Four Major Reasons Why Thanking People For Wars Is Not A Path To Saving Lives, by David Swanson

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the video below

by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy, July 13, 2021
July 16, 2021

If I were to just read the admirable recent study of U.S. military suicides from the Costs of War Project, my inclination would immediately be to join with President Biden and start proclaiming the war on Afghanistan a success, or with Obama in announcing that the Korean War was a success after all, or with the general U.S. establishment in declaring all wars a noble “service” of some sort. One of the factors that the study suggests may contribute to suicides among recent veterans of U.S. wars is the failure of the rest of us to declare the abominations they’ve taken part in to have been worthwhile. If people are going to refrain from killing themselves if we just pretend to find their wars heroic and glorious, it seems the least we can do, and really not much at all to ask for.

Michael Hudson: Banking Deep Dive + Ellen Brown and Abby Martin on Public Banking in LA

Image by killabodhi via Flickr

by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
November 4, 2018

An interview with one of the best in the business, Bonnie Faulkner (Guns and Butter).

The US Government Is The Largest Launderer Of Marijuana Cash In The Nation by Ellen Brown

Image by Federacion de Asociaciones Cannabicas (FAC) via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog
January 24, 2018

In a blatant example of “do as I say, not as I do,” the US government is profiting handsomely by accepting marijuana cash in the payment of taxes while imposing huge penalties on banks for accepting it as deposits. Onerous reporting requirements are driving small local banks to sell out to Wall Street. Congress needs to harmonize federal with state law.

Self-Censored Questions by Career Questioners by Ralph Nader

Image by Federacion de Asociaciones Cannabicas (FAC) via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page, April 3, 2017
April 5, 2017

I’ve always been intrigued by the major questions not asked by reporters at press conferences, not asked by legislators at public hearings or even the questions citizens at town meetings don’t ask public officials. It’s not that they do not know about or could not easily become informed enough about a given issue and ask substantive questions. It’s just that so many taboos are packed into these questioners’ ideological mindset, career goals or concern with what other people over them might think. Maybe it is a culturally-rooted fear of challenging entrenched power brokers.

The War on Weed Part II: Monsanto, Bayer, and the Push for Corporate Cannabis by Ellen Brown

Image by Federacion de Asociaciones Cannabicas (FAC) via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog
July 7, 2016

California’s “Adult Use of Marijuana Act” (AUMA) is a voter initiative characterized as legalizing marijuana use. But critics warn that it will actually make access more difficult and expensive, squeeze home growers and small farmers out of the market, heighten criminal sanctions for violations, and open the door to patented, genetically modified (GMO) versions that must be purchased year after year.

The War on Weed Is Winding Down – But Will Monsanto Be the Winner? by Ellen Brown

Image by Newtown grafitti via Flickr

by Ellen Brown
Writer, Dandelion Salad
The Web of Debt Blog
June 23, 2016

The war on cannabis that began in the 1930s seems to be coming to an end. Research shows that this natural plant, rather than posing a deadly danger to health, has a wide range of therapeutic benefits. But skeptics question the sudden push for legalization, which is largely funded by wealthy investors linked to Big Ag and Big Pharma.

Let Our Farmers Grow… Hemp by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
Oct. 19, 2011

Image by Gregory Jordan via Flickr

Congressman Ron Paul introduced H.R. 1831, the “Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011” on May 11th of this year. It is a simple bill at just two pages in length, and it would legalize the growing of industrial hemp in the United States.

Currently farmers can grow industrial hemp only if they have received a permit from the DEA – a prospect that the agency has made all but impossible for decades. Otherwise, it is illegal to grow.

‘Class’ with Joe Bageant

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

FORA.tv

How did hemp go from being a popular industrial material to a banned substance in 1937? Author Joe Bageant describes how the non-psychoactive plant was once used in everything from paper to automobiles, until a targeted PR campaign forever tied hemp’s image to it’s cousin, marijuana.

Joe Bageant is a renowned commentator on the politics of class in the US. His previous novel, Deer Hunting with Jesus, has been been turned into a play and an upcoming tv series. His regular online columns have made him a cult hero among political progressives and gonzo-journalism junkies. Bageant’s latest book Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir is a coming-of-age story set in post-World War II America in the small white tribes of West Virginia, where a massive social and economic shift from agrarian to urbanization has meant the heavy loss of meaningful work and community. Representing the ‘hillbilly’ class as a minority, Bageant laments ‘the piece of the rainbow pie’ promised to the working class of his forefathers, which never materialized. He praises the ‘white trash’ trucker heroes, who stood up to the corporate oppressors by unionizing, helping to form a middle class, and finally affording an education for their children.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Hemp, and Empire by Rand Clifford

Image via Wikipedia

by Rand Clifford
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
August 15, 2010

“…the continuous consolidation of money and power into higher, tighter and righter hands.”

That was GHW Bush’s answer to reporter Sarah McClendon’s question in 1992 regarding what Iran-Contra was all about. He also told her that, “If the American people really knew what we had done, we would be chased down the streets and lynched.”

