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Revolution #29, January 8, 2006

More on "The Coming Civil War"

Revolution #029, January 8, 2006, posted at

Editors Note: The following are excerpts drawn from a talk given by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, to a group of Party members and supporters in 2005. This has been edited for publication here, and subheads and footnotes have been added.

Out of What Could This Civil War Arise?

Bob Avakian at the Wall of the Communards in Paris, 1981

The first question that needs to be spoken to here is: Where is this civil war coming from--out of what combination of factors could it arise? Now in this connection, some of what I'll be speaking to will be in response to something that has been raised--by way of criticism of this overall analysis--the question: "Why would they do that?" In other words, why would the "they" who rule this system let things go to those kinds of extremes? Well, first of all, I have previously spoken to how there is not one single "they"--and I won't repeat all of that here.1 And, secondly, I will talk about why and how this could, in fact, come about, whether or not particular individuals within the ruling class might desire this.

It has also been raised, in response to--again, that is, by way of criticism of--this "coming civil war" analysis, that it is possible to understand why there was a civil war in the U.S. in the 1860s, because you had two different modes of production then, which were increasingly coming into conflict with each other (a slave system, based in the South, and a developing capitalist system, based in the North); but now you don't have that kind of situation, so why would there be such a fundamental antagonism? Well, there have been experiences, for example in Nazi Germany, where sections of the ruling class were crushed by other sections without there having to be different modes of production involved. So conflicting modes of production is not a necessary requirement for there to be an all-out confrontation, in which one side or the other will be crushed, even for this to take place among the powers-that-be, although the Civil War in the U.S. in the 1860s did have a certain definite particularity--it represented the completion of the bourgeois-democratic revolution in the U.S.--that was its historical particularity and peculiarity.

But let's talk about "the coming civil war" in the U.S. today and relate this to the "Pyramid" analysis in different aspects, and what are similarities but also important differences in relation to the Civil War of the 1860s.2 And let's broaden this out to include the question of the Civil War and the "Weimar Republic."3 One of the striking things which comes through every day about the present situation in U.S. society, and in terms of contradictions and struggle within the ruling class--or the relative lack of struggle on the one side within the ruling class--does flow from the "Pyramid" analysis. That is, on the one hand, there is significant paralysis of the liberal imperialists (here I am referring generally to "liberals" within the leadership of the Democratic Party), in terms of contention with the opposing section (or sections) of the ruling class (those more generally grouped within the Republican Party), and at the same time on the part of these "liberals"--and generally on the part of the Democratic Party--there is a conscious and deliberate attempt at demobilization of the masses, particularly those on "their side of the pyramid" (that is, the masses of oppressed people and progressive forces in society, broadly speaking, who generally support and vote for the Democratic Party, even while they are consistently betrayed by it--and many even recognize this, at least to a certain degree, often voting for the Democrats as the "lesser evil"). These two things go hand in hand: paralysis in terms of fighting their "right-wing" rivals within the ruling class (which, yes, involves a definite fascist core) and deliberate demobilization of the "base of the Democratic Party." So that is the present dynamic within the ruling class: the initiative and the coherence, powerfully, around a program is overwhelmingly on one side of the divide in the ruling class (one side of the pyramid, if you will--"the right"), while the other side ("the left") is, on the one hand, paralyzed to a significant degree, putting up feeble and generally backpedaling opposition in relation to "the right," while working deliberately and systematically to demobilize any kind of mass outpouring against particularly egregious policies of the current regime and against the whole direction in which it is taking things.

This relates to the question of the bourgeois-democratic "Weimar Republic" in Germany after World War 1--how it was in many ways ripe for destruction by the Nazis after a certain point, and how the contradictions that were posed in Germany at that time (in the aftermath of Germany's defeat in World War 1) provided a certain favorable "environment" for the Nazis to grow and even to rise to power. Of course, there was an underlying basis of massive inflation, mass unemployment, and the situation of Germany in the international network of imperialist relations, where it had been deprived of territory it had previously held, had its armed forces severely restricted, and generally was put on rations and forced to pay reparations by the victorious imperialists, as a result of World War 1--those conditions, of course, don't exist in terms of the U.S. in today's world. But there still is a similarity with the Weimar Republic and in particular the flabbiness of the Weimar Republic. If you watch the movie "Cabaret" you'll see some of this portrayed. It's a very relevant movie to see now--you see how the fascists were able to play on a certain decadence of the Weimar Republic and on the way in which it was weak and flabby in relation to the interests of the bourgeoisie in that situation, the interests of German imperialism. I have written elsewhere about why and how the Nazis went after the Weimar Republic and what parallels there are with the situation in the U.S. today, which I won't repeat here. But there is that certain dynamic where the relativism and flabbiness, if you will, of the Democratic Party (the equivalent, in the U.S. today, of the Weimar Republic) becomes a perfect foil and target. You could see this in the whole Clinton impeachment crisis: Clinton and what he represented became a perfect foil and target for this whole fascist element of the ruling class in the U.S. today.4

One of the things that is expressive of this, or is part of the picture here, is that we have this whole phenomenon that arose out of the '60s and the contradictions which were set loose or intensified then, and the social changes that went along with that--some of which have been reinforced by changes in the economy, particularly having to do with the position of women in relation to work, and the reverberations of that back within the family and relations between men and women. But there was this whole ensemble of social conflicts that was set in motion by the '60s, which is still unresolved. That's one of the things Pat Buchanan was speaking to when, in his book The Death of the West--and I have given him credit for being far-seeing--he said: right after September 11 there was all this rallying around the flag and expressions of national unity, but it won't last, because there are these fundamental (as he calls them) "cultural divides." An important part of the picture here--and this relates to the analogy to the Weimar Republic and the Nazis going after the Weimar Republic--is that, because in the U.S. there has not been a revolutionary rupture to a whole other system, and a whole new and radically different framework--in terms of the economic base and the superstructure of this country and in terms of world relations--a lot of the things that the '60s set in motion which were positive have turned into their opposites in some important aspects. Some did so sooner and some after a longer period of time; and then they become convenient foils and objects of attack by these fascist forces. Some of this became readily apparent even during the '60s itself--for example, the "sexual revolution" and "free love" became, in significant ways, another form of preying on women. That contradiction asserted itself very rapidly. But a lot of more positive things that came out of that period were not able to find full expression and to become embodied in an actual radical rupture and transformation of society as a whole (and world relations), because they ran up against the limits of what could be accomplished within the confines of this system and its rule over society--this economic base of capitalism and its whole superstructure of political rule by the capitalist class, and of the dominant bourgeois politics, ideology and culture generally--and so these things that came forward through the '60s gave rise to their opposites in many ways. Forms of cultural expression that were positive did turn sometimes into forms of decadence. Things that were going against very strait-laced and confining and suffocating norms, degenerated into forms of relativism. Especially when you add in the defeats of the proletarian revolution internationally (and in particular the restoration of capitalism in China after Mao's death in 1976), then much of the opposition of various kinds to "faultline" forms of oppression in this society, such as the oppression of women and of Black people and other oppressed nationalities, were reduced to "identity politics," with the corresponding philosophical expressions of relativism.

These things have become, in many ways, easy targets and foils for right-wing forces. Because the proletariat is not yet leading and giving shape to the struggle against all forms of oppression, because this is not yet part of a powerful proletarian revolutionary movement and not being transformed in that context, then the ways in which, owing to factors both within the U.S. and internationally, some of these things have turned into their opposites, makes them convenient "cabarets" for the Nazis to go after. And distortions of what was raised through the movements of the '60s also become targets for the equivalent of Nazis in the U.S. So, this is all part of the picture as well.

Now when we think about this, one element that should cause us to become very sober, very quickly--this is something that was actually pointed out by Larry Everest in an article in our newspaper a little while ago5-- is this: If this section of the ruling class, with right-wing Christian fundamentalist forces (the Christian Fascists) as a major and driving force at the core of this section of the ruling class, consolidates its hold on the state of U.S. imperialism, this will be a force not like the Iranian theocratic fundamentalists who are apparently trying to develop nuclear weapons, but will be a theocratic fundamentalist ruling force, in the U.S., that already has an arsenal, a massive arsenal of nuclear weapons. It's bad enough in general that imperialism has these weapons of truly mass destruction, but this will heighten the madness that is concentrated in that.

You can see this, for example, with this Congressman (Tancredo from Colorado) who came out with a statement that if weapons of mass destruction were used by people "we" identified as "Islamic terrorists," we should respond in kind against Mecca and other Islamic holy sites. The State Department issued a mild criticism of this statement, but neither Bush nor Rumsfeld came out and said anything about how this was wrong. This Congressman, from what I understand, has refused to back off of this statement, and in fact it seems that he is being mentioned as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination for president. Just think soberly about what effect a statement like that has in the world, and particularly in the Islamic world. For some guy to make statements like this, who is a representative of the U.S. government--granted, he's a congressman, not the president, but he's a representative of the U.S. government--talking openly about launching nuclear attacks, or in any case massive strikes, on Mecca! Do you know what that means? Do you understand the effect of that in the Islamic world especially, and do you understand how the Islamic fundamentalists will seize on that--put it all over the Internet, and everywhere else? And it's not repudiated by the president of the United States.

