“Make America rape again.”

Nick Bata - Libertarian candidate for Insurance Commissioner in North Dakota (Photo: Facebook).

Nick Bata – Libertarian candidate for Insurance Commissioner in North Dakota (Photo: Facebook).

Right, as if Ndakota and Ndakotans have not been embarrassing enough lately. Now we have a flaming doucheweasel of an asshole, one Nick Bata. He’s a libertarian. And like most libertarians, shines a bright light on the sheer idiocy most of them happily embrace. At least he’s in West Fargo, not Bismarck, but I sure as hell wish he wasn’t anywhere on Turtle Island. Mr. Bata is a creep of the first water, and oh yes, most certainly a rape apologist.

WEST FARGO, N.D.—A Libertarian candidate for North Dakota Insurance Commissioner has been in a battle of words on the Internet over his comments on rape and women stripping.

In one comment, Nick Bata of West Fargo wrote “Make America Rape” again.

In started off with his post about sexual consent on Sept. 30 and quickly spiraled into an all-out battle of the keyboards with rape and stripping getting thrown into the conversation.

“If people don’t agree with them, they will attack you like a bunch of rabid, wild hyenas,” said Bata. “I tried to have to have a very civil engagements,” said Bata.

His comments ranged from saying rape culture doesn’t exist in this country to saying stripping is some women’s best way to make a living.

But it was the “Make America Rape Again” comment that caused several people to write about how disturbing it was.

“Yes, I wrote Make America Rape again. And in the context because of course they deleted some of the comments because that’s how they operate. They lurk in the dark and edit things, and by me not complying with their world view, I was labeled a rape apologist, I was labeled disgusting, all sorts of pejorative words, and they labeled me a Trump supporter because hey, if you’re not with us, you’re a Trump supporter, and in sarcasm, which leftist supporters can’t understand sarcasm, they misinterpreted this,” said Bata.

“It’s a free society, nobody makes these decisions. If you can’t handle someone’s free speech, that’s your problem not mine,” said Bata.

Goodness, what a charmer. Thanks ever, Mr. Bata, for condoning rape and sexual assault as no big deal. As for your free speech, I think someone needs to take your keyboard away, and put some duct tape to creative use.

Jess Roscoe posted the original article that started the firestorm–and can’t believe what it turned into.

“Even if it’s a play on Donald Trump and his campaign slogan, it doesn’t make that remark acceptable or constructive to any conversation,” said Roscoe.

“As a woman those comments are troubling, and I think that it’s a snapshot at the sorts of comments and beliefs that are said on a daily basis that a lot of people don’t think they’re contributing to something so negative,” said Roscoe.

It’s troubling to me also, as a woman, but I really think this should be troubling to everyone. This is not a lightweight matter, and as Ms. Roscoe notes, these types of remarks and commentary are not only common, but there is always someone who is listening, and hears the implicit consent to commit sexual assault or rape.

Bata said he has no regrets about his comments. “None of it,” he said. “I stand by everything. Why should i apologize and to who?”

Bata said he doesn’t plan on dropping out of the race.

The Libertarian party of North Dakota didn’t immediately respond.

Off the cuff, Mr. Bata, I’d say you should apologize to all people everywhere for pretending to be a human being. You’re doing one shitty job at it.

Via Jamestown Sun.

Standing Rock: Winter Wish List.

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Oct 14, 2016 — Winter is approaching fast here in North Dakota – and we’re not going anywhere. Dakota Access may think that they can simply wait us out, but we are here for the long haul.

That being said, we need supplies and support to survive here at camp. Dakota winters are no joke! We have created an Amazon wishlist with all sorts of gear for sleeping, staying warm, lighting our camp, and organizing our group. We’re hoping for tents, lanterns, phones for communicating between groups, and more. Take a look and see if there’s anything you can purchase and send to help us out: http://amzn.to/2dLiG1G

Thank you as always for your generosity!

Anna, Bobbi, and the Oceti Sakowin Youth.

