Words Unspoken by Gaither Stewart

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by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
August 7, 2019

Editor’s Note:

Historical fiction is a special and important genre. It can bring history to life, but more importantly it can allow us to put ourselves in the lives of those of another time, another context. There is a strong tendency in the United States toward historical amnesia. This is perhaps one of the biggest character flaws of the country. Floating in a constant now there is a complex, but highly malleable, context that disappears in the moment. This can drain the richness from our lives, set us on paths both personally and societally destructive, and perhaps most importantly, totally erode the concept of free will replacing it with faux will.

Leave Syria the Hell Alone by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Sept. 11, 2018
September 13, 2018

Last weekend I was on Iranian TV being asked about the meeting in Tehran at which the presidents of Iran and Russia had refused to agree with the President of Turkey to stop bombing people in Syria. I said Iran and Russia were wrong.

A Terrible Normality by Michael Parenti

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by Michael Parenti
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published Jan. 25, 2013
August 23, 2018

Through much of history the abnormal has been the norm. This is a paradox to which we should attend. Aberrations, so plentiful as to form a terrible normality of their own, descend upon us with frightful consistency.

Of Fake News and History Suborned (In War and Peace) by Greg Maybury

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by Greg Maybury
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Perth, Western Australia
Pox Amerikana, May 25, 2018
May 28, 2018

We have blind men, one-eyed men, squint-eyed men, men with long sight, short sight, clear sight, dim sight, [and] weak sight. All that is a faithful enough image of our understanding; but we are barely acquainted with [men of] false sight. — Voltaire, The Philosophical Dictionary, Knopf, NY, 1924

Capitalism Is Always At War by William T. Hathaway

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by William T. Hathaway
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Originally published September 9, 2012
April 27, 2018

Vicious fanatics are trying to kill us and destroy our country. They’re blowing up our soldiers overseas. They’ve infiltrated our country. We must defend ourselves against these mad-dog berserkers before it’s too late.

Stopping War Pusher John Bolton by Ralph Nader

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Dandelion Salad

Updated: March 30, 2018

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
March 29, 2018

John Bolton’s career of pushing for bombing countries like Iran and North Korea, and his having played an active role in the Bush/Cheney regime’s criminal war of aggression that destroyed Iraq, makes him a clear and present danger to our country and world peace. He is about to become Donald Trump’s personal national security advisor with a staff of 400 right next to the White House. He must be stopped!

David Swanson VS Pete Kilner: Is War Ever Justifiable?

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
World Beyond War
February 14, 2018

On February 12, 2018, I debated Pete Kilner on the topic of “Is War Ever Justifiable?” (Location: Radford University; Moderator Glen Martin; videographer Zachary Lyman). Here is the video:

War = Capitalism, Capitalism = War by William Bowles

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by William Bowles
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Investigating Imperialism
London, England
January 22, 2018

Before I go any further with this let me state that I’m not a Trotskyist, or a Leninist, or a Stalinist or a Maoist (but I might have been all of the above, with exception of Maoist, at one time or another). However, I might be a Zapatista, at least in spirit, but I’m definitely a Socialist Revolutionary (or is that a Revolutionary Socialist?). I’m not sure if I’m a Marxist either, but I’m definitely an admirer of the old man, he was a great artist and thinker, and possibly, along with Charles Darwin, the greatest mind of the 19th century. Whatever you call it, we need a socialist revolution and we need one now, we are running out of time!

A Veteran Remembers by Howard Zinn + How the U.S. Poisoned its Veterans

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by Howard Zinn
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Previously published Nov. 13, 2011
November 10, 2017

Let’s go back to the beginning of Veterans Day. It used to be Armistice Day, because at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, World War I came to an end.

War by Gaither Stewart

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by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
October 25, 2017

If you have you ever seen a monkey hanging from a tree by its tail and showing its red ass to onlookers, then you have seen the animal kingdom’s representation of war. According to French playwright Jean Giraudoux, the pacifist and Légion d’onore holder in WWI, war looks just like that monkey’s ass. In 1933, on the eve of WWII, Giraudoux in his famous anti-war play, The Trojan War Will Not Take Place, the imminent author penned his memorable words: “When he shows us his red bottom, all scaly and glazed, encircled by a filthy wig, that’s exactly what war looks like. That’s its real face.” (Included in my novel, The Trojan Spy). Giraudoux’s play was first published in English in 1956 as Tiger At the Gates.

Gar Smith: Stones to Drones: A Short History of War on Earth (Transcript + Video)

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Dandelion Salad

Republished with permission from David Swanson at World Beyond War

by Gar Smith
World Beyond War, Sept. 24, 2017
October 11, 2017

Gar Smith / World Beyond War #NoWar2017 Conference,
September 22-24 at American University in Washington, DC.

War is humanity’s deadliest activity. From 500 BC to AD 2000 history records more than 1000 [1,022] major documented wars. In the 20th Century, an estimated 165 wars killed as many as 258 million people — more than 6 percent of all the people born during the entire 20th century. WWII claimed the lives of 17 million soldiers and 34 million civilians. In today’s wars, 75 percent of those killed are civilians — mostly women, children, the elderly, and the poor.

David Swanson: Why End War

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Updated: Nov. 4, 2017

with David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
October 3, 2017

David Swanson on Oct 2, 2017

On Oct 2, 2017, 20 of us gave 4-minute TED talks in Charlottesville and I won, allowing me to give a TED talk at the upcoming November 3, 2017, event at Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater. This was my 4-minute talk on “Why End War.” #TedXCville

Quadriga by Gaither Stewart

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by Gaither Stewart
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rome, Italy
September 27, 2017

A five-meter tall resplendent Quadriga sculpture tops the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Wellington Arch in London, The Bolshoy Theater in Moscow, the Victor Emmanuel Monument in Rome, and other important structures elsewhere. Quadriga  is a Latin word (quad=square plus yoke or iugum), the name of the two-wheel chariot drawn by four horses (not three as the Russian Troika) yet harnessed abreast, one beside the other, projecting an image of unusual power. The four-horse Quadriga was used in chariot races by Greeks, Romans and Byzantines and its drivers, the charioteers, were popular heroes like Formula One race drivers today. Some were even driven by gods and the Quadriga image was used also on coins. So the Quadriga became a symbol of war, victory and also the peace following a military victory.

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.

George Orwell’s 1984

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Originally posted February 7, 2008

Warning

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

1984 George Orwell (1954)

Emmanuel Goldstein on Sep 26, 2013

BBC Television’s live production of George Orwell’s “1984”. Produced in 1954. Creative Commons license: Public Domain.