“All the News That’s Fit to Print” by Ed Dunphy

by Ed Dunphy
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
August 15, 2010

On October 25, 1896 The New York Times slogan: “All the News That’s Fit to Print” made its first appearance on the editorial page.  The long reigning well known slogan of the New York Times, is now a figment of our imagination.  What do you think Arthur S. Ochs Sr. would feel about former Times columnist Bill Kristol as cheerleader for the illegal invasion of Iraq?   Do you think Kristol would have even made it through the first interview from the Times personnel office?  How do you think Woodward and Bernstein would have fared with today’s media?  Do you think Watergate would have even made it to the six o’clock news?    Even some of the most progressive people I know think they are getting all the news that is fit to hear from people like Anderson Cooper and his ilk.   According to media reform more than 1 in 4 Internet users in the U.S. now log in with AOL Time-Warner, the world’s largest media corporation, for their news.

Wake Up Obama by Joel S. Hirschhorn

by Joel S. Hirschhorn
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
www.foavc.org
Aug. 15, 2010

If the United States is not kaput it is certainly withering away even as a rich upper class enjoys all the things that money buys.  There is massive, widespread economic pain inflicting a huge fraction of Americans who are unemployed, underemployed, relying on food stamps, losing their homes, and who are feeling totally insecure financially.  This maintains sluggish consumer spending that makes necessary economic growth impossible.

The corporate bigwigs meanwhile are essentially using economic blackmail as they sit on trillions of dollars in cash, refusing to invest their capital and making great profits because they have cut workers and increased productivity.  They want even more benefits from government that they think Republicans will give them.

Pakistan: Bombs not Bread by Felicity Arbuthnot

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
15 August, 2010

” .. to wade through slaughter … and shut the gates of mercy on mankind.” Thomas Gray (1716-1771.)

The scale of the disaster caused by the floods in Pakistan, is barely comprehensible. As Juan Cole has written, expressing near disbelief : “The submerged area of the country is as big as the United Kingdom, fourteen million Pakistanis are affected, two million are homeless.” Six million need immediate relief, according to the UN., and thirty six thousand are suffering from acute diarrhoeal symptoms, with cholera already diagnosed. 1,600 are reported dead, with the number certain to multiply. Famine is a real possibility.

U.S.-China Conflict: From War Of Words To Talk Of War, Part I by Rick Rozoff

by Rick Rozoff
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Stop NATO
Stop NATO-Opposition to global militarism
Aug. 15, 2010

Relations between the U.S. and China have been steadily deteriorating since the beginning of the year when Washington confirmed the completion of a $6.4 billion arms deal with Taiwan and China suspended military-to-military ties with the U.S. in response.

In January the Chinese Defense Ministry announced the cessation of military exchanges between the two countries and the Foreign Ministry warned of enforcing sanctions against American companies involved with weapons sales to Taiwan.

The Washington Post reported afterward that during a two-day Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing this May attended by approximately 65 U.S. officials, Rear Admiral Guan Youfei of the People’s Liberation Army accused Washington of “plotting to encircle China with strategic alliances” and said arms deals with Taiwan “prove that the United States views China as an enemy.” [1]

The Other US Eco Disaster: Mountain Top Removal (2009; videos no longer available)

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

Sorry the videos are no longer available.

RussiaToday | August 15, 2010

A multi-award winning film, Mountain Top Removal documents one of the greatest environmental and human rights catastrophes in American history. In the coalfields of Appalachia, West Virginia, individuals, families and entire communities are being driven off their land by flooding, landslides and blasting resulting from mountain top removal coal mining.

A film by two-time EMMY winner Michael Cusack O’Connell.

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.”

My Testimonial: Eid al-Fitr, 9/11, and my status in America by Sami Kishawi

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by Sami Kishawi
Sixteen Minutes to Palestine
August 15, 2010

I came across a rogue news headline that said “Eid festival expected to fall on 9/11. US protesters demand it be moved to another day out of respect for victims”. This isn’t just ridiculous or absurd. This is blatant prejudice. And this is my testimonial.

For those who might not know, Eid al-Fitr is a celebration or festival that Muslims observe to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Just like other Muslim holidays, it’s a strictly religious and cultural affair. It celebrates the end of the fasting period and the beginning of a purified way of life. There is absolutely no political significance to it whatsoever.

Come On Down! It’s Time to Play “Social Security Survivor”!

http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by Richard (RJ) Eskow
OurFuture.org
Aug. 3, 2010

A broad coalition of groups has been formed to defend Social Security, and the videos announcing it are all worth watching. Of all the ideas proposed, my personal favorite comes from AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee: A new reality show starring the people who want to cut Social Security. He suggests having John Boehner, billionaire benefit-cut advocate Peter G. Peterson, and Deficit Commission chairs Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles live for a year on the average Social Security benefit of $14,000.

“They won’t get a COLA (cost of living increase,” says McEntee, “but they’ll still have to deduct $100 a month for Medicare Part B and still have to pay $200 a month for Medigap insurance.” (The video of his comments is below.)