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Tag: Donald Trump

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
Police Killings Down In 2016, But Activists Fear Trump Could Reverse The Trend
A line of SFPD officers in riot gear block Occupy SF Protesters after clearing them from Market Street, San Francisco, Dec. 7 2011. (Flickr / Thomas Hawk, CC NC)
December 14, 2016
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Police Killings Down In 2016, But Activists Fear Trump Could Reverse The Trend

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Available data suggests that fewer people have died from police violence in 2016 than in 2015, but some police reform activists are concerned that this trend won’t survive the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

At least 1,000 people have been killed by police in 2016, though the lack of available federal data makes it all but impossible to determine a precise count.

Police departments report information on violent encounters with officers to the federal government on a purely voluntary basis. The FBI has announced plans to reform the system next year to add more stringent reporting requirements.

“We are responding to a real human outcry,” Stephen L. Morris, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, said.

Read morePolice Killings Down In 2016, But Activists Fear Trump Could Reverse The Trend
Jill Stein’s Recount Uncovers ‘Economic Extortion’ & Broken Voting Tech
Former Governor Martin O'Malley participates in early voting in Baltimore, Maryland on October 30, 2014. (Flickr / Maryland GovPics / Jay Baker, PD)
December 13, 2016
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Jill Stein’s Recount Uncovers ‘Economic Extortion’ & Broken Voting Tech

Posted in Archive, Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite numerous obstacles ranging from the financial to the political, Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein is pushing forward with a controversial recount campaign.

“This is not what democracy looks like,” Stein told MintPress News on Thursday.

“Democracy should be all about transparency and accountability and voter participation. What we see in the recount is exactly the opposite.”

Beginning late last month, Stein agreed to spearhead recount efforts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, citing irregularities in exit polls in these “swing states” and the persistent — though still unproven — claims that Russians tampered with the election.

A crowdfunding campaign has netted $7.3 million so far, but the campaign is requesting $9.5 million to cover the costs of forcing a recount in each state. Stein called these high fees a form of “economic extortion” that prevents citizens from easily auditing elections.

Read moreJill Stein’s Recount Uncovers ‘Economic Extortion’ & Broken Voting Tech