A new blog is being published in support of Native American scholar and political activist Ward Churchill:
A little over a year ago, Ward Churchill was fired from his position as a professor at the University of Colorado on trumped up charges of academic misconduct. His firing was the result of one of the filthiest media smear campaigns in modern history, crushing pressure brought to bear by a number of hack politicians including Governor Bill Owens, and the overwhelming cowardice of CU’s administration.
For the first time, an impartial body is set to review the facts of the case. On March 9th, Ward Churchill’s lawsuit against the University of Colorado begins. For detailed information about the pig circus which led to Ward Churchill’s firing, see here.
This blog will track media attention around the case, and provide timely updates, including what you can do to help. If you’d like to attend the trial, or need help organizing or planning events around the trial, please email me at [email protected].
Did you knowAIM people killed JonBenet Ramsey? I have had that theory for years. They did it to bring down the government in Boulder and to discredit the FBI and police.
True story.
Speaking of Tall Tales & True, another new (Crikey-sponsored) blog is called Poison Pen: “Exposing intellectual dishonesty in the mainstream media, across the political spectrum. We’re looking at you, Bolt, Blair, Marr, Akerman, Albrechtsen, and whoever else wishes to stray onto the path of fatuous opinion.”
Stay or go, I predict that they’ll never run out of material.
Jewel Topsfield reports that, so as to lessen their vulnerability to assault and robbery, Indian students may be instructed to talk (in their native language/s) more softly on public transport and to avoid carrying iPods or laptops (Indians told to keep low profile, The Age, February 19, 2009). This follows reports of increased numbers of such attacks: “Robberies in Melbourne’s western suburbs jumped by 27 per cent last financial year. Police estimated almost a third of victims were of Indian appearance.”
…Inspector Scott Mahony, of Brimbank police, said it was crucial to stop Indian students becoming victims and address their mistrust of police. “They need to make sure they walk through a well-lit route, even if it might be longer, and they are not openly displaying signs of wealth with iPods and phones, and not talking loudly in their native language,” Inspector Mahony said…
Dayajot Singh, who helped organise a protest last year over attacks on Indians, said Indian students should be taught crime prevention as part of their university induction course. “They should be taught that if you go on public transport in this country, people don’t talk loudly, they talk in a low voice. If you talk loudly it could be taken as violent behaviour. It’s different cultural behaviour — speaking loudly to each other is not taken offence to in India.”
He said an important message was not to carry valuables on trains at night.
There are a number of issues at stake here. One is discerning the motivation/s of attackers. That is, are ‘Indian’ students assaulted because of their supposedly ostentatious displays of ‘wealth’ — in this instance, iPods and laptops — and/or as a result of racist antagonism and their presumed ethnic identity? Secondly, is it reasonable to ask the victims of such attacks to assume responsibility for lessening their occurrence by — as suggested — speaking less loudly on public transport?
Insofar as such attacks are crimes of opportunity, the principal motivating factor is the potential reward ~versus~ the risk of FAIL, possible arrest, and punishment. Basically, ‘can I get away with it’? If, all things being equal, someone is more likely to ‘get away’ with assaulting and robbing an Indian student than they are a non-Indian student — or perceives this to be the case — then it makes sense that the proportion of such attacks would be relatively high.
Modifying behaviour on the part of Indian students to better accommodate presumed ‘Australian cultural norms’ (‘Aussies’ aren’t loud on public transport) may address one issue, but insofar as such attacks are motivated by straightforward malice towards Indians (and/or those perceived to be Indian), there is very little that may be done, at least not by Indian students.
In any case, whether in response to particular forms of behaviour, or mere appearance, obviously, the real responsibility for such assaults lies with the attacker, both in law and in principle. (And since when did talking ‘loudly’ (in another language) warrant assault? If it did — and equally obviously — it wouldn’t just be Indian students who were victimised in this fashion!)
Finally, many people carry iPods, phones and/or laptops. Being discreet with such items in a context where possessing them may lead to assault and robbery makes sense — on one level. In the final analysis, however, the root problem would appear to be racism on the part of the (presumably) non-Indian public, and the perception that Indian students are ‘soft targets’.
“If I was running Al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008, and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats.” ~ John HoWARd, February 11, 2007
15. Frank McEnulty, New American Indepedent – – – – – 828
16. Jeffrey Wamboldt, We The People – – – – – 764
17. Tom Stevens, Objectivist – – – – – 755
18. Gene Amondson, Prohbition – – – – – 653
19. George Phillies – – – – – 522
Stolen from Skull / Bones. CBS notes that, in addition to the above, ‘None Of These Candidates’ got 6,251 votes and ‘James Harris’ 2,618.
