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antifa notes (december 7, 2019) : failed satirist Phillip Galea guilty of terrorisms

Law & Order

Phil

On December 5, Phillip Galea was found guilty by a Victorian Supreme Court jury of carrying out acts in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act, as well as attempting to make a document to facilitate a terrorist act, and will return to court for sentencing early next year.

tl;dr : Un-lucky Phil’s career as a stand-up comic was very short-lived.

See : Right-wing extremist found guilty of plotting attacks on Melbourne ‘left’ centres (SBS) | Melbourne far-right terror plotter Phillip Galea found guilty by jury (news dot com dot au) | Phillip Galea found guilty of plotting terrorist attacks on Melbourne ‘leftist’ centres (ABC) | Far-right Australian convicted of plotting terror attacks (The National) | Galea’s conviction is welcome but not enough (Green Left Weekly).

In which context:

• While Galea’s relationship to Reclaim Australia has been underlined in reportage on the guilty verdict, he had a range of associations over a much longer period of time. Thus in April 2010 Galea attended a farcical anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rally in Melbourne organised by the ‘Australian Defence League’, and while Galea attended protest rallies organised under the banner of RA (along with admining an RA Facebook page), the United Patriots Front and the True Blue Crew, he also helped establish the RA Media website and ‘RA media newsgroupe’ Facebook page.

• Galea’s defence lawyer Felicity Gerry gamely argued that, rather than do terrorisms, Philthy was merely ‘recruiting investigators and editors, not terrorists’. This line was also adopted by right-wing l00n Mike Holt, one of Galea’s very few patriotik defenders, who in February reckoned his comrade was merely a ‘scientist and information gatherer’. LOL.

• Reference is also made to the fact that when arson and explosive experts raided Galea’s home in November 2015 they seized five cattle prods and 362.1 grams of mercury. Unmentioned is the fact that the cattle prods were apparently provided to Galea by UPF flunkey John ‘Farma’ Wilkinson, who remains active on the far right.

Max

Fascist teenybopper Max Towns had much better luck in court this week than did poor olde Phil.

Max Towns has charges dropped due to mental health
Perry Duffin
The Daily Telegraph
December 2, 2019

The far-right teenager who attacked two journalists at a Fraser Anning press conference has had his charges dismissed because he has anxiety, gambling problems and depression.

His mental health is so poor, a court heard, that his mum had to take him to the Fraser Anning event where the incident occurred.

Max Towns was 18 when he allegedly made obscene comments to Eliza Barr at the press conference in Cronulla in April.

According to police facts, Towns then attacked photographer Dylan Robinson who had intervened and taken pictures of the private school boy after hearing the slurs.

“The video clip shows the accused as the aggressor ripping the shirt of Robinson and punching out at Robinson,” the document released by the court reads.

Towns swiped at Mr Robinson’s camera, tore his shirt and struck his face before throwing punches that failed to connect with his target. The incident was captured on video.

He previously pleaded not guilty to offensive conduct, stalk or intimidate and assault.

Police bail documents state Towns is “an associate of a far right political group” and his “actions were unprovoked and against a member of the media in a political setting”.

The now-19-year-old’s barrister William Barber told Sutherland Local Court his client comes from a “respected family” in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

He had attended Waverley College on a rugby league scholarship but never went professional.

Magistrate Michael Love, reviewing footage of the attack, said Towns has been “aggressive the whole time”.

”He was moving into alleged victim as opposed to swiping and moving away,” he said.

“He’s a young man who had a troubled past,” Mr Barber said.

“He had learning difficulties and certainly a psychological condition.”

Mr Barber called the attack “out of character” and said Towns has no history of violence or criminal record but admitted he had previously stopped taking his prescribed medicine.

He also said his client is so anxious in social situations his mum had to take him to the event.

”He finds it difficult in social gatherings that’s why she went with him,” he said.

”He’s paranoid, frightened in those situations.“

Towns, in a letter tendered to the magistrate, said he does his best to avoid physical confrontation “to the point of not leaving the house for days straight”.

“During the car trip I had numerous thoughts about turning back as I predicted a hostile environment, having seen threats on Senator Anning’s Facebook page regarding his meeting in Cronulla,” his letter reads.

Mr Barber also noted Towns’ gambling problems and said the media attention had been difficult on his mental health.

”There’s been a lot of publicity, it’s put enormous strain on the family – the Prime Minister commented on it,” he said.

“It’s a very unusual situation.”

Ultimately the magistrate dismissed the charges and ordered Towns to follow reasonable instructions of his psychiatrist and psychologist.

“If there is a repeat incident you may not get this opportunity again and you may face the full force of the law,” he warned Towns.

