Standing Rock: The Veterans Are Coming In.

Veteran Matthew Crane says soldiers like him have skills and training that could be useful in the Oceti Sakowin Camp. (Angela Johnston/CBC).

Veteran Matthew Crane says soldiers like him have skills and training that could be useful in the Oceti Sakowin Camp. (Angela Johnston/CBC).

American veteran Matthew Crane has been to Iraq and Kuwait, and has led disaster relief teams in the U.S. Now he says he’s found a new mission at the Oceti Sakowin Camp in North Dakota, supporting those opposing the Dakota Access pipeline.

The 32-year-old navy veteran is one of a growing number of ex-military members heading to the centre of the pipeline fight as part of a group called Veterans Stand for Standing Rock.

Naturally, Kirchmeier has been moaning about the veterans, saying they will bring violence. Right, because you damn piggish thugs haven’t been indulging in criminal violence at all, right? And shame on all the nDakota veterans* who are standing around tsking, and attempting to pour shame on these veterans who are standing up and doing the right thing. You can all go shut up and hide, and pretend you have morals somewhere in your back pocket. Doing whatever authority tells you, swallowing a gallon of oil and propaganda about us horrible savages, that’s easy. Standing up, thinking for yourself, recognizing evil, and having the courage to stand against it, that’s what the veterans at Standing Rock are doing, and everyone should be proud of them.

My thanks to those cops who have finally seen the light, and have refused to send people here. There aren’t enough of you, but it’s good there are some.

*Also, that cowardly lump of paste has the fucking nerve to say that the protectors have cost ND $10 million dollars. NO, THEY HAVE NOT. That criminal bigot, KKKJack Dalrymple cost the people of nDakota 10 million dollars, and has dumped another 7 million on that, for what? Oh, more piggish thugs! More shiny military equipment with which to brutalize the unarmed protectors. Fuck every single nDakotan who is such a fucking idiot that they buy this garbage. *spits*

Full article is here.

As for KKJack Dalrymple’s supposed “concern”:

The Standing Rock Sioux, in a statement on Wednesday, said that because “the Governor of North Dakota and Sheriff of Morton County are relative newcomers” to the land, “it is understandable they would be concerned about severe winter weather.”

They said the camp has adequate shelter to handle the cold weather, adding that the Great Sioux Nation has survived “in this region for millennia without the concerns of state or county governments.”

And KKKJack says he’s worried about all us Indians in winter. Yeah. Let’s see you walk 250 miles, Jack.

And for all those fucking idiots who keep claiming this is what we deserve, because hey, Standing Rock didn’t show to meetings, once again, yes we did. In 2012 and 2014, along with 2016. Stop spreading that damn lie.

Cool Stuff Friday.

Song Peilun is a hermit, an artist, a former professor, and now can be called the father of Yelang Valley.

After spending almost 20 years trying to build a wonderland-like place, Song’s vision has finally materialized.

It all started in 1996 when he quit his teaching position and spent his lifelong investment to buy a 200,000 square meters’ of land in an isolated mountainous forest area in Huaxi, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, and decided to stay there – just to pursue his quest of building a utopia-like community that resembles characteristics from the Middle Ages, or Winterfell from the hit TV series Game of Thrones.

But Yelang Valley’s civilization is believed to be older than the Middle Ages, before the area was part of modern-day China. Here, experts say, multiple ancient cultures were rooted, which have prospered for tens of thousands of years.

Song, now 76, has been studying the colorful minority cultures that have existed in the Guizhou region for years. After visiting the United States, he was particularly touched by the parallels between the ethnic minorities in Guizhou and the Native Americans – he was deeply saddened to see cultural infiltration had contributed to the loss of age-old traditions and heritage.

But the retired professor and cultural enthusiast wanted to restore that heritage in Huaxi, if not entirely then at least a part of it. He was inspired by the Crazy Horse, a mountain monument dedicated to a Native American warrior, in the US state of South Dakota. Song wanted to create something similar in the mountains of Guizhou.

Before he arrived, some of the villagers living in the area were working as masons, mining in the mountain and selling the stones to make a living.

