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This Week in Racism

Former Italian Prime Minister Dressed up Strippers to Look Like Barack Obama

According to testimony given during the prostitution trial of his three former aides, Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was alleged to have dressed women up like Barack Obama, and had them perform stripteases. Now, I am not here to debate the erotic merits of President Obama. I am here to wonder if these women wore blackface. Full story

Rob Ford, the World's Greatest Mayor, Smokes Crack

Rob Ford, the mayor of Toronto, has been caught smoking crack on video. Allegedly. The tape is for sale, but hasn't been sold yet, which leaves us wondering: What kind of incompetent blackmail-video salesman is behind this controversy? How can you mess up on monetizing such a gol… Full story

Dodging Water Cannons and Sound Bombs at Israel's Catastrophe Day

I arrived in Jerusalem on Nakba Day. Nakba (a word that translates as "catastrophe") Day commemorates the 750,000 Palestinians who were forced from their homes when Israel became a state in 1948. I expected shit to get wild, but the speed with which the demonstration went from ze… Full story

Who’s Getting Rich off the Prison-Industrial Complex?

Many of America's prisons are run by for-profit corporations, so clearly some people are making lots and lots of money off the booming business of keeping human beings in cages. But who are these people? Using some publicly available data, I came up with a few names. Full story

If Julia Gillard is Such an Atheist, Where’s All the Gay Marriage?

Australians are proud about their secularism, as exemplified by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Religion has a minor influence on the countries’ social policies and politics, yet same-sex marriage is not a reality. Full story

“Fitch the Homeless” Is Backwards-Ass Activism

Please don’t “Fitch the Homeless.” This is all just some cheeseball stunt perpetrated by a guy who really wants attention and saw an opportunity to get it. Yes, it seems clever, but making fart noises with your armpits in seventh grade seemed clever, too. Full story

Horrible People Are Exploiting Cambodia's Orphans

Once upon a time, long before Angelina Jolie got a mastectomy, she adopted a Cambodian child. As a result, privileged Westerners of all nationalities flocked to the country's orphanages in the hope of simultaneously nurturing a child and their own sense of self-worth. It was only… Full story

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White Student Union - Trailer

We recently went to Towson University to speak with Matthew Heimbach, the founder of a group that advocates for “persons of European heritage." We also met the students who want him off campus... or at least muzzled. 'White Student Union' is a documentary about race, class, and s… Full story

Austerity's Drug of Choice

Sisa Is Destroying the Lives of Athens’s Homeless People

Greece's infamous new drug, sisa, is basically meth and filler ingredients like battery acid, engine oil, shampoo, and cooking salt. The majority of its users are poor, often homeless, city dwellers reeling from the psychological and physical impacts of a country in the grip of e… Full story

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Sisa: Cocaine of the Poor

A new drug called sisa is tearing its way through Athens' poor. The ingredients are basically meth and filler things like battery acid, engine oil, shampoo, and cooking salt. It acts faster and the effects last longer than coke, and it can be produced in home-based laboratories. Full story

Should Murderers Be Allowed State-Funded Sex Changes?

After dragging on for years, the request of Michelle Kosilek, a.k.a. Robert Kosilek, to have the state pay her medical costs for sex-reassignment surgery has finally reached the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Full story

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Triple Hate - Trailer

'Triple Hate' is a documentary about Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Memphis City Council, the Klan, the Crips, Ulysses S. Grant, racism, and the specter of history. Part one premieres Monday, May 20, on VICE.com. Full story

Who Protects New Yorkers from the NYPD?

Nicholas Heyward is a haunted man. He is one of many New Yorkers who have lost loved ones to the police. The tragedy Heyward suffered has turned him into an activist. These days he spends much of his time calling for the Justice Department to review cases of alleged abuse committ… Full story

The Wizard of the Saddle Rides Again

Is a Park in Memphis, Tennessee, the Epitome of Racism in Modern America? The KKK Say It’s Just History, Many Others Disagree

In the middle of a park in Memphis, Tennessee, stands a statue of Confederate Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the most infamous and powerful racists in American history. When the Memphis City Council changed the name of Forrest Park, the KKK planned a massive pr… Full story