite Plea From Pope Francis

Christian evangelicals to vote Republican ?

  I  find it odd that these Christian evangelicals should lean toward a dominant Republican Party permeated with Ayn Rand's " Virtue of Selfishness " .Ayn Rand was a militant atheist and would have laughed at Jesus saying his Sermon on the Mount .
How Catholics can associate these war loving, death penalty loving, poor people hating , Obama Care despising, conservative Republicans with their RIGHT TO LIFE agenda is a wonder of human nature- and brainless hypocrisy.
                                                        ****

OregonLive.com

Karl Marx is 'back in fashion' in US and Europe, sparking spirited debate OregonLive.com  - ‎19 hours ago‎ Karl Marx, writing in the 1800s, cast a jaundiced eye on industrialization, which destroyed old ways of doing things, eliminating the livelihoods of artisans and directing workers to factory floors. Interested in Karl Marx?   YES, YES, YES !

Bernie Sanders , YOU ARE NO EUGENE V. DEBS !

   As a democratic Socialist I give critical support to that " socialist " Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. But the pro-capitalist structure of the Democratic Party will quickly make it a hostile environment for any uncompromising socialist.  Sanders has been compared to Eugene V. Debs . But this is astonishing intellectual dishonesty. Read Deb's famous Canton Speech opposing America's entry into the Great War - " the war to make the world safe for democracy ".  Where does Debs show  the slightest favoritism toward the Democratic Party ?
      If Bernie is even a half-serious socialist , he will start a third party movement. It could resemble-in some respects - Jeremy Corbyn's Labor Party in the United Kingdom.
      Just what are the sacred rights of exploiting, parasite capitalists ? They have a DIVINE right to own the world ? Oddly enough, most of the American plutocracy is New Atheist. They worship Ayn Rand, who wrote their cult book " The Virtue of Selfishness ".
    Under Socialism selfishness will have no rights whatsoever.

  

Iraqi woman Zuhal Sultan keeping the SOUND OF MUSIC alive in Iraq

 

  I  commend this young Iraqi woman, Zuhal Sultan, for keeping the SOUND OF MUSIC alive in her war wrecked country. Would a live assembly of the National Orchestra of Iraq on tour in the United States applaud the honorable presence of that Abraham Lincoln of Iraq-American president George W. Bush ? We know today - WE with any sense know the U.S. occupation of Iraq was not only the greatest foreign policy blunder in U.S. history. It destroyed their ancient culture. We learned in high school Ancient History that Iraq was " the cradle of civilization ". BLOOD DANCE is moving. Why not compose an orchestral piece in honor of the Abu Ghraib prison ? It might sound like a Beethoven Pastoral - or H.P. Lovecraft's THE MUSIC OF ERICH ZANN -too eerie for this world.
How touching that America should now welcome the terrified refugees it created ? We are all heart in America -just sentimental slobs.
There must be classical music inspired by the Holocaust applicable to this " unprecedented migration crisis ".It will take you to a place you can go to that is not where you are..... LIKE A CAVE !
      We also need to be human

Zuhal Sultan : WE NEED TO BE HUMAN

ALL working class people are kept in their place by the TWO PARTY SYSTEM

Labor minister says Marx back in fashionThe main obstacle that keeps ALL working class people in their place is called the TWO PARTY SYSTEM. As Ralph Nader and various socialist parties have pointed out for years now, BOTH the Democratic and Republican parties are controlled by our corporate ruling class.
The America ruling class conditions working people to think that capitalism is the only viable social system. But human society is an organic structure that has evolved in the past and will continue to evolve in the future. Naturally, the ruling class thinks that a world in which THEY are on top is the best of all possible worlds.
But Karl Marx was right : History dooms these exploiters and parasites. We don't need them ! Certainly not " people of color ". Ask Malcolm X : " Show me a capitalist and I will show you a blood sucker ", Malcolm said way back in 1965 .

   

Note to WPRO's Gene Valicenti on the Rudyard Kipling poem " If "

  Gene ,you just corrected the authorship  of the poem. Rudyard Kipling ends it :

   "  If  you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Source: A Choice of Kipling's Verse (1943)   "
     My father, who retired from WEAN in 1986 ( radio name DON ROGERS ) recited this poem over the air circa 1965.
     " You will be a Man, my son " : Pop was talking to ME . I thought .   It was hard to rebel against Mr. Pizza and Puccini .
       Frank Coletta paid his respects at Pop's wake in 1999 at Nardolilo   Funeral Home in Cranston.  He worked with Ed Pearson. A midnight " Phantom of the Opera- Don Rogers . We inherited the WEAN record collection.

Kevin McCarthy -next Republican at the helm ?

