California Activists Call for Signatures to Support Secession in Special Election

We Are Change

Article via The Anti-Media: 

Activists in California have just taken an integral step that could leave America with only 49 states in the near future. Yes California, a pro-secession organization, received approval Thursday to begin collecting signatures from residents to put “Calexit” on the ballot for a 2019 special election.

'Calexit' supporters can start work to make ballot https://t.co/4WX4cn5wIt

— Yes California (@YesCalifornia) January 27, 2017

Yes California has been working toward secession for some time, but with President Donald Trump’s election last year, their efforts gained momentum as frustrated residents questioned their willingness to bow down to a president they don’t support. According to a poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos this month, nearly one in three supports secession — a sharp uptick from a similar survey conducted in 2014. With secession becoming a viable alternative, it’s possible that support may continue to grow.

We'll just take our avocados and legal weed and go#CalExit #CalifrEXIT

— beea ? (@LeasLame) November 9, 2016

The organization submitted their ballot proposal to California’s state government in November, and on Thursday, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla gave them the green light to begin collecting signatures. They need 585,407 people to sign their petition by July 25. If they succeed, the referendum will make it onto the 2018 ballot. If it passes, the state will hold a special election the following year. The Sacramento Bee reports:

“The proposed measure would strike language from the California Constitution defining the state as ‘an inseparable part of the United States of America, and the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.’ If it passed, there would be a statewide special election in March 2019 to ask voters if they want California to become an independent country.”

Many Americans often joke about California leaving the union, highlighting how wildly different residents of the Golden State are from those of America’s heartland. Indeed, Yes California appears to agree.

“America already hates California, and America votes on emotions,” Marcus Ruiz Evans, one of the group’s founders, told the Los Angeles Times. “I think we’d have the votes today if we held it.”

In a recent post on their website announcing their progress, they wrote:

“In our view, the United States of America represents so many things that conflict with Californian values, and our continued statehood means California will continue subsidizing the other states to our own detriment, and to the detriment of our children.”

It’s understandable why secession has become a proposed solution considering California has long struggled with many systemic problems. As Yes California points out:

“Although charity is part of our culture, when you consider that California’s infrastructure is falling apart, our public schools are ranked among the worst in the entire country, we have the highest number of homeless persons living without shelter and other basic necessities, poverty rates remain high, income inequality continues to expand, and we must often borrow money from the future to provide services for today, now is not the time for charity.”

Though Yes California points out practical reasons for secession, they also argue the underlying justification for their movement from a philosophical standpoint:

“However, this independence referendum is about more than Californiasubsidizing other states of this country,” they write. “It is about the right to self-determination and the concept of voluntary association, both of which are supported by constitutional and international law.”

Further:

“It is about California taking its place in the world, standing as an equal among nations. We believe in two fundamental truths: (1) California exerts a positive influence on the rest of the world, and (2) California could do more good as an independent country than it is able to do as just a U.S. state.”

California has the sixth largest economy in the world, bolstered by the film industry, Silicon Valley, agriculture, and the state’s biggest cash crop — cannabis — which voters legalized in November.

While the practical and philosophical reasons for secession are compelling, it’s doubtful many residents are looking beyond President Donald Trump. California leans heavily to the left, and Democrats hold a supermajority in both houses of the state legislature. California was largely responsible for Hillary Clinton’s popular vote victory.

Further, though Yes California stresses the importance of voluntary association, it’s doubtful an independent California government would asktaxpayers what programs they’d like to fund. Ultimately, though California as a country would certainly be beneficial for decentralization and localization efforts, it would operate as a government and, as such, force Californians to participate.

Nevertheless, the movement reflects undeniable divisions within the United States, especially in the era of Donald Trump. Other states are also eyeing secession, including Texas, Washington, and Oregon.

As Anti-Media observed shortly after the election:

“People are rioting and protesting over Trump’s win throughout California butcelebrating in Alabama, and against the backdrop of an ever-encroaching federal government, it appears these differences are growing difficult to reconcile.”

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This article (Soon There Could Be Only 49 States in America) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commonslicense with attribution to Carey Wedler and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radioairs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to edits@theantimedia.org.

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North Korea Restarts Nuclear Reactor After Taunting Tweet From Trump

We Are Change

Observers suggest evidence to confirm operations at the nuclear reactor facility could be running at a “considerable” pace.

www.public-domain-image.com (public domain image)

During a time of uneasy tensions surrounding the Trump Presidency and major geo-political developments, the report that North Korea is capable of restarting this production rises fears in many. Despite this, President Trump claimed earlier this month that a nuclear strike from North Korea “won’t happen!”

