What Planet Are You On?

What Planet Are You On?

by C.A. Matthews 

Reality isn’t to everyone’s tastes.

 

This is most evident in the the comment sections of blogs and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. When someone responds to your carefully thought-out comment with a string of curse words, or worse, a nonsensical tirade that begins, “Climate change is a vast Russian-financed conspiracy begun in the seventeenth century by the horse antibiotic pharmaceutical manufacturers working for anti-vax Illuminati sex traffickers led by the ghost of Jeffrey Epstein,” you gotta wonder. What planet do they live on?

 

Can’t they observe the severe rise in summer temperatures and wild changes in the jet streams? Can’t they see how much money is changing hands behind the scenes so politicians are more than willing to bend over backward and protect blatant pedophiles? Can’t they understand that Sleepy-Creepy-Jim-Crow-Joe-Warmonger isn’t a “charismatic and dynamic president”? (Yes, some poor deluded fool actually wrote that on a post on Facebook. No, I don’t think they were joking.) Perhaps when you’ve been convinced that, “War is peace,” and “Ignorance is strength,” you don’t really exist in this reality after all?

 

Here’s my attempt to write a protest song from the ear worm that crawled into my mind and kept repeating itself this week: What planet are you on?

 

 

[If you don't want to subject yourself to my attempts at lyric writing, please send money to https://ko-fi.com/therevolutioncontinues or https://paypal.me/camatthews or else I might be tempted to do it again. You have been warned.]

 

What Planet Are You On? (a protest song)

Verse 1

Some days it’s bad—everything seems wrong

But folks say “So what?”

What planet are you on?

 

Verse 2

Cluster bombs fall like rain—we act like King Kong

But why should we care?

What planet are you on?

 

Refrain 1

When up means down and left means right

The propagandists sleep well at night

It makes no sense to fight their lies

Just plug your ears to crush those cries

Verse 3

The temps in May hit one-twenty-one

I say this is Earth

What planet are you on?

 

Verse 4

A governor moved guest workers along

Now no one picks crops

What planet are you on?

 

Refrain 2

When Neo-Nazis do as they please

We give them arms and tanks as a tease

A proxy war makes money by shootin’

Raytheon rakes in profits, blames it all on Putin

 

Verse 5

When CNN gives no word from across the pond

Who needs to know facts?

What planet are you on?

Verse 6

When journalists are jailed for oh-so long!

What’s “freedom of speech”?

What planet are you on?

 

Refrain 3

They’ll keep us scared and fed with lies

With no responsibility or alibis

We’re folks with no morals or scruples

Benedict Arnold calls us his pupils!

 

Verse 7

When nukes start flying, the bells ding-dong

Build my own bomb shelter?

What planet are you on?

 

Verse 8

Oceans rise, tsunamis ring Earth like a gong

There’s no climate change?

What planet are you on?

 

Refrain 4

Smoke and pollutants fill hazy skies—

That choke and maim your kids—makes you cry

But billionaires continue to do as they please

‘Cause capitalism depends on war and greed!

Verse 9

When folks ask me what’s up with this song

I'll look askance and shout—

What planet are you on?

 

Verse 10

If killing and fighting makes us strong

Then we don’t belong here

‘Cause the planet has been wronged!

 

Refrain 5

It’s time to march—take to the streets

Our planet to save, our souls to keep

The future’s ours if we all get along

Then we’ll never need ask, “What planet are you on?”

 

 

Related Articles and Interesting Links:

ORDINARY PEOPLE BY THE MILLIONS https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/ordinary-people-by-the-millions

US Asset Managers Have ‘Significant Investments’ in Nuclear Weapons and Cluster Bombs: Analysis https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/19/us-asset-managers-have-significant-investments-in-nuclear-weapons-and-cluster-bombs-analysis/

 

Covid's Origins and the Death of Trust

https://www.racket.news/p/covids-origins-and-the-death-of-trust

 

