Socialist MP3s

I just stumbled across an interesting site with free downloads of socialist songs (MP3 files) and thought I'd share.

The site is called "Songs of Irish Labour" maintained by Helena Sheehan, a comrade who is a university professor at Dublin City University. Helena covers a wide range of socialist songs and tells her personal story of struggle as a socialist living through the past couple of decades.

Dr. Sheehan also maintains a page specifically about the song "The Red Flag" which can be found here. The Red Flag was written by labor activist Jim Connell 1889 and is a lovely and inspiring song.

What else? She has a bunch of links to other labor song sites, including the following:

• The Internationale: sound clip
• Sheffield Socialist Choir (3 sound clips)
• Union Songs
• Union Sites
• Other Music Sites
• Billy Bragg
• Tommy Sands
• Pete Seeger Phil Ochs Labi Siffre
• Bob Marley Alistair Hulett
• FoFMbM On The Web
• Industrial Worker -- Music/Song Songs of the IWW
• Liberator: The Songbook
• DSA Songs
• Ripe for Revolution
• Folk Music Home Page
• Artists
• Mudcat Cafe / Digital Traditions Folksong Database

So, check it out!

Socialist World Map Project (v2.0)

Based on recent events I have updated the Socialist Map of the Western Hemisphere. I also have decided to show occupied or colonized countries as "grey" on the map since these types of countries are not self-governed and the people have no real representation or political power.



Political events of note:

• Evo Morales (MAS Party) elected president of Boliva (18 December, 2005)
• Michelle Bachelet (Socialist Party) elected president of Chile (15 January, 2006)

I have not closely looked at all of the nations in the western hemisphere for electoral changes or other events so if there are corrections please let me know. I will update this map if I come across anything or anyone give me updates.

The map designates countries based on a spectrum defined here (previous version of map) and the research was done using Wikipedia cross-referenced with mainstream news sources and the the CIA World Factbook.

Obviously, my definition of socialist for the purpose of this mapping project does not mean that a given nation is organized as a truly socialist society.

Anyone interested in helping me with the rest of the world please let me know.

Yummy, Del.icio.us Linkrolls

OK I admit it - I am hooked on web 2.0 and the social software revolution. I will not deep-dive into that right now because I want to talk specifically about one web 2.0 technology, namely del.icio.us.

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking tool which allows one to create a bookmark list and add tags to the bookmarks. These bookmarks are saved in a large online database shared by everyone else who uses the tool, and all of the tags and bookmarks are cross-referenced.

Four key advantages include 1) the ability to access your bookmarks from any device, 2) the ability to categorize the bookmarks for easy referencing, 3) the ability to see who else is bookmarking the things you are -and- to share your bookmarks with others, and 4) the ability to publish your bookmarks (e.g. for instance via RSS or linkrolls).

A linkroll in del.icio.us is defined as a list of links (bookmarks) which are associated with a particluar tag, and creating delicious linkrolls is simple!

First you have to have a del.icio.us account and create some bookmarks and tags. Then you simply go to this link http://del.icio.us/help/linkrolls and choose some preferences. A code snippet is provide for you to copy-and-paste into your webpage or blog and you are done! Whenever you add more bookmarks to that tag they automagically appear in the linkroll.

On this blog I have two delicious linkrolls on the right hand column, one is associated with my tag "fol" and the other "uncapitalist". I cannot tell you how thrilled I am with this tool and by the way, it is totally free! Needless to say, I am cancelling my Blogrolling.com account...

A Speech from a Real President

We in the USA have been inflicted with many presidents over the years. We have heard many speeches and learned in school and from the media that American democracy is "of, by and for the people." We learn from our president about "freedom" and the importance of "patriotism" although we are often left not quit sure what those things are. We are subjected to the lunatic gibbering of lunatics on a regular basis when our presidents are asked to engage in intellectual debate. We had a man with Alzheimer, albeit a tragic disease, representing us as our leader and literally worshipped as a national hero (even though he went by the nickname "Dutch," oddly enough). We have a president who refers to the richest 1% of the nation as "his base" with glee while sending the less fortunate to be ground into hamburger overseas (although as presidents go, he is far from unique in this regard, war and kowtowing to capital are national pastimes for American presidents).

So, ever wonder what it would be like to have a real president? One who had convictions he could intelligently elaborate upon? One who took representing "the People" seriously?

"Evo, what do you and the MAS understand by 'socialism,'" I asked him, when I was invited by the Executive Committee of the Bolivian Labor Central (COB). "To live in community and equality," he answered. "Fundamentally, in the peasant communities they have socialism. For example, if we speak of land. I come from the ayllu of the Department of Oruro. Clearly, where I live at this moment, in the East in Chapare, there are no ayllus. It is individual parceling, and there arise very serious problems, because it leads to small holdings, which you don't see in a peasant community where the land is communal."

"Does the socio-economic model of the MAS resemble more that of Lula, Cuba, or Hugo Chávez?" I insisted. "I believe it is something much deeper," he answered. "It is an economic model based on solidarity, reciprocity, community, and consensus. Because, for us, democracy is a consensus. In the community there is consensus, in the trade union there are majorities and minorities.

"Inside this official democracy of Bolivia they do not respect the thought, sentiments, and the sufferings of the national majorities. And within this framework we are seeking a communitarian socialism based on the community. A socialism, let's say, based on reciprocity and solidarity. And beyond that, respecting Mother Earth, the Pacha Mama. It is not possible within that model to convert Mother Earth to merchandise. In Bolivia with the agrarian reform it is better to be a vaccinated cow than a human being. For a vaccinated cow there are 25 hectares and for a human being there is nothing."

Read more here...

Evo Morales, Communitarian Socialism and the Regional Power Block
By Heinz Dieterich
Jan 14, 2006, 18:12

"I am a woman, a Socialist, separated, agnostic, all the sins together"

Chile has elected Socialist Michelle Bachelet as its first woman president. Like many others, Bachelet suffered torture and imprisonment for her political beliefs under US supported state-terrorist Pinochet. F*ck the fascist reactionaries and their culture of fear and death.

Viva la revolution!

Love the Liberal

Bill over at "Reasons to Be Impossible" reminds us of the problems of the liberal position with the following amusing lyrics. I doubt you'll hear this sung anytime soon at a MoveOn wine-and-cheese meet-and-greet:

I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
Of the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
As long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les Crane?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I read New Republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I vote for the democtratic party
They want the U.N. to be strong
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Lyics by the late, great Phil Ochs (on Amazon here).

Election Rigger Linked to Diebold

The post:
Bob Ney (R-OH, at least for now), involved with Abramoff (who is involved with DeLay, Bush, and countless others including Norquist and Ralph Reed), is now showed to be heavily involved with Diebold, which was involved in Bush's "victory" in Ohio and is now involved in some heavy-duty securities litigation (as a defendant).

Read more at Agitprop.

The good news:
It looks like Ney is going down like a domino for his part in various corrupt schemes.

The bad news:
The federal government is threatening to sue New York state to force the state to "modernize" it's voting machines, despite the widely reported problems with electronic voting machines (see here, here, here and here).

Socialist Governments Lowering Taxes

The irony could not be sweeter:

The Republican-controlled Senate is at least temporarily incapable of extending the 15 tax rate for dividends and capital gains - even though the policy has helped trigger strong growth and job creation. Yet while the United States is mired in the swamp of class warfare economics, socialist governments in Europe continue to lower tax rates.

Read more here...

Chile to Elect Socialist President

More good news from Chile. Nearly an entire continent has gone "red" in a few short years. Next up?

From the Houston Chronicle:

SANTIAGO, CHILE - Chileans will choose a new president Sunday, likely making a woman their leader for the first time and helping to consolidate Latin America's shift to the political left.

Michelle Bachelet, a socialist and the candidate for a coalition that has governed Chile since the end of Augusto Pinochet's 1973-1990 dictatorship, is a strong favorite to win the election on promises to keep the booming economy on track.

Sebastián Piñera, the billionaire leader of a rightist alliance that has been in opposition for 15 years, has seen his support dwindle in the last stretch of the race as he failed to rally big business and impoverished women voters.

