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[RELATED: Gov. Ron DeSantis designates Nov. 7th as 'Victims of Communism Day' in Florida]

A day devoted to victims of Communism in Florida? Really?

Of all the pressing matters our state faces, we do not need a special day thats an obvious political ploy to capture votes.

I have just had to pay an increase of more than 20% on my homeowners insurance. But I guess I can breathe easier, knowing that hot-button topics like abortion, critical race theory and being gay have been addressed by our current state administration.

When will the needs of citizens take precedence over the politics of retaining power?

Robert Hazelcorn, Cooper City

[RELATED: DeSantis signs 'Victims of Communism Day' into law for public schools]

I have read no dissent from this move by Floridas governor. How can Ron DeSantis compel students to learn about the victims of Communism most of whom are in foreign countries yet forbid students to learn about the victims of Jim Crow?

Where is the outrage?

Fred Gamble, Kerrville, TX

[RELATED: The Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe raises a question: Are more precedents next?]

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alitos draft opinion stated that the Constitution makes no reference to abortion, therefore women have no such right.

But nowhere in our Constitution does it state that any crazy person may own a gun; that corporations are people; or that government can take a persons private property and give it to another private person or business.

Nowhere does it say that money for public schools may be given to religious or private schools or that campaign contributions to political parties are equivalent to free speech.

Where in the Constitution does it say states have the authority to diminish the peoples right to vote?

Where does it say that nominees to the Supreme Court can lie to members of Congress at their confirmation hearings and get away with it? Justice Alito has made a very strong case for term limits on the court. The power of lifetime employment can easily be abused as we are witnessing now.

Mel Rubinstein, Fort Lauderdale

The term pro-life is so hypocritical.

It is well-established that many conservatives favor the death penalty, but not a womans right to choose what happens to her own body. By their reasoning, all life must be preserved. So how can they morally condone ending a life that has been independently sustained for many years? Isnt life itself sacred? A womans right to choose what happens to her own body saves two lives in the long run.

Barbra Nightingale, Hollywood

Reading your front-page May 7 news article, headlined Papers stand by textbook story, reminded me of Chico Marxs famous quote in the movie Duck Soup: Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?

If history is any indicator, my vote goes to the newspapers of record rather than the DeSantis administration, the Florida Department of Education and the Moms for Liberty group whose name means anything but.

Norman Berkowitz, Boynton Beach

[RELATED: When DeSantis stifles dissent, it makes us all victims | Editorial ]

Great editorial.

Thank you for standing against DeSantis self-promotion. Unfortunately, all of these new laws by DeSantis are restricting Floridas people and families and is sadly creating thousands of jobs for lawyers to argue all these questionable laws for years to come. Thanks for being a great newspaper!

Richard Alcott, Fort Lauderdale

See original here:
When will real-life problems truly matter? | Letters to the editor - South Florida Sun Sentinel

GAME INFO

Kapital: Sparks of Revolution28th April, 2022

Platform PC

Publisher 1C Entertainment

Developer Lapovich Team

Kapital: Sparks of Revolution is purportedly a game about class struggle, set in the backdrop of a ruined capital city in an unnamed country after a war. A great war, one could say. I'd say it's meant to be Belarus - or some other eastern-European country - post World War One. I wouldn't be surprised either since the developer, Lapovich Team, is Belarusian. It's also possible the game has told me what the setting is, and while I couldn't swear to it, my subconscious could be yelling out the correct answer.

Either way, it's not important. You're starting from the beginning, just with the advantage of knowing where the technology will go. The aim is a simple one, keep your resources balanced and keep the three social classes happy. These three classes are the Workers, the Bourgeois, and the Nobles. So far, so 1917 Russia.

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Let's talk about classes. The sad reality is that even in a supposed communist state, class systems still exist. Communism, if it worked as it is on paper, would no doubt be the ideal way to live. Everybody would be equal, and nobody would be left wanting. Universal healthcare and social welfare is, factually, a good thing. The states to have claimed themselves as communists never were, and the current "Communist" state, run by the Chinese Communist Party, is not communist. No country has ever been communist, and no country ever will be. This is something that Kapital: Sparks of Revolution sort of gets across, or I saw this while playing the game.

The name isn't missed on me, clearly pointing toward Karl Marx's work, Capital (Das Kapital, in his native tongue). This blunt nature is visible throughout the campaign, which is essentially the sandbox but gives you some specific orders on the way and forces you down particular paths. For example, having your the train - your source of grain - getting hijacked, pushing you to research a specific technology and then sending folks off to rescue it.

Another difference is the text-based dialogue with these specific missions and progression beats. You've got a character representing each of the three classes, with extra characters representing the healthcare system, the secret police, etc. Most of the time, you find the working-class representative having a go at the nobles, with some quips at the Bourgeois. Other times, you'll find a former soldier pushing you to take as many authoritarian choices as possible. It's all but showing you, possibly without meaning to, why Communism will never work and why humanity is screwed: people are self-serving and have far too many vested interests.

So why have I spoken about all that, only loosely linking it into Kapital: Sparks of Revolution? I've already dropped you that hint; the campaign and the sandbox are essentially the same. They use the same map; it's just that you get to change a few starting aspects on the sandbox and have a bit more freedom in which direction you want to go in the progression of your city, all while managing the balance of your people.

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Managing this balance will not be new to people who have played other city-building simulators before. You've been balancing population happiness repeatedly in the past, just with different labels (Residential, Commercial and Industrial in Cities: Skylines, for example). Here in Kapital: Sparks of Revolution, you're doing the same, and for the most part - if you've got the resources - you'll not struggle. Then again, I'm saying that, but one of my games ended in a mass riot. The nobles were the ones rioting; the bunch of needy gits that they are, wanted me to clear up the hundreds of corpses on the street, having all died of starvation.

My capital sounds more like a Belarusian city the more I talk about it. I've got the great famine of Russia of 1920-21 (Belarus was a part of it back then) on my mind. You have some tools for improving happiness, such as places for drink, ones for food and some shops. The workers go to one particular type; the bourgeois and nobles got to the other. Then it's just a case of making sure you have the resources. You can use the printing press and spend a great deal of money for a +10 boost, a bit of propaganda.

Also, make sure to have an efficient police force to solve crimes. You can interfere and determine which investigations they'll focus on, too. Maybe I should have focused on the case of the dead Noble? Possibly not, because you're also competing with corruption in every single government building, even the bloody hospital. It's an interesting tweak that reduces the efficiency of the particular facility based on the corruption level. You can only go on a corruption purge for one building, and it's got a fair cooldown. That and I often forget to go on a corruption purge.

You've always got more on top of your need to balance an ever-growing population, one growing even when people are dropping like flies and their corpses littering the street. You've also got to keep up with your research of more advanced buildings, ensure your workers are in the warehouses building up your resources and remember to enact new acts. It's in line with other city-builders, just not as detailed as the more extensive ones.

I can't say that aesthetically, admittedly. Kapital: Sparks of revolution is a good looking game, having that bit of extra colour that makes it pop when the populous lob Molotov Cocktails at your palace window. The designs of structures show good attention to detail, but the little things such as the people add to the effect.

The best I can honestly say about Kapital: Sparks of Revolution is that it's got the features you'd find in any good city builder. It's even got something extra thanks to the corruption system, but it doesn't have that depth to propel it to greatness. It doesn't help that there's only one map. The on-the-nose dialogue in the campaign is just that, but understandable if only to push the setting, not that it has as much impact as I think it would like to have.

All things considered, I can recommend Kapital: Sparks of Revolution as a perfectly serviceable city builder. If you like that sort of game, you'll have a decent amount of time with it, and sometimes that's more than enough.

6

Kapital: Sparks of Revolution is a perfectly serviceable city building game that attempts to add class struggle and other aspects such as state corruption and intervention into the mix. While it doesn't achieve everything it set out to do, the ideas are there and offer something interesting to play. Where it added some of these interesting ideas, it has also sadly skimped on other core areas; there is only one map, and the balance isn't great with the game constantly threatening to overwhelm you. All things considered, I'd still recommend it for fans of the genre, just with the knowledge that it isn't the most detailed and better options exist.

