Month: June 2016

U.S. Ally Bahrain Suspends Largest Opposition Group a Day After Imprisoning Human Rights Activist

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Dear President Obama,

I write to you from a Bahraini jail cell, and this message was never meant to go beyond its walls. Even though I have never advocated for violence nor harmed another living soul, I have spent 28 of the last 36 months in a Bahraini prison for actions that can only be counted as crimes in a nation that stifles free expression and criminalizes open assembly. I have documented my government’s use of torture. I have reported on civilian casualties in Yemen. I have held a different opinion than that of a king. In retaliation, I may spend the next ten years of my life in jail.

While my government punishes me for demanding an end to its assault on civil and political rights, other GCC states, especially Saudi Arabia, subject human rights defenders to harsher abuse. Their repression can be seen in the flogging of free speech activist Raif Badawi and the death sentence against the religious scholar and human rights advocate Nimr al-Nimr. Saudi courts even sentenced Raif’s lawyer, Waleed abu al-Khair, to 15 years in prison. We as human rights defenders are targeted for giving voice to the marginalized, people seeking to take the reins of their own destiny; our governments do everything in their power to prevent us from acting upon the best ideals of our conscience.

– From last year’s post: Jailed Bahraini Human Rights Activist Writes Open Letter to Obama from Prison

As Saudi Arabia has proven over and over, it pays to be a U.S. ally in the Middle East. It’s a designation which grants tyrants carte blanche to do whatever they want. Discriminate against minorities, punish dissidents with crucifixion, systematically violate every conceivable human right, etc, etc. As an example, recall what happened just last week:

Saudi Arabia Forces the United Nations to Remove it from a List of Child Killers

So while Saudi Arabia gets most of the attention due to its relative size, regional influence and particular affinity for barbarism, the Kingdom of Bahrain is not far behind.

The last couple of days makes this perfectly clear. As the AP reports:

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Hacked Texas Billboards Target Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

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A group calling itself New World Hackers has been taking over billboards along Interstate 30 in Dallas. Like myself, the group seems to dislike both the Democratic and Republican candidates for President, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Newsweek reports:

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Liberty Links 06/13/15

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18 links today, enjoy. Deleted Official Report Says Saudi Key Funder of Hillary Clinton Campaign (Must read, Middle East Eye) The Fourth Amendment Is Supposed to Work for the People, Not the Government (Reason) Oklahoma Cops Find A New Way To Take People’s Money, Even If They Don’t Have Cash (Huffington Post) NATO Chief: 4 … Read more

If the British Vote for Brexit, Will They Get the Greek Treatment?

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A year ago, the citizens of Greece were offered a referendum on whether or not to accept the troika’s “bailout” conditions. The people voted NO, but it mattered not. The bailout proceeded as planned.

As I observed in the post, Greeks Flock to Grassroots Alternative Currencies in Affront to Euro Debt Slavery:

Hundreds of millions of people throughout the Western world are being forced to admit an obvious, yet uncomfortable reality. Democracy is dead. Your vote and your voice doesn’t matter. Not at all.

No group of people understand this as intimately as the Greeks. They voted for one thing, got something else, and in the process were unceremoniously reminded of their political irrelevance. The Greeks are now in a position to show the rest of us how it’s done. Communities need to take matters into their own hands and tackle challenges at the grassroots level. Nowhere is this more impactful and necessary than in the monetary realm, and some Greeks are already leading the charge.

So the Greeks learned the hard way that there’s no such thing as democracy within the European Union. Will the British be taught the same lesson?

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Video of the Day – Elizabeth Warren Hurt America by Endorsing Hillary Clinton

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Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee for president, spoke on Democracy Now on Thursday. She blasted Hillary Clinton for implementing many of the same policies that Trump is currently calling for, and expressed hope that Bernie Sanders will consider continuing his presidential run on a third-party ticket.

“Trump says very scary things — deporting immigrants, massive militarism and ignoring the climate. Well, Hillary, unfortunately, has a track record for doing all of those things,” she added.

Clinton boasted at a town hall in New Hampshire in November 2015 that, as a senator, she had voted for 2006 legislation that authorized the building of roughly 650 miles of wall on the border.

– From the post: Jill Stein of the Green Party – Clinton Helped Create Trump

First, a bit of an introduction. I’ve been following H. A. Goodman’s work throughout much of the primary season. He has been a passionate and determined fighter for Bernie Sanders for all the right reasons. As such, I think what he has to say about Elizabeth Warren is representative of a significant portion of Sanders supporters.

The damage Elizabeth Warren has done to her reputation, as well as the overall movement to reign in Wall Street criminality, is impossible to overstate. She went from instilling actual fear in the hearts of finance executives, to becoming a total joke. By not endorsing Sanders and now rushing out to back Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren has taken herself completely out of the game and willingly transformed herself into Clinton’s obedient progressive mascot.

