Orlando Weak

Posted on June 16, 2016 by admin

Facts for those who are straight, or just don’t know:
Orlando, FL has a sizeable gay community. Not coincidentally Orlando has a heavy party & drug scene. There is virtually no artistic activity of substance going on in most of the Orlando area. That is (at least partly) why it so susceptible to this level of violence.

What needs to be done:
Investigate G4S, the FBI and Omar Mateen’s dad’s political connections to the Taliban.
This will inevitably lead to covert CIA wars, with top Pentagon brass & executive White House involvement. Anything else from the media is either flak, or lazy stupidity.

When you connect the dots, it’s capitalism to the core.

On June 1, The Plaza Live in downtown Orlando was bought out, and let go the existing management team. [1]

On June 10th, pop singer Christina Grimmie was shot dead, while signing autographs after her show at The Plaza Live.

Her killer was Kevin James Loibl, age 27 of St. Petersburg, Florida. Loibl fatally shot himself after the singer’s brother, Marcus Grimmie, tackled him. [2]
This is the note his family posted on their front door:

No background or motive has been offered so far by the OPD.
This is their official statement [3].

Five days after the fatal shooting of singer Christina Grimmie, The Plaza Live is reopening for business on June 16.

Too many drug scenes with a generalized low level of political awareness & no significant artistic leadership, is a toxic mixture for the city of Orlando.

This is where U.S. presidential elections are stolen.

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Orlando, FL Gay Nightclub Massacre

Posted on June 12, 2016 by admin

A gunman (later identified as 29-year-old Omar Mateen) walked into Pulse, a gay bar in south Orlando at 2:00 AM Sunday night, and opened fire. When police & SWAT arrived, he had taken hostages. Hours later, he was finally overwhelmed & killed in a hail police bullets. Fifty people were left dead, and another 53 injured. It is now the worst mass shooting is U.S. history.

Mateen was a U.S. citizen reportedly born in New York, with his family from Afghanistan. Mir Seddique, the suspected shooter’s father, claims Mateen got angry when he saw two men kissing in downtown Miami a couple of months ago and that he says that may have been a trigger in the shooting. “We are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he [was] taking. We are in shock like the whole country.”

Apologies are nice, but explanations are better. This whole family needs to be investigated, with all political & business links exposed. Don’t expect any real answers to come from corporate mass media or official police/FBI investigations.

Orlando Police Chief John Mina at the news conference, “The suspect is dead. He appeared to be carrying a rifle, an assault-type rifle, and a handgun, and had some type of device on him. That’s what we’re doing right now. Checking the area for devices.” This will obviously be used as an opportunity for an urban lock-down run-through, with OPD ‘assisted’ by the FBI & military.

CNN’s Evan Pérez reported that Mateen had rented a car in Fort Pierce (about 120 miles south of Orlando) as transportation for the attack. Reportedly Mateen worked as a security officer, but for whom & in what capacity is still unknown? Curiously, Mateen was a registered Democrat, which is suspicious considering the claimed homophobic motivation for the massacre. [1]

Was Omar Mateen a military/CIA asset? What about his family? Where did he receive the military training to kill so many people? And the hardware?

Law enforcement officials told ABC News that Mateen had been “on the radar” of U.S. authorities for a while, but that he was not the target of an investigation. In intelligence terms, this has ‘rogue asset’ and ‘blowback’ written all over it.

Proper lessons need to be learned by everyone, before this escalates much further. Political grandstanding & business-as-usual can no longer be tolerated. Real questions need to be asked and their true lessons learned, or else this becomes our combined fate.

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Muhammad Ali: Courage & Character

Posted on June 4, 2016 by admin

Muhammad Ali died yesterday at age 74 of respiratory illness. He had been afflicted with severe Parkinson’s disease for the final three decades of his life.

Ali one proclaimed himself to be “the Greatest.” To many he still is. Facing Ali (2009) is a 5-star documentary of his career, in the words of those who most notably squared off in the ring with “The Greatest.”

