MIM Notes ***

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 1

MIM Notes

October 1, 2003, Nº 288

The Official Newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)

Free

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REPORTS SAYS

PEOPLE'S WAR

ADVANCING IN

NEPAL

According to the BBC of September

12: "The authorities say five rebels and

three security personnel have died over

the past two days."(1)

Even more indicative, the BBC is

fretting. The People's War has "a sense

of real fear among members of the elite,

who feel that they could be the next

targets."(1)

Meanwhile, something called

nepalnews.com is reporting that the

Maoists are going to set up a radio station

on the FM 95.1 dial.(2) An unscientific

poll of nepalnews.com users says that

65% favor the king's return to cooperation

with the parliament which he dissolved.

The question phrased the king's options

as limited because of an upsurge in the

People's War.

As usual in the world, the United $tates

is not on the side of "democracy" and

calls the Maoists "terrorists" one step

short of being placed in the same legal

status as Osama Bin Laden--this despite

the fact that the Maoists are fighting a

monarchy. This should have been clear

when King Gynendra dissolved parliament

completely in June 2002 and kicked out

the premier Deuba in October 2002 to

assume power for himself(3)--not that

MIM is saying the people the King sacked

did not deserve it.

There is no history of a country making

major progress in a situation like Nepal's

without massive violence to change the

feudal system. It always took revolution

or at least outside military intervention to

break the back of the landlord class

holding back industrialization and

modernization. The lack of revolution is

the reason why Nepal is one of the

poorest countries in the world.

MIM gives a fraternal salute to all

In the early morning hours of August

28 two pipe bombs exploded outside

Chiron, a pharmaceutical company in

Emeryville, California. A group calling

itself "Revolutionary Cells" claimed

responsibility for the attack in a written

communiqué: "This action came about

because Chiron has continued their

murderous connection with Huntingdon

Life Sciences even though they have been

September 6, 2003

Brooklyn, NY

hants of "Black Power!" filled

the air this sunny afternoon and

Black Panther Party imagery

surrounded the speakers on their platform

at the "Million Youth March." MIM

handed out 500 copies of MIM Notes 287.

An organization calling itself the "New

Black Panther Party for Self-Defense"

was much evident at the Million Youth

March. Speaking of a "united front" the

new Black Panthers worked with the

Nation of Islam, which furnished at least

one speaker.

Both the secular and Nation of Islam

speakers devoted much time to fighting

the patriarchy. One speaker said: "We

shouldn't be fighting each other. We

should start fighting the system. Stop

domestic violence! Stop violence against

women and all violence in this

community."

Another speaker asked, "what is it

about us Black men. . .Black men, why

can't we control our anger?" In parallel

sequence he also asked about white men.

The Nation of Islam (NOI) speaker put

forward a strong line on monogamy as

did others. Speakers called on the

audience not to have children unless they

were prepared for a permanent economic,

social and spiritual commitment.

The NOI speaker and others also said

wimmin should not be taking care of

Black men as if they were babies. He

said it does not help the young men being

treated that way who need to grow up to

all their responsibilities beyond sex.

Another speaker said that we also have

to get a handle on the question of sex in

our organizations. When women go to

meetings and the men say they want

"peace; you don't know if he wants

`peace' or a `piece'" [of wimmin].

We at MIM especially applaud that the

Nation of Islam speaker devoted a large

portion of his speech to wimmin's issues.

Other speakers did also. The speakers of

the day nailed down oppressed-nation

nationalist feminist revolution. All that was

lacking was a consciously communist

speaker; although one speaker said

"Black people shouldn't be afraid of

revolution. Revolution is just change."

Many speakers also emphasized that

the white power structure controls through

influence on the Black people's brains.

Revolutionary feminist nationalism

Million Youth March brings forward

progressive Black nationalism

exposed numerous times as some of the

most egregious animal killers in the

industry."(1) The statement was signed

"for animal liberation through armed

struggle, the Revolutionary Cells --animal

liberation brigade" There were no injuries

and only minor property damage reported.

Chiron contracts with Huntingdon Life

Sciences (HLS), an international animal

testing firm, for the animal tests required

by the FDA for approval of their drugs.

MIM condemns these actions as they put

the lives of animals above the lives of

humyns. While we expect that under

socialism the torture and killing of so many

animals that are used for unnecessary

and wasteful food and cosmetics will be

eliminated, we do not value the lives of

animals over the lives of humyns. The

"Revolutionary Cells" don't even bother

to explain how Chiron is using animal

testing in their brief statement.

As we explained in the MIM party

Black Panther imagery at the march (MIM photo)

INDIA

CHINA

`Animal libbers'

bomb big pharma

Continued on page 5...

Continued on page 6...

Continued on page 7...

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 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.

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eMail: <mim@mim.org>

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

MIM defends Abe
Lincoln for his day

Dear MIM:

There was an article in regards to Abe

Lincoln in one of your back issues of

MIM notes. A lot of Africans as well as

other individuals like to believe Abe freed

the slaves or better yet the Africans

because he was a kind and just man. But

that's not true. He simply saw this as a

good strategic move to save the Union.

One must set the record straight once and

for all. There's no reason why the next

generation of Africans here in the United

Snakes should remain ignorant of these

true facts. Please read this letter written

by Lincoln himself in trying to justify his

thinking.

A letter from Lincoln to Horace

Greely's New York Tribune, August 22,

1862

"If I could save the Union without

freeing any slaves I would do it, and if I

could have it by freeing all the slaves I

would do it, and if I could save it by

freeing some and leaving others alone, I

would also do that. What I do about

slavery and the colored race I do because

I believe it helps to save the Union, and

what I forebear, I forebear because I do

not believe it would help to save the Union,

I have here stated my purpose according

to my view of official duty, and I intend

no modification of my oft-expressed

personal wish that all men everywhere

could be free..."

Source: Lies my teacher told me, by

James Loewen

mim3@mim.org replies for MIM:

That is correct. Lincoln told people he

put the Union above the principle of ending

slavery. For that matter, Lincoln was a

politician and MIM warns people not to

try to take politicians' jobs when we need

a movement to pressure those politicians

and make change happen. Politicians do

not make change happen: they only

express it and at most broker it.

As you can imagine, no hard-core

abolitionist ever had a chance of winning

election in the United States, but Lincoln

nonetheless ended up bringing about

abolition. He offended the South enough

to cause it to attack at Fort Sumter and

he divided whites enough to keep the

North on the other side.

In addition, Lincoln's legal authority for

war is something that the South

questioned. If he said he was fighting the

war for slavery, he would have faced legal

problems. Those kinds of political

pressures we believe were best

understood by the people of the day who

understood the crazy thinking of the

people of the day.

We hold Lincoln in high regard as did

Karl Marx. The union he [Marx] served

as the writing secretary for said: "The

workingmen of Europe feel sure that, as

the American War of Independence

initiated a new era of ascendancy for the

middle class, so the American Antislavery

War will do for the working classes. They

consider it an earnest of the epoch to

come that it fell to the lot of Abraham

Lincoln, the single-minded son of the

working class, to lead his country through

the matchless struggle for the rescue of

an enchained race and the reconstruction

of a social world."

Speaking for Lincoln, the ambassador

of the United States said, "It is in this

relation that the United States regard their

cause in the present conflict with slavery,

maintaining insurgence as the cause of

human nature, and they derive new

encouragements to persevere from the

testimony of the workingmen of Europe

that the national attitude is favored with

their enlightened approval and earnest

sympathies."

In fact, not many know that Lincoln

and Marx exchanged correspondence and

Marx said his organization was the only

one to get more than a formal reply from

Lincoln for the congratulations of election

victory. In fact, Marx ended up believing

that the American Civil War was the

greatest example of class struggle in his

day: "at the time of Lincoln's election 3

1/2 years ago it was only a matter of

making no further concessions to the

slave-owners, whereas now the avowed

aim, which has in part already been

realised, is the abolition of slavery, one

has to admit that never has such a gigantic

revolution occurred with such rapidity. It

will have a highly beneficial influence on

the whole world."(2)

Today, we have to realize that

throughout the civil war, especially at the

beginning, white politicians in the North

were plotting to bring an end to it. Lincoln

managed to hold firm and get through--

thanks also in part to the minority of

whites more radical than him pushing and

the Blacks who fought for themselves.

There is also a white academic trend

today that we have to avoid called post-

modernism. This post- modernism

detracts from Lincoln because it believes

all truth is relative. For them, Lincoln was

the same as the whites who wanted to

end the Civil War too soon and the whites

who wanted slaves but said the issue was

tariffs. The same people are likely to say

the Civil War was unnecessary and the

violence involved evil. The problem is that

within white people, Lincoln represented

whatever positive thrust there was at the

time. Since that time, the white nation

developed imperialism and consolidated

its genocidal views and it lost all its

progressive thrust. It is very doubtful that

even the smartest politician today could

get elected and trick the whites into

progress.

Notes:

1. http://www.marxists.org/history/

international/iwma /documents/1864/

lincoln-letter.htm

2. http://www.marxists.org/archive/

marx/works/1864/le tters/64_11_29b.htm

For Marx's refutation of common myths

about the war, see "The North American

Civil War," October 1861.

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 3

This MIM activist was approached by

an alleged Dennis Kucinich supporter

while tabling at a local peace event. She

was adamant that Kucinich represents a

progressive break from Amerikan politics

as usual. She agreed that there's no

difference between the Democrats and

Republicans, going so far as to say that if

Kucinich doesn't get the Democratic

party nomination she would not be voting

because there would be no point. She said

"I'm practically a communist" trying to

explain that she expected MIM to like

Kucinich's platform. (MIM does not

know if this persyn is really a Republican

trying to bait MIM or not, but we would

like to discuss the issues raised anyway.)

While Dennis Kucinich is considered

a long shot for the Democratic party

nomination, it is particularly important for

MIM to talk about candidates like him

who gain the support of activists who

share some or even many of MIM's

goals. These candidates are sometimes

more dangerous than the right-wing

reactionaries because they pose behind

progressive-sounding rhetoric while

misleading well-intentioned people into

supporting the imperialist system. For this

reason MIM kicks off our 2004

presidential campaign coverage with a

review of Dennis Kucinich.