Originally posted here:
Kapital: Sparks of Revolution Review Communist City-Building? - Wccftech

According to recent research, homophobia in Georgia is not just linked to religiosity but also to the countrys communist past.

Peoples values and attitudes are shaped by many factors, religion and historical experience being important among them.

A paper we recently published in the International Journal of Sociology suggests that Georgias communist past is associated with higher degrees of homophobia just as religiosity is.

However, the experience of a communist past also moderates the impact of religiosity on homophobia. In post-Communist countries, an individuals religiosity has a weaker effect on liberal attitudes toward same-sex relations than it has in countries with no communist government in their historical experience.

To show this, we used data collected between 2017 and 2020 in 17 countries through the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). The countries were selected to ensure that different religious denominations were present that both had and did not have a communist past.

Under communism, same-sex relations were either illegal or treated as a psychological disorder. This may explain why post-communist societies are less tolerant towards same-sex relations. In the post-communist countries in the sample, 44% of people perceive sexual relations between two adults of the same sex as always wrong, in contrast to 15% in their non-post-communist counterparts.

Organised religion is often the dominant force against queer rights globally. A regression analysis shows that religiosity is an important factor affecting homophobic sentiments: a higher religiosity level is associated with lower tolerance of queer people.

Another important factor affecting tolerance towards queer people is societys historical experience: individuals in post-communist countries are 0.6 points less tolerant on a four-point homosexuality-tolerance scale, compared to their counterparts in non-communist countries.

The effect of religiosity on homophobia is weaker in post-communist countries, where the difference in tolerance towards same-sex relations between the most and the least religious individuals is smaller compared to the similar difference in non-post-communist countries.

Thus, religiosity appears to encourage homophobia. So too does a communist past. While religiosity also drives homophobia in post-communist countries, it does so to a lesser extent. This appears to stem, in part, from people in post-communist countries being more homophobic across the spectrum of religiosity.

This article is based on a paper, which was published in the International Journal of Sociology.

The views presented in this article are the authors alone, and do not reflect the views of CRRC Georgia or any related entity.

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Datablog | Both religion and the county's Soviet past contribute to Homophobia in Georgia - OC Media

A compromise on abortion

You dont have to be pro-choice to oppose overturning Roe | Column, May 5

I am an educated, retired teacher and educational leader who is politically Independent. Not a fence-sitter, as many on both sides would call me, but a true Independent. I see positives (and negatives) on both sides of the table. To that end, I would like to suggest a compromise. Let me preface that suggestion with a few facts: Republicans, you will never end abortion; you can only end legal abortion. You may not even substantially reduce the number of abortions. Democrats, you need to come closer to the middle. Of course, conservatives object to late-term abortions and partial-birth abortions. Most of us do. They are inhumane. So, heres the compromise: Women suffering (and suffering is the correct term) from unwanted pregnancies have 16 weeks (four months) to abort safely and legally.

With todays technology, no one can say, after four missed periods, nausea, etc., that they didnt think to take a pregnancy test. Women must take that much responsibility. The exception, of course, is a risk to the mothers health. Even rape and incest should be able to be addressed in four months. This way, everyone wins/loses equally. There are no great solutions. Unwanted pregnancy is a true tragedy. But its not going to stop happening, and we need to meet in the middle to respect everyones needs and rights.

Lynn Rourke, Dunedin

New law requires school lessons on victims of communism | May 10

So our governor is touting a new law requiring schools to offer lessons on victims of communism. How admirable! But heaven forbid a teacher should even so much as mention victims of racism. Yet racism has had a far more persistent and profoundly damaging effect on our nation than communism, and our schools are forbidden to teach all of those facts.

Elenora Sabin, St. Petersburg

New law requires school lessons on victims of communism | May 10

Im glad Gov. Ron DeSantis wants children to learn about the dangers of communism. Maybe next he can teach our children about the dangers of pandemics and the 70,000 who died in the state because of the incompetence of publicly elected officials.

