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An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
Within moments of the swearing in of President Donald Trump, he signed executive orders opening back up the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline construction.
Last week, the National Guard confirmed it has positioned an Avenger missile system near the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site; it will be used for surveillance, according to Morton County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Rob Keller. U.S. Army veteran Griz Grzywa said in an interview at Standing Rock: “They are using a level of force against women and children here that our military would hesitate to use,” he said.
Over the past several months, we here at Thrasher's Wheat have closely followed the developments at Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline (see here, here, and here) as protesters moved closer to victory.
Now -- just days after posting the letter and a series of benefit concerts -- it looks as if the pipeline project has been defeated and will likely be re-routed.
Dave Archambault, II, Chairman
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe:
Yesterday we were notified that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not grant the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the Dakota Access pipeline. Instead, they will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement regarding alternative routes for the pipeline. This action strongly vindicates what the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has been saying all along – that we all have a responsibility to protect our waters for future generations.
This is an historic moment. For centuries, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and tribes across the country, have faced fundamental injustice at the hands of the federal government – which time and again took our lands and tried to destroy our way of life. Our Treaties and our human rights were ignored, our interests in protecting lands and waters were considered unimportant, and our voices were not heard.
It was this shared history that led Tribes to come together as never before to seek the protection of our waters against the threat of the Dakota Access pipeline. With peace and prayer, indigenous people from hundreds of Tribes said: our future is too important. We can no longer be ignored. The goal was to protect these sacred waters, and to do so in the name of our children.
And, with yesterday’s decision, it is clear that our voices have at long last been heard.
Yesterday’s decision demonstrates that, despite all the challenges that Tribes face and all of the terrible wrongs the federal government has committed in dealing with us over the years, justice for Indian people still remains possible. My thanks to the Obama Administration, and particularly to Assistant Secretary Darcy, for upholding the law and doing the right thing.
Yesterday’s decision belongs in large measure to the thousands of courageous people who put their lives on hold to stand with Standing Rock in support of a basic principle — that water is life. At Standing Rock, our youth played an important role in spreading our message and I am so proud of what they have been able to accomplish.
But Standing Rock could not have come this far alone. Hundreds of tribes came together in a display of tribal unity not seen in hundreds of years. And many thousands of indigenous people from around the world have prayed with us and made us stronger. I am grateful to each of you. And, as we turn a page with yesterday’s decision, I look forward to working with many of you as you return to your home communities to protect your lands and waters, and the sovereignty of your tribes.
My thanks to all of our allies, here and around the world, each of whom contributed to this effort. I want to give a special mention to the veterans who have come to Standing Rock in recent days. I am sure that the strength of your message in support of Standing Rock, and the rights of the Water Protectors, had a powerful impact as the Army made its decision. I appreciate all you have done.
While today is a great day, there is still much that needs to be done to protect Tribal rights and ensure justice for indigenous people everywhere. Using peace and prayer as our guideposts, and with the teachings of our elders and with inspiration from our youth, I believe there is much we can accomplish for the future.
Sincerely,
Dave Archambault, II, Chairman
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
But it's not over until it's over.
Standing Rock Has No Confidence ETP Will Stop Drilling
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 5, 2016
Contact:
John Bigelow
Standing Rock Sioux
Water Protectors Dig In For the Long Haul
The Dakota Access Pipeline was denied the necessary permit to drill beneath the Missouri River by the Army Corps of Engineers (ACoE). The decision to deny the permit came from the Obama Administration. This represents an enormous victory for the communities of Standing Rock, and 18 million people living downstream of the proposed pipeline crossing.
According to the Army’s website, “Darcy [of the ACoE] said that the consideration of alternative routes would be best accomplished through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) with full public input and analysis.”
Unfortunately, the lights are still on, and the helicopters are still buzzing overhead. Until we can go to the drill pad and see they’ve left – this is not over.
Although we are deeply pleased with this victory, we know this is one battle in the larger movement against injustice from the oil-based energy sector that has a tendency to prioritize profit over ecological safety and social responsibility. Trump’s Justice Department is unlikely to prioritize any lawsuit or penalties levied against DAPL should they drill against ACoE orders.
