legality & the law in action 2/11/2017 0 Comments   some 'laws' in this country are just plain evil... by E.L. Christianson Jr. A primary element that has separated the United States of America from virtually every other nation in history is the concept of it being “a nation of laws, not a nation of men.” “A nation of laws” means that laws, not people, rule. Everyone is to be governed by the same laws, regardless of their station; whether it is the most common American or Members of Congress, high-ranking bureaucrats or the President of the United States; all must be held to the just laws of America. No one is, or can be allowed to be, above the law. We are a country of laws.  However, the men who wrote the law had their own best interests in mind when writing those laws.  The wealthy elite from our country's history, those names you would know from history books, created a legal system that worked to their advantage and against everyone they excluded from the benefits of the law.   From a practical point of view, our laws are too many and too technical to serve the people of this country.  The laws are abusive and were created either to offer benefit to one group of citizens or to penalize another group.  Most laws in this country have nothing to do with the concept of justice.  Ultimately, the laws are interpreted and selective enforced by a political system completely alien to justice.  To make the statement, "it's the law" is absolutely meaningless.  It only refers to what is written in the books and nothing more.  "Fairness", something much more easily understood by the citizenry, has no relationship to 'the law'...   ​Case in Point:  Seems the Trumpster Fire isn't going to deport those millions of "rapists," "gang members," "violent criminals," and "drug dealers" he's always incoherently ranting about. Instead, his first victim is Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, a 36-year-old Phoenix mother of two teenagers and American citizens who has lived peaceably in Arizona for 22 years. She was brought here from Mexico at 14, got caught working at a water park using a fake social security number during a 2008 raid by famed freedom lover, racial profiler and then-sheriff Joe Arpaio, has since regularly checked in every six months as required with Immigration and Customs officials, did so yesterday after praying at church, but was suddenly detained last night under Trump's deranged new rules. ​As her crying children and scores of protesters chanted "This Is Wrong" and "Set Her Free!", Garcia de Rayos was locked in a van, driven away, and detained. Today, officials said she had already been deported to Nogales, Mexico. Feel safer yet? The people of this country recognize and honor 'fairness'.  This is why Chelsea Manning has been so inspirational. The transgender leader and military whistleblower has provided a view of our own cruel and brutal relations with the world.  She gave 700,000 classified U.S. State and Defense Department documents to WikiLeaks including a video showing a U.S. military helicopter attack in Baghdad that killed two journalists and several Iraqi civilians.  And then she was imprisoned for telling the truth. During her incarceration, Manning was subject to solitary confinement and repeatedly denied basic healthcare.  We all knew that her treatment was 'unfair', and we are all glad for her release. Maybe, in spite of other circumstances, the laws relating to impeachment will be kinder to the American citizen. Two new polls reflect poorly on President Donald Trump's brief tenure in the Oval Office, with one showing his administration is tarnishing Americans' view of U.S. popularity around the world, and another finding voters are already evenly divided on the issue of impeaching the president. The Gallup poll released Friday finds Americans believe the world at-large sees the U.S. more unfavorably (57 percent) than favorably (42 percent)—the worst assessment of the country's image in almost 10 years. "The 42 percent favorable rating is one of the lowest since Gallup began asking this question in 2000 and may be attributable to the election of Trump, whose sometimes controversial statements and actions have rankled several world leaders," the polling outfit wrote. We are finally waking up to reality about our very hurtful 'drug laws'.  ​Marijuana is now legal for recreational or medicinal use in more than half the country.  At the same time, we have the largest prison population in the world due to our 'enforcement' of our 'laws'.  The history of those 'drug laws' demonstrates the total lack of 'fairness' in our legal process. in the United States, the 'law' works for some... Of course, in the United States, citizens have absolutely no voice regarding the law or fairness.  It is the supreme court who has jurisdiction in these areas.  And, while on occasion, one might agree with a supreme court decision, the overall thrust is negative for the average citizen.  For example, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer has spoken against mandatory minimum sentences, and yet our prisons are full of helpless victims of the law. In one way or another, we are all victims of legislators 'laws' and Supreme Court interpretations.  Here are a few of the most egregious Supreme Court Rulings... you may want to look these up in order to truly understand how our system of 'laws' actually works. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1856) Pace v. Alabama (1883) The Civil Rights Cases (1883) Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Cumming v. Richmond (1899) Ozawa v. United States (1922) United States v. Thind (1923) Lum v. Rice (1927) Hirabayashi v. United States (1943) Korematsu v. United States (1944) When one reads the background of these cases, one is forced to wonder if it is even possible for justice and fairness to have a place at the table in this great country... the answer is 'no' and that's the truth !!!

the real truth ???

2/10/2017

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by E.L. Christianson Jr.

It makes perfectly good sense.  If one wants to control the population, one needs to control the information received by that population.  As 'great leaders' are aware, the truth is what we say it is.  Facts are as we share them with the world.  The 'truth' is defined by facts as presented by us.

We do actually know the truth.  Saddam’s cache of 'weapons of mass destruction' did not exist.  Those in official Washington simply insisted these weapons did exist.  This 2015 poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University shows that tons of people still believe it, even today.
​
"Overall, 42 percent of Americans believe that U.S. forces found active weapons of mass destruction program in Iraq. Republicans are more likely to hold this belief than Democrats: Fifty-one percent of Republicans think it’s “probably” or “definitely” true that an active program was found after the 2003 invasion, with 14 percent saying that it was definitely true. Still, large portions of other groups think that the WMD program, a major part of the justification for the invasion, was actually found, including 32 percent of Democrats."

