Happy Halloween/Samhein!

Skyclad

From Rocky Horror Show




The Shining

My new book: The Pol Pot Journals is out

In this novel, in the 1970s the turbulence of the Vietnam War and protests by students and youth who where un-willing to fight for a cause that seemed unsinkable and useless. When President Richard Nixon spread the Vietnam War to Kampuchea, (called Cambodia today) he not only caused outrage and protest at home, including the Kent State Ohio massacres, but he also threw Kampuchea into a state of civil war. His inept handling of the situation brought about one of the strangest social experiment of the 20th Century. Pol Pot ruled through a committee known for the first year only as the Ankar (organization). His name was not even spoken to the Kampuchean people for two years. His Communist Party of Kampuchea had amassed a powerful movement of disenfranchised peasants, who were loyal to him and his regime. The Residence of Phnom Penh, the city’s capital, were not so lucky. They were treated with suspicion. And punishment for those deemed “un-redeemable” was harsh.
This is a novel, and while Pol Pot wrote little this fictional novel lets us see the real man if he had written his own memoirs. The book also provides the views of both his comrades and those outside of Kampuchea,



This book is presently available at Lu Lu Publishing http://www.lulu.com/content/4661186.It will be available at onther online stores in the coming days, at such outlets as Barns and Noble.

Halloween Poem

Halloween Glam Rock Night

This October 31, Halloween Night, Kirby’s (my favourite bar) is having Glam Night, to celebrates such glam rockers of the late 1970s and 1980s as David Bowie. Some of us will dress up like glam rockers. I might go for the T. Rex look.

Life on a small moon deep in outerspace

There's been interest in the moon Enceladus lately. A manned trip has been planned. A probe was sent that crashed through the moons thin icy layer. Nearly three hundred miles across, this moon of Saturn is believed to be mostly water. It is warm enough to cause active eruptions the spray water miles into space. We crashed an un-manned probe in the planets interior and we found no sign of any intelligent life.

Through the stars with difficulty

I’ve decided to do a little art work again. I almost always use a mixed medium. In this case I drew the earth worm in the middle of the picture.

Marxist heritage and logos

Many Marxist-Leninist websites I’ve seem usually have their three main theoreticians. They always have Karl Marx and V.I. Lenin, (Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин;). Some have a third ideological character, Leon Trotsky, (Лeв Давидович Трóцкий),

Joseph Stalin, (Иосиф Сталин or in Georgian ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი) or Mao Zedong (毛泽东).

We can dismiss the Trotsky folks since this piece is more about the influences on Maoist Parties. Maoist and Trotskyites don’t have a lot in common beyond Lenin.
However many Maoist, consider Stalin to be of some importance. That differs from one Maoist group to another. Some see him as a great leader, others as the last true Russian socialist, but one who made many mistakes. A few don’t like Stalin at all. Some Stalinist groups don’t like Mao
Many Maoist web sites have logos with their three main theoreticians, Marx, Lenin and Mao.

Usually since these are the most important theoreticians that identify the Maoist groups, it makes sense to display their pictures.

This above banner has a common symbol for the Revolutionary International Movement. This is a movement that I tend to identify with. The logo gets the point across.

Also many of these parties have their own leader who they believe will eventually apply the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist theory to their own country. This is from The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

But at times, many add Friedrich Engels and Stalin. Engles makes sense since he co-wrote a lot of Marx’s writings. But how much do we need a picture of Stalin?
With all the talk of liberation for women, how many banners have any on them? We have Rosa Luxemburg, a major Eastern European Marxist leader. But Jiang Qing, (江青), is more in step with Maoism and fits in perfectly as one of our great heroes. I’d rather see her than Stalin.

Religious people often refer back to their ancient profits, such as the Buddha or Mohammad or mortal deities, such as Jesus Christ or Siva for example. They can claim they have a long heritage and roots that go back for over a thousand years.
But we also have that.
There actually were atheists, such as Theodorus, (Θεόδωρος ), the Atheist of Cyrene, of Ancient Greece. So it is not a relatively new idea.
So where are the ancient influences for dialectic materialism? It’s easy to just say “I’m and atheist,” but dialectic materialism is a belief that replaces religion.
As for ancient Greek materialist, Democritus, (Δημόκριτος). was an influence and was admired by Marx, who wrote a thesis about him. And Just as Marx had Engels to help him write, Democritus had Leucippus, (Λεύκιππος), to collaborate on his work. They also live in the ancient world of Greece.

