Prosecutors in Burma can put together a charge of sedition for just about anything. Lots of people learned that they committed the offence by complaining publicly about increased fuel prices last year. Others have inadvertently been seditious by holding well-meaning talks on their country’s future.

So six men who tried to assemble some people and discuss workers’ rights under domestic law on May 1, 2007, should perhaps have seen what was coming. One of them didn’t even make it to the venue. He was intercepted and sent straight to a special army facility. Unidentified men in unmarked vehicles picked up the others and brought them later.

In July, a case against the six (above) began in a closed court, and in September they were found guilty of sedition and other crimes and sentenced to between 20 and 28 years imprisonment.

A fortnight ago, the case of Thurein Aung and five others came on appeal to the Supreme Court, where it had been pending for about three months. After the wait, it didn’t get very far. The court threw it out immediately. The only avenue that now remains for the defendants is special leave of appeal before the same court.

Advocating for workers’ rights is no easy task in Burma. Despite the remnants of socialist-era rhetoric and institutions that purport to place the interests of peasants and workers ahead of everyone else, in reality a host of laws and policing agencies operate to prevent the forming of independent unions, and factories carry warning signs against anybody trying any funny business.

So Thurein Aung and the others must to some extent have known what they were getting themselves into. Still, the litany of abuses and the scale of absurdity found in their case and others like it are indicative of the extent to which Burma’s legal and administrative system suffers from what one group has characterized as legal dementia.

When the charges were first brought, their lawyers tried unsuccessfully to get the hearings moved into an open court on the ground that the country’s judiciary law requires public trial unless otherwise prohibited. Not only were the lawyers unsuccessful, but they themselves were constantly harassed, until finally they were forced to withdraw in protest.

Meanwhile, the state-run newspapers carried articles denouncing the men’s modest attempts at having workers talk about their legitimate problems and legal rights.

“The attendees were divided into small groups, each of which was made up of about ten,” the New Light of Myanmar reported of the May 1 event. “And the groups held discussions about the difficulties they were facing in an exaggerated manner to create outrage of workers and then to incite protests.”

Preposterously, the court held against the six men because they themselves were not workers and therefore workers’ rights were a matter that, it concluded, had nothing to do with them. Through a further leap away from common sense, it decided that as the accused had no business to be organizing events on behalf of workers then they could only have been acting with intent to malign the state.

In every country there is disjuncture between what is written and what actually goes on, between what is said and what is done. However, it is the scale of the disconnect in Burma, where even meeting and talking about established rights under national law constitutes an offence against the state, that is the cause of woe for Thurein Aung and his colleagues, among many others.

Speaking on a shortwave radio channel after news that the appeal petition had been thrown out of court, one of the lawyers expressed no surprise at the outcome but said that they would press on and try for the special leave to appeal nonetheless. He didn’t sound optimistic about the result.

“The chances are really very few,” he said. “Out of a hundred cases, only one or two are ever accepted.” And even for the one or two that are, does it make a difference?

Source: Workers' rights seditious in Burma

I forgot all about these flower photos until tonight. I was sitting here trying to decide what I wanted to work on for tonight and I knew it wasn't wedding photos or portraits (for tonight) so I looked around in the mass of unedited work and realized I forgot all about these beauties from May 5th.

They were all taken with the Nikon 50mm 1.4. It's not just for portraits! LOL!

I adore the sunlight illuminating the background here...

Looking at them makes me remember how beautiful this May day felt to me when I laid under the tree in my front yard to take this photo.

A little antique action...who said flowers can't be antiqued? Not me!

And a favorite edit for this session.... (yes, yes, yes it's texture!) LOL!

Cuba kita memerhatikan May Day di negara jiran kita seperti Indonesia,Filipina, demonstrasinya lebih aktif dan agressif berbanding dengan kita di sini,kalau demonstrasi keamanan disekat sebegitu,dan janganlah kita sambutan May Day,tidak bermakna agaknya.Mungkin kerajaan takut kerana memang adanya teladan buruk seperti berlaku di Hamburg,Jerman yang remaja radikal menyerang bank dan melakukan vandalisme terhadap pembinaan awam,jelas ternyata dia tidak faham apa ertinya “AMAN(atau PEACE)”.

Contoh lain seperti demonstrasi Hindraf pada tahun lepas,kerajaan BN sering mengkritik bahawa perhimpunan ini bersifat ekstremis dan bersehubungan dengan kumpulan pengganas di Sri Lanka,demonstrasi aman menjadi huru-hara kerana penindasan FRU terhadap kaum India yang tidak bersalah,maka lima pemimpin Hindraf ditangkap mengikut akta ISA yang kejam lagi jahanam,seorang daripadanya,M Manoharan telah memenangi kerusi pada PRU-12 masih dalam tahanan di Kem Kamunting,kerajaan BN macam sengaja tidak mahu melepaskan Encik Manoharan dan pemimpin lain,kerana takut perhimpunan akan dibankitkan lagi untuk meraikan kepulangan mereka.Yang dibengisi rakyat adalah tempo tahanan ISA ditambah lagi 2 tahun kononnya bukan dimansuhkan,inilah sifat kekejian yang langsung mengabaikan hak asasi manusia ,kerajaan BN itu haprak!

