Boneheads love to party!

    Dion, December 12, 2007: “As I stated on the Bombshell forum Andy, you are a liar, a hypocrite and no better than the trash that you fight against.”

A Hammerskin named ‘Bucket’ announced the death of his brother ‘Longer’ (Stephen Patrick Long) on Stormfront Canada on April 16, 2006. (Long joined SF in January 2004.) Long was allegedly killed by a fellow bonehead named Christopher Broughton, just days before Long was due to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s 117th birthday.

Now Broughton is on trial for murder (see below).

Boneheads appear to make a habit out of killing one another at parties, especially ones called to celebrate the birthday of their (other) dead hero, the incestuous coprophiliac Adolf Hitler.

In September 2007, John Pakulski was convicted of the manslaughter of a fellow member of the UK-based ‘Wolf’s Hook White Brotherhood’: “Pakulski, 55, stabbed Michael [‘Belsen’] Sanderson with a kitchen knife on 26th November [2006], after he found his partner Catherine Parker-Brown, 37, ‘in a state of undress’ with friend Sanderson”.

Locally, Dane Sweetman served 15 years behind bars (1990–2005) for killing David Noble with an axe… at a party… to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Sweetman’s freedom ended when he and Martin Darren Bayston attacked the English-born Mr Noble at the Hitler birthday celebrations at a Pascoe Vale South house. Things got out of hand when Mr Noble said that they didn’t make women like Sweetman’s girlfriend in England, and asked if he could borrow her for the night. Sweetman, on bail [over a previous assault in Thornbury], responded by embedding an axe in Mr Noble’s head. Mr Noble apparently pulled the weapon out and said: “I’ve got a hammer in my head.” Bayston then got a boning knife from the kitchen and stabbed Mr Noble 18 times. His body was left in the backyard until morning when his legs were severed and the remains stuffed in a car boot and dumped near the Yarra River at Kew.

On April 20, 1991, National Action (NA) member Perry Whitehouse murdered another NA member, Wayne ‘Bovver’ Smith, at the organisation’s inner-Sydney headquarters after an argument. John Birmingham:

The final slide into ignoble collapse [for NA] was marked by the gunshot murder of Wayne ‘Bovver’ Smith in [NA’s] headquarters at Tempe… It was an almost perfect example of the hapless farce which so often attended the adventures of Sydney’s neo-Nazi elite in the 1980s. Bovver, twenty-five years old and already weighing 108 kilos thanks to the three or four stubbies of beer he’d consume for breakfast each morning, was shot eight times with a sawn-off .22 rifle by Perry Whitehouse, ten years his senior but less than half his size, during a drunken, confused and basically pointless argument. When Whitehouse blew him away, Bovver was wearing a singlet bearing the message: Say No To The New Gun Control Laws.

In May 1991, the former leader of NA, and current leader of the Australia First Party (NSW) Dr James Saleam (who still resides in the NA HQ in Tempe), was sentenced to three and a half years jail for his role in organising a shotgun assault upon the home of African National Congress representative Eddie Funde. This was Dr. Jim’s second time inside — in April 1989 he’d been sentenced to two years’ hard labour for fraud and receiving stolen property. ‘Ironically, Saleam received his sentence on the same day as the centenary of Hitler’s birth’, the Sydney Morning Herald noted.

Somewhat perilously, the parties do continue, however. Thus last year, Douglas Schott’s band Blood Red Eagle travelled to Wellington to celebrate Uncle Adolf’s birthday by performing for a handful of other boneheads at the HQ of Satan’s Slaves. From birth until death, last weekend the boys played Beaconsfield in memory of Ian Stuart. The heady aroma of violence wasn’t too far away, however, as the vocalist for the Belgian band Kill Baby Kill — which shared the bill baby bill — is currently facing charges for beating two men in Bruges; one of them into a coma.

The Hammerskins are a happy mob; so too, B&H. “Two members of Tampa Blood and Honour, a chapter of a particularly violent international white supremacist organization, were indicted in Florida for beating two homeless men to death in 1998. Two other members had already pleaded guilty to the crimes. Federal officials say the men planned to participate in a race war and killed the homeless men because they were deemed inferior.”

Oh well, at least they don’t have an army.

Oh wait…

Rowdy party ends in murder: Borden soldier testifies at trial
Tracy McLaughlin
The Barrie Examiner
September 17, 2008

Christopher Broughton “had it coming to him” when after a night of being drunk and obnoxious he ended up taking a beating from one of his [bonehead] friends, a jury heard yesterday.

Broughton, 29, of Hamilton, is now on trial for the murder of his friend, Stephen Long, an alleged member of the white supremacist [Hammerskins].

He was beaten to death with a baseball bat after a night of partying at a Collingwood home, April 16, 2006.

So far, the jury has heard how Long, 22, of Ottawa, and Broughton went to the Collingwood home where Vaughn Newman lived and spent the night drinking with several friends. But Broughton reportedly began to annoy his friends with his drunkenness, the jury heard, chugging whiskey from the bottle and picking fights.

“Steve (Long) told Chris he was embarrassed of him in front of his friends and that he wouldn’t hang around with him anymore,” said Ryan Hummel, 32, a CFB Borden soldier who was also at the party.

Hummel said Long ended up punching Broughton several times in the face when Broughton got rowdy and refused to leave the house in the early hours of the morning.

Hummel testified he left the party after the fight, and Long and two other friends went to sleep in the living room. A short time later, one of the friends, Brad Genno, said he suddenly awakened to see Broughton standing in the living room with a baseball bat, and he fled, not realizing Long already lay bloodied on the floor.

In court, defence lawyer Michael Lacy noted both witnesses had strong connections to [bonehead] groups, and that they lied to police about the true details of the murder to protect each other.

“I’m not a racist,” Hummel insisted. “I never considered myself a white nationalist.”

But Lacy pointed out postings on white supremacist websites where someone regularly posted comments using Hummel’s e-mail address. But Hummel suggested it was someone else posing as him.

The trial continues today.

Denying membership of SF is an old trick, one also attempted by Sutherland Shire candidate Darrin ‘Proud to be an Infidel’ Hodges, as well as One Nation Party member (and candidate) Sue ‘Suebdoo2’ Bateman.

See also : God Hears Pleas of the Innocent, slackbastard, May 31, 2008 | The Stormfront Down Under Circus : 2004–2008, slackbastard, May 31, 2008

Police probe slain man’s racist beliefs: ‘Sucked into vortex of hatred’ after swarming, parents say
Andrew Seymour
The Ottawa Citizen
April 20, 2006

The parents of an Ottawa man slain at a Collingwood house party approached the Ottawa police hate crime unit nearly 18 months ago out of fear their son had become a white supremacist.

It was after sitting down with detectives that Stephen Long’s father, Murray Long, and stepmother Peggy Land learned police were already well aware of their son’s racist beliefs and involvement in the “movement.”

“They met with us and told us our fears were well-founded,” Mr. Long said yesterday, describing how he never realized how active his 22-year-old son had become in the “evil power” of the white supremacist movement until after his death Sunday at the hands of a bat-wielding attacker.

