Peruvian Maoists are retried

By CARLA SALAZAR
Associated Press Writer

“CALLAO, Peru -- An anti-terrorism court on Monday started the retrial
of Abimael Guzman, the imprisoned Shining Path leader whose messianic
communist vision inspired a rebellion that left almost 70,000 people
dead.
"Our expectations are very limited," Guzman's lawyer, Manuel Fajardo,
told The Associated Press, as he entered a makeshift courtroom in the
maximum security naval base prison in Lima's port of Callao, where the
70-year-old former philosophy professor has been held since April 1993.
A secret military tribunal sentenced Guzman, known to his followers as
President Gonzalo, to life in prison soon after his capture in 1992,
but Peru's top court ruled the trial unconstitutional two years ago.
A retrial last year ended in a chaotic mistrial after Guzman and his
supporters chanted communist slogans and two of three judges stepped
down.
Court officials were standing firm Monday behind a ban on cameras and
tape recorders in the courtroom to deny Guzman another opportunity to
turn the proceedings into Maoist political theater.
Reporters were allowed to enter only with pens and pads -- no cameras,
recorders or phones allowed. About two hours into the proceedings,
court officials apparently relented on prohibiting journalists from
exiting the courtroom to offer periodic reports as the day progressed.”

Chairman Gonzalo on Trial in Peru

by the Committee to Support the Revolution in Peru

“News broke on November 5 of the dramatic opening and sudden postponement of the trial of Chairman Gonzalo and the 17 other accused leaders, members and supporters. According to initial reports, including photos and video, Chairman Gonzalo and other defendants stood up in the courtroom in front of the press and the cameras with their fists in the air, chanting "Long Live the PCP" and "Glory to Marxism, Leninism, Maoism." The courtroom was thrown into chaos. The judge immediately evicted the news media and ordered the trial postponed for a week. The Peruvian authorities vowed to continue with the trial but said they will take firm measures to prevent any further disruptions of their legal proceedings. This was the first time that Chairman Gonzalo has been allowed to appear in any way before the public and the media in the 12 years since he was convicted and locked away at Callao Naval Base in 1992.”

Comments:
The chances of these trials being fair are somewhere between slim and none. They are mostly show trials to try and bring legitimacy to the new Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo. They are mostly for public consumption to try and discredit the “people’s war” waged in Peru during the 1980s and 1990s. While this movement has not recovered from the setback of having its leadership captured, it is not completely gone either. The organization continues to try and rebuild itself.

Pictures: Women in prisons

Recruits practice in base areas.

Memoirs Of A Drugged-up, Sex-crazed Yippie ---Tales from the 70's Counterculture: Drugs, Sex, Politics and Rock and Roll.

Memoirs Of A Drugged-up, Sex-crazed Yippie ---Tales from the 70's Counterculture: Drugs, Sex, Politics and Rock and Roll.

Book review by John J. Mesh, aka, Ohnjaye

First of all as a small-town, semi-poor journalist, I have no shame. If there’s free stuff — food, beer, books, CDs, etc. — I’m there without batting an eyelash. I have few ethics in this regard.
I am also a big suck-up. So when my friend Steve Otto sent me a copy of his book for free — which I will refer to by its first name Memoirs — in the mail, I was euphoric. Then I started to read the book and realized what a deprived, sheltered upbringing I had. So my review — like Steve’s book — should have a sub-title:“I was born a poor, deprived, sheltered, small town, middle-class Catholic white boy.” I had a sister who ran away from home when she was 15 to become a hippie — she’s now the yuppiest of yuppies who owns two homes. But that’s the closest this sheltered child of Hutchinson, Kansas got to the counterculture other than listening to his sister’s Beatles records. However, I am trying to make up for lost time and I am living vicariously in the 60s and 70s, and this book is helping me do that. What’s bizarre is Steve Otto is one of my best friends and I knew nothing of this life in the 1970s and early 1980s which is the backbone of the book, which is a realistic but fictional account of Steve through the experiences of Mark Spies — his alter-ego.
The book details the fact that — much to the surprise of many — there was a thriving counterculture in the late 60s to mid 70s in Kansas. Mark Spies was there.Spies started as a casual pot smoker as a 14-year-old high school student to being a habitual user of pharmaceutical narcotics and cocaine. He also becomes a dealer. The book also goes into full-blown detail on all the things associated with drug use such as the “rigs” used and violent confrontations and guns.
Sex also plays a big part in Memoirs — Mark gets laid a lot. The sex and the drugs are interwoven throughout Mark’s experiences. Then we have the rock and roll part. Mark goes from grooving on the best music of the 60’s and early 70’s — John Lennon and Frank Zappa among others are a big part of the soundtrack of Mark’s life — and hooks on to the punk music scene in the late 70’s — bands like the Sex Pistols and Blondie and icons like Patti Smith.Disco music in the late 70’s and the drug use associated with it — namely cocaine — is also examined. Politics is also front and center in Memoirs — from Nixon, Cambodia and Vietnam to various revolutions that occurred in 1979.
The best thing about Memoirs is that it takes me to places I never really got to experience — that’s what happens when like me, you are born in a vacuum 10 years too late and you miss all the good stuff. Steve Otto is a free-lance writer living in Maize, Kansas. He is the author of War on Drugs/War on People, published by Ide House in 1995. He has also owned and worked for several newspapers and written numerous articles in magazines, journals and newspapers.
He currently runs a political blog: Otto 子's War Room.

