Ethiopian Annihilation of the Ogaden People, by Graham Peebles

by Graham Peebles
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
London
February 6, 2013

Besieged, abused, ignored

In the harsh Ogaden region of Ethiopia, impoverished ethnic Somali people are being murdered and tortured, raped, persecuted and displaced by government paramilitary forces. Illegal actions carried out with the knowledge and tacit support of donor countries, seemingly content to turn a blind eye to war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by their brutal, repressive ally in the region; and a deaf ear to the pain and suffering of the Ogaden Somali people.

NDAA: Hedges v. Obama: Did The Bill of Rights Die Today? by Jill Dalton

by Jill Dalton
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
recoveringarmybrat
February 9, 2013
Note: replaced and revised, February 11, 2013

Image by pameladrew212 via Flickr

As I head west on Chambers Street toward the Court House I hear a huge roar followed by loud chanting ricocheting off the stone walls of the buildings and I’m elated. This is amazing, I think. There must be hundreds of people protesting the NDAA outside 40 Centre Street. But then I realize the protest is the transit workers’ school bus strike, now in its third week. I stop to take a few photos and give them a thumbs up before continuing along my route.

Strategies of Containment — Kettled by the Thought Police by William T. Hathaway

by William T. Hathaway
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
January 26, 2013

Image by Bob Elderberry via Flickr

Many of us on the left have been kettled at demonstrations: surrounded by a wall of police, herded into a small area, and prevented from reaching our goal. The term is a translation of kesseln, the German military tactic of enclosing an enemy force within a tight cordon of troops and gradually wearing it down rather than attacking it directly.

Our War on Nature by Lesley Docksey

by Lesley Docksey
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
Jan. 27, 2013

Image by Sam Dredge via Flickr

With the ‘global war on terror’ dominating the headlines, when Western interests headed by Western security and armed forces are sweeping across vast swathes of the Middle East and North Africa, people are losing sight of a threat that will affect everyone, rich or poor, regardless of their religion, status or nationality.  So caught up in its Crusade – and what else can we honestly call it when the countries we are invading, attacking with drones or interfering with behind the scenes are all entirely or partially Muslim – the West is blind to the crusade it should really be fighting, that of climate change and the destruction of the natural world upon which all humanity depends.

Revolutionary Love and its Terrible Hurts by Daniel N. White

Cover of One Morning in Sarajevo: 28 June 1914

by Daniel N. White
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
January 29, 2013

One Morning in Sarajevo: 28 June 1914
by David James Smith, 2008

David James Smith is a British journalist and One Morning is his second book.  My copy was printed in the UK and has rave cover blurbs on it from various English publications.  I don’t recall the book making any splash this side of the Atlantic.  Something wrong with that; the book is very good.

Indian Farmers Trapped and Desperate by Graham Peebles

by Graham Peebles
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
London
January 24, 2013

Image by coquetboy via Flickr

India has the largest number of smallholder farmers in the World, 600 million by some estimates. From this army of workers one impoverished desperate man, or indeed woman, with a noose of debt around their neck takes his or her own life on average every thirty minutes, A statistic barely comprehensible, representing the tidal wave of suicides that has swept through the farming community in the last 15 years.

The Corporatization of Public Higher Education by Shepherd Bliss

Image by Cold Cream Coffee via Flickr

by Shepherd Bliss
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
Jan. 24, 2013

The Case of Sonoma State University

The new Center for Ethics, Law, and Society at Sonoma State University in Northern California has caused quite a stir among our academic community during the first week of classes, as well as from those outside SSU. Its funding and the further corporatization of public higher education have been questioned.

The notorious insurance monolith AIG provided two-thirds of the Ethics Center’s $16,000 first year budget. What might AIG’s intentions have been for funding the Center?

