Indy Media Watch

Further to our recent report on UK Indymedia's disgraceful behaviour, comes this comment on the post:

Well my friend you have caused a right old storm at Indymedia UK. Your story and the comments to it caused a number of regular contributors to do some research on the hiding pages and to question who was really running the site. Those who do some occasional work for the newswire have realised how they have been compromised by the small group who have been trying to gain full control. Last night (UK time) a number of people had their passwords removed and this morning the reporting e-mail List was suspended with a number of emails removed from the public area so the extent of the outcry could not be seen.

The line seems to be to try and ignore the protests in the hope it will go away and there has been lots of reports (some simply copies of other reports) about a minor event at the London Mexican embassy to try and divert attention. The hidden pages have been cleansed as of this morning with perhaps 30 posts being removed altogether to prevent viewing. All posts are now being reviewed for content before coming up on the newswire and many are not being allowed.
Of course those who are objecting are being labled Trolls, Zionists and Neocons in the usual manner.

Keep it up Indymedia Blogspot, we are winning.


ex IMC er

As always, anybody who objects to disgusting antisemitism on Indymedia can only possibly be a Zionist Troll, Mossad spy, paid COINTELPRO agent etc. I've certainly been called all of the above. Nowhere in these sick people's minds, has the thought occurred some people actually disagree with them and have morally decent values.

UK Indymedia appears to be undergoing the start of a revolution. I don't dare take credit for it, but I say it's long overdue. Roll on reform.

Via Bay Area Indymedia comes reports and photos from the ANSWER March and Rally on October 28.


These people are sick.


Is this guy actually Jewish? Or did he pick up that poorly fitting yarmulke from his boss's son's Bar-Mitzvah.

What the hell is wrong with these people?

***Scroll for updates***

UK Indymedia carries the astonishing news, that

THE JEWISH LOBBY DOMINATES US FOREIGN POLICY

In capital letters no less!

The Christian lobby, Environmental lobby, Womens lobby, Black lobby, Muslim Lobby, Chinese Lobby and Gay lobby are of course furious they aren't getting the attention they deserve.

Via comments on another post:

this load of anti semitic filth was at first hidden (and rightly so) but one of the Indymedia UK editorial board thought it quite acceptable and un-hid it. The claim that Jews are dictating US foriegn policy of course being all the rage now on IM

It has been "all the rage" for quite some time. As a later comment on the UK Indymedia page notes:

Oh, those pesky, pesky Jews, running the world with their International Jewish Conspiracy again. When will they ever learn?

Good thing that we've got UK Indymedia to alert the world to the ever-growing Jew threat to civilization. Otherwise, people would be forced to turn to neo-Nazi sites and David Irving to get this kind of information.

Indeed. Nazi groups are also furious they aren't getting the attention the deserve. How could they possibly compete with Indymedia?

Update: While the above article remains visible on the newswire, this comment has been hidden:

Enough now please.

Most of us that look at the newswire are used to having to plough through the anti-semitism that is dressed up as a concern for the Palestinians but this load of crap really takes the biscuit. Why hasn't it been sent to the Hidden file where it belongs.

The newswire is losing both contributors and readers because of the non stop emphasis on Jews and Israel and this will not help. Let's get back to talking about issues relating to UK activism and remember that racism when it is directed against Jews can not be excused by calling them Zionists.

Rick in London

Good one UK Indymedia...

Update: A comment to this post:

Fame at last for the Indymedia Watch site !!!
This series of comments to the original post has been quoted in a number of round robin emails flying between the select central group of admins on the Indymedia UK site.

ex-IMC er

Fame at last! Gosh and it's only been two and a half years. Perhaps my new found readers at UK Indymedia will pay heed to what I've been saying all along... Then again, there's always The Jews.

There appears to be a decent discussion going on at Santa Cruz Indymedia (part of the Indybay network) concerning what content is allowed to be posted at their affiliate. Both Indymedia Watch and my personal blog are referenced in the discussion. In fact, the piece and the comments that precede it clearly sum up the ethical problems most Indymedia websites face.

