Indy Media Watch

Seattle Indymedia reports on a recent protest in Olympia.

The trouble began when protesters attempted to break down a fence. The Indymedia report notes:

There was no damage reported to the fences, but the Thurston County sheriffs and possibly also Olympia police used the opportunity to pepper spray at least 20 protestors

Of course the protesters had no intention of breaking down the fence. No doubt they just wanted to shake it a little.

The report also makes this comment:

I don't think it's cool at all to spray protesters

Gateway Pundit and The Olympian Online have more uncool imagery.

Penn and Teller's show Bullshit featured an episode too good to miss, regarding 9/11 conspiracy theories and those who espouse them.

The nine minute video, below, contains sensitive content (obviously) however should be watched and distributed as it makes a simple point, very simply. Not that this should convince some people.

Previous Bullshit here.

An article on UK Indymedia (of all places) claims:

The Media Has Absolutely No Credibility Left.

Yes. Well...

The background to this claim, involves Osama bin Laden. The article provided as evidence does not in fact back up any of the assertions made. This is amply demonstrated by subequent comments.

In a single post on media credibility, Indymedia clearly demonstrated it is not the answer. Then there are all the other examples...

A post on Melbourne Indymedia regarding Cindy Sheehan's recent Australian appearance resulted in predictable comments and trolling about Sheehan.

This resulted in the following response:

Thanks for showing your fear of the POWER of indymedia

Read all the other comments. Feel the power...

Leigh at the House Of Wheels has identified inaccuracies at Sydney Indymedia.

Part of a post concerning Cindy Sheehan's speech in Sydney reads:

I had the personal pleasure of meeting Mamdouh Habib. On June 13th, his action against the Australian Government will begin. Currently he is suing the Daily Telegraph for defamation. But you won't hear any of this in the mainstream media.

Won't we? NineMSN, News, the SMH, the Manly Daily, the ABC, the Courier Mail, The Age, and The Australian are just some of the mainstream media outlets that have covered Habib's multiple defamation lawsuits against the Daily Telegraph's owners, Nationwide News.

The animosity by Indymedia against the mainstream media is longstanding. I have long argued that the totally uncontrolled nature of Indymedia, together with the visible bile hosted therein, precludes Indymedia from criticizing anybody. This example shows once again that Indymedia is gloating about its superiority as a news source yet simply has no right to do so.

San Francisco Bay Area Indymedia reports the "9/11 Truth Petition" has passed its goal of 10,000 signatories. The petition is apparently signed by a:

"Group of prominent experts, including scientists and former high-level military personnel, [to] call for release of basic 9/11 information."

It notes:

Dustin Mugford was #10,000

Meanwhile, other prominent experts, scientists and former high-level military personnel have shown their support. The Easter Bunny was 9,975, Santa Claus was 9,974 and Homer Simpson was 9,729.

Mazel Tov again to Mr Mugford...

Further to my recent article More Google Purging comes this comment:

Yes, but Indymedia publishes REAL NEWS which gets picked up by google. Not the drivel Michelle Malkin and her deranged ilk spew up as news.

Got that? Indymedia publishes "Real news".

Let's leave aside for the moment that several of the articles linked to in the lengthy comment were essentially reprints, or links to other media. That is, Indymedia didn't produce the news, merely echoed it.

Does the occasional bit of news reporting justify the bile that occupies so much of Indymedia?

I would argue no.

If you read the header of this blog, you will note my belief that an independent media is a good idea. Indymedia however has failed. I should note that NYC Indymedia is one of the better ones.

However, as the vast majority of Indymedia websites have a totally open, unmoderated newswire, there is nothing to stop anyone posting anything they like to it. In many cases, such postings could be total fabrications however be sufficiently inoffensive that they would fly under most people's "bullshit detector".

Are they therefore news?

Conventional media rely on fact checking and are subject to accountability (that is, they get sued). Indymedia shies right away from this responsibility and the consequences are visible to all.

Moreover, despite numerous comments on my last post, none of the ensuing debate has yet addressed why an Indymedia has hidden an article, but Google still accepts it as newsworthy.

Miami Indymedia claims the U.N. seeks to censor war reporting referring to an article in the Washington Times that reports:

The United Nations is proposing a voluntary code of ethics for journalists that would ban interviews with terrorists and discourage press and broadcast reports that generate sympathy for terrorist causes. The code would be part of a U.N. global strategy against terrorism, which member nations began debating in the General Assembly yesterday.

