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

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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.

 

“We’re All Sad About Tom.”

“We’re All Sad About Tom.”

(A Brief Explanation of Why Things Are F’ed Up and What We Can Do About It)

By C. A. Matthews

“We’re All Sad About Tom,” the announcement posted on the Burger King kitchen wall begins solemnly, “But going to his funeral won’t bring him back. No time-off will be given. Thx.”

This short, emotionally tone-deaf message neatly sums up all that is wrong, all that is heinous, all that is cruel and totally f’ed up in Western society, particularly the United States of America. And in its cruel depths lie the seeds of our redemption.

Who is “Tom”? Obviously Tom was a Burger King employee. Tom was a low-paid service worker in one of a million fast food restaurants that litter the planet. Tom has since passed away, but whether his demise was job related or not we don’t know. All we know for certain is that Tom will no longer be reporting to work.

This means one very important thing: the Burger King restaurant where Tom worked is now short an employee.

This means that the remaining employees will be forced to pick up the slack. Whether or not this means it will be a permanent or temporary shortage of employees for the restaurant is unclear, but the late Tom’s position at the time the announcement was written doesn’t appear to have been filled yet.

The next line clinches the employee shortage situation: “But going to his funeral won’t bring him back. No time-off will be given. Thx.”

If you’re confused about the meaning of that line, here’s a different translation...


To read that translation and discover ways we can fix our problems, please continue reading 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 become a free or paid subscriber and receive weekly posts in your email box, along with occasional special articles just for paid subscribers, too.

Subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack today. Power to the people!

This article is the 502nd 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. 

Feel free to make a donation to us at https://paypal.me/camatthews or at Buy Me a Coffee or at Ko-fi. Every little bit helps. Thank you.

#BoycottMickey (Boycotts Work)

 

#BoycottMickey

by C.A. Matthews 

From Mickey Mouse (Disney) to MickeyD’s (McDonald’s), Palestine will be free!

I’m just back from a cold—but very effective—protest for Peace in Palestine. We marched several blocks along a heavily trafficked city street to an Interstate highway crossing where the most intrepid activists among us hung a large banner over the side of the bridge for a couple of hours. The remainder of us held our picket signs and chanted at that very busy (and noisy) intersection at the highway entrance. I was amazed at the positive response we received from the public. I was very heartened by the physical and spiritual toughness of my fellow protesters marching and chanting under such frigid and damp conditions, too.

Protesting is a big challenge for those of us living in the Northern Hemisphere in the winter months. How do we continue to send the message to our elected officials that we demand a permanent ceasefire and that we want Israel out of Gaza now without doing peace demos and marches in below freezing temperatures? Activists are a creative lot, and we know there are other ways of making our voices heard that don’t involve standing around in the cold. One of the oldest and most effective protest methods is the boycott. This week’s guest blog, by our resident historian Coast Watcher, gives us a brief history of the boycott.

 So, what businesses should we as North Americans currently focus our boycott on to help the cause of the Palestinian people? The “big three” that are feeling the pain of Pro-Palestine consumers boycotting their products are McDonald’s, Starbucks, and the Disney Company. It’s not too hard for those of us standing on the side of Palestine to avoid giving them our business. Who really needs fast food, overpriced coffee and insipid entertainment?

“Misinformation” about McDonald’s support for Israel is having a “meaningful impact” on its sales in the Middle East, the fast food restaurant’s chief executive has said according to an article in the Telegraph. It’s not really “misinformation” that McDonald’s openly supplied food to the Israeli Defense Forces after they launched their genocidal campaign in Gaza. This action has angered many in mostly Muslim countries where their restaurants have been forced to shut down. Is it any wonder that a worldwide boycott of McDonald’s restaurants is hurting their bottom line? They’re learning the hard way that being pro-genocide isn’t good for business.

I was amazed that even trade publications have made note of the effectiveness of Pro-Palestinian/anti-genocide boycotts. From The Drum:

Gauging appetite for boycotts among the crowds at a pro-Palestine protest organized by If Not Now, Jewish Voice for Peace Los Angeles, and the Arab-American Civic Council, The Drum heard from 33-year-old Palestinian-American activist Zainab about why she is no longer buying pro-Israel brands. “I am a Palestinian; my grandparents were expelled in the 1948 Nakba, so I have grown up seeing the oppression. I not only stand for Palestinians; I stand for all humanity. I stand for Black Lives Matter, I stood against the wall suppressing Mexican rights, and I do not stand for the killing in Sudan or Congo. I am not going to stop protesting, whether it is monetarily against brands and companies or going out in the streets every weekend.”

