Adventures of a Gonzo Journalist
Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News
Protesters at the first presidential debate last night found themselves forced into a “free speech zone” about a quarter mile away and separated from the actual event site by a 6-lane highway.
Many others had difficulty even making it that far, thanks to extensive police roadblocks and “an absurd level of security,” according to journalist Abby Martin, the host of “The Empire Files” on teleSUR English, who spoke with MintPress News on Tuesday after covering Monday’s protests.
Martin continued:
Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News
Nestlé’s political influence in the United States is backed by a generous war chest which funds the often controversial company’s efforts to lobby against the types of trade, labor, and environmental regulations which might impede its profits.
The Swiss multinational has been accused of using slave labor in the seafood and cocoa trades, and environmental activists have targeted Nestlé for harnessing scarce natural resources in the production of bottled water from California to Canada.
And a closer look at Nestlé’s political spending suggests that it’s working to prevent increased regulation in these profitable industries.
Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News
During a recent appearance at a corporate think tank, Brazilian President Michel Temer admitted that his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, was impeached because she refused to implement a neoliberal reform plan published by Temer’s party.
Rousseff was formally removed from office on Aug. 31 after the Brazilian senate voted to impeach her for breaking budgetary laws. This allowed Temer to take office despite a court ruling barring him from running for election.
However, Rousseff and other critics of Temer have argued that her impeachment was actually a coup d’etat which set the stage for Temer to take power, backed by a government that’s more favorable to corporate investors.
Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Nestlé can continue to bottle water from drought-stricken Southern California, even though the permit which allows the company to pipe water from the San Bernardino National Forest expired in 1988.
Despite a devastating, five-year drought in California, Nestlé piped about 36 million gallons from the forest last year. That water is transported to Canada for bottling, and the end product appears in stores under the Arrowhead brand. Under the current agreement, Nestlé pays the U.S. Forest Service an annual permitting fee of $524 to run its pipeline.
U.S. District Court Judge Jesus G. Bernal ruled that although the permit expired 28 years ago, Nestlé can keep bottling water because corporate executives attempted to renew the permit in May 1987, but did not hear back from the Forest Service.
Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News
The announcement of a massive new aid package recently offered to Israel isn’t sitting well with many Americans, who would rather see the money used domestically, according to a new online poll.
On Sept. 14, the White House announced a Memorandum of Understanding under which the United States will provide Israel with an unprecedented $38 billion in “security assistance” over a ten-year period, between fiscal years 2019 and 2028. At about $3.8 billion annually, the deal marks a significant increase from the current levels of foreign aid to Israel, which total more than $3.1 billion each year.
“The majority of the proposed spending is for Foreign Military Financing to provide Israel advanced and upgraded jet fighters, to continue developing Israel’s missile defense systems and to purchase other U.S. weapons,” Grant Smith on Tuesday, director of the Institute For Research: Middle Eastern Policy, wrote in an analysis published by Antiwar.com on Tuesday.
The Dakota Access pipeline is just one of several major fossil fuel projects underway as part of U.S. efforts to dominate the global energy market and crash the oil-dependent economies of American nemeses like Venezuela and Russia.
On Monday, a federal charge officially halted construction around Lake Oahe, the site of a massive protest against the Dakota Access pipeline led by the Standing Rock Sioux, who have been joined by hundreds of other Native American tribes and indigenous groups.
Elsewhere, however, expansion of U.S. fossil fuel infrastructure continues.
Winona LaDuke, a respected Native American activist and executive director of Honor The Earth, put the Dakota Access pipeline and others like it into international perspective during a July 12 interview with Democracy Now!. LaDuke explained:
