tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-303621142024-03-13T10:51:32.501-07:00Avery Voice - Liberty is a verbA forum for discussions beyond the political horizon. We must create a new agenda or the old ways of empire return from the ancient dusk and their tentacles return to strangle the future.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.comBlogger381125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-89013967433451209602018-09-30T15:40:00.003-07:002018-09-30T15:52:32.840-07:00PNN - Last Song of Summer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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PNN - The Song of September featuring Poet, Author and Editor Aria Ligi<br />
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Brook Hines - brings her keen POLITICAL Insights to this weeks News<br />
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Jeanine Molloff - Talks ST Louis Nuclear Dumpfire Originalists or Textualists (hint its a lie)<br />
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WAPO - EPA orders cleanup at St. Louis nuclear waste site. <br />What does it mean for the nation’s other toxic messes?<br />
<br />The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday ordered a long-awaited cleanup of a Superfund site northwest of St. Louis, saying residents living near the landfill contaminated with World War II-era nuclear waste deserve action after waiting 27 years for federal regulators to issue a decision.<br />EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s decision to partially excavate tons of radioactive material from the West Lake Landfill over five years — at an expected cost of $236 million to the liable companies — goes beyond a 2008 solution proposed by the George W. Bush administration to cover and monitor the waste.<br /><br />“The people of the St. Louis region deserve clarity and answers,” Pruitt said in a statement Thursday. “I promised them an answer, and today I am making good on that commitment.” He added that he sought a remedy at the site that would “protect public health, comply with the law, and hold potentially responsible parties accountable.”<br />
Thursday’s announcement also was intended to be Exhibit A in demonstrating Pruitt’s commitment to revitalizing the agency’s Superfund program, which includes the nation’s most polluted sites, by streamlining and accelerating cleanups. But it underscored how few Superfund sites have simple answers, though nearly all of them generate intense emotions.<br />“We were hoping for full, 100 percent excavation. But we know that would be difficult to accomplish,” said Dawn Chapman, a founder of Just Moms STL, an activist group that has long pushed for an extensive excavation with relocation of families near the landfill.<br />Chapman said her group views the outcome as a hard-fought victory but one that is far from guaranteed, given the public-comment and cleanup process likely to unfold over years. “We have to stay here and watch it and see it through,” she said. “I look ahead, and I see these other big battles coming. We’re not going to blink because you can’t. … We will continue to fight to get even more [radioactive waste] removed.”<br />
Pruitt’s decision goes further than the action sought by Republic Services and Exelon, whose subsidiaries are responsible for the cleanup at West Lake along with the federal Department of Energy. The companies have argued that the agency’s own science shows capping the waste is the safer option and that excavating the toxic material could create serious public health risks.<br />While the $236 million price tag of the EPA plan is significantly higher than what the firms hoped to spend, it is well below the cost, projected at nearly $700 million, of a full excavation.<br />
In a statement, Republic Services said it was “pleased that the EPA has finally ended decades of study and again is issuing a proposed plan for the site.” But the company cautioned that a final decision could take years.<br />What remains to be seen is whether the decision on West Lake represents how Pruitt is likely to approach other Superfund sites.<br />
In recent months, Pruitt has promised aggressive Superfund cleanups and made a public show of butting heads with corporate interests — something he has rarely done on other issues during his first year at the EPA. Yet aside from creating a list of 21 targets needing “immediate and intense” attention, as well as forming a task force to recommend ways to expedite cleanups and “reduce the burden” on companies involved, Pruitt has explained very little about how he intends to deal with the hundreds of other toxic-waste sites around the country.<br />
“What’s the plan for the other sites that aren’t on [Pruitt’s] priority list?” asked Nancy Loeb, director of the Environmental Advocacy Center at the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. She said Pruitt’s decision at West Lake might be “a positive step” but added, “It raises the question of whether Superfund is being used to showcase a few projects without actually doing more to clean up contamination at all 1,300 sites.”<br />Meanwhile, the Trump administration has proposed cutting the Superfund program’s budget by 30 percent, or about $330 million annually. And while there are responsible companies that the EPA can legally force to pay for cleanups at many of the locations Pruitt has mentioned, many others are “orphan” sites where the polluters have gone bankrupt or are no longer legally liable for remedying the problem. At those, the federal government still shoulders most of the tab — and the pot of available dollars keeps shrinking.<br />
“I am concerned about orphan sites across the country in the Superfund portfolio,” Pruitt told lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week. “I think there are greater challenges beyond money. But money matters in that side of our responsibilities.”<br />Pruitt highlighted West Lake early in his tenure at the EPA.<br />“The past administration honestly just didn’t pay attention to [it],” he said on a local radio show in April. “We’re going to get things done at West Lake. The days of talking are over.” In May, Pruitt took to television to say a plan was coming “very soon.”<br />Eight months have passed since then. But families in the shadow of West Lake, which was added to the Superfund program in 1990, are no strangers to waiting. The site’s 200 acres include not just the radioactive waste illegally dumped in 1973, but also a former sanitary landfill. Decomposing trash is smoldering underground in what scientists call a “subsurface burning event.” There are concerns about the fire reaching the radioactive waste, though the companies there have taken numerous steps to prevent that.<br />
Over the years, residents have complained of quality-of-life and health problems, including a periodic stench in the air and anecdotal tales of cancers, autoimmune disorders and miscarriages in adjacent neighborhoods. At the same time, numerous air, water and soil tests from the EPA and other government agencies have shown no link to such conditions.<br />
Pruitt’s plan will now be open for a period of public comment before it is finalized.<br />
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2 How Scott Pruitt turned the EPA into one of Trump’s most powerful tools<br />
Since 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency has been embroiled in an enforcement battle with a Michigan-based company accused of modifying the state's largest coal-fired power plant without getting federal permits for a projected rise in pollution.<br />On Dec. 7, as the Supreme Court was considering whether to hear the case, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt issued a memo that single-handedly reversed the agency's position. No longer would the EPA be "second-guessing" DTE Energy's emission projections. Rather, it would accept the firm's "intent" to manage its pollution without requiring an enforceable agreement — part of President Trump's broader push to reduce the "burden" on companies, he wrote.<br />The little-noticed episode offers a glimpse into how Pruitt has spent his first year running the EPA. In legal maneuvers and executive actions, in public speeches and closed-door meetings with industry groups, he has moved to shrink the agency's reach, alter its focus, and pause or reverse numerous environmental rules. The effect has been to steer the EPA in the direction sought by those being regulated.<br />
Along the way, Pruitt has begun to dismantle former president Barack Obama's environmental legacy, halting the agency's efforts to combat climate change and to shift the nation away from its reliance on fossil fuels. <br />Such aggressiveness on issues from coal waste to vehicle emissions has made Pruitt one of Trump's most high-profile and consequential Cabinet members. It also has made him one of the most controversial.<br />Critics describe his short tenure as an assault on the agency's mission, its science and its employees.<br />
We've spent 40 years putting together an apparatus to protect public health and the environment from a lot of different pollutants," said William Ruckelshaus, the EPA's first administrator, who led the agency under Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan. "He's pulling that whole apparatus down."<br />
Yet, allies praise Pruitt for returning more power to individual states while scaling back what they see as the previous administration's regulatory excesses.<br />
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From an EPA Alum Contact<br />
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even though it is tempting to speak about the National Ocean Policy and Marine Spatial Planning issues I worked on while at EPA I cannot. The results of an interview are unknown considering what is being done to try and reduce the number of EPA employees and eliminate federal laws intended to protect human health and the environment.<br />
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The public should be made aware that during the early 1900s the U.S. had a Republican president, Theodore Roosevelt, who was concerned enough about the environment to establish the Forest Service and first national park both of which led to more pro-environmental actions that endured WWI, the Great Depression, WWII, and more and also protected the nation’s national resources. They should also be educated about the national outcry in the late 1960s for more environmental protection that resulted in the establishment of EPA and its initial/basic proposals that the U.S. Congress and president passed into the form of laws.<br />
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The activities listed above were the foundation(s) that resulted in more laws to protect citizens’ health and the nation’s environment. Without laws to protect the environment the nation’s natural resources will not be sustained nor will future generations have the chance to benefit from them. Without a sufficient amount of natural resources the nation’s economy will also be damaged and the U.S. will have to import more resources.<br />
best regards,<br />
XX<br />
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While at EPA I worked at HQ Office of Water on policy issues relative to marine protection, spatial applications to display marine protected areas, the Marine Boundary Working Group<br />
(a subcommittee of the Federal Geographic Data Committee), coastal management issues, and more. For many years I was the only employee in marine protection with a background in geography and GIS. There probably is no Environmental Protection Specialist there now that came in and took my place. Most of the employees were educated in biology and had little or no interest in geoscience<br />
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.<div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-31456694932898298852018-09-23T13:16:00.003-07:002018-09-23T18:05:14.994-07:00PNN - Better Sources / Better Methods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikiK7MoUtl2qEcts-62BsA49nLJv-vagmrTbS81Ak3bYEfTYSGfN7tPnWpnEW2HXkmBLnw8YleJeF_xQm8UZKGuPXTK8yACvk830q3YrzBcoEX3kEgknB7PIFjkZCnEOn9mYa4/s1600/Sundays-shw-NUMBER5-w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="900" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikiK7MoUtl2qEcts-62BsA49nLJv-vagmrTbS81Ak3bYEfTYSGfN7tPnWpnEW2HXkmBLnw8YleJeF_xQm8UZKGuPXTK8yACvk830q3YrzBcoEX3kEgknB7PIFjkZCnEOn9mYa4/s320/Sundays-shw-NUMBER5-w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10988863" target="_blank">PNN</a> - Better Sources Better Methods </span></b><br /><br /><b>Brook Hines</b> Senior Political Commentator Discusses Moore's Fahrenheit 11/9<br /><br />We also bring these additional Special Guests :</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />* <b>Artist <a href="http://anamariahernando.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Anna Maria Hernando</a></b> multimedia artist from Boulder,<br /> she talks about her mixed media life.<br />*Our new correspondent - <b>Jeanine Molloff </b>Ferguson Activist + Progressive Journalist and author of the Amazon hit - "The Silent Culling"<br />* We get an UPDATE from <a href="http://nuclearhotseat.com/" target="_blank"><b>Nuclear Hotseat</b></a> Producer / Host <b>Libbe HaLevy<br />* </b>Longtime Progressive Activist <b>Edwin Enciso</b> on Immigrant Rights in the TRUMP ERA</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">TUNE IN LIVE SUNDAY 7pm Eastern / 6pm Central / 4pm Pacific<br /><br />Or anytime</span><br />
<a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10988863" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Listen Now</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">NOTES ON FAHRENHEIT 11/9</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1. Michigan's Governance Crisis<br /> Flint's Water Crisis</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2. Grand Jestures as a POLITICAL ARGUEMENT<br /> Taking a Water TRUCK to the Governor's House<br /> JUST LIKE citizen Barack Taking a Swim in the Gulf <br /> after the COREXIT *MAGICALLY *DISAPPEARED*<br /> or Ostentatiously drinking a GLASS of Water <br /> in Flint while offering Assurances that <br /> "DRINKING A GLASS of WATER" (unidentified water twice)<br /> Was not a STUNT<br /> say it again - Not a STUNT <br />* SPRAYING THE YARD was not a STUNT<br />* OFFERING THE GLASS OF WATER was not a STUNT<br /> Comparing TRUMP-Talking Points with Hitlers similar<br /> Talking Points was not a stunt it was a visual AID</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3. Legionaires Disease - <br /> TAMPERING with THE reporting of the <br /> OFFICIAL LEAD LEVEL REPORTING</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4. Unannounced Military SHOW-of-FORCE <br /> in FLINT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5. Let us SPECULATE on WHY Senator Sanders<br /> was "allowed to announce the results"<br /> of a CORRUPTED ELECTION RESULT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6. West Virgnia Teachers / Oklahoma Teachers <br /> illegal Strike</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7. THE TACTICS of the West Virginia Candidate and <br /> the candidate from Flint and Occaiso-Cortez</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10988863" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Listen Now</b></span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><b></b><br /></span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My Review of Fahrenheit `11/9</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Fahrenheit 11/9</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"> Sisters and Brothers, I watched brother Michael Moore's movie, with the sad knowing eyes of an activist who has been in the struggle for 1/2 Cent<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">ury. I grew up in a town with a statue in its downtown streets to massacred workers who struck for a living wage a century ago and were shot in the street for the crime of defending their families. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I have no illusions about our struggles. I know about reservations and barrios and ghettos. I know about Nazis and Klansman and coppers that think that summary execution is justice. I know about pollution and nuclear waste in our rivers and streams and streets. I know about mine waste and factory farms and massive floating isles of plastic choking our vast oceans. Knowing all that I watched Michaels movie with knowing eyes. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Brother Moore’s Movie reminds us what's at stake, and reminds us we are not alone in the struggle. Reminds us that we have brave brothers and sisters who stand with us EVERYDAY. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> YES, THE DECK IS STACKED AGAINST US. <br style="margin: 0px;" />BUT WE HAVE BRAVE SISTERS AND BROTHERS STANDING BESIDE US. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I WEEP FOR THE CHILDREN, I WEEP FOR THE BRAVE ONES WHO WILL NOT JUST LIE DOWN AND DIE. </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I AM MADE STRONG! BY THE BRAVE CHILDREN OF PARKLAND! <br style="margin: 0px;" />I AM MADE STRONG BY THE BRAVE TEACHERS OF WEST VIRGINIA! <br style="margin: 0px;" />I AM MADE STRONG BY THE BRAVE BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHO STAND UP IN FLINT!</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> AND I GIVE THANKS FOR THOSE BRAVE ONES WHO TAKE A KNEE IN SOLIDARITY! </span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b> GO SEE MICHAELS MOVIE - YOU WILL WEEP AND ALSO YOU WILL GET STRONGER!</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10988863" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Listen Now</b></span></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span><b></b><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-63926132997528945432018-08-28T07:02:00.003-07:002018-08-28T07:02:56.696-07:00PNN: Authors, Poets, and Playwrights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10947009" target="_blank">PNN</a>: Authors, Poets, and Playwrights<br /></h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amazing tales from:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">* <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JohannaNeumanAuthor/?fb_dtsg_ag=AdxheSpt8HUr3azQpKSLqIraK-r28OLc_8jJqGtVD4iEfA%3AAdzVsnmA5_s6rYuqRL7B0vVskVDQ3sb2uKDo2Pd-O1Dbng" target="_blank"><b>Dr. Johanna Neuman</b></a>- Gilded Suffragists: When Wealthy Women became vested in Human Rights for Women.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">* <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/rab.fulton" target="_blank">Rab Fulton</a> </b>- Scottish Poet and Story Teller from Galway, Ireland</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">* <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dominic.windram.1" target="_blank"><b>Dominic Windam</b></a> - Poet / Educator from Northern England<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our Featured Political Analyst: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/brook.hines.1?ref=br_rs" target="_blank"><b>Brook Hines</b></a><br /> Producer/Editor: <a href="http://newmercurymedia.com/pnn.html" target="_blank"><b>Rick Spisak</b></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://rabfultonstories.weebly.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rab Fulton's Website</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-53202949104200324262018-07-29T15:48:00.003-07:002018-07-29T15:48:38.567-07:00PNN - Float like a Butterfly Sting like an Activist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10901883" target="_blank">PNN</a></b> - Float like a Butterfly Sting like an Activist</span><br />Our Guests:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Staci-Lee Sherwood </b>- Butterflies & Turtles a wildlife activist who has been involved in wildlife issues for over a decade. She has been very involved in Turtles rescues over the years and has turned in an additional direction and she has turned her not inconsiderable skills to protecting pollinators.</span><br />
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<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Kofi Hunt -</b> Tampa/St. Petersburg Democratic Activist who has spent over a decade assisting progressive activists to maximize their impact.</span><br />
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<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Libbe Halevy</b> - Radiation Activist Libbe has made it her focus of interest studying Nuclear Plants, and Nuclear Power dangers. The impact on the environment and helping people understand the health impact of Nuclear Power and Nuclear Waste storage and processing. She has a weekly podcast called the <a href="http://www.nuclearhotseat.com/" target="_blank">Nuclear Hotseat</a>! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-56481389354001301032018-07-22T18:12:00.004-07:002018-07-22T18:12:58.891-07:00PNN - Its a lot to LAKE<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10883725" target="_blank">PNN</a> </b>Welcomes <b>Sarah Heard</b> County Commissioner / <b>Paula Albright INDIVISIBLE Actisit </b>and more to an Awesome Amazing Show<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We welcome <b>Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard. </b> <i>The fighting County Commissioner</i> who has <b>opposed not all DEVELOPMENT but careless unhealthy thoughtless OVER-DEVELOPMENT</b>. Listen to the GOOD SENSE OFFERED by this honest and TRUE CIVIL SERVANT! - (HINT SHE NEEDS OUR SUPPORT!!!)<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Welcome heroic and powerful activist<b> Paula Albright</b> who is one of the powerful activist leaders of <b>Indivisible Martin</b> and an active voice in the LOCAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY - She arrives to give us an update on the GROUND LEVEL ACTIVISTS, who are opposing TRUMPTACIOUS POLICIES on UN-HEALTHCARE, ANTI-IMMIGRATION and ANTI-Environmental Actions by this current MIS-Administration.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10883725" target="_blank">LISTEN</a><br />
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<b><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Vulgar Volgans Volumizer</span><br /></b><br />
<span style="color: blue;">These “titilating tidbits” (the Carter page fisa request) is small potato pancakes in my opinion. It belies the universality and ubiquitous nature of surveillance. </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">While it stands a spicy “tidbit” apart from the holistic mosaic of spy-vs-spy in the vast gushing stream of corruption when a small time (between bankruptcies) New York crime family (the fambly CRUMP) who must’ve had already been on everyone’s monitoring ( us / European / Kremlin / Chinese) list simply from funneling and laundering Russian Oligarchs looted funds.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"> If you can imagine for a second who was listening in as they try to suddenly up the ante and enter the BIG GAME (geo/political) to imagine that any corporate entity “riding high” on Russian funds, wouldn’t already be on everyone’s radar ??? It is to laugh!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"> That’s major league naive to the 10,000th power. </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">And when you picture young Jared (his dad already in prison) and the brain trust of the “Donald spawn” entering negotiations to create a “secret back-channel” to the Kremlin by visiting the Russian embassy? WOW - a scenario to make Mel Brooks proud!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">Alarums must’ve been sounding from OTTOWA TO AUSTRALIA AND FROM BERLIN TO BOTSWANA LAND! </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">EVERY junior grade spy from Poland to Polynesia was aware and rolling tape. And alarms were going off everywhere. <br />Do you think any less, in the more formal us/UK/Kremlin/tel Aviv/Beijing clandestine services ??? </span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">C’mon the pros must’ve been rolling on the floor to think Little Donnie Jr is going to OUTWIT the kids from Langley much less the kids working for any odd Nigerian Princeling - goat cheese!! goat cheese!!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">Now we’re getting notified that there was a FISA for Carter Page - I’m shocked???<br /> WHO COULD IMAGINE? Jeevus H - Ivanna’s poodles probably got an FBI FILE!</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">And while Manaforts spent the past decade strolling in an out of the eastern block, babysitting petty tyrants giving them a taste of “Reagan grade corruption”- GEEZ do you think he’s monitored???</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">Give me a break! Let the Vulgar Volgan Boatmen Sing!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10883725" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">LISTEN</a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"></span><i><b></b><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Sent from an Unsecured Comm Device </i><br />
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maria tells All</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Immigration Hearing Testimony pits Jeff Seesesh against 18 month old Honduran waif in Chicago Courtroom Showdown: (Reuters:)</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Argentinian Deaf Squads Testimony reeks HAVOC in Chicago Immigration Hearing to Lasting and Devastating Effect On Trumptacious Immigration Policy</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Little Maria Graciela Otega Lucilianitante led the court, step by step through her cases exploration of the forces engaged in union suppression and ecological devastation throughout Central and South America.<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No one expected the 18 month old to have such a detailed grasp of the legal niceties much less the onerous and cumbersome processes involved in subpoenas served across the Hemisphere yet little Maria Graciela Otega Lucilianitante kept them guessing.<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the child was still a little disoriented after her 8,000-mile flight from Bangalore to Karachi and then the overflight of the poles of Milwaukee and Minneapolis she was, despite being jet-lagged, capable of giving detailed and erudite testimony on behalf of her case last week in court.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where she single-handedly masterminded and personally delivered her complex legal arguments outlining and refuting point by point the fallacies of the entire ATTORNEY GENERAL Jeffie Beauregard Seesesh, theory of IMMIGRATION LAW AND ITS ONEROUS AND DESPICABLE MISTREATMENT of ASYLUM SEEKERS.<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Seesesh legal team was forced to respond in the landmark hearings in Chicago Superior Court. Little Maria outlined in excruciating detail the historic impact of the sociological and economic forces that drove her parents and many other similarly situated villagers to seek asylum in the not so WELCOMING ARMS OF THE TRUMPTACEOUS PERIOD OF USA’s Immigration Policy.<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The child called Witness after Witness from Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua to Ollie North (late of the Russian backed N.R.A) then after a recess for her nap and ZUMBA workout, later that same week, SHE ARRANGED for the court to receive testimony of several senior managers in United Fruit Company which she had flown in from Geneva and Paraguay, who then under OAF, Testified detailing the extensive links between US Anti-Union Activity and the Contra Assassination Squads used, to suppress indigenous people throughout Latin America.</span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the real headlines in her case (WSJ/NYT) came with Henry Kissinger’s intriguing Testimony on the close “school ties” of the Reagan Administration to the Argentinian Deaf Squads.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10883725" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">LISTEN</a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><i>Sent from an Unsecured Comm Device</i><br />By<br />RW Spisak<br />7/21/18</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #cc0000;"></span><b></b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #38761d;"><br />FROM Brooks Presentation</span></b><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">NOTE ON GRAYSON ATTACK ARTICLE</span></b><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">unfiltered = plain spoken</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">tired of his schtick = enthusiastically welcoming him back</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">bombastic = well spoken unafraid to mince words</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">firebrand = a man of convictions</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />Jewish = a religious man </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">he's mean = not a go along get along wishy-washy democrat</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">represented whistleblowers = understand a principled stand</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">brazenly attacked republicans = opposed republican blocking of the Obama healthcare plan</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">took Ben Bernanke to task for pro-wall street policies</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">sometimes has insulted Republicans - unafraid to speak his mind</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">VOTED - a most effective member of Congress</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">if the hood fits = plain spoken</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">not a moderate in defense of democratic values</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10883725" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">LISTEN</a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike></span><br />
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Produced, Directed and Edited by RW Spisak.</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red;">Liz Matson</span></b> - Idaho / <span style="color: red;"><b>Linda Middleton</b></span> - Hawaii<br /><b><span style="color: red;">Manny Blacksher</span></b> - Ala / <b><span style="color: red;">Aria Ligi</span></b> San Francisco<br /><b><span style="color: red;">Robert Cole & Susie Reynold</span></b>s - Brittany, France<br /><b><span style="color: red;">Brook Hines</span></b> - Orlando/ <span style="color: blue;"><b>Rick Spisak Producer </b></span>/ Poet - Stuart</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Tune in Live Sunday (7/15/18)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Poets share their perspective on Liberte and Human Rights</span><br />
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<pre wrap=""><span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I weep for the Children of the Terror Migration</b></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And for our grandchildren and their children who will reap the awful fruits of </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">these UGLY CRIMES AGAINST JUSTICE. </span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To call these abuses a mockery of justice is insufficient, they remain a stain </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">on every willing enabler of this American Injustice.</span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This remains an insult, a horrible grinding soul devouring disaster of Injustice. </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And our government our legal officials are inflicting this on babies, </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and on these lost and broken families. Calling these refugees, these babies “illegal” </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and applying a process of “zero tolerance” on these people with their </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pre-existing conditions of abuse is barbaric. </span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHICH, IT MUST BE STIPULATED arises solely and completely from American policies, </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">American weapons and training, and American economic imperialism in Central </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and South America.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These tiny children standing alone in American courts of INJUSTICE are ONLY </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the pathetic tip of a HIDEOUS AND SHAMEFUL ICEBERG OF POLICY. </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They represent the first fruit of this terror-migration.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our children and grandchildren will harvest the fruit of these abuses </span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">for a century yet to come.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sent from an unsecured and monitored comm device </span></pre>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-26284274114145393662018-07-13T06:26:00.003-07:002018-07-13T06:26:23.606-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<pre wrap=""><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>To fall to bots on the social media battlefield
and Social Media bots... Victorious?</b></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is this the future of the West’s once great Alliance?
</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having failed to defeat the West on the battlefield in Berlin, in the Cold War, </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and in dozens of proxy wars.
Then Russia watched their dragooned allies, </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">from behind the rusted curtain flee merrily to NATO.
And Europe’s economic </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">embrace.
</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are we now, to see the defeat of the western democracies via the checkbook</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and through corrupted electoral processes on the field of social media ? </span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That and corrupted influence of the dyed blonde fool and his sycophants on the hill?</span></pre>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-71134972437794030322018-07-12T09:45:00.004-07:002018-07-12T09:45:53.483-07:00Turning away from Universal Literacy?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY9duExj7TrNTutblbq_LeTwoNghr3DXpJt-74zKC6oMlYtP6oB-qEqrg9e391uYWOZTgLWh5vout4XiWcgcJjxgVtKSkLe5drJvsgQMAbYBiB1nHXfb0z8LqBqNl1A91n_hg/s1600/pnn-logo-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="920" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY9duExj7TrNTutblbq_LeTwoNghr3DXpJt-74zKC6oMlYtP6oB-qEqrg9e391uYWOZTgLWh5vout4XiWcgcJjxgVtKSkLe5drJvsgQMAbYBiB1nHXfb0z8LqBqNl1A91n_hg/s320/pnn-logo-1a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<pre wrap=""><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turning away from Universal Literacy?</span></b>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was the AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT and it’s proponents who urged that every life is sacred,
every human worthy of literacy, capable of its own agency, worthy to participate intelligently in its
society.
