Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By-In Honor Of The Frontline Fighters Of The International Working Class Today-The International Working Class Anthem The Internationale

A YouTube film clip of a performance of the classic international working class song of struggle, The Internationale.

Markin comment:

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our socialist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here.

*****

As Isaac Deutscher said in his speech “On Socialist Man” (1966):

“We do not maintain that socialism is going to solve all predicaments of the human race. We are struggling in the first instance with the predicaments that are of man’s making and that man can resolve. May I remind you that Trotsky, for instance, speaks of three basic tragedies—hunger, sex and death—besetting man. Hunger is the enemy that Marxism and the modern labour movement have taken on.... Yes, socialist man will still be pursued by sex and death; but we are convinced that he will be better equipped than we are to cope even with these.” 

***********

The Internationale[variant words in square brackets]

Arise ye workers [starvelings] from your slumbers

Arise ye prisoners of want

For reason in revolt now thunders

And at last ends the age of cant.

Away with all your superstitions

Servile masses arise, arise

We'll change henceforth [forthwith] the old tradition [conditions]

And spurn the dust to win the prize.

So comrades, come rally

And the last fight let us face

The Internationale unites the human race.

So comrades, come rally

And the last fight let us face

The Internationale unites the human race.

No more deluded by reaction

On tyrants only we'll make war

The soldiers too will take strike action

They'll break ranks and fight no more

And if those cannibals keep trying

To sacrifice us to their pride

They soon shall hear the bullets flying

We'll shoot the generals on our own side.

No saviour from on high delivers

No faith have we in prince or peer

Our own right hand the chains must shiver

Chains of hatred, greed and fear

E'er the thieves will out with their booty [give up their booty]

And give to all a happier lot.

Each [those] at the forge must do their duty

And we'll strike while the iron is hot.

________________________________________

L'Internationale

Debout les damnés de la terre

Debout les forçats de la faim

La raison tonne en son cratère

C'est l'éruption de la fin

Du passe faisons table rase

Foules, esclaves, debout, debout

Le monde va changer de base

Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout

C'est la lutte finale

Groupons-nous, et demain (bis)

L'Internationale

Sera le genre humain

Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes

Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun

Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes

Décrétons le salut commun

Pour que le voleur rende gorge

Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot

Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge

Battons le fer quand il est chaud

L'état comprime et la loi triche

L'impôt saigne le malheureux

Nul devoir ne s'impose au riche

Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux

C'est assez, languir en tutelle

L'égalité veut d'autres lois

Pas de droits sans devoirs dit-elle

Egaux, pas de devoirs sans droits

Hideux dans leur apothéose

Les rois de la mine et du rail

Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose

Que dévaliser le travail

Dans les coffres-forts de la bande

Ce qu'il a crée s'est fondu

En décrétant qu'on le lui rende

Le peuple ne veut que son dû.

 Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées

Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By-In Honor Of The Frontline Fighters Of The International Working Class Today-The International Working Class Anthem The Internationale

A YouTube film clip of a performance of the classic international working class song of struggle, The Internationale.

Markin comment:

In this series, presented under the headline Songs To While Away The Class Struggle By, I will post some songs that I think will help us get through the “dog days” of the struggle for our socialist future. I do not vouch for the political thrust of the songs; for the most part they are done by pacifists, social democrats, hell, even just plain old ordinary democrats. And, occasionally, a communist, although hard communist musicians have historically been scarce on the ground. Thus, here we have a regular "popular front" on the music scene. While this would not be acceptable for our political prospects, it will suffice for our purposes here.

*****

As Isaac Deutscher said in his speech “On Socialist Man” (1966):

“We do not maintain that socialism is going to solve all predicaments of the human race. We are struggling in the first instance with the predicaments that are of man’s making and that man can resolve. May I remind you that Trotsky, for instance, speaks of three basic tragedies—hunger, sex and death—besetting man. Hunger is the enemy that Marxism and the modern labour movement have taken on.... Yes, socialist man will still be pursued by sex and death; but we are convinced that he will be better equipped than we are to cope even with these.” 

***********

The Internationale[variant words in square brackets]

Arise ye workers [starvelings] from your slumbers

Arise ye prisoners of want

For reason in revolt now thunders

And at last ends the age of cant.

