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CHECK OUT MY NEW INDEPENDENT MEDIA PLATFORM BERNAUER 57 COLLECTIVE // WWW.B57C.COM

Venezuela seems to simply be another ideological war between Russia and the United States. Could it possibly be that after Syria they were plotting their next target or is that just cynicism talking? Of course, if I were a really cynical bastard, I would say that the US was attempting to regain face after failing to topple Assad, instead focussing on an easier, closer target; Maduro. The political parallels between Syria and Venezuela are too eerie to ignore, albeit without the Middle Eastern geo-political issue, but let's just hope the results are not as equally disastrous.

Putin is taking delight in portraying the Americans as meddling imperialists, whilst keeping quiet the fact that Russian forces are apparently in Venezuela too. Both countries are dangerous imperialists, ready to play with whatever nation best suits their agenda.

MANDEM is a fantastic and increasingly important platform for discussions about race. Initially set up as a space for men of colour to talk about race related issues freely, MANDEM utilises journalism, documentaries, podcasts, music videos and panel discussions to bring these issues to a wide audience. I was fortunate enough to be asked to illustrate the poster for their latest panel discussion, which will take place at Goldsmith's University on 26th October. Check out their great work here- www.mandemhood.com

Writer Kieren Williams has a very interesting article about the history, nature and current day issues of being mixed race. It's a fantastic read, regardless of ethnicity, so head over to: https://mandemhood.com/a-brief-history-of-mixed-race-identity/

The news over the past year or so, has been dominated by stories of Russian trolls stirring up controversy on social media, in attempts to further divide public opinion and cause online conflict. I'm sure you've seen examples of it too. There was an odd moment on my Facebook newsfeed that lasted for about 6 weeks back in October/ November 2017. Articles from almost every major media organisations had 'This is Fake News' (or something to that degree) written in the comments. That may not seems strange, but it was as if hundreds of random people had copied and pasted the same comments across numerous stories regardless of it's content or if it made sense. The commenters Facebook pages were also rather suspect, with very few friends and photos. What was even stranger was that I would only see these comments when I used Facebook on my phone and not on my laptop. Then all of a sudden these comments stopped appearing, although I have screenshots just to prove how weird the whole event was.

In many ways, we in the West have allowed this force-fed shit to happen. We gulp down any conspiracy theory with extreme superiority so we feel more 'in-the-know' about 'what's really going on'. The latest information seems to reveal that Trolls from the Kremlin backed Internet Research Agency have been involved in promoting one of America's favourite conspiracies: The Anti-Vaccination movement. The belief that vaccines cause autism has been brewing around in the States for a long time, however has always managed to stay somewhat underground. The argument here is that the Trolls are bringing a potentially dangerous theory to the mainstream, whilst simultaneously antagonising the general public and keeping them distracted with stupid arguments. It's another brilliant tactic from Putin and one that is nothing new in Russia too. Unfortunately Russian society is also victim to this kind of manipulation from their own government, although how we can come together to fight this effectively has not yet been realised. In the meantime, remain vigilant online by ignoring posts that almost seem comically idiotic and for God's sake don't respond to them.

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