MIM Notes ***

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 1

MIM Notes

March 1, 2004, Nº 297

The Official Newsletter of the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM)

Free

INSIDE: Communists got religion? * Censorship * Una Página en Español...

MIM
PO Box 29670
Los Angeles, CA 90029
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On the web: www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext

CANDIDATE LEAST

OFFENSIVE TO

AMERIKANS AMONG

MOST OFFENSIVE TO

WORLD'S MAJORITY

By MC17 and MC206

ohn Kerry appears well on his way

to taking the Democratic party

nomination for Presidential

candidate in the 2004 election race. MIM

has never taken much of an interest in

the Presidential or even congressional

elections. There is little difference

between Republicans and Democrats

from the perspective of the majority of

the world's people who suffer so that

Amerikan imperialism can profit. We tell

people to do what is truly effective in

fighting imperialism: Don't Vote,

Organize.

But we recognize that many potentially

progressive-minded people are taken in

by the apparent differences between

Democrats and Republicans and believe

they must vote for the "lesser of two

evils." For MIM, that supposed lesser evil

is just a wolf in sheep's clothing. Often

the progressive-sounding rhetoric from the

Democrats is just window dressing on

fascist politics. The Democrats are

staunch promoters of imperialism, and for

MIM this is the fundamental problem. We

also point people to the historical record

of imperialist invasions and other terrorist

actions that demonstrate no practical

difference between Democrats and

Republicans, as well as the record at

home with regards to police and prison

growth under both administrations.

In other MIM Notes articles MIM

reviewed Howard Dean and Dennis

Kucinich, the two Democratic presidential

candidates that many perceive as

progressive. We do not find either of

those candidates worthy of anti-imperialist

praise. Here we review John Kerry, the

mainstream of the Democratic party.

Kerry's home page starts off with a quote

that sounds a lot like his campaign trail

sound bites: "I'm running for President

to make the country we love safer,

stronger, and more secure. I'm asking

every American to be a Citizen Soldier

again committed to leaving no American

behind."(1)

Such inane cheerleading is one reason

MIM dismisses Amerikan electoral

politics as little more than a popularity

Dems look to hog middle of road

AMERIKAN ELECTIONS

LOS ANGELES

UNWELCOMES

CHENEY; MIM

STUMPS

AGAINST

PATRIOT ACT II

Los Angeles, January 14

IM and RAIL handed out MIM

Notes and collected signatures

on our petition to Stop Patriot

Act II at a Beverly Hills protest of Vice

President Dick Cheney's appearance in

LA. The battle for our civil liberties is

heating up--230+ U.$. communities have

passed resolutions against the USA

PATRIOT Act, more activists are

becoming aware of and responding to the

reactionaries' campaign to shut down our

civil liberties, and the administration is

pursuing sneakier tricks to turn due

process into a distant memory. We found

the crowd overwhelmingly familiar with

news of the Patriot Acts, and people who

wouldn't sign our petition had already

signed it at other demonstrations or online.

Several demonstrators alerted MIM to

recent administration and congressional

moves to enact selected Patriot Act II

provisions under the cover of other

legislation. The reactionaries recently

succeeded in expanding the reach of so-

called National Security Letters

(described below) as part of the current

Intelligence Authorization Act; they have

so far failed to pass a raft of other PAII

provisions in the guise of the "VICTORY

Act."

A National Security Letter (NSL) is a

type of administrative subpoena issued by

a federal law enforcement agent; it does

not require approval from a judge, grand

jury or federal prosecutor. Until recently,

NSLs could be used to compel three types

of records: those of "financial institutions"

(i.e., banks and similar operations), credit

Struggles against
patriarchy and
imperialism are one

San Francisco, February 16

ver 2000 gay and lesbian couples

rushed to San Francisco city hall

to get married this Valentine's

Day weekend, after Mayor Gavin

Newsom defied a state law restricting

marriage to opposite-sex couples and

authorized city officials to grant same-

sex marriage licenses. Mayor Newsom

said the California law--passed in a

popular referendum--violates

Thusands of gay couples

married in San Francisco

constitutional protections against

discrimination. Two conservative

organizations have filed lawsuits to stop

the same-sex marriages, but City Hall

offices stayed open over the holiday

weekend to accommodate hundreds of

couples camped outside in the cold rain.

Many anticipate these marriage

certificates will be invalidated by court

challenges. Even if that happens, the San

Francisco marriages represent a forward

surge in the struggle to legalize gay

marriage throughout the United $tates.

MIM supports this struggle as a step

towards ending heterosexist

by MC206 and MC17

February 18

violent uprising by gangs linked

to the U.$.-backed FRAPH

death squad has killed more than

50 Haitians in the last two weeks--

Haiti devastated by Amerikan

imperialism (yet again)

i n c l u d i n g

fourteen police

and three

h o s p i t a l

p a t i e n t s

waiting for

treatment.(1)

High-profile

g r o u p s

opposed to

President Jean Bertrand Aristide tacitly

support the violence. "If there are others

opposed to Aristide who chose [violence]

we can't do anything about that," says

Evans Paul, who, along with notorious

sweatshop-owner Andy Apaid, has led

anti-Aristide marches in Port au

Prince.(1,2) These opposition groups are

also covertly backed by the United $tates

and owe their high profile to corrupt and

sloppy reporting by the bourgeois

media.(1,3-4)

Publicly, the United $tates says it will

not intervene to support or oppose

Aristide's government. At the same time,

Continued on page 6...

Continued on page 9...

Continued on page 7...

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · 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

MIM Notes has seen a big spike in

circulation since the "war on
terrorism" began. It's not surprising:
MIM Notes is a free and independent
newspaper. Yes, there are especially
now knee-jerk patriots who believe
everything Bush says and pass by a
chance to read MIM Notes. There are
other patriots and internationalists
who realize that at this time papers
like MIM Notes can undo the huge
spectacle that Uncle Sam is creating
for its own benefit.

Sure, you have seen MIM Notes

around, but MIM Notes needs people
to do two simple things: 1) Pay for it
(postage and printing), 2) Distribute
it!

MIM is looking for sponsors,

distributors and officers. Sponsors pay
for papers; distributors get them onto
the streets and officers do both
distribution and financial support.

Distribute # Cost per year

12 (Priority Mail)

$120

25 (Priority Mail)

$150

50 (Priority Mail)

$280

100

$380

200

$750

900 (Express Mail!)

$3,840

900 (8-10 days)

$2,200

If you know you have some good

places to do distribution, we suggest
starting at 200 and working your way
up higher. If you are not willing to do
distribution, just send money. If you
are not willing to pay, then request
papers after somehow proving to the
party that you are serious (words
won't count). You who will cough up/
raise the money to distribute 900
papers each issue and then do the
distribution, you are what drives this
party forward.

A call for MIM Notes

sponsors and distributors!

Make anonymous money orders payable to "MIM." Send to MIM,

attn: Camb. branch, PO Box 400559, Cambridge, MA 02140. Contact

MIM in regards to this campaign by writing mim3@mim.org

MIM Notes

The Official Newsletter of The Maoist Internationalist Movement

ISSN 1540-8817

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

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

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

their subsciptions. There are no individual subscriptions for people outside prison.

People who want to receive newspapers should become sponsors and distributors.

Sponsors pay for papers, distributors get them onto the streets, and officers do both
distribution and financial support. Annual cost is: 12 copies (Priority Mail), $120; 25
(Priority Mail), $150; 50 (Priority Mail), $280; 100, $380; 200, $750; 900 (Express
Mail), $3,840; 900 (8-10 days), $2,200. To become a sponor or distributor, send
anonymous money orders payable to "MIM." Send to MIM, attn: Camb. branch, PO Box
400559, Cambridge, MA 02140. Or write mim3@mim.org.

Most back issues of MIM Notes are available free on our web site. The web site con-

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

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

long as we are credited.

For general correspondence, contact:

MIM

P.O. Box 29670

Los Angeles, CA 90029-0670

eMail: <mim@mim.org>

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

Dear MIM,

Granted that voting for imperialist

Tweedledum or Tweedledee (to

paraphrase Helen Keller) is a sucker's

bet that only lends legitimacy to the

bourgeois illusion of democracy, would it

not be correct, under certain

circumstances, to encourage people to

vote in referenda? I'm thinking of

KKKalifornia-style propositions that take

certain issues to the people in a restricted

way. It seems that these could potentially

be worth the trouble, provided that they

didn't distract attention and energy too

much from the principal issue or lead

towards a reformist trap.

- A reader, 3 February 2004

MIM responds: We agree with this

reader that there are some small-scale

elections where it might be possible to

win useful reforms. And in these cases

voting is not a waste of time. And we

share his/her concern that these

campaigns not lead towards a reformist

trap.

MIM has said that some municipal

elections are examples of potentially

winnable battles without misleading

people that electoralism works. For

instance, if there were several candidates

running for city hall who supported putting

up public bulletin boards all over town and

making public space available for

revolutionaries to hold educational events,

it might be worth supporting them. But

we should never confuse these potentially

winnable battles with support for

candidates who operate at the state or

continental level and who support

imperialism both in words and in practice.