Christopher Broughton, 27, of Hamilton has been charged with first-degree murder.

Yesterday, three OPP officers and an Ottawa police hate crime section visited Mr. Long’s bedroom at his grandmother’s house and seized his computer and address books as well as photographs of white supremacist gatherings, posters and other hate literature.

“I was shocked by some of the stuff we found in there,” said the elder Mr. Long.

With clearly visible white power tattoos on his hands and neck — or “mitts” and “necklace” as his son used to call them — Mr. Long and Ms. Land said they knew their son held strong beliefs and was not afraid to tell others.

What they didn’t realize until yesterday was how well he had kept hidden his “double life” on the Internet as a regular visitor to the Canadian section of the [Stormfront] message boards.

Under the user name “Longer” and sometimes signing off messages with “White Power,” Mr. Long wrote about topics ranging from U.S. civil rights matriarch Rosa Parks’ death, to the movie American History X, and whether the Ku Klux Klan was active in Ontario.

He expressed an interest in organizing group meetings for other white supremacists in Ottawa. In the days leading to his death, Mr. Long planned to attend a gathering of as many as 40 other area white supremacists, scheduled for today to coincide with Adolf Hitler’s birthday, at a Byward Market bar. According to message boards at stormfront.org, the event has been postponed.

“He was very much involved in trying to organize things,” said his father. “He was sucked into this vortex of hatred.”

Oh, and as further evidence that neo-Nazis just love to party:

Neo-Nazis draw swastikas on handicapped man’s face
DPA
September 9, 2008

Berlin – Attackers believed to be neo-Nazis drew swastikas with felt-tip pens on the face and back of a 21-year-old handicapped man in Germany, police said Tuesday. Police said relatives had helped the man clean the ink off after the August 26 attack, but did not report it to police. Last week, a welfare worker told police, who have begun a hunt for two assailants. Neo-Nazi slogans were also scrawled on the victim’s T-shirt, said police in the northern city of Schwerin. In a second part of former East Germany, police said Tuesday they had prevented a rampage by 150 threatening far-right youths the previous evening in the town of Eilenburg, near Leipzig. The youths had disrupted a town hall meeting, chanted neo-Nazi-style slogans and attacked 30 Eilenburg residents who were tearing down posters pasted up illegally by the rightists. A large force of police dispersed the youths.

Posted in Anti-fascism, History | 2 Comments

Forward with Fairness: A Fair Go for Working Families

Future ALP politicians and current trade union officials are reportedly “furious” at former trade union officials and current ALP politicians for doing what pundits have expected: introducing “business-friendly” industrial relations laws. “Furious” trade union leaders are widely tipped to remain furious for some time, before becoming “angry”, “upset”, “bitter”, and then merely “resigned”.

The broad structure of the coal-powered fluorescent bulb on the hill was explained by Gillard in her speech to The National Press Club on Wednesday titled ‘Introducing Australia’s New Workplace Relations System’. Gillard also took this opportunity to burn her bra black armband, declaring in her opening remarks that “The signature values of nations are often defined by the circumstances of their birth… And for us there’s one value above all others that we identify with as truly our own. It’s the value that emerged out of the circumstances of Federation, which coincided with the industrial turbulence of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. That value is fairness. Or as we like to put it: ‘the fair go’.”

Which is all rather odd, especially given that — as angry White men across the country know — one of the first Acts of Federal Parliament was the Immigration Restriction Act. This Act (together with the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901) formed the legal cornerstone of the White Australia policy; the Conciliation and Arbitration Act — which in Labor Party mythology has ensured a ‘fair go’ for ‘working families’ for the bulk of the country’s history — was only assented to by Edward VII in 1904. Further, while 100 years ago the Gub’mint couldn’t get rid of the Pacific Islanders quick enough, they now wanna import them — albeit if only for a coupla years…

“SMALL business operators will be in a position to sack workers after giving them just one verbal warning and complying with a short check-list, under new business-friendly employment rules to be introduced by the Rudd Government” reckons Ben Schneiders. “The rules would allow small business to get on with running their operations, making a profit and giving people jobs, Ms Gillard said” (Union fury at Gillard’s IR changes, Ben Schneiders, The Age, September 18, 2008). A former factory worker lawyer, Gillard is not only a partisan of the petit-bourgeoisie, she’s also — as Bill Heffernan helpfully pointed out — shamelessly childless.

Where does that leave working families Ms Gillard?

Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary (and former fan of Chairman Miaow) Brian Boyd attacked the unfair-dismissal rules and said workers in smaller enterprises deserved equal treatment, and were crying out for working class discipline. “Most workers in Australia are employed by small employers. We are talking about the majority of workers,” Mr Boyd said. “They deserve equal rights. And to be disciplined.”

Industrial action

An important feature of the new legislation will be tough rules on industrial action.

Our new laws will distinguish between good industrial action which may legitimately occur during the bargaining and bad industrial action taken outside of bargaining.

Good industrial action will be allowed in the course of bargaining, in accordance with strict rules, including a secret ballot of employees and three days’ notice of intention to take the action.

But bad industrial action will not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Even short unplanned stop work actions can have devastating effects on employers with time-critical processes. For this reason, employees who engage in “wild-cat” snap strikes or bans instead of following proper dispute resolution processes will face significant consequences.

Employees will face a mandatory minimum deduction of four hours’ pay for any incident of bad industrial action and it will be unlawful to pay or demand to be paid for this period.

In the case of good industrial action, our system will provide proportional, sensible and workable options for employers to respond.

Employers will not be permitted to pay strike pay, as is the case at present. If an employee stops work and the action is good, their pay must be deducted, but only for the actual period of time the employee stopped work, not for any mandatory minimum period – as under Work Choices. It will still be unlawful to claim or pay strike pay.

But in the case of partial work bans, employers will be able to use their discretion to either: tolerate the bans; stand down or lock out employees; or issue a ‘partial work notice’ and make deductions proportional to any work not performed. Fair Work Australia will be able to review whether the amount deducted is proportional if required.

As the ultimate response to industrial action, employers will be able to lock out employees. But offensive, pre-emptive lockouts – taken by the employer when employees haven’t taken any industrial action – will no longer be permitted.

Labor said in Forward with Fairness that we’d return the emphasis to enterprise-level collective bargaining whilst keeping clear, tough rules for industrial action; and we have…

Posted in State / Politics | 4 Comments

Mutiny zine

“These are feral, low-life people that want society to be in a state of near anarchy for their own perverse pleasure. Let’s not mince words here. People who say they are anti-war but resort to violence and destruction to put their case are clearly a bunch of people who are dangerous to society. These are just anarchists that enjoy disrupting civil society. They do not have one fig of credibility.” ~ SA Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Federal/State Relations Kevin Foley, September 6, 2008

Emerging barefooted from the rainforests, and stumbling through the haze of bong smoke that permanently fills their filthy student hovels, the feral low lifes of the ultra-militant and ultra-radical group Mutiny — after single-handedly closing down the arms fair planned for Adelaide in November — have achieved another milestone: the publication of the 30th issue of their zine.