</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Realizing that absent universal literacy there would be an underclass, an untouchable or “serf” peasant class
who would continuously be put upon and victimized by an educated, empowered overclass.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I must remind the readers, this stood in full opposition to the arguments of class and monarchy,
even the simple despotism that had crushed so many lives through the centuries. I can not argue
that education and it’s flower literacy, especially SCIENTIFIC LITERACY- is wholly and enthusiastically
embraced by all humanity. Looking at rates of literacy and recreational reading alone tells that sad tale.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I would argue that dragging illiterates into an educational enrichment opportunity is a price well worth
paying for a Society aiming at universal suffrage. A Society dependent on a bare minimum scientific literacy
can make no claims of even simple humanity if they do not provide educational opportunities to every citizen,
every human life. (Regardless of accidents of age, sex, race, place or conditions of birth).</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Further I believe that a society turning away from universal suffrage and especially away from
universal scientific and humane literacy will eventually find solid and compelling reasons to reduce,
restrict and constrain literacy to a very narrow preselected class and that handful will embrace its authority
and privilege and finally restore the monarchy and we will have returned to a new DARK AGES with its
priest craft along with its ugly sisters ignorance and superstition. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it’s blood and brutality.
</span></pre>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-45436722389649466422018-07-12T09:23:00.001-07:002018-07-12T09:23:29.984-07:00Advice to Would-be Media Influencers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY9duExj7TrNTutblbq_LeTwoNghr3DXpJt-74zKC6oMlYtP6oB-qEqrg9e391uYWOZTgLWh5vout4XiWcgcJjxgVtKSkLe5drJvsgQMAbYBiB1nHXfb0z8LqBqNl1A91n_hg/s1600/pnn-logo-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="920" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY9duExj7TrNTutblbq_LeTwoNghr3DXpJt-74zKC6oMlYtP6oB-qEqrg9e391uYWOZTgLWh5vout4XiWcgcJjxgVtKSkLe5drJvsgQMAbYBiB1nHXfb0z8LqBqNl1A91n_hg/s320/pnn-logo-1a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Advice to Would-be Media Influencers</b><br /><br />If you are asked to comment on the illustrious choice of the (<i><span style="color: blue;">former Bush Coup Enabler, former Ken Starr ghost writer, former Bush Administration Assistant to the Chief of Staff</span></i>)<br />JUDGE. <i>He who has been selected to Overturn</i>... (that which shall go unmentioned.) [hint: starts with Roe V Wade]<br /><br />Remember they (<i>OUR GOVERNMENT, We?</i>) are keeping track of all "media influencers" so your safest course (as a Media Influencer) is to lavish <b>hysterical unbridled praise</b> on not just the judge, and it almost "goes without saying", on the<span style="color: red;"> <u>Heroic and Olympian Judgment </u>of the Golden Gift of the GOD-GIVEN Trumperium.</span><br /><br />But I must add, that every effort must be made to - in the most ecstatic and fulsome terms, recognize such a glowing, incandescent even Promethean choice, of this the finest example of <b>sober nonpartisan judicial leadership</b>. ( <i>services to W's coup in Florida, notwithstanding</i>) , but I would think (<i><span style="color: red;">still allowed?</span></i>) that sustained histrionic and noisy groveling, and rending of garments when accompanied by slavish praise for the <b>FEDERALIST VETTING PROCEDURE </b>- is undoubtedly required to achieve even a <i>minimally adequate level of sycophancy necessary</i> to pass the TRUMPERIUM<b><span style="color: blue;"> "TRUE-BELIEVER"</span></b> LITMUS TEST.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: blue;">STOPPING IN ANYWAY SHORT </span></b>of an <i><span style="color: red;">abject groveling genuflection</span></i>, I think it probably safe to say (<i>looking over both shoulders</i>) absent that, there will be <b>no federal DC judgeship for you</b> ... my fine friend.<br /><br />( <i>passed along from an unnamed source, secreted away, at an undisclosed location, and TOTALLY off the record</i> )<br /><br /><br />Sent from an unsecured com link<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-3318475834583550072018-07-12T09:02:00.005-07:002018-07-12T09:02:58.390-07:00The New Good Neighbor Policy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY9duExj7TrNTutblbq_LeTwoNghr3DXpJt-74zKC6oMlYtP6oB-qEqrg9e391uYWOZTgLWh5vout4XiWcgcJjxgVtKSkLe5drJvsgQMAbYBiB1nHXfb0z8LqBqNl1A91n_hg/s1600/pnn-logo-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="920" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY9duExj7TrNTutblbq_LeTwoNghr3DXpJt-74zKC6oMlYtP6oB-qEqrg9e391uYWOZTgLWh5vout4XiWcgcJjxgVtKSkLe5drJvsgQMAbYBiB1nHXfb0z8LqBqNl1A91n_hg/s320/pnn-logo-1a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<pre wrap=""><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The New Good Neighbor Policy</b></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The corporations exist at the sufferance of civil society it was "assumed" in the past that the corner butcher
or dry goods shop owner or car dealer who lived and prospered by the use of civic roads and infrastructure
was compelled by native instinct to avoid shirking community norms and would not poison, or pollute
or adulterate their products because the good city burghers would not tolerate such abuse from a
fellow shopkeeper. (Now corporate entity) run by another villager to deal so imprudently with a neighbor
and fellow villager.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As corporations or shop keepers got bigger so large so as to claim resources from many villagers,
they have learned two diabolical skills - first playing fast and loose with international taxation loopholes
(as in apple or microshaft or gargle)</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I'm not living here, for tax paying purposes" and because, playing tax bill "whack a mole" and chasing
these international shopkeepers is a time consuming and expensive task.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(not to mention) How lobbyist cash "donations" is a strong disincentive for strict enforcement of shop keeper
responsibility.</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can no longer afford to have these international scofflaws thrive and hide, who expect to be able
to sell in this village, but claim to live "over there" (<i>for tax responsibility purposes</i>) While using all the
infrastructure they need to do business (mail service, street lights, EMT, roads, bridges, power, police,
all civil structures) in not just one but so many villages.
</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You say, These shopkeepers or corporations, or companies are people too? </span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We need to say, an end to these tax responsibility scofflaws, they need to ante up in your town and mine.
Also let me also add, when they poison our lakes, streams, rivers and air... no legal niceties should shield
these bad shopkeepers and allow them to skirt a good neighbor's civic duty -
You insist your four year old cleans up their mess - shouldn't these cross border shopkeepers should do less?</span></pre>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-53473612609170694712018-07-12T08:57:00.005-07:002018-07-12T08:57:48.589-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY9duExj7TrNTutblbq_LeTwoNghr3DXpJt-74zKC6oMlYtP6oB-qEqrg9e391uYWOZTgLWh5vout4XiWcgcJjxgVtKSkLe5drJvsgQMAbYBiB1nHXfb0z8LqBqNl1A91n_hg/s1600/pnn-logo-1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="636" data-original-width="920" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY9duExj7TrNTutblbq_LeTwoNghr3DXpJt-74zKC6oMlYtP6oB-qEqrg9e391uYWOZTgLWh5vout4XiWcgcJjxgVtKSkLe5drJvsgQMAbYBiB1nHXfb0z8LqBqNl1A91n_hg/s320/pnn-logo-1a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<pre wrap=""><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bulwark of the Law</span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: blue;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I interviewed a state attorney on this question (the 4th Amendment) and asked "what is the constitutional basis </span>
<span style="color: blue;">for this behavior? </span>
<span style="color: blue;"></span>
<span style="color: blue;">Since we ostensibly have enshrined in the CONSTITUTION protection from UNREASONABLE SEARCHES </span>
<span style="color: blue;">AND SEIZURES?"</span>
</span><span style="color: blue;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">He laughed and said "the war on drugs!" (He winked here, because he thought I liked his joke) I was thinking </span>
<span style="color: blue;">about all those people, who's lives were stolen)</span>
</span><span style="color: blue;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I said "regardless, when was the Constitution modified? I never heard anything about it. </span>
<span style="color: blue;">Did it happen while America wasn't looking? When our back was turned?" </span></span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">In W's felicitous phrase, </span>
<span style="color: blue;">"you gotta catapult the propaganda".</span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;"></span>
<span style="color: blue;">He laughed again, well he said in candor, "the forces of law&disorder (tm) profit by it TREMENDOUSLY! "</span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">I said, "yes I realize all those goods (stolen from citizens) enrich law enforcement" but I continued,</span>
<span style="color: blue;"> "you are an officer of the court, sworn to (hold up) uphold, the law, you're not supposed to sway</span>
<span style="color: blue;"> in the political wind. You represent the citizens' protection, you are our bulwark of the law!"</span></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He laughed and said, "<i>you see. it's never been successfully challenged that's why</i>!"</span>
<span style="color: blue;"></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sessions wants to increase seizures 7/18/17</span></pre>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-25784383895814082542018-06-26T10:29:00.002-07:002018-06-26T10:29:33.484-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
PNN - Marty Baum Special - Water Is Life<br /><br />Marty Baum, the Indian River Water Keeper has asked us to help him mobilize<br />our WATER IS LIFE ACTIVISTS!<br />
<br />
Marty is leading the Effort to Bring the LIGHT BRIGADE to the Roosevelt Bridge Friday JUNE 28th, from 7:30-9pm<br />
<br />We need to get our WATER IS LIFE PEOPLE OUT ON THE BRIDGE Friday 6/28/18<br />
<br />
The damage in Lake Okeechobee has spread out - out - out to the east and west and has spread its poison literally to the beach lining the shores of FLORIDA.<br />
<br />
Mart has recorded a message that you must hear, and hearing that clarion call -<br />he wants us to JOIN HIM ON THE ROOSEVELT BRIDGE FRIDAY NIGHT<br />
<br />HE IS BRINGING HIS MESSAGE IN LIGHT! -<br />
<br />TUNE IN on PNN WEDNESDAY THURSDAY and FRIDAY<br />
and Join Us on the Bridge Friday 6/28/18 at dark!<br />
<br />
TUNE IN SPREAD THE WORD!<br />
<br />Solidarity & Peace<br />Rick Spisak New Director PNN<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-49226210725553773602018-06-24T15:06:00.001-07:002018-06-24T17:51:49.507-07:00PNN - Exiles from Justice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssDcbTmkNG891n3B8EESBt-fQMIqrdI7cKdE0O0O7k7LljIl5rEJtHKGUSZRyjzEMEGUH9K5vEbhvtjqtU129xNkEkKw2mhN1P9gT-nWuKYSNYy45lc9UAMqvLFUDcCzYRkSl/s1600/pnn-exiles-from-justice--w.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="900" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhssDcbTmkNG891n3B8EESBt-fQMIqrdI7cKdE0O0O7k7LljIl5rEJtHKGUSZRyjzEMEGUH9K5vEbhvtjqtU129xNkEkKw2mhN1P9gT-nWuKYSNYy45lc9UAMqvLFUDcCzYRkSl/s320/pnn-exiles-from-justice--w.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<b></b><br />
<b>PNN - Exiles from Justice (6/24/18)</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b></b><span style="color: blue;">PNN- Exiles from Justice - from border to border from the country side to the heart of the city<br />PNN Welcomes two marvelous guests who treat of Justice and inJustice from the RIO GRANDE to Pennsylvania.<br /><b></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>Courtney Horne</b> a Technologist and System analyst discusses the issues facing America's search for Justice.<br /><br /><b>Veverly Gary Attorney</b> and <b>ACLU Chapter Chair</b> from the Treasure Coast Chapter discusses her perspective on the problems in Florida and makes suggestions on how we might improve the Justice available to all peoples in Florida Black, Brown and beige.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><b>Brook Hines</b> brings us her insight from the campaign trail and beyond. Also bring <b>Fred Barr</b>.<br /><br />Host and producer Rick Spisak discusses the danger of the presidents attack on the DIAPER DESPERADOES.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;">TUNE IN Live Sunday 7pm East / 6pm Central / 4pm Pacific</span><br />
<span style="color: #000025;"><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10848247" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
<span style="color: blue;"></span><span style="color: #000025;"></span><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10848247" target="_blank"><b>PNN - Listen Now</b></a><br />
<br />
LETS LOOK AT SOME OTHER ISSUES of the Day:<br />* Science in Exile<br />
* Plans to reduce Social Security<br />
* Plans to allow more pollution in our air and water<br />
* Plans to house more immigrants on Military bases<br />
* Continued increases in suicides in the general population<br />
* PLANS further our breaks with our allies in Europe and Canada<br />
* The Terrible costs of the Trade War <br />
* The Increases in deficits by the debt mesmerized republicans<br />
* Dumpfster launches a trial balloon to dispense with hearings for asylum seekers?<br />
* These immigrants are animals, the democrats care more about MS 13 than about Americans<br />
* Its up to Congress LEGISLATION is the only Selection, <br /> then TRUMPTATION undercuts Congressional Action<br />
<b></b><b></b><br />
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<b></b><br />
<b><span style="color: red;">Report: Up to 110 Million Americans Could Have PFAS-Contaminated Drinking Water<br />PFAS Tap Water Data Was Funded By Taxpayers But Kept Secret<br />Are PFAS chemicals in my water?</span></b><br />
The EPA has not compiled and released all the information on PFAS contamination. You can use EWG’s Tap Water Database to search your zip code and learn if you rely on one of the approximately 200 water systems with contamination levels above the EPA’s reporting limit. But keep in mind, the EPA’s reporting limit is higher than a health-protective level. The EPA or the labs that did the water analysis have either discarded or are withholding the results of tests that indicate contamination, but are below the EPA reporting limits, so some data is NOT reflected in EWG’s Tap Water Database. Join EWG in calling on the EPA to release ALL the data..<br />
What can I do if PFAS chemicals are found in my water?<br />
<br />
To reduce or eliminate PFAS chemicals from your water, use either a reverse osmosis or activated carbon filter. Activated carbon filters will be less effective at removing the shorter chain replacement PFAS chemicals, but we don't know the extent of water contamination from replacement chemicals. You can access our water filter guide here.<br />
<br />
Take action<br />
It is outrageous that the public does not know the extent of PFAS contamination of drinking water. Stand with EWG and demand that the EPA immediately collects contamination data and releases it to the public.<br />
<br />
<br />
More than 1,500 drinking water systems across the country may be contaminated with the nonstick chemicals PFOA and PFOS, and similar fluorine-based chemicals, a new EWG analysis shows. This groundbreaking finding comes the same day the Environmental Protection Agency is convening a summit to address PFAS chemicals – a class of toxic chemicals that includes PFOA and PFOS, and that are linked to cancer, thyroid disease, weakened immunity and other health problems.<br />
From 2013 to 2015, the EPA mandated national testing for PFAS chemicals in public water systems, yet the full results of this testing, funded by taxpayers, were never made public. Water utilities with the highest concentrations of PFAS chemicals have been publicly identified. But the names of utilities with detectable PFAS contamination below the so-called reporting levels of 10 to 90 parts per trillion, or ppt, were not released. Millions of people were not informed that their water supply is contaminated with these chemicals.<br />
<br />
The additional water systems with PFAS contamination likely serve tens of millions of people, and it is essential for people in those communities to be informed of this hazard. Eurofins Eaton Analytical, which analyzed a third of the nationwide water samples, found that 28 percent of the water utilities it tested contained PFAS chemicals at concentrations at or above 5 ppt. The percentage of samples with PFAS detections nearly doubled when the laboratory analyzed down to 2.5 ppt. Based on this data, EWG’s analysis suggests that up to 110 million Americans could have PFAS in their water.<br />
This new research greatly exceeds EWG’s previous estimate of 16 million Americans being exposed to PFAS-contaminated water, as reported in the EWG’s national Tap Water Database.<br />
<br />
Independent scientific assessments find that the safe level of exposure to PFAS chemicals is about 1 ppt – significantly below the reporting level set by the EPA.<br />
<br />
Just over a week ago, Inside EPA and Politico broke news that the White House and the EPA attempted to bury a proposal from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry that suggested exposure to Teflon and Scotchgard chemicals may be harmful at levels 10 times lower than what the EPA has publicly called safe. The full ATSDR proposal has not been made public, but the available information indicates the lower level was proposed because ATSDR accounted for harm to the immune system. This mirrors the more health protective approach New Jersey took in drafting its drinking water limits of 13 ppt for PFOS and 14 ppt for PFOA.<br />
The full implications a lower safe exposure level would have are uncertain because the extent of national drinking water contamination is unknown. The uncertainty is largely due to the reporting value the EPA has previously used. PFAS detections below the reporting limits were kept secret, and may have never been recorded.<br />
<br />
Today’s EPA summit on the PFAS contamination crisis carries no indication that the agency will take action. In fact, the public might expect the opposite result, given internal EPA emails showing that top aides to Administrator Scott Pruitt and White House officials attempted to suppress the ATSDR proposal, worrying the release of the study would be “a public relations nightmare” for the Trump administration.<br />
<br />
EWG calls on the EPA, testing laboratories and drinking water utilities across that country that have PFAS testing results to make the information public immediately. Knowing the locations and extent of contamination is critical for cleaning up water supplies and making the case for regulation.<br />
Secret PFAS contamination data<br />
<br />
In the water testing mandated by the EPA under the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, or UCMR, 198 different water utilities had recorded detections of PFAS chemicals in amounts above the EPA reporting limit. But the reporting limits were very high, using 40 ppt for PFOS and 20 ppt for PFOA, though many labs have much more sensitive detection limits. Some analytical labs are able to detect amounts as small 2 ppt of PFAS chemicals in water.<br />
<br />
Based on a reanalysis of the national dataset by Eurofins Eaton Analytical, a water testing lab that processed more than 30 percent of nationwide water samples, EWG estimated how many utilities would likely have contaminated water if the reporting values had been set lower. At a reporting limit of 5 ppt, an estimated 1,046 utilities could have tested positive. If all results down to 2.5 ppt were reported, we estimate that over 1,900 of the 4,920 water utilities tested in the United States would have reported contamination.<br />
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Using maps generated by Eurofins Eaton Analytical and the public UCMR results, we calculated the number of water utilities that the lab identified as having PFOA or PFOS in their water, without results being reported to the EPA. Some states such as New Jersey have done additionally water testing and have likely identified some, if not all, of the utilities that have PFAS chemicals in their water.<br />
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https://www.ewg.org/research/report-110-million-americans-could-have-pfas-contaminated-drinking-water#.WzASn_ZFyUl<b></b><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-83108498227829778752018-06-06T11:14:00.003-07:002018-06-06T11:21:07.539-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Creative political activist Ms Emine Dilek has begun a new project to support the fine work of Progressive Press with a new product for earth conscious women a product of <a href="https://theselene.com/collections/with-wings" target="_blank">Feminine Hygiene</a> products - They are natural and biodegradable, and CRUELTY FREE!</div>
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Enjoy the worry free BIODEGRADE-ABLE Products<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-45249369754441180482018-04-01T15:51:00.001-07:002018-04-01T18:03:46.019-07:00PNN - Progressives are the ANTS at the Big Boys Picnic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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PNN - Spring Ahead with leaders seasoned by the past, LIVING in the Now - eyes on the future<br />
Our Guests the Incomparable Brook Hines, with her keen political analysis<br />
Edwin Enciso leader in the progressive community and human rights activist<br />
Michael Panella - love time peace and human rights activist - talks about his transformation from a young seminarian to a Peace Activist<br />
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These Heroes of the past, leaders today and Vanguard of Tomorrow<br />
Laboring mightily today to build a better today and tomorrow<br />
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<a href="https://youtu.be/FWTZ9UIQQDs" target="_blank"><b>Net Neutrality Video</b></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Louisiana and Minnesota Introduce Anti-Protest Bills Amid Fights Over Bayou Bridge and Enbridge Pipelines</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Alleen Brown, Will Parrish</span><br />
This week, the Louisiana House of Representatives introduced new legislation aimed at criminalizing the activities of groups protesting the extraction, burning, and transport of oil and gas. The bill is similar to a model created by the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council. Indeed, in the wake of the massive protest movement at Standing Rock, which attempted to prevent completion of the Dakota Access pipeline, at least seven states have introduced or passed “critical infrastructure” legislation. Louisiana’s version comes as opponents of the Bayou Bridge pipeline have ramped up protest activities in the state, staging occupations and blockades aimed at halting construction of the project.<br />
The legislation creates new crimes that would punish groups for “conspiring” to trespass on critical infrastructure sites and prescribes particularly harsh penalties for those whose ideas, if carried out, would disrupt the operations of such infrastructure. The definition of the term critical infrastructure would be amended to include pipelines and pipeline construction sites. The language of the bill reaches far beyond cases of property destruction and stands to net individuals who do not participate in or condone such activities.<br />
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The Louisiana bill, unlike the ALEC model, does not require that any disruption to a facility’s functioning take place for penalties to apply — an individual could face huge fines or prison time without ever having set foot on the property.<br />
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“This is ALEC-plus,” said Pamela Spees, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights who is representing groups opposed to the Bayou Bridge project.<br />
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The proposed law appears to be designed to intimidate the array of groups working to halt construction of the 163-mile oil pipeline, which cuts through a sensitive wetland where Louisiana crawfish are harvested. The groups — including the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Bold Louisiana, and the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper — have worked together despite varying goals that range from preserving sensitive habitats and lessening the impact of climate change to defending property rights and protecting the local crawfishing industry.<br />
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The Bayou Bridge pipeline shares the same parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, as the Dakota Access pipeline. Indeed, the two projects represent the northern and southern ends of a larger pipeline system.<br />
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“I think it shows how very deeply this industry has our state government by the throat,” Cherri Foytlin, a member of the indigenous women’s advisory council for the anti-Bayou Bridge L’eau Est La Vie (Water Is Life) Camp, said of the new legislation. “That they would sacrifice the citizens of South Louisiana, who are trying to protect their water, by criminalizing them over companies like Energy Transfer Partners.”<br />
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Mounting Restrictions on the Right to Protest<br />
ALEC, which brings together corporations and right-wing legislators to draft industry-friendly policies, finalized its model “Critical Infrastructure Protection Act” in January based on a law passed in Oklahoma last spring, and since then, similar bills have been introduced in Iowa, Ohio, Wyoming, and Minnesota. Pennsylvania also introduced a critical infrastructure bill shortly after Oklahoma. In addition to ALEC, the nonpartisan Council of State Governments has also promoted the Oklahoma law on its list of “shared state legislation.”<br />
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The Iowa bill has passed both bodies of the state legislature and awaits final approval. The Ohio and Pennsylvania bills are pending, and the Wyoming bill passed the legislature before being vetoed by Gov. Matt Mead.<br />
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Minnesota’s bill, one of the newest, was introduced earlier this month. A committee of the state’s Republican-controlled House approved the bill on March 12, meaning it will soon go to a vote before the full House. The controversial Enbridge Line 3 pipeline awaits approval in the state, where it’s facing opposition from local tribes and environmental groups — some of which were also involved in fighting the Dakota Access pipeline.<br />
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The Minnesota bill appears to be aimed at those groups. Notably, it creates a felony for anyone who “recruits, trains, aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires with” an individual who causes significant damage to critical infrastructure such as pipelines. The penalties for such individuals or entities would be the same as those for the person who did the damage — up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. In the same vein, the law creates a misdemeanor for anyone who aids a person caught trespassing on a property containing critical infrastructure, and “vicarious liability” for any damage that occurs during the trespass. Versions of those items were also recommended by ALEC’s model.<br />
The pipeline-related bills are part of a broader legislative crackdown on protest movements. According to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, since Trump’s election, 31 states have considered bills meant to curb protest.<br />
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Minnesota lawmakers, for example, will also vote soon on a bill that creates a gross misdemeanor for anyone who interferes with freeway traffic or traffic on roadways near an airport. Additionally, it would increase the potential fine for anyone who interferes with vehicles and the potential jail sentence from 90 days to a year. The bill’s authors have described it as a response to protests that have blocked traffic in recent years, including those that erupted in 2015 after 24-year-old Jamar Clark was killed by Minneapolis police and in 2016 after a St. Anthony, Minnesota, officer shot and killed 32-year-old Philando Castile<br />
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“Where’s the Conspiracy Here?”<br />
In Louisiana, the majority of members of the House — 64 out of 105 — have signed on as sponsors of the critical infrastructure bill. Its primary sponsor, Major Thibault of Pointe Coupee Parish, is a Democrat, as are eight co-sponsors. “I saw what happened in parts of the country like North Dakota. Oklahoma had some legislation, and this is kind of modeled after that,” he told The Intercept. According to data from FollowtheMoney.org, energy and natural resources companies are Thibault’s second leading campaign donor by sector.<br />
Those convicted of “conspiring” to trespass on a pipeline site would be imprisoned for a maximum of five years, fined a maximum of $10,000, or both. If the conspirators’ plan involved disrupting the pipeline’s construction, they would be imprisoned for between six and 20 years, fined a maximum of $250,000, or both.<br />
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Those who actually succeed in disrupting the operations of a pipeline or construction site would actually face a lesser maximum fine, $25,000, than if they’d only conspired to do it and the same possible prison sentence, between six and 20 years. Courts would also have the ability to require offenders to pay the costs of any law enforcement response, as well as restitution to the property owner.<br />
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“Where’s the conspiracy here? Whose interests are being served? We’re already operating in a state where our regulatory agencies, we’ve seen, are not acting as independent regulators,” Spees said.<br />
“It’s further confirmation that a complete overhaul of the system is going to be what’s required,” said Foytlin. “We will do what we have to do to protect our water, and if that means we can’t be on the pipeline route, then we’ll be in these politicians’ office, and we’ll be running against them and replacing them with people that can put families in Louisiana over the profits of a pipeline company.”<br />
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<b>How to Turn Off Third-Party Data Access to Your Facebook Account -</b> Gaius Publius:<br />
Posted on March 30, 2018 by Yves Smith<br />
Yves here.<br />
While some of us have managed to stay far away from the personal data mining operation known as Facebook, some readers who have never been all that keen about Facebook point out that they can’t avoid having an account, since it’s the only way to participate in activities that are important to them, like their kids’ sports teams or local activist groups. This post gives advice as to how to lower your data bleed.<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">By Gaius Publius, a professional writer living on the West Coast of the United States and frequent contributor to DownWithTyranny, digby, Truthout, and Naked Capitalism. Follow him on Twitter @Gaius_Publius, Tumblr and Facebook. GP article archive here. Originally published at DownWithTyranny</span></i><br />
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Facebook has come under scrutiny lately for its role in passively giving data on 50 million of its users to Cambridge Analytica, a company that uses Facebook-type data to target and change electoral outcomes worldwide. (There’s more on the Cambridge Analytica story here and here. Note that Carole Cadwalladr is a co-author of both stories. Her reporting is one of the centers for information about this revelation.)<br />
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Cambridge Analytica got that Facebook data, not because Facebook gave it to them, but because Facebook’s policy on info-sharing allowed them to harvest it. Here’s how that was done (h/t Naked Capitalism; emphasis mine):<br />
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On March 17, The Observer of London and The New York Times announced that Cambridge Analytica, the London-based political and corporate consulting group, had harvested private data from the Facebook profiles of more than 50 million users without their consent. The data was collected through a Facebook-based quiz app called thisisyourdigitallife,<br />
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created by Aleksandr Kogan, a University of Cambridge psychologist who had requested and gained access to information from 270,000 Facebook members after they had agreed to use the app to undergo a personality test, for which they were paid through Kogan’s company, Global Science Research.<br />
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But as Christopher Wylie, a twenty-eight-year-old Canadian coder and data scientist and a former employee of Cambridge Analytica, stated in a video interview, the app could also collect all kinds of personal data from users, such as the content that they consulted, the information that they liked, and even the messages that they posted.<br />
In addition, the app provided access to information on the profiles of the friends of each of those users who agreed to take the test, which enabled the collection of data from more than 50 million.<br />
All this data was then shared by Kogan with Cambridge Analytica, which was working with Donald Trump’s election team and which allegedly used this data to target US voters with personalised political messages during the presidential campaign. As Wylie, told The Observer, “we built models to exploit what we knew about them and target their inner demons.”<br />
Forget the Trump factor and consider simply the Cambridge Analytica app and how it operated.<br />
People who agreed and were paid to use it gave up more information to the app than was disclosed to them. Part of what they unknowingly surrendered was information from the profiles of all of their Facebook friends. That’s how harvesting the data from 270,000 people became a hack, via the app, of data on 50 million, who gave no approval for this transfer.<br />
Not also that the means by which the original data was acquired was a ruse. The company’s interest in its “personality test” — thisisyourdigitallife — was false. All they wanted was the data.<br />
“Exactly How Facebook’s Infrastructure Was Designed to Work”<br />
This is not an aberration; this is how Facebook is designed to work and the source of the great wealth of its founders and investors. These Facebook apps (the games you play, the “tests” you take, and so on) are designed specifically as data transfers.<br />
When you play a game on Facebook, or take part in a “quiz” to see which Roman emperor you most resemble (or whatever), you may think you’re taking part in the “fun” of being on Facebook. In reality, you’re being used by the app makers, and Facebook is making money selling you and your data to them.<br />
The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) puts it this way (again, my emphasis):<br />