"... war propaganda is hardly unprecedented and America has deployed it as often as any country. From the Hearst yellow journalism that ginned up support for the Spanish-American War to the Gulf of Tonkin incident in Vietnam, the United States government used such tactics to gain public support for wars overseas."

"labeling anything they disagree with, including the fact-check sites like Snopes or Factcheck.org, as “fake news.” Millions of people have been conditioned to believe their claims for years, which means polarization is only likely to get worse. If Americans can’t even agree which facts are real, it’s hard to see how we’re going to be able to govern ourselves."

America's Corporate press humiliated in world ranking as it drops to number 49 in terms of 'free press' status...

War on Truth "A Funeral Pyre for Science"

from The World Can't Wait
​
The Trump cabal of religious extremists, privatization advocates and racists, as described by Jeremy Scahill, suppresses the science that doesn't fit its agenda, "and that should terrify you," reports Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Hiltzik. "Nearly every day brings a new report of a federal agency told to shut down communications with the public or even members of Congress; tweets about important topics such as climate change removed from the public record; bans on talking to the press."

"Among the first agencies reported to face an information lockdown were the departments of Agriculture and the Interior," continues Hiltzik. "Scientists and other staffers at USDA's Agricultural Research Service, its main scientific arm, were told Monday to stop releasing 'any public-facing documents', including 'news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds, and social media content ... until further notice', according to an internal email published by BuzzFeed. Following a public uproar, the ban was rescinded a day later."

Donald Trump started with climate change denial, and proceeded, rapidly, to fetter directives of the Environmental Protection Agency. "We're living in a new era, where an unverified report about possible, unsubstantiated rumors of alleged, unconfirmed evidence hacked from an undisclosed source competes on an equal footing with real information," notes Dr. Brian Moench, President of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and a member of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "Trump's strategy is clearly an attempt to delegitimize any source of information that has the temerity to challenge or tarnish him."  In keeping with its overall fascist direction and agenda, the new regime is attacking the foundation of the public's ability to engage in critical thinking: a scientific, evidence-based approach to reality. 

The Trump regime's actions to shut down communications by dozens of federal agencies has not gone unopposed. A number of so-called rogue twitter accounts have sprung up to communicate information directly to the public. While all of them can't be verified, an interview has been published with the people behind @ActualEPAFacts, who explained why they took this unprecedented, and potentially career-killing, step: 

We all work on climate change research and grant administration. Knowing that our department is not valued by the person who may be leading the agency worries us. Our jobs are at stake. We wanted to be sure that science, real science, continues to have a voice. When the information was deleted from the Badlands NPS site it felt very Orwellian. 

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears," wrote George Orwell in 1949. "It was their final, most essential command."

The 'Truth' and/or 'Anti-American' ???

2/9/2017

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by E.L. Christianson Jr.

Trump is constantly called a 'liar' by those wanting to make him look bad, for whatever reason.  Then, when he says something that is obviously true, the opposition cannot use the word 'liar' and so they attempt to separate the truth from the truth.  There is this truth which is ours, and then there is this 'other' truth which is not ours.  

'Our' truth is that Vladimir Putin is the most evil human being ever to occupy space on planet Earth.  And, we know it to be true and therefore it requires no proof.  We just have to say it and there it is... Putin is the most evil person in all of history.  "He's a killer."  Bill O'Reilly had the courage to say it out loud.

And then, the real truth appeared.  Trump, speaking honestly, simply put the truth right out there in plain sight for anyone and everyone to see, he said,  “We have a lot of killers.  Well, you think our country is so innocent?” Skipping Clinton and Bush, going to the most recent, ​there is no doubt that US President Barak Obama is a war criminal as are his military and intelligence officials and most of the House and Senate. Obama is the first president to keep the US at war for the entirety of his eight-year regime. During 2016 alone the US dropped 26,171 bombs on wedding parties, funerals, kid’s soccer games, hospitals, schools, people in their homes and walking their streets, and farmers tilling their fields in seven countries: Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. What does the administration have to show for eight years of illegal military interventions in seven countries, none of which comprised a danger to the US and against none of which the US has declared war? Terrorism was created by US invasions, no wars have been won, and the Middle East has been consumed in chaos and destruction. Worldwide hatred of the United States has risen to a record high. The US is now the most despised country on earth. The only purposes of these crimes is to enrich the armaments industry and to advance the insane neoconservative ideology of US world hegemony. A tiny handful of despicable people have been able to destroy the reputation of the United States and murder millions of peoples, sending waves of war refugees to the US and Europe. And we want to argue about who is the killer. ​Vladimir Putin’s approval rating is at record levels, with nine out of 10 Russians saying they have a positive view of their president. Putin had an approval of 87% in July, and an all-time high of 89% in June, according to Levada Centre polling. Following a drop in popularity in 2012 and 2013, when Putin’s approval ratings dropped into the 60s, the Russian president’s popularity picked up again last year on the back of events in Ukraine. Putin has continued to keep the death penalty on hold in Russia.  "Experts do not believe tougher punishment leads to the eradication of crime or the lowering of crime rates," he said. There's no evidence of Putin as a blood-thirsty 'Stalin' type of dictator, as much as we want to pretend otherwise. we really want to believe... especially since we already know that it is true...

