Wednesday 30 May 2012

FUCK THA POLICE..AGAIN AND AGAIN...

You hear enough fucked up things about the police and you figure there is no way anything new could surprise you. Well, maybe not surprise, but the continuous sense of outrage over the fucked up things they do is just non-fucking stop! Who the fuck are they "protecting and serving"? Why are they shooting and killing a guy on his hands and knees on Granville street in Vancouver? Fucking cruel imbeciles. The dude was bipolar, and in obvious distress. Here's the story. Revolution until victory. 

Alberta police to investigate new video of Paul Boyd crawling on street before being shot by VPD

 

 
 
120
 
 
 

A tourist took this video of Paul Boyd in the moments before he was shot and killed in 2007 in Vancouver. A Vancouver police constable was exonerated after the police complaints commissioner ruled there was no use of excessive force.

Dramatic new video showing an injured man crawling across a Vancouver street before he was shot by a police officer has set off a new investigation, five years after Paul Boyd was killed.
The officer was neither charged nor disciplined after the shooting in August 2007, mainly because there were too many conflicting witness accounts, and a final investigation ruled Const. Lee Chipperfield was “inattentionally blind.”
But 49 seconds of a shaky, dark video shot by a Winnipeg tourist may change that outcome, and has forced the Vancouver Police Department and the B.C. government to ask the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team to investigate.
The B.C. Coroners Service also announced it will review its investigation more than a year after a coroners’ jury made recommendations on how to prevent another such shooting by police.
“I still, after five years, don’t understand what happened,” said Danny Antonnucci, an animator who worked with Boyd and considered him a friend.
“That video is heartbreaking. To see Paul crawling on his hands and knees. . .”
Antonnucci said his heart goes out to Boyd’s family.
Boyd was shot after police responded to 911 calls and were confronted by a man swinging a bike chain. Chipperfield testified at the inquest that he believed Boyd was still armed when he fired the fatal shot to Boyd’s head.
But the video, released to the media this week, appears to show Boyd was no longer holding the bike chain when he was killed.
Instead, it shows a police officer next to Boyd bending down and picking up the chain as Boyd — who was already injured by several police bullets — crawled across the street.
A vehicle blocks the camera’s view of Boyd in the seconds before he is shot, but the officers confronting him are in full view and are seen backing away from the man.
The camera jerks to the sky as a shot is heard, someone next to the cameraman swears in German and the camera refocuses on a lone officer standing in shooting position, arms outstretched with his gun held in both hands.
David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said the video proves what his organization has been saying all along: Boyd wasn’t a threat to police when he was killed.
“There is something about seeing a man crawling across the street to be shot in the head surrounded by police officers when he’s fully disarmed, compared to just reading that on a piece of paper,” Eby said in an interview.
Chipperfield was never charged and the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to establish that the officer’s use of force was excessive.
The province’s police watchdog later said there were too many conflicting accounts of what happened to conclude whether the officer used excessive force.
Eby said the video now indicates which eyewitnesses should be believed.
He also said the conclusion from the Office of the B.C. Police Complaints Commissioner, that Chipperfield’s intense emotional reaction to the altercation rendered him “inattentionally blind,” can’t be allowed to stand.
“If you accept that explanation there’s no scenario in which a police officer could ever be held accountable for lethal use of force,” Eby said.
Vancouver-Fraserview MLA and former police officer Kash Heed told The Province he was stunned that five levels of authority could not uncover the video, or determine exactly what happened.
The incident was reviewed by the Vancouver Police Department, the RCMP, the Criminal Justice Branch, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner and the B.C. Coroner.
“I saw the video and was sickened by what I saw,” Heed said. “With all the resources they had, how could they not come up with this video?” he said.
Boyd, 39, had a successful career as an animator.
But he was also bipolar, and on the night of Aug. 13, 2007, police received several 911 complaints of a male causing a disturbance and assaulting a man on the city’s busy south Granville Street.
Witnesses said Boyd was swinging a bike chain with a lock attached and hit one of the officers several times. Another officer tried to bring him down with a baton.
The coroners’ inquest heard Chipperfield shot Boyd even after another officer told Chipperfield to hold fire, and disarmed the man.
Chipperfield told the inquest he believed Boyd was still armed, and the Police Complaint Commission found too many conflicting versions to proceed with charges.
B.C.’s Attorney General, Shirley Bond, asked the Alberta independent investigation team to get involved hours after the video was made public this week.
“I can’t comment or be critical of the processes in the past. What I can say to the [Boyd] family is that upon seeing the new information ... I took immediate action to ensure there is an independent review.”
The Vancouver Police Department issued a short statement referring comment to the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.
Likewise, Stan Lowe, B.C.’s police complaint commissioner, said no comment will be coming from his office while the new investigation is in motion.
Lowe said in a statement he met with Clifton Purvis, the director of the Alberta team, and Purvis agreed to provide Lowe’s office with his findings when the probe is completed.
“I have seen the video and support the decision to re-open the investigation of this tragic incident,” Lowe said in an interview.
Purvis said in an interview that he was putting his entire Calgary team, with a full-time staff of nine members, onto the investigation.
While he didn’t want to prejudge the investigation, he agreed the video had the potential to shore up witness accounts and discount others.
“At first blush, it sounds fairly simple — you just consider the videotape — but you really have to look at the initial investigation and try and determine what impact the video would have had on the investigation had it been available back then.”
Purvis said the investigation would likely take months.
“While I get that it’s really important for everybody involved for this to be done quickly, it’s really more important we do it thoroughly.”
- with files from The Province
WATCH THE EYEWITNESS VIDEO


Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Alberta+police+investigate+video+Paul+Boyd+crawling+street+before+being+shot/6695536/story.html#ixzz1wPalllzU

Friday 25 May 2012

WRITE OFF!!!!!

Our good friend Bubba is in a fucking amazing hardcore band in Vancouver. They go by the name of Write Off. Not emo, not jock-breakdown metal thug rock posing as hardcore, and definitely not stupid frat boy warp tour bro-bonding bullshit. Straight up hardcore thrash, with none of the songs breaking the 2 minute mark, and some coming in at around 30 seconds. Fucking righteous.

This man and his crew of old time punks will tear you a new fucking hole in your chest. They say it will be a cassette release, which will only increase their street cred, as if they need any more. As far as I know, they are scheduled to play in Victoria for Hardcorefest, happening on the long weekend in August. They are not to be missed, motherfuckers. Listen to their feelgood hit of the summer, "you support hate", right here. Fuck yes.

HAS ANYBODY SEEN MY GUN?

And for more amusement, check out this story about the cop who lost his loaded gun while chasing someone on the lower east side of Vancouver. It has yet to be turned in...duh, really? Fucking genius. Great comedy, though. Do you feel safer yet?

Vancouver police officer loses gun during chase

 

 
 
 
 
An intensive search is underway for a gun - a Sig Sauer P226 pistol with serial number U778210 - lost by a Vancouver police officer during a chase.
 

An intensive search is underway for a gun - a Sig Sauer P226 pistol with serial number U778210 - lost by a Vancouver police officer during a chase.

Photograph by: Handout , Vancouver Police

Vancouver police are scrambling to find a police firearm that a cop lost during a foot chase in the Downtown Eastside Wednesday.
VPD issued a news release said "an intensive search is underway" for the gun - a Sig Sauer P226 pistol with serial number U778210.
Const. Jana McGuinness said the gun was lost about 3 p.m. near Oppenheimer Park.
"A man was allegedly seen by a witness picking up the firearm, but he has yet to come forward to police," McGuinness said.
"After working through the past 24 hours to exhaust all investigative avenues, the VPD is turning to the public for assistance to find the firearm. Anyone who finds the pistol should assume it is loaded and take every precaution to avoid touching it. They should immediately call 9-1-1 for assistance."
She said the gun was lost after two plainclothes VPD officers saw a drug deal in the north lane of the 300 block of Cordova Street.
One of the cops confronted the suspect who ran across Oppenheimer Park.
"The officer gave chase and pursued the suspect on foot through the 200 block of Dunlevy Street, across Oppenheimer Park and into the 300 block of Jackson Avenue, where the suspect, who was hiding in some bushes, was taken into custody," McGuinness said.
The second cop returned to the police car and drove to the arrest point a short distance away to help with the arrest.
The arresting officer then realized that his police firearm had fallen from its holster during the chase.
"An intensive canvass of the area for witnesses and video has since revealed that a man may have picked up the firearm from where it had fallen in the park but he has not come forward to turn it over to police," she said.
"Investigators are continuing to work various leads in an effort to find the man and the missing pistol," she said.


