Month: January 2009

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Obama’s New Bank Giveaway, by Michael Hudson

by Michael Hudson
Dandelion Salad
January 29, 2009

Is this administration’s bank policy Bush-3 – or Clinton-5 or Reagan 8?

After

(1) threatening for eight years that the prospect of a trillion-dollar deficit spread over a generation or so is sufficient reason to stiff Social Security recipients and abolish debts to the nation’s retirees, and

(2) after the Bush administration provided $8 trillion over the past three months in cash-for-trash swaps of good Treasury bonds for Wall Street junk derivatives, the Obama Administration is now speaking of

(3) some $2 to $4 trillion more to be given in just the next week or so.

Continue reading →

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Defense Department Establishes Civilian Expeditionary Workforce

Dandelion Salad

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2009 – The Defense Department is forming a civilian expeditionary workforce that will be trained and equipped to deploy overseas in support of military missions worldwide, according to department officials.

The intent of the program “is to maximize the use of the civilian workforce to allow military personnel to be fully utilized for operational requirements,” according to a Defense Department statement.

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England signed Defense Department Directive 1404.10, which outlines and provides guidance about the program, on Jan. 23.

[…]

via DefenseLink News Article: Defense Department Establishes Civilian Expeditionary Workforce.

h/t: CLG

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.

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North and South Korea stand on ‘the brink of war’

Dandelion Salad

By David Eimer in Beijing
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Last Updated: 11:56PM GMT 30 Jan 2009

North and South Korea stand on the ‘brink of war’ as Kim Jong-il’s tears up the non-aggression pact

In a significant escalation of tensions, North Korea cancelled all military and political agreements after accusing Seoul of aggressive posturing.

Pyongyang’s decision to nullify all accords increases the prospect of an armed confrontation on the Peninsula, where over a million soldiers face each other across the Demilitarised Zone that divides the two Koreas.

North Korea’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea blamed the South for pushing the two countries “to the brink of a war”.

via North and South Korea stand on ‘the brink of war’ – Telegraph.

h/t: ICH

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.

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Obama: A Strong Middle Class = A Strong America

Dandelion Salad

whitehouse

President Obama and Vice President Biden speak about the new Middle Class Task Force dedicated to raising the living standards of middle class families. Learn more at http://AStrongMiddleClass.gov.

(This video is public domain)

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Obama: A Strong Middle Class = A Stro…“, posted with vodpod

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Wither Wall Street, by Ralph Nader

Rep: Foreclosed owners should squat in their own homes

Tax Solution to Wretched Greed, by Joel S. Hirschhorn

The Economy Sucks and or Collapse 2

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Bill Moyers Journal: Bombing Civilians + The Cost of Ignorance

Dandelion Salad

Bill Moyers Journal
1.30.09

Marilyn Young and Pierre Sprey

Bill Moyers sits down with historian Marilyn Young, author of the forthcoming BOMBING CIVILIANS: A TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORY and former Pentagon official Pierre Sprey, who developed military planes and helped found the military reform movement.

via Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS.

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Vartan Gregorian

Bill Moyers talks the twelfth president of Carnegie Corporation of New York Vartan Gregorian about the perilous state of higher education in America. Gregorian is the former president of the New York Public Library and Brown University.

via Bill Moyers Journal . Watch & Listen | PBS.

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.

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CIA-ISI Jihadi “Frankenstein” Sows Chaos, Reaps Death

US air raid fuels Afghan anger

Biden vows more strikes inside Pakistan

Obama Allows Air Strikes In Pakistan! 17 Killed + Obama ordered Waziristan airstrikes

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Mosaic News – 1/30/09: World News From The Middle East

Dandelion Salad

Warning

This video may contain images depicting the reality and horror of war/violence and should only be viewed by a mature audience.

linktv

Mosaic needs your help! Donate here: http://linktv.org/contribute

Headlines coming soon. Produced for Link TV by Jamal Dajani.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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Israel faces calls for Gaza war crimes probe + Turkish PM clashes with Israel

Israel-Palestine-Gaza-Occupation

Gaza Crisis Appeal

http://www.bigcampaign.org/

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SOS Amazon! – “World Social Forum” Lends Indigenous Leaders and Supporters Opportunity to Defend Amazon Rainforest

by Shelley Bluejay Pierce
featured writer
Dandelion Salad
January 31, 2009

Photobucket

Led by Indigenous people from all across Latin America, over 1000 participants formed a human banner, using their bodies, to draw attention to the increasingly precarious situation of the Amazon rainforest. The wording was formed around the massive silhouette of an indigenous warrior taking aim with a bow and arrow. photo courtesy of Lou Dematteis/Spectral Q. Continue reading →

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Rep: Foreclosed owners should squat in their own homes

Dandelion Salad

David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
The Raw Story
Friday January 30, 2009

If you’re poor and the bank is coming for your home, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has a plan for you.

Just squat, she says.

Yes, this Ohio Democrat is actually encouraging her financially distressed constituents whose homes have been foreclosed upon, to simply stay put.

[…]

via The Raw Story | Rep: Foreclosed owners should squat in their own homes

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Wither Wall Street, by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
January 30, 2009

Soon after the passage in 1999 of the Clinton-Rubin-Summers-P. Graham deregulation of the financial industry, I boarded a US Air flight to Boston and discovered none other than then-Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers a few seats away. He was speaking loudly and constantly on his cell phone. When the plane took off he invited me to sit by him and talk.

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Prosecuting the Georgites: Begin with the Mundane? by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH

by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH
featured writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted on Buzzflash.com
January 30, 2009

The current debate on our side as to whether President Obama should “go after” the Georgites, right up to, or perhaps starting with, BushCheney echoes the debate on possible impeachment that occurred when the last Congress came to power. At the time, I put forth the view that it might be a good idea, despite the political risks, if one started on the mundane, such as corruption. One could start with it rather than with the truly important, such as the use of torture by the Administration, ordered/approved (depending upon how you read the known words) from the top. Among other things, violating the Geneva Conventions automatically violated Article Six of the Constitution (which makes ratified treaties part of the supreme law of the land). Given the incoming personnel at the top levels of the Justice Department, I do think the Administration will get there, sooner or later. But it has other priorities now, such as the economy, health care, and Israel/Palestine. And Congress, led by Rep. John Conyers, is already starting in on the top level Georgites, on the matter of violating the Constitution. So what might the Administration do right away?

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Paul Craig Roberts: US should listen to Putin + Putin’s Speech

Dandelion Salad

RussiaToday

Washington should listen to anti-crisis measures proposed by Vladimir Putin, according to Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant secretary of the U.S Treasury during the Reagan Administration.

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