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Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words Posts

You’re Never ‘Just’ A Journalist: Reporting From The Left & The Far Right (Gonzo Notes)

Posted in Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

It’s a gift to be a journalist in this moment.

Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves. It’s the only way to get through.

Freelancers (like I am right now) spend every month counting our pennies, making sure we’ll make rent and have a little left over for food and coffee and the other vices of our profession. For those lucky few with a steady job, they’re wondering how long until downsizing and budget cuts will put them out on the street.

In addition to journalism’s grim financial picture, we’re finding ourselves targeted by the government and by far-right fascists for violence and repression in a way we haven’t faced in decades.

New Large Scale Study Proves Effectiveness Of CBD For Epilepsy

Posted in Ministry of Hemp

A newly released study adds more scientific evidence that CBD oil can relieve the symptoms of epilepsy.

Published May 2017 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the new research focuses on CBD as a treatment for Dravet syndrome, a complex and difficult to treat form of childhood epilepsy.

Worldwide, parents of kids with epilepsy, along with adult sufferers as well, are already using hemp-based CBD extract to great benefit. The medical establishment and the law, however, have been slower to catch up.

No Platform For Islamophobia: How Austin Shut Down ‘March Against Sharia’ White Supremacist Rally

Posted in Austin, and Journalism

It was called the “March Against Sharia,” but thanks to a lot of very loud Austin activists this white supremacist gathering could barely speak, much less march through the city.

The openly Islamophobic gathering was part of a June 10 national day of action organized by ACT For America, a hate group that uses fearmongering about the mythological spread of “Sharia law” in America as a way to foment hatred and violence against Muslim people.

As with every similar gathering in Texas since the election, from the March 4 Trump to May Day, the event attracted a range of fascists, neo-nazis and far-right nationalists that makes these events virtually indistinguishable from one another. Whatever the ostensible reason for gathering, whether it’s expressing loyalty to the president or opposing immigrants, these events essentially promote the same white supremacist agenda.

Audio: Reportback from June 10 Anti-Muslim Rally Shutdown In Austin, Texas

Posted in Audio, Austin, and Journalism

In this audio reportback, It’s Going Down speaks with Kit O’Connell, of the OSWN Collective in Austin, Texas. In the interview, we discuss what happened on June 10th, and how a group of anarchists and antifascists were able to shut down a anti-Muslim rally attended by neo-Nazis and Alt-Right ‘Stickmen.’

Kit explains the context of what is happening in Austin, going back several months to talk about numerous armed demonstrations that the far-Right and Alt-Right have organized, and how people in Austin and Texas moreover have responded. We also talk about the recent debacle in Houston, where Alt-Right trolls created the threat of a fake antifascist rally to fleece far-Right supporters of thousands of dollars through crowdfunding. Popcorn time!

We end by talking about the nuts and bolts of the demonstration, how and why it was a success, and what went into making it so.

Hemp Is Rebuilding Agriculture In America’s Conservative Tobacco Country

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

Hemp is reviving agriculture where tobacco was once traditionally grown.

Tobacco is still a multi-million dollar industry, but its fortunes have fallen greatly due to changes in laws and growing social stigma around smoking and its effects on human health.

At the same time, the excellent climate in many tobacco-growing states make industrial hemp, the non-psychoactive cousin of marijuana, a near-perfect replacement.

Donald Trump’s Budget, The Disappearance Of ‘Hemp For Victory’ (Black Tower Radio Interview)

Posted in Audio, Journalism, Lee Camp, and Ministry of Hemp

On the first Wednesday of every month, I appear on Black Tower Radio to discuss my latest journalism.

Donald Trump’s proposed budget would hurt the poor young people, the disabled, and children the most. How can people like this claim to be “pro-life” with a straight face?

Also discussed: How the USDA made “Hemp For Victory” to encourage patriotic hemp growing, and then made the same film disappear after World War II. Hemp growing is returning to the USA, but slowly — what’s keeping it from booming?