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Category Archives: Alt-right

Ireland & Wales Rugby Fans Take On Alt-Right On Twitter – Balls.ie

Posted: February 18, 2024 at 10:04 am

Irish and Welsh rugby Twitter is taking the fight to the alt-right - ahead of Ireland vs Wales next week - as it aims to counteract racist hashtags which dominate the search bar when the word 'Ireland' is typed.

Hashtags such as '#IrelandBelongsToTheIrish' and '#IrelandIsFull' can be seen, but '#IrelandWeek' is already making waves, and is currently the third pick when '#Ireland' is searched.

It must be noted, however, that the movement was initiated by Welsh fan Edward Jenkins (@edjenx), who is one of the more colourful personas on the site - known for his amusing tweets which wind up many a fan.

He wrote: "I think we have a collective duty, Irish and Welsh alike, to get the hashtags #IrelandWeek and #IREvWAL trending, in order to nudge out the bin fire of alt right trashtags that 'Ireland' is acting as a prefix for right now."

So spread the word and add to the #IrelandWeek initiative, ahead of the big Six Nations clash at the Aviva next Saturday.

READ HERE: Ireland Rugby : Ronan O'Gara Has Intriguing Theory On Jack Crowley's Goal-Kicking Issues

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Doja Cat Reacts to Backlash Over Alt-Right Comedian T-Shirt: ‘It Didn’t Affect the World’ – TooFab

Posted: December 19, 2023 at 1:34 am

"I don't need to explain myself," said Doja Cat before proceeding to do just that two months after she courted controversy for wearing a t-shirt with comedian Sam Hyde on it. Hyde is a controversial figure himself with alleged neo-Nazi ties.

Doja found herself in hot water with much of her own fanbase (again -- she sometimes revels in it) after uploading a photo to her Instagram in October with her sporting the t-shirt. Now, in a new interview with Apple Music. the rapper is weighing in.

She did replace the original post with a cropped close-up of her face, tongue sticking out, but the comments still reflect the content of that original piece with one person writing, "You support nazis? lol are you stupid.?" Another commented, "girl get it together. this isn't cute or funny."

Speaking to Ebro Darden for Apple Music, Doja said, "You can't know everything." She explained that she just thought Hyde was funny and denied the narrative that the shirt was harmful in some way, saying, "It's not an attack."

"First of all, I'm not a political person at all," Doja explained. "I feel like when it comes to that sort of thing, I have to back the f--k away. Politics are not something that I wanna sweep into my life. I just want creativity and joy and just sort of the immediate reality of my friends, my family and my music and whatever."

She went on to say of the t-shirt in particular, "It didn't affect the world in a way where we have to look behind our backs. We don't."

After a brief pause, she speculated, "Me saying that right now, I'm gonna get a lot of responses of people saying 'yes it did, it's going to change everything'"

In response to the notion that a t-shirt she might wear in a soclal media post could have the power to change anything, Doja shot back, "I also think that I'm way too f--king famous. 100 percent."

"I'm doing what I can slowly but surely to separate myself from this kind of narrative or whatever this world is that I kind of built," she said of her recent rise. "I'm fine tuning it and tailoring it to what I want out of it."

"I feel like it doesn't matter what you say, it doesn't matter what some people know," she went on. "There's fans that I have that know I don't put any involvement into whatever the f--k that negative s--t was. I am more just: funny guy on T-shirt, wore it that day."

After spending so long expounding on the controversy, Doja said she didn't need to explain herself or prove herself "to a bunch of people who are just gonna project no matter what I say." Just as she knows she has those who will stand by her, she believes those people who've decided she's "evil" won't change their stance, either.

Doja has enjoyed -- and we do think that's accurate -- a tumultuous relationship with her own fanbase, famously trolling them for dubbing themselves as "kittenz" over the summer, costing her 180,000 followers.

There's also a narrative out there that she actively hates her fans, which the artist denies. Still others suspected it was all part of an art piece in anticipation of the debut of her Scarlet persona for her latest album of the same name, which came out September 22.

Doja clarified to Apple Music that she's never actually said she hates her fans, acknowledging that she enjoys needling them in a comedic way, like when she said her fans "fell for it" with her "cash grab" albums.

"It's definitely something, and I know that people who get it, get it, and I'm fine with that," Doja explained. "I don't need to have to explain my sense of humor or explain comedy to anyone."

Her latest controversy, perhaps thankfully, has nothing to do with her relationship with her fans. Instead, Doja was accused of blackface ahead of the release of a playful interview where "Scarlett" interviews Doja.

Scarlet, as had been seen previously in multiple videos and even live performances, is coated in gloopy red paint. It was this that some mistook for blackface, leading Doja to share a few images of the character with the caption, ""YOU HAVE TO BE ... A VERY SPECIAL ... KIND ... OF F--KING STUPID."

She also had a nod to that comedic contention she shares with her afns in the clip. "This might be a silly question," asks "Scarlet" Doja in the clip. "Do you appreciate the people and the fans who support your music?"