Over the weekend, it became clear that Cambridge Analytica, a data analytics company, got access to more than 50 million Facebook users’ data in 2014. The data was overwhelmingly collected, shared, and stored without user consent. The scale of this violation of user privacy reflects how Facebook’s terms of service and API [Application Programming Interface] were structured at the time. Make no mistake: this was not a data breach. This was exactly how Facebook’s infrastructure was designed to work.<br />
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The only way to fix this situation for yourself is to turn off the ability of Facebook’s “platform API” to send out your data. That means to anyone. You also have to turn off the ability to log into third-party sites using your Facebook account. That so-called “convenience” opens big holes.<br />
Getting Between Zuckerberg and His Money<br />
Below are the latest instructions for doing just that. But before we go there, pause to consider what Facebook is — a company that collects masses of data from billions of users, uses algorithms to analyze that data to get more information about its users, then (a) sells that datato third parties for any use they wish, generally manipulative ones; (b) sells access to its users and their data to third parties via games, apps and other means; and (c) uses that data for its own manipulative purposes if it so wishes.<br />
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ow To Turn Off Third-Party App Access to Your Data<br />
Now the fix for your own account. You could, of course, just delete your Facebook account, but until Facebook is regulated, they’re going to keep the data you’ve already given them anyway. #DeleteFacebook is a good personal solution to the problem going forward, but it’s understandably not for everyone.<br />
For those who choose not to do delete their Facebook account, here’s how, as of this writing, to eliminate access to your Facebook data by third-party apps. This comes from the EFF article linked above, but has been modified to reflect changes Facebook has already made since the controversy (what a mild term) erupted.<br />
As the EFF piece warns, “Keep in mind that this disables ALL platform apps (like Farmville, Twitter, or Instagram) and you will not be able to log into sites using your Facebook login.”<br />
Step 1. Click the pull-down arrow in the upper right corner of your Facebook page and select Settings. Then click Apps in the column on the left. (Or click here for a shortcut that takes you to the same place.)<br />
Step 2. Remove your Facebook login from all apps currently using it by looking in the large blue box labeled “Logged in with Facebook,” clicking on the check box below each app name, then clicking Remove.<br />
Explanation: The first large box below “App Settings” is labeled “Logged in with Facebook”. Listed are games, organizations and apps where your Facebook login is already your app login.<br />
My suggestion, don’t ever use your Facebook login as a third-party login. Instead create a login that’s specific to that organization or app and tie nothing to your Facebook account.<br />
When a game or other web-based app asks you to create an account or “sign in with Facebook or Twitter,” you’re handing over access to your account data if you choose the easier Facebook (or Twitter) option — just as those who took money from Cambridge Analytica did. Yes, you can limit this access, but (a) most people don’t, and (b) who knows if app or the organization behind it is doing just what Cambridge Analytica did?<br />
Step 3. Now remove this permission generally. Under “Apps, Websites and Games” see if the setting is “turned on” or “turned off.” If it’s turned off, you’re done.<br />
If it’s turned on, click the Edit button, then click Turn Off. You’re done.<br />
Explanation: As Facebook reminds you, if you turn off this setting:<br />
You won’t be able to log into apps or websites using Facebook<br />
Apps and websites you’ve logged into with Facebook may delete your accounts and activity<br />
You won’t be able to play some games on Facebook [Gameroom], and [some of] your gaming activity may be deleted<br />
Your posts, photos and videos on Facebook that apps and websites have published may be deleted<br />
You won’t be able to interact with or share content from other apps and websites on Facebook using social plugins such as the Share and Like buttons<br />
You may miss the use of Share and Like buttons on websites, but that’s the price. As of this writing, they don’t separate the permissions associated with Share and Like buttons with Facebook’s Gameroom and third-party login permissions. You can always go to Facebook itself and Share or Like a web post.<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-11525213930153545962017-11-26T06:23:00.001-08:002017-11-26T06:23:23.864-08:00PNN- The Treaty of Laramie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBFd4_Y_R38gTf52_OHSxCrNbxMLEm0eNhdLyvJsIP_SCAzH5XlJJwyQUncU_5InaIhCAJC1GIve7q7TZ3fGlJ7gbOOzyEFtMPcqLKTQCbl5o5cY2rx3OeO6T_-NiWxzu1DNR/s1600/pnn-NO-REZ-11-26-W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="933" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEBFd4_Y_R38gTf52_OHSxCrNbxMLEm0eNhdLyvJsIP_SCAzH5XlJJwyQUncU_5InaIhCAJC1GIve7q7TZ3fGlJ7gbOOzyEFtMPcqLKTQCbl5o5cY2rx3OeO6T_-NiWxzu1DNR/s320/pnn-NO-REZ-11-26-W.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
<b><br /><br /><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10423725" target="_blank">PNN</a><br />ARTICLES OF A TREATY MADE AND CONCLUDED BY AND BETWEEN</b><br />Lieutenant General William T. Sherman, General William S. Harney, General Alfred H. Terry, General O. O. Augur, J. B. Henderson, Nathaniel G. Taylor, John G. Sanborn, and Samuel F. Tappan, duly appointed commissioners on the part of the United States, and the different bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians, by their chiefs and headmen, whose names are hereto subscribed, they being duly authorized to act in the premises.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE I.</b><br />From this day forward all war between the parties to this agreement shall for ever cease. The government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they now pledge their honor to maintain it. <br />If bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof made to the agent, and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington city, proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained. <br />If bad men among the Indians shall commit a wrong or depredation upon the person or property of nay one, white, black, or Indian, subject to the authority of the United States, and at peace therewith, the Indians herein named solemnly agree that they will, upon proof made to their agent, and notice by him, deliver up the wrongdoer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws, and, in case they willfully refuse so to do, the person injured shall be reimbursed for his loss from the annuities, or other moneys due or to become due to them under this or other treaties made with the United States; and the President, on advising with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, shall prescribe such rules and regulations for ascertaining damages under the provisions of this article as in his judgment may be proper, but no one sustaining loss while violating the provisions of this treaty, or the laws of the United States, shall be reimbursed therefor.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE II.</b><br />The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit, viz: commencing on the east bank of the Missouri river where the 46th parallel of north latitude crosses the same, thence along low-water mark down said east bank to a point opposite where the northern line of the State of Nebraska strikes the river, thence west across said river, and along the northern line of Nebraska to the 104th degree of longitude west from Greenwich, thence north on said meridian to a point where the 46th parallel of north latitude intercepts the same, thence due east along said parallel to the place of beginning; and in addition thereto, all existing reservations of the east back of said river, shall be and the same is, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians as from time to time they may be willing, with the consent of the United States, to admit amongst them; and the United States now solemnly agrees that no persons, except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such officers, agents, and employees of the government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article, or in such territory as may be added to this reservation for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will and do hereby relinquish all claims or right in and to any portion of the United States or Territories, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid, and except as hereinafter provided.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE III.</b><br />If it should appear from actual survey or other satisfactory examination of said tract of land that it contains less than 160 acres of tillable land for each person who, at the time, may be authorized to reside on it under the provisions of this treaty, and a very considerable number of such persons hsall be disposed to comence cultivating the soil as farmers, the United States agrees to set apart, for the use of said Indians, as herein provided, such additional quantity of arable land, adjoining to said reservation, or as near to the same as it can be obtained, as may be required to provide the necessary amount.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE IV.</b><br />The United States agrees, at its own proper expense, to construct, at some place on the Missouri river, near the centre of said reservation where timber and water may be convenient, the following buildings, to wit, a warehouse, a store-room for the use of the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, to cost not less than $2,500; an agency building, for the residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding $3,000; a residence for the physician, to cost not more than $3,000; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engineer-each to cost not exceeding $2,000; also, a school-house, or mission building, so soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend school, which shall not cost exceeding $5,000. <br />The United States agrees further to cause to be erected on said reservation, near the other buildings herein authorized, a good steam circular saw-mill, with a grist-mill and shingle machine attached to the same, to cost not exceeding $8,000. <br /><b>ARTICLE V.</b><br />The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians shall in the future make his home at the agency building; that he shall reside among them, and keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint by and against the Indians as may be presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property he shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his findings, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision, subject to the revision of the Secretary of the Interior, shall be binding on the parties to this treaty.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE VI.</b><br />If any individual belonging to said tribes of Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within said reservation, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in extent, which tract, when so selected, certified, and recorded in the "Land Book" as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common, but the same may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it.<br /><br />Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like manner select and cause to be certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land, not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above directed.<br /><br />For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a description thereof and the name of the person selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party entitled to it, by the agent, after the same shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office, subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the "Sioux Land Book."<br /><br />The President may, at any time, order a survey of the reservation, and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide for protecting the rights of said settlers in their improvements, and may fix the character of the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property between the Indians and their descendants as may be thought proper. And it is further stipulated that any male Indians over eighteen years of age, of any band or tribe that is or shall hereafter become a party to this treaty, who now is or who shall hereafter become a resident or occupant of any reservation or territory not included in the tract of country designated and described in this treaty for the permanent home of the Indians, which is not mineral land, nor reserved by the United States for special purposes other than Indian occupation, and who shall have made improvements thereon of the value of two hundred dollars or more, and continuously occupied the same as a homestead for the term of three years, shall be entitled to receive from the United States a patent for one hundred and sixty acres of land including his said improvements, the same to be in the form of the legal subdivisions of the surveys of the public lands. Upon application in writing, sustained by the proof of two disinterested witnesses, made to the register of the local land office when the land sought to be entered is within a land district, and when the tract sought to be entered is not in any land district, then upon said application and proof being made to the Commissioner of the General Land Office, and the right of such Indian or Indians to enter such tract or tracts of land shall accrue and be perfect from the date of his first improvements thereon, and shall continue as long as be continues his residence and improvements and no longer. And any Indian or Indians receiving a patent for land under the foregoing provisions shall thereby and from thenceforth become and be a citizen of the United States and be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of such citizens, and shall, at the same time, retain all his rights to benefits accruing to Indians under this treaty.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE VII.</b><br />In order to insure the civilization of the Indians entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially of such of them as are or may be settled on said agricultural reservations, and they, therefore, pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and sixteen years, to attend school, and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty children between said ages, who can be induced or compelled to attend school, a house shall be provided, and a teacher competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education shall be furnished, who will reside among said Indians and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a teacher. The provisions of this article to continue for not less than twenty years.<br /><b><br />ARTICLE VIII.</b><br />When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected lands and received his certificate as above directed, and the agent shall be satisfied that he intends in good faith to commence cultivating the soil for a living, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and agricultural implements for the first year, not exceeding in value one hundred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall continue to farm, for a period of three years more, he shall be entitled to receive seeds and implements as aforesaid, not exceeding in value twenty-five dollars. And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence farming shall receive instruction from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel, and other material as may be needed.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE IX.</b><br />At any time after ten years fro the making of this treaty, the United States shall have the privilege of withdrawing the physician, farmer, blacksmith, carpenter, engineer, and miller herein provided for, but in case of such withdrawal, an additional sum thereafter of ten thousand dollars per annum shall be devoted to the education of said Indians, and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall, upon careful inquiry into their condition, make such rules and regulations for the expenditure of said sums as will best promote the education and moral improvement of said tribes.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE X.</b><br />In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named under any treaty or treaties heretofore made, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house on the reservation herein named, on or before the first day of August of each year, for thirty years, the following articles, to wit: <br />For each male person over 14 years of age, a suit of good substantial woollen clothing, consisting of coat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, hat, and a pair of home-made socks. <br />For each female over 12 years of age, a flannel shirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woollen hose, 12 yards of calico, and 12 yards of cotton domestics. <br />For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woollen hose for each. <br />And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to estimate properly for the articles herein named, it shall be the duty of the agent each year to forward to him a full and exact census of the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.<br /><br />And in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of $10 for each person entitled to the beneficial effects of this treaty shall be annually appropriated for a period of 30 years, while such persons roam and hunt, and $20 for each person who engages in farming, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the purchase of such articles as from time to time the condition and necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if within the 30 years, at any time, it shall appear that the amount of money needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better uses for the Indians named herein, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes, but in no event shall the amount of the appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named. And the President shall annually detail an officer of the army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods herein named, to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the quantity and quality of the goods and the manner of their delivery. And it is hereby expressly stipulated that each Indian over the age of four years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said reservation, one pound of meat and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their own subsistence at an earlier date. And it is further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each lodge of Indians or family of persons legally incorporated with the, who shall remove to the reservation herein described and commence farming, one good American cow, and one good well-broken pair of American oxen within 60 days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation. <br /><br /><b>ARTICLE XI.</b><br /><span style="color: red;">In consideration of the advantages and benefits conferred by this treaty and the many pledges of friendship by the United States, the tribes who are parties to this agreement hereby stipulate that they will relinquish all right to occupy permanently the territory outside </span><br />their reservations as herein defined, but yet reserve the right to hunt on any lands north of North Platte, and on the Republican Fork of the Smoky Hill river, so long as the buffalo may range thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase. And they, the said Indians, further expressly agree:<br /><br />1st. That they will withdraw all opposition to the construction of the railroads now being built on the plains.<br /><br />2d. That they will permit the peaceful construction of any railroad not passing over their reservation as herein defined.<br /><br />3d. That they will not attack any persons at home, or travelling, nor molest or disturb any wagon trains, coaches, mules, or cattle belonging to the people of the United S <br />tates, or to persons friendly therewith.<br /><br />4th. They will never capture, or carry off from the settlements, white women or children.<br /><br />5th. They will never kill or scalp white men, nor attempt to do them harm.<br /><br />6th. They withdraw all pretence of opposition to the construction of the railroad now being built along the Platte river and westward to the Pacific ocean, and they will not in future object to the construction of railroads, wagon roads, mail stations, or other works of utility or necessity, which may be ordered or permitted by the laws of the United States. But should such roads or other works be constructed on the lands of their reservation, the government will pay the tribe whatever amount of damage may be assessed by three disinterested commissioners to be appointed by the President for that purpose, one of the said commissioners to be a chief or headman of the tribe.<br /><br />7th. They agree to withdraw all opposition to the military posts or roads now established south of the North Platte river, or that may be established, not in violation of treaties heretofore made or hereafter to be made with any of the Indian tribes.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE XII.</b><br />No treaty for the cession of any portion or part of the reservation herein described which may be held in common, shall be of any validity or force as against the said Indians unless executed and signed by at least three-fourths of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same, and no cession by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such manner as to deprive, without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of his rights to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article VI of this treaty.<br /><b><br />ARTICLE XIII.</b><br />The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually to the Indians the physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths, as herein contemplated, and that such appropriations shall be made from time to time, on the estimate of the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE XIV.</b><br />It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually for three years from date shall be expended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who in the judgment of the agent may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.<br /><br /><b>ARTICLE XV. </b><br />The Indians herein named agree that when the agency house and other buildings shall be constructed on the reservation named, they will regard said reservation their permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement elsewhere; but they shall have the right, subject to the conditions and modifications of this treaty, to hunt, as stipulated in Article XI hereof. <br />
<br /><b>ARTICLE XVI.</b><br /><span style="color: red;">The United States hereby agrees and stipulates that the country north of the North Platte river and east of the summits of the Big Horn mountains shall be held and considered to be unceded. Indian territory, and also stipulates and agrees that no white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the same; or without the consent of the Indians, first had and obtained, to pass through the same; and it is further agreed by the United States, that within ninety days after the conclusion of peace with all the bands of the Sioux nation, the military posts now established in the territory in this article named shall be abandoned, and that the road leading to them and by them to the settlements in the Territory of Montana shall be closed. </span><br />
<span style="color: red;"></span><br /><b>ARTICLE XVII.</b><br />It is hereby expressly understood and agreed by and between the respective parties to this treaty that the execution of this treaty and its ratification by the United States Senate shall have the effect, and shall be construed as abrogating and annulling all treaties and agreements heretofore entered into between the respective parties hereto, so far as such treaties and agreements obligate the United States to furnish and provide money, clothing, or other articles of property to such Indians and bands of Indians as become parties to this treaty, but no further. <br />In testimony of all which, we, the said commissioners, and we, the chiefs and headmen of the Brule band of the Sioux nation, have hereunto set our hands and seals at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.<br /><br />N. G. TAYLOR,<br />W. T. SHERMAN,<br />Lieutenant General<br />WM. S. HARNEY,<br />Brevet Major General U.S.A.<br />JOHN B. SANBORN,<br />S. F. TAPPAN,<br />C. C. AUGUR,<br />Brevet Major General<br />ALFRED H. TERRY,<br />Brevet Major General U.S.A.<br />Attest:<br />A. S. H. WHITE, Secretary.<br />Executed on the part of the Brule band of Sioux by the chiefs and headman whose names are hereto annexed, they being thereunto duly authorized, at Fort Laramie, D. T., the twenty-ninth day of April, in the year A. D. 1868.<br /><br />MA-ZA-PON-KASKA, his X mark, Iron Shell.<br />WAH-PAT-SHAH, his X mark, Red Leaf.<br />HAH-SAH-PAH, his X mark, Black Horn.<br />ZIN-TAH-GAH-LAT-WAH, his X mark, Spotted Tail.<br />ZIN-TAH-GKAH, his X mark, White Tail.<br />ME-WAH-TAH-NE-HO-SKAH, his X mark, Tall Man.<br />SHE-CHA-CHAT-KAH, his X mark, Bad Left Hand.<br />NO-MAH-NO-PAH, his X mark, Two and Two.<br />TAH-TONKA-SKAH, his X mark, White Bull.<br />CON-RA-WASHTA, his X mark, Pretty Coon.<br />HA-CAH-CAH-SHE-CHAH, his X mark, Bad Elk.<br />WA-HA-KA-ZAH-ISH-TAH, his X mark, Eye Lance.<br />MA-TO-HA-KE-TAH, his X mark, Bear that looks behind.<br />BELLA-TONKA-TONKA, his X mark, Big Partisan.<br />MAH-TO-HO-HONKA, his X mark, Swift Bear.<br />TO-WIS-NE, his X mark, Cold Place.<br />ISH-TAH-SKAH, his X mark, White Eye.<br />MA-TA-LOO-ZAH, his X mark, Fast Bear.<br />AS-HAH-HAH-NAH-SHE, his X mark, Standing Elk.<br />CAN-TE-TE-KI-YA, his X mark, The Brave Heart.<br />SHUNKA-SHATON, his X mark, Day Hawk.<br />TATANKA-WAKON, his X mark, Sacred Bull.<br />MAPIA SHATON, his X mark, Hawk Cloud.<br />MA-SHA-A-OW, his X mark, Stands and Comes.<br />SHON-KA-TON-KA, his X mark, Big Dog.<br />Attest:<br />ASHTON S. H. WHITE, Secretary of Commission.<br />GEORGE B. WITHS, Phonographer to Commission.<br />GEO. H. HOLTZMAN.<br />JOHN D. HOWLAND.<br />JAMES C. O'CONNOR.<br />CHAR. E. GUERN, Interpreter.<br />LEON T. PALLARDY, Interpreter.<br />NICHOLAS JANIS, Interpreter.<br />Executed on the part of the Ogallalla band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are hereto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized, at Fort Laramie, the 25th day of May, in the year A. D. 1868. <br />TAH-SHUN-KA-CO-QUI-PAH, his mark, Man-afraid-of-his-horses.<br />SHA-TON-SKAH, his X mark, White Hawk.<br />SHA-TON-SAPAH, his X mark, Black Hawk.<br />EGA-MON-TON-KA-SAPAH, his X mark, Black Tiger<br />OH-WAH-SHE-CHA, his X mark, Bad Wound.<br />PAH-GEE, his X mark, Grass.<br />WAH-NON SAH-CHE-GEH, his X mark, Ghost Heart.<br />COMECH, his X mark, Crow.<br />OH-HE-TE-KAH, his X mark, The Brave.<br /><b>TAH-TON-KAH-HE-YO-TA-KAH, his X mark, Sitting Bull.</b><br />SHON-KA-OH-WAH-MEN-YE, his X mark, Whirlwind Dog.<br />HA-KAH-KAH-TAH-MIECH, his X mark, Poor Elk.<br />WAM-BU-LEE-WAH-KON, his X mark, Medicine Eagle.<br />CHON-GAH-MA-HE-TO-HANS-KA, his X mark, High Wolf.<br />WAH-SECHUN-TA-SHUN-KAH, his X mark, American Horse.<br />MAH-KAH-MAH-HA-MAK-NEAR, his X mark, Man that walks under the ground.<br />MAH-TO-TOW-PAH, his X mark, Four Bears.<br />MA-TO-WEE-SHA-KTA, his X mark, One that kills the bear.<br />OH-TAH-KEE-TOKA-WEE-CHAKTA, his X mark, One that kills in a hard place.<br />TAH-TON-KAH-TA-MIECH, his X mark, The Poor Bull.<br />OH-HUNS-EE-GA-NON-SKEN, his X mark, Mad Shade.<br />SHAH-TON-OH-NAH-OM-MINNE-NE-OH-MINNE, his X mark, Whirling hawk.<br />MAH-TO-CHUN-KA-OH, his X mark, Bear's Back.<br />CHE-TON-WEE-KOH, his X mark, Fool Hawk.<br />WAH-HOH-KE-ZA-AH-HAH, his X mark,<br />EH-TON-KAH, his X mark, Big Mouth.<br />MA-PAH-CHE-TAH, his X mark, Bad Hand.<br />WAH-KE-YUN-SHAH, his X mark, Red Thunder.<br />WAK-SAH, his X mark, One that Cuts Off.<br />CHAH-NOM-QUI-YAH, his X mark, One that Presents the Pipe.<br />WAH-KE-KE-YAN-PUH-TAH, his X mark, Fire Thunder.<br />MAH-TO-NONK-PAH-ZE, his X mark, Bear with Yellow Ears.<br />CON-REE-TEH-KA, his X mark, The Little Crow.<br />HE-HUP-PAH-TOH, his X mark, The Blue War Club.<br />SHON-KEE-TOH, his X mark, The Blue Horse.<br />WAM-BALLA-OH-CONQUO, his X mark, Quick Eagle.<br />TA-TONKA-SUPPA, his X mark, Black Bull.<br />MOH-TOH-HA-SHE-NA, his X mark, The Bear Hide.<br />Attest:<br />S. E. WARD.<br />JAS. C. O'CONNOR.<br />J. M. SHERWOOD.<br />W. C. SLICER.<br />SAM DEON.<br />H. M. MATHEWS.<br />JOSEPH BISS<br />NICHOLAS JANIS, Interpreter.<br />LEFROY JOTT, Interpreter.<br />ANTOINE JANIS, Interpreter.<br />Executed on the part of the Minneconjou band of Sioux by the chiefs and headmen whose names are hereunto subscribed, they being thereunto duly authorized. <br />HEH-WON-GE-CHAT, his X mark, One Horn.<br />OH-PON-AH-TAH-E-MANNE, his X mark, The Elk that Bellows Walking.<br />HEH-HO-LAH-ZEH-CHA-SKAH, his X mark, Young White Bull.<br />WAH-CHAH-CHUM-KAH-COH-KEEPAH, his X mark, One that is Afraid of Shield.<br />HE-HON-NE-SHAKTA, his X mark, The Old Owl.<br />MOC-PE-A-TOH, his X mark, Blue Cloud.<br />OH-PONG-GE-LE-SKAH, his X mark, Spotted Elk.<br />TAH-TONK-KA-HON-KE-SCHUE, his X mark, Slow bull.<br />SHONK-A-NEE-SHAH-SHAH-ATAH-PE, his X mark, The Dog Chief.<br />MA-TO-TAH-TA-TONK-KA, his X mark, Bull Bear.<br />WOM-BEH-LE-TON-KAH, his X mark, The Big Eagle.<br />MATOH, EH-SCHNE-LAH, his X mark, The Lone Bear.<br />MA-TOH-OH-HE-TO-KEH, his X mark, The Brave Bear.<br />EH-CHE-MA-KEH, his X mark, The Runner.<br />TI-KI-YA, his X mark, The Hard.<br />HE-MA-ZA, his X mark, Iron Horn.<br />Attest:<br />
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<a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10423725" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: #0066cc; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">PNN</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-5935952202400792502017-11-19T06:48:00.002-08:002017-11-19T06:48:25.244-08:00PNN - Lets Not Talk OIL SPILLS or TAX BILLS! Lets Talk Battle of the SEXES!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>PNN - Lets Not Talk OIL SPILLS or TAX BILLS!<br />Lets Talk Battle of the SEXES!!</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10411843" target="_blank">PNN - 11/19/17</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lets
Not Pay Attention to TAX PLANS and OIL Spills</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">1.<b>Dakota
Access Pipeline Company Paid Mercenaries to Build Conspiracy Lawsuit
Against Environmentalists</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;"><i>The
private security firm TigerSwan worked to build a RICO suit accusing
Greenpeace, Earth First, and BankTrack of inciting protests to
increase donations.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">The
private security firm TigerSwan, hired by Energy Transfer Partners to
protect the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, was paid to gather
information for what would become a sprawling conspiracy lawsuit
accusing environmentalist groups of inciting the anti-pipeline
protests in an effort to increase donations, three former TigerSwan
contractors told The Intercept. For months, a conference room wall at
TigerSwan’s Apex, North Carolina, headquarters was covered with a
web-like map of funding nodes the firm believed it had uncovered —
linking billionaire backers to nonprofit organizations to pipeline
opponents protesting at Standing Rock. It was a “showpiece” for
board members and ETP executives, according to a former TigerSwan
contractor — part of a project that had little to do with the
pipeline’s physical security.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">In
August, the law firm founded by Marc Kasowitz, Donald Trump’s
personal attorney for more than a decade, filed a 187-page
racketeering complaint against Greenpeace, Earth First, and the
divestment group BankTrack in the U.S. District Court of North
Dakota, seeking $300 million in damages on behalf of Energy Transfer
Partners. The NoDAPL movement, the suit claims, was driven by “a
network of putative not-for-profits and rogue eco-terrorist groups
who employ patterns of criminal activity and campaigns of
misinformation to target legitimate companies and industries with
fabricated environmental claims.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;">“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>It
was as if the entire campaign came in a box. And of course it did,”
the suit alleges. “Its objective was not to protect the environment
or Native Americans but to produce as sensational and public a
dispute as possible, and to use that publicity and emotion to drive
fundraising.”</i></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Among
the nonprofit network’s alleged crimes: “perpetrating acts of
terrorism under the U.S. Patriot Act, including destruction of an
energy facility, destruction of hazardous liquid pipeline facility,
arson and bombing of government property risking or causing injury or
death.”</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #b45f06;">“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
felt compelled to file the lawsuit against Greenpeace and others
because we want the truth to come out about the illegal actions that
took place in North Dakota and the funding of these actions,” ETP
spokesperson Vicki Granado told The Intercept. “In many cases, the
only way the truth comes out is through the legal process.”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">The
case was filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act, passed in 1970 to prosecute organized crime —
primarily the mob. Greenpeace says it amounts to a strategic lawsuit
against public participation, or SLAPP, designed to curtail free
speech through expensive, time-consuming litigation.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
grossly distorts the law and facts at Standing Rock,” said
Greenpeace general counsel Tom Wetterer. “We’ll win the
lawsuit, but it’s not really what this is about for ETP. What
they’re really trying to do is silence future protests and advocacy
work against the company and other corporations.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">[The
lawsuit] had some major racist overtones. They were basically saying
that we were not intelligent enough to know for ourselves what the
possibilities were in case the pipeline were to leak. They were
basically saying we were manipulated,” said Linda Black Elk, a
member of the Catawba Nation who lives on the Standing Rock
reservation and organized against the pipeline months before the
protests began. “I think the whole purpose of it is to scare tribes
from further activism when it comes to the fossil fuel industries and
to scare these green groups to keep them from supporting us in those
future fights.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Short-Lived
Line of Work</b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TigerSwan,
which got its start working U.S. government contracts in Afghanistan
and Iraq, was hired by Energy Transfer Partners to coordinate the
DAPL operation in September 2016, after dogs handled by private
security officers were caught on film biting pipeline opponents. The
firm began collecting information on the movement’s funding streams
soon afterward, submitting intelligence to ETP via daily situation
reports, more than 100 of which were leaked to The Intercept by a
TigerSwan contractor.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
the effort to build a lawsuit began in earnest in January. TigerSwan
personnel were tasked directly by lawyers working for ETP with
fulfilling information requests, according to two former contractors.
