Indy Media Watch

Further to an earlier post in which Sydney Indymedia was libelling the Australian Prime Minister for no particular reason, comes another delightful comment.

On a post reporting the news that Australian Prime Minister John Howard was mobbed by anti-war protesters (chanting "we want peace" at the time) comes this:

they should have smashed the pig to bits

Nice. Really nice.

It's important to remember, most Muslims are peaceful and do not support terror.
This is not a film about them.

Sydney Indymedia is begging to piss off the Australian Prime Minister, with this article - John Howard Pedophile - The hidden True Story featuring an image I don't dare reprint.

A comment notes:

talk about magnet for a shut down
imc put at risk?

At risk of what? Being taken seriously? Not likely. As for the Australian Government shutting the site down, that's not very likely either, although I can't say Indymedia didn't have it coming.

This interesting map shows the location of all the global Indymedia sites. You'll see some prominent absences in Russia and the Middle East (except Israel). I've detailed the background to this previously and nobody on Indymedia seems to care that much.

Isn't it touching however, that those who take true freedom of speech for granted use it so responsibly. Those without would be shaking their heads.

This comment appeared on a previous post:

I was involved with the UK collective up until a year ago. The level of anti-semitism is just awful and I thought it was beyond help. These people saw Jews as being behind nearly every problem. 9/11, that was Mossad. London bombings, that was a Jewish sleeper cell. Asian Tsunami, Israeli mini nuke. The bigotry dominates the site and in the end destoyed its credibility.

I became frustrated because I still remain commited to the idea that the world needs a true independent media service but Indymedia certainly isn't it.

The last part echoes my position perfectly, as you will see from the banner text at the very top of this site.

One only need to glance at UK Indymedia to identify it has a serious and inexcusable problem with antisemitism.

A large number of comments and private emails via this blog have indicated that what goes on behind the scenes of UK Indymedia is as scary. Please post your experiences in comments on this post. The more detail, links, evidence the better. I don't claim it will ultimately change anything - nothing short of seppuku likely will, however for a site that aims to keep mainstream media accountable, it's time to be held to account.

Comments are open.

I received the following via email.

I asked a fair question in an article I tried to post:

is DC Indymedia obsessed with demonizing Israel?
Critique of Israel is fine and fair, but a single-minded obsession with demonizing Israel, while failing to deal even handedly with the other contributors to the violence, well that's just dripping with antisemitism.

To investigate that question, I took a snapshot of DC Indymedia's website this afternoon (9/25)

I highlighted in red all the material was decidedly anti-Israel. I then highlighted all the articles that were critical of Hezbeollah & Syria's role in green.

Click to Enlarge

The result: almost half the articles on the site attack Israel. That's also true of the feature section, meaning this is the result of deliberate editorial choices, not just any particular group spamming the website.

As for articles in green (those critical of Syria, Hezbollah, etc.), well, there are exactly none.

However, that's not where the troubling behavior ended. When I posted my article and image, editors didn't just hide the article, they deleted it with the note that it was a process/editorial issue and a fabrication.

Click to Enlarge

From what I can tell, editors do routinely hide material that's critical of their editorial decisions, but they don't usually go so far as to delete them. Now apparently anything that raises the issue of anti-semitism--particularly when it's substantiated with evidence--well, that they'll single out to delete. It violates their own policy, and it certainly violates Indymedia's stated principle of open publishing.

Their remark of it being a fabrication was actually the only fabrication going on. I included the image in my article so others could see the evidence themselves. Moreover, I made sure it was large enough so that people could read the text and see that the image was genuine and that the stories were fairly
marked.

Honestly, I don't understand why this site is even considered an Indymedia site. It's obvious the editors have no commitment to open publishing. They're willing to be hypocritical and lie in the course of running the site. To top it all off, they're representing themselves as a leftist news site when it looks like they're actually running a very authoritarian site with a nasty string of racism.

DC Indymedia are welcome to respond.

Try to keep up:

If you advocate going to war, you are a Hawk.

If you advocate the opposite, you are a Dove.

If you support a war, but have never personally been in a war, you are a Chickenhawk.

Now, we have Muslim Chickens.

We coined the phrase "Muslim Chickens" to express the cowardly methods used by radical Islamofascists in their Jihad against the world.

That site featured this terrific cartoon that might explain what sort of a bird I would be.

That's right. I'm a Chestnut-backed Chickadee. Obviously.

One of the posts on a political discussion forum - Essembly, contains a lengthy list of articles discussing antisemitism by the radical left and examples thereof.

Having revealed so much of it on Indymedia, this site features prominently.

A comment on that forum refers to me and notes:

Indymedia: Rather than listing the problem with each one let me be the first to point out Indymedia sites pointed to are open content publishing systems. Anyone can publish on these types of Indymedia sites and they do not represent the views of Indymedia at all. The author of the blog with a hard on for Indymedia is just too stupid to realize this point.

I've heard this excuse before and dealt with it then. Merely saying "we're not responsible" for something you set up, doesn't actually mean you aren't responsible. As for calling me stupid, he critiques the third item on the list noting:

Indymediawatch. This is a blog entry to an article that doesn't exist.

Uhh... It does. Look again. Feeling stupid?

Speaking of stupid, some of the other comments on the site are typical:

Complete shyte. Any time someone disagrees with Israeli policy people cry "Anti-Semite!"

You can all fuck off.

Okay, but before we do, can we refer you to one of the articles on the list where Alan Dershowitz writes:

The newest form of bigotry is to claim that I and others who generally support Israel argue that "anyone who criticizes Israel is an anti-Semite." This is a bald-faced lie.
I always criticize specific Israeli policies, Israeli leaders, and Israeli actions. Most Israelis criticize specific policies. Israel is among the most self-critical countries in the world. Several years ago, I offered a large monetary award (payable to the PLO) for anyone who could actually come up with a quote by a prominent pro-Israeli writer who equated mere criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. No one came to collect the reward, because no respectable person has ever made this absurd claim.

I doubt that the bald-faced lie is likely to disappear.

Via Melbourne Indymedia comes a contender for worst thread ever.

Via comments, the usual apologists are invited to remind me again, why it's nobody's fault and people should still take Indymedia seriously.

Thinking about sending the kids away to camp this summer? Well, why not try Witch Camp!

“Here is the long awaited update about this year's Free Activist
Witchcamp....

New to this camp teachers Copper Persephone & Synnove will be teaching
the Elements of Magic path, which presents basic magical skills.”

Sounds…..interesting……

The People's Cube has everything you need to know about the Middle East. From a Progressive Viewpoint.

It is hilarious er.. scary ahh..telling umm.. familiar Just read it. It's good.

Via comments, I have been referred to a post on Indybay, which in turn links back here. Looks like someone doesn't approve...

Roland previously observed:

The word genocide is thrown around so often, to describe just about any injustice the left sees, that it has lost meaning to many casual observers.

Scott. The Environmental Republican goes further:

This guy thinks he has a point. I think he's just a misinformed dickhead.

