Showing posts with label Yemen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yemen. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Now They'll See Us

Now They'll See Us

words & peace demo photos by C.A. Matthews

It's been a tiring week. I'm still recuperating from a recent surgery, but I felt it was important to attend a local peace demonstration. I also feel it's important to share information from non-mainstream media sources to a wider audience who has fallen down the rabbit hole into Alice's (nonsensical neoliberal/warmongering propaganda) Wonderland... A place were so-called "peace activists" are actually advocating for sending more weapons to, as well as enforcing a no-fly zone over, Ukraine because in their minds, "War is peace."

Didn't George Orwell say something like that in his dystopian masterpiece of a novel, 1984? I'm sure I've read it somewhere.

Frankly, I don't have enough energy right now to argue with the "President Zelensky can't support Nazis/fascism because he's Jewish" crowd. Yes, he can and here's the link to an excellent article from The Grayzone that explains how Zelensky gave a medal of honor to an openly avowed Neo-Nazi in December 2021. 

Yes, he did just that less than four months ago. Read it and learn to think for yourself. I promise you'll thank me for it later. (Or not.) But at least things will start to fall into place for you as you learn how Ukrainian oil oligarch (or, as we call them in the West,"a billionaire") Igor Kolomoisky helped to place Zelenski into power with the help of the US-backed coup in 2014. Click here or the link below to read all about the fun and games of Zelensky and Kolomoisky utilizing Neo-Nazi paramilitary units to further their political and financial aims.

I hope peace activists' voices will eventually break through this toxic fog of propaganda funded by the US government along with its Big Oil and military industrial complex allies. Below I've shared a few good quotes and article links I've come across this week that will help clear that nasty propaganda fog completely from your mind. 

One news tidbit that'll cut through the muddy logic of American war-loving propgandists: According to indie journalist Ben Norton, "An estimated 377,000 Yemenis have died in the US-Saudi war on their country, and roughly 70% of deaths were children under age 5."  

I hope you'll soon be able to discern that 377,000 Yemenis--most of them children--dying in the ongoing US-sponsored bombing war with Saudi Arabia against Yemen is actually a much more horrific current conflict than the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Horrible that it is, Ukraine hasn't experienced anywhere near the loss of life or property damage. (Less than 400 confirmed deaths, some of them ethnic Russians.) And, yes, brown-skinned Muslim peoples can suffer just as much (if not more) as white-skinned European "Christian" peoples.

Like the Yemeni woman in the meme above, one day soon I'd like to be able to say, "Now they'll see us!" And we will still have enough of our humanity intact to go and rebuild their bombed cities and help them bury their hundreds of thousands dead in Yemen, in Somalia, in Gaza, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya... even if they're not blue-eyed blond Ukrainians who, according to one American mainstream media pundit, "Look just like us." 

Uh-huh. Sounds like something a Neo-Nazi would say, doesn't it?

 


Here are some examples of good independent reporting:

Civilian casualties in Ukraine are relatively few. Despite the strenuous efforts to find then, actual numbers appear to be in the order of 300-400. For good reasons, Russian forces are calculatingly avoiding attacks on urban centers; after all, 40% of the population is Russian and concentrated in the regions where the fighting is taking place. Moreover, Moscow has no interest in subjugating the country to its rule. In comparison, the Ukrainian army has been shelling the city centers of Lugansk and Donetsk, producing casualties estimated by a UN agency at more than 1,300 (3 or 4 times what objective observers estimate on the Ukrainian government’s side of the battle lines). Also. the water system has been destroyed. Yet, these facts are unreported and unnoticed in the total absence of media presence in an area they have erased from their reportorial map. --Michael Brenner, Another Casualty of the Ukraine Conflict: The Truth

More concerning than backing Nazi militias in Ukraine is the far more widespread, far more deadly, and equally white supremacist belief we're seeing throughout the western world that invading a nation of white people is horrific while invading a nation of brown people is normal.
Is what the US and its allies are trying to accomplish in Ukraine worth continually risking nuclear armageddon for? This is the single most important question in the world right now, and hardly anyone seems to be asking it. --Caitlin Johnstone, Every US Enemy Is Hitler

The US has a history of working to draw Moscow into gruelling, costly military quagmires which monopolize its military firepower while leaching it of blood and treasure. Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, author of US hegemonic manifesto The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, openly bragged about having lured Russia into its own Vietnam fighting the US-backed mujahideen in Afghanistan for a decade.