NPR on Kevin McCarthy    As a California politician Kevin McCarthy is a throwback to one Richard M. Nixon- who also represented-and quite nasty about it-REPUBLICAN PRINCIPLES. A winning lottery ticket gave him sufficient Kapital to start a small business. Naturally he began to think like a " petty bourgeois " - upset about Big Government stealing his hard earned profits. He may be a good LISTENER -but to whom does he listen with any respect ? Naturally the American ruling class. No Democratic or Republican politician was ever punished for conforming to the ruling ideas-which as Marx said are " the ideas of the ruling class ".
The name Kevin McCarthy recalls the actor- Kevin McCarthy- fleeing from the pod people in " The Invasion of the Body Snatchers ".
It was no accident that it was filmed during the Cold War hysteria- in which Senator Richard M. Nixon flourished and won his own political sweepstakes in sunny California. In 1968 he too promised to bring us all together, a keen listener of the Great Silent Majority- and his few ruling class campaign donors.

Cold war hysteria inspired this Nixon Era film 

1950s cult classic " Must You Conform " by Dr. Robert Lindner

Review of " Must You Conform "  As one of those 60s young radicals I was influenced by Dr. Lindner's book " Must You Conform ". By 1970 my own experience in life had taught me quite enough about this " 11th Commandment ". A pleasant surprise: The cult movie " Rebel Without A Cause " -its concept - was based on Dr. Lindner's book of that title. I associate " Jimmy " with a young friend of mine- RFM- who in 1970 was wearing a bright red " James Dean jacket ". Soon RFM would become a rebel with a cause: protesting the Vietnam War and the social injustice of American capitalism .
A while back I located the original " Rebel Without A Cause " ( Dr .Lindner's study of a disturbed adolescent ) on the shelves at the Rhode Island College Library- a tattered old academic book -but still interesting and relevant. Sad to see colleges dump such books in their irreverent BOOK SALES. Nothing like browsing library book shelves for serendipitous discoveries.

" Speak to me ! " cries James Dean to his clueless father in " Rebel "

" He's a Rebel " ( by The Crystals ) and James Dean's influence on a young friend

" He's A Rebel " by the Crystals  I  associate that famous 1970 poster of young James Dean with newly met friend of mine-17 year old RFM. My young friend ( I was an older guy of 22 ) was quite THE REBEL himself and wore a bright red jacket very similar to the one his dead and now legendary idol wore in " Rebel  Without A Cause ". We viewed together all three of the James Dean cult films on the East Side of Providence. I remember being moved by the theme music of " East of Eden ". And by Dean's " just struck oil " scene in " Giant ". And by Dean's compassion for the disturbed  misfit " loser " Plato in " Rebel Without A Cause ".
        The late 60s and early 70s were meant for young rebels WITH A CAUSE. RFM and I protested the Vietnam War together. This blue eyed, skinny, long black hair REBEL was soon against the " whole damned suffocating system " by 1969. He dropped out of Hope High School(though highly literate with a phenomenal, stage actor's memory ) having mocked the school principal ( Max Flaxman )  in a well circulated leaflet. One night at our house he lectured me-with the help of a little whiskey and water - on the history of American Trotskyism Then he was drawn to Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman and their anarchic YIPPIES ( " Youth International Party " ) Later he agreed  - along with me -to serve as a presidential elector of  the American Communist Party - just for the hell of it. In truth, he knew that these people( ( like one middle aged friend John Hovan ) had been persecuted by McCarthyism -and he hated bullying or ideology - " a brain disease ".
      He would have been honored to have been handed a subpoena back then by the HOUSE UN-AMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE. We talked about  " subpoena envy ".
           By chance I discovered a link between  " Rebel  Without A Cause "  and  those young 60s radicals -with a cause. The James Dean movie had been based on a book by American psychiatrist Robert Lindner. He had written a book that had influenced me before I met RFM : " Must You Conform ? " Lindner explained the 11th Commandment of American capitalist society : THOU SHALT CONFORM .
        A biography of James Dean claims he was bi-sexual. RM was very attracted to " Jimmy ". And in his late twenties admitted to being gay himself.  I have not seen him in many years . I am sure I could still see the " devil " in those now 63 year old  blue eyes.
           Am I still a rebel - with a cause ?  Check out my blog  [http://radicalrons.blogspot.com]
     A favorite 60s pop song by the Crystals : " He's  a Rebel "  ( " and he'll never be any good.... but that's no reason why I can't give him all my love.... " )

I associate this photo of James Dean with a certain friend RFM in Providence circa 1970

" The Carnival is over " , said the new Pope Francis. Not quite !

