Neither big nor clever!

Standing on police vans makes Aaron Porter cry.


Students march in London and protest at colleges and universities across Britain against plans to raise tuition fees as part of widespread public spending cuts, guardian.co.uk, November 24, 2010.

Posted in !nataS, Broken Windows, State / Politics, Student movement, That's Capitalism! | 4 Comments

Racism in the Media: The Lie that Built the Northern Territory Intervention

This Friday, November 26 journalist Chris Graham will be discussing ‘Racism in the Media: The Lie that Built the Northern Territory Intervention’ @ Bella Union bar @ Trades Hall (cnr Lygon & Victoria Sts, Carlton). Starts @ 7pm and is supported by the ‘Melbourne Anti Intervention Collective’.

Posted in History, Media, State / Politics, Television | Tagged | Leave a comment

Creative hatred for gays

The latest issue of the SPLC’s Intelligence Report (Winter 2010, No.140) has just been published. The lead article examines FBI stats and reports that in the US ‘Gays Remain Minority Most Targeted by Hate Crimes’. It also re-examines the Creativity religion in ‘Neo-Nazi Creativity Movement Is Back’.

Eventually, in 2007, one group of former WCOTC members formed an alternative organization called the Creativity Alliance. The Creativity Alliance viewed Klassen as its founder, to be sure, but eschewed the goal of a future race war and also decided that “it is in the best interests of Creativity for us to adopt a policy of non-participation in the ‘White Power’ social scene.” Still, the Creativity Alliance, which remains active today with eight chapters in seven states, does not seem far removed from its origins. One article on its website rants about “niggers” and “the hideous Jews” and ends with “White man fight!”

The Creativity Alliance’s declaration of non-participation in the movement — whatever that may really suggest — does not mean that more active Creators have gone away. On the contrary, they are showing definite signs of life.

A tiny movement, in Australia, the cult is split three ways between: a) old school Creator Patrick O’Sullivan in Melbourne; b) members of the Creativity Alliance (CA) in Geelong (Victoria), Adelaide (South Australia) and Queensland and; c) a bloke in Sydney (NSW). Until recently, the bloke in Sydney was a member of the CA but got kicked out because he’s also a member of another neo-Nazi group named Volksfront (VF) Australia. The other Alliance members support VF’s rivals in Blood & Honour and the Southern Cross Hammerskins.

*shrugs*

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Kinect for Xbox 360 : “Natural’s Not In It”

From the Department-of…

…comes…

LOL.

Gang of Four. Neo-Marxist funk. Alienation. Kinect for Xbox 360.

Dave Allen is:

NORTH is a compass pointed forward. Part ad agency, part creative boutique, part crash-pad for artists, designers, film makers, bloggers, bands and big-thought thinkers. Unlike older paradigms, we not only strategize and conceive stuff, we usually draw it, film it, score it, tweet it and construct it too. In the vernacular: We eliminate the middle man and pass the passion on to you. Peruse this site and glimpse what this more collaborative, agile, streamlined approach can yield.

See also : Commercial Watch: Joanna Newsom, Morning Benders, Los Campesinos! + more, Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good, November 17, 2010 | Say It Ain’t So, Jason Gargano, CityBeat, November 10, 2010 | … sliced tongue / Anti-Climacus / Roy Christopher / The Unblinking Ear / Rebel Frequencies … | Here they come, la la la la la la, la la la la la la, the TV ad jingle writers (April 28, 2010) | Misunderstanding Bruce Springsteen, the Dead Kennedys, and Devo, Ann Johnson, FlowTV, October 29, 2010.

Posted in !nataS, History, Music, State / Politics, Television, That's Capitalism! | Tagged , | 1 Comment

What the Anarchist Studies Network reckons anarchism really means

What anarchism really means
The Anarchist Studies Network
guardian.co.uk
November 18, 2010

Direct action is part of creating direct democracy, but the student protests saw the media painting a caricature of anarchism.

