Archives for December 2016

As Resistance Grows, Trump’s Deportation Plans Unravel

Cost, impossible logistics, political opposition, and community resistance could spell the end of the president-elect’s anti-immigrant scheme.

IMMIGRATION

(ANALYSIS) ---- President-elect Donald Trump built his campaign on a pledge to build a wall and deport two to three million undocumented immigrants, but the likelihood that his promises will be kept are looking increasingly slim, as reality takes hold and lawmakers and community leaders begin to build their resistance. The failure to

Life For Pot: The Forgotten Victims

The Marijuana Lifer Project’s Cheri Sicard joins Mnar Muhawesh on ‘Behind the Headline’ to explain how some people continue to serve lifetime sentences for nonviolent marijuana-related offenses even as marijuana legalization sweeps the country.

Eric Dillard, Joshua Walters

MINNEAPOLIS --- Adult recreational use of marijuana is now legal in eight states and the District of Columbia, and 29 states have embraced some form of medical marijuana legalization. There’s even a pot plant cultivation competition at the annual Oregon State Fair. By 2015, legal cannabis had become the fastest-growing industry in the United

State Dept. Rebukes Theresa May Over Criticism Of Kerry’s Israel Speech

The British PM’s comments came a week after Britain itself voted for the anti-settlement resolution.

British Home Secretary and leadership candidate for Britain's ruling Conservative Party Theresa May leaves after attending a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, in London, Tuesday, July 5, 2016.

(REPORT) --- The US State Department issued a statement today expressing surprise at British Prime Minister Theresa May’s criticism of John Kerry’s speech on the Israeli peace process, insisting everything in Kerry’s speech was in keeping with long-standing UK policy, and with the vote Britain made just the week prior at the UN. May’s comments

Damning Investigation Finds Trump’s Philanthropy Largely A “Facade

One of the Trump Foundation’s most consistent causes was Donald Trump himself.

Donald Trump stands on the 14th fairway during a pro-am round of the AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

(ANALYSIS) --- President-elect Donald Trump continues to boast about his charitable giving, but those claims were cast into further doubt on Thursday after a damning Washington Post investigation into his philanthropy concluded that it is, for the most part, a "facade." Despite claims of tens of millions of dollars donated to charitable causes,

Dakota Access Pipeline Opponents Target Pipeline’s Major Financial Contracts

Anti-pipeline organizers are hoping that shippers for the Dakota Access Pipeline will terminate their contracts when the pipeline remains uncompleted come January 1.

A law enforcement officer speaks to a protester against the Dakota Access Pipeline through a wall of razor wire on the Backwater Bridge over Cantapeta Creek on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 8, 2016. (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP)

Anti-pipeline protesters at the Standing Rock campgrounds are shifting their attention to January 1, when the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline had promised shippers to finish construction, potentially jeopardizing deals should they not meet that deadline. Shippers could legally terminate their contracts if the pipeline is not completed

Judge Orders DOJ To Release Files On Secret Spying Program Project Hemisphere

Proponents of digital privacy and government transparency scored a victory on Thursday as a federal judge ordered the Department of Justice to provide files related to a secret telephone spying program. 

A man looks at his cell phone as he walks on the street.

(ANALYSIS) --- In 2013, The New York Times reported on the existence of a previously unknown data-mining program known as Project Hemisphere. The project was developed in secret by telecommunications giant AT&T and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as a tool to help with “drug-enforcement task-forces.” However, there is concern about