Selepas PRU-12,Pakatan Rakyat yang terdiri daripada PKR,PAS dan DAP telah menakluki 4 negeri serta ibu Negara,mempunyai 82 kerusi dalam parlimen negara,tetapi kerajaan BN masih mahu berlagak lagi kerana dia masih parti yang memerintah Negara ini,jadi mereka tidak rasa bimbang.Inilah sebabnya mereka berhak membuat kacau di Pulau Pinang,selepas Lim Guan Eng membatalkan DEB,tetapi diberikan hak bebas berdemontrasi,kerana inilah yang disebutkan demokrasi,berdemonstrasilah secara aman!Tengoklah keadaan di Kuala Lumpur pada May Day,hak rakyat berdemonstrasi secara aman dan damai dirampas kerana tidak mempunyai lesen kelulusan,adakah kumpulan demonstrasi UMNO di Pulau Pinang dan Terengganu itu menpunyai lesen? Kenapa harus para pekerja,pelajar kampus,penyokong parti pembangkang dan pejuang hak asasi manusiaa dihalau,ditangkap,dihentam dan dipenjarakan?

Sampai bilakah rakyat mahu lagi dibulli dan ditindas oleh pihak kerajaan yang kejam semacam ini?Kerajaan BN masih tidak tahu insaf kesalahan diri itu sekali lagi mencabar rakyat ,cabaran mampu diterima oleh rakyat satu kali lagi,selepas 30 orang ahli Parlimen BN lompat ke PKR dan menubuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat,atau pengundian pada PRU-13 yang akan datang?Janji kerajaan yang anti-rakyat itu mesti tumbang ,dan diikuti oleh kerajaan yang lebih mementingkan hak asasi dan kehidupan rakyat jelata,iaitu pakatan yang pro-rakyat.

Original Post: 24/5/08

anyway... after every movie that i watched, i would write a small review. now i will share them with everyone!!!

May 1st, 2005:

i've decided to watch every movie in the horror section of blockbuster by the end of may. this includes those ones that you can tell are gonna be really shitty just from looking at the packaging. i don't know if i can do it. i'll probably go insane. or more likely, i'll just end up hating the horror genre all together, and avoid everything horror related for at least 20 years. it's a win win situation!!
i'll try to post mini reviews of each one.

first up:
13 ghosts

- the original one from 1960. pretty much what you would expect it to be. it's about this family who inherits an old mansion that was owned by a crazy uncle who was obsessed with the supernatural. not to mention, this uncle also had a treasure hidden in his house somewhere. old mr. crazy created a device used to see ghosts, and somehow captured 11 ghost from around the world and brought them back to his house. he got killed and is the 12th ghost in the house. someone in the house will soon be killed, and become the 13th ghost. the whole movie is black and white, except when ghosts appear. 'why?' you ask? well... the reason for this is that when you went to see the movie, you got a pair of "illusion-o" glasses. basically 3d glasses, but with one color on top and the other on bottom, so that you only looked through one color at a time. whenever someone in the film put on the ghost viewing device, you would follow their lead, and look through your very own ghost viewing glasses. if you were brave, you would look through one color, and the ghosts would appear, if you were scared and didn't want to see the ghosts, you would look through the other. and basically the whole movie was just built around this gimmick. i didn't have any glasses, so i didn't get the whole experience, but it was still a fun movie.

ILLUSION-O GLASSES!!!

william castle's introduction to the film:

May 2nd, 2005:

fuck blockbuster. they don't open until 10:00. how am i supposed to get through every horror movie if i can't watch one in the morning and at least one at night. i guess i'll have to go at like midnight to get new ones everyday.

here's a question about the movie challenge that i can't answer myself for fear of cheating:
must i watch the movies that i have seen before? i'm not gonna re-watch the ones that i've rented over the past couple of months obviously, but what about the ones that i haven't seen for a few years? it wouldn't be a problem, and i'm looking forward to re-watching some, such as 28days later and dawn of the dead, but then i think about jeepers creepers and i start to hyperventilate. do i have to watch this again?! i'm afraid i might.... please let me know what you think.

***the general concensus was that i did not have to re-watch a movie as long as i could remember it well. and that jeepers creepers is a film that should never have been made.

scott

After the food ran out due to the bigger-than-expected attendance, speeches highlighted the key role of industrial workers in the revolutionary process. We called on guests to join this year’s Summer Projects in Seattle and Los Angeles. One college graduate explained his decision to work in the transportation industry. Two high school seniors, both valedictorians at their respective schools, described how the Party helped guide them along a path of struggle in school, rather than passivity.

Our multi-racial and inter-generational crowd once again made an impression, this time on several parents at the cookout. They’re now considering sending their teenagers to the West Coast this summer.
Young people who had led walkouts in their schools and marched on May Day together used their recently-honed organizing skills to bring friends and family to kick back and enjoy this day of food and sports.

PL’ers in the NY Urban Debate League are planning a city-wide forum on the Sean Bell case and on criminalization of youth in schools. This will help us stick to our plans of keeping our red ball rolling from May Day right into the summer and the next school year.

The winning of youth into our Party and its anti-racist activities demonstrates the important role young students and workers play in our movement. It also shows youth that instead of fighting and shooting each other (a rash of which has erupted in the city), we should be fighting for a society that eliminates the racist warmaking bosses who cause the social problems workers and youth suffer.

