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Category: Archive

Jill Stein’s Recount Uncovers ‘Economic Extortion’ & Broken Voting Tech

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite numerous obstacles ranging from the financial to the political, Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein is pushing forward with a controversial recount campaign.

“This is not what democracy looks like,” Stein told MintPress News on Thursday.

“Democracy should be all about transparency and accountability and voter participation. What we see in the recount is exactly the opposite.”

Beginning late last month, Stein agreed to spearhead recount efforts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, citing irregularities in exit polls in these “swing states” and the persistent — though still unproven — claims that Russians tampered with the election.

A crowdfunding campaign has netted $7.3 million so far, but the campaign is requesting $9.5 million to cover the costs of forcing a recount in each state. Stein called these high fees a form of “economic extortion” that prevents citizens from easily auditing elections.

Recount 2016: Controversy & Media Attacks Follow Jill Stein’s Demand For Electoral Integrity

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

Dr. Jill Stein has been attacked in the mainstream media, threatened with legal action, and even created a divide within her own political party due to her attempts to audit the results of the presidential election.

“I think Jill Stein’s doing the right thing,” said Mark Crispin Miller, a self-described “election integrity activist,” in an interview with MintPress News. “I think it’s extremely difficult to argue for any kind of cynical or self-serving motive in this.”

Miller, a professor of media studies at New York University, has spent much of the last decade studying the results of U.S. elections. In the lead up to Election Day, he told MintPress that electronic voting machines in the United States are dangerously vulnerable to hacking and fraud. Now, he says he hopes recounts will encourage more voters to support election reform.

“Beyond their immediate political effects between now and the next election, what the recounts will do is make clear at long last that we must radically reform our abysmal voting system so that this kind of thing never happens again,” Miller said.

#NoDAPL: Both Dakota Access Pipeline Builder & Water Protectors Refuse To Back Down

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and Lee Camp

On Sunday, the Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit to allow Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the Dakota Access Pipeline’s builder, to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, a key step necessary for completing the pipeline through Sioux sacred lands. The Army also promised to begin a new environmental impact investigation and consider alternate routes for the pipeline.

Undeterred by the Army’s press release, ETP and their partners in fossil fuel crimes, Sunoco Logistics Partners, shot back with a fiery statement of their own on Sunday night, promising to complete the pipeline along the current path. “ETP and SXL are fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way,” the corporate stooges wrote.

#NoDAPL Isn’t Over Yet: Energy Transfer Partners Vows To Build Dakota Access Pipeline

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

Native American opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline and their allies celebrated after the Army Corps of Engineers denied a key permit to the pipeline builder on Sunday.

Citing concerns raised by the leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux nation that the pipeline would endanger tribal sovereignty and limit access to fresh water in the event of a spill, the Army Corps of Engineers denied Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline builder, a permit to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota.

Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners, one of several corporate partners in the pipeline’s construction, rejected the Army’s decision in a sharply critical press release published on Business Wire on Sunday night.

“This is nothing new from this Administration, since over the last four months the Administration has demonstrated by its action and inaction that it intended to delay a decision in this matter until President Obama is out of office,” the statement read.

Trump’s Pick For Nat’l Security Adviser Is An Islamophobic Former Army General

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

Michael Flynn, a military veteran who was once a key player in the U.S. intelligence state, is likely to have an integral part in setting foreign and domestic policy in the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

If Flynn accepts Trump’s reported offer, the retired lieutenant general’s strong Islamophobic views could be a signal that the incoming president intends to follow through on anti-Muslim policy promises he made on the campaign trail, from increasing surveillance of Muslim communities to forcing Muslims to register in a national database.

Speculation has swirled for months about Flynn’s potential role in Trump’s White House. An advisor to the Trump campaign, he was reportedly considered as a possible candidate for vice president, but the latest rumors coming from inside the Trump transition team suggest he is a likely choice for national security adviser.

Despite Trump’s promises to “drain the swamp” and keep lobbyists out of his administration, Flynn’s consulting firm has been linked to a Turkish corporation with ties to the Erdogan government.

Greens & Libertarians Rally To Secure 5% Of The Popular Vote Ahead Of Election Day

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

Although some indicators suggest the 2016 presidential election could be closer than initially expected, prominent third-party candidates are urging voters not to waver in their support for options outside the traditional two-party system.

Alternatives to the Democrat and Republican nominees, such as the Green Party’s Dr. Jill Stein and former Gov. Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, received unprecedented attention in this election cycle as dissatisfaction with the two major candidates soared to unprecedented highs.

But third parties traditionally struggle to hold the public’s interest as Election Day approaches, with many voters eventually falling in line with one of the two major parties. While some polls previously suggested a landslide victory for Hillary Clinton, others are now showing a tighter than expected race, which could also scare off some potential third-party voters.