From Travel Ban Protests To A Global Movement Against Global Injustices by David Swanson

Image by Joe Piette via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
January 31, 2017

Airport resistance is the biggest step forward by the U.S. public in years.

Why do I say that? Because this is unfunded, largely unpartisan activism that is largely selfless, largely focused on helping unknown strangers, driven by compassion and love, not political ideology, greed, or vengeance, and in line with activism around the globe. It’s also targeted at the location of the harm, directly resisting the injustice, and achieving immediate partial successes, including very meaningful successes for certain individuals. It’s gaining support from people never before engaged in any activism. And it shows no signs of any significant undesirable side-effects. This is a movement to be built on, and I have an idea what a next step should be.

The Anti-Trump Protests: Don’t Ask: Where Were You For The Last 8 Years? by Bill Dores

Image by Joe Piette via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Bill Dores
Workers World
January 30, 2017

Since the election of Trump, spontaneous protests have erupted as well as the massive counter-inaugural marches on Jan. 20 and worldwide women’s marches on Jan. 21. Some leftists and anti-war people on social media have had nothing but criticism for the protests and skepticism regarding their participants.

Emergence: Revolution Within and Without

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 30, 2017

A self-organizing movement like the Dandelion Insurrection relies on the collective and individual capacity of our participants. We are only as strong as the synergistic sum of our parts. The weaknesses of each person affect the effectiveness of the whole movement. The wisdom or folly of every individual contributes to either the intelligence or foolhardiness of our shared strategies and decisions.

Protests Against Trump’s Refugee Ban

Image by Daniel Arauz via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

‘Let them in!’: Protesters rally at JFK against Trump’s refugee ban

RT on Jan 29, 2017

Protesters rally at JFK Airport during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump.

Ralph Nader: Trump’s Presidency Will Be Tumultuously Unpredictable

Image by Stephen Melkisethian via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Ralph Nader

RT on Jan 28, 2017

Donald Trump is wrapping up his first week in office as the 45th president of the US – and the country is deeply divided. Millions are already calling for his impeachment, as violent protests take place across the nation. The new president is also at war with the media, and the conflict not likely to die down any time soon. Will Trump manage to rally the people’s support throughout his first term? Can the continued backlash force the Electoral College system to be reformed? We ask Ralph Nader, veteran activist, consumer advocate, and former third-party and independent presidential candidate.

Chris Hedges: It’s The Failure of the Democratic Establishment To Cope With Why They Lost + Arrest of RT America Journalist (videos no longer available)

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

goingundergroundRT on Jan 28, 2017

We talk shop with former UK business minister Vince Cable over Theresa May’s attempts at post-Brexit damage control. We speak to the Director of a new Oliver Stone-exec produced film about mainstream media parroting government lies. We ask Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Chris Hedges about why if you are a journalist who cares, you don’t get a promotion.

Chris Hedges: The Future of the US Empire Under Donald Trump (video no longer available)

Image by Cau Napoli Collettivo Autorganizzato Universitario di Napoli via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Jan 28, 2017

On this week’s episode of On Contact, host Chris Hedges examines the future of the American empire under the Trump Administration with investigative journalist Allan Nairn. RT Correspondent Anya Parampil looks at the global reach of the American military.

If We Don’t Solve The Problem Of Economic Polarization, We’re Going To Go Into Another Dark Age by Michael Hudson

Image by Friends of the Earth International via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Michael Hudson
January 27, 2017

Speech to Kairos group, Union, Columbia
[Edited version for clarification, January 23, 2017]

The focus of my talk today will be Jesus’ first sermon and the long background behind it that helps explain what he was talking about and what he sought to bring about. I’ve been associated with Harvard University’s Peabody Museum for over thirty years in Babylonian economic archeology. And for more than twenty years I’ve headed a group out of Harvard, the International Scholars Conference on Ancient Near Eastern Economies (ISCANEE), writing a new economic history of the ancient Near East.

Fascism: A False Revolution by Michael Parenti

Image by Mayu Shimizu via Flickr

Originally published Sept. 27, 2007

by Michael Parenti
Writer, Dandelion Salad
michaelparenti.org, 1996
January 26, 2017

Fascism is a false revolution. It makes a revolutionary appeal without making an actual revolution. It propagates the widely proclaimed New Order while serving the same old moneyed interests.

In the Midst of a World in Turmoil and Transition, What Do We Need to Do to Create Peace? by Graham Peebles

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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
January 26, 2017

Throughout his Christmas message and in keeping with the hymn of the time, Pope Francis repeatedly called for Peace in our World. “Not merely the word, but a real and concrete peace” brought about by changing those attitudes, patterns of behavior and socio-economic systems that bring about conflict. Peace not simply in relationship to armed conflict, but peace for all people in a range of situations.

End Plutocracy by William John Cox

used with permission, image copyright by Helen Cox

by William John Cox
Writer, Dandelion Salad
williamjohncox.com
January 25, 2017

The U.S. Voters’ Rights Amendment: Explained

The 2016 election just cost $5 billion and produced two major candidates who were despised by a majority of the People. Given the choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, 45 percent of voting-age Americans did not cast a ballot, and only 46.5 percent of those who did vote choose Trump. Almost three million more voters selected Clinton over Trump, who prevailed only because of the archaic Electoral College. Elected by only one-quarter of the People, his policies, successes, and failures will affect everyone—including the 75 percent of voters who did not hire Donald Trump to be their CEO.

Glen Ford: There is No Such Thing as a Progressive Movement That is Aligned with the CIA

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Dandelion Salad

TheRealNews on Jan 24, 2017

Black Agenda Report’s Glen Ford says a progressive movement can’t be build out of the pro-war, pro-CIA, and McCarthyite politics coming from Democratic leadership.

The Intelligence Community’s Dumb Isolated View of the Future by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
January 24, 2017

Thank you to Tom Engelhardt for pointing out that the people who couldn’t predict the end of the Soviet Union, the crimes of 9-11, the decency of numerous whistleblowers, the election of Donald Trump, the likelihood that utilities in Vermont would point out that they had not been hacked by Russians, or — I’m willing to bet — the timing of rush hour in Northern Virginia, have just predicted the shape of the future of everything. Of course they’ve gotten it all ridiculously wrong, but they have revealed things about themselves rather than about the world in the process.

Abby Martin: Russia’s Transformation From an American “Colony” to it’s “Number One Threat”

Image by Chris Beckett via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Abby Martin

teleSUR English on Jan 23, 2017

The increased aggression towards Russia from US politicians and media is made more clear when taking into account the real history of the post-Soviet period. The hidden story of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency explains how deeply the US government, along with Western capitalist institutions, cheered, shaped and exploited the country after the fall of the Soviet Union, paving the way for the political system they all condemn today.

Chris Hedges: Learn to Work With People That Think Differently From Us + Inaugurate the Resistance!

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

truthdig on Jan 22, 2017

Truthdig correspondent Donald Kaufman met up with columnist Chris Hedges on Saturday at the Women’s March on Washington and discussed the significance of the event and the challenge of creating meaningful dialogue between supporters and opponents of President Trump. Drawing in part on his experience as a journalist covering resistance movements abroad, Hedges also commented more generally about the nature and birth of nonviolent revolutions and how they can sometimes begin with relatively little in the way of specific agendas.