LONDON (Reuters) – They rocked the world, but as the clean-up at nine climate change gigs around the globe begins, many wonder if the galaxy of pop stars did much to change it…
While it was up to the citizens of the developed nations of Australia, the US, Japan and Europe to reduce their carbon footprint on the planet, countries such as India and China must also be involved.
“Your voice matters, make it heard,” he said in [a] pre-recorded message.
The fire last time:
SAVE THE PLANET ::: KILL ALL ROCK STARS (starting with Madonna and ending with Hanna)
Rachel sent Barricade a copy of her zine: Land of Make Believe and Dress Up, which is about her experiences doing porn in NYC as a queer anarchist (rachel_h[at]riseup[dot]net). We also got sent a copy of variant, number 29, summer 2007, “the UK & Ireland’s only free international arts and culture magazine”.
There’s an Arika Waulu (Thorpe) exhibition about Camp Sovereignty, “Internal Ash”, @ The Gallery @ City Library, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne (’til July 31).
On Wednesday, July 25th, Monina Wong, an expert on health and safety and labour rights from Labour Action China, will give a rare first hand account of working conditions in China’s export processing industries. Details: 6.30pm, Bob Hawke Room, ACTU Building, Level 4, 365 Queen Street, Melbourne.
The military-industrial-entertainment complex has lost a true * today, radio philosopher and witStan Zemanek, dead at the age of 60 from a brain tumour. Fortunately, Stan’s illness was not a source of stress or anxiety, and it’s in that spirit that we should also view his death, as Stan himself explains:
“YOU’RE a lazy wuss,” Zemanek is saying to a 65-year-old man, who says that he lost his job because of stress. “I’ll say it again. There’s no such thing as stress!” Dr Stan has spoken. The whole stress concept has been fanned by doctors who don’t understand their patients, by lawyers who want to make a quick buck and by stressed people who don’t want to work…
The stress debate resumes after the ad break and Zemanek is hitting the thesaurus hard. “That’s not stress, it’s anxiety,” he explains to one listener. “That’s not stress, it’s being in a rush,” he says to another. Then, the producers put through a woman whose three-year-old daughter has just died from a brain tumour. She is not happy.
Zemanek instantly tranforms from the 14th beast to a sympathetic shoulder. But he manages the change without ceding ground.
“What you’re experiencing, darling, is heartbreak. It’s real life. It’s heartbreaking but it’s not stress.”
They continue to talk about the woman’s loss and Zemanek asks that she call him back soon to tell him how she is getting on. The woman says she will, and whispers a goodbye. She is even allowed a few last sniffled but defiant words: “There is stress.”
While some may have been surprised that Stan had a brain — I know I was, and so, apparently, was Stan — who can now deny that, while everyone else’s may be breaking, Stan had a heart, too? Although a heart perhaps not quite as big as, say, the red centre:
Later he gives me a signed copy of The Thoughts of Chairman Stan, which introduces me to the sentence “The Aboriginal industry want reconciliation, but they want it on their terms and as far as I’m concerned that’s not on and they can go and get stuffed.”
Zemanek dismisses accusations that he is racist. “Derryn Hinch once called me ‘a rancid, red-necked, racist, rooster’. Recently I had a reason to have him on my program and asked him why he’d called me (that) and asked him to tell me where I’ve ever made a racist comment. At the end of the line there was just dead air. He couldn’t think of one point where I was racist.”
Derryn Hinch thinks? I guess this means that he must have a brain too. Will wonders never cease? In any case, in addition to thinking, perhaps Derryn could’ve engaged in some research, as Paul Barry did some years ago, following news that a 15 year old Aboriginal boy committed suicide in jail after having been sentenced to a mandatory 28 days (in his case, for the crime of stealing pens, textas and paint). After recounting Howard Sattler’s joy at news of the deaths of several Aboriginal children as a result of a high-speed police chase, Barry notes that:
Howard is by no means alone, although his Sydney audience is still small. His fellow shock-jock Stan Zemanek, who has a TV show that describes him as the beast, also sees the world in black and white. And he’s now just down the dial from Howard in the same Sydney timeslot where he also thinks criminals need a good caning:
“In Singapore they give you six or ten or twenty rounds of the rattan, and I believe that’s also a good alternative… Maybe we should bring that in as well.” (Stan Zemanek, 2GB, 16/2/00)
Paul Barry: Stan also hates do-gooders and he’s ever ready to give them a serve:
“They don’t talk to the victims out there. They don’t say to the victims well what’s happening out there, what’s it like being robbed and raped and pillaged and from all these hoons and murderers and thieves, now what’s it like living out there. They don’t know. Because they’ve never spoken to the victims.” (Stan Zemanek, 2GB, 21/2/00)
Paul Barry: Like the owners of the textas perhaps.