Comparing the issues of today and how they are portrayed with the Nazi rise in Germany seems to be a favorite of the absurdly insane left...er, modern progressives.

From Keith Olbermann giving the Nazi salute to the myriad anti-war types portraying Bush as Hitler, this whole thing is getting out of control.

I'll make it simple for you, idiot: Hitler set out to conquer Europe, exterminate the Jews and establish German dominance for a millenia. Bush attacked a country we were still at war with after going to the UN and enlisting the assistance of numerous countries. No asshole, no matter how many times you add it up (even if you take off your shoes), Bush does not equal Hitler.

You friggin morons make me sick. Enough of the Nazi salutes and fascist accusations. You're playing a game that is doing irreperable harm to our country to advance your cause and other lapdogs link to it. That is the sorry state of the left in this nation and you are all having a laugh over it.

With the current events in the Middle East, most Indymedia sites are taking a break from their usual Israel bashing, to.... Bash Israel.

Nothing changes.

Looking at several IMC sites, notably (yet unsurprisingly) UK Indymedia, one can see a litany of hysterical articles condemnatory of everything Israel does.

No surprises there. However, it is instructive to note Indymedia's prior relationship with Hezbollah.

I documented this last year in my report on Indymedia and Terrorists where even the PR person for a Holocaust-denying listed terrorist organization, came across as more objective than the Indymedia journalist.

Further to Roland's recent post about 'activists' refusing to get it when it comes to consequences for their actions, comes the latest on "Jeff Free Luers".

Luers, previously reported here was sentenced to 22 years in jail for setting fire to a car dealership. His supporters believe he is a "political prisoner" and see little to nothing wrong with his actions. Of course, they aren't cuddling up to someone in a prison cell.

A comment on my earlier post on Luers prompted my awfully easy 'reader's challenge' after someone wrote:

"Show me a fascist post on an Indymedia page. I doubt you can"

According to this article on Portland Indymedia, Luers has landed himself in "The Hole" for:

"allegedly having a "diluted urine analysis" (drug test).

In other words, the prison has accused him of having urine that is "too clean"."

Err... No. As a comment points out:

diluted urine sample doesn't mean "too clean". It means he watered it down to make it appear clean, and instead made it into watery urine.

Smart guy.

Smart indeed... Support continues unabated:

Jeff is no doubt behind bars beause his conscience runs in diametric antithesis to those bent on global-tyrannical hegemony, by any means necessary and possible.

No, he's behind bars for illegally setting fire to someone's property.

I have said this before on other blogs, and I will say it here. We need to either petition the Governor to pardon Jeffrey Luers (excessive sentence) or some progressive in this state has to run for Governor and then pardon those who have received sentences from the cruel judges who think they are God and handing out excessive sentences.

Jeff Luers should have simply served a year or two and then had to pay back the cost of the vehicles he destroyed. To incarcerate him for 22 years is criminal and inhumane. If I were ever to make it to Salem as a Governor or State Senator, I would do all I can to prosecute and jail the judge in this case.

Good luck with all that!

Run for the hills! The informants are coming!!!

Apparently a number of environmental terrorists have been arrested as of late, in what the far-left is calling “the Green Scare”. Wikipedia has a little background on the issue.

“The term has been widely used to describe an early 2006 sweep of arrests, convictions and grand jury indictments of alleged Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front activists on charges relating to acts of property damage, conspiracy, arson and use of destructive devices.

“On January 13, 2006, three individuals were arrested in Auburn, California for allegedly conspiring to damage telephone towers, a dam and Forest Service facilities "by explosive or fire" [21]. Prosecutors allege the FBI recorded one of the suspects suggesting anti-personnel shrapnel be added to the planned bombs [22].
According to the FBI affidavit, evidence against the three came from a paid "confidential source (CS) who is deeply embedded within the subjects' cell. The CS has worked for the FBI since early 2004.”

Uh-oh, sounds like bad news for the three idealistic provocateurs who were arrested. That is, unless they start talking, as two of the Auburn eco-terrorists have agreed to do.

This is seen as the greatest form of treason imaginable by our good ol buddies over at Indybay. Some folks have gone on to say:

-“She is a snitch. There's no two ways about it.”-
-(concerning snitching) “I would die first. Youre wrong when you say we would do the same thing.”-
-“Fuck the "movement"! It's all about getting yours…”-
-“No matter what, happens, Ren will now have to live with the consequences of betraying her friends for the rest of her life. Relocating, taking a new name, college, job won't cut it. The story is out there now and will continue to haunt her. She'll always have to look behind her and wonder.....”-

Strong words, especially coming from a bunch of kids who are not facing 20+ years in prison. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about throwing these guys in prison. What they did was clearly terrorism. They took the law into their own hands and conducted actions meant to scare people into following their orders. In my eyes, the actions that they took are no different than any other extreme organization that uses fear and violence to frighten those around them into following their ideology.

But to be honest, I also have a small amount of sympathy for these eco-terrorists. The reality is that these kids got way in over their heads, and once that they realized that there was going to be major consequences for their actions, they were willing to do talk to lower the severity of their punishment. I presume it was a moment where you realize that playing revolutionary has its costs.

Unfortunately, a young person throwing themselves behind extreme leftist groups and ideas is common around specific universities and communities. A chance to feel powerful and righteous and all of that jazz, has attracted young people to radical causes for hundreds of years. Within these communities, it can all seem like a big game; one where you get to play revolutionary, but return to the comfortable life that the United States provides after a hard day of politicking. Sometimes, people go too far, and don’t recognize that they have crossed the line between radical youthful exuberance, and illegal activity.

I bet these kids hardly considered the fact that targeting dams and forest services with explosives would get them into such trouble. But when faced with the reality that they could spend the next 20 years rotting away in a prison cell, the consequences became very real.

I also don’t blame these kids for “snitching”; I hope the info they give police can stop other individuals from conducting similar exercises. And frankly, radicals that claim they would “never sell out the movement”, have likely never been in a position to test that hypothesis.

The radical leftist community should learn something from all this, but based on most of the comments pertaining to this issue at Indybay, it seems that they will not.

The Watcher adds:The radical left have a history of sending naive recruits to their destruction.

Via Indybay, a breathtakingly stupid idea.

There is a reason terms like "genocide" are as good as dead on the left. The word genocide is thrown around so often, to describe just about any injustice the left sees, that it has lost meaning to many casual observers. Worse yet, the select application of the term to pet projects of the radical left, while ignoring real genocide has been apparent within certain circles for some time. That is truly disastrous, especially since the act of genocide still haunts us today.

Wikipedia describes genocide as:

“Genocide is defined by the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG) Article 2 as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.”

So tell me, which one of these two events is given the genocide label by Indybay and select extremists:

1. The removal of terrorists from Israel’s northern border.
2. The Darfur conflict, where an estimated 400,000 people have been killed based on their ethnic background.

