The Nether-World

See This Book? Catch!

2007-06-29T14:07:00.000+01:00

The cyber-stalker who has been harassing Rachel and so many other people was sentenced yesterday at Thames Magistrates Court. Felicity Jane Lowde (FJL) was handed the maximum sentence possible in a magistrates court, six months imprisonment. In other words, the judge threw the book at her and seemed to regret that the book flying in FJL's direction was insufficiently large and heavy.

Judge Malcolm Read told her that she had struck at Ms North's "terrible experience and trauma" as a victim of the London bombings with a "vicious, vitriolic and vindictive" campaign.
She then "aggravated" the situation by breaching her bail conditions and continuing to persecute Ms North even though police were involved.
Mr Read told Lowde: "The offences, I would say, are at the very top end to be taken in a prosecution of harassment and therefore have to be dealt with at the top end of my powers."

The judge also told FJL "In your case, I do not think my powers are adequate".

FJL was convicted under the 1997 Protection From Harassment Act and this was an interesting test case for including use of the internet in harassment. On top of the six-month sentence, FJL is subject to a restraining order and an ASBO in order to protect Rachel and other victims from further abuse. These victims include FJL's former defence team, and the investigating police (who she accused of corruption), and the CPS lawyer who was conducting the prosecution.

It was an interesting experience watching justice being done. I attended the hearing to offer moral support to Rachel (Note to Thames Magistrates Court: Please get those seats fixed). Also present were Not Saussure, Andy Ramblings, Hendo and Daniel Hart (another victim of FJL's abuse). We watched the proceedings just a few feet away from the dock as the case unfolded. None of us were sure what would happen until the judge told Miss Lowde to stand up and then commenced his summing up. It was damning and demolished the defence lawyer's mitigation. He dismissed the need for a psychiatric report as he didn't believe it would help. He noted that FJL had been found guilty, had failed to turn up at her trial, had also failed to provide the court with a good reason (or any reason) for not turning up at any time, had continued to harass Rachel in breach of her bail terms and was indeed arrested while in an internet cafe writing further abusive posts. I almost felt sorry for the defence lawyer who didn't have any kind of credible argument to present. The sentence shows clearly that Rachel has been completely vindicated and the matter can now be layed to rest. For a more detailed account of the hearing, read Rachel's post on it.

The sense of relief after the sentencing was palpable and we left the court to be met by a small throng of reporters and photographers. Rachel had a prepared statement which she read out and we then went off for much-needed drink at the nearest pub.

FJL intends to appeal the conviction. It is the only weapon she has left to try to inflict further stress on Rachel who may have to face her in court yet again and give evidence. I hope it doesn't come to that. FJL lost and will lose again if she tries that tactic. It would be nice to think that Rachel, Daniel and the other victims of FJL could get on with their lives in peace. If on her release from jail, she breaches the terms of her restraining order and/or ASBO, she will be facing up to five years in jail. The positive aspect of all this is the part played by so many bloggers in securing this conviction so a big shout to all of those who helped.

Media Coverage

Bloggage

More as I find it.

Tags: Cyber-stalking, Felicity Jane Lowde, Blogging

Rachel's Stalker Finally Locked Up

2007-06-08T17:05:00.000+01:00

Some good news. Felicity Jane Lowde (FJL) who has been harassing and stalking Rachel North and others, has at last been caught and dealt with by the authorities. I didn't want to post on this news until Rachel herself commented on the proceedings. Now that she has, I feel I can join with the other bloggers who have already expressed their relief at this sorry episode coming to an end.

After well over a year of harassment which involved hundreds of abusive e-mails and comments on blogs, extremely hurtful (and false) allegations and numerous attack blogs, and after having been arrested, bailed, breaking the terms of her bail and then absconding from the court (which tried her and found her guilty in absentia), FJL was tracked down in a cyber-cafe and arrested. She has now been remanded in custody until the end of June pending psychiatric reports. Hopefully after returning to court she will be sentenced and given the help she obviously needs.