--from  As activists boycott pro-Israel brands, what should marketers do next?  

Yeah, even marketers know that being linked to Israel is the kiss of death for capitalists. We must keep up the pressure by spreading the names of these pro-Israeli businesses to boycott in all our social media posts and through good old-fashioned word of mouth.

By December 2023, pro-Israeli Starbucks losses stood at $11 billion during the last quarter. Starbucks had already been under a lot of pressure financially due to its closing stores where unions were forming and employee strikes for better working conditions, so the further boycotting of their products will really send a message that when Starbucks hurts one of us—or one people such as the Palestinians—it will feel our pain in its CEO’s pocketbook. Besides, in blindfolded taste tests most coffee drinkers say they prefer other less expensive brands of coffee. So, do yourself and your wallet a favor—boycott Starbucks and learn how to brew your own coffee instead.

The Disney Company acts amazed as to why their donations to Israel along with their producing an upcoming Marvel movie featuring an apartheid-loving Israeli superhero would be upsetting to so many people worldwide. From their own publication, Inside the Magic:

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement leads the most prominent pro-Palestine boycotts. They recommend consumer boycotts of companies like Sodastream and HP but suggest “pressure” on bigger corporations that are harder to avoid– like Disney.

Still, many former fans feel boycotting...Walt Disney World Resort is the right thing to do. Former Disney cast member and TikTok creator Helen Jane (@helenjp1313) shifted her content because The Walt Disney Company donated to Israel. She recommends a Disney Parks boycott....Weeks ago, Disneyland Resort thousands protested at the theme park in support of Palestine.

I don’t know about you, but I can think of much better places to go on vacation besides the soulless, overly commercialized fakeness of Disney World. Visiting pristine mountains and beaches come to mind. And can we live without watching the latest Marvel motion picture? Yes, we can. Boycotting the Marvel movie, along with protesting any theaters that dare show it, will definitely get the message across that pro-genocide supporters' products aren’t wanted in decent society.

So, tell your friends today to avoid or keep avoiding these brands and the brands listed at BDSMovement.net. Why? Because boycotts work.

Boycotts Work

by Coast Watcher

Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan recently complained that sales figures for the coffee store giant had plummeted following the boycott of their products due to the chain’s support for Israeli genocide. For many who’ve always advocated the use of boycotts to punish businesses for their social infractions this is proof that the tactic works.

The origin of the term stems from Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott, a retired British army officer. In 1873 he became manager for the County Mayo, Ireland, estates of absentee landlord the Earl of Erne. Absentee landlords were the bane of the rural Irish people. They reaped vast profits from their estates throughout Ireland, often without even setting foot there.

In 1879 bad harvests threatened another famine like that of 1845-49. A Land League formed to prevent it occurring. The League told Boycott to reduce rents by 25% to help the rural people weather the situation. In response Boycott attempted to serve eviction notices, which was historically a typical act of the landed class of the time. Previously there had been little that could be done to stop such measures, but late nineteenth century Ireland had learned a thing or two.

President of the Land League, Charles Stewart Parnell, urged tenants faced with Boycott’s and other landlords’ eviction demands to avoid any communication with those who refused to lower rents. Boycott himself was the primary target for the measure, and it worked. Scab laborers guarded by the military and even the soldiers themselves were employed to harvest crops. The situation led to questions in the British Parliament, leading to a Land Act of 1881 that instituted fair-rent tribunals.

Boycott remained agent for the Earl of Erne until 1886 when he took new employment in the county of Suffolk, England. Parnell of course went on to become a major player in Irish political affairs until his death in October 1891.

Ever since that time the tactic of boycotting has been used effectively by people who have few other resources of reprisal against authority. By showing their displeasure at their governments’ and businesses’ impositions, the ordinary public can hurt them where it really counts—their bottom line. So it is happening with Starbucks and other businesses that back or support the genocidal Zionist regime in any way, shape or form.

Boycotts work. 

Bio: Coast Watcher believes in putting your money where your morals are...Or at least not spending your money at businesses that support a country openly committing a genocide like Israel is doing. If a business is okay with murdering children, how can you trust them to not put cancer-causing chemicals in your coffee or Big Mac?

