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By
the fourth day of record high temperatures and tropical humidity, I was
convinced that this unusual Midwestern heatwave was more than it
appeared. I haven’t seen such record high temperatures linger for more
than a day or two since I lived in the Southwest. I can’t recall
anything like this amount of heat and humidity for days on end growing
up in this part of the world. The weather suddenly seems very unnatural
and deadly. Deliberately so.
I’m
not a conspiracy theorist—the name the CIA devised to smear the
reputations of those who early on thought the details surrounding JFK’s
assassination seemed highly suspicious. I don’t believe in UFOs or
flying saucers because, let’s face it, what intelligent alien species
would want to land on this hellhole of a rock? No self-respecting alien
would come to a planet where babies and children are forfeit if they
come from the wrong indigenous ethnic group or are seen as “playthings”
for the pedophile perverts in power.
Sorry
to disappoint, but I’m not talking conspiracy theories here. I have
some evidence to back up my opinion that global warming/climate change
is happening because the perverse people in power find it’s a useful
tool to keep us poor folks in our place. The weather works well as a
weapon in their arsenal to fight foreign enemies, too...
During
this heatwave, I wondered how much longer can I carry on like this. I’m
not getting any younger. I’m not sure I’ll be able to take care of my
garden in the future during a similar extreme heatwave, especially if
they become regular events. Maybe it’s time to call it quits, sell my
house and garden, and move on? Who really cares about the native plants
I’ve encouraged to grow so they and their pollinators don’t become
extinct? Who else but me and my spouse cares about the trees we’ve
planted as a small attempt to restore some of the vast forests that used
to cover this part of the world?
Now,
take my experience and observations in my garden recently and multiply
them times a thousand or even a million. What if every small land holder
or backyard gardener in the US decided within the next few years that
it’s impossible to keep growing their own fruit and vegetables in this
extreme weather? What if they decided it’s not worth planting trees if
they’re going to dry up due to not receiving our “typical” rainfall
amounts?
Expand
these ideas to include farmers on the few small family farms still
remaining in the US. Do they continue to struggle to make a living in
this hostile climate? Why not sell off their cows, pigs, goats, and
chickens? Why not sell off their old tractor and move into the city and
work at a Walmart? Suddenly there’s a lot of “unused land” on the market
for Tech Bros to buy cheap so they can build more heat-producing,
water-hogging AI data centers, isn’t there?
Without
gardeners and small farmers “hogging” water for their crops and
livestock, there’s much more water to be had for cooling AI data
centers. I can hear the gears clicking in the greedy idiots’ heads in
the Trump administration even now...
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The world will never know peace as long as war is profitable. The world
will never know health as long as sickness is profitable. The ecosystem
will never thrive as long as ecocide is profitable. We will remain ruled
by tyrants for as long as our systems elevate tyranny. --Caitlin Johnstone, All Our Systems Are Built To Elevate Viciousness
There are mass die-offs of trees, plants, and animals due to rising temperatures and the subsequent droughts and fires that ensue.
The sea levels are rising because of melting ice sheets at the poles, causing flooding and drowning entire island chains.
There are many who shout racist-elitist taunts at the migrants fleeing from natural disasters and violent conflicts caused by our rapidly warming planet and our economic system's insatiable need to overthrow any leaders who don't do business on our country's terms.
There is another pandemic on the horizon with the emergence of the monkeypox virus in the US. With no universal health care, possibly another million plus Americans will suffer and die from a preventable illness. (The current rate is 400+ COVID-19 deaths per day and an untold number of people suffering permanent disability from Long COVID.)
There are politicians spouting nonsense about "winnable nuclear war" as if radiation faded away mere hours after dropping a nuke bomb. These same politicians continue to militarize the police, an unspoken threat against the working classes to stay in their designated place. The politicians' military industrial complex donors are happy with this outcome.
There are those who still think nuclear power is "clean energy" even after the disasters of Chernobyl, Fukushima, and others. They are doing their best to prevent cleaner sources of energy such as solar, wind and geothermal from ever becoming a part of our power grid, as a recent bill passed in Congress and praised by the fossil fuel industry demonstrates.
What is the key element winding its way through all these seemingly unrelated abuses of our planet, its peoples, and all its creatures? If you said "money" or more accurately "the love of money" then you win today's prize. The prize is that you get to die knowing how these man-made insults to Mother Earth were entirely preventable.
(Watch the documentary 2040 to learn how current technology can address all the above challenges. They're not unsolvable problems. We are capable of affecting positive changes to save the planet, but we have to be willing to do so and we need to start today.)