Within the thread, there is some wonderful evidence showing Indybay’s systematic censorship of all ideas that fall outside of the accepted party line.

“There is a difference between moderation and censorship. Moderation means banning things like spam, physical threats (an illegal form of speech), and gutter language, especially gutter language directed at people because of their race, religion, or ethnicity.

Saying that the Palestinian government oppresses gay people and mistreats women is not hate speech or uncivil, and the moderators' decision to remove such postings is proof that Indybay was lying about its "progressive" stand on these issues. You are either for women's and gay rights (rights = the basic right to not be killed or brutalized for being who you are) or you are not, and that team of Indybay moderators showed where they stood. This was of course very damaging to Indybay's credibility.” - Bill Levinson

Well said. Levinson goes on to confront yet another hot button topic so often spread amoungst Indymedia affiliates.

“"Would you be offended by a posting sayings " Olmert says, 'Kill a Palestinian for Moses.'?"

If Olmert actually said something like that, I would repudiate him as a dictator every bit as bad as Ahmadinejad (or Hitler) but neither he nor any other responsible Israeli leader has said anything like it. There are some ultra-right-wing Israelis who believe this sort of garbage and I consider them every bit as reprehensible as Islamofascists, but they are a tiny minority and Israeli law does not condone their position. In contrast, Israeli law would punish them for killing innocent Palestinians.

The Palestinian Authority's laws sanction and condone the brutalization and murder of gay people, and often look the other way when a woman is killed by her family for "dishonoring" herself

through sexual intercourse, which included being raped.”

The entire thread is worth checking out.

A typical anti-Israel article on UK Indymedia claims the UK Press is ignoring Israel's use of cluster bombs in the recent war with Hezbollah. A subsequent comment:

Human Rights Watch reported that Hezbollah also fired Cluster munitions at Israeli civilian areas.

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/18/lebano14412.htm

Whilst accusing the UK Press of ignoring what Israel did - even though phosphorus bombs are not illegal - it's quite telling that you completely ignore the behaviour of Hezbollah terrorists

Hardly surprising, but then comes this comment:

Um, if you read the report carefully, you'll note that HRW's only source for that particular allegation is Israel. Not exactly credible.

Although this claim is demolished by a later comment, I'm sure Human Rights Watch must love the respect they get from fellow 'activists' on UK Indymedia.

Up the road on Ireland Indymedia, in a separate report:

On Monday RTE made a major news report about what it claimed was the presence of Islamic cells linked to Al-Qaeda in Ireland. The source of the report was the US Government.

The US Government is hardly a reliable source considering they have been shown to be liars time and time again in relation to reports made linking Iraq to weapons of mass destruction, Al Qaeda and the attacks on Pentagon World Trade centre. (sic)

Definition of Chutzpah: Indymedia dismissing the credibility of others.

The headline screams "REAL Inconvenient Truth", but this article on Arizona Indymedia contains barely any truth at all. To quote the whole thing would be appropriate on one-level, but due to the lack of paragraphs and sentence structure, only the highlights have been reproduced.

bush is a foolish twitchimp. ... At the end of ww2 the nazi scientists were split between russia and america, so that the cold war could ensue at the peoples expense, fanning the fires of fear both here and in the soviet union...naziism is catholicism btw...then, after russia WON the cold war by successfuly using telsa tech to dehydrate our country since the 60s (evidence blatant), the mental conditioning here had proceeded via religion and TV to get Americas minds away from learning and into, well, into garbage. The bush family, who financed hitler also btw, said now the time is ripe because we have used our half of the nazi scientists (Disguised as rocket scientists -- a joke because rockets have been passe since hitler!) who are really MK specialists to spread their intellectual disease and self fulfilling prophecy and just plain ignorance, via redstone arsenal HSV, to the entire bible belt through people/moles like robertson and falwell and the queens knight billy f graham, and all those other idjits who have one hand out and one leg up...NOW we will deploy this ice cap melting ENMOD plan of hitlers (ARKTOS) and call it Gods work, and just mentally bomb any and all who squawk. LINES IN THE SKY ARE TO KILL YOU!!! The NWO is the 4th reich is the reuniting of the nazi team which here has become the CIA. Catholix in Action.