Mao was heavily influenced by Sun Tzu, (孙子), for military strategy.
and guerrilla war fare, Sun Tzu, was from Ancient China, centuries before BC. And Maoists promote the use people’s war to gain real political power.
Lao Tzu, (老子) was quoted several times by Mao in his later writings. Could he have been a Maoist influence from Ancient China?
And let’s not forget Spartacus who led a major rebellion against the Roman Empire.

If it were up to me, I’d stick with the simple Marx-Lenin-Maoism and at times the party leader for most banners.

But for the longer banners I’d replace Stalin with Jiang, because I like her better and she’s a woman. I’d leave Engels for the obvious reasons. I’d add Democritus and Leucippus, for their influence on Marx and Sun Tzu for his influence on Mao and Spartacus That way, Marxist can claim a long heritage of philosophers and go toe to toe with any Christian or Moslem wacko, that tries to make it look like were flukes from the 1800s.

So it would be Engles, Marx, Lenin, Jiang, Mao on top
Democritis, Leucippus, Spartacus, Sun Tzu on the bottom
And the party leader at the very bottom.

refer man by Cab Calloway

Drug use goes clear back to the turn of the last century. The following is a drug song from the Jazz age. It is refer man by Cab Calloway
These songs are discussed in my newest book: Can You Pass the Acid Test?: A History of the Drug and Sex Counterculture and Its Censorship in the 20th Century.
Reefer Man


There is a link to the site on this page.

“I am”: Poetry Corner revisited

For those who can’t read Khmer letters

Yes it’s time for another poem that no one understands. If it made a lot of sense and had the ability to move you and make you feel something, it just wouldn’t make Poetry Corner. This is my new attempt at Khmer poems, written in a language I barely understand. But I’m learning. See the end for an explanation



The translations says
I Am
I am a revolutionary
I am a communist
I am a revolutionary communist
I am (I lost the tralation to the next revolutionary thing, probably worker, but I'm not sure.)
I am a Leninist
Printing it in a foreign language made it interesting.
Otherwise it would be just another dull poem.

Westar of Kansas – Bad service, but you pay for their mistakes

It was another fine day, this week as Monday came along with the pouring rain and I had to navigate the old junckard, first to my doctor, then home again. Then the radiator broke, leaving my car dead on the road. When I finally made it to my home, drenched from walking in the rain, SURPRISE, Westar Energy of Kansas, had snuck in, left a small notice and shut off our electricity. It turns out my wife had paid them just a month before and their automaton clerk had made a mistake. After arguing with them - after finally figuring out how to maneuver their complicated phone system - they agreed to turn on our electricity. But not right away, instead they will turn it on at THEIR convenience. So we sit in the dark, after making sure they got paid (don’t forget their “fee” for flipping on a switch) they still haven’t gotten around to turning on our electricity. Maybe tomorrow, if they decide they can afford the time. As for us costumers, they’re a monopoly. They act like one. They do what they want and fuck the customer.

Ripping us off, one costomer at a time!

Maybe I should stay

Well, it turns out I can't really leave. I have too many doctors, the bill collectors will just follow me, and certainly I can find some shit job that is at least tolerable.
So if I have to stand in Shit, so be it. I will stand in it.
If I have to live among the pinheads and jackasses, I can always make there lives as miserable as possible.
I can still travel. There will be a major demonstration against American political prisoners (and there are many) about March 10 in New York City and there's no reason for me to miss it.
This isn't the only sewer I've found to live in.
I guess I'll stay.

should I stay or should I go

The slogan "No gain in keeping, No loss in weeding out" seems cruel on the surface, but don't we all go through those days, when capitalist marauders prey on us like the bird prey on the worms, during a rain.
No I wouldn't kill anyone or order them killed, but the temptation is stronger every day as we live in an increasingly cruel and sadistic society. Mostly we are thought to hate criminals. Killing them is not enough, now we collectively want some type of torture to make sure the evil people suffer on their way to "hell'(as Christianity teaches us).
Then there's the terrorists, animals that inconvenience us and a couple of marble heads (lose marbles rolling around inside) who want to further this hatemongering.
But there is the local level. Some towns are better than others. Some suck so terribly that they can only be described as hell on earth.
There are a few in-between towns, such as Wichita, where it's almost that bad, but there are a few nice people here. They make up about 1 %. It's a tough town to live in. It's run by snakes and rednecks that closely resemble Sarah Palin. These are the people I'd love to see chopped down like weeds and tossed in the garbage where at least maggots will get something out of their useless lives.
This town is often like standing in sewage. It stinks and the advantages are few if any.
Not only that, it has acurded to me lately that I am wasting my life here and accomplishing nothing. I am merely bumping heads with the likes of McCain and Palin. So how long do I stay in a place where I accomplish nothing?

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