Letter to President Obama on Professor Elizabeth Warren by Ralph Nader

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
July 20, 2010

Dear President Obama:

It is time for you to give taxpayers, consumers, and investors a reason to believe that you are truly interested in consumer protection by nominating Professor Elizabeth Warren to be the Director of the much-anticipated Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Professor Warren combines rigorous scholarship, a superb sense of needed change and clear ways to communicate those needs to families and individuals around the country. Consumer leaders know that Professor Warren has been a strong and talented Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) reviewing the current state of financial markets and the regulatory system.

In addition, Professor Warren had the vision and good sense to propose and advocate for the creation of an entity much like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Day 91: Bev’s take + Our stake in the story, by Roxanne Amico

by Roxanne Amico
Dandelion Salad
Spiritmorph Studio
July 20, 2010

Today is DAY NINETY-ONE in the BP crimes against our planet and people. The corporatacracy of US-BP wants you to believe that because (they SAY) the “leak” is capped, the story is happily ended. NOT. First, the leak is NOT stopped.  Second, the story of their lies and murderous ways continues below.  Below first is a quote apropos to this post, and then my commentary, and then another installment of (33) excerpts and links about what’s going on a mile below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, while the ticker tape tells us more tricks… [NOTE: I’ve been aiming for shorter more frequent posts with fewer links, but since my last post, my car has given me serious headaches and taken up a lot of energy and time.  I don’t like when my job and personal life derail my work, but sometimes I just have to ride that wave…Thankfully, writing is one of my rafts on that river…]

BP Oil Poisons the Gulf of Mexico’s Food Chain by Dahr Jamail

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by Dahr Jamail
ipsnews.net
19 July, 2010

NEW ORLEANS, United States, Jul 20, 2010 IPS/IFEJ – Shellfish in the Gulf of Mexico grow with drops of petroleum inside them, coyotes eat oil-soaked birds, and sharks suffocate when the oil coats their gills.

Oil droplets have been found beneath the shells of tiny post-larval blue crabs drifting into Mississippi coastal marshes from offshore waters, says Harriet Perry, director of the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory.

Many kinds of fish and shore birds feed on those young crabs. And this is just one of the many examples of how the crude oil that began to spill Apr. 20 from British Petroleum’s (PB) Deepwater Horizon well has already taken its toll on the Gulf’s food chain.

[…]

via BP Oil Poisons the Gulf of Mexico’s Food Chain – IPS ipsnews.net

Mustafa Barghouti on the rising non-violent movement in Palestine (updated)

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

Updated this post.

Palestinian Loss of Land 1946 to 2005 Info-map orders: PIAG https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/ Update: 7.20.10 added Part 2 Update: 7.19.10 replaced video [Note: video taken down by TRNN; will replace it when a new one becomes available.] TheRealNews | July 17, 2010 Dr. Mustafa Barghouti on Palestinian political dynamics and the realities of Middle East Peace  … Read More

via Dandelion Salad

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The Illegality of Israel’s Naval Blockade of Gaza by Jeremy R. Hammond

by Jeremy R. Hammond
Featured Writer
DandelionSalad
Foreign Policy Journal
20 July, 2010

In “The Legal Basis of Israel’s Naval Blockade of Gaza” at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), Professor Emeritus of International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ruth Lapidoth argues that Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, in which nine Turkish peace activists were killed by Israeli commandos, was perfectly “legal”.

Lapidoth begins by arguing that “the rules of the laws of armed conflict apply” to the “armed conflict” between Israel and Hamas. From this, Lapidoth draws the conclusion that, “This means that Israel may control shipping headed for Gaza—even when the vessels are still on the high seas.”

BP’s Scheme to Swindle the “Small People” by Dahr Jamail

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

by Dahr Jamail
t r u t h o u t
19 July, 2010

Gulf Coast fishermen and others with lost income claims against BP are outraged by a recent announcement that the $20 billion government-administered claim fund will subtract money they earn by working on the cleanup effort from any future damage claims against BP. This move, according to lawyers in Louisiana working on behalf of Louisiana fishermen and others affected by the BP oil disaster, contradicts an earlier BP statement in which the company promised it would do no such thing.

Kenneth Feinberg, who was appointed by President Obama as the independent administrator of the Gulf Claims Facility for the $20 billion BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster compensation fund, said yesterday that the wages earned by people working on BP’s cleanup will be deducted from their claims against the company.

The Casey Sheehan “End to War” Bill by Cindy Sheehan

by Cindy Sheehan
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox
July 20, 2010

My son, Casey, joined the military in 2000, shortly before his 21^st birthday, to help pay for college. He had already completed everything he could take at the local JC and was eager to move on—but he had a fulltime job, and even though we (his dad and I) helped out as much as we could, Casey also had three younger siblings and our family was firmly ensconced in the working-class.

Well, 16 months after he enlisted was September 11, 2001—and no matter what really happened that day—I had a horrible sense of foreboding that it would lead to my son’s early death—and no matter how much I prayed, or cajoled him not to go, or worried—my worst fears were realized and Casey was killed just hours after arriving in Iraq on April 04, 2004.

Impeach Obama? by Cindy Sheehan

by Cindy Sheehan
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog
Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox
July 20, 2010

Recently, I received an email from Veterans for Peace (VFP) Chapter 136 in Central Florida asking me for an endorsement of its resolution to impeach Barack Obama.