Richard Poplawski posted dozens of racist and anti-Semitic messages on a far-right Web site over a span of 15 months, decrying race-mixing, sharing his thoughts on the best weapons and predicting chaos as the economy collapsed at the hands of “Zionist occupation,” investigators said.
“It seems to me that our enemies would like nothing more than to see us retreat peaceably into the hills so that they could continue raping the remainder of the land without having to worry about any ‘kooks’ putting up a fight,” reads one post dated Nov. 1, 2008. “I’ll subscribe to the camp that believes we are running out of time. A revolutionary is always regarded as a nutcase at first, their ideas dismissed as fantasy.”
An account kept on Stormfront, a gathering place for racial extremists and others from the far right, shows Mr. Poplawski’s increasing belief in a coming economic and political collapse in the days leading up to the time of the deadly standoff in which he is charged with killing three Pittsburgh police officers.
“I’ve been a longtime lurker on Stormfront, and I see myself probably ramping up the activism in the near future,” reads a Nov. 28 post on the account identified as his.
Details of Mr. Poplawski’s extreme racial and political views came to light yesterday when a leading researcher at the Anti-Defamation League delved into his postings at Stormfront, a white supremacist Web site run by a former Ku Klux Klan leader in Florida…
* Richard Poplawski was a white supremacist arrested in Pittsburgh on April 4, 2009, for the murder of three Pittsburgh police officers responding to a domestic violence call.
* Poplawski believed that the federal government, the media, and the banking system are all largely or completely controlled by Jews. He thought African-Americans were “vile” and non-white races inferior to whites.
* He also believed that a conspiracy led by “evil Zionists” and “greedy traitorous goyim” was “ramping up” a police state in the United States for malign purposes.
* Web sites like the neo-Nazi Stormfront forums and the anti-government conspiracy Infowars site fueled his racist, anti-Semitic, and conspiratorial mindset.
Blood & Honour Australia
Speaking of Jew-hating, Blood & Honour has received small mention by Your ABC. Despite unhappy noises coming from the RSL, ‘…Ian from Blood and Honour Australia says it is pure coincidence the concert is planned for Anzac Day. “We’ve always had a mid-year concert around April,” he said. “The weather is a little bit warmer, it’s not too cold, but unfortunately this year it happened to fall on the 25th which is no significance at all or no reference to Anzac Day at all”.’
The Perth representative of B&H is Murray Holmes. Murray plays bass in the band Quick & the Dead (who are scheduled to play the ANZAC Day gig with Melbourne band Ravenous). Q&TD were the first bonehead group to form in Australia, and after the band broke-up in the early ’80s, members of the band later joined others: Skrewdriver in the UK and White Lightning in Australia.
White Lightning has recently evolved into Sydney band T.H.U.G., and will be joining a Jimmy Pursey-less Sham 69 and The Business when they play Sydney @ the Gaelic Club on April 24.
Like Sham’s previous tour, the 2009 tour is being organised by Faultline Touring. Faultline have “a wealth of knowledge and a punk rock ethos”. And it was thanks to this wealth and ethical commitment that T.H.U.G. supported Sham in Melbourne @ the East Brunswick Hotel on the 71st anniversary of the Spanish Revolution last year. T.H.U.G’s drummer Simon has happy memories of touring Melbourne with his former band White Lightning:
What is the best memory with White Lightning and or any other “scene thing”?
Simon: Best memory was playing a gig in Melbourne, in some pub, can’t remember which, full swing into it and about 30 Maoris drinking in the front bar… I’m sure you can picture what happened. Bedlam. We managed to protect all our gear however. Mic stands make magnificent clubs…
Stupid fucking Maoris
As for Murray, a Greek bonehead interviewed him a coupla years ago. Here’s what he had to say:
At present [I]’m an ex Skrewdriver member bass player at 46 years of age living in country town called Harvey. I have a business as a refrigeration and air-conditioning service centre. Life here is very very dull as there is [sic] no boneheads or nationalist socialists. There is a lot of would bees [sic] if they could be a nationalist socialist. Every one here hates blacks and Asians. We have a very big population of Italians now into third and fourth generation that have simulated [sic] well over the years. I remember my father despising them as they were immigrants after WW2. They came in their thousands and it upset a lot of Australians. I would fight with them at school and after leaving school fight with them on the streets. Yes we called them wogs and any other European immigrants.
Enter the Asians.
Australian immigration has been letting in so called refugees from all these sand nigger countries now for years. Slowly but surely the numbers have increased to an epidemic proportion. Then it was the Italians and Australian[s] against the Asians and we joined forces. Now it[‘]s Asian triads against Asians. Laugh my arse off. They are fighting among themselves through drugs gambling and crime, the tide has turned on the face of Australia…
Also : I Ain’t Thick, It’s Just a Trick//The Gasman Cometh//Banned From the Roxy//Where Next Colombus?//Do They Owe Us a Living?//Securicor//Demoncrats//Big A, Little A//Walls (Fun In The Oven).
