I N T E R N E T ' S  M A O I S T  BI-M O N T H L Y

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         THE MAOIST INTERNATIONALIST MOVEMENT

     MIM NOTES 115                 JUNE 1, 1996


MIM Notes speaks to and from the viewpoint of the 
world's oppressed majority, and against the 
imperialist-patriarchy. Pick it up and wield it in 
the service of the people. support it, struggle 
with it and write for it.




MOVE EXPOSES AMERIKA IN COMMEMORATION OF BOMBING


PHILADELPHIA-- MOVE held a commemorative meeting on 
May 11, marking the May 13 anniversary of the 1985 
bombing of MOVE by the city of Philadelphia. The 
well-attended meeting also coincided with the trial 
of the civil suit Africa v. Philadelphia, in which 
MOVE survivors are suing for damages that resulted 
from the bombing, which left 11 people dead, 61 
houses destroyed and hundreds of people homeless. 
Nine MOVE members are still in jail on bogus 
charges while the murderous pigs remain unpunished.

On this same day, Bill Clinton was scheduled to 
address the national celebration of the Fraternal 
Order of Pigs in Washington. And two days later the 
State of Pennsylvania was due to respond to Mumia 
Abu-Jamal's latest appeal for a new trial, 
according to defense attorney Leonard Weinglass.

A recurring theme among speakers--from MOVE 
minister Ramona Africa and rap artist Mike Africa 
to Weinglass--was that oppression and genocide can 
be part of the "legal" system. As Mike repeated in 
his performance: "Just because it's legal, don't 
make it right."


NEW LAW HURTS MUMIA


Weinglass described the implications of the new 
misnamed "anti-terrorist" legislation now in 
effect, which severely restricts death penalty 
appeals to Federal courts so-called "habeas corpus" 
appeals.(See page 10 for more on this legislation) 
The new law affects Mumia and other existing cases, 
even though Mumia's case is more than a decade old. 
Besides placing brutal time limits on appeals of 
state decisions to Federal courts, the law also 
"moves the goal posts," Weinglass said, requiring 
Federal judges to apply a "presumption of 
correctness" standard when reviewing state 
decisions. The Supreme Court has decided to hear an 
immediate challenge to the new law which restricts 
habeas corpus appeals, presumably so they can 
swiftly approve it and speed up hundreds of 
executions, Weinglass said. Mumia's appeal, 
according to Weinglass, will probably be argued 
before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the fall.


FASCISM IN THE USA?


Weinglass compared the recent Amerikan anti-crime 
craze to the progression of fascism in Nazi 
Germany, because, as in Germany, "It's being done 
legally, it's being done quietly, it's being done 
step-by-step." In addition to the anti-terrorism 
bill, new legislation also limits prisoners' 
abilities to file suits regarding prison 
conditions.

MIM disagrees with Weinglass because most 
Amerikans, especially in the white working class 
support the rising tide of national oppression 
implemented, in part, by the genocidal injustice 
system. Rather than doing it "quietly," Congress 
and the states are rolling back "rights" to the 
sound of constant clamoring from the white middle-
class majority. In Germany, a majority of the 
working class also eventually supported fascism, 
and many opposed the communist movement from the 
beginning. In Germany, however, the significant 
presence of communists among the workers meant that 
the fascists and their backers from the 
bourgeoisie, middle-and working-classes were 
willing to give up some of their own democratic 
rights to save German imperialism. Among Amerikans 
at present, there is almost no true radicalism, so 
whites turn their fascist intentions mostly toward 
the oppressed Black, Latino and First Nations. Many 
people make the fascism comparison to try and scare 
white people into progressive causes, but that just 
leads whites to politics for the wrong reasons to 
protect their own privileges instead of ending true 
oppression.

For example, a progressive speaker from Belgium, 
Eefke Saris, who is starting a Friends of Move 
organization there, said, "If Mumia is free, then 
it's a small step toward everyone being free from 
the system." While it is true that imperialism 
curdles many aspects of a meaningful life for 
everyone, the self-interest route to politics for 
members of oppressor nations covers up mile-high 
privilege with a facade of emotional angst. It's 
fine for privileged people to say they will be 
happier without imperialism as a reason for getting 
into revolutionary politics but only if they are 
clear that material advantage is a separate 
question.

Among the Black nation, however, it should be 
apparent that the increasingly fascist crackdowns 
put the whole Black nation at risk. As one Black 
woman said to MIM of Mumia's frame-up case and 
prosecution, "That's the scary part theyre taking 
away our rights. That could be any of us."


EUROPEAN SUPPORT


The new organization in Belgium is only one of many 
new efforts in Europe spurred by the Mumia and MOVE 
activism coming from Blacks in North America. Such 
inspired organizing is also being done in England, 
Germany, Italy and other countries. For example, 
Saris said that the new MOVE activism helped people 
in Belgium organize to protest when a Yugoslavian 
immigrant was murdered by police recently. "It's 
going very slowly, but it's going," she said of the 
movement in Belgium.

Mumia's case has gained new international support. 
Activists at the meeting reported that in addition 
to 200,000 signatures from Italy and 60,000 
signatures from Paris calling for a new trial, 22 
members of the Japanese parliament and a majority 
in the European parliament have asked the United 
Snakes to consider a new trial. Mumia has also been 
formally recognized with honorary citizenship in 
Venice (Italy), an honorary law degree from a 
California school and he was named an official in 
the National Lawyers Guild.

Weinglass said the European support for Mumia and 
MOVE, which outstrips support in North America, is 
part of a broader trend. In the USA, he said, 
"there is a groundswell of a national movement" 
that includes recent defeats for the death penalty 
in several states.

In U.N. trials for crimes against humanity (in the 
cases of Rwanda and Cambodia), the death penalty 
was not pursued "even for people guilty of 10,000 
murders," Weinglass added. "The taking of any life, 
no matter what, is not acceptable for state 
politics." Again, MIM disagrees (and we won't get 
into the politics of U.N. "human rights" here, for 
the moment). Revolutionary states run by the people 
instead of by the imperialists may practice 
executions in good conscience when crimes against 
the people are heinous and rehabilitation is 
impossible. Pacifist activism against the death 
penalty in imperialist society is progressive, but 
there is no point in pretending that no heads will 
roll in the transition to a free society whether in 
open war or in executions of evil and unrepentant 
oppressors of the people. Once communism is 
achieved, there will be no state executions because 
there will be no state and no contradictions that 
would inspire actions necessitating the death 
penalty as a response. However, under the 
historically long period of socialism, the death 
penalty will be unavoidable early on because some 
enemies of the people will unscrupulously fight for 
the restoration of exploitation and the destruction 
of revolutionary progress. 

For information on MOVE, write PO Box 19709, 
Philadelphia, PA, 19143, or on the Internet at 
MOVELLJA@aol.com. Subscriptions to First Day, 
published by MOVE, are $8 for the next six issues.


* * *


INDIANA CONTROL UNIT PRISON PROTEST


by a RAIL Comrade

Two hundred people came to a day of protest 
demonstrations at the Control Unit Prison in 
Carlisle, Indiana, the Federal Penitentiary and 
Vigo County Courthouse in Terre Haute, Indiana; the 
Missouri RAIL was able to attend the latter 2 
events. The demands of these demonstrations were to 
abolish control unit prisons, end the death 
penalty, and freedom for all political prisoners. 
The event involved 10 sponsoring organizations and 
was coordinated by the National Campaign to Stop 
Control Unit Prisons as part of Spring activities 
across the country.

People chanted slogans such as "The human rights 
problem in the world today is right here in the 
USA," "Political Prisoners are here today. Walls 
and bars can't keep us away," and "Que salga ya," 
(It is imperative, or Let it come out now), and 
they carried portraits of Puerto Rican political 
prisoners, and signs such as "Control Units are 
Torture." Many people waved the Puerto Rican flag.

Many comrades of oppressed nation struggles gave 
speeches. A member of the National Committee to 
Free Puerto Rican Political Prisoners spoke on the 
steps of the Vigo County Courthouse, where the 
Puerto Rican flag was waved high in the sky all 
through the demonstration, an inspiring site for 
MORAIL and for anyone who is working for self-
determination for oppressed nations. A former 
Puerto Rican POW spoke in Spanish then English, as 
well as a relative of Edwin Cortes, who is 
currently imprisoned at the Federal Penitentiary at 
Terre Haute.

Edwin Cortes is currently imprisoned the Terre 
Haute Pen for membership in the FALN, as well as 
accusations of an extensive bombing campaign, along 
with eleven other independistas. One of the 
founders of the Union for Puerto Rican Students, he 
participated in struggles in support of the Iranian 
and Palestinian people, as well as promoting the 
history and culture of Puerto Rico and organizing 
support for Puerto Rican independence. It is 
important to recognize and support Edwin's 
conscious political struggle, while we recognize 
that all prisoners in Amerikka's penal system are 
politically oppressed.

A member of the Spear and Shield Collective was the 
first to speak at the Federal Penitentiary. The 
comrades speech confirmed the importance of mass 
activity and that, in order to be effective, a 
vanguard party must be in touch with and working 
with the masses. MORAIL is in agreement with the 
comrade on this. The speaker also said that "all 
work around prisons represents but one front of the 
struggle," and advocated working with the masses on 
other fronts as well, to take over schools, to take 
over hospitals, and to "(re)generate struggle on 
all other fronts in our communities".