Just two years ago then-US Special Representative for Syria engagement said during a video event hosted by the Hudson Institute that his job was to make Syria "a quagmire for the Russians".

So this isn't something new or out of the blue, and what it means is that all the self-righteous posturing by the western political/media class about the need to pour weapons into Ukraine is not really about saving Ukrainian lives (only negotiating a ceasefire can do that), but about seizing this golden opportunity to hurt Russia's geostrategic interests as much as possible. Ukraine on its own is powerless to stop Russia from taking Kyiv no matter how many weapons are sent, but those weapons can be used to fight a "long, bloody insurgency" after that happens which costs many more lives, keeps Moscow militarily preoccupied and hemorrhaging money, and ultimately hurts Putin's popularity at home. --Caitlin Johnstone,  Ukraine Is A Sacrificial Pawn On The Imperial Chessboard

Nowhere could the the revelations from the Pandora Papers investigation hit harder than in Ukraine. The discovery of offshore accounts strike at the heart of the current government and power structure of a ruling class that rose to power on the promise of fighting corruption, including the television-star-turned-President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The worldwide probe, prompted by a massive leak to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), has included work by journalists from the Ukrainian media Slidstvо.Info, which connected the shady financial dealings of Zelensky's television production company Studio Kvartal 95 to the Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Slidstvo found that the laundered money passed through the Cyprus branch of Kolomoisky-owned Privatbank, according to law enforcement officers. --Livy Bereg, Zelensky's Ukraine, Where the Pandora Papers Hit Hardest



Thought-provoking articles to read and share with others:

By Using Ukraine to Fight Russia, the US provoked Putin's War  https://mate.substack.com/p/by-using-ukraine-to-fight-russia?s=r

Calling Russia's Attack "Unprovoked" Lets US Off the Hook https://scheerpost.com/2022/03/06/calling-russias-attack-unprovoked-lets-u-s-off-the-hook/

Media Ignore Conflicts Around the World to Focus on Ukraine https://popularresistance.org/its-different-theyre-white-media-ignore-conflicts-around-the-world-to-focus-on-ukraine/

Chris Hedges: Worthy and Unworthy Victims  https://scheerpost.com/2022/03/07/chris-hedges-worthy-and-unworthy-victims/

Ukraine Exposes White Supremacist US Foreign Policy https://popularresistance.org/ukraine-exposes-white-supremacist-foreign-policy/ 

Another Casualty of the Ukraine Conflict: The Truth  https://scheerpost.com/2022/03/05/another-casualty-of-the-ukraine-conflict-the-truth/ 

Congress Has Removed a Ban On funding Neo Nazis From Its Year End Spending Bill  https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/congress-has-removed-a-ban-on-funding-neo-nazis-from-its-year-end-spending-bill/

Ukraine Is A Sacrificial Pawn On The Imperial Chessboard https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/ukraine-is-a-sacrificial-pawn-on?s=r 

 Zelensky's Ukraine, Where the Pandora Papers Hit Hardest https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/volodymyr-zelensky-pandora-papers/igor-kolomoisky-billionaire-zelensky 

(Human) Rights Groups Demand Israel Stop Arming Neo-Nazis in Ukraine https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/rights-groups-demand-israel-stop-arming-neo-nazis-in-the-ukraine-1.6248727 

How Ukraine's Jewish President Zelensky Made Peace with Neo-Nazi Paramilitaries on the Front Lines of War with Russia  https://thegrayzone.com/2022/03/04/nazis-ukrainian-war-russia/ 

