“closely resembling stupidity”

Posted on November 18, 2007 by @ndy

1) Laura Norder reports: It is 25 years today since an anarchist died while trying to blow up the Wanganui police computer building.

Neil Roberts was protesting against what he considered was ‘creeping fascism’ and a ‘police state’ driven by then Prime Minister Robert “Piggy” Muldoon. A short film about the anarchist and punk rocker, called The Maintenance of Silence (1985) directed by William Kendall, is being screened in Auckland this evening to mark (but not celebrate) the anniversary of his death in 1982.

The screening is being held at the launch of a new book: Rabble Rousers and Merry Pranksters – A History of Anarchism in Aotearoa/New Zealand from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s, written by Toby Boraman.

This book covers New Zealand events such as the worker-student siege of parliament in June 1968; the “Jumping Sundays” or the liberation of Albert Park in Auckland in 1969; the Mount John “rock festival” of 1972, when anti-US military bases protesters sabotaged the only access road to the Mount John US military installation; the 1974 ferry case when a near general strike spontaneously occurred over the imprisonment of union official Bill Andersen by the Labour Government; and the anarchist involvement in the formation of Peace Movement Aotearoa and the successful Save Aramoana Campaign.

The book is the first major history of anarchism in New Zealand.

2) Several police injured during unofficial antifascist demo
thinkSPAIN
November 18, 2007

Around a thousand people took part in an unauthorised anti-fascist demonstration in Barcelona last night that was organised to protest at the murder of a 16 year old youth in a clash between fascists and anti-fascists at Legazpi Metro station in Madrid last Saturday lunchtime.

    Los participantes en la manifestación, que no estaba autorizada, entonaron consignas como ‘Ninguna agresión sin respuesta’, ‘Sin justicia no habrá paz’, ‘Carlos hermano, nosotros no olvidamos’ y ‘No, no, nazis no’.

As the demonstration descended into a series of pitched battles, ten regional police officers – as well as an unconfirmed number of protesters – were injured. One officer required hospitalisation after being knocked unconscious when he was hit in the face with a missile, possibly a bottle.

In total, seven protesters were arrested, and there are reports of substantial material damage all along the march route, although the worst affected building was the regional Interior ministry on the Via Laietana near the Plaza Urquinaona.

There were similar demonstrations in a number of Spanish towns yesterday, including Madrid [above], Zaragoza, Valladolid and Jaén, all of which passed off without incident.

Earlier…

3) Police Attack Anti-Fascist Protesters in Madrid On 25th Anniversary of Franco’s Death
Democracy Now!
November 20, 2000

Spanish police charged against anti-fascist demonstrators in Madrid yesterday on the 25th anniversary of the death of Francisco Franco, Western Europe’s longest reigning dictator of the 20th Century.

The demonstrators were countering a fascist rally that praised Franco’s leadership of Spain when police began to club them with batons and shoot rubber bullets. Demonstrators say that the police also fired live ammunition as warning shots. Forty people were injured and seven were arrested…

Earlier…

4) 20,000 Join a Fascist March In Madrid Backing Argentina
Reuters
April 20, 1982

About 20,000 Spaniards, their right arms raised in the fascist salute, marched through Madrid tonight, chanting their support for Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands…

Earlier still…

5) “Madrid did not ‘fall’ in the conventional military sense of occupation by elements of the opposing army. No Nationalist [Fascist] troops formally entered the capital before the surrender by the commander of Republican forces in central Spain, Lieutenant-Colonel Prada, to Colonel Losas, head of Nationalist forces in the University City, at one o’clock in the afternoon. Farce rather than heroism marked the formal entry of Nationalists into the capital. The first organized party to leave Nationalist lines for Madrid following the surrender, according to Wing Commander A.W.H. James, a British Conservative MP who visited Madrid on the 29th, contained ‘some 30 journalists, accompanied by one charming lady’. When this party became tired of ‘stumbling over the defences and across no-man’s land’, it took the Metro to get to the city centre.” ~ Julius Ruiz, Franco’s Justice: Repression in Madrid after The Spanish Civil War, Oxford University Press, 2005, p.29

Posted in Anarchism, Anti-fascism, History, Media | 3 Comments

G20 : Akin Sari

Posted on November 18, 2007 by @ndy

On October 18, 2007, Akin Sari pled guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to a number of charges stemming from the G20 protests in Melbourne in November 2006. He was arrested in Sydney on September 6, 2007 for breaching his bail conditions, and was denied bail, just as he had been following his initial arrest. Akin Sari was granted asylum by the Australian government as a political refugee for his political activities in Turkey. He will now rot in an Australian jail ’til February 2, 2008, when he’ll be sentenced in the Victorian County Court.