A pause to allow the readers to catch their breath. Later on, a caption for an image reads

ABOVE--A RUIN ON THE MOON THAT WAS ONCE A DOMED CITY AND IS AS BIG AS LOS ANGELES. THE CAVE INS IN LINES ARE UNDERGROUND ROADWAY. ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS KENNEDY WAS KILLED WAS BECAUSE HE TRIED TO MAKE THE MACHINATIONS OF ENGLAND AND THE BUSH FAMILY (ENGLANDS AGENTS) PUBLIC.

No further comment really is necessary.

Via Technology Evangelist comes news that Markos Moulitsas at Daily Kos has asked to be removed from Google News. He was quoted as saying:

"A "news" operation needs to present news, and credible news at that. That means get rid of the blogs (mostly opinion), get rid of the no-name sites, the conspiracy sites, and the rest of that crap.

Would that include Indymedia?

John Aravosis from AmericaBlog asks:

Is it just me, or has Google News become useless? Their definition of "news sites" seems to include an ever increasing number of simply bizarre Web sites that aren't even the top in their category of site. Meaning, they've tried to include blogs, but only some blogs, and many of the ones they have you'll never have heard of, and many of the ones you have heard of are just plain bad. When I'm doing a news search, I want news site - not blogs, not left-wing conspiracy sites, or right-wing religious nutjobs. News

No, it isn't just you.

UK Indymedia carries the alarming headline: Israel to bomb Europeans and reports:

Israel claims it will carry on breaking international law and humiliating Lebanon by infringing its airspace.

Amir Peretz, the defence minister, was said to have told the weekly cabinet meeting: "The Lebanese government is weak so we can do what we like and if the European troops try to stop us we will slaughter them also."

Uh huh. Sure he did.

Comments on the article say more about the article. It's continuing presence on the newswire speaks volumes of UK Indymedia.

A Brazilian Cartoonist known as "Latuff" is a frequent and regular contributor to Indymedia.

His latest, disgraceful work - The White House (with a giant swastika protruding) continues a simplistic theme.

Little wonder the appalling Iranian Holocaust cartoon contest adored him. Just like Indymedia.

A message on Sydney Indymedia concerning the closure of a related activist website's hosting includes this comment, apparently by one of the Sydney admins:

Sydney Indymedia will be moving to axxs.org for hosting.

The reason c@t is no longer doing hosting is because there are not enough volunteers left to keep everything going. Simple.

HOWEVER.

The Sydney IMC collective has whithered away over the last few years. There is only a few of us left doing a large amount of work. If there is not a significant influx of volunteers to the collective in the next few months, we all may see the end of Sydney Indy.

I should note, for the record, that Sydney Indymedia appears to have been dramatically cleaned up since the last time I had a good look at it. It would seem consigning Faruque Ahmed permanently to the trash is a large part of this. So, credit where credit is due.

However, there is no shame and much honour in deciding to close something down rather than let it fester. This is not failure. I have previously called for Indymedia seppuku and as I said at the time:

I am not looking to offend anyone with this. I am not trying to censor anyone, nor am I interested in gloating after Indymedia's demise should this take place.

It's a difficult decision to make, but a responsible one is needed. Other IMC's have demonstrated such responsibility whereas some remain in utter denial.

Melbourne Indymedia shows once again why an open source media isn't always the most reliable place to get your news in an article titled "' John Howard is an arsehole'". It starts with:

Dr David Suzuki, the famous scientist, writer and activist spoke today at the National Press club. He called that little shit John Howard what he so obviously is...an arsehole.

Only, he didn't. Comments reveal what Suzuki actually said, which was:

He said if he abused the Prime Minister he would get better coverage.

"If I were to say -- I'm not saying this, but if I were to say -- 'John Howard is an a---hole', I might even get a 10-inch column (in a newspaper)."

