Merry Christmas! You’re Fired.

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General Motors: GM announced Monday that it will lay off 1,300 workers at a Detroit plant. The workers make the Chevy Volt, in addition to the Chevy Impala and Buick LaCrosse.

Those job cuts are in addition to 2,000 other GM (GM) employees who will lose their jobs within a month.

Boeing: Layoffs are nothing new for Boeing in 2016 — the company has already fired thousands as demand for jumbo jets slumps. But Boeing (BA) told employees Monday it will continue to cut jobs at its commercial airplane unit in 2017, citing fierce competition with rival Airbus and a drop in new orders.

Airbus also told its labor unions in November that it was cutting around 1,200 jobs.

GoPro: The action camera company announced plans last month to lay off 200 workers. That comes after it laid off more than 100 employees in January.

Many of the latest job cuts come as GoPro (GPRO, Tech30) plans to shut down its entertainment unit. That group was responsible for featuring videos shot on GoPro’s action cameras.

Xerox: The company is splitting in two before the end of the year, and company President Jeff Jacobson says layoffs are coming — even though the point of the split was to stem the company’s sales slide.

He declined to say how many will be let go, but the 39,000 employees at Xerox’s (XRX) legacy copier business are most likely to be impacted.

Caterpillar: After laying off 10,000 employees last fall, Caterpillar (CAT) said last week that it will issue another round of pink slips.

The construction giant didn’t say how many jobs will be cut, but it said it will try to place as many as possible in new jobs at the company. A post-recession rebound has proved difficult for Caterpillar. Its forecast for the coming year is pretty dour.

The Limited: The clothing store told all 248 employees at its Ohio home office that their jobs are in jeopardy. Earlier this month, the company said on an earnings call that it is looking for cash to keep the company alive, and it might have to shutter stores.

Ho Ho Fucking Ho. And people think Trump is going to magically fix this? The man who handed Carrier millions upon millions so they can automate people out of their jobs? Dream on, as you fall into poverty.

More bad news here: Trump ignores Indiana factory relocating to Mexico.

Via CNN.

1,200 Scholars Agree.

A student protests against Donald Trump's proposals at Rutgers University on November 16. Albin Lohr-Jones/Sipa USA via AP.

A student protests against Donald Trump’s proposals at Rutgers University on November 16. Albin Lohr-Jones/Sipa USA via AP.

Concerned by the hateful rhetoric that has accompanied President-elect Donald Trump’s transition to the White House, a group of 1,200 historians and other scholars have put out a powerful statement urging Americans to stand guard against civil rights abuses.

“Looking back to history provides copious lessons on what is at stake when we allow hysteria and untruths to trample people’s rights,” the scholars wrote. “We know the consequences, and it is possible, with vigilance and a clear eye on history, to prevent tragedy before it is too late.”

You can read the statement in full at Mother Jones. I keep wondering what in the hell it’s going to take, to wake people up. How about Fashwave?

How about the never-ending incidents of hate?

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What is it going to take?

‘Man, you’re really a diverse-looking bunch of white people.’

"It's felt pretty Civil War-ish," says one comic of the changing atmosphere in clubs. Illustration by Ryan Casey.

“It’s felt pretty Civil War-ish,” says one comic of the changing atmosphere in clubs. Illustration by Ryan Casey.

The current political scene has long been fodder for comedians, and generally speaking, people have usually taken political humor with grace, even if it’s been at the expense of their personal views. Not anymore. The people who voted for Trump don’t seem to have much of a sense of humor, and their aggrieved entitlement has taken a toxic front seat at comedy venues, making comedians change everything. Rolling Stone has a good look at how the current political climate is changing the comedy scene.

But since the election, Mattern, Rodriguez and other comedians have observed that Trump backers are much more vocal in clubs – intimate settings where comics can become the hyper-focused target of frustrations, pride and insensitivity. And after getting ridiculed in clubs throughout the campaign season, Trump supporters are lashing out in victory.