Notwithstanding that the code appears to be voluntary, I really don't see the problem with this.

That is, unless you had a problem with generating sympathy for terrorist causes, something of which Indymedia has a history.

Regardless, the UN continues to fail to even have an agreed-upon definition of terrorism (UN Reference) so how this plan will proceed beyond endless talking into viable anti-terrorism activity is beyond me.

A recent article at Newsbusters asks, Is Google Purging Conservative News Sites?

Well at least Indymedia is still considered okay by Google as a credible news source. Even if the Indymedia moderators hid something, it's still good enough for Google. Nearly a fortnight later it still seems okay for Google News to link to material so appalling even Indymedia would hide it. Amazing!

Sydney Indymedia is linking to a video, allegedly of a former US Ranger Jessie MacBeth".

This interview will change how you view the U.S. occupation of Iraq forever. I cannot possibly recommend this more highly. An Iraq war veteran tells of atrocities he and other fellow-soldiers committed reguarly while in Iraq.
...
If he didn't answer the way we liked, we would shoot his youngest kid in the head
...
I have never seen this level of honesty from a U.S. soldier who directly participated in the slaughtering of Iraqis. (with VIDEO)
http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/8757944.html

The first comment calls bullshit:

This is a hoax.

Lots of "progressives" will probably be excited today about a new "interview" with an alleged former Ranger", "Jessie MacBeth", being hyped by the Centre for Research on Globalization.
The alleged Ranger accuses American soldiers of all sorts of war crimes. Luckily, the makers of the film didn't know enough about how military uniforms really work, so real soldiers are pointing out the discrepancies to show it's unlikely that this person was really who he claims to be. Examples of the discrepancies noted in the site's comments are in the extended entry.

The Mudville Gazette Military Blog is on the case. Comments on that post are very interesting, note numerous apparent discrepancies and members there are looking into this person's military history.

I concur with one comment that discrediting the person on the basis of errors in their uniform may not be the best tactic, however it should be easy enough to conclusively verify or discredit this film.

Little Green Footballs suggests Jessie Macbeth is tampering with his Military.com profile and there is a ton of links at Hot Air which don't look good for Macbeth and the film's producers.

It will be interesting to see how this propaganda unfolds, and for whom.

Prediction: If the video does turn out to be absolutely fake, Jessie Macbeth a fraud and the producers are liars, some will suggest the whole thing was engineered from start to finish as an attempt to discredit the Progressive Left Wing.

To those people, I would simply say visit Indymedia and see how well they do the job themselves.

I received the following email:

LA Indymedia is blocking me from commenting. Maybe it was something I said, or they cannot stand to face the truth, but for a few months, I keep getting an error, after attempting to post a comment - "Due to High Traffic, Spam or A DB Error Publishing Has Been Disabled At This Time"

Can anybody shed some light?

This comment appears on SF Bay Area Indymedia further to (yet another) anti-Israel piece.

"Of 12 comments posted, only FOUR are allowed to appear?

And none by critics.

How telling.

Do you think you are actually helping leftist causes by driving away readers in droves?
who wants to go to a website filled with only folks preaching to the choir?

How often does a person have to have his carefully written posts ruthlessly deleted before they abandon this site altogether?

Look at SF. IMC its a dead site!! traffic is 1/30th of what is once was due to the censorship especially about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Why would you want to follow in SF. IMC's steps??? "

Indeed. It's a fine line between effective moderation and censorship. "moderating" opposing views for no other reason however, falls clearly into the second category and continues to make Indymedia worthless.

Even worse than Acid Rain or (gasp) Purple Rain comes this latest threat, via Vancouver Indymedia:

Zionist rain of Death.

Harry emails:

BC Indy is Back to business as usual

It sure is.

Hezbollah shill: Lawrence "Yizhak" Braithwaite is back to posting hate Israel garbage on a daily basis.

Braithwaite, posting under the handle of "math2112" also regales Indy readers with one of his "soul-on-ice" soliloquy's at http://ender.indymedia.org/?q=node/91

This fellow's a real piece of work. He's Black, gay, an immigrant to Canada from Jamaica, a recent convert to radical Islam and promotes and quotes Farrakhan and Hezbollah's Al Manar "news."