Well, that’s some of the candidates.
But apparently, there were freaking hundreds, and scores of parties contesting the election, from ‘A Connecticut Party’ to the ‘Builders Party’ to ‘Concerned Citizens’ to the ‘Working Class Party’, ‘Workers World’ and ‘Yes’. Some personal favourites:
The United Fascist Union was incorporated in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in 1996 as a non-profit political club to promote the economic theories and political ideologies of Benito Mussolini and Saddam Hussein.
Since that time our Director, Jack Grimes has appeared on television and done hundreds of radio shows for the United Fascist Union and has ran as a Presidential Candidate in the 2000 and 2004 Presidential Elections.
On this website you can read Mr. Jack Grimes’ Statement of Candidacy for the 2008 U. S. Presidential Election as well as a FAQ sheet for the United Fascist Union which will explain to you why it is important that you vote for our candidate and help us establish a Corporate State.
Fascism is the one economic theory that has been proven time after time. It can raise the standard-of-living and improve the quality of life for all citizens fortunate enough to live in a Fascist Country. This should be a very good reason for importing these ideologies to America as everyone deserves a better quality of life than they have had under the oligarchy of the mega bankers and billionaire elite.
Abbie Hoffman defined Yippie! as “…a hippie who’s been beaten up by the cops.” Well I’d say it doesn’t take much imagination to believe we’ve all been beaten up by the Justice [NOT] Department in one way or another of late times. And this, your KatManDo candidate for president USA, has something to say about it and the willful actions to back them up. I don’t do girlieman!
* Candidate: Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey, King of the Vampyre
* Platform: To serve, protect and advance Vampyre Covens and Vampyres and the Witch, Pagan, Wiccan, Satanic, Lycan and other Kin Communities in America.
* Representative quote: “Unlike the rules of engagement U.S. troops follow, members of the VN’s Armed Forces will be anything but compassionate and civil to our enemies. To ensure an enemy is dead, I will instruct that VWP [Vampyres, Witches, Pagans Party] Militia troops decapitate their enemies.”
* Why you might vote for this candidate: You are a badly confused fan of the 60s-inflected pop of Vampire Weekend.
* Why you might not: If, despite the heinousness of the crime, you still do not believe that three-time DUI/DWI offenders should be “IMPALE[D]” by Jonathan.
Both the hoi polloi and the chattering classes have been whipped up into a frenzy by the Victorian bushfires.
Professional scribbler Miranda Devine is typically subtle when it comes time — as it must — to apportioning blame: ‘Green ideas must take blame for deaths’ (The Sydney Morning Herald, February 12, 2009).
In essence — the Devine Miss M argues — it wasn’t climate change or arsonists what killed perhaps as many as 300 people. “It was the power of green ideology over government to oppose attempts to reduce fuel hazards before a megafire erupts, and which prevents landholders from clearing vegetation to protect themselves” what done it.
The submission by the TCA is available here [PDF].
Whatever Scott may have said during his personal testimony (from which Miranda quotes), he did not consider it appropriate to include in his/the TCA’s written submission, the Summary of which reads:
The fires of 2006/7 were mainly in forested areas. Be it dumb luck or good management only one life was lost. Successive dry years may have added fuel to the fire but it also restricted fire movements as many pastured areas were only stubble and not the long dry grass of past years.
This committee into the issue of fire management has an opportunity to review many of the procedures regarding the fires. I have only scratched the surface as to the many simple complex issues around fire management but there has been a clear message from many of our members.
The power of green ideology over government to oppose attempts to reduce fuel hazards before a megafire erupts, and which prevents landholders from clearing vegetation to protect themselves, is the reason many people will die in future bushfires.
They believe it is time to look at changing management practices for all the forest estate and bring in a system for active forest management. It is time that communities in these areas are given a greater say in decisions that directly place their communities in jeopardy.
The voice of country people is often drowned out by the noise of the city especially yuppie columnists from Sydney’s North Shore. You have an opportunity to make sure their voice is heard within Government.
If there is an opportunity to discuss these simple complex issues further TCA would appreciate the chance as this paper does little justice to the angst and pain felt in many rural communities.