เรื่องในวันนี้ได้แรงบันดาลใจมาจากความคิดเห็นของทิวสนกับบทความต่างๆเกี่ยวกับ gen y และ blogging ที่ว่าความสัมพันธ์ทางเนต แม้จะกับคนที่รู้จักอยู่แล้ว (ไม่ใช่คนแปลกหน้าทางเนตอะไรทำนองนั้น) มันผิวเผิน บางทีแล้ว มันน่าจะบอกอะไรเราได้ ทำไมคนชอบเล่น hi5 หรือบล๊อก อลัน (ครูชาวอเมริกา)ไม่เข้าใจ เขาบอกว่า ไดอารี่ที่คนเคยเขียนและเก็บไว้อ่านเอง ทำไมถึงได้นำมาเผยแพร่ทางเนต ไดอารี่ออนไลด์คงเป็นเพียงประเภทหนึ่งของบล็อก หากแต่ การนำเสนอตัวตนทางเนตแสดงให้เห็นถึง ความเปลี่ยวเหงาในใจ

หรือเปล่า

มันก็ไม่ใช่เหตุผลทั้งหมดเสียทีเดียว แต่ฉันคิดว่า รูปแบบการสื่อสารมันเริ่มที่จะเปลี่ยนไป เรื่อยๆ ในที่สุดนั้นจะเป็นอย่างไร นักวิจารณ์ตกงานแบบที่บก. GM เขียนไว้นั้น ฉันเดาว่าไม่ถึงขนาดนั้นทีเดียว หากแต่ปัจจุบันนี้ คนห่างไกล บางทีก็ใกล้กว่าคนที่นั่งอยู่ข้างกายเสียอีก ฉันนั่งอยู่หน้าจอ... และคิดถึงอนาคต นึกถึงเพลง สายันสวัสดิ์ มนุษย์โลกของวงร๊อค mayday (晚安 地球人- 五月天) เนื้อเพลงและคำแปล เชิญอ่านที่เวบ นี้ http://www.bloggang.com/viewdiary.php?id=tokei&group=7

ที่จะเล่าคือเนื้อหาโดยรวม นั้นคือที่มาของมนุษย์จนถึงวันที่เปิดเจอพจนานุกรมไล่จากหน้าแรกจุดท้ายสุด หาศัพท์บางคำไม่พบ คำนี้คือคำว่ารัก คำว่ารัก ใช่ไหม   ที่มาคือพ่อเค้าจับเค้าใส่ยาน เพื่อหลบหนีภัย มายังโลก ยานนี้เร็ว เร็วจนความเศร้าเลือนจากไป ชีวิตก็ผ่านมายาวนาน ยุคลำเข็ญกลับคืนมาฉายให้เห็นทางโทรทัศน์ นี่หรือความวุ่นวายที่จะหวนกลับมา วัฏจักรได้กลับคืนมาแล้ว  ผู้ใหญ่ทำสงครามในห้องแอร์เย็น เด็กน้อยหลบนี้ทุกข์ยากภายใต้แสงแดดแผดเผา บ่อน้ำมันดิบแห้งเหือด สุดท้ายมนุษย์เริ่มยิงขีปนาวุธใส่กัน เพียงเพื่ออาหารเย็นของตน  

สุดยอดมากอ่ะ ตรงมากกับปัจจุบันนี้

GM Tech Magazine Issue 12

Issue 12 of this popular magazine was released earlier this month. It includes 50 pages of content covering all aspects of Game Maker, including quality articles, exclusive interviews, game reviews and more. It's a great read, and is visually appealing. We highly recommend the magazine to any Game Maker user.

For those who don't know, Wyatt (bendodge), one of the principle writers for GMNews also contributes to some of the magazine's content.

You can visit GM Tech site and download the issue from here.

GMHC - The GM Hacker Challenge

uuf6429, a well known user of the GMC forums has posted a new challenge for all Game Maker developers to take part in. It is an effort to help improve the security of Game Maker games so that hacking games (for example with the use of a decompiler) becomes very difficult.

While this is potentially a good idea, it also means further security exploits could be exposed in the software, and until YoYo Games fixes them in the next release of Game Maker, it could result in exactly what the project hopes to avoid, easily hackable games.

Unfortunately the challenge was not as successful as previously anticipated. Uuf6429 was taken by surprise when Smarty (former GMC Administrator) was able to recover a script from the game yesterday without "even [starting to decompile] either the game or the DLL."

Game Maker Games - This Game is Art Competition

Game Maker Games has come out with a new competition just a few days ago called 'This Game is Art'.

Unlike many other competitions, this one has no pre-defined theme or picky requirements. In fact, it is just the opposite. The competition encourages expressing yourself in an artistic form through your game either as an individual or a team.

For more details and entry requirements for the competition, see this page.

C++ Runner Almost Ready

According to an interview conducted by GM Fetch earlier this month, the C++ runner for Game Maker is nearing completion. This will help to enable Game Maker to run on different computer platforms (e.g. Mac) and should improve the overall performance of Game Maker game executables.

See their website for more information, and for the full interview.

The month of May is important to us all, it’s a month where we
appreciate our moms, our kids or siblings kids, our nation and our
world, I am involved in this NGO that is taking out time in the Month
of May to go to Old people’s home, Orphanages, Area boys Rehabilitation
program and lots of other things. Now I am specifically leaning towards
Women and Children when it comes to causes, it’s just something inside
me that wants to make life worthwhile for the people in my
neighborhood. This is why when I see people like Rev. (Mrs.) Anuli
Ausbeth-Ajagu, it makes my heart glad. She is a director of the Betcy
group and the founder of the Youth and Gender Network. She is totally
given to adding value to the lives of women and youths.

