Open Thread 1-19-17: Insanity the Day Before...It!

Submitted by Shahryar on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 6:00am

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We've seen the amusing Twilight Zone comparisons. You know...the photo of Rod Serling standing in front of a dismal, glowering Trump who's sitting in the Oval Office. Or that Scottish preview of the inauguration. What? You haven't read that? Wait a sec...

After a long absence, The Twilight Zone returns with one of the most ambitious, expensive and controversial productions in broadcast history. Sci-fi writers have dabbled often with alternative history stories - among the most common is the "What If The Nazis Had Won The Second World War" setting - but this huge interactive virtual reality project, which will unfold on TV, in the press, and on Twitter over the next four years, sets out to build an ongoing alternative present.

The story begins in a nightmarish version of 2017 in which huge sections of the US electorate have somehow been duped into voting to make Donald Trump president. It sounds far-fetched, and it is, but as it goes on it becomes more and more chillingly plausible. Today's feature-length opener concentrates on the gaudy inauguration of President Trump, and the stirrings of protest and despair surrounding the ceremony, while pundits speculate gravely on what lies ahead. It's a flawed piece, but a disturbing glimpse of the horrors we could stumble into, if we're not careful.

ho ho ho, that's hilarious. I think there could also have been a Twilight Zone built around Hillary Clinton if she'd won. It'd be different, maybe subtler. Anyway, I've been thinking that our entire existence is like science fiction now. There were stories back in the 60s and 70s about how political types would put hallucinogens in the air to make the population docile or angry or whatever. I bet the Army thought it was possible. But sci-fi writers liked how ridiculous it would be, so they used it for stories.

And now here we are. I think there must be something in that air. We've gone crazy. I'd say 95% of the country is totally insane. Not you, of course...or maybe you, too. And when I say "you" I mean me as well. But for sure, 95%, maybe a higher number, is whacko. When the two worst candidates ever get 95% of the vote then the voters have to be nuts. I was discussing this on my football chat group, how there are instigators on both "sides" who do nothing but stir up outrage and hatred, so much so that normal people will end up believing the stuff and think "yes, I'm voting for this terrible candidate AND convincing myself that this terrible candidate is great!"

Now we've got some protests coming up against Trump and, jeepers, they seem to be pro-Hillary too. What, you might ask, does protesting Trump have to do with still pushing Hillary? There's something hinky ["Something as yet undefinable is wrong, out of place; not quite right" - Urban Dictionary] about this Woman's March on Portland. I normally hate our local centrist weekly, the Willamette Week, but there was something of interest in the issue that just came out. This March is scheduled for Saturday.

Activists complained the event's original organizer, who lives in Eastern Oregon, refused to give a platform to minorities, immigrants and trans people.

(That organizer, who asked not to be named because she fears being targeted by anti-government militias, declined to discuss those specific claims. "It's really sad that we have to be fighting these same battles again and again," she says. "The real reason that Hillary did not win is, she's a woman.")

There's more here:

http://www.wweek.com/news/city/2017/01/17/new-organizer-of-womens-march-...

I'm really uncomfortable with some sort of protest against Trump that keeps the Hillary zombie alive. Meanwhile we have all of these rumors, no doubt pushed by the Clinton circle, that she could win a race for New York City Mayor. I doubt it. But CBS News has this headline:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-hillary-clinton-would-lead-bill-de-blas...

Hillary Clinton would dominate a hypothetical race for mayor of New York City against incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio if she were to run as an independent, according to a Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday.

The poll found that 49 percent would back Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, while only 29 percent would support de Blasio, a Democrat

She'd be inevitable! Like how she had the 2008 nomination sewn up in October 2007. Or how she was 40 points ahead of Bernie, or 13 points ahead of Trump. But this is science fiction time where everyone is deranged. Now she can return and all her fans can, one more time, talk about how wonderful she is.

So, to sum up (have I said anything yet?) we have people divided into two camps. Each side is completely bonkers, believing the other side is all that's wrong with the world. Thus they perpetuate this acceptance of the worst, the Clintons, Trump, Pence, Kerry, Lieberman, the Bushes. And they just can't let go long enough to look directly at what's in front of them.