Read more:http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Vancouver+police+officer+loses+during+chase/6674831/story.html#ixzz1vwct3Xtx

Thursday 24 May 2012

WOULD I GET FIRED FOR THIS PIG BEHAVIOUR?

Fucking shit. I almost cannot believe this fucking idiot didn't get fired, at least for the sake of public image. Not only is he still a sargeant, but he's now in our lovely province. Fuck him, fuck the fucking police. Read this. If you are not outraged, or at least amused, you are dead.

RCMP officer's sexual antics with female colleagues not enough to get him fired

 

 
 
 
 
A high-ranking Edmonton RCMP officer who exhibited a pattern of inappropriate behaviour over several years — including exposing his penis to a civilian employee, having sex in a polygraph room, and drinking alcohol at work — has been transferred to B.C.
 

A high-ranking Edmonton RCMP officer who exhibited a pattern of inappropriate behaviour over several years — including exposing his penis to a civilian employee, having sex in a polygraph room, and drinking alcohol at work — has been transferred to B.C.

EDMONTON — A high-ranking Edmonton RCMP officer who exhibited a pattern of inappropriate behaviour over several years — including exposing his penis to a civilian employee, having sex in a polygraph room, and drinking alcohol at work — has been transferred to B.C.
He will remain on the job as a sergeant.
Donald Ray was suspended for 10 days without pay, given a formal reprimand, and demoted one rank from staff sergeant after an anonymous tip sparked an internal RCMP investigation and disciplinary proceedings. At the time of the tip, Ray was the officer in charge of the polygraph unit at the RCMP's Behavioural Sciences Unit.
Speaking to the media at the RCMP's K Division headquarters in Edmonton on Tuesday, Chief Superintendent Marlin Degrand said Ray is working under supervision in his new post, "to ensure that he doesn't continue on with any sorts of activity like this in the future.
"Should that surface, it will be dealt with and it will be dealt with harshly."
Degrand said the RCMP takes the matters "very seriously."
A decision by the RCMP adjudication board obtained by the Ottawa Citizen says victim-impact statements show the incidents caused personal and institutional "wounds" which "will require some time and attention to heal.
"It will take considerable effort to rebuild the damaged trust in our organization in light of the incidents."
Internal Affairs investigators began looking into Ray in August 2009, reviewing seven reports of misconduct which occurred in Edmonton, St. Albert and Red Deer.
Marlin said Ray was put on supervised, administrative duty as soon as the investigation began.
The decision of the three-officer adjudication board found Ray was hosting after-hours parties in his office at K Division, and kept a bar fridge stocked with Budweiser and Appleton Jamaica Rum.
The incident occurred close to the end of one work day in April 2009, when Ray invited his staff to a private office party, and "encouraged his subordinates to sit and have a drink." One woman consumed four beers over two hours. Once the other employees left, the two kissed. Ray then unzipped his pants, exposed himself and asked her to touch his penis. The woman, a civilian employee, refused.
The investigation said Ray exhibited a "disturbing pattern of activity" dating to 2006, when he would book a polygraph suite for lunchtime sex with a female subordinate.
Ray would also sign out unmarked police cars for his sexual encounters, and once had sex in a public parking lot with another female subordinate after a colleague's transfer party.
"A reasonable person would find an off-duty police officer engaging in sexual intercourse in a private vehicle in a public place to be disgraceful," the board wrote.
The adjudication board also found Ray made inappropriate comments to another subordinate employee, including calling her a "hottie" and making comments about her sex life in front of other people.
Ray also had "inappropriate and unprofessional" interactions with prospective female employees, including sending them inappropriate emails, and taking them out for drinks during the hiring process. In one case, he falsified security clearance forms for a woman, exaggerating the number of years she'd known one of her character references.
The discipline board said Ray's conduct "compromised the integrity of the RCMP's hiring process."
Ray admitted to all seven allegations of discreditable conduct, and apologized in writing.
The adjudication board found that "the serial, repetitive nature of the acts" was an aggravating factor, as were Ray's experience and rank.
But the board also noted numerous mitigating factors in Ray's favour, including his previous work record, several letters of support from coworkers, and the officer's "sincere expressions of regret and remorse."
Degrand said RCMP management "in no way, shape or form" condones Ray's behaviour, and that the decision about whether to fire the experienced officer was up to the adjudication board.
"Dismissal was one of the options that the board considered," Degrand said. "I'm not here to substitute my personal beliefs or thoughts or just speculate as to their thought process on that, but the adjudication board considered all of the aggravating as well as mitigating circumstances and in this case, they deemed that this member would receive the highest form of sanction short of dismissal."
Degrand would not say where exactly in B.C. Ray is now stationed. He said the officer is not in a position to deal with cases such as sexual assaults.
Ray's behaviour is the latest in a series of complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination levelled against the RCMP across the country.
A high-profile RCMP veteran, Cpl. Catherine Galliford, ignited the controversy last fall by speaking publicly about her internal allegations of sexual harassment and abuse by former male colleagues.
The complaints prompted an investigation by the RCMP Public Complaints Commission, which has asked for public input into how the Mounties dealt with the allegations. The commission is also considering whether existing force guidelines for dealing with such allegations are adequate.
Edmonton Journal/Ottawa Citizen
jpruden@edmontonjournal.com
twitter.com/@jana_pruden
gdimmock@ottawacitizen.com
Edmonton Journal