The following book stores also have Memoirs:

Amazon.com,

Powell's books,

Abe Books,

Amazon.co.uk,

Amazon.de(GER),

AllDirect.com,

SuperBookDeals,

Sexual Astrology,

Valore Books,

BestPrice.com,

Dungeons & Dragons Books,

Home Equity,

Cosmic Voyage,

A1Books,

Books A Million,

Alibris,

Country Book Shop,UK,

Biblio,

Blackwell.co.uk,

Buy.com,

Losti Pods.com,

BiggerBooks,

eCampus,

Amazon.co.jp,

Barnes & Noble.com,

Direct from the publisher.

Kansas joined the Nationally held rallies against the Iraq War

At least 60 people carrying signs and peace flags marched against the Iraq War, here in Wichita Kansas. Sings as simple as “No War” to “The War will end when the occupation ends” were held. Others said “Support the troops, bring them home” and Peace is “Patriotic.” Most were members of the Peace and Social Justice Center of South Central Kansas.
Since May, the A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) Coalition has been actively promoting an united antiwar demonstration on September 24, in Washington DC. Many all the major groups have been working together on this effort.
A.N.S.W.E.R has also encouraged people in other cities to hold their own marches, so the Peace and Social Justice Center A.N.S.W.E.R.ed the call, here in Wichita. Marchers went from 13th to the Peace and Social Justice Center’s house on 13th and Topeka Street.

“The Rally in Washington, was much bigger. According to CNN, September 24, 2005;
Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, noting that organizers had hoped to draw 100,000 people, said, "I think they probably hit that."
The rally stretched through the day and into the night, a marathon of music, speechmaking and dissent on the National Mall.”

Anti-war demonstrators march past the White House.

According to USATODAY, 9/24/2005:
“They were young people with green hair, nuns whose anti-war activism dates to Vietnam, parents mourning their children in uniform lost in Iraq, and uncountable families motivated for the first time to protest.
President Bush himself was out of town, monitoring hurricane recovery efforts from Colorado and Texas. The protesters shouted for his impeachment.”




More members of the news media are now comparing the Iraq War the Vietnam War. Even though Iraq is no where near 8 years and the casualties are far fewer than the 58,226 dead. Iraq has had less than 2,000 U.S. troops killed. But many people remember Vietnam and as the conflicts begin to resemble one another, many Americans are deciding it just isn’t worth it. But President George Bush has refused to consider pulling out.

Our Fake Attorney General of Kansas proves anyone can hold an elected office, without credentials

Two of Kline‘s assistants, Ludwig Von Drake and Dick Tracy

The Kansas Supreme Court is now reviewing whether Attorney General Phill Kline should be able to obtain patient records from abortion clinics. This isn’t the only Kline case dealing with medical privacy.
According to Phillip Brownlee, of The Wichita Eagle, September 19, 2005:

“A federal appeals court in Denver heard a request last week by Kline’s office to lift an order blocking the enforcement of his 2002 opinion that all health-care providers — including school nurses, psychiatrists and social workers — have to report to authorities any indications of underage sex, even if it was consensual and between teens. Kline’s argument is that, according to state law, any sexual relations with children younger than 16 is a crime. But health-care providers — which already report possible child rapes — argue that the reporting requirement is an invasion of privacy, and, of particular concern, they worry that it could discourage some minors from getting needed medical services, such as prenatal care.”
Kline has rendered other baseless charges against abortion clinics. So far that all he has done for the state of Kansas,
Does this guy have any credentials? He was a disbarred attorney before he got elected and all he has done since he won is harass the abortion clinics and try to put them out of business. Religious fanatics are the only reason he won the election. Apparently abortion is all they care about and important legal matters are simply ignored.

Is this the kind of abortion clinic surveillance evidence we can expect from Kline?

Operation SouthWind needs to blow away!