“Andy from slackbastard is just a loudmouth leftie keyboard warrior and nothing to worry about.” ~ Nicole Hanley
Melbourne Punx Forum:
“The fact that people read this blog doesn’t mean that it’s anything more [than] a pile of self indulgent self serving drivel. So people read your blog. That’s fine. Some people are happy to drink swill.” ~ Nowave, October 25, 2008
“9000 visits wow. Oh my god that totally changes my opinion of this blog. I’m going to go jack off with Noam Chomsky.” ~ Nowave, October 25, 2008
“We can see [@ndy] spends all day sitting on his arse at his computer, finding any excuse he can to demonstrate that everyone’s a nazi…except him.” ~ Psycho 78, October 16, 2008
“As great as the name Slack Bastard is maybe you should consider changing it to Misinformed Twat.” ~ Reverend Jack Petty (The Beefeaters), February 9, 2008
“Honestly, I am going to fucking kill you. I hope it was worth it.” ~ Joel, December 10, 2007
“The one barrier me and my buddies have regarding beating the shit out of you is your anonymity… Give me your name, address, daytime and night time contact phone numbers, and I promise you I will beat the fucking shit out of you and then make a black man take a shit in your face” / “@ndy you’re a fucking idiot mate and you better watch your back because when me and my mates are out and about, if we see you, ur dead” / “@ndy im still going to bash you, fukn gooknigger scum” ~ Mark Bastard (Doug Smith‘s mate), December 2007
“Your shitty little website there is probably better off being a gig website.” ~ chungacunt (The Worst), September 23, 2007
“I’ve got to give it to Welf and his cadre for having the restraint from braining these fools. New Right/New Reich!? That’s not even original!” ~ “Ean Frick”, attackthesystem, September 14, 2007
From 20 Jun 2008 to 6 Apr 2009
AU – Australia 51,441
US – United States 36,218
GB – United Kingdom 13,295
CA – Canada 3,525
DE – Germany 3,206
NZ – New Zealand 2,344
FR – France 1,453
GR – Greece 1,409
PL – Poland 1,200
ES – Spain 1,118
NL – Netherlands 1,035
SE – Sweden 807
IT – Italy 768
IE – Ireland 711
FI – Finland 697
BG – Bulgaria 652
BE – Belgium 587
CZ – Czech Republic 575
IN – India 539
DK – Denmark 500
BR – Brazil 433
NO – Norway 428
TR – Turkey 416
CH – Switzerland 387
JP – Japan 370
PT – Portugal 352
RU – Russian Federation 349
MX – Mexico 332
AT – Austria 318
SG – Singapore 316
SK – Slovakia 289
CN – China 275
RO – Romania 273
HU – Hungary 258
PH – Philippines 236
MY – Malaysia 230
IL – Israel 223
RS – Serbia 222
HR – Croatia 222
ID – Indonesia 220
EU – Europe 215
ZA – South Africa 187
SI – Slovenia 171
TH – Thailand 164
AR – Argentina 153
CL – Chile 152
KR – Korea, Republic of 133
AE – United Arab Emirates 133
HK – Hong Kong 130
SC – Seychelles 129
CY – Cyprus 114
CO – Colombia 112
SA – Saudi Arabia 110
UA – Ukraine 100
If this is God’s country, then it’s clear God has a predilection towards fair-haired folk. Pulling into Cronulla station, an hour’s sweaty slog south of Sydney’s Central, the train is packed solid. Nothing all that unusual there — it is N.S.W. public transport after all. In this case, though, it’s packed with sun-bleached locals, kissed with a glow that only comes from seaside living.
Cronulla is a proud suburb — one that, rightly or wrongly, has become inextricably linked to a new kind of national fervour, a fervour that for the last couple of years has been mustering itself in an overkill of flag-waving, chest-beating and Southern Cross tattoos. A pride that shocked the world in the riots of late 2005, and reared its head again at another Sydney seaside suburb, Manly, last Australia Day.
I’m in Cronulla to interview three members of the pro-white, anti-immigration political group the Australian Protectionist Party. That it happens to be in Cronulla is nothing more than fate, delicious irony. The interview’s planned for one of the pubs by the sea. Unfortunately two of the APP guys baulk at the media attention and are a no-show — the third, a 24-year-old postal worker, Ben Smith, is sent instead as the solitary spokesman.
Smith is boyish, svelte with cobalt-blue eyes, hoary skin and short-cut blond hair. He’s nervous and reads from crib notes when stumped by questions. I’m guessing he’s been sent to parrot the APP’s mantra and the notes are to ensure he doesn’t stray off course.
Smith tells me he’s a nationalist and that I’m wrong to call the APP a right-wing party. “I’m a normal Aussie patriot”, he says. He’s adamant, too, that he’s not some “white supremacist Nazi nut”.
