March 2016 - Page 4 of 5 - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

Chomsky: Mainstream Media Owned By Those Who Would Destroy Civilization With War

Noam Chomsky smiles at the photographer during an Apr. 1, 2010 appearance at Harvard. (Flickr / jeanbaptisteparis)

March 11, 2016

Chomsky: Mainstream Media Owned By Those Who Would Destroy Civilization With War

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

During an interview published last month, noted scholar, linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky spoke out against the corporate-controlled media.

Six multinational corporations control most of the mainstream media outlets in America, and Chomsky is perhaps one of the best-known media analysts to criticize the deleterious effect this has on democracy and freedom of speech.

“The Mainstream Media are an ideological instrument. They have owners,” he said in the video recorded at a Nov. 17 panel on Germany’s role in world affairs, hosted by independent media outlet acTVism Munich.

Chomsky was responding to a question from Zain Raza, senior editor of acTVism, who asked why protests and other forms of activism are attacked by the media. As an example, he cited the frequent protests in Munich against NATO and the U.S. drone bombing program, which operates out of Ramstein Air Base, one of dozens of U.S. military bases in Germany.

Why You Should Meet Your Partner’s Lovers

A March 1, 2011 photograph of three tacos from the KimChi Tacos food truck in Long Island City, NY. (Flickr / Young Sok Yun 윤영석)

March 11, 2016

Kit

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Why You Should Meet Your Partner’s Lovers

Posted in Polyamory, Sex & Relationships, and The Establishment

Two months ago, my lovers met over tacos.

The holidays were coming up, and it seemed like a little familiarity would help us all negotiate those emotionally-charged times more easily. Also, one lover felt a little jealous when she saw me with the other in selfies on social media.

I was confident they’d get along. Besides the obvious, they have several things in common: They both love cats, feminism, and, of course, Tex-Mex food. This would give us at least three topics to talk about, even if things got awkward.

One Presidential Candidate Would Bring Snowden Home & Give Him A Gov’t Job

Edward Snowden appears via video conference on a projector screen as he speaks to the International Students for Liberty Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 13, 2015. (Flickr / Gage Skidmore)

March 8, 2016

Kit

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One Presidential Candidate Would Bring Snowden Home & Give Him A Gov’t Job

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

No matter who wins the 2016 election, the United States will likely continue its efforts to capture and prosecute National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Despite the important revelations that Snowden shared with the world about the NSA’s illegal surveillance of every U.S. citizen as well as world leaders and foreign nationals, not one major presidential candidate has been willing to voice his or her support for Snowden’s actions or express any willingness to allow him to return to the U.S. as a free man.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein is the lone exception. She called Snowden a “hero” in a July 2015 interview with Ontheissues.org, a website which compiles candidates’ political views.

How I Met Vermin Supreme At SXSW 2012

Vermin Supreme, wearing his trademark boot on his head (as well as a cape and two neckties) celebrates his "victory" at the New Hampshire Primaries on January 30, 2016. (Flickr / Marc Nozell)

March 7, 2016

Kit

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How I Met Vermin Supreme At SXSW 2012

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, Occupy Wall Street, and SXSW

I didn’t officially attend SXSW 2012, but it was the first year I got into the convention center.

I had been invited to share my experiences with Anonymous at a panel about the documentary “We Are Legion” which played at the film festival. I had plenty to share — most notably, Anonymous helped us identify Austin Police officer Jason Mistric after he threatened me with pepper spray on the night Occupy Austin got evicted from its encampment in 2012.

Of course, the city had likely evicted our camp in order to make sure we weren’t cluttering up the city hall steps when Southby came to town, so what came next felt somewhat appropriate. After the panel, I gathered with two other occupiers that had found their way into the convention center and Mic Checked a speech by George Friedman, the CEO of Strategic Forecasting, a corporate intelligence agency which had helped infiltrate and spy on Occupy along with other activists groups, and helped send political prisoner Jeremy Hammond to prison.

Of course, security soon got involved.

Media Analysis Reveals Fox News Only Tells The Truth 22% Of The Time

In this Jan. 2, 2015 photograph, a sign at a Black Lives Matter protest outside Fox News headquarters in New York City reads, "Fox News Is Racist." (Flickr / The All-Nite Images)

March 5, 2016

Kit

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Media Analysis Reveals Fox News Only Tells The Truth 22% Of The Time

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Less than half the “facts” broadcast on Fox News are even partially true, according to an ongoing analysis by an independent fact-checking project.

Some recent lies told by on-air personalities and guests seem designed to stoke fears over the safety of refugees living in the United States and to spread untruths about American support for gun control laws.

Punditfact, a joint project by the Tampa Bay Times and media analysts from Politifact, offers “scorecards” on the accuracy of the TV networks and major TV personalities.

Last updated in January, the Punditfact scorecard for Fox News shows that just 10 percent of statements made on the network have been “True” and another 12 percent “Mostly True” since the project began in 2014. Even generously including the 19 percent of statements deemed “Half True” reveals that just 41 percent of Fox News statements can be deemed “true” to some degree.

Protests In Salt Lake City After Cop Shoots Black Teen Holding A Broomstick

A Salt Lake City police cruiser is parked by the side of an urban street in this April 1, 2011 photograph. (Flickr / Mesa0789)

March 5, 2016

Kit

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Protests In Salt Lake City After Cop Shoots Black Teen Holding A Broomstick

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Local residents and the family of a shooting victim are demanding the release of police body camera footage that shows the wounding of a black teenager last week.

Abdi Mohamed, a 17-year-old Somali refugee, was shot by police on Saturday while holding a metal broomstick. The following day, family sources told Robert Boyd, a reporter with local news station Fox13, that Mohamed was in a coma at a local hospital after being shot three times.

Det. Greg Wilking, a Salt Lake City Police Department official quoted by Boyd, claimed that Mohamed had gotten involved in a dispute, and that he was shot while “officers intervened into that altercation.”

But Selam Mohammed, who said he was walking with Abdi Mohamed at the time he was shot, told Boyd that Abdi Mohamed had just picked up a broken broomstick when police arrived: