‘The Hair of the Dog’ is an episode of 360documentaries on Radio National. It documents Jock Palfreeman’s life in jail.
Listen.
Write to Jock:
Jock Palfreeman
Sofia Central Prison
21 General Stoletov Boulevard
Sofia 1309
BULGARIA
For more infos, see Free Jock.
*** Moar results HERE ***
Blah blah blah.
So a Kenyan/Irish Mooselem named Barack HUSSEIN O’Bama won and a Mormon named Mitt Romney (Hail! Satan!) lost.
But how did all the other candidates fare hmmm? Less than 0.1% for these hopefuls:
1. Jack Fellure (519)
A big fan of King James and his Bible, Jack came first. (Which is to say last.)
2. Dean Morstad (1,107)
I dunno. Some d00d.
3. Jerry White (1,138)
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP), aka the leadership of the world socialist movement. This vanguard badly needs the attention of a mechanic. Or dialectrician.
4. Peta Lindsay/Gloria La Riva (1,525)
Socialism. And er, Liberation (PSL).
5. Sheila Tittle (2,499)
We The 2,499 People. God Bless America. Violence and Cherry Pies.
6. Jim Carlson (3,166)
Dope.
7. James Harris (3,345)
Another Socialist, this one belonging to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). In Australia they’re known as the Communist League. Last spotted at the 2012 Melbourne Anarchist Bookfair. See also 2000.
8. Stewart Alexander (3,987)
Another Socialist; Socialist Party USA. “They are truly of the 99%” but failed to convince many others to vote for them on that basis.
9. Virgil Goode / Will Christensen (3,915)
Save America. Keep English as the Official Language. Ban Abortion. Kill the Poor.
10 Tom Stevens (4,013)
Objectively-speaking, Ayn Rand was on welfare.
11. Andre Barnett / Chuck Baldwin / Barbara Washer (4,737)
Donald Trump’s Hairpiece wants revolution. This mob wants reform. I expect neither party is very happy with the outcome.
12. None of these candidates (5,753)
Nebraska eh?
13. Jill Reed / Richard Duncan (12,108)
lolwut
14. Randall Terry (12,895)
Abortion is Bad mmmkay?
15. Jerry Litzel / Jeff Boss / Merlin Miller (12,984)
American Third Position. Not quite third. Bill O’Reilly with balls.
16. Thomas Hoefling / Tom Hoefling (28,655)
Am disappoint not a hobbit.
17. Rocky Anderson (34,521)
That’s Progress.
18. Roseanne Barr (49,426)
Neither Peace Nor Freedom Nor Roseanne Barr.
Finally…
19. Jill Stein (396,684/0.3%)
Global warming ain’t cool. It’s not easy being Green. Etc.
20. Gary Johnson (1,139,562/0.9%)
Libertard. And That’s Official.
See also : How Socialists Wanted You To Vote.
SA & SP
I’m excited!
In a breakthrough for the pseudo-socialist Socialist Alliance (SA), Sue Bolton has been elected to Moreland Council! Sue becomes SA’s second local councillor, joining Sam Wainwright in Fremantle.
In Yarra Council, the Labor-loyal reformist left Socialist Party (SP) fared well in terms of votes, but unfortunately their share of the preciousss was nevertheless reduced by one with the departure of Anthony Main, leaving Steve Jolly to once again fly the red flag alone.
(There are close to 600 local councils in Australia, and many thousands of councillors, so long march through the (local) institutions will be long march.)
RSP & SAlt & Solidarity
Those God Delusional Cheerleaders for Capitalist Counterevolution Socialist Alternative (SAlt) have begun issuing a series of statements from current and former members of the Anti-Communist Opportunists of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) describing their reasons for joining SAlt. The most recent such statement comes from Van Thanh Rudd. For his part, veteran socialist and RSP member Max Lane has some Reflections on starting ‘anew’: some experiences from the Australian left (October 14, 2012).
