The Deficit Commission

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

http://therealnews.com

Hickey: The Republican proposed deficit committee would be used to force through cuts in social programs

Roger Hickey is co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, an organization launched by 100 prominent Americans to expand the national debate about America’s economic future. The Campaign seeks to empower working Americans, middle-class families, and the poor to make their voices heard in support of a populist economic agenda and an expansion of democracy. Recently, Hickey organized and helped to lead a national coalition of citizen leaders known as Americans United to Protect Social Security.

Rage Against the Machine: Killing in the Name

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

mr1001nights
December 25, 2009

With a Chomsky intro and some added images

more about “Killing in the Name by Rage Against t…“, posted with vodpod

see

Is Chomsky an Anarchist?

Superpower (2008; must-see)

Modern-Day American Imperialism: The Middle East and Beyond by Noam Chomsky (2008)

Industrial Worker (IWW Newspaper) interviews Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky on Dandelion Salad

Modern-Day American Imperialism: The Middle East and Beyond by Noam Chomsky (2008)

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by Noam Chomsky
ZNet
Dec. 24, 2009

[A Talk delivered at Boston University, March 17, 2009. Transcribed by Steve Lyne]

I’ve been asked to talk about modern-day American imperialism. That’s a rather challenging task. In fact, talking about American imperialism is rather like talking about triangular triangles. The United States is the one country that exists, as far as I know, and ever has, that was founded as an empire explicitly. According to the founding fathers, when the country was founded it was an “infant empire.” That’s George Washington. Modern-day American imperialism is just a later phase of a process that has continued from the very first moment without a break, going in a very steady line. So, we are looking at one phase in a process that was initiated when the country was founded and has never changed.

Christmas in the Holy Land: Protests, Arrests, Santas and Drums

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

GazaFreedomMarch
December 21, 2009

Thanks to neverbeforecampaign for this video about conditions in the historical Holy Land. A slide show of images from the near east showing conditions under the occupation and siege.

more about “Christmas in the Holy Land – 2009“, posted with vodpod

***

This Xmas in Bilin – ‏ 25-12-09

Christmas in Gaza: LET THEM IN! by Eileen Coles + Viva Palestina convoy reaches Syria

by Eileen Coles
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted at www.docudharma.com/diary
Dec. 25, 2009

Right now, 1362 activist marchers are attempting to get into Gaza from Egypt with humanitarian aid (food and medical supplies) and toys for children.

The Egyptian government has closed the border and will not allow anyone through. CodePink is one of the organizations supporting the march, and has requested that people who want to show support call the Egyptian Embassies both in Cairo and/or Washington DC. Desiree is there with beanie babies for the children. Desiree and Liz got back to me 24 hours ago and said no, they are still not in.

On the Edge with Max Keiser: Healthcare, Lobbyists and Peak Oil

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

MaxKeiserTV
December 25, 2009

http://maxkeiser.com

more about “On the Edge with Max Keiser – 25 Dece…“, posted with vodpod

At Christmas, Ex-Guantánamo Prisoner Is Reunited With His Family by Andy Worthington

by Andy Worthington
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.andyworthington.co.uk
25 December 2009

On December 21, the following article, written by Kevin Cullen, was published by the Boston Globe. It brings up to date the story of Oybek Jabbarov, an innocent man from Uzbekistan, held in Guantánamo for nearly eight years, who was finally freed in September and given a new home in Ireland. As I reported at the time, Jabbarov had been cleared for release by a military review board in 2007, but was unable to return home because of fears that he would be tortured if he was repatriated. It took almost three years for the US State Department to find him a new home, but even after being freed it seemed that Jabbarov’s life had been irredeemably ruined through his lost years in Guantánamo, because he had no idea where his wife and two young sons were, and no way of knowing if he would ever be reunited with them. In his article, Kevin Cullen explained what happened to Oybek Jabbarov’s wife and sons, and I can think of no better way to mark Christmas than to cross-post his article.

A Holiday Reunion

Obama’s Role in the Militarization of Mexico by Mike Whitney

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by Mike Whitney
Global Research, December 24, 2009

An Interview with Laura Carlsen

“Militarization is not the way to deal with Mexico’s political crisis.” — Laura Carlsen

Mike Whitney— Will you explain what Plan Mexico is and how it relates to the North American Free Trade Agreement? (NAFTA)

Laura Carlsen: Plan Mexico, also called the Merida Initiative, is a three-year regional security cooperation plan devised by the former Bush administration and presented in October of 2007. The plan grew out of the extension of NAFTA into security areas, known as the Security and Prosperity Partnership. Originally Plan Mexico was to be announced in the context of the SPP trinational summit but was delayed. It is presented as a petition of the Mexican president Felipe Calderon for US help in the war on drugs but in reality it was designed in Washington as a way to “push out the borders” of the US security perimeter, that is, that Mexico would take on US security priorities including policing its southern border and allowing US companies and agents into Mexico’s intelligence and security operations.

Does Economics Deserve a Nobel Prize? by Michael Hudson (1970)

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

By Michael Hudson
Global Research, December 24, 2009
- 1970-12-10

Reality & Relevance rather than “Purity” & Elegance are the Burning Issues in Economics Today

It is bad enough that the field of psychology has for so long been a non-social science, viewing the motive forces of personality as deriving from internal psychic experiences rather than from man’s interaction with his social setting. Similarly in the field of economics: since its “utilitarian” revolution about a century ago, this discipline has also abandoned its analysis of the objective world and its political, economic productive relations in favor of more introverted, utilitarian and welfare-oriented norms. Moral speculations concerning mathematical psychics have come to displace the once-social science of political economy.

Dennis Kucinich on the healthcare reform bill on BBC News

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

BBC News – Democrat Congressman on healthcare reform bill
24 Dec. 2009

Is war necessary for progress?

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http://therealnews.com

Robert Pollin: It’s not war that creates technological development, it’s the state investment