[IMC-bristol] 'Tooth kicker' Gosling

[ian]

I'm going to lay out my position here once only.

As an individual I'm not prepared to engage or work with Gosling anymore as 
I think he's a vindictive bully.  Any future correspondence from him will 
be met with a cursory 'fuck off'.  and yes i did shamefully loose my temper 
with him on the phone b4 xmas and threatened to punch him out after he 
ffwded private correspondence on to the Bristol list after I expressly 
asked him not to  - bad e-mail etiquette is just one of Goslings perennial 
missives and has been the source of another complaint against him.

So is he a racist?  I don't think so although I do think that he is very 
naive by putting up dodgy links on his website.  He now has a reputation 
for being so although I've never seen any hard evidence of this apart from 
his web presence.  However he has in the past stupidly linked/promoted to 
people like David Irving,  David Icke, the American Free Press 
(ex-spotlight magazine) and stupidly used to promote the idea that the 
'protocols of the elders of zion' was an 'interesting document' that should 
be digested by all amongst other things.  Unfortunately its stuff like this 
that's got him this dodgy reputation and mud sticks.   Subsequently when 
you join up the dots with his messianic judeo-christian beliefs and 
paranoid conspiracy theories you can see why some people get the wrong end 
of the stick.  I think its fair to say that the ZOG conspiracy nuts like 
Alex Jones see Gosling as one of their own, which is why some people, 
rightly or wrongly, think that he's part of the problem rather than part of 
the solution.

Being involved in i-contact, naturally we've discussed these allegations on 
several occasions,  and I've previously defended his rep on more than one 
occasion which is something I'm not prepared to do any longer.   Personally 
I feel that he hasn't done enough to distance himself from these kinds of 
people and am very disappointed with this.

BIMC needs to understand that many people now within the wider indymedia 
network who do not want to work with him, or engage him, or be associated 
in a project with him because of these perceived leanings. It seems as if 
there are anti racist organisations who are aware of Gosling and are 
monitoring his work.   I was totally disgusted to see Shefield IMC refused 
help from an anti racist group solely because of Gosling being active with 
in indymedia.   One well used anarchist e-mail list A-infos already refuses 
to carry Goslings communiques because of these allegations.   I was 
disgusted with his behavior when I found out that one of the Scotland IMC 
people Anarchobabe was bombarded with bullying e-mails and taunts from 
Gosling when she expressed her concern about his politics on one of the UK 
lists,  when she asked him to desist he still carried on - it seems as if 
other people now are experiencing his unwanted email bullying 
tactics,  myself included.

This now has become a real problem.  I don't wish to see BIMC ostracized 
from the global network because of one individuals indiscretions.  After 
all this is of his own creation and nobody elses.  Surely the onus should 
be with him to justify why he should remain with in indymedia?   He knows 
very well what these allegations are...

On a local level I've found him to be argumentative to the point of 
distraction,  who regularly employs intimidation,  taunts and bullying to 
get his own way and seems to enjoy wallowing in this controversy.  Whilst 
claiming on many occasions that he would take a more proactive role in the 
sites moderation he has in fact done little/nothing and abused his 
moderator position by promoting his own postings.

Is there a place now in indymedia for Gosling?  If his presence is going to 
cause this much strife within the wider network than I don't see how he can 
represent indymedia at all.  However I don't have a problem with him 
submitting stories as occasionally he will do something worthwhile but if 
thats the sacrifice we have to make then so be it.  This is not a decision 
I make lightly as I used to count him as a trusted friend.

Again I'd ask him respectfully to stay away from the local meeting on the 
15th to allow the Bristol collective to discuss this without it descending 
into a destructive argument.  We can then set up a separate meeting at a 
later date to deal with this (as suggested by Kyra).  I think that its 
probably best that I don't participate in that particular discussion with 
Gosling as I'm concerned that I may loose my temper with him...which is why 
I'm spelling out my position here and now.   This is really all I have to 
say on this matter and I won't bore people any more.


best
ian