Adventures of a Gonzo Journalist
From May 18 to May 25, I hosted the Twitter account @WeAreDisabled. Similar to other group accounts like @sweden or @realscientists, this Twitter passes from person to person with the only common theme being disability.
The account admins created a Storify of all my tweets, but below I’ll link to my main threads so you can click through and read them if you like.
First I introduced myself:
Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Journalism, and Lee Camp
Gerrymandering, Voter ID laws, and the Interstate Crosscheck system are three examples of the racist attacks on voting rights in the USA in recent years. We can’t hope to reclaim government from far-right nationalists when millions of POC and other minority voters are turned away.
Also, did dropping bombs make Donald Trump presidential? The truth is that war is always waged for profit, no matter which party holds the Oval Office.
Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Journalism, and Lee Camp
Last week, I made my monthly appearance on Black Tower Radio to discuss recent developments in online privacy. WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 release, which I discussed in a recent Act Out! script, left some people wondering if it’s now impossible to protect yourself from surveillance. In fact, there are still steps we can take to protect ourselves from most online threats.
Of course, a recent vote by Congress to repeal Obama-era FCC online privacy protections not only allows Internet Service Providers to sell our online browsing behavior to advertisers (and others), it shows how our elected representatives answer to their corporate donors, rather than to voters. Interest in Virtual Private Networks has sky-rocketed since the vote, but not all VPNs are created equal.
Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism
Katie and I talked about the difficulty of building a resistance against odds that can seem insurmountable using “How to survive Hurricane Donald,” the February 10 issue of Gonzo Notes, as a jumping off point. I also mentioned activist Liam Shea, the community activist who inspired me to write both “Hurricane Donald” and the following issue of Gonzo Notes, “Stay and fight fascism where you are.” Shea died tragically and unexpectedly in early February.
Local organizing is a theme I’ve been returning to frequently recently, and will probably keep talking about, because it seems so vital. Until there is another Occupy-style moment of national “rupture” — which, so far, hasn’t materialized via the Trump regime — the best we can do is strengthen our local communities and share the skills we have with each other.
Inspired by my script on “Vault 7” for Act Out! we closed with a discussion of what WikiLeaks’ latest release means for activists, and I explained why threat modeling means we can still fight back even when the government has access to terrifying mass surveillance tools.
Posted in Audio, and Journalism
Trump is dismantling American democracy at a startling pace, but the American populace is also protesting in a way rarely seen in generations. Millions came out to support the Women’s March, and thousands mobilized to support refugees at airports.
Yet it’s understandable when experienced activists feel frustrated at seeing millions of people protesting issues that have been building for years. As many have observed, Obama deported millions of undocumented immigrants, and many anti-war, pro-human rights liberals seem to only take to the streets when a Republican is in office.
In our discussion on Black Tower Radio, host Jake Fox expressed doubts at the movement building potential of the liberals in the streets, while I expressed hope that we could reach some of these newly activated protesters and turn them into activists willing to work for justice.
Posted in Audio, Journalism, and MintPress News
Despite widespread misinformation, the Drug Enforcement Agency hasn’t made CBD oil illegal, yet. And, thanks to multiple protections passed by Congress, it’s unlikely that they can simply make CBD products disappear. Even so, the misinformation created by a recent administrative move by the agency to reclassify CBD created a lot of needless fear. At the very least, the DEA can expect to face serious legal action if they attempt to ban CBD.
I also recently covered Donald Trump’s decision to appoint his bankruptcy lawyer, David Friedman, as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel. Friedman is openly supportive of Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, which underwent record growth in 2016. While the president-elect often surrounds himself with anti-Semites, he’s also selected numerous cabinet members and advisers who supports a far-right, anti-peace view on Israel and Palestine.
