Damn. Just Damn. Goodbye Ron, and thank you for being such a wonderful part of my life for so many years.
Affinity
Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
Damn. Just Damn. Goodbye Ron, and thank you for being such a wonderful part of my life for so many years.
James Means.
It was days ago I posted about the brutal and senseless murder of 15 year old James Means, who bumped into a vicious bigot with a gun.
The shooter, William Ronald Pulliam, has been charged with murder. What makes this murder even more agonizing, in this country with way too few gun laws, is that Mr. Pulliam should never have been allowed a gun at all, going by the paltry gun laws which are in effect. Supposedly in effect.
Pulliam and Means argued after the two bumped into each other on the sidewalk in front of the store. When Pulliam left the store a few minutes later the two argued again, police say, before the 62-year-old shot Means with a .380 revolver he should have been barred from owning due to a 2013 domestic violence conviction for battering his then-pregnant daughter.
Not only was Mr. Pulliam wandering about with a gun he should not have had, the police were aware of his vicious bigotry, and that he frightened local residents.
Pulliam, who is white, was a familiar villain to some of Means’ friends. Fourteen-year-old Teonno White had tried to talk to Pulliam after the man picked on White’s younger brother.
“He said, ‘Get the [expletive] off my property.’ He said I need to go on with my nappy Latino self. He’s just a real bad guy,” White told the Gazette Mail. White had called police about Pulliam before, the paper noted, and had been told to stay away from him.
And yet, Mr. Pulliam, who was quoted as saying “The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off the street,” about his murdering young James, claims not only self defense, even though James was unarmed, he claims he gets along with all the pieces of trash:
“I don’t care if they’re white or black. Nobody is going to do me like that,” he said. “It doesn’t make any difference if he’s black. My God, everybody I live around over there is black. I get along with all of them, ask them.”
I don’t imagine Mr. Pulliam ever asked all those people he gets along with how they felt about him.
Full story at Think Progress. Here’s hoping this does not go the way it did in too many other cases, with yet another white bigot being excused for outright murder.
Ricky Berry — WATE screenshot.
You go away for a few days, and there’s a rising tide of stupid everywhere. We’ll start with sliced cheese, which as everyone knows, is scary stuff. Maybe not quite this scary, though…
What began as a spontaneous trip to the store ended up being one of the most bizarre experiences of Ricky Berry’s life.
He and his roommate went to purchase cheese and ended up having the police called on them.
Berry and his roommate said they walked into the CVS in Carytown and asked an employee if they sold sliced cheese. The worker kindly replied that they did not.
A few minutes later, the employee — all of the store employees, in fact — were nowhere to be found. Berry and his roommate, Philip Blackwell, said they were in the store with another customer for more than 30 minutes alone before an officer with the Richmond Police Department showed up.
© C. Ford.
Everything was fine while we were at camp, the mood is somber, but determined. There’s a very large town made up of many villages now. People are close, and dependent on one another. There are also several communal sleep centers up now, with wood stoves, and yes, it’s that cold. This time also most likely saw the last peace at the camp, as the ACoE has delivered a December 5th eviction notice to everyone at the camp. The eviction has been set for December 5th, which happens to be the birthday of one George Custer. Nice, eh? If you want to read the filthy crap nDakota government is saying, you can go to Wapo. A whole lot of veterans will be arriving at the camp on December 3rd, and they aren’t overly impressed with this action, to say the least. ICTMN has also covered the eviction notice, full story here.
In spite of the line the governor and his henchpeople are taking, which is atrocious, to say the least, the actual reason for this is because the stand at Standing Rock has been, and is, successful. ETP has a deadline, January 1st, which they must meet before their shipper contracts expire. They have always played dirty, and continue to do so, emboldened by one of their investor’s recent jump in status to president-elect, and our current president’s reluctance to actually do anything concrete. Everyone they bought in nDakota is now lapping up vomited oil, and eager to put all those Indians and allies in their proper place. We’ll see how it goes, I guess, but no one at Standing Rock is willing to stand down, or give one inch.
White-Breasted Nuthatch.
© C. Ford.
Downy Woodpecker.
© C. Ford.
A White-breasted Nuthatch takes off.
© C. Ford.
We’re back at camp, many changes, they happen so fast! One of the local highschools was putting a feed on for people, and had buses going. We stayed in camp. Unfortunately, my computer mouse disappeared, and trying to work without one on this piece of gose isn’t easy. It appears the thugs have taken a holiday, for now. The camp keeps getting bigger and bigger. There was a long line at the north entrance. Back home on Saturday, then we’ll be back at camp on Monday, most likely. Everyone is fine, just freezing. It’s fucking cold.
