Thanks, andy for putting me on the list. I am Executive director of the Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library for Social Research in Oakland, California. We receive your postings there as well.

Among our other projects we run something called the "Insane Piano Study Group" (reference to Diderot's metaphor, quoted by Lenin). We are studying philosophy to try and create Marxist-Leninist theory.

Several of us are of the opinion that we need to return to Hegel, and dialectics in order to access the new period. This has become quite apparent in our attempts to start with Lenin's "Empirio-Criticism"... Our theortical and philosophical skills here in the U.S. need some work.

Myself, and several other comrades have connected with a group of radicals in the philosophy dept. at San Francisco State University. They too are sympathetic to a systamatic examination of Hegel. They will be assisting our library in a 15 week course this comming winter in dialectics, largely aimed at young people. We have signed up a fairly good number of students from U.C. Berkeley, Ca., as well as our coounity...we are confident.

I greatly appreceiate your site and have urged others to visit it, I visit it often (its a bookmark, of course) I have been reluctant to post because I am (we are) still trying to get a sense of the ongoing discussion...I suspect you will hear from some of us soon.

Thanks again for your site...its great... we appreciate the work,

Comradely regards,

Bob Patenaude