On a less positive note, SAlt is also in some trouble in its heartland, the University of Melbourne. Thus “Solidarity at Melbourne Uni are in a campaign with the Liberal-dominated Clubs and Societies committee to disaffiliate us and sabotage the Marxism 2013 conference. Our agreement on the Russia question is relatively irrelevant; their rabidly sectarian shenanigans are the dominant barrier to unity and cooperation. Meanwhile the RSP (and the Alliance for that matter) are happy to discuss unity and have long worked with us in a comradely way.” In other words, a petition to disaffiliate the SAlt student club from the student union is in the works; members of SAlt blame their arch-rivals in Solidarity for the petition, but Some Guy reckons that’s bollocks.
At the other end of the scale, Australia’s best Trotskyist group has issued a stirring call-to-arms in defence of the beleagured Health Services Union: Police, Courts Hands Off the HSU!.
In political opposition to the pro-capitalist union tops, workers need a class-struggle leadership determined to take on the bosses and win. Such a leadership, linked to a revolutionary party would fight for nothing less than the overthrow of the whole rotting capitalist system through workers revolution. We demand: State out of the unions! Police, courts hands off the HSU!
As for the AWL, CL, CPA, CPA(ML), FSP, PLP, SEP and TP, more news as it comes to hand! In the meantime:
CPA(ML), ’13th Congress Resolution on the Working Class’, Vanguard, November 2012:
Based on our analyses of classes and class contradictions in Australia, the CPA (M-L) is of the view that the principal contradiction in Australia’s class struggle is between US economic and political domination and the overwhelming majority of the people, with the working class as the leading class in the anti-imperialist struggle for an independent, democratic and socialist Australia.
LATE BREAKING NEWS!
Damn.
I’ve only just discovered that the Communist League stood a candidate in the NSW local council elections in September. Joanne Kuniansky stood for Mayor of Canterbury and got 518 votes (0.79%) for her troubles.
E E EDL (ROFLMAO)
Poor little Tommy Robinson (aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), leader of the drunken mob known as the English Defence League, is currently being held captive by the British state. According to the E E EDL, Tommy is a POLITICAL PRISONER. In reality, the silly git is facing charges of entering the US on a false passport. Tommy’s trans-Atlantic journey was made in order to attend a gathering of wingnuts in New York in September otherwise known as the first SION (Stop Islamization of Nations) ‘World Freedom Congress’.
(Also speaking at the conference was Q Society Deputy President/VP Major Projects & Fundraising/WA Coordinator Debbie Robinson. Notorious anti-Muslim hack Robert Spencer — whom Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik hailed as the bestest Islamic scholar ever — serves as the Society’s VP for Islamic Scripture & History; the Society is organising a tour Down Under by right-wing bizarro Geert Wilders early next year.)
Briefly associated with the fluffy fascists of the British Freedom Party, Tommy was also one of over 50 crusaders arrested recently on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance, reportedly while on their way to a mosque.
Cheeky little monkey.
The EDL’s most recent forays onto the streets have been unsuccessful affairs, with numerous arrests for public drunkenness, racism and violence, and the organisation being forced to contend with various splits, dwindling numbers, a criminal leadership and allegations of… well, being muppets, basically. Crivvens! Jings! And Help Ma Boab! as Malatesta might say.
As for the A A ADL, a handful of anti-Muslamic bigots continue to twitter away online, but since the deportation of their English leader — an illegal immigrant — following several abortive attempts to rally (Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane), the League of Whingers has largely disappeared, in Melbourne the anti-Muslamic stoopid being carried forward by nazi opportunists in Nationalist Alternative.
Golden Dawn
The corporate/state media has slowly begun to report on the long-standing collaboration between Greek police and the fascist Golden Dawn party. The following video provides a useful account of both this and the anti-fascist response. The author notes that As the self-powered hatred escalates, and the moral, spiritual, political and social tumble has no end, the social reflex was to create an anti-fascist defence. Many people self-identify as, or are, anti-fascists; but the burden has fallen on anarchist organisations.
