Bloggy stuff…

“Anarchy is a fag”

Barricade on Myspace has got a nice new design, courtesy of Iconoclast: if you’re on myspace, become a comrade. In related developments, the infoshop will be re-opening early next year in a new location in Melbourne’s inner north, as part of a brand spanking new anarchist social centre.

The two occupants of Whitelaw Towers, meanwhile — Jim Perren and Peter Campbell — spend a rather considerable amount of time ranting and raving about the Anarchist Communist Terrorists at FightDemBack!. In fact, not just any Anarchist Communist Terrorists, but “some of Australia’s and New Zealand’s most dangerous”!

The blog reads like the manic scribblings of a rural neo-Nazi on a dangerous, but nevertheless amusing, cocktail of amphetamines and hallucinogens. Still, they note that my “personal blog ‘slackbastard’ is unashamedly militant Anarchist“, which is sweet of them.

Long Live the Leninist Trotskyist Fraction and the fight for a new World Party of Socialist Revolution!

Not so sweet is Democratic Socialist Perspective hack Norm Dixon, who disputes Jim & Pete’s demented characterisation quite vociferously. “Cynical whining by a rightwinger posing as an anarchist” is how Norm describes my take on (neo-)Trotskyist attempts to impose a dictatorship of the proletariat by way of the upcoming federal election. Dave Brown of the Communist Workers’ Group New Zealand/Aotearoa (Member of the Leninist/Trotskyist Fraction), on the other hand, is a little more circumspect: “Thanks, no, I won’t be entering into [the] dubious backstreet of slackbastard bogatry [bogatry?]. Why not do us a critique of our Trot special issue on re-framing the frameup which you could add to your chamber of horrors?” asks Comrade Brown.

‘Give Flowers to the Rebels Failed’

Otherwise, Trading Stories is a really neat-looking (and well-written) blog dedicated to book and zine reviews. Reviewing White Noise: Inside the International Nazi Skinhead Scene by Nick Lowles and Steve Silver, they write: “Unfortunately, Lowles’ and Silver’s conclusion remains just as urgent today as it was when they wrote White Noise: ‘Anti-fascists have to continue to take action at whatever level they can to prevent the growth of the White Power music scene. … Turning down the sound of hate is one of the most crucial tasks for anti-racists and anti-fascists today.’ Here in Australia, the heart of that campaign is @ndy’s Slackbastard blog. Get involved.” Which is quite nice of them, really, and as far as the blogosphere is concerned, a somewhat rare acknowledgment.

Also of note is the good taste displayed by first Cam Smith and then Crikey. On the one hand, Cam takes note of the Trot Guide 2007 #2.0 : 2007 Federal Election without engaging in sectarian abuse, while at the same time, and more importantly, courageously breaking through the media blackout on the Stalinist League of Australia. On the other hand, in what I think is a first(?), Crikey Blogwatch has noted that I’ve taken note of the Wicked Witch from Ipswich’s latest tilt at Senatorial glory in Bigots : Make your vote count!. Previously on slackbastard, Fred Weir of the Christian Science Monitor has made a reference to a “Canadian” anarchist blog — mine — and a Herald Sun journalist — sfool! — plagiarised a transcript I made of one of the Very Reverend Monsignor Geoffrey Baron’s most memorable Sunday sermons; but aside from that, the media Leviathan trundles on, unperturbed…

Stick This In Your Memory Hole

Finally, on a slightly more independent note, aduki press has released a book by tattoo enthusiast Tristan Clark called Stick This In Your Memory Hole. I went to the launch a few weeks ago — thanks for the beer and pizza — but soon fled. As well as being accompanied by beer and pizza — and ah, the words contained in the 37 essays between the covers — Stick This is notable for being “the first case of a book being released independently by an Australian publisher under a CC licence”, apparently. (For more disco on independent publishing, see also Locus.) When I finish reading it, I may even write about it.