Please send Akin Sari a letter or postcard in support today!

Write to:

    Akin Sari
    c/- Melbourne Remand Centre
    PO Box 500
    St. Albans
    VIC 3021
    AUSTRALIA
Posted in State / Politics | 5 Comments

What A Wonderful World

Posted on November 17, 2007 by @ndy

Torture suspects linked to neo-nazis
Karen Dandurant
Seacoastonline
November 17, 2007

RYE — A watchdog group that monitors the activity of white supremacist organizations confirmed that at least two of the men indicted on charges of torturing and decapitating a rabbit are actively involved in one or more of the groups. Robert Freeman, 36… Kevin Lynch, 26… and William West, 32… were indicted on felony charges of cruelty to an animal. On Aug. 10, Rye police were called to a Massachussets law enforcement meeting, where they learned the torture had been posted to the Internet site YouTube. An investigation led police to the three men. Research done by the Herald indicated that at least two of the men might have ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations. On Thursday, Anthony Griggs, a research analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., confirmed ties for both Freeman and West. He said he didn’t find anything on Lynch. “Robert Freeman is involved with the National Alliance, the biggest neo-Nazi group in the country,” said Griggs. “He’s also a longtime member of The Creativity Movement.” West was the leader of the defunct Boston branch of Volksfront, German for “People’s Front.”

Man Stabbed in Suspected Hate Attack in St. Petersburg
Ali Nassor
The St. Petersburg Times
November 16, 2007

An African-Russian man was hospitalized following a violent street assault by a group of suspected neo-Nazis on Sunday near his home on Ulitsa Aviakonstruktor in northwest St. Petersburg. Maira Mkama, 24, a second-year Ph D. student at the St. Petersburg Academy of Economics and Administration was stabbed six times in the chest and stomach, badly damaging one kidney and his liver, on his way home from the nearby Kommandantsky Prospekt metro station, at around 8 p.m…

Saudi gang-rape victim is jailed
Frances Harrison
BBC News
November 15, 2007

An appeal court in Saudi Arabia has doubled the number of lashes and added a jail sentence as punishment for a woman who was gang-raped. The victim was initially punished for violating laws on segregation of the sexes – she was in an unrelated man’s car at the time of the attack. When she appealed, the judges said she had been attempting to use the media to influence them…

“…The Two Kingdoms Dialogue, which began here on Monday, ended its deliberations that focused on ways of strengthening political, economic and educational cooperation between the two countries. The participants discussed the challenges facing young men and women in both countries and emphasized the need for inculcating moderate ideas and tolerant concepts in their minds…” ~ UK Greets Abdullah With Pomp, Pageant, Arab News, October 31, 2007

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Bloggy stuff…

Posted on November 17, 2007 by @ndy

“Anarchy is a fag”

Barricade on Myspace has got a nice new design, courtesy of Iconoclast: if you’re on myspace, become a comrade. In related developments, the infoshop will be re-opening early next year in a new location in Melbourne’s inner north, as part of a brand spanking new anarchist social centre.

The two occupants of Whitelaw Towers, meanwhile — Jim Perren and Peter Campbell — spend a rather considerable amount of time ranting and raving about the Anarchist Communist Terrorists at FightDemBack!. In fact, not just any Anarchist Communist Terrorists, but “some of Australia’s and New Zealand’s most dangerous”!

The blog reads like the manic scribblings of a rural neo-Nazi on a dangerous, but nevertheless amusing, cocktail of amphetamines and hallucinogens. Still, they note that my “personal blog ‘slackbastard’ is unashamedly militant Anarchist“, which is sweet of them.

Long Live the Leninist Trotskyist Fraction and the fight for a new World Party of Socialist Revolution!

Not so sweet is Democratic Socialist Perspective hack Norm Dixon, who disputes Jim & Pete’s demented characterisation quite vociferously. “Cynical whining by a rightwinger posing as an anarchist” is how Norm describes my take on (neo-)Trotskyist attempts to impose a dictatorship of the proletariat by way of the upcoming federal election. Dave Brown of the Communist Workers’ Group New Zealand/Aotearoa (Member of the Leninist/Trotskyist Fraction), on the other hand, is a little more circumspect: “Thanks, no, I won’t be entering into [the] dubious backstreet of slackbastard bogatry [bogatry?]. Why not do us a critique of our Trot special issue on re-framing the frameup which you could add to your chamber of horrors?” asks Comrade Brown.