North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017

North Korea has gone on record claiming they have the capability to “miniaturize” a nuclear warhead, as well as the capability of making a nuclear missile possible. However, this has not been independently confirmed and leaves suspicion over the true capability of North Korea’s nuclear program.

North Korea has conducted several nuclear tests in the past, particularly in September 2016, when the test presented a device with an explosive yield estimating between 10 and 30 kilotons. If confirmed, this would make it the North’s strongest nuclear test ever.

Scepticism over Kim Jong-un’s Claims

However, the restarting of this plant for weapons-grade plutonium does not actually contribute to their capability of miniaturizing and arming a small nuclear warhead. North Korea has been stockpiling nuclear resources for a considerable duration, but what good are they if they cannot by utilized?

During a nuclear test in March 2016, Kim announced that North Korean scientists were capable of creating what had long been feared: a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a normal warhead. Furthermore, Kim claimed this allowed them to make indiscriminate attacks across the US and South Korea. Analysts refuted this as an impossible claim.

North Korea’s first nuclear test in October 2o06 resulted in the country’s “joining the nuclear club” after a test exploding plutonium underground. However, North Korea claimed that its weapon would contribute to peace and stability within the Korean peninsula. This contradicts the supposed nuclear threats posed by Kim Jong-un, and further supports skepticism towards North Korea’s true nuclear capability.

Trump’s unpredictable attitude leads analysts to be baffled as to what his response will be to this supposed threat. While military intervention is on the table for Trump, experts claim that the issue’s complexities could very well lead him to the same playbook governed by administrations before him.

Reasons for concern?

Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor who has travelled to North Korea, formerly directed the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of the atomic bomb. He estimates North Korea already has enough plutonium and highly enriched uranium to build 20 to 25 nuclear weapons.

“The nuclear program has continued to expand dramatically in the past few years – more nuclear materials, more nuclear weapons, and more sophisticated nuclear weapons. All of these are in the hands of a young leader about whom we know very little and a military about which we know even less. That is the real risk – it is here today.”

The genuine concern over North Korea’s possession of nuclear resources is certainly valid, but skeptics continue to question North Korea’s capability to arm the warhead.

Trump’s “America First” attitude could very well create a more tense atmosphere on the geo-political playing field in regards to North Korea. As far as analysts claim, their capability to currently arm a small nuclear warhead is still out of their reach. Is Kim Jong-un still scaring the West with empty threats and loaded statements?

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Ron Paul Warns Trump Can’t Stop Imminent ‘Economic Doomsday’ Caused By Federal Reserve

We Are Change

Article via The Free Thought Project:

If former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) is correct, an Economic Doomsday is here. The second financial bubble is going to soon burst, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. That’s because, as Paul stated, the Federal Reserve has set up the American economy for financial collapse for printing trillions of dollars back in 2008 and 2009.

“The Federal Reserve’s policies of printing trillions of dollars back in ’08-09 have locked into place a serious financial crisis at some point in our future,” Paul stated. Going so far as to intimate the financial collapse will occur at least some time in the next two years Paul wrote, “It’s unavoidable, and even Donald Trump can’t stop it.”

Paul said Trump will be the patsy for the supposed impending financial ruin. Just like everyone blamed Obama for the financial collapse in 2009, this time, “Trump will unfairly get the blame,” the former Texas representative wrote. Paul bases his comments on reports he says he’s read which concludes that within the next 18-24 months, the collapse will happen.

The former congressman further explained he’s still holding out hope for Trump to make changes which can help to protect America’s future, but pointed out some of Trump’s staff has direct connections to Wall Street. He’s also concerned Trump’s war against radical Islam is a war Trump cannot win because it’s a war against an ideology, much like America’s failed attempt at defeating communism.

Paul believes Trump’s moving in the right direction to protect America’s interests by canceling America’s involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement with Asia. Paul also hopes Trump will pull American troops out of the at least 7 countries in which it is currently deployed and engaged in military conflict. “I say just come home,” Paul said when addressing having our military presence overseas. “Just get out of there and let the local people sort (the conflict) this out,” Paul said in response to how America should deal with hot spots like the Ukraine and Syria.

