“Hey! Great idea Ron!” or Church of Scientology versus Anonymous

Ha! After having dispatched neo-Nazi blabbermouth Hal Turner to Hell (and/or back into the ever-loving arms of the FBI) other, Anonymous hackers have refused to respect the cock and instead declared war on the Church of Scientology; prompted, perhaps, by having watched Battlefield Earth, or Tom Cruise smile one too many smarmy self-satisfied smiles in one too many smarmy self-satisfied roles in one too many smarmy self-satisfied films. Or Tom Cruise talk some truly amazing shit on a leaked video.

Wired has some blah blah blah here and The Times has also reported that “Hackers have mounted a wave of attacks against the Church after it tried to take down a leaked video of Tom Cruise” (Jonathan Richards, Web vigilantes attack Scientology website, January 25, 2008). The “chilling” threat contained in a press release (Internet Group Anonymous Declares “War on Scientology”) and video (above) I think is less chilling than it is slightly ill-directed. After all, while both businesses are noted for their litigousness, it was McDonald’s — another US-based corporation — what was responsible for the longest defamation case in British legal history, not L. Ron’s demented followers.

Anyway, L. Ron Hubbard himself (1911–1987) was a pretty amazing guy. According to his followers, Ron befriended indigenous Blackfeet Indians in and around his Helena, Montana home — “At the age of six, L. Ron Hubbard is honored with the status of blood brother of the Blackfeet in a ceremony that is still recalled by tribal elders” — as a precocious 12 year old boy studied Freudian theory with Commander Joseph C. Thompson (the first United States naval officer to actually work with Freud in Vienna), travelled in Asia — “In China, he becomes close friends with British intelligence officers, Buddhist priests, US Marines and the last remaining magician from the line of Kublai Khan’s court” — and studied engineering, mathematics and nuclear physics at George Washington University: “point of fact, L. Ron Hubbard was the first to rigorously employ Western scientific methods to the study of spiritual matters“.

Wow.

Before becoming famous for being the Scientician who developed Dianetics (1950), Lafayette wrote many other astounding! thrilling! wonder! stories, with awesome titles like ‘The Indigestible Triton’ and ‘Typewriter in the Sky’ (1940), ‘The Automagic Horse’ and ‘The Emperor of the Universe’ (1949). Word on the Internets is that Cruise will soon be starring in a film based on another of L. Ron’s short stories, a sequel to Battlefield Earth tentatively titled The Contrabulous Fabtraption of Professor Horatio Hufnagel.

SEDUCE and DESTROY.

Posted in !nataS, Media | 15 Comments

Pip Starr // Paddy McGuinness

    Reclaim the Streets 7, March 1999. Hundreds of partiers in an ongoing Reclaim the Streets occupy several sites in Sydney, including the Eastern Distributor. Global Warming was still just a distant concept to most of us at this point in time, but by protesting about over use of the motor car we were obviously on the right track. September 11 was just another day on the calendar.

    Barista and Takver have written further reflections on Pip’s life and times: these things happened (January 30) and The Passing of Pip Starr – Australian Activist Videographer (January 31).

    Former PM Paul Keating, on the other hand, has some choice words regarding Paddy’s life and work. The late Paddy McGuinness was “a liar and a fraud” with the journalistic “morals of an alley cat”, former prime minister Paul Keating says. In a stinging opinion piece in The Australian Financial Review today, Mr Keating accused McGuinness of having a “prejudiced, capricious and intellectually corrupt mind that was all over the shop depending on what suited his miserable purposes at the time”.

Local documentary filmmaker Pip Starr has died. Pip committed suicide.

I believe that independent media is vital to democracy. Australia has one of the most centralized ownerships of media in the world, which is part of the reason for the woeful state of our democracy. The radical shift to the right that is happening in our country would not have happened without the support of the corporate media in Australia.

One of the beneficiaries of this rightward shift was Padraic ‘Paddy’ McGuinness, and he too has died, of melanoma (skin cancer) at the age of 69.

Quadrant editor Paddy McGuiness dies
January 27, 2008
AAP

PADRAIC ‘Paddy’ McGuinness, a former Sydney Morning Herald columnist and editor of Quadrant magazine, has died at his Sydney home aged 69.

See also : Sad, angry and confused, Richard Watts, January 23, 2008 | Obituary Pip Starr: Melbourne Activist, Craig Bellamy, January 24, 2008 | Pip Starr – An Obituary, chi too, January 25, 2008 | What a Starr., Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert, January 26, 2008 | Peter McGregor (1947–2008) | Jeff Riley

King : Now, Hamlet, where’s Polonius?
Hamlet : At supper.
King : At supper? Where?
Hamlet : Not where he eats, but where he is eaten. A certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service — two dishes, but to one table. That’s the end.
King : Alas, alas!

Posted in Film, History, Media, Television | 5 Comments

Australia, IMPORTED FKN SIMIAN PIECE OF NEGRESS CRAP, and lets get the ovens raised in melbourne

    Australia Australia Australia

So yeah, Australia Day. For many, a day to celebrate. For others, to mourn. For me, just another day spent slacking and being a bastard. (Activities which presumably inspire comments such as these.) For local fascist nutters, on the other hand, Australia Day is, unsurprisingly, the source of both pride and anxiety. While most would’ve contented themselves with burning snags, burning skin and getting pissed, at Jim’s Bunker in Tempe, a handful of losers belonging to Australia First listened to Rex Gilroy inform them that Australia was Atlantis, followed by Party Fuehrer Doctor James Saleam complain about the media, followed by some bad metal performed by a band called Machete. In Camden and Cronulla, however, things appear to have been fairly quiet, and it also appears that a wave of pimply teenage fascists failed to descend upon Hyde Park to parade around the Cenotaph with their flags and their vicious ignorance.

Not that this mob isn’t capable of some reflection, of course. For example:

[SEIRYU]
“Friend of Stormfront”
Sustaining Member

[SEIRYU]’s Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Melbourne… or Asia – It’s hard to tell sometimes…

The Age Does It Again – Way To Bollocks AUSTRALIA DAY Twats…

I Think Im Going to be F**KING SICK!

What the HELL is wrong with putting a white Australian on the front page of the AUSTRALIA DAY NEWSPAPER[?]

Not some IMPORTED FKN SIMIAN PIECE OF NEGRESS CRAP[!]

F**k this – Im going to get pissed now

Tsk tsk tsk: sounds like Little Miss [SEIRYU] is upset enough as it is; too much alcohol and she may explode.

Honestly, what a muppet. She and the rest of her company of Complainey Janeys are always moaning and groaning, bitching and complaining about something, making them sound a lot less like the stoic Australian of myth and much more like a bunch of whinging bloody Poms.