Dennis Kucinich opens his 10 point

platform ("The Kucinich Platform: 10 Key

Issues") stating "It's time for America to

resume its glorious journey." This

statement pretty well summarizes MIM's

fundamental disagreement with Kucinich.

Amerika's glorious journey began with

the massacre of indigenous people on the

land now called the United $tates, moved

on to importing and enslaving Africans,

Asians and Latinos to use their free labor

to build the wealth of the country, and

then expanded outward to take control

of the resources and labor in other

countries through military force. All of

2004 Amerikan presidential race watch: Dennis Kucinich

On September 7, Stephen Funk, a

Marine reservist and activist in the anti-

war movement, was convicted of leaving

his unit without permission and sentenced

to 6 months in prison.(1) After completing

basic training, Funk refused to report to

duty when his unit was activated for duty

in February for the Iraq war. Instead he

applied for conscientious objector status

and attended anti-war rallies to speak out

against the war.

Funk is 21 years old and was convinced

to join the Marines during a period of

depression and lack of direction in his life,

after a recruiter told him the Marines

would give him purpose and discipline.

The military takes advantage of kids,

particularly those from oppressed nations

with few options out of high school, making

the military attractive and offering money

for college, without giving them the full

picture of what they are expected to fight

for and the possibility they might die. Funk

has since devoted time to speaking to high

school students explaining why they

should not join the military.

The charges filed against Funk were

unusually harsh for an AWOL case. He

was found innocent of the more serious

charge: "desertion with intent to shirk

important duty."(1) Funk's is the only

conscientious objector from the recent

Iraq war to be prosecuted so far.

On April 1 Funk turned himself in to

the Marines after 47 days absence. He

took his case public, holding a press

conference which received world wide

media attention. Funk was transferred to

New Orleans along with more than 20

other Conscientious Objectors. None of

the rest of them were prosecuted. In

addition to the 6 month prison sentence,

a jury of four marines recommended that

he be given a bad conduct discharge,

which means Funk will lose his military

benefits. Lt. General Dennis McCarthy,

commander of the Marine reserves, must

still approve the sentence.

At a rally to free Stephen Funk in San

Francisco a few days before his trial a

conscientious objector from the first Gulf

War, Amy Ellison, spoke out about the

importance of COs stepping forward to

take anti-war stands. She pointed out that

he was the only soldier to be activated

and refuse to go. She has devoted many

days to work on Funk's case, raising

public awareness and funds for his

defense.

Stephen Funk is a pacifist who opposes

violence. This is the basis for his

conscientious objector status. But he did

not take the easy way out. As he stated

"In the face of this unjust war based on

deception by our leaders, I could not

remain silent. I spoke out so that others in

the military would realize that they also

have a choice and a duty to resist immoral

and illegitimate orders."(2) It is because

of his vocal opposition to the war and the

Amerikan military that the Marines are

trying to make an example out of Funk.

In a country like Amerika that is built

off the plunder of resources and

exploitation of labor outside its borders, a

huge military is needed to maintain

conditions friendly to this plunder and

exploitation. As we now see in Iraq, the

people of the world won't accept

Amerikan imperialist domination without

a fight. President Bush recognizes this

and he is seeking an additional $86 billion

for military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan

and elsewhere around the world.(3)

This is what the Amerikan military is

fighting for: continued imperialist

domination for the United $tates and

continued wealth for the citizens within

U.$. borders. MIM applauds Stephen

Funk and other military resisters and

former military personnel who realize this

is not something they want to fight for

and who instead devote their time to

fighting Amerikan militarism.

Notes:
1. The Times-Picayune, September 7, 2003.
2. Written statement by Stephen Funk prior to
trial.
3. Bush Presidential address, September 7, 2003

Iraq war conscientious objector sentenced to prison

Reply of the Russian Maoist Party

to the Call for the Anti-Imperialist

Camp 2003: "Resist the Attack of the

New American Fascism"

The Russian Maoist Party sincerely

greets all the genuine revolutionary, anti-

imperialist, progressive and democratic

forces that have gathered in Assisi, Italy,

this September to take part in the Anti-

Imperialist Camp 2003. At the same time,

we regret to state that we are unable to

sign the Call for this Camp and, therefore,

to take part in this international forum.

The declaration "Resist the Attack" is

based on the most harmful delusion of

the allegedly "peace-loving" nature of the

U.N., as well as of some imperialist

powers: France, Germany, Russia, etc.

In reality, all of these are as integral a

part of world imperialism as the United

States. This truth is not invalidated and

cannot be invalidated by the fact that, on

the issue of the war in Iraq, they have

taken a position that is in many respects

the opposite of the American one. The

imperialism of European countries or

Russian imperialism is no better and no

worse than their U.S. counterpart. The

fact that U.S. imperialism acts as the main

imperialist predator on the planet today

can in no way serve as a justification for

France, Germany or Russia. It is

sufficient to recollect the atrocities of the

Russian army in Chechnya, perpetrated

with the tacit approval of the European

Council.

Marxism-Leninism has long ago and

quite convincingly proven that inter-

imperialist contradictions are caused by

the objective laws of economic

development. Differences between

imperialists in dividing up the world are

nothing but quarrels in the camp of our

enemies. These differences can never

become a basis for a truly anti-imperialist

movement for peace. That is why those

pacifists who are trying to base the

strategy and tactics of the peace

movement on differences among the

imperialists are making a big mistake. The

same mistake was committed by many

Social-Democrats during World War I,

when they came out in support of "their

own" bourgeois governments.

The imperialism of the U.S.A. is indeed

one of the most powerful enemies of the

proletariat and the peoples of the world.

But communists must never allow

themselves to be fooled by bourgeois

propaganda and they must always

remember the words of Karl Liebknecht

that the principal enemy of the workers

is in their own country. These words were

true 100 years ago, they are still true today.

A similar mistake is the fetishization of

Zionism--the imperialism of the Israeli

state. While such feelings can be

understood in the Arab national liberation

movements, they can never be laid as a

cornerstone of the politics of an

international movement that is marching

forward under the red flag of proletarian

struggle.

We must state that the slogans of

abstract, "non-class" (in reality, bourgeois)

anti-Americanism in Europe and Russia

are the rallying cry for the most

reactionary forces in those countries.

These social-chauvinists are trying to turn

the proletariat away from the path of class

struggle and onto the path of struggling

for redividing the world in the interests of

the local imperialists.

In these condition, putting forward a

declaration that accuses exclusively U.S.

imperialism and thereby absolves and

whitewashes the policies of the European

states and Russia means playing into the

hands of the bourgeoisie, confusing the

proletariat, renouncing Marxism-

Leninism. We regard the slogan of uniting

"all those fighting against the new

American fascism" as a

counterrevolutionary one, as these ranks

include the fascists and the bourgeois in

our countries.

In conclusion, we would like to express

our sincere regret that this document has

been signed by some genuine

revolutionary forces, first and foremost

our comrades of the Irish Republican

Socialist Party (IRSP) and the Philippine

BAYAN. We also hope that the Camp

organizers will bring our critique of the

declaration to the attention of all the

member-organizations of the Anti-

Imperialist Camp. Down with U.S.

imperialism! Down with imperialism of

all brands! Down with capitalism! Long

live the red banner of Marxism-Leninism!

On behalf of the Central Committee of

the Russian Maoist Party,

Dar ZHUTAYEV,

Chairperson of the RMP

Moscow, September 1, 2003

The Call for the Anti-Imperialist Camp

2003 can be read here:

w w w . a n t i i m p e r i a l i s t a . c o m / e n /

v i e w . s h t m l ? c a t e g o r y = 3 7 & i d

=1055245641&keyword=+

Russian Maoist Party struggles against Euro-chauvinism

Continued on next page...

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 4

this has resulted in a country whose

wealth is matched by none and whose

murder, exploitation, oppression and

terrorism against the peoples of the world

is also matched by none. There never was

any "glorious journey" for Amerika unless

there is glory in global imperialist

domination.

Kucinich never states clearly what

"glorious journey" he thinks America was

on in the past, but he is pretty clear in

outlining his vision for this journey in the

future. Out of his ten key issues, nine

focus on increasing the wealth, freedoms

and services to Amerikan citizens. These

are a good summary of Kucinich's politics

and MIM's disagreement. Below we will

address each point individually.

1. Universal Health Care with a Single

Payer Plan. Socialized healthcare in and

of itself is not a bad goal. However,

Kucinich never addresses why it is that

only "industrialized nations" provide

national health care (as he notes). He is

concerned that the U.$. lags behind on

this service to its citizens, but does not

address the appalling health care in the

Third World where people die from easily

preventable diseases. This is just the first

glimpse of Kucinich's Amerika-first plan.

A glorious Amerika which provides for

its citizens with its bountiful wealth.

Wealth Kucinich seems to think is a god-

given right of the country rather than

something stolen from the oppressed

people of the world.

2. Full Social Security Benefits at Age

65. This is another social issue that will

have great appeal with Amerikans but

which misses the internationalist point.

Kucinich's administration will make this

possible "through a progressive tax

structure and reordered national

priorities." Again not addressing where

all that money being taxed comes from

to allocate to national priorities.

3. Withdrawal from NAFTA and WTO.

Kucinich's main complaint is "Companies

leave the U.S. in search of low wages,

low commodity prices, anti-union climates,

and lax environmental laws. NAFTA has

been used to whipsaw workers at the

negotiation table, forcing wages and

benefit concessions under threat of

moving jobs overseas." This position

underscores MIM's problem with the

anti-NAFTA and anti-WTO movements

in general. They focus on the Amerikan

workers getting a bad deal because jobs

are going to other countries where labor

is cheaper. This position fosters national

chauvinism, telling workers here they

deserve to keep their jobs at high wages.

MIM says the capitalists need to be

stopped from exploiting Third World

workers, but it is not trade agreements

that are causing this, and we certainly

don't think Amerikan workers deserve

better jobs and higher wages than the rest

of the world. Kucinich falls just short of

calling for sealed borders to protect

Amerikan jobs from those damn

immigrants. As a "progressive" candidate

he is walking dangerously close to the

2004 Amerikan presidential race watch: Dennis Kucinich

Continued from previous page...

extreme right protectionist wing of the

bourgeoisie on this question.

