The People Take Action

Listen to Greta speak before the launch of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

The People Take Action

by C. A. Matthews

I’m tired of people whining. It’s not that I don’t whine myself, because we all do from time to time, but some folks’ incessant whining about how terrible things are and how they can’t do anything about them drives me up the wall. If I were a protagonist in a 1940s movie, I’d take the whiners by the shoulders and shake them hard and then slap them across the face to make them stop whining.

I know. I’d get into a helluva big mess if I resorted to physical violence to get the whiners’ attention nowadays. So, I’m left with using only non-violent means, such as writing, to get them to snap out of their whining tirades. So, here goes.

Things are terrible in 2025, but you can do something about them beside whining. You can take action.

The following are examples of people from all over the world who didn’t sit and whine about how terrible things are. They’ve stood up and started moving. They know their actions could make them lose their livelihoods or get them hurt. They realize they could be risking their lives and their reputations by taking action, but they feel it’s worth it. The ends justify the means—and any cost to themselves personally.

First example: American IT workers were willing to risk losing their jobs, their careers and professional reputations in order to make a bold statement protesting Israel’s actions in Palestine and their company’s association with the genocidaires. This is the story of what four former employees of Microsoft did recently ...

Our second example of people taking action instead of whining is global in its importance. From People’s Dispatch:

In July 2025, a new international maritime initiative was launched: the Global Sumud Flotilla. It was formed by four major coalitions: the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Maghreb Sumud Convoy, and the Southeast Asian Nusantara Sumud Initiative. The Global Sumud Flotilla is set to depart on August 31, 2025. Its goal is clear: to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza, to deliver urgent humanitarian aid, and to expose the genocidal war waged on Palestinians.

The flotilla is composed of dozens of small civilian vessels carrying activists, parliamentarians, doctors, and trade unionists, alongside humanitarian cargo. More than 39 national delegations have pledged participation, making this the largest people-led maritime effort in solidarity with Gaza since the 2010 “Mavi Marmara”...

 

And be sure to register now for the webinar to learn how to become a part of the Lifeline for Palestine. https://lifelineforpalestine.com/

 

To read more about how and why we should take action (and not just sit around and whine), please copy or click on this link: 

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 And also watch https://youtu.be/CtUGZXM_-Lc

 

This article is the 535th blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years. 

You can make a donation at https://paypal.me/camatthews or Buy Me a Coffee or Ko-fi. Every little bit helps since this is my only source of income. Thank you. 

 

How Your Love's Affecting Our Reality?

by C.A. Matthews

Have you ever experienced an “earworm” or a “sticky tune”? An earworm is a song or melody (or part of one) that gets stuck in your mind that you can’t seem to shake for days on end. You keep hearing it over and over again during the quiet parts of your day. You’re not even sure how or why it happens, but somehow it does. There’s nothing you can do to shake it loose, either. I know—I’ve tried!

I was infected with an unusual ear worm this past week. It’s from the chorus of a pop hit from 1999 that I must have heard playing on my car radio recently. What makes this earworm even more unusual is that it’s not from a song that I particularly like. I’m not even a fan of the group that recorded it. In fact, I don’t think either one of my daughters were a fan of the group or the song back when. So why are these words repeating constantly in my head?

All you people, can't you see, can't you see
How your love's affecting our reality?
Every time we're down, you can make it right
And that makes you larger than life

Chorus from the 1999 Backstreet Boys’ song Larger Than Life, written by Brian Littrel, Kristian Lundin, and Max Martin.

The one line that really haunts me is Can’t you see how your love’s affecting our reality? Yeah, it’s part of a catchy lyric and tune, but there’s something about that question that keeps bugging me. I really want to know what the answer to it is. It’s driving me crazy.

How is your love affecting our reality?

According to the song lyrics, we can’t see it. We can’t actually see or know how our love (and this could mean anything from romantic love to neighborly love to compassion and empathy for all humankind and the earth itself) affects the reality of the universe itself. But the next lines show us that our love does indeed hold tremendous power: Every time we're down, you can make it right/And that makes you larger than life.

Deep stuff, huh?

All I can guess at this point is this earworm is the universe’s way of telling me that all is not lost. So, when it comes to how we can end the horrible genocide in Gaza, all is not lost, even if it looks like it is. I don’t know why I’ve come to this conclusion, but I feel it in my bones. Call it intuition or a gut instinct. Even when things seem down (or impossible) for us, we can make them right (or at least better). Perhaps that’s what makes us all larger than life—we have more power than we could possibly dream of.

We need to start using our power for good and to save lives. Right now.

A lot of Substack commentators embrace various creeds and belief systems and tell us to think positive, but I’m not going to assume anything I write here will change your mind. Others are much more persuasive and eloquent than I am. But I implore you to keep an open mind for just a little while longer...

 

To see where I'm coming from and how this could make the world a better place, please continue reading the rest of this article on Substack. Just copy or click on this link: 

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There you'll see related article and video links, all the graphics, and be able to leave comments. You can become a free or paid subscriber and receive weekly posts in your email box, along with occasional special articles just for paid subscribers, too.

