Great idea! Tells you everything you need to know about our society that there isn't something like the "Aarons" already. The glitzy annual Oscars jerk-off is always so disgusting but it perfectly embodies the best of the worst this society can urp up. Thanks for the mention! Mr. Fish is the greatest. Banksy, too.
You're welcome. I think your political cartoons are fantastic and needed now more than ever. hadn't thought about Banksy... I'm not sure about if he's pro-Palestinian or not, but I do like his graffiti artwork. Thanks for the suggestion. (I'm starting a list of nominees and seeing just how long it gets.)
Thanks. I haven't seen any recent Banksy Palestinian art, but then we get such spotty coverage of his work. All of his stuff with Chris Hedges' columns is good.
I like your idea. You could do a big list or maybe an "Aaron Award of the Week" to generate ongoing awareness, discussions and nominations. It would cool to celebrate brave people taking on local issues and institutions to help bring awareness to street-level activist heroes. Anything we can do to keep his memory and message alive and in the flow. The mainstream corporate media has buried it all and moved on.
I will be happy to promote "Aarons" in my Substack and I'm sure we could get others to do the same. I've been thinking about the idea of creating some form of 'network' of Substackers to amplify messages and information/causes. I'm not enough of a computer guy to be able to envision exactly how that might work, but I think there are opportunities to amplify and counteract the dominant corporate message and media.
Beginning tomorrow, I will to be occasionally putting stuff out specifically on how to resist what is coming after Trump's reelection. The whole drama over his recent bloodbath" comments were taken out of context and distorted by the MSNBC mind blob, but I don't for a moment dismiss what is likely to come with a second Trump administration. People need to be thinking about and learning from earlier times of resistance in totalitarian regimes.
FYI... A post I put up March 6 on boycotting ten companies continues to get almost daily likes and has had more restacks than just about anything else. Also, people have added additional companies. Today a guy from Great Britain talked about his bank merging with Barclays and how he closed out his accounts, letting them know it is specifically about their Israel entanglements. https://mark192.substack.com/p/ten-companies-to-boycott-corporate
Thank you. Copying the list is a great idea to learn what others are doing and how they're helping make the world a better place. I don't think folks give themselves enough credit and they certainly don't advertise themselves and their organizations much. We need to know that we're not alone in these dark times and encourage each other in doing good for others.
It's about time that those who do good are honored. Why should rich war hawks get all the glory and attention? I vote for Laura K at Normal Island News.
I think Aaron's whole name needs to be recognized--Aaron Bushnell--for the BIG ACT behind it by a highly unique, courageous, compassionate and humane individual.
Why can't we as activists UNITE TOGETHER for the PEACE PLANET PARTY WAY that has a set of principles which brings forth a better system that is GOOD TO ALL -- where we exist in the dynamic of "harming none and helping all"? It is time for us to be pro-active and no longer reactive. The Peace Planet Party Way would be applicable to all nations of the Earth to FREE US ALL:
You have a lot of great ideas, and the “Aarons” is one of them. A person who entered my mind to nominate is Randy Credico, whom I don’t know but I follow him on X. He has been very involved in the Free Assange movement, and he operates a truck with digital images/messages on Assange that drives around NYC and Washington D.C. Now the truck is also displaying images of the genocide in Palestine. He has a cute pooch named Sofia who accompanies him on these ventures.
Thank you for the kind words and for the great suggestion. Yeah, Randy Credico is a legion of sorts, and I've watched him as a guest on several different podcasts. Would I put him in the indie journalist or the podcaster category, you think?
A stroke of brilliance! Any attempt at a comprehensive list will go on for days! And that’s the way it should be. My group has been doing People’s Poetry Awards for years, surprising each recipient! And it’s always a treat to see the looks on their faces!
By the way, ideologically speaking, I like to call myself in the spirit of the original (1968) Poor People’s Campaign and their strong allies who fed them with free bread - the Diggers! So I support you calling yourself on what is true to you. It’s what helps bring us together.
Thanks! Good idea for a category--"Best Poet with a Conscience". What do you think?
I understand what you mean about the original spirit of the Poor People's Campaign and their allies. I was a bit taken aback by the current version of the PPC and stepped back from it. I think their hearts are in the right place, but to continue to beg the neoliberal warmongers in power for aid to the poor and to help the world in general is the wrong tactic, IMO. We all gotta do what we gotta do and be happy with the method we've chosen.
