Leonard Peltier Day Oglala Commemoration 2017

Native Solidarity Tour Europe May 20 -- June 14, 2017

Native Activists Head to Europe for Solidarity Tour

By Last Real Indians

From May 20th till June 14th, some activists of the Standing Rock’s movement will come to Europe for a solidarity tour called “Stand Up With Standing Rock”.

In Standing Rock, North Dakota, United States, the so called “water protectors” fought against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Thanks to months of non-violent resistance gathering people from all over the country and from various backgrounds, they put a stop to the project during the Obama administration. But as Trump got the presidency, he decided to defend his own financial interest by sending the army to evacuate the Oceti Sakowin camp, build in the pipeline route. One month after, the oil was flowing inside the pipeline. But the fight is not over, as the water protectors took care of spreading it all over the Turtle Island (North America) and are now willing to spread it all over the world.

For the Stand Up With Standing Rock tour, Rachel Heaton, Nataanii Means, Wašté Win Young and Rafael Gonzales, will carry the voices of the water protectors to various parts of Europe: Paris, Brussels, the Netherlands, Cologne/Bonn, Geneva, Barcelona and Madrid.

Their passage through Europe will be the occasion to demand that European banks divest from an array of projects which are devastating for the climate and violate the First Nations Rights (the DAPL being one of them); and to show once again the European peoples’ firm opposition to Trump’s criminal climate policies. With non-violent actions of civil disobedience, conferences, debates, and also hip-hop concerts, informal exchanges and conviviality, the tour aims to participate in the building of a global force which commits itself to climate justice, and to oppose fascism and neoliberalism.

During the tour, the water protectors will participate in a lot of special events. In Paris, they will attend the shareholders assemblies of the big French banks who are funding the DAPL to ask them to divest and will held a conference on May 22th at la Bourse du Travail at 7:30pm.

In Brussels, they will participate in the big march against Trump on May 24th starting at 5pm in the North Station and on May 25th in the morning at the Peace Rally ” No to NATO – People not war”, a peacefull gathering in front of the NATO summit. They will also take part in a solidarity action and public event in areas affected by earthquakes in Grongingen before engaging in a cultural event on June 2nd in Amsterdam.

In Germany, on June 4th at 2 pm, a public tour is organised to the hambacher forest occupation against the expansion of the lignite Coal mine. In Geneva, Swiss people will be invited by Standing Rock water defenders to demand Credit Suisse divestment and to give voice to first nations in the UN Special Session on Corporate Responsibility. After a meeting with representatives of human rights and environmental Spain-based organisations, DAPL divestment will be the centre of a conference on June 9th in Madrid.

Rachel Heaton will participate to the Fearless Cities Meeting organized by the Spanish municipalist movement from June 9th to June 11th in Barcelona. Other stops may be still added to this tour, stay tuned!

To get more details about the tour and the complete programme of each stop, please follow it on
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/StandUpForStandingRock/
Twitter @StandUpWithSR

or on the blog: https://standupwithstandingrock.noblogs.org/

Photo : Julie Brunet

Celebrating Freedom -- Chelsea Manning and US Spy Files on Indigenous

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

In celebration of the release of Chelsea Manning today, we share our original work of the cables of the US State Department.
With some time on my hands, after being censored as a mainstream journalist, I spent six months reading and writing about these cables.
These cables revealed Hillary Clinton as head of the US State Department, spied on Mohawks, Mapuche, Presidents Evo Morales and Hugo Chavez, and more during the Obama Administration.
The murderous campaign of the US included a new mining coalition of five countries to push mining in Peru as Indigenous lay dying defending their lands.
Clinton also demanded that US Ambassadors get secret DNA samples from foreign diplomats in Africa and Paraguay.
The United States secret government targeting Indigenous Peoples, and people of color, was exposed.
The U.S. secret government -- where corporations and wealth take precedence over human life -- was spread out for the world to see.
In a democracy, truth telling should never be a crime.
The error was not in the publication of these cables -- but in the United States secret shadow government which prevents the people from knowing the truth, and deploys its lies and deceptions in its false self portrait to the world.

Thanks for reading Censored News, now in our 11th year with no grants, ads or revenues.
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/12/wikileaks-revealed-us-espionage-of.html?m=1

Olive Oil Party to Benefit Palestinian Farmers and Nonviolent Resistance

Sun, May 28, 2017:  ISM Olive Oil Party to Benefit Palestinian Farmers and Nonviolent Resistance

Where:   Grassroots house, 2022 Blake St., Berkeley, CA (between Ashby and Berkeley BART)

When:    10AM to 5:00PM

Info:        510-236-4250, www.ism-norcal.org

We'll have FAIR TRADE ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN Palestinian olive oil, zaatar (thyme), kufiyas, and much more.  Please join us to benefit Palestinian farmers and nonviolent resistance in Palestine.  If you only want to buy, that's OK, too.  We have Palestinian soap, books, flags, stickers and the jewelry of Katie Miranda.  The fun, fellowship and aroma of olive oil are hard to beat. The oil and other items will be sold to raise money and awareness for the work of the ISM.

Stopping nonviolent resistance volunteers from entering Palestinian communities is a major priority for the Israeli regime, but we continue to send them and to provide training.  Meet our volunteers and listen to their stories as you bottle oil.

You are welcome to bring food, but we will have some typical Palestinian dishes to offer as well. Bring family, friends, etc. Our products make great gifts with a human rights message.  It all helps Palestinian farmers and businesses as well as nonviolent resistance in Palestine.

This year we sent $12,000 worth of cameras to Palestinian organizations that are documenting human rights violations on the ground.  One of our cameras was the second of Emad Burnat's Five Broken Cameras, nominated for an Academy Award.  Another captured the murder of Abdul-Fattah Al-Sharif, shot in the head by Israeli soldier Elor Azaria as Al-Sharif lay wounded on the ground.