It makes my heart bleed when I think of all the smart young men who,
instead of putting themselves to good use are into the yahoo business
or corporate prostitution that is giving Nigeria a bad name, so when I
find people like Rev. Mrs. Anuli, I whisper to myself that Nigeria will
yet move forward. So even as we look to the future with enthusiasm and
faith, enjoy this month’s SPICE just for you

Theresa.

Scripture I am chewing on and sorta shows where my mind and heart are at this week:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. - Isaiah 43:2-2

“Deliver me out of the sadness”

The numbers are staggering. The suffering, immense. . .

"The confirmed number of dead rose nearly 10,000 from the day before to 51,151, Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin told a news conference. Another 29,328 people remained missing and nearly 300,000 were hurt in the May 12 quake centered in Sichuan province, he said.

The disaster left 5 million people homeless and leveled more than 80 percent of the buildings in some remote towns and villages near the epicenter. In bigger cities entire apartment blocks collapsed or are now too dangerous to live in because of damage and worries about aftershocks.” Yahoo
News

In the news Wednesday: "The secretary general of the United Nations is heading to Myanmar in an effort to step up relief efforts for survivors of Cyclone Nargis." Please God, help us to help them.

“Deliver me from all the madness”
“We do not have a money problem in America. We have a values and priorities problem.” Marian Wright Edelman

Anyone want a really nice cat named Clarence?* He needs special food, but is very lovey. Of course, he has the ability to vomit randomly throughout a carpeted room in no time flat. Some may even call that a talent. We just call it an unholy mess. Gross. * Note: No, we are not giving Clarence away, although the thought crossed my mind Tuesday, the day of the totally disgusting ‘occurrence.’

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Martin Luther King, Jr

“Deliver me courage to guide me”
What should we be ‘spending’ our refund checks on? Erase debt? The poor? The ravaged in China or Burma? The movies? Another few pair of shoes? Grocery hoarding? Clean water projects in 3rd world countries? A vacation?

Finished Jesus for President. Yet another Claiborne book that really tests preconceptions about service and Christianity. Pick it up. Read about our modern empire. This will book change you forever.

The danger is that we can begin to read the Bible through the eyes of America rather than read America through the yes of the Bible. We just want Jesus to be a good American.p194

“The government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian
religion.”-John Adams

From the litany of resistance: (Jesus for President Appendix)

One: From the arrogance of power
All: Deliver us
One: From the myth of redemptive violence
All: Deliver us
One: From the tyranny of greed
All: Deliver us
One: From the ugliness of racism
All: Deliver us
One: From the cancer of hatred
All: Deliver us
One: From the seduction of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From the addiction of control
All: Deliver us
One: From the idolatry of nationalism
All: Deliver us
One: From the paralysis of cynicism
All: Deliver us
One: From the violence of apathy
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of poverty
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From a lack of imagination
All: Deliver us
One: Deliver us, O God

“Deliver me Your strength inside me”

There’s nothing like driving with the windows down, driving to work and drinking coffee. Okay, I lied, take the driving to work part out of that statement and, it would be even better.

Rocket Dog, my new bowling ball, you let me down this week. Whereas the week before we were on fire, the pendulum swung back to the other extreme for Rocket Dog and me. It was truly embarrassing to bowl less than 100 with your own equipment. Seriously folks, totally embarrassing.

On the horizon is a 3 day weekend. I can’t wait. I need this.

Finished: The Gutter: Where Life is Meant to be lived by Craig Gross
Guess what? No matter where you live, there are gutters. Gutters are physical places. The are also addictions, selfishness, pride, loneliness, the ability not to forgive….we all have secret dark places. Jesus dwelled in the gutters throughout the gospel. . .and today. Craig Gross is a pastor in his 20’s who founded Fireproof Ministries as a way to train and disciple Christian youth, and XXXchurch.com, to help Christians break addiction to pornography. Guess what? God loves those who make porn. Get your mind around that.

“We must not allow ourselves to become like the system we oppose.” Bishop Desmond Tutu

“CHORUS:
All of my life
I've been in hiding
Wishing there was someone just like You
Now that You're here
Now that I've found You
I know that You're the One to pull me through”

Prince Caspian was awesome. Aslan is back! Lessons for the kings, queens and princes (and us all) in the movie: 1) You can’t do it yourself 2) You don’t need any proof of Jesus or God to have faith 3) Motivation through hatred is never the way, although the temptation is immense and alluring. 4) Righteous honor pleases God. God hates honor for power. See it. You will not be disappointed.

“There is a war going on for your mind. We are the insurgents” – Flobots lyrics

“Deliver me loving and caring
Deliver me giving and sharing
Deliver me this cross that I'm bearing
Oh, deliver me”

I’ve been developing a youth curriculum for Institute. It’s called, “iStand for God’s Justice & Mercy (There’s war going on for your mind)” If it is accepted, it includes part IJM, part Flobots, part Invisible Children, Part Darfur Now and some killer quotes. Also wall drawing, collages and letters sent to students after the class they write about what they want to do next. LEARN about it, DO something to help. TELL others. Love your neighbors everywhere.

“Jesus, Jesus how I trust You How I've proved You o'er and o'er
Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus
Deliver me”

Planted years-old seeds we found in the garage hiding in stacks of old papers. Not sure how they got there, but thought we’d throw them into our clay-pot soil. How’s that for planting seeds of faith?

Practical Justice: Living Off-Center in a Self-Centered World by Kevin Blue
Right thinking. Right action. Just living. God calls us to step up and get involved. More on this later.

