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Tag: Donald Trump

DEA Threatens Legal CBD Oil, Trump’s Anti-Peace Ambassador To Israel (Black Tower Radio Interview)
A dense cluster of hemp plants. December 23, 2003. (Flickr / Edward the Bonobo, CC NC ND)
January 5, 2017
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DEA Threatens Legal CBD Oil, Trump’s Anti-Peace Ambassador To Israel (Black Tower Radio Interview)

Posted in Audio, Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite widespread misinformation, the Drug Enforcement Agency hasn’t made CBD oil illegal, yet. And, thanks to multiple protections passed by Congress, it’s unlikely that they can simply make CBD products disappear. Even so, the misinformation created by a recent administrative move by the agency to reclassify CBD created a lot of needless fear. At the very least, the DEA can expect to face serious legal action if they attempt to ban CBD.

I also recently covered Donald Trump’s decision to appoint his bankruptcy lawyer, David Friedman, as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel. Friedman is openly supportive of Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, which underwent record growth in 2016. While the president-elect often surrounds himself with anti-Semites, he’s also selected numerous cabinet members and advisers who supports a far-right, anti-peace view on Israel and Palestine.

Read moreDEA Threatens Legal CBD Oil, Trump’s Anti-Peace Ambassador To Israel (Black Tower Radio Interview)
Obama Dismantles NSEERS Travel Registry To Thwart Trump’s Anti-Muslim Plans
A busy security line at the Orlando airport. January 29, 2010. (Flickr / frankieleon, CC )
December 30, 2016
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Obama Dismantles NSEERS Travel Registry To Thwart Trump’s Anti-Muslim Plans

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

President Barack Obama has dismantled an inactive anti-terrorism program in an apparent attempt to block the incoming administration from using it against Muslim immigrants and travelers in the United States.

One of President-elect Donald Trump’s most controversial moves during his campaign was his promise to build a registry of Muslims living in the United States, but a similar program to track immigrants and visitors has existed in the country for the past decade.

Established under President George W. Bush after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System required men over 16 from 24 Muslim-majority countries and North Korea to register with the Department of Homeland Security upon entering the United States.

Under pressure from civil liberties activists and advocates for immigrants, DHS suspended NSEERs in May 2011. On Dec. 22, Obama acted to formally end the program.

Read moreObama Dismantles NSEERS Travel Registry To Thwart Trump’s Anti-Muslim Plans
Trump Selects His Anti-Peace Bankruptcy Lawyer As Ambassador To Israel
David Friedman dances with other Orthodox Jews in New York City. December 25, 2016. (Flickr / Chabad Lubavitch, CC)
December 28, 2016
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Trump Selects His Anti-Peace Bankruptcy Lawyer As Ambassador To Israel

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

President-elect Donald Trump has selected David Friedman, a notorious opponent of the peace process in Israel and Palestine and a financial supporter of illegal Israeli settlements, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Trump, who officially nominated Friedman on Dec. 15, is unlikely to quell the accusations of corruption and nepotism that have dogged the incoming administration with this controversial pick. Friedman is a long-time friend of the president-elect and a lawyer who helped Trump file for bankruptcy in 2004 and 2009.

Friedman fervently supports the ongoing expansion of apartheid Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and many political analysts have noted that Friedman’s political views actually put him to the right of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s far-right prime minister.

An Orthodox Jew, Friedman maintains residences in both the United States and Jerusalem. In the formal announcement for his post released by Trump’s transition team, Friedman suggested that the U.S. embassy be moved from its current location in Tel Aviv to “Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”

Read moreTrump Selects His Anti-Peace Bankruptcy Lawyer As Ambassador To Israel
4Chan’s War On Alternative & LGBTQIA Culture
A concert at 1919 Hemphill, a DIY arts and music space in Fort Worth, Texas. March 7, 2015. (Flickr / Madison Gostkowski, CC)
December 26, 2016
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4Chan’s War On Alternative & LGBTQIA Culture

Posted in Austin, Burning Man, Journalism, and MintPress News

After Donald Trump’s election, 4chan declared war on queer people and the American counterculture.

4chan is a lawless, unmoderated and completely anonymous online forum that frequently serves as a hub of internet troll culture. 4chan helped to spawn the Anonymous movement when some of 4chan’s users launched an organized trolling campaign against the Church of Scientology in 2008. That movement later became known for its hacktivism against the wealthy and powerful during the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in fall of 2011.

In recent years, however, the board, especially a subsection called /pol/ have come to be dominated by a hyper-conservative, white nationalist movement. The users believe, with an almost religious fervor, that their “meme magic” helped to elect Trump. More sober analysts are worried that 4chan and Reddit are helping to radicalize a generation by turning disaffected young white men into dangerous neo-Nazis.

Since November 8, 4chan has been linked to two seemingly disparate, but ultimately interconnected stories.

Read more4Chan’s War On Alternative & LGBTQIA Culture
Texas Climate Change Denier Rick Perry’s Legacy Of Fossil Fuels & Wind Power
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks at a Citizens United conference in Greenville, South Carolina. (Wikimedia Commons / Michael Vadon, CC SA)
December 15, 2016
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Texas Climate Change Denier Rick Perry’s Legacy Of Fossil Fuels & Wind Power

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

On Tuesday, Donald Trump announced Rick Perry, the avowed climate change denier and former governor of Texas, is headed to the White House as the president-elect’s pick to head the Department of Energy.

While Perry actually helped turn Texas into a leader in wind power generation, the name of the department he’s been tapped to head eluded the governor in a now infamous incident at a 2011 Republican presidential debate during the first of his two unsuccessful bids for president.

He was attempting to name three federal departments he would dismantle if elected, including the Departments of Education and Commerce, but stumbled when he seemed to confuse the Department of Energy with the Environmental Protection Agency:

Read moreTexas Climate Change Denier Rick Perry’s Legacy Of Fossil Fuels & Wind Power
Don’t Jump To Conclusions About Trump, War Criminal Kissinger Says
Henry Kissinger speaks at the LBJ Presidential Library. April 26, 2016. (Wikimedia Commons / LBJ Library / Marsha Miller)
December 14, 2016
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Don’t Jump To Conclusions About Trump, War Criminal Kissinger Says

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Speaking to the Nobel Peace Prize Forum in Oslo, Norway, Henry Kissinger shared his hopes for the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

“Before postulating an inevitable crisis, an opportunity should be given to the new administration to put forward its vision of international order,” Kissinger said in the speech on Sunday.

Kissinger, whose career includes service as a diplomat, U.S. secretary of state, and national security advisor under multiple presidential administrations, acknowledged Trump’s unusual and divisive campaign:

Read moreDon’t Jump To Conclusions About Trump, War Criminal Kissinger Says