Protesters charged as terrorists

It was only a question of time before the government starts to use anti-terrorist laws to squash dissent. The most recent example of this includes charging eight people with felony conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism and felony conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property in furtherance of terrorism, for taking part in last year’s protests of the Republican Party convention, September, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Apparently the minor damage to property that came mostly from police tear gassing crowds of people was the evidence used against these people. Terrorist charges can now be brought against a person for taking part in a protest.

According to Revolution, the online newspaper:

“For the first time, a state version of the fascistic USA Patriot Act is being applied to political demonstrations. The RNC 8 are charged with felony conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism and felony conspiracy to commit criminal damage to property in furtherance of terrorism, along with two other felonies. They were sitting in jail for the duration of the Republican convention—but they are being held legally responsible for anything that any protestor did during that time.”

See The Political Persecution of the RNC 8.

Republican response – “Just do nothing”

The Republican response to President Barack Obama’s speech is amazing. They caused the crisis we are in and their solution is “do nothing.” The new stimulus package may not cure capitalism's problems. It is a gamble and a kind of “let’s do something” attitude toward the crash of a capitalist system.
But the Republicans gave complete rain to the powerful, rich and greedy.
It was at the expense of the workers and middle class that this party took place. The corporate robber barons did what they wanted and took from who ever they wanted and now they drove the economy down into a rat hole. When things get tough, corporate America gives itself a raise then throws off the lower class workers as if they were yesterday’s garbage.
The stimulus package may not be the right solution, but to insist on doing nothing is a pathetic joke from a party that spent the last eight years running down the economy. They all voted against the package claiming they want to save the workers and middle class from a huge tax debt.
What a crock.

The return of communes

Not since the 1960s has the left talked about establishing communes as models of development. This was done in China, but not in the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua. Now there are reports from The Red Star, that communes have been set up by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and they are still operating today. This is from The Red Star:


During the period of the People's War, the communes were established in the central base areas of the western Nepal. They were/are the models of the People's Communes. They are the embryo of socialism and communism. These communes are still surviving in a live condition. The policy and the programmes declared by the republican government are helping them. These communes are the best achievements of a decade long People's War. They are the protection, experiment and the development of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism and Prachanda Path." Juni People's Commune, Ajammari People's Commune, Jaljala People's Commune and Balidan People's Commune are the model communes developed in the central base area.
Jaljala commune
It is named after a famous mountain in Rolpa. This commune is situated in a small area of Jelwang Village Development Committee of Rolpa district. The commune has 25 families with more than 125 members. It was established in 2058 BS. (2002). The sources of the commune are the cooperative shop, mules for carrying load, hotels opened in the small bazaars of the district, domestic industries and agricultural productions.
For more click here.

Women take part in India’s Maoist revolution

Women on the front line, leading Revolution in India
- special to Maoist Revolution

NAGPUR: A recent survey has shown 74 women to be part of the approximately 290 core Maoists operating in the worst affected areas of the
state. They don't just make up the ranks. The women also account for three divisional committee members, nine commanders, three area commanders, and two deputy commanders. In fact, statistics show that the men are outnumbered by the fairer sex in commanders and deputy commanders' cadre. Two women divisional committee members (Narmada and Tarakka alias Vimla Sidam) operate in the south Gadchiroli area while one (Sujanakka) in the north. "Narmada though has lost her physical aggression due to age but she is still a sound strategic planner owing to her years in the movement and knowledge of the topography," .

Students occupy and get arrested at New York University

There is a student occupation of the New York University. They have taken over the Kimmel building. Their demands have focused on the schools budget and they are questioning the expenses associated with attending the school.
See Takebacknyu.com.
Police have raided NYU today and students have been arrested, according to the Kasama Project.
The Student demands are:

1. The inclusion of an elected representative from the student body in New York University’s (NYU) Board of Trustee meetings. This representative should have rights, including voting rights, equal to that of Trustees, as well as the authorization to make public statements on the operations of the Board of Trustees without prior approval from any administration official.

2. Public release of NYU’s annual operating budget, including a full list of university expenditures, salaries for all employees compensated on a semester or annual basis, funds allocated for staff wages, contracts to non-university organizations for university construction and services, financial aid data for each college, and money allocated to each college, department, and administrative unit of the university. Furthermore, this should include a full disclosure of the amount and sources of the university’s funding.

3. Disclosure of NYU’s endowment holdings, investment strategy, projected endowment growth, and persons, corporations and firms involved in the investment of the university’s endowment funds. Additionally, we demand an endowment oversight body of students, faculty and staff who exercise shareholder proxy voting power for the university’s investments.

Also see the New York Times:
N.Y.U. Students Continue Occupation to Press Demands

Protest against Afghanistan surge

The World Can’t Wait organization is planning a March against the Afghanistan troop surge. Their latest flyer states:

PROTEST Thursday, March 19
List your event. Find one here
Come out to Protest on the 6th anniversary of "shock & awe" in Iraq

NO SURGE of troops to Afghanistan!

STOP Occupations & Torture for Empire!
The election of the first black president is effectively re-branding preemptive and illegal wars of aggression to make us feel good about them, enlisting us to "serve and sacrifice" for horrors we have no good reason to support. Obama says he will:
leave 80,000 troops, thousands of private contractors, and 17 permanent bases in Iraq;
send 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan , leading to more killings of civilians;
keep sending robot drones over Pakistan, killing more civilians;
deploy nuclear carriers with enough firepower to annihilate any country in the Mideast;
support the Israeli siege on Gaza;
keep in place the "secret rendition" program which Bush used to torture detainees;
keep the government spying on citizens and continue Bush's "state secrets" justification;
increase the U.S. military by 92,000 troops, sending more to die for empire;
refuse to investigate & prosecute the war and torture crimes of the Bush regime.

