From FIFA

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The World Coup: THIEFA vs Brazil

Molly Ivins said “Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.”

In this excellent video, The Juice Media aptly summarize what is happening in Brazil with mega-event related human rights abuses: forced evictions, diverted public monies, police violence, and increased surveillance, all reported in Juice Media’s traditional style – a hip hop news report! This is truly exceptional, so do yourself a favour and check it out!

Juice Rap News – delivering a bulletin to restore your faith in the fourth estate, make you nod your head to the beat even as you shake it in disbelief.
Written & created by Giordano Nanni and Hugo Farrant in a suburban backyard studio in Melbourne, Australia.

p.s. please check out our Indigogo campaign to raise post-production funds for State of Exception. 

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State of Exception Campaign Update

JUST 11 days left for our State of Exception Indiegogo Campaign

We are entering the home-stretch of our campaign, just 1.5 weeks left!

Today, we are announcing some new campaign perks and launching a video update. Please share this video far and wide, and encourage others to donate so we can reach our goal! As most of you know, this is a grassroots project that is being funded completely outside of the corporate broadcast model – funded by YOU and others who want to take a stand against human rights injustices and the tyranny of corporate interests.

We have had tremendous success so far and we have less than $10,000 to raise! We’re asking everyone to please dig your heels in and do some personal outreach within your networks to help give our campaign a final push.

Please continue to SHARE THE CAMPAIGN on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media, as well as directly emailing anyone who would connect with this story. The statistics demonstrate that direct email is the best for inspiring people to take action, so if there’s anyone you know would be interested in joining our growing community, please send them a message today.

Please stay posted to our Twitter feed and blog at stateofexception.com for regular content posts.

As always, THANK YOU!

P.S. A huge shout out to one of our favorite NGOs: Witness.org for producing the animation in our video

Photo: Getty Images

Scandal is FIFA’s Middle Name

When FIFA gets embroiled in a corruption scandal, it’s no longer a scandal – it’s just business as usual. Scandal is what we’ve come to expect from the International governing body of football. This week the UK Telegraph is reporting new allegations that former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner accepted bribes of $2 million from a Qatari firm linked to the country’s successful bid for the 2022 Games. Being ranked 26 of the 175 nations on Transparency International’s Perceived Corruption Index, Qatar and FIFA make for comfortable bedfellows.

While there were a number of human rights violations in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, including my own beating by military police there, they pale in comparison to what we are already seeing in Qatar, a country where flogging and stoning are legal under their Sharia law.  The new stadiums are being constructed by an indentured labour force of South Asian migrant workers. These workers face serious exploitation and abuse, live in squalid accommodations, and and are suffering exceedingly high levels of fatal workplace accidents. Over 1,200 migrant workers have already died in Qatar since the World Cup was announced.

These labour abuses are described in this article by Slate.com

Anonymous

Wavin´ Flag Reclaimed (Music Video)

In 2010, FIFA and Coca-Cola selected Somali-Canadian artist Knaan´s popular song Wavin´ Flag as the promotional anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Originally a freedom song written for the oppressed classes of Somalia, K´naan was required to change the lyrics, depoliticizing them for the purposes of commercial advertising. The original freedom song has been revived by Anonymous in Brazil, calling on all Brazilians to take to the streets and protest the looting of the country by the international mafia at FIFA, who has imposed a ´state of exception´ in the country, creating militarized and exclusive spaces, squelching civil liberties and violating a number of citizen´s constitutional rights. While the extraordinary cost of hosting the World Cup is paid for with Brazilian public monies, FIFA is exempt from all taxes, and will take all of the profits, leaving a legacy of debt in a country that lacks many basic public services. Join us in the streets to protest against this heist perpetrated by FIFA upon the Brazilian people. The people united will never be defeated.

Video by Anonymous in Brazil