I’ll give you a hint: Indybay has over a dozen stories on its front-page related to Israel’s actions involving Lebanon and the Palestinians. Darfur is apparently not important enough to make it to its newswire.

Understandably, the fight in Lebanon is big news this week, and one would expect it to dominate the news coverage. But with many Indymedia newswires, Israel is front page news every day, whether it is warranted or not.

Furthermore, some Indymedia contributors have gone as far as saying that the entire crisis in Darfur is nothing more than a Zionist conspiracy to make Arab peoples look terrible! All the while:

The government-supported Janjaweed were accused of committing major human rights violations, including mass killing, looting, and systematic rape of the non-Arab population of Darfur. They have frequently burned down whole villages, driving the surviving inhabitants to flee to refugee camps, mainly in Darfur and Chad; many of the camps in Darfur are surrounded by Janjaweed forces.”

If this type of select criticism is not extreme hypocrisy, I don’t know what is.

The Watcher Adds:
Roland is spot on. I have previously noted this loose application of the term 'genocide' and the brandishing of complete fantasy as "fact":

Here's an example courtesy of Sydney Indymedia:

I won't bother reprinting it in full as I don't want you to have to disinfect your screen afterward. In summary however, it questions the fuss over Prince Harry's choice of Nazi uniform. It then makes the point that it is obiously all a big Jewish distraction from "the fact that Israel treats the the Palestinians the same way as the Nazis treated the Holocaust victims albeit in slow motion".

Notice the use of that word "fact".

A subsequent comment pointed out: In just over four years of the 2nd Intifada, the total of Palestinian dead numbers just over 3,023 (BBC Numbers), including suicide bombers -- or an average of 2.26/day. If this is a genocide, then it has to be the most pathetic and lethargic genocide in history.

In fact -- the Palestinian Authority acknowledges a birth rate among PA territory Palestinians at 157 / day

So the Israelis would have to increase their alleged genocide by just under 7,000 per cent -- just to break even.

Here's some food for thought. This article, by Tod Carew (Dublin, Ireland) presents some stark statistics to support the argument that Israel's actions are not "disproportionate" as many are claiming. The headline - "Factual Review of Concept of “Disproportionality” contains that word 'fact' again. Given the publication where it appears (Israel Reporter) there is no doubt some will dismiss it outright (and unread) as "Zionist propaganda". The difference, is the data presented as 'fact' is easily falsifiable. This is a trait missing in much of the information we see repeatedly turned out as 'fact' presumably on the assumption that if you tell the same lie enough, people start to believe it.

Some 600,000 German civilians were lost due to Allied bombings alone, nearly 1% of their pre-war population. A very large minority had voted for Hitler, as has also happened with the Palestinian Arabs and their neo-Nazi Hamas. The total German dead were 10.82% which equals 154,592 from Gaza and 266,225 West Bank Arabs, or 420,817 in total.

The much lower Japanese 3.61% rate of dead gives 51,578 for Gaza, 88,824 for West Bank, or 140,402 in total. By either standard, Palestinians have suffered little - so far.

Nobody has ever heard about the Allies "genocide" of the Japanese or Germans. So does this mean we will stop hearing about "genocide" in current non-genocidal conflict? I doubt it...

And as the 14 Hezbollah members in the Lebanese Parliament out of 128 are 10.94%, then that genocidal element in Lebanon would suffer 45,857 to 15,300 dead by WW II Axis standards. The 100,000 dead from all sides in 1975-1991 in their Civil War was only 2.58%. Again, not comparable to what Japan or Germany lost.

Read it all.

Portland Indymedia gleefully notes Bush and Blair Caught On Tape in the now famous incident at the G8 meeting in St Petersburg, where Bush, apparently unaware of the active microphone, said "the irony is what they need to do is get Syria, to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's all over...

According to Portland Indymedia:

The completely non-surprising thing about it is how inarticulate and scatter brained both Bush and Blair sound -- like a couple of dopeheads discussing their favorite recipes for hash brownies, instead of two world leaders trying to deal with a serious Middle East crisis.

Speaking of dopeheads... Didn't Bush know? Only 'activists' are allowed to swear when trying to deal with politics.

Some leftist radicals are engaging in a letter writing campaign to U.S. soldiers fighting overseas. One of their sample letters says:

“Dear Brothers In Arms

The War on Iraq is an illegal criminal occupation fraught with War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity!

Americans are not the good guys in Iraq.

Bush faces prosecution for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, and the troops are dupes of the War Criminals!

Leave Iraq now! Throw down your arms! Stop killing Iraqis!

Go A.W.O.L, refuse all orders and join the American Patriots that refuse to support the War Criminals in the White House!

Bush & Cheney will face prosecution!

Americans are against the War and the troops do not have their support!

Refuse all orders NOW!”

Nothing like showing your support for our men and women in uniform! I am sure they will have great success with this campaign…

Via Indybay:

"Israel" needs to go

"Israel" and Zionism has no place in this world - "Israel" has to go - end of story! The Zionists can go back to Europe and America.

Sorry, but now there can be no more talks about "peace" with this screwed up Zionist entity. It is destroying the world.

NO MORE SECURITY FOR "ISRAEL" - WIPE IT OFF THE MAP!

Let there be no doubt what Israel is up against.

Via Melbourne Indymedia:

Big bad Georgie Bush was the one who gave Humpty-Dumpty a push

I thought it was the Jews...

Portland Indymedia asks 9/11, 3/11, 7/11 Terror Dates - Is there an "embedded code"?

Captain May, Ghost Troop cyber infowar commander, uses his training in military intelligence and languages (Latin, Greek, Russian and Spanish) to cryptanalysis (sic) (code-break) present day false flag operations by our government.

Wouldn't it be easy if you knew the meaning of all codes before'code-breaking' them?...

I had picked up numeric anomalies in the 9/11 and 3/11 events that defied explanation as coincidence:

• The 9 and 3 month numbers were square and square root of each other
• There were exactly 911 days between the dates 9/11 (2001) and 3/11 (2004)
• There was a reported body count from the Madrid bombings of 199 (which was 911 with the numbers "flipped" -- 9's to 1's; 1's to 9's: 911/199)
• There was even a reversion of the body count downward (who got up and left the morgue?) to 191 -- which is an anagram (mix-up) of 911!

I never spent as much time or effort on any math problem as I spent on exploring my hasty hypothesis that there was an "embedded code" in the numbers of the 9/11 and 3/11 events. I didn't sleep for two days, so disturbed was I by the inability to disprove my worst suspicions. By the end of the second day I was convinced of quite shocking things:

• that the embedded code was real, and was being carried by the collaborative media (which was probably designated an "embedded media" as a way of reminding itself that it was a vehicle of encryption);
• that the 9/11 and 3/11 events were orchestrated with the aid of this embedded code, and were "signed" with it every bit as much as my street gang students "signed" their work with graffiti;
• that an understanding of the code enabled those who orchestrated the bogus terror attacks of 9/11 and 3/11 to "set it up" without alarming the unknowing public
• that those who could "crack the code" (like Ghost Troop) could use their knowledge to anticipate and alert the American People against planned future attacks.
After my 48-hour "epiphany," I wrote an extraordinary article, in which I predicted a phony Al Qaeda attack against Houston, Texas, to be carried out in the wake of the Madrid bombings, as a means of spurring the American People into a genocidal World War Three. I issued a specific date of 3/31 (2004), and immediately began to make calls to the Houston FBI.