Protesters are never a homogenous group, but those who protested under the anti-cuts banner last week were united in the view that the marketisation of higher education should be opposed. Typically, however, property destruction magically transformed a sizeable subset into “anarchists”, and gave a green light to the general dismissal of their concerns.

It’s certainly true that anarchists were among the protesters.

What’s misleading is the media’s assumption that there’s a generalised relationship between anarchism and violence. Anarchism is a far richer tradition, and in the light of the media frenzy, it’s worth reflecting on what it stands for.

The Con-Dem alliance is looking to roll back the state. Anarchists want this too, but the government is looking to roll back the state and let business take up the slack, thereby bringing a fictitious “free market” into every last recess of our lives. That’s where the disagreement lies. Anarchists advocate practical alternatives to both this neoliberal slash-and-burn policy and the old Labour state-socialism.

Generating a market in education will benefit those who want to make money out of it. Principally, this will include profit-driven universities and businesses. Education for the purpose of developing a sense of our personal and social potential is out, while education for a fat pay cheque is in: the government takes training off its balance sheets and heaps the cost onto students. Students are in effect being asked to pay universities up to £40k for a job interview with a graduate recruiter. And if your “investment” in your future doesn’t pay off, the system will claim to be blameless: the responsibility is the student’s. To assume that the interests of business and society are the same is utopian.

But anarchists do not believe that state socialism is the only alternative to the undemocratic inequalities produced by neoliberalism. Socialising property does not have to mean nationalising it – that would simply be substituting one set of bosses for another. What about genuine collective worker ownership of industry and services; what about universities democratically run by academics, students and support staff, instead of largely unaccountable and overpaid managers and technocrats?

More widely, couldn’t we radicalise the co-operative model and have all companies democratically owned and run by managers and workers? Couldn’t we expand and federate worker co-ops, mutuals and collectives? The movement for fan-ownership of football clubs is a further indication that these kinds of alternatives work. The challenge is to think through their potential, and anarchism provides such a framework.

But how does all this differ from the “big society”, you might ask? In brief, the Tories are trying to mutualise the welfare state in preparation for privatising it. Individuals will be made responsible, but they will be given none of the power. Charities, voluntary associations and so on will be allowed to organise a village fete but the neoliberal structures of power will not be challenged. Wouldn’t it make more sense to start by mutualising the banks?

As it stands, politicians have managed to protect the banks while everyone else takes the pain. As the cuts pinch the poor and the rich get no poorer, it will become clear whose interests are being served. As worker militancy grows and protests become more frequent, the demand for ever stronger, authoritative states will become louder, civil liberties will be curtailed (again), and those at the top of the tree will tell us that they have some special right.

Modern liberal democracies garner the opinion of some adults of voting age once every five years as a solution to pre-determined elite bargaining. Who voted for the Con-Dem coalition? When the governments that are voted in then routinely ignore the will of the people, be that over wars, cuts, or the minutiae of policy, we see modern representative democracy for the sham that it is. Allowing protest only on condition that it will never present a challenge to government is part of that same sham.

Because this fake democracy doesn’t work and the interests of anarchists could never be represented by a political party, direct action is the tactic of choice. And direct action is part of the process of creating direct democracy. It produces results by raising the profile of causes and often halting practices many object to.

As well as a tactic, direct action is also a means for self-empowerment. It is a component of the society we hope to create, where people take control of their lives into their own hands and confront the root causes of injustices directly, without representatives. This sometimes includes property damage, but anarchists take seriously the notions of liberty and equality: that people are capable of speaking and acting for themselves and become even more capable through practice rather than representation.

The threat to a liveable world comes not from anarchists, but from governments and capitalism. Before the current crisis is used as a front to take us even deeper into a neoliberal nightmare, let’s reconsider alternatives.

The Anarchist Studies Network is a specialist group of the UK Political Studies Association. This piece was collectively written but does not necessarily reflect a consensus view.