Check out MIM's new web page

devoted to imperialist elections and

coverage of the 2004 presidential

campaign at www.etext.org/Politics/

MIM/elections.

Can local elections be

useful to revolutionaries?

For Imperialism!

Letters

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 3

I received your book "Marx and

Engels" as well as the other info you sent,

which I sincerely appreciate. ... I have

come across a subject that I would

appreciate more information on. It is as

follows: In the Manifesto of the

Communist Party is says: "But

communism abolishes eternal truths, it

abolishes all religion, and all morality..."

My main question is What is the stance

or position of communism on religion?

Must one who wishes to embrace the

struggle and teachings of our great

communist forefathers abandon his

current faith (Christianity, Islam, etc.)? I

would greatly appreciate information as

well as your feedback on this subject.

In solidarity,

-- A Texas Prisoner,

December 2003

MIM responds: First, you seem to be

quoting Marx out of context. The whole

passage reads:

"`Undoubtedly,' it will be said,

`religious, moral, philosophical, and

juridical ideas have been modified in

the course of historical development.

But religion, morality, philosophy,

political science, and law, constantly

survived this change.'

"`There are, besides, eternal truths,

such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that

are common to all states of society.

But communism abolishes eternal

truths, it abolishes all religion, and all

morality, instead of constituting them

on a new basis; it therefore acts in

contradiction to all past historical

experience.'

"What does this accusation reduce

itself to? The history of all past

society has consisted in the

development of class antagonisms,

antagonisms that assumed different

forms at different epochs.

"But whatever form they may have

taken, one fact is common to all past

ages, viz., the exploitation of one part

of society by the other. No wonder,

then, that the social consciousness

of past ages, despite all the

multiplicity and variety it displays,

moves within certain common forms,

or general ideas, which cannot

completely vanish except with the

total disappearance of class

antagonisms.

"The communist revolution is the

most radical rupture with traditional

relations; no wonder that its

development involved the most

radical rupture with traditional ideas.

"But let us have done with the

bourgeois objections to communism."

Therefore, the quote you read is Marx

paraphrasing the critics of communism.

He argues that religion and "eternal

truths" really represent the ideology of

the established power structure -- they

are the ones who can declare something

an "eternal truth." Instead, Marx was

urging the proletariat to put into practice

its own definition of morality, one based

on "from each according to ability, to each

according to need." In fact, this idea is

present in many religious texts, including

the Christian Bible.

On our web site we have said, "There

are atheist communists and there are

Christian communists."(1) In that

discussion, a person quoted from the

Christian Bible: "[Acts 4:32] And the

multitude of them that believed were of

one heart and of one soul: neither said any

of them that ought of the things which he

possessed was his own; but they had all

things common. [4:33] And with great

power gave the apostles witness of the

resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great

grace was upon them all. [4:34] Neither

was there any among them that lacked:

for as many as were possessors of lands

or houses sold them, and brought the

prices of the things that were sold, [4:35]

And laid them down at the apostles' feet:

and distribution was made unto every man

according as he had need."

Then he quoted a dictionary definition

of communism: "A system of equalizing

the social conditions of life; specifically, a

system which contemplates the abolition

of inequalities in the possession of

property, as by distributing all wealth

equally to all, or by holding all wealth in

common for the equal use and advantage

of all."

Thus, if you support the social system

described in that passage of the Bible, you

are in a basic moral sense a communist.

If we agree on such a bedrock moral

principle, we have much in common and

should work together to realize that vision

for humynity.

Of course, Maoists--as Marxists--are

also materialists, and have disagreements

with religious thinking on many issues. For

example, some Christians oppose the

teaching of evolution in schools and want

to force everyone into their religion by

making the government a theocracy--

ideas Maoists obviously disagree with.

Ultimately, atheist communists like MIM

don't believe in a higher power directing

the universe or "eternal" moral principles

beyond the reach human agency. Instead,

we engage the earthly struggle over who

gets to determine the direction of society

and which ideas will become the dominant

ideas--the ideas of the imperialists or the

ideas of the communists.

But in practice, Maoists work with

many religious people on everything from

opposing the Amerikan injustice system

(including its repression of Muslims and

their right to practice their religion) to

releasing Third World countries from their

debts to imperialist banks. This is part of

the policy of Maoists to unite all who can

be united, and to build the broadest

coalition possible for the defeat of

imperialism.

Notes: The whole exchange is at: http:/

/www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/contemp/

leftover/newtestamentdebate.htm

Do communists have to give up religion?

Letters

Fog of War (2003)
Errol Morris, dir.

This movie consists solely of interviews

with Robert McNamara, former

Amerikan "Secretary of Defense" during

the Vietnam war. The film's themes

overlap considerably with McNamara's

earlier book, "Argument Without End."

We called that book "very satisfying ...

very useful" (1) and similarly recommend

"Fog of War." McNamara admits that

millions died in Vietnam alone, in part due

to his "mistakes." He is honest about the

scale of the violence used by Amerika in

wars throughout the last century and even

suggests that he should be considered a

war criminal for his role in the bombings

of Japanese civilians during World War

II.

Before explaining what we don't like

about the film, we want to say something

about the fog-of-war concept in light of

recent debate about the war in Iraq.

Bush: lost in fog or hiding in
smoke screen?

The fog of war refers to the fact that

in a battlefield situation, commanders do

not have 100% information about the size

and position of the enemy (or even their

own troops) due to limitations in

perception, problems in communication

and conscious enemy deception. MIM

has no disagreement with the fog-of-war

concept. In fact, we believe it applicable

beyond purely military matters. It's one

reason we caution readers to evaluate

historical leaders relative to their

contemporaries (e.g. Galileo should be

compared to other renaissance physicists,

not Einstein).

Lately, however, while discussing what

he terms "intelligence failures" in Iraq,

President Bush has been using this

scientific concept in an unscientific way.

Now he admits that his numerous

assertions that Iraq possessed stockpiles

of weapons of mass destruction were

wrong, but he excuses himself with his

version of the "fog of war." "I expected

to find the weapons. ... I based my

decision on the best intelligence

possible."(2)

We'll skip the obvious criticism that "the

best intelligence possible" did not leave

"no doubt" that Iraq had stockpiles of

biological weapons and a nuclear

weapons program, as Bush often claimed

while building support for the war.(3)

Instead, we note that, taken together, the

statements coming out of the Bush camp

are a form of sophistry that grants the

United $tates carte blanche to use

military force whenever it damn well

pleases. When critics demand proof that

country X is about to use (or develop)

weapons of mass destruction, "Secretary

of Defense" Donald Rumsfeld waxes

philosophic and cites the fog of war:

"Proof? What is proof? Can we ever be

certain we know anything? If there are

unknown unknowns how can there be

known knowns?"

Bush and his posse are playing an

incredibly dangerous game of Russian

roulette in the name of averting a

devastating nuclear or biological war. If

they attack a country they claim has

weapons of mass destruction and it turns

out they were correct, then that country

will almost certainly use those weapons.

If they were wrong, then they have shed

Fog of War worth seeing -- but not for excusing Bush

Continued on page 8...

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 4

July 2003 -
December 2003

This censorship report covers the period

July through December 2003. It is the

fourth of MIM's regular reports on

censorship in the Amerikan prisons. In

this six-month period we see a decline in

overt reportable censorship. In some

cases we can see real victories where

MIM and our comrades behind bars have

fought and won censorship battles. But

we also know that a victory in one battle

often just results in the prison changing

their reason for censoring.

Some of the victories in censorship

battles were won in court while others

were settled through administrative

appeals or outside protests. These

victories are very important to us as they

allow us, at least temporarily, to resume

sending revolutionary literature to our

readers behind bars who are hungry for

this material. One issue of MIM Notes

will be read by many prisoners, and one

book will pass through many hands, as

we are one of the few sources of reading

material, particularly political literature,

available to prisoners. The prison libraries,

where they exist at all, contain mostly

trash novels and access is limited.

Revolutionary literature is among the most

in demand and hardest to come by in the

prisons.

We caution readers from thinking the

trends in this report represent a real

decline in censorship. In many cases,

active censorship of MIM mailings leads

to us losing contact with prisoners in the

censoring states. As a result we send in

less literature and it appears the

censorship has stopped. Then more active

prisoners get in touch with us again

requesting revolutionary literature and we

again face prison censorship. We hope

that through these regular bi-annual

reports we will be able to track real trends

in censorship in the prisons.

States that censored MIM Notes or

MIM Theory over the past 6 monthes:

California, Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia,

Colorado, North Carolina, Massachusetts,

Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

States that censored books, letters or

other non MIM-published material in the

past 6 months: California, Oklahoma,

New York, Rhode Island, Georgia,

Oregon, and Florida.