"Why Would 'They' Do That?"

Why would they do that--why would "they" take things to the extreme of replacing bourgeois democracy in the U.S. itself with an openly despotic, in fact fascist rule, particularly in the form of a theocratic (Christian Fascist) state? Because the contradictions in society and the world have given rise to different forces within the ruling class in the U.S. who perceive the interests of the system--as they understand that system, and as they understand those interests--to lie in that direction. They have cohered around such a program, and they have material factors going with them to a significant degree. As one significant aspect of this, they are in accord with the interests of the ruling class broadly, to do away with the New Deal consensus that started with FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was President of the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930s and most of World War 2) and the "Great Society" programs of Lyndon Johnson during the 1960s. With the heightened globalization and similar factors resulting from the resolution of the "Cold War," the ruling class in the U.S. has both a certain necessity and a certain freedom to abolish these "Great Society" programs--or what remains of them--and the whole "New Deal" orientation.6 I have spoken to this and analyzed it more fully elsewhere--for example in Preaching From a Pulpit of Bones and "The Truth About Right-Wing Conspiracy, and Why Clinton and the Democrats Are No Answer."7 But to speak here to a key aspect of this: In the U.S. today, unbridled "free market" capitalism goes along with, and is reinforced by, not only a general emphasis on "personal responsibility"--as opposed to the recognition of any kind of societal responsibility for the conditions of the members of society--but, more specifically, this particular "free market" capitalism is served by the notion that if people are in difficult and even dire conditions it is because of their "sinfulness," and they need to seek salvation through religion, and in particular religious fundamentalism.

At the same time, the section of the ruling class which is at the core of power now looks at what they are setting out to do and feels that this new and extreme kind of cohering and "legitimating" norm is what is necessary in the new conditions that U.S. imperialism exists within, in the world, and with the ambitions that they have for U.S. imperialism in the world--to expand and more thoroughly enforce its domination in the world. These people (and this was spoken to in "Right-Wing Conspiracy") understand that there are centrifugal forces in U.S. society, forces which really do threaten to pull it apart, and that if you are going to hold it together while doing what they are setting out to do in the world, you need a "cohering logic" that is not only powerful in a general sense but one which has a definite "absolute" character to it. Look at what's already happening in Iraq. They have a real problem with these National Guard members that they've now put through three tours--they're refusing to let people out of the military when their time is up. They're doing everything to avoid a draft--and doing everything but re-instituting the draft.

In "Right-Wing Conspiracy" it talks about this: There are two major social phenomena working against this dominant program of the ruling class--two major phenomena that they have to try to deal with. One is everything unleashed by the '60s, which I've spoken about--including whole sections of people in this society who no longer accept the assumption that it is the right of the U.S. to go marauding in the world, and that an American life is more valuable than anyone else's life--there are large numbers of people, within the U.S. itself, who question and oppose those assumptions. That's a real problem if you're trying to do what these imperialists are trying to do in the world. Let's call that "the '60s phenomenon" for shorthand. Then you have "the '90s phenomenon"--all this "gold rush" (get rich quick) shit, and the extreme individualism that it gave rise to--which doesn't exactly mesh neatly with the idea that the "Bushites" are pushing, that people should sacrifice for the greater societal (i.e. imperialist ruling class) good. Both these things are working in significant ways against them.

And then there's the point that Edward Luttwak makes in the book Turbo Capitalism about the changing configuration of the population in the U.S. Again, the change in the production relations, and the change in the family structure that's called forth by that, means that you have very few farm families and generally they are much smaller; you don't have this whole group of people that they used to draw much of the military "grunts" from--large rural and farm families in particular, in situations where it was convenient to have a lot of "hands," i.e. kids. And so, Luttwak points out, in the past when you had a family with six kids and maybe three sons, in the days when they only put the sons into the military, which raises another question: what are they going to do if they re-institute the draft, are they going to draft the women?--that's a really tough contradiction for them, they're in a hard place if they do and if they don't--but anyway, now you've got families that have maybe two kids. Well, if you've got six kids, it's not that people don't "mind" giving up one for the "greater national good," but it's not quite the same as when you have two children, as Luttwak points out. It's a much bigger sacrifice for the family to give up one family member to die in a war for "the greater national good," or whatever.

This is another contradiction they're dealing with: how are you going to get people to subordinate individualistic inclinations of the kind that run counter to what these imperialists are trying to do? Not from a communist standpoint, of course, but from an imperialist standpoint, how do you get people to "sacrifice for the greater (imperialist) good"? And how are you going to counter all the assumptions that came out of the '60s? You have to create a situation in which all the foundations from which people oppose these things can be undermined and eliminated. That's why, as I'll talk about later, there's a whole attack upon critical thinking and dissent in academia.8 Although academia is not actually a "realm of leftist and communist dictatorship," unfortunately [laughter], it is the case that it is a place where a lot of dissent and critical thinking goes on--and that is part of what is supposed to go on in that atmosphere as it has existed. You do have broad numbers of professors who, when the U.S. goes to war, question what they're doing and expose the lies. And you have students who are encouraged to do the same. I don't know how many of you saw this, but when Noam Chomsky was on Bill Maher's show about a year ago, Andrew Sullivan (who is a right-wing writer, commentator and "pundit," but not one who generally supports fanatical religious fundamentalism, even of the Christian Fascist variety) was also there in the studio while Chomsky appeared via satellite. And in that kind of a setting Chomsky might not have been as effective as he is in other situations, where he can expand more on his points, but he did sort of start off with a bang, so to speak--saying that what the U.S. did by invading Iraq was a war crime, which of course it was. Andrew Sullivan just went absolutely bonkers, and insisted: "you can't say that." Essentially he was arguing: "That is beyond the pale of discussion; you can criticize how we're handling the war in Iraq, but you cannot question the underlying assumptions of what we're doing, and you cannot question, or raise for discussion, whether what the U.S. is doing is proceeding from foul rather than fair motives."

Academia is where that still does go on. And that's something which--from the point of view of the ruling class, and in particular the section which is bent on undisguised imperialist marauding--has to be brought under attack. And it is being brought under attack with what we can now recognize as a worked-out approach, in one sphere of society after another, particularly on the part of this more fascist and more openly and unapologetically marauding section of the imperialist ruling class. Step one: You claim you are being victimized. For example, David Horowitz comes along and says "conservatives are being discriminated against in the universities--we need academic fairness." Along with this, you promote relativism--for a certain time, within certain spheres, and for a certain definite purpose. You see this around evolution, for example: "let's consider all the different points of view, let's not dictate that one of them is true." Then, when you get in position, you suppress the points of view that are opposed to your point of view, and you suppress those who would express those oppositional points of view. It's like a familiar dance--one-two-three, one-two-three--the same strategy over and over: in the media, in the sphere of science, in the sphere of education, and so on.

This is an attempt to create a "self-contained world" in which there is no foundation to stand on from which you can call into question, in any kind of substantial or fundamental way, what is going on, what is being done on the part of the ruling class. (I'll speak more, at a later point, about a crucial aspect of this: what is at least a "symbiotic" relationship--a mutually beneficial and reinforcing relationship--between the Christian Fascists and the military.9). At a minimum, you have to have a force, which is a mindless force, that can be used as a battering ram and storm troopers to beat down any attempt at opposition. And what is it that they are forging, with these Christian Fascists, other than a mindless, unthinking force?

When people took out our Party's leaflet around the movie "The Passion of the Christ" and challenged people about all these horrendous things that are advocated in the Bible, some of the people said, "well, if that's what the Bible says, I guess that's what we have to do."10 What does that translate into, politically, when that's organized behind a reactionary political agenda?

So, you have a section of the ruling class that's identifying and proceeding from its conception of these contradictions and how they have to be dealt with. We should understand this. William Kristol is a major figure in all this, has major entree into and influence in the highest levels of government, and he was cited in "Right-Wing Conspiracy" saying, flat out: If we cannot succeed in outlawing abortion in the U.S., we will have failed as a conservative movement. What do you think that means?

Why would they do that? Because this particular and now very powerful "they" see this as the way things have to go.

Now what about the other side of the pyramid--at the top of the pyramid--the side generally represented by the Democratic Party? Right now, it's mainly characterized by backpedaling and paralysis in relation to the "conservatives" (or, as we have quite rightly pointed out: "Conservatives, My Ass--These People are NAZIS!"). But there are bigger dynamics at play in the world. There is the whole world situation and what the imperialists--driven by this core right now grouped around Bush--see the need to do. But it is interesting, somebody was recounting how one of these essentially fascist theoreticians (I think it was Paul Weyrich) was talking about how they have to look beyond Bush to a post-Bush conservatism--and start thinking in terms of changing the way the state functions in this society. These people think strategically. And what do you think that means: changing the way the state functions? Partly it's a pseudo-libertarian notion, but it also partly, and essentially, has to do with this whole fascist program.

