Parallel Perspectives

DEAR COMRADES

MAY 2012

Dear Comrades,

This is my spot to politically vent a little—ok, a lot—as well as

a section to post letters from other socialist individuals & organizations. The opinions I express here do not represent the views of other people associated with Parallel Perspectives.

Regards,

JEFarrow

Previous Posts:

Dear Comrades #1 [April 2008] California budget woes; Red Army in Afghanistan; Humans unwilling to modify their behavior.

Dear Comrades #2 [May 2008] Treacherous Arab Oligarchy; Capitalists & the Environment.

Dear Comrades #3 [August – December 2008] Stimulus package; Animal Rights Terrorists; Castro praises Russian Orthodox Church.

Dear Comrades #4 [March - April 2009] More bailout (for the Capitalists); The Disarming Myth of the Liberal Bourgeoisie.

Dear Comrades #5 [July - August 2009] California draconian budget cuts—and more on the way; Anti-religious views; Michelle Obama vs. Laura Bush.

Dear Comrades #6 [November – December 2009] Karma or Complicity? Mission to Mars: Fasten your seat belts?

Dear Comrades #7 [March – April 2010] Reactionaries in The Occult; School children join demonstrations over education cuts; Tech industry warns that Obama administration seeks to kill free websites.

Dear Comrades #8 [May – August 2010] Civil War in America? Whose NWO (New World Order)?

Dear Comrades #9 [September – December 2010] More paranoia from Jesse Ventura; We've met the right-wing target—and it's us; Homosexuals in the military…Hell, no, don't go!; US leaders destroying the dollar; FBI intimidation. Riots in Europe.

Dear Comrades #10 [February – March 2011] People revolt in Middle East

Dear Comrades #11 [June – July 2001] More on the budding Global Social Revolution; Marxism a religion? On sectarianism & Charlie Sheen.

Dear Comrades #12 [April – May 2011] Bin Laden Down & out; The Royal Commercial; "Turn the guns around: The main enemy is at home"; Mini-series: The Kennedy's.

Dear Comrades #13 [October-November 2011] Occupy Movement & failure of an early organized Socialist response.

Dear Comrades #14 [January-March 2011] Paranoid?; Defend Assange & Wikileaks; The Global Social Revolution: The Military & Police, Global Propaganda Office, Anarchists & Sexy Communists.

@ The many ironies of capitalism

@ Occupy & socialism

@ The 1 & 99%: Flawed statisics?

11. May 2012

Dear Comrades,

I felt a mixture of chagrin & humour when I looked at our Global Social Revolution index.

A Google advert was prominently displayed at the top of the page, boldly condemning Iran

& urging defense of Israel. It was obviously sponsored by the USA Zionist Lobby. This

reminded me of another such ironic turn. There's a prominent Astronomy site that is dedicated, in part, to debunking Astrology (a noble cause to be sure). This is a straight-forwad scientific site, but even it had a number of Google ads featuring where to buy a horoscope and/or "Psychic Services." Jumpin' Januarius!

In my younger days this sort of capitalist symbiotic/parasitical rlationship would have been just plain WRONG, "selling out.) "But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now."( Bob Dylan.)

We didn't carry any ads for the first 5 years of the site while it was adjunct to an online Initiatian/Mystery School. Later we started to have ads displaying books & records that were specifically related to The Gnostic Pagan School. When we closed the School we continued adding select "sponsored" announcements. Then I got into the swing of things & started posting ads from Amazon & later Google. It was more a mental excercise on my part than actually expecting renumeration (which is a good thing since my descent into commercialism hasn't been particularly successful.) The Amazon adds spiced up a very simplistically designed site. Anyway, I think most people understand how Google works—so, please, don't accuse me of being a Zionist!

Never has the world of politics been so awash in contradiction & instability. At least during the Cold War there was a certain stability in Soviet-American polarization. Now there are so many conflicting "isms" that real disaster could flare just about anywhere, any time. The uprisings in the (primarily) Arab world have at least indicated the collective will to bring down oppressive governments. The biggest surprise in the US has been the Occupy Movement—but it is beginning to express the contradiction of being anti-capitalist in a capitalist society.

Right now there is an internal dialogue brewing of who's in & who's out. From the very (spontaneous?) inception of the Movement was how to deal with the violent "Anarchis" fringe. On one hand, in the big cities, you can almost guarantee a large contingent of the naughty pranksters showing up, making a big mess and in the process of their acting out, they manage to alienate just about everyone. I thought it telling that at one demo, a (peaceful) Anarchist woman passed out a flyer listing "50 Things We don't want in Our Movement." Among other things she listed "illegal drugs." An Anarchist Prohibitionist? They're ideologically all over the place.