The LA Times argues from the 'Anti-American' perspective:  "retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey was unsparing in his condemnation of Trump’s comments." “One can argue that’s the most anti-American statement ever made by the president of the United States,” McCaffrey said. “To confuse American values with Putin, who’s running a criminal oligarchy, who kills people abroad and at home, who imprisons journalists, and takes away business property, who shares it with his former KGB agents, who invades and seizes Crimea and eastern Ukraine — this is an astonishing state of affairs. It’s hard to know what to think about it.” ​ --"Actually, it is not so hard. Besides being a bully who admires bullies, Trump is an ignorant man who lacks the intellectual capacity to comprehend that his loose words, shallow thoughts and brash actions can do serious damage to the country’s image and undercut American influence in the world." The chart above shows the popularity of the various leaders in the G7... Clearly, Putin is more popular at home than leaders of the industrialized west, by a wide margin. Trump is not all that well loved by the home crowd either.  Trump’s favorable rating is just 40 percent, with 54 percent having an unfavorable opinion. That, according to The Washington Post, makes Trump the least-popular incoming president of the past 40 years So, Trump, the accused liar says something that is demonstrably true and is condemned for telling the truth.  He said something that everyone on the planet knows to be true and is therefore declared guilty of be 'unpatriotic'.   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said,  "He's a thug... We don't operate in any way the way the Russians do. I think there's a clear distinction here that all Americans understand, and I would not have characterized it that way."

Mitch is right in one respect, we Americans do understand.  We've been conned for far too long.  In spite of having low ratings, Trump correctly identified that we have been conned and he promised to fix things.

​Trump knows that when Americans are bombing ​wedding parties, funerals, soccer games, hospitals, schools, people in their homes and walking their streets, kid's activities, and farmers tilling their fields, he knows that when Americans are causing all of these deaths in seven countries, he knows that we have some killers too, lots of killers.  And, from the president of the United States, that's the truth !!!

we really want to believe... especially since we already know that it is true...

Has The American Establishment Opted for Thermo-Nuclear War?

Normal relations with Russia do not seem to be in the cards. The demonization and lies will continue. The New Cold War is too important to the ruling establishment, and to the members of the House and Senate who are dependent on military/security campaign donations, for Trump to be allowed to normalize relations with Russia.

by Paul Craig Roberts

If you want to be an American TV talking head or a Western presstitute, you are required to be braindead and integrity-challenged like Bill O'Reilly, CNN, MSNBC, and the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and all the rest.

In an interview with President Donald Trump, O'Reilly said: "Putin is a killer."

O'Reilly is indifferent to the fact that thermo-nuclear war is a killer of planet Earth. For O'Reilly, President Trump's desire to normalize relations with Russia is an indication that the President of the US is comfortable making deals with killers, as if America's last three presidents have not been mass killers comfortable with their destruction in whole or part of many countries and millions of peoples.

President Trump's response to O'Reilly's was: "We've got a lot of killers. What do you think -- our country's so innocent?"

The only thing wrong with President Trump's response is that it implicitly accepts that Putin is no different from Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. Yet there is no evidence that Putin is a "killer." This accusation is an assertion from those who prosper from having a "Russian threat" to keep the money and power flowing to themselves.

As Finian Cunningham shows, Trump should have reprimanded O'Reilly for his unsupported and undiplomatic accusation against the president of a country with which President Trump hopes to restore normal relations.

President Trump's statement of an obvious fact was quickly branded "defense of a killer" by congressional Republicans, Hillary Democrats, the liberal, progressive, left-wing, and the Western presstitutes.

Even online sites, such as politico.com, jumped in to criticize "Donald Trump's defense of Vladimir Putin's homicidal history." Allegations of "Putin's homicidal history" are astonishing after 24 years of Washington's genocide against Muslins in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, and Syria, and non-Muslims in Yugoslavia and the Russian regions of Ukraine. Washington ranks as one of the worst mass murderers in human history, but the Western presstitutes brand Putin as the one who is homicidal.

Listen to these members of Congress who represent Americans in Washington:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R, Ky) said referring to the thrice elected President of Russia: "He's a thug." McConnell has gone along with Washington's mass murder of peoples for 15 years, and this accomplice to mass murder said that Washington's murder of countless millions, which have sent refugees all over the Western world, are not evidence against America. In his response to Trump's statement, McConnell actually said: "We don't operate in any way the way the Russians do. I think there's a clear distinction here that all Americans understand, and I would not have characterized it that way."

The Republican senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, said: "We are not the same as Putin." Of course we aren't. We are mass murderers.

The Republican senator from Nebraska, Ben Sasse, said, and this is a level of ignorance hard to believe even for Americans, that "Putin is an enemy of political dissent. The U.S. celebrates political dissent and the right for people to argue free from violence about places or ideas that are in conflict [as at Cal Berkeley]. There is no moral equivalency between the United States of America, the greatest freedom loving nation in the history of the world, and the murderous thugs that are in Putin's defense of his cronyism."

The Wall Street Journal's Bret Stephens said: "Trump puts US on moral par with Putin's Russia. Never in history has a President slandered his country like this."

No Bret, you have it backwards. No US president has ever slandered Russia like this. There is no moral equivalency between Washington and Moscow. Washington is totally devoid of all morality. Russia is not. It is not Russia that has murdered, maimed, and displaced peoples in at least nine countries in the last 15 years, sending refugees all over the Western world, some of whom no doubt bear legitimate grudges.

Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, rushed to tell NBC that Trump didn't mean that Washington is not morally superior to Putin's Russia. Of course the US is morally superior to everyone. The millions of peoples we kill and dislocate are proof of our unquestioned moral superiority. Every time we bomb a wedding, a funeral of the wedding guests, a children's soccer game, innumerable hospitals and medical centers, schools, farms, public transportation, we exceptional and indispensable Americans are demonstrating our moral superiority over the Earth. Only the morally superior can commit vast crimes against humanity without being held accountable.

Normal relations with Russia do not seem to be in the cards. The demonization and lies will continue. The New Cold War is too important to the ruling establishment, and to the members of the House and Senate who are dependent on military/security campaign donations, for Trump to be allowed to normalize relations with Russia.

Everything that Reagan and Gorbachev achieved has been undone. The material interest of a few has again placed humanity at risk.
​
"The greatest freedom loving nation in the history of the world" can't even have a debate about it, because a debate is Putin apologetics and moral equivalency.

Dr. Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury for Economic Policy in the Reagan Administration. He was associate editor and columnist with the Wall Street Journal, columnist for Business Week and the Scripps Howard News Service. He is a contributing editor to Gerald Celente's Trends Journal. He has had numerous university appointments. His books, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West is available here, and How America Was Lost, can be ordered here. His latest book, The Neoconservative Threat To International Order: Washington's Perilous War For Hegemony, can be ordered here.

proof is everywhere and everyone is a victim of the evil Putin... And, the USA is innocent all the way through

a new wave of war frenzy

2/7/2017

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by E.L. Christianson Jr.

It is like we have lost our minds.  We must want war.  We are willing to take any stupid excuse as the 'reason' for our starting a war.  As if 'reason' had anything to do with our decision making process.  We simply want war.

We are living in this peacefully in this prosperous country where we claim the economy is improving and we are able to watch our children and grand-children grow into adults.  But, that is not enough for us to be content.  We need to flex our military muscle.  We need to be out there in the world destroying countries and disrupting peoples lives if not just outright killing them all - depending on which set of generals is leading the slaughter.

And, what's all of that talk about Trump wanting to have peaceful relations with Russia?

And, as we are all well aware, the truth has no value in a system dedicated to war and more war.

But, it is important to keep the truth in mind as we think about starting a war.  Recently, in the on-going war between ​the United States and Iran, a few years back, we overthrew Iran’s democracy in 1953 and installed our candidate for dictator.

After that, the United States sided with Iraq during the 1980s and attacked Iran.  To help Iraq in our war against Iran, we provided Iraq with weapons, including the chemical weapons that later became our excuse for attacking Iraq.

We have​ built up military forces and bases all around Iran’s borders.  And we have attempted to cripple Iran with our cruelly intended economic sanctions.

Through the last few presidential administrations, the United States has labeled Iran an evil nation.  We refer to Iran’s military as a terrorist organization.  And we falsely accuse Iran of various crimes including the 9-11 attacks in the United States.

More recently, to get things started in a really serious way, Trump's national security advisor Michael Flynn stated that the United States is "officially putting Iran on notice" that we are coming after you... you're next.   

As proof that Iran is abusing the United States and therefore needs to be 'put on notice', the Trump administration confused a Saudi naval vessel with an American naval vessel and they farther confused the facts claiming that Yemeni Houthi rebels were in reality Iranian military forces.  With all of the confusion, it is easy to claim that Iran took hostile action against the United States when the Saudi navy was attacked by the Yemeni navy in the red sea.   It was not any Iranian attack on an American vessel but close enough  to provide an excuse for war.  Even a weak excuse is better than no excuse at all.

Holding up more 'proof' of Iranian aggression, Flynn describes the abduction of ten of our sailors and two patrol boats in January 2016.  But, as with the other 'proof', the facts point in the opposite direction.  In this particular situation, it was the United States whose sailors went into Iranian territory and were captured only to be released.  Not a very good case for proving Iran's hostile and lawless behavior that needs punishment.

Iran last Sunday test-fired a medium-range missile, which the White House contends violated a UN Security Council resolution proscribing missiles that could carry a nuclear device.

The missile test was not in violation of any agreement, regardless the United States wants to ​punish Iran for their  ballistic missile test and is using it to mark the end of an era in which the United States was too tolerant of Iran’s bad behavior.

"Iran is playing with fire - they don't appreciate how 'kind' President Obama was to them. Not me!", Trump said.

US Defense Secretary James Mattis claimed Iran to be "the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world," saying that Iran's "misconduct and misbehavior" must be addressed.

Iranian "misbehavior," is difficult to locate.  Iran has adhered to the terms of the nuclear agreement,  every provision of the deal, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which conducts regular inspections of the nuclear facilities.  When small violations have been found, the Iranians have very quickly fixed those issues.

We just have to say it enough times to make it true... and so again, ​the White House said it would “no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations that threaten our interests,”

​“The international community has been too tolerant of Iran’s bad behavior,” said Michael T. Flynn, the president’s national security adviser. “The ritual of convening a United Nations Security Council in an emergency meeting and issuing a strong statement is not enough. The Trump administration will no longer tolerate Iran’s provocations that threaten our interests.”

Presumably, we will no longer be wasting time convening the United Nations Security Council, we will just go on over there and bomb them ourselves.

Is there any hope that we can snap to our senses?  Can the truth have any effect on us?  Former presidential candidate, Ron Paul seems to have a better perspective on the subject of Iran.