Related Articles and Interesting Links

Act Now Against These Companies Profiting from the Genocide of the Palestinian People https://bdsmovement.net/Act-Now-Against-These-Companies-Profiting-From-Genocide

Israel-Palestine News --from Diverse Sources
https://us11.forward-to-friend.com/forward/show?u=70b9fc567465118fa0b7b6e67&id=687f13dad7

A day in the life of a mother and child in Gaza https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-mother-and-child-in-gaza/


CNN And Washington Post Busted For Pro-Israel Propaganda Shenanigans  https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/cnn-and-washington-post-busted-for

There’s Great Power in Grief. Will We Use It to Fuel Solidarity With Palestine? https://truthout.org/articles/theres-great-power-in-grief-will-we-use-it-to-fuel-solidarity-with-palestine/

We Are Entirely Too Close To Another Major War In The Middle East https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/we-are-entirely-too-close-to-another

US Drone Strike Kills Iraqi Militia Leader in Baghdad
https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/05/us-drone-strike-kills-iraqi-militia-leader-in-baghdad/

As US Backs Gaza Genocide, 'Grassroots Diplomats' Rally Support for South Africa Case  https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/gaza-genocide-south-africa

Turkey, Malaysia Back South Africa’s ICJ Genocide Case Against Israel  https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/04/turkey-malaysia-back-south-africas-icj-genocide-case-against-israel/

International Coalition Forms To Demand End To Genocide In Palestine https://popularresistance.org/international-coalition-forms-to-demand-end-to-genocide-in-palestine/

Blood Money: The Top Ten Politicians Taking the Most Israel Lobby Cash  https://www.mintpressnews.com/blood-money-top-ten-politicians-taking-most-israel-money-israel-lobby/286491/

Israel is Provoking the U.S. Into a Conflict With Iran — But the Media Ignores the Danger https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/israel-is-provoking-the-u-s-into-a-conflict-with-iran-but-the-media-ignores-the-danger/

South Africa is standing up to the world's apartheid state
https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/south-africa-is-standing-up-to-the

US Admonishes Israeli Officials For Saying The Quiet Part Out Loud About Ethnic Cleansing https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/us-admonishes-israeli-officials-for

They're Calling Ethnic Cleansing "Voluntary Migration" Now
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/theyre-calling-ethnic-cleansing-voluntary


I Don't Care What Religion The Genocidal Child Murderers Are
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/i-dont-care-what-religion-the-genocidal

‘I Cannot Be Quietly Complicit’: Biden Official Resigns Over Gaza Assault https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/04/i-cannot-be-quietly-complicit-biden-official-resigns-over-gaza-assault/


Biden Ukraine Statement Highlights Hypocrisy on Gaza
https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-gaza

Blinken Again Bypasses US Congress To Send Munitions To Israel https://popularresistance.org/blinken-again-bypasses-us-congress-to-send-munitions-to-israel/

US Congress: ‘We Stand With Genocide’ https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/01/us-congress-we-stand-with-genocide/

Ohio State University Suspends Student Group for Supporting Palestine  https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/05/ohio-state-university-suspends-student-group-for-supporting-palestine/

5 Largest Oil Giants Expect Shareholder Payouts to Exceed $100 Billion for 2023 https://truthout.org/articles/5-largest-oil-giants-expect-shareholder-payouts-to-exceed-100-billion-for-2023/

TORTURE AT ABU GHRAIB https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/torture-at-abu-ghraib

In the World’s Wealthiest Country, Housing Should Be a Human Right and a Community Builder https://scheerpost.com/2024/01/02/in-the-worlds-wealthiest-country-housing-should-be-a-human-right-and-a-community-builder/

From Prison, Assange Expresses Regret That WikiLeaks Can No Longer Expose War Crimes https://thedissenter.org/assange-regrets-wikileaks-can-no-longer-expose-war-crimes/

Ricky Gervais was right about the Satanic paedophile ring https://normalislandnews.substack.com/p/ricky-gervais-was-right-about-the

A Lab Test That Experts Liken to a Witch Trial Is Helping Send Women to Prison for Murder https://www.propublica.org/article/is-lung-float-test-reliable-stillbirth-medical-examiners-murder 

Seen on Twitter/X:

 

Folks, it is way past time that Israel is completely isolated from the civilized community of nations. A total boycott of Israel, sports events, economic trade, cultural exchanges - total!! Like the apartheid South African govt, they have forfeited all claims to legitimacy.

— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) January 8, 2024

Subscribe to The Revolution Continues on Substack today! Blogspot 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.

