Jacobin: The Real War on Christmas Is Being Waged by Rich, Scroogelike Bosses

This comes from the radical American magazine Jacobin via Daily Dose of Democracy. I get sent online editions of the latter after signing one of their petitions against the Orange Generalissmo, noting that I wasn’t American but a foreigner, of course. Double Dose of Democracy is very much a Democrat e-newsletter, but it has an emphasis on protecting democracy similar to Open Britain and other pro-democracy movements here in Blighty. In this article, Jacobin’s Liza Featherstone skewers the fearmongering the Right was spewing a few years ago about liberals like the ACLU and so on waging a war against Christmas. She argues instead that there is indeed a real was being fought against the Christmas season, but it’s being waged by very rich, miserly bosses trying to screw every last bit of work from their underpaid staff. Read it for yourself.

‘The real war on Christmas is a class war waged by bosses

Liza Featherstone, Jacobin: “In the right-wing imaginary, the War on Christmas had a good run. Fox News host John Gibson alleged in a 2005 book that liberals were planning to ‘ban the sacred holiday,’ and a moral panic was born, yielding outrage after outrage almost every year. This year, however, the defenders of all things merry and bright have been pretty quiet, and polling shows that even among conservatives and Donald Trump supporters, a declining minority of Americans believe that the beloved holiday is under siege. Sensitive neighbors (and corporations hoping to avoid their ire) may continue to wish us a ‘Happy Holidays,’ the ACLU may continue to object to religious iconography in the town square, yet Americans are ignoring the likes of Tucker Carlson and Bill O’Reilly, instead adulting with a ‘live and let live’ attitude. This rare moment of cultural chill allows us to come together as Americans to confront the real war on Christmas, the one you won’t hear about on Fox News: a class war. If you’ve read Charles Dickens’s 1843 classic A Christmas Carol, you’ll remember that the main character is one of literature’s nastiest bosses. Ebenezer Scrooge hates the holiday and resents giving his employee, Bob Cratchit, even one paid day off with his family, calling Christmas ‘a poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket’ and demanding that the terrified Cratchit be at his desk “all the earlier’ the next day. As bad as that sounds, poor Bob Cratchit had it easier than many American workers today. A recent survey of over one thousand workers found that one in ten were working on Christmas Day. Nearly one in four expected to be working on Christmas Eve, while more expected to work on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day. Reasons included needing the money and lacking paid time off. Dickens, like his contemporary, Karl Marx, made observations about capitalism and its abuses to the human spirit that remain all too relevant today; in this case, his point was that bosses don’t stop acting like bosses at the holidays. Today, layoffs at this time of year are common. Last week, billionaire Elon Musk, who has been elected to exactly no government office but suddenly seems to be running everything, was apparently seeking to outdo Scrooge by trying to force a government shutdown, which would have meant that active-duty soldiers and other government workers wouldn’t get their paychecks. For some workers, conditions on the job get even worse at Christmastime. One of the reasons Americans give for working during the holiday is the fact that it is an especially busy time of year for their company or industry. As Teamsters went on strike at seven Amazon warehouses — in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, and Southern California — some workers have observed that they were barely seeing their loved ones this season, considered ‘peak’ for the company. ‘When you think of the holidays you think of spending time with your family, you think of reconnecting,’ a packer in Staten Island told Labor Notes, ‘And during peak, all you can think of is sleep.’ Even for those who don’t have to slave away in an Amazon warehouse, exploitation gets in the way of Christmas. Many people don’t get paid enough to enjoy travel and gift-giving. In fact, financial stress during the holiday season is so common that articles advising us how to manage it are published every year. Dickens was smart enough about class relations under capitalism to know that Scrooge’s transformation wouldn’t have been realistic without an extraordinary plot twist. Scrooge needs an intervention — by ghosts. Dickens knew that getting capitalists to behave humanely, at Christmas or at any time of year, would require a departure from the realism he employs in many of his other novels.”

ABC Wars Come Closer with Invention of Bipedal War Robot

This short video from RoboPhil’s channel on YouTube came up in my YouTube feed today. It’s a brief report about the creation of what Phil describes as the world’s first pedal war robot. It’s about five feet tall, can go at four miles an hour and 44 pounds of payload. It’s been created by the private American company Fountain. At the moment it’s rather like a drone, in that it’s remotely controlled by a human operator through Virtual Reality. RoboPhil is really enthusiastic about this, and says that this technology, although at present confined to the military, will percolate down and be used in other industries and sectors of the economy. He ends by promoting his other site, which gives more information on robots and AI to interested businessmen wishing to use it in their firms.