The other expert Devine cites is Dr Phil Cheney. Coincidentally, Dr Phil is cited with approval by Scott/TCA, and was once a member of ‘The Stretton Group’, which he/TCA describe as “an apolitical, not-for-profit group” comprising “a disparate association of volunteers” — which is precisely how “The Stretton Group” describes itself.
The Stretton Group’s first publication is titled ‘”The Green Inferno”: The Politics of Bushfires and Conservation’, and is a transcript of an address Dr Phil gave at the Group’s inaugural meeting on Thursday, 25th November, 2004. It’s available for download from the Institute of Public Affairs [PDF].
The address is not a scientific paper, but a bland argument in favour of encouraging responsibility for fire management among diverse ‘land management agencies’. Cheney makes reference to “the problems that have arisen out of the rapid expansion of conservation reserves in the last 25 years”, but does not blame ‘green ideology’ as such. Rather: “The land grab for conservation reserves provided the opportunity to place management over much of the formerly “unprotected land” but it was not accompanied by the funding needed to implement management. Instead government took the opportunity to reduce expenditure on fire protection by their land management agencies.” (Dr Phil also reckons “Forestry has been a convenient whipping boy for governments attracted by the votes of the green revolution”.)
Guy Rundle (The Australian‘s fuel reduction obsession, Crikey, February 12, 2009) can has some facts:
1. The pros and cons of burning off are heavily debated among bushfire specialists.
2. Forest fuel levels have no effect on fire speed, which was the main killer in these fires.
3. Dryness is a contributor to fire speeds.
4. Forestry activities may promote dryness by thinning forest canopies.
5. Climate change may be a factor, and if it is, a different set of strategies will need to be employed than if it isn’t, so it’s worth debating.
6. Fires of the “Black Saturday” intensity burn through burnt-off bush because they move at crown and canopy level.
7. The burn off levels advocated by green groups are of the same order as those advocated by those bushfire experts who believe that higher burn-off levels increase risk of fire without giving consequent benefit.
8. Burn-off levels do not play a role in urban green votes, and they never have.
In any case, while experts disagree over whether “prescribed burning” is The Magic Bullet, I think the simplest solution is to cut down all the trees.
Problem solved.
The Stretton Group
In addition to Dr Phil, the other members of the Group are Simon Paton, bushfire and forestry experts Peter Attiwill, Athol Hodgson and David Packham, Bill Middleton, Tory politician Stewart McArthur (whose daddy Sir Gordon Stewart McArthur (1896 – 1965) was also a farmer and a Tory MP) and lawyer and “iconoclastic” thinker Tony Cutcliffe.
Simon Paton is a farmer. Devine may have had Simon in mind when she concluded her article (“There is an opening now in Victoria for a predatory legal firm with a taste for David v Goliath class actions”) as Simon has been down this road before: “A group of Victorian farmers says it will sue the State Government over its handling of last summer’s bushfires. The group is preparing a class action which alleges the State’s Department of Sustainability and Environment was negligent because it didn’t do enough to prevent or control the fires, which they say have put some farmers out of business” (Farmers pursue class action against Vic Govt, AM, December 2, 2003, Reporter: Ben Knight).
In fact, a month prior to Devine’s scribbles, another class action was announced. “MELBOURNE lawyer Charles Slidders is taking legal action on behalf of farmers against the Victorian Government over losses from the 2003 and Grampians fires… The writ follows a threat made by Mr Slidders in The Weekly Times in early 2007, that he would take legal action if the Government failed to compensate farmers” (Writ seeks fire compo, Peter Hunt, The Weekly Times, January 8, 2009).
…Slidders’ writ follows the failure of an earlier attempt by the Stretton Group to seek compensation on behalf of farmers whose land was devastated by the 2003 fires. The Stretton Group, comprising mainly fire and land management experts and farmers, began a statement of claim against government agencies in 2004, alleging they were liable for the size and severity of the fires. The group did not take legal action, but did pass its statement of claim on to Slidders. However, Stretton Group member Simon Paton said he knew little about the Slidders writ. Daniel Oldham, a partner at Slidders Lawyers, told media last week the case was in its infancy. The Government has repeatedly denied there is a valid legal claim in regard to compensation for the impact of bushfires.
Simon is/was also the Convenor of ‘The Eureka Project’, of which Tony Cutcliffe is/was a director. In his capacity as Convenor, Simon authored ‘A Case of Burning Neglect: A report from North East Victorians regarding the 2003 bushfire crisis’, April 30, 2003 (available as as PDF from The Eureka Project).