Towns spent the day chewing gum in the court waiting room and staring down The Daily Telegraph’s reporter before flashing the OK hand gesture.

His grandmother and mother shushed him as he called out “who do you work for?” as Mr Barber was approached for comment.

The barrister politely declined but noted he was “very happy” with the outcome.

Towns exited court into his grandmother’s car with a jacket covering his face.

He later said Towns had his own personal troubles but was a “good kid” and noted they dispute the police version of events.

tl;dr : ‘It’s Not OK To Punch Nazis, But It Is OK For Rich Kids To Punch Reporters.’

Blair

Max was one of a dozen or so brave ANZACs to join Blair Cottrell in chasing Dandyman outta Fed Square in June last year after Galea’s fave racist gang the True Blue Crew held its flagwit parade. The failed fuehrer from Frankston, described by the Christchurch terrorist as his ‘Emperor’, Cottrell awaits a verdict in his appeal against his September 2017 conviction for inciting hatred for Muslims, but otherwise appears to be enjoying life, having swapped his tomahawk for a hammer.

RaHoWa 2019

A few weeks ago, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) published its annual report on anti-Semitism in Australia. The report features a number of The Usual Suspects, many of whom would appear to rejoice in their recognition. Among those popping the champagne corks is the Facebook page ‘Make Australia Grouse Again’ (https://facebook.com/makeaustraliagrouseagain5). On Gab, the same page provides a handy summary of a number of groups and individuals named in the report, about which I provide a few more details below:

1) ‘Blair C’ = semi-pro neo-Nazi Blair Cottrell: inspiration to Brenton Tarrant, ‘mates’ with Adam Giles (the former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (2013–2016) as well as the former leader of the Country Liberal Party (CLP)), currently appealing a criminal conviction for vilification, previously guilty of stalking his ex-girlfriend and her partner (armed with a tomahawk), arson, stalking and other offences.

2) David Hilton, once known as ‘Moses Apostaticus’, has contributed many essays to Tucker Carlson’s propaganda outlet ‘The Daily Caller’, and was invited by Rowan Dean of The Spectator (Australia) to contribute his sterling prose.

3) ‘Dean A’ = ‘Dean Anderson’, one of thousands of racist froot loops on Gab (AKA ‘Twitter for nazis’). ‘Dean A’ lives in Melbourne, apparently — which fact I assume makes him vewy vewy angwy & upset.

4) ‘Deanna Favoloso’ & ‘Jamie Jae’ are two moar mouthy Gabby losers, who are also rather unfavourably disposed to Jewish folk.

5) ‘Matty Rose’ = Matthew Roebuck, a key contributor to AltRight website XYZ (founded by Brunswick music teach David Hiscox), and a former RMIT jernalism student. Both Facebook and YouTube are more than happy to host his anti-Semitic diatribes.

6) Raymond Foster is a rather cooked fellow from Queensland, who loves to have a yarn with the police who not infrequently knock on his front door. Otherwise, Raymond is very upset that in 2031 Whites will compose 50% of the Australian population, and wants to replace the current Queensland crop in the Senate with his own Good self. Good luck bro!

7) Rite-On Australia is a webshite and publishing projekt I haven’t bothered to look at in any detail, but: I’m sure it’s ace and; Neil Erikson popped up there at some point. Rite-On is a publication of ‘Sunshine Coast Safe Communities Inc’ and Ron Hutchins is its President.

8) Ryan Fletcher is an entertainingly batshit nazi who writes for XYZ and also composed From HEMP to Hitler, later voiced by the Crying Nazi Christopher Cantwell (Ryan is a YUGE fan). Often shitposting on Gab about killing Jews etc., he works in the aged-care sektor apparently.

9) Shermon ‘The Great Aussie Patriot’ Burgess has gone quiet in recent months, but is a textbook example of how very patriotik Volk can often go Full Nazi … in his case, possibly triggered by the Zionist lobby’s attempts to keep blueberries xpnsv.

10) Finally, XYZ. I wrote about the meatheads responsible for this particular brand of anti-Semitic shite some time ago and they’ve ramped up the anti-Semitism quite a lot since then, but nonetheless have the 100% support of Facebook and of course YouTube.

Speaking of Facebook, it’s been the subject of further scrutiny in The Grauniad, which exposes the fact that the corporate juggernaut has been willingly engaged in a terrifically batshit and mildly profitable propaganda campaign directed at Ordinary Mums & Dads™ by some Israeli losers. See : Inside the hate factory: how Facebook fuels far-right profit, Christopher Knaus, Michael McGowan, Nick Evershed, Oliver Holmes, December 6, 2019. Currently, there’s a federal government Senate inquiry into ‘the rampant spread of “fake news” fuelled by foreign actors on social media’, one which will undoubtedly result in harsh penalties for the corporations responsible for profiting from lies and hate.

