The Quiet Revolution: Combating Climate Change by Lesley Docksey

by Lesley Docksey
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
originally published on dissidentvoice.org, Dec. 2, 2012
Nov. 28, 2012

Image by Ray Janus @ 350.org via Flickr

While the great and the not so good were preparing to jet to Doha to disagree over what, if anything, they were going to do about climate change (and indigenous people everywhere wring their hands), and the British government was preparing to allow a possible 60% of the UK to be affected by shale gas exploration, Crisis Forum was presenting the last in a series of workshops on Climate Change and Violence.  We tried to remain positive, but…  To help prepare us the organiser, Dr Mark Levene, asked us to consider these deliberately provocative questions:

Inequality and Poverty America Style–In Richness and in Health by Graham Peebles

Image by Public Citizen via Flickr

by Graham Peebles
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
London
December 7, 2012

Irrespective of ones circumstances or stage of life, illness is never welcome, in America if you’re poor it can prove to be a total catastrophe, ending often in personal bankruptcy. “According to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine, medical bills are a major factor in more than 60% of the personal bankruptcies in the United States“[i]. Health care insurance an unaffordable luxury, for the 15% or 50 million people now living in ‘official’ poverty in America, anxiously relying on good luck and a poor diet to keep sickness at a bay.

Reflections on Yugoslavia’s Socialist Past and Present-Day Colonization by Milina Jovanović

Image via Wikipedia

by Milina Jovanović
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
originally published on www.lifeinthemix.info, November 16, 2012
Dec. 5, 2012

In this essay I present my personal reflections on the life in the former Yugoslavia (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and on the current trends of privatization and corporate takeover of Yugoslav natural, economic, and human resources.  Years ago, I personally experienced the best phase of Yugoslav socialism and worked in academic and research institutions. Even though the following pages don’t appear in the form of a scholarly article, I attempt to briefly present and explain the most important institutions and aspects of the Yugoslav socio-political and economic system, highlighting “the Yugoslav way of life” and what it meant for the diverse peoples of Yugoslavia. 

Inhumanity, Illegality and Grand Theft in Palestine by Felicity Arbuthnot

by Felicity Arbuthnot
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
London, England
December 2, 2012

But then, once in a lifetime
the longed for tidal wave
of justice can rise up,
and hope and history rhyme.
Believe that a further shore
is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles.

Seamus Heaney, 1939 – present

Palestine’s recognition at the United Nations as a Non-Member Observer State, led the self proclaimed “only democracy in the Middle East” to hurl its metaphorical toys out of the pram, appropriate $120 million of Palestine’s dues, and the day after the vote, grab a further vast swathe of land to build 3,000 more illegal homes.

Fast Food Workers Strike, Occupy the Hood Rally + Sen. Gretchen Whitmer Speaks Out Against Right to Work Legislation

Dandelion Salad

Image by oemebamo via Flickr

PressTVGlobalNews, Dec 7, 2012

Hundreds of demonstrators have gathered in the heart of New York City’s Time Square to demand higher wages and denounce harsh working conditions without benefits.

Africa: Climate for Change

Dandelion Salad

Image by Matt and Kim Rudge via Flickr

linktv·Dec 5, 2012

Africa, a continent facing frequent droughts, is especially vulnerable to climate change. But Africans are finding innovative solutions. Creating a Climate for Change, a new film by Jeff Barbee, takes us on a journey through Southern Africa exploring local people-driven projects that help communities adapt to climate change and restore ecological systems.