“We disagree with this idea of multiculturalism”, he says. “Australia has a pure ethnic core and that’s white European and there’s a culture, a way of life that sprang from that and something we want to preserve. That’s the thing about immigration in this country: Immigration good, concern about immigration bad.”
Smith, a Cronulla local, says he wasn’t involved in the riots back in 2005, but empathises with how and why it happened.
“Those people”, he says, his eyes watering with anger, “those Lebos have been coming down here for years to harass people, harass girls in bikinis, to intimidate. They don’t know anything else but violence. The riots were a case of a community boiling up, boiling up, boiling up — people were saying ‘We’ve had enough; we’re taking a stand against this’.”
It’s Smith’s view that the Cronulla area is uniquely Anglo with its brick homes, utes on lawns, surf culture and Christian churches. “Yes it is a white area”, he says. “That’s its strength, but people are threatened by it, they want that destroyed. It has old-fashioned Australian values and people want that protected.”
Recently Sudanese refugees have been resettled in the area, something Smith believes smacks of a conspiracy. “I think politicians seriously believe we are too white down here”, he says. “But I sympathise with them (the refugees) — they’re not welcome, they’re not going to fit in, it’s a recipe for disaster.
“I almost feel sorry for these migrants, the Muslims. They come here, they can’t speak the language, they can’t assimilate; it’s too much of an upheaval for them to come to this country. That’s where multiculturalism has failed, it’s created this friction, this tension and violence.”
It therefore comes as no surprise that Smith is wary of the recent bridge building measures to incorporate Lebanese kids into the local surf life saving club. “These people would rather see an Australian drown than save them”, he says seriously. “They won’t be happy until Australia becomes a Muslim country.”
…
John Bastick is former editor of FHM Australia. FHM is owned by ACP (PBL); ACP also owns Ralph and Zoo Weekly, and recently acquired Rolling Stone:
The FHM reader is typically in his mid twenties, in a white-collar occupation and with a higher than average disposable personal income. He’s savvy to the latest brands and trends and regards FHM as both a mate and a navigator which enables him to stay ahead of the pack. He loves spending on himself buying fashion, fragrance and grooming products, cars and gadgets, video games and DVDs. Young men are notoriously difficult to reach as their consumption of TV, radio and newspapers decreases. FHM is still the most effective way to reach them when they are in their own zone.
Rolling Stone readers are passionate, vibrant, outgoing and intelligent. They influence their peers and set the agenda in their social circles. Being stylish and in the know about music and entertainment is a priority. Predominantly, Rolling Stone readers live in Capital Cities, are single, aged 18-39 and two-thirds are Male. The vast majority of our readers love to entertain, socialize, see live entertainment, and regularly shop for their preferred brands of clothing and accessories.
The regular Rolling Stone reader is passionate about their music, purchasing music both in retail and online environments frequently. They also buy DVD’s [sic], use the internet heavily, play computer/video games, go to the movies with regularity, and they rely on Rolling Stone to keep them informed and entertained.
At least until they discover a better-quality music zine anyway.
An ANZAC Day gig (see below) is being organised by two neo-Nazi associations: Blood & Honour Australia and the Southern Cross Hammerskins. Hammerskins in the US (where the franchise was born) will be throwing a party on April 20 to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday; in 2007, Blood & Honour New Zealand and the New Zealand Hammerskins celebrated Der Fuehrer‘s birthday by arranging for Newcastle band Blood Red Eagle to play a gig at Satan’s Slaves MC HQ in Wellington.
Neo-Nazi plans to defile Anzac Day by throwing a punk [sic] music fundraiser at pubs across Perth have been dubbed “offensive” and “upsetting” by the RSL.
The pictured flyer for a string of so-called Western Assault gigs appears on the website of international neo-Nazi group Blood & Honour.
When WAtoday.com.au walked RSLWA president Bill Gaynor through the skinhead [sic] site, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“It does seem unusual they are targeting Anzac Day which is a day that is sacred to all Australians,” Mr Gaynor said.
“They appear to me to be promoting something that’s not consistent with the Australian way of life.”
The Blood & Honour website says the group is an international community of “White Racialists” which promotes the cause of “White Resistance” through the “powerful medium of music”.
“We believe there is a need to provide White youth with an alternative to the ‘hip-hop’ culture so eagerly promoted by the Zionist controlled media,” the website says.
“We hold regular gigs around Australia for all those interested to attend and subsequently help a strong resistance grow.
“We believe it is important for all racially concious (sic) people to become active participants in pro-White movements such as Blood & Honour.”
Mr Gaynor railed against a photograph, published on the website, of a Nazi flag unfurled beside the stage at a recent Blood & Honour gig held interstate.
“That there would be in itself offensive to all veterans, but especially those who fought in the European theatre of war,” Mr Gaynor fired.