Congressman steals Pope's holy water

There is a whole den of thieves- the U.S. Congress- that daily violates ALL of God's Ten Commandments. That water in the Pope's glass is NOT holy water unless it had previously been blessed. Blessed or not, it is probably drinking water polluted by very unholy capitalist industry.
The Pope said at the beginning of his papacy : " The carnival is over ! ". Not quite. How can Francis's inevitable " celebrity " not be disgustingly vulgarized in America's " Culture of Narcissism " ? FOR SALE - papal sunglasses-now just 10 dollars discounted.
After the Sacred Carnival our great leaders will all return to the political pig pen. After all, " the business of America is business ".
" Materialism " is rightly defined as the worship of " matter ( THINGS ) in motion. " Who will end up owning the Pope's Holy Fiat ? Blessed is he !
A good man Pope Francis. Could he right now feel a certain longing for the slums of Latin America ? There is something touching about poverty and naive -or ignorant- innocence. Jesus would understand.

Who will own the pope's Holy Fiat ? Blessed is he !

Can you love both capitalism and the Jesus of " The Sermon on the Mount " ?

Pope in Philadelphia extols America's founding ideals

  As  a democratic Socialist with certain Old Catholic sympathies I follow Pope Francis's visit here with keen interest, I always thought " Fanfare for the Common Man " should replace the cacophony of the National Anthem.
I agree from a left-wing perspective-not political correctness- that there is a real threat to freedom of religion in the United States. The sane and sound principle of separation of church and state does not imply blatant hostility between the church and state. The hateful " New Atheism " has inspired this. Oddly enough these New Atheists also seem to encourage Islamophobia and are one with the neo-cons in supporting imperialist wars in the Middle East.They have no quarrel with Zionist, apartheid Israel.
It is amusing to see all these Ayn Rand Republicans slobbering over the Catholic pope.What does Catholic social philosophy have in common with " The Virtue of Selfishness " ? Ask Catholic Jeb Bush.
Can you really love both capitalism and the Jesus of the " Sermon on the Mount ". ?
Pope Francis is NOT a climate change denier. Thank God !

Christian Socialism began with " Sermon on the Mount "

Modern " family " based on sociopathic institution of private property

Marriage a matter of social justice  I  know WHAT a difference a loving family unit can make in any struggling individual's life. But nothing has undermined the " sacred family " more than capitalist economics.To idealize the family structure created by modern capitalism is to prop up a self-centered institution based on an atomized working class and the sociopathic institution of PRIVATE PROPERTY.
This capitalist based family unit kills romantic love.Is it FAIR to innocent and promising children that their fate in life can so easily be estimated by the social status of their parents ? I cannot imagine a more cruel question to school kids : " And what do YOU want to be when you grow up ? "
What kid would say " a loser ". That's what capitalist competition plans for most working class kids.

A Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving

Priest takes " selfie " at Papal Mass - Requiem for Ancient Church ?

Priest takes selfie

I would not be too hard on a priest who must try to " serve God " in a culture of Narcissism. But I am old enough to recall when a Catholic mass had greater dignity : when it was spoken with the " gravitas " of the ancient Latin language. For 2000 years it preserved the mystique of the Mystical Body of Christ. And perhaps the discipline of studying Latin for eight years screened out those with no intellectual or spiritual gift for the priesthood.
       Today I get the " feeling " of the pre Vatican II Church only when listening to a Bach, Beethoven, Mozart Requiem High Mass.
         Coming soon : A Requiem Mass for the Holy Catholic Church ?
  To be sure, the American Catholic Church has been very much " Protestant-ized " , so my deceased father thought. I remember finding rosary beads in his coat pockets. The Golden Age of Catholicism in America was the 1950s and early 1960s. Even the 11 o'clock masses were packed at St . Paul's Church in Cranston, R.I.
    At Sunday dinner we discussed : " The Making of the President 1960 ". And the last " secret of Fatima ". A  taste of Pop's stuffed pizza before the Second Coming of Christ. For me it was impossible to rebel against Pizza & Puccini .
      But the social philosophy of the Catholic Church made it a lot easier for me to become the democratic Socialist I am today.

Indigestion from yet another brew of Narragansett Beer

          

The Narragansett Beer owners already gave this now and then beer drinker indigestion when I beheld that American Gothic face of " I love Providence " horror writer, H.P. Lovecraft, on a can of Narragansett beer. Lovecraft despised all mind numbing alcoholic beverages. And he never sold out to philistine, commercial " success ". He died relatively poor in the Depression year of 1937. His numerous LETTERS show him to be a moderate Socialist-who would vote for Bernie Sanders today.The Depression cured him of early " aristocratic " snobbery.

  

" Brilliant " charlatan Dr. Ben Carson rejects Darwinism - modern biology.

