Indy Media Watch

You can't write comedy like this.

Borat is really British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and he has gotten well under Kazakhstan's skin with his spoof portrayal of a Kazakh news reporter.

Maybe it's because he showed up for the premiere of his new movie in a cart, apparently being pulled by Kazakh peasant women.

Maybe it's because he has said that homosexuals in Kazakhstan had to wear blue hats.

Maybe it's his attitude toward women.

So wounded have the Kazakhs been by the image of their country that Borat presents that the former Soviet republic has taken out expensive spreads in major newspapers extolling the virtues of their developing land. They've also dispatched senior diplomats to refute the suggestion that they can't take a joke.

"This may seem funny to them, but some will not take it as very much funny," says Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Great Britain.

I think it is very much funny!

However, I also take my (not blue) hat off to Kazakhstan for not rioting, burning buildings or killing anybody over this. As pissed off as they may be, at least they can take a joke. Who knows, I may even visit there one day.

Update: Via comments:

I don't think it a case of "they can take a joke" as opposed to Muslims not being able to.

He's right. I no longer take my hat off to Kazakhstan. Screw Kazakhstan. Oh yeah!

Jews are apparently still responsible for September 11: "Zinism [sic] and 9/11...truth at last". The concept of "Zinism" makes about as much sense as the poorly referenced article, which is loaded with broken links, but those links that do work are often easily debunked. The author comes up with a lot of crazy thoughts:

Zionists are apparently responsible for all false UFO conspiracies, behind September 11, responsible for Islamic terrorism, posing as 9/11 "truth seekers" to stop the truth coming out, instigating fights in Iraq, ripping off the American government, and - of course - controlling the media. In addition Zionist groups that boast only a handful of members apparently have tremendous influence that outweights the Italian mafia, and the Bush family, despite George W. Bush being the President of the United States.

No further argument from this blog is really necessary.

Via Tim Blair comes this report from an Australian professor who writes:

Left-wing political parties need to rediscover humour (which at present seems to me to be almost exclusively the preserve of the Right).

Elsewhere in Australia, via Melbourne Indymedia, we get a glimpse of the problem.

Somebody posted the following story:

A civil-conscious teacher had asked the students to write an essay on the police. The essays were of course varied, but one in particular alarmed the teacher. It was short and to the point:

"All copers are barstids"

The teacher contacted the local police and said there was a PR exercise waiting for them. So the cops really laid it on for the kid. They were all nice-cops for an entire day. They gave the boy ice-creams, showed him over the station, took him around in a patrol car, showed him gory pictures from crime scenes, ended the day with a gift of real handcuffs to take home.
Shortly thereafter the teacher put on a repeat essay on the same topic. Back can the boy's essay:

"All copers are CUNING barstids."

To which came the following concerned reply:

And herein lies another message. The teacher was failing this child, by virtue of the kid's poor spelling. Perhaps more time may have been spent on teaching the basics of language to this kid rather than discussing the esoteric.

I am assuming the spelling was a direct lift from the kid's response, rather than the above author being an inarticulate fuckwit.

Sigh...

Like many people, I believe Hezbollah and Sheik Nasrallah had their ass handed to them by Israel.

However, there are some who argue Israel lost. What I do not understand, is how those who cried the loudest that Israel was being too aggressive, are now gloating that it was defeated.

On UK Indymedia, an article crowing about The Israeli defeat in Lebanon makes an astonishing claim:

The anti-Zionist Israeli Jews opted initially to be conscientious objectors or simply refused to serve. Nowadays they place their hope in Hezbollah. They passed on to the Lebanese resistance all Tsahal’s internal documents which were immediately translated into Arabic and distributed to the guerilla fighters. The resistance, therefore, had detailed descriptions of the Israeli units. Informed of the details of the military chain of command and their insignia, they were able to target the officers.

Meanwhile, via Tim Blair, fear Hezbollah's fiercest supporters.



Can anyone explain how a guy against racism, can also support a group that has called for Death to the Jews?

Sydney Indymedia once again shows why it's probably one of the worst Indymedias with a piece that asks "Who is Al Qaeda", while forgetting the question mark. We could sit and argue over whether that means a question is actually being asked, or we could just shake our collective heads at the post.