Through discussion with the comrade after the 
demonstration, MORAIL was able to clarify, while we 
have much unity with the Spear and Shield 
Collective, where our differences lie. The comrade 
holds that all prisoners are not political 
prisoners, while MORAIL maintains that all 
prisoners are political prisoners, but that many 
are not politically active or politically 
conscious. The significance of the comrades 
position is that, in practice, s/he disagrees with 
us on the focus RAIL and MIM give to prison work. 
If this writer understands MIM correctly, while all 
these other fronts the comrade mentions are 
important, we put the focus on prison work and 
police attacks because these are imperialisms most 
direct attacks on oppressed nations. It is here 
that imperialism is most clearly exposed (in the 
United States). While we must combat imperialism on 
all fronts, these are the frontlines.

During the demonstration, a MORAIL comrade took a 
picture of the Federal Penitentiary. As S/he walked 
a few feet onto the grass in front of the prison, a 
pig with a videocamera yelled "Get off the 
property!" Another pig ordered the comrade to turn 
over the film, and was ignored. These pigs are 
rather laughable and insecure when the cameras are 
turned on them and they see the people protesting 
the pigs and their koncentration kamps.

MORAIL is proud of this opportunity to stand in 
solidarity with other activists protesting 
imperialist oppression. 


* * *


LETTERS TO MIM AND RAIL


IF ALL SEX IS RAPE, WHAT ABOUT ALL WORK?

Dear MIM,

In the May 1 issue of MIM Notes you carried an 
article titled, "Rape, Sex and Patriarchy: MIM 
Presentation." In it you described how sex in 
today's society is rape. You based this analysis on 
the recognition that "while some sex is more 
coercive than others, it is essential to recognize 
the fundamental differences that exist between men 
and women. These conditions of inequality make all 
the relationships coercive."

While this analysis is applaudable, and I feel 
rather accurate, it underscores a failure on MIM's 
part regarding its stand on the American working 
class. It is incontestable that the third world 
proletariat is subject to greater exploitation than 
the average worker here; that does not mean that 
the American worker' exploitation is to be ignored. 
As you pointed out in your analysis of gender 
relations, an inequality of power is the basis for 
oppression. The coercion may not be as great here 
as in the Third World, but it still exists and has 
to be recognized and opposed. 

MIM makes a point of opposing the effects of 
patriarchy against all women, why doesn't it do the 
same for opposing the exploitation of all labor? 
Granted the American worker can be considered to be 
active in and responsible for the exploitation of 
Third World labor to a degree, but that can be said 
of women, either supporting the effects of the 
patriarchy, or in exploiting other women. False 
consciousness is the enemy here, not first world 
labor.

I recognize that the U.S. working class may not 
hold as much revolutionary potential at the present 
as the more oppressed Third World; but as you 
pointed out in your article, oppression is there no 
matter how concealed it may be, and as a result it 
has to be actively opposed.

I enjoyed you article, and wish to thank you for 
making me more aware of gender inequality, My above 
criticism is more of a question on MIM's position. 
I look forward to your response.

'Red'ily yours,

--a reader in the Midwest



MIM REPLIES: You have touched on a very important 
point that dialectical materialists struggle with 
constantly. We must always understand the material 
interests of various groups of people, but that is 
not enough. We must also understand what is being 
sacrificed to serve those material interests. That 
is a point on which we can win over some oppressor-
nation youth.

Your criticism is half correct. It is true that 
just as sex under patriarchy is gross no matter how 
rich you are, work under imperialism is gross no 
matter how rich you are. In the current structure, 
many Amerikans waste their lives away shuffling 
papers, producing nothing, feeling alienated and 
without purpose. However, the incorrect half of 
your criticism is that this realization leads to 
revolutionary consciousness. You use the words 
"exploitation" and "oppression" interchangeably, 
which confuses the issue. MIM's contention is not 
that First World workers are exploited less, but 
that they are not exploited at all. But they do 
suffer from some oppression under capitalism.

If Amerikans were both exploited and alienated, as 
a majority of the world's workers are, they would 
be a good constituency for revolutionary 
organizing. However, they are only the latter. We 
use that alienation as an in, especially with youth 
who are not yet so caught up in the two-VCRs-and-a-
real-nice-car lifestyle. We should emphasize it. 
But as we stress the cultural bankruptcy of 
imperialism, even for Amerikans, we must always be 
conscious to avoid pandering to the material 
interests of an oppressor class.



FREE GERONIMO!

I am writing this letter in support of Geronimo ji 
Jaga (Pratt) who is a former Minister of Defense 
for the Black Panther Party, and has been a 
prisoner of war in the California State Prison 
system for the past 26 years. He was falsely 
accused of murder as part of an FBI COINTELPRO 
covert operation.

In the hearing of March 21, 1996, in Los Angeles, 
Judge Michael Cowell acknowledged that the defense 
raised substantive issues in its court filing of 
Habeas Corpus to overturn the murder conviction. 
Judge Cowell said the Habeas "has been initiated, 
and if I do not have jurisdiction, this matter will 
proceed in a timely manner." Prosecutors are 
alleging the State of California Supreme Court had 
jurisdiction in this case. Ultimately prosecutors 
delayed the case with this tactic denying for the 
time being the possibility of presenting vital 
evidence that has surfaced since Ob ji Jaga's 
conviction.

Denied bail, Oba ji Jaga in Los Angeles County jail 
the duration of his hearing. Since his arrival in 
chains, Oba was placed in lock-down, and didn't 
receive mail, or visitors till April 11. Wednesday 
April 17, the hearing determined his case should go 
to the higher court, and on the 18th Oba was 
transported back to Mule Creek State Prison in 
Ione. He was placed in "orientation" or lockdown 
till April 25th.

I hope whoever sees this will spread the word of 
Oba's struggle for freedom and/or organize action 
in his behalf. It's time to Free Geronimo!



NEW RAIL BRANCH FORMS

Comrades,

The first RAIL meeting was good. Our focus, of 
course, was on prisons and police brutality. We 
started off with a 20 minute video about Mumia Abu-
Jamal. Then a RAIL comrade gave a presentation 
about the growth of prisons and the targeting of 
Blacks, Latinos and people of the First Nations. A 
global perspective was kept by drawing the analogy 
of U.S. imperialist domination of the Third World 
and US oppression of the internal colonies. 
"Prisoners of Liberation" was cited because of the 
authors' observations of genuine rehabilitation 
based on unity-criticism-unity.

Then, a relative of a Black youth who was murdered 
by a pig a couple of months ago spoke. He expressed 
the need to stop pig abuse and terror and urged 
people to join a picket line every week demanding 
that the murderer be brought to justice. He also 
brought up the idea of a civilian review board and 
invited people to a meeting to take up that 
topic....

The discussion that followed was intense. It 
included: slave labor in prisons; the viability of 
civilian review boards; community values vs. 
"family values"; political prisoners in South 
Africa (Mandela-free others-Not!); all US prisoners 
as political prisoners. Then a RAIL comrade read a 
letter from Sundiata Acoli, printed in CROSSROAD, 
which stressed the need for Black independence via 
a plebiscite. We adjourned, agreeing to meet in one 
month. Everyone received a copy of the March MIM 
Notes and special note was made of the RAIL insert. 
A copy of RAIL's prison pamphlet was also given to 
all.

Form letters to Janet Reno, demanding a new trial 
for Mumia were signed by participants and forwarded 
to Int'l concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-
Jamal. (A demo has been planned for May 19 and 
letters to be handed to her on May 20--known as the 
'million letters for Mumia campaign'.)

Until next time,

A RAIL comrade


MIM REPLIES: We print this letter as an example and 
inspiration for other readers out there thinking 
about getting a RAIL branch started. Get something 
going now! Write us a letter and let us know how it 
is going!



DEFEND TAIWAN?

These criticisms were part of a much longer more 
theoretical letter, not printed here. The response 
is also excerpted. --ed.

Dear comrades,

First, even if we assume that China is indeed 
state-capitalist rather than socialist (and I do 
not believe that, but assuming for the sake of 
argument), an attack by China against Taiwan would 
at least be a triumph of third world nationalism 
over imperialism. If we agree that Iraq was correct 
to try to reclaim Kuwait, would consistency not 
demand that we would support any effort by China to 
retake Taiwan?

Comradely Yours,

A friend in the south


A RAIL COMRADE RESPONDS: We don't defend Iraq's 
attack on Kuwait or any Third World country 
aggression upon any other Third World country, 
China and Taiwan included. Instead, we support 
anti-imperialist wars against the First World, 
particularly U.S. imperialism. Iraq should have 
fought to escape neocolonialism by building 
socialism instead of invading Kuwait. So too, China 
should build socialism and not invade Taiwan. If 
you think China is still socialist, we suggest 
Charles Bettelheim's China Since Mao and the study 
guide The Capitalist Roaders Are Still on the 
Capitalist Road, available from MIM.

Thanks for writing. We hope the delay this time 
isn't so bad and look forward to corresponding 
again.


* * *


RAIL CELEBRATES MAY DAY WITH RALLY AGAINST 
IMPERIALIST MILITARISM


LOS ANGELES, May 1--The Revolutionary Anti-
Imperialist League (RAIL) celebrated International 
Workers Day today by leading an informational rally 
outside UCLA's administration building, Murphy 
Hall. RAIL is led by the Maoist Internationalist 
Movement (MIM), a revolutionary communist party. 
The rally highlighted the connections between UCLA, 
the U.S. military-industrial complex, and the 
oppression of the world's workers and peasants. 
Activists gave passers-by literature exposing the 
University of California's ties to the U.S. war 
machine. This literature included CALRAIL, a 
publication of the California Chapter of RAIL, and 
a flier promoting the rally and explaining its 
purpose. The flier read in part:

"In celebration of May Day, International Workers 
Day, join with the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist 
League (RAIL) to rally to stop the current World 
War III!

