… Since 2015, and the emergence of ‘Reclaim Australia’, the ‘United Patriots Front’ and allied groups, but especially since the election of Trump in the United States and the re-emergence of movements of the far right in many other countries, a lot more people are paying attention to fascism and the far right and my work has begun to reach a wider audience. Unfortunately, monitoring and analysing these ideologies and movements is both very time-consuming and completely unrewarding financially, so while to date I’ve not asked for any form of financial support, it’s now gotten to the stage that, without some form of subsidy, I’ll have to stop doing this work and do something else to pay the rent. So … if you’ve found what I’ve had to contribute to political discussions over the past few years to be of value, and you’d like to see me continue to do so, please consider making a donation …
Assuming the account stays up, I’ll be adding to it over time, and also giving away stickers and other stuff — more deets to come.
I also recommend listening to Evans’ audiobook, The War On Everyone, from Chapter 1: The Eternal Fascist — ‘There is nothing new under the sun. In this chapter, you’ll learn about “Ur-Fascism”, and how humor and irony have historically been used to enable its rise’ — to Chapter 7: The Digital Reich — ‘This is where we are now: an era where a distributed network of individual extremists are able to radicalize each other and inspire acts of violence worldwide. This is not the result of an unhappy accident, or an unforeseen consequence of the digital era. It’s the result of decades of careful planning.’
No Ngo No
Quillette, ‘The Magazine of Contemporary Phrenology’, has lost one of its contributing editors: Andy Ngo.
You may remember Ngo from when he was mUrdErEd by a hit squad of anTEEfasupersoldiers in Portland a few months ago.
Well … kinda. Actually, Ngo survived his brain injury well enough to tell lies about the El Paso shooting. Hence:
Far-right networks on Twitter are trying to use a hoax spread by an American Conservative news and opinion website a few days ago to blame a mass shooting in El Paso on “antifa” — a loose collective of left-wing activists who focus on combating racism, sexism, xenophobia and other oppressive ideologies … In its July 30 story, the Daily Caller cited Andy Ngo as its source for the claim … And as one of the most prominent foot soldiers in the right-wing’s war on antifa, Ngo never misses a chance to manufacture fear-mongering propaganda targeting his foes.
Ngo’s departure from Quillette also followed on from an American Guard/Patriot Prayer/Proud Boys rally in Portland on August 17 to ‘End Domestic Terrorism’ (by way of criminalising anti-fascism). Trump was a YUGE fan of the rally, but it attracted more counter-protesters than it did supporters and, on the whole, apart from a supportive tweet from Cheeto Mussolini — along with celebrations by Fox (etc.) — it was not a suckcess. On the plus side: These Fascists Inadvertently Raised Over $35,000 For A Cause They Hate, Christopher Mathias, The Huffington Post, August 25, 2019 (‘For each member of the Proud Boys or other fascist groups that marched in Portland, counterprotesters pledged money to an Oregon immigrant rights group‘). See also : 1 hammer, 1 ‘antifa mob chase’: A closer look at Portland’s viral protest moments, Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, The Oregonian, August 19, 2019.
Lads
Neo-Nazi groupuscule ‘The Lads Society’ looks set to lose its organising centre in Ashfield in Sydney soon.
Things have been a little tougher for the Lads since: a) their chum Brenton Tarrant slaughtered 51 Muslims in Christchurch and; b) Gruppenführer Tom Sewell declared that if his Lads weren’t able to maintain their cubby huts in Melbourne and Sydney (and Brisbane), they might be tempted, like Tarrant, to turn to violence.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Finally:
• Last week, convicted racist and serial pest Neil Erikson was (again) charged with disturbing a religious service, after he & AltLite YouTube micro-celebrity Claudia Benitez (‘Dia Beltran’) gate crashed a queer-friendly Christian church in Hawthorn on May 12. Erikson has previously been charged with disturbing a Muslim prayer service in Fed Square in Melbourne and, while a warrant has reportedly been issued for his arrest, has yet to face court for disrupting a church service in Gosford, NSW.
• Also last week, Law & Order campaigner Kim Vuga of the ‘Love Australia or Leave’ micro-party has been embarrassed by the (alleged) criminal antics of her son, Jaimee Ronald Madden, who’s been charged with 15 offences, including armed robbery and carjacking, after an incident in Southport, Queensland.
• Simon Hickey, ‘The Nazi Sparky’ and sometime sponsor of Andrew Anglin’s neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, appears not to have enjoyed commercial success by way of his open endorsement of neo-Nazism. Back in late 2018/early 2019, Hickey lost some legal battles; last month (July), Hickey announced that he would be shutting up shop.
In the United States, moves are being made to criminalise ‘antifa’ as a ‘terrorist organization’; viz, by way of S.Res.279 – A resolution calling for the designation of Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. The resolution, introduced into Congress on July 18, is sponsored by Louisiana Senator Bill ‘They’re comin’ right for us!’ Cassidy and co-sponsored by The Zodiac Killer (AKA Texas Senator Ted Cruz).
Calling for the designation of Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.
Whereas members of Antifa, because they believe that free speech is equivalent to violence, have used threats of violence in the pursuit of suppressing opposing political ideologies;
Whereas Antifa represents opposition to the democratic ideals of peaceful assembly and free speech for all;
Whereas in February of 2018, journalist Andy Ngo was intimidated and threatened with violence by protestors affiliated with Antifa;
Whereas, on June 29, 2019, while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, journalist Andy Ngo was physically attacked by protestors affiliated with Antifa;
Whereas employees of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (referred to in this preamble as “ICE”) were subjected to doxxing and violent threats after their social media profiles, phone numbers, and home addresses were posted on the internet by left wing activists;
Whereas according to the Wall Street Journal [in an August 3, 2018 opinion piece published by the aforementioned Ngo, which cites an anonymous ICE officer], an ICE officer was followed by left wing activists and “confronted when he went to pick up his daughter from summer camp”, and another “had his name and photo plastered on flyers outside his home accusing him of being part of the ‘Gestapo’”;
Whereas the ICE office in southwest Portland, Oregon, was shut down for days due to threats and occupation by Antifa members;
Whereas Rose City Antifa, an Antifa group founded in 2007 in Portland, Oregon, explicitly rejects the authority of law enforcement officers in the United States, and Federal, State, and local governments, to protect free speech and stop acts of violence;
Whereas Rose City Antifa rejects* the civil treatment of individuals the group labels as fascists, stating: “We can’t just argue against them; we have to prevent them from organizing by any means necessary.”; and
Whereas there is no place for violence in the discourse between people in the United States, or in any civil society, because the United States is a place where there is a diversity of ideas and opinions: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) calls for the groups and organizations across the country who act under the banner of Antifa to be designated as domestic terrorist organizations;
(2) unequivocally condemns the violent actions of Antifa groups as unacceptable acts for anyone in the United States;
(3) expresses the need for the peaceful communication of varied ideas in the United States;
(4) urges any group or organizations in the United States to voice its opinions without using violence or threatening the health, safety, or well-being of any other persons, groups, or law enforcement officers in the United States; and
(5) calls upon the Federal Government to redouble its efforts, using all available and appropriate tools, to combat the spread of all forms of domestic terrorism, including White supremacist terrorism.
The Resolution is interesting for a number of reasons:
• It indicates that the Republicans believe that — along with the routine demonisation and criminalisation of anTEEfa — the passage of this Resolution will assist in God Emperor Trump’s 2020 re-election bid;
• It was followed, just a few weeks later, by the conduct of another massacre by a Trump supporter in El Paso in The Zodiac Killer’s home state;
• It explicitly and repeatedly refers to one organisation, Rose City Antifa (RCA), which has played a key role in fighting fascism and the far right in Portland, the site of a concerted effort by fascists to antagonise, provoke and punish the residents of a ‘liberal’ city;
• RCA has published a Statement on the Far-Right’s Attempt to Criminalize Protest of Concentration Camp Deaths and Hate Groups (July 25, 2019) which is required reading:
On July 18, 2019, two U.S. Senators introduced a resolution attempting to designate “antifa” as a domestic terrorist organization. In a week that saw a Trump rally featuring a racist chant for the deportation of a progressive, black Muslim congresswoman, there can be no clearer sign as to where we are at, than this effort to declare anti-fascism itself illegal. The Republican party is explicitly targeting political opposition. There is no definition of “antifa” outlined in the resolution. “Antifa” is used as a warning. It is shorthand for the dissenters who won’t be brought to heel. If passed, this resolution would be a powerful new weapon for silencing leftists and dissent in the U.S.
In this resolution, the Senators specifically mentioned anti-fascists in Portland, targeting our community for defending itself from the fascists, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists who have assaulted our city for the past three years. Portland has been a target for the most violent elements of the right because of its progressive character. The strategy of the far-right has been to attack the left wherever we have the audacity to exist: in higher education, in Berkeley, at Pride events, at union meetings, at Planned Parenthood, and in a symbolic city of progressive values such as Portland. It is not enough for them to have their own conservative communities, the presidency, the Supreme Court, the Senate, the massive right-wing media apparatus and funding base; they also must harass, violently attack, and terrorize anyone anywhere who dares to disagree with their oppressive views.
