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Can ‘Sousveillance’ Bring Down Police States?
A group of masked Japanese protesters film the police with a videocamera in this Dec. 21, 2008 photograph. (Flickr / David Shackelford)
March 17, 2016
Kit
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Can ‘Sousveillance’ Bring Down Police States?

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and SXSW

From the footage of Eric Garner’s death to YouTube videos of Israeli soldiers’ violence against Palestinians, recordings made by everyday people are providing powerful evidence against the actions of police states around the world.

One NGO is harnessing that power and using it against some of the world’s most repressive regimes and dangerous criminals. Videre Est Credere (Latin for “to see is to believe”) provides hidden cameras and specialized training to victims of war crimes and human rights abuses from Africa to Asia.

Oren Yakobovich, CEO of Videre, said the organization’s main goal is to force governments to “protect human rights, or take another kind of action to make people’s lives better. It doesn’t matter how they do it, whether it’s in court or changing legislation.”

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New Technologies Connect Prisoners to the Outside World
Laurin Hodge, Marcus Bullock and Teresa Hodge appeared at SXSW on March 11, 2016 for a panel on prison technology. (Kit O'Connell)
March 14, 2016
Kit
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New Technologies Connect Prisoners to the Outside World

Posted in Austin, Journalism, SXSW, and The Texas Observer

Can the tech industry be recruited to help end mass incarceration?

On Friday at SXSW Interactive, part of Austin’s nine-day SXSW music, film and technology conference, a panel of app developers and nonprofit founders took on the question, connecting lower recidivism rates with keeping incarcerated people in touch with family and friends.

“If you haven’t been in prison, You can’t understand how important mail calls are,” said panelist Marcus Bullock.

Bullock’s the CEO of FlikShop, an app that allows family and friends to inexpensively turn photos into postcards that are then automatically mailed to prison facilities.

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Protesting Gentrification & Blue Cat Cafe At #SXSW
A young girl with a rainbow stick smashes a piñata shaped like a mixed-used condominium, topped with a dollar sign, at an anti-gentrification protest in front of the Austin Convention Center,in this March 13, 2016 photograph. (Kit O'Connell)
March 14, 2016
Kit
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Protesting Gentrification & Blue Cat Cafe At #SXSW

Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and SXSW

Yesterday I was sitting outside the Austin Convention Center eating some macaroni and cheese when I heard the sounds of a protest.

Strangely (for me), my initial reaction was mild annoyance. Usually I love a good protest, but just a few minutes before I’d witnesses a few dozen SXSW badgeholders march past while chanting about sheep and dreams. It wasn’t real activism, but actually a promotional event for a movie premiering at the film festival.

So when I heard another group of marchers, I assumed it was more corporate faux-grassroots astro turf.

Then, as the group drew nearer, I realized it was the genuine article, a small march organized by Defend Our Hoodz – Defiende El Barrio, a local group struggling against gentrification and inequality in east side Austin.

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72 Percent Of Aid To Palestine Ends Up ‘In Israeli Hands’
In this Oct. 11, 2006 photograph, a volunteer holds a cement block during a home rebuilding project in Palestine. (Flickr / Amos Trust)
March 14, 2016
Kit
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72 Percent Of Aid To Palestine Ends Up ‘In Israeli Hands’

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Aid money to Palestine ends up benefiting the Israeli economy, and may even help perpetuate the occupation, according to an analysis published last year.

Published by Aid Watch Palestine, a Palestinian NGO that scrutinizes the spending of foreign relief money, the September 2015 study by Shir Hever suggests that at least 72 percent of foreign aid actually ends up back in Israeli hands.

Palestine’s economy is dependent on foreign aid, although foreign nations sometimes pledge more than they actually give. The World Bank reported that of $3.5 billion pledged to Palestine in 2015, “only 35 percent has been disbursed, $881 million less than what was supposed to be disbursed so far” by September.

“[D]espite over two decades of sustained aid, the occupation has not come to an end and Palestinians are not yet sovereign in their own country,” Hever noted in the report. “The question that arises is not only whether aid is effective, but whether it also causes harm.”

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Chomsky: Mainstream Media Owned By Those Who Would Destroy Civilization With War
Noam Chomsky smiles at the photographer during an Apr. 1, 2010 appearance at Harvard. (Flickr / jeanbaptisteparis)
March 11, 2016
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Chomsky: Mainstream Media Owned By Those Who Would Destroy Civilization With War

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

During an interview published last month, noted scholar, linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky spoke out against the corporate-controlled media.

Six multinational corporations control most of the mainstream media outlets in America, and Chomsky is perhaps one of the best-known media analysts to criticize the deleterious effect this has on democracy and freedom of speech.

“The Mainstream Media are an ideological instrument. They have owners,” he said in the video recorded at a Nov. 17 panel on Germany’s role in world affairs, hosted by independent media outlet acTVism Munich.

Chomsky was responding to a question from Zain Raza, senior editor of acTVism, who asked why protests and other forms of activism are attacked by the media. As an example, he cited the frequent protests in Munich against NATO and the U.S. drone bombing program, which operates out of Ramstein Air Base, one of dozens of U.S. military bases in Germany.

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Why You Should Meet Your Partner’s Lovers
A March 1, 2011 photograph of three tacos from the KimChi Tacos food truck in Long Island City, NY. (Flickr / Young Sok Yun 윤영석)
March 11, 2016
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Why You Should Meet Your Partner’s Lovers

Posted in Polyamory, Sex & Relationships, and The Establishment

Two months ago, my lovers met over tacos.

The holidays were coming up, and it seemed like a little familiarity would help us all negotiate those emotionally-charged times more easily. Also, one lover felt a little jealous when she saw me with the other in selfies on social media.

I was confident they’d get along. Besides the obvious, they have several things in common: They both love cats, feminism, and, of course, Tex-Mex food. This would give us at least three topics to talk about, even if things got awkward.

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