Predictions ensue... Why won't the FBI listen to this guy? Maybe they are trying to whack him:

The poignant question I'm regularly asked by show hosts is "Why are you still alive, after doing all this to shut down mass murder and treason?" My reply has been that perhaps I've become so conspicuous through my analysis of the embedded code, and so well-known in leading Ghost Troop to shut down planned terror events, that for me to suddenly die -- however "accidental" the appearance -- would set off an epiphany among the many readers and listeners who somewhat believed in our Ghost Troop work.

Other predictions follow in comments:

That "11" is the number of magic. It is the macroscopic and the microscopic (5 + 6) together, represented by the earth and sky triangles in the Tree of Life, which ends up looking like the Star of David.

Aha! It was the Jews!

“There are many people on the left and the far right who see all this as part of some master conspiracy of the zionists and neocons, claiming that the idea is to bolster Israel as a military master of the Middle East, while weakening the Arab regimes so that the U.S. can ultimately step in and control them and their oil. I have a couple of problems with this theory. First of all, the U.S. does control Iraq, and it can't even get cheap oil out of that country the way it was able to do while Hussein was in power.”

Jeeeeezzzz, more of this…at least they don’t adversely blame the Jews…..Oh, Except for this:

“Israel initiated this act of aggression after weeks of rocket and shelling attacks against the territory”

With all that has happened in the last few days, I don’t have the energy to give this piece a title. I will let the lot of you decide. A “name this Indymedia article” game if you will.

Portland Indymedia advises it's: Impeachment Flash Mob Monday.

The DFA True Brew Coffee House meetup group impeachment flash Monday, July 17, will be at the intersection of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Lombard. We will be waving "Impeach" signs to get the message out. If you want to do something to end the neocon nightmare, here is an opportunity!

Injuries are expected:

Drinking water and sign materials provided. Please take hot weather precautions: hat, conmfortable clothing, etc. Persons with hot weather health problems should be certain about weather conditions before attending.

Elsewhere on Portland Indymedia, in depth coverage of the Middle East.

Israel commits another act of state terrorism using military hardware against civilian targets. Tel Aviv replies to kidnapping with war crimes. Palestinian school destroyed by Israeli armed forces.

Tel Aviv has lost the propaganda war, the hearts and minds of the international community and the war of intelligence, descending to knee-jerk, primary reactions of the crudest form of violence, playing into the hands of the terrorists on the Palestinian side and proving for many that after all, the Israeli camp is no better - and perhaps even deserves what it gets.

Tel-Aviv? The capital of Israel, is Jerusalem, as anyone with the slightest knowledge of the country and The Knesset would know. Failing that, there's always basic research, something fairly routine to journalists. The author clearly has no idea, yet that shouldn't stop someone passing their uninformed material off as news... Perhaps he can get a job advising the CIA.

Indymedia continues to impress with quality reporting. Google News continues to be impressed.

This image appeared on Melbourne Indymedia.

Faruque Ahmed says:

Sydney Independent media is Full of SHIT!

What a bloody joke this site is , it has finally given its so called “independence” to pack of raving ZIONIST TROLLS, who will not allow any criticism of the FASCIST state of IsraHELL. (sic)
...
What is so wrong with having a (sic) wide varying views on fascist state IsraHELL.

And on and on (and on) it goes...

Faruque is of course well known for his "wide varying views".

Kudos to anyone who is (finally) cleaning up Sydney Indymedia. Anything which offends a geuinely full of shit antisemitic moron like Faruque Ahmed simply has to be a good thing for Indymedia. Hopefully Faruque Ahmed (moron) will lose interest before they do.

Update: The Sydney Indymedia newswire has been totally spammed by articles entitled "Cam is the love child of Adolph Hitler". Clearly the work of Mossad. Oh, and the CIA.

An Australian footballer landed himself in trouble for a gay slur on Melbourne radio as reported in the Herald Sun.

NICK Riewoldt should make amends for a gay slur by starting a campaign to stamp out homophobia in the AFL, Victoria's gay lobby says.

Perhaps the campaign can start with Melbourne Indymedia , which reports in this article:

St Kilda star, Nick Riewoldt, has provoked lisping outrage after making a comment vilifying fudge packers on radio.

In a word-association game during the Triple M program The Gospel, Riewoldt was asked to respond to the word "homosexual".

He said: "Die."

The forward apologised and tried to get the comment edited out of the program, which he co-hosts with Jason Dunstall, Nathan Brown and Peter Everitt.

"If I've offended anyone in the pilow biter community I'm terribly sorry," Riewoldt told the Melbourne Community Voice newspaper.

"It was an off-the-cuff comment that I shouldn't have made."

But Victorian Fudge Packer and Carpet Licker Rights Lobby spokesman Gerard Brody said Riewoldt should go further to prove his sincerity.

"He should encourage players and the AFL to come on board and deal with homophobia," Mr Brody lisped.

Mr Brody said he was disgusted by Riewoldt's comment and believed he needed to set an example to children.

"You know, with men putting their penises up the rectums of other men. "

Wonderful examples for children like that.

"It makes me physically revolted, it is just really wrong," he said.

It is not sure whether Mr Brody was referring to riding the Hershey Highway or some other delightful activity.

"It is unacceptable. As role models footballers play a a big role in young people's lives."

"They should be telling young kids it's OK for men to root other men up the arse. It's all healthy stuff."

Indeed.

Cue activist outrage.

{crickets chirping}

Cue lawyers...

Behind most Indymedia sites are various administrative mailing lists. This message appears on the UK Indymedia list.

Dear Admins,

after a pleasant chat with some admins, I have been encouraged to do some
confessing and to air my gripes on the Features List.

In the last 24 hours, I have been causing significant disruption on the
Newswire. Sorry for that, some of us aren't too good at keeping our cools.

The impetus for my actions however is regarding what I perceive to be
innacurate non-news, disruption and bias on the Newswire.

I feel it is bad enough that conspiracy theories and borderline jewhate is
being allowed again on the newswire (9/11, 7/7 et al mostly cut & paste from
PrisonPlanet, Rense, etc.), but, there is a regular hiding of any material
that criticises/rebuts such items, and furthermore comments contra to these
theories are regularly hidden, and childish abusive comments along the lines
of “spook, troll, Zionist” etc. are allowed to stand- particularly amusing
since I could point to posts of mine on IMUK from virtually the beginning.

This is hardly a fair and balanced stance. In fact, I see the stance as
being very detrimental to the integrity and credibility of IMUK.