Away with all your superstitions

Servile masses arise, arise

We'll change henceforth [forthwith] the old tradition [conditions]

And spurn the dust to win the prize.

So comrades, come rally

And the last fight let us face

The Internationale unites the human race.

So comrades, come rally

And the last fight let us face

The Internationale unites the human race.

No more deluded by reaction

On tyrants only we'll make war

The soldiers too will take strike action

They'll break ranks and fight no more

And if those cannibals keep trying

To sacrifice us to their pride

They soon shall hear the bullets flying

We'll shoot the generals on our own side.

No saviour from on high delivers

No faith have we in prince or peer

Our own right hand the chains must shiver

Chains of hatred, greed and fear

E'er the thieves will out with their booty [give up their booty]

And give to all a happier lot.

Each [those] at the forge must do their duty

And we'll strike while the iron is hot.

________________________________________

L'Internationale

Debout les damnés de la terre

Debout les forçats de la faim

La raison tonne en son cratère

C'est l'éruption de la fin

Du passe faisons table rase

Foules, esclaves, debout, debout

Le monde va changer de base

Nous ne sommes rien, soyons tout

C'est la lutte finale

Groupons-nous, et demain (bis)

L'Internationale

Sera le genre humain

Il n'est pas de sauveurs suprêmes

Ni Dieu, ni César, ni tribun

Producteurs, sauvons-nous nous-mêmes

Décrétons le salut commun

Pour que le voleur rende gorge

Pour tirer l'esprit du cachot

Soufflons nous-mêmes notre forge

Battons le fer quand il est chaud

L'état comprime et la loi triche

L'impôt saigne le malheureux

Nul devoir ne s'impose au riche

Le droit du pauvre est un mot creux

C'est assez, languir en tutelle

L'égalité veut d'autres lois

Pas de droits sans devoirs dit-elle

Egaux, pas de devoirs sans droits

Hideux dans leur apothéose

Les rois de la mine et du rail

Ont-ils jamais fait autre chose

Que dévaliser le travail

Dans les coffres-forts de la bande

Ce qu'il a crée s'est fondu

En décrétant qu'on le lui rende

Le peuple ne veut que son dû.

 Les rois nous saoulaient de fumées

***The Roots Is The Toots- The Music That Got Them Through The Great Depression And World War II…

 

 

…it must be Saturday night in old North Adamsville because just as the daylight turns to dusk one can heard the echoes of Les Brown’s dreamy Sentimental Journey coming out of Doc’s Drugstore. Now for those not attuned to the vagaries of teenage life (and twenties too although not too late twenties because then you are an oldster and people, young people and old, begin to wonder, sometimes out loud, why you have not “settled down”) in the town Doc’s is not just a place where old people who need their medicine (or need a medicinal pint) go to have their prescriptions filled.

Why after all would streams of youthful healthys be flocking there under those conditions. No, the place is nothing but the central headquarters in the burg for the be-bop swinging generation ever since Doc’s saw that serving only the needs of those oldsters was not going to make him rich and revamped the place with a to-die-for soda fountain counter complete with stool and soda jerk. And the real draw, the up-to-date jukebox that played only current stuff no old Sweet Adeline old fogy stuff their parents would like. Just that minute a line was beginning to form at the juke as wise young men are quickly making their most jitter-buggy selections eyeing the field for a be-bop partner and the wise young women are kind of dreamily looking over the slower stuff just in case they need to prepare for that last dance before Doc’s closes for the night. Yes, it certainly is Saturday night is old North Adamsville…       

***The Life And Times Of Michael Philip Marlin, Private Investigator- The Gypsy Rain

 

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman- with kudos to Raymond Chandler

 

Those who have been following this series about the exploits of the famous Ocean City (located just south of Los Angeles then now incorporated into the county) private detective Michael Philip Marlin (hereafter just Marlin the way everybody when he became famous after the Galton case out on the coast) and his contemporaries in the private detection business like Freddy Vance, Charles Nicolas (okay, okay Clara too), Sam Archer, Miles Spade, Johnny Spain, know that he related many of these stories to his son, Tyrone Fallon, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Many of the stories related to Marlin’s personal lone-wolf operations (he always used the term “private operative” when he referred to his profession but when cash was tight or the landlords were howling in the dead air night for their room and office rents he would bend his pride and take assignment from the International Operatives Agency which had it main offices on Post Street in San Francisco and would pay the freight to transport Marlin up there when a hot case needed his professional expertise.    

