We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, June 28, 2021

Posts that I especially recommend for Monday, June 28, 2021 (I added the last post at 02:43 PM CT.)

  • Stephen Kinzer on the demise of Western journalism. Independent journalist Eva Bartlett interviews Stephen Kinzer in a 38:57m YouTube video via her YouTube channel. (Note: Bartlett has admired Kinzer as an independent journalist over the course of his long career.) My reaction: One can easily conclude that media corporations no longer employ journalists, or if they do, journalists soon learn to serve power if their going to have any kind of a career.)
  • EXPOSED: Journalist's Killers Trained By U.S. featuring Jimmy Dore argues in his unique comical-satirical style why the USA is the number one terrorist nation in the world--from his YouTube channel (07:22m). My reaction: If you like this post, listen to Dore's next post below.
  • Biden Wants You To Snitch On Family & Friends featuring Jimmy Dore tries to make you laugh at the Biden administration in his YouTube channel (12:57m). My reaction: I guess it's better to laugh than to cry at the new direction Biden administration and the ruling class are taking us: targeting dissenting Americans and labeling them as domestic violent extremists (DVE). Dore drives the point home to us docile Americans that "whatever we do to people overseas, whatever horrible things we do to them, we are going to do to ourselves".
  • US Coalition is sustaining terrorism in Syria with “humanitarian aid” by Vanessa Beeley from her weblog, The Wall Will Fall. My reaction: This article, and similar articles, will be ignored by nearly all ordinary Americans, but it's a shame because they are now being targeted by the same ruling class which will use the same, or similar methods, against them. Ordinary Americans are increasingly seen as an enemy of the billionaire capitalist ruling class. (See Dore's post above.)
  • The American West overwhelmed by extreme heat by Susan Hall from BBC. My reaction: I called an activist who lives near Astoria, Oregon figuring the he had enjoyed much cooler temperatures. But I was mistaken. His location suffered under 100 degrees or higher in the last week! He reported that "yesterday it reached 112 deg F in our back yard". He also reported that most neighbors in the area did not have air conditioning because of a normally cooler climate.