And/or violent psychopaths. For example:

auststealth
Forum Member

Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Australia

Re: Why I hate Asians and dont want anything to do with them..

hey the friggen arabs do the same [that is, be cruel to animals] there both inhumane race well lets get the ovens raised in melbourne and start chucking there asses in there.
__________________
828 – AUSTRALIA

Yeah… There’s too many Arabs and Asians in Australia. They are Bad. Therefore we should conduct a genocidal campaign against them in the same manner as the Nazis did the Jews in WWII.

Note that one of the few things that all on Stormfront can and indeed must agree upon is that The Jew is Public Enemy #1. Ironic then, that January 27 is International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust. Further, that after Rhys McLean ‘retired’ as Moderator of the Stormfront Down Under (SFDU) segment on the site (following his exposure as such in an article in The Daily Telegraph), a poll of SFDU members suggests that his most popular replacement is the unrepentant neo-Nazi Carl D. Thompson. As of Australia / Invasion / Survival Day, the disgraced former editor and paranoid delusionist has received 33 of 125 votes. His next closest rival, Paul Innes, has received 29, while Aquila_Audax has 13 and nafe 9. Between them, the top four candidates in the straw poll have garnered over 70% of the votes so far cast.

Not that they’re a bunch of fucking nazis or anything.

    It’s a Mad Gay Mad Gay World; Or, Dudes Who Like Dudes Who Like Nazis

As noted previously, the Queensland organiser for Doctor Jim’s Australia First Party is in a spot of bother over accusations that he’s soft on homosexuals. Following Darrin Hodge’s return to the scene of John Drew’s crime,* AF have made a vewy special public service announcement:

Eureka! #71 [Electronic Bulletin of Australia First Party]

(For internal use; not for re-publication unless an article is so marked)

Australia First Statement: Our Answer To Darrin Hodges: Management Committee, January 23

Material launched by Mr. Darrin Hodges on a private smear site* and on Stormfront, demands answer by Australia First.

The Management Committee of Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated advises:

1. We condemn the poisonous attack upon John Drew (Australia First, Brisbane), who is otherwise incorrectly represented as the ‘leader’ of our party in Queensland. The homosexual slur is repudiated. Mr. Drew informed us:

“I am heterosexual and always have been. I do not condone the so-called homosexual lifestyle. The material quoted against me was more my description of data supplied to me by a ‘gay’ to explain his bizarre personal choices. The information (sic) was acquired more than thirty years ago in a large ‘share-house’ when I was a student. If the composition was not clear, I now make it very clear. I was describing others. I regard the slur on me as an attempt at character assassination by a person with a record of smear and false allegation.”

Mr. Drew offered to stand aside whilst the party examined the matter.

As pointed out by a perceptive Jew hater on SFDU, Hodges’ refers to Drew as a leader, not the leader of AF in Queensland, which is actually correct. Secondly, Drew made three comments. The first refers to his alleged experiences living in a shared household with a gay man in “The Swinging Sixties”. In other words, Drew — the former leader and last man standing in the horribly misnamed ‘Patriotic Youth League’ — shared a house with a gay man in the 1960s. But exactly how old is Drew? Let’s be generous and assume that he’s 55 (a little older than his ideological mentor Doctor Jim). That would mean that he was born in 1952. If so, in 1960 Drew was 8, and in 1969, 17.

Meaning something about his claim doesn’t quite add up.

Drew’s other two comments claim quite explicitly that mutual masturbation (to be precise: “being pulled off by a very fit and athletic male who keeps himself in absolutely wonderful physical condition”) is superior to, well… men having sex with fat chicks. Contrary to the statement issued by a panicked and homophobic party committee, Drews’ statement does not merely describe others’ sexual activity or proclivities, but rather expresses the opinion of John Drew as to which is preferable.

Finally, compare and contrast the following statements:

A) “I do not condone the so-called homosexual lifestyle.”
B) “As long as men do [not] have anal sex I cannot see any problem with [male] homosexuality.”

Now, anyone who follows Jim is obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed, but surely this incident takes the very fit and athletic male who keeps himself in absolutely wonderful physical condition beefcake. Exactly how much are his devotees expected to swallow?

    POSTSCRIPT

Jan Kučera

Finally, some brief acknowledgement in the corporate media of the murder of another antifa, another skinhead, in Europe:

Neo-Nazi charged in fatal stabbing
Prague Daily Monitor
January 25, 2008

A 20-year-old neo-Nazi has been charged in the murder last week of teenage anti-fascist activist in Příbram, central Bohemia.

Local daily Příbramský deník reported that the suspect, wearing a Wehrmacht army uniform, stabbed 18-year-old Jan Kučera on 18 January, one day before far-right groups planned a march in nearby Plzeň. According to witnesses, Kučera was attacked after confronting a group of extremists after they gave the Nazi salute in a Příbram restaurant. The incident was captured on video by security cameras and posted by several news servers 22 January (viewer discretion advised).

Kučera died in hospital as a result of his wounds on 20 January. Dozens of police officers were on watch at Kučera’s funeral five days later.

The suspected assailant was taken into custody and has been charged with murder. Central Bohemian Police spokeswoman Soňa Budská described the motive in the killing as a “personal dispute”, according to Příbramský deník. Police said the assailant was on probation at the time of the incident, having been given a suspended sentence for a different crime, the daily reported.

Footage from Jan’s funeral…

Earlier, on the occasion of the murder of two other anti-racist skinheads…

It pains [Dan’s father] that his son’s sacrifice is unheralded while the media obsesses on the cultural war between liberal and conservative values. It’s a war, he says, that demands no risk whatsoever from its TV-talking head combatants. “Dan died as a soldier who believed in his cause — anti-racism,” says Walter. His son’s ARA troops are still fighting for the cause, though police advised them to leave when rumors surfaced that the Nazis had created a hit list. The cause unites them with something valued in military custom: courage and a code of honor.

Tradition, tradition! Tradition!

…Individual acts like [the attempted assassination of Mussolini in 1931] were just the tip of anarchist organisation against fascism. In this period every western government saw fascism as a useful bulwark against ‘communism’. From the early 1920’s Italian anarchists had physically fought the fascists and even after World War II anarchists were being jailed for fighting the fascist Italian state in that period.

German resistance

In Germany the anarchist-syndicalist FAUD (Free Union of German Workers) had decided in 1932 to go underground once Hitler came to power and to work towards a general strike. This proved impossible, the FAUD was far too small to do so on its own and of course once Hitler came to power its numbers were further decimated as many members were either arrested or forced to flee into exile. However with the help of Dutch anarchists they did succeed in setting up a FAUD secretariat in exile in Amsterdam.

