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Statement from Washington, D.C.

Anti-racist demonstrators in Portland send the message: Fear will not silence us (Leighta Lehto)

WE, STUDENTS at the University of Maryland (UMD) and residents of the Washington D.C, Virginia and Maryland area, extend our solidarity and support, from one community mourning and fighting against racist murder to another.

We send our sympathy and support to the families and communities of Ricky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Micah David-Cole Fletcher. These men were murdered and wounded for standing up to racist hate.

We know firsthand the horror and sadness that plagues a community when such an attack happens.

On May 20, Richard Collins III, a graduating senior at the historically Black college Bowie State University, was murdered on the University of Maryland's College Park campus by a white UMD student for no apparent reason other than violent racism. Collins was also killed for standing up to racism when he said "no" to the demand that he move aside so his attacker could have full control of a nearly empty sidewalk.

What would have simply been an act of rudeness by a white bigot and the reasonable refusal to give into bigoted demands in years past has, in these new times, become an excuse for racist murder.

Racist activity had been on the rise in and around the greater D.C. area in the months leading up to the 2016 election. After Trump's election, we have seen white supremacists act with growing impunity and increased audacity. In the past few months, nooses have been discovered hanging:

-- Inside a UMD fraternity kitchen; -- On the DC campus of American University; and, -- Most recently from a tree outside the Hirshhorn Museum on the National Mall.

On May 31, a noose was discovered inside the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture, at an exhibit about the violent history of the KKK.

The level of boldness it takes for racists to feel confident in vandalizing a memorial to an important aspect of the civil rights struggle and the fight against racism--with the most threatening symbol of the lynching and violence that the struggle fought to overcome--is appalling.

These ugly incidents are part of a national upsurge of threatened and actual violence by the far right, that has touched Portland, College Park, D.C., and other communities as well.

At UMD, we have watched as our university president, like other political leaders locally and nationally, has failed to take seriously the threat of racist violence and neglected to take any meaningful action. We cannot rely on campus administrators, or city and federal officials alone to keep our communities safe. Their tactics of downplaying, dismissing, or ignoring racism have clearly failed.

Instead we need to organize ourselves and make it impossible for the bigots on the far right to propagate their hate or grow their organizations. We stand in full support of the people of Portland taking the streets to condemn the hate and violence of the far right. By protesting them, we demonstrate the strength and numbers of our side. We have the power to outnumber them and win when we all stand together.

We, like you, are organizing anti-racist individuals and groups to oppose the growth of racism by building the broadest anti-racist movement possible. On Tuesday, June 6, a new community grouping, calling itself "D.C. United Against Hate," will hold a town hall meeting called "The Racist Murder of Richard Collins III and the Fight Against the 'Alt-Right'." We expect this will be the beginning of a new movement against racism in and around the nation's capital.

Again, we affirm our solidarity with you and your struggle in Portland. We will have you in our hearts and minds on June 6, as we honor Richard Collins III, Ricky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Micah David-Cole Fletcher in a moment of silence--followed by 120 minutes of speaking out, testifying, and organizing.

The targeting of young Muslim women and the murder of those who stood in their defense in Portland, the murder of Richard Collins at UMD, and the growing presence of open racists in Washington D.C., are horrific reminders of the persistence of racism today and the need to organize for a better world that is free of Islamophobia, racism, sexism, and all other oppression. Together we can win that world!

In solidarity, UMD Socialists and the International Socialist Organization-Washington, D.C. June 3, 2017

Partial list of endorsers of the June 6 meeting in D.C.: Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Circle of Love and Support (COLAS), Code Pink, Faith Strategies, International Socialist Organization, Jewish Voice for Peace -DC Metro Chapter, Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington Action Fund, Protect UMD, Students for Justice in Palestine UMD, UMD Socialists, Washington Peace Center, WPFW 89.3 FM

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IN LIGHT of the tragic and gruesome attacks carried out in both of our cities, the Portland, Oregon, branch of the International Socialist Organization wants to express its solidarity to its comrades and to the community of the greater D.C. area who have experienced racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic attacks.