The Twinning: Palestinian Children in Israeli Military Detention by Clive Hambidge

by Clive Hambidge
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
January 14, 2013

Image by frecklebaum via Flickr

Here in South Tottenham (London), attending a Twinning Conference organised excellently and robustly by Haringey Justice for Palestinians[1], a creative branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, I am just recovering from the icy cold outside, in possession of a brimming coffee and in the company of good people doing good things.  Just past registration and no interrogation! Gosh! I must have been an activist too long or not long enough!?  The issue for me amongst many and the reason for attending this Twinning Conference is to hear addressed a pre-eminent issue that focuses on the needs and support of the systematically abused children of Gaza and the West Bank held in Israeli military  detention centres under the most harsh conditions.

Sodastream presents…How to profit from Occupation, Oppression and Apartheid

Image by Mr. T in DC via Flickr

by Stephanie Westbrook
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
Italy
Jan. 19, 2013

stephinrome·Jan 15, 2013

Sodastream’s factory is in an llegal Israeli settlement built on land stolen from Palestinians. Each and every package contains human rights abuses and violations of international law. Boycott Sodastream. For more information:

When Did the Coup Take Place? by Luke Hiken

by Luke Hiken
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
January 11, 2013

Image by rawEarth via Flickr

When did the coup happen here, and how did we miss it? I always imagined military coups to occur when jack-booted generals marched into the town square in front of columns of heavily armed soldiers. Pinochet, Mussolini, Franco come to mind – we’ve all seen the pictures. But here in the United States, nobody even has a clue as to when the Pentagon, and its secret policing, “anti-terrorist” organizations took control of the U.S. government and its people.

Out of Season by Lesley Docksey

by Lesley Docksey
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
Jan. 2, 2013

Image by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.
–William Henry Davies

Each year that passes I become more despairing over the lack of action to contain climate change, a despair echoed by George Monbiot.  This last year both the Earth Summit in June and the Doha Climate Change meeting in November were notable only for the reluctance yet again of those in power to take any real action. 

A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism reviewed by Milina Jovanović

by Milina Jovanović
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
originally published at www.zcommunications.org
January 2, 2013

Mike Gravel and Joe Lauria. A Political Odyssey: The Rise of American Militarism and One Man’s Fight to Stop It. 2008. Seven Stories Press.

When I finished reading the last pages of this book, I had to sit still and think about several discoveries. It is difficult for me to truly believe that I can actually like a life story, way of thinking, and actions of a high-level American politician. I come from a country, generation, and professional environment that didn’t encourage any naiveté about politics of any country. And we certainly didn’t grow up embracing any myths about the most significant characteristics of the global empire.

In Valiant Fortitude by Soraya Boyd

Image by Emre Karapınar @ IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation/TURKEY via Flickr

by Soraya Boyd
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
Facilitate Global
December 30, 2012

Unlawfully pincered between harsh collective punishment and base military aggression
The tear bedabbled faces of innocent children in constant lacrimation
Afforded no respite cling desperately to their progenitor for safety and protection

Small Town Sebastopol Sued by Giant CVS Pharmacy by Shepherd Bliss

by Shepherd Bliss
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
Jan. 1, 2013

On Christmas Eve, when most were at home with family and friends or out-of-town, a summons was served at the Sebastopol City Hall. The giant CVS Pharmacy sued the City and its elected officials.

Sebastopol’s recently elected City Council voted unanimously, 5-0, on Dec. 18 to enact a temporary, 45-day moratorium against drive-through operations. CVS seeks to nullify that moratorium and proceed with plans that it has been working on since 2009, but which have not been fully approved and permitted, to build two stores with drive-throughs.

Corporate Canada: The New United States by Tristan A. Shaw

by Tristan A. Shaw
Guest Writer
Dandelion Salad
British Columbia, Canada
December 26, 2012

Image by kk+ via Flickr

It seems necessary to remind fellow Canadians that our country was not always a malfeasant, blood-thirsty, islamophobic, imperialist-driven state whose actions are now protested across the third-world. The old Canada, the Canada too old for my generation to remember, was a mainstream country.

But that perception (Canada as a moderate mediator in international affairs) has long been replaced by one indistinguishable from the United States. The new Canada is a country that helps stage coups in Latin America, a country that stands as one of the leading impediments to a comprehensive climate agreement.