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This article is the 533rd blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years. 

You can make a donation at https://paypal.me/camatthews or Buy Me a Coffee or Ko-fi. Every little bit helps since this is my only source of income. Thank you.

 

A most creative way to protest Trump's recent visit to Scotland.

Unlearning Hopelessness

by C.A. Matthews

Seen on X: https://x.com/aashisjo/status/1947314052016824491

@DrNeenaJha Seriously what do we do?? We’ve protested, boycotted, campaigned, donated, written articles, pressured our government & institutions

@aashisjo What do we do? We organize real action, not performances. We disrupt the empire by refusing to work. We do not ask them to stop, we force them to stop.

 

While I was pruning back the dying raspberry canes in our organic garden, I contemplated just how hopeless the task was. The monsoon rains dumps this season had encouraged more raspberry canes and briers to grow than usual, then further rains drowned half of them with the excessive water around their roots. The out-of-control new brier growth was choking some of the older fruit bearing ones.

Why bother? I thought. I should give up now and avoid any more scrapes and scratches.

But I didn’t give up. I kept on until the task was finished. Why? Because I happen to like eating raspberries. I helped plant the first small canes in our garden, and they’d graciously had fed me (and others) over the years. So, I gritted my teeth and kept pruning. I vowed not to give up on them, especially when they needed my help the most.

Gardening is very much like fighting the unjust system we live in. Sometimes things go well, but most of the time it’s chaos and all hands-to-the-pumps—or pruning shears. Raspberries and other living things can be as unpredictable as the powers-that-be who control and punish us whenever we deviate from their plans. But we can’t give up on fighting back against the oligarchs no matter how tough things get. We’ve got to keep on hacking through the jungle and prune those briers. We’ve got fruit to harvest.

There’s been a lot of talk among psychologists and therapists about learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is when we believe we cannot change painful circumstances, so we stop trying and just endure what’s happening. 

This “just enduring” behavior describes the actions of the majority of humankind in the year 2025, in my opinion. We are enduring, but we’re not growing and producing fruit that will feed ourselves and others now and in the future. We’ve thrown in the towel along with our gardening secateurs, and because of that choice to give up, our circumstances will not change for the better.

Some psychologists believe that it’s actually learned hopelessness or a hopeless depression that keeps us from fighting back against painful circumstances. It’s easy to understand why and how depression sets in. Have you ever scrolled through your social media stream to check out the headlines or look at the memes?

No wonder it's called doomscrolling! 

While the odds of us succeeding in our goals to make the world a better place for all may be astronomical, we can at least try to fight the corrupt system and make some things better, right? The challenge is that we’ve heard too many horror stories and learned from others how hopeless the fight has become for them. We start to believe that it’s hopeless to even try and change things...

 

To learn more about how to unlearn hopelessness and keep up the fight against the corrupt status quo, please continue reading the rest of this article on Substack. Just copy or click on this link: 

https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

There you'll see related article and video links, all the graphics, and be able to leave comments. You can become a free or paid subscriber and receive weekly posts in your email box, along with occasional special articles just for paid subscribers, too.

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This article is the 531st blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years. 

You can make a donation at https://paypal.me/camatthews or Buy Me a Coffee or Ko-fi. Every little bit helps since this is my only source of income. Thank you.

 

 

Economic Blackout—Just Use It!

by C.A. Matthews

There’s something everyone can do this week to make the world a better place that’s as simple as doing absolutely nothing.

I’m not kidding. It’s that easy. Everyone can stop spending money all at the same time. Withholding our money even for twenty-four hours can make a strong point to the powers that be.

How do we coordinate such an action? Here’s how: There’s a planned “economic blackout” scheduled for this Friday, February 28, that you can join. (See meme for details.)

“But...but…” I hear some of the whiners objecting to the sheer simplicity of everyone not supporting Amazon, Walmart, Target and the like for a day. “Surely we must do something big and difficult to catch the oligarchs/billionaires’ attention, to let them know that we don’t care for what Mr. Musk is doing, that we want them to stop spending our tax dollars on wars and genocide. How can depriving mega-corporations of a few sales for one day get our message across?”

You’d be surprised how sales being cut back by even a few percentage points can catch a capitalist’s eye and make them worry...

 

To learn more about how you can give the billionaires/oligarchs cause for worry, please continue reading the rest of this article by copying or clicking on this Substack link: 

https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com

There you'll see related article and video links, all the graphics, and be able to leave comments. You can become a free or paid subscriber and receive weekly posts in your email box, along with occasional special articles just for paid subscribers, too.

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In Memory…

Protest comes in many forms. Rest In Power, Aaron Bushnell!

February 25, 2024

This article is the 508th blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading, sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another ten years.

You can make a donation at https://paypal.me/camatthews or at Buy Me a Coffee or at Ko-fi. Every little bit helps since this is my only source of income. Thank you.

 

Escaping the Nightmare

by C.A. Matthews

This beautifully produced short video (above) spoke to me this week. Watch it and see what I mean.