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Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson Polls Ahead of Hillary Clinton Amongst Independents

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The Libertarian Party has seen a sustained surge of new members joining, with first-time registrants in May on pace to increase 20-fold over the same period from last year. New data obtained by The Hill shows that the Libertarian National Committee averaged around 100 new members a month last year, bottoming out with just 74 first-time registrants last May.

But beginning in early 2016, as the contours of the Republican and Democratic races began took shape, new membership began creeping upward to 148 in January, 323 in February, 546 in March, 706 in April, and now 1,292 in the first three weeks of May alone.

– From the post: May Registrations for the Libertarian Party Jump 20-Fold

I’m 38 years old and I haven’t had a decent choice for President from the two major political parties my entire life. In fact, it keeps getting worse and worse, particularly when it comes to civil liberties and belief in Constitutional government. Indeed, it seems all U.S. presidential candidates care about is getting their rear ends on the throne so they can do as they please.

On the positive front, it appears people are finally waking up. A recent poll showed that 55% of voters want an independent option in the 2016 election. Politico reports:

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Must Watch Video – Is Google Manipulating Search Results in Favor of Hillary Clinton?

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An under-the-radar startup funded by billionaire Eric Schmidt has become a major technology vendor for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, underscoring the bonds between Silicon Valley and Democratic politics.

The Groundwork, according to Democratic campaign operatives and technologists, is part of efforts by Schmidt—the executive chairman of Google parent-company Alphabet—to ensure that Clinton has the engineering talent needed to win the election. And it is one of a series of quiet investments by Schmidt that recognize how modern political campaigns are run, with data analytics and digital outreach as vital ingredients that allow candidates to find, court, and turn out critical voter blocs.

There is also another gap in play: The shrinking distance between Google and the Democratic Party. Former Google executive Stephanie Hannon is the Clinton campaign’s chief technology officer, and a host of ex-Googlers are currently employed as high-ranking technical staff at the Obama White House. Schmidt, for his part, is one of the most powerful donors in the Democratic Party—and his influence does not stem only from his wealth, estimated by Forbes at more than $10 billion.

According to campaign finance disclosures, Clinton’s campaign is the Groundwork’s only political client. Its employees are mostly back-end software developers with experience at blue-chip tech firms like Netflix, Dreamhost, and Google.

– From last year’s post: Meet “Groundwork” – Google Chairman Eric Schmidt’s Stealth Startup Working to Make Hillary Clinton President

I don’t often say drop everything you’re doing and watch this, but I am saying just that.

Drop everything you are doing and watch this.

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Jill Stein of the Green Party – Clinton Helped Create Trump

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Whichever side emerges victorious, both Republicans and Democrats should face up to a much bigger truth: Neither party as currently constituted has a real future. Fewer and fewer Americans identify as either Republican or Democratic according to Gallup, and both parties are at recent or all-time lows when it comes to approval ratings. Just 39 percent give Democrats a favorable rating and just 33 percent do the same for Republicans. Not coincidentally, each party has also recently had a clear shot at implementing its vision of the good society. If you want to drive down your adversary’s approval rating, just give him the reins of power for a few years.

– Reason’s Nick Gillespie in the 2014 post: Thoughts on Election Day: Relax—Both Parties Are Going Extinct

Unless Hillary Clinton gets indicted, she will be the Democratic nominee for President. That’s just a fact at this point. So what are genuine Bernie Sanders supporters who obviously can’t support Clinton supposed to do?

My suggestion is to take a look at Green Party candidate Jill Stein. I’ve been following her closely as of late, and I’m very impressed with her intellect, courage and dedication to principles. She was interviewed earlier today by Democracy Now, and it was covered in detail by Salon.

Here are some powerful excerpts:

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State Department Delays More Clinton Related Records Requests Until After the Election

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Obstruction anyone?

Recall that a couple of days ago in the post, Obama Administration Delays Release of Hillary Clinton TPP Emails Until After the Election, we learned:

Trade is a hot issue in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. But correspondence from Hillary Clinton and her top State Department aides about a controversial 12-nation trade deal will not be available for public review — at least not until after the election. The Obama administration abruptly blocked the release of Clinton’s State Department correspondence about the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), after first saying it expected to produce the emails this spring.

Well there’s more to this story. International Business Times reports:

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Saudi Arabia Forces the United Nations to Remove it from a List of Child Killers

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The United Nations is not just worthless, it is downright dangerous. This is because it maintains an air of humanitarianism while its true purpose is to defend and shield the barbarism and war crimes of its most powerful sponsors.

The true farce of the U.N. was exposed in earnest last year when it named the terrorist state of Saudi Arabia to head up a human rights council. I covered this in several posts, but here’s an excerpt from one of them, Not a Joke – Saudi Arabia Chosen to Head UN Human Rights Panel:

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