Still, there are larger things going on in the world. Iraq did not go the way that they expected it to go. In fact, it's interesting that the Clinton administration, apparently, had reviewed all the options with regard to attacking Iraq and doing what the Bush administration did; but it seems Clinton and Co. rejected the idea because they could not come up with a viable "exit strategy." Very interesting in light of what's happening now. And yet, it is true, from the imperialists' standpoint, they can't just get up and leave Iraq. That would cause all kinds of problems for them and unleash and encourage all kinds of opposition forces, including crazy, fanatical forces--people who are the mirror image of them. So they can't let go in Iraq either, but things are not proceeding as they had expected. Now, how is that going to continue reverberating back within the U.S. and in terms of struggle within the ruling class? That's a question that's at play in a significant way.

Then there's the question of what the struggle of the people does--throughout the world, but in particular within the U.S.--and how that has repercussions within the ruling class. We can think here of the dialectical back and forth between the top and the bottom of the pyramid. Here we can draw a certain analogy, although it's a limited one, to the experience of the opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq. Specifically, during the build-up to this war, in 2002 and in early 2003, there was the back and forth between mass resistance in countries all over the world, on the one hand, and the opposition to U.S. war moves on the part of the ruling classes of rival imperialist powers, such as France, Germany, and Russia, on the other hand. And this is something of an analogy to a point I want to speak to here--what happens at the base of the pyramid, if you will, and how that dialectically relates back and forth to what's happening at the top of the pyramid, on both sides. It should be noted, however, in the case of this example I'm speaking of--the U.S. build-up to the Iraq war, the opposition to the U.S. war moves and the picture as a whole leading into this war--that things were reversed from what we need in this situation we are now confronting; because, as important as the mass resistance was--to the build-up of this war and at the beginning of this war--and as much as it really did affect what those rival imperialist ruling classes were doing (in France, Germany, Russia, and so on), they were still acting more out of concern and calculation in terms of their own imperialist interests, in conflict with those of the U.S., than they were being forced to act because of the "pressure" being objectively exerted by the mass outpourings, in their countries and all over the world, against the U.S. moves to war against Iraq.11 What we need in the present situation is the development of a mass movement so widespread and so powerful that every force in society is compelled to respond to this movement and the demands it is raising.

Now, just to be clear, what I'm talking about, what is being posited, and what I'm calling for, is not developing a mass movement whose purpose is to pressure the Democrats to put up more resistance on their side of the pyramid so we can have a civil war out of which we can make revolution. No. There is a crucial difference between "pressuring the Democrats" through mass mobilization and, in fundamental opposition to that, mobilizing masses to take independent historical action, politically. As for our Party, we are seeking to unite, and working to unite, with a broad range of diverse forces which have many different views in terms of what should come out of all this. And (as I have spoken to in a number of talks and writings, and will come back to again) we are very seriously committed to the objective of radically changing the political situation and rupturing things onto a radically different and more favorable political trajectory, even short of revolution. At the same time, yes, from our perspective we are strategically approaching all this from the standpoint of repolarizing things toward the overall strategic goal of revolution (just as others, with different views and programs, are striving to transform the political terrain in line with their, differing, overall and larger objectives). However, it is a fact that the more that mass resistance does develop in the form of masses taking independent historical political action, that will have ramifications within the ruling class, including on "the Democrats' side of the pyramid," so to speak; this will have significant impact on, and can change, the dynamic that's presently at play. It won't just "give the Democrats more backbone"--nor, obviously, is that the purpose, at least not from our point of view. It will cause contradictory effects on the different groupings within the ruling class. But if there is a truly mass outpouring of resistance, this will have an effect up to the top of the pyramid of power, and back down again--and we have to understand these dynamics and not think in linear and static terms.

Another way in which we have to understand the motion of things as they are actually developing, and not in stereotypical terms, is that when you talk about a civil war between two sections of society, if you will, what is presently shaping up, and the basic dividing line, is not between communism and revolution as we embody that and are striving for it, on the one side, vs. everybody opposed to that on the other side. That would be a very bad polarization right now. There is a different polarization that is affecting society and is expressing itself. There is a broad polarization which has been described in various ways. Pat Buchanan spoke to it, as I referred to earlier. It's a real thing, and it does continually assert itself. It was spoken to by Ron Suskind12 in that New York Times article: the reality-based vs. the faith-based communities. This interpenetrates with ruling class divisions, but is by no means identical to that. And the fact is, if this is left to its "own devices"--if this dynamic and trajectory that's presently at play is left as it is, and if we don't intervene by playing a significant part in mobilizing masses and making a material force of our line in relation to this--the outcome of this is almost certainly bound to be very negative and, very likely, very one-sided, including if there is civil war for real, if it becomes literal civil war.

Things Are Going to Extremes

Another thing some people say (even some people who consider themselves Marxists), in an effort (conscious or not) to avoid facing squarely what is going on and what the stakes are, is that maybe the imperialists can just "muddle on through this." Now, especially for someone who considers herself or himself a Marxist, or an anti-imperialist, to say this amounts to saying: "Why don't we help them muddle on through." Because the fact is that they will "muddle on through"--or much worse --if we don't do what we're called on to do. There could easily be a very one-sided resolution of the very deep conflicts in society. This depends on a lot of factors, including international factors. Now, it's not impossible that a different section of the ruling class could come forward and cohere and get more backbone, but "the odds favor"--and the way things are going now, they are pointing to--a one-sided conflict within the ruling class, and the continuation of the present dynamic. And, as for those people who are on the "reality-based" side of things, those who are on the progressive side of things (and these groupings overlap to a significant degree, although are not identical), so long as they continue looking to a section of the ruling class for "leadership," and so long as they go along with the spontaneity of things, they are going to be left leaderless, and to an overwhelming degree unable to recognize the profundity and the stakes of what's involved and what's in motion, and unable to rise to the occasion. So, if you say, "what if the imperialists can muddle on through?--let's not do something that would provoke them"-- you are actually favoring what is objectively the absolute worst resolution of this: that those who rule this system go to negative extremes, armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons, and there's no significant opposition to it. That would be absolutely the worst resolution of this situation, and that is what will happen if we decide to allow them "to muddle on through," in the name of not provoking something worse!

The reality is--and it is crucial for people to grasp this--that even if we don't provoke them, they are going to the extreme with this program. What more evidence do you need? Read the mainstream press, watch the mainstream media, day after day. To cite here just one crucial dimension of this, they are trying to redefine the definition of science--to include religion right within the definition of science--on a societal level. You think that's just going to stay in a little small, confined sphere, in terms of its influence?

And, yes, if things go in a more two-sided way, if there are more positive forces in motion, if there is greater resistance to this whole direction--and if we do our work correctly--there will be many contradictory things in the picture. Many people will enter into objectively important, even historical, independent political action with many different understandings and perspectives on what this is all about and where it all has to go. But it is our responsibility to do everything we can to build this in the most powerful way and to strengthen the unity that is developed in opposition to this whole direction, with the common objective of transforming the political terrain and bringing forward so powerful a movement of political resistance that every force in society will have to respond to it. And it is our responsibility, as communists, to bring forward our own strategic revolutionary objectives in the correct way in relation to that, so that the distinction is clear between our revolutionary objectives and, on the other hand, the objectives of this mass movement of resistance, while at the same time the unity is strengthened among a growing and increasingly diverse array of political forces, including our Party, who share the common objective of transforming the political terrain in a positive way, in determined opposition to the current disastrous direction. Once again, from our overall and strategic perspective, the answer that is required, the resolution that is necessary in relation to all this, is revolution and the bringing into being of a radically different and better society, a socialist society, and ultimately a communist world. And, in the appropriate ways, we must boldly bring forward that perspective, as the viewpoint of our Party. But, at the same time, once again, we must also keep clearly in mind, and make clear to others, the very definite distinction between that and what is, and must be, the basis of unity of the movement of truly massive political resistance that must be built, bringing together a broad diversity of political forces, with many differing views on where the ultimate solution to this lies.

One very important point to grasp and come to terms with, in the context of all this, is the fundamental fact that we are not "setting the agenda " of what is going on in the society and the world. We do not get to sit around and choose when and how things become acutely posed. We do not get to put in a request to the New York Times to stop running articles that give grist to the mill of the Discovery Institute, in attacking evolution--that's out of our control, overwhelmingly. We can effect what happens with that, but we're not setting this agenda. The dynamic that is in play now is not one we have chosen--this gets back to necessity and freedom--it's not one we have chosen, but the reality of it, and the pace of it, is what we have to deal with, to confront and radically transform it, if we are going to be what we are called on to be, and do what we are called on to do.

