NODAPL Daniel Sheehan and Larry Sinkin give Update on Chase Iron Eyes Case
Daniel Sheehan and Lanny Sinkin give an update on some very positive developments in the latest hearing of the Chase Iron Eyes NoDAPL case.
There were 800 cases against DAPL protestors but most were dealt with and very quickly dismissed. The Iron Eyes case is being used as a flagship case and done in detail to expose what really happened at Standing Rock.
(Chase Iron Eyes was jailed for “inciting a riot” and “trespassing” – on land that has belonged to the Native American peoples for hundreds of years)
Larry Sinkin explains what was actually taking place when the protesters were attacked by police:
‘What was going on on February 1st was the Lakota People were establishing a new Sacred Site, so they were up at the Last Child Camp on a hill, they built the Sacred Fire, they put up the Seven Sacred Teepees and they were beginning to do a religious ceremony calling upon their ancestors to come and help them stop the Black Snake – the pipeline and the police came and arrested them for engaging in a riot.
The only confrontation that went on at all was the Police trying to break people apart who had locked arms and the police engaging in violence in doing that, and they put this totally phony charge against the prayerful people of the Lakota Nation. In order to “prove their point” that these were terrorists, they had to attack them and try and provoke them. And they were not provoked, they went peacefully, they were arrested and now are being defended by us and the Water Protectors Legal Corps.”
Daniel Sheehan explains why the Iron Eyes case is such a historical and important case:
The attempt on the part of the Petroleum Industry to establish a working partnership with one of the private military corporations made up of retired special forces who have now become employees of the private military corporation. These forces have been very active overseas in the Middle East but this is the first time they have come home to the US and deployed against American Citizens.
Their targeting the Native American people charectarises them as anti Christian, religiously driven jihadist terrorists – trying to invoke the Terrorism statute against the Native People to keep them from organising against these pipelines.
This template that they are attempting to establish in North Dakota has to be confronted by our people, it has to be revealed to the court and we need to be able to develop the legal precident that will allow the discovery against these corporations to show the type of tactics that they engaged in.
That they are engaged in these anti-terrorism tactics of infiltrating the organisations, surveilling them, monitoring their cellphone conversations, their internet communications. They are inserting agents provocateur into the organisatons trying to instigate them to engage in unlawful activities.
They are engaged in a huge public diplomacy campaign, they’ve hired private PR firms that were involved in being hired by the George Bush junior administration to try to sell the war in Iraq, to try to convince people here in our country, falsely that Iraq was in possession of Nuclear weapons. They instigated a completely false invasion of the Middle Eastern Oil Fields.
These are the soldiers of that effort and they are invoking the same procedures that they used against the indigenous people and tribal people of the Middle East, now against the indigenous people here in North America.
This is extremely important that it be stopped, that there be an effective counter strategy developed to stop that type of activity and to stop that alliance between the major Oil Corporations and these private Military Corporations.”
Dolphins don’t express emotions with their facial muscles. Their mouth is just shaped in a way that we humans misinterpret as a smile. So even when a dolphin is suffering from high stress, visitors to marine parks often come away thinking that the dolphin is having a good time. This is usually far from the truth.
Captive dolphins are abducted dolphins. Dolphins are highly intelligent social creatures that live in pods, forming close bonds with family members. Humans visitors to marine aquariums often fail to see that the dolphins there had to have been ripped from their natural ocean environments, snatched away from their family and pod mates, held in nets, carried in trucks, hoisted into planes and flown for hours.
Most dolphins die during capture. 30% to 80% of dolphins die during the capture itself, mostly from drowning in the nets and from wounds sustained during the process. Others may die pretty soon after, from the stress, panic and trauma. Think about it this way. To bring a single dolphin into an aquarium, the captors may have caused the death of four of her pod mates.