Inside Germany FAUD members like labourer Franz Bunget and unemployed steelworker Julius Nolden attempted to continue operating underground. Both were to be arrested by the Gestapo. However with others they succeeded in getting an underground network going that smuggled people out of Germany and smuggled anti-Nazi pamphlets in, often with strange titles to mislead the fascist authorities.

Court records show that one pamphlet went under the title of ‘Eat German fruit and stay healthy’ and became “so popular among miners that they used to greet each other with: ‘Have you eaten German fruit as well?’” The outbreak of the Spanish Revolution in 1936 saw an underground network that raised money for the Spanish anarchists and their fight against fascism and recruited technicians to go to Spain and provide needed expertise.

In December of 1936 however the Gestapo managed to discover the first of these groups and in raids then and in 1937 arrested 89 male and female members of this anarchist underground. In early 1938 these comrades were charged with “preparing acts of high treason”. All but six were convicted.

Julius Nolden was ‘lucky’ and spent the next 8 years in Luttringhausen prison until the arrival of the ‘allies’ in April of 1945. Others were not so ‘lucky’ and were murdered in prison. Lathe operator, Emil Mahnert was thrown out of a window, bricklayer, Wilhelm Schmitz, died in “unexplained circumstances”, Ernst Holtznagel was sent to a military punishment battalion where he died, Michael Delissen was beaten to death by the Gestapo in December 1936 and Anton Rosinke was murdered in February 1937.

The history of the anarchist resistance to fascism is something we are never told about in mainstream or even left histories. The victors over fascism wrote the ‘history’ of anti-fascism after WWII. They gave prominent place to the aristocratic German officers who failed to kill Hitler late in the war but ignored the ordinary workers who struggled in the 1920’s and 1930’s when the western governments saw Hitler as an ally. The account here is but a snippet, based on the valuable work done by the ‘Kate Sharpley Library’ in recovering, translating and publishing this history.

After the war in August 1946, Ernst Binder wrote:

“Since mass resistance was not feasible in 1933, the finest members of the movement had to squander their energy in a hopeless guerrilla campaign. But if workers will draw from that painful experiment the lesson that only a united defence at the proper time is effective in the struggle against fascism, their sacrifices will not have been in vain.”

Pink Action Gets the Goods

Donaldson and his followers were also discovering that being a well known nazi in London had its problems. Donaldson was attacked several times, which resulted in him leaving London towards the end of the year. One of the attacks came after a [bonehead] fanzine had referred to one of the organisations that made up the Anti-Fascist Action coalition, Red Action, as “Pink Action”. On his way home with a take-away meal one evening Donaldson was set about and left lying on the ground. Having several enemies he cried “Who are you?” “Pink Action” came the reply.

See also : Christopher Bantick, A lesson for our children, Herald Sun, January 26, 2008 | Boycott The Birmingham

*http://saleamslot.blogspot.com/2008/01/query-for-jim-saleam-australia-first.html

Posted in Anti-fascism, History, State / Politics | 2 Comments

Glad to be (a) gay (Nazi)

Many people have had unkind words to say about Doctor James Saleam; indeed, I plead guilty to having been one of them. But I’m beginning to believe that Saleam is The Dice Man of the Australian far right and, like Luke Rhinehart, often — entertaining. In the latest installment of the continuing saga of a quack who’s gone to the dogs, it’s been revealed that the newest Fuehrer to be installed in Queensland, John Drew, is (gasp!) possibly gay. Naturally, this unnatural proposition has sparked a pained reaction on the part of the local battalion of the God Hates Fags Brigade. Thus Fellow Queenslander ‘Wodensvolk’ / Carl D. Thompson — a deadset neo-Nazi and, not coincidentally, an exceptionally popular choice among fellow Stormfront Down Under (SFDU) members for the position of Moderator — remarks:

All sorts of allegations have been made against this man, most of which involve tennis and an unhealthy interest in teenage boys.
How much is true, I do not know.
Australia First needs to conduct a formal investigation to determine Drew’s fitness to remain both in the party and in his position.
If a formal investigation finds that there is no basis for these allegations (some of which are vile) the man’s innocence should be proclaimed from the rooftops.
If there is found to be substance to these allegations, well . . . [intimation of extreme violence]

‘303SMLE’ / Jim Perren chimes in with a veiled threat towards Darrin Hodges, the apparent source of these thoroughly scurrilous rumours. According to Jim, Darrin forgot to tell him of his concerns over John’s supposed homosexuality before publishing them on his blog. Or, to be precise, resurrecting some old posts on SF and wedding these to John’s role as Secretary of the Brisbane branch of Australia First.

So, what’s the evidence?

First, the announcement (SFDU, June 13, 2007) of plans to open a gay sauna at The Greyhound Hotel in St Kilda last July produced the usual splutterings by the Moral Majority on SF. The fanatical ferret-loving female fascist (and member of the Newcastle branch of the Australia First Party) ‘ladyfuro’ exclaimed:

What the hell is wrong with our society[?] This used to be illegal & now these dirty little handbags are catered to as much as immigrants are!
Just think…now the filthy paedophiles have some where out in the open to meet…if a terrorist truly wanted to act…

Why, they’d do just what David Copeland did in Brixton, UK in April 1999, and explode a bomb at The Greyhound, wouldn’t they? I wouldn’t be surprised if Jim Perren’s comrade Peter Campbell entertained similar phantasies when he allegedly distributed a tract called ‘How to build a David Copeland special’ among local white supremacists.

Another fascist twat named ‘SEIRYU’, on the other hand (who rather indelicately expresses his political perspective through the use of a Nazi flag as his avatar), expresses a real depth of knowledge regarding The Greyhound’s local environs:

I[‘]m surprised at that

you seen who owns st kilda?

(they wear silly hats, black coats, and have beedy [sic] evil little eyes)

Which brings us to ‘Wagnerite’, aka John Drew, who recalls (June 15, 2007):

I once had a gay flatmate who used to have very vigorous sessions with his lovers in the next bedroom. He specialised in lengthy penis stroking sessions with delayed orgasms.

It was all very noisy as I remember. This was back in the swinging sixties.

How ever did young John sleep? Why, he must have been tossing and turning all night.

The second and third equally bizarre references to male homosexuality by our Jew-hating, Wagner-loving, tennis-playing AF Secretary also appear on SF, and were made in response to the posting of a link to a vewy scawy and quasi-official sounding document called MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT HOMOSEXUALS DO, by Paul Cameron (of/) The Family Research Institute, a Christian anti-pink think tank based in Colorado. May 29, 2007:

As long as men do [not?!?] have anal sex I cannot see any problem with homosexuality. They have to pull their partners off in much the same way that women pull their male partners off. Women are often reluctant to have sex frequently whereas homosexuals are always ready for sex as they often produce lots of semen if they have a good diet and keep very fit.

