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Tag: American politics

Over Half Of Americans Now Support Cannabis Legalization
A close-up photograph of a THC crystal-covered bud of high quality cannabis. August 22, 2013. (Flickr / Don Goofy)
November 23, 2015
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Over Half Of Americans Now Support Cannabis Legalization

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, noted in an Oct. 30 article for Alternet that a majority of Americans support marijuana legalization.

Quoting a recent Gallup poll, he reported, “Among those poll respondents age 18 to 34, 71 percent endorse legalization. Among respondents age 35 to 49 years of age, 64 percent support legalizing marijuana. Among those age 65 and up, support fell to 35 percent, but this too reflected a sharp increase in support.”

Of the 23 states which offer some form of access to medical marijuana, four states plus the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for recreational use.

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It’s Not Just Roads And Bridges: US Courthouses Are Crumbling, Too
The Travis County Courthouse photographed on October 18, 2008. (Flickr / Chris Vreeland)
October 22, 2015
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It’s Not Just Roads And Bridges: US Courthouses Are Crumbling, Too

Posted in Austin, Journalism, and MintPress News

Just as many American roads are crumbling and bridges are badly in need of repair, the legal infrastructure of the country — specifically, its courthouses — is also endangered by age and overcrowding.

Starting this week, early voters in Travis County, Texas, are deciding on a bond that would fund the construction of a new family courthouse to replace an existing 84-year-old structure in downtown Austin, the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse, with a larger and more modern facility. And, like Austin, cities from Seattle to Miami have struggled with how to accommodate aging buildings alongside other budget issues like the growing cost of policing.

MintPress News spoke with Tyler Buckingham, assistant campaign manager from New Courts For Families, the campaign in support of the $287,275,000 bond that would fund the construction of a new courthouse complex on a downtown lot already owned by the state’s capital city. Buckingham explained that while accessible, safe courthouses are crucial to a democratic society, the issue can sometimes go overlooked by the media or politicians.

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DEA Chief Admits Marijuana Is Less Dangerous Than Heroin, But Won’t Reschedule
A sign in Venice, California advertises a medical marijuana doctor. (Flickr / Damian Gadal)
September 21, 2015
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DEA Chief Admits Marijuana Is Less Dangerous Than Heroin, But Won’t Reschedule

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite ample evidence pointing to the therapeutic, non-addictive qualities of marijuana, the new head of the Drug Enforcement Agency wants to keep it legally classified alongside heroin and other highly addictive substances.

“If we come up with a medical use for it, that would be wonderful. But we haven’t,” declared Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Agency, in a Sept. 5 interview with Fox News.

This surprising denial of medical science came in response to a question posed by James Rosen, the chief Washington correspondent for the network. He asked Rosenberg whether it was time to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, considering two of the past three presidents of the United States have admitted to using the substance recreationally.

Read moreDEA Chief Admits Marijuana Is Less Dangerous Than Heroin, But Won’t Reschedule
Is The US Involved In 134 Acts Of War Or 0?
U.S. Army Soldiers from the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team engage in a firefight in Buhriz, Iraq, March 14, 2007. (Flickr / U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. Stacy L. Pearsall)
September 11, 2015
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Is The US Involved In 134 Acts Of War Or 0?

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The United States could be fighting in dozens of conflicts around the world or none at all, depending on how one defines “war” or “conflict.” And despite repeated failures of U.S. military intervention to create global stability, American troops continue to be sent into more nations and more battles, usually without congressional approval.

Timothy McGrath, writing in September for MintPress News, made the claim that the U.S. is fighting between zero and 134 wars, depending on the definition of the word “war.”

The notion that the U.S. is involved in zero acts of war hinges on the premise that the country hasn’t officially declared war — with formal congressional approval — since 1942.

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Big Ag Is Big Money For Congress: Monsanto Spends $2.5M Lobbying In 2015
During a German march against the Agribusiness giant Monsanto, a woman carries a NO MONSANTO sign illustrated with a bee. (Flickr / Die Grünen Kärnten)
August 26, 2015
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Big Ag Is Big Money For Congress: Monsanto Spends $2.5M Lobbying In 2015

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Monsanto spends millions of its billions of dollars in annual revenue on lobbying and hiring some of Washington’s most notorious firms to ensure that laws continue to favor the agribusiness giant’s profits.

OpenSecrets.org, a project of the Center For Responsive Politics, reported that, as of July 21, Monsanto had already spent over $2.5 million dollars on lobbying this year. The corporation is on track to meet or beat last year’s 2014 spending total, which reached $4,120,000. Yet it doesn’t appear to be on pace to break the record the company set for itself in 2008, when it spent $9 million on lobbying.

At the federal level, Monsanto’s millions are spent to ensure Congress passes laws that work in the company’s favor. The corporation lobbied heavily for the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015, better known to food safety activists as the “DARK Act,” which would overrule hundreds of local laws regulating the labelling of foods containing genetically-modified ingredients with a still undeveloped USDA program.

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Almost One-Third Of Children Live In Poverty In ‘The Richest Nation In The World’
File: A young girl in a pink raincoat. Chicago, October 1, 2011. (Flickr / Stefanie Seskin)
August 25, 2015
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Almost One-Third Of Children Live In Poverty In ‘The Richest Nation In The World’

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

The financial collapse of 2008 and the absence of true economic recovery in the years since has left millions more children in poverty than before the recession. About 22 percent of American children live in poverty, and even that figure may not fully account for all those who are struggling.

According to the annual Kids Count Data Report, which ranks states based on the well-being of children living there, about 3 million more children were impoverished in 2013 than in 2008, an increase of 3 percent that brings the total number of children in poverty to 16,087,000. Following the report’s release, Al-Jazeera America and The Associated Press noted:

Read moreAlmost One-Third Of Children Live In Poverty In ‘The Richest Nation In The World’