Shake Up and Wake Up the Campus - Thurs., 8/25, 7 PM

"A Plan to Shake Up and  Wake Up the Campus" 100,000 Run of a Special Issue on BAsics Thursday, Aug. 25th, 7 PM    Come Thursday evening to discuss the Special Issue of Revolution newspaper and a bold plan to shake up and wake up the campus! "This is the agonizing irony of the time we live in: never has the need for communist revolution seemed more acute; never has the vision and planfor such a revolution been more viable; the leadership for such a revolution is there; but never has the prospect of revolution itself seemed more distant to people in their masses. As it was put in a speech at conferences on this campaign over a year ago, "This revolution - the REAL revolution, the communist revolution - is fighting for its life.  That's right, fighting for its life. And not just to survive, as some kind of abstract hope that might as well be a religion - but to survive and grow as a real contending force, increasingly mobilizing people to fight the power, and preparing people to SEIZE the power as part of conquering and transforming the whole world." "...One major potential pathway for change is BAsics. . . On August 23, we will be publishing a special 8-page all-color issue of the paper that will introduce people to BAsics.  The issue will focus on quotes from BAsics, and quotes from different people who have read BAsics and have something to say about it.  We will print 100,000 of these and take the next several weeks--with a major emphasis on the weeks from August 24 to September 7-- to get them out in a massive way, mainly focused on college campuses, though with some emphasis as well on high schools. We plan to get these out for free, saturating areas and jump-starting a process whereby tens of thousands of youth are introduced to Bob Avakian--raw and uncut--and where different levels of engagement with what he's all about and what he has to say can get underway. One big part of this must be a significant number of actual sales of BAsics itself, so that people's engagement can deepen and grow richer over time." Read the whole article...

The Michael Slate Show, Fri., 8/26; Become a Friend of Revolution Books!

We Recommend - Received in an email:  THE MICHAEL SLATE SHOW Friday, Aug. 26th,  10 - 11 AM, KPFK, 90.7 FM Or Listen Live at kpfk.org This week on The Michael Slate Show:   ___________________________________________________   BRANDON L. GARRETT, author of Convicting  the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go  Wrong, examined the records of 250 people who  were exonerated by DNA evidence after spending an average of 13 years in prison, including  seventeen who were on Death Row. He shows  that the wrongful convictions were not exceptions,  but resulted from practices that the courts rely on  every day. Brandon Garrett is a professor at the  University of Virginia School of Law.     ALISON WEIR, on "Israeli Video  Games in Gaza," exposing the war  crimes committed with drones in  recent attacks against Palestinians.  A pro-Israeli writer bragged, "With  the possible exception of the United  States, Israel is the country most  closely identified with UAV [drone]  operations in the post-World War II  period." Alison Weir is president of  the Council for the National Interest  and executive director of  If Americans Knew.  Pictured above: Islam Quraiqe, killed by Israeli  drone on his second birthday. ____________________________________ Thank you! to all who called in or went online to contribute last week during  the Summer Fund Drive. Thank you all for your support of The Michael Slate Show  and KPFK. ___________________________________ Listen, Download, or Subscribe to past shows by going to www.kpfk.org. Click on  "Audio Archives," and scroll down to the date of the show you want. You can click the "Download" link to download, or the Podcast button, to download or subscribe.    Please send any comments to michaelslate@redfuture.com.  You Can't Change the World  If You Don't Know the BAsics! "No more generations of our youth, here and all around  the world, whose life is over, whose fate has been sealed,  who have been condemned to an early death or a life of  misery and brutality, whom the system has destined for oppression and oblivion even before they are born. I say  no more of that."  1:13 [Read more] Check out the whole Special issue [here] at revcom.us.  Come to a discussion Thursday, 8/25, 7 pm.    Have an hour or two?  Volunteer now to help take this out on campuses for the  next couple of weeks! Ready...Set...BAsics Plan to Shake Up and Wake Up the Campus It is a time of churning in the world. All of this objectively is counterposed to  people's belief in the permanent necessity of existing conditions-and potentially  constitutes fertile soil for questioning, for seeking answers to why things are the  way they are, and whether they can be different. At this moment, more than ever, the world needs and is ready for BAsics-as a critical and leading edge of a whole  revolutionary ensemble, to crack all of this open, to spark and foster much-needed  political and intellectual ferment, to bring these questions to the fore, to shake up  and wake up the campuses, to forge a revolutionary pole and a different ethos.   [Read on]