How long will the Hillary delusion last? I'm thinking six months before my friends stop saying she was a great candidate. They'll still be nuts, though, just saying some other crazy #$%&.

You know what's coming, right? Here you go!

and this one...

and so on...

Tags: 
Open Thread
nuts
barmy
screw loose
cuckoo
out of one's mind
loony
Patsy Cline
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Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 6:40am
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I have seen the words Philip-K-Dick multiple times this week. In that order. Still have edema in legs, peed out volumes, getting better, I hope.

Today's first attempt to embed a golden (and sad) oldie:

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Submitted by eyo on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 6:45am

US Congresswoman makes secret visit to Syria

WASHINGTON: In the first visit of its kind since 2012, US Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has traveled to Syria on a trip that has taken her so far to Aleppo and Damascus.

Go Tulsi. Kucinich too.

Gabbard and Kucinich were flown to war-torn Aleppo “without any Syrian officials.” There, they visited the city’s old citadel, two archbishoprics, and the eastern part, which was under siege by the regime until it was retaken last month.
The visit included a stop at a camp for displaced residents from Fuaa and Kefraya, which were captured by Syrian opposition, as well as Aleppo’s university hospital.

blessed are the peace makers. I'm more than slightly. Thanks.

Love Queen

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Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 7:22am
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@eyo I can Jazz Hands my dog and send her on a run.

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Submitted by dkmich on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 9:05am

@eyo RUSSIA ALLOWS EDWARD SNOWDEN TO REMAIN THROUGH 2020

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by divineorder on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:18am
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@eyo

Thanks.

Not Kucinich's first time there...

http://www.ibtimes.com/kucinich-looks-peace-troubled-syria-294725

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 6:37pm
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@divineorder from the incomparable Bonnie Raitt.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ58TVYNFro]

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Submitted by divineorder on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 7:30pm
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@gulfgal98

perform it live in Austin back in the day~!

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Submitted by eyo on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 8:20am

Biggrin https://www.youtube.com/user/TYTComedy/videos

No holding back on Corey Booker, woo! Go Jimmy. Probably NSFW because profanity, so turn down the sound? Or just turn it up and rant along.

Thanks

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Submitted by divineorder on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 10:06am
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even though Trump transition had announced recall of all.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Submitted by Lookout on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 8:58am
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Seems more like a surreal dream to me... (5 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0kiPsFIaHY]

I guess some Twilight zones episodes are surreal too.

More than a march...a two day strike.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/19814/interviews_for_resistance_do...

There's a little march on the mountain Saturday we may attend if it isn't raining too hard. It isn't a pro$hill effort.

Looks like y'all are having sure enough winter weather in the NW. We've had 7 days in a row of 70 degrees - a new January record!

All the best.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by eyo on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 9:37am

@Lookout Wow thanks, love that video. Once I saw Dali's Persistence of Memory at The MoMA, it is one of my most favorite um, memories. heh That, and Van Gogh's Starry Night. Totally blew me away. Then the Picasso sculpture exhibit at the Guggenheim literally made me sick to my stomach, but in a strangely good way. Never thought art could have such a visceral effect but it did.

love mother earth

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Submitted by dkmich on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 9:07am

It is loaded with news on the vile DeVos family and the role they bought in the Trump administration.

I wish Taibbi was there. Too bad his deal fell through.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by Lookout on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 9:24am
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@dkmich

Brave New Films has put together a piece on DeVos too - Betsy DeVos is not fit to be the next Secretary of Education! Watch to learn more about how she ruined education in Michigan through for-profit charter schools – (8 min)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47OC7wZbwzM]

She's not doing well in the hearings...be interesting to see if she gets through the process.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by MarilynW on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 10:57am
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@Lookout period. in a simple office job. Who would hire her in what office? Her fake smiling alone would disqualify her in an interview. To think of all those children under her domain, is sickening.

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To thine own self be true.

Submitted by shaharazade on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:02pm
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@Lookout Will the Demorat's left standing in congress obstruct these appalling Trump appointments? I remember when Gonzo the torturer was appointed AG by Bush the Younger, DiFi came on my TV and said she voted for him because 'He is a nice man'. Why instead of protesting The Hairball do people who are progressive not put pressure on the Democrat's, the loyal opposition, to block this insanity. No symbolism just good old fashioned obstruction.

