More shit…

Posted on January 14, 2008 by @ndy

racist shit

Karen Chijoff has decided a career change is in order following the debacle that was her campaign for the seat of Lindsay (‘Racist leaflet’ candidate folds up her career, Andrew Chesterton, The Sunday Telegraph, January 13, 2008). Personally, I think she and Jackie Kelly would make a great comic duo — with Chijoff in the role of the straight man, naturally.

Gordon Moyes of the (neither/nor) Christian Democratic Party is apparently unhappy with chief political rival Fred Nile, who’s been busy of late whipping up anti-Muslim sentiment, first in order to help him get re-elected to the NSW Senate, more recently in order to capitalise on community opposition to the construction of an Islamic school in Camden. Under Nile’s instructions — but allegedly without the full support of the Party — the CDP has established a front group called the “Committee for Public Affairs Education” (arf arf). They’re the mob who organised the meeting in December to attack Islam and the school.

Happily, on January 26 the Christian Soldiers will be joined by Patriots and Protectionists, united in their very public opposition to that “despicable religion of filth” as Darrin Hodges (AANCC/APP) describes it. And while “If it does get approved, every ragger that walks up the street is going to get smashed up the arse by about 30 Aussies” is not — I think? — a phrase to be found in The Holy Bible, unlike Fred, I’m no scholar.

Speaking of scholars — and er, the very special people who like to give the Roman salute — the fallout from recent bad press continues on ‘Stormfront Down Under’, the local franchise of Don Black’s Internet business. Following the former moderator Rhys McLean‘s sudden withdrawal from the forum — which followed his naming and (presumed) shaming in an article in The Daily Telegraph — debate has raged there over who might replace him.

Well, kinda.

Actually, in an Australian tradition, local Whiteys are waiting for further instructions from their Yanqui Commander-In-Chief — in whose hands the decision as to who, if anyone, moderates the Forum, remains. Whatever misgivings local chumps might have, and despite the whinging and whining over not being neo-Nazis or a neo-Nazi forum, the most popular candidate to replace Rhys is at this stage Carl D. Thompson (‘Wodensvolk’), a dyed-in-the-wool neo-Nazi. Aquila audax is next most popular (but has already indicated that he’s unwilling to stick his chicken-neck out for the job). Then there’s Paul Innes (‘Steelcap Boot’), the demented brother of former leading Stormfronter David Innes, now unhappily living in disgrace for allegedly sharing his Nazi Family Album with the world at large.

…Christmas at the Innes’ household this year must have been fun!

Leading candidate Carl D. Thompson is noted for his intransigence in the face of ZOG, as well as for having lost a court case while he was editor of One Nation’s newspaper in Queensland, The Nation:

One Nation’s publication of anti-Jewish material deemed unlawful in Federal Court today
February 6, 2006

Material published in The Nation, the newspaper of the Queensland division of One Nation, has been declared to be unlawful under the Racial Discrimination Act in the Federal Court today. An article in the paper alleged Jews are running a conspiracy to steal freedoms from ordinary people, using a combination of pornography and internet censorship, and was accompanied by a gross anti-Jewish cartoon…

So what does it take to be a moderator on Stormfront? Wodensvolk hates The Jew and loves the Nazis, and is therefore a popular choice. (“But we’re not neo-Nazis! Honest! (You want fries with that?)”.) On the other hand, Mr Black and his kameraden may well be sick and tired of the Bubble Headed Boobys, Frightful Fractious Frumps and Ill Informed Ignoramuses Down Under, and handball the responsibility for keeping the Know Nothing Numbskulls in order to one of their compatriots.

anti-racist shit

¡QUÉ SORPRESA! I stumbled across this video by the Spanish band Estigiä while searching for something else. Apparently they think (thought) that punk had something to do with ‘counter-cultures’ — an absurd notion. Or as one local gumby put it: “anarchy is a fag”. Oh yeah: at 3:44 there’s a local contribution.

Imágenes y videos de la contracultura punk, anarquista y antifascista en acción.
Quienes ejercen opresión y autoridad, ejercen violencia. Lo nuestro es autodefensa, por nuestra libertad y dignidad, por la anarquía…

And speaking of The Birmy — which I haven’t been paying much attention to of late — there’s another gig scheduled for February 9. The usual suspects will be playing: Beefeaters, Bulldog Spirit/Marching Orders, Napalm Hearts and The Worst. One of the elements common to a number of these bands is Ben the bass player, or ‘Commie Killer’ as he is sometimes known. Ben / ‘Commie Killer’ has a message, and that message is “fuck you stupid fucking anarchist pieces of shit. Fucking die already” (Chunga is seemingly content with a simple but slightly bizarre form of homophobic abuse). Of course, they’re doing it all for The Kids, so who can complain? And even if you did, you’d probably just end up being assaulted… (not that anyone has recently been assaulted at The Birmy mind). Anyway, if you’re undecided, here’s a video of the song ‘From Strength to Strength’ by Ravenous; the drummer has gone from Ravenous to Bulldog Spirit.

Hail to the Victory of the White Man!

