C.U.N.T.
Oh Noes! “Covert Undercover Nuisance Tactics” — a blog established in December 2005 and apparently maintained by two British neo-Nazis named Tommy Williams and Dave Howard — has passed on. The blog is no more. It has ceased to be. It has expired and gone to meet its maker. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. It’s pushing up the daisies. Its quasi-metabolic processes are now history. It’s off the twig. It’s kicked the bucket, shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisibile. THIS IS AN EX-BLOG!
http://covert-tactics.blogspot.com/
Why?
Dunno.
But it may have something to do with the alleged fact that Tommy Williams and Dave Howard attended the home of National Front functionary Eddy Morrison in late November (Eddy has been slightly unsteady in his precise political allegiances, having been involved in umpteen fascist groupuscules over his lifetime). Some further details are available here: BNP Life Member promotes rabid neo-Nazism, Edmund Standing, December 5, 2009.
Hoelzer Reich
In other nutzi news, the US-based clothing label Hoelzer Reich — founded by Jed Colvin and Jamie Vine — is coming under fire. See : Controversial Hoelzer Reich Clothing at TUF 10 Finale, Brent Brookhouse, Bloody Elbow, December 2, 2009.
While the company distances itself from neo-Nazism and fascism — and it, in turn has been repudiated by the UFC, at least in England — the fact is that HR has sponsored neo-Nazi reich ‘n’ rollers ‘West Wall’ in the past:
West Wall is a neo-Nazi metal band led by the former leader of the neo-Nazi skinhead group Northern Hammerskins [ie, Ed Wolbank, a former member of US reich ‘n’ rollers Bound for Glory*]. Hoelzer Reich’s website contained photos of the band in their shirts which the brand explains as the band buying the shirts and mailing them photos which were then posted and removed once it was realized who they were. However, in an interview the lead singer of the band said that they were sponsored by the brand. Add that to the fact that up until recent days the label’s blog stated West Wall as their favorite band and the fact that HR’s myspace page featured a playlist of West Wall songs and it becomes hard to think that the posting of the band in HR shirts was a simple mistake.
Check out West Wall, Before God & Bound For Glory on the web here.
Like any good business — cf. The Birmingham Hotel and Hold Fast Body Art in Melbourne — Hoelzer Reich understands that, while it may be funs to flirt with fascism, beyond a certain level, honest confessions of racist political sentiment can be damaging to the brand, and hence profitability. It’s also standard practice, when sprung, for more intelligent businessmen to go into damage control mode, seeking to eliminate previously more-or-less open support for disreputable groups and projects; the shit-for-brains, on the other hand, tend to go out of business.
It’s also worth noting that of the thousands of nutzi musos making a racket in the ’80s and ’90s, some small number are now trying to go ‘legit’: that is, to make muzak and perform it without, for example, imploring their audience to go out and kill some Jews. In doing so, they invariably — and necessarily — seek to transform their img. Examples of this include bands like ‘Tattooed Motherfuckers’ in the UK and ‘T.H.U.G.’ in Australia.
The moral of the story is that if you’re a tweenage, or teenage, or 20-something, or 30-something bonehead, don’t be surprised if your devotion to the Master Race doesn’t come back to bite you in the arse later on in life.
And the silver lining? Watching with amusement as their pals jump in to defend them.
- *Bound for Glory: A popular Minnesota-based hate band that formed in 1989; perhaps the most important U.S.-based hate music group. The band is led by Ed Wolbank, at one time the director of the neo-Nazi Northern Hammerskins in St. Paul, Minnesota. The band members also formed their own production company, Bound for Glory (BFG) Productions, which they recently sold to Panzerfaust Records [LOL].
Anyway.
Tomorrow belongs to The Yes Men.
NB. “Tomorrow Belongs To Me” (Cabaret) was written by two Jewish d00ds, John Kander (1927–) and Fred Ebb (1928–2004).
ROFLMAO…
WestWall Wears Hoelzer Reich Clothing!
August 11, 2009
Hoelzer Reich Clothing would like to introduce our FAVORITE band, WESTWALL! WestWall is made of veterans of the Minnesota metal scene. These Legionaires [sic] serve up their own brutal style of war metal. Influenced by great metal bands such as Slayer, Bolt Thrower, Iron Maiden, Arch Enemy, and Death, WestWall stays in keeping with the purest tradition of metal. Inspired by movies like Gladiator, Braveheart, Troy, 300 as well as hundreds of history books extolling the virtues of hard-edged, in-your-face, do or die mentality, WestWall’s music is built on overtly powerful guitar riffs, pounding drumming, pulsating bass work and commanding vocals. It is a full-throttled finely tuned music machine that will exhilarate the most discriminating metal heads. Listen to their music at [http://www . myspace . com/westwallwar]. They are amazing!
NB. “das vierte reich hat begonnen” = “the fourth reich has begun”.
HOELZER REICH ‘s friends are private.
Add HOELZER REICH as a friend to view this page.