Congressman Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said, “Today’s unfortunate decision sends a very chilling signal to others who want to build infrastructure in this country.”
We could not agree more, Congressman. It is sad that infrastructure developers cannot seem to operate with respect to First Nations by consulting them properly and the environment that belongs to everyone by conducting full EIS. The Water Protectors felt chilled on many nights by the elements, and especially by the fire hoses used on us on November 20th. We’re happy you’ve felt something of what we have had to face to protect our sovereign land.
Energy Transfer Partners stated yesterday that they “are fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way.”
ETP has a responsibility to their investors. We have a responsibility to protecting water for future generations.
We are not going anywhere.
Mni wiconi!
~ #StillStanding at Standing Rock ~
This decision by the Army Corp of Engineers is not a complete victory. Finding an alternative route for the pipeline does not address the fact that an energy corporation has clearly broken the law by illegally using a loophole in the US Conservation Law in order to avoid having an independent environmental impact study done and thus threatens an environmental disaster by being allowed to continue.
It was an an emotional and inspiring event which was capped off by a concert by Dave Matthews, Graham Nash and others later in the day at the nearby Constitution Hall.
Now comes word that Neil Young and Daryl Hannah have jointly written a statement on Facebook, requesting that U.S. President Barack Obama intervene in the Standing Rock protest and halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Neil Young and Daryl Hannah write:
"We are calling upon you, President Barack Obama, to step in and end the violence against the peaceful water protectors at Standing Rock immediately.
Your growing activism in support of freedom over repression, addressing climate change, swiftly replacing a destructive old industries with safe, regenerative energy, encouraging wholistic thinking in balance with the future of our planet; that activism will strengthen and shed continued light on us all. These worthy goals must be met for the all the world's children and theirs after them. This is our moment for truth.
The surprise president elect was not the winner of the popular vote [and] does not have a mandate for the change of ideals envisioned. Keep in mind, close to over two million more people voted for another candidate," Young wrote without referring to Trump by name. "Nor is the surprise president the leader of the free world. Two hundred of the world's nations believe in science, above the profits of the oil, gas and coal industries, and are committed to working together to protect the future from an unchecked climate crisis.
Unintimidated, stand, speak up and show up. Be counted. Be like our brothers and sisters at Standing Rock. Be there if you can. The progress we have made over two hundred and forty years as a nation, has always come first from the people."
Standing with Standing Rock to Defend & Protect DAPL Protesters
Water is LIFE
Dakota Access Pipeline Rally
Washington Monument - November 27, 2016
Photo by thrasher
The Battle for Standing Rock continues to simmer as the confrontation heads towards a boil.
During Thanksgiving Week, Native Americans were tear-gassed and hosed with water cannons in sub freezing temperatures. Despite a media blackout, the alternative media is telling somebody the news.
Water cannon sprayed on protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)
Members of the Sioux Nation in Standing Rock, North Dakota, have been attacked with tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons in subfreezing temperatures as they protested an oil pipeline that threatens to contaminate their water and disrupt their sacred sites. Approximately 300 Native American and non-native protesters were injured in one 10-hour clash with law enforcement last Sunday evening. 26 were taken to hospitals with severe head and limb wounds, eye trauma, internal bleeding and hypothermia from being doused with water in 22-degree weather.
“Basically, it’s an act of war,” said Frank Sanchez, a delegate from the Yankton Sioux Tribe.
But reinforcements are on the way as U.S. Armed Forces veterans are heeding to calls to stand in support of the Indigenous protesters.
Organizer Wes Clark, Jr., best known as co-host of the Young Turks show, has stated that veterans will be willing to take a bullet if need be. The former U.S. Army officer has called the Standing Rock resistance “the most important event up to this time in human history.”
Titled “Veterans Stand for Standing Rock,” the Facebook page announces that hundreds of veterans will be joining the protesters from Dec. 4 to Dec. 7.
The Facebook group was formed with a five-paragraph military operation order that clearly delineated the “opposing forces” – “Morton County Sheriff’s office combined with multiple state police agencies and private security contractors.”