Al Qaeda is administrated by the Pakistan secret police & the Pakistan secret police is financed by the CIA basically the american government, the american government is financed & supported & directed by the super rich leaders of the corporations of the world, so the super rich leaders of the world are responsible for killing innocent peoples in order to achieve their political agendas. A large proportion of the corporations in the world are administered by Jews & so Al Qaeda are employed by the Jews to terrorise people.

That's right, apparently Jews, the CIA and corporations are to blame for Al-Qaeda. But if you've been reading this blog for a while, it won't be the first time you've heard these ridiculous falsehoods.

More: Melbourne Indymedia wants you to know all about the "Neo-Fascists Planning "Useful Crisis" #2: Rove Promises 'October Surprise'".

911 = PNAC, CIA, Mossad 22.09.2006
A `Qaeda' attack would help Bush in the forthcoming midterms. And it would help Olmert, whose popularity has dropped sharply following the disastrous Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Netanyahu also recently visited Cheney. are they planning an "October Surprise?"

One thing is certain, Israel has a history of creating fake Al Qaeda.

Anti-semitism flows like a river on the Indymedia networks.

Sydney Indymedia seems to have lost its head, yet again, with "Irwin a holy roller, a Muslim, or none of the above?" For some context, after starting completely elsewhere, Tom McLoughlin is discussing Steve Irwin's non-conversion to Christianity; you may have seen the stories that he had become a Christian, and these have turned out to be false. What follows is bizarre.

Which is a bit weird because earlier drying off from my shower I was musing what literary device I could cook up from the fact on 60 Minutes Steve Irwin admitted to Charles Woolley that he neither drinks or smokes. Does this make him a Muslim, i thought to himself, who reveres Allah's creation? You know a bit of culture jam (in fairly bad taste which has never really stopped me before) of two big PR phenomenon's

1. The sad death of a dedicated wildlife lover (ethologist even - one who studies animal behaviour) and

2. The smearing of a huge world religion of Islam by shallow ratbags like M Devine on Fairfax platform yesterday.

Let's attempt to follow the train of thought here:

1. Steve Irwin is not a Christian, but he doesn't drink or smoke.
2. Therefore, Steve Irwin may be a Muslim.
3. Muslims are smeared.

I cannot claim to understand what led the author of this piece to cover a new topic in each sentence, but we can do something with this. Where was this piece headed? Post your ideas for the next topic-jump in the comments.

Via the The House Of Wheels, some disgraceful smears at Sydney Indymedia. Leigh has done an excellent job pointing it out.

Via Adelaide Indymedia:

Yisrayl Hawkins, well known Bible scholar and author reports that the Bible predicts the exact date and the location that nuclear war will begin. Hawkins states that the current crisis in the Middle East will go nuclear on September 12, 2006 in the area around the Euphrates River.

Or perhaps not.

If you would like more information on this topic or would like to schedule an interview with Yisrayl Hawkins please Call Shaul Hawkins at 001 325 672 9492.

I bet those interviews are flooding in...

Meanwhile, someone please deliver a Fatwa to Sydney Indymedia.

The World Can't Wait is asking for money (in Melbourne, Australia as it happens).

THE WORLD CAN’T WAIT – DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME NEEDS YOUR MONEY NOW!
The people of the United States who want (and need) Bush out of office now, need your help.
We probably do not need as much money as the US military spends on bullets every day; The United Sates people need $100,00.00 dollars. (this amount was a typo - see below -ed)

We have reached a very strong activist and grass roots group of people, I believe that for this $100,000.00 dollar investment, 1,300 dedicated and feeling people are going to eventually get Bush thrown out of office.

Blog, email, publish, post, and get this out to the world.
You want Bush out?
It is going to cost a little money.
We need this money by September 17th to reach millions and millions in the mainstream of the United States, we have a base that is ready for millions.

OCTOBER 5th 2006 will be the day in history that Bush was formally let known he does not represent the US people and he has to step down.

October 5th 2006? World Can't Wait were announcing the "beginning of the end" in 2005. I guess it really was a flop. So,we'll have to wait that little bit longer.

I wonder what they'll do with $100,000. That would buy a lot of candy.

Update: Evil Pundit in comments:

"If the world can wait until January 2009, Bush will be "kicked out of office". Then the group can at last claim victory."

And for only one hundred thousand bucks!

