Monday, January 6, 2020

The Whole World Is Burning



The Whole World is Burning
--and It's High Time We Did Something About It
(Before It's Too Late)
by C.A. Matthews


Armageddon sells. Red and orange hellish visions of burning fields and forests. Billowing black-gray smoke and horribly injured wildlife. Escaping humans cowering before flames. All these fiery nightmares littered our screens this past week. Australia is burning. 
But so has California, the Congo, Siberia and the Amazon. Outside of a few independent journalists covering the Congo and Siberia, most Americans are  only familiar with the wildfires in California and Brazil. Apparently the suffering in Africa and  the remote areas of Asia aren’t photogenic enough for the mainstream media to report on. Or maybe it’s because we just don’t care about the people and wildlife that live there. It’s not like ordinary Americans ever take fun-filled vacations to Siberia or sub-Saharan Africa, right? Only rich white hunters like Trump's sons go on safari to shoot giraffes and lions these days.

Scared koalas and sad kangaroos capture people’s imagination. They sell papers and make for  poignant television commercials, but will they wake up those who have denied the horrendous effects of climate change for so long? Will they bring about charges against those who have committed crimes against humanity, such as the fossil fuel industry lying to us for years about greenhouse gases and CO2? 

There are fires burning on every single continent. The whole world is burning. If these images of the end times don’t inspire action to take positive steps to stop the burning, then what will? We need to do something to bring about radical change in how we heat our homes, how we get to work, what kinds of foods we eat, what kind of textiles we clothe ourselves in, what ways we interact with nature... Let's douse the actual flames but stoke the fires of genius and creativity and cooperation, shall we?

As the Australian bushfires burn, another conflagration is taking place in the war room of the White House. Trump is starting a war with Iran, a possible nuclear power. Why? Oil, of course! The Iranians recently announced they had another 50 billion barrels in oil reserves. We can’t allow anyone other that the US to have access to that oil, can we? Tempting nuclear winter is an acceptable risk in the oligarchs’ collective mind and possibly the minds of gas-guzzling SUV owners.


But wait… Isn’t it the fossil fuel industry that is fueling our climate crisis? The self same climate crisis that is causing Australia to burn? Destroying whole ecosystems and killing a half billion animals? Why would any sane person allow a suspect industry such as Big Oil to start a war to obliterate everything that is currently being burned to a crisp?

Oh, yeah... It’s Trump and his advisors who decided to assassinate a high-ranking Iranian general as an excuse to steal more oil and generate endless stock splits for Raytheon and Lockheed-Martin. We’re not exactly talking strong examples of sane individuals here!

Until we eliminate those in power who hold their fellow man
and indeed life itselfin such contempt, we are all at risk.

The people and the planet can’t take much more of this ill treatment. We don’t appreciate the beautiful blue globe we live on, obviously, but is that any reason to allow warhawks to irradiate it by starting World War III? The squeamish and the cowardly need to buck up—things are going to get nastier and uglier before they get better.  No matter what a 1950s' Civil Defense propaganda film tells you, there's no safe way to survive a nuclear holocaust.

There is no “gray zone” where you can just ignore what’s happening and stare at your phone screen wondering what happened to Instagram once the cell towers fall over.  Sorry, folks.  It’s a black or white decision.  You'll have to make it without the assistance of Twitter or Wikipedia, too.

Pick a side—Planet or Profits, People or Plutocrat Power-trip—and stick to it. Let everyone know where you stand on this issue so we can take appropriate measures to either: 1) Help you in your endeavors to save our beloved Earth, or 2) Do all we can to derail your homicidal/genocidal destruction of our world.


Now is not the time for indecision. Now is the time for action. Which side are 

you on? 

This Parody Project music video will help you make your decision.
https://youtu.be/wcWRBS462lU



Related Articles & Videos to Contemplate:

Zambia on the brink of famine due to climate change (video):
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-50976829/climate-change-has-brought-parts-of-zambia-to-the-brink-of-famine

Chart: Shocking Size of the Australian Bushfires
https://www.statista.com/chart/20387/recent-wildfire-events-by-acreage-burned

Australia Bushfires Are So Big They're Generating Their Own Weather
https://www.insider.com/australia-bushfires-generate-pyrocumulonimbus-thunderstorm-clouds-2019-12

Inferno Threat Continues North of Perth
https://www.bushfire.org.au/perthnow-firefighters-save-6000-homes-in-bushfire-inferno-but-threat-continues-north-of-perth

Nearly Half a Billion Animals Feared Dead in Australian Wildfires
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/australian-wildfires-animals-dead_uk_5e0dbe8dc5b6b5a713b5ffcd

Mourning a Disappearing World as Australia Burns
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-mourning-a-disappearing-world-as-australia-burns/
 
Scientists Want to Make Harming the Environment a War Crime https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/harming-environment-war-crime/

Iran Discovers New Oil Field with Over 50 Billion Barrels 
https://apnews.com/a6adb7b30adb444998541b1b5aca4332

The beauty we'll lose once we can no longer see the skies through all the smoke of wildfires and battles:

Fabulous photos of space
https://www.space.com/100-best-space-photos-2019.html

*** 

No War With Iran Peace Protest
January 4, 2020 -- Toledo, Ohio
photos by Cindy & Adrian Matthews 




***
Over 80 U.S. cities, and others elsewhere, held demonstrations on Saturday against war on Iran.

Senator Tim Kaine has introduced a privileged resolution in the Senate, and Representatives Barbara Lee and Ilhan Omar have introduced it in the House, to force a vote on ending U.S. war on Iran.


Click here to email your Senators and Representative.




We, the people, have been preventing a war on Iran for many years, including stopping major efforts to start one in 2007 and 2015.

Congress needs to reverse course. This Congress has refused to impeach for wars and threats of nuclear war, has stripped out of the National Defense Authorization Act the ban on war on Iran that was contained in the House version, and has given Trump even more military funding than he asked for.
Numerous Congress members of both parties, during the days leading up to Trump's assassination of Iran's top military commander, accused Trump of weakness toward Iran.

We need Congress members to speak out for peace, for an end to threats and punishing sanctions, for a removal of U.S. troops from the region, and for the restoration of diplomacy.

Then please share on:

Background:
>> Kaine Files War Powers Resolution to Prevent War With Iran
>> Reps Ilhan Omar and Barbara Lee Announce War Powers Resolution
>> Matthew Hoh: The Killing of General Soleimani: Hail Mars! Hail Pluto!
>> David Swanson: Don't Iraq Iran
>> Common Dreams: In Old Tweets, Trump Warned a President Would Attack Iran in 'Desperate' Attempt to Win Reelection
>> Common Dreams: Amid Murky Intel, Experts Say Time to Be Clear: Threat of War With Iran "Solely and Unequivocally" Trump's Fault



World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, activists, and allied organizations advocating for the abolition of the very institution of war. Our success is driven by a people-powered movement – support our work for a culture of peace.
***


Do you ever worry that you'll wake up and discover it's not just winter--it's actually "nuclear winter?"

Do you ever want to scream and shout about how unjust and unfair our system of health care is? How screwed up our judicial system or jails are? How unlikely you'll ever be out of debt with the current crop of morons in charge?

If any of this resonates with you, why not write about it and submit your article to The Revolution Continues? We'd love to hear from you! Send it to us at: thebernieblog2016@gmail.com

If you're not a writer, but you're one of the few on the left gainfully employed, why not share a little of your monetary wealth with those of us slaving in the trenches of indie journalism. We'd appreciate it. Thanks!
http://paypal.me/camatthews 

Keep fighting for justice in 2020!  

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