Matthew Q. Gebert, a foreign affairs officer attached to the Bureau of Energy Resources has not only been outed as a white supremacist, but further investigation has revealed that he lead the D.C. chapter of The Right Stuff, named after the popular alt-right blog of the same name, even hosting fellow white supremacists for meetings at his home. In summary: the leader of an organized white supremacist group works in the heart of the U.S. government. He is likely one of many.
One reason this connection was made immediately apparent is that Gebert conducted his alt-right online business under a pseudonym, “Coach Finstock,” or sometimes just “Finstock.” He also tweeted support for Neo-Nazism and fascism under the now defunct Twitter handle @NeverCuck.
In 2018, Coach Finstock spoke on an alt-right podcast entitled “The Fatherland,” where he said “[Whites] need a country of our own with nukes, and we will retake this thing lickety split … That’s all that we need. We need a country founded for white people with a nuclear deterrent. And you watch how the world trembles.”
Gebert’s wife, Anna Vuckovic, also participated in white supremacist activities and maintained a heavy online presence. She was identified by several anonymous sources as the user behind the Twitter handle @WolffieJames, also now suspended.
An episode of The Right Stuff, a White Supremacist podcast
The Southern Poverty Law Center, who’s ‘Hate Map’ is linked on our main menu under the tab ‘Tracking Hate’, has a well sourced write-up on how exactly it came to identify Gebert’s and Vuckovic’s heinous and potentially illegal online activities.
SPLC, A Tweet shared by another chapter of Gebert’s ‘organization’.
Twitter preserves old handles in conversations on that platform even after users change them. An open-source intelligence technique involves combing through conversations until older handles appear.
A review of conversations by @TotalWarCoach indicates that the same account previously employed handles like @MQGeb, which uses Gebert’s initials and part of his last name, and also @MQGebert, which includes his first two initials and his full last name.
Gebert left other breadcrumbs as “Coach Finstock” on Twitter. For example, the “Coach Finstock”-linked handle @WeWonFam posted what appears to be a personal photograph of the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial facing the Washington Monument on Nov. 17, 2016, a week after President Trump’s election into office. That post suggests the author’s location is in Washington, D.C. @WeWonFam listed Washington, D.C., as its location in the account’s Twitter bio.
Consideration is being given to declaring ANTIFA, the gutless Radical Left Wack Jobs who go around hitting (only non-fighters) people over the heads with baseball bats, a major Organization of Terror (along with MS-13 & others). Would make it easier for police to do their job!
Anti-fascists show up to popular alt-right and white supremacist rallies to counter-protest. The anti-fascist movement gained significant traction following the murder of Heather Heyer by a white supremacist during the infamous Charlottesville Unite the Right rally. In 2019 multiple anti-fascist groups traveled to Stone Mountain, Georgia to protest a KKK rally in front of what some call “Confederate Mount Rushmore.” The anti-fascists protested peacefully, albeit armed to the teeth with semi-automatic rifles. The KKK ultimately canceled the rally.
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SPLC’s Hatewatch, the investigators and breakers of this story, reached out to the State Department for comment:
Hatewatch presented a brief summary of the information contained in this investigation to the State Department by email.
A State Department spokesperson replied to Hatewatch saying the department is “committed to providing a workplace that is free from discriminatory harassment and investigates alleged violations of laws, regulations, or Department policies, taking disciplinary action when appropriate.”
The people of Hong Kong are now embroiled in a profound, unprecedented civil uprising against the controversial extradition bill that threatens to ship citizens accused of crimes in China off to the mainland to be tried and sentenced.
Liberty would be replaced by the all-seeing, all-knowing Chinese Communist Party, infamous for disappearing political dissidents and forcibly placing Uyghur Muslims into re-education camps in an attempt to stamp out radicalism. The bill is the first of many changes expected in Hong Kong’s future. Ever since the British conceded Hong Kong to China, beginning the “One country, two systems” policy, the city and its people were placed on a slow-moving, but inevitable journey that ends with Hong Kong’s absorption by China.
In accordance with the “One country, two systems” principle agreed between the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China, the socialist system of the People’s Republic of China would not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Hong Kong’s previous capitalist system and its way of life would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years. This would have left Hong Kong unchanged until 2047.