The rationale for this resolution is a manufactured threat which only exists in the absence of critical thought and inquiry. The greatest domestic political threat in the U.S. today is the far-right. The far-right committed 98% of ideologically-driven murders in 2018. We have seen that death toll here in Portland. Larnell Bruce, a black teenager, was brutally murdered by a white supremacist outside a 7-11 in 2016. In 2017, Jeremy Christian, a Patriot Prayer rally attendee and white supremacist, fatally stabbed two passengers and seriously injured a third passenger on a Portland MAX train after they attempted to stop him from harassing two women of color. Proud Boys have driven around our city streets looking for people to assault. LGBT+ community members have been repeatedly attacked, and they have been called liars when they organize to defend themselves. The Portland Police Bureau has assisted the right at every turn. Stories like this are echoed all over the country. This is the true threat of our times …
A little later (July 28), Cheeto Mussolini made noises about joining the anti-antifa crusade, twatting that ‘Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others). Would make it easier for police to do their job!’.
Uh-huh.
For what it’s worth, MS-13 is a crime gang with origins in California in the 1980s (see : MS-13: A GANG PROFILE, Jennifer J. Adams and Jesenia M. Pizarro, Journal of Gang Research, Vol.16, No.4, Summer 2009 [PDF]). MS-13 occupies considerable space not only in California but in the US President’s bRanes, and often serves as a substitute for ‘Hispanic immigrant’ in Republican discourse. MS-13 also has a lengthy record of spectacular violence, but to the best of my knowledge, only one person has been killed by anTEEfa in the US in the last 25 years. Thus on January 1, 1993 in Portland there was an altercation between armed boneheads and SHARPs, and one of the boneheads, Erik Banks, was shot dead by one of the SHARPs, who was later sentenced to five years in prison for first degree manslaughter.
The Presidential vomit of July 28 was apparently inspired by an unsuccessful petition organised by Proud Boy führer (and ‘Unite The Right’ attendee) Enrique Tarrio (pictured above with Cruz). Thus on June 30, 2019, Tarrio wanted his Daddy to ‘label Antifa a domestic terrorist organization’, claiming inter alia that ‘members of Antifa brutally assaulted an independent journalist, who remains hospitalized with a brain bleed after being viciously beaten and doused in liquid concrete’, a reference to right-wing propagandist and Quillette editor Andy Ngo’s adventures in Portland at a Proud Boy rally. See : This Week in Fascism #20: Cruzin’ for a Bruising, It’s Going Down, July 29, 2019.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) held its national convention in Atlanta over the weekend. Among the various resolutions debated and discussed at the convention was Resolution #9: “Establishing a National Anti-Fascist and Direct Action Working Group”.
The resolution was narrowly passed (521 votes FOR vs. 493 votes AGAINST), but what this means in terms of praaaxis is unclear. Opposition to the resolution was presumably for a range of reasons, but This Guy provides a summary, which hinges upon the ways in which the resolution may provide a pretext for the political repression of the DSA, along with some general observations about anti-fascist work and whether or not the DSA is best-placed to undertake it.
Finally, 8chan is undergoing some technical difficulties at the moment, prompted by the El Paso killer’s posting his manifesto to the site, the subsequent removal of Cloudflare protection, the h8ball being picked up by Epik’s BitMitigate, then Epik being dropped by its provider, Voxility. So: it may be a few days before 8chan is back up and running and resumes pumping out neo-Nazi and white supremacist propaganda.
* This passage is an extract from RAC’s FAQ: The best way to defeat fascism is to let them express their views so that everyone can see how ignorant they are. Can’t we refute them more effectively with ideas than force?
People don’t become fascists simply because they’re persuaded by their ideas. Fascism claims to offer power to those who feel threatened by shifting social and economic realities. The fact that their analysis of these shifts are ignorant misses the point; do we need to cite examples of how dumb ideas have proved massively popular throughout history? From Italy to Germany to streets around the world today, fascists haven’t gained strength through rational argument, but through organizing to wield power at the expense of others. To counter this, we can’t just argue against them; we have to prevent them from organizing by any means necessary. We can debate their ideas all day long, but if we don’t prevent them from building the capacity to make them reality, it won’t matter. Only popular self-defense, not simply debate, has succeeded in stopping fascism.
Update (August 1, 2019) : After pleading guilty to the unlawful assault upon and harassment of his former wife, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon substitute Avi Yemini was given small fines by the court on Tuesday, July 30; Tiny returns to court on August 14 on other matters.
Avi Yemini’s ex-wife reveals personal toll of his assault and harassment
Jon Andrews Moorabbin Glen Eira Leader
July 30, 2019
The former wife of far-right activist Avi Yemini has broken down in court as she read out her victim impact statement after he was sentenced on unlawful assault and harassment charges.
Yemini’s former wife wept as she described how Yemini, real first name Avraham, had “broken her spirit”, and “destroyed her self-worth” with his “torment”.
She said she “lived in a state of uncertainty”, felt anxious all the time and had panic attacks, and had to regularly see a counsellor.
Yemini showed no emotion as he was convicted and fined on charges of unlawful assault, using a carriage service to harass on three occasions and breaching a personal safety order at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court this morning.
The 33-year-old from Berwick had earlier pleaded guilty to throwing a chopping board that hit his former wife on her head while she prepared dinner in their Caulfield North home, and texting her vile and explicit messages.
The chopping board incident, which left her with a lump on her forehead, happened in March 2016, while the three harassing messages, which included calling her a “P.O.S” and a “c***”, occurred between July 2017 and November 2018.
The breach order relates to another person and not his former wife after Yemini failed to take down an online video as ordered by the court.
Yemini’s ex-wife said she had tried to leave him eight times but couldn’t go through with it.
“It was like I didn’t exist as a human being, I was just a vessel for his hatred”, she said.
“He terrorised me. I can’t imagine how it will be possible for me to have a relationship in the future.”
She said he also blamed her for the assault.
“What I will never forget is that he didn’t flinch when it happened”, she said.
“He didn’t ask if I was okay. he just walked by; I was left to tend to my own injuries and finish making the dinner.”
The former Israel Defence Force soldier has a large Facebook following under his page Avi Yemini Unbanned and has tens of thousands of fans on Twitter.
Yemini’s defence lawyer Deborah Mandie said he had already been “destroyed” in the media even though he was a “cleanskin” with no priors.
“The digital material has been absolutely brutal about my client”, Ms Mandie said.
“It’s become almost a meme, humiliating my client over and over. This is part of the punishment he is wearing for the matter.”
At a previous hearing Ms Mandie said Yemini didn’t intend to hit her with the chopping board, and it was an isolated incident across 10 years of a volatile relationship.
Magistrate Charles Tan said Yemini may have “paid a price” through the publicity surrounding the case, but he was there to sentence on the charges, not the community reaction.
He said his ex-partner’s own words showed she felt distressed, humiliated and terrified by Yemini’s actions, and they could “not be described as of a trivial nature”.
“It was offending against a female in her own home, involving her suffering an injury”, Mr Tan said.
He thanked her for her bravery in reading our her statement, which she said she wanted to be made public.
Yemini was convicted and fined a total of $3600.
turn that frown upside-down (lucy brown)
Lucy Brown, a fashion photographer turned right-wing propagandist, is a former employee of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon AKA ‘Tommy Robinson’. Sadly, Brown got into some hottt water recently for dissing her former boss Tommy, along with STRAYA’s No.1 Tommy fanboy ‘Tiny’ Avi Yemini, & various other dropkicks. Read All About It (& More) c/o HnH: ‘Tommy Robinson in drugs shocker’: Coke, Cash, Commissions and Smashing the windows of Cultural Marxism, July 25, 2019:
Fresh from the unlikely story that Stephen Lennon, aka criminal thug Tommy Robinson took an unlikely pasting in the showers at Belmarsh Prison, comes a further stunning revelation: It has been alleged the fake journalist spent donations from supporters on drugs.
The allegation that Lennon spent other people’s money on Colombian marching powder to power his faux journalism will shock few people. After all, we hardly expected him to use his own money, did we? That the allegation (I’m certain there will be more) comes from Lennon’s former co-conspirator in begging emails and vlogs, Lucy Brown, should also come as little surprise.
The yuppie fashionista has since closed her Gab and Twitter accounts, Facebook page, and DELed vids from her YouTube channel, but remains an Instagram, tumblr and subscribestar.
For his part Yemini, as Brown makes reference to in her diatribe, has also recently pleaded guilty to abusing his former partner: ‘As well as the unlawful assault charge Yemini pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to harass by sending abusive text messages to her, and one charge of breaching an intervention order relating to a video of a man.’
Right-wing activist and “online journalist” Avi Yemini has admitted he threw a chopping board that hit his former wife on her forehead.
Yemini, real first name Avraham, pleading guilty to unlawful assault and two other charges at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
The chopping board smacked the woman squarely on the forehead, giving her a large lump.