Michael Zaccardi, Palm Harbor

Read the rest here:
Here is a fair compromise on abortion | Letters - Tampa Bay Times

Following the leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization case, left-wing organizers have swept into action, launching rallies and events designed to put pressure on the justices. Over the Mothers Day Weekend protestors forced Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to an undisclosed location and carried out disruptive demonstrations outside and in some cases inside a number of churches including New Yorks St. Patrick Cathedral, where a picture of pro-life Catholics blocking the entrance to the church from screaming protestors went viral.

In a number of pictures and videos from the Mothers Day protests, abortion protestors were seen wearing green bandanas, shirts, and holding green banners, part of a #Green4Abortion campaign. The color choice was even endorsed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who tweeted out an announcement for a protest in New Yorks Foley Square with the instructions wear green.

The organization responsible for the hashtag encouraging supporters to wear green is Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights which launched a week of action beginning on May 8, Mothers Day, including an emphasis on Actions Outside of Churches.

Rise Up 4 Abortions Twitter page shows them playing a major role in protests in New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Chicago over the weekend, with additional protests planned May 14 in New York City, Chicago, Austin, Honolulu, Seattle, San Francisco, and Boston.

While the lefts ability to rapidly throw together color-coordinated protest groups is well known, in this case, there is more to Rise Up 4 Abortion than meets the eye. An examination of the groups website suggests the group is little more than a front for the radical Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), a Maoist organization founded by 60s radical Bob Avakian, a former leader of the Anti-war Students for a Democratic Society.

For starters, the group references leading RCP member and Avakian devotee Sunsara Taylor and directs donors via Paypal to World Cant Wait Inc., another organization co-founded by Taylor. World Cant Wait also shares a mailing address with Refuse Fascism, another Taylor-led RCP front group that organized Antifa-style protests aimed at the Trump Administration. The Rise Up 4 Abortion page even includes a link to Revolution Nothing Less!, an RCP Youtube show, based on Bob Avakians new Communism.

The RCP has historically played a front and center role in orchestrating violent riots, including the 1992 Los Angeles Rodney King Riots and the 2014 Ferguson riots, where the Daily Beast called them the communist agitators trying to ignite Ferguson.

The Revolutionary Communist Party is no mere liberal wine moms, despite urging people to vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Instead, the partys constitution says they openly seek, a revolution that overthrows this system and the capitalist-imperialist class that embodies and runs ita revolution that will immediately establish a new power.

Avakian has called the overthrow of U.S. imperialism and the establishment of the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat the greatest contribution to the world revolution that can be made

Despite their Communist orientation the group clearly has no problem seeking funding and support from Democrat billionaires like George Soros and Tom Steyer, according to a June 2020 undercover video by Project Veritas showing Refuse Fascism organizers discussing fundraising efforts. Other support for RCPs Refuse Fascism project came from the Alliance for Global Justice, a 501(c) with historic links to the communist Sandinistas.

Ironically, not everyone in the pro-Abortion coalition is excited about marching alongside overt Maoists. D.C. Anti-Fascist Action, a Washington D.C. based Antifa group, posted a series of tweets condemning the RCP as a cult:

The Antifa account went on to link a Twitter thread calling for RCP signs and banners to be taken down.

Tension between anarchist groups and more hierarchical communist groups is not uncommon among the radical left, but it does raise important questions. If even Antifa knows that the presence of the RCP at protests is bad news, why cant Hillary Clinton and other Democrats come to the same conclusion?

Kyle Shideler is the director of the Counter Islamist Grid, an initiative of the Middle East Forum. Kyle has worked for several organizations involved with Middle East and terrorism policy since 2006. He is a contributing author to Saudi Arabia and the Global Islamic Terrorist Network: America and the Wests Fatal Embrace, and has written for numerous publications and briefed legislative aides, intelligence, and law enforcement officials and the general public on national security issues.

Read the original here:
Hillary-Endorsed Abortion Group Targeting Churches Is A Front For Revolutionary Communists - The Federalist