SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW

Today I’ve decided to do something different. Lots of articles in the Oread Daily deserve follow up, but they seldom get it. I kinda figure if you’re interested, you’ll look into it. However, I think I’ll start occasionally doing short follow ups anyway. So instead of the usual Oread Daily mismash, you get the following…

On that situation in Port Pirie, Australia where local children are being poisoned by led spewed into the air by the world’s largest smelter comes the following update.

Former South Australian health minister John Cornwall has spoken of his regret over the political "compromises" that have failed to deal with the rising rates of lead poisoning in Port Pirie, home of the world's biggest lead smelter.

Dr Cornwall was health minister in 1984, when the Bannon Labor government rejected a proposal to relocate the town, opting instead for a multi-million-dollar decontamination process after high levels of lead were recorded in the blood of local children.

He put the government's decision down to "money ... and, of course, concern about (the smelter's) legal liability".

High levels of lead in the blood of young children can cause irreparable damage to their IQ, as well as behavioral and other health problems.

Dr Cornwall said while it was not "huge damage", it had the potential to "drag" a child of average intelligence "below the level of coping in the world".

Meanwhile, the best they could come up with at an emergency meeting between the government and the smelter operator was imposing new emission on the smelter which is owned and operated by the Zinifex Corporation.

EPA chief executive Paul Vogel also said relocating children living in high-risk areas was one option being considered. Source: The Australian


Following up on protests at the University of Rhode Island (URI). Students are continuing their protests over changes in disciplinary rules being implemented. The students are donning gags and will appear at a Faculty Senate meeting scheduled for Thursday afternoon on the URI campus. Source: NBC10 News (Providence)


Remember the article about the Nazis in Toledo who didn’t march. You’ve probably read all about the “violence” which followed. Well, here is a statement from the One People’s Project released earlier this week.

In the wake of the events after the National Socialist Movement (NSM) attempted to march in North Toledo, OH, a number of reports and statements have been released based on the NSM’s spin on those events that attempt to link One People’s Project with the rioting that took place in the city. We feel that this could not go unanswered, particularly given the history we have had with the NSM’s spokesperson Bill White.

One People’s Project is an anti-racist organization that investigates and reports on groups and individuals on the right, most notably the racist right. We are a small organization whose primary focus is to disseminate information. From time to time we may take an active role in organizing events, such as the concert in New York City’s Tompkins Square Park during the Republican National Convention last year, but in the end we are reporters. Because of how through and aggressive we tend to be in this mission, we have had our share of detractors. One of them has been Bill White, and we have written about him extensively in articles that can be found on our website www.onepeoplesproject.com. He is among those within the white supremacist circles that have developed a particular axe to grind with myself and other members of One People’s Project. Much of his anger comes from the fact that our work prompted an investigation by the FBI and HUD regarding his purchases of property in a black community in Roanoke, Va. When he purchased these homes, he began to evict black and biracial tenants for various reasons. He had stated earlier on his website that it was his intent to create a whites only living space with these properties. Our reporting and efforts against his actions prompted those FBI and HUD investigations, which are still pending, and well as the local NAACP working with one of his former tenants to take action against him. He is also being sued for 800K by a former tenant. On Oct. 24-25 this and other issues regarding neo-Nazis will be spotlighted on a two-part story on the news magazine “A Current Affair”. Bill White, myself and others all participated in this story, and the issue regarding his properties will be addressed.

During the buildup to the Toledo march and afterwards during the riot, Bill White, and internet radio host Mike Blevins, both speaking for the NSM, attempted to suggest we were responsible for instigating the violence. In fact, on a number of outlets they have said flat out that One People’s Project passed out the rocks and eggs that were used against the police. This is an outright lie. One People’s Project had nothing to do with the riot, and we most certainly did not provide anyone with rocks, eggs or any type of weapon to be used against the police. This needs to be made clear as a number of media outlets reported this as fact without contacting us. If those outlets were familiar with White's reputation for telling untruths, we doubt they would have taken his information on its face.

Bill White has done this to us before. In the past, he has written on his website that I and this organization orchestrated a rape, that I joined controversial communist organizations after being fired from a police force in New Jersey (I never worked for a police force in New Jersey) and even that I was soliciting nude photos of him! He has also written a bio about me that is so devoid of fact, it would take too long to point all the inaccuracies out. My lawyers have sent letters to him regarding his slander routine in the past. This recent slander by White and the NSM against us in the wake of the Toledo situation is the last straw, and we will be dealing with this shortly. It is one thing for these lies to go out among other white supremacists. It is quite another for them to be repeated by mainstream media outlets.

In regards to what happened in Toledo on Saturday, we feel we should make our position clear. While white supremacists and other questionable groups have the right to speak, we have that right as well, and when these groups come out we will use that right to respond. In fact, we feel that we are obligated to do so given the fact that these groups are using these rights to advocate taking them and others from the rest of us. While it is important to come out and oppose these groups whenever they try to agitate a community in a given town, we also feel that the public must deal with these bad elements in our society much better than we have in recent years. A number of the major white supremacist organizations like Aryan Nations, World Church of the Creator and National Alliance have fallen apart over the past five years. This did not happen by merely opposing them at their rallies. This happened by exposing them in areas where they did not want to be exposed, and putting pressure on them and their supporters so that they were unable to function in the open, and most importantly, unable to function at all. If we are so passionate against these groups and individuals that an entire neighborhood would explode as North Toledo did, then it is that important for us as a society to focus and deal with them on our timetable and on our terms, not just when they play dress-up and stand on courthouse steps or march down a neighborhood street. We ask that you join us and other antifascist (antifa) groups in that endeavor. Source: One People’s Project


In regards to the outbreak which killed seventeen persons at a nursing home in Toronto recently comes the following news. The province is calling upon the man who looked into Toronto's SARS crisis to head an independent review of a legionnaires' outbreak in the city. Dr. David Walker will review the events surrounding the outbreak that killed 17 people at an east-end senior's home. Health Minister George Smitherman says the dean of health sciences at Queen's University will be able to get to the bottom of the crisis faster than a public inquiry. The health minister says the doctor will examine communication and coordination during the tragedy. The nursing home remains closed. Source: CFRA (Toronto)


In Russia where the OD reported on a Peruvian student beaten to death recently, Police in the Russian city of Voronezh have arrested 14 people over his murder. “The 14 arrested men are part of the same group and are all students aged between 17 and 22 and have all confessed their guilt,” regional police spokesman Igor Suchkolov stated. On Tuesday there came news of a fresh attack on a foreign student, a 23-year-old Albanian man studying at the Voronezh state university. A suspect has been arrested and charged with attempted murder. Source: MosNews


A few weeks back, you may recall, we reported on the racist brutality rampant in British jails. The award-winning playwright Tanika Gupta has created a play based on the case of Zahid Mubarek who was fatally beaten by his racist, psychopathic cellmate Robert Stewart on the day in March 2000. The Independent writes, “By combining the words of Mr Justice Keith's inquiry with the dramatization of events, the play - perhaps more brutally than any other forum - illustrates the gaping chasm between those who attempt to rationalize society's ills and those caught up in its most violent excesses. The sterile, educated and rational meets the bloody, dispossessed and senseless.” Source: The Independent