This saga is too long to go into in any great depth here but for the background into this case, here is a good starting point. An interesting aspect of all this is the contribution made by so many bloggers in bringing FJL to justice. Once Rachel asked for help, the British blog community rose to the occasion and helped in various ways - putting buttons on their websites, and some by logging the IP address of the computer FJL used when posting comments and passing it on to the police. Devil's Kitchen and Mike Rouse deserve praise for creating the blog buttons. Unity over at Ministry of Truth also deserves particular praise for his help and also for writing a very informative post on the possible personality disorder that FJL might be suffering from (Narcissistic Personality Disorder or NPD). I heartily second what Unity says in his post on FJL's capture:

If there’s a message in this that people should take note of its that whatever our differences in opinion and outlook, we Brit Bloggers look after our own when the need arises.

Of course the question as to whether this really is the end of this story is still a matter of debate - there is still a possible appeal hearing to go through. The maximum sentence FJL can be handed for this crime is six months imprisonment or a £5,000 fine, although Unity does point out in his comment thread that the Mental Health Act provides further options and also that the court can use CRASBOs (Criminal ASBOs) which could mean five years imprisonment if they are breached. I think it is fairly evident that FJL is suffering from some sort of mental health problem. The thought that nags me is the old dilemma of putting people with mental health problems in prison as opposed to a more suitable institution. Because FJL breached the terms of her bail and went on the run to continue her abuse shows that some sort of custody is necessary and merely banning someone from using the internet is clearly unenforceable.

For the moment, however, we can be relieved that FJL is, for the time being at least, unable to continue her sustained campaign of abuse against Rachel and others who can now hopefully get on with their lives in peace. FJL's delusional lies about being an innocent victim stalked by Rachel and "her mob" have been shattered along with her other frankly laughable claims. We can only hope that the relevant authorities recognise her need for treatment and provide it while keeping her away from the internet.

There is also one more aspect to this and that is the role of the companies who host abusive blogs*. This is a tricky issue because of freedom of speech concerns and what is regarded as abusive. Google are always reluctant to shut down blogs which others claim to be abusive. If they did so at the drop of a hat it could lead to the shutting down of blogs being used as a weapon by warring bloggers. However, if someone has been tried and convicted by a court of law for using their blogs (in part) as way to harass and abuse their victims and ordered to stay away from the internet by a judge, then it doesn't seem to me to be impossible to have that blog (or blogs in this case) removed, especially when preventing access to the internet is unenforceable and the continued blogging seems to exacerbate a possible personality disorder.

I'm not sure I have the answer to this but I do know that Google have shut down blogs when they have been shown to be full of deeply offensive racist content and incitements to violence and racial hatred, for example. And I would prefer bloggers and their hosting companies to act rather than see clumsy and heavy-handed legislation imposed on everyone by legislators who have no idea about how the internet and blogging work and which would have extremely dangerous consequences for freedom of speech and diversity of opinion. As I say, it's a tricky issue (not least because of the different laws in the USA and UK) but in FJL's case (and others like it) where criminal activity has been legally proven, shutting down the relevant blogs should at least be an option if it helps.

* By abusive blogs I don't mean blogs that swear or use colourful language to make points, or that mock or insult politicians or other opponents, that's just part of blogging and this blog is just as likely as any other to do that. What I'm referring to here are blogs that are used as part of sustained campaigns of harassment against undeserving individuals (as in FJL's case) or blogs that are used to loudly call for the extermination of an entire race. I think there is a very clear distinction here but one I wouldn't trust governments to make.

Tags: Cyber-Stalking, Blogging

Under The Weather

2007-05-26T05:26:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the lack of posts. I seem to have come down with some nasty lurgy which is making staring at a computer screen for any great length of time give me a headache (not to mention the blocked sinuses, fever, aching muscles and hacking cough), and stringing a coherent sentence together is difficult. So as a total cop-out, here are ten other stories collected over the week (in no rational order) that are worth reading:

Ministry of Truth on John Reid's latest attack on our freedoms.
Mask of Anarchy on McDonald's efforts to to have the word "McJob" removed from the dictionary.
Rachel has returned from her honeymoon only to face yet more abuse from a batshit cyber-stalker and is asking for help.
Grimmerupnorth on why Jon Cruddas is a dishonourable hypocrite who should not be elected to the Deputy Leadership.
Not Saussure on yet another attack on our civil liberties by our wonderful government.
Blood & Treasure on the latest ratcheting up of the hate campaign against Iran.
Ten Percent on America's renewed sabre rattling against Iran and on just who is really supporting Fatah al-Islam in Lebanon.
Lenin's Tomb on the secret air war in Iraq.
Tears for Lebanon on the misery that the Lebanese people are facing.
Obsolete on Margaret Hodge's latest outburst in favour of the BNP (supported by Hazel Blears no less).

