Ron Paul Asks If the US and the UK are Trying to Kill Julian Assange of Wikileaks



Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, is imprisoned at Belmarsh Prison in the United Kingdom and is facing 18 charges under the US Espionage Act for publication of the Iraq and Afghan War Logs. He faces 175 years in prison if found guilty. This would send a grim message to other whistleblowers and journalists. Assange is reported to be “gravely ill” and has been moved to the hospital wing of the prison. Prior to his arrest, he spent nearly seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, unable to receive proper medical treatment, and lacking sunshine and fresh air. Ron Paul compared the treatment of Assange by the UK and US governments as being similar to the case of American Otto Warmbier, who suffered maltreatment in a prison in North Korea and later died because of it. -GEG

Ron Paul discussed the news that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is “gravely ill” on Thursday’s episode of the Liberty Report, noting that if he dies in that prison the US and UK will not look very different from North Korea.

Paul is encouraging people to speak out for Julian Assange amid news that his health has deteriorated to the point where he is now in the hospital wing at Belmarsh Prison.

On Wednesday, WikiLeaks confirmed
that Assange is so gravely ill that he could not even have a normal
conversation with his lawyer.

Speaking about his concerns over
Assange’s treatment, Paul asked if the US and UK are trying to kill
Assange. He brought up the case of Otto Warmbier, the American college
student who was imprisoned by North Korea and not released until he was
in a vegetative state — dying shortly after his release.

“The Korean government abused him and they killed him,” Paul said. “Then they brought him back here when he was terminal.”

Paul said that if Assange dies in that prison, we will not look much different than North Korea.

Assange is currently imprisoned at
Belmarsh Prison in the United Kingdom and facing eighteen charges under
the Espionage Act in the United States for his publication of the Iraq
and Afghan War Logs. If extradited and convicted, he could be sentenced
to up to 175 years in prison.`

Prior to his arrest, Assange spent
nearly seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, unable to
receive proper medical treatment, despite the lack of sunshine and fresh
air taking a toll on his system. Doctors who visited him there wrote an
article for the Guardian pleading for him to be allowed to go to the
hospital for treatment, headlining their account “We examined Julian Assange, and he badly needs care — but he can’t get it.”

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California Senate Passes Bill to Bypass Federal Reserve by Creating Clearing House between Banks Serving Cannabis Industry



The California Senate passed a bill that would create a self-contained banking system for the cannabis industry. This is in response to the fact that the Federal Reserve has been denying charters to banks serving that industry. Cannabis businesses have been forced to transact almost exclusively in cash, because chartered banks are afraid to do business with them lest they, too, lose their charters. Passage of the new California legislation could bypass the federal banking system – at least within the state. Meanwhile, the industry is experimenting with the use of cryptocurrencies as a more flexible and dependable solution. -GEG

On Tuesday, the California Senate passed a bill that would establish
limited state-chartered banks to serve the cannabis industry. Final
passage of this legislation would remove a major federal roadblock in
front of the developing industry in the state and further nullify
federal prohibition in practice.

Sen. Bob Hertzberg, (D-Van Nuys), along with a bipartisan coalition of eight cosponsors, filed Senate Bill 51 (SB51) on Dec. 4.  The legislation would create a self-contained banking system for the cannabis industry in California.

Because marijuana remains illegal under federal law, cannabis
businesses in states that have legalized marijuana remain effectively
locked out of the banking system. If a federally chartered or insured
financial institution touches marijuana money, it takes on significant
legal risk. The federal government insures or charters virtually every
bank in the U.S. As a result, cannabis businesses have been forced to
transact almost exclusively in cash. Passage of SB51 would completely
bypass the federal banking system and create a limited banking
alternative for the marijuana industry in California.

On May 21, the Senate passed SB51 by a 36-1 vote.

Under the proposed law, the state would license “cannabis limited
charter banks and credit unions.” Cannabis businesses would be able to
deposit funds in these institutions and write “special purpose checks”
on their accounts for limited purposes, including paying state or local
fees and taxes, paying rent on property associated with a cannabis
business, paying vendors, or buying state or local bonds or warrants.
These checks could only be deposited or cashed at the issuing cannabis
limited charter bank or credit union, or another cannabis limited
charter bank or credit union that agrees to accept the check. This would
keep the entire process outside of the federal checking system known as
the automatic clearing house (ACH).

Cannabis limited charter banks and credit unions would be allowed to
form banking networks, but they could not engage in banking activity
with any other bank or credit union. They would also be able to provide
accounts to people and entities other than cannabis businesses, pursuant
to rules adopted by the commissioner of the Department of Business
Oversight.

A similar bill passed the California Senate during the last
legislative session, but it died during the Assembly committee process.

“The status quo for our growing legal cannabis industry is
unsustainable,” Hertzberg said in a press release last year. “It’s not
only impractical from an accounting perspective, but it also presents a
tremendous public safety problem. This bill takes a limited approach to
provide all parties with a safe and reliable way to move forward on this
urgent issue.”

FEDERAL BANKING LAWS

The Federal government has used banking laws as a weapon in
its unconstitutional war on cannabis by making it impossible for
marijuana businesses to access the banking system – even in states where
marijuana has been legalized. The feds can prosecute bankers for
knowingly engaging with cannabis businesses under the Bank Secrecy Act,
the USA Patriot Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations (RICO) Act.

The Federal Reserve has gotten into the act, denying its services to state banks chartered to serve the marijuana industry.

For instance, in 2015, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
denied  Fourth Corner Credit Union’s application for a master account.
The Denver based credit union was formed by Colorado’s state-licensed
cannabis manufacturers as a non-profit cooperative. By denying its
application, the Fed prevented the institution from access to the Fed’s
payment facilities, including its check clearing, wire transfer, and ACH
facilities. This made it virtually impossible for Fourth Corner to do
business.

In February 2018, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City finally
gave conditional approval for Fourth Corner’s master account. But
according to the Marijuana Business Daily, the credit union
will not serve plant-touching business. It will cater to “advocacy
groups, charities and ancillary companies such as accountants.”

State-chartered banks do not have to be members of the Federal
Reserve system. But as it did with Fourth Corners, the Fed can deny any
non-member bank or credit union access to its services. In other words,
the Federal Reserve can lock any bank attempting to operate in the
cannabis industry out of the broader banking system, making it
impossible for them to do business with any other bank or merchant. With
the passage of SB51, California could just bypass the entire federal
banking system and its regulations, and create a self-contained banking
network for the marijuana industry.

THE CRYPTO ALTERNATIVE

Some marijuana businesses have circumvented the banking system by
transacting in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Technology companies
like SinglePoint and POSaBIT have been working to generate a payment method for medical marijuana dispensaries and consumers using bitcoin.

In 2014, SinglePoint placed terminals in some medical marijuana
dispensaries that allowed patients to make payments with their debit
cards, but the banking system quickly shut it down.

“They were going great,” SinglePoint president Wil Ralston told CNBC.
“Then overnight the banks shut them all down. There were no guidelines
about how banks were supposed to interact with the cannabis industry.
They didn’t want to risk it.”

Ralston started looking into cryptocurrencies. Now, SingleSeed allows dispensaries to accept bitcoin and consumers to pay with it.

Other services like BHCPLS.io are in
open beta, but promise to bring Bitcoin Cash (BCH) point-of-sale
systems to brick and mortar merchants, something cannabis businesses
could find useful.

Some analysts believe the marijuana industry could pave the way for
the wider use of cryptos. Leslie Bocskor, president of cannabis advisory
and services firm Electrum Partners, told CNBC the cannabis industry
may well lead the way in using bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

“If it finds a way to avoid the traditional banking system, other businesses would follow suit,” Bocskor said.

FEDERAL PROHIBITION

Under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) passed in 1970, the federal
government maintains complete prohibition of marijuana. Of course, the
federal government lacks any constitutional authority to ban or regulate
marijuana within the borders of a state, despite the opinion of the
politically connected lawyers on the Supreme Court. If you doubt this,
ask yourself why it took a constitutional amendment to institute federal
alcohol prohibition.

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Trump Vows to Impose 5% Tariff on All Goods Imported from Mexico – and Increase It Every Month to 25% in October Unless Illegal Migrants Stop Crossing the Border to the US


The border crisis has increased since Trump took office, despite his effort to build a wall. US officials reported that 80,000 people are being held in custody, while 4,500 more migrants enter the US each day. President Trump vowed to impose a 5% tariff on all goods from Mexico, adding an additional 5% each month until it reaches 25%, and then he claims he will only end it when there is a substantial decrease in ‘illegal migrants’ crossing the border into the US. Trump said he was acting under the powers granted to him by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. 

  • President Trump announced the five percent tariff on Mexican imports on Thursday via Twiter
  • The tariffs will start at 5 percent on June 10 before increasing every month unless Mexico takes steps to stop the surge 
  • It
    will remain at 25 percent until ‘Mexico substantially stops the illegal
    inflow of aliens’, a statement from the White House said
  • Trump’s
    move was a dramatic escalation of his battle to control a tide of
    illegal immigrants that has increased despite his efforts to build a
    border wall 
  • U.S. officials said 80,000 people are being held in custody with an average of 4,500 arriving daily 

President Donald Trump has vowed to impose
a five percent tariff on all goods from Mexico – and claims he will
only end it when ‘illegal migrants’ stop crossing the border into the
U.S.

In a surprise announcement that
could compromise a major trade deal, Trump tweeted news of the tariff on
Thursday in a bid to pressure Mexico to do more to crack down in the
surge of migrants trying to cross the U.S. border. 

The
tariffs will start at 5 percent on June 10 before jumping to 10 percent
on July 1, 15 percent on August 1, 20 percent on September 1 and go up
to 25 percent on October 1 unless Mexico takes steps to stop the surge. 

‘On June 10th, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP,’ he tweeted.

‘The Tariff will gradually increase until
the Illegal Immigration problem is remedied at which time the Tariffs
will be removed.’

In a follow up
statement from the White House, Trump said the tariff’s would
permanently remain at 25 percent until ‘Mexico substantially stops the
illegal inflow of aliens’.  

Trump’s
move was a dramatic escalation of his battle to control a tide of
illegal immigrants that has increased despite his efforts to build a
border wall and take other steps.

U.S. officials said 80,000 people are being held in custody with an average of 4,500 arriving daily.

‘If
the illegal migration crisis is alleviated through effective actions
taken by Mexico, to be determined in our sole discretion and judgment,
the tariffs will be removed,’ Trump said.

Mexico’s
deputy foreign minister for North America, Jesus Seade, said on
Thursday that it would be disastrous if Trump goes through with his
threat to impose the tariffs.

‘It would be extremely serious… If this is put in place, we must respond vigorously,’ Seade said.  

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