“The RSL could not support such a group.
“I personally find it upsetting.”
Mr Gaynor supported the democratic values in defence of which his members had fought Hitler during World War II, but said that the free speech line had to be drawn somewhere.
“Perhaps they may be described as a misguided group,” he said of Blood & Honour.
“The RSL holds the values of society, and intrusions on those values by groups like these is unwelcome.
“As an organisation, the RSL takes in everyone’s point of view, but that point of view has to be tempered with broadly held societal values.”
Mr Gaynor implored everybody, not just those with extreme beliefs, to put their soapbox away for the day.
“Certainly Anzac Day is not a day for anyone to be pushing or promoting a political point,” he explained.
“It is a day to remember those who gave their life to promote a democratic society.”
Various gigs have been planned for the neo-Nazi sound assault. WAtoday.com.au is chasing down a list of venues.
Update : Oh noes! I went looking for Nicole’s Europe Tour Diary and:
“Object not found!
The requested URL was not found on this server. The link on the referring page seems to be wrong or outdated. Please inform the author of that page about the error.”
Damn. I only hope someone saved a copy!
Oh wait. Someone did.
Below are two photos Nicole took of the Ian Stuart Donaldson memorial gig in Redhill, UK (the Australian flag was her special contribution) and her thoughts on visiting her spiritual homeland.
“The purchase of the picture [“of a beautiful young man in his German uniform from the Drittes Reich” (Third Reich)] was all too much for my cousin[‘]s partner M and we finally had the “blowout” that had been simmering under the surface the whole time I had been over there. “I don’t understand” she said. “You are such a nice person, and I like you, but how can you believe in and glorify such evil?” “You actually have no idea what it is that [I] believe in” I replied, “What you have been told it stands for bears no resemblance to what it actually is, and for what I believe in”.
“You are in denial” she said to me, “I have spoken to people who were victims of the Nazis. Why don’t you go to a concentration camp and see what they really did, I’ve already made some phone calls, I could arrange it for you”. I bet you have you bitch I thought, I wonder what else you said to them. “Why would I want to waste my time looking at that stupid propaganda” I replied, “I have heaps better things to do and it won’t make a single difference to my beliefs”.
The discussion became more and more heated, with her starting to go down the Hol[o]hoax line. “How can you deny that ever happened, there is so much evidence for it”. “Oh really” I said. “Well show me a single photograph of dead bodies lying in a gas chamber if there is so much evidence and I then I might start to think differently, but I have never seen one. Just show me one… ONE!!! There are NO photographs of this because it never happened, so much for it being the most documented event in history”.
“I am not discussing it with you any more, the conversation is finished” she said. Of course it is I thought, that’s the standard answer for you people when confronted with a fact you don’t have an answer for, you shut the discussion down completely because you simply don’t want to comprehend any other reality, regardless of all the facts put in front of you.
We walked on in complete silence and I knew that a barrier had come between us that would never come down – we would certainly never be friends. She was the most perfect stereotypical example of the brainwashed and dangerous self loathing Germans and Austrians that so many years of allied and jewish propaganda have produced. I nearly pitied her, except for the way people like her stop at nothing to exterminate any form of Nationalism, a common sense “realist” look at history or any National Socialist beliefs. We managed to be civil with each other for the [two] days I had left there, but that was the end of it. I have not heard from them since returning home to Australia, my “thank you for the hospitality” e-mail to them has gone unanswered. It is a shame as I really enjoyed Wolfgang[‘]s company, but she is [too] much of a domineering influence in his life and I’m sure will stop any further contact. Oh well, C’est la vie…”
“And so ended my time in Osterreich. There were many more things that I could have seen, and I wish I had been a bit better prepared with my “NS sightseeing checklist”, but that was not possible under the circumstances, and I know that I will be back. My next stop was Nuremberg, Germany, where I was to meet an amazing NS Comrade – the absolute die hard “real thing” and who took me sightseeing. I also spent a lot of money there on some Drittes Reich treasures which I could ill afford… but just HAD to have… to be continued…”
Once Upon a Time in a Land Far, Far Away
After 12 years — and with a scheduled 988 to go — the Nazi regime collapsed in 1945, one of its final acts consisting of its leader blowing his brains out while hiding in a bunker. The number of casualties in the Second World War is estimated at being over 50 million.
Over 60 years later, there are still some who pledge allegiance to Adolf Hitler and his pathetic vision. Among the contemporary adherents to neo-Nazi ideology is the international network Blood & Honour. B&H was formed in 1987 by dead bonehead Ian Stuart (and his equally dead sidekick Nicky Crane); it took its name from the slogan — ‘Blut und Ehre’ — employed by the Hitler Youth. The Australian franchise of B&H was established by Scott McGuinness, and was the first to be organised outside of the UK.