See also : Institute for Anarchist Studies (US) | Research on Anarchism | AK Press | Autonomedia| PM Press.

Bonus Christie!

Acquitted “Stoke Newingon Eight” anarchist life story to be told in film
Emma Bartholomew
Hackney Gazette
November 21, 2010

Acquitted Stoke Newington Eight member, anarchist Stuart Christie, who tried to blow up Spanish dictator General Franco aged 17, talks to Emma Bartholomew about how he found last week’s political protests “reassuring” and a forthcoming autobiographical film.

Posted in Anarchism, Broken Windows, History, State / Politics, Student movement, That's Capitalism! | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Australia First, refugees… last?

Props to Australia First Party members in Adelaide for getting some media attention by jumping on the increasingly-crowded anti-refugee bandwagon. A previous stunt in August — when some Queensland members joined a Mission Australia protest — also drew some attention. (Sadly, a promise to protest at the inquiry into Tyler Cassidy’s shooting failed to materialise.) On a slightly confusing note, Daniel Wills (Extremists warn of immigrant ‘invasion’, The Advertiser, November 17, 2010) writes:

The party is registered in New South Wales, where it contested the 2007 state election and 2010 federal election.

Re-elected Prospect councillor Bruce Preece left the party more than a decade ago after it lurched toward the extreme right after an internal power struggle.

In reality, the party is registered in both NSW and Federally, and has, in one form or another, been contesting elections — local, state and federal — since its inception in 1996. The party split several years ago between an inactive rump in rural Victoria, the NSW-based party with Dr James Saleam as its leader, and the group which soon thereafter formed the rival ‘Australian Protectionist Party’.

As for Bruce Preece, in another article examining claims of bullying, Brittany Dupree (Serial bullying claims, City North Messenger, November 9, 2010) writes:

In 2006, the then Standard Messenger reported Cr Preece was a member of the reputedly white supremacist Australia First Party (AFP) when elected that year.

He resigned from the party five days after the election after telling the newspaper a month earlier he was vehemently opposed to “bringing party politics into local government”.

Saleam himself can be found posting on “reputedly” white supremacist website Stormfront (founded by convicted terrorist and former Ku Klux Klown Don Black) as ‘radnat’, and unlike most other leaders of Australian political parties, has criminal convictions for violence (organising a shotgun assault upon the home of the ANC representative to Australasia) and fraud.

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Racist YouTube uploader goes to jail

Strewth.

There are tens of thousands of explicitly racist videos on YouTube calling for RAHOWA! and other nonsense. I guess Gareth just got unlucky…

Man jailed for posting racist video clips on YouTube
BBC
November 15, 2010

A man has been jailed for 15 months for uploading racist video clips on to YouTube.

Gareth Hemingway, 29, of Bognor Regis, earlier pleaded guilty to five offences under the Public Order Act at Leeds Crown Court.

The clips called for a “racial holy war” and were designed to provoke violence against ethnic minorities, particularly in Dewsbury.

When he was arrested, police found Nazi and racist memorabilia at his home.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the material came to the attention of police when a journalist researching Dewsbury on the internet came across videos Hemingway, of Longford Road, had posted and reported them.

Racist imagery

The CPS said they included titles such as ‘red, white and blue through and through’ and ‘Dewsbury needs help’.

They also featured racist references and imagery including an assault on a black man by a white man.

Stuart Laidlaw, reviewing lawyer for the CPS, said: “Gareth Hemingway decided to use the very public forum of YouTube to distribute videos of racist and inflammatory nature which he had edited, and which were designed to provoke violence against ethnic minorities, particularly those living in Dewsbury.

“They called for a ‘racial holy war’, described acts of violence and made supportive references to far right groups such as Combat 18 and Patriots of White European Resistance.”

Mr Laidlaw added: “Freedom of speech carries with it responsibilities.

