random notes on a tuesday…

Posted on September 14, 2010 by @ndy

People Of Color Organize! is a new-ish (March 2010) blog edited by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin and Ernesto Aguilar. Ernesto is described as being a “former anti-authoritarian”, a description which poses a rather awkward question. I dunno: maybe Ernesto was sick of taking shit from Black bloc advice guy? But anyway. Who Cares about the White Working Class?

Srsly.

Walter Benn Michaels reviews the book of that title (edited by Kjartan Páll Sveinsson, Runnymede Perspectives, 2009) in the London Review of Books, Vol.31, No.16, August 27, 2009.

Btw, one link that’s not on the People Of Color Organize! blogroll but prolly should be is radical africa. Also, … was I on about? via Let’s Talk About Another Burning Color: Black Flame vs. Red Fire Extinguisher? via Marxism, Anarchism and a Critique of “Black Flame”. And…

left flank is another new-ish blog, “from two generations and three countries”. One of the main contributors is Elizabeth Humphrys, who’s recently composed a brief essay on the subject of ‘Our s11’ (Overland blog, September 11, 2010).

The latest # of Overland also contains an essay by Chris Graham on ‘Telling whites what they want to hear… Chris Graham on the trouble with Noel Pearson’. It’s a rather damning portrayal: “Born black but raised Lutheran, Pearson will never lead Cape York out of the darkness of welfare dependency until he learns to accept personal responsibility for his own ‘grievous failing’: a complete lack of authenticity in the eyes of his people.” You can read Pearson in The Australian.

Speaking of leftists, word on the street is that Insurgent Notes : Journal of Communist Theory and Practice — especially Loren Goldner’s essay on ‘The Historical Moment That Produced Us’ — is now required reading for all aspiring Red Green politicians. I can also exclusively reveal that, as a result of the tireless efforts of the SLACKBASTARD Investigations Unit, the Greens are on the verge of a split, with a majority of the party leadership formally seeking to join the Satanic Reds. A small but determined minority — the so-called ‘Lennonist Party Faction’ — is preparing to ditch Dr Bob Brown in favour of the impending Hippo Revolution. An even smaller grouping, inspired by their covert reading of the Theoretical Journal of the American Party of Labor, is preparing to re-launch the Hoxha-ite tradition in Australia. (See also : The Red Phoenix.)

Marxism-Leninism

“Hoxhaism” is a word sometimes used to describe the supporters of the line of Enver Hoxha, the Albanian leader who portrayed himself as a defender of Marxism-Leninism. Seeking to uphold Marxist-Leninist theory, Hoxha defended Stalin from revisionist attacks and expressed his disdain for Brezhnevism, Titoism, Eurocommunism, Maoism, “anti-dogmatic” movements and other covers for revisionism and social-democracy. “Hoxhaism,” then, is the defense of Marxist-Leninist theory and practice, and “Hoxhaists” refer to themselves as Marxist-Leninists.

“The book Lenin and the children belonged to the first readings of a Socialist childhood” writes somebody-or-other. My own encounter with the book in question came many years later, but I was still touched by its contents.

Of course, the replacement of Lenin by Stalin as head of the Russian state was an historical rupture of immense significance the consequences of which nobody-could-possibly-have-predicted-and-didn’t-and-anyway look behind you 14 imperialist armies!

Where was I?

Oh yeah.

The Roots of Stalin in the Tea Party Movement (Yasha Levine, AlterNet, April 17, 2010): “The Koch family, America’s biggest financial backers of the Tea Party, would not be the billionaires they are today were it not for the godless empire of the USSR.”

It’s a conspiracy!

Which fact reminds me of something…

jew on this is a blog by “unashamedly left-wing radical ratbags, diasporists, feminists, queerying gender and sexuality, anti-racist, embracing of nuance, working within the academic and activist worlds, bringing the humour and entertaining writing, and wanting to do it all from and within our jewishnesses”.