Or to put it another way:

BirmyHammerSkinz : i dont think u have the right to fucking breath[e] u piece of [shit]. if you like gooks so much why dont you fuck off to some gook country and see how much they tolerate mouthy cunts such as yourself. then you may see why we dont want the scum to do the same here

dion : of course [neo-Nazis] should be allowed to assemble.

more depressing shit

The Zapatista guerrillas and their supporters in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas are experiencing the worst onslaught by state forces in the last 10 years, according to reports from a local research center.

After more than 95 days on a hunger strike, Mapuche political prisoner Patricia Troncoso is in a critical condition…

Patricia, who began her fast in early October, was taken to the hospital from her jail in the southern city of Angol to treat her deteriorating heath. She and three others were found guilty of “terrorism” for a series of arson attacks on Mapuche lands (owned by forestry companies). Their first trial ended in a mistrial, while in the second prosecutors used the testimony of an anonymous hooded witness to get a conviction. The four were charged and sentenced under a set of (anti-)terrorism laws passed during the Pinochet dictatorship. Efforts to reduce their charges from terrorism failed after negotiations broke down between the Mapuche, senators and the government.

The Mapuche want prosecutors to stop using the (anti-)terrorist laws (Law No.18,314). They are also demanding the return of Mapuche lands. The government says it is willing to listen and negotiate but not under pressure. Now the government is waiting for Patricia Troncoso’s death…

A protest in support of Patricia’s release and the return of Mapuche lands has been called for.

    When : 5pm, Tuesday, January 15
    Where : Melbourne GPO (cnr Bourke & Swanston Streets)

world of shit

In 2007, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was ranked as the wealthiest person in the United States for the 14th year in a row. Forbes magazine put Gates’ fortune at $59bn, with investment guru Warren Buffet in second place with a net worth of $52bn. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and software tycoon Larry Ellison remained at third and fourth place on Forbes‘ list of the 400 richest Americans. It took a net worth of at least $1.3bn to earn a spot in the rankings, while the collective net worth of those listed this year rose $290bn to $1.54 trillion.

The Forbes 400 top 10 are: Bill Gates, Microsoft, $59bn; Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, $52bn; Sheldon Adelson, casinos and hotels, $28bn; Larry Ellison, Oracle, $26bn; Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google, $18.5bn each; Kirk Kerkorian, casinos and investments, $18bn; Michael Dell, Dell, $17.2bn and Charles and David Koch, oil and commodities, $17bn each…

…fuck shit up…

Posted in !nataS | 1 Comment

yet more bloggy stuff

Posted on January 11, 2008 by @ndy

Gosh there’s an awful lot of stuff on the intarwebs! It’s no wonder KRudd wants to establish greater state control over its flows — having been appointed CEO by Murdoch back in April 2007 (a position ratified by the Australian population in November 2007), it appears that he’s taken a leaf from China and a leaf from Rupert (Peter John Chen, ‘Who’s afraid of the net?’, The Age, January 2, 2008). But as weezil points out, things may not be as straightforward as KRudd might wish…

As for my own little corner of the intarwebs, according to Alexa, Anarchobase.com has a (global) traffic rank of 693,466; in Australia, 5,076. According to SiteMeter, since July 6, 2006, slackbastard has received approximately 85,000 visits, an average per day of approximately 418, approximately 2/3 of which come from within Australia. ClustrMaps, on the other hand, reckons the running total of visits since June 12, 2006 is almost twice that number, or 164,960, and the total since June 19, 2007 to the present (January 11, 2008) is approximately 96,878. The discrepancy may be partially explained by the fact that ClustrMaps tracks my own visits, but otherwise I’m guessing that the correct number is closer to the figure given by SiteMeter than it is ClustrMaps.

Anyways, following an impulse, here’s links to two more decadent artefacts that remotely dismantle the broadcast model: the smart ass PunkAssBlog.com and “a widely-read political blog run by a group of (mostly) academics from and working in several different nations, including the USA, the UK, Ireland, Australia and Singapore”, Crooked Timber.

That’s two down, 112.8 million (or thereabouts) blogs to go…

Also, here’s a rather spiffy (re-)presentation of the Manifesto of the Communist Party, which this year celebrates its 160th birthday:

Posted in Media | 3 Comments

Australia Australia Australia

Posted on January 11, 2008 by @ndy

January 26 — Australia / Invasion / Survival Day — is only a couple of weeks away, and many will be celebrating / mourning. On the far right, Doctor James Saleam and his Australia First Party NSW (to be confused with the Australia First Party but not the Australian Protectionist Party) will, among other things, be attempting to capitalise upon anti-Muslim sentiment in Camden, NSW. To that end, Jimmy & The Boys (including, presumably, Ross ‘The Skull’ May) will be peddling Party literature to the people of Camden at a public rally.

Not a problem?

According to one report “The president of the Camden McArthur Residents Group, Emil Sremchevich, said Australia First was entitled to hold a rally in Camden so long as it wasn’t racist. “Everybody has a right to express their political sentiments and messages as long as they do not vilify anybody,” Mr Sremchevich told AAP” (Anti-Islamic rally OK, residents say, AAP, Sydney Morning Herald, January 9, 2008).