Late last month, a B&H site — bloodandhonour.org — was hacked and some of the contents of the site uploaded to Wikileaks. As a result of this leak, one of the principal antagonists of B&H Australia has been revealed as 40-something Canberra resident Nicole Hanley. Hanley is employed by TNC Thales. Thales is a major ‘defence’ contractor to the Australian Government. Both Thales and the Department of Defence deny having any knowledge that a senior neo-Nazi is being employed in Homeland Security.
One of Australia’s largest Defence Department-linked companies has suspended a contractor over her alleged links to an international neo-Nazi group.
Nicole Hanley, a bid support manager for Thales – which has hundreds of millions of dollars in Department of Defence contracts – is alleged to have been involved as an administrator of the neo-Nazi web forum Blood & Honour.
The claims have been made by whistleblower site Wikileaks, which has published a hacked database containing private messages between the group’s members.
According to the Wikileaks private message trail it is claimed that Hanley has published a detailed online diary of her travels to Europe last year, which included attending several neo-Nazi skinhead gatherings, visiting Adolf Hitler’s birthplace, placing flowers on his parents’ grave and collecting Nazi memorabilia.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~vahealing/
BlueEyedBlonde
Europe 2008
Well I have just come back from an amazing and I can honestly say life changing five weeks in Europe. I live across the other side of the world, but the spirit of National Socialism spreads everywhere. In the five weeks that I was in Europe, I was heartily welcomed by so many people that I had only ever known through the internet it was truly humbling. In that five week period people went out of their way to pick me up, drop me off, welcomed me into their homes, took time off work to show me around, took me out for drinks and dinner… the list goes on and on. I only paid for accommodation for 3 nights the entire time I was over there, and that was by choice as part of a special part of my trip.
I travelled to England, Wales, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Holland. I went to 3 [Ian Stuart Donaldson memorial gigs], various places of [National Socialist] significance (namely Linz, Nuremberg and Wewelsberg), the Opera, a Flemish Seperatist [sic] party political congress, Externsteine and a concentration camp to name just a few.
So, if you [are] interested in reading about my trip, please click on the relevant link and read on… I’ll be adding bits over the next couple of weeks.
“Hearing/joining in with so many hundreds of people chanting Sieg Heil together is something that will stay with me forever,” she allegedly wrote.
The online messages allegedly reveal that Hanley has also hosted international Blood & Honour activists at her house in Canberra and dated several neo-Nazi skinheads.
Blood & Honour, which promotes neo-Nazi music and events, was founded in Britain in 1987 and has been outlawed in Germany and Spain. Its Australian chapter is organising a pro-Hitler gig in Perth for Anzac Day.
In one of her online messages, Hanley is reported as saying that she would like to become “more active in supporting B&H Australia”.
“I think that with my skills and background I would have a lot to offer,” she wrote.
“Nothing would make me happier than to see B&H Australia become stronger and larger. I would also love to see the skinhead scene in Australia return back to the size and strength of the glory days.”
Even though the Department of Defence conducted background checks on all Thales contractors, claims about Hanley’s links with neo-Nazi skinhead groups were unknown to Thales or the department until smh.com.au provided copies of the private messages.
Thales immediately began an investigation and suspended Hanley, who is in her 40s, saying it took security “extremely seriously”.
It said the matter had been referred to “appropriate authorities for further investigation”.
“The person in question was a contractor engaged through an employment agency,” a Thales spokeswoman said.
“The contract has been suspended and all access to Thales IT and equipment removed.”
The Department of Defence said it could not comment on security allegations relating to specific people, but would have concerns about employees known to have links with nationalist extremist or racial organisations. It would not comment on Hanley’s security clearance level.
In another message attributed to her she discussed how she listened to a white supremacist online radio show.
Reached at her home on Friday and this morning, Hanley refused to comment on the allegations and threatened legal action over any future reports based on the material published by Wikileaks.
“I’m under legal advice not to speak to you,” she said, before hanging up.
Thales, which refused to give any further details about the investigations or about Hanley, generates about $1 billion in revenues annually and specialises in high technology defence products such as electronic warfare, munitions and protected mobility vehicles.
Mat Henderson, a volunteer with Australian anti-racism group Fight dem back, said bad economic times were always a fertile recruitment ground for racist groups.
Note that ‘BlueEyedBlonde’ was also a member of the world’s most popular white supremacist forum Stormfront, whose current moderator is Perth resident Paul Innes (‘Steelcap Boot’). A sample of BlueEyedBlonde’s prose:
one
On why Allied soldiers fought on the wrong side:
American GI’s attitudes towards [G]erman veterans
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?p=3692797#post3692797
12-15-2006, 02:23 AM
With the wisdom of hindsight, many Allied ex-service men actually admit/believe that they (with all of the best intent, especially based on the information they were “fed”) fought against the wrong enemy.
They should have supported Hitler, the principles of National Socialism that he implemented (and which, if you actually study them will probably stun you with how many you might agree with), and fought against the white race’s enemy of Jewish Bolshevism and not against fellow white Nationalists.
