SIRATYST (Stuff I Read and Thought You Should Too) --
“To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.”
(Calgacus, as quoted by Tacitus, Agricola 30-31)"
WikiLeaks published an excerpt from what it titled the “U.S. coup manual,” which describes how the U.S. uses “financial weapons” to wage “economic warfare.” These documents describe how sanctions and other punitive economic policies are not a mere prelude to war; they are a form of war. As Norton writes, the U.S. is not considering war, but has “already been waging a war, for years.”
Even under this tremendous economic war, which worsened with a drop in oil prices, the Maduro government has focused on uplifting people. Telesur describes gains made under Maduro’s administration:
Venezuela expanded its free health care coverage to more than 60 percent of the population.
Earlier this year, the United Nations Program for Development placed Venezuela among the countries with the highest Human Development Index, surpassing most Latin American countries.
Venezuela has built 3 million homes for the poor and working class, 1.6 million under Maduro, to house up to ten million people in a population of 30 million.
Maduro’s administration has provided more than 4,800,000 computers, over 100 million technology textbooks to students across the country, and more than 20,000 schools have received new computer equipment.
Venezuela ranks sixth in the world in terms of enrollment in primary education and has increased its coverage of secondary education to 73 percent of the population.
There have also been gains in civil rights of historically oppressed sectors of Venezuelan society, like women, Afro-Indigenous people and the LGBTQ community.
The combination of tremendous drops in oil prices, the U.S. economic war and oligarch’s undermining the economy has resulted in the economy shrinking by 50% in five years – worse than the U.S. depression.
This week, John Bolton offered to send humanitarian assistance at the request of Guaido. When Venezuela has tried to buy essential goods and pharmaceuticals, they have been blocked and offered humanitarian aid instead. This presents a problem because if Venezuela accepts humanitarian aid, then it would provide an excuse for the Organization of American States (OAS) to intervene. And it would allow U.S. institutions such as USAID into the country to bring the aid.
EXCERPT: The Extinction Rebellion (or XR) is a grassroots direct action movement that kicked off in the UK in October 2018, gaining international attention and the backing of people like Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky and Bill McKibben after thousands of protesters shut down five London bridges in a highly publicized act of civil disobedience. Since then, over 200 Extinction Rebellion outposts have emerged around the world. The IPCC report’s findings have spurred less legally-risky action, as well: the “Green New Deal” championed by the Sunrise Movement and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become a must-endorse policy for progressive Democrats, tens of thousands of students inspired by 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg have walked out of classrooms in Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Australia and elsewhere over the past few weeks to protest climate inaction and 70,000 people marched in Brussels on Sunday. ***
Utilizing strictly nonviolent tactics and operating within a largely decentralized structure, the Extinction Rebellion has three ambitious demands: to push governments to communicate the truth of the ecological crisis to the public, to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to allow the formation of a democratic “citizens assembly” to oversee the massive changes this would necessitate. The New York City chapter of XR also includes a demand for climate justice, or “a just transition that prioritizes the most vulnerable people and indigenous sovereignty.”
On Saturday, the sun was out but the air was frigid, and attendees, ranging from small children to septuagenarians, bounced and clapped and danced to stay warm. This, along with the bright neon colors and the singing and the camaraderie, gave the event a surreally festive air, considering the subject matter. But looking the worst-case scenario in the eye — and doing something about it, no matter how herculean — seems to provide a certain amount of existential relief.
#ExtinctionRebellion -- Join Us Tomorrow at The Center of the Universe, aka Fremont, Saturday, Jan. 26, 12-2 pm. @XRSeattle Website: https://www.seattlerebellion.earth/#/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/events/2095158697242984/
for pictures and more on this outrage, click on link above.
EXCERPT:
MORICE RIVER, B. C.—Armed police clad in camouflage made arrests Monday afternoon upon breaching two checkpoints erected by Wet’suwet’en nation members, who have been trying to stop the LNG company Coastal GasLink from entering their traditional territories in northern British Columbia.
After an intense standoff with police around 2:30 p.m. local time, police breached the barrier at one of the checkpoints, set up by the Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en nation.
“What are your grandchildren going to think?” yelled nation members as police advanced.