Paul believes the former administration’s posturing and threatening of China was misguided and stated we’d be better of trading goods with China, and all of Asia, rather than trading threats. However, as te Free Thought Project pointed out, Trump is already carrying on this dangerous posture — and China is responding.

Paul warns there’s going to be an acceleration of black ops operations by the CIA and Special Forces missions such as the joint special operations command (JSOC) which, as The Free Thought Project has reported, answers directly to the President of the United States.

Paul, who has never supported Trump is concerned about Trump’s ego, wondering if he’s going to act on his impulses to go after the ideology of radical Islam. Paul reminded his viewers that the way to create more jihadists is to keep on provoking the moderate Muslims into becoming radicalized by reacting to U.S. military actions overseas — the exact same thing Trump is doing right now.

Paul praised President Obama’s actions to normalize relations with Cuba and he hopes that with all of the policy decisions the Trump administration is making, that Trump will maintain the policy Obama implemented with Cuba and continue to keep the negotiations open with our closest Southern Caribbean neighbor.

Paul noted that he thinks U.S. policy has created a “failed system” in the country. “All empires end and we’re the empire. It’s going to end and it’s going to be for economic reasons…we’re going to fail because we’re working within a failed system…this is a monetary problem…a spending problem…it’s going to be financial,” Paul emphatically claimed, once again stating the collapse of America is imminent. “We have something arriving worse than 2008, 2009, much worse…It was the fault of the Federal Reserve,” Paul said, adding, the Keynesian economic model contributed greatly to the first bubble burst. Paul said the left will blame Trump for it like the right did to Obama, but he says it’s bigger than the office of the president, and blames the federal reserve and the previous 17 years of governmental spending.

If you think Ron Paul’s comments hold no water, think again. As the Free Thought Project reported last year, even the former chairmen of the Federal Reserve is predicting this crisis.

We are in very early days of a crisis which has got a way to go,” asserted Alan Greenspan to Bloomberg last year. “This is the worst period, I recall since I’ve been in public service. There’s nothing like it, including the crisis — remember October 19th, 1987, when the Dow went down by a record amount 23 percent? That I thought was the bottom of all potential problems. This has a corrosive effect that will not go away. I’d love to find something positive to say…..I don’t know how it’s going to resolve, but there’s going to be a crisis.”

When the man who used to run the very central bank Ron Paul says is responsible for the collapse, also says there’s going to be a collapse — it’s time to pay attention.

 

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This article first appeared on TheFreeThoughProject.com and was authored by Jack Burns.

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California Judge Rules Against Monsanto, Allows Roundup Labels To Include Cancer Warning

We Are Change

Monsanto is threatening to sue the nation’s top agricultural state, after a California judge ruled that regulators have the right to label the popular weedkiller “Roundup” as a possible cancer threat.

 People killer too?

Monsanto’s popular weed-killing product has received heavy criticism in the form of health warnings in the past. Several European countries have refused to back the license for the controversial glyphosate. This raises the question, how long will Monsanto continue to thrive in the United States?

[RELATED: Monsanto’s Poisons Rejected By The EU]

After a ruling given by Court Judge Kristi Kapetan, Monsanto went on to sue the state’s top agricultural organization, claiming that they “illegally based their decision for warning labels on an international health organization.”

Conversely, evidence such as deleted tweets suggest that President Trump is indeed supportive of Monsanto, as well as allegedly approving GMO labelling.

[RELATED: Trump Admin. Already Leaning Towards Supporting Monsanto]

Trenton Norris, a Monsanto Attorney, defended in court Friday, insisting that the labels would have immediate financial consequences for the company. He claimed that the ruling would discourse consumers from buying Roundup, and “it will absolutely be used in ways that will harm Monsanto.”

Shortly after the court hearing, the firm stated that it will challenge the tentative ruling given by Judge Kapetan.

The main ingredient of Roundup is glyphosate, which has no color or smell. Monsanto trademarked it in 1974 as a simple yet effective way of killing weeds, while leaving crops and plants unharmed. This main ingredient is the source of the criticism towards the product.

Strangely, the chemical is not immediately prohibited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They claim it has “low toxicity,” yet recommend that people do not enter a field sprayed with it for 12 hours. Also previously, the EPA has rebuked its approval of “Agent Orange,” a combined glyphosate and herbicide titled “Enlist Duo.” It was found to be far too toxic, even for the EPA. Knowing this, is it understandable that Roundup now faces suspicion?

