We're All In This Together

We're All In This Together

by C. A. Matthews

Happy New Year 2019--no exclamation point necessary. I think we all know we're in for a bumpy ride. 

So, buckle up and put on your crash helmets. And don't forget to add a yellow vest. It's time we showed our strength in numbers and in unity of purpose. No more allowing those in power to divide us along lines of gender, race, religion, ethnicity or even political affiliation. 

We're all humans, right? We all need to eat non-toxic food, drink clean water and breathe clear air to survive. Those details should be enough to bring us together to take on the dangerously corrupt status quo and to fight to restore the balance of our planet's fragile ecology. Let's get going.

What's holding us back?

If you said fear of the unknown, give yourself a gold star. We're afraid--and rightly so--of what happens next if we make a bold move. We're afraid--and rightly so--of what happens next if we don't make a bold move. Face it--we're just plain afraid of becoming casualties of war, both the foreign military and domestic street fights as well as casualties of cultural warfare, which can last for centuries depending on who is writing the history texts after we're gone. So, we're tempted to sit on our hands and do or say nothing.

But to make no decision is to make a decision. We have to get over our fear. We have to "cowboy up" as they say in the rodeo world. We have to get back on that seriously pissed-off bull and ride it for eight seconds of glory to land in the prize money. We risk falling off and getting gored and trampled into the dirt, but at least for those few seconds in which we ride we will truly be alive and at one with our great purpose in the game.

When I lived in West Texas, I met several bull riders (and clown bull fighters) in person. I marveled at their insane bravery of facing a half ton of angry beef on a nightly basis. Over their brief careers, they broke every bone in their bodies--and then some--and still managed to put on their Stetsons and spurs and plaster a smile on their face as they entered the arena to compete. Yeah, yeah, animal cruelty and antiquated male chauvinism aside, the image of the courageous bull rider is one that the progressive left needs to embrace as it seeks to take on the tiny-brained cows of the fascist right.

Progressives will have to admit there will be casualties in the fight--mental, emotional and physical casualties.  We'll have to acknowledge they could be ourselves and those we hold dear. We'll have to make ourselves get up each day and put one foot in front of the other repeatedly, willing ourselves to give it another go when all seems lost. We'll have to have the intestinal fortitude to crawl up on that diabolical bull's back and nod to the gatekeeper to open the chute gate to our destinies.

Living in fear is no life at all. (Take it from one who knows.) Those who hold the power of fear over us know this and use it to their advantage. It's time we get over our codependency to easy living and fear of change. Painful and frightening as it will be, we must overturn the sadistic, elitist rule of the one-percent and build that future to believe in. 

We won't be alone. We will find support in other of like minds and hearts. We, in turn, can lend our support to others and receive strength in the process. 

Just remember you can't do everything yourself. It's physically and emotionally impossible. Pick one or two causes that you feel strongly about and you honestly believe you can give it your all this coming year and see them through. 

I know there are many, many worthy things that need your aid. It's tempting to scream, "It's too much! I can't choose!" and walk away. But I say never give up and never give in to despair. Flip a coin and then make yourself get out there. 

Do your best. It's much better than staying locked inside and pulling the blinds shut. (Trust me on this.) 

Canadian actor Steve Smith's comedic character Red Green says it well as he dishes out homespun advice in his distinctive gravelly voice. "Remember, I'm pullin' for ya. We're all in this together." 

Let's stick together and stay strong in 2019. That way, we're guaranteed to make it the full eight seconds and land on the winners' platform.

***

Winter Wonderland?
by Joe DeMare

So, it's the day after winter solstice, and the days are starting to lengthen again. This is the universe's promise to us that the frozen and cold world we've been living in will once again be lush and green. At some point, the ice that's been covering our ponds, lakes, and rivers will crack, and the water, which has been a dark secret for months now, visible only if you take the time to brush the snow off of the clear ice where you've been skating, will once again well up to the surface, overcoming and finally melting away the last chunks of ice.