For many people, the immediate image this brings up is of Arnie as The Terminator. But Marvel Comics got there first. There was a story in one of the British Marvel Comics, I think it was Hulk Weekly, appropriately enough, in which Banner stumbles upon a secret military research base. The base has been creating remotely controlled robot warriors, but their human operators are plagued by feelings of dehumanisation. One of these soldiers reveals these feelings to Banner when he enters the psychiatrist’s office and mistakes Banner for him. Banner is absolutely appalled, but the soldier, despite his mental discomfort, doesn’t feel Banner’s dislike of the project. He believes in it. And so the stage is set for a massive fight between the war robot and its human operator and old Green Skin.

It also reminds me of the 2000 AD strip, ABC Warriors. These are a collection of former war robots who roam the galaxy fighting evil and oppression. They were created to fight a future war against the Volgans, when it had become too hot for human soldiers. The strip first appeared in the late ’70s-early 80s, and still continues today. In recent editions of the story, the Volgan War has erupted because the world has reached peak oil and the west is trying to steal the Volgans’ oil fields. There’s always been a powerful element of satire and social comment in 2000 AD, and the strip’s writer and co-creator, Pat Mill, isn’t afraid of making the odd explicit political comment. In one very early ABC Warrior strip, the Warriors are under the command of human officers who have absolutely no regard for their lives. Told to advance, Hammerstein, the leader, and his team are attacked with corrosive gas. This mortally wounds one of the new recruits. Hammerstein states that he can’t cure the stricken machine, but he can stop the pain. The human officers are connected electronically to the robots so they feel some of what the robots experience. However, the system has a ‘pain barrier’ that ensures that they don’t feel the full pain experienced by dead and dying robots. Instead, they just get a tingle when one of them dies. Hammerstein takes out a combat knife to give the dying robot a merciful, swift death. He goes straight through the pain barrier, killing the officer in charge.

It was a powerful story, informed by the common view of the conduct of the First World War in which British squaddies had their lives and limbs squandered by incompetent, upper class officers. This view of the War, shown in plays like Journey’s End, filmed as Oh What A Lovely War, has been challenged in recent years. The ABC Warriors story nevertheless shows how it still has power to inspire powerful anti-war messages, and that Mills’ own sympathies are very much for ordinary people against the uncaring and exploitative upper classes.

We are now fighting a war in eastern Europe, Ukraine, against Russia, using war robots. At the moment they’re drones, though these have been developed into remotely operated tanks and ships as well as aircraft. This bipedal robot really does sound like something the Hulk fought against in that long-ago strip, and the murmurings about the possibility of developing human level AI raises spectre of the emergence of Schwarzenegger’s Terminator or the ABC Warriors.

As for RoboPhil’s enthusiasm for the potential of these robots to revolutionise industry, I really don’t share it. AI is expected to result in the lay off of millions of workers. There was one prediction that a third of low paid jobs could go in the next twenty years thanks to this technology. It might result in increased profits for the companies, especially as Amazon are looking to lay off 6,000 staff in America and replace them with robots, but for the people who’ve lost their jobs to these machines it will bring nothing but hardship.

Open Britain on the Five Challenges to Democracy in and from America

I got this message from the pro-democracy campaign group yesterday before the end of the US election and the horrifying news that America’s first Orang-utan president had been re-elected. This post itemises the five challenges to democracy in America and Britain.

‘Dear David,

It’s US Election Day. Over the span of the next few days, we’ll start to see US states declaring for either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. Given the potential for a close race, it’s unlikely that we’ll know who won when we wake up tomorrow. Factor in the anticipated legal challenges and recounts, and it could be quite a while indeed before the victor is declared.  

While we bite our nails in anticipation, it’s worth a look back at the challenges to democracy we’ve witnessed during this campaign cycle. Across Britain and the United States, the glaring issues we’ve been highlighting for years – notably dark money and disinformation – are growing more and more dangerous.

Here are five major challenges to democracy that our team picked up from the last few months of US Campaigning.

