Mass Murder: Our Wounded Humanity, by Robert C. Koehler

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by Robert C. Koehler
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
April 15, 2023

Once again… once again… once again….

I’m sure you know what I’m referring to. Yeah, another — the latest (?) — mass shooting in the United States, this one at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 10, two days ago as I write. Five killed, eight injured. The shooter, an employee of the bank, was killed in a shootout with police. Three officers were injured, including a rookie officer (ten days on the job), who was shot in the head and is struggling to survive. The gunman’s weapon was a nice, reliable AR-15-style rifle, legally purchased at a local gun shop a week earlier.

If Democrats Didn’t Suck, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, July 1, 2022
July 10, 2022

If Democrats threw out the filibuster today and rapidly passed legislation over the next 8 months as if they gave a damn — as if they were, oh, I don’t know, the Supreme Court — and if they put just what they’re increasing the military budget by into their Build Back Better bill, if they put through with majority votes just those items they were elected on that are favored by significant majorities in the country, they’d have done enough by 6 months from now to not lose those elections. And if they kept going, they’d need never lose an election again. The whole premise of keeping the filibuster around to restrain the Republicans is the plan to go on sucking badly for 6 more months in order to lose — combined with the delusion that Republicans are going to be restrained by something that THEY can and will choose to throw out. The Republicans will certainly plan on never losing an election again. Any elections they can’t win or rig, they can ask the Supreme Court to fix up for them — and hire Al Gore to explain to us that we should sit back and take it.

Chris Hedges: America’s Gun Fetish

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

Sustainable Human on Jun 14, 2022

Mass shootings are difficult to understand. Most of us resort to judgment and leave it there. But if you really want something to stop, you must seek to understand where it originated.

At Least 36% of Mass Shooters Have Been Trained By the U.S. Military, by David Swanson

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
March 23, 2021

It is extremely easy in the United States to obtain guns, to find places to practice using them, and to find trainers willing to teach you to use them. There’s no need to have any contact with the U.S. military in order to dress and act as if you’re in the military, as many mass-shooters do, some of them waging their own delusional wars against immigrants or other groups. But it is remarkable that at least 36% of U.S. mass shooters (and quite possibly more) have in fact been trained by the U.S. military.

US Gunning for Trouble, by Finian Cunningham + Caleb Maupin: New Great Depression in USA?

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Watch the video below

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Sputnik, Apr. 6, 2020
April 7, 2020

The spectre of the coronavirus pandemic in the US has darkened decidedly, with President Trump warning of a harrowing next few weeks from a surging disease death toll. Into the malevolent mix are reports of American citizens buying up firearms as if there is no tomorrow.

Only Revolution Can Save Us by Paul Street

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by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street, Sept. 1, 2019
September 9, 2019

Is there no limit to the lethal and authoritarian absurdity of America, land of mass gun massacres like Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Orlando, Las Vegas, Parkland, and now El Paso and Dayton among other pockmarked sites?

Bodies on the Ground and the Rise and Rise of the Economic Elite by Phil Rockstroh

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by Phil Rockstroh
Writer, Dandelion Salad
August 11, 2019

The US is less of a nation than a collective, psychotic episode.

Americans Pay Price for Criminal Wars From Mass Shootings at Home by Finian Cunningham

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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from Strategic Culture Foundation
June 11, 2019

America’s horrendous gun violence can be attributed to many factors, but there is one factor that is hardly talked about or explored in public discourse – the apparent link between mass shootings and the rampant culture of US militarism.

Chris Hedges: Origins of USA Gun Rights

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Mar 2, 2019

In the USA, right-wing groups such as the National Rifle Association interpret the Second Amendment of the US Constitution as permitting any individual to own weapons. In this week’s episode of On Contact, historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortriz, in her new book Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, and in her conversation with Chris Hedges, argues the amendment has more to do with white supremacy and the subjugation of Indigenous peoples, African-Americans and immigrants than the individual right to have a gun.

Abby Martin: Why America? Mass Shootings and White Nationalism Share Roots

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Dandelion Salad

With Abby Martin

Empire Files on Nov 12, 2018

Since October 2017, America experienced three of the deadliest mass shootings in modern history. This epidemic coincides with a frightening resurgence of white nationalism. Sometimes the two trends overlap.

Drawing Links Between US Militarism Abroad and Gun Violence at Home + Militarizing US Schools and Society Only Creates More Gun Violence and Police Brutality

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Dandelion Salad

TheRealNews on Jun 18, 2018

Boston teacher Nino Brown, of the ANSWER Coalition, speaks with TRNN’s Ben Norton about the links between US militarism, gun violence, and police brutality. He connects the epidemic of school shootings domestically to the endless wars internationally.

John Pilger, et al: Australia’s Guns: Control, Culture, Bias

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Dandelion Salad

with John Pilger

goingundergroundRT on Jun 8, 2018

Co-hosts Tyrel Ventura and Tabetha Wallace venture down under to Australia to interview a number of experts, including Pulitzer Prize winner John Pilger, on gun violence, gun culture, and the differences between gun ownership in the US and Australia.

Capitalism Careens in the Direction of Fascism by Paul Street

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by Paul Street
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Official Website of Paul Street
March 26, 2018

World peace is none of your business
You must not tamper with arrangements
Work hard and simply pay your taxes
Never asking what for
Oh, you poor little fool
Oh, you fool

Abby Martin: Corporate Lobbyists Use Intimidation, Not Bribery

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Dandelion Salad

with Abby Martin

teleSUR English on Mar 1, 2018

With the US mass shootings epidemic claiming 17 more lives at a school in Florida, there has been a nationwide outcry against multi-million-dollar lobbying by the National Rifle Association. But how the NRA, and other corporate giants, wield power and influence over the US government is mostly concealed by the very laws meant to strengthen democracy.

Rebel Without a Clue: Autonomy and Authority in the American Public School by Susan Cain and Mark Mason + Caleb Maupin: After Florida…

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by Susan Cain and Mark Mason
Guest Writers, Dandelion Salad
Mark Mason, PhD
crossposted from Dissident Voice Feb. 5, 2018
February 16, 2018

The American high school dropout is an unconscious revolutionary. Instead of casting aspersions upon the dropout, we should attempt to decode this behavior that is condemned by parents, school authorities, educational experts, religious leaders, politicians, and peers. To understand the distress of the American high school student requires us to examine the politics of quitting school. Leaving school is a political act. Its political causes cannot be investigated in a context of isolating and blaming the individual.