Rick Rozoff: For U.S. and NATO Self-Defense Is Act Of War

by Rick Rozoff
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Stop NATO
June 26, 2013

Image by Vertigogen via Flickr

John Robles
Voice of Russia
June 26, 2013

Recorded on June 10, 2013

The delivery of S-300 defensive missile batteries to Syria would protect the country from the types of attacks carried out by Israel and the U.S. but the West views such self-defense measures as an act of war and says that the ability of countries not friendly to the U.S. and its allies to defend themselves, in particular Syria, would upset the “balance of power”.

Murder Made Sexy by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Writer, Dandelion Salad
June 22, 2013

Image by United States Marine Corps Official Page via Flickr

The US Special Forces is a bizarrely gendered world, as I found out when I joined it to write a book about war. This all-male bastion is sexualized in a truly perverted way, particularly in its methods for turning young men into killers on command.

Being the epitome of patriarchy, the military creates soldiers by forcing them into the role of the lowliest creatures in patriarchy: women. The recruits’ sense of personal power is stripped away, and they are required to obey commands from the men higher in the hierarchy and do the military’s “housework”:

Global Power Project, Part 3: The Influence of Individuals and Family Dynasties by Andrew Gavin Marshall

by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Writer, Dandelion Salad
http://andrewgavinmarshall.com
June 26, 2013

Image by tpholland via Flickr

The following is Part 3 of the Global Power Project, originally published at Occupy.com.

The Global Power Project, an investigative series produced by Occupy.com, aims to identify and connect the worldwide institutions and individuals who comprise today’s global power oligarchy. In Part 2, which appeared last week, I discussed some of the dominant institutions that have facilitated and have in turn been supported by the development of this oligarchic class.

Empire of Secrets (with Oliver Stone, Michael Ratner, Jeremy Scahill) + Part 2

Dandelion Salad

Image by mattwi1s0n via Flickr

www.aljazeera.com
June 30, 2013

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama promised transparency and open government yet his administration is one of the most closed governments in US history, described as being worse than even the Nixon administration.

The technology and information revolution allows the government to cast its net wider than ever before; collecting data, watching, spying and analysing. As revelations of systemic snooping continue to hit the headlines, Empire asks: who is watching the watchers?

Just when more people open up about their private lives through social media, the government becomes ever more intrusive.

[…]

via www.aljazeera.com

Julian Assange: Snowden is a Hero. He Has Told the World That There is Mass Unlawful Interception of Their Communications + Transcript

Image by Michael Fleshman via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

LSUDVM on Jun 30, 2013

It’s Your Sole Decision, President Obama by Ralph Nader + Bernie Sanders: The Minimum Wage

Image by WisconsinJobsNow via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
June 26, 2013

Dear President Obama,

June 25th marked the 75th anniversary of the federal minimum wage law in the United States, known as the Fair Labor Standards Act. When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed this legislation, his vision was to ensure a “fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work” and to “end starvation wages.”

If It’s All Kosher, NSA, Why Lie? by William Boardman

Image by Bebopsmile via Flickr

by William Boardman
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published on readersupportednews.org, June 22, 2013
June 29, 2013

Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon: “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?”

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper: “No, sir.”

Jacob Dean Gets Tortured at Gitmo Solidarity Protest + Gitmo Protester Arrested After Scaling White House Fence

Dandelion Salad

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

Filter Free Radio on Jun 27, 2013

Portland, OR activists have been holding daily protests and vigils at City Hall in solidarity with the Guantanamo Bay detainee hunger strikers 4-6p since May 12th. Today, June 26th is the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Jacob Dean of Filter Free Radio volunteers to be strapped down and force fed to lend his body to the total eradication of torture and the effective functioning of the Convention Against Torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

In the words of Portland’s hunger striker S. Brian Willson, “We are not worth more. They are not worth less.” – Recorded on June 26, 2013 at Portland, OR City Hall. (This is NOT actually torture, like they do in Gitmo. This is just political street theater.)

The Crime of Alleviating Poverty by Ellen Brown

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
June 28, 2013

Image by richard winchell via Flickr

Former Peace Corps volunteer Will Ruddick and several residents of Bangladesh, Kenya, face a potential seven years in prison after developing a cost-effective way to alleviate poverty in Africa’s poorest slums. Their solution: a complementary currency issued and backed by the local community. The Central Bank of Kenya has now initiated charges of forgery.

Socialism 2013–Glenn Greenwald: Courage is Contagious + Transcript

Image by ubiquit23 via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

WeAreManyMedia on Jun 28, 2013

Glenn Greenwald speaks via Skype to the Socialism 2013 conference in Chicago regarding Edward Snowden’s revelations about the NSA’s mass surveillance program. Introductions by Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater and the filmmaker behind Dirty Wars, and Sherry Wolf, author of Sexuality and Socialism. #Socialism2013 #Snowden #NSA

http://www.socialismconference.org

Check out more audio and video recordings from the Socialism 2013 conference at http://www.wearemany.org.

Cheerleading Another Bloodbath in the Name of Peace by Felicity Arbuthnot

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
June 24, 2013

“Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians it is an act of terrorism.” President Barack Obama 15th February 2013. (Re Boston bombings.)

Having learned nothing from the catastrophes of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, it seems President Obama, the equally clueless UK Prime Minister Cameron and his culturally challenged Foreign Secretary William Hague are cheerleading another bloodbath in formerly peaceful, secular, outward looking Syria.

Eavesdropping On The Planet by William Blum

by William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
www.killinghope.org
June 26, 2013

Image by Abode of Chaos via Flickr

Edward Snowden

In the course of his professional life in the world of national security Edward Snowden must have gone through numerous probing interviews, lie detector examinations, and exceedingly detailed background checks, as well as filling out endless forms carefully designed to catch any kind of falsehood or inconsistency.

William Blum: Snowden Would Be Better Off in Cuba, Less Chance of a Coup D’état

with William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
www.killinghope.org
June 26, 2013

Image by ubiquit23 via Flickr

Voice of Russia
June 24, 2013

Speaking about the latest Edward Snowden’s travel ‘plans’ and the confusion the world has been exposed to in the media on the subject of his whereabouts, Mr. William Blum, an American author, historian and a longstanding critic of US foreign policy claims that Cuba would be Snowden’s best bet, as it’s “the most guaranteed place not to buckle to any kind of American pressure” and “the chance of coup d’état is much less than elsewhere”.

Chris Hedges: Americans Have No Privacy Left, No Capacity To Communicate Without Govt Watching + Transcript

with Chris Hedges
Writer, Dandelion Salad
June 25, 2013

Russia Today
June 25, 2013

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

The US government pulls out all stops to prosecute, hound, and capture those who reveal classified data. This plus constant control and surveillance makes it impossible to keep anything private or secret, Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges told RT.

US Rulers Fear American People by Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
June 24, 2013

Image by Michael Fleshman via Flickr

What the disclosures of former CIA contractor Edward Snowden show perhaps above all else is just how petrified the leaders of the United States have become – of ordinary citizens both in the US and around the world. When we say “leaders” we mean the ruling elite – the top one percent of the financial-corporate-military-industrial complex and its bought- and paid-for politicians.

The international manhunt by the US authorities for Snowden, which has accelerated with his flight to Moscow to evade extradition from Hong Kong, is indicative of the desperation in Washington’s elitist establishment to quash him and what he is revealing about their despotic rule.