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Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words Posts

We Didn’t Fix Austin (Or America)’s Nazi ProblemA massive supercell storm cloud forms in a funnel shape over the fields of Oklahoma.
Just looking at this photo causes me a twinge of fibromyalgia pain. (Unsplash / Raychel Sanner, public domain)
September 1, 2021
Kit
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We Didn’t Fix Austin (Or America)’s Nazi Problem

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, and Journalism

A friend that lives in Portland posted on his Facebook about the latest spasm of white supremacist violence that took place there.

Someone that I’ve a bunch of mutuals in common with responded. A sort-of-smug comment to the effect of “thank goodness we ran those people out of Austin, Texas!” And I’ll be honest, that comment shocked me: we did what?

The comment reminded me that this attitude is probably widespread in my city and across the country.

I asked myself, are there people in this country that go days without thinking about the rise of fascism and the collapse of the climate? What must that be like?

Read moreWe Didn’t Fix Austin (Or America)’s Nazi Problem
Coming Soon: Soup For Our Families zine(Image: A faded out photo of a pile of rusted soup cans, their labels long gone. Added text in a curvy retro font, in red & black words layered on top of one another, reads "Soup For My Family". In the lower right in black are the words "Coming soon...")
"Soup For Our Families" will be a collection of recipes submitted by antifascists of all kinds.
July 30, 2021
Kit
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Coming Soon: Soup For Our Families zine

Posted in Creative Commons, Food, Other Writing, and Zines

Let me start by saying thank you  for supporting me. The last couple of months have been challenging, and the next few probably won’t be a whole lot easier. I’m looking for work, dealing with the slow collapse of the hemp industry, and coping with some significant health problems in my family.

So that’s why I’m assembling a cookbook zine. It’s called Soup For Our Families: An Antifascist Cookbook, and I’ll be collecting recipes over the next month. That’s right, actual food recipes — and not just soup, I’m collecting food and drink from every category from apps to desserts. I want to showcase the wide range of who we are, using food as a window. The only rule is the recipes should come from antifascist/antiracist people or groups.

Read moreComing Soon: Soup For Our Families zine
Delta 8 FAQ: What You Should Know Before Trying Delta 8A photo depicting a person's open-mouthed face in silhouetted profile as they take a dropper of bright green liquid. Text: Kti's Delta 8 FAQ. WTF is it and should you try it?
When it comes to Delta 8, caveat emptor.
June 30, 2021
Kit
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Delta 8 FAQ: What You Should Know Before Trying Delta 8

Posted in Creative Commons, and Journalism

There’s a lot of buzz around Delta 8 right now, but I’m concerned people aren’t educating themselves about this new cannabinoid before using it.

Almost weekly, someone asks me about Delta 8 products. What are they, should I try them?

I appreciate that people look to me for guidance, so I thought I’d put together a few tidbits about Delta 8.

If you’re not aware, Delta 8, short for Delta-8-THC, is a close relative of Delta-9-THC. That’s main compound in psychoactive cannabis (“marijuana”). As you might guess, the two compounds are very chemically similar with somewhat similar effects. They both make you high but in slightly different ways. I’ll get into that below.

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‘It Came From Something Awful’ Suffers From Factual ErrorsA Guy Fawkes 'Anonymous' mask looms out of a dark space. "It Came From Something Awful" detals 4chan, Anonymous, the rise of QAnon and what the author sees as a grand culture war.
(Tarik Haiga / Unsplash, public domain)
May 6, 2021
Kit
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‘It Came From Something Awful’ Suffers From Factual Errors

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

I don’t write about books often, and usually I stick to good ones, but I feel this needs to be said: “It Came From Something Awful” is a book that, at minimum, needed more fact-checking before publication.

Though the book came out in 2019, author Dale Beran is back in the spotlight because of the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol. Beran is seen as one of the experts on 4chan, and 4chan is seen as a key origin point of What Just Happened ™.

When I dug into the book, I found out this argument represents the first third of it at most, and my problems with the latter chapters make me call the whole thing into question.

Read more‘It Came From Something Awful’ Suffers From Factual Errors
Podcast: Talking with Visu.News about ‘Officer-Involved’ ShootingsA photo of a police car at a crime scene, framed with just the roof and blue light visible in the foreground, and a blurry urban scene in the background. Kit O'Connell went on the Visu.News podcast to discuss how the media covers police when they kill.
Kit went on the Visu.News podcast to discuss police and the media.
April 16, 2021
Kit
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Podcast: Talking with Visu.News about ‘Officer-Involved’ Shootings

Posted in Audio, and Journalism

I appeared on the Visu.News podcast to discuss my recent article on the language media uses when discussing the police. The hosts, Aaron Cynic and Zach Roberts, had just watched the recently released bodycam footage of the police murder of Adam Toledo. They were understandably shaken, and it gave our discussion an increased urgency.

Read morePodcast: Talking with Visu.News about ‘Officer-Involved’ Shootings