Matt Taibbi: ‘In Their Labs’: Fifteen Illuminating Passages in the Proximal Origin Chats and Emails https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/19/matt-taibbi-in-their-labs-fifteen-illuminating-passages-in-the-proximal-origin-chats-and-emails/

 

Virgin Islands Sues JP Morgan For $190 Million for doing business with Jeffrey Epstein (clip) https://youtu.be/mWgRHmqxJ5U

 

Victims of Migrant Boat Tragedy Are Casualties of the US “War on Terror” https://truthout.org/articles/victims-of-migrant-boat-tragedy-are-casualties-of-the-us-war-on-terror

 

The Hype of Nuclear ‘Renaissance’ https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/20/the-hype-of-nuclear-renaissance/

 

What Should We Do With The Perpetrators Of The Climate Crisis?

https://popularresistance.org/what-should-we-do-with-the-perpetrators-of-the-climate-crisis/

 

Modern ‘Sixth Mass Extinction’ Event Will Be Worse Than First Predicted https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2023/07/19/modern-sixth-mass-extinction-event-will-be-worse-than-first-predicted/

 

Carbon Budget to Limit Temperature Rise Ticks Away as Climate Clock Drops Below Six Years https://truthout.org/articles/carbon-budget-to-limit-temperature-rise-ticks-away-as-climate-clock-drops-below-six-years/ 

 

Tribes Take The Lead On Regenerative Agriculture

https://popularresistance.org/tribes-take-the-lead-on-regenerative-agriculture/

The Empire Knows It's Pouring Ukrainian Blood Into An Unwinnable Proxy War https://open.substack.com/pub/caitlinjohnstone/p/the-empire-knows-its-pouring-ukrainian

In Ukraine, US Adds to Barbaric Cluster-Bomb Legacy https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/21/in-ukraine-us-adds-to-barbaric-cluster-bomb-legacy/

Biden's War: WWIII https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/bidens-war-wwiii

House and Senate Set Up for Fight Over How Much Military Aid to Give Taiwan https://news.antiwar.com/2023/07/20/house-and-senate-set-up-for-fight-over-how-much-military-aid-to-give-taiwan/

What We Can Still Learn From J. Robert Oppenheimer https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/21/what-we-can-still-learn-from-j-robert-oppenheimer/

Establishment Tool Says Jill Stein Voters Regret their Vote - But Can’t Find One! https://youtu.be/xm11h21VkIY

‘Underground Climate Change’ Is Shifting Chicago’s Foundations
https://popularresistance.org/underground-climate-change-is-shifting-chicagos-foundations/

19-Year-Old Girl Sent to Jail for Self-Managed Abortion in Nebraska https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/22/19-year-old-girl-sent-to-jail-for-self-managed-abortion-in-nebraska/

60 Years After the March on Washington, 1 in 3 Black Children Live in Poverty https://truthout.org/articles/60-years-after-the-march-on-washington-1-in-3-black-children-live-in-poverty/

Tijuana Groups Protest Border Wall Construction At Friendship Park https://popularresistance.org/tijuana-groups-protest-border-wall-construction-at-friendship-park/

Coming soon, the first book from The Revolution Continues blog:  The Little Red Book of Revolution

How can you get your e-copy? The easiest way is to subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack as a paying subscriber. Choose what level you'd like to subscribe at via the buttons on any post online at: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

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More details to come. Power to the people!

I Don't Speak Brainwashed

I Don't Speak Brainwashed
by Still Bernin'
 
Some days, you have to pinch yourself to see if you're actually living in reality or some kind of irritating sitcom episode. You know the kind--the one where the lead character wakes up and finds herself unable to understand or communicate with her family/gaggle of friends. It's like a "Tower of Babel on Meth" story. By the end of the show, both you and the main character are screaming, "Stop it! Enough is enough!"

DNC Sues Russia, Wikileaks, Trump Campaign, Hang Nails and Humpty Dumpty for Hacking their Naughty Emails in 2016 Election or words to those effect jumped off my computer screen and assaulted my better sense this past week. Say what?  This lawsuit could even threaten freedom of the press according to many, a dangerous precedent indeed.