Which is much more than just ironic, since Indymedia has an article with that exact same headline running right now. What Suzuki attacks the media over is what the MainStreamMedia hating Indymedia is doing.

An article on LA Indymedia asks Why the Left is Silent About 911 Truth and conspiracy theories.

They are?

The article then goes on to blame........Wait for it......Have you guessed yet.....Jews for controlling the Left-Wing

The fact is that the left-wing/liberals are dominated by Jewish activists who, let's face it are pro-Israel as a Jewish state and therefore they are Zionists. To be pro-Israel as a Jewish state is akin to being pro-apartheid in South Africa and actually it's worse than that because what's been happening to the Palestinians since 1948 (and now the Lebanese) is obviously FAR WORSE than what happened to blacks during apartheid South Africa.

If Israel is responsible for worse apartheid than South Africa, how is it so, that a Palestinian man or woman can walk onto the same bus as Israelis, or into the same restaurant as Israelis, or into the same nightclub as Israelis and blow himself up killing all of them?

Of course it gets better:

The Zionist/Jewish dominated media has trained the American public so well, of all creeds, to look at Israel as the poor little victim in the Middle East and at all Jews as the most victimized ethno-religious group in the world and in the universe throughout history for all time--- BUT the fact is the Jewish activists played a leading role in the bloody and brutal Bolshevik Revolution and the Communist movement --- this is one reason Jewish people were not especially popular leading up to the WWII. Of course many innocent Jewish people were killed during WWII but obviously many innocent people get killed during any war, yet Americans (and the world) are constantly only reminded of Jewish deaths during WWII.

So there you have it. Jewish media control, revision of history and justification for the Holocaust. I haven't even printed the remaining errors of fact in the piece.

But don't worry about the author. He goes on to explain why he's not an antisemite. No really.

Thus far, there is only one comment so here's a question for Indymedia: Why is the Left silent about antisemitism?

On some level, credit must be given to Tom Heneghan, the author of a piece called "THE BUSH-CLINTON CRIME SYNDICATE AT IT AGAIN" which attempts to spit on the reputation of virtually everyone imaginable.

Karl Rove has pulled his October surprise. Rove has got extortion-friendly Hillary (Gay-in-the-closet) Rodenhurst-Clinton , business partner of the Bush Crime family to file her exploratory Presidential papers as of today. This will lead, of course, to Hillary being the media face of the Democratic Party and the immediate collapse of the Democratic Poll Numbers in the South and the Midwest. Yes, the Bush family plays the Clinton card.

Labelling every second person mentioned in the article as gay, gay-in-the-closet or something similar appears to be the only way Heneghan can describe anyone. At least it beats the treatment dished out to the former head of Disney.

STAY TUNED NEW SCANDAL DEVELOPING LINKING DISNEYLAND & MICHAEL EISNER TO A PEDOPHILE PIMP OPERATION. CHILDREN ARE PHOTOGRAPHED ON "ITS A SMALL WORLD" RIDE BY PIMPS LINKED TO THIS PEDOPHILE RING.

Naturally, no evidence is provided, and likewise for the claims made against a Republican congress member:

P.S.- Kurt Weldon has now been fingered as a KGB operative per a U.S.-French Interpol investigation Story developing stay tuned to more later today.

It's actually spelt Curt, not Kurt, but when facts become irrelevant it appears spelling can be similarly dismissed. A summary search of the author's website reveals that the outlandish claims do not end there; here's his poll question.

Do You Believe Daddy Bush Can Continue To Bully America Into A State of Fear using Cloakwork Orange mind controlled programmed children-assassins like Bush Did To The Amish In Pennsylvnia?

The man is clearly not entirely with it, which would explain why his articles are being reprinted on Indymedia. However, it doesn't justify the attack of countless public figures with lies. Indymedia administrators should hide all these articles to show that they believe an open source media should be used for news and opinion, not slander and libel.

Update: Sydney Indymedia does remove articles for legal reasons. If the lawyers representing Weldon, Eisner, any Clinton or Bush actually cared about Indymedia - or if any serious person actually believed what they read there - this would surely fall under this category.