"The imperialists are currently waging a hot war--a 
World War III--against the world's oppressed 
nations, including the U.S. empire's internal 
colonies. From South Central L.A. and other 
ghettos, barrios, and reservations of Aztl·n to 
Bosnia, Liberia, Lebanon and the Philippines, 
Amerikkka's war on the world's workers and peasants 
is not our fight! We must smash the U.S. war 
machine. To do so, we must expose and organize 
against the links between U.S. militarism and 
civilian institutions. This rally targets UCLA's 
administration building because of UCLA's extensive 
ties to the U.S. war machine. UCLA conducts $18.7 
million in Pentagon research every year and hosts 
an ROTC program which trains young students from 
UCLA and other schools to become imperialism's 
hired killers.


"SMASH UCLA'S TIES TO THE U.S. WAR MACHINE!"


RAIL's rally succeeded in its goal of building 
public opinion against militarism and imperialism. 
However, the rally was overshadowed by a larger 
march and rally held by the pseudo-proletarian UCLA 
Union Coalition (UCLAUC). This coalition's member 
organizations are the University Professional and 
Technical Employees, the petit-bourgeois Student 
Association of Graduate Employees (affiliated with 
the labor aristocracy's United Auto Workers), the 
University of California Association of Interns and 
Residents, the Coalition of University Employees, 
the California Nurses Association, and the petit-
bourgeois librarians' local of the American 
Federation of Teachers. UCLAUC billed their event 
as a "UCLA Labor Solidarity Day March and 
Rally...for union, civil & human rights."

The UCLAUC march ended with a rally at Murphy Hall 
where the RAIL rally was taking place. MIM is not 
surprised that the coalition which put forward the 
class demands of UCLA's labor aristocracy and 
petit-bourgeoisie drew a larger crowd than the 
League which put forward the class demands of the 
international proletariat. MIM and RAIL are not 
about to tailor our lines to the labor aristocracy 
or the petty-bourgeoisie, because these classes 
have a material interest in propping up the 
imperialist system which gives them privilege while 
it gives the world's proletariat and peasantry 
hell.

RAIL's rally exposed the fact that UCLA and the 
University of California (UC) system generally are 
integral to Amerikkka's imperialist war machine. In 
the face of this exposure, UCLAUC rallied to demand 
more of UC's blood-stained money. Smashing UC's 
ties to the U.S. war machine was not one of 
UCLAUC's demands which call UCLA a "good" 
university that they want to make "an even better 
public university." UCLAUC's plan to make UCLA a 
better university involves taking a bigger piece of 
the profit pie baked by the exploited people of the 
world for the parasites working at UCLA while 
leaving intact the imperialist militarist system 
that makes these big profits possible. If any of 
UCLAUC's members are genuine proletarians or have a 
genuine interest in fighting on the side of the 
proletariat, we recommend that they stay organized 
by joining RAIL. Proletarians must steer clear of 
"allies" who side with Amerikkka's business as 
usual of waging World War III against other 
proletarians.

The UCLAUC speakers attempted to co-opt 
International Workers Day for their demands, 
demands which amount to asking for a larger piece 
of a stolen pie. But May Day is the holiday of the 
international proletariat, those who have nothing 
to lose but their chains. We have nothing against 
organizing members of the petit-bourgeoisie, the 
labor aristocracy, or even the bourgeoisie. For 
this reason, we distributed RAIL literature to 
UCLAUC's crowd. We are, however, completely opposed 
to organizing these individuals on the basis of 
their classes' reactionary demands. The intrusion 
of the organizations of these reactionary classes 
into May Day and into RAIL's rally site is not all 
bad. For one thing, it illustrates the differences 
between the class stand of the international 
proletariat and that of the bribed workers of the 
imperialist countries. For another, it serves as a 
reminder to the proletarian forces that we cannot 
let down our guard. The proletarian forces 
constitute the world's majority, but they are a 
minority within U.S. borders. There is much work to 
be done to make proletarian- led revolution a 
reality in North America.


* * *


VASQUEZ RAILROADED; FRIENDS AND FAMILY CONTINUE TO 
FIGHT FOR JUSTICE

In MIM Notes 113 (May 1, 1996), we reported on the 
case of Salomon Vasquez, an Ypsilanti, MI man who 
was arrested and is now in prison for murder. MIM 
publicizes the facts of Salomon's case because we 
believe that the best way to help people who are 
victimized by Amerika is to publicly connect their 
cases to systemic injustice. Vasquez is an example 
of the way members of oppressed nations are 
railroaded into prison: his public defender was 
inadequate, one key witness was clearly lying but 
his testimony was allowed to be used, and Vasquez 
did not even fire the gun in the accidental 
shooting death for which he was convicted. We hope 
that our work around Salomon's case will inspire 
people to support him and to work against all forms 
of Amerikan criminal injustice. The best way to 
fight the systematic national oppression of the 
injustice system is to work with or in a 
revolutionary party, and contribute to the fight 
against imperialism. Here we print Salomon's 
response to our coverage of his case.

MIM, 

Hello, I am Salomon Vasquez and I'm writing you to 
thank you for your support you have given. It 
really makes me feel good to know that there are 
good and caring people in this country that care 
about prisoners. You know, before I came to Amerika 
I had a different feeling and opinion about this 
country because I thought it was a good and free 
country but as I grew older I started learning that 
money is everything here. It is said what Amerika 
is but they always talk about how great and free 
this country is. Me, if I could get out of here, 
I'll return to my country without having to think 
about it and never come back. For example, there's 
hardly any space for more prisoners but they don't 
want to release people and the governor is talking 
about building more prisons spending all that money 
in prisons when there's homeless and hungry people 
everywhere in the world. Sad ain't it? I really 
like your movement and I'll like to receive your 
paper every two weeks, I also would like to get 
information on your books for prisoners program. 
Thank you once again for your support.

MIM and RAIL will be hosting a speaker on the topic 
of Salomon Vasquez's case in the Michigan League, 
Room D on the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 
campus. The talk will be on Friday May 31 at 8 pm. 
If you want to learn more about or help out with 
Salomon's case, or if you want to learn more about 
MIM's and RAIL's work in opposition to the Amerikan 
criminal injustice system, contact MIM or RAIL, 
P.O. Box 3576, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3576 or 
mim@nyxfer.blythe.org.


* * *


CHINA'S RULING CLIQUE CELEBRATES MAY DAY

On International Workers' Day, several people were 
arrested and detained in Beijing following a 
demonstration by clothing vendors. Police had 
seized the vendors' goods in a shut down of vending 
stalls. Reuters reported that the clothing vendors 
were poor merchants who were demonstrating because 
they had invested large savings in forming "the 
Baiyun Clothing Wholesale Market, expecting to be 
able to keep stalls there for 12 years, but had 
been told to leave after only one."

The Reuters report only says that the Beijing 
police raided the clothing vendors and that the 
vendors blamed the Baiyun market's management for 
this action, but does not explain the connection 
between the two. While MIM does not know many 
details of this incident, we do know that the 
revisionist Chinese regime functions as a state-
capitalist government: using state power to advance 
the position of capitalism in China while upholding 
the banner of socialism. Such heavy handed 
repression of protesters even in peacetime is not 
surprising coming from an illegitimate government 
whose claim to power is the coup which took over 
the Chinese government after Mao died in 1976. 


NOTE: Reuter May 1, 1996. 


* * *


MLM ONLINE:

ROLE OF IMPERIALIST FINANCE CAPITAL DEBATED ON THE 
NET


by a RAIL comrade

RAIL participated in a recent discussion on the 
Internet which focused on the World Bank and the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the function 
of these institutions in maintaining the 
capitalist-imperialist status quo. The discussion 
brought home the importance of exposing these 
institutions through sustained analysis.

The World Bank and the IMF are instruments of 
imperialist exploitation. These global financial 
institutions were created in the 1940s, just after 
World War II, by the industrialized western 
countries, especially the USA and Britain, with the 
purpose of exercising economic control and 
domination over the third world. Although 
colonialism in its original and overt form is more 
rare these days, neocolonialism is alive and well 
in today's world. Neocolonialism is a more covert 
form of colonialism, in which the colonizing 
countries continue to transfer wealth from the 
colonized countries without explicitly taking over 
political control of the subjugated nations.

Since neocolonialism is more covert and subtle than 
colonialism, its dangers are not as obvious as 
those of naked colonialism used to be. Further, 
instruments of colonialism, such as the global 
financial institutions, keep up the pretense that 
they are actually "instruments of development" 
which benefit the third world. For obvious reasons 
the corporate media too plays its part in 
maintaining this lie.

The Internet discussion started when one 
correspondent from New York wrote: "The World Bank 
and IMF can certainly be said to have supported 
questionable policies, though they have recently 
re-evaluated these policies under intense 
criticism. Describing them as neocolonialism or 
exploitation, however, is hardly accurate or fair."

RAIL provided the following evidence to support its 
position:

(1) In 1989 alone, the "third world" handed over 
$52 billion more in debt repayment than it received 
in new credit.

(2) Between 1982 and 1989, the net flow of debt 
service from developing countries to the World Bank 
and IMF, in excess of new loans, was $240 billion.

(3) Nilufar Ahmad, a Bangladeshi statistician and 
economist, has stated: "Each World Bank consultant 
that comes to Bangladesh gets paid $800 per day--
while the average per capita income in Bangladesh 
is $160 per year. We calculated that for each 
dollar that comes into Bangladesh, we have to pay 
$1.50 back."

A correspondent from the Midwest disagreed with 
RAIL. S/he said:

"This alone proves nothing about neocolonialism. 
This would also be the pattern one would expect if 
World Bank policies have been successful. This is 
because, if funding is provided in the form of 
loans and the country becomes self-sufficient as a 
consequence, it does not require further loans but 
has to pay back the original one(s). Consequently, 
net flow has to become negative, unless you think 
that financial institutions should only be in the 
business of providing grants. (I am pretty sure 
that the third world's reliance on World Bank 
funding has diminished in the aggregate as a 
proportion of, say, aggregate national income. ..)

