MIM Notes ***

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 1

MIM Notes

January 15, 2003, Nº 274

The Official Newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)

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INSIDE: Lord of the Rings * Ani DiFranco * India * Una Página en Español...

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he Bush administration

continually plays to an audience

that believes it is not informed

enough to oppose the war with Iraq. He

plays this card especially by saying there

is secret evidence of weapons of mass

destruction or Saddam Hussein's own

war-mongering that justifies Bush's

going to war.

For certain authority-lovers, Bush hits

the mark this way. A student at the

University of New Hampshire speaking

against the student government and

student majority generally put it this way:

"We base opinions of foreign and

domestic policy on the knowledge we

receive from a biased media, from our

friends' opinions, and from our

professors' leading questions. Bush bases

his opinions on Top Secret intelligence

data gathered from multiple sources,

national estimates from senior

intelligence officials, and advice from

experts. If even he does not have a

complete picture, ours must be a

minuscule piece of the puzzle."(1)

It's not just young students accustomed

to using an argument equivalent to

"father knows best." With regard to

Authority-lovers write Bush a blank check

whether neo-confederate Trent Lott

should be replaced as majority leader of

the U.S. Senate (and he resigned the day

we wrote this story), the incoming

president of the Colorado state senate and

Republican deemed conservative enough

to publish in the National Review said,

"What they [the U.S. Senate] do about it

is up to them, and they'll have my respect

regardless. They have many

considerations to weigh, knowledge I'm

not privy to, and they don't need my

uninvited opinion."(2) True, the

Colorado state senate is not national

power, but John Andrews is still an elite

level power-holder and even he says he

has to defer to the Republican Senators

on the neo-confederate movement

instead of demanding to know why Lott

is still around in the fourth ranking power

position in the country.

Ironically, in the same article, Andrews

said the Republican Party is the party of

Lincoln. The New Hampshire student

feeling too uninformed to have a say on

the question of war also said, "There is

nothing wrong with voicing an opinion.

. . .America is, after all, a democracy--

People on the street

denounce Amerikan

prison brutality

MIM is currently working as part of a movement to abolish

Security Housing Units (SHUs) in California prisons. SHUs are

isolation units where prisoners spend 23 hours per day in small,

windowless cells. SHU guards are notoriously brutal, as illus-

trated by the infamous "gladiator fights" at Corocoran Prison,

where guards forced prisoners to fight and bet on the outcome.

Here we publish interviews gathered during a recent protest in

downtown San Francisco. Interviews were mainly with former

prisoners but also others who had something to say about the

criminal injustice system.

One of the men interviewed was a former prisoner at Corcoran.

He testified to the inhumane conditions in the SHU and the cor-

ruption and brutality of the guards. "The things I'm about to tell

you are based on a true story from the Corcoran SHU in 1994...

Big corporations choke the Internet

Google pulls plug

on MIM ads

On December 27, the Internet search engine and corpo-

ration Google pulled the plug on 22 different advertise-

ments--all of the existing advertisements promoting

MIM's website. Google sent two form letters repeating

the following rationale 22 times: "Google policy does not

permit the advertisement of websites that contain `lan-

guage that advocates against an individual, group, or or-

ganization'. As noted in our advertising terms and condi-

tions, we reserve the right to exercise editorial discretion

when it comes to the advertising we accept on our site."

Some of the ads in question included these: "Under-

standing Stalin. Controversial magazine review of Stalin

critics and his defenders www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/mt/

mt6.html"

Another ad Google took off with the same justification

was "Communists on Star Trek. Star Trek: Nemesis re-

viewed. Over 100 free Maoist movie reviews

www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/movies/"

There were 20 other such ads--all the ads that MIM

attempted--that Google took down. In each case, the lan-

guage of the Google form letters said that the ads should

be revised to be in line with policy, but given that Google

took down all 22 ads on various and sundry topics, and

given that there was no logic behind rejection of each ad

other than that it was communist, MIM followed up with

Concordia

Hillel sues

student union

On December 20, the Jewish student

group called Hillel at Concordia Univer-

sity sued the student government over its

suspension in relation to military recruit-

ing. According to the Montreal Gazette,

Hillel does not deny there was a brochure

recruiting for the Israel Defense Force

on its Concordia table discovered by the

student union, but it says it did not au-

thorize it. Hillel is seeking $100,000 in

punitive damages.

Recruiting for foreign militaries is

against the law in Canada. The Royal

Canadian Mounted Police received infor-

mation with regard to the IDF recruiting.

According to Hillel itself, "The

Concordia Student Union (CSU) offered

to reinstate Hillel, but has refused to un-

freeze Hillel's funds unless Hillel signs

a document committing not to promote

war. Hillel refuses to sign the document."

The Concordia student government

had already previously passed a resolu-

tion that Concordia was a military- free

Continued on page 5...

Continued on page 6...

Continued on page 8...

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 2

What is MIM?

The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is the collection of existing or emerging

Maoist internationalist parties in the English-speaking imperialist countries and their English-

speaking internal semi-colonies, as well as the existing or emerging Maoist Internationalist
parties in Belgium, France and Quebec and the existing or emerging Spanish-speaking
Maoist Internationalist parties of Aztlan, Puerto Rico and other territories of the U.$. Empire.

MIM Notes is the newspaper of MIM. Notas Rojas is the newspaper of the Spanish-speaking
parties or emerging parties of MIM. MIM upholds the revolutionary communist ideology
of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and is an internationalist organization that works from the

vantage point of the Third World proletariat. MIM struggles to end the oppression of all
groups over other groups: classes, genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possibly by
building public opinion to seize power through armed struggle. Revolution is a reality for

North America as the military becomes over-extended in the government's attempts to
maintain world hegemony. MIM differs from other communist parties on three main
questions: (1) MIM holds that after the proletariat seizes power in socialist revolution, the

potential exists for capitalist restoration under the leadership of a new bourgeoisie within
the communist party itself. In the case of the USSR, the bourgeoisie seized power after the
death of Stalin in 1953; in China, it was after Mao's death and the overthrow of the "Gang

of Four" in 1976. (2) MIM upholds the Chinese Cultural Revolution as the farthest advance
of communism in humyn history. (3) As Marx, Engels and Lenin formulated and MIM has
reiterated through materialist analysis, imperialism extracts super-profits from the Third

World and in part uses this wealth to buy off whole populations of oppressor nation so-
called workers. These so-called workers bought off by imperialism form a new petty-
bourgeoisie called the labor aristocracy. These classes are not the principal vehicles to

advance Maoism within those countries because their standards of living depend on
imperialism. At this time, imperialist super-profits create this situation in the Canada, Quebec,
the United $tates, England, France, Belgium, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland,

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Israel, Sweden and Denmark. MIM accepts people as
members who agree on these basic principles and accept democratic centralism, the system
of majority rule, on other questions of party line.

"The theory of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin is universally applicable. We should

regard it not as dogma, but as a guide to action. Studying it is not merely a matter of

learning terms and phrases, but of learning Marxism-Leninism as the science of revolution."

- Mao Zedong, Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 208.

Editor, MC206; Production, MC12

Letters

MIM Notes

The Official Newsletter of The Maoist Internationalist Movement

ISSN 1540-8817

MIM Notes is the bi-weekly newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement. MIM

Notes is the official Party voice; more complete statements are published in our journal,
MIM Theory. Material in MIM Notes is the Party's position unless noted. MIM Notes
accepts submissions and critiques from anyone. The editors reserve the right to edit
submissions unless permission is specifically denied by the author; submissions are
published anonymously unless authors insist on identification (prisoners are never
identified by name). MIM is an underground party that does not publish the names of its
comrades in order to avoid the state surveillance and repression that have historically
been directed at communist parties and anti-imperialist movements. MCs, MIM comrades,
are members of the Party. The Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL) is an anti-
imperialist mass organization led by MIM (RCs are RAIL Comrades). MIM's ten-point
program is available to anyone who sends in a SASE.

The paper is free to all prisoners, as long as they write to us every 90 days to confirm

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tains thousands of documents, with ordering information for many more.

MIM grants explicit permission to copy all or part of this newspaper for any reason, as

long as we are credited.

For general correspondence, contact:

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WWW: <http//www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext>

Ani DiFranco fan rips
MIM review

Dear MIM,

i just read your review on ani's album

dilate. [http://www.etext.org/Politics/

MIM/bookstore/music/ alternative/

anidifranco.html] let me just tell you that

every song that you interpreted was com-

pletely off the mark. ani is leading a revo-

lution far more powerful than you could

imagine. her music does not preach that

women are helpless victims. Ani has

empowered women all over the globe to

fight and to stand for something. I was

quite amused at your lack of insight: you

reviewed ani's song "done wrong" as a

song of a hurt, whining woman complain-

ing, HA! just to let you know what the

song was actually about, ani is singing

about the death penalty in this ballad, she

is using a woman as a metaphor. if you

want to review music you should

strengthen your level of insight and be-

come a little more educated. you have

completely missed the meaning behind

every one of her songs. ani's record la-

bel is "righteous babe records," a label

that she started on her own, with her own

money. how the fuck can you consider

that weak. she has built herself up from

almost nothing, she has given women the

motivation to do the same. nowhere in

her songs does she imply that women are

weak victims. ani stands for something

and uses her status as a respected female

musician to voice her opinion and speak

out against people with tunnel vision,

such as yourself. i am sorry sir, but you

have no idea what you are talking about,

as ani would say, "take your big dick out

of the sand and look around!"

--Ani DiFranco fan, December 2002

mim3@mim.org replies: With Ani

DiFranco about to go on tour in New

England in March 2003, MIM was prob-

ably due to hear from one of her promot-

ers; even though our album review ap-

peared in our September 1994 MIM

Notes and on our web page not long af-

ter.

Let me help this along, by putting in

the plug here: http://

www.righteousbabe.com/index.asp If we

go to this web site, we will find a tiny bit

of material, including none of the biog-

raphy that the letter-writer alludes to. It

just goes to show that this persyn wants

to make a big deal about how DiFranco

"built herself up from almost nothing"

and how great the label is, but the label

web site has no material along those lines.

It's tough to be "modest" and "individu-

alist" at the same time, so MIM mem-

bers never attempt to go there. We look

at things from a group angle--classes,

genders, nations.

With all credit to DiFranco, working

for the Greens, she has spoken out against

war in Iraq and for reproductive rights

and deconcentration of the media. None-

theless, we stand by what our fan's re-

view of DiFranco said, which is that the

feminism came up short in her work. Her

Righteous Babes webpage gives props to

Gloria Steinem, who never denied work-

ing for the CIA to spy on communists

and progressive youth at international

conferences, according to 1960s radical

feminists called the "Redstockings."

Steinem's political career including both

book publication and magazine public-

ity can be traced back to the same single

Rockefeller family owners of the book

publishing and their publicity.

The view that a womyn in the industri-

alized world "built herself up from al-

most nothing" is the typical Anglo-Saxon

capitalist or petty-bourgeois view that

gets tiresome. When the writer mentions

DiFranco's "own money," we have to

point out that cultures built on stealing

First Nations land and enslaving a conti-

nent are going to have some rich people!

It has nothing to do with exceptional ef-

fort!

This sort of view we call "Anglo-Saxon

individualist" cannot lead forward, be-

cause it implies the whole world's nations

should kill each other off and enslave

some of the remainder and then say they

made it "with their own effort." That kind

of thought cannot lead to peace and glo-

bal harmony, so we do not promote it.

The next time someone in Amerika says

they "made it" with their "own effort,"

we call on our readers to remind them

about the basic facts of history. Whether

or not Ani DiFranco participated in en-

slavement or genocide, the people in

Buffalo passed down wealth and built an

economy on that basis.

At the same time, let us defend one

aspect of Ani DiFranco's biography: "she

moved out of her mother's apartment.

Living on her own, she played every Sat-

urday night at the Essex Street Pub, and

at sixteen she graduated from the Visual

and Performing Arts High School."

(Source: http://www.columbia.edu/

~marg/ani/biography.html ) Moreover,

"Now, five years and six albums later,

she is still a steadfast independent."