Cutting over to Doja herself as the guest, we get a few snippets from her inner monologue -- "I hate my fans" and "My fans are dumb" -- before she answers out loud, "Yeah," and gets a huge reaction from the audience. You can check out that full self-interview below and her full in-depth and vulnerable conversation with Apple Music above.

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Doja Cat Reacts to Backlash Over Alt-Right Comedian T-Shirt: 'It Didn't Affect the World' - TooFab

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Doja Cat Responds To Backlash Over Alt-Right T-Shirt: ‘It’s Not An Attack’ – HipHopDX

Posted: at 1:34 am

Doja Cat has addressed the controversial t-shirt she wore in the fall that featured Sam Hyde a comedian known for his alleged association with far-right political ideology.

The Juicy hitmaker spoke in depth with Ebro Darden for Apple Music in an interview published on Thursday (December 14). While noting shes not political, the California native said that she didnt know Hyde was a controversial figure.

First of all, Im not a political person at all, Doja began. I feel like when it comes to that sort of thing, I have to back the fuck away. Politics are not something that I wanna sweep into my life. I just want creativity and joy and just sort of the immediate reality of my friends, my family and my music and whatever. You cant know everything and me wearing a t-shirt of somebody who I thought was funny is an attack on people? Its not an attack. It didnt affect the world in a way where we now have to look behind our backs. We dont.

She continued: And I know that. And me saying that right now, Im going to get a lot of responses of, Yes it did! Its going to change everything! I also think that Im way too fucking famous. 100 percent. Im doing what I can slowly but surely to separate myself from this kind of narrative or whatever this world is that I kind of built. And Im fine tuning it and tailoring it to what I want out of it. I feel like it doesnt matter what you say, it doesnt matter what some people know.

Because theres fans that I have that know I dont put any involvement into whatever the fuck that negative shit was. I am more just: funny guy on t-shirt, wore it that day. But I dont need to explain myself. I dont need to prove myself to a bunch of people who are just gonna project no matter what I say, too. Theres people who are incredibly dogmatic. It doesnt matter what the fuck you do, what you say, theyre always going to stand by, That persons evil.

You can watch the full interview below. The shirt convo happens around the 7:30 mark.

The t-shirt in question was featured in a selfie Doja Cat posted to her account in October. After fans got in her comments and dragged her for filth for the post, she deleted it. She then re-uploaded it with the picture of Hyde cropped out, with a new caption: a series of eye-roll emojis.

That didnt stop the internet backlash, though.

While Hydes Million Dollar Extreme comedy troupe purports itself to be transgressive and subversive in its humor, there have been more than a few instances where Hydes humor has fallen on the offensive side. The comedian has been photographed giving a Nazi salute alongside infamous alt-right troll Weev, who also writes antisemitic tirades for The Daily Stormer. In another, Hyde proudly displayed swastikas behind him while performing.

In addition to being associated with 4chan/alt-right-type politics (as this was not the first time), Doja Cat has also been accused of worshiping Satan for the devil-related imagery she has used in both music videos and tattoos. But according to the Scarlet rapper, the narrative is annoying and tacky.

related news

December 11, 2023

I like the idea of: I did it on purpose and its this big ruse to make people react, she said elsewhere in the interview with Darden. But I also like the idea of: I love this piece of visual art, I like this visual for this sound.

So I chose that visual and applied it to the sound and people made up what they [want], which is what you do with art. You interpret it how you want to interpret it. Everybody has a right to interpret how they want.

She continued: But this whole very confident Satanism thing is like Im sorry, when the fuck did I say that I was a Satanist? Or even go marching outside the church? When the fuck did I say that?

Its really tacky and annoying and discredits a lot of the hard work that Ive put in.

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Marvel and DC Writer Mark Waid Rejects Mark Millar’s Call To Root Out Comic Book ‘Cancel Pigs’, Dishonestly Paints … – Bounding Into Comics

Posted: at 1:34 am

Comic Books

In an unsurprising drawing of battle lines regarding the newly-reinvigorated battle to rid the industry of one of its worst elements, veteran comic book writer Mark Waid has responded to colleague Mark Millars recent declaration of war against cancel pigs by not only dismissing it as a cry for attention, but also disingenuously attempting to write off its supporters as being composed of nothing more than the Alt-Right.

RELATED: Mark Millar Takes A Stand Against Cancel Pigs, Calls On Creators And Fans To Never, Ever Appease Or Encourage Their Cruelties

Offering his thoughts on the comic book industrys latest turning point, as sparked by Millar after some of the industrys loudest voices sought to bully retailer Glenn OLeary over his very real criticisms of their current output, via a December 13th post made to his personal Facebook page, the current writer of DCs Batman/Superman: Worlds Finest Vol. 1, Teen Titans: Worlds Finest Vol. 1, and Shazam! Vol. 5 followed in the condescending footsteps of said bullies and opined, And like a falling star rocketing across the sky, another former comics superstar whose heat is fading chooses to cry for attention by blaming the industry, his peers, and the audience rather than taking stock of his own professional progress, admitting that we are often the authors of our own fate, and finding the courage to reinvent himself and stay relevant.