"Such calculations do not prove or disprove 
anything about neocolonialism. One really has to 
look at how the projects did to talk about whether 
the funding was useful or not. That's a much 
tougher calculation to do and attribute blame for 
than using fairly meaningless numbers. On this 
count, my point is that many projects have not 
performed anywhere near their touted potential. 
However, here the responsibilities are often shared 
by incompetent bank work and corrupt/stupid third 
world elites.

"If however, funds have been misused and/or 
misspent (as they often are), future projects 
become unattractive and new funding is not 
forthcoming. Consequently, debt service becomes 
negative. Developing nations need to clean their 
own house a lot more before their cries on this 
account will be treated credibly by the Western 
World. Don't get me wrong on this one--I am not 
being an apologist for would-be colonizers and 
exploiters. All I am trying to say is that building 
a case against them needs to go beyond quoting 
easily available data without understanding what 
lies behind them."

RAIL responded: Note that many cases where the 
money was not put to proper use by the developing 
country elite, the particular elite happened to be 
dictators, not democratically elected governments. 
Take the case of one country that was particularly 
devastated by external debt, much of it owed to 
IMF/World Bank: the Philippines. Now it turns out, 
a lot of the money was loaned out to the Marcos 
regime, and conceivably was spent not in building 
infrastructure but on lining Marcos' own pocket (or 
maybe for adding to Imelda Marcos's collection of 
shoes). So the question arises: what was the World 
Bank doing loaning out the money to a dictator who 
did not have any democratic mandate, and when it 
was clear that the money was being misspent? Don't 
they do any monitoring? Now the people of the 
Philippines are paying the price for this monstrous 
debt while Marcos laughed all the way to his grave.

[MIM adds: Marcos' corruption notwithstanding, the 
IMF makes sure that loan money is spent on export- 
production and servicing other debt. Its intent is 
never to build infrastructure for a self-reliant 
economy, but to maintain the business of 
transferring superprofits from the Third World 
proletariat to the multinationals and the First 
World.]

So it is quite clear that World Bank/IMF loans 
serve a definite political purpose: they are often 
a covert way for the West to shore up dictators who 
serve their short-term interest. They do not serve 
the long-term interests of the people of the 
"developing nations." Also, in the long run the 
result (as in the case of the Philippines) is a net 
transfer of wealth from the Philippine common 
people to the West, in the form of debt servicing 
[and of course, corporate profits and cheap 
commodities -MIM].

RAIL also pointed out that another example of 
blatant misuse of IMF for political expediency was 
the instance, a few weeks ago, of a massive loan by 
the IMF to shore up Yeltsin's tottering regime.

Finally, as for developing nations needing to clean 
their own house first before complaining about the 
World Bank and the IMF: developing nations that did 
try to clean house and generally institute 
progressive land reforms have been toppled or 
destabilized in the past--with rather predictable 
regularity--by the West. (Remember Mossadegh in 
Iran in the 1950s, Jacob Arbenz in Guatemala in 
1954, Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973, Bishop in 
Grenada in the '80s).



TRUTH MEETS PIGS IN NET PRISON DEBATE


Prison stories always generate attention on the 
Internet, where pro-state, pro-imperialist 
reactionaries, who are in the majority, jump at the 
chance to spew their genocidal scum online.

In one public essay on Usenet, someone wrote about 
"crime:"

"When someone has cancer, it must be eradicated. 
Doctors either cut it out or kill it by other 
means. If left in the body, by its very nature, it 
spreads until it kills the host. Cancer prevention 
is great, but only useful if the body is cancer 
free. Cancer begets more cancer just as crime 
begets more crime.

"Criminals in this country must be cut out of 
society by putting them in prison and keeping them 
in prison for the full term of their sentence. 
Returning criminals to the streets spreads crime in 
two ways: First, they are free to strike again. The 
system has shown them that they will not be 
punished. Second, young ones who may not be 
inclined towards crime will see that the benefits 
of crime far outweigh the consequences of getting 
caught."

After taking a few lines to straighten the writer 
out on the facts with regard to cancer, MIM went on 
to respond:

Perhaps you are unaware that 83% of the increase in 
incarceration between 1980 and 1993 was in 
nonviolent "criminals," a great many of them 
personal drug consumers. You want people to serve 
out their sentences. What sentences? To trigger a 
five-year federal mandatory minimum sentence you 
need to get caught with either: (a) 100 kilos of 
weed, (b) 500 grams of powder cocaine, (c) 5 grams 
of crack cocaine. So is it a wonder that 74% of 
those sentenced for drug possession are Black?(1)

If imprisoning the Black population en masse is 
your goal, say so and show us your sheets. Maybe 
you would like to explain the combination of high 
"crime" rates and high incarceration rates under 
Amerikkkan rule? And what is your definition of 
crime? Choose all that apply (in chronological 
order):

1. Genocide of First Nations and confiscation of 
several continents. 

2. Slavery. 

3. Lynching (legal and illegal): Of 455 legal 
executions for rape in the U.S. between 1930 and 
1967, 89% of those executed were Black. 

4. Imprisoning Japanese in the West and 
confiscating their land. 

5. Firebombing Tokyo and nuking two civilian cities 
at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives. 

6. Killing 2 million Vietnamese and setting in 
progress an environmental disaster that may never 
be undone. 

7. Killing thousands of Panamanian civilians in 
poor areas over a snit with a boot-licking CIA 
stooge. 

8. Killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in war 
and destroying infrastructure and maintaining an 
embargo that led to the deaths of millions of 
infants (easily documented by comparing infant 
mortality rates from before and after the war, as 
MIM has done). 

9. Enforcing a death penalty system in which 
killing a white person is 11 times more likely to 
draw the death penalty than killing a Black (from 
the Warren McClesky case). 

10. Smoking crack. 

11. Stealing cars from fat white people.

Which of these is a "crime" that "begets" other 
crimes?

If you're sick of fascist politics like these, 
check out MIM's web site and let's get down to the 
business of wiping imperialism off the face of the 
earth.



NOTES: 
1. The Real War on Crime, Steven Donziger, ed., 
Harper Perennial 1996. Selective prosecution 
complements the grossly uneven sentencing 
guidelines for crack and cocaine. The Revolutionary 
Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL) reported in a 
pamphlet on prisons that "In the United States, 
whites account for over 67% of people who have ever 
used crack (2.3 million out of 3.4 million total) 
and 53% of those who used crack in the last year 
(488,000 out of 906,000). But less than 4% of the 
defendants prosecuted in federal courts for crack-
related offenses in 1994 were white."(Los Angeles 
Times May 21, 1995).
2. Statistical Abstract of the United States any 
year.


* * *


SELF-DEFENSE AGAINST AIR POLLUTION NECESSARY


"Fine particles of air pollution from power plants, 
motor vehicles and other sources kill some 64,000 
Americans a year, causing deaths even at pollutant 
levels the federal government considers safe, a new 
study concludes," according to the Boston Globe. 
That number is about three times more than the 
number of murders each year and is higher than the 
number of people killed in auto accidents. 

"The study, which calculated death rates from air 
pollution for 239 cities across the country, was 
prompted by a growing body of research showing that 
barely detectable airborne particles can lodge in 
the lungs and, in extreme cases, cause death." 

Los Angeles leads the list of total deaths caused 
this way with 5,873 deaths attributable to air 
pollution annually.(1)

Meanwhile, the prevalence rate for asthma (a 
disease often triggered by air pollution) in the 
United Snakes rose from 34.7 per 1,000 to 49.4 per 
1,000 between 1982 and 1992, an increase of 42%. In 
that same period, there was an increase of 40% in 
the death rate from asthma. The age-adjusted death 
rate from asthma for people age 5-34 shows that 
Blacks die from asthma at a far higher rate than 
whites. In 1991 Blacks faced a death rate from 
asthma of almost 15 per one million people while 
the death rate for whites was just over 3 per one 
million.(2)

Air pollution causes death and hence the people are 
justified to defend themselves against those who 
profit from pollution. Under socialism, the 
workers' right to a clean environment will not be 
negotiable. If necessary, the international 
proletariat will use force against anyone whining 
about how their right to profit is higher than our 
right to breathe clean air. Since the proletarian 
demand for a clean environment is non-negotiable, 
MIM is for dictatorship. 

Capitalism has premised itself on killing people as 
an ordinary part of production for so long, that 
when the international proletariat leads a 
dictatorship of the oppressed nations over the 
united states, the people will inherit polluting 
production techniques. Hence, pollution will not 
end the day after the Revolution; however, there 
will be no further barriers to introducing 
environmentally sound and sustainable production. 
It's one thing if the workers decide to put up with 
a little pollution, because there are no better 
techniques available yet for the people to support 
themselves. But it is unacceptable for a small 
class of people making fabulous profits from 
choosing techniques of production (or defending 
those techniques as corrupt politicians) that kill 
people through pollution. 


NOTES: 

1. Boston Globe May 9, 1996, p. 1. 
2. Managing Asthma Care, a special report prepared 
by the editors of Business and Health. Vol. 13, No. 
7, Supplement D. 1995. 


* * *


UNDER LOCK AND KEY: NEWS FROM PRISONERS AND PRISONS



IOWA PRISONERS REBEL

On February 26, 1996, two Latino prisoners at the 
Iowa Medical Classification center (IMCC) in 
Coralville, Iowa destroyed $12,000 worth of state 
property while holding off numerous guards during a 
two-and-a-half hour mini-riot. At approximately 
10:15 p.m., a guard making security rounds on LU-B 
( A newly established lock-up unit that warehouses 
60 prisoners) caught two Mexican prisoners ages 21 
and 18 smoking in their cell.