“A Sedgwick County District Court grand jury convened Monday to investigatewhether local businesses that sell sex-related items are violating obscenity laws.On one side in the fight are stores such as the Adult Super Store on South Broadway, whose sign reads "Freedom to Choose." On the other side is

Operation SouthWind,

a group that collected thousands of signatures from people who think the magazines, videos and gadgets that sex shops sell are obscene.”
--According to The Wichita Eagle, Sep. 20, 2005.

This brings up an important issue. Why do we need some organization to tell us what we should read and were we can shop?
Of the shops they have targeted as obscene, two: Priscilla's, 6143 W. Kellogg, Wichita and Zigefields, 4200 W. Kellogg, Wichita,
have been here for years, without incident. To now label them obscene is absurd.
Other stores affected included:
• After Dark Video, 7805 W. Kellogg
• Camelot Cinema, 1515 S. Oliver


• X-citement Video, 220 E. 21st St. N.
• X-citement Video, 1306 E. Harry

Operation SouthWind

is a just another band of religious fascists, kooks, anal retentive, uptight sex-phobic puritans and we don’t need them in our city or state. Their name is well chosen - they’re full of hot air and need to dry up and blow away.

We can decide for ourselves where we want to shop and what we want to read. Some of us don’t care for much of the religious nonsense being sold in some stores here in town. How would Operation SouthWind

like it if we decided to ban them from reading those books.
Who made them experts on our community standards anyway? They are just wasting the time of the Sedgwick County District Court. There are nearly 500,000 people living in this area. They can’t even speak for half of them. If they succeed in this action, we might as well live in Iran. And that is where they belong, a country that really hates sex. There are countries all over the Middle-east that brutally suppress sex and women.
Maybe the supporters of Operation SouthWind should move to one of those countries?

Iran

Opertion SouthWind blow away, you’re not needed here.

MASSACRE OF 17 POLITICAL ACTIVISTS IN TURKEY

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinating CommitteeInternational League of Peoples' Struggle
September, 20, 2005

Last June 17, seventeen Turkish political activists, several of them had lived in Germany and the Netherlands and had acquired citizenships and residencies in these countries, went back to Turkey to attend a political meeting. As they gathered to hold their meeting, according to reports, helicopter gunships backed by some 2,000 Turkish ground troops attacked the meeting with rockets and gunfire. Most of the activists died instantly, while several were reported to have died later from their

Sison

wounds.
The Turkish state has made sketchy reports that the incident on June 17 in the district of Mercan, southeast of Turkey, was an armed encounter between Turkish troops and armed revolutionaries.
Turkish human rights organizations, relatives of the massacre victims and the recent international fact-finding mission that went to Turkey composed of lawyers, journalists and relatives of the victims, have all disputed the claim of the Turkish authorities and have concluded that the incident was a planned execution of political activists opposed to the fascist and pro-imperialist Turkish state.
The international fact-finding mission, specifically, raised the strong possibility that the movements of several of the activists who came from Germany and the Netherlands had been monitored weeks or even months before the massacre, and the information gathered by the intelligence services of these European Union member countries could have been relayed to the Turkish authorities, thus facilitating the merciless execution of the 17 activists.
Considering the silence of the European Union on this massacre, the EU displays its implicit support for fascism and the utter disregard and abuse of fundamental human rights by the Turkish state which the EU has invited to become its member state. The EU is displaying hypocrisy and double standard with regards its application of international humanitarian law and human rights on a fascist state like Turkey.
This massacre is but the latest in an endless string of cases of human rights violations committed by the Turkish state against its political opponents, progressive movements and the Kurdish people. In inviting Turkey into the fold of the imperialist formation called the European Union, these human rights violations in Turkey have remained systematically sidelined or shamelessly ignored.
Together with the progressive movement, human rights and people's organizations in Turkey and the rest of Europe, we condemn this latest massacre of 17 political activists, and the numerous cases of human rights violations committed by the Turkish state. We condemn the possible collaboration between the EU and the Turkish government in this massacre, and denounce all attempts to conceal or whitewash Turkey's bloody human rights record in order to remove hurdles and smooth the progress of its accession to Europe.
Indeed, in the arduous struggle against exploitation and oppression and thedesire to build an imperialist and fascist free society, the progressive anddemocratic-loving people of Turkey owe it to themselves to fight for theirdemocratic and social rights, and to call, righteously, for internationalsolidarity for their resistance. That this latest crime against the peopleof Turkey has forged the unity of almost all anti-imperialist andprogressive political groups in Turkey, is an inspiration to the globalanti-imperialist movement to surge even further, forward.
The International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) supporting all suchinitiatives, invites all progressive and democratic anti-imperialist forcesto condemn this massacre and welcomes and promotes the forging of unity ofthe people in the struggle against imperialism and all reaction across theworld!

