Monday, December 05, 2016

Stand with Veterans Standing with Standing Rock

Monday, December 5 at 12:00 PM - 12:02 PM MST (2:00 PM EST, 1:00 PM CST and 11:00 AM PST)

On Monday, December 5th, join thousands of veterans who have travelled from across the country to the North Dakota’s Standing Rock Reservation in taking their stand with the Water Protectors who have been peacefully protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.

You don't have to come to Standing Rock to show your support.

Veterans Stand For Standing Rock call on all of you, our brother's and sisters to stand with us. Stand in your homes. Stand in your offices. Your schools, stores and sidewalks in communities and towns across this country, across this globe.

Stand with us in silence and stand with us strong; arm in arm as we peacefully say, no more.

39 comments:

  1. I left messages on the thread two before this one. GREAT thread, that! [It's the one with the "No, Dr. Dean" article, etc..]

    "in the end, Trump didn’t win – the Democrats lost, and they lost because they became the Party of the Oligarchy, not the Party of the people."

    Bernie was spot on. If the Dems had nominated Bernie, it would have been a landslide. If Bill Clinton had screwed around in the Oval Office, we would have had Gore instead of W. They aren't going to learn. We need a third (and fourth...) party.

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  2. Nice news from the Army Corps of Engineers; presumably they have some bureaucratic explanation that protects them from charges of political activism, but it’s the result that counts.

    “The[e Democratic Party] abandoned us; we have no further obligation to be loyal to them. I mean, there comes a point when you have to leave an abusive spouse, after all.” —Cat

    “But it’s going to be different this time, honey! I promise!”
    Yeah, sure. —Alan

    “contract says that if oil isn't moving through the pipeline by 1/1 the contract is null and void.” —Susan

    Oh, nice! I had overlooked that!

    Re Moscovium—I instantly thought of the Muscovy duck (domesticated by Native Americans, and evidently named after the traders who brought it to Europe, who also traded with Muscovy). Then I thought of Mallardium… but you know my mind is healthily abnormal…

    I am/will be peripherally involved with the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland. Bad, very bad. Number of bodies/sets of remains 36 as of this morning, with less than half the site excavated.

    —Alan

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    1. What terrible work, Alan!
      Thank you. *hug*

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    2. Alan, I know you can't "discuss" it, but do let us know how you are as you deal with it. There are similar places here in Burlington's south end, which hosts Art Hop each September. I've been through several of the buildings and they're clean and relatively in good repair, but they're immense and convoluted and I thought several times as we made our way through that it didn't feel safe to have so long a space between exits. I am mindful that in addition to losing lives and residences, any of the artists will have lost their lifework. It's devastating on so many levels. Take care of yourself, please. ♥

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  3. I got back from SMOFcon yesterday evening. Yesterday's snow set an all-time record for heaviest first-in-the season storm. Luckily, all I had to do was drag my suitcase a few blocks through the snow to the EL. Many people from out of town had their flights delayed or cancelled.

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    1. Glad you're home safe and sound, Bill! Did you enjoy the con?

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    2. Yes, I did. And the chance to see friends from around the country (I may have been personally acquainted with a quarter of the 167 attendees) was only part of it.
      A particular high point was the Friday workshop on Facilities Access. Groups walked through different hotels in the area accompanied by a sales manager who explained their accommodations for people with disabilities. And Bobbi Armbruster, our group leader, asked the very pointed questions that any group considering using the hotel should ask. We were at the Embassy Suite Rosement, which turned out to be generally excellent with just a few spots that were technically ADA-compliant but not really usable by people in mobility scooters.
      At other panels I learned a lot about things like Worldcon history and the problems that people at upper levels of con management face. Plus, I was myself on a panel about how the list of special needs that we need to accommodate is constantly expanding.

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    3. That sounds highly worthwhile, Bill. I'm glad it's something you enjoy so much. Good to have you back.

