MintPress News Desk

Wikileaks: Google Provided Tools To Bolster Ranks Of al-Qaeda

U.S. intelligence agencies’ use of technological innovation to further their agenda is not a revelation in itself. But WikiLeaks’ disclosure of collusion between the State Department and Google has a dark twist, as the former used tech created by the latter to help al-Qaeda gain new recruits.

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Islamic State

MINNEAPOLIS-- Documents that were released last year by WikiLeaks have shed light on Google’s role in supporting al-Qaeda and other extremist groups that have been operating in Syria for the first few years of the country’s ongoing conflict. Specifically, emails between Jared Cohen, former director of Google Ideas, and former Secretary of State

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Militarization Of U.S.’ Asian Allies A Boon For Top U.S. Weapon Manufacturers

Japan and Taiwan are helping to advance the U.S.’ ultimate goal of “engaging and containing” Beijing with larger purchases of arms. This growing militarization is lining the already deep pockets of U.S. arms manufacturers like Raytheon and Boeing.

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Soldiers on a AAV7 Amphibious Assault Vehicle communicate during military exercises at the Zuoying naval base in Kaohsiung, southern of Taiwan, Wednesday, January 18, 2017. (AP/Chiang Ying-ying)

MINNEAPOLIS-- Last week, Taiwan issued a rare public comment announcing its plans to continue buying U.S.-made weapons, stating that the purchases are helping to boost the U.S. economy. The Taiwanese government elaborated, stating that its military purchases “have boosted the local economy” of several states, but particularly benefited the U.S.’

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Colombian Gov’t Sells Out Indigenous Peoples’ Drinking Water To Western Mining Interests

Colombia’s Wayuú people have struggled to live without water since 2011, as a dam built that year has diverted the tribe’s only water source to a coal mine that consumes an astounding 17 million liters of water a day. The Wayuú say 14,000 children have died since the dam was built.

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Wayuu indigenous woman Rosalba Castro, 20, draws water from a community well in Manaure, Colombia, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015. (AP/Fernando Vergara)

COLOMBIA-- On Colombia’s arid Guajira Peninsula  – a region famed for inspiring the magic realism of Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García-Márquez – a quiet effort to eradicate the Wayuú people, Colombia’s largest indigenous group, has entered its sixth year. The Colombian government and Western mining corporations are complicit in this attempt

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Tensions Rise As US Announces Military Drills Near Embattled Venezuela

Three South American countries are preparing to hold a large military drill near Venezuela later this year. The involvement of the U.S. military in the drill has raised concerns about the U.S.’ true intentions in the area, as it has already worked to covertly destabilize Venezuela’s economy.

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U.S. guided-missile destroyer Nitze, third from left, docks with other warships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil during a joint military exercise, April 27, 2011. (AP/Victor R. Caivano)

CHILE -- The involvement of the U.S. military in an upcoming multilateral military drill in South America has raised concerns over potential ulterior motives on the part of the U.S. The drill, dubbed “Operation: America United,” will involve the installation of a temporary military base on the triple border shared by the drill’s other participating

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Lobbyists Lining Up To Influence Marijuana Laws In Maine

More than $140,000 has already been spent in the state as stakeholders seek a voice in how lawmakers regulate the lucrative recreational industry.

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AUGUSTA — Retail sales of marijuana may still be a year away, but cannabis-related cash is already flowing at the Maine State House as businesses jockey to influence the policies that will govern the lucrative recreational market. Between Dec. 1 and March 31, clients paid lobbyists more than $140,000 for representation on marijuana-related

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Surprise, Surprise -New Study Finds Money Plays Major Role in Influencing the DNC

“…the voice of the people is really often the sound of money talking.” Such were the findings of researchers who recently analyzed the impact of political financing on decisions made by legislators – once again confirming that money does indeed buy influence in Washington.

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WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Public concern about the influence of money in politics has never been greater. But figuring out exactly how much money is needed to “buy” a congressional vote has been difficult to do. However, a new study released by the Roosevelt Institute, titled Fifty Shades of Green, has done just that by analyzing “the role political

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US To Require Visa Applicants To Provide Social Media History

The measure, which would apply to an estimated 65,000 people per year, would require applicants to provide five years’ worth of all social media accounts and handles, email addresses and phone numbers.

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A traveler holds his laptop and iPhone that he travels with at a security checkpoint at San Jose International Airport in San Jose, Calif. (AP/Paul Sakuma)

In line with the so-called “extreme vetting” urged by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Department of State is proposing tougher scrutiny of visa applicants' private affairs, including questioning applicants about their social media accounts. The stepped-up measures, which the department claims will be adopted "in order to more rigorously

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