"There are no more obstacles in Bachelet's road to La Moneda," sociologist and political commentator Eugenio Tironi said in a newspaper editorial, referring to Chile's presidential headquarters.

If she wins, Bachelet will bolster a leftist tendency in Latin America, where socialist Evo Morales won the presidency in Bolivia last month, joining leftists leading Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Bachelet, 54, was imprisoned and tortured at the beginning of the dictatorship. She first captured the Chilean imagination when as former victim of Chile's armed forces she became an unlikely defense minister in 2002 under popular President Ricardo Lagos.

Read more here...

Bolivia Elects Socialist President

Evo Morales and the MAS (Movement Towards Socialism) party have come into power in Bolivia.
This is another case of people power achieving what was once thought to be impossible.

A few years ago Bolivia was firmly controlled by right-wing neo-liberals. Extensive privatization was occurring. Petroleum was being pumped out of the country at an incredible pace, while the local population was left with no fuel or sky high prices, and no share of the profits.

International parasites mostly based in the USA and backed by onerous IMF policies, had descended on Bolivia to take over previously state-owned operations. They went so far as to "offer" privatized water and laws had been passed making it illegal for people to collect and drink rainwater (forcing them to pay for this ubiquitous resource).

Their reign is over. With strong ties to Hugo Chavez and the ever increasing momentum of class awareness in South America, we can watch with great expectation for Morales to roll back the reactionary policies of the IMF and pro-business policies of his predecessors.

Political Affairs Magazine reports:

In the 18th December 2005 Bolivian presidential elections Evo Morales received 53% of the vote -- 1,158,431 out of the 2,185,960 votes cast. His Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) defied media predictions that he would obtain only 35% of the vote -- which would have left the Bolivian parliament to decide on who the new president would be.

Podemos, the main right wing, pro-IMF and pro-US party, led by Harvard-trained Jorge Quiroga received 30% of the vote. With the Movimiento Indigena Pachakuti’s (MIPI) vote, the left parties together secured 55% of the vote. When we consider the scandalous exclusion of 1,000,000 voters from the electoral register – people who happen to live mainly in MAS strongholds -- then the defeat of Bolivia’s pro-neoliberal forces takes on an even greater significance. The MAS also did extremely well in the parliamentary elections.

In his election campaign manifesto Morales included measures with wide popular support such as the legalisation of coca leaf production and the nationalisation of the gas industry.

Evo Morales will become the second president of indigenous background in the history of Latin America. (The first was Benito Juarez, in Mexico during the second half of the 19th century). A new page has opened in the history of Bolivia, where the election of Evo Morales to the presidency means that the country’s majority indigenous population (60% of the population) have an historical opportunity of beginning to redress the centuries of exclusion, discrimination, poverty and brutal exploitation to which they have been subjected by the dominant white elite.

Read more here...

People's Power In Nepal

Last night I read an excellent article in the Monthly Review written by Parvati regarding the emerging "new state" driven by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or CPN(M). The article describes the goals and challenges of the new state which has suceeded in overturning the reactionary feudalistic state in over 80% of the national territory.

An excerpt:

While communications about the military successes of the People’s War in Nepal have been regularly disseminated, little information has been made available at the international level about the achievements of people’s power in the country. This article aims to rectify this situation somewhat by highlighting the emergence of people’s power side-by-side with the progressive dissolution of the old monarchical state (ruling since 1769), with particular reference to achievements made in the Central Command area, which includes the main base area, Rolpa.

Read more here...

The State of Minimum Wage

The New York Times’ States Take Lead in Push to Raise Minimum Wages details (as the headline implies) how the US federal government is behind individual states in increasing minimum wages. The federal minimum wage currently stands at $5.15 an hour, raised in 1997 from $4.75. Here in New York state, the minimum wage just increased to $6.75, and will increase again on January 1, 2007 to $7.15. Washington state enforces the nation’s highest minimum wage at $7.35 per hour (plus the “rate [is] adjusted for inflation”).

Despite the Times’ optimism*, the wage figures really aren’t that sunny. 26 states have a minimum wage that match the federal minimum, 2 states have a minimum wage that are below the federal standard, and 6 states have no minimum wage law at all -– meaning that only 16 states exceed the Federal standards.

Even worse (and now I’m really bursting this “positive left blog” mission) are the minimum wages in "American territories." The Department of Labor states that:

Minimum wage rates in American Samoa are set by a special industry committee [read: corporate lobbyists] appointed by the U.S. Department of Labor, as required by [The Fair Labor Standards Act]. The rates are set for particular industries, not for an employee's particular occupation. The rates are minimum rates; an employer may choose to pay an employee at a rate higher than the rate(s) for its industry [but why would they?].

Wages in American Samoa range from $2.57 per hour to $4.09, depending on the industry. Goods manufactured there can be legally marketed as “Made in the USA” -- it is, after all, a US territory. Similarly, the American Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has a minimum hourly wage of $3.05.** (Puerto Rico and Guam match the federal minimum wage, while the US Virgin Island fall below it, although the DOL says they match the federal minimum "in practice.")

Now, if you were a money hungry, mega-corporation interested in keeping shareholders while appearing patriotic to the public, would you manufacture your t-shirts in Washington state ($7.35) or American Samoa ($2.68)?

Remember, you’re a corporation and therefore have no soul.

OK, maybe that's a bit harsh. But I’ll wrap things up by quoting the Times' article (emphasis mine):

Opinion polls show wide public support for an increase in the federal minimum wage, which falls far short of the income needed to place a family at the federal poverty level. Even the chairman of Wal-Mart has endorsed an increase, saying that a worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford to shop at his stores. ***

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*Following Jayson Blair and Judy Miller, optimism is the one of the few things going for them.

** Or, $3.15, depending on the source. More on working conditions in CNMI .
Additionally, here's an excerpt from the the cover piece in Islands Business, "The Pacific islands region’s leading current affairs and business magazine published monthly":

Partially independent from the United States, but ultimately completely
dependent on it, the Northern Marianas is an unhappy country. The locals are outnumbered by foreign “guest workers” and suspect Asian businessmen. The garment industry has collapsed and tourism figures dived when Japan Air Lines ended flights to it from Japan, the key tourism market, a few months ago.

The ineffective government is broke and in December could not buy the fuel needed for power stations. Saipan, the main island, was being hit by constant blackouts as power stations were shut down. The government is sueing for US$100 million it claims it is owed by the United States government. The outlook for Northern Marianas? Bleak.

***The chairman further noted that Wal-Mart is running a blue light special on irony.

MTA Strike Update

A recap from The Village Voice:

The final words of the lead [New York Daily] News editorial said it all: "Now, after devastating New York, (the union) has won." That's because besides snaring raises, a day off for MLK, improved healthcare in return for a 1.5 percent premium, and protecting pension benefits, the union won a payback for contributions that older members made to the system during a pervious contract. The checks could run to $14,000 a worker, which ought to cover those members' Taylor Law fines for the strike—and then some.

And as long as we're tallying union victories, don't forget the intangible edge the union has gained in future contract fights by striking during this one. The threat of a strike is one of the chips a union has at the table, and as one subway substation worker told me on the picket line last Thursday, sometimes you have to act on a threat to make it real.

Of course, few victories are total. The TWU will have to deal with its fines and other legal consequences before it is strong enough to wage another strike, and the next contract will expire after the holidays, giving the workers less leverage. Some union members -—worried about the precedent set by the health care payments—- don't think the TWU won at all. And budget watchdogs' worries about pension costs are valid—not because of the specifics of the TWU deal, but because pensions in general are the next great looming policy crisis.

All the same, "irrational" and "dead end" -—like their cousin "thuggish"-- are adjectives that look less and less applicable to the strike as it fades in the rear-view.

MTA Strike

Well, it's official: the Transport Workers Union. Local 100 (TWU), which works run NYC's MTA, went on strike at 3 am this morning. And as much as I'd be frustrated to commute in NYC right now (which I used to do) kudos to the TWU for standing up for their rights. A little inconvenience is nothing compared to workers fighting for fair wages and benefits. Unfortunately, because it's "illegal" for mass transit workers to strike, the 38,000 bus and subway employees will incur fines of two days pay for each day on strike.

