Colombia: Stories That Kill

Dandelion Salad

Warning

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

linktv
July 06, 2009

More at http://www.linktv.org/latinpulse
(Latin Pulse: July 2, 2009) Plagued by violence, drug trafficking, and corruption, Colombia is one of the world’s most dangerous places to be a journalist. We look at what kind of speech is being silenced, by whom, and how. Today, independent journalists working up against the boundaries of free speech share with us their struggle to tell the stories of the country’s bloody reality, a task they feel is key to creating more peaceful Colombia. Join us as our team, supported by Mark Shapiro of the Center for Investigative Reporting, speaks with award-winning journalist Hollman Morris, who explains why the secret police monitor his activities and the president calls him a terrorist. He and others like him work to expose the reasons and effects of Colombias conflicts. They speak out despite the risk to their lives to give voice to the victims of war, the indigenous, and the opposition, working to achieve peace.

Chiquita in Latin America: From Arbenz to Zelaya by Nikolas Kozloff

Dandelion Salad

by Nikolas Kozloff
ICH
July 17, 2009 “Counterpunch”

When the Honduran military overthrew the democratically elected government of Manuel Zelaya two weeks ago there might have been a sigh of relief in the corporate board rooms of Chiquita banana.  Earlier this year the Cincinnati-based fruit company joined Dole in criticizing the government in Tegucigalpa which had raised the minimum wage by 60%.  Chiquita complained that the new regulations would cut into company profits, requiring the firm to spend more on costs than in Costa Rica: 20 cents more to produce a crate of pineapple and ten cents more to produce a crate of bananas to be exact.  In all, Chiquita fretted that it would lose millions under Zelaya’s labor reforms since the company produced around 8 million crates of pineapple and 22 million crates of bananas per year.

When the minimum wage decree came down Chiquita sought help and appealed to the Honduran National Business Council, known by its Spanish acronym COHEP.  Like Chiquita, COHEP was unhappy about Zelaya’s minimum wage measure.  Amílcar Bulnes, the group’s president, argued that if the government went forward with the minimum wage increase employers would be forced to let workers go, thus increasing unemployment in the country.  The most important business organization in Honduras, COHEP groups 60 trade associations and chambers of commerce representing every sector of the Honduran economy.  According to its own Web site, COHEP is the political and technical arm of the Honduran private sector, supports trade agreements and provides “critical support for the democratic system.”

[…]

via Chiquita in Latin America  : Information Clearing House – ICH

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Honduras coup leader ready to quit

Washington & the Coup in Honduras + U.S. continues to train Honduran soldiers

Colombia: Stories That Kill

Chiquita: Between life and law

Military Coup Honduras Zelaya

from the archives:

Chiquita pays for paramilitary ties + Colombia Outraged Over Chiquita Fine By Joshua Goodman

Viva Palestina: 24 Hours in Gaza By Soozy Duncan

Dandelion Salad

By Soozy Duncan
July 17, 2009 “Information Clearing House”

Allowed only 24 hours in Gaza under threat of not being allowed to return to Egypt, the Viva Palestina convoy has been a whirlwind of activity since crossing the border at Rafah Wednesday night. Organizers have attempted to compress 3 days of planned activities into a single day.

Thursday started by watching a press conference featuring Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh with members of the Neturei Karta, an organization of anti-Zionist Rabbis from Munsey, New York, who traveled with the caravan. Haniyeh emphasized that the government and the people of Gaza take no issue with Jews, but rather with Zionism and the ongoing oppression and blockade by Israel. Rabbi Dovid Weissman concurred that Jews, Christians and Muslims had coexisted peacefully in Muslim countries for centuries prior to the birth of Zionism, and asked for the people of Gaza to join him in praying for the peaceful dismantlement of the state of Israel.

Legendary CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite dies at 92 + Kucinich’s Statement

Dandelion Salad

Sympathies and condolences to his family and friends the world over.  RIP Walter Cronkite.

By Mark Washburn
http://www.mcclatchydc.com
Charlotte Observer
July 17, 2009

He led us to Saigon, to Jonestown, to Selma, to Attica.

He escorted us to all corners of the Earth, then he showed us to the moon.

As anchorman of the “CBS Evening News,” Walter Cronkite — who died Friday at age 92 after a period of failing health, family members said — not only narrated a tumultuous era in American life, but presided over the instant that television achieved its thunderbolt potential to be the most powerful communication tool in history.

That defining moment unfolded Nov. 22, 1963, after Cronkite was drawn to the urgent, five-bell summons of the United Press International ticker in the CBS newsroom: Shots had been fired at the motorcade of President John F. Kennedy.
[…]

via Legendary CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite dies at 92 | McClatchy

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Walter Cronkite announces death of JFK

maxpowers518
March 27, 2009

Walter Cronkite announcing the death of JFK on November 22, 1963.