Officers removed two protesters who had bound themselves to a fence, and a number of people were arrested in the raid. Other members of the Wet’suwet’en escaped the chaos, retreating to a second checkpoint farther up the Morice West forestry service road, about 44 kilometres outside the town of Houston.
Coastal GasLink is developing a pipeline through the area to deliver natural gas to the proposed LNG Canada facility in Kitimat, B.C. Coastal GasLink is a subsidiary of TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.
Every holiday season of your life probably came and went without your realizing that Dec. 26 is the anniversary of the largest execution in U.S. history. On that day in 1862, 38 Dakota Sioux warriors were hung in Mankato, Minn., under orders of President Lincoln. This occurred at the culmination of the Minnesota Uprising, also known as The Dakota War. The conflict had began because the Dakota people were starving to death.
While most Americans have never heard of The Dakota War or the injustices that led to the largest execution in American history, I’ve known about it my entire life. I am a member of the Oceti Sakowin (The Great Sioux Nation). Natives and non-Natives alike whisper legends about us.
It’s hard for them to accept what was done to us, and that they’ve directly benefited from such grievous wrongdoing.
My ancestors’ pictures are in history books. As a small child, I would see their photos at the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. You see, I am a descendant of Wabasha, a hereditary Mdewakanton Dakota Chief who, along with other Dakota like Little Crow, led the people during our war with the United States. After the conflict, he was exiled from his Minnesota homelands to the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation in central South Dakota.
When I first tell non-Natives about the Dakota War, especially in the northern plains, there’s a lot of cognitive dissonance. It’s hard for them to accept what was done to us, and that they’ve directly benefited from such grievous wrongdoing.
What Happened
The Dakota War was a direct result of the United States breaking its own laws.
In 1851, Dakota leaders signed the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux and the Treaty of Mendota with the United States. Dakota ceded land in Minnesota to the U.S. in exchange for money, goods, and services.
According to the U.S. Constitution, treaties are the supreme law of the land; yet, the United States Congress unilaterally breached these treaties with the Dakota. Unbeknownst to the Dakota, the U.S. eliminated Article 3 of each treaty, which set up reservation land for the Dakota to live on. The government also defaulted on payments to the Dakota, or gave their money directly to traders who were supposed to supply the Dakota with rations. These traders were often corrupt.
We still sing the song the Dakota sang that day.
While some Dakota remained peaceful, others began to defy the government to survive. Four young warriors stole eggs and killed five settlers in the process. All-out war began when they were protected by their village.
The Dakota War raged on for about six weeks, throughout August and September of 1862. Afterwards, 392 Dakota were taken prisoner and tried based on little or no evidence. Proceedings were held in a foreign language — English. The Court also failed to recognize the defendants’ status as members of a sovereign nation.
Of the 38 Dakota men who were hung, two were known to be innocent, although a number of others were also believed to be as well. One man who was executed simply had the same name as one of the accused and stepped forward when his name was called, not realizing that his action sealed his doom. Another was a white man who had been adopted and raised by the Dakota, and is said to have not been involved in the war. Among the executed were also minors, and the mentally disabled.
They have to believe that me and my ancestors were somehow evil, savage, or less than human, to prop up the colonial revisionist history they’ve been spoon-fed their entire lives.
Before their deaths, they smoked the sacred pipe, prayed, and sang. Hoods were slipped over their heads, and they held hands as the rope that held up the platform was cut, sending them to their deaths. Over 4,000 spectators looked on as our warriors hung from the gallows.
Wikimedia/Public Domain: Charles Alfred Zimmerman (1844-1909); Visual Resources Database, Minnesota Historical Society
After the hanging, the Dakota were exiled from their ancestral lands. The Governor of Minnesota put a bounty on the scalps of every Dakota man, woman and child. The government then separated my ancestors, shipping them off to prison, and forcing others to march to concentration camps that would become reservations in South Dakota.
During this time, Dakota women were raped by soldiers, and many died of starvation and disease. Children died each day from cholera. Other Dakota exiles escaped to Canada, and Spirit Lake in North Dakota. Some ran to Lakota Sioux Chief Sitting Bull for protection and joined the Lakota in defeating Custer at The Battle of Little Big Horn.