The guard then called the A/B control center by 
hand radio requesting their cell to be unlocked. 
Once the door was opened, the guard entered the 
cell and snatched a lit cigarette from the hand of 
one of the prisoners, physically shoving him in the 
process. The officer then ordered the two occupants 
of the cell to go to the day area on the first 
floor of the unit. At which time a short scuffle 
broke out between the prisoners and guard. 
Eventually the guard was knocked unconscious, and 
the prisoners fled to the recreation/day area.

A few minutes later eight guards rushed into the 
unit but were immediately chased out as one of the 
prisoners picked up a chair and headed in their 
direction. The prisoners then barricaded the 
emergency and entryway doors to the unit with 
bunks, mattresses, tables, chairs and a desk. The 
prisoners thereafter started to trash the unit 
including such property as a television, clock, 
chairs, bunk beds, security cameras, telephones, 
desk, tables, mattresses, plexiglass windows, fire 
extinguishers....These items were either damaged or 
completely destroyed.

One of the prisoners involved in the riot told me 
that prisoncrats exuberated in the amount of the 
state property really damaged. An hour and half 
into the rebellion, an emergency response team 
(CERT) guard pumped gas into the unit forcing the 
prisoners into a corner where an electric fan was 
used to blow the gaseous irritant out of the 
immediate area. This gas also affected those 
prisoners who were locked into cells surrounding 
the unit, even forcing some to use wet cloths in 
order to breathe.

Ten minutes later, 20 CERT guards called in from 
different institutions throughout the state, tried 
to enter the unit but again were chased out as the 
prisoners threw chairs in their direction. For 
another 30 minutes, more gas was pumped into the 
unit, this time forcing the two prisoners to 
retreat to the Top Tier. Seeing both prisoners were 
unarmed, the entire CERT team stormed the unit and 
told the prisoners to lay flat on the floor, which 
they did.

These guards then jumped on their backs and sprayed 
pepper mace toward the area of their faces while 
handcuffing both legs and arms. After the prisoners 
were secured in manacles, they were dragged by the 
cuffs to the maximum lockup unit within the 
institution.

The warden of IMCC, Rusty Rogerson, stated to the 
press that the inmates involved in the incident 
were dangerous gang members that beat a guard 
senselessly with a chair and caused $12,000 worth 
of damage. He also stated that the guard was 
seriously injured in the left eye and face, and was 
hospitalized because of these injuries.

As usual the mainstream press only told the 
prisoncrats' side of the story. From the 
information I had gathered from an eyewitness and a 
prisoner involved in the riot, they reported that 
guards had been continually harassing prisoners on 
the unit, and that because of the buildup of 
frustration something was bound to happen. Also the 
unit was over-crowded with prisoners sleeping on 
bunks placed out in the day area, thus increasing 
the tension within the closed environment. In 
addition, I was told that the guard involved in the 
melee had been intimidating one of the Latino 
prisoners for over a month. The prisoncrats ignored 
the request that criminal assault charges be 
brought forth and the guard was not investigated 
for possible abuse of his authority.

In retaliation, the prisoncrats placed both Latino 
prisoners in strip cell status for four days, 
denying them bedding, clothing, toilet paper, and 
other hygiene supplies. They were fed foodloaf 
[Foodloaf, sometimes called VitaPro, is a 
disgusting mash of various foods into a "loaf" form 
only found in Amerika's prisons, where it is used 
as a cruel form of punishment. --MIM] and the water 
to their sink and toilet was shut off. The request 
by the Latino prisoners for a shower, to wash the 
mace off, and medical care for injuries sustained 
during the riot and the events thereafter were 
sadistically refused.

Furthermore, the prison disciplinary committee 
Kangaroo court sentenced each prisoner to a 
humongous sanction of one year disciplinary 
detention followed by another year in 
administrative segregation, a loss of all earned 
good time credit and restitution in the amount of 
$6,000. And without regard to the double jeopardy 
amendment, prisoncrats filed a battery of criminal 
charges against the prisoners seeking a total of 25 
years consecutive to their current sentence.

At this period of time, neither defendant has been 
appointed requested counsel. These excessive 
inhumane penalties were also used by prisoncrats as 
an illustration to instill fear into those 
prisoners who have thought of rebelling against the 
system, thus keeping oppressive control of the 
prison class.

Though this event was not planned, and the 
prisoners were serving short sentences with a 
possibility of receiving parole this year, these 
defensive actions by the two oppressed Latino 
prisoners were truly righteous and this and future 
rebellions should be fully supported by both 
prisoners and society alike. The prisoners now 
reside at the long term isolation unit at the Iowa 
State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, IA where they 
are served a plate-full of injustice daily in 
ongoing efforts by prisoncrats to enforce complete 
control over these individuals.

--An Iowa prisoner, Apr. 9, 1996.



A PLEA FOR CLEMENCY


I am enclosing a story about my husband and would 
like info on receiving MIM Notes. Thanks.


HELP NEEDED TO STOP DEATH OF INMATE

Last year, an inmate in a Florida prison was denied 
needed and prescribed medical care resulting in 
permanent and extensive lung damage. The parole 
commission recommended clemency stating that the 
inmate was permanently incapacitated and posed no 
risk to community or self. The Department of 
Corrections doctors believe if the inmate remains 
in prison, he will die. He has served five years of 
his sentence and with gain time has less than 
sixteen months to go. The Florida Cabinet took the 
case under advisement on 12-13-95 and time is 
running out for signatures to the proposed 
agreement 2E.

If you can help, please call or fax your support as 
soon as possible. The inmate's name is Morris 
Hines, Jr. The following is a list of Cabinet 
members and phone and fax numbers:

Sec. of State: Sandra Mortham: fax 904-487-2214  
phone 904-488-3684

Attorney Gen.: Bob Butterworth fax 904-487-2564  
phone 904-488-0600

Comptroller: Robert Milligan fax 904-488-9818  
phone 904-487-0780

Treasurer: Bill Nelson fax 904-488-6581  phone 904-
922-3106

Comm. of Education: Frank Brogan fax 904-413-0378  
phone 904-487-1785

Without your help, this man could die!

--wife of a Florida prisoner, Mar. 1, 1996



A CALL FOR UNITY AGAINST ELECTRICITY FEE IN 
MICHIGAN


The Michigan Department of Corruption (MDOC) has 
decided to come up with a plan to have prisoners 
pay for the use of electricity. There is a bill 
being presented to the legislature that is calling 
for all prisoners in Michigan who own a television, 
radio, typewriter, or any other electrical 
appliance, to pay $3.00 a month to use their 
appliances.

We of the Political Prisoners of War Vanguard 
Coalition (PPWVC) find this to be another attempt 
to fuck over the prisoner-class and its families 
and friends. To charge a prisoner for electricity 
is to charge the prisoner for being violated, 
abused, kicked in the ass, and butt-fucked by the 
state. By a system of sadistic and perverted liars 
and truth twisters. How in the hell can anyone 
imagine paying their captors money for being 
captured, shackled, and treated like less than an 
animal?

Many of the unconscious prisoners find nothing 
wrong with the state RAPING them of their $3.00 
each month. But again, these are the same types of 
prisoners who (when the drama comes) will find 
themselves begging to be spared. Or testifying in 
court against a fellow comrade who has done his/her 
revolutionary duties.

We of PPWVC find this very disturbing. We feel 
that, if this bill is allowed to pass, it will 
further divide an already divided prisoner-class 
and give the crooks (pigs) more ammunition to use 
against us. PPWVC are out to change these 
unconscious-minded brothas' and sistas' thoughts 
and to show them that the only way to prevail is by 
standing together in solidarity and fighting for 
our dignity.

For those not incarcerated, they may say that a 
prisoner being forced to pay $3.00 a month is not 
big deal. However, it is a big deal when one 
considers that Michigan has over 40 prisons and an 
estimated 38,000 prisoners. This (if properly 
multiplied) translates into millions of dollars and 
none of those millions will be going to the masses. 
None of those millions will be going to the urban 
areas, the rural areas. Will those millions be 
spent for the poor, the elderly, the unemployed, 
the disenfranchised, the dispossessed, the 
grassroots? PPWVC doesn't think so and neither 
should anyone else.

PPWVC will continue to monitor the situation and 
report what happens. Meantime, we are preparing for 
what is surely to become an all-out war.

In the trenches,

--A Michigan prisoner, Mar. 9, 1996



PRISON SEX SCANDAL


The television news media and state-wide newspapers 
have reported a sex scandal that is under 
investigation here in Dwight Women's prison. 
Several guards have resigned, three women were 
placed in administrative segregation, and another 
woman is in administrative protective custody.

Guards are continuing daily to resign and quit 
during the follow-up of the investigation. In 
response, the administration has heightened its 
security level of aggression against the women. 
They intimidate women to exist under psychological 
and emotional apprehensions as harassment is 
elevated by the unleashing of hostile attitudes of 
male aggression.

This is retaliation by the administration for the 
leak of an incident which has been isolated from 
public view and is long overdue for exposure. This 
treatment is unfair, since this problem has had a 
long-term existence here. The punishment of the 
women is not the solution to the problems of sexual 
exploitation under which they are forced to exist.

--An Illinois prisoner, Mar. 28, 1996.



TEXAS PRISONERS UNITE AGAINST SLAVERY IN THE TEXAS 
PENAL COLONY


The Texas Prisoners' Labor Union is established to 
provide inmate laborers with a social and political 
forum from which to promote principles of social 
justice in a manner consistent with human rights.