“We have learned and been conditioned to distrust and hate the Persians, and that they’re gonna kill us.   But there’s no history to show that Iran are aggressive people. When’s the last time they invaded a country?  Over 200 years ago!”

Wow!  That would have been during the presidency of John Adams, the second president of the United States.  That's a long time ago.

Check history for yourself.  What has the United States been doing and how many countries have we invaded and why?  We are desperately in need of a re-examination of our values and our love of war as foreign policy.  We need to wake up to reality while we still can.  We should start our conversations about Iran by acknowledging that they have the world's 4th largest reserves of oil and we want it for ourselves, and that's the truth !!!

Members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps during a military parade in 2014. The corps is one of 25 individuals and entities the United States has designated for sanctions. Credit Abedin Taherkenareh/European Pressphoto Agency

there is a lot of really big money standing at Standing Rock

2/5/2017

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(image by ExposingFraudsWannabeesinIndianCountry) 

by E.L. Christianson Jr.

Did anyone actually think that the pipeline was stopped?  Clearly, the 'powers that be' want to build the pipeline and we can't believe that it is over just  because of a temporary halt to construction.  It was just a fake move to deceive people - get them to relax a bit before slapping the truth on them full force.  And the truth is that they intend to build that pipeline and move all of that oil profit into their bank accounts.

It was a good try, all of those brave citizens, mostly Native Americans being shot in the face with rubber bullets, being pepper sprayed, being beaten and finally being arrested because of their lawful engagement in peaceful prayer and protest.

Those breaking the law were the ones in official uniforms with badges and guns.  The criminals were arresting the innocent.

So, here we go again.  The old president is gone with his weak move to suspend work on the pipeline and the new president is in office intending to build and drill.  And, don't even bother to mention the words 'environment' or 'justice' because Trump will not hear either of those concepts.  And, just like everywhere else in this great nation, at Standing Rock, it is money that really counts, and that's the truth !!!

Legitimizing Plunder at Standing Rock Part II
By Georgianne Nienaber
A society of thousands that had its genesis in a prayer camp in the summer of 2016 at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers has evolved into something that is almost unrecognizable from those languid summer days.

By Avis Little Eagle and Georgianne Nienaber

A society of thousands that had its genesis in a prayer camp in the summer of 2016 at the confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri Rivers has evolved into something that is almost unrecognizable from those languid summer days. The rhythmic notes of Junior Cuero's bird songs summoning unity and respect were lost in the roar of Dakota Access bulldozers and sonic blasts from long-range acoustic devices combined with the whoosh of tear gas canisters.

Media narratives have been mixed. Those of us who were there witnessed much good and also some very troublesome behavior.

Elliott Rhoades is a member of the Standing Rock Tribe and is a regular columnist with Teton Times. Rhoades is a former Vice Chairman for the tribe, a former tribal councilman, and he is the former Tribal Veterans Service Officer. Here is a portion of a narrative he wrote for the paper.

"I went out to those camps as they were being formed, Red Warrior camp consisted of people who were intent on creating trouble and problems from the start. They intended to disrupt everything and everybody, thus creating problems then decided to leave.

The over flow camp consisted of everyone else who thought they should be a part of this protest, but had no idea of why? Hundreds of people were soon descending on Standing Rock with the intent of taking part in a peaceful, prayerful, non-violent protest to try and stop this pipeline from being completed. Thus putting an end to the route. This was the intent. But as you read, this did not happen"

"There is plenty of fault and blame to go around on both sides. Hundreds of protesters were arrested, jailed and are bound for court off the reservation. Personally, all that was accomplished by getting arrested is that the protesters now will have a jail record, pay a fine and the protest will continue. They did not stop the pipeline in any manner. Court action later, delayed the pipeline easement, but the fight continues in the courts."

Those summer and early autumn days of people living together in an organized community with shared traditions and values are gone. The heavy presence of Big Green Environmental groups as well as opportunistic wolves who prowl cyberspace in search of the gullible and guilty have crushed the birds sent by the Creator. Creator offered the birds to teach the People how to sing and dance and treat each other with empathy and not indifference.

The sun no longer bathes campsites in warm light while people gather together to pray. Instead, a grandmother is found zip-tied to a chair in a tipi, diaperless and surrounded by her own urine and feces. (Source: Bismarck Tribune) Meanwhile a middle-aged man freezes to death behind a building and women die for lack of propane, while Indian women in Pendleton jackets party at Hollywood fundraisers and are interviewed on national television.

It is not surprising that, in an interview with an Oregon student newspaper, Tribal Chairman David Archambault condemned the current situation. "What I saw happen was something that was beautiful. Then I saw it just turn to where it's ugly, where people are fabricating lies and doing whatever they can, and they're driven by the wrong thing. What purpose does it have to have this camp down there? There are donations coming, so the purpose is the very same purpose for this pipeline; it's money." (Source: Daily Emerald, University of Oregon)

As with any society, the protest camps at Standing Rock began with a noble cause-- fighting a pipeline and uniting Indian Nations that had not stood together for one purpose in hundreds of years. But combine time, human nature and a change of season within a microcosm of society that includes good and bad actors, money, envy, and desire for power, and the result is a powder keg. Accountability is a casualty of human nature and internal power struggles. How did a noble society based on prayer and the faith that a Creator was guiding action begin to "implode" upon itself, in the words of Archambault? (Source: January 4 Council Meeting)

Important questions and have been raised by tribal members, donors, and the State of North Dakota. Are monies donated via the Internet reaching the intended recipients? How are donations being applied? Is there an accountability process? Searching for accountability brings to mind Diogenes wandering through ancient streets of Athens with his lamp and searching for one honest man. Diogenes professed that that virtue was a result of action and not a theory. How many theories of social justice and environmental action are professed on the thousands of websites raising money on the backs of the poor of Standing Rock and the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation for a paltry 1,000 or so squatters on Army Corps land while tribal members freeze to death on the reservation?