MIM is one of the few political orga-

nizations saying that the age of adulthood

should be moved up. When it comes to

algebra, calculus and physics, most par-

ents would not say, "oh, she's not ready

for that." They would rather be overjoyed

to hear that their children took up that

advancement at the earliest age possible.

Many of these same parents would not

Continued on page 9...

Ani
DeFranco

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 3

A survey released December 17th says

that the difference between the average

Amerikkkan and the Amerikkkan

"elites"--a.k.a. rulers--has widened

from already high levels in 1998 on the

question of immigration. Although Bush

has imposed the most Draconian of bor-

der controls on Mexico and Canada--to

such an extent that even the conserva-

tive Western part of Canada deeply re-

sents Bush for raising lumber tariffs--

the public approves of Bush less than

30% on only two issues, climate change

and immigration. The wave of national

chauvinism since September 11th has

contributed to unjust views of immigra-

tion.

The survey backs MIM's theory that

the labor aristocracy is more hostile to

internationalism than the imperialist

bourgeoisie itself. Lenin explained at

length the psychology of this class that

feels that it has just "barely" made it and

therefore fights much harder for its privi-

leges.

Only 14% of "opinion leaders" or U.$.

"elites" agreed with the prevailing opin-

ion that immigration should decrease.

60% of the Amerikkkan public believes

legal immigration should decrease by

policy of the government. This is despite

the fact that the "Statute of Liberty"

stands in New York City and despite the

continuous bragging about being a "free

country" and "nation of immigrants."

Obviously the Amerikkkan majority does

not agree to the freedom to travel and the

imprisonment rate in the United $tates is

the highest in the world, thanks to that

same labor aristocracy's dumbocratically

elected politicians.

"The survey found that 70 percent of

the public said that reducing illegal im-

migration should be a `very important'

foreign-policy goal of the United States,

compared to only 22 percent of those in

the elite."(1) That's why in 1992 Patrick

Buchanan beat Bush in the New Hamp-

shire primary. Buchanan and Perot run on

an "Amerikkka-first" platform and 1992

was a recession.

The near-unanimous approach of other

"Marxist" organizations in the United

$tates fantasizes about an exploited pro-

letariat within U.$. borders as a reservoir

of internationalism. Quite the contrary,

we should be clear that the Amerikkkan

population is even less internationalist

and thus in some ways more reactionary

than its ruling class. It goes beyond be-

ing "fooled" by the ruling class. The la-

bor aristocracy fights for a re-division of

the surplus-value in its own interests and

it fights consciously. When it comes to

these issues, the labor aristocracy is not

a passive thing with false consciousness

about to fall away and give rise to revo-

Views on immigration distinguish labor

aristocracy from internationalist bourgeoisie

There is a terrible dispute afoot in the

world about the U.S. military budget.

Some contend that the U.S. military bud-

get each year is only more than the next

10 closest countries combined. Others

say 13, 15, 25 and some say the whole

world combined spends less than the

United $tates on the military. A writer in

Pakistan said, "Americas commitment to

peace is best exemplified by the fact that

its annual military budget, at $360 bil-

lion and counting, now exceeds the mili-

tary budgets of the rest of the world com-

bined. You can't get much more com-

mitted to peace than that."(1)

Despite the obscenity of U.$. military

power, yahoos like neo-Confederates

Senator Trent Lott, Attorney General

John Ashcroft and President George W.

Bush

cling in an irrational way to their mili-

tarist ideas. Through organs like the

"conservative" Weekly Standard they

still speak in praise of "peace through

strength."(2)

Rednecks supported these yahoos for

decades and now the U.$. military is by

far the strongest. So why is it that we still

have war? And why are civil liberties

more trampled than ever in the United

$tates? It seems that "peace through

strength" could not be more false.

Here is what the Amerikkkan founders

said in the "Federalist Papers," a collec-

tion of essays defending the U.S. Consti-

As MIM has continuously pointed out,

the idea that capitalism is better than so-

cialism for the people of the world can-

not be substantiated by any real compara-

tive data. (1) The only way to make this

seem like the case is to compare the im-

perialist countries--countries which are

rich because they rob the rest of the

world--to the poorest countries that be-

came socialist and leave out the fact that

they did not start in the same place as far

as development is concerned. That said,

the New York Times recently published

an article that provides some information

about recent events in India, which show

in graphic detail capitalist "success" in

the third world.

People throughout India continue to eat

boiled leaves and grass seeds even though

more than enough wheat was grown in

this year's harvest. Capitalist logic calls

this wheat "surplus"--a sickening ex-

ample of what happens when profit is put

above survival rights.

Though approximately 350 million In-

dians "go to bed hungry every night," and

half of all children are malnourished, In-

dian landlords continue to hoard more

and more wheat, which is essential to the

diet of the poor. In fact the Indian gov-

ernment currently has 53 million metric

tons of "surplus" wheat in storage. They

have so much in storage that they can-

not even fit it in their warehouses, and

are now storing the wheat in fields, with

plastic and jute bags and tarps in an un-

successful effort to preserve it.(2)

The two main things that have been

done in India because of the recent "over-

production" crisis have been to spend

massive amounts of money on storage

of the "surplus" wheat in order to keep

prices high enough for a profit, and ex-

porting the wheat at lower prices than

they charge the Indian masses. Accord-

ing to The New York Times "a recent

report found that it was spending more

on storage than on agriculture, rural de-

velopment, irrigation and flood control

combined." (2) Thus the Indian bour-

geoisie is forced to spend money on

keeping prices high enough for a profit

while the masses find it harder and

harder to even eat every day.

Also important to the idea of the "suc-

cess" of capitalism in the neocolonial

countries is the fact that exports of im-

portant food products are often sold at

cheaper prices than they are sold to the

masses of the country. This is the case in

India today, where it is not surprising to

find the export prices lower than that paid

by the Indian population. The fact is that

in capitalist countries, producing an abun-

dant amount of food is usually a "bad"

thing, while under socialism, producing

enough or more than enough food is

viewed as a good thing. The word "sur-

plus" under capitalism refers to an amount

that cannot be used in order to maintain

profits; under socialism the word means

that which is left over after everyone has

already eaten.

Also a telling fact on capitalism's "suc-

cess" is the environmental destruction

that that is threatening India's ability to

have any sort of self-sufficient agricul-

ture. The majority of the food grown in

India is grown in the state of Punjab. In

order to survive the Punjab farmers must

grow massive amounts of wheat and rice,

which has the effect of depleting the soil

and water. (2)

Since it is true that when socialist coun-

tries existed they left all capitalist coun-

tries that started at the same place in the

The

problem

with

fantasy

genres

Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers (2002)
Directed by Peter Jackson
2 hours 58 minutes
released December 18 2002

The second film in the Tolkien tril-

ogy has received very positive reviews

and it is on its way to surpass the previ-

ous chapter in sales. For MIM, "Lord

of the Rings" is just a contribution to

the stability of capitalism.

The first part of the adventure tril-

ogy titled "Lord of the Rings" based on

J.R. Tolkien's books of the same name

brought in $860 million globally with

$547 million of that coming from out-

side the U$A.(1) It cost $93 million to

make and another estimated $50 mil-

lion in ads.(2) "The Two Towers" sur-

passed its production costs before

Christmas and is on course to surpass

both Harry Potter films also in the

above $300 million revenue cat-

egory.(3)

"Lord of the Rings: The Two Tow-

ers" is full of action, adventure, magic

and fighting. The film integrates com-

puter-generated animation and live ac-

tion in a way that wasn't possible until

very recently. We do not question its

artistic or technical merits. Rather, we

argue that artistic skill cannot redeem

a work with a fundamentally ugly po-

litical premise.

This is not to say that "Lord of the

U.$. military budget would have

angered Amerikan `founding fathers'

Wheat rots in storage as Indian masses starve

A recent example of capitalist `success'

Continued on page 5...

Continued on page 7...

Continued on page 8...

Continued on page 4...

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 4

lutionary internationalism. Rather the la-

bor aristocracy is an active class pursu-

ing its own distinct and readily identifi-

able interests, which is why there is a

huge gap in the ruling class view and la-

bor aristocracy view of immigration.

The real bourgeois internationalists

like the Rockefeller family, Jimmy

Carter, Bush Sr. and Clinton have been

way too much for the Amerikkkan popu-

lation on the immigration issue. Raising

questions about unemployment or declin-

ing wages (not counting benefits) with

these labor aristocracy people only re-

sults in their going to Buchanan. Failing

to understand that is failing to understand

the concrete situation we are in and

Lenin's theories about the labor aristoc-

racy. Except amongst immigrants and the

Spanish-speaking population, we should

not be talking about a proletariat at all

inside U.$. borders. It just makes resent-

ful chauvinists more resentful and nar-

row-minded.

Recognizing reality means that what

we are doing in the major imperialist

countries where the population is

bourgeoisified is fighting to unite with

the lumpen and a small wing of the bour-

geoisie--the left-wing of the internation-

alist bourgeoisie. The mainstream press

shows some elemental awareness of this

when it derides the recent anarchist-led

protests as that of "trust-fund babies" that

have the money to travel from one pro-

test to the next opposing the IMF and so

on. The press said the same thing about

the Weather Underground in the 1960s

and 1970s when some of its prominent

members were powerful lawyers and

millionaires.

There is a wing of the bourgeoisie that

is far-sighted and internationalist: it just

does not rule. It is also very small right

now though it showed up in Seattle and

various other protests on the global or-

der. The left-wing of the internationalist

bourgeoisie is an ally of the proletarian

struggle comparable to what Lenin,

Stalin and Mao called the "national bour-

geoisie" that could ally with revolution

in semi-feudal conditions. Such a na-

tional bourgeoisie and the left-wing of

the internationalist bourgeoisie are en-

dangered species but real. We have to

recognize their separate interests apart

from imperialism.

It is not our task to oppose Bushes,

Blairs, Carters, & Clintons with objec-

tively nationalist demands to oppose

NAFTA or immigration. Rather our task

is to show that our approach to establish

a global minimum wage, a global envi-

ronmental protection regime and thus a

globalized class struggle is the only so-

lution that can bring peace and prosper-

ity.

The Center for Immigration Studies

lacks in theory even though it has con-

ducted the surveys on immigration: "It

Views on immigration distinguish labor

aristocracy from internationalist bourgeoisie

is not entirely clear why the public and

nations leaders have such different views

on immigration. Other areas in which the

public and elites disagree are those deal-

ing with protecting the jobs of American

workers and economic competition from

other countries. This strongly suggests

that one of the main reasons ordinary

Americans are concerned about immigra-

tion is that they fear job competition."

The huge gap between the imperialist

internationalists and the labor aristocracy

has resulted in a host of hypocritical po-

litical situations. While the labor aristoc-

racy benefits from the ability of their

countries' businesspeople to do business

in the Third World, when the Third World

people try to do business in the imperial-

ist countries, the labor aristocracy throws

them off planes for "looking terrorist."

Then it raises various movements against

the Third World people including that of

Le Pen in France and Buchanan in the

United $tates.

We should not say that the various trade

and immigration treaties and conventions

are just bourgeois consciousness foisting

"false consciousness" on an imperialist

country proletariat. We should defend

those treaties and seek to drive their logic

further.

The government of the Netherlands

allowed immigrant Joma Sison into the

Netherlands and it signed various trea-

ties and conventions that guarantee Joma

Sison certain rights. The Filipino com-

rades have recognized that. In practice

they point out those treaties and conven-

tions and seek to defend them instead of

letting the Dutch government back out

of them. The Filipino comrades would

be guilty of spreading false conscious-

ness if they spent so much time talking

about treaties and European humyn-

rights conventions and it were true that

there is a European proletariat about to

rise for internationalist revolution. That

is not the situation or the level of politi-

cal advancement we have, so upholding

international treaties against the labor

aristocracy is correct.

Various treaties, conventions and laws

already standing do not stop the Euro-

pean labor aristocracy from complaining

to immigrants. Here is what one com-

pletely typical labor aristocrat had to say

on the Internet Usenet group

soc.culture.filipino: "Poor Joma sisson.

Complaining to the dutch government

that he wants his previous benefits re-

stored. That he only gets a `measly' al-

lowance of 201.93 Euros and that the

government does not pay his house. Ex-

cuse me, I am paying taxes for that. If

you have complaints go back to the Phil-

ippines. See how much you get there.