Then there's the thorny problem of Marxists (the sneaky little devils.) They pose a real quandary for any anti-capitalist political movement in its infancy. From a transactional analytical point of view, Marxists almost immediately assume/presume the parental role (at best) or dictatorial position.

From my own direct experience, I have seen some pretty fancy socialist shenanigans during my political exploratory stage. During the 80's, I remember being present at new group's supposedly "open" steering committee elections. The plan of the socialist group in question was to get control of the committee by getting a majority of their own members elected by hook & by crook. None of the "candidates" mentioned their affiliation with Group X. Then when it appeared that this wasn't working as planned, they had shills planted in the audience who started raising issues like, "Oh, there should be at least two Lesbian on the committere...or as disabled person (really, they all but presented a doctor's letter for their own candidate!)...or maybe 3 Union members, one Wiccan, one Jew, at least 1 transgender, etc. It was nauseating...but you know what? It worked! One thing I felt summed the whole thing up was when somone attempted to have all the candidates reveal their political affiliation—and was effectively shouted down. Disgusted I heard him say to one of the bogus candidates, "This whole thing is a set-up & you know it." The "socialist" replied, "We had to do it because of people like you." The socialist organization is still very much alive (or maybe just sleep walking), but the organization they commandeered soon sputtered out, its initial purpose & ideals crushed by continual dissention.

So Occupy must address the membership issue—and I don't envy them. In the case of violent (Right) Anarchists, does Occupy embrace members who practice violence-for violence sake—and with who more often then not are anti-Red as well? Cleary there is a core group in Occupy are aware of the socialist meddling factor...but how can they justify keeping socialist orgs out? If Occupy is going to actually achieve anything over the long haul, it is going to need to openly advocate revolutionary socialist objectives. Can this be achieved without the active participation of socialist organizations? Will it cause Occupy to implode like so many other radical movements in the past?

Occupy has reached a critical moment of decision & clarification.

Then there's that slogan: We are the 99%

Sounds good—sounds very good. All of us against them, against the Oligarchs.

But is life as simple to define as the slogan implies?

While it's true that the Oligarchs are the 1%, it's not true that everyone fits in or identifies with the remaining 99%. The Occupy slogan suggests a simple 2-tierd society: the have's & the have-nots. The slogan is raised in order to involve the maximum people to join the Occupy movement in its efforts to take over key sectors of enterprise. Just what demonstrators should do at that point is unclear. How to deal with the police is unclear as well—after all, the part of the 99% too (or are they?)

[To be continued]

Bolshevik Cocktail:

Red Rum

1. April 2012

Dear Comrades,

Here's the recipe for Red Rum:

4Bacardi light (chilled)

4Royal Crown Cherry Cola (chilled)

4Marichino cherries 2-3

4Splash of cherry juice

Mix 1 part Rum with 2 prts. RC Cherry Cola

neat (no ice)

Drop in cherries

Splash of cherry juice

Yo-ho-ho!

Bold Marauder

Words and music by Richard Farina

And it's hi ho hey, I am a bold marauder
And it's hi ho hey, I am the white destroyer
For I will show you silver and gold, and I will bring you treasure
I will wave a widowing flag, and I will be your lover
And I will show you grotto and cave and sacrificial altar
And I will show you blood on the stone and I will be your mentor
And night will be our darling and fear will be our name

And it's hi ho hey, I am the bold marauder
And it's hi ho hey, I am the white destroyer
For I will take you out by the hand and lead you to the hunter
And I will show you thunder and steel and I will be your teacher
And we will dress in helmet and sword and dip our tongues in slaughter
And we will sing a warrior's song and lift the praise of murder
And Christ will be our darling and fear will be our name

And it's hi ho hey, I am the bold marauder
And it's hi ho hey, I am the white destroyer
For I will sour the winds on high and I will soil the river
And I will burn the grain in the field and I will be your mother
And I will go to ravage and kill and I will go to plunder
And I will take a fury to wife and I will be your mother
And death will be our darling and fear will be our name

© M. Witmark & Sons (ASCAP)

Last Update: 12. May 2012

"Draw this, Uncle Walt!"

5/11/12

An invitation to a discussion meeting hosted by Workers Power

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Sri Lankan Left in Flux as JVP Splits - Prospects for a New Party

Discussion meeting

23 May 2012

Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, London W1

Speakers: Peter Main (Fifth International journal)

The split in the chauvinist JVP opens new horizons for the Sri Lankan working class movement. With Maoist slogans and a large working class base, the JVP nevertheless promoted vicious anti-Tamil nationalism and backed Mahinda Rajapaksa's genocidal war against the Tamils.