Tyrone later, in the 1970s, related these stories to the journalist Joshua Lawrence Breslin at his request, a friend of my boyhood friend, Peter Paul Markin, who uncovered the relationship and who in turn related them to me over several weeks in the late 1980s.This one is actually from Tyrone’s files which he wanted shown to one and all as an example that he had listened to his father back when he was telling him those long gone stories. I believe that I have been faithful to what Tyrone presented to Josh. In any case I take full responsibility for what follows.        

*******

That Simon the Seeker was a smooth operator, smooth right up until the end. The end being face down in his exclusive twenty-two rooms Bel Air mansion, a place bought courtesy of half the Hollywood swells, or rather their wives, more nervous actors and actresses than you could shake a stick at, fidgety producers fighting tight budgets and overdue shooting schedules, and just plain wanderlust average citizens who could foot the bill for signs of the futures, omens, portents, whatever the hell you call them.

I, Tyrone Fallon, head of the Tyrone Investigation Agency, first heard about Simon back when I was working out of the old run-down, seen-better-days Meyers Building off of Wiltshire when I was just starting out and the low rent was a plus for my occupancy. In those days Simon the Seeker was working the carny racket, you know Madame Somebody telling your bright future for nickels and dimes, kid’s stuff really. He would have his skills published on every telephone pole in the area and come carny time he would have young girls, usually nubile teenage young girls who you would look at, and maybe in the right mood look at twice, passing out colored flyers announcing his presence in the community. I caught his act one night, one summer night up at the State Fair in Ventura when I was on a case looking for a dead-beat dad for an irate wife needing some alimony money and had a lead that he was working as a barker at one of the take-a-chance booths.

Simon was set up on the midway and would draw a crowd based on those young nubile girls, again a draw for hungry eyes or curious wives wondering why hubby was looking back all the time. His stunt was pretty routine, nothing but hocus-pocus for the rubes but also nothing, nothing Bunco squad-worthy to get worked up about either. By the way that Simon thing was a gag, Simon Saroyan, trying to play off of some gypsy Armenian mystique thing out here where there were plenty of Armenians and maybe a few people thought he was the author with that last name of his. His real name was Bradford Ames and I don’t know if his people came over on the Mayflower or anything like that but he was a tall good-looking blond guy which threw people off a little, especially those who expected some dark swarthy guy and made even more mystery around him like maybe he had been stolen at birth. Who knows but like I said it was all bunk, if harmless in those days.

Then Simon kind of fell of the map, at least I stopped seeing any posters around, or nubiles passing out leaflets. As I found out later when I got closer to the case what had happened was that Simon had finally struck gold, had hit the big time that he was craving all along. One night at some low-rent carny down in Encino, Betty Alden, Mrs. Lance Wadsworth Alden, yes, that Alden who made a ton of money when the LaBrea oil boom hit, was slumming and caught his act. He did some fast talking, very fast talking to the young, thirtyish, attractive Mrs. Alden and one way or the other slipped under the silky sheets with her at her place over in Beverly Hills. Right under the nose of the ancient Mr. Alden who probably was here to greet them when the Spaniards showed up.

So naturally Simon had moved up in class or at least clientele since he now was patronized by all the misty-eyed ladies with time on their hands in the Hollywood swells community since that Mrs. Alden had been Betty Bostock, a young wannabe starlet build more for casting couches that the screen, when old Alden picked her up off the streets one night. But even that entrée did not whet Simon’s appetite. He had been a wayward son back home among the Mayfair swells, had larceny engraved in his heart, and felt he needed to make a show, make some real dough. He now had the in, the connections and the information to make a big score.

What Simon did was contact Max Flame (real name unknown, unknown even when he went down in a hail of bullets later in his career, much later well after Simon took his fall), the best B&E in the night time guy ever. Here was the proposition Simon laid on Max. He would set up the mark, set up the particulars and Max and his boys would execute the heist with a fifty-fifty split. Done. And so for a time all prospered. Usually the victim, or the victim’s insurance company, paid off on the quiet. Very quiet. Beautiful and even I could appreciate the artistry of it-until I had to pull the hammer for my client.                                             

The way I got involved in the whole mess was that Lloyd Benton, a friend, a very close friend of Betty Alden’s, meaning he too had found his way under those silky Alden sheets, wanted me to help him get some family heirloom necklace for her that had been stolen when her home had been hit by Max and the boys. (Simon planned that caper himself just to throw suspicion off him, no one would figure that he was involved in a rip-off of an ex-lover and patroness.)   

