These women have already experienced more than their fair share of dystopian future in Putin’s Russia. So they know what they’re talking about when they warn us against a #maga fascist regime in the USA.

Trigger Warning: this video contains scenes of systemic state violence against women.

On a brighter note, you’ll love their video for “Straight Outta Vagina” (feat. Desi Mo & Leikeli47). Funny, sexy and political all in one go. Thanks Pussy Riot.

Feast on their other artworks over at youtubes.

If you’re feeling panicky about the US election, given that nation’s ability to mess things up for the rest of us… tune into Nate Silver’s 538 pollster predictions. Nate tends to get it right where other pollsters falter.

Drumpf currently running at 14% likely to win, which is still more than i like. That’s like a grand final where Geelong is only 6 goals behind with 14 minutes to go *.

Every time this happens i get mildly obsessed with the race, and this year it’s more of a circus than ever before.

PS don’t tell me how much you hate Hillary #SoBoredWithThat #omgSheAModerate #HellToTheCentrists #CrookedMyArse

* please excuse sporting reference (AFL = Australian Football League, aka Victorian Rules).

** Like i said: Geelong can kick 6 goals in 14 minutes if it’s a Grand Final.

*** Farewell USA, i weep for your soul. I’m now feeling a bit like when a crazy driver has been tailgating you for ages, and they finally pull ahead of you, screeching tyres into the distance. You know there’s a strong chance they’re about to die.. you just hope they don’t take anyone else with them.

Look i’m one of these people who believes that Barack is genuine. Because i’ve read his accounts of working as a community organiser in the South side of Chicago. Here he talks about that experience with a bunch of kids who just got him re-elected. And i know that success for him is not just gaining the presidency, it’s training these individuals, this new generation of people who can change the world. Who will make a difference.

Via the Huffington Post: Obama Tears Up While Addressing Campaign Staff.

No, he’s not perfect. He’s just an individual, just a man. But i like the way he works.

Okay, i’m going to gather all those US election videos in the one post. Yes i did get a bit obsessed during the election.

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Aah Jon Stewart. Sometimes you need a little heavy-handed humour. i know the whole experience has been very Team America: World Police; and what we’re looking at is a political assassination of the craziest kind. Killing an unarmed alleged mass murderer in his pyjamas etc. Not to mention the singing and dancing in the street. But ..How About the Bush People trying to take credit for killing Bin Laden?! No wait, it was Reagan who got him. If you need some laughter on the topic, watch this video.

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I love the Barons of Tang!

Ok for a few years I’ve found them too hard core, and they were always playing at the same time as spoonbill, so I would never stay and listen.

But tonight* they hit the spot like never before. They are extraordinary. And they’re going to the usa. i don’t think i’ve seen them properly since Aviva joined – her clarinet and bass clarinet riffs added a lot to the sound for me. Loved it.

Dance! Did we? I love those gigs where you start out kind of half-hearted, an you wind up jumping like a mad thing and shouting for more.

*When i say tonight i mean: Northcote Social Club 30 April.

Following the shooting in Tucson i found this speech by Robert F Kennedy from April 1968 – after the assassination of Martin Luther King. It’s really worth listening. Very much of its time, yet still very relevant. You can also find the full transcript over here.

via YouTube – Robert F. Kennedy speech ~ Mindless Menace of Violence.

i liked what the sheriff said after the shooting: all this violent, hateful and abusive rhetoric that fills the tv and radio channels of the US mass media may well be free speech, but it can have consequences.

(Found the Kennedy speech via ‘The only adult in the room‘ – an unabashed fan site for the current president of the US (POTUS) – one of the commenters posted it.)

Nice work from a rapper known as Jasiri X in the United States of Hell: “What if the Tea Party was black?”.

The Tea Party have been seriously dissing their president. If they were left-wing or non-white, the media would interpret their messages as seditious, treacherous and Anti-American. They would be vilified in the most ugly ways imaginable. But no, the Tea Party is the darling of the media with their horribly misguided and intellectually-damaged thought missiles. Reprehensible rubbish.

Thanks for this video!!

via YouTube – What if the Tea Party was Black?.

Ok, irony alert. i got the video from “Stuff White people do”, chapter entitled: listen to anti-racist music. Yes i’m trying to salve my bruised conscience. Whatever.

While i’m talking of anti-racist music, one of my all-time favourites is “George Bush don’t like black people” by the Legendary KO. Impressed to see this song has its own wikipedia page.

..and here’s the original quote from Kanye West that led to the remix:

..and another video mix

This originally came out back in ’05. Xeni at BoingBoing pointed everyone toward it. You can still get the mp3 file too: “George Bush Don’t Like Black People” MP3 (8.7MB). [Lyrics here.]

On the other side of The Pond, a 15 year old gains notoriety with this stirring speech during the recent demonstrations around education fees. Good to see the next generation coming up and with such strength and passion. Really like the way he weaves narrative into the invective. No music, but a really good talk eh.

via YouTube – 15 year old Tells Establishment to Stick-it..

Just finished reading Barack Obama’s “Dreams from my Father” – it’s a good read – flowing narrative that draws you in, with insightful and nuanced reflection. The book is about his journey to discover and forge his own identity, and also about his thoughts on race politics. He writes about growing up with the identity struggles that come with mixed cultural background, working as a community organiser in Chicago, and returning to Africa to meet his father’s side of the family.

i was surprised how emotional i became when reading about Obama in the latest edition of Time mag. Emotions that kept returning as i read the book. Could there really be an authentic person in politics? Someone with intelligence, decency, style and the competence to govern .. who believes in assembling the best minds and working together to solve problems?

That sense of hope that he generates was sorely needed in the world, especially when looking to the USA to return to its noble visions of highest and best potential.

For me it’s not so much about the colour of his skin .. as the fact that we are about to have a Community Organiser in the White House. Not only a person who works at grass roots level, but someone who understands that to solve big problems, we need to find common ground and work together.

(i say “we” .. meaning that .. that the whole world depends on that one country to be their best. Unlike the fearful and aggressive, unreconstructed alcoholic version of the US we’ve had recently.)

In my view Barack is a good person, who believes in getting things done .. and does things differently. My hope is that he will move politics back into a place of decency and competency, genuine problem solving and that he will inspire others to join the world of community organisers.

He is a good person .. i wonder if he will turn out to be a great person.

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i just remembered watching the acceptance speeches at Ben and Rhi’s house, projected huge upon the wall.
Just as sweet as the day kevin007 took the throne of Oz.

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Links:

• Article in Newsweek about the book.
• Book on Amazon.

photo credit: Hot Meteor