His defence lawyer Deborah Mandie said the “flinging” of the board happened in a moment of anger, and the contact was incidental as he was not aiming to hit her.
As well as the unlawful assault charge Yemini pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to harass by sending abusive text messages to her, and one charge of breaching an intervention order relating to a video of a man.
Several other charges against the 33-year-old from Berwick, including recklessly causing injury, were dropped.
The court heard on March 18, 2016 Yemini was arguing with his former wife over meal preparation in their Caulfield North kitchen.
He lashed out and in a fit of pique threw the chopping board and it hit her on the head.
She didn’t receive any hospital treatment at the time and it wasn’t reported to police until several years later.
On three occasions between July 2017 and November 2018 he sent harassing text messages, which included calling her a “POS (piece of s***)” and “an actual c***”.
Ms Mandie told the court her client and the woman were in a “mutually dysfunctional and volatile” marriage and he accepted he had been “a bad husband”.
But she said he didn’t have any intention to injure her, and that the chopping board incident was an “impetuous moment”.
“He was flinging something in anger, not at his partner,” Ms Mandie said.
“It is an isolated incident across 10 years of a relationship that was not good.”
Ms Mandie said his ex-wife was not a fan of his growing political activism role, which stressed the relationship between the couple even more.
The former Israel Defence Force soldier has a large Facebook following under his page Avi Yemini Unbanned and has tens of thousands of fans on Twitter.
Considered a far-right activist, he failed in his political bid last year to become an Upper House Victorian MP.
“My client is a journalist, he’s online, he has followers,” she said.
“He is an online journalism personality.”
She said he was repentant, regretful and accepted his responsibility for his crimes.
The ex-wife came to court to read out her victim impact statement, but that was contested by the defence because it may have contained prejudicial material not relevant to these charges.
She will read out her revised statement at the next hearing.
Yemini will be sentenced on July 30.
frankston fuehrer
nazi e-celeb Blair Cottrell was in (((court))) a few weeks ago, fighting for his Freeze Peach. He goes back on August 8.
Far right activist Blair Cottrell fails in Supreme Court racial vilification appeal bid
AAP
July 16, 2019
Right-wing activist Blair Cottrell has failed in his bid to elevate his racial vilification appeal to a higher Victorian court.
The Supreme Court of Victoria will not hear his appeal, following a decision on Tuesday, but will stay in the County Court as per usual process.
The [former] United Patriots Front leader, and two of his supporters [Neil Erikson and Chris Shortis, but not Linden Watson or John Wilkinson], were convicted in September 2017 of inciting hatred, contempt and ridicule of Muslims after making a video beheading a dummy in protest of a Bendigo mosque.
Following the Magistrates Court decision that the trio had “crossed the line”, Cottrell made an immediate bid for appeal.
In February, his application to elevate the matter to the High Court was rejected, after arguing he was convicted by an “invalid” law under the Australian constitution.
He then tried to take the matter to the Supreme Court, via its Court of Appeal. Cottrell’s lawyer John Bolton argued Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 impermissibl[y] burdened the freedom to communicate.
County Court Judge Lisa Hannan on Tuesday dismissed the application, saying there were factual matters still to be decided — such as Cottrell’s intentions in making the video — before the case went to a higher court. She said her court was adequately equipped to hear the matter, and referring it on at this stage would only “fragment” the case.
Judge Hannan accepted the case was important to Cottrell and could be an issue of significance to the community, but it was neither “novel nor complex”.
Cottrell, a self-described “dissident”, was not in court for the decision, but afterwards slammed on social media what he described as “fake news” surrounding his case.
Cottrell, who is banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms, posted via “Gab Social”, known for its far-right user base.
“What the petty-bourgeois media class is producing is not only misinformation, but straight-out lies as usual,” he said.
“I haven’t failed anything, the trial hasn’t begun yet. I have been simply trying to refer the matter to a higher court because I believe higher courts are less susceptible to media pressure and the bureaucratic tentacles of state corruption.”
He said his attempts to elevate the matter were “aggressively” opposed by Victoria’s legal representatives to keep his appeal at the lower courts “and assist in my prosecution”.
In May, Attorney General Jill Hennessy said she would intervene in the case to argue the state legislation was not unconstitutional.
In September 2017, Cottrell and supporters Neil Erikson and Christopher Neil Shortis were convicted and fined $2000 each, the first convictions under the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act.
The County Court appeal is set down for a 10-day hearing, starting August 8.
Speaking of nazi eejits, Cottrell’s stoopid mate Neil Erikson was recently charged with ‘Disturbing religious worship’ after disrupting a Muslim prayer service at Federation Square in April, but has yet to be charged over the church invasion he conducted with right-wing blabbermouth Claudia Benitez, and a court date in Gosford (NSW) over another church invasion awaits.
Erikson and Cottrell, along with Australia First Party’s Chris Shortis, were convicted in September 2017 after doing a stoopid publicity stunt in Bendigo in order to promote one of the UPF’s Little Nuremberg rallies in October 2015. The boys vowed at the time that the mosque upon which they were hoping to construct political careers — and which they claimed would be The Largest Mosque in the Southern Hemisphere!!!!!! — would Never Never be built, but last week it was announced that the project would indeed be going ahead, and the first sod was turned by among others Victoria’s Ghey Communist Premier, Dan Andrews. (See : Bendigo mosque construction begins as Premier Daniel Andrews turns first sod, Larissa Romensky and Natalie Kerr, ABC, July 26, 2019.) for what it’s worth, the UPF rallied in Bendigo in August and October 2015, and returned to town in February 2016 to launch their stillborn political party, ‘Fortitude’.
Of the other key players in the anti-Muslim agitation in Bendigo, poor old Julie Hoskin first went bankrupt and then had the privilege of running as a candidate for Fraser ‘Final Solution’ Anning’s party at the 2019 federal election, gaining a mere 1,667 votes or 1.64%. Like Hoskin, fellow agitator (and ex-councillor) Elise Chapman has had their share of legal and financial trouble …
A single governance matter related to the conduct of former councillor Elise Chapman cost the council $140,469.35.
VCAT found Ms Chapman guilty of misconduct in 2017, following a graphic tweet featuring an image of five children with bloodied and mutilated genitals. Ms Chapman sent the tweet while serving on council in 2012.
An appeal against council’s decision to grant a planning permit for Bendigo’s first mosque cost the city $123,907.48.
VCAT upheld the council’s decision. But it wasn’t until 2016, after challenges in the Court of Appeal and the High Court, that the plans finally got the go-ahead.
The ABC published a very silly article on the weekend. Variously titled “The alt-right has been under the media spotlight — but should we be concerned about the ‘alt-left’?” and “‘Bad people from both sides’: Should we be concerned of [sic] a rising alt-left?”, the URL reads “what-is-the-alt-left-and-does-it-actually-exist”.
So yeah: a very silly article, and for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the fact that:
• The only academic study cited (February 2019) concludes that the Alt Left as such is ‘fake’ or faux. Trump supporters have succeeded in creating a fictional anti-public, the Alt Left, associating it with violence, as a form of moral equivalency to the Alt Right after Charlottesville, and mainstreaming it in the news. Which fact might render the article as a whole either: a) very brief or; b) entirely redundant.
• Of the two experts quoted, one is a student tutor (‘a political theorist from the Australian National University’) who, as best I can tell, has published nothing little on the alt-left, alt-right or antifa*, and the sociologist Steve Fuller, whose main contribution to the field is a blogpost from January 2018 titled ‘We have seen the Alt-Right, but what about the Alt-Left?’. It argues that those wanting a proper Alt-Left should take a page from the Alt-Right’s own playbook and delve deep into the Left’s own psyche to redraw its ideological ground – in particular, to rediscover its own positive understanding of freedom. A rather vacuous line of thinking, as it happens, but also one very much in evidence among the former partisans of the Revolutionary Communist Party (UK). It was for the benefit of an RCP front group, the ‘Institute of Ideas’, that Fuller has performed at a number of events organised by newly-elected Brexit Party MEP, Claire Fox. See also : Bosnian Muslims mark 1995 massacre of thousands with burials, The Washington Post, Darko Bandic, July 10, 2019.
• The article collapses the distinction between the alt-left, far left, and antifa, though all are understood to exist at the extreme opposite end of the political spectrum to neo-Nazis, racists, fascist[s]; the beliefs of which are, we’re assured, seen as a departure from mainstream values(!). Presumably, then, and insofar as the ABC embodies these mainstream values, it may be a while before we see an article titled ‘The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion has been under the media spotlight — but should we be concerned about The Jew?’.
• Rather than examine the recent history of, say, antifascist activism in the United States, the frame of reference provided for understanding the alt-left is frankly bizarre:
Unlike the far right and the alt-right, the far left do not call or associate themselves with the term alt-left.
They do, however, also have a history of violence and the prospect of a militant left actively fighting its ideological opposite is not far removed from history.
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Shining Path, and the 19th of April Movement were involved in bloody conflicts in South America in the 1970s, while the Red Army faction carried out a series of terrorist attacks in the 1970s and remained active for more than 20 years.
