Europe’s Shameful Refugee Policy by Graham Peebles

Image by Rasande Tyskar via Flickr

by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
July 21, 2017

This time of year Mediterranean beaches are the destinations of choice for many European holidaymakers; it’s also the beginning of the busiest time of year for the people smugglers based in Libya and elsewhere along the North African coast. July to October is their peak season — during this time in 2016 around 103,000 refugees were crammed into unsafe boats, often in the dead of night, and cast off into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Tragedy of the “Ships of the Desert” by Felicity Arbuthnot + Gulf Crisis: Camels Become Casualties of Qatar Blockade

Image by Isabell Schulz via Flickr

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
July 21, 2017

The last straw will break the camel’s back. (Various attributions)

After his visit to the Kingdom in May, Donald Trump decided to back the Saudi-led blockade of tiny Qatar (2015 population 2.235 million, but just 313,000 citizens) imposed less than a month later.

Pentagon Recruiting Playbook Revealed, by Pat Elder

Image by Debra Sweet via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Republished with permission from David Swanson at World Beyond War

by Pat Elder
World Beyond War, July 16, 2017
July 18, 2017

Ominous developments in three states this summer – Oregon, Texas, New Jersey, and one city – Chicago, provide a glimpse into the Pentagon’s new playbook to recruit soldiers from high schools across the country. In brief, the military has been engaged in a robust lobbying campaign to lower academic standards to make it easier to recruit youth.

Disastrous Capitalism – But is a Labour Government the Solution? by William Bowles

Image by Julian Stallabrass via Flickr

by William Bowles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Investigating Imperialism
London, England
July 16, 2017

Class War

Consider the Grenfell Tower inferno as an expression of a new kind of class war, but not a class war as we have known it–between organised workers, political parties and capital–but between ordinary citizens and the local fiefdoms of the capitalist state as increasingly, big business has taken over the running of what’s left of our public and collective life, through ‘outsourcing’, public-private-partnerships and what have you, where making a profit is the bottom line, not serving the public.[1]

How Casual The Slaughter, by Felicity Arbuthnot

Image by majka czapski via Flickr

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
July 16, 2017

On Monday 10th July, a ruling was handed down by London’s High Court, which should, in a sane world, exclude the UK government ever again judging other nations leaders human rights records or passing judgement on their possession or use of weapons.

Chris Hedges and Matthew Hoh: Afghanistan War Keeps Going Because the Money Keeps Flowing In

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Jul 15, 2017

On this week’s episode of On Contact, Chris Hedges takes an in-depth look at the 16-year-old conflict in Afghanistan with Matthew Hoh, a Marine Corps veteran and diplomat who resigned his State Department post in Afghanistan in protest over the war. RT Correspondent Anya Parampil looks at the decades of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.

Palestine Is Still The Issue by John Pilger

Image by Chris Beckett via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by John Pilger
John Pilger, July 10, 2017
July 12, 2017

When I first went to Palestine as a young reporter in the 1960s, I stayed on a kibbutz. The people I met were hard-working, spirited and called themselves socialists. I liked them. One evening at dinner, I asked about the silhouettes of people in the far distance, beyond our perimeter.

David Swanson: House Panel Votes to Debate Post-9/11 Blank Check for War + De-Authorize the Use of Military Force by David Swanson

Image by Kevin Wong via Flickr

with David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
July 12, 2017

TheRealNews on Jul 11, 2017

The House Appropriations Committee has advanced a measure proposed by Rep. Barbara Lee that would repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which the U.S. has used to wage wars around the globe.

Will Tony Blair Finally Stand Trial for His Part in the “Supreme International Crime”? by Felicity Arbuthnot

Image by Jasn via Flickr

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
July 8, 2017

I think most people who have dealt with me, think I’m a pretty straight sort of guy, and I am.
— Tony Blair, BBC “On the Record”, 16th November 1997

Nuclear Weapons: Barbaric Tools of Insecurity by Graham Peebles + 122 Nations Create Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons by David Swanson

Image by International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons via Flickr

by Graham Peebles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
London, England
July 7, 2017

The existence of nuclear weapons is an ugly symbol of the violent consciousness that plagues humanity. Despite tremendous technological advancements, developments in health care and wonders of creative expression, little of note has changed in humanity’s collective consciousness: Tribalism, idealism and selfish desire persist, negative tendencies that under the pervasive socio-economic systems are exacerbated and encouraged. People and nations are set in competition with one another, separation and mistrust is fed, leading to disharmony, fear and conflict.

Put Away The Flags by Howard Zinn

Image by Marcus O. Bst via Flickr

by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Repost from July 3, 2010
crossposted at The Progressive (2006)
July 4, 2017

On this July 4, we would do well to renounce nationalism and all its symbols: its flags, its pledges of allegiance, its anthems, its insistence in song that God must single out America to be blessed.

Untold Truths About the American Revolution by Howard Zinn (2009)

Image by Jim Surkamp via Flickr

by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Repost from July 4, 2009
Excerpt from The Progressive July 3, 2009
July 4, 2017

There are things that happen in the world that are bad, and you want to do something about them. You have a just cause. But our culture is so war prone that we immediately jump from, “This is a good cause” to “This deserves a war.”

You need to be very, very comfortable in making that jump.

Howard Zinn: Myths of the Good Wars (Three Holy Wars) (must-see)

Image by Indiana Stan via Flickr

with Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published January 8, 2010
July 1, 2017

PHubb
September 15, 2009

Historian, Author, Playwright: Howard Zinn Sponsored by Cape Codders for Peace and Justice Filmed by Paul Hubbard at the Wellfleet Public Library on 9-13-09.

Military Recruiting and How To Confront It by Pat Elder

Image by Debra Sweet via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Republished with permission from David Swanson at World Beyond War

by Pat Elder
World Beyond War
June 30, 2017

This year the Army’s goal is to recruit 80,000 active duty and reserve soldiers. The Navy is trying to sign up 42,000; the Air Force is looking for 27,000, and the Marines hope to bring on 38,000. That comes to 187,000. The Army National Guard will also attempt to lure 40,000.

Jayati Ghosh: Imperialism in the 21st Century: Capitalism, Globalization, Privatization

Image by Annette Bernhardt via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

TheRealNews on Jun 26, 2017

Imperialism, explains renowned economist Jayati Ghosh – whether explicit or implicit – is about the struggle to control economic territory such as markets, workers & labor, natural resources and new kinds of markets that are developed.