All over Indymedia it seems.

He is a rapper musician and sometime writer, having at one time received some recognition for his work.

Doesn't seem to bother him that they hang "queers" in modern day progressive Iran, though.

See: http://binetbc.bi.org/2001/fridayschedule.html

Indymedia has a history of this ignorance and defending evil.

Here's a couple of samples of his other erudition:
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/48437.php
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/47664.php
http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2006/02/48709.php

Elsewhere on the "all new" Victoria Indymedia, the Zionist Evil Rains down:

The Israeli and worldwide Zionist movement doesn't like the current government in Sudan. Sudan is one of the 'periphery' states of non-Arab Muslims, like Turkey and Iran, particularly targeted by Israeli geopolitical theoreticians, but has a government that is too strongly Islamist for Zionist tastes. Israel has in fact been accused of providing arms to rebels against the central government. The current campaign to attack Sudan under the guise of protecting the people of Darfur is another manifestation of Zionist attempts to create 'regime change' in Sudan. Examples:

Protests in the United States have been led by an outfit called 'Save Darfur', described by the Jerusalem Post:

Little known, however, is that the coalition, which has presented itself as 'an alliance of over 130 diverse faith-based, humanitarian, and human rights organization' was actually begun exclusively as an initiative of the American Jewish community.

Is this evidence then, that the American Jewish Community is engaged in "faith-based, humanitarian, and human rights" activity?

Of course not, don't be stupid. They're Jews! Just ask B'nai Brith.

It's all a plot I tell you! Honest! I read it on Indymedia! Run!

Tim Blair reports one way to upset protesters. In this case, Colorado PETA members.

A human inside an injured-chicken costume, hobbling in protest on the sidewalk Wednesday in front of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, didn’t achieve the desired effect, according to many who dined there.

Read it all.

I ducked over to Colorado Indymedia to find anything. There was nothing. I did however discover this:

Iran, Iraq, Libya, Egypt and many more countries paid their prices for similar zionised corporate terrorisms (sic) in the past and even paying (sic) today.

Holocaust Denying taxi-driver of doom Faruque Ahmed sure gets around...

In case you are wondering what my beef is with PETA (wow, what a great audience) I have held them in disdain ever since they wrote a letter to Yasser Arafat asking him to rethink his terrible ways. Not blowing up Jews - but using donkeys to do it.

Perth Indymedia reports Genderfuck Day.

Genderfuck Day is this Thursday, the 18th of May. The purpose of Genderfuck Day is to promote awareness of Gender diversity in our community. This Thursday we will be having street Theatre and etc in Forrest Chase from 4:30pm, before we move to the Black Dove - for the Genderfuck Ball ...To Genderfuck is to deliberately send mixed messages about ones sex, usually through dress.

The basic purpose of Genderfuck Day is to raise discussion and awareness surrounding Gender, Intersex and Trans issues. Most importantly it is to educate individuals of the sheer complexity of what gender can mean from one person to the next. gF is a day of action that deal s with some tough, challenging and confronting concepts surrounding gender. When you add cultural implications of what gender can be and start deconstructing gender binaries, things start to get really interesting.

The original developers of the idea have provided a basic format for people to follow if they wish, encouraging people to provide Pan (non-gender specific) Toilets, hold forums and sell pink and blue ribbons. Pan Toilets allow us to say, 'Nup, I don't have a gender or (sex)', I mean what are those categories of man and woman good for anyway? They limit our choices, and stereotype people. Bah!'

What are those categories of man and woman good for? If you are a woman, try sitting down on a urinal. Trust me, the "gender binaries" can yield useful categories from time to time if you don't like a wet back.

This discussion seems to be common in Australia. A Google search for "Pan Toilet" led me to a page at Melbourne University (Google Cache here) which notes:

There has been a proposal to introduce pan toilets in the University. Pan toilets are a toilet space which allow anyone to use them, regardless of how they identify. They come as a means of responding to the very specific ways in which toilet spaces are constructed by gender, and serve as a space where anyone can feel safe and not be forced to identify either as a man or a woman.

If one feels unsafe in a public toilet, I'm not sure this is the solution.

Toilet spaces are often highly policed - “hey, you don’t look like a woman, so get out or I’ll call security” – and so a pan toilet would provide a space where that would not happen.