The Democrats have admitted in a court of law that they rigged their own primaries against Bernie Sanders. (In fact they're the only party that has admitted to wrongdoing in the 2016 election.) It's been determined by numerous authorities that the damning emails covering their primary rigging to ensure a Clinton win were not "hacked" but "leaked" by someone within the organization. The download rate noted on the files confirmed they were copied onto a flash drive and taken out of the building. Could it have been Seth Rich, the young DNC staffer found murdered but not robbed, who leaked the emails to Wikileaks? We'll probably never know for sure since dead men conveniently tell no tales. But the doubt remains. What makes you think the American public will fall for more lies and manipulation, Dems?

https://youtu.be/3MglmnaASCs 

The next thing you know, the so-called progressive mainstream media will say straight shooters such as independent thinker Jimmy Dore are passing along conspiracy theories for questioning the validity of  Syria gassing its own citizens. Oh, wait a moment... CNN smeared Jimmy for saying he held doubts about the incident because they're jealous of his popularity. CNN actually tried to imply Jimmy was on the same level as pedophiles and Neo-Nazis who broadcast on You Tube (to scare away his advertising revenue). As if! 

Funny thing is, many other journalists and experts have voiced similar reservations about the alleged  Syrian gassing attack. As investigative journalists explore deeper, more evidence has emerged showing that the attack simply didn't take place. It was a manufactured excuse to justify the US bombing. Carla Ortiz, an independent journalist who has been to Syria several times, supports this conclusion. (Here are two interviews about Carla's trips to Syria: Part 1. Part 2. ) ZDF heute, Germany's largest public TV news broadcaster, has stated that the Syria chemical attack was "most likely staged."

NW Ohio Peace Coalition speaks out against the bombings

It appears the  Military-Industrial Complex made the whole thing up in order to launch a bunch of expensive missiles to help out  CIA-backed terrorist groups at the expense of the Assad regime. Our Big Oil-owned government can't seem to have enough oil and oil pipelines, and we certainly don't want other parties (read: Syrians and their backers, the Russians)  building a pipeline of their own. Apparently, petroleum profits are more important to  American/British/French one-percenters than the health and safety of the ordinary Syrians caught in the crossfire of their latest war for oil.

Do you really believe all Americans are that dumb, mainstream media? Listen to these words of another straight shooter... You may have heard of him, President Abraham Lincoln:

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Stop insulting us with your blatant propaganda, mainstream media. Stop insulting us with your endless wars for oil, Military-Industrial Complex and mindless, immoral lackeys. Stop insulting us with your duplicitous distraction techniques, DNC. We know you are all self-centered liars. Americans, on the whole, are smarter than you think. We speak commonsense.

It's time Americans speak commonsense truth to those in power and let them know we won't have anything more to do with these crooks. It's time we put both the duopoly and the endless wars for oil/land/other resources behind us. It's time we support and encourage independent thinkers (without their hands in the Citizens United cookie jar of corporate bribery) to speak out and to run for office. It's time we vote third party/Green Party and make a clean sweep of the corruption inherent in the two-party system.

Ordinary Americans don't speak "Brainwashed," and we're growing tired of those who do. Be a patriot! Stop wasting your time repeating the lies of the mainstream media and the corporatist duopoly controlling our government. Spread the truth instead.

BIO: Still Bernin' is sick and tired of hearing  b.s. from the six corporations that own over 90% of the media outlets in the US.  The outright lies from  corporate-owned politicians make Bernin'  sick, too. His remedy? Keep repeating the truth until we change hearts and minds and things change for the better. There is no Planet B!

***

"Bombs Away!" 
Or how bombing Syria helped to cover up  stories the mainstream media and our government didn't want you to know about this past week. Lee gives examples of how "faux progressives" manipulate public opinion on behalf of the one-percent who want more war. Also, there's been more than one chemical attack on Americans recently. Can we expect bombing? (Warning: contains adult language and much angry laughter.)


https://youtu.be/3SVKCauiLms

***

The Revolution Continues has set up an easy way to donate to the cause of keeping it ad-free. Three years without obnoxious ads (that many news sites have to cover costs) has been great, but the editor does have to pay for internet, electricity, etc. Any amount you can donate to keep this progressive site going without those awful ads is appreciated. Thank you.