“Publishing something that is abusive and insulting and that is likely to stir racial hatred is against the law and the CPS will work with the police to prosecute robustly anyone who does so.”

See also : Aryan Strike Force : Do Not Collect $200 (June 25, 2010) | nutzis are W E I R D : Sheppard & Whittle Go to Jail (July 11, 2009).

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, Media, State / Politics | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The level playing field: Hansonism, globalisation, racism

The level playing field: Hansonism, globalisation, racism
Race and Class
Suvendrini Perera
October 1998

Abstract:

The success of Pauline Hanson’s extremist One Nation Party has led to a shift in Australia’s political agenda away from multiculturalism and indigenous rights, legitimising racism, and fostering hostility toward racial and ethnic minorities. Although Pauline Hanson is rhetorically opposed to globalisation, she actually relies on it as she has appropriated and reworked the discourse of globalisation. A connection between globalisation and opposition to minorities is expressed by Hanson.

Continue reading

Posted in Anti-fascism, History, State / Politics, That's Capitalism! | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

EDL? MAC? Same Thing! [Malatesta]

Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren; / The British far right begat the EDL; and the EDL begat the SDL and their brethren (the WDL, the ADL and the DDL).

They also begat this post by Malatesta, reflecting on the EDL’s most recent protest versus fellow English mentalists ‘Muslims Against Crusades’.

EDL? MAC? Same Thing!
malatesta32
November 15, 2010

The Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) and English Defence League (EDL) are really 2 sides of the same idiot. Last week saw the MAC protesting in Trafalgar Square during the 2 minutes silence. It also saw the EDL in small numbers ‘protesting peacefully’ against them. But despite their apparent differences they often serve the same purpose in inflaming anti-Islamic sentiment and allowing the state to monitor extremists.

The MAC acted disgracefully and disrespectfully with their publicity seeking poppy burning stunt on Thursday. The EDL turned out about 40 members to confront them. The police separated them and saw that both the EDL and MAC got their publicity fix and achieved nothing. Sharia law was neither implemented nor stopped. Following the poppy burning incident the EDL and Casuals United have both reported increased interest in their websites and are claiming that they have gained many new members. However, signing up to Facebook and being an effective activist are completely different things: what matters is shoe leather on the cobbles not writing LOL next to some anti-Islamic web statement. The EDL demos have been getting smaller despite growing web traffic.

The EDL are politically naïve [and] do not understand either the Muslim community nor the array of opposition against them. The EDL think that anyone who disagrees with them automatically supports extremists like MAC. They think that UAF, local Muslim community associations and antifascists are all the same which is clearly not true. The EDL stereotype all Muslims as extremists as is clear from their web forum: they completely fail to differentiate between publicity seeking characters like MAC, who are no threat really, and the vast majority of Muslims in this country who simply want to get on with their lives peacefully. The MAC do not represent the Muslim community in general and are more like the delusional incompetents portrayed in 4 Lions, full of their own self-importance and following either an agenda that is unrealistic or 1 that is a wee bit more suspicious.

Earlier this year, The Independent published an interesting, if speculative, article on the secret services coercion of vulnerable Muslims in prison. Candidates facing either prison sentences, citizenship difficulties or deportation were approached in order to gain information on radical Islamicists in the UK. It is not too difficult to see the advantages of this, i.e., join up with a dodgy outfit like Anjem Choudhary’s Islam4UK or MAC, monitor what is going on and provide information to the feds. Also the publicising of groups like the MAC helps the state justify the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and promotes the extremist image of Islam.

And the exact same can be said for the EDL. That there are hooligans and criminals at the helm of the EDL is obvious: their glorious leader ‘Tiny’ Tommy Robinson AKA the more poshly named Stephen Yaxley-Lennon is under pressure from the feds on several fronts, for his organisation’s violent conduct on the streets of Britain and also for more mundane matters. The last couple of weeks have seen Tommy nicked over fraud allegations as well as at the demo on Thursday – which is the 6th time this year. Rumours have been flying around the internet that Tommy is being pressured and compromised by the state. The EDL leadership is a volatile mix of extremists from the BNP, Combat 18 and other fascist groups as well as more unsavoury characters from the various football firms. Their hoodies emblazoned with their hometowns, enormous amounts of CCTV monitoring, stop and searches and general surveillance allows the police to know exactly who is doing what and when on the far right.