4. Repeal the Patriot Act. This is

Kucinich's most progressive point and

MIM agrees with him 100% on this one.

5. Right-to-Choose, Privacy, and Civil

Liberties. This point is also progressive

in that it would reduce imprisonment and

protect abortion rights and expand the

rights of gays and lesbians. Interestingly

though Kucinich's record on abortion

rights was abysmal until recently: he

consistently voted against abortion rights

in Congress for years before suddenly

changing his position with a brief

explanation that he was persuaded by

many dialogue with many wimmin on this

question.

6. Balance between workers and

corporations. Kucinich expands this point:

"American workers are working longer

and harder for less pay than 20 years ago.

What's needed is a resurgence of

organized labor" This is very misleading

and incorrectly focuses on labor within

imperialist Amerika rather than taking an

internationalist view.

MIM did a 20 year analysis of the

conditions of workers in the year 2000

based on similar statements from the anti-

WTO movement at that time. We refer

readers to that article (MIM Notes 201,

Jan 1, 2000.) The bottom line is that white

workers in particular have not suffered

over the last 20 years; their wealth

increased. Black men did show a decline

and were the hardest hit of legal workers

in this country.

As MIM concluded in that article "All

of these workers are making head-and-

shoulders above the great majority of the

world's workers. Who's up and who's

down may have an effect on political

consciousness, but MIM does not look at

any of these pay levels and conclude that

these workers are being exploited on a

world scale. Inequality and oppression do

exist in the U.$., but economically

everyone who's got a legal at least

minimum-wage job is not exploited in our

book"

As MIM has explained at length, the

majority of the workers in this country

are benefiting from the exploitation of

workers around the world. Giving them a

bigger piece of the imperialist pie is just

shifting around the superprofits. These

workers are not creating the wealth they

are sharing in and this parasitism needs

to be eliminated along with the capitalists

who perpetuate it. (See MIM Theory 1

& 10 and "Imperialism and Its Class

Structure" on our web site, for a more

thorough explanation).

7. Guaranteed quality education pre-K

through college. This is another good goal

in the abstract with the same problems

as points 1 and 2.

8. A renewed commitment to peace

and diplomacy. This is the only point out

of the top ten that addresses international

issues in any depth. And right away

Kucinich reveals his imperialist ignorance

(or willful blindness) as he opens his

explanation of this point: "America will

return to its role as the most admired--

not hated--nation." Amerika has not been

the most admired nation for over a

hundred and fifty years, since it fucked

up reconstruction and set out on a whole-

hearted imperialist path. The majority of

the world's people have only hatred and

anger for the country that has brought

and reinforced on them poverty, disease,

military dictatorships, and exploiting and

polluting corporations. Amerika may be

admired by the leaders of other imperialist

countries seeking to emulate it's

international terrorist ways that steal such

great wealth, and by the people of those

countries who seek to share in the

superprofits like Amerikan citizens do, but

it is not admired by the world's oppressed.

Kucinich goes on to proclaim that he

will promote non-violence "as an

organizing principle in both domestic and

international affairs" investing in domestic

programs rather than the military. With

this view of international affairs Kucinich

could never succeed as president of

imperialist Amerika. He seems to really

believe that the wealth in this country

comes from this country. He misses the

fact that the Amerikan military is needed

to maintain global hegemony and ensure

continued flow of superprofits into

Amerika. All that wealth he wants to

redistribute to the Amerikan citizens rests

on imperialist militarism.

Kucinich also misses that it is not just

the Amerikan military that is violent, it is

the many foreign governments that

Amerika has financed to keep in power

so that they could serve Amerika's

interests. This "aid" would also have to

be eliminated to truly pursue a non-violent

foreign policy.

Of course if Kucinich could really get

policies like these passed they would

benefit the oppressed of the world

because it would give them the

opportunity to rise up against their lackey

governments who would be deprived of

the needed financial and military backing

of the U.$. to keep them in place.

However, Amerika is not run by just one

man, and presidents get elected because

of the interests they will serve. Capitalist

corporations have tremendous power in

picking who will run the country that helps

maintain their wealth, and they will not

let that person threaten their wealth in

any way. Those corporations won't let

someone like Kucinich get elected any

more than they will let Patrick Buchanan

get elected.

The above analysis is taking Kucinich's

pacifist rhetoric at face value. But a quick

look at his voting record in Congress

demonstrates that he is not really about

promoting non-violence. Under President

Clinton, Kucinich voted for the "Iraq

Liberation Act of 1998" which declared

that it should be the policy of the U.$. to

remove Saddam Hussein's regime from

power. Further, on his web site Kucinich

reprints speeches in which he declares

his support of the state of Israel in its

terrorist war against the Palestinian

people. And of course, like all the other

good imperialist governing officials in

congress (with the sole exception of

California Democrat Barbara Lee),

Kucinich voted for the September 14,

2001 resolutions authorizing the

administration to use nearly unlimited

force in response to the September 11

attacks. In practice Kucinich is like every

other member of congress, participating

in and supporting the imperialist system.

9. Restore rural communities and family

farms. "A Kucinich administration will

Willie Nelson supports Kucinich.

Continued on next page...

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 5

break up agricultural monopolies and

restore a strong, independent family farm

system with fair prices for farmers and

healthy food for consumers." This

position is similar to the others that intend

to help the Amerikan people get a bigger

piece of the pie now being hogged by the

corporations. But this one also has it's

own distinct chauvinism in missing the role

that Amerikan agriculture plays in

decimating the agricultural systems of

Third World countries, and the role that

cheap agricultural products imported from

the Third World play in subsidizing

Amerikan kitchens. Once again Kucinich

demonstrates his limited vision of the

world which seems to stop at the U.$.

borders.

10. Environmental renewal and clean

energy. This point addresses the need for

stronger environmental policies and

greater use of sustainable energy within

the U.$. It does not address the

environmental devastation caused by

Amerikan corporations in Third World

countries. Kucinich does claim that

"Globally, the U.S. will become a leader

in sustainable energy production and a

partner with developing nations in

providing inexpensive, local, renewable

energy technologies." But he doesn't tell

us how the U.$. will get there. And as

history has demonstrated, the U.$.

Five migrants who died of heatstroke

of dehydration were found in early

August near the Mexican border in the

Arizona desert.(1) These five people

were traveling separately across the

border and were found dead in Arizona

and Texas. In mid-August another three

migrants were found dead in Arizona. A

Brazilian man died while crawling through

an underground drainage tunnel in Texas

and another man was found dead in the

Franklin Canal in Texas.(2)

August is typically a bad month for

Latinos attempting to cross the border

between Mexico and the United $tates.

The immigrants cross the border seeking

livable wages, better living conditions, and

money to send back to their families. But

because the U$ militarized its border to

protect the wealth in this country,

immigrants face a difficult journey which

for too many proves fatal. The heat of

the summer makes the crossing

particularly difficult as temperatures rise

above 110 in the Arizona desert.

The deaths reported here are only a few

of the hundreds who die every year. So

far this year, at least 120 migrants died

crossing into Arizona alone. Most of these

deaths occur in the summer months. Last

year 145 people are known to have died

crossing into Arizona.(3)

As U.$. immigration intensifies its

crackdown on the border, people must

seek more and more difficult crossing

points, leading to more deaths. These are

deaths clearly attributable to capitalism.

The border between the U.$. and Mexico

serves capitalism by keeping cheap labor

readily available to Amerikan

corporations across the border, and

protecting the wealth these corporations

bring home to imperialist country citizens.

In reality borders are an artificial

creation. What is now known as the

southwest in Amerika is land stolen from

Mexico. The border is now used as a tool

to keep Third World workers in a

situation of brutal exploitation. And even

undocumented workers who do manage

the dangerous crossing are forced to

work for sweatshop wages because of

their illegal status in the country.

An open border would provide a

semblance of capitalist free trade, but few

capitalist free-trade advocates support

this action. This is because the advocates

of free trade hope to open up more

opportunities for exploitation of the people

and resources of other countries. Open

borders with Mexico would give all the

people in Latin America, exploited by

Amerikan corporations and suffering from

environmental devastation from polluting

corporations, the chance to take

advantage of at least some of the wealth

stolen from them. But it would also push

to equalize the wages internationally

among workers, which means Amerikan

workers wages would drop. These

deaths on the border are a human

sacrifice to keep Amerikan labor

aristocracy wages high.

Notes:

1. Immigration News Briefs, Vol. 6,

No. 33 - August 15, 2003, published by

Nicaragua Solidarity Network,

wnu@igc.org.

2. Immigration News Briefs, Vol. 6,

No. 34 - August 22, 2003

3. Centerdaily.com, August 12, 2003,

Arizona State College.

Eight workers die crossing border into the United $tates

out People's War, local concerns should

be paramount.

MIM's position may change as we

obtain information on the consolidation of

the Maoists into one party. At the present,

we do not believe it is possible or wise

for imperialist country comrades to do

otherwise.

Note:

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/

south_asia/3102718.stm

2. http://www.nepalnews.com/

3. http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/

w e b n e w s / w e d / a b / Q n e p a l -

parliament.R2rz_Dl5.html

REPORTS SAYS

PEOPLE'S WAR

ADVANCING IN

NEPAL

Continued from page 1...

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?

"partnering" with "developing nations"

has meant environmental destruction,

economic collapse, agricultural

devastation, and poverty and suffering for

the people.

Dennis Kucinich is a Democrat and

currently a member of the House of

Representatives for Ohio. He claims to

have opposed Bush's war on Iraq and

led anti-war opposition in the U.S. House.

This is one of Kucinich's more positive

points recently: his opposition to the war

in Iraq. But as is explained above,

Kucinich only opposes imperialist

intervention in certain circumstances.

The fact that Kucinich is running as a

Democrat illustrates nicely MIM's point

that you have to be a part of one of the

imperialist parties to win the presidency.

Kucinich may be a long shot for

president, but he recognizes who has the

power in this country. And in the end, even

if someone elected to president suddenly

changed their mind about supporting the

issues and positions of all their financial

and political supporters and decided to

oppose imperialism, still they would not

be able to take any effective action. The

country is run by the imperialists. And

the imperialists will not give up power

without a fight.