Stay Awake, Be Aware, Become Informed

Bernie is working hard to bring about his New Year's resolutions. Are you?

Stay Awake, Be Aware, Become Informed
by Cindy A. Matthews

When we are mentally asleep, unaware of our surroundings, and don't work hard at staying informed as to what is happening in our world, nasty surprises have a way of catching up with us.


During the bustle of the holiday season, one such nasty surprise occurred in Ohio. As of December 19, 2016, Ohioans can no longer use Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) strategies against the Israeli government to protest its treatment of the Palestinians. Ohio House Bill 476, signed into law by Governor John Kasich, has made doing so illegal. The bill is seen by many as an unlawful reaction to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, a nonviolent global campaign which uses boycotts of Israeli goods and products to pressure the state of Israel to end its illegal occupation and collective punishment of, and violence against, Palestinian civilians. 

Ohio H.B 476 represses freedom of speech while extending a suspect economic benefit directly to a foreign government. A last-minute amendment to the bill doubled the amount of State of Ohio assets which may be invested in foreign nation debt instruments from 1% to 2%. Available state assets for investment were estimated at $13 to $14 billion. Coincidentally, Israel is the only nation capable of meeting the standards for the investment by the State of Ohio Treasurer. Besides critically undermining the free speech of its citizens, Ohio seeks to extend up to $260 million in credit to a foreign nation. 

Ohio H.B. 476 contradicts core free speech values and stifles debate. Telling others why your institution doesn't support the oppression of the Palestinian people is now a crime in Ohio. You cannot host pro-Palestinian rights speakers on your campus, for example. The punishment for violating the bill is the withdrawal of all state funding from your institution. 

And don't feel safe if you're not an Ohioan--similar federal legislation is currently in the works under the name of the "Anti-Semitism Awareness Act Bill."  In a Trump administration with a majority Republican Congress, its odds of being passed are seen as good. The title of the federal bill is extremely misleading. The BDS campaign against Israel is actually a criticism of the state or government, not of a religion or race. Palestinians are a related Semitic people after all, and American BDS actions are taken in their support, not against them because of their race or religion. 

So, where in our Constitution's First Amendment does it say every American must believe exactly as the government tells us to? Where in our First Amendment does it say the government of Israel can tell American citizens what strategies they can use to protest the mistreatment of Palestinians? Why are Palestinians treated as second class citizens in the first place? What other peoples are we to mistreat and ignore around the world simply because another government wishes Americans to mistreat and ignore them as well? 

Being asleep and not being aware of what is happening around us can lead us to losing our freedom of speech--and to the loss of freedom and life for others. Blissful ignorance of the facts isn't always blissful--it can be down right dangerous. As intelligent and compassionate progressives, we owe it to both ourselves and our communities (if not the entire planet) to become informed as to what is going on and what actions we can take to make the world a better place for all peoples.


Bern Notice now gives us some information on how a thorough civics education can open the door...

Opening the Door

by Bern Notice

Education is an important component of having a successful life in America. It opens the door to higher paying jobs like IT, electronics, engineering, law and many others. However, as much as Americans like to claim it’s the greatest country in the world, our quality of education clearly is not.

References:
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/02/u-s-students-improving-slowly-in-math-and-science-but-still-lagging-internationally/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2016/11/29/far-east-strengthens-grip-on-math-science-rankings-u-s-students-slip-further-behind/#13db83c43719  

Much has been made about how the US is in the middle of the pack in subjects such as science and math. Little is mentioned about Americans' knowledge of civics.

The Annenberg Public Policy Center states:

 The survey, released for Constitution Day (September 17), found that 26 percent of people can name the three branches of government (executive, legislative and judicial), a statistically significant decline since 2011, when 38 percent could name all three. In the current survey, 31 percent of respondents could not name any of three branches, about the same as last year.

 Reference: http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/americans-knowledge-of-the-branches-of-government-is-declining/

This is significant because while many are on the streets complaining about the results of the presidential election, this poll indicates that a minority actually understand its role in our government.

An example of how lack of understanding civics potentially affects voters is described by comparing presidential vs. mid-term elections. The legislative branch consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The legislative branch is responsible for (among other things) controlling fiscal spending and taxation, writing and passing laws, and declaring war. It is also a check on the executive branch (the president).

Reference: http://www.house.gov/content/learn/branches_of_government/

These are important responsibilities with serious consequences for their constituents. Senators and representatives are up for election at both mid-term and presidential years. Logically, if you are aware of how critical their role is in government, you would likely have a large turn out in both years.