LA Indymedia reports Help Needed to release Bil'in photographer

Your help is needed to help release Emad Mohammad Bornat of the village of Bil'in, video photographer for Reuters and documentary film maker, who was arrested on Friday October 6th,2006 by a Israeli Border Police unit that entered the village, firing rubber bullets and sound grenades

After the whole piece, a subsequent comment refers to another (non-Indymedia or ISM) news report and points out a problem:

ISM WRITES: "He is a man of peace and a dedicated and responsible video-photo-journalist. "
NISSAN RATZLAV WRITES: "A videotape that the prosecution presented to the judge shows Boghnat encouraging and directing rioters in Bil'in to throw large chunks of rock at Israeli vehicles in such a way as to cause maximum damage. The accused is heard shouting, "Throw, throw!" and later, "Throw towards the little window!"

BECKY: Here the ISM is presenting this as a crackdown on freedom of speech and freedom of the press, implying that he was arrested for video-taping. But even with the videotape presented in court, we STILL can't get a straight story out of the ISM They claim they are "strictly non-violent."

Then why do they sport rifles?

An excellent question. Indymedia's attitudes towards Israel are well recorded, as are my thoughts on the lies and fraud of the International Solidarity Movement. However, right here, is what appears to be a classic example of media manipulation, bias and fake journalism. Despite regarding itself as the antidote to media bias, Indymedia instead appears to be a huge part of the problem.

What a disgrace.

Bay Area Indymedia is carrying more details of protest activity after Lynne Stewart's conviction.

Victory, victory is our cry! The class struggle is the reason why! Lynne Stewart, the civil rights lawyer framed on false terrorism charges, is free on bail pending appeal, and if, and only if, the appeal fails, she may serve 28 months in prison instead of 30 years. Her interpreter was sentenced to 1 year in prison and her paralegal, who has served 4 years and was faced with life in prison, was sentenced to 24 years. ALL ARE NOT GUILTY and their cases on appeal. The Lynne Stewart case is a benchmark of all of our struggles today: We must be "in their face" and point the finger at the Bush Administration as it is Bush & Co. who are the world's terrorists.

The depth of Bush Terror knows no bounds:

And, as everyone who has been active in all of the peace and social justice movements knows, the US government is always lying until proven otherwise. We also know that the US military and the CIA, both agents of US capitalism, with its primary goal of maximization of profits, have been perpetrating the same heinous crimes all around the world since 1945, being the political heirs of that previous anti-communist, blood for oil warmongering government, Nazi Germany, and the US government has perpetrated heinous crimes against the workingclass of the US since its inception with the genocide of Native Americans, enslavement of Africans and vicious exploitation of the labor of the the entire workingclass. All of the bombings, such as occurred recently in London and Madrid, are, and should always be assumed to be, agent provocateur actions of the US government as that is who has the motive, means and opportunity.

Idiots.

Some Indymedia contributors are now openly supporting those who shoot-up schools.

“Who is Eric? A human being. A fifteen-year old freshman at Weston High School in Cazenovia, Wisconsin. On September 29, 2006, he shot and killed school principal John Klang. He has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and faces life in prison.

Why should we support him? Because in his own way, Eric had the courage to fight back against a school system that psychologically molests us every day, deprives us of autonomy and freedom, runs our spirits through a conveyor belt of discipline and coercion to spit out obedient workers and slaves. Eric followed his heart’s fiery anger and struck back with the desperation of caged animal, against the system that confined him and dominated his life.”

Disgusting. Do these folks hate us so much that they now feel the need to support crazed individuals who kill innocent school officials?

(This is a cross post from But I am a Liberal)

Bay Area Indymedia reports calls for a NATIONAL DAY OF OUTRAGE IN RESPONSE TO LYNNE STEWART VERDICT.

Lynne Stewart was convicted on conspiracy charges of aiding and abetting terrorism, of defrauding the U.S. government and of violating a government Bureau of Prisons Special Administrative Order (SAM) when she released a press statement from her 1995 client, the Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel Rachman. As a comment notes:

Stewart was the attorney for Egyptian Muslim Nazi Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, who is serving a federal prison term of life without parole for being the leader of the Al Qaeda gang who assassinated Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1990 and who bombed the World Trade Center for the first time in 1993.