I suppose the only good news is that, following Stan’s departure, The Herd may now relax as another rich prick cashes in his chips.
Wake up. This country needs a fucking shake-up
Wake up. These cunts need a shake-up
Talkback? Squawking hacks – won’t relax
until Jonesy, Zemanek and Laws are all axed 77 per cent of Aussies are racist
and if you’re here, I’ll say it to your faces
Rich, redneck pricks still hold all the aces…
Joel (Bulldog Spirit, Death’s Head, Fortress, GGF, Ravenous), April 3, 2007 : “Be sure not to let @ndy see this!”
Introduction
On Saturday, September 23rd last year, a local Melbourne pub named The Birmingham Hotel in Fitzroy hosted a neo-Nazi gig, an annual commemoration of the death in 1993 of Ian Stuart Donaldson, vocalist with undoubtedly the world’s most famous neo-Nazi rock ‘n’ roll band, Skrewdriver, and also co-founder, with another good fascist, Nicky Crane, of the international neo-Nazi music network Blood & Honour. The gig was organised by two groups, Blood & Honour Australia and the Southern Cross Hammerskins. Three bands played at the gig — Bail Up!, Blood Red Eagle and Ultraviolence — and the crowd was relatively small; around 50 or so. Organising the annual memorial gig is the chief activity of the local branch of B&H, and — to the best of my knowledge — it has been held every year since 1994. This year, the gig will be held at an undisclosed location, again in Melbourne, on October 13. Scheduled to perform are Bail Up!, Fortress, Quick & the Dead and one, or possibly two, other, foreign acts.
As is the case with all events organised by B&H, the annual memorial gig is held at an undisclosed location. Thus, in 2006, it was only by anti-racist activists employing subterfuge that the venue for the gig, The Birmingham Hotel, was discovered, and then only less than 24 hours before its actual occurrence. The gig itself passed off peacefully for those who attended, although one local (black) woman was assaulted on the night of the gig after running into a gang of racists just around the corner from the pub. Both the gig and this incident of racial abuse were reported in a local paper, The Melbourne Times, and on Saturday, October 28th, a protest was held outside of the pub denouncing fascism and The Birmy’s role in helping to promote it. Since that time, a boycott of the pub has been called for, and the following is intended to be an assessment of its effectiveness and overall utility.
History
For the last ten years, The Birmingham Hotel (333 Smith St, cnr. Johnston & Smith Sts, Fitzroy, 9417 2706) more popularly known as The Birmy (Licensees: Eighth Thelos and W. Simeoni), has been managed by a bloke named Gary. Gary is a 43 year old Kiwi, and during his tenure as manager, The Birmy has developed a reputation as being a venue both for punks and skinheads but also boneheads. In 2002, for example, The Birmy hosted at least two neo-Nazi gigs (one to celebrate Adolf Hitler‘s birthday), as well as regular meetings of B&H. Since then, The Birmy has also hosted the annual ISD memorial gig, most recently in 2006, and again in 2005. The exact number of such events held at The Birmy, and any further details concerning them, is largely unknown, as the gigs are kept secret from the public by B&H, largely in order to avoid potential disruption from forces hostile to neo-Nazism, but also to avoid public embarrassment to their collaborators such as Gary; in fact, for reasons best known to himself, to this day Gary denies that The Birmy has ever been used by neo-Nazi organisations.
As noted, The Birmy has also earnt a reputation as a punk venue, and over the years many local punk bands have performed there. The Birmy has also featured on a number of annual punk pub crawls, and the pub is often described as being one of the more punk-friendly venues around town. Thus, in publicity material for the pub, “The Birmingham, or as regulars like to call it, The Birmy” is described as being “a great place to kick back and relax with the likes of the Melbourne alternative scene. With a free function room, Melbourne’s local Punk bands are often seen playing here. It’s a relaxing night at the Birmy but be prepared for a crowd which is a little different”. In summary, as a result of the pub’s hosting punk gigs, as well as its general ambiance, many local punks have developed a strong attachment to it, and this fact, in turn, helps to explain the reaction by many to calls for a boycott of the pub.