The proposal as it stands is highly specific, and has come from a particular collective. The wom*n’s department supports the introduction of pan toilets. This means that we are actively working towards having pan toilets installed on the university campus.
...
The wom*n’s department wants to involve any groups who for cultural, ethnic, religious, gender-based, accessibility or sexual reasons have concerns about the way toilets are constructed.

Call me traditional, but what the hell is a wom*n anyway, and what other cultural or sexual problems might one encounter in toilet construction?

Further to my last report, a Google News search for "Flight 77" still links to a hidden Bay Area Indymedia article calling the video phony.

What's no good even by Indymedia's low standards, is still good enough for Google. Several days later.

Indymedia is considered by Google to be a "news source" despite having a completely open free-for-all publication policy. In many cases, the term 'unmoderated' can be added to that list.

Why then are blogs not considered worthwhile? They are subject to as much control. Indeed, if Google checked this blog (the servers for which I understand they own), they would have realized the article was pulled by one of their 'news' sources.

Unimpressive Google. Unimpressive.

Minutes ago, I suggested it wouldn't be long before Indymedia scoffed at the recent video released of the 9/11 plane striking the Pentagon.

San Francisco Bay Area Indymedia certainly didn't take long:
Entitled Pentagon releases phony video of "Flight 77" - the 'article' is a disturbed chaotic rant of mostly links to older articles souting the same tired out (and now even more widely disproved) nonsense. See also Baltimore Indymedia.

The article was hidden (to their credit) by Bay Area Indymedia.

How did I find this article? By searching Google News for "Pentagon Video"


Google News continues to regard Indymedia as a news source, as easily verified.

What is astonishing however, is that an article, "Pentagon releases phony video of Flight 77" considered unworthy as news even by Indymedia's low standards, is still regarded as fine by Google.

I have said it before - Google discredits itself.

Conspiracy theorists won't like this at all.

First, Video of the plane hitting Pentagon on 9/11 has been released. Click the link, and follow the links for interesting reading.

Secondly, CNN reports that Nazi death files are to be opened.

Of course none of the above should come as a revelation or news to the sane. It will however go part of the way to shutting up the insane who fester in dark corners and websites, believing as they do.

Then again, they will soon argue that all of the above information is part of the grand conspiracy, so doesn't count.

More on their low burden of proof requirements here.

Amidst a typical discussion on the global Indymedia site regarding (what else) - Israel, comes
this comment:

Fried Pork
By: Anti-American

9/11 killed more cops and their fraternal working class drinking and drug addict comrads in the fire department than any other single event in the pocked history of america. if osama bin laden was indeed responsible, i'm grateful to him for that.

It was clearly not intended as a joke. Indymedia however, continues aspiring to be one.

There is a sordid secret. Our society has been infiltrated by parasites intent on our destruction.

Who are they?

Hey, this is Indymedia. Who do you reckon?

Jews.

Via Melbourne Indymedia comes a post which gives Sydney Indymedia's "Zio-Report" a real run for its money in the antisemitism stakes.

Where is the outrage? When will the pogroms start against those who treat us as used toilet paper? Those who think nothing of spilling our brains onto dirty streets if we so much as question their right to treat us as used toilet paper?

What sort of doormats are we? Too stupid, too dumb, too pathetic to raise a whimper. Fuck us all. We deserve what they have planned.

Yaweh's plan, a Tom Hurndall for you all. Sluts, gutter slime, dirt, goy filth.

But don't look sideways at your Jewish masters or they will off you.

Where will you hear about this latest delight? Your ABC? The one run by Jewish 5th columnists?

Ha hahahahahaha I don't think so.
...
Isn't it time we purged this aggressive war mongering filth from our system?

There will never be an end to war while this psychotic racist cult exists.

Kill them all - Let their psychotic delusion decide

Subsequent Comments:

Oh that's awful news! Has [Australian Prime Minister] John Howard apologised and offered to lick every Israeli arsehole clean yet?
...
And it's terribly unfair to suggest that all those Jews in the lists of Australia's richest, who acquired their money through tax evasion and any other number of scams including cultish collusive tendering, and then sent said criminal proceeds offshore to be invested in illegal settlements and weaponry for the legal fiction of Israel are in any way responsible when said morally bankrupt state arbitrarily attempts to assasinate Australian citizens who would bring crimes commited by said international legal and racist fiction against humanity to international attention.

Disgusting.