Now the JVP has split as a large layer of workers, students and youth have formed the Frontline Socialist Party.Tthey blame the JVP leadership for backing the reactionary Rajapaksa government, and are rethinking the JVP's opposition to Tamil national liberation. The Frontline Socialist Party is facing repression as its leaders Kumar Gunarathnam and Dimuthu Attygalle were abducted by regime thugs just three days before the new party was formed on 9 April.

Peter Main has just returned from a visit to the Socialist Party of Sri Lanka, section of the League for the Fifth International, and will report on their discussions with the FSP leaders and prospects for a new force on the Sri Lankan left.

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TACTICAL BRIEFING #32 – Occupy’s Turning Point

We innovate spontaneously – we play jazz

Hey you nimble dreamers, occupiers, believers,

Last May 15, a hundred thousand indignados in Spain seized the squares across their nation, held people’s assemblies and catalyzed a global tactical shift that birthed Occupy Wall Street four months later. Our movement outflanked governments everywhere with a thousand encampments in large part because no one was prepared for Occupy’s magic combination of Spain’s transparent consensus-based acampadas with the Tahrir-model of indefinite occupation of symbolic space. Now exactly a year later, a big question mark hangs over our movement because it is clear that the same tactics may never work again.

Spring re-occupations have largely failed here in North America. The May Day General Strike was stifled by aggressive, preemptive policing that neutralized Occupy’s signature moves. In light of these challenges, Saturday’s May 12 rebirth of the indignados could be a tactical turning point.

Across the world, authorities are using “lawfare” to piecemeal outlaw any tactic that we used last year. In Spain, there is an attempt to criminalize the use of the internet to catalyze nonviolent protests and occupations. The International Business Times reports that this is part of a larger European move to “punish those who use social media and instant messaging to organize and co-ordinate street protests.” Canada wants to ban wearing masks at “unlawful assemblies,” a legal designation often used to disperse nonviolent protesters. Meanwhile Germany is taking a more direct route: they have simply issued a decree “banning” the Blockupy anti-bank protest in Frankfurt. As in the U.S., when outlawing free speech and the right to assembly doesn’t work, authorities are increasingly using brutal, paramilitary force.

The power of Occupy lies in its ability to harness the collective intelligence of our leaderless movement to tactically innovate. We move at viral speed – always one step ahead. “Fight, fail, fight again, fail again, fight again… till victory.” When one tactical constellation fails, we innovate spontaneously – we play jazz.

Across the world, indignados are preparing for a big blast on Saturday, May 12. Some, like Occupy London, are planning to retake the squares and set up encampments. Others have totally new tactics in mind. Whatever happens, let’s learn from the indignados with an eye towards our Camp David inspired May 18 #LAUGHRIOT and the global convergence on Chicago to confront NATO …

Let’s be humble … let’s “fall in love with hard and patient work” – and keep in mind that this is all just the beginning.

for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ

OccupyWallStreet.org / Tactical Briefing #29, #30, #31 / Be present on May 12 and on May 18 spark the #LAUGHRIOT then swarm Chicago.

SHARE URL: http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/tactical-turning-point.html

Adbusters #101 is a tactical mindbomb. Grab it off newsstands worldwide. Or go to adbusters.org/subscribe or call Renee at 1-800-663-1243. Adbusters #102 will be out early June.

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5/9/12

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Dear Friend,

This week we look at the several aspects of long-term unemployment - contributing factors, who it effects and how. Also, some analysis of the election results in France and Greece as they pertain to austerity. And, some hope for job creation in Connecticut and from the labor movement.

All About Long-Term Unemployment

We know the Great Recession has been going on far too long already, and some of its casualties are people who have been unemployed for a year or even a few years. Ezra Klein writes about the psychological scars of unemployment in a recent blog post, which links to a helpful article detailing who the long-term unemployed are.

The GOP Response to Long-Term Unemployment

In short, the answer to those who want work is the trite and offensive, "get a job." That's what Republican Gov. Paul LePage of Maine said on Sunday. The GOP thinks that austerity is the way to go, but as the above chart (from this episode of The Rachel Maddow Show) illustrates, negative growth of the public sector is not helping workers recover from the Great Recession. France and Greece have learned this lesson, as pointed out by John Wojcik in the People's World and Paul Krugman in the New York Times.