Complaining we are `a police state'. Oh

sob, sob. If you are so unhappy in the

Netherlands then what are you doing

there?" We point out to this jerk that the

Netherlands prevents Sison from work-

ing--thanks again to political pressure

from people like himself. Then he turns

around and says Sison does not pay taxes.

Joma Sison and other communists

would be willing to accept a deal where

the imperialists withdraw their

businesspeople from the Philippines. Yet

the labor aristocracy wants it both ways.

It wants the treaties that allow them to

buy clothing at the Gap manufactured by

imperialist manufacturers allowed to visit

and do business in the Third World, but

they don't want the Third World people

to have the right to visit the imperialist

countries for their own business pur-

poses.

These labor aristocrats should be deal-

ing with their own governments first in-

stead of extending hostility to immigrants

for the treaties and conventions that their

own governments signed. If these labor

aristocrats get their governments and

business out of the Third World, there

would be no Third World people want-

ing to live in the imperialist countries.

Rarely does someone want to leave his

or her homeland except in disastrous cir-

cumstances, circumstances created by the

imperialists. When the imperialists effec-

tively rule in the Third World, there is

no point in complaining when the Third

World people visit or seek to live in the

imperialist countries themselves.

Our phony Marxist critics seek to make

excuses for the survey results that show

the so-called workers to be worse than

the imperialists themselves. They do not

see the contradiction between the labor

aristocracy and the imperialists and they

fail to utilize it correctly. They do not see

distinct class interests.

The labor aristocracy's narrow view

leads to war amongst nations over cer-

tain local business matters. Hitler was the

ultimate expression of narrowness on

immigration and international exchange.

For its part, the internationalist bourgeoi-

sie has only itself to stand on, which is

why its views are very unpopular on im-

migration. The narrow social basis of

their kind of internationalism results in

oscillation in the imperialist countries

between fascism and liberal democracy.

The imperialists clearly benefit from

international exchange and subversion of

Third World countries, but the labor ar-

istocracy benefits at the store while feel-

ing its jobs threatened. It is only the pro-

letarian internationalist view that will

make a reality out of the theory of inter-

national economic cooperation. When

MIM comes to power, it will make sure

that the people understand and concretely

feel the benefits of trade, and economic

cooperation in general.

The labor aristocracy is wrong that the

world does not benefit from free flow of

trade and people and the resulting coop-

eration. The labor aristocracy view is ig-

norant and fearful. The imperialists sim-

ply cannot implement "free trade" and

"freedom of travel," because they give

the clearest benefits to only a small elite.

It is only the MIM line that is the solu-

tion to this contradiction.

Note: http://www.cis.org/circle.html

Help

promote the

internationalist

position on

immigration

The article "Labor aristocracy differs

from internationalist rulers" is way too

difficult for everyday "persyn on the

street" agitation. We need pointed art

posters to turn the tide on immigration

questions. If you can draw up posters

criticizing the labor aristocracy for its

views on the immigration question,

please forward them to MIM. Here are

some ideas:

(1) Big mouth labor aristocrats wear-

ing clothes with tags "made in China"

and India while eating cheap food farmed

in Mexico or by migrant Mexicans then

tell the Third World people to go home.

(2) Big mouth labor aristocracy to un-

employed Third World people not al-

lowed to work spits, "I'm paying taxes

for your welfare benefits!"

(3) Salt-of-the-earth immigrant worker

says: "I'll go home to my country if your

country goes home from mine!"

(4) Floriduh labor aristocrat with no

income taxes in a state funded by sales

taxes referring to undocumented work-

ers: "I'm paying for their children to go

to school!" Salt-of-the-earth farmworker

replies: "No, I'm paying for yours to go

to school AND I'm feeding them." Note

that Florida's estimated state revenue

from sales tax in 2000-2001 was $13.6

Billion, while the estimated state budget

for education was $14.5 billion.

Continued from page 3...

We constantly update MIM's

coverage of the U.$. war on

our web site, with news and
opinion, agitation materials,
articles in English, Spanish,

French, Chinese and

Russian!

Read and distribute the

newspaper -- and get the

latest:

www.etext.org/ Politics/MIM

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 5

of, by and for the people. But let's be

realistic." While that's a big "but" there,

it seems that Andrews and our authority-

loving student are not intending to be

fascists.

Reading Abraham Lincoln, one

realizes there is another reason to defer

to those imperialists who know better--

monarchism, and considering that Bush

inherited his power without a majority

vote, it was remiss not to consider this

possibility. "Kings had always been

involving and impoverishing their people

in wars, pretending generally, if not

always, that the good of the people was

Authority-lovers write Bush a blank check

Continued from page 1...

the object. This, our Convention

understood to be the most oppressive of

all Kingly oppressions; and they resolved

to frame the Constitution that ITAL no

one man END should hold the power of

bringing this oppression upon us. But

your view destroys the whole matter, and

places our President where kings have

always stood." (3) If Bush knows better

than the New Hampshire student, then

the New Hampshire student is supposed

to demand the information needed from

Bush--to be in the spirit of Washington

and Lincoln. Otherwise, we may as well

have kings.

We communists see nothing wrong

with deferring to revolutionary scientific

authority. We just point out that some

arguments supporting Bush are not really

in the spirit of Washington or Lincoln

while claiming they are. The socialist

system MIM advocates has its

advantages and disadvantages, but lately

the American system is all disadvantages.

MIM does not claim to be for majority

rule, and we only support Lincoln on a

case-by-case basis, but we are opposed

to fascists and monarchists and their lack

of reason in connection to war and neo-

confederate movements. Fascists and

monarchists should not be quoting

Lincoln in their favor. The lazy authority-

lovers should either get to work and come

up with some reasons for what they think

instead of passing the buck to big Daddy

or they should start a monarchist

movement for Bush's ascension.

Notes:

1. Emily Cole, "Resolution

questioned," The New Hampshire,

22Nov2002.

2. http://www.nationalreview.com/

comment/comment-andrews121602.asp

3. Abraham Lincoln, "Letter to

William H. Herndon," February 15,

1848, Don E. Fehrenbacher, ed.,

Abraham Lincoln: A Documentary

Portrait Through His Speeches and

Writings (Stanford, CA: Stanford

University Press, 1964), p. 60.

Rings" is the ugliest in fantasy-fiction.

There are several themes in Tolkien's

books which MIM likes. Various species

including elves, hobbits and humyns have

to come together to fight for their exist-

ence in an epic battle between good and

evil. Even trees become involved in the

fight by attacking the evil forces that chop

down trees to make weapons. In argu-

ments solidifying their alliance, the

forces of good have to defeat both ideal-

ism similar to post-modernism which

denies that evil is real and defeatism

which sees the triumph of evil as inevi-

table. Tolkien praises self-sacrifice, dis-

cipline and commitment to the common

good.

Still, the principal aspect of the "Lord

of the Rings" books is reactionary in the

sense that Tolkien pines for a return to a

feudal "Golden Age" where peasants and

servants knew their place. There is also

a distrust of science and technology in

"Lord of the Rings" and its predecessor

"The Silmarillion." It's one thing to de-

cry the destruction of the environment

and its consequences for humyn health

wrought by the capitalist-led industrial

revolution in 19th century England--but

the Christian Tolkien goes beyond this

and suggests that science is a form of

hubris, upsetting the "natural" order

where humyns are subordinate to god.

("The Silmarillion" is an extended ver-

sion of the Biblical story of the tower of

Babel.)

And despite the fact that a womyn slays

the chief evil Ringwraith in "The Return

of the King," Tolkien clearly thinks that

wimmin belong in the kitchen, not on the

battlefield or in government. The only

other substantial female character in

"Lord of the Ringes," the Elf-Queen

Galadriel, is praised more for her beauty

than her wisdom.

Many critics believe that the "Lord of

the Rings" is an allegory for World War

II or the Cold War, with the ring of power

representing the atom bomb, etc. Tolkien

denied this vehemently and instead ar-

gued that the parallels sprang from the

The problem with fantasy genres

fact that good fantasy literature is based

in and comments on reality. Indeed, al-

though we disagree with Tolkien's reac-

tionary point of view, there is enough

real-world experience condensed in some

of the books' themes to provoke some

interesting and useful thoughts.

Director Peter Jackson plays down the

books' relevant themes in his films, how-

ever, and plays up the sword-and-sorcery

adventure. Aside from valuable sub-

themes of environmentalism and inter-

species cooperation against evil, which

are offset by the questionable gore in both

chapters of the trilogy so far, there is not

much of redeeming value to the "Lord of

the Rings" movies. On the negative side,

a large portion of the real-world humyn

population believes in magic and spells,

to such an extent that it escapes real-

world solutions for real-world problems.

For this reason alone, any fantasy-adven-

ture fiction faces a high hurdle to sur-

mount in the minds of us Maoists trying

to promote scientific thinking about so-

cial life. The spreading of social super-

stition and excuses for why the people

do not control their own lives leaves the

ruling class in control, the same way re-

ligion in general does.

Tolkien's books reinforce this kind of

superstition,(4) and Peter Jackson takes

the magic in the story even more at face

value than Tolkien. For example, Peter

Jackson makes it seem that King Theoden

of Rohan has been possessed by the evil

wizard Saruman. In the books, Theoden's

"enchantment" has a more material ba-

sis: Saruman is engaged in psychologi-

cal warfare against Rohan, sending spies

into Theoden's court, making open peace

overtures while covertly preparing for

war, playing on Theoden's provincialism

and conciliatory nature, etc.

Any fantasy-adventure films and nov-

els, especially those set in the past, are

liable to become props of the status quo

without serious efforts to compensate for

the whole genre's flaws by raising pro-

gressive themes in oblique and fictional

manners appropriate for fantasy

worlds.(5) In contrast, by usually show-

ing humyns what they are capable of in

the future, science-fiction tends to have

progressive value in the pure sense of the

word "progress." In a fantasy-future

movie like the "Matrix," it is not one or

two supreme magicians casting spells

that control the world. In the "Matrix,"

the people simply download knowledge

through a cartridge in the neck. Thus, the

"Matrix" puts forward an enlightened

view of knowledge, history and humyn

capability. In contrast, "Lord of the

Rings" raises up a musty past in a man-

ner that will perpetuate backwardness

today.

Notes:

1. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/

data/lordoftherings/versus.htm

2. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/

movies/?id=fellowshipofthering.htm

3. http://www.the-numbers.com/fea-

tures/2002-Holiday.html

4. The central conceit of the "Lord of

the Rings" is that even though the forces

of good possess the "ring of power"

forged by evil, they cannot use it against

evil lest they themselves become evil.

This is just the old idealist pabulum that

"power corrupts." Elves, men, etc. take

up arms against evil, but Tolkien portrays

this as a doomed rear-guard action--only

the "pure-hearted" sacrifice of the

hobbits can magically redeem the world.

In contrast, MIM upholds Mao's dictum,

"To eradicate war it is necessary to make

war" and believes a study of history

shows that it is possible to use "the

master's tools" to overthrow the master.

Hence we are sympathetic to characters

such as Boromir or Saruman who argue

that the ring should be used against evil.

5. Some Tolkien fans have openly em-

braced "Lord of the Rings" as "escap-

ism:" "if the real world is evil and ugly,

at least we can forget for a while in a

fantasy world." Tolkien himself con-

trasted this "escapism of the deserter" to

the "escapism of the prisoner," who sees

the evil in the real world and is looking

for way to break out into another pos-

sible world. In principle, fantasy litera-

ture could build radical understanding of

the world and the possibilities for change.

In practice, Tolkien is far too backwards-

looking to provide any real-world solu-

tions.

Continued from page 3...

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 6

By a Pelican Bay SHU prisoner

The California $upreme court ruled on

December 16, 2002 that the governor has

extensive authority to veto parole to

prisoners convicted of murder even in

very, very rare instances where the sham

parole boards and/or kangaroo courts

approve releasing a prisoner who has

been confined in the gulag for decades

and is eligible for parole. This ruling no

doubt will adversely affect many

prisoners serving open ended sentences

who qualify for parole. "Monday's 89

page majority opinion written by Chief

Justice Ronald M. George concluded the

governor has the final word on parole as

California Supreme court upholds

governor's power to deny parole

long as he is backed by `some evidence,'

including his own view that the inmate

poses a risk."