Via Change.org. I will add my thank you thank you thank you to anyone who can help out. As usual, I’ll say that you don’t need money to help – spreading the word and signal boosting is incredibly important, so if you’re a social media person, please, pass this on, with all my gratitude.

The Senators Standing with Standing Rock.

Bernie Sanders (Good Morning America).

Bernie Sanders (Good Morning America).

Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and four other senators on Thursday called on President Barack Obama to order a comprehensive environmental review of a pipeline project that has stirred widespread opposition from Native Americans and environmental activists.

After a U.S. appeals court on Sunday night denied a request to halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, the senators asked Obama to direct the Army Corps of Engineers to complete a full environmental impact statement for a contested part of the route that includes stronger tribal consultation.

“The project’s current permits should be suspended and all construction stopped until a complete environmental and cultural review has been completed for the entire project,” said the letter by Sanders and Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein, Ed Markey, Patrick Leahy and Benjamin Cardin.

In recent weeks, protests against the Dakota Access pipeline led by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota drew international attention, prompting the U.S. government to temporarily block its construction on federal land.

[…]

On Tuesday, anti-pipeline activists in four states closed pipeline valves to halt the flow of crude through arteries transporting 15 percent of U.S. oil consumption..

When fully connected, the 1,100-mile (1,770 km) pipeline would be the first to carry crude directly to the U.S. Gulf from the Bakken shale, a vast oil formation in North Dakota, Montana and parts of Canada.

The $3.7 billion project is being built by the Dakota Access subsidiary of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, which has vowed to complete construction.

“There must be a serious consideration of the full potential climate impacts of this pipeline prior to the Army Corps of Engineers approving any permits or easements for the Dakota Access pipeline,” the senators said.

Experts say that the full environmental review requested by the senators could take several months.

The U.S. appeal court’s ruling was the second time the federal judiciary rejected the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s request to halt construction of the pipeline. On Sept. 9, a U.S. judge rejected a similar request.

Oh, so scrutiny would take a couple of months, golly, the agony for those poor, poor billionaires. Cry me a river, oil wašichu, cry me a river of clean, untainted water. Once again, we see just how much, and how easily Indigenous concerns are brushed aside, and treaties broken, again. And again. And again. My thanks to Senators Sanders, Feinstein, Markey, Leahy, and Cardin. Please, please keep the pressure on. I think everyone should remind the President of his visit to Standing Rock two years ago. How can it possibly be, in any way, to turn away from people who keep asking for justice? How long for people to wake the fuck up to all the lies, all the crimes committed by DA and Energy Transfer Partners? Remember when they swore up and down that the oil running through this travesty of a pipeline was “sweet and light”? The only people pointing out that that was a lie were Indigenous people who live in the Dakotas. I posted about that, and heard arguments and “oh no, you’re wrong.” No, we aren’t wrong. Oil lies, and it would be great if people would wake up to that fact, and stay woke. This is a disaster waiting to happen, to all of us.

Via Raw Story.

Michelle Obama Addresses Sexual Assault.

Our First Lady, a forthright, courageous woman who is unafraid to face the ugliest of human behaviours, and I thank her for speaking out, for not turning away, as so many have done.

“The fact is that in this election, we have a candidate for president of the United States who, over the course of his lifetime and the course of this campaign has said things about women that are so shocking, so demeaning, I simply will not repeat anything here today,” she told a crowd in Manchester, New Hampshire. “And last week we saw this candidate actually bragging about sexually assaulting women. And I can’t believe that I’m saying that. A candidate for president of the United States has bragged about sexually assaulting women and I have to tell you that I can’t stop thinking about this.”

It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldn’t have predicted. So while I’d love nothing more than to pretend like this isn’t happening and come out here and do my normal campaign speech, it would be dishonest and disingenuous for me to move on to the next thing like this was just a bad dream.

This is not something we can ignore. It’s not something we can sweep under the rug as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season. Because this was not just a lewd conversation. This wasn’t locker room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior. And actually bragging about kissing and groping women. Using language so obscene that many of us are worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV. To make matters worse, it now seems clear this isn’t an isolated incident. It’s one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life.

I have to tell you that I listened to all this. And I feel it so personally. And I’m sure that many of you do too. Particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. The belief that you can do anything you want to a woman. It is cruel. It is frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It hurts.

The video is via CNN. Full article at Raw Story.

Reno Truck Assault On Protesters: Update.

https://youtu.be/x0D-BgU82jI

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Detectives are preparing legal documents for possible criminal charges after an 18-year-old man drove a pickup truck through a crowd of protesters rallying in support of Native American rights in downtown Reno, Police Chief Jason Soto said Wednesday.

Soto made his remarks to the Reno City Council as a parade of American Indians, local clergy and others expressed their outrage over the fact no one’s been arrested after five protesters were struck Monday night by the truck on the street beneath the city’s famous arch with the slogan, “Biggest Little City in the World.”

Soto said an affidavit is in the works that could lead to prosecution. But he said he won’t discuss the possible charges or any other details because the investigation is ongoing.

In a different article, Soto was making noises about the protesters being in the street, rather than on the sidewalk, heavily implying they deserved to be run over, because street. It has been stated that people gathered in this spot to take photographs. It’s more than obvious that the police chief does not want to press charges in this case, and it’s also obvious he doesn’t think much of anything done was wrong. I’d like to see the Mayor address that little problem.

The Rev. Luther DuPree, an African-American bishop who oversees the Northern Nevada Churches of God in Christ, questioned whether the driver remains free because he is white.

“If it was any other culture, I believe an immediate arrest would have been made,” he said.

Kitty Colbert, 59, the most seriously injured woman who remained hospitalized Wednesday, was accompanied at the rally by her grandchildren who “saw her run over like a bag of beans,” said Ray Valdez, who was drumming and leading the group in prayer just before the incident.

Soto said the activists did not have a permit to protest in the street, but some had gathered in the travel lanes of Virginia Street on the main casino drag.

Jessica White, a local artist, said the activists were gathering in the crosswalk for a group photograph when “the driver began honking and revving his truck’s engine in an obvious attempt to frighten us.”

“I saw a driver purposely drive into a group of people and continue until there were injuries and terror,” she said Wednesday.

Tara Tran said the driver and passenger were yelling “racist” remarks before she was struck by the truck.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say the protesters deserved it… they were blocking traffic,” Tran told the council. “We were not blocking their direction. They were following us. They were not scared. I looked into their eyes. It was not a look of fear. It was a look that they were having fun.”

Grace Potorti, ex-leader of the Nevada Conservation League, said she was driving the opposite direction on Virginia Street when she saw the truck “plow into people, stop and — while people were lying on the road — continue to run over them.”

“This happened under the very symbol of Reno,” she said. “It happened under the arch!”

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said in a statement Tuesday Reno police “will hold anyone responsible accountable for their actions once the investigation has concluded.”

“The city does not condone hate,” she said Wednesday.

Full story at The Santa Cruz Sentinel.

I’m one of the Central Park Five. Donald Trump won’t leave me alone.

Yusef Salaam, one of the Central Park Five, is speaking out, and has an article in The Washington Post. Some people will remember this, will remember when this happened, the divisiveness among people, the distrust, those who were already predisposed towards racism grabbing on to it, as if it were the final proof that no black man could ever be trusted around any woman, but especially not a white woman. One person who jumped the highest on the bandwagon of bigotry was Donald Trump. He took out a massive, full page ad, declaring their guilt, and demanding the return of the death penalty in very large type. Most people, after learning those young men had been ruthlessly railroaded, tortured, and wrongly convicted and imprisoned, would at least attempt to mumble some sort of excuse, then have the grace to shut the fuck up. But we all know that isn’t Asshole Donald’s way. No. Why do that when you can continue to insist you were right? As Mr. Salaam points out though, it’s much worse that when it comes to Trump. This man is, if not a bonafide maniac, a man with maniacal views and much worse solutions when it comes to all those he sees as problems.

During our trial, it seemed like every New Yorker had an opinion. But no one took it further than Trump. He called for blood in the most public way possible. Trump used his money to take out full-page ads in all of the city’s major newspapers, calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty in New York.