MIM has not given up sending MIM

Notes or MIM Theory to any states, but

there are several states where MIM no

longer sends literature we do not publish

because of prison regulations. More and

more states are implementing policies that

require all literature to come from the

publisher or to come from a few selected

distributors like amazon.com. This is just

another excuse to censor revolutionary

literature and deny prisoners access to

alternative education. Amazon.com and

other similar big capitalist distributors are

not running books for prisoners programs,

and the price of books there (as well as

the inaccessibility from prison) keeps

virtually all prisoners from receiving books.

States where MIM no longer sends

literature it does not publish include:

Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Oregon.

State by state examples of
censorship

Oklahoma - Articles from MIM's web

site on Nepal and Peru were rejected.

The prison stated that they were rejected

for being from the internet.

Alabama - One prisoner leading the

fight against censorship in this state

reported his victories in our last report on

censorship. Unfortunately, as he reported

in July of 2003, that victory was

overturned: "As you are aware, MIM

Theory 8&14 were recently denied entry

into Limestone prison. This was after I

was informed that the ban on MIM

literature was lifted. This was done after

I had received information from an

attorney with the Southern Poverty Law

Center (SPLC) who had taken on the

case against censorship of political

publication. The SPLC attorney wrote to

the attorney general notifying him that

prison officials were censoring political

publications in violation of the settlement

in Prison News vs. Haley, a settlement

involving the censorship of political and

legal publications. The attorney general

notified that this practice would cease and

that there would be no more problems in

receiving MIM Theory and other political

publications. But prison officials are

continuing to censor MIM Theory and

other political publications that are critical

of the U.$. political system. I've been told

that no communist literature will be

allowed. So, you can be assured that the

struggle continues and will do so until

victory. The SPLC is filing papers to go

back to court on this issue. In the

meanwhile, please re-add my name to

you mailing list for MIM Notes. Again,

the struggle continues without doubt."

New York - A letter from MIM was

held for 6 months by the facility Media

Review center.

Rhode Island - Mao's Little Red Book

was rejected. The prisoner who did not

receive this book was not even notified

by the institution of this censorship. After

we notified him of the censorship he

wrote to us in August of 2003: "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... My mail in particular has been

tampered with both incoming and

outgoing."

Kentucky - A warden rejected MIM

Theory 11 (a magazine entitled

"Amerikan Prisons on Trial") for cover

art he described as "inaccurate" and

"inflammatory." He claimed the

publication called a "threat to institutional

discipline or security."

Pennsylvania - MIM Theory 11 was

censored for containing articles that "can

be considered as inciting violence and is

racially inflammatory in content."

Wisconsin - MIM Notes was rejected

as "inciteful and advocates violence and

threatens institutional security."

Georgia - MIM Notes and the book

Black Panther Party Speaks were held

by the administration.

Colorado - A prisoner is suing prison

officials over censorship of MIM Notes

and MIM Theory. The administration

there also censored a letter MIM sent

this prisoner.

Oregon - Various prisons use strict

return address requirements to censor

letters that are stamped or hand written

with a return address of MIM or MIM

Distributors, claiming they need a full

name.

North Carolina - Censoring MIM

Notes on an issue-by-issue basis. They

send an issue they don't like to their

"publications review committee." Months

MIM Prison Censorship Report

In California,

MIM's study

group

material was

deemed

"unacceptable"

without

"prior

approval

from the

Education

Dept." The

California

prisoncrats

are literally

making free

education

illegal. See

more images

of censorship

documents at:
www.etext.org/
Politics/MIM/

agitation/

prisons/

censor.

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 5

San Jose--On February 7, MIM and

the Barrio Defense Committee hosted a

statewide organizing meeting to push

forward the struggle to shut down Security

Housing Units (SHUs) in California

prisons. Representatives from numerous

groups working to oppose the injustice

system attended the meeting, as well as

unaffiliated individuals new to the issue

of Control Units/SHUs. Family members

of SHU inmates and former prisoners also

attended.

MIM opened the meeting with an

introduction to the campaign, briefly

describing the torturous conditions in the

SHUs and how the SHU targets politically

active and oppressed-nation prisoners.

We followed with a summary of actions

from the past few years, including

demonstrations, petitioning and legal

struggles. Recent responses from state

legislators suggest some have a small

amount of sympathy for at least reforming

the use of the SHU. However, those

sympathizers do not have the power to

make such reforms.

California Prison Focus (CPF) was

unique among the attendants because of

its involvement in the courtroom. At this

stage MIM sees legal struggles as a vital

method of putting pressure on the state

and winning small battles (most attendees

seemed to agree). In the long run legal

battles will prove limited and will help build

extralegal means of organizing. One of

CPF's legal representatives went over

the three reasons prison administrators

put people in SHUs: 1) HIV-positive

status; 2) disciplinary offenses; and 3)

gang validation. The third reason leads to

indefinite sentencing and is used to target

anyone who may be organized politically

as well, since it is completely arbitrary

and up to prisoncrat discretion.

The CPF discussed their recent legal

battles including one where the California

Department of Corrections (CDC) has

banned 5 languages (including Swahili,

Naohtl, and sign language) claiming they

are used as codes. Effectively, they are

banning the cultures of the oppressed,

most of which have already had their

culture repressed and erased by

colonizers for hundreds of years. The

state court upheld this law and it will be

going to the appeals court in the future.

During the second half of the meeting,

organizers planned to coordinate efforts

Movement to shut down isolation prisons marches on

on this campaign. Our goal is not to create

a new organization, but to coordinate

action to shut down the SHU. As a result,

an important outcome of the meeting will

be a system of communication between

all who are interested in joining this SHU

fight.

At the meeting participants divided into

groups to focus on several areas of

organizing: media, legal/legislative,

outreach/activism, and mobilization of

prisoners. The subgroups came back with

suggestions for actions and ideas for

coordinating our work.

Everyone agreed to initiate regular

monthly public actions to shut down the

SHUs the first Saturday of every month

in cities across the state. These actions

will start March 6th and are currently

scheduled in San Francisco, Oakland, San

Jose, Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay, and Los

Angeles. These coordinated actions will

focus on distributing literature and

collecting petition signatures, and bringing

the struggle to the attention of the people

on the streets. Organizers stressed the

need to train people in doing outreach and

tabling. MIM agreed to head up that

effort. In addition we will be building for

a conference or tribunal on the SHU later

in the year and organizing forums at

colleges attended by meeting participants.

There is a legal battle in the courts

scheduled to reach trial in federal court

on April 26 in San Francisco. The case is

based on a first amendment challenge to

the Security Housing Unit classification

regulations. Meeting participants decided

to schedule a protest that day outside the

courthouse.

Discussing the need to involve prisoners

in the struggle, participants agree on the

importance of encouraging prisoners to

get families involved and using our

networks to build networks of family

support. We will also continue our efforts

to provide our comrades behind bars with

much needed legal and political

information in print and through radio

broadcasts.

If you are in California, contact MIM

to find out how to participate in one of

these cities or to get information and

materials to help make your efforts

successful in your own town.

MIM often encounters people who

express agreement with some or all of

our work, but are reluctant to get involved

because they say they're too busy, not

sure it's the right work, and so on. We

urge these people to consider the work

done by several Texas prisoners --

people working harder on the crucial

political issues of the day, in circumstances

that are, to put it mildly, much worse.

One prisoner recently sent back a

Patriot Act II petition filled out with 15

signatures from fellow prisoners.(1) He

wrote: "Thanks for your letter and info

and petitions. I'm returning the petition

to `Stop Patriot Act II.' I can't believe

we're having to fight for the rights that

we already have, the rights that we've

spent so many centuries and lost so many

millions of people to. It's like our own

president, congress and government is

saying `fuck all those dead people, fuck

your rights, and fuck you, too, America!'

I don't understand why so many people

think our country is so great. As for

forming a study group [which MIM

suggested], I'm locked in a two-man cell

for 23 hours a day for now."

Another prisoner wrote to tell us that

he was able to share his copies of MIM

Notes with "some fellows who had not

seen them," and he collected seven

signatures on the Patriot Act petition. "I

am sorry I only got a few guys to put

their names on it," he said. "I have been

very inefficient."

Finally, another prisoner from Texas

wrote simply: "Dear Revolutionaries: For

the betterment of humanity I have

enclosed my monthly contribution of five

stamps. Being incarcerated, this is one

of the only ways I can help the

movement."

If you are considering the conflicting

demands on your time, energy and money

-- and not working with MIM while you

think it over -- we urge you to consider

the example set by these prisoners. They

understand that the imperialists don't sit

still while they consider questions of

strategy.

You learn by studying and by doing. Go

ahead and challenge MIM on our ideas,

but if you don't have a better strategy for

ridding the world of imperialism, work

with us at the same time.

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

MIM/agitation/civlib/PApetitionlong.PDF

Prisoners step up on civil rights

later, they will either decide that it is

acceptable or they will finally admit they

have decided to censor it. It seems

designed to prevent the prisoner from

taking any timely action.

Florida - Censors letters we send to

prisoners.

Massachusetts - Censored an issue of

MIM Theory.

