Dear President Obama: “By What Authority?” by Bruce Fein and Ralph Nader + Barack Obama’s Notice: Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Yemen

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Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
May 13, 2013

Dear Mr. President:

As a former lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, you know that the federal government, including the Office of the President, does not enjoy limitless powers.  As President, your powers are limited to those conferred either by the Constitution or federal statutes. 

A Warning from Guantánamo – Four Prisoners Are Close to Death, and the Authorities Don’t Care by Andy Worthington

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by Andy Worthington
Writer, Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
April 26, 2013

I have just received a brief message from a credible source inside Guantánamo, about the situation in the prison today, which I wanted to make available because it exposes how four prisoners are close to death, as a result of the prison-wide hunger strike that is on its 80th day, and yet the guard force are behaving with brutality and indifference.

Andy Worthington: Gitmo Guards Brutally Hurt Prisoners

with Andy Worthington
Writer, Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
April 5, 2013

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PressTVGlobalNews·Apr 5, 2013

A political analyst tells Press TV that there is a kind of very brutal attempt to clamp down on the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to try and stop them from being on hunger strike.

Now more than 100 detainees at the United States’ infamous Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba are staging a hunger strike to protest disrespect of the Qur’an and confiscation of personal items.

Guantanamo Exposes Reality of US Fascism by Finian Cunningham

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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
March 26, 2013

They are essentially dead men who just happen to breathe. That is the grim assessment of the legal representative for the inmates in the American concentration camp, otherwise known as Guantanamo Bay.

Franklin Lamb: US Must End Gitmo Prison Horrors + A Huge Hunger Strike at Guantánamo

Image by World Can’t Wait via Flickr

with Franklin Lamb
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Beirut, Lebanon
Mar. 16, 2013

PressTVGlobalNews·Mar 16, 2013

An analyst says US citizens need to force US President Barack Obama to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp by joining in solidarity with the prisoners’ hunger strike.

Over 100 inmates at the notorious US Guantanamo military prison and torture camp have joined a hunger strike, protesting their indefinite detention and worsening conditions there.

Tangerine Bolen: #StopNDAA Lawsuit Update + Alexa O’Brien: Mainstream Still Silent on #NDAA

Dandelion Salad

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NextNewsNetwork·Feb 26, 2013

The NDAA has been called the death of our republican form of government. That acronym refers to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which contains a provision allowing the president to order the indefinite military detention of anyone accused of offering substantial support to al-Qaeda or “associated forces.”

NDAA: Hedges v. Obama: Did The Bill of Rights Die Today? by Jill Dalton

by Jill Dalton
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
recoveringarmybrat
February 9, 2013
Note: replaced and revised, February 11, 2013

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As I head west on Chambers Street toward the Court House I hear a huge roar followed by loud chanting ricocheting off the stone walls of the buildings and I’m elated. This is amazing, I think. There must be hundreds of people protesting the NDAA outside 40 Centre Street. But then I realize the protest is the transit workers’ school bus strike, now in its third week. I stop to take a few photos and give them a thumbs up before continuing along my route.

Chris Hedges: NDAA: This Is The Final Battle Between The Restoration Of Due Process and The Imposition Of A Military State (updated)

with Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
February 6, 2013

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Chris Hedges: NDAA May Already Be Detaining Americans 2/6/13

Kenny Steven Fuentes·Feb 6, 2013

Chris Hedges speaks at the 2/6/13 press conference following oral arguments made at Federal Courthouse in New York City. Hedges v. Obama challenges key provisions of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act that legalize indefinite detention of American citizens.

The 2012 NDAA – The Most Dangerous Law Since the Civil War

Dandelion Salad

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ASecond0pinion·Jan 27, 2013

Join the movement: http://www.pandaunite.org

The PANDA (People Against the NDAA Mission Statement:

Our Mission is to nonviolently nullify, strike down, repeal, stop, void and fight the indefinite detention provisions, Sections 1021 and 1022,

America’s Indefinitely Detained + Close GITMO Protest

with Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
January 11, 2013

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

NewAmericaFoundation·Jan 11, 2013

America’s Indefinitely Detained
January 11, 2013 will mark 11 years since the United States opened the Guantánamo Bay Detention Center. Almost 800 suspected militants have been held at the prison in that time. Despite the White House’s refrain that the administration “remains committed to closing the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay,” 166 individuals still remain incarcerated.

Statement by the President on H.R. 4310 + Obama Signs NDAA 2013 + Kucinich: Indefinite Detention Part of Push to Shred Constitution

Dandelion Salad

Propaganda Alert!

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
January 03, 2013

Statement by the President on H.R. 4310

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STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today I have signed into law H.R. 4310, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013.” I have approved this annual defense authorization legislation, as I have in previous years, because it authorizes essential support for service members and their families, renews vital national security programs, and helps ensure that the United States will continue to have the strongest military in the world.

NDAA–The Final Battle by Chris Hedges

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Truthdig
December 24, 2012

Image by Shrieking Tree via Flickr

Over the past year I and other plaintiffs including Noam Chomsky and Daniel Ellsberg have pressed a lawsuit in the federal courts to nullify Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This egregious section, which permits the government to use the military to detain U.S. citizens, strip them of due process and hold them indefinitely in military detention centers, could have been easily fixed by Congress. The Senate and House had the opportunity this month to include in the 2013 version of the NDAA an unequivocal statement that all U.S. citizens would be exempt from 1021(b)(2), leaving the section to apply only to foreigners.

Tangerine Bolen: NDAA 2013 – Indefinite Detention Without Trial Is Back

Dandelion Salad

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RTAmerica·Dec 19, 2012

If you have been following the National Defense Authorization Act, it is no secret that the issue is anything but a roller coaster ride. Last month the Senate approved an amendment that would prevent the military from detaining American citizens suspected of terrorism without a trial, but on Tuesday lawmakers dropped that same ban. Tangerine Bolen, founder and director for RevolutionTruth, breaks down what the NDAA could mean for Americans.

Andy Worthington and David Remes: GITMO – The Rule of Law and the NDAA

Image by World Can’t Wait via Flickr

with Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
14 December 2012

RevolutionTruthOrg·Dec 14, 2012

On December 6, 2012, RevolutionTruth hosted a live panel discussion with David Remes and Andy Worthington to discuss the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, the U.S. Government’s current position on indefinite detention, and their work examining and dealing with the effects it has had on the detainees that reside there.

Chris Hedges: Obama’s Assault On Our Civil Liberties Far Worse than Bush + Glenn Greenwald: “An Injury to One is an Injury to All” Conference

by Chris Hedges
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 8, 2012

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Joan Livingston·Dec 6, 2012

Author-activist Chris Hedges discusses how problems with the current political system sparked the Occupy movement and where the movement is going. Co-sponsored by Boston Review and MIT’s Political-Science department, the presentation was part of the “Ideas Matter” series (www.bostonreview.net/ideasmatter); joining Hedges on the panel were Debra Satz, J. Phillip Thompson, and Nadeem Mazen.