‘Give Flowers to the Rebels Failed’

Otherwise, Trading Stories is a really neat-looking (and well-written) blog dedicated to book and zine reviews. Reviewing White Noise: Inside the International Nazi Skinhead Scene by Nick Lowles and Steve Silver, they write: “Unfortunately, Lowles’ and Silver’s conclusion remains just as urgent today as it was when they wrote White Noise: ‘Anti-fascists have to continue to take action at whatever level they can to prevent the growth of the White Power music scene. … Turning down the sound of hate is one of the most crucial tasks for anti-racists and anti-fascists today.’ Here in Australia, the heart of that campaign is @ndy’s Slackbastard blog. Get involved.” Which is quite nice of them, really, and as far as the blogosphere is concerned, a somewhat rare acknowledgment.

Also of note is the good taste displayed by first Cam Smith and then Crikey. On the one hand, Cam takes note of the Trot Guide 2007 #2.0 : 2007 Federal Election without engaging in sectarian abuse, while at the same time, and more importantly, courageously breaking through the media blackout on the Stalinist League of Australia. On the other hand, in what I think is a first(?), Crikey Blogwatch has noted that I’ve taken note of the Wicked Witch from Ipswich’s latest tilt at Senatorial glory in Bigots : Make your vote count!. Previously on slackbastard, Fred Weir of the Christian Science Monitor has made a reference to a “Canadian” anarchist blog — mine — and a Herald Sun journalist — sfool! — plagiarised a transcript I made of one of the Very Reverend Monsignor Geoffrey Baron’s most memorable Sunday sermons; but aside from that, the media Leviathan trundles on, unperturbed…

Stick This In Your Memory Hole

Finally, on a slightly more independent note, aduki press has released a book by tattoo enthusiast Tristan Clark called Stick This In Your Memory Hole. I went to the launch a few weeks ago — thanks for the beer and pizza — but soon fled. As well as being accompanied by beer and pizza — and ah, the words contained in the 37 essays between the covers — Stick This is notable for being “the first case of a book being released independently by an Australian publisher under a CC licence”, apparently. (For more disco on independent publishing, see also Locus.) When I finish reading it, I may even write about it.

Posted in Media | 2 Comments

G20 : Not-corrupt police give sub-editor opportunity to use word ‘nab’

Posted on November 16, 2007 by @ndy
    Note that the G20 is meeting again this weekend (November 17/18) in Kleinmond, South Africa. “During this meeting — which will be hosted by the current Chair of the G20, our own Trevor Manual — the most powerful economic ministers and politicians will be surrounded by symbols of opulence — a golf course, five star accommodation, a beautiful conference centre, body guards, limousines, cavalcades, and sea views. They will swop smiles and handshakes for the press — who like the court jesters of old will sing these global capitalist elites’ praises. They will also tell us that these politicians have come to Kleinmond to create a better world for us. The biggest joke of all is that they will expect us to believe this lie. Of course, if you look past the superficial pomp, glitz and sheer propaganda that will be part of the Kleinmond gathering, you will find that a better world is not being created for us; a better world is being created for the global elite and their transnational companies to our detriment…” ~ The G20: The New Ruling Aristocracy of the World?, Shawn Hattingh, Monthly Review, November 15, 2007

Police nab G20 protester in Sydney
Mario Xuereb
The Age
November 17, 2007

A New Zealand man wanted for rioting in Melbourne at last year’s G20 economic summit has been arrested in Sydney on a holiday stopover to Europe. Victorian police heading the taskforce into last November’s violent rioting said Gabriel Shanks was arrested in Sydney yesterday en route to Spain and Britain. He was wanted for riot and affray offences committed during the summit on November 18. The 22-year-old was arrested by airport police and remanded to appear at Waverly Court for an extradition hearing on Monday. Victoria Police officers will fly to Sydney for the hearing and expect Mr Shanks to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

It comes nearly one year on from the violent confrontation between protesters and police in Melbourne’s CBD. “He was arrested as he was travelling through Sydney airport from New Zealand en route to Europe,” said Detective Sergeant Adrian Richards. “Police at the airport arrested him on our behalf, we believe he was going to Spain or England. It’s unclear if he was going for political purposes and have no idea of his travel intentions – it’s a coincidence that he has happened to return to Australia the same week as the first anniversary (of the riot),” Detective Sergeant Richards said. Mr Shanks was one of 28 “persons of interest” featured in police photographs from the summit protest released to the media.

Officers heading Operation Salver, the taskforce investigating the riots, have arrested 12 of the people featured. The G20 demonstrations on November 18 injured 10 police officers, with one constable bitten during a confrontation between 100 protesters and 60 police near Parliament House.