Now the Kansas School Board attacks Sex Ed

According to The Wichita Eagle, Sep. 14, 2005:
“The State Board of Education is debating whether to make parents pre-approve their children's participation in sex education classes.Some members of the state board's conservative wing say the obligation to sign a form should be on the parents who want their children to receive sex education. They also want all parents to receive a checklist of the items to be discussed in sex education, including what visual aids and props will be used.”
Board member Ken Willard of Hutchinson cited "rampant sexually transmitted diseases" and teen pregnancy rates as evidence the opt-out policy is not working.
"That's what the opt-out policy has gotten us," he said.
Health educators who spoke to the board made It clear that just the opposite is true.t STD rates are relatively stable and teen pregnancies are down.
Margot Breckbill, a registered nurse and family life educator from Wichita, said teenagers need more information about sex, not less, particularly in today's climate of sexually explicit Web sites, video games, movies and music.
Board member John Bacon of Olathe first suggested the changes after hearing stories of props being used in sex education for condom demonstrations, and of one teacher who had used a bed as demonstration tool.
But Bacon didn’t say where these alleged incidences took place. He resorted to the old conservative tactic of using unsubstantiated hearsay.

According to conservatives sex education includes such items found on this site: Click here.

A more serious sex education program would resemble this.

An organization calling itself Kansans for Responsible Sex Education has circulated a petition:

We, the undersigned, urge our Board of Education, the Governor and the Kansas Legislature to:
· Oppose an opt-in policy for sex education—a policy that puts too many teens at risk.
· Stop funding abstinence-only-until-marriage education—education that censors information about contraception beyond failure rates.
· Support comprehensive sex education—education that teaches young people about both abstinence and contraception.
Click here for the petition.

Nazi flag museum Pictures, Church picture.

High Across The Prairie

Steve Otto's latest novel takes an honest look at 1970's Kansas.

Memoirs Of A Drugged-up, Sex-crazed Yippie ---Tales from the 70's Counterculture: Drugs, Sex, Politics and Rock and Roll.

By Steve Otto
Authorhouse Press/2005

Reviewed by Tim Pouncey

Kansas in the late 1970's was so different from today; the Sunflower State might as well have been located in Holland. Remember what it was like to share drugs with close friends and complete strangers? Remember when casual sex was so casual you didn't even know your partners name? Remember when the political climate of Kansas came down squarely on the side of tolerance?Remember when your personal philosophy of life was defined by rock lyrics and not a mission statement?
You don't?
Well, Steve Otto does. In his latest semi-fictional novel, Memoirs Of A Drugged-Up, Sex Crazed Yippie (Authorhouse Press/2005), Otto excavates 1970's counterculture like an archeologist loving dusting off a Mastodon tusk. In a brisk 349 pages, Otto gives us a lucid look at a Kansas few people remember --- or can't remember due to a plentiful supply of "controlled substances" that were constantly and cheaply available. Characters romp through Wichita, Lawrence and even Sedalia Missouri when a cheap thrill was worth what you paid for it and pleasure was just the flipside of danger.But to dismiss this book as just another nostalgic stoner reminiscing about the last days of the counter-culture would be a major mistake. Although there is a certain "back-in-the-day" wistfulness about the time before political correctness was a mantra, Otto tempers his dreamy history lesson with brutal honesty.The narrator of the story --- a composite of just about every old druggie you ever met --- may graphically describe the bliss of mainlining MDA, he also reminds us that brief moment of pleasure most often occurred in a squalid apartment at broken kitchen table next to sink full of dirty dishes.
Like all good storytellers, Otto takes the reader places they've never been before. Like William Burroughs and Charles Bukowsky, Otto sometimes takes you to places you've never really wanted to visit. Yet, Otto makes it worth the trip by including generous portions of political discourse, Cyrenaic philosophy, post-adolescent lust and near-suicidal thrill seeking to keep the narrative moving along like a junkie careening through a police roadblock.
Otto's work is always provocative and this book will undoubtedly draw the wrath of both solid conservatives and neo-feminists. Otto's characters never mask their contempt for the right-wing agenda and Otto's narrator never hides his obsession with female anatomy. However, criticizing Memoirs because it baits conservatives and objectifies women is missing the point. Filtering 1970's Kansas counterculture through the sensibilities of a naive middle-class, catholic school educated, twenty-something is no easy trick but Otto mostly pulls it off. He has a good ear for times-past and tries --- often successfully --- to make his prose read like it would have been written by someone experiencing these situations 30 years ago. Trying to be simultaneously innovative, entertaining and honest is a juggling act on a unicycle, but Otto is generally at his best when everything's up-in-the-air and he's peddling frantically. When the narrator's budding Marxist politics and his discussions with Iranian nationalists clash with his dawning awareness that Kansas politics has taken a sharp turn to the right, Otto makes it work.
Is Otto's look into the rear-view mirror a true reflection on the 70's, or do the objects simply appear bigger than they were? Ultimately, it doesn't matter. Memoirs resonates with characters buckling under the weight of the America Dream with redemption harder to find than next snort of Cocaine.