For some reason Max had held onto the necklace, emeralds and all.

That piece of jewelry he was saving for a lady friend. But Betty really wanted them back and so Lloyd was on the case. The reason Lloyd was knowledgeable about what went down is that he was a confederate of Simon’s and Max’s. He was the finger man, the guy who fit into that Hollywood swells set, and who could easily gather information about who had what and how to grab it. His cut came from both sides, from both Max and Simon. So Lloyd hired me to be his bodyguard when the deal when down with Max. The problem was the trade never occurred. Never occurred because Betty Alden got wise to what was going on. At least wise to the Simon end of the deal. So one night Betty, drunk, went over to Bel-Air and popped one Simon the Seeker where it hurt, hurt very bad, dead hurt. You never heard about it though, did you?

One Lance Wadsworth Alden carried a lot of weight in tinsel town, Los Angeles County, Southern California and on up into Sacramento  and the whole thing was hushed up, clapped down. Self-defense they said.  And Simon, well, Simon had as good a run as could be expected. He sure must have been a smooth operator though to work that swells crowd when he was in his prime.    

Yes, he sure must have been.

Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars

Learn what our government is doing in our name!

We will have a discussion after the movie.

Thursday, January 30 at 7:00 at the Robbins Library, in the Community Room
700 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington (on the 77 and 79 bus lines)

       

      

In Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars, director Robert Greenwald investigates the impact of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere. The film highlights the stories of 16 year old Tariq Aziz, killed by a drone in 2011; and school teacher, Rafiq ur Rehamn, whose mother was killed and children hospitalized due to a drone strike in 2012. Unmanned includes more than seventy interviews. Prominent among these are a former American drone operator; Pakistani families of drone victims who are seeking legal redress; high ranking politicians and some of the military’s top brass, warning against blowback from the loss of innocent life.

 

For information about drones, see the website: nodronesnetwork.blogspot.com

 

Sponsored by Eastern Massachusetts Anti-Drones Network, justicewithpeace.org, (617) 776-6524.

Co-sponsored by Arlington United for Justice with Peace, WILPF Boston and Veterans For Peace, Smedley Butler Brigade.

 

 

 

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Snowden and Manning deserve Clemency based on NYT criteria       riteria for Snowden's clemency apply equally to Manning.