 

  I refuse to recognize as " brilliant " any medical doctor with a big quarrel with Charles Darwin and modern -evolutionary - biology. It is no accident that a rejection of science in one area is connected with a rejection of science in another area: Marxist inspired sociology . And I expect Dr. Carson to be a loud voice of climate change denying drivel.
How do you explain reactionary Dr. Ben Carson ? He listens carefully to his richest patients and then tells them - a profitable-business- what they want to hear. Then THEY tell Dr. Carson he could be president of the United States some day. " And here is a check to prove it, son ".
  
    Dr. Ben Carson food company quack

Abortion and the Republican Right - who are THEY to judge ?

 Ralph Nader has been saying for years ( along with various socialist groups ) that both the Republican and Democratic party are controlled by corporate - ruling class - America. It amazes me how conservative Republicans- and not a few pious souled Catholics among them- can associate themselves -sanctimoniously-with the RIGHT TO LIFE.
We picture them weeping tears and praying nightly over the precious UNBORN . What about health care for all ? What about the state death penalty ? What about the war on the poor ? What about police brutality ( " Black Lives Matter " ) ? What about the criminal imperialist wars in the Middle East ? What about the ecological destruction of the Good Earth ?
There is a lot more to this RIGHT TO LIFE. Even that " Marxist " Pope Francis understands this.
What a CHOICE come November 2016 : Harpy Hillary vs. fascist " The Donald ".
A working class baby born anywhere on earth has the prospect of a HELL OF A LIFE . No wonder abortion remains a dismal option. Who are THEY to judge ?

For the world's poor - the right to a hell of a life

Only a low voter turn out can save the Republican Party

John Boehner's resignation

  Here  is a simple truth ignored by U.S. news media : if you analyze American politics from a CLASS point of view, the Ayn Rand inspired Republican Party has no chance whatever of winning the American presidency -unless there is a very low voter turn out. Imagine if only THE ONE PERCENT voted ?

And HE is praying for the " Marxist "  Pope !

A socialist reflects on phrase " business friendly climate "

" Business friendly " Rhode Island

•    A real eye catching headline would read : BUSINESS IMPROVING CLIMATE ! But just HOW do you" improve " the capitalist business climate in any state of the United States ? Make it easier for THEM to pollute ? Weaken unions or bribe union leaders ? Corrupt elected representatives of THE PEOPLE ? Make working class people more abject, desperate and grovelling ? Get them to become fans of Red Eye Radio-where every minute is devoted to praising and defending the profit system- and nothing else ? Bankers can borrow money for nothing. But workers have those notorious PAY DAY LOANS . Borrow $400:00 today. Pay $1000.00 by Christmas !
  No Voice of Business will ever suggest making BUSINESS less oppressive and exploiting and ruinous to the mental and physical health of the workers . What would Ayn Rand think ? Just a hint of what a democratic Socialist sees in the phrase " business friendly ".
  

  

  A worker friendly environment here too ?

Jeb Bush's Catholic " conscience " ?

" Catholic " Jeb Bush smirks at climate change anxiety

   What any veteran socialist knows is that CLASS interests will subvert ANY respected tenet of religious faith-and Catholicism is no exception. Conservative Republicans who slobber over the Holy Father today will quickly return to Ayn Rand Thought tomorrow.
The Democrats who gush at pious Pope Francis today will not hesitate to support a ground war slaughter in Iraq tomorrow.
What Sigmund Freud said about the individual and the ID -which can over-rule the Super Ego- is true for the murderous " ID " of the STATE.
How else can you explain the rise of Fascism in capitalist societies ?
Freud was more pessimistic than Marx. Read his " Civilization and its Discontents ".
I am an optimistic democratic Socialist . Bernie Sanders for president ?
And how many " bad air " days can I take in once pristine " The Ocean State ", Rhode Island ? Jobs or fresh air ? Yes, " Capitalism :  A Love Story " ( title of Michael Moore film ).

The example of Jesus will benefit even future commissars

   I hope I am not one of only a few democratic Socialists in this country completely sickened by the New Atheism war on religion. If its hateful and sophomoric contempt for the masses of religious people becomes the norm among socialist organizations, their leaders will never succeed in leading a flock of geese across a small town street. A socialist activist should never sound like a professorial chairman of the local branch of the international Society of the Godless. A bit of the loving kindness of Jesus might benefit even future commissars. We must not repeat the OFFICIALLY ATHEIST mistake of the old Soviet Union.