It must also be noted that in many ways Muhammad Ali will be the greatest example of why boxing must be banned, if we are to be a civilized society.

If this is how it ends for ‘the Greatest,’ then how horrible must it be for all the others?

His autobiography My Own Story published in 1975 tells his it as no one else can, up through the George Foreman ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in 1974.

As loved as Ali is at the time of his death, it is hard for some to believe that he was once vilified; exiled from boxing for 3 years during his prime, for refusing draft entry into the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.

White mainstream media had refused to recognize his name change from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, reflecting his conversion from Christianity to Islam.

Muhammad Ali’s religion & politics became the line between brash & charismatic versus uppity & dangerous in the late 1960’s.

When Ali spoke his mind on the unfairness of being drafted into a war he didn’t believe in, he became a global icon for the oppressed fighting against U.S. imperialism.

Ali embraced his role (and sacrificed more than any superstar athlete ever sacrificed), for a cause nobler than himself.

This is why he was so loved, and today is so mourned.

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Memorial Day & ‘Free’ Elections

Posted on May 30, 2016 by admin

Donald Trump will be the Republican Party nominee in July, as his hardcore supporters of racists, xenophobes and other forms of haters never wavered. The conservative establishment threw its dream-team of candidates from Jeb Bush to Marco Rubio to Ted Cruz, and each foundered upon itself trying to take out the Trump campaign. There had been very little that was humanly sensible left in the Republican party, but today it can be said there is nothing left. The Republican party is now the official U.S. party of fascism.

Near-sighted fools in the liberal & conservative media never took any of this seriously, until it was too late. Donald Trump has been the recipient of the most free media coverage in election history. It is an indictment on the entire corporate media establishment from CNN & FOX to Yahoo, that this reactionary bigot has been elevated to such respectable status. Attempts to bias media coverage & manipulate social media against him are now useless, as fascism ignores any inhibiting rules while insisting they apply to others. Donald Trump is the truest essence of capitalism in all it’s ignorance, arrogance & ugliness. Simply look at him physically. That fact that so many people can support this filth, is an indictment of capitalist society– sick & rotten to the core. When toxic waste is allowed to dominate politics, then conventional politics is dead.

Now is the time for workers everywhere to organize their revolution, as it’s nearing fight time. This coming world war must be turned into a civil war, whose objective is to overthrow the capitalist state and replace it with socialism– globally. It must be a socialist revolution in permanence, from the working people, everywhere; otherwise the reaction from fascism will be merciless to humankind.

Fascists don’t value life, in any form; they are only obsessed with conquest & power. They never know when they’ve gone too far, because they’ve always strayed too far from rational ideas. Donald Trump’s ‘platform’ is nothing but ignorance, hate & ugliness.

Hillary Clinton has been anointed the Democratic party nominee for weeks now, despite losing the majority of the primaries & caucuses held in that time period. Her ‘superdelegate’ stranglehold from the Washington political machinery (Bill Clinton) ensured her the Democratic nomination from the start. Tens (and really hundreds) of millions of Americans don’t want this presented choice for ‘savior from Trump.’ Americans been down this road before with Barack Obama in 2008, and his Audacity of Hope. Any ‘feminists’ who insist on a woman for similar reasons, are just as delusional.

These will surely be the most reviled candidates in U.S. political history. Why bother with primaries, debates, or any meaningful political discussion when these are the only choices? Nothing good can come from either candidate, and most will be voting against the other, more than for their own.

No, this just won’t do anymore. There are too many important issues being ignored, while the issue of issues– social inequality, is ignored. The official narrative that the U.S. economy is recovering is a lie.

Please note that these are the freedoms for which our brave servicemen fought & died.

Perhaps they were fighting for the wrong causes? Does anyone know what the right causes are?

Is it okay to ask (or think) these thoughts on Memorial Day?