Labor and the People's Fightback

In a recent People's World article, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka reminds us that Bush lost U.S. jobs during a good economy. Obama has created jobs during the disastrous economy he inherited - in spite of the fact that the Republicans in Congress have blocked nearly all efforts to create jobs. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, 2,000 marched in New Haven for jobs. And finally, something penned by yours truly on the Labor fightback during the Great Recession.

Please make sure to visit the People's World online for the best in worker's news!

Other resources to check out:

WeNeedJobsNotCuts.com - UnemployedWorkers.org - Unemployed Nation - JobsNotCuts.org

In solidarity,

Scott Marshall

Labor Chair, CPUSA

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5/6/12

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Dear Alexander,

When we found Max, he was chained to an iron fence on a Romanian roadside. During the day, tourists took photos of him. And every night, after the last of the tourists had gone, he was forced back into a tiny cage, where he was thrown scraps of food.

Max finally has freedom. Today, despite his blindness, he happily explores the grounds of the WSPA-funded sanctuary in Romania - no longer caged, but free to feel the grass under his feet and breathe fresh air.

For captive bears in Romania, life has been filled with terrible suffering and trauma. At the Romanian bear sanctuary, these beautiful animals can live out their lives free from the threat of pain or abuse.

Please watch this video on the bears of Romania!

Our work is not possible without the help of people like you! Your gift of $15 today will help save animals and stop suffering. Whatever you can give, please know that it will make a difference for bears and other animals across the world who have been subjected to horrific cruelty. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Anne Lieberman
Executive Director

P.S. So please, I ask you, make a generous gift of $15 today to save animals around the world.

5/6/12

Protest 30 May: Tax the rich! Rebuild the NHS!

Date: Wednesday 30 May, 2012 - 17:00 - 18:30
Location: Care Uk, London Office, St Vincent's House, 21 Great
Winchester Street, EC2N 2JA

Pdf leaflet at
http://healthalarm1159.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/120530care-uk.pdf

Care Uk is one of the big private profit companies already making a
killing out of the NHS and poised to make many more millions aided by
the Health and Social Care Act.

Care UK's boss John Nash paid Tory health minister Andrew Lansley
£21,000, when Lansley was in opposition, to fund Lansley's private
office:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6989408/Andrew-Lansley-bankrolled-by-private-healthcare-provider.html.

We believe there is no place for private profit in the National Health
Service.We want the NHS to be paid for by progressive taxation, making
the rich pay their fair share towards health care for all, free at the
point of need.

Called by Health Alarm, http://healthalarm1159.wordpress.com
_______________________________________________
4/14/12

Ideas for Freedom 2012, the Workers' Liberty summer school, is on 29
June to 1 July, and tickets are cheaper before the end of April. See
http://www.workersliberty.org/ideas for details and to book online.

Also:

Thursday 19 April
How red is Ken Livingstone?
Workers' Liberty London forum
19:00, Lucas Arms, 245a Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR
Speakers: An AWL Tube worker; Martin Thomas

Saturday 21 April
Joint meeting of AWL union fractions, followed by individual union
fraction meetings
11:00-17:00, Highgate Newtown Community Centre, 25 Bertram St, London
N19 5DQ

Saturday 21 to Sunday 22 April
Ideas to Change the World
On Saturday (11:00-17:00) at Highgate Newtown Community Centre, 25
Bertram St, London N19 5DQ, continuing on Sunday in south London
A weekend of class-struggle socialist discussion and debate for students
and young people, organised by Workers’ Liberty
http://www.workersliberty.org/itctw

Saturday 21 April
Keep profiteering out of the NHS! Protests at Virgin stores
See
http://healthalarm1159.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/virgin-protests-21-april/ for
details

Saturday 12 May
Student Worker Solidarity 2012
11:00 - 17:30, Goldsmiths College, London
An activist gathering bringing together student and other young workers,
student activists campaigning on workers’ rights and trade union
activists to discuss organising on campus and in the workplace.
Organised by the GMB Southern Region Young Members' Network and hosted
by the GMB Goldsmiths Student Workers branch with input, speakers and
stalls from other related organisations, including People & Planet.

Saturday 26 to Monday 28 May
Lutte Ouvriere fete
Presles, near Paris
http://fete.lutte-ouvriere.org
Contact awl@workersliberty.org if you're interested in coming with the
AWL contingent.

