What is your idea of perfect happiness?
An abstract and highly unconvincing portrait of a time and a place far, far away.
What is your greatest fear?
Living. Or possibly dying.
What historical figure do you most identify with?
Mr. Nobody.
Which living person do you most admire?
Joe Hill.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My boundless sense of optimism.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Good taste.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Belief.
On what occasion do you lie?
On what occasion do I not?
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Its impact upon others.
What is your favorite journey?
When I go somewhere, I’ll tell you.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Discernment.
Which living person do you most despise?
Is a cutthroat competition.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Those I’m forced to when confronted by the ignorance and stupidity which seemingly constitutes the essence of this, the best of all possible worlds / “Oh, is that the time?”
What is your greatest regret?
My life.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Cool story, bro.
When and where were you happiest?
Yesterday and elsewhere.
Which talent would you most like to have?
The one that pays.
What is your current state of mind?
Calmly, savagely, restfully berserk.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My choices.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
Its size.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?
Depressing.
If you could choose what or who to come back as, what would it be?
Meaningless.
What do your consider your greatest achievement?
Going unnoticed.
What is your most treasured possession?
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Daytime television.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Perversity.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Distance.
What is the quality you most admire in a woman?
Gullibility.
What do you most value in your friends?
Profligacy.
Who are your favourite writers?
Unread.
Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
The Anarchist.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Obscure and unfortunate.
What are your favourite names?
Cthulhu. Barry. Horatio. Hufnagel.
What is it that you most dislike?
Work.
How would you like to die?
How would you like a punch on the nose?
What is your motto?
Imagine a sphere of metal vast as the sun. Imagine that once every ten thousand years a sparrow should visit it and brush it with its wings. When that ball had been worn to nothing, we would still be in Hell, we would still be the howling damned who do not see God’s face.
EUROPOL has released its annual survey of terrorism in the EU: TE-SAT 2011: EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2011. Analysis of ‘Left-wing and anarchist terrorism in the EU’ is extracted below. See alsoEuropol: Arab spring poses terrorist threat to EU (Andrew Rettman, EUobserver, April 19, 2011):
The annual survey, the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report, out on Tuesday (19 April) covering events in 2010, noted that the vast majority of terrorist incidents in the EU last year came from separatist groups such as Eta in Spain or the Turkish group, the PKK/Kongra-Gel.
Foiled or successful separatist attacks accounted for 160 out of the total 249 cases in 2010, compared to 45 far-left incidents and just three Islamist cases.
Rettman notably misinterprets the report when he writes that “Europol said far-left and anarchist groups in Europe have traditionally used a Marxist-Leninst discourse of anti-capitalism, anti-militarism and anti-authoritarianism”, while the PKK — formally identified as a terrorist organisation by the Australian Government — was the subject of police repression in August of 2010.
Otherwise, the release of the report comes a few weeks after a Wave of raids and arrests against anarchist networks in Italy, the acquittal (in early 2010, after an attempted frame-up) of The Belgrade Six (unmentioned in the report) and a bombing in Minsk which has been speculated (by authorities) may have been the work of anarchists.
Note that, closer to home, trials against a range of individuals (mostly indigenous) are soon (May 30) to commence in Aotearoa/New Zealand, almost four years after the initial arrests (October 15, 2007). For more infos, please see : October 15 Solidarity and the superb Whenua Fenua Enua Vanua blog. Note that resistance to the Green Scare in the United States also continues and that June 11 is an international day of solidarity with Marie Mason and Eric McDavid.
7. Left-wing and anarchist terrorism
• 45 left-wing and anarchist terrorist attacks occurred in 2010
• 6 fatalities including 1 Greek police officer
• 34 individuals arrested for left-wing and anarchist terrorist activities
• Increased violence in attacks
• Increased transnational coordination between terrorist and extremist left-wing and anarchist groups
Left-wing terrorist groups seek to change the entire political, social and economic system of a state according to an extremist left-wing model. Their ideology is often Marxist-Leninist. The agenda of anarchist terrorist groups is revolutionary and anti-capitalist but also antiauthoritarian.
An increasing number of Member States are now making a distinction between the activities of left-wing and anarchist groups. This distinction is reflected in the descriptive parts of this report, but does not show in the statistics. A number of incidents which occurred in the EU were claimed by anarchist groups, most often on the internet. They were prosecuted as extremist attacks, as opposed to terrorist attacks, and therefore do not appear in the statistics since these cover terrorist attacks exclusively.