The World Needs Revolution -  Revolution Books Needs You! Donate and ensure that Revolution Books can stay on the scene and expand  its impact in Southern California, the whole South West and beyond, as a  center for a movement for revolution and a great bookstore. Your contribution will go to work right away to pay the rent for this independent  bookstore, to purchase cutting-edge books, to feature more authors, discussions,  events at the bookstore, and to promote its mission online and in print publications. Very importantly, become a Friend of Revolution Books: Give a monthly donation of $100, $50, or $20 to enable the bookstore to become self-sufficient.  We need 100 Friends at an average of $50 each to  reach our goal; we're 1/3 of the way! DONATE NOW:  Click [here] on our blog, and go to the PayPal "Donate" button.   Contribute to these fundraising projects or start your own: 1) Huge Yard Sale - Sat. & Sun., Aug. 27 & 28 - Donations of quality items  needed.  Volunteers needed, too. 2) Labor Day BBQ - Monday, Sept. 5th,  Noon to 5 PM - Good food and great conversation. Griffith Park West, near Fern Dell & Los Feliz Blvd.   Contact us to join in planning this fun event and to  purchase tickets ($10 per plate; bigger donations  welcome). 3) Washer/Dryer for sale!  Contact us if you are  interested.

MR. FISH - Slideshow & Booksigning - Sunday, August 7th, 3 pm

Sunday, August 7th, 3 PM Revolution Books hosts cartoonist: $18.95 paperback MR. FISH Slide Presentation and Booksigning Go Fish: How to Win  Contempt and  Influence People   $10 donation / $5 students, unemployed This debut volume of political cartoons from the revered Mr. Fish spans politics, popular culture, the economic crisis, the Obama presidency, and much more, where nobody is safe from his razor-edged satire. The volume also includes original essays from Mr. Fish.   Mr. Fish has been a freelance writer and cartoonist for eighteen years, publishing  under both his real name (Dwayne Booth) and the penname of Mr. Fish with many of the nation's most reputable and prestigious magazines, journals, and newspapers. In addition to his weekly cartoon for Harper's and daily contributions to Truthdig, he has also contributed to the Los Angeles Times, the Village Voice, the LA Weekly, the Atlantic, the Huffington Post, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, the Advocate, Z Magazine, the Utne Reader, Slate.com, MSNBC.com, and others. He has also worked for National Public Radio.  In May 2008 he was presented with a first place award by the Los Angeles Press Club for editorial cartooning. In May 2010 he was awarded the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Editorial Cartooning from the Society of Professional Journalists.  Click [here] for a sample of political cartoons from Go Fish.  Click [here] for the author's blog.

Welcome to the hundreds of people we met at L.A. Rising! It was one of the most exciting, significant, and fun cultural events in years.  We look forward to working together with you to build the movement for revolution that is so urgently needed.  If you're interested in volunteering with Revolution Books and just left us your email, get us your phone number so you can get involved (323.463.3500 or revolutionbooksla@gmail.com).  And let us know what you liked most about L.A. Rising. Here's an article from yesterday's L.A. Times, and a photo from the on-line edition that was taken in front of our booth in the "Re-Education Camp" set up by the concert promoters hosting 40 organizations.