In March, police charged another five people in Sydney over the violent protests. Four men aged 20 to 25 and a 17-year-old youth were arrested in raids in five suburbs. A total of 26 people have been charged in relation to the G20 economic forum riot with a total of 246 offences. Most who have appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court since have had their bail extended until February when they will appear for committal hearings. Last month, Melbourne protester Akin Sari – who was also arrested in Sydney – pleaded guilty to rioting during the summit.

Note that Fairfax Media is being quite coy about its role in “assisting police with their enquiries”; that “Mr Shanks was [allegedly] one of 28 “persons of interest” featured in police photographs from the summit protest released to the media” fails to acknowledge the fact that Fairfax published all 28 on its site. Such active collaboration with police may have been read as an unusual editorial decision sparked by the inordinate amount of interest dramatic images recorded at the G20 protest generated. However, given the decision by Fairfax in Aotearoa/New Zealand to publish similar, potentially prejudicial material regarding the alleged “terrorists” involved in the Urewera 16 show trial — “leaked” to them by police — may perhaps be more justifiably read as a particularly intense form of corporate/police state action. Note also that, over twelve months later, The Age continues to publish online all 28 photos provided to them by police, and notwithstanding the fact that at least some of those featured are currently awaiting trial.

Posted in State / Politics, Student movement, War on Terror | 7 Comments

Benny the Butcher from Bennelong

Posted on November 16, 2007 by @ndy

Man-About-Town Dr Cam Sexenheimer explores the marginal electorates…

18. How will a Stalinist, a Satanist and a KKK member vote?

Cam Smith writes:

There’s allegedly an election coming up. The regrettable consequence of this is that newspaper editors suddenly care about the opinions of people in wishy-washy electorates like McMillan and Eden-Monaro. If the names and occupations of those people start with the same letter as their electoral division, so much the better – Oh, Benny the Butcher from Bennelong is concerned about housing prices and rising inflation! How dreadfully clever. Born of a need to fill space and a sick fetish for alliteration, canvassing voters in marginal electorates is easy. What’s trickier is canvassing voters in the margins of society. To this end, Crikey went looking for a Satanist, a Stalinist and a National Socialist to see which way the truly marginal would be voting.

Malaphite X (not what her mum calls her) worships the Dark Lord Satan. As such, she told Crikey at around midnight last night, it follows that she would vote for John Howard.

Finding a Satanist is not as easy as you’d think. A call to the bookshop of Church of Satan priest Drew Sinton ended with a Satanic clerk snapping, “We don’t want any publicity!” and hanging up. Enquiries to the Temple of Set went unanswered, as did a Myspace message I sent to someone who claimed to be a member of the Temple of the Vampire. I don’t think a real Vampire would list Buffy amongst her favourite TV shows anyway. Or be on Myspace. Finally, a researcher investigating Pagan iconography within Christian architecture put me in touch with freelance Satanist Malaphite. “Most Satanists won’t be voting,” Malaphite said, “but those who are will be voting for whoever will increase military spending.” Why? “Um, because of the Apocalypse?”

Like, duh.

Where do Satanists stand on ratifying Kyoto? “We need to promote global warming, cut down all the trees, and nuke everything.” Workchoices? “Definitely. We are very much in favour of slave labour.”

How, I asked, do I know you’re being straight with me? After all, you worship the Prince of Lies. “Lying can be a lot of fun. All people should lie all the time.”

So how will Malaphite X really vote? “Everyone should vote with a gun. It’ll be more pleasure. It’ll be more blood. Go forth and rape, plunder, pillage. Destroy as much as possible.” Good heavens!

Finding a Stalinist also turned out to be easier said than done. Peter Symons (a Marxist) from the Communist Party of Australia told Crikey that it would be difficult to find anyone to admit to being a Stalinist, and at any rate, that person would probably be insane. The CPA are advocating voting for the Greens first and putting the Liberal Party last, as are a number of other socialist organisations, according to the Trot Guide for 2007. Peter Watson, the 15 year old founder and president of the Stalinist League of Australia, says that the SLA are advocating a vote for the SLA first, the Socialist Alliance second, and the International Nerd-Gothic conspiracy last. The International Nerd-Goths are controlled by his science teacher and are responsible for, amongst other things, killing Stalin and having Peter banned from the library at his school. The SLA has had limited success in student council elections and doesn’t appear to be running any candidates federally.