David Walsh writes (September 8, 2010) on behalf of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) regarding The Stieg Larsson phenomenon, and he detects several troublesome notes, including the fact that:

The books exhibit a type of left-wing or anarchist “vigilantism” that will not help anyone. Salander in particular is remorseless in exacting personal and painful revenge, and generally the reader feels urged to side with her. The books revel in Salander’s desire for retribution, including her childhood fantasy of setting her malevolent father on fire. Even her researching, i.e., computer hacking, has overtones of physical violence: “If there was any dirt to be dug up, she would home in on it like a cruise missile. … Her reports could be a catastrophe for the individual who landed in her radar.”

What’s not to like?

While we’re on the subject: How Do You Make a Flyer Your Co-Workers Will Actually Read? Possibly, by ripping-off some of the imgs to be found @ The Deuce’s Classic Exploitation Poster Art Database, then slapping on a rad.pol msg.

I dunno.

Apparently, Series of racist murders of Roma in Hungary unparalleled in present-day Europe (August 17, 2010). In France, President Sarkozy has declared War! on Those Thieving Gypsy Bastards Roma: “France has embarked on a high-profile campaign of deporting Romanian and Bulgarian Roma (Gypsies) as part of a crackdown on illegal camps in the country. It comes after clashes in July between French Roma and police in the town of Saint Aignan.” It ain’t gone unopposed but, as Anti-Racist Solidarity Demonstrations in France Draw Over 100,000. Federation Anarchiste Propaganda Campaign.

Speaking of which…

October 16 is International Day of Action for Jock Palfreeman. Jock is an Australian convicted of murder and attempted murder in Bulgaria, currently appealing a 20+ year sentence for the crimes, committed while attempting to defend himself from a fascist gang on the streets of Sofia.

It has been announced that Jock’s appeal trial will commence on Thursday 21st October 2010 in the Sofia Central Courthouse. The appeal is based on assessing the previous judge’s review and comments on the case rather than reassessing evidence and statements. The appeal court has already rejected three requests from Jock’s defence lawyer.

1) To review the remaining CCTV footage with a CCTV technology expert (showing partial evidence of the initial attack from Andrei Monov and his group on the two young boys);
2) Receive expert evidence on the extreme levels of Andrei Monov’s intoxication of 0.3% and the social implications (although the group with him all indicated “I did not see Andrei have a single alcoholic drink throughout the evening, most of us only had one or two but he did not drink”);
3) To review in detail key forensic evidence.

An event will be held in Sydney @ Circular Quay @ noon. There will be other events held throughout Europe, UK and the USA. For moar infos, please contact freejock[at]live[dot]com[dot]au.

In Melbourne: ‘You’re ni**ers and black dogs,’ family told (Hamish Heard, Sunday Herald Sun, August 29, 2010). Happily, in Queensland: Judge rules ‘N-word’ not offensive (Gold Coast Bulletin, August 10, 2010).

Finally…

    Nicolas Cage once took magic mushrooms with his cat. And he thought his pet was his brother. How cool is that? (Nicolas Cage took drugs with cat, Reuters, July 17, 2010.)
Posted in !nataS, Anarchism, Anti-fascism, Art, Broken Windows, Cats, Death, Film, History, Media, Music, Sex & Sexuality, State / Politics, Student movement, That's Capitalism!, Trot Guide, War on Terror | 4 Comments

…

Posted on September 14, 2010 by @ndy


h/t : raz

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Richard Wolstencroft : Transcendental Fascist

Posted on September 13, 2010 by @ndy

Courtesy of Luke Buckmaster in Crikey and Richard Watts at ArtsHub, Richard Wolstencroft, the fascist director of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, has lashed out at critics — and declared that some of his best friends are, indeed, black.

**UPDATED** – Ferocious film politics: ex-MUFF volunteer launches smear campaign against festival director
Luke Buckmaster
Cinetology (Crikey)
September 7, 2010

Richard Wolstencroft, director [of] the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF), has responded to a series of questions in relation to this blog post, which was originally published last Thursday (September 2) and focused on an online smear campaign against him conducted by an ex-MUFF volunteer with some heavy accusations and a big axe to grind. The original post is, unedited, below…

Mud-slinging mars a successful MUFF
Richard Watts
ArtsHub
September 6, 2010

The Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF), which closed on August 29 with a successful screening of the banned film L.A. Zombie by Canadian shock auteur Bruce LaBruce – the second screening of the film at the festival – has been the subject of a vituperative attack by an individual believed to be a MUFF ex-volunteer…

(NB. Luke also writes about film for Spookmag, one of the media sponsors of MUFF. ArtsHub, for which Richard writes, was established by The Dramatic Group P/L. The Group also established another MUFF sponsor: ScreenHub.)