IF FREEDOM ISN’T VIGILANTLY GUARDED & REGULARLY EXERCISED, IT BECOMES A TOOL OF THE RULING CLASS FOR MANIPULATING THE WORKING PEOPLE.

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Update 6-2-16: Best current article on the Democratic party nomination [1].

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How to Win Friends & Influence Online

Posted on May 13, 2016 by admin

Content gathered & edited from the MLB.com forums, primarily SD Padres

Shields tallies 9 K’s as Padres blank Brewers 5-13-16
Let’s be clear on what James Shields is: 2-5, 3.12 ERA in 52 IP– in less than a quarter of a season, on track for another 200+ IP with an excellent ERA. He has been poorly supported in most of his outings, hence the losing record. All the other young pitchers (Colin Rea, Drew Pomeranz, Cesar Vargas, etc…) will likely be restricted to 120-150 (max) IP-limit, for their own protection. Padres can no longer count on Tyson Ross and possibly Andrew Cashner for awhile. $21M/year is what quality reliable starting pitching costs, and actually Shields’ contract is fair in open-market (capitalist) terms. If he doesn’t opt-out after this season he has $21M, $21M & $16M (team option- $2M buyout) remaining through 2019, his age 37 season. No one expects much after that, so it’s a good contract and I hope Shields stays– if the Padres can be competitive.

Note: James Shields was my favorite player in Tampa, until he was traded in December 2012 for Wil Myers. I understood why the Rays did it at the time, but it still hurt as a fan. The results of this deal illustrate how much a GM means to an organization, as soon as TBR GM Andrew Friedman left for LAD, new Padres GM AJ Preller was able to swindle Myers from their new Rays GM Matt Silverman. It cost the Padres a nice pitching prospect in Joe Ross to WAS (let’s see if he stays healthy under Dusty Baker?), and SS prospect Trea Turner who’s hitting .310/.377/.442– in AAA Syracuse. It’s the Rays who really got nothing out of the deal, and lost their franchise hitter to boot. Padres fans are grateful 🙂

Friedrich slated for Padres debut in series rematch 5-13-16
I don’t see the Padres 23-inning scoreless pitching streak lasting much longer in today’s game, as LHP Christian Friedrich is an emergency call-up with all their injuries (Tyson Ross, Robbie Erlin, Andrew Cashner?). Hopefully they can get 5+ innings out of him (with run support) and a good extended-relief stint from someone like Luis Perdomo. Another good challenge from Andy Green last night earned Alexei Ramirez a hit. Padres are threatening to climb out of last place, starting to come together, etc…

Suitors for Lincecum reportedly whittled to three 5-12-16
Padres fan here: I don’t see Tim Lincecum as a starting pitcher in the AL. His fastball velocity isn’t what it was, and it’s not enough to consistently get through stacked AL line-ups with DH’s. He belongs with the Giants, but needs to at least be in the NL. My $.02

Any organization has to insist on a reasonable base salary ($4-6M?) with performance incentives for Tim Lincecum. He’s got reward potential, but obviously is a huge injury risk– and clubs need to protect themselves. That’s surely what’s being negotiated now.

Pomeranz leads Padres to DH sweep of Cubs 5-12-16
“I got a long memory… He’ll learn.” — John Lackey on how Christian Bethancourt — whom the veteran hurler had never faced — watched his home run.

That just sounds like an excuse to throw at Bethancourt the next time they meet. Padres (and their fans) have long memories too.
For perspective, Christian Bethancourt is a 24-YO kid from Panama, trying to establish himself as a major-leaguer. He was obviously excited in the moment, but there was no intent to show up John Lackey, who is a quality veteran pitcher. Bethancourt will ‘learn’ from Padres manager Andy Green, hitting coach Alan Zinter, and bench coach Mark McGwire– who knows all about HR etiquette.