R.I.P. Walter Cronkite
(November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009)
CBS News Anchor (April 16, 1962 – March 6, 1981)
A true professional in his field…he will be missed.

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1968 King Assassination Report (CBS News)

Bernie Sanders: Public Healthcare Plan

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SenatorSanders
July 14, 2009

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h/t: Jack Smith

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Healthcare: Change the Debate Support a Real Public Option + Urgent by Dennis Kucinich

Tell Media: Include Single-Payer in Healthcare Debate

Wendell Potter: They Dump the Sick to Satisfy Investors

Kucinich Opening Statement to Committee on America’s Affordable Health Choices Act

John Yoo cancels class when “student” protests torture

Dandelion Salad

WatchDogxx
July 16, 2009

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h/t: After Downing Street

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I’ve Seen 1,200 Torture Photos By David Swanson

Torture on Dandelion Salad

John Yoo-4th Amendment-Torture

Healthcare: Change the Debate Support a Real Public Option + Urgent by Dennis Kucinich

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by Dennis Kucinich
kucinich.us
Wednesday, 15 July 2009

Dear Friends,

In mid-May, in an effort to reach consensus, President Obama secured a deal with the health insurance companies to trim 1.5% of their costs each year for ten years saving a total of $2 trillion dollars, which would be reprogrammed into healthcare. Just two days after the announcement at the White House the insurance companies reneged on the deal which was designed to protect and increase their revenue at least 35% The insurance companies reneged on the deal because they refuse any restraint on increasing premiums, copays and deductibles – core to their profits. No wonder a recent USA Today poll found that only four percent of Americans trust insurance companies. This is within the margin of error, which means it is possible that NO ONE TRUSTS insurance companies.

Then why does Congress trust the insurance companies? Yesterday HR 3200 “America’s Affordable Health Choices Act,” a 1000 page bill was delivered to members. The title of the bill raises a question: “Affordable” for whom?.

Clinton Outlines Continuation of Bush Policies Under Obama at CFR By Jeremy R. Hammond

By Jeremy R. Hammond
Featured Writer
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Foreign Policy Journal
July 17, 2009

In a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlined the Obama administration’s foreign policy, which has been widely touted as a sharp break from that of his predecessor’s. Judging from commentary in the media, Obama has ushered in a new age of diplomacy and international engagement. Clinton herself suggested as much.

But setting aside the platitudes that comprised most of Clinton’s speech and looking closely at her remarks that actually spoke meaningfully towards U.S. policy under the Obama, a different picture emerges, one not of a change of course from Bush but rather of near perfect continuity between the two administrations.

Obama’s foreign policy parallels Bush’s. The train may have switched tracks, but it’s still headed in the same direction.

Tell Media: Include Single-Payer in Healthcare Debate

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http://www.fair.org

Add your name below to FAIR’s petition

Reforming the dysfunctional U.S. healthcare system is a major issue in the news these days. The goal of the reform efforts, we’re told, is to expand coverage to the uninsured and to reduce costs. But what many experts and citizens see as the most sensible solution to these problems is kept out of the discussion by the corporate media.

Single-payer national health insurance is a model in which healthcare delivery would remain largely private but would be paid for by a single federal health insurance fund (much like Medicare provides for seniors). Single-payer is favored by a majority of Americans and physicians, according to recent polls (New York Times/CBS, 1/11-15/09, Annals of Internal Medicine, 4/1/08).

Yet a recent study by FAIR found that of hundreds of stories about healthcare in major outlets earlier this year, only five stories included the views of advocates of single-payer–none of which appeared on the TV networks. In May, news coverage of the arrests of single-payer advocates showed that practically the only way to get single-payer mentioned in the corporate media is to get thrown out of Senate hearings.

Let’s send a message to the networks: The insurance lobbies and many politicians don’t want to talk about single-payer. But that makes it all the more important that the media do. Sign our petition to ABC, CBS and NBC, demanding that single-payer be a part of their coverage of the healthcare debate. Add your name below to lend your voice to this effort to broaden the debate over the broken U.S. healthcare system.

Take Action: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting

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ABC Censors Obama’s Longtime Doctor

fairnessandaccuracy
July 16, 2009

Dr. David Scheiner speaks out about how he was mysteriously uninvited from ABC’s recent healthcare forum. Sign the petition at fair.org to demand that TV networks to stop censoring the debate on healthcare!

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Wendell Potter: They Dump the Sick to Satisfy Investors

Kucinich Opening Statement to Committee on America’s Affordable Health Choices Act