WWII Was Not Fought To Save Anyone From Death Camps, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Sept. 21, 2020
September 24, 2020

Excerpted from Leaving World War II Behind

If you were to listen to people justifying WWII today, and using WWII to justify the subsequent 75 years of wars and war preparations, the first thing you would expect to find in reading about what WWII actually was would be a war motivated by the need to save Jews from mass murder. There would be old photographs of posters with Uncle Sam pointing his finger, saying “I want you to save the Jews!”

American Cultural Psychosis and Anti-Chinese War Propaganda, by Rainer Shea

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

by Rainer Shea
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rainer Shea: Anti-Imperialist Journalist
September 23, 2020

The Iraq invasion was a prelude to our current war run-up, the war run-up that the United States would experience when its global imperial hegemony came under threat during the 2020s. Like was the case in 2003, the empire’s propaganda machine has inculcated its narratives into the minds of a solid majority of the public. Like was the case in 2003, the main target of the empire’s violent rage is merely a scapegoat for the crises that the U.S. has been experiencing. The difference is that in 2020, America’s cultural psychosis is being directed towards preparing for a war far larger than the Iraq War, a war so destructive and costly that it could end up breaking U.S. hegemony for good.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg and America’s Priestly Class, by Kenn Orphan

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by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
September 22, 2020

“It would be naive to depend on the Supreme Court to defend the rights of poor people, women, people of color, dissenters of all kinds. Those rights only come alive when citizens organize, protest, demonstrate, strike, boycott, rebel, and violate the law in order to uphold justice.” — Howard Zinn

John Pilger, Daniel Ellsberg and Alexander Mercouris: Julian Assange Extradition Hearing + Kevin Gosztola: Day 10 + Joe Lauria: Day 10 + Craig Murray: What I’ve Told You Won’t Be Reported On The BBC

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Dandelion Salad

CN Live! E16 The Extradition Extra Edition: Ellsberg, Pilger & Mercouris

Consortium News on Sep 19, 2020

After a powerful week for the Assange defence we invite expert witness Daniel Ellsberg, veteran journalist John Pilger and UK legal analyst Alexander Mercouris to comment.

MFTN: I Call For A Constitution 2.0

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Dec. 16, 2018
September 20, 2020

If we, the people, wrote a constitution now, what would go in it? Equal rights for women, men, non-binary, and undefined? Caps on wealth tied to poverty levels? Rights of nature? Reparations for past crimes, wrongs, and thefts? Limits on military spending? A free and open Internet? Abolition of mass incarceration, or the entire prison system; replaced with restorative and community justice? Free healthcare for all? Living wages or universal basic income? Would we keep corporate personhood or the electoral college?

Chris Hedges: The Rise of the New Black Militancy

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Sep 19, 2020

On the show this week, Chris Hedges discusses the rise of the new Black militancy with film director and producer, Mobolaji Olambiwonnu.

Six Reasons Julian Assange Should Be Thanked, Not Punished, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
September 18, 2020

1. The effort to extradite and prosecute Julian Assange for journalism is a threat to future journalism that challenges power and violence, but a defense of the media practice of propagandizing for war. While the New York Times benefited from Assange’s work, its only reporting on his current hearing is an article about technical glitches in the court proceedings — utterly avoiding the content of those proceedings, even falsely suggesting that the content was inaudible and otherwise unobtainable. The corporate U.S. media silence is deafening. Not only does President Donald Trump’s effort to imprison Assange (or, as he has publicly advocated in the past, kill him) conflict with media fictions about Russia, and contradict fundamental pretenses about U.S. respect for freedom of the press, but it also serves an important function that is clearly in the interest of media outlets that promote wars. It punishes someone who dared to expose the malevolence, cynicism, and criminality of U.S. wars.

Will Griffin: Pine Gap: Australia’s Most Secret Site + Menwith Hill: NSA’s Largest Overseas Spying Base

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by Will Griffin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 17, 2020

“Then there’s that secret room on the base in which even Australians aren’t allowed to enter. For decades Australian government officials have claimed that they know everything that is going on at Pine Gap mainly in response to the public demanding answers to what the CIA and other US military agencies are doing there. So much has been and still is in secret.” — Will Griffin

America: Land of the Free… and Conspiracy Nuts, by Finian Cunningham

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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Ireland
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation
September 16, 2020

The United States has hit a dangerous threshold when a senior member of the Trump administration is warning citizens to arm themselves because “leftwing hit squads” are about to seek retribution.

Endless War, The Militarized Police State and Neo-Feudalism, by Rainer Shea

Image by Debra Sweet via Flickr

by Rainer Shea
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rainer Shea: Anti-Imperialist Journalist, Sept. 14, 2020
September 15, 2020

If the capitalist ruling class get their way, the revolts that the U.S. and the other parts of the neoliberal world have been experiencing this last year will be only a blip in the march towards corporate domination. Their goal is to use militarism—both within the imperial core’s borders and abroad—to indefinitely keep the power structure reinforced.

How a Pandemic is Destroying the West, by Michael Hudson

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by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 14, 2020

The U.S. is Saving the Financial Sector, not the Economy

Before juxtaposing the U.S. and alternative responses to the coronavirus’ economic effects, I would like to step back in time to show how the pandemic has revealed a deep underlying problem. We are seeing the consequences of Western societies painting themselves into a debt corner by their creditor-oriented philosophy of law. Neoliberal anti-government (or more accurately, anti-democratic) ideology has centralized social planning and state power in “the market,” meaning specifically the financial market on Wall Street and in other financial centers.

Sowing Distrust in America… Who Needs Russia? + Trump’s Toxic Lies on ‘China Virus’ Collapse, by Finian Cunningham

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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Ireland
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation, Sept. 10, 2020
September 13, 2020

This is shaping up to be the most ugly election in U.S. history with fiery consequences. Could the nation be heading for civil war, a century and a half after the last one?

Chris Hedges and Richard D. Wolff: The Sickness is the System—When Capitalism Fails to Save Us from Pandemics or Itself

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Sep 12, 2020

On the show this week, Chris Hedges discusses with economist Professor Rick D. Wolff, the economic and political collapse of the American empire.

Marjorie Cohn: The Aftermath of 9-11 Lives On + Ray McGovern and Jason Leopold: 9/11 Not an “Intelligence Failure” + Ralph Nader on 9/11: The Empire’s Overkill + Abby Martin: 9/11 and the Belligerent Empire

Image by PunkToad via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

The Aftermath of 9-11 Lives On

Originally posted Sept. 11, 2019

TheRealNews on Sep 11, 2019

Even though a federal judge declared the government’s terrorism watchlist unconstitutional, no real remedies were put in place and the violations of civil liberties and the US wars abroad continue, says Marjorie Cohn.

Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg and James Goodale: Assange Extradition and the War on Journalism

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

Popular Resistance on Sep 9, 2020

The attempt to extradite Julian Assange to the United States for prosecution is a war against freedom of the press and our right to know. If the prosecution of Assange under the Espionage Act occurs, it will define journalism for the 21st Century. No journalist or publisher who exposes war crimes or corruption will be safe.