My theory is that as we saw with the pharmaceutical amendment the Demorat's will use the insane right wing as cover for their own corrupt mendacity. Neither side gives a fig about restoring the rule of law or the system of checks and balances. Separation of powers? It's all theatrical partisan politics which is useless as it really is a duopoly. In a one party state that has two fake wings what good does it do to focus on the 'worst evil' Republicans that the Democratic party has empowered since at least 2006?

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Submitted by Lookout on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:21pm
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@shaharazade

I sure have lost all faith the dems will stand up. As you suggest they had the opportunity with the pharma bill. Once Chuckie was selected as the senate point man all else became plain...they're feeding from the corporate trough and they can't quit. Forget 'em.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 9:22am
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The last day of sanity in the United States. Oh, wait - not so fast - it hasn't been that sane around here for decades!

So happy for Snowden's extended stay in Russia. I hope he remains safe. I heard some asshat on NPR talking about Manning's release being a horrible thing for our future safety, even though no one was hurt by anything he released, but Patraeus especially didn't do any harm because what he showed his girlfriend, ur, biographer, was less stuff. Now, THAT's insanity!

Thanks for removing all that @ stuff. It was driving me "insane!"

Have a beautiful day, everyone! Pleasantry

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by eyo on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:40am

@Raggedy Ann - thanks I'm not kidding. Next time you hear some head start talking about "Cyber" wars, keep this in mind:

seriously,
http://cybersquirrel1.com/

So glad you are here, RA. Good day!

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Submitted by annominous on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 10:21am

2017 nom is still up for grabs.

In case you don't recall, when Perry ran for the gotp nom for potus in 2011, he advocated closing down the dept of energy. He couldn't remember the names of one of the other depts he wanted to axe, leading to his infamous "oops" moment.

Now that trumpee has nominated him for sec of energy, it turns out he never knew, until his secretarial nomination, what the dept of energy actually does. See, now he thinks energy's mission is critical. And he's right, this time.

Well, I am critical too, of his astonishing ignorance and arrogance. He is as unqualified as trumpee for public office.

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~annominous

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:37am
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@annominous Can't fire him if he doesn't hire him first! (Evil Grin)

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by lizzyh7 on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:03pm

@annominous how to get his own snout into the public trough and has now decided "his" agency is very important.

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Submitted by NCExile on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 10:58am

The video I wanted to post here isn't a supported provider. Oh well.

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Submitted by riverlover on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:07am
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@NCExile And I am not one.

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Submitted by enhydra lutris on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:10am
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@NCExile but have you tried just grabbing the embed code and pasting it into a comment text box?

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by JtC on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:16am

@NCExile

are you trying to embed? Where's it from?

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Submitted by NCExile on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:07pm

@JtC It's from a meme-generating site called Yarn. It's probably just that I'm not techno-savvy with gifs. Is there a way to save a gif / meme somewhere that's okay and then post it in a comment box? If not, that's okay.

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Submitted by JtC on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:31pm

@NCExile
just like you would embed an image.

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Submitted by Shahryar on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:08pm
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@JtC shaz has shamed me into getting a new laptop, one that's powerful enough to handle work and this new fangled internet with its flash and all. So sometime in the next week or so I'll be ordering up one (assuming some money comes in!)

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Submitted by JtC on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:48pm

@Shahryar
that should help using the image uploader also.

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Submitted by NCExile on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:45pm

@JtC Thank you.

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Submitted by eyo on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:44pm

@NCExile - are you talking about this site? http://memes.getyarn.io/yarn-popular

I could embed one using the C99 Insert/Edit image widget, I copied the URL by selecting GIF not Embed from the meme page, and then used that location for the c99 image path. I always use width=500 (or less) and let the widget fill in the height.
Yarn test

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Submitted by NCExile on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:47pm

@eyo Thank you very much. I'll try that. I did play around with a couple of different things and used the Google machine too, but I still didn't figure it out on my own, so sincere thanks to you and JtC for taking the time to help me.