According to New York Socialist Alternative:

On the eve of the negotiations, the MTA provocatively voted to squander $1 billion in surplus funds to make sure that there would be no money for pay increases or health and pension benefits for the workers. [On] Friday night, the MTA final proposal called for below inflation wage increases, pension and work rule givebacks and for new TWU members to pay 1% of their salary for health benefits!

Bloomberg's administration intervened in the negotiations in an attempt to intimidate and threaten the transit workers with retaliation and use of the anti-labor Taylor Law. The mayor's legal department has gone to court seeking an injunction that would impose huge additional fines on individual workers as well as the penalties on the Taylor Law against the members of Local 100. The MTA is threatening that not only union offibut alsoutalso rank and file workers would be jailed if there was a strike -- clearly a threat to bust the union!

Bloomberg, Pataki, Wall Street and the MTA bosses clearly have decided to viciously attack the transit workers as part of the overall plan to roll back the gains that workers and their unions have made in NYC in the past 70 years. As for the transit system, the aim is to fund the MTA solely through fares and interest-bearing bonds rather than taxes on businesses and transit subsidies as it used to be in the past.

Furthermore, the attack on TWU on pensions (for retirement at 62 after 30 years rather than after 25 years as is now) will open the door for what is intended to be a gutting of the public employee pensions and health benefits - with billions of dollars being funneled into the pockets of big business. Another attack is the demand for "broadbanding" (forcing workers to do additional tasks) which opens the way for the future destruction of thousands of jobs.

The transit dispute has touched a raw nerve among working people in the city who sense that this dispute is about the growing attacks on living standards, working conditions and the basic democratic rights of workers in the most unionized city in the country. Millions of workers in New York face a rising cost of living at a time when wages and benefits are under attack. It is disgusting to observe the big business media portray transit workers (or teachers, government employees or any union workers) as"overpaid" and "under-worked" while the billionaires and financial lords ofthe city are growing richer and richer.

In the 25 years since the last transit workers strike, when the system was shut down for 11 days, workers in New York City and across the country have seen the loss of millions of good jobs and a steady decline in wages and benefits.[...]

There should be a call to roll back the fare to $1 as a step toward a free transit system and for a program of massive investment to upgrade the entire transit system -- paid for by taxes on the rich and big business. This should be part of a program and movement that campaigns to put the needs of working people (healthcare, childcare, education, transportation, housing, a clean environment,) before war and corporate profits.

A clash with the 38,000 transit workers in New York City, the financial capital of the world, [pits] MTA and Bloomberg but also corporate America and the Bush administration against working people in this country. The implications [are] enormous as it could be seen as a way for all workers to resist against the corporate agenda of Bush and Wall Street in the US and internationally and could open the way for workers to build their own political party to challenge the dictatorship of big business.

Additionally disturbing is the venom being hurled at the striking workers -- regular people trying to earn a fair wage. Among the comments, found in this AP story:

"MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow called the strike 'a slap in the face' to all New Yorkers." (And yet a $2, one-way subway fare is not.)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg: "This is not only an affront to the concept of public service, it is a cowardly attempt by Roger Toussaint [TWU President] and the TWU to bring the city to its knees to create leverage for their own bargaining position."
(This position is, not surprisingly, being echoed in the strike coverage on Bloomberg's business news site, Bloomberg.com -- news coverage served with a steaming side of bias.)

"'I think they all should get fired,' said Eddie Goncalves, a doorman trying to get home to Queens after working an overnight shift." (I wonder if Goncalves is a member of Service Workers Local 32B/32J, of which a number of doormen are members.)

Join the TWU at these picket locations:

BRONX
Gunhill Depot: 1910 Bartow Avenue
Pelham Barn/Westchester Sq. Yard: Eastchester Rd. & Water Street
Zerega CMF: 750 Zerega Avenue
180th Street Yard: 1151 East 180 Street
West Farms Depot: 1100 East 177th Street
Concourse Yard: 3119 Jerome Avenue
Jerome Yard: Jerome Ave. & Van Courtlandt Ave.
239th St. Barn: 4570 Furman Avenue
240th St. Barn: 5911 Broadway
Eastchester Depot: Interstate 95 at Exit 13
Yonkers Depot: 59 Babcock St.
Tiffany Iron: 1170 Oakpoint Avenue

BROOKLYN
East New York Depot/Shop: 1700 Bushwick Avenue
Flatbush Depot: Flatbush & Utica Ave.
Coney Island Yard: Avenue X & McDonald
Ulmer Park Depot: Cropsey Ave. & Bay
Jackie Gleason Depot: 871 Fifth Avenue
Pitkin Yard: 1434 Sutter Avenue
Livonia Shop: 824 Linwood Shop
Atlantic Ave/Bergen Street Shop: 1415 Bergen Street
Linden Shop: 1500 Linden Blvd.
Cozine: 50 Cozine Avenue

QUEENS
Fresh Pond Depot: 56-99 Fresh Pond Road
Jamaica Barn: 7815 Grand Central Parkway
Jamaica Depot: 114-15 Guy R. Brewer Blvd.
Corona Barn: 126-53 Willets Point Blvd.
Triboro Coach Depot: 8501 24th Avenue
College Point Depot: 128-15 28th Avenue
Maspeth CMF:
Woodside Electronic Shop: 33-33 54th Street

MANHATTAN
Kingsbridge Depot: 4065 10th Avenue
207th St. Yard: 3961 10 Avenue
Manhattanville Depot: 666 West 133rd St.
100th Street Depot: 1552 Lexington Avenue at 100th Street
Michael J. Quill Depot: 525 11th Avenue
West 53rd St Power/RCC: 53rd St. btw 8/9
126th Street Depot: 2460 Second Avenue

NYU Grad Student Strike Poster

Intellectual Property Socialism

SAP shows its true (capitalist) colors. Open source is a non-distributed model of development much akin to anarchism, which is subset of socialism. Read on:

'Intellectual property socialism is the worst that can happen to any IP-based society,' says an SAP executive

A senior executive at SAP has criticised the open source development methodology by claiming that it does not promote innovation, according to reports.

Shai Agassi, president of the product and technology group at SAP, said in a speech at a club in California that Linux is not innovative, according to an article on technology news site VNUNet this week.

"We all talk about how great Linux is," Agassi reportedly said. "But if you look at the most innovative desktop today, Microsoft's Vista is not copying Linux, it is copying Apple."

SAP will not make its software open source as it would no longer have an incentive to innovate, Agassi said.

"Intellectual property [IP] socialism is the worst that can happen to any IP-based society," he said. "And we are an IP-based society. If there is no way to protect IP, there is no reason to invest in IP."

More...

I am currently reading a book on Enterprise Services Architecture written by SAP guys. It is very good. However, I find it very amusing that they have tried to trademark EA and SOA concepts with silly sloganeering like the Netweaver "platform." Clearly SAP in traditional capitalist fashion thinks it is fine to steal other peoples ideas and use IP law to claim them as their own. So what we see SAP doing here is executing Primitive Accumulation (or perhaps more precisely, IP-rimitive Accumulation).

As Marx explains in Capital Vol I:

This primitive accumulation plays in Political Economy about the same part as original sin in theology. Adam bit the apple, and thereupon sin fell on the human race. Its origin is supposed to be explained when it is told as an anecdote of the past. In times long gone-by there were two sorts of people; one, the diligent, intelligent, and, above all, frugal elite; the other, lazy rascals, spending their substance, and more, in riotous living. The legend of theological original sin tells us certainly how man came to be condemned to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow; but the history of economic original sin reveals to us that there are people to whom this is by no means essential. Never mind! Thus it came to pass that the former sort accumulated wealth, and the latter sort had at last nothing to sell except their own skins. And from this original sin dates the poverty of the great majority that, despite all its labour, has up to now nothing to sell but itself, and the wealth of the few that increases constantly although they have long ceased to work. Such insipid childishness is every day preached to us in the defence of property. M. Thiers, e.g., had the assurance to repeat it with all the solemnity of a statesman to the French people, once so spirituel. But as soon as the question of property crops up, it becomes a sacred duty to proclaim the intellectual food of the infant as the one thing fit for all ages and for all stages of development. In actual history it is notorious that conquest, enslavement, robbery, murder, briefly force, play the great part. In the tender annals of Political Economy, the idyllic reigns from time immemorial. Right and "labour" were from all time the sole means of enrichment, the present year of course always excepted. As a matter of fact, the methods of primitive accumulation are anything but idyllic.