California - MIM Theory 11 was

censored. One prisoner reported in

August of 2003: "Here is an update on

the appeal of the censorship of MIM

Theory 11. The appeal was denied at the

2nd level of review for the following

reasons: 1. They say an article about C/

O violence against Blacks and Latinos

promotes racism. 2. They say MIM's

doctrine of armed struggle against

imperialist U.S. promotes violence." After

filing a director's level review this

prisoner reported in December 2003:

"The appeal I filed was denied at the

director's level, which exhausted my

administrative remedies. They determined

that the institution is in compliance with

departmental policies. As soon as I can

obtain a copy of the denial I will send one

to MIM for your review. The next step is

to file suit. I would like to bring a lawsuit

against the director of corrections as

opposed to just the institution so that a

favorable ruling by the court would effect

departmental policy state- wide, not just

an order against an individual institution."

Another institution in California

censored MIM Theory. The affected

prisoner reported "Currently this

administration [says that] if mail comes

from a non-profit organization than it can

be destroyed without notice to the inmate.

I am in disagreement with this procedure

and I am appealing this too! This rule

comes out of the operational procedures

manual."

A letter we sent to another California

prisoner was returned unopened stamped

"refused/unapproved mail." We sent a

letter of protest to the warden and also

notified the prisoner. This prisoner

reported in November 2003: "I am writing

to let you know that I received your

mailing today, unopened and un-searched.

Looks like your [censorship protest] letter

did the trick. Now that it has been

demonstrated that my mail is indeed being

censored, I cannot help but wonder what

else has been sent to me and refused by

the institution's mailroom. I receive

several newsletters which tend to arrive

somewhat less than regularly... I have also

been waiting for many months to hear

from the publishers of material which

could arguably be described as

subversive; by extension I must now

assume that there are other cases of this

prison's arbitrary censorship policies

depriving me of literature which I legally

have the right to receive. I was not

notified of the refusal of your earlier

mailing to me so I can expect that this

was not the first instance [of censorship.]

I am very pleased that your tenacity and

sense of justice enabled me to become

apprised of the mailroom situation here

at this facility."

MIM Notes was censored at one

California prison. After many letters of

protest by MIM and the prisoner, MIM

received a letter from the warden

attempting to justify the censorship

concluding "Case law that interprets the

First Amendment allows prisons to censor

incoming publications to the facility that

post pose security risk to its legitimate

penological interests. The CDC Title 15

regulations are consistent with the above-

cited case laws. The MIM newsletter

raise genuine prison security issues and

this may be censored or withheld." The

reason they conclude MIM Notes is a

threat to security: "the publication is set

forth to encourage an aggressive uprising

similar to the one that MAO unleashed

in China. The newsletters are also

focused in part on prison conditions in

America, that the newsletters

characterize as being unjust and brutal to

prison inmates. The MIM seeks to rally

inmates, as a `revolutionary group,' to

reform the American prison system."

MIM is in the process of appealing this

attempt to set a dangerous precedent of

censoring MIM just because it is a

revolutionary organization.

More specific censorship reports can

be found on MIM's website here: http:/

/www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/

prisons/censor.

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 6

discrimination, superstition and clerical

obscurantism.

One reason we support progress

towards legal gay marriages is we

recognize the power of social pressure in

helping to keep relationships together.

Under the patriarchy where sex carries

heavy emotional power, MIM sees

forever monogamous relationships as the

best solution for those desiring a romantic

relationship.(1) The lines of couples in San

Francisco provided many positive

examples of people in long-term

committed relationships.

The couples lined up at City Hall in San

Francisco were predominantly white and

well off. But even this population faces

oppression for their sexual orientation.

Some of the older couples recalled getting

their heads bashed by police for being gay.

Although conditions have improved for

openly queer Amerikans, the gender

oppression is far from gone.

Some proponents of legalizing gay

marriages drew parallels to Amerika's

history of discrimination against Blacks,

particularly in the days of official

segregation. The Massachusetts

Supreme Judicial Court has made similar

statements about civil unions for same sex

Thousands of gay couples married in San Francisco

couples being an unacceptable alternative

to marriage because it is separate and

unequal. While MIM agrees that denying

same-sex couples the benefits of state-

sanctioned marriage is discriminatory, we

would not draw a parallel to the conditions

faced by Blacks in Amerika. There can

be no comparison to the mass slavery,

lynching, segregation, police brutality,

imprisonment, and on-going national

oppression.

It is important to understand the relative

significance of various battles if we are

to correctly prioritize our work. MIM

fights to end all forms of oppression of

groups of people by other groups of

people--including the gender oppression

faced by queers. But in Amerika gender

privilege is the norm for the vast majority

of the population: male and female, gay

and straight. We say this because we can

see the benefits gained in this country by

a combination of national and gender

oppression around the world. For

example, contraceptives enjoyed by

Amerikans have been tested on Third

World peoples (often forcibly). Within U.$.

borders, the "myth of the Black rapist" is

used to disproportionately imprison Black

men; white economic and gender privilege

is predicated on controlling Black men's

sexuality.

Even aside from gender privilege,

Amerikans enjoy tremendous economic

benefit from the exploitation and

oppression of the majority of the world's

population. Those in same-sex

relationships partake in this bounty.

(Similarly, since the majority of the

world's population lives in the oppressed

countries, so does a majority of the world's

queers.) Steps towards ending gender

discrimination within imperialism will make

our work easier under socialism, but we

have to keep sight of the principal enemy

while we fight these battles. Legalizing

gay marriage within Amerika will not take

us any closer to ending imperialism. So

we call on all queer activists to join MIM

in fighting to overthrow the imperialist

patriarchy. We seek to build a society

where no people have the power to

oppress another people, and where our

culture does not teach oppression and

discrimination.

Notes:

1. For a debate of our policy of "forever

monogamy" for straight, bi and queer

comrades, see MIM Notes 53.

Continued from page 1...

reports, and communications service

provider (telephone or Internet)

transactions and billing receipts. The

Intelligence Authorization Act for FY

2004 dramatically expands the definition

of a "financial institution" to include

pawnbrokers, casinos and travel agencies

among others. It is still legal for officers

to demand transaction records from these

businesses, even when the transactions

are not financial in nature.(1)

This legislation further damages the

system of checks and balances already

weakened by the USA PATRIOT Act.

Where the courts reserve the authority

to approve police conduct in investigations

(wiretaps, searches), the police are at

least required to leave a paper trail of their

work. Eroding checks and balances

reduces the authority of the police to a

parental declaration: "because I said so."

For example, an FBI agent acting alone

can now find out what an individual has

sold at a pawn shop, where s/he has

booked travel and what s/he ordered from

room service at a casino, all without

documenting any cause to suspect the

individual of criminal activity. Limits on

the power of any one branch in the U.$.

government are supposed to guard the

people against tyranny. Granting the

executive branch power to act in isolation

eliminates that protection.

A December draft of the so-called

"Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist

Organizations Act of 2003" (the

VICTORY Act, which hasn't seen much

L.A. UNWELCOMES CHENEY; MIM STUMPS AGAINST PAII

legislative action yet) would further extend

the reach of tyranny. As drafted, it would:

* Create a federal crime of "narco-

terrorism" to include making, distributing,

importing or exporting narcotics with

intent to distribute for the benefit of a

"terrorist" organization. The way the law

is written, police would not have to prove

that the defendant had any knowledge of

whom his/her actions would benefit or

that the State Department had designated

the beneficiary as terrorist.

* Grant the U.$. Attorney General the

authority to issue administrative

subpoenas in terrorism cases. An

administrative subpoena requires the

persyn served to give up "any records or

other things relevant to the investigation."

In other words, such subpoenas give the

cops the right to go fishing in an effort to

make a terrorism case.

Traditionally, courts oversee police

conduct in investigations as a matter of

due process. Without this oversight, the

criminal injustice system loses even the

appearance of maintaining a defendant's

innocence until proven guilty. While MIM

holds no illusions about the tenacity of the

courts in defending the bill of rights, the

more of these rights we retain, the more

tools we have to defend ourselves and

our activism. Rep. F. James

Sensenbrenner pointed out: "You can't in

one breath defend [the] Patriot Act, saying

[intelligence] warrants are reviewed by

a judge, then in the second breath say

we'll have administrative subpoenas" that

are not reviewed by a judge. The Attorney

General could also use a different type

of administrative subpoena in place of a

court-issued warrant to apprehend a

fugitive who is convicted of or charged

with a felony.

* Allow into court wiretap evidence

collected under false pretenses, unless the

defendant(s) can prove "bad faith" on the

part of the cops who set the tap. Officers

could base their warrants on deliberately

false or misleading information, and the

burden would be on defendant(s) to

demonstrate that the officers had shown

intentional negligence or ill will. Like many

USA PATRIOT Act provisions, this

measure is disturbing because there is

nothing stopping law enforcement from

using the looser standards in normal

criminal investigations as well as in cases

of "terrorism."