Entitled Escaping the Duopoly Nightmare: A Tribute to the Fearless! the video gives one hope that there is a large enough percentage of Americans out there who actually “get it” and who are escaping the nightmare of the faux US democracy established and maintained by the billionaire oligarchs. These folks aren’t crying into their beers/coffee cups. They’re making plans on how they’ll fight back, and it could lead to building a strong alternative party that represents the working class, not the one-percent, in the near future.

To put this in the vernacular: Smart voters ain’t buying into the rich dudes’ lies anymore. They’re taking their business elsewhere. They’re starting their own workers’ party, far away from the brain dead, bought-off Red and Blue MAGAts. They’re going to put the people in charge, not the corporations.

Amen to these brave visionaries! Could the Revolution be just around the corner?

Meanwhile across the globe, brave Pakistanis are escaping from a nightmare not of their own making...

 

To discover who else is escaping nightmares, please read the rest of this article by clicking on this Substack link: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com. There you'll see related article and video links, all the graphics, and be able to leave comments. You can also subscribe and receive the weekly blog post in your email box. 

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Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. —Martin Luther

What Are You Thankful For?

words and holiday parade photos by C.A. Matthews

About this time of the year in the good ol’ USA there comes a national holiday that pretty much is celebrated by all Americans (except for Jehovah Witnesses, of course). It seems a benign enough harvest-time holiday with no overtly religious overtones, but with some covertly religious ones for those who partake. Americans of all persuasions and socio-economic backgrounds celebrate this holiday, with or without help from their local food pantry or soup kitchen.

This national holiday is called “Thanksgiving.” It was supposedly the brain child of English colonists who invited the local Native Americans over for a grand meal in thanks for the Native’s assistance they unwittingly gave their white invaders. If it hadn’t been for the kindness of the Native Americans, the English colonists would have completely died off their first winter at the Massachusetts Bay colony. Later, the Natives would come to regret their good manners when the Europeans stole their land and passed small pox on to them, but white historians conveniently leave out all those unpleasant details.

Instead, historians have chosen to emphasize the happier aspects of the Thanksgiving feast—good food, togetherness, neighborliness, and sharing leftovers with anyone who’ll take them off your hands so you’re not stuck eating turkey for the next three weeks. These aspects make it a pretty nifty national holiday to celebrate in the short, dark, and damp days of late autumn in North America—as others called “Canucks” also celebrate this harvest festival about a month earlier. (Apparently they forget the calendar includes months after October.) Thus, border families of mix American-Canadian heritage have the chance to eat two Thanksgiving dinners, with the added bonus of putting on enough blubber to survive the arctic onslaught of the coming winter.

While everyone sits around the dinner table feasting on the traditional meal of roast turkey and stuffing—which is no where close to the supposed original Thanksgiving feast of venison and seafood—guests are supposed to share what they are thankful for in their lives. This is when the problems begin.

In presidential election years, Americans with big mouths not filled with mashed potatoes and gravy might make mention of how thankful they are their favorite presidential candidate won the recent contest. Others, who are not feeling quite so happy about this outcome, will then attack the sanity of the first party and call them some rather nasty names. The atmosphere of Thanksgiving thankfulness will immediately evaporate. Thrown bread rolls and tossed turkey drumsticks can be turned into semi-lethal weapons if calmer heads don’t quickly prevail.

This is why on pain of having a pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream thrown in their face that most Americans do their best not to bring up politics at Thanksgiving. No one is more thankful than the hosts of the traditional meal that politics have been left where they belong—in the trash can out back—before entering their home. With dinner table small talk limited to sports, the latest Hollywood blockbuster, and how everyone will go about losing all the weight they’ll gain from gorging on turkey and several desserts, the day proceeds much more smoothly than things did ultimately between the Native Americans and the English colonists.

So, here it is another US presidential election year and Thanksgiving approaches. This begs the question for Americans and Non-Americans alike: What are you thankful for?

 

To discover more you can be thankful for, please read the rest of this article by clicking on this Substack link: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com  There you'll also see related article and video links, all the parade photos, and be able to leave comments. You can subscribe to receive the weekly blog post in your email box as well. 

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Money Can’t Buy Me…?

 

Money Can’t Buy Me…?

by C.A. Matthews

I'll give you all I've got to give
If you say you love me too
I may not have a lot to give
But what I've got I'll give to you
I don't care too much for money
Money can't buy me love –Paul McCartney & John Lennon

The Beatles are more than the greatest pop group in history. They are the proletariat’s philosophers. Their catchy song lyrics often express deep truths that aren’t easily ignored. Their 1964 hit Can’t Buy Me Love is still a favorite of many.

Wonder why? Could it be because it’s true? Sure, money can buy all the accouterments of love, but it can’t buy the real deal. One has to earn another person’s love and respect or else… It’s not really love, now is it?

The same could be said for buying votes.

Kamala Harris spent upwards of $1 billion dollars on her ill-fated “Joy” campaign. She still owes some $20 million to her campaign workers and some of the celebrities she bribed to endorse her. Beyonce’s asking price was $10 million—and that didn’t even include her giving a concert, which was a huge disappointment to the many fans who came to a Harris event just to see Beyonce perform. Oprah Winfrey’s production company had an asking price of a cool $1 million. That’s a lot of incentive to “love” a candidate, isn’t it?