I'd be very much pleased if this problem could be discussed. I notice from
the Newswire and know from personal friends that I am not the only person
very sick & tired of the material and the abusive.

If things continue as they are, I'm afraid I'll probably become a greater
pain in the arse and undoubtedly at some point get bored and write this
place off as a jew-hating conspiracy nut haven. Which would be a shame.

Thanks,

The Spookplanttrollbushloving Zionist

Have a look at the front page of Vancouver Indymedia and see if you can detect a pattern.

No, not that nearly all of it is anti-Israel.

Read the author.

Someone needs his own blog... Easier to ignore that way.

LA Indymedia has a piece up that blames the Jews for just about every terrible event in recent memory. It is practically an encyclopedia for Zionist conspiracy theorists. Here are just a few highlights:

“Kristallnacht
When government officials were away, Jewish-paid thugs went on a rampage in Berlin and some border towns.
Nazis were blamed, and world opinion favored Jews

June 1968
Robert Kennedy is shot by a PLO bus-boy named Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy was running for President, and would have sought revenge over the Israeli killing of his brother.
The use of a Palestinian was a little too 'Hollywood'.

Birmingham ....1998
Birmingham abortion clinic bombed and two people killed.
As a result of the bombing, abortion opponents were portrayed as lunatics, while the Jewish-dominated abortion industry special laws passed to protect their trade.

Sept 11 .....2001
The most brazen of all Israeli attacks.

Bali Bomb
Mossad sets off a micro nuke on the island of Bali, killing 182.
Israel blamed the attack on Al Qaeda (which is really an Israeli false flag patsy intel op), and the USA invaded Iraq.”

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Do these views represent Indymedia as a whole? Who knows, but I do know this: as long as this type of drivel is being hosted on their websites, we will continue to hold them accountable for it. It is no longer acceptable for Indymedia to turn a blind eye to this type of nonsense; they need to step up to the plate and be responsible for their web space.

(Heads up via Charismatic Megafauna)

Seeing the headline on UK Indymedia:
Exposing the 9/11 Conspiracy Wingnuts, my immediate reaction was: "Finally, some sensible reporting".

UK Indymedia is however having none of that.

The "conspiracy wingnuts" are in fact those who believe, outrageously, that 9/11 was the work of Islamic terrorists.
After rehashing usual conspiracy theories, the author writes:

I believe it is unhealthy to have insane people in charge of the national information highways our children are taught to watch. We need sane media people who look at facts regarding issues, not ones who launch into insane screeds of paranoia to avoid reality.

Like say those who gather around Indymedia?

Comments on the post:

Okay, you've convinced me, there are no other issues worth posting about ever than 911. The few remaining posts and articles that deal with anything else than 911 should be hidden, unless they somehow link to 911. In fact Indymedia UK should really rename itself as IndyMedia 911 to reflect it's position at the helm of truthseeker journalism.

After all, it a quarter of the visible newswire is crammed with this shite then who does it benefit ? It only damages real activism.
...
Danny, if you keep an eye on the features list you'll notice that two admins have taken it upon themselves to facilitate IMUK being a pro conspiracy as possible and if you check the hidden comments with the ?c=all then you'll find dissent hidden whilst the 9/11 loons get to be as abusive as they like.

On a related post, someone notes:

Personally, tinfoil isn't dense enough for me, I require lead.

Better order some more...

Just when you thought you had heard it all…

“The Facts Concerning Broadcast Mind Control”

The "facts" are simply a link to someone’s blog concerning a group of scientists, military men and intelligence agents who share an interest in UFOs, telepathy, remote viewing, parapsychology, mind control and the creation of psychotronic weapons.

I discovered the Republican Biker via his links page where he reviewed this blog:

Indy Media Watch

This site is like a "greatest hits" of the various anti-Semitic, conspiracy theorist, and generally whack-job websites that make up the Independent Media Collective (like the "Borg Collective", but uglier with less intelligence). Being able to keep up with what is posted on Indy Media is important because it gives a vivid insight into the "workings" of the left-wing looney minds. But, beware Indy Media is like intelligence liposuction, I wouldn't recommend visiting it everyday. You might throw away your shoes, live in a tree and learn to play the flute.

I'm flattered. I think.

The Republican Biker also has advice on how to tell if you have been smoking bad granola.

Regular readers will know I tend not to comment on 'hidden articles' I find on various Indymedia sites and exclude these from my criticism. Browsing through Hidden articles on Sydney Indymedia, I can see the most bizarre inconsistencies.

If you click the links, have a bottle of disinfectant or a hot shower on standby... You have been warned.

This article, the work of Faruque Ahmed (moron), which appeared in my referrer logs was (quite rightly) hidden, with the moderator's annotation "hidden by cam - inflammatory - give it a rest with all the zionist conspiracy postings".What wonderful advice. Naturally, it is ignored by Ahmed who blames Zionists for his tinea.

This Zionist Hypocrite who hates Indy Media made a fool of himself. He has been maintaining the proud Zio-Nazi tradition and refused to accept any criticism or contribution from others at all! He hates Vancouver Indy Media, Union Leader Faruque Ahmed and virtually every one.

No Faruque. Only you.

Ignoring the advice to 'give it a rest', Faruque posted (amongst his daily internet-wide spew) this article where he continues to demonstrate his association with Stormfront. This article, remains showing on the Sydney newswire and stands as a monument to Indymedia's blindness to antisemitism and culpability in incitement.

Seriously, what exactly does Sydney Indymedia consider sufficiently "inflammatory" if not that? Having browsed what gets hidden, I can see plenty of articles critical of Indymedia get the chop. Antisemitism however receives the green light.

Update: The article, 'Bin Ladan's Diary' (sic) has after several days finally been hidden.

As claimed in recent comments to this post, it is traditionally here that Indymedia's supporters accuse me of 'not getting it' and insist an open newswire isn't the problem, it is only the people (such as Faruque) who are encouraged by it.

What rot.

This argument, to the effect "It's an unmoderated medium, we can't be held responsible for its content" has previously been raised by other Indymedia moderators and I noted, by their choice to leave their site unmoderated, it was a total cop out.

In rather the same way you would expect not to be held responsible for someone getting shot with your firearm if you failed to take any responsibility for properly securing it after multiple warnings to that effect.

Not good enough. Sorry. You either want to be taken seriously or you do not. As an undeniably well-known site, until you take definitive steps to prevent the sort of material I criticize you for on this site, it's no use washing your hands of it.

Arguments as appeared in this blog's comments here that:

wackos and racists will post wherever they find an open forum. (This story is an example of exactly that; it's not like Indymedia is the only or focal point for this junk. They spam it everywhere--to any open news site and message forum they find

are similarly naive. Sites such as Stormfront, 9/11 Conspiracy sites and blogs (including this one) do not try to pass themselves off as legitimate news sources, much less as competition to the mainstream media. Indymedia however has, and therefore simply cannot be taken seriously. At all. Nor can any other "open news service" which happily publishes wholly unchecked and unedited material and refuses to be held unaccountable for it or clean themselves up.