Nothing more un-Catholic than hyper-nationalism

   I thought this Catholic Pope was excellent at speaking TRUTH to power ( of the nasty secular kind ) . But as a " head of state " himself he is decidedly and understandably more diplomatic here talking to all those Ayn Rand ( a militant atheist ) inspired Republicans- who now control the Congress of the United States..
Before the United Nations he will no doubt raise the issue of the unprecedented world migration crisis. Nothing could be less " Catholic " than a fanatical and hyper-defensive nationalism- the cause of the Great War one hundred years ago. That Great War led to a still greater war-and a possible world Holocaust in this 21st century.
I am pleased that my state of Rhode Island-still strongly Catholic-is prepared to welcome thousands of Syrian refugees.
God bless the Pope !

Latinos slighted on cancer care ?

Latinos face barriers to cancer care  The concept of NATIONAL HEALTH CARE is that everybody gets health insurance.So even relative poverty should be no obstacle. The headline suggests some form of institutional health care prejudice against Latinos. But despite Obama care- a pathetic compromise-most working and lower middle class Americans -from all racial and ethnic backgrounds-still lack adequate health care. A poor diet itself might be a factor in colon cancer. There is a question  :how often an intrusive colon examination ?
Eighty percent of Americans are now sharing the poverty-not the Wealth- created by global capitalism. It is getting rather obtuse to racialize injustice in America. Socialists do not ignore the special problems of race- and ethnic groups. But they focus on more generalized CLASS inequality.
Neo-Liberal Democrats-hustling for votes-are prone to racial and ethnic pandering.

HOMO-CENSORSHIP at Providence Journal web site

  The topic of human evolution very much interests me. But I was rather shocked to see that I could not type **** SAPIENS without being ridiculously censored. The new species -and it might not be NEW-was clearly some kind of ****.
A scientist present at the scene said he was reminded of Howard Carter's excitement in Egypt when peering through an opening he beheld the glory of the tomb of King Tut : " I see very wondrous things ! "
The discovery is almost too good to be true. Remember the Piltdown hoax ?
It will give Creationists a good enough headache for even a modern one pound brain.

It is clearly some kind of HOMO

    

Socialists don't appreciate the culture of poverty as DIVERSITY

   There are certain LIBERAL writers who never fail to show sanctimonious indignation over " white privilege " ( while being rather privileged themselves ). In " The Other America " socialist writer Michael Harrington talked about a certain " culture of poverty ". To be sure, even for down- and -out whites that culture is an abysmal Black Hole. Does the LIBERAL want to " appreciate " the culture of poverty or does he share with the socialist a political passion to eradicate poverty and consequently its " culture " ?
Does a sanctimonious love of DIVERSITY embrace a love of squalor, misery, ignorance, hopelessness, and THE SLUMS ?
A socialist embraces not so much diversity as EQUALITY.
How many LIBERALS are winking at the Bernie Sanders campaign ?
Or is Hillary a better deal for " people of color " ?
  

Worthless Brown University " research " on ex-prisoner suicides

Researcher aims to reduce suicides of ex-prisoners  This Brown University researcher reminds me of those phony scholars who make money on numerous " studies " on the homeless-without ever making the slightest difference in their lives. " Half will receive the USUAL CARE in and out of prison ". Why not suggest -without the need of well funded research- that prisoners-mostly poor and depressed when they enter prison -not be ABUSED in numerous ways while they are " serving time " ? How do you make a suicidal ex-con " happy " enough not to kill himself ? Will the scholar restore his faith in Sweet Jesus or the Amazing Power of Positive Thinking ? Get him interested in Scientology ? Point out to the depressed ex-convict that there is no contradiction between the everyday insanity of capitalism and " The Conquest of Happiness " ?
One more worthless scholarly paper on potential suicides will make no more difference in these lives than yet another scholarly paper on the mentally ill homeless.
Invariably the petty bourgeois Brown University scholar has no quarrel with THE SYSTEM -in which he or she is quite comfortable, thank you.
Nice to know : " Nationally about 10 percent of all suicides involve people who served jail time ".
To be sure, Socialism would abolish " jail time " for most of the poor ,oppressed, exploited , ABUSED victims of capitalist JUSTICE.
Lauren Weinstock of Brown University belongs to a corrupt profession. What does she think about advising the CIA on the best way to torture prisoners ? To be sure, tortured Islamic prisoners might very well kill themselves - and take a number of "infidels " down with them.

Basball legend Yogi Berra dies - a Cranston, Rhode Island connection

         

I hit on a Cranston, R.I. connection for Yogi Berra ( A Wikipedia reference )The writer covers Italo-American stories in America. I live in Knightsville.