As much as it goes against everything you have previously been told, we are not total wackos, and if you are prepared to look at the world with an honest, open and fresh air of eyes (and there are numerous resources on Stormfront you can follow), you can then become as enlightened and depressed as the rest of us!
two
On the Black problem:
Tamworth council rejects Sudanese refugee plan
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?p=3688537#post3688537
12-13-2006, 05:55 PM
I lived in Tamworth for a couple of years.
Believe me, they have their own abo problems, they certainly won’t be keen to import any overseas blacks!
Yes, it was a great night. Certainly the highlight of the evening for me was Hammerskin38 “liberating” the Israeli flag from the food hall, dancing back to us with it, and then holding the flag up high and ceremoniously setting it on fire in the middle of the beer hall.
Hail the crazy Brisbane Hammerskin!!!!!!
five
On history:
where are all the die hard “aussie boot girls gone?
http://www.stormfront.org/forum/showthread.php?p=3340961#post3340961
08-20-2006, 11:49 AM
Well, one of them has just recently joined the forum, although admittedly you would have to build a time machine and travel back nearly 20 years to meet her :-).
I have put a few photos from that time on a web page article I did for the “history” section of a San Diego Punk site.
Before anyone launches into a “photo” debate, I would like to say the following:
1. I’m not the least bit worried about publicly posting photos of what I looked like nearly 20 years ago. I don’t look like that now, you will usually find me wearing a business suit and pearls. However I am still proud of those times, they helped shape me into the person I am now.
2. I know from experience that if “they” want to find you, they will. I was once paid a very surprise visit (during my active skinhead days) by ASIO to ask questions about some threats/attacks on a synagogue (I honestly didn’t know a thing about it). This was during the time when the ANM and NA were actively supported by a lot of the skinheads around then. As I said in my introduction, I do not hold such extreme views about the world anymore, but I am interested in educating myself about what is happening now.
Anyway, here is the link:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~vahealing/SHG.htm
You pick on the weak
You’re only strong in groups
Can’t do shit on your own
You pick on those who are few
Right winged scum
You have no place in our scene
Right winged scum
We’ll teach you what skinhead really means
You’re the sickness of our generation
You’ve infested almost every nation
You’re the plague of our society
You’re our most hated enemy
Listen what we have to say: Good night white pride
Only what we have to say: Good night white pride
Good night, good night, good night, good night white pride
Good night, good night, good night, good night white pride
Ian Tomlinson, 47, died during last week’s G20 protests. The immediate response by corporate/state media was to (wrongly) claim that police and others who came to his aid (following his collapse) were subjected to assault by protesters.
Witnesses claim this was a lie.
It now emerges that Ian may have died following a police assault. This contradicts initial police claims that Ian simply “suffered a sudden heart attack while on his way home from work”.
It may be several weeks before the police whitewash is completed.
The good news is that the UK economy, like the global economy, is experiencing a severe downturn, so finding replacement labour will not be difficult.
The man who died during last week’s G20 protests was “assaulted” by riot police shortly before he suffered a heart attack, according to witness statements received by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Investigators are examining a series of corroborative accounts that allege Ian Tomlinson, 47, was a victim of police violence in the moments before he collapsed near the Bank of England in the City of London last Wednesday evening. Three witnesses have told the Observer that Mr Tomlinson was attacked violently as he made his way home from work at a nearby newsagents. One claims he was struck on the head with a baton.
Photographer Anna Branthwaite said: “I can remember seeing Ian Tomlinson. He was rushed from behind by a riot officer with a helmet and shield two or three minutes before he collapsed.” Branthwaite, an experienced press photographer, has made a statement to the IPCC.
Another independent statement supports allegations of police violence. Amiri Howe, 24, recalled seeing Mr Tomlinson being hit “near the head” with a police baton. Howe took one of a sequence of photographs that show a clearly dazed Mr Tomlinson being helped by a bystander.
A female protester, who does not want to be named but has given her testimony to the IPCC, said she saw a man she later recognised as Tomlinson being pushed aggressively from behind by officers. “I saw a man violently propelled forward, as though he’d been flung by the arm, and fall forward on his head.
“He hit the top front area of his head on the pavement. I noticed his fall particularly because it struck me as a horrifically forceful push by a policeman and an especially hard fall; it made me wince.”
Mr Tomlinson, a married man who lived alone in a bail hostel, was not taking part in the protests. Initially, his death was attributed by a police post mortem to natural causes. A City of London police statement said: “[He] suffered a sudden heart attack while on his way home from work.”
But this version of events was challenged after witnesses recognised the dead man from photographs that were published on Friday.
An IPCC statement was due to be released the same day and is understood to have portrayed the death as a tragic accident. However, the statement’s release was postponed as the complaints body received information that police officers may have been more involved in events than previously thought. An IPCC spokesman said yesterday that in light of new statements it was “assessing” the information it had received before deciding whether to launch a full investigation.