Did giving tons of money to these celebrities truly earn their love and respect for Harris? The Beatles had it right, don’t you think?

So, what did Harris get for her record-breaking spending spree on the campaign trail? Well, it didn’t get her the White House...

 

To learn more about what money can't buy you, continue reading the rest of this article by clicking on this Substack link: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com There you'll also see related article and video links, all the images, and be able to leave comments. You can subscribe to receive the weekly blog post in your email box as well. 

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Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. —Jesus of Nazareth, Matthew 17:20

Moving Mountains

by C. A. Matthews

“How do we do this? How do we make things right?” a friend earnestly asked me the other day.

I had just bombarded her with facts about what’s actually happening in Palestine and Lebanon. I told her the latest death toll estimate in Gaza—approximately 200,000+—and emphasized that it was probably on the low side since so many are still missing under the rubble and so many have been shredded by bombs into unrecognizable bits. I could tell that she was distressed at the news, but I told it to her anyway. I felt like she really needed to know.

After I got home, I regretted overwhelming my friend with so much information at once. She probably hadn’t been following the genocide in Gaza over the past year as closely as I had. She probably gets her information from mainstream media sources, not independent journalists like I do.

Hearing too much bad news at once can be quite a shock to the system. I owe her a big apology. I’ll try to make it up to her somehow, but how? I can’t change the statistics or the stories of whole families being wiped out in Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon, can I?

How do we make things right?

This haunting question echoes in my mind...

 

Please read the rest of this article by clicking on this link to go to our Substack page: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com  There you'll also see related article and video links, all the images, and be able to leave comments. You can subscribe to receive the weekly blog post in your email box as well. 

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I Want To Remember You As A Nice Person

I Want To Remember You As A Nice Person (but you’re making it very hard because of your support for genocide)

by C.A. Matthews

Dear “Friend”:

I honestly don’t know how to address you. I apologize if you no longer consider me your friend or if you don’t want me to call you a friend, but I still care about you. I’m very concerned about you because of recent comments you made. This is why I’m writing you this letter.

I’m going to come out and admit what's really bothering me here. No beating about the bush. No subtle hints or subtext. Just plain ol’ English. Okay, here goes… Aagh! This is going to be much harder than I thought it would be.

There should be some polite way of saying what’s driving us apart, but I can’t think of any way to put it other than the brutal truth: I don’t trust you anymore. There. I’ve said it. I can’t trust anyone who thinks that the genocide of 200,000+ human beings in Gaza is “joyful” or “not important in this election”.

You’ve used those terms about what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank on social media platforms. You’ve taunted me and others like me there and ignored me whenever I wanted to discuss the subject further in person. You’ve even insulted my intelligence when I told you who I supported for president... 

To read the rest of this article, click on this link to go to our Substack page: https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com  There you'll also see the related article and video links, all the images, and be able to leave comments. You can subscribe to receive the weekly blog post in your email box as well. Subscribe today! Power to the people!  

To Proclaim Loudly

I don't know if there has ever been a time comparable to this one, where we are seeing people for who and what they really are. There's nowhere to hide anymore. You're either with God or you're with the devil and his legions. You either support children being stripped naked, having their hands tied behind their back, and executed or you don't. There's no middle ground. And whatever side a person is on has become abundantly clear to everyone around them. The masks are off.  --Mike Stone

To Proclaim Loudly

by C.A. Matthews

As the weeks turn into months, and the genocide in Gaza continues unabated, you really start to wonder: “Is it worth it? Is it worth protesting to a (mostly) uncaring audience that ethnic cleansing is wrong? Is it worth doing march after march after protest after protest after informational meeting after informational meeting when you’re essentially reaching the same folks (who were already pro-Palestinian) time and time again?”

It’s draining, and it’s frustrating, but what is the alternative? To give up? To stop caring about the plight of two million souls who are enduring the worse that humanity has to offer? And this isn’t the only place on Earth where people are being indiscriminately killed because of… Well, simply put, greed and prejudice. The Congo, Sudan, and Haiti come to mind. You can see the “why” of how Westerners can forget about the suffering of darker-skinned peoples. It’s not like the Western nations have never been racist against non-whites, but now the West has adopted the racism of Zionism as well. How open-minded of them!

Giving up on saving the lives of others will not save our lives, in case you’re leaning that way. If we stop caring for others, we will eventually stop caring for ourselves and our loved ones. You can’t just turn off the tap of compassion for one part of humanity and expect love to flow to the rest. It doesn’t work that way. Ask an addict. When you use chemicals to kill the pain and stop feeling those uncomfortable emotions, it doesn’t just stop the negative feelings. It shuts down all your feelings. And how can you love others when you’re not even loving yourself through the abuse of substances or engaging in destructive habits? Answer: You can’t.

The United States of Israel is one such addict.

The US has become addicted to greed itself. We hoard others’ natural resources such as land, fossil fuels, copper, cobalt, platinum, uranium… The list goes on ad infinitum. Our powers-that-be have perfected the use of racism and fear of others in their quest to steal others’ natural resources. They promote racism and fear of others in their divide and conquer tactics within our country. With all of us at each others’ throats, we will never have enough energy to go after those who are truly our enemies, the capitalists and their minions.