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Snowden and Manning deserve clemency based on NYT criteria The reasons given by the NYT to grant Snowden clemency apply equally to Manning! Last week, the New York Times editorial board thrilled government transparency advocates worldwide when they released an article calling on President Obama to grant clemency to Edward Snowden. They declare him a whistleblower loud and clear in the article’s title, and detail the NSA’s legal and ethical violations which Mr. Snowden uncovered. Firedoglake’s Kevin Gosztola, who reported on PVT Manning’s trial last summer, praised the NYT for its support of Snowden while challenging them on another point “If Snowden is a whistleblower, what is Chelsea Manning?” This summer the NYT’s editorial board called Manning’s 35 year-sentence “excessive”, but they stopped short of calling her a whistleblower. There are close parallels in the stories of Snowden and Manning as detailed on Gosztola’s blog: Just as the Times makes clear that Snowden could not have gone through ‘proper channels,’ it would have been impossible for Manning as well… Had she sent specific documents in the sets to get the attention of members of Congress or had she gone to superiors within the military and said this should not be secret, she most certainly would have lost her security clearance... Six bullet points on violations Snowden revealed and legal actions he provoked are offered by the Times editors to further advance the argument that he is a whistleblower. Certainly, the same could be done for Manning: Manning revealed a video of a 2007 Apache helicopter attack, which shows two Reuters journalists being gunned down in Baghdad. The video, which featured soldiers begging superior officers for orders to fire on individuals, was withheld from Reuters, even though the media organization filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Frago 242, which the US and the UK appeared to have adopted as a way of excusing them from having to take responsibility for torture or ill-treatment of Iraqis by Iraqi military or security forces, was revealed in the Iraq War Logs. Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed to secretly allow US cruise missile or drone attacks that he would say were launched by his government Both the administrations of President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama pressured Spain and Germany not to investigate torture authorized by Bush administration officials US government was well aware of rampant corruption in the Tunisian ruling family of President Ben Ali and the FBI trained torturers in Egypt’s state security service. The information released by Manning was one of the “small things“ that helped to inspire the Arab Spring Al Jazeera journalist Sami al-Hajj was sent to Guantanamo Bay prison “to provide information” on the “al Jazeera news network’s training program, telecommunications equipment and newsgathering operations in Chechnya, Kosovo and Afghanistan, including the network’s acquisition of a video of [Osama bin Laden] and a subsequent interview” of bin Laden, a clear attack on press freedom Partly basing its ruling on diplomatic cables Manning released, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the court condemned the CIA for its extraordinary rendition program and found Macedonia had been responsible for the torture and violation of German car salesman Khaled el-Masri’s rights when he was abducted. Macedonia was ordered to pay $78,500 in damages to Masri. If you’re wondering why government transparency advocates should present a unified front in fighting for whistleblower protections, you have only to look to the words and experiences of these whistleblowers themselves. While Snowden flees persecution by the same administration and same set of laws that were used to imprison Chelsea, he has clearly stated that ”Manning was a classic whistleblower.” She “was inspired by the public good.” Do you support both Manning and Snowden? Tell us why on our facebook page. Leave a comment, a graphic, or a picture of you holding a sign with your message. We will share some of our favorite messages and images with our 105,000+ facebook followers in the coming weeks. Help us continue to cover 100% of Pvt. Manning's legal fees! Donate today.

***Out In The 1950s C-Film Noir Night- Radar Patrol

From The Pen Of Frank Jackman

DVD Review

Radar Patrol (not Radar Patrol vs. Sky King), 1951  

In the beginning was …radar. At least by the number of times the word was used and its glories acclaimed in the film under review, uh, Radar Patrol, that appears to be the case. Call me jaded by the vast increase in technology and wizardry in my lifetime but I could not get a head of steam worked up about the subject of radar and all of its practical uses from fishing to police detection. The latter of course the theme driving this effort. I mentioned in recently reviewing some B-film noir efforts that there were subtle gradations in that B category. This film is a notch below that.  Here is why.

This standard police procedural starts with the good guys touting the virtues of radar and how the of use of it could help fight crime. Fight crime in the red scare, Cold War early 1950s so the criminal activity has a sinister national security edge to it. That edge concerns the uses of the then fairly recently discovered uses for atomic material. Naturally anybody who had quantities of that available would find a ready market, legal or illegal. Here the illegal comes into play. A gang of ne’er-do-wells hijacks a van carrying atomic material. (By the way no effort was made to encase the material or have the handlers protected by suits they just transported the stuff in an old time van like it was boxes of books or something.) The hijacked material was hidden away in a barn until it can be exported on a yacht owned by the ringleader of the operation.

Of course once the officers of the radar patrol get on the case that gang’s days are numbered. First they foil a clean getaway and netted one of the robbers by the use of, well, radar to track the miscreants. Then they foiled a small test transport by the gang using, oh well, yes, radar. Then they blew the case wide open using a helicopter equipped with, let’s see, radar and they thus had saved the sacred material from the bad guys, done a good day’s work, and enhanced national security. And for their efforts the government has upped their budget in order to buy more, yes again, radar. See C what I mean.                     

HONOR THE THREE L’S-LENIN, LUXEMBURG, LIEBKNECHT-HONOR ROSA LUXEMBURG-THE ROSE OF THE REVOLUTION

COMMENTARY 

Every January leftists honor three revolutionaries who died in that month, V.I. Lenin of Russia in 1924, Karl Liebknecht of Germany and Rosa Luxemburg of Poland in 1919 murdered after leading the defeated Spartacist uprising in Berlin. Lenin needs no special commendation.  I made my political points about the heroic Karl Liebknecht and his parliamentary fight against the German war budget in World War I in this space earlier so I would like to make some points here about the life of Rosa Luxemburg. These comments come at a time when the question of a woman President is the buzz in the political atmosphere in the United States in the lead up to the upcoming 2016 elections. Rosa, who died almost a century ago, puts all such pretenders to so-called ‘progressive’ political leadership in the shade.   