Proponents of Indymedia however, despite its flaws, remain breathtakingly arrogant.

Admittedly Google seems to feel Indymedia is good enough.

The Democratic Underground appears to be giving the Independent Media a considerable run for its money in the 9/11 lunacy stakes with this experiment, based upon the hypothesis that: "If kerosene/jet fuel/hydrocarbon fires can indeed cause steel structures to collapse, it should be quite simple to show this in an experiment-- right?"



Riiiiiiiiight.

Demonstrating once again only that conspiracy theorists really lack an understanding of the scientific method, this hypothesis is first presented at the end of the "experiment", rather than the beginning.

This got me thinking, perhaps I should conduct my own credible 9/11 experiment using Lego and a similar level of professionalism. it seems, however, I have been beaten to it.

I have previously pondered where those who flee Indymedia end up. Looking at this post on the Democratic Underground, I may have found my answer. The article and the follow-up comments there would be hilarious, were it not for the fact that many of them are written and taken entirely seriously.

Update: Via Annie in the comments, others are also trying to prove similar conspiracy theories with similar quality home-science. Watch this thread closely.

As the world joins London in remembering the terrorist bombings a year ago, have a read of what UK Indymedia has reported, here.

No, the link isn't broken, it's empty. They haven't reported anything. Not a word.

UK Indymedia's centre column is preoccupied with other, more important 'news'. Although their newswire has seen a (entirely predictable) increase in conspiracy theories, I guess they just had better things to do.

As the English might say: What a bunch of wankers.

At Houston Indymedia Center:

“Houston - The sudden, unexpected death of Enron Corp. CEO Kenneth Lay on the eve of his court sentencing, has prompted widespread speculation that the convicted multimillionaire is in fact, not actually dead.”

Oh boy.

"Wrote one blogger: 'Within days, Ken Lay will be on a private beach somewhere sipping mai-tais tea with Ferdinand Marcos, who now goes by the name Rico. And it doesn’t end there. If Saddam Hussein keeps his mouth shut during his trial about US and European involvement in his regime’s worst atrocities, then once he is ‘executed’, he’ll be getting a Thai massage in the hut right next door to them.”

Wow, “one blogger”. Sounds like conclusive evidence.

In fairness to this Indymedia article, it does include comments made by Sergeant Frank Duvalier, a private ‘identity retrofit’ consultant located in Washington DC, that challenges this peculiar conspiracy. Still an odd theory that is presently moving through the asylum.

Update: Grab the tinfoil, your copy of The Zombie Survival Guide, and head on over to kenlayisalive.org

I came across this story over at Indybay this morning:

“U2'S BONO BACKS INSIDIOUS PROPAGANDA: VIDEOGAME WITH VENEZUELA INVASION THEME”

I could just tell this was going to be rich.

Apparently, Bono’s capital venture group Elevation Partners, had some money involved in the Los Angeles based Pandemic/Bioware Studios Production Company. Pandemic is putting out “Mercenaries 2: World in Flames” which features a fictional mercenary attack on Venezuela.

So let me get this straight: because a company Bono has money invested in worked with a company that produces a fictional videogame, Bono “backs an insidious propaganda campaign”? Seems like a pretty tenuous connection to me.

“The Venezuelan Solidarity Network calls for Bono, who has appealed to the world on many occasions for peace and poverty reduction, to apply those same values to block the manufacture and distribution of this videogame.”

I doubt that blocking this games release will further the cause of peace and poverty reduction, but it may make sense in the fantasy world Indybay resides within.

Indybay reports the huge turnout to their Flag Burn (links to past reports here).

The celebration was a B.Y.O.F. event. Before the burning and melting of more than a dozen American flags, people gathered around the fire pit to share their personal feelings and beliefs about burning American flags. It is legal to burn American flags, however the burning of US currency is illegal. Dollar bills, powerful symbols of global capitalism, were also burned, despite the illegality of the act.

Cowards! I bet they didn't have the guts to burn hundred dollar bills...

Comments:

The dollar bills were a new touch, but why is it always the flag, destined to offend the exact same group of people every time? Why not burn copies of the constitution, or a cross?

Bookburning... Yeah, real inventive guys. Maybe, as they burn books, just like the Nazis, they can sing how Bush is Hitler. As for burning a cross, I think the Ku Klux Klan may want royalties. You'd think in trying to offend people, these 'activists' would at least try and burn something original instead of emulating the far right... Comments are open. Any suggestions?

Neither New Zealand Indymedia or UK Indymedia have anything at all to report on this guy.

A New Zealand peace activist has been arrested in London and charged with punching a rising teenage pop star and putting him in a coma.

I never understood Violent Pacifists. At least the Indmedia sites have pages and pages of more relevant (and balanced) "local news" about Israel...

What a wonderful "news" source.

UK Indymedia reports another vide of the 7/11 London terrorists has been released.

The London suicide bomber's video statement confirms that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were a major part of the motivation of the bombers. Milan Rai, author of 7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq War, predicts that this will be effectively censored by the mainstream media.

Thank heavens for Indymedia...

Someone calls for.... An investigation!

Wow, another tape surfaces, a year after the fact, and suddenly, we're supposed to forget the many refuted and exposed LIES told by the Bliar Regime about this incident, and the still-missing key evidence which would exist if the Official Conspiracy Theory - upon which Bliar seized for himself powers the courts had denied him for four years - was true.

An independent inquiry is the only way we shall ever really know what happened, and more importantly, who was responsible.

Somehow I suspect no amount of evidence will convince this fellow. Someone else lends a hand, saving everybody's time:

Boy, when you hitch your cart to a wagon you don't let go.

Can I be the first to say

1. Obvious fake video (see refections etc)
2. Obvious MI6/MI5/mossad/CIA/iluminati fake video
3. He was a MI5 agent.
4. He is alive and well living in Sudan
6. Obvious use of holograms to make video

etc etc etc

Simple. No investigation needed.

In other London news:

7/11 tree planting invite Leeds
3 trees will be planted in Cross flatts park Beeston Leeds a a "symbolic gesture." of solidarity with the Beeston community and it's loss. it will be attended by MP and Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn, lord maypr of Leeds Mohammed Iqba.
The tree planting will hopefully bridge gaps within the community and help symbolise the loss suffered by the community on the day.

3 of the suicide bombers regularly visited the park to play cricket and football and local leaders hope this will help bridge the gap
the ceromony will be followed by a 2 minute silence at 12 o clock
All are invited to attend and show solidarity.

shalid

It's unclear to me whether they are referring to the "loss" of the three terrorists or something else. Can someone in London help? As previously noted, UK Indymedia is completely dishonest.