This is why MIM is a revolutionary

party. We know what it takes to bring

comrades waging People's War and

upholding Mao and the Cultural

Revolution in Nepal. In India and Nepal,

MIM recognizes no particular leadership

or party, because among parties carrying

out the universal and internationalist duties

of upholding Mao, the "Gang of Four"

and the Cultural Revolution and carrying

down imperialism, and it is more than

words. We don't run candidates in the

imperialist presidential election because

we see that as defeatist. We know we

can't win that battle right now. And we

don't want to legitimize the system by

running a candidate as if our candidate

would be able to implement a revolutionary

agenda if s/he won.

If you want to work for real change in

the Amerikan government work with

MIM and join the struggle on the side of

the oppressed people of the world.

Notes: www.kucinich.us

Continued from previous page...

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 6

This resolution passed at the 2003

MIM Congress.

Setting a goal

Right now we are getting 1000 different

people a day [at our website], 30,000 a

month taking 2.3 web pages each on

average, excluding graphics. At it's height,

the Black Panther Party had a newspaper

circulation of 100,000. Probably, the Black

Panther readers read more than three

pages on average per month. Amongst

bourgeois papers, "the Nation" is the

respectable mainstream "left" at about

100,000 readers and only papers like the

USA Today and Wall Street Journal can

cross the 1 million mark in print.

At 500,000 we come into range of the

elite like the New York Times in print.

The really big news websites like CNN

and nakednews.com still come in at the

less than 10 million mark. I believe it is

safe to say that at 500,000 we become

huge by 1970s print journalism standards

and something that cannot be ignored by

21st century standards.

The impact

For some of us, having MIM at the

500,000 circulation level would have

obvious impact. Today when the

mainstream papers want to venture into

an exotic discussion of opinions, they likely

mention "The Nation," which is a tired

old social-democratic publication. We had

a complete rarity recently when both the

New York Times and the Washington Post

mentioned the Workers World Party,

because of the demonstrations against the

war in Iraq.

Today when the government wants to

spin or cover up something, the officials

give "special" access to a handful of

selected journalists who in turn dutifully

put whatever angle on a question seems

needed by Uncle $am at the moment. Yet,

with MIM at 500,000 readers, the risks

to the rulers start to enter a whole new

realm, and the bourgeois media will be

the first to feel the heat. The bourgeois

The Five Year Plan for web traffic

media may choose to cover something a

certain way, but the risk will be that MIM

will make the public notice.

The details

At 100% annual growth, which MIM

has experienced at some periods, MIM

would obtain more than 500,000 readers

in four years. For this reason, even under

optimistic assumptions of steady work,

we are making this plan a "Five Year

Plan."

If growth is only 50% annually which

is what we have seen at our low point

these past two months, it will take us 7

years to reach our goal. Of course, that

is using the past as a guideline and not

assuming a huge political acceleration of

events. Someone with real money could

make all this happen much quicker.

Otherwise, a timeline of 4 to 7 years

seems realistic for our goal.

To achieve our goals, I would also like

to break down how many users we might

see by department each month.

Art--320,000 users

RAIL--50,000 users

Agitation--100,000 users

Notas Rojas--50,000 users

Bookstore--100,000 users

Countries page--100,000 users

Languages other than English and

Spanish--100,000

We will also need some completely

new ideas, such as discussion forums and

famous bloggers. Hopefully we will

improve our work with a number of areas

ranging from discussion of the

A.L.K.Q.N. to Confucianism and its role

or non-role in economic development in

Asia.

Thus far, the "big ideas" that are a

success are having an art page, a RAIL

page, a movies page, an agitation page, a

Chinese page, a Spanish page, a

bookstore, and a Black Panther archive.

If you have any "big ideas" or ways of

assisting an increase in MIM's

readership, please contact us.

Summary statistics comparing August 2002 and August 2003

This month had weak traffic as usual in August. Traffic was even worse than usual, because of various technical

difficulties and the fact that many could not reach the website for several days thanks to the historic blackout.

Statistic

August, 2002 August, 2003

% change

Number of different computers MIM served

14803

26933*

+82%

Avg. MIM pages served per day

1676

2085

+24.4%

MIM data transferred (Mb/day)

94.7

75.00

-20.8%

MIM Notes (English) printed copies compared with pre-911=100

All language newspapers printed copies compared with pre-911=100

MIM prison circulation averaged over two months Jan 2002=100

Number of Art page users

Unknown

4109

Number of different MIM web page files actively chosen from

2992

3584

19.8%

Amazon visitors sent from web page

139

433

+212%

*This report excludes all art, and most robots and developer hits for 2003 but not 2002.

congress vote in 1999 on Veganism and

"animal rights": "There is no meaningful

non-religious view that holds the `rights'

of animals to be similar to those of humyns

with regard to `murder.' `Deep ecology'

is often just deep religion."(2) MIM

approaches the issues of the environment

and "animal rights" from the standpoint

of the group of people in the world with

no property, with `nothing to lose but their

chains:' the proletariat. MIM is thus

unabashedly anthropocentric--but we

recognize the value of environmental

protection for humyn health reasons.

Ironically, the "Revolutionary Cells"

compare their struggle to those of

oppressed people around the world:

"From palestine to euskal herria, from the

jungles of colombia to northern ireland,

the struggle will continue until all of the

oppressive institutions are destroyed!"

MIM finds these comparisons offensive.

The oppressed and exploited peoples of

the world are fighting national liberation

struggles against their imperialist

oppressors. While millions of people are

`Animal libbers' bomb big pharma

dying around the world at the hands of

imperialism the "Revolutionary Cells"

focuses it's energy on animal deaths for

the research of one pharmaceutical

company which is researching drugs to

fight cancer and infectious diseases.

MIM is under no illusions about

capitalist pharmaceutical companies.

They research drugs that benefit a small

minority of wealthy people who live long

enough to suffer from diseases such as

cancer. And they patent their drugs and

restrict access to those who have the real

need in Third World countries, allowing

people to die so that profits won't be

threatened. Chiron is no different than the

rest. They research TB and HIV but have

taken no initiative to distribute their drugs

or screening procedures to the Third

World where they are most needed but

unaffordable.

Only under socialism will we be able to

resolve the contradictions between

humyns and their environment. Only then

can we ensure an end to animal research

for luxury production and access to

needed food and drugs for all of the

worlds people.

Notes:

1. http://directaction.info/

news_aug29_03.htm

2. The resolution on veganism and

"animal rights" also states: "The party will

not guarantee an end to animal research,

but it will guarantee an end to animal

research in luxury production. Extending

life and health of humyns is not luxury

production. Cosmetics are luxury

production.

"The Maoist emphasis on the applied

nature of scientific advance will also

ensure that many types of scientific

research carried out strictly for the profit,

bureaucratic or turf interests of certain

scientists will be abolished. Resources will

be re-allocated to other scientific

endeavors. ... "The dictatorship of the

proletariat will abolish luxury production

of animal furs and other animal products."

For the complete resolution, see: http://

www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/wim/cong/

vegan.html.

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

Continued from page 1...

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 7

This passed at MIM's 2003 Congress.

The United $tates and England should

shoulder the blame for the Mideast crisis

today. England is to blame more for the

period leading up to the formation of

I$rael in the Mideast as the colonial power

there and the United $tates is more to

blame since then. Without the $100 billion

in aid from the United $tates since 1967,

I$rael would have ceased to exist. The

Jewish people would have been too afraid

to settle there and fend for themselves

against the world without U.$. aid.

The Soviet Union's leader from 1924

to 1953, Stalin attempted to establish a

Jewish state on Soviet territory, but the

one currently occupying Palestinian land

was more popular. Non-Zionist Jewish

nationalists considered the Soviet territory

and other places outside of Palestine.

The question of the Zionist vs.

Palestinian conflict is one of locating a

few million people. While tens of millions

of Arabs and billions of Third World

people look on in anger at I$rael and

sympathy with the Palestinians, the root

problem is only a few million people.

With the U.$. military and economic aid,

the I$raelis have been encouraged to look

at Palestinians as First Nations people

who need to be pushed off their land, by

murderous force. Every Amerikkkan

today who says he or she would have

opposed killing off the First Nations

people for their land in North America

should also oppose U.$. aid to I$rael.

Contrary to many foreign comrades

with an unrealistic view of the facts, the

United $tates is not run by a Jewish mafia.

If a Jewish mafia were running the united

$tates, it would have taken much more

than $100 billion in aid since 1967. $100

billion -- about the damage to the World

Trade Center-- sounds like a lot, but

having a realistic view would mean

considering that the U.$. economy runs

in the several trillion a year and could

expand further if prodded.

If all Jews are bankers like many

deluded people seem to believe, then

those Jews surely know that $100 billion

is nothing, especially given the power to

print money and create credit under

capitalism. $100 billion would only be a

difficulty in a world with no unemployed

people. Creating that much credit on

paper or printing that much money for

the future to do some work with people

currently unemployed or moved from

other jobs--such a feat is actually trivial,

even within capitalism. Immigration and

economic expansion only angers the out-

of-luck "loser" minority of the labor

aristocracy hankering for closed borders

and an exclusive relationship with u.$.

monopoly bankers.

Although the United $tates is not run

by a Jewish mafia, it is true that aid to

I$rael surpasses the aid to any other

country. It is precisely the historical extent

of this aid that necessitates that the United

$tates go the extra mile for peace in the

Mideast.

The truth is that the United $tates also

backed the despicable apartheid regime

and related settler regime "Rhodesia" in

southern Africa ruled by former Nazis

and Nazi-sympathizers. In those regimes

white minorities ruled African majorities

without even granting those Africans the

usual capitalist or "democratic" rights.

There is nothing new about support for

I$rael and other settler societies: it's quite

Amerikkkan, and has nothing to do with

a Jewish mafia.

The example of I$rael contributes to

international instability and increases the

likelihood of a species-ending disaster. In

the back of their minds, even the most

apathetic Amerikkkans believe that the

Mideast could be the world's undoing,

even as they favor I$raeli imperialism.