Penetrating the numerous layers of trust and complex systems of information management s/he has installed is no easy task, but for reasons best known to him/herself, the leader of Mutiny has made a major security faux pas, and the latest # has escaped prison and been made available for public viewing on teh Interwebs (possibly by a rival faction keen to undermine the leader’s authority). In a pathetic attempt to acquire some precious figs of credibility, the September 2008 edition contains:

    * A day-by-day account of the actions at the Climate and Anti-Racism Camps in Hamburg.
    * ‘Feral anarchists’ respond to claims that they are responsible for the cancellation of the Adelaide War Fair.
    * FYI, a report on the release of the police files about the APEC excluded persons list through an F.O.I. request.
    * The Student Housing Action Cooperative in Melbourne squat a building as part of a campaign towards accessible housing for all.
    * News from Melbourne, Aotearoa, Peru, USA and Greece.
    * Review of ‘Boundary Songs’, an audio walk around Redfern, by Duncan Speakman.

The publication of this new tract considerably ups the ante for local, Melbourne anarchists. Their best efforts to date were documented by the Walkley Award-winning Investigative Unit at the Sunday Herald Sun, spearheaded by veteran gumshoe Chris Tinkler (‘Out of control’, March 18, 2007):

DRUG use and under-age drinking have been exposed at a wild “all-ages” benefit gig for rioters charged over Melbourne’s G20 protests. Children as young as 10 slugged beer in front of their dazed parents, a mother smoked cannabis beside a pram containing her baby and youths openly snorted powder off a table at Friday night’s event… anti-capitalist chanting and police-baiting that characterised the G20 riot were absent — replaced by drunken and drug-fuelled debauchery…

Concerned citizens are being urged by authorities to continue posting critical comments on Andrew Bolt’s and Tim Blair’s blogs. To augment their efforts, Hill & Knowlton have released this documentary-style video, featuring a re-enactment of a recent meeting organised by the editorial staff at Mutiny at their Top Secret HQ somewhere in Sydney:

Finally, some cautionary words from veteran Marxist revolutionary Mick Armstrong: “The anarchist crazies involved in the production of this ultra-violent publication are in no serious sense part of any social movement. Just like their black bloc mates in Europe, they simply exploit teh Interwebs for their own purposes. The left should offer no comfort to these crazies. We should do whatever we can to isolate them. They are wreckers. If they grow in Australia it will simply make it harder to build future protests, movements and paper sales.”

Posted in Anarchism, Media | 16 Comments

“Questions emerge”: RNC 2008 & The Spectre of Anarchism/Terrorism

Anarchy is a fag!

Questions?

Questions Emerge Over Police Conduct in St. Paul
Colin Moynihan
The New York Times
September 16, 2008

It has been more than a week since the Republican National Convention ended, and in many ways life in St. Paul is back to normal. Tear gas no longer clouds the streets, windows shattered by protesters have been replaced, and the thousands of visitors have left town.

But questions are now emerging about the tactics that the police used to control the many rallies and marches that took place. Last Wednesday city officials appointed two former federal prosecutors to review the planning and strategies used by the police before and during the convention.

Tom Walsh, a spokesman for the St. Paul police department, said Monday that the officers had performed well in unusual conditions, sometimes facing hundreds who he said were intent on disrupting the convention or damaging property.

“No one was treated for a serious injury,” Mr. Walsh said. “You’re going to see that the amount of force used, in my view, matched the need.”

Mayor Chris Coleman said in an interview last week that the two former prosecutors looking into the incidents would conduct a broad overview without looking into specific complaints.

“Were going to look at the planning and implementation of security and public safety measures during the convention,” Mayor Coleman said. “I think we did have a safe and successful convention.”

For many St. Paul residents, the four days of the convention were turbulent ones for their tranquil and stately city overlooking the Mississippi River. There were nonviolent rallies, acts of vandalism and sporadic confusion and disorder, all taking place against the unfamiliar backdrop of streets lined with tall metal fences and patrolled by officers from more than 100 agencies, including some in riot gear or on horseback .

Although most of the demonstrations were peaceful, small groups of masked figures smashed windows, attacked a police car and knocked an officer to the ground on the first day of the convention. Ultimately, more than 800 people, including about two dozen credentialed journalists, were arrested. Dozens more were handcuffed and photographed without being accused of any crime. And police officers in some instances used pepper spray, tear gas, bullets made of plastic and foam and flash grenades that exploded with a burst of light and a sharp bang.

In a city with a history of good relations with its police, some people have found the strategies employed during the convention discomfiting, said Dave Thune, a St. Paul city councilman, who received complaints from residents arrested in police sweeps or engulfed by clouds of gas.

As a result, Mr. Thune is organizing a meeting to discuss just what took place.

“When clearly the bulk of the peaceful people weren’t joining in a riot, why did we have to go to the extent of using tear gas and percussion grenades?” he said. “People weren’t supposed to get trapped by police or forced into situations where they could be arrested.”

The last two Republican conventions, held in Philadelphia and New York, were also marked by arrests and recriminations. New York City still faces more than 500 federal court claims stemming from police tactics.

While 1,800 people were arrested at that 2004 convention, there were a proportionately high number of arrests in St. Paul, where the protests were much smaller. In addition, critics say, the use of chemicals have set this convention apart.

“It was an unprecedented show of police presence and display of force,” said Bruce Nestor, the president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, which is defending many of those arrested. “Minnesota has never seen this level of militarization of local police.”

Law enforcement officials raided homes and made arrests even before the convention began. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s office, which is based in St. Paul, said the homes it searched were inhabited by people connected to an anarchist organization called the R.N.C. Welcoming Committee.

Eight people described by the authorities as members of the group were accused of conspiracy to commit riot in furtherance of terrorism based on statements by confidential informants who told investigators that the group had discussed kidnapping delegates and sabotaging an airport.

Lawyers for the defendants say the charges are baseless and have questioned the reliability of statements made by the informants, including one who the authorities say was paid by law enforcement.

    Pigs in St Paul, Minnesota, after having raided a convergence space and a number of other buildings, have charged eight anarchists, allegedly members of the RNC Welcoming Committee, with being unpatriotic and conspiring to commit terrorism:

    RNC in Twin Cities: Eight protesters charged with terrorism under Patriot Act
    Tom Eley
    September 6, 2008

    On Wednesday eight members of the anarchist protest group the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee (RNCWC) were charged under provisions of the Minnesota state version of the Patriot Act [The USA PATRIOT Act, commonly known as the Patriot Act — an Act of Congress signed into law on October 26, 2001 by George II. The contrived acronym stands for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001″] with “Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism.” The eight charged are all young, and could face up to seven-and-a-half years in prison under a provision that allows the enhancement of charges related to terrorism by 50 percent. They are: Monica Bicking, Eryn Trimmer, Luce Guillen Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald and Max Spector…

    According to the Los Angeles Times (Terrorism charges filed in alleged plot to disrupt GOP convention, P.J. Huffstutter, September 4, 2008): “The arrests follow a nearly yearlong investigation by the sheriff’s office and federal law enforcement agencies. An undercover investigator and informants were used to monitor the group, according to court documents. The inquiry found that the group had connected with sympathetic factions in dozens of cities to recruit volunteers and raise funds, according to the documents”.