* Create a crime of "reverse" money

laundering: carrying cash in excess of

$10,000 across state lines for use in illegal

activity. As with the "narco-terrorism"

provision, there is the question of proving

that a defendant had prior knowledge that

the cash was to be used in commission

of a crime. Why not make it illegal to tell

someone the time of day? After all, that

information could be used to get to a

crime-planning meeting on time.(2)

It's not surprising that the administration

would begin to break down the Patriot

Act II and parcel it out into other, less

attention-getting legislation. The original

USA Patriot Act of 2001 is made up of

provisions that the government had tried

for years to make into law, but could only

get through congress in the wake of 9/

11. This just means our forces must be

extra vigilant in working to protect our

freedoms.

MIM and its allies in the Stop Patriot

Act II Coalition are continuing to gather

petition signatures to oppose this

legislation in any form. We recently

received several filled petitions circulated

by our comrades behind bars. One of

these activists even apologized for only

being able to collect 15 signatures, as it is

against regulations to organize in many

prisons, and prisoners are frightened of

being fingered by the guards and

administration. Knowing that our

comrades behind the walls are working

through such stringent conditions to

advance this campaign only strengthens

our resolve. If a prisoner working in

isolation can collect 15 signatures to

defend our civil liberties, surely those of

us with access to a world of pedestrians

can collect many times that number.

To find out more or get involved,

check out our civil liberties web page:

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

agitation/civlib/

Notes:

1. http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/

SafeandFree.cfm?ID=14447&c=206 and

Public Law 108-177 Dec. 13, 2003.

2. http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/

SafeandFree.cfm?ID=14586&c=206

Continued from page 1...

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

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 7

contest--voters might as well be choosing

between Clay and Ruben ("American

Idol" contestants) to run the country.

Kerry is particularly adept at trying to

please everybody at the cost of any

political principle. For example, Kerry is

on the record as both supporting and

opposing the 1991 Gulf War and the

recent invasion of Iraq. As a Boston

Globe columnist put it, "Kerry's position

is that he voted against a war he really

was for and voted for a war he really

was against. But the war he really was

for he never said at the time. Except

when he was writing to voters to say that

he was. And that he wasn't."(2)

It's almost a crime to take candidates'

political proclamations at face value; the

most self-aware candidates know

themselves that what they need to say to

get elected and what they really want to

do once elected--or will be allowed to

do--are very different. But we review

some of Kerry's "principles" to illustrate

the fundamental differences in

perspective between imperialist politicians

and internationalists. People who agree

with MIM that no one nation is intrinsically

more worthy than another should think

carefully about what the candidates'

rhetoric and--more importantly--actions

really mean.

For example, Kerry pledges to leave

no "American" behind. What does this

mean (and why does Kerry feel the need

to co-opt the slogan of the feeble-minded,

chauvinist POW/MIA movement)?

Within U.$. borders there are many non-

citizens who suffer in sweatshop jobs and

lack even basic legal protections while

providing needed labor for the benefit of

Amerikan companies. In fact, there are

millions of people around the world

working directly or indirectly for

Amerikan corporations, who bring those

profits home and share them with

Amerikan citizens in the form of high

wages and benefits and cheap consumer

goods. These non-Amerikans will be left

behind by Amerikan imperialism. In fact,

they will be stepped on as Amerikan

imperialism labels them "Terrorists" for

wanting the Amerikan military-backed

dictatorship out of their country or even

just living wages.

Kerry's goal of making Amerika "safer,

stronger, and more secure" is also a

trademark of imperialism. As long as

Amerikan imperialism is strong, it will

incur the wrath of the majority of the

world's people who are kept in poverty,

exploited and oppressed by a system that

profits from their misery. Since Kerry is

very clear he doesn't want to tear down

Amerikan imperialism and build a country

that serves the interests of the majority

of the world's people, these are really

code words for expanding Amerikan

militarism.

On foreign policy, some claim that the

Democrats distinguish themselves from

the Republicans. Kerry, after all, talks

Dems look to hog middle of road

significant rhetoric about waging peace

in Iraq and opposing Bush's unilateralism.

But in the end Kerry just wants an

imperialist policy that works more closely

with other imperialist powers. In October

of 2002 Kerry voted in favor of Bush's

Iraq War Resolution. Although he

criticized the Vietnam War, Kerry has

clearly moved comfortably into the realm

of imperialist war politics since his youth.

In fact, Kerry criticized the Vietnam

War from within the camp of imperialism.

He called Vietnam a "mistake" in much

the same way Robert McNamara did--

Amerikan leaders made poor choices that

caused 50,000 Amerikan "boys" to die

needlessly (to say nothing of three million

Vietnamese). If the leaders had been

smarter, they could have accomplished

Amerikan foreign-policy aims with less

bloodshed. Kerry, McNamara and their

ilk fail to see that the economic system

of imperialism (which dictates foreign-

policy aims) makes war inevitable--if not

in Vietnam or Iraq, then somewhere

else--regardless of individual leaders'

wishes. The analogy between Kerry and

the German generals who tried to

assassinate Hitler is apt. Kerry had no

problem leading raids that left entire

Vietnamese villages dead--until the

United $tates was clearly losing the war.

Then he came out against the war--not

to overturn the system that led to the war,

but to salvage as much of the status quo

in Amerika as possible.

Kerry demonstrates his failure to

understand the meaning of

internationalism when he says: "As the

only true democracy in the Middle East,

Israel is our most important ally, and a

critical partner in the quest for peace and

security in this troubled region."(1) Kerry

doesn't bother to explain how "true

democracy" involves second class

citizenship for Palestinians, theft of

Palestinian land, and open terrorist war

on the Palestinian people.

To his credit, for an imperialist candidate

Kerry has less chauvinist rhetoric on

immigration and jobs than some of his

competitors for the Democratic

nomination. He avoids complaining about

job losses to other countries, and has

cautious statements in his campaign about

immigrants and immigration law. But in

the end he still believes that Amerika is

only to be enjoyed by Amerikans and calls

for "adequately funding border

enforcement to ensure that only legal

immigrants can enter the country."(1)

MIM doesn't expect Democratic

candidates for president to recognize the

hypocrisy of an artificial militarized border

that resulted from the theft of that land

by Amerikans from its original inhabitants,

the descendants of whom are now

considered "illegal immigrants." But we

can't let this issue slide. It is yet another

reason why no candidate for imperialist

president will ever gain MIM's support.

One of Kerry's opponents, John

Edwards, has made a trademark of his

fascist rhetoric. Sometimes couched in

progressive-sounding support for

education or opposition to tax breaks for

companies, he frequently speaks about

the need to keep jobs in the United $tates

for Amerikan workers. One favorite of

his is the education twist: "We will have

an education policy that gives every

American the chance to go to college and

get the skills they need to stay ahead of

workers in India and China and around

the world." MIM points out that Amerika

reaps great financial benefit from

sweatshops in Asia which bring home big

profits that help pay the salaries of

Amerikan workers. Edwards doesn't

want to keep those jobs at home, just the

high paying ones so that workers in India

and China have to stay in the sweatshop

jobs. Edwards is very clear, Amerikans

deserve to be wealthy (at the expense of

the rest of the world): "We should keep

our good paying jobs here."(3)

On the issue of crime Kerry also

reveals his strong imperialist

qualifications. As a former prosecutor he

supports "tough laws [that] lead to arrests

and convictions." Amerika is already the

leading prison state in the world, but

clearly Kerry (and all the other imperialist

politicians) still think we need to lock up

Continued from page 1...

more people. This is not because

Amerikans are genetically predisposed to

crime, nor is it because all this

imprisonment is making Amerikan streets

safer. Prisons are used in Amerika as a

tool of social control, and they target

oppressed nations. With hugely

disproportionate imprisonment rates of

Blacks and Latinos, Amerikan prisons are

one of the most fascist elements of

Amerika. Kerry, like all good democrats,

supports strengthening this Amerikan

institution.

In the end John Kerry is like other

typical Democratic candidates for

president: a strong supporter of Amerikan

imperialism. MIM encourages people

outraged by this system to stay out of the

imperialist electoral circus and instead

work with us to organize against

imperialism.

For more news on the 2004

presidential election check out:

www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/elections

Notes:

1. http://www.johnkerry.com

2. Kerry's also tried to straddle the

fence on gay marriage, capital

punishment and the Patriot Act (which

he voted for). The Boston Globe, 12 Feb

2003.

3. http://www.johnedwards2004.com

What should you do

instead of voting?

If you've read through the newspaper this far and agree that organizing

people to vote in imperialist elections is a waste of time, then you've got a
responsibility to do something better with your time, something that really

challenges imperialism! Here are a few ways to get involved:

Join the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL), a mass organiza-

tion led by MIM (http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/rail/whatisrail.html).

Download, copy and distribute one of these anti-imperialist elections

flyers: "The Enemy Chooses a Leader" or "Amerika Votes for Terror" at

http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/elections/index.html.

Pick a campaign and get out on the streets organizing people from here:

http://www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/index.html.

Help distribute MIM Notes and build public opinion against imperialism

(see the ad on page 2).

Still not sure what to do? Try reading "What Should I Do?" here: http://

www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/agitation/whattodo.html.