During that time, our families tried to shield us from what was going on in the media, but we still found out about Trump’s ad. My initial thought was, “Who is this guy?” I was terrified that I might be executed for a crime I didn’t commit.

Thirteen years later, in 2002, we were exonerated. Matias Reyes eventually confessed to the rape and was definitively linked to the victim by his DNA. New York paid us $41 million in 2014 for our false imprisonment.

Trump has never apologized for calling for our murder. In fact, despite all evidence to the contrary, he’s still convinced that we were guilty. When the Republican nominee was recently asked about the Central Park Five, he said, “They admitted they were guilty.” In a statement to CNN’s Miguel Marquez, Trump wrote, “The police doing the original investigation say they were guilty. The fact that that case was settled with so much evidence against them is outrageous. And the woman, so badly injured, will never be the same.” It’s further proof of his bias, racism and inability to admit that he’s wrong.

When I heard Trump’s latest proclamation, it was like the worst feeling in the world. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. Since I was 15, my life has never been my own. I had no control over what happened to me. Being in the spotlight makes me wary and self-conscious again. I am overwhelmed with a nagging fear that an overzealous Trump supporter might take matters into his or her hands.

Doing something simple like picking up dinner for the family or going to the aquarium takes on a whole new wrinkle. I’m always looking over my shoulder, keeping an eye out for people who stare too long. Like a soldier always on high alert, I feel as if I can never enjoy myself fully, with all of the adrenaline that comes with that. It’s a scary feeling.

In some ways, I feel like I’m on trial all over again. Like Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown, young men who were killed and then crucified in the media, I know what it is to be a young black man without a voice. Even though we were found innocent by a court of law, we are still guilty in the court of public opinion. That brings a certain kind of stress.

I realize, too, that I’m not the only victim. Trump has smeared dozens of people, with no regard for the truth. And he has backed a “law and order” system that would systematically target minorities. Trump says he would like to re-institute practices like New York’s “stop and frisk,” a policy proven to be unconstitutional and unjust. When we hear that he is going to be a “law and order president,” a collective chill goes down the spine of those of us who have been the victims of this “law and order.”

Black people across America know that because of the color of our skin, we are guilty before proven innocent. As a result, sometimes we lose the best years of our lives. Sometimes we lose our actual lives. We must not let this man ascend to the highest office in the land when he has always proven that he lets neither facts nor humanity lead his steps.

Full article at The Washington Post.

Paragraph 175 Reparations.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas. AP photo.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas. AP photo.

The German government has announced that it will make reparations to the men imprisoned under Paragraph 175, a provision in the country’s criminal code that outlawed sodomy until 1994.

Authorities also plan to expunge the records of the 50,000 jailed under the law.

Although 140,000 people were arrested in total, the country’s justice minister, Heiko Maas, has estimated that around 5,000 individuals — meaning those who are still living — stand to claim the reported payout of 30 million Euros. Mass stated that the amount of financial restitution will be based upon personal assessments of those incarcerated. Factors will include the length of time the individual spent behind bars.

“We will never be able to remove these outrages committed by this country but we want to rehabilitate the victims,” Mass said in a statement. “The convicted homosexual men should no longer have to live with the black mark of a criminal conviction.”

Germany’s Green and Left parties have placed enormous pressure in recent years on federal authorities to make amends to the men incarcerated under the law. Politicians Katja Keul and Volker Beck, both of whom serve in the German Bundestag, have referred to the lack of compensation as “a monstrous disgrace.”

[…]

East Germany stopped prosecuting homosexual acts in the 1950s, although West Germany was slower to catch up. The statute was amended in 1969 to prohibit sexual assault in the workplace and gay male prostitution. It also stipulates that as a punishable act intcourse between “a man over twenty-one years old who engages as the active or passive partner in lewdness with another man under the age of twenty-one.” The age of consent would be lowered to 18 in 1973.

Paragraph 175, however, wouldn’t be stricken from the legal code for another 25 years.

