Revenge fantasies

Excerpts from: The Journals Of A 21st Century Schizoid Man

This book is a fictional novel;

Max Stalin and his toy Guillotine

This is the story of Maxwell the Stalinist. Max likes Country Joe Stalin and he has no problem with leaders who commit mass murder. Max is one of the only Marxist-Leninists here in Wichita that I know.  He’s a short thin fellow with thinning brown hair. He is probably about 10 years younger than I am.

“That guy just creeps me out,” said Phaedra after she first met him at his home. Max lives in a working class neighborhood in a fairly-nice green-wooden house that he rents. He actually has a model of a Guillotine from the French Revolution that they used to sell along with such monster models as Frankenstein and Dracula, back in the 1960s. It sat on his fireplace mantel, along with his other collectables. We often sat in his front room, on one of his two couches, drank beer, which we set on his coffee table and discussed various politics.

“Well you have to take what he says with a grain of salt,” I replied. “I think he says things he really doesn’t mean.

“Since the 1960s, after World War II, the US set out to destroy any credibility to the new socialist governments of Asia,” Max said the first day Phaedra met him, at his home.  “Their idea was to do whatever they could get Americans to think of Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, Kim Il Sung and later, Pol Pot as nothing more than mass murderers.

….But here is this thing. Any leader who kills a lot of people is probably getting rid of a lot of scum—people that no one really wants around anyway. I have little doubt that some people deserve to be dragged into the street and shot in the head. Consider what it would be like to do that to Sam Brownback?”

He sure had a point there. Since his first term as Governor, Brownback has destroyed our public educational system, our health care system for the poor and disabled, he’s run our economy into the ground and he has hindered my ability to even get decent work. Heck—I’d like to see him shot and then hung upside down from a Kwick Shop the way they did Benito Mussolini and his mistress after they had been shot, so that passers-by could spit on them. I could really get into that. I have to admit, I really hate that bastard Brownback. But Phaedra found little to like about all of that.

“I really don’t like murders per say, but some people just need to be gotten rid of,” Max said. “Consider David and Charles Koch. Wouldn’t it be great if we could take those bastards out and just shoot them in the head?”

For the record, I really don’t want to kill the Koch Brothers. I’m not really violent or cruel person, but we all have our darker dreams, and finishing off the Koch brothers is one of mine. I would love to see David and Charles Koch dragged out in the street and shot in public. They continuously try to buy elections and destroy what little democracy we have left in this country. Their money should be redistributed to where it is needed.

“And while you’re at it, why not Brownback’s personal punk from Wichita; Kansas Representative Mike O’Connally,” I added in. “And don’t forget our lousy Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.”

It didn’t take me long to find myself swept up in the “let just kill’em all” fantasy. 

 -សតិវ អតុ

The truth in Kanye’s anti-prison rap

The rapper's incendiary "SNL" performance delivered condemnations of the prison industrial complex worth unpacking

The Ballad of Ho Chi Minh - Ewan MacColl with the London Critics Group

Anathema Art "Clothes Pin" Exhibit was a success

From Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

The Anathema Art project went well as people from all over Kansas City came to take in the art made by of Federal prisoners, at the Pop Up Art Gallery, last Friday. There was also poetry reading, and speakers, including a defense attorney and some experts on the use of art as a form of therapy for those who are incarcerated in our federal prison system.
There were at least two large rooms of artwork, and some displays by non-prisoners. Food and drink was also served.
One speaker who got a lot of attention was Bruce Hendrick, a criminal defendant attorney.
“Don’t be afraid to say ‘no!” he warned his audience, as to requests made by the police. “They try to turn everything into consent. ‘You don’t mind if I search your vehicle.’ ‘You don’t have anything to hide do you.”
He told people in the audience they have a right to refuse such requests and; “If you give that consent, we can’t help you if you do that.”
He said that a person doesn’t have to let the police into their house, if they have been smoking dope or have something they don’t want the police to see.
“There are a lot of dos and don’ts,” he added. “They don’t want to let you go. They may let you go because they can’t hold you and then they will re-arrest you.”
Also speaking that night was Linda Gates. She talked about the therapy that art provides people in prison.
“People in prison suffer a lot of trauma,” Gates said. There are many kinds of trauma to the loss of a puppy, the loss of a relationship, or the loss of a person. Art heals.”
I spoke on the futility of U.S. drug laws that are leading to un-necessary long-term prison sentences.
Poetry written by prisoners was also read at the event.