The sound of boots on snow, which we've been hearing so long now that we no longer notice it, will be noticed for its absence when the lengthening days and warming sun finally melt away the deep white blanket which has covered the landscape. Hands which have been imprisoned in thick mittens and gloves will thrill to the cool but not chill air and the clouds of steam that our breaths have been lifting to the clouds will simply disappear. The rows of gloves, snow pants, hats, and scarfs which have been lining up at the front door, drying and getting ready for the next outing, will again hide themselves away in the bottoms and backs of closets or in tubs in the attic.

So, don't despair! It may not seem like it, now, but the Earth has rounded the bend in its orbit and the lengthening days will break winter's icy grip. Our white winter wonderland will again magically change into a beautiful green spring, decorated with the blossoms of countless flowers, the beauty of which will seem all the sweeter because we've been denied them for so long.

Oh...wait. None of that is true anymore. #globalwarming


How much hotter is your hometown than when you were born?

 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/30/climate/how-much-hotter-is-your-hometown.html

Joe says:
This is a piece creative non-fiction, not a scientific paper. All the claims I'm making, that there is less snow, it's warmer, there's less ice, and less ice skating are true. I'm not claiming that based on the last three weeks. I'm not claiming anything. I'm describing what life was like in the past compared to how it is, now. But if you want hard data, this website based on 118 years of data says that the average temperature for December in Bowling Green was 29.5 degrees F. More than cold enough for Frosty the Snowman to comfortably hang out in Ohio. https://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=268033

***

It's going to be a Revolutionary New Year. Help us cover it--since the mainstream media won't!

 
The Revolution Continues has set up an easy way to donate in order to keep it ad-free. Three and a half years without obnoxious pop-up ads (that many news sites have to cover costs) has been great, but the editor does have to pay for internet, electricity, etc., out of her own pocket, and she would like to be able to pay her contributors in the future. 

Please consider donating a buck, $5, $10 or $20--any amount you can share with us to keep this progressive site going without those awful ads is appreciated. Help us become a strong alternative voice protesting against the corrupt establishment and its paid-off corporate mouthpieces. Give to TRC today. Thank you.

You can donate via Paypal at http://paypal.me/camatthews 

And thanks to a generous reader, we have a  domain name. Please share the link: http://therevolutioncontinues.com

Power to the people and not the corporations! 
***

On January 7th, we will return to the U.S. Capitol and deliver our campaign demands to the new Congress, focusing on voter suppression. In 2018, we saw attacks on the voting rights of poor people of color sweep our nation; from Georgia to Kansas, from North Carolina to North Dakota. We know that voting rights are central to every demand we have, and we will continue to call on Congress to take action to protect and expand voting rights, end racial gerrymandering, restore the right to vote to all formerly and currently incarcerated people, and more. 

But like many of you, we’re taking time first to reflect on all that we accomplished in 2018. 

We launched a movement committed to breaking the silence and telling the truth about the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy/militarism and our nation’s distorted moral narrative. 

Together, we engaged in the largest wave of nonviolent civil disobedience in recent history and took action in over 40 states. Tens of thousands of people rallied on the National Mall to demand that we fight poverty, not the poor. Hundreds of poor and dispossessed people testified before the nation and made their demands heard. Leaders emerged in states around the country and we engaged in moral fusion organizing to build a broad and deep movement to sustain the fight for the long term.

Over the next year, we will bring our moral movement to every corner of this country. We will continue to organize, mobilize, and take direct action if necessary, and we will hold our political representatives accountable until our demands are met. Donate now to sustain this crucial work as we head into 2019.
GIVE TODAY

States that participated in the 40 Days of Moral Action in 2018

From California to the Carolinas, from Alabama to Alaska, from Michigan to Mississippi, from Southern Florida to Northern Maine, from the Mexican border to the Bronx, and many places in between, we have raised a moral cry about the 140 million poor and low income people fighting to survive. We are now in the second phase of the campaign and are organizing for the times ahead. 

In the last few months, Poor People's Campaign leaders have won significant legal battles in places like Tennessee, where moral witnesses who engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience saw their cases dismissed, and Kentucky, where their legislature’s attempt to shut them out of the State Capitol was found unconstitutional; they have organized Poor People's Hearings from Gresham, OR to Little Rock, AR to Harrisburg, PA; and they have engaged in moral fusion organizing across lines of difference and historic division. 