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Submitted by enhydra lutris on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:46am
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trying to coopt anti-trump actions and repurpose them as pro Hillary propaganda and myth spreading. OTOH, many are hard core mainline dems, conservadems and neolibs, and many more truly swallowed the mythology lock, stock & barrel, so one shouldn't expect anything else.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by WaterLily on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:04pm
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If she were to run as an Independent.

Oh my dog, you've got to be kidding me. I don't even know where to start with that one. Does that mean we can start accusing her of "not being a Real Democrat" now? :SMFH:

Here's a musical contribution. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W8-m0tOtjE]

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Submitted by eyo on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:05pm

Yes I have been trolled. I do not follow social media, but reading about people freaking out in California about immigration made me see it.
LA Times:

As soon as he is inaugurated, Trump will move to clamp down on immigration
...
Trump surprised some Republican lawmakers this month when he said he would ask Congress to front the cost — estimates range from $12 billion to $38 billion — before demanding reimbursement from Mexico. He later said he was not altering his campaign plans but merely trying to move more quickly than the appropriations process would allow.

“The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!” Trump tweeted.

Mexican officials have said they will refuse to cooperate.

How can people stand it? I'm not gonna survive. Need relief, medication.

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Submitted by WaterLily on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:08pm
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I also just saw this on the Standing Rock Rising Facebook page; wondering if BlazeinAZ (or anyone else) has any further information:

1) The Oceti Sakowin Camp fire has been extinguished for well over a week. The Horn has left. As far as I am concerned, Oceti Sakowin Camp is no longer a presence on camp. The ashes have been sent in 7 directions. The camp has transitioned out of Oceti Sakowin. With that, many at camp have lost their prayer. Many people, a mixture of anger, and infiltration have caused immediate threat to the camp by encouraging confrontation with police and national guard at the front lines. Making threats, throwing objects. Even a snow ball can be considered reasoning for police to react with violence. They are itching for a reason to pull a trigger. Many people are giving them the chance to make that happen. Those people put EVERYONE at risk. Not just those on the front line, but those in the camp that still remain in prayer.
2) The army corp of engineers has initiated the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This is what we have been prayer for, for a long time. This could very well kill the pipeline. Actions that turn aggressive risk the opinions that may be formed in this process. Not only are you risking the camp, but you are risking the entire movement.
3) out of state lawyers have been approved by the ND Supreme Court to represent water protectors. This is a huge victory for the camp, and justice. Civil and human rights committed by Morton County have been documented, and law suits are pending. Legal is in a very good position right now. Prayers worked. Risking this by acting out of prayer on the front lines is unforgivable by my opinion.
4) Many water protectors, indigenous and not. Red, black, white & yellow have all come together to kill a black snake. The opportunities that have manifested through unity are now coming to light. Those putting the movement at risk by aggression could very well destroy everything that has been worked so hard for. This is bigger than you. This is for our future generations. If you preach that, you must live that.
5) There are new camp leaders that have recently stepped up. They have been very unclear about their intentions. They say one thing, then support another. They speak as a leader, but do not embrace the responsibilities of a leader. This is only my opinion, but this is how I see it.
As of this post, I will not be covering any more of what is taking place on the camp north of Cannonball River. I will not cover actions or any involvement of that camp until it returns to a place of peace, prayer, unity, and respect.
I came here to help end a war, not begin one.
Don't get me wrong;
-water is life
-Death to DAPL
-Morton County Sheriffs are oppressive
Peace for all,
-Redhawk

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Submitted by blazinAZ on Fri, 01/20/2017 - 8:58am
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@WaterLily
I think it's really important to always remember that each individual water protector has his or her own perspective. I've seen various responses to the current actions taking place every night at the Backwater Bridge, and I've seen various responses to the decision about allowing out-of-state lawyers (which comes with a number of restrictions).

I really appreciate your reposting this view, and I'll try to get an essay posted later today with other info

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There is no justice in America, but it is the fight for justice that sustains you.
--Amiri Baraka

Submitted by WaterLily on Fri, 01/20/2017 - 9:38am
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@blazinAZ And thank you, Blaze -- I will look forward to the essay. I don't think I'd ever be able to keep up with what's going on at Standing Rock without your always thoughtful and informative posts.

I agree that every Water Protector has his or her own perspective. I was disheartened to learn that Oceti is shut down, but am hopeful that's somehow a good sign.

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