Kit O'Connell

A gonzo journalist from Austin, Texas and Staff Writer for MintPress News, Kit O'Connell's writing has also appeared at Truthout, the Texas Observer, and The Establishment.

US Condemns Latest Israeli Land Grab, Still Offers $38B In Military Aid

The U.N.’s Permanent Observer to Palestine called on the Security Council to take action against new illegal settlements, warning: ‘The situation on the ground is moving from bad to worse.’

Kit O'Connell
Par Kit O'Connell
A Jewish settler looks at the West bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim, from the E-1 area on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem.

AUSTIN, Texas --- Just months after agreeing to a record-breaking U.S. military aid package, Israel announced a major new expansion of its illegal settlements in the West Bank of Gaza. In July, the United States agreed to give Israel $38 billion in military aid over the next 10 years, a dramatic increase from current aid levels. On Sept. 28, the

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Booz Allen Hamilton: NSA’s ‘Digital Blackwater’ A Sign Of Deep Ties Between US Gov’t & Private Spies

‘4 out of 6 Booz Allen Hamilton lobbyists in 2015-2016 have previously held government jobs,’ government watchdog OpenSecrets reported.

Kit O'Connell
Par Kit O'Connell
Booz Allen Hamilton Chairman and CEO Ralph Shrader, center, and guests attend the opening bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange.

AUSTIN, Texas --- Booz Allen Hamilton, a powerful government contractor at the heart of multiple leaks of classified material from the NSA, also spends big on D.C. lobbying, and its employees have given generously to presidential campaigns this election cycle. In light of Booz Allen Hamilton’s role in two major leaks of government surveillance

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Poking The Bear: Dems & Reps Court War With Russia By Supporting Syrian No-Fly Zone

Last month, a top U.S. general warned that instituting a no-fly zone in Syria ‘would require us to go to war against Syria and Russia,’ a move that could ultimately provoke a devastating nuclear confrontation between superpowers.

Kit O'Connell
Par Kit O'Connell
Russian army soldiers drive their tanks along the Red Square during a general rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade.

AUSTIN, Texas --- During Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, Republican nominee Gov. Mike Pence called for a no-fly zone in Syria, a sign of growing bipartisan support for a measure that military experts have warned could ultimately provoke war with Russia. It’s an alarming prospect that comes amid rising tensions between the two

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DEA Delays ‘Unprecedented’ Ban On Kratom Amid Popular Protest & Government Pushback

The DEA is ‘starting to realize how much of a negative effect this will have on fully functional, law-abiding Americans,’ one kratom user tells MintPress News.

Kit O'Connell
Par Kit O'Connell
The leaves of a Mitragyna speciosa Korth tree. More commonly known as kratom.

AUSTIN, Texas --- The Drug Enforcement Agency has delayed the implementation of its ban on kratom, a plant-based treatment for depression, anxiety, chronic pain and addiction that originated in Southeast Asia but has gained widespread popularity in the United States. Although the DEA has abandoned the emergency scheduling decision announced on

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From Facebook To The DEA, Industrial Hemp Industry Growth Stumped By War on Drugs

‘Anyone who is coming in has to build the infrastructure from the ground up, and it’s very difficult finding anyone who wants to take that kind of risk,’ one industrial hemp grower tells MintPress News.

Kit O'Connell
Par Kit O'Connell
This Sept. 25, 2016 photo, shows seeds from the first legal crop of industrial hemp grown on JD Farms in Eaton, N.Y.

AUSTIN, Texas --- America’s burgeoning hemp industry faces significant barriers that can only be torn down by the full legalization of this potentially lucrative crop. Hemp was once one of America’s essential crops, grown by presidents and cash croppers alike, and wars were fought over access to this valuable commodity. It became illegal to

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Dakota Access Pipeline ‘Water Protectors’ Block Construction Despite National Guard Blockade, Police Harassment & Arrests

‘Our intentions are to protect water for the 18 million people downstream. And we’re not protesters, we’re protectors,’ a member of the Navajo Nation living at the encampment blocking pipeline construction tells MintPress News.

Kit O'Connell
Par Kit O'Connell
Over 200 Indigenous Nations have descended upon Canon Ball, ND to take a stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Amid near continuous harassment and frequent arrests by police, members of over 300 Native American tribes gathered on native land in North Dakota continue to block construction on the Dakota Access pipeline. “It’s a matter of minutes from when they’re called that they show up and you see constant harassment of people going back and forth to

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Kashmir & Palestine: Both Occupied, Both Victims Of The Military-Industrial Complex

The struggle for liberation of both Palestinian and Kashmiri people began in the late 1940s during the waning days of British colonialism.

Kit O'Connell
Par Kit O'Connell
A Kashmiri woman walks on a road dotted with bricks and stones after a protest during curfew in Srinagar, Indian occupied Kashmir, Friday, Sept. 30, 2016.

AUSTIN, Texas --- Although their homelands are separated by almost 2,500 miles, Palestinians and Kashmiris share a struggle for liberation and the right to self-determination against occupying forces backed by the might of the American military-industrial complex. While the shrinking Palestinian homeland dwindles in size among Israel’s

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