A minority of sensible comments sum it up:

I'm so glad that someone finally had the guts to write "Jew" instead of pretending to be PC by writing "Zionist"

You were never fooling anyone anyway.
...
Well. There you have it.

Rich money grubbing Jews - kill them all.

I think that pretty much sums it up.

Remember: You read it here on Indymedia first!

(This is usually where someone insists they aren't a Jewhater and really only an "Anti-Zionist" or argues this post was actually written by a Jew. Just thought I'd preempt you.)

He forgot to mention the allegations of Jewish control of the media.

Haven't heard that one before either...

Update: The article has now been hidden by Melbourne's Mods. Sydney Indymedia has compensated for it nicely here.

To the Tooting Station.

I will probably also get around to reading it at some point :-)

Deal arte de cruzar los oceanos, a bilingual Argentinian/Israeli blog, has described me as "El blogger" in an interesting post (scroll to the bottom for English translation) which does some basic statistical analysis of an Argentina Indymedia site, by breaking down the most recent articles into categories.

His findings are unsurprising and of further assistance to yesterday's reader challenge, in anybody's language.

Update: This is cool.

I have received the following comment, on my June 2005 post about convicted arsonist Jeff Luers. Sections in italics are where he has quoted my writing.

I hope you don't let the fact that somebody is stooping low enough to post on this joke of a blog go to your head, but what the hell.

Charming isn't he? He then challenges me on my principal assertion about Indymedia:

"As a largely unmoderated, unrestricted medium it was promptly over-run by ... Nazis confusing free-speech with hate-speech."

Show me a fascist post on an Indymedia page. I doubt you can. If you can, however, show me a Nazi post that wasn't met with stern resistance from an overwhelming majority of readers.

Readers... Feel free to provide a response in comments. Not only is there an abundance of fascist, racist, antisemitic, sexist and libellous material on Indymedia, there are numerous examples on this site of various Indymedia sites where Nazi posts remained visible on the newswire, whereas any opposition to them was hidden by moderators, who some believe were part of the former group.

"His compassion for the motor vehicle dealer is unending..."

Why should someone who's concerned about the ecological well-being of our planet be remotely concerned with someone who's complicit in its destruction?

This is apparently the justification for his burning down a car dealer. Nice. Perhaps he should be "concerned" because we are living in a society?

"Popular with what sort of "activist"? Let me guess. The non-violent kind?"

That's right. He was convicted of non-violent acts against property that no one is entitled to.

"Excuse me, why do you need to organize a specifically "non-violent" protest? Is violence assumed unless otherwise stated?"

Of course violence isn't assumed unless otherwise stated. However, in the incredibly diverse anarchist movement, violence is a gray area. Some believe in violence, and some believe in strict nonviolence. It is appropriate to make a distinction and let people know what kind of event they'll be attending.

There are also people who "believe" in rape and murder. Is it appropriate to make a distinction for their benefit as well? Do you believe you are doing your movement any favors?

"Err, no. I think you'll find it's a deterrent to arsonists."

Potayto potahto.

"Bloggers in Iranian prisons are political prisoners. Dissidents in China are political prisoners. Idiots that set fire to things are not political prisoners and calling them as such is an insult to people who genuinely did nothing wrong except think. Sadly, it was the lack of thinking which got him into prison in the first place. Maybe Luers can think about it now."

I can assure you there's a profound philosophy behind the majority of acts of eco-sabotage, including Mr. Luers'. Feel free to actually educate yourself on the matter. "Burning Rage of a Dying Planet", and "Eco-Defense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching" would be good places to start. Otherwise quit regurgitating the ignorance that's already polluted your mind.

I think you're just wrapped up in the stigma of fires and explosions. Tell me, what do you think about the Boston Tea Party? Would you have disapproved if they set fire to the tea instead of dropping it into the sea?

Gee. The guy attacked a car dealership.... What a hero! Such a profound philosopher! Try looking up Gandhi.

"More on this poster-boy for arsonists and criminal 'activists' at his support website, Free Jeff Luers where you can read the pitiful excuses that "no one got hurt" and they "caused only" $40 000 damage. If you can't do the time..."

No one did get hurt. He merely provided an economic incentive (monetary loss) and a psychological incentive (fire) for a business that's doing harm to our planet to stop. Whether he did 40,000 dollars of damage or 40,000,000 is immaterial. More needs to be done.