Tommy’s blatant publicity stunt on Thursday of jumping over a barrier into a large bunch of coppers to ‘take the flag’ of the MAC was a calculated move. It meant he could get his wee face on telly to impress his mates and elevate himself to martyr status. Few political activists in their right minds would do this as it means an obvious nicking, a night in jail and the time wasting and expense of the judicial process. Tommy has been nominally charged with assaulting a copper but whether the charges stand given the amount of evidence is dubious: he basically leapt into the copper’s arms and was immediately surrounded and didn’t have time to do anything.

[youtube.com/watch?v=f7ZFVc2uwMY]

Some cruel wag suggested it gave Tommy a chance to speak with his MI5 handlers but ‘Malatesta’ finds that very hard to believe. Tommy also needed to save face after the embarrassment of having HIS flag snatched by Dutch Antifa the other week which has been widely publicised and can be seen here at about 9.50 in. The ‘No Surrender’ EDL then ran away.

[player.omroep.nl/?aflID=11633256]

What is just as interesting are the photos of other demonstrators. Over the last couple of weeks the Welsh Defence League ‘leader’ Jeff Marsh announced a name change to the Cymru Defence League due to the constant exposure of links with the Nazi Combat 18 outfit. C18 member Luke Pippen helped run the Casuals United website and organise things in Swansea with Marsh. This association is now over apparently but guess who turned up at the EDL demo on Thursday and was photographed wandering around with a loudhailer rallying the troops? Only the melon headed Luke Pippen of C18 whose chest sports a large swastika tattoo. Oh dear.

Homophobes

The non-homophobic EDL have also been rocked by a rather unpleasant row over on their forum. A member of the LGBT division approached some blokes in EDL tops in a pub and started talking to them only for the situation to rapidly descend into violence and the guy received a beating. Read all about it!

[s1.zetaboards.com/EDL_The_Forum/topic/3922963/1/]

This does not look good for the ‘gay friendly’ EDL and illustrates the kind of people the EDL attracts. It also shows that what the EDL say on their website and what goes on in reality are often mutually exclusive.

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, Broken Windows, Death, History, State / Politics, That's Capitalism!, War on Terror | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Burdened with Debt: “Debt Crisis” and Class Struggles in Greece

Melancholic Greek Troglodytes give birth to a big fat Greek analysis (via libcom):

    BURDENED WITH DEBT
    “Debt Crisis” and Class Struggles in Greece
    TPTG
    August-October 2010

    Through the constant terrorism of the media for almost a year now concerning “our” debt, the modern moralists, the preachers of the word of capital and money are trying violently to convince us, the “debtors”, that in order to pay back “our” debt to “our” creditors we are obliged to take up our cross of torture and sacrifices, to place our faith in the orthodoxy of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies and the Stability Pact and filled with awe to anticipate in the fullness of time the post-deficit life.

    For months now, fiscal terrorism attempts to become more effective targeting, through the collective responsibility of the debts, our own subjectivity. The storm of the imminent threats against “our” national economy aims at the internalization of the crisis as fear and guilt: “our” debts (Schulden) should become our collective guilt (Schuld). Thus, the original sin recurs even more violently to make us, paraphrazing Nietzsche, pledge our already low wages, our already labour-intensified life, our very expectations for a world where capitalist domination will be history. They want us to pledge our own claims for a life liberated of debts and guilt now and in the future; to get indebted with the burden of a depressingly insecure present so that we eliminate even from our imagination any possibility of abolishing this old, burdened with guilt and debts, world…

More blah here [PDF].

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