Skip to content

Tag: American politics

What Can We Learn From Hemp Legalization In Canada?
A scenic view of a Canadian farm on the shore of a lake, with a stunning view of mountains behind. (Pixabay / 12019, public domain)
November 14, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

What Can We Learn From Hemp Legalization In Canada?

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

“My best advice is walk before you run.”

When it comes to the agricultural hemp, Shaun Crew knows more than most about what it takes to be successful. The president and founder of Hemp Oil Canada, he’s been in the hemp business longer than nearly anyone in his country and he’s seen the many hurdles the industry had to overcome since growing returned to Canada.

While industrial hemp returned to the United States on limited terms in 2014, all Canadians have been allowed to grow hemp since 1998, though the plant remains more restricted than other crops. Today, about 100,000 acres of hemp are grown annually in Canada according to experts we interviewed, and hemp is a well-established industry with government support.

Read moreWhat Can We Learn From Hemp Legalization In Canada?
‘I Feel Like A Political Orphan’: Talking Sex Work & Cannabis With Mistress Matisse
A wooden swing hangs over lush green grass. A single green leaf sits on the swing. (Pixabay / Skitterphoto, public domain)
October 20, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

‘I Feel Like A Political Orphan’: Talking Sex Work & Cannabis With Mistress Matisse

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Sex & Relationships

“The idea that we’re protecting people by keeping sex work illegal is ridiculous,” Mistress Matisse told me. “We’re protecting no one like that.”

I’ve been a fan of Mistress Matisse for years, since I discovered her through her column “Control Tower,” which ran until 2011 in “The Stranger,” the same publication as Dan Savage’s classic sex advice column “Savage Love.” Along with a calendar of sex-positive events in Seattle (which I’d fantasize about attending from miles away Texas), “Control Tower” offered sensible advice on BDSM, kink, and nontraditional relationships.

Matisse is a pro-domme, an outspoken advocate for sex workers’ rights and, most recently, a cannabis entrepreneur. Her unique water-based THC and CBD-infused lube, Velvet Swing, is available for sale in Washington state. While Matisse reached out to me to promote Velvet Swing, I knew there’s a lot more to her than just giving people better orgasms by getting their genitals buzzed.

I most wanted to hear her thoughts on our bizarre political moment.

Read more‘I Feel Like A Political Orphan’: Talking Sex Work & Cannabis With Mistress Matisse
On Punching Nazis & Forbidden Knowledge In 2017 (#GonzoNotes)
In 1933, Nazis burned 10,000s of journals, books and documents from the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, an institution devoted to studying gender & sexuality and an early proponent of transgender rights. (Wikimedia Commons / National Archives & Records Administration, Public domain)
October 18, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

On Punching Nazis & Forbidden Knowledge In 2017 (#GonzoNotes)

Posted in Gonzo Notes, Journalism, and LGBTQIA

Almost a month ago, in broad daylight in a busy urban neighborhood in Houston, nazis tried to shut down a book fair.

If you follow me online, you’ve heard about this incident: a group of about two dozen nazis targeted the Houston Anarchist Bookfair while I taught a class on antifascism (called “Punching Nazis”) inside. The volunteer security team prevented them from entering the building, and they left after throwing a temper tantrum for their livestream viewers. The book fair, and my class, continued after a brief but terrifying interruption.

Master gaslighters, as always, the nazis began their livestream by declaring themselves to be “peaceful,” then stood outside a community center armed with tactical gloves demanding that I — they called for me by name — come out and fight them. The bookfair’s organizers pointed out the likely results if we’d been drawn into a fight:

Read moreOn Punching Nazis & Forbidden Knowledge In 2017 (#GonzoNotes)
Activists Beat Texas GOP With Social Media & Old-School Resistance Tactics
Kids hold signs inspired by "The Lorax" on the grounds of the Texas Capitol. August 2, 2017. (Defend Texas Trees, used with permission)
October 11, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Activists Beat Texas GOP With Social Media & Old-School Resistance Tactics

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Yes! Magazine

Who could resist images of smiling children gathered under an ancient oak tree on the grounds of the Texas Capitol, transfixed by Democrat and Republican lawmakers doing a tag-team recitation of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax?

Apparently not the good folks of Texas.

A broad coalition of environmental activists employed just such a strategy during a special session of the Texas Legislature this summer as a way of stealing the spotlight and defeating a bill meant to strip municipalities of their power to protect historic trees.

Read moreActivists Beat Texas GOP With Social Media & Old-School Resistance Tactics
Flawed But Promising, Could The Industrial Hemp Farming Act Be The Key To Hemp’s Future?
A tractor pulls farm equipment through a field beneath a partly cloudy blue sky. (Pixabay / tpsdave, public domain)
August 30, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Flawed But Promising, Could The Industrial Hemp Farming Act Be The Key To Hemp’s Future?

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

A new bill before Congress could remove the last barriers to hemp growing in the United States, but only if legislators remove harmful provisions that prevent it from being a complete solution to hemp’s legal troubles.

In 2014, new legislation once again allowed the states to grow hemp for research purposes after decades of prohibition. Unfortunately, that law still leaves room for government agencies to threaten hemp growers and vendors, and falls far short of total legalization.

Industry advocates have spent years lobbying Congress for a bill which would completely legalize industrial hemp and remove it from Drug Enforcement Agency oversight and interference. Though deeply flawed In its current form, there’s hope that the Industrial Hemp Farming Act, currently making its way through Congress, could be an important step in that direction.

Read moreFlawed But Promising, Could The Industrial Hemp Farming Act Be The Key To Hemp’s Future?
Colorado Hemp Farmers Look To Congress For Access To Federal Water Rights
A sign by a dusty field reads "Wellcome to Colorful Colorado." (Unsplash / Kait Herzog, public domain image)
August 9, 2017
Kit
Leave a Comment

Colorado Hemp Farmers Look To Congress For Access To Federal Water Rights

Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp

Though it’s legal to grow industrial hemp in Colorado, many farmers are breaking the law if they try to water their crops.

In western states, water rights are governed by complex laws that determine how farmers irrigate their crops. Even rainwater that falls on land owned by a farmer may be affected by federal water rights laws, and the federal government still essentially considers hemp illegal.

“That has been an issue almost from the onset that has stopped people from growing industrial hemp unless they had wells of their own or were using city water, which is difficult when you move into real agricultural areas,” said Duane Sinning, seed coordinator at the Colorado Department of Agriculture, in an interview with Ministry of Hemp.

Read moreColorado Hemp Farmers Look To Congress For Access To Federal Water Rights