Although Germany would expunge the arrests made under Hitler’s regime, that would not apply to the men harassed and imprisoned by police after the war. Those convictions had yet to be vacated.

Full Story Here.

Beyond Disappointment.

Colin Kaepernick and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. AP photo.

Colin Kaepernick and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. AP photo.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg doesn’t often speak publicly, but while promoting her new book, My Own Words, she used her words to admonish Colin Kaepernick and other athletes taking a knee or engaging in forms of protest in an interview with Yahoo today.

“I think it’s really dumb of them,” the veteran justice told Katie Couric in the Yahoo News video. “Would I arrest them for doing it, no.”

Ginsburg seems to be on the side of those who feel the actions of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick, Seattle Reign soccer player Megan Rapinoe, and scores of other athletes across the country are inappropriate, while failing to see the purpose of the protest themselves.

Comparing the kneeling to flag burning, Ginsburg called it “a terrible thing to do,” but said the protesters are within their rights and the law, as long as their actions don’t “jeopardize the health or well-being of other people.”

When Couric followed up for clarification, Ginsburg went further, saying,  “If they want to be stupid, there is no law that should be preventive; if they want to be arrogant, there is no law that prevents them from that.”

Stupid? Arrogant? Really. I don’t see kneeling as an act of arrogance, no matter which direction you view it from. The way I see it, kneeling is emphasising the position all of us peoples who continue to be dominated are already in, and have been in that position for hundreds of years. It’s hardly a patch on the colonial-minded arrogance of ownership still sported by most Americans, and many of them proudly so. How is it stupid? It’s calling attention to a most deep, serious, and pervasive problem, without disruption. One could argue there’s a lack of respect, and yes, I’d agree, there’s a lack of respect for domination, control, a sense of ownership, a demand for servility, the embrace of racism as a good, and the ongoing murders of the dominated peoples. None of those things deserve respect, in any way.

This is incredibly disappointing from someone like Bader Ginsburg, and beyond disappointing. Goes to show how deeply implicit racism inhabits us all, no matter how liberal, open minded and fair we might consider ourselves.

Via The Advocate, full story here.

BREAKING: Tar Sands Pipeline Shut Down.

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To avert climate catastrophe, activists shut down 5 pipelines bringing Tar Sands Oil into the U.S, in Solidarity with Standing Rock.

This morning, by 7:30AM Pacific time, 5 activists have successfully shut down 5 pipelines across the United States delivering tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada in support of the call for International Days of Prayer and Action for Standing Rock. Activists employed manual safety valves, calling on President Obama to use emergency powers to keep the pipelines closed and mobilize for the extraordinary shift away from fossil fuels now required to avert catastrophe.

[…]

WHERE. Enbridge line 4 and 67, Leonard, MN; TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline, Walhalla, ND; Spectra Energy’s Express pipeline, Coal Banks Landing, MT; Kinder-Morgan’s Trans-Mountain pipeline, Anacortes, WA.

WHO. Climate Direct Action is Emily Johnson, 50 and Michael Foster, 52, of Seattle, WA, Annette Klapstein, 64, of Bainbridge Island, WA, Ken Ward, 59, of Corbett, OR, and Leonard Higgins, 64, of Eugene, Oregon, with the support of Climate Disobedience Action Fund.

Livestream, videos and photos available on our Facebook Page.
https://www.facebook.com/climatedirectaction/

Website
http://www.shutitdown.today

Via Last Real Indians.

Moron Bingo!

Photo courtesy starpulse.com

Photo courtesy starpulse.com

Everyone read Simon Moya-Smith’s 6 Banal Defenses of Columbus Day, And How You Should Respond to the Moron, right? Reading ICTMN today, specifically, an article about the fight for Indigenous Peoples Day at ground zero, Colorado. In that article is one Rita DeFrange, moron, and if this was an actual bingo game, I would have cleaned up. She managed to hit every single moron point. I think Ms. DeFrange needs about 100 copies of Simon Moya-Smith’s article, and must sit down and read it 100 times. Perhaps the points would sink in.