7.1. Terrorist attacks and arrested suspects
In 2010, left-wing and anarchist groups remained very active in Europe. More attacks occurred than in previous years and the increased use of violence in their actions led to six fatalities.
Traditionally, these groups are most active in Greece, Italy and Spain. However, a number of other countries have also seen increased activity in 2010. Social unrest among the population, caused by the global economic downturn and the reduction of state spending on social welfare, may have influenced this development, which has been noticeable since 2007. The modus operandi in a number of attacks showed signs of increased internationalisation of left-wing and anarchist groups – although both have historically been international in outlook.
In 2010, a total of 45 terrorist attacks by left-wing and anarchist groups were reported by Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Spain. This represents an increase of 12% compared to 2009. In Greece, five terrorist groups carried out a total of 20 attacks – an increase of over 30% compared to 2009.
Increased violence in left-wing and anarchist attacks, which has been seen since 2007, persisted in 2010. In Greece, attacks claimed the lives of six people in 2010. The explosion of a parcel bomb at the Ministry for Citizen Protection on 24 June killed a police officer. On 19 July, a journalist was murdered outside his house. This particularly violent attack involving firearms was claimed by the organisation Sekta Epanastaton [Sect of Revolutionaries / Armed Struggle for Revolutionary Independence Sect of Revolutionaries] and it could be linked to the assassination of a police officer in 2009. Both of these attacks were clearly designed to kill. Despite the fact that left-wing and anarchist extremists generally try to avoid casualties in most of their attacks, a 15-year-old boy died on 28 March when he manipulated an explosive device ostensibly placed to carry out a terrorist attack; his mother and sister were injured. During a demonstration in Athens on 5 May, anarchists caused a fire in a bank, which resulted in the death of three employees.
The proportion of bomb attacks increased from 20% in 2009 to 51% in 2010, while arson attacks remained at the same level of 42%. Since 2008, government targets have continued to be favoured over business targets.
Anarchist groups in Spain are mainly active in Catalonia; they carried out 16 attacks in 2010. Most were arson attacks, targeting business and governmental interests, without causing injuries.
Although traditionally most attacks occur in Greece, Italy and Spain, in 2010, an arson attack damaged the Greek Embassy in the Czech Republic. A job centre in the Austrian capital, Vienna, was also targeted.
34 persons were arrested for left-wing and anarchist offences in 2010. These arrests took place in five EU Member States: Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain. The majority of those arrested for left-wing and anarchist violence were suspected of membership of a terrorist organisation.
Successful law enforcement operations have led to a significant increase in the number of suspects arrested in Greece and have also led to the dismantling of one of the country’s main terrorist organisations. In March, the terrorist organisation Epanastatikos Agonas [Revolutionary Struggle] was dismantled after the arrest of six persons and the seizure of several machine guns, a rocket launcher, hand grenades, and explosive materials. The investigation into the parcel bomb campaign of November resulted in the arrest of 12 suspected members of Synomosia Pyrinon Fotias [Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei].
The downward trend in left-wing terrorism in Spain is illustrated by the decreasing number of arrests since 2007. The organisation Grupos Antifascistas Primer de Octubre (GRAPO) [First of October Antifascist Groups] did not re-establish after it was dismantled in recent years. In Italy, no attacks were attributed to leftwing terrorist groups in 2010, as a result of a number of successful investigations in 2009.
7.2. Terrorist and extremist activities
Some attacks in 2010 showed signs of increased transnational
coordination between groups. A parcel bomb campaign in November targeted various embassies, foreign Heads of State, and European institutions.
It is the first time that the Greek terrorist organisation Synomosia Pyrinon Fotias has staged such a large-scale synchronised attack, which attracted widespread media coverage. The motive and selection of targets remain unclear. It appears that the organisation has raised its profile towards a more international dimension. An international call for action was issued in a communiqué and promptly caused similar actions in Italy and Argentina.
Two out of three parcel bombs, which were sent to the Swiss, Chilean and Greek embassies in Rome on 23 and 27 December, exploded and caused minor injuries. The attacks were claimed by FAI (Federazione Anarchica Informale) [Informal Anarchist Federation].
The Chilean and Swiss embassies were targeted to express solidarity with imprisoned ‘comrades’ – a typical motive for anarchist groups. An important field of action for members of the left-wing scene has remained the confrontation with right-wing opponents. This occurs under the guise of discrediting ‘fascist’ campaigns, targeted attacks on individuals, assets and property, and direct physical confrontation during demonstrations.
