I thought I may as well provide a brief summary of the year in blogging + activism.
Well … next post, maybe.
Before I do, a few days ago (December 30), I became aware that local neo-Nazi Neil Erikson had published a video on his Facebook page claiming that I am Monash academic Professor Rob Sparrow.
The video features Erikson, driving in his car, while watching a video on his phone of an exchange between Rob and other panelists on the subject of ‘political correctness’ (you can watch the video here). The convicted anti-Semite and neo-Nazi activist states:
That guy there [points at Rob]: his name is Doctor Robert Sparrow, Monash University. Now for the past ten years, patriotic and nationalist groups, have been fighting an enemy. An unseen enemy. This is the most cowardly of the pond scum of the left. He’s the king of the pond scum. Andy Fleming has spent over a decade, sitting on his little gay computer, taking down patriot’s photos of their children, of their houses, and storing it on his hard drive. Then he then spreads it to all the anarchists, around the local area, so the anarchists go and attack these people’s houses. He’s been blamed and accused of causing a fire bomb of a man, a patriot’s letterbox, a few years back. He’s even been behind the anarchist violence on April 4, July 18, May 31st, August 29. All that anarchist violence where they were bashing old women, desecrating war memorials, it all come from Andy Fleming. And that, my friends, is Andy Fleming: Doctor Robert Sparrow, the biggest fucking coward in our nation. So spread the word patriots, and let’s expose this piece of shit. Catch yas.
A short while later, the video was removed and Erikson uploaded another. Minus the criminal accusations above, it widens his, er, critique, to include Rob’s siblings, Jeff and Jill Sparrow. Titled ‘Slackbastard AKA Sparrow Family’ and published on December 30, Erikson states:
How you goin’ patriots? Well we discovered who slackbastard is, some guy named Robert Sparrow. Now he’s a lecturer, at university: he talks about anarchy, he’s all edgy and shit because he wears like loopy earrings, he teaches all the kids money’s bad, capitalism’s bad, [I’m?] edgy. Now that is slackbastard. We also found out who his brother is, Jeff Sparrow, who’s a edgy communist journalist. He writes for some shitty news agencies online like Overland and shit, so he’s like real edgy communist [indecipherable] … tell everyone how to spend their money. Not only that they gotta sister named Jill Sparrow, who’s a socialist and she started Socialist Alternative, in Melbourne. Now get this, if you watched the news a couple of months ago, some crazy woman was being dragged out of a government building by police, she had red hair, she had her child breastfeeding off her breast, screaming like a disheveled mess. That’s their sister Jill, she’s a socialist, she’s edgy too, they’ve been doing this since they were young. But guess what, they grew up in the most richest suburb in Victoria: Brighton. They’re spoiled little fuckin’ rich kids. When’s the left wing gonna learn, you gonna let these little spoiled, little spoiled brats tell you what to do with your cash? It’s disgusting. Have a happy new year, and fuck the left wing. Catch ya later.
Note : The protest Erikson refers to took place in early November. See : Mum Refusing To Leave Refugee Protest Evicted By Police While Breastfeeding Child, Max Chalmers, New Matilda, November 5, 2015.
This second video has been spread widely among Erikson’s fascist comrades, including by Shermon Burgess (‘The Great Aussie Patriot’), while similar material — claiming that Professor Sparrow is the author of my blog — has appeared on neo-Nazi blogs like Whitelaw Towers, Nick Folkes’ Party for Freedom Facebook page, Facebook pages belonging to Dr Jim Saleam’s Australia First Party and presumably elsewhere. Accompanying the material is commentary of the sort one might expect: promises of bloody revenge, homophobic diatribes, commitments to harassing Monash University (several Facebook users admit to phoning Rob’s office and leaving abusive messages), a handful of skeptical inquiries, and so on. A sample:
So what evidence does the bRanes trust present in order to prove that I’m Rob? While Erikson offers none, Burgess pops on his science hat in order to proclaim:
LOL.
In that other place known as reality, this is obviously not the first time that some fascist bizarr0 has claimed to know my ‘real’ identity: in March last year James Gilhome claimed that I was some bloke called Robert Godino; the year before that, the Australia First Party & Co. alleged that I was James Hutchings (after the party received a letter from a lawyer, I suddenly became ‘Andy’ Hutchings, James’s non-existent brother). And so on and so forth.
In conclusion, despite the falsity of the claim, like previous such excursions, this latest ‘outing’ will likely take some weeks or even months to subside. In which context, it’s important to remember that Burgess’s 41,000+ Facebook followers are entirely gullible and will believe absolutely anything he says — and that Facebook is entirely happy to facilitate his racism, xenophobia, and general abuse of Muslims in Australia (see also : 2015: The year that angry won the internet, Mike Wendling, BBC, December 30, 2015). The same rule applies to the far fewer numbers who pay attention to the diatribes of Neil Erikson, the online poutings by the Australia First Party, and/or the assorted other fascist grouplets and random bigots that have volunteered to take up the cudgel against Professor Sparrow.
What absolute knob-ends. Had they bothered to get a copy of your voice in the studio (from 3CR’s SUWA show podcast) and then compared it with Rob Sparrow’s they would have found that you sound *nothing* alike.