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 8

blood without achieving their stated aim

of eliminating the threat of weapons of

mass destruction. This game reminds us

of the legendary Puritan witch tests: if

you hold the accused under water and

she doesn't drown, she's a witch; if she

does drown, she wasn't a witch after all.

Perhaps we should have some

sympathy for the devil. After all, the forces

driving the imperialist powers towards

war (need to control important natural

resources, keep competing imperialist

blocks in check, suppress Third World

nationalism etc.) are beyond the control

of any individual. Further, not every

imperialist in a position of power is class

conscious; some have been raised so

secure and sheltered in their privilege that

they honestly believe their own humbug.

They couldn't explain the reasons for their

wars even if they were willing--hence

the recourse to irrationality and Top-Gun

bravado.(4)

Robert McNamara's take on the fog

of war exposes the danger and futility of

Bush's policing approach towards

weapons of mass destruction. In the first

few minutes of this documentary,

McNamara says that the fog of war

makes mistakes inevitable, but the hope

is that commanders learn their lessons and

can minimize unnecessary casualties in

the future. However, when the conflict

involves nuclear weapons, there may not

be anybody left to learn from the mistakes

made. He cites the Cuban missile crisis

as an example where the Amerikans

were far closer to nuclear war than they

realized (and at the time they already

thought Cuba was a close call). We

gather that plain dumb luck was the

principal reason Amerikan leaders

avoided making in Cuba the kinds of

mistakes McNamara now says they

made in Vietnam.

"Mistakes"

McNamara's contrast between the

Cuban missile crisis and Vietnam gets to

the heart of our disagreements with him.

What McNamara means by "mistake" is

that he believes the Vietnam War could

have been prevented by its leaders.

That's McNamara's way of saying there

are no inevitable tides or forces in history.

McNamara fails to grasp that not only is

the information available for leaders to

make choices subject to impersonal social

forces, the options available to them are

as well. The very conflicts that lead up to

war are beyond the control of individual

leaders.(5)

We believe McNamara has a good

grasp of just how tenuous "peace" is

under imperialism--and the increasingly

disastrous consequences of war as

military technology "improves." That's

why we recommend this film. But

McNamara does not understand the

economic and social forces of imperialism

(the highest stage of capitalism) that make

war inevitable. These forces create the

conditions where leaders' inevitable

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?

Fog of War worth seeing -- but not for excusing Bush

mistakes will have terrible consequences

for millions.

McNamara can only shrug his

shoulders and say war is part of humyn

nature--a criminally depressing thought,

since by his own reasoning war makes

the escalation of violence up to and

including nuclear war inevitable. In

contrast, by understanding the system of

imperialism and putting forward the

alternative of socialist internationalism,

we Maoists have a plan that will

drastically reduce (and eventually

eliminate, as humyns move towards

communism) the threat of war.

Notes:

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

bookstore/books/asia/mcnamara.html.

2. Transcript of the interview with

President Bush on "Meet the Press," 8

February 2004, http://

www.msnbc.msn.com/ID/4179618/.

3. We've been doing that ever since

the Bush posse trotted out the ridiculous

assertion that Saddam Hussein was linked

to the 911 attacks. We should also point

out that many of the Democrats who are

now attacking Bush for deceiving the

public (Nancy Pelosi, John Edwards) had

access the very information Bush used

to justify invasion. Bush is correct to point

out that Democratic legislators on

Congressional intelligence committees

saw this information long before the

invasion. Indeed, most of the material

Bush used was publicly available--and

easily refutable using publicly available

material. The Democratic Party signed

the bill that gave the President authority

to launch this invasion on this flimsy

"evidence," and did little to discredit his

lies and distortions beforehand.

4. For that matter, even McNamara,

who is no dummy, says it took him thirty

years to understand his "mistakes" in

Vietnam (and as far as we're concerned,

he still has not, since he does not see the

imperialistic roots of the conflict). The

gang at the head of the Amerikan

government may change and

consequently so may strategies and

tactics, but the essence of Amerikan

imperialism remains unchanged. Under

President Clinton military intervention

was carried out under the cloak of

"humanitarianism;" President Bush is,

shall we say, somewhat less subtle. But

the basic interests remain the same.

President Clinton made the overthrow of

the Iraqi regime official Amerikan policy;

the intelligence quoted by President Bush

to justify the recent war was gathered

under Clinton; the military that fought the

war was bequeathed to Bush by Clinton

(as Democrats eager to lose "wimpy

liberal" label incessantly remind us); and

on and on, in just this one region.

5. On a related note, McNamara

constantly says that Cold-War reasoning

(seeing everything through the prism of

the conflict between the United $tates and

the social imperialist USSR) caused

Amerikan leaders to make mistakes in

Vietnam and elsewhere during the 60s.

The fact that since the end of the Cold

War the United $tates has gotten involved

in a decade-long, large-scale war in Iraq

(with little to show in terms of its stated

war aims) and been humiliated in Third-

World adventures like Somalia should

suggest that there is something driving

Amerika towards war (causing

"mistakes") besides the Cold war.

Continued from page 3...

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 9

it calls on Aristide to hold elections that

include the opposition parties--a

disingenuous demand, since the opposition

has already said they will boycott the

elections Aristide proposed to resolve the

recent crisis.(5) Only eight percent of

voters supported the opposition in 2000,

according to a U.$. poll.(4)

Behind the scenes, the United $tates

has long been planning for intervention.

At a secret conference of French-

speaking nations over a year ago, U.$.

agents urged "direct intervention and a

possible U.N. trusteeship in the wake of

Aristide's departure after violence

escalated in Haiti."(1) The United $tates

wants to appear to support democracy

even as it undercuts the Haitian people's

right to self-determination by funding

political quislings and funneling arms to

anti-government thugs.

Jean Bertrand Aristide was elected in

1990 by an overwhelming majority of the

population. He was quickly overthrown

in a coup led by "former" CIA employees

Emmanuel Constant and Raoul

Cedras.(4) The FRAPH--the new

government's goon squad--also had ties

to the CIA. A U.$. agent worked with

FRAPH leader Louis Jodel Chamblain to

plan the 1993 assassination of the pro-

Aristide minister of justice, Guy

Malory.(1)

In 1994 Amerika invaded Haiti, and

Aristide returned to power with the help

of the Clinton Administration. This was

only after it became clear the military

dictatorship could not keep the Haitian

people under imperialist control and a

huge influx of Haitian immigrants

threatened Amerikan shores. To regain

power, Aristide had to make a backroom

deal with the United $tates. He had to

follow the dictates of the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) and allow

sweatshop labor to continue in the

country.(6) Aristide's government has

accepted the IMF's structural adjustment

programs, including low tariffs for foreign

corporations, and cuts for social services.

There was even talk of selling the nation's

seaports.(4)

Lest Aristide forget who held his strings,

the Amerikans refused to disarm FRAPH

and the elements in the Haitian Army who

backed the anti-Aristide coup. U.$.

officers "were specifically told to treat

FRAPH as a loyal opposition, and not to

confiscate large weapons' caches."(1)

The fickle Amerikan imperialists may

have once again switched sides to back

the anti-Aristide forces for a number of

reasons. Perhaps Aristide was not

sufficiently obedient; perhaps after

kicking Aristide in the crotch they wanted

him to say, "thank you sir may I have

another." While it is true Aristide has

implemented many of the imperialist-

friendly IMF plans, it is also true he has

complained about it, arguing that Haiti

"cannot survive" under the IMF.(3) Or

perhaps the Bush administration has an

ideological aversion to even the pretense

of social democracy. Whatever the

Haiti devastated by Amerikan imperialism (yet again)

reason, it's an indictment of imperialism

that the U.$. government can plunge Haiti

into violence and terror whenever it

wishes.

Former FRAPH leader Chamblain

recently shot his way through across the

Dominican border to link up with the anti-

Aristide gangs in Gonaives. U.$.-made

M16s have also recently appeared in the

hands of these thugs. Coincidentally, the

United $tates sent the Dominican

Republic 20,000 M16s just two months

ago.(1,3)

The political opposition to Aristide has

strong ideological and financial ties to the

United $tates, through the International

Republican Institute. According to

"Dissident Voice," "What is often not

reported is that the opposition to President

Aristide consists mainly of the

Democratic Convergence (CD) that

grew out of a project of the United States

Agency for International Development

called Democracy Enhancement. Linguist

and author Noam Chomsky accurately

described the aim of the project: `The

State Department `Democracy

Enhancement' project was specifically

designed to fund those sectors of the

Haitian political spectrum where

opposition to the Aristide government

could be encouraged, precisely as `pro-

democracy policies' dictate.'"(7)

Meanwhile, the United $tates has

embargoed $500 million in international

aid to Aristide's government.(8) This is a

clear attempt to pressure Haitians to "vote

with their stomachs."

Haiti is the poorest country in the

Western Hemisphere, suffering from

years colonization by the United $tates.

