The Year of Revolution: The “War on Tyranny” Replaces the “War on Terror” by Andy Worthington

by Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
23 February, 2011

Ten years ago, in July 2001, 200,000 protestors converged on Genova, Italy, to disrupt the 27th G8 Summit, at which the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US — plus the President of the European Commission — were meeting to discuss issues of global significance, including the debt burden of poor countries, world health issues, the environment and food security.

The 1990s in the West: The rise of the anti-globalization movement

Arrest of CIA Agent Sheds Light on American Covert War in Pakistan, Straining U.S.-Pakistani Relations

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

Democracy Now!
Feb. 23, 2011

Arrest of CIA Agent Sheds Light on American Covert War in Pakistan, Straining U.S.-Pakistani Relations

U.S. officials have admitted an American detained in Pakistan for the murder of two men was a CIA agent and a former employee of the private security firm Blackwater, now called Xe Services. Up until Monday, the Obama administration had insisted Raymond Davis was a diplomat who had acted in self-defense. The arrest of Davis has soured relations between the United States and Pakistan and revealed a web of covert U.S. operations inside the country, part of a secret war run by the C.I.A. The Guardian of London first reported Davis’s CIA link on Sunday and noted that many U.S. news outlets knew about his connection to the CIA but did not report on it at the request of U.S. officials. We speak with Declan Walsh, the Pakistan correspondent for The Guardian, who first broke the story. [includes rush transcript]

Beltway Buzz: The Upcoming Bipartisan Congressional Caucus for Prozac by Sibel Edmonds (satire)

by Sibel Edmonds
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Originally published by Boiling Frogs Post
February 23, 2011

A Caucus to Combat Terrorism, Domestic Violence, Divorce & Job Dissatisfaction via ‘Happiness Pill’

According to our inside sources a new Bipartisan Congressional Caucus for Prozac will be launched before the end of the 112^th Congress. The primary purpose of the Prozac Caucus will be to raise awareness and advocate for this ‘miracle drug’ aka ‘happiness pill,’ on the grounds of combating homegrown terrorism and domestic violence, lowering the national divorce rate, and increasing the level of general job satisfaction among the restless American workforce. “Increasing the level of general satisfaction and happiness, while decreasing the effects of violence and despair inducing factors such as anxiety and depression, are the major keys to achieving long term national security, family unity, and work force stability. With Prozac we believe we can achieve all that and more,” said a congressional aide who wished to remain anonymous.

Bahrain: Uprising Against the US-backed Regime Gains Critical Mass By Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
February 23, 2011
Manama, Bahrain

Image by malyousif via Flickr

Bahrain’s uprising against the US-backed ruling elite is gathering critical mass, with the Persian Gulf island state seeing the biggest demonstration ever last night. Some 200,000 people took the main highway leading to the financial district in the capital, Manama, shouting in unison for the regime to go.

Fascism in the U.S.: Are We there Yet? by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH

by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted on Buzzflash.com
February 23, 2011

On February 21, 2011, Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman published on article on The Free Press entitled “Fighting the 5 fascisms in Wisconsin & Ohio“.  They began the article by saying: “The escalating confrontations in Wisconsin and Ohio are ultimately about preventing the United States from becoming a full-on fascist state.  The stakes could not be higher—or more clear.”  At about the same time, a friend sent me a note in which he said: “[The] decline [of the United States] will be in the form of a ‘downward spiral.’ There may be push-backs at intervals, but in the long run our nation will succumb to fascism.”  So maybe now, maybe later, although if it’s later, we still have a fighting chance of preventing its onset.  Nevertheless, in considering the argument of Messrs Fitrakis and Wasserman, the question arises: are we there yet?  Borrowing from the Propaganda Channel (pardon me, but they [very] occasionally get something right): we report, you decide.

Fighting the 5 fascisms in Wisconsin and Ohio by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

Crossposted with permission from The Free Press.

by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
The Free Press
February 21, 2011

The escalating confrontations in Wisconsin and Ohio are ultimately about preventing the United States from becoming a full-on fascist state.

The stakes could not be higher—or more clear.

As defined by its inventor, Benito Mussolini, fascism is “corporate control of the state.” There are ways to beat around the Bush—Paul Krugman has recently written about “oligarchy”—but it’s time to end all illusions and call what we now confront by its true name.