“Come and pull me through Come pull me through”

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.Do
not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen
against me,and they are breathing out violence. Psalm 27:11-14

“Civilians throughout Sudan face new peril as the peace agreement that ended the two decade war in southern Sudan seems increasingly fragile and new violence in Darfur appears imminent. The United States and the international community should take immediate steps to halt the fighting in the south and deter al-Bashir’s planned assault on Darfur.”

“When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do”
Surely We Can Change by the David Crowder Band

“Thou shalt not be a victim. Thou shalt not be a perpetrator. Above all,
thou shalt not be a bystander.” The Holocaust Museum

What have you done to help alleviate suffering or draw attention to the Darfuri people? Are you a bystander?

so much pain
we don't know how to be but angry
feel infected like we got gangrene please dont let anybody try to change me ..
me just me.
in a sea full of faces..
full of races'
some laugh
some salivate
whats in your alley recycling bins or bullet casings
its not equal its not fair
we're different people but we're not scared
we ain't never scared to pave a new path
make a new street
build a new bridge
hey can you see by the dawns early light
free slaves runnin
songs words weren't right now a new days comin
if you stay stuntin while the many are handsome your soul stays alive
but they want it for ransom
the bass drummin is the anthem we step to the heart beats of our granddaughters and grandsons
(chorus)
and rise together
we rise together
we rise
together
we rise
together
we rise
together ....

Rise by the Flobots

At the rally we distributed over 300 flyers exposing the liberal rulers’ tactics of using promises of citizenship to recruit immigrants as cannon fodder for U.S. imperialism. Our leaflet became the leading source of information for all participants and onlookers at this reformist march for immigrant rights. More importantly, as we marched with our friends, we discussed the need to smash capitalism’s borders worldwide and struggle for communist revolution.

I was joined at the march by one of my students and her sister. We talked about the capitalist purpose of borders and the need for workers to unite across them. The heavy police presence also sparked discussion of police brutality and why cops were enemies of the working class; they ultimately act in the interests of the bosses, killing thousands of workers worldwide in order to instill fear and hopelessness in working people.

Afterwards we went to dinner where we sharpened our understanding of the history of the U.S./Mexico border. During dinner someone mentioned the ruling-class propaganda that, without borders, millions of Mexicans would flood “our” streets and steal “our” jobs. I explained how the existing border had been created out of the southern U.S. slaveholders’ effort to push slavery further west during an historical period when Mexico had outlawed slavery. We finally concluded that what was labeled independence by the ruling class was also the enslavement of the Mexican and black workers in the South.

During the march we had received a flyer announcing a protest at a prison in another city that jails immigrant families and many U.S.-born children. My student wanted to join the protest and is currently organizing others within the school to join us. These students are writing a leaflet calling for the need to unite workers and smash the bosses’ borders. It will be really exciting to travel alongside my students in support of immigrant rights and ultimately communist revolution!

PAKISTAN
Greetings from revolutionary communists in Pakistan. Our PLP group had a great May Day here, with comrades involved in many activities. Our communist ideas were well-received. We made new friends as more and more workers and their allies are becoming disillusioned with the fakers on the “left” who offer no solutions to a capitalist-imperialist system breeding endless wars for profits under the cover of religion, “democracy,” etc.

In the few days following the tumultuous events of last week (the police student confrontation*), peace has returned to the campus just in time for next weekend's reunion and commencement celebrations. Following is a portion of the university's announcement about the 176th Commencement. Senator Ted Kennedy was scheduled to be the speaker but his appearance remains doubtful because of recent health issues.

The 176th Commencement Ceremony (11 AM May 25)
The Commencement Ceremony will be available live by Webcast. Please go to http://wescast.wesleyan.edu for details about how you can view the ceremony.
A live broadcast of the Commencement ceremony will be available in the Memorial Chapel, Patricelli '92 Theater, Crowell Concert Hall, and Tishler Lecture Hall (Room 150), Exley Sciene Center, rain or shine. The ceremony may also be viewed online. Please check this site for details the week of May 18, 2008.
In case of inclement weather, you may also call the main University number at 860/685-2000 to determine whether or not the University will institute the rain plan for the Commencement Ceremony.

*The student-police clash created great controversy and charges and counter charges are in the air and on the blogosphere. We reported on it on Right of Middle; Wesleying blog has been all over it; Ed McKeon at Cauterwaled weighed in; the student run Wesleyan Argus published a special edition, also see Hartford Courant and Middletown Press.

On April 6 last we reported on an incident involving several students and one Middletown police officer.

Finally, an historical note regarding Wesleyan town/gown, police/student relations: On May Day 1954 following a veterans parade on Washington Street there occurred a near riot on campus. Right of Middle reported (April 30, 2007):

....events of the previous Sunday (Loyalty Day) when some Wesleyan students clashed with police and VFW members during a parade through town and onto the campus. The disturbance garnered nationwide attention, with charges of subversion on campus....An informal band of students with musical instruments began to perform in front of the Delta Kappa Epsilon house. Other students with their instruments joined the band and they all marched on High St to Washington St where they turned around only to find themselves leading the VFW parade which had just come up Washington and turned onto High.....From this point forward confusion reigned. Police, in attempting to clear the streets for the marchers, were accused of undue roughness although it was evident that a number of students provoked the officers. At least one student, Terry Hatter, was taken into custody; other students refused to doff their hats when the flag passed and were rebuked by police.