Athol Hodgson is a member — along with half ‘The Stretton Group’ — of yet another industry lobby group, ‘Forest Fire (Vic) Inc.’. Curiously, contra Devine, this mob is full of praise for the Victorian Government: “The Findings are free from political bias. The Recommendations are specific to core issues, unequivocal, and in the view of Forest Fire Victoria, attainable. The use of knowledge and experience of people outside government agencies is especially commendable.”
Killer Greens
In addition to murderous green ideology, Devine makes explicit and unflattering reference in her article to Nillumbik Shire Council, “A council committed to reducing carbon emissions”.
Nillumbik Shire has seven councillors; none are Greens.
(Yarra Ranges Shire has nine councillors, only one of whom — Samantha Dunn — is a Green.)
The Victorian Government can has three Green MPs, all Members of the Upper House: Greg Barber, Colleen Hartland and Sue Pennicuik. The other 37 members are non-Greens. In the Lower House, there are 0 Greens and 88 non-Greens MPs.
Of course, Devine & Co. are less interested in averting future environmental disasters so much as pursuing an ideological war against those deemed enemies; forces which threaten to derail the wholly rational and completely sensible development of Australia’s abundant human (and other natural) resources for the benefit of the elites who own and manage them.
To paraphrase a Great Thinker, if politicians are intent on whipping up a lynch mob to divert attention from their own culpability, it is not greenies who should be hanging from lamp-posts but neo-conservative columnists.
Of course, I am not urging anyone to commit violence against a “journalist”.
Meaning the Divine Miss M is in mortal danger.
Aaand remember folks…
Hell hath no fury like a vested interest masquerading as a moral principle.
“No offence but honestly who gives a shit about some skinhead in Russia.” Nowave, Melbourne Punx Forum, October 2008
“If Russians are so interesting to you, move to Russia.” ~ Fruitsalad, Melbourne Punx Forum, October 2008
“As I stated on the Bombshell forum Andy, you are a liar, a hypocrite and no better than the trash that you fight against.” ~ Dion, December, 2007
“Anarchy is a fag. Thanx to the people who have supported us… and to the random people letting us know about this anarchist knobjockey Mr Moran.” ~ Chunga (The Worst), September 2007
“Anti-Fascist Attitude” is the first ever documentary on the emerging Russian anti-fascist movement which is made by the activists themselves. The movie features both moderate NGO activists and radical grassroots activists and anarchists from three cities – Moscow, St. Petersburg and Irkutsk.
It also features Stanislav Markelov, murdered in Moscow on 19th January.
Kenny Glenn : Allegedly, the boys, 14 and 16, uploaded several more videos two weeks earlier, which included more abuse of Dusty as well as another black-and-white cat whose name is not known at this time. Both cats have been removed from the abusive home and will be adopted into better homes. Kenny Glenn and Weston Glenn are facing two charges of animal cruelty in Lawton, Oklahoma, and go to trial later this week.
“Facebook vigilantes, frustrated at a court order protecting a man charged with lighting one of the deadly Victorian bushfires, which killed at least 11 people, have published [Brendan Sokaluk’s] photograph and address on the social networking site and threatened his life… Links to Sokaluk’s profiles on MySpace and MyYearBook were widely circulated.” ~ Vigilantes publish alleged arsonist’s image online, Asher Moses, The Age, February 16, 2009.
Sokaluk’s MySpace profile, however, has been deleted, and his profile on MyYearBook is set to Private.
Further: “THOUSANDS of people who posted messages of hate and threats on the internet relating to accused arsonist Brendan Sokaluk in the days after he was charged potentially face serious criminal charges, lawyers and internet regulators warn. Since Friday, at least five groups on social networking site Facebook had attracted about 3500 people, with most users either threatening or inciting violence towards the accused…” ~ Online hate mail threat to arson case, Selma Milovanovic, The Age, February 17, 2009.
…On the website’s homepage [that is, his now-deleted MySpace profile], he attacks a former girlfriend among rants full of spelling mistakes.
“I’m a young happy male who wants to meet a young loven female to marrid,” he writes.
“My interest are to enjoy life to the fallest and not with …… because she r***s behind your back and lies a lot.”
“I’d like to meet my sole mate not some old hag.”
“Sex sells but love larst for ever.”
Sokaluk writes: “l don,t read books because they put me to sleep. my heroe is mother earth with out her we all would be dead.”