Monday 21 May 2012

ONE MORE THING...

FUCK NATO. FUCK IMPERIALISM. NO MORE INVASIONS. THEIR TIME IS FUCKING OVER.

NATO in Chicago: Thousands Protest War Criminals’ Summit

The following news report was filed late Sunday night, as we went to press. Check revcom.us and future issues of Revolution for more coverage.
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, held its summit this year in Chicago on May 20-21. NATO, the largest military alliance in the world, is dominated by U.S. imperialism. Its 28 countries account for 65 percent of the world’s military spending, the largest being the United States. NATO’s so-called “peacekeeping” is aimed at maintaining a world of Western, especially U.S., imperialist domination over the people of the world, and at blocking any potential great power rivals. And the fundamental purpose of NATO’s so-called “humanitarianism” is to devote massive weaponry to protect, defend, and extend a system that inflicts great suffering on the vast majority of humanity and enriches a handful—this is the “world order” of capitalism-imperialism. (see “NATO in Chicago May 20-21: War Criminals Summit,” Revolution #269)
This summit was indeed a War Criminals Summit. Thousands of people gathered in Chicago, from all over, to protest these war criminals. And on the other side, for weeks leading up to the summit, and then as the meeting got underway, the state’s forces of repression kicked way into high gear. As people have been chanting in the street: “This is what a police state looks like!” (See “Chicago Gears Up for NATO Summit: This is What a Police State Looks Like,” Revolution #269)
The Occupy movement, antiwar activists, and others worked for months to organize protests and other activities for the days leading up to and during the NATO Summit. Occupy called for 10 Days of Action which began on May 12-13 with the People’s Summit, which included panels and workshops dedicated to the struggle for a better world. The workshops, which Revolution Books and World Can’t Wait participated in, covered a broad range of topics, from “Perspectives on Socialism, Communism, and Anarchism” to “Impacts of Climate Change: From Migration to Our Local Water Supply,” to “NATO and Afghanistan: What’s Wrong with the ‘Good War’?” and many others. The four plenary sessions included Malalai Joya (former member of Afghan parliament and opponent of NATO occupation); Kathy Kelly (Voices for Creative Nonviolence); Mumia Abu-Jamal (via speakerphone); Col. Ann Wright, antiwar activists, and others.
During the week there were protests around education, immigration, housing foreclosures and evictions, the environment, and health care leading up to the Summit.
The week began with a demonstration organized by the Catholic Worker movement. According to aChicago Tribune report, “Dozens of demonstrators dashed into the Loop building housing President Barack Obama’s campaign headquarters this morning, slipping past security guards and running up escalators as they kicked off what they called a ‘Week Without Capitalism.’ Eight protesters were led out in handcuffs about half an hour later.”
A powerful protest was organized by Code Pink, World Can’t Wait and Vets for Peace against drone attacks and the war in Afghanistan. Protesters carried mock drones and some had signs representing individuals killed in drone attacks. 75-100 people started at Obama’s campaign headquarters and went to the British, Canadian and German consulates. A moving statement was made by an Afghanistani woman from Canada.
On Friday thousands of people rallied at Daley Plaza in a mobilization called by the National Nurses Union demanding the Robin Hood Tax (a tax on financial transactions to offset cuts affecting health care and social services). Hundreds of nurses along with protesters from around the country as well as office workers came together. Tom Morello and Rise Against played an angry rendition of “Ghost of Tom Joad.” That evening World Can’t Wait hosted a program of culture and statements titled, “International Voices for Humanity and the Planet: An Evening of Arts to Oppose NATO.”
On Saturday a multinational crowd of around 1,000 people marched through the downtown area from midday until almost 11 pm. All day there were repeated standoffs with the police. One protester was hospitalized after being hit by a police vehicle and a number of people were brutalized by the police. People went up in the face of the climate of fear created by the authorities.
On Sunday, May 20, approximately 5,000 people poured into the streets of Chicago after rallying in Grant Park. Chanting “N-A-T-O—NATO has got to go!,” rows of veterans marching in formation led the march. The crowd was very diverse, young and old and all nationalities. One of the most prominent banners was HUGE, covering almost four lanes of the street demanding “Free Bradley Manning” (a U.S. soldier arrested and tortured, accused of releasing confidential files, including video footage of a massacre carried out by the U.S. military in Iraq). Stickers about Bradley Manning were everywhere. One very artistic painted banner carried by a contingent of Latino youth showed a skeleton pilot raining bombs with the names of many countries that have been assaulted by NATO forces.
There was a lot of sentiment among people denouncing NATO and their wars—expressed in chants, signs and different banners. People from World Can’t Wait carried a series of banners in languages of NATO countries and those targeted by NATO saying “Humanity and the Planet Comes First.” An Internationalist contingent followed behind the World Can’t Wait contingent with a very large painted banner of the world breaking through chains and the words “Internationalism, The Whole World Comes First” in English and Spanish. Behind this was another, smaller banner that said “Humanity Needs Revolution.”
There was a massive police presence and as the demonstration turned a corner they were met by Illinois State Police lining both sides of the street, all displaying clubs almost the size of baseball bats in front of their chests. At least 10 city buses displaying “Welcome to Chicago” blinking signs were lined up at the ready for any mass arrests.
The Iraq Vets Against the War organized a march of veterans who then threw medals they had received from the military into the street near where NATO was meeting in a dramatic display of defiance. Many dedicated their medals to the children of Afghanistan and Iraq. One vet expressed his apologies to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan for what the U.S. military had done to their countries. Joshua Shephard, who spent six years in the Navy, yelled to the crowd, “These are not mine, they never were. They are instruments of control from this government. I will not continue to trade my humanity for false heroism.”