AWL
awl@workersliberty.org
Phone: (+44) 20 7394 8923
(+44) 7950 978 083
Skype: dlandmj
Skype phone number from Australia: 07 3102 4681
_________________________________________

5/3/12

Homeland Security Documents Show Massive Nationwide Monitoring of Occupy Movement

Documents just obtained by the PCJF from its FOIA request show massive nationwide monitoring, surveillance and information sharing between the Department of Homeland Security and local authorities in response to Occupy. The PCJF, also on behalf of author/filmmaker Michael Moore and the National Lawyers Guild Mass Defense Committee, has made a series of FOIA demands regarding law enforcement involvement in the Occupy Crackdown.

"These documents show not only intense government monitoring and coordination in response to the Occupy Movement, but reveal a glimpse into the interior of a vast, tentacled, national intelligence and domestic spying network that the U.S. government operates against its own people," stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the PCJF. "These heavily redacted documents don't tell the full story. They are likely only a subset of responsive materials and the PCJF continues to fight for a complete release. They scratch the surface of a mass intelligence network including Fusion Centers, saturated with 'anti-terrorism' funding, that mobilizes thousands of local and federal officers and agents to investigate and monitor the social justice movement," Verheyden-Hilliard stated.

This set of released materials reveals intense involvement by the DHS' National Operations Center (NOC) in these activities. The DHS describes the NOC as, "the primary national-level hub for domestic situational awareness, common operational picture, information fusion, information sharing, communications, and coordination pertaining to the prevention of terrorist attacks and domestic incident management. The NOC is the primary conduit for the White House Situation Room and DHS Leadership for domestic situational awareness and facilitates information sharing and operational coordination with other federal, state, local, tribal, non-governmental operation centers and the private sector."

A sampling of documents reveals:

NOC Fusion Desk on November 5, 2011, collected the identity and contact information of a group of Dallas Occupy protesters who were arrested demonstrating against the Bank of America.

A DHS "Significant Incident Report" reflected step-by-step reporting on a ceremonial meeting on the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, New York by a small group of OWS members from the U.S. and Canada. According to the monitoring report, the people at the meeting included Occupy Toronto, Occupy Niagara, Occupy Buffalo and Occupy Philadelphia. Multiple law enforcement agencies met in advance on December 29 and "stood ready to assist" during the January 1, 2012 meeting.

DHS coordinated with Portland, OR regarding the eviction of the Occupy encampment and discussed obtaining "'soundly based' evidence of public health and safety concerns" to evict from Schrunk Plaza.

On November 9, 2011 -- two days after a dramatic street protest by 1,500 seniors and Occupy Chicago against social service cuts -- the NOC Fusion desk sent out a request from the Chicago police department seeking information from "state Fusion Centers" and requesting coordination and information-sharing about Occupy encampments and arrest charges in New York, Oakland, Atlanta, Washington, D.C. Denver, Boston, Portland OR, and Seattle. This request was subsequently recalled by officials in DHS, who directed that it should instead proceed through "law enforcement channels." Boston Police Intelligence/Homeland Security reported that they were following up in direct communication with Chicago. In an apparent effort to facilitate the coordination but to take it off the books of the DHS, the Duty Director of the NOC wrote that he would reach out to "LEO LNOs (liason officer) on the floor" to assist. As we described in a previous report, LEO is FBI's nationally integrated law enforcement, intelligence and military network.

The NOC went into high gear requesting urgent communications for Obama's DHS Secretary in advance of the planned December 12th port protests nationwide by OWS. The communications from a senior officer of the NOC ask field offices from Houston, Portland, Oakland, Seattle, San Diego, and Los Angeles to provide information about "what actions they will be taking to prepare" for the protests by the "Occupy Movement."

DHS went so far as to keep the Pentagon's Northcom (Northern Command) in the intelligence loop in advance of the November 2nd port protests organized by Occupy Oakland and supported by ILWU workers. In a "Significant Incident Report" DHS officials were "advised that this [port] closure is a combination of Longshoremen dissatisfaction of working conditions...and to show support for the Occupy Oakland Protest."

DHS monitored and reported on Occupy protests from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. to El Paso to Detroit, among many other cities around the country.

The DHS was in direct communication with the White House for approval of public statements denying DHS's involvement in Occupy actions.

DHS's Office for State and Local Law Enforcement, which collaborates with "non-federal law enforcement and private associations" issued its "Weekly Informant" for December 5th including an update from the Police Executive Research Forum about Occupy. The PERF is the group that organized a series of multi-city law enforcement calls to coordinate the response to Occupy.

To read more about PCJF's OWS FOIA initiative and to read additional documents click here.

To get breaking news updates click here.

Support the ongoing fight for government transparency by making a donation today.

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