*Currently Richard Ortega (art on this page) is in a disclosed location and in solitary confinement for his protection. 22 yrs he has spent in 4 different prisons serving on a life sentence as an innocent man. All his art that will be sold will go directly into Ortegas account (each move to a prison he loses everything, he’s back to 0) and into a account for his new start up business once he is released. The Anathema Family is proud to announce "Orega Dezignz" coming soon.

Support people's war—India -Philippines!

“All people's wars are now 'armed 
revisionism”- from the bloggers of left opportunism…

Maoistroad does not agree with the above quote and/or position and neither do I. It is true that armed revolution may not be possible in some countries—but in India and the Philippines, this is not the case. These armed rebellions have made great advances and strides. Only left-wing defeatists would oppose these successful campaigns. Those who are so afraid of winning that they would oppose these armed efforts belong in the same category as those who call themselves left and support the Free Syrian Army. Why bother to be a leftist and not support leftist-anti-imperialist efforts? Why support the old order, which from the belly of the beast, the U.S., has proven to be cruel, heartless and just plain contemptible toward the welfare of lower classes. And there is no reason to believe the U.S. Empire’s puppet regimes are any more concerned about their own people than those who run this government mess. So there is no love lost for those who defend this brutal empire. -សតិវ អតុ

From Maoistroad/and Maoist List;

Maoistroad is the principal international arm of this support for people's war in India, as in 
Philippines.

Solidarity Week in support of the Philippines revolution, the Communist Party of the Philippines, and in protest of Oplan Bayanihan, the government attack on the people of the Philippines, was  April 22-28, 2013. 

Posters and documents issued by the Central Committee of the CPI(Maoist). Posted by maoistroad:

Hail the Filipino Revolution Advancing on the Path of Victory ... from Central Committee CPI (Maoist)Hail the Filipino Revolution Advancing on the Path of Victory with the Immediate Task of Achieving Strategic Stalemate!-2013

Extend Strong Support to Filipino Revolution and Filipino People !
Oppose and Condemn Oplan Bayanihan—is the name of the fascist war that the American puppet Benigno Aquino regime is unleashing in the country of Philippines in a bid to eliminate the advancing revolution under the leadership of the Communist Party of Philippines.

The masses of the Philippines and the New People’s Army are heroically 
resisting this unjust and barbarous war. On the occasion of the week of solidarity to the Filipino revolution in India, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) brought out this small booklet as a brief introduction to the Filipino revolutionary movement.

The information given in this booklet has been taken from Philippine 
magazines and documents. If there is any difficulty in understanding 
unfamiliar words or understanding any portion due to translation, please refer the original Philippine magazines and documents. 26.12.2012]

……This book can be found on the web site: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/MAOIST_REVOLUTION.

The world proletarian revolution and stand firmly in support of the success 
of NDR in Philippines. The great people of Philippines, CPP and NPA are 
invincible. The working class and oppressed nationalities and people of the 
world are with you.
Advance!
Ultimately, victory would be yours!
Defeat would be to the US imperialists and their Philippine lackeys !
Oppose Oplan Bayanihan !
Long Live Communist Party of Philippines (CPP) !
Long Live New People’s Army (NPA) !
Long Live National Democratic Front (NDF) !
Long Live New Democratic Revolution !
Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism !
Workers of all countries, Unite !
Fight and Defeat Revisionism of all Hues !
Down with Imperialism !
Long Live World Proletarian Revolution !
Long Live Proletarian Internationalism !
Central Committee CPI (Maoist) 

Guatemala's Rios Montt found guilty of genocide- Israel pursued U.S. interests

From A World to Win News Service:

Israel has had a warm relationship with Guatemala since its inception. The Guatemalan ambassador to the UN and a member of the UN Special Committee on Palestine Jorge Garcia Granados  supported the Zionist cause and called on the government to support the creation of the Israeli state in 1948. To the present day, Guatemala votes in favour of Israel on important UN resolutions. Both governments are united in their special interest in counter-insurgency. Israeli military assistance took on increased importance in 1977 when then-U.S. president Jimmy Carter tried to publicly distance the U.S. from Guatemala's open brutality.