Via Melbourne Indymedia comes details of a legal letter apparently sent to Sydney Indymedia on behalf of Kerry Stokes. Kerry Stokes is the chairman of Seven Network, one of the largest broadcasting corporations in Australia, and a recipient of the Order of Australia:

13 September 2006

NOT FOR PUBLICATION (sic)

Dear Sirs ( sic)

We act for Kerry Stokes who has been made aware of an article currently appearing on the Sydney Indymedia website http://www.sydney.indymedia.org
The article is grossly defamatory of Mr Stokes. For example, it asserts he is criminal and supplies funding to terrorists. On our instructions, the article is indefensible and Mr Stokes is entitled to expect a substantial verdict from the Court if proceedings are commenced.

You should be aware that in addition to Indymedia's liability for this defamatory article, as author of the article proceedings can also be commenced against you. Further preliminary proceedings can also be commenced against your Internet Service Provider to compel them to disclose details identifying your name and address.

We are in possession of the article posted by you on the Melbourne Indymedia website in July 2006 ( subsequently removed by Melbourne Indymedia ) making similar allegations about our client. Read together these two articles demonstrate the malice which you bear towards Mr Stokes and your clear intention to do him substantial harm by your repeated attacks. Given the circumstances we believe a court (sic) would have little difficulty awarding a substantial sum by way of aggravated damages to compensate our client.

Our client requests you take the appropriate steps for the immediate removal of the article from the Sydney Indymedia website. If you refuse to comply with this request our client will rely on this letter in any application he makes for aggravated (sic) and damages should proceedings be commenced.

In the meantime, our client reserves his rights.

It's unclear why the poster has added "sic" throughout the original letter when the comments which preceded it are not (to my observation) erroneous. Regardless, this should all prove rather interesting.

The corresponding Sydney Indymedia page which was linked appears to have been hidden.

To their credit, Sydney Indymedia appear to have consigned Faruque Ahmed permanently to the trash where he belogns (and from whence he came). Unfortunately for them, it would seem the clean-up effort has come way too late. Send in the lawyers...

As previously noted, Utah IMC had gone feral, with a newswire largely out of control.

Via email:

Utah was an IMC without a collective, for a collective without an IMC.

In the rich and colorful tradition of anarcho-zionism we have decided to adopt Utah as our own, in an effort to raise the standards of IMC broadcasting to include such novel ideas as truth and accuracy. Its been a struggle.

Not having any actual editorial power makes it even more of a struggle. We are squatting. However, the anti-Zionists haven't figured that out yet. They've been sending warnings throughout the network that Utah IMC has been taken over, and that we are harvesting IPs to send to Mossad. If it weren't so damned pitiful, their paranoia might actually be funny.

It starts with another "What's wrong with Indymedia" post and goes from there.

This should be interesting...

Further to our previous post detailing baseless claims of Israeli experimentation with eeevil blue dye, the same story has been copied and pasted around numerous Indymedia sites (once again begging the question why there are local sites in the first place).

Via Melbourne Indymedia comes more information from the Palestinian Solidarity Movement (AKA International Solidarity Movement)

New weapons being used by Terrorist Occupation Troops including bright blue liquid and a sponge bullet, which places needles within the skin and sucks out blood

Vampire bullets! Is there no limit to the depravity?

A Google search suggests no but returns numerous articles from similar 'Palestinian news services' spreading theories and unattributed quotes about Israeli 'electric shock' bullets, 'burning sponge' bullets and various other novelty bullets as well.

As I originally noted, when Iran uses plain old boring lead bullets against protesters, you hear nothing.

Finally, someone provides proof:

At last, we have scientific, photographic, documented evidence of an evil, Jewish chemical weapons being used on the poor, pacifistic Palestinians.

A report on LA Indymedia notes that an effigy of Osama Bin Laden was hanged. The headline:

Racists Hang Effigy of Bin Laden Near Mosque

An older story on LA Indymedia reports of a rally where:

Effigies of George Bush and Ariel Sharon were burnt

Hang effigies of the guy responsible for 9/11? You're a racist!

But not if you hang (and burn) effigies of the elected American President or the elected Israeli Prime Minster. I guess that makes you an 'activist'.

I hope that' s clear now.

An article on Bay Area Indymedia shows reckless disregard for the safety of police officers.

Photographs of several of the DEA agents involved in a raid on THC, a medical marijuana dispensary in Van Nuys, Ca have been posted online.

They can be viewed at: http://www.dabronxnews.com/2006/09/09/220/

Hopefully, people will keep an out for these people. I wish the photos were of better quality, but it's all we got.