Also -- March on the Pentagon Saturday March 21 & in SF and LA

Evolution part 2

This is the last of a two part essay on evolution:

In a court case, in Little Rock, Arkansas, evolution was accused of being part of a “humanism religion.”[1] Morris claimed that “if God does exist and if he is the Creator and Sustainer of history, then it is foolhardy to attempt to understand history apart from revealed World.”[2]
As for evolution being taught in school as a religion, consider what Albert Towle, Author of the high school text book Modern Biology said in his introduction:
“Studying scientific process will reveal how data are used to form conclusions, make inferences, and project theories. As you continue your biological studies and begin to examine the order into which biologists group living things, keep asking yourself, “Why?” When you look at the specialized structures of each living thing, ask another question: “Why does this structure look the way it does, and how does it work to help this animal (or plant) live where it does?” [3]
How is that religion? What dogmas are present in that statement? The author is asking students to question evidence and make decisions for themselves. How is that indoctrination?
As for Morris, he seems to believe that God “poofed” the universe into existence, much like a magician waving a magic wand over a top hat, producing a puff of smoke, followed by a rabbit popping out of nowhere. Evolution is a process and there is no evidence that the process is completely without any design. Creation, without a natural process, is a simplistic view of Morris’s God. A factory does not negate a watchmaker. Factories are used because they are more efficient. No one complains that their watch is not made by just one person.
Another argument is that evolution violates the laws of Thermodynamics, or the idea that the universe is winding down. Nearly all creationists use this argument. But we know the universe does not break down in a clear cut line or all the stars would have burned out by now. Evolution is not a process of complexity developing from simple chemicals. The early atmosphere of earth had more complex chemicals, ammonia (H3N) and methane (CH4). There was also sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2) and hydrochloric acid (HCL). The ocean had complex hydrocarbons in it. Simple cells converted that atmosphere to simple oxygen, (O2) carbon dioxide, (CO2) and Nitrogen (N2) atmosphere, and in the process, the organism became more complex. One celled organisms had to give up their own complexities to be able to exist individually in order to form higher forms of life, known as multi-cellular. It was a trade off, not a complexity coming from something simple.
The bottom line is that evolution is a logical process that is based on scientific evidence. The worst Creationist scenario is that God simply “poofed” everything we see into existence. That is illogical. We all know a magician does illusionary tricks, while nature is a process that we can observe. Why would a supreme being violate the very nature it created?
[1] Langdon Gilkey, Creationism on Trial, Evolution and God at Little Rock, (Winston Press, Minneapolis, 1985) p. 96.
[2] Morris, pp. 29 - 30.
[3] Albert Towle, Modern Biology, p. xiii.

Kim Il Jongs Birthday

While Him Jong Il is no Mao Zedong nor is he even a Kim Il Sung, he has managed to get a lot of attention for his birthday outside of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This is printed from the DPRK News for those interested in how the DPRK leadership functions:

Birthday of Kim Jong Il Celebrated in Different Countries

Pyongyang, February 18 (KCNA) -- A friendship meeting was held in South Africa, a photo exhibition in Romania, a celebration concert in Italy, a reading session on "Biography of Comrade Kim Jong Il" and a meeting of appreciating songs in Uganda, a friendship meeting and a book and photo exhibition in Laos and a briefing on the greatness in Indonesia between February 6 and 11 on the occasion of the birthday of General Secretary Kim Jong Il.
On display at the venues of the events were famous works of President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, photos showing their undying revolutionary exploits, photos introducing the invincibility of Korean-style socialism and the heroic struggle of the Korean youths, etc.

For more click here.