LOL.

Radioaktivität

After a decade or so broadcasting as ‘Floating Anarchy’ on ‘The SUWA Show’ on Melbourne community radio station 3CR, Dr Cam and I have decided to return in 2020 in a slightly different, more regular (weekly) format, with a nü show called ‘Yeah Nah Pasaran’. More details to come …

PS.

• Scribe has recently published Jeff Sparrow’s essay on Fascists Among Us: online hate and the Christchurch massacre, ‘the first book since Christchurch to trace the massacre’s fascist roots and what it represents’. Jeff was nice enuff to gimme a guernsey in the Acknowledgements, and it’s recommended reading.

• A few days prior to the Galea verdict, the federal government announced its intention to spend lotsa filthy lucre on analysing and understanding cyber threats, including Reclaim Australia and ‘anarchist movement anTEEfa’.

Disrupt and deter
Herald Sun
Tamsin Rose
December 13, 2019

THE federal government is spending millions of dollars to combat cyber threats including emotional manipulation on Reddit, a site co-owned by Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian.

Threats of far-right group Reclaim Australia and anarchist movement Antifa will also be probed in the Defence-funded research projects.

Universities and institutes have been invited to bid for a raft of research projects, worth up to $4.5 million, aimed at tackling rising cybercrime and the challenges the internet and social media present.

One project, titled Modelling Cyber Polarisation and Radicalisation, seeks to understand and eventually predict extremist violence by monitoring social media.

“Little work has been conducted on the analysis of the content of cyber messaging within the Australian ­content to identify why people become violent,” the tender document reads. “Linguistic analysis of groups and many lone actors indicate they leak their intent in ­cyberspace prior to an attack.

“The long-term goal of this research is to develop a framework that takes in cultural aspects and identifies escalating violence in language of groups and individuals in cyberspace prior to and during the radicalisation stages of extremism.” Another brief identifies emotional manipulation through Reddit as of “growing concern” for governments ­internationally.

The long-term goal of the research is to understand how people use the site to control the way Australians think.

“Understanding and quantifying cyber emotional influence in online platforms can allow us to identify and disrupt potential attacks,” the document states. “This research looks at quantifying emotional contagion on Reddit.” The Morrison Government yesterday announced $88 million for a new Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce to “disrupt and deter” anyone working to undermine the ­national interest.

“Foreign interference comes from many, many different sources and it’s important that we have the capacity to deal with it,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said. “It’s an evolving threat and it’s also been a building and evolving response.” Meantime, former South Australian senator, now lawyer, Nick Xenophon yesterday announced he had taken on Chinese-owned telecommunications giant Huawei Australia as a client.

The federal government blocked Huawei from rolling out Australia’s 5G network due to security concerns.

antifa notes (june 7, 2019) : Trouble At The Social Media Mill

G’day my fellow Aussie patriots,

Did I happen to mention I gotta patreon?

Also:

• In response to mounting public criticism, and in an attempt to forestall legal and financial penalties, Facebook, Twitter & YouTube have announced, each in their own way, that they’ll remove bAd content: ‘hate speech’, mostly (see : YouTube bans videos promoting Nazi ideology, Jim Waterson, The Guardian, June 6, 2019: ‘Content promoting fascism, supremacism or Holocaust denial will no longer be hosted’; YouTube bans neo-Nazi and Holocaust-denial videos in push against hate speech, Jon Brodkin, ars technica, June 6, 2019). Obviously, the rollout has had uneven effects, and been marked with the incompetency that’s now a hallmark of the social media giants’ attempts to placate lawmakers and publics … but it does represent an interesting moment in corporate policing.

In any event, much of the ongoing drama revolves around a harassment campaign conducted by right-wing blabbermouth Stephen Crowder against a Vox journalist, Carlos Maza, and the shambolic attempts by the corporation to respond to it. See : Here’s Everything You Need To Know About YouTube’s Chaotic 24 Hrs, Brad Esposito, pedestrian, June 6, 2019 | YouTube’s plan to fix hate speech failed before it even started, Chris Stokel-Walker, Wired, June 6, 2019 | YouTube Bravely Bans Nazis Hours After Throwing LGBT Users Under The Bigot Bus, Bryan Menegus, Gizmodo Australia, June 6, 2019.