Boycott
On the one hand, in the approximately nine months since the ISD memorial gig, at least six punk gigs have been held at The Birmy (on October 7, November 11, and November 18, 2006, and on March 2, April 25 and July 7, 2007) at which 15 oi!, punk and ska bands have performed. On the other hand, and more recently, one gig, scheduled to take place on June 22, was cancelled; members of Tenth Dan and Speartackle, after having been contacted and alerted to the existence of a campaign to boycott The Birmy, deciding that they would support it. (And once again, thanks to Speartackle and Tenth Dan for so doing.)
In the absence of regular forums in which the matter is discussed, as well as the generally amorphous nature of the local punk milieu, it’s difficult to measure the popularity of the boycott, and the extent to which it’s actually endorsed by local punks (and skins). Nevertheless, six gigs in nine months is undoubtedly a far lesser number than what would normally be the case for The Birmy, and I’m unaware of a band having previously cancelled a gig as a result of being made aware of the pub’s status as a neo-Nazi venue. Further, anecdotal evidence suggests that, even if they prefer to adopt a laissez-faire and classically bourgeois attitude towards neo-Nazi activists, many bands and their fans feel at least some obligation to take the proposal seriously, even if that means binding themselves in all sorts of ideological knots in an attempt to justify their (ultimately supine) position.
The Politics of Punk
In general, and predictably, opposition to the boycott has been most strongly expressed by the most reactionary elements in the local punk milieu, and by bands which have never been known to express especially subversive or oppositional politics. Such an approach is reinforced and cultivated by the by now decades-old corporate assault on punk sub-cultures, which seeks to remove any dissident elements from these sub-cultural domains in order to better facilitate the penetration of market forces, and bring about the concomitant reduction of punk to just another (currently lucrative) niche market. It also takes place in a broader political context in which middle class privilege has increasingly sought to replace a more combative, working class subjectivity, both in ‘mainstream’ but also ‘cultural’ politics. We are thus treated to a wide array of bands and labels proclaiming themselves to be ‘working class’, while at the time espousing attitudes, behaviours and political perspectives previously the hallmark of the middle and upper classes, and which function in order to preserve and to extend their interests.
Politics, of course, also has a personal dimension, and nowhere is this more fully revealed than when it comes time for someone to effectively declare, as in the present context, which side they’re on — and to thereby risk alienating, not only potential customers, but (potential) friends, too. Thus it isn’t especially surprising to discover that a band such as Bulldog Spirit, whose drummer is a fair dinkum neo-Nazi, should choose to support Gary and The Birmy. And, given the vocalist Doug’s membership of Marching Orders, neither is this latter band’s support for Gary and The Birmy unexpected (alongside of The Worst, the band has played three of the six punk gigs at The Birmy). At the same time, B&H’s reluctance to publicly disclose its activities is mirrored in local bands’ reticence to be honest about the personal commitments which render them less likely to take a stand against fascism and local neo-Nazi networks; often, for the very simple reason that they already form part of these networks.
Such is the case with Fiona Deadset and Jay Snapshot.
Words
Since I first raised this issue on my blog, I’ve received a number of responses, which may be divided into three main categories. The first is hate mail, chiefly abuse and/or ridicule, coming from members or supporters of B&H and/or the SCHS. (One of these fine folks, cj, is featured in the photograph at the beginning of this post.) The second consists of supportive statements. One of the first was from Jason Bastard of Bastard Squad, who wrote:
It’s about time we find out where our friends really stand. This is something that can no longer be ignored. The annual punk pub crawl happens this Saturday (September 30), and it usually finishes at the Birmy. I cannot believe that punks will still go to the Birmy after something as significant as this. Hypocrisy seems no longer an issue in today’s ‘anything goes’ apathetic punk scene. If punks go to the Birmy, even the fundamentals that we all share become null & void. It would be nothing less than ridiculing ourselves.
Unfortunately, Jason did just that. Nevertheless, in rhetoric at least, Jason is one of the few local punks to have publicly supported a boycott — which is quite unlike the sentiments expressed by those belonging to the third category, members of which devote time and energy to engaging in both elaborate but more often remarkably simple-minded apologetics for the pub and their continued support for it. Of these, one of the chief protagonists has been Red of Charter 77. Notably, Charter 77 was approached in 2002 in relation to this issue, following The Birmy’s then-recent hosting of a number of other neo-Nazi gigs. Then, as now, when asked for their support, the band said piss off; a position which is no doubt appreciated by and a source of some amusement to Gary and local boneheads (if few others).
All charges have been dropped against two women who were in court over impersonating police officers during a protest.