David Palmer, the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, will be voting for John Howard, mainly because of the business practices of Therese Rein. He told Crikey: “She’s a con-woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the week before the election if the Commonwealth police don’t arrest her. I dislike Howard too, mainly because he took our guns off us, but as a compromise between the two I would trust Howard more than I would trust Rudd.”

No chance of a vote for the Greens? “It’s just a front for the Comms. The Comms had 3000 members, and they went somewhere. They’re watermelons.”

The Democrats? “They just go from one disaster to another. Politics is the art of the possible.”

Not even Pauline Hanson? “Pauline is never going to get anywhere; she’s really got no political ideas. She’s just an opportunist.”

Palmer says that the Klan remains a force within the Liberal Party. Although he thinks it would be easier to infiltrate Labor branches, considering their falling membership, the Liberals remain the Klan’s spiritual home. He claims the Klan had control of 70 Liberal branches at its peak, however this number has fallen in recent years to 11 – mostly in Queensland. How much truth there is in this claim is unclear. Palmer was a good friend of Liberal Party powerbroker Lyenko Urbancic, and some of his rivals on the far Right have accused him of being a member of the Liberal Party in the 1970s.

Posted in !nataS, State / Politics | 8 Comments

‘Get someone to assassinate the prime minister, the new one, next year’s one. Just been in office five days, bang … Yeah John Key … just drop a bomb.’

Posted on November 15, 2007 by @ndy

New Zealand activists’ talk of killings, bombings caught by police surveillance
The Associated Press / International Herald Tribune
November 13, 2007

WELLINGTON, New Zealand: Police monitored armed activists talking of political assassinations, blowing up power and natural gas plants, gas stations and communications systems before they arrested 16 people on suspicion of planning terror attacks, according to details published Wednesday by two local newspapers.

Among targets discussed for assassination were main opposition National Party leader John Key and U.S. President George W. Bush, while an al-Qaida manual on terrorist actions was among “about 10” that group members claimed to be using.

Daily newspapers in the capital, Wellington, and in the southern city of Christchurch published the evidence Wednesday from police surveillance cited in an affidavit used in court to gain warrants to arrest the people involved.

The secret evidence was amassed from months of police surveillance of military-style training camps allegedly used to train Maori independence activists, extreme environmentalists and others on weapons use and survival in the bush.

The 16 activists were arrested on suspicion of breaching the nation’s arms and anti-terror laws — but police were later prevented by the nation’s top legal officer from bringing terrorism charges.

Solicitor General David Collins last week ruled against charges being laid under the Terrorism Suppression Act against 12 of those arrested in the raids.

While police had good reason to investigate the alleged weapons training activity, New Zealand’s anti-terror laws were too complex to apply in this instance, he said. He was “unable to authorize the prosecutions” under the terror law.

All sixteen of those arrested still face charges under the Arms Act. They have been released on police bail under strict conditions that include surrender of passports and other restrictions on their movements and activities.

New Zealand’s Arms Act prohibits private ownership of military-style weapons and requires all gun owners to hold an arms license to own and use firearms.

Reports said the training camps involved the use of military-style weapons, Molotov cocktails, napalm-based bombs and other explosives.

Police and the Solicitor General immediately condemned publication of the police affidavit.

Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope said they would investigate publication of the material, “and any other publication which could be considered to breach court suppression orders or potentially compromise criminal proceedings.”

Council for Civil Liberties chairman Tony Ellis, a senior barrister, warned release of the information could prejudice the fair trials of the 16 people facing arms charges.

The capital’s “Dominion Post” newspaper said in an editorial it “has not taken lightly the decision” to publish the material.

“We believe we are acting within the law, we also believe we are acting in the public interest,” it noted on its front page.

As the papers published the police material, protesters from the small town of Ruatoki, one of the centers for police raids on suspects last month, were traveling in a convoy to Parliament in Wellington to protest the action of the armed anti-terror police.

Hundreds of people have protested against the raids and arrests, claiming police were illegally clamping down on legitimate rights and calling on them to “free all political prisoners.”

Posted in Media, War on Terror | Leave a comment

Bigots : Make your vote count!

Posted on November 15, 2007 by @ndy
    Hey, right-wing racist! On November 24, do you know who to vote for?