Record-smashing levels of cash in US politics:

Tech mogul and notable Trump ally Elon Musk offered to give away $1 million a day to random registered voters in swing-states, on the condition they signed a petition launched by his own Trump-aligned Political Action Committee (PAC). He’s reportedly contributed at least $133 million to support the former President’s efforts, and is allegedly in talks about heading up a Trump department for “government efficiency” (talk about a quid-pro-quo).

According to the dedicated campaigners at OpenSecrets (a US NGO focused on dark money), federal election spending this year is expected to breach $16 billion – an all-time record high. The UK saw a similar bump in donations and spending at our 2024 GE. Increasingly, it seems, our politics across the Atlantic are up for sale.

While Elon Musk may be the most flagrant example of an oligarch buying political clout (including potentially breaking election law with his multi-million dollar stunt), billionaires are funding US politics across the aisle. If you want to see which other billionaires have donated to both parties, check out OpenSecrets’ continuously updated searchable donor list.

Conspiracy Culture and “Stop The Steal” 2.0:

In numerous instances, conspiracy theories have originated from small anonymous accounts online and made their way up to the Republican party brass, reposted by congresspeople, officials, and both Donald Trump and JD Vance.

Whether it’s Haitian migrants accused of eating cats and dogs, or federal disaster relief workers accused of supporting illegal migrants, a litany of bizarre claims were promulgated by a social media machine that feeds on outrage. Trump and Vance seized on these opportunities, looking to stir division and uncertainty.

In the run-up to the election, the Republicans have also been using disinformation as a means to ultimately contest the result. Musk has spent months spreading conspiracies – completely unsubstantiated – about Democrats intentionally “importing” illegal migrants to swing-states in order to vote. Over the past few days, the BBC has reported on myriad false claims online about illegal migrants voting and widespread voter fraud. Should Kamala Harris win, these claims will likely be the ammunition behind “Stop The Steal” 2.0.

Deepfakes and Doctored Images:

Over this past weekend, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) warned of a series of fake videos circulating widely on social media. Featuring messages about civil unrest and an impending “civil war”, as well as numerous false claims about Kamala Harris, these videos purport to be from traditional news sources. In some cases, they’re designed to appear as reports from official government agencies.

Add that on top of pre-existing “deepfakes”,  shared videos ostensibly depicting Harris, Trump and other politicians. Trump has shared fake images of pop-star Taylor Swift  endorsing him and of Kamala Harris addressing what appears to be a communist rally. Not only do these images and videos misinform – they call into question the validity of any real videos shared as well.

A BBC investigation showed that users on X – a hot spot for AI-generated deepfakes and doctored images – are making thousands of dollars by the social media site to spread this sort of false and misleading content. While most sites allow users to profit from content, X in particular has no rules whatsoever pertaining to misinformation, meaning that superspreaders make a killing by undermining our information environment.

Bias and Intimidation in the Legacy Media:

Despite the fact that Trump and the Republicans routinely accuse the legacy media of being pro-Harris, American media as a whole has proven to be incapable of scrutinising the candidates, outlining the facts, and calling a spade a spade. The US media’s predisposition towards sensation and spectacle has served to amplify Trump’s campaigning and led to a failure to hold him accountable, as it did for him in 2016 (and as the UK media did for Boris Johnson).

While pro-Trump broadcast outlets like Fox News, NewsMax, and One America News continuously peddle the former President’s conspiracy theories, other traditionally “liberal” outlets like the New York Times utterly fail to hold him accountable. Others still, like the Washington Post (recently purchased by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos) and the Los Angeles Times have made historic decisions not to endorse a candidate for the first time in their histories. Are they afraid of retribution in the case of a Trump victory?

As in the UK, the US media is not serving its proper role as the fourth estate. Trump and Harris have both been under-scrutinised, and Trump’s ludicrous comments are all too often left floating rather than being challenged.

First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) and the Electoral College:

While we already know that FPTP voting produced the most disproportional Parliament of all time at our last UK General Election, America’s system is even more pernicious. As we outlined in one of our recent US elections mailouts , George W. Bush is the only President since 1988 to ever win the popular vote. Two of the last four US presidents were chosen by a minority of the population. If Trump wins, it will almost certainly be the same.

The effect of the Electoral College is that few peoples’ votes actually matter. Voter suppression is easier and more damaging. Third parties don’t stand a chance, and often act only as “spoilers”.  Just a few swing-states determine the outcome. 

Both the UK and the US have record levels of distrust and dissatisfaction with politics. They’re both well past due for a democratic update.