Evolution in Kansas Part 1

By 史蒂夫 奥托

A recent letter writer to The Wichita Eagle claimed a survey found that only 39 percent of people believe in evolution, with 25 percent claiming they don’t believe in evolution. That may be true, but evolution is the most agreed on theory by all major scientists. It is unfortunate that so many people refuse to believe scientific fact over religious mythology, but that seems to be the case. Kansas has had a terrible time jumping back and forth with its school board unable to decide whether to accept science or mythology to be taught in public schools..
Members of the religious right won control of the Kansas State Board of Education in the 2004 election. They had been voted out in the prior election after they embarrassed the state by removing requirements for teaching evolution in Kansas public schools, in 1999. After their 2004 victory, they plan to renew their attacks on Charles Darwin’s theory.[1]
Once again, Steve Abrams, an extreme right-wing Christian fundamentalist had been elected by the board as the chairperson. He was largely responsible for removing the evolution requirements the first time, in August of 1999. The Kansas school board tossed out the requirements for the teaching evolution in Kansas public schools. That action brought the attention of just about all the nation’s news media and even some foreign press were watching.[2] Some states, such as Alabama, now require stickers on textbooks that label evolution a “controversial theory.”[3]
Vicki Frost, was a political Christian right-wing activist, fighting the teaching of evolution in her local Hawkins County School, in Tennessee. She has stated openly that she believes the Bible is absolutely true and that God created the world in six days.[4]
Life on earth began at least 3.5 billion years ago.[5] The evidence to this is overwhelming. There is no way all the extinct animals, whose fossils we’ve found, could have existed at once, just 20,000 years or even 200,000 years ago. That’s just not logical. Anyone who says it is needs to do the math. It doesn’t add up.
Some creationists claim that the universe is only about 20,000 years old. The Bible said God made light on the second day:
“In the beginning God created the heaven and he earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the spirit of god moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”[6]
And yet we can see the light from quasars which are over a billion light years away. I once heard a creationist explain, while at a forum, that God created the light from far away stars so humans could see them. That’s not science. It is mythology.
Creationists claim that evolution can’t be duplicated in a lab experiment. Christian Scientist author Henry Morris wrote:
“In this chapter and the next we shall summarize the evidence against evolution by showing, first, that there is no evidence of evolution occurring at present and second, that thee is no evidence that evolution has occurred in the past.”[7]
They ignore the signs of evolution can be seen today. A salamander called a Congo-eel has four tiny legs that are useless to the animal. The Congo-eel had evolved into a serpent shaped animal that doesn’t need its legs any more.[8] Millions of years ago, the legs were as useful as on any other salamander. A million years from now they will be completely gone. That’s evidence of evolution in the present.
There is also plenty of evidence of past evolution. Morris focuses several pages to the ancient idea that one species can evolve into a new one. He obviously scoffs at such an idea.[9] By 2004 scientist were beginning to find fossils of dinosaurs in the process of evolving into birds. Feathered and winged dinosaurs were found in China’s Liaoning province in the early part of 2000.[10] This is just one of many examples of past evolution and it demonstrates how a modern species can evolve from an extinct one.
[1] “Fair warning: It’s the 2004 Weepers,” The Wichita Eagle, (1 January 2005) vol. 133 no. 1), p. 7A.
[2] For example see David L. Marcus, “Charles Darwin gets thrown out of school,” U.S. News & World Report, (30 August 1999) vol. 127 no. 8, p. 32.
[3] U.S. News & World Report, (30 August 1999) p. 32.
[4] Stephen Bates, Battle Ground, One Mother’s Crusade, the Religious Right, and the Struggle for Our Schools, (An Owl Book, New York, 1993) pp. 16 – 17.
[5] Albert Towle, Modern Biology (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., Austin, 1991) p. 5.
[6] Holy Bible, (Genesis 1:1 - 3).
[7] Henry M. Morris, The Twilight of Evolution, (Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1988) p. 29.
[8] Herbert S. Zim and Hobart M. Smith, Reptiles And Amphibians, A Guide To Familiar American Species, (Golden Press, New York, 1956) p. 139.
[9] Morris, pp. 75 – 77, 47.
[10] Michael D. Lemonick, “Dinosaur Tales, Time, (25 October 2004) vol. 164 no. 17, pp. 74 – 75.


The Kinks - Apeman 1970

I Am Pol Pot

The new book I Am Pol Pot is now available from Amazon.com and will be available at Barns & Noble as well as other book outlets soon. This is a good spring or summer read, a novel of war and revolution in what is now Cambodia. While student protests were going on all over the industrialized world, Indochina was thrown into civil war and then revolution. The revolutionaries in Cambodia carried out an extreme social program and it resulted in almost a million deaths. But more important, this book looks at the decision making process. What where its leaders trying to do? What did they expect would happen in their new Democratic Kampuchea? How could such a revolution go wrong? All this is looked at in I Am Pol Pot, a fictional biographic novel.
Now available at Amazon.com.

Maoism in Peru

The Communist Party of Peru is the only Maoist insurgency in the Western Hemisphere. While other Maoist people’s wars are at work in Asia, near India, the Sendero Luminoso as they are known in the press, have resumed their people’s war in Peru. There are other Maoist groups in South America, but this one is armed and active. Also, it has arrision from the ashes like a phoenix ever since the capture of Chairman Gonzalo, AKA Abigail Guzmán.
This is from a Spanish list of actions for last year from Red Sun. They have promised an English version soon:

Mayo
11 de mayoUna soplona colaboradora de las genocidas reaccionarias es aniquilada por un destacamento del EPL cerca de Aucayacu.
15 de mayoUnidades del EPL ataca la base militar "contraterrorista" de Ramadilla, ubicada en la selva ayacuchana del distrito de Llochegua, en la provincia de Huanta. La acción se produjo en horas de la noche y hasta en dos oportunidades. Luego de perpetrar estas acciones, los combatientes se retirarón sin sufrir bajas.
16 de mayoOtro soplón es aniquilado por el EPL cerca de Aucayacu.
17 de mayoCombate anti-área de unidades del EPL en Ayacucho contra un helicóptero MI-17 de la FAP, perteneciente al Base de Pichari.
19 de mayoUna compañía del EPL plasma acciones de agitación y propaganda en los poblados de Llacon y Quera (en Huanuco), colocando banderas rojas con la hoz y el martillo, y convocando a Asambleas Populares en celebración del inicio de la lucha armada (ILA).

Junio
18 de junioUn soplón es aniquilado por un destacamento del EPL en las inmediaciones del caserío San José de Pucate (kilómetro 10.5 de la carretera Pavayacu-Magdalena), jurisdicción del distrito José Crespo y Castillo (Huanuco).
22 de junioEl EPL ataca a una base militar, la reacción reconoce un herido. La acción fue ejecutada contra la base "Rioja", ubicada en el departamento amazónico de San Martín.
24 de junio En la zona de Magdalena y otros sectores del distrito José Crespo y Castillo (Huanuco) un patrulla del PNP es emboscado por un pelotón del EPL. Un suboficial queda gravemente herido.
26 de junioLas bases militares de la provincia de Huanta, en Ayacuho, se encuentran en alerta roja por el desplazamiento de una compañía del EPL, cerca de Putis.
27 de junioEn la zona de Yanabamba (Ayacucho) una patrulla de la Marina fue emboscada por unidades del EPL. En la acción cayó abatido el suboficial AP Víctor Valle Morales y resultó herido el suboficial Jesús Gosme Chávez ambos de las Fuerzas de Operaciones Especiales (FOES) de la Marina ("la créme de la créme" de las fuerzas armadas reaccionarias).