This is not a new story. Look to Big Green.

A 2009 article by Michael Barker, "When Environmentalists Legitimize Plunder," is a roadmap to how the big green NGO's piggyback on environmental movements and literally plunder the hearts and minds of armchair activists by coaxing them into donating.

Green Inc., a 2008 expose by environmental insider Christine MacDonald, reveals how big name environmental organizations are run by overpaid staff, who solicit contributions from predatory companies. The Facebook page, "ExposingFraudsWannabeesinIndianCountry" has a graphic that ties many of these erstwhile Standing Rock players to BIG GREEN.

Greenpeace is one of the biggest of the Big Greens. Look also to its website pages and find post after post about Standing Rock, the youth of Standing Rock, and breathless blogs, such as "My Time at Standing Rock," or "How Your Generosity Is Helping #NoDAPL Camps Keep Up the Resistance."
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"(Greenpeace supporters (like you!) donated thousands of pounds of supplies to keep the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline strong.)"

Donation buttons are sprinkled across each page, and people still freeze to death on the windswept plains.
Let's take a look at the Form 990 from Greenpeace. Form 990 is the IRS return of an organization exempt from income tax. 2015 is not available, but a look at 2014 shows $16,639,863 in salaries and other compensations, $859, 398 for un-named directors and trustees, and $ 1,696,850 for travel. In 2014, $33,462,321 came from contributions and grants.

In "Wrong Kind of Green" (December 2016), Cory Morningstar and Forrest Palmer "demystify the funding and soft power behind this seemingly organic 'grassroots' movement. The veil is lifted as to the price and profits behind the actions and the movement." It is yet another look at how Big Green acts as the trickster, using youth movements to win hearts and minds and donations that never reach the intended recipients.

North Dakota Looks at Fundraising
It is not surprising that the State of North Dakota has interjected Internet fundraising for Standing Rock into the docket of at least one trial.

On December 19, ten water protectors charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct against the Dakota Access Pipeline were scheduled for a joint jury trial in North Dakota's District Court. The trial and jury selection was postponed until January 31, 2017 when presiding Judge Cynthia Feland learned that not all of the defendants had received evidence from the prosecutor, which included aerial videos and photos of the protest site. 65 jurors were called to the small courtroom on the third floor of the Morton County Courthouse. Approximately 35 showed up along with ten attorneys and the defendants. The proceedings were closed due to space restrictions.

In the complaint, filed by Assistant Morton County State's Attorney Brian D. Grosinger, the defendants were charged with attempting to "obstruct, block, harass, alarm and/or prevent the Dakota Access Pipeline from building a permitted access road to DAPL leased property"." on August 11. The alleged offenses took place on Highway 1806 and near mile marker 35. Individual citations ranged from fleeing on foot, to pushing through yellow police tape, pushing an officer, and pushing through a police line. The complaint states, "Objects such as rocks and bottles were thrown at Law Enforcement Officers," but does not specifically name any of the defendants as doing so.

This is the genesis of one of the complaints against water protectors. It is offered in historical context and as a review of where the case stands at this writing. But something else enters this equation. It is a tale as old as time and involves money and the perception of who controls donations obtained through crowd sourced fundraising from legitimate and fraudulent Internet campaigns.

The summary of the proceedings this far and examination of the complete docket offer some context and suggestions of how North Dakota intends to prosecute this case, and more importantly, how the State intends to level potential fines if the defendants are found guilty. The State's brief on this matter raises questions about out of state influences, sophisticated Internet fundraising, and publicity. Who, exactly, are legitimate media and what entities are entitled to collect funds on behalf of the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes?

The answers to some of these questions will impact how fines are assessed against the defendants in this case. Residents of Fort Yates and other tribal members will be viewed in the same light as out-of-state co-defendants and the State does not seem inclined at this writing to consider the special circumstances of tribal members or whether or not they benefitted from fundraising.

(Note: Shortly after this article was published, Morton County authorities announced a list of over 300 websites ostensibly collecting funds for Standing Rock.

"Tattoos for Standing Rock" netted $144,605. And still people freeze in the snow on the reservation.)

Let's take a look at the State's "Demand for Defense Cost Particulars."
By law, North Dakota can require each defendant with a court appointed attorney to fully reimburse the State for the full costs of their defense following a conviction, assuming a conviction takes place.

The State assumes that the purpose, rightly or wrongly, of the DAPL protests is to drain the State of resources. To date the State maintains it has spent $17 million. The State also maintains that all of the protests are done to "create fake news"" to bring attention, celebrities, both passionate and very gullible people, and finally money--all to be focused on multiple issues of national discontent."