If one thing is clear from two major elections in the US and UK this year, it’s that our systems are simply no longer up for the task. As we await the election results over the next few days, we’ll continue looking at the lessons we can learn from across the pond to safeguard our own politics from dark money and disinformation.

All the best, Matt

Matt Gallagher

Communications Officer

Open Britain Team’

Bristol South MP Karin Smyth Replies to My Letter Asking Her to Support Amazon Worker Unionisation

A little while ago I took part in a letter writing campaign by 38 Degrees to support the Amazon workers in one of their warehouses. They asked their supporters to write to their local MPs to get them to meet a delegation of the workers in parliament. The workers are demanding unionisation against poor working conditions and attempts by the management to combat these demands. Today I got a reply from my local MP here in Bristol South, Karin Smyth. She regrets that she was unable to meet the Amazon workers, but fully supports the right to unionise, collective bargaining and action and the new Labour legislation coming in that will support this.

‘Dear David

Thank you for contacting me about workers at Amazon’s warehouse in Coventry and their campaign for recognition for the GMB union. I was unfortunately unable to meet workers in Parliament due to prior commitments. 

I believe that both businesses and workers benefit when workers are given a voice through a recognised trade union. I was therefore disappointed at the result of the ballot for union recognition at Amazon in Coventry. I welcome though that the Government has said it will look at what happened there as it seeks to improve the recognition process as part of its plan to make work pay.

I believe strong collective bargaining rights and institutions are key to tackling problems of insecurity, inequality, discrimination, low pay and poor conditions. I am therefore proud to support the Government’s commitment to strengthen the rights of working people by empowering workers to organise collectively through trade unions.

In relation to union recognition, I am pleased that the Government has said it will simplify the process and the law around statutory recognition thresholds, so that working people have a meaningful right to organise through trade unions. I note the concerns GMB highlights about existing legislation and processes presenting too many barriers to recognition, so I welcome the Government’s plans to review the process for statutory recognition claims and to remove the antiquated rule that means that unions must show that at least 50% of workers are likely to support their claim before the process has even begun. I also support plans to modernise the rules governing the final ballot in which workers vote on whether to recognise a trade union, requiring unions to gain a simple majority to win.
In addition, I support plans to introduce rights for trade unions to access workplaces in a regulated and responsible manner, for recruitment and organising purposes. This would bring the UK in line with many other modern advanced economies, giving business, workers and unions clarity and certainty when navigating their interactions.

More widely, I can assure you that I look forward to the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill and will back efforts to deliver the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation, including repealing the anti-trade union legislation of the last Government, providing a genuine living wage and sick pay for the lowest earners, banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, ending fire and rehire and bringing in basic rights from day one on the job.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this crucial issue.

Yours sincerely

Karin Smyth MP
Labour MP for Bristol South’

Update from the Megaphone about Trade Unionist Meeting with MPs about Amazon Union-Busting

Dear David,

On Monday, Amazon workers went to Parliament to tell MPs all about Amazon’s dirty tricks and why the laws around union recognition need to be changed. 

Thank you to the 3000 people who wrote to their MP, asking them to attend the meeting. Many MPs who attended told us they were there at a constituents’ request!

It was a crucial opportunity for MPs to hear directly from the workers about their experiences of working at Amazon, and about the relentless union busting they faced during their historic ballot for union recognition. 

Here’s a message from Louveza, one of the fearless union leaders at the BHX4 Amazon warehouse:

 “The two main reasons we lost the recognition vote at BHX4 is because of

1. CAC legislation
2. Amazon’s union-busting campaign

So on Monday we went to parliament to speak to MPs and made our voices heard. We told our stories and revealed truths they haven’t heard before. Our aim was to convince them to push certain legislations to make it easier for unions to get recognised.

We pushed our message across as strong as possible and we’re confident that changes will be made. We’re now stronger than we’ve ever been and we have the backing of many MPs in government who will fight alongside us!” 

Here’s a photo of the union leaders outside Parliament after their meeting with MP’s!

Share this photo on X (Twitter)

MPs were then armed with a report from their union GMB that details the changes that need to be made to the recognition process to make sure that what happened at the Amazon BHX4 warehouse can never happen again. You can read the report here.

Here’s a message from Ceferina, another Amazon union leader at BHX4:

“Our visit to Parliament was a pivotal moment in our ongoing fight for justice at Amazon BHX4 in Coventry. It was both empowering and inspiring to stand before MPs and share firsthand the challenges we’re facing with union-busting tactics.