Rita DeFrange, president of the Columbus Day Parade Committee and a member of the Denver chapter of the Order Sons of Italy, said it’s “not fair” that city officials are taking away from one group to give to another.

“It’s a struggle for folks. The community itself is very disappointed. They don’t understand why they are being picked on,” DeFrange told ICTMN.

DeFrange said herself and her community just want to celebrate their history and heritage.

Although Indigenous Peoples’ Day supporters like McLean and Salazar say Columbus shouldn’t be celebrated because of the atrocities he brought to the Native American people, DeFrange however, believes Columbus shouldn’t be judged by today’s standards.

“Unfortunately, we’re evaluating a man by 2016 standards, when the events happened 500 years ago,” DeFrange said. “The community really needs to take a hard look at how we look at our history books.”

Members of the Columbus Day Parade Committee and Order Sons of Italy met with Salazar earlier this year to discuss resolutions that could make both parties happy.

No resolutions were met, DeFrange said.

She said she’s more than happy to celebrate the heritage of the Native American people, but just on a different day.

“It’s one day. It’s a group of individuals who value their Italian heritage,” DeFrange said. “We all value the cultures … that’s what’s so great about America. You know, let’s not take one over the other and that’s the perception that people have.”

Full story at ICTMN.

No DAPL: Shailene Woodley Arrested.

Actress Shailene Woodley being led away in handcuffs after standing with the water protectors at a Dakota Access oil pipeline construction site on Monday October 10. Via Facebook.

Actress Shailene Woodley being led away in handcuffs after standing with the water protectors at a Dakota Access oil pipeline construction site on Monday October 10. Via Facebook.

Actress Shailene Woodley has been arrested for trespassing at one of the construction sites for the Dakota Access oil pipeline, multiple reports confirm.

She was one of 28 people taken in for criminal trespassing, according to the Bismarck Tribune, which reported that more than 200 people were demonstrating at one of the construction sites outside a 20-mile buffer that the federal government had requested the company respect.

In video streamed live on Facebook, Woodley, known for her starring turn in the Divergent movie series, speaks directly into the camera during a two-hour feed chronicling her morning at the construction site near St. Anthony, North Dakota.

“Riot police are arriving. Riot police. Are arriving. At this peaceful protest, where people are praying,” she says at the beginning of a two-hour video, which ends in her arrest.

[…]

After the protectors were asked to leave by police, Woodley was stopped as she walked back to her vehicle to do so.

“To the right of that is our motor home, and to the left of that is…. What IS that?” she can be heard saying, as the camera focuses on vehicles flanking her RV. Then she is stopped by police officers blocking the way.

They just grabbed me by my jacket,” she says into the camera. “They grabbed me by my jacket, and they have giant guns and batons and zip ties, and they’re not letting me go.”

A little while later, after she unsuccessfully tries to find out why she is being detained specifically, an officer tells her, “You were identified.”

She then speaks to the camera.

“So everybody knows, we were going to my vehicle, which they had surrounded,” she said. “And waiting for me.”

Full Story at ICTMN.

41.

George Herbert Walker Bush. Whitehouse.gov

George Herbert Walker Bush. Whitehouse.gov

Although he served only one term, George Herbert Walker Bush took some big steps to help promote Native American interests while in the White House.

The 41st president of the United States, Bush took office in 1989 after serving two terms as vice president under Ronald Reagan. Ten months later, on November 28, he signed a bill establishing the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

The act, which called for the museum to be located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., created a home for more than 1 million Native artifacts already in the government’s possession.

The new museum was charged with the “collection, preservation and exhibition of American Indian languages, literature, history, art, anthropology and culture,” Bush said. “From this point, our Nation will go forward with a new and richer understanding of the heritage, culture and values of the people of the Americans of Indian ancestry.”

The act also codified the policy of returning human remains and associated funerary objects to tribes. It called on the Smithsonian to conduct a “detailed inventory” of such objects in its collections, to identify the origins of the objects and to notify appropriate tribes.

The act was the first of more than half a dozen passed during Bush’s presidency that directly benefited Native Americans. But Bush also contended with widespread corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

[Read more…]