The following book stores also have Memoirs:

Amazon.com,
Powell's books,
Abe Books,
Amazon.co.uk,
Amazon.de(GER),
AllDirect.com,
SuperBookDeals,
Sexual Astrology,
Valore Books,
BestPrice.com,
Dungeons & Dragons Books,
Home Equity,
Cosmic Voyage,
A1Books,
Books A Million,
Alibris,
Country Book Shop,UK,
Biblio,
Blackwell.co.uk,
Buy.com,
Losti Pods.com,
BiggerBooks,
eCampus,
Amazon.co.jp,
Barnes & Noble.com,
Direct from the publisher.

North Korea still distrusts the George Bush Regime

It’s not surprising that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) distrusts President George W. Bush. He did include their country as part of what he called the “axis of evil.” That is especially true after invading one of those countries, Iraq, which we still occupy today. Bush has given the DPRK leadership little reason to trust him. Relations were improving with the DPRK before Bush was elected. That may explain the following article:

Pyongyang again demands U.S. pull its troops from South Korea
A.P.- Sept. 8, 2005
“SEOUL, South Korea - International talks on North Korea’s nuclear program will resume next week, China’s Foreign Ministry announced Thursday, as Pyongyang renewed its demand Washington withdraw its troops from the South to prove it doesn’t plan to attack.
The talks, aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, recessed Aug. 7 after the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia failed to agree on a statement of principles after 13 days of negotiations.
North Korea has insisted on the right to a civilian nuclear program, but Washington says it shouldn’t be allowed any nuclear program at all because of its record of broken promises.”

--Of course, few in the U.S. ever accused Bush of not keeping his promises.—Yeah, right!

Picture by Korean flag girl

PHILIPPINES’ ARROYO TREASON, MORE REASON FOR ITS OVERTHROW

Information Bureau

Communist Party of the Philippines

_______

September 15, 2005

______

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today accused the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo regime of treason for actively seeking and abetting US political intervention in the internal affairs in the Philippines.

Yesterday, Malacanang confirmed earlier reports that National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales signed last July 25 a contract with US lobby group Venable LLP for $75,000 a month (equivalent to P50 million a year) to help the Arroyo regime secure funding from US sources for its campaign to revise the Philippine constitution. Venable LLP is one of the top 100 law and lobby firms in the US and is considered a heavy-weight in US state and legislative lobby work.

Rosal pointed out that the contract with Venable is "just the latest act of treason of Arroyo." CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said that with its abominable lobby contract with Venable to lobby for US funding for Cha-cha (charter change), Arroyo has demonstrated how she grovels at her Master Bush's feet, seeking US direct intervention in Philippine affairs. "Arroyo's ultimate mendicacy is especially manifested in this case where changes in the supposed basic law of the Philippine government is being negotiated in exchange for US funding."

He also pointed out that since 2001, the Arroyo regime has established partnership with Agile Philippines, a USAID-funded office that has actively intervened in the formulation of practically all major economic and fiscal legislations since 2001.He also cited reports released yesterday by the US Justice Department pointing out that the Arroyo regime has entered into contracts amounting to a total of $1.87 million with various US-based lobby groups as channels for the facilitation of various forms of US economic and political interference in the internal and supposedly sovereign affairs political interference in the internal and supposedly sovereign affairs of the Philippines."

"Abetting US military intervention remains the biggest and most barefaced act of treason," said Rosal. "Arroyo has actively partnered with US military officials to transform virtually the entire Philippines into a large American military facility where US combat troops are allowed complete freedom to use Philippine air space, seaports and other infrastructure."Arroyo's acts of treason are additional reasons for her ouster, Rosal said. "All the more, she has shown that she represents not the interest of the Filipino people, but that of her imperialist masters."

NPA pictures

COURT GRANTS VICTORY OVER THE CHRISTIAN FASCISTS

Victory!

For those of us who are atheist, agnostics, or belong to religions that are not god based, we have won a victory. They can’t use the Pledge of Allegiance as a form of religious doctrinism of small children. The “under God” portion of the pledge was instituted during the Joseph McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950s and was supposed to indoctrinate our children with the idea that we are “God believing capitalists” as opposed to “Godless Marxists,” (as in the Soviet Union).