The early Marxist movement, like virtually all progressive political movements in the past, was heavily dominated by men. I say this as a statement of fact and not as something that was necessarily intentional or good. It is only fairly late in the 20^th century that the political emancipation of women, mainly through the granting of the vote earlier in the century, led to mass participation of women in politics as voters or politicians. Although, socialists, particularly revolutionary socialists, have placed the social, political and economic emancipation of women at the center of their various programs from the early days that fact was honored more in the breech than the observance.

All of this is by way of saying that the political career of the physically frail but intellectually robust Rosa Luxemburg was all the more remarkable because she had the capacity to hold her own politically and theoretically with the male leadership of the international social democratic movement in the pre-World War I period. While the writings of the likes of then leading German Social Democratic theoretician Karl Kautsky are safely left in the basket Rosa’s writings today still retain a freshness, insightfulness and vigor that anti-imperialist militants can benefit from by reading. Her book Accumulation of Capital alone would place her in the select company of important Marxist thinkers.

But Rosa Luxemburg was more than a Marxist thinker. She was also deeply involved in the daily political struggles pushing for left-wing solutions. Yes, the more bureaucratic types, comfortable in their party and trade union niches, hated her for it (and she, in turn, hated them) but she fought hard for her positions on an anti-class collaborationist, anti-militarist and anti-imperialist left-wing of the international of the social democratic movement throughout this period. And she did this not merely as an adjunct leader of a women’s section of a social democratic party but as a fully established leader of left-wing men and women, as a fully socialist leader. One of the interesting facts about her life is how little she wrote on the women question as a separate issue from the broader socialist question of the emancipation of women. Militant women today take note.

One of the easy ways for leftists, particularly later leftists influenced by Stalinist ideology, to denigrate the importance of Rosa Luxemburg’s thought and theoretical contributions to Marxism was to write her off as too soft on the question of the necessity of a hard vanguard revolutionary organization to lead the socialist revolution. Underpinning that theme was the accusation that she relied too much on the spontaneous upsurge of the masses as a corrective to the lack of hard organization or the impediments that  reformist socialist elements threw up to derail the revolutionary process. A close examination of her own organization, The Socialist Party of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, shows that this was not the case; this was a small replica of a Bolshevik-type organization. That organization, moreover, made several important political blocs with the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the defeat of the Russian revolution of 1905. Yes, there were political differences between the organizations, particularly over the critical question for both the Polish and Russian parties of the correct approach to the right of national self-determination, but the need for a hard organization does not appear to be one of them.

Furthermore, no less a stalwart Bolshevik revolutionary than Leon Trotsky, writing in her defense in the 1930’s, dismissed charges of Rosa’s supposed ‘spontaneous uprising’ fetish as so much hot air. Her tragic fate, murdered with the complicity of her former Social Democratic comrades, after the defeated Spartacist uprising in Berlin in 1919 (at the same time as her comrade, Karl Liebknecht), had causes related to the smallness of the group, its  political immaturity and indecisiveness than in its spontaneousness. If one is to accuse Rosa Luxemburg of any political mistake it is in not pulling the Spartacist group out of Kautsky’s Independent Social Democrats (itself a split from the main Social Democratic party during the war, over the war issue ) sooner than late 1918. However, as the future history of the communist movement would painfully demonstrate revolutionaries have to take advantage of the revolutionary opportunities that come their way, even if not the most opportune or of their own making.

All of the above controversies aside, let me be clear, Rosa Luxemburg did not then need nor does she now need a certificate of revolutionary good conduct from today’s leftists, the reader of this space or this writer. For her revolutionary opposition to World War I when it counted, at a time when many supposed socialists had capitulated to their respective ruling classes including her comrades in the German Social Democratic Party, she holds a place of honor. Today, as we face the fourth year of the war in Iraq we could use a few more Rosas, and a few less tepid, timid parliamentary opponents.  For this revolutionary opposition she went to jail like her comrade Karl Liebknecht. For revolutionaries it goes with the territory. And in jail she wrote, she always wrote, about the fight against the ongoing imperialist war (especially in the Junius pamphlets about the need for a Third International).  Yes, Rosa was at her post then. And she died at her post later in the Spartacist fight doing her internationalist duty trying to lead the German socialist revolution the success of which would have  gone a long way to saving the Russian Revolution. This is a woman leader I could follow who, moreover, places today’s bourgeois women parliamentary politicians in the shade. As the political atmosphere gets heated up over the next couple years, remember what a real fighting revolutionary woman politician looked like. Remember Rosa Luxemburg, the Rose of the Revolution.      