You don’t have enough to eat? It’s those people down the block or the country across the globe from yours who are “stealing your food.” Go fight them for it, but forget all about blaming the rich and powerful who control food distribution. Forget who are manufacturing the false narrative that your fellow workers are at fault. Somehow it’s never the fault of the wealthy who own everything. Remember you should never tax the “job creators” and make them pay their fair share of taxes… Trust the Trickle Down Theory implicitly! It will eventually trickle down some wealth to you and yours in perhaps three to four hundred years.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t expect to live that long.

The bottom line is we can’t give up. We can’t give up on the Palestinians, the Congolese, the Sudanese, the Haitians...or ourselves. To give up on any part of humanity is to give up on the whole of humanity.

To give up on humanity is to give up on any chance we have of turning the climate crisis around. It’s to give up on seeing your children or grandchildren grow up to take the reins away from the greedy and prejudiced powers-that-be who are currently screwing us and the planet over.

So, what can we do on days when all we can think about doing is throwing in the towel? On days when all we want to do is to stop caring so much about others because it hurts? On days when we could just walk away from this struggle called life and not miss it? There’s only one thing we can do: We have to give ourselves new marching orders.

We take it to the streets again. And again. Because...

We keep proclaiming the truth of what’s happening—loudly. We keep marching in protest parades even when threatened with mace, rubber bullets, tear gas or a night in jail. We keep sharing the truth of things even when others refuse to listen and shun us or shame us. We don’t need their approval, after all. Our consciences approve of us and our actions. And these stone-hearted fools really do need to hear us.

They really do understand there is a genocide happening in Gaza, but they’re afraid of us knowing that they do. They’re scared of acknowledging their part in perpetuating the official narrative that there is no genocide. They have become slaves of the corrupt system. In their fear they’ve locked themselves into the cycle of Zionist lies thinking they'll stay safe, not realizing that losing their souls is a prison worse than hell itself.

Poor pitiful things! This is where the “proclaim loudly” part comes in handy.

We simply don’t shut up. We don’t shut down. We keep repeating the reality of our messed up world over and over again because these sell-outs to the Zionist lie are both stupid and stubborn. But we can act pig-headed, too. With so many innocent lives at stake, why should we waste precious time playing their silly “Shut up, you’re hurting our feelings” game?

Saving lives, the planet, and our souls comes well before anyone-who-is-okay-with-babies’-faces-being-blown-off-by-US-provided-bombs’ “feelings”. These narcissists need a wake up call to reality, not our coddling. Let me put it bluntly: F*** the feelings of all greedy zionarcissists! It time for you to grow up and think of the welfare of others, you self-centered morons!

It's freeing when you give yourself permission to keep marching with heads and flags held high. And no, not the flags of the military-industrial complex lackeys, better known as the US and its NATO allies. We fly the flags of truth, liberty, revolution, freedom and peace for all humankind. Wave those flags proudly and raise a fist and shout loudly!

Let’s keep encouraging one another as the days drag along and it seems like there’s no end in sight to the bombing, shooting, starving, and suffering of innocents. It is our duty. We are their witnesses. We are their bringers of hope. We may even be their bringers of salvation in time. And we’d want them to do the same for us when our time of suffering comes.

Power to the people!

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

Chris Hedges: Israel’s Willing Executioners
https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/13/chris-hedges-israels-willing-executioners/

Please Stop Saying Israel Is an “Ally” of the United States — It Is Not.  https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/please-stop-saying-israel-is-an-ally

Israel Orders Evacuation in Rafah, Hours After Raiding Al Jazeera Offices https://truthout.org/articles/israel-orders-evacuation-in-rafah-hours-after-raiding-al-jazeera-offices/

Police Brutality “Made in Israel” https://joebrunoli.substack.com/p/police-brutality-made-in-israel

US Army Officer Resigns Over ‘Unqualified’ Support for Israeli Slaughter in Gaza  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/05/13/us-army- officer-resigns-over-unqualified-support-for-israeli-slaughter-in-gaza/

Jewish Biden Appointee Resigns from Interior Department Over Gaza Slaughter https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/16/jewish-biden-appointee-resigns-from-interior-department-over-gaza-slaughter/

The Genocide Case Against Israel Before the World Court Just Got Much Stronger https://stevendonziger.substack.com/p/the-genocide-case-against-israel

Report: Israel Has Bombed Known Aid Worker Sites in Gaza at Least 8 Times  https://truthout.org/articles/report-israel-has-bombed-known-aid-worker-sites-in-gaza-at-least-8-times/

Biden’s Shifting ‘Red Line’ Allows Israel To Keep Getting Away With Murder https://popularresistance.org/bidens-shifting-red-line-allows-israel-to-keep-getting-away-with-murder/

Biden won't turn his back on Israel because he is just as fanatical as Netanyahu https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/biden-wont-turn-his-back-on-israel

ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/05/20/icc-prosecutor-seeks-arrest-warrants-for-netanyahu-and-hamas-leaders-for-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity/