“They dare you to be the opposition now,” Rodriguez says of some Trump-supporting audience members she’s encountered. “They’re emboldened; they yell out shit they know they’re not supposed to say.” Rodriguez recounts a recent set when she referred to the President-Elect as “the guy from The Apprentice” and was told by someone in the crowd to “get the fuck off the stage.” Lately, Mattern says, he’s perceived a dip in comedy club attendance on the part of minorities. “If there’s a diverse crowd I’ll say, ‘Look at how different you all look! This is great that you’re all together.’ And of late I’ve had to kind of tweak it to, ‘Man, you’re really a diverse-looking bunch of white people.'”

This is a really bad sign, of just how fast bigotry and oppression spread, along with the intolerance of fascism.

The full article is at Rolling Stone.

Oceti Sakowin Camp.

Photo by Tom Jefferson.

Photo by Tom Jefferson.

There are still people at the Oceti Sakowin camp, a considerably smaller number, around 2,000, who will stay until DA is gone. They are requesting that no one new come into camp right now, as weather conditions are very harsh. Those of us fighting the Black Snake still need help. You can signal boost, get involved in various actions, or donate, all is appreciated, deeply.

Have a look at the Oceti Sakowin Camp site, and see if there is a way to add your voice to the many.

The Dakota Access Pipeline may be on hold, but Water Protectors are still fighting for their freedom.

Perry the Prayer to Be Energy Secretary.

Rick Perry speaks to Fox News (screen grab).

Rick Perry speaks to Fox News (screen grab).

Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, whose style of governance was basically “hey, let’s pray!”, has been tapped by Trump to be Secretary of Energy.

CBS is reporting that President elect Donald Trump has chosen former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to be his energy secretary.

[…]

According to Major Garrett of CBS, two sources have confirmed Perry will be offered the spot  and will accept.

As CBS notes, Perry sits on the boards of two major energy companies, including Energy Transfer Partners which owns a subsidiary Dakota Access LLC, which is attempting to build the Dakota Access Pipeline.

It’s not enough to say all these rich assholes are living in one another’s pockets, they are living in each others rectums. It’s quite the racket Trump is setting up, making sure that all his investments don’t suffer by protecting his fellow investors, all of whom are climate change deniers, and pro-fossil fuels. (See here for the Exxon mess.)

People must get serious about fighting filthy energy, our lives are at stake. When we remove the earth’s ability to sustain us, we’ll die, and not pleasantly so. When we have poisoned all the water, we’ll die. And once again, water systems are not neatly contained puddles. Water flows, it meets other water, it’s an intricate and beautiful network, one which is vital to the health of our earth, and the life residing on it. Everywhere you look, more pipelines are being approved, against public sentiment and wishes. Trudeau, who styled himself a friend to the Indigenous nations of Canada, recently approved two major pipelines. Trump has vowed to okay Keystone XL, and while he won’t be pinned down on DAPL, he says “there will be a fast resolution”. As he’s heavily invested in ETP, I’m sure it doesn’t take much work to figure out which way he will go. The coal industry is also getting much more pushy, pinning their hopes on a Trump presidency. As usual, much of the pipelines and planned coal stations will be on Indigenous land, and treaties will be broken left and right, while colonialists happily destroy the ability of Indigenous people to sustain themselves, and make sure their land and water is always at risk of being poisoned beyond repair.

Does anyone think that the blatant disregard shown by Trump and his appointees won’t matter? Climate change is real, and we are already feeling the effects of it. Sea levels are rising. Water is routinely poisoned by gas and oil. Land which used to yield food is now rendered blasted and useless from fracking. Things will continue to get worse unless we change things right. fucking. now. Trump and his cronies have no interest in that at all. They plan to accelerate all the damage. When great swathes of the U.S. are no longer inhabitable for 3 to 6 months a year, what’s going to happen? Do you have enough money to purchase alternate residences, and the money cushion involved in moving back and forth? Are you going to get out your precious, beloved gun and start shooting people who don’t have resources? What do billionaires care about any of that? The entitlement brought on by having endless amounts of money and power allows them to think they will never, ever be victimized by such things, but planetary climate change doesn’t care about billionaires, and while it might get them last, it will get them.