 

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January 11, 2014 is the 12th anniversary of the opening of the prison at Guantanamo. The Bush regime filled the off-shore prison at Guantanamo Bay by rendering men seized from around the globe into indefinite captivity, employing and legally justifying a program of torture they called "enhanced interrogation." Even Bush's team slowly began to release hundreds of prisoners for whom no case could be fabricated to justify prison. When Barack Obama was elected, he quickly promised to close it within a year... five years ago. It's still open, with new infrastructure added, and more personnel than ever. Most people in the U.S. have no idea there are still 82 prisoners there who were cleared for release years ago; 45 who the President says will never be charged or released; and "military commissions" trials are designed to cover the torture inflicted on the prisoners, depriving of them rights the U.S. has claimed to cherish. Close Guantanamo Now Protest at the White House January 11th at 12pm Sponsoring Organizations: Amnesty International, Blue Lantern Project, Center for Constitutional Rights, CloseGuantanamo.org, CODEPINK: Women For Peace, Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, Interfaith Action for Human Rights, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, The World Can't Wait, Witness Against Torture Miami protest: Close Guantanamo Bay Now! January 11th at 2pm At SOUTHCOM; Sponsored by People's Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (POWIR), CODEPINK - Miami, World Can't Wait, Veterans for Peace - Miami, Amnesty International - Chapter 248, Miami for Peace and Justice, Progressive Democrats of America - Miami, Green Party- Broward and Miami-Dade, Students for Justice in Palestine at FAU Santa Monica: Close Guantanamo Now January 11th at 3pm Endorsers/Co-Sponsors/Sponsors:   Addicted to War * American Civil Liberties Union–So CA * Amnesty International USA * Anti-Racist Action-LA * Bill of Rights  Defense Committee * Café Intifada * Center for Constitutional Rights * CODEPINK LA * Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) * ImaginAction * LA Laborfest * LA No More Jails * LA-Palestine Labor Solidarity Committee * LA Region Religious Campaign Against Torture (LARRCAT) * Law Offices of Michael S. Rapkin * MLK Coalition of Greater Los Angeles * Muslim Public Affairs Committee * National Lawyers Guild – LA * National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) * Office of the Americas * Out Against War * Pax Christi–LA & So CA * The Peace Center of United University Church * Program for Torture Victims–LA * Revolution Books * Shura Council of So CA * School of the Americas Watch–LA * Spiritual Youth for Justice and Peace * St. Camillus Center for Spiritual Care * Topanga Peace Alliance * The WE Project * World Can’t Wait -LA Chicago: 12 Years Too Many! Protest January 10th at 4:30pm Organized by the Chicago Coalition to Shut Down Guantanamo (World Can't Wait Chicago, Witness Against Torture, White Rose Catholic Worker, Illinois Coalition Against Torture, Chicago Committee to Free the Cuban Five) Endorsed by: 8th Day Center for Justice, Amnesty International, Voices for Creative Non-Violence, Vets for Peace Chicago, Neighbors for Peace, Chicago Cuba Coalition. Our witness is most powerful with you! Chicago: Guantanamo - 12 Years Too Many! January 11th at 6:30pm We will begin the evening with visual art projects related to the movement to close Guantanamo Bay Prison and end torture and indefinite detention(more details to come soon!). At 7:00 pm we present discussion with 3 panelist on the current legal and political situation at Guantanamo Bay, followed by Q&A: Candace Gorman, a U.S. attorney for 2 men detained at Guantanamo (one has been released, the other remains in prison), Mario Venegas, an activist and torture survivor from Chile, and Dr. Antonio Martinez from the Institute for Survivors of Torture and Human Rights Abuses and a co-founder of the Marjorie Kovler Center here in Chicago. Why, as Obama says the "war on terror" is winding down, will this government not close Guantanamo? And what is our responsibility to see that it does? Join Andy Worthington and Debra Sweet on the Close Guantanamo NOW Tour: Thursday January 9: New York City 6:30 pm: Reception. 