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

Power to the people and not the military-industrial complex!

***

 Contact your representative if they appear on this list and let him/her know what you feel about their stealing from our Social Security funds. After all, you worked and paid into Social Security--you deserve to receive it when you retire!

***

From AFT:

There’s a growing school crisis in Puerto Rico, and the media, like the Trump administration, is not paying enough attention.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello and his education secretary, Julia Keleher, have taken a page right out of the Trump-DeVos playbook. They are using Hurricane Maria and the island’s bankruptcy case as excuses to close down 283 more public schools. This is on top of the 167 schools they already closed late last year. Those slated for closure include schools that excel, and they include career-and-technical-education schools and bilingual schools that may be the only schools of their kind for miles. But Puerto Rico’s education secretary doesn’t care: She admitted yesterday that her department never looked at the schools or analyzed the human impact of the closures.

Puerto Rico’s students aren’t just numbers. Closing their schools and forcing them to travel long distances just to get an education is a terrible plan. And on top of disrupting students’ lives, this plan would divert scarce resources to charter schools, including trying to turn schools—like the island’s public Montessori schools, which want to stay public—over to charters. Shockingly, the secretary has even admitted that she was targeting schools to close in order to turn the buildings over to private charter school operators.

Despite the massive outcry against this plan, the governor and education secretary have pushed forward without regard for the devastating impact these school closures will have on their communities. Closing 35 percent of the island’s schools will be disastrous, and it’s an entirely man-made disaster. These closings do not need to happen. What’s more, the secretary has refused to take input from local mayors, parents, teachers and the community.

They need our support. Help us spread the word about the injustice in Puerto Rico by tweeting at the Governor and Secretary of Education.

What @RicardoRossello is doing to schools in #PuertoRico is outrageous. #PorNuestrasEscuelas pic.twitter.com/XXxed5gkZq

The legacy of @RicardoRossello will be tied to Betsy DeVos if he goes though with his recklessly harmful plan to close 35% of #PuertoRico’s schools. #PorNuestrasEscuelas pic.twitter.com/fxyCKZ8vPA

First the government ignored the needs of #PuertoRico since the hurricane, now they’re using the crisis to close nearly 300 more schools. Tell @RicardoRossello to stop the school closings. #PorNuestrasEscuelas https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stand-with-puerto-rico-teachers-and-parents

60,000 students in #PuertoRico will be hurt by these outrageous school closings. Stand with Puerto Rican students by opposing the closings. #PorNuestrasEscuelas https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stand-with-puerto-rico-teachers-and-parents

The #PuertoRico Education Secretary worked with Betsy DeVos on an education plan and now they’re closing nearly 300 schools. Tell the Gov that this plan cannot happen. #PorNuestrasEscuelas https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stand-with-puerto-rico-teachers-and-parents

Teachers in West Virginia and Oklahoma have captured the hearts and minds of America. It’s well past time that Puerto Rico commands some attention as well. These are American citizens, and schools in Puerto Rico—just as in states on the mainland—have been starved of resources, which has undermined its entire education system.

Last week, hundreds of parents rallied in front of the Capitol in San Juan, despite an islandwide power failure. And this week, on April 25, thousands of teachers will form a human shield around the Capitol to show their intention to protect public education. They want their voices heard. They want money to be used to invest in and rebuild schools, not to pay off Wall Street hedge funds the governor is trying to court.

We need to show the people of Puerto Rico that there’s national support for their protests—like there has been for other recent teacher protests on the mainland.

The latest round of school closures has been denounced all over the island. Mayors from across Puerto Rico are up in arms, and they’re demanding the governor stop closing schools. They want the governor to consult with them, their communities and the people who are actually affected by this plan.