We send support and compassion to the family and community of Richard Collins III, murdered by a white supremacist as he waited for a ride with his friends.

On May 26, right-wing extremist Jeremy Christian killed Ricky John Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Mecche and wounded Micah David-Cole Fletcher on the public TriMet light-rail train. These people had stood up to Christian as he flung racist abuse at two Muslim female youth who were traveling on the train. The murderer had recently attended right-wing extremist rallies and posted white supremacist propaganda.

This is the same racism that killed Richard Collins III at the University of Maryland campus on May 20. Collin's murderer, Sean Urbanski, was emboldened by the same mass phenomenon as Christian. They identified and organized with the far-right extremists who have been given confidence by the bigoted Trump administration.

Both white supremacists attempted to harass and intimidate, both were challenged, and both resorted to murder.

The tragedies of May 20 in Maryland and May 26 in Portland are both part of the far right's agenda. They have neither vision nor solutions--they can only put forth terror and bigotry. And every ICE raid, every attempt to ban Muslims or attack reproductive rights carried out by Trump inspires the far right to further carry out this horrendous agenda.

We here in Portland stand in full solidarity with you, the students of the University of Maryland and the residents of Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland area, in your struggle against the onslaught of racist attacks in your communities.

Like you, we watch as bigots grow more emboldened while our political leaders do nothing. The racists have left nooses in your schools and your museums, evoking the terror of the lynching tree, and neither campus administrators nor city officials adequately respond.

And like you, we are finding that it is only everyday people, committed to living in a better world, who are organizing a fight back against these right-wing terrorists. We stand in full solidarity with the town hall meeting to be held on June 6 organized by "D.C. United Against Hate."

The day after the attack on TriMet, a vigil was organized here in Portland to honor the heroism of Ricky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Micah David-Cole Fletcher. Around 1,000 people came out to stand witness to their sacrifice. And in our mourning, we also felt anger. People felt the need to stand up, and in midst of so many others feeling the same thing, people became emboldened to fight back.

This determination coalesced into a large demonstration organized against a far-right rally on June 4. Like so many of the far-right events being held throughout the country, this one used the cover of "free speech" to justify spewing their hatred. The murderer Jeremy Christian, being questioned after arrest, said he carried out his violent attacks to protect his free speech.

In the world of the far right, the bigots would be protected as they harass, intimidate and terrorize people of color, women, LGBTQ folks and leftists.

Here in Portland, we have refused to stand by as these bigots take our city. On Sunday, June 4, as many as 1,500 people rallied to challenge the far right. More than 70 organizations endorsed Portland Stands United Against Hate, which brought together voices from the various communities that make up Portland. We outnumbered the bigots. We chanted loudly our solidarity with immigrants, Muslims, Black Lives Matter and all those struggling against terror.

This demonstration and so many others across the nation show that people are ready to stand united against racism, Islamophobia and all kinds of hate. This also proves that a majority of people will not tolerate the hate of the far-right anywhere. The need to build a broad anti-racist movement in our localities and nationwide is evident, and we see by our own actions that that we can do it. Our power relies in our radical solidarity against all forms of hate.

It's an honor to be fighting in the same struggle with you on the other side of the country. From Portland, Oregon, to Washington, D.C., it will be the work of masses of everyday people who take on these racist thugs and defend ourselves.

On both ends of the U.S., and in the many places in between, we want to see a world without racism, without bigotry, where people don't have to be afraid as they ride the train or wait for a ride. So long as we remain united, we can transform the world together.

In solidarity, Portland State International Socialist Organization June 5, 2017

Partial list of endorsing organizations for the June 4 Portland Stands United Against Hate rally: Portland International Socialist Organization, Voz Workers' Rights Education Project, Portland Jewish Voice for Peace, Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights, PCUN (Oregon's Farmworkers Union), Latino Network, Causa, Portland Democratic Socialists of America

Continued here:
Our message of solidarity against the alt-right - Socialist Worker Online

An online campaignlaunched to help raise funds for the legal defense of the editor of The Daily Stormer has exceeded $150,000, with 25 days still left to go. Andrew Anglin, who serves as editor for one of the so-called alt-rights most popular web publications, was sued in April by a Jewish woman for orchestrating a troll storm against her and her family.