Part of the commission’s inquiries will involve the examination of CCTV footage from the area.
Liberal Democrat MP David Howarth said: “Eventually there will have to be a full inquest with a jury. It is a possibility this death was at police hands.”
A police source told the Observer that Mr Tomlinson appears to have become caught between police lines and protesters, with officers chasing back demonstrators during skirmishes. He was seen stumbling before he collapsed and died on Cornhill Street, opposite St Michael’s Alley, around 7.25pm.
At around 7.10pm, protesters had gathered outside the police cordon to call for those contained inside – some for hours – to be let out. Officers with batons and shields attempted to clear them from the road.
Around 7.20pm, five riot police, and a line of officers with dogs, emerged from Royal Exchange Square, a pedestrian side street. Three images taken around this time show Mr Tomlinson on the pavement, in front of five riot police, and in apparent distress. He had one arm in the air, and appeared to be in discussion with the officers.
Mr Tomlinson then appears to have been lifted to his feet by a bystander. Minutes later he fell to the ground. “We saw this guy staggering around,” said Natalie Langford, 21, a student. “He looked disorientated. About five seconds later he fell, and I grabbed my friends to help him.”
Police have claimed that when paramedics tried to move Mr Tomlinson away for urgent treatment, bottles were thrown at them by protesters. He was later pronounced dead at hospital.
Branthwaite added: “He [Mr Tomlinson] was not a mouthy kid or causing problems, but the police seemed to have lost control and were trying to push protesters back. The police had started to filter people into a side street off Cornhill. There were a few stragglers who were just walking through between the police and protesters. Mr Tomlinson was one of those.”
The police tactics during the G20 protests were condemned in the aftermath of the demonstrations. The clearance of a climate camp along Bishopsgate by riot police with batons and dogs after nightfall on Wednesday came in for particular criticism.
Protesters marched to Bethnal Green police station in east London yesterday to demand a public inquiry into Mr Tomlinson’s death.
Many of the protesters – described as a “small army” by one police officer – were members of the sinister Black Bloc group, a notorious anarchist gang.
The violence followed a huge Franco-German police operation, costing 150 million euros (£132 million).
Hundreds of anti-Nato activists have been arrested in the past two days.
President Nicolas Sarkozy had instructed police that he did not want to see any signs of protest during events to mark Nato’s 60th anniversary.
But the wives of world leaders, including Michelle Obama and Carla Bruni, were forced to cancel a visit to a cancer hospice because of the widespread rioting.
And, as Nato leaders departed on Saturday night plumes of smoke could be seen rising from many points across the city.
A revolutionary Marxist reports:
The anarchist crazies involved in the ultra-violence were in no serious sense part of the summit rally. Just like their black bloc mates in Oceania they simply exploited the demonstration for their own purposes.
Right throughout the lead-up to the summit they made clear their hostility to and contempt for state authorities. On the day they did all they could to disrupt the summit and were hostile, abusive, threatening and ultra-sectarian towards the leadership of the movement.
Europe, fortunately, has not previously been blighted by the sort of black bloc anarchist activities which have had such a disastrous impact on demonstrations in Oceania. These people are simply provocateurs that open up protests to police repression. In Oceania their ranks have been riddled by police agents and fascists.
What gave them a certain critical mass at NATO was the presence of considerable numbers of anarchists from overseas. One of our members from New Zealand said he recognised at least 40 NZ anarchists. He knew at least 20 of them by name. There were also a considerable number of black bloc anarchists from Australia. We know of people from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. These people are like football hooligans who travel the world looking for violence.
On top of that there were also a considerable number of anarchists from other galaxies.
Because of the behaviour of these provocateurs the media and the law and order brigade are having a field day, and the wives of delegates have been forced to cancel a hospital visit.
The left should offer no comfort to these crazies. We should do whatever we can to isolate them. They are wreckers. If they grow on Earth it will simply make it harder to build future monuments to Marxist leaders, to recruit new members to the revolutionary vanguard of the proletariat, and to sell the latest edition of the party’s paper.
On a less serious note, the ongoing US occupation of Afghanistan was a major issue at the Summit, with European elites expressing concern over the growing costs of maintaining control of major towns (while rural areas, where the majority of the population lives, remains under the control of various local powers). SeeNoam Chomsky on US Expansion of Afghan Occupation, the Uses of NATO, and What Obama Should Do in Israel-Palestine, Democracy Now!, April 3, 2009.
A slightly embarrassing subsidiary issue is the legalisation of rape by the puppet government of Hamid Karzai.