Females are often quite aerobically unfit and so are unable to match the libido of sexually active men who can sustain an erection for a lengthy time.

Quite. Further (June 4, 2007):

Fancy having sex with a fat, unfit lady? Contrast this with being pulled off by a very fit and athletic male who keeps himself in absolutely wonderful physical condition…

Oo-er!

But who is John Drew? To begin with, Drew THE ANTI-IMMIGRANT ACTIVIST! was profiled by Zoo magazine in August last year, along with Dävid Palmer (Imperial Wizard of the Australian Ku Klux Klan) THE NEO-NAZI! and David Innes (anti-immigration writer and radio DJ) THE WHITE SEPARATIST!. According to Drew himself:

I put my nationalist beliefs into practice by joining Australia First. I used to be in One Nation but my radical [political] beliefs and policy ideas saw me dumped as Queensland State Policy Co-ordinator and as the [candidate] for Ryan in the 2004 federal election [Drew stood in 2001]. I was so irritated I resigned and then joined the more radical Australia First.

According to a Doctor:

John Drew is off his nut. He’s involved in the Patriotic Youth League, the Australia First youth division, yet he’s in his 50s; he’s a bit old to be involved in a youth group.

Well… was involved in the Patriotic Youth League. After Stuart McBeth bailed, a local meathead called Luke Connors stepped forward. After developing an even rarer form of brain cancer through excessive phone use however (or rumour has it), John was left holding the bag, which he now keeps in the closet (along with the rest of his baggage). Two further facts about Our Man in Brisbane are that he used to drive a cab in Sydney and that he thinks Doctor Saleam is Great. Really Great. In fact, in a thread on SFDU titled ‘Jim Saleam… a great Australian’ (April 26, 2006) Drew writes:

In my 38 years as a political activist I have never seen any person so successful as Dr Jim Saleam. He is truly a great [A]ustralian.

Three cheers and a loud huzzah!

And just for good measure:

See also : Nicky Crane | Michael Kühnen | Ernst Röhm | Martin Webster

Posted in Anti-fascism, Sex & Sexuality | 11 Comments

Brad Will in Rolling Stone (via CrimethInc. by way of infoshop)

Huh. CrimethInc. Far East Blog has re-published an article by Jeff Sharlet, ‘Anarchist Superstar: The Revolutionary Who Filmed His Own Murder’, Boring Clone, January, 2008 on the subject of Brad Roland Will (1970–2006), “a U.S. anarchist, documentary filmmaker and a journalist with Indymedia New York City. He was shot and killed on October 27, 2006 during the teachers’ strike in the Mexican city of Oaxaca.” Brad’s murder appears to have been passed over in (almost) complete silence by the Australian media, as was the case with the arrest of Bangladeshi journalist Tasneem Khalil for documenting human rights abuses by Bangladeshi police. (Khalil was eventually forced to flee Dhaka.) The jailing of another US journalist, Josh Wolf — the longest imprisonment of its kind in US history — for refusing to reveal his sources to authorities, merited one article in The Age upon his release… The commentary which follows the article on Brad is also interesting in relation to debates about the various relationships between corporate / state / independent / media, power, resistance and its representation(s).

And shit.

HE WAS AN ANARCHIST, AGITATOR AND JOURNALIST WHO WENT TO MEXICO TO DOCUMENT PEASANT REVOLT — AND HE ENDED UP FILMING HIS OWN DEATH by Jeff Sharlet.

The Martyrdom of Brad Will

Even before he was killed by a Mexican policeman’s bullet, Brad Will seemed to those who revered him more like a symbol—a living folk song, or a murder ballad—than like a man. This is what the thirty-six-year-old anarchist-journalist’s friends remember: tall, skinny Brad in a black hoodie with two fists to the sky, Rocky-style, atop an East Village squat as the wrecking ball swings; Brad, his bike hoisted on his shoulder, making a getaway from cops across the rooftops of taxicabs; Brad, locked down at City Hall disguised as a giant sunflower with patched-together glasses to protest the destruction of New York’s guerrilla gardens. Brad (he rarely used his surname, kept it secret in case you were a cop) wore his long brown hair tied up in a knot, but for the right woman—and a lot of women seemed right to Brad—he’d let it sweep down his back almost to his ass. Jessica Lee, one of the few who spurned him, met Brad at an Earth First! action in southwestern Virginia the summer before he was killed. They skipped away from the crowd to a waterfall where Brad stripped naked and invited Lee in her swimsuit to stand with him behind sheets of cascading water. He tried to kiss her, but she turned away. She thought there was something missing inside him. “Like he was incomplete, too lonely,” she says. Maybe he was just tired after a decade and a half on the front lines of a revolution that never quite happened…

Any Time Now.

See also : Making the world safe for capitalism: Oaxaca, Mexico (October 29, 2006) | The Inconvenient Death of Brad Will (November 16, 2006) | Mexico-Australia Solidarity Network | Latin American Solidarity Network (LASNET) / Red de Solidaridad con los Pueblos Latinoamericanos

    Rally in Solidarity with Mapuche (Indigenous people of Argentina and Chile)

    For the life of Mapuche political prisoner Patricia Troncoso in critical health condition after more than 105 days on hunger strike.

    FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 12 midday
    CHILEAN CONSULATE in MELBOURNE
    Floor 13, 390 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne

Brad Will, journalist and NYC Indymedia member, was killed in Oaxaca, Mexico covering the struggle of the people to throw out a murderous local governor. Below is a recent email he sent to a friend in Melbourne from Oaxaca.