Fascism

The blog at the centre of the controversy is titled Richard Wolstencroft’s Unconcealedness: “A collection of damning quotes from the “Aristocratic Fascist” and director of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, taken from Facebook and elsewhere.” The (unauthorised) collection basically confirms what Richard has already repeatedly informed The World of regarding his political views: he’s a fascist. Only, the quotes express his enthusiasm for the subject rather more crudely than it has been elsewhere.

A rather amusing sample of his deathless prose:

…the Nazis only wanted a united Europe like the EU, anyway, in essence. They were a little excesses [sic]. But that can be forgiven now given some historical distance. WW2 was a pointless civil war brought on by British arrogance. Hitler would have protected the British Empire and it would exist in a greater glory to this day if he had been allowed to. In the end England has lost everything and parts of London now resemble Afghanistan. Some [v]ictory!

Wolstencroft is no stranger to controversy, and actively cultivates it. In this sense, he’s a provocateur — one whose actions can readily be understood as having fairly crass, commercial, and therefore otherwise unremarkable motivations. Michelle Griffin writes (Bad reputation, The Age, June 26, 2004):

Wolstencroft, 35, has been infuriating Melburnians for more than a decade, since he founded The Hellfire Club, the fashionable S&M club, back in 1992, under his rather bland pseudonym, Richard Masters.

For years, he was the public face of the leather and lace-up crowd, generating headlines with calls to loosen pornography laws, and ill-advised plans for Nazi dress-up nights. (Ultimately cancelled after protests.)

Wolstencroft’s adherence to some form of revitalised fascism, however, does not seem to have been adopted simply for its effect but, rather, is the product of considered, and serious, reflection.

In 2003, the slogan for the festival, then in its fourth year, was ‘This time it’s political’. (See also : Scribblings: Richard’s Fascist Flirtation, The Review, August 2003.) Wolstencroft elaborated upon the meaning of ‘politics’ and his own perspective in his Director’s statement, declaring himself to be a ‘fascist’, albeit ‘transcendental’: “Transcendental fascism as a concept interests me because it is transcendental.” (Wolstencroft failed to add that transcendental fascism, as a giant hedgehog named Spiny Norman, scares him.)

Later, Wolstencroft declared that “I… have invented a political theory known as Transcendental Fascism, a non-racist regenerated form of fascism”.

A kinder, gentler fascism.

Well. Kinda…

Wolstencroft the New Inventor references the Nazi philosopher Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), who “subtly” — perhaps too subtly — “attempted to bring both the University and… the [Nazi] party under the umbrella of his thought”. According to Wolstencroft, Heidegger’s fascism was ‘transcendental’: non-racist, non-sexist and rational (and therefore well-equipped to fight metaphysical and religious quackery): Wolstencroft’s phantasy is of “a second Greek epoch”, not the sordid fascism “of Bush, Sharon, Blair” et. al.. Further:

A new conception of fascism will take into account the inherent paradoxes of its nature and dialogue and interact with other political philosophies worthy of integration like Anarchism, Socialism and conceptions of justice, equality, liberty and autonomy. One of my philosophy professors said this theory sounded nothing at all like fascism, and I replied “good”. But why the moniker fascism at all? What is that line from Salo, “We fascists are the only true anarchists” that haunts me? Well I believe fascism to be about the brute application of power and that all politics is inherently fascist in nature. Why transcendental then? Because in the name of Sex, I want to change and temper this brute fact but still retain the only force possible to truly fight the oppressive status quo! A paradox, of course, like the fact that there are beings rather than nothing.

Genius.