[ " I must say I am quite excited about a recent comment from Joan responding to my Blog about Yogi Berra’s playing days in Cranston, RI. As you may recall, he played under the name of Cusano. Joan noted that her father, Jack O”Donnell, was the young coach of that team, The Cranston Chiefs, and that her brother, Jack, Jr. had the scrapbooks of those days.
Yogi used the name Cusano because that was his mother’s maiden name.
Nonetheless, Jack will arrange to have me see those scrapbooks when he gets them to his sister.
The arrangements are under way, and I will go with dear friend and baseball aficionado, Jack.
Needless to say, I am quite excited....

More later…" ]

Yogi Berra played for the Cranston Chiefs

  Yogi Berra played in Cranston

Neil de Grasse Tyson : would God forgive a wise guy atheist ?

While good Pope Francis is in town ( Washington, D.C ) let me mildly rebuke Neil de Grasse Tyson for mocking the ancient Catholic ritual of the Holy Eucharist last year. In the hateful tone of the New Atheism Tyson said that Catholics were even dumber than scientologists for believing that mere BREAD & WINE were the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Tyson is also an expert on metaphysics as well as astrophysics.
Oddly enough, Albert Einstein respected the Catholic doctrine of the Holy Eucharist. A biographer claims he was even fascinated by it. Einstein believed in Spinoza's deist God.
Isaac Asimov thought that God might forgive him for not believing in HIM . But would he forgive a wise guy atheist ? Isaac wondered.
    

Pro-capitalist to Radical Ron : " This sounds like the diary of a mass murderer "

    Working  class people have no problem understanding these views. They know that every capitalist CEO is just a criminal who has not been caught. The British working class has just put " radical " Jeremy Corbyn at the head of their Labor Party. He is the political twin of "socialist " Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
No, no " diary of a mass murderer ". here. Just a CLASS STRUGGLE zealot.
The rich in this country still fear and tremble before the formidable INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE. THEY will collect all royalties under socialism. You could liken them then to so called " The Terror " during the French Revolution of 1789. It WORKED . No royalty there today.

No amount of HARD WORK justifies the American plutocracy

  No amount of HARD WORK justifies the wealth of the ONE PERCENT ! Did the great scientist Michael Faraday die a millionaire ? What about famous horror writer H.P. Lovecraft ? He died in near poverty in Providence, R.I. in 1937. By the way Faraday was a very religious man and H.P. Lovecraft was a socialist . Narragansett Beer just put his American Gothic face on one of its brews. Ironically , Lovecraft loathed mind numbing alcoholic drinks.
Both Faraday and Lovecraft would have rejected vulgar wealth.

" Happy Birthday " song freed from copyright laws

Copyright on " Happy Birthday " song  As a democratic Socialist I have thought for many years now that one of the greatest absurdities of the capitalist system is its copyright and intellectual property laws. A moment's inspiration in an creative person's head -the opposite of EXTRAORDINARY PERSONAL EFFORT-should not entitle that person to a lifetime of entitlement parasitism.
But even EXTRAORDINARY PERSONAL EFFORT has its rational limits. Medical science has only one objective measure of human mental and physical effort: CALORIES. A clinical thermometer would confirm the social ideal of egalitarianism.
How feverish is the brain of " genius " Bill Gates ? Or any other " brilliant " CEO ?
Happy Birthday to " the " Happy Birthday " song. Socialism will abolish ALL intellectual property- along with all other PRIVATE PROPERTY used only to exploit and oppress the masses.

4. 
   

   

Marilyn Monroe-Happy Birthday Mr. President

Black RIPTA bus driver, Jean Lamour , unfairly fired !

  The RIPTA bus driver Jean Lamour seemed inhibited about giving his side of the story. There was obviously some paralysis of judgment at the accident scene.RIPTA should permit veteran bus drivers to use their own good judgment in many situations. I am a long time RIPTA bus rider. My brother is a retired RIPTA bus driver. They can get a little too robotized we both observed.
    NOTE : an update of the story today proves that my suspicion here about the bus driver, Jean Lamour  , having  some " paralysis of judgment " was correct. RIPTA lets the bus driver who crushed poor Bobbie Moore under his  Broad St.bus in South Providence last May get away with vehicular homicide . This guy, Jean Lamour- a black RIPTA employee- is fired.RIPTA bus driver--another 
victim of RIPTA recklessness

RIPTA driver set to face a judge

WPRI 12 Eyewitness News‎

Providence Journal editors apoplectic over Jeremy Corbyn and British Labor Party

  A not uncommon type of class struggle zealot , Jeremy Corbyn, has been elected leader of the British Labor Party by a landslide. Is there some moral or intellectual defect in working class people in England ? I must ask the editor. What makes the Providence Journal sages so nervous is that Corbyn might very well be the political twin of " socialist " Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sanders is gaining in popularity among registered Democrats in the United States.
Not supporting Zionist, apartheid Israel does not make you an anti-Semite in the court of world opinion. Way back in in 1975 the United Nations declared Zionism to be a form of racism.
The British Labor Party hardly resembles Lenin's Russian Bolshevik Party of 1917 fame.
I myself would be happy with another THAT MAN in the White House. The American plutocracy always hated Franklin D. Roosevelt. None of this HELPING HAND nonsense for the Ayn Rand crowd.