However, whether we will see the resurgence of a militant far left to counter the rising far right remains to be seen.
In reality — and leaving aside the fact that anti-fascists have been countering fascism and the far right for about a century now — FARC, Sendero Luminoso (‘Shining Path’) and M-19 were three of the more well-known armed struggle groups in Colombia and Peru during roughly this period, although quite how these alt-left (sic) formations have contributed to the development of, say, Redneck Revolt (or Rose City Antifa), is unexplained. Further, while ‘The 1970s’ were indeed an interesting period in the history of the ‘non-tolerant left’, Sendero Luminoso only launched its struggle against the Peruvian state in 1980, collapsed in 1992 following the capture of its leader and, while massively-reduced in its capacities, continued to undertake armed action into the 21st century; FARC, meanwhile, signed a (shaky) peace treaty with the Colombian state in 2016, having engaged in a 50-years long campaign against it, while M-19 continued its armed assaults into the 1980s (before opting for the parliamentary road). As for the Rote Armee Fraktion (1970–1998), that too is a long and interesting story, though like Colombian and Peruvian armed struggle groups, it’s one that took place quite some distance from Trump’s American “alt-left” of 2017. Thus, a semi-coherent account of an imaginary alt-left might look at the left tradition in the US, perhaps by way of relying less on, say, Chairman Gonzalo Thought! and more, perhaps, on the United Front Against Fascism (UFAF) conference of 1969, or even This Nonviolent Stuff′ll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible.
*shrugs*
One thing I don’t understand about the article is the timing. I mean, Trump invoked the ‘alt-left’ in August 2017 (post-Charlottesville), and the one academic study cited — which concludes that it’s a nonsense term — was published four months ago. And while the term is bunkum, it entered into usage some years ago: one of the earliest expressions I can find is from a blog dating back to November 2015 (in which it’s understood to appeal to racially-conscious white semi-progressives), though astrologer turned US foreign policy critic Caitlin Johnstone copped some flak in 2017 for suggesting that Lefties Need To Stop Being Shy About Working With The Anti-Establishment Right.
Speaking of the Revolutionary Communist Party/spiked online, earlier this month, one of its scribblers penned ‘Meet the anti-woke left’, starring ‘dirtbag’ leftists Amber A’Lee Frost and Anna Khachiyan. Frost is a member of the Chapo Trap House mob and a sometime contributor to The Baffler; Khachiyan is a ‘bohemian layabout’ from Brooklyn. The article is — like the one published by the ABC, or almost anything by iamverysmart spiked contributor, frequent ABC guest commentator and professional whiner Brendon O’Neill — very (very) silly, but also useful — presumably — in expanding their market.
What Antifa activists did to Andy Ngo was just awful. But also Antifa are socially irrelevant numpties who (just like their far right opponents) have been given outsize attention — and thereby encouraged — by mainstream media and politicos running a culture war about Trump.
The really great thing about your work [Andy] is that it empirically verifies the very good news that the far right remains utterly socially marginal in Australia.
Cheeky! Still, like everything else in life, responding is pointless.
And yet — here we are.
So …
Where to begin? Regarding Quillette editor Andy Ngo: he got milkshaked at a counter-protest in Portland on the weekend, becoming a martyr in the process and, with the help of fellow propagandist Michelle Malkin, scored himself a very cool USD190K (and counting) for his troubles.
Props!
The assault on Ngo — he was milkshaked, punched, and sprayed with silly string — has triggered some YUGE disco on anTEEfa, jernalisms and violence. It also inspired a naughty troll to send a sneaky message to the Portland Police Bureau about anTEEfa super-soldiers concealing concrete mix in their vegan, PopMob milkshakes, which PPB faithfully repeated for the benefit of Fox News and their other allies in the meeja.
Still, such nonsense is to be expected, and the lies and the stoopid about concrete milkshakes, urine-filled balloons and other amateur weapons of mass destruction has a long history. While there are innumerable other examples, in the Australian context, see : G20: And balloons filled with… urine? (November 23, 2006) and, earlier (1991), AIDEX:
What most infuriated those opposed to AIDEX however was a series of bizarre police allegations that were aired in the closing days of the protest. The Canberra Times variously reported that protesters had wielded vegetables stuffed with nails and needles, a spear gun, knives, Molotov cocktails, pieces of wood stuffed with nails, steel spikes and acid filled condoms. On top of this, demonstrators had supposedly laid booby traps made out of wood studded with spikes, bashed police in packs, cut the brake lines and slashed the [tyres] of police cars, attempted to electrify NATEX’s fences, covered themselves in faeces and urine, and abandoned small children on the picket lines for police to rescue …
Despite none of the police injuries being consistent with the use of such weapons and no one being charged with possessing or using such weapons, the police allegations were nevertheless presented as fact in both the Canberra Times and much of the commercial news media. Similarly, a lack of footage or photos of anyone using or displaying such weapons was never questioned despite the only evidence of their existence being a motley collection of pocket knives, steel drink bottles, soiled condoms and other items that were presented at a police press conference.
Regarding Quillette, it became the centre of a controversy recently when it published an essay by Internet troll ‘ProgDad’ (AKA Eoin Lenihan) which purported — using SCIENCE, LOGIC and FACTS — to demonstrate that ‘It’s Not Your Imagination: The Journalists Writing About Antifa Are Often Their Cheerleaders’ (May 29, 2019). Of the fifteen doubleplusungood journalists identified, only a handful are named: Christopher Mathias (Huffington Post), Kit O’Connell (freelance), Patrick Strickland (freelance) and Jason Wilson (The Guardian). According to Jared Holt in the Columbia Journalism Review (Right-wing publications launder an anti-journalist smear campaign, June 12, 2019):
The Quillette article was circulated approvingly on white supremacist forum Stormfront the day after its publication; a day later, a YouTube user uploaded a video of imagery of mass shooters intercut with images of the reporters mentioned by Lenihan under the heading “Sunset the Media.” Some reporters who do not cover the far-right but were listed as “connected” to antifascists by Lenihan appeared in the video…
Quillette writer Andy Ngo, who called attention to Lenihan’s work on Twitter and whose work Lenihan cites in his article, insisted that the legitimacy of Lenihan’s findings was self-evident from Lenihan’s Twitter posts.
On Portland, Rose City Antifa is my go-to, but this thread by ‘It’s Going Down’ provides a useful summary of political conditions in that rosy place. (Bizarrely, Ngo’s Republican lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon, attributed the production of the non-existent concrete milkshakes to Rose City: ‘The Rose City Antifa criminal enterprise that made the concrete milkshakes to assault our client [Ngo] had custom cups printed up with their criminal gang symbol. Who is the printer? Can anyone identify who made these cups?’) Further coverage of the protest and counter-protest is available viaFar-Right Extremists Wanted Blood In Portland’s Streets. Once Again, They Got It., Andy Campbell, Huffington Post, June 27, 2019 (‘It’s not a surprise a conservative writer was bloodied in a street brawl in Portland ― far-right extremists have been freely hosting skirmishes there for years’) and Portland police clash with protesters and make ‘cement milkshake’ claim, Jason Wilson, The Guardian, June 30, 2019 and Massive Anti-Fascist Coalition Rebuffs Far-Right Proud Boys in Portland, Shane Burley, truthout, July 3, 2019.
In terms of police and the far-right, this August 2018 article by Robert Evans of bellingcat — Fascist Activists Have Spent The Last Year Trying to Win Over Police — is also required reading, exposing the ways in which facho and other jerks in Portland have been seeking to cultivate closer ties with police (the ranks of which contain more than one sympathiser) in that fine city. More broadly, Kathleen Belew’s recent title Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America is a brilliant account of the development of the white power movement in the United States in the post-Vietnam era through to the mid- to late-1990s, one which locates so-called ‘lone wolves’ within the wider context of the movement in which they are embedded. The failure to learn from this history — a failure shared by not only government actors but scholars and journalists — is one that has consequences for the contemporary white power movement and efforts to confront it.
In response to fascist organizing and even threats of violence, antifa activists mobilize public shaming and confrontational protest. They do so as part of a countermovement strategy designed to demobilize the fascist movement, and in doing so secure the safety of themselves, vulnerable populations, and their communities.
Much more could be said on this subject, and happily enough Vysotsky is publishing American Antifa: The Tactics, Culture & Practice of Militant Anti-Fascism through AK Press later this year.
Three cheers and a loud huzzah!
At approximately the same time as the fascist parade in Portland was taking place, Deutsche Welle published an article detailing how German neo-Nazi doomsday prepper network ‘ordered body bags, made kill lists’ (June 26, 2019). Weeks prior to this, of course, German conservative politician Walter Lübcke was shot dead by a right-wing extremist; in England, a plot by another neo-Nazi to kill another politician, Rosie Cooper, was spoiled thanks to the work of Hope Not Hate, though sadly the life of Jo Cox MP (June 22, 1974 -– June 16, 2016) was unable to be saved. See also : Germany Has a Neo-Nazi Terrorism Epidemic, Peter Kuras, Foreign Policy, July 2, 2019 (‘How many political murders do far-right extremists have to commit before the German government does something about it?’).