In which case, Emil is effectively arguing that Australia First is not entitled to hold a rally in Camden, as its principal platform — and in fact its main selling point for its few score members — is precisely its racist call for a White Australia. Notably, the leader of Australia First (NSW), Doctor Jim, has a criminal conviction for arranging a shotgun assault upon the home of an anti-apartheid activist… suggesting Jim is convinced not only of the virtues of a White Australia, but a White South Africa too.

Still, these aren’t the only zany antics planned by crazy local fascists, as revealed in the following article in The Daily Telegraph:

RSL slams Australia Day hijack
Joe Hildebrand
The Daily Telegraph
January 10, 2008

WHITE supremacists are plotting to use Cronulla riot-style tactics to hijack Australia Day celebrations across Sydney – including a plan to push their racist views at the sacred Anzac Cenotaph at Hyde Park.

The attempt to co-opt the war memorial to create the impression “Hitler is coming to Sydney” has disgusted veterans, with the RSL calling it an appalling slur on the memory of our Diggers.

Other rallies will be held near the scene of the Cronulla riot and in Camden to protest the construction of an Islamic school.

The far-Right groups even promote an online handbook on how to combat police and avoid detection and infiltration when holding such meetings.

In an embarrassing display of incompetence, much of the material uncovered by The Daily Telegraph includes warnings about the need to keep such material secret from the media and this newspaper in particular.

The racist material, which condemns migrants for not being able to speak English, is riddled with spelling mistakes and poor grammar.

Much of the activity has been co-ordinated through the neo-Nazi website Stormfront, whose Australian arm is moderated by 18-year-old Newcastle resident Rhys McLean.

    Above : Rhys McLean models a symbol of the Hindu goddess Kali (or possibly Nazi Party).

Mr McLean said he was aware of the plans but said it was a matter for the individual organisers, not the website.

The main organiser is a semi-literate man from southwest Sydney who posts under the name “Aussie Nationalist”.

After taking a poll of preferred locations, including Cronulla, the Central Coast and Bondi – because of its large Jewish population – the group appeared to settle on one of Sydney’s most sacred sites.

“The location is Hyde Park, preferably near the Cenotaph which is a place of eternal honour and the epitomy (sic) of the Australian Spirit,” Aussie Nationalist wrote.

RSL president Bill Crews said the plan was disgusting.

“We’d be appalled by any attempt to use any memorial or the Anzac memorial in Hyde Park to support any prejudiced political group,” he said.

[Note that last year the Eastwood RSL played host to a conference organised by Saleam and Australia First, and for which a German neo-Nazi named Welf Herfurth played the role of MC. The RSL’s opposition to fascist and white supremacist elements is apparently dependent upon the circumstances…]

Another organiser promotes using tactics similar to the 2005 Cronulla riot, when en masse text messages were used to swamp the beach with violent thugs intent on bashing anyone of ethnic appearance.

“Organise flyer drops two weeks before the rally in Sydney and its surrounds, and start a Cronulla style SMS campaign five days before the rally,” the poster identified as “Awake at last” wrote.

“Hopefully by the time the rally starts the media will have everyone thinking Adolf Hitler is coming to Sydney.”

The threads also encourage users to consult a manual entitled How to Combat the Political Police.

An electronic newsletter distributed by the far-right Australia First Party employs the tactics, promising a rally near Cronulla and in Camden but refusing to disclose the exact location until the morning of January 26.

One meeting will be held in “a club in the Sutherland Shire” and be addressed by convicted race-hate criminal Jim Saleam.

Interestingly, Saleam has been a member of the Stormfront forum for a number of years, where he posts under the pseudonym ‘radnat’. (Rhys McLean, on the other hand, employed the pseudonym ‘Australian Euro’.) In addition to being united in joy by their desire for a White Australia, Saleam and McLean also utterly despise Jews, who are imagined as having embarked upon a genocidal campaign to destroy The White Man. This concept is given its fullest expression by the pseudonymous Yanqui ‘jack_boot’:

    Here is the current Statement of Stormfront policy:

    …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.

    …That, in a nutshell, is Stormfront policy.

    –jack_boot,
    –Chief of Staff, Stormfront

Speaking of nuts, one of the other, er, ‘patriotic’ activities planned by Australia First is an address by Rex Gilroy. Rex’s talk is titled ‘Not The First, Not Alone’ and will apparently “place Aboriginal settlement in a broader and richer context” and reference “New evidence of human migrations”. This new context is indeed much ‘broader’ and ‘richer’ than less intrepid minds imagine. In other words, Rex is of the opinion that conventional history is bunk, and that Aboriginal Australia was preceded by another civilization: Uru.

What is it like to suddenly realise that you are the discoverer of an hitherto unknown ‘lost’ civilisation?

Words cannot describe my feelings at the moment I realised I had made such a discovery, and the enormous importance it had for Australian, and World history. I suppose the nearest description one could give of my feelings would be to compare them with the excitement of Heinrich Schliemann, when he discovered the ‘mythical’ lost city of Troy in 1873.

More recently, Rex has been chasing after the “presumed-extinct little scrub moa – anomalopteryx didiformis – in the Urewera Ranges” (Aussie pursuing moa in New Zealand, The Age, January 8, 2008). Perhaps in the course of his pursuit he’ll stumble upon another Lost Civilization? Or — rarer still — a credible neo-Nazi ideologue?

