Skip to content

Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words Posts

Tax Docs Reveal Goldman Sachs Donated $18,000 To Violent, Illegal Israeli Settlers
Israeli soldiers patrol an open air market in the Palestinian city of Hebron in this August 2004 photograph. (Wikimedia Commons / Justin McIntosh)
April 18, 2016
Kit
Leave a Comment

Tax Docs Reveal Goldman Sachs Donated $18,000 To Violent, Illegal Israeli Settlers

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Goldman Sachs is a financial supporter of one of Israel’s most violent, racist illegal settlements in occupied Palestine.

Documents published last week by Haaretz, one of Israel’s most liberal mainstream newspapers, revealed that the controversial investment banking giant made an $18,000 tax-deductible donation to the Brooklyn-based Hebron Fund, via the Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund.

All Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories are believed to be in violation of international law. And while settlements are known for the violent actions of their residents, Hebron in particular has achieved a reputation for settlers’ extreme actions against indigenous Palestinian residents.

“Hebron is a perpetual nightmare,” wrote Maya Haber, director of programming and strategy for Partners for Progressive Israel, in Haaretz. ”About 700 Jews live in tiny fortified urban settlements at the center of a city inhabited by 180,000 Palestinians.”

Read moreTax Docs Reveal Goldman Sachs Donated $18,000 To Violent, Illegal Israeli Settlers
In ‘Ovarian Psycos,’ Women Use Bikes To Claim Space & The Streets (#SXSW)
The Ovarian Psycos ride their bikes through East L.A. (Ovarian Psycos documentary)
April 18, 2016
Kit
Leave a Comment

In ‘Ovarian Psycos,’ Women Use Bikes To Claim Space & The Streets (#SXSW)

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and SXSW

There’s a particular liberation found on two wheels, gliding through a night time city street.

That feeling becomes simultaneously even more liberating and powerful in a group of cyclists, reasserting our right to take up space normally dominated by cars.

But cycling culture is notoriously sexist — just ask almost any woman who has tried to purchase a bike or get repairs at a shop, and group rides are often male-dominated and unwelcoming to women and the gender-nonconforming.

The Ovarian Psycos are a women-of-color cycling crew from East Los Angeles and the Boyle Heights neighborhood. Beyond simply spreading the joy of the ride to more people, their work is directly situated in a historic tradition of feminist and Xicana activism.

“Ovarian Psycos,” a documentary from directors Joanna Sokolowski and Kate Trumbull-LaValle that premiered this year at SXSW, brings the crew’s politics and passion to the screen, where it can hopefully inspire other women like them to take up more space on the streets and in their everyday lives.

Read moreIn ‘Ovarian Psycos,’ Women Use Bikes To Claim Space & The Streets (#SXSW)
As Cannabis Becomes Big Business, Who’s Getting Smoked?
Activists hold an inflatable marijuana joint that reads "Obama, Deschedule Cannabis Now!" during the #Reschedule420 rally on Apr. 2, 2016 at the White House. (Flickr / Stephen Melkisethian)
April 14, 2016
Kit
Leave a Comment

As Cannabis Becomes Big Business, Who’s Getting Smoked?

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and SXSW

Hundreds of people marched to the White House early this month to show their support for less restrictive federal marijuana regulations and nationwide legalization.

In an act of peaceful protest, many at the event organized by DCMJ, a local legalization group, smoked marijuana, puffed on vaporizers containing hash oil, or consumed cannabis edibles. Although the activists at the April 3 rally were prepared to risk arrest, CNN reported just two citations.

Although possession of up to 2 ounces of pot has been decriminalized within Washington, D.C., smoking marijuana could be considered an act of civil disobedience because public consumption remains prohibited.

As the group staged their 4:20 “smoke in,” they briefly inflated a 51-foot inflatable joint emblazoned with a clear message: “Obama, deschedule cannabis now.”

Read moreAs Cannabis Becomes Big Business, Who’s Getting Smoked?
At UN Human Rights Council, Saudi Arabia Supports Right To Torture & Execute LGBT People
In this Aug. 10, 2010 photograph, Vancouver residents protest to bring attention to countries, like Saudi Arabia, which imprison or execute LGBT people. (Flickr / DragonWoman)
April 13, 2016
Kit
Leave a Comment

At UN Human Rights Council, Saudi Arabia Supports Right To Torture & Execute LGBT People

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

At the most recent session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, Saudi Arabia objected to a resolution that condemns the use of torture by law enforcement and reaffirms the human rights of LGBT people.

The resolution, passed during the council’s 31st session, which closed on March 24, condemns the use of torture “and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” and urges nations to prevent torture by police or during pre-trial detention.

While the report is primarily focused on police and governmental use of torture, it briefly references the latest report by Juan Mendez, the special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which was issued during the session.

According to a U.N. press release, Saudi Arabia protested because Mendez’s report “included 65 references to sexual orientation and was an attempt to use the eradication of torture to promote other issues, which lacked any ground in international law.”

Read moreAt UN Human Rights Council, Saudi Arabia Supports Right To Torture & Execute LGBT People
SXStreetcrash: A Tribute to David Bowie In The Streets At SXSW (Photo Gallery)
March 17, 2016. SXstreetcrash: The Man Who Fell To Earth. A drunken spaceman lays on the ground of 6th street, Austin's downtown club district. (Kit O'Connell)
April 11, 2016
Kit
Leave a Comment

SXStreetcrash: A Tribute to David Bowie In The Streets At SXSW (Photo Gallery)

Posted in Journalism, and SXSW

2016 marked the 7th “SXStreetcrash,” an interactive, guerrilla performance event held in the center of 6th Street, Austin’s downtown nightclub district, during the massive SXSW Music festival. It’s hosted every year by Crash Alchemy, a local arts collective.

This year’s SXStreetcrash was a tribute to David Bowie, in honor of his recent passing. For the first time, the local chapter of the Decentralized Dance Party joined in, providing sound through their synchronized boomboxes. The DDP is a movement that originated in Canada which believes in promoting world peace through partying, and they use a portable FM transmitter to create a dance floor in the streets.

The idea of the Streetcrash is that the participants, including many community volunteers, gather ahead of time to create characters for the performance and practice a set of dance moves. Then, the group filters out into the 6th Street crowds, acting strangely and attracting as much attention as possible before, suddenly, coming together in a grand performance that “crashes the party.”

Read moreSXStreetcrash: A Tribute to David Bowie In The Streets At SXSW (Photo Gallery)
Jill Stein: US Politics Are ‘The Mother Of All Illnesses,’ Third Parties Could Be Cure
In this Sept.17, 2012 photograph, Dr. Jill Stein speaks during a demonstration on Bowling Green, New York City, at the 1 year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. (Flickr / Paul Stein)
April 9, 2016
Kit
Leave a Comment

Jill Stein: US Politics Are ‘The Mother Of All Illnesses,’ Third Parties Could Be Cure

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

In a recent TV appearance, Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein insisted that American politics, and the nation, are gravely ill.

Interviewed on Monday by Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files on TeleSur English, Stein said that she became a politician, after years as a physician, because she realized that “our democracy is really on life support.”

Despite being the fourth largest party in terms of registered voters, Green Party candidates are virtually shut out of elections, only appearing on the ballots in 20 states. During her 2012 campaign, Stein was arrestedwhile trying to gain access to the presidential debates.

“The political establishment has no credibility, and they are terrified that we the people would start to get together outside the two corporate parties,” she told Martin.

Read moreJill Stein: US Politics Are ‘The Mother Of All Illnesses,’ Third Parties Could Be Cure