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Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words Posts

UPDATE: British Judge Rules Alleged Hacktivist Lauri Love Can Be Extradited To US
Lauri Love smiles at the camera, wearing a winter hat and a pair of headphones on his neck. (Facebook / Free Lauri Love)
August 17, 2016
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UPDATE: British Judge Rules Alleged Hacktivist Lauri Love Can Be Extradited To US

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Lauri Love, an alleged British hacktivist, faces extradition to the U.S. over charges of supporting deceased programmer and activist Aaron Swartz.

In an interview with MintPress News, Naomi Colvin, a U.K.-based campaigner for the Courage Foundation, which supports hacktivist and whistleblower political prisoners, says Love could suffer a similar fate to Swartz if he’s extradited.

“There’s a blatant and rather unpleasant irony in that for allegedly protesting against the prosecutorial conduct and coercive plea bargaining that took place in Aaron Swartz’s case, he’s now facing exactly the same kind of treatment himself,” Colvin told us.

Read moreUPDATE: British Judge Rules Alleged Hacktivist Lauri Love Can Be Extradited To US
Lawsuit Warns $234B In Aid To Israel Violates US Law Against Supporting Secret Nuclear States
Dozens of missiles await use at an Israeli Defense Forces training day. November 24, 2015. (Flickr / Israel Defense Forces)
August 16, 2016
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Lawsuit Warns $234B In Aid To Israel Violates US Law Against Supporting Secret Nuclear States

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

A lawsuit warns that U.S. aid to Israel violates a law meant to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, even as the United States prepares to increase the already massive Israeli aid program.

Filed Aug. 8 by Grant Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy, or IRMEP, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the suit alleges that U.S. aid to Israel violates two amendments to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, known as the the Symington and Glenn Amendments, which collectively ban support for countries engaged in clandestine nuclear programs.

In the lawsuit, Smith alleges that violating these amendments means that Israel has received approximately $234 billion in illegal aid since the passage of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976.

Read moreLawsuit Warns $234B In Aid To Israel Violates US Law Against Supporting Secret Nuclear States
‘Which Side Are You On?’ Rapper B. Dolan On Corporate Power & Making Racists Afraid Again
B. Dolan performs at The Met in Pawtucket, Rhode Island on july 11, 2015. (Flickr / Tony Pacitti)
August 15, 2016
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‘Which Side Are You On?’ Rapper B. Dolan On Corporate Power & Making Racists Afraid Again

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and SXSW

B. Dolan was my favorite discovery of SXSW, an unabashedly political rapper from Rhode Island, and also an anti-corporate activist with Knowmore.org. I caught him during the same show where I saw Wheelchair Sports Camp and I knew we’d have to talk more.

It took until early last month before we finally connected with an interview, and then another month (thanks to the distracting spectacle of the election) before I finally put his words up on my site.

Thanks, B. Dolan, for taking the time to talk, and for your patience in seeing this published!

Kit O’Connell, Approximately 8,000 Words: Talk to me about what it’s like to play a huge commercial event like SXSW, especially the impact it can have good and bad on a community or your career. We had anti-gentrification protests at the event this year, in fact — is this something you take into consideration, as a politically aware musician?

Read more‘Which Side Are You On?’ Rapper B. Dolan On Corporate Power & Making Racists Afraid Again
Developed In Iraq, Deployed At the DNC?: Cell-Jamming Technology Is Being Turned On Journalists
n July 27, 2016, activists, media and citizen journalists with smartphones surround a group of anticapitalist activists burning a U.S. flag. Journalists, including a MintPress News reporter, found it difficult or impossible to upload video of incidents like this one while near the entrance to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. (MintPress News / Kit O'Connell)
August 12, 2016
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Developed In Iraq, Deployed At the DNC?: Cell-Jamming Technology Is Being Turned On Journalists

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and Occupy Wall Street

Technology developed to jam cellphones during the Iraq War may be getting deployed against journalists reporting on protests against the political establishment in the United States.

While police and government surveillance of protests, including monitoring of cellphone use, is well-documented, efforts to block signals at protests remains an oft-repeated, but never proven, rumor.

It may be impossible to definitively prove that authorities are using cellphone “jamming” technology, but journalists working with both mainstream and independent media reported unusual difficulties accessing the internet during recent protests at the gates of the Democratic National Convention, consistent with the effects this very real technology could have.

Read moreDeveloped In Iraq, Deployed At the DNC?: Cell-Jamming Technology Is Being Turned On Journalists
‘Don’t Write Your Congressman’: Green Party Candidates On Third-Party Movement Building
Arn Menconi, Green Party candidate for Senate from Colorado, at the Green Party National Convention at the University of Houston. August 6, 2016. (MintPress News / Kit O'Connell)
August 12, 2016
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‘Don’t Write Your Congressman’: Green Party Candidates On Third-Party Movement Building

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

Record-breaking dissatisfaction with the presidential candidates nominated by the two major political parties is leading to a new push for alternatives on the ballot.

However, building a third-party alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties won’t happen overnight.

“This process of making radical change in this country is a protracted one,” Ajamu Baraka, the Green Party candidate for vice president, said during a press conference with running mate Dr. Jill Stein, just after accepting the party’s nomination on Saturday.

Read more‘Don’t Write Your Congressman’: Green Party Candidates On Third-Party Movement Building
Red Scare 2016: As Green Party Power Grows, Jill Stein Accused Of Ties To Putin
Presidential Candidate Jill Stein pictured in Moscow’s Red Square during the RT Anniversary Conference. (YouTube Screenshot)
August 10, 2016
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Red Scare 2016: As Green Party Power Grows, Jill Stein Accused Of Ties To Putin

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

As the popularity of the Green Party continues to rise during this divisive election, attacks and smear campaigns against the Greens, and their presidential nominee, Jill Stein, are ramping up.

The latest rumor suggests Stein is under the control of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and it’s based on a deliberately misleading tweet about a video she recorded during a trip to Russia over the winter.

On Saturday, economist Andrew Weiss tweeted a link to a video of Stein posted on Dec. 20. The video, “Anti-War Message in Moscow: Jill Stein, 2016 US-Presidential Candidate (Green Party),” was assembled from various sources — notably, a video posted on Stein’s Facebook page — by German anti-war site AntiKrieg.

Read moreRed Scare 2016: As Green Party Power Grows, Jill Stein Accused Of Ties To Putin