For the rest click here.

Protest Fred Phelps in Wichita !

It’s one of Kansans’ least favourite celebrities. It’s Fred Phelpls coming to Wichita.

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2:30-3:45 pm
In front of Southeast High School
903 South Edgemoor (at Lincoln )
Wichita, KS

Phelp's group, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, KS, has broadened their targets and is now spreading hate to the students and children of Wichita , KS . As citizens of Wichita it is our responsibility to make sure the youth in our community feel love and acceptance rather than hate.

We will meet in front of Southeast High at 2:30 pm on Feb. 17th. Bring creative signs or banners and noise makers.

Phelps is making an additional appearance on Tuesday, at WSU at 2:00 pm. We believe the larger protest may take place at Southeast HS, but hope our members will try to participate either at WSU or Southeast.

Those wacky Kansans and their coal power

Those wacky Kansans are at it again. They have put a wind power bill with another attempt to open up a coal plant in Southwest Kansas. This time the mostly Republican legislators will ignore a bill that denies using the coal plant because it violates pollution regulations. The Kansas legislature acts as if it is out to destroy the environment as quick as possible. There is even a new study out that says humans are increasing the pollutants to global warming at the same time greenhouse gasses are reaching a dangerous level.
The irony with this bill is that the coal plant will provide power to other states while polluting this one.

Below is The Wichita Eagle, Feb. 13, 2009, article about the new coal plant:

Bill links wind power, coal plants
Associated Press
TOPEKA - A House committee endorsed a bill Thursday that ties two proposed coal-fired power plants in southwest Kansas to proposals for promoting wind and other renewable energy sources.
Supporters used the same strategy last year in an unsuccessful effort to clear the way for the coal plants despite Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' opposition. Like three bills Sebelius vetoed last year, the latest measure would overturn the denial of an air-quality permit for Sunflower Electric Power Corp. to build the two plants outside Holcomb, in Finney County.
The Energy and Utilities Committee's 11-9 vote sent the bill to the House, where a debate is expected next week.
The bill also would limit the secretary of health and environment's power to regulate greenhouse gases that many scientists link to global warming. When he denied Sunflower's permit in October 2007, Secretary Rod Bremby cited their potential carbon dioxide emissions.

For more information click here.

To read about the climate study:
The Wichita Eagle, Feb. 14, 2009:

Climate warming gases rising faster than expected
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
AP Science Writer
CHICAGO - Despite widespread concern over global warming, humans are adding carbon to the atmosphere even faster than in the 1990s, researchers warned Saturday.
Carbon dioxide and other gases added to the air by industrial and other activities have been blamed for rising temperatures, increasing worries about possible major changes in weather and climate.
Carbon emissions have been growing at 3.5 percent per year since 2000, up sharply from the 0.9 percent per year in the 1990s, Christopher Field of the Carnegie Institution for Science told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"It is now outside the entire envelope of possibilities" considered in the 2007 report of the International Panel on Climate Change, he said. The IPCC and former vice president Al Gore received the Nobel Prize for drawing attention to the dangers of climate change.
The largest factor in this increase is the widespread adoption of coal as an energy source, Field said, "and without aggressive attention societies will continue to focus on the energy sources that are cheapest, and that means coal."
……..Rising oceans can pose a threat to low level areas such as South Florida, New York and other coastal areas as the ocean warms and expands and as water is added from melting ice sheets.

For more of this click here.

Indian Maoist influence is spreading - experts say

posted at http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/MAOIST_ REVOLUTION/ by comrade_suresh

Feb 10, 2009
NEW DELHI, Feb 10th 2009 - Well-armed Maoists are rapidly expanding their insurgency in India, catching the government off-guard with their appeal to the poor and destitute, officials and experts say.The rebels have 22,000 combatants, and have spread to more than 180 of the country's 630 districts from just 56 in 2001, according to the government and a new report this week by the Institute for Conflict Management (IFCM), a New Delhi 'think-tank' ."The security threats are changing and it's bigger than ever before as more and more areas are coming under their command. It is not a happy sight at all," B.K. Ponwar, head of the Counter Terrorism and Jungle Warfare College in India, told Reuters."We must address the barrel of the gun of the Maoists, or in two years the issue will get out of hand."Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist rise as one of the gravest threats to India's internal security, and the insurgency is shaping up as an issue ahead of a general election due by May.The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party says the ruling Congress party does not have a strategy to counter the Maoists and that police are poorly armed.WELL-EQUIPPED REBELSPolice and intelligence officials say the Maoists are now recruiting hundreds of poor villagers to bolster their ranks, and are equipped with automatic weapons, shoulder rocket launchers, mines and explosives.
The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of the farmers and the poor who make up the majority of India's 1.1 billion population.They regularly attack rail lines and factories, aiming to cripple economic activity over a large area.India's police intelligence department says the Maoists are making their presence felt in 22 of the country's 29 states. Thousands of people have been killed since the uprising began in the late 1960s.In the last week, rebels have launched attacks in areas previously unaffected by fighting. In the western state of Maharashtra, rebels shot dead 15 police, while in Bihar's Nawada district they killed 10 police.More than 1,000 cases of Maoist attacks were recorded last year in which more than 200 police personnel killed."The rebels now have the capability to launch simultaneous attacks and they have the firepower. But the Indian government does not seem to have the capacity to neutralise them," Ajai Sahni of the Institute for Conflict Management said.Police efforts are hampered by lack of manpower and weapons as well as poor coordination between states, meaning rebels can escape pursuit by crossing state lines.