early dawn, oct16 [2006]

yesterday i went for a walk with the good people of oaxaca — was walking all day really — in the afternoon they showed me where the bullets hit the wall — they numbered the ones they could reach — it reminded me of the doorway of amadou diallos home — but here the grafitti was there before the shooting began — one bullet they didnt number was still in his head — he was 41 years old — alejandro garcia hernandez — at the neighborhood barricade every night — that night he came out to join his wife and sons to let an ambulance through — then a pickup tried to follow — he took their bullet when he told them they could not pass — they never did — these military men in civilian dress shot their way out of there

a young man who wanted to only be called marco was with them when the shooting happened — a bullet passed through his shoulder — he was clearly in shock when we met — 19 years old — said he hadnt told his parents yet — said he had been at the barricade every night — said he was going back as soon as the wound closed — absolutely

just days before there was a delegation of senators visiting to determine the ungovernability of the state — they got a taste — the call went out to shut down the rest of the government — dozens went walking out of the zocalo city center with big sticks and a box full of spray paint — they took control of 3 city buses and went around the city all morning visiting local government buildings and informing them that that they were closed — and we appreciate your voluntary cooperation — and they filed out perturbed but still getting paid — shut — as they pulled away from the last stop 3 gunmen came out and started shooting — 2 buses had already pulled away — mayhem — 10 minute battle with stones and slingshots and screaming — one headwound — another through the leg — made their way to the hospital while the fighting continued — shout out on the radio and people came from all parts — the gunmen were around the side of the building — they got away — they were inside — no one sure — watchful — undercover police were reported lurking around the hospital and folks went running to stand watch over the wounded

what can you say about this movement — this revolutionary moment — you know it is building, growing, shaping — you can feel it — trying desperately for a direct democracy — in november appo will have a state wide conference for the formation of a state wide assemblea estatal del pueblo de oaxaca (aepo) — now there are 11 of 33 states in mexico that have declared formation of assemblea populares like appo — and on la otra lado in the usa a few — the marines have returned to sea even though the federal police who ravaged atenco remain close by — the new encampment in mexico has begun a hunger strike — the senate can expel URO — whats next nobodies sure — it is a point of light pressed through glass — ready to burn or show the way — it is clear that this is more than a strike, more than expulsion of a governor, more than a blockade, more than a coalition of fragments — it is a genuine peoples revolt — and after decades of pri rule by bribe, fraud, and bullet the people are tired — they call him the tyrant — they talk of destroying this authoritarianism — you cannot mistake the whisper of the lancandon jungle in the streets — in every street corner deciding together to hold — you see it their faces — indigenous, women, children — so brave — watchful at night — proud and resolute

went walking back from alejandros barricade with a group of supporters who came from an outlying district a half hour away — went walking with angry folk on their way to the morgue — went inside and saw him — havent seen too many bodies in my life — eats you up — a stack of nameless corpses in the corner — about the number who had died — no refrigeration — the smell — they had to open his skull to pull the bullet out — walked back with him and his people

and now alejandro waits in the zocalo — like the others at their plantones — hes waiting for an impasse, a change, an exit, a way forward, a way out, a solution — waiting for the earth to shift and open — waiting for november when he can sit with his loved ones on the day of the dead and share food and drink and a song — waiting for the plaza to turn itself over to him and burst — he will only wait until morning but tonight he is waiting for the governor and his lot to never come back — one more death — one more martyr in a dirty war — one more time to cry and hurt — one more time to know power and its ugly head — one more bullet cracks the night — one more night at the barricades — some keep the fires — others curl up and sleep — but all of them are with him as he rests one last night at his watch

uro= Ulises Ruiz Ortiz, “governor” of the state of oaxaca
planton= sit in, vigil, encampment
zocalo= central plaza

Posted in Anarchism, Film, History, Media, State / Politics | 1 Comment

Jan Kucera – Another victim of neo-nazis (antifa.cz)

Jan Kucera – Another victim of neo-nazis

About one thousand people gathered on 19 January, 2008 in Pilsen, Czech Republic, to commemorate the victims of nazi terror: 66 years ago, Jews from Pilsen were deported to concentration camps, but nobody knew that another victim of current neo-nazi violence is at the very same time fighting for his life in a hospital.

On 18 January in Pribram, a town 50 km south-west of Prague, 20-year-old neo-nazi Jiri Fous stabbed 18-year-old Jan Kucera in the groin and back about an hour to midnight. Before this attack, young local neo-nazis were provoking with nazi salutes and offending a group of young punks and antifascist skinheads, to which Jan belonged. Jan’s friends were trying to stop the bleeding from his femoral artery and called for an ambulance. Neither the paramedics nor Jan’s friends realized that Jan had also been stabbed in the back before it was too late. Jan lost massive amounts of blood and fell unconscious. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but even though he was in the hands of professional doctors, he died on Sunday morning.

Jan Kucera was an antifascist skinhead from Pribram, and he was never afraid to express his opinions. In his Internet profile, he wrote: “I’m a normal boy and I consider myself a SHARP skinhead. I don’t care who my friends are – I don’t judge people because of their musical taste, their clothes or the colour of their skin. I judge people by what they do. Anybody can write to me. I hate nazis, the bourgeoisie, communists and similar scum! Antifascista Oi!”

He stood by his opinions until the very end. He will stay forever in the hearts of his family, friends, and all people with an antifascist attitude. Honour to his memory.
Autor: Antifa.cz Zveřejněno: 23.01.2008 Tisk

PS. According to Antifa Prague Jiri Fous is a well-known active fascist… and killed Jan while wearing an SS uniform…

PPS. In 2006, on white supremacist website Stormfront, a local member of the Hammerskins recalled the ISD gig the week before the 2006 Melbourne Punk Pub Crawl as follows:

Some tool rang up the owner and said he was some construction union boss and had 200 union members in the city that were going to come and picket outside and alluded to maybe doing more than that.

They also rang the owner all night and hung up and harassed him.

There was even the gig’s address/details/map/location/phone number on ‘the site we aren’t allowed to talk about here’ on the day of the gig.

Well we waited all night to ’say hello’ to these scum and NOT one person turned up.

It’s amazing how these cowardly dirtbags can even stand up without a spine. Gutless fags.

The gig was brilliant: great bands, great people and a good time was had by all.

UP YOURS FAG ANTI-RACIST VERMIN!

GOD FORGIVES, HAMMERS DON’T!

And:

Birmingham Hotel owner Gary, who refused to give his surname, denied it was a neo-Nazi gig.

“It was a punk, skinhead gig that was the same as any night of the week,” he said. “I do parties for anyone, doesn’t matter what religion or faith, I don’t judge anyone … When someone comes through the door I don’t ask them what they are.”

And:

A LOCAL woman who was intimidated and racially abused by a group of men last month will attend a protest against neo-Nazism outside a Fitzroy pub.

Blondien (not her real name) says she was walking alone to her car on Johnston Street the same night when she was surrounded by about seven men. She says the men screamed abuse at her, calling her a black c..t and forcing her to repeat the insults.

“It’s disgusting that people would single out one person and you have to say stuff about your race to get out of it,” Blondien said.

Hotel co-owner Gary (who wouldn’t give his surname) said: “I’m not getting involved in someone else’s bullshit.”

And:

The Melbourne Knights Soccer Club yesterday launched an extraordinary attack on its social arm, the Croatia Social Club, for hosting the October 13 [2007 ISD] concert by groups that incite violence and attacks against Jews and other minorities. “I am deeply disturbed that the good reputation of our football club has been tarnished by the social club’s incompetence,” Knights chairman Matt Tomas said.

