Friday, November 25, 2016

Looking At The Face Of Cruelty:

We have all dealt with cruelty at one time or another in our lives. We can probably picture the cruel person right now. We can remember and picture it clearly because it was so personal and real.

There is much cruelty in the World. Thing is we see it daily as well, being played out in our news feeds. However it just doesn't seem as real, does it? Regardless if the cruelty being played out is far worse than anything we have been faced with. We see the news of a woman who was raped and left for dead. We see the young girl sexually assaulted, beaten and thrown in the freezing river. We see young children being pulled out of the rubble of blown up buildings. We see a police officer shooting someone. We see a Woman being punched in the face. We see a person being tasered to death. Lot of cruelty. Thing is we don't seem bothered by it. We can look at the face of cruelty and it is not something we truly have to deal with - in these circumstances.


See that is one of the problems. We are dealing with our own situations. We are looking at the face of cruelty in our own lives. For some of us its crippling.

Still I can't help feeling somewhat fortunate despite facing cruelty. I may even see the other people's cruelty as something so far removed it does nothing to my views. It doesn't seem cruel regardless of how obscene the acts are.

We are in the midst of a world wide societal change where cruelty is almost normal. That is messed up. We can still see the be-headings. We never forget the screams of the airplane recordings as a pilot locks the door and flies head on into a mountain. We see the bodies of blown up and shot up folks all over the world. Still its weird that the harsh cruel words someone said to you feels worse than all of these real images we see?

There are so many images of police being cruel to people these days. It should really bother us. The cruelty of the police goes beyond everything we are suppose to believe about police. They are no longer there to help but are now just the tool for punishment. It seems they relish in the cruelty they perform. Doesn't it look like that?

This week in Standing Rock the police were cruel to people. They shot at them with water, rubber bullets to the heads, gas canisters which caused extensive damage to a girls arm. And the thing was the police can be seen laughing as this is going on???

I wonder about people when they do a cruel act. How is it they can do it without consequence or any remorse or regret for their actions?  We see it all the time. The rapist who feels like a victim - she asked for it. The cop who "feared for their life" as he shoots an unarmed person. The cruel boss who thinks they own you because they sign the pay cheque. The corporate executive who demands the Women in the office grant him sexual favours. Do they realize how cruel they are?

Police kicks handcuffed woman in the head. Cruel
“[T]he infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.” 
― Bertrand RussellSceptical Essays

“People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I am reminded of events in history where we have seen cruelty. Cruelty at different degrees: the dropping of an Atomic Bomb. The genocide of a millions of Jewish families. The genocide of the Tutsi. The rape of Bosnian Women and genocide. The bombing of Aleppo's children's hospital. The mass shootings of 6 and 7 years old in Sandy Hook school. The police using dogs and batons on Marchers in Birmingham Alabama. You know what is said about those incidents of cruelty?  It was back then. But its not back then.

Why is it when in the midst of cruel actions we don't see it as cruel? The police in the US are killing people, minorities-Black/Hispanic/Indian with what seems like a zeal. Having a heck of a good time killing folk. 

We are in the midst of so much cruelty in the world that it almost seems normal. Except for our immediate dealings with cruelty we really don't pay much attention. Maybe we have some momentary outage or moment of sad reflection to what is going on out there but then what?

What are we doing while Looking at the Face of Cruelty?




Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Why Are We Not At Standing Rock?



I am one of those people not at Standing Rock. I am in the safety of my home. I am one of those who believes he is active in Indigenous Affairs and is willing to stand up or at least something about the wrongs of the political world. So why in the heck am I not in Standing Rock? Am I too comfortable? Am I willing to let the young Women, young men and Elders go and fight while I sit at home and be comfortable?

It seems I am. And it is not right.

It is not right we let others voice against the wrongs in the world. And "make no bones about it", the pipeline in the Dakotas is wrong. Not just wrong morally and legally but wrong in all aspects. The reality of it, is it will be the pipeline which breaks and poison water. The result will be the people will end up paying for it; in health and in cash. Our children's children will be made to pay with more loss of clean air and water. Still its not enough for us to go and support.



Right now there are very brave folk who are willing to lose limbs, risk brain damage from rubber police bullets, put their lives on the line from violence of a military force with no regard for lives.

Why are we not at standing rock?

I wish I would be there and I should be there. Just like many of you.

So let's see what we can do. If we can't go there. We should support in other ways.

(Video Nov 22, 2016 Huffington Post)
Excerpt: (List) Among the critically wounded:
— Sophia Wilansky, a young woman from New York City, was shot in the arm with an exploding concussion grenade. She was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Bismarck before being airlifted to Minneapolis, where her arm was amputated. According to a Gofundme page setup by the victim’s friend, Wilansky was handing out bottles of water to those trying to recover from exposure to mace and tear gas when she was hit.

— An elder on the front line suffered two episodes of cardiac arrest and had to twice be revived on the scene before being transported to an area hospital for treatment.

— A young man suffered a grand mal seizure after being exposed to a barrage of mace and tear gas canisters fired from 40mm grenade launchers into the densely packed crowd of people who had gathered on the bridge.

— A woman shot in the face with a 40mm rubber bullet suffered an eye injury that medical staff say could result in permanent vision loss.

— A young man was vomiting blood due to an internal injury when he was hit at close range with a 40mm rubber bullet.

— Multiple people lost consciousness after being hit in the head with less than lethal projectiles, or by falling down after being hit.

— Multiple people soiled themselves, vomited and/or hyperventilated after being exposed to wave after wave of tear gas and mace.

— Multiple people suffered fractures and/or serious contusions after being hit at close range with less then lethal rounds or falling down after being hit.

— Multiple people suffered hypothermia from exposure to the elements after being drenched by police water cannons in temperatures that dipped as low as 22 degrees Fahrenheit.

By nights end, many activists and reporters on the scene also reported that they believed police purposely targeted journalists and medics, as well as aimed to maim by shooting 40mm canister rounds directly at peoples’ bodies and targeting peoples’ heads, necks, and extremities with less than lethal projectiles, as opposed to shooting for participants and observers center mass.

~~~ The police assault resulted in approximately 300 people requiring medical attention and at least 26 people evacuated to three area hospitals. Local EMS crews reported they had to bring in off-duty staff and rigs from as far as Cheyanne, Fargo, and Bismarck to handle the influx of injured people. One ambulance driver told this reporter that it was by far the biggest mass casualty incident the area had ever seen. ~~~

~~~ We coordinate medical and healing supplies, human resources, and other types of medical/healing aid for all the camps and water protectors at Standing Rock
https://www.facebook.com/MedicHealerCouncil/?fref=ts
https://medichealercouncil.com/

~~~How Can I Help? http://sacredstonecamp.org/faq/
~~~Amazon Wish List:
https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/196PVIWRDX1M4

Article/Video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-james-callahan/standing-rock-less-than-lethal_b_13155702.html

There are ways. 

 7. Learn more about this important struggle: there are great articles out there about what those on the ground are experiencing, what Native people have to say about the resistance, how Native Americans are resisting modern forms of colonization, and how DAPL was rerouted away from white North Dakotans. Here are some to get you started:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/22/dakota-access-pipeline-protester-seriously-hurt-during-police-standoff-standing-rock

violence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9xoqvmhjk4

medics view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-d_2O1Ut5Y

TYT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBaJgQ4enWU

https://youtu.be/TBaJgQ4enWU

Knowledge Keeper and Knowledge Giver

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