The DEA must stop this "jihad" against marijuana.

Peace

The 'dabronx' site is apparently run by the same person who posts on Indymedia.

Bay Area Indymedia lists a series of 9/11 Truth Events:

Film makers, activists, candidates, researchers, outraged citizens, truth-seekers, are taking action, producing events, films, books, art, music to challenge the Big Lie about 9/11. On the fifth anniversary of 9/11, the country is divided into doubters of the official story and the misinformed.

Idiots.

Elsewhere on NYC Indymedia, comments to this post dig up a familiar theme:

This was a classic case of a "black ops" operation.

As to the wingnuts and corporate moorlocks, they are already out and about. They occupy the WHITE house, the Kapital, all the bureaus and departments of State, the corporate boardrooms and the media.

Capitalism is sick, it needs to die.

Indymedia is completely healthy...

If Indymedia is to be believed, Steve Irwin's recent death is all the fault of John Howard: Steve Irwin assasination.

As Steve Irwins politics had swung well back toward Labor and , ' Man-of-steel', the dictator John Howard began to see Queensland as his ' Leningrad', so a plot was hatched to murder the popular rival to the savage Tyrant.

The Au Navy was tasked to especially fit out an VSW UUV REMUS with a fatal poison barb similar to that which killed a Bulgarian dissident in London.

The offer of a state funeral for Steve was thus a completely hollow and cynical exercise in mock pity and empathy. ' Crocodile tears' you could say.

Australians now live in fear of another ' great terror' from the fearsome Stalin of the southern steppes.

The Kirov assassination led to mass terror, class holocaust and genocide. DEVELOPING...

Sergey Kirov's assassination was the beginning of Stalin's Great Purge, so the article contains at least one truth. It's hard to find another one in there.

Sydney Indymedia is currently hosting one of the most inflammatory threads I've ever seen.

Germaine Greer: Puncturing the National Myth of Steve Irwin

Author, Germaine Greer upset a lot of Australians when she wrote an artical fiercely critical of the late Steve Irwin. The comments on the thread are pretty harsh and there's plenty of them. However, one in particular caught my eye.

Follow the above link, get a taste for the thread and then read this comment.

My name is Alan Rusbridger and I am the editor of the Guardian newspaper http://www.guardian.co.uk/

I fully support Germaines right, and the right of all people of the free speaking world to their right of freedom of speech. I don't know who you people are who think you have the right to dictate what others can and cannot say.

I have been editor of the Guardian since 1995 and will not stand idly by as Germaine is viciously attacked for expressing her opinion. I always tell my staff.."Mean what you say.....................And say what you mean!!!"

Many of our forefathers fought for the freedom of speech, bled and died so that we can live free in a free world. Support Germaine and every other journalist in their right to express their opinions. Anyone who criticises her article is obviously not a believer in freedom of speech.

Is it genuine? Someone asks:

A little off topic, but is Alan Rusbriger and the Greer that posted here, able to be verified? I find it thoroughly odd, that the two would make the grammatical error's (sic) they made. (Typo's (sic) as well?)

The Global Indymedia Page - www.indymedia.org reports

The Israeli military response has always been disproportionate, but in recent weeks has taken on afrightening new aspect: each week, the protesters gather at the site of Wall construction chanting slogans and holding Palestinian flags, wondering what new experimental 'non-lethal' weaponry or brutal new tactic will be tried on them this week.

From a strange blue dye that has been shot at protesters the last three weeks, to a type of rubber-coated bullets that produce electric shocks, it appears that Israel considers these non-violent Palestinian, Israeli and international protesters to be its guinea pigs....and no one in the 'international community' has acted to stop them.

Fear the Zionist Blue Water of Doom, manufactured by grinding smurfs and soaking them in acid rain. Or maybe not... The International Solidarity Movement (for whom regular readers will know I harbour little respect due to their brainwashing of culpable young activists) has more on the evil blue water:

Many demonstrators were soaked by the blue liquid, dying their hair, clothes and skin, and most of them reported subsequent burning and irritation of the skin that lasted into the night. Tear gas was also used against the demonstrators as soon as the water canon was engaged, so it is unclear whether the burning was from gas being absorbed into the wet skin and clothing, or whether the water itself contained a chemical.

Translation, we don't actually know a thing, but let's accuse Israel of using evil mysterious chemical weapons anyway.