The Real History of Ukraine  https://popularresistance.org/putin-lenin-imperialism-and-the-real-history-of-ukraine/ 

Former UN Inspector Scott Ritter on What's Happening in Ukraine (video) https://youtu.be/rRFjlnoMCeE 


 https://youtu.be/VOUIMVTAKmQ

From Jimmy Dore's interview with journalist Aaron Maté: "The Nord Stream pipeline, which was constructed to convey liquid natural gas from Russia to Germany, may run dry if the US government has its way. Suggesting that financial considerations may have played a role in the Biden administration’s refusal to negotiate with Russia, the attack on Ukraine will likely compel Germany to refuse natural gas from Russia and instead remain dependent on US-based suppliers."

Seen on Twitter:

 *** 

In a near-future dystopian world, hope blossoms where mutual aid and democracy begins...

Zonta’s world is turned upside down when Jake arrives at the commune to investigate the disappearance of agents of the Authority. Can she persuade him to switch sides before the Protectors (antifascist fighters) take action?

Available now: https://www.extasybooks.com/Where-the-Bodies-Lie

A great tale of how love, cooperation, and socialism will ultimately save us all. -- Redd Phlagg

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Tuesday, December 4, 2018

"Morally Indefensible War"



Let there be peace on Earth during this "season of peace" many of us pray. Unless you're the United States of America, that is. Then by all means unilaterally drop out of the INF Treaty and continue bombing innocent civilians in foreign lands, because that's how you spread freedom and democracy around the world, right? Even if we've forgotten how to show compassion to our fellow human beings, deep down we know there is another way... a better way. There are others who are willing to lead humanity on the road toward a lasting peace and justice for all. You might be one of them.
 
"Morally Indefensible War"  
by C. A. Matthews 

Dear Readers--

We thank you for being here today. It's hard to know how many of you actually will read this message, as Google--along with Facebook, Twitter, and a few other social media platforms--has been actively blocking access to The Revolution Continues webpage since the week before election day. Obviously, we touched a raw nerve with the corrupt establishment somewhere along the line. 

Up until the recent election, every indicator showed that our reach was growing, and more and more new readers were accessing the blog. Today we can't tell whether or not if the counters have been interfered to make us believe we were losing readership, or somehow we've lost thousands of readers just like that. (If you're a computer guru and want to help us determine what's up and how to stop it, please email us at thebernieblog2016@gmail.com Thanks!) It does seem a bit strange to lose 90% of our average weekly page hits overnight right before the mid-term elections. We have to assume there's been some kind of foul play.

Much love and thanks go out to our regular blog readers and to my fellow progressive bloggers, You Tubers and activist acquaintances worldwide. Even if it's just you guys who can reach this blog site, it's still worth doing. We all knew we were in it for the long haul, and it wasn't going to be easy. Power to the people--especially on those days when we wonder if it's worth all this stress! (Follow the Six Progressive Self-Affirmations in the meme and you'll feel better.)

When Barb McMillen and I started this blog back in 2015, we agreed we wouldn't give up on the blog until Senator Bernie Sanders was elected president. That didn't happen, and it nearly broke Barb's heart. (It didn't do  much for mine, either.) Barb was a Bernie delegate to the DNC convention in Philadelphia and a life-long Democrat. She took the primary rigging and the outrageous actions against Bernie supporters at the convention by the corporate Dems hard. It didn't do her fragile health any good.
RIP dear Barb
As a life-long independent, I backed Bernie's campaign because he was an independent thinker--a democratic socialist, no less--and stood up for what was right often in the midst of ridicule and derision from the status quo. (Who can forget his speech against the invasion of Iraq to a nearly empty House chamber?) While it hurt to see Bernie standing on a campaign stage trying to whip up support for corporatist candidate Hillary Clinton, I didn't dwell on the pain. I moved on and returned to my eco-socialist roots, as did many other Bernie supporters as witnessed by the increasing numbers of "Dem Exiters" and new Green Party members since 2016.