The women performed a Pirates of Penzance-style “theatrical gesture” to mock police before being arrested, a court heard today. One of the women – who perform a street act known as the Tranny Cops during protests – “had her thumbs in her belt and rocked back and forth on her toes”, an officer said. Under cross-examination, the officer said the movement was a “theatrical gesture” to indicate policemen. Police arrested Sarah Michelle Harrison, 28, of the Northern Territory, and Anika Vinson, 24, of Marrickville, at a rally against the Sydney visit of US Vice-President Dick Cheney on February 23.
Earlier in the day, the magistrate David Heilpern dismissed all charges against Ms Vinson… He said all evidence pointed to Ms Vinson wearing the uniform for the purposes of dance and street performance. The women were charged with one count of impersonating a police officer and exercising police powers and one count of wearing a police uniform while not being police officers.
NSW police prosecutor Matt Fordham told the Downing Local Court the women committed the offences when they attempted to direct two cars that had turned into Essex Street, The Rocks, during the early morning protest. At the time, a group of protesters and more than 100 police had gathered on the street two blocks from the Shangri-La Hotel where Mr Cheney was staying. Mr Fordham conceded at the start of the hearing that all matters before and after the women allegedly directed the cars at the protest “involved an element of street theatre”.
The women were recognised in the crowd by Senior Sergeant Ian Franke, who is attached to the APEC Security Command as a field intelligence co-ordinator. “I saw two persons dressed in dark clothing similar to officers on the police line,” he told the court. “I had seen photographs … of [them] dressed as they were on that day from an interstate police operation.”
Senior Sergeant Franke said he saw Ms Harrison walk towards two cars – a silver car and a black Mercedes – that were trying to turn into Essex Street where the protesters were gathered. He said he could see Ms Harrison had a moustache drawn on her top lip and Ms Vinson had sideburns drawn on the side of her face. “They were performing different actions, dancing, [and] one of them had her hands in the front of her genitals,” he said.
Senior Sergeant Franke said he saw Ms Harrison bend down to talk to the drivers and indicate with her right arm away from the group of protesters. Both cars drove out of the area shortly afterwards. He said he could not hear the conversation that took place either time and that he could not see the registrations of either vehicle involved. The women were arrested shortly afterward, allegedly directing cars, he said.
More than 100 Operational Support Group police officers were positioned between the protesters and the hotel and traffic flow into the streets around the hotel was restricted.
Entered into evidence were the clothes the women were wearing on the day, which included black boots, a black belt, blue overalls and a blue hat. Mr Fordham entered into evidence a symbol that was on the women’s uniforms that he said was similar to the Victorian police insignia. Mr Heilpern said: “I presume Victoria police haven’t seen it but they don’t have an anarchist sign in the middle [of their insignia].”
This video was made in North Sydney for the cost of $13,000. It was filmed on 16mm by the same bloke what done all them Ringo Starr videos. Incidentally, I’m reliably informed that the band were well pissed during the shoot…
The Last Words — Malcolm Baxter (vocals), Andy Groome (guitar), Leigh Kendall (bass), John Gunn (drums) — played and recorded in both Australia (Sydney) and the United Kingdom (London) from 1977 to 1980. The band’s most successful song, “Animal World”, considered by many pundits to be a punk classic, was released by the band three times on three different labels and in two different countries. In Australia it was one of the first DIY punk releases; and the first punk single to be released locally on a major label by an unknown band that had never played live. In the UK it was the first Australian punk single to appear on a major punk label (Rough Trade), and reached number 8 on the Alternative UK Charts. In 1982 it was covered by the French punk band Kidnap as “Another World”, and in 2006 Brazilian punks SCHK recorded it live for a television appearance (viewable online)… “Animal World” has also appeared on numerous compilations (including “Killed by Death”) but most notably on the “Inner City Sounds” CD released in 2005. “Wondering Why” was covered in 1980 as “Frag Mich Varoom”[?] by German punk band Eric Hysteric and the Esoterics. The Last Words also appear in numerous books on punk rock including George Gimarc’s Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter’s Guide to Underground Rock, 1970 – 1982 and Inner City Sounds published with the above CD of the same name.
The Last Words 1977 – 1980, released in 2007.