Risks of Use

The chemical faced criticism from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, citing it as a “probable human carcinogen.” Following this decree, the most populated U.S. state took its first step in 2015 to require the warning labels on Roundup—this case was finally ruled in 2017.

Monsanto branches in St. Louis argue that California is unfairly delegating its power to an un-elected foreign group. They claim they have no accountability to U.S. or state officials, and are in violation of the California Constitution.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer is considered the “gold standard” for identifying carcinogens by the majority of Californian Attorneys. They depend on its findings along with other states, the federal government and many countries.

Monsanto also merged with Bayer, a pharmaceutical company, recently. How will that merger be affected if Monsanto’s “Roundup” is labeled a carcinogenic product? The implications are certainly not very positive.

[RELATED: Poison Producer Monsanto Approves $66 BILLION Merger With Bayer]

Farmer Paul Betancourt has been using Roundup for over 30 years on his almond and cotton crops. He claims that he does not know anyone who has gotten sick from using it.

“You’ve got to treat it with a level of respect, like anything else,” Betancourt said. “Gasoline will cause cancer if you bathe in the stuff.”

With so much criticism and suspicion surrounding Monsanto due to their dubious track record, and the uncertainty of the safety of Roundup–are they justified in suing the state during this court case? Either way, the ruling is applauded by many as a victory for the people against the widely criticized corporation.

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from We Are Change http://wearechange.org/california-judge-rules-monsanto-roundup-cancer/

#FreeSargon: Twitter Suspends Sargon Of Akkad After He Tweets EU Official About Europe’s Immigration Policies

We Are Change

Twitter suspended the account of YouTuber Carl Benjamin, who goes by the name “Sargon of Akkad” on Friday, after he Tweeted an EU official with questions about Europe’s current immigration policies.

Sargon suggested he was suspended for sharing his criticism of Islam in a Tweet to the high representative to EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Fedrica Mogherini.

Mogherini tweeted, “#holocaustrememberance: A peaceful and diverse Europe it is everyone’s interest and responsibility.”

Sargon responded,“Hasn’t mass Islamic immigration to Europe drastically raised the odds of terror attacks, though?”

However, Sargon noted that Twitter has yet to give him a reason for the suspension.

“I have no idea why and no reason has been given so far,” Sargon said.

Sargon was conversing with We Are Change’s founder, Luke Rudkowski, when he was suspended.

No, WTF twitter police? I was just talking to @sargon_of_akkad on DM about something important, anyone know how else I can reach him?

Posted by Luke Z Rudkowski on Friday, January 27, 2017

Twitter has been a proponent, as of late, of banning some accounts it deems to have used “hate speech,” while ignoring others.

Suspending a user for proposing a question now, though, even if it is a question that no one wants to face, raised the question: Are we living in the paradigm of 1984? It was a fictional book, not an instruction manual for big social to follow to ban anyone they disagree with.

[RELATED: EU Demands Social Media Giants Censor ‘Fake News’ Sites Within 24 Hrs]

While social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook have suppressed and censored users, there are other alternatives. Check out We Are Change On Steemit and Gab:

Steemit:  https://steemit.com/@lukewearechange

Steemit presents itself as “a social media platform where everyone gets paid for creating and curating content” through digital media points calls “Steem” that can be transferred into Bitcoin.

Gab: gab.ai/wearechange

Gab presents itself as an alternative to Twitter that allows “Free Speech for everyone.”

[EXCLUSIVE: Interview With GAB.AI CEO Andrew Torba]

 

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from We Are Change http://wearechange.org/freesargon-twitter-suspends-sargon-akkad/

Days After Trump Pushes for DAPL, Iowa Pipeline Spills Nearly 140,000 Gallons of Diesel Fuel

We Are Change

Article via The Anti-Media: 

Hanlontown, IA — Beginning around 5:30 am on Wednesday morning, local authorities in Hanlontown, Iowa, realized the Magellan Pipeline was leaking what amounted to 138,600 gallons of diesel fuel. KIMT in Iowa reported that emergency responders with the Worth County Sheriff’s Office, Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Worth/Mitchell County Emergency Management, and Freeborn County Emergency Management were all on the scene. The cause of the leak is still under investigation.

Later in the afternoon, KIMT provided an update on the situation:

“The owners of the pipeline that leaked over 138,000 gallons of diesel fuel in Worth County Wednesday say the spill has been contained and the fuel had not flowed into any waterways.