Times change and we have to be willing to take different paths in order to build that "future to believe in" that Bernie talked about. I don't necessarily believe that all of Bernie's tactics have been the right path to take for the good of our country and our world, but most of the time they have been sound and reasonable ones. You generally know where you stand with a guy like Bernie Sanders who speaks his mind and wears his heart on his sleeve. He didn't (and still doesn't) sully his integrity by taking money from corporate lobbyists. It's what attracted so many people to him to begin with during the 2016 primary season.  It attracted about 30,000+ in one arena where we heard him speak alone! And he did this day after day, week after week, and all the while the mainstream media ignored him at the behest of the corrupt establishment duopoly and their Wall Street bankster buddies.

There's no denying that it takes strength, courage and determination to do what Bernie did in 2016. It takes a person with clear vision and faith in his own sense of agency to accomplish his goals. That is what I will always respect about Bernie Sanders, even if I don't always agree with his current choice of political bedfellows.

So, when Bernie recently stood up in the Senate and introduced a bill to end the War in Yemen (and yes, it is a war--an undeclared one), I felt proud to have said I'd canvassed for him. He has kept his promise and fought for his goal to put an end to the endless wars for oil and to shut down the military-industrial complex. Sure, he doesn't have a spotless track record on this subject. He has voted to keep tax-payer money flowing into a military airplane plant in Vermont to keep it open, but in the end, he does seem to care about human beings on the whole and wants to ease their suffering. (This earlier video proves this.) He's willing to gamble his political future away by being outspoken for the oppressed. He's willing to put his neck on the line for them.


Bernie has proven this time and time again with his support and campaigning for a national single-payer health care system (the new and improved Medicare for All). He's proven it by rallying the troops in the "Fight for $15" strikes to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. He's proven this by taking a stance for free college education for all and for not deporting asylum-seekers and DACA kids.

Because Bernie cares, he's openly against warfare. He stands out like a shining beacon of morality in an immoral Senate. But wouldn't any half-way decent human being be against bombing school buses full of Yemeni children? Wouldn't any self-serving politician say he was against bombing school buses if he knew it would get him votes? Could he have an unspoken agenda that isn't necessarily a positive one?

While we can't read a person's mind or probe the deeper recesses of his heart for answers, we can look at a person's words and deeds. Bernie's actions have been consistently on the side of people, planet and peace over corporate profits. In that respect, Bernie Sanders is in line with the Green Party's platform, even if he won't join the party itself. It seems safe to say he's genuine when he says he wants to put an end to the War in Yemen.

But would Bernie be for stopping all wars--and never allowing the US to start another one ever again? Would he be against regime change and sponsoring coups in other countries when we don't agree with their choice in a leader? It remains to be seen. Word on the street says Bernie will run for president in 2020. We might actually get the chance to find out how he'll act when confronted with the full force of the military-industrial complex while sitting in the Oval Office. 

Until then, we must have faith that we are backing the right candidates. We must keep fighting the good fight against "morally indefensible war."  It takes more than just one straightforward senator to make the world a better place, after all. It takes all of us.
 

Related articles:
Yemen, Poisoned Water, and a Green New Deal:
https://worldbeyondwar.org/yemen-poisoned-water-and-a-green-new-deal/

The War in Yemen is not a war--it's a massacre:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/27/the-war-in-yemen-is-not-a-war-it-is-a-massacre/

The Yemen War is 2018's worst humanitarian crisis:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/03/middleeast/yemen-worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis-un-intl/index.html 

However, there's a loophole in Bernie Sander's Yemen bill that allows continued US involvement:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/bernie-yemen-bill/252480/

US provides military aid to more than  70% of world's dictatorships:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-provides-military-aid-70-percent-worlds-dictatorships

 US military says it has a "light footprint" in Africa--https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/53678-us-military-says-it-has-a-qlight-footprintq-in-africa-these-documents-show-a-vast-network-of-bases  

Bernie speaks on national strategy call to win Medicare for All: https://medicare4all.org/event/nov13call/  

Bernie Sanders puts forward program that could split the Democratic Party:  https://blackagendareport.com/bernie-sanders-puts-forward-program-could-split-democratic-party

***

Bernie Sanders


Earlier this week, the United States Senate took the first step toward ending our country’s active participation in a morally indefensible war in Yemen — a war most Americans know little about and that Congress never voted to authorize.