The example of I$rael encourages all

nations in the world to catch the eye of

the united $tates and then take land from

people not lined up with Uncle $am's

interests in oil or other resources. The

example is receiving billions in rewards

each year for carrying out land-grabbing

war in the name of fighting "terrorism"

or other bugaboos. Such an example sends

the wrong message globally. What may

not have resulted in nuclear catastrophe

when President Andrew Jackson led

genocidal raids against the First Nations

might very well end the species in the

year 2003.

The economical, technological and

military level of development now enjoyed

by I$rael is artificially kept up from

without--for the most part by direct aid

from united $tates, as well as by I$rael's

participation, as an imperialist nation, in

the super-exploitation of the Third World.

I$rael would be incapable of sustaining

that level by itself.

The I$raeli state, as well as thinking

and practices of the majority of its citizens,

are based on the vicious ideology of

Zionism which, in its present form, may

or may not qualify as full-fledged fascism,

A real Mideast peace initiative owed by united $tates

"Black knowledge is Black power," said

one speaker. Another speaker said, "I

don't want to know what kind of furniture

you have in your living room. I want to

know how many books you have on your

shelves!"

There was a positive mention of the

Azanian struggle in Soweto. A speaker

said that the struggle is not going on with

the ANC in South Africa anymore. While

referring to Nelson Mandela as a "great

man," the speaker made it clear that

"putting a Black man in charge of a white

Million Youth March brings forward

progressive Black nationalism

power structure" is not going to solve

Black people's problems.

Speakers opposed the war in Iraq and

activists with tables passed out literature

opposing the war. One speaker demanded

reparations and to "stop this unjust, unfair,

immoral war in Iraq."

One of the very last speakers addressed

student organization. He asked students

that if their Black student union is only

organizing parties and social events, "then

you need to get another one!" Likewise,

another speaker said there was no

excuses, because "if you don't like any

of the organizations you see here, then

make your own."

On hand in addition to the NOI and

New Black Panther Party for Self-

Defense were the newspaper sellers for

the International African Militant, Nation

Time: The Voice of the New Afrikan

Liberation Front and People's War

Magazine. This last magazine devoted

much space to hip-hop. The Ghetto

Liberation Political Party provides its

political leadership and has issued joint

statements with MIM in the past.

Continued from page 1...

but is certainly as genocidal, authoritarian

and oppressive a form of bourgeois

ideology as there could be. We should also

note that I$rael does not even qualify as

a full-fledged bourgeois democracy,

insofar as it is not a secular state--it

privileges Judaism as a state religion.

We call for the unconditional stoppage

of military deliveries to I$rael by any

foreign countries. We also envisage a

thorough de-Zionisation of the country

under international control. As we have

no illusions about the present-day

international community, we envisage this

international control as a military

dictatorship over I$rael by the exploited

and oppressed, similar to what happened

to Hitler's Germany under Soviet

occupation after the Second World War.

It is the best thing the I$raelis could hope

for to move forward their own thinking

as a people. We encourage individuals to

think about what Germans had to face in

1945 and 1946 and how a change of

thought had to come about.

We refuse to acknowledge the

terrorism charge levied against the

Palestinians. They only fight for their

nation the way they can against occupiers.

We also believe that indiscriminate

violence by the Palestinians and other

oppressed people against I$raeli citizens,

as well as all Zionists irrespective of their

citizenship, cannot be condemned by

Communists at the present time.

However, indiscriminate violence or

pogroms against Jews who are not

citizens of I$rael or Zionists, for the simple

reason that they are Jews, is anti-

Semitism and continues to be as

reactionary as it always has been. On

another count, we are opposed to

politically anonymous violence, such as

the bombings of apartment houses in

Moscow in 1999. We mean attacks for

which no political organization or group

has taken responsibility. As a good general

practice, we recommend revolutionaries

to attribute any terrorist attack for which

no one has claimed responsibility to the

efforts of the secret services, such as the

CIA, the Mossad or the Russian FSB.

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 8

As the ex-Soviet Union continues in its

second decade of "freedom," I went to

check on what it all means to the Russian

community in Brooklyn and some of the

most politically correct communities in

North Amerika containing ex-Soviet

people. Something I hadn't noticed in

Brooklyn before was the "Baku Palace."

It looks new.

On the outside, the Baku Palace is the

snazziest building in Brighton Beach, the

Russian-speaking community. Water

flows down the side. Outside, wimmin in

dresses and high heels and men in suits

stand around smoking. The operative rule:

if you have money, flash it. If you don't

have money, pretend that you do and flash

it anyway. I didn't dare go in and that

was part of the point for riff-raff like me.

The next stop is a Russian bookstore in

Montreal. I find myself surrounded by

alternative healing, psychic reading, aura

photographing and sex-life-improving

manuals. Between them here and there

are some cheap detective novels. Naively,

I asked the shopkeeper if by chance they

have Lenin's full oeuvre. "What, what,

what?" -- she uttered in utter surprise

and disbelief. I repeated my silly request.

"God forbid, who needs him... Here is a

good book. Very popular. `How to decode

inner voices speaking in your head.' Trust

me, this is what you need. This is what

everybody needs." I left the store

wondering if she just offered me the local

best seller or assumed that something is

wrong with my head.

Next I checked a CD store in Brooklyn.

My degenerate eyes turned toward a

whole section. What was it, I asked

myself. Was Russia now exporting CDs

filled with pornographic images? Just

imagine how much could fit on each CD

with modern technology. And how many

wimmin could be employed in a

profession disallowed by Stalin, in his

obviously economically inefficient ways,

but then I wondered how they would be

able to pay the thousands of models all

fitting on one cheap piece of plastic. As I

was pondering this mystery of pay for

Russian porno models, I figured, out, no,

it's just that Russian singers know even

better than Britney Spears and Beyonce

that a direct pornographic pose on a CD

jacket will do more to sell than anything

else. So I was in the "free" music section.

I can see it already, the liberation of

teenage boys and the teenage boy in

everyone--brought about by the open

return to capitalism in the Soviet Union.

There should be a day of memorial just

for that. We had October Revolution

holidays in the past and now we can have

"Long Live Britney Spears Day!" and the

Russian equivalent of course.

The high point of my investigation was

the newsstand in Brooklyn--the wonders

of freedom. "New Russian Word" is the

most serious of the newspapers available.

It's filled with hatred for various targets,

including some ignorant discussion of

"affirmative action" in recent years. It

seems that the "New Russian Word"

wishes to speak for all those downtrodden

and exploited whites of Eastern Europe

wishing to replace Blacks in Amerikkka

if only they could get the green card. If

only the Amerikkkans would push down

the Blacks, Latinos and others some more,

there'd be more space for the whites or

something like that. In point of fact, in

real freedom, there'd be freedom of the

borders, and everyone would live in

Brooklyn, perhaps with some overflow

into Florida.

However, I digress. It's not just "New

Russian Word." Heavens, everyone

knows you might disagree with one

newspaper, but freedom will protect us.

There are stacks of papers--testimony

to the greatness of Western-style

freedom. Each one of them brings

something "diverse" to Liberal society

especially now that Russians have tasted

freedom for so long, the product is

especially rich.

This week, there was no contest. All

the papers offered standard pornographic

covers and headlines, but one scooped

all the rest: "Elena Proklova running naked

in the street after husband." (Elena

Proklova is a well-known Russian

actress.) This made me feel quite

optimistic about Russia and the future of

all humynkind. Two or three generations

ago, Russians had to fight to defeat Hitler

and build rockets. Now they can relax

and enjoy themselves with Elena

Proklova, because capitalism has

liberated the media to compete for our

money. Who would have known about

Elena Proklova's talents for entertaining

us this way without a free press? What

could any of Lenin's or Stalin's

newspapers say to that?

Then I think of the writers employed in

such trade publications as did not exist in

the bad old days of Leninist censorship.

Not only was Elena Proklova entertaining

all of us, but she was bringing such

meaningful employment to writers, not

previously allowed under the inefficient

economic system of Lenin and Stalin.

Next I turned on the radio in Brooklyn.

It just so happens the Russian language

radio station was talking about a heroic

escape of a Soviet Jew to the United

$tates. The hero of the story, the Soviet

Jew expressed his appreciation of one

those who contributed to his successful

escape in the following terms: "He was a

very nice man. Even though not a Jew.

Well, it happens sometimes."

What with such freedom of the

individual to speak, it will be a matter of

just a few years before we achieve

harmony of the nationalities, probably

starting with the richest ones in Amerikkka

first, before Liberalism penetrates the

thick skulls of the ex-Soviet Union some

generations hence.

Lest anyone think that it is only the

Jews making contributions to the good

Liberal society to come, I have found that

other nationalities contribute 10 times

more. I visited a church where former

Soviet Armenians had the following

discussion. It was about the difference

between life in one part of Armenia

versus another--separated by a distance

about the diagonal length of Brooklyn. It

turns out that one type of Armenians was

so foolish as to live too far away from

the center of Armeniadom, and they were

now known as "whores of the Muslims"

not "true Armenians," because they had

"mixed with them" and don't even have

the "right accent."

There was one ex-Soviet perysn I met

that confessed to not being able to make

contributions to the good Liberal society

to come. In a third Amerikkkan haven of

political correctness, I sat in a cafe with

a well connected Azeri from Azerbaijan.

It seems that some Amerikkkan Christian

missionaries have sought permission to

spread their views in Azerbaijan. The

local police chief would not allow it even

after an order from the national

government. Then a congressman from

the United $tates got involved. Everyone

thought that now Azerbaijan was going

to see the light of liberty for sure.

However, the police chief insisted that if

he allowed Amerikkkan Christians to

preach, he would have to let the others

preach as well and in a region with

Georgians, two types of Muslims and even

some Jews, this was going to result in a

virtual civil war, because they were that

close to killing each other anyway.

Not to worry though, because the

Azerbaijan man assured me that it was

the older generation who had some

reference point in handling the

nationalities. In the future the young "hot-

heads" will simply not know how to deal

with each other at all, and the various

nationalities will kill each other off. They

will exercise the freedom of speech and

elections (voting to kill off the other side).

Then the remainder that survives will

grant itself rights that all Amerikkkans

hold dear--just like that great model of

freedom, the Wild West.