Anyways, back to Dr_Tad:
[redwog] By awful do you mean politically, morally or ethically?
[Dr_Tad] Politically idiotic. Although that’s par for the course with them. But also just plain nasty.
[Dr_Tad] What unpleasant people.
LOL.
[hailants] It’s socially irrelevant to make fascists afraid?
[Dr_Tad] When the fascists themselves are socially irrelevant, yep.
[hailants] Fascists are murdering folks left right and centre… so your definition of socially irrelevant is totally deranged.
[Dr_Tad] Actually politically motivated murders by the far right are at historically very low levels in the USA, and there is no evidence of a trend upwards from that very low level.
Well, actually … I’m not so sure about that. Thus according to the ADL’s COE (Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2018 [PDF]), the ‘Five Most Deadly Years for Domestic Extremist Killings (1970-2018)’ were:
Year : Deaths
1995 : 184 Oklahoma City bombing (168 deaths)
2016 : 72 Orlando nightclub shooting (49 deaths)
2015 : 70 San Bernardino, Chattanooga, Charleston shootings (28 deaths total)
2018 : 50 Pittsburgh synagogue, Parkland High School shootings (28 deaths total)
2009 : 46 Ft. Hood shooting (13 deaths)
Further:
In terms of lethal violence, 2018 was dominated by right-wing extremism. Every one of the 50 murders documented by the COE was committed by a person or persons with ties to right-wing extremism, although in one incident the perpetrator had switched from white supremacist to radical Islamist beliefs prior to committing the murder. In fact, 2018 saw the highest percentage (98%) of right-wing extremist-related killings since 2012, the last year when all documented killings were by right-wing extremists. Right-wing extremists also killed more people in 2018 than in any year since 1995. For comparison, only 62% of extremist killings in 2017 were committed by right-wing extremists, and only 21% in 2016.
Of course, questions of methodology are very important. In which case, it seems germane to draw attention to the work of the Brennan Center:
In Fighting Far-Right Violence and Hate Crimes: Resetting Federal Law Enforcement Priorities, authors and Brennan Center Fellows Michael German and Emmanuel Mauleón write that ill-conceived Justice Department and FBI policies result in uneven enforcement, unequal protection of targeted communities and unreliable data that mask the extent of the problem. The government does not keep accurate statistics on far-right violence and hate crimes, despite a congressional mandate to do so.
“As a result,” the report warns, “the Justice Department doesn’t know how many people far-right militants attack each year in the United States, which leaves intelligence analysts and policy makers in the dark about the impact this violence inflicts on our society and how to best address it.”
There are, of course, other analyses available in the relevant literature which contradict Dr_Tad’s claim that ‘politically motivated murders by the far right are at historically very low levels in the USA, and there is no evidence of a trend upwards from that very low level’; in fact I would suggest the opposite is the case, ie, politically-motivated murders (and other, non-lethal forms of violence) by the far right are at historically-significant levels, and if there’s a trend, it’s upwards: see the invaluable work of Spencer Sunshine, for example, or read David Neiwert’s Alt America (which in some ways could be read as an extension of Belew’s work on the white power movement up until the Oklahoma bombing).
As for the far right and political and social marginality, a few remarks are in order.
First, in the US context, the election of Trump is significant. And while there’s been a mountain of commentary on The Trump Effect, to cite just one example, Michael German of the Brennan Center argued in February 2017 that ‘The new president has given white supremacists plenty of reasons to feel he’s copacetic with their agenda’, and I’m not aware of any evidence since that this is not in fact a feature of his Presidency.
Secondly, the relationship between the (political) margin and the centre is not straightforward, and it’s obviously possible for seemingly marginal political phenomena to both exercise influence and to grow. A useful examination of the relationship between the margin, the mainstream and the far right is available in Aaron Winter and Aurelien Mondon’s Understanding the mainstreaming of the far right (Open Democracy, August 26, 2018). Or as Shane Burley writes:
White nationalist violence has to be understood within the complicated social framework in which it exists, a framework intended to manipulate the fringes of the movement to take on the dirty work and carry out its underlying methodology. The fact that [James Fields, the Charlottesville killer] may not have been a formal member of one of its coalition organizations, or even a part of a tangible friendship circle, does not take away from his membership in a movement. Instead, he is the perfect image of what their movement creates, the clearest example of who they are and what they do.
So Fields is guilty. They are all guilty.
Thirdly, in the Australian context (which which I’m more familiar than the US), I maintain that, in the last few years, the far right has been struggling to ESC its ‘utterly socially marginal status’, with many failures but also with some degree of success. This progress is less about building a political party than a political movement — if we exclude PHONy, then Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party is the likeliest candidate in this sense — and, crucially, seeking to influence political discourse. Perhaps the most obvious success in this regard is the passage of the ‘It’s OK To Be White’ meme from the chans to Pauline Hanson to the ruling Coalition (with the government voting in favour of its adoption by the federal parliament), but there are certainly others, many of which may be found on the blog.
Finally, I might also add that, in January 2013, Dr_Tad was able to inform me that as far as Australian fascism was concerned, ‘There are some groups, thankfully marginal right now’ but on a cautionary note ‘But then so was Golden Dawn for many years’. I’m unsure what’s happened to the doctor to cause him to reverse perspective in the interim, but GD is still kicking goals. See : Racist attacks rise in Greece as landmark neo-Nazi trial enters fifth year, Billy Briggs, The Ferret, May 23, 2019 (also : The killing of Zak: the astonishing violence and impunity of Greek police, Mariniki Alevizopoulou and Augustine Zenakos, Open Democracy, October 31, 2018).
To conclude, it’s certainly the case that questions of strategy & tactics are important, and any sensible anTEEfa (or anti-fascist) must necessarily pay careful attention to such matters. But the slew of ill-informed opinion which surrounds and crowds out any sensible discussion of such things does take some effort to cut through. For a rational accounting see, for example, Antifa: The anti-fascist handbook, Mark Bray, Melbourne University Press, 2017.
A while ago some body asked me to recommend some (anarchist/left/progressive) /pəˈlɪtɪk(ə)l/ podcasts. As a slave to the market, below is a list of a few dozen that I think may be of interest. Most are published on multiple platforms, but where they’re not I’ve included links to specific instances; most are also Yanqui, gotta Patreon, and Twitter account. Obviously, there’s hundreds and thousands of other interesting podcasts out there. Equally obviously, this list is not exhaustive, and I may add to it as time goes by, so feel free to leave a comment with suggestions.
Note:
• I do monthly radios on Melbourne community radio station 3CR with my co-host Dr Cam. It’s Radiothon time and we need your filthy lucre. Please feel free to make a donation. Cam is holding our old shows ransom at the moment, and stated that he’ll only release them if we hit our target, when I can then upload them to Patreon.
• Special shout-out to Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network (CZN) and its unruly constituents, including A-Radio Berlin, The Final Straw Radio, It’s Going Down, Solecast and Subversion 1312. CZN is ‘an english-based anarchist radio/podcast network run by radical media makers. We are here to present anarchist analysis & context to deepen people[‘]s understanding of the situation and broaden the struggle. We share stories from the front-lines, lessons from history, and battle-tested ideas to spread revolutionary practices.’
12 Rules For What
‘A podcast about fascists, nazis, and [the] far right, from the perspective of the left’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Against the Grain
‘Against the Grain is a radio and web media project whose aim is to provide in-depth analysis and commentary on a variety of matters — political, economic, social, and cultural — important to progressive and radical thinking and activism’ [via KPFA].
AnarchyRadio
‘Since the millennium change John Zerzan has been expressing his anti-civilization views on his one hour live radio show‘, smashing civilisation one broadcast at a time.
The Antifada
‘A comedy and politics podcast from the leftest reaches of the left. Get that Antifada Mindset’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Aufhebunga Bunga
‘The period in which Western liberal democracy was held to be ‘the final form of human government’ is now over. Aufhebunga Bunga is the left-wing podcast that is charting what’s emerging and what comes next’ [Patreon/Twitter]. Sidenote : Aufheben is one of the more interesting Marxist zines.
Behind the Bastards
A podcast (via HowStuffWorks) by a bastard otherwise known as Robert Evans, which profiles some of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet [Twitter].
Behind the News
‘Host Doug Henwood covers the worlds of economics and politics and their complex interactions, from the local to the global] [KPFA].
Belabored
A podcast sponsored by Dissent magazine and hosted by Josh Eidelson and Sarah Jaffe, Belabored examines the trials and tribulations of the US lab0ur movement: ‘Every week, they’ll take listeners behind the scenes of the latest stories in labor journalism. They’ll interview high-profile guests and working people.’
‘Citations Needed is a weekly podcast about the intersection of media, PR, and power, hosted by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Coffee with Comrades
‘Coffee with Comrades is rooted in militant joy. We make a conscious effort to eschew pretentious sectarian shenanigans. Instead, our hope is to cultivate a warm and inviting atmosphere, like walking into your favorite coffee shop to sit down with some of your closest comrades and share a heart-to-heart conversation’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Current Affairs
The zine with a podcast. ‘Every other week our editorial team brings you a mixture of discussion, analysis, and whimsy’ [Patreon].