Situation reports from the beginning of February note that the
company planned to “continue to proceed with the ETP legal team’s
requests.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">In
response to the requests, TigerSwan personnel sent reports on
trespassing incidents and pipeline sabotage, including information
about who was suspected to be involved and monetary damages caused by
the work stoppages. The firm also compiled descriptions of movement
leaders and individuals arrested by law enforcement, and tracked
donations to DAPL-related GoFundMe accounts. Much of the intelligence
collection was carried out via fake social media accounts and
infiltration of protest camps by TigerSwan operatives.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">According to the former contractors, the company intended to sell its legal
investigative services to future clients. A PowerPoint presentation
obtained by The Intercept, which a former contractor described as
marketing material to attract a new contract, shows TigerSwan
applying its follow-the-money tactics to a new pipeline fight against
Pennsylvania’s Mariner East 2 project. The presentation traces
nonprofit funds to various “action arms,” which include activist
groups — Lancaster Against Pipelines and Marcellus Shale Earth
First — as well as a member of the press, StateImpact, a regionally
focused public radio project.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
concerns StateImpact, the TigerSwan graphic is incorrect,” editor
Scott Blanchard told The Intercept. “StateImpact, which covers
Pennsylvania’s energy economy, is independent of outside influence
and is not aligned with any stakeholders.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While
TigerSwan eventually landed security work on the Pennsylvania
pipeline, its RICO work for Energy Transfer Partners was
short-lived. By early March, the legal team working for ETP had
pulled the security firm off the lawsuit. Former TigerSwan
contractors speculated the firm’s lack of experience building legal
cases made it ill-equipped for the project.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Michael
Bowe, the Kasowitz attorney representing ETP in the RICO case, told
The Intercept, “We did not retain or work with TigerSwan.” Former
TigerSwan personnel agreed that the ETP lawyers working most closely
with TigerSwan were not with Kasowitz.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">ETP
declined to comment on TigerSwan’s work, stating, “We do not
comment on any specifics related to our security programs.” A
TigerSwan spokesperson stated, “We do not discuss the details of
our efforts for any client. We are proud of our work to provide the
very best in consultative risk management services to our clients
around the world.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Hunting Paid
Protesters</b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Internal
documents and interviews with the former TigerSwan contractors
display some of the fruits of the firm’s investigation, which
include claims that echo prominent right-wing conspiracy theories.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
PowerPoint presentation created in the fall of 2016 describes what
TigerSwan dubbed the Billionaire’s Club: “an exclusive group of
wealthy individuals, [which] directs the far-left environmental
movement.” Several slides are dedicated to the anti-pipeline
nonprofit Bold Nebraska, whose parent organization, Bold Alliance, is
named in the ETP suit.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Underlying
Bold Nebraska’s homespun, grassroots facade is a significant,
growing, well-funded and well-organized financial support network
originating from wealthy far-left environmental interests thousands
of miles away,” one slide states. The language is pulled verbatim
from a 2014 report by the Republican minority staff of the Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works, titled “Chain of
Environmental Command: How a Club of Billionaires and Their
Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama’s EPA.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>TigerSwan
claimed that among the wealthy interests behind Bold Alliance was
billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett, whose donations to
foundations that support environmental causes, one slide states,
benefited an oil-by-rail business owned by Buffett’s investment
company Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett also appears at the center of a
TigerSwan links map, obtained by The Intercept, meant to depict
movement funders and influencers.</i></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One
of the theory’s most obvious flaws is that Buffett has a
significant financial stake in the Dakota Access pipeline. Berkshire
Hathaway is the largest investor in the oil and gas firm Phillips 66,
which owns a 25 percent stake in DAPL. Buffett did not respond to a
request for comment.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Jane
Kleeb, founder of Bold Alliance, told The Intercept that the group
raised money for food and shelter at the DAPL resistance camps. They
also had an indigenous staff member on the ground for six months
who was involved in organizing protests.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #b45f06;">“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We’d
be happy to take Buffett’s millions, but we don’t have any of
that money,” she said, noting the organization relies on thousands
of small donors. “There’s literally never been a foundation or a
major donor that has given us money and said, ‘You have to do XYZ
and target XYZ person.’”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #b45f06;">“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s
remarkable that because we are a nonprofit and because I get paid a
salary, and I pay our organizers a salary, that somehow makes us a
paid protester,” Kleeb added.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Indeed,
according to one of the former TigerSwan contractors, a goal of the
firm’s RICO work was to identify “paid protesters.”</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Throughout
the protests, prosecutors and police also took interest in
identifying such protesters, indicating that the oil industry’s
hunt for a conspiracy was taken up by the public sector.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Multiple
TigerSwan situation reports note law enforcement efforts to follow
the money. For example, on March 3, a TigerSwan operative wrote,
“Spoke with FBI Agent Tom Reinwart in reference to funds being
funneled to protesters.” Another report from February 11 describes
the Bureau of Indian Affairs tracking individuals “assessed to be
assisting in the facilitation of moving money and supplies to the
camps.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile,
Lynn Woodall of the Morton County Sheriff’s Department also
regularly forwarded a protester social media activity bulletin from a
Gmail account to an array of law enforcement officials. The bulletins
summarized Facebook and Twitter statements made by DAPL opponents,
tracked the progress of various anti-DAPL fundraising campaigns, and
at times noted posts made by groups named in the lawsuit —
including 350.org, Greenpeace, and Earthjustice — under a category
labeled “Protest Supporters and Amplifiers.” In at least one
case, the bulletin was forwarded to a TigerSwan operative.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">A
spokesperson for Morton County told The Intercept that a law
enforcement staff member collected the fundraising information
for “situational awareness.” Neither the FBI nor the Bureau of
Indian Affairs responded to The Intercept’s requests for comment.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">State’s
attorneys were also interested in funding linked to media
coverage of the protests, repeatedly singling out Democracy Now, the
news outlet whose footage of private security dogs attacking
protesters attracted widespread criticism of the pipeline project and
galvanized many to join the opposition movement. In a motion filed
last December as part of a criminal case against pipeline opponents,
state’s attorney Ladd Erickson repeated right-wing talking
points. “Some DAPL protester videos are designed for
fundraising, to get actors weeping into cameras,” he said, adding,
“Pretend journalists like Amy Goodman of Democracy Now or The Young
Turks have published manipulated DAPL social media videos with faux
narratives in an attempt to be recognized as a news source by those
who are duped by fake news.”</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">In
a November 29 email, the acting state’s attorney of McKenzie
County, Todd Schwarz, relayed to a North Dakota State and Local
Intelligence Center officer a secondhand story he’d heard about
someone a colleague sat next to on a flight. “He indicated to
Ron that he is a paid protester, $ 3000/day plus expenses. His check
comes from Democracy Now who receives their money through the DNC
from the Clinton Foundation. I have no way to confirm this but was
asked to pass it to you.” Schwarz noted it was “the first time
I’ve had it confirmed from the person who actually heard it from
the paid protester.” Schwarz did not respond to a request for
comment.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #b45f06;">“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">These
claims are baseless and absurd,” Julie Crosby, general manager
for Democracy Now, told The Intercept. “The Young Turks’ Jordan
Chariton took six trips to Standing Rock, where he conducted
interviews that shined a light on the truth and raced to cover the
front lines of the demonstration,” a spokesperson for
the network told The Intercept, calling the narrative
pushed by ETP “a continuation of right-wing, corporate
intimidation tactics.”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Of
course, as police and prosecutors searched for the
big-money backers of the protest movement, they were receiving their
own share of billionaire support. Throughout the protests,
police used ETP equipment including ATVs, snowmobiles, and a
helicopter. This past October, ETP paid the state of North
Dakota $15 million for law enforcement expenses, and went on a tour
of pipeline counties in Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and
Illinois, handing out giant checks totaling $1 million — “gifts
without condition,” as one ETP executive put it.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Using
Lawsuits to Chill Free Speech</b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
it was adopted, RICO was thought to be a mafia tool,” Jeffrey
Grell, who teaches courses on RICO at the University of Minnesota
School of Law, told The Intercept. “Now it’s going through a
renaissance,” he added, noting that while federal courts tried to
limit applications of the law, winning the case is often not the
primary motive of those filing charges.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
do not think this pipeline claim is a very legitimate use of this
statute … but in legal reality, whether you have a good claim or
not does not matter,” Grell said. “If you are an energy company,
you have a lot more money than some of these protest groups, so
paying a lawyer for two or three years to sue these protesters, who
cares? But I guarantee you, the protest groups, they’re going to
care.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #b45f06;">“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If
you have got money in our country, you can use litigation for a lot
of purposes, and many times those purposes are not to win a court
case.”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Marc
Kasowitz’s firm was also behind a RICO suit filed last year against
Greenpeace on behalf of logging company Resolute Forest Products.
That suit was dismissed in October, although Resolute has filed an
amended complaint.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Kasowitz
attorney Michael Bowe told Bloomberg Businessweek that Energy
Transfer Partners and Resolute are not the only companies with an
interest in suing Greenpeace. “When Greenpeace directly attacks a
company’s customers, financing, and business, that company has
little choice but to legally defend itself,” he said. “I know
others who are considering having to do so and would be shocked if
there are not many more.”</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-size: medium;">Several
states have passed “anti-SLAPP” legislation in an effort to
counter the use of lawsuits for the purpose of chilling free speech,
but North Dakota is not one of them. “There’s no question that
whether it’s a civil damages lawsuit or a criminal prosecution, if
part of what’s motivating it is a desire to suppress speech, that
it’s a First Amendment problem,” Seth Berlin, an attorney who has
defended the First Amendment rights of advocacy groups and political
organizations, told The Intercept.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #b45f06;">“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s
a big threat to the environmental movement,” said Wetterer, the
Greenpeace lawyer. “These baseless lawsuits have to be thrown out
at the initial stage because the longer they go on, the corporations
win.”</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #b45f06;"><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/search/projectid:33327-TigerSwan" target="_blank"><br /></a></span>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: calibri; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/search/projectid:33327-TigerSwan" target="_blank">https://www.documentcloud.org/search/projectid:33327-TigerSwan</a></span></b></div>
<b><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/search/projectid:33327-TigerSwan" target="_blank">https://www.documentcloud.org/search/projectid:33327-TigerSwan</a></b><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2.
Dakota Access-Style Policing Moves to Pennsylvania’s Mariner East 2
Pipeline</b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">(Intercept)</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
Dakota Access opponents moved to new pipeline fights in other states,
the repressive tactics deployed against the NoDAPL movement migrated
too.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
months of employing military-style counterinsurgency tactics to
subvert opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota,
Iowa, Illinois, and South Dakota, the private security firm TigerSwan
is monitoring resistance to another project — the controversial
Mariner East 2 pipeline.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Like
DAPL, Mariner East 2 is owned by Energy Transfer Partners. The
pipeline is slated to run for 350 miles, transporting ethane,
butane, and propane through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to
a hub near Philadelphia for shipment to both domestic and
international markets. Internal TigerSwan documents reviewed by The
Intercept suggest the company has had a presence in Pennsylvania
since at least April.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
April 1, the Mariner East 1 pipeline, which runs parallel to the
proposed path of ME2, spilled 20 barrels of ethane and propane near
Morgantown, Pennsylvania. On the day of the incident, an email
provided to The Intercept by a TigerSwan contractor shows the firm
was watching social media for signs the spill would become a rallying
point for pipeline opponents.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At
this time the incident has NOT gained any public interest,” a
TigerSwan </span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">operative wrote
in the email.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TigerSwan
founder James Reese replied, “We nees [sic] to monitor social media
for blow baxk [sic] on the leak.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
company had been monitoring Dakota Access opponents’ social media
for months and analyzing press coverage related to that pipeline
fight, according to more than 100 internal situation reports leaked
to The Intercept. The documents routinely referenced
counterinformation efforts to produce and distribute propaganda
favorable to the pipeline.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">TigerSwan
apparently carried at least some of these practices to Pennsylvania.
It would be weeks before the public learned of the leak of highly
explosive natural gas liquids. According to a source with direct
knowledge of TigerSwan’s operation, making sure nobody found out
about the incident was part of TigerSwan’s mission on the project.
Nearby residents were kept in the dark until April 20, when Sunoco,
which recently completed a merger with Energy Transfer Partners,
confirmed to a local media outlet that the leak had occurred.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
Dakota Access opponents moved to new pipeline fights across the
country, other repressive tactics deployed against the NoDAPL
movement migrated too. TigerSwan’s entry into the ME2 struggle
comes as industry-supported lawmakers in Pennsylvania, a center of
the nation’s fracking boom, are advancing legislative efforts to
increase fines and charges associated with anti-pipeline direct
action protests.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
TigerSwan situation reports show that as early as February, as state
officials prepared to evacuate the first pipeline resistance camp in
North Dakota, the security firm was monitoring the potential for DAPL
opposition to spill over into grassroots struggles against other
pipeline projects, including ME2 and Energy Transfer Partners’
Rover pipeline in Ohio. “Recently, Illinois activists have begun to
shift their focus in earnest from anti-DAPL to anti-pipeline,” a
situation report dated February 21 reads. “They have started
sharing information on multiple pipeline projects across the country.
There has not yet been any mention of Mariner East or Rover, but
there is an active effort to continue their momentum in fighting
pipeline construction and operation.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Public
records also show an increased interest by the company in areas
through which other Energy Transfer Partners projects would pass.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Last
November, TigerSwan obtained business licenses in Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and West Virginia, the three states in the path of ME2. On June
1, TigerSwan also obtained a business license to operate in
Louisiana, where Energy Transfer Partners is building the Bayou
Bridge Pipeline, which would connect to the Dakota Access Pipeline
system and carry Bakken shale oil to Gulf Coast export terminals.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At
a February hearing held by the Louisiana Department of Natural
Resources, TigerSwan advisory board chair James “Spider” Marks, a
retired U.S. Army major general, spoke in favor of building the
pipeline — without revealing his association with TigerSwan. He
also published an op-ed in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser newspaper
decrying the “anti-energy agitators” who oppose the project.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No
Louisianan wants to live under the conditions that those unsuspecting
North Dakota residents were subject to — with protesters
trespassing, interrupting the local flow of traffic, and generally
injecting elements of fear and the unknown into their daily lives,”
Marks wrote. “A timely approval process of the Bayou Bridge
Pipeline, however, would prevent the possibility of such conditions
arising in this state.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
May, Marks wrote another opinion piece that failed to disclose
his TigerSwan affiliation, this time for the
Pennsylvania news site PennLive, warning readers there to “be wary
of professional pipeline protesters” who turned Standing Rock into
a scene of “hapless violence and bloodshed.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many
of the same professional agitators who fomented chaos in North Dakota
are turning their efforts to the Mariner East II Pipeline in
Pennsylvania,” Marks wrote. “These orchestrators make no
qualms about their intent to turn Camp White Pine — a small but
growing protest area in Huntingdon County — into the next national
showdown.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Energy
Transfer Partners declined to comment, writing in an email to The
Intercept that it does not “discuss details of our security
initiatives, which are designed to ensure the safety of our employees
and the communities in which we live and work.” In an email sent to
The Intercept from a TigerSwan account, an unnamed representative of
the firm declined to answer questions about TigerSwan’s work on
ME2, but commented on its social media monitoring efforts. “Of
course we monitor social media during any type of situation,” the
person wrote. “With the advent of so many bots on twitter and those
organizations who perpetuate defamatory and outrageous slander
against not only American companies but local, state and national law
enforcement on the internet, we wouldn’t be doing our job unless we
did.” Marks did not respond to a request for comment. Last
week, TigerSwan retweeted a comment characterizing his PennLive piece
as a “TigerSwan op-ed.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Opponents
of the ME2 project say they’ve noticed an increased security
presence around the pipeline’s path in recent months. “They’ve
been making us feel that we’re under constant threat and
observation,” Elise Gerhart told The Intercept.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Elise
and her parents, Ellen and Stephen Gerhart, have campaigned against
ME2 for more than two years and currently host Camp White Pine on
their 27-acre property along the pipeline’s right of way in
Pennsylvania’s Huntingdon County, where they stage tree-sits to
protest the clearing of land for construction. As the pipeline’s
construction moves closer, Elise said unmarked pickup trucks have
parked across the road from their driveway at night, shining their
high beams toward the camp. Helicopters have regularly hovered low
over their land, a tactic familiar to Standing Rock protesters.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">According
to StateImpact Pennsylvania, a spokesperson for Sunoco and
Energy Transfer Partners denied that the newly merged company or its
partners had flown helicopters over the Gerhart property.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
southeastern Pennsylvania’s Delaware County, Eric Friedman,
president of a local homeowner’s association, said that as
resistance to the project has grown more vocal, so has residents’
sense that they are being watched. Friedman’s group is concerned
that the pipeline will move pressurized natural gas liquids through a
densely populated suburban area, in close proximity to schools and a
senior living facility. Last month, one of the schools started
practicing emergency drills to prepare for a possible pipeline
explosion, and a study commissioned by a local coalition for
community safety warned of the worst-case consequences of potential
leaks, including the ignition of “a fireball with a blast radius up
to 1,100 feet.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
recent months, administrators of area Facebook groups opposed to the
pipeline reported getting requests from individuals they “have
questions about,” Friedman noted. “I suspect that they’re here
and using the same kinds of tactics,” he told The Intercept,
referring to private security agents. “My sense is that they
escalate their response in accordance to the resistance that they’re
being met with.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While
the unmarked trucks and strange Facebook requests couldn’t be
definitively traced to a private security contractor, TigerSwan’s
documented efforts on behalf of Energy Transfer Partners to
repress the anti-DAPL movement have raised concerns for ME2
opponents.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
year ago, people didn’t realize that the company that was using
these kinds of tactics in North Dakota was the same company that’s
proposing to build this project here. There wasn’t a lot of
awareness,” Friedman said. “Now that’s very much in everybody’s
mind.”</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
Pennsylvania, as in North Dakota, public officials have also played a
role increasing pressure on pipeline opponents.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On
May 4, state Sen. Scott Martin hosted a closed-door forum between
first responders in Lancaster County and officials from North Dakota
who were involved in policing the NoDAPL movement. The next day,
citing costs associated with the North Dakota protests, Martin
distributed a memorandum seeking a co-sponsor for a bill he was
drafting that would hold individuals “civilly liable for response
costs related to a demonstration if the person is convicted for
rioting,” “is a public nuisance,” or “is involved in hosting
the demonstration.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Martin
represents much of Lancaster County, which is home to the Lancaster
Stand, an action camp located on private property whose organizers
have promised to use the grounds as a base for direct actions against
the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline once construction begins.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
isn’t the first anti-protester legislation to be pushed in the
state. State Sen. Mike Regan recently introduced a measure
defining a new type of felon: the “critical infrastructure facility
trespasser.” The label could be applied for as little as
“attempt[ing] to enter a critical infrastructure facility, knowing
that the person is not licensed or privileged to do so.” An
individual who succeeded in entering the property with “intent”
to damage or destroy equipment or even simply to impede facility
operations would face up to two years in prison and a minimum $10,000
fine, as would anyone “conspiring” with others to trespass.
Critical infrastructure is defined in the bill as including numerous
types of oil and gas infrastructure. The bill was scheduled for a
judiciary committee vote last month, which was canceled at the last
minute.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
Pennsylvania’s Raging Chicken Press reported, language in the bill
mirrors that of a recently approved Oklahoma law penalizing oil and
gas industry protesters. And indeed, it’s part of a trend of
anti-protester legislation introduced in more than a dozen states
across the U.S., including bills aimed at oil infrastructure
protesters in Colorado, South Dakota, and North Dakota.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
even without the new legislation, ME2 opponents have faced stiff
penalties for hindering construction.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
March 2016, as contractors for Sunoco began cutting down trees,
Huntingdon County sheriff’s deputies arrested Ellen Gerhart on her
own property when she attempted to warn construction crews that
her daughter, Elise, was in a tree dangerously close to where they
were clearing. Two other pipeline opponents were also arrested.
One of them, Alex Lotorto, was detained for three days on a $200,000
bail. Gerhart, a retired special education teacher, was later
arrested a second time on her property, and according to a public
comment she submitted to the state Department of Environmental
Protection, was held in isolation for three days without access to a
lawyer.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Charges
against her were eventually dropped, but Sunoco later requested that
a Pennsylvania judge allow law enforcement to arrest trespassers
on the pipeline easement — even if they happened to own the
easement land. On April 28, in a rare decision, Huntingdon
County Judge George Zanic complied with the request, ordering
what’s known as a “writ of possession” enabling authorities to
arrest the Gerharts for trespassing on their own property.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Meanwhile,
in Delaware County, disputes between property owners and the
pipeline company have also ramped up. In May, after some stakes that
a pipeline survey crew had placed along the project site were removed
overnight, a project manager representing Sunoco emailed an attorney
for the local homeowners association. “Because of this, the survey
will have to be done again and further monitoring of the property
will be requested from the local authorities,” the agent warned in
an email reviewed by The Intercept. The Sunoco agent added that “the
professional survey crew staked within the limits of the project and
did not trespass on anyone’s property.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
Eric Friedman disputes that and says the stakes were placed by the
pipeline company on the private property of the Andover Homeowners’
Association and private lots within the subdivision. “The very idea
that Sunoco’s agents would call upon law enforcement to protect
their trespass strikes me as completely backwards,” Friedman told
The Intercept.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
took that as a threat to use law enforcement against us,” he added.