The concert was organised by the Australian chapters of neo-Nazi skinhead groups Blood and Honour and Southern Cross Hammer Skins. Group members in the US and Europe have been convicted of assaults, bombings and murders.

Mr Tomas said he did not know who was attending the concert, but he would investigate Mr Smith’s claim that Knights members were contacted, adding: “I don’t associate with that sort of scum. I’m utterly disgusted about this.”

Roddy Moreno – THE OPPRESSED

Keep on keeping on against the Bonehead scum that stand for nothing but cowardice.
When you think of the Australian blood given in the fight against Fascism in WW2 it must have old soldiers turning in their graves at the site of Neo Nazi scum playing gigs in your town.
Always stand firm against this threat.
FUCK FASCISM.
Roddy.

Jun 11, 2007, 1:02 AM

And:

Mark Bastard

Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Location: ass2ass lol

PostPosted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:23 am

@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

Mark Bastard

Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Location: ass2ass lol

PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:56 am

@ndy im still going to bash you, fukn gooknigger scum


And
:

Joel | [email protected]

Honestly, I am going to fucking kill you. I hope it was worth it.

Dec 10, 3:40 PM — BNP: Carry On Up the Khyber

And:

BirmyHammerSkinz : why the fuck would i do that when im too busy trying to fix australia from being destroyed by people like you. the gooks can sort their own [shit] out. it took the mighty white race plenty of time to get to where it is and outside scum shouldnt be helped, they get it too easy as it is. open the floodgates and let the cunts in you probably say, and wait and watch as they make the most of our freedom without wanting to give any of it back. we’ll be a fascist state because of so called anti fascists like you in about 20 years because of your inaction on stopping the yellow peril. wait until they take over and then take away your rights. they’ve already helped make one of the best prime ministers ever lose his own seat so dont doubt their ability to greatly affect this country… and reading earlier you were very concerned about some of us hassling a negroid girl, well did you stop to think there may have been a reason? she was foul, spitting on people, drinking goon, making a fool of herself and she had what was coming. anyway mate youre a goose and i think you should put your money where your mouth is

Posted in Anti-fascism | 1 Comment

That’s Melbourne!

Huh. Apparently, according to the Australia Jewish News, there’s been a spate of vandalism in Jewish Melbourne:

Spate of vandalism in Jewish Melbourne
Naomi Levin
January 18, 2007

MELBOURNE’S Jewish community was preyed on last weekend with a synagogue, two eateries and a local phone box all targeted by vandals. Caulfield Hebrew Congregation (CHC), one of Melbourne’s largest and most prominent synagogues, and Caulfield North’s kosher Park Grill Restaurant were daubed with swastikas. In addition, Glick’s Bakery in Balaclava’s Carlisle Street suffered thousands of dollars of damage when its two shopfronts were partially smashed in a rock attack. A phone box on Bambra Road in Caulfield was also spray-painted with a swastika. A spokesperson from Victoria Police said it was too early to link the attacks and said there was no evidence at the moment to suggest the Glicks vandalism was racially motivated. The spokesperson said local police were investigating…

Curiously, a month earlier (December), everyone’s favourite local bonehead Patrick O’Sullivan declared on everyone’s favourite race hate site that:

    RACE HATE MONTH IN MELBOURNE IS THIS MONTH!!!!!! RAHOWA!

Needless to say, the relevant thread on Stormfront was — after the inevitable degeneration into accusation and counter-accusation that any conversation involving the Reverend entails — soon closed, and has since been deleted.

Patrick is known for two things (or maybe even three). The first is his status as a Reverend in various incarnations of ‘Creationism’, a tiny, weird-arse cult for white supremacists. Currently, Patrick belongs to the sect known as The Creativity Movement (nee World Church of the Creator (WCOTC)), whose slogan is “Mobilizing Nature’s Finest Since 1973”. The ‘Church’ was established by a bloke called Ben Klassen, on the sneaky-clever grounds that if you wanted to establish a white supremacist organisation, why not go for tax-exempt status? It didn’t work, Klassen committed suicide in 1993, the man who assumed his place (as Pontifex Maximus) Matt Hale, sits in jail (Register Number: 15177-424, Release Date: 12-06-2037, Location: Florence ADMAX USP) and his most dedicated follower in Melbourne is a barely literate ex-prisoner named Patrick.

(Oh, there’s also been a number of subsequent splits in the Church.)

Which brings me, of course, to the second fact about the Right Reverend.

In 2002, O’Sullivan was sentenced to two years and nine months’ jail for intentionally causing injury and intentionally causing serious injury. His jailing, as well as his release, were both announced on SF; the first in September 2002, the second in February 2004:

Just a short note to say that I was released from J.O.G prison this week. The J.O.G maggots didn[‘]t break me and Creativity here in Australia continues foreward [sic].
DELENDA EST JUDAICA!
RAHOWA!

    Above : A rare photograph of the man many white supremacists believe is the elusive head of JOG. (Or possibly ZOG.)

Rahowa! Anyway, here’s what was reported at the time of O’Sullivan’s sentencing:

White supremacist guilty of knifing
Jeremy Kelly
Herald Sun
August 16, 2002

A white supremacist, who recently vowed nothing could stop him, was behind bars last night after being convicted of stabbing a man who challenged his views. Patrick John O’Sullivan, Victorian leader of the World Church of the Creator, was found guilty by a County Court jury of bashing and stabbing a man. O’Sullivan, 31, claims to have been ordained as a reverend by the church’s US affiliates, but the jury yesterday proved to be an even higher power when it found him guilty of two serious assault charges. The court heard he was chanting “white power” with a group of people at a Fitzroy house-warming in May 1999. Another guest at the party started talking to O’Sullivan about his white supremacist views. They then started to debate whether O’Sullivan could be considered a Nazi because he did not have German blood. The jury found he then either butted or punched the victim in the head before stabbing him in the abdomen. The victim received a 5cm-deep wound. O’Sullivan, unemployed, of North Melbourne, had pleaded not guilty to intentionally causing serious injury and intentionally causing injury. He told the Sunday Herald Sun his group did not condone violence, but “there’s no stopping us”. The four-day trial was before Judge Bill White, who is expected to sentence O’Sullivan today.

The third thing about the Reverend worth noting is that he used to drink at The Tote, but is now only welcome at pubs like The Birmy. His relations with other white supremacists and neo-Nazis remains fairly tenuous, however, and especially in terms of the relationship between the Reverend and his handful of teenage followers and other highly Creative people such as Brother Michael (WCOTC Queensland) and the Reverend Col Campbell 3rd, Komandant WCOTR, both leaders (and likely sole members) of rival sects.