According to CNN.com:

"SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) – A federal judge declared Wednesday that the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional, a decision that could potentially put the divisive issue back before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case was brought by the same atheist whose previous battle against the words “under God” was rejected last year by the Supreme Court on procedural grounds. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge’s reference to one nation “under God” violates school children’s right to be “free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.” Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 ruled in favor of Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools. The Supreme Court dismissed the case last year, saying Newdow lacked standing because he did not have custody of his elementary school daughter he sued on behalf of. Newdow, an attorney and a medical doctor, filed an identical case on behalf of three unnamed parents and their children. Karlton said those families have the right to sue. “Imagine every morning if the teachers had the children stand up, place their hands over their hearts, and say, ‘We are one nation that denies God exists,”’ Newdow said in an interview with AP Radio after the ruling. “I think that everybody would not be sitting here saying, ‘Oh, what harm is that.’ They’d be furious. And that’s exactly what goes on against atheists. And it shouldn’t.”

This is sure to end up in the US Supreme Court, as the religious majority sees the prosthetizing of their religion as a “right” against those of us in the minority.

As the Roman writer Lucretius said, about 2,000 years ago:

“One thing I fear now is that you may think

There’s something impious in philosophy

And that you are entering on a path of sin.

Not so. More often has religion itself Given birth to deeds both impious and criminal:”[1]
And he recounts a story of a human sacrifice:

“At the very age of wedlock, sorrowing,

She should be slaughtered by a father’s blade,

So that a fleet might gain a favoring wind.”[2]

[1] T. Lucretius Carus, On the Nature of the Universe, translated by Ronald Melville, (Oxford University Press, 1997) p. 5.
[2] Lucretius, p. 6.

The Music of Christian Death

To learn about the rock group Christian Death click here.

Death Be Now Proud

By Tim Pouncey





It's autumn and soon another year will lay crumpled in the great wastebasket of life.Autumn is traditionally a time when plants become dormant, animals hibernate and we all pause to consider an essential truth: We're all gonna die. Not "one of these days" or in some distant and detached future. These days death is closer than that coaster your spouse keeps shoving under your cup so you won't leave rings on the coffee table (when will you learn?).And it's not a good death either. It's not like in the movie Sunset Boulevard where you get to hang around and narrate stuff that happens after they find your corpse floating face down in the swimming pool. It's not a CSI: Miami death where you look fabulous and get to snort coke and have sex in flashbacks for a solid hour after your autopsy. We're talking about a hideous, bloated, eyeball-melting, flesh-peeling, stench-emitting death.

The kind of death that can only be provided by your government.

Take Hurricane Katrina for example. On the morning of Sept 10, Reuters news service reported more than 700 deaths have been confirmed in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. This body count seemed to have profoundly disappointed Col. Terry Ebbert, Director of Homeland Security for New Orleans. "The numbers (of dead) so far are relatively minor compared with the dire predictions of 10,000," Ebbert said. Col. Ebbert's comments echo an increasing concern I've been hearing from many people this week. How did Hurricane Katrina --- a storm clearly named for a Russian Spy --- only manage to wipe out a few hundred people? Come on. That's only a crumby a triple-digit body count. Heck, I can get a better death-toll than that playing Halo II and I'm not even good at it. People have been criticizing local, state and federal government relief efforts as being too slow. Now we know why --- If only a couple hundred people were sent to knock on heaven's door, what's the big deal? People have been jumping ugly with the government for dragging their collective feet in evacuating New Orleans but now we see their game plan: They were just waiting for a better casualty rate so relief efforts would actually be worthwhile.We're getting a much better return death-wise on our continuing adventures in Iraq. On Sept. 10 CNN.com estimated there have been 1,893 American deaths in Iraq, not to mention an estimated 10,000 civilian deaths.Now that's more like it. Those are kinds of numbers we can all relate to, unless, of course, we can't. Those numbers don't seem nearly high enough for the pro-war demonstrators that protested Cindy Sheehan when she had the audacity to try and talk with the president a few weeks ago during his most recent vacation. Now the president is going to have to take another vacation to put this whole war-protest/ New Orleans catastrophe behind him. I mean, with people dying at this rate and the damn liberal media reporting it, the man is just not getting any quality recreation time.And if the President Of The United States can't even take a few months off to clear some scrub-brush on his sprawling Green Acres dirt ranch, then what chance does any of us have for happiness?

And without happiness, we're better off dead.

Coffin from The Bloody Evidence and Coffins

Yes – the Bushes are concerned about Hurricane Katrina

They are on the scene and taking action.

Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Not In Our Name

Soundtrack for Peace Project:

Presented by Unity Network and Relentless Pursuit Records. When purchasing the CD, you can choose to donate the proceeds to Not In Our Name. Excerpt from the song Not In Our Name by Shine MP3.

RCP, Britton

9/11 – the scum has risen and it hasn’t gone away

Every rat and cockroach crawled out from under their rock to profit from this miserable event.