'Dark Times' As Renowned Israeli Historian Ilan Pappé Detained, Interrogated By FBI https://www.commondreams.org/news/ilan-pappe  https://mark192.substack.com/p/alert-dark-times-as-renowned-israeli

The Nakba: All you need to know explained in five maps and charts https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-nakba-ethnic-cleansing-explained-five-maps-charts

UCLA attackers exposed: meet the violent Zionist agitators LA police haven’t arrested https://thegrayzone.com/2024/05/13/ucla-attackers-exposed/

13% of 2020 Swing State Biden Voters Won’t Be in 2024 Because of Gaza: Polls https://scheerpost.com/2024/05/14/13-of-2020-swing-state-biden-voters-wont-be-in-2024-because-of-gaza-polls/

Booing of Israeli Singer Covered up by Eurovision https://rumble.com/v4uywkb-eurovision.html

The US Empire Deliberately Stokes Hatred And Violence In The Middle East https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-us-empire-deliberately-stokes

Orf vs. The Memory Hole: When Israel Bombed AP's Gaza Office https://censorednews.substack.com/p/orf-vs-the-memory-hole-when-israel 

 

Assange Wins Right to Appeal on 1st Amendment Issue https://consortiumnews.com/2024/05/20/assange-wins-right-to-appeal-on-1a-issue/ 

 

Why You'll Never Achieve The American Dream https://youtu.be/vu7IJ-HDIos?si=zzYvS4vHxhy5C7Qk

 

“Unprecedented” – CO2 Rising 10 Times Faster Than Any Time in Recorded History https://scitechdaily.com/unprecedented-co2-rising-10-times-faster-than-any-time-in-recorded-history/ 

 

For those who think Biden is "soft" on immigration: 

"...The Biden Administration seeks to engage in the type of politically-motivated action that the Refugee Convention and 1980 Refugee Act sought to eliminate. For the above reasons, such action would violate the intent of Congress, our treaty obligations, and over two centuries of U.S. case law." Proposed Asylum Bar Regs Are At Odds With International Law (And Why That Matters)  https://www.jeffreyschase.com/blog/2024/5/16/proposed-asylum-bar-regs-at-odds-with-international-law-and-why-that-matters

Subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack today. Go to https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com and subscribe at the link at the end of the article. You'll enjoy having each week's post automatically sent to your email box or reading it at the Substack site. Many thanks for your consideration. 

Introducing “The Aarons”

Hollywood has its “Oscars” so why can’t the activist community have its “Aarons”?

Introducing “The Aarons”

 words & photos of the U.T. Students for Justice in Palestine  

Aaron Bushnell memorial event 

by C.A. Matthews

The last five months protesting the genocide in Gaza have brought together some very diverse people both online and offline. When a person commented on one of my Substack posts that they found it interesting how they were agreeing with me, a “Communist”, I was momentarily taken aback. Most Communists wouldn’t label me as such, in spite of my cool Substack and Twitter/X avatar picture with the In Event of Capitalist Crisis Break Glass fire alarm box with a hammer and sickle inside.

It really doesn’t make much difference to me how anyone labels what they perceive are my political leanings or philosophical outlook. I’d call myself a Christian Liberationist/Eco-Socialist, but if you want to call me a Green, or a Communist, or a Socialist, or an Anarchist, or a democratic socialist (small d) it doesn’t faze me one bit. I replied to the comment that I hoped I could be labeled “a human with a conscience” during these dark times when a genocide is being livestreamed on social media while simultaneously being denied by the corrupt and manipulative powers-that-be and their sycophants.

This brief interchange got me to thinking. What does it mean to be “a human with a conscience”? What would a human who possessed a conscience look or act like? And then it hit me. “A human with a conscience” is the perfect description of Aaron Bushnell. Aaron who sacrificially gave up his life in order to draw attention to the people of Gaza because it pained his conscience to see their suffering ignored. 

The signed photo was hung on the Free Speech board in the Univ. of Toledo Student Union

A human with a conscience such as Aaron should be praised, but often they’re dismissed, ridiculed, or scoffed at in our mainstream media. People are seldom truly acknowledged for their compassionate actions taken on behalf of others in our self-centered capitalist society. We praise billionaires and entrepreneurs for increasing their corporations’ profit margins instead of honoring all those kind souls who humbly help their neighbors.

Thus, the idea of “The Aarons” was born.

Superficial and self-centered Hollywood has its “Academy Awards” or “Oscars,” so why can’t the selfless and hard-working activist community have its “Aarons”? Officially the awards would be known as “A Human With A Conscience Awards.” I’d freely give them to as many people as possible so that nobody is forgotten or not thanked for their sacrificial giving to the world at large.

The awards presentation ceremony wouldn’t have to be a once a year event in a huge, glitzy theater with sparkly chandeliers and a red carpet because, let’s face it, activists aren’t usually into that sort of fancy dress-up and show off your bling thing. We could just throw a casual, come-as-you-are pot-luck supper while doing some food distribution to hungry folks in the park or near the community center where we passed out the awards. I think Aaron Bushnell would have approved.