Over the last several years, our support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen has been one of the great moral stains on our nation resulting in the worst humanitarian crisis on earth. During the last several years more than 85,000 children in Yemen have starved to death, while millions more of the people there face imminent starvation. With the water infrastructure destroyed by Saudi bombs, 10,000 new cases of cholera occur each week as people are unable to find clean drinking water.

And what my bill, offered with Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, says is that instead of being part of the killing in Yemen, on behalf of a despotic Saudi regime, we should be doing everything possible to create a peaceful resolution to that war and provide the kind of humanitarian help Yemenis so desperately need.

With 63 votes in favor and 37 against, this is the first time in the history of the United States that the U.S. Senate has voted to advance a resolution withdrawing the United States Armed Forces from an unauthorized and unconstitutional war.

And our success has a lot to do with people at the grassroots level making their voices heard on this important issue.
But we still have work left to do.

Next week, I expect that we have another procedural vote and then a final vote on passage of the resolution. So we cannot stop now. Not if we want to see this victory through to the end and limit our engagement in Yemen to the humanitarian and diplomatic aid needed to relieve the suffering of millions of Yemenis. Add your name if you’re with me:


For decades and under presidents of both parties, Republicans and Democrats have abdicated their Constitutional responsibility to debate and decide whether or not our country engages in war.

It is not the president who gets to decide whether or not we go to war in Yemen, or Syria, or anywhere else. It is Congress.

And our vote earlier this week was a big step forward in reasserting that constitutional responsibility.

Not surprisingly, given our president's deep affection for authoritarian regimes, the White House has threatened to veto this bill if it gets to Trump’s desk. So what I want to do today with this petition is make sure Trump knows that it isn’t just the United States Senate that believes we should end our involvement in this humanitarian catastrophe, but the American people as well.

So add your name:

Enough is enough. Enough killing. Enough starvation. Enough destruction. This is the time to tell Saudi Arabia, and indeed the rest of the world, that we will no longer be a partner to the horrific crisis in Yemen.

In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders

Tell the U.S. Senate: It's time to end the United States’ support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

***
Help us win the battle against endless war--support those who speak up for human rights and peace!

 The Revolution Continues has set up an easy way to donate to the cause of ending the scourge of the military-industrial complex and keeping it ad-free. Three years plus 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., 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.

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Power to the people and not the corporations!

***
From RootsAction.org:

President Trump has announced plans to withdraw the United States from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), a key nuclear disarmament pact with Russia signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and approved by the U.S. Senate.

Congress should take action to keep the United States in the treaty. And either house of Congress alone has the power to refuse to fund any weapons prohibited by the treaty.

Click here to email your Representative and your two Senators.

Some members of Congress are already indicating an interest in taking action.
Congressman Ro Khanna has tweeted: "I am alarmed that President Trump is withdrawing from the INF treaty with Russia. This action plunges us back into a nuclear arms race and endangers our troops, allies, & the world, while wasting taxpayer dollars to prepare for a nuclear war that must never be fought."

The INF prohibits the United States and Russia from deploying both nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges between 310 and 3,420 miles. These are among the weapons most likely to lead to miscalculation or misadventure in a crisis.

Following ratification of the INF, the United States destroyed almost 1,000 missiles, and the Soviet Union almost 2,000. "But," writes Jon Schwarz at The Intercept, "arms control treaties are never about weapons and numbers alone. They can help enemy nations create virtuous circles, both between them and within themselves. Verification requires constant communication and the establishment of trust; it creates constituencies for peace inside governments and in the general public; this reduces on both sides the power of the paranoid, reactionary wing that exists in every country; this creates space for further progress; and so on."