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  4. Catching up on blog. Comment from one who was politically aware at the time about how US-Cuba relations went so sour: When Castro took over, he immediately started what almost amounted to mass executions of Batista supporters. This did not sit well in the US, especially with those of us who do not think the death penalty is a wonderful thing. So Eisenhower told him, "Stop it!" in words not much more diplomatic than that. The expectation seemed to be that of course any Cuban president would take orders from the US president. Castro responded in high dudgeon that this was a matter of Cuban national sovereignty, and Eisenhower responded in even greater dudgeon and started talking economic sanctions. That was when Castro turned to Russia for economic and political support and declared himself a Communist. (He said he had always been a Communist, but I never believed him.)

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    1. To put in broader context: Batista was not "our" dictator in the sense of being someone we felt any need to actively support. Just someone we saw no need to actively oppose. Until this essentially personal falling out between Eisenhower and Castro the assumption had been that Castro would be the same.

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    2. I see. Thanks, Bill, for explaining.

      Well, I don't approve of the death penalty either, but it was in fact Cuba's internal affair and none of our business. So, basically, it's because of Eisenhower's high handed interference that Castro aligned himself with the Soviet Union and made Cuba communist. That's interesting - not something the Republicans like to mention.

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  5. Energy Transfer Partners says it will continue to build the pipeline and it doesn't care what the Army Corp of Engineers says. The fine is $50,000 per DAY and they say they will pay it rather than stop construction. I think it's about time for the militarized police to turn around and face the REAL enemy.

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    1. If what I keep reading is true, the Morton Co. police pretty much belong to and work for ETP.

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    2. Susan, you nearly quoted Mah*Sweetie. He feels that President Obama should send in the National Guard.

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  6. Misc. responses while on coffee break.

    Cat--my end of the work is not so bad; I never see the bodies, just the samples that are sent to the lab for drug/alcohol testing and a few other things. Granted that it is not a good line of work for one whose gentler senses are readily offended. But we can do some good.

    Castro in later years regretted the public trials, but the public hatred for Batista and his cronies was almost incomprehensible. People wanted them to pay; people wanted blood.
    I remember that the new government offered to purchase nationalized corporate properties (like the Standard Oil refinery) for their declared book value, and the US companies refused the offer. They had been paying off Batista in exchange for unreasonably low assessments on their properties. The agricultural land redistribution in post-revolutionary Cuba was far more generous to the property owners (including Catro's parents, I might point out) than what the US imposed on Japan after WWII; and the US pushed similar programs in their Latin American client states in later years.

    Re the Morton County deputies, that sounds kind of familiar:

    "They say in Harlan County,
    There are no neutrals there;
    You'll either be a union man,
    Or a thug for J. H. Blair.

    Oh, which side are you on, boys,
    Which side are you on?"

    J. H. Blair was the Harlan County Sheriff.

    Well, coffee break is over.--Alan

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  7. Via Guardian online:

    Note: Have a barf bag readily to hand.

    Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)

    If the press would cover me accurately & honorably, I would have far less reason to "tweet." Sadly, I don't know if that will ever happen!

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    1. What really spooks me is that he is so reactive and doesn't have a wit to give for diplomacy. So not only is he insulting world leaders before he even takes the oath, destabilizing relationships, they are so much smarter than he is and could so easily manipulate him (and, therefore, us).

      The Oaf of Office

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  8. Via Guardian online:

    Mr Green meets Mr Bling

    He once wrote off climate change as a Chinese hoax – but Donald Trump today invited Al “Inconvenient Truth” Gore for a meeting that included Ivanka Trump. “Extremely interesting,” Gore said afterward.

    I had a lengthy and very productive session with the president-elect. It was a sincere search for areas of common ground ... I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I’m just going to leave it at that.

    – Al Gore

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    1. What the hell does Ivanka have to do with it? Is trump making her his co-president?

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    2. The whole family is going to have a hand in running the country. And they are also going to run his businesses. No conflict of interest, though, so don't worry, be happy.

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  9. http://bients.com/group-veterans-just-incredibly-moving-thing-standing-rock/

    Veterans ask Native Americans forgiveness for atrocities committed against them by the U.S. government.

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    1. They're good guys. From what I've seen, they're very into peace and nonviolence and love.

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    2. Thanks for the link, Susan.