HELL YES!!!

Here's an article about some righteous veterans of some unjust wars of occupation and colonialism, and how they've come to reject the arrogance of braindead soldiers fighting for a completely corrupt empire. This is what needs to happen. One of the biggest factors in bringing down the amerikkkan troops in Vietnam, was the rotting of the army from within. Many soldiers were actively taking up revolutionary politics, with Black soldiers especially wondering what the fuck they were doing killing Vietnamese people in their own country, while the u.s. government was waging (and they still are) a war against Black america. Hell yes.

Veterans symbolically discard service medals at anti-NATO rally

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans at an anti-NATO rally in Chicago threw their service medals into the street on Sunday, an action they said symbolized their rejection of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Some of the veterans, many wearing military uniform shirts over black anti-war t-shirts, choked back tears as they explained their actions. Others folded an American flag while a bugle played "Taps," which is typically performed at U.S. military funerals.
"The medals are supposed to be for acts of heroism. I don't feel like a hero. I don't feel like I deserve them," said Zach LaPorte, who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006.
LaPorte, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer from Milwaukee, said he enlisted in the Army at 19 because he felt there were few other options. At the time, he could not afford to stay in college.
"I witnessed civilian casualties and civilians being arrested in what I consider an illegal occupation of a sovereign nation," LaPorte said.
He said he was glad the United States had withdrawn its combat troops from Iraq, but said he did not believe the NATO military alliance was going to leave Afghanistan.
On Sunday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen opened the two-day summit of the 26-member alliance saying there would be no hasty exit from Afghanistan.
A veteran from New York who only gave his name as Jerry said: "I don't want any part of this anymore. I chose human life over war, militarism and imperialism."
The veterans had hoped to present their medals to a NATO representative. The closest they could get was the fence ringing the McCormick Place convention center about a block from where U.S. President Barack Obama and other leaders were meeting. The veterans threw their medals toward the convention center.
Matt Howard, 29, who served in the Marines from 2001 to 2006, said the rate of suicides among veterans returning from the wars is high.
"These medals are not worth the cloth and steel they're printed on. They're representative of failed policies," said Howard, a spokesman for Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Former U.S. Army Sergeant Alejandro Villatoro, 29, of Chicago, served during the Iraq 2003 invasion and in Afghanistan in 2011.
He said he suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression and gave back three medals - one "War on Terrorism" medal, one for participating in the Iraq war and a NATO medal from the Afghanistan war. He said he wants the war in Afghanistan to end.
"There's no honor in these wars," said Villatoro, before he threw away his medals. "There's just shame."
(Editing by Greg McCune and Stacey Joyce)