We are proud of what we’ve done together, but as we witness the recent attacks on SNAP recipients and families at the border, veterans being deported, people made homeless by the worst forest fires in this country's recent history, our communities struggling from lack of access to clean water, and 37 million people still without healthcare, we know our work is just getting started. 

We learned this in 2018: There is a hunger for change and action in our nation. And there is nothing more powerful than when we stand united in common suffering and hope. 

Over one million of you tuned in by livestream, followed us online and joined us in the streets. If just 5% of you donated $10, it would help keep this movement moving. Before the year closes, donate whatever you can to our movement so we can keep pushing forward and make 2019 the year in which the voices of 140 million poor folk in America were undeniably heard.
 
Thank you for your commitment to the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival and for continuing to build a moral movement to save the soul of America.

Forward together, not one step back,

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II & Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

 ***

From Friends of the Earth:
Monarch butterflies are declining at an alarming rate. Their numbers have dropped by roughly 97% in the last 20 years in the West. And a key culprit is the massive increase in the use of glyphosate -- a.k.a. Monsanto’s Roundup®.

Roundup® wipes out milkweed, the only food young monarchs eat. It’s a simple formula: More Roundup® = less milkweed = fewer monarchs.

Instead of acting to stop this crisis, the Trump administration keeps looking the other way as the use of Monsanto’s toxic pesticide increases. But we need action NOW in order to save monarchs from the risk of extinction. It’s time for Congress to step up and do what Trump won’t!

Tell Congress: Stop Monsanto from wiping out monarch butterflies!

Over the last two decades, what used to be a roaring river of butterflies migrating to Mexico each year has become a trickle.

At the same time, the amount of Roundup® being used each year has gone from 25-30 million pounds, to 180-185 million. That’s more than half a pound of pesticides for every American!

It’s no wonder our butterflies are in trouble. And the dramatically increased use of Roundup® is bad for us as well -- the World Health Organization has found this pesticide is a “probable carcinogen.”

The evidence is clear: we must stop supporting a food system built on toxic pesticides like Roundup® and instead build a future of organic for all.

But instead, the Trump administration wants to hand Monsanto a license to pollute our environment, harm our health, and wipe out monarch butterflies. Trump’s EPA intends to allow Big Ag to keep dousing our food in this toxic chemical. We need your help to stop it.

Tell your Representative: Stop Monsanto from poisoning our environment and communities!

Roundup® is wiping out butterflies and putting our health at risk -- but it’s making $5 billion every year in profits for Monsanto. So surely the company is doing everything it can to protect those profits. We can’t let our elected officials put Monsanto ahead of our communities and environment.

It’s clear that our chemical-intensive, GMO, corporate-controlled agricultural system is failing. We need to move away from this system now. Together, we can save monarch butterflies from extinction, protect all of us and the planet from this toxic herbicide. But we need your help.

Write to your Member of Congress now and tell them to stand up to Monsanto and get Roundup® out of our food system!

Standing with you,
Tiffany Finck-Haynes,
Pesticides and pollinators program manager,
Friends of the Earth

***

Tell Trump to Stop His Plans to Open Up Six Million Acres of Florida's Wetlands to Commercial Development.

Sign Now

The Trump administration's new definition of federally protected wetlands would strip protection from half of Florida's wetlands. The move is being celebrated by real estate builders, commercial farmers, and golf course developers who see the wetlands as a hinderance to their money-making schemes.  Sign this petition to demand that Congress pass legislation protecting this land once and for all.  Under Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has repeatedly gutted regulations meant to save our environment from destruction. And this latest move is yet another blatant attempt to help Trump's billionaire cronies make more money at the expense of everything we hold dear. Florida is home to 12 million acres of wetlands, including the unique and beautiful Everglades. Destroying this delicate ecosystem with commercial development would endanger the habitat of countless animals, as well as the state's water quality. It would make the Red Tide — a toxic algae bloom that's killing off turtles, birds, and dolphins — even worse.  Act now to demand that incoming congressional leaders immediately take steps to protect Florida's wetlands before it is too late.  Thank you, Lacey K. The Care2 Petitions Team P.S. Don't let Trump destroy yet another one of America's environmental treasures. Tell Congress to take action as soon as it comes back in 2019.