We need to be very clear, and we need to struggle in a good way with others to win them to understand, that there will in fact be no "pendulum swing," back to "the center" of bourgeois politics and bourgeois rule. And if there were, we must ask: what after all is represented by that "center," that politics, and that rule ? There is no "self-correcting mechanism in the system" to keep it from going to extremes, whether you want it to or not. It's interesting that even a member of the Congressional Black Caucus spoke to this at one of these rallies that was held around the Downing Street Memo13; he got up and he said: Listen, some of you think there's a referee up there somewhere--there's not. [laughter] It is noteworthy that someone coming from that position was able and willing, at least on a certain level, to recognize and acknowledge this. There is no self-correcting mechanism in this system that will keep it from going to these extremes. And, let us never forget, for most of the world, what presently exists actually represents, and subjects them to, great extremes of oppression, exploitation, agony, misery, devastation and destruction, of themselves and of the environment--which, yes, can become even worse but which are never anything but a horror for the great majority. Look around the world.

So in this light I have two things to say to those who insist that, "if we can just keep things from going to extremes, if we can somehow keep things in the general framework where they have been, then things will be alright." First, a question: Precisely looking at the alignment of things right now and the dynamics in society and among the powers-that-be, on what do you base the possibility of "keeping things the way they are"? Where do you see the forces who are going to do even that--are you looking to the "liberals" among the powers-that-be, the "liberal" imperialists? Sorry, but let's be real! Second, and more fundamentally, it is NOT alright to have the world, including U.S. society, stay as they are and have been: To accept that would be to accept the horrors daily visited on the great majority of humanity, including the acute oppression and misery of tens of millions in the U.S. itself.

To want the world "to stay as it is," out of fear of extremes and/or "the cost" of trying to change things in any kind of essential way, is, at a minimum, to objectively acquiesce to these horrors--to accept and go along with them, even if you don't like them and wish they could somehow be eliminated without great cost and without things "going to extremes." This is bad enough for anyone to do, and for communists to do this would be worse than acquiescence--it would be capitulation and betrayal of everything communists are supposed to, and must in fact, stand for, and fight for. We have to confront the reality that things are heading to extremes. Yes, they could head to extremes with a minimum of civil conflict and civil war--and that would once again be the worst outcome, because it would mean there would be no real opposition to this. But things, one way or another, are heading to extremes, and the answer to this is not to seek to avoid this, or to try to live in denial of it, but to rise to the challenge of doing everything possible to actually determine the direction in which things will go and the character of how all this will get resolved.

So let us be clear once again: Whether or not we do anything, things are already, and increasingly will be, going to extremes--and this can only be in a very negative way if we don't do anything. And that relates to the fact that--well, let's just put it baldly--if we so decided, we could in effect guarantee that there is only one extreme direction in which things can go: the negative, extremely negative, extreme in which they are already heading, in a rapid and even accelerating way.

In concluding this section of this talk, let me just say, specifically from the point of view of those of us who are communists, that, yes, it is true, if we do everything we are called on to do, and rise in the fullest way to the challenges we face, we could be defeated and things could still go to the negative extremes toward which they are now headed. But the point is that if we do what we are called on to do, there will be a chance--not any guarantee but a chance--that things could get ruptured and vaulted onto a different, much more positive trajectory and dynamic, and even a possibility--again, not any certainty or guarantee but a possibility--that, out of this whole "cauldron of contradictions," a revolutionary opening could emerge--yes, right within "the belly of the beast." IF WE DO WHAT WE ARE CALLED ON TO DO!

We must confront, unflinchingly, the situation and the stakes--and not only the negative but the positive potential in this. We must recognize--and not try to hide from, or run away from--the possibility of very negative developments and even of real catastrophe; but we must also recognize the positive possibility--the possibility even of the opening to go for revolution, a possibility that is all too rare, particularly in a country like this, a possibility that it would be a crime, of historic proportions, not to politically prepare for and not to seize on if the chance arose.

1. See The Coming Civil War and Repolarization for Revolution in the Present Era (Chicago: RCP Publications, 2005), particularly the article "There is No 'They'--But There Is a Definite Direction to Things: The Dynamics Within the Ruling Class, and the Challenges for Revolutionaries." (Also available online at

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2. See "Elections, Resistance, and Revolution: The Pyramid of Power and the Struggle To Turn This Whole Thing Upside Down," Revolutionary Worker #1237 (April 25, 2004). This article is a transcription of an answer to a question following Bob Avakian's speech Revolution: Why It's Necessary, Why It's Possible, What It's All About (Chicago: Three Q Productions, 2004).

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3. See The Coming Civil War and Repolarization for Revolution in the Present Era (Chicago: RCP Publications, 2005), particularly the article "The Fascists and the Destruction of the 'Weimar Republic'...And What Will Replace It." (Also available online at

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4. In "The Truth About Right-wing Conspiracy....And Why Clinton and the Democrats Are No Answer" (Revolutionary Worker #1255 [October 17, 2004], available online at, Bob Avakian analyzed what was going on with the drive to oust Clinton (which led to his impeachment, though not his removal from office) and important factors and dynamics underlying this move against Clinton.

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5. Larry Everest, "The Rise of the Christian Fascists: The Specter of a U.S. Theocracy and Why the People Must Stop It," Revolutionary Worker #1263 (December 26, 2004).

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6. The New Deal was a series of programs brought forward under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the period before World War 2, that included concessions to workers (like recognizing unions). The "Great Society" was a term used by President Lyndon Johnson for a set of programs that included the "war on poverty" and concessions to the Civil Rights Movement, including the Voting Rights Act that removed some overt barriers to Black people voting. Both these packages represented a general consensus in the ruling class--even while there was significant opposition to them within the power structure. The New Deal was implemented in response to the Great Depression and the need to shore up the capitalist system in the midst of that profound economic crisis. The Great Society was a response by the system to the civil rights and Black liberation movements and the overall social upheavals of the 1960s.

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7. Bob Avakian, Preaching From a Pulpit of Bones: We Need Morality But Not Traditional Morality (New York: Banner Press, 1999) and "The Truth About Right-wing Conspiracy....And Why Clinton and the Democrats Are No Answer," Revolutionary Worker #1255 (October 17, 2004). Excerpts from this book and the full article "The Truth About..." are available online at

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8. Bob Avakian discusses the attack on critical thinking and dissent, particularly in academia, in the next set of excerpts in this series, "Polarization...Repolarization...and Revolution."

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9. This is discussed in a later excerpt in this series: "The Christian Fascists and the U.S. Military."

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10. This leaflet, "A Passion--for Plunder and Slaughter," a statement on the movie The Passion of the Christ from the Revolutionary Communist Party,USA, New York Branch, was published in Revolutionary Worker #1231 (March 7, 2004). An article reporting on experience in taking out the leaflet, "Protesting the Crimes of Passion," appeared in Revolutionary Worker #1232 (March 14, 2004). Available online at

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11. Footnote by Bob Avakian: Here, by the way, we can see how the addiction to the notion of "classless democracy" gets the better of some progressive people: A number of them have said things like, "in these other countries the governments responded more to the people, there was more democracy in those countries, whereas, in the U.S. there was no democracy." But that's not essentially what was going on. What was essentially going on--the principal aspect of things, for example, in terms of what happened at the UN and the way the U.S. was denied a "mandate" from the UN for invading Iraq in 2003--was the rival interests of these different imperialists being expressed. At the same time, however, there was a significant element of the mass outpourings within those other imperialist countries, and worldwide, including in the U.S., which did have an influence on and affected what these ruling classes (of the other imperialist countries) had to do. They did have to respond to this mass outpouring. It was not an irrelevant factor, even though it wasn't the decisive and determining factor.

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12. This refers to the article by Ron Suskind, "Without a Doubt, Faith, Certainty and the Presidency of George W. Bush," in the New York Times Magazine (October 17, 2004).

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13. The "Downing Street Memo" came out of a secret meeting of British government officials, and revealed that "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy"--proving that the U.S. government was lying, not just basing itself on "faulty intelligence," when it claimed Iraq had "weapons of mass destruction" and other factors that were supposedly the reasons for the invasion of Iraq.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010
By Paul Martin

Hatred of lawmakers hits record low for midterm election year – public approval plummets for Pelosi and the gang

Paul Joseph Watson
Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Americans are sending a pretty clear message to Congress members who have continually pushed hugely unpopular legislation this election year – shut up and get the hell out of office.

The recent success of Tea Party candidates hasn’t necessarily been too closely related to their actual policies – a new Gallup poll reminds us precisely why anti-incumbency fever is running rampant – people despise the government with a passion and that hatred shows no signs of abating.

The survey shows that the level of public approval for Congress – 18 per cent – is a new low for a midterm election year. A sitting Congress has never been more unpopular shortly before a midterm vote in history.