Guitmo prisoners – Not in my back yard

Kansas Republicans were fine with the idea of keeping prisoners at Guantanamo, during George Bush’s “war on terrorism.” Now that the camp is being closed there is a chorus of “not in my back yard.” They were fine with keeping the sometimes innocent people behind bars without trial indefinitely. Now that the base is being closed, the thought that the detainees might be coming to a state such as Kansas is unthinkable to those who made this mess in the first place. Senator Sam Brownback is a big winer when it comes to this issue.

From the Wichita Eagle:

With Guantanamo closing, where will the detainees go?

By Scott Canon and David Goldstein McClatchy Newspapers

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — If not Guantanamo, then where?
Anything but a welcoming party is forming here.
When President Barack Obama signed an order Thursday forcing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center within a year, he put in sharp relief the possibility that some of the world's most potentially dangerous terror suspects could be hauled to Kansas.
The U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth is on a list of imperfect choices for holding nearly 200 men whose legal status is as murky as their backgrounds.
Obama's long-promised action only heightened chances that Leavenworth could be the new focus for a contentious debate over how to prosecute non-citizens for alleged actions overseas, and whether their legal limbo has a foreseeable end.
"We're a military community and people understand that we need to do what the commander-in-chief says," said Andrea Adkins, Leavenworth's economic development administrator. "But there is a security threat any place where these people are located."
Kansas politicians and local government officials have complained loudly about the possibility of America's most troublesome captives being brought to the Midwest. Opponents' arguments center on security - both that the military prison might not be equipped for such high-risk inmates, and that the base and the community might be targeted by terrorists.
"This is just not going to happen on our watch," said Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas.
For more click here.

Another issue is whether the US can house prisoners in the US who have never been to trial. This is another issue Brownback and Roberts don’t want to face.

Wichita sales tax is regressive

Once again, conservatives are looking for the easy way out. They now want a sales tax to take the place of property taxes. Not only are sales taxes a regressive tax, they affect the poor, while property taxes affect those who can afford property, but it will not be a savings. Sales taxes are already near 10 percent in Wichita. They were 3 percent 20 years ago. A few years ago we had a 1 cent sales tax added for the construction of a new arena. It does become noticeable when buying a large purchase, such as a car. Now the sales tax will go up even further. Eventually a loaf of break will double in price as sales taxes are added to make up for loss of income taxes. Then it won’t be such a favourable tax anymore.

From The Wichita Eagle, Feb. 11, 2009:

“Wichita sales tax increase proposed to cut property taxes
BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS

The Wichita Eagle
Wichita city leaders say they may discuss increasing the sales tax in an effort to lower residents' property tax bills.
Local businessman Craig Gabel presented the idea during the public agenda portion of Tuesday's City Council meeting, saying the move could stabilize the city's tax base and "share the burden of the cost of local government."
"The people of our great city are ready for this change," said Gabel, who lost a bid for a seat on the Sedgwick County Commission in November.’
He proposed putting an ordinance for a 1-cent sales tax on the city election ballot in April. The sales tax "would show as a credit on each residential property owner's tax statement," he said.”

For more on this click here.

More News on Maoist in India

Posted at
http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/MAOIST_ REVOLUTION/
Maoists kill 10 policemen, wound dozens in east India

PATNA, India, Feb 9 - Maoists killed at least 10 policemen and wounded dozens of people in eastern India on Monday.
The rebels fired on policemen watching a cultural show in the region's Bihar state witness' said.
"We have undertaken a massive combing operation in the area to trace the Maoists involved in the attack," a 'senior' police officer was supposed to have said.
The Maoists fire killed the policemen and left on motorcycles with their weapons.
Last week, Maoists killed 15 policemen in the western state of Maharashtra, in one of the biggest attacks in the state.
Maoist are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers, and have carried out thousands of actions since the start of the armed movement in the late 1960s.
Reactionary Indian state so called 'experts' even themselves say that Maoist influence is growing. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the insurgency as one of the gravest threats to India's internal security.

ETA attacks return in Spain

This latest car bombing from ETA, (Basque Homeland and Freedom), should not surprise the Spanish government. ETA held to a cease fire waiting for the Spanish government to offer gestures of its own. The Spanish government still holds a lot of political prisoners, many who have committed no crimes. They simply sympathize with ETA.
The government has also banned political parties in the Basqu country that they feel are too sympathetic to ETA. With such heavy handed violations of the people’s rights they should expect to have to pay a price for their arrogance.

