A word from the First Americans

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Greg Grey Cloud was the Native American whom burst into song at the Senate vote against the Keystone XL.

In this article, he explains that the song was an honor song, after they had voted against Keystone (for the time being).

Grandfather look at me, I am standing here struggling, I am defending grandmother earth and I am chasing peace.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/11/20/greg-grey-cloud-senate-decision-oppose-keystone-xl-called-honor-song-157928
And this was sobering to read….and it shows the depth of Grey Cloud and the rest of the traditionals–not just the environmental, but ALL the bad stuff that comes with it….the ripple effects:
Greg: I don’t think it’s a new thing at all. I also don’t think it’s all just environmental justice. Why our org Wica Agli originally got involved in the opposition in the first place is because the KXL pipeline would bring the man camps. So, we know that statistically native women are perpetrated against far more than any other ethnicity in this country. One of every 3 native women are sexually assaulted. Eighty-six percent of the perpetrators are non-native. And because of jurisdictional issues, 100% of the time we can’t do a damn thing about it! In the small town of Watford city, ND located in the Bakken Oil Fields, the estimated sexual assault is increased by 70%!  Seventy percent! In our area TransCanada has proposed to station two man camps of 1,200 men per.  That’s a total of 2,400 non-native men accessing our reservation and potentially matching Watford City’s sexual assaults. I’ll be dammed if I allow that to happen in our community!

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First Nations continue protests of Kinder Morgan

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First Nations are holding their ground with protesting the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

“I think the RCMP has done an excellent job in securing the work site. We’ve got seven to 10 days of work we want to undertake and we want to respect the right of peaceful protest.”

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In other words, “Screw You”.  The citizens can protest all they want, and we’re going to go through with this plan whether they want it or not.

Judge declares woman who spent 17 years in California prison innocent

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This is just freaking outrageous that this woman was convicted of murder on another’s testimony alone. She lost her children and that precious time of them growing up and sharing in their upbringing is gone. It can never be regained. No birthday cakes made by Mom, no hugs on a bad day or holding the bucket while her child pukes, celebrations when milestones were passed…all taken away from her based on false accusations. The woman who lied about her should now spend the exact amount of time in prison for her false testimony.

Indiana: GOP War Against Glenda Ritz

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Here in Indiana, the Republicans, trying to usurp the Democratic process, are now trying to make Glenda Ritz’ position an appointed one. This after she won hands down. Matthew Tully is NOT for public education. And for some odd reason, the Indiana Chamber of Commerce has now supported the move to an appointed Superintendent. That should speak volumes as to what this is about. The Chamber of Commerce might as well be called the “screw you, I’ve got mine” Chamber.

dianeravitch's avatarDiane Ravitch's blog

Matthew Tully of the Indianapolis Star calls on Republicans to stop their war against state Superintendent Glenda Ritz. Ritz was elected in 2012, handiy beating incumbent Tony Bennett despite his 10-1 spending advantage. Since her election, the Republican Governor Mike Pence and Legislature and state board have done everything possible to undercut Ritz. Pence even created a rival education agency to bypass Ritz and the state education department.

Now the Governor and Legislature want to abolish her office, nullify the election, and turn the position into a gubernatorial appointment.

Matthew Tully says this is ill-advised. He favors an appointed office but thinks it would be wrong to do it in the current climate. She was elected fair and square. She got more votes than Governor Pence.

“Such a move would infuriate educators and others across the state and worsen what has been a toxic period in state education policy. It…

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School Districts, Parents, and NAACP File Lawsuit in Pennsylvania to Remedy Deficient School Funding

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janresseger's avatarjanresseger

The financial crisis in the School District of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is well known to readers of this blog.  A post in early October covered the state appointed School Reform Commission’s cancellation of the teachers’ contract to save money on the health plan (along with a review of cuts to Pennsylvania’s state’s school funding that have crippled the school district over time).  Another post after election day attributed Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett’s defeat in his bid for reelection to long-standing failure across the state to support public education.

But the election of a new governor will not directly address the problems of the state’s poorest school districts.  To secure some relief, on November 10, plaintiffs from across the state filed a major lawsuit charging that Pennsylvania’s school funding violates not only the education clause but also the equal protection clause of the state constitution.

The Education Law Center of Pennsylvania describes…

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Big Oil isn’t just dirty from the crude…

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…but from dirty tactics to quash the voices of those who oppose the destruction of the environment.

…because they can’t win on virtue– they have none.  And if you have no good facts to support your argument, you go after the person– ad hominem.

Speaking of which, I was listening to NPR (National Polite Republican) this morning, and they had a Keystone apologist.  He was a young one (that’s what they do–get the young and stupid to do their bidding for them), whom didn’t know his arse from a hole in the ground.  He was just spewing Big OIl’s talking points.

He admitted that the jobs that would be created would be temporary construction jobs.  He outright lied about TransCanada picking up  the bill if there was an oil spill.  They specifically had it written in the contract NOT to be responsible if there was a spill.

…because TransCanada knows that this toxic sludge is a monster to clean up, a la Kalamazoo, which they are still cleaning up three years after the spill.  It cuts into their billions of profits, see?  They just can’t have that.  Responsibility is not in Big Oil’s vocabulary.

And anyone who promises to “clean up” and make things right should be regarded as a flat-out liar. As the folks along the Kalamazoo can attest to.

From the Enbridge spokesperson:

He says Enbridge wants to complete all of the restoration work along Line 6B by sometime in 2015.

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So…five years after the fact…they will have “cleaned up” a spill  And it still will never be the same.  Never.  No matter what they do, the toxic chemicals will destroy plants, wildlife;, pollute water, air, and land; and change that ecosystem for the worse.  Because everything in nature relies on another part of nature.  When the plankton die, the fish starve.  When the fish die, the birds starve. Or if they survive, their biological systems are forever altered by the toxins–reproductive and altered natural progress.

From the article (Part 3):

“In other words, Enbridge was judge and jury as to whether you had a legitimate claim or not. As opposed to having a neutral third party that didn’t have conflict of interest making those decisions.”
[Attorney Bill] Mayhall says Enbridge was quick to compensate for property damage… but has resisted paying damages for health related claims. An Enbridge spokesman insists the company has settled some claims related to health complaints.

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And herein lies the worst of it–Big Oil does not, under any circumstances, want to admit how its product causes health issues.  If they did this, the flood gates would open to how petroleum truly impacts the health of people–much more so than is acknowledged.   Think of the folks living near the Kochs’ plants–severe breathing problems and people dropping like flies from cancer.

And the idea that people can just “move away” if there is a toxic spill is incredibly shortsighted, as this quote will attest:

Wayne Groth is standing on the deck overlooking the backyard of his new home south of Battle Creek. He and his wife Sue moved late in the spring.
It’s a lovely home, with only one possible problem.
“We’ve got another little creek running by our house and we discovered after we bought this place there’s another pipeline real close by. I thought that was a little ironic.”

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You can’t poison the Earth in one spot, move to another and somehow magically you’re not ever, ever, ever going to be subjected to toxins again.

End of fairytale.  Good night.