How silly it was for Stalin to force all

these people together in his brutal

dictatorship in one economic system. In

time though, we can forget about him, and

think of him as a quaint relic, because by

airing our diverse differences we will

come together. We will live a life of great

freedom and diversity. Yes, as long as our

children grow up in an atmosphere where

they can turn on the Jewish radio station

or go to the Armenian church, they will

find the final solution to the nationalities

question that Stalin never could have.

Freedom in action for ex-Soviet peoples

Taking a tour of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn

What questions do YOU have?

Wasn't Mao a butcher? Why do you spell it "Amerika"? Shouldn't you try

non-violence first? What is internationalism? Isn't hating white people reverse
racism? Why don't you leftists work together? Why don't you tone it down?
What is a cardinal principle? What is your program? What is necessary to

join MIM? What concrete actions can I take? How do I write articles for
MIM? What is your copyright policy?

Go to http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/faq

and get real answers to these and other questions.

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 9

The Quiet American (2002)
Phillip Noyce, dir.
Starring Michael Caine, Brendan
Faser, Do Thi Hai Yen

Bloody Sunday (2002)
Paul Greengrass, dir.
Paramount Classics

MIM recommends both of these films

as artistic portrayals of real-life events.

The Quiet American, based on the

Graham Greene novel of the same name,

is a stylized account of early Amerikan

intervention in Vietnam. Although

fictionalized, the characters and events

are based on real people and events, and

the film manages to convey under-the-

surface truths in a powerful way. Bloody

Sunday , on the other hand, is shot quasi-

documentary style, and effectively

captures the feeling that anything was

possible at the height of the civil rights

movement in the early 1970s in British-

occupied northern Ireland.

Both films have contemporary

relevance. The Quiet American shows

how the Amerikan CIA used Vietnamese

middlemen to carry out terrorism to

further its own, ostensibly "democratic"

ends. These tactics ultimately convinced

many Vietnamese (and their friends) that

the Amerikans and their quislings were

enemies of the Vietnamese people. Faced

with overt and covert violence, the

Vietnamese took up arms to defend

themselves.

The march at the center of Bloody

Sunday was to protest the British policy

of internment, which gave the army and

police the authority to hold people without

trial. Similar measures are part of the

USA Patriot Act. Again, rather than quell

dissent or stop the nascent movement for

armed struggle in British-occupied

Ireland, the abusive internment policy

sparked an anti-internment mass

movement--and the murderous

crackdown on this movement led many

to conclude that only armed resistance

could be effective.

The Quiet American. The central

conceit of this film is the conflict between

the idealistic Amerikan Pyle (Brendan

Fraser) and the jaded English journalist

Fowler (Michael Caine) over Fowler's

lover, the Vietnamese womyn Phoung

(Do Thi Hai Yen). Pyle--who is in fact a

CIA agent--presents himself as a medical

aid worker who cares too much about

the people of Vietnam not to get involved.

Fowler claims he never gets involved and

just wants to live his life in peace. The

central scene in the film is an act of terrible

violence which pulls down Pyle's "caring"

façade and convinces Fowler to take

action on behalf of the Vietnamese--in

the right way and for the right reasons.

The scene is moving in its own right and

noteworthy because it says so much

(correct) about Amerikan rhetoric,

motivations, and actions in Vietnam as

well as the Vietnamese response--all in

about five minutes. It conveys the kernel

of what we Maoists call rational or

theoretical knowledge about the war in

Vietnam through art, rather than though

journalism or history.

The character of Phoung is the weak

link in the triangle. Both as a womyn and

as symbol for Vietnam she is far too

passive and dependent on Western

support--although one could take this as

a criticism of Vietnam's colonial status at

the time.

Bloody Sunday. Often historical films

portray the past as something monolithic

and mechanical, as if history were a train

chugging along its set course. Bloody

Sunday avoids this temptation. It evokes

the feeling that no one (outside perhaps

of a very few army officers) knew that

January 30, 1972 would end with a

massacre of unarmed marchers by the

British army. It also manages to portray

history as a struggle. There is a struggle

between the Irish and British camps, and

there are struggles within each--between

pacifists and radicals among the

marchers, and between "moderate"

officers who preferred to quietly arrest a

few leaders and aggressive officers who

wanted (and got) a wide-spread

crackdown. Aside from its artistic merits,

Bloody Sunday deserves credit for

popularizing what is now known about the

British army's plans that day and the

subsequent cover-up.(1)

Although shot in a realistic style, using

hand-held cameras and few

professionally-trained actors (former

marchers and soldiers play themselves),

the filmmakers put a lot of thought into

exactly which events to portray and how,

so viewers get a sense of the causes

underlying the events of the day, even

while they experience some of the

confusion that always accompanies

political struggle and military action.

On the protestors' side, Bloody

Sunday focuses on Ivan Cooper of the
Social Democratic Labor Party, a

supporter of non-violence. As is clear

from the film's ending and the DVD
commentary, the filmmakers share

Cooper's analysis that Bloody Sunday

was the high-water mark of the non-
violent civil rights movement; after the

British army's crackdown prolonged

armed struggle was inevitable. Cooper
concludes the film saying the British

army's "Bloody Sunday" massacre was

the IRA's biggest victory, in the sense that
it was a crackerjack advert for the IRA.

MIM agrees with Cooper on this point

and has often said similar things in the
past, namely that the brutality of the status

quo and its defenders does more to create

allies for MIM's revolutionary cause than
MIM's eloquence alone ever could.

However, there is an implicit criticism in

Cooper's stance, to the effect that armed
struggle is always an impetuous mistake

with particular appeal to the youth. While

this is true in particular circumstances--
MIM does not advocate armed struggle

in Amerika today and is critical of groups

like the Amerikan Weather Underground,
who made armed struggle a point of

morality, rather than an issue of strategic

effectiveness--it is not true in general.
When non-violent struggle to eliminate the

everyday violence of hunger and poverty

is consistently opposed with violence, the
oppressed must consider all of their

options. There is no moral value in using

an ineffective weapon. Historically,
violent struggle to overthrow the

oppressors has done more to end violence

than appeals to God the oppressors
conscience--witness the Amerikan Civil

American, Sunday effectively dramatize relevant history

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

UNITED

FRONT

Get the new issue of MIM Theory, #14, and read the latest
theory on building the movement to overthrow
imperialism once and for all, in 174 pages. Articles include
MIM congress resolutions, history from the Spanish Civil
War to Puerto Rico, Kenya, and Stalin -- plus international
documents, reviews, and much more. Send $7.50 to the
address on page 2.

War and the great gains in life expectancy

in the Soviet Union and China after their
successful socialist revolutions.(2)

Both of these film are out on DVD as

of July 2003. The many extras on
"Bloody Sunday" are full of historical

details that deepen the viewer's

understanding. For example, the
director's commentary includes an

interesting discussion on the

relationship between the armed
Republican movement and the

marchers--which was not one of 100%

agreement, but neither was it
antagonistic. The extras on "The Quiet

American" are shallow and can be

skipped, except for the comments of
the Vietnamese filmmakers on the

central bombing scene. Interested

viewers can check out further reading
on Vietnam at MIM's bookstore: http:/

/ w w w . e t e x t . o r g / P o l i t i c s / M I M /

bookstore/books/index.html#A.

Notes:

1. For more on the background to

Bloody Sunday and the British Army's

cover-up, see our review of "Sunday,"

another docudrama.

2. For more on questions of armed

struggle, see MIM's Frequently Asked

Questions pages: http://www.etext.org/

Politics/MIM/faq/violence.html and http:/

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

philviolence.html.

Michael Caine in The Quiet American.

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 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

Florida Latin Kings
targeted

May the Almighty bring the blessings to

the Latin King Queen Nation. This is to let
you know that Latin Kings here in Florida
struggle likewise. In the state of Florida Kings
are the most sought STG. The administration
tries to keep five members minimum in
population. As we are pinpointed it only
makes it worse. I feel for the Lord whose mail
and phone calls are monitored. . .

--a Florida prisoner, 24 August 3003
MIM replies: This letter highlights some of

the specific repression that organized political
prisoners face. This prisoner went on to offer
hope for a religious salvation from this
repression. MIM disagrees with this writer
that god will save the Latin Kings and Queens
and reminds our comrades that only sustained
political struggle and eventual revolution will
bring about real change for prisoners in
Amerika!

Staying in touch and
spreading the word in
Florida

I'm writing this letter in response to

concerns of my comrades. First off it's been
over a month since I last wrote and I would
really love to receive the MIM Notes and
anything else that will help me in the future.
I've also been doing what I can to spread the
word but it's rough. When you mention what
we stand for people get scared. Believe I
haven't given up the struggle and never will
as long as y'all don't give up on me. . .Keep
up the good work.

--a Florida prisoner, 18 August 2003
MIM responds: We know that a lot of our

comrades have been concerned that since
they may not have received MIM Notes in a
while that we have forgotten about them or
that they've been censored. We can assure
you we have not forgotten you, but our
mailing system has been irregular and we are
working on catching up. In the meantime, keep
spreading the word with the papers you do
have and keep us informed of censorship
notices you get.

Rhode Island
mailroom censors,
ignores its own rules

I received your letter dated 28 July 03 about

a week or so ago. In regards to receiving
notice about the Red Book [rejection]. No, I
was never given notice in writing as R.I. DOC
policy for mail 24 01-3 requires. I was not given
verbal notice either. Too, the mail policy does
not allow for the mailroom officer to send any
books back. An inmate is required to put in a
request form or grievance when mail is not
delivered, pending the decision it is supposed
to be kept with storage. If denied, which
usually happens, then it is on the inmate to
pay to have it returned to sender or have it
sent out with a visit.

This is part of a campaign by the prison

administration to harness me. Counting the
Red Book, this is the 6th time books were
sent here only to be rejected on security or
other frivolous grounds. I have been grieving

all of this only to be denied. The lawsuit with
the ACLU has yet to be filed. I think we
prisoners are getting jerked around by the
ACLU.

My mail in particular has been tampered

with both incoming and outgoing. All my legal
motions which I have sent to Providence
Superior court, which deal with me seeking to
be released from prison, the court clerk claims
they haven't received them. Between the
courts or prison, I'm being messed with.

--a Rhode Island prisoner, 11 August 2003

The oppressive
conditions at Georgia
State Prison

The oppression begins with the issuing of

food which has been poorly prepared. The
powder eggs carry odor that make them
impossible to eat. The beef gravy without the
beef, the watered down juice, the small
portions which is so often cold when trays
are delivered. This is an ongoing deprivation
of proper nourishment.