“It indicated to me that he was at some level in contact with the
Pennsylvania State Police and threatening to activate them against
us.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lt.
James Hennigan of the Pennsylvania State Police, which is in charge
of the area where the incident took place, wrote in a statement to
The Intercept that the agency “responds to all calls for service.
Our members take appropriate action if any crime has been committed.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In
North Dakota and Iowa, TigerSwan regularly shared information with
law enforcement. The Huntingdon County Sheriff’s Office, in the
Gerharts’ county, and the police department in Caernarvon Township,
where the Mariner East 1 leak took place, did not respond to requests
for comments about collaboration with private security.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Friedman
said he hopes local law enforcement will work with residents rather
than pipeline representatives. “We live here, we are your
neighbors, we are the same as you,” he said. “These people are
not, they are outsiders, and you should be working for us. We are
your
constituents.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21/dakota-access-style-policing-moves-to-pennsylvanias-mariner-east-2-pipeline/" target="_blank"><br /></a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21/dakota-access-style-policing-moves-to-pennsylvanias-mariner-east-2-pipeline/" target="_blank">INTERCEPT STORY</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21/dakota-access-style-policing-moves-to-pennsylvanias-mariner-east-2-pipeline/" target="_blank">https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21/dakota-access-style-policing-moves-to-pennsylvanias-mariner-east-2-pipeline/</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /><b>3. Dakota Access Pipeline Company Paid Mercenaries to Build Conspiracy Lawsuit Against Environmentalists</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The private security firm TigerSwan worked to build a RICO suit accusing Greenpeace, Earth First, and BankTrack of inciting protests to increase donations.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The private security firm TigerSwan, hired by Energy Transfer Partners to protect the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, was paid to gather information for what would become a sprawling conspiracy lawsuit accusing environmentalist groups of inciting the anti-pipeline protests in an effort to increase donations, three former TigerSwan contractors told The Intercept. For months, a conference room wall at TigerSwan’s Apex, North Carolina, headquarters was covered with a web-like map of funding nodes the firm believed it had uncovered — linking billionaire backers to nonprofit organizations to pipeline opponents protesting at Standing Rock. It was a “showpiece” for board members and ETP executives, according to a former TigerSwan contractor — part of a project that had little to do with the pipeline’s physical security.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In August, the law firm founded by Marc Kasowitz, Donald Trump’s personal attorney for more than a decade, filed a 187-page racketeering complaint against Greenpeace, Earth First, and the divestment group BankTrack in the U.S. District Court of North Dakota, seeking $300 million in damages on behalf of Energy Transfer Partners. The NoDAPL movement, the suit claims, was driven by “a network of putative not-for-profits and rogue eco-terrorist groups who employ patterns of criminal activity and campaigns of misinformation to target legitimate companies and industries with fabricated environmental claims.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“It was as if the entire campaign came in a box. And of course it did,” the suit alleges. “Its objective was not to protect the environment or Native Americans but to produce as sensational and public a dispute as possible, and to use that publicity and emotion to drive fundraising.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Among the nonprofit network’s alleged crimes: “perpetrating acts of terrorism under the U.S. Patriot Act, including destruction of an energy facility, destruction of hazardous liquid pipeline facility, arson and bombing of government property risking or causing injury or death.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“We felt compelled to file the lawsuit against Greenpeace and others because we want the truth to come out about the illegal actions that took place in North Dakota and the funding of these actions,” ETP spokesperson Vicki Granado told The Intercept. “In many cases, the only way the truth comes out is through the legal process.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The case was filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, passed in 1970 to prosecute organized crime — primarily the mob. Greenpeace says it amounts to a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or SLAPP, designed to curtail free speech through expensive, time-consuming litigation.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“It grossly distorts the law and facts at Standing Rock,” said Greenpeace general counsel Tom Wetterer. “We’ll win the lawsuit, but it’s not really what this is about for ETP. What they’re really trying to do is silence future protests and advocacy work against the company and other corporations.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“[The lawsuit] had some major racist overtones. They were basically saying that we were not intelligent enough to know for ourselves what the possibilities were in case the pipeline were to leak. They were basically saying we were manipulated,” said Linda Black Elk, a member of the Catawba Nation who lives on the Standing Rock reservation and organized against the pipeline months before the protests began. “I think the whole purpose of it is to scare tribes from further activism when it comes to the fossil fuel industries and to scare these green groups to keep them from supporting us in those future fights.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Short-Lived Line of Work</b><br />TigerSwan, which got its start working U.S. government contracts in Afghanistan and Iraq, was hired by Energy Transfer Partners to coordinate the DAPL operation in September 2016, after dogs handled by private security officers were caught on film biting pipeline opponents. The firm began collecting information on the movement’s funding streams soon afterward, submitting intelligence to ETP via daily situation reports, more than 100 of which were leaked to The Intercept by a TigerSwan contractor.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But the effort to build a lawsuit began in earnest in January. TigerSwan personnel were tasked directly by lawyers working for ETP with fulfilling information requests, according to two former contractors. Situation reports from the beginning of February note that the company planned to “continue to proceed with the ETP legal team’s requests.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In response to the requests, TigerSwan personnel sent reports on trespassing incidents and pipeline sabotage, including information about who was suspected to be involved and monetary damages caused by the work stoppages. The firm also compiled descriptions of movement leaders and individuals arrested by law enforcement, and tracked donations to DAPL-related GoFundMe accounts. Much of the intelligence collection was carried out via fake social media accounts and infiltration of protest camps by TigerSwan operatives.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
According to the former contractors, the company intended to sell its legal investigative services to future clients. A PowerPoint presentation obtained by The Intercept, which a former contractor described as marketing material to attract a new contract, shows TigerSwan applying its follow-the-money tactics to a new pipeline fight against Pennsylvania’s Mariner East 2 project. The presentation traces nonprofit funds to various “action arms,” which include activist groups — Lancaster Against Pipelines and Marcellus Shale Earth First — as well as a member of the press, StateImpact, a regionally focused public radio project.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“As concerns StateImpact, the TigerSwan graphic is incorrect,” editor Scott Blanchard told The Intercept. “StateImpact, which covers Pennsylvania’s energy economy, is independent of outside influence and is not aligned with any stakeholders.”<br />While TigerSwan eventually landed security work on the Pennsylvania pipeline, its RICO work for Energy Transfer Partners was short-lived. By early March, the legal team working for ETP had pulled the security firm off the lawsuit. Former TigerSwan contractors speculated the firm’s lack of experience building legal cases made it ill-equipped for the project.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Michael Bowe, the Kasowitz attorney representing ETP in the RICO case, told The Intercept, “We did not retain or work with TigerSwan.” Former TigerSwan personnel agreed that the ETP lawyers working most closely with TigerSwan were not with Kasowitz.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
ETP declined to comment on TigerSwan’s work, stating, “We do not comment on any specifics related to our security programs.” A TigerSwan spokesperson stated, “We do not discuss the details of our efforts for any client. We are proud of our work to provide the very best in consultative risk management services to our clients around the world.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Hunting Paid Protesters Internal documents and interviews with the former TigerSwan contractors display some of the fruits of the firm’s investigation, which include claims that echo prominent right-wing conspiracy theories.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A PowerPoint presentation created in the fall of 2016 describes what TigerSwan dubbed the Billionaire’s Club: “an exclusive group of wealthy individuals, [which] directs the far-left environmental movement.” Several slides are dedicated to the anti-pipeline nonprofit Bold Nebraska, whose parent organization, Bold Alliance, is named in the ETP suit.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Underlying Bold Nebraska’s homespun, grassroots facade is a significant, growing, well-funded and well-organized financial support network originating from wealthy far-left environmental interests thousands of miles away,” one slide states. The language is pulled verbatim from a 2014 report by the Republican minority staff of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, titled “Chain of Environmental Command: How a Club of Billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama’s EPA.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
TigerSwan claimed that among the wealthy interests behind Bold Alliance was billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett, whose donations to foundations that support environmental causes, one slide states, benefited an oil-by-rail business owned by Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett also appears at the center of a TigerSwan links map, obtained by The Intercept, meant to depict movement funders and influencers.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of the theory’s most obvious flaws is that Buffett has a significant financial stake in the Dakota Access pipeline. Berkshire Hathaway is the largest investor in the oil and gas firm Phillips 66, which owns a 25 percent stake in DAPL. Buffett did not respond to a request for comment.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Alliance, told The Intercept that the group raised money for food and shelter at the DAPL resistance camps. They also had an indigenous staff member on the ground for six months who was involved in organizing protests.<br />“We’d be happy to take Buffett’s millions, but we don’t have any of that money,” she said, noting the organization relies on thousands of small donors. “There’s literally never been a foundation or a major donor that has given us money and said, ‘You have to do XYZ and target XYZ person.’”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“It’s remarkable that because we are a nonprofit and because I get paid a salary, and I pay our organizers a salary, that somehow makes us a paid protester,” Kleeb added.<br />Indeed, according to one of the former TigerSwan contractors, a goal of the firm’s RICO work was to identify “paid protesters.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Throughout the protests, prosecutors and police also took interest in identifying such protesters, indicating that the oil industry’s hunt for a conspiracy was taken up by the public sector.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Multiple TigerSwan situation reports note law enforcement efforts to follow the money. For example, on March 3, a TigerSwan operative wrote, “Spoke with FBI Agent Tom Reinwart in reference to funds being funneled to protesters.” Another report from February 11 describes the Bureau of Indian Affairs tracking individuals “assessed to be assisting in the facilitation of moving money and supplies to the camps.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Meanwhile, Lynn Woodall of the Morton County Sheriff’s Department also regularly forwarded a protester social media activity bulletin from a Gmail account to an array of law enforcement officials. The bulletins summarized Facebook and Twitter statements made by DAPL opponents, tracked the progress of various anti-DAPL fundraising campaigns, and at times noted posts made by groups named in the lawsuit — including 350.org, Greenpeace, and Earthjustice — under a category labeled “Protest Supporters and Amplifiers.” In at least one case, the bulletin was forwarded to a TigerSwan operative.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A spokesperson for Morton County told The Intercept that a law enforcement staff member collected the fundraising information for “situational awareness.” Neither the FBI nor the Bureau of Indian Affairs responded to The Intercept’s requests for comment.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
State’s attorneys were also interested in funding linked to media coverage of the protests, repeatedly singling out Democracy Now, the news outlet whose footage of private security dogs attacking protesters attracted widespread criticism of the pipeline project and galvanized many to join the opposition movement. In a motion filed last December as part of a criminal case against pipeline opponents, state’s attorney Ladd Erickson repeated right-wing talking points. “Some DAPL protester videos are designed for fundraising, to get actors weeping into cameras,” he said, adding, “Pretend journalists like Amy Goodman of Democracy Now or The Young Turks have published manipulated DAPL social media videos with faux narratives in an attempt to be recognized as a news source by those who are duped by fake news.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In a November 29 email, the acting state’s attorney of McKenzie County, Todd Schwarz, relayed to a North Dakota State and Local Intelligence Center officer a secondhand story he’d heard about someone a colleague sat next to on a flight. “He indicated to Ron that he is a paid protester, $ 3000/day plus expenses. His check comes from Democracy Now who receives their money through the DNC from the Clinton Foundation. I have no way to confirm this but was asked to pass it to you.” Schwarz noted it was “the first time I’ve had it confirmed from the person who actually heard it from the paid protester.” Schwarz did not respond to a request for comment.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />“These claims are baseless and absurd,” Julie Crosby, general manager for Democracy Now, told The Intercept. “The Young Turks’ Jordan Chariton took six trips to Standing Rock, where he conducted interviews that shined a light on the truth and raced to cover the front lines of the demonstration,” a spokesperson for the network told The Intercept, calling the narrative pushed by ETP “a continuation of right-wing, corporate intimidation tactics.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of course, as police and prosecutors searched for the big-money backers of the protest movement, they were receiving their own share of billionaire support. Throughout the protests, police used ETP equipment including ATVs, snowmobiles, and a helicopter. This past October, ETP paid the state of North Dakota $15 million for law enforcement expenses, and went on a tour of pipeline counties in Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Illinois, handing out giant checks totaling $1 million — “gifts without condition,” as one ETP executive put it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Using Lawsuits to Chill Free Speech</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b></b><br />“When it was adopted, RICO was thought to be a mafia tool,” Jeffrey Grell, who teaches courses on RICO at the University of Minnesota School of Law, told The Intercept. “Now it’s going through a renaissance,” he added, noting that while federal courts tried to limit applications of the law, winning the case is often not the primary motive of those filing charges.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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“I do not think this pipeline claim is a very legitimate use of this statute … but in legal reality, whether you have a good claim or not does not matter,” Grell said. “If you are an energy company, you have a lot more money than some of these protest groups, so paying a lawyer for two or three years to sue these protesters, who cares? But I guarantee you, the protest groups, they’re going to care.”</div>
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“If you have got money in our country, you can use litigation for a lot of purposes, and many times those purposes are not to win a court case.”</div>
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Marc Kasowitz’s firm was also behind a RICO suit filed last year against Greenpeace on behalf of logging company Resolute Forest Products. That suit was dismissed in October, although Resolute has filed an amended complaint.</div>
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Kasowitz attorney Michael Bowe told Bloomberg Businessweek that Energy Transfer Partners and Resolute are not the only companies with an interest in suing Greenpeace. “When Greenpeace directly attacks a company’s customers, financing, and business, that company has little choice but to legally defend itself,” he said. “I know others who are considering having to do so and would be shocked if there are not many more.”<br />Several states have passed “anti-SLAPP” legislation in an effort to counter the use of lawsuits for the purpose of chilling free speech, but North Dakota is not one of them. “There’s no question that whether it’s a civil damages lawsuit or a criminal prosecution, if part of what’s motivating it is a desire to suppress speech, that it’s a First Amendment problem,” Seth Berlin, an attorney who has defended the First Amendment rights of advocacy groups and political organizations, told The Intercept.</div>
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<br />“It’s a big threat to the environmental movement,” said Wetterer, the Greenpeace lawyer. “These baseless lawsuits have to be thrown out at the initial stage because the longer they go on, the corporations win.”</div>
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<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/search/projectid:33327-TigerSwan" target="_blank">https://www.documentcloud.org/search/projectid:33327-TigerSwan</a></div>
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4.<b>Dakota Access-Style Policing Moves to Pennsylvania’s Mariner East 2 Pipeline<br />(Intercept)</b></div>
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<b></b><br />As Dakota Access opponents moved to new pipeline fights in other states, the repressive tactics deployed against the NoDAPL movement migrated too.</div>
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After months of employing military-style counterinsurgency tactics to subvert opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, and South Dakota, the private security firm TigerSwan is monitoring resistance to another project — the controversial Mariner East 2 pipeline.<br />Like DAPL, Mariner East 2 is owned by Energy Transfer Partners. The pipeline is slated to run for 350 miles, transporting ethane, butane, and propane through Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia to a hub near Philadelphia for shipment to both domestic and international markets. Internal TigerSwan documents reviewed by The Intercept suggest the company has had a presence in Pennsylvania since at least April.<br />On April 1, the Mariner East 1 pipeline, which runs parallel to the proposed path of ME2, spilled 20 barrels of ethane and propane near Morgantown, Pennsylvania. On the day of the incident, an email provided to The Intercept by a TigerSwan contractor shows the firm was watching social media for signs the spill would become a rallying point for pipeline opponents.</div>
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<br />“At this time the incident has NOT gained any public interest,” a TigerSwan<br /> operative wrote in the email.</div>
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<br />“We live here, we are your neighbors, we are the same as you,” he said. “These people are not, they are outsiders, and you should be working for us. We are your constituents.”</div>
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<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21/dakota-access-style-policing-moves-to-pennsylvanias-mariner-east-2-pipeline/" target="_blank">https://theintercept.com/2017/06/21/dakota-access-style-policing-moves-to-pennsylvanias-mariner-east-2-pipeline/</a></div>
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3. UPDATE “How Doug Jones could pull off a stunner in Alabama” </div>
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[Politico]. </div>
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“[Jones] does have a path. Here’s how it looks, according to interviews with nearly a dozen Democrats within and near Jones’ team since Moore was hit with accusations of pursuing — and in two cases abusing — teenage girls. First, create a permission structure for alienated Republicans who are skeptical of Moore — primarily those who voted against him in the GOP primary — to cross the aisle. At the same time invigorate the base, especially African-Americans, who make up over a quarter of registered voters, according to the Alabama Secretary of State’s office. And finally, keep the national Democratic Party and its despised brand as far out of the picture as possible, while still benefiting from its money.” [Naked Capitalism]</div>
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<br /> UPDATE “Ballotpedia has had good coverage of the swing districts situation” [bears2267, Reddit] (original). Figures as of November 15: “Currently they have it 49-48 D with 3 races too close to call, officially it sits at 51-49 R with election results certified or ready to be certified. The Virginia Democratic Party is challenging 55 ballots in District 28 (and a potential challenge of 668 votes intended for the 28th that might have been mistakenly cast in the 88th instead). Once those challenges are figured out in the courts, the state board will certify the results and then recounts can begin and the 3 Democrats in the 3 swing districts have all indicted they were request their allowed recount. So a couple of weeks still until we know the final results.” [Naked Capitalism]</div>
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UPDATE “Latest 28th District fight focused on Fredericksburg precincts” [Inside NOVA]. “Now that all the votes have been counted, Democrat Josh Cole fell 82 votes short of beating Republican Bob Thomas in the 28th District race to replace retiring House Speaker Bill Howell. Since then, Democrats have been raising challenges to the results, including a pending federal lawsuit, in the hopes of flipping the race and forcing a tie in the House — Republicans are still clinging to a 51-49 majority following a wave election for Democrats on Nov. 7.” [Naked Capitalism]</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br /> UPDATE “Rural white voters didn’t show up for Virginia’s election” [Vox]. “What fueled Democrats’ victories on Tuesday? A quick analysis from the New York Times suggests this was a “suburban rebellion,” with moderates shifting from Donald Trump to Democrats. A look at the Virginia vote, however, suggests that votes in the most rural, conservative counties may hold the real story.” Readers will have noticed the “suburban rebellion” strategy pre-positioned by Democrats for whom that is the preferred 2018 and 2020 strategy, so this article is a useful corrective. More: “The analysis above suggests that Democrats did well because white, conservative, rural Republicans, — those who gave Trump his victory last year — simply didn’t show up this time.” So, why would that be? [Naked Capitalism]</div>
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<br /> UPDATE “Independent upset: Dems crush everywhere—except Charlottesville” [Cville]. “The unprecedented evening continued in Charlottesville, where Nikuyah Walker bucked the Democratic groundswell and became the first independent to win a seat on City Council since 1948. Also unprecedented: It’s the first time two African Americans will serve on council when she joins Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy on the dais in January…. Walker’s win ‘breaks up the total Democratic control on council,’ says UVA Center for Politics’ Geoffrey Skelley. “It’s meaningful in the aftermath of all the terrible things that happened in Charlottesville” with the monument debate and neo-Nazi invasion, which some put at the feet of City Council. ‘Walker was offering something different,’ he says. ‘It’s a reaction locally when Democrats were crushing it everywhere else. It’s a reaction to local issues that have become national issues.'”<br />[Naked Capitalism]</div>
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4. As US Fuels War Crimes in Yemen, House Says US Involvement is Unauthorized<br />Posted on November 19, 2017 by Jerri-Lynn Scofield </div>
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Jerri-Lynn here: This Real News Network interview with Mike Weisbrot discusses the non-binding resolution the House of Representatives passed last week concerning the unauthorized role of the United States in the war in Yemen. This Saudi war has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, including a cholera epidemic and widespread hunger and starvation. No end to the crisis is in sight.<br />Weisbrot is Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. and author of the book Failed: What the “Experts” Got Wrong About the Global Economy (Oxford University Press, 2015), co-author, with Dean Baker, of Social Security: The Phony Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 2000). He writes a column on economic and policy issues that is distributed to over 550 newspapers by the Tribune Content Agency and his opinion pieces have appeared in The Guardian, New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and Brazil’s largest newspaper, Folha de Sao Paulo. He is also president of Just Foreign Policy.</div>
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SHARMINI PERIES: It’s The Real News Network. I’m Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. The humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen is getting increasingly dire every day. On Thursday, the directors of the World Health Organization, WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the UNICEF, and the World Food Program issued a joint statement urging Saudi Arabia to lift its blockade on Yemen. Last Monday, the House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution with a vote of 366 to 30 calling attention to the U.S.’s unauthorized role in the war in Yemen. The ongoing Saudi war in Yemen has already killed over 10,000 Yemenis. Another 50,000 children could die before the end of the year from starvation according to the organization Save the Children.<br />Also, about 20 million Yemenis are in the need of humanitarian assistance and over 900,000 have been infected by cholera, the largest such outbreak the world has seen in decades. Joining me now to discuss the U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen is Mark Weisbrot. Mark is the co-director of the Center for Economic Policy and Research and is the author of Failed What the Experts Got Wrong About the Global Economy. He’s also president of Just Foreign Policy. He joins us today from Washington, D.C. Mark, good to have you back.</div>
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<br />MARK WEISBROT: Thanks, Sharmini.<br />SHARMINI PERIES: Mark, you’ve been closely following the House resolution on U.S. involvement in Yemen. What exactly does this resolution do to stop the U.S. involvement in Yemen?</div>
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<br />MARK WEISBROT: Well, it was intended to do that. However, the sponsors of the resolution were unable to do that because the Republicans were able to use the Rules Committee to block them from doing that, so they ended up as a compromise, a non-binding resolution. It doesn’t actually cut off the U.S. role, involvement in the war, which is refueling the Saudi planes and helping them target bombing targets with intelligence and so on. What it did do though was two very important things. One, is that they had a little bit of a debate for the first time in the House, and they had also, they were able to force the U.S. military to admit their role there. Then, the resolution declares that that role is unauthorized.</div>
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<br />Those were two really big things, and it was as big step towards cutting off this aid. I think the reason that the Republicans agreed to this … As you mentioned, there was an overwhelming vote, was because they really don’t want a full and open debate. They don’t want this to become a real political and possibly electoral issue, I mean a big issue. That’s what they’re afraid of because it’s completely indefensible. That’s very important I think. The details are kind of important for people to know because there’s a real chance of stopping this terrible war, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.<br />SHARMINI PERIES: By adopting this resolution so quickly, which is non-binding from what I understand, this essentially stopped debate and discussion in Congress about this.<br />MARK WEISBROT: Well, no, because the next step is going to go to the Senate. In the Senate, somebody’s going to introduce a companion resolution, and then they’ll have another fight over this. This has set the stage for that, and that’s very important. The Senate is closer. For example, there was a vote in June on cutting off some of the arms sales through Saudi Arabia and it only failed by a margin of 53 to 47, and there were five Democrats who voted the wrong way. If you could get four of them to switch and you could even pick up, there are Republicans you could pick up like Flake and Corker for example who have been very critical of the Trump administration, extremely vocal. It is possible to have the binding resolution in the Senate.</div>
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<br />This is all based on the War Powers Act or the War Powers Resolution as it’s called, which says that a member of Congress when the U.S. is militarily involved somewhere, a member without authorization from Congress, a member of Congress can demand a for vote and get it on this military involvement; a debate and a for vote. That’s the next step in this Senate.</div>
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<br />SHARMINI PERIES: Now, Mark, so we sell arms to Saudi Arabia. We are providing logistical support, which is things like on-air fueling of the airplanes that are bombing Yemen. We also assisting them in terms of targeted bombings and creating this enormous humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Why is this resolution non-binding?<br />MARK WEISBROT: Well, that’s because they didn’t have enough power in this last week to force the binding resolution. I mean, theoretically, they could have come back over and over again. I think that’s what the Republicans were afraid of, so they reached this compromise in order to get something fast so then they could move on to the Senate. Also, to get it on the record that what the U.S. was really doing there, and that is was unauthorized. You do see some media responses. For example, this week the New York Times had an editorial from its Editorial Board saying that the Saudis were trying to starve Yemen into submission, calling it a war crime and specifying that the U.S. was involved in this war crime. This is something I’ve never seen in the New York Times where the New York Times Editorial Board to say, and I’m pretty sure it’s never happened before. That the U.S. was actually involved, militarily involved in the perpetration of wars crimes while it’s actually happening.<br />There’s a lot of opposition building. There’s opposition in Congress, and I think this is the way this war is going to end. I emphasize it’s not just because I care about this a lot, but also because historically this is pretty much the main way that foreign policy has been changed. In 2013, you remember when the Congress wouldn’t vote for President Obama’s attempt to bomb Syria. You can go back to the 1980s when the Congress cut off aid to the Contras in Nicaragua. These are the times when you can actually change something. This shows, really it’s amazing, because this is a House of Representatives that’s controlled by the Republicans and still they were able to force this vote and force the military through the hearings to admit what they were doing, and then to push it. Now they’re going to push it further in the Senate.<br />If people contact their members of Congress and especially their senators now, the members of Congress can also and are going to be trying to persuade the senators, so both of them. I think that could really be the beginning of the end of this war. It’s really urgent, you know, because as you mentioned the humanitarian groups, the UN are saying that really millions of people are at risk and people are dying there every day.<br />SHARMINI PERIES: Now, if the United Nations and so many agencies within the United Nations has come out berating Saudi Arabia for this blockade and not allowing humanitarian aid, stopping the landing of aid, cargo from arriving in Yemen, and if members of Congress are so opposed to the U.S. support for Saudi war in Yemen as the vote we discussed reflects, 366 to 30, why not stop it by invoking the War Powers Act, and how could that unfold in Congress?<br />MARK WEISBROT: Well, I think the next place it could unfold is in the Senate, it will be the same strategy, using the War Powers Resolution to force a debate and vote. That’s a debate where in the Senate it’s closer as I mentioned. It could be cut off. I think it’s become much more urgent in the last couple weeks, even more. It was always terribly urgent because as you mentioned, 900,000 people have gotten cholera and now you’re … they’re cutting off, in the last two weeks, they’re cutting off supplies again. Hodeida, which is the port that gets something like 80% of the imports is now blockaded by the Saudi-led coalition again with U.S. help. Food is running short, medicine, supplies. Food prices have skyrocketed because of the cut off in supplies. More people are being malnourished and pushed to the brink of starvation. There’s 7 million people according to the UN that are on the brink of famine right now.<br />SHARMINI PERIES: Right. Mark, this issue just begs the question: Why isn’t Senate acting more quickly on this? And if they did invoke their powers and act on this, that just means that they will stop providing logistical support, not necessarily stop selling arms to the Saudis. I imagine the military industrial lobby in Congress is pretty heavy, has a lot to do with why this resolution isn’t binding, has a lot to do with why Congress isn’t invoking the War Powers Act.<br />MARK WEISBROT: Well, a lot of it is even more than the arms industry. It’s the Trump administration and their geostrategic holds in the region. They’re saying that the people that they’re bombing are the insurgents they’re trying to defeats. The Houthis are aligned with Iran, and they are … so of course they’re getting aid from Iran, so they’re portraying and they’re going to do that when it comes to the Senate as a fight against Iran and Irani interference even thought it’s an indigenous group. For them, it’s a power struggle, and for the Saudis too. The Saudis want the U.S. to intervene, to reassert the dominance of Israel and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East against Iran. That’s the real power struggle going on, and that’s why there really has to be a negotiated solution. I think if the U.S. does cut off its refueling and targeting aid, the Saudis could be forced to the negotiating table.<br />SHARMINI PERIES: If it is what you say, which is partly to prop up Saudi Arabia in the region as the region of power as opposed to Iran, does the administration have the right to go about doing that at the cost of this kind of humanitarian disaster?<br />MARK WEISBROT: Of course, there’s no right to do any of this stuff. These are, as the New York Times said, these are actual war crimes. They are literally starving the whole population to force the people that they’re opposing to give in. Of course, it’s illegal under international law, but it’s horrific. As I said, it’s the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, and this is one of the ways we can stop it. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gotten the attention that it deserves in the U.S., in the media overall internationally, but it’s getting a lot more. Again, if people, all these groups, you know there’s a lot of groups been working on this. The peace groups, the anti-war groups, the humanitarian groups. Groups like Code Pink, Win Without War, the Friends Committee on National Legislation. People can contact any of these groups and in terms of how they influence their members of Congress. This is I think the best hope of putting an end to this war before thousands and potentially hundreds of thousands and millions of people die as a result.<br />SHARMINI PERIES: Mark, thank you so much for joining us and bringing us this resolution to light for discussion.<br />MARK WEISBROT: Thank you.<br />SHARMINI PERIES: Thank you for joining us here The Real News Network.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>As
US Fuels War Crimes in Yemen, House Says US Involvement is
Unauthorized</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Posted
on November 19, 2017 by Jerri-Lynn Scofield </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jerri-Lynn
here: This Real News Network interview with Mike Weisbrot discusses
the non-binding resolution the House of Representatives passed last
week concerning the unauthorized role of the United States in the war
in Yemen. This Saudi war has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian
catastrophe, including a cholera epidemic and widespread hunger and
starvation. No end to the crisis is in sight.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Weisbrot
is Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in
Washington, D.C. and author of the book Failed: What the
“Experts” Got Wrong About the Global Economy (Oxford University
Press, 2015), co-author, with Dean Baker, of Social Security: The
Phony Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 2000). He writes a column
on economic and policy issues that is distributed to over 550
newspapers by the Tribune Content Agency and his opinion pieces have
appeared in The Guardian, New York Times, the Washington Post, the
Los Angeles Times and Brazil’s largest newspaper, Folha de Sao
Paulo. He is also president of Just Foreign Policy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: It’s The Real News Network. I’m Sharmini Peries coming to
you from Baltimore. The humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen is getting
increasingly dire every day. On Thursday, the directors of the World
Health Organization, WHO, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the
UNICEF, and the World Food Program issued a joint statement urging
Saudi Arabia to lift its blockade on Yemen. Last Monday, the House of
Representatives passed a non-binding resolution with a vote of 366 to
30 calling attention to the U.S.’s unauthorized role in the war in
Yemen. The ongoing Saudi war in Yemen has already killed over 10,000
Yemenis. Another 50,000 children could die before the end of the year
from starvation according to the organization Save the Children.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Also,
about 20 million Yemenis are in the need of humanitarian assistance
and over 900,000 have been infected by cholera, the largest such
outbreak the world has seen in decades. Joining me now to discuss the
U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen is Mark Weisbrot. Mark is the
co-director of the Center for Economic Policy and Research and is the
author of Failed What the Experts Got Wrong About the Global Economy.