“It is not fun selling them,” Song remembers suggesting them.

“Let’s build blocks,” he told them.

And the villagers agreed. They later became the architects of the valley that Song was visualized.

Through the years, Song trained them to become landscape architects – he had previously tried building an artist community in another area aiming to bring economic benefits to protect their culture but had failed. In Yelang Valley, he was continuing his pursuit. During the years, many locals aged, some died too, but their collective dream only thrived. And when Song ran out of money, the villagers even volunteered to contribute.

After all, Yelang Valley would become their spiritual home.

After two decades, Song says they have attracted visitors. Many locals, including him, now live in wooden houses perched in trees and the place looks like a settled community, but it is still an ongoing project, the creator adds.

However, along these years, Song’s wish of creating, and then retaining a village far from the hustle and bustles of city life has been hit hard by signs of modernization that are slowly seeping into the community.

But Song says he is not worried – if destroyed, he says, he will spend another 20 years to build another community in the other end of the valley.

This is so wonderful. I’d live in such a place, and happily so. We could use communities like this everywhere. Via CCTV News, Alfalfa Studio, and Great Big Story.

Canada: Trudeau Okays Two Pipeline Projects.

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On Tuesday, Canada’s Liberal government approved two major oil pipelines that, if constructed, would send one million more barrels of oil a day from Alberta’s tar sands — known in Canada as oil sands — to markets overseas. The move brought a chorus of criticism from environmentalists and indigenous communities, which have fought hard against the pipeline projects.

The move could be a major setback for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who came into power on a progressive platform that included strong climate action. He has spoken out in favor of the Paris climate agreement, and, under his leadership, Canada has announced plans to enact a nationwide carbon tax. But approving two pipeline projects — even while rejecting the Northern Gateway pipeline — will certainly damage his credibility with environmentalists who had hoped Trudeau’s leadership would signal a clean break from the policies of his predecessor, climate-denier Stephen Harper.

During the announcement, Trudeau acknowledged that the decision was bound to upset many across Canada, but argued that the projects were in the best interest of the country and the economy.

[…]

“Today’s announcement may as well have said that Canada is pulling out of the Paris climate agreement,” Aurore Fauret, Tar Sands Campaign Coordinator with 350.org, said in a statement. “By approving the Kinder Morgan and Line 3 pipelines, there is no way Canada can meet those commitments. Justin Trudeau has broken his promises for real climate leadership, and broken his promise to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples.”

[…]

Vancouver residents — as well as residents of Washington state, which shares waters with the Port of Vancouver — worry that increased oil traffic will raise the risk of a major spill off the Vancouver coast. The product from Alberta’s tar sands is a particularly heavy type of oil known as bitumen, which sinks when released in water, instead of rising to the surface like other oils. That makes cleaning up bitumen spills incredibly difficult and costly — instead of skimming oil off the top of the water, cleaning up bitumen usually requires dredging, which can have serious detrimental effects on ecosystems. Indigenous communities along the Vancouver coast are worried that such a spill could devastate important species like salmon and orcas.

“This issue is as black and white as the killer whales they endanger,” Charlene Aleck, a spokeswoman for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, said in a statement. “This is about our survival and the protection of our home, this inlet and the planet. They are making a big mistake, we will not allow this pipeline to be built.”

[…]

Local environmental activist groups, however, voiced their disapproval of Trudeau’s decision.

“As thousands of water protectors continue to make camp in winter conditions at Standing Rock, more crude oil pipelines are the last thing the Midwest needs,” Andy Pearson, Midwest tar sands coordinator with MN350, said in a statement. “The Canadian approval of Line 3 is a slap in the face to the landowners and indigenous community members of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, who will work harder than ever to make sure this dirty tar sands pipeline does not cross into the United States.”

[…]

On Tuesday, hours before Trudeau’s decision to approve the two pipeline expansion projects, news broke that Kellyanne Conway, President-elect Trump’s campaign manager and senior transition adviser, would be traveling to Canada before the inauguration to tour Alberta’s tar sands.