7:00 pm: Film screening of Doctors of the Darkside at All Souls Church 1157 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan with Andy Worthington & Debra Sweet, with Todd Pierce, former U.S. military defense attorney for Guantanamo prisoners, Leili Kashani with the Center for Constitutional Rights, Martha Davis, Director of Doctors of the Darkside. Sponsored by: Peace and Justice Task Force of All Souls Unitarian Church, The Center for Constitutional Rights, New York Campaign Against Torture, No More Guantanamos, Psychologists for Social Responsibility, Resistance Cinema, Revolution Books, Witness Against Torture, and World Can’t Wait (list in formation). Stay tuned! Livestream planned for this event. Friday January 10: Washington, DC 5:30 pm: Film screening of Doctors of the Darkside, with Andy Worthington & Debra Sweet with Todd Pierce. Festival Center, 1640 Columbia Road NW Monday January 13: Stanford University, Palo Alto CA 5:30 pm: Old Union 520 Lasuen Mall, 3rd Floor Common Room  with Andy Worthington & Debra Sweet with Jeffrey Kaye & Michael Kearns Tuesday January 14: San Francisco 12:00 pm: Hastings Law School, 200 McAllister St, with Andy Worthington & Debra Sweet Tuesday January 14: Berkeley 7:00 pm Screening of Doctors of the Darkside at  with Andy Worthington & Debra Sweet.  Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way @ Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley CA Wednesday January 15: Los Angeles 11:30am: MLK Luncheon with Interfaith Communities United for Justice & Peace Holman United Methodist Church 3320 W. Adams Keynote Speaker: Andy Worthington Wednesday January 15: Los Angeles 7:00pm: Screening of Doctors of the Darkside at Revolution Books 5726 Hollywood Boulevard with Andy Worthington, Debra Sweet and Jason Leopold Thursday January 16: Orange County Peace Coalition Location TBA January 17: Cal Poly Pomona 7:00 pm Bronco Student Center, Orion Room, 3801 W. Temple Avenue with Andy Worthington, Debra Sweet and Dennis Loo The Torture Remains the Same Shaker Aamer is the last remaining British resident at Guantanamo. He was been cleared for release in 2007 (read the Department of Defense documents stating he is cleared for release). He has long been an advocate for his rights and the rights of other prisoners at Guantanamo. Read his New Year's message: “Last night, as I came back from my legal call, I was FCEd in much the same way I always am, as I peacefully refused to cooperate with them again. [Note: To be FCEd means that the Forcible Cell Extraction team of six soldiers forcibly moves the detainee from one place to another.] This time they did not just force me down on the floor of the room. They apparently decided that they had to get me dirty, so they threw me down in the passage way of the Gold Building - the Cold building! “I had come to the legal call wearing only my underclothes, as they have been doing the 'scrotum searches', and I wanted to show them that it was all a farce. If I did not have trousers on, how could I be hiding something in my trouser pocket, as Colonel Bogdan alleged in his sworn affidavit in court? Of course, a sensible person might point out that our trousers do not have pockets anyway, but that is another story...” Continue reading... Spread these: Press release for the tour Close Guantanamo NOW Proponents Plan US Speaking Tour January 9-1 Social media Thunderclap 12 Years Later Close Gitmo NOW Join CODEPINK in sharing this message together at the same time - automatically. Video about the tour Close Guantanamo Now Tour Share this message: Support January 9-17 Campus/Community Speaking Tour featuring UK journalist Andy Worthington & Debra Sweet, Director of the World Can't Wait. Message from Andy Worthington: “Guantanamo is still open, five years after President Obama promised to close it. The prisoners themselves - through a major hunger strike - reminded the world of the ongoing horrors of the prison last year, but although that spurred President  Obama to make promises about releasing prisoners, and moving towards closing the prison, we know from experience that constant pressure is required to try to make sure that the president sticks to his promises. “As Debra and I embark on a US tour - visiting New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles - to raise awareness of the plight of the [155] men still held at Guantanamo, and to call for the prison's closure - your support is invaluable. Please donate if you can to help us send the message to President Obama: Close Guantanamo Now!” Debra Sweet, Director, The World Can't Wait

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