But enough of Germany in the 1930s and ’40s; back to Australia in 2008. And news from Stormfront isn’t good.

[January 10, 2008]
jack_boot
Editor and Stormfront Chief of Staff
“Friend of Stormfront”
Sustaining Member

Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: a trailer park near you

By the way

AustralianEuro, [that is, Rhys McLean] an occasional moderator here on Stormfront Down Under, has thought the better of political involvement, and will not be back.
__________________

An awareness of such contradictions and incongruities can obviously introduce considerable doubt into the Court’s hand-me-down conception of the obviousness of “Holocaust,” and such obvious doubt is obviously capable of causing this ostensibly obvious “Manifest Obviousness” to appear as anything but obvious.

Ludwig Bock, Attorney at Law

In point of fact, not only is Rhys McLean no longer SFDU moderator, it appears that his account has been closed and his posts expunged from the historical record. Worse still, according to the Jew-hating, Holocaust-denying, wellie-wearing Editor and Stormfront Chief of Staff:

Another fellow, who calls himself Dead Raven, sent us this PM:

Look you retards, I want this account and all my posts deleted. Not banned, now if you want my good friend Baron to get involved it will happen, I[‘]m sure the antis would be interested in some of the things that we would have to say. Stop being so stupid and just fricken [!] Delete this account and all of the posts as well. !!!

Could this be the beginnings of another round of recriminations on Stormfront Down Under?
Will ‘Dead Raven’ spill his guts to “the antis”?
Who’ll next accept the poisoned chalice that is Scumfront Down Under moderator?
Who are the two bands scheduled to pollute the Sutherland Shire with noise on January 26?
Stay tuned for more reich ‘n’ roll!

And here’s some final words of wisdom from Herr Doktor:

Media image for White nationalists? My advice to White nationalist candidates in 2008 and for other spokesmen would be when confronted by media: dress in neat cardigans, speak as calmly as it’s possible to speak when speaking to The Jew, don’t swear too much and don’t really answer their ‘questions’ (especially if they concern your criminal record). Just put over your politics. Do not repeat do not act like Dr. Strangelove. Past that point, don’t worry too much, because it really doesn’t matter. The media will say whatever it wants. It’s controlled by you-know-who.

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, History, State / Politics | 44 Comments

Racist Australia and Japanese whaling 白豪主義オーストラリアと反捕鯨

Posted on January 9, 2008 by @ndy

“…and that’s why we should keep the bloody flag the same!”

Tricksy Japanese whale haters have released a YouTube video declaring Aussies are racist. Therefore whaling is good. Among other pearls of wisdom contained in the video is the claim that “it’s impossible to practice [vegetarianism] because of our instinct. Human is the most cruel”; again, the latter may be correct, but the former claim is demonstrably wrong. See Pro whalers launch YouTube attack, SBS, January 7, 2008; Truths hit home, Herald Sun, January 9, 2008 (“LATE last month, Japan dropped humpback whales from its so-called “scientific” whaling program for this year and next, writes Junichi Sato”).

Bruce Ruxton would be rolling in his grave…

See also : Sea Shepherd Conservation Society // whalelove.org // Animal Liberation Victoria // And for no other reason than the fact that I can here’s Venom P. Stinger. Great song. RIP Dugald McKenzie. (Long live dirty three.)

Posted in !nataS, Media, Music | 4 Comments

KiLliNg FoR pEaCe In ChIlE

Posted on January 9, 2008 by @ndy

Source : infoshop.org / Bombs and Shields (UNPO: Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization)
Saturday, January 05, 2008

Chile – Police shot and killed Matias Catrileo Quezada, a 22-year-old university student, and Mapuche supporter during a land re-occupation near the southern city of Vilcun. The indigenous Mapuche peoples of of southern Chile regularly clash with authorities over control of their ancestral lands but this is the first fatality that has resulted from the conflict since 2003.

The incident took place at dawn on Thursday when a group of about 25 Mapuche Indians and their supporters raided a farm and burned the livestock feed. Police who had been charged with protecting the farm after a number of similar incursions, gave chase and fired on the group who retreated to a nearby school. Catrileo was shot in the stomach and died at the scene.

Catrileo’s comrades took his body and refused to hand it over to police but after negotiations organized by Villarica Bishop Sixto Parzinger worked out a deal in which they were willing to turn over the body. The human rights group Amnesty International has demanded a full investigation into the incident.

Activists rallied outside the La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago and dyed at least one of the Palace’s fountains blood red to protest the murder. Riot police clashed with demonstrators and made a number of arrests.

Dozens of Mapuche activists languish in prisons as a result of their resistance to the state in defence of their rights to land and acts of sabotage against corporations and businesses that pollute and poison the land. Mapuche prisoners have used hunger strikes to call attention to their struggle and incarceration.

Anarchists support and have been participating in the Mapuche’s fight for autonomy. In 2004 another student and anarchist Gustavo Fuentes was shot by police while participating in a Mapuche solidarity action in Santiago. A funeral procession was held earlier today for Catrileo in the regional capitol of Temuco. Masked participants carried black flags and long sticks.