While the U.S. does not dictate policies to Israel, Israel often pursues policies that serve American interests and objectives especially when it is difficult politically for the U.S. to do so. As a former head of the Knesset foreign relations committee said, when asked about the Israeli-Guatemalan relationship: ''Israel is a pariah state. When people ask us for something, we cannot afford to ask questions about ideology. The only type of regime that Israel would not aid would be one that is anti-American. Also, if we can aid a country that it may be inconvenient for the U.S. to help, we would be cutting off our nose to spite our face not to.'' (See the May-June 1986 issue of Middle East Report, http://www.merip.org/mer/mer140/israel-guatemala, for detailed research on Israel's role in Guatemala).

A secondary aspect for Israel's interest in Guatemala has been economic – the need for external markets for weapons and foreign weapons production. The export of arms has helped sustain production in Israel at full capacity, facilitating strategic planning and stockpiling, assuring supplies when needed, and permitting scarce resources to be spent on science, technology, research and development to maintain Israel's qualitative edge militarily. Weapons transfers represent a fifth of Israel's industrial exports and one tenth of all exports. By 1983 factories were set up for munitions production in Guatemala. Technical support has also been given to Guatemala. Israel set up a computer centre in Guatemala City to register and monitor the country's inhabitants. Some researchers claim the centre and its data bank were linked to the U.S. Army's Southern Command then located at Fort Gulick in the Panama Canal Zone.

It is also said that in the summer of 1981, sophisticated Argentine computer analysis methods (using Israeli hardware) played a crucial role in the detection and raiding of 27 guerrilla safe houses in Guatemala City. Amnesty International says this computer system was an integral part of terrorizing Guatemalans. Israel also exported retired military officers to Guatemala. Many were experts in the "art" of repression and collective punishment. (May-June 1986, merip.org) Israel's influence in Guatemala can even be seen through the proliferation around the country of gas stations and convenience stores with Israel-friendly Hebrew names like "Adonai" and "Shalom".

But U.S. advisers still played a major role in the "pacification" of the Guatemalan countryside. The objective was total control of the civilian population without disrupting the holdings of the large landowners. People were removed to "model" villages where they would eventually be turned into a labour force for industrial production. Villagers were forced to participate in patrols to suppress and inform on others who had revolutionary inclinations.

One can only wonder where this condemning evidence will lead or why these legal proceedings are taking place now when these criminals are already old. Only a few such criminals have actually been sent to prison. Does it only happen after the U.S. decides these mass murders are no longer useful for continued American domination? Several brutal strongmen come to mind, like Chile's Pinochet, the Shah of Iran and Mubarak in Egypt, to name only a few. 

What happened in Guatemala was not that people were caught in a crossfire between two sides. It was not "collateral damage". It was a systematic murder of a people – genocide. The guilty verdict for Rios Montt is definitely welcome.

I can retire with dignity—in Ecuador—not the US

I was watching the news the other night and noticed they said the new retiree destination for US and Canadian citizens is in Quito Ecuador. Besides the climate, beautiful scenery and a developed retirement community there, it is also cheaper.

The last reason really caught my eye. It is cheaper. For years people in the US were rewarded for a life time of working, contributing to the economy, paying taxes and paying into Social Security. For years, elected officials treated Social Security and Medicare as sacred cows.

But times are changing. Our new elected officials feel no real need to care for anyone who isn’t a millionaire. It is social Darwinism and if you’re not rich—well—fuck you, according to our new government.

Commercials are telling us we are all going to live longer and we need to save and invest more for those “golden years.” What they don’t say is that lots of these older people have chronic health problems and need constant care. Also, in my late 50s it is a little too late to save any more money for retirement.

And elected government officials plan to reduce retirement benefits almost every year for the foreseeable future. Despite all the contributions to society made by the majority of baby boomers, our society and government as a whole just don’t give a shit about us.