…
Sokaluk logged on to another social networking website, myYearbook, last Wednesday, four days after the hellfire on Saturday, February 7.
He was arrested two days later on Friday.
He describes his mood as “dirty” because “no one love (sic) him”.
His quote is “looken for a young wife to shear my wealf with her”.
He received Valentine’s Day greetings from half a dozen women on the site…
Duncan Riley @ The Inquisitr (Bushfire arsonist Brendan Sokaluk worships mother earth on spooky MySpace page, February 15, 2009) claims “His MySpace profile also suggests that Sokaluk has an affiliation to a US religious group by the name of “The Truth of God,” a group known to hold extreme views against women clergy and gay people.”
Dr Matthew Rimmer, senior lecturer in law at the Australian National University, said Facebook is in much the same position as any other media organisation.
“Much like a newspaper, Facebook needs to be careful what it publishes because it’s not just the author who is liable. Sometimes the publisher is liable,” he said.
Dr Rimmer said Facebook users needed to think carefully before posting. Individuals who posted comments that breach confidentiality, privacy or defamation laws, or any relevant court orders, could be held liable.
“Just as one could be personally held liable for writing a defamatory letter that gets published in a newspaper, one could be held liable for publishing something defamatory or breaching a court order on Facebook,” he said.
“The reason there are suppression orders in the first place is to ensure a fair trial. You don’t want there to be a mistrial in some way because the jury has been prejudiced by, for instance, reading things on Facebook.
“Perversely, making comments on Facebook about the persons alleged to have engaged in arson might be counter-productive in terms of legal action brought against them.”
See also : Will Brendan Sokaluk ever come to trial?, Greg Barns, Crikey, February 16, 2009: “That Mr Sokaluk is an as-yet innocent man appears to be completely forgotten by millions of people… [presiding Victorian magistrate John] Klestadt was faced with the reality that the UK newspaper, the Daily Mail, couldn’t give a toss about the rights of the accused and his safety when it published his name and alleged details about Sokaluk yesterday — all available for every Victorian to read on the net. And it was not alone in ignoring the suppression order…”
Bonus!
In another example of vigilantism, two teenage boys have been tracked down after rather stupidly uploading to YouTube a video of one of them — glennspam1, aka “Kenny Glenn” of Lawton, OK (USA) — abusing a cat named “Dusty”. Unlike the mountains of nutzi BS which saturates the site, the video has been withdrawn from YouTube; like everything else on the Intertubes, it’s still available online if you search for it. It’s pretty awful — not just the abuse, but the attitude embodied in Kenny’s actions. Thus it’s not that uncommon for young boys to take delight in such things, and animals — being basically defenceless — are obviously regular targets for their sadism. Like other forms of abuse, it flourishes in secrecy. Going public, on the other hand, is stoopid — especially with cats like 4chan around…
…Sitting in his house “Kenny Glenn” probably never thought messing up his cat would bring the internet’s rage on him [or] get him in serious trouble. I should mention that even though I know this kid’s phone number, the school he goes to, his parent’s names and all of their contact information, the names of all of his teachers, the location of his father’s business, and a link to photo of his house, I have no knowledge of hacking and I had to do literally nothing expect click a few links to find that information. I’m not the only one who knows that information either, it’s all free, legal, and has already been seen by probably thousands of people. In fact, if you followed any of those links above you’ve already learned a lot about a complete stranger. Last week we discovered that privacy online is dying or already dead and this is just a punctuation on that thought. If you think that just because you’re wearing a mask and can’t be identified visually you can stay under the radar, then you’re just asking for a very rude awakening. “Kenny Glenn” is a special case, because he just happened to hit the wrong nerve with the wrong people on a Sunday afternoon, but it shows that if somebody or a group of people has got the energy they can use the internet to find enough information to make your life hell. Whether or not you’re a cat abuser or not, the moral of the story is we need to think about what our cyber footprint looks like and how this could potentially affect our real lives. The internets are serious business.
Update : Kim Jong Il Announces Plan To Bring Moon To North Korea!
Happy Birthday Kim Jong-il!
Slackbastard Central Committee Commemorates 68th Appearance Day of KPA Supreme Commander KIM JONG IL!
The KPA (Korean People’s Army) and The Songun-Based Revolutionary Line is a Great Revolutionary Line of Our Era!
May the Ever-Victorious Banner of Our Revolution led by KPA Supreme Commander KIM JONG IL and the Pyongyang Mission of the AINDF (Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front) fly forever in our hearts!