The love of money, or profits, if you will, is selling humankind's destiny down the river of greed in order to make a few more billionaires even richer. Why any person needs incalculable wealth to survive when the rest of us get by on mere pittances is a mystery to me. I don't know about you, but this obsession billionaires have with accruing more and more digits in their bank account ledgers just makes me angrier and angrier.
Time is running out for our dear Mother Earth. We've seen the effects of climate catastrophe speeding up this summer in heatwave after sweltering heatwave. Some say we've gone beyond the point of no return. And all because these billionaire tyrants can't make enough money to satisfy their lusts. They are obsessed with "growing the economy" while gouging workers for basic necessities like food, medicine, and shelter. These greedy tyrants can't get enough until they destroy all the beautiful diversity of life on this planet.
Will somebody--anybody--make it stop? Please.
If our dying world and our empty bellies can't motivate us lowly workers to stand up for ourselves and the planet, then what will? We've been terrorized by tyrants using a sadistic economic system called capitalism for far too long. To save Earth and humanity, capitalism must die. It must die and be replaced with a kinder, gentler system that treats everyone and every living thing with the respect and dignity he/she/they/it deserves.
Will taking the reins away from the tyrants now in control be easy? No. Will it possibly cost us some of our lives in the struggle? Yes. But we have no choice--our planet is being destroyed by sadistic psychopaths. Psychopaths who can't see the forest for the trees since they've chopped all the trees down to print more useless currency!
It would be wonderful if the tyrants of the 1% came down off their thrones and gave the 99% the keys to the kingdom, but don't count on it. If they've convinced their politician-puppets to spout nonsense about the benefits of nuclear warfare, and how justice can be found in increasing policing and military agencies to take up arms against us, then we must be prepared to deal swiftly and strongly with shutting these monsters down.
We can't wait, hoping and praying these tyrannical psychopaths will come to their senses and learn to be empathetic. Odds are they never will. We can't risk what is left of our Earth still able to harbor life.
It's life or death for our world. I vote for the death of the tyrants and their capitalist system so that the vast majority of us may live. Live in peace and harmony together with nature--not constantly fighting against Our Mother Earth in order to acquire huge sums of meaningless money.
We've only got one planet. Let's do what needs to be done. Let's take good care of her so she will continue to take care of our children and grandchildren in the future. Don't allow the tyrants--bent on destruction to slake their thirst for blood money--stand in our way.
This observation is SO much more scary coming from Kissinger than from a peace advocate speaking from outside the belly of the empire. If the empire's warmongering is so crazy and reckless that it's frightening a 99 year-old Henry Kissinger, it's REALLY crazy and reckless. https://t.co/WUGP3mvEJs
Capitalists just made up the idea that a low minimum wage is there for young people to get work experience and Americans just swallowed that propaganda without thinking about it for even a second and then vomited it back up onto the rest of us for decades.
— Brutal Regime Apocalyptic Dreams (@brutal_regime) August 15, 2022
Why is health care even a debate? Why is housing ppl even a debate? Why is clean water even a debate? Why is saving our planet even a debate? Why is protecting our most vulnerable even a debate? Why are human rights even a debate? Why is social responsibility a fn debate?!
Some observations on too much media consumption by C.A. Matthews
If I were an active consumer
of American mainstream media (i.e., CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, Wash. Post, NY Times, etc.), I might come to some odd conclusions on what all is happening in the world and what is really
important to Americans.
I might assume that Americans love continual warfare since
we're spending $800 billion plus on our defense (offense, more likely) budget.
I might assume we don't care much about brown or black people since we give
military and economic aid to countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel who are set
on genociding the Yemenis and Palestinians.
I might assume we're good
with supporting fascists since we've given massive amounts of military hardware
to the Azov Battalion, an openly Neo-Nazi militia. I might assume that America means for all these weapons to wind up on the black market to be sold to terrorists around the world, since
that's what's happening to the arms we've sent to Ukraine. I might assume that money laundering through these black market arms sale is agreeable to those who profit the most from them, the top one-percent who own shares in Raytheon and their ilk.
If I were an active consumer
of mainstream media, I might come to some odd conclusions about the importance
of health care in the US. I might assume that all Americans have private health care and love it. I might assume that we don't place much value on
women since we seem to like taking away their
rights to bodily autonomy. I might assume that we place zero worth on women of color in particular since their infant and maternal mortality rates are so high. I might assume that the life of a pregnant person is
worth less than a fetus since many states have already passed laws
declaring it to be so. I might assume that Americans have little empathy for victims of rape and incest--particular the youngest and most vulnerable.
I might assume that it's okay
for people to go bankrupt whenever they have an expensive healthcare emergency
since the majority of bankruptcies in the US involve some form of medical debt.