The commotion continued onto Andrus Field, The Argus reported::

The police then began to disperse the students. the marchers who had been standing on the other side of the stret started to cross the steet, saying something about “un-peace” apparently in reference to the sign. By the time they had reached the other side the students had been herded into the house by the police. The bulk of the paraders had reached Andrus field by this time and were awaiting the start of the speeches. Several inquisitive students had gathered behind Denison Terrace to view the proceedings. It was this time that the German Swastika flag, a trophy brought to Wesleyan by a veteran paratrooper after the war, was seen hanging from a dormitory window. The flag had been brought to the dormitory from the Alpha Delta Phi house, where it had been hanging for about twenty minutes. The Alpha Delta had gotten the flag from students who had been dissuaded from hanging it at the Beta Theta Pi house. (The Argus from the period-pdf)

Ahh youth....Happy Spring and Best Wishes to all new grads,,,We return to serenity below....

Steadyjohn photos

In the capitalist camp, all is not peace and love. There’s a rivalry between them for control of markets, natural resources, and cheap labor of the world. Capitalism’s relentless competition for maximum profit means this rivalry always lead to war: local wars, regional wars and eventually world wars. Even though the bosses and many others say the contrary, we are living in the build up to WWIII.

With this war the imperialists try to solve their crisis and decide who will dominate the world. We can’t predict exactly when it will start but we can definitely say that it is inevitable and that it is getting closer. We won’t go into detail to prove this analysis – but be it enough to say, as Lenin said, that since capitalism developed into imperialism the world entered an epoch of world wars and working class revolutions. The two world wars of the last century prove this, as do the workers revolutions in Russia and China.

On our side, the working class needs to respond to greater exploitation and to the capitalist crisis with demonstrations, protests, strikes, walkouts and rebellions. We need revolution. But revolutions only happen if there’s a communist party with the correct communist political line and a big enough political base inside our class. That’s why it’s important to review our forces. How are we doing in confronting and coming out victorious in the face of this great challenge that history presents us? How can we convert the attacks on our class and the coming world war into a class war for communism?

For now we don’t have the millions needed to make the kind of revolution that the workers need. The old international communist movement has died—a hard blow for our class. The new communist international that we’re building has made modest but important advances—since PLP is organizing in the US and in Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador, Spain, and Pakistan—but it needs to grow in many more countries. In the face of this gigantic task and our current conditions, it may seem impossible to achieve our goal. But as the capitalists attack harder, if we lead the fight against them with our communist line out front, workers will join us. Many of our class internationally dedicate their lives to the fight for a better world. But, others become apathetic, get demoralized, abandon the struggle or don’t want to join it because they don’t yet see big advances. That’s why it would be good to give a brief history of the struggles of our class to see how the revolutionary communists who preceded us overcame these obstacles.

At the beginning of the last century, like today, capitalism entered a deep crisis and World War I could be seen threatening on the horizon. The international communist movement had suffered big reversals. Many of its leaders betrayed the working class by supporting their own bosses in the approaching war. In 1912, the Russian revolutionary communists, the Bolsheviks, only had some 300 members in St. Petersburg, their main concentration—in a city of over 2 million people.  They had some hundreds more in all of Russia that had at the time 166 million inhabitants. In the armed forces, they had a modest group of members doing serious organizing. In 1914, World War I began.

How to convert imperialist war into a civil war for workers’ power? How did they convince a good part of the 14 million soldiers in the armed forces-- the majority “apolitical” farm workers—that they have to turn their guns around to fight for socialism—which is what the Russian communists at the time fought for? How to convince workers of this when the Russian bosses had launched massive propaganda accusing Lenin and his party of being traitors to the “nation”, German agents, who wanted to sabotage the war effort so the Germans could conquer Russia?

This would seem an apparently impossible task to achieve with a small group of revolutionaries. But the Bolsheviks did not retreat in the face of these rebuffs, attacks, and even physical attacks by bosses’ agents and even some backward workers or soldiers. Under repressive conditions they concentrated their efforts in the factories, especially arms factories, and the bosses’ armed forces, waging the struggle against the capitalists and the struggle to ideologically convince the masses of workers and soldiers. Their newspaper, Iskra, had a mass readership.

They maintained their unbreakable confidence in the working class, and the workers responded. By 1917 they had 32 thousand members in St. Petersburg—240 thousand nationally and by the end of that year they were taking power—establishing for the first time in history workers’ rule--the dictatorship of the proletariat. This was the most important event in the last century. The working class had achieved the impossible!

Clearly this didn’t fall from the sky. It was the result of almost thirty years of political work, in which many Bolsheviks were exiled, many went to prison, and others executed, but they never stopped fighting shoulder to shoulder with the workers in their daily struggles in the factories, their demonstrations and strikes,  and with the soldiers in the barracks and the trenches, showing them that the enemy was the capitalists, not German workers. This is what gave them unbreakable confidence in the working class and in turn the working class’ great confidence in them.

CLASS STRUGGLE, IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLE, AND CONFIDENCE AND MORE CONFIDENCE IN THE WORKING CLASS. This and a correct political line, and only this, will guarantee our triumph, however impossible it seems today. As the bosses’ attacks increase, if we organize the fight against them, with our politics in the lead, the workers will join us.  The changes that are coming will put hundreds of millions of our class in motion. They will awaken politically and be open to radical solutions. If we keep firmly to our convictions, if we deepen our political ties to our fellow workers, especially industrial workers, and with soldiers and students, give leadership in daily struggles, build mass distribution networks of CHALLENGE, and if we recruit to our party, what today seems like a dream, tomorrow the working class will make into reality.