The most recent pipeline leak here in nDakota, it was not detected by all that supposed early detection equipment, so no more of the same, tired bullshit about how safe pipelines are, and oh, they have detection equipment, because that crap does not work, and pipelines leak, end of story.

People in Arkansas and Oklahoma need help to stop a pipeline.

…More. Right. The orange man is on deck. Trump the troll. His minions. Pipeline lovers. Oil-addicted junkies. Wall builders and bigots. The illegal immigrants in this country are not brown. I’ve said this before. Many times. These gibbed geeks are the descendants of European invaders. But enough of that. Word is the oil-and-gas fat cats at Energy Transfer Partners are pissing and moaning into their whiskeys and ryes. Whiny brats. They said they’ll push on. President Andrew Jackson pushed on, too. The Trail of Tears happened anyway. “Justice Marshall made his decision, now let him enforce it.” Another whiny brat.

There’s little justice in this world, but on December 4, Native Americans got a taste. It’s always a fine feeling when good prevails over evil. And that’s what these pipelines are. Evil. Pure. Unadulterated. How could they not be? The oil oafs and their seedy oligarch asshat homies know pipelines leak. And they know people get sick when they do. Just ask the folks in the gulf who are still suffering from the massive BP oil spill. They agonize from chronic respiratory illnesses and skin diseases. THEY know what happens when pipelines leak and poison the water, sink into the soil. But these paunchy pipeline pricks turn a blind eye in the name of profit. They are gibbed vermin, and they deal in deception. …

Excerpt from Simon Moya-Smith, writing from the Oceti Sakowin Camp.

Standing Rock: No DAPL Roundup.

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© Marty Two Bulls.

Standing Rock: No DAPL Roundup.

Sacred Stone Media/YouTube Grassroots coalition against DAPL announces December as a month of action, focused on banks.

Sacred Stone Media/YouTube
Grassroots coalition against DAPL announces December as a month of action, focused on banks.

We, the below stated, are a coalition of grassroots groups living and working in the Dakota Access resistance camps along the Cannon Ball River in Oceti Sakowin treaty lands.

Sacred Stone Camp | Indigenous Environmental Network | International Indigenous Youth Council | Honor the Earth

The following is a coalition statement on the next steps for the #NoDAPL fight:

As we reflect on the decision by the U.S. Army (NOT the U.S. Army Corps) to suspend the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) river crossing easement and conduct a limited Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the resistance camps at Standing Rock are making plans for the next phase of this movement.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II has asked people to return home once the weather clears, and many will do so. Others will stay to hold the space, advance our reclamation of unceded territory affirmed in the 1851 Treaty of Ft. Laramie, and continue to build community around the protection of our sacred waters. They will also keep a close eye on the company, which has drilled right up to the last inch it can, and remains poised and ready to finish the project.

[…]

[Read more…]

Resistance: Mike Hot-Pence.

The resemblence between Mike Hot-Pence (Glen Pannell, left) and VP-elect Mike Pence (right) is uncanny. Just, one wears pants, the other doesn't.

The resemblance between Mike Hot-Pence (Glen Pannell, left) and VP-elect Mike Pence (right) is uncanny. Just, one wears pants, the other doesn’t.

Glen Pannell has found a great way to be a one-person resistance, his resemblance to Mike Pence being the key. What started as a bit of Halloween fun has morphed into doing good for people. Many cheers for Mike Hot-Pence!

You see all sorts of things in Times Square these days, Spidermen fighting Elmos, naked cowboys — and now pants-less vice president-elects.

