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Tag: American politics

US Debates The Draft’s Future As House Committee Votes To Include Women
A female soldier with the Minnesota National Guard buttons her chin strap before heading out on a mission on May 13, 2006 in Iraq. (Flickr / Minnesota National Guard)
April 29, 2016
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US Debates The Draft’s Future As House Committee Votes To Include Women

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The House Armed Services Committee voted on Wednesday to require women to register for the draft.

Virtually all men living in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of their 18th birthday. However, amid calls for the military to open all jobs to all genders, some have argued that the draft should also become more inclusive.

Duncan D. Hunter, a Republican representative from California, filed an amendment to the annual defense authorization bill that would also require women to register with the Selective Service, the government agency which maintains records of who is eligible for military conscription.

“Right now the draft is sexist,” he said, according to The Washington Post on April 28.

Read moreUS Debates The Draft’s Future As House Committee Votes To Include Women
Jill Stein: US Politics Are ‘The Mother Of All Illnesses,’ Third Parties Could Be Cure
In this Sept.17, 2012 photograph, Dr. Jill Stein speaks during a demonstration on Bowling Green, New York City, at the 1 year anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement. (Flickr / Paul Stein)
April 9, 2016
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Jill Stein: US Politics Are ‘The Mother Of All Illnesses,’ Third Parties Could Be Cure

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

In a recent TV appearance, Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein insisted that American politics, and the nation, are gravely ill.

Interviewed on Monday by Abby Martin, host of The Empire Files on TeleSur English, Stein said that she became a politician, after years as a physician, because she realized that “our democracy is really on life support.”

Despite being the fourth largest party in terms of registered voters, Green Party candidates are virtually shut out of elections, only appearing on the ballots in 20 states. During her 2012 campaign, Stein was arrestedwhile trying to gain access to the presidential debates.

“The political establishment has no credibility, and they are terrified that we the people would start to get together outside the two corporate parties,” she told Martin.

Read moreJill Stein: US Politics Are ‘The Mother Of All Illnesses,’ Third Parties Could Be Cure
One Presidential Candidate Would Bring Snowden Home & Give Him A Gov’t Job
Edward Snowden appears via video conference on a projector screen as he speaks to the International Students for Liberty Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 13, 2015. (Flickr / Gage Skidmore)
March 8, 2016
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One Presidential Candidate Would Bring Snowden Home & Give Him A Gov’t Job

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

No matter who wins the 2016 election, the United States will likely continue its efforts to capture and prosecute National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Despite the important revelations that Snowden shared with the world about the NSA’s illegal surveillance of every U.S. citizen as well as world leaders and foreign nationals, not one major presidential candidate has been willing to voice his or her support for Snowden’s actions or express any willingness to allow him to return to the U.S. as a free man.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein is the lone exception. She called Snowden a “hero” in a July 2015 interview with Ontheissues.org, a website which compiles candidates’ political views.

Read moreOne Presidential Candidate Would Bring Snowden Home & Give Him A Gov’t Job
Media Analysis Reveals Fox News Only Tells The Truth 22% Of The Time
In this Jan. 2, 2015 photograph, a sign at a Black Lives Matter protest outside Fox News headquarters in New York City reads, "Fox News Is Racist." (Flickr / The All-Nite Images)
March 5, 2016
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Media Analysis Reveals Fox News Only Tells The Truth 22% Of The Time

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Less than half the “facts” broadcast on Fox News are even partially true, according to an ongoing analysis by an independent fact-checking project.

Some recent lies told by on-air personalities and guests seem designed to stoke fears over the safety of refugees living in the United States and to spread untruths about American support for gun control laws.

Punditfact, a joint project by the Tampa Bay Times and media analysts from Politifact, offers “scorecards” on the accuracy of the TV networks and major TV personalities.

Last updated in January, the Punditfact scorecard for Fox News shows that just 10 percent of statements made on the network have been “True” and another 12 percent “Mostly True” since the project began in 2014. Even generously including the 19 percent of statements deemed “Half True” reveals that just 41 percent of Fox News statements can be deemed “true” to some degree.

Read moreMedia Analysis Reveals Fox News Only Tells The Truth 22% Of The Time
Despite Anti-War Claims, Sanders Endorses President Obama’s Foreign Policy
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a crowded rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Behind the crowd hangs the U.S. and Arizona flags. (Flickr / Gage Skidmore)
February 11, 2016
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Despite Anti-War Claims, Sanders Endorses President Obama’s Foreign Policy

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

On Sunday, Bernie Sanders endorsed President Barack Obama’s violent, expansive foreign policy in an effort to distance himself from accusations of inexperience in matters of war.

At the beginning of an interview on CBS’ “Face The Nation” between John Dickerson and the Vermont senator, Dickerson noted:

“Senator, while you were in New York, North Koreans launched a long range missile. As President, you’d face that kind of thing all the time, very often. And what Secretary Clinton is saying is that you don’t have the experience to be ready for those kinds of challenges on day one.”

Sanders responded:

Read moreDespite Anti-War Claims, Sanders Endorses President Obama’s Foreign Policy
Tax Revenue Expected To Reach $125 Million As 2015 Colorado Cannabis Sales Near $1B
This November 25, 2009 photograph shows a close-up of a lush bud of cannabis in a legal medical marijuana grow house in Denver, Colorado. (Flickr / Coleen Elliott)
January 26, 2016
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Tax Revenue Expected To Reach $125 Million As 2015 Colorado Cannabis Sales Near $1B

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Colorado’s legal marijuana business boomed last year, with total sales in the state nearing the $1 billion mark, according to current estimates.

Official figures for marijuana sales in December won’t be available until next month, but Ricardo Baca, a staff writer for The Denver Post’s The Cannabist, reported on Jan. 13 that total marijuana sales, including for both recreational and medicinal purposes, had reached $895 million by November.

With cannabis taxed in three ways by the state, including two different kinds of sales tax, Colorado had earned $121 million through that month. That figure represents an especially important windfall for education, Baca noted:

Read moreTax Revenue Expected To Reach $125 Million As 2015 Colorado Cannabis Sales Near $1B