There are many examples of supposedly “impossible” achievements by our class, but we don’t have time to tell them all. The task that history presents us isn’t easy—but we have the advantage of having learned from the great achievements and the errors of those who came before us. They knew they would make mistakes. We have too and we’ll make more. We have to be a fighting party—all the time! That’s why Lenin said, “Our children will fight better than us and they will win!” We say the same thing. But now, we are the children of the old international communist movement, inheritors of their great revolutionary tradition but also the great responsibility, that we cannot and must not evade, of organizing and leading the working class in its struggle for communism—throwing out the goal of socialism with its concessions to capitalism that was the great error of  our predecessors.

But this requires a fighting communist Party that has enormous confidence in the working class together with perseverance, patience and urgency. The bosses are not sleeping, they are fighting us for the loyalty of our class—they want to win them to patriotism, racism and fascism, to support their imperialist wars. That’s why they’re pushing Obama and Clinton so much. On which side the workers fight depends on us. Our class has shown that with communist leadership it is willing to fight to the death against the bosses and will not break, sell out or surrender. On this May Day, let us renew, and redouble our historic commitment to our class. Join the Progressive Labor Party! Long live May Day! Long live the international working class! Long live communism! Power to the workers!

The best day of the entire year. From Peter Linebaugh's famous article on May Day, "The Incomplete, True, Authentic and Wonderful History of May Day,":

Nationally, May First 1886 was important because a couple of years earlier the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions of the United States and Canada, "RESOLVED... that eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor, from and after May 1, 1886.

On 4 May 1886 several thousand people gathered near Haymarket Square to hear what August Spies, a newspaperman, had to say about the shootings at the McCormick works. Albert Parsons, a typographer and labor leader spoke net. Later, at his trial, he said, "What is Socialism or Anarchism? Briefly stated it is the right of the toilers to the free and equal use of the tools of production and the right of the producers to their product." He was followed by "Good-Natured Sam" Fielden who as a child had worked in the textile factories of Lancashire, England. He was a Methodist preacher and labor organizer. He got done speaking at 10:30 PM. At that time 176 policemen charged the crowd that had dwindled to about 200. An unknown hand threw a stick of dynamite, the first time that Alfred Nobel's invention was used in class battle.

All hell broke lose, many were killed, and the rest is history.

"Make the raids first and look up the law afterwards," was the Sheriff's dictum. It was followed religiously across the country. Newspaper screamed for blood, homes were ransacked, and suspects were subjected to the "third degree." Eight men were railroaded in Chicago at a farcical trial. Four men hanged on "Black Friday," 11 November 1887.

"There will come a time when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you strangle today," said Spies before he choked.

INDEED.

This one was taken using a polaroid camera.

It was a very windy day so it was a challange getting all of the ribbons staked and ready for people to take hold without the wind ripping it out of the ground or our hands. Not atypical weather for the Valley this time of year.

We all weaved in and out of each other forming the pretty design on the may pole.

Here we are dancing around the pole as the sun sets.

The pole when it was done. Very pretty if I do say so myself.

Jalan Raya Meruya Selatan sepi dari lalu lalang kendaraan. Tidak ada metromini, angkot bahkan sepeda motor pun emoh melewati jalan yang menuju Jalan Raya Kebon Jeruk itu sejak pagi hari.

Warung makan yang biasa menjadi incaran mahasiswa kost tutup. Tidak ada nasi uduk seribu rupiah yang bisa mengeyangkan perut mahasiswa.

Dari dalam kampus Universitas Mercu Buana (UMB), mahasiswa dari Fakultas Ekonomi, Teknik, Pertanian dan Komunikasi telah berkumpul. Ada yang sudah seminggu tidak pulang ke rumah. Kaos di badan pun lusuh dan kumal. Sebagian mahasiswa membakar ban bekas sampai kepulan asap warna hitam membumbung di langit biru Ibukota sebelah barat.

“Kita hari ini kembali berdemo, menuntut Soeharto mundur!,” teriak Afzal, ketua Senat Mahasiswa UMB menyemangati barisan mahasiswa berjaket warna merah.

Ketika barisan mahasiswa sudah rapih dan hendak berjalan keluar kampus, langkah pun tersendat. Barisan tentara telah menghadang, lengkap dengan senjata laras panjang dan pentungan. Tentara menahan laju mahasiswa, memaksa mahasiswa mundur malah ingin membubarkan.

Aksi dorong pun terjadi. Mahasiswa merasa punya hak untuk mengoreksi pemerintah, punya hak membela rakyat yang sudah makan tahinya sendiri. Tapi tentara juga punya kewajiban mematuhi perintah mempertahankan keabsahan rezim yang berkuasa. Punya kewajiban yang harus membuat mereka berhadapan dengan pendemo yang seumuran dengan anak, keponakan atau sepupunya.

Inilah babak bertemunya hak dan kewajiban. Babak pamungkas yang berujung pada bentrok. Pentungan melayang. Senapan dikokang dan peluru bermuntahan ke langit Ibukota. Mahasiswa berhamburan masuk ke dalam kampus. Sementara tentara hanya berdiri membuat pagar betis agar mahasiswa tidak kembali. Tidak kembali berdemo menuntut bubarnya sebuah rejim.

* * *

Begitulah heroisme tentang gerakan mahasiswa UMB pada Mei 1998. Heroisme yang terkubur dari gegap gempita pemberitaan karena tidak seheboh Tragedi Trisakti. Tapi heroisme itu senantiasa diceritakan secara turun-temurun di kalangan mahasiswa.