Conversely, withdrawal from arms control treaties can feed vicious cycles of distrust, animosity, and militarization.

Click here to stop this disaster in its tracks.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which now shows the Doomsday Clock at two minutes to midnight, points out: "The INF withdrawal is part of a pattern. It is not the first nuclear treaty the U.S. has terminated; at the end of 2001 the United States walked out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty it had signed with the Soviet Union in 1972."

Both the United States and Russia currently accuse each other of violating the INF Treaty. Wherever the truth lies, the solution is not to pull out of the treaty, but to redouble diplomatic efforts to resolve the allegations. 

  The United States and Russia control more than 90 percent of the world’s nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons. It is unlikely that any of the other nuclear-armed powers will be willing to engage in negotiations to control or eliminate these extraordinarily dangerous armaments if the United States abandons arms control.

A ratified treaty is a part of the “supreme law of the land,” former Senator Russell Feingold has noted — “which should logically mean that it could only be undone by Congress and the President, or at least by a vote of the Senate.”

Tell the first branch of government in the U.S. Constitution to step up and do its job.

After signing the petition, please use the tools on the next webpage to share it with your friends.


-- The RootsAction.org Team
Background:
>> David Cortright, The Nation: “The Peace Movement Won the INF Treaty. We Must Fight to Preserve It.”
>> Russell Feingold, NBCnews.com: “Donald Trump can unilaterally withdraw from treaties because Congress abdicated responsibility”
>> Zia Mian, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: “The INF Treaty and the crises of arms control”
>> Jon Schwarz, The Intercept: “What Trump and John Bolton Don’t Understand About Nuclear War”
>> Ira Helfand, CNN.com: “Sheer Luck Has Helped Us Avoid Nuclear War So Far – Now We Need to Take Action”

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Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Suffering For Sale


Suffering For Sale

 Welcome to the 21st century--the century of making billions (or is that trillions?) of dollars from causing our fellow humans pain, death and suffering. If you're not sure what we're talking about this week, read the following  and watch the Democracy Now video. It's eye-opening.

PBS Report From Yemen: As Millions Face Starvation, American-Made Bombs Are Killing Civilians  https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/51277-pbs-report-from-yemen-as-millions-face-starvation-american-made-bombs-are-killing-civilians

Closer to home, Vegematic, our friend in the North, contemplates why a neighboring country with only 4% of the world's population incarcerates over 25% of the world's jailed people. What does it say about a country that makes
money off of imprisoning its own people? What does it say about a country that imprisons those looking for asylum--including children? What does it say about a country that drugs these refugee children without parental consent? What does it say about a country that allows young children to be abused in private detention facilities?

Immigrant Shelters Drug Traumatized Teenagers Without Consent
 https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/51279-immigrant-shelters-drug-traumatized-teenagers-without-consent

Chicago Detention Facility Under Investigation Following Allegations of Abuse of Migrant Children
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/51324-chicago-detention-facility-under-investigation-following-allegations-of-abuse-of-migrant-children

What does that say about us as human beings if we allow any of this suffering to continue?

And...
The Prison Industrial Complex and Its Victims
by Vegematic Deluxe

I've been thinking a lot lately about crime and punishment. The question as to why America incarcerates so many of its citizens might seem of only peripheral importance to some progressives, particularly in my case living outside the US. However, I am of the opinion that human rights abuses are a global issue and affect us all as human beings.  Why as a nation does the US find it necessary to imprison a higher proportion of its population than any other nation on earth? Given that there is a ridiculously high recidivism rate, why has there been so little impetus to change an obviously failed system?