See also : Our War

Posted in Anarchism, State / Politics | Leave a comment

“Australia for the Australians, China for the Chows”

Posted on January 7, 2008 by @ndy
    Oh yeah, see also Anti-German Translation, “A blog about the anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist and anti-globalization movements, analysing the convergences between right-wing thought and false forms of anti-capitalism, drawing on the German “anti-German” communist current”. Typical Kraut nonsense.

“In an anthropological spirit, then, I propose the following definition of the nation: it is an imagined political community — and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign. It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion… The nation is imagined as limited because even the largest of them encompassing perhaps a billion living human beings, has finite, if elastic boundaries, beyond which lie other nations. No nation imagines itself coterminous with mankind… It is imagined as sovereign because the concept was born in an age in which Enlightenment and Revolution were destroying the legitimacy of the divinely-ordained, hierarchical dynastic realm… nations dream of being free, and, if under God, directly so. The gage and emblem of this freedom is the sovereign state. Finally, it is imagined as a community, because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately it is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such limited imaginings. These deaths bring us abruptly face to face with the central problem posed by nationalism: what makes the shrunken imaginings of recent history (scarcely more than two centuries) generate such colossal sacrifices? I believe that the beginnings of an answer lie in the cultural roots of nationalism.” ~ Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (1991)

“But it’s not just violent and brutal nazi-skins; the regular German throws bloody shadows back to the early 1930s. Their attitude “what’s not regular, has to be erased” makes political and inter-cultural coalitions against nazi violence impossible. Nazis seem to express exactly what the regular German wants: a Germany just for Germans. [Böhse Onkelz (Bad Uncles)] a fascist band which could hardly manage to play a year ago and whose records are illegal, has sold-out concerts all over Germany and sold more than 50,000 records under the table this fall. Left hardcore is out and “nazi”-punk is the future (nobody wants to be a “wimpy, degenerate, red scumbag”). ~ ‘Nazis Raus Aus Deutschland!’, Love & Rage, Sep/Oct/Nov 1992, p.9.

“The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.” ~ George Orwell, ‘Notes on Nationalism’ (1945)

“Nationalism is the opposite of imperialism only in the realm of definitions. In practice, nationalism was a methodology for conducting the empire of capital.” ~ ‘The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism’, Fredy Perlman (1984)

    …and solidarity to the comrades. October 15th Solidarity is “a new online project organised by a small group of people spread around the world. We hope to provide a platform to help support those affected by the raids and their wider communities. We also hope to strengthen the networks of existing and future support groups”. See also afterg20.org for information on the situation of the dozens of individuals facing charges as a result of excessive uppityness in the face of the G20.
Posted in Anarchism, History, State / Politics | 8 Comments

Palfreeman not scared, did duty (says Mister Miranda)

Posted on January 7, 2008 by @ndy

Bulgaria murder: ‘I’m not scared: I did my duty’
The Daily Telegraph
Charles Miranda
January 7, 2008

JOCK Palfreeman is sitting in a small cell in a police station in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia calmly reading magazines brought to him by a friend. The 21-year-old Sydney man allegedly stabbed a university student to death with a knife and critically wounded a second teenager in what police say was an unprovoked frenzied attack on a public street. But as his lawyer Stanko Barbavski and a translator tell him he could face the rest of his life in jail, Palfreeman sits back, smiles and shrugs his shoulders. “I am not scared, I did my duty as a Good Samaritan and as a soldier,” he says.

He knows he is probably going to be in prison for a long time – it will be six months at least before his trial begins – and he asks his friend Graham for novels as well as more magazines to read. He then concedes: “I just want to be free and live a normal life. I want to go home.”

About a week earlier the former St Ignatius’ Riverview college student came to Bulgaria to help expat Briton Graham renovate a cheap house he bought in Madjarovo, about 60km outside the capital. Palfreeman had visited the country five or six times before but on December 22 stayed with Graham whom he met through his travels, to celebrate Christmas and help fix up his home and ride motorcycles through the snow-laden mountainside.

One night last weekend, the pair met up with a British girlfriend of Graham’s – Susan – and the trio went bar hopping in Sofia. The mood was high and Palfreeman was happy to be on leave from the British Army 1st Battalion Infantry Training Centre at Catterick in northern England. He joined the armed forces a month earlier and was a trainee private, eking out an existence on just $90 a day – a considerably small sum in British terms, less than half the average daily wage.

The group was drinking at Happy Bar and Grill, a western-themed restaurant chain. “Happy is a really happy place,” its logo declares but it was anything but for one group of patrons last weekend.

There are two versions of events of what happened sometime after 1pm and they could not be further apart.

Palfreeman, who had had about six beers and a tequila shot, said as he and Susan were leaving they noticed an old gypsy being beaten and kicked on the ground on the usually busy Stambolijski Boulevard intersection by between eight and 10 men. He said he called out, “Leave him alone, stop kicking him” in English and rushed to the man but was set upon as calls of “stop the fascist” were being screamed. At some point Andrei Monov, the 20-year-old university student son of a well-known local doctor, was stabbed once in the heart and died almost instantly, while his friend Antoan Zahariev, 19, was stabbed a number of times and was hospitalised. Two security guards rushed to break up the group and saw the two men bleeding on the ground and immediately handcuffed Palfreeman. He allegedly claimed he was acting in self defence.