The conversations were impactful, with many MPs showing genuine concern for the treatment of workers and the broader implications this has for workers’ rights across the country. It felt like we were finally being heard at the highest level of government, and that our voices mattered. The experience highlighted the importance of solidarity and the collective strength we have when we come together.

It was a day of unity, not just among our team but also with those in Parliament who stand with us. This visit has reinvigorated our resolve, and we are more committed than ever to ensuring Amazon workers receive the respect, dignity, and fair treatment they deserve.”

Here’s a photo of the union leaders with Warinder Juss, MP for Wolverhampton West. 

Thanks for your continued support on this campaign. 

Lois,

Megaphone UK

Megaphone Appeal to Write to Local MP to Meet Amazon Workers Fighting for Right to Unionise

‘Dear David,

Amazon warehouse workers in Coventry made history this July, holding the first ever vote on union recognition with an Amazon warehouse in Europe.

But in the face of Amazon’s unrelenting union busting tactics, the vote lost by just 29 votes.

On Monday 9 September, the worker leaders are heading to Parliament to tell MPs all about Amazon’s dirty tricks.

Can you write to your MP and invite them to attend the event? It takes two minutes using our letter writing tool?

Invite your MP

Amazon’s union busting tactics are unrivaled. In fact, Amazon are sponsoring an event in Parliament on the same date for MPs to attend. 

During the ballot they did everything they could to discourage members from voting YES for union recognition. Now they’re doing everything they can to convince MPs that they’re a decent employer.

We have a job to do to make sure our MPs boycott this event, and instead spend their time hearing directly from Amazon workers about the reality of their working conditions. 

Please make sure your MP makes the right choice by inviting them to meet with Amazon workers. 

Invite your MP

Thank you for everything you have done so far to support these workers in their fight for union recognition. Even though the vote was lost, the campaign is far from over. 

The government has committed to delivering a New Deal for Working People by introducing a new employment bill that will grant unions new rights to organise and win better pay for workers. 

With this new employment bill on the horizon, we have a real opportunity to influence policians and get the voices of Amazon workers reflected in our laws.

We need to make sure MPs understand the challenges these workers faced in their fight for recognition, and why the laws need to be strengthened to protect workers against bad bosses like Amazon.

Make sure your MP is there. Take two minutes to invite them today

Lois,

Megaphone UK’

Megaphone Petition to Get Union Rights for Amazon Workers

The working conditions for Amazon employees are notorious and deplorable. I’ve had no problems signing this petition.

‘David, my name is Ceferina and I work at the Amazon warehouse in Coventry (BHX4).

You may have heard the horror stories of what a job at Amazon is like:

Sackings without warning. People collapsing from overwork. Ambulance call-outs.

No one should ever face this on shift. That’s why we’ve been fighting to build our union for years. 

In the next four weeks, we have this chance. We’re going to vote in a historic ballot to win union recognition, and we need your support.

We are up against some of the worst union busting the UK has ever seen. 

When we first applied for union recognition, Amazon hired 1,300 more workers to dilute our union and destroy our chance. 

The atmosphere of intimidation is very strong, and some of my colleagues are scared. And now, Amazon are holding regular “brainwashing sessions” aimed at discouraging workers to vote for union recognition.

David, we have already come a long way in our fight for a recognised union, and we are so close to winning it. Your support will help us maintain our momentum and give us confidence to keep going.

Can you sign our petition to show Amazon that people across the country back our fight for a recognised union?

I’ll add my name

Amazon is a multi-billion pound corporation. 

They’re throwing everything to break our spirit and stop us organising. 

Anti-union posters. Fear and intimidation. QR codes to get us to cancel our union membership.

Amazon may have billions of pounds. But we have something better: the strength of the trade union movement behind us.

Can you show your support by signing the petition? The more who sign, the more we can show Amazon we won’t back down.

This is a David vs Goliath fight, but I know that we can win.

For too long, Amazon has treated us like robots without a voice.

It’s time for us to make history and force Amazon to recognise a union in the UK for the very first time. 

We’re going to turn the tide and win respect and a safe workplace when we win this ballot.

Sign the petition to show Amazon that you’re standing with us.