I can understand hate. I can understand bigotry. But stupidity – sheer stupidity – is always really disappointing.
Look, fuck off — you’re so sprung. If you think for a minute we’re dumb enough to buy your inevitable denials then the pressure really has got to you. Those voices on those recordings are absolutely the same. They are same in everything that makes a voice distinctive and characteristic. Given how you and your alter-ego both share the same political persuasion (although you pretend to be an anarchist when clearly you’re not), both hail from the same neck of the woods, and only you as Professor Sparrow could seriously have been granted access to media it makes it a solid conclusion. It’s understandable, given that many people hate your fucking guts that you’d be inclined to deny all, and since you’ve brought your tenure into disrepute. The clock is ticking, jerk-off. This time you’re fucked.
your still a fucking hommo
Hang on! You barrack for Collingwood. Eddie McGuire barracks for Collingwood. You are from Melbourne. Eddie McGuire’s from Melbourne. You’ve been on radio. Eddie McGuire’s on radio. I reckon you’re Eddie McGuire!
For our mentally challenged fascist pals (like Ally above), a simple comparison: Andy Fleming on 3CR, followed by video of Rob Sparrow.
http://www.3cr.org.au/suwa/episode-201510231730/fascism-and-anti-fascism-melbourne-beyond
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_LsWDhLoWY
They sound nothing alike. Like, duh.
Ally is that your porn name? LOL
I went with longer Sparrow YouTube vids, and Phil Adams’ LNL interview with SB. More than just soundbites…
Different pronunciation of the same words. One is higher pitched.
I’m calling it as not the same.
I see @ndy didn’t report on this incident:
https :// www . facebook . com/ IDFtraining / videos / 903613409676261/?video_source=pages_finch_main_video&theater
Wonder why…?
If you think these voices are the same, you are a moron, plain and simple.
I was so confused at first. Normally it’s easy to tell if someone’s a fascist bogan without having to read the drivel by the bad spelling and grammar but then I realised it was transcribed from a video.
Everyone knows that Eddie McGuire is Andy and wears a wig and lifts in his shoes to disguise his curly red hair with combover and lack of cms. Like Nihil we know dese fings.
All the people who are sure that Andy is Rob Sparrow must, logically, now be sure that Andy is not me.
Strangely, I haven’t seen any apologies posted here for posting my details, harassing me over the phone or threatening to kill me.
PS I actually do have a brother–but it’s not Andy (or Rob Sparrow).
Ally has nothing better to do at 1:05 am but to spew vile fascist hokum on the internet. Rob Sparrow’s voice is very different to Andy’s voice. One is higher pitched than the other. The fascists are putting two and two together to get five. The idea that Andy must be Rob because how else would he have access to the media is moronic. 3cr is a volunteer based left wing radio station. One does not need to be an academic to produce a show on it. In fact most people who volunteer at 3cr are not academics.
Erikson is on the outer with Blah Cock-trell so he wants to impress, the want to be fuehrer, by landing this so called coup de gras. The other week some douche bag from the UPF was claiming that Andy was some guy who lived in Selby and now this.
It is true that the Sparrow’s grew up in Brighton (I know them) however all three of them have done more to fight against the ruling elite, from the Brighton WASP nest, than any of these fascists have. Class is fluid which means a person can go down a class, from the class they were born into. All three of the Sparrows have a working-class ideology, whether Marxist or Platformist. If a strike were to happen in my workplace, people like the Sparrows would be supporting it, whereas people from the UPF would likely be used as scab labor. There is a famous photo of Nazi bikers delivering mail in Britain during a postal strike, proudly sporting swastikas and totenkopf symbols. At the April 4 rally against the fascists a scab from the 1998 wharf dispute was trying to rally along side the Nazis but we successfully stopped him. A comrade recognized him and called him out.
Erikson and Cock-trell may have been born and bread in working-class neighborhoods, but where are they when workers are out on strike? The UPF do the bidding for the robber barons from Toorak and Brighton. Racism is a tool used by the ruling-class to divide the working-class, so put simply it is not a working-class ideology. Brendon Nelson grew up in Brunswick, John Howard grew up in Canterbury (Sydney, not the snooty Canterbury in Melbourne), and Lindsay Fox lived in a rooming house in Abbotsford, yet look at where they ended up. The fact that people have rejected the middle-class mores and values, from the world they grew up in, makes them better people. It means they have compassion and empathy, two traits that the goons in the UPF lack.
“All three of the Sparrows have a working-class ideology, whether Marxist or Platformist.”
Wow! What a disgusting insult!
Now I can see why Andy is hinting at action(s) for slander, defamation & libel. I’d be tempted myself.
Butt Darling: ‘All three of the Sparrows have a working-class ideology, whether Marxist or Platformist.’
Wow! What a disgusting insult!”
It’s better than condoning the Indonesian Genocide, as Butt Darling has done (under another pseudonym). He has some interesting company there – like Harold Holt, who positively rejoiced at the massacre. And I suspect that the leading lights of the UPF would also condone it, too. We could always ask them.