(The United $tates occupied and ruled

Haiti from 1915 to 1934, then backed a

series of dictators, including the infamous

Duvaliers.) The life expectancy now

hovers around 50 and poverty and disease

are chronic among a large portion of the

population. In 2002 80% of the population

was below the poverty line. In 2001 more

than 84% of Haiti's exports went to the

United $tates and 56% of its imports came

from the United $tates.

Many Amerikan companies have

profited from sweatshop labor in Haiti,

including Disney, Levi Strauss & Co,

Kmart, J.C. Penny, Hanes, Sarah Lee,

and Nike. Haitian sweatshop labor is an

important part of Amerikan imperialism,

and the U.$. government continues to do

whatever necessary to ensure this

profitable relationship will continue.

The current crisis in Haiti will likely

increase the flow of refugees from Haiti.

The United $tates is preparing its military

base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to

receive up to 50,000 refugees.(9) These

people will be treated like criminals and

then returned to their country to serve as

cheap labor for imperialist corporations

that make Amerika the wealthiest country

in the world.

The Haitian people do not need another

regime bowing to Amerikan imperialism.

They need independence from this

system that steals the resources, exploits

the labor and leaves the people of Haiti

in poverty.

Notes:

1. Tom Reeves, "US Double Game in

Haiti," 16 Feb 2004. http://

w w w . z m a g . o r g / c o n t e n t /

showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=4997.

2. Christian Science Monitor, 13 Feb

2004.

3. Kevin Pina, "Haiti Under Siege," 15

Jan 2004, http://www.zmag.org/content/

showarticle.cfm?SectionID=54&ItemID=4967.

4. Anthony Fenton, "Media vs. Reality

Continued from page 1...

in Haiti," 13 Feb 2004, http://

w w w . z m a g . o r g / c o n t e n t /

showarticle.cfm?SectionID=21&ItemID=4977.

5. Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jan

2004.

6. "Your Call" radio show, KALW, Feb

13, 2004.

7. The Dissident Voice, February 12,

2004.

8. Black Commentator "Haiti

Opposition Attempts Power Grab".

9. The Economist, February 13, 2004.

Stickers with this graphic on them are available for sale and distribution. Send $40

for 100 stickers to MIM at PO Box 29670, Los Angeles CA 90029-0670. Make

checks/money orders out to MIM Distributors.

BOMB AMERIKA?

Clinton's first official act, before formally taking power, was to order a

blockade of Haiti to stop refugees from fleeing the island.

A true humanitarian, Clinton also forced Haitian president-in- exile Jean

Bertrand Aristide to back his policy: Aristide released, and then (one arm-

twisting later) retracted a statement condemning Clinton's violation of

international law.

Before Aristide returns to "power" in Haiti--if Clinton and the Haitian

military can agree on the terms--Clinton will make good and sure Aristide

has no plans to liberate Haiti from decades of Amerikan economic, political

and military domination.

The Clinton/Bush policy, incidentally, violates a United Nations ban on

returning boat people without a hearing. Still, at press time, there appeared

to be no plans to bomb Amerika in response to such blatant violations of

U.N. mandates.

--MC12

MIM Notes

11 Years Ago...

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · 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

One-way door to
Virginia SHU

Solidarity greetings!
Yesterday a brother happened to send me

one of your MIM Notes and I was astounded.
Under the current levels of repression I
couldn't believe that something this powerful
was being let in. I've been up all night reading
your newsletter and wondering, "How do I
get involved?"

A lot of things you spoke of pertaining to

the Security Housing Unit (SHU) are
happening here in Virginia. It was like a breath
of fresh air to hear someone is fighting against
the SHU. It just hurts that no one in Virginia
seems to care.

As if that wasn't enough, Virgina has

opened these level-5 and level-6 institutions,
Red Onion, Wallens Ridge and Sussex. Each
institution is armed with shotguns inside the
pods, cafeteria, rec yard and gym. These
shotguns have rubber pellets but at any time
the officers have access to live rounds. We
are supposed to be on 20 hours lock and 4
hours rec, but they always find a way to take
rec. Most of the time we don't get any rec.
The conditions is close to, if not the same as
the SHU.

What is more troubling is the criteria it takes

to get in these institutions. They're supposed
to be for the worst of the worst prisoners, but
over 90% of the population came here straight
from receiving with no institutional record. I
was sent here with no institutional record,
and when I wrote to the Central Classification
Board their justification was that I had over
25 years so I met the criteria.

It's like there is no set criteria to get sent to

these institutions and damn near impossible
to get off. You can stay charge free, get your
points down and still be overrode to stay here.
It is ridiculous and I am fed up. I want to fight
against what they are doing to me and
prisoners like myself.

-a Virginia prisoner
MIM responds: Thank you for your letter.

It is important to know that not everything
like an SHU is called an SHU -- and sometimes
not designating a unit as SHU can give the
prisoncrats more flexibility in terms of their
arbitrary power to impose punishment and
cut costs.

NY SHU victim offers
support for Re-Lease
on Life

I would like to help build the "Serve the

People Prisoner Re-Lease on Life Program."
The first way we can provide for people when
they get out of prison is send them to
organizations that provide ex-offenders with
job placements or build an organization that
does such, and how to go about making
resumes, filling out applications. In fact I
suggest you tell brothers to get updated
copies of a book called "Connections to the
Job Search," the guide for ex-inmates to
information sources in NYC. It's free to all
inmates and ex-offenders by writing to:

New York Public Library
455 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10016
That's the address to write to get that book.

It has a lot of resources and info for ex-

offenders going back into society. Also we
can do the same and all we want when we go
home is a stable 9 to 5 job to help pay for
food, clothing and shelter. Once you give a
brother or sister that opportunity and keep
them comfortable then we can start getting
them active into our movement. Those are
some suggestions I came up with, but we
must guide brothers and sisters that are
coming from the belly of the beast on the
right track, give them a nice paying job and
get them involved with our struggle for
liberation. Oh yeah, enclosed is a $10.00 check
that I will donate to MIM. Every month or so
I will try to donate money to the movement
because I know money is needed to buy
certain materials that's needed in our
movement for liberation. So please let me know
if you receive that check okay.

Now about your local campaigns to shut

down SHU's, Control Units, Ad Seg and
Supermax's across the country. Listen
comrades, I'm presently in one of their new
SHU's called Upstate S-blocks where you are
double-bunked with another inmate whom
you don't know from nowhere, you get your
shower in your cell and your rec pen is at the
back of your cell, so there is no movement
out the cell or contact with no C.O. at all
unless you got to go to a visit or medical or
other than that you are in your cell 24 hours.
Imagine locking yourself in your bathroom
for months without coming out or years! It's
inhumane and cruel, then the facility is at least
8 to 9 hours away from NYC and when visitors
do get here it's no contact. We are separated
by a fence as if I'm a threat to my visitor...

- A NY Prisoner, January 2004

Validated radical
resister

I was moved from Lompoc to Atwater on

December 5th at 3am!! Apparently I incited
others to rebel against their conditions so
here I am. They're saying that I can't go to
this prison's general population as I've been
validated as a radical resister. So, I'll be doing
all of my writing to you from the hole! Nothing
new, as I long ago resigned myself to leading
those that are in need of guidance and all of
them that dared to fight are always buried in
these dungeons.

- a prisoner in California, January 2004

Should I Fight Back?

Greetings Comrade,
I am thankful for the movement and all the

progress it has made over the years. I would
like you to know that I have not received any
MIM Notes in over three months. We have
to make some change in the movement,
towards the prison system because these pigs
get away with too much. On December 18,
2003 I was sexually and physically assaulted
at Downstate Correctional Facility by ten
C.O.'s coming back from Riker's Island. These

C.O.'s had assaulted me on July 29, 03 and I
had brought the matter to the Commissioner
and superintendent, but to have the fox
investigate the fox is a waste of time. This
time they made sure they charge me with
assault on staff and re- arrest me on outside
charges and one year in the SHU. In every
way I end up with the short end of the stick.

What we need at Downstate is a camera to

watch the pigs. I had four inmate witnesses
but it did not matter. Me personally, I have
made up my mind to die or kill one of these
pigs the next time they attack me, because
after they cuffed me there was nothing I could
have done and no one tried to assist me. The
medical staff cover up for their pigs brother.
What would you have done in my situation?
Would you fight back? surrender and be
cuffed? or wait on the pigs to do something?
Please let me know.

Stay strong,
--a NY Prisoner, January 2004
MIM replies : Your situation is the

unfortunate reality to many captured by the
u$ injustice system. In some cases getting
the "fox to investigate the fox" can improve
these day to day conditions. But in your case
that avenue has been tried and failed. This is
why we organize to overthrow the system all
together. Sometimes we can help people out,
but if we want to keep this from happening to
anyone again we have to put a permanent
end to imperialist oppression.

What would MIM do? What is our advice?

Our advice is to avoid physical
confrontations with the pigs whenever
possible, for the very reason that you point
out, they have the upper hand and they can
get away with anything. You are more
valuable to the cause alive than dead. And if
you get out of prison, or even just get put in
a better situation in another camp, it will be
worth making it out alive. We certainly don't
recommend adventurism that will mean
suicide for our comrades.

