Monday 23 April 2012

Liber8.com Raises More Questions About New Group

A poster I downloaded from the Liber8 website. 


After catching the video hack at Vancouver’s FanExpo first hand, I had to investigate further into the cagey group known as Liber8.  I even heard from some friends that they had agents in the crowd handing out propaganda. I didn’t see them did you? If so, send me a pic or something.

So, I haven’t taken the investigative reporting class yet, it’s not till next semester, but it was pretty easy to know where to start this case - the website. They put that URL up on screen for a reason. The video, warning everyone of some kind of revolution or something, was all quite vague, but the gist was very Bush-like in its “Yer either with us, or yer agin us” sentiment.

The web site and its content is very militant, showing two fists smashing together in the masthead on the front page along with an embed of the same video they hijacked the FanExpo venue with.  Within the site they have what they are calling their manifesto, which isn’t exactly a light piece of reading.  They definitely express how they feel about technology and corporate influence, particularly on governments.  Still trying to wrap my head aroud all of it. Couldn't get in to that Member's Area it was password restricted.

The funny thing about it is, I found myself half agreeing with most of it, until they mentioned the killing people parts of course.  With all the uprisings around the world, from Occupy Wall Street to the Arab Spring, does the world need another pissed off fringe group inciting people into potential violent anti government furies?  




Liber8 are making it clear that they are actively recruiting like minded individuals to join their “movement” and with no shortage of ticked off activists looking for the next Occupy to hitch their cart to and the obvious lunatic fringe that just like to rage on whatever passes by, my fear is this may not be the last we hear from Liber8....lets just hope it sticks to video hacking.  ###



Sunday 22 April 2012

Liber8 Hacks FanExpo



So, like I said in my previous post I was at FanExpo yesterday. I went to the panel for this new show about dinosaurs in Vancouver or something like that and at the end this crazy video came on the big screen. It showed this logo for a group called Liber8 and told everyone to expect revolution and to rise up. I don't know exactly. It was really weird. I've started going through their website. There's a lot of stuff on there - still trying to make sense of it. Will get back to you soon about it. Let me know what you think.

xoxo TC

FanExpo Fun




Hey Guys. Spent the day at FanExpo. Saw some crazy stuff. Tried to report on it all here in this vlog. Sorry it's a little rough. But hey, it was my first live report. Hope you like.

There was also something really weird that I saw about this Liber8 thing. I caught it on video check out my next post.

xoxo TC

Friday 20 April 2012

FanExpo

Hi everyone

I'm going to be at FanExpo tomorrow. Will try my hand at a little live event coverage. Maybe I'll see you there....watch for my video report this weekend.

xoxoTC

Thursday 19 April 2012

Wednesday 18 April 2012

Is Racism Fiction? Or, How Varys Made Me Consider Trayvon Martin

I was watching one of my favorite television shows, Game of Thrones, last night and there was a brilliant piece of dialogue that went “Power resides where men believe it resides.  It is a trick, a shadow on the wall.”  This stood out to me particularly due to its truthfulness and topical interchangeability.  You can remove the word ‘power’ and replace it with so many other words and it will still hold its undeniable truthfulness.  The word I am replacing it with for the sake of this post is ‘racism’ - it resides where men believe it resides.  It is a trick, a shadow on the wall.

When I first heard about young Trayvon Martin, I, like many, was outraged and angry.  At first it was focused on how this young man armed with iced tea and a bag of skittles could be gunned down in cold blood in broad daylight amongst a suburban neighbourhood and it be deemed self defense.  Then my anger slowly refocused to the fact I wasn’t surprised.  How, in this day and age, with supposed leaps and bounds toward social tolerance, can I not be surprised when I read about such an obvious miscarriage of justice rooted so deeply in racial bigotry?  If the scenario had been reversed, and a young white man had been gunned down by an older black man in a poor neighbourhood, would the gunman have not been arrested?  Able to go home to his family in time for dinner?  Maybe, but I doubt it.

It makes you think of how many men and women are subject to ridicule, abuse and even murder strictly due to how they look.  Have we really come that far from the lynchings that plagued the turn of the century?  And what is it about Trayvon’s case that garnered such high exposure and outrage?  Is it because it happened in a ‘white’ neighbourhood?  Trayvon’s killing was a reminder to everyone that racial bias and hatred are very much alive in our society and there will be many long roads ahead before we see any difference.  We will all need to see hatred for what it is, fiction.

Racism is a man made issue.  It is not cold or hot, wet or dry.  It is as fictional as my favourite show.  It is nothing more than a trick that we seem to play on ourselves as a society over and over.  I would like to replace another word into the aforementioned dialogue, ‘tolerance’.  But this trick, this shadow on the wall, is worth playing on ourselves. ###

Monday 16 April 2012

Learn by doing

Just started school. Prof said best way to learn is by doing. So here's my first vlog. Let me know what you think. If you're nice there'll be a lot more to come.

xoxo TC