Hopefully I'll be back to 'normal' blogging as soon as I feel a bit better.

Tags: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, UK Politics, Civil Liberties

Fun and Games Baiting Nazis

2007-04-16T03:06:00.000+01:00

*UPDATED* *UPDATED* (see below)

If I was to say that Nazis don't have much of a sense of humour, I doubt that many people would disagree. Recently I found myself in a position to test this idea and the Nazi I confronted is as humourless as she is gormless.

About a month ago I published an article on Blairwatch entitled America And Britain Asked Poland To Host Secret CIA Gulag. The content of the article is pretty much described by its title. A day later the article found its way onto the Global Research web site with full linkage back to its origin and nothing changed. Fine, no problem. So, a few days ago, while looking at who's been linking to Blairwatch, I was shocked to find a link with this title: White Trashmericans and Jews Wanted Poland to Host Modern "Gulags". It was the entire article published with the title changed to reflect this nutcase's views and changing the context of what I wrote. I was even more angry when I saw that under the title, in smaller text was the original title with a little addition before my name appeared.

This worried me because in a Google search, for example, this hate-filled crap could end up like looking as if it was my opinion.

The name of the blog that published this is (ready for this?) Adolf Hitler Research Society. I mean WTF? I'm trying very hard not to link to it obviously - I don't want to provoke any more responses from this fruitbat, nor do I want to give her site any more traffic. This blog has nothing at all to do with proper research and is just a vehicle for its owner, a Verohnika Clark, to spew out some of the most hate-filled anti-Semitic bile I've ever seen, and to deny the Holocaust and adulate Adolf fucking Hitler. Here is a quick example of the sort of crap you'll find on this blog from a post entitled "A Case Study: Africans and Naziism":

Jews are subhuman shit-trash.
There. I said it because no one else has the gonads. Would I ever call for a genocide against Jews? Well, if I was President of Los Estados Unidos, then, “Yes, I would.” I would bomb the living sh*t out of Tel Aviv and cut off all funding to all Jews. I would string up their circus leaders—Chertoffsky would dangle from a rope. So would Bush, Levy, Feinstein, Feingold, Boxer, Schumer, Lieberman, Clinton, and all the other Jewish and crypto-Jewish rat-bags in the Jewmerican government.

That's a pretty common example of the guff she writes. Naturally I left a comment outlining my disgust at her twisting of one of my posts. I was as polite as I was able to be:

I'd like to make it clear that despite you using one of my articles to support your Nazi and anti-Semitic views, these are views that I do not share and I'm appalled that you used something I wrote and twisted the context in this obscene way.
My article is about Polish and British collaboration with the CIA in its rendition and black site program, and in it I make no mention at all of Jews or "White Trashmericans", neither of which have anything to do with the topic I was writing about.
I am a fierce critic of Israeli and American policy but that doesn't make me anti-Semitic. In fact I'm part Jewish so that alone is enough expose your conspiracy theory as the rubbish it is. One of the reasons I criticise Israel and the American neo-cons is because I find their policies and actions to be similar to those of the Nazis (whose ideology disgusts me) and I hate all forms of racism whoever is behind it.

She did change the post putting in the correct title. I thought that was going to be the end of it but she then posted a piece called "Open Rebuttal to David Simonetti" Which started off with the hilarious:

I find your bigotry to be extremely affronting to my docile and sensible nature. I am not an anti-Semite.

Right, I see. After proclaiming her love for Persians and Palestinians etc, there then followed an anti-Semitic rant. The post ended with the frankly bemusing:

I'm ready for your response. Oh, I might like to add that you appear to have a vagina between your legs from the pussified manner in which you write. That's typical of white men in America these days. They have to be feminine for their 'masters.' That's fine. So do I. So, let's argue like the two civilized women we are, shall we?