In themselves money and commodities are no more capital than are the means of production and of subsistence. They want transforming into capital. But this transformation itself can only take place under certain circumstances that centre in this, viz., that two very different kinds of commodity-possessors must come face to face and into contact; on the one hand, the owners of money, means of production, means of subsistence, who are eager to increase the sum of values they possess, by buying other people’s labour-power; on the other hand, free labourers, the sellers of their own labour-power, and therefore the sellers of labour. Free labourers, in the double sense that neither they themselves form part and parcel of the means of production, as in the case of slaves, bondsmen, &c., nor do the means of production belong to them, as in the case of peasant-proprietors; they are, therefore, free from, unencumbered by, any means of production of their own. With this polarization of the market for commodities, the fundamental conditions of capitalist production are given. The capitalist system pre-supposes the complete separation of the labourers from all property in the means by which they can realize their labour. As soon as capitalist production is once on its own legs, it not only maintains this separation, but reproduces it on a continually extending scale. The process, therefore, that clears the way for the capitalist system, can be none other than the process which takes away from the labourer the possession of his means of production; a process that transforms, on the one hand, the social means of subsistence and of production into capital, on the other, the immediate producers into wage-labourers. The so-called primitive accumulation, therefore, is nothing else than the historical process of divorcing the producer from the means of production. It appears as primitive, because it forms the pre-historic stage of capital and of the mode of production corresponding with it.

So we see what SAP is doing. SAP wishes to transform public domain work done on EA and SOA (social production) into intellectual property or IP (capital which SAP owns). It is primitive in this context because you see above how violently SAP is behaving. Also they are not paying for this social production, they are stealing it. Seeing that it exists in the "commons" they first must destroy the legitimacy of "open source" by attacking its very nature. In this way they can transform the work into IP and get around having to honor the guardians of social production, such as GNU licenses and Creative Commons licenses.

Only by removing these safeguards can SAP "legally" lay claim to these products of social production and thereby capitalize them for their own profit.

Boycott for Peace

I stumbled across this today and thought it was so great I had to repost it. The source site is the Vermont Boycott For Peace.

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BUYcott

Since we launched the statewide boycott campaign, many people have e-mailed the Vermont Boycott for Peace seeking alternatives to the companies targeted for boycott by the international community. We have compiled the following list of businesses in Vermont and beyond that provide similar, and in some cases equivalent, services and products. Please check back periodically to look for additions to the list. To recommend a company or local business as an alternative to a boycott target, please e-mail us at info@vermontboycottforpeace.org.

Note: Those companies followed by an asterisk (*) were reviewed by Co-op America’s screening team for a variety of social and environmental criteria. In addition to applying their own standards, Co-op America drew information from many Vermont-based and national organizations, including:

Organic Trade Association (www.ota.org)
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (www.peta.org)
Sustainable Energy Resource Group (serg.uvweb.org)
Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (www.vbsr.org)


SOFT DRINKS (COKE AND PEPSI)

Boycott all products produced by Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Instead, buy your soft drinks from one of two Vermont micro\ producers of GREAT soft drink products!

WaNu (pronounced "way-new") all-natural sodas have NO preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup, and no yeast. They use only the highest quality all-natural ingredients in their lite sodas, sports drinks, and "tritionals." WaNu beverages are made with roughly half the sugar of the average soda, but they have all the flavor, and they make some terrific-tasting varieties of the old favorites like birch beer and cream soda! Best yet -- you can buy online and get WaNu beverages delivered to your door from their online store. Click here to find out more.

WaNu Beverages
Vemront Vase Waters LLC
49 Commerce Drive
South Burlington, VT 0540

phone: (802) 863-8656

Try also the new line of Vermont microsodas produced by Pop Soda. The new company, based in Moretown, VT, has created a yummy line of all-natural, handcrafted soft drinks. Click here to find out more about Pop Soda.


CREDIT CARDS (MBNA)

Boycott the Working Assets credit card owned by MBNA

Instead, consider a Scholastic Plastic Visa from Albina Community Bank*

Albina Community Bank -- a mission-based, minority-owned, federally certified community development financial institution -- issues the Scholastic Plastic Visa credit card from which the bank donates a percentage of all purchases either to the Portland Schools Foundation or (at the cardholder’s request) to five Portland, OR, high schools to reduce the cost of after-school activities. Click here to read about the Scholastic Plastic Visa™ card. Member FDIC. Equal housing lender.

Albina Community Bank
2002 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Portland, Oregon 97212-3722

phone: (503 288-7280
fax: (503) 282-4681
e-mail: rmckean@albinabank.com

Consider supporting the Alternatives Federal Credit Union*

The Alternatives Federal Credit Union is a nonprofit community development financial institution that reinvests money in the community through innovative programs. Savings, free checking, share certificates, IRAs, and Visa credit cards available. Investors earn market rates on insured deposits. Savings federally insured to $100,000 by NCUA. Click here for more information on the Alternatives Federal Credit Union. Equal housing lender.

Alternatives Federal Credit Union
125 North Fulton St.
Ithaca, New York 14850-3301

phone: (877) 273-2328
fax: (607) 277-6391
e-mail: afcu@alternatives.org


GAS/OIL COMPANIES

Boycott ExxonMobil and Chevron Texaco

Buy Citgo

The overarching, long-term goal to which the Vermont Boycott for Peace is dedicated involves reducing our vast addiction to fossil fuels in favor of renewable sources of energy. In the short term, however, we boycott Exxon Mobil and Chevron Texaco in favor of Citgo gas, since Citgo does not import from the Middle East (rir: and is not owned by a gang of plutocrats).

Of the top oil producing countries in the world, only Venezuela is a democracy with a president, Hugo Chavez, who was elected on a platform of using his nation's oil revenue to benefit the poor.

Citgo is a U.S. refining and marketing firm that is a *wholly owned* subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company. When you buy your gas at Citgo, you are contributing to billions of dollars that Venezuela's democratic government is using to provide health care, literacy and education, and subsidized food for the majority of Venezuelans.

PAPER PRODUCTS AND OFFICE/DESK SUPPLIES

Boycott Kinkos (owned by FedEx) and UPS Stores

Buy from Conservatree*

Conservatree was first established as a paper distribution company in 1976 and today is also a nonprofit organization dedicated to converting paper markets to environmental papers. Click here to visit their website for an extensive choice of environmentally friendly papers in small quantities or large.

100 Second Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 721-4230
fax: (509) 756-6987
e-mail: paper@conservatree.org

Buy from Office Quarters* in St. Albans

Office Quarters provides a comprehensive stock of office supplies, including binders and business cases; calendars and planners; desk accessories; writing instruments; printers and accessories; art, drafting, and school supplies; and much more.

387 Lake Road
St. Albans, VT 05478
(802) 660-3013


PHONE COMPANIES (AT&T)

Boycott AT&T

Sign up with Working Assets

While the Working Assets credit card is a service we ask you to boycott because it is owned by MBNA, we do encourage people to look into Working Assets as a phone service provider, since a portion of the dollars you spend every month goes toward charitable causes. Click here to visit the Working Assets website.


GENERAL FAIR-TRADE, ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE BUSINESSES

Peace & Justice Store: Burlington, VT

This unique, socially responsible, not-for-profit retail store is part of the Peace & Justice Center on Church Street in Burlington. The mission of the Peace & Justice Store is to promote social change through education and to provide alternative, meaningful products and educational materials that foster cooperation, equality, and a sustainable society. Click here for more information about the store and its fair trade policy, or directions.

The Union Mall: Sweatshop-free shopping

When you vote with a dollar, it always get counted! Click here to visit the Union Mall, designed to make it easy for consumers to help empower workers around the world. The site has gathered every retailer they could find that sources exclusively from union shops or worker-owned cooperatives in an attempt to change the global garment industry by creating successful alternatives to the sweatshop suppliers of retail clothing.