Leaving aside the crackpot followers of Lyndon LaRouche (as well as a few cranks within the major parties), other candidates in this year’s Federal Election on the (far) right include:

1) The Wicked Witch from Ipswich

Pauline Dancin’ Hanson is running for a Queensland Senate seat this year, yet another attempt to Unite Australia under her flatulent banner. She apparently has some chance of succeeding (although her running-mate, David Saville, has none), thanks in part to Family First (and for which thanks is ultimately due to a handful of hacks in the Victorian ALP), but most likely won’t be using the Upper House to moan about Muslims anytime soon. And to prove it’s not all about her status as the Mother of the Nation, Pauline’s Party is also standing two losing candidates in NSW: Brian Burston and John Carter. Of course, pitted against the ex-convict and her associates in the race for the racist vote is:

2) One Nation (WA)

As might be surmised from the name, One Nation WA is the West Australian-based rump of Pauline’s previous party, One Nation. It’s fielding dozens of losing candidates this election, including my old favourite, Sue Bateman: a former Stormfront regular, in an attempt to throw a spanner in ZOG’s works, Sue is standing for the seat of Fremantle. Sue will be battling for last place with a range of other, ah, ‘interesting’ personalities: Paul Ellison of the CEC; Andriette Du Pleiss of the (right-wing Christian fundamentalist) Family First; Sam Wainwright of perennial losers the Socialist Alliance, and Bill Heggers of the (right-wing Christian fundamentalist) Christian Democratic Party. Note that, in 2004, of eight candidates, SA came last, CEC 7th, the Democrats 6th, the CDP 5th and One Nation 4th.

While most of One Nation’s candidates are running in WA (fifteen in the House of Representatives), they also have candidates in NSW (nine), Queensland (seven), South Australia (three) and even a lone Senate candidate in Victoria, Llewellyn John Groves. I guess there just ain’t enough country in Victoria. Unlike, say, NSW:

One Nation targets rural vote
ABC
October 28, 2007

One Nation is targeting rural and regional areas in the launch of its New South Wales election campaign in Tamworth. The NSW president of One Nation, Jim Cassidy, says nine candidates are standing for the lower house and three for the Senate. He says the party is expecting a positive response from rural voters. “Because they’ve had no infrastructure put into their area at all, over the last 25 years,” he said. “They’ve had no forward planning, there’s been no water reconstruction, no roads, no rail, no anything.”

Note that this is the same Jim Cassidy who was once at pains to distance himself and his party from “white supremacists”: “Since February [2006], Dr Saleam has been asked not to attend meetings of the NSW branch of One Nation. Jim Cassidy, One Nation state president, said this was because of Dr Saleam’s past connections to “white supremacist” organisations. “We’re not interested in going down that road and never have been,” he said”, the bullshit artist. For just a few months later, The Two Jims were happily reunited, sharing a platform together at the 2006 Sydney Forum. And again, in 2007.

And speaking of rural racists:

3) Graeme Campbell

is part of a Senate ticket in WA, one also starring John Fisher, Russell Graham, and Geoff Gibson.

Despite being much-revered among local white racists, Graeme’s career since getting the arse from Parliament in 1998 hasn’t been too flash. Unfortunately for him, Campbell, from the old school of Labor, established his own ‘White Nationalist’ party, the Australia First Party, in 1996 — just as the red-haired fish ‘n’ chip shop owner’s meteor was rising, on a wave of media-fuelled popular hysteria, over an imminent outbreak of Yellow Fever. And while corporate media continues to entertain the Dancin’ Hanson, Graeme has been left feeling a bit flat-footed. Thus the Party he started soon came under the control of (another) convicted criminal, this time Dr James Saleam. Most recently, the Party has split into three. From Campbell’s abandonment of the mewling infant to now, the titular head of the Party, Diane Teasdale, is standing in the electorate of Murray. Saleam, in the meantime, in addition to putting the finishing touches on his appeal, is preparing to contest the NSW council elections.

Finally, an honourable mention to Joe Bryant, an old mate of Saleam’s, and one of the losing candidates in Werriwa.

Posted in !nataS, State / Politics | Leave a comment

It’s the End of the World as We know it and I feel FINE #23

Posted on November 14, 2007 by @ndy

Cheers Adam. Whoever you vote for… we are ungovernable.

Posted in Media | 2 Comments

16 year-old antifa stabbed to death in Madrid

Posted on November 12, 2007 by @ndy

On November 11 in Madrid, a local neo-Nazi party, Democracia Nacional — which, incidentally, has adopted the imagery which recently helped the far right in Switzerland gain record votes — organised a public rally, officially in order to protest “anti-Spanish racism” (sic). (Spain in November is apparently replete with racist and fascist demonstrations of one sort or another.) Madrid antifa organised a counter-protest. On their way to it, a small group of antifa encountered some of the neo-Nazis in or near a train station. A fight broke out, and a 16 year old antifa was stabbed to death, and a number of others (perhaps six) injured. One person has been arrested by police and charged with the murder. Democracia Nacional, which is also expected to contest elections next March, has denied all involvement, as well as the allegation that one of their members was responsible for the stabbing. Following the murder, there have been rallies in Madrid and a number of other cities across Spain, and in Madrid a number of banks and other business properties damaged…