Festival

The 2003 MUFF program included a number of films emanating from the Institute for Historical Review/Noontide Press, a US-based group and publisher which specialises in Holocaust denial. The one which caused the most controversy featured British Nazi historian David Irving (1938–). Barred from entering Australia, his banning prompted the 1993 speech which forms the basis of the film. It’s described by MUFF as follows:

    The Search for Truth in History

    David Irving’s address, recorded in 1993 following his ban from visiting Australia, is his response to this outlandish state of affairs. This session will hopefully include a live post screening phone hook up with David Irving in the USA so he can speak directly with an Australian audience and answer questions. Stay tuned as we ‘go over the top’ and fight censorship for real.

And by the IHR:

    Here is the famed British [h]istorian’s witty brilliant response to the Australian government’s 1993 order banning him from the country, and the organized Jewish campaign behind it. Irving is at his dynamic best here as he describes the world-wide efforts to prosecute, ban and censor him, and explains the evidence that convinced him that there were no “gassings” at Auschwitz. A moving testimony to a great historian’s commitment to historical truth and freedom of speech.

The great historian’s commitment to historical truth is usefully examined in Roni Stauber’s ‘From Revisionism to Holocaust Denial – David Irving as a Case Study’ (July 25, 2000).

Wolstencroft arranged for the screening of three other films produced and distributed by IHR/Noontide at the 2003 MUFF, each edited versions of speeches delivered at one of a number of gatherings organised by the Institute. Aside from Irving, the speeches were by French Holocaust denialist Robert Faurisson, some bloke called Said Arikat (The Israel-Palestine Conflict: A Palestinian Perspective, from the 14th IHR Conference, 2002), and Akira Kawachi, a Japanese fella inspired by US Holocaust revisionists’ “dedication to objectivity and historical truth” to redress the presumed bias of US historians when it comes to examining the Japanese role in WWII and subsequent US occupation.

MUFF:

    My Revisionist Method
    [From the 13th IHR Conference, 2000]

    The man who made revisionism a household word in his native France goes back to his own revisionist beginnings, and then to the frontiers of revisionism today, in this lecture. Professor Faurisson recounts how his youthful studies in Greek and Latin, followed by his celebrated deciphering of the meaning of such difficult modern poets as Rimbaud and Lautréaumont, guided him to his revisionist method: simple, “nuts and bolts,” free of pedantry, going to the centre of things.

Noontide:

    The man who made revisionism a household word in his native France goes back to his own revisionist beginnings, and then to the frontiers of revisionism today, in this sparkling lecture. Professor Faurisson recounts how his youthful studies in Greek and Latin, followed by his celebrated deciphering of the meaning of such difficult modern poets as Rimbaud and Lautréaumont, guided him to his revisionist method: simple, “nuts and bolts,” free of pedantry, going to the center of things. Faurisson reveals how his “No holes, no Holocaust!” challenge springs directly from this method, shares amusing details from his conversation with Deborah Lipstadt, and updates on the Anne Frank “diary” in an unforgettable performance.

MUFF:

    The Influence of America’s Postwar Occupation on Today’s Japan
    [From the 10th IHR conference, October 1990]

    Hiroshima survivor, career diplomat, and scholar of international affairs Akira Kawachi discusses the influence of America’s post war occupation on today’s Japan. With rare frankness, Professor Kawachi blasts the one-sided history of World War II imposed by the occupiers, and pays tribute to the spirit and search for objectivity and historical truth.

IHR:

    The Influence of America’s Postwar Occupation on Today’s Japan

    Hiroshima survivor, career diplomat, and scholar of international affairs Kohchi discusses the influence of America’s postwar occupation on today’s Japan. With rare frankness for a Japanese, Professor Kawachi blasts the one-sided history of World War II imposed by the occupiers, and pays tribute to American revisionists’ dedication to objectivity and historical truth.

In 2004, MUFF, against the wishes of the filmmakers, screened a Crass ‘double feature’ (@ FFour (F4), aka New Guernica) — presumably as a result of Wolstencroft’s being “driven to make a significant contribution to the cultural enrichment of the community by illustrating the vibrancy, vitality and enthusiasm of the free-thinking, alternative, independent filmmaking scene in Australia and overseas”.

Or maybe not.