So moving to another country where we will get treated better just makes sense

According to MSN News; “A large part of Ecuador's appeal is how inexpensive it is for retirees. A beer costs just 85 cents. A doctor's visit is $25, roughly the same price as a one-hour massage.”

"Seniors resident in Ecuador qualify for half-price entertainment and local transport, discounted airfares and refunds of sales tax," said Dan Prescher, the special projects editor for the website InternationalLiving.com.

The web site listed other countries that retirees move to including Panama, Malaysia, Mexico and Costa Rica.  

If our elected leaders had any sense they’d realize that people leave this country in their old age because this country failed them. These people are not spending their government pensions in the US where they would contribute to the economy and taxes here. Instead that money goes elsewhere. And for the retirees this means the difference between living on a pittance and being able to live comfortably.

I for one will keep this place in mind when I finally retire. But for me there is one more benefit to living in Ecuador. The politics there are interesting. Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa is part of the Latin American “Bolivarian Revolution,” which means more concern for the country’s own poor and their own national development, free of interference from the US. Even better, there is a Maoist party called Communist Party of Ecuador-Red Sun. I don’t know how hard it is to meet these activists, but if or when I do it will be great to interact with some well organized Maoists.

Unlike others in this retirement community, I will go out and meet local people, especially political activists, rather than just cutting myself off from the outside world, as many other Americans will do.  

And for all those ass hole—social Darwinist—politicos in the US—fuck you!!

-សតិវ អតុ

AWL Images. Best place to retire: San Francisco Square is seen in the Old City of Quito.

Guatemala's Rios Montt found guilty of genocide

13 May 2013.

From A World to Win News Service:

 On 10 May, U.S.-backed strongman General Efrain Rios Montt, president of Guatemala for 17 months in 1982-1983, was convicted and sentenced to 80 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the slaughter of 1,771 Mayan Ixil people. Over several weeks of the trial, 100 survivors bravely gave bone-chilling testimony about the killings. Rios Montt's short rule was one of the bloodiest chapters in the 36 years of civil war and the various forms of butchery (rape, bullets to the head in front of family members, ripping the hearts out of small children, burning people alive) that killed 200,000 indigenous people.

The guilty verdict was greeted with applause and overflowing emotion by the people who packed the courtroom. Among them were survivors who fearlessly persisted through decades to bring these crimes to trial and testified to the brutal and inhuman violence inflicted on the local population in the country's northwest Ixil highlands. It is thought that Rios Montt's victims number in the tens of thousands, but the precision in the number 1,771 victims is because the prosecutors have the names of each of these victims. The bones of most of them have also been unearthed from mass graves.

The case was unique in that it was the first time a former head of state has been tried in the national court in the country where the crimes were committed instead of by an international tribunal.

After the sentencing, an unexpected move occurred when the judge instructed prosecutors to launch an immediate investigation of "all others" connected to the crimes. A former military mechanic testified that ''Major Tito Arias'' ordered soldiers to loot and burn a village. In 2000, Guatemala's current president Otto Perez Molina inadvertently revealed to a Guatemalan newspaper that he was  ''Major Tito Arias''. This admission now places Perez Molina among the ''all others'' implicated. Despite his temporary legal immunity as president, his victims say they will persist in demanding the opening of a criminal investigation. He may in the future face charges along with other top military officials.

Right after the Rios Montt trial, a CNN journalist confronted Perez Molina with his role in the massacres. He initially refused to answer but, in an effort to justify his acts, said the women, children and complete families aided and were the support base for the guerillas.

The American freelance investigative journalist Alan Nairn conducted a filmed interview with "Major Tito Arias", then a field commander and head of intelligence under the Rios Montt regime, in September 1982. In the footage the commander explains how the fight against the insurgency depended on military helicopters and machine guns received from the U.S. and mortars and ammunition from Israel.

The following is from Nairn's 1982 film interview with Perez Molina, alias Major Tito Arias, conducted in the Ixil zone in the area surrounding the town of Nebaj.

Allan Nairn:  The United States is considering giving military help here in the form of helicopters. What is the importance of helicopters for all of you?

