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Tag: 2016 election

Climate Change Could Cost Millennials $8.8 Trillion Unless We Act Now

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

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 Administration.

To understand how rapidly Earth is warming, consider this: This year’s record-breaking temperatures shattered records set just last year, when July 2015 was the hottest month ever recorded.

Louisiana Flood Shows Harm Caused By Climate Change Denial And Neglect Of US Infrastructure

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

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 about 30,000 people were evacuated as flood waters rose earlier this month after heavy rains that began on Aug. 11. A dozen parishes in the state are considered federal disaster areas.

Both the national media and President Barack Obama have been criticized for being slow to respond to the floods. Some have even suggested that the flooding was underestimated because floods, unlike major weather events like hurricanes, aren’t given names.

Interview with Black Tower Radio: Lauri Love, Green Party & The War On Drugs

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, The Establishment, and Truthout

Lauri Love is facing extradition, and potentially torture in U.S. prisons, if he is extradited from the U.K. for allegedly taking part in an Anonymous hacking operation in retaliation for the death of Aaron Swartz. On Wednesday, I appeared on Black Tower Radio to discuss the Love case, along with my coverage of the Green Party Convention and the need for electoral reform. I also briefly discussed an upcoming article for The Establishment about how veterans treat themselves with cannabis.

Interview with Flashpoints Radio: Cell-Jamming Tech Used On Journalists At DNC

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

I covered the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia for MintPress News, where I was disturbed to discover that journalists’ cell-phone signals were routinely jammed at protests near the convention’s security fence. The jamming, which was experienced by both mainstream and independent journalists, was especially clear on the night Pres. Barack Obama spoke.

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

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

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, the suit alleges that U.S. aid to Israel violates two amendments to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, known as the the Symington and Glenn Amendments, which collectively ban support for countries engaged in clandestine nuclear programs.

In the lawsuit, Smith alleges that violating these amendments means that Israel has received approximately $234 billion in illegal aid since the passage of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976.

Developed In Iraq, Deployed At the DNC?: Cell-Jamming Technology Is Being Turned On Journalists

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and Occupy Wall Street

Technology developed to jam cellphones during the Iraq War may be getting deployed against journalists reporting on protests against the political establishment in the United States.

While police and government surveillance of protests, including monitoring of cellphone use, is well-documented, efforts to block signals at protests remains an oft-repeated, but never proven, rumor.

It may be impossible to definitively prove that authorities are using cellphone “jamming” technology, but journalists working with both mainstream and independent media reported unusual difficulties accessing the internet during recent protests at the gates of the Democratic National Convention, consistent with the effects this very real technology could have.