Co-op America’s Green Pages online

Click here to learn more about the largest directory of qualified green businesses available online! Search for more than 25,000 products and services from 2,000 green companies.

Nerds Still On Strike!

The NYU strike is still on. Specter of Marx, from Nerds On Strike! (http://nerdsforgsoc.blogspot.com/) posted the following response to Sexton's media-savvy torpedo aimed at sinking the unionization effort.

After considerable mulling, here is my intial response to President Sexton's most recent dictum (and I use the word "dictum" since this is not in truth a simple "letter" or "correspondence," as there is no comparable avenue for its intended audience to respond, comment, or engage in dialogue). Point/counterpoint style:

1) “We recognize that for some of you there is an unfortunate disparity between the ideal and the reality.”

Agreed, and these admitted disparities are exactly why GAs need union representation in our collective dealings with the university.

2) “Moving closer to this ideal, however, will be difficult without restoring an atmosphere of mutual respect and good faith within the University community.”

Strike or no strike, mutual respect and good faith between NYU and its GAs have been irreparably damaged, as has the larger sense of community at NYU. This is predominantly the fault of university administrators who have attempted to intimidate GAs with threatening and condescending memos, and who have unilaterally refused to acknowledge GAs’ democratic wishes and bargain in good faith. As President Sexton himself notes, “…the burden is on the University to create an environment of trust as we aim to achieve the ideal.” Clearly, NYU has not only failed to cultivate such a milieu in the past, but has failed to assume its "burden" altogether by blaming GAs for the strike and vilifying them as selfish and irresponsible.

3) “While we must await the Working Group’s proposals [regarding grievance procedures sans third-party arbitration], we are open to any suggestions they may have regarding how members from the academy outside the University might play a role in this process.”

I have a suggestion: allow GAs to have union representation. I would imagine that such is not a legitimate suggestion given the administration’s refusal to hear GAs’ voices over the past year, which leads me to conclude that the university’s “openness” is disingenuous. Moreover, my peers and I would be fools to sign onto a program whose details were of the “we’ll just have to wait and see” variety. As the cliché goes, the devil is in the details. This is why we are asking NYU to sit down at the bargaining table and negotiate a new union contract with us in good faith.

4) “Because graduate assistants are also our students, those on strike have continued to receive their stipends, they have continued to receive free tuition, and they have continued to receive free health insurance.”

This statement is a blatant sleight of hand, to which I take great personal and political umbrage. I have been an employee of the university for the past 2+ years, and have worked diligently as a TA for over 4 and a half semesters. My benefits, including my compensation, have not and will never be “free,” as I have given the university my labor in return. Once again, President Sexton demonstrates exactly why GAs need a union: to legitimize and defend our rights as workers in our dealings with the university.

5) “While I do not condone what has been done by those who have been striking, their actions have caused us to take a hard and unflinching look at ourselves and our practices, and these self- examinations will lead to significant, enduring improvements.”

If this is indeed true, then the strike has not only had a large, lasting, and positive effect on NYU (despite the administration’s adamant claims otherwise), but that this is testament to the power and necessity of GSOC. President Sexton claims that our “points have been made and heard,” but I would argue that they haven’t at all in light of recent events, this correspondence as written proof. “Such disruption must not continue,” Sexton states, and this we can all agree on. No, this strike should not and must not continue, President Sexton; that is why you need to assume your rightful “burden” to maintain a peaceable and productive atmosphere on campus and NEGOTIATE NOW.

SEIU Houston Janitor Victory

The SEIU organizing drive among janitors in Houston is a success! What's interesting about the victory--other than the fact that it brings in 5,000 new members in the hard-to-organize South--is the way the victory was pulled off.

Check out these two paragraphs:

The service employees, which led a breakaway of four unions from the A.F.L.-C.I.O. last summer, has used several unusual tactics in Houston, among them lining up the support of religious leaders, pension funds and the city's mayor, Bill White, a Democrat. Making the effort even more unusual has been the union's success in a state that has long been hostile to labor.

"It's the largest unionization campaign in the South in years," said Julius Getman, a labor law professor at the University of Texas. "Other unions will say, 'Yes, it can be done here.' "

More...

Starbucks Union

Again, thanks to Sean at ToTheBarricades.BlogSpot.com:

New York, NY - 25 Starbucks baristas and supporters wearing union pins and hats surrounded the store manager at the Union Square location in Manhattan tonight to announce their membership in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union (www.starbucksunion.org). The workers, joined by union baristas from two other New York Starbucks stores, demanded a guaranteed minimum of 30 hours of work per week and an end to Starbucks' unlawful anti-union campaign. The Union will assail Starbucks with a wide array of actions until the demands are met.

One of the workers, 23 year-old Tomer Malchi, served the store manager with a document detailing the demands and several other workers directed comments at the boss to be relayed to more senior management. Suley Ayala, a mother of four who has worked at Starbucks for three years, was one of the workers who spoke. She explained after the event: "it should go without saying that we can't live on ten, eleven, or twelve hours of work some weeks. The 30 hour guarantee is absolutely necessary to make ends meet and Starbucks knows it."

The workers were motivated to organize in part because of Starbucks' status as one of the few companies in the world with no full-time employment for non-managerial employees. An initiative of Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, the part-time scheme forces workers to contend with a constantly fluctuating number of work hours, and therefore, constantly fluctuating income. For example, a Starbucks barista could receive 35 hours of work one week, 18 hours the week after, and as low as single-digits in the following week. The world's largest coffee chain sacrifices employees' financial security in the name of cost-control and "flexibility." This comes from a company whose mission statements talks of, "provid[ing] a great work environment."

Starbucks barista Mike Velasquez spoke of the personal reasons underlying his decision to join the Starbucks Workers Union. "My daughter is my first priority period," he said. Anything that comes in the way of that is going to have a problem. Starbucks falls into that category."

Myth v. Reality

Given the reality of working at Starbucks, the company's creation of a socially responsible image is testament to its public relations prowess. The company boasts of providing health care eligibility even for its part-time workers (never mentioning that all of its retail hourly workers are part-time). The fact is that an employee must work 240 hours each quarter to become eligible for health insurance. Because of the lack of guaranteed hours, meeting the quarterly hour requirement is far from assured. For workers who do qualify there are still the premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, and these are costs extremely difficult to manage for employees making six, seven, or eight dollars an hour. Incredibly, Starbucks, the self-proclaimed leader on the issue of employee health care, will not release the number of retail hourly workers that actually receive company health benefits. Even Wal-Mart releases that number. In fact, the recently leaked memo from Wal-Mart that advocated increasing part-time employment to cut health insurance costs is ancient history at Starbucks. Howard Schultz made that move years ago- but he degraded all jobs to part-time.

The workers demanded respect for the right to organize in the face of a relentless anti-union campaign launched by the company in 2004 after the formation of the Starbucks Workers Union. The company has already been hit with a complaint from the National Labor Relations Board for threats, bribes, and surveillance in their attempt to defeat the union.

"I am so pleased to welcome the Union Square East baristas to the Starbucks Workers Union," said Pete Montalbano, a union barista at an East Village Starbucks and himself a recipient of anti-union discrimination. "Given the widespread discontent at the company, it comes as no surprise that more and more workers are making the decision to go union."

Starbucks, known for inundating neighborhoods with its stores, is an extremely profitable company. On November 17, the company announced that quarterly earnings had jumped 21% to $124 million. Chairman Howard Schultz who also owns the Seattle Supersonics is doing well too with an estimated net worth of $700 million.

The IWW's unique solidarity union structure allows any Starbucks worker to join at anytime and begin the fight for a better life at work. Since its founding, the Starbucks Workers Union has pressured the company into a .50 cent an hour wage increase, an unprecedented holiday bonus, and steps toward alleviating the rampant repetitive strain injuries among baristas.

"Companies like Starbucks, Borders, Wal-Mart, the Gap, and McDonald's have gotten a free pass from the labor movement for far too long. Retail workers at some of the world's most profitable companies deserve better than a poverty existence for our hard work," remarked Daniel Gross, an IWW member and Starbucks barista. "The only solution is a fighting union."

