17 Years of Getting Afghanistan Completely Wrong by David Swanson

Stop the Wars!

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Sept. 28, 2018
September 30, 2018

We expect 17-year-olds to have learned a great deal starting from infancy, and yet full-grown adults have proven incapable of knowing anything about Afghanistan during the course of 17 years of U.S.-NATO war. Despite war famously being the means of Americans learning geography, few can even identify Afghanistan on a map. What else have we failed to learn?

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Chris Hedges: A Socialist Soldier’s Tale of Resisting the American Empire

Resist Imperialism

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Sep 29, 2018

Journalist Chris Hedges interview former combat veteran and US Army officer, Spenser Rapone about bravery and morality. The second lieutenant was given an “other than honorable” discharge June 18 after an Army investigation determined that he “went online to promote a socialist revolution and disparage high-ranking officers” and thereby had engaged in “conduct unbecoming an officer.”

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Polite and Apolitical? Repression By Another Name + Pay to Protest: Government Cracks Down on D.C. Demonstrations + Take Action!

Polite and Apolitical? Repression By Another Name + Pay to Protest: Government Cracks Down on D.C. Demonstrations + Take Action!

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published March 5, 2017
September 28, 2018

There are those who would have us fold up our banners and take down our protest signs. They urge us to be reasonable and polite. They expect us to cram our dissent into narrow boxes of occasional grumbling comments and take our frustration out at the election box once every few years. These people write letters to the editor of small town newspapers claiming that the visible signs of dissatisfaction – pickets, protesters, political signs – are bad for business and distasteful.

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Pope Francis and Beijing: The Geopolitics of the Vatican by Caleb Maupin

Pope Francis rips capitalism and trickle-down economics

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by Caleb Maupin
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Caleb Maupin (website)
Caleb Maupin (Facebook Page)
New Eastern Outlook, Sept. 18, 2018
September 27, 2018

The Roman Catholic Church and the Peoples Republic of China are set to sign an agreement, which would formally end the hostilities between these two entities. The Chinese government will formally acknowledge the Pope as the leader of the Catholic Church in China. In exchange, the Pope will reinstate ex-communicated Bishops selected by the Communist Party to lead Catholics on the Chinese mainland. In this context, it is worth reviewing the shifts and evolutions of Catholicism in global politics.

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Steve Bannon Declares “War Rooms” to Win European Elections – and That’s Not Meddling? by Finian Cunningham

Steve Bannon Declares "War Rooms" to Win European Elections – and That’s Not Meddling? by Finian Cunningham

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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation
September 26, 2018

One trait of imperial decadence is untrammeled hubris. Given the increasingly arrant arrogance on display by United States’ officials, public figures and news media we can safely conclude that this empire is accelerating into decadence.

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Michael Parenti: Marxists vs Liberals on Capitalism (video no longer available)

Michael Parenti: Marxists vs Liberals on Capitalism

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with Michael Parenti
Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 25, 2018

The Peace Report on Sep 17, 2018

A liberal complaint versus a Marxist analysis of capitalism is beautifully and passionately explained by Professor Michael Parenti.

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What is Socialism? A Historical and Modern Perspective

Caleb Maupin: The American Socialist Awakening

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by
Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 24, 2018

Reach Out on Sep 18, 2018

On last Thursday’s (9.13.18) special edition of Reach Out, we asked, “What is socialism?” In a discussion ranging from the juxtaposition of socialism and religion, cooperation vs. competition in humanity’s origins, and how class is what primarily divides people, Bill and I, along with special guest Matt Reedy, barely scratched the surface of answering that question but realized its enormity and complexity.

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The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire, featuring Michael Hudson

The Spider's Web Britain's Second Empire, featuring Michael Hudson

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by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 23, 2018

“At the demise of empire, City of London financial interests created a web of secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and hid it in a web of offshore islands. Today, up to half of global offshore wealth is hidden in British jurisdictions and Britain and its dependencies are the largest global players in the world of international finance.”

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Chris Hedges: Mass Incarceration is a Form of Social Control and the Police Function as Predators in Impoverished Communities

"Am I next?" - Justice for Philando Castile

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Sep 22, 2018

In a conversation about his new book America: The Farewell Tour, Chris Hedges tells journalist, Hugh Hamilton, about the political goals of the Christian Right and the prison-industrial complex. Second part of two-part interview.

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When Your Goal Is World Domination Any Country That Stands In The Way Of That Is An Enemy, by William Blum

Resist Imperialism

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by William Blum
Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 22, 2018

William Blum takes on the Washington Post again, in the person of columnist Max Boot, formerly of the Wall Street Journal

Dear Mr. Boot,

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Hold The Front Page. The Reporters Are Missing. by John Pilger + Julian Assange on the Future of Cyber Security

Free Julian Assange!

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Dandelion Salad

by John Pilger
John Pilger
September 21, 2018

The death of Robert Parry earlier this year felt like a farewell to the age of the reporter. Parry was “a trailblazer for independent journalism”, wrote Seymour Hersh, with whom he shared much in common.

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“Taxpayer Money” Threatens Medicare-for-All (And Every Other Social Program) by Jim Kavanagh

HealthOverProfit-First-Shot-20180409_224859

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Dandelion Salad

by Jim Kavanagh
The Polemicist, Sept. 18, 2018
September 20, 2018

Three assertions:

  • There is no such thing as “taxpayer money.”
  • Taxes do not pay for government spending. (Nor does debt. No revenue is needed.)
  • Leftists who continue to talk as if “taxpayer dollars” must be collected to “pay for” government programs are undermining Medicare-for-all and every other progressive policy initiative.

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What If Governments Obeyed Laws? by David Swanson + Merchants of Death: How the Military-Industrial Complex Profits from Endless War

What If Governments Obeyed Laws? by David Swanson + Merchants of Death: How the Military-Industrial Complex Profits from Endless War

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
September 19, 2018

Do we need new laws or adherence to the old ones?

Yes.

Both.

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It Is All About Relative Power Of The One Percent by Michael Hudson + 10 Years Since Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy – Did the Economy Really Recover?

Occupy Wall Street - 11/3/11 - 006

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Updated: Sept. 19, 2018

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
September 18, 2018

Wall Street did not let the Lehman Brothers crisis go to waste. The banks that have paid the largest fines for financial fraud are now much bigger and more profitable. The victims of their junk mortgage loans are poorer, and the economy is facing debt deflation.

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We Must Keep Despair At Bay In The Siege Waged By The Forces Of Destruction And Greed!

Sea of lights

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The Essays of The Man From the North by Rivera Sun
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Nov. 16, 2017
September 17, 2018

Despair rides in front of our opposition, an invisible wind that blows like plague through our hearts. Here, our stand begins. Moment-by-moment, day-by-day, we must keep despair at bay in the siege waged by the forces of destruction and greed.

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