During the convention, hundreds of officers wearing helmets with visors and armored vests and carrying long wooden sticks monitored large marches, some of which took place without a city permit. On at least three occasions the police fired 40-millimeter projectiles while dispersing or arresting the groups. Tear gas and pepper spray were used more frequently.

Some of those arrested said they were not participating in demonstrations, but were simply onlookers or journalists.

On the final night of the convention, as Senator John McCain was preparing to address delegates inside the Xcel Energy Center, the police prevented marchers who did not have a permit from crossing two bridges that led to the convention center. Later, as demonstrators took to the streets near the state capitol, the police lobbed flash grenades into the crowd while thick plumes of tear gas clouded the air. Then, several hundred demonstrators and more than a dozen journalists were directed onto a third bridge, where they were ordered to sit and place their hands on their heads.

Those trapped on the bridge included two reporters for The Associated Press, a photographer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and two Fox News editors.

“At some point even a journalist has to recognize that they are in violation of the law,” Tom Walsh, a St. Paul Police spokesman, said as the arrests were taking place. “Are they going to get arrested or are they going to cover it from a distance?”

For a more comprehensive account of the RNC protests, see ‘The Ground Noise and the Static: A Chronicle of the Battle of Saint Paul (Illustrated)’, September 15, 2008.

See also : Keith McHenry, ‘Food Not Bombs, Surveillance and Disruption: America’s Dirty Little Secret, Domestic Surveillance’, for a potted history of over twenty of government harassment. In Russia, FNB is subject to both government harassment and neo-Nazi attack.

The FBI and other security forces are waging a national campaign against Food Not Bombs. Even though Food Not Bombs is dedicated to nonviolent social change our movement has been listed as a terrorist group by U.S. federal authorities. Volunteers arrested during raid of the Minnesota Food Not Bombs houses in the Twin Cities have been charged with “Conspiracy to Riot in Furtherance of Terrorism.” In California the East Bay Food Not Bombs office at Long Haul was raided and 13 computers were taken. Elle Magazine reports that the Sacremento California office of the FBI paid a college student $75,000 to disrupt Food Not Bombs. The FBI provided her with blasting caps, plans to build a bombs and a car and house wired to record audio and video. As many as 20 volunteers are in U.S. prison accused of terrorism. The FBI claims they have infiltrated our movement disrupting our work to feed the hungry and work for peace.

The police raid on the Long Haul infoshop in Berkeley took place on August 27. Police “broke down every door, and confiscated all computers on the property. Computers taken included those used by the Slingshot Collective and East Bay Prisoner Support. Police also broke into cabinets, cut locks, and went through mail.” Police in Denver have also raided the DNC convergence space; another standard police tactic intended to maximise disruption.

“Behind you!” Anarchism and Terrorism

    “I would rather kill chickens than kill kings. Chickens are good to eat. But a king, of what use is he?” ~ Errico Malatesta

Bourgeois assertions regarding the relationship between anarchism and political violence are routine. These assertions, while unsupported — and almost always unexamined — are brought back into mainstream circulation as often as they are required. (See, for example, Mary Evans, ‘For jihadist, read anarchist’, The Economist, August 18, 2005.) Most recently, the emergence in the West of movements against neo-liberalism — and, following that brief episode, the sudden irruption into public consciousness of Islamic fundamentalist terror — has rekindled bourgeois interest in this topic. According to some, this supposed reliance of anarchism on the commission of individual acts of terror is the inevitable result of its underlying ‘elitism’; for which reason, “rather than attempting to organise the mass of workers to fight for their own self-emancipation, [anarchists] rely on the actions of a self-chosen minority”.

Both contentions are radically false.

To begin with, the extent of anarchist terrorism has long been exaggerated, in fact massively so. The reasons for this are not that difficult to fathom, and are closely intertwined with the role of the anarchist monster as the bringer of ‘chaos’ and ‘destruction’ in the bourgeois imagination; in reality, the overthrow of bourgeois rule. Further, anarchism is not the only political tendency which has produced ‘terrorists’. For example, if one compares the nature and extent of anarchist acts of violence, even during their peak, anarchism emerges as one of the least violent of political traditions. And of those whom the anarchists did murder, the great majority were kings and presidents. Thus the years 1892 to 1901 are sometimes referred to as The Decade of Regicide. Those who kicked their gold-plated buckets at this time included President Sadi Carnot of France in 1894, Prime Minister Antonio Cánovas of Spain in 1897, the Empress Elizabeth of Austria in 1898, King Humbert of Italy in 1900, and President William McKinley of the United States in 1901.

In summary, Richard Bach Jensen writes:

While the number of assassinated heads of state and government, and of monarchs of major countries was unprecedented, the anarchists, outside of Spain, killed relatively few people. Nonetheless, the anarchists’ desire for dramatic signs of vindication, the authorities’ and the public’s fears of a vast anarchist conspiracy and the media’s hunger for sensational news combined to create the mirage of a powerful terrorist movement sweeping through nations and across the world. ~ ‘Daggers, Rifles and Dynamite: Anarchist Terrorism In Nineteenth Century Europe’, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol.16, No.1, Spring 2004, pp.116-153

In fact, according to Jensen’s calculations, in 1890s France, Spain and Italy — the three countries in which the majority of dastardly anarchist outrages such as these took place — “real or alleged anarchists killed more than sixty and injured over 200 people with bombs, pistols and daggers”. Further, while “No one has yet attempted to calculate the total number of European and world victims of anarchist terrorism… [f]or the period 1880-1914 (excluding Russia) about 150 people died and over 470 were injured as a result of real or alleged anarchist attacks”.