Via Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center come some predictable predictions:This important article by Captain Eric May, founder of the renowned cyber-intelligence antiwar group, Ghost Troop, was published in abridged form by the Lone Star Iconoclast, which is the paper of record for Crawford, Texas, where George W. Bush has his summer residence. It is most striking because it analyzes the dangers of a Bush terror strike in the near future, stating that Texas is the foremost target.Here are some useful acronyms:

The statement makes three key assertions that bear notice and careful examination:
Bush made 911 happen on purpose, he didn't just let it happen.
Bush attempted a 911-2B follow-up attack in the summer of 2005
(interrupted by Internet activists).
Bush needs a successful 911-2B attack to maintain his grip on power
and continue the GWOT (Global War on Terror).
I shall set forth and examine each of these in turn -- adding such details as I know to fill in the picture.

MIHOP strength and LIHOP weakness

Those who argue Bush "Made It Happen On Purpose" (MIHOP) have proved
their points conclusively, and that those who argue its simply a case of ineptitude are wrong, says the Chicago 911 Statement. According to them, the wrong-headed crowd weakly says that Bush simply "Let It
Happen On Purpose" (LIHOP).

What a BOFI... (Bunch of...)

Via my referrer logs, I also found this blog post which critiques UCIMC.

Don’t even bother commenting on that site. Those people are wackjob moonbats who make the most leftist liberal commenters here appear as rational and logical as a chess program. Any dissent whatsoever brings an avalanche of personal attacks and insults. Basically, its like Daily Kos without all the media hype.

Someone responds:

I found that statement to be funny. I don’t know if DK or UCIMC should be insulted more.

Heh. Other advice:

Don’t waste your time. You will not convince any of those conspiracy theorists. If you haven’t been called a racist or Nazi yet then you aren’t challenging them enough. If you have then you have hit on some nerves, but essentially they are seriously disillusioned individuals who see a government boogie man behind every tree.

And finally, an argument I have often made:

i prefer this site to ucimc even though i disagree with some of the stands. there’s news here everyday, not just opinions.

the indy media center protrays itself as an alternative to the MSM, but you’ll find very little news there — sometimes several days between postings, and then often it’s just an opinion.

An "opinion" which has been repeated verbatim and spammed as such before in many cases.

In keeping with the previous piece concerning spam, North Texas Indymedia reports:

“Spam is a word that the Americans created to block any kind of information that might denounce the wrongdoings of the higher spheres of Government or of their allied Fat Cats. It is also meant to block any information that might go against their interests, or against the interests of the big industries and entities and institutions and top white collars that exploit the social system.”

Hot dog! Who would have thought that all those emails filling my junk box were actually covert anti-establishment messages!

“Spammers International” (the author of this article) explains:

“Fat Cats and Big Crooks of the established system….You first stop SPAMMING ME with your UNSOLICITED USELESS information and then I'll stop spamming others with VERY INTERESTING and sometimes VERY USEFUL information. Also, you should inform people about EVERYTHING, so that I will have nothing to inform people about.”

I have a better solution: all of you stop sending me crap unless I ask for it! I don’t care if the information you SPAM everyone with is interesting to you, if someone didn’t specifically request it, don’t send it! Heck, I am sure the folks selling Viagra are very interested in their product and the money it will produce for them, that still doesn’t make it acceptable to send it to every email they can get their hands on.

A post on Sydney Indymedia raises concern about Porn attacks targetting Sydney IMC.

Looking through "recent comments on the site" I can see several examples:

Nice site. Thank you!
http://kswiss-com-mx.caboo.be/ Kswiss Com Mx
http://eagle-creek-lumbar-support-travel.ckethy.be/ Eagle Creek Lumbar Support Travel
http://sony-cd-changer-control.ckethy.be/ Sony Cd Changer Control

etc. Note I've modified the above to give less succour to the spammer.

Interestingly, comes the suggestion that the spam may be evidence of something more sinister:

As suggested by the late Milo Dunphy, a life long environmental activist the use of porn to corrode and attack genuine political empowerment is a pretty well worn track.

As sexual beings the use of porn to attack this site is pretty transparently cynical and quite possibly political in nature

...

Are we now seeing similar tactics here on at the comments side bar visible for those who have logged on ID at the so called 'left leaning' Sydney indy media website?

If its not cynical politics it sure is a convincing masquerade.

If it can be proven then it would indeed be a good example of abuse of power and an attempt at indirect censorship by smearing the site, the individual postings with confusing off topic material.

Frankly the sabotage is a shameless disgrace. Good luck to the IMC geeks with this one. At the least it suggests someone is quite uncomfortable with the serious postings on this community generated news website. And long may it be so.

I doubt it.

Every blogger, every online discussion forum owner and just about anyone with an email address will have received similar spam in the past. Whilst it amazes me anyone would buy such unethically marketed trash, evidently some do and the problem remains. As a consequence, a wholly unmoderated newswire and comment system, such as Indymedia's, generally is begging to be spammed. There's no anti-Indymedia conspiracy and frankly, the very suggestion this activity is part of some automated smear campaign smacks of denial as to how seriously Indymedia content is taken.

We know spammers, like graffiti vandals aren't discerning as to their target. Noting the spam and post in question came from Sydney Indymedia, it is worth noting the spammer's posts are better written (and less offensive) than certain other spam-like contributions to the site. They don't appear to be as controversial. Maybe if Faruque Ahmed starting selling Viagra...

If you haven't noticed, Roland Dodds has been blogging here for a while. After I beat him to the punch with my recent (and it seems annual) report on 4th of July flag burning, he was too polite to add a gratuitious link to his own blog post on the same topic - On Flag Burning and Morons. A pity, for it is good reading, as are the comments which follow.

Gay Male Fascist Domination.

No, not a kinky new fetish but a credible political threat according to Melbourne Indymedia.

So the idea of a gay fascist seems ridiculous. Yet when the British National Party – our own home-grown Holocaust-denying bigots – announced it was fielding an openly gay candidate in the European elections this June, dedicated followers of fascism didn’t blink. The twisted truth is that gay men have been at the heart of every major fascist movement that ever was – including the gay-gassing, homo-cidal Third Reich. With the exception of Jean-Marie Le Pen, all the most high-profile fascists in Europe in the past thirty years have been gay. It’s time to admit something. Fascism isn’t something that happens out there, a nasty habit acquired by the straight boys. It is - in part, at least - a gay thing, and it’s time for non-fascist gay people to wake up and face the marching music.

Just look at our own continent over the past decade. Dutch fascist Pim Fortuyn ran on blatantly racist anti-immigrant platform, describing Islam as “a cancer” and “the biggest threat to Western civilisation today.” Yet with two little fluffy dogs and a Mamma complex, he was openly, flamboyantly gay. When accused by a political opponent of hating Arabs, he replied, “How can I hate Arabs? I sucked one off last night.”

At least the author knows his Reichs, unlike this idiotic post at Indybay.

Update: Leigh notes in comments the article is actually a couple of years old, and can be found, fully fisked, here. Indymedia continues to bring you 'the scoop' as any "news" site should (ahem) with yet more recycled, dated propaganda.

Gay Male Fascist Domination.