As a result of YouTube/Google/Alphabet’s crackdown this week, a smol number of Australian channels have been closed, including ‘AustralianMeditations’, ‘BringingBackTheMan’ and ‘genocidal88’. The first belonged to ex-Liberal Party student Stefan Eracleous, the second to Shermon ‘The Great Aussie Patriot’ Burgess (remember him?) and the third to the boneheads of Blood & Honour Australia/Southern Cross Hammerskins. ‘Thousands’ of other accounts have been removed, according to reportage, though it’s unclear precisely precisely which. Further, while some antisemitic and white supremacist channels have had their ability to generate revenue compromised, as Wired reports, ‘The YouTube channels of David Duke, Richard Spencer, Lauren Southern, and many other white supremacist figures remain on the site’ (YouTube Is Banning Extremist Videos. Will It Work?, Paris Martineau, June 5, 2019).

Another local serial pest, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon fanboy and YouTuber, Avi Yemini, has had his channel demonetised; Yemini is due back in court next week (June 13) to fight charges including ‘that he injured, harassed and threw a knife at the face of a woman’. YouTuber Claudia Benitez (‘Dia Beltran’) — who once allegedly sent an antisemitic text to Yeminem — has starred in an article in The Guardian titled Victorian Liberals fear far-right incursions as YouTuber attends party event (Christopher Knaus and Michael McGowan, June 5, 2019). Benitez has regularly interviewed various luminaries on the Australian far-right, including Cottrell, Erikson and Yemini, along with The Fake Sheikh, PHONy’s Mark Latham, Robert Spencer, Thomas Brasher (The Lads Society), Eurydice Dixon memorial vandal Andy Nolch, ex-United Patriots Front and Australia First Party member Chris Shortis, Fraser ‘Final Solution’ Anning, Daisy Cousens and various other, even lesser-known figures; her most-popular video, however, remains one about ‘rude customers’.

See also : Jack Dorsey Keeps Finding New Reasons to Defend Hate Speech on Twitter, Alison Durkee, Vanity Fair, April 26, 2019 (‘Dorsey’s conversation with Rep. Ilhan Omar came as the company reportedly grapples with how to ban white supremacists—without affecting Republican lawmakers’) | What Happened After My 13-Year-Old Son Joined the Alt-Right: A Washington family’s nightmare year., Anonymous, Washingtonian, May 5, 2019 | YouTube Crackdown on Extremism Also Deleted Videos Combating Extremism, Kelly Weill, The Daily Beast, June 6, 2019 (‘For years, the site had lax enforcement of policies against hate speech. Then it rushed into a purge that swept up innocent actors, too’)

In other schnews:

• Neo-Nazi bodybuilder Blair Cottrell (The Lads Society/YouTube) had a court hearing this week, the final one before his appeal against a criminal conviction for religious vilification commences on August 12; Cottrell and his lawyer, John Bolton, are arguing that the Act under which he was convicted — the Victorian Racial & Religious Tolerance Act (2001) — is in fact un-Constititional.

• The True Blue Crew — one of the groupings that, along with the United Patriots Front, the alleged Christchurch killer, Brenton Tarrant, gave props to — has organised a flag parade in Sydney (Penrith Park) on Saturday, June 22. Co-sponsored by a segment of Reclaim Australia, it will presumably attract a similar number as last year’s event, it in turn inspired by similar rallies in Melbourne (2016/2017/2018).

antifa notes (september 28, 2018) : Anning, Coulter, Fortress, Palmer, Yaxley-Lennon, Yiannopoulos et. al.

1) More planeloads of racist dickheads on their way

Ann Coulter, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon & Milo Yiannopoulos

‘Australia’ was founded as a dumping-ground for the shit of British Empire. Over two centuries later, it’s now a lucrative market for other forms of animae viles. Thus, Milo Yiannopoulos returns to our shores in November, on this occasion bringing with him another wealthy right-wing blabbermouth, Ann Coulter. If all goes to plan, the pair will be accompanied by Senator Fraser ‘Final Solution’ Anning, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (assuming he’s not back in prison and/or in breach of his bail conditions by leaving E-E-England) and other speakers yet TBA.

The tour kicks off on the Gold Coast on November 29, followed by a ‘VIP Yacht Cruise’ on November 30, and then proceeds to Sydney on December 2, with another v xpnsv boat trip on December 3, and performances in Melbourne (December 5), Adelaide (December 8) and finally Perth (December 11).

The tour is being organised and underwritten by Queensland businessman Dan Spiller AKA ‘Future Now Australia’.

Until very recently, twice-convicted racist Neil Erikson was Mister Spiller’s gopher, which role included paying a nocturnal visit to the family home of sometime-rival Dave Pellowe AKA ‘Axiomatic Events’ (the mob responsible for bringing Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern Down Under).

Presumably, Spiller’s deranged acolyte will now have more time to devote to his various legal defences.