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Padres closer Fernando Rodney shoots 2 arrows at Wrigley, in one day!!
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To Cubs fans– your team’s winning percentage is no longer double that of the Padres. Wrigley Field is the most beautiful ballpark ever. Great series, tight games–good luck until Petco! Over & out

Padres claim catcher Sanchez from White Sox 5-11-16
AJ Preller trying to add some catching depth, which you can never have too much of. Example– top prospect C Austin Hedges (was raking in AAA) is now out with a hamate fracture. We’ll see if Hector Sanchez, the switch-hitting witch sticks. I just wanted to say that 😉

Wallace ends up-and-down day with a blast 5-11-16 Beats Cubs 7-4 @ Wrigley
Padres need Brett Wallace to stick at 3B. Both his errors earlier today were throwing, which is easier to fix than a bad glove. He showed a decent glove with a nice pick to snuff a Cubs rally later, so there are signs of improvement. This lets GM A.J. Preller wait for Yangervais Solarte get 100% healthy, while getting a good look at Wallace who walks a TON and has a stick. A bunch of organizations have tried this guy and given up on him. He just needs some coaching, and a chance to play. Preller cleaned house (mostly), and kept what was essential (Balsley) this off-season, so their dugout staff is much stronger. Brett Wallace is another Preller lottery ticket, and it’s great that fans have bought into his plan of trying these guys out, with less regard for winning.

It’s Andy Green’s job to put the expectation of winning on the players, so they don’t embarrass the organization and their fans, Green has done this well so far and Padres fans have (mostly) noticed & appreciate it. Padres now have much more upside, with young players like Wallace, Colin Rea, Drew Pomeranz, Cesar Vargas, Luis Perdomo, Jabari Blash, & others. An organization with brains that isn’t afraid to lose games, can quickly spot & develop its talent.

Weeks strains hamstring, likely headed to DL 5-8-16
How many groin/hamstring/quad injuries for the Padres so far? Looks like Adam Rosales at 2B with Brett Wallace at 3B for awhile. Infield depth is now stretched to its limit, any more injuries at those positions and the Padres are well below replacement level. Who gets the call up?
@Alvin77 & Rolfes: I’d forgotten about 2B Jose Pirela. AJ Preller got him from the NYY for 21-YO RHP Ronald Herrera, who’s in AAA (Scranton). That indicates depth, which is something this organization has lacked in the past. GM did his job (extremely) well this off-season, and this is where it shows up. Manager Andy Green still has usable options, which is nice 🙂

Sabathia says injured groin improving daily 5-7-16
I know it was a great start for him, to get a win the Yankees needed– but it wasn’t worth it to land on the DL. A player has to be honest with himself & his team in that situation. CC Sabathia’s quotes indicate he’s still in denial about his injury. Sad & scary; hope he figures it out.

Ross progressing, but not ready to throw 5-4-16
Thanks for this injury report, AJ Cassavell.
The Padres approach with RHP Tyson Ross is correct– let the labrum tear heal, while building protective muscle in the shoulder. You can’t rush tears of ligaments, cartilage and tendons; if you try, you just risk setbacks with no real improvement. The labrum is a piece of fibrocartilage, therefore no throwing yet for Ross. He’s probably at least 4-6 weeks away from throwing, if things go well in his rehabilitation. If things aren’t going well, then much longer.
Also, it sounds like LOOGY Matt Thornton will likely be awhile w/ his Achilles tendonitis.

Kemp & Myers work well together 5-3-16
Appreciate Matt Kemp (career .289/.344/.491) is the point. He may soon be a luxury the Padres can no longer afford. Meanwhile, appreciate him.
For the record, it’s at least a push for the best player Wil Myers has ever played with. Evan Longoria 3B (gold glove) career .270/.346/.485.

Vargas cements spot in Padres’ rotation 5-4-16
Can the Padres keep him healthy, or will he flameout? That is always the question with promising young pitchers.