David Harvey’s Anti-Capitalist Chronicles
David Harvey is a Marxist geographer: these are his stories.
Dead Pundits Society
Democratic Socialism, yeah? ‘Forging a new left agenda in the midst of our neoliberal hellscape — Join us weekly for the best news and analysis from a left perspective’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Delete Your Account
‘Hosted by journalist Roqayah Chamseddine and her plucky sidekick Kumars Salehi. Every week we will talk about important stories from the worlds of politics and pop culture, both on and off-line, in a way that will never bore you’ [Patreon/Twitter].
‘A Podcast of Anarchist Ideas and Action For Everyone Who Dreams of a Life Off the Clock’ — a part of the sprawling CrimethInc media empire.
Floodcast
‘The Floodcast is Flood Media’s regular political podcast. It brings together a range of Brisbane-based commentators to discuss and analyse contemporary political issues from a radical left standpoint.’
From Below
‘A podcast focused on social movements and international politics from a libertarian socialist perspective, brought to you by members of Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation.’
General Intellect Unit
‘Podcast of the Cybernetic Marxists. Examining the intersection of Technology, (Left) Politics, and Philosophy’ [Patreon/Twitter].
‘Helen Razer is creating a podcast Yes. Another one. Another Leftist podcast’ [Patreon/Twitter].
The Hypothetical Institute
‘A lighthearted look at conspiracies and their theorists… or deep state shills working to obfuscate the truth? You decide’ [Patreon/Twitter].
I Don’t Speak German
Daniel Harper wades thru the batshit propaganda of various prominent (and not-so-prominent) AltRight and nazi ideologues so you don’t have to [Patreon/Twitter].
‘Inward Empire explores the role of ideas and ideology in American history — how the surface of actions and events can be shaped by undercurrents of thought and belief.’
The Katie Helper Show
TKHS is ‘a weekly radio show and podcast that tries to make you laugh about things that could make you cry’ [WBAI: Patreon/Twitter].
Living The Dream
Dirty-rotten-stinking-communists Dave E & Jon Ptalk (Australian) economics, history, philosophy, politics & current affairs.
‘TMBS is the Vanguard of the New Left’ [Patreon/Twitter].
The Nostalgia Trap
‘A Marx-ish™ podcast about history, politics, pop culture, and the end of the world’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Pluto Press: Radicals in Conversation
‘Radicals in Conversation is a monthly podcast from Pluto Press, one of the world’s leading independent, radical publishers.’
Proles of the Round Table
From The Department Of Communism Will Win, ‘a podcast where a group of communists sit down, have some drinks (usually beer or La Croix), and talk about leftist history. Sometimes we have guests and sometimes it’s just us, but it’s always spicy. The only thing that will never change is the heat of the takes’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Sigmarxism is surely among the top 100 podcasts ‘dedicated to discussing Warhammer 40k and Age of Sigmar from the perspective of leftist ideology’ [Twitter].
SRB Podcast (Sean’s Russia Blog)
Cool story, comrade: a podcast examining Soviet/Russian history, politics and society, brung to you by Sean Guillory.
SRSLY WRONG
Srsly Wrogn ‘is a podcast about: liberalism, marxism, utopianism, anarchism / the personal as political / alleged paradoxes / world peace / common ground / phronesis/praxis / metamodernism’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Street Fight Radio
‘The #1 Anarcho-comedy show on any station across the nation’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Struggle Session
‘Struggle Session is the world’s finest politics and pop culture podcast’ [Patreon/Twitter].
Swampside Chats
‘This is Swampside Chats. The podcast where, every week, communists shoot the shit about current events, history, political economy, and theory’ [Twitter]. See also : Communist League Tampa [RIP].
This Is Hell!
‘This is Hell is a weekly longform political interview program broadcast across Chicago on WNUR since 1996′ [Patreon/Twitter].
TRASHFUTURE
‘We’re a comedy podcast based in London. We talk about the grasping moronic politicians, the serenely evil tech zillionaires, the garbled nonsense culture, and all the other dumb shit around the globe that makes our current horrible existence possible’ [Patreon/Twitter].
TREYF
‘A debatably Jewish podcast … Recorded at CKUT on occupied Kanien’kehá:ka territory (Montreal), Sam Bick and David Zinman reflect on the political discussions that are happening (and not happening) in North American Jewish communities’ [Patreon/Twitter]. See also : Mazel Tov Cocktail (2017), ‘A Jew-ish left podcast from the land of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation (Melbourne)’.
Trillbilly Workers Party
‘Trillbilly Workers Party is a podcast about a town called Whitesburg, Kentucky’/’Voted best left politics podcast in the Appalachian region—three years running’ [Patreon/Twitter].
What is says on the tin … History is not made by the actions of a few rich and powerful individuals, like so much of the history we learn in school. History is made by the combined everyday actions of hundreds of millions of us: women, men, youth, people of colour, migrants, indigenous people, LGBT people, disabled people, workers, older people, the unemployed, housewives – the working class.
Working People
‘A podcast by, for, and about the working class today’ [Twitter].
• In response to mounting public criticism, and in an attempt to forestall legal and financial penalties, Facebook, Twitter & YouTube have announced, each in their own way, that they’ll remove bAd content: ‘hate speech’, mostly (see : YouTube bans videos promoting Nazi ideology, Jim Waterson, The Guardian, June 6, 2019: ‘Content promoting fascism, supremacism or Holocaust denial will no longer be hosted’; YouTube bans neo-Nazi and Holocaust-denial videos in push against hate speech, Jon Brodkin, ars technica, June 6, 2019). Obviously, the rollout has had uneven effects, and been marked with the incompetency that’s now a hallmark of the social media giants’ attempts to placate lawmakers and publics … but it does represent an interesting moment in corporate policing.
As a result of YouTube/Google/Alphabet’s crackdown this week, a smol number of Australian channels have been closed, including ‘AustralianMeditations’, ‘BringingBackTheMan’ and ‘genocidal88’. The first belonged to ex-Liberal Party student Stefan Eracleous, the second to Shermon ‘The Great Aussie Patriot’ Burgess (remember him?) and the third to the boneheads of Blood & Honour Australia/Southern Cross Hammerskins. ‘Thousands’ of other accounts have been removed, according to reportage, though it’s unclear precisely precisely which. Further, while some antisemitic and white supremacist channels have had their ability to generate revenue compromised, as Wired reports, ‘The YouTube channels of David Duke, Richard Spencer, Lauren Southern, and many other white supremacist figures remain on the site’ (YouTube Is Banning Extremist Videos. Will It Work?, Paris Martineau, June 5, 2019).
Another local serial pest, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon fanboy and YouTuber, Avi Yemini, has had his channel demonetised; Yemini is due back in court next week (June 13) to fight charges including ‘that he injured, harassed and threw a knife at the face of a woman’. YouTuber Claudia Benitez (‘Dia Beltran’) — who once allegedly sent an antisemitic text to Yeminem — has starred in an article in The Guardian titled Victorian Liberals fear far-right incursions as YouTuber attends party event (Christopher Knaus and Michael McGowan, June 5, 2019). Benitez has regularly interviewed various luminaries on the Australian far-right, including Cottrell, Erikson and Yemini, along with The Fake Sheikh, PHONy’s Mark Latham, Robert Spencer, Thomas Brasher (The Lads Society), Eurydice Dixon memorial vandal Andy Nolch, ex-United Patriots Front and Australia First Party member Chris Shortis, Fraser ‘Final Solution’ Anning, Daisy Cousens and various other, even lesser-known figures; her most-popular video, however, remains one about ‘rude customers’.
• Neo-Nazi bodybuilder Blair Cottrell (The Lads Society/YouTube) had a court hearing this week, the final one before his appeal against a criminal conviction for religious vilification commences on August 12; Cottrell and his lawyer, John Bolton, are arguing that the Act under which he was convicted — the Victorian Racial & Religious Tolerance Act (2001) — is in fact un-Constititional.
• The True Blue Crew — one of the groupings that, along with the United Patriots Front, the alleged Christchurch killer, Brenton Tarrant, gave props to — has organised a flag parade in Sydney (Penrith Park) on Saturday, June 22. Co-sponsored by a segment of Reclaim Australia, it will presumably attract a similar number as last year’s event, it in turn inspired by similar rallies in Melbourne (2016/2017/2018).
• To the surprise of pundits and pollsters, the ruling Liberal-National Coalition won majority government at the 2019 Australian federal election, with a likely total of 77 seats in the 151-seat parliament. Rah rah rah! They’re going to smash the oiks!
• Preference flows from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party (PHONy) and Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party (UAP) voters appear to have secured victory for the Coalition in a number of seats in Queensland, but the billionaire mining magnate failed to (again) get bumped into parliament, none of UAP’s candidate obtained more than a handful of votes, and while PHONy didn’t do too badly — its national primary vote doubled — it too failed to gain any further seats, with Senator Peter Georgiou (WA) out and Malcolm Roberts (QLD) in.