Perez Molina:  A helicopter is an apparatus that's become of great importance not only here in Guatemala but also in other countries where they’ve had problems of a counterinsurgency.

AN:  Like in Vietnam?

PM:  In Vietnam, for example, the helicopter was an apparatus that was used a lot.

AN:  Can you also use it in combat?

PM:  Yes, of course. The helicopters that are military types, they are equipped to support operations in the field. They have machine guns and rocket launchers.

AN:  What type of mortars are you guys using?

PM: There’s various types of mortars. We have small mortars and the mortars Tampella.

AN: Tampella.

PM:  Yes, it's a mortar that's 60 millimetres.

AN:  Is it very powerful? Does it have a lot of force to destroy things?

PM:  Yes, it's a weapon that's very effective. It's very useful, and it has a very good result in our operation in defence of the country.

AN:  Is it against a person or...?

PM: Yes, it's an anti-personnel weapon.

AN:  Do you have one here?

PM:  It's light and easy to transport, as well.

AN: So, it's very light, and you can use it with your hand.

PM:  Exactly, with the hand.

AN: Where did you get them?

PM: These, we got from Israel.

AN: And where do you get the ammunition?

PM: That's also from Israel.

From the same film, Nairn's interview with a soldier speaking dispassionately:

Allan Nairn: And how many did you kill?

Guatemalan soldier: We killed the majority. There is nothing else to do than kill them.

AN: So you killed them at once?

GS: Yes. If they do not want to do the right things, there is nothing more to do than bomb the houses.

AN: Bomb? With what?

GS: Well, with grenades or collective bombs.

AN:  What is a collective bomb?

GS:  They are like cannons.

AN:  Do you use helicopters?

GS:  Yes.

AN:  What is the largest amount of people you have killed at once?

GS:  Well, really, in Solola, around 500 people.

AN:  And how do they react when you arrive?

GS:  Who?

AN:  The people from the small villages.

GS:  When the army arrives, they flee from their houses. And so, as they flee to the mountains, the army is forced to kill them.

AN:  And in which small village did the army do that kind of thing?

GS:  That happened a lot of times.

AN:  Specifically, could you give me some examples where these things happened?

GS: In Salquil, Sumal Chiquito, Sumal Grande, Acul.

In the film the soldier explained that often they would kill about a third of a town's population. Another third they would capture and forcibly resettle in army camps. And the rest would flee into the mountains where the military would pursue them, dropping U.S. 50-kilogram bombs and firing U.S.-supplied heavy-caliber machine-guns from American Huey and Bell helicopters.

 Reagan's government gave Rios Montt $10.5 million worth of helicopters, $3.2 million in military trucks and Jeeps, $36 million worth of tanks and $2 million for the covert program ''Operation Ashes'' a scorched-earth campaign run by G-2, the Intelligence Section of the Guatemalan Army, to annihilate the support base of guerrillas fighting for  their land. Taking further Judge Barrios' court instruction to investigate ''all others'' connected, you could say that Ronald Reagan fits in that category. He was an accessory to this genocide. He aided, abetted, covered up and encouraged it  before, during and after Rios Montt was president of Guatemala. Reagan was an even bigger criminal as he committed these same crimes in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras, to mention only some of his crimes in the Americas alone.

In 1954 the CIA toppled the government of Jacobo Arbenz. The United Fruit Company, an American corporation that was one of the biggest landholders in Guatemala at the time, lobbied the CIA to remove Arbenz from power because he was giving fallow land to the peasants. The U.S. claimed he was a threaten to the security of the Western hemisphere. Only the year before, the CIA had ousted Iranian Prime Minister Mossadegh. Since then Guatemala has been ruled by a long succession of mainly military regimes.

Partners in crime!

