How Americans Can Help World Peace by Finian Cunningham

by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
April 1, 2014

A first step for world peace is for the American people to rein in their reckless government from the international stage and to stop it making misery for so many.

Americans need democratic government like the rest of the world needs rid of Washington’s thuggish global policeman.

This may come as a shock to many ordinary Americans who tend to think that their country is already the beacon of democratic light unto the world, bestowing all sorts of benevolence to others. Such delusional “American exceptionalism” has to stop. America is only special in a very negative meaning. It plays a central part in fomenting conflict in almost every scenario we care to look at.

Vladimir Putin: Rock Star Made in America by Cameron Salisbury

by Cameron Salisbury
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Opedinfo.com
March 31, 2014

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

I was in Madrid in 2008 when CNN-Europe interrupted their programming to announce that South Ossetia had been invaded by Georgia. Minutes later the announcement was revised: the new story was that S. Ossetia had been invaded by Russia. A clearly bewildered Vladimir Putin received the condemnation of the Western world.

That was then.

Arun Gandhi: Violence is Destroying Humanity by Jill Dalton

by Jill Dalton
Writer, Dandelion Salad
recoveringarmybrat
April 1, 2014

Image by Circuito Fora do Eixo via Flickr

Who the heck is Arun Gandhi, you might ask. He’s the fifth grandson of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India who led India to independence and inspired civil rights and freedom movements across the globe by employing nonviolent civil disobedience tactics. Arun is also a peace activist in his own right. He’s the President of the Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, and travels the world speaking about the practices of peace and nonviolence. For over thirty years he was a journalist for The India Times, and currently writes a blog for The Washington Post.

On Sunday, March 23rd, 2014, thirteen years after Arun Gandhi first came to Unity of New York and spoke on forgiveness in the aftermath of 9/11, I had the honor and privilege to hear both Bethany Hegedus and Arun Gandhi speak. The title of their talk was, “Lightning or Lamp?”