Police claim he repeated the defence alibi twice back at a nearby police station. “I am a (Good) Samaritan and I was defending an attacked man and myself,” he allegedly told them before admitting he carried a knife because he had been attacked four times before while visiting the country.

The group of Bulgarian but English-speaking university students, however, said there was no gypsy and they were walking across the road when a random aggressive man began verbally abusing them in English before producing a butterfly knife. Graham had left Palfreeman before the incident and has since told police he did not know the Aussie that well. [Graham contradicts this assertion.] Despite the claim, he went to the police station to get the Sydney man some clothes as, despite sub-zero temperatures outside, he was sitting in the cell in just a T-shirt.

Susan flew out of the country back to England the day after Palfreeman was arrested and has yet to be tracked by police.

Staff at Happy had noticed Palfreeman earlier in the night allegedly being abusive to patrons and provoking a fight. When they were interviewed by police and asked why they did not throw him out, they said they believed it was just another drunk Englishman making the most of the cheap alcohol.

There are numerous western themed-bars across the capital which are notorious hangouts for English tourists in Bulgaria after cheap booze and cheaper sex.

Palfreeman faces charges of murder with “hooligan intent” and attempted murder.

He will apply for bail tomorrow.

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism | 10 Comments

Aaarrrggghhh! Dylan Lewis! Tania Lacy! So Much Hate!

Posted on January 4, 2008 by @ndy

Bloody hell. I thought they’d fucked off for good but noooooo…

Number Ones

[NB. Following receipt of the communication below, I have chosen to remove the paragraph which formerly constituted this part of my post:

Subject: FW:Dylan
From: Mark Klemens
Date: 8/6/2009 2:40PM
To: Andy
Cc: Melissa Le Gear

Dear Sir,

We represent Dylan Lewis. It has come to our notice that a website titled “slackbastards” which appears to be controlled or owned by you has made reference to Dylan. Under the subheading “Number One’s” references to Dylan of a defamatory nature have been made. We have obtained legal advice confirming the status of the material as being offensive and defamatory. We seek to have the article/paragraph removed immediately from the website.

Should you not remove the offending material we are instructed to brief solicitors on behalf of our client to seek an injunction and damages.

Mark Klemens
Managing Director
Profile Talent Management
323 Montague St,
Albert Park, Victoria
Australia 3206
T: +613 8598 7810
M: 0412 386 765

On receipt of the above, I replied to Mark as follows:

Subject: Re:FW:Dylan
From: Andy
Date: 8/7/2009 6:32PM
To: Mark Klemens
Cc: Melissa Le Gear

Dear Mark,

Thank you for your email.

First, two very minor corrections.

The title of the blog is ‘slackbastard’, not ‘slackbastards’; the subheading is ‘Number Ones’ not ‘Number One’s’.

Secondly, a few questions.

1. Could you please identify precisely which passages, and which terms, in the paragraph below, that you allege to be defamatory?

======

Number Ones

[SNIP]

======

2. Could you please explain to me why you seek the removal of the article as a whole?

3. Further, given that the post was made on January 4, 2008, why was your email sent 19 months later, on August 6, 2009?

4. I have received four comments in response to my post of January 4, 2008. I am unaware of anyone else paying it any attention other than yourself. Given that this is the case, could you please explain to me what ‘damages’ have been inflicted upon Dylan Lewis?

I received the following reply from Mark:

Subject: RE:FW:Dylan
From: Mark Klemens
Date: 8/8/2009 7:14PM
To: Andy
Cc: Melissa Le Gear

I refer to my previous email. Should the paragraph as requested not be removed within 48 hours then I will seek our clients instructions to brief solicitors forthwith to commence proceedings against you. Our client will seek an injunction and damages. The result will mean, inter alia, substantial costs orders against you. Please confirm by return when the paragraph has been removed.

Mark Klemens
Managing Director
Profile Talent Management
323 Montague St,
Albert Park, Victoria
Australia 3206
T: +613 8598 7810
M: 0412 386 765]

Number Twos

A) Tania Fucking Lacy.

B) Flogging furniture.

C) Fuck off.

Actor and comedian Tania Lacy has come together with producers Robyn Kershaw and Romy Moshinsky and director Daina Reid to develop Blogger Girl, the story of a woman who decides to fake her overseas trip using a false internet blog and soon discovers her ‘virtual’ life is no match for the realities of day-to-day living.

Hurr hurr.

Two things Bad, one thing Good… (So Much Hate):

PROGRESS
I remember
We used to be so idealistic
“Do It Yourself”
We used to care a lot
“Punk belongs to the punx”
It was us – only us
It was never us and them

Now there’s a H.C. corner in every shop
Together with loads of commercial crap
Don’t tell me there’s a difference at all
The price is even the same

Sure I know it’s important
To spread the words and music around
But this is going too fucking far
We’re losing control

There’s agencies and expensive promotion
Just like a mainstream rock’n’roll circus
I know I’m bitching and moaning
I might even sound a bit conservative

But this has been my life
For so many years
And it’s sad to see
We’re only feeding the lions
So sad to see

Posted in Music, Television | Tagged , | 11 Comments

[…] // Justice 4 Jock

Posted on January 1, 2008 by @ndy

UPDATE OCTOBER 2019 : Over 11 1/2 years later, Jock remains in prison, despite having won parole in September 2019.

