The “Nightmare Act” Is No Dream by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 25, 2010

Once again, the powerful and diabolical Military Industrial Complex , through its Pentagon and congressional lackeys, is on the verge of another con job. This time it’s the left of center Americans and the congressional Democrats who are being used for the long haul agenda. What am I referring to? They call it The Dream Act , and it is supposed to help the children of the undocumented (I refuse to call them Illegal Aliens) fast track to US citizenship. Sounds like a decent and progressive idea, right? Well, look again at this Dream Act. The wording of it states that children of the undocumented can become US citizens by either A) finishing 2 years of college or B) serving in the military.

An Army Of Marley’s Ghosts by Philip A. Farruggio + The Christmas Carol (1949)

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 23, 2010

Image via Wikipedia

[To properly understand this fable, one must know the Dickens’s story of Scrooge. Either read the novel, or watch the fine film”A Christmas Carol”. ]

It was Christmas season once again. If one is really still and perfectly quiet, looking up into the sky above, imagination makes way for an absolute reality… One that we seldom ever sense. Through the ceiling of powder blue (or gray, depending on where you live) up past any cloud cover or ozone layer, if our focus flows further into the outer spaces…. There it is! Some call it heaven, or nirvana, or the Central Sun….

If Only (Some) Movies Were True by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 19, 2010

Please remember, this Christmas season, to sit and watch the following two films: A Christmas Carol & It’s A Wonderful Life . After you watch these films, go implore your friends, neighbors and loved ones to do the same. Why? Well, let’s dissect them.

A Christmas Carol – In this movie, we follow the life of one Ebenezer Scrooge. Yes, he came from a dysfunctional family…. His mother died giving birth to him, and his father never forgave him for it. Scrooge only had the love and tenderness of his sister, but alas, not enough to save him. He grew up thinking that life was a ‘ dog eats dog ‘ existence.

The Truth… Hurts!!! by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 12, 2010

My astrology teaches me that the planet Pluto, traveling through the sign of Capricorn (2009- 2012), means that the truth must come out. My Catholic background teaches me that “The truth shall set you free.” My agnostic and atheist friends tell me that science only recognizes truths that can be examined and proven. Logic and intuition tell me that without truth we are lost as a civilization.

The Best Christmas Gift for ALL!! by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 2, 2010

Listen, we have Christmas coming soon. How about a real Christmas gift from our government? This gift will surely, I guarantee it, be appreciated not only by our fellow Americans, but by the entire world! The beauty of this gift is that it will cost our government NOTHING:

The Man In The Bathtub, December 1, 1940 by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
December 1, 2010

He was born and raised in a little town just outside of Licata, Sicily. By the time he was 18, the young man was accepted into university in Tunisia, a far more scholastically advanced place than the Sicily of the early 1900s. Upon graduating, he decided to do what many young Italians chose to do, and he emigrated to the United States. He married a pretty young Neapolitan girl that he met in New York City, and they settled down to raise a family. She could only bear one child, a son, in 1915. Her husband could not get his Tunisian university degree to count for anything here, so he found whatever work he could.

On Patriots, Scoundrels and Spectators by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
November 28, 2010

We need to define what words actually mean before we should use them in serious discourse. Websters dictionary gives us the following:

Patriot- one who loves, supports and defends his country

Scoundrel- a villain

Villain- one who is wicked or evil

Wicked- harmful or pernicious

Evil- something that causes misfortune, suffering or difficulty

Spectator- one who attends and views an event; an observer

I Cry Instead by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
November 18, 2010

With kudos to the Beatles and a little poetic license: ‘I got every reason on earth to be sad, cause I just lost the only country I had. If I could get my way I’d try to get her back someway, but I can’t so I cry instead!’ That is exactly what this writer has been experiencing more and more. I cry. I see the foolishness, the utter contempt for we who labor, by our government leaders and the large corporations… And I am reduced to tears. First comes the anger, the outrage, and then… The tears.