(See also : Festival refuses to be MUFFled, Jake Wilson, The Age, August 21, 2009. Wilson reviews one of the films screened at MUFF XI, Lanfranchi’s Memorial Discotheque, here.)

Film

Apart from his role as director of MUFF and impresario of a kinky nightclub for yuppies, Wolstencroft has also made a few films: Bloodlust (1992), Pearls Before Swine (1999) and, most recently, The Beautiful and Damned (2008). Indeed, it was the exclusion of his 1999 film from the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) that prompted Wolstencroft to establish MUFF. I’m not sure precisely why MIFF decided not to program his film, but based on the handful of critical responses to it, it seems that it was because the film was shit.

Be that as it may, Wolstencroft’s swinish film *ed the US alt.noise merchant Boyd Rice in the role of ‘Daniel’, a hitman-of-wood. Like his director friend, Rice is a bit of a boofhead, whose flirtations with fascism have occasionally resulted in his experiencing some minor career difficulties, but which have otherwise proven to merely confirm — in the minds of his fans at least — his status as a courageous and iconoclastic artiste. Thus according to Mute, Rice is “one of the most consistently influential and contentious characters of the last 30 years of American counterculture”.

Same old story.

On fascism, see : George Orwell, ‘What is Fascism?’ (1944); Chip Berlet, ‘Fascism: An Essay’ (1992); Umberto Eco, ‘Ur-Fascism’ (1995); Roger Griffin, ‘The palingenetic core of generic fascist ideology’ (2003 PDF); | On post-WWII fascism, see : Kevin Coogan, Dreamer Of The Day: Francis Parker Yockey And The Post-War Fascist International (Autonomedia, 1999).

Bonus Nomeansno!

Posted in Anti-fascism, Broken Windows, Death, Film, History, Media, State / Politics | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Attack Attack! Crabcore comes to Melbourne

Posted on September 11, 2010 by @ndy

Bloody Michael is insisting that I take note of the fact that his (quote) “Favourite Band in the Whole World” (unquote) is playing @ The Corner tonight and tomorrow night. Apparently, Attack Attack! is bringing crabs to Australia for the benefit of its yoof.

Or something.

I dunno: Michael’s enthusiasm for crabcore makes me feel old. In any case, I’m prolly gonna sell him my copy of Take Action! Volume 1.

Posted in !nataS, Broken Windows, Death, Music | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Dead to me now…

Posted on September 8, 2010 by @ndy

Stephanie Rice’s comments were offensive but she’s not homophobic, says Matthew Mitcham
Paul Tatnell
The Age
September 8, 2010

Mitcham wrote that the furore surrounding Rice’s comments is “a wake up call” to parts of society “that they can easily offend without meaning to, eg. that’s so gay”.

“She’s not a homophobe. She luvs gays but used very ill-chosen language,” he wrote.

See also : DAVENPORT UNDERWEAR COMMERICIAL- CUT & PASTE-30 second.

Posted in !nataS, Media, Sex & Sexuality | Tagged , | 3 Comments

The Monthly Argument : “raising the political temperature”

Posted on September 7, 2010 by @ndy

The right room for an argument this Thursday may be found @ The Dan O’Connell, 225 Canning Street (cnr Princes St) in Carlton. ‘The Monthly Argument’ is part of a regular series of debates concerning some Very Important Questions. September’s debate is titled ‘Renewable Energy: Should We Make the Switch?’, and is the second that’s been organised thus far. Prof. John Daley (Grattan Institute) says ‘Yes’ to renewable energy, while Dr. Alan Moran (Institute of Public Affairs) says ‘No’.

Moar infos here.

Posted in State / Politics | Leave a comment

Reflections on S11 and AWOL

Posted on September 7, 2010 by @ndy

A comrade has written the following and at their request I’m publishing it here to facilitate further disco. Write dr.woooo[at]gmail[dot]com for moar.

Reflections on AWOL and the WEF protests, Melbourne, September 2000

The ‘Autonomous Web of Liberation’ (AWOL) was a Melbourne based ‘networking hub’ that brought people together to share skills, network and exchange ideas in preparation for protests against the World Economic Forum in September 2000. This experience does not have the recognition it deserves, not only in terms of the blockade, but also the later networks that sprang from people having come together at this time, and the wider effects this experience had on their subsequent political practice.