Its really Not. That. Hard, he continued. My stars not gonna burn forever, either. No ones does, and accepting that fact gracefully is a sign of emotional maturity. But if I ever, ever become That Guy, every single one of you has permission to slap me upside the head and force me to re-read the above paragraph as many times as it takes to sink in.

Following its publication, Waids post would be met with a bevy of responses from both supporters and critics, the latter of which he would use as jumping off points to further his argument.

Sharing the video of OLearys now-famous rant against the industrys turn to self-validation over good storytelling, fellow FB user Classic Marvel Era asserted, There are somethings that cant be agreed with but clearly there is a disconnect between the Big 2s editorial, the LCS owners and the readers: and Mark is not wrong to highlight that.

More quality story telling is needed, they detailed. Theres a reason why you, Joe Q, Kurt Buseik, Donny Cates made a mark that still wows the readers to this day.

Dismissing both the fan and OLearys frustrations, Waid proceeded to condescendingly declare, All this complaint about how comics are dying because familiar characters are being written out of character by people who want to self-insert their own political causes or turn them into SJW mouthpiecesbut not one single legitimate example given.

RELATED: Comic Book Pros Mock, Deny Complaints From Veteran Shop Owner Regarding Abysmal State Of The Market: His Business Is Dying Because He Refuses To Change With The Times

Proceeding to present one of the most dishonest reads of the entire situation that perhaps will ever be raised throughout the entire debate, Waid then questioned, Not one. Who? Superman? Batman? Green Lantern? Flash? Wonder Woman? Spider-Man? Captain America? Daredevil? Iron Man? Nightwing? Harley Quinn? Damian Wayne? Seriously, what am I missing here? Have these complainers read a single Marvel or DC comic in the 2020s?

Well they have and so have we, Classic Marvel Era pushed back. Since we focus on Marvel Comics, the Captain America series by Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of the bad examples (which seemed like a political manifesto shoved inside a comic unlike the writings of Kirby, Gruenwald and your very own Operation Rebirth) followed by post Hickman X-titles and most recently The Punisher by Jason Aaron.

Furthermore, shrugging an LCS owners opinion by simply questioning if they have read recent comics or not sounds a bit condescending, to put it mildly, they continued. Lets assume youre right but theyre the ones bearing the brunt in the form of loss of sales and possible business closure. Theres your POV, theres Millars POV, therere LCS owners POV and the truth is somewhere in between. Frankly youre too benevolent when it comes to todays comics which is surprising considering the kind of work you have produced for our favorite Marvel characters namely FF and DD.

Proceeding to immediately prove just how dishonest his above dismissal truly was, Waid then admitted, The Captain America series by Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of the bad examples (which seemed like a political manifesto shoved inside a comic unlike the writings of Kirby, Gruenwald and your very own Operation Rebirth) followed by post Hickman X-titles and most recently The Punisher by Jason Aaron.

Cap hasnt been written by Coates for some time now, said Waid as he attempted to shift the goal posts. The Punisher book thats being published today isnt reflective of your complaint. Isnt that what you wanted? Why are you arguing so hard for something you already have? As regards the current X-books, I need you to be more specific about your complaints. In what way are they any more SJW then they have been for decades?

Turning to the claim that he was too benevolent when it comes to todays comics, the writer argued, Im not benevolent; I simply acknowledge that not all of these comics are written to my specific taste, any more than the war and romance books were when I was a kid.

Or any more than half the DC and Marvel superhero line when I was a teenager, recalled Waid. And thats perfectly fine. Just because I dont like something doesnt automatically make it bad. Im not trying to minimize the fact that there are real problems in the industry right now. But strawman complaints about comics that simply dont exist arent helping.

Further expanding on his argument in reply to a since-deleted post from user Getsmelifted Amvs, Waid once again turned his nose up at readers and claimed, The overall complaint is that major classic characters are being written out of character, causing their books to fail. Tim Drake, Jon Kent, Iceman, Star-Lord? Those count as major classic characters? Do we really believe that the industry is ailing because of three mini-series and Star-Lord?

However, it would be in response to a separate user, Steven McKee, that Waid would confirm just how disingenuous his arguments truly were.

I love your work Mark but seems anybody who tries to highlight the issues that the industry is facing either gets piled on or in this case his star is fading and looking for attention, replied McKee to Waids original post. Mark [Waid] said he hasnt relied on income from comics for a long time. See rather than this tit for tat that we are seeing throughout the fandom maybe people should actually try get together and try to fix whats wrong. I am by no means an expert only a consumer but all this doesnt seem to be helping matters.

In turn, Waid made a play at fear-mongering and declared, I think a lot of us would just rather see the industry burn down than get together with the alt-right.

I know I would, he continued his rant. Sorry. And I call bullst on anyone who tries to highlight the issues gets piled on. I think its far more accurate to say anyone who wants to blame everything on SJWs gets piled on or anyone who wants to complain that their favorite characters are being written as political mouthpieces but cant provide any examples of this is being piled on.

