Trump’s Terrifying Threats by Felicity Arbuthnot

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by Felicity Arbuthnot
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
December 19, 2017

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?” — Mahatma Gandhi, 1869-1948

When the UN was established on 24^th October 1945, little over five months after the end of World War II, the organization’s stated aims were to prevent further devastating conflicts. In spite of the fact that 193 out of the world’s 195 nations are Member States, it has failed woefully.

The Powell Memo by The Anti-Social Socialist

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“The clinical definition of “fascism” is when private concentrated economic power takes government away from the people, turns government into a guarantor, a subsidizer, a covering of corporate power.” — Ralph Nader

Henry Wallace + Undoing the New Deal

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Last Updated: Feb 4, 2018

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The Anti-Social Socialist on Dec 15, 2017

What Was Verifiably Great About America: Fragments of a Memoir Set to a Musical Soundtrack by Phil Rockstroh

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by Phil Rockstroh
Writer, Dandelion Salad
December 16, 2017

Having been born in a coal and steel company town but destiny delivered, as an adult, to reside, during extended intervals, in the East and West Coast cities of Los Angeles and New York City, and, at present, the continent of Europe, I have come to conclude, people born into situations providing economic advantage, both liberals and conservatives alike, experience difficulty, more often than not, envisaging the lives of those born into a labouring class existence. Worse, a wilful obtuseness, in combination with a supercilious posture is, all too often, evinced, by reflex, towards those scorned as “hillbillies,” “trailer trash,” and “genetic retreads.”

Take Heart From the Example of Salt by Rivera Sun + What’s Next for Net Neutrality?

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by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
December 15, 2017

It comes as a surprise.

Net Neutrality is the keystone issue in the movement of movements. It is poised to become as pivotal to our interconnected struggles as the Salt March was for Gandhi and the Indian Self-Rule Movement.

Rebellion in Munich by Gaither Stewart + Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

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by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
December 15, 2017

My generation has seen that history does repeat itself. We know world wars I and II and we have seen “regime change” in action from country to country, from Libya to Iraq. Those who think that history does not repeat itself might read some of these lines about what once happened and what is happening today.

“Preemptive war could risk millions of casualties. But….” by David Swanson + Drummer Boy of War

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
December 14, 2017

According to the Washington Post, “Preemptive war could risk millions of casualties. But . . . .”

Is that a statement that should ever be followed by a “but”? I contend that it isn’t. There isn’t something that can outweigh risking millions of casualties. The Washington Post thinks otherwise. Here’s a fuller quote:

What Does Trump Mean by “Make America Great Again”? by Ralph Nader

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by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
December 14, 2017

Donald Trump’s now ubiquitous slogan, “Make America Great Again!”, is often chanted at rallies, but rarely scrutinized in public discourse. What era in America’s past is Mr. Trump referring to when he says “Again”?

Abby Martin: Coca Farmers Massacred In Colombia Under Pressure From Trump

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Updated: Dec. 21, 2017

Warning

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

Dandelion Salad

with Abby Martin

teleSUR English on Dec 13, 2017

On October 5, 2017, police opened fire on unarmed farmers in Tumaco, Colombia. Eight were killed, with dozens more shot. The massacre was part of a crackdown on coca farmers in the “War On Drugs” despite an agreement for crop substitution–and amidst new threats from Trump, ordering the government to use more force or face consequences.

We Are Standing On The Sinking Titanic

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
December 13, 2017

Blockade the gangplanks of the Titanic! Shut down the boilers of the ship! Storm the stairs from steerage and seize the wheel!

We have passed the point where token victories, small handouts, and crumbs from banquet tables will help us. We have struck too many icebergs and the hull of our society has been breached. Band-Aids on shredded steel will not hold back the floodwaters of injustice.

Why The Documentary Must Not Be Allowed To Die by John Pilger + Vietnam: The Quiet Mutiny

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by John Pilger
John Pilger, Dec. 11, 2017
December 12, 2017

I first understood the power of the documentary during the editing of my first film, The Quiet Mutiny. In the commentary, I make reference to a chicken, which my crew and I encountered while on patrol with American soldiers in Vietnam.

Capitalism’s Failure of the Flesh: The Rise of the Robots by Phil Rockstroh

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by Phil Rockstroh
Writer, Dandelion Salad
December 11, 2017

Humankind, being an inherently tool-making species, has always been in a relationship with technology. Our tools, weapons, machines, and appliances are crucial to forging the cultural criteria of human life. At present, amid the technology created phantomscape of mass media’s lurid — yet somehow sterile — imagery, one can feel as if one’s mind is in danger of being churned to spittle.

9-11 Commemoration Garbage Was Nothing But More War Justifying Propaganda by Daniel N. White

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by Daniel N. White
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
December 11, 2017

Bernard Fall, the great French-American writer on the wars in Vietnam, wrote a piece in his Street Without Joy about his early days in Vietnam, during the French war there. One day Fall was in Cambodia doing interviews and research, and afterwards went with a pair of French officers that he’d interviewed to the local club tennis courts, and watched them, in their spotless tennis whites, play a full match of tennis. Early on in their game, a Cambodian NCO came up to the court and attempted to get one of the officers to sign some papers he had. The NCO got a brushoff—the French officers were busy with their game—and so the Cambodian NCO just went off to the sidelines, squatted on his haunches the way Cambodians do, full out in the tropical sun , and waited while the two French officers in their tennis whites batted the ball back and forth. Fall watched, with a feeling of dread coming over him, as the post bugler sounded Last Post, the colors were lowered, the Cambodian standing to attention while the French officers continued playing tennis. Fall wrote:

Chris Hedges: Bring Down the Israeli Apartheid State

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Dec 10, 2017

Mohammad Saba’aneh, Palestinian Cartoonist, discusses the Israeli occupation of Palestine through his political cartoons.

Global Crises Demand Cooperation Not Competition by Graham Peebles

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by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
December 9, 2017

The natural instinct of human beings is towards cooperation and sharing, but, distorted by competition, personal ambition and nationalism, self-interest and greed have become preeminent motivating forces, distorting action and corrupting the policies of governments.