Citizens in Hong Kong have begun a general strike, now 14,000 strong, targeting the city’s industrial infrastructure. They reason that if crowds of millions can’t get this bill withdrawn, then they will shut the city down. This has only furthered tensions with the government. Politician Junius Ho called for the deaths of pro-independence activists: “If those who are pro-independence lead to the subversion of the fate of the country; with Hong Kong and the 1.3 billion people in the motherland having to pay a huge price, why shouldn’t these people be killed?”
Protesters are wising up to police tactics. The Guardian reports that demonstrators in the streets are now working together using ‘flash mob tactics’ to evade authorities.
“Ahead of a city-wide strike and simultaneous protests in seven districts, on Sunday night protesters evaded and frustrated the police by holding flashmob demonstrations. Groups of protesters scattered, switching locations at the last minute and disappearing before riot police were able to arrive en masse.”
An anonymous spokesperson for the strike’s leadership, providing only the name ‘Chan,’ says this strike is the only way forward, as the Hong Kong government “did not pay heed to people’s demands.”
“Various sectors have expressed their views in most peaceful ways. But, the government did not listen to them,” Chan says. Not only has the government failed to listen to the protesters, they have sent police after them with violent, non-lethal weapons, and condoned the mass gathering of thugs in white shirts who ambushed, attacked, and hospitalized the peaceful Hong Kongers, while the police closed their doors and ignored emergency phone calls.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
The time to act isn’t today or tomorrow. It was years ago. Today, the world’s climate continues to accelerate as governments cave to public pressure at a trickle, passing piecemeal legislation that only scratches the surface of what needs to be done to mitigate the worst case predictions for the climate emergency. When once we thought we had centuries, we now know there are only 12 years left.
One factor frustrating the issue is that the people who contribute most to the worsening climate are not the same people suffering from its effects. “Compare it to the map above. It’s not the same people at all. In economics this is called a ‘negative externality’. Some people get the benefits, other people get the bill.” says writerIndi Samarajiva, “America, Europe, Russia, and China get the benefits of pollution and fossil fuels. Which is perhaps why they are pretending the problem doesn’t exist. Or asking for timid solutions. Because they’re making money off it, and someone else is paying.” He links to a “more robust map” here.
The effects of climate change have been worsening for decades. In the beginning it was easy to write these off as flukes or natural fluctuations in climate. Today, it’s undeniable, with over 99% of scientists in agreement. Europe, a traditionally cool continent is trapped in the worst heatwave its ever seen, with never-before-seen 114 degree days in temperate France, and Swiss glaciers melting. We have entered the Anthropocene epoch, the first geologic era influenced by humanity. The sixth mass extinction the Earth has seen in its 4 billion years of existence, the Holocene Extinction Event. Previous named extinction events killed up to 83% of all life on Earth. The last recorded mass extinction event was the K-Pg Event, precipitated by the asteroid impact in part responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Already we see niche species struggling to survive, as ecological ‘surprises’ make generalist species more prone to stability. A paper by multiple scientists recently published to PNAS reads” Anthropogenic climate change is now adding strong trends on top of existing natural variability. These trends elevate the frequency of “surprises”—conditions that are unexpected based on recent history. Here, we show that the frequency of surprising ocean temperatures has increased even faster than expected based on recent temperature trends. Using a simple model of human adaptation, we show that these surprises will increasingly challenge natural modes of adaptation that rely on historical experience.”
Popular ocean-side vacation destinations are already seeing changes. In this instance, Amazonian deforestation at that hands of the notoriously corrupt Brazilian government are to blame. Most recently Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro threatened to fire an official over damning data on deforestation under his administration. The cutting down of forests, increased wild fires, and fossil fuel use drastically increases the CO2 content of our atmosphere, which is predicted to damage food supplies and even cognitive function.
“I don’t know what’s going on but it’s really not a good sight to see, you know what I’m saying? We’re tourists,” said Sed Walker, 48, who was visiting from Los Angeles.
A study published in July by the University of South Florida in the journal Science concluded that the seaweed problem, which started in 2001 and showed peaks in 2015 and 2018, is here to stay.
Satellite imagery shows blooms of sargassum form at the mouth of the Amazon. From there it spreads across the Atlantic, from the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico to Africa.