The Texas Penal Colony is one of the most expansive 
industries in the United States. However, while the 
populations have swelled to over capacity, the 
Texas Correctional Industries programs have not 
kept in step. As a result, basic concepts of 
imprisonment in Texas remain unchanged from the 
prior plantation dictates that induced slavery. 
Inmate laborers in Texas are wholly uncompensated 
for their work. Conditions remain barbaric in spite 
of twenty years of formal litigation, offering 
inmate laborers little hope for the future.

There are no effective programs which would allow 
for an environment wherein rehabilitation and 
productivity are synonymous. Therefore those of us 
who remain confined within the penal colony are 
doomed to remain chained to the revolving door that 
has long become the accepted policy of 
incarceration in Texas. Legislators are happy to 
accept this concept of incarceration as it provides 
Texans with an ever growing industry, which in turn 
provides the citizenry of Texas with jobs in 
various areas of corrections.

This insane policy must be stopped and it is up to 
us to stop it. We must bind together so as to form 
a political base from which we may collectively 
assert our human rights and negotiate collective 
bargaining for improved working and living 
conditions, wages and rehabilitative programs that 
will allow us to develop skills and habits which 
will lend to our once again entering society as 
responsible and productive citizens. Daily the 
current Texas government is stripping more and more 
away from us and will continue to do so until there 
is nothing left. Only WE can stop this onslaught 
against human rights and social justice. Only WE 
can help ourselves.

--Texas prisoners from the Texas Prisoners' Labor 
Union, Apr. 17, 1996.



EXPLOSIVE THOUGHTS


I feel as though I'm a dented cardboard box stuffed 
full of dynamite stored in a large damp warehouse 
surrounded by land mines waiting to explode, on a 
moment's notice. Just append a minutest of spark 
and watch our red hot rage become that devastating, 
sensational show nobody could possibly ignore in 
our plea for release.

--An Iowa prisoner, Apr. 9, 1996.



CENSORSHIP OF MIM NOTES


KENTUCKY CONTINUES TO REJECT MIM NOTES

Most recently MIM received a notice from the 
Kentucky State Penitentiary dated Mar. 19, 1996. 
This notice stated, "Literature rejected that poses 
a potential threat to the nature of the security of 
this institution. Another copy of same material 
previously rejected per warden."

Letters of protest can be sent to: Kentucky State 
Penitentiary, PO Box 128, Eddyville, KY 42038-0128, 
telephone: (502)-388-221.



TENNESSEE ALSO CENSORS MIM PUBLICATIONS


MIM received the following letters from the 
Tennessee Department of Correction in regards to 
MIM Theory journals and MIM Notes.

Department of Correction Division of Adult 
Institutions Northeast Correctional Center PO Box 
5000 Mountain City, TN 37683-5000 Howard Carlton, 
Warden March 11, 1996

To: [Tennessee Prisoner]

You received two magazines from MIM in California. 
I have reviewed these magazines and am denying your 
access to them.

In the cover, the goals of MIM are clearly stated. 
In one paragraph, it states, "MIM struggles to end 
oppression of all groups over groups: classes, 
genders, nations. MIM knows this is only possible 
by building public opinion to seize power through 
armed struggle."

It is clear that these types of goals are not 
appropriate in a prison setting. You have the right 
to appeal my decision to Mr. Jim Rose, Assistant 
Commissioner of Operations, Tennessee Department of 
Correction, 4th Floor, Rachel Jackson Building, 320 
Sixth Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243-0465.

Howard Carlton, Warden, Department of Correction 
Division of Adult Institutions Northeast 
Correctional Center PO Box 5000 Mountain City, TN 
37683-5000 Howard Carlton, Warden April 1, 1996



 To: MIM Distributors 

RE: Cancel Distribution

Gentlemen:

Distribution of MIM material is coming to [prisoner 
K] at the Northeast Correctional Center in Mountain 
City, Tennessee. Under Tennessee Department of 
Correction policy, this material is not allowed 
into this penal facility. Please cancel mailings 
to: [prisoner K].

Thank you for your immediate assistance and we 
regret any inconvenience to your company.

Sincerely,

Howard Carlton, Warden


Letters of protest can be written directly to 
Warden Carlton at the above address.



THE REPRESSION OF POLITICALLY ACTIVE PRISONERS HAS 
BECOME INDIANA DOC POLICY AT ALL COST.


It has gotten to the point where those of us who 
have made a conscious decision to live righteously 
and live our lives fighting for justice and human 
rights for all human beings have become the major 
targets for repression in the D.O.C.. Nothing is 
more important beyond security than repressing 
imprisoned activists. Not gang activity, not drug 
smuggling; nothing has become more important than 
the nefarious mission to break the wills and 
spirits of those of us who dare to stand and live 
as respectable human beings as opposed to becoming 
institutionalized and broken and trapped in the 
vicious cycle of recidivism so that we may forever 
be a part of this new stage of neo-colonial 
repression and exploitation (slavery) that the 
prison system has become.

I refuse to lie back and watch those who are 
inverted with so-called authority in the capacity 
of an employment position do all kinds of 
wickedness towards myself and those who are living 
righteously. Especially when it can be proven 
through documented facts that they are going 
against their own policies and everything else to 
do whatever however they can to undermine any 
progressive outlooks, politics, programs, that one 
might find outside the repressive atmosphere in 
order to contribute something to making a 
difference in this world and improving the human 
qualities of one's own life--spiritually, 
politically, educationally, etc.. The D.O.C. is 
flat out against this unless one has surrendered 
one's complete being to the enslavement of 
institutionalization, dehumanization, 
demoralization, and the vicious cycle of self-
destruction and defeatism.

The D.O.C. is playing a vicious game of genocide 
with the lives of human beings. And to even qualify 
for most political offices these days the best 
theme for a campaign is prison repression and 
harder anti-crime bills. But when will the people 
realize who is committing the real crimes? No one 
running for office these days is committed to the 
best interest of the people. These politicians are 
committed only to obtaining a position and a name 
for themselves. Few are concerned but what can they 
do in a system which is so anti-humanity--concerned 
more with locking people up than changing the 
inhumane conditions which created the criminals in 
the first place. America is founded on a history of 
vicious crimes against humanity but so many want to 
forget that and not understand how it has created 
all that exists in terms of contradiction today.

The state of Indiana has for too long been out of 
the serious "correct" line of political fire. For 
too long they have been hidden in these old Klan 
backwoods demonstrating a white state capital 
political monopoly and hanging African people. The 
new age hanging is incarceration with throw-away-
the- key policies. The parole board has been 
releasing people who have murdered and everything 
else while incarcerating and at the same time 
denying people who have committed no further crimes 
for nature of circumstances. It's time that the 
people come together and help us expose this wicked 
Klan run state and its officials to the world. The 
state of Indiana is getting away with murder.

I am calling for support to first expose what is 
happening with the D.O.C. in regards to how they 
are targeting progressive politically-active human 
beings in attempt to destroy us and any amount of 
humanity that we possess.

I am asking that anyone concerned write letters in 
support of an investigation of the D.O.C., the 
administrations of the Indiana State Reformatory, 
and the State Prison at Michigan City, about the 
brutal repression and targeting of politically 
progressive prisoners, especially New African.

I am hopeful that from this campaign we might be 
able to raise an organizational consistency in 
dealing with the corrupt officials of this state 
from the top down, and create a pressure that will 
give the people an upper hand to deal with what is 
taking place. As this is established we may be able 
to clog the court system with personal case, 
community, prisoner/family litigation about how 
this state, its agencies and the D.O.C. is being 
run. During this election time is a good time to 
start.

Please write your letters in support of an 
investigation of the brutal repression of 
politically active prisoners in the Indiana Dept. 
of Corrections; and call for a meeting with the 
D.O.C. with outside people who are concerned and 
demand that we submit the names of the prisoners to 
be interviewed so that no hand-picked D.O.C. 
prisoner agents will be allowed to help them lie 
out of this. We have all the documented evidence we 
need to show the truth of racist repression and 
corruption. This campaign needs to be as large as 
possible to make a difference. Please copy this 
info. and spread it as far and wide as you possibly 
can!

Write your letters of support to:

Indiana State Representative, Dr. Vernon G. Smith, 
P.O. Box M622, Gary, IN. 46401

Indiana Civil Liberties Union, 445 N. Penn Suite 
604, Indianapolis, IN 46204

Info News, 1953 Broadway, Gary, IN. 46407

Frost Illustrated, 3121 S. Calhoun, Fort Wayne, IN 
46806

WLTH Radio, 3669 Broadway, Gary, IN. 46409

NAACP, 4805 Mt. Hope Drive, Baltimore, IN. 21215

Indianapolis Recorder, Attn: News Editor, 2901 N. 
Tacoma Ave., Indianapolis, IN. 46218

--an Indiana Prisoner, Mar. 18 1996


* * *


CAPITALISM HOLDS BACK MEDICAL ADVANCE


Ever day, private property and profit motivations 
interfere with the progress of science. The latest 
example is at the British company Boots and the 
Knoll Pharmaceutical Co., which forbade the 
publication of a paper on its drug called 
Synthroid. 

"Synthroid is taken daily by about eight million 
Americans to control hypothyroidism, a metabolic 
disorder. It dominates the $600 million U.S. 
market, so much so that when Boots put its drug 
division up for sale, Germany's BASF AG agreed to 
pay a lofty price of $1.4 billion for it." The 
blocking of the paper about Synthroid has involved 
capitalists from England, Germany and the united 
states.

Health-care costs in the united states would be 
$356 million less if cheaper drugs could be used 
instead of Synthroid. To rebut claims that the 
cheaper drugs were as good as Synthroid Boots hired 
Betty Dong at the University of California San 
Francisco to do research.