Blair Cottrell and the United Patriots Front are just racist bogans with no class.
It doesn’t really matter who @ndy is, as long as you know what he is.
Pro flag burner, anti Australian, Islamic enabler, weekend revolutionary, thuggery Inciter, mask wearer, pro violence, Communistic, Anti free speech advocate, supporter of torturers.
Take a read of his facebook page it’s full of hatred for the Australian way of life and seeks to undermine its foundations in every post.
So throw your lot in with him because his bait is “Let’s fight racism together!” but remember you will be judged ultimately by the company you have kept. And while you may see yourself as fighting racism, you’re really just turning your back on your country. To be honest I’m not sure @ndy has done anything to actually fight racism as really it’s not his goal.
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One Eyed King: “It doesn’t really matter who @ndy is, as long as you know what he is.
Pro flag burner, anti Australian, Islamic enabler, weekend revolutionary, thuggery Inciter, mask wearer, pro violence, Communistic, Anti free speech advocate, supporter of torturers.”
OK. While I don’t pretend to know Andy intimately, I can comment on the above statement:
1. Pro flag burner. Yes. Andy & I support the burning of the Australian flag. Not necessarily on every occasion, but in principle. Nationalism is a curse and it is occasionally a good idea to get up the noses of nationalists. There are few better ways of getting up the noses of nationalists than burning the flag to which they have an irrational attachment.
2. Anti Australian. Oh dear. In the absence of supporting evidence, this wildly vague accusation has to be rejected. If the accusation is that Andy is not a Australian nationalist, then that would be correct – and a point in his favour, rather than a criticism.
3. Islamic enabler. This is a novel criticism. I guess it involves an acceptance that Andy is not a Muslim himself. I have yet to see a word of support for Islam on Andy’s blog, except from Rashid. Andy & I support freedom of conscience – and do it consistently.
4. Weekend revolutionary. This is just an insult, with no supporting evidence. One thing I would say is that it is a good deal better to be a weekend revolutionary than a full time Fascist.
5. Thuggery inciter. Andy has made numerous posts observing things and frequently commenting on them, but he rarely advocates particular actions. The most recent large scale incidence of thuggery was by the Victoria Police on 18 July, but it would be difficult to provide evidence for Andy inciting the cops.
6. Mask wearer. This is an even longer bow. I have friends who mask up, but Andy isn’t one of them. He has published one or two defences of people who mask up, but I can say for a fact that I’ve never seen him in one. And I’d recognise him if he did.
7. Pro violence. Sorry, but I can’t recall any “pro violence” statements by Andy. His comments may have been insufficiently anti-violence for some readers, but that is a different matter.
8. Communistic. If, by that, Andy is accused of opposing the system of private property, then I’d agree that this is correct. Look at this blog and you’d find plentiful evidence. On the other hand, if it is meant that Andy is a supporter of the so-called “Communist” Party, then that is definitely incorrect. It has been a long time since there were any communists in the “Communist” Party.
9. Anti Free Speech Advocate. Once again, Andy rarely advocates anything. Instead, he mostly restricts himself to commentary on past events. It should be recognised, though, that a Fascist organisation is not a debating society, but a conspiracy to murder. It needs to be dealt with, therefore, not through principles of freedom of speech, but through the use of reasonable force in self defence.
10. Supporter of Torturers. This is the most surprising accusation of all. So surprising, in fact, that I cannot conceive of a possible pretext for it. Certainly, the most infamous contemporary example of torture, in Guantanamo Bay, is one that Andy & I would both emphatically criticise. Would all of Andy’s critics do so, as well?
“It doesn’t really matter who @ndy is, as long as you know what he is.”
The far right are obsessed with finding out who Andy is. Why are you making a criticism of them as if it was a criticism of Andy?
@ James
Really you need it explained?
Because it is a criticism of @ndy.
@ndy himself is more interested in naming and shaming practices over actual commentary on the root or ideals of any of his perceived issues or beliefs. A practice that whether from right or left is quite odious.
To myself, the world is rarely just black or white, I have no interest in @ndy’s personal identity or identities. I do however have an interest in how that pseudonym chooses to represent reality in this blog. Any criticisms I have for @ndy are for representations and political statements made here in this blog, his personal identity to me is irrelevant. Can @ndy say the same? Is he a social commentator or a persecutor of individuals for their beliefs? Will his next blog entry mainly be focused on attacks on individuals once again I wonder or attacks on their beliefs and words?
It’s hard to feel sympathy for someone who actually is a bit of a setter of the benchmark of said practice when he/she/they fall under the implications of the same practice themselves/himself or herself.
“Because it is a criticism of @ndy.” [where ‘it’ is the statement ‘It doesn’t really matter who @ndy is, as long as you know what he is’]
No, it isn’t.
‘It’ only makes sense if it’s directed to someone who isn’t @ndy, and who wonders who he is.
@ndy himself obviously knows who he is.
Anti-fascist commenters on this blog either know who he is, or don’t care.
The only people who don’t know, and care, are the right.
Therefore the comment only makes sense when directed at the right.
I am Andy Fleming.