Great idea! Another potential long list! And worth the effort! Your imagination is vivid!
You were right to step away. The original PPC scared the hell out of everybody in the power structure that surrounded and slandered the people of Resurrection City, the Caravans, the Mothers Day March and the Mule Train! They were against the War in Vietnam and were in solidarity with all liberation movements. Look up “Hunger Wall” and listen to the song “Hands Off Nkrumah” for clues about their internationalist legacy. Anything that seeks to erase all that is an act of moral corruption. And the Diggers set the blueprint for the venerable FNB to carry on.
Yes, I and millions of others consider Aaron Bushnell to be a hero and a saint. He brought a lot of attention to the horrors of genocide going on in Gaza being underwritten by the US taxpayers. He didn't want to be sent to Gaza to kill innocent civilians, and so he stayed true to his conscience and put the promotion of their cause first and foremost. If only more people had that kind of moral stamina to lay down their life for their brothers and sisters.
Hero and saint who brought attention to mental illness is more like it, for one news cycle. As far as “genocide”, 1) don’t attack if you are not smart enough to know what follows, and 2) nobody in the military has been told they’re going to Israel. It’s painfully obvious this guy had no more a grasp on reality than the “millions of others” regarding geopolitics, and to lay down his life for his brother and sisters? Really?
Do you have an idea you could share? This award is more to celebrate the fact that there are many others out there that are doing good things in their communities and through out the world more than a memorial to Aaron, but why not both? I think he would have liked the idea that his message was understood and replicated thousands of times over.
Well said. This might be my way to contribute, to encourage activists to keep fighting until the genocide is over and there is peace and harmony all over the earth. Each of us has courage--it's just expresses itself differently for each of us, as we are all unique. Find your courage and do what you feel call to do.
I don't know how she does it, but Laura K at Normal Island News does give a humorous spin to some pretty dark news stories. Thanks for your suggestion.
Great idea! Tells you everything you need to know about our society that there isn't something like the "Aarons" already. The glitzy annual Oscars jerk-off is always so disgusting but it perfectly embodies the best of the worst this society can urp up. Thanks for the mention! Mr. Fish is the greatest. Banksy, too.
You're welcome. I think your political cartoons are fantastic and needed now more than ever. hadn't thought about Banksy... I'm not sure about if he's pro-Palestinian or not, but I do like his graffiti artwork. Thanks for the suggestion. (I'm starting a list of nominees and seeing just how long it gets.)
Thanks. I haven't seen any recent Banksy Palestinian art, but then we get such spotty coverage of his work. All of his stuff with Chris Hedges' columns is good.
I like your idea. You could do a big list or maybe an "Aaron Award of the Week" to generate ongoing awareness, discussions and nominations. It would cool to celebrate brave people taking on local issues and institutions to help bring awareness to street-level activist heroes. Anything we can do to keep his memory and message alive and in the flow. The mainstream corporate media has buried it all and moved on.
I will be happy to promote "Aarons" in my Substack and I'm sure we could get others to do the same. I've been thinking about the idea of creating some form of 'network' of Substackers to amplify messages and information/causes. I'm not enough of a computer guy to be able to envision exactly how that might work, but I think there are opportunities to amplify and counteract the dominant corporate message and media.
Beginning tomorrow, I will to be occasionally putting stuff out specifically on how to resist what is coming after Trump's reelection. The whole drama over his recent bloodbath" comments were taken out of context and distorted by the MSNBC mind blob, but I don't for a moment dismiss what is likely to come with a second Trump administration. People need to be thinking about and learning from earlier times of resistance in totalitarian regimes.
FYI... A post I put up March 6 on boycotting ten companies continues to get almost daily likes and has had more restacks than just about anything else. Also, people have added additional companies. Today a guy from Great Britain talked about his bank merging with Barclays and how he closed out his accounts, letting them know it is specifically about their Israel entanglements. https://mark192.substack.com/p/ten-companies-to-boycott-corporate
I think this is a great idea. I've copied your list so I can go back and investigate and learn about some of these names that I don't recognize.
Thank you. Copying the list is a great idea to learn what others are doing and how they're helping make the world a better place. I don't think folks give themselves enough credit and they certainly don't advertise themselves and their organizations much. We need to know that we're not alone in these dark times and encourage each other in doing good for others.
It's about time that those who do good are honored. Why should rich war hawks get all the glory and attention? I vote for Laura K at Normal Island News.
Yes! Best Satirist with a Conscience must include Laura K at Normal Island News. Great suggestion.
Great idea! I hope you run with it.
One make movies. The other makes blockbusters.
Fantastic! Another great way to honor Aaron's ultimate sacrifice!
Thank you! We should all honor his memory by daily doing good deeds to help others and help others to help others as well.
I think Aaron's whole name needs to be recognized--Aaron Bushnell--for the BIG ACT behind it by a highly unique, courageous, compassionate and humane individual.
Why can't we as activists UNITE TOGETHER for the PEACE PLANET PARTY WAY that has a set of principles which brings forth a better system that is GOOD TO ALL -- where we exist in the dynamic of "harming none and helping all"? It is time for us to be pro-active and no longer reactive. The Peace Planet Party Way would be applicable to all nations of the Earth to FREE US ALL:
http://pppway.net/#Vision
You have a lot of great ideas, and the “Aarons” is one of them. A person who entered my mind to nominate is Randy Credico, whom I don’t know but I follow him on X. He has been very involved in the Free Assange movement, and he operates a truck with digital images/messages on Assange that drives around NYC and Washington D.C. Now the truck is also displaying images of the genocide in Palestine. He has a cute pooch named Sofia who accompanies him on these ventures.
Thank you for the kind words and for the great suggestion. Yeah, Randy Credico is a legion of sorts, and I've watched him as a guest on several different podcasts. Would I put him in the indie journalist or the podcaster category, you think?
¡Brava!
A stroke of brilliance! Any attempt at a comprehensive list will go on for days! And that’s the way it should be. My group has been doing People’s Poetry Awards for years, surprising each recipient! And it’s always a treat to see the looks on their faces!
By the way, ideologically speaking, I like to call myself in the spirit of the original (1968) Poor People’s Campaign and their strong allies who fed them with free bread - the Diggers! So I support you calling yourself on what is true to you. It’s what helps bring us together.
Thanks! Good idea for a category--"Best Poet with a Conscience". What do you think?
I understand what you mean about the original spirit of the Poor People's Campaign and their allies. I was a bit taken aback by the current version of the PPC and stepped back from it. I think their hearts are in the right place, but to continue to beg the neoliberal warmongers in power for aid to the poor and to help the world in general is the wrong tactic, IMO. We all gotta do what we gotta do and be happy with the method we've chosen.
Great idea! Another potential long list! And worth the effort! Your imagination is vivid!
You were right to step away. The original PPC scared the hell out of everybody in the power structure that surrounded and slandered the people of Resurrection City, the Caravans, the Mothers Day March and the Mule Train! They were against the War in Vietnam and were in solidarity with all liberation movements. Look up “Hunger Wall” and listen to the song “Hands Off Nkrumah” for clues about their internationalist legacy. Anything that seeks to erase all that is an act of moral corruption. And the Diggers set the blueprint for the venerable FNB to carry on.
You really think this guy was some sort of hero? Someone to look up to?
Yes, I and millions of others consider Aaron Bushnell to be a hero and a saint. He brought a lot of attention to the horrors of genocide going on in Gaza being underwritten by the US taxpayers. He didn't want to be sent to Gaza to kill innocent civilians, and so he stayed true to his conscience and put the promotion of their cause first and foremost. If only more people had that kind of moral stamina to lay down their life for their brothers and sisters.
Hero and saint who brought attention to mental illness is more like it, for one news cycle. As far as “genocide”, 1) don’t attack if you are not smart enough to know what follows, and 2) nobody in the military has been told they’re going to Israel. It’s painfully obvious this guy had no more a grasp on reality than the “millions of others” regarding geopolitics, and to lay down his life for his brother and sisters? Really?
It looks as though Mister Bushnell's protest has flamed out. The war goes on.
Wow! Honored! Thank you so much.
Do you have an idea you could share? This award is more to celebrate the fact that there are many others out there that are doing good things in their communities and through out the world more than a memorial to Aaron, but why not both? I think he would have liked the idea that his message was understood and replicated thousands of times over.
Well said. This might be my way to contribute, to encourage activists to keep fighting until the genocide is over and there is peace and harmony all over the earth. Each of us has courage--it's just expresses itself differently for each of us, as we are all unique. Find your courage and do what you feel call to do.
I don't know how she does it, but Laura K at Normal Island News does give a humorous spin to some pretty dark news stories. Thanks for your suggestion.