Pertama kali aku mendengar heroisme itu ketika OSPEK. Kala itu diceritakan oleh Afzal yang juga menjadi pelaku utama. Lalu, ku dengar kembali ketika menjalani setiap pelatihan keorganisasian, baik oleh organisasi kampus maupun non-kampus yang beredar di UMB.

Uniknya, heroisme itu diceritakan turun-temurun bahkan oleh bukan orang yang mengalaminya secara langsung. Ketika baru lulus dan diundang menghadiri sebuah pelatihan organisasi mahasiswa, heroisme Mei kembali diceritakan oleh seorang mahasiswa angkatan 2000. Halah!

* * *

Bagiku, heroisme Mei adalah bagian dari perjuangan mahasiswa kala itu untuk membuat sebuah jalan baru sejarah bangsa Indonesia. Meski tidak merasakan namun aku bisa merasa bahwa itulah masa ketika mahasiswa bersatu untuk rakyat.

Bagaimana dengan sekarang ?

Pada diskusi mengenang 5 Mei 1998 di aula UMB pekan lalu, aku mengatakan bahwa mahasiswa harus mempertanyakan kembali gerakan yang tepat dengan situasi kondisi masyarakat. Sebelumnya, aku menghadiri diskusi itu karena diundang oleh BEM UMB mewakili kelompok mantan aktifis kampus.

Menurutku, pola gerakan mahasiswa 1998 tepat untuk kondisi masyarakat kala itu. Tapi masihkah tepat dengan kondisi masyarakat saat ini ?

Aku katakan kalau masyarakat dinamis. Silahkan berdemo tapi jangan salahkan masyarakat bila mereka komplain karena jalur Sudirman-Thamrin macet total. Ini adalah satu contoh yang terjadi dan aku bisa rasakan karena saat ini aku bagian dari masyarakat.

Setidaknya mahasiswa harus mulai melakukan perubahan pola pergerakan. Masih ada cara-cara lain demi tercapainya tujuan gerakan mahasiswa.

I am not a morris dancer myself. My friend Jon who is actually from Vermont picks on me a little and tells me I should give it a go, since I'm already kind of your stereotypical New England hippie, but I think it's all a little silly. However, there are several really cool things about morris dancing; for one, there's something really endearing about strapping men in white suits frolicking in expression of their 'manhood.' Also, some of my favorite people like to do it. And, let's not forget that most of the stories being told are bawdy in nature, because, as Pocket CT, puts it, this whole MayDay ongoing celebration is cause for fun, because "hey, hey, it's the Month of May, and outdoor sex begins today!" So, when I heard on the wind (well, actually, an email on my Blackberry) that some friends were going to be morris dancing today, I thought I'd go earn my good luck for a year and a day and check them out.

I get to the planned location at the right time, however, and no one's there. Just a couple of guys in their white uniforms drinking beer and eating pizza with their bells on.

Since this is my blog and I'm assuming that all of the 10 or so regular visitors here hang out with me on a regular basis, I'm not going to explain the outfit. All I'll say is that, if you decide dancing's not for you, you can always reuse the uniform at the Running of the Bulls.

A short while later, everyone shows up. My parents, too, as they live down the street. I'm sitting with them when I see someone I recognize as Gerry P., one of the ski patrollers who helped me off the hill when I broke my leg. I hadn't seen Gerry since I got hurt and so when he approached me for a hug I was excited. I hugged him and told him all about my injury, introduced him to my parents, and told him all of the gory details of what happened after his dramatic rescue of me. He acted slightly puzzled about the whole thing, but asked interested questions. But, he seemed colder than I had expected Gerry to be, considering, and I couldn't get just why.

Well, maybe it was because Gerry wasn't Gerry. Gerry was Gerry's doppleganger, Steve Z-A, a contra dance caller, who I have also met, but only briefly, and I swear, I ALWAYS confuse with Gerry. I had a conversation lasting several minutes long with a person who I thought was someone else in which I thanked him for taking care of me when I was hurt, talked about my surgery, apologized for "screaming in pain" when my leg was broken, and the whole time I was talking to the wrong guy. And the thing I completely don't get is why, through all this, Steve went along with it!

Poor Steve, he must have been thinking: "who is this crazy bitch and why is she telling her parents I took care of her when she was sick. She must be totally psychotic and I'd better go along with it."

What the hell, Steve!

Wow, the next time I go to a dance where he is calling I am going to have to find him and explain myself. The poor guy must have been totally confused and freaked out.

Oddly, this sort of mistaken identity happens to me, too. I've been told on multiple occasions that I have a twin in Boston and I am often mistaken for an 18-year-old who goes to the Putney School. It's so strange. Yet, I usually figure it out and clue in whoever I'm talking to. Maybe next time I'll play along. I wonder how often this happens to people at dances; a lot of the women, men, callers, musicians, look similar and a lot act nutty. Maybe it's a normal thing for Steve, too. Maybe he even knows Gerry!

Regardless, I am really, really embarrassed. What the heck have I just done?

Fourth Pledge: Forget about trying to remember names at dances, it's next to impossible. But, please, try to know who the fuck you are dealing with!

On Thursday, May Day 2008, more than 10,000 people gathered around Jakarta to celebrate Labor Day and demand their rights.

Joined by more than 30 workers' associations, NGOs and student groups. Marchers rallied for kilometers to the State Palace. Closing the road from traffic. More than 15,000 police officers were deployed to guard the rallies. Thousands more were on standby.

Sneaking about delivering flowers.