My suggestion is we throw the first Human With A Conscience Awards here in inner-city Toledo at the Frederick Douglass Community Center (a.k.a. “The Doug”). But until I can get a non-profit organization set up so we can crowdfund some money in order to host and make the awards themselves, that big ceremony will have to wait. I’d also like to be able to provide a grant to each person or organization who wins/are nominated to help them continue their good work in the community. Because what’s the good of a statuette on your shelf if you’re in desperate need of funding to continue serving others? (If you have experience with creating a non-profit and would like to help me create one, please leave a comment below or direct message me. Thank you.) 

It’s time we recognize and celebrate all those who work selflessly to aid other human beings without regard to status, class, gender identity, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, or any other characteristic used by the bourgeoisie to divide us. Humans with a conscience are people who care about the people that our sick and twisted society ignores or sneers at because they aren’t “successful” in the dog-eat-dog world of capitalism, or what I call “the endless rat race” of accumulating monetary wealth or material gain.

Are there any other qualifications a person must meet in order to receive an Aaron? I believe my article on The New Litmus Test describes the essential character an Aaron recipient should have. First and foremost, they cannot be pro-genocide or pro-Zionist. They can’t be enthusiastic about white settler colonialism in any way, shape or form. Forcing indigenous peoples from their homeland isn’t a thing a compassionate human does or condones. Practicing racism and apartheid isn’t something to be proud of, in other words. Expressing classist or elitist opinions are telltale signs of a lack of conscience as well.

What about those who make excuses for those who commit or aid and abet genocide? Or those who simply turn a blind eye and pretend that a genocide in Gaza isn’t happening? These kinds of actions reveal to me they’re not worthy Aaron recipients. While pulling the trigger and killing another makes you a murderer, those who help the killer load the weapon or place it in the killer’s hand or commit perjury to cover for the killer's movements can also be charged with murder. 

For example, Hitler himself never hit the switches or turned any valves on the gas chambers at the death camps, now did he? Yet we consider Hitler responsible for the crime of genocide committed by his soldiers working under his orders. Kissing up to genocidal powers-that-be and then claiming later that you were “only following orders” or trying to fit in with the crowd to maintain your status or further your career doesn’t indicate that you ever put the needs of others before your own or even possessed a conscience in the first place. Actions like these will bring about their own rewards in time.

Genocide apologists who post vile comments online against the victims of Israeli violence are on par with the actual culprits, in my opinion. Anyone who spends so much time and energy trying to convince others they’re “good people” while making excuses for those who are ethnically cleansing innocent civilians and starving children probably wouldn’t want to hang with us do-gooders anyway. They're free to attend the Oscars instead.

Please drop me your suggestions of award categories and the names of humans and groups worthy of an Aaron in the comments below. My talented husband has helped me put together a meme that they can display on their social media accounts showing that they’ve been nominated for an Aaron in the meantime. Folks who see the meme will know to thank them for their service to their fellow human beings. And hopefully, this award will encourage others to demonstrate that they, too, have a conscience and want to help their neighbors at home and around the globe.

Wouldn’t it be great if everyone on the planet could be nominated for a Human With a Conscience award? Wouldn’t you like to live in such a world? I know I would.

Here are some my ideas for Aaron recipients so far:

Best Medical Group with a Conscience: Doctors Without Borders

Best Food Distro Group with a Conscience: Food Not Bombs, Third Thursday

Best Community Center/Library Builder with a Conscience (Detroit): Unholy Rome with Tour for the Poor 

Best Activist Organizers with a Conscience: AMP – American Muslims for Palestine, Jewish Voice For Peace, Not In Our Name, Veterans for Peace, CodePink

Best Indie Podcasting Channel Highlighting the Struggle of the Workers with a Conscience: Revolutionary Blackout Network

Best Video Compiler Blogger with a Conscience: Truthful News Weekend on Beanstock's World https://beanstocksworld.wordpress.com

Best Network of Independent Podcasters with a Conscience: Indie News Network/Indie Media Today https://www.indiemediatoday.com/

Best Comedian-Journalist with a Conscience: Lee Camp, Ron Placone, Graham Elwood

Best Essayist/Political Commentator with a Conscience: Caitlin Johnstone (and Tim Foley), Chris Hedges, Julian McFarlane

Best Political Cartoonist with a Conscience: Mr. Fish (ScheerReport), Mark Taylor (DeMockracy Ink)

Best Independent Journalist with a Conscience: Max Blumenthal, Aaron Mate, Glenn Greenwald, Richard Medhurst

Best Documentary Maker with a Conscience: Abby Martin

Best Podcast Interviewer with a Conscience: Sabby Sabs, Briahna Joy Gray, Katie Halper, Joy Marie Mann

Best Alternative Radio Show with a Conscience: DJ Amjad’s Deep Mix: Music and More

Best Film-maker with a Conscience: Jonathan Glazer

Best Film Festival with a Conscience: The Media Decompression's 2024 Palestine Film Festival https://mdctoledo.org/

Best Political Figure with a Conscience: Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party (Sign the pledge against genocide at her website https://jillstein2024.com); Claudia de la Cruz, Party of Socialism and Liberation; Dr. Cornel West

Best Religious Figure with a Conscience: the Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac of Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in the West Bank who gave the famous “Christ in the Rubble” sermon on Christmas Eve

Humans with a Conscience who sacrificed their lives in service to others: Rachel Corrie, Aaron Bushnell

I know I’ve left out a lot of worthy recipients. Share your thoughts below in the comments and share this link with your contacts who might have more suggestions. The main requirement to be nominated is to be “a human with a conscience” so, no A.I. ‘bots please! Also, no sociopaths, psychopaths, neoliberals, or other warmongers

We should all strive to be a human with a conscience and follow Aaron Bushnell’s instruction: Free Palestine!