Eventually, Waid would exit the conversation, leaving the discourse to take on a life of its own within his replies.

However, the next day would see the Marvels Champions Vol. 2 author offer one final (at least for the time being), backpedaling statement regarding his recent take, beginning with the admission that Yep, The mainstream superhero comics industry is having a rough time of it lately. Few people are saying otherwise, and my heart goes out to struggling retailers.

Proceeding to once more misrepresent his opponents arguments, Waid continued, Steps need to be taken, and even the alt-right loudmouths make some good points. But when make better comics! becomes make more comics that are to my own personal taste!, thats a solution I cant get behind.

Badly produced comics sure arent helping, and there are a bunch out there, but neither is pretending that bad superhero comics is some new phenomenon, he concluded. As someone whos been reading them for nearly 60 years, I can promise you that many of the ones you remember with nostalgic fondness because you liked them as a Middle Schooler were just as bad compared to the actual classics of the day. Just because you and your friends dont like something doesnt automatically make it empirically bad.

NEXT: Marvel Comics Executive Tom Brevoort Denies Industry Is Dying, Instead Argues What Is Likely Happening Is That The Market Is Changing

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Marvel and DC Writer Mark Waid Rejects Mark Millar's Call To Root Out Comic Book 'Cancel Pigs', Dishonestly Paints ... - Bounding Into Comics

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Maudlin Strangers unveil intense alt rock banger Im Not In The Right Mind [Video] – EARMILK

Posted: at 1:34 am

Indie rock band Maudlin Strangers have returned with Im Not In The Right Mind. The song is shared alongside a music video and marks the return of the band after a hiatus.

Im Not In The Right Mind is all about the destructive cycle of addiction. Whether it be drugs, alcohol, a toxic relationship, work and more, distractions we use to numb our emotions can often become debilitating and not healthy. Lyrics including, "I don't want to care right now / I just want to fade out / I'm stuck inside a thought so loud / and I can get out / why does it feel so good / way better than it should," show how he realizes he is in an unhealthy pattern using something to cope with life's hardships. Sonically, the irresistible song features crunchy bass-heavy guitar riffs, and heat pumping drums under lead singer Jake Hays' enthralling vocals. Elements of dark wave, alt rock and indie pop weave together for a must listen to track. The accompanying music video cuts between the dynamic performance of the band to a photographer who inflicts pain and suffering on those she shoots. With every click of the camera, her subject is left in more misery as the photographer is a metaphor for our unhealthy addictions ultimately harming us.

Maudlin Strangers began in 2010 by Los Angeles singer, songwriter and musician Jake Hays. Finding success and building a dedicated fanbase, the outfit toured alongside popular rock bands Bad Suns and Cold War Kids. After taking a hiatus with Hays dedicating time to producing other bands and acting, Maudlin Strangers returned this year with a new lineup including original member Richie Gonzales (drums), Alexander "Schmorgle" Morgan (guitar/keys) and Drew Bruchs (bass) alongside Jake Hays. Check out Im Not In The Right Mind and listen to one of the best releases this year.

Connect with Maudlin Strangers:INSTAGRAM

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Maudlin Strangers unveil intense alt rock banger Im Not In The Right Mind [Video] - EARMILK

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The Dark Economics of Russell Brand – WIRED

Posted: September 23, 2023 at 9:57 am

There was a brief, strange moment in 2015 when Russell Brand mattered in mainstream British politics. With an election looming, the opposition Labour Party was trailing in the polls against a coalition government that was the very definition of establishmentled by an Eton- and Oxford-educated prime minister in David Cameron and his Westminster- and Cambridge-educated deputy, Nick Clegg, now president of global affairs at Meta. So the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, went seeking the endorsement of Brand, the actor, comedian, and emerging online provocateur whose anti-corporatist screeds to his 9.5 million Twitter followers and 100,000 YouTube subscribers gave him the appearance of a power player. Miliband got Brands endorsement but lost the election.

Since then, Brands reach has exploded. His YouTube channel now has 6.6 million subscribers, his X account more than 11 million followers. But his anti-establishment message has morphed, from a broader, almost coherent response to the politics of fiscal austerity that shaped the UK after the 2008 financial crisis to a series of cultish, conspiracy-driven narratives that draw in Covid denialism, Russian disinformation, and the far-right-inspired Great Reset theory, united by the meta-conspiracy that the mainstreamthe eliteshave darker agendas based on control.

On Saturday, the UKs Channel Four aired an hour-long documentary in which several women accused Brand of rape and sexual assault. Before the broadcast, the comedian came out swinging. In a video on his YouTube channel, titled So, This Is Happening, Brand not only denied the accusations, but leveled some of his own: [It] makes me question, is there another agenda at play? he said.