FUCK THESE GUYS


The anti-NATO protests in Chicago are drawing to a close. There were hundreds of thousands of people there, raging against everything from climate change, to unemployment, to the new fucking crusades in the Middle East and Afghanistan. This is the face of the "new" america, with Obama as commander in chief. Does anyone still have any naive hopes and dreams about what he will do? Does anyone still think that he cannot make changes because he simply is "not allowed to", due to conservative forces in the u.s. administration? Fuck. He is the current head of empire because that is  who he is. The leader of the most aggressive, sick, amoral imperialist force in the history of the world, and whose empire is declining. As Bob Avakian has said about the leaders of the u.s.a:
With all the monstrous crimes the U.S. has committed... all these crimes throughout their history and all over the world, crimes so atrocious that it is actually difficult to speak of them. With all that, they still picture themselves as “the good guys taking on the evildoers in the world” and they train and indoctrinate their armed forces and their police inside the U.S. to think of themselves as the good guys going out to fight the bad guys... which means anybody who gets in the way of the rulers of the U.S., who are the real world class evildoers.
The unspeakable brutality that the amerikkkans have unleashed on the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the twisted workings of their system on a day to day level that produces poverty, starvation, child prostitution, and so many thousands of other outrages, can only mean that their system is of no use to anyone, and will only continue to produce these things, all in the name of democracy and freedom. Time to go, motherfuckers. The protesters in Chicago have my respect. Fuck the police. Never surrender.


MONTREAL


The protests in Montreal do not seem to be letting up, despite all of the new laws being enacted in the name of public safety....
It all seemed to start out as a protest against rising tuition hikes, and went far beyond the annual student march and speeches we normally see in other canadian cities. What is it about Quebec? There has always been a higher level of political and class consciousness there, as compared to the other provinces. From the revolutionary doctor Norman Bethune starting out helping those least able to pay for health care in the '30s, to the FLQ crisis in the '70s, to the formation of a canadian Maoist Party there today, it all happens in Quebec. Of course there is a history of class struggle in all of the provinces, but nowhere is it as consistent as in Quebec. In fact, ever since the decrepit parliamentarians have been passing these new fucking laws, the struggle has been taken higher. I don't think the protesters are in any mood to be listening to these slack-jawed union heads, and other social-democratic windbags talking about "let's get them next election". Fuck that. No more falling for scams and placating lies. This is one of the most inspirational things to happen in this country in several years. Once again, much respect to the protesters out there in the face of police and media assault, standing up for what's right.

Monday 14 May 2012

INTO THE SHITTER....

The enduring myth of canada as some sort of "gentle, helpful" country,  has been destroyed everywhere but in canada itself. People here want to have blinders on, where the  general idea is that "we're not as bad as the americans,eh". If that is the standard that is to be used, it's a sad state of affairs indeed.
   The most recent hype on fucking parliament hill is about the cost in dollars of the death mission in Libya. Money is the big topic, and not whether or not anyone has the fucking right to go into another sovereign country and kill it's head of state, never mind how many civilians were killed. There are also so many politicians filled with moral indignation over how much some fucking fighter jet cost. Meanwhile, everytime funding is asked for programs for poor and/or disabled people, the fucking pockets are empty. The important thing is that natural resources are secured for "our" mining companies, by "our" fucking troops. (See the douchebags at the top). An israeli government spokesman recently stated that canada is israel's best friend in the world. That alone should tell you that canada is on the road to hell. Canada is an imperialist country, just like the u.s.a., only on not so grand a scale. But they'll get there.