Living With The Massacre
Dakota still deal with the historical trauma borne from these tragic historical events. Our treaties were broken. Our land and resources were stolen. Our people were brutalized, starved, murdered, and exiled.
Some fall back onto racial stereotypes, telling me that we deserved it, somehow. They have to believe that me and my ancestors were somehow evil, savage, or less than human, to prop up the colonial revisionist history they’ve been spoon-fed their entire lives.
Sometimes the truth is hard to swallow. Because of people like this, some elders still speak of the Dakota 38 in hushed tones, as if it is a secret shame. Other non-Natives, however, express genuine remorse and seek to heal the divide between us. This is where hope lies.
Even though they physically separated us, we are still blood and spiritually, we are still one.
The Dakota 38+2 Memorial Ride began in 2005. The ride is meant to promote reconciliation and healing between the Dakota Sioux and non-Native people, and honor those who were hung, as well as their relatives who were exiled. During the ride, we discuss what happened and share our family stories that have been passed down through oral tradition. You can see this year’s ride here.
Grandfathers, we honor your memory and look to the future with hope, because we are strong and we rise.
For more information about the Dakota 38, you can watch this documentary.
Help plot the rebellion against our government's criminal response to global warming. It will the death of us LITERALLY!
Sunday at 3 PM – 4:30 PM
UW Medical Center, Plaza Cafe
DIRECTIONS: (Warning! The UW Med. Center is a giant maze, so be careful not to take a wrong turn): The Plaza Cafe is located on the first floor of the UW Medical Center. From the hospital's main entrance on NE Pacific St., take a right and continue to the end of the large main hallway. On your left are the Pacific Elevators. Take the Pacific Elevators to the first floor. After exiting the elevators on the first floor, take a left and the entrance to the Plaza Cafe will be your left hand side. Enter through the turnstiles. The directions above are the safest way to not get lost. IF YOU ARE DRIVING: The best place to park is in the S1 parking lot, which is behind (the south side) the Medical Center. The trick is to make sure you go in the right building entrance after you park, which is at the west end of the S1 parking lot at the Plaza Cafe patio.
"The annual gathering pays tribute to the original residents of Alcatraz Island and the coalition of Indigenous activists who occupied it from 1969 to 1971."
San Francisco media outlet KALW notes that the ceremony includes speeches, rituals and honorific dances that pay tribute to the occupiers and recognize the oppression Indigenous tribes have faced. It has been held on the island, which was originally inhabited by the ancestors of the Muwekma Ohlone tribe, since 1975.
In the meantime, watch this video from the 2010 ceremony:
The Indigenous People’s Sunrise Ceremony is not the only Indigenous event marking the trauma of genocide on Thanksgiving. The United American Indians of New England will host the National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, Massachusetts—the site of the original Thanksgiving.
Go to www.doksha.com and you can learn more about the concert on October 15! All benefits go to help Leonard and it features some of the biggest names in music!
Raging Grannies (Katherine, Sue & Linda) support our Gran Annette Klapstein, Valve Turner (Acquitted!)
Valve Turners, Their Lawyers & Expert Witnesses
Dr. James Hansen, Expert Witness (& Hungry Guy)
Clearwater County, Minnesota Courthouse (at Press Conference after Surprise Acquittal) w/Nicky Bradford, Wife of Ben Joldersma, and Organizer Extraordinaire
[Identity] politics is not an alternative to class politics; it is a class politics, the politics of the left-wing of neoliberalism. It is the expression and active agency of a political order and moral economy in which capitalist market forces are treated as unassailable nature.
An integral element of that moral economy is displacement of the critique of the invidious outcomes produced by capitalist class power onto equally naturalized categories of ascriptive identity that sort us into groups supposedly defined by what we essentially are rather than what we do. As I have argued, following Walter Michaels and others, within that moral economy a society in which 1% of the population controlled 90% of the resources could be just, provided that roughly 12% of the 1% were black, 12% were Latino, 50% were women, and whatever the appropriate proportions were LGBT people.
It would be tough to imagine a normative ideal that expresses more unambiguously the social position of people who consider themselves candidates for inclusion in, or at least significant staff positions in service to, the ruling class.