Anathema Art show to be in Kansas City

From Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

 

The Anathema Art project is about artwork for long term prisoners serving time in the U.S. This Friday The Clothes Pin Art Show will be presented by Anathema Art at the Pop Up Art Gallery, 2100 Grand Blvd., 3rd Floor, Kansas City, Missouri.
According to Anathema’s web site:
Anathema Art is more than a website slinging prison art. We believe in reality; our art is not served with wine and hors d’oeuvres, but instead with the harsher aspects of life.
Anathema is comprised of one attorney that believes in justice, one artist that believes in freedom of expression, and 20 convicts that claim their innocence or have made a choice of murder, arson, kidnapping, and robbery – some with all combined and more.
This is your gateway to the expression and voice of the ones who remain inside confining walls, and they have chosen to create productive change and contribute to society. -http://www.anathemaart.com/
I will also be speaking on a panel at the show. My focus will be on drug laws and how they have pushed our prison system out of control. I have the following article posted on the Anathema web site:
The “land of the free” now has the highest prison population in the world
In the last 30 years the U.S. has a prison population which has mushroomed until this country has the distinction of having the highest population of prisoners in the world. For a country that holds itself up as “The land of the free” and “a beacon of hope” for those who want their freedom, having this high a prison population makes those claims suspicious.
While the U.S. complains about prisoners in (Democratic People’s Republic of) North Korea, it may actually have more of its own citizens incarcerated.
Over the last 30 years, politicians have enacted new mandatory minimum sentences and a number of new laws to prove they are not “soft on crime,” “soft on terrorism” or “soft on drugs.” In addition to new laws, there has been an increase in police, the power of the DEA, expansion of the FBI and decreases in the rights of the accused. Rights to spy on our citizens have increased, with privacy rights being chiseled away from most of us.
And most obvious is the expansion of prisons in this country. This country now spends more money on prisons than it does on education. According to Time;
“According to a report out today from the NAACP, states are spending increasingly large sums of money on prisons, at the expense of public education.
Its research shows states spend more than $50 billion annually on government-run correction programs. In the last 20 years, state spending on prisons has grown at six times the rate of spending on higher education. And one in 31 Americans is under some form of corrections control.
For the rest click here.

 

International Communist Movement and our role –part 2

From Maoist List;

By C P Gajurel "Gaurav"

Why was the unity within the RIM declining? 

Two parties, namely CRC,CPI(ML) of India and TKP (ML) of Turkey which were in the RIM Committee decided to stay in the RIM but withdraw from the Committee. Also the Communist Party of Peru had decided to send its representative in a status of observer not that of a delegate. These events definitely played a role of weakening the RIM. 

In course of time Communist Party of Peru (PCP) decided to add "Gonzalo Thought" in its guiding ideology. Many parties including our party opposed this decision. After a couple of years of arrest of its chairman Com Gonzalo in 1992, a proposal of "peace accord" was floated from inside the prison stating that it "was from the Party". The dispute of who was the author of this proposal entered in the RIM as well. One section of the PCP blamed "right opportunists" of the party who capitulated with the enemy for this act and called it a "hoax". Another section, especially who were languished in prison claimed that Gonzalo himself was the author of this proposal. Gonzalo's opinion could not come out officially because he was completely kept in isolation. RCP which represents in the Committee advocated that Gonzalo is behind the "peace accord". It further helped deteriorating the relation of PCP with the RIM. 

When our party, CPN(Maoist) decided to add "Prachanda path" in the guiding ideology of the party, all other parties were against it. It caused some rift in the relation of CPN(Maoist) and the RIM. But it is wrong to say that it was the only reason for the RIM to be passive. The main reason of division and situation of RIM to go through a crisis is the liquidation of Prachanda-Baburam to right opportunist line. It was a good thing that we continued to establish relation with our fraternal and friendly communist parties when we were in the same party with the renegades Prachanda and Baburam and so we are now in a situation of forging international unity and working actively to carry out joint activities with all these parties. 

Apart from all this, a new debate is going on the question of "New Synthesis" propounded by Com Bob Avakian, Chairman of RCP,USA. It seems that we should be firm in standing against the idea that "it was a new dimension in the development of MLM" and trying to impose it as a basis of unity in the ICM. What we have discussed above makes clear that the efforts to impose different types of "synthesis" has merely bred split in the ICM. It is necessary to take lessons from the past mistakes and to be careful about such wrong trends. 

ICML as another Centre 

In spite of many rounds of talks between representatives of RIM and CPI(Maoist), CPP, incorporation of the two parties could not be materialized. In the later period, one side was not accepting the nomenclature of 'RIM' and its organization and other side was sticking to the nomenclature and organization, which also became main hurdle for the unity. 