Vargas turns in solid outing, but Padres fall short
PadsFans: 8 shutouts in out first 28 games. I really don’t know any other way to describe it except pathetic.
RicSize: Don’t be sad, two out of three ain’t bad

Upton, Rea lead way in game-changing 5th inning 5-1-16
Luckily there’s some depth a C, so the chances of that turning around for the Padres are decent. ATL is the worst team in the NL (by far), precisely because they do stupid stuff like giving up on C Christian Bethancourt, who at least has upside. Instead ATL went with veteran CWS-rejects– Tyler Flowers & AJ Pierzynski.

Matt Kemp is better defensively in RF, partly because BJ Upton covers so much room in LF, so CF Jon Jay can shade more to right field. Thus Kemp’s lack of range becomes less of a liability. Still not great, but at least passable in RF at present. BTW– if Jay (presently .271/.333/.323) can move his walk rate up a tick, he becomes a very valuable player.

Kemp’s homer snaps Padres’ skid in LA 4-30-16
Matt Kemp increases his potential trade value, while beating the Dodgers– Padres fans approve!

Wallace is becoming an elite pinch-hitter 4-30-16
What the Padres like about Brett Wallace is that he walks. In 31 PAs so far in 2016 his line is .174/.387/.217. He’s walked 6 times, and been HBP twice. For comparison Matt Kemp has walked only twice (!) in 91 PAs for a .284/.297/.591 line. It’s the low OBP (lack of walks) that hurts Kemp’s value at the plate. Wallace is brutal defensively at 3B, and not much better at 1B, so his value is primarily depth off the bench– until an opportunity presents itself. His career .399 SLG is pedestrian, and needs to improve.

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Posted @ wsws.org

Support White and Niemuth in 2016!

Socialist Equality Party announces presidential campaign 22 April 2016
SEP has tried ballot access in the past and has always been blocked & cheated (every step of the way) by Democratic Party machinery, proving it’s mostly pointless to pour resources into reformist measures.

Obama in Flint: Let them drink lead 6 May 2016
Barack Obama drinking Flint water is reminiscent of gubernatorial candidate Montgomery Burns eating 3-eyed fish on The Simpsons.

Look at today’s filmmaking … then look at the world 11 May 2016
There are important parallels between David Walsh’s discussion of ‘feminist filmmaking’ and current ‘feminist’ politics, personified in Hillary Clinton.

Obama and the bombing of Hiroshima 13 May 2016
“The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb” by Gar Alperovitz is the scholarly work on the subject, and was referenced in an older WSWS article. Also read the “Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician, August 6th – September 30, 1945” by Michihiko Hachiya for details of its horrible aftermath. The Hiroshima & Nagasaki atomic bombings were imperialist war crimes of the highest magnitude.

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Belly ‘Star’ (1993)

Posted on April 28, 2016 by admin

Belly’s Star is a gorgeous album from start to finish, which remains largely unappreciated. Belly was led by ex-Throwing Muses singer-songwriter Tanya Donelly, with Fred Abong (bass) and brothers Chris (drums) & Tom Gorman (guitars).

Note: vinyl had been deleted by 1990, and compact disc was the only format this (or any other) music was commercially available in– therefore the original format of this album is CD.

Belly followed up with King in 1995, then broke up the next year. By this time they had been largely written off anyways, by the Rolling Stone crowd in favor of mediocrities such as the Counting Crows, Gin Blossoms, Oasis & Matchbox 20– whose CDs now over-populate resale music bins everywhere.

Belly along with Sinead O’Connor, P.J. Harvey, the Breeders (who also included Donelly), Babes in Toyland, Liz Phair and Bikini Kill (pictured above), were female artists who truly made the most riveting rock music of that tumultuous era. Kurt Cobain was a fan of all of the above.

The collapse of the USSR, and it’s fall-back from communal property relations (controlled by a Stalinist bureaucracy) into capitalist Russia (controlled by mafia ‘businessmen’) shook the world. Borders changed, nearly instantly– but not bloodlessly. U.S. led wars-of-aggression (from Yugoslavia to Iraq to Syria) have continued in that part of the world ever since.