When facing the oppressor in military

situations, whether on the street or in a prison
you may find yourself with no way out but to
fight for your life. This is a judgment that can
only be made by the person in the
confrontation. All we can advise you to do is
to avoid confrontations at all costs. We do
not want to confront the enemy unless we
can defeat them. So do not lash out in
frustration. That release could cost you
dearly. If you find yourself in a situation where
you do feel your life is on the line, no advice
we can give can help you then, it is up to you.

We will do what we can by printing reports

of such abuse in our paper and on our website
and keeping the struggle alive on the streets.

The Prison Industrial
Complex and Slave
Labor

America has sweat shops located just

inside its concentration kamps (u.s. prisons)
where slave labor is the order of the day. While
some prisons have different methodical
methods, they all use prison labor to gain
revenue. Companies set up shop just inside
the walls and prisoners are routinely called
out of the buildings early for a day of manual
labor which wage earnings so pitiful that it
amounts to induced servitude. A prisoner who
submits himself can earn 65, 75, 85 and 90
cents an hour if he enlists. The workload is
heavy and has a consistent momentum.

Prisoners are granted no perks, only the

usual access to phones, weekend yard, visits,
and canteen, as well as an opportunity to be
a consumer in the accumulation of the material
made good that are sold via catalogs.
Prisoners who work in these factories are
routinely subjected to dehumanizing strip

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · 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.

From the MIM "Frequently Asked

Questions" page, http://www.etext.org/
Politics/MIM/faq.

Internationalism is the ethical belief or

scientific approach in which peoples of
different nations are held to be or assumed to
be equal. Internationalism is opposed to
racism and national chauvinism.

We Maoists believe the nationalism of

nations experiencing oppression of
imperialism is "applied internationalism." We
oppose nationalism of oppressed nations
directed at other oppressed nations, because
the economic content of such nationalism is
intra-proletarian conflict. We seek a united
front of oppressed nations led by the
international proletariat against imperialism.

"I must argue, not from the point of view

of `my' country (for that is the argument of a
wretched, stupid, petty-bourgeois nationalist
who does not realize that he is only a plaything
in the hands of the imperialist bourgeoisie),
but from the point of view of my share in the
preparation, in the propaganda, and in the
acceleration of the world proletarian
revolution. That is what internationalism
means, and that is the duty of the
internationalist, of the revolutionary worker,
of the genuine Socialist."

V. I. Lenin, "What Is Internationalism?"

The Proletarian Revolution and the
Renegade Kautsky (Peking: Foreign
Language Press, 1965), p. 80.

What is internationalism?

cavity searches going and coming out. I just
could not bear being exploited and never
could subject myself to the subtle
molestations of strip searches.

Many prisoners whose families have,

through the course of their sentences, either
passed away or are under tight economic
strain in society from the teeth of this capitalist
structure, have enlisted themselves as
laborers. Some who have scaled the pay
wages hold their positions and are
encouraged to be like slave drivers, and often
do. But the flip side of this is those prisoners
who resist being preyed on. But those who
have and continue to give their cooperation
for the PIA industries will fight fiercely against
any strike or work stoppage.

As often occurs, riots and disputes erupt

and that shuts down the yards, etc. When
this happens, as I've heard you often hear
prisoners on their doors yelling hey open my
door for work (industries release). State (CDC)
has come up with a remedy by calling these
workers "critical workers" when lock down's
happen. The CDC doesn't want the making
of goods and production to be halted. This is
the reason for this deceptive tactic.

Prisoners are being productive of profits

and are being economically exploited. For
instance, if you didn't have any family you
would have no way to provide for yourself.
The state only provides tooth powder, lye
soap which cracks your skin, just like the tooth
powder, and toilet paper. Not to mention the
food you're served you often would go
hungry, and the combination of these factors
would drive, as it has drove many, to enlist
into slave labor contract. Then when you
make your average $60-90 a month, as have
many, they go shop at the canteen or buy the
newly introduced packages which companies
connected to the prison sell for a profit.

So it's a self generating system that

continually loops. What drives cheap labor
and huge profits. If socialist consciousness
can be instilled inside the minds of the mass
prison populations then we could shut down
these sweat shops and request/demand true
education, that will assist us in progress and
development.

- a CA prisoner, December 2003

Federal prisons set up
"gang" fights

I'm not in a SHU per se, it is officially called

an administrative segregation unit. The only
recognized SHUs within the federal bureau
of prisons are: Marion and ADX Florence
which are specifically designed for long term
confinement.

The ad seg and disciplinary seg units within

every prison's underbelly are only designed
to hold us on a short term basis. But we still
are being placed in them (ad seg units) for
much longer periods than legally permissible,
it's not built for this purpose. Not everyone
in is a federal prisoner. You have a minority
segment of state prisoners whom have been
placed in the federal system for a variety of
reasons such as being high profile informers,
child molesters, too influential, etc!

The difference between a U.S. penitentiary

and a federal correctional institution is akin
to a California state IV yard and a level III
yard. One's a prison that's allegedly designed
to hold a higher security prisoner. The FCIs
are usually closer to major cities, which makes
them more accessible to families visiting us.
They also offer a wide range of opportunities
in so far as educational programs, vocational
training, more links to the outside world (i.e.
outside guests) and more allowed movement
overall. The USPs, on the other hand, offer
little or no opportunity at bettering themselves
in the way of educational and vocational
training. The facade has been taken off of the
term "rehabilitation" and instead it's true
definition of "warehouse" is indeed evident.

The recent controversy originated back in

2001 when this warden arrived. Shortly after
his arrival, a major riot occurred on the
recreation yard involving over 50 people. The
staff permitted the [one] "gang" to pass thru
a metal detector with a variety of weapons
including: metal knives, pipes, a piece of chain.

Fortunately for the Afrikan prisoners some

other bystanders intervened, which
prevented loss of life. From that point on,
this prison's been controlled by Mexican
"gangs" working with certain key prison
officials. They even went as far as to order
key leaders of the Mexican Mafia released
from the Marion SHU to here so as to better
control the younger Mexicans. Pretty much,
they were afforded the preferred prisoner
treatment: no cell shake downs, no urine
analysis (even when they know they use),
access to the best jobs, basically the run of
the prison. This continued until 6/1/03, when
the same so-called privileged prisoners
attacked their masters in a living unit.
Apparently one of the staff attempted to put
one of the Mexicans into the hole. You see,
being as they had been having the run of the
prison, they were shocked (rightfully so) when
their captors attempted to all of a sudden
enforce the rules.

From that point a total melee ensued. Which

as the LA Times stated, resulted in many of
the prison guards being touched. What all
this controversy truly stems from is that this

prison's always been operated under the
banner of white supremacy. The past
administrators pretty much allowed the staff
free reign for abusing and killing African
prisoners. And this racist ideology is shared
by various neo-nazi gang members were,
which made a quite comfortable alliance.
Under this particular Warden, the majority of
the beat-down squad of kops were either fired
or transferred. There also have been an
increase in the hiring of both minorities as
well as womyn. All of which severely
undermined the white power status quo.
Afrikan prisoners pretty much see this present

Blind Justice

Bring me to court, let the guilty go

free,

Lie to the Jury, and persecute me.
I once believed that Justice prevailed,
Now I have seen that the whole

system's failed.

Don't need a reason for handing out

time,

Just need a victim accused of a crime,
Under false pretense they lock men

away.

Society don't see the game they play,
Two hundred years they've been

telling a lie.

Innocent men have been sentenced

to die,

Convicted for crimes they didn't

commit,

Examples of Justice that murders for

profit.

Hate Factories

How many believe that two wrongs

make a right?

Authorities who think so, you know

aren't too bright.

Their system of Justice has serious

flaws,

Eroded by Judges who break their own

laws.

For every prisoner the system mistreats
Another bitter man returns to the

streets,

Consumed with a hatred for whoever

supports

Their brutal humyn warehouses and

corrupted courts.

Overcrowded cages and deplorable

conditions,

Rage so intense to cause homicidal

visions,

Year upon year of harassment and pain
Serves only to drive almost any man

insane!

Poetry from behind the bars

[Here are] a few poems which I wrote, the first of which corresponds on your (MIM's)

position on prisons and prisoners. You wrote that "the biggest mass murderers--the
imperialists and their lackeys--roam free."

-- a Pennsylvania prisoner

battles as a clash of the titans, the old regime
which is white and predominately male versus
the young up and comers whom primarily
Latino. Whichever one ultimately wins, it'll
matter very little to us as we are perennial
door mats for both.

- a federal prisoner in California, December

2003

MIM Notes 297 · March 1, 2004 · Page 12

Notas Rojas

marzo 1, 2004, Nº 297 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

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.etext.org/Politics/

MIM/links/marxistsorg.html

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

w n t / W o r l d /

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

El lío en torno a las armas de destrucción masiva en Irak:

una revelación para luchadores que llevan las de perder