The first three tracks, “Animal World”, “No Music”, and “Every Schoolboy’s Dream” were recorded with producer Les Karski (of Supercharge fame) in 1978 when the band was signed to Wizard Records. Tracks four and five, “Today’s Kids” and “Something’s Wrong”, were recorded in London in 1979 on the band’s own Remand label and distributed that same year as a single, “Todays Kidz/There’s Something Wrong”, by Rough Trade, who had earlier released “Animal World” under license to Wizard. “Games”, “It’s Alright”, “Top Secret”, and “The Stranger” were all taken from the band’s self-titled LP which was produced in London by dub maestro Adrian Sherwood and released in 1980. The last two tracks, the original version of “Animal World” and “Wondering Why”, were written, recorded and released in Australia in 1977 on the band’s own Remand label, hence “original”. Located on the outskirts of western Sydney, the band comprised at that time only its founders, UK migrants Baxter and Groome, who played all instruments on this first, self-funded release.
Only five hundred copies of the Remand version of “Animal World” were pressed and these are still greatly sought after by collectors worldwide. The 1000 blue vinyl pressings of “Animal World” with “Every Schoolboy’s Dream” as the b-side, released by Wizard in 1978, is also a collector’s item. The Rough Trade release of “Animal World” with “No Music” on the flip side (1979) is valued by collectors for its picture sleeve and the “& Wizard” credit on the initial pressings.
However, their later releases, “Today’s Kids” and “Top Secret”, both in 1980, failed to duplicate the modest success of “Animal World”. Although noted for its dub cover version of Jefferson Airplane‘s “White Rabbit” and for its producer, Adrian Sherwood, the album, The Last Words, released in December 1980, did nothing to lift the band out of its relative obscurity. A recording (made by Eric Hysteric) of a gig at London University (March 1981, as support to Killing Joke) remains unreleased.
In 1979 Kendall played guitar on the Punks Are The Old Farts Of Today EP (Rock-O-Rama Records RRR 001) by the Vomit Visions. As The Esoterics, Groome (guitar, bass), Kendall (bass, guitar, vocals), Gunn (vocals) and Vomit Visions drummer Dieter Krist backed Eric Hysteric on the album Drive You Crazy (Wasted Vinyl Records, Waste 2, 1981), which includes “Frag Mich Warum”, the German version of “Wondering Why”, sung by Kendall. Groome and Kendall also played on three tracks (recorded before the album) released as Eric Hysteric solo singles — “Life” (Waste 45), “Fool Around” b/w “(I Wanna Be A) Kid Forever” (Waste 9) — in 1982 and 1983.
Singles:
Animal World / Wondering Why : Remand, RRCS 2439, 3/77 (only 500 copies pressed, plain white sleeve);
Animal World / Every Schoolboy’s Dream : Wizard, ZS 196, 11/78 (blue vinyl);
Animal World / No Music In The World Today : Rough Trade, RT 022, 7/79 (the first copies of this single had “& Wizard” printed beneath the Rough Trade logo);
Today’s Kidz / There’s Something Wrong : Remand 2, 2/80;
Top Secret / Walk Away (Version) : Armageddon Records, AS 002, 8/80.
Album:
The Last Words, Armageddon, ARM-2, 8/80
Walk Away – Top Secret – My Streets Of Fire – Games – Do It Yourself – Semi Detached Love – Today’s Kidz / Spectacular Times – The Stranger – It’s Alright – Every Schoolboy’s Dream – Never Never Man – White Rabbit
[Produced by Zen Gangsters (Adrian Sherwood), Berry St, London]
The Last Words, 1977 – 1980, Remand, 2007
Animal World – No Music – Every Schoolboy’s Dream – Today’s Kids – Something’s Wrong – Games – It’s Alright – Top Secret – The Stranger – Animal World (original) – Wondering Why (original)
1) a stupid, foolish person
2) a person that keeps making mistakes
3) a silly and inept person; someone who is regarded as stupid
4) one coming from Wally World. Wally World is brick and tile suburbia, proud of Christmas decorations along their streets: Penguin shirt, shorts, and a look of complete incomprehension; ‘what a Wally’
World of white supremacists
Suellen Jerrard The West Australian
July 9, 2007
A confessed racist reveals the dark side of the Australian Nationalist Movement…
A former right-hand man of Jack van Tongeren has given a rare insight into the white supremacist Australian Nationalist Movement, describing it as a misunderstood and unfairly portrayed political organisation despite its involvement in countless racist attacks.
Benjamin Weerheym said that for the most part the ANM was nothing more than a social club where members enjoyed playing pool, watching football and sharing a drink.
