“We do not want to die in the rubble of neoliberalism!” By Pierre Larrouturou, Translation by Siv O’Neall

By Pierre Larrouturou
Le Monde (Original in French), 30 April 2012
Translation by Siv O’Neall
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Axisoflogic.com, 7 May 2012
Lyon, France
13 May 2012

It seems perfectly clear that Roosevelt didn’t implement the various reforms to get out of the Great Depression from any excessive sense of charity (even though he was most likely a basically sound man) but really in order to save Capitalism. That’s a well-known fact and Pierre Larrouturou’s founding of Roosevelt 2012 does not to me make him a Messiah. However, through his reforms, FDR did save millions of people from lives in poverty, hunger and misery. He implemented new work relief programs – the WPA (Work Projects Administration) and also banking reforms, the ‘Emergency Banking Act’ and several other social reforms.

U.S. Envoys: Losing Lebanon—Visit by Visit? by Franklin Lamb

by Franklin Lamb
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Beirut, Lebanon
May 15, 2012

It might require a semanticist with Noam Chomsky’s erudition to explain to some of  us more obtuse the meanings, context, and policy nuances of two similar and repeated phases heard  in Lebanon earlier this month by two well listened to guests . During over-lapping visits of top US and Iranian officials to Lebanon; one warned and threatened Lebanon, while the second praised Lebanon’s “achievements”.  Admittedly, divining these Lebanese ‘achievements” is no mean task.

Smedley, Ike and Me: Anyone Listening, America? by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
May 19, 2012

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

In 1935, a book was published, War Is a Racket , by retired Marine General Smedley Butler. In this brief book Butler embellishes his belief that our nation’s foreign policy was controlled and manipulated by private corporate interests… all in the name of greed. Wars, invasions and occupations by our military, according to General Butler, were all predicated on the desire for profit by corporations. He himself called his past life as a Marine general as being a gangster for these private industrial interests. He used WW1 as an example of who made the profits for our military being sent ‘Over there’. Apparently, most of our American public at that time could not care less for what Smedley Butler was selling.

Ten Points Everyone Should Know About the Quebec Student Movement by Andrew Gavin Marshall

by Andrew Gavin Marshall
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
http://andrewgavinmarshall.com, May 14, 2012
May 20, 2012

The student strikes in Quebec, which began in February and have lasted for three months, involving roughly 175,000 students in the mostly French-speaking Canadian province, have been subjected to a massive provincial and national media propaganda campaign to demonize and dismiss the students and their struggle. The following is a list of ten points that everyone should know about the student movement in Quebec to help place their struggle in its proper global context.

Never forget that Bradley Manning, not gay marriage, is the issue, by John Pilger

Dandelion Salad

by John Pilger
www.johnpilger.com
May 20, 2012

Image by Poster Boy NYC via Flickr

In the week Barack Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, he  ordered bombing attacks on Yemen, killing a reported 63 people, 28 of them children. When Obama recently announced he supported same-sex marriage, American planes had not long blown 14 Afghan civilians to bits. In both cases, the mass murder was barely news. What mattered were the cynical vacuities of a political celebrity, the product of a zeitgeist driven by the forces of consumerism and the media with the aim of diverting the struggle for social and economic justice.

“The 15% Solution,” Serialization, 25th Installment: Chapter Twenty 2048: A Truly Democratic Presidential Speech, Part 5

Note: The Preface and Chapters One through Twenty can be found here: The 15% Solution

by Jonathan Westminster, Ph.D. aka Steven Jonas, MD, MPH
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted on TPJmagazine.us
May 20, 2012

This is the twenty-fifth installment of the serialization of a book entitled The 15% Solution: A Political History of American Fascism, 2001-2022.  Herein you will find “Part 5” of Chapter 20.  (This chapter is very long, and so it will be presented in five parts.) From the perspective of the 25^th Anniversary of the Restoration of U.S. Constitutional Democracy in 2048, this chapter discusses “what might have been done” to prevent the fall of the old United States into fascism. 

Victoria Grant on Canadian Banking: Money is Debt

Jesus casting out the money changers from the Temple by Giotto, 14th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dandelion Salad

May 8, 2012 by publicbankingtv

12-year old Victoria Grant explains why her homeland, Canada, and most of the world, is in debt. April 27, 2012 at the Public Banking in America Conference, Philadelphia, PA. Support a public bank for YOUR state. Donate and make it happen!

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Quiet Drama in Philadelphia by Ellen Brown + Philadelphia Rally Against State Austerity Measures

by Ellen Brown
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
webofdebt.com
May 18, 2012

Image by Paul Williams (Iron Ammonite) via Flickr

“You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.  You will not be able to skip out for beer during commercials.  Because the revolution will not be televised. . . . The revolution will be live.”

–From the 1970 hit song by Gil Scott-Heron

Last week, the city of Philadelphia’s school system announced that it expects to close 40 public schools next year, and 64 schools by 2017. The school district expects to lose 40% of its current enrollment, and thousands of experienced, qualified teachers.