I might assume that homeless persons do not have the right to health care and especially
mental health care since we seem more preoccupied with pushing them out of our
cities than in getting them the help they need and a roof over their head. I might assume that COVID-19
was no more, and it no longer posed a threat to human life on the planet. I might assume we'll never have to worry about another pandemic ever again in spite of reports about the spread of monkeypox.
If I were an active consumer
of American mainstream media, I might assume there's no such thing as the "climate
catastrophe" or climate change since these kind of stories are seldom reported on major outlets. I might assume there's no such thing as
"greenhouse gases" and that CAFOs--concentrated animal feedlots--are
wonderful and don't dump tons of animal wastes into watersheds. I might assume that Americans don't care about the suffering of animals raised under these horrible conditions. I might assume toxic blue-green algae is rather pretty and its washing up on the lake shores doesn't poison drinking water for millions.
I might assume that this
summer's record high temperatures are just an
aberration. I might assume that wildfires in the south of England are a regular event along with their roads melting. I might assume that coastal erosion and sea level rise are just
myths and that a huge icy chunk of Antarctica didn't break off and start
melting into the sea. I might assume that Glacier National Park was named after something other than giant ice fields.
I might assume that millions
of people suffering from lung disease have nothing to do with the rise of
pollutants such as ozone and heavy particulates in our air. I might assume that
there's no way microscopic bits of plastic have become a part our drinking water and are now
a part of all our bodies thanks to the fossil fuel and plastic industries
promotion of non-recyclables.
So, what's wrong with taking mainstream media at its word? If you said, "Everything," then you'd be correct. These erroneous assumptions that American mainstream media encourages
demonstrate how propaganda skews our worldviews. Mainstream media propaganda causes more harm
than good. People who don't have access to differing viewpoints can form skewed and sometimes dangerous opinions and actions. They need to know that non-violent options exist. (Check out Rad Indie Media for different viewpoints.)
As I sit here at my laptop,
listening to the Annual Meeting of the Green Party US this weekend, I hear
speakers conversing on related topics that don't support any of these assumptions.
In fact, they paint very different pictures and tell very different
stories--and give very different responses on how to deal with challenges. Greens don't take corporate money and don't listen to billionaires and do their bidding. Their visions are clear and not clouded by money, unlike members of the establishment factions.
We can't believe
the fairy tales our corporate-sponsored,status quo/duopolist politicians promote any longer. We just don't have the time. The
earth is heating up. Crops are failing. People will starve. People are dying in the US now because we don't provide universal health care, and guaranteed food and housing.
People are dying around the
world because the military industrial complex wants the US Empire to grow. The US Empire wants to force
other countries to give us their natural resources, whether they want to or
not. It's profits over people. The Empire will bomb other countries until they hand their resources over.
So we can send 54 billion dollars to ukraine to fund natzis and enrich the MIC but when it comes to climate change we get virtually nothing... pic.twitter.com/1XAXrM1I8n
Stop believing the Gov't is telling us the truth when your favorite team is in charge and face the fact that both Parties are really on the same team, and they're all corrupt liars.
— Black in the Empire (@blackintheempir) July 23, 2022
“The facts in the case that the North Carolina Green Party is prepared to present to the Court show national Democrats committing fraud, lying to voters, and manipulating and misusing voter registration data, and these facts are on audio tape & video tape.”https://t.co/5lYTeBTZRY
It's
a tricky tightrope walk the oligarchs have to do, making sure they
don't steal too much of our wealth and freedom all at once so we don't
rise up and take it back. It's easy to forget that we're actually the
ones with all the power here. Only problem is we don't yet know it.
Some days it doesn't feel
that way, but we are aiding all of creation to change for the better.
The victories seem small, but
they're still victories.
It doesn't mean we won't
continue to see our comrades teargassed, maced, and arrested for simply trying to protect
something as basic as our right to clean water.
But each act of resistance
builds momentum--momentum we need to keep taking the fight to where it can do
the most good.
We've come a long way and
don't realize how much we've influenced society and its outlook on many things--such
as universal health care and UBI--which are mentioned even in the most conservative of media outlets nowadays.
Who would have thought ten
years ago folks would have expressed a favorable opinion on taxing billionaires
and laugh at the absurdity of the phrase "job creators"?
Who would have thought
indigenous activists could have shut down an oil pipeline?
Who would have thought
Confederate statues could be toppled from their pedestals?
Who would have thought that
some small bit of justice would be granted in the case of the police murder of Elijah McClain?
Who would have thought that a federal court would overturn the Border Patrol's racist interpretation of asylum laws and consider them unconstitutional?
Yes, there's still much to be
done, but we are moving forward, step by step, inch by inch.
But we
don't always act like we believe in ourselves.