• Outside of PHONy and UAP, the right-wing micro-parties — Dr Jim Saleam’s Australia First Party (AFP), Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party (FACNP), Rod Culleton’s The Great Australian Party (GAP), Kim Vuga’s Love Australia Or Leave (LAOL), Danny Nalliah’s Rise Up Australia Party (RUAP), Debbie Robinson’s Yellow Vest Australia (YVA) — fared poorly at the ballot box. Still: ‘Rising White Nationalism Was The Real Story Of Australia’s Elections’, according to James Muldoon, who argues that ‘It’s too early to obtain exact figures, but it looks like over 1,000,000 first preferences were directed towards right-wing minor parties – xenophobes were spoilt for choice.’ On the other hand, white nationalist Queensland Senator Fraser ‘Final Solution’ Anning — that dawg — failed in his attempt to retain his spot in the Senate, receiving less than 30,000 votes (about 1.3%), while in the Lower House, no FACNP candidate managed to break thru the magical 4% barrier, with most receiving 1 or 2% and generally being ranked last or near-last. And why did Anning and his party fail? According to the reject(ed) senator: ‘I think we got dudded at the counting stations. We’re investigating that now. But that’s what you’d come to expect from a socialist government.’ *Note that Max Towns, the over-enthusiastic fascist teenybopper and Anning fan who allegedly assaulted overly-critical journalists at the launch of FACNP’s campaign in Cronulla a month ago, pleaded not guilty at a hearing on May 17; he returns to court on June 27.
Last week, in a joint investigation by the ABC and 9/Fairfax, several articles were published about a Canberra-based neo-Nazi couple, Justin Beulah and Lisa Sandford. You may remember Beulah and Sandford from the failed attempt to infiltrate the NSW Young Nationals late last year — or perhaps as some of the voices on AltRight podcast ‘The Convict Report’.
Secret conversations between neo-Nazis who tried to take over the NSW Young Nationals have been uncovered in a leak of online chat logs that also reveal contact with a leading US alt-right figure.
A joint Herald-ABC investigation has identified several Australians within a previously hidden online world, where racists post memes, share gun pictures and discuss real-life meetings …
…. a fascist Australian couple … courted each other online with talk of “swastika cupcakes” and “jokes” about killing non-white people.
Justin Beulah was a Young Liberal university student at the time of the 2017 messages. He and his now wife Lisa Sandford, a former One Nation member, then joined a far-right attempt to branch stack the NSW Young Nationals last year.
The couple say they have now abandoned the “toxic” white supremacy movement and urge others to do the same.
The clandestine activities of an Australian neo-Nazi couple and their network have been exposed in a leak of hundreds of thousands of secret messages from a forum used by American white supremacists.
A joint investigation by ABC News and The Sydney Morning Herald reveals the pair also tried to recruit others to their cause and spread their views to mainstream political parties.
The messages, which date back from 2017, show that they engaged in racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs, as they conversed in a closed community of like-minded zealots.
The investigation identified the couple as Canberra newlyweds Lisa Beulah (née Sandford) and her husband, Justin, who say they have now renounced their former lives.
For what it’s worth, I don’t believe that Beulah and Sandford have had a genuine change of heart, nor that this supposed shift took place post-Charlottesville (August 2017) as they claim. Thus in reality, both celebrated Heather Heyer’s murder.
Beulah:
Sandford:
Sandford’s account of how she drifted from ‘anti-feminism’ to antisemitism/white supremacy/neo-Nazism is also contradicted by the biographical one she provides on Discord, in which she attributes responsibility for her adult worldview to her father, a bonehead, who fed her a steady diet of war propaganda growing up:
There’s numerous other problems with Beulah and Sandford’s account, but I’ll leave it up to the reader to detect them.
As I see it, the story is really one in which, under media scrutiny, a newly-married (February 2019) couple has decided that distancing themselves from their neo-Nazi beliefs is probably A Very Good Idea. Thus while claiming to have abandoned the “toxic” white supremacy movement, when contacted by media about her views and opinions, Lisa sought counsel from leading Melbourne neo-Nazi Blair Cottrell (whose trial for religious vilification fangirl Lisa attended). In any case, anybody interested in reading the thousands of comments the couple made on Discord should consult Unicorn Riot’s logs. See : MsNatSocialist (Discord ID: 279874893846413313) and Brad Small (Discord ID: 211098280761884672). *Note that Clifford Jennings (‘The Dingoes’) was also active as ARA1788.
Serial Pests!
1) E r i k s o n
A few months ago, Melbourne’s premiere neo-Nazi serial pest, Neil Erikson, made a number of claims about meeting and organising with several Coalition MPs, viz, Andrew Hastie and Ian Goodenough in Perth: Hastie denied all knowledge. Erikson later claimed to have attended, along with his mate Ricky Turner and FACNP candidate and Erikson’s former ‘United Patriots Front’ comrade Scott Moerland, another meeting on the Gold Coast last year, organised by Liberal Party hacks in order to discuss how-to stack a branch with ‘conservatives’. (Moerland ran for Pauline Hanson’s former seat of Oxley, and received a little over 1,400 votes (1.6%) for his troubles — as a RUAP candidate in 2013, Moerland got just 400 votes, so well done Scott.)
Guest speakers at the Queensland recruitment drive included David Goodwin – a former LNP Senate candidate and former president of the Young Nationals and the Young LNP – and Victorian conservative Elliot Watson.
At the function, which is understood to have been held at a private residence, Goodwin and Watson both spoke about the need to recruit more conservatives into the party.
Watson, who is reportedly one of a number of Mormons appointed as party delegates in the Victorian Liberal Party, is credited with playing a “leading role” in recruiting conservatives to the Victorian branch of the party.
The Victorian branch of the party has been riven by factional divisions, amid claims that an insurgent group led by hardliner Marcus Bastiaan is pushing the Liberals too far to the right.
At the time of the Gold Coast meeting in June 2018, Erikson had acquired some sugar-daddies: Queensland businessmen, failed political entrepreneurs and Mormons Ben and Dan Spiller (AKA ‘AE Media’ and ‘Future Now Australia’). Thus the meeting appears to have taken place at the same time that Erikson and Turner paid an unscheduled nocturnal visit to the private residence of David Pellowe, a sometime rival of the Spillers on the AltRight tour-circuit.
Erikson later claimed that he met with former Victorian Liberals leader Matthew Guy during the Victorian state election campaign of last year (a claim Guy strongly denies). For its part, Victoria Labor issued a statement (May 6, 2019) demanding that ‘Victorian Liberals Must Explain Extremist Links’. The saga to that date is summarised by Richard James in Here’s Everything We Know So Far About Far-Right Activist Neil Erikson’s Alleged Meetings With The Liberal Party (Buzzfeed, May 7, 2019), but under pressure and having already lost almost all of his Facebook and Twitter accounts, Erikson eventually closed his gab account too, along with his wesbshite (neilerikson dot com).
On May 12, the pest was at it again, only this time in the company of AltRight chum Claudia Benitez (AKA ‘Dia Beltran’), who together decided it would be fun! to interrupt a church service at West Hawthorn Uniting Church, it having been selected by the pair on account of its queer-friendly status. To cut a long story short, it appears as though — apart from anything else — Benitez lost her job at a local orthodontic clinic as a result of her participation in the idiotic stunt.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Having disturbed a gathering of “faggots” on Sunday, on Monday Erikson was in court, along with Turner, to face charges arising from the Milo stoopid of December 2017. Erikson was later found guilty of affray & assault with a weapon, and received a 120-hour community corrections order as punishment; Turner accepted a plea deal of a $1,000 fine and a 12-month good-behaviour bond. (Last month, Erikson’s olde nazi chum Richard Whelan had his charges dropped, and earlier Dwayne McKenzie and Garry Hume received diversion orders, as did Soldier of Odin Garry Mattsson.)
Convicted racist Neil Erikson spared jail despite assault and affray conviction
Genevieve Alison
Herald Sun
May 16, 2019
Convicted racist Neil Erikson has been spared prison for his role in a Right-wing riot after begging a magistrate not to jail him because he is soon to become a father.
After a two-day hearing, Erikson, 33, was this week found guilty of affray and assault with a weapon in a brawl during which hundreds of protesters clashed with police.
A charge of inciting riotous behaviour was dismissed.
Erikson’s lawyer, John Bolton, unsuccessfully argued his client had been acting in self-defence during a confrontation with a group protesting against a speaking appearance by Right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos in Kensington on December 4, 2017.
Erikson told police he had been “in fear” and only stepped in to protect his friends because police “were nowhere”.
And Mr Bolton argued in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court that Erikson was forced into the confrontation and had been protecting his mates when he punched, kicked and hit protesters with a pole.
But after viewing hours of CCTV footage from news media and police bodycams, which showed dozens of riot squad officers rushing to break up the violence, magistrate Michael Smith said Erikson had entered the affray voluntarily.
“No one was attacking him at the time,” Mr Smith said.
“He’s standing on the edge and voluntarily entered the affray with his banner.”