One of Brands alleged victims, speaking on the BBC, called his statement insulting and laughable. But within the alt-media, there was a show of support from figures including Andrew Tate, the misogynist influencer who is awaiting trial for rape and human trafficking in Romania, Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor, who now runs a conspiracy-inflected show on X, and Alex Jones, fined $1.5 billion for lies about the victims of a school shooting. Xs owner, Elon Musk, posted underneath Brands video: Of course. They dont like competitionreferring, apparently, to those same dark forces referenced by the comedian. The camaraderie between conspiracy theorists, the alt-right, and the manosphere, is grimly predictable. Their shared narrative is one of alienation from the mainstream, outsiderdom, and dark forces massing to thwart them. Opposite day, but with real consequences for people, as Marc Owen Jones, an expert on disinformation and social media at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar, puts it.

Its also their audience strategy and the foundation of their business model. Conspiracy influencers are content producers. Moments that generate intense emotionseven if the content producer is, themself, the focus of the scandalare fantastic for engagement, and they feed the grim economics of the conspiracy business.

Brands YouTube channel is a compendium of contemporary bullshit. Covid lockdowns were exercises in social control. The US has biolabs in Ukraine; the Wests support for Ukraine is capitalist imperialism. Central bank digital currencies are the governments attempts to control your money. Evolving gender norms are causing a crisis in masculinity and declines in fertility. There are routine crossovers between Brands content and the wider conspiracy cinematic universe, with clips on his channels of conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Junior, far-right Hungarian president Viktor Orban, and Carlson, who recorded an interview with Brand in August.

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Pro-Kremlin Propagandist Ties to White Nationalist Movement … – Southern Poverty Law Center

Posted: at 9:57 am

Charles Bausman, a 59-year-old American man who has lived in Russia on and off for the past three decades, founded the pro-Kremlin website Russia Insider in 2014 when he was living in Moscow. In the years following President Donald Trumps 2016 electoral win, Bausman began to use the site to promote an array of overtly fascist and antisemitic content. Upon moving from Moscow to the eastern Pennsylvanian city of Lancaster in 2018, Bausman involved himself in a plethora of right-wing causes. Then, after attending the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, he disappeared to Russia, leaving behind nearly $1 million worth of property.

There, Bausman has reemerged as a media commentator. In March, Bausman co-hosted multiple episodes of an online show with a man whom U.S. officials identified in a declassified intelligence report as at times acting on behalf of Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) to manipulate American public opinion, as Hatewatch previously reported.

Russia Insider has published speeches from Adolf Hitler justifying his 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, which resulted in the death of some 27 million Soviet people; excerpts from the dictators autobiographical screed Mein Kampf, which a Russian court declared extremist and banned in 2010; and the work of Nazi collaborators who waged war on the Eastern Front.

Beyond Nazi primary sources, the far-right groups and content that Bausman has involved himself with or promoted reflect a diverse array of far-right ideologies. Since 2018, Bausman has collaborated with or promoted Alex Jones, a prominent antigovernment conspiracy theorist and the founder of Infowars; the Rod of Iron Ministries, a gun-obsessed religious group; and the National Justice Party(NJP), a self-styled pro-Hitler political group with ties to The Right Stuff podcasting network.

Until now, reporters and researchers have typically pointed to a 6,000-word antisemitic diatribe from January 2018 called Its Time To Drop The Jew Taboo as Bausmans first foray into far-right extremism. In it, he lauded the alt-right, a term used in the mid-to-late 2010s by members of the movement, researchers and journalists to describe a coalitional approach to white supremacist organizing. Bausman commended the alt-rights intellectual heft and lavished praise onto several of the movements figureheads.

However, the materials that Hatewatch obtained and reviewed indicate that the pro-Kremlin propagandists involvement in the white nationalist movement dates back as early as fall 2016.

Hatewatch found that Bausman attended a 2016 conferencein Washington, D.C., hosted by the National Policy Institute (NPI), a now-defunct white nationalist think tank, in which attendees threw up Nazi salutes. Hatewatch also obtained leaked emails showing that Bausman sought to plan an event in Russia with members of NPI, including Richard Spencer, then the head of the group that organized the 2016 conference that Bausman attended.

Additionally, recent business filings and a series of blog posts with Bausmans byline on them shed additional light on his involvement with the National Justice Party, the pro-Hitler political party, which the pro-Kremlin propagandist has praised for their valuable contributions to political discussion.

Hatewatch reached out to Bausman over email. He did not respond. Hatewatch reached out to multiple current and former members of the National Justice Party, including Gregory Conte, Mike Peinovich and Joseph Jordan, over email or text message. They did not respond.

In this still from The Atlantics 2020 documentary White Noise, Richard Spencer, left, is seen with William H. Regnery II. (Daniel Lombroso/White Noise)

The emails that Hatewatch obtained reveal that Bausman sought to collaborate with members of NPI, including petitioning the groups reclusive late founder William H. Regnery IIto organize a multi-day conference in Moscow.

Hatewatch was able to verify the authenticity of the leaked material based on the fact that two sources recalled meeting Bausman at multiple white nationalist events during that time period, namely the 2016 conference and a subsequent summer 2017 conference organized by the self-styled race realist think tank American Renaissance.