Of course this isn't the first time such propaganda has been used against Israel, or US Soldiers. Even when subsequent research proves the claims to be completely false however, the damage is done. Libel's a bitch, and Indymedia seems more than happy to spread it. Again and again.

Elsewhere, in Iran, protesters were recently shot at by far more conventional, previously tested weapons. Bullets.

For some reason, this hasn't received such prominence on the Indymedia website.

Since my reference yesterday to the British TV show QI, I have received an email pointing me to This is a Knife. Follow the link for amusing video. It in turn led me to Catch A Perv - where comedy and child molestation collide, or as the site says:

A website for both comedy and for getting a serious point across.

I might reserve my opinion for now, but if it gets even one pervert off the Internet it's probably a good thing.

Victor Davis Hanson in one paragraph explains why we cannot rely on balanced news coverage from Western reporters in the Middle East:

Trash the U.S. military and you might suffer a bad look at a well-stocked PX as the downside for winning the Pulitzer; trash Hezbollah or Hamas, and you might end up headless on the side of the road.

Despite not being exposed to anywhere near the same risk, it's pretty obvious which side Indymedia chooses.

Read it all and consider: Why is Indymedia proposed as the solution?

Update: Via comments on this post, I am busted

Hmmm, the author shares the same political outlook as this blog - " strongly hawkish, pro-Israel views on the Middle East."(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Davis_Hanson) That'd be your bias showing then.

Or perhaps not... Who knew, reprinting one paragraph would expose me for being "strongly hawkish"? I always thought of myself as something of a chestnut-backed chickadee however each to his own.

It may surprise my anonymous contributor that I read very widely. From the Arab news, Israeli press, obscure American local papers, blogs and yes, even Indymedia. As well as quoteing Victor Davis Hanson, I have quoted Mike Moore, George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden. Your point again?

I pity anybody who gets their news from a single source (particularly if it is Indymedia) or bases their own research solely on a Wikipedia article that anybody can modify. As I have continually maintained - the media has got huge problems with accuracy and balance. Although he denies it, Indymedia certainly has presented itself as a worthwhile alternative however simply can't be taken seriously as one, for all the reasons demonstrated.

I have spent altogether too much time today on Youtube watching clips of the brilliant Stephen Fry in his British Quiz Show Qi.

Contestants lose points if they give an obvious (but wrong) answer, of which for most questions there are several.

Along the same lines comes an article originally in the Irish Times.

Now that a ceasefire in Lebanon has been agreed there will, no doubt, be numerous inquests and questions asked about the month-long Lebanon war. So here's some we would like to ask.

Which country invaded its neighbour in mid-2006 in order to, as they put it,“crush” Islamists threatening regional stability?

Which country killed an estimated 500 people in a week when its artillery began bombarding its long-time guerrilla enemy in late July 2006, causing mass displacement and suffering?

Which country? The obvious answer, is wrong. Click here for the surprising answer.

A post on Melbourne Indymedia asks:

Steve Iwrin is dead. Who cares?

Apparently, the author didn't even care enough to spell his surname correctly. He continues:

No. Steve did not love animals. Steve loved money - and in the end the money killed him. And he knew he had to take stupid risks harrassing wildlife to get it.

Mourn Steve, by all means. But no more than any other Australian businessman. Thats all he was.

Steve loved money? Who knows. He did say "Every cent we earn from Crocodile Hunter goes straight back into conservation. Every single cent."

So it's really what he did with the money that counts. For example:

STEVE Irwin turned a provincial reptile park into an international tourist attraction dragging in an annual income of more than $4million.

Although he could have cashed in by signing up to TV advertising campaigns, the croc-handler preferred to produce documentaries and help out on tourism and environment campaigns.

Each year more than 64,000 overseas flights into Australia begin their descent with a video featuring Irwin warning of the dangers of breaching strict quarantine regulations. When Irwin first appeared in ads for the quarantine service in 2003, critics of his over-the-top style accused him of pocketing $175,000 for a single day's filming.

Irwin later revealed he had not taken a cent for the ad - but the government department had donated the money to his koala hospital.

The full value of Irwin's interests, which include the zoo, production company and large tracts of land he has bought in recent years in Queensland to establish a wildlife refuge, is hard to quantify.