Tanya Gersh, a real estate agent in Whitefish, Montana, sued Anglin for invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of Montanas Anti-Intimidation Act arising out of a coordinated, repulsive, threatening campaign of anti-Semitic harassment, according to a complaint filed on her behalf on April 18 by the Southern Poverty Law Center and its Montana co-counsel. The SPLC describes The Daily Stormerwhich is named after Der Strmer, the anti-Semitic Nazi tabloid newspaperas a major neo-Nazi website and refers to Anglin as a well-known neo-Nazi.

As of press time, the fundraiserfor Anglins legal defense had brought in $152,267 from 1,924 contributors. It was initiated by a user named weev, which is the nickname of Andrew Auernheimer, a troll and hacker who reportedly helps sites including The Daily Stormer with tech support. The fundraisers goal is to stop SPLC's perfidious perjurers from destroying the alt-right's biggest website!The Stormer appears to have a link to the fundraiser on the right rail of every page on its site.

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The fundraiser is posted on a crowdsourcing site called WeSearchr, run by blogger Chuck C. Johnson (who was permanently banned from Twitter in May 2015 after asking for support to help take out Deray McKesson). All are welcome to fundraise on my properties, he told the Los Angeles Times.The more mainstream platform Kickstarter does not allow offensive material (e.g., hate speech, encouraging violence against others, etc).Anglin has been banned from most mainstream fundraising and ad revenue platforms, according to the SPLC.

It was Decemberwhen Anglin published an article urging his readers, Lets Hit Em Up. Are yall ready for an old fashioned Troll Storm? Because AYOits that time, fam. The article includes an accusation that Gersh was trying to extort Sherry Spencer, the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer. A video of Richard Spencer, who heads the National Policy Institute, went viral a few days after the 2016 election. It showed Spencer giving a racist, anti-Semitic speech at an NPI conference and being met with cheers and Nazi salutes. His mother published a Medium post the day before Anglins article in which she describedwhat she called threats from Gersh regarding a commercial building she owns in Whitefish. Gersh says Spencer reached out to her for advice on what to do about the property amidthe turmoil surrounding her son.

Just make your opinions known. Tell them you are sickened by their Jew agenda to attack and harm the mother of someone whom they disagree with, Anglin wrote in his December post, which the lawsuit says was the first of 30 articles about Gersh and Whitefish. He warned, As always: NO VIOLENCE OR THREATS OF VIOLENCE OR ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE TO THAT. However, his post included email addresses, phone numbers, street addresses and social media accounts for Gersh, her husband and her 12-year-old son. Anglin asked his readers to call Gersh, leave reviews of her business or even show up at her home. There hasnt ever been a more important campaign than this. So do it!

According to the lawsuit, Gersh and her family received more than 700 harassing messages via mail, email, social media, phone and voicemail. Gersh was called an [O]ven-dodging Christ killer, Worthless fuckin kike and slimy jewess. She and her family received messages such as, We are going to ruin you, you Kike PoS [piece of shit].... You will be driven to the brink of suicide. & We will be there to take pleasure in your pain & eventual end, and, Thanks for demonstrating why your race needs to be collectively ovened, and, You have no idea what you are doing, six million are only the beginning.

The fundraising campaign claims that the lawsuit is a flagrant violation of the rights of the whole Internet to criticize public figures. Though it has surpassed its initial six-figure goal, it calls for supporters to continue to donate. If this is not fought, a major alt-right press outlet will die,the campaigns description insists.

Anglin himself has yet to respond to the lawsuit or have a lawyer respond on his behalf, according to the SPLC, which says heremains in hiding, penning petulant articles for the Stormer and counting the proceeds generated from his personal victim narrative.

