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Tag: American politics

Trump’s Fast-Paced Dismantling Of American Democracy & Move To Cement Corporate Totalitarianism
At the Women's March in downtown Austin, one protest sign reads "My arms are tired from holding this sign ... since the 1970s!" (Kit O'Connell, CC license)
January 31, 2017
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Trump’s Fast-Paced Dismantling Of American Democracy & Move To Cement Corporate Totalitarianism

Posted in Journalism, and Lee Camp

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the pace of Donald Trump’s dismantling of American democracy? That’s on purpose. He wants to keep you off balance and exhausted.

Thousands of people stormed the nation’s airports over the weekend, demanding the release of Muslim travelers caught up in Trump’s unconstitutional ban on visitors from certain Middle Eastern countries (except the ones where Trump has business interests).

The airport protesters and the dozens of lawyers who fought to free the detained Muslims are to be applauded for their quick organizing work and their solidarity with the oppressed. But if you think this is unprecedented, you should keep in mind that the U.S. has been bombing innocent Muslims for decades now.

Yet, even as protesters chanted, the newly installed regime was working on multiple fronts to undermine the normal operation of the U.S. government. Unless you’re plugged into Twitter 24/7, it’s impossible to stay up to date, much less effectively fight back.

Read moreTrump’s Fast-Paced Dismantling Of American Democracy & Move To Cement Corporate Totalitarianism
The DEA Isn’t Making CBD Oil Illegal — Yet
A close-up photo of a collection of hemp seeds. March 5, 2012. (Flickr / Emma Cooper, CC NC)
December 28, 2016
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The DEA Isn’t Making CBD Oil Illegal — Yet

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

An administrative change by the Drug Enforcement Administration has left users of CBD oil, a popular tincture derived from agricultural hemp, fearful that they could lose access to this vital health remedy.

CBD oil is currently considered legal in all 50 states, and agricultural hemp, a non-psychoactive variety of the cannabis plant from which CBD oil is extracted, is legally grown in many states. While scientific research into its benefits is just beginning, preliminary results show that CBD oil can benefit conditions ranging from epilepsy to chronic pain.

But on Dec. 14, the DEA added a notice to the Federal Register that quietly informed the public that it had established “a new drug code for marihuana extract.” The DEA’s argument is that the agency is entitled to regulate CBD oil because all extracts contain trace amounts of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis which remains illegal at the federal level.

Establishing this new drug code is, effectively, the first step toward classifying CBD oil alongside cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act. This act classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 substance, alongside drugs like heroin which are considered to have no practical medical benefit.

However, legal experts and advocates for hemp doubt that the DEA has the mandate to easily ban CBD oil.

Read moreThe DEA Isn’t Making CBD Oil Illegal — Yet
Unprecedented Legislative Coup Happening Now In North Carolina
At a Moral Monday protest in Raleigh, North Carolina, a sign reads "Let the people vote!" November 28, 2016. (Flickr / Pilar Timpane)
December 17, 2016
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Unprecedented Legislative Coup Happening Now In North Carolina

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and Lee Camp

Inside the North Carolina House, protesters chanted as police arrested them one by one.

For the second day in a row, the chambers were cleared and the public was banned from viewing a legislative coup in progress.

The North Carolina GOP, facing the defeat of incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory on November 8, are doing everything they can to hold onto power, even if it means literally rewriting state law.

Read moreUnprecedented Legislative Coup Happening Now In North Carolina
Major Gains For Cannabis On Election Day Make Full Legalization Almost Inevitable
A person exhales a cloud of cannabis smoke. May 8, 2012. (Flickr / Rafael Castillo)
November 10, 2016
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Major Gains For Cannabis On Election Day Make Full Legalization Almost Inevitable

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Election results poured in on Tuesday night, turning states not just red or blue, but also green in eight states where voters came out in support of ballot initiatives to legalize medicinal or recreational cannabis.

While the presidential election revealed a starkly divided electorate and partisan political landscape, voters overwhelmingly moved to ease restrictions on cannabis. Polls show that a majority of Americans are in favor of cannabis legalization, which enjoys widespread support across the political spectrum.

Voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada opted to legalize cannabis for recreational use, while Arkansas, Florida, and North Dakota passed laws legalizing medical access. Montanans passed an initiative which improves access to medical marijuana under a pre-existing program.

Arizona, which already has a medical cannabis program, was the only exception to the legalization trend, as 52.1 percent of voters rejected a proposal to legalize recreational use in the state.

Read moreMajor Gains For Cannabis On Election Day Make Full Legalization Almost Inevitable
Could US Elections Be Stolen? Election Integrity Activists Say Yes
Graffiti on a fence reads "VOTE." (Flickr / H2Woah!)
November 8, 2016
Kit
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Could US Elections Be Stolen? Election Integrity Activists Say Yes

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Election fraud is a dangerously real possibility in the United States, but Donald Trump is wrong about how elections could be rigged under the current system.

The Republican nominee has warned his supporters that the election could be rigged against him, and there have already been reports of Trump supporters with guns at polling places intimidating voters.

However, Mark Crispin Miller, a self-described “election integrity activist,” dismissed Trump’s claims.

“It’s basically impossible to vote ten times or fifteen times,” said the professor of media studies at New York University who has spent more than a decade studying election results.

Read moreCould US Elections Be Stolen? Election Integrity Activists Say Yes
Should Third Parties Support ‘Vote Pacts’ To Avoid ‘Spoiling’ Elections?
Jill Stein stands with a pair of Green Party supporters in Mesa, Arizona. March 12, 2016. (Flickr / Gage Skidmore)
November 8, 2016
Kit
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Should Third Parties Support ‘Vote Pacts’ To Avoid ‘Spoiling’ Elections?

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Third-party candidates are often accused of acting as “spoilers” by siphoning votes from the two major parties’ nominees and potentially tipping the balance in an election.

Perhaps the most notable example of this is Ralph Nader. The former Green Party candidate is frequently accused of helping George W. Bush win the 2000 presidential election by diverting votes which otherwise would have gone to Democratic nominee Al Gore, although this theory has been disproven many times.

“A lot of people have basically grown to depend on the confines of the two-party system and have a hard time getting their brain around a constructive, strategic path out of it,” Sam Husseini, a political activist, told MintPress News.

Husseini proposed an alternative strategy in which voters form “voting pacts” across party lines. For example, a Democrat and a Republican might each agree to vote for a third-party candidate of their choice, rather than the two major parties’ candidates. The strategy reduces the potential for “spoiling” votes, as long as voting pacts don’t cross state lines, because each of the major candidates loses voters equally.

Read moreShould Third Parties Support ‘Vote Pacts’ To Avoid ‘Spoiling’ Elections?