How could I refuse to respond to that?

Verohnika,
Thank you for changing the post, it is slightly better in its current format. I started writing this response before you changed your post. Incidentally, I have a screen grab of your original post and my comment on it.
I'm not going to get into an argument with you over your confused rantings [unfortunately that's what happened]. As I've already said, I have criticised what I see as Israeli crimes. Unlike you though, my criticisms are restricted to the government of Israel and the IDF rather than a whole people which you (in your docile and sensible nature) describe elsewhere on your blog as "vermin". You are entitled to your views (as repellent as I find them). The issue I'm raising with you is different. By taking an article that I have written which is about a completely separate topic and entitling it "White Trashmericans and Jews Wanted Poland to Host Modern "Gulags"" after publishing it in its entirety, you were altering the meaning of what I have written. Legally, that was a prima facia case of defamation. It affects me because people using search engines such as Google may well see the bit at the top of your post which has the following:
America And Britain Asked Poland To Host Secret CIA Gulag [Typical Jewish stunt. Jewmerica has, indeed, devolved into a nation of worthless Jew-ridden sh*t!J
by David Simonetti
That means that it would be easy for readers to assume that your references to "Jewmerica" and "worthless Jew-ridden sh*t!" (again your docile and sensible nature in evidence) are in fact my views which emphatically is not the case. All I was asking you to do (as politely as I could) was to clearly disassociate your views from mine and my views from yours in order to avoid confusion. That's wasn't too much to ask was it?
Oh, and you're wrong on a couple of other things too. The last time there was a vagina between my legs it was someone else's, not that I see what this has to do with this dispute. I am definitely masculine and I have no master (what is this obsession Nazis have with masters?) If you think my writing style is feminine, well, again, that's your opinion. It's the first I've heard of it. Also, I'm not American, in fact I've never even been to the USA.

Verohnika's response was to suggest I read some of her so-called 'research', all of which comes from discredited historians, Nazis and Holocaust deniers. She delights in telling people that she has a B.A. but won't say what in or where she got it - I suggested it was in Holocaust denial which didn't go down to well (It can't be in history because a first year undergraduate knows more about source evaluation). Suffice to say her 'research' wasn't an enlightening read. I don't know what possessed me but I decided it might be worth refuting some of her ridiculous claims, particularly regarding the Holocaust (in retrospect that was a mistake, I probably should have just ignored the idiot). It really isn't that hard to do. I blew away one falsehood after another with easy to find evidence that is far better sourced.

Thing is, each time I did this she'd write yet another post directed at me with even more bollocks (the funniest was one called "Mr Simonetti... Damn you"). But the content was always the same old crap. Every post I commented on was instantly buried under a plethora of others. She tried moving the goalposts by saying that evidence from survivors was inadmissible (because they were Jews). So, I supplied her with testimony from some of the SS who were very informative in how they committed these crimes and tried to cover them up. She then refused to acknowledge that saying they were testifying after the facts (huh?), their memory was flawed and that there were plenty of SS people who didn't confess and those who did were tortured (they weren't). All the photographs and documents had to be forgeries. She wouldn't accept anything from Wikipedia because it was "dominated by Jews". On and on it went until it became utterly tedious and pointless.

I decided to change tactics and make the argument more amusing by taking the piss. Her blog doesn't accept anonymous comments (for obvious reasons) so I invented a few characters to post on her blog (I realise this goes against current thinking on 'netiquette' but in this case I thought an exception was called for). I thought that she'd instantly see it was me (it's not like her blog gets many visitors) but amazingly she didn't, nor did she delete the comments... at first. Here is an example from a typical example of her guff taken from an equally repellent source which I hesitate to link to (I will because it demonstrates her cherry-picking):

Click to enlarge

Typically, she responded to this with yet another post directed at me entitled "Appeal to Humor Won't Work". I then noticed that amongst all her garbage-filled posts was a simple one informing the world that she has changed her e-mail address and here was the new one.

Not the cleverest thing to do when what you write is such offensive, extremist trash, I thought. Anyway, I couldn't resist a last little prank before leaving her to sink in her sewer. Judging from her response I don't think it went down too well.