Thank you for your support,

Ceferina

Amazon worker at BHX4 warehouse’

38 Degrees Petition to Get Amazon and the Other Billionaire Corporations to Pay Their Taxes

‘BREAKING: Amazon paid no corporation tax from their main UK division for the second year in a row – despite profits of £222 million. In fact, the government even gave the company £7.7m in tax credits! [1]

David, that’s cash that could go towards our NHS or helping families with the cost of living. [2] So we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again. How? Chancellor Jeremy Hunt needs to scrap the tax credit for companies making these kinds of profits right now!

But we need to move fast. If thousands of us join forces today, while Amazon’s tax bill is all over the news, we’ll show the Government we simply will not stand for massive companies not paying their fair share.

So David, will you take 30 seconds to sign the petition calling on Jeremy Hunt to close tax loopholes for massive companies like Amazon?

ADD YOUR NAME

Here’s how Amazon avoided so much tax:

• The Government runs a special tax break scheme to encourage investment in infrastructure. [4]
• But Amazon used it as a loophole to claim credits for investments they probably would have made anyway, to boost their profits. [5]
• Meanwhile, they’re also downsizing in the UK and slashing jobs! [6]

It’s completely outrageous and needs to stop. So David, can you sign the petition calling on the Government to stop tech giants like Amazon ripping us off?

I’LL SIGN

I’M NOT SIGNING BECAUSE

Thanks for everything you do,

Grace, Matt, Megan, Jade and the 38 Degrees office team

NOTES:
[1] The Guardian: Amazon’s main UK division pays no corporation tax for second year in a row 
[2] See Note [1]
[3] The Mirror: Amazon’s biggest UK firms pay NO corporation tax – despite making £193-a-second 
[4] Gov.UK: Super-deduction 
[5] See Note [1]
[6] The Sun: CLOSING TIME Amazon to close 10 locations as it axes another 9,000 jobs‘

Violent Trans Rights Activism and Nazi Transvestism

Before I go further, this post is very definitely not aimed at trans people in general. As I’ve said many times on previous occasions, I condemn persecution against people because of their sexuality or gender expression. I don’t doubt that most ordinary trans people just want to get on with their lives in peace. And I am acutely aware of the danger of stirring up prejudice and hatred against sexual minorities. This post is not against them, but against the militant and violent trans rights activists, many of whom aren’t trans, who hurl accusations of fascism against gender critical feminists and their supporters and threaten violence.

Unfortunately, there have been numerous violent and threatening incidents by trans activists. There have been incidents in Spain where feminist protesters have been assaulted and knocked to the ground. This also happened in Britain to Maria MacLachlan of the Peak Trans blog, who was then prosecuted by her attacker for hate speech. The veteran gay rights activist Fred Sargeant was also assaulted and knocked to the ground because of gender critical banners he was carrying at a Pride march in America. A feminist demonstration in Spain was met with such menacing opposition by trans activists that the police ordered the women to go home as they could not protect them. There have also been ugly scenes at Kelly-Jay Keen’s rallies in Britain, including Manchester, where a woman was pushed over a low wall, Bristol and Brighton. At that event, trans activists let off smoke bombs, accused an innocent father of being a fascist and raising a baby fascist, and one was arrested with a bag of 12 knives. Katherine Holdstock, a gender critical feminist, was threatened at her university with a baying mob throwing smoke bombs around.

Many trans activists really do believe that ‘TERFs’ are fascists. I’ve reblogged a video from Peak Trans, in which she discusses this assertion and utterly refutes. No gender critical feminist, as far as I am aware, has ever recommended persecuting trans people, putting them into concentration camps or murdering and experimenting on them like the Nazis did to gay men and women, some of whom would probably today be considered trans, during the Third Reich. But still the accusation keeps being made. MacLachlan filmed her trip to Bristol to hear K-J K speak. At one instant, just as she was leaving, there was a young man solemnly telling the crowd that TERFs were fascists and that their Nazi persecution would start with trans people before being expanded to cover gays and other despised minorities. And yesterday the accusation surfaced once again that gender critical feminists were part of the far right.