Transport is traumatic. A dolphin’s body is not adapted to air temperatures or the effects of gravity on land. So when a dolphin is hoisted out of the water, she can overheat very quickly. And the sudden pressure of her own body weight over her inner organs can cause severe pain and sometimes permanent cramps all over its body. Imagine going through such agony for ten to twelve hours while being transported to a new water tank. These cramps can even make the dolphin incapable of moving when lowered back into the water, resulting in death by drowning.
Captivity is sensory deprivation. Dolphins in the wild are very curious animals and live in a world full of sounds, sights, movement, colour, varying landscapes and changing currents. Contrast this with the captive environment – often four walls in a land-based lagoon devoid of visual or auditory stimuli. There’s nowhere to go except back and forth. And nothing to do except turn round and round. The food is now dead fish, and it arrives in a bucket. The dolphins in concrete-walled pools face the worst hell of all, with their sonar bouncing back and forth deafeningly.
There’s nothing natural about their new lives. The late ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau said: “No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal.” Free-living dolphins from the ocean are accustomed to three-dimensional surroundings, to diving deep and travelling great distances. These conditions cannot be duplicated in captivity, where natural feeding and foraging patterns are lost and even behaviours associated with mating, dominance, and maternal care are severely altered.
Captivity leads to insanity. Prisoners in solitary confinement, caged zoo animals and captive dolphins develop similar behaviour patterns. They pace back and forth, rock and sway, bang their heads and in the case of dolphins, swim endlessly in tight circles. This is called stereotypical behaviour and it’s a sign of neurosis. It stems from the destruction of the dolphin’s sophisticated social structure, the feelings of intense claustrophobia and the profound frustration from being unable to hunt or behave naturally. The symptoms may even include suicidal behaviour and unnatural aggression.
Keeping dolphins in captivity shows a lack of intelligence in humans. Dolphins are incredibly clever creatures, even brighter than chimpanzees according to some scientists. They are capable of great emotion and sensitivity. Some researchers have suggested that they should be treated as “non-human persons”. We have to ask ourselves if it is morally acceptable, or even clever of us humans, to confine such amazing animals in amusement parks.
In a talk for the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) in London, Social innovator Rachel Botsman charts the growth of a movement that is transforming the way we consume and contribute.
She starts by talking about the Global Village and the Digital Sharing Revolution and Collaborative Consumption that takes many forms – traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting and swapping, which are all being redefined through technology and peer communities.
Rather than creating a world in which people only interact remotely, and lose touch with the "real world", we are starting to “use the internet to get off the internet to form a stronger, bigger society", which is opening up all kinds of creative ways of interacting such as land sharing, bike sharing, car sharing: "Car companies have to realise they are no longer in the business of just selling cars, they are in mobility services and BMW, Peugeot and Daimler and have launched car-sharing service in the last 18 months."
"A new generation is growing up not wanting to own "stuff" it wants the needs or experiences it fulfils. Usage is proving "better than possession, access is better than ownership" She quotes Mark Levine, of the New York Times: “Sharing is to ownership what the iPod is to the eight-track, what the solar panel is to the coal mine. Sharing is clean, crisp, urbane, postmodern; owning is dull, selfish, timid, backward."
She talks about different types of new interaction: Redistribution markets, such as EBay, "like for like trading" (swapping) that is now powered by technology, and the enabling of free-giving on sites such as Freecycle, saying this is creating a new kind of wealth which is giving people a bit more control over their life and creating a renewed belief in the importance of community.
These changes have been powered by: A torrent of social technologies, Pressing unresolved environmental concerns A global recession that has shocked consumer behaviours and forced us to re-evaluate all our value systems.
"If the last generation – the Baby Boomers was all about keeping up with the Joneses, our generation is going to be all about getting to know the Joneses."
"Twentieth Century consumer behaviours were very much driven by our credit history. Now we leave a replication trail as we interact across the web, of how well we can or can’t be trusted."