The Nausea

I ran across the site www.thenausea.com last night while doing some research on war atrocities, specifically the Fallujah massacre. Nausea is a not-for-profit effort to document war crimes and crimes against humanity on the web. The pictures, videos and documentation is shocking. Particularly saddening (ok, sickening) to me is the documentation in the China section, especially the pre-Communist era photos. Say what you want about Mao, at least he outlawed beheadings. Not that Tiananmen is much more encouraging. Also, the pictures of the recent massacre of Muslims by Hindus in India (2,000 murdered) is unbelievable. How people can act this way to each other is beyond my comprehension.

Talking Chavez Doll

Yippie! I know what I want for Christmas!

CARACAS, Venezuela - Shoppers at Venezuela's biggest mall are snapping up talking dolls of President Hugo Chavez and a merchant says they've become popular among supporters and foes alike.

The doll sports the Venezuelan leader's signature red military beret and at the pull of a cord repeats a revolutionary slogan: "It's your dream, it's your hope, and it's your job to be free and equal."

More...

U.S. forces used chemical weapons in Fallujah

Sean at ToTheBarricades brings us this news. This is precisely the sort of evil that is a direct outcome of imperialism, the most advanced stage of capitalism. What can be said for a form of social organization that not only allows these things to happen, but promotes them? We are all responsible for this. Guilt will not help. Only international solidarity and an end to racist nationalism will end the attrocities of imperialism.

U.S. forces used chemical weapons in Fallujah. This was reported by unembedded journalists like Dahr Jamail long ago. It was circled on the internet, but not widely enough. It is now a big story in the global media, because a filmmaker went ahead and did their work for them. But, you guessed it, is not being discussed in the United States. They could have dropped an H-Bomb on Fallujah and it wouldn't make it past the blogosphere at this point. Maybe this story will make it somewhere off the front page in the New York Times, but it would surprise me if it got any further.

and...

If you haven't seen the film, Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre, which is getting a lot of attention in countries with a free press, watch it here.

Socialism on Amazon

A creative way to hack the system, one which I think more progressive groups should be thinking of by the way, is being used by the "World Socialist Party of the U.S.". Try searching for socialism on Amazon.com and you will see keyword adds come up for these guys. Very nice!

It is important to note that a lot of right wing organizations have been doing keyword buys. This is a great example of progressive guerilla agitprop being used effectively. And no, not guerilla marketing either; marketing is for products and it is a capitalist concient to transform every damn thing into a commodity. Society is not just another capitalist commodity, quite the opposite, capitalism is a virus on society.

Anyhow, it would be interesting to see what comrades find when they do keyword searches on the major search engines - try "socialism" or "labor" for instance, and see what Google AdWords or Overture results you get. If you are so inclined, leave me a comment with the results.

Nerds On Strike!

As many folks know, the grad students at NYU are on strike because the administration of NYU, taking queue from the reactionary anti-labor policies of the Bush Administration, feels that they do not have to recognize nor negotiate with the union.

So, even after 4 years of contract negotiations, NYU is not recognizing the union and their president wants to "kill" the union. (shades of the horrible tactics being used against the UAW at Delphi).

Check out the NYU Grad Student strike blog: http://nerdsforgsoc.blogspot.com

NYU faculty have their own blog here: http://fdnyu.blogspot.com

Get Rid of These Capitalist Ways

"I believe we need to get rid of these capitalist ways," said Steven Honickel, 14.

High school students in Parsippany, New Jersy (USA) voiced their opinions on who should be the next governor of New Jersey, and selected Socialist candidate Tino Rozzo.

PARSIPPANY-- The winner of Parsippany High School's student poll for governor wasn't Republican Doug Forrester or Democrat Jon Corzine.

Socialist Party candidate Tino Rozzo, at 21.6 percent, narrowly edged Corzine and three other contenders in a survey of 270 freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors last week.

Rozzo, whose platform includes a $12-per-hour minimum wage and a "socialized healthcare system under workers and community control," would seem an unlikely favorite at a high school in relatively wealthy, Republican-dominated Morris County.

Still, he had some proud backers among students attending today's 1 p.m. debate in the high school's auditorium, with students standing in for five of the candidates running for governor.

[More...] (copyright dailyrecord.com)

There is a growing notion among all people in all nations, regardless of the constant anti-socialist propoganda, that capitalism is failing - has failed.

How is it, that people are coming out and expressing this? With constant oppression of the views of socialism, especially in the capital of Capital, the USA, how is it that high school students have an awareness that there is something fundamentally wrong with capitalism?

Personally I think that it is because the science of socialism reflects a deeper truth about human nature and the need for cooperation and desire for social good. Whether based on a strictly Marxist humanism, or the finer points of Christian teaching the result is the same and speaks to our hearts.

The dog-eat-dog world of capitalism is a failure for mankind and the only way out is democratic socialism.

(This article is cross-posted at the Uncapitalist Journal)

Eyewitness Accounts from France

"What is intolerable in a civilized society is not the revolt of those whose children, brothers and friends are hunted down and killed. What is intolerable is the arrogance of the authorities, of irresponsible police, of the State which is waging war against the poor."

Again, thanks to Sean at tothebarricades.blogspot.com, eyewitness accounts from the rebellion in France here...

Chavez Restyles Venezuela With '21st-Century Socialism'

"I'm not afraid of socialism and never have been," said Rivas Silvino, who works in a diaper factory run by workers and managers under a state co-management plan. "The world is afraid. I say, don't be afraid."

From an article by Juan Forero:

CARACAS, Venezuela - Firmly in power and his revolution now in overdrive, President Hugo Chavez is moving fast to transform Venezuela's economy by bucking free-market planning with what he calls 21st-century socialism: founding state companies, seizing abandoned private factories and establishing thousands of cooperatives and worker-run businesses.

[...]

Many of the president's grandest plans are put into practice at the year-old Ministry for the Popular Economy. Planners there have already created 6,840 cooperatives that employ 210,000 people nationwide, many producing for the state.

[...]

The new measures - which include the seizure of factories, mines and fields the government says are unproductive - are playing well domestically. Mr. Chavez has an approval rating topping 70 percent.

[More...]

After 200 years of exploitation under colonialism and capitalism, Venezuela is moving in a new direction. Bravo to Chavez and the Bolivarans for striking out in a new direction and leading the way towards global emancipation.

NYU GRAD STUDENTS ON STRIKE

Sean, at tothebarricades.blogspot.com has such an excellent post on the upcoming NYU grad student strike, that I had to crosspost it (below). A call to action - contact President Sexton and demand that the NYU administration meet the demands of the union: John.sexton@nyu.edu or (212) 998-2345.

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NYU Grad Students, through GSOC/Local 2110 UAW, have authorized a strike this morning which will result in a complete stoppage of work by graduate students in response to the administration's refusal to renew their contract, which expired on August 31, 2005 (the National Labor Relations Board, composed largely of apointees from a reactionary Bush administration, determined, contrary to a 2000 ruling, that universities do not have to negotiate with graduate student unions). A contract "offered" to the union by the administration in August was "little more than a public relations stunt" which acquiesced to none of the principal demands in an acceptable fashion.

The previous contract - the first given to graduate students at a private university - granted graduate students higher wages (a 40% increase), health benefits, childcare support, procedures for grievance resolution, workplace democracy, and generally improved working conditions; not, as the administration claims, to attempt to dictate academic policy or engage in other nefarious activity. The contract benefitted not only students but the entire university as students from across the country went to NYU thanks to the improved conditions obtained via the union. So, NYU's decision will ultimately hinder its struggle to compete with ivy league universities, as well.

The administration has been responding to pressure with bad faith and boldfaced lies. A recent email sent to undergraduates (which received an obscenity laden reply from myself) portrayed the union as "disruptive" troublemakers, controlled by mysterious and ill-meaning "auto workers" interfering with education, and its grievances as unwarranted petty complaints (with Sexton going as far as to say that grad students make over $50,000 a year! The actual average is around $19,000, which is roughly at the poverty line - it was much less before the contract). An excerpt:

In our opinion, the Auto Workers union is embarking on a regrettable and unfortunate course: regrettable because it fails to respect the significance of your efforts to pursue your education, and unfortunate because such an action will not result in recognition of the UAW to represent our graduate assistants. We understand that the possibility of a job action is the last thing you need at this point in the school year. We want to reassure you that the University will maintain your academic progress.