Essentially Gray Davis has a "blank

check" and unobstructed latitude to

further implement his capricious and

arbitrary repressive "across the board" no

parole for lifers policy which is purely a

scheme to retain people in the gulag.

Most prisoners given a life sentence

become eligible for parole after serving

a set number of years in prison. They are

then supposed to go in front of a parole

board which decides, based on their

behavior in prison, case history, and

testimony of others, whether or not to

release the prisoner. This is in keeping

with the idea that prison is meant to

rehabilitate criminals who can learn from

their mistakes and return as productive

members of society. The Supreme

Court's ruling makes clear that there is

no pretense of rehabilitation to the

criminal injustice system.

Davis' "no parole for lifers" scheme is

hypocritically advanced to keep people

imprisoned who allegedly pose a threat

and danger to society when it is actually

the imperialists and their stooges who

pose a great threat and danger to all

societies the world over! The whole

problem lies with imperialism principally

and with the bourgeois criminal injustice

system en masse. The United $nakes

leads the world in incarceration per

capita--the majority of people in the

gulags across the U.$. prison-state are

oppressed people. Due process is

constantly disregarded.

Notes:

San Francisco Daily Journal, Dec 17,

2002 "In the controversial case of Robert

Rosenkrantz, the justices vote 5-2 that the

governor effectively has carte blanche."

See also Inre Rosenkrantz, 2002, DJDAR

14087.

During that time period I was sent to a

world of hell. It was in 1994, August 12th

that inmate [X] was shot and killed in

the administrative segregation yard while

the fight was set up for me and my cellie

to fight [Y] and his cellie [X]. The fight

had stopped and they shot and killed him

unjustifiably...

"When I was at Corcoran State Prison

the officers were setting people up to

fight, they were beating people up, there

were assaults. ... I seen people hang them-

selves. I witnessed police opening the

doors to let other enemies in in order to

hurt somebody. I've seen police put stuff

in people's food, they put something in

my food one day. ... Any time officers

have a code of silence you must ques-

tion why. If they haven't done anything

wrong there would be no reason for a

code of silence. Every single officer that

shunned the other officer for coming for-

ward should be fired. But the fact is that

they know they are doing things unjusti-

fiably and want to stay in control...."

Another former SHU prisoner also pro-

vided testimony to the conditions: "I'm

a witness to it. I was in there. I know how

they treat people in there. The SHU pro-

gram ain't nothing nice. They treat you

like a dog. I'm here to let you know that.

I'm a witness to it and I know, I was there.

I just discharged."

A young white man stopped by to tell

the story of his awakening to the injus-

tice system. While 61% of the popula-

tion in California is white, whites make

up only 35% of prisoners and only 18%

of SHU inmates (according to CDC sta-

tistics). It is no surprise that Blacks and

Latinos stopping by the SHU protests are

more likely to already know someone in

prison, or have been incarcerated them-

selves. And as a result of first hand ex-

perience of the oppression, they are more

sympathetic to the fight against the crimi-

nal injustice system. As this white man

Did you know?

There are more

than 200 back issues

of MIM Notes

available on the MIM

website? Not only

can you browse more

than 15 years of the

newspaper, you can

also keep up with the

very latest on MIM

agitation campaigns,

prisoner news, all

the latest on the U$

war, and much more.

MIM's website is an

indispensable tool

for the revolutionary

movement. Get

involved!

www.etext.org/

Politics/MIM

People denounce Amerikan prison brutality

comments, white people believe firmly

in the Amerikan "justice" system until

they see firsthand that it is not true. And

even then, many will call instances of

injustice anomalies. This young man was

shocked out of his suburban white com-

placency by a few days in jail:

"I'm 28 years old. I've never been pro-

cessed for charges ever in my life. Four

days ago my girlfriend and I had an ar-

gument. We raised our voices, as most

couples do when they get into arguments.

A neighbor got afraid and called the po-

lice. I hadn't hurt my girlfriend or would

ever hurt my girlfriend. The police

showed up and within seconds they put

me in handcuffs and started pushing me.

My girlfriend was irate, she was yelling

and screaming. I was irate, I was telling

them to go to hell. I was pissed. I did

nothing wrong and I was being arrested.

They slammed me against the car.

"Within 4 or 5 hours I had $10,000 cash

ready to post bail. It took 3.5 days to get

out because they were holding me be-

cause they were mad that I told them all

to go to hell. One of the persons in my

cell was Hispanic. He didn't speak En-

glish. An officer was trying to talk to him,

losing his temper big time. Another one

of the kids said `officer, he doesn't speak

English.' The officer pushed the kid and

said `no shit asshole' and slammed the

door in his face. Under his breath the kid

muttered `bitch.' They dragged the kid

out of the cell by the neck and beat his

ass for 20 minutes.

"I don't know if you know how hard

of a blow it takes for a head to make con-

crete echo, but it did, for a very long time.

After this the officer came back in and

said `this is my house, who's the bitch

now?' Another guy thought that was

funny and chuckled. He got the same

thing and was beat for 20 minutes.

"The temperature in the jail was maybe

60 degrees with 15 of us in there in an

empty cell. They took both of those kids,

stripped them down to their underwear,

without blankets, and left them in a cell

without food for 8 hours. It was the most

inhumane thing that I have ever wit-

nessed in my life.

"This just happened to me a few days

ago. I'm in shock. I'm a white boy from

the suburbs. I never thought something

like this could happen in this country until

I witnessed it with my own eyes. I'm

afraid to make complaints to the police

department. The people I was in jail with

told me if you do that you'll be right back

in here. I'm irate, it's sick, it's disgust-

ing, it's torture. I think the majority of

people in control, police officers and

prison wardens, are the sickest twisted

members of our society. Innocent until

proven guilty is a joke, anyone who be-

lieves that is living in a fantasy land, and

the idea that our prisons reform people

in any way is a joke, they try not at all to

reform people. They try to punish people

and to use scare tactics."

Others who had not been in prison but

had firsthand information about it also

stopped to speak out against the condi-

tions. Some had relatives in prison: "I'm

from SF, I just have a problem with the

prisons here and I would like to put my

foot down on this, it's wrong. I have fam-

ily in Folsom and San Quentin in

Vacaville. One of my family members got

raped and I just don't like this. There is

an excess of abuse and I just want to stop

it."

Others had relatives working in the

system: "A couple of years ago I found

out that there were guards ... that actu-

ally put in transfers to go to Pelican Bay

[one of the California SHU prisons] be-

cause they looked forward to being able

to do violence against the prisoners. And

this was well known. The guards that

used to work there, I don't know if

they're still there or not, were known to

have a pig on the back of their badges.

This comes from personal experience

from a relative who used to work in that

system. I don't want to give my name

because my relative still lives there and I

don't want her to be hurt. I was always

concerned for many years about what was

going on at Pelican Bay."

MIM is working to arouse and orga-

nize everyone who can be united against

the criminal injustice system. We are

fighting winnable battles for reforms, like

this one to shut down the SHU torture

units, while we build for the complete

dismantling of the system of oppression

that locks up a higher proportion of

Blacks than they had in Apartheid South

Africa: Amerikan imperialism.

To get involved in the battle against the

SHU visit MIM's web page and down-

load a flyer and petition and hit the

streets: http://www.etext.org/Politics/

MIM/agitation/prisons.

Continued from page 1...

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 7

This interview was conducted by a

member of United Struggle from Within,

a MIM-led mass organization of anti-

imperialist prisoners.

Question: Why were you placed in

Pelican Bay SHU?

Answer: I was placed in Pelican Bay's

SHU on February 20, 1992 for what

Corcoran State Prison Institutional Gang

Investigators claimed on 12/4/91 was my

involvement with a prison gang. I was

falsely labeled a prison gang associate

and simply placed in a modified unit at

Corcoran pending approval of the gang

packet that was submitted on me to

Sacramento's Special Service Unit

(SSU). I wasn't afforded any type of due

process or hearing on it at all until ...

March of 92 but by then Sacramento's

SSU had already approved the five pieces

of fabricated information that they had

on me. My only options after that were

to challenge the information via the

appeals process which was to no avail

and then take it to the courts which was

also just as useless.

Q: And approximately how long have

you been confined in the Security

Housing Unit (SHU)?

A: I have been confined in the SHU of

Corcoran State Prison and Pelican Bay

for the past 14 years now. Three years in

Corcoran's SHU and 11 years in Pelican

Bay's SHU. The past 11 years have been

for prison gang association.

Q: How are the conditions of the SHU?

A: The conditions of the SHU I feel

are what you make of it and also how

you deal with it psychologically. I have

seen so many guys let the loneliness,

solitude and lack of program and activity

get to them and either drive them crazy

or into debriefing and cooperating with

the prison officials as an informant just

to get out of the SHU and its restricted

program and privileges.

It also affects your health after long

term confinement. You become deathly

pale due to the lack of sun. Your skin

develops spots that doctors can't explain

or properly treat. You become very

sensitive to noise and irritated by sounds

out of the ordinary. To keep yourself busy

and occupied you read, write, study, or

watch your TV if you have one...

The administration officials too are

always trying to make life and obtaining

things from the outside world as hard,

complicated and restrictive as possible

for us. It's always in the name of "security

risk" too. Life in the SHU sucks

especially when you have done nothing

wrong at all to be placed in it other than

the man's labeling you falsely as a prison

gang associate.

Q: What is the likelihood of you getting

released to the general prison population?

What are the avenues available to you to

obtain a release from SHU housing?

A: Well I have a 50/50 chance of maybe

getting out of the SHU or at least getting

rid of my prison gang associate labeling

come April of 2004 when I'll be eligible

for non-active prison gang associate

Interview with a Pelican Bay SHU prisoner

review. This is a program that the CDC

was forced to create back in August of

1999 when they were found out by the

courts that their debriefing policy was

their own underground regulations.

My release then of course all depends

on whether or not there has been any new

confidential information given on me by

informants who have sought protective

custody by debriefing and divulging all

that they know about the prison gang that

they are supposed to be a member or

associate of. If they say during their

debriefing that you're an associate or that

you've done anything for them, the man

uses that against you to keep you in the

SHU for another six years until you

become eligible again. This year to my

knowledge five prison gang members

have debriefed, one whom I know from

home, so I just might be ass out in 2004.

Q: What type of information is being

used against you to retain you in the

SHU?

A: Well the latest right now is an

informant who sought protective custody

in April of 1998. He was a prison gang

member who told prison officials that

while I was working as tier tender in our

pod in April of 1998 that I was trafficking

in metal weapons for his gang. I was

never charged formally for this nor did I

lose my job because it never happened. I

was never the tier tender during that time

nor did I ever have any metal weapons

then or ever. I have appealed that piece

of information to no avail or with any

cooperation by prison investigators. They

don't want to change it because they

know that if they do that it jeopardizes

all of the other information that he

divulged on many others. So I won't be

eligible for my next review until April

2004. Hence six years after April 14,

1998.

The only two options we have of

getting out of the SHU are the debriefing

process (to turn informant) which I won't

do, or to qualify for the inactive prison

gang associate review every six years.

Q: Due to being validated and retained

in the SHU indeterminately or

indefinitely, does this status preclude you

from receiving a parole date?

A: Yes it most certainly does. Being

housed in the SHU indeterminately as a

prison gang associate most certainly

precludes me from obtaining a parole

date as the board of prison forms will

never give a prison gang associate a

parole date if he's a lifer in a SHU [the

prisoner being interviewed is serving a

life sentence]. I have been denied parole

twice. I'll be up for parole again in July

of 2004 and if I'm still in here as a prison

gang associate I'll only be denied again.

How much time I have served means

nothing at all to them.

Q: Can you please communicate your

thoughts regarding the systematic

repression and injustices at Pelican Bay,

particularly in SHU?

A: I find it quite pathetic that prison

officials would literally warehouse

prisoners in a Security Housing Unit

indeterminately and force them to turn

into informants if they want to get out of

the SHU and from under the label of

"prison gang associate or member."