Rural People’s Party Central Committee statement concerning 2.16 General KIM JONG IL Appearance Day (February 3, 2009):
Once again comrades we near an occasion momentous for humankind and all the revolutionary forces who desire to see communism realized. On 2.16 2009 (Juche 98) the anniversary of the birth of KPA Supreme Commander KIM JONG IL occurs. Born at the secret camp at the base of Mt. Paektu, KIM JONG IL was brought immediately into an atmosphere of intensive revolutionary struggle as the son of KIM IL SUNG. KIM IL SUNG established the forward revolution of Korea under the banner of the Juche idea, which the RPP upholds as the guiding principle of the party and the penultimate of communism today and under which the DPRK has flourished in proletarian state power, treading incessantly toward communism, for decades. KIM JONG IL furthered the worldwide revolutionary advance of the Juche idea through setting the bar high in marching toward a collective and human-centred future in Korea with the campaign to imbue all of society with the Juche idea of the Great Leader KIM IL SUNG. In addition, KIM JONG IL advanced Juche with the development of the mighty weapon of Songun politics: the army-first approach making the DPRK an invincible fortress protecting the beloved people’s socialism against imperialist encirclement through force of arms…
These trips “have become popular amongst our KFA members as well as other people, who are welcome to join, to experience North Korea outside the tourist trail and have interaction with North Korean citizens first hand.” The next trip is scheduled for April 11–April 20, but hurry — the deadline for pre-inscription is March 5!
See also : Letter of Criticism to the Rural Peoples Party: In Defense of Marxism-Leninism, Marcus Winter and Prairie Fire, October 20, 2008: “This article is written and addressed to the Rural Peoples’ Party (RPP) from the members of the Hoxhaist Union and the American Party of Labor [‘a growing Marxist-Leninist Party in the United States’]. This article shall focus on Juche, the ideology of the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (North Korea) which shall be henceforth referred to as the DPRK, and its deviation from the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. Hereby I shall seek to make the case that the Juche idea formulated by Kim Il-Sung must be officially recognized as revisionism and not a “continuation” of Marxism-Leninism. To put it concisely, revisionism is defined as the “watering down” or flat-out abandonment of Leninism as a science and as an ideology. This term encapsulates with the utmost clarity what the Juche idea of the DPRK has become—a “replacement,” a “perversion,” if you will, of the science of Marxism-Leninism…”
In the meantime, the revisionist, bourgeois perverts at the imperialist BBC relate lies about the Great Leader:
Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian emissary who travelled with Mr Kim by train across Russia, reported that the North Korean leader had live lobsters air-lifted to the train every day which he ate with silver chopsticks.
The two men shared champagne with a bevy of female companions of “utmost beauty and intelligence”, according to Mr Pulikovsky.
Mr Kim also has a reputation as a drinker.
He was seen draining 10 glasses of wine during his 2000 summit with South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and is known to have a taste for Hennessy VSOP cognac.
But still…
FRIENDS OF KIM
A film by RAPHAEL WILKING and HANS VAN DIJK
Hilarious and ultimately sobering account of the first time an international group of Kim Jong II sympathizers visits North Korea. Declared as a nation on the axis of evil by George W. Bush, North Korea is the country many love to hate.
FRIENDS OF KIM chronicles the ‘International March for Korea’s Peace and Reunification’ organised by the Korean Friendship Association through North Korea. Its aim: to show solidarity with the regime and the North Korean people. The authorities even allowed some US citizens in and an American journalist from ABC.
The KFA, is a worldwide group of supporters of North Korea. They are young, idealistic and fed up with the consumerism of the Western world. Its leader is a 29 year old Spanish citizen, Alejandro Cao de Benos de Les y Perez. Originating from an aristocratic family he heads the organization in true North Korean fashion.
In 12 days the 22 participants of the March travel through a country full of monuments, propaganda and poverty. FRIENDS OF KIM is a film about idealism, trust and crime. It begins as a magical mystery tour but gradually some travelers discover that the “workers’ paradise” is far from heavenly.
NETHERLANDS | 2006 | 55 minutes
Long live KIM JONG IL! Long live the immortal JUCHE IDEA and SONGUN POLITICS!
SENIOR Israeli diplomat Dan Gillerman has urged Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd not to send a delegation to a United Nations forum on racism, saying it will be used as a platform to bash Israel.
In an interview with The Age, Mr Gillerman, who was Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 2003 until September last year, also strongly rejected calls for war crimes investigations against Israeli commanders involved in the recent Gaza offensive.