In October 2008, on the seventh anniversary of the US invasion (aka ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’), the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan issued the following statement:
Seven years back the US government and its allies were successfully able to legitimize their military invasion on Afghanistan and deceive the people of the US and the world under the banners of “liberating Afghan women”, “democracy” and “war on terror”. Our people, who had been tormented and oppressed by the Taliban’s dominance, were filled with hope but soon their dream of the establishment of security, democracy and freedom was shattered in the most painful manner.
By the installation of the puppet government of Karzai, the US reused its creations and continued its deal with the Jehadi criminal warlords. From the very start, Mr. Karzai shunned the demands and trusts of the people and chose to compromise with the criminals of the “Northern Alliance” and placed the filthiest faces in the key posts of the government. In contradiction to the shameless claims of the ministers and other treacherous and corrupt officials, our people feel more ill-fated; the country has been turned to a mafia state and self-immolation, rape and abduction of women and children has no parallel in the history of Afghanistan.
Despite Karzai’s pretence and crocodile tears, we witness that rapists are not only protected from persecution but forgiven, as Karzai announced amnesty for the people who had raped and then killed a woman and with this filthy act, soaked his hands in crime too!
On one hand, Karzai talks high of freedom of speech and democracy in his speeches and on the other hand a young journalist like Pervaiz Kambakhsh is behind bars and sentenced to death by the murderous band of Atta Mohammad; another brave journalist Naseer Fayyaz is forced to leave the country due to constant threats from big criminals including Ismail Khan and Qasim Fahim, and investigation by KHAD simply because he exposes the government and supports the truth. Some other noble and anti-fundamentalist people have been harassed and even harmed by the terrorists in power.
Karzai’s government requested for $51 billion in the Paris Conference, whereas the previous money flooded into Afghanistan was not spent for the reconstruction of the country because of the atrocious corruption and indolence of ridiculous government officials. Moreover, people have been forced to sell their children due to destitution and starvation. The reality is that till now a big part of the aid have fattened the wallets and waists of the mafias of the “Northern Alliance”, national and international NGOs and the corrupt governmental authorities. The people of the world should know that their aid is going to a government composed of fundamentalist criminals and technocrats who are also secret agents and corrupt to the marrow of bone and their aid has no benefit for the common people of Afghanistan.
The day to day expansion of the power of Taliban reflects the real nature of the “war on terror” which has empowered the roots of fundamentalist terrorism more than ever. This is only a showcase to justify the long military presence of the US in our country and in the region. The result of this war has been such a huge failure that even political and military officials of the US and other countries have mentioned it very explicitly several times.
Instead of removing the cancerous lump of the Taliban and their Jehadi brothers from the framework of Afghanistan, the troops of the US and its allies are bombarding wedding and joy parties and showering bullets on our oppressed people, especially women and children. Furthermore, when such crimes are exposed they shamelessly and haughtily deny them, and when the matter is proved, an arrogant “sorry” is offered, which pours more salt on the wounds of the people…
On a brighter note, while the wives of world leaders were forced to cancel a visit to cancer sufferers, they were able to inspect the city’s renowned cathedral, one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals in Europe.
THE stalemate between Visteon protesters and Ford continues, after a meeting today did nothing to resolve the situation.
The meeting between bosses of the Unite union and Ford’s European chairman John Fleming saw Mr Fleming continue to deny responsibility for the sacked workers.
The company maintains the responsibility lies with Visteon UK, which has gone into administration.
But the Unite union, which also represents 13,000 Ford workers, is not moving from its position.
The argument is over an agreement signed in 2000, after Ford moved areas of its production into a new company, Visteon.
Unite only agreed to workers’ contracts moving over because they were promised Ford terms and conditions for life.
Unite’s national officer for motor components, Roger Maddison, who was at today’s meeting, admitted the union recognised that Ford had no legal obligation towards the workers but said there was a “massive moral obligation to do something” for them.
He said Mr Fleming agreed to put pressure on the CEO of Visteon UK’s parent company, Visteon Corporation, Don Stebbings to pay up.
Union bosses think that if they give in on this point it could have a far-reaching effect for its Ford members.
Mr Maddison is flying to New York with Unite’s joint general secretary, Derek Simpson, to meet Visteon corportation’s chief financial officer, Bill Quigley and Global HR director, Dorothy Stevenson, on Wednesday.
A Ford Motor Company spokesman said nothing had changed for the company.
But he stressed that 560 workers had been re-employed by Ford before anybody new Visteon was going down the pan.
He said this was relevant because it proved Ford took its moral obligations towards its former workers seriously.
Nobody at Visteon was available for comment.
The protesters, who have claimed squatters’ rights [by] putting up Section 6 signs are determined to sit it out until either their demands are met, or they are legally evicted.
Former supervisor, Ms Steele, 45, one of the hardcore of colleagues who has been with the protest since Wednesday, said: “We’re a bit despondent about the meeting but we will be here for the duration.”
The protesters, who were all made redundant with just a few mintues’ notice on Tuesday, are calling for supporters to visit them tomorrow from 11am to show support.
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?"