From The Wichita Eagle, Feb. 09, 2009:
Car bomb explodes at trade fair center in Spain
By CIARAN GILES
Associated Press Writer

MADRID - A car bomb believed planted by the armed Basque group ETA exploded at a business park on Madrid's outskirts Monday, but no one was injured, police said.
The bomb went off shortly after 9 a.m. (0800GMT; 3 a.m. EST) at the park in the Campo de Las Naciones trade fair center about 90 minutes after the Spanish Red Cross received a warning call, a police spokesman said…….
……If confirmed as an ETA bomb, it would mark the group's first attack in Madrid since Dec. 30, 2006, when an ETA car bomb at Madrid's airport killed two Ecuadoreans and brought an end to a nine-month cease-fire.
ETA set off a car bomb at the same Madrid trade center in February 2005, injuring 43 people………….
…………..Just hours earlier, the Supreme Court had banned candidates from two Basque nationalist parties from taking part in upcoming Basque regional elections because of alleged links between the two groups and ETA……..
……..Recently the group claimed responsibility for the fatal shooting of a Basque businessman linked to the high speed train project and a car bomb outside a Basque television station. Both attacks were in December.

For more Click here.

Nepal and military problems

There are some similarities to the revolution in Nepal and the one by the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, 1979. Both have had to deal with right wing parties trying to push them out and roll back their revolution. The Sandinistas always had the army on their side. That is not the case for the Union Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). They have their own PLA, but the regular Nepalese Army has refused to integrate the two armed forces. Without that integration, the Union CPN-(M) is a sitting duck for a military coup.

From The Red Star:
The chief of People's Liberation Army (PLA), Nanda Kishor Pun 'Pasang' said, "PLA opens for new recruitment in the vacant posts of the soldiers if Nepal army does not stop its running recruitment." Talking with the journalists in a press-meet, he further said, "We have our thirty thousand vacant posts of soldiers."
Nepal army is recruiting new soldiers against the Comprehensive Peace Accord. The parliamentary parties are backing the issue in the name of regular function of NA.
A few days ago, Madhav Kumar Nepal, the leader of CPN-UML and the chief of the committees on writing constitution, had bitterly criticised and blamed the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to be criminals. He said," The group kept in the cantonment is not army; it is actively involved in the crimes." The irresponsible reaction of Madhav Nepal is aimed towards the sabotage of peace process and the building of national army.
Just after the end of the budget session of CA, the Maoist-led government is trying to make a harmonious relation with all the political parties to create a favourable environment for writing a new constitution as soon as possible. Prime minister himself is visiting door to door of the leaders of the other political parties for the betterment of the nation and the Nepalese people. However, at the same time, the partner party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal has strongly criticised the PLA and the youth YCDL. He even stated that "the criminal groups should be sent to the jails with fetter."
PLA Chief Nanda Kishor Pun "Pasang" reacts that the expression of Madhav Nepal and the running recruitment of NA are closely related. This is the expression and the action directed and taught by the foreign reactionaries. UNMIN has recognized the PLA and the process of the integration is in the eve. The parliamentary leaders under the rule of King Gyanendra were put in the custody and the PLA soldiers fought with the spirit of sacrifice to free them from the monarchy-custody. After a vigorous fighting of PLA, they got freedom. The PLA commanders are seriously requesting the leaders of the parliamentary parties not to forget the historic contribution in the process to
institutionalise the federal republic and writing a new constitution. The leaders reached in the mouth of death at the time of monarchy coup have got golden chance to be the leader of the federal Nepal.
For more click here.

Wichita KS gets screwed over at the Warren box office

By 史蒂夫 奥托

There will soon be a movie out about Kansas, but don’t look for it in Wichita. Most documentaries never make it here. That is all thanks to our big fat mother fucker Bill Warren who owns the Warren Theatres. Not only does he own most of Wichita’s theaters, but he has put the smaller ones out of business. He’s put most of them out of business. So there is no competition and often, no decent movies to watch here.
And what do we get for this fine monopoly of one theatre owner? We get a crappy oversupply of dumb action films and chick flicks. The movie Milk is up for academy awards. But here the film is only available at one theatre on a small screen and it was sold out when I tried to see it last Sunday. I wanted to see Frost Nixon, and that film is only shown on the east side of Wichita. I live on the west. Apparently Mother-fucking Warren has determined that the folks moving out to the new burbs of West Wichita are just too dumb to watch a sophisticated and intelligently made movie. So all we have in the west theatre is crap.

Also, according to Voice For Liberty in Wichita:
Wichita Old Town Theater’s Bill Warren: No Ideas?
July 10th, 2008 ·
Recently the Wichita City Council approved a no-interest and low-interest loan to Old Town Wichita theater owner Bill Warren and his partners. Citizen opinion in Wichita seems to be mostly outrage at this giveaway, and rightly so. See Wichita Old Town Warren Theater Public Hearing Remarks and Wichita and the Old Town Warren Theater Loan.

For the rest, click here.

So now we give money to this creep so he can make fools of us on our dime. Thanks Bill Warren, you fat mother fucker.

"What's the Matter with Kansas?" movie trailer

This reminds me of all the yuppies moving to the burb that used to be my home town.

The Monkees - Pleasant Valley Sunday

Maoist rebels kill 15 police in India:

Fifteen police officers were killed in the westernIndian state of Maharashtra in a shoot-out with Maoist Revolutionaries on Monday, 2nd February 2009.They were ambushed Sunday in the jungle near a village in the east of the state, a stronghold of Maoists and other Marxist groups who represent oppressed, landless rural dwellers."The patrolling party was ambushed by the Maoists and 15 reactionaries died. The encounter went on for nearly one and a half to two hours," stated the regions Masses reports.They say there were regular skirmishes between police and Maoists inthe area, which is close to the border with neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) by road from the Maharahstra state capital Mumbai.Indian media on Monday said the Maoists fled with police weapons,including automatic assault rifles and a mortar shell. The Maoist peoples war, which grew out of a peasant uprising in 1967, has hit more than half of India's 29 states and the rebels use a heavily forested region in Chhattisgarh as their headquarters and base themselves and their social base on the masses.