By way of comparison, one might consider the many casualties that wars produced during the period 1880-1914. For example, four times as many Australians (606) died helping to keep South Africa British in the Anglo-Boer war of 1899-1902 than anarchists allegedly killed during this entire period; casualties in the Herero War in German Southwest Africa (1904-07) totalled 75,000; while Mike Davis (Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World) argues that the business policies of the imperial European landlords, merchants and bureaucrats in the face of the El Niño drought intensified these famines and thereby caused millions of deaths during the period 1876-1900. One might also compare these acts of terror with that unleashed by the Bolsheviks against their revolutionary — and often anarchist — opposition following their coup d’état in 1917…

Posted in Anarchism, State / Politics, War on Terror | 1 Comment

Violence vs. non-violence

NOW

Girl ‘carved swastika into hip’
Reuters
September 17, 2008

A GERMAN teenager accused of engraving a swastika into her hip and blaming the injury on right-wing militants has gone on trial in eastern Germany. The 18-year-old, known only as Rebecca K., had last year been hailed as a local hero when she reported saving a five-year-old from being pushed and shoved by four neo-Nazi youths, risking her own safety and subsequently being attacked herself. Despite public outrage and a promised police reward of €5000 ($7096) for any witnesses or evidence, nobody was able to back up her statements. “We have often had cases where individuals fake a chargeable offence, but this one is extraordinary,” said Lutz Hasselmann, spokesman for the district court of Hainichen, near the eastern city of Chemnitz. The girl became a local celebrity and was awarded an honorary medal for exceptional courage after she told police about the attack, which she said included cutting a swastika into the skin of her hip with a scalpel-like object. Nazi symbols, including swastikas, are banned in Germany. The girl had accused members of ‘Sturm 34’, a right-wing organisation which was last year banned by the state of Saxony, where far-right groups are particularly strong. Hasselmann said the lack of evidence caused prosecutors to doubt the young woman’s account. She is charged with making false accusations and lying to the police and public authorities, in a trial expected to last until mid-October.

THEN

Last month [November, 2007] a 17-year-old girl had a swastika carved into her hip by a gang of neo-Nazis after she tried to stop them bullying a six-year-old foreign girl. A pregnant Iraqi woman needed hospital treatment last weekend after being punched on a bus in Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt. In another incident, a group of German men attacked three men and a woman from Niger as a crowd of 30 people looked on.

In the meantime…

Extreme-Right Violence: Two Very Similar Murders Go Unnoticed
Sven Röbel
Spiegel Online
September 2, 2008

Two young men were killed in the space of only a few days in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The suspected killers are both neo-Nazis with previous convictions for similar attacks, and yet there has been no public outcry about the two cases.

When Rick L. died, in the bushes behind a bus stop in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, he had already suffered a martyrdom of countless blows and kicks. The 20-year-old art student was literally kicked and beaten to death by his tormentor. According to the autopsy report, Rick L., whose body showed substantial evidence of internal injuries, suffocated in his own blood.

A short time later Bastian O., 20, a right-wing extremist with previous convictions for similar attacks, was arrested and charged with the murder. Investigators believe that the deadly beating was triggered by the victim’s critical remarks about O.’s apparent far-right views.

The second murder occurred the next weekend, less than 50 kilometers (31 miles) away, on Aug. 24. Marcel W., who had just turned 18, was found lying in a pool of blood in the town of Bernburg, his body covered with knife wounds.

David B., another neo-Nazi with a criminal record for violent offences, was arrested and charged with the murder. The victim had been scheduled to testify last week against the 19-year-old right-wing extremist in an assault case…

The question as to whether the killings in Bernburg and Magdeburg will enter the crime statistics as being directly politically motivated is, in fact, irrelevant. The fact is that the two suspects were part of a radical right-wing environment that places little value on human lives, particularly those of the “weak ones,” and where an astonishing level of brutality can claim its victims at any time. Acquaintances describe both Bastian O. and David B. as “ticking time bombs” and say that it was “only a matter of time before something happened.” But no one attempted to defuse those time bombs.

According to a former classmate at the Sophie Scholl Secondary School in the nearby town of Baalberge, David B.’s right-wing sympathies began by as early as the fifth grade. That was when he first met his later victim, Marcel W., a slight boy from a troubled family who had been “nice to everyone” but was already the victim of bullying attacks in school…

Neo-Nazi Claims ‘Self-Defense’

David B. once again came to the attention of local police while still on probation. According to prosecutors, he brutally attacked his later victim, Marcel W., for the first time on Nov. 20, 2007. But prosecutors were unable to charge B. with assault because Marcel W. failed to appear on two court dates.

According to a close friend, Marcel was “terrified” of the neo-Nazi. She says that the boy, who was only 1.65 meters (5’5″) tall and had last worked in a bicycle repair shop, had hidden from the violent David B. in her apartment on several occasions. The court had scheduled a third hearing for last Tuesday, at 2:30 p.m., and had ordered W. to appear as a witness.

But Marcel W. was dead by then…

September 20, 2003: Ravenous, Blood Red Eagle, Bail Up!, Deaths Head and Fortress play the ISD memorial gig. A visiting member of the German NPD party donates a party flag, which Blood & Honour declares will be displayed at future events in order to ‘show our respect/support for our brothers in Deutschland’. Above: Professional Holocaust denialist Frederick Toben (left) and New Right/national anarchist Fuehrer Welf Herfurth (right) hold an NPD flag before the Sydney Opera House, 2005.

Posted in Anti-fascism, State / Politics | 1 Comment

Bonehead Goes to Jail For Attacking Dude in Dead Kennedys Tee

Bonehead sentenced to 30 years for attack on Davis man
Niesha Lofing
Sacramento Bee
September 15, 2008

A neo-Nazi skinhead was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his part in a 2005 attack on a Davis man.

Michael Rose, 28, received the sentence Friday from Yolo Superior Court Judge Kathleen M. White, who also presided over the convict’s trial.

Rose and Christopher Vochatzer, both associated with a bonehead gang, attacked a man in a gang-motivated assault on April 4, 2005, a news release from Yolo County District Attorney Jeff W. Reisig’s office states.

The two boneheads entered the Davis resident’s apartment and Rose used a metal pipe to prevent two of the man’s friends from stopping Vochatzer, who beat the victim with a baseball bat. The man was badly injured in the attack, the release states.

Rose and Vochatzer were retaliating against the man for wearing an anti-Nazi T-shirt.

Rose eluded law enforcement for nearly two years before being arrested in Montana in February 2007, the release states. A jury in March convicted him of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, two counts of false imprisonment and two counts of exhibiting a deadly weapon.

The conviction included enhancements for gang association, prosecutors said earlier this year.

Vochatzer was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to 28 years in state prison for assault with a deadly weapon and other felonies.

Earlier:

COUNTY OF YOLO
OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
JEFF W. REISIG, DISTRICT ATTORNEY
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Neo-Nazi Convicted of Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Woodland, CA – March 14, 2008 – A Yolo County jury convicted Michael Rose, 28, of multiple gang related felony offenses stemming from the April 4, 2005 attack of a 26 year old man in his apartment on “J” Street in Davis. Rose was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary in the first degree, two counts of false imprisonment, and two counts of exhibiting a deadly weapon. The jury found that all of the crimes were committed for the benefit of or in association with a criminal street gang, neo-Nazi Skinheads.

More than 10 years ago, the victim wore a “Dead Kennedy’s” t-shirt displaying a crossed out swastika. In retaliation, Michael Rose and Christopher Vochatzer, both neo-Nazi skinheads, went to his apartment armed with a metal pipe and a baseball bat. Rose used the metal pipe to prevent two of the victim’s friends from stopping the attack while Vochatzer beat the victim with the baseball bat. Rose was on the run from law enforcement for nearly two years and was finally arrested in Butte, Montana on February 15, 2007.