But the 30-year-old admitted there was a darker side that ranged from walking the streets in packs on recruitment drives and putting up political and racist posters to planning fire bombings and talk of shipping all non-Caucasians out of the country. Mr Weerheym believed the ANM ended up going too far in its “patriotic efforts”, prompting him to cut all ties with his life as a foot soldier on the streets of Perth during its resurgence from 2002 to 2004.
In June 2004, an ANM firebombing plot was uncovered, leading to the arrest of key ANM members including Mr van Tongeren, who spent more than two years in jail before being released last November on the understanding he would move interstate and end all political and criminal activities. He is believed to be pursuing life as an artist in country NSW.
Mr Van Tongeren’s deputy, John Van Blitterswyk, also declared that his involvement with the white supremacist movement was over when he was jailed earlier this year.
Mr Weerheym said the loss of Mr van Tongeren, who founded the ANM in 1985, was the death knell and he would be surprised if the organisation was still operating.
He, along with police, believed the ANM was not involved in a racially motivated arson attack last weekend on an East Victoria Park deli. “If people were still pushing the ANM thing they would have to be stupid because it’s the most well-known extremist organisation in WA and it has alienated anyone or any message of Australian patriotism,” he said.
Mr Weerheym admitted he still held what could be described as extreme Right views on issues such as immigration, refugees and multiculturalism but said his days of getting involved in illegal and questionable activities were over.
He denied being involved in the June 2004 firebombing plot, despite accompanying Mr van Tongeren, Van Blitterswyk and two other ANM members on a trip to Dwellingup where the plan evolved. He said he only made the trip as part of his job of filming the group’s activities for a never-completed propaganda movie.
But Mr Weerheym did receive a six-month suspended jail sentence two months later for his role in racist graffiti attacks in Perth. He was the driver.
“I’m thankful in a way that I got arrested when that all happened because my state of mind by that stage I’d fully immersed myself in that lifestyle and train of thought, this extremist train of thought and because I was reckless and didn’t give a damn I could have done something worse,” he said.
Mr Weerheym said he joined the ANM in 2002 “as an angry young man” struggling to come to terms with the death of his father to cancer and his mother’s long-running and eventually unsuccessful battle with the same disease. Frustrated by media reports about “criminals and refugees coming into the country under the guise of immigration”, Mr Weerheym wrote to Mr van Tongeren on his release from prison in July 2002.
It was people such as Mr Weerheym who helped Mr van Tongeren quickly rebuild the ANM after spending 12 years behind bars for an 18-month terror campaign of fire bombings, racist posters and burglaries aimed at driving Asians from WA.
Mr Weerheym said his main role was the propaganda movie. He also put up posters and got involved in recruitment. He claims he never witnessed or was involved in violence. “Most of the time it was like being in any club, it was one big party,” he said. “We played pool, watched footy and drank.” Mr Weerheym said there were also regular meetings involving some of the ANM’s hundreds of members and supporters across the State.
“Jack had some pretty radical ideas but a lot of them I thought were pretty pie in the sky, like a revolution where the central parliament would be in Alice Springs and that ’s where he’d move us all to, and totally impractical things that would never happen, like shipping all people of non-Caucasian heritage out,” he recalled.
Soon after, he moved to Albany, changed his name to Benedict Williams and started a new health and fitness career in a bid to escape his past, which he said was proving difficult.
Fightdemback, an Australia-New Zealand internet-based group that monitors the activities of white supremacists, alerted authorities in Albany to Mr Weerheym’s whereabouts. It led to him being charged and ordered to do 120 hours of community work for attempting to obtain a driver’s licence under his new name while under suspension.
Fightdemback Sydney-based spokesman Mat Henderson-Hau said while Mr Weerheym deserved a second chance and the ANM appeared to be defunct, his group would continue to closely monitor racist activities, given they tended to be cyclical.
Some think they’ll be halted
By spouting a lot of hot air
Others think you can stop them
By waving a yellow lollipop in the air
But we remember Mosley
And how Cable Street folk fought him
When we see the fash
We let the boots do the talking
Punks and sabs and travellers
And hippies and ravers too
They’d build another Auschwitz
This time for me and you
But we ain’t gonna take this
From some bonehead in the “master race”
He won’t be mastering anything
With a vegan steelie in his face!
~ Oi Polloi, ‘Let the Boots Do the Talking’ (1999)
Oi Polloi are proudly distributed, alongside of fascist / neo-Nazi / RAC and white power music such as Antagon, Battle Scarred, Condemned 84, Combat 84, Crashed Out, D.A., Get Out, The Gits, Hateful, Kampfzone, Knockdown, Marching On, Retaliator, Tattooed Motherfuckers and Unit Lost by local bonehead distro Deadshit Muzak.