And those are tropical regions. The rapidly worsening climate emergency is now affecting our arctic regions at alarming rates that we didn’t think were possible for another lifetime. In Alaska, sea ice has entirely melted away for the first time; a region that even in warm summers retained some of its ice. “I’m losing the ability to communicate the magnitude [of change],” exclaimed Jeremy Mathis, an Arctic researcher and board director at the National Academies of Sciences in an interview with Mashable, “I’m running out of adjectives to describe the scope of change we’re seeing.”
Progressive government officials in the United States are slowly signing on to the Green New Deal, a sweeping and drastic mobilization of US resources on the scale of World War II to combat the climate emergency. Private organizations like the Sunrise Movement are also pushing for its extreme measures. If we do not act now, many fear that it’s not that our great-grand children will suffer, it’s that they won’t ever be born.
Trump rallies are known to be divisive events, each one full of Trump supporters and protesters alike. Police heavily patrol the events in an attempt to deter violence, but it’s not always effective.
Dallas Frazier, 29, is being held on a $10,000 bond after assaulting a 61 year old anti-Trump protester. Video of the incident shows Frazier exiting a vehicle and punching the older man several times before being summarily arrested by a nearby police officer.
Today Jay! Tomlinson and the award-winning Best of the Left podcast are covering Trump’s war on journalism and journalists. Multiple times the nation’s 45th President has labelled journalists the “enemy of the people.” He frequently derides news outlets like the New York Times and CNN.
Socialists from the nation over are gathered in Denver, Colorado for the annual Socialist Rifle Association’s National Convention. Faye, Alex Humva, and Breht O’Shea take questions from a live audience consisting of members and organizers of the SRA, America’s most popular armed, socialist movement.
The SRA was founded in 2016 and since then has spread rapidly. Chapters now exist nationwide, each with their own events and social media. On their website they have educational materials to help newcomers learn about both socialism and responsible firearms use.
The Socialist Rifle Association is an educational organization dedicated to providing the working class with the information they need to be effectively armed for self and community defense. This includes all manner of community defense, from the right of the working class to possess firearms to the ability to be well versed in the fields of medicine, disaster relief, logistics, agriculture, and survival skills. Our goal is to provide an alternate to the mainstream, toxic, right-wing, and non-inclusive gun culture that has dominated the firearms community for decades. We seek to provide a safe, inclusive, and left-leaning platform for talking about gun rights and self defense, free from racist and reactionary prejudices, while providing a platform for the working class to obtain the skills necessary for all aspects of community defense.
It’s always good to reach across the aisle. I’m a firm believer in communication, even with your opponents. Without it, the world is doomed to slip into chaos. I also believe in our right to free speech. Our right to criticize our government, our law enforcement, our friends, and our enemies. In the worst fascist states, criticizing your government can land you dead in a ditch, in more civil places it can still land you a petty fine.
Recently I commented on a fellow WordPress user’s blog post, Rancid Ravioli, who runs the page But I’m Always Right. I encourage you to check out his posts and maybe leave a comment. Engaging with one another is how we make progress. It’s a notably right-leaning blog, but I find it’s important to stay informed on the thoughts and happenings of both sides of the American political spectrum.
My point is that suppression of conservatives on social media isn’t some nefarious, globalist persecution of all people right-of-center. It’s that the right has a lot skeletons, and they aren’t in the closet. They’re dancing in the streets wearing MAGA hats like some perverted twist on Cinco de Mayo, and that users of social media don’t want to experience the hate that they commonly spread online. Therefore it’s not much of a stretch to imagine that users, moderators and administrators on the internet have a tendency to remove or prevent what they view as vitriolic opinions from their sites.
The internet is not America; websites are under no obligation to tolerate your opinion. In my opinion, a lot of conservative content online is in fact spiteful, disrespectful, often factually dubious, and far too reactionary. It plays on emotion rather than reason; what feels good and not what is true. That’s a bit of hyperbole, but what the hell? This is the opinion section of the website. Ravioli has some critiques on my line of thought, and that of other leftists that I want to publicize and explore here. Let’s just run down the list. The following are taken directly from his blog post, wherein he declares that he “could easily demolish [my] argument”
1. Tasking him to specify what is “so much” and to provide at least 10 examples in the last 2 and a half years.
So here he’s asking for “10 examples in the last 2 and a half years” for conservative’s being responsible for, as I said, “so much death and violence.” So, since February 2017. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
2. I could point to all the massive ugly history Democrats have in dealing with black people which includes their record on slavery and their creation of the KKK.