While visiting her client Rahman in a cozy prison hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, Stewart agreed to transmit Rahman's murderous instructions to his fellow Islamic terrorists in Egypt. And indeed as soon as she left the federal prison hospital, Stewart called a Reuters reporter in Egypt to tell him to report on his news wire that Rahman was urging his followers to resume their terrorist attacks against non-Muslim "infidels."

The jury in the Stewart case heard tapes and saw video of Stewart receiving her terrorist instructions from Rahman in the prison hospital visiting room.

Indybay has more.

The one bit they don't have however, is the actual sentence she received. 28 Months. Plenty of other blogs are already discussing this however for one which is so involved in the matter, Indymedia is yet to be updated. Once again, Indymedia establishes itself as quality 'media'.

Will the "Day of Outrage" take place? Will the outrage include arson and beheadings? Stay tuned...

Indymedia routinely tells me that nuclear weapons are bad. That is, unless they are controlled by a rogue regime that habitually oppresses its people, treats its own citizens as subhuman creatures, and threatens its neighbors. Then it’s just peachy!

“North Korea Has The Right To Self Defense!” by Steven Argue
Socialists defend and support the right of North Korea to possess nuclear weapons for their own defense against the arrogant militarism of U.S. imperialism…… Another war on the Korean Peninsula would be a disaster for the people of Korea and the people of the entire region.

Isn’t that an argument against NK having an atomic weapon? Ah yes, I forgot the very important equation most Indymedia articles must be processed through.

United States = Evil
Communist Countries = Awesome

How silly of me to forget.

Oddly enough, most of the article asks North Korea to move away from market reforms.

“In the face of the current economic crisis the North Korean leadership has, however, made important mistakes by introducing market reforms that have negated some of the advantages of the socialist economy.”

You know, those reforms that have made China the functioning nation they are today. North Korea’s socialist policy works so well, they only have to deal with semi-regular starvation! Who would want to backtrack on that kind of progress?

“It says much about the superiority of the socialist economic model that the poor and isolated Soviet Union was able to build up a strong economy that met the people’s needs.”

Hahaha……I am sorry. Do I really have to respond to that one?

Melbourne Indymedia features a post that claims that "Indy is dying".

Two obvious reasons are heavy handed censorship without a clear, easily locatable hidden dir where people are able to see clearly the infiltrators and other fascists destroying Indy AND of course troll and planned flood attacks from lobbies such as the Israel lobby and other groups who flood threads in order to kill activity and debate.

It would appear that those who actually care about Indymedia blame two problems for their woeful use of an open source media: censoring out articles that are offensive or there to flood the network, and people who make flood/troll attacks. In context, the argument is self-defeating. The comments, however, are quite enlightening:

Doesn't matter tho', reality is about to wield a big fucking stick to sort it all out. Only those in touch with their animal roots will survive. All the high brow, cerebral types will curl up and die. They haven't got the mongrel. Blessed be the right wing survivalists and left wing gutter crawlers for they shall inherit the earth. And between those two groups the individualism of the survivalists will succumb to the power of the collectivist tribes. Maybe there'll even be a critical mass for the human race to start civilisation again. Then again, maybe not.

One or two generations, three at the most.
...
So just continue in your non-existence you fucked up piece of NOTHING.
...
Pull your fingers out and get on with it before Big Brother like in China decides the time to comment and question the Authority of say Phil Ruddock is over.

By the way the 1984 updated play version on currently in melbourne is excellent look at the media, hate campaigns, fear industry, spins etc.

If you say so.

Seattle Indymedia on North Korea:

North Korea has the right to test and possess nuclear weapons
...
The anti-war movement must direct all of its energy and demands against the aggressors—particularly, U.S. imperialism, the most dangerous and dominant power in the world today. All attempts to place demands on countries and people targeted by the White House and the Pentagon should be resisted.