Update November 13 : According to further reports, Carlos was with a group of friends when they encountered a neo-Nazi in the metro. When confronted, the fascist stabbed Carlos in the heart, and another antifa in the lung, and then fled. He was soon caught, and badly beaten. When police arrived, they attacked the antifa and took the fascist, a member of the army, to hospital, where he remains in a serious condition. The neo-Nazi protest was authorised by local government authorities and scheduled to take place in an area (Usera) with a relatively high population of immigrants, principally from South America. November 20 is the anniversary of fascist dictator Franco’s death, is marked by fascist protests and outrages, and the period leading up to it by other, smaller actions by the far right. On the other hand, an antifa taking part in the counter-protest on November 11 was shot with a rubber bullet by police; a reaction to anti-fascist actions — ie, repression — typical of Spanish authorities.

Update November 14 : Fuck me. Spanish authorities have apparently granted some fascist twats legal permission to hold a rally on November 17: “MADRID, Spain (AP) – A Spanish court has given the go-ahead for a far-right rally this weekend despite tensions after a fight between leftist and rightist gangs left a teenager stabbed to death, officials said Tuesday. The demonstration will commemorate the killing of Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera in 1936 by leftist forces during the Spanish Civil War… The demonstration is to include a march to the Valley of the Fallen, a massive monument housing the tombs of Franco and Primo de Rivera 54 kilometers (34 miles) northwest of Madrid.” And in Prague: “Czech right-wing extremists announced that they will hold a November 17 rally after police prevented a neo-Nazi march from taking place in Prague’s Jewish quarter last Saturday in keeping with a court ban. The new demonstration is scheduled for Palackeho namesti square, the Prague “Hyde Park,” according to the Web site of the Autonomous [!] Nationalists. Participants are urged on the site to arrive dressed in black, preferably with wreaths, candles, flowers and black flags in mourning for “freedom of speech”.” What’s that old saying? ‘Your funeral. Our party.’

Also : According to ‘Think Spain’, David Fucking Duke is gonna address Spanish fascists later in November, but in the meantime, “…the regional government of Madrid has authorised four demonstrations convoked by various extreme right-wing organisations over the coming days. Next Saturday, the Falange will pay tribute to former party leader, Primo de Rivera… On Sunday, the National Confederation of Ex-Combatants will gather, and on the 20th November itself, the National Front will get together at the Valle de los Caídos while the Falange will meet up in Alcalá de Henares. Permission for a demonstration organised by the Anti-Fascist Confederation on the 24th November has been denied.”

Update November 21 : In Madrid, the expected rally declared by National Democracy in Puerta del Sol failed to materialise, and despite attempts at intimidation by police, approximately 500 (police estimate) to 1,000 (organiser estimate) people took to the streets to remember Carlos and to let the fascists know they will not pass. Other rallies, both authorised and unauthorised, took place on November 17 in Barcelona and in other cities around Spain. On November 20, fascists held rallies to commemorate the deaths of Primo de Rivera in 1936 and Franco in 1975. Note that November 20, 1936, is also the day upon which Buenaventura Durruti was killed in Madrid.

    It is we the workers who built these palaces and cities here in Spain and in America and everywhere. We, the workers, can build others to take their place. And better ones! We are not in the least afraid of ruins. We are going to inherit the earth; there is not the slightest doubt about that. The bourgeoisie might blast and ruin its own world before it leaves the stage of history. We carry a new world here, in our hearts. That world is growing this minute.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

1) 1 dead, 7 injured in Madrid gang clash
The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune
November 11, 2007

MADRID, Spain: One person [Carlos] was stabbed to death and at least seven were injured when fighting broke out Sunday between two politically opposed gangs in an underground railway station in Madrid, officials said.

A man died from stab injuries to the heart, and another four were hospitalized — one in serious condition — emergency service spokesman Javier Ayuso said.

First aid workers closed off Paseo de las Delicias, an important Madrid thoroughfare, to set up a mobile hospital to treat the injured, Ayuso said.

Some people suffered from gas inhalation, although it was not clear if this was from personal defense dispensers or fire extinguishers, Ayuso said.

“It was a very violent fight in a confined space,” Ayuso said.

Press reports said the clash occurred when a right-wing gang on the way to an anti-immigration rally encountered a left-wing gang in the station.

Among the injured were a policeman who was hit on the head with a bottle and a female metro attendant who suffered an anxiety attack, Ayuso said.