Hollywood Nazis
My Favourite Hollywood Nazi, Bill White, is in heaps of trouble. Again. The former fuehrer of the now-defunct American National Socialist Workers’ Party (ANSWP), Bill is now a POLITICAL PRISONER.
Kinda.
According to AP:
CHICAGO (AP) – A white supremacist solicited violence against a juror by posting the man’s address, phone number and other personal details on his extremist website, an appellate court ruled on Friday, overturning a lower court’s decision to toss the neo-Nazi’s conviction on the grounds that his posts were protected by the First Amendment.
Apparently, if you’re a neo-Nazi loudmouth with a stoopid audience and you threaten jurors — you can be locked up.
Poor old Bill.
Also doing it rough is the 12yo son of National Socialist Movement nazi Jeff Hall. The boy is accused of shooting his father dead. Press-Enterprise Crime Reporter John Asbury is livetweeting the boy’s trial which commenced today.
In 2011, Canuckistanian band Propagandhi toured Australia. I saw them play at The Corner. Some angwy boneheads did not.
Touring continues while the band struggle to figure out what label home will fit. While on tour, the boneheads return: in Australia, 16 Nazis try to get into a Propagandhi show in Melbourne. “But it’s 16 guys against a room full of 500 people; they’re not gonna stand a chance,” says Hannah. “Plus, all they want to do is throw a bottle at you.” It ends anticlimactically, proving the bonehead turmoil is a thing of the past.
Sydney Forum
The Sydney (Speakers’) Forum, organised by Golden Dawn’s kameraden Down Under, done come and gone. Token liberal Anna Schlunke — Co-Director of the NSW Chapter of the Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy — spoke at the event and reckons the fascists nice people at the Forum were very polite. You can hear an interview she done with John Safran and Father Bob about her experience at the Forum if you wanna here [mp3].
Daniel Kahn & The Painted Bird – Embrace the… by Ricky_Banlieue
Update (November 16) : Between 50–70 people (slightly more than I expected) attended the rally on Friday, which began around 3 and finished after 5. Some people spoke and some people played music. A man from the Australian Federal Police took everybody’s photograph and many people signed cards for Matt and KteeO. More later.
Update (November 5) : Leah-Lynn Plante and Portland’s Anarchist Grand Jury Resistors, Rose Lichter-Marck, Vice, November 4, 2012.
Update (October 31) : Another Anarchist Subpoenaed to Grand Jury, as Leah Lynn Plante Denied Support, Will Potter, October 30, 2012.
In the Pacific Northwest of the United States three anarchists — Katherine ‘KteeO’ Olejnik, Leah Plante and Matt Duran — have been brought before a Grand Jury. The trio have refused to testify and been imprisoned as a result, Matt from September 13 and Kteeo from September 27 (Leah, who was imprisoned on October 11, was released last week). Their incarceration will likely continue until the Grand Jury dissolves (perhaps another 18 months).
Will Potter writes:
When FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents raided multiple activist homes in the Northwest last week [July 25], they were in search of “anti-government or anarchist literature.”
The raids were part of a multi-state operation that targeted activists in Portland, Olympia, and Seattle. At least three people were served subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury on August 2nd in Seattle.
In addition to anarchist literature, the warrants also authorize agents to seize flags, flag-making material, cell phones, hard drives, address books, and black clothing.
The week of November–12 November 19 will see solidarity actions with the Grand Jury Resisters in the US and elsewhere. In Melbourne, a rally [Facebook] has been organised to take place on Friday (Friday) November 16 outside the US Consulate (Level 6, 553 St Kilda Road, Melbourne) at 3pm. Supporters are asked to wear black and to bring their favourite ‘anti-government or anarchist literature’.