Gov. Rossello and Secretary Keleher, with the help of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, is pushing forward with no thought for what communities want or need. Public schools have been the center of the post-hurricane recovery over the last six months. The schools have provided shelter, services and care for those in need since Hurricane Maria, while our government let them flounder. And now, instead of investing in communities, the governor and secretary want to shut down their schools.

This education plan is bad. Puerto Rican children and educators need us to be there for them.

Once you’ve tweeted, sign our petition to protect Puerto Rico’s public schools.

In unity,
Randi Weingarten
AFT President

***

From Open Media:

There's a new battle in the war on Net Neutrality — small business. 

If we lose this founding principle of an open web, it won't just affect tech companies. Grocery and hardware stores do much of their business online, hair stylists and nail salons book their appointments through their websites, modern farming tools require connectivity.

Killing Net Neutrality will be a tax on the entire economy, which is why small businesses should be on the front lines of saving it.

And we have a plan to help you do that. Already, more than 3,500 small business have banded together to sign this open letter in support of saving Net Neutrality.

1. Do you run your own business? Be the 3,501st — sign on to our open letter.
2. Even if you don’t run your own company, you can reach out to small businesses in your community. Can you share our open letter on Facebook and Twitter, and mention any small business owners you know in the post? Please, email the URL www.businessesfornetneutrality.com and ask others to join the fight.

We’re weeks away from the senate vote on a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution that could save our Net Neutrality protections by overthrowing Ajit Pai's FCC's repeal, but we need at least one more senator’s vote to win.¹
 
And we know that pressure from local businesses in lawmakers’ own districts is one of the single most effective strategy for convincing hard-to-get lawmakers to buck partisan politics and side with the overwhelming majority of voters to speak out for the open Internet.

That's why our goal is to get at least 10,000 small businesses signed on to the letter by the end of April. After that, we'll help small businesses across the country deliver those messages directly to Congressional offices on Wednesday, May 2 at 12 p.m. local time.
Small businesses are the perfect messengers for Republican lawmakers. Net Neutrality is not a partisan issue outside of Washington, D.C.,² but telecom lobbyists are working hard to make it one.

That's why we need the whole Internet, and every business we can find, to take action on Net Neutrality and help us pass the CRA in the Senate.

If you run your own business please sign our open letter before May 2. And whether you’re self-employed or not, please take a second to share it on Facebook and Twitter.

Yours for an open Internet,
—Katy, on behalf of your OpenMedia team

Footnotes:
[1] Ajit Pai tried to kill net neutrality, but the internet is fighting back: NBC News
[2] Poll: 83 percent of voters support keeping FCC's net neutrality rules: The Hill

We are an award-winning network of people and organizations working to safeguard the possibilities of the open Internet. We work toward informed and participatory digital policy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

Why Do They Lie About Progressives?

Why Do They Lie About Progressives? 

(But Still Want Us To Like Them)

by Still Bernin'

The following two videos from The Jimmy Dore Show say a lot about the people who slur progressive activists and candidates:
 
Why do these DNC corporate-money-lovers seem so bitter and angry? Bernie Sanders is still the most popular politician in the country, and his progressive stances on universal health care, a living wage, and free college education (among others) are extremely popular with the majority of Americans. If anything, shouldn't they welcome Bernie into their fold and accept and promote these progressive ideas so they can regain seats in Congress and in state houses across the nation?

Jimmy Dore says it well: "They'd rather lose to Trump than win with a progressive." Another telling quote about the Democrats: "You're just Republicans in Democrat clothing." By labeling Bernie-supporters as the "alt-left," the corporate Dems seek to marginalize and shut out true progressives in the party. However, in doing so they've created even more outspoken progressives. They don't seem to realize they've sown the seeds of their own destruction. Even the corporatists' selection of Senator Kamala Harris as their "Clinton substitute" has backfired, as Jimmy shows in the video below:
 

 
"Doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of sanity," jokes Jimmy. So, corporate Democrats think Harris is perfect to run in the 2020 presidential election? A younger version of Hillary Clinton, Harris has her own scandals to deal with, such as not prosecuting current Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin while she was California's Attorney General after Mnuchin committed thousands of illegal foreclosures. A "winning" choice? An honest progressive candidate? Yeah, right. 