He’s also president of Just Foreign Policy. He joins us today from
Washington, D.C. Mark, good to have you back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MARK
WEISBROT: Thanks, Sharmini.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: Mark, you’ve been closely following the House resolution on
U.S. involvement in Yemen. What exactly does this resolution do to
stop the U.S. involvement in Yemen?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MARK
WEISBROT: Well, it was intended to do that. However, the sponsors of
the resolution were unable to do that because the Republicans were
able to use the Rules Committee to block them from doing that, so
they ended up as a compromise, a non-binding resolution. It doesn’t
actually cut off the U.S. role, involvement in the war, which is
refueling the Saudi planes and helping them target bombing targets
with intelligence and so on. What it did do though was two very
important things. One, is that they had a little bit of a debate for
the first time in the House, and they had also, they were able to
force the U.S. military to admit their role there. Then, the
resolution declares that that role is unauthorized.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Those
were two really big things, and it was as big step towards cutting
off this aid. I think the reason that the Republicans agreed to this
… As you mentioned, there was an overwhelming vote, was because
they really don’t want a full and open debate. They don’t want
this to become a real political and possibly electoral issue, I mean
a big issue. That’s what they’re afraid of because it’s
completely indefensible. That’s very important I think. The details
are kind of important for people to know because there’s a real
chance of stopping this terrible war, the worst humanitarian crisis
in the world.</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: By adopting this resolution so quickly, which is non-binding
from what I understand, this essentially stopped debate and
discussion in Congress about this.</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MARK
WEISBROT: Well, no, because the next step is going to go to the
Senate. In the Senate, somebody’s going to introduce a companion
resolution, and then they’ll have another fight over this. This has
set the stage for that, and that’s very important. The Senate is
closer. For example, there was a vote in June on cutting off some of
the arms sales through Saudi Arabia and it only failed by a margin of
53 to 47, and there were five Democrats who voted the wrong way. If
you could get four of them to switch and you could even pick up,
there are Republicans you could pick up like Flake and Corker for
example who have been very critical of the Trump administration,
extremely vocal. It is possible to have the binding resolution in the
Senate.</span></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
is all based on the War Powers Act or the War Powers Resolution as
it’s called, which says that a member of Congress when the U.S. is
militarily involved somewhere, a member without authorization from
Congress, a member of Congress can demand a for vote and get it on
this military involvement; a debate and a for vote. That’s the next
step in this Senate.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: Now, Mark, so we sell arms to Saudi Arabia. We are providing
logistical support, which is things like on-air fueling of the
airplanes that are bombing Yemen. We also assisting them in terms of
targeted bombings and creating this enormous humanitarian crisis in
Yemen. Why is this resolution non-binding?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MARK
WEISBROT: Well, that’s because they didn’t have enough power in
this last week to force the binding resolution. I mean,
theoretically, they could have come back over and over again. I think
that’s what the Republicans were afraid of, so they reached this
compromise in order to get something fast so then they could move on
to the Senate. Also, to get it on the record that what the U.S. was
really doing there, and that is was unauthorized. You do see some
media responses. For example, this week the New York Times had an
editorial from its Editorial Board saying that the Saudis were trying
to starve Yemen into submission, calling it a war crime and
specifying that the U.S. was involved in this war crime. This is
something I’ve never seen in the New York Times where the New York
Times Editorial Board to say, and I’m pretty sure it’s never
happened before. That the U.S. was actually involved, militarily
involved in the perpetration of wars crimes while it’s actually
happening.</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There’s
a lot of opposition building. There’s opposition in Congress, and I
think this is the way this war is going to end. I emphasize it’s
not just because I care about this a lot, but also because
historically this is pretty much the main way that foreign policy has
been changed. In 2013, you remember when the Congress wouldn’t vote
for President Obama’s attempt to bomb Syria. You can go back to the
1980s when the Congress cut off aid to the Contras in Nicaragua.
These are the times when you can actually change something. This
shows, really it’s amazing, because this is a House of
Representatives that’s controlled by the Republicans and still they
were able to force this vote and force the military through the
hearings to admit what they were doing, and then to push it. Now
they’re going to push it further in the Senate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If
people contact their members of Congress and especially their
senators now, the members of Congress can also and are going to be
trying to persuade the senators, so both of them. I think that could
really be the beginning of the end of this war. It’s really urgent,
you know, because as you mentioned the humanitarian groups, the UN
are saying that really millions of people are at risk and people are
dying there every day.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: Now, if the United Nations and so many agencies within the
United Nations has come out berating Saudi Arabia for this blockade
and not allowing humanitarian aid, stopping the landing of aid, cargo
from arriving in Yemen, and if members of Congress are so opposed to
the U.S. support for Saudi war in Yemen as the vote we discussed
reflects, 366 to 30, why not stop it by invoking the War Powers Act,
and how could that unfold in Congress?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MARK
WEISBROT: Well, I think the next place it could unfold is in the
Senate, it will be the same strategy, using the War Powers Resolution
to force a debate and vote. That’s a debate where in the Senate
it’s closer as I mentioned. It could be cut off. I think it’s
become much more urgent in the last couple weeks, even more. It was
always terribly urgent because as you mentioned, 900,000 people have
gotten cholera and now you’re … they’re cutting off, in the
last two weeks, they’re cutting off supplies again. Hodeida, which
is the port that gets something like 80% of the imports is now
blockaded by the Saudi-led coalition again with U.S. help. Food is
running short, medicine, supplies. Food prices have skyrocketed
because of the cut off in supplies. More people are being
malnourished and pushed to the brink of starvation. There’s 7
million people according to the UN that are on the brink of famine
right now.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: Right. Mark, this issue just begs the question: Why isn’t
Senate acting more quickly on this? And if they did invoke their
powers and act on this, that just means that they will stop providing
logistical support, not necessarily stop selling arms to the Saudis.
I imagine the military industrial lobby in Congress is pretty heavy,
has a lot to do with why this resolution isn’t binding, has a lot
to do with why Congress isn’t invoking the War Powers Act.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MARK
WEISBROT: Well, a lot of it is even more than the arms industry. It’s
the Trump administration and their geostrategic holds in the region.
They’re saying that the people that they’re bombing are the
insurgents they’re trying to defeats. The Houthis are aligned with
Iran, and they are … so of course they’re getting aid from Iran,
so they’re portraying and they’re going to do that when it comes
to the Senate as a fight against Iran and Irani interference even
thought it’s an indigenous group. For them, it’s a power
struggle, and for the Saudis too. The Saudis want the U.S. to
intervene, to reassert the dominance of Israel and Saudi Arabia in
the Middle East against Iran. That’s the real power struggle going
on, and that’s why there really has to be a negotiated solution. I
think if the U.S. does cut off its refueling and targeting aid, the
Saudis could be forced to the negotiating table.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: If it is what you say, which is partly to prop up Saudi
Arabia in the region as the region of power as opposed to Iran, does
the administration have the right to go about doing that at the cost
of this kind of humanitarian disaster?</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MARK
WEISBROT: Of course, there’s no right to do any of this stuff.
These are, as the New York Times said, these are actual war crimes.
They are literally starving the whole population to force the people
that they’re opposing to give in. Of course, it’s illegal under
international law, but it’s horrific. As I said, it’s the worst
humanitarian crisis in the world, and this is one of the ways we can
stop it. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gotten the attention that it
deserves in the U.S., in the media overall internationally, but it’s
getting a lot more. Again, if people, all these groups, you know
there’s a lot of groups been working on this. The peace groups, the
anti-war groups, the humanitarian groups. Groups like Code Pink, Win
Without War, the Friends Committee on National Legislation. People
can contact any of these groups and in terms of how they influence
their members of Congress. This is I think the best hope of putting
an end to this war before thousands and potentially hundreds of
thousands and millions of people die as a result.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: Mark, thank you so much for joining us and bringing us this
resolution to light for discussion.</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">MARK
WEISBROT: Thank you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">SHARMINI
PERIES: Thank you for joining us here The Real News Network.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: small;"><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10411843" target="_blank"><b>LISTEN</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>5.
Mass Turnout at Hillsborough School Board Meeting</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Imagine
a thousand people turning out for a school board meeting. People are
stirred up. They have reason to be. Read League member Pat Hall’s
testimony at the November</i> 14th meeting. by Pat Hall</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thirteen
hundred teachers, children and others attended this meeting, more
than ever in the history of Hillsborough County! Salary negotiations
have broken down, promises made and not kept, the budget is strained
and nerves are frayed. I spoke because four more charter schools were
on the agenda for school board approval adding 4404 students in the
next 5 years. We’ve asked for an estimate of FTE (full time
equivalent) dollars; approximately $7,178 per student per school year
that will fly to these four charters as well as PECO (public
education capital outlay) dollars lost to traditional schools by the
addition of four more charters.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My
goal in this statement was to wake up parents and the public to this
boondoggle. “The management company for SLAM (Sports Leadership
Management Academy) – proposed to teach 2750 children in two
buildings is Academica. Academica is under multiple year federal
investigation the last I checked. Eric Fresen was Chair of the
Education Committee of the Florida Legislature for 8 years. Fresen is
the brother-in-law of Academica owner Fernando Zulueta. Fresen is now
in jail for fraud and tax evasion. He did not file returns the 8
years he was in the Legislature. Newpoint Company (for-profit
management charter co.) has been indicted in Escambia County on fraud
charges including Pinellas, Duval and the closing of Newpoint High in
Hillsborough County in 2013.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
charter friendly atmosphere here changed immediately after the firing
of Mrs. Elia. Tom Gonzales and Jenna Hodgens (H.C. Director of
Charter Schools) had a strong case against Kids Community Charter
school in Brandon and it was dropped at the request of Mr. Eakins and
the Board (chaired by Susan Valdes in 2015).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Statewide
2.7 million traditional students attend public schools. Hillsborough
County has 215,000 students including 22,500 in charters. Charter
schools represent 10 to 11 % of school aged children in Florida but
have grabbed the lion’s share of PECO funds for years. Most for
profit charters have been built in the last seven years. The average
age of individual schools in Hillsborough County is fifty years. The
dramatic shift to charter schools was orchestrated in the legislature
by convicted felon Eric Fresen and his very wealthy pals –Jon Hage,
owner Charter Schools USA and F. Zulueta, owner of Academica.
Research done by Noah Pransky of WTSP, CBS Channel 10 in August, 2014
proved millions of dollars had been stuffed in the pockets of
legislators to influence their votes. Governor Scott took $50,000 in
2014 from Hage. In 2014 and 2016 in election contributions we
documented, at least three current school board members have taken
money from numerous for profit charter school owners, developers and
real estate affiliated companies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One
board member took a five day long trip to Miami to visit SLAM there
at taxpayer expense of over $1,200. Why 5 days? Why no limits on
school board travel when the budget is so tight? This board member
collected $13,000 from charter school operators.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Large
for profit managed charters receive millions of FTE dollars as do
traditional schools based on enrollment. While 86% of traditional
school money is spent on instruction, our investigation has proven
that large for profit managed charters spend 45 to 48% of FTE on
classroom instruction and teachers. The owners take 42-50% of our
taxpayer dollars for management fees and real estate leases and rent
fees.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
these schools close or go out of business –these buildings we have
paid for remain the property of the charter school owners! In
Hillsborough County we have authorized 123 schools since 1997 (under
Jeb Bush, Governor). We now have 51 open-7 consolidated like Pepin
Academy- but 65 never opened or have closed. What are taxpayers
choices?</span></span></div>
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<b><a href="http://tobtr.com/s/10411843" target="_blank">LISTEN</a></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-12501262245822413712017-10-22T14:22:00.000-07:002017-10-22T15:28:27.962-07:00PNN - Listen Tonight and you will become an Eleven<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsrKZJ2Sz3ffhGsqEy7sPCruF0MjLmXF5PclZiEdqH0F3IuHdgc-W_7uosIbo-Egz6LSBwH8JY7IsDzqF7U_iVl496ZkEW-XaL9d4mn1nwNVI7WgROhtGXyNsR1G31mbfq5Is/s1600/VOOM-your-an-11-W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWsrKZJ2Sz3ffhGsqEy7sPCruF0MjLmXF5PclZiEdqH0F3IuHdgc-W_7uosIbo-Egz6LSBwH8JY7IsDzqF7U_iVl496ZkEW-XaL9d4mn1nwNVI7WgROhtGXyNsR1G31mbfq5Is/s400/VOOM-your-an-11-W.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
PNN TONIGHT! ( and all this Week )<br />
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">PNN - Listen Tonight and you will become an Eleven</span></b><br />
<b>Brook Hines</b> - Flightless DNC cannibals eat Progressive Wings!<br />
Dona Brazille to lead RULES INTERPRETATION COMMITTEE ! <br />
And in other headlines: Mr Fox to Guard Chicken Coop<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Michelle Allen</b> - from <b>Food and Water Watch</b> speaks about an UPCOMING EVENT!<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="color: red;">W - goes Trumpster Diving</span></i></b><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Drew Martin</b> - asks about Lake Okeechobee’s 100 year decline</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Dr Reins</b> - discusses Algae Blooms and You!</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Ken Hinkle</b> - asks about Green Beach Futures?</span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: blue;">Gwen Holden Barry</span></b> - on Free Speech & Hate Speech the Moral Hazard!<br />
Tonight 7pm East / 4pm Pacific <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmercurymedia/2017/10/22/pnn-listen-you-are-an-11" target="_blank">PNN</a><br />
<br />
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmercurymedia/2017/10/22/pnn-listen-you-are-an-11<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">Exploring
canine mind with dog-friendly methods</span></b></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">A
total of 31 dogs of 13 different breeds attended the study. Prior the
experiment the dogs were clicker-trained to stay still in front of a
monitor without being commanded or restrained. Due to positive
training approach, dogs were highly motivated to perform the task.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
study is part of the collaboration project of Faculties of Veterinary
Medicine and Behavioural Science, University of Helsinki and
Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto
University. Previously, the research group of professor Outi Vainio
from the University of Helsinki has discovered that socially
informative objects in images, as personally familiar faces and
social interaction, attract dogs' attention.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
research group of Professor Outi Vainio explores cognition and
emotion in dogs in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the
University of Helsinki. The study has been supported inter alia by
the Academy of Finland and the Emil Aaltonen Foundation.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1l1_C0VAakW6YdgwvaZzSCJJS74DCi_LYezTgjyICuDFvA0iV5IxV_Qo8R_EdO-0fxIKnqyrZYFl8xS6l1x7v7iZRdEWMTIm2ZfWcNC8Gdc02nSbOYZRMSzLhHKrU9RxZtIVR/s1600/VOOM-your-an-11-W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1l1_C0VAakW6YdgwvaZzSCJJS74DCi_LYezTgjyICuDFvA0iV5IxV_Qo8R_EdO-0fxIKnqyrZYFl8xS6l1x7v7iZRdEWMTIm2ZfWcNC8Gdc02nSbOYZRMSzLhHKrU9RxZtIVR/s320/VOOM-your-an-11-W.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmercurymedia/2017/10/22/pnn-listen-you-are-an-11" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">PNN</span></a><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />
</span></span></span></span><br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">1. Dogs produce more facial expressions when humans are looking at them, according to new research from the University of Portsmouth.</span></b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Scientists at the University's Dog Cognition Centre are the first to find clear evidence dogs move their faces in direct response to human attention. Dogs don't respond with more facial expressions upon seeing tasty food, suggesting that dogs produce facial expressions to communicate and not just because they are excited.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Brow raising, which makes the eyes look bigger -- so-called puppy dog eyes -- was the dogs' most commonly used expression in this research.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Dog cognition expert Dr Juliane Kaminski led the study, which is published in </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">Scientific Reports</span></span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">She said: "We can now be confident that the production of facial expressions made by dogs are dependent on the attention state of their audience and are not just a result of dogs being excited. In our study they produced far more expressions when someone was watching, but seeing food treats did not have the same effect.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">"The findings appear to support evidence dogs are sensitive to humans' attention and that expressions are potentially active attempts to communicate, not simple emotional displays."</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Most mammals produce facial expressions -- such expressions are considered an important part of an animal's behavioural repertoire -- but it has long been assumed that animal facial expressions, including some human facial expressions, are involuntary and dependent on an individual's emotional state rather than being flexible responses to the audience</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="background: transparent;">Dr Kaminski said it's possible dogs' facial expressions have changed as part of the process of becoming domesticated.</span></i></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The researchers studied 24 dogs of various breeds, aged one to 12. All were family pets. Each dog was tied by a lead a metre away from a person, and the dogs' faces were filmed throughout a range of exchanges, from the person being oriented towards the dog, to being distracted and with her body turned away from the dog.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The dogs' facial expressions were measured using DogFACS, an anatomically based coding system which gives a reliable and standardized measurement of facial changes linked to underlying muscle movement.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Co-author and facial expression expert Professor Bridget Waller said "Dog FACES captures movements from all the different muscles in the canine face, many of which are capable of producing very subtle and brief facial movements.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">"FACS systems were originally developed for humans, but have since been modified for use with other animals such as primates and dogs."</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Dr Kaminski said: "Domestic dogs have a unique history -- they have lived alongside humans for 30,000 years and during that time selection pressures seem to have acted on dogs' ability to communicate with us.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">"We knew domestic dogs paid attention to how attentive a human is -- in a previous study we found, for example, that dogs stole food more often when the human's eyes were closed or they had their back turned. In another study, we found dogs follow the gaze of a human if the human first establishes eye contact with the dog, so the dog knows the gaze-shift is directed at them.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">"This study moves forward what we understand about dog cognition. We now know dogs make more facial expressions when the human is paying attention."</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">It is impossible yet to say whether dogs' behaviour in this and other studies is evidence dogs have flexible understanding of another individual's perspective -- that they truly understand another individual's mental state -- or if their behaviour is hardwired, or even a learned response to seeing the face or eyes of another individual.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Puppy dog eyes is a facial expression which, in humans, closely resembles sadness. This potentially makes humans more empathetic towards the dog who uses the expression, or because it makes the dog's eyes appear bigger and more infant-like -- potentially tapping into humans' preference for child-like characteristics. Regardless of the mechanism, humans are particularly responsive to that expression in dogs.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Previous research has shown some apes can also modify their facial expressions depending on their audience, but until now, dogs' abilities to do use facial expression to communicate with humans hadn't been systematically examined.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">2. How dogs see your emotions: <br />Dogs view facial expressions differently</span></b></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">A recent study from the University of Helsinki shows that the social gazing behavior of domestic dogs resembles that of humans: dogs view facial expressions systematically, preferring eyes. In addition, the facial expression alters their viewing behavior, especially in the face of threat. The study was recently published in the science journal </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: transparent;">PLOS ONE.</span></span></i></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">Threatening faces evoke unique responses in dogs</span></b></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The study utilized eye gaze tracking to demonstrate how dogs view the emotional expressions of dog and human faces. Dogs looked first at the eye region and generally examined eyes longer than nose or mouth areas. Species-specific characteristics of certain expressions attracted their attention, for example the mouths of threatening dogs. However, dogs appeared to base their perception of facial expressions on the whole face.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Threatening faces evoked attentional bias, which may be based on an evolutionary adaptive mechanism: the sensitivity to detect and avoid threats represents a survival advantage. Interestingly, dogs' viewing behavior was dependent on the depicted species: threatening conspecifics' faces evoked longer looking but threatening human faces instead an avoidance response. Threatening signals carrying different biological validity are most likely processed via distinctive neurocognitive pathways.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">"The tolerant behavior strategy of dogs toward humans may partially explain the results. Domestication may have equipped dogs with a sensitivity to detect the threat signals of humans and respond them with pronounced appeasement signals," says researcher Sanni Somppi from the University of Helsinki.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">Results provide support for Darwin's views of animal emotions</span></b></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.07in; margin-top: 0.07in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">This is the first evidence of emotion-related gaze patterns in non-primates. Already 150 years ago Charles Darwin proposed that the analogies in the form and function of human and non-human animal emotional expressions suggest shared evolutionary roots. Recent findings provide modern scientific support for Darwin's old argument.</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">3,
USA Liberty Act Won’t Fix What’s Most Broken with NSA Internet
Surveillance</span></b></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">legal
linchpin for the National Security Agency’s vast Internet
surveillance program is scheduled to disappear in under 90 days.
Section 702 of FISA—enacted in 2008 with little public awareness
about the scope and power of the NSA’s surveillance of the
Internet—supposedly directs the NSA’s powerful surveillance
apparatus toward legitimate foreign intelligence targets overseas.