These are labels that they themselves

impose on those of us whom they feel

aren't being "good inmates" who will

simply fall into line. I was never even a

street gang member let alone a prison

gang associate. I have no desire to be one

as my intentions when entering prison 18

years ago were to do my time as

productively as possible, without any

problems.

Once you're in PBSP SHU you're

pretty much here for good as their

inactive program's a joke and hard as hell

to qualify for. Their appeals process is a

joke too in that those in charge of

investigating your appeals issues don't

even do so and fabricate responses as if

they had done so. The gang investigator

can use any type of confidential

information he or she wants to use against

you as their definition of what constitutes

gang activity is so vague and overbroad.

For instance, on my last law enforcement

investigative unit (LEIU) review on 10/

10/00 they used the signing of a get well

card to an alleged prison gang member

who was at the time dying of cancer in

June of 1999 and later died, to constitute

gang activity. They also use such things

as drawings or talking or exercising with

alleged prison gang associates or

members to constitute "gang activity."

The Institutional Gang Investigators have

a field day putting together gang packets

on prisoners as they can use any little

petty things they want to constitute gang

activity and get away with it as

Sacramento's SSU approves everything

they send `em to warehouse prisoners

who aren't even old enough to know who

any of these alleged gang members are

that they're supposed to be associates of

right now.

dust in terms of life expectancy, infant

mortality rates, access to medical care

etc, it is especially interesting that India

is just now catching up with China's in-

fant mortality rates of 1970! (3) Add this

to the facts mentioned above, and we can

see how "successful" capitalism is in the

non-imperialist countries.

Interestingly enough, the New York

Times chose to end with a quote from

one of India's many poor who lost a fam-

ily member because of starvation. Speak-

ing of his son he says "If we had money,

we would have bought him wheat so he

wouldn't have died." (2) This, of course

is our point in a nutshell. Imperialism

Militarism is war-mongering or the

advocacy of war or actual carrying out of
war or its preparations.

While true pacifists condemn all

violence as equally repugnant, we Maoists
do not consider self-defense or the
violence of oppressed nations against
imperialism to be militarism. Militarism
is mostly caused by imperialism at this
time. Imperialism is the highest stage of
capitalism--seen in countries like the
United $tates, England and France.

Under capitalism, capitalists often profit

from war or its preparations. Yet, it is the
proletariat that does the dying in the wars.
The proletariat wants a system in which
people do not have self-interest on the side
of war- profiteering or war for imperialism.

Militarism is one of the most important

reasons to overthrow capitalism. It even
infects oppressed nations and causes them
to fight each other.

It is important not to let capitalists risk

our lives in their ideas about war and peace
or the environment. They have already had
two world wars admitted by themselves in
the last 100 years and they are conducting
a third right now against the Third World.

Even a one percent annual chance of

nuclear war destruction caused by capitalist
aggressiveness or "greed" as the people call
it should not be tolerated by the proletariat.
After playing Russian Roulette (in which
the bullet chamber is different each time
and not related at all to the one that came
up in previous spins) with 100 chambers
and one bullet, the chance of survival is only
60.5% after 50 turns. In other words, a
seemingly small one percent annual chance
of world war means eventual doom. After
100 years or turns of Russian Roulette, the
chances of survival are only 36.6%. After
200 years, survival has only a 13.4%
chance.

What is militarism?

Wheat rots in storage

as Indian masses starve

puts profit above survival rights and

makes it necessary for the majority of the

world's people to starve and die while

food sits rotting in warehouses and fields.

Notes:

1. See for example http://

www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/faq/

success.html,

http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/

faq/infant.html, http://www.etext.org/

Politics/MIM/faq/lifeexpectussr.html,

http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/

faq/lifeexpectussr2.html,

2. New York Times, Dec 2 2002

3. http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/

faq/worldbankoninfantmortality.pdf

Continued from page 3...

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 8

While saying the student government

response was "disproportionate" for

merely freezing the funding of Hillel at

Concordia, the university administration

has participated in the criminalization of

its students. For example, the

administration has pursued suspension of

a student government vice-president for

stickering and participating in protests

against I$rael. It has also had a hand in

charges seeking 15 years imprisonment

because someone broke a window when

Netanyahu came to speak--after police

rioted on an escalator at an event where

the public was not allowed, this at a

supposedly public university where tax-

payers rightly felt cheated by the security

surrounding Netanyahu.

Aaron Matte finds himself in trouble

with the university administration and

has to write editorials in the Montreal

Gazette saying that criticizing I$rael is

not anti-Semitism. He shows some good

signs of being internationalist: he is

Jewish and receiving flak for standing up

against I$raeli imperialism.(1)

On October 16th, the administration

banned tabling--at Concordia, a public

university--and it banned a student

government vice-president from the

campus for 24 hours for attempting to

table. The administration had the support

of 20 police vehicles including a bus to

accomplish the job.(2)

In fact, after a September 9th protest

prevented a planned speech by I$raeli

imperialist Benjamin Netanyahu, the

Concordia administration banned all

tabling on all subjects and banned Middle

East discussion until December 15th. At

that time, Hillel claimed to be somewhat

on the student government side in favor

of free speech.(3)

Here is what a Muslim website had to

say: "There are 11 students who face

expulsion next January because they

Concordia administration shows pro-Zionist bias

stopped Benjamin Netanyahu, who

according to Btselem authorized the

torture of over 2,500 Palestinians, from

speaking at our University. To this date,

no Zionist student has faced expulsion

for assaulting, harassing or, in one

documented case, sexually assaulting

another student during the protest of

September 9th."(4)

In November, a court backed the

university administration in saying that

"free speech" has limits. The court

ordered members of parliament not to

speak on the Middle East on the

Concordia campus. Instead the

Concordia Student Union and the

parliament members spoke just outside

on the streets.(5)

MIM holds with all decent people that

interrupting a mass murderer, far from

being a crime is normal. What is

abnormal is that Netanyahu did not face

arrest before speaking in public or while

speaking in public. Instead, people

protesting the mass-murderers face

criminal charges of local and federal sorts

thanks to the Concordia administration

and the failure of the local government

to arrest the right people--Netanyahu,

not the students.

Notes:

1. Montreal Gazette 29Nov2002.

2. http://thelink.concordia.ca/

article.pl?sid=02/10/16/2241244

3. http://thelink.concordia.ca/

article.pl?sid=02/09/26/0332235

4. http://

www.montrealmuslimnews.net 5. http://

c b c . c a / s t o r i e s / 2 0 0 2 / 1 1 / 1 5 /

concordia021115. After writing this

article, MIM discovered that the rector

and provost representing the Concordia

administration and cracking down on

Muslims and internationalist Jews are

both Jewish.

zone and this in fact seemed in line with

the administration's own stated desire

that the conflict on campus over the

Middle East temper itself.

Hillel is organizing a campaign to pres-

sure the student government through the

university administration. (The student

government is its own corporation legally

distinct and part of the Kanadian govern-

ment.) The University administration has

already embroiled itself with the student

government by cracking down on anti-

I$rael free speech at Concordia and by

pursuing officers of the student govern-

ment for multi-year suspensions.

Hillel's denials regarding military re-

cruiting ring false. Hillel's stated mission

does not exclude military recruitment.

Quite the contrary, the same web page

where they attack the Concordia student

government, Hillel is inviting people to

tours conducted with the IDF and meet-

ings with the IDF.

Ordinarily university administrations

urge their student groups to uphold the

laws and avoid being in connivance with

law-breakers. The administration instead

raised questions as to whether the stu-

dent government followed procedures

and said the response to law-breaking--

CSU's asking for a mere pledge from

Hillel-- was disproportionate! MIM is

not sure how much more mild the

Concordia student government could be,

but the university administration opinion

is that the students acted too extremely

even after allowing Hillel to table again

and merely freezing its funding for its

failure to agree to student government

funding rules. "The agreement, which

now must be signed by all CSU clubs

before they can receive funding, demands

that the groups be `fully committed' to

`respect for all persons, [...] non- violent

behaviour,' to `not permit speech or ma-

terials that promote racism against any

individual or group [or] that seek to re-

Hillel sues student union

cruit for any military or paramilitary or-

ganization,' a commitment to `reasoned

respectful dialogue' and `to protect the

core academic functions of the Univer-

sity.'"(3) Hillel refused to sign.

The student government ably defended

its actions for all who bothered to listen:

"Hillel also distributed a pamphlet mock-

ing the Islamic faith with a caption stat-

ing `Jihad enough.' Another leaflet

equated a Klansmen to an Arab wearing

a kefiyeh, the traditional Palestinian

headscarf. Below these pictures was the

statement the `Common Bonds of Hate.'

This was considered offensive by both

black and Arab students.

"Finally, [a critic of the CSU] asks rhe-

torically, `What Jewish student would

want to attend Concordia today?' Maybe

she should ask the three Jewish execu-

tives in the CSU or the Jewish council-

lor who brought forward the motion to

suspend Hillel."(4)

Nonetheless, a campaign led by Jews

to silence Jews opposed to I$raeli impe-

rialism goes forward in the mass media.

Papers across Kanada run columns about

Concordia barely getting into any details,

but suggesting there is "anti-Semitism"

at Concordia and campus generally.

Notes:

1. http://www.canada.com/montreal/

news/story.asp?id=%7B719http://

www.canada.com/montreal/news/

story.asp?id=%7B71966D7A-55A0-

48881AAE9A1C%7D66D7A-55A0-

41BE-A058-48881AAE9A1C%7D

2. www.hillel.org

3. http://thelink.concordia.ca/

article.pl?sid=02/12/13/0646207

4. http://www.canada.com/search/

story.aspx?id=9a79f18d-cb0a-49e6-

ba01-8364a30ceff2

Continued from page 1...

a letter to Google about communist ads

in general.

Excerpts from our letter were as fol-

lows: "Since you have canceled all 22 of

our ads, it is clear that you do not accept

ads from communists.

"Yet you do take ads from the U.S.

Army, U.S. Air Force, the admittedly

`right-wing' newsvigil.com, and Repub-

lican Party activists, despite all their con-

nections to Trent Lott and much worse.

What is your justification for that? Is

Google oriented toward one side of the

political spectrum? Can you answer that

for the record please? Specifically why

do you take ads from a government

whose top officials speak at Bob Jones

University, [which did not allow inter-

racial dating until just recently and un-

der pressure], made the Confederate mili-

tary leaders honorary/posthumous citi-

zens again and support as in Ashcroft's

case, `states' rights' and southern `patri-

ots'? Why do you run ads from Confed-

erate flag activists but not MIM?"

MIM received the following response

from a "Rob" of the "Google AdWords

Team." "Google believes strongly in free-

dom of expression and therefore offers

broad access to content across the web

without censoring search results. At the

same time, we reserve the right to exer-

cise editorial discretion when it comes

to the advertising we accept on our site,

as noted in our advertising terms and

conditions.

"The AdWords team reviews each ad

and we reserve the right to refuse to run

certain ads or categories of ads on a case-

by-case basis. We do not permit ads from

sites with content advocating against par-

ticular people or organizations. If your

ads do not direct our users to this mate-

rial, we can run them."

Obviously the above is a legalese bu-

Google pulls plug on MIM ads

reaucratism of no truthfulness, because

offering a review of "Star Trek: Nemesis"

is not against an individual or organiza-

tion, while Google's taking ads from

Republicans accusing Democrats of "ly-

ing" is definitely against an organization.

Google is both evasive and hypocritical.

Some would say Google does not follow

its own policy, but MIM is much more

concerned that it accepts government ads

and ads from the party in power (Repub-

lican Party) without taking ours.

Also of note, as a matter of scoring

honor points by those affected, out of the

hundreds of keywords used in the ads

promoting MIM's website, Google chose

only a handful in a handful of ads as im-

proper including "Ho Chi Minh," "all sex

is rape" and "oppression of children."

Congratulations to Ho Chi Minh for be-

ing an unspeakable name in advertising

while Lenin, Stalin and Mao are allowed

by Google. Also congratulations to anti-

patriarchy activists. Nonetheless, it was

not the keywords that caused MIM ads

to be rejected, as the vast majority of ads

had no specific words rejected.

MIM encourages any attorneys who do

not believe that the U.S. Government

should have the right to advertise where

other advertisers are rejected on a politi-

cal basis to write to MIM's Web Minis-

ter (mim3@mim.org) to offer assistance.

It is our belief that running ads in Google

is a way of aiding the political support-

ers of the U.S. Government with taxpayer

money. Hence, the U.S. Air Force and

U.S. Army should not be allowed to run

ads in Google unless Google accepts ads

from all taxpayers of any political per-

suasion.

Continued from page 1...

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 9

tution that conservatives usually claim to

uphold. "The safety of the people of

America against dangers from foreign

force depends not only on their forbear-

ing to give just causes of war to other

nations, but also on their placing and

continuing themselves in such a situation

as not to invite hostility or insult; for it

need not be observed that there are pre-

tended as well as just causes of war."(3)

The Amerikan reactionaries have fo-

cused on the latter part of the above state-

ment, the fact that in modern times, mili-

tary weakness invites attack. Yet, now the

United $tates is the undisputed military

power of the world and according to the

Bush administration itself, we are in a

long "war on terror."

Logic says that there are now count-

less countries--more than 200--that are

easier marks than the United $tates to at-

tack. That leaves only one conclusion:

that the war Bush says the United $tates

is in is not an opportunist war of "pre-

tended" cause. Rather it is a war where

the United $tates gave "just causes of war

to other nations."

Whether today's reactionaries know it

or not, that is where their logic leads.

Those are the assumptions behind their

views--that weakness invites opportun-

ist attacks. Conversely if the United

Military would have angered `founding fathers'

$tates is strong, we must conclude that

the attacks from much weaker powers

that have much weaker potential targets

than the United $tates have a basis in just

cause. That is part of realism.

Instead of concluding that their think-

ing is wrong and their leaders incompe-

tent, the Amerikkkan redneck votes fear

and fear alone. The "founding fathers"

warned repeatedly on the danger in-

volved in a permanent military built on

the basis of fear.

"The violent destruction of life and

property incident to war, the continual

effort and alarm attendant on a state of

continual danger, will compel nations the

most attached to liberty to resort for re-

pose and security to institutions which

have a tendency to destroy their civil and

political rights. To be more safe, they at

length become willing to run the risk of

being less free. The institutions chiefly

alluded to are STANDING ARMIES and

the correspondent appendages of military

establishments."(4)

The "founding fathers" believed some-

thing was wrong if a country could not

summon an army for two years, get a job

done and then disband it. Once a nation

formed and demonstrated its strength, the

"founding fathers" believed that other

nations stood up and took notice.

The U.$. military is the most powerful

in the world having spent 12 digits a year

for decades at a time. Its existence goes

way beyond what the founders envi-

sioned for the United $tates. Yet, still

there is no peace.

Long ago it was time to conclude that

our leaders do not have a working plan

for peace, even with the strongest mili-

tary in the world at their disposal, not to

mention the world's largest economy.

Rather than surrendering more freedoms

and more money while suffering ever

higher tech atrocities it is time to throw

the dopes out and find leaders who know

how to make peace.

Notes:

1. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/

default.asp?page=stor y_13-12-

2002_pg3_8 ; This is also the impression

of the mainstream Kanadian press. Bush

friend Paul Martin slated to be a future

Prime Minister of Canada says as much,

e.g., 29 Nov 2002, Ottawa Citizen, p. a9.

Others say U.$. military spending is only

more than the next 25 nations combined,

e.g., http://www.globalissues.org/Geo-

politics/ArmsTrade/Spending.asp

2. http://www.weeklystandard.com/

Content/Public/Artic les/000/000/001/

842sqqsk.asp In case anyone dares to

question MIM's facts on U.$. imperial-

ism again, we suggest reading the Weekly

Standard's Max Boot. He admits it all,

dredging up a series of Amerikan provo-

cations and usurpations from 1945 to

1991. "The reality was a good deal more

sordid. What did containment entail? It

meant support for the Greek colonels, the

Argentine generals, the shah, Pinochet,

Marcos, Somoza, and other unsavory

characters who were in `our' camp. It

meant helping to overthrow rulers, such

as Mossadegh in Iran, Arbenz in Guate-

mala, and Allende in Chile, who were

seen as drifting toward the other side. It

meant major wars against North Korea

and North Vietnam. It meant invasions

of the Dominican Republic and Grenada.

It meant support for anti-Communist

guerrillas in places like Cuba (the Bay

of Pigs), Angola, Nicaragua, and Af-

ghanistan." Boot only left out that

Allende and Arbenz won elections and

the U.$. imperialists put in a king to re-

place the parliamentarian Mossadegh.

Boot is referring to U.$. destruction of

parliamentary democracies in Greece,

Iran, Guatemala and Chile.

3. Federalist Paper #4 by John Jay.

4. Federalist Paper #8 by Alexander

Hamilton.

Continued from page 3...

be happy having their children get sex

education or independent livelihoods.

MIM is in favor of gearing education at

an early age toward achievement in all

realms.

We also applaud setting up indepen-

dent record companies, because we fa-

vor "building public opinion and the in-

dependent institutions of the oppressed"

as our central task. Nonetheless, we do

not believe that DiFranco is leading for-

ward her independent institution with the

correct line despite obviously making

efforts.

The comrade should read MIM Theory

2/3 to sharpen up on the gender question.

Instead of attacking MIM writers for their

"big dick" "in the sand," Ani DiFranco

fans should accept that questions of gen-

der relations and feminism require as

much challenge and sorting out as any

other question.

Round II of the discussion with
Ani DiFranco fan

Dear MIM,

After reading your reply I came to the

conclusion that you guys suck at inter-

preting the words out of someone else's

mouth. In fact I agree with just about

everything you said in your reply. Just

because I happen to be white and living

in America does mean I live, or agree

with the fundemental values that America

attempts to instill in it's population. Most

likely, I feel equally as cynical about

America as you do. Do not make assump-

tions based on what you think you know,

you never know! As far as Ani is con-

cerned... Unfortunately, if you want to get

a message out to people in this country

you have to have money, you have to buy

into property and prestige to a certain

extent. This is the way of the land, you

have to know it to fight it. Ani is a femi-

nist; only a female can identify with a

true feminist. Just because a woman ex-

periences pain or hurt does not make her

weak or cowardly; she speaks of her ex-

periences. god forbid she convey feelings

that make her human. I am not a close

friend to Ani; I do not claim to know her

motives, but you don't have to know her

to understand the positive impact that she

has had on women all over the world.

What one of your writers did was give a

personal interpretation of what he/she

heard. They failed to do a true music re-

view. This is my argument, not that he/

she did not like Ani's music, but that he/

she let wrote an interpretation.

Remember you are preaching to the

choir...

--Ani DiFranco fan, December, 2002

mim3@mim.org replies: Since you

agree with most of what we said in our

reply, I went to look at the lyrics of "done

wrong" on "http://www.azlyrics.com/lyr-

ics/anidifranco/donewr ong.html" (be-

cause they're not there on the Righteous

Babes website, another gripe I have about

the institution). I'll admit that unlike the

original MIM reviewer of Ani

DiFranco's work, I am not a fan of that

kind of music. However, for lyrics, I can

read, and I am positive that the public

will not interpret this as a statement on

the death penalty like you claimed.

This is something artists have to take

responsibility for, because no one else

can. The producer of Archie Bunker and

"All in the Family," intended to satire

Bunker, but polls of the public show that

the last persyn they thought the TV show

was satiring was Bunker. The public as-

sumed "Dingbat" and "Meathead" were

far more worthy of satire. Although I

persynally think that there is a lot of great

material in "All in the Family," objec-

tively speaking, the show is obviously a

horrible failure. If I had the Hollywood

chance to do the show myself, I would

not do it.

That has to do with the difference be-

tween the "subjective" and the "objec-

tive." It's something that a full-blown

materialist ideology like Marxism pro-

vides. It's not a question of making as-

sumptions about Ani: it's a question of

the objective impact. Maybe she intended

to talk about the death penalty, but it's a

pointless failure if the majority of listen-

ers would not pick that up and if the ma-

jority in fact will hear a romance- above-

all theme.

That's also why we disagree with say-

ing only wimmin can know feminism. If

by this you are saying wimmin should

be lesbian and separate from men, that

at least is consistent. You did not say so,

and the impact of your statement will not

be good, because saying feminism is only

knowable to wimmin means there is no

way to communicate with men. If such

is true, then heterosexuals should give it

up or people as a whole should give up

on communicating, so we would say, that

this is too much concession to the "sub-

jective." Soon people will be saying,

there is no way to be anti-racist without

being a people of color; there is no way

to be for gay liberation unless one is gay

and after we are done listing all these

subjective ideas, we will find ourselves

saying, there is no way to be an individual

communicating with others in any mean-

ingful way, in which case, what's the

point of sending MIM a letter, positive

or negative, and what's the point of writ-

ing song lyrics?

We agree with you that it takes money

to make change and we have made a point

of rebutting the "Buddhists" in our move-

ment who think it is a matter of renounc-

ing money. It's a matter of renouncing

money for yourself and giving it to the

movement, but it's also a matter of hav-

ing money in the first place. We do not

disagree with Ani DiFranco on this point,

just her choices of where to give money

and how to lead the institution she funds.

MIM pays for MIM Notes out of its

own pocket. Precisely for that reason, we

share some agreement with DiFranco on

money and independence, but we are also

not "preaching to the choir." We are

preaching to people who do not want to

hear it and who send us hundreds of hate

letters each month. Our circulation is

over 40,000 but MIM Notes has no sub-

scribers and the reactions fit accordingly.

We consider responses to MIM Notes a

good measure of how far the society has

to go in its self- transformation.

Letters

Continued from page 2...

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 10

MIM on

Prisons & Prisoners

MIM seeks to build public opinion

against Amerika's criminal injustice sys-

tem, and to eventually replace the bour-

geois injustice system with proletarian jus-

tice. The bourgeois injustice system im-

prisons and executes a disproportionately

large and growing number of oppressed

people while letting the biggest mass mur-

derers -- the imperialists and their lack-

eys -- roam free. Imperialism is not op-

posed to murder or theft, it only insists that

these crimes be committed in the interests

of the bourgeoisie.

"All U.S. citizens are criminals--

accomplices and accessories to the crimes
of U.$. oppression globally until the day
U.$. imperialism is overcome. All U.S.
citizens should start from the point of view
that they are reforming criminals."

MIM does not advocate that all

prisoners go free today; we have a
more effective program for fighting
crime as was demonstrated in China
prior to the restoration of capitalism
there in 1976. We say that all prisoners
are political prisoners because under
the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, all
imprisonment is substantively
political. It is our responsibility to
exert revolutionary leadership and
conduct political agitation and
organization among prisoners --
whose material conditions make them
an overwhelmingly revolutionary
group. Some prisoners should and will
work on self-criticism under a future
dictatorship of the proletariat in those
cases in which prisoners really did do
something wrong by proletarian
standards.

Under Lock & Key

News from Prisons & Prisoners

California gang
classification: policies
behind the SHU

Pelican Bay's arbitrary policies and the

Department of corruption$ gang

validation$ policy in general is very

arbitrary - this issue was what generated

the recent resistance (hunger strike)

contra skeleton bay. The California

Department of corruption$ have this

obsession with validating prisoners as

members or associates of prison gangs

and giving those who get validated an

"indeterminate SHU" term.

The LEIU/SSU (special services unit/

intelligence and special operations) in

Sacramento reviews the gang validation

package that is submitted to them by the

institutional IGIS (Institutional gang

investigators and coordinators) and then

Sacramento decides whether a prisoner

is validated as a prison gang member or

associate or rejects the validation

package. The information that the

Gestapo agents use against a prisoner in

this process can be classified as non-

confidential or confidential. Once a

prisoner receives an "indeterminate

SHU" term they end up here, or

sometimes get housed at Corcoran SHU.

Either way the prisoner is retained in

the SHU for at least six years until he is

eligible to get his case reviewed by the

DRB (Department Review Board). And

if the prisoner has been gang free for

those six years he may get classified as

"inactive" and get cut loose to the general

population where, if he gets one more

piece of information against him about

gang activity, he gets thrown back into

the SHU for another six years.