…Six decades on the city has become the setting for a new conflict. Not far from St Petersburg’s glorious avenues, this dingy courtyard is a place of mourning. It’s where on one cold February evening in 2004, Yunus Sultonov lost his daughter.
YUNUS SULTONOV: I was the first to be beaten. I don’t know what happened next. When I came to my senses I started yelling – calling for help. Some people came, and my child was lying on the ground. She was taken inside, covered in blood. We undressed her and called an ambulance but she died in my arms.
GRIFFITHS: His daughter, Khursheda, was nine years old. The little girl had been stabbed repeatedly by a gang of young men. Of nine teenagers charged with her murder, one was let off and the others were found guilty of a far lesser charge.
GRIFFITHS: The family is from the Central Asian country of Tajikistan. There’s little doubt that Khursheda Sultonova was killed because of her dark skin and foreign appearance – a victim of St Petersburg’s new war waged by home grown Nazis…
Local neo-Nazis will be gathering in Melbourne on October 13 in order to celebrate the death in 1993 of Ian Stuart Donaldson, vocalist with the world’s most famous bonehead band Skrewdriver, and founder of Blood & Honour. Among those performing will be Murray Holmes of Quick & the Dead (and ex-Skrewdriver), Scott McGuinness of Fortress and Damien Ovchynik of Bail Up!. The gig is being organised by Blood & Honour Australia and another neo-Nazi gang the Southern Cross Hammerskins. Last year’s ISD Memorial was held at The Birminghman Hotel in Fitzroy, where this weekend local Melbourne ‘punk’ bands Distorted Truth, Sewer Cider, The Boots, The Worst and Wot Rot played, in spite of the call for a boycott. 65 years earlier, on July 7, 1942 Heinrich Himmler granted permission for sterilization experiments at Auschwitz:
Sterilization of women was carried out by the pumping of a thick white test fluid, consisting of contrast medium and some unknown chemical agents, into the uterus and tubes. Also sterilizing operations were performed, the uterus, tubes and even sometimes breasts being removed. Women experienced great suffering during test fluid experiments and after them. Usually salpingitis or peritonitis followed which often proved fatal.
These experiments were performed on young and healthy Jewish women of 20-30 years of age, who had regular periods, a not too narrow cervix and who had borne at least one child. After the experiments they often lost their periods. Experiments were repeated from two to six times at intervals of from three to four weeks. In their course an X-ray control was carried on by screening and an X-ray was taken afterwards. The experiments aimed at the obliteration of the tubes. This was to be achieved through the inflammation of the mucous membrane of the uterus and of the tubes. This, in conjunction with the inflammation of the internal genital organs and often of the peritoneum caused widespread adhesions and fibrothic changes. Men were also sterilized through suture of the vas deferense.
The total number of sterilization experiments was estimated by witnesses at about 3,000 and of the test fluid experiments at about 1,000…
It’s unknown at this stage if the memory of the Holocaust and such atrocities disturbed the celebrations.
Apparently there was an article in The West Australian this weekend on the same subject. Note that this story concerns a bloke who, among other things, threatened to set his dog onto my cat. It will be interesting to discover if he is any more honest in that article than he is in the following:
I’ve Changed – Ex Neo-Nazi Begs for Forgiveness
Richard Charlton Albany Advertiser
June 28, 2007
Albany resident Benjamin Weerheym, a former Australian Nationalist Movement recruit who now goes by the name of Benedict Williams, faced Albany Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to gains benefited by fraud and driving with no driver’s licence.
Williams, who had attempted to obtain a driver’s licence under his current name, received a 120-hour community-based order and a nine-month accumulated suspension of his driver’s licence.
After the hearing, he contacted the Albany Advertiser to tell his story of rehabilitation and growth.
Williams was recruited to the ANM in 2003. He admitted earlier this year in front of a Perth District Court jury that he and several other men had met with ANM leader Jack van Tongeren to discuss a campaign.
At the time, Williams told the court van Tongeren had given instructions to put up politically-motivated posters throughout Perth in 2004.
The Albany Advertiser understands Weerheym changed his name to Benedict Williams by deed poll in September, 2006.
Williams told the Albany Advertiser he had moved to Albany to “get away from it all” and claims he is not a racist or a white supremacist.
“That part of my life is finished and I am finished with those sorts of court appearances,” Williams said.
Williams said he had made some mistakes in his life which he desperately wanted to move away from.