A rally, with over a thousand attending washeld on August 31st, the day the contract expired, but was met not with dialogue but with a violent state crackdown, leading to dozens of arrests. "Open meetings" with President Sexton have seen him crassly refuse to discuss union issues, claiming that "the University's decision is final." The most recent such meeting, with a strike imminent, saw him in nothing less than rage.

The graduate students and their union have the overwhelming support of undergraduate students, faculty, and the rest of the NYU community. The administration must now show what its priorities are through its response to the strike.

Below is the e-mail sent out to all GSOC members today:

Attention GSOC members:

We have voted by an 85% majority to authorize a strike. The strike will
begin on Wednesday, November 9th.

The GSOC Organizing Committee is calling for:
· All members of GSOC/UAW Local 2110 who are working this fall as TAs, RAsand GAs to withhold our labor, starting Wednesday, November 9 until the NYU administration negotiates a second contract with us. Being on strike means not teaching, grading, advising, performing GA or RA work or any other task which is part of our TA/RA/GA responsibilities.

· All GSOC members, whether working this fall or not, to join our picket line and refuse to do the work of striking colleagues.

Picket shifts and strike logistics will be announced shortly. We will be in contact regularly, and every GSOC member should stay informed via the “strike center” on our website: www.2110uaw.org. It is important that all members maintain updated contact info so that we can reach everyone quickly when necessary.

Our resounding strike vote is the culmination of months of organizing, and a demonstration of our membership’s resolve to win a fair second contract. NYU’s recent anti-union emails show that they are on the defensive and feeling the pressure of our campaign. Despite the administration’s anti-union spin, our support from the NYU community is growing daily:

· Over 200 full-time and adjunct faculty have already requested to move their classes off campus to honor our picket line.

· Over a dozen departments as well as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and
the Tisch School of the Arts have passed resolutions in support of GSOC.

· Over 250 faculty have signed a statement of neutrality, pledging to respect the right of GSOC members to strike without facing intimidation or retaliation.

· Hundreds of undergraduates have pledged support. Under the leadership of GUS (Grad/Undergrad Solidarity), undergrads are urging their professors to move classes off campus and encouraging their parents to demand that NYU recognize our union.

· The Washington Square News has repeatedly published editorials, articles and commentaries supporting our union and calling on the administration to negotiate.

· Members from other shops in Local 2110 and several members of the grad union at Yale have come to work on our strike. We have the full support of the UAW, and union solidarity will make our strike stronger.

The stronger our strike is, the more effective it will be. We urge all GSOC members to volunteer time this week and this coming weekend to help prepare for the strike. There are dozens of ways in which you can help, including making signs, helping to re-locate classes, phone banking, etc. Reply to this email or call the GSOC office at 212.387.0220 to find out what you can do to help win rights, respect and union recognition.

In solidarity,
The GSOC Organizing Committee

Voice your support! Contact President Sexton and demand that the NYU administration meet the demands of the union: John.sexton@nyu.edu or (212) 998-2345.

Call Yourself an American Socialist?

Bernie Sanders is the only Socialist in office in America at the federal level.

On January 3, 1991, when Bernie Sanders was sworn in as Vermont’s sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives, history was made. Sanders became the first Independent [Socialist] elected to Congress in 40 years. He has since been re-elected seven times and is the longest-serving Independent in the history of the House of Representatives.

If you call yourself an American Socialist, prove it and donate to Bernie's Senate campaign before November 8th.

Socialists Fight for Womens Rights

The Socialist government of Portugal was blocked in an effort to extend the reproductive freedom of women, but the struggle against the reactionaries carries on.

LISBON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Portugal's constitutional court rejected on Friday a decision by parliament to hold a referendum on abortion this year, saying it could be held at the earliest at the end of next year, Lusa news agency reported.

The court decided that the referendum could not go ahead on Nov. 27 as the ruling Socialists wanted because of a rejection of the vote by President Jorge Sampaio earlier this year.

The Socialist government, which came to power early in 2005, promised in its election manifesto to hold a referendum on abortion in this deeply Catholic country, one of the few in Europe to still ban abortions.

[...]

The Family Planning Association has estimated there are 20,000 to 40,000 illegal abortions a year in Portugal.

As with most in the "Right to Choose" crowd, I am not a huge fan of abortion for its own sake, but and firmly and staunchly in favor of reproductive rights for women. Any other position simply plays into the hands of traditional forces that view women as property to be controlled.

Class Struggle

Class Struggle - this little gem is touted as the "World's First Marxist Board Game" having been designed by NYU professor Bertell Ollman. The object of the game is defined as follows:

"Class Struggle" reflects the real struggle between the classes in our society. THE OBJECT OF THE GAME IS TO WIN THE REVOLUTION . . . ULTIMATELY. Until then, classes—represented by different players—advance around the board, making and breaking alliances, and picking up strengths and weaknesses that determine the outcome of the elections and general strikes which occur along the way.

I ran across this some time ago and was recently reminded of it and, of course, had to blog on it. What a great concept - a Marxist board game! Games are a huge part of the media-scape these days and are fundamental to teaching children about the world we live in and how they should behave in it. The Christian right is well aware of this and we see some top selling games on the market which are themed around Christian concepts, like the "Left Behind" series.

It seems very clear to me that we need more work along the lines of Class Struggle. Bertell Ollman combines solid theory with fun playability and humor to create an inspired final product. Below is an excerpt from Ollman's book "Ballbuster," which chronicles the business venture to sell the game:

In Boston, the Real Paper arranged a celebrity match of Class Struggle between three media personalities, the GOP candidate for governor of Massachusetts, the Democratic secretary of state for education, and Mortimer Zuckerman, one of Boston's leading capitalists, who has since become publisher of Atlantic magazine. Played in the office of David Rockefeller, Jr. publisher of the Real Paper, the game took on eerie overtones when Zuckerman, who played the Capitalists, tried his best to blow up the world just as he was about to lose. "Of course, capitalists would rather be dead than give up their wealth," Zuckerman said with the air of someone who knew what he was talking about.

Save Littlefoot

What do ya'll think most Americans said when recently asked the following question by CBS News:

Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin of human beings? (1) Human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years, and God did not directly guide this process. (2) Human beings evolved from less advanced life forms over millions of years, but God guided this process. (3) God created human beings in their present form."

Well, according to CBS, 55% chose door number three, or "God created [us] in present form." Better yet, 48% said that this all happened in the last 10,000 years! I guess those folks forgot about Littlefoot and the rest of the long-necks, those insensitive bastards! I mean really, look how cute this bugger is! Er well, that ins not actually Littlefoot himself, but even a bloody T-Rex is almost cudley (don't let him near the 'fridge tho!).

Seriously however, this sort of wrongheaded thinking is truely anti-rational. It is one of the reasons that Marx spoke out so strongly against the reactionary influence of religion in society. As a social force, religion can and does act against rationality and moves us backward in time (though not past 10,000 years mind you) to an era where superstition ruled the day.

Personally I believe, like many others, that Christ was a precursor to Socialism and some radical preachers have stated firmly from the pulpit that a Communist society is the City of God here on earth.

Whether you agree with that notion or not, one thing is absolutely for certain, Christ was no fan of wealth (which the devout of the Middle Ages incorrectly interpreted as his being against money ("filthy mammon"), which is just one form of wealth) and made it quite clear in a myriad of parables and through direct action.

At the root of things I'd say that many so-called Protestant churches today work in opposition to Christ's word and teachings and in opposition to Protestant ideals. One of the fundamental tennants of Christian teaching, which make it break with the older traditions, is for people to be free thinkers and to thoughtfully and prayerfully interpret the Word for themselves.

Religion fails when it takes the parts of the Bible which suit its own purposes, whether they be to fill the coffers of the church or to aid backwards looking political movements, mysticism and superstition.

For me, these poll numbers indicate quite clearly that a large portion of the religious establishment in the US is failing.

Article cross-posted at the UnCapitalist Journal.

I Blog Because...

I blog because...