More incitement to criminal activity by an Indymedia advocate. Past cases here and here.

And obviously, he can do the time, seeing as he's... doing the time. Every person involved in direct action knows the consequences of what he's doing. Because unfortunately, all too often, what is right does not coincide with what is legal.

If he can "do the time", why does he need a movement to free him?

The House of Wheels reports on this post on Sydney Indymedia:

“Free America Now!” is under attack now. We went through many more attacks like this one. Zionised American Thought Police do not want us to speak freely, communicate with each others freely in the net or elsewhere! This is another example of Zionised American Terrorism.

Sound familiar? It should. "Free America Now" is a Yahoo Group run by Faruque Ahmed, as previously noted here.

The article is a typical multiple-paged rant, blaming Zionists (Jews) for every evil in the world.

Here's the thing - continually vilifying Jews and denying the Holocaust:

many more reports like the one below clearly demonstrate the fact that "Auschwitz" was a picnic camp and Zionism is worse than Nazism.

Or lying about Israel, spamming Indymedia and blackmailing the moderators of Sydney Indymedia are fine. Just fine.

If anyone complains about it however, even politely, they are obviously part of the grand Zionist plot to censor dissent. Naturally, no mention is made of what exactly constitutes this "attack" - however Ahmed's rants are seldom on topic. The only defining theme is Jews=Hitler.

This is how the mind of a deranged antisemite operates. This particular example has made his home on Sydney Indymedia, with their co-operation.

What a "Free America" has to do with a Bangladeshi taxi driver in Australia, is beyond me.

Would you ride in a cab with this guy?

According to a new post on Indymedia Milwaukee I am a "right wingnut" and a "Rightwing Front".

Apparently some right wingnuts didn't like the stories
about Jeffrey Luers that made it to milwaukee IMC.
The most coherent thing in the piece is a declaration
that they're confused about what to wear to protests.
But that's just my opinion.

Whatever.

This theory stems from this post, in June 2005, which apparently they just noticed.

Ten months! It took me twenty-four hours to notice the link to this site and respond. I guess that's because of the ten-thousand rightwing agents on my payroll...

It is worth noting their only response to my piece on convicted criminal Jeff Luers, was to attack me. Always a convincing argument...

Further to my recent mention of BC Indymedia's departure, it seems the site has been put into archive mode.

Presumably this is in case future generations wish to study antisemitism, shining examples of which remain, it now seems permanently, on the front page of the site.

Meanwhile, a beta site has been established at ender.indymedia.org claiming the be the "new Vancouver Indymedia site".

Hooray.

First post: US Military Mind Control weapons, and how to protect yourself.

Good grief. Let it die already!

NYC Indymedia reports it is upset at an event by a group called Battlecry.

From the BattleCry™ website: "We are excited to announce that on Friday, May 12, BattleCry™ is looking to hold 50+ BattleCry™ rallies in cities across the nation! We want you to be a part of this nation-wide movement of teenagers taking a stand for God and peacefully protesting the flood of immoral influence that is overtaking young people in our culture."

Indymedia notes:

It’s important to demonstrate that Ron Luce’s "spin" on what is moral or immoral is not the view of the mainstream. These are Extremists. Extremists who know how to market themselves. Extremists who are trying to influence young people at an impressionable age to join a culture of "battle" and "warriors". These teens are at risk of indoctrination into a new kind of mega-cult where no questions are asked and you happily do as you're told.

Looking to Bay Area Indymedia, we see who is behind the anti-Battlecry lobbying:

WORLD CAN'T WAIT-DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME! - SF local chapter

Hello? What was that about indoctrinating kids?

A post on UK Indymedia argues that because a "judge presiding over Zacarias Moussaoui's sentencing told trial lawyers that she doesn't believe Moussaoui's claims on the witness stand":

The judge knows that a "confession", gained after years of detention, does not make up for the lack of actual evidence against the man, and that supports the Government's Conspiracy Theory.

A comment notes:

It is silly "editorial" comments totally unjustified by the story that make indymedia at times seem ridiculous.

and asks:

Please stop making us look like fools.

Too late.

I visited NYC Indymedia to gauge reactions to the life sentence of 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

There was nothing, prompting me to ask once again how Indymedia can call itself a 'news' source.

'Fortunately' there was plenty of 'news' about the evil and super-powerful Israel Lobby.

