April 2017 - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

The camera looks down a rocky precipice onto watery rapids far below. Sydney, Australia. February 27, 2002. (Flickr / AWiggert, CC NC ND license)

April 29, 2017

Kit

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Life On The Precipice (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Creative Commons, and Gonzo Notes

Here I am, writing to you from the edge. From many edges, really.

By the time you read this, I’ll have turned 39 years old. I’m on the edge of 40, on the edge, I guess, of middle age.

I recently found out that I have glaucoma in my right eye, meaning that I’ll spend the rest of my life on the verge of losing my vision, as long as the eyedrops keep working.

Right now, it also feels like the country and the world are on the precipice, too. The Oval Office is occupied by a giant crybaby seemingly intent on baiting foreign powers into nuclear war via Twitter.

We Will Never Have A Legit Democracy Until We Change These 3 Things

The US Capital building at sunset, with the Ulysses Grant memorial in front. February 19, 2017. (Flickr / Craig Fildes CC NC ND license)

April 28, 2017

Kit

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We Will Never Have A Legit Democracy Until We Change These 3 Things

Posted in Journalism, and Lee Camp

Decades of racist attacks on voting rights have given the far right a virtual stranglehold on American politics. (And this doesn’t mean the neoliberal left is blameless.)

Republicans control Congress, the Presidency, the majority of state legislatures, and the majority of state legislatures. You combine that with the fact that most Democrats only defend their corporate sugar daddies and the result is a heavily right-wing agenda sweeping America. Many are now looking to the mid-term elections in 2018 as an opportunity to turn things around.

Efforts such as Bernie Sanders’ “Unity Tour” are meant to lure voters back into the Democratic fold and also to the polls. They also hope to encourage new candidates to run for office. Unfortunately, they’re likely to fall far short of their goal, thanks to voter ID laws, gerrymandering of districts, and a system called Interstate Crosscheck, all blatantly racist moves by the GOP which purged millions of mostly minority voters from the rolls or otherwise kept them home on election day.

How Hemp Bioremediation Can Heal Our Soil & Why It Matters To Consumers

A tractor works the soil in an empty field. March 10, 2010. (Flickr / Natural England, CC NC ND license)

April 28, 2017

Kit

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How Hemp Bioremediation Can Heal Our Soil & Why It Matters To Consumers

Posted in Ministry of Hemp

Add this to the many uses for our favorite plant: Industrial hemp can actually remove toxins from the soil.

Not only can you use hemp to make dozens of sustainable products, from clothing, skateboards to medicine, but it can also help heal the earth.

As the human population grows, so do our need for more land to grow the crops that keep us fed. But our dependence on fossil fuels and dirty industrial processes have left a lot of land too toxic to sustain life. That’s where the rapidly growing field of “bioremediation” can be vital. Bioremediation essentially means using living things to heal the soil, allowing us to clean and reclaim some of these polluted lands. While bacteria and other microorganisms can be used, phytoremediation, from the Greek word for plant, relies on crops like hemp.

Who Would Jesus Arrest? Conservative Alabama Megachurch Could Get Its Own Police

Oakland Police on January 28. Photo by J. Paul Zoccali.

April 19, 2017

Kit

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Who Would Jesus Arrest? Conservative Alabama Megachurch Could Get Its Own Police

Posted in Journalism, and Lee Camp

A megachurch in Alabama could soon begin hiring its own cops.

Approved by the Alabama Senate on April 11, civil liberties experts are warning that the move will mark a major escalation in the growth of the American police state if, as expected, it’s also approved by the House and Governor Kay Ivey.

Briarwood Presbyterian Church, located near Birmingham, isn’t just one of those oversized churches with a bunch of giant flat screen TVs and its own coffee shop. With 4,100 members, and 2,000 students in its own K-12 school, church officials claim neither deputies from two nearby communities nor private security are enough to keep their religious community safe.

April 13, 2017

Kit

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6 Reasons Why Justin Trudeau Is No Prince Charming

Posted in Act Out!, Creative Commons, and Journalism

Oh Canada!

And oh Justin Trudeau, because not a day goes by without someone from the United States praising the Prime Minister, his traditional good looks, his support for refugees, his firm handshake when he encountered Donald Trump or hey, did we mention he’s good looking?

And yes, I know it’s tempting to think that the body double for Prince Eric in the Little Mermaid is just the nicest of guys — and admittedly, it’s easy to understand why people who compare Trudeau to our fatuous oversized orange shit stain find something appealing about a world leader who can regularly form sentences that are both grammatically correct and free from openly fascist symbolism. But don’t get it twisted, Justin Trudeau is no angel: in fact, he’s the darling of the Canadian fossil fuel industry — you know, the people responsible for the Keystone XL Pipeline and its numerous planned sequels — and an enthusiastic supporter of the military industrial complex too.

For making neoliberalism look sexy again, I’m declaring Justin Trudeau this week’s Low Life Scum.

Science Explains How CBD Oil Could Help Ease Your Anxiety

An anxious woman holds her face in her hand. (Flickr / Alessandra, CC NC ND license)

April 13, 2017

Kit

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Science Explains How CBD Oil Could Help Ease Your Anxiety

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

As millions of Americans struggle with increasingly stressful lives, some of them are turning to cannabis, specifically CBD, to ease their anxiety.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 18 percent of Americans experienced the symptoms of an anxiety disorder at some point over the past 12 months, making it the most common form of mental illness in the United States. Even for the rest of us, our chaotic world can still often leave us feeling overwhelmed.

Regular users of psychoactive cannabis, also commonly known as marijuana, frequently report using the substance to relax after a hard day. For many people, hemp-based CBD oil can offer similar benefits, but with few side effects and without making them feel “high.”