I'm limited to 1 bar of soap, 1 roll of toilet

paper and 1 tube of toothpaste a week.
Because prison officials have disregarded
their own policy of replacing hygiene items
on an as needed bases, and has trained its
officers to disregard the need for replacement
of hygiene items.

In the lock down unit in which I'm confined

to my cell 24 hours a day, "M-2" convicts are
not allowed to flush the toilets so they won't
flush from the inside of the cell, and officers
have control of flushing the toilets. We are
forced to live with body waste in the toilets
until the officers decide to flush them.

In this same lock down unit "M-2," we are

not being allowed to clean the cells out on a
regular basis. It has gotten so bad as once a
month.

The laundry service is so poor that when

sending laundry out, you can expect it to be
half clean and dingy.

There are also no religious services of any

kind.

Although the policy states that I'm

supposed to be allowed one hour of outside
yard, 5 days a week, we are not allowed out
five days a week or given 5 hours a week.

There are no educational programs of any

kind.

We are not allowed to view the news or

newspaper provided. The library may deliver
books once a month and if they do, it's never
what I requested or close to it. The law library
is rarely open, and we are not being allowed
the 2 hours a week as the policy required.

The overall problem at this prison is the

oppression that's directed by prison officials.
It's also directed to stop the uplifting of fallen
humanity or any hope of rehabilitation and
supports the recreation of idleness and
illiteracy.

--a Georgia prisoner, 19 August 2003

IMU in Oregon

I finally got my MIM Notes and I really

enjoyed reading about how you expose the
department of corrections dark side. Here in
Oregon you see a lot of human rights
violations such as: being placed in a program
called IMU (Intensive Management Unit)
without a probable cause, if your institution
feels you're a threat to them or the prison
population you're placed in this program, but
first you go to segregation for six months,
then you go to IMU and depending on what
DOC says you could stay there up to five
years. IMU is a max custody unit. But they
have made it out to be like segregation.
According to DOC if you're in a max custody
unit you're supposed to receive your
property in IMU. You have to earn it by doing
programs. Because you people expose such
acts and believe that it should be changed I
enjoy your MIM Notes.

-- an Oregon prisoner, August 2003

Letter to ULK
Writers

We are extremely fortunate that MIM Notes

has extended itself to open its pages to our
inside voices here in ULK. Therefore, we have
an obligation and should be mindful not to
diminish these few precious pages into mere
complaint columns. We must now take further
advantage of this revolutionary tool and use
ULK as a vehicle for organization,
mobilization, agitation and propagation of
strategic prison resistance, as well as a
monitor for these progressive activities such
as the National Plantation Psychosis
Awareness Committee is doing with its state-
wide and progressive 3-strike backlash
campaign to resist CDC's illegal practice of
FORCED double celling of which we
encourage you to support, promote,
propagate and participate in. For further
details on this state-wide e-strike Backlash
Campaign see ULK #271 "Fighting the 3-strike
law in California."

Our overall journalistic skills are well honed,

in that our conditions of deprivation,
degradation, etc. have been well defined and
documented throughout ULK. However, what
we intend or propose to do about these
conditions remain for the most part silent, un-
addressed and outright avoided, altogether,
which is a grave injustice to the full potential
of ULK and a disadvantage to our own
struggle. This brand of so-called "discretion"
of which we are currently practicing in ULK
is but a cover-up and fancy term for
revolutionary default, in that with each article
of oppression that we submit we must also
submit a proposed course of action to be taken
against these oppressions and follow
through with regular updates and
developments of these proposed courses of
action.

If you don't know how to organize, mobilize

or agitate your environment into a collective
resistance against these oppressive
conditions of deprivation, exploitation, racism,
degradation and imperialism then I suggest
that you take further advantage of the MIM
Theory study group in California and sign up
for the upcoming course on political line,
strategy and tactics to further develop your
social/political skills in organizing and
mobilization. Remember, change is not an
issue, it is an ACTION.

In struggle, NPPAC-MOD, Sept 2003
MIM adds: We agree with our comrade

from NPPAC that it is not enough to just
describe the conditions of oppression, we
must go further to organize and make change.
Your ideas for action can include suggestions
for what people on the outside can do to help
with the struggle. And you can work with the
MIM-led prisoner organization, United
Struggle from Within (USW), to build a strong
movement against the criminal injustice
system. In addition to the study group for
California prisoners, MIM offers many
opportunities for political education and

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 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.

struggle. So if you're not sure what you can
do to contribute check out the pages of MIM
Notes and write to us with your questions
and ideas.

CALIFORNIA

PRISON NEWS

Repression in Soledad

I'm in Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP)

[in Soledad] "new" ad-seg building, and if
you haven't heard yet, it's the Department of
Corrections latest attempt to further
dehumanize the prisoners. The space is
illegally too small for the two men they cram
together. The urinal is literally less than 3 feet
away from the bottom bunk facing you. The 4
foot by 4 inch window at the top of the roof
barely provides anything more than
decoration. Sometimes when they find they
are bored we'll be allowed yard time, where
you and your cellmate are put in a dog-like
cage with a sink and toilet. I just got here but
I'll be here, maybe till November. Things are
getting worse every day.

- a California prisoner, August 2003

I am writing to let you know that the book

you have sent to me called "Bury my heart at
wounded knee" is here at the institution. I
have not been able to retrieve the book
because of a state of emergency lock down
which we have been placed on. A correctional
officer was seriously injured by an inmate with
a weapon on a totally different facility, but
yet those that are housed on other yards and
facilities are subjected to the same oppressive
treatment and lockdown as those on the
facility where the incident actually occurred.

Here are some of the conditions in which

we suffer at the present time. 1. We have been
locked in our cells since June 23 of this year.
2. We have not been given an hour a day of

exercise yard or had any fresh air or exposure
to the sun since June 23. 3. We are being cell
fed very small portions of half cooked food.
4. The administration is using the state budget
as an excuse for not providing the staff to run
any programs, that includes shower
programs, yard programs, education and
vocational programs, etc.

The administration and institutional staff

are ignoring the fact that most of the inmates
in SVSP need a trade in order to be considered
for a parole date. We are not being provided
with the opportunity to accomplish a trade or
a GED.

Salinas Valley State prison is quite

oppressive, and its agenda is industrial rather
than rehabilitating.

-- another SVSP prisoner, August 2003

I am a California state prisoner housed in

the illegal custody of Warden Tony A.
Lamarque here in solitary confinement
administrative segregation on non-
disciplinary charges since December 2002. I
was removed from the general population out
of retaliation for challenging an illegal
operational procedure. OP #23 requires
inmates to snitch on each other. I refused to
attend the illegal questioning of a crime in
which I had no involvement.

This is the justification the prison officials

used to lock me down in the Administrative
Segregation unit (ASU)... They claim that
because I refused to cooperate with the
interview process they were concerned that I
may be promoting violence against staff.

The prison officials and the director's of

corrections refer to an old incident from
September 1999 when I committed a battery
offense against a Lieutenant and since he was
assigned to work in the program area of the
facility, that's the reason I was removed from
the general population.

The day I was to be placed in ad seg

Correctional Lt Muniz informed me that I was
going to receive an administrative review by
Glenn Ponder who was now a captain. Ponder
was a LT at the time when I was charged with
a batter offense against him in 1999. I explained
to Lt Muniz that I did not want G. Ponder to
conduct the review, I alleged it was a conflict
of interest among me and him. This Lt. Muniz
was aware of the prior battery offense
because both of them worked together in
administrative segregation at that time and I
believe both of them conspired against me to
lock me up, but they did not play their cards
right. I saw through their weak tactic and now
other administrative officials are caught up in
their misconduct.

I assert they have lied, conspired, and are

illegally holding me in ad-seg going on 9
months. I am up for transfer but they said my
transfer is on hold pending resolution of court
proceedings in Monterey County Superior
Court. I have no court cases pending at all,
nor is it anything mentioned on my
classification choronos stating anything
about a court case pending. The warden and
those he supervises intentionally deprived
me of my constitutional rights while in state
custody.

I have a right to be free from cruel and

unusual punishment, right to due process of
law, and to be free from undo harassment and
ongoing retaliatory attacks while in Salinas
Valley State Prison.

--a third SVSP prisoner, August 2003

CSATF censorship
fight continues

I spoke with Sergeant Pugliese in regards

to the censorship of the MIM journal "A Spiral
Trajectory." I was informed that the MIM
materials were being returned because of your
using a non-profit org stamp on the envelope.
Currently this kamp has a rule that mail that
comes from non-profit organizations can be
returned without notice. I find this odd. But
upon obtaining the operational procedure
manual I saw it in writing. This I was told was
the only reason why they are being returned.
I know better than this though, because you
sent me a copy of the original envelope and
on it was placed stamps [and no non-profit
org stamp]. I believe that the letters to Darrel
G. Adams (Warden) advising that legal action
will be taken have helped.

The Sergeant has since advised me that he

will not obstruct the MIM materials so long
as a non profit stamp is not on the envelope.

Onward, upward! - a California prisoner at

CSATF, August 2003

MIM adds: We continue to experience

censorship at CSATF. Letters of protest do
help. Readers can send letters to the Warden
there demanding that they let books and
magazines in to prisoners: Warden Darrell G.
Adams, CSATF, PO Box 5246, Corcoran, CA
93212.

Corruption at
Corcoran

On July 3, 2003 I was assaulted by Officer

Morales who works in the SHU and was also
threatened with great bodily harm unless I
change my story that they stole my books
without a confiscation form and planted a
weapon in my cell. I found it and sent it to
Captain Means.

C.O. Morales did not like this so he slammed

my fact in to the door and my chest and side
of head against the wall several times. I wrote
a complaint to Associate Warden D.D. Ortiz.
But you know she will most likely not get it
and even if she does they will deny it and
cover it up. I told you last time this was going
to happen and they are not finished yet. I feel
it. They are going to do more. I was told to
quit filing 602s (complaint forms) which is not
going to happen. So the ass kicking is coming
up sooner or later.