Here are a couple of comments that didn't make it onto that post (not in the best possible taste):

SS Obersturmbannführer Otto Von Lebensraum said:
Mein Gott! This is outrageous. Who could do such a terrible thing? This is even worse than the terrible things we did (not that we did them, of course). Oh, meine leibling, these untermenchen are running rings around you. If ever we needed proof of a vast Jewish conspiracy against us, then this is it. Gott in himmel, have they no shame? As soon as General Wenck arrives with the Twelfth Army and saves our Thousand Year Reich (it can't be long now) then the Gestapo will investigate this heinous crime and there will be some more gassings...oops! This is an affront not just to you but also to the memory of our glorious Führer who will one day return to restore peace and tolerance in the world as he did before... Oh no, Nurse is coming with the medication again...
Rabbi Schickelgruber said:
Oh dear, it seems you have easily fallen for a prank. How could this happen? Surely someone with such a keen intellect as yours wouldn't have been stupid enough to write a post with your e-mail address on it after spewing out such racist bile... Oh, you did? I see. I guess the master race isn't all it's cracked up to be. Oh well, we live and learn. I must say though, whoever did this must have a wicked sense of humour and it seems to have got you a bit rattled.

She has now finally discovered comment moderation so she'll only accept comments from fellow Nazis now. She's also deleted every post with reference to me and with any of my comments on. Some of her guff has been reposted (without comments, of course). So I guess she finally twigged. Anyway I wouldn't bother visiting, it really is a sewer over there. Unfortunately (in cases like these) the First Amendment guarantees her right to spew out this bile while in the rest of the world more laws are coming in to stop this sort of thing. This is why the nastiest and most hate-filled web sites are (more often than not) found in America. However, I too believe in freedom of speech so this presents a bit of a problem. I've flagged her blog as offensive and I've contacted blogger.com and asked them to put up a warning page in front of it, and if enough people do that then they might be compelled to act. It would definitely be an improvement. Incidentally, Verohnika mentioned in one of her comments that Google pulled her last blog (God knows what was on it if this incarnation is a toned-down version or, more likely, it's the same old rubbish and Google haven't realised it yet).

There is a serious reason why I mention all this. I do often criticise Israeli policy and doing so sometimes gets me into confrontations with idiots who call me a Nazi without any evidence to back up the accusation. I find that insulting, especially when, as you've seen, there are genuine Nazis out there. Being called one, as well as being wrong and offensive, weakens my arguments against people like Mad Mel. I consider it an honour to be despised by people like Verohnika and her hatred of me does me no harm at all. Verohnika thinks she has removed all evidence of our little spat - she's wrong on that point too. This post will serve as proof. Anyway, after all that I think I need a long bath.

*UPDATE* April 18

A Victory of Sorts

It looks like Blogger.com has responded to my complaint and maybe those of others. To those who have complained, thank you.

click to enlarge

The above warning screen now appears for anyone accessing the site for the first time. I just hope the warning screen stays there. This is a positive development and a good compromise; Verohnika's freedom of speech has not been affected and she is still free to spew out her hatred for now, and unaware first-time visitors are now warned that they may find offensive content if they enter the site. If you do continue and enter the site, however, the warning doesn't come back unless you clear your cookies. If you want to see this cesspit for yourself, I won't link to it in case it bypasses the warning but paste this into your browser: http://hitlerresearch.blogspot.com/ (if you do decide to visit and you agree that it's excessively offensive, please flag it as such using the button on the Blogger.com bar at the top of the page or contact Blogger.com). I imagine Verohnika (or SS Adjutant Handstein, as she now signs her posts) will be spitting nails now. Oh well, she'll be spitting even more nails when she sees this.