Alfredo Prada, the community justice spokesman for Madrid’s local government, condemned the violence.

“Madrid is an open and integrated region where there is no room for racist, xenophobic or extremist expressions,” Prada said.

Several hundred people later gathered in Madrid’s central Sol square to protest the stabbing and racism.

2) Teenager killed as rival gangs clash in Madrid metro station
‘Typically Spanish'[?]

The 16 year old was [allegedly] a member of a left-wing gang on its way to an anti-immigration rally called by neo-Nazis…

Hundreds demonstrated in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol on Sunday evening in protest at the death of a 16 year old boy who was stabbed to death in a clash between two rival gangs in the Legazpi area of the city on Sunday afternoon. Eight others were injured in the clashes – one of them seriously – and one of them could be the suspected attacker, according to a report by the EFE news agency [Un muerto y ocho heridos tras una reyerta entre neonazis y antifascistas en Madrid y El joven asesinado en Madrid por otro de ideología neonazi será enterrado hoy, El Mundo].

The paper said it happened in a confrontation between neo-Nazi skinheads and the anti-fascist redskin gang, and began inside a metro train at the local station, when the victim was on his way with a group of friends to support immigrants at an anti-immigration protest called by the far right political organisation, Juventudes de Democracia Nacional.

El País newspaper said [Un fallecido y tres heridos graves en Madrid durante una reyerta entre neonazis y antifascistas] some of those involved in the confrontation between the two groups used self-defence sprays, and anti-riot police were brought in to control any further disturbances, both in Legazpi and at the next station in Usera.

They said five suspects were taken into custody, and a group of 300 were seen armed with sticks, stones and Molotov cocktails.

The autopsy on the body of the teenager, who died from a stab wound to the chest, will take place on Monday. He lived in Vallecas with his mother, and was an only child.

3) Teen killed in fascist protest battle
Reuters / news.com.au
November 12, 2007

A 16-year-old Spaniard was killed when anti-fascists fought members of a small far right group inside the Madrid subway ahead of an anti-immigrant rally, police said today.

Carlos Javier Palomino was stabbed in the heart yesterday afternoon and about six people were injured as the rival groups fought with knives, pepper sprays and fire extinguishers inside a subway train and the Legazpi station, police said.

Police said they arrested a 24-year-old man suspected of killing Palomino.

The man had been beaten by anti-fascists and taken to hospital after the incident, police said.

Hundreds of anti-fascists later fought police with sticks and molotov cocktails as they tried to stop the march by members of a youth wing of the small far-right National Democracy party.

The clashes follow racially motivated attacks in recent weeks on an Ecuadorean woman in Barcelona and a black African man selling DVDs in Madrid.

Spain’s immigrant population has quadrupled to four million or 10 per cent of the population since 2000, with the biggest groups coming from Latin America, Morocco and Romania.

A poll in the Publico newspaper today found 54 per cent of Spaniards considered the Socialist Government had done a bad or very bad job on the issue of immigration.

TV España:

See also : lahaine.org for more… Local punks meanwhile, continue to drink, laugh at sing at local neo-Nazi venue The Birmingham, and police have confirmed that Melbourne Croatia Social Club has arranged for Thompson to come and play. (Next gig @ The Birmy: December 1, 2007, with The Boots, Donkey Punch, Sewer Cider, The Worst and Wot Rot.) Speaking of hating Jews… Vorchheimer’s attackers plead guilty, AJN, November 12, 2007, “TWO more footballers have pleaded guilty to verbally assaulting Menachem Vorchheimer as he walked home from synagogue in October last year. After a number of lengthy adjournments, James Bellarine Football League’s 2006 best and fairest winner Dalton and Matthew Cuthbert appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday morning to answer a range of charges. They will return to court for sentencing on Thursday. Cuthbert pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting words in public. He admitted to saying, “I’m not going to apologise to no f***ing Jew.” Three other charges against Cuthbert were dropped. Dalton meanwhile, pleaded guilty to one count of offensive behaviour. The AJN understands that it was Dalton, the captain of the Ocean Grove Football Club, who snatched Vorchheimer’s kippah and hat from his head. Vorchheimer was walking with his children on Simchat Torah over 12 months ago when he was subjected to antisemitic abuse from a busload of young men who were leaving the Caulfield racecourse after a day out. Another player involved in the incident, Simon Christian was fined $1000 earlier this year after he admitted yelling “Go Nazis” at Vorchheimer, the son of Holocaust victims… Two men admit racially abusing Jewish man, The Age, November 12, 2007

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