The research proved that the drugs were all the 
same in their effects. The prestigious Journal of 
the American Medical Association (JAMA) was about 
to publish the paper when Boots informed Dong that 
it would sue her if she did not uphold a clause in 
her research contract which gave Boots control of 
the research results.

In this situation, even though the University of 
California supposedly is a public school and it is 
definitely subsidized by taxpayer moneys, the 
university caved in to the pharmaceutical 
capitalists and made a mockery of its public policy 
of not doing research that is not available to the 
public. The university administration decided it 
could not defend Dong in court, and Dong and her 
colleagues decided they didn't have the money for 
lawyers in court. Hence, Dong pulled the paper from 
JAMA at the last minute. Thus medical researchers 
and a university were made into prostitutes of 
pharmaceutical capital.

Maoists come under a lot of criticism for the 
practice of science in China's Cultural Revolution. 
It is often said that Maoists allowed politics to 
interfere in science. This is a myth. We do believe 
the proletarian government under socialism must 
decide where to put money in research. That means 
the priorities are decided politically. However, we 
would not suppress a paper the way Boots did. The 
funding priorities are political, but Maoists do 
not believe the subject matter of science should be 
politically decided. Mao criticized Stalin in this 
regard on the Lysenko debate, where political 
leaders decided which side of an argument was 
correct in a crops and genetic- breeding question.

Another argument we hear against socialism is that 
the capitalist countries are the most advanced so 
the capitalist system must be best for science. 
This is not true though, because capitalist 
countries like the United Snakes were richer and 
more technically advanced than Russia, China etc. 
before those countries tried socialism as well. In 
fact, under socialism, Russia and China caught up 
quite a bit in science before turning back to 
capitalism.

Under capitalism we see it is that the profit-
makers themselves are the ones funding research. We 
have the scientific ability and personnel to 
conduct important research, but the capitalists are 
the ones who own the property to pay for it. The 
result is suppression of science the capitalists 
don't like and publication of pseudo-science. This 
is especially dangerous because most sciences are 
statistically- based, and when capitalists suppress 
some studies the interpretation of all related 
statistically applied studies is clouded.

The Boots case is another example that there is no 
getting around dictatorship at the moment. Right 
now science lives under bourgeois dictatorship. At 
least under proletarian dictatorship, science would 
be for forward-looking goals with the priority of 
serving the food, shelter, clothing and medical 
needs of the most oppressed first. Since the 
science would be publicly-funded there would be no 
question of someone's suppressing it for his/her 
own profit.


* * *


FILM SHOWING: BREAKING WITH OLD IDEAS


LOS ANGELES--A lively discussion followed a recent 
MIM-sponsored showing of the film Breaking With Old 
Ideas, a film made in China in 1975, during the 
Cultural Revolution. The discussion focused on 
political and economic conditions under the current 
state-capitalist regime in China and the Maoist 
policies of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural 
Revolution, which were aimed at preventing a Deng 
Xiaoping-style restoration of capitalism.

Breaking With Old Ideas dramatizes the struggle for 
proletarian control of education at an agricultural 
college during the Great Leap Forward (1958-1959). 
Part of this struggle is the struggle between 
bourgeois ideas about education--which emphasize 
that education is a path to fame and wealth for a 
select few and separate theory from reality--and 
proletarian ideas--which emphasize that education 
must serve the broad toiling masses and that theory 
cannot be separated from practice. Breaking makes 
it clear that leading party members can still 
promote a bourgeois educational line and only the 
resolute struggle of the masses for the correct 
proletarian line can rectify these leaders (or 
remove them from power if necessary) and ensure 
that education truly helps to build socialism.

Breaking is an excellent introduction to the 
politics of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural 
Revolution. It is full of concrete examples of how 
class struggle continues under socialism and how 
communists can wage that struggle successfully: by 
mobilizing the masses to criticize those in 
positions of authority taking the capitalist road.

After the film, an audience member who was raised 
in post-Mao China stated sympathies for Maoist 
China based on the terrible consequences Deng 
Xiaoping's economic "reforms" have had for the 
majority of Chinese people. According to this 
person, in China today some people are "very very 
rich" while most people are "very very poor." The 
current regime has taken away social benefits which 
the people won during the Mao years, like 
retirement benefits and cheap health care.

Government corruption is rampant in China. 
Communist Party members in the government often get 
rich like their capitalist brothers in Amerika: 
They use their clout to rig the Chinese bond market 
and then make fortunes in speculation.

This audience member also pointed out that the 
youth are immersed in capitalist ideology (like 
Deng's slogan "To Get Rich Is Glorious"). Students 
enter college to further their individual careers, 
not to serve the people. As a result, English and 
business classes are among the most popular in 
Chinese universities.

For MIM, all of these examples are symptoms of the 
fact that the current economic system in China is 
capitalist, not socialist.

Although this audience member blamed most of the 
current conditions in China on the Deng regime, 
s/he also criticized Maoist policies because they 
were too concentrated on political questions, and 
did not pay enough attention to production. They 
even went so far as to suggest that mass campaigns 
were too disruptive, and planners should 
concentrate on keeping the people content. S/he 
cited several examples of ultraleftism during the 
Great Leap Forward to back up these claims.

MIM responded that this perspective amounts to 
abdicating the ideological and political struggle 
to the bourgeoisie and ignores the essential fact 
that the masses make history. Yes, ultraleft errors 
were committed during the Great Leap and the 
Cultural Revolution, and we need to avoid these 
errors in the future. Mao said as much. But these 
two movements were correct and necessary and we 
cannot throw them out because they weren't 
flawless. Kicking back and wishing for some 
technocrats to increase industrial output ain't 
gonna bring about a classless society. The only way 
to ensure that socialism develops towards communism 
is for the masses to struggle to gain real control 
over the means of production, like they did during 
the Great Leap and Cultural Revolution.

Interested in learning more about the MIM's 
perspective on the Great Leap Forward or the 
Cultural Revolution? Check out the following books: 
Mao Zedong, A Critique of Soviet Economics, ($9) 
Wheelwright and McFarlane, The Chinese Road to 
Socialism, ($7), or: William Hinton, Turning Point 
in China, ($5). Send check or money order to MIM 
Distributors, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI 48109. 


* * *


PIG KILLS BLACK YOUTH IN CULVER CITY


On the night of January 16, a Black 18 year-old 
named Anthony Garrett was driving with his half-
brother Alan Belton to pick up a cousin from his 
job at a retail store in Culver City (part of the 
Los Angeles metro area). As they entered the 
store's parking lot, Culver City pigs Andrew Fay 
and Audrey Kellum made Garrett and Belton pull 
over, supposedly because they had tinted windows, a 
violation.

Belton carried a registered 9 mm semi-automatic 
pistol for self-defense. Upon being pulled over, 
Garrett asked Belton to unload the gun. "He fully 
intended to tell the police he had a weapon but 
that it was unloaded," said the Garrett family's 
attorney, Wilmer J. Harris. "Anthony puts the 
cartridge on the floor behind him and puts the gun 
on the floor in front of him. As he came back up, 
that's when the officer shot twice."

Officer Kellum shot the two bullets. One shattered 
Belton's right forearm. A metal plate now holds the 
bone together. The other bullet went through 
Anthony Garrett's neck, severing his carotid artery 
and killing him.

"I think it was wrong to take his life like that," 
said Garrett's mother. "He was a very good worker 
and very talented, and his life was mistreated, 
taken away from him."

But while it may seem that Garrett's mother was 
stating the obvious, the authorities have cleared 
the murderous pig Kellum of any wrongdoing. "Our 
position is that it was a good, justifiable 
shooting," oinked Sgt. Dave Tankenson, who helped 
"investigate" the case, "but due to the possible 
pending litigation, we're not going to make any 
other statement right now."

Attorney Harris, quoted above, is preparing a 
wrongful-death lawsuit on behalf of Garrett's 
family against the Culver City Police Department. 
MIM supports this effort while reminding readers 
that such efforts to reform Amerikkka's criminal 
injustice system are insufficient. Amerikkka's 
police are enforcers of a system of national, class 
and gender oppression. From U.S. imperialism's 
perspective, Kellum was no bad apple, but one who 
did something "good" and "justifiable" by killing 
another Black youth. This system of power of groups 
over groups is begging to be overthrown.


NOTE: Culver City-Ladera Independent May 2, 1996, 
pp. A1, A3. 


* * *


PIGS ROUGH UP OLDER WHITE WOMAN


On May 3 pigs tried to pull over an elderly 
Taunton, Massachusetts woman for failing to move 
out of the way of their high speed siren cars. When 
she ignored their motioning to pull over, they 
followed her to her home and then cuffed her and 
pushed her around. Neighbors watching the scene 
said that they would be upset if that were their 
wife or mother being treated that way. After all, 
as the newscaster commented, she was clearly not a 
"common criminal."(1)

MIM opposes pig brutality on anyone. This is a 
clear example of the unnecessary violence practiced 
every day by the police. This woman was no threat 
to the pigs and her biggest crime was failing to 
wear her glasses while driving (a requirement of 
her license and the reason she was so slow to 
respond to the pigs' demands). But it is telling 
that this case received such big news coverage 
immediately after it happened and that people were 
so outraged. A common criminal, in white Amerika's 
eyes, is someone who might deserve to be roughed 
up. A common criminal is a Black or Latino youth 
who is probably dealing drugs and running guns and 
causing problems and resisting arrest. So pig 
violence might be justified in some cases, but not 
if you are white and it is on someone who could be 
your mother or wife. 

