I like this woman's attitude. Feels real familiar. Check her out on Facebook:

I Fucking Love Misandry

And Then She Was Nine

There's only one way to sum up this last year in the resistance:

#SayHerName

Make that two ways:

#blacklivesmatter

Make that three ways:

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

#mmiw

Thought For The Day

And Then She Was Eight!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this one perfectly sums up so much of 2014 for me:



I promise, I will come up for air someday, but right now, nature calls.

And Then She Was Seven!

Seven years strong publishing Fire Witch Rising and not a day goes by without the joy of the words I got to publish here.

I haven't posted much in 2013 because quite frankly I'm having trouble keeping up with everything that is collapsing.

Seven years ago it felt like pushing a boulder up a hill to try to convince anybody that the consequences for white male supremacy were headed this way.

Now they are legion. And boy do the fuckers have it coming!

So forgive me, dear readers, if I take some personal time to just sit back and enjoy the beat-down. Which is to say, I'm out there helping Mother Earth bring down this horror show as fast as we can.

Get some!

Oglala President taken to jail by Nebraska lawmen, standing in solidarity at White Clay

Oglala President taken to jail by Nebraska lawmen, standing in solidarity at White Clay

Published on Jun 17, 2013

Oglala Lakota President Bryan Brewer Sr. is taken to jail by Nebraska lawmen for standing with his people against the liquid genocide of White KKKlay Nebraska. The Sheridan County Sheriff’s office arrested Oglala Sioux Tribe President Bryan Brewer Monday morning in Whiteclay during a protest outside a beer store. Brewer paid a fine and was released Monday afternoon.

President Brewer said today:

Hau, to all my friends and relations. If any of you are trying to contact me, my phone is dead and the charger is in the office. I see a lot of support for what we are doing and I want to say Wopila to all of you. As long as the alcohol does stop we will not stop. I want to say a special thank you to the many people who went into White Clay this morning. We had some that were hurt, but all will be fine. I hope people understand that we are doing this for our children. Our reservation needs a lot of healing, alcohol is destroying our people and our children are suffering. I also want to say a special thank you to the lone councilman who went into White Clay with me, Dan Rodriquez, Wopila.

Don't Call Her "Granny." Call Her A Warrior

Brave, strong woman resists Turkish police state in Istanbul.

Former Prime Minister Accuses Residential Schools Of 'Cultural Genocide'

Murder will out.

Paul Martin Accuses Residential Schools Of 'Cultural Genocide'

CBC | Posted: 04/26/2013 10:17 pm EDT | Updated: 04/26/2013 11:46 pm EDT

Residential schools engaged in "cultural genocide," former prime minister Paul Martin said Friday at the hearings of the federal Truth And Reconciliation Commission, adding that aboriginal Canadians must now be offered the best educational system.

"Let us understand that what happened at the residential schools was the use of education for cultural genocide, and that the fact of the matter is — yes it was. Call a spade a spade," Martin said to cheers from the audience at the Montreal hearings.

- Stolen Children: Truth and Reconciliation Commission

"And what that really means is that we've got to offer aboriginal Canadians, without any shadow of a doubt, the best education system that is possible to have."

The residential school system existed from the 1870s until the 1990s and saw about 150,000 native youth taken from their families and sent to church-run schools under a deliberate policy of "civilizing" First Nations.

Many students were physically, mentally and sexually abused. Some committed suicide or died fleeing their schools. Mortality rates reached 50 per cent at some schools.

Save Wounded Knee

As the bombs in Boston have just shown us, there can be no peace on stolen land.  Honor the Treaties.  Save Wounded Knee.

Save Wounded Knee

By JOSEPH BRINGS PLENTY

Published: April 11, 2013   

THE Lakota Sioux word “takini” means “to die and come back” but is usually translated more simply as “survivor.” It is a sacred word long associated with the killing of scores of unarmed Lakota men, women and children by soldiers of the United States Army’s Seventh Cavalry in the winter of 1890.

Wounded Knee was the so-called final battle of America’s war on its Native peoples. But what happened was hardly a battle. It was a massacre.

The Boston Marathon and U.S. Drone Attacks: a Tale of Two Terrorisms

The Boston Marathon and U.S. Drone Attacks: a Tale of Two Terrorisms

15Apr

Under President Obama, the number of civilian deaths due to drone strikes has increased since the Bush Administration.

To murder several runners using bombs at a sporting event is terrorism.

To murder 175 children using military drones is U.S. policy.

Bloody Bloody Maggie! Dead! Dead! Dead!

Poster by Brian Mor O’