Today is a holiday for some. Not for me, not for most Natives, we don’t care to celebrate genocide. Today, we’re on the way back to the Oceti Sakowin camp (this post was set up last night, we have to do that whole crack o’ dawn thing), and we’ll be back when we’re back. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to take the computer and all that crap with me. If you see posts in the next couple of days, then I did. If not, I didn’t. Marcus has most generously offered to be our back up if we are arrested, so don’t worry about that. If we are, we’ll make it back out eventually. We’ll have the van, because we’ll be hauling building wood and fire wood once more, and the need for firewood is severe. More, more, and more is needed, as it gets colder, and all the kitchens need it to keep feeding people. There are ways you can help on that score, and I’ll be including them. We’ll be staying at the Oglala camp, as usual.
I’ve already written my scorn for all those people who just can’t whine enough about how tough and awful stuffing their faces with family is going to be, because they’ll have to keep quiet about politics, or hear about politics. If you are one of them, maybe you could yank your nose out of your navel long enough to think about what other people are going through, and how to help them. Are there terrified refugees around you? How about freezing, starving homeless people? LGBTQI people who are living in fear? People of Colour who haven’t yet figured out if they need to be scared of you too? All the people at Standing Rock who are in desperate need of everything? There’s a whole lot more. If all you’re managing to do today is stuffing your face, rolling your eyes at Auntie Jean or Uncle John, and stifling sighs as you park your ass on the couch to watch television, at the very least, you could stop whinging about it. No one else needs to hear that. Everyone else, have a happy whateveritistoyou.
If you can make it out to the camp, please come. We need all the people we can get, there’s always plenty to do. This evening, Jane Fonda and Mark Ruffalo are going to be helping to serve supper. Have a nice something or other everyone.
Some reading: Forget Plymouth Rock. Stand with Standing Rock.
The Wounded Knee Oglala Kitchen needs help. * The other kitchens at camp need help too, and medical supplies.
ICTMN has a long list of legitimate ways to donate and help out Standing Rock. Check there, if you are unsure. Don’t give individuals money unless you know them personally.
Want to stay current? #nodapl.
The Continental Congress declared a Thanksgiving celebration in 1777 in the midst of the American Revolution. George Washington reprised the idea in 1789 – his first year as president.
Many states continued the tradition, but interest faded in the 1800s until novelist and poet Sarah Josepha Hale – of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” fame – began campaigning for the idea. Thirty states had joined her cause by the start of the Civil War. Even the Lincoln family is reported to have had a November Thanksgiving celebration in 1860, before “The Man from Illinois” took office.
And, though not proven, it’s likely Hale’s September 1863 letter to Lincoln asking him to “appoint the last Thursday in November as the National Thanksgiving…” played a substantial role in the 16th President’s decision to start what’s now our standard Fall celebration.
Well, it’s a celebration for most of us. Many Native Americans actually don’t take part in the observance.
Not because of the day’s mythical misinformation. There was actually a 1621 gathering of the Pilgrims and members of the Wampanoag Nation who’d taught them how to plant crops and survive their first year in America. But according to Wampanoag tradition it came as the result of 90 warriors arriving at the colonists’ settlement after hearing the sounds of guns and cannon being fired.
Since both sides had entered into a treaty to support one another should either be attacked, the Wampanoag were expecting to encounter a military engagement.It turned out to be the equivalent of modern-day fireworks display marking the Pilgrims’ Fall harvest. A letter by colonist Edward Winslow states that a 3-day feast did then take place during which time the Wampanoag went out to hunt and gather food—deer, ducks, geese, and fish. But it wasn’t a matter of everyone sitting down at a long, white linen covered table to share a meal – or anything resembling that. And there’s no record of the Pilgrims giving thanks to God…or even to the Wampanoag.
It’s the second Pilgrim Thanksgiving, however, that irks many Native Americans to this day. That would be the 1637 feast held to “celebrate” the slaughter of 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Nation. The Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor then ordered an annual celebration for the next hundred years in remembrance of that mass slaying.
But the most striking Thanksgiving hypocrisy may be the fate of the Wampanoag. A breakdown in the peace established between the tribe and the colonists came as the result of continued land expansion by the Europeans. After losing a war to defend their territory, Wampanoag leader Metacom – “King Philip” – was arrested and killed. His severed hands were sent to the King of England and the governor of the colony had Metacom’s head placed in a public square for 20 years as a warning to other Native Americans who might question Western Europeans’ “right to rule” the land.