International Conference of Marxist-Leninist parties (ICML) was organized in the initiative of CPI(Maoist) and CPP, which incepted a centre. Its influence became very limited. It also decided to organize an international mass organization called 'International League for People's Struggle' (ILPS). It is amalgamation of so many loose organisations that to take collective decisions was not possible let alone implementing the decisions. 

It is true that RIM is more influential than ICML,however division of the Maoist parties in two different centres is quite bad. We have to pay serious attention to this point. 

Two Centres and question of new initiative 

The point of how Maoist Parties are divided into two different centres has already been mentioned above. At this point of time both the centres have become passive and very weak. None of them are functioning. It is reflection of the fact that the idea of two different centres of Maoists is not correct. 

Some parties and organisations are also taking initiative to reorganize the RIM forces. Reality is that anyway if it succeeds, again all the Maoist parties and organisations t will not come together and same problem will recur. Therefore, the need of the hour is to carry on the positive discussions and debates aiming to unite all genuine Maoist forces in a single centre and forge new unity in the new basis. It is necessary to change the negative situation of non-functional condition of two centres into a positive step of forging a new and single centre. We should utilize this opportunity to unify the Maoist forces in a single centre rather than to make effort to revive the old centre or centres. 

We should come out of the prejudice of who was in which international centre. We should utilize our efforts in organizing all genuine Maoist forces in a single centre and strengthen it for advancing the world revolution. 

Anti-imperialist Movement 

There are many parties and organisations in various parts of the world including India, which were parts of the Marxist-Leninist Movement. Some parties are cadre based and have some mass bases and some organisations are confined in bringing out their organ through which they are identified. Though all of them are not Maoists, but most of them are anti-imperialists. They cannot make any significant contribution in the revolution of their own country and for the world revolution if they remain isolated. If they are united in a loose anti-imperialist movement a significant energy can be accumulated by their collective strength. We should consider them as friends and help them to be organized in support of revolutionary struggle and anti-imperialist, anti-expansionist struggle. 

The people of the oppressed countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America are still fighting against the domestic reactionaries and foreign imperialism in their own way. It is not possible for them to fight and get victory individually against stronger reactionary forces. It is quite necessary to help them organize by forging front at international level. Only a genuine Maoist party can fulfill this task. Other forces cannot fulfill this task. 

Presence of the representatives of various friendly parties and organisations all the way from Canada, USA, Turkey to India during the historic Seventh National Congress of our party which was successfully completed in the last January reflects such a possibility. 

Relation with states 

Once, almost two third of the world population was under the banner of socialism. But due to the events of counter revolution staged by the leadership of communist parties and socialist states, the socialism went on squeezing and now it is confined at the stage of strategic defence. 

The anti-socialist "democratic movements" designated by the imperialist powers swept away the "socialist states" of East European pro-soviet block during the '90s. The governments of communist parties and socialist states have been reduced to quite few. If we can have a good relation with those survived, it can be of great help to the revolutionaries and the people against the onslaught of domestic and foreign reactionaries. 

This relation can play significant role for the development of revolutionary movement, to protect the revolutionary parties and to bring the balance of power in favour of the revolutionaries. It is necessary to develop relation with countries like China, North Korea, Cuba, Latin American countries. In the context of Nepal, the relation with China attaches great importance.


The wave of Bolivarian revolution in Latin America can be considered as anti- US imperialist wave. The "socialism" that has been achieved in Latin American countries differs from the scientific socialism and communism envisaged by communist parties. However it is necessary to salute the revolutionary changes that the people have brought after heroic struggles. We should make serious efforts to develop friendly relation with them. We should understand the significance of balance of power in favour of revolutionary movement. 

Prospect of revolution is bright 

In the present situation, making revolution in any country is a very challenging task. In today's world it is necessary to make international situation favourable in order to accomplish the revolution. The international situation is not readily favourable, it should be made favourable by formulating a correct line and implementing it with hard work. Now what a favourable situation we have, was not with us during the period of People's War. We should be able to utilize this situation perfectly. 