Sunday 6 May 2012

SATISFYING

I watched "God Bless America" last night. It was everything I hoped it would be. It did get a little sappy at times, but it's a very well written, well thought out movie. I can't see this thing getting huge in the u.s.a., especially with the bordering on fascist political climate there, but I think it's wonderful that it got made. The main thing I took exception to was the "america has lost it's way" speech by the main character, Frank. The united states was never a "nice" country, where people respected each other. It was built on stolen, ethnically cleansed land,  with the labour of slaves. It's riches were built on the blood and labour of Third World peoples, and continue to be so today. When was it "nice'?
   Be that as it may, I still enjoyed this film. There is  a lot to be learned, especially for the politically naive. Besides, it was just plain entertaining. Find it. Watch it.

Saturday 5 May 2012

GOD BLESS AMERICA

Yesterday, Joe sent me  a link to a movie called "God Bless America". It's a petty bourgeois revenge kill everything you hate fantasy, written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. Yes, that's right. Bobcat. And despite it being an individualist revenge hate movie, I love the trailer. It's as if I asked someone to make a movie just for me, and they went out and did it. Everyone gets what they deserve here (well, almost everyone). From christian fundamentalists, to american idol types, to douchebags taking two parking spots for thir douchemobiles. It's my feelgood movie for the spring. 
   Now obviously,  this film does not capture the essence of what needs to be done to get rid of all of this bullshit. It's going to take mass revolutionary upheaval. But it still gives me a sense of satisfaction. Finally, someone had the balls to make a movie that at least challenges , even in a very limited way, all of the bullshit going on in the most powerful country on earth. Enjoy.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