*ANOTHER UPDATE* April 18

Could this be an another victory? I thought I'd have a look and see what Verohnika Clark (a.k.a. SS Adjutant Handstein) has been up to and imagine my surprise when I found this:

click to enlarge

Well, it's possible that it might just be one of those glitches that happens from time to time, but then it's also possible that someone with some authority actually had a look at what she was writing and the blog got pulled. I can't help feeling a degree of satisfaction even though I was content with the warning page (okay, I admit it, I'm punching the air). The last posts I saw in that cesspit of hers were about the recent tragic massacre in Virginia and they really were beyond the pale. Perhaps I should have taken screen grabs but then again, her guff has had quite enough publicity. Those last posts I saw were frankly disgusting and I'm not going to go into what was in them. So hopefully Verohnika Clark and her cesspit of a blog have fallen off the internet. I'd like to think that she's gone for good but somehow I'm not so sure she won't return. I know she posts her crap on other Nazi sites like Stormfront and her utterly ludicrous Adolf Hitler Research Society (AHRS hole) exists elsewhere on the internet as a web site. However if her blog has gone, then I think that can be chalked up a small victory. Here is the last e-mail I sent to Blogger.com a few hours before the blog vanished:

Hi Blogger Team,

Thank you for your reply. I understand that Blogger does not remove allegedly defamatory, libellous, or slanderous material from Blogger.com or BlogSpot.com. Actually, this is something I'm inclined to agree with in general as I too strongly believe in freedom of expression. My main concern was that there should be some sort of warning for readers before entering the site. It appears that you have put up such a warning and I thank you for that. I believe this is a vast improvement as well as a good compromise; no one's freedom of speech is affected and unaware readers are now warned that there may be content they might find offensive. This was really what I was hoping for.

I have had some dialogue with the author of the blog in question, using the comments feature but she will no-longer accept comments from me and continues to write content that I'm sure many people would find extremely offensive. In our discussions, this individual told me that Google has already pulled one of her web logs. This was something I discovered after I first contacted you and if it is true then I'm certainly not surprised judging by the extremist content on her current blog.

Anyway, thank you once again for replying and, more importantly, for putting up the warning page, as I say it is a vast improvement and I hope that it stays there.

Yours sincerely

Davide Simonetti

The lesson here is that yes, freedom of speech is vitally important but when someone is loudly calling out for the extermination of an entire race then maybe the platform should be removed. I hope that this is what eventually happened. We shall see. If this is the case then I'll delete the spoof blog I made to highlight what this idiot was doing.

*YET ANOTHER UPDATE* April 19

Well, I think it's more or less confirmed that Verohnika Clark (a.k.a SS Adjutant Handstein) has had her blog pulled by Google. I found this furious and barely comprehensible rant at the front page of one of her other websites http://www.adolfhitlerresearchsociety.org/ (which now also seems to have gone down for the moment, hmm):

Halten! AHRS Requests Authorization
This site now requires authorization from Verohnika Clark. I apologize for this inconvenience, but, there have been repeated attacks against my server and my personal blogs by Jewish supremacists and free speech violators. The username and password have both been changed. If you do not e-mail me for the new set, then you will not be allowed to view this web site. E-mail: webmaster at adolfhitlerresearchsociety dot org or AdjutantHandstein@hotmail.com. Another one of my 'offensive' web blogs was flagged and deleted by Google and their Jewish minions. Actually, I think it was just sabotaged to the point where I couldn't post to it or view it any longer. Strange, because I couldn't view it or post to it from either of my computers, but other people could still view it. I suspect they sabotaged my login or something. Kewt! So, I have started another new blog and the two official AHRS web sites will be password protected from here on out. Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler! We Love You! 4/20/1889 Do not use VerohnikaSS@hotmail.com any longer. It was also sabotaged by Jewry. They signed me up for ADL and Simon Weaselbag online. Please use AdjutantHandstein@hotmail.com. Oh, and they did something to my webmaster account, so, I can only receive mail. I can?t send it from that account. UPDATE! I received two e-mails today [4.18.2007] at my old e-mail address, from anonymous e-mailer, informing me that I had "been warned" that my blog would be 'sabotaged'. Apparently, this Jewish clown was able to get Google to sabotage my own login procedure. I am going to be out of town starting tonight [4/18/07]. So, I will not be updating my blog or the two sites for a few days. I had to give Adi an early "Happy Birthday." Make a German chocolate cake for him and light a candle in commemoration of his life and light in a time of nearly unparalleled Jewish darkness.