As for the luminaries Spiller will be hoping to turn a hefty profit from, Infowars-supplements salesman Milo has been having a somewhat difficult time of late, whining on Facebook about being uninvited from a conference in October and castigating his fans for failing to shovel enough money in his direction: I have lost everything standing up for the truth in America, spent all my savings, destroyed all my friendships, and ruined my whole life, Yiannopoulos wrote: At some point, you realize it’s occasionally better to spend the money on crabs and cocktails.

Fortunately for him, Facebook remains committed to facilitating his batshit, he receives the red-carpet treatment in Australia, and is celebrated by Newscorpse, including The Australian columnist Janet Albrechtsen. When she’s not enjoying Milo’s anti-Aboriginal diatribes (a sample from his talk in Perth is below), Albrechtsen may be found promoting the work of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF), where she serves as a brand ‘Ambassador’. Quite how Albrechtsen squares her support for Milo with her role as ambassador I don’t know: after I asked the AIEF for comment on Twitter, I was blocked.

Because newsflash [Aboriginal art] really is shit … Now Australians in this sort of bizarre form of middle-class guilt have decided to pay obeisance to a culture that failed to invent the wheel — and whose signature musical achievement is a big stick … The ugly truth that they don’t want you to say out loud is that history has winners and losers. The progressive left wants to turn Western countries into the only developed civilisations in the history of human society that shit on their own accomplishments in favour of vastly inferior civilisations for no apparent reason. Hence we’re confronted with the ugly spectacle of your own nation and ‘welcome to country’ … and the desperate, pathetic attempts to pretend that didgeridoos represent a beautiful and historic cultural achievement, and not a punchline to a joke. Now you might not know this, but there are absolutely no Aboriginal people left alive in Australia — the last ones died in the ’60s and ’70s, and since then George Soros has been shipping over Black Lives Matter activists, giving them tubs of white-out, and telling them to just daub themselves and make all the White people feel bad. Your politicians in a symbol of how intelligent they are have been falling for it for half-a-century.

So much for Milo. As for Coulter, while she’s been splashing about in the white nationalist pool for some years now, in April ‘Coulter gave a little more credence to those accusations [of white nationalist sympathies] by exposing her Twitter following of just under 2 million users to Mike ‘Enoch Peinovich’‘, a neo-Nazi blabbermouth from (((New York))).

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

See also : When Mormons Aspired to Be a ‘White and Delightsome’ People, Emma Green, The Atlantic, September 18, 2017 (‘An historian looks at the legacy of racism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’).

Fraser Anning (and Clive Palmer)

Since his unexpected elevation to the Australian Senate following the disqualification of crazed pixie Malcolm ‘Jew World Order’ Roberts, Fraser ‘Final Solution’ Anning has been furiously competing with Pauline Hanson for the title of ‘Most AltRight 2018’. Thus his political obsessions have run in rough parallel with those of the baying KKKrowd, from the plight of White South African farmers to the dastardly conspiracy to commit White Genocide™, calling for the forcible eradication of Islam from Australian shores, Putin fanboydom and climate change denial. Recently, however, there’s emerged another contender: billionaire Clive Palmer. See : Alt-Right Memes and Clive Palmer’s Return to Politics, Jordan McSwiney, POP POLITICS AUS, September 27, 2018. Chumbawamba, however, are not down with the bloated idiot. See : Chumbawamba knock down ‘Trump-lite’ Clive Palmer over song use, Naaman Zhou, The Guardian, August 31, 2018.

*Anning’s Facebook page has been (temporarily?) DELed. See : Facebook Deletes Fraser Anning Over ‘Hate Speech’ Complaint, Josh Butler, ten daily, September 28, 2018 | Fraser Anning Has Been Banned From Facebook For Hate Speech, Sam Langford, Junkee, September 28, 2018 | Fraser Anning’s public Facebook page removed for reported hate speech, Jake Evans, ABC, September 28, 2018.

**Anning, along with Avi Yeminem (Australian Liberty Alliance), is scheduled to appear at a rally in Melbourne on October 6 in order to protest censorship by Facebook.

Gavin McInnes

Also touring Down Under is ‘Proud Boys’ founder Gavin McInnes. The chinless wonder is scheduled to be speaking in Melbourne (November 2), Perth (November 4), Adelaide (November 7), Gold Coast (November 8) and Sydney (November 11).

Recently, after declaring his appreciation for NYHC band ‘Sheer Terror’, only to be rebuffed by the boys, McInnes’s followers have rather foolishly declared WAR! on skinheads, in particular RASH and SHARP (See : Hardcore Legends Sheer Terror Take the Proud Boys Down a Notch, Landon Shroder, rvamag, September 26, 2018).