The move has lead to speculation that the incoming Trump administration might renew the Keystone XL project, something that Trump promised during his campaign. Following Trump’s Electoral College win on November 8, TransCanada — the company behind Keystone — released a statement saying it was eager to work with a Trump administration.

“TransCanada remains fully committed to building Keystone XL,” company spokesman Mark Cooper said.

We can all thank Prime Minister Trudeau for jumping on the oil wagon, and guaranteeing that Indigenous peoples in Canada and uStates will be endangered and royally screwed over. Thanks ever.

Full story here.

Every Day of December is a #NoDAPL Day of Action.

Help Amplify, This Is Very Important, Thunderclap!

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Take Action! * Banks Target Map.

There’s more at the Sacred Stone Camp Blog. http://sacredstonecamp.org/blog/december-action.

Reuters has the latest on the Thug’s action plan. Oh yes, they are just so darned concerned about people in the cold, that’s why they are trying to cut off supplies and threatening people bringing supplies with a $1,000 fine. So compassionate!

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Missouri Pipeline Explodes.

Standing Rock Protester Shot in Face With Tear Gas Canister May Go Blind.

A Line in the Snow.

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No DAPL: Drawing a Line in the Snow.

And because I was at the Oceti Sakowin camp last Thursday, this year’s Thankstealing:

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Seeing Through The Distortion.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko.

CREDIT: AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko.

It’s not a simple matter, cutting through the constant distortions and lies which characterize the new administration here in uStates. There’s a strong inclination to simply dismiss Trump as an irrelevant blowhard, but that’s not the smart thing to do, because whether or not Trump has the slightest idea of what he’s doing (not much, in my opinion), the people behind him, those appointed and who now have unprecedented power, they do know what they are doing. They also know what they want. There are certain similarities to the Bush Jr. regime, but there’s much more “baffle ’em with bullshit” and “give them a reality show!” going on here. With Bush, there was a deadly calculation put into the manipulation of the public at large. Fear was whipped up to a point that people were willingly signing their rights away. I’d like to think that isn’t going to happen again, but it’s already in process. Whatever rights we thought we had are being carved away in great swathes, there’s no subtle whittling away here. Too many people simply want a ‘good’ show to watch, and Trump is capable of that much. What’s shameful here is that so much of the public doesn’t seem to want much more than that. If they ever do wake up, it will be much too late.

If Bush and Rove constructed a fantasy world with a clear internal logic, Trump has built something more like an endless bad dream. In his political universe, facts are unstable and ephemeral; events follow one after the other with no clear causal linkage; and danger is everywhere, although its source seems to change at random. Whereas President Bush offered America the illusion of morality clarity, President-elect Trump offers an ever-shifting phantasmagoria of sense impressions and unreliable information, barely held together by a fog of anxiety and bewilderment. Think Kafka more than Lord of the Rings.

It is tempting to suppose Trump built this phantasmagoria by accident — that it is the byproduct of an erratic, undisciplined, borderline pathological approach to dishonesty. But the president-elect should not be underestimated. His victories in both the Republican primary and the general election were stunning upsets, and he is now set to alter the course of world history. If he does not fully understand what he is doing, his advisers certainly do.

Steve Bannon, former head of the white nationalist outlet Breitbart News, is Trump’s Karl Rove. He knows. In a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Bannon suggested that the key elements in his strategy are dissimulation and “darkness.”

[Read more…]

Eviction Notice.

home

© 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.

Day of Mourning.

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.

Your White, Liberal Thanksgiving Better Come with a Hearty Donation to the Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters.

#StandingRockSyllabus.

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.