Update #6 ( July 8 ) : Charles Miranda, Dad’s bid to free murder charge son Jock Palfreeman, The Daily Telegraph, July 8, 2008

Update #5 ( March 24 ) : Charles Miranda, New evidence in Australian’s murder case, The Daily Telegraph, March 24, 2008

Update #4 ( January 29 ) : Just stumbled upon an article from The Frontier Times (Bulgaria’s English language newspaper) by Stefan Stefanov, ‘Aussie Go Hero or Thug?’, January 10–February 10, 2008 edition. Stefanov writes: “Experts investigating the murder and attempted murder said that the knife penetrated the victim’s back straight through to the heart – a professional stab”; the only source (outside of commentary: see Vesselin Petrunov, January 8) that I’m aware of for this claim. Stefanov also writes “Meanwhile, it was leaked to the press that Mr Palfreeman had previously been charged for attempted murder back home in Australia”, which is false. Palfreeman has never been charged with attempted murder; what happened was that a man by the name of James Atack and another man simply called ‘Matt’ went to a local paper (January 3) with allegations that Palfreeman had stabbed them at a party. Jock was never charged for the alleged crime, apparently for lack of evidence.

Update #3 ( January 20 ) : Jock Palfreeman “enjoying cult-like status on the Internet”, bearing “striking resemblance to actor Matt Damon” and “now the subject of at least four websites and … receiving movie-star attention” says Marnie O’Neill of The Daily Telegraph.

Update #2 ( January 8 ) : Accused Aussie refused bail in Bulgaria, says AAP. news.com.au, on the other hand, appears to have put Charles Miranda on the case, who claims that Palfreeman may plead insanity…

Update #1 ( January 4 ) : Two more articles in the press, one in The Daily Terror by Gemma Jones, the other in the Sydney Morning Herald by Malcolm Brown. Jones reports a Facebook page has been set up by friends of Jock’s called ‘Jock Palfreeman is Not Guilty’ [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16826320034], attracting 60 (now almost 90) friends; some gossip regarding Jock’s love life; and reiterates the claims made yesterday in an earlier article by herself and another hack; viz, that James Atack and someone called Matt had “almost died” in a similar attack by Jock at a party in 2004, and that the pair “later named Palfreeman as the person who stabbed them. But police did not lay charges because of a lack of evidence” (Bulgaria accused’s pals rally, January 4). Brown (Father arrives to visit jailed son, January 4) writes that Jock’s father has arrived in Sofia, and that DFAT is keeping a close eye on the case. Interestingly, Brown also writes:

In Sydney, James Atack, of Lane Cove North, who was quoted in The Daily Telegraph yesterday saying that Palfreeman had stabbed him and another youth at a party in Chatswood in 2004, confirmed to the Herald yesterday he had been quoted correctly and it was true. In his quoted statement, he said he had complained to the police but the police had not laid charges through lack of evidence. Questioned by the Herald, Mr Atack said: “I am not quite comfortable talking about this. Me and my friend agreed we would talk to each other before talking to the press again.”

One (presumably) pseudonymous commenter, on the other hand — Karlos — claims that “Jock was involved in that party, but in regards to the comment about him carrying a knife with him, he actually took the knife off one of the people mentioned in the paper as a victim as that person was threatening his brother”. And in news just to hand, another commenter called grayham writes:

this case so far is complete bullshit. i’m in sofia. jock was with me for christmas and he’s 1 of my best friends. i’ve known him for 18 months. in bulgaria first and then in england. it was self defence. there was a gang beating a gypsy. jock chased them off. they then beat him and my girlfriend. unfortunately i wasn’t there to help as i had left an hour or so before. i wasn’t allowed into court even though jock had asked me to be there. even the judge asked where i was and then told the court that i had said i hardly knew jock anyway, which is the complete opposite of my statement. i’ve given the police names of other people who were there and as yet they have not been contacted.

you would not believe the things the judge has said to jock. she has already made up her mind. as for the one thing that will help, for sure the cctv – which the police have – we have been told so far that it probably won’t be allowed to be shown as evidence.

jock and me have also had problems with racists in the past. if you look slightly alternative over here it’s enough to get you beaten up. carrying a knife here is quite normal. you’re allowed to carry guns if you want. wouldn’t you carry something if everywhere you went you see swastikas and “punks die” grafittied on the walls?

from what i’ve heard jock is lucky to still be alive and didn’t really have any choice.

for all his friends out there i’ve seen him today and yesterday and he’s ok.

can’t believe this chatswood bullshit. if he’s been found innocent that’s the end of it.

he needs his friends’ help and support – glad to see there are so many of you out there.

Speaking of support, somebody called Phil suggests a letter along these lines would be useful if sent to the relevant authorities:

Dear Sir / Madam,

I write concerning Jock Palfreeman, the British serviceman recently arrested over a fatal stabbing in Sofia.