This is the heart of the State's plan to collect attorney fees. This again raises questions that go far beyond this jury trial. Who, exactly, is benefitting from crowd source finding? Are out-of-state filmmakers, celebrities and activists prolonging the protest through a dangerous winter when the Tribal Chairman has asked everyone to go home for their own safety? Will Tribal members who were arrested be penalized because of the actions of out-of-state actors and outrageous fundraising schemes? How can monetary damages be assigned fairly in court? Why should an enrolled tribal member have to pay attorney fees, if convicted, because the State has identified fundraising by out-of-state actors that the defendant will never benefit from?

The money angle has been raised outside of the courtroom. When Standing Rock Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II initially asked protestors to go home after the Army Corps of Engineers refused to grant an easement under Lake Oahe in early December, he suggested that some who were urging people to stay were benefitting from donations.

But how does this financial quandary affect the annual budget of the tribal government, which has borne the burden of support for the main Oceti Sakowin Camp?

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe operates on three budgets. The Indirect Cost Budget is federally funded and pays the salaries of employees through the General Service Administration or federally funded grants. That budget is approximately $4.5 million.

The employee positions that are paid are: half of the Tribal Chairman, Vice Chairman and Council's salaries, (the other half of the elected government's salaries is paid by Casino Revenue), Contracting, Enrollment, Executive Director and Executive Secretaries, Finance, Grants Management Office, Human Resources, IT, Legal Office, Mailroom, Maintenance, Property and Recording. GSA only pays salaries of positions that are Tribal Government support.

The average salary for these positions is $20,000 to $30,000. Tribal Council Salaries of the 17 council representatives and the Vice Chairman is $52,000. And the Tribal Chairman's salary is $80,000. So $26,000 of the tribal council member salaries is paid with Indirect Cost Budget and $40,000 of tribal chairman's salary is paid with IDC budget. The Chairman of the tribe and his right-hand-man, the Executive Director, are the head supervisor's of all tribal employees. Fiscal oversight over all tribal finances is under the Chief Finance Officer of the tribe in the tribal finance office.

The tribe owns 2.3 million acres of land, held in trust on behalf of the 15,000 plus enrolled tribal members. The Tribe's General Fund Budget is $3.6 million and this money is used to provide services to tribal members through employees that serve the people or directly to District Government.

In 2010, the tribal council passed a resolution placing a moratorium on any oil and gas production on the reservation, until the tribe's codes are updated and an Oil and Gas Code is written. The tribal council did this because council members and program directors as well as general membership, saw how much damage the Three Affiliated Tribes was dealing with; damaged roads on the reservation and environmental degradation. Standing Rock was apprehensive that soon oil and energy producers would look to Standing Rock, so the moratorium buys the tribe time to get environmental protection laws in place.

The Casino Revenue Budget is the tribe's largest budget, and the most the tribe has ever generated is $14 million. The Casino Revenue Budget is the profit from the Grand River Casino near Mobridge, S.D. and the Prairie Knights Casino, near Cannon Ball, N.D.

Due to the DAPL protest, the tribe's casino revenue is now under $9 million. The Casino Revenue Budget pays for tribal loans taken for infrastructure on the reservation, including district streets, housing construction and renovation, water infrastructure, the construction of Headstart buildings in the districts, and the tribe's insurance for the districts. It is used to match federal grants for Disaster Recovery, Food Distribution, and matching grants for other tribal programs.

Since the tribe has made assurances on paying the loans for the infrastructure projects, and used collateral to guarantee the loans for the infrastructure projects, the tribe will prioritize its obligations to the banks in order to keep the tribe in good standing.

Tribal programs that are funded by Casino Revenue include: Elderly Needs ($1500 that is allocated to elders 70 and over on the reservation); Gaming Commission; Paleontology; Health Plan; Solid Waste Disposal; Water and Sewer; Child Protection Services; Elderly Protection Program; Indian Child Welfare Act Program; Lake Oahe Group Home; Nutrition for the Elderly; Tribal Historic Preservation Office; Tribal Veteran Service Program and Youth Employment. All programs subsidized by Casino Revenue will take a direct hit when there is a Casino Revenue shortfall.

Due to the DAPL protests, a $4-$5 million Casino Revenue shortfall will have far-reaching and catastrophic affects on the people of Standing Rock. Services will be cut, lay-offs will happen, and money that is needed to heat homes, feed families, and repair housing are going to take direct hits - whole families are affected when the bread-winners of their families are no longer employed.

On December 6, 2016, Chairman Archambault issued a press release, telling everyone to go home. The objective had been reached and the DAPL was stopped pending a new Environmental Review and discussion of alternate routes. The future of the pipeline could not be predicted, but coming storms and prospects for a brutal winter would put camp residents in jeopardy and further strain reservation resources.

We deeply appreciate all the people who supported us with their presence, but when this storm passes, it is time to dismantle the camp and return to our homes. If the camp stays where it is currently located, people are risking their lives. The current weather is severe, making travel impossible. If the camp stays, we run a risk of further provocation from local law enforcement. Once one person is hurt or property is destroyed, that will lead to more outsized actions by law enforcement. The longer the camp stays, the greater risk we run of seeing further violence at the hands of law enforcement and potential injury to our supporters.

Our great leaders of the past would never put the people at risk of harm, especially women and children. I don't want anyone to be living in an unsafe environment. 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.

In subsequent meeting and conversations, Archambault continues to stress that the continued presence of the camps threatens water quality of the Missouri River. The camps are located on a flood plain and the winter so far has dropped record snow.

On January 11, the Bismarck Tribune reported, "The anti-Dakota Access Pipeline protest encampment is situated in the bull's-eye for a potentially severe spring flood. As snowfall totals mount, state officials are dialing up their warnings.