5 Broken Cameras (Documentary 2011)

Thanks for your support and we hope to see you there.

Chili Yazzie 'Mineral Extraction Hurting the Earth Mother'

Dunae Chili Yazzie, Dine' Shiprock, Navajo Nation

Editor:

Stephen Hawking, regarded as one of the greatest modern day scientific thinkers on the realities of earth and space says the human race has only 100 years to find a new planet and to relocate. He suggests that life on this planet will come to an end because of climate change, nuclear war and viral genetic diseases.  So according to Hawking there are only 4 generations left.

Going to a new planet sounds so far-out-there, science fictional and unrealistic, but science and technology say it’s possible. Who will be on the spaceship to the new world? It is not going to be us “regular folks”, if it happens, it will be the billionaires and millionaires.

America as much of the civilized world is hooked on extractive energy development, the addiction is fatal as it is killing the planet. And just like with any addiction, it craves more and more. The physical addiction is further driven by the gluttony to make more money profit. The Navajo Nation as an energy state is also hooked and contributing to the reality of climate change. Our Navajo leadership demonstrate that addiction by frantically looking for ways to keep Navajo Generating Station running and also appearing to be to be in favor of the dastardly business of fracking.

I understand that the current level of extractive energy development around the globe is already beyond the limits of what was considered “safe” in terms of realizing the opportunity for extended life of the earth. And that any new development will only accelerate the end of life of the earth. The advocacy to oppose new development is not to be against the livelihood of people, but to advocate for the extended life of the planet.

From a traditional Native perspective, we have some understanding of the actual physical and spiritual damage that is being done to the earth with massive mineral extraction. We willingly take part in hurting the earth, then we talk about honoring the Earth Mother and how we should walk in beauty on her. Makes me wonder how those who pray with the corn pollen or sit at the sacred fireplace justify their support for hurting the earth….for those that do. The other great contradiction is, we say the future belongs to our grandchildren and generations to come; by participating in killing the earth, we are also killing the future of our children.

Chili Yazzie

Shiprock, Navajo Nation

505.860.4436

New Mexicans call for clean energy at PNM shareholders meeting

New Mexicans rally in support of PNM shareholder resolutions to protect consumers, climate

By Ramona Blaber
Censored News

As a large crowd outside Public Service Company of New Mexico's Albuquerque headquarters called for more clean energy, shareholders inside considered resolutions to direct the company to take into account the risks of climate change to its finances and to ratepayers.

The first resolution would assess the portfolio impacts of policies to keep global warming under 2 degrees Celsius. The shareholder-advisory company ISS recommended support, saying "shareholders would benefit from additional information about the impact that climate-change regulations might have on the company and its operations."

The second requested an assessment of PNM assets that might become stranded as a result of climate change and demand reductions, and on the financial risks of those stranded assets. ISS also recommended a Yes vote on this resolution.

Neither resolution passed at PNM's annual meeting Tuesday, though shareholder Charlotte Levinson, addressing the crowd after Tuesday morning's meeting, said shareholders of Occidental Petroleum passed similar resolutions this week. Levinson said just bringing these resolutions puts pressure on PNM to understand the urgency of transitioning to cleaner energy.

"PNM has acted at a snail's pace to ends its dependence on climate-altering fossil generation. It is encouraging to see that even the investor owners are demanding a rapid transition to clean energy, for our economy and our survivability," said Mariel Nanasi, Executive Director, New Energy Economy.

David Coss, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter chair, said: "As PNM is finally acknowledging that market forces have made its coal power uneconomical, it's time for the company to plan for community and worker transition, including clean-energy reinvestment in the Four Corners communities. This should be a top priority in PNM's planning."

Eleanor Bravo, Food & Water Watch Southwest director, said, "A just transition to renewables must be a mandate, leaving the devastation of fracking and pipelines in the past. Private companies like PNM need to gain awareness of the gravity of climate change and provide their customers with a 100% clean-energy option."

"Since 2008, PNM ratepayers have paid 30% more for electricity than others in the Southwest, while New Mexican household income has decreased by 6%," said Rebecca Sobel, senior climate and energy campaigner for WildEarth Guardians. "PNM executives ignore the case for renewables and are no better than Trump's cronies, expecting the public to bail out billionaires. Fossil-fuel futures are down, and PNM should be more concerned with raising up the interest of ratepayers instead of forcing us to sink more money into dirty and dangerous stranded assets."

Background:

Renewable energy costs less:

• The pollution from San Juan Generating Station causes increased rates of asthma, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, birth defects and infant mortality. A conservative 2012 estimate of the health costs is between $24.7 million to $60.8 million per year. (Dr. George Thurston Declaration PNM v. EPA Case No. 11-9557).
• In 2014, PNM ratepayers paid the highest electricity rates among PNM's regional peer group in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona.
• From 2008 to 2016, PNM raised rates 64%, while profits rose 461%. Only 7% of that increase went to renewable energy — 93% was due to traditional resources and other expenses. PNM disconnected the electricity of 22,485 New Mexicans in 2014.
• Southwestern Public Service says its two new solar facilities will save consumers $84 million net present value over the life of the project. SPS says newly approved wind projects will save ratepayers $590 million.
• PNM's portfolio is 91% fossil fuels and nuclear and only 2% solar and 7% wind.
• When PNM issued an all-source request for proposal in 2016, it received market bids for a price of 4.2¢/kWh for solar and 3.3¢/kWh wind, both significantly below current costs of coal (7¢/kWh) and nuclear (9.5 ¢/kWh).

--

Ramona Blaber

Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter communications coordinator

(505) 660-5905