The situation is appalling.
The situation is appalling.
It is! No surprise that the media isn't covering it, i.e. not acknowledged to be newsworthy (for instance, via a google search, news category)
To be fair, The Guardian is covering it. There's also been a bit on the BBC, at least on their website. Not a lot but they covered the dropping of the charges against Amy Goodman. A bit in The Morning Star. I've got most of the rest of it from social media. Most of my friends on Facebook are very concerned, so there's a lot going around there.
I believe the UN has condemned the government violence. I doubt that that will make much difference.
I heard the UN is making a trip over there to see it directly for themselves.
I heard the UN is making a trip over there to see it directly for themselves.
That's welcoming news although I wonder about how much power they have now to turn this around, e.g. their peace plan was rejected by the Yemeni president.
This is a happy coincidence. I was just coming to post a link to the [url]Christian Science Monitor's [/url]coverage of this story and found it was already being discussed.
The Monitor always tries to find the good news stories, the signs of progress and hope, instead of just focusing on negativity and sensationalism like so much of the media. With this story, they are highlighting how this protest is progressing the revival of indigenous activism and unity among the tribes.
With night falling over the sprawling town of tents and teepees here, BJ Kidder describes Sitting Bull massing his forces in this very same spot, at the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers, before the Battle of Little Big Horn.
This time, thousands of Native Americans haven't come to wage war. They have come to protest through prayer.
And six years ago, Mr. Kidder believes, his father predicted it.
“My dad said all the [native] people are going to come together from everywhere to see how we’re destroying Mother Earth, but when that time comes, I’ll be gone.”
Here at the front lines of protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, every movement is weighted with the indigenous history of the region – a tragic history that’s reflected in Mr. Kidder’s own life story. Born and raised in the neighboring Standing Rock Sioux reservation, he describes being beaten as a boy by priests at a Catholic school, and watching as the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee energized and united Indian country like never before.
Now looking out over the main Oceti Sakowin camp – an ancient [url]collective name[/url] for seven Dakota peoples and now home to the largest gathering of Native Americans in modern history – he sees signs of change and progress for his people.
“A lot of hard things have been done to our people,” Kidder says. “It’s finally changing, slowly, after years of barely changing.”
Indeed, talk to Native Americans here, no matter the tribe, and you will hear many of the same things. After generations of oppression and neglect, mired in systemic poverty and prevented from doing basic things like practicing their religion, the protesters here – who prefer to be called “water protectors” – see their stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) as not just a battle against a specific project, but public signs of a reconnection with their collective traditions and religion.
It is this reconnection, they believe, that has sustained the protest for over seven months. And in turn, it could have broader ripple effects both on and off tribal lands. For one thing, the protests here may be turning Native Americans into a leading force in the domestic movement on climate change.
I'm all for hearing the good news - indeed, I'm all for hearing all news. And I really do hope that this signals a sea-change in the way we care for the earth and the way we treat native peoples rights.
However, I would not want to ignore the fact that Obama has, in the last couple of weeks, very quietly and without fuss, given the green light for two other pipelines to be built.
I'm all for hearing the good news - indeed, I'm all for hearing all news. And I really do hope that this signals a sea-change in the way we care for the earth and the way we treat native peoples rights.
However, I would not want to ignore the fact that Obama has, in the last couple of weeks, very quietly and without fuss, given the green light for two other pipelines to be built.
Are you sure this is not rerouting the planned pipeline?
The Standing Rock pipeline is, of course, a rerouting of the original planned route - which would have crossed the Missouri a few miles upstream of the city of Bismark. This was changed because of, among other reasons, the water supply to Bismark might have been compromised.
The Standing Rock pipeline is, of course, a rerouting of the original planned route - which would have crossed the Missouri a few miles upstream of the city of Bismark. This was changed because of, among other reasons, the water supply to Bismark might have been compromised.
Oh well, I expect the protesters will be on to this new development really fast!
I really hope so.
Just seen this update on the [url]CS Monitor's environment pages[/url]. Good news from the weekend, but it may all change when Trump takes over.