There’s a new character in Times Square and he looks an awful lot like Mike Pence.

Glen Pannell wears a suit, tie, no pants — just short shorts — and goes by “Mike Hot-Pence,” raising money for Planned Parenthood, the environment, and soon, the Trevor Project for LGBT youth. He raised over $300 for Planned Parenthood and the Natural Resources Defense Council the first weekend in December.

Pannell kept hearing, “you look like Mike Pence! You should be him for Halloween,” so much that he did it. But the actor/director and designer thought that wasn’t creative enough, so Pannell stepped out as “Sexy Mike Pence” and hasn’t turned back.

The activist, who’s gay, said he wants to use his resemblance to Pence to champion causes Pence has opposed.

Pannell finds a “patch of sunlight” in Times Square and carries a repurposed whey protein bucket for donations, because “Mike Hot-Pence cares about the environment.”

Pannell designs the labels himself. When speaking to the News, he remembered he needed to make and print one for his upcoming charity, The Trevor Project. (Glen Pannell).

Pannell designs the labels himself. When speaking to the News, he remembered he needed to make and print one for his upcoming charity, The Trevor Project. (Glen Pannell).

“I am raising money for groups that would be especially vulnerable during a Trump/Pence administration,” he said. The donations, which Pannell screenshots and posts on his Twitter feed, are donated in the name of “Mike Hot-Pence.”

Pannell says he isn’t interested in being immature or disrespectful. Rather, he wants to use his resemblance to call attention to Pence’s record as a public servant.

“His policy over the last 16 years makes me very afraid for the next four years. I want to make it about the issues.”

And Glen is doing a great job, too. If you’re in NYC, and see Mike Hot-Pence, be resistance minded, and send some pennies his way.

Full story at NY Daily News.

No DAPL: Oren Lyons Speaks Out.

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Oren Lyons is a faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, Onondaga Council of Chiefs, Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy) and a longtime international indigenous rights and sovereignty activist.

Accompanying article at ICTMN.

Jesse McLain, Asshole Bigot.

“Us North Dakota people are going to f*ck you up!”

I’m a nDakotan, Mr. McLain, and I think people like yourself are in dire need of a brain upgrade, along with classes on how to use said brain. This asshole bigot was caught on video threatening protectors at the Ramada Inn in Bismarck. Mr. McLain was arrested. At least Bismarck cops are being actual cops, not oil thugs. Mr. McLain was busy informing people he’d not only fuck them up, but fuck their wives too, because nothing shows what kind of a tough dude you really are by threatening rape.

A 33-year-old man was arrested Wednesday and charged with terrorizing a man involved in the pipeline protests outside the Ramada Inn in Bismarck.

Jesse McLain, of Bismarck, was allegedly one of two masked men captured on video yelling expletives and threats, including “take your protestin’ … back home” and “us North Dakota people are going to … you up,” into a vehicle at the hotel at 1400 E. Interchange Ave. on Monday afternoon, according to a Bismarck Police affidavit filed in the case.

Based on descriptions given in the affidavit, McLain is the man wearing a skeleton mask on his face. No charges have yet been filed against the other masked man seen in the video.

[…]

Police identified McLain after connecting the license plate on his grey van to a local service company in town, where he is an employee and driver of the van, according to the affidavit.

McLain was released from jail on Thursday afternoon on $2,000 bond set by South Central District Judge Gail Hagerty, according to the Burleigh County jail.

Via BisTribune.

Honouring Viola Desmond.

A portrait of Viola Desmond, a businesswoman and civil rights advocate, circa 1940. (Communications Nova Scotia/Bank of Canada/Flickr) .

A portrait of Viola Desmond, a businesswoman and civil rights advocate, circa 1940. (Communications Nova Scotia/Bank of Canada/Flickr).

Canada is finally addressing the wrong done to Viola Desmond, a remarkable woman, who made a stand for civil and human rights, and was punished for doing so, then thoroughly whitewashed.