So, my first reaction to this has to be: Ahahahahahaha!!! Just how fucking stupid can she be? she gets burned by publishing her new e-mail address (after her old one was suspiciously "terminated") and so what does she do? She publishes another new one so the same thing can, in all probability, happen again. This little rant also tells us that she hasn't got a clue what is happening to her other that the vast Jewish conspiracy is out to get her (interestingly, though, it seems that I'm not the only one with an axe to grind). She's gone off to sulk for a few days so we can be thankful for a brief period of rest before she comes back with a new blog to carry on her mission of disgusting the planet. Unsurprisingly, she's learned nothing from her recent experiences (hey, I did say that she's gormless). I don't have the time or inclination to keep a constant vigil on her activities. I will keep my eyes open though because neither her nor her knuckle-dragging Nazi friends can be trusted, but as long as they are as thick as they seem to be, I don't think there's a great cause for concern.

It's interesting that all this happened just before her hero's birthday. It's not something that occurred to me, but then why should it? That piece of shit is, thankfully, long dead.

*FINAL UPDATE* (hopefully) April 20

I think and hope all this can be laid to rest now. The AHRSholes web site is back on line and Verohnika Clark is back to blogging her usual crap. The difference now is that the only way to access her new blog is to register with the main Nazi mothership (AHRSholes) for a username and password. This is much better because people can't accidentally stumble upon this dishonest, extremist rubbish any more, you have to be a Nazi (or just determined) to get to it. So, I think it was worth all the hassle even though it now seems I'm on the Nazi shit-list... Oh well, I think I'll get over it.

click to enlarge

Leaving aside the hilarity of the people who brought us the Gestapo complaining about their free speech and privacy being violated, this just isn't the case. As you can see, they are doing exactly what they did before (they've just been forced to crawl back under their rock to do it) so their free speech isn't really affected. And as for privacy, well if you plaster your "private" e-mail address all over the internet then it's hardly private is it? This seems to have finally sunk in, so even Verohnika will have to acknowledge that she's been taught a lesson.

Addendum

I've just been reading a very interesting post by Unity over at Ministry of Truth (via D-Notice). It's about new legislation being brought in by the EU to make denying the Holocaust or the Rwandan genocide a crime but not the Armenian genocide (for entirely political reasons). Like Unity, D-Notice and DK, I'm completely opposed to this. Clumsy and ill-thought out legislation like this makes having a different opinion a thought-crime and is counter-productive as, like Unity says, it drives these ideas underground instead of defeating them with better ideas. In his post, Unity uses similar arguments to the ones I made about a year ago when I defended the right of the pseudo 'historian' David Irving to make a complete prat of himself without getting locked up for it. I mention this because it does have a bearing on the above story - In Europe Verohnika would certainly fall foul of this law.

My spat with Verohnika Clark started when she twisted the meaning of a post I wrote and developed into an argument about her erroneous ideas and extremist language (such as calling for a genocide on Jews). When I refuted her arguments and mocked them, she felt it necessary to delete not just my comments but several posts with my comments on them. Eventually I did call on Google to put up a warning screen on her blog because it was misleadingly called Adolf Hitler Research Society which means that genuine researchers and students might have gone there thinking that the site contained real scholarship only to find page after page of hate-filled anti-Semitic rants, adulation of a mass murderer and Nazi propaganda.

It's stuff like this which is driving a demand for more legislation to control the Internet, so if self-regulation could be demonstrated to work, I had hoped that it would hold off such legislation. A warning screen wouldn't have affected Verohnika's freedom of speech but would have alerted visitors to the nature of the content. As it was, Google decided take away her megaphone, as it did before (despite what Verohnika says, I haven't a clue what happened to her other sites which also seem to have disappeared). At no point did I call for her to be prosecuted for what she had written - she couldn't be prosecuted anyway because in the USA the First Amendment guarantees her right to say what she likes. I'm fairly certain that after a short break Verohnika will be back spreading her lies and hate (she's said as much). But what this shows is that in some cases at least, it is possible to deal with Internet hatred without extra unnecessary legislation. Bringing in laws like the ones proposed (however well-meaning, and I'm not that sure that they are) lowers us to the level of the book-burners we want to defeat.

Tags: Nazis, Holocaust Deniers, Blogging