See : Support Grand Jury Resisters & Committee Against Political Repression for moar infos.
Updater (October 31) : Sue Bolton (Socialist Alliance) has been elected to Moreland Council. This means SA now has two councillors (the other being Sam Wainwright in Fremantle).
Update : Socialist Party says : “Thank you to the 150+ people who helped out on our 2012 election campaign! We managed to increase our vote dramatically and won 20% across Yarra. This means we got Stephen Jolly re-elected with the highest vote in the election, and just missed out on 2 more seats. ALP got just 24% and 3 of their candidates scraped in (1 of them by just 2 votes!). Further to this we won the vote in Langridge Ward, out polling both the Greens and the ALP! We will continue to work hard over the next 4 years and win more support for socialist ideas. If you want to get involved, join the Socialist Party!”
Melbourne remains Property of Robert Doyle and the public put Put Public First last, Uncle Joe’s ticket gaining 1059 votes (1.70%). In Maribyrnong, The Great White Hope was a fella by the name of John Carbonari. He rode a donkey into 5th place with 517 votes (5.34%). In Moreland‘s North East Ward, Socialist Alliance candidate Sue Bolton’s donkey has proven to be much faster than Carbonari’s, and from a dizzying array of 24 candidates it seems possible that Sue may be one of four catapulted into Moreland Council chambers. In the ding-dong battle for Mayor of Geelong, Sue Bull is… waiting. Finally, in the Yarra Soviet it seems Steve Jolly will remain so having secured 3515 votes (34.24%) but whether or not Anthony Main retains his seat is uncertain at this stage.
And here’s a video of some Lebanese politicians arguing with one another.
Libertarian Anthology III : Trade Unionism, Councilism and Revolutionary Syndicalism is edited, published and produced by Acracia with the co-operation of Grupo Cultural de Estudios Sociales de Melbourne, November 2012. The anthology is comprised of five essays:
• ‘The basis of Trade Unionism’ by Emile Pouget;
• ‘The origins of anarcho-syndicalism’ by Rudolf Rocker;
• ‘Fernand Pelloutier and the dilemma of revolutionary syndicalism’ by Alan Spitzer;
• ‘Councilism and Syndicalism: a historical perspective’ by Andrew Giles-Peters and;
• ‘Anarchism and Trade Unionism’ by Gaston Gerard.
From the Foreword:
This third issue of Libertarian Anthology is devoted to the topic of trade unionism and the evolvement by one of the groupings within it to revolutionary ideals; whom ever has taken the patience to study both the economic and political development of society over the past two centuries will come to realise that the goals of anarcho-syndicalism did not evolve from unachievable utopic concepts conveyed by a few lunatic innovative goodhearted individuals, instead, these goals are the outcome of constant struggles within the maladjusted social conditions. As a result we have the pleasure in presenting the reader with a collection of articles which we hope will demystify the misunderstanding of anarcho-syndicalism…
Download here.
For more infos write to exiliolibertario[at]gmail[dot]com.
Following hot on the heels of the publication of Occupy Reflects comes a report on the policing of Occupy Melbourne. Oh and speaking of policing, men in uniforms (most of whom did not appear to have moustaches) kicked arse at the US Consulate yesterday. A motley assortment of protesters who had gathered at the consulate were unhappy about the US state’s role in ensuring everybody enjoys freedom and democracy (or something) — including, of course, by way of temporarily detaining terrorists in holiday camps.
New Report Discusses the Effects and Legality of the Occupy Melbourne Eviction from City Square on 21 October 2011
One year on from the controversial eviction of Occupy Melbourne from the City Square a qualitative Report, Occupy Policing: A Report into the Effects and Legality of the Eviction of Occupy Melbourne from City Square on 21 October 2011, documents protesters’ experiences of policing. The Report complements these eye-witness accounts with an account of the relevant laws.