According to their GoFundMe Page, they are calling for “peaceful, unarmed militia…(to) defend the water protectors from assault and intimidation at the hands of the militarized police force and DAPL security.”
“Everyday becomes more evident that the defenders of America must stand with the Water Protectors. Let’s stop this savage injustice being committed right here at home,” it reads.
We hear at Thrasher's Wheat fully support the protests at Standing Rock and the call for veterans to stand alongside the brave protesters in the face of a most brutal and inhumane policing response that has seen peaceful, lawful protesters assailed with rubber bullets, tear gas, water cannons, and attack dogs. This is a battle that must be fought and won if any semblance of democracy, human rights and rule of law is to be preserved.
“This country is repressing our people,” says Michael A. Wood Jr., a Marine Corps veteran who recently retired from the Baltimore police force to work toward reforming law enforcement. “If we’re going to be heroes, if we’re really going to be those veterans that this country praises, well, then we need to do the things that we actually said we’re going to do when we took the oath to defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic,” he asserted about his plans to go to Standing Rock.
Clark, explained that aside from the flagrant violations protesters are subject to in North Dakota, Natives are especially deserving of veteran support:
“First Americans have served in the Unites States Military, defending the soil of our homelands, at a greater percentage than any other group of Americans. There is no other people more deserving of veteran support,” he said.
Once there, the veterans intend to engage in a traditional native healing ceremony with protesters, with whom they have been coordinating, according to the veterans. Then, protective gear like gas masks and body armor will be issued to anyone who needs it. The soldiers will march to bagpipes and Sioux war songs as they head to the banks of the Missouri River to meet police.
“Then, the veterans and their allies — or at least the ones who are brave enough — will lock arms and cross the river in a ‘massive line’ for their ‘first encounter’ with the ‘opposing forces.’”
Though the veterans have adopted a strict policy of nonviolence, they refuse to back down and apparently hope to use their military status to spotlight the egregious behavior of the police.
“We’ll have those people who will recognize that they’re not willing to take a bullet, and those who recognize that they are,” says Wood Jr. “It’s okay if some of them step back, but Wes and I have no intention of doing so.”
"The violence isn't coming from the protesters," Yakaitis told the Record Journal. "It's coming from the black ops security infiltrators who have come in to start violence so that the pipeline company and the police can point at us and say it's our fault."
Chatting w/ Dave Matthews on Pipelines, Farm Aid and more
photo by thrashette
Neil Young is calling for charges to be dropped against Emmy-winning filmmaker Deia Schlosberg who has been charged with three counts of conspiracy.
The documentary film maker was arrested while filming protesters who shut down oil pipelines from Canada to the United States, saying that she was acting as a journalist. Schlosberg, producer of the 2016 documentary How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change, was taken into custody at a TransCanada Corp's Keystone Pipeline site in Pembina County, North Dakota.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of 45 years in prison.
In an open letter to President Barack Obama and North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple, supporters wrote that the charges against her were "unfair, unjust and illegal."
The letter was signed by more than 30 artists, filmmakers, writers and journalists, including Neil Young, Mark Ruffalo, actors Daryl Hannah and Frances Fisher and singer Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
"Journalism, especially documentary filmmaking, is not a crime, it's a responsibility. The freedom of the press is a fundamental right in our free society. The charges filed against her are an injustice that must be dropped immediately," said the letter, posted on the website EcoWatch.
NEW SONG/VIDEO: "Indian Givers" by Neil Young
Here's a new song and video by Neil Young called 'Indian Givers'.
The video documents the Native American protests in Dakota over a pipeline.
"Now it's been about 500 years We keep taking what we gave away Just like what we call Indian givers"
The Standing Rock Indian Reservation have protested the expansion of the Dakota Access Pipeline on their territorial lands, leading to clashes with Big Energy security forces.
There’s a battle raging on the sacred land Our brothers and sisters have to take a stand Against us now for what we all been doing On the sacred land there’s a battle brewing
So we say: "Honor The Treaties". Honor Mother Earth.
Who's gonna stand up and save the earth? Who's gonna say that she's had enough? Who's gonna take on the big machine? Who's gonna stand up and save the earth? This all starts with you and me!
>> Pre-Order on Amazon.com << 
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