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links 

 

True Civilization https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com/p/true-civilization

 

The New Litmus Test https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com/p/the-new-litmus-test 

 

Remembering Rachel Corrie: American in Gaza Crushed by Israeli Bulldozer https://youtu.be/qHCafAwhFZo?si=I9OOtIdcnqOh3sCN 

They're Really Going To Try To Lay All The Blame For Gaza On Netanyahu https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/theyre-really-going-to-try-to-lay

Genocidal Psychopaths Celebrate International Day To Combat Islamophobia https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/genocidal-psychopaths-celebrate-international

Killing Palestinians by Blocking Aid. Killing Palestinians by Airdropping Aid https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/gaza-food-drops-human-rights

US building Gaza port to facilitate mass 'voluntary' migration: Anadolu Agency https://thecradle.co/articles-id/23838

Report Exposes The Oil Giants ‘Fueling Israel’s War Machine’ https://popularresistance.org/report-exposes-the-oil-giants-fueling-israels-war-machine/

Mapping the Business of War https://thebusinessofwar.substack.com/p/mapping-the-business-of-war

Investigation exposes Israel's lies and shows they killed their own on Oct 7th https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/investigation-exposes-israels-lies

The US wants to ban TikTok to protect Israel's genocide https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/the-us-wants-to-ban-tiktok-to-protect

If Israel Wants To Be An "Independent Nation", Let It Be An Independent Nation https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/if-israel-wants-to-be-an-independent

Crocodile Tears For Gaza While Backing Its Destruction https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/crocodile-tears-for-gaza-while-backing

ACLU Slams House for Latest Plan to Ban TikTok and Stifle Free Speech  https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/13/aclu-slams-house-for-latest-plan-to-ban-tiktok-and-stifle-free-speech/
 
The Genocide in Gaza Is Filling Our Beautiful Month of Ramadan With Dread https://truthout.org/articles/the-genocide-in-gaza-is-filling-our-beautiful-month-of-ramadan-with-dread/

Ending Impunity for the Crimes Against Palestinian and Israeli Civilians, A to Z https://www.passblue.com/2024/03/07/ending-impunity-for-the-crimes-against-palestinian-and-israeli-civilians-from-a-to-z/

Canada and Sweden defy global trend: Rush to aid Palestinians as Israel faces torture allegations https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/03/13/canada-and-sweden-defy-global-trend-rush-to-aid-palestinians-as-israel-faces-torture-allegations/

US marathon runners wave Palestinian flag at Olympic trials https://therealnews.com/us-marathon-runner-waves-palestinian-flag-at-olympic-trials

Unequal before the law https://therealnews.com/unequal-before-the-law

Biden’s Use of the Slur “Illegal” Underscores His Rightward Lurch on Immigration https://truthout.org/articles/bidens-use-of-the-slur-illegal-underscores-his-rightward-lurch-on-immigration/

Chris Hedges: Joe Biden’s Parting Gift to America Will be Christian Fascism  https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/17/chris-hedges-joe-bidens-parting-gift-to-america-will-be-christian-fascism/

Black Alliance For Peace: Haiti Behind The Headlines https://popularresistance.org/black-alliance-for-peace-backgrounder-haiti-behind-the-headlines/

Judge Allows East Palestine Residents’ Lawsuit Against Norfolk Southern https://popularresistance.org/judge-allows-east-palestine-residents-lawsuit-against-norfolk-southern/

The last days of Julian Assange in the United States https://www.declassifieduk.org/the-last-days-of-julian-assange-in-the-united-states/

Failed ICJ Case Against Russia Backfires, Paves Way for Genocide Charges Against Ukraine https://www.mintpressnews.com/failed-icj-case-against-russia-backfires-paves-way-for-genocide-charges-against-ukraine/287028/

You Can't Trust Any Part Of This Dystopia If You Want Health And Sanity https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/you-cant-trust-any-part-of-this-dystopia

Their Time Will Come (Say Free Palestine on Saint Patrick's Day) https://matthewhoh.substack.com/p/their-time-will-come

Subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack today! Blogspot/Blogger isn't working as well as it once did (Is it blatant censorship? Who knows?) so it's time to migrate to a better platform. Go to https://therevolutioncontinues.substack.com/ and click on one of the stories and subscribe at the link at the end of the article. You'll enjoy having each week's post automatically sent to your email box or reading it at the Substack site. Many thanks for your consideration.