It is not possible to complete the revolution by unleashing only our force. It is necessary to accumulate strength by making long term or short term united front with the forces which can stand in favour of the people and nation. 

We have to pay attention in all the possibilities of forging such united fronts at national and international level. We are advancing in the direction of forging united fronts with all the forces with whom we can do and establish good relation with them at the national and international level, especially after we broke the relation with the Prachanda-Baburam group which has betrayed and gave in the revolution. Great possibility to achieve success in this task has been appeared. 

The way Prachanda and Baburam presented themselves during their so called Seventh Congress that they have made a "strategic shift" to the reactionary camp, have made clear to those who had a bit of confusion that they still have some amount of revolutionary will. It was necessary for us to expose them clearly, thanks, they have exposed themselves. Ground is open for us. Many favourable factors have emerged in support of Nepalese revolution. We are moving forward cautiously. Because of our maturity some positive results have been achieved in practice. Practice has proved that our assumption and decisions are correct. Let us move forward with full confidence and firm determination, the future of Nepal and Nepalese people is bright. The future of Nepalese revolution is bright. 

Source:
Peoples Voice 

ALEC’s corruption goes to Oklahoma

From 

Wichita Peace and Freedom Party Examiner;

We have already seen the work that the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has done in Kansas. Recently Governor Sam Brownback and his newly elected stooges have pushed for laws that will weaken teachers unions by taking away any right of taking part in politics or elections. The moral of teachers is going down, but that is all part of the ALEC Agenda.
They are also likely to have played a role in the defeat of several moderate Republicans in the Kansas primary last year.
As we are learning, ALEC has been quite active in Kansas, but also in other states. The latest victim of the Millionaire’s club/PAC is Oklahoma. At a recent, May 3, meeting of ALEC in Oklahoma City, the organization made demands on that state’s legislative body. According to PR Watch, the Oklahoma legislature were handed a set of talking points that read;

"The American Legislative Exchange Council recognizes the first amendment rights of free speech and assembly, and asks that _____ do the same."

This was all in anticipation that ALEC would be met with protesters who feel that the PAC actually just buys elections and pushes for laws that work against the common citizen. ALEC restricted access to its conference by keeping out both activist they felt are unfavorable to them, as well as journalists who might right critical stories about them. 
There we major protests going on outside this event. Inside in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel and the neighboring Cox Convention Center, lobbyists and politicians who have been helped by ALEC were enjoying the free booze and other benefits of being a deal breaker of political power.
According to PR Watch;

“Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin -- an ALEC "Legislator of the Year" in 2009 gave the ALEC meeting's keynote address. The short, relatively generic speech was the only portion of the ALEC event open to the press: the task force meetings where prospective "model bills" are discussed and adopted were entirely closed-door and guarded by police.”

Center for Media and Democracy Research Director Nick Surgey obtained press credentials at the ALEC registration desk, but when an ALEC staff member noticed who he was, she stopped him, revoked his credentials and then had him escorted out by police.
This exclusion of the press and public from the decision making process that our elected leaders are making—is out right un-democratic and smacks of a police state. What gives these people the right to make important decisions that affect the way we all live, while denying us any right to input on these decisions? Besides out-right dictatorship, nothing could me more un-democratic.
Recently ALEC advocates and Tea Party members have held up our Governor Sam Brownback as a model for the rest of the country. Some of Brownback’s accomplishments include;

·      blocking any benefits from Obama-care, even sending back Federal money this state could really use. The results are that there are many poor people not getting badly needed health care or medicines.

·      He has privatized the state run medical care system and it now runs so badly that home health care providers are working to block it from expanding to their clients.

·      Brownback’s cuts to education have resulted in fewer academic classes offered to students, fewer teachers, overcrowded classrooms, discipline problems due to closing schools for behaviorally challenged students and dumping them on the mainstream school system and—in general lower quality of education over-all.

·      There is a steep increase in homelessness this year.

·      There still are not enough jobs for those in Kansas who want them.

We need to expose ALEC at every opportunity and let the public know these people are trying to totally corrupt and buy off our democracy for the benefit of wealthy corporations and individuals. Today they are the real threat to democracy in America.