Erikson told the court he regretted the incident and was “never looking for any trouble that day”.
He pleaded with Mr Smith not to lock him up, because he was about to become a father.
The far-Right activist said while he received a small income from making “political videos”, he had been jobless for some time after finding it difficult to get a job because of his “political history”.
Erikson is one of the first people in Victoria to have been charged under racial vilification laws.
In 2017, he and two others were convicted of inciting contempt for Muslims and fined $2000 after they filmed a video of themselves beheading a mannequin outside Bendigo council offices in 2015.
The film was meant as a protest against the construction of a local mosque.
And last year, he was found guilty of contempt of court for failing to observe orders that he take down social media posts of himself wearing a uniform of a former employer.
One of those posts showed him haranguing former senator Sam Dastyari in a pub.
Mr Smith sentenced Erikson to a 12-month Community Corrections Order.
2) Y e m i n e m
Also experiencing some legal difficulties at the moment is Erikson’s rival serial pest Avi Yeminem. (Note that Yeminem’s party, Yellow Vest Australia, held a fairly desultory rally in Melbourne on May 4: a few dozen attended, while at the federal election just under 1,800 (0.06%) voted for the party for the Senate in Victoria — a drop of 0.60% since 2016.)
Avi Yemini in court over assault, knife-throwing charges against woman
Jon Andrews
Caulfield Glen Eira Leader
May 2, 2019
Activist and self-defence guru Avi Yemini has appeared in court facing charges that he injured, harassed and threw a knife at the face of a woman.
Mr Yemini, whose real first name is Avraham, pleaded not guilty to eight charges at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court yesterday morning.
The 33-year-old’s case was adjourned until next month, with his lawyer saying he will contest the case.
Court documents released to the Leader state he has been charged with recklessly causing injury to a woman at a Caulfield North premises on March 18, 2016.
Police allege on the same day he also recklessly engaged in conduct by throwing a knife at the victim’s face that placed her in danger of serious injury.
They also believe in December 2015, three times in July 2017 and again in November last year he used a carriage service to harass her.
A summary of his alleged offending was not released.
The self-proclaimed “proud Ozraeli” promotes himself as someone who empowers women through self-defence classes.
A former Israel Defence Force soldier, he has a large Facebook following under his page Avi Yemini Unbanned and is an avid Twitter user, reaching out to his more than 43,000 fans.
His website states he is a voice for “issues relating to self-defence, counter-terrorism, being pro-Israel in Australia and the Jewish community in Melbourne”.
Considered as a far-right political activist, he failed in his bid last year to become an Upper House Victorian MP.
His lawyer, Deborah Mandie, told the court she believed the reckless cause injury charge was likely to be withdrawn, and the knife-throwing incident was disputed.
She said the defence needed statements regarding the carriage service to harass charges, which the police prosecution said they would be happy to provide.
Mr Yemini was bailed to his Berwick home on the condition he did not contact any witnesses.
He will appear in court again on June 13.
Balwyn Calling!
The Christchurch massacre continues to have some minor repercussions in the land of the alleged killer’s birth. Thus Tom Sewell, the fuehrer of neo-Nazi groupsucule The Lads Society, featured in ‘Threats from white extremist group that ‘tried to recruit Tarrant” (Patrick Begley, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 2, 2019), which details a sooky Sewell’s response to inquiries regarding the relationship between the Society and Brenton Tarrant.
“The difference between my organisation, myself and him [Tarrant], is simply that we believe, certainly at this stage, that there is a peaceful solution for us to create the society we want to live in,” Mr Sewell said.
“We want a peaceful alternative, we want to be treated with respect, we want to be left alone. If we are not given that opportunity, well, time will tell. I’m not going to give you any explicit threat but it’s pretty f–king obvious what’s going to happen.”
Mr Sewell said “we’re all gravy at the moment” because police were leaving his group alone but that people were “making the world burn, and they have names and addresses.”
With the 2019 Australian federal election less than two weeks away, now seems like a good time to update Trot Guide (which I last updated seven months ago, in September 2018). The most exciting news is the emergence of a NEW! Communist party. But first, a handful of left parties are contesting the election: the AWP, SA, SEP and VS. While none are expected to make much of a dent in the state apparatus or cause much upset in the bourgeois parliament, the fact that the oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class shall represent and repress them in parliament is too good an opportunity not to take advantage of, amirite?
1) Australian Workers Party
The AWP is a new-ish formation which, rather like the Progressive Labour Party, appears to be of the social democratic left but which also, unlike the PLP, is actually standing several candidates: Ed Caruana in Lynne (NSW) and Senate teams in NSW, QLD and VIC.
2) Socialist Alliance
The SA is running Senate candidates in NSW (Susan Price and Joel McAlear) and WA (Petrina Harley and Alex Salmon) along with Sam Wainwright in Fremantle (WA), Kamala Emanuel in Brisbane (QLD) and Mike Crook in Lilley (NSW). In 2016 the party ran candidates for the Senate in NSW, WA and VIC and four seats in the House of Representatives. This fact would appear to confirm the long, slow decline of the party (2001–) as a whole.
3) Socialist Equality Party
The SEP is standing Senate teams in NSW and VIC and running candidates in the House of Representatives’ electorates of Parramatta in Sydney, Calwell in Melbourne, Hunter in Newcastle and Oxley in Brisbane. (In 2016, the world leadership of the socialist movement ran for the Senate in QLD too.)
4) Victorian Socialists
The Victorian Socialists are running three candidates: Jerome Small in Calwell, Kath Larkin in Cooper and Sue Bolton in Wills. For last year’s Victorian state election, VS ran candidates in every Upper House region and 18 (of 88) seats in the Lower House, but most of their energies were focused upon the Northern Metropolitan region, where Steve Jolly was lead candidate. The party fared reasonably well in the region, scoring more votes (4.2%) than all other contestants apart from Labor (42.58%), The Greens (16.76%) and The Liberals (16.48%). Given that Calwell, Cooper and Wills are also in the northern metropolitan region, VS is presumably hoping that their vote may be a little higher than would otherwise be expected of socialist candidates in these seats. Calwell is also being contested by the SEP in the shape of Peter Byrne, who had a previous crack at the seat in 2010 (gaining 1,181 votes/1.3%).
*VS was denounced by the Spartacist League of Australia as ‘just another form of parliamentarist left Laborism, with an appeal to the petty-bourgeois liberal fringe around the Greens’, which was pretty mean. In other sad news, the ICL lvl boss, Jim Robertson, died recently, as has the US-based International Socialist Organization (ISO). The ICL picks over the ISO’s bones here, while official statements regarding the group’s demise are available on its website. (Note that in Australia Solidarity remains within the iSt, as does Socialist Aotearoa in NZ.) Oh, also having a crack at VS is SEP (AKA WSWS). See : Victorian Socialists’ fake-left election campaign, Patrick O’Connor, May 2, 2019.
NB. There are several liberal and progressive parties running, including the Australian Democrats, Australian Progressives, the bizarr0 “Climate Action! Immigration Action! Accountable Politicians!” party (ex-Online Direct Democracy), Pirate Party and others. But most of the micro-party field would appear to be already occupied by racist, reactionary, religious and right-wing formations, and what progressive sentiment there is at the ballot box looks likely to be absorbed by either Labor or the Greens.
Australian Communist Party
The ACP is a NEW! party, forming as a split from the Communist Party of Australia, seemingly as a result of differences of opinion regarding strategy and the resignation of its general secretary, Bob Briton. According to the ACP:
… unresolved issues regarding the Party’s work in the trade unions and with the Australian Labor Party eventually resurfaced and combined with lax recruitment practices and general ill-discipline to produce an unworkable environment for committed Communists. It was these regrettable circumstances that led the founders of the Australian Communist Party to re-establish a Marxist-Leninist party in Australia.
Finally, note that the SEARCH Foundation — one of the remnants of the OG CPA (1920–1991) — has published a Federal Election Statement which urges its supporters to join the ‘campaign to defeat the Coalition government as a matter of urgency and priority in the remaining days to 18 May’.
As for the other NEW! (as of September 2018) entries to the Guide, the Stalin Society of Australia is still keeping busy pursuing its dream of ‘rehabilitating the memory of Joseph Stalin by distributing accurate information about him to the working class of Australia’, while Left Unity SA appears to have been resting since March 2018. On the bright side, the Communist Workers Party of Australia is still workering, and you can follow the continuing adventures of the Workers League by way of redfireonline dot com.
*Oh, and for the #lulz, here’s what Rise Up Australia Party/Catch The Fire Ministries/Reformation Harvest Fire Ministries has to say about, ah, ‘Communism’: Currently in the West we are witnessing a revival of Communism combined with Islamism. Obama, who was elected on behalf of a netter social justice has defected on promises to keep the American Heritage by upholding the Christian faith, and in reality appears to be a Cultural Marxist Statesman, allied with Islam if not an Islamist himself. So there you have it!
Two Greek anarchists are making molotov cocktails. One says to the other: "So who will we throw these at then?" The other replies: "What are you, some kind of fucking intellectual?"
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