Three Flags

The USA Patriot Act passed shortly after 9/11, was a straight out act of overreaction, a clear attempt to remove constitutional protections and fascism. As a friend once said:
“Push a liberal against the wall and he/she will turn into a fascist.
As reported Saturday:
A federal judge lifted a gag order Friday that shielded the identity of librarians who received an FBI demand for records about library patrons under the Patriot Act.
U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, which argued that the gag order prevented its client from participating in a debate over whether Congress should reauthorize the Patriot Act.
"It's fabulous," said ACLU associate legal director Ann Beeson. "Clearly the judge recognized it was profoundly undemocratic to gag a librarian from participating in the Patriot Act debate."
The ruling would allow the ACLU and its client to identify who received the request for records, but Hall stayed her decision until Sept. 20 to give the government a chance to appeal. Prosecutors said they were reviewing the decision.
From The Wichita Eagle, Sept. 10.

Another example is:
(CNN) –“A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled President Bush has the authority to designate U.S. citizens as "enemy combatants" and detain them in military custody if they are deemed a threat to national security.”
This case includes a US citizen who has been held for nearly three years, without any due process of law. The Federal government has been holding of Yaser Hamdi, a U.S. citizen accused of fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan. How safe are we when a president can re-label someone and make them “non-person” without a right to face their accusers?
And there’s the headline: "Acting U.S. Attorney: The USA PATRIOT Act is a Vital Tool in the Information Arsenal."

Bush the international Pirate

Iraq- the big lie

Then there is the biggest scum bag of all to benefit from 9/11 and that is President George W. Bush. He planned to invade Iraq all along, but after 9/11 he conveniently lied about his intentions:
President George Bush hasn’t made that many speeches, but those he makes already sound similar to those below:

“We also must never forget the most vivid events of recent history. On September the 11th, 2001, America felt its vulnerability -- even to threats that gather on the other side of the earth. We resolved then, and we are resolved today, to confront every threat, from any source, that could bring sudden terror and suffering to America."

Right before he started the war Bush said of Saddam Hussein:

"He is a danger not only to countries in the region but, as I explained last night, because of his al Qaeda connections, because of his history, he is a danger to Americans," Bush said, referring to Tuesday's State of the Union address, "And we're going to deal with him. We're going to deal with him before it's too late."

Image from “My pictures and Icons.”

Add insult and misery to the misery of the Hurricane victims

REUTERS/Tim Shaffer/photo

The new bankruptcy changes that Congress just passed may force Hurricane Katrina victims to pay for homes and vehicles washed away in the ocean. They will not be able to file bankruptcy as people who have lost everything to such disasters have done in the past. They must spend much of their life paying for things that the disaster has taken from them, according to a report in The Wichita Eagle, Sept. 7.
When congress passed the new law, they were only trying to make bank and credit card PACs happy. The banks now have protection from ordinary citizens who try for debt relief. It saves the banks and credit institutions lots of money, but will just about ruin the lives of the victims in these tragedies.
Bank PACs bought their congressmen’s votes with millions in PAC donations. For example, Kansas’ own Rep. Todd Tiahrt accepted $24,500 from
AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION PAC (BANKPAC) .

Large blast kills 24 security personnel in India

From the The Hindu
New Delhi, Sept 4. (PTI): Concerned over the killing of 24 security personnel in a landmine blast by naxalites in Chattisgarh, the Centre today said it will make a comprehensive review of the situation in the state and decide on counter measures.
"The Home ministry will make comprehensive review of the Naxlite situation in Chattisgarh with senior officers of the state government and decide on appropriate counter measures," a spokesman of the Home Ministry said.
He also said that the Centre has strongly condemned yesterday's incident and conveyed sympathies to the bereaved families of the security personnel.
Home Minister Shivraj Patil has condemned the incident, the spokesman added.
As many as 24 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in Bijapur when naxalites triggered a landmine killing 24 security personnel including 22 CRPF personnel.
24 killed in blast
Earlier today, naxals triggered a powerful landmine in Bijapur police district killing 24 security men, including 22 CRPF personnel.
Twenty two personnel belonging to 87th battalion of CRPF and two from the District Force of Bijapur Police travelling in an anti-land mine vehicle were killed in the blast near Padeda village, about 12 kms from Bijapur, on Saturday evening, Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh told PTI.
"The impact of the blast was so strong that the vehicle, in which the security men were travelling, was blown to pieces," Singh said adding that he has convened a high level meeting in the evening to consider clamping a ban on the Communist Party of India-Maoist among other things.
Home Minister Ram Vichar Netam and state Director General of police have rushed to the village.
The government may ban naxals
The Chattisgarh government is considering imposition of a ban on naxlaites today,
A high level meeting is to review the situation in wake of the fresh naxal attack and decide whether to ban the CPI (Maoist) and its other frontal organisations, Singh said.
The meeting would be attended by DGP, Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister apart from Singh and Netam.
Who are the Naxalites?
The Naxalites, also sometimes called the Naxals, is a loose term used to define groups waging a violent struggle on behalf of landless labourers and tribal people against landlords and others. The Naxalites say they are fighting oppression and exploitation to create a classless society. Their opponents say the Naxalites are terrorists oppressing people in the name of a class war.
See also CNN.com