You could, except the only issue with that is what a Democrat was, historically. From its creation in 1828 until the 1930’s, the Democratic Party was made up of Southern conservatives. The Party didn’t become pro-big-government, pro-social programs, and begin its Northward shift until FDR in the 1930’s. So when you hear Republicans espouse the motto “Party of Lincoln,” it’s a big falsehood. They were the “Party of Lincoln” in name only.
I could point out how fascism actually has deep historical ties to leftist ideology such as socialism and communism. In fact it is a natural evolution of those ideologies.
I’m lumping my response into the next quote’s.
I could point out how those very leftist ideologies have been responsible for the most disturbing and violent regimes in history. Stalin was a Leftist, Hitler was a fan of leftist ideology, and so much more throughout history. Research it.
I’m actually not going to deny Ravioli’s initial statement. Like every bourgeois regime in human history, leftist ideologies have been adopted by dictators and authoritarians alike to oppress and control populaces. The only caveat I’d add is that this isn’t a problem with leftist ideology, it’s a problem with the bourgeoisie (a catch-all term for the wealthy elite who end up controlling the populace and government in any given society). In the past there have been violent regimes of both leftist and conservative ideology. There are even militant Buddhists. Anyways, I do want to set the record straight on Hitler and Stalin’s dubious relationships with socialism:
“Whatever interest Hitler had in socialism was not based on an understanding of socialism that we might have today — a movement that would supplant capitalism in which the working class would seize power over the state and the means of production. He repeatedly pushed back efforts by economically left-leaning elements of the party to enact socialist reforms, saying in a 1926 conference in Bamberg (organized by Nazi Party leaders over the very question of the party’s ideological underpinnings) that any effort to take the homes and estates of German princes would move the party toward communism and that he would never do anything to assist “communist-inspired movements.” He prohibited the formation of Nazi trade unions, and by 1929 he outright rejected any efforts by Nazis who argued in favor of socialistic ideas or projects in their entirety.”
“Stalin’s personal character is not the dominating factor of Soviet history since 1914. Far greater forces have been at work. But if Lenin’s individual gifts were on the side of progress to Socialism, Stalin touched only to corrupt. Of political economy he was, and to a great extent is, quite ignorant; in Marxism he and his henchmen are to-day capable of errors that a raw Social Democrat would not be guilty of. These things will be proved in their place. For the moment it is sufficient to give some significant incidents in his early history.”
How Antifa is running around Canada and the US assaulting people they don’t like simply because those people have an opinion they don’t like. Antifa also distributes information on how to commit violent crimes and how to get away with it. http://destructables.org/about
Ravioli, once again I have to say you’re right… kind of. Anti-fascism is on the rise in the US. Anti-fascists have assaulted people, and sometimes unnecessarily. And yes, anti-fascists do have websites where they share tactics and methods for combating fascism. On the note of “distributing information” I will point out that the right-wing also keeps a public database of people they deem the enemy because they “have an opinion they don’t like,” or as they call us: “subversive politicians, activists, communists, agitators and out and out traitors”
It’s admittedly hard to keep all ‘members’ of ‘antifa’ accountable, because antifa does not exist as some national organization like the Proud Boys or Three Percenters. “It is impossible to know how many people count themselves as members. Its followers acknowledge that the movement is secretive, without official leaders and organized into autonomous local cells.” writes the New York Times “It is also only one in a constellation of activist movements that have come together in the past few years to oppose the far right.”
But, the whole point of anti-fascism is to stamp out fascism. Anti-fascism exists solely as a unified act of self-defense. Anti-fascists do not exist without fascism. We (oh yes, I am an antifa boogeyman) are all from different political sects, be it social democrats, democratic socialists, communists, anarchists, or centrists. But when fascism rears it’s ugly head in America, the nation that fought to save Europe from fascismjust 70 years ago, we unite in our amelioration of the American spirit of freedom and liberty, against fascism. Faaaaascism. I feel like people have forgotten what fascism is and what it has done historically. Tell me if any of these characteristics of fascism sound familiar:
Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerateopen hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.