The heart of global capitalism is Wall Street & Washington, led by the White House which uses NATO & the UN (diplomatically), the Pentagon (overtly) and the CIA (covertly) to project the interests of the ruling class into the sphere of the former Soviet Union. Wall Street is defined as their stock exchanges (multi-national corporations) & its federal reserve banking system.

These are the richest people in the world and are (not coincidentally) responsible as war criminals. They are the true criminals who must be ruthlessly exposed and brought to justice by the working people of the world.

FYI: It’s mostly about oil, which has been the most precious natural resource under modern capitalism. Washington & Wall Street can no longer control the world’s oil supply economically, so they resort to their greatest strength– militarism. The US has (by far) the largest military budget in the world. Washington’s unholy alliance with Saudi Arabia (world’s leading oil producer) has led to the 9/11 terror attacks and sponsored the phony ‘war on terror’ in its aftermath.

These imperialist crimes have created an environmental & human survival crisis of global proportions, which only-too-recently (to most) seemed laughable, but today is all-too-real. The threat to human existence has never been greater. Capitalist leaders and their ‘intelligentsia’ have no answers, and (honestly) not much of a clue. They can best be described as philistines when it comes to art.

These were the issues artists such as Tanya Donelly (and her fans) intuitively understood back in the early 1990’s. Unfortunately their music was given its moment in the sun, then suppressed and largely forgotten– because no one in political leadership cared about art. Al Gore was VP to U.S. President Bill Clinton, and Gore’s wife Tipper led the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), whose goal was to blacklist and censor music.

Their primary target was rap & hip-hop, but any artistic expression was ultimately put in their cross-hairs. The PMRC was partially successful, as this warning label is now ubiquitous to popular music.

Now, to be carried in any box superstore (Walmart, Best Buy), albums with ‘obscene’ lyrics must be censored– otherwise the CD isn’t on their racks. ‘Obscene’ is defined by a self-appointed body of religious & political fundamentalists.

Corporate & political agendas dovetail, and when the reaction set in (Republican impeachment of Bill Clinton and their theft of the 2000 election), artists were forced underground. After 9/11, it was strictly American Idol culturally speaking, as virtually nothing artistic (in music or film) was allowed on the airwaves or in theaters.

Thus the (dialectical) concurrent rise of the Internet which revolutionized music & film with file-sharing (Napster) and powerful home computers, which now allow artists to produce their own music & film– on a budget without corporate interference. Today, nearly anyone can share their video to the world on YouTube & Facebook.

These vehicles now allow artists to directly distribute their music to fans– old & new. This empowers artists again, allowing what’s best to rise to the top based on merit– which is how it should always be.

One of the best, little-known songs on Star is “Slow Dog”– a cryptic & beautiful Donelly story, about a woman who loves a really stupid dog. The pay-off is this ‘slow dog’ manages to save her life too. They save each other’s life, which is the deepest kind of love. When you’re a really great band and you learn how to survive in the business, your major label partner (© 2005 WMG) pays for new videos– years later.

Note: the video is not trying to convey the song’s message, it’s simply the band with stop-cut editing, which is a popular ‘alternative’ video style. The official video also has a different song ending, versus the classic album version.

The college radio ‘hit’ from Star was “Feed the Tree,” a paean to childhood & environmentalism, with Donelly’s signature mastery of melody & hookiness.

“Feed the Tree” was featured regularly on MTV’s 120 Minutes, their exclusive early-1990’s ‘alternative’ programming. 120 Minutes aired late-night, when no one was watching, in an era when MTV was rapidly shifting towards reality TV. MTV’s The Real World was the original reality show, becoming an overnight sensation. By the end of the decade, MTV had mostly stopped playing videos. In 2000, CBS’s Survivor established reality-TV as a force on primetime television, and it’s been with us ever since.

If civilization is allowed to exist & survive, then eventually art will win out over this crassly commercial, philistine banality. For that to happen, people must care enough to fight for it. The dialects of all this is: art is what inspires people to act.