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  10. For those without FB access:

    For Immediate Release
    Veterans Stand for Standing Rock·Monday, December 5, 2016
    Senator Barbara Boxer calls Phyllis Young and Veterans Stand For Standing Rock comment on the historic decision to deny The Dakota Access Pipeline permit
    On Monday, December 5th, Veterans Stand for Standing Rock address the historic decision to deny the Dakota Access Pipeline and Senator Barbara Boxer calls Phyllis Young after introducing the ‘Protect Our Waters Act 2016’
    (Dec, 5th) – On Monday Dec 5th, Senator Barbara Boxer called the Prairie Knights Casino to talk to Phyllis Young and a room of veterans about the ‘Protect Our Waters Act of 2016’ legislation she introduced today, which states:
    “To ensure that the ‘Secretary of the Army’ obtained consent from certain entities before granting certain permits, easements, or rights of way. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America and congress assembled,
    Written consent requirement: the secretary if the army should not grant a permit, easement, or other right of way, for purposes of a pipeline.
    For the transportation of oil, natural gas, synthetic liquid or gaseous fuels or any refined product produced from those materials on land associated with a civil works project of the Corp of Engineers or an associated flowage easement, if the construction or operation of the pipeline has the potential to temporarily or permanently impair the beneficial uses of the surface water or ground water used by the non-Federal agency or the Indian tribe described in paragraph 1 and 2 unless the secretary receives written consent from:
    (1) Any non-Federal agency that runs an affected water system; and (2) a Federally recognized Indian tribe that uses an affected water system.
    Earlier this afternoon Wes Clark Jr. discussed the Army Corp of Engineers’ historic decision to deny Energy Transfer Partnership’s permit to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline.
    “I hope it’s over. I hope we can find good jobs for the people who were affected by the halting of the pipeline,” said Clark today from the Prairie Knights Casino on Standing Rock. “I hope we can heal the racial animosity between the non-Native and Native American communities while understanding we are all god’s children.”
    “Our presence will continue- we will stand in solidarity here. This place is the cure for PTSD and fear and hatred. So we are here to heal both personally and spiritually. We will never have a building that is a headquarters, we will never pay a salary, but this is really the beginning. We will continue to stand with the people of Standing Rock and other American indigenous communities ‘until we can all be one people.’”

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  11. I am told by someone who knows about such things, that Prohibition was repealed on this date - an act for which I suspect we will all be profoundly grateful come the new year.

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  12. Replies
    1. Thanks, Alan. Will have to read it again tomorrow, but it's pretty mind blowing stuff!

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  13. I keep hearing things like "the Dems have turned their back on us." But there is no "them" and "us" -- the Democratic Party is everybody who votes for Democratic candidates. You'll recall that back in March I spent several hours knocking on doors for Bernie, and I found a lot of people who thought highly of Hillary and her experience -- in effect, of her Establishment connections. It's hard to say whether the DNC's inappropriate favoritism had anything to do with that, but my sense is, not much with the people I talked to.
    Of course, the results showed that they didn't realize that much of the country was very tired of the Establishment. It's possible that they realize that now. But the point is that the Democratic Party is as much us as those people. The job in front of us is to persuade those people that the Establishment's time is past and we need a new direction. Bernie articulated that direction magnificently. Others will in the future. Our job is to get those people elected. Turning our backs on the Democratic Party and its candidates, regardless of where they stand, is to give up the fight.

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    1. Incidentally, I haven't heard anything about who is going to be heading the DSCC and teh DCCC. That's much more important than who is going to be Minority Leader.

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    2. I respectfully disagree, Bill. I am NOT part of the Democratic Party just because I voted for Peter Welch (D-VT). I am an Independent because I am disgusted by what the DNC and the upper echelon Dem cronies do, election after election. I'm so very tired of party politics. I wish we could just let people run and let people vote and quit all the ganging up and persuasion. I keeps me one step beyond the periphery.

      If I'm not mistaken, Howard Dean has withdrawn his name from the running for DNC Chair.

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    3. While my view is that we need to, and can, replace the upper echelon. But only if we try.

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