The 80 Something Club by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
November 15, 2010

[revised and replaced Mar. 16, 2011]

You can catch them Tuesdays at rush hour in my town of Port Orange. One of the four still has the strength and vigor to stand with his protest sign. The other three have had to resort to bringing folding chairs. Still, what a testimonial to our crazy, apathetic times when 80+ year olds dominate the ranks of progressive protest. Walt arrives the earliest. He is 81 and looks like William Holden would have looked at this age: tall, with wavy white hair that twists with the wind. Walt has spent over 55 years as an activist….

The Road Less Traveled – Solutions To Save America by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
November 8, 2010

To best understand that we now face a situation more like 1877 than we do that of 1929, one must read Michael Bellesiles new book 1877… America’s Year Of Living Violently. We learn how the same factors were in play then as they are now. Wall Street speculative and scandal ridden bubbles left businesses bankrupt, towns boarded up and housing foreclosures rampant. Everyone, except the very very wealthy, was broke financially and spiritually.

An Open Letter to Michael Moore by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
November 3, 2010

This note is not just for you Michael. It is also for the progressive minded pundits that you rub elbows with. It is time to LET GO OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY! I sat last night and watched you and John Nichols with Laura Flanders and Amy Goodman. The election results were streaming in trumpeting a bloodbath for the Democrats. I sat forward in my chair, awaiting the truth of it all: That the Democrats have no one to blame but themselves for what transpired! You seemed at times, Michael, to want to just shout that out. Yet, along with the others ( including Thom Hartmann and his panel earlier) , as a group you all seemed to have hope for these hypocrites and sellouts! Am I being too rash? Sorry, but as a progressive small businessman and activist leader, I reached my breaking point in 2007. The Democrats regained control of the Congress and did ….NOTHING substantial regarding key issues

The Reality of The Insanity by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
November 1, 2010

Another election cycle is upon us . We have the Twiddle Ds ( Democrats ) , the Twiddle Dumbs ( Republicans ) and the new Tea Wind Bags all running like lemmings to ‘Get out the vote‘ . Duh, like it really will make a difference to our bankrupt cities and states. Duh, like it will really make a difference to our Military Industrial Complex who always receive their bloated budget? After all, they have to maintain an empire with not one but two illegal and immoral occupations along with the status quo of 750 + military bases in over 100 countries. You think the Fat Cats who run this War economy really care if a Democrat or Republican or Tea Wind bag candidate wins office? For every Russ Feingold, Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul that creeps out of the shadows of this corrupt two party system, there are hundreds of hacks to outvote and out shout them in Congress…. And from the White House!

Horse Races, Horse **** and Horse Meat by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 24, 2010

Forget all the classic confidence games and scams you’ve read about… the 3 card monte and letters from Africa and other investment schemes. I wish to address the greatest and most long standing con job of all: The Two Party Electoral System . How many good , decent Americans have been sucked into this scam? As Ralph Nader succinctly commented: ‘ You can vote for candidate Tweedle Dee vs. candidate Tweedle Dum ‘.  No matter the outcome, we working stiffs lose out…. Every time!

Nobody To Blame But… by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 19, 2010

My dear friend Rita B. was a real stalwart activist. She was 70 something, had emphysema , and still came out each and every week to stand with us. We stood ( and still stand ) each Tuesday at rush hour on a busy corner of our town. We hold signs opposing the occupations of Iraq & Afghanistan, and we call for peace. We have been out there going on 6 years now, forced to take a slight hiatus before and after the ‘ 08 elections . Why? Well, ask the many Democrats who made up our ranks. It seems they simply would not stand against policies that their party was condoning. Now that Mr. Obama has shown everyone just where he stands on foreign policy, some Democrats have returned to our corner… Not yet enough !

Why I Loathe The Democrats by Philip A. Farruggio

by Philip A. Farruggio
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
October 17, 2010

You know, all I hear from friends and street corner protest colleagues is how we should fear the Tea Party and the Republicans. I agree… Those people are either A) Corrupt to the core or B) Total fools who go against their own best interests. Yet, what about those who should know better? Those who see truth and know what should be done, but….