Adventures of a Gonzo Journalist
Most of you probably know that I’m the Editor in Chief for Ministry of Hemp a my “day job.”
I believe in the power of propagating this valuable, healing plant. In addition, our publisher has been extremely supportive through the novel coronavirus crisis as well.
Posted in Creative Commons, and Zines
Welcome to the Virtual Gonzo Zine Library. The VGZL is a quarterly zine reading list and miniature zine distro. A few times per year, I curate some of my favorite zines — zines that I think everyone should be reading, including myself.
This is the very first edition. I tried to pick zines which felt topical to this moment of pandemic, and could help inspire, comfort, and give us new perspectives. I selected a mixture of the very practical and the theoretical, but I tried to focus on zines written in an accessible way that wasn’t overly academic.
I’m dividing this edition of the Zine Library into a main selection and bonus content. The main selection is my reading list for the quarter, while the rest are other zines I think you might find interesting.
Posted in Journalism, and Ministry of Hemp
Charlotte Figi, a girl who helped inspire a movement for access to the healing powers of CBD and cannabis, has died after an illness resembling COVID-19. She was just 13 years old.
Reports of Figi’s death first appeared online on April 7. According to a Facebook post by the family, Figi died of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest after an extremely severe seizure, likely brought on by illness. Her entire family were sick with a severe illness resembling COVID-19 for a month prior.
Figi suffered from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy that begins in the first year of life. People with Dravet syndrome suffer frequent, intense, prolonged seizures and the condition resists conventional forms of epilepsy treatment. Remarkably, cannabidiol, a natural compound found in cannabis that’s better known as CBD, brought relief from the hours-long seizures she often suffered, reducing their length and frequency.
How can you make safe deliveries of food or other supplies to neighbors who may be immunocompromised, during the coronavirus pandemic?
Right now, a lot of people are helping out their neighbors. They’re reaching out to people who can’t safely leave their homes during the COVID19 crisis and offering to pick up necessities, whether it’s cleaning supplies, canned goods, or toilet paper. But how can we provide mutual aid without making people sick? I wanted to know more about making safe deliveries.
To hear from an expert, I reached out to Dr. John Stracks, a Chicago MD that’s been treating my mother. She’s vulnerable due to a past heart attack, and I’ve been impressed by how seriously he’s taking all of this. After she forwarded me some of his COVID19 updates, I asked if I could speak to him on the record.
I’m pleased to announce the upcoming publication of a new zine, “Beyond the Concrete Milkshake: Tactics for Dealing with Media Trolls & Grifters.”
At the beginning of the year, I announced on Patreon that one of my goals for 2020 was the creation of a zine. I’ve made great progress and intend to publish by late March or early April.
One side effect of the first few years of the Donald Trump administration, with all its associated increase in far-right activity, is a hijacking of Leftist tactics for use by fascist causes. One clear example is the banner drop. Once beloved primarily by far left activists, this technique now sees regular groups by nazi and hyper-nationalist fascist groups. So too it is with the media grifter.
Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street
I got quoted in an article about Micah White, the self-styled “Occupy Founder” that recently spent time hob-nobbing with the 1% at Davos. In passing, the article covered another issue: the problem of stolen shared social media accounts during the Occupy Wall Street movement.
During the national Occupy movement, it became routine to hear about camps with a stolen Facebook or Twitter account. One person would get into a disagreement with the rest of the social media working group and run off with the whole account.
When this happens with a commercial business, or a nonprofit or any undertaking that’s conventionally organized under capitalism, the owner can prove ownership of the account and get Twitter to give it back. With a leaderless movement like Occupy, you and your comrades are on your own.