I believe that it's because the prison system in America has become a well-oiled, highly profitable machine. The very idea of privately run for-profit prisons should be anathema to anyone who values living in a free society. When a profit motive is introduced into a judicial system, it all but provides an iron clad guarantee that corruption will follow. Even in state or federally run prisons there are financial incentives for the unscrupulous. Prisoners are  routinely forced to pay exorbitant fees for simple necessities like soap and toothpaste. They provide a captive market for unscrupulous phone companies charging ridiculously high rates to talk to loved ones. Entire states have become dependent on convict labor, displacing what should be decent paying jobs for locals.
A couple of things to ponder: How many people are in prison for low level non-violent drug offenses? What would the unemployment rate be in actual terms if those people were not incarcerated? Could there be a correlation between politicians eager to report low unemployment figures and a tough lock 'em up policy for low level offenders?  

I've often wondered if these prisoners had any opportunities at all in life, given where most grew up with lousy underfunded schools and lack of any viable career path, coupled with a lack of blue collar jobs due to mass de-industrialization. The advent of draconian laws and private prisons, all have fed the largely racist, endless school-to-prison pipeline. 

Wouldn't it be better for a society, as a whole, if government put some of the money spent on incarceration into vocational training for at risk youth--particularly in low income areas that have a chronic shortage of jobs or opportunities? How about spending the money before they end up in prison instead of after. Like the old ad said, "You can pay me now--or pay me later.

The entire prison system in America has become so economically and politically entrenched, that overhauling it would require a herculean task by both citizens and elected officials. The obvious place to begin would be to abolish private prisons. Second, there should be a blanket amnesty for all non-violent drug convictions. Learn from countries like Portugal who had great success in reducing addiction and crime by legalizing drug use and viewing addiction as medical issue instead of a criminal offense.

It's also very telling that as more states legalize marijuana private prisons are hedging their bets by lobbying for increased incarceration of the undocumented. These prison corporations are dealing in human lives which to them are merely numbers on a spread sheet. A resource to be used without concern for the ripple effect that spreads a noxious poison throughout society.
There needs to be an end to the dehumanization and stigma that becomes permanently attached to those who have served their time and find themselves shut out from society. Sadly, there will always be a need to remove violent and dangerous criminals from society. This is an unfortunate reality that faces every civilized nation. It's only in America that incarceration on a mass scale becomes a profitable business model. [Editor's note: For details, see video below.]
                                                                                                      
BIO: Vegematic has been a proud "shadow-banned" You Tuber for many years. Check out his insightful progressive podcast on his YT channel and subscribe today. (Tell him The Revolution Continues Blog sent you--or just leave him a comment. He replies to all of them. Canadians are polite that way.)

The following short video shows exactly who is profiting from the construction of these private prison facilities, GEO Group and Core Civic. Watch and share it with those who don't understand the lure of making big money through the suffering of others. https://youtu.be/FoZ5vegg6ic

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Help Spread Love--Not Hate!
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., 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 $100--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 

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

National Domestic Workers Alliance
Witnessing the horror of the Trump administration tearing apart families and abusing children has us wanting to do anything and everything possible to make it stop.

Our government may not be listening, but the giant banks that rely on us as customers sure do. Some of our biggest banks are in the business of financing the private prisons carrying out atrocities against immigrant families.


The stories we’re hearing both out of detention centers and from the families who have been reunited under traumatizing circumstances are nothing short of gut-wrenching.

We must do everything in our power to stop this abuse. While we’re still pressuring our lawmakers and demanding change from the Trump Administration, we must also stop this abuse where it’s happening: in these for-profit prisons.


Thank you,

Jess Morales Rocketto

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Just Foreign Policy
Watch & share the Democracy Now report.

Tell Congress to act.Democracy Now had a hard-hitting report on the U.S.-Saudi war in Yemen. They combined highlights of the PBS Newshour series with an interview with Jane Ferguson, the PBS Newshour journalist who “smuggled” herself into Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen to report on conditions there. 


