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Tag: American politics

Anti-Corruption Gyrocopter Pilot Seeks Return To Congress, This Time By Election
Ted Hughes speaks at TedXTampaRiverwalk on August 29, 2015. (Flickr / TedXTampaRiverwalk)
January 21, 2016
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Anti-Corruption Gyrocopter Pilot Seeks Return To Congress, This Time By Election

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

After illegally landing a miniature helicopter on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol last year, Doug Hughes is determined to return to the Hill as a member of the House of Representatives.

“I’m coming back to Congress by ground. And this time I’m not going to be outside the building — I’m going to be inside the building!” the former U.S. Postal Service employee from Florida told MintPress News on Monday.

Hughes garnered international attention in April, when he landed a gyrocopter directly on the front lawn of Congress. The personal aerial vehicle contained letters for members of Congress, demanding that they fight the influence of money in politics.

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Poll Finds 37% Of Americans Believe Israel Has Too Much Influence Over US Politics
An activist waves a Palestinian flag while standing atop the Angelina Eberly statue in downtown Austin, Texas at an August 2, 2014 protest against Israel's brutal assault on occupied Palestine. (Kit O'Connell)
January 4, 2016
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Poll Finds 37% Of Americans Believe Israel Has Too Much Influence Over US Politics

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Poll results released last month show that Americans are sharply divided over the influence of Israel on U.S. politics, and those divisions often fall along party lines.

On Dec. 4, The Brookings Institution, a highly influential Washington-based think tank, released the results ofa study of American attitudes toward Israel and the Middle East. The report comes after a year in which Israel’s influence on America’s governance and foreign policy received heightened scrutiny, especially following a controversial speech to a joint session of Congress by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu on March 3. AIPAC, the powerful Israeli lobbying group, also faced increased criticism.

The bulk of the poll was based on the opinions of 875 randomly selected Americans, but the study’s author, Shibley Telhami, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings’ Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, also polled an additional 863 additional Americans who self-identify as Evangelical or Born-again Christians to determine how their attitudes differed from the average.

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Despite Increasing Threats And Violence, Americans Show Support For Muslim Neighbors
A shirtless activist holds a sign reading "Queers Against Islamophobia" at a June 30, 2016 "drag march" in New York City. (Flickr / Anthony Fine)
December 23, 2015
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Despite Increasing Threats And Violence, Americans Show Support For Muslim Neighbors

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

As Muslims in America face an unprecedented wave of violence in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, Americans of many faiths are coming together to show solidarity against these disturbing threats.

According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest advocacy group for Muslims in the United States, there have been 29 cases of attacks or vandalism against mosques in 2015 — the most for any year since the organization began tracking incidents in 2009.

“November 2015 was the most significant spike, with a total of 17 mosque incidents, with all but 2 of those incidents occurring in the wake of the November 13 Paris terror attacks,” CAIR reported.

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US Stalling Release Of Thousands Of Torture Photos Worse Than Abu Ghraib
On January 7, 2013, Activists in black hoods and orange jumpsuits march in Washington, D.C. to protest the use of torture by the U.S. government. (Flickr / Justin Norman)
December 16, 2015
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US Stalling Release Of Thousands Of Torture Photos Worse Than Abu Ghraib

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Next month, the U.S. government will return to court again to prevent the release of thousands of photos of military personnel torturing detainees at Abu Ghraib and other sites in Iraq and Afghanistan that have been described as more horrific than the infamous Abu Ghraib torture photos.

It’s the latest round in a protracted legal battle that began in 2004 when the American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit demanding the release of some 2,000 photographs which were withheld by the government after it released the infamous images of Abu Ghraib, the Iraqi prison where U.S. soldiers tortured prisoners.

One photo is said to depict a mock execution, while another reportedly shows the body of a farmer shot who was by an American soldier while he was handcuffed.

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Spike In Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Reflects America’s ‘Tremendous’ Bigotry Problem
A protest against Islamophobia and hate speech in Minneapolis, Minnesota on September 17, 2016. (Flickr / Fibonacci Blue)
December 14, 2015
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Spike In Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes Reflects America’s ‘Tremendous’ Bigotry Problem

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

America seems to be in the grips of an epidemic of hate and bigotry unseen since 9/11, and, once again, innocent Muslims are the target of threats and outright violence.

Mainstream media and social media have been flooded with troubling reports of Islamophobia across the country in recent weeks.

Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told MintPress News, “We’ve seen a tremendous spike in anti-Muslim bigotry in our society fomented by individuals like Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Rick Santorum and others. We’ve seen a spike in hate crimes as well.”

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The Color Of Terrorism: Who Gets Charged And Why?
Two hijabi women hold signs expressing solidarity with the victims of the Charleston Shooting at a June 18, 2015 vigil in Washington, D.C. (Flickr / Stephen Melkisethian)
December 8, 2015
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The Color Of Terrorism: Who Gets Charged And Why?

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

What constitutes terrorism? Recent mass shootings in the United States, including those in San Bernardino, California, and Colorado Springs, have renewed a debate about how to define these disturbing and deadly incidents.

One part of the argument hinges on how journalists refer to these crimes in the media, with some, such as Jack Jenkins, arguing that Robert Louis Dear, the shooter who killed three people and wounded nine at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in November, is clearly a terrorist. By contrast, Kevin Gosztola observes that the term terrorism is essentially meaningless due to misuse.

Beyond how the media discusses mass killings, another factor is when and how courts decide to bring terrorism charges against a suspect. On Nov. 30, a Colorado court charged Dear with first-degree murder, but it could take weeks or months longer before Dear could face additional charges, including terrorism, amid an ongoing federal investigation. At the same time, the shooting in San Bernardino is already being treated as terrorism by federal investigators.

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