Bill Moyers Journal: James K. Galbraith + Richard Brookhiser

Dandelion Salad

Bill Moyers Journal
October 30, 2009

James K. Galbraith

Economic recovery in review. The Dow’s up, but why are Main Street Americans still reeling from last year’s economic collapse? With Americans still facing rising unemployment, foreclosures, and declining property values, renowned economist James K. Galbraith on whether we’ve averted another crisis and how to get help for the middle class.

Free trade and Mexico’s drug war + War on drugs and Mexico’s demise

Dandelion Salad

TheRealNews

Miguel Tinker Salas: Collapse of traditional economy created the space for the cartels to grow.

Ron Paul On Legalizing Marijuana: Drug War Is A Horrible Failure

Dandelion Salad

Replaced the 1st video Nov. 30, 2009

melioped
April 15, 2009

more about “Ron Paul On Legalizing Marijuana: Dru…“, posted with vodpod

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Legalizing Pot

April 16, 2009 CNN

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Legalizing Pot“, posted with vodpod

see

Poll: Should Drugs Be Legal?

A criminally stupid war on drugs in the US By Clive Crook (updated: added video and poll)

Poll: Should Drugs Be Legal?

Dandelion Salad

April 14, 2009

Here are 2 polls you can participate in.  Vote directly in the poll box below then go to the link to vote in CNN’s poll. ~ DS

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CNN

Do you think the United States should legalize drugs?

No way

Yes, all drugs

Only marijuana

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/13/vote-should-drugs-be-legal-in-the-us/

results 4.14.09 2:00 PM CDT:

No way	7%	110
Yes, all drugs	49%	753
Only marijuana	43%	660
Total Votes: 1523

This is not a scientific poll

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

see

A criminally stupid war on drugs in the US By Clive Crook (updated: added video and poll)

Marijuana on Dandelion Salad

A criminally stupid war on drugs in the US By Clive Crook (updated) (videos + poll)

Dandelion Salad

Update: April 14, 2009 added video and poll

By Clive Crook
ICH
April 12, 2009 “Financial Times”

How much misery can a policy cause before it is acknowledged as a failure and reversed? The US “war on drugs” suggests there is no upper limit. The country’s implacable blend of prohibition and punitive criminal justice is wrong-headed in every way: immoral in principle, since it prosecutes victimless crimes, and in practice a disaster of remarkable proportions. Yet for a US politician to suggest wholesale reform of this brainless regime is still seen as an act of reckless self-harm.

Even a casual observer can see that much of the damage done in the US by illegal drugs is a result of the fact that they are illegal, not the fact that they are drugs. Vastly more lives are blighted by the brutality of prohibition, and by the enormous criminal networks it has created, than by the substances themselves. This is true of cocaine and heroin as well as of soft drugs such as marijuana. But the assault on consumption of marijuana sets the standard for the policy’s stupidity.

[…]

via A criminally stupid war on drugs in the US

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LEGALIZE ALL DRUGS!

video no longer available

VOTERSTHINKdotORG

http://earth2obama.org/

April 13, 2009 CNN

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “LEGALIZE ALL DRUGS!“, posted with vodpod

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Update

Note: replaced video Sept. 17, 2011

95% Of CNN Viewers Want Marijuana Legalized!

ChronicSmokers420 on May 21, 2009

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CNN

Do you think the United States should legalize drugs?

No way

Yes, all drugs

Only marijuana

http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/13/vote-should-drugs-be-legal-in-the-us/

results 4.14.09 2:00 PM CDT:

No way	7%	110
Yes, all drugs	49%	753
Only marijuana	43%	660
Total Votes: 1523

This is not a scientific poll

see

Poll: Should Drugs Be Legal?

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/category/drugs/

Marijuana on Dandelion Salad

One Medical Marijuana Provider In CA Produces OVER 100,000 Dollars A Month In Tax Revenues (updated)

Dandelion Salad

Update: added a link to a  story; see below

VOTERSTHINKdotORG

http://earth2obama.org/

March 29, 2009 CNN

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “One Medical Marijuana Provider In CA …“, posted with vodpod

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Update

Would Marijuana Light Up the Economy?

By Mark Follman
Mother Jones
Fri March 27, 2009 1:22 PM PST

Guest blogger Mark Follman writes frequently about current affairs and culture at markfollman.com.

The debate about whether to legalize marijuana in the United States has never been a mainstream one. So it’s been fascinating to watch how much attention the concept has gotten lately, however viable it may or may not be.

Preoccupation with the violent drug war is one factor; marijuana is the largest source of revenue for the Mexican cartels’ multibillion dollar business north of the border. Commodify the major cash crop through legalization, the idea goes, and its cost will plummet, putting a serious dent in the bad guys’ bank accounts.

[…]

via Would Marijuana Light Up the Economy? | Mother Jones.

see

Red State Update: Legalize Drugs, Save Mexico

Ron Paul: It’s Time To End Prohibition Of Marijuana!

Marijuana on Dandelion Salad