New York Times Is Now Telling Bigger Lies Than Iraq WMDs and More Effectively, by David Swanson

Occupy Portland: How is the War Economy Working For You? Banner

Image by Lynn Friedman via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
April 12, 2023

The New York Times routinely tells bigger lies than the clumsy nonsense it published about weapons in Iraq. Here’s an example. This package of lies is called “Liberals Have a Blind Spot on Defense” but mentions nothing related to defense. It simply pretends that militarism is defensive by applying that word and by lying that “we face simultaneous and growing military threats from Russia and China.” Seriously? Where?

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The Latest Offensive From U.S. Imperialism: The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, by Pete Dolack

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework nations
JohnEditor132, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

by Pete Dolack
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Systemic Disorder, Mar. 29, 2023
March 30, 2023

As production is moved to ever more distant locales, with ever lower labor and environmental standards, the corporations behind these moves want all barriers to the movement of raw materials and finished products removed. Thus the era of so-called “free trade” agreements. These agreements, which are written to elevate corporations to the level of national governments (and in practice, actually above governments), have become so unpopular thanks to the efforts of grassroots activists to expose them to public scrutiny that governments have become cautious about embracing new ones.

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Bipartisan Slander of China: Lab Leak Theory Dead, U.S. War Drive Alive and Well, by Scott Scheffer

Expectation. Raccoon dog

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Dandelion Salad

by Scott Scheffer
Struggle ★ La Lucha, Mar. 26, 2023
March 27, 2023

Last week, before the capitalist crisis of bank failures crowded it out of the headlines, news of a congressional hearing to further investigate the origins of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic was splashed across the front pages and websites of major U.S. media.

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Michael Hudson and Dennis Kucinich: The Anatomy of Bank Failures, the Financialized Economy and Collapse

Capitalism

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by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
March 23, 2023

Overview: This was an impromptu conversation precipitated by former Congressman Dennis Kucinich to have a deep dive discussion with a former economic advisor, Michael Hudson, on the shockingly large recent bank collapses. As the former chair of the powerful Government Oversight Subcommittee, Kucinich had a ringside seat in unraveling the bank collapses after the housing bubble burst. He confronted the players in the field with withering questions in Congressional hearings. Now Kucinich wanted important feedback from a banking insider on how this crisis was different than the one in 2008.

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Chris Hedges and Seymour Hersh: How America Destroyed the Nord Stream II Pipeline

22-02-05 12 No War with Russia

Image by Felton Davis via Flickr

Dandelion Salad
March 17, 2023

with Chris Hedges

TheRealNews on Mar 17, 2023

Who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines? In February, veteran journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh dropped a bombshell report detailing how President Joe Biden ordered the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines.

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Michael Hudson: Why 3 US Banks Collapsed in 1 Week + Why the Banking System is Breaking Up + The Mechanics of a Bond Market and its Impact on the Banking Crisis

Capitalism Is Crisis

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by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
March 16, 2023

Geopolitical Economy Report on Mar 14, 2023

Economist Michael Hudson analyzes the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Silvergate, and Signature Bank, explaining the similarities to the 2008 financial crash.

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How U.S. Military Spending Works, by David Swanson

Stop the War$

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Mar. 10, 2023
March 15, 2023

Here’s how this works each year.

1) Biden proposes a massive increase in military spending — above and beyond both what he proposed the year before and what the Congress increased that to. If you look at U.S. military spending according to SIPRI in constant 2021 dollars from 1949 to now (all the years they provide, with their calculation adjusting for inflation), Obama’s 2011 record will probably fall this year. If you look at actual numbers, not adjusting for inflation, Biden has set a new record each year.

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Ralph Nader, Seymour Hersh and Mickey Huff: The Nord Stream Pipeline + Censorship in the Press

censorship

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Dandelion Salad

with Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Feb 25, 2023

Legendary investigative reporter, Seymour Hersh, tells us all about the story he broke that describes in great detail how the U.S. blew up the Nordstream pipelines in a covert “act of war” against Russia. Plus, Mickey Huff, of Project Censored joins us to speak to Ralph about the state of the so-called “free press.”

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Seymour Hersh: How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline + Transcript

United States Uncle Sam Imperialism

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

Dandelion Salad
February 17, 2023

Democracy Now! on Feb 15, 2023

When the Nord Stream pipelines carrying natural gas from Russia to Germany were damaged last September, U.S. officials were quick to suggest Russia had bombed its own pipelines.

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Ralph Nader and Chris Hedges: Woke Imperialism

woke

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Dandelion Salad

with Ralph Nader and Chris Hedges

Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Feb 11, 2023

Ralph welcomes Dr. Nason Maani, co-editor of “The Commercial Determinants of Health,” to explore the larger forces, forces beyond the power of an individual to control, that shape our environment and therefore our health.

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David Swanson and Lee Camp: Can The March To WW3 Be Stopped?

World War 3 - III

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Feb. 7, 2023
February 8, 2023

“It’s incredible the extent to which people still fantasize about a nuclear war in one part of the globe as if the scientists haven’t told us it impacts the entire Earth and the cloud of dust renders agriculture impossible and everybody starves and the living envy the dead.” — David Swanson.

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Before the Bombs Come the Platitudes, by Robert C. Koehler

Ban nuclear weapons

Image by International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons via Flickr

by Robert C. Koehler
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
January 10, 2023

What is democracy but platitudes and dog whistles? The national direction is quietly predetermined — it’s not up for debate. The president’s role is to sell it to the public; you might say he’s the public-relations director in chief:
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PSL Editorial: Rail Industry Showdown: Joe Biden vs. The Right To Strike

Union Pacific @ Glenwood Springs Colorado

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Dandelion Salad

by Liberation Staff
LiberationNews.org, Nov. 29, 2022
November 30, 2022

Joe Biden has shown his true colors: he stands with corporate bosses over union workers. In a statement released last night, Biden stabbed rail workers in the back by calling on Congress to pass legislation imposing the terms of a tentative deal that was rejected by the members of key unions in the industry. Top Congressional leaders immediately announced their intention to do just that.

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Chris Hedges and Ralph Nader: A Postmortem on the 2022 Midterm Elections

The End Of The Government Shutdown 2013

Image by Stephen Melkisethian via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

TheRealNews on Nov 25, 2022

The midterm elections are over, and two more years of Congressional gridlock are likely in store. Republicans have taken a narrow majority in the House, while Democrats have held the Senate. What do we make of the current political landscape, where rhetoric runs so hot but so little gets done? And what can we expect from the 2024 presidential elections?

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If We Can Find Just 238 More Congress Members Who Don’t Want Us All to Die…, by David Swanson

22-02-05 08 Say No War

Image by Felton Davis via Flickr

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, Oct. 24, 2022
October 25, 2022

When an election has been very close, many factors can be pointed to as each having been enough to make the difference. One of those in 2016 was very suggestive and very much ignored by, as far as I know, every single major media outlet except this one. I mean the phenomenon of military families voting against Hillary Clinton, believing her more likely than Donald Trump to get their loved ones killed. It seems this factor decided the election.

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