Archive for October, 2013

Episode 40: Get Active Against Abbott!

Posted: October 23, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Listen to this episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to this episode on Cyber Ears here or download it on Archive.org here (37MB).

This episode is all about activism against the Abbott government as well as activism more generally. We have an interview with Andrew Kelly on the #tunnelpicket protest movement against a new road development in Melbourne that will destroy communities and privilege road travel over public transport. You can find out more about this campaign and how to get involved through the website ycat.org.au and The ‘No East-West Tunnel’ Pledge Facebook page. You can find out more about the issue of sustainable transport on our 25th episode. We also have an interview with Helen Cox from Plan to Thrive on sustainable activism, avoiding activist burnout, recovering from an Abbott victory, the importance of activists building support networks and community care.

Beyond the interviews, we discuss the importance of unionism in resisting Abbott’s attacks against workers, Nick’s meme ‘Oskar Schindler was a People Smuggler’, pro-refugee graffiti, the refugee rally ‘Stop Abbott Not the Boats’ (thanks to Left and Correct podcast) and B’s run to raise money for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. We also cover some environmental and animal rights news and activism. We discuss calls for repressive new laws targeting animal activists in Australia, Luc’s meme on “eco terrorism”, the new Climate Council, dog fighting in Aotearoa, linking opposition to dog fighting to other forms of animal oppression, Banksy’s animal-themed display, Animal Liberation Victoria’s ‘Animals Are Not Ours’ silent demonstration, Katie’s animal activism in Geneva, saddest slaughterhouse video ever shows no blood or slaughter, Team Earthling’s 100th episode, vegweb.com, Veganomicon cookbook, and living healthy and vegan while on a low income. Other stuff covered on the episode was: the Ozpodcast Directory, Phonebloks by @davehakkens, Reclaim the Night, consent, stereotypical activists, Palmer United and the Australian Motorists Enthusiasts party form an alliance in the Senate, possums fight back against Abbott, the upcoming event in Perth ‘What’s Next for the Australian Left?’ and the Profits of Doom documentary. Once again we discuss ‘What’s Grinding Our Gears This Week’ – this time it’s the Abbott government’s cuts to Centrelink (the Australian government’s welfare agency).

This episode is brought to you by “Tool Man”. Thanks a lot to Tim for becoming a member of our show – you can become a member and sponsor an episode too!

Clips:

Tenacious D ‘The Government Totally Sucks’, Family Guy, Tim Minchin ‘Fuck the Poor’, The Lawrence Arms ‘Drunk Mouth Kitchen Smile’, The Simpsons ‘Protest Song’, The Castle, Left and Correct podcast ‘Stop Abbott Not the Boats’, Interview with Andrew Kelly, Anti-Flag ‘Underground Network’, Tiki Taane and Paw Justice ‘Enough is Enough’, Root of all Evil?, Sweeney Todd ‘A Little Priest’, Austin Powers, Peep Show (Series 1, episode 4), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – part two, Interview with Helen Cox, Catherine Snedden ‘Tony Abbott Blurred Lines’.

Episode 39: Abbott is Worse than Voldemort!

Posted: October 12, 2013 in Uncategorized
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The image above is from Fight the Liberals.

Listen to this episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to this episode on Cyber Ears here or download it on MediaFire here (38MB).

We’re back with possibly our most sarcastic episode yet, once again taking aim at the new Abbott government. We talk about some of the scary things Abbott has either introduced or wants to introduce, when it comes to: boycotts, asylum seekers and workers. We also cover Abbott’s new cabinet, looking at the gender disparity which is worse than Zoo magazine and Voldemort’s cabinet, Tony Abbott becomes ‘Prime Minster for Woman’ and gets rid of the Ministry for Science and many other Ministers, as well as adding ‘and Border Protection’ to the ‘Minister for Immigration’. Abbott looks set to sign the TPPA, which will have very scary consequences for Australia and many other countries. To find out more about this agreement, listen to our 18th episode and RTRFM Indymedia (9/9/2013 episode).

We also give a farewell to Kevin Rudd, mention that someone is surprised at what Abbott has done so far, (sexist) shit Abbott says, Team Earthling on the proposed boycott laws, The Unconventionist on Syria, B’s Run for Refugees, further discussion on Syria and US global dominance, consumption on steroids, Abbott ignores asylum seeker deaths, Indonesia publishes transcript of meeting with Julie Bishop, Abbott takes control of Liberal Party interviews, and Scott Ludlam is given a recount for the Western Australian Senate after he was behind by only 14 votes after the initial count. The segment ‘What’s Grinding Our Gears’ is back again – this time it’s sleazy drunk guys and the freeway.

This episode is brought to you by “Boy” – or “Bhoy”?. We encourage people to follow Danny on Twitter and also follow his vegan Twitter account! Thanks a lot to “Boy” for becoming a member of our show – you can become a member and sponsor an episode too!