Maggie kinda skips over the real story, but it’s a start I guess. Maybe if she were allowed the opportunity to think it over while listening to some music. Say, by Westwall. Or Bound For Glory…
ED WOLBANK was previously a member of the nutzi reich ‘n’ roll band Bound For Glory. Wolbank was also one of three men to establish Panzerfaust Records in 1998. Panzerfaust came to notoriety for its attempts to recruit White yoof by way of releasing a free sampler CD to White skool kids titled Project Schoolyard in 2004.
Bound for Glory – Behold The Iron Cross
~versus~
[…]
This could end up being the biggest controversy to come out of the failboat that was The Ultimate Fighter Finale. Joe Brammer was sponsored and wore a t-shirt by the Hoelzer Reich clothing company. HR’s designs are heavy in Nazi related imagery–iron crosses and that sort of thing. While they suggest it[‘]s merely a coincidence, they also sponsor a number of neo-Nazi/white power rock bands.
Now, were it a case where the UFC had no real control over their fighters’ sponsorships this would be something of a non-issue. Brammer would be responsible for his decision, and that would be that. But as everyone knows the UFC is notorious for micromanaging the sponsors [whose] logos appear in the octagon. Affliction got the boot when they went into the MMA promotion business, and more recently RVCA has become verboten…er…banned…due to their sponsorship of Fedor Emelianenko. Anyway, Bloody Elbow went into depth on the subject and here’s some of what they came up with:
Jon Bram[m]er Hoelzer Reich sponsorship @ Bloody Elbow
Here’s the UG Forum link listed in blurb above. The bit about them calling an avowed racist skinhead ‘comrade’ is pretty tough to rationalize:
Hoelzer Reich thread at UG Forum
On one hand, I get the argument that HR is just looking for ‘powerful imagery’ in their use of Nazi icons. As a heavy metal fan, there are countless bands who co-opt what some suggest to be satanic imagery just because it looks badass. Still, there’s a difference between a flaming skull with snakes coming out the eyes and an accurate homage to the evils perpetrated by the Nazi regime. Plus, there’s suggestions that HR has financial ties with avowed neo-Nazis. Not exactly a fast track to mainstreaming the sport, now is it.
More significantly, even the *suggestion* that one of their sponsors is tied in with Neo-Nazis and ‘white power’ elements should be a complete non-starter for the UFC. There’s been a few hysterical suggestions (mostly in the European media) that MMA is a haven for white supremacists and racism. To anyone who follows the sport, that’s absurd but keep in mind that that perception is out there. To do anything that would lend credibility to that concept–even on a superficial level–is PR and marketing suicide. And don’t forget the UFC’s long sought after TV deal–do you think TV networks want to even *risk* a potential fiasco caused by a tacit endorsement of Nazism by an already controversial sport?
Now, no one is saying that Dana White or the Fertittas are closet racists or anything. The problem is that its really bad for the image of a sport that already suffers enough from a negative perception–albeit unfair in most cases–among the mainstream media and general public. Personally, I find the HR clothing offensive and the way they tiptoe around the Nazi issue by saying ‘we can’t help if skinheads and racists like our clothes’ despicable. But it’s a free country and they’ve got the right to do it. The UFC, however, isn’t quite so egalitarian and in light of their well known micromanagement of their fighters’ sponsors its difficult to rationalize that companies that sponsor Fedor Emelianenko aren’t ‘octagon worthy’ but companies that sponsor ‘white power’ rock bands are welcome.
UPDATE: Hoelzer Reich got some notice in the UK Jewish community prior to the Manchester show in November:
Martial arts group denies Nazi clothing @ Jewish Community Online (UK)
During the invasion of German-held Austria, the “Thunderbolt” division of the U.S. 11th Armored Division overran two of the largest Nazi concentration camps in the country: Mauthausen and Gusen. On May 5, 1945, the 11th arrived in Gusen, which had originally been a subcamp of Mauthausen. The division’s arrival prevented the SS guards from murdering thousands of concentration camp prisoners by dynamiting the underground tunnels and factories where the inmates had been forced to work. The very next day, the unit liberated Mauthausen.
In this interview, Ross Snowdon, a veteran of the 11th Armored Division, speaks with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum about his experiences during liberation.
Fact Check on Controversial UFC Sponsor Hoelzer Reich
Brent Brookhouse
Bloody Elbow
December 7, 2009
Following the controversy in the UK, Ross ‘The Real Deal’ Pearson writes:
Ross went on to win his fight against Aaron Riley.
Joe Brammer lost his fight against Mark Bocek @ UFC – The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale (December 5, 2009).
Don PalabraZ is a Subversive Historian. mister word’s [June 22, 2009] post recalls the day in 1938 Joe Louis defeated Max Schmeling for the heavy-weight boxing title. Curiously, despite being championed by a dead incestuous coprophiliac dicktator, and acting as a mouthpiece for the Nazi regime, Schmeling was:
Further:
Losers wear Hoelzer…
Mark Bocek – $55,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus, $25,000 submission bonus) def. Joe Brammer – $5,000
Wankers