Finally, Creativity sites seem to come and go as often as its practioners go into and out of jail, but Creative people may currently be found in Australia, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Norway, Slovakia, UK, Ukraine, USA and doubtless other countries as well; in fact, in almost any country in which there’s a sizable contingent of boneheads.

Here’s a sample:

    WCOTC Australia: Queensland (Brother Michael) : http://www.qcotc.asn.au/
    “Should we not be pushing our own agenda and even, to a point, agreeing with the blacks of Australia in calling it “Invasion Day” but with the proviso that we should finish off the invasion good and proper?”
    Church of the Rahowa : http://www.churchoftherahowa.com/
    [Members Only]
    The Creativity Alliance (Reverend Doctor Thomas Darwin, B.S. Ph.D.) : http://www.creativityalliance.com/
    “Let us never forget Ben Klassen’s admiration of Queen Isabella of Spain, a highly intelligent woman who courageously and cleverly masterminded military expeditions and set the moral and racial tone of Spain by expelling the perfidious Jews and mongrel hordes.”
    The Creativity Movement : http://www.creativitymovement.net/
    “Join us in our fight my White Brothers and Sisters in saving our race. Let us make 2007 be a year in infamy to the Jews mud’s [sic] and white traitors.”
    White Racial Patriots : http://www.tworca.org/
    “We have a lot to live up to, as today’s White Racial Patriots!” ~ Commander Jeff Schoep/NSM (“America’s Nazi Party”)
    “Multiculturalist television propaganda is rampant in fictional television shows, largely as an American phenomena, but aired on Australian television stations. Such propaganda is usually expressed in one of several identifiable ways: 1. Anti-White propaganda, whereby White racial patriots are portrayed as rednecks, stupid, and/or violent; whereas Black racial patriots are portrayed as determined, clever, and/or righteous.” ~ Andrew Patterson, European People’s Anti-Defamation Organisation

Anyone wishing to join with the Reverend on his righteous Crusade, on the other hand, can reach him via:

Alternatively, interested readers may consider applying the principles of Creativity to their role-playing pursuits:

Posted in Anti-fascism | 17 Comments

RASH Bogotá // Razor Bois // (Heath Ledger)

Stumbled upon this video about Red & Anarchist SkinHeads in Bogotá, Colombia, and thought I may as well post it here. Or: Encontré a este vídeo del Rojo y Anarquista Skinheads en Bogotá, Colombia, y pensé que sería una buena idea ponerla aquí. Last November, Carlos, a RASH, was stabbed to death by a neo-Nazi (and Spanish soldier) in Madrid. They’re a weird mob — Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky and er, anarchy — but one of the few, it seems, dedicated to limiting the damage the far right has been doing to skinhead culture.

Oh yeah, and Moscow’s finest the Razor Bois gotta new vid too… “If you’re a racist, sexist or any other kind of fascist shithead, don’t add us. If you’re a friend of nazis or go to their gigs or play with their bands – don’t add us! Our label called “BOYCOTT THE FENCEWALKERS” – does it ring any bell?” Also, support Alem Assefa if you can.

    “22-year-old Alem was attacked on the eve of Hitler’s birthday. The young man’s appearance is unusual: dreadlocks and dark skin tones, which he inherited from his Ethiopian father. He was born in Moscow, where he later attended a boarding school, and has a Russian passport. That fateful night Alem and his friend Kirill were returning home from work. While they were waiting for a train at Borovitskaya station, two men in their mid-twenties rushed at them and started to hit them on the head. Kirill immediately lost consciousness, but when he came to he saw one of the attackers literally jumping on Alem’s head. All that he managed to whisper was “Why?” One of the men shouted that Alem was “black”…”

And in honour of Heath Ledger, here’s Zach Galifianakis interviewing an actor:

See also : Jan Kučera – Další oběť neonacistů (Czech antifa murdered by neo-Nazi) | 16 year-old antifa stabbed to death in Madrid (November 12, 2007) | Neo-Nazis attack environmental protest camp in Siberia; murder one, wound others (July 21, 2007) | “White Terror” (July 19, 2006) | RIP Dan and Spit (July 5, 2006)

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, Film, Music | Leave a comment

Jan Kučera – Další oběť neonacistů (Czech antifa murdered by neo-Nazi)

Last Friday, January 18, a young anti-fascist skinhead, 18 year-old Jan Kučera, was stabbed by a 20 year-old nazi after a short fight. Jan Kucera died in hospital on Sunday.

The nazi responsible for the attack has been arrested, but at this stage police are investigating the the incident as though it were the result of a regular pub brawl (the nazi has been charged with attempted murder).

Witnesses said prior to the stabbing, nazis attacked a group of anti-fascists in a pub, giving nazi salutes and shouting insults. Later they attacked Jan outside the pub. The attacker (a trained martial artist with more than 10 years experience in musado) stabbed Jan in the chest and in the back. Jan’s friends managed to stop the enormous bleeding from his chest before an ambulance arrived, but it was then discovered that he had been stabbed in the back as well. Jan lost a huge amount of blood as a result of the stabbing, and despite fighting, died two days later, losing his final battle on Sunday.

His favourite song was “Till the end of my life, I will be anti-fascist!” by the Slovak band RozpoR.

We will never forget!

    ::::::::::::::::::::::::

Thanks to Pete from Prague for the original text (slightly edited). See also:

Jan Kučera – Další oběť neonacistů : antifa.cz [Czech]
Odešel jeden z nás… punkandskins.blog.cz [Czech]
Tschechien: Antifaschist von Nazi ermordet : de.indymedia.org [German]
Antyfaszysta zabity w Czechach : cia.bzzz.net [Polish]

    ::::::::::::::::::::::::

PS. Czech neo-Nazis had a march last weekend in Prague (Praha), after a planned demonstration in Pilsen (Plzen) got shitcanned by local authorities. The Czech press reports that:

Extremists march organised by Czech govt party member – server
ceskenoviny.cz
January 23, 2008

Plzen- Vaclav Bures who organised the unauthorised neo-Nazi march in Plzen on Saturday was a member of the Czech senior government party, the Civic Democrats (ODS), at the time of the march preparation, iDnes.cz server wrote on Tuesday…

The neo-Nazis wanted to walk through Plzen centre, but Mayor of Plzen Pavel Roedl banned the action that drew a wave of resistance on Thursday last week.

That is why the rightist extremists changed their plans and met in Prague. The demonstration of some 200 people lasted about one hour and was calm.