Harris is "progressive" and doesn't support single payer health care? Uh-huh. She takes lobbyist money and says she's for the people? Does the DNC think we really believe that? You know what I say to the Democrats? "Would you buy the Brooklyn Bridge from me? I'll sell it to you cheap!" (In other words, once conned, it's easy to see through a con artist's tricks. We're onto your tactics, DNC.)

The corporate Dems must believe true progressives are so gullible we'll fall for their blatant lies without blinking an eye. Luckily for us, we're not quite that naive, and we voice our objections loudly. It's why the corrupt DNC is so frustrated with us and will continue to act out their fears and prejudice by smearing progressives and creating distractions such as Russiagate to take the focus off their move to the right. 

No, the Democrats are not a "centrist party"  as they tout. In the last 30 years, they've transformed themselves into a right-wing party by taking large sums of money from billionaire oligarchs. You haven't seen the DNC come out to support the Move to Amend organization, to rid us of the Citizens United ruling, have you? It's deliberate--I don' t think they just forgot about it. They want to keep their super-rich donors happy. Money is speech, especially when you're filling the Dems' war chest coffers.

Those who think that the Democratic Party can be changed from the inside, consider this: Is joining them worth it? Once inside, will you find yourself sucked under into their quagmire of greed and deceit? Will you find yourself trapped and unable to escape with your integrity intact?

Now, more than ever, it's time to say good-bye to the Dems. Any party that feels rigging their own primary elections is a good thing isn't honorable. Making a deal with a less than honorable organization is bound to lead to heartache. It's time for a fresh start--and Draft Bernie for a People's Party is there, ready to pick up the pieces of the self-destructive Democratic Party and support progressive candidates to fill the empty slots left behind by these money-loving lie mongerers. 

If you can't bring yourself to trust a new and untested party, why not try an older third party, the Green Party. With a motto of "people, planet and peace over profits," you can't go wrong there as a progressive. Whichever path you choose, choose one that you can live with and one that reflects your morality. Never join a group out of fear or coercion. You'll only regret it later, like so many ex-Dems are doing now.

Progressives believe in a future where all are free from the shackles of poverty and fear. Progressives believe in a future where the people's needs are ranked well above billionaires' needs to make obscene corporate profits. Let us walk confidently into that future--not crawl in fear in the shadows of the establishment factions. Break the two-party habit today. You--and your future--will be glad you did.

Read this very comprehensive piece on Kamala Harris to see what the corporate Dems like about her. It ain't pretty stuff: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/08/in-kamala-harris-the-establishment-has-its-champio.html

Dr. Cornel West tells us exactly what the Democrats have delivered over the past 100 days--disappointment: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/24/democrats-delivered-one-thing-100-days-disappointment?CMP=share_btn_gp

BIO: Still Bernin' sees a brighter future away from the dark clouds of the "lesser evils" of the two-party system. All we have to do is believe in ourselves and follow our conscience in the voting booth.

***

In a related story, here's an update from Our Revolution about the People's Platform petition and the Summer for Progress activism. Do you feel the DNC is getting the message? Nina Turner and other progressives stood at their front doors in Washington D.C., and the Dems still wouldn't let them in. Can we assume they'll change their corporatist ways?

Over 100,000 of you signed our petition in support of the People's Platform, but when we went to deliver it to DNC headquarters they did not appreciate our presence. Despite the attendance of current and former DNC officials and Members of Congress in our group, we were shut out from entering the building. Citizens engaging in the democratic process deserve better and despite what happened, we will continue pushing for policies that enhance the quality of life for all.

We cannot wait for change, we need to make the change we want to see happen. Together, we made the DNC “Feel the Bern” last summer with sustained grassroots pressure and adopted the most progressive platform in the Democratic Party's modern history, but since then they have pushed back at every turn. We need to show House Democrats that our grassroots movement is more powerful than the party establishment. Will you donate $3, or however much you can afford to help Our Revolution continue our campaign and keep the pressure on for our Summer for Progress?