Instead, the surveillance has been turned back on us. Despite
repeated inquiries from Congress, the NSA has yet to publicly
disclose how many Americans are impacted by this surveillance. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;"><b>With
the law’s sunset looming, Congress is taking up the issue.</b> The
USA Liberty Act, introduced by Representatives Goodlatte (R-Va.),
John Conyers (D-Mich.), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), and others, may
offer a chance to address some of the worst abuses of NSA Internet
surveillance even as it reauthorizes some components of the
surveillance for another six years. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">But
the first draft of the bill falls short.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
bill doesn’t effectively end the practice of “backdoor
searching,” when government agents—including domestic law
enforcement not working on issues of national security—search
through the NSA-gathered communications of Americans without any form
of warrant from a judge. It doesn’t institute adequate transparency
and oversight measures, and it doesn’t deal with misuse of the
state secrets privilege, which has been invoked to stave off lawsuits
against mass surveillance. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="background: transparent;">Perhaps
most importantly, the bill won’t curtail the NSA’s practices of
collecting data on innocent people. </span></b></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
bill does make significant changes to how and when agents can search
through data collected under 702. <i>It also institutes new reporting
requirements, new defaults around data deletion, and new guidance for
amicus engagement with the FISA Court.</i> But even these provisions
do not go far enough. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Congress
has an opportunity and a responsibility to rein in NSA surveillance
abuses. This is the first time, since 2013 reporting by the
Washington Post and the Guardian changed the worldwide perception of
digital spying, that Congress must vote on whether to reauthorize
Section 702. Before this debate moves ahead, leaders in the House
Judiciary Committee should fix the shortcomings in this bill. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<br />
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
Problems of 702</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Section
702 is supposed to give the NSA authority to engage in foreign
intelligence collection. The NSA is only allowed to target
non-Americans located outside U.S. borders. This legal authority has
been the basis for two controversial data collection programs:</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Upstream
surveillance: data collection that siphons off copies of digital
communications directly from the “Internet backbone,” the
high-capacity fiber-optic cables run by telecommunications companies
like AT&T that transmit the majority of American digital
communications.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">PRISM
(also known as “downstream surveillance”): data collection
gathered from the servers of major Internet service providers, such
as Google, Facebook, and Apple.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">These
programs flourished under President Bush and President Obama. As the
Washington Post reported, their NSA director took an expansive view
on data collection:</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="background: transparent;">“<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Rather
than look for a single needle in the haystack, his approach was,
‘Let’s collect the whole haystack,’ ” said one former
senior U.S. intelligence official who tracked the plan’s
implementation. “Collect it all, tag it, store it. . . . And
whatever it is you want, you go searching for it.”</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Unfortunately,
the Liberty Act won’t address most of these fundamental problems.
Here’s an analysis of some of the key provisions in the bill,
and we’ll have future articles exploring specific topics in more
detail.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Leaving
the Backdoor Ajar</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Agents
for the NSA, CIA, and FBI have long rifled through the communications
collected under Section 702, which include American communications,
as well as the communications of foreigners who have no connection to
crime or national security threats. With no approval from a judge,
they’re able to search this database of communications using a
range of personal identifiers, then review the contents of
communications uncovered in those searches. Government agents can
then use these results to build a case against someone, or they may
simply review it without prosecution.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Ordinarily,
if the FBI wants to intercept or collect a U.S. person’s
communications, they must first get permission from a judge. But as a
result of Section 702, the FBI today reviews NSA-collected
communications of U.S. persons without permission from a judge.
Privacy advocates call this the “backdoor search loophole.” </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">This
practice violates the Fourth Amendment right to privacy against
unreasonable searches and seizures. And it can be difficult to prove
because government agents may not disclose when they use evidence
from the 702 database in prosecutions or for any other purposes. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
first draft of the Liberty Act doesn’t resolve the problem. It
still allows government agents—including domestic law enforcement
agents—to query the 702 database, including using identifiers
associated with American citizens, such as the email address of an
American. The main improvement is that when an agent conducts a query
looking for evidence of a crime, she must obtain a probable cause
warrant from a judge to access the results. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">But
the warrant requirement is limited due to a number of troubling
carve-outs. First, this court oversight requirement won’t be
triggered except for those searches conducted to find evidence of a
crime. No other searches for any other purposes will require court
oversight, including when spy agencies search for foreign
intelligence, and when law enforcement agencies explore whether a
crime occurred at all.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Metadata—how
many communications are sent, to whom, at what times—won’t
require court oversight at all. In fact, the Liberty Act
doesn’t include the reforms to metadata queries the House had
previously passed (which unfortunately did not pass the Senate). In
the Massie-Lofgren Amendment, which passed the House twice, agents
who conducted queries for metadata would be required to show the
metadata was relevant to an investigation. That relevance standard is
not in the Liberty Act.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Finally,
some may interpret vague language in the bill as putting
responsibility for assessing probable cause in the hands of the
Attorney General, the main governmental prosecutor, rather than in
the hands of the FISA Court. This language should be clarified to
ensure the judge’s role in approving the applications is the same
as in other FISA proceedings.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Targeting
Procedures</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
bill will require the NSA to exercise “due diligence in determining
whether a person targeted is a non-United States person reasonably
believed to be located outside of the United States,” and requires
agents to consider the “totality of the circumstances” when
making that evaluation.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">At
face value, this sounds promising. We do want the NSA to exercise due
diligence when evaluating targets of surveillance. However, this
provision is more of a fig leaf than a real fix, because even if
targeting is improved, it won’t resolve the problem of Americans’
communications being collected. Right now, countless Americans are
surveilled through so-called “incidental collection.” This means
that while the official target was a non-American overseas, American
communications are swept up as well. Even though Americans were never
the intended “target,” their emails, chats, and VOIP calls end up
in a database accessible to the NSA, FBI, and others. Tightening up
targeting won’t address this problem.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">In
addition, the bill doesn’t change the NSA’s practice of
intercepting communications of countless innocent foreigners outside
the United States. People outside our national borders are not
criminals by default and should not be treated as if they were. If
the United States wants to uphold our obligations to human rights
under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, we
must respect the basic privacy and dignity of citizens of other
countries. That means not vacuuming up as many communications as
possible for all foreigners overseas. This is an especially pressing
issue now, as the European Union decides whether to limit how
European data can be held by American companies. The recently enacted
Privacy Shield falls short of the privacy commitments enshrined in
European law. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Retention
of Communications</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">After
the NSA uses Section 702 to collect vast quantities of
communications, the NSA stores these records for years to come. Every
day the NSA holds these sensitive records is a day they can be
misused by rogue government employees or deployed by agency
leadership in new ways as part of inevitable “mission creep.”
That’s why privacy advocates call for legislation that would
require the NSA to purge these Section 702 communications by a fixed
deadline, except for specific communications reasonably determined by
analysts to have intelligence or law enforcement value.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Unfortunately,
the Liberty Act does not solve this problem. Rather, it would only
require that if the NSA determines that a communication lacks foreign
intelligence value, then the NSA must purge it within 90 days.
However, it’s unclear how often the NSA reviews its collected data
to assess its foreign intelligence value. Since the bill requires no
review, this provision may have little practical effect.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Whistleblowers
Left Unprotected</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Whistleblowers
like Thomas Drake, Mark Klein, Bill Binney, and Edward Snowden were
fundamental to the public’s understanding of NSA surveillance
abuses. But they risked their careers and often their freedom in the
process. The United States has a pressing need to improve protections
for whistleblowers acting in the public good—including federal
contractors who may be witness to wrongdoing.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
Liberty Act includes a section that would extend certain
whistleblower protections to federal contractors. However, these
protections only apply to “lawful disclosure” to a handful of
government officers, such as the Director of National Intelligence.
It does not provide any protection when a whistleblower speaks to the
media or to advocacy organizations such as EFF.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Furthermore,
the bill only protects whistleblowers against “personnel action,”
so whistleblowers could still face criminal prosecution. The
Espionage Act—a draconian law from 1917 with penalties including
life in prison or the death penalty—has become the tool de jour to
intimidate and punish public-interest whistleblowers. The Liberty Act
will provide whistleblowers no protection against prosecution under
the Espionage Act. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">To
make matters worse, the bill also creates new penalties for the
unauthorized removal or retention of classified documents, including
when done negligently. This will likely be another tool used to go
after whistleblowers. This section of the bill must be significantly
narrowed or cut. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Ending
“About” Collection </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
National Security Agency announced in April the end of a
controversial form of spying known colloquially as “about
surveillance.” After collecting data directly from the backbone of
the Internet and doing a rough filter, government agents use key
selector terms about targeted persons to search through this massive
trove of data. In the past, these searches would not merely search
the address lines (the to and from section of the communications) but
would directly search the full contents of the communications, so
that any mention of a selector in the body of the email would be
returned in the results. Thus, communications of people who were not
surveillance targets, and were not communicating with surveillance
targets, were included in the results. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
NSA was unable to find a way to conduct this type of “about”
searching while adhering to restrictions imposed by the FISA Court,
and thus the agency discontinued the practice in April. However, this
is currently a voluntary policy, and the agency could begin again. In
fact, NSA Director Mike Rogers testified before Congress in June that
he might recommend that Congress reinstitute the program in the
future.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
Liberty Act codifies the end of “about surveillance.” It provides
that the NSA must limit its targeting “to communications to or from
the targeted person.” While the NSA’s upstream program will still
collect the communications passing through the Internet backbone,
including the communications of vast numbers of innocent U.S. and
foreign citizens, the end of “about” surveillance will reduce the
number of communications stored in the 702 database. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Other
Positive Changes in the Bill </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Critically,
unlike some other pending reauthorization proposals, the Liberty Act
will maintain Section 702’s “sunset,” ensuring that Congress
must review, debate, and vote on this issue again in six years.
Permanent reauthorization, which we strongly oppose, would prevent
this Congressional check on executive overreach.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
Liberty Act makes some other modest improvements to the NSA’s
surveillance practices. It gives the Privacy and Civil Liberties
Oversight Board the ability to function without an appointed chair,
which has been a persistent problem with this accountability body. It
also puts in place new reporting requirements. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
bill would require the FISA Court to appoint an amicus curiae to
assist it in reviewing the annual “certification” from the
Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence regarding
the NSA’s Section 702 targeting and minimization procedures. This
would be a helpful check on this currently one-sided process.
However, the FISA Court could dispense with this check whenever it
found the amicus appointment “not appropriate” – a nebulous
test that could neuter this new safeguard.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">A
Few More Missing Pieces </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Many
vital fixes to the worst surveillance abuses of the NSA are missing
from this bill. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Congress
should clear a pathway for individuals to contest privacy abuses by
the NSA. This includes ensuring that Americans whose data may have
been “incidentally” collected by the NSA under Section 702 have
legal standing to go to court to challenge this violation of their
constitutional rights. It also requires an overhaul of the
controversial state secrets privilege, a common law doctrine that
government agencies have invoked to dismiss, or refuse to provide
evidence in, cases challenging mass surveillance.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Congress
should crack down on “incidental collection,” and ensure the
communications of innocent Americans are not collected in the first
place. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Finally,
we need to empower the FISA court to review and approve the targets
of NSA surveillance. Currently, the NSA receives only general
guidelines from the FISA Court, with no individual review of specific
targets and selector terms. This means the NSA has little obligation
to defend its choice of targets, resulting in little recourse when
agents are over-inclusive of inappropriate targets. </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Next
steps for the Judiciary Committee </span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">Congress
still has time to get this right. This bill hasn’t gone to markup
yet, and the Judiciary Committee is likely to amend the bill before
passing it to the floor. We urge the Judiciary Committee members to
make changes to the bill to address these shortcomings.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: transparent;">As
public awareness of NSA surveillance practices has grown, so too has
public outrage. That outrage is the fuel for meaningful change. We
passed one bill to begin reining in surveillance abuses in 2015, and
from that small victory springs the political will for the next, more
powerful reform. Join EFF in calling on Congress to rein in these
surveillance abuses, and defend privacy for Internet users of today
and in the years to come. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
PANAMA PAPERS JOURNALIST - Murdered<br />
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Daphne Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist from Malta who was known for her reporting on governmental corruption, was killed in an explosion near her home Monday, officials say.<br />Galizia, who had just published a story on her blog, was driving away from the house in a rented Peugeot 108 around 3 p.m. when the car went up in flames, according to local media reports.<br />The explosion sent detritus far into the surrounding fields and badly burned the body. Photos showed the Peugeot’s mangled shell in a field, dozens of yards from the blast site. Witnesses described a small explosion followed seconds later by a larger one as the burning car skidded down the road and into the field.<br />“I am never going to forget, running around the inferno in the field, trying to figure out a way to open the door, the horn of the car still blaring, screaming at two policemen who turned up with a single fire extinguisher to use it,” Galizia's son, Matthew, wrote on Facebook the morning after his mother's death. “They stared at me. 'I’m sorry, there is nothing we can do', one of them said. I looked down and there were my mother’s body parts all around me. I realised they were right, it was hopeless.”<br />
<br />Daphne Caruana Galizia, a blogger whose investigations focused on corruption, was described as a ‘one-woman WikiLeaks’ <br />The journalist who led the Panama Papers investigation into corruption in Malta was killed on Monday in a car bomb near her home.<br />Daphne Caruana Galizia died on Monday afternoon when her car, a Peugeot 108, was destroyed by a powerful explosive device which blew the vehicle into several pieces and threw the debris into a nearby field.<br />
Murdered Panama Papers journalist’s son attacks Malta’s ‘crooks’ <br /> Read more <br />
A blogger whose posts often attracted more readers than the combined circulation of the country’s newspapers, Caruana Galizia was recently described by the Politico website as a “one-woman WikiLeaks”. Her blogs were a thorn in the side of both the establishment and underworld figures that hold sway in Europe’s smallest member state. <br />Her most recent revelations pointed the finger at Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and two of his closest aides, connecting offshore companies linked to the three men with the sale of Maltese passports and payments from the government of Azerbaijan. <br />No group or individual has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack.<br />Malta’s president, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, called for calm. “In these moments, when the country is shocked by such a vicious attack, I call on everyone to measure their words, to not pass judgment and to show solidarity,” she said. <br />After a fraught general election this summer, commentators had been fearing a return to the political violence that scarred Malta during the 1980s.<br />In a statement, Muscat condemned the “barbaric attack”, saying he had asked police to reach out to other countries’ security services for help identifying the perpetrators.<br />“Everyone knows Ms Caruana Galizia was a harsh critic of mine,” said Muscat at a hastily convened press conference, “both politically and personally, but nobody can justify this barbaric act in any way”.<br />Muscat announced later in parliament that FBI officers were on their way to Malta to assist with the investigation, following his request for outside help from the US government. <br />The Nationalist party leader, Adrian Delia – himself the subject of negative stories by Caruana Galizia – claimed the killing was linked to her reporting. “A political murder took place today,” Delia said in a statement. “What happened today is not an ordinary killing. It is a consequence of the total collapse of the rule of law which has been going on for the past four years.”<br />
According to local media reports, Caruana Galizia filed a police report 15 days ago to say that she had been receiving death threats. <br />The journalist posted her final blog on her Running Commentary website at 2.35pm on Monday, and the explosion, which occurred near her home, was reported to police just after 3pm. Officers said her body had not yet been identified. According to sources, one of her sons heard the blast from their home and rushed out to the scene.<br />Caruana Galizia, who claimed to have no political affiliations, set her sights on a wide range of targets, from banks facilitating money laundering to links between Malta’s online gaming industry and the Mafia.<br />What are the Panama Papers? A guide to history's biggest data leak <br />What is Mossack Fonseca, how big is it, and who uses offshore firms? Key questions about one of the biggest ever data leaks<br /> Read more <br />
Over the last two years, her reporting had largely focused on revelations from the Panama Papers, a cache of 11.5m documents leaked from the internal database of the world’s fourth largest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. <br />The data was obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared with media partners around the world, including the Guardian, by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in Washington.<br />Caruana Galizia’s son, Matthew Caruana Galizia, is a journalist and programmer who works for the ICIJ.<br />Her family have filed a court application demanding a change of inquiring magistrate. Investigations into the case are being led by Consuelo Scerri Herrera, the magistrate who was on duty at the time. But Herrera had come under criticism by Galizia in her blog. The family’s petition states that they “have no trust” in Scerri Herrera and “do not believe that she can conduct a magisterial inquiry through the seriousness and impartiality that is needed in the search for truth”.<br />Advertisement<br />
Earlier this year, during Malta’s presidency of the European Union, her revelations caused major concern in Brussels.<br />MEPs openly called for Muscat’s departure amid a growing scandal involving his wife, a Panamanian shell company and alleged payments from the president of Azerbaijan’s daughter.<br />Muscat, who has been premier since 2013, went to the polls a year early after his wife was implicated in the scandal. He has always denied any wrongdoing and promised to quit if any evidence emerges of his family having secret offshore bank accounts used to stash kickbacks – as Caruana Galizia had alleged.<br />Responding to news of the attack, the German MEP Sven Giegold, a leading figure in the parliament’s Panama Papers inquiry, said he was “shocked and saddened”.<br />“It is too early to know the cause of the explosion but we expect to see a thorough investigation,” said Giegold. “Such incidents bring to mind Putin’s Russia, not the European Union. There can be absolutely no tolerance for violence against the press and violations of the freedom of expression in the European Union.”<br />Opposition politicians claim rule of law has been under threat since Muscat returned Malta’s Labour party to power in 2013 following a long period in opposition. Four police commissioners have resigned under his leadership. The fifth, Lawrence Cutajar, took up his post in August 2016.<br />There have been several car bomb killings in Malta during recent years. While the perpetrators have not been identified, the violence is thought to have been linked to disputes between criminal gangs. None are thought to have been politically motivated. <br />Caruana Galizia was 53 and leaves a husband and three sons.<br />
Former Opposition leader Simon Busuttil testified in court this morning, as did the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, that crook Keith Schembri, in the case he himself brought against Dr Busuttil for libel damages. <br />Mr Schembri is claiming that he is not corrupt, despite moving to set up a secret company in Panama along with favourite minister Konrad Mizzi and Mr Egrant just days after Labour won the general election in 2013, sheltering it in a top-secret trust in New Zealand, then hunting round the world for a shady bank that would take them as clients.<br />(In the end they solved the problem by setting up a shady bank in Malta, hiding in plain sight.)<br />His government salary is just peanuts to him, Mr Schembri said, because he has retained his companies and his shares and that is where he makes his money. But the way he is using his government influence to benefit his private business in Malta is entirely a separate corruption/trading in influence issue and is not an argument in his defence.<br />He also said that he was unable to reply to the corruption accusations in the past two years – but it hasn’t been two years – because of a “medical condition”. Would this be the medical condition that they claimed he didn’t have, when the Prime Minister’s chief of staff disappeared for months, I wondered why, found out, and then reported on it?<br />There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.<br />
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https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2017/10/crook-schembri-court-today-pleading-not-crook/<br />
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https://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/</div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-65885186745478390742017-10-15T15:49:00.000-07:002017-10-15T17:40:59.047-07:00PNN - N.O.W. and Zevon and Fred too<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOZHGN2vO9aP0n3pfD_Vdb8N2zxa9QsrgU0tT6pNHL9ZISghMYVZZ2udQHgCZ_d5_53c5KVWIOFA6z7tUl7Pj_7Fp-nOaOX4NUvbWF7x9yv9GKoDJOmk2oceQGMSixWxOhMKB/s1600/PNN-MONKEY-ONLY-WWW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="933" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOZHGN2vO9aP0n3pfD_Vdb8N2zxa9QsrgU0tT6pNHL9ZISghMYVZZ2udQHgCZ_d5_53c5KVWIOFA6z7tUl7Pj_7Fp-nOaOX4NUvbWF7x9yv9GKoDJOmk2oceQGMSixWxOhMKB/s320/PNN-MONKEY-ONLY-WWW.jpg" width="276" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmercurymedia/2017/10/15/pnn-now-and-zevon" target="_blank">PNN</a> - NOW & Zevon</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">PNN Brings you More Progressive Voices. Insights and perspectives on the daily challenges on the TRUMPERIUM.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">Our </span><b><span style="color: purple;">Senior Political Commentator Brook Hines</span></b><b style="color: red;"> </b><span style="color: red;">discusses her latest political Insights and then is joined by her colleague </span><b><span style="color: purple;">Fred Barr her partner in their Political Consulting firm PROGRESSION PARTNERSHIP.</span></b></span><br />
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<br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Brook and Fred will discuss in a New Segment on POP-CULTURE - a report on the FSOCIETY from the Mr. Robot Show.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Next<span style="color: red;"> we are joined by</span><b><span style="color: purple;"> Crystal Zevon</span></b><span style="color: purple;"> an <b>ACTIVIST Extraordinaire</b> </span><span style="color: red;">who works as a </span>Highly<span style="color: red;"> Committed Peace Activist spends much time and Energy on Indigenous Peoples Rights from the East Coast to the West Coast and is very engaged in a wide range of Environmental Issues. This is a voice you need to hear.<br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our final guest this week is, another Giant of <b>Human Rights Meredith Ockman</b> who's efforts so many of us are aware of as <b>SE District Director of the NATIONAL ORGANIZATION of WOMEN and President of the Board of the South Florida Women's Health Foundation</b>, her tireless human rights efforts, her ongoing work with Planned Parenthood and on a local level she's actually also somehow finds time to work on Animal Welfare projects<br /><b><br /><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmercurymedia/2017/10/15/pnn-now-and-zevon" target="_blank">LISTEN</a></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">PNN - 10/15/17</span><br />