It’s a dangerous assertion for trans activists to use. Not just because it’s wrong, but also because it can very easily be turned around against them. They are the people preaching violence and intolerance against their enemies, who refuse even to let their arguments be heard because somehow this makes them unsafe and constitutes violence. But also, because, historically, there was a very strong element of homosexuality and crossdressing within the Nazi party, despite the horrific persecution of gays. The German historian Ludwig Theweleit described this back in the 1980s or so in his book Male Fantasies. This includes passages on events such as the transvestite dances held by the German navy at their base in Kiel. And in 2018 Martin Dammann, another German historian, published a book Soldiers Studies: Crossdressing in the Wehrmacht, which discussed this peculiar phenomenon. The Daily Mail published a review of the book by Sarah Malm ‘His and Herrs: Photos reveal how cross-dressing Nazis loved to wear women’s clothes for fun during World War Two‘ in the 6th November 2018 edition. This began

‘Photographs show soldiers in the German Nazi Army dressing in women’s clothing

Some snaps show them putting on cross-dressing shows for each other while on the front line

Others see them mucking about in women’s underwear, and in some cases also make-up

A series of fascinating photographs showing how German Nazi soldiers would dress up in women’s clothing and put on cross-dressing shows on the front line, has been compiled in a new book.

Artist Martin Dammann had intended to research soldiers’ lives in the Third Reich, and ended up stumbling across a surprising number of amateur photographs of Nazi conscripts dressed as women.

They show Nazi soldiers in everything from bras and dresses to home-made crop-tops and skirts created from blankets. 

Cross dressing during times of war was not isolated to the German Nazis, and notably also took place during World War I. 

It is thought it served as a way to lighten the mood of soldier life, and to provide entertainment to tired and bored soldiers, a large majority of them heterosexual men starved of female company.’

The article was also illustrated by photos like the one below:

 

See: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6357677/Photographs-line-German-Nazi-soldiers-dressing-womens-clothing.html

For Brits of a certain age, it’s all very like some of the weird antics of Herr Flick, Von Schmalhausen and Lt. Gruber of the German army in the long-running BBC comedy series ‘Allo, ‘Allo. One of the photos in the article even shows a group of soldiers with their little tank.

The trans militants also resemble fascists in other ways. There’s the superficial one of dress. They dress in ‘black bloc’, which has traditionally been the colour of fascism since the days of Mussolini and the black shirts. Their refusal to debate with their opponents and use of threats and violence instead follows the Futurist dictum that they supported ‘the punch, the slap, as the decisive argument.’ And the particular hostility directed to gender critical women recalls the Futurists’ advocacy of ‘scorn for woman’ in Marinetti’s Founding and Manifesto of the movement. This is very far from the attitude at a transvestite convention in Weston-Super-Mare during the 1980s. That event was covered in the Bristol Evening Post. At least of the attendees said that many men had terrible attitudes to women, which showed their sympathy and solidarity with the opposite sex.

Violence and intolerance from whatever quarter needs to be condemned. We need honest, reasonable debate, not shrill and baseless accusations. And fascistic behaviour can also come from trans activists, claiming to defend persecuted sexual minorities. This has to be condemned along with other forms of hatred and intolerance.

For further information, the Amazon page for the book is at: https://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Studies-Cross-Dressing-Martin-Damman/dp/3775744835

Candace Owens In Trouble for Defending Basketball Player with Anti-Semitic Views and People Reading ‘Mein Kampf’

Remember Candace Owens? She the young, Black American right-winger who turned up over here a few years ago to launch Turning Point UK with Ben Shapiro. This was supposed to be the British branch of the American conservative youth organisation, Turning Point USA. She got into trouble then for her massive ignorance about the Nazis. She declared that Hitler wasn’t a nationalist, because he wanted everybody to be German, and that his actions would have been alright if they’d been confined to Germany. The answer is ‘No’ to both statements. Hitler didn’t want everyone to be German – he just wanted the Germans to rule over Europe, or at least eastern Europe. And exterminate the Jews, of course, because they weren’t German. His dictatorship, imprisonment of political opponents and the persecution of Jews, Gypsies and gay people would have still been utterly monstrous even if he kept it to Germany. It really is amazing how Owens could make such a monumentally stupid statement.

Now she seems to have done something similar. According to a report by Alternet’s Brandon Cage, on her show on the Daily Wire, Owens opened her mouth to defend basketball player Kyrie Irving, who had caused massive offence for his weird views. He’s an anti-vaxxer, Flat Earther and believes in the New World Order. But Owens argued that Irving is the victim of overzealous persecution by the Anti-Defamation League and the National Basketball Association. She backed up her case by pointing to how the film ‘Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America’, became a bestseller on Amazon after Irving promoted it. According to the Washington Free Beacon, the film not only denies the Holocaust it also claims that Jews have falsified the historical record to conceal their true nature and power. It also states that Whites can’t be authentic Jews, beliefs which the article says inspired the perp behind a shooting a kosher supermarket last year in New Jersey. This sounds like bog-standard Black Hebrew Israelite anti-Semitism. Organisations like the Black Hebrew Israelites believe that only Blacks who have experienced transatlantic slavery are the real Jews. There’s apparently a similar outfit over here in Birmingham, according to Simon Webb, who turn up in paramilitary uniform ranting their nonsense against Jews and Whites in the streets unmolested. Webb was annoyed that they were getting away with it, while Whites with just a trace of racism were rounded up for prosecution by the cops.