Fraudulent Elections Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Not all of the links included here track with these tenets of fascism, but there have been hundreds of concerning trends in America that only become more prevalent each year. The right’s trend toward authoritarianism and fascism is not only factual, but the only people who actively deny it are the right themselves. Whether it’s willful ignorance or deliberately playing dumb to hide an agenda, American conservatives have doubled down on “their team.” Conservative politicians nakedly support fascistic principals that run contrary to the American spirit set forth by the Founders. Carrying on…
The reality is Cal is ignoring reality. Sure everyone can name Christchurch or the recent Garlic Festival attack. But how many more can anyone name from the last couple of years? Now google how many far leftist attacks occurred and you’ll find the Left’s argument of a rise in alt-right extremism is flawed. If there were such a massive increase you’d see alt-right assaults being reported in the Hate Media, such as CNN, every single day. Remember they will report every single alt-right attack no matter where in the world it occurs. But they will only report alt-left assaults when they have to.
I know this response was long-winded, but I hope you stuck around to the end. All of this is in the spirit of healthy and civil discourse. While I support the anti-fascist movement and its propensity for Nazi-beat-downs, I encourage violence only as a last resort and in self-defense. Fascism is a disease and has no place in the land of the free, where we believe in self-determination and personal liberty. As a proud leftist, I respectfully disagree with Ravioli’s characterization of the leftist movement, and encourage him to respond in kind.
“The UK has a world-leading record in protecting workers’ rights, setting the highest standard, and a labour market we can be proud of, with more people in work than ever before. We are determined to maintain this record of leadership after we leave the EU, with or without a deal.” says a UK Government Spokesperson. But insiders are telling a different story.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has delivered public remarks, warning of the dire straits that UK workers are now in: “Boris Johnson claims that he intends to enhance rights at work after Brexit. He and his advisers should be focused on delivering that promise.” O’Grady says. “But instead they’re threatening a catastrophic no deal, which would strip away existing legal protections and leave essential rights open to attack. Working people must not be dragged off this cliff edge without getting a Final Say.”
Johnson, a conservative and seemingly openly racist man, oddly evocative of the US’s own Donald Trump, has the nation worried about the future of social issues in the UK. The freshman PM has already announced plans to increase the size police forces and their powers. With the US already struggling with police brutality and false arrests, the UK’s future appears grim.
“The new Tory government will make life harder for black and Asian people, and migrants. One of Boris Johnson’s first announcements was a plan to hire 20,000 more cops and give them “greater powers to use stop and search”.
“Black people were nine times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people in England and Wales in 2017/18, according to government figures.”
“And whenever other workers strike, we should raise solidarity with them. It won’t just help strikers—it will get people talking about walkouts in your workplace. The key opportunity for organising workers’ action is the global climate strike on Friday 20 September. Socialists should go into every union and staff meeting arguing for strikes, and try to organise unofficial walkouts on the day. Inaction by Labour and union leaders has relegated working class people to being spectators to the Tory crisis.”
“Action on 20 September could mark a break from this.”
The violence over the freedom of Hong Kong citizens is no longer limited to Hong Kong. Students numbering in the hundreds gathered on the campus of the University of Queensland, staging a sit-in to protest Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill, that if passed, would permit Hong Kong to extradite criminals to mainland China, a country with significantly fewer freedoms for citizens, and serious human rights issues.
During the protest, pro-Beijing counter protesters arrived on the scene, and “They drove us to the lawn and surrounded us for half an hour,” says student Christy Leung. Shortly after, she says the counter protesters began attacking the pro-democracy students.
Huang Qi (黃琦) is a human rights activist and reporter from Chengdu, China who runs 64Tianwang, a website that popularly reports on the disappearances of Chinese citizens perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the nation’s ruling party. The site is blocked on the Chinese internet, accessible to residents of mainland China through use of a VPN.
The activist was placed in detention from 2000 to 2005, and again in 2009 for similar crimes. This latest sentence of 12 years is the longest any “cyber-dissident” has been sentenced to yet. “Huang Qi, founder and director of Sichuan-based human rights website “64 Tianwang”, was secretly tried at Mianyang City Intermediate People’s Court on 14 January 2019 after being held in detention for more than two years.” Amnesty International reported in January of 2019. “…Pu Wenqing, his 85-year-old mother, was taken away by Sichuan police in December 2018 and only released after more than a month in detention.”
Many are concerned over this latest sentence given Huang Qi’s poor health after years in detainment. The activist and Cyberfreedom Prize winner suffers from heart disease and kidney disease. “The authorities are using his case to scare other human rights defenders who do similar work exposing abuses, especially those using online platforms,” says Reporters Without Borders researcher Patrick Boon.
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