The leaked materials indicate that Bausmans association with NPI began in late 2016, when he attended the groups annual conference in Washington, D.C. The event took place over the course of two days, beginning with a private dinner in northwest D.C. on the evening of Nov. 18 and culminating with a full day of speeches on Nov. 19 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center a few blocks away from the White House.

Luke OBrien, an investigative reporter who has written extensively about the far right, said in a phone conversation with Hatewatch that he met Bausman while checking in for the conference on Saturday, Nov. 19. OBrien recalled that after he introduced himself as press to NPI personnel, Bausman struck up a conversation with him.

He said, Im also with the press. He gave me his card. It was for Russia Insider, OBrien recalled in a conversation with Hatewatch.

He was there for networking purposes is what it felt like to me, OBrien said.

Bausman met with both Regnery and Spencer within the week after the 2016 conference. In a Nov. 27, 2016, email to NPI personnel, Bausman expressed his support to Spencer following blowback from some segments of the white nationalist movement and the mainstream media for a speech on the night of Nov. 19, when around a dozen people threw up Nazi salutes. Bausman referred to Spencers critics as wusses.

Later in the email thread, Bausman added, It was great to meet you and Bill [Regnery] and I will get back to you with some info on what we discussed.

Bausman soon followed up with NPI personnel via email. On the morning of Dec. 12, 2016, Regnery sent an email to Bausman with the subject line pan euro congress. The note appeared to follow a phone conversation between Regnery and Bausman.

Regnery announced that Bausman had located [a] young Russian of Ukrainian background who was brought up in the States but who lives in Moscow and [is] interested in being our legman [sic] to lubricate our meeting plans. Regnery went on to suggest a series of next steps, including proposing sending Spencer to Moscow for a week to begin making the rounds and inspecting likely venues. Though Regnery did not offer a timeline in the email regarding when such a trip would occur, he suggested September 2017 as a possible month for the event itself.

The email includes repeated references to NPIs attempt to hosta conference in Budapest in October 2014, which resulted in Hungarian authorities deporting multiple speakers, including Spencer. (In Spencers case, Hungarian authorities detained him on charges he failed to carry proper documents on his person, although others were turned away at the border.) To avoid such hurdles, Regnery suggests to have a marquee name that is indelibly associated with the Putin administration. However, the email chain does not make it readily apparent if Regnery had any specific figure in mind.

We can expect the few seconds of video of the upraised arms at the end of the fall meeting to be constantly looped by those who seek to vilify the conference, he continued, referring to footage showing attendees throwing up Hitler salutes at the November 2016 conference. Returning to the 2014 debacle in Hungary, Regnery added: Assuming we can avoid of a recurrence of this perception in Russia we need to concern ourselves with the demonization of the meeting elsewhere in Europe. We need to submerge the involvement of NPI in a handful of other Europe [sic] and Russian organizations.

Russia is the only European country in which a pan Europe Alt Right interest group can be launched, Regnery wrote.

NPIs event in Moscow did not come to fruition. However, Regnerys proposal mirrored a 2015 conference, hosted by the Russian ultra-nationalist party Rodina (Motherland), that drew a variety of far-right figuresfrom the United States and Europe, including American white nationalists Jared Taylor and Sam Dickson.

Spencer and Bausman crossed paths again at a July 2017 gatheringheld outside Nashville, Tennessee, by American Renaissance, an organization run by Taylor, where Bausman invited Spencer to team up with him on fundraising ideas.

Evan McLaren, NPIs former executive director who publicly disavowed white nationalism in April 2022, told Hatewatch in a message that he recalled meeting Bausman at the conference.

I dont remember how detailed his questions were, but he definitely took me aside and pumped me for information, McLaren said.

Greg Conte argues with police before a speech by Richard Spencer at Michigan State University on March 5, 2018, in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

In addition to Spencer and Regnery, Bausman also collaborated with Gregory Conte, NPIs former director of operations, Hatewatch found. Now one of the co-founders of the National Justice Party, Conte serves as a throughline between Bausmans early involvement in the alt-right and later collaboration with the pro-Hitler National Justice Party.

Russia Insiders archives indicate that in August 2016, Bausman shared an article from the reactionary blog Atavastic Intelligentsia, penned by Greg Ritter, a pseudonym Conte then used in the white supremacist movement. Conte, this time under his given name, contributed an article to Bausmans site that was tagged as Exclusive to Russia Insider on Dec. 1, 2018, a few months after he resigned from his position at NPI and other Spencer-affiliated properties.

Contes relationship with Bausman appeared to extend beyond contributing to his site, according to Bausmans own statements and ones from Contes former collaborators.

McLaren, the former white nationalist, told Hatewatch that he met with Conte and Bausman sometime between Dec. 26, 2019, and Jan. 5, 2020, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At the time, he said, Conte was deeply involved with Russia Insider.

I hadnt completely cut ties with Conte yet, and I let him know I was going to be stateside. Bausman really wanted to meet up. ... He wanted to recruit me to work on whatever projects they had going, and he was curious about dirt on Richard [Spencer], McLaren, who now lives in Europe, told Hatewatch in a message.