For a long time I’ve been thinking about relaying my experience. I’ve hesitated because I’ve not felt that one person’s perspective can do justice to this subject. Many of us were involved in this experience: at times, up to 100 participated in the meeting/doing/happening that was ‘AWOL’. I’m hopeful that others will seek to collaborate on a larger piece, comment on this one publicly, or write their own story, in order to develop our history and our theory.

I have so many comrades that I still have some contact with who were involved in this project, but also those that span off from it at later times. It is rare I think in political movements over time to have such a sense of shared experience. I still feel that many of you out there got my back, that I can rely on many of you, that I share levels of affinity with many of you that I could not have anticipated at the time. That said, there is a fair bit of hate still around from people who felt left out, or who didn’t have great affinity to begin with, or that grew apart as time went on. There are yet others that I have no idea where they are or what they are up to now, and some I should try to catch up with more. I hope that some of what is said in this ramble will get us asking question about relationships of affinity and questions of organisation, then and now.

There was a sense among us – well, I can only speak for myself really – that the organising method of the ‘S11 Alliance’ was really problematic: it was too slow, it tried to speak for everybody, and meetings didn’t achieve much but rather served as a space for the pursuit of various agendas belonging to various little political parties, fighting about the demands appropriate to a united front. This had very little relationship to my politics, or those of the Seattle events that it claimed to be building on. The authoritarian left really did not get it. Or maybe they did, but wanted to use the rhetoric of Seattle for other ends – mainly building the parties and personality profiles of select others.

Back in early 2000, a number of ‘direct action folk’ – anarchists, autonomists, forest blockaders and other ratbags – had started attending the organising meetings for the protests against the WEF. Many of us found the authoritarian politics of the Alliance impossible to work with, and called a meeting for an alternative networking space. This became S11 AWOL.

Precisely when S11 AWOL began is debatable, as a number of people with roughly the same ideas had meetings at around the same time, but at the first meeting I attended (held in a little tin shed) we wrote ‘Who We Are’, and with some further brainstorming came up with the name AWOL. (“I want the word autonomy to be in it.” “Er, um what about ‘network’?” “Can we use the word web instead?” asked one beloved, bearded forest blockader. Bingo! ‘Autonomous Web of Liberation’: AWOL.) I thought to myself, how funny, this is exactly what we’ve done: gone AWOL from the traditional left.

I was pretty happy with the name and statement of ‘Who We Are’: it focussed on practice and not names or political identities but rather how we organise and what we are against, rather than ‘we are anarchist’ or ‘we are autonomist’ or we are this or that group. In so doing, and with some hard work, it became a very efficient, practical space for getting stuff done for a broad section of largely anti-statist and anti-capitalist types that avoided shit fights between people with very different politics. It changed how I saw things in a big way, and I think for many people in it, the relationships that went onwards into other projects are something we should not forget.

Who We Are

S11 AWOL is non-hierarchical, decentralised and autonomous. It aims to facilitate actions, hold skill-sharing workshops, and empower peoples with information and knowledge, to enable us all to most effectively shut down the World Economic Forum and say NO to global corporatisation and capitalism…

S11 AWOL gives a big thumbs down to those with racist, sexist, ablist, homophobic or nationalistic agendas.

I’d been involved in some stuff when I lived in London – the G8 protests, the ‘carnival against capital’/J18 protests – and we had all been surprised by Seattle. It really felt like something big was kicking off and for several years it did. Then came the slow recuperation and decline of the movement, as well as many of its limitations being reached in the changing times of the ‘war on terror’, the shite politics of the anti-war movement, the rise and fall of the detention centre actions … WorkChoices, followed by global recession, the pseudo-left ‘pink tide’ in Latin America, and now bio-crisis, climate change and the rest.

I’ve had a number of years where I haven’t been involved in much, and I’ve had little new to say: I’ve felt ideologically and practically stuck. For some of the people I still have contact with from this time, I don’t think I’m the only one who feels this way. Maybe some joint reflection will spark some debate and action!