“I came to Albany in February and I have found it to be a beautiful place with understanding and friendly people,” he said.
When Williams started to reflect on how he got drawn into the ANM he said: “After my father died I started looking at extremist websites and one year later, my mum died of cancer.
Williams forwarded to the Albany Advertiser details of an internet blog that he believed had been removed from the internet by “left-wing extremists” [! It’s still there: benweerheym.blogspot.com].
Excerpts from that blog include: “In July that year (2004), I, along with about eight members and associates of the ANM, were arrested as a result of a spate of graffiti and posters that were put over the front of Asian restaurants, a refugee advocate private residence and a Synagogue and mistakingly the wall of a War Widows Guild.
It continued: “I was not responsible for doing any of the graffiti, however I admitted to driving the vehicle for two others who did.”
According to the blog, Williams faced a six-month jail sentence, which was suspended for 12 months.
The blog reads: “At no time do I want anyone to think I am trying to make excuses for my actions, yet I am more hoping that people of more of an open mind that are understanding will take into account that there are always contributing factors and that those always deserve to be taken into consideration.”
Both Williams’ parents died within a short time of one another.
He describes his last moments with his mother who suffered from ovarian and bowel cancer: “I sat down and took her head in my hands and wept with my head against hers, this was the last time I would smell the life of my mother.”
Although these acts of life are not an excuse, he believes he was soon in a situation where he “felt obliged to undertake particular things that I was not comfortable with” within the ANM.
“I have been punished for my actions many times over, yet to this day I am attacked by people who would have us believe they are decent and welcoming members of society,” Williams said in his blog.
“I regret being involved with the ANM and its actions and am rather ashamed of it. I admit I made conscious decisions and getting myself involved in the goings-on of the group was my own doing.”
Williams affirms that to this day he is “still being vilified and victimised by certain people, people who are connected to, and even behind, anonymous phonecalls and emails to members of the community, employers, and the media”.
Protesters have blocked major municipal mass transportation lines, partially crippling public transportation services in Frankfurt.
Some 500 people held a [sit-in] at two of the city’s train stations, forcing police to drag them away one by one.
Dozens of protesters have been arrested so far as some 8,000 baton-wielding riot police from all over Germany were deployed to the south German city in a bid to prevent clashes between neo-Nazis and counter-demonstrators.
Frankfurt police have been put on high alert for the demonstration following last month’s riots in the northern port city of Rostock ahead of the Group of Eight (G8) summit in the German Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm.
Daniel McGowan is an environmental and social justice activist. He was charged in federal court on many counts of arson, property destruction and conspiracy, all relating to two incidents in Oregon in 2001. Until recently, Daniel was offered two choices by the government: cooperate by informing on other people, or go to trial and face life in prison. His only real option was to plead not guilty until he could reach a resolution of the case that permitted him to honor his principles. As a result of months of litigation and negotiation, Daniel was able to admit to his role in these two incidents, while not implicating or identifying any other people who might have been involved. Judge Aiken sentenced Daniel to 7 years in prison on June 4, 2007.
“Friends,
I received my first phone call from Daniel tonight. This is the first opportunity he has had to reach out from MDC. Overall, he is doing OK. We only got to talk for 15 minutes so there’s not all that much to report.
He is currently in the medical unit which, as far as I’m aware, is standard for people when they first arrive and are being processed. Until he is out of this unit he will not have access to his commissary or be able to receive visits. As far as we know, he will only be able to receive visits from family at MDC. Once he reaches the prison he will serve the rest of his time in, he should be able to see friends too.
Daniel said he is eating and sleeping OK, but of course it’s nothing like home. He has been able to play a bit on the basketball courts and socialize with a few people.
As I was on the phone with him he received his very first pieces of mail and I could tell that made his day. When I first got on the phone with him he was a little down because he hadn’t gotten any mail. Please make sure to keep sending letters to him. Send notes about your life, about what’s going on in the world, news stories, gossip, whatever! ANY mail is better than no mail.
You can find mail guidelines here and his address below:
DANIEL McGOWAN
#63794-053
MDC BROOKLYN
METROPOLITAN DETENTION CENTER
P.O. BOX 329002
BROOKLYN, NY 11232
Thank you for keeping Daniel in your thoughts.
Jenny.”
Contact FriendsofDanielMcG[at]yahoo.com with any questions. Family and Friends of Daniel McGowan, c/o Lisa McGowan, PO Box 106, New York NY 10156-106, UNITED STATES. See also: Green Scare Update (June 14, 2007)
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?"
