From the monthly archives: September 2010

I’m a walking, talking ideas man*

By On September 20, 2010 · In As I Am Now

This may come as a surprise to those of you who know how jaded I am, but reading that Civil Rights-era photographer Ernest Mathers was exposed as an FBI informant last week really shocked me. What would compel someone to do such a thing? And how did no one figure it out sooner?

In left-wing activist circles, what do government moles look like? Some are decidedly “fresh-faced” young women, others assume the wise elder role, but a lot of them? They’re attractive, charismatic dudes. (Not counting the agents provocateurs in black bloc/GTO protests and Hal Turner, of course.)

Last week Mikki Halpin tweeted this article: Why Misogynists Make Great Informants. The central premise is interesting and credible — look at Brandon Darby (who is mentioned) and Rob Gilchrist. (I was reminded of Tanja Nijmeijer’s story of her experience as part of FARC.) Ultimately, however, the article failed to fully make the connection between “activist leaders can be chauvinist, manipulative, misogynist assholes” and “by extension, they willingly rat out their organizations.” Still, what is indisputable is that people of color, women and trans* members of activist communities are demeaned, subjugated, and treated like footservants by paternalist egomaniacs with Christ complexes. It’s worth the read.

Meanwhile, our tax dollars (via OHS) are paying for do-nothing private “contractors” for “intelligence on terrorism threats” despite the fact that the Pennsylvania State Police are already tasked with doing just this as part of, um, their JOB:

Adrian R. King Jr., director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) until late 2005, said the state police’s Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center has trained analysts who supply intelligence information and investigative data to help law enforcement counter potential threats.

Instead, he said, the state was paying the Philadelphia-based Institute on Terrorism Research and Response for little more than a compilation of planned public demonstrations by activist groups, including antiwar, environmental, and animal-rights advocates.

I question the legitimacy of these sorts of surveillance programs to begin with, okay, but c’mon folks, if you’re focusing on potential domestic terrorist threats in the state of Pennsylvania and all you can come up with are radical environmentalist potlucks, that’s like trying to study homicides in Florida and overlooking all the serial killers.

*My office mate and I were talking about Chumbawamba the other day, and how everyone learns about them the same way: You’re 17 and someone plays Anarchy for you and you’re like THIS IS AWESOME and then you go to the record store and you accidentally buy that one album of 18th-century anarchist folk songs and you’re like FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

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Hog pest*

By On September 14, 2010 · In Cremains

Severe wild hog damage at a golf course.
hogs
[Bonus: How the hell does something like this happen?]
[Double bonus: if you want it for any thing besides a pet dont tell me about it just come get once it is yours then you can do what you want o do with it ... plz bring some thing to put it in he is not a easy pig to deal with]

*Not so uncommon in Central FL.

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Metaphorical Thunderdome!

By On September 13, 2010 · In Cremains

I don’t even know if these are in fact legitimate, real-life examples of narrowly escaping death, but this video is a perfect encapsulation of the things I worry about when I leave my house every day. [Via]

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Who’s *your* skinhead?

By On September 13, 2010 · In As I Am Now

rahowaSo I’ve learned, via this Word Made Flesh book website, that “so it goes” is not a particularly original tattoo, at least by literary tattoo standards. In fact, if you look at the tag cloud on this website (*also* devoted to literary tattoos), you’ll find that the largest tag is, indeed, Vonnegut. And as confirmed by this post about literary tattoos, coming in second and third are Sendak and everyone’s favorite pedophile, Lewis Carroll. A couple Bukowskis. (Listen, if you find yourself in bed with a dude tattooed with a quote from, say, Women, run like your shoes are made of fire. Take it from someone who had a disastrous relationship in college with a guy with a Celine tattoo.)

Frankly, I am slightly depressed by the number of Harry Potter tattoos. The Little Prince, that’s whimsical and inspiring, I guess. The Giving Tree? Maybe you weren’t aware of how fucking misogynist the storyline is, so that’s forgivable.* But good lord. I know that tattoos are a symbol of your individuality and belief in personal freedom and all, but this is a series that has sold eleventy-billion copies. Why not just get a tattoo of a pizza and one of the American Idol logo? Because everyone in the world loves both those things too.

Anyhow, so tattoos. This mugshot belongs to a racist skinhead named Eric Fairburn who recently confessed to a 2004 murder. He was in a skinhead band called RaHoWa. They’re kinda like Menudo — too many members to keep track of. Historically, they’ve been the mainstream media’s go-to racist band, so if you’ve ever seen one of those lazy History Channel or VH1 “Hate-in-America”-type shows, you’ve seen them. (In the past few years, their lead singer renounced racism, grew a goatee, and started studying Buddhism, which is pretty much the trajectory for all former skins.) Here’s a quote from the above article:

Fairburn’s chilling photo from 2008 shows the word “murder” tattooed across his neck. The tattoo has since been changed to a design looking like a leafy branch. Greene County prosecutors say Fairburn is known to be violent, and also has a tattoo on his head reading “Hoosier skin head,” as well as a tattoo over his right ear that says “Hatred.”
A quick Google search of his name [Ed note: Is this what passes for journalism today?] pulled up a checkered past, including being on a Nazi watch list and being a guitarist for a band whose name stands for “holy war.”

I wish more idiots would get their personal beliefs tattooed on their faces. It makes them so much easier to ridicule. (Speaking of, this is my new favorite blog. Also: Funny how it’s hard for people to grasp that posting your abortion clinic bombing plans on Facebook is not a good idea especially given the fact that the entire internet is owned by ZOG and run by the New World Order, SHEEPLE!)

*BTW: Another favorite pedophile.

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