In January, the Danish police arrested a group of left-wing extremists. One of them is suspected of having planned and organised violent attacks against various radical right-wing opponents. An increase in tensions towards extreme right-wing groups was also noticed in Italy. Although the Swedish anarchist movement weakened slightly in 2010, there were a number of attacks against right-wing political opponents and violent confrontations between the two groups. In the run-up to the parliamentary elections, a number of political parties were targeted by anarchist extremists. Most offences were in the form of wilful damage and there were relatively few physical attacks on individuals. The Czech Republic reported a decline in violent confrontations between left- and rightwing groups.
Besides traditional ideological themes such as anti-capitalism, anti-militarism and anti-fascism, in 2010 left-wing and anarchist extremists also focused on the global economic recession. A number of EU Member States experienced large-scale protests against austerity measures taken by governments to reduce the debt burden and stem the impact of the economic crisis. The arson attack against a job centre in Austria can also be placed in this context.
In some instances, the ranks of protesters were infiltrated by extremist groups, which resulted in violent clashes with police. However, attempts to gain ground amongst the population are generally seen as unsuccessful in most Member States.
In Belgium and Italy, increased activity by anarchist groups on topics such as anti-authority, anti-law enforcement and anti-prison issues continued in 2010. The trend of using more violence in such attacks, which was already identified in last year’s report, persisted. Anarchist groups do not hesitate to enter into direct confrontation with law
enforcement personnel. This was seen in Belgium, where a police station was attacked, another one was the subject of an arson attack, and several police vehicles were damaged.
Germany reported a considerable decrease in the number of offences related to left-wing and anarchist extremism. Austria also observed a general decrease in anarchist activities, except in the capital Vienna. Squatters, who were rather active in 2009, only staged a few uncoordinated actions.
The indications that international coordination is developing, is exemplified by the choice of common targets in different cities or countries, as well as the use of similar modus operandi or series of initiatives by different groups in solidarity with imprisoned comrades. In this regard, the increase in arrests in Greece will result in some important court cases which could trigger more solidarity attacks across Europe. Therefore, anarchist violence can be expected to continue developing in the European Union in 2011.
A useful introduction to neo-Nazism is The Beast Reawakens (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1997) by Martin A. Lee. The ‘Introduction’ to the book is available online here. Otherwise, a brief guide to local (Australian) neo-Nazi reich ‘n’ roll can be read elsewhere on my blog, while Czech antifa have recently produced a handy guide to ‘Rock Against Communism’ here.
‘Kill Baby Kill’ is one of several bands mentioned in the guide, and it’s worth noting that KBK toured here several years ago (2008). In order to avoid a prison term for assault, Dieter Samoy, the lead singer, committed suicide upon returning home to Belgium. I should also add that the neo-Nazi KBK is no relation to the band from Alabama. Otherwise, local nazis recently celebrated their superior status on the Gold Coast, and will Carry On Sieg Heiling in Melbourne come September.
Finally, note that various neo-Nazi groups will be marching across Europe, including the Czech Republic, on May Day — not without resistance, of course, and a massive police escort. (Although in Germany it appears that the NPD has opted to organise for April 30.) For their part, Czech antifa have organised a gathering for May Day which includes speakers such as John Holloway and bands like Heaven Shall Burn, who done wrote covered the following ditty:
There is only one thing worse than be taken as an enemy of News Limited, St Oscar might have written, and that is to be taken up as their friend. Take the case of Bess Price for example. Price is an Alice Springs-based indigenous activist, about whom opinion tends to divide quite markedly. Some see her as a truth teller; others as someone who speaks for communities — such as Yuendumu — that she doesn’t live in.
She was a strong supporter of the Howard government Northern Territory intervention, and is much-feted by the Bennelong Society, the pro-assimilationist lobby group. She speaks several languages, holds a science degree and has worked in a wide variety of fields. Oh, and she’s also worse than having s-x with a horse.
Yeah well anyway, in New Jersey a coupla Hollywood Nazis belonging to the “We’re-not-racist” National Socialist Movement paid an unscheduled visit to the hospital on the weekend (apparently the result of an attack by ARA activists) though others still managed — with the assistance of ZOG’s police forces — to hold a rally the following day, and possibly even a pop concert later that night (*ing household names such as Empire Falls and Zyklon B). Police arrested two men who’ve been charged and given 50K bail. The event is sure to provoke a lot of Internet drama… but whatever. (See also : Laurence Hammack, Judge postpones decision on neo-Nazi Bill White, The Roanoke Times, April 5, 2011.)