Excerpt from:
Hate Pays: Alt-Right Raises $150,000 to Save Neo-Nazi Website ... - Newsweek

One the area's largest school districts in Clifton Park has been making national headlines in the culture wars.

In late May, a Shenendehowa student's art project themed "The Expressive Faces of the President," depicting President Donald Trump, was taken down after profanities appeared on the piece and a Fox News blogger received photographs of the exhibit. The student-artist who created the piece had left markers along with a sign inviting others to add to it, the intent being that the graffiti would augment the artwork. When principal Don Flynt showed up for a scheduled student art show he saw the graffiti and ordered the exhibit taken down, telling Spectrum News: "I was immediately offended by it and took it down, confiscated it."

But some photographs and comments found their way online. Shenendehowa public information officer Kelly DeFeciani says social media kept the story alive, and come Monday Shen was on Fox News. "National media, I think they have people out there looking for things like that, because it is a shocking picture. But what the story doesn't tell is that it was put up there as a piece of art, just the pictures, kids wrote graffiti on it, the principal saw it and took it down immediately that part of the story doesn't get told on social media."

Fox News blogger Todd Starnes, whose Facebook page claimed he was "online" and "typically replies within minutes" to messages, did not answer one from WAMC. Flynt hadn't had much luck reaching Starnes either: "I am concerned that Fox News did not speak to me, even though I reached out to the person who wrote the article."

Some Shen parents reacted angrily to the national story. "We're getting all kinds of hate mail and just nasty things said from all over the country, and they're commenting on profanity that students did with profanity we need everybody to be good role models for our students."

Also in May, two rooms at Shen were appropriated so Muslim students could pray during Ramadan to fulfill religious obligations during school hours. DeFeciani says don't call them "prayer rooms." "The reason why it's two is that we have two school buildings. We have a 9th grade building and a 10-12 building. So it's just a place that kids can go for privacy if they have religious obligations that they need to do during the school day. The fact that it's being called a prayer room is just not accurate. There's nothing in there that's religious, it's not using a classroom space, none of that. It's simply just a place for privacy, and the reason that it came about for Ramadan is because they need to pray every day at a certain time, they have to be on their knees in a certain direction. I mean there's a whole religious obligation, it's not just prayer. They can't do it in the classroom. You know they talk about the separation of church and state, but we've always had to accommodate students' right to prayer, we have kids that pray at our flagpole every morning in a prayer group."

Shenendehowa, in southern Saratoga County, is attended by nearly 10,000 students. Being that large, observers say, will result in headlines from time to time.

In December 2014, the Shenendehowa school board approved a measure 4-2 to allow students on a case-by-case basis to use the bathroom and locker room facilities that reflect the gender they identify with.

In October 2015, a student there started a petition after he claimed school officials told him he could not go to prom in drag.

And in November 2016, alleged racially inflammatory language prompted officials to send a letter to parents asking their help in creating a safe and inclusive environment for all students.

Continued here:
Culture Wars: Fox News Blogger Places Upstate NY School District ... - WAMC

The Ogden Raptors have put forth a serious test of the idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity with the fiasco this week that was the announcement and near-immediate withdrawal of Hourglass Appreciation Night.

The minor league promotion in Utah was not going to be a tribute to vintage timepieces, but rather to shapely ladies, in the best way possible to salute women in 2017, by thoroughly objectifying them.

The Raptors promised real thoroughbreds in the form of 18 hourglass-shaped color commentators in the broadcast booth, a different stunner each half-inning. The plan included live-streaming video of the gorgeous women whose curves rival those of any stud pitching prospect! Fans also would get to pose for pictures with the lovely ladies.

Now, the good part. On Tuesday, the Raptors said that none of this was real. The Ogden Raptors regret that an unauthorized press release was disseminated over the weekend announcing a promotion that was not approved or scheduled by club ownership or management. This promotion will not take place and steps have been put in place to ensure this will not happen again.