You can read all about Ms. Desmond here, and Canada’s move to repair those earlier, despicable actions.

Cool Stuff Friday: Solstice Heartwarmers.

We’ll start with Joy, a photo from Giliell, Weihnachtsfeier (Christmas Party). Such a wonderful moment, and shows what concern, care, and inclusion can mean to refugees, who are in serious need of all those things, from everyone. Many hugs to Giliell and all her colleagues, who make life better for people. Looking at this photo, I put on A Tribe Called Red and a host of wačipi music, and started dancing.

joy

© Giliell, all rights reserved.

Next up, we move to Poland, and this lovely, poignant ad, which addresses the fact that so very many families are now separated and very far away from one another:

There’s an article about it here.

From there, we go to London, where the owners of a restaurant decided no one should be alone on Christmas day, and they shouldn’t have to pay for a meal, either.

Restaurant manager Irsan Can Genc told CNN that the idea for the free Christmas meal came after a local elderly woman walked into the restaurant in early November asking whether anyone could help her close a window.

The staff obliged, and the woman mentioned afterward while thanking them that she would be alone for Christmas.

For Shish owner Serdar Kigili, the woman reminded him of his mother in Turkey, whom he had not seen in five years, according to the news network.

The staff began planning what they could do for people in similar situations.

“It’s not about religion, language or culture,” Genc told CNN. “It’s about community.”

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You can read the full story here.

And we end with the Lonely Night Christmas ad:

You can read about this one here.

Here’s hoping we all find the time to notice those around us, and reach out, not just in Solstice spirit, but in a newfound commitment to community.

Standing Rock: We Need To Go Home.

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We’re in the midst of a blizzard here in nDakota, and sub zero temps. Chairman Archambault has put out the call to go home.

Putting people at risk in that way is something the ancestral leaders would never have done, he said.

“I don’t want anyone to be living in an unsafe environment,” Archambault said. “We need to stay in prayer, believe in our prayer, and begin our journey home in prayer. I believe in my prayers and in the Creator. Take the lessons we learned here and apply them at home—unity, peace, prayer.”

The camps’ efforts to get the NoDAPL battle to this point have been essential, but “now it is time we pivot to the next phase of this struggle,” Archambault said. “That will be lead on different fronts like in court, with the new Administration, with Congress, and with the investors.”

He said the path is being laid down “to help the world understand that what we asked for, and what we got is the right decision. The world is watching us, and our behavior will determine the final outcome.”

Archambault suggested that each resident make a plan for closing and exiting the camp, leaving the land as it was when they got there, and to get home before the bitterest part of winter sets in.

“Pass this on—let everyone know that we are thankful for their passion and commitment and we are thankful for them all standing with us,” Archambault said. “It’s time now to enjoy this winter with your families. We need all to respect the host tribe’s wishes. We are asking all tribes to pass this on to their members.”

The winter, he added, has barely begun, and the current storm is tamer than what the worst of the season will bring. Temperatures drop even lower than they already have, and the shelters at the camps would be no match for blizzard conditions.

Acknowledging that people were socked in by the storm, Archambault said it was time to take the water protection battles beyond Indian country, to the rest of the U.S. and the world.

“I understand that folks cannot go at this moment, but as soon as this current storm has passed, we must execute an exit strategy and continue our battles to protect water,” Archambault said. “These efforts are not only needed in Standing Rock, but they are needed throughout Indian Country, across America and internationally. I want you to know that Standing Rock stands with you as you return home to carry this energy and movement into the future.”

That’s just a small bit from the full article, which is at ICTMN. People are unable to leave right now, roads are closed everywhere (we’re snowed in too), but this blizzard will pass eventually, then it will be time for people to make their way to safety.

There’s a good rundown of the current ETP financial woes, and the takeover by Sunoco here.

“We’ve hurt you in so many ways. We’ve come to say we’re sorry.”