According to prosecuting attorney Michelle Serafin, “Rose faces in excess of 31 years in prison for his crimes. Clearly justice was served by the jury’s verdicts.” Rose will be sentenced by Judge Kathy White at a future court date.

For more information, contact District Attorney Jeff Reisig at 530-666-8180.

Punk ain’t no religious cult
Punk means thinking for yourself
You ain’t hardcore ‘cos you spike your hair
When a jock still lives inside your head

Posted in Anti-fascism, State / Politics | 4 Comments

Muslim Massacre

    Update : The game has also been picked up and re-published by a neo-Nazi named Col’n Campbell III in Adelaide (South Australia), who belongs to a tiny white supremacist splinter group known as the Creativity Movement.

    http://sacreator.com/extra/muslimmassacre.zip

From the Department of I-Want-A-Fatwa-And-I-Want-One-Now! comes this story about a game called ‘Muslim Massacre’, designed by some bloke from Brisbane.

Oops.

Said designer has since thought better of his game, taken it down, and issued an apology:

I would like to make a public apology for any offense that I might have caused through releasing this game, and to Muslims in particular. My intentions when releasing this project were to mock the foreign policy of the United States and the commonly held belief in the United States that Muslims are a hostile people to be held with suspicion. I would like to make it clear that I have never shared such a belief and my intention was to mock those who actually do believe these things.

It quickly became obvious to me that releasing this game did not achieve its intended effect and instead only caused hurt to hospitable, innocent people. I believe removing this game and website will do much more to attain my desired effect than leaving it on the internet, so I am doing just that.

I would like to ask for the forgiveness of Muslims around the world and to make it clear that I did not release this game with ill intent. So without further ado, I would like to say that I am truly apologetic for what I have done and will take full responsibility for all offense that has been caused. I can only hope that any further misgivings can be laid to rest.

Sincerely,
~ Sigvatr

Thankfully for angry Aryans everywhere, Martin Fletcher of Downunder Newslinks (“Australian news for White people”) has saved the game from oblivion by making a copy of it available to all and sundry on his own rather, er… “cranky” website. Martin himself is a former devotee of James Saleam, but is currently associated with the Australian Protectionist Party, whose disco forum he co-admins with failed Sutherland Shire candidate Darrin Hodges. (Note that APP aren’t exactly ‘down with Mohammed’). Martin is very fond of game-playing, and previous to Muslim Massacre, placed the laff riot that was the Cronulla 2230 game on his website (Cronulla game site gets zapped, Asher Moses, October 18, 2006).

    http://www.downundernewslinks.com/Cronullagame/boardgame.htm
    http://www.wpwwfiles.com/downloads/muslimmassacre.zip

Martin also reproduces a series of very funny cartoons on his site, originally produced by Tom Metzger‘s mob, White Aryan Resistance:

“Where they fail with words they excel with horrible, horrible racist cartoons. I know it’s wrong, but I found these cartoons hilarious, if only for the fact they were so desperately stupid. These guys should take Zack Parsons advice and come up with more creative racial stereotypes. However, I have to give them some credit; the racial slur “Moon Cricket” is one I’ve never heard before and find to be quite fascinating. It’s so zany how could anyone take offense to it? Anyway, let’s take a gander at some of these cartoons!”

    http://www.downundernewslinks.com/mediacenter/cartoons/

And have a beer with the Master Race.

Anti-Muslim computer game stirs wave of anger
Hannah Davies
The Courier-Mail
September 13, 2008

A COMPUTER game designed by a Brisbane man has caused Muslim anger around the world because it invites players to wipe out the followers of Islam.

Queensland police have launched an investigation into the game Muslim Massacre, which can be downloaded for free online.

    http://www.muslimmassacre.com/

Players take control of an American “hero”, are given “an arsenal of the world’s most destructive weapons” and are tasked with killing as many Muslims as possible, ranging from terrorists and civilians to Osama bin Laden, even the prophet Mohammed and Allah.

Britain’s Ramadhan Foundation wants the game banned.

“This game is glorifying the killing of Muslims in the Middle East and we urge internet providers to take action to remove this site from their services,” foundation chief Mohammed Shafiq said.

“This is not satire but a deliberate attempt to demonise Muslims.”

The game was created by freelance programmer Eric Vaughan, 22, who calls himself “Sigvatr” on his online blog.

Mr Vaughan, who works at a petrol station in East Brisbane, refused to comment when contacted by The Courier-Mail yesterday.

On his blog, he describes the game as “fun and funny” and says to his critics: “The Muslims represented in the game aren’t meant to be based on actual Muslims.”

Islamic Council of Queensland president Suliman Sabdia urged Police Minister Judy Spence to shut down the site.

“This is the sort of game which creates hysteria,” he said.

“It could lead on to other things if it goes unchecked.”

Ms Spence said she was concerned. “I am aware that the contents of this particular website have been brought to the attention of police, who are making an assessment as to whether it breaches any legislation,” she said.

See also : “Muslim Massacre” Surprisingly Found Offensive, kotaku, September 10, 2008 | ‘Muslim massacre’ computer game condemned, Josie Clarke, The Independent, September 11, 2008 | More evidence that satire doesn’t transmit over the interwebs, Charles Arthur, The Guardian, September 11, 2008 | ‘Muslim Massacre’ computer game blasted, AFP, September 13, 2008 | Idiot of the week: “Sigvatr”, Five Public Opinions, September 13, 2008

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, Media | 25 Comments

From the Kitchen: sexism anarchism and men

A new zine by some anarchist men from across Aotearoa / New Zealand has just been published, put together by the Otautahi Men’s Hui and published by Katipo Books.

You can order copies direct from Katipo Books or download the PDF.

Editor: Otautahi Men’s Hui
Publisher: Katipo Books/Garage Collective
Release Date: 14 Sep 2008
26 pages

DESCRIPTION:
In what is perhaps a first for Aotearoa pakeha anarchists From the Kitchen is devoted to the discussion of anarchist men’s relationship/response to the feminist movement(s) and our own sexist behaviour.

Topics in the first issue include:
Me(n) and Pornography
Slugs in the Sandpit — The Gendered politics of the garden
Meat Robots Unite
Some thoughts on masculinity, authoritarianism and emotiomal intelligence
What is to be done — some reflections on current sexism in the anarchist movement

Posted in Anarchism, Sex & Sexuality | Leave a comment

“Nazi rubbish”: James Saleam is unamused

Wow. Steve the National Socialist (and Kitler — Sieg Miaow!) is a bona fide (local) celebrity.

Hitler stunt leaves Australia First cold
Mark O’Brien
St George & Sutherland Shire Leader
September 15, 2008

Voters at several Sutherland and Cronulla booths were confronted with a Hitler lookalike on Saturday spruiking the Australia First Party.

“Steve the national socialist” was the creation of a Sutherland Shire resident who visited at least three polling places clutching a poster of “Kitler”, a black and white cat with markings reminiscent of the dictator’s moustache.

“Steve” also wore a narrow moustache and a red armband featuring a swastika.

A satirical video of the visits was posted on YouTube late on Sunday night.