He didnt have any specific role in mind, at least not that he explained. He was just trying to involve me, McLaren added.

Furthermore, in a Nov. 4, 2021, article on a website called Lancaster Christian, Bausman described the former NPI director of operations as a good friend of many years for whom I have the highest personal esteem.

Hatewatch identified Bausman as the owner and operator of the Lancaster Christian website, where he is the sole contributor, through its review of internet records. Lancaster Christian shares an IP address with several other Bausman-associated web properties, including Russia Insider and its sister site, Russian Faith, indicating that the same person set up these sites.

Spencer, who worked with Conte until July 2018, confirmed the pairs longstanding friendship in a request for comment from Hatewatch.

Not a week would go by without some mention of Bausman from Conte, Spencer told Hatewatch.

Bausmans writings on his Lancaster Christian website and corporate documents filed on behalf of the NJP shed new light on the pro-Russia propagandists relationship with the white supremacist group.

Mike Peinovich from The Right Stuff speaks at a press conference on Oct. 19, 2017, at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Mike Peinovich, a white supremacist podcaster whose former associates have accused of running a cult, launched the NJP in summer of 2020. It featured a variety of speakers, including Conte, associates of Peinovichs The Right Stuff podcasting network, a former member of the longtime neo-Nazi group the National Alliance, and other prominent figures throughout the white power movement. At the time, Hatewatch reported that the event took place in what looks like a barn. Local news outlet Lancaster Online later identified Bausmans farmstead on Millersville Pike in Lancaster County as the location for the meetup in an expos published in October 2021.

My reason was that I believed that this group of guys, some of whom I knew personally to be of high integrity and brilliant intelligence, who had made hugely valuable contributions to political discussion in our country, and my publications, should be allowed to gather in a space and have a private meeting to discuss their whatever they want, Bausman said in the Nov. 4, 2021, articleon Lancaster Christian, in which he detailed his reasoning for allowing Peinovich and others to use the property.

Elsewhere in the same article, Bausman lauds Peinovich as famous for making good speeches.

Peinovich told The New York Timesin 2022 that the NJP went our own way with respect to Bausman. However, corporate records for the two LLCs associated with his organization, National Justice LLC and National Justice Party LLC, that Conte filed with the Maryland Secretary of State indicate that the organization continued to use the address of Bausmans farmstead on NJPs official records well into 2023.

The corporate documents that Conte filed on behalf of NJP include an application to create a National Justice LLC that Conte sent in on Dec. 7, 2021, and a trade name application registering National Justice Party LLC that Conte filed on June 9, 2022. A January 2022 reportfrom the local news outlet Lancaster Online indicated that Conte was also residing at the property for a time.

Conte used the address of Bausmans barn again in an article of amendment that he filed on Feb. 16 to transfer ownership of the National Justice LLC to Peinovich. Conte filed the document after publicly announcing his departure from the NJP in a 15-minute rambling audio clip that he published on the low-moderation app Telegram. In it, Conte accused NJP leadership of spending $10,000 of the groups funds to spend on cryptocurrency, as well as an ongoing pattern of behavior including secrecy, lies and deception. The recording closes with an inscrutable request in English and German to listeners to determine if theyre for or against the Fhrer.

Hatewatch reviewed archived Russia Insider posts, as well as materials related to Bausmans public appearances in Washington, D.C., New York and Moscow, in order to better understand his growing interest in the white nationalist movement in late 2016, as well as his subsequent turn toward far-right activism.

Hatewatch reached out to multiple people listed as speakers at two events focused on U.S.-Russia relations that Bausman appears to have attended in 2015, according to material on his Russia Insider website and other online archives. These events include the March 25-26, 2015, World Russia Forum, a once-annual gathering in Washington, D.C., organized by the Soviet-born nuclear physicist and Russia Insider contributor Edward Lozansky, and the March 27, 2015, Russia Forum New York, whose organizer, Elena Branson, has since been chargedby the U.S. government with acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of the Russian government.

A user under the name RI Staff announced in a now-deleted poston the Russia Insider website that Bausman would be speaking at the World Russia Forum on March 24, 2015, on a litany of subjects including terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, climate change and drug trafficking. World Russia Forums official programdoes not even list Bausman by name and only includes his website among a handful of others during a 45-minute panel called Presentation of Alternative Sites. The same Russia Insider post does not mention Bausmans appearance at the Russian Forum New York.

Lozansky, who organized the annual World Russia Forum, confirmed to Hatewatch in an email that he brought Bausman to the 2015 event as part of a panel to discuss alternatives to mainstream media. He recalled that Bausman also attended a tree-planting ceremony in Moscow roughly a month later. The event commemorated the Allied victory in World War II.

While Lozansky was an early contributor to Russia Insider, dating back to the sites founding in 2014, the sites archives indicate that most of his contributions on the site between fall 2014 and spring 2017 consist of reposts from other media outlets. He said he wasnt sure why Bausman stopped reposting his articles and that he was unaware of Bausmans participation in the 2016 NPI event.

Lozansky said he didnt speak to Bausman for several years until he met him at a July 4 gathering of American expatriates in Moscow.