Speaking from his office in Tel Aviv ahead of a scheduled visit to Australia at the end of the month, Mr Gillerman said the 2009 UN World Conference Against Racism, also known as “Durban II”, to be held in Geneva in April, was a charade.
“Keep away from Durban,” Mr Gillerman said…
Doctor Dan (b.1944) is a former banker, CEO, and ♥s the free market. He also called former US President Jimmy Carter a bigot in April 2008, following Jimmy’s meeting with Hamas’ official Khaled Meshaal: ‘Carter “went to the region with soiled hands and came back with bloody hands,” he said… The former U.S. president, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has said Hamas’ top official Khaled Meshaal told him during meetings in Damascus last week that Hamas would “accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders if approved by Palestinians”.’
Speaking of Durban, back in June 2008, Anne Bayefsky called on the Australian Government to join the Canadian, US and Israeli governments in boycotting the conference, scheduled to take place in April 2009. Bayefsky writes: “The United Nations is planning a global anti-racism conference that is destined to encourage racism. Known as Durban II, and to take place in Geneva next April, it follows the notorious anti-semitic hatefest held in Durban seven years ago” (“Australia must boycott the next racist hatefest”, Anne Bayefsky, Sydney Morning Herald, July 22, 2008). According to Bayefesky, “There is no doubt that Durban II will use a UN platform to encourage racism, spread anti-Semitism and undermine democracy’s most precious freedoms. The question is whether democracies will deny it legitimacy – in pursuit of the actual protection of human rights.” Bayefesky further notes that:
The US and Israel walked out of Durban I. Australia stayed, making a bitter statement about the Durban declaration adopted by governments in the final moments: “We regret that far too much of our time has been consumed by bitter, divisive exchanges on issues which have done nothing to advance the cause of combating racism … The references to the Middle East contain language which will do nothing to achieve greater peace in that troubled region and nothing to advance the objectives of this conference.” However, the specific reservations Australia made to the declaration have been omitted by the UN ever since.
Bayefsky is a former academic, lawyer, and flack (aka‘Senior Fellow’) employed by the corporate think tank the Hudson Institute, “a registered 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Your gift is tax deductible to the fullest extent provided by the law”, established in 1961. Numerous corporations — including Ciba-Geigy, DuPont, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Heinz, IBM, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Monsanto, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Procter & Gamble and Westfield Corporation — have paid handsomely for Hudson’s allegedly “innovative research and analysis that promotes global security, prosperity, and freedom”: “The Hudson Institute received close to $25 million between 1987 and 2003 in foundation, corporate, and government grants, according to Media Transparency and the Capital Research Center”. On a totally awesome note:
One of Hudson’s founders, Kahn, was one of the more infamous products of the RAND Corporation, where, beginning in 1947, he developed nuclear strategies that downplayed the impact of a thermonuclear war and was supposedly the inspiration for the character of Dr. Strangelove. In a discussion of Kahn’s ideas in the New Yorker, Louis Menand quoted Kahn’s 1960 book, On Thermonuclear War: “Despite a widespread belief to the contrary, objective studies indicate that even though the amount of human tragedy would be greatly increased in the postwar [i.e. nuclear] world, the increase would not preclude normal and happy lives for the majority of survivors and their descendants.”
Boycotting international institutions is often ineffective and counterproductive, and countries such as Australia stand to lose much from disengaging. The recent call for Australia to boycott the second United Nations conference against racism in Geneva next year is no exception…
Ben and Andrea also reckon “diplomacy and the UN …remains our best, albeit flawed, “hope” for universal human rights promotion”; Anne, on the other hand, wants the UN abolished, and a United Democratic Nations established — no doubt comprising, at the very least, Canada, Israel, the United States and Australia (if it plays it’s cards right and withdraws from the upcoming anti-semitic hatefest).
See also : The Durban Declaration : The United Nations World Conference Against Racism Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance was held in Durban, South Africa. “Over 7000 representatives from governments and civil society participated in the Forum from August 31 to September 8, 2001.”
ATHENS, Greece: A small anarchist group has claimed responsibility for 17 firebombings carried out last week and threatened further attacks.
All but one of the attacks with makeshift bombs were carried out in Athens on Wednesday and Thursday, and they targeted people such as a top anti-terrorism prosecutor, a prominent politician and a judge.
No injuries or serious damage resulted, but the firebombings were carried out during the day, making them very unusual for arsonists’ attacks in Greece.