MAYDAY

In commemoration of Mayday, the International Workers' Day, I offer you this article from the Comrades of the RCP/PCR, based in Montreal...
  May Day 2012 - To overcome the crisis of capitalism,
proletarian revolution is the only solution!
“The conditions of bourgeois society are too narrow to comprise the wealth created by them. And how does the bourgeoisie get over these crises? On the one hand by enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces; on the other, by the conquest of new markets, and by the more thorough exploitation of the old ones. That is to say, by paving the way for more extensive and more destructive crises, and by diminishing the means whereby crises are prevented.
The weapons with which the bourgeoisie felled feudalism to the ground are now turned against the bourgeoisie itself.
But not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself; it has also called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons — the modern working class — the proletarians.”
Marx & Engels, Manifesto of the Communist Party, 1847
165 years after its writing, this quote remains relevant. It allows us to understand the situation in which the proletariat and the broad popular masses in all countries find themselves, regardless of who leads the government: they live under a concealed dictatorship, be it a bourgeois democratic or a brutal one.
The imperialist bourgeoisie is looking for the maximum rate of profit; it is using the crisis as a pretext to achieve this objective by restructuring the system of production. Within this, the ruling classes in the oppressed countries try to maintain and possibly increase their share in the surplus. Such restructuring is affecting all countries; for the working class and the masses, it means the delocalization of large industries: plant closings, wage cuts, unemployment, debt, impoverishment, etc. But in the places where the new plants are to be opened, restructuring means land grabs, expropriation of local farmers, frenzied exploitation, poverty wages, destruction of the environment, etc.
The ruling classes use the state apparatus to suppress the proletariat’s struggles and prevent them and the masses from revolting and organizing for the revolution. Everywhere, the State is more and more becoming a police state that brings the population under surveillance and repression. Whether it is the “left” or right, no segment of the bourgeoisie has the capacity to solve the crisis. The persistence of the crisis prepares the ground for fascism; fascism is advancing in disguise. It is building step by step through populist demagogy, relying on the economic crisis. In due time, it will show its true colors by aggressively defending the interests of finance capital. Meanwhile, competition between the different monopolist blocks raises the question of redivision of markets and therefore suggests new wars are on the horizon.
The class nature of the state is the central issue. The form it takes is only circumstantial. The primary purpose of the state is to serve the interests of the ruling class, that is to say, those of the imperialist bourgeoisie and/or of the comprador-bureaucrat bourgeoisie and landlords in the oppressed nations —which is a tiny minority compared to the vast majority of men, women and children who are facing exploitation worldwide. Given the crisis, this is becoming clearer to the masses. The central task of any revolution is to radically destroy the state apparatus and, thereafter, to build on its ruins a new and radically different state, with the objective of building socialism as a means of transition to communism. In other words, revolution is the only answer to the crisis!
Today, the proletariat and the masses are struggling and rebelling in many countries. These rebellions are expressed in different and varying ways: through general strikes, by fighting against high prices, against layoffs, for the right to work, against the crushing of militant trade unions, for the right to land, to protect the environment, through occupation of housing and empty land, youth rebellions against police violence and a life without work and without future, struggles of women, etc.
In the Arab countries, after the uprisings that lacked a revolutionary leadership, the ruling classes and imperialism are regaining control of the situation in the name of “democracy;” they are enforcing the same rule of exploitation against the people by opposing the continuation of the revolutionary process. The protest movement’s focus is being diverted by imperialist interventions, by reactionary forces, by secular or religious reformists crushed bloodily.
In the Arab oppressed countries, as well as in all the colonial and semi-colonial countries, it has become more and more important to develop the New Democratic Revolution, as part of the socialist revolution.
In the imperialist countries, the “Occupy” movement is reflecting the massive discontent of the people, but it does not sufficiently challenge the system in its entirety. These proletarian struggles and rebellions are not revolutionary in and of themselves but they are a first step in the realization by the masses of the necessity of revolution. However it is important to unmask the path and illusions of a peaceful change, alternation, and deceitful elections.
Today’s communists (the Maoists) must participate in and gradually take the lead of those struggles. They must build the revolutionary force of the proletariat at the ideological, political and organizational levels, and especially the three essential tools of revolution: a Maoist Communist Party, a revolutionary United Front, and an Armed Force, according to the particular situation.
We must struggle against reformists, revisionists and opportunists who lead the protest struggles with a conciliatory spirit in the existing trade unions and mass organizations; they only offer “solutions” within the current capitalist and imperialist system, spreading the illusion among the masses that the electoral and peaceful path may be a solution for the proletariat and the masses to overcome the crisis. They are an obstacle to the expansion of class struggle and the organization of the working class and the masses for revolution.
Meanwhile, the reactionaries are using differences of origin, religion and racism to divide the proletariat, the working class and the popular masses, as a trick to preserve their power.
Everywhere we must popularize and support the people’s wars currently being waged as spearhead of the fight against the crisis of imperialism.
Led by the CPI (Maoist), the People’s War in India is successfully resisting attacks from the enemy and is managing to expand and grow. The People’s War is also unfolding in the Philippines under the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which upholds Maoism. In Peru, it is continuing despite the action from a liquidationist current. In Turkey, the revolutionary struggle led by the Maoists is advancing in accordance with the people’s war strategy. In other countries, new initiatives and advances are in preparation.
We must fight in a situation of uneven development to end the capitalist system over the whole world and build a new world free from exploitation, from peoples’ oppression and deadly wars, for a socialist and communist world.
We must work to rebuild the international organization of communists, based on Marxism-Leninism-Maoism; we must apply MLM to the concrete reality of today, to jointly develop the struggle for revolution and establishing a Communist International of a new type.
Long Live Internationalist May Day!
Long Live Proletarian Internationalism!

Signatories: Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan; Communist Party of India (M-L) [Naxalbari]; Maoist Communist Party–France; Maoist Communist Party–Italy; Maoist Communist Party of Manipur; Maoist Communist Party–Turkey/North-Kurdistan; Revolutionary Communist Party, Canada; Founding Committee for the (Maoist) Communist Party, Austria; Maoist Communist Movement, Tunisia; Maoist Communist Organization, Tunisia; Marxist-Leninist-Maoists of Morocco; Organization of Workers of Afghanistan (M-L-M); People Struggle Committee Manolo Bello, Galicia, Spanish State; Revolutionary Praxis, United Kingdom; Servir le Peuple, Occitany, French State; Democracy and Class Struggle, Wales (United Kingdom).
Note: The PCR-RCP has signed this internationalist statement while disagreeing with the characterization of the “Occupy” movement as being “proletarian;” we still adhere to the general policy expressed therein.