“Both the president and the Democratic-led Congress saw a sharp slide in their public approval ratings last summer, punctuated by a sharp drop in October. Their ratings subsequently leveled off, but fell slightly further this summer, and remain at the lower level today,” reports Gallup.

Increasing disgust and distrust of Congress can only be beneficial to a plethora of anti-incumbency candidates who are set to ride the wave of resistance to big government in attempting to overthrow the status quo this November.

The Rest…HERE

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. blog —

Post-internet Curating, Denver Style: An Interview with Carson Chan

Draft Urbanism, the core exhibition program in the latest edition of the Denver-based Biennial of the Americas, brings together practitioners in art, architecture, and film from across the Americas to examine our evolving relationship with the physical and social fabric of our cities. The biennial features a series of newly commissioned works in various public spaces throughout Denver, from breweries to highway medians. Carson Chan, architecture writer and curator, and co-founder of architecture collective Program (Berlin), is Executive Curator of this year’s edition.

Carson Chan in Denver. Photograph: Anthony Camera.

KAREN ARCHEY: Draft Urbanism seems to be more inclusive and unique than your average biennial. Could you describe the curatorial purview and physical format of the biennial, and explain how it is a departure from the standard biennial (i.e. Lyon, Venice)? How does it relate to the biennial you organized in Marrakech last year?

CARSON CHAN: One thing that's great about making a biennial exhibition in Denver is that there is not much precedence here for this format. For many in Denver, the word "biennial" doesn't immediate recall a preset image of a large-scale exhibition like you might find in cities with long traditions of making these things. There is a tremendous amount of freedom in that we can define our goals without having to go by received assumptions of how things are done. Basically, there's no real need to follow pre-existing, European models. It's a pioneering attitude that goes down rather well in Denver. The Biennial of the Americas is separated into two main parts: lectures and workshops, and art. The art portion of the biennial is called Draft Urbanism and it's a show about seeing urbanism as a never-ending process, suggesting that the current version of the city we live in is but a draft of something else.

Marrakech taught me a lot, namely that there is no need to make an exhibition in a gallery or museum. The art projects we installed in public spaces there were seen by far more people than the exhibitions we had indoors—even though it was free. It's really hard to get people that don't have an existing interest in contemporary art to go to a museum, so why not bring the art out in the public? I think that professional often make exhibitions in museums and galleries because it's easy, not because it best serves the public. Draft Urbanism is exhibited entirely in public space in downtown Denver. All the artwork will be exhibited on billboards, posters, bus shelters and public LED screens, and four large-scale architecture installations were commissioned to directly address urban issues in Denver.

KA: What are some of these urban issues?

CC: We're addressing the excess of surface parking lots throughout the downtown area, the impediment that multi-lane streets pose to urban development, the better uses to which unactivated public spaces could be put, and perhaps the toughest one, the perception of what is desirable and not in the public. Many homeless in Denver use of the city's main outdoor shopping destination, the 16th Street Mall. Artist and architect Alex Schweder, Chilean architects Pezo von Ellrichshausen, plan:b architects from Medellín, Colombia, and June14 architects will be articulating these questions through their installations. Expect a moving hotel, a 50-foot tall wooden structure, "cloud-like" public furniture, and butterfly enclosures suspended from the tops of buildings. We're really happy to have Michael Webb here for a panel discussion as well. He's one of the founding members of the British conceptual architecture group, Archigram. They were thinking through very much the same issues that plague our cities now.

KA: This lack of precedence for the biennial format in Denver reminds me of the origins of documenta in Kassel, Germany. Kassel is a similarly small city, and the quintennial's founder, Arnold Bode, structured the exhibition around his own idiosyncratic curatorial vision rather than the typical approach to the biennial in that (pre-internet) era. I would argue that this involved culling and contextualizing the great art of the time, focusing on specific geographic locations because world travel and information gathering were both drastically more resource-consuming in the mid-20th century. You seem to be taking a less authorial approach as compared to someone like Bode, or his contemporary analogs, such as Massimiliano Gioni, who is seemingly continuing the tradition of authorial biennial curating after the dawn of widespread internet usage. You seem to have a political and ethical commitment to both the city and biennial format. Could you describe your relationship to the role of the biennial curator in the context of post-internet discourse?

CC: Great question. There's been a lot of talk about post-internet art, but not much regarding post-internet curating. In your own texts, you've mentioned the "specter of the internet" - its traces - as a key identifier of the post-internet condition, but I would simply state that post-internet is an internet state of mind. I guess we can characterize it as being dispersed, referential and bringing new attention to materiality through its very negation of it. The internet has amped up the rate at which we communicate through speech, text, images and video. Think about art announcement services like e-flux, social networks that show us images and videos from around the world like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Guy Debord famously wrote that, "everything that was directly lived has moved away into representation." This has never been more true, and it’s why I’ve invited one of the foremost observers of this condition, Douglas Coupland, as a participant. In the arts, when we say we've seen a show or know it, what we often mean is that we've seen online images of it. Draft Urbanism takes this condition, and tries to force through an exhibition experience that cannot possibly be photographed or represented—you had to be there. With more than 30 billboards, bus shelters, LED screens and posters around town, there will not be any one image that could capture the exhibition. In a sense, the city becomes one giant exhibition. In fact, we're putting museum labels throughout downtown locations where there’s a direct view of the work, and we're also working with a Denver historian to put museum labels on buildings and locations in downtown that deal directly with our theme—which is, in short, urbanism and beer.

Absolute Vitality Inc. Absolutevitality.us Promo 1 (2013). Billboard / Land Art. According to Chan, "For Absolute Vitality, one of the highest forms of art performed on the land is real estate."

KA: This inability to totally experience the biennial through representation reminds me a lot of Skulptur Projekte Münster, a decennial (occurring once per decade), which often feels like an Easter egg hunt when searching for various art projects. Speaking of urbanism and beer, I love that you're using the homograph "draft" to both speak to this contemporary condition you just so expertly explained in addition to referencing Denver's long tradition of beer brewing. How do these ideas connect for you beyond semantic similarity?

CC: Well, it's about understanding urbanism as a process that is simultaneously future oriented, while being historically grounded—a very basic idea, but one that is rarely heeded. Beer, let's say, is seen not only as only a beverage, but as part of a material system that organizes everything from physical infrastructure (factories and roads were constructed for production and distribution), to history (Denver's civic history is closely tied to the history of its bars and taverns), to local identity—Colorado boasts more craft breweries per capita than anywhere else in the world. This view refers to a materialist concept that Mexican philosopher Manuel de Landa has laid out in his book, A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History (1997), and continues to be influential in both art and architecture theory. In it, he weaves out a material relation between lava flows and human creativity—a great read!

KA: In an interview you conducted with Aaron Moulton, curator at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art in Salt Lake City for the current issue of SpikeArt Quarterly, you speak about issues surrounding the regional context of curating in the American Mountain West. I would pose a similar question to you: In your curatorial efforts for the Biennial of Americas, how do you create an audience when there is little pre-existing audience in a non-coastal city such as Denver? As a curator, I'd imagine it's somewhat scary to launch a biennial in such a context, which must be magnified by the exhibition being inherently "undocumentable” and therefore inaccessible to audiences elsewhere?

CC: Well, I would nuance your question by adding that in fact there is not only an existing audience for art, there is also a large population that is very curious about contemporary art. There's more than a dozen institutions of higher learning in Denver, not to mention the art programs at the University of Colorado Denver and the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. Local gallerists like Adam Gildar or curators like William Morrow and Cortney Stell (who is the biennial's associate curator) are making shows that really challenge the audiences here. Draft Urbanism is not only targeting the groups that are already interested, but as I mentioned earlier, we're also interested in engaging people that are just walking or driving around downtown Denver. What is perhaps scarier would be to make a museum show with Draft Urbanism's theme; the common perception is that an exhibition about urban development could be pretty dry. Showing work in public—artwork on billboards across town and installations in parking lots, at major intersections and down the median—the viewer doesn't necessarily need to know they are looking at art in order to engage. The trick is to produce a double take—where viewers begin to question what it is they are looking at.

KA: Urban development and beer make for an exciting combination! And your participant list seems anything but dry, but rather expansive in terms of its participants’ ages, roles in art and/or architecture, and nationalities. We see very young artists such as Amalia Ulman and more established ones such as Liam Gillick and Michael Snow, as well as architectural groups such as the Colombia-based plan:b and June14. What was your intention in bringing together such a heterogeneous group of participants?

CC: The Biennial of the Americas, an initiative that was first envisioned by former Denver Mayor, and current Colorado Governor, John Hickenlooper, began with a pretty enterprising mandate to make Denver into a biennial hub for culture and current issues of North, Central and South America, so the diversity of the participants reflect this ambition. Also, metropolitan centers are by nature heterogeneous so an exhibition about the city, held throughout the city, would logically reflect this condition. Two participants that I would like to call out are Charlie Berger and Patrick Crawford from the Denver Beer Company, who have brewed a beer specifically based on Draft Urbanism's curatorial concept. It will be served throughout the seven weeks of the exhibition; touring the exhibition, seeing all the installations and billboards around town will be like a pub-crawl.