Maoists blow up bridge in Bihar
Aurangabad : Maoists blew up portion of a bridge over a canal in Bihar's Aurangabad district on Monday, 2nd February 2009 to obstruct movement of police vehicles.
The Maoists blew up with dynamites a part of the bridge on Deo-Baluganj Road near Berhni village in the wee hours.
Though small vehicles could still negotiate the bridge, no big vehicle can now pass over it.
The bridge was blown to prevent police vans and armoured vehicles from reaching Maoist strongholds of Baluganj and Ketaki as the stretch became non-motorable, our reporter said.
Posted at: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/MAOIST_ REVOLUTION/

News update from Nepal

Unified CPN-Maoist passes new `communism' statute

Kantipur Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 2 - Unified CPN-Maoist on Monday passed its new statute with an objective to reach communism all the way through socialism.
A meeting of the party held at the parliamentary party office in Singha Durbar today endorsed the new statute after the unification of party with the CPN-Ekata Kendra Masal.
The newly approved statute mentions that the party will lay the foundation for attaining its objective of communism by drafting a new people-oriented constitution.
The new statute was passed after the lawmakers expressed their views on the statute draft tabled at the meeting, Amik Sherchan informed.
During the meeting, Maoist ministers representing the cabinet explained about their concerned ministries' functioning details.
The statute has a provision that party's chief leader and deputy leader can be removed through the vote of confidence. Likewise, as per the statute the party leader should convene a parliamentary meeting within fifteen days if one fourth of the parliamentary leaders demanded for the same.
Similarly, there is also a provision to form a board under the leadership of one of the lawmakers and the board will carry out the entire functions in case the party meeting failed to take place.

Posted at: http://groups. yahoo.com/ group/MAOIST_ REVOLUTION/

Iran launches space probe

The sky is falling according to the US and some European governments. It seems that any time a small third world country gets the technology to catch up with the more industrially advanced countries the cry is “foul.”

According to Yahoo News:

“Iran says it sent own satellite into orbit
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran has successfully sent its first domestically made satellite into orbit, the country's president announced Tuesday, claiming a significant step in an ambitious space program that has worried many international observers.
The satellite, called Omid, or hope in Farsi, was launched late Monday after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave the order to proceed, according to a report on state radio. State television showed footage of what it said was the nighttime liftoff of the rocket carrying the satellite at an unidentified location in Iran.
In Washington, a senior U.S. defense official said the U.S. military detected the launch of a missile into space. But it was not confirmed whether the missile was carrying a satellite, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak about the intelligence.
French officials in Paris also confirmed that a launch took place but declined to say where they received the information. France was "worried that there is ... the development capabilities that can be used in the ballistic framework," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier.”

For more click here.

And the word ballistic automatically sounds off the alarm of nuclear capabilities. The clerics in Iran are not progressive, but the idea that they will have nuclear arms in space is mostly a fictional nightmare of the US and major industrial countries. After all, how dare a small non-western government have its own satellite capabilities! They might be able to spy on our part of the world as easy as we spy on them. We have enough nuclear bombs to wipe out the world, but no third world country is allowed to have them.
This is the same fear mongering that past President George Bush used to get us into the Iraq quagmire.

More civil disobedience in Greece

Last year sustained riots erupted when police shot a young boy. Now they are dealing with armed militants. The conservative Greek government has had a lot of instability and trouble ever since the shooting of last year and even before that. This is just one more piece of evidence that there is serious dissent in parts of Europe.
From The Wichita Eagle:
Feb. 03, 2009
Gunmen attack Greek police station in Athens
By ELENA BECATOROS
Associated Press Writer

ATHENS, Greece - A suspected left-wing terror group attacked a police station in Athens Tuesday, shooting at the building and throwing a hand grenade, a month after a similar attack seriously wounded a policeman.
Anti-terrorist police were investigating the pre-dawn shooting in the Korydallos district of western Athens, in which three attackers wearing hoods and helmets opened fire on the station, police spokesman Panagiotis Stathis said. They also threw a hand grenade that did not explode. No injuries were reported.
Last month, domestic terrorist group Revolutionary Struggle claimed responsibility for a Jan. 5 shooting that seriously wounded a 21-year-old riot policeman in central Athens. The group is possibly best known for firing a rocket-propelled grenade into the U.S. Embassy in Athens in 2007. Washington offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Revolutionary Struggle members.

For more click here.

Concern over Turkish political prisoners

Turkey has a long history of jailing political prisoners and outlawing certain political parties based on their ideology. Some of the outlawed parties have never broken the law. The Turkish government just doesn’t want them to be legal. Members of those parties are jailed. Turkey also has a history of suppressing its Kurdish population, outlawing their dress, language and customs. -史蒂夫 奥托
The Association of Proletarian Solidarity (ASP) has taken up the cause of Turkish prisoners.
From
www.solidarietaproletaria.org:

Let's denounce the Turkish fascist regime crimes!On 20th of February 2009, the fifth hearing of the trial against the 23Turkish comrades, that were arrested in September 2006 with the charge ofterrorism, will take place at the court of Besiktas (Istanbul).
This is only one of the many trials by the Turkish regime of Ankara againstall those democratic, antifascist, communist, anti imperialist and pacifistpeople who are struggling against the violence and the crimes of thisfascist Turkish regime and its genocide against Kurdish people.
Beyond the farce of the antidemocratic special courts, the persecutionscontinues still in the prisons where the political prisoners are searched,beaten and killed.This trial is a farce of the Ankara regime. This political trial attempts toput under attack once and for all the Turkish communist movement, that formany years has represented all the hopes of future for all the workingpeople and the popular masses in Turkey.Precisely in these months, the European imperialist states are supporting amedia campaign that represent a false democratic Turkey, able to enter inEurope.Behind this false campaign there are the great economical imperialistinterests hidden by the opening of Europe to Turkey. Because of these interests, Ankara regime is going on with the comradespersecution supporting illegal proceedings and political killings.
All European Communists, all the democratic people and the workers arecalled to reconfirm the solidarity with all the Turkish political prisoners,to express concrete solidarity with Kurdish and Turkish people.We must make this 20th February an international day of struggle to denouncethe real fascist nature of the Ankara regime.We must struggle against the disgraceful campaign carried out by theEuropean imperialist states to hide all the crimes of the Turkish regime.We must struggle against political and military collaboration of theEuropean states with the government of Erdogan's regime.This is the best way to express solidarity with all the Turkish politicalprisoners.
The Association for Proletarian Solidarity call all the organizations whichtook part in the conference of Colonia 2008, to protest on the next 20thFebruary in front of the Turkish embassies all over the European countriesagainst the fascist Turkish regime in solidarity with all the Turkish andKurdish political prisoners.

Long live revolutionary prisoners resistance!Let's struggle for the new world wide wave of the socialist revolution!

Association of Proletarian Solidarity (ASP)CP
380, 80133 Naples- Italy
Email: info@solidarietaproletaria.org
Site web: www.solidarietaproletaria.org

Religion IS political in Kansas

By 史蒂夫 奥托


Living in the Bible belt, here in Kansas USA, is very hard for a leftist or an atheist. Kansans seem to be the antithesis of both these things. But to work for a revolutionary new society means re-adjusting to a hostile landscape and making some compromises.
At first, this might seem absurd. But as the Italian Marxist writer Antonio Gramsci made clear, we can’t just ignore or throw away all the past traditions and expect to wipe our history clean. Mao Zedong (毛泽东) also realized that and his later writings reflected more on Chinese culture. Gramsci often made references to the Catholic Church since Italy is a predominately Catholic country. Mao made references to Taoism, because he realized that it was something the Chinese people understood. He realized that Chinese communism had to be Chinese and reflect the cultural past as well as the present and future. Gramsci was one of the first Marxists to make that realization.
So how does a revolutionary leftist and non-believer organize, or even survive in the barren political landscape of Kansas? There is some common ground for these things. Take gun control. The Kansan Republicans are often adamant in their complaint that the Democratic Party favours gun control. But most revolutionary leftist do not support gun control. That is one issue that does not dog us.
Religion is trickier. Most of us revolutionary leftists are atheist or agnostic. Yet most of the peace activists in this area and in others are religious. Some people label themselves as “socialists” or “democratic socialists” and many of these people believe in some type of religion, the majority of those are Christians.
While there is a lot of discrimination against non-believers there is also discrimination against non-Christians. Buddhists, Wiccans and Moslems have as much difficulty fitting in as do the atheists and agnostics.
Christianity is not really incompatible with socialism. Only certain types are. Religion is probably the most important belief many people in Kansas have and it is the last thing they would be willing to part with. This is typical of people who live in certain parts of the US and certain parts of the world.
There are still those religions that are incompatible with progressive change. Fundamentalist opposes evolution and they are outright hostile to a scientific outlook. It also promotes bigotry against homosexuals and religions outside of Christianity. They oppose left or liberal religions as if they were devil worshipers. This type of religion has to be challenged and opposed at all times.
One thing we need to do is read and understand the Bible as well as the fundamentalists do. When they suggest that homosexuality is denounced in the Bible, we need to point out that the Bible also suggests we smash the heads of babies of our enemies during times of war and rape women captured in areas we take during war. We have to point out that believing in a book and its ideas is not the same as taking every word literally without question. There are parts of the Bible that are outdated and we need to point that out. Many religions don’t use the Bible as a reason to attack homosexuals, so we can make a distinction between progressive Christianity and conservative fundamentalism rather than arguing that Christianity is simply wrong.
To be a communist in Kansas is no more difficult than being a Democrat. Frank Thomas points out, in his book “What’s The Matter With Kansas?” that this state used to be a center for radicals such as socialists and communists. Today, many Kansas would never vote against the Republican Party and they ridicule the Democrats. The attitude seems to be that the Democratic Party holds both a foolish ideology as well as being anti-Kansas.
We can’t make alliances with hard core Republicans, but we can work with peace activists and other social justice groups that include religious people. On a local level, we may be able to work with a few progressive individuals in either of the major political parties, at least some of the time.
We don’t have to pretend we believe in god, just to win over the support of other Kansans. Instead we can push for tolerance of religious beliefs. We can work in issues, such as stopping the war in Afghanistan and supporting abortion rights. Tolerance for other people’s religious views means we can support the rights of homosexuals. We can work with those trying to keep creationism out of the local schools. What we can’t do in the short run is take the all or nothing approach. Instead, we can try to educate people involved in the issues we work on. It may take a long time, but it is more likely to pay off than simply ridiculing all Kansas for their backward beliefs on politics and their attachment to their religion.