You can watch [and share] the Democracy Now segment here:

PBS Report from Yemen: As Millions Face Starvation, American-Made Bombs Are Killing Civilians
What’s crucial about the Democracy Now report, compared to most other [far too infrequent] reports in the U.S. media, is that it squarely places responsibility for the war on the government of the United States, and highlights the need for political action in the U.S. to end the war now. The report makes clear that the war is perceived correctly in Yemen as a U.S. war, that the war would not be possible without the participation of the United States, and that the U.S. government can end the war anytime it wants, by cutting off U.S. participation and by pressuring its “allies” Saudi Arabia and the UAE to end the war and agree to a political resolution. The report also makes clear that if the war is not ended this year, millions more human beings will be pushed to the brink of starvation. 

This last fact, what will happen to civilians in Yemen if the war doesn’t end this year, is crucial. There’s a lack of urgency in Washington right now about pressing for action to end the war, even though the fate of millions of human beings hangs in the balance. There are many causes for this lack of urgency, but one key cause is the political season in Washington. With mid-term elections approaching in four months, the foremost concern for many people in Washington about any issue now is: how will this issue affect mobilization for our team in the mid-term elections? If it’s not obvious how raising an issue would help the Democratic team or the Republican team mobilize for the mid-term elections, it’s hard to generate interest for it in Washington right now.   
But millions of human beings in Yemen can’t wait until after the mid-term elections for action to end the war. They need action to end the war now.
Maybe the report by Democracy Now, which is watched by peace activists across the country, can help shake Washington from its complacency. 


Watch and share the Democracy Now report.
Tell Congress to act.

 Thank you for all you do to help make U.S. foreign policy more just,
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy If you think our work is important, please support us with a donation.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate

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Apartheid in Israel was just made official and it's devastating.

Israel just passed the Nation-State law that says only Jewish people have the right to self-determination and demotes Arabic from an official language to "special status."

This is a horrific, racist, and discriminatory move to punish and rob Palestinians of their most basic rights and freedoms!
stencil graffiti says welcome to apartheid street
And as a Jew and a rabbi, this action runs counter to the Judaism that I love. I unequivocally stand with Palestinians and 100% reject Israel's official policy of apartheid — join me:

The Nation-State bill that Israel passed today cements Israel as an apartheid state — from the West Bank to Gaza to Jerusalem to Haifa.

Palestinians, no matter where they live, are controlled by an Israeli government and military that robs them of basic rights and freedoms.

I envision a future where all who live in Israel/Palestine enjoy the same rights and freedoms. And I'm inviting you to invest in that vision with me.

Today we once and for all put to bed the illusion of Israel as a democracy — and now the work continues to make it so.

Join me.

Rabbi Alissa Wise

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Together, we can stop plastic from clogging up our oceans!
TAKE ACTION
As soon as I step outside the house, I start noticing plastic pollution all around me.
And it’s not just outside — plastic is polluting the shelves of our local stores too! In most grocery or big-box stores, it is nearly impossible to avoid plastic packaging. Much of this plastic can’t or won’t be recycled, and will ultimately become plastic pollution making its way to our oceans and waterways.

The good news is, people like you have been putting pressure on grocery stores and other retailers to use less plastic packaging, and it’s working. Thank you! Once CEOs and management at these stores realize that people are deeply concerned about the overuse of plastic, they are making big changes — like just recently, when Alaska Airlines announced it was eliminating its use of plastic stirring straws.1

Here’s what we need you to do.
  1. Print out a letter to your local grocery store manager and sign it (we have a letter you can use).
  2. Bring the letter to your local grocery store and ask to meet with the manager.
  3. Tell the manager your concerns about plastic pollution and hand them the letter.
  4. Join a call on August 9 to let us and other Greenpeace supporters know how it went. This part is the most important, so that we can learn from each other’s experience and figure out how to make our tactics even more effective.
We need to stop more plastic from flowing into our rivers, streams, and oceans — and this can only happen if more people like you join in.


For a plastic free future,
Jill Pape
Supporter Mobilization Director, Greenpeace USA

P.S. We’ve got to stop the flow of plastic into our oceans and waterways. There’s something concrete you can do in the next 2 weeks. Sign up to visit your grocery store manager and let us know how it went!
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