Carson Chan is an architecture writer and curator. Last year, along with Nadim Samman, he curated the 4th Marrakech Biennale. He is editor at large at 032c, and contributing editor at Kaleidoscope Magazine. In October of this year, Chan is co-organizing a conference at Yale School of Architecture with David Andrew Tasman and Prof. Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen about both historical and contemporary practices of architecture exhibition making.

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Eric Doeringer

Member Since June 23, 2005

Eric Doeringer is a conceptual artist living in New York City. He works with a wide variety of materials but often addresses issues of intellectual property, grey areas of the law, and the intersection of the art world with popular culture. Doeringer has exhibited his artwork at the Prague Biennale 2, the Currier Museum, SFMOMA, the Kentucky Museum of Art and Design, Apex Art, and galleries in the US and Europe.


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Sam Newell

Member Since April 30, 2013

Sam Newell (USA, 1987) currently lives and work in New Mexico. Sam works in video, software, installation and audio+visual performance.

Sam most recently has had work shown in the Tate Modern Hyperlink festival, Winnipeg Underground Film Festival and Albuquerque Experiments in Cinema Film Festival.


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Tuesday, November 12, 2013

“Every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbour.” --Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337)

Our little Havanese dog Jethro was born on June 19, 2004, and lived until May 31 of this year. Here is my all-time favorite photograph of him, taken when he was about three years old:

We gave the photo to our painter friend Joyce Yarborough last year and now we have an all-time favorite (and so far only) 11x14 oil painting of Jethro as well:

We think Joyce captured Jethro perfectly, working from the photograph. She said that when she painted the floral hassock he sort of blended into the background, so she took the liberty of changing the color to dark green.

We love the painting.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Joyce Yarborough.

For the record, we don’t think Blogger does justice to it.

[Editor’s note. In a comment, Adrian says Jethro “is a bit pink” and wonders whether I took the photo of the painting “in something strange like tungsten.” I took the photo of the painting with my iPhone in my kitchen, but it was a bit shady at that hour of the day. Here is a another photo of the painting that I took when there was more natural daylight.

Is that better? At least the pinks have gone away and have turned to beige. --RWP]

ADRIAN said...

Come, come now it's not Blogger it is any internet service. I degrade images by 80% just to post them. It's like news print.
He looks a wonderful dog.
I have said three times that I would never get another. I now have two. They are fun.....for the most part.

A Lady's Life said...

He looks exactly like my Tanya, bichon/shitzu cross Isn't he gorgeous!!
He must have been a wonderful dog if he's was anything like my girl.
She is my love.

ADRIAN said...

He is a bit pink. Was he a bit of a gay or did you shoot this picture of an image in something strange like tungsten. Wealthy lot you Americans being able to enjoy all sorts of light.

I bet you agree with capital punishment. Let me know Bob because it means a lot to me.
I don't want to loose readers but the very thought that anyone could live in a state that allows murder by proxy. Disgraceful. Sorry mate Christian you may be. Humanitarian you may be. Let me know.
If you don't I'll know.

I am whittling out all but humanitarians.

If I don't hear then you are a killer by proxy.

He looked a wee gem to me. The wee dog.

rhymeswithplague said...

Adrian, I certainly don't want to be a killer by proxy. I don't want to be a killer at all. There are some atrocious crimes committed that cause people to clamor for the death penalty. I can't tell from your comment which side you expect a Christian to be on and which side you expect ahumanitarian to be on. Or how you define either one. I really can't. No matter. I will tell you where I stand. I personally am against capital punishment. I find that many liberals are for abortion and euthanasia but against capital punishment. I also find that many conservatives are against abortion and euthanasia but for capital punishment. Very strange, indeed, to be for one kind of murder and against another kind of murder.

I personally am against all three, abortion, euthanasia, an capital punishment. I am Christian. I hope I am humanitarian as well.

Katherine said...

Gosh, what a lovely painting and a beautiful memory of your dear boy.

I don't think I could paint Shelly. Then again, maybe it would be good for me. I miss her a great deal still, too. Our pets creep into our hearts, don't they?

Now, how did this get onto the death penalty? Adrian sounds very stern, doesn't he?

Elephant's Child said...

What a gorgeous reminder - of a beautiful dog. For which you need no reminders.

All Consuming said...

Love the painting, it's a beautiful representation of Jethro. I have sketched Lardy, but never managed a painting, I'm not terribly good at painting animals generally, however when my sister's dog, Hobbes passed away a few years ago I did her a painting that we all liked, it's one of my favourite creations.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Joyce probably knows this but Yarborough is both a village and parish in the north of Lincolnshire, England. The parish covers about 1,300 acres. The parish lies south of Grimsby and north of Louth. By the way, I think she's done a great job of painting Jethro and I am pleased you posted a second (non-pink) picture of your beloved hound.

Snowbrush said...

Like Adrian, I had trouble transitioning from the dog in the photo to the pink dog in the painting, so thank you for the second photograph. Peggy lucked out and bought a ceramic wall hanging of a black schnauzer that captured our deceased schnauzer perfectly. The name given for the ceramic dog was even Pumpkin, which was Peggy's pet name for Baxter.

Rhonda Epperley said...

Jethro was a beautiful dog and I know he is missed by both of you. As your niece I don't understand or for that matter comprehend how people think. I too am a Christian and believe as you do. Obviously, some of these people who you blog with don't know you or my aunt at all and then throw out disqusting comments *Adrian*. Uncle Bob you really don't need to explain yourself to the filth of the world. Love u both

Snowbrush said...

I'm just catching up on my blog reading, and when I saw Rhonda's comment, I went back to read the rest of Adrian's. The two of them reminded me of something I've heard Quakers say about, when working for peace, be sure that you're not doing so with a heart that is disposed to hatred. I couldn't find the exact quote, but I did come across the following:

"Reverence for life leads us not only to avoid doing harm to living beings, but also to nurture life. We not only refuse to kill people, we nurture ourselves and others. This conscientious affirmation of the worth of every human being is the other side of the coin of our consci- entious objection to killing people."


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Protein folding and particle accelerators

A new solution

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With Sylvia McLain

What can a particle accelerator teach us about biology? Dr Sylvia McLain explains her research into one of the most fundamental questions of life: how water is involved protein folding.

Water’s role in sustaining life is well known. But for many years, scientists assumed that water was something of a passive medium in which biological processes happened. Proteins fold in precise ways again and again, and the role of water has long been belittled. Most techniques used to study proteins cannot take into account the presence of water.

Dr Sylvia McLain, a University Research Lecturer within the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, and her team are using the ISIS Neutron Source to test the role water plays in protein folding, and are finding that it may not be quite as passive at it seems.

This film is supported by the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

Thanks to St Peter's College, Oxford for letting us film in their beautiful library.

Natural World, Engineering, Materials

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Particle accelerators for humanity

cc_by-nc-sa License: Creative Commons

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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Universities, the Administration, and Sex Crimes

It's hard to argue with this lady:
Rape is a horrific crime one wishes could be wiped  from the face of the world. If there is a way to prevent rape, by all means we should be discussing it and acting on solutions.

That said, what’s horrible about Vice President Biden’s statement is that it’s so cravenly political in its calculation, and worse, insulting.

Reading the report, you discover the administration has no real interest in even discussing what could be done to prevent rape.  That’s right, the entire effort is focused on managing what comes after a rape.  I don’t know about you, but what I’d much prefer is not being raped.  While I’d want justice and removal of the thug from the street, what I’d really want was for it to have not happened.  Effective initiatives would reduce rapes rather than merely attempt to make the process afterwards run a little more smoothly.

Instead, we get more fear mongering by the administration that is meant to make women feel alone and afraid.  Female empowerment is the last goal of this initiative.

The Democrats continue to focus on the management of tragedy instead of creating a world with less tragedy.  The University system has not proved effective at preventing rape and likely it’s not capable of doing so. Their core competency should be education not criminal justice. Universities are proving their lack of seriousness daily about providing a classical education, yet we expect them to take a role in crime prevention?

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text:
Virginia Military Institute Celebrates Muslim Victory Over the West

The Virginia Military Institute has been home to Stonewall Jackson and George Patton. Now it produces politically correct celebrations of Muslim victories over Western Civilization.

Next month [Jackson’s] beloved Virginia Military Institute will be convening a celebration commemorating the 1300th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Spain under the Muslim warlord Tariq ibn Ziyad in 711 A.D. The March 23-25 celebration entitled “711-2011: East Meets West” and organized by VMI’s Center for Leadership and Ethics, is scheduled to feature standard Muslim apologists Reza Aslan and Akbar Ahmed. VMI Superintendent Gen. J.H. Binford Peay has even filmed an invitation to the celebration.