"I do not write to earn a living or to build a reputation. I write to battle enemies.

"Who are they? Every outdated traditional notion, every irrational system that stands in the way of social progress and human development, and every instance of cruelty in the face of love. These are my great enemies.

"My pen is alight and my body aflame. Until both burn down to ash, my love and my hate will remain here in the world."

- Ba Jin

More here: plawiuk.blogspot.com

Revered Chinese Author Ba Jin Dies at 100

Revered Chinese Author Ba Jin Dies at 100
Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Ba Jin, one of China's most revered communist-era writers
who attacked the evils of the pre-revolutionary era in novels, short
stories and essays, died Monday of cancer in Shanghai, the official
Xinhua News Agency said. He was 100.

Best known for his 1931 novel "Family," the story of a disintegrating
feudal household, Ba Jin also translated the Russian writers Ivan
Turgenev and Pyotr Kropotkin.

Ba Jin worked well into his later years writing essays and compiling
anthologies of his work.

He was part of the young intelligentsia in the early 20th century that
looked to Western philosophies — Marxism, anarchism, and liberalism — for
solutions to China's backwardness and social inequality.

This story continues at:
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=05/10/17/2139240

Discuss this story at:
http://info.interactivist.net/comments.pl?sid=05/10/17/2139240

Mo Internationale

This site gets a fair amount of traffic from folks looking for The Internationale, and some specific questions regarding whether it is available as a ringtone for mobile phones.

As many of you know, the ringtone business is one of the most onerous forms of capital exploitation in the modern spectacle, piggy-backed on the already exploitive cellphone business.

I thought it prudent to offer some links to truely free ways to program the Internationale on your cell phone.

This site (LA INTERNACIONAL EN TU MOVIL) offers a way to program many phones (Nokia, Alcatel, Motorola, Samsung, Sanyo, Ericsson, Siemens, Sony) to play the Internationale.

For Blackberry devices and other phones that accept MIDI files for ringtones (such as Nokia phones using the PC updater ringtone composer), visit Dave Levy's weblog here.

I've tried a few other MIDI versions with limited success. Stay tuned, I'll update this entry as I get more information and please help out by posting any information you may have.

New Internationale MP3s

The best collection of versions of the Internationale MP3s on the web has recently gotten better. Check out http://www.hymn.ru/internationale/. They have even added my favorite version by Alistair Hulett which I encourage all to download, or better yet you can even buy his excellent 1991 album, Dance of the Underclass (e-mail me if you need help finding this). One of my other favorites in the collection over at hymn.ru is Hannes Wader's German version of the Internationale. Have fun comrades!

Was Lenin a Communist?

Today I have lost the last shred of respect I had left for the New York Times, thanks to its ridiculous character assassination article on Lenin "Russia Weighs What to Do with Lenin's Body."

C.J.Chivers does quite a stomach turning dance around facts and I'm sure is making the likes of Charles Krauthammer grin with pride. This article is the same sort of slop that Chucky dishes out, filled with innuendo and non-facts masked as real news and even sympathy.

Well C.J. congratulations on being able to string together a series of third-hand comments on and disguising it as "reporting." Generally I find it useful to actually:

1. know something about a topic,
2. doing real research and using accurate statistics,
and
3. actually interviewing people who have something intelligent to say and some credentials to back their comments up

Clearly you have surpassed my skills by being able to skip all these rules of thumb I find so handy.

You state in your horrid little story that "Time has been unkind to Lenin, whose remains here in Red Square are said to sprout occasional fungi, and whose ideology and party long ago fell to ruins." As it turns out, the CPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) is the largest independent party (non-coalition) in Russia, holding 12.7% of the seats in the state Duma. United Russia, the ruling coalition, is the only group that holds more seats.

You close the article by asking whether Lenin was a Communist. I'm no authoritarian, but I find it amusing to imagine whether you'd have dared to write such drivel when Stalin was still in power.

Lenin made his share of mistakes, the most unforgivable in the eyes of the capitalist press of course was that he wanted to create a socialist nation free from the wage-slavery inherent in the capitalist system. Lenin was the first successful leader of a socialist revolution, and was followed by many others the world over, and many still follow his lead today. Certainly he made decisions I disagree with, and his methods were not always completely democratic. But it would be very difficult to argue that the methods of most American presidents, especially in times of war, are or were completely democratic.

No, C.J. had one mission and that was to demonize Lenin. Its a testament to Lenin's true power that the New York Times finds it necessary to muckrake the fate of a 80 year old, fungified corpse. For me this proves the old axiom that the powers that be tremble when they think of the people organizing for a better world, for they know their days are numbered. They are few and we are many! The spirit of Lenin lives!

Thanks to Counago & Spaves for brining this to my attention. This nonsense is cross-posted at The Uncapitalist Journal.

Big Government Is Back

The always excellent Texas Observer was filled with great articles this week. Specifically, a piece by James Galbraith exposing the problems of irresponsible slashing of government budgets and the capitalist cronyism that has gone with it. The results are obvious in New Orleans. But the good news is that the left press is realizing that getting rid of Bush is not the answer. The answer is to rethink the role of government and realize that its primary mission should be to organize and deploy social production for the good of the entire society.

Hurricane Katrina has suddenly ended a 30-year illusion—that the era of big government is over. This illusion began with the New York fiscal crisis in 1975 and the California property tax revolt of 1978. It was carried to the national stage by Ronald Reagan in 1980, endorsed by Bill Clinton in 1996, and brought to its apocalyptic unraveling by George W. Bush. We see its consequences in New Orleans.

So now we know. The proper government of the United States must be big, demanding, ambitious, and expensive. It requires the incessant management of environmental forces, the repair and growth of transportation networks, provision of education and health care—and planning for disasters. It is a job for dedicated, competent, professional public servants, with clear missions, big budgets, and accountability for results.[emphasis added]

[...]

George Bush is taking a beating for stocking FEMA with incompetent cronies. He deserves it. But this abuse of power is not the whole Katrina story. And replacing Bush is not a sufficient condition for progress. The ideas that Bush stands for, including many that Democrats have foolishly accepted, also stand exposed as frauds. It’s time for them to go. The era of “the era of big government is over” is over. And not a minute too soon.

To read the full article on the Texas Observer web site, click here.

Big News - First Live Giant Squid Photographed!

OK, I am coming out of the cephalopod closet today to announce some really huge news, namely that on Sept 27, 2005, a Japanese team of researches released film of a healthy, live giant squid in its natural habitat. The grand Architeuthis Dux approximately 1 km below the surface was filmed going after the bait which the team had on the end of a fishing line. The squid grabbed the bait to eat it, and when it got caught on the hooks lost one arm or tentacle (the report said tentacle, but the photo of the detached appendage looked more like an arm).

This link will take you to more photos: Squid Photos

This link will take you to an article:
Squid Article

Socialist World Map Project

With a long standing interest in interests geographic, indeed my BA from the University of Texas was achieved with a double major in Geography and Political Science, I have great pleasure in announcing my latest project.

My initial goal with this project was to better understand the claim that "capital has won"and to explore the extent of globalization and neo-liberal policies fueled by the IMF and World Bank. In fact what I found was quite the opposite.

Socialism is alive and well throughout the world and in fact is on the rise. The much touted "new world order" and "end of history" espoused by the self-deluded guardians of the spectacle are less true today than when they were spoken.

The first installment of the project is a map of the western hemisphere. The countries are categorized with regards to the degree that their ruling party have adopted a socialist program. The categories are as follows:

• Socialist (red) - the ruling party identifies itself as Marxist or socialist and has adopted various programs of social justice
• Social Democracy (light red) - the ruling party has adopted aggressive social welfare programs for the benefit of the people
  
• Neo Liberal (light blue) - the ruling party has adopted some or many social programs but is aggressively in favor of neo-liberalism, privitization and globalization
• Reactionary (blue) - aggressive capitalist or reactionary agenda; includes the spectrum from democratically elected conservative governments to unelected tyrants

I understand that the categories are somewhat arbitrary and I welcome comment and dialog. The research has been done primarily using Wikipedia to determine the current governing party of each country, and its program. Again I welcome comment and corrections.


Click here for the most recent version.