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b> <b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">1. Top Trump Official for Pipeline Safety Profits from Selling Oil Spill Equipment</span></b><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A newly appointed federal regulator charged with overseeing pipeline safety personally profits from oil spill responses, a DeSmog investigation has found.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Drue Pearce is the acting administrator for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), an agency in the Department of Transportation responsible for ensuring oil and gas pipeline integrity. However, she is also associated with a company specializing in the sale of oil spill equipment.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pearce, a Republican from Alaska, was appointed on August 7 by the Trump administration to serve as PHMSA’s deputy administrator, a position that does not require U.S. Senate confirmation. However, since at the time the administration had yet to nominate an administrator for the agency, Pearce stepped into the role as acting administrator.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In early September, Trump finally nominated, and last Friday the Senate confirmed rail transport executive Howard Elliot as PHMSA administrator. Once Elliot formally takes the helm at PHMSA, Pearce will serve as his deputy.<br /><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Pearce’s Oil Spill Business</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Business records filed in the state of Alaska and reviewed by DeSmog show that since 2009 Pearce and her husband, Michael F. Williams, have owned Spill Shield Inc., an Anchorage-based company selling equipment for oil spill responses. The company’s website offers various products, including booms, baffles, skimmers, absorbents, and oil spill response kits.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The company advertises itself as “the Arctic’s preferred partner for environmental compliance products & Oil Spill Response,” and says its products “are very popular in small northern communities, in mining industrial and construction industries, and fishing and hunting lodges.”</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">2. SLAVE LABOR... by any other name PLEASE!</span></b><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">RSN </span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">California inmates are fighting on the front lines to contain raging wildfires, all while state leaders secretly worked to keep them imprisoned and fighting fires for little to no cost.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In recent weeks, parts of the drought-stricken state have ravaged by wildfires, leaving at least 34 people dead and forcing some 20,000 residents to evacuate. The flames have charred over 190,000 acres of land and damaged and/or destroyed around 3,500 structures.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Among those battling the blazes are 3,800 inmates, both men and women, who make up 13 percent of California’s firefighting force and whose cheap labor saves taxpayers $124 million per year, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Working on salaries of just $2 a day and an extra $1 per hour for their time on a fire line, inmates earn next to nothing for their work, compared to civilian firefighters who have a starting salary of $40,000 per year.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Some have compared the work to slave labor.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“The pay is ridiculous,” La’Sonya Edwards, a female inmate who battles blazes in Southern California, told The New York Times in August. “There are some days we are worn down to the core — and this isn’t that different from slave conditions. We need to get paid more for what we do.”</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Former mayor of Richmond, Calif., and lieutenant governor candidate Gayle McLaughlin agreed, telling NBC News, “No matter how you may want to dress it up, if you have people working for nothing or almost nothing, you’ve got slave labor, and it is not acceptable.”</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Using prison labor to battle blazes is nothing new for the Golden State, however. A recent New York Times report said the state has been employing inmates to fight fires during fire season since the mid-19th century. In 2014, the federal court system began talks to shrink California’s inmate population of almost 115,000 men and women.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">State leaders hesitated on the plans, however, because inmates (including those who are eligible for release) serve as a cheap, yet critical source of labor as firefighters.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lawyers from the office of then-Attorney General Kamala Harris argued that releasing too many inmates “at this time would severely impact fire camp participation — a dangerous outcome while California is in the middle of a difficult fire season and severe drought.” Harris, who now represents California in the U.S. Senate, told Buzzfeed News she was shocked upon hearing her attorneys’ reasoning.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Her office’s argument was one recently echoed by Louisiana Caddo Parish Police Chief Steve Prator, who was upset over the release of “good,” nonviolent inmates “you could work — the ones who can pick up trash.”</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“I don’t want state prisoners, [but] they’re a necessary evil to keep the doors open, that we keep a few,” Prator said during a news conference, drawing an immediate backlash from critics who said his comments evoked slavery.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">3. Demand an End to BackDoor Web Searches</span></b><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">EFF and 57 organizations, including American Civil Liberties Union, R Street, and NAACP, spoke out against warrantless searches of American citizens in a joint letter this week demanding reforms of the so-called “ backdoor search ” loophole that exists for data collected under Section 702. The backdoor search loophole allows federal government agencies, including the FBI and CIA, to, without a warrant, search through data collected on American citizens. Applying a warrant requirement only to searches of Section 702 data...</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Many were shocked to learn that the U.S. indiscriminately vacuums up the communications of millions of innocent people – both around the world and at home – through surveillance programs under Section 702, originally enacted by the FISA Amendments Act. This warrantless, suspicionless surveillance violates established privacy protections, including the Fourth Amendment.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The U.S. government uses Section 702 to justify the collection of the communications of innocent people overseas and in the United States by tapping into the cables that carry domestic and international Internet communications through what's known as Upstream surveillance. The government also forces major U.S. tech companies to turn over private communications stored on their servers through a program often referred to as PRISM. While the programs under Section 702 are theoretically aimed at foreigners outside the United States, they constantly collect Americans’ communications with no meaningful oversight from the courts.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">These programs are a gross violation of Americans’ constitutional rights. Communicating with anyone who is potentially located abroad does not invalidate your Fourth Amendment protections.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tell your representatives in Congress that it is time to let the sun set on this mass Internet spying.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span> <b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">4. WANT TO SUPPORT THE TROOPS? STOP SENDING THEM TO DIE IN MEANINGLESS WARS</span></b><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I get really emotional when I watch videos of members of the armed forces coming home after a long deployment to surprise their loved ones. I put myself in the shoes of these families who were separated for months and can feel the love.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Then I get angry.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I get angry because these reunions are as touching as they are senseless.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Sixteen years ago yesterday, the US-led invasion of Afghanistan began. Since then, nothing has been gained but so much has been lost.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thousands of American soldiers — as well as hundreds of thousands of civilians — have been killed. Many more returned irreparably damaged. They might have come home but their limbs — and often their mental health — have remained behind on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What did they get in return for their sacrifice? Not much. Members of the armed forces are neither well-paid nor particularly well-cared-for once they return home. As WhoWhatWhy has pointed out, one US veteran commits suicide roughly every hour.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The war has also taken a brutal toll on the families of service members. You can see it in those videos. More than 2.5 million American men and women have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. That means hundreds of thousands of families have been torn apart — many of them forever. In addition, countless children had to spend part of their formative years without their mom or dad, constantly worrying about whether they would see their parent again. Think of the strain that places on families.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">And all that for what?</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The US isn’t one bit safer. Neither is the Middle East. In fact, the region seems much-less stable now than it was 16 years ago, and the worldwide threat of terrorism has only increased.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Americans are being told that their liberties are under attack — and that the troops are defending them abroad. But the only people who have taken anybody’s freedoms away are sitting in the halls of power in Washington.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">They happen to be the same people who apparently never have seen a war they didn’t like — regardless of the consequences for millions of Americans and their families.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So excuse me if I can’t get upset about NFL players supposedly “disrespecting the troops” by taking a knee to protest an injustice. Personally, I can’t think of anything more disrespectful to the men and women in uniform than sending them into harm’s way to fight endless wars with no objective.<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">http://indigenousaction.org<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">http://outofyourbackpackmedia.org<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: georgia, times new roman, serif;">http://defendersoftheblackhills.org</span><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-37920898958367760702017-10-08T15:53:00.002-07:002017-10-08T17:04:40.211-07:00PNN - The Falling Screeds<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmercurymedia/2017/10/08/pnn-falling-screeds" target="_blank">PNN - Falling Screeds</a> -</b><br />
Get the latest on Healthcare Alternatives from New Thought Leader Ann Fonfa of Appleseed Annie<br />
threatened by cancer, not getting what you need from Business as Usual Medicine - Contact Annie Appleseed Project for additional resources.<br />
<br />
We are also visited by Denis Campbell of The Three Muckrakers, and the UK Progressives, follows up on his several books investigating contemporary political movements. With the clarity an international journalist with over 20 years of international political leadership. Denis has a new book out about the first 200 plus days of the dangerous Trump presidency. <br />Denis's New Book - <a href="https://wordcatcher.com/products/donald-trump-deplorable-bully-denis-g-campbell" target="_blank"><b>Donald Trump Deplorable Bully</b></a><br />
www.ukprogressive.co.uk/<br />
<br />
Our Political Commentator Brook Hines returns with her astute political insights. also found at the FLORIDA SQUEEZE<br />
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TUNE IN - Live 7pm or anytime.<br />
<br />
<br />
NEWS ITEMS<br />
<br />
PNN Stories for 10/8/17<br />
<span style="color: red;"></span><br />
<span style="color: red;">1. <b>The Prez just I can't get no Respect Edition</b> -</span> Who called him what and what did he call who?<br />
<br />
2. <b><span style="color: red;">"Somebody didn't pickup their shift this am at the presidential adult daycare center"</span></b> - <br />
Corker (Tenn.) tweeted, “It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.”<br />
<br />
3. <b><span style="color: red;">Robert Reich on The Troubles of Tillerson:</span></b><br />
"You are Secretary of State – the nation’s chief diplomat – under a president who’s dangerously nuts.<br />
Last weekend, for example, Trump publicly said you were wasting your time trying to open talks with North Korea. Does he have a better idea? Any halfway rational president would ask his Secretary of State to try to talk with Kim Jong-Un.<br />
And there’s Iran. You and Defense Secretary James Mattis have both stated the nuclear agreement should be retained. That, too, is only rational. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Iran has been honoring the agreement. Without it, Iran would restart its nuclear program.<br />
But Trump is on the verge of decertifying the agreement in order to save face (in the 2016 campaign he called it an “embarrassment to America”) and further puncture Barack Obama’s legacy. His narcissism is endangering the world.<br />
You tried to mediate the dispute between Qatar and its Arab neighbors. That, too, was the reasonable thing to do.<br />
But then Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner sided with the United Arab Emirates, where they have business interests. Less than one hour after you called for a “calm and thoughtful dialogue” between Qatar and its neighbors, Trump blasted Qatar for financing terrorism. That was also nuts." <br />
<span style="color: red;"></span><br />
<span style="color: red;">4. Pence leaves football game to save DONNIE's Face!</span> - the Pence team prewarned the press he might go - and seeing KNEELING thought they'd gone catholic on him! - He split!<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>5. PREZ Calls for Senate Investigate of faux press</b> - <br />
<span style="color: red;"><b> “Why Isn’t the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!”</b></span> Trump wrote<br />
<br />
6. <span style="color: blue;"><b>Prez throws soft KOCH INDUSTRIES Paper Towels at PR Confab</b></span><br />
and is denounced for insensitivity - Initially he had planned on distributing loaves and fishes - but they couldn't find any!<br />
<b></b><span style="color: red;"></span><br />
<b><span style="color: red;">7. Analysis is said to show, the President is playing Zero Dimensional CHESS</span></b><br />
<b></b><span style="color: red;"></span><br />
8. <b><span style="color: red;">Mayor of Charlottesville VA denounces RACIST NAZIS who held another TIKI POWERED MARCH in his City</span></b><br />
"Another despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards. You’re not welcome here! Go home! Meantime we’re looking at all our legal options. Stay tuned."<br />
<br />
9. Puerto Rico - Two-Step<br />
So does this helps explain why the infrastructure in Puerto Rico has been so long neglected—the first priority is to serve this foreign debt and tax breaks for the wealthy?<br />
Absolutely, and it’s only going to get worse because of the PROMESA Act [NB: Passed by Congress to deal with the financial crisis and bankruptcy]. Some critics have dared to describe it as a kind of bailout or aid package, but that’s not so. <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><i>There is absolutely no transfer of money from the federal government to Puerto Rico as part of the PROMESA Act.</i></b></span> If anything, there’s an imposition of an economic burden on the Puerto Rican government which now has to pay the overhead of the PROMESA board—<b><span style="color: purple;">which is estimated to cost 200 million dollars in its first year alone—and an astronomical, unjustifiable salary of over half a million dollars a year to its manager Natalie Jaresko.</span></b> <br />
<br />
This completely overpaid expensive board arrives in Puerto Rico and the first thing that they say is that everyone has to tighten their belts. There are “furloughs” of government workers, the government has to reduce its payroll by about 30 percent. Now they are going to privatize a lot of the services. The first target was the University of Puerto Rico, which they completely gutted leading to a massive strike at the university.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">10.Reality Winner - daze in Court</span><span style="color: blue;"><i>(Innocent until proven guilty?) - Not so Much!</i></span></b><br />
On Thursday, a federal judge denied a second request for bail from Reality Winner, a former National Security Agency contractor accused of violating the Espionage Act, despite an admission from the federal prosecutor in charge of the case that the government relied on false information in Winner’s initial bail hearing.<br />
In his decision denying bail, Judge Brian Epps did not acknowledge or reference the prosecutor’s false statements, despite the statement having been a principal reason the defense moved for the renewed hearing.<br />
The fight over whether Winner should be released pending trial stemmed from her bail hearing shortly after she was indicted in June. Winner was initially denied bail partly on the basis of alleged jailhouse recordings that suggested she may have other classified documents that she wanted to make public...<br />
With no evidence Winner was in possession of more documents, U.S. Attorney Jennifer Solari instead shifted focus during a bail hearing last week to Winner’s character, internet privacy habits, and political views, arguing that the young former NSA contractor had shown “nothing but contempt for our country and our security.” <br />
“The court denies defendant’s motion for release from custody,” Epps wrote in the decision, “and finds by clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community; and by a preponderance of the evidence that no condition or combination of conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of defendant as required.”<br />
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<b><span style="color: purple;"><u>11. TRUMPFT's Choice for the EPA pretends not to know his ABCs.</u></span></b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL76gvZbWl8zmDTzzNwY8zeKMSHzO-oO8njArgKXg6ujuAuzcZMo_WHdCF_e1zrXsG7tBVL0vz5ELtQJQEs0YNoWqG_pudDqXtzAu3ZU0uqmXYvCYcYhoAIHxP9CWCMn2oh7PN/s1600/pnn-logo-2a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>William Wehrum is the Trump administration’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air and Radiation. “Bill,” the first line of his bio at his law firm, Hunton & Williams, boasts, “is well known for his thorough grasp of environmental issues.”<br />
<br />
The senator produced a large graph for Wehrum from NASA, tracking levels of both greenhouse gas emissions and warming from 1880 through 2005. The lines follow one another fairly closely, including a dramatic upward spike through the latter half of the 20th century and early 21st. “Can you acknowledge,” Merkley asked, “that these lines generally track each other?”<br />
<i></i><br />
<span style="color: red;"><i>“I’m not familiar with those data. I have no idea what it depicts,”</i> Wehrum answers.</span><br />
<br />
Merkley prods. “But you can see the lines. Do the lines track each other?”<br />
“What’s important, senator, is to know how the data is depicted.”<br />
“Yes it is,” Merkley agrees, “But I’m just asking a question: Can you see those two lines, and do they generally track each other?”<br />
<br />
Wehrum does not answer the question, leading Merkley to give up on his graph-related line of inquiry for another. “What we see is this Koch Brother-inspired determination not to acknowledge even the most fundamental facts. … Why should the American people put into an office of significant influence someone who refuses to look at the facts directly that are so important to the health of this planet?”<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><i>“As I said, these are complex issues and very important issues.”</i></span><br />
<br />
So Merkley sought to make it a little less complex, asking Wehrum whether he acknowledges a series of basic scientific facts about recent ecological trends tied to rising temperatures: the increasing acidification of the ocean, growing snowpacks on the cascade mountains, longer fire seasons. Wehrum, again, does not respond, saying of ocean acidification that he’s aware there “is an allegation,” before being cut off.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;">"Bill is well known for his thorough grasp of environmental issues, gleaned from his training as an environmental engineer and prior work in the EPA. In 2017, the Legal 500 described him as "hands down one of the finest Clean Air Act attorneys in the country" He has worked on precedent-setting cases and is at the forfront of some of the most significant environmental issues of the day."</span><br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-66453762417716426682017-10-01T15:47:00.000-07:002017-10-01T16:27:59.216-07:00PNN - A life vest for Civilization<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">PNN - A Life Vest for Civilization</span></b><br />
PNN welcomes several activists all of whom, are working to uphold the civilized values.<br />
<br />
Happily the return of <b>Brook Hines our Senior Political Commentator</b>, on the mend!<br />
<br />
<b>Antonio Tovare from the Farm Workers Association of Florida</b> discusses some of the hardships facing the agricultural workers in Florida.<br />
<br />
We also are visited by <b>Ellyn Stevenson</b> with the organization called Indivisible Martin and the Safety Pin Alliance who literally just returned from a delivery of donated supplies to the farmworkers of Immokalee, FL. 33455.<br />
<br />
We also have the great pleasure of welcoming<b> Pam Goodman, President of the League of Women Voters</b> who will discuss some of the projects they are undertaking.<br />
<br />
Join us Sunday Live or Anytime 7pm East / 6pm Central / 4pm Pacific<br />
<b><br /></b> <b><a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmercurymedia/2017/10/01/pnn--a-lifevest-for-civilization" target="_blank">PNN</a> - </b><br />
www.floridafarmworkers.org - Antonio<br />
<br />
Rick Spisak, News, Director<br />
Progressive News Network<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>PNN 10/1/17 - News Stories</b><br />
<br />
1. Free Press was recently hit with a sophisticated series of<br />
cyberattacks that attempted to gain access to staff emails.<br />
<br />
This wasn’t your standard spam — it was a coordinated attack by professionals. We were targeted because of our outspoken leadership on Net Neutrality.<br />
<br />
This was a startling and negative experience. But if there’s a silver lining (beyond the fact that we thwarted the hackers), it’s that this prolonged attack tells us that our work is effective — so effective that the opposition is resorting to dirty tricks to try and stop us.<br />
<br />
2. GOOGLE / Censorship De-monitiz-ation (<b><span style="color: red;">TAKING THE MONEY</span></b>) [its good to be the monopoly]<br />
<br />
Though legacy media has framed this issue as one of Neo-Nazis using an alternative right wing website, it is important to recognize that Google has also censored the left-leaning outlet Counterpunch. Youtube has also come under fire recently for demonetizing content creators from across the political spectrum.<br />
<br />
Gab stated via twitter: “Gab’s domain registrar has given us 5 days to transfer our domain or they will seize it. The free and open web is in danger.” Gab also pointed out the fact that the issue with their domain had occurred less than a day after their law suit against Google was filed. As of today, Gab stated via twitter that “Update: Gab has secured our domain away from Asia Registry.”<br /><br />
Gab had been notified of the domain issue less than 24 hours after filing a lawsuit against Google for allegedly violating anti-trust laws. The Washington Post reported the words of Gab CEO Andrew Torba on the suit: “Google is the biggest threat to the free flow of information…<br />
<br />
Gab started to fight against the big tech companies in the marketplace, and their monopolistic onduct has forced us to bring the fight to the courtroom.”<br />
<br />
Further explaining the impetus for the suit, he told the Washington Post: “Imagine if a private orporation owned all the highways and they decided to close them down whenever they feel like it — that is what it’s like. You cannot deny people a fundamental staple of the Internet.”<br /><br />
In the wake of the news from Asia Registry, Torba told Breitbart that “This action from Asia Registry, just days after our lawsuit with Google was filed, is unprecedented. We have acted in good faith with Asia Registry and had no problems up until we raised our funding round and launched<br />
our lawsuit against Google.”<br /><br />
Julian Assange also responded to Gab’s plight, writing: “anti-censorship” Twitter alternative “gab.ai” discovers the dangers of using Australia during the current Western pro-censorship hysteria.” Assange has long warned of the danger posed by Google becoming enmeshed with the deep<br />
state.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="color: red;"><b>3. FUKUSHIMA REBUKE</b></span><br />
Erroneous settings on water gauges lowered groundwater levels to three feet below the required safety levels.<br />
<br />
Radioactively contaminated water from Japan's damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor may have leaked, according to the plant operator. Erroneous settings on water gauges lowered groundwater levels at half of the dozen nearby wells to three feet below the required safety levels.<br />
<br />
When groundwater at one well briefly sank below the level of the contaminated water in May, it might have caused radioactive water to leak into the soil.<br />
<br />
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) is the firm responsible for Fukushima.<br />
<br />
Tepco spokesman Shinichi Nakakuki said that their samples did not show an abnormal increase in radioactivity and leaks to the outside are unlikely.Risks of a leak were unlikely because groundwater levels at wells dug closer to the reactors have stayed above minimum safety levels, said Mr Nakakakuki.<br />
Tepco is investigating the potential contamination after it discovered the problem this week.<br />
<br />
<b>4. FUKE TRIAL</b><br />
Three former executives with the operator of the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have pleaded not guilty to charges of professional negligence, in the only criminal action targeting officials since the triple meltdown more than six years ago. In the first hearing of the trial at Tokyo district court on Friday, Tsunehisa Katsumata, who was chairman of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) at the time of the disaster, and two other former executives argued they could not have foreseen a tsunami of the size that knocked out the plant’s backup cooling system, triggering a meltdown in three reactors.<br />
“I apologise for the tremendous trouble to the residents in the area and around the country because of the serious accident that caused the release of radioactive materials,” Katsumata said, bowing slightly.<br />
<br />
Prosecutors alleged that the 77-year-old, along with his co-defendants, Sakae Muto, 67, and Ichiro Takekuro, 71 – both former Tepco vice-presidents – had been shown data that anticipated a tsunami of more than 10 metres in height that could cause a power outage and other serious consequences.<br />
<br />
election commission:<br />
Chris Kobach (PARTISAN ANTI-DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST)<br />
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https://disobedientmedia.com<br />
<br />
http://indivisiblemartin.com/<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-9490862195290241662017-09-17T12:01:00.003-07:002017-09-17T12:01:17.326-07:00PNN - Irma's Backside<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJXNFqmeCAWqMAm9PBS1ZI5L3AI9TFzePb58uMnO1Qry15Z5Ei2vkprhGotDr8NNBEajdF1A6k7SI0ICzl_0zjBxCUz4IcP25uHuItYTrG1trKfRppbopGLSWRwRTlVuPEpUt/s1600/irmas-backside.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJXNFqmeCAWqMAm9PBS1ZI5L3AI9TFzePb58uMnO1Qry15Z5Ei2vkprhGotDr8NNBEajdF1A6k7SI0ICzl_0zjBxCUz4IcP25uHuItYTrG1trKfRppbopGLSWRwRTlVuPEpUt/s320/irmas-backside.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://pnngo.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">PNN - Irma's Backside</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
BUT FIRST a Word from Our Resident, President Poet:<br />
<br />
ON DON-WARD ON IMPEACH-MINT!<br /> I do not like him on twitter<br /> I wouldn't trust him to carry cat litter<br />
I wouldn't trust him to take out trash<br /> he's been a fool with Danna Bash<br /> He's silly, foolish and acts all RASH<br /> I've seen him speak and all those he bashed<br /> I've seen him insult MEN & WOMEN<br /> Is he a CHUMP? I think its GIVEN<br />
He insults friends and foes alike<br /> then wonders why he is not liked?<br /> He demanded MEXICO BUILD A WALL<br /> then demanded tax payers fund it after all.<br />
<br /> Trust him with the NEW-CLEAR Code<br /> My GAWD I'd rather KISS A TOAD<br />
See him in charge of GREAT VAST ARMIES<br /> I've seen what he's done with just a TWEET<br /> ALARMING<br /><br />
I DO NOT LIKE HIM WITH A TWEET<br /> I DO NOT LIKE HIM when he wears a SHEET!<br /> I DO NOT LIKE HIM in the Oval Office<br /> I DO NOT CARE when he says can't TOP THIS!<br />
All his audiences he says are large<br />
BIGGER EVEN than his EGO<br />
WILD CARD PREZ his friends are saying<br />
Like a DONKEY NOISY BRAYING<br />
<br /> So Trump can take his adolescent humor<br /> an gold plated angst (its not a rumor)<br /> I just wish he'd GO and haunt the DUMA<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRQCznD1s9XRh5uLYFwRE5Q-uI2o_I7xlvpdit-P33wALPULn53TX4B2yFtTiP1lZzYLcmmRqhYBFBeCjROKFUPYLv99Bquz8j_b6v2xAI4Iie-4x15gtq_ZEPN1K7tBcH4i9/s1600/pnn-RWS.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="447" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkRQCznD1s9XRh5uLYFwRE5Q-uI2o_I7xlvpdit-P33wALPULn53TX4B2yFtTiP1lZzYLcmmRqhYBFBeCjROKFUPYLv99Bquz8j_b6v2xAI4Iie-4x15gtq_ZEPN1K7tBcH4i9/s320/pnn-RWS.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
PNN - so recently on Hiatus, due to the threat of Irma to Florida, <br /> Returns with stories of the good will of the Progressive Community <br /> from the windswept islands in the Caribbean to the hills of Appalachia.<br />
<br />We bring, guests from the south, guests from Irma's wrath, and rescuers who came and helped. <br />Those that fled and those that came to rescue. Stories from the road and stories gathered from under tarps and terrifying skies.<br />
<br />
<b>Brook Hines,</b> [Senior Political Commentator] & <b>Kartik Krishnaiyer</b>, [Publisher of Florida Squeeze]<br /> will discuss their experiences with Irma and her wilding windswept ways. Tales of survivors, and damages, and losses. There amidst the broken branches and scattered detritis of lives the many very marvelous humane victories.<br /><br />We also have the great good fortune to bring you<b> Frank Day and Panhandle progressives</b>, tell their tales, These wonderful friends and colleagues from Florida's panhandle who worked to send supplies not only to the survivors and victims of Harvey - but they have sent supplies and help to Irma victims as well.<br /><br />
TUNE IN - 7pm Eastern / 6pm Central / 4 pm Pacific<br />
<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/newmercurymedia/2017/09/17/pnn-the-back" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-64238770470784664732017-08-31T07:27:00.001-07:002017-08-31T07:29:38.024-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVP1Od1UIzWwAUQbbomqWhaf5SXgNS01kBIlFGVceUFgdic8-ZTFJ2Tge_uIP2eKwdCESsDdKU8kspC14g_7FdfXRTi9QtYlsIOISA1t8Jw7SY_UGl5W1BIoy8XZNGtUMaigU/s1600/betsy-devos-vis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="603" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVP1Od1UIzWwAUQbbomqWhaf5SXgNS01kBIlFGVceUFgdic8-ZTFJ2Tge_uIP2eKwdCESsDdKU8kspC14g_7FdfXRTi9QtYlsIOISA1t8Jw7SY_UGl5W1BIoy8XZNGtUMaigU/s320/betsy-devos-vis.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span><span style="color: red;"></span><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Betsy Does Culty in Tallie</span></b></div>
<b><span style="color: purple; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;"></span><i></i><br /></span></b>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: red;"><i>Betsy Devos's Pilgrimage in avoids pubic schools Tallahassee!</i></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: red;"></span><i></i><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;">I. Can you imagine,
It's so liberating. It's not as if universal ( Free k-12) education has made a
difference or even the smallest contribution to America's scientific leadership
of the world over the last century.</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext" , serif; font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;">II. Think of the
benefits to Darwinian Capitalism if they could shed adults completely from the
workforce, in favor of "icon/emoji" button pressing post-literate
child-workforce. Why LEAD THE WORLD IN EDUCATED CITIZENS, when you could lead
in something more intrinsically valuable like CEO SALARIES.</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext" , serif; font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;">III. WHY - this way a
handful of CEO's could be earning hundreds of Trillions instead of a few measly
billions per quarter.</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext" , serif; font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;">IV. Betsy D (for
Dense, Dunce, Deluded, Dangerous, Destructive, Devious) leads the way !!! It's
religious cult schools or nothing, and please let us finally dispense with the
out dated liberal fallacy, that everyone needs literacy. (How troublesome and
expensive) Most are demonstrably reading nothing more significant than ball
scores and rifle training manuals.</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext" , serif; font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="color: #454545;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;">V. That has no
profitable value anyway.</span></span><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: ".sfuitext" , serif; font-size: 17pt; margin: 0px;"> </span></span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="color: #454545;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30362114.post-4491739147444110322017-08-13T15:57:00.001-07:002017-08-13T16:12:25.931-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEYricwdHtW7IoiBHyxE6jAUVsK9T5sNPiQxFrSGnnZkp_NR649Ozp4G-rv_VOMZJ0BH4vkjIEgMAMrh1Nasv5amUn9A9WOetBGa9_YSQpLiSMBPoB_iejLEMhZdSJL7eUyu-/s1600/PNN-BROTHERHOOD-SHOW900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="900" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigEYricwdHtW7IoiBHyxE6jAUVsK9T5sNPiQxFrSGnnZkp_NR649Ozp4G-rv_VOMZJ0BH4vkjIEgMAMrh1Nasv5amUn9A9WOetBGa9_YSQpLiSMBPoB_iejLEMhZdSJL7eUyu-/s320/PNN-BROTHERHOOD-SHOW900.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
We had a wonderful Show planned and then the WHITE SUPREMACISTS decided to attack in Virginia. So we shifted our focus and did some digging we bring you this show on brotherhood<br />
<br />
We will feature Brook Hines recent journalistic investigations and we will discuss the evil of those who would ethnically and racially "purge" this country of all the immigrants<br />
<br />
Then we will hear from the UF President discussing welcoming white supremacists and taliban and cannibals to lecture at the campus.<br />
The a speech of Dr. Kings<br /><br />
PNN Brotherhood & Sisterhood Show<br />
Brook Hines & Fred Barr - Movement Mentality<br />
<br />
1. Chanting "blood and soil,” “white lives matter”<br />
and “you will not replace us,” scores of white nationalists<br />
holding torches marched across the University of Virginia campus<br />
in Charlottesville on Friday night.<br />
<br />
Scuffles broke out between them and a small group of<br />
counter-protesters calling themselves “anti-fascists” who<br />
were surrounded as they demonstrated in advance of Saturday’s<br />
“Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, which is expected<br />
to be one of the largest far-right gatherings in the U.S.<br />
in at least a decade.<br />
<br />
<br />
2. In memory of Heather Heyer<br />
who lost her life opposing RACISM<br />
<br />
3. Give me your tired your poor<br />
your huddled masses yearning to breathe free<br />
the wretched refuse of your teeming shore<br />
send these the homeless tempest tossed to me<br />
I lift my lamp beside the GOLDEN DOOR<br />
<br />
<br />
4. White-nationalist group that influenced alleged Charleston shooter is subsidized by American taxpayers Council of Conservative Citizens is 'social welfare' an organization that pays no federal taxes<br />
<br />
Alleged Charleston gunman Dylann Roof wrote that he was never the same after discovering a website with “pages upon pages of these brutal black on white murders.”<br />
<br />
The pages that left Roof in disbelief were the product of a white-nationalist group subsidized by American taxpayers.<br />
<br />
The Council of Conservative Citizens Inc. is listed by the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit organization that promotes social welfare, also known as a 501(c)(4).<br />
Such groups pay no federal taxes, a form of government subsidy.<br />
<br />
The council is now under fire for allegedly inspiring racial hatred in Roof, a 21-year-old high school dropout. He is charged with nine counts of murder.<br />
<br />
Tax-exempt social welfare groups are supposed to “primarily promote the common good and general welfare of the people of the community as a whole,” according to IRS documents.<br />
<br />
The Council of Conservative Citizens explains on its website that its members believe “that the American people and government should remain European in their composition and character….<br />
We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind.”<br />
<br />
Groups that espouse hate can be stripped of their tax-exempt status, said Marcus Owens, who ran the IRS’s exempt organizations division in the 1990s. That happened to the neo-Nazi group<br />
National Alliance in 1982. The Council of Conservative Citizens has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “notorious, racist hate group.”<br />
<br />
However, Owens says Republicans in Congress have made it virtually impossible for the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of political groups after the recent, so-called tea party scandal. Republicans criticized the IRS for what they said was the inexcusable targeting of conservative 501(c)(4)s. And the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said the agency had employed “inappropriate criteria” in scrutinizing some groups’ tax-exemption applications.<br />
<br />
Vigils in Palm Beach, Stuart, Gainsville<div class="blogger-post-footer">AVERYVOICE.COM Liberty is a Verb - Essays by RW Spisak</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09854838040216466506noreply@blogger.com0