Of course, this is all ancient history and beyond the scope of understanding for most non-Natives when it comes to realizing and accepting the effects of historical trauma on a people.
From Jim Kent at Lakota Country Times.
We met Gilbert Kills early on at the camp, when he was planning his art piece. Our signatures are back there somewhere.
~~~~THE NO WATER CHALLENGE~~~
There have been many challenges on Facebook and in social media that have gone viral. This one doesn’t involve water. Being that so many politicians, corporations, and the average caucasian North Dakotan thinks that water is not important, here is the challenge. You can not have anything to do with water for 24 hours. This means no flushing a toilet, no washing your face, no drinking anything with water. No eating any portion that needed water to sustain it, no eating any crop that had anything to do with water. No drinking anything that needed water to make, being that everything has water in it including soda, about the only thing on this list is oil. No brushing your teeth, showering, or even going fishing. No going on a boat, no going swimming, no washing your clothes, no water in your life for 24 hours. I realize this is impossible for mostly everyone. Mostly everyone does not know that water is given up for 4 days and nights in the summer time during ceremony by the very same people who are fighting to protect their water. Not everyone participates in that ceremony but even those who don’t are in the prayers of those that do make the sacrifice. If you think you are ok without sacred water, then take this challenge. I realize not even the strongest man or woman can do this or even the richest, however, should you decide to take it, post it. Let us know truthfully how many minutes or hours you lasted. It is impossible. Let’s hear it North Dakotans, you think water is nothing, do it.
#NOWATERCHALLENGE #NODAPL #WATERISLIFE
Black-capped Chickadee.
© C. Ford.
Jim Wright (Facebook).
Retired Navy officer Jim Wright of the liberal blog Stonekettle Station said this week that he was banned by Facebook for speaking out against supporters of the Nazi Party.
In a blog post on Wednesday, Wright explained that Facebook had notified him that his account had been suspended for “violation of community standards.”
“The community standard I violated is apparently the one where you’re not allowed to criticize actual, no fooling, Nazis,” he wrote. “That’s right, I was banned for criticizing an actual Nazi.”
[…]
Wright told Raw Story on Wednesday afternoon that his Facebook account was still locked.
“I know they are aware of the situation,” he said. “But I’ve received no response from Facebook either formally or via informal channels.”
Wright has promised that he will not back down if and when Facebook reinstates his account — even if it means he is banned again.
“Those who know me, know that I am a veteran who fought under the flag of the United States of America for more than 20 years, can probably guess which way I’ll go,” he wrote. “Given America’s new acceptance of fascism, I suspect platforms like Facebook and Twitter will either have to become more accommodating of actual fascist ideology and less tolerant of people like me, or risk going to the wall themselves – especially given that our new president has made it very clear that he intends to directly control how the media, including social media, reports on his administration.”
Via Raw Story.
On this past Monday evening, outside of a Dollar General Store in Charleston, West Virginia, 15-year-old James Means, was shot and killed by William Ronald Pulliam, 62, police said.
Means, like Emmett Till and Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin before him, did nothing to ever even warrant a confrontation from Pulliam. Witnesses claim that what set Pulliam off was that Means accidentally bumped into him while entering the store.
After Pulliam left the store, the two exchanged words a second time, and Pulliam shot the teen twice in the abdomen, leaving him to die, then proceeded to go home, eat dinner, then go hang out at a friend’s house, according to a criminal complaint.
[…]
After Pulliam’s arrest on Tuesday morning, police said that he expressed no remorse whatsoever for killing the teen, but simply said, “The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off the street.”
Seems to me that Mr. Pulliam is more than a bit backwards about just who constitutes trash. I just don’t have any more grief right now, I can’t afford it. I am fucking furious. I am fucking tired. I am so fucking heartsick, I wish I had no heart. What little of it is left, goes out to the family, friends, and all loved ones of James’s. This is a terrible loss, there are no words, and there is no justice.
Earlier this month, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department briefed the public via Facebook on the scope of law enforcement presence that was helping confront protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock.
The help was made possible by a bill signed into law by President Bill Clinton about 20 years ago, which created an interstate agreement for emergency management. The agreement helped bring law enforcement agents to North Dakota to the site of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The protests at Standing Rock, and the Black Lives Matter protests in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, represent some of the only times the compact has been invoked outside of a natural disaster.
The ACLU assembled the names of law enforcement agencies below from the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and from media accounts. The Morton County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the cities and counties in North Dakota that sent officers as well as the 10 states that contributed, and where there was a news story about a particular force, we included a hyperlink. Where there was mention of the number of officers deployed, we noted that as a minimum — though more may have been deployed later.