The Report makes several key findings including:
• The policing of protesters had harmful and lasting psychological, physical and political effects on individual protestors as well as the right to political expression;
• The various justifications relied upon by Melbourne City Council and Victoria Police to authorise their actions raise serious and as yet unresolved questions of law. There appears to be a lack of legal basis for the actions to forcibly remove Occupy Melbourne protesters from City Square on the 21 October 2011;
• There was extensive use of force by police in arresting and policing protestors, including the use of chokeholds and ‘snatch squads’; and
• The police arguably acted outside of their legitimate powers and internal guidelines in detaining approximately 100 people pursuant to ‘breach of the peace’ powers. The place, conditions and length of detention varied, and protester statements attest to their disorientating and distressing effects.The Report’s recommendations reiterate previous calls for an Independent Inquiry into the forcible removal of Occupy Melbourne.
The Report is published by the Occupy Melbourne Legal Support Team and is endorsed by Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre, and the National Police Accountability Project. It includes forewords from Cr Cathy Oke (Melbourne City Council) and Tamar Hopkins (Principal Solicitor, Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre).
‘The level of police violence on the 21 October 2011 shocked the national and international community. The experiences documented in this Report speak to excessive and unnecessary levels of violence’ said Rhys Aconley-Jones, Report co-author.‘The widespread and public inquiry called for by the Occupy Melbourne Legal Support Team to look at all levels of decision-making into the policing of the protest is not only necessary to restore the community’s faith that the rule of law still operates in Victoria, but is required under international human rights law where allegations of human rights abuses have been made’ Tamar Hopkins writes.
The Report is also available at: www.occupypolicing.org
For media contact:
Julia Dehm, Report Co-ordinator 0423 119 580
Rhys Aconley-Jone, Report Co-Author 0466 252 337
Geelong
Little Creatures is a brand of beer owned by Lion, a “leading beverage and food company with a portfolio that includes many of Australia and New Zealand’s favourite brands”. The company’s slogan is ‘growing sociability and well-being in our world’.
Huzzah!
Sadly, the corporation‘s commitment to or desire to be thought of as being nice and friendly isn’t really being helped by its involvement in the re-fitting of a factory in Geelong (cnr Fyan’s Road and Swanston Street). According to locals, the company is less-than committed to ensuring working conditions at the site are healthy, and their means of communicating with locals in response to their concerns has been by way of locking the gates to the factory, locking out union reps and hiring private goons to police the site. In addition, the Perth-based TFG Group (which has been sub-contracted to undertake the refit) wants to appoint their own H&S reps — apparently in contravention of Victorian law.
As a result of these shenanigans, local community members have been boycotting the company and protesting in front of the factory gates since Monday (October 22). This morning a community BBQ was held. In a further demonstration of the company’s commitment to sociability, one of those who attended the BBQ was slapped with a $2,000 on-the-spot fine by the sheriff’s men for allegedly parking their car in the wrogn spot.
The campaign is of course continuing.
Tecoma
Ah, McDonald’s!
The clownish fast-food chain has spread its tentacles just about everywhere, and nothing and (almost) nobody seems to be able to stop it. It’s latest target, Tecoma, is located in the Dandenongs. Amazingly, despite widespread local opposition, the corporation’s newest link has — shock! horror! — been given the rubber stamp by VCAT (October 10) and the local council has refused (October 24) to undertake an appeal in the Supreme Court.
Despite VCAT’s rubber stamp and the council’s unwillingness to fight, locals are still committed to ensuring Tecoma remains free from the grip of the evil clown. Given that they’re struggling against the corporate-state nexus, it’s highly likely that in the end the only one who’ll be smiling is Ronald, but mad props for trying.
Update (October 28) : Yuri Makarov provides a first-hand account of the bonehead assembly in Wellington in Ignorance is a bliss they said.
See also : Families reel over Jewish grave vandalism, TVNZ, October 20, 2012 | National Front rally largely ignored, 3 News, October 20, 2012.
