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.

Climate Change Deniers Can’t Deny That Every Month Of 2016 Has Been The Hottest On Record

A recent study suggests that without drastic action to mitigate the effects of climate change, global warming could cost the millennial generation $8.8 trillion.

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell
A wildfire burns in the Cajon Pass in San Bernardino county, Calif, Aug. 16, 2016. In addition to record-breaking temperatures, 2016 has also brought more than its fair share of severe weather events, from flooding to fires.

AUSTIN, Texas --- Attention climate change deniers: Every month in 2016 has brought new evidence that climate change is real and having measurable, harmful effects on the planet and its people. July was the hottest month since meteorologists began recording weather data, according to both NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

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From Drone Killings To Hospital Bombings: 15 Years Of Civilian Deaths In The Global War On Terror

Doctors Without Borders asked ‘the U.S., U.K. and France to ensure an immediate application of measures to substantially increase the protection of civilians’ after the latest deadly hospital bombing in Yemen.

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell
refugee crisis

AUSTIN, Texas --- The recent bombing of a hospital in northwestern Yemen has drawn international outrage and new criticism of the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed forces fighting there, but it’s just the latest in a slew of war crimes committed over the past 15 years in the name of the U.S.-backed global war on terror. Nineteen people were killed and 24

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Louisiana Floods Show Harm Caused By Climate Change Denial And Neglect Of US Infrastructure

Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal once declared that ‘the Obama administration is holding us hostage to their radical ideas’ about climate change, but thousands in the state are suffering from the very real effects of historic flooding caused by climate change.

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell
Danny and Alys Messenger canoe away from their flooded home after reviewing the damage in Prairieville, La., Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016.

AUSTIN, Texas --- In addition to highlighting the growing impact of climate change on everyday Americans, historic flooding in Louisiana shows the deadly effects of long-term U.S. policies that include climate change denial, support for fossil fuels, and neglect of infrastructure. At least eight people died, some 40,000 homes were damaged, and

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Snowden: Leak Of NSA Hacking Tools Are Russia’s ‘Warning’ To The US Government

In a recent string of tweets, the whistleblower warned that recently leaked NSA hacking tools ‘could have significant foreign policy consequences. Particularly if any of those operations targeted US allies.’

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell
A reflection of the Department of Homeland Security logo in the eyeglasses of a cybersecurity analyst at the watch and warning center of the Department of Homeland Security's secretive cyber defense facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

AUSTIN, Texas --- According to whistleblower Edward Snowden, a recent leak of secret NSA hacking tools reflects an escalation in tensions between Russia and the United States. For others, though, it highlights concerns about what, if any, privacy is afforded to the general public. The NSA whistleblower lit up Twitter on Tuesday with suggestions

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3 Years After Brutal Rabaa Al-Adaweya Square Massacre, US Still Funding El-Sissi Dictatorship In Egypt

At least 817 supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi died in the initial attack, and disappearances and crackdowns on civil liberties have become routine in the years since the 2013 massacre.

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell
Egyptian army soldiers take their positions on top and next to their armored vehiclesin Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Aug. 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

AUSTIN, Texas --- Three years ago this week, Egyptian forces opened fire on a sit-in, killing hundreds of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. At least 817 people died in the Aug. 14, 2013 attack on Rabaah Al-Adawiya Square, where protesters -- mostly supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood -- had gathered after the coup. For the

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Evangelical Lutheran Church In America Becomes 9th Denomination To Divest From Israel

The church also passed a resolution demanding an end to U.S. aid to Israel until Israel halts construction on illegal settlements in occupied Palestine.

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell

AUSTIN, Texas --- On Saturday, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America became the ninth Christian denomination in the United States to vote for divestment from Israel. The resolution, which the ECLA calls a “memorial,” requires the church to end its current investments in companies that support Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and to

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Lawsuit Warns $234B In Aid To Israel Violates US Law Against Supporting Secret Nuclear States

The lawsuit warns that the U.S. gave Israel about $234 billion in foreign aid since the passage of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976, despite a ban on support for secret nuclear weapons programs.​

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell
Israeli girls write messages on a bombs at a heavy artillery position near Kiryat Shmona, in northern Israel, next to the Lebanese border, Monday, July 17, 2006. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

A lawsuit warns that U.S. aid to Israel violates a law meant to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, even as the United States prepares to increase the already massive Israeli aid program. Filed Aug. 8 by Grant Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy, or IRMEP, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia,

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