Sigh...

You'd think there were other issues in North Korea that might warrant the attention of some movements. However - just like Saddam Hussein's treatment of Iraqis -, they just don't. Until the US gets involved. The Left needs to have a good think about that.

Other pro-democracy thoughts currently on Seattle Indymedia:

democracy- bullshit since day 1.

As opposed, to say, Indymedia?

Jeremy Sears, previously reported here has, according to Chicago Indymedia in the case regarding the ProtestWarrior website break-in.

Far from closing ranks as is common after protest arrests, it would appear that Hammond has been ostracised by other activists:

Jeremy hammond has turned in evidence that has incriminated other activists and anarchists and has been removed for the community. He should not be worked with and should be regarded as a snitch. Indymedia should remove this posting.

Censorship! This issue may explain why FreeJeremy.com really, really doesn't look like the activist site it did previously. Get your Free Jeremy!

Within minutes of the explosion in North Korea, thought to be nuclear, came this article on the global Indymedia page.

CBS News ready to report that North Korea Nuclear Test was not a nuclear test at all in fact the explosion in North Korea was an accidental detonation of dynamite linked to three regiments in the North Korean army who patrol the area.

There is still some doubt whether the test was nuclear or a hoax and we should know any day now. Via Indymedia however, we learn the Shocking Truth: It's all a Bush ploy...

Bush, Putin and the Chinese President created this façade to disguise a massive fund transfer out of the Northern Trust Bank in Chicago linked to funds that were designated for the payment of the Reagan-Mitterrand Protocols; funds that were due to Ambassador Leo Wanta.

The funds of course belong to the US and French Treasuries not to the Chinese Box Gang.
...
It can now be reported that that leader of North Korea, received 55 million dollars to go along with this ruse and four Swedish women that were flown to North Korea a week before the phony test.

As with all such conspiracy theories, a massive number of links and news clippings (devoid of context) are provided. One imagines it would take a while to compile such information, but perhaps not if your mind was made up already and all that's missing is the date and time.

The opening comment about CBS News is a nice touch.

This article on Boston Indymedia reports:

As of 3 o’clock this morning the statue of Christopher Columbus standing in the North End has been drenched with red paint. This stain is a symbolic action celebrating the collaborative efforts of the privileged and the oppressed in the fight for collective liberation.

Charming. Vandalism is 'symbolic'.

Previous examples (a very small sample) of such 'symbolism' here and here.

Leigh over at the House of Wheels observes

Indymedia is once again running claims that Israel has been waging a genocidal war against Palestine for almost 60 years.

He notes:

The [Palestinian] growth rate was 3.8 percent, one of the highest in the world.

and adds:

This would have to be in the Guinness Book of Records, under "least successful ever genocide attempt".

This last comment reminded me of an old favourite post which quoted someone who made a similar point:

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.

But has any of this stopped the words "genocide" being thrown around by anti-Israel polemicists? Of course not. Just like the words "Nazi" and "Fascist" constantly being thrown around by privileged schoolkids. This is of course a crying shame for real victims of genocide happening right now, whose problems are largely ignored due to "more popular causes" that seem to have their roots in baseless and untrue propaganda. Something Indymedia's pretty good at spreading.

A post on NYC Indymedia contains Some notes after the World Can't Wait Protest the other day.

First, and foremost, lose the 9-11 alliance. I understand that we need to be big tent and eaactually change anything, but conspiracy theorists aren't merely wrong. They get us painted with the same brush: shoddy analysis strung together with chicken-wire, grating paranoia, and an implicit embrace of a lot of American problems (Did I hear a 9-11 person say something antisemitic today? Yes.). Worse, they handed out anti-war stuff while wearing 9-11 shirts. Cut the 9-11 people loose, let them have their own events, and get back to addressing the root causes of war and poverty.