What I took from the experience of AWOL into later stuff, and what I saw carry forward or be altered in later stuff…

• May Day ‘Reclaim the Streets’ action (May 2001)
• Genoa solidarity action (July 2001)
• ‘Media Circus’ conference (July 2001)
• Tent City (October-November 2001)
• Woomera (March-April 2002)
• Baxter (April 2003)
• ‘State of Emergency’ conference (May 2004)
• Anarchist and autonomist conferences (2001-2005)

Questions Regarding AWOL And The Revolutionary Struggle, Intended To Be Discussed, Corrected, And Principally, Put Into Practice Without Delay…

• Hanging on to the AWOL ‘brand’ after S11. • Falling back into big ‘A’ politics: brand ‘Anarchist’ versus brand ‘Autonomist’. • Anti-media / radical media: questions of representation versus self-imposed silence, infodesks, media-spin games, multiple-name games… • Burnout and networked politics. • ‘What’s my new project?’ activism. • Yoof activism. • Giving up activism. • Where are we now? • What I reckon now / stuff I’d like to be doing now: workers’ enquiry, climate justice, how the experiences of AWOL shaped my current trajectory…

See also : REFLECTIONS ON JUNE 18: discussion papers on the politics of the global day of action in financial centres on June 18th 1999 | Review of ‘Reflections on J18’ – Undercurrent | Reflections and strategies 10 years on from J18 and Seattle 1999.

Posted in Anarchism, Broken Windows, History, Media, State / Politics, Student movement, That's Capitalism!, War on Terror | Tagged , , , | 24 Comments

Andrew Yeoman’s BANANAs ~versus~ Machete

Posted on September 5, 2010 by @ndy

Robert Rodriguez’s new Mexploitation film Machete is apparently causing a whole lotta butthurt among White supremacists in the U$A. In response to its release, one group, known as BANANAs, declared its intention to protest the film’s opening, armed with flyers… and machetes.

*boom-tish*

The prospect of a Hollywood-inspired, White civil uprising was dampened somewhat when just five BANANAs, led by some guy called Andrew Steve Yeoman, managed to drag their aching bottoms along to a sinema in Livermore (Livermore protesters target ‘Machete’ film as ‘anti-white’, Janis Mara, Contra Costa Times, September 4, 2010). The fascist kook who led the quarrelsome quintet “said he has not seen the movie, but based on the trailers he has seen, he feels the film should not be shown in theaters”.

The film *s Danny Trejo as Machete, “a legendary ex-Federale with a deadly attitude and the skills to match”; Michelle Rodriguez as Luz aka Shé, “a taco-truck lady with a rebellious spirit and revolutionary heart”; Jessica Alba as Sartana, “a beautiful Immigrations Officer torn between enforcing the law and doing what is right”; and Lindsay Lohan as April Booth aka The Sister, “a socialite with a penchant for guns” and “a nun with a gun”.

What’s not to like?

Well, on May 8, 2010, crazy person Alex Jones predicted that the release of the schlock horror film would trigger race riots, and was part of an elaborate conspiracy to blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Machete hasn’t triggered any race riots, but the attention whores who assembled in Livermore should nevertheless be given props for bringing the lulz. (The BANANAs’ last attempt to capitalise upon anti-immigrant feeling in May ended in tears when Yeoman and a sidekick got broke.) Fingers xed, screenings of the film in Melbourne will entice former gnat Reverend Scott Harrison and his legion of followers to engage in similar Machete-inspired shenanigans.

Posted in Anti-fascism, Broken Windows, Death, Film, State / Politics, That's Capitalism! | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Stephen Jolly for Richmond

Posted on September 5, 2010 by @ndy

Yeah. Stephen Jolly of the Socialist Party — one of only two Socialist councillors in the country — is gonna be contesting the seat of Richmond in the Victorian state election (November 27). The official campaign launch is on Saturday, October 2, upstairs @ the British Crown Hotel (14 Smith Street, Collingwood — opposite 3CR).