It's time to put our fears to
rest and to step out boldly into a changing world.
Because we don't have any
time to waste in this the hottest summer in recorded history.
Because we don't have any time to waste when the Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex is salivating over the next country to drone bomb.
We've got the power... and it's time for us to exercise it before it's too late.
No one ever said it was going to be easy, but the alternatives aren't worth contemplating.
The best things in life are worth fighting for--life itself is worth fighting for.
Bayer-Monsanto’s
Roundup is still on store shelves at Lowe’s and Home Depot -- but it’s
not just killing weeds -- it’s also wiping out pollinators. Take action now.
Glyphosate
-- the active ingredient in Roundup -- wipes out milkweed, the only
food source for monarch caterpillars. The monarch population in North
America has declined by 90% in the past 20 years alone -- as the use of
Roundup has skyrocketed. And researchers have found that glyphosate can
impede the growth of bee larvae and impact bees’ ability to navigate and
find food.
If you’re concerned about monarchs, bees, and other pollinators, demand Home Depot and Lowe’s get Roundup off store shelves!
Help save bees and butterflies. Tell Home Depot and Lowe’s to stop selling Roundup now.
Glyphosate
harms bees, monarchs and many other species. The EPA found that there
are few endangered species that can evade its toxic impacts. 93% of endangered species are at risk of being harmed or killed by this toxic chemical!
This
toxic weedkiller is also putting our health at risk -- it’s been linked
to cancer, hormone disruption, fatty liver disease, shortened
pregnancy, decreased sperm function, and disruption of the gut
microbiome.
But Lowe’s and Home Depot are ignoring science -- all for profit.
Endangered species need your help. Send a message to Lowe’s and Home Depot. Protect our planet from glyphosate.
Demand Home Depot and Lowe’s protect endangered species from toxic pesticides!
If
these garden retail giants remove Roundup from their store shelves and
online, it would send a powerful message to Bayer-Monsanto.
Lowe’s
and Home Depot could be leaders in protecting pollinators from toxic
pesticides. But we need your help, C.A., to push these companies to stop
selling Roundup!
We
know these companies listen to people power -- they committed to stop
selling plants grown with bee-killing neonic pesticides in response to
activists like you. Now, we need your help once more to demand they stop the sale of Roundup.
For the sake of pollinators, urge Lowe’s and Home Depot to stop selling Roundup!
***
From Center for Biological Diversity:
The climate emergency is here. It's in the wrath of Hurricane Ida in
Louisiana and New York, more destructive wildfires in California, and a
devastating cold snap in Texas. Rising temperatures and extreme weather
events are hitting low-income communities hardest and devastating
wildlife and ecosystems. The time for bold action is now.
We
can't avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change unless we
rapidly transition from fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal to clean,
renewable energy.
Despite decades of advocacy, our elected
leaders have failed to stop the fossil fuel projects that are causing
the climate emergency. The course of history won't change unless we
change it.
Community leaders are calling people to take action at
the White House this October — and consider joining in nonviolent civil
disobedience. Together, we'll demand President Biden reject fossil fuel
projects and declare a climate emergency to launch a just, renewable
energy revolution.
My family
crossed the border on my brother’s 14th birthday, May 24, 1999. I could
list the many reasons why my parents felt the only option to give us a
safe future was to migrate to the United States with their four small
children, but it would be a very long list. What I can tell you is this:
After 22 years, I can say with certainty that this country is my home.
It’s the only home for many ‘DREAMERS’ who are now young adults trying
to give back and build a permanent home without fear of losing it. We have a real chance at passing citizenship this year. Will you join me in supporting it?
At four years old, I did not know the difference between myself and my
new neighbors. My family, and millions of families like mine, have been
members of our communities in every way but on paper. But we haven’t
given up because along the way I have met compassionate people, like
you, who care about doing what’s right and who value our humanity.
Citizenship for many means not having to fear being separated from their
families. It means that children can expect their parents to come home
after work without fear of them being detained on the way home. The
majority of Americans support a pathway to citizenship for people who
came here as children and for families who have been here for decades,
like mine. Will you send a message to your congress member to support a pathway to citizenship?
I remain hopeful, despite the many failed attempts to create a path to
citizenship that I’ve witnessed over the years, not because of who is in
office, but because I’ve been surrounded by people who give me hope
there is a better future ahead, a kinder one.
Next week, we expect Congress to move a little closer to creating a
pathway to citizenship in the reconciliation process. For some, it will
come down to the numbers. But for millions of us, it will mean our
stories, our struggles, will be worth it.
I hope you will join me in this fight. We need your voice now more than ever.
Thanks for taking action,
Citlaly Mora, Communications Manager
Families Belong Together