Magellan Midstream Partners says the leak has caused no injuries or evacuations so far.  Over 70 people, including Magellan representatives, emergency crews, regulators and contracts, are on the scene Thursday.

“Magellan says operations on this section of their pipeline system have been halted and repairs are expected to begin soon.  There is no estimate on when the pipeline could go back into operation.”

Tom Byers, Manager of Government and Media Affairs for Magellan Mainstream Partners, told KIMT, “There will be an investigation on what caused release and what can be learned from this to try and help us and ensure this doesn’t happen again.” Unfortunately, this is not the first time Magellan has dealt with spills from pipelines. The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently settled federal charges against Magellan related to three previous spills.

Magellan, based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, agreed to pay $2 million for a civil penalty and another $16 million for relief across its 11,000-mile pipeline system in the Midwest, the Oil and Gas Journal reported. Magellan, formerly known as Williams Pipe Line Co. LLC., was sued for their role in the spill of 5,177 barrels of petroleum products, which spilled into waterways. Magellan also contaminated the Pierre Bayou north of Texas City, Texas, when 482 barrels of gasoline leaked. Two Magellan pipelines in Nemaha, Nebraska, also burst after being struck by construction machinery and leaking 650 barrels of diesel fuel, 655 barrels of jet fuel, and 1,529 barrels of gasoline.

This latest spill comes only days after President Trump issued executive orders and a presidential memorandum regarding moving forward on the Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access pipeline. Both projects have faced heavy resistance from indigenous activists, environmentalists, and private property advocates who view eminent domain as theft. Will this latest spill have any effect on Trump’s upcoming decisions? Or will the deep pockets of Big Oil and the banksters behind the pipelines be enough to sway Mr. Make America Great Again? Only time will tell. Hopefully, for the sake of the Earth and humanity, Trump will end the suppression of alternative energy sources and allow the Oilgarchy to collapse under the weight of its unsustainable products.

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This article (Iowa Pipeline Bursts Only Days After Trump Approved DAPL Construction) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Derrick Broze and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article at edits@theantimedia.org.

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German Newspaper Editor Calls For Assassination To End ‘Trump Catastrophe’

We Are Change

The editor of a German newspaper has suggested that the easiest way to end the “Trump catastrophe” is to assassinate President Donald Trump.

Josef Joffe, the editor and publisher of the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit,” made the comment while answering questions from readers at an event held by ARD-Presseclub.

The question came from an audience member who asked Joffe if it was possible to impeach Trump and to end the “Trump catastrophe.”

“There has to be a qualified two-thirds majority of the Senate in order for a removal of office to take place,” a female panelist responded. “These are politically and legally pretty high hurdles, a lot would have to happen for it, we’re far away from that.”

“Murder in the White House, for example,” Joffe suggested.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, ABC aired a promotional ad for the 11th episode of its show “Designated Survivor” during their interview with Trump last night. The ad ended with “Who took the bullet?”

The show depicts a fictional president being shot when Kiefer Sutherland, who plays a cabinet secretary, is “unexpectedly thrust into the presidency after an attack at the capitol during a State of the Union address.”

CNN has also expressed its disdain for Trump by airing a report one day before the inauguration that discussed what would happen if Trump, Paul Ryan and others were killed during the inauguration. They pointed out that if this were to happen, an Obama appointee would become the next U.S. president.

“Who would be in charge if an attack hit the incoming president…. just as the transfer of power is underway,” CNN speculated.

Some have said that by hinting at the fact that Trump could be assassinated, CNN is being irresponsible, and is suggesting an idea that would have irrevocable consequences.

“Totally not suggesting anything here, huh CNN?” one commenter wrote.

The New York Times even got in on the action when columnist Ross Douthat posted a Tweet in February 2016 that said, “Good news guys I’ve figured out how the Trump campaign ends.”

Attached was a video entitled “the dead zone movie clip thwarted assassination attempt.” The clip is from a 1983 movie called “The Dead Zone.” In the movie, a character tries to kill a U.S. Senatorial candidate, and the main character has nightmares of the senator becoming president and starting nuclear war.

Already, two men—including one with connections to the Clintons—have been arrested with threats of assassination on Trump. Singer Madonna is also reportedly under investigation for a comment on “blowing up the White House.” How many more arrest and threats will follow?

[RELATED: Clinton Family Friend Threatens To Assassinate Trump, Claims He’s ‘Following Orders’]

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