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Everyone loves a good mystery, so who might have been responsible for this egregious error? Well, the Raptors website lists 10 positions in the front office, including the assistant groundskeeper, and one of which is Team 86 as director of security. There arent a lot of suspects here, and while the promotion might not have been approved or scheduled by club ownership or management, that sounds a lot like a technicality.

Remember, this is a team that takes groundskeeping seriously enough that 20% of its front office listings are groundskeeping-related. So, now know that it was just last year that Ogden was pretty much forced by the Pioneer League to stop having the infield raked by Drag Queens men in dresses dragging the dirt, get it?

How forced? Salt Lake Citys KUTV reported that Raptors managements response to the man who complained about the Drag Queens read: I had just written a long diatribe in response to your complaint but I deleted it all. Do not respond to this email as we will no longer talk about the matter.

The Raptors also made clear in their press release canceling Hourglass Night that the team would not be taking calls or answering questions on the matter.

So, you may be wondering, how is this series of events anything but terrible for the Ogden Raptors?

Well, Ogden is in Weber County, Utah, a place that went for Donald Trump by 20 points last November, and a theme that you might find among the MAGA hat crowd is that they do not particularly enjoy it when told that the way they enjoy themselves is wrong, be it living out college party fantasies of driving poor people to the morgue, putting up monuments to the Confederacy or treating women as nothing more than sexual playthings at a baseball game.

Here are some comments posted to the teams announcement on Facebook that there would be no Hourglass Night

Mike Simmons: We love our Ogden raptors. The owner puts on such a great event each and every game. Its sad that people are easily offended and cry babys out there. Cant wait for my raptor baseball.

Scott Coleman: Who cares. We are not offended

Jared T. Legge: The only thing you have to apologize for is for all the snowflakes ruining a good promotion.

The comments werent exclusively like this, but you get the idea there are lots of people out there who see the disgrace in this story being the fact that the Raptors were forced by snowflakes to cancel a good promotion, rather than it being, well, the incredibly obvious disgrace of considering this a good promotion in the first place. Had this not been such a busy week, you couldve easily seen Fox News getting in on this with a shout about political correctness and all the rest.

In the universe where the Raptors are the aggrieved party in this story, which somehow also is the universe we live in, people hearing about the Raptors for the first time might be inclined to show their support. They might want to buy something. Say, a cap.

Well, good news, the Ogden Raptors have those folks covered.

Because of course they do.

Read the rest here:
Welcome To The Culture Wars, Minor League Baseball - Dealbreaker

Google searches for the DUP will have gone through the roof today after speculation that Theresa May will form a coalition government with the party - but some people were probably shocked by what they discovered.

The Tories lost control of the Commons in yesterday's general election when they failed to win the 326 seats needed to form a majority.

It is thought they will now look to enter a coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP ) to push them over the threshold and allow them to form a government.

But some people aren't a fan of the DUP, who oppose abortion and support Brexit .

This dislike has resulted in their Wikipedia page being hacked by a prankster - and replaced with information about the Nazi party.

A screengrab of their Wikipedia page shows Adolf Hitler listed as leader and the name changed from Democratic Union Party to 'Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party' - the official name of the Nazis.

It also lists the deputy leader as Nigel Farage, the former UKIP leader who campaigned for Brexit.

The headquarters are down as an address in Berlin, 'ethnic cleanse county' and under 'ideologies' somebody added "Nazisism".

Anyone who googled the DUP earlier on would have got a bit of a shock.

But the page seems to have returned to normal now and lists Arlene Foster as leader, along with accurate information.

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On the Wikipedia tab showing the history of the page, there is a long list of edits made today as pranksters try to change the information published for the party.

Anyone can edit Wikipedia pages.

The Democratic Unionist Party are based in Northern Ireland and are the fifth largest party in Westminster, with 10 seats.

The party, led by Arlene Foster, is famously anti-abortion and pro-Brexit, deny climate change and don't believe in LGBT rights.

Read more about the DUP Manifesto here .

Here is the original post:
DUP Wikipedia page hacked by prankster to show Nazi party information - with Adolf Hitler as leader - Mirror.co.uk