Next they’ll rename December 7 as “East Meets West Day.” But the Muslim conquest of Spain caused far more long-lasting damage than Pearl Harbor, despite the multiculti pabulum dished out by event organizers about how “Muslims, Christians, and Jews thrived side by side” under the thumb of Islamic rule.

Reza Aslan is scheduled to speak on a panel entitled “‘Al-Andalus’ — an ageless Model of Tolerance”, but it is doubtful that Aslan and his co-panelists will be discussing the widespread persecution of Christians and Jews under Muslim rule that led to the establishment of an entirely new class of Roman Catholic martyrs, “the Cordoba martyrs“, or the 1066 massacre of Jews and crucifixion their leader Joseph ha-Nagid in “tolerant” Cordoba. The great Jewish scholar Maimonides and his family fled “tolerant” Cordoba after the Muslim conquest of the city in 1148, when the new occupiers gave Jews the option of converting to Islam, death or exile. A similar persecution emulating the Almohad’s “model of tolerance” prompted Maimonides to write his famous Epistle on Forced Conversion to the Jewish community in Yemen. The myth of “the Golden Age of Muslim Spain” has gained recent attention from the attempts by the Ground-Zero mosque promoters to appropriate the narrative in support of their “Cordoba Initiative”.

Reconquering Spain is a stated goal of al Qaeda, which must appreciate the propaganda support provided by liberal useful idiots.

Jackson and Patton aren’t the only ones rolling in their graves. Charles Martel — who prevented the Muslim conquest of France — and the many brave Spaniards who threw off Islamic rule during the Reconquista can’t be resting easy either.

Celebrating Islam’s long history of aggression.

On a tip from Kevin S. Cross-posted at Moonbattery.

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Camp Half-Blood Wiki

House of Life

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Per Ankh

Symbol of the Per Ankh

The House of Life, also known as the Per Ankh, is an organization of Egyptian Magicians, founded by the God of Learning, Thoth.

In ancient times, each temple in Egypt had a branch called the House of Life. They could perform amazing feats with magic and could call upon the power of the gods. In modern times, the organization has become global and operates out of three-hundred and sixty nomes worldwide. The House is primarily operated in the First Nome, specifically the remains of the ancient Egyptian city, Heliopolis. Young magicians are trained here. At age thirteen, they are assigned to a specific nome and typically leave the city. The Chief Lector of the House of Life also resides within Heliopolis, sitting at the foot of the pharaoh's empty throne. Normally, initiates must start training by the age of thirteen, and after spending three years in the First Nome under Cairo, Egypt, they will be assigned to one of the other districts around the world to keep an eye on rogue monsters, Demons, and gods.

The House's former goal during the reign of Iskandar and Michel Desjardins, was to keep gods from surfacing in the real world and destroying godlings, such as Sadie and Carter. It is unknown what its goal will be now since Amos has changed the rules against gods and since Apophis is gone. The House also for the first time since the fall of Egypt now has a Pharaoh to rule it: Carter Kane, though he intends to leave the day-to-day matters to Amos.

Known Members

See also

The Kane Chronicles
Core Series: The Red Pyramid | The Throne of Fire | The Serpent's Shadow
Crossovers: The Son of Sobek | The Staff of Serapis | The Crown of Ptolemy | Demigods & Magicians
Main Characters: Carter Kane | Sadie Kane | Ra | Anubis | Apophis | Bast | Bes | Horus | Isis | Zia Rashid | Set | Walt Stone
Minor Characters: Michel Desjardins | Geb | Iskandar | Jaz | Amos Kane | Julius Kane | Ruby Kane | Khufu | Nephthys | Nut | Osiris | Thoth | Percy Jackson | Annabeth Chase | List of Characters
Other: House of Life | Magic | Magician | Kane Family
Related Content: Rick Riordan | List of Terms | The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide

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Jul 14, 2014
Originally published on July 15, 2014 7:53 am

The warehouse off a dusty back road near the Turkish frontier is vast. Large wooden crates are stacked and ready for delivery to the desperate and displaced inside Syria.

This is the operations hub for Mercy Corps, a U.S.-based charity, and one of the largest aid providers to civilians in rebel-held areas in northern Syria. There are many other aid organizations working on a multimillion-dollar cross-border aid operation funded by Western governments, including the U.S.

For the first time, aid officials are talking about the program openly.

"We reach about 500,000 people a month," says Nigel Pont, Mercy Corps regional Middle East director.

The International Rescue Committee, another U.S.-based group, also runs a large operation in northern Syria, says IRC's president, David Miliband.

"There is work going cross-border, and that's giving a modicum of basic health and food for people in desperate need," Miliband says.

A Vast Relief Effort

In Syria, 11 million people, about half of the population, need humanitarian aid to survive. The United Nations Security Council on Monday passed a resolution by a rare unanimous vote calling for the delivery of aid by the most direct routes, including border areas outside Syrian government control.

The resolution reverses a Syrian government demand for a say in the delivery of all U.N. humanitarian relief and how it is brought into the country — which meant it wanted all aid to pass through territory under its control.

In a statement following the vote, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the resolution and, in particular, a reference to delivery of medical and surgical supplies. He says those items "have frequently been removed from aid convoys, in a violation of international humanitarian law."

It isn't clear whether U.N. relief trucks will roll through the four additional border posts outlined in the resolution. But a covert cross-border operation, based in southern Turkey, has long been in place, carried out by private charities to fill the gaps where the U.N. has been unable to reach.

"I think people are not aware of how much has been going on," says Pont. Aid officials have kept the program under wraps due to security constraints and the complex politics of the humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis.

Security is challenging. Intra-rebel fighting has cut off some delivery routes. Extremist groups have threatened some aid workers and kidnapped others. There are almost daily unpredictable bombardments by regime war planes in rebel areas.

One more risk has come from Damascus.

The Syrian government declared that any cross-border aid not approved in the capital is a violation of Syrian sovereignty and a "pretext to aggression." The U.N.'s top aid official, Valerie Amos, condemned the Syrian government stance as an "unlawful and inhuman" obstacle to life-saving aid.

But the veiled threat from Damascus has put every organization in southern Turkey on notice, says Mercy Corps' Pont. Mercy Corps convoys cross into Syria through border posts controlled by the Turks on one side, he says, and on the other sides by different opposition groups.

In these opposition areas, U.N. aid has been deliberately withheld by the Syrian government, say aid officials. Damascus stalls permissions for food deliveries in areas under rebel control and prohibits any delivery of medicines to opposition areas. A recent internal U.N. document showed that the vast majority of U.N. aid — almost 90 percent — goes to areas controlled by the regime, according to U.N. sources.

Millions more, in rebel areas, get nothing — no food or medicine. The worst off are civilians besieged by the Syrian army.

"We are not reaching everyone in need. With the joint efforts of everyone working here, there is still massive need," says Alan Cameron, an environmental officer with the IRC based in southern Turkey.

Re-Balancing Aid Distribution

Western governments, including the U.S. and Britain, have put millions into the cross-border operation in southern Turkey. The British government recently took an added step, increasing funds for aid through Turkey by more than $73 million and at the same time reducing contributions to the U.N. operation in Damascus.

It was seen as a message, and a welcome one to organizations working in southern Turkey, says the IRC's Miliband.

"They want to make sure that they are getting aid to civilians in rebel-held areas as well as government-held areas, and that's why they want to re-balance," he says.

But the attempt by a few nations and aid agencies to re-balance doesn't level the scales. The bulk of U.N. aid still goes through Damascus. Miliband says an attempt to reach beyond regime control must be made because lives are at stake. Humanitarian assistance is not negotiable, he says; it's a right for all under international law.

"Our concern, given the figures, is that the desperate plight of millions of civilians in besieged cities, the civilians who've fled, means that they are at the sharpest end of this dreadful conflict," Miliband says.

Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit


text:
Announcement: Mariano Rivera t-shirt giveaways with @BaldVinny

The Yankees and productive September call-ups
Game 138: Sale vs. Kuroda, Part II

GOAT T42 Bald Vinny Giveaway

In honor of Mariano Rivera‘s final weeks with the Yankees, we’ve teamed up with Bleacher Creature king Bald Vinny for a series of t-shirt giveaways this month. As you probably know, Bald Vinny leads the roll call from the right field bleachers every home game and sells his original t-shirts outside Yankee Stadium. His entire product line is available online at

Starting this Friday and continuing with each of the next three Fridays, we’ll be giving away one of Bald Vinny’s original Mo-themed shirts through a Twitter contest. It’s very simple. All you have to do is follow both @RiverAveBlues and @BaldVinny on Twitter, then be the 42nd person to retweet the official giveaway tweet. There will be remainders galore before the actual giveaway goes live each Friday afternoon. You have to follow both RAB and Bald Vinny on Twitter to be eligible to win, no exceptions. People affiliated with RAB and Bald Vinny are not eligible to win and repeat winners are not allowed either.