But the party’s Sydney branch chairman Jim Saleam wasn’t laughing about the stunt yesterday.

“There will be a complaint lodged regarding two men with a video camera who visited several voting places on Saturday,” he said.

“They have committed a series of electoral breaches, including handing out false and misleading information to voters.”

Mr Saleam said the complaint would include at least two websites the party believed were connected to the incident.

“There are a number of standard lines people tend to trot out when they want to oppose us,” he said.

“This Nazi rubbish is one of them.

“They went down like a lead balloon at most booths anyway, but it is actually quite a serious incident and we will be following through with a complaint.”

“Steve” said he had been inspired to make his video after reading about the party in the media and on the internet.

“Most people took it with a smile and a laugh,” he said.

“You can see from the video we approached it in a polite, non-threatening way.

“Some people were a little surprised at first but it was very clear we were being humorous about the whole thing and that was generally the spirit in which it was received.”

Check out Steve’s satirical video and tell us what you think. WARNING: The video contains images which may offend some people.

See also : Cats That Look Like Hitler! | Kitler sighting ar Petco!, reverie, September 7, 2008

Does your cat look like Adolf Hitler? Do you wake up in a cold sweat every night wondering if he’s going to up and invade Poland? Does he keep putting his right paw in the air while making a noise that sounds suspiciously like “Sieg Miaow”? If so, this is the website for you.

Below : ‘radnat’ (James Saleam) announces the Australia First Party’s campaign on the world’s premiere white supremacist website Stormfront. On The Jewish Problem, Stormfront moderator Jackboot writes: “Insofar as Stormfront has a policy, or platform, that platform consists of three major planks: First, we share a racialist vision for the general prosperity, security, and betterment of our people. From that commitment flows our most important message: we name the Jew as the deadliest, if not the only, threat to our existence as a race. Forge this message in titanium…

For many years, Saleam has struggled to distance himself from his past and to recast Australian fascism as simple, unadulterated ‘patriotism’. In fact, the bulk of Saleam’s political activity is dedicated to just this mission: giving fascism a respectable face. Unfortunately for Saleam, his long history of involvement with neo-Nazi groups and individuals, criminal record in its cause, and total failure to repudiate racism and fascism, makes this a very difficult — in reality, impossible — task. Nevertheless, Saleam tries. Below is a list of his complaints to the Australian Press Council. All of which, needless to say, he lost. In December 2005, a not terribly good article by John Huxley (‘Armed, dangerous but shocking organisers’, Sydney Morning Herald) featured a profile of Saleam. Just a few days prior to its appearance, the APC dismissed a complaint brought by Dr James Saleam against The Australian for its description of the complainant as a ‘prominent neo-Nazi’ in two articles published by the paper!

Case One:

Mr James Saleam for himself and on behalf of National Action complains to the Australian Press Council concerning three articles which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on 18 November, 1988: “Masked hate bears a fiery necklace” on page 1, and “Thugs use terror to back apartheid” and “Hairdresser is a target of hate” on page 20. The article on page 1 draws the reader’s attention to the two articles on page 20.

All articles report violence or threats of violence on racist grounds… The complaint is dismissed.

Adjudication No. 401 (April 1989)

Case Two:

The Australian Press Council has dismissed complaints arising from the publication of a feature article by the (then) Daily Telegraph Mirror titled “LOOSE cannons” on 11 November, 1995.

In the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and a public speech of the dangers posed by “right wing militia groups” by the Deputy Director General of ASIO, the feature article examined “political extremism and religious fanaticism”, with a focus on the 2000 Olympics.

It canvassed the views of journalists, police and some of the self-professed extremists, with an emphasis in illustration and text on one David J Palmer, of the National Socialist Defence of Australian Peoples, depicted in military-style uniform upon which swastikas were prominent.

Mentioned in passing was the complainant James Saleam for the fact that, when chairman of Australian National Action Group, he was sentenced to three and a half years jail in 1991 for organising a shotgun attack on the home of Eddie Funde, Australian representative of the African National Congress.

[snip]

Mr Saleam states that he regards this a libel upon him and complains about the article on nine detailed points. His central complaint is that the article gives undue prominence to Mr Palmer’s views as representative of the extreme right, and the very prominent photograph of Mr Palmer tends to identify others mentioned in the article with “Nazi doctrine or similar doctrine”.

[snip]

The article was not about Mr Saleam; he was mentioned only briefly and was not credited with the views of anyone else mentioned. He disputes the view of the right wing organisations and people identified in the article and is entitled to do so. He submitted a letter to the editor for publication which the newspaper declined to publish due to its length…

Adjudication No. 853 (May 1996)

Case Three:

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint against The Sydney Morning Herald by James Saleam about a report on a campaign that stirred-up racial discontent over Afghan refugees working in Young, NSW.

Dr Saleam was referred to in the article as being a member of the Australia First Party, which had distributed a pamphlet about the refugees. It also said that he was a former head of an extremist political group, National Action. It recorded as background that he had been convicted of firearm offences, and was “caught up in – though never charged” over the murder in 1991 of a National Action member.

Adjudication No. 1177 (September 2002)

Case Four:

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint by Dr James Saleam against New Idea concerning a “Special Report” by Debi Marshall in its 23 March edition.

The report referred to the activities of David Palmer, described as head of the National Socialist Defenders Aryan People and as “Wizard” of an Australian chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, and his use of the Internet to recruit people to his organisations.

Adjudication No. 1183 (November 2002)

Case Five:

The Press Council has dismissed a complaint brought by Dr James Saleam against The Australian for its description of the complainant as a ‘prominent neo-Nazi’ in two articles published by the paper. The complainant felt he had been unfairly labelled by the newspaper.

Adjudication No. 1303 (December 2005)

In 1984, Saleam also managed to lose an election. Badly.

BONUS!

Case Six:

Adjudication No. 1370 (adjudicated October 2007)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint brought by Dr James Saleam against the Daily Telegraph arising from an article published on 3 March under the headline Bikini nazis hit the beach and stir the pot.

The report referred to a video advertisement posted on the website of the Australia First party which showed a woman in a burqa and a bikini being harassed on the beach by an unidentified man of “Middle Eastern appearance”.

When asked about the video, Dr Saleam, who is head of the Australia First party, refused to comment but later wrote a letter to the editor about the report. The letter was not published.

Dr Saleam objected to the description of him in the article as a “former neo-Nazi” and of his party as “white supremacist”. He further complained that the headline was incorrect as the only “Nazi” cited in the article seemed to be him; that it was wrong to say that Australia First wanted to use Cronulla riots to spark a wave of white nationalism; and that the paper had misrepresented or suppressed relevant facts in its reference to him as being “convicted of organising a shotgun attack on a black politician”.

There has been a series of complaints brought by Dr Saleam against various publications dating back to 1996 that have been adjudicated by the Press Council concerning his politics and his criminal conviction and the Council has previously ruled that the press is entitled to report on his activities. It can find nothing in the report that breaches its principles.