A typical Latuff cartoon, curently spammed over dozens of IMC sites, suggests it's impossible to criticize Israel. By doing so, it nicely disproves itself.

Also on Sydney Indymedia, a poll: Did your parents smack you when you were a kid?

Sydney Indymedia is running a message from a "massive western moral voice": Don't nuke Iran.

It is interesting that this "moral voice" was missing on Indymedia when Iran was 'merely' hanging teenagers.

Indymedia's "moral voice" must also have had a sore throat when Iran was "merely" threatening to destroy Israel.

This probably explains the following comment in the article:

It doesn't have to be like this. Join our campaign to eliminate the threat altogether by calling for the US to take back and dismantle its nuclear weapons from Europe and Turkey altogether, and to begin the work of creating a nuclear free zone in
the Middle East.

Except Iran... Leave them alone.

A great post over at But I am a Liberal! highlights some insanity over at Santa Cruz Indymedia.

Further to my last post - Daily Grind someone has left this comment:

Oh My Gawd,
what is wrong with you!
you (sic) post a link to a Wiki site so as to comment on the use of the noun "Blade" saying its only a "Disc" - DID YOU EVEN READ THE PAGE YOU LINKED TOO? (sic)

Yes. As a matter of fact, I did. Angle grinders do not have a blade, they have a disc. That is what I said. To illustrate his point however, the commenter quotes an entirely different passage from the Wikipedia entry:

"Angle grinders are widely used in engineering, in particular metalworking and construction, as well as in emergency rescues. However, they can be very dangerous due to the high rpm involved and the sparks that fly off as they cut.

Perhaps. None of this suggests however that the activists were actually in such danger, unless perhaps the chains were extremely short and attached between the abbatoir equipment and the protesters' eyelids. I give anyone experienced with an angle grinder enough credit to shield someone from the dangerous sparks and am also comfortable assuming they attacked the anchor-side of the chain, rather than the activist-side (tempting as that may have been for the victims of this protest).

He continues:

Safety equipment should be worn while using these, or any power tools.

He's quite right, and I am sure the meatworkers were wearing safety equipment ("while using these power tools").

I note that at any stage, the protesters could have unlocked themselves or left voluntarily. I'm sure they were offered that opportunity, or could have seen the angle-grinder wielding men approaching and worked out what was coming).

The protesters however are simply crying that they played chicken with angle grinders, lost and the protest didn't go as they had plannned because of the big bad men with their scary machines.

My opinion doesn't matter of course, you see the commenter has stumbled on my dark secret:

I sense you are a Zio-Terrorist - in the US i (sic) would hope you would be procecutable (sic) under the Partiot (sic) Act but then we have a Neo-Terrorist in charge of our country, he is also a Religo-Terrorist (sic) also, defrauding the country out of money to give a fellow Religo-Terrorist name (sic) P.Robertson money to fund dealing with dictators over sea's...... (sic)
but (sic) then you are all the same anyway right? - or is that Neo-Right?

Neo-idiot.

Incidentally, the original article on Perth Indymedia has been hidden for some reason, apparently "as per request by author".

Some anti-meat protesters chained themselves to an abbatoir's equipment last Friday. Unimpressed with this 'action' the meatworkers took to the chains with angle grinders to cut the chains off the 12 activists.

The protesters were even less impressed and have insisted :

"There are other safer, more peaceful ways to cut chains without using the excessive violence of an angle grinder."

Tim Blair responds:

UN sanctions, maybe?

According to organizers:

Mr Hannibal questioned the use of angle grinders by abattoir workers and management to cut the activists free. "They were terrorising this young girl because the blade was so close to the face and they were basically enjoying traumatising her," he said.

Angle grinders don't have blades. They have an abrasive disc. In a rare turn of events, protesters were 'saved' by police:

Mr Hannibal said protesters allowed police to escort them off the premises because the girl was so upset.

Allowed? How generous of them. I don't suppose the meat workers that had been obstructed from their work were too sorry to see them go either.

Note to activists: Don't choose protest targets who spend their entire day working with animals hanging off chains.

Here's what happened the last time protesters got intimate with a cow.

Update: The original article on Perth Indymedia is now hidden. Also, via comments, someone has accused me of being a "Zio-terrorist" which apparently is "procecutable" (sic). Oh dear... Here's what I think.