The reality is that there is a substantial drop off in mid-term elections compared to presidential years--every time. Pew research states:

 Voter turnout regularly drops in midterm elections, and has done so since the 1840s.

In 2008 for instance, 57.1% of the voting-age population cast ballots—the highest level in four decades—as Barack Obama became the first African American elected president. But two years later only 36.9% voted in the midterm election that put the House back in Republican hands. For Obama’s re-election in 2012, turnout rebounded to 53.7%.

Reference: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/07/24/voter-turnout-always-drops-off-for-midterm-elections-but-why/

Because turnout tends to be high only during the presidential years, this means a large number of people could only be voting for all, half, or none of their congressional representation depending on how congressional terms work out where they live.

This is even more true for Democrat-leaning voters. The turn out is so low for them that there was an article written about it in 2014. Loren Fulton of the Cook Report wrote:

Herein lies the biggest danger for Democratic candidates in 2014.
Midterm elections have always drawn older voters, and usually drawn white voters, to the polls in disproportionate numbers.

Older voters are less transient, have grown deeper roots in their local communities, and pay much more attention to non-presidential elections than their younger counterparts. In the 1980s, that didn’t hold partisan consequences. Today, that amounts to a built-in midterm turnout advantage for Republicans.

Reference
http://cookpolitical.com/story/5776

It is important to recognize that as much as Democrat-leaning voters may be upset about Trump having the House and Senate in his pocket, it happened because Democrats by in large don’t show up for mid-terms. It is very likely that reason is because those who show up and vote have a better understanding of how government works than those who only show up on presidential years.

The data shows that there is a clear lack of understanding of how government functions. This is a fixable issue, but it’s one that we as a society need to start working on now. While knowing science and mathematics are obviously important in terms of competing for careers, understanding how our government functions is vital to understanding how try to fix the problems we complain about.

BIO: Bern Notice is dedicated to educating the public through his excellent commentary on Google+

***

 Informing the Public Through Letters to the Editor

Like Bern Notice says, we need more civics education in this country. We also need to know more about what is happening to our environment and how it will affect our community, state, nation and world. It's important to share this information with others, and one time-honored way to do so is by writing letters to the editor. 

Paul Wohlfarth wrote and sent the following letter to the Toledo, Ohio, Blade editorial staff in regards to the Nexus pipeline. Notice he's done his homework. He gives us the facts in a clear and succinct manner to help educate both the public and the editors as to what is happening with Nexus and what could happen if the pipeline is built. Thank you, Paul, for allowing us to re-print it here as an example and encouragement to others.

 
To the Editors:

I know the Toledo Blade editorial staff has given tacit support for the Nexus pipeline. I don't think the staff knows of the possible ramifications that could happen if this pipeline is built.

First off Spectra Energy is being bought by the Canadian company Enbridge Energy Partners. Enbridge has a terrible safety record. One notable is the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill. Its been learned that Enbridge and the EPA have not cleaned up the toxic tar sands spill. They have quietly chose to fine the company and walk away leaving a toxic mess that is being exposed by former workers.

I bring this to your attention because you have lead the way in calling for action on protecting the Lake Erie water supply. As you know, the Maumee River feeds this supply and Nexus plans a pipeline to cross the Maumee west of Waterville. The export Nexus pipeline has only a 56% subscription rate with 90% of that going to Canada. The outlook for this pipeline is sketchy as more pipelines compete for a limited customer base. Also, we have found that Nexus has future plans for two more pipelines in this easement. Pipeline companies are finding it harder to build new easements as opposition grows, so the Nexus easement becomes more valuable.
 
I told you that natural gas transmission is being squeezed by overcapacity, but when a pipeline is built anything can be transported either way in these pipelines. What's to say that when Nexus goes belly-up transporting natural gas they won't switch to transporting oil or other products? This leave us with possible multiple pipelines crossing our water supply (the Maumee River) by a company with the worst track record for safety. The Maumee crossing is near an earthquake fault and karst formations. Will the Blade stand with others to defend this water supply? 

Is there a local or state-wide issue of importance that you could research and write a short, coherent, fact-filled letter to your local newspaper(s) informing the public and asking them to take positive action to rectify things? Don't wait a day longer--just write it. If you're living in the path of the Nexus or other pipeline(s), or are located in the middle of a fracking zone, don't hesitate--do so today. We've only got the one planet, so we don't have time to waste. Water is life!