On July 6, 2003 an inmate in this prison put

his arm out of the food port and asked to see
Sergeant White. The C.O. assaulted him,
grabbed both his arms and tried to pull him
out of the food port while twisting his arms. I
believe he tried to break this inmate's arm.

Enclosed is the latest on special purchase

and packages. Thought you might want to
see it. Beginning August 1 CSP-Corcoran is
implementing a mandatory vendor only
package program which requires prisoners to
purchase their own packages of supplies
directly from one of six approved vendors.
The packages can not be purchased for them
by anyone else and no packages can be
received from the outside. SHU and ASU
prisoners are limited to purchasing only from
Walkenhorst. This new policy is only so that
the CDC can get more kick back on money
from the authorized vendors. Everyone knows
this! Also a lot of people who owe CDC can
no longer get packages unless they first pay
what CDC wants them to which is mostly "you
have to pay us in order to pay us even more
money."

- a California prisoner, July 2003

CDC tries to divide
oppressed nation
prisoners

Here in the California DOC an injustice is

being carried out against people of color i.e.
Africans and Hispanics. Instead of equal just
opportunity, we are subjected to acts of racism
and unjust segregation. While white men are
treated as a white collective populace we are
divided into group segmentsBlacks: Crips,
Bloods, 415 (bay area), non-affiliate.
Hispanics: North-Mexican, South-Mexican,
Bulldog Nation, Mexican Nationals. By doing
so, the state creates division amongst the
masses, and instead of locking "us" down,
only some get locked down, leading to
hostility amongst people of color.

I myself am categorized as a Northern

Hispanic. Since coming to prison I've been
subjected to lockdowns for nothing more than
falling into the Northern Mexican category. I
have been subjected to 24-7 lockdown, no
general population yard, no access to
education or trades, no access to canteen
purchases (making me dependant on scarce
meals provided by the state, minimal access
to medical services, no access to telephones,
no visitations, no packages receivable.

All this is done to break the spirits of those

of us who more rigidly opposed to becoming
informants or victims of suppression. We are
those who strive for equality and just
treatment versus fear tactics and intimidation.

- a California prisoner at Folsom State

Prison, August 2003

MIM Notes 288 · October 1, 2003 · Page 12

Notas Rojas

oct 1, 2003, Nº 288 Fragmento del Periodico Oficial del Movimiento Internacionalista Maoista Gratis

¿Que es el MIM?

El Movimiento Internacionalista Maoísta (MIM) es un partido revolucionario

comunista que ejerce el Marxismo-Leninismo-Maoísmo. El MIM es una organización
internacionalista que trabaja desde el punto de vista del proletariado del Tercer Mundo;
es por esto que sus miembros no son amerikanos sino ciudadanos del mundo.

El MIM lucha para acabar con la opresión de todos los grupos sobre cualquier otro,

naciones por naciones, clases por clases, y géneros por géneros. La revolución es una
realidad para los Estados Unidos mientras su ejército continúa extendiendose en su
esfuerzo por asegurar la hegemonía mundial.

El MIM difiere de otros partidos en tres puntos basicos: (1) El MIM sostiene que

después que el proletariado conquiste el poder estatal, existira aún el potencial para una
restauración de tipo capitalista, bajo la dirección de una burguesía nueva dentro del
mismo partido comunista. En el caso de la Unión Soviética, la burguesía se apoderó del
gobierno después de la muerte de Stalin, en 1953; y en China después de la muerte de
Mao y del derrocamiento de la llamada "banda de los cuatro' en 1976. (2) El MIM
sostiene que la Revolución Cultural en China es la fase ms avanzada a la que llegó el
comunismo en la historia. (3) El MIM afirma que la clase trabajadora blanca de los
EE.UU. es primordialmente, una élite trabajadora no revolucionaria en el presente. Es
por esto que no es el principal vehículo para avanzar el Maoísmo en este país.

El MIM acepta como miembro a cualquier individuo que esté de acuerdo con estos

tres puntos basicos, y que acepte al centralismo democrtico, el método de gobierno por
la mayoría en lo que se refiere a cuestiones de línea del partido. El MIM es un partido
clandestino que no publica los nombres de sus miembros para evitar la represión estatal
dirigida históricamente contra los movimientos revolucionarios comunistas, y anti-
imperialistas. Si Ud. desea una suscripción para cualquiera de nuestros periódicos o
libros teóricos, en español o en inglés, por favor mandar dinero en efectivo o un cheque
al nombre de MIM a esta dirección:

MIM · P.O. Box 29670 · Los Angeles CA 90029-0670

El lío en torno a las armas de

destrucción masiva en Irak: una

revelación para luchadores que llevan las
de perder.

Traducido por Células de Estudio

para la Liberación de Aztlán y
América Latina.

A menudo oímos la aserción que la

lucha política es inútil porque cada año
el Tío Sam gasta miles de millones de
dólares con el fin de espiar a todo el

mundo a través de satélites y
submarinos. Los medios de
comunicación árabes dijeron que el Tío

Sam sabía de qué color era la ropa
interior de Saddam Hussein. Hace poco
el sitio de Internet "marxists.org" (1) dijo

que era posible identificar cada
computadora por medio de equipo
colocado en servidores remotos.

Semejantes argumentos apuntan a la idea
de que cualquier tipo de lucha contra el
Tío Sam es futil y que, por lo tanto, hay

que unirnos a la lucha propagada por el
Tío Sam y respetar sus reglas del juego;
sin embargo, el lío en torno a las armas

de destrucción masiva (ADM) revela el
fallo de asumir una actitud liberal hacia
el tema de la lucha y seguridad.

Diez meses antes del discurso

equivocado sobre el Estado de la Unión

en el que George Bush citaba pruebas
falsas sobre la supuesta venta de uranio
por parte de Níger a Irak, la CIA le dijo

a Bush que dicha información era falsa.
Aparte de la CIA, un embajador
también informó a la administración

Bush que esta información no era cierta.
Esto significa que hasta la posesión de
información correcta no garantiza el uso

de la misma. (2) La administración Bush
ha emitido un sinfín de otras
declaraciones falsas sobre la naturaleza

y la justificación de la guerra contra Irak.
(3) Basándose en fuentes de información
estadounidenses, Tony Blair declaró que

Saddam Hussein estaba listo para utilizar
ADM 45 minutos después de un aviso-
algo que jamás sucedió. (4)

Los estudiantes probélicos y los que

asumieron una postura neutral
desconocían el hecho de que el archivo

de inteligencia compuesto y utilizado por
el gobierno británico con el fin de
justificar la guerra contra Irak, provenía

en gran parte de un trabajo no citado de
un estudiante estadounidense disponible
para el público. (5) En nuestro periódico

MIM Notes 274, criticamos a un
estudiante quien asumió la típica postura

monárquica que justifica la apatía y la
falta de lucha contra la guerra. Según el
estudiante, "Basamos nuestras opiniones

sobre la política externa e interna en la
información que recibimos de coberturas
parciales de medios de comunicación,

opiniones de nuestros amigos y
preguntas de nuestros profesores. Bush
basa sus opiniones en datos secretos de

inteligencia obtenidos a través de
múltiples fuentes, estimaciones
nacionales de altos funcionarios de

servicios de inteligencia y consejos de
expertos. Si ni siquiera él tiene la
información completa, nuestro

entendimiento de la situación equivale a
una pieza insignificante del
rompecabezas". Resulta que a alguien

le entraron ganas de tomarle el pelo a la
administración Bush mediante una
falsificación de documentos sobre los

programas de armas nucleares de Irak;
éstos fueron utilizados por Bush con el
fin de promover su plan bélico contra

Irak diseñado antes del año 2000.
Resulta, por lo tanto, que la posesión
de inteligencia secreta fue un

impedimento más que una ventaja. La
mera posesión de la información
"completa" no garantiza el uso correcto

de la misma.

Los luchadores por la justicia que

llevan las de perder deberían tener en

cuenta que un acceso a todas las fuentes
de información no garantiza el uso de
las mismas por parte de los que los que

están en el poder. De hecho, el
capitalismo corrompe toda la producción
del conocimiento, desde el conocimiento

de medicinas cuyas ventas se someten a
fines lucrativos hasta los análisis de la
eficacia de sistemas de armas adquiridas

por el Pentágono. Como ya hemos
mencionado en la sección sobre la
seguridad en nuestra página web: "El

imperialismo estadounidense de ninguna
manera se puede permitir el lujo de filtrar
la información correcta y separarla de

la falsa." En este sentido, el MIM ha
señalado que la acumulación de
información proveniente de una fuente

no garantiza que el propósito de dicha
fuente so sea el de desviar información.

Los imperialistas buscan un

conocimiento que les otorgue ganancias
individuales. Como consecuencia, los

imperialistas jamás podrán alcanzar la
capacidad que tiene el proletariado para
encontrar la verdad. Aunque los gastos

monetarios de los imperialistas en
servicios de inteligencia sobrepasen los
del proletariado, los imperialistas son

incapaces de usar la información
obtenida, y si la llegan a usar, entran en
conflicto con otros imperialistas cuyos

intereses de propiedad y agendas
políticas son distintos. Por esta razón,
cualquier tipo de lucha que dificulte el

espionaje de los oprimidos y explotados
por parte de los imperialistas es siempre
justificado. Como ya hemos

mencionado en nuestra reseña del sitio
marxists.org, "Hay múltiples razones para
no someterse: 1) Existe la posibilidad de

aumentar el costo del enemigo ya que
cualquier forma de espionaje correcto
cuesta. 2) Una vez que se obtenga

información, el enemigo tiene que
separar la información correcta de la
falsa. 3) Puede que el enemigo no haga

nada. "

Fuentes consultadas:

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

links/marxistsorg.html

2.http://abcnews.go.com/sections/

wnt/World/iraq030616_uranium.html;
también véase http://
politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/

0,12956,972651,00.html

3. Véase por ejemplo http://

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/

articles/A43615-2003Jun11.html

4. Para leer el testimonio de un

exoficial de la CIA véase: http://

w w w . f o x n e w s . c o m / s t o r y /
0,2933,89923,00.html; véase también
http://www.foxnews.com/story/

0,2933,89649,00.html

5. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/

story/0,12956,970035,00.html

El Tío Sam no siempre sabe