Unlike the presidential primaries where millions of independent voters were barred from state primaries and caucuses, our push for the People's Platform does not restrict people based on arcane party rules—it's just about us. With the full participation of voters of all party affiliations who believe in our progressive ideals and the People's Platform, we can present a united front that is more powerful than the sequestered party elites who resist the change we need to see. It is time to make the Democratic Party “Feel the Bern” again.

Chip in $3 to Our Revolution and help win over House Democrats to support the People's Platform.

The DNC may think that they can continue working behind closed doors, but they will know different when millions of us come knocking.

In solidarity,

Nina Turner
President
Our Revolution

DONATE »

 ***

Take action this week--
From 314 Action:

Betsy Southerland worked for the EPA for 30 years. This week, she resigned.
Southerland, a director at the Office of Water, called out Trump and Scott Pruitt’s blatant disregard for protecting public health and safety in a scathing exit letter. Here’s an excerpt:

“Today the environmental field is suffering from the temporary triumph of myth over truth. The truth is there is NO war on coal, there is NO economic crisis caused by environmental protection, and climate change IS caused by man’s activities. The majority of the American people recognize that this protection of public health and safety is right and it is just.”

The EPA was created to protect our health and safety, not cater to big business. Add your name to stand with Betsy and fight this administration’s attempts to dismantle the EPA.

STAND WITH BETSY

 
Trump and Pruitt have steadily been trying to undermine and sabotage the EPA since they arrived. They’ve fired dozens of scientists and have given jobs to their buddies in the fossil fuel industry. They’ve torn up or scaled back environmental regulations, including one that protects children from brain damage-causing pesticides. They’re already being sued by multiple states.

States shouldn’t have to sue the EPA for access to clean air and water. The interests of the American people should come before those of the fossil fuel industry. And lifelong employees like Betsy, dedicated to protecting public health and safety, shouldn’t be forced to quit.

Add your name to stand with Betsy and against Trump’s EPA sabotage.

Thanks for standing in solidarity with science.


Harmony Knutson
Director of Advocacy
314 Action

***

Verizon Wireless was just caught in the act of what looks like a blatant violation net neutrality.

Last week, without warning or permission from its customers, Verizon throttled bandwidth speeds down to 10Mbs. Users trying to stream video or use certain apps were caught in an internet slow lane and couldn't do anything about it.

But because of Title II net neutrality protections, the press has called the company out.¹

Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast have argued that they should be able to regulate net neutrality on their own, without FCC rules. Verizon just proved why we can never let that happen.
Will you chip in $5 to help fight for net neutrality?

Verizon has argued that it was performing a "test" on bandwidth that was perfectly legal.² But the truth is that Verizon can brazenly break net neutrality rules because it has confidence that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai—a former Verizon attorney—will dismantle net neutrality and let the company off the hook.

The 2.5 million comments our Day of Action to Save Net Neutrality generated to the FCC show that the public is united against the Trump FCC's repeal of net neutrality. 

As for the CEOs of AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon—they have turned down the invitation to speak before Congress and defend their stance.³ They know that there is no public good argument in favor of disbanding net neutrality rules.

Instead, the telecom industry is relying on the over $25 million in campaign donations it made during last year's election to convince Congress to support Pai's effort to destroy net neutrality.⁴

Our voices need to be louder than Comcast's checkbook. We are continuing our fight for net neutrality and organizing meetings across the country to put pressure on the FCC and Congress to keep Title II protections in place.
Will you chip in $5 to help stand up for net neutrality against Verizon and Comcast?

Thanks for standing with us,

Kurt Walters, Demand Progress

DONATE

Sources:
1. USA Today, "Verizon slows video traffic, causing concerns for net neutrality advocates," July 26, 2017
2. Ibid.
3. Endgadget, "Tech CEOs haven’t yet agreed to attend House net neutrality hearing," July 31, 2017
4. OpenSecrets.org, "Telecom Services & Equipment: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups," accessed August 4, 2017