In early 2016, Tanya Donelly and Belly announced that they were working on new material and a limited tour. Catch them if you can. [1]

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Are You a Socialist?

Posted on April 24, 2016 by admin

The theoretical founder of socialism was Karl Marx (1818-1883).

The most brilliant expression of 20th-century Marxism was Leon Trotsky (1879-1940).

True socialists have read & absorbed these books. Pseudo-socialists don’t read anything serious.

Socialists understand the USSR was Stalinism, which is collectivist property relations controlled by a fascist bureaucracy. Trotsky fought ceaselessly against Stalinism, and was historically vindicated in December 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed back into capitalist Russia.

If Russia hadn’t had a workers’ revolution led by Lenin & Trotsky in 1917, it would be completely dismembered (balkanized) today.

Instead, modern Russia retains much of it’s size, and possesses the second-largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

A third world war would end human civilization. Today’s thermonuclear devices are orders-of-magnitude greater than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki at the end of World War 2.

Human society can only be preserved (meaning a world war can only be prevented), by a permanent socialist revolution led by the workers & youth of the U.S. The epicentre of global capitalism (culturally, economically & militarily) is the United States; a socialist revolution here leads the way for the rest of the world.

Marxist analysis in the 21st century is found at the World Socialist Web Site— wsws.org. The WSWS is published (6 days a week, since 1998) by the International Committee for the Fourth International (ICFI), the party founded by Trotsky in 1938.

The U.S. branch of the ICFI is the Socialist Equality Party (SEP). The SEP announced its candidates for U.S. president & vice-president on April 22– Earth day. Ric Size officially endorses the Socialist Equality Party’s presidential campaign. [1]

Niles Niemuth & Jerry White SEP: US president & VP candidates

To those interested in actual socialism, this is the only choice. If you would like to be a socialist, you must put in the work. Every other leftist political party, from the Democrats & Greens to the anarchists, are opportunist– meaning they are capitalist to the core. Marxists always spot them quickly, and easily dispatch them when engaged in polemics. That’s why Trotskyists are always blacklisted from ‘official’ discourse.

Those who are politically naive, but well-meaning, need to work through this as quickly as possible. Read the books shown, along with the WSWS on a daily basis to arm yourself politically.

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Earth Day Message of Love

Posted on April 22, 2016 by admin

Earth Day means finding another way.

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Blacklisted in Mount Dora (& Anywhere Else)

Posted on April 3, 2016 by admin

I’ve been told that Mount Dora is a VERY artistic town:

There’s just so much vibrancy, thoughtfulness & creativity here:

Mount Dora has its Art Festival every year (during Super Bowl weekend), and it’s packed with art & aficionados:

And if you’re an artist in town, try their official private affiliate– the Mount Dora Center for the Arts:

They’re very helpful with contacts, to help aspiring artists in the community:

Here’s a screenshot my intro call to the decision-maker:

…their follow up & my response:

Nothing since– this is what Mount Dora typically books…

…all sponsored through he CoC:

Pictured below is Mount Dora’s attempt at art with their ‘Modernism Museum’ which has been open for several years, yet still attracts very few people– even with the ‘audio tour’ included! Puzzling?

I propose this photo (of what was available) is more influential modernist art– in its composition & visual summary:

Artists seem to come & go here…this is what happened to a coffee shop that massively supported a former local American Idol contestant– now a comic book shop:

…located right next to this bookstore…

Conclusion:

Blacklists are unofficial by nature. This artist has lived (& worked) in Mount Dora, FL for 20+ years, and has never been offered a paying venue to perform– while this garbage (shown above) is unlimitedly funded & ceaselessly promoted. Real artists can’t compete against this, and can only expose it for what it is at its bottom– corruption. If people want better, they must start demanding it and making preparations to take charge of it. Until then, the philistines own it and cultural degradation rules the day.