Bismarck has never recorded higher year-to-date snowfall at 57.3 inches and the State Water Commission, through the state's Joint Information Center, reports the situation means "a significant safety risk to people and property at that location."

The Oceti Sakowin main encampment is located on the flood plain where the Cannonball River and Cantapeta Creek meet the Missouri River/Lake Oahe."

What the Tribune did not report is the amount of waste, including human feces and animal manure, now buried under the snow. Garbage is not being picked up on a regular basis. The Tribe stopped paying for Porta Potties and water delivery and garbage disposal when the Chairman issued his statement asking everyone to go home.

On December 19, before the last snows, horses were wandering at liberty through the camp and horse manure was everywhere. Anyone who has owned a horse and kept it confined in pasture knows that the manure and urine gets compacted in the snow, creating slurries of waste in the spring. Imagine what will flow into the Missouri when the spring floods arrive.

Gullible people, who are still donating money are only prolonging misery and inviting the inevitable environmental catastrophe.

The bottom line is that money and greed are winning the struggle, while clean water and the hopes of prayer and unity are losing. The remaining "water protectors" seem to be protecting their own egos.

Did the Creator intend this? 
A Facebook post by "Wiyaka Zi Wicasa" and used in part with his permission, offers a sober and historical view of the Standing Rock Protests, who is involved and who should be the ultimate arbiters. He speaks of unelected "leaders" and false agendas that rely upon money. He also speaks of a Spiritual directive that has been ignored.

He talks of prayer and offers an admonishment.

"Do not disturb the resting places of the Ancestors who themselves are telling the people. No confrontation. To pray. That we are a peaceful and non-violent encampment. Do not bring trouble to those in prayer."

"For all of the violent protestors (and there has been violence and destruction of private property): "The Ancestors have TOLD you not to disturb them. For disturbing them there are consequences. You who have disturbed them will learn the consequences directly."

"I'm glad that those who aren't of the same heart and mind as my people are going home. They need to take the garbage they brought with them as they leave our Treaty Territory. Now we will not have to worry about them bringing trouble to our Spiritual Leaders, trouble to our Elders, trouble to our Women, trouble to our Children, and trouble to our Allies."

"You're welcome to stay. So don't think I'm telling you to leave. All will follow the directives of the Traditional Leadership and Legitimate 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty Representatives. Conduct yourself as a guest should when in the home of another."

A powerful message.
On Dec. 14, the district of Cannon Ball, located nearest to the camp, had a meeting and voted "To direct the Standing Rock Tribal Council to close down the Sacred Stone Camp and use the Law Enforcement and funds raised, to send people home."

Cannon Ball District members have been unhappy with campers who speed through the community with campers who are not involving the community, when the camp is located in their district. They are unhappy as well with the fundraising going on by all camps -- Oceti Sakowin, which morphed into Oceti Oyate, Last Real Indians, Sacred Stone, the Indigenous Environmental Network, Honor the Earth (and many others), as well as individual campers.

On Jan. 4, the district motion was taken up at the Tribal Council and the full council voted, 8, yes, 1, no, 2, not voting, 5 excused and one late, to close the camps, a signal that campers had worn out the welcome and that the Stand With Standing Rock call for action had expired.

Chairman Archambault said 10 acres of land has been set-aside for a Sustainable living community, to show others that it can be done. Those holding on to the Water Protectors to protect their fundraising, are urging campers to move to the 10 acre plot, a move that the Cannon Ball District as well as the tribal government, is not encouraging at this time.

(Note: Since the initial publication of this article, cleanup has begun at the former Oceti Sakowin Camp. On February 1, authorities arrested and evicted 74 people from private property.)

Editor's note: Standing Rock Tribal Member Avis Little Eagle, has served as Councilwoman, Vice Chairwoman and Councilwoman-at-large for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. 

She is a 1987 graduate of Sitting Bull College and attended Black Hills State University where she majored in Mass Communications with a minor in Native Studies. 

She began her career as a journalist in 1990, working at The Lakota Times Newspaper. She eventually worked her way from newspaper reporter to managing editor at the newspaper, which later became Indian Country Today. She reside's in McLaughlin, S.D., where she also is the publisher of the Teton Times, a newspaper covering the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Reservations. 

Georgianne Nienaber is an investigative environmental and political writer. She lives in rural northern Minnesota, New Orleans and South Florida. Her articles have appeared in The Society of Professional Journalists' Online Quill Magazine, The Ugandan Independent, Rwanda's New Times, India's TerraGreen, COA News, ZNET, OpEdNews, Glide Magazine, The Journal of the International Primate Protection League, Africa Front, The United Nations Publication, A Civil Society Observer, Bitch Magazine, and Zimbabwe's The Daily Mirror. Her fiction expos- of insurance fraud in the horse industry, Horse Sense, was re-released in early 2006. Gorilla Dreams: The Legacy of Dian Fossey was also released in 2006. Nienaber spent much of 2007 doing research in South Africa, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was in DRC as a MONUC-accredited journalist, and has been living Southern Louisiana investigating hurricane reconstruction and getting to know the people there since late 2007. Nienaber is currently developing a documentary on the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone, and continuing "to explore the magic of the Deep South." She is a member of the Memphis Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Police Sprayed Standing Rock Demonstrators With Tear Gas and Water Cannons

demonstrating appropriate attire for the season is this woman wearing a Leonard Peltier tee-shirt...