I am most concerned that Jock will not receive a fair trial because the victim’s father is a prominent Bulgarian and all the witnesses are friends of the deceased.

The information we have received from friends in Bulgaria is that Jock was acting in self-defence after trying to help another man who was being attacked by a gang of Nazi/fascist skinheads.

I understand that legal proceedings must have their own process but would appreciate it if you could do anything to address my concerns or direct them to the relevant authorities in Bulgaria.

Yours faithfully…

The address for the Embassy of Bulgaria in Canberra, Australia is below. Details of the address in London, England are available here.

Update : As an apparent result of defending himself and another man from fascist assault, it appears that Jock Palfreeman is in trouble with the Bulgarian police, judiciary and state. As is traditional, the British Army has abandoned Jock (“a phase two recruit with the British Army’s 1st Battalion Infantry Training Centre” according to a report in The Daily Terror) and he has also been denied bail by magistrate Maria Petrova — on the basis of his allegedly violent disposition. According to one report by the ABC, “In a written statement tendered to the court, Mr Freeman [sic] said he had gone to the aid of a gypsy [that is, Rom] who was being attacked”. A plausible scenario, given that Romani are frequently subject to racist attacks, both in Bulgaria and throughout Europe (as is also traditional).

See also : Malcolm Brown, Friends stunned as trip ends in fatal brawl, Sydney Morning Herald, January 2, 2008.

In Australia, the Bulgarian Government has an Embassy in the ACT, and it may be useful to politely inform the Embassy that Jock’s friends in Australia wish to see him receive a fair trial:

    Australian Capital Territory : Embassy of Bulgaria

    Street address: 33 Culgoa Circuit, O’Malley, Canberra ACT 2600
    Postal address: Phillip DC, PO Box 6096, Canberra ACT 2606

    Chancery:
    Monday – Friday; 9.00 am – 12.30 pm; 2.00 pm – 5.30 pm
    tel: 02/ 6286 9711; fax: 02/ 6286 9600
    e-mail: [email protected]

    Consular section:
    Monday – Friday; 9.30 am – 12.00 pm
    tel: 02/ 6286 9700; fax: 02/ 6286 9600
    e-mail: [email protected]

Somebody called Joe Paul Freeman or (more likely, perhaps) Jock Palfreeman has been arrested in Sofia, Bulgaria over a stabbing incident (Aussie charged with murder after Bulgaria brawl, AAP, SMH, January 1, 2008):

An Australian man has been charged with murder and refused bail after a knife attack in Bulgaria which left one man dead and another badly injured.

Jock Palfreeman, 21, from NSW, made a brief appearance before Sofia City Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and another of attempted murder.

He was arrested last Friday in the Bulgarian capital after allegedly fatally stabbing 20-year-old Andrei Monov, the son of prominent local psychotherapist Hristo Manov, in a street brawl.

Palfreeman is also accused of attempting to murder Antoan Zahariev, 19.

According to a police statement tendered to the court, Palfreeman admitted stabbing the two Bulgarian men but insisted it was in self-defence.

Palfreeman said that while he had been carrying a knife at the time, he only pulled it out to defend himself and two other friends from a group of football hooligans who were attacking another man…

The stabbing appears to have a ‘political’ dimension, as ‘The court heard that Palfreeman was in Bulgaria to visit a friend and had been out drinking with a group of people when they saw a group of men hitting another man and shouting “fascists”‘; Palfreeman also appears to have been a teenage socialist.

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism | Tagged | 375 Comments

2007 — fuck off and die

Posted on December 31, 2007 by @ndy

Here’s to 2008, mate.

And following on from Rosario Dawson in This Revolution and Charlize Theron in Battle in Seattle comes Sacha Baron Cohen in The Trial of the Chicago Seven: “Sacha Baron Cohen will portray Abbie Hoffman, a figure from the 1960s counterculture who used a series of pranks to campaign against the war. Baron Cohen is expected to be paid about £3m for the film” (John Harlow, No more jokes as Borat turns war protester, The Sunday Times, December 30, 2007). The article gives a typically garbled account of the trial, Hoffman, and his significance; a better account may be found elsewhere (including the period he spent underground from 1973–1980, re-emerging to give an interview with Barbara Fucking Walters / 60 Minutes!) in Marty Jezer’s Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel.

On a slightly more modest scale, the life and times of Ian Bone, another troublemaker (still making trouble), is being made into a film:

Anarchist’s life to be filmed
James McCarthy
Wales On Sunday
December 30, 2007

AN anarchist once dubbed “the most dangerous man in Britain” is to have his life story turned into a film. Swansea University graduate Ian Bone’s father used to be a butler to a member of the aristocracy. But his son went on to found outrageous newspaper Class War in 1983, which campaigned for the overthrow of capitalism. It supported strikers, carried snaps of beaten policemen and once ran a picture of Margaret Thatcher with an axe in her head on its front cover. It led to The Sunday People newspaper labelling Mr Bone Britain’s most dangerous man and he even appeared on the Jonathan Ross show…

Posted in !nataS, Anarchism, Film, History | 8 Comments