According to Owens, the book’s popularity somehow exonerates Irving, because if you over-censor something, you end up asking if it’s true and how they could keep this information from us. She said

‘I was right. Last night, #HeroestoNegroes was trending on Twitter. It was a top trend on election night, no less, and everybody under the trend was saying ‘I’m watching it right now, I’m watching it, why would they try to take this from us?’ Why would they try to keep this information from us?’ And that is what happens when you over-censor information.

It was never necessary to attack Kyrie Irving, even if you felt that the information in this documentary was bad. And there are plenty of people that have spoken out and said that. The extreme efforts that the ADL went through in coalition with the NBA to punish him and their efforts to then demand that Amazon take this documentary down, of course, was going to pique people’s interest.

Not only is the documentary the top documentary on Amazon, but it’s also the book – which I didn’t know they had a book – is now a bestseller on Amazon’s list. If you go to Amazon bestsellers, you will see ‘Heroes to Negroes.’ It is one of the bestselling books.‘

She also protested against demands for Amazon to withdraw the film as an attack on free speech, and said people had a right to be wrong. Then she defended people reading Mein Kampf.

‘A little reminder, if you actually go on Amazon right now, you can order and read ‘Mein Kampf.’ It is not an endorsement of Adolf Hitler to read a historical textbook. It just is not, right? And the idea that we should be censoring all this information and no one should see it because it hurts some group of people, to me, just does not gel well with our First Amendment rights.

Amazon, still not in trouble, don’t know how Kyrie Irving’s entire life is on the line, but nobody is talking about Amazon, but they are making a ton of money. So Kyrie Irving is losing money and Amazon is making tons of money. Think about that for a second.‘

Okay, I’ll defend her comments about reading Mein Kampf. It certainly isn’t a textbook, but it is read like one by people, who want to understand the beliefs that motivated Hitler and his murderous regime. The monster’s Tabletalk, as recorded by Martin Bormann, has also been published. Here in the UK, the OUP edition has a foreword by Hugh Trevor-Roper discussing ‘The Mind of Adolf Hitler’ and making it very clear how bizarre, poisonous and semi-educated Hitler’s views are. People generally read it to gain insight into Hitler, not because they think he might be right about the Jews. Or at least, I hope they don’t. Hebrews to Negroes is different. People are reading it because they’re interested in its ideas about the Jews. And yes, people have a right to be wrong. The ability to be wrong is one of the fundamental human freedoms. But there are ideas so dangerous, that people have to be protected from them. No decent person wants to see a repeat of the Holocaust. That’s why books like Hebrews to Negroes should be banned, like the infamous Tsarist forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

There seems to be a large amount of anti-Semitism in certain parts of Black America. Webb posted a video about it the other day on History Debunked, which pointed to a wretched book published in the 80s by the Nation of Islam as the source of the poisonous myth that the Jews were responsible for the transatlantic slave trade. But decades before then the book Colour Prejudice noted that there was a lot of anti-Semitism amongst the Blacks in Harlem. Some of it might come from the Jewish-owned stores there originally refusing to employ Black sales staff, though the Italian and Greek-owned businesses also didn’t. And not all Black Americans were happy with the racist rhetoric of protesters like Sufi Abdul Hamid, who organised Black labour protests against the stores in the 30s. Indeed, Hamid lost control of the protest movement because his coalition partners thought he’d gone too far. You can’t defend films like Hebrews to Negroes, in the same way you can’t defend Egyptian television’s serialisation a few years ago of the Protocols.

Some things just shouldn’t be published, and you’re harming people when they are.

For further information, see https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/us/candace-owens-calls-adolf-hitler-s-mein-kampf-a-textbook-while-excusing-kyrie-irving-s-antisemitism/ar-AA13W4WJ?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=fb76f9b33724430586d1605d297f12ff