Nepal Maoists declare ceasefire

Aljazeera News Agency , September 3, 2005

Communist rebels in Nepal have announced a unilateral ceasefire for the next three months to continue peace talks to end a decade-long civil war in the Himalayan nation. The ceasefire will take effect immediately, said Maoist rebels leader Prachanda in a statement He said this would offer a chance to find peace in Nepal. "Within this time the people's liberation army under our control would only retaliate if they come under attack. There will be no offensive action from our side," Prachanda, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said in the statement. "It is the responsibility of the major political forces in the country to provide a political solution to the problems facing the country." Prachanda suggested there was a conspiracy to push Nepal towards becoming a failed state, prompting the rebels to take action to prevent the situation from deteriorating further. Government officials were not available for comments on the statement or whether they would agree to the temporary truce. Increased violenceViolence has escalated since King Gyanendra seized control of the government in February, a measure he said was necessary to quell an uprising that has left more than 11,500 dead. The rebels claim to be inspired by Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong, and have been fighting for nine years to topple Nepal's monarchy. The rebels declared a ceasefire in 2001 and again earlier this year, but negotiations with the government failed both times. The rebels have been insisting on an election for a special assembly which would draft a new constitution and even decide if the monarchy should be abolished. The government, however, wants the fighters to give up their arms and join mainstream politics.

New Orleans - Climate Change – Brace your self for the future

For years now, we’ve been told that “climate change” (a more voter friendly word that global warming) is no real problem, according to the Republicans in charge of our country. Scientists have warned for years that the warming of the Earth would cause more frequent and more brutal storms. Last year, about four hurricanes hit Florida And this we have seen the total destruction of New Orleans. That city is more that 300 years old and it is older than our country. We not only have suffering on a massive scale, but we have lost a lot of our southern culture. Historical monuments and buildings are either severely damaged or completely destroyed. This is the results of not heading the warnings that global warming and climate change are going to take their toll on us. This is not to say we shouldn’t help those in need, we should. The people there are desperate. We need to hold President George Bush and his party responsible for pretending that nothing like this could happen. He also needs to get out of Iraq and use our National Guard here at home.

art by LaTuff

And if sending government funding and charity to an advocate of assassinations bothers you, then you won’t want to click on: "FEMA Directing Donations To Rev. Pat Robertson."

A Press release from the news paper Revolution: Hurricane Katrina: The People Did Not and Do Not Have to Die, August 31, 2005

Wichita Kansas hosted a Camp Casey Meet

According to The Wichita Eagle, Sep. 02, 2005, "Anti-war protest comes to Wichita ":
“Some of the white crosses from Cindy Sheehan's Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas, appeared in a north Wichita lawn Thursday.
The crosses, symbolizing American soldiers who died in Iraq, were part of an anti-war rally at the Peace & Social Justice Center, 1407 N. Topeka.
Members of Iraq veterans' and military families' groups who spent time with Sheehan during her nearly monthlong vigil outside President Bush's ranch drove an RV to Wichita as part of an effort to bring the troops home from Iraq.
The RV will travel to 16 other cities as it makes its way across the country to an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24.”

From Diane Wahto, Peace_and_Justice_Kansas@yahoogroups. Com:

First, I want to thank all those who helped organize this event. Horace Santry and Mary Harren worked hard to make the Camp Casey people welcome. Those people are phenomenal and we wish them a safe journey as they travel across the country. Thanks to all who attended, whether you were there this morning or came by last night.
Those of you who were there at the press conference probably realize that the TV coverage missed the essence of the event when it showed the confrontation between the peace people and the pro-war supporters. The man pictured in the TV coverage I saw is Troy Newman, head of Operation Rescue West, an anti-choice group that is anything but peaceful. One of their members has served time in jail for bombing a clinic and these people picket outside of churches and in the neighborhoods of the people with whom they disagree. I know some of the Peace Center members do not support abortion rights and we have never taken an official stand on that issue because of that. However, Mr. Newman and his crowd are anything but peaceful. They are disruptive and there is evidence that they major goal is to line their own pockets.
Thanks to Cody and Horace for trying to keep the peace. And I would ask all our Peace Center people to stay peaceful when we have an event. It does no good to confront people. We have to lead by example.