The information these fascists use

against people most of the time is very

very petty. A drawing or a "get well card"

to a dying prisoner at Corcoran

constitutes gang activity after these

prisoncrats or pigs get done manipulating

the information so as to make it constitute

gang activity. Most of the time

confidential informants fabricate

information and the gang coordinators

know this, yet it is still used against

prisoners to keep them back here in this

ossuary!

This six year inactive policy is fairly

newly initiated (a couple of years) as

before there was no way for us validated

prisoners to leave the SHU unless we

parole, debrief or die. As the result of

many legal battles a few people over here

managed to get the court's attention. Thus

Pelican Bay and LEIU came out with the

six year inactive policy. But this policy

is tokenism. Although a few prisoners

have been released to the general

population, many remain in the SHU due

to petty petty info that doesn't even

constitute gain activity--greeting cards,

drawings, etc. Informants providing pure

lies, uncorroborated info, manipulated

info. In short, Skeleton Bay always finds

a loophole and most validated inmates

remain in the SHU indeterminately--in

the fucking dungeon. Many prisoners are

entombed back here in SHU for the rest

of their longevity.

--A prisoner in Pelican Bay, CA,

December 2002

MIM adds: We are waging a battle

against the SHU control units in

California both inside and outside of the

prisons. To download flyers or sign a

petition to shut down the SHU visit our

web site at http://www.etext.org/Politics/

MIM/agitation/prisons.html

STG threat unveiled
in Virginia

Revolutionary Greetings,

I am writing to you from the Red Onion

State Prison--the only remaining super-

maximum prison in the Virginia

Department of Corrections.

Yesterday, here at ROSP, we received

the new Division Operating Procedure

861 "Inmate Discipline." Our last revised

issue of this procedure went into effect

September 1, 2000. That innovative

issuance allowed the prisons to collect

fines for any and all infractions, keep

prisoners in isolation for 30 days straight

(previously, it had been 15 days), and not

require the officer reporting "Category

II" infractions to even show up at the

"disciplinary hearing."

Well, "Category II" infractions became

even more common, five and ten dollar

fines (the maximum is $12.00 or up to

60 hours of work) normal. But we were

still better off than prisoners in other

states -- who had to deal with the

dreaded "Security Threat Group (STG)"

rules.

From April 1 1992 to September 1

2000 the DOP 861 remained unchanged.

We figured we had dodged the STG

bullet for about eight more years. But the

new DOP 861 becomes effective

November 1, 2002. Not only did we not

dodge the bullet -- we've been hit with

an improved bullet.

The STG infractions and their relatives

have been given overwhelmingly broad

definitions, without a single definition of

what constitutes an STG. And once an

STG infraction has been issued, there is

no dropping it down to a lesser infraction.

Yes, we only half-heartedly fought

against the previous revisions to DOP

861, but we are disorganized and few and

far between. And we're in worse shape

today, for the STG infractions are

designed to break any prisoner

organization, to cut prisoners off from

external help, and to get prisoners to obey

the system by making us individuals in

cells next to each other, rather than

groups of people with common interests

working collectively for our common

benefit.

The new STG offenses and their

relatives are listed below. One hundred

number infractions are Category I and

considered more serious than two

hundred number infractions which are

Category II.

125. Intimidation of any person in the

futherance of STG activities (new).

126. Recruitment of any person into

STG participation or activities (new).

127. Involvement in STG activities not

otherwise listed as an offense in this

operating procedure (new).

128. Participating in, or encouraging

others to participate in, a work stoppage

or group demonstration (used to be 240).

129. Gathering around, or approaching,

any person in a threatening or

intimidating manner. (used to be 214)

197. STG activity related to any of the

offenses in the 100 series (new).

247. Possession of STG related

materials or paraphernalia (new).

248. Using or attempting to use codes,

signs, dress or other outward

manifestations of STG involvement or

association (new).

297. STG activity related to any of the

offenses in the 200 series (new).

But what is an STG? The DOP 861

handbook, given to every prisoner,

doesn't define it. What constitutes STG

related material or paraphernalia? MIM

Notes? The Bill of Rights? The

Emancipation Proclamation?

Oh, yes. The STG threat has been

unveiled in Virginia. And it's here to stay.

As long as those who will die in prison

(from the length of their sentences)

accept such rules, these rules will keep

coming. I [get out] mandatory (without

any more infractions) in 2007. Or 2010,

if I get more infractions. These rules will

still be here (if not stronger and worse)

when I leave prison in 2007.

Now, I'm not going to roll over and

simply take whatever VDOC decides to

do. But neither should you expect me to

get infractions (for what? I can't hurt the

system by letting them keep me in long-

term segregation). I'll still do what I can

to draw outside attention and support --

and when I get those three years earlier,

I'll join that outside attention and

support.

In the struggle,

--a prisoner in Virginia

MIM responds: We agree that there

is no point to racking up more infractions

and delaying your release if you can

avoid it, if you plan to contribute to the

struggle against these and other

manifestations of oppression in the prison

system. However, even by working

within the rules, prisoncrats will find

ways to write activists up for infractions.

And sometimes prisoners have to take

risks because there is no other choice. It

is vitally important that you and others

keep working to publicize outrageous

repressions such as those you describe

here, and to expose their political

purposes to supporters and would-be

supporters on the outside.

Censorship: Amerikan
as apple pie...

Our library is very strict when it comes

to books. They feel that any kind of book

which is "un-american" does not belong

in here. We even have problems when it

comes to "Black History Month." So

basically what I am trying to say is: please

do not waste your time with our library.

[MIM often asks prisoners if they can get

MIM Notes or other revolutionary

literature into prison libraries.] I could

better spread the word at yard time.

In the struggle,

--A Pennsylvania prisoner, October

2002

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 11

Facts on U$ imprisonment

The facts about imprisonment in the United $tates are that the United $tates has been the world's leading prison-state per capita for the last

25 years, with a brief exception during Boris Yeltsin's declaration of a state of emergency.(1)

That means that while Reagan was talking about a Soviet "evil empire" he was the head of a state that imprisoned more people per capita.

In supposedly "hard-line" Bulgaria of the Soviet bloc of the 1980s, the imprisonment rate was less than half that of the United $tates.(2,3)

To find a comparison with U.$. imprisonment of Black people, there is no statistic in any country that compares including apartheid South

Africa of the era before Mandela was president. The last situation remotely comparable to the situation today was under Stalin during war
time. The majority of prisoners are non-violent offenders(4) and the U.S. Government now holds about a half million more prisoners than
China; even though China is four times our population.(5)

The rednecks tell MIM that we live in a "free country." They live in an Orwellian 1984 situation where freedom is imprisonment.

Notes: 1. Marc Mauer, "Americans Behind Bars: The International Use of Incarceration 1993," The Prison Sentencing Project, 918 F. St. NW, Suite

501, Washington, DC 20004 (202) 628-0871 Reference: SRI: R8965-2, 1994
2. Ibid., 1992 report.

3. United Nations Development Programme, "Human Development Report 1994,:" Oxford University Press, p. 186.

4. Figure of 51.2 percent for state prisoners there for non-violent offenses. Abstract of the United States 1993, p. 211.
5. Atlantic Monthly December, 1998.

We can win anti-
censorship struggles

I'm writing to let you know that I have

received Jan., Feb., and Mar. issues of

MIM Notes--after my attorney filed a

lawsuit [in February].

--A Pennsylvania prisoner, May 2002

One good thing

The one good thing that's been

happening lately is that the MIM Notes

have been getting in lately. I think this is

due to a change of staff in the

Publications Review Committee. They

used to have one guy in there who turned

down everything except sports

magazines and smut magazines. I

suppose to keep us "dumbed down."

Hopefully this new relaxation of

regulations for books/zines will last a

while.

I did see the [Progress Review

Committee], the ones who decide if they

let me out or not... I can safely say that it

went as bad as possible. They informed

me that I was on a "Do Not Let Out" list

put out by the central office of the

[Department of Corrections], which

people such as Russell Maroon Shoats

are on. [Russell Maroon Shoats was a

founding member of the Black Unity

Council, which eventually merged with

the Philadelphia Black Panther Party. He

was convicted of attacking a police

station and killing a policeman in

response to the police murder of a Black

youth in 1970.] Personally, I think this is

being done for the new Super-Max set to

open up by next year. Label more people

as being a security threat to justify the

costs and need for a new super-max. You

know how things like this go.

Have you heard of the new National

Security Exit/Entry registration policy

they're implementing? Photographing

and finger-printing all visitors coming in

to the U.S.? I've always considered the

U.S. as a police state, while before it was

more or less hidden now it's out in the

open. I think this is all still just the

beginning, and only going to get worse.

--A Pennsylvania prisoner, April 2002

MIM comments: The previous two

prisoners wrote from SCI Greene, which

is infamous for restricting media access

to prisoners. MIM led a campaign against

this censorship, calling it a clear attack

on the ability of the writers at MIM Notes

and prisoners to criticize the Amerikan

prison system and express wider political

views. We asked for prisoners and non-

prisoners alike to send in postcards and

petitions asking the administration to stop

censoring MIM Notes. Prisoners such as

the first letter-writer also filed lawsuits

to end the censorship.

We thank all the prisoners who agitated

for their MIM Notes and kept us up- to-

date as to whether the papers were getting

in or not. We can't say for certain if the

change in policy was due to our campaign

or the new Publications Review staff or

both--in either case, the change was

short lived, as several prisoners from

wrote to tell us SCI Greene censored the

May issues of MIM Notes (see below).

A final note: close readers will have

noticed that these letters are over six

months old yet just appearing in Under

Lock and Key. Mostly this reflects just

how under-staffed MIM Notes is. We

have a hard time keeping up with the

current level of correspondence--never

mind that as we become more effective

at distributing the paper that level

increases. We are always on the lookout

for consistent, motivated correspondents

who agree with the basic principles

behind MIM's work in prisons.

On the flip side, prisoners also need to

understand the realities of our work and

keep writing to us, passing around MIM

Notes and MIM Theory, etc. even if MIM

does not respond to their letters

persynally. This particular letter-writer

demonstrated admirable patience,

consistency and initiative. Even though

MIM had not written in six months, he

sent in art for use in MIM Notes,

submitted a lengthy book review, kept us

up-to-date on doings in his prison, and

stayed on the MIM Notes mailing list.

PA: "USA Today si,
MIM Notes no"

On June 6, 2002 the mail room held

my MIM Notes for the Publication

Review Committee. A few days later the

Committee denied its entry. I appealed

their decision, but I don't think that I'll

get any positive results.

There aren't many so-called rights in

america right now and the ones people

do have are slowly being stripped away.

Privacy doesn't exist anymore, if it ever

did for that matter. Just about every anti-

american group or any group that

expresses oppositional views to this

government is under heavy suveillance.

The only news I get is from the USA

Today and Christian Science Monitor.

The USA Today constantly gives biased

reports and the Christian Science

Monitor isn't much better, except that

they give better international coverage.

--A Pennsylvania prisoner, July 2002

MIM responds : MIM received several

other reports that the May issues of MIM

Notes were censored, including from the

prisoner above who wrote to say he did

get Jan-Mar issues. As of December we

have no evidence the May issues ever

made it inside.

MIM publishes its newspaper to

counteract the spin put out by bourgeois

mouthpieces like USA Toady and

Christian Science monitor. But that does

not mean we do not read them or

encourage others not to. We don't have

the resources to cover international

events in persyn or even carry out

thorough polls here inside U.$. borders,

so we have to make do with the available

bourgeois sources, just as Marx did when

writing Capital or Lenin did when writing

Imperialism.

Commissary rip-offs:
it's not just Keefe

I was reading an article in MIM Notes

about the Keefe Food distributing

company. A brother was wondering how

one company can virtually corner the

market on commissary sales in the

Federal prison system across the United

States.

Well I have the answer to your

question: it's not just Keefe, it's over a

dozen of these companies. And what's

so important about these companies is

they only market to prisons! A few of

the others that have been doing the same

thing as Keefe are: Lander, Kroger,

Wortz, Smart Choice and Cactus Annie's

companies.