Following this latest complaint the Daily Telegraph composed a clarification that included Dr Saleam’s denial that he was a “former neo-Nazi” and a “white supremacist.” Dr Saleam agreed to the wording of the clarification but three months later the paper withdrew the offer to publish it. It is regrettable that the paper did not give Dr Saleam an opportunity to respond.

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, Media | 18 Comments

2008 Ian Stuart Donaldson Memorial Gigs

    Last year included Final War as the international band and the farewell gig of Aussie RAC legends — Fortress. This year, with a better venue, the much-anticipated return of the awesome Ravenous and our overseas guests being one of the most exciting active bands on the planet at the moment… Not forgetting Viking rock stalwarts, Blood Red Eagle, this one is shaping up to be an absolute blinder.”

Or so claim local boneheads Blood & Honour (B&H) Australia.

In addition to Saturday night’s gig organised by B&H and the Southern Cross Hammerskins at the Central Hotel in Beaconsfield, Victoria, numerous other franchises in the neo-Nazi network have organised gigs to commemorate the death (on September 24, 1993) of Skrewdriver lead singer and co-founder of Blood & Honour (with another dead neo-Nazi Nicky Crane) Ian Stuart Donaldson. Note that there is a split in these networks between two factions: one supportive of another neo-Nazi group called Combat 18 (18 = AH = Adolf Hitler) and the other not; the Hammerskins are aligned with the non-C18 affiliated faction.

In the UK, Ian’s birthplace, the gig is taking place on the weekend of September 19/20. Playing are Avalon, Blackout, Bulldog Breed, Brutal Attack, Last Chance, Legion of St George, Unit 28, Whitelaw and Woden. A bloke called John from a band called Nemesis will also be strumming his guitar, and warbling songs dedicated to the memory of Ian, and possibly even the Nazi pimp Horst Wessel. According to one source:

Horst Wessel was born September 9, 1907, in Bielefeld, Germany. The son of a pastor, Wessel dropped out of law school in 1926 and defied his mother by joining the Nazi Brownshirt paramilitary in the final days of the Weimar Republic. He soon caught the attention of Joseph Goebbels, who sent him to Vienna in 1928 to organize the Nazi youth movement there.

Intelligent and politically astute, Wessel was also extremely violent. Upon returning to Germany, he organized an attack on the local headquarters of the Communist Party in Friedrichshain, Berlin, during which four workers sustained serious injuries. This prompted Heinz Neumann, editor of the Communist Red Flag daily to call on party members to “Beat the fascists wherever you find them,” exacerbating the already tense political situation.

On January 14, 1930, Wessel got into a heated argument with his landlady, the widow of a Communist Party member. Although the exact details of the argument are still debated, what is known is that: 1) she claimed Wessel refused to pay his rent — alternately, she may have tried to raise it and Wessel refused to pay the difference; 2) she claimed he threatened to beat her; 3) Wessel refused to pay rent for his girlfriend, a prostitute (according to some accounts, a former prostitute reformed by Wessel); since the landlady was herself subletting to Wessel, she feared she would lose the rights to her apartment because a prostitute was living there. Rather than approach the police, the landlady went to a local tavern frequented by Communists for help.

The Communists saw this as an ideal opportunity to avenge themselves on Wessel for the earlier attack. Two men, Ali Höhler, a tough with underworld connections, and Erwin Rückert, an active party member, went to Wessel’s apartment. When he opened the door for them, Höhler shot him in the head. He died several weeks later from his injuries.

The shooting was immediately exploited by both the Nazis and the Communists to further their political aims. The Communists portrayed Wessel as a pimp, while the Nazis claimed he had actually saved his girlfriend from a life of prostitution by introducing her to the Nazi Party and its values. Goebbels organized a public funeral for the new “martyr” to the Nazi cause, and 30,000 people lined the streets of Berlin to see the procession. Goebbels delivered the eulogy in the presence of Hermann Göring and Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia. During the Nazi era, his life was glorified in memorials, books, and films.

Some months before he died, Wessel had written the verses to what would become the Horst Wessel Lied but it first gained popular currency when a choir of Stormtroopers performed it at his funeral. It was later recorded, and in 1931 it became the official anthem of the Nazi Party, played alongside Deutschland über Alles at all official occasions. The song celebrates the SA (whom Hitler would soon purge in the Night of the Long Knives).

Speaking of Nazi Germany, the ISD gig took place there on September 6. Bands that played at the knees up included Better Dead Then Red, Empire Falls, E&S, No Remorse, Oidoxie, Razors Edge and Sturm 18. This gig was organised by the C18 faction. Unfortunately for this mob, their website was hacked a few weeks ago, and the entire contents of their disco forum downloaded and made available for public viewing.

Elsewhere, gigs (organised by non-C18 aligned mobs) have taken place or are taking place in Belgium(/Flanders) (October 18), Hungary (September 13), Italy (September 27) and the United States (September 20). In the US, there are two separate gigs: one in Phoenix, Arizona; the other in Florida. The Phoenix event is being organised by White Knights of America, Sons of Aesir MC, Deaths Head Hooligans, and Thor Ink; the Florida gig by Blood & Honour Confederate 28. (On family fun in Arizona, see Three Congressmen call for J.T. Ready’s ouster, the Nationalist Coalition’s PHX “family night,” and Oi Fest! in Tonopah, Feathered Bastard (Stephen Lemons), August 20, 2008.)

    “What about the Jews? No mercy.
    What about the spics? No mercy.
    What about the niggers? No mercy.
    What about the faggots? No mercy.
    What about the traitors? No mercy.”

    ~ ‘No Mercy’, Totenkopf Saints, one of several bands appearing at the Arizona ISD memorial gig.

Bah!

Enough already with the Hitler fetishists!

This bloke (c/o David Gibbs) makes heaps more sense:

Wham bam, my cat Splash
is rolling around on my bed. He swallowed
his tongue as he drank all my whisky
As for me, I’ve hardly slept, I feel empty and reprimanded
I had to sleep in the gutter,
where I had a flash of inspiration
In four colours [thus a multi-coloured flash of inspiration]

Ok let’s go, one morning
A babe came round to my house
She looked like a cellophane doll with a Chinese hairstyle
She was wearing a plaster and had a hangover
She drank my beer in a large rubber glass
Just like an Indian might do in his igloo

It’s all working out for me …

Ok let’s go, that babe was such a bitch
What a vibration
Coming on the doormat
Filed down, ruined, empty, but happy
You are the King of the Divan
She says to me in passing [while coming?]
I am the King of the Divan

Ok let’s go, mind your own, keep your nose out
Don’t harm my planet
Today’s not the day the sky will fall down around my ears
Or that I will have to go without a drink
It’s all working out for me …

Ok let’s go, my baby upped and left
She walked out on me, it’s a shitty situation
She broke everything: the sink, the bar
And she left me all alone
Like a total jerk
Stuck here faced with the aftermath

(For Vince!)

Posted in Anti-fascism, History, Music | Leave a comment