We’re giving away two different shirts as part of the giveaway: two G.O.A.T. shirts and two T-42 shirts in whatever size the winner needs. We’ll start with the G.O.A.T. shirt this coming Friday and alternate each week. If you don’t want to wait for the giveaways, you can head over to Bald Vinny’s store and use the discount code RAB20 to receive 20% off your next purchase. Good luck.

The Yankees and productive September call-ups
Game 138: Sale vs. Kuroda, Part II
  • CountryClub

    I like the Metallica style letters. Nice touch.

  • Mark Teixiera – Ghostbuster (formerly Drew)

    I guess I am not eligible because I refuse to follow that pretentious asshole on twitter. Oh well.

    • RetroRob

      : -)

    • Matt :: Sec110

    • jay destro

      Vinny is one of the most genuine good guys I’ve ever met. Maybe check yourself.

    • Monica

      Dude, wtf are you talking about??? Apparently you dont know Vinny! He is one of the most genuine, hard working and nicest people on the planet!

      • trex

        Sure try and make a dent in what he things is is entitlement …and u will find out his goodness of heart.

  • Robinson Tilapia

    Anyone know what kind of tee-shirt he uses for his product? Never bought anything off of him and would love to support him.

  • pat

    Props to Bald Vinny, but damn those are heinous.

  • ThatstheMelkyMesaWaysa

    Off the topic should I start Daniel Nava or Brandon Belt tonight?

  • dkidd

    those are the ugliest things i’ve ever seen. don’t quit your day job, bald vinnie. wait…

  • Frank

    Those shirts are horrible. What a disgrace.

  • Geno

    What imagery to use while commemorating the career of one of the most truly Christian people in all of baseball? Satanic-looking goat, yep that does it.

    • nice shirts yo

      Haha, hurray for dramatics. I don’t see what’s “Satanic” about it. It’s a goat. Mo’s the GOAT. Perhaps your projecting your biases some, eh.

  • nice shirts yo

    That T-42 shirt is dope, I love the comic-style artwork, it’s perfect. Not crazy about the proportions on the GOAT shirt; independantly the graphics are ill but they looked a little jammed together.

    Still, overall I say nicely done and I’d love to win one.

  • JLC 776

    Wonder how that Joba shirt is selling these days? Player aside, the shirt is pretty bad ass…


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Discontinued App

Explore Linear Functions

The "Review in Preparation for College Algebra" series contains four (4) apps and has 39 embedded lessons. Since the primary mode of operation of the ...

Discontinued App

The "Review in Preparation for College Algebra" series contains four (4) apps and has 39 embedded lessons. Since the primary mode of operation of the brain is pattern generalizing, almost all of the lessons are structured as pattern-building activities. Users are encouraged to generalize the patterns using pencil and paper (so that the brain sees the bigger picture), because when they do, the brain creates a memory of the pattern and it understands the generalized algebra in the lesson. The apps also use function as the underlying theme to teach the included algebra. When users connect new algebraic concepts to existing long-term memories of previously learned algebra, the brain understands the new concept or procedure in the lesson. Function representation and function behaviors connect all of the algebra. Lessons consist of open-ended questions, and when the user answers a question, he/she receives a correct response and verbal praise if correct. Audience: High school students in Algebra I or II and college students in remedial algebra courses such as Beginning Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, Algebraic Literacy courses, and freshmen courses preparing students for non-STEM college-level courses. While the lessons are teaching in nature, they also provide a review for course midterm and exams. Technology Requirements: The graphing calculator is required and is used to help develop patterns and provide visualizations of the algebra in the lessons. It is crucial as a learning tool because visualizations lead to understanding. In addition, the graphing calculator processes function representations and function behaviors, which are at the core of learning algebra through function. Features: - Learn through questioning - Based on core common algebra curriculum - Formative algebra assessments - Based on basic brain function - Immediate feedback - Correct response after answering questions - Test yourself repeatedly - Easy navigation - Score tracking - Audio response The Content Author: The author has 16 years of experience writing questions for college mathematics placement tests, for end- of-year course exams, and for pre-service teacher proficiency tests. See www.redbankpublishing.com for more information about the author. Explore Linear Functions 1. Generalize the I.V. Drip Pattern 2. An Introduction to a Linear Relationship 3. Linear Rate of Change and Initial Condition 4. Rate of Change and Initial Conditions 5. Create a Linear Function 6. Point-Slope Form of the Linear Function in Context 7. Point-Slope Form 8. Blue Point Grill Waiter Behavior 9. Linear Function Behavior-Zeros 10. The Linear Function as a Model of Gasoline Remaining in the Tank 11. Increasing-Decreasing Connection to Positive-Negative Slope 12. Connect the zeros of a linear function to a known contextual situation 13. Length (Distance) in the Coordinate Plane

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Price: 0,89 €

Developed by Edward Laughbaum

Day of release: 0000-00-0

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text:
Monday, July 23, 2012

I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing model airplane glue.

...or, to be out of the country.

Well, sorta out of the country.  A little too far north where they have funny money with pictures of kids playing hockey on it.
So, while I'm pretty much out of connection, we have the blogospere light up with all sorts of things I don't have the time or bandwith to respond to.

There was the atrocity in Colorado.  My heart goes out to the victims and families.  I cannot understand the mind of someone that would perpetrate such an act.

Then the inevitable blood-dancing from the usual D-bags and political types (but I repeat myself).  So far, The Miller has the best response to the head D-Bag

There was the caught on tape attempted robbery of an internet cafe (they still have those?) and the critical failure of the victim selection process that was in the news as well.  As MI2Tall said "PePaw went and got him some."

Also on the CHL/CCW front, there was the attempted robbery of a pizza delivery guy by two shotgun-armed 'yutes.'  Pizza guy, with a concealable handgun, goes muzzle-to-muzzle with the bad guys.  Hits both of them, and comes away unscathed.  Never give in, never surrender.

I'll have some beer and wine reviews posted soon.  I was too far north to have any gun or knife related stuff to talk about- except how naked you feel in the middle of bear filled forests with nothing but harsh words to deal with any threats.

  1. I was wondering where you were...
    Canada is really big!

    1. It was the Vancouver/ Whistler area. Absolutely gorgeous part of the world, and the weather was perfect.

  2. That's one of my favorite places in the world. Breath-taking scenery! It also impressed this Texas girl for being the place where I saw snow on the Fourth of July.

  3. Wait, YOUR money is all one colour, and you call OUR money "funny" ? :)

    And go to a steakhouse when you're there. You'll find out how cow tastes like when it's raised on grass and not corn.

    Proud son of Calgary :)

    1. Did go to a local chain (So I understand) called 'The Keg', and had an OK Ribeye. Would have been really good if they had not cooked it to medium well when I asked for medium rare.


text:
Tinker Harvest Festival Sept. 12

From press release

Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum and Gardens will celebrate its first Harvest Festival from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12. Admission is $5 adults, $4 seniors, $2 children age 5-17, $10 Family Pack of four, and Museum Members are free.

Victorian arts, crafts, cooking and dance demonstrations will be offered by Company C, 1st Regiment United States Sharpshooters. Among the activities that the Victorian re-enactors will be on the grounds demonstrating will be Victorian cooking methods, lace-making, spinning, weaving and book illumination.

The dance demonstrations will take place at noon and 1 p.m., accompanied by music performed by the Kishwaukee Ramblers. The Ramblers will also perform a concert at 3 p.m.

Breakfast and coffee will be the early-morning food available for purchase from Zammuto’s Restaurant, with pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, pound cake, lemonade and tea available during the afternoon hours. A Victorian Ice Cream Social will begin at noon, providing ice cream with assorted toppings for festival attendees. The cost of the breakfast and lunch items varies, but the Victorian Ice Cream Social is included with the price of admission.

On display in the Tinker Visitor Center will be the Abraham Lincoln and the Manny Reaper Trial Exhibition. The exhibit shares the story of Lincoln’s “Iron Determination” following being excluded from the Manny Reaper Trial proceedings. The exhibition will be on view at the Museum through Nov. 15. Visitors will also be able to see the “Home of the Brave” quilt program created by national quilters for today’s soldiers, and a Brantingham Reaper, the successor to the Manny Reaper, will be on display outside the Visitor’s Center.

An Antique Car Show with pre-1950s cars will be held on the grounds. Prizes will be awarded to the most popular cars. Tours of the cottage will be available and will include the newly-restored lower level for which a special ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place early in the day. Children will be able to enjoy learning to play the Victorian game of croquet, shuttlecock (the forerunner to today’s game of badminton), graces and hoop rolling.

For more information about the Tinker Harvest Festival, or other programs, tours and activities at Tinker Swiss Cottage Museum, call (815) 964-2424, e-mail info@tinkercottage.com or visit www.tinkercottage.org.

Tinker Swiss Cottage is at 411 Kent St., Rockford.

From the September 9-15, 2009 issue

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