So keep all this (& more) in mind as you walk or drive though quaint & ‘historic’ Mount Dora, while remembering that Segways (instead of pedestrians) ALWAYS have the right-of-way:

This isn’t The Villages, you know? [1]

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The Last Olympics & the Last U.S. Election

Posted on March 31, 2016 by admin

The 2016 Olympics are to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August. They will be held up to the world as a beacon of peace & camaraderie, in of a backdrop of poverty & squalor. These should be considered the ‘Last Olympics’– and here is why. Nothing in human civilization will ever be the same after this year. These obscene levels of social inequality will soon come to a head and violently burst onto everyone’s lives. It will appear on television screens broadcasting these Olympic games (and political conventions) which pretend that reality isn’t real, and that this grand charade can continue indefinitely. It can’t and won’t, because it’s now too real and too in-your-face to ignore. The levels of corruption (which are killing all of us) are willfully ignored– so a tiny few can be billionaires & play god. Capitalism is now a system which can no longer sustain itself.

The politicking involved in keeping Russian athletes out of international competition– through targeted doping testing, has reached a new level of corruption with the Maria Sharapova ‘provisional suspension’; which denies her (and other athletes like her) basic rights such as a fair & speedy trial. [1] The institution of the Olympics is now entirely in question, from those who organize, run, and profit from the games; to all those who compete in them. From bribery & favoritism among its officials, to rampant PED use among its competitors (from all nations); the Olympic games now reek of dirty money, corruption and cheating– even to the most casual sports fan. [2]

Speaking of Russia, the first great socialist revolution in human history happened there in November 1917. The infant U.S.S.R. was still a poor and backwards nation, bled white by a World War and then a cruel civil war. Its leadership died (Lenin), and then was purged (Trotsky); ossifying into Stalinism by the late 1920’s. This historical stillbirth existed for 74 years, until it collapsed back into capitalism (to the complete surprise of every bourgeois intellectual), in December of 1991. Trotsky (the last classical Marxist) had predicted & discussed this eventuality in 1936, in The Revolution Betrayed.

The next great socialist revolution will happen in our lifetimes. It will start in the U.S., and then spread globally in permanence. Capitalism will collapse with a sudden cardiac arrest of it’s leadership, as the working people (and the soldiers that make up all the military forces) will march en mass on the final bunkers of Langley, NORAD, the Pentagon & White House… They will seize Wall Street, the Fed, and all the banks & corporations… The media will be overrun and reprogrammed to tell the truth and expose the real class enemies of the working people, so they can be mercilessly hunted down and brought to justice in chains– if they don’t kill themselves first. This is the only endgame for humanity’s survival.

As this is the last U.S. election before a certain civil war (and possible world war), preparations must be made by the working people– in the form of education & militancy. A reliable revolutionary organization must be built. The Republican party will not stand idly by, if defeated on November 8. They will simply regather themselves and whip up their base in preparation for a military brass/ CIA-led right-wing coup. If the Republicans do manage to win (or steal) the November election, fascism becomes a near certainty.

Any political party that unleashes Donald Trump on the people, then begs their electorate to save them from themselves, needs to be forever removed (by the working people) from the arena of political leadership. Trump & his right-wing fascist base must be ruthlessly exposed and physically confronted when necessary, as they will never back down to reasonable words alone.

The greater challenge to revolutionary socialism in the U.S. will be the Democratic party, which still deceives too many who have some (but not nearly enough) brains. They are now the party of business-as-usual, represented by Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders is nothing more than a figment of limited imagination & ability. His purpose to the Democrats is to provide left-wing cover to a party that controls the workers through mafia-enforced unions & identity politics; both of which are thoroughly corrupt and beyond any reform.

When liberalism collapses, it collaborates with the jackboot of fascism for its own protection, forever remaining the historical class enemy of working people. History & human civilization won’t escape the writings of Karl Marx & Leon Trotsky; we will either socialize or annihilate ourselves.

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Extra credit reading on the subject– published 3-31-16 @ wsws.org

Ric Size

Songwriter, Musician, Artist

Category Archives: Politics