Journalism Archives - Page 47 of 118 - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

Trump Selects His Anti-Peace Bankruptcy Lawyer As Ambassador To Israel

David Friedman dances with other Orthodox Jews in New York City. December 25, 2016. (Flickr / Chabad Lubavitch, CC)

December 28, 2016

Trump Selects His Anti-Peace Bankruptcy Lawyer As Ambassador To Israel

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

President-elect Donald Trump has selected David Friedman, a notorious opponent of the peace process in Israel and Palestine and a financial supporter of illegal Israeli settlements, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Trump, who officially nominated Friedman on Dec. 15, is unlikely to quell the accusations of corruption and nepotism that have dogged the incoming administration with this controversial pick. Friedman is a long-time friend of the president-elect and a lawyer who helped Trump file for bankruptcy in 2004 and 2009.

Friedman fervently supports the ongoing expansion of apartheid Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and many political analysts have noted that Friedman’s political views actually put him to the right of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s far-right prime minister.

An Orthodox Jew, Friedman maintains residences in both the United States and Jerusalem. In the formal announcement for his post released by Trump’s transition team, Friedman suggested that the U.S. embassy be moved from its current location in Tel Aviv to “Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”

4Chan’s War On Alternative & LGBTQIA Culture

A concert at 1919 Hemphill, a DIY arts and music space in Fort Worth, Texas. March 7, 2015. (Flickr / Madison Gostkowski, CC)

December 26, 2016

Kit

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4Chan’s War On Alternative & LGBTQIA Culture

Posted in Austin, Burning Man, Journalism, and MintPress News

After Donald Trump’s election, 4chan declared war on queer people and the American counterculture.

4chan is a lawless, unmoderated and completely anonymous online forum that frequently serves as a hub of internet troll culture. 4chan helped to spawn the Anonymous movement when some of 4chan’s users launched an organized trolling campaign against the Church of Scientology in 2008. That movement later became known for its hacktivism against the wealthy and powerful during the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in fall of 2011.

In recent years, however, the board, especially a subsection called /pol/ have come to be dominated by a hyper-conservative, white nationalist movement. The users believe, with an almost religious fervor, that their “meme magic” helped to elect Trump. More sober analysts are worried that 4chan and Reddit are helping to radicalize a generation by turning disaffected young white men into dangerous neo-Nazis.

Since November 8, 4chan has been linked to two seemingly disparate, but ultimately interconnected stories.

How To Break Rules In 2017 (Gonzo Notes 03)

Police shut down a subway station to prevent anti-poverty activist Cheri Honkala from delivering baked beans to the Democratic National Convention. Philadelphia, July 27, 2016. (Kit O'Connell, CC)

December 24, 2016

Kit

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How To Break Rules In 2017 (Gonzo Notes 03)

Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

Here in Austin, Texas, activists love to hold rallies at the state capitol building.

It’s a magnificent edifice of pink granite and the symbolic center of our state, so I can understand the impulse. Yet the grounds are so massive that all but the biggest crowds become visually lost among the monuments, and for about 18 months out of every 24 the building is empty (“a big pink tourist trap”).

I’m tired of attending protests outside an empty building. The bigger issue is that strongly worded speeches alone won’t solve the immense problems we face. Neither will petitions or angry letters.

2016 Goes To Pot: Colorado Cannabis Sales Top $1B & Oregon Sales Defy Expectations

A bud of the "Oregon Blues" cannabis strain. December 11, 2014.A bud of the "Oregon Blues" cannabis strain. December 11, 2014. (Flickr / Matt Dillon, CC NC ND)

December 23, 2016

Kit

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2016 Goes To Pot: Colorado Cannabis Sales Top $1B & Oregon Sales Defy Expectations

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Legal cannabis is booming, and with Colorado netting $1 billion in legal, regulated sales in the first 10 months of 2016, the industry’s growth isn’t showing any signs of slowing.

Sales of both recreational and medical cannabis hit $1.1 billion by October, according to analysis of sales data from the Colorado Department of Revenue. A boost in sales from the December holiday season is expected to push the total even higher.

“We think we’ll see $1.3 billion in sales revenue this year,” said Christian Sederberg, a partner at Vicente Sederberg and a leading cannabis industry lawyer, in a Dec. 12 interview with The Cannabist, a division of The Denver Post.

Unprecedented Legislative Coup Happening Now In North Carolina

At a Moral Monday protest in Raleigh, North Carolina, a sign reads "Let the people vote!" November 28, 2016. (Flickr / Pilar Timpane)

December 17, 2016

Kit

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Unprecedented Legislative Coup Happening Now In North Carolina

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and Lee Camp

Inside the North Carolina House, protesters chanted as police arrested them one by one.

For the second day in a row, the chambers were cleared and the public was banned from viewing a legislative coup in progress.

The North Carolina GOP, facing the defeat of incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory on November 8, are doing everything they can to hold onto power, even if it means literally rewriting state law.

December 15, 2016

Kit

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A Brief Primer On Texas’ F*CKED Up Politics & Why It Matters To You

Posted in Act Out!, Austin, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Video

Whenever you talk about terrible things happening in Texas, people start to tune out. You’re thinking, of course it’s fucking awful, it’s Texas. Why don’t we let them secede already?

It’s true, Texas politics seem like what happens when you apply dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” as an instruction manual BUT everything that happens there is a test balloon. The University of Texas at Austin motto is “what starts here changes the world.” And with most states and the U.S. Congress united behind that shit stain Trump, you can bet we’ll all be eating the same shit-filled Texas chili soon enough.

Now, the Texas government is full of low-life scum, but due to the peculiar whims of Texas politics, the Lt. Governor is a scumbag who stands above all the rest. The Lt. Governor is not just president of the state senate, but also sets the agenda for the entire legislative session. The senators and reps have a lot of politics to get through in a short amount of time, because the Texas State legislature only meets for 140 days every other year. Lemme say that again but slower: A hundred and 40 days EVERY OTHER year. The rest of the time, that massive building is just a big pink tourist trap.