No, not a kinky new fetish but a credible political threat according to Melbourne Indymedia.So the idea of a gay fascist seems ridiculous. Yet when the British National Party – our own home-grown Holocaust-denying bigots – announced it was fielding an openly gay candidate in the European elections this June, dedicated followers of fascism didn’t blink. The twisted truth is that gay men have been at the heart of every major fascist movement that ever was – including the gay-gassing, homo-cidal Third Reich. With the exception of Jean-Marie Le Pen, all the most high-profile fascists in Europe in the past thirty years have been gay. It’s time to admit something. Fascism isn’t something that happens out there, a nasty habit acquired by the straight boys. It is - in part, at least - a gay thing, and it’s time for non-fascist gay people to wake up and face the marching music.

Just look at our own continent over the past decade. Dutch fascist Pim Fortuyn ran on blatantly racist anti-immigrant platform, describing Islam as “a cancer” and “the biggest threat to Western civilisation today.” Yet with two little fluffy dogs and a Mamma complex, he was openly, flamboyantly gay. When accused by a political opponent of hating Arabs, he replied, “How can I hate Arabs? I sucked one off last night.”At least the author knows his Reichs, unlike this idiotic post at Indybay.

Permalink # posted by Dan @ 7:12 PM | |  | 0 comments

Via Arizona Indymedia:

“Trigger happy Mesa cops gladly help this man commit suicide!

Want to commit suicide by your afraid to kill yourself. Call the Mesa Police department they will gladly help you kill your self!!!
Monty Merkley, wanted to kill himself but was afraid to pull the trigger. So the mesa cops got involved and pumped him full of bullets. “

Oddly enough, the author of this post included links to this story in more reputable papers. Here is what the East Valley Tribune reported.

“Police said that when they arrived at the house, the man walked out his front door and pointed a handgun at officers. About two or three officers on scene yelled at Merkley to drop his weapon as they took cover, but he alternated between pointing the gun at himself and pointing it at police, said Mesa Sgt. Chuck Trapani.”

Truly unfortunate that this Indymedia author felt the facts were too damaging to report them. And how she assumed the individual “wanted to kill himself but was afraid to pull the trigger” is beyond me. But again, a connection to the facts and reality are not vital attributes to most Indymedia posts.

The Fourth of July is a Time to Reflect on Meaning of the Flag.

Bay Area Indymedia asks what better way to "reflect" than by burning it.

Other fun for the whole family:

On Monday, July 3rd, AK Press will hold its annual Fuck the 4th Sale, beginning at 4pm. Books, cds, dvds, and tshirts will all be 25% off at this worker-owned publishing and distribution warehouse.

More traditional options are also available;

Santa Cruz's 2nd annual old time American flag burn, taking place on Seabright Beach at 8:00pm, will fan the raging flames of freedom.

Or burn someone badly...

Update:As always, Bush=Hitler:

The increase in Bush-led "rallying around the flag" since 9/11 has been compared to the use of the swastika in the rise of the Fourth Reich in Germany.

Compared by whom? As for recognizing Nazi tendencies, clearly the writer is an expert in Nazi history. Particularly the little known "Fourth Reich".

Lest this be dismissed as isolated stupidity, bear in mind this appears on the front page, 'center column' of Bay Area Indymedia. This also negates the frequent claim such postings are part of some organized right-wing effort to discredit Indymedia - they don't need the help.

Past reports on "Burn the Flag Day" and related activities.

Some take exception to flag burning:

I am shocked that someone would burn a U.S. flag. WITHOUT first vomiting, shitting, and pissing on it, that is. LET US BURN A FUCKING MILLION OF THEM!
I live for the day that there are no more of these blood stained rags on the fucking planet!
SOLIDARITY WITH THE IRAQI PEOPLE, the PEOPLE OF PALESTINE, and THE PEOPLE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD AGAINST U.S. IMPERIALISM!

He probably shouldn't be allowed near matches or lighter fluid.

A comment on a 2005 burning notes:

Hilarious how the right-wingers and patriotic amuricans are kept running from one Indymedia to another all weekend long to try to trash everyone who's burning a flag. Meanwhile the flag burners are having parties at the beach . . .

Some party...

How will you celebrate?

A classic antisemitic article is currently on Melbourne Indymedia.

Whether you love them or hate them, Jews are nothing if not consistent. The first detailed record of genocide (committed by Jews) is in the Old Testament. As recorded in Jewish Scripture, the Jew Joshua claimed that Jehovah instructed him to slaughter the innocent civilian men, women, children and even babes on the tit in Canaanite cities and towns. These acts of barbaric atrocity were not problematic for the Jews of history or today’s Israeli Jews it would seem. One Jewish hostage, Gilad Shalit, and the State of Israel declares war – is this an over reaction or just cultural consistency?
...
It seems the USA has adopted basic Jewish mathematics, that is, one Jewish life equals millions of non-Jewish lives. Jehovah makes that issue very clear! However, the Jews seem to have forgotten that the rest of humanity doesn’t subscribe to barbaric, genocidal and extremely unfair ‘mathematics’!
...
the world is sick and tired of the Jews, Muslims and Evangelical Zionist Christians. These three groups are responsible for all the major conflicts in the world today; the vast secular majorities have had enough.
...
Regardless of the real reasons of such an extreme response from Israel one thing has been demonstrated to the whole world, and that is the brutal racist, barbaric ideology that is at the heart of Judaism.

Disgusting yet typical.

A subsequent comment sums up the braindead denial and conspiracy theorising paranoia that starvs the site of decency:

Is this site run by cops?
by Palestine solidarity activist Monday July 03, 2006 at 12:40 PM

MIM [Melbourne Indymedia] must be some kind of COINTELPRO type operation. There is no other explanation for articles like the above bollocks being contunually hosted here.

No other explanation? Good grief. Is it so much to imagine, just for a second, that antisemites exist and that they use Indymedia to spew their trash? Of course not... To these same people, everything is all part of some enourmous Mossad mind control experiment. No doubt so is a later comment:

Death to Israel.

It's gone too far. There's nothing Israel can do to redeem itself. The nation is a bad accident of history... a Western imposition on the world. Israel will last exactly as long as Western supremacy lasts... it won't outlast US hegemonic power.

Im not averse to the Jewish people having somewhere to hang their hats. I'd like to see the dismantling of Israel achieved peacefully, if that were possible. But Israel has abandoned any right to continued existence. Looks like it'll have to be somewhere else - I'd suggest somewhere on the devastated, ugly North American continent.

I look forward to a day when Israel is no more. Although I may not live to see it, it's not in question.

"Im not averse to the Jewish people having somewhere to hang their hats" - gosh how generous. And I am sure some of your best friends are Jewish as well.

Undoubtedly, the earlier commenter will genuinely believe that comment was also written by a Jew being paid to write such Jew-hating material. It's happened before.

Sick. Just sick.

(Disclosure: The author of this post is a highly paid agent of the CIA. Mossad, KGB and KAOS).