Strunc said the ODS did not know what Bures is doing. Bures, however, called a similar action last April already. Some 50 extremists then protested in Plzen on his initiative against the imprisonment of Vlastimil Pechance that they said was unjust.

Pechanec was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the racially-motivated murder of Romany Ota Absolon…

PPS. Contrary to the opinion of at least one punter on Bombshell zine Forum (from which I’ve apparently been banned and couldn’t be arsed re-joining), fascism is on the rise in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union. But hey, what would all of the groups dedicated to monitoring precisely this issue know that a local yuppie wouldn’t?

Neo-Nazism on the rise in Eastern Europe dpa correspondents
dpa
January 24, 2008

Prague/Moscow (dpa) – Seventy-five years after Hitler came to power in Germany the baleful influence of his ideology lives on with increasing numbers of racist attacks reported, particularly in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

In Russia, one of the main hotspots for neo-Nazi activity, human rights activists estimate there are roughly 70,000 [boneheads].

Galina Kozhevnikova, deputy head of the Sova centre, an organization which tracks xenophobia and hate crime, said right-wing extremist organizations in Russia were “growing stronger.”

According to data from the Sova centre, 68 people were killed last year in racist crimes and 565 were injured in attacks. The number of attacks has increased by 20 to 25 per cent in recent years, the centre said…

Posted in Anti-fascism | 6 Comments

Go Ahead, Hate Them, It’s Good for You

Is the title of a somewhat uneven polemic by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz which appeared in an issue of Counterpunch last March. For some reason I’ve not published it, but given recent actions (‘Arsonists attack Greek banks, cars’, AAP, The Age, January 21, 2008 — “Unknown arsonists, using mechanical timed devices, bombed three car dealerships in the northern and southern suburbs of the Greek capital, destroying about 30 luxury cars” — et cetera) and the appearance of the Wobblies in The Newspaper of Record (‘Icy Day Finds Old Union Outside Modern City Shops’, Colin Moynihan, January 22, 2008 — about the organising efforts of Starbucks Workers’ Union) I thought I may as well publish it now.

Hating the Rich
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Counterpunch
March 20, 2007

“The rich are not like you and me.” “The poor will always be with us.” Get real and accept it we are told. Give alms and aid to the poor, tax the rich. Establish private foundations, be a responsible trust baby and give. You’ve heard it all, and maybe even believe it in your heart. But, it’s toxic thinking. I have a suggestion for clarifying our consciousness: learn to hate the rich. Hate, yes. You can dress up the language and call it rage. But, hate is a concept underrated. Everyone does it, but no one wants to admit it, usually hating the wrong person. Hate is the opposite of love. Do you love the rich? Like the rich? If not, th[e]n maybe you can learn to hate the rich. I don’t mean shame the rich in order to get money out of their guilt, as has been a long practice on the left and among non-profits. I mean NOT taking money from the rich, isolate the rich, make them build tall walls around their estates and corporate headquarters as the people force the rich to do in Latin America. How dare they have plate glass windows! We are held back and diminished by the claim that hating is bad for us, bad for everyone. You can hate the act but not hate the person. You can hate wealth or capitalism but not the rich. It’s a ridiculous logic that keeps us hating and blaming ourselves for not being rich and powerful. Anyway, it’s not consistent; it’s all right to hate slavery and slaveowners, fascism and Hitler, etc. Why not hate the rich, the individual rich, not an abstract concept?

Ah, but who are the rich? We have to be careful about that, living in a country [the USA] that does not admit to class relations, and class is subject to little analysis even on the left. It’s not a matter of income per se. And it’s essential in hating to target the enemy and not some front for the enemy. High income can certainly make a person full of herself, and most US citizens who live on high fixed or hourly incomes due to circumstances of a good trade union or a professional degree have no idea that they aren’t rich. In polls they say they are in the top fifth of the income ladder, and they aren’t. A majority of US citizens don’t want to tax the rich more, because they think they will be rich one day. They won’t. The rich own not just a mortgaged house and a car, maybe a boat or a cabin in the woods or a beach house to boot; rather they own you. Even the cash and luxury soaked entertainment and sports stars are not the rich; they certainly deserve contempt and disgust, but not hatred. Don’t go for scapegoats — Jews, Oprah, Martha Stewart. Hatred should be reserved for those who own us, that is, those who own the banks, the oil companies, the war industry, the land (for corporate agriculture), the private universities and prep schools, and who own the foundations that dole out worthy projects for the poor, for public institutions — their opera, their ballet, their symphony, that you are allowed to attend after opening night. My oldest brother, who like me grew up dirt poor in rural Oklahoma, landless farmers and farm workers, rebuts my arguments by saying that no poor man ever gave him a job. That says it all. The rich own you and me.

    ‘The Jews’ are a racial/religious/cultural category. One source places their number in the United States at 6.4 million. Oprah Winfrey and Martha Stewart, on the other hand, are individuals: both of whom are enormously wealthy. In fact, Winfrey is one of the richest people on Earth, ranked #562 by Forbes, which estimated her wealth at $1,400,000,000 in 2005, and $1,500,000,000 in 2006. Forbes ranked Stewart’s wealth at a mere $1,000,000,000. Making them not just rich, but super-rich. And therefore, according to Dunbar-Ortiz’s logic, the proper subject of super-hatred.

In all the arguments about the crimes of the Judeo-Christian-Muslim religions, rarely is their greatest crime ever discussed–the leveling of class, rich and poor are the same in god’s sight. What a handy ideology for the rich! The same with US democracy with its “equal opportunity” and “level playing fields,” absurd claims under capitalism, but ones held dear [by] liberals. Hating the rich means also hating the state, the United States of America that is the ruling corporate body of the rich.

Why are we so silent about this, grumping over the increase in the income gap, trying to figure out how to narrow it? What do we expect, that the rich will empower the people to overthrow them as they almost did in response to the labor movement in the 1930s or the Civil Rights Movement with the War on Poverty? Not again will they make that mistake. I’m not saying we shouldn’t point to it as evidence of the crimes of the rich, but we should not delude ourselves that the rich will give up their ownership of us. So, we need to stop longing for the return of the New Deal or savior Roosevelt. Passionate, organized hatred is the element missing in all that we do to try to change the world. Now is the time to spread hate, hatred for the rich.

    Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is a longtime activist, university professor, and writer. In addition to numerous scholarly books and articles she has published two historical memoirs, Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie (Verso, 1997), and Outlaw Woman: A Memoir of the War Years, 1960–­1975 (City Lights, 2002). “Red Christmas” is excerpted from her forthcoming book, Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War, South End Press, October 2005. She can be reached at: rdunbaro[at]pacbell[dot]net
Posted in !nataS, Anarchism, Poetry, State / Politics | 1 Comment