The Michael Slate Show, Fri., Aug. 5th; T-Shirt Sale for Revolution Books

We Recommend - Received in an email:  THE MICHAEL SLATE SHOW Friday, Aug. 5th,  10 - 11 AM, KPFK, 90.7 FM Or Listen Live at kpfk.org This week on The Michael Slate Show:    RAYMOND LOTTA, Revolutionary communist intellectual and political economist, on The  Debt Ceiling Debate, Global Crisis, and  Savage Austerity.  He recently wrote for  Revolution, "What kind of system puts  human lives on the chopping block  of fiscal  austerity?  This is the logic of  capital.  This system cannot act  in the interests of the people.  It  can't because it operates according to the  rule of profit above  all  else."  Read more.  PZ MYERS, Biologist and  Associate Professor at the  University of Minnesota, Morris,  and author of the science blog, Pharyngula, will talk about  Texas Gov. Rick Perry and "The  Response," a prayer meeting of  Christian fascists that Perry is  sponsoring Aug 6.  He'll also  discuss the search for the  Higgs boson, an elementary particle predicted by physicist  Peter Higgs.                                                                          DWAYNE BOOTH, AKA MR. FISH, has  been a freelance writer and cartoonist for  eighteen years, publishing with many  magazines, journals, and newspapers.  In addition to his  weekly cartoon for  Harper's and daily contributions to   Truthdig, he has contributed to  many other periodicals.  Meet Mr. Fish  and get his debut book,  Go Fish: How  to Win Contempt and Influence People at Revolution Books-LA on  Sunday, August 7th at 3 PM.  clowncrack.com   _______________________________ Listen, Download, or Subscribe to past shows by going to www.kpfk.org. Click on "Audio Archives," and scroll down to the date of the show you want. You can click the "Download" link to download, or the Podcast button, to download or subscribe.    Please send any comments to michaelslate@redfuture.com.  Summer of Trust Update: Walk for Choice at Germantown Clinic by Sunsara Taylor "About 220 people "Walked for Choice" on Sunday, July 31 in the beastly Maryland sun in support of Dr. Leroy Carhart. Spirits were high and people had come from as far away as California as well as from Mississippi, Illinois, Kansas, Virginia, Florida and numerous other places. A good core of unapologetic young women and others turned out from the Germantown area, a number of them expressing their gratitude that Dr. Carhart came to their community."  Read more here. and this, also from Sunsara: A Waitress' Abortion Story "Last night, after a beautiful march in support of abortion rights, a group of close to twenty of us went out for food and drink. About half way through our evening, our waitress asked us why there were so many of us together and what the occasion was. In response to our answer, that we were in town to defend abortion rights and Doctor Carhart, she immediately opened up about her own abortion story... Now is the time for everyone to begin talking about their abortion stories unapologetically. Bring it out of the dark and out of the closet. Defy the shame and the stigma. Let's celebrate and defend the lives and the value of the female human beings who choose abortion to continue their lives in the ways they are ready and want to live them. Let's celebrate and defend the doctors and staff who risk everything to make that possible. Let's create a situation where those who stalk women, who kill doctors, who legislate the lives of women into smaller and smaller corners and greater and greater shame feel that they have to hang their heads and attempt to defend their hateful lunacy. Thanks to those who have turned out in Germantown! Wake up call to all those across the country! This is the time to step to the front lines."   NEWS FLASH!  Pass the word that a large pro-choice presence is needed this Sunday at 1:30 PM in front of Dr. Carhart's clinic in Germantown, MD. More info [here].   August  Fundraiser for Revolution Books    THE SYSTEM HAS NO FITURE FOR THE YOUTH...THE REVOLUTION DOES Buy one or more of these "hot" t-shirts, which were very popular at our L.A. Rising booth last weekend - help raise the rent, and spread this urgent message! Stop by the bookstore to get your shirt ($15 each), or donate on-line (postage / handling $3 extra). Sizes: Men's Small to XXXLarge; Youth Small & Medium. Buy T-shirts or Donate on our blog; go to top right-hand corner and click the PayPal Button that says "Donate to Support Revolution Books."  Give all that you can to ensure that this bookstore & center for the movement for revolution can survive and thrive!  Contact us to volunteer - by phone, email or Facebook.  Let us know if you'd like to be part of organizing a Labor Day barbeque - our September fundraiser which is always lots of fun. California Prison Hunger Strike Updates:  URGENT: Strike May Continue - click [here]. BARBAROUS CONFINEMENT by Colin Dayan, an op-ed piece published in the New York Times on July 17, 2011. Read [here].

Convergence Monday in L.A.: International Day of Protest and Solidarity with CA Prison Hunger Strikers

Received in an email from World Can't Wait: Monday August 1, 2011 INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST; SOLIDARITY WITH THE PRISON  HUNGER STRIKERS Convergence in Los Angeles  11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Ronald Reagan State Building 300 South Spring Street  Los Angeles, CA 90013 Info: 213.840.5348 The July hunger strike of courageous prisoners at Pelican Bay and other California prisons challenged the conditions of systematic abuse and torture in the Security Housing Units (SHU's) and throughout the prison system. The prisoners demand to be treated as human beings. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has not addressed the overall inhumane conditions of long-term solitary confinement in the SHU or said anything about reviewing, let alone changing, these conditions. The prisoners' five core demands have not been met. Join us on August 1 to act and speak in support of the prisoners and their demands. There must be NO RETALIATION by the authorities against individual prisoners, groups of prisoners, prisoners' family members or attorneys or other advocates in the wake of the Hunger Strike. Prisoners must have the human and civil rights demanded by their humanity - and our own.    For more information on the hunger strike, the day of protest and support movement, go to: revcom.us, worldcantwait.net , and prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com Info on convergence in LA:  213-840-5348