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Texas Climate Change Denier Rick Perry’s Legacy Of Fossil Fuels & Wind Power
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks at a Citizens United conference in Greenville, South Carolina. (Wikimedia Commons / Michael Vadon, CC SA)
December 15, 2016
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Texas Climate Change Denier Rick Perry’s Legacy Of Fossil Fuels & Wind Power

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

On Tuesday, Donald Trump announced Rick Perry, the avowed climate change denier and former governor of Texas, is headed to the White House as the president-elect’s pick to head the Department of Energy.

While Perry actually helped turn Texas into a leader in wind power generation, the name of the department he’s been tapped to head eluded the governor in a now infamous incident at a 2011 Republican presidential debate during the first of his two unsuccessful bids for president.

He was attempting to name three federal departments he would dismantle if elected, including the Departments of Education and Commerce, but stumbled when he seemed to confuse the Department of Energy with the Environmental Protection Agency:

Read moreTexas Climate Change Denier Rick Perry’s Legacy Of Fossil Fuels & Wind Power
Don’t Jump To Conclusions About Trump, War Criminal Kissinger Says
Henry Kissinger speaks at the LBJ Presidential Library. April 26, 2016. (Wikimedia Commons / LBJ Library / Marsha Miller)
December 14, 2016
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Don’t Jump To Conclusions About Trump, War Criminal Kissinger Says

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Speaking to the Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Oslo, Norway, Henry Kissinger shared his hopes for the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

“Before postulating an inevitable crisis, an opportunity should be given to the new administration to put forward its vision of international order,” Kissinger said in the speech on Sunday.

Kissinger, whose career includes service as a diplomat, U.S. secretary of state, and national security advisor under multiple presidential administrations, acknowledged Trump’s unusual and divisive campaign:

Read moreDon’t Jump To Conclusions About Trump, War Criminal Kissinger Says
Police Killings Down In 2016, But Activists Fear Trump Could Reverse The Trend
A line of SFPD officers in riot gear block Occupy SF Protesters after clearing them from Market Street, San Francisco, Dec. 7 2011. (Flickr / Thomas Hawk, CC NC)
December 14, 2016
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Police Killings Down In 2016, But Activists Fear Trump Could Reverse The Trend

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Available data suggests that fewer people have died from police violence in 2016 than in 2015, but some police reform activists are concerned that this trend won’t survive the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

At least 1,000 people have been killed by police in 2016, though the lack of available federal data makes it all but impossible to determine a precise count.

Police departments report information on violent encounters with officers to the federal government on a purely voluntary basis. The FBI has announced plans to reform the system next year to add more stringent reporting requirements.

“We are responding to a real human outcry,” Stephen L. Morris, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, said.

Read morePolice Killings Down In 2016, But Activists Fear Trump Could Reverse The Trend
Jill Stein’s Recount Uncovers ‘Economic Extortion’ & Broken Voting Tech
Former Governor Martin O'Malley participates in early voting in Baltimore, Maryland on October 30, 2014. (Flickr / Maryland GovPics / Jay Baker, PD)
December 13, 2016
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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.

Read moreJill Stein’s Recount Uncovers ‘Economic Extortion’ & Broken Voting Tech
After Criticism, Washington Post Disavows ‘Russian Propaganda’ Blacklist Of Indie Media
December 10, 2016
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After Criticism, Washington Post Disavows ‘Russian Propaganda’ Blacklist Of Indie Media

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Amid a wave of widespread criticism and legal threats, the Washington Post has added a lengthy editor’s note to an article which alleged that a host of independent media websites were spreading Russian propaganda.

The article, written by Craig Timberg and published on Nov. 24, relied largely on information compiled byPropOrNot, an anonymous group that claims to be comprised of media analysts and researchers. At the time the Post story was published, the group’s homepage featured a list of 200 websites, including MintPress News and many other well-established independent media outlets, which the organization alleges are either deliberately or inadvertently spreading Russian propaganda.

Among other criticisms levied against the group, PropOrNot’s research depends on overly broad criteria. According to its own stated methodology, criticism of the ”US, Obama, Hillary Clinton, the EU, Angela Merkel, NATO, Ukraine, Jewish people, US allies, the ‘mainstream media,’ and democrats, the center-right or center-left, and moderates of all stripes,” would be grounds for inclusion on “The List.”

Read moreAfter Criticism, Washington Post Disavows ‘Russian Propaganda’ Blacklist Of Indie Media
Recount 2016: Controversy & Media Attacks Follow Jill Stein’s Demand For Electoral Integrity
Jill Stein speaks in Los Angeles on October 5, 2016. (Flickr / Daniel Nesbitt, CC SA)
December 8, 2016
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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.

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