You see my brothers and sisters,

everyone who has a vendor license and

has not had any type of run-in with the

law can get a contract to sell food items

to prisons. I am enclosing a copy of the

commissary form from this prison so you

can share it with your readers.

Some of the prices from this Federal

commissary list are:

Ramen soup $.25

Chocolate Chip cookies $2.20

Plain tortilla chips $1.60

Sensodyne toothpaste $5.80

-- a Federal prisoner in Colorado, 18

December , 2002

MIM adds: Commissary prices are

prohibitive for prisoners, who may have

no income, or might work for as little as

50 cents/day. Because the prisons often

do not take care of prisoners' basic

nutritional needs, prisoners are forced to

buy food and other necessities from the

commissary. The commissary issue in

prisons is tied to two basic humyn rights

issues: the international minimum wage,

and the right to food.

In 1980 the average salary for prison guards in

California was $14,400

By 1996 it had grown to $44,000. Today it is

$54,000

In January 2002 Davis signed a five-year labor

agreement with the union that could increase

annual salaries to $73,000 by mid-2005 (In

March the union gave Davis's reelection

campaign $251,000).

In 1985 the ratio of prison spending to
higher education spending in

California was 1:6, in 1994 that had

dropped to 1:1

From 1984 to 1994, Californias

prison increased prison funding by
209%, while increasing state

university funding by only 15 %.

Since taking office Davis has

received $712,000 directly from the

prison guard union and another

$356,000 generated at golf fund-

raisers sponsored by the union.

Information about the Criminal Injustice System brought

to you by the Maoist Internationalist Movement.

MIM Notes 274 · January 15, 2003 · Page 12

Notas Rojas

enero 15, 2003, Nº 274 Fragmento del Periodico Oficial del Movimiento Internacionalista Maoista

Gratis

El penal de Challapalca es una prisión de

castigo y exterminio ubicada a más de 5,000
metros de altura sobre el nivel del mar. Aquí
las temperaturas descienden en las noches a
menos 25 ° grados y el frío que tienen que
enfrentar los prisioneros es infernal. En
comparación hay que señalar que la región
más alta del mundo es el Himalaya la misma
que tiene picos que van desde 5,000 hasta
8,848 metros de altura. En esas altitudes,
como la que rodea la prisión de Challapalca,
la presión atmosférica es menor y menor
también la cantidad de oxigeno. Este
fenómeno cambia radicalmente el
metabolismo del ser humano, que en el caso
de los prisioneros, debilitados por las torturas
y la mala nutrición, resulta una muerte lenta
pero segura.

Esta abominable cárcel, que sólo puede ser

comparado con las más brutales prisiones de
la época de la inquisición medieval, está
ubicada entre los límites de los departamentos
de Puno y Tacna. Como denuncian los
prisioneros de guerra, en este lugar no existe
la luz eléctrica ni el agua potable. No hay
tampoco servicio medico ni medios de
transporte público que facilite la visita de los
familiares de los presos, quienes reducen sus
visitas a una o dos veces por año. En este
lugar, las celdas son pequeñas construcciones
de cemento en la que no ingresa la luz natural
ni tienen una apropiada ventilación. Los
presos son pésimamente alimentados, no
tienen derechos a ninguna atención medica y
son permanentemente reprimidos por los
servicios de seguridad.

Prisión de castigo para
los revolucionarios

En está prisión están recluidos los

prisioneros de guerra considerados militantes
del Partido Comunista del Perú (PCP). El
"castigo" se refiere a reprimir con el
exterminio sus ideales comunistas y su firme
posición de propugnar la continuación de la
guerra popular. El gobierno y la prensa
peruana califica a estos valerosos
combatientes con el apelativo de "Proseguir"
en alusión a su posición de seguir
desarrollando la revolución. La prisión de
Challapalca, como campo de concentración,
sirve en exclusivo para castigar a los
revolucionarios que ni las más infames
condiciones de vida ni las torturas carcelarias
logra doblegarlos. Este sistema de prisión de
extermino fue implantado por Fujimori y el
régimen actual ("gobierno de todas las
sangres") se ha encargado de hacerlo más
brutal y criminal. De esta prisión están
excluidos, los presos del Movimiento
Revolucionario (MRTA) y los traidores y
capituladores (partidarios de las "cartas de
paz") que desde el año 1993 se pasaron a

trabajar con el Servicio de Inteligencia
Nacional (SIN) que dirigía Vladimiro
Montesinos.

Los prisioneros de guerra en una carta que

han hecho llegar a la redacción de El Diario
Internacional y a otros medios de
comunicación del Perú, denuncian que el 21
de setiembre de 2001 fueron trasladados del
penal de Yanamayo al de Challapalca como
medida de "castigo" y de exterminio. Señalan
que durante el traslado sufrieron todo tipo de
tortura física y psicológica. Algunos de ellos
quedaron gravemente heridos, y hasta la
actualidad no han recibido ninguna atención
médica. Denuncian también que dicho
"castigo", es decir la reclusión en el penal de
Challapalca, no podía ser mayor de un año,
pero que hasta la actualidad y habiendo
pasado más de 12 meses el gobierno no
pretende cambiar esta situación de extrema
gravedad para la sobrevivencia de los
prisioneros. Según los prisioneros, el peligro
de aniquilamiento en el penal de Challapalca,
tuvo su punto más álgido el 23 de octubre de
este año (2002) cuando los custodios del
penal irrumpieron violentamente en las celdas
bajo el propósito de realizar una "requisa"
(léase represión). Dicha "requisa" que se
inicio a las 10 de la noche, mientras los
prisioneros dormían, sirvió para golpear
brutalmente a los prisioneros del PCP y
arrebatarles (confiscar) alimentos,
herramientas de trabajo, medicinas , utensilios
de cocina, vestimentas, etc. Como denuncian
los prisioneros, durante la "requisa" las
autoridades del penal secuestraron a los
delegados a quienes aislaron en celdas de
tortura. Frente a este hecho los prisioneros
respondieron con una decidida acción de
protesta que bajo la consiga de resistir y
combatir hizo retroceder a los carceleros. Esta
medida fue suspendida el pasado 23 de
octubre cuando se hicieron presentes
representantes de la Cruz Roja Internacional
y autoridades de la institución penitenciaria
del Perú quienes mediaron para apaciguar los
términos del conflicto. Sobre esta situación y
para un mejor conocimiento de la dramática
vida en Challapalca, editamos textualmente
una denuncia firmada por los prisioneros de
guerra. Dicho documento, fue presentado al
Fiscal de la Nación el 20 de octubre de este
año. En dicho texto, junto con denunciar el
carácter fascista del sistema carcelario del
Perú, se denuncia penalmente a las más altas
autoridades penitenciarias del país.

Denuncia de los
prisioneros de guerra
de la prisión de
Challapalca

Señor Fiscal de la Nación
Los abajo firmantes, presos políticos y

prisioneros de guerra acusados de pertenecer
al Partido Comunista del Perú, recluidos en
el establecimiento Penal de Challapalca-
Tacna, al amparo del artículo 139 incisos 14
y 22 de la Constitución Política del Estado,
nos dirigimos a Ud. Para manifestar lo
siguiente:

1. Que con fecha 21 de setiembre del 2001

fuimos trasladados 34 internos del Penal de
Yanamayo al Penal de Challapalca-Tacna por
motivo de "castigo", según las autoridades
penitenciarias, sufriendo todo tipo de
vejámenes (tortura física y psicológica, robo
de nuestras pertenencias y materiales de
trabajo). Según las normas penitenciarias,
dicho "castigo" comprende un período de
regresión progresiva de 365 días (un año) el
mismo que se cumplió el pasado 20 de
setiembre del 2002. Sin embargo, a la fecha,
no se nos retorna a nuestros lugares de origen
pese a que se ha vencido el plazo del "castigo"
que se nos ha impuesto sin procederse de
acuerdo al Código de Ejecución Penal en su
artículo 34. Además, del traslado arbitrario y
abusivo de trece presos políticos desde el
Penal "Miguel Castro Castro" al Penal de
Challapalca-Tacna dizque por
"hacinamiento" (24_04_2002).

2. Que se nos mantiene en este lugar

inhóspito, a más de 5,050 metros sobre el
nivel del mar sometidos a temperaturas
gélidas que llegan hasta menos 25°c, aislados
de nuestros familiares, recluidos en celdas
pequeñas con ventanas minúsculas que
impiden el ingreso de la luz natural y la
ventilación requerida, impidiéndonos estudiar
o trabajar en las mismas ya que la luz eléctrica
sólo se utiliza de 5.30 p.m. a 9.00 p.m.. Estas
condiciones de existencia perjudican más
nuestra ya deteriorada salud día a día, más
aún, cuando aquí ni siquiera existen médicos
especializados, ni medicinas ni equipos
especializados; la alimentación es deficiente
y ni siquiera se cuenta con agua potable. Es
así que dos internos en grave estado de salud
tuvieron que ser evacuados a Juliaca (los
internos Bartolomé Melitón Cárdenas y
Wilson García Asto). Así hay otros internos
que requieren urgente evacuación, ellos son:
Antonio Bendezú Vega (Tumor urologenital),
Miguel Cuno Choquehuanca (complicaciones
post- operatoria a la próstata); José Zamora
Pérez (Taquicardia), Franquil Esquivel Santos
(infección renal y tuberculosis), Román
Rengifo Murrieta y Juan Islas Trinidad
(gastrointestinal ulceroso) y José Arcela

Chiroque (osteomelitis crónica e hiper-
tensión).

3. Que el establecimiento Penitenciario de

Challapalca-Tacna no cumple con las reglas
mínimas establecidas por la ONU para el
tratamiento de reclusos. Se viola el derecho
de los internos a la rehabilitación,
reeducación y resocialización conforme al
artículo 134 Inciso 22 de la Constitución
Política del Estado y el artículo II del Titulo
preliminar del código de Ejecución Penal; de
allí que sea calificado como centro de tortura
por los organismos de derechos humanos
(DD.HH) tales como la Corte Interamericana
de Derechos Humanos y Amnistía
Internacional que exigen su cierre definitivo.
En Challapalca se implementa y se mantiene
un régimen carcelario de mayor aislamiento,
aniquilamiento y genocidio teniendo en
cuenta la Convención de la ONU para la
prevención del delito de genocidio y el
artículo 129 del c1odigo Penal peruano que
tipifican claramente el delito de genocidio
como delito de lesa humanidad por el
sometimiento a condiciones de existencia que
acarrean la destrucción física o mental, en
forma total o parcial.

4. Que por lo expuesto, denunciamos la

violación de nuestros derechos conforme al
artículo 139 Inciso 22 de la Constitución
Política del Estado y el artículo 1° del código
de Ejecución Penal, denunciamos al
presidente del INPE Javier Bustamente, al
Vice presidente del INPE Moisés Hirst
Carrillo y a la Directora de la DRAP- INPE
Hilma Luna Frisancho por delito de función
en su modalidad de abuso de autoridad
conforme al artículo 376 del Código Penal,
por delito contra la vida, el cuerpo y la salud
conforme al artículo 128 del Código Penal y
por delito de genocidio conforme al artículo
129 del Código Penal; a quienes hacemos
responsables por nuestra integridad física y
mental. Así mismo, exigimos el inmediato
traslado a nuestros lugares de origen por
unidad familiar y el cierre del campo de
concentración fascista de Challapalca por
atentar la integridad física y mental de los
internos. Challapalca, 20 de octubre del 2002.

Prisioneros firmantes:
Franklin Esquivel Santos, Roman Rengifo

Murrieta, Ortega Pardo Adrian, Miguel Dipas
Vargas, Jovino Montero Arteaga, Alejandro
Anyosa Ochoa, Carlos Bravo Quijano,
Gregorio Principe Picon, Fortunato Soto
Tarazona, Juan Quispe Castro, Luis López
Medrano, Wilman Castro Rosas, Edward
Solano Ascanio, Ceryl Carhuaz Aquino, José
Arcela Chiroque, Hermes Rubio Hugo, Juan
Islas Trinidad, Leo Peña Gutiérrez, Julio
García Inuma, Cesar Pardo Yaringaño y
Wilman Castro Rosas.

Challapalca: prisión de exterminio

Toledo utiliza los mismos métodos criminales de Fujimori