On the Gold Coast, Australian nazis gathered together to listen to some patriotic hymns/odes to the Third Reich. Sadly, the opportunity to stage a rap battle with Snoop Dogg and his entourage was not realised. On the other hand, as the boneheads will almost certainly be back next year, and as “Mr Dogg” is seeking Australian citizenship, the future looks promising.
Otherwise, Sydney band T.H.U.G. has been gaining some attention recently, for reasons of both music but also, sadly, neo-Nazi politics. SeeT.H.U.G. – T.H.U.G. LP (Rock’N’Roll Disgrace) by Chuck Foster (The Big Takeover, April 14, 2011), ‘Sunday Night Safran’ (JJJ, March 27) and elsewhere.
In the UK:
Egos, money, factionalism and more egos seem to be the order of the day for the far right. The English Defence League has been riven by the inevitable splits over regions, football teams and the political differences that seem to characterise most of the far right organisations in the UK.
In Russia, antifa are training hard, and Australian punk rock is their soundtrack.
Apparently.
Comrades! I bring you this special report on the Russian Antifa movement with a translation from a friend:
Man: “Some people discuss or even laugh about prejudices but others still use them for hate and this can have a bad ending.”
Woman: “For example in Russia xenophobia is rising yearly and every year there are up to 600 racist attacks registered. Now there is a countermovement which declared war on the Moscow neo-Nazis – and both sides are armed.
2. Then the report starts. “Firing practice in a forest close to Moscow. The members of the radical left wing movement Antifa declared war on the nazis.”
Interview: “Most of the serious nazis wear guns on them and therefore we mustn’t be worse equipped. They were the first ones who used knives and then we did as well. Same thing with the guns, it was necessary.”
3. Report: “This video was uploaded by Russian neo-Nazis. 37 people were killed because of xenophobia and more than 400 have been wounded. “Blacks”, that’s what they call the people from the Caucasian and Asian region. Their lives aren’t safe in the streets of Moscow.”
4. Interview: “In the past years some of our friends have been killed by the fascists. It’s clear to us that there is no way back and that this can happen to all of us. Formerly you could speak about animosity between adolescents but now it’s about surviving.”
5. Report: “And therefore they train every day. They’re between 16 and 30 years old – about 1000 young people call themselves Antifa. The journalist Dimitry has been there for 5 years. He thought that only writing wasn’t enough when he realized that the police were barely doing anything against the growing neo-Nazi scene.”
6. Interview: “Now we have a large amount of fascists here and we have them because not too long ago they could organize their shows without any problems. Concerts, seminars, demonstrations – and this is how they attracted new people. Now things have changed because we’re here. Nowadays they don’t let everybody enter their concerts.”
7. Report: “With attacks like this one the people of the Antifa want to scare other adolescents and prevent them from joining the nazis. They followed this neo-Nazi in the city in order to beat him up in the subway.”
8. Interview: “It comes to fights regularly. We often do this in the wagons because these are closed rooms and nobody can escape – often things go on brutally.”
“ALTERTA, ALERTA, ANTIFASCISTA” is what the Antifa protesters shout. They try to make headlines with a riot.”
9. Interview: “A big part of our work consists of education. we try to spread our standpoint over the internet. We distribute fliers or organize our own events like festivals, presentations or movies.”
Report: “Punk rock is their music. They sing about the fight against the racists.”
10. Interview: “The nazis immediately tried to inhibit our events. They attacked us. Some of us were killed at those concerts. For example some nazis came before the beginning of the concert and stabbed the young people.”
Report: “The band No One Else is one of the most famous ones in the scene. The musicians don’t want to be recognized in the fear of nazi attacks.”
11. Interview: “The government hasn’t done anything against the nazis. They turned away. This was then the task of other people who understood that something has to be done, that you cannot keep the things the way they are.”
Report: “Loudly they announce their message, the Russians are responsible for the problems in their country, not the foreigners.”
This one’s all about the track. Sure, you can still go here and “become an M&M,” but is that really what stuck in your head about this ad? Sure, the clever anthropomorphic candies are all types of jocular fun, but really, it was the song, that catchy accordion-and-violin-laden 80s jingle with the baritone vocals and uplifting message. Classic.