McInnes is proudly-sponsored by Penthouse magazine and publisher Damien Costas, who in September was responsible for arranging Nigel Farage‘s tour of the colonies, and in December 2017 that of Milo Yiannopoulos. Following Milo’s tour, Victoria Police made noises about issuing an invoice to Costas for $50,000 for costs associated with their policing his tour but a savvy Costas told them to bugger off and, happily enough for him, they did.

See also : Rose City Antifa on Proud Boys | Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube, Rebecca Lewis, Data & Society, September 18, 2018 | Nostalgia for the empire and ‘identity politics’ for white people: Stefan Molyneux and Lauren Southern in Sydney, A Communist At Large (James Robb), August 2, 2018.

2) Brisbane nazi punks f*ck off

Speaking of nazi punks, one, ‘Angel Montague’, is currently running a Facebook page called ‘Brisbane city punks’. Allegedly, Montague has been banned from the pubs The Back Room (Chardons Hotel) in Annerley and The Jubilee in Fortitude Valley and possibly one or two others for drunken violence. Still, by most accounts Brisbane punx give short shrift to neo-Nazi shenanigans, so it would make sense if Montague and her handful of neo-Nazi mates were continued to be shown the door.

3) Fortress (Australia)

Pioneering Aussie reich ‘n’ rollers Fortress have recorded a new album: ‘Brothers of the Storm’. The release comes in the wake of renewed touring by the band in Europe, with the boys playing a Hammerskins event in Frankreich (FRA) on March 18 last year, the annual memorial to Skrewydriver Ian Stuart Donaldson in Melbourne (AUS) on October 14, 2017 and another bonehead gig in Queensland on July 21, 2018.

See also : A Brief History Of Neo-Nazi Music In Australia (December 2, 2010).

One neo-Nazi who probably won’t be making any more muzak is Marcel ‘Flubber’ Kuschela. Kuschela, who performed with ‘Kategorie C’, committed suicide in the German town of Moenchengladbach last week: ‘According to the German newspaper Bild and public broadcaster WDR, the victim is a known right-wing extremist and Hooligan who is part of the extreme right-wing band “Kategorie C” and co-founded a movement known as “Hooligans against Salafists” (Hogesa).’

4) Dick returns to MUFF

In an about-face that surprised no-one, Richard Wolstencroft has returned to the helm of the Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF). This follows a brief moment last year when, after having made a stoopid homophobic statement, he ‘resigned’ as organiser and handballed responsibility for it to a flunkey. But in June he returned.

The fascist meathead’s festival does have its supporters, but such is the stench emanating from Wolstencroft he’s having some difficulty finding a venue to screen his shite. Hence ‘Club Voltaire’ in North Melbourne was on-board, and then not, and now the main venue is Top Secret.

LOL.

You can read more about Wolstencroft’s shitty fascist politics in this blog by Tony Goodfellow — Richard Wolstencroft’s relationship to holocaust denial and Nazis (November 17, 2017) — and you can peruse some unanswered ‘Questions for Richard Wolstencroft’ (June 30, 2018) by SF Lyons here.

See also : After His Show Was Canceled Due to Alleged Neo-Nazi Ties, Boyd Rice Claims ‘Offers Are Coming In’ to Restage It, Sarah Cascone, artnet, September 13, 2018.

5) local and/or general

In AUS, 4Corner’s recent interview with jet-setting fascist shitweasel Steve Bannon is examined by The Guardian writers Nesrine Malik in Indulging Steve Bannon is just a form of liberal narcissism (September 13, 2018) and by Jason Wilson in The consequences of Steve Bannon’s ideas need to be interrogated, not just his words (September 5, 2018); writer Laurie Penny has written a piece in response to the decision by The Economist to provide Bannon another platform in ‘No, I Will Not Debate You’ (September 18, 2018) … which could also be read in light of her earlier adventures with Milo. In BENdigo, meanwhile, anti-Muslim campaigner Julie Hoskin has been forced to resign her position on council after being declared bankrupt — seemingly, in no small thanks to the efforts of lawyer Robert Balzola. See : Bendigo councillor Julie Hoskin, the centre of anti-mosque protests, declared bankrupt and resigns, Peter Lenaghan and Mark Kearney, ABC, September 26, 2018 | Julie Hoskin declared bankrupt one day before sending councillor resignation to City of Greater Bendigo, Adam Holmes, The Bendigo Advertiser, September 26, 2018.