The chief of police defended the actions of the 
pigs saying that their behavior was justified, 
outraging the white people even more. And of 
course, with white public opinion at stake, the 
mayor of Taunton was quick to respond, saying that 
he might have to remove the chief from his position 
and calling the incident "an embarrassment to the 
city."(2) 

It is not embarrassing to the police force when 
Black and Latino youth are beaten up, harassed, and 
even killed by pigs who are never even disciplined 
for their actions. The message of this case is 
clear: police brutality will only be opposed when 
the victim does not fit the public's image of a 
"common criminal." Check out the prisons where a 
disproportionate number of the inmates are Black 
and Latino, to see what the "common criminal" looks 
like to the white nation. 

MIM sees that the real criminals are in the 
government taking away the lives and liberty of 
one-third of the Black nation (by putting them 
under the control of the criminal injustice system) 
while murdering, raping and torturing people in the 
Third World so as to more easily steal their labor 
and resources. Join MIM to overthrow this police 
state that serves the interests of a minority of 
the world's people at the expense of the majority.


NOTES: 
1. Boston Channel 56 10:00pm news. 
2. Boston Globe, May 7, 1996. p. 30. 


* * *


THE SAME OLD WHITE POWER STRUCTURE--CAPITALISM


by a RAIL comrade

An unarmed 17 year old Black youth is murdered by a 
killer cop...feuding politicians delay the 
construction of a badly needed grocery store on St. 
Louis's northside which are few and far between in 
Amerika's Black colonies...the state of Missouri 
decided to build a "youth detention center" in the 
heart of the Black community of St. Louis. These 
issues along with many others reflect the general 
neglect of the Black community by capitalist 
system. Concerned members of St. Louis's Black 
community called an emergency meeting on March 24 
to discuss the problems of the community which 
haven't been addressed by Black elected officials. 
The meeting was alarmed by the fact that while 
conditions are deteriorating within the community, 
local and state elected officials whom are Black 
are feuding among themselves.

People packed the Clifford Wilson Community Center 
which hosted an exciting meeting where everyone had 
the chance to speak and just about everyone did. 
The meeting stayed focused on the neglect of 
matters that need attention while Black elected 
officials feud among themselves.

All proposals were voted on by everyone present. 
Those in attendance expressed the sentiment that 
they didn't want to know what the politicians were 
quarreling about--they want accountability for 
their actions and, more appropriately, their 
inactions. One elected alderperson did care enough 
to attend, and when she attempted to explain what 
the politicians were feuding about, the chairperson 
called her out of order because it would have given 
those in attendance a biased view. People in 
attendance once again expressed the view that the 
needs of the community were at issue, not the petty 
squabbling.

Participants resolved:

1. Hold an accountability meeting between Black 
elected officials and the Black community. 

2. No press will be admitted. 

3. The politicians will be summoned by subpoena--
not by invitation. 

4. Flyers will be distributed prominently 
throughout the community to notify as many people 
as possible to demand an accounting of these 
politicians. 

5. A representative from each ward will be 
designated to investigate the most important needs 
that demand attention. At the accountability 
meeting, all these needs will be compiled as an 
agenda and presented.

Revolutionaries have no faith in elected officials 
-- Black, white or whatever. No matter how well 
meaning they may be, they are all a part of the 
capitalist-imperialist system that oppresses people 
of the Black, Latino, Asian-Pacific, and First 
Nations. More often than not, the system co-opts 
community activists by brainwashing them into 
thinking that the only way to make changes that are 
really effective, is by becoming a part of the same 
power structure that oppresses the people MIM says 
that the only way to make effective changes is by 
revolution-REAL CHANGE! Not from the top down, but 
from the bottom up. No bogus election ever changed 
conditions for the better. How many Black elected 
officials can you truthfully say have made things 
better for the people?

The most effective thing we can do for all the 
oppressed is to build a vanguard party and put an 
end to the rule of the capitalists and their 
lackeys and replacing it with the rule of the 
proletariat and socialism.


* * *


COUNTER-TERRORISM LEGISLATION TARGETS
OPPRESSED NATIONALS


On April 25, Klinton signed broad "counter-
terrorism" legislation during a ceremony on the 
South Lawn of the White House. Families of those 
killed in the Oklahoma City bombing, the 1993 World 
Trade Center bombing and the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 
Flight 103 sat in the audience along with two dozen 
Democrat and Republican congress members.(1) The 
living victims of these attacks, along with 
Amerikans who have seen them sob on national TV, 
are being pacified with legislation which targets 
oppressed nationals--both outside and within U.S. 
borders. 

The Oklahoma City bombing a year ago spurred the 
most recent fury over passing the counter-terrorism 
bill. Yet the legislation, if in place a year ago, 
would most likely have done nothing to prevent the 
bombing of the Federal building. MIM does not call 
for legislation to fight so-called terrorist groups 
within the United Snakes, but takes this 
opportunity to point out the contradiction Amerika 
faces in cracking down on "terrorist" groups within 
the United Snakes--due to its rugged individualist 
history and the ultimate national unity among 
settlers.

The measures of the bill include: the possible 
deportation of aliens without revealing the 
evidence used against them, denial of people 
associated with U.S.-deemed terrorist groups entry 
into the United Snakes (even if the individuals 
have done nothing illegal), forbidding the transfer 
of funds to groups labeled "terrorist" (even if the 
money is for food or other necessities), and the 
strict limitation of habeas corpus appeals by both 
death row inmates and other prisoners.(2)


LAWMAKERS SLIP IN INCREASED REPRESSION OF PRISONERS


The Senate, according to the New York Times, has 
resisted passing legislation which exclusively 
restricts habeas corpus appeals.(3) A petition for 
habeas corpus is a vehicle for a prisoner to get a 
federal court to review his state court conviction, 
by arguing that the conviction itself, or the 
length of the sentence in some cases, was a 
violation of his/her federal constitutional rights. 
The anti-terrorism bill makes it much harder to get 
habeas review because the state court findings are 
now given a "presumption of correctness," whereas 
prior to this bill the state court findings were 
reviewed under a less stringent standard. The anti-
terrorism hysteria provides the perfect opportunity 
to further screw prisoners under a broader heading.

Under the new provision (which is currently being 
challenged by a case in Georgia (4)), death row 
inmates will have one year from the time of their 
conviction to appeal their sentences. Until passage 
of this bill there were no time limits on when a 
prisoner could file a habeas petition. Only one 
appeal will be allowed under the new bill, and any 
exception is limited to the issue of new evidence. 
The legislation imposes similar restrictions on 
other prisoners.

A study by the Association of the Bar of the City 
of New York found that death row prisoners show in 
40% of habeas corpus appeals that "...significant 
constitutional flaws undermine the reliability of 
their convictions or sentences."(3) But Amerika is 
more concerned with a scape-goat for crime which 
pisses off the settler masses than the fact that 
innocent people may be executed. MIM opposes all 
executions by the state because the U.S. government 
does not have the moral authority to decide such 
matters. The criminal actions of the U.S. 
government are far more destructive than any 
actions on the street by U.S. citizens (or non-
citizens).


CONTRADICTIONS ARISE IN FIGHTING DOMESTIC 
"TERRORISM"


The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the 
American Civil Liberties Union united to defeat 
several of the measures included in the original 
counter-terrorism legislation (proposed immediately 
after the Oklahoma City bombing). Increased 
wiretapping authority and lower standards to 
prosecute sellers of guns used in crimes were left 
out thanks to NRA lobbying efforts.(2)

The NRA and settler militia groups both oppose the 
federal government's interference with their right 
to stockpile weapons and "defend" themselves 
against those they consider the real terrorists--
oppressed nation groups, whether inside or outside 
the borders of the United Snakes. That is, any 
group which threatens the parasitic existence of 
the white nation or opposes U.S. hegemony. 

A real crackdown on right-wing militias would be 
settler disloyalty. These militias are often 
militant defenders of the original documents on 
which the United Snakes was founded. They also 
follow in the tradition of settler governmental 
opposition, which at times has grown fierce but 
never goes so far as to denounce its national 
loyalty altogether.

The part of the bill which will have the greatest 
effect on Amerikkkans is the one billion dollars 
the government will spend over the next five years 
to fight "terrorism" in the United Snakes. (This 
money does not include funds used to pay off right-
wing militia members like Randy Weaver when they 
scuffle with the FBI).

The counter-terrorism bill is more evidence to back 
MIM's position that nation is the principal 
contradiction and that settlers are imperialist 
allies. Who pays the price when Amerikans want 
revenge for "terrorism"--the most bloody of which 
was committed by fellow settlers? Oppressed 
nationals pay the price. Who gets compensated when 
their family is killed as a result of political 
violence? Not the Black Panthers, not American 
Indian Movement members, not MOVE, and certainly 
not the millions of people in the Third World who 
are the victims of U.S. imperialism. MIM opposes 
increased freedom of the U.S. government to conduct 
counterintelligence surveillance and we oppose the 
constant attacks on oppressed nation people. But 
most importantly, we oppose the terrorism of the 
United Snakes, who will some day be forced to pay 
restitution to the majority of the world's people 
for its widespread and incessant violence.



NOTES:
1. New York Times April 25, 1996, p. A10.
2. NYT April 16, 1996. p. A1, A9. 
3. NYT March 15, 1996. p. A18. 
4. Washington Post, May 4, 1996. p.1.


* * *


PRISON LITIGATION REFORM ACT GUTS PRISONERS' 
"RIGHTS"


In the midst of all the hoopla about the "anti-
terrorism" bill the Prison Litigation Reform Act 
(PLRA), has been overlooked. PLRA was passed as 
part of the 1996 budget bill that Clinton signed 
April 26. (The PLRA was attached as a rider, along 
with many environmental provisions which did get a 
lot of bourgeois press.)

The PLRA limits prisoners' ability to bring class 
action suits challenging their conditions of 
confinement, and also limits their ability to bring