Not that the Indymedia poster made any attempt to find out of course. The article continues:

He was also pivotal to Australian Made campaigns in markets as diverse as the US and Southeast Asia, where his "Crikey" cry was becoming more popular through the impact of satellite TV.

Australian Made CEO Ian Harrison said Irwin's death was a major loss to the campaign.

"Steve has been the frontman for our campaigns for the past 12 months and with great success," he said. "But as much as that is a comment on his enormous public profile, the fact that he did so at no charge says much more about the man's values, commitment to Australia and his generosity."

According to this article:

RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty, who first worked with Irwin when the Crocodile Hunter was just 15, said Irwin's contribution to society would only truly be recognised in the years ahead.

"He put his money where his mouth was," Mr Beatty said.

Much more than can be said of our Indymedia friend. Indymedia readers then fall over themselves to spit on his corpse in the comments which follow:

very amusing death.
cheered me up.
Irwin was a twat, and confirmed the worst stereotypical ideas about Australia.
...
The bottom line is that Irwin was a cock-head, the worst of what it means to be 'Australian'. He helped stereotype this country as a mystical land of yodal-gits. And now we're gonna praise him like a god?

Not fucken me.

Happy thought for the day: Indymedia being attacked by crocodiles.

Is the United States government on the verge of another McCarthyist political witch-hunt? The short answer is no, but that won’t stop a number of Indymedia contributors from furthering this bogus analogy.

“In the US today, ‘terrorism’ has replaced ‘communism’ as the catchphrase for all that is evil in the world. Where the ‘Red Scare’ once saw all left-wingers stigmatised as ‘communists’, it is environmentalists and animal rights activists who are now being targeted as ‘eco-terrorists’ by the media, business interests and politicians…”

This author, who goes by the name of Annie Goodwin, has come to the conclusion that individuals who blow up medical facilities and housing complexes in the name of the environment are simply doe-eyed peace activists, and not the more correct description, terrorists.

If the U.S. was engulfed in a “Green Scare” as people like Goodwin would have you believe, individuals from legitimate groups like the Sierra Club and the UNEP would surely be under surveillance as well. Heck, their organizations would likely be made illegal and their leaders would be forced to answer for their “acts of treason”. But no such thing is happening. If anything, the core values of the environmental movement are more popular and accepted today then ever before.

Federal authorities are not arresting individuals for their beliefs on the environment, but for plotting and executing acts of violence and vandalism that, get this, are against the law regardless of what ideal its proponent espouses. In fact, I am sure the Federal government could care less about your personal feelings on the ecological state of the planet, but the moment they use violence in a self-righteous furry, they have broken the law. It does not matter how true they feel their ideals may be.

So for all you folks who keep screaming about this “Green Scare”, please stop. Terrorists come in many shapes, sizes, and ideologies; just because yours are wrapped in a green flag does not make their actions any less preposterous. Legitimate environmental activists need to make a clean break from the more fringe elements in their ranks, and stop making excuses for aggression and trepidation.

Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center is advertising for staff.

A subsequent discussion will make the successful applicant feel welcome...

I do not like UC-IMC becuase the UC-IMC is a total rip-off. Thousands of IMCistas volunteer their time and blood, yet UC-IMC wants to profit off the ((i)) NETWORK.
...
Establishing paid positions whose purposes revolve around centralizing other people's wealth kind of goes against the spirit of indymedia in general, in my opinion. There are IMCs all over the globe, many in countries much more poverty-striken than the US, who manage to make do without the benefit of grant writers and fundraising coordinators. The idea that these positions are essential in order to provide a community media resource to me is an insult to the concept of community just as the idea of a "membership coordinator" to me is an insult to individual autonomy
...
I am appalled and dismayed that you would be betraying the indymedia cause in this shortsighted and offensive manner. No imcistas outside of UC have ever demanded to be payed for the very important work that we all do. It undermines the efforts that we are all making to transcend the flawed corporate model. It also privileges the work of some imcistas (those who get paid) over the vast majority of others (those who do not).

I hear Dan Rather is looking for a job.

Sydney Indymedia's visceral hatred of John Howard apparently knows no bounds, judging by the piece "John Howard Kills People". Its only content is a poorly Photoshopped picture of the Australian Prime Minister in a black-and-white striped outfit, with the caption "Mr Baldy, Child Killer".

Mr Baldy was a child molestor who abducted his victims. And to think that Indymedia accepts this, yet wants to be taken seriously as an alternative media source.