Knowing who the organizers of World Can't Wait are however, perhaps they should also address that whole "Communism" thing. Some disagree:

People will think what they want. I'm so sick and tired of hearing some weak people afraid of hearing "looney conspiracy theorists" trotted out when someone mentions 9-11 was an inside job. Keep saying "911/Inside Job" people. If enough people say it, then maybe it won't seem so strange, and more people will open their mind to the possibility that 911 was indeed engineered to allow the Bush regime/neocons to accomplish their goals.

Great tactic. People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it... Where have I heard that before?

A comment checks on the success of the event:

So how was it?

Did you drive out the Bush regime?

Let me check.

Nope, he still there.

So the waiting resumes...

Ananova reports:

Police in Poland have launched a nationwide hunt for a man who farted loudly when asked what he thought of the president.

Hubert Hoffman, 45, was charged with "contempt for the office of the head of state" for his actions after he was stopped by police in a routine check at a Warsaw railway station.

He complained that under President Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother Jaroslaw, the country was returning to a Communist style dictatorship.

When told to show more respect for the country's rulers, he farted loudly and was promptly arrested.

And he's probably going to jail for it. Something for Indymedia posters to consider next time they bitch about America being totalitarian.

Via email, it seems the comment submission on San Francisco Indymedia is completely broken. What's going on?

This article appeared in Rolling Stone:

A few weeks ago I wrote a column on the anniversary of 9/11 that offhandedly dismissed 9/11 conspiracy theorists as "clinically insane." I expected a little bit of heat in response, but nothing could have prepared me for the deluge of fuck-you mail that I actually got. Apparently every third person in the United States thinks George Bush was behind the 9/11 attacks.

I know the feeling. BTW, comments are open.

I don't have the space here to address every single reason why 9/11 conspiracy theory is so shamefully stupid, so I'll have to be content with just one point: 9/11 Truth is the lowest form of conspiracy theory, because it doesn't offer an affirmative theory of the crime.

Forget for a minute all those Internet tales about inexplicable skyscraper fires, strange holes in the ground at Shanksville and mysterious flight manifestoes. What is the theory of the crime, according to the 9/11 Truth movement?

He goes into the basis of it, but this made up commentary seems to consolidate the opinions of the Truth Movement:

BUSH: I'm a total idiot who can barely read, so I'll buy that. But I've got a question. Why do we need to crash planes into the Towers at all? Since everyone knows terrorists already tried to blow up that building complex from the ground up once, why don't we just blow it up like we plan to anyway, and blame the bombs on the terrorists?

RUMSFELD: Mr. President, you don't understand. It's much better to sneak into the buildings ourselves in the days before the attacks, plant the bombs and then make it look like it was exploding planes that brought the buildings down. That way, we involve more people in the plot, stand a much greater chance of being exposed and needlessly complicate everything!

CHENEY: Of course, just toppling the Twin Towers will never be enough. No one would give us the war mandate we need if we just blow up the Towers. Clearly, we also need to shoot a missile at a small corner of the Pentagon to create a mightily underpublicized additional symbol of international terrorism -- and then, obviously, we need to fake a plane crash in the middle of fucking nowhere in rural Pennsylvania.

RUMSFELD: Yeah, it goes without saying that the level of public outrage will not be sufficient without that crash in the middle of fucking nowhere.

CHENEY: And the Pentagon crash -- we'll have to do it in broad daylight and say it was a plane, even though it'll really be a cruise missile.

BUSH: Wait, why do we have to use a missile?

CHENEY: Because it's much easier to shoot a missile and say it was a plane. It's not easy to steer a real passenger plane into the Pentagon. Planes are hard to come by.

BUSH: But aren't we using two planes for the Twin Towers?

CHENEY: Mr. President, you're missing the point. With the Pentagon, we use a missile, and say it was a plane.

BUSH: Right, but I'm saying, why don't we just use a plane and say it was a plane? We'll be doing that with the Twin Towers, right?

CHENEY: Right, but in this case, we use a missile. (Throws hands up in frustration) Don, can you help me out here?

RUMSFELD: Mr. President, in Washington, we use a missile because it's sneakier that way. Using an actual plane would be too obvious, even though we'll be doing just that in New York.

BUSH: Oh, OK.

Read it all.