In FRA, two boneheads have been convicted of the murder of anti-fascist Clement Méric in 2013 (see : Two boneheads convicted over 2013 death of anti-fascist activist, The Guardian, September 15, 2018); in GER, Facebook Fueled Anti-Refugee Attacks in Germany, New Research Suggests (Amanda Taub and Max Fisher, The New York Times, August 21, 2018); in GRE, Kevin Ovenden has authored a ‘new study that documents the murderous activities of Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn’ (The terrorist activity of neonazi organisations in Europe – The case of Golden Dawn, jailgoldendawn, September 18, 2018); last week in ITA, an MEP, Eleonora Forenza, and their assistant were attacked by members of neo-Fascist organisation Casapound after attending an anti-racist rally (MEP and assistant attacked by Italian far-right group, Lili Bayer, politico.eu, September 22, 2018); in the USA, Hope Not Hate ventured ‘Inside America’s biggest anti-Muslim organisation’ (Charlie Prentice, September 16, 2018); also in the US, Derek Black, son of White supremacist and Stormfront founder Don Black, stars in Renouncing Hate: What Happens When a White Nationalist Repents (Wes Enzinna, The New York Times, September 10, 2018), while Media Matters examines some of the white nationalists who write for FOX News’ Tucker Carlson’s batshit website The Daily Caller in ‘The Daily Caller has published white supremacists, anti-Semites, and bigots. Here are the ones we know about.’ (September 5, 2018); Billy Briggs for The Ferret writes that ‘YouTube provides a network for far right extremists such as Scot Colin Robertson, aka Millennial Woes, to promote white supremacist views and radicalise people, according to a new report’ (Far-right Scots vlogger named in report on YouTube extremist networks, September 23, 2018); the report — ‘Alternative Influence: Broadcasting the Reactionary Right on YouTube’ — by Rebecca Lewis for Data & Society (September 18, 2018), can be read here.

More generally: ‘Far right’ groups may be diverse – but here’s what they all have in common, Daphne Halikiopoulou, The Conversation, September 27, 2018 | The Religion of Whiteness Becomes a Suicide Cult, Pankaj Mishra, The New York Times, August 30, 2018 (‘A wounded and swaggering identity geopolitics puts the world in grave danger.’) | Against mirror world: fascists were not socialists, Comrade Motopu, libcom, August 26, 2018.

Finally, str8 outta Moscow, RUS, comes …

antifa notes (june 13, 2017) : andrew bolt glitters edition

glitter!

Reactionary commentator and convicted racist Andrew Bolt was a special guest at a book launch at Il Gambero restaurant in Carlton this time last week. Organised by a group called The Unhinged The Unshackled, the event was intended to promote a paean to Donald Trump penned by RMIT academic Steven Kates. Called The Art of the Impossible, ‘The entire book is comprised of blog posts on my own website: www.lawofmarkets.com some of which were also then published on my shared website: www.catal[l]axyfiles.com.’

Sounds riveting.

In any case, prior to the launch two people accosted Bolt outside the restaurant, and one of them poured sparkles on his suit. This triggered Bolt, and there was a brief scuffle, captured on both CCTV and by a photojournalist. Or as Kates puts it on his blog: Violent thugs attack speaker at Art of the Impossible book launch. Thus far, Bolt himself has managed to squeeze out a mere 14 blog posts on the subject (and counting), the first titled ‘ON THE FASCISTS WHO ATTACKED ME’ (June 6): ‘Watch the fascist Left attack me and get clobbered. Luckily the cameras do not capture me kicking one between the legs.’

From here the story quickly snowballed into an heroic epic in which Bolt became an Antipodean Alt-Knight bravely battling the fascist anti-fascists with his bare fists (e.g.: Here’s A Thug’s-Eye View Of That Antifa Attack On Andrew Bolt, The Daily Caller, June 8, 2017; Watch Conservative Commentator Beat Down Leftist Thugs Attacking Him Over Trump Book, FrontPageMag, June 8, 2017; Thunder Down Under: Aussie Columnist Fights Off Antifa, National Review, June 8, 2017).

A writer unlikely to ever win a Walkley, in one post Bolt quotes ‘Melbourne Antifa’ as having assumed responsibility for the glitter-bombing on behalf of their ‘family’:

Of course, the one slight problem with this claim is that the Facebook page to which Bolt links — https://www.facebook.com/antifamelb — is a fake account, created by one or another species of nazi troll. In fact, as I’ve noted previously, ‘Melbourne Antifa’ is one of several such accounts on Facebook and Twitter (a recent addition is ‘ANTIFA Toowoomba’: legit accounts are Antifascist Action Brisbane, Antifascism Tasmania, Anti Fascist Action Sydney and Melbourne Antifascist Info). Such trollery, especially when performed for a gormless reactionary like Bolt, often works, but not always: the nazi(s) trolling Socialist Alternative in Perth being a case in point (‘Fake’ anti-Semitic Socialist Alternative posters appear in Leederville, Natalie Richards, The West Australian, June 12, 2017). Rather, generally speaking, these fake accounts only manage to fool teenyboppers, the ignorant, and the naif … and occasionally professional trolls like Bolt (when it suits them). See : Houston Chronicle, KPRC Duped by Alt-Right Trolls Over Sam Houston Protest, Craig Malisow, Houston Press, June 1, 2017; Fake Antifa Twitter Accounts Are Trolling People And Spreading Misinformation, Craig Silverman, BuzzFeed, May 31, 2017 (‘This is part of a coordinated campaign to create fake accounts in an attempt to troll and discredit anti-fascist activists’).