Company / Product: M & Ms Ad: Inner M Agency: BBDO New York Year: 2007 Music: The The – This is the Day
note that the international bolshevik tendency maintains that “The [Workers’ Solidarity Movement’s] anti-imperialism is confused in theory, and inconsistent in practice.”
but then, aren’t we all?
antifa
michael c. tuggle in right-wing smarty-pants taki’s mag has a crack at The Antifa Fad: Totalitarian Anti-Fascism . in germany, meanwhile, police have launched a crackdown on violent baristas. also in germany, veteran fascist gottfried kuessel has been arrested for internet nastiness. yeah, that gottfried kuessel:
Gottfried Kuessel was a wealthy Viennese Nazi who was more willing to compromise with mainstream rightwing political parties. He spoke with ease to all kinds of people and was once seriously considered a possible future prime minister of Austria. His apartment, in one of Vienna’s more exclusive neighborhoods, featured life-sized authentic models of SS men, a giant caricature of a Jew from the Nazi years (used as a dartboard at lighter moments), and a toilet with a large blue star of David painted inside the bowl.
blogs
angry news from around the world is what it says on the label: a laundry list of angry (political) actions from around the world. North of Nowhere is a a blog by an australian writer currently living in accra, ghana (a city i will never visit)… or maybe melbourne, australia (a city from which i cannot escape). SnitchWire‘s latest report, meanwhile, reveals the fact that key elf informant jake ferguson has been busted for drugs.
A little more than a year ago, well-known conservative political commentator Andrew Breitbart called Brandon Darby and thanked him for saving his life during the 2008 Republican National Convention. “You have an ally for life in me,” Breitbart told him.
Darby, once a leftist radical who by 2008 was an informant for the FBI, had notified authorities of an anarchist plot to hurl Molotov cocktails at the conservative gathering. Federal agents arrested two young radicals before the attack could be carried out…
This is the transcript of the seminar “From Tute Bianche to the Book Bloc: the Italian movement and the coming European insurrection”. [italian version]
It seems a century has gone by since the political season of the Tute Bianche (White Overalls), but it was only a little over ten years ago. Ten years in which much has happened. Despite the historical shifts that have taken place in these past ten years, rebellious students in Rome and in London last autumn endorsed the experience of conflict invented by the Tute Bianche: shields and helmets for body protection; violation of the red zones and of the headquarters of institutional political power, barricaded behind their edifices, with no democratic relationship with society.
Such practices weren’t merely an imitation of the previous experiences of conflict, but in fact gave a whole new reading to them, an absolutely original one and a very effective one: shields were replaced by the book- shields, armour displaying the point that knowledge has become the means of physical protection for those protesting against the dismantlement of the public university, against job insecurity and unemployment. There are many more differences marking this new interpretation of the conflict. Let’s continue in order…
The Steve Austin Alliance is/was a Facebook group for homophobes serving (or having served) in the Australian Army.
Or, alternatively, a Facebook group for fans of Steve Austin who also happened to be homophobes serving or having served in the Australian Army.
In either case, the well-oiled killing machine has been slow to act against the alleged members of the group–harassment of the sort engaged in by the Alliance being against The Law or Morality or The Rules of War or something–and now The Pink Mafia has outed the unruly fans of the Texas wrestling icon (who also hate fags).
Or, alternatively, YouTube has failed to close down the channel which does. Note that the channel user claims makers of the vilificatory videos also don’t like The Jews and other minorities very much:
Early in 2010, a large group of Australian Army soldiers and ex-soldiers became friends of a gay hate website aiming to victimise gays in the Australian Defence Force, especially in the Special Forces commando regiment.
In doing so, they aligned themselves with the creator of associated videos.
The sequence of linked videos and comments contains extreme racist, anti gay, anti [J]ewish, anti democracy and pro terrorism content.
Some members of this group wore uniform and carried weapons in the photos associated with the site.
It appeared to be a public, united rebellion against Army and Australian laws.
In addition to the website, targets of this group were abused through associated videos, and intimidation at home and at work…
Of course, and on the other hand, if serving Australian soldiers want to engage in a violent, pornographic Internet hate campaign against their comrades-in-arms, why shouldn’t they?
THE Australian Defence Force has failed to fully investigate and punish dozens of serving members linked to an online social media campaign that publicly named and vilified homosexual personnel…
THE Australian Defence Force has failed to properly investigate and punish dozens of serving members allegedly linked to a social media campaign designed to expose and intimidate homosexual personnel…
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?"