“Our attacks are not symbolic, they are acts of war. … We will be back soon,” Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, a self-described “urban guerrilla” group, said in a statement published on a leftist Web site Saturday.
It said it dedicated its attacks to “authentic revolutionary” Dimitris Koufodinas, a prominent member of the terrorist organization November 17, who was arrested in 2002 and is serving multiple life sentences.
The little-known Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei group only surfaced last year, and police have said they know little about it but take its threats of sustained urban guerrilla action seriously.
“This is a new development,” Deputy Interior Minister Christos Markoyiannakis told Greek media Sunday, referring to the claim of responsibility. “We must be vigilant.”
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Odd that an anarchist group should dedicate its actions to a Marxist nicknamed Poison Hand…
Revolutionary Organization 17 November (Greek: Επαναστατική Οργάνωση 17 Νοέμβρη, Epanastatiki Organosi dekaefta Noemvri), (also known as 17N or N17) apparently murdered two dozen or so people during the course of its Reign of Terror, the first being CIA station chief Richard Welch on December 23, 1975.
The beginning of the end for 17N/N17 was June 2002, when Greek police arrested Savas Xiros. Remarkably, he was the first member of the group ever detained by police. The following months brought further arrests, including that of Dimitris Koufodinas, who surrendered to police after having spent weeks on the run. Despite his denials of any involvement, ‘for the investigating officers, [French-born academic Alexandros Giotopoulos] matched the profile of the brain behind the group, the “ideological instructor of the organisation and the writer of its proclamations”. Giotopoulos is the son of Dimitris Giotopoulos, a well-known 1930s Greek Communist and follower of Leon Trotsky. He is believed to have been active in the Paris-based student opposition to the military dictatorship which ruled Greece between 1967 and 1974.’
In December 2003, Giotopoulos, Koufodinas and 13 others were found guilty of various crimes (in “Greece’s first terrorism trial”), and received multiple life terms (although “The maximum amount of time any of them will spend behind bars… is 25 years”, supposedly).
Dimitris was known as “Poison Hand” for his skills with a pistol, and got 15 life sentences at trial.
In January 2007, the US Embassy in Athens was attacked, and the blame attributed to a group called ‘Revolutionary Struggle’; “Greek authorities have said they view Revolutionary Struggle as a successor to the November 17 group”.
Word on the street is that University of Waikato Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Crawford is trying desperately hard to read a report into a student’s Masters thesis, pulled from the University’s shelves after a complaint was received by the subject of the thesis, Kerry Bolton. Unfortunately, whenever Roy reads more than a few sentences, he is suddenly struck down with a blinding headache, and can read no more.
A Waikato University masters student whose thesis was abruptly pulled off library shelves last year has threatened legal action against the university.
The thesis, which explores Satanist and neo-Nazi themes, was removed from the university library without warning at the beginning of October following a complaint by the subject of the research, former National Front secretary Kerry Bolton.
By mid-October, two top academics had been appointed to review the processes around the thesis and a defamation complaint amid accusations of university censorship. The outcome of that investigation is yet to be made public.
The author of the thesis, philosophy and religious studies student Roel Van Leeuwen told the Waikato Times this week that the university’s tardiness was “unconscionable and is prolonging what is becoming an increasingly negative and intensely disagreeable state of affairs”.
He had sought legal advice in relation to the damage that had been done to his academic reputation and his future employment prospects.
“At this point, I have no idea what the nature of the investigating committee’s findings will be or how they will impact upon the grade given to my thesis,” Mr Van Leeuwen said. “With this uncertainty hanging over my head I am finding it difficult to move on as my masters thesis mark forms the foundation of admittance into PhD programmes and the necessary scholarship award that goes with it.
“Until the report is released I cannot help but feel unable to move on.”
Mr Van Leeuwen said the university had not contacted him at any stage during the investigation to let him know of its progress.
“It is beyond appalling that I am informed of the report’s completion by browsing Bolton’s website rather than through official university communications.”
University Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Crawford told the Waikato Times two weeks ago he had received the report. However, he said yesterday that internal processes were yet to be worked through.
Professor Crawford said he was obtaining feedback and had not yet reached any conclusions on the report.
While he appreciated the process was taking longer than originally hoped, his first responsibilities were to the university community as well as ensuring fairness for all involved, including the complainant.
He would not make any further comment until the review was complete.
BONUS! Footage of !nataS @ work! (Extremely graphic!)
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?"