See also : Andrew Bolt sprayed with dye and glitter by masked men outside Melbourne restaurant, ABC, June 6, 2017 | Some Dudes Tried To Glitter Bomb Andrew Bolt And It’s All On Camera, Rob Stott, Buzzfeed, June 7, 2017 | Andrew Bolt Got Glitter Bombed In Melbourne And Is Very Upset About It, Tom Clift, Junkee, June 7, 2017 | Andrew Bolt assault: Third man on the scene says he is ‘just a photographer’, Neelima Choahan, Liam Mannix, The Age, June 8, 2017.

nazis!

Nazis have been a bit more active of late. Leaving aside the nipsters of Antipodean Resistance, their various attempts to gain publicity (pro-tip: try Bolt), and the wreckage of the zombie Aryan Nations, Combat 18 has been rearing its head again in WA. But more on that later … in the meantime, this article by Spencer Sunshine about ‘The Growing Alliance Between Neo-Nazis, Right Wing Paramilitaries and Trumpist Republicans’ in the US of A (Colorlines, June 9, 2017) is essential reading:

I have been following Far Right movements for more than a decade as a researcher and journalist. Over the past few months, I’ve seen an increase in the visibility of a new, violent, right-wing street protest movement that I call “Independent Trumpism.” It unites neo-Nazis, members of the alt-right, Patriot movement paramilitaries and Trumpist Republicans.

Two things set Independent Trumpism apart from usual right-wing politics. First, the group’s rallies are in support of the president, but are organized outside of the Republican Party structure. Second, mainstream Republicans are appearing alongside open White supremacists, especially at events billed as “Free Speech” marches …

See also : Confronting the Nationalists and Their Police: A Full Report from Portland on June 4, CrimethInc, June 6, 2017; Is there a neo-Nazi storm brewing in Trump country?, Lois Beckett, The Guardian, June 4, 2017 (‘Can national socialism, repackaged as ‘white identity’ politics, earn votes in rural counties that voted for Trump?’). More generally, see : It’s Going Down and Antifa International for news, views, and links to local organising.

Oh, and finally, I suppose I should also note the recent death of Bob Whitaker, Presidential candidate for the fascist American Freedom Party and author of the slogan ‘Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white’.

vigilantes!

On June 11, a small group of local far-rightists gathered in Dandenong in order to discuss the establishment of a vigilante gang to protect the ‘burb from marauding African kidz. While this is not the first time that fascists and the far-right have openly discussed taking the law into their own hands — the Soldiers Of Odin were gamely compared by The Age to Guardian Angels, and the UPF once discussed covertly organising some Right Wing Death Squad Entertainment — the participation of an actual registered security organisation in the project is novel, as well as ambitious.

Spearheaded, seemingly, by a patriotik fella called Daniel Purton (who’s the leader of a nü gang called A26A), those at the meeting included ‘True Blue Crew’ lvl boss Kane Miller, some Soldiers Of Odin, and various other minor characters on the far right. Police kept an eye on things, as did members of a new security company called Asolate Security, who’ve expressed full support for the budding vigilante campaign. This seems rather odd behaviour for a licensed security company, but then we live in interesting times.

See also : Expect More Murders: Why the Radical Right Kills, Spencer Sunshine, truth-out, June 2, 2017.

“I Am The Walrus” claims Andrew Bolt

Hi, we’re Obvious™. Our goal is to create interesting things that matter to the world—and a great place for creative, smart people to work.

LOL.

HERALD Sun columnist and blogger Andrew Bolt has hit out at the person behind a Twitter account impersonating him.

Fake Andrew Bolt is threatening to sue Real Andrew Bolt. Note that the fake UK trollumnist who writes for The Daily Mail using the pen name ‘Melanie Phillips’ was similarly irked by The Real Melanie Phillips http://twitter.com/mphillips51 on Twitter. Several days ago she successfully had the account pulled.

Twitter is not a great place for creative, smart parodists to work… Obviously™.

See also : The Real Dorothy Parker on Fake Andrew Bolt pranks the real Andrew Bolt and so spreads a little joy in the world … Andrew Bolt on Andrew Bolt vs Andrew Bolt.