We spoke briefly, and he mentioned that RI is not doing well these days, thats about it, Lozansky said.

Russia Insiders pivot from sharing mainly material concerned with foreign policy and U.S.-Russia affairs to a solidly far-right propaganda outlet appears to have coincided with President Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. By early 2016, Bausman began portraying Russia Insider less as a publication concerned with U.S.-Russia relations and more as another website within the broader sphere of alternative media. In a May 19, 2016, post called Russia Insider is Really a Mirror of the Trump/Sanders Phenomenon, Bausman depicted his site as countering neocon lies about Russia. Between July and October 2016, Russia Insider ran multiple articles portraying the growing alt-right movement and Trump as possible Russian allies.

At a 2016 speech in Moscow less than a month before he would attend the now-infamous NPI conference, Bausman described American politics as shifting as the result of unnamed activists.

The fact of the matter is the earth has shifted in America in a very fundamental way, Bausman said during that presentation in Moscow on Oct. 25, 2016.

The people who have realized how crazy the American system has become will not go home. They will not stop talking. If Hillary wins, she will have a big, big problem on her hands, he added.

This story is part 3 in a series. Read more about far-right propagandist Charles Bausman in part 1and part 2.

Photo illustration by SPLC

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Opinion | How to Argue Against Identity Politics Without Turning Into … – The New York Times

Posted: at 9:57 am

Even when you do find yourself debating somebody with more extreme views, it is important to remember that todays adversaries can become tomorrows allies. Ideologues of all stripes like to claim that the people with whom they disagree suffer from some kind of moral or intellectual defect and conclude that they are a lost cause. But though few people acknowledge defeat in the middle of an argument, most do shift their worldview over time. Our job is to persuade, not to vilify, those who genuinely believe in the identity synthesis.

Sometimes, outspoken critics of the identity synthesis used to be its fervent proponents. Maurice Mitchell, a progressive activist who is now the national director of the Working Families Party, once believed that the core precepts of the identity synthesis could help him combat injustice. Today he worries about how its ideas are reshaping America, including some of the progressive organizations he knows intimately. As he writes in a recent article, Identity is too broad a container to predict ones politics or the validity of a particular position.

To avoid following the path charted by Mr. Weinstein, opponents of the identity synthesis need to be guided by a clear moral compass of their own. In my case, this compass consists of liberal values like political equality, individual freedom and collective self-determination. For others, it could consist of socialist conviction or Christian faith, of conservative principles or the precepts of Buddhism. But what all of us must share is a determination to build a better world.

The identity synthesis is a trap. If we collectively fall into it, there will be more, not less, zero-sum competition between different groups. But it is possible to oppose the identity trap without becoming a reactionary.

To build a better society, we must overcome the prejudices and enmities that have for so much of human history boxed us into the roles seemingly foreordained by our gender, our sexual orientation, or the color of our skin. It is time to fight, without shame or hesitation, for a future in which what we have in common truly comes to be more important than what divides us.

Yascha Mounk is the author of the forthcoming book The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time, from which this essay is adapted.

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Anna Wintour: ‘I just have to make sure things are being done right’ – Financial Times

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Opinion | Donald Trumps Abortion Shell Game – The New York Times

Posted: at 9:57 am

As recently as last week, in remarks to the Concerned Women of America Summit, Trump bragged about the anti-abortion record of his administration. Im also proud to be the most pro-life president in American history, he said. I was the first sitting president ever to attend the March for Life rally right here in Washington, D.C. The biggest thing, he emphasized, was his appointment of three Supreme Court justices who ruled to end the moral and constitutional atrocity known as Roe v. Wade.

Nobody thought that could be done, Trump said.

Whether or not Trump is personally opposed to abortion is immaterial. The truth, established by his record as president, is that he is as committed to outlawing abortion in the United States as any other conservative Republican.

There is no reason, then, to take seriously his remarks on Sunday, in an interview on NBCs Meet the Press, where he criticized strict abortion bans and tried to distance himself from the anti-abortion policies of his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake, Trump said, taking aim at Gov. Ron DeSantiss decision to sign a six-week ban into law in Florida in April. Trump also rejected the 15-week federal ban pushed by his former vice president, Mike Pence, and promised to negotiate a compromise with Democrats on abortion. Both sides are going to like me, he said. Im going to come together with all groups, and were going to have something thats acceptable.

Trump is triangulating. He sees, correctly, that the Republican Party is now on the wrong side of the public on abortion. By rejecting a blanket ban and making a call for compromise with Democrats, Trump is trying to fashion himself as an abortion moderate, a strategy that also rests on his pre-political persona as a liberal New Yorker with a live-and-let-live attitude toward personal behavior.

There is a real chance this could work. In 2016, voters did not see Trump as a conservative figure on either abortion or gay rights, despite the fact that he was the standard-bearer for the party that wanted restrictions on both. It would be a version of the trick he pulled on Social Security and Medicare, where he posed as a defender of programs that have been in the cross-hairs of conservative Republicans since they were created.

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