David Swanson and Margaret Kimberley: Zone of Peace

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by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
April 22, 2023

This week on Talk World Radio, we’re talking about a Zone of Peace in the Americas, and events in Uganda, and presidential indictments, and everything we find time for with Margaret Kimberley, Executive Editor and Senior Columnist at Black Agenda Report, member of the coordinating committee of Black Alliance for Peace, and author of a wonderful book previously discussed on this show called Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents.

God in Drag, by Kenn Orphan

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by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
March 11, 2023

With the recent spate of vicious attacks on drag performers and drag shows, I’ve been thinking a lot about a brilliant quote by the late Ram Dass: “Treat everyone you meet as if they were God in drag.” And I think it gets to the heart of this manufactured controversy.

The Far-Right Crusade Against Human Sexuality, by Kenn Orphan

Image by Marco Fieber via Flickr

by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
August 23, 2022

It has become impossible not to notice the trend. Whether it is banning the word “gay,” or banning books that contain topics related to human sexuality, or the Supreme Court decision to overturn a woman’s federal right to an abortion, the war on human sexuality and those who are sexually divergent is ramping up on multiple fronts. Even I’ve been a target of this war. Because of my outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ+ youth, I have been labeled a “groomer” by a few figures on the far right.

Rising Above The Hurt To Enjoy A Day In The Sun, by Tom H. Hastings

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by Tom H. Hastings
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
July 19, 2022

“Get the f__k out of here!” screamed the young woman.

I understood. She was enraged, yelling at a small group of evangelicals with their powerful loudspeaker, at the end of the Pride parade last month.

This Is What It Looks Like When An Empire Cannibalizes Itself, by Rainer Shea

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by Rainer Shea
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rainer Shea’s Newsletter, June 30, 2022
July 2, 2022

In front of us, something is unfolding that we don’t want to properly see, but that we subconsciously recognize. The warning signs for a fascist crackdown in America have been here for years, if not decades. It’s now that they’ve become too big for much of this country’s complacent left to ignore. We’re accelerating towards a level of direness which people living under fascism so often can’t perceive at first, until the reality of their situation has finished creeping up onto them. By George Jackson’s definition of fascism, which is when capitalism forcibly maintains itself through reform, we’ve already been living under fascism for generations. With the Supreme Court’s decision and its ramifications, this is becoming more visible to more people.

A Post Roe World: Fascism Has Never Needed A Majority To Create A Hell-Scape In The Nations Where It Rises, by Kenn Orphan

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by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
June 25, 2022

The overturning of the landmark Roe v Wade case providing federal protection for a woman’s right to choose is both appalling and enraging. Now, several conservative states have already begun outlawing abortion rights. It is undeniable that women’s rights have taken an enormous blow, and the effect will have repercussions around the world.

Under His Eye in the Republic of Texas, by Kenn Orphan

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by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
June 23, 2022

If you’ve never traveled around the state of Texas, you won’t really get an accurate picture of this odd land of extremes. The cities, especially Austin and Houston, are islands of relative sanity surrounded by a sea of crazy. All this considered, the unveiling of the Texas GOP’s platform should come as no surprise. They have merely tapped into the paranoid, hyper-nationalist, fascist zeitgeist so prevalent among a large swath of its white, Christian population.

Stonewall was a Call for Revolution, Not a Celebration of Conformity, by Kenn Orphan + Stonewall Forever

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below

by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
June 15, 2022

As we observe Pride Month, we should remind ourselves that the original Pride Parade was a riot, not a celebration of conformity to society. There were no permits issued to the people who marched down those streets in New York City. There were no corporate, bank or military floats participating. And it was mocked by mainstream press like the New York Times.

The Chris Hedges Report: Disaster Patriarchy: The Assault on Women’s Rights, with V, aka Eve Ensler

Image by Lorie Shaull via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

TheRealNews on May 20, 2022

The leaked majority draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which suggests the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, returning the question of abortion to the states, is part of a broader assault against women.

21st Century Fascism: The Bid For Survival By A Dying Capitalist Order, by Rainer Shea

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by Rainer Shea
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rainer Shea’s Newsletter
May 7, 2022

In the midst of the threat of Roe V. Wade being overturned, and abortion being automatically banned in 13 states within the next two months, the calls from liberals to vote come across as totally vapid. This is because over the last several decades, we’ve seen dozens of times what happens whenever Democrats become the dominant party: they fail both due to their own lack of principles, and due to the reactionary nature of America’s political structures. Because of this, the paradigm is pushed further towards fascism regardless of which party is in charge. In the present moment, where U.S. hegemony is in decline and capitalism is the most unstable it’s ever been, this dynamic is intensifying.

Distinguishing Radical Liberation from Liberal Authoritarianism, by Kenn Orphan

Image by California National Guard via Flickr

by Kenn Orphan
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Halifax, Nova Scotia
December 14, 2021

“Puritanism has made life itself impossible. More than art, more than estheticism, life represents beauty in a thousand variations; it is indeed, a gigantic panorama of eternal change. Puritanism, on the other hand, rests on a fixed and immovable conception of life; it is based on the Calvinistic idea that life is a curse, imposed upon man by the wrath of God. In order to redeem himself man must do constant penance, must repudiate every natural and healthy impulse, and turn his back on joy and beauty.” — Emma Goldman

The Dynamic of Revolutionary Struggle in Turkey, by Yanis Iqbal + Turkey University Protests

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below

by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
February 12, 2021

Since January 4, 2021, student protests have been going on in Turkey. At Bogazici University in Istanbul, rectors are elected through free and fair elections by faculties. The only time in the institution’s history when these democratic processes were suspended was in the aftermath of the 1980 coup d’état. In today’s time, it is again being done.

Chris Hedges and Naomi Wolf: Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Dec 19, 2020

On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to author Naomi Wolf about the bitter legacy of British and western colonialism of rampant homophobia, so virulent that people to this day are murdered for being gay in countries such as Uganda or Egypt.

Abby Martin: Trump’s Growing War on the Trans Community

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Dandelion Salad

Updated: May 11, 2018, TeleSur replaced the video. ~DS

with Abby Martin

teleSUR English originally on Mar 28, 2018; replaced May 11, 2018

In 2016, more than 50 bills were introduced in Congress targeting Trans people. Since Trump took office, dozens of pieces of landmark legislation have been canceled, severely rolling back Trans rights.

Chris Hedges: The Struggle for Trans Rights

Image by Ted Eytan via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

RT America on Sep 3, 2017

On this week’s episode of On Contact, Chris Hedges is joined by trans rights activist Pauline Park. RT Correspondent Anya Parampil looks at the struggle of the transgender community.