Lenin laughed at the British Fabian Socialists

    

Astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson in town - $55--$80 per ticket

Astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson deserves his medal for getting the public excited about science. And he is a formidable antagonist of well funded climate change deniers. But as ubiquitous VOICE OF SCIENCE he lacks Carl Sagan's political acuteness and social conscience.
He seems to have no quarrel with our capitalist way of life. Unlike Albert Einstein, J.Robert Oppenheimer, and Linus Pauling he is no threat to our military industrial complex. Even Isaac Asimov was a sharper social critic.
And I recall Michael Faraday gave free public lectures on science. But Tyson charges $55- $80 for his road show ? No, Neil has no quarrel with make-a-buck capitalism !
     Neil de Grasse Tyson's astronomy road show

Rutgers Faraday Christmas Children's Lecture - Department ...

Rutgers University

 

To see the entire Rutgers Faraday Children's Lecture from 12/6/13 click here. ... In 1826, physicist Michael Faraday founded the Children's Christmas Lectures at ... Driving Directions The event is free of charge and open to the public. ... They were designed not just to inform but with an eye toward humor and exciting the ...

Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn-an antidote to FUCK YOU Capitalism ?

Sanders and Corbyn - why popular ?    Yes , most welcome: an antidote to Fuck You  capitalism ? As a democratic Socialist myself -and a critical supporter of Bernie Sanders here in the United States- I was amused-not surprised-by a nearly apoplectic editorial in yesterday’s PROVIDENCE JOURNAL upset about the rise of Jeremy Corbyn to the leadership of the British Labor Party. Just WHAT were the editors so upset about here ? It seems that Corbyn comes from a working class background and has a history of class struggle fervor – not quite suppressed even in British Labor.
Of course, a REAL socialist movement in Britain or the United States will ruin the ONE PERCENT plutocracy-not even try to ” save ” it.

Political twins- Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn

CEOs not selected for social conscience- Mr. Peanut Butter goes to jail

Go directly to jail

• 
      In  general, the capitalist economic system is now a threat not just to the health of individual human beings; it is a threat to LIFE ON EARTH. CEOs are not selected for their social conscience. For them PROFIT is everything -ETHICS is whatever you can get away with. Mr. Peanut Butter could not get away with this. Therefore the American pro-capitalist legal system judges him to be ethically challenged. [http://radicalrons.blogspot.co...]
  

  Consider this morning's headline - and in recent years a thousand like it :
  Volkswagen shares plunge 18% on exhaust scandal

Real SOCIALISM will ruin the ONE PERCENT - not save it

Plutocracy is the problem
•     As a democratic Socialist it is hardly NEWS to me that the American ruling class-the world criminal ONE PERCENT-is still shopping around for the RIGHT voice for America in the coming decade.
  

  But , of course, they still have TWO PARTIES to rely on. Only " socialist " Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont - a political surprise gaining popularity among registered Democrats-is making THEM nervous.
  The victory of Labor Party " radical " Jeremy Corbyn in Great Britain hints of world wide surge in CLASS struggle.
  A real socialist movement will ruin the ONE PERCENT -not save it.
  

  

Bernie Sanders flunks U.S. ruling class political-religion test

   I  was hoping that President Obama might select a top Muslim cleric in America to greet the Catholic pope. We need a strong antidote to Islamophobia here-especially after Dr.Ben Carson's shameless comment suggesting that ANY American citizen of the Muslim faith flunks a non-existent religious test for high office in the United States.
But any literate leftist knows that " socialist " Bernie Sanders flunks an unofficial political -religion test: For more than a century the U.S. ruling class has sulked at any federal or state programs smacking of " socialism ".

ALL Republican candidates are voicing quasi-fascist themes

  ALL the Republicans  are voicing quasi-fascist themes to their primary voters. Their only hope to win a presidential election in America is a very low voter turn out.Is that " Democracy in America " ?
Scott Walker -the union hater- is an exceptionally malignant voice of incipient American fascism. Readers might recall the Sinclair Lewis warning novel : " It Can't Happen Here ".
The American ruling class might gamble on the "pseud-Left " to save capitalism in our even more bleaker future. For now " socialist " Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has my critical support. But he too is a long way from Eugene V. Debs -even in his foreign policy ideas. Debs in his famous Canton Speech said that the only just war is CLASS war.