"The 20th Century was defined by Credit, Advertising, Individual Ownership and Hyper consumption, the 21st Century will be defined by Reputation, Community, Shared Access and Collaborative Consumption."
"If you look back in history, every financial crisis marked the beginning of a paradigm shift, and a way of game-changing innovation."
"I believe we’re going to look back and we’re going to see this period as a momentous turning point, when we use the incredible technology we have to re-shape the kind of society we want. "
"I think it’s going to be called a revolution, when society facing very great challenges woke up from a humongous hangover of emptiness and waste and made a seismic leap to being defined not by what we consume, but by what we contribute, and along the way empowers millions of people, including us to play a larger role in building a stronger, healthier system…"
Parisian photographer and street artist "JR" has undertaken many projects that have spanned the planet, using giant billboard sized monochromatic photographs in unexpected places, in positions of high visibility.
He started out as a graffiti artist in Paris, but after finding a camera on the Metro, began taking photographs documenting his friends painting graffiti on the rooftops and walls of the city..
He now mixes the two mediums of photography and graffiti, calling himself a "photograffeur", posting giant black and white photographs in public places.
His "Face 2 Face" project was dubbed "the largest illegal photo exhibition in the world" in which the border wall which runs the length of the disputed area between Israel and Palestine became a gallery of giant portraits of Jews and Palestinians of all denominations and types, grinning and pulling faces into the camera and posted side by side along large stretches of the wall.
Part of this is a giant triptych of a rabbi, a priest and an immam wearing intentionally comic expressions. The message is simple but powerful: there is far more that unites humanity than that which divides it. "It’s about breaking down barriers," JR says. "With humour, there is life."
His more recent "Women are Heroes" project took him to meet, work with and photograph women in slums and war-torn, poverty stricken communities across the world, using art as a medium to reaffirm the positive, creative side of humanity.
"They keep on asking you: what is the purpose of your project? Are you an NGO? are you the media? … Art. Just an artist… Some who understood the project will explain it to others: to a man who did not understand I heard someone said: "You know, You’ve been here for a few hours trying to understand this thing with your fellows. During that time, you haven’t think about what you’re going to eat tomorrow. This is art."
"Women are Heroes" created a new dynamic in each of the communities and the women kept that dynamic after we left. For example, we created book, not for sale, but that all the community would get but to get it they would have to make it signed by one of the women…
Its really important point to me is that I don’t use any brands or corporate sponsor, so I have no responsibility to anyone but myself and the sisters… They made me promise… please, make our story travel with you…so I did…look… that’s Paris, that’s Rio… that’s London… New York…"
—— TURN THE WORLD INSIDE OUT ——– His latest project is one that everyone can participate in: "I wish for you to stand up for what you care about by participating in a global art project, and together we’ll turn the world.. INSIDE OUT.
When we act together, the whole thing is more than the sum of the parts. So I hope that together we will create something that the world will remember, and this starts right now, and depends on you."
Use the link below to find out how you can participate.
Events are scheduled in over 100 countries around the world to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Women’s Day.
Celebrating 100 years of celebrating the movement to overcome gender injustice
Events happen globally throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women.
Themes are chosen for each year, by organisations and women’s groups as well as governments. These can differ from country to country. Themes chosen for 2011 include: Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.
In the US, Barack Obama proclaimed March 2011 to be "Women’s History Month", a time for Americans to reflect on "the extraordinary accomplishments of women" in shaping the country’s history.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the "100 Women Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls through International Exchanges" on the eve of the celebration.
This is a YouTube clip from an American TV station talking about the British NHS, with some of the responses to the clip below.
tourists that use the NHS, thats fine by me. it doesnt matter if your British, American, Russian, Chinese, Angolan, whatever, as humans we need to look after each other when we are in the most need. if some American breaks his leg on a step whilst taking a picture of Big Ben, im absolutely fine with him getting all the treatment he needs over here for free. i hope America one day embraces the idea, having a broken arm like i had whilst skiing then being asked about the bill is not what you want.