Stephen is standing in one of four seats in which Labor faces a serious challenge from the Greens. The seriousness of this threat was reinforced by Adam ‘I’ll give a voice to the movements’ Bandt’s recent victory in the Federal seat of Melbourne. Bandt’s decision to support the Federal ALP has meant the Victorian branch is Not. Happy. Joolya. (Greens pact stirs Labor anger, Royce Millar, The Age, September 3, 2010). Still:

While sitting candidates and ministers Richard Wynne (Richmond) and Bronwyn Pike (Melbourne) are known to be squeamish about a full-blown war, Fiona Richardson (Northcote) and Jane Garrett (Brunswick) are keen to fight and are attracting strong financial support to do so.

Wynne and Garrett are members of the ‘Socialist Left’ faction of the ALP, Bronwyn Pike is nominally non-aligned, while Fiona Richardson is ‘Labor Unity’ (‘Right’). Wynne will be confronting Kathleen Maltzahn, Pyke will battle Brian Walters, while Richardson will face off against Anne Martinelli and Garrett Cyndi Dawes. The ALP currently holds Melbourne by a margin of 2.0% (v GRN), Richmond by 3.6% (v GRN), Brunswick by 3.6% (v GRN) and Northcote by 8.5% (v GRN).

The fight for inner-city Melbourne is a tough one for Labor, as appeasing ‘progressives’ likely to support the Greens has to be balanced against the need to placate a broader constituency. As in the case of the federal election campaign, and the battle for Melbourne in particular, unions (one of the sources of the “strong financial support”) will be pouring large sums of money into the campaigns to re-elect Labor. Presumably, they’ll be expecting a much better return on their investment this time around.

See also : Federal deal means nothing to Victorian Greens, Labor, Farrah Tomazin, The Age, September 2, 2010 | Victoria: the left-leaning state? (August 14, 2010) | In Studio: Mark Aarons on the hollow men of the NSW Right, SlowTV, July 2010 | What happened to the Left? (February 27, 2010) | Melbourne : ALP ~versus~ Greens (August 24, 2009) | Bump Me Into Parliament (July 2, 2009).

Bonus Joolya!

Posted in State / Politics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Attempted murder of anarchist anti-fascist in Moscow

Posted on September 5, 2010 by @ndy

An attempt on life of anarchist anti-fascist in Moscow
avtonom.org via libcom.org
September 3, 2010

A 25-year old Vladimir Skopincev is registered in Troick, one of the numerous towns of Moscow region. He is an anarchist and known as the member of groups “PolitZek” and “Change the world without taking power”. Both groups have several thousands of fans. His photos and registration address were frequently posted on fascist web-pages, along with demands of execution.

Vladimir’s father and younger brother – 21-year old Andrew – were present at home in the evening hours of September the 2nd, when an attempt on Vladimir’s live took place. What follows is Andrew Skopintsev’s take on the events:

Somewhere around 11 pm Andrew went out on the balcony to talk over the cell phone. And next moment a bullet hit the wall 30 centimeters away from his head. He heard the noise of a car taking off from the scene. Militia was immediately notified of an attempted murder. According to Andrew, the preliminary analysis showed that he was fired at from a hand-made firearm.

Cops examined the crime scene, and insisted that Andrew and his father to accompany them to the town’s police department (UVD). After the formal interrogation, father was asked to wait in the corridor, and young man was taken in one of the offices for interrogation.

Cops decided not to go lightly on the guy, who had just miraculously escaped death. He was interrogated by two unidentified agents, who were most probably the employees of “centre E” (“antiextremist” police division in Russia).

“They interrogated me Gestapo-style. I was shouted at, abused. They demanded that I “tell everything” about my brother and myself. Took my ID and cell phone by force, copied all the numbers from the phone-book. I was beaten up, but they did it carefully – so that no evidence of it remained.” – This are the words of Andrew, who was lucky to escape from the police department.

Andrew and his father spent whole night in the department and escaped – for lack of better word – in the morning. Formally they were not detained, but Andrew’s ID were confiscated until “the arrival of our boss” in cops’ wording.

As of this moment, Andrew Skopintsev is consulting with local human rights organizations.

[Original in Russian @ Novaya Gazeta.]

Posted in Anarchism, Anti-fascism | Tagged , | Leave a comment