Possession of nuclear weapons is STATE TERRORISM

Inspecting Iran's nuclear facilities    As a citizen of the United States I supported President Obama's Iran treaty. So did Iran, I hope. But the proverbial elephant in the room is Israel's nuclear arsenal. Not only was there no public pressure on Zionist, apartheid Israel to disarm itself of HOLOCAUST weapons-but hardly any mention of them in the U.S. media .
Back in Cold War Era there were universal BAN THE BOMB demonstrations around the world. They had the blessing of Nobel Prize winner, American scientist Linus Pauling. Did the end of the Cold War mean that only a few nations had exclusive rights to nuclear weapons ? Senator J. William  Fulbright  would call that " The Arrogance of Power ".
Today the mere possession of nuclear weapons constitutes STATE TERRORISM. We embargo Cuba but not Israel .Cuba's lame " socialism " is more sinister to the U.S. ruling class than Israel's belligerence in the Middle East ?

Separation of church and state could have saved the old Soviet Union

 The separation of church and state principle-oddly enough-might have saved the old Soviet Union. This pseudo-socialist ( Stalinist,to be exact ) STATE made the mistake of deifying atheism and economic materialism. Russia - as its great novelist Dostoevsky understood-was always a profoundly religious country ( the same is true of the United States ) . The STATE should have been wise enough to leave the soul of the individual alone. It could tell them : " We will give you a great scientific education and then you can -free from economic terror or social conformity-judge for yourself the credibility of your religious faith. Whatever you conclude, it is none of the STATE's business. ".
In America there is an unofficial religion: CAPITALISM . And its high priestess is Ayn Rand. The holy book is titled " The Virtue of Selfishness ".
That oh-so-NICE- conservative Dr. Ben Carson just declared that no Muslim should be president of the United States. Sounds familiar. Did Carson ever read " The Making of the President 1960 " ?
If the editorial page editors do their job, they will soon see what a charlatan is this Dr. Carson.

Dostoevsky understood the Russian soul

" Rare talent " justifies exorbitant CEO pay ?

  This  " rare talent " in the corporate ROOM AT THE TOP is mostly a public relations myth. The capitalist owners buy talent and brains already on the market. To be sure, souls are always FOR SALE too.
A rare talent for what ? For lying, cheating, swindling, exploiting ?
If you equate EFFORT with REWARD the salaries of CEOs are indeed extravagant. Medical science knows only one objective measure of mental and physical effort: CALORIES. If The Donald's brain were burning up even ten times more calories than Radical Ron's , it would have a biochemical meltdown.
Just a basic moral principle as old as the human family: a good mother does not feed her smart child steak and her " dummy " cheap hot dogs.
What we need in this country is a national debate on the rational basis of wealth. Real socialists ( Bernie Sanders ? ) challenge the very legitimacy of " legitimate " wealth .
Also there has been a GREENING of SOCIALISM. Most socialists recognize the science of ecology and the limits on population and economic growth.  Homo- sapiens is a failed species if it chokes in its own toxic wastes and insane " productivity ".        

A " rare talent " for what ?

    

 

Ben Carson - Muslim cannot be U.S. president

  The  American ruling class -which is mostly New Atheist- will object only to any honest socialist who dares to run for president of the United States. They will tolerate a Bernie Sanders but they dread " politics " outside the control of the two party system.
    The patron saint of the New Atheists is Ayn Rand, author of " The Virtue of Selfishness ".
    Recall the issue of a candidate's religious faith in " The Making of the President 1960".

Your Holiness Donald Trump ?

  We need a Republican Pope ? Your Holiness Donald Trump ? Well Pope Francis has revived traditional Catholic social philosophy. He did not invent it. This social philosophy goes back to Jesus'  " Sermon on the Mount ".  If taken seriously in the 20th and now the 21st century, there would probably be little need for cranky, fanatical, sectarian " left-wing " political parties in countries where Christianity took root.
       Oddly enough, in the beginning, modern Israel imported its own ideas of socialism in the famous kibbutz.
     Today the real guiding spirit of the Republican Party is the militant atheist and author of " The Virtue of Selfishness " Ayn Rand.Rand was also a militant Zionist.
         Only " socialist "  Democrat Bernie Sanders -among U.S. presidential candidates - comes close to the Pope's vision of a saner, kinder world.
       But the Democratic Party is also controlled by TRUE BELIEVERS in capitalism too. These Neo-Democrats abandoned New Deal liberalism long ago.
      And Harpy Hillary is no Eleanor Roosevelt.
      And Jeb Bush is more passionately Capitalist than Catholic.

Reflection on Pope's visit to America