From Dana Lone Hill:

~~~~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

 

How Many Law Enforcement Agencies Does It Take to Subdue a Peaceful Protest?

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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.

[Read more…]

Scenes from Standing Rock: Nov. 20th.

Full story here. Donate to Standing Rock. Help veterans get to Standing Rock. Sacred Stone Camp Supply List.

Donate to Standing Rock. Help veterans get to Standing Rock. Sacred Stone Camp Supply List.

A Comment.

If you know who should be credited, please let me know.

If you know who should be credited, please let me know.

I wrote a comment on another blog yesterday, because I just could not take one more supposedly reasonable person making excuses for those poor, misunderstood people who voted for Trump. It’s making me queasy sick, and possibly leading to a genuine head ‘splosion. I know what the fuck is wrong with all those Trumpoids, but those busy doing nothing but bleating excuses? I’d like an answer, what in the fuck is wrong with you? If you are making excuses, you need to shut the fuck up, stat. Or, you know, you could grow a fucking spine and stand up to all your Trumpoid families and friends. Go ahead, be brave. I’ll wait.  Anyroad, here’s the comment:

The bottom line is that people, for whatever reasons, who perceive they were being done wrong, were promised they would have that metaphorical dog to kick to pieces: “you’ll be able to kick those brown people in the teeth! You’ll be able to knock immigrants on their ass!”

That’s what white people, who are always looking to blame someone else, wanted, and that’s what Trump promised them. It’s all ism: racism and sexism. White people are getting bolder by the second, proclaiming their need to preserve their race, by which they mean, “we need to be on top of the people pile again, with everything in it’s right and natural order, white is right!”*

Trump also promised white Christians the path to what they want the most: the ability to stomp on people, grind them to dust and blood, to offer up to their psychopathic god. “No more queers!” “No more abortion!” “No more contraception!” If you haven’t already read about all the legislation on these matters, paint yourself as a willfully ignorant dumbfuck. It’s happening, and it’s happening because that is what these people wanted. No way out of that.

It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference if you don’t think your relatives are horrible bigots, or your friend who voted for Trump really isn’t a bad sort, or whatthefuck ever excuse you have cooked up. Unless you’re going to argue they are brain damaged, and couldn’t really understand all the blatantly bigoted shit which spewed from Trump’s mouth non-stop, there are no excuses. NONE.

By attempting to excuse people, you’re just another witless cog in the normalisation machine, helping to normalise fascism and unspeakable crimes against people, all people. STOP DOING THAT.

WAKE THE FUCK UP.

P.S. Fuck every single one of you whiny, mealy-mouthed fuckers who just can’t stop whinging about how hard their “thanksgiving” is going to be: fuck your squeamish privilege, your entitlement, and your godsdamned arrogance.

Caveat: I am not talking about those who have already gone 100 rounds with family or friends; nor am I talking about those who are dependent on family, and have to make the tactical decision to be quiet in order to stay alive. I am talking about all the assholes who must defend all Trump voters because their family members or friends voted for him; I am talking about all the fucking assholes who have been whinging and wringing their hands over how awful their holiday is going to be, sitting at a table over laden with food, and having the unbearable task of stuffing their fucking faces and watching television.

We will be spending thankstealing at Standing Rock, with the other protectors, against an army of vicious thugs. A friend will celebrate unthanksgiving on Alcatraz. I know other people who will be busy helping others, the homeless, or refugees. If your only fucking problem is having to refrain from noisily sighing whilst dining with family, shut up and stop defending the indefensible.

* Why yes, I do know that Trump voters were not %100 percent white. Don’t even think of using that as an excuse. Don’t. The majority voters were white, and they drove that vote.

PLEASE: Help Veterans Get to Standing Rock.

Police confront protesters with a rubber bullet gun during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. November 20, 2016. Stephanie Keith/REUTERS

Police confront protesters with a rubber bullet gun during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, near Cannon Ball, North Dakota, U.S. November 20, 2016. Stephanie Keith/REUTERS.

The cops out at Standing Rock have now managed to blow apart most of a young woman’s arm. That’s just the grisliest of the very high list of injuries. Naturally, cops are denying responsibility, which won’t surprise anyone at all. They are doing what all cops do – lie.

Our veterans want to help, and to do that, they need some help from all of you. If you can help, please, do so. If you are unable to donate, please spread the word. What is happening here is damn wrong. It’s fucking wrong, and everyone knows that, and still, there’s nothing but silence. Please help. Lila wopila.

https://www.gofundme.com/veterans-for-standing-rock-nodapl