Clips:

The Thick of it (Series 4, Episode 7), Catatonia ‘The Mother of Misogyny‘, The Chaser ‘In Due Season (Kevin Rudd song)’, The Chaser ‘Season 2, Episode 5’ of The Hamster Wheel, CNNNN, The Thick of it (Series 3, Episode 5), Jamie Kilstein ‘at the Atheist Convention’, Man on the Moon, The Adventures of Lano and Woodley (series 1, episode 1), The IT Crowd (series 2, episode 5), Lowkey (with Immortal Technique) ‘Voices of the Voiceless’, Choking Victim ‘Fuck America’, Austin Powers, Michael Parenti speaking on Choking Victim ‘Money’, RTRFM Indymedia (9/9/2013 episode), Michael Moore ‘The Awful Truth’, Family Guy, Frank Turner ‘Glory Hallelujah, Newstopia ‘Episode 1’, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Anti-Flag and Donots ‘Protest Song’.

Episode 38: War – Are You Syrias?

Posted: October 1, 2013 in Uncategorized
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america-syria-memeThe image above is from Mehedi. 

This episode has been released in two parts. You can listen to both parts of the episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to both parts on Cyber Ears here or download part 1 on MediaFire here (18MB) and part 2 on Archive.org here (20MB). 

This episode is all about Syria – in part one we give you the latest updates as well as a broader historical perspective/background. Katie has been at the United Nations Human Rights Council, listening in on debates about Syria and other issues, so she gives her accounts of this and we play a few speeches made at the UN. We also discuss Barack Obama’s first and second speech on Syria, as well as critiques of these speeches from Chris Hedges, Rania Masri and Noam Chomsky. We talk about whether the Syrian government was responsible for chemical attacks, drawing on the BBC and Human Rights Watch. US hypocrisy is also covered – we mention the US using and supporting the use of chemical weapons many times, Israel’s possession and use of chemical weapons, Obama being praised for seeking congressional approval before invading even though he is required to under the constitution, John Kerry accidentally pursuing a diplomatic solution, and the role of alternative media in generating opposition to a US invasion. We also cover the inspiring Battle for Burswood, the AFL grand final and arming foetuses – or harming penises? (which was close to being the title of this episode!).

In part two we discuss alternative ways to deal with human rights abuses beyond bombing civilians. Drawing on Noam Chomsky’s For Reasons of State, we also talk about the importance of activism and social movements in opposing wars, and we specifically mention the movement in Syria that is rejecting the Assad regime and also US military intervention. We have a return of the segment ‘What’s Grinding Our Gears This Week’ – this time it’s homophobic Google. Other stuff covered in part two is: Rap News 20 taken down due to copyright, Liam Kenny defends The Chaser’s false depiction of his dad having sex with a dog, and Occupy Wall Street’s two year anniversary. We discuss the article ‘Six Good Things Occupy Wall Street Made Possible’ and also refer back to our 13th episode, which was all about the Occupy movement. We encourage people to support B’s Run for Refugees, Myq Kaplan’s comedy and In the Sprawl podcast and we also encourage people to watch a video of activism by Stop the Arms Fair! – we interviewed Kirsten Bayes from Stop the Arms Fair! on episode 35 – BEFORE this organisation was interviewed by many very mainstream sources!

This episode is brought to you by “Mother”. We encourage people to follow Theresa on Twitter and check out her Tropical Vegan website! Thanks a lot to “Mother” for becoming a member of our show – you can become a member and sponsor an episode too!

Book Recommendation (part two):

Hegemony or Survival by Noam Chomsky.

Spoken Word CD Recommendation (part two):

War and Civil Disobedience by Howard Zinn.

Clips (part one):

City of Victoria Park ‘Battle for Burswood’, Pete Seeger ‘We Shall Overcome’, Barack Obama addresses the nation on Syria, Team America: World Police, Scrubs (Season 6, episode 7), UN speeches by Syria, Russia, USA, Cuba and Venezuela, Jamaica Plain ‘I Won’t Run’, Rap News ‘#6: Wikileaks – the Truth is Out There’, Bill Hicks ‘The War’, ABC News ‘Syria Chemical Attack…’, Jamie Kilstein ‘on the Conan Obrien Show’, Jamaica Plain ‘Wish I Knew’, CNNNN ‘Season 2, Episode 9’, Lowkey ‘Obama Nation’.

Clips (part two):

System of a Down ‘Boom!’, Myq Kaplan ‘Book People’, Lowkey ‘Terrorist’, Hugo Chavez promoting Hegemony or Survival at the UN, Barack Obama addresses the nation on Syria, Howard Zinn ‘Military Intervention’ – from the spoken word CD Monkey Wrenching the New World Order, Noam Chomsky ‘Power and Terror’, Team Earthling ‘Episode 96’, Family Guy, Lagwagon from the album ‘Live in a Dive’, Ibrahim Qashoush ‘Syrian Revolutionary Dabke’, Omar Offendum ‘#Syria’.