Oh ok - this is where you go back to claiming that the US is much better because of it’s wonderful free market, low unemployment right and world beating economic model? And Europe is shit because we’re all bereft, unemployed socialists desperately wishing we were American? Then I remind you of the following:
US Unemployment: 9.2%
SWE Unemployment: 8.2%
UK Unemployment: 7.8%
GER Unemployment: 6.9%
NOR Unemployment: 3.5%
Darn commies!
NHS is one of the greatest things to have happened in Britain and has recently been rated 2nd for the world’s top health care. Americans should support Obama if they want to stop greedy corporations from preventing them from receiving universal health care.
@katards Kat, I think this word "socialist" should be put to rest here. All that is happening in Britain..and other civilised countries is that the idea that informs collecting taxes to provide a fire service, an army, social workers and school teachers has just been extended into health care. Simple. SO if you pay for the police and you never need them, how do Americans feel about that? Well we feel the same in the UK about Health care. We pay a progressive premium, sick or welll. WIn-Win
@Thetruthishere11 Oh – and the NHS does *not* provide lower quality care. European healthcare almost always ranks above the US in healthcare tables. The difference is, it costs half as much, because we don’t have to factor in:
a. The beauracracy of having to arse on with hundreds of different insurance providers
b. We don’t have to factor in a 30% profit margin for everyone providing the healthcare.
Do yourself a favour and do some research – the US system is a laughing stock outside the US
@Thetruthishere11 You might have some semblance of an argument if it weren’t the case that 15% of your population don’t have any coverage at all, and another 50% would be bankrupted if they got a serious illness when the insurance company decides not to pay out. The US rations care *far far* more than any other developed country – it just does it by restricting access to only those that can afford to pay insurance company profits.
Thetruthishere11 I have never had rationed care, nor do I know anyone who has. You are talking nonsense. The same treatments that are available in the US are almost always available in the UK if they are proven to work. The difference is:
a. All citizens have access to them in the UK – not just the wealthy (so just who’s doing the rationing my friend?)
b. Having to pay for those treatments does not bankrupt anyone if their insurance company decides not to pay out
@Thetruthishere11 Minimum 44million and up to one-third of US population (not illegals) without insurance many millions more without adequate insurance to cover health costs and go bankrupt , over 22000 US citizens die every year because they do not have the correct medical cover. You are to cowardly to comment on "the US Healthcare system in international Context" which shows just how false Beck and Hannans claims are.
@Thetruthishere11 Well, given that the NHS costs 40%-50% less than the US system, whilst covering everyone and ranking above the US in health outcome tables, I’m pretty comfortable with the way costs are being contained.
As for Dr shortages – I don’t know anything about that. Maybe in some specialised areas? From my own experience, I’ve never had a problem seeing a Dr and I don’t know of anyone who has.
@sh856531 I think American’s who waffle on about rationing are completely crazy. The US is the most rationed system in the western world. The difference the rationing takes place based on whether you are poor or not and how likely an insurance provider is to be able to make a profit out of you.
In the UK system, "rationing" (something I have never seen anyone actually experience here) occurs based on what the most appropriate use of funds is – not profit
@Thetruthishere11 Yes everything does cost money. I’m going to get taxed no matter what. But I’m happy for my taxes to be spent looking after the health and well being of our people.
Do you moan when your taxes go to your countries war machine? No because you support your troops right? you think it ok to be taxed to kill other peoples, but not to help your own less fortunate and less well off.
@Thetruthishere11 Er… the rich and bloody famous can afford it. They can also afford private jets, several holiday homes, fast cars etc… I WANT the best drugs, the best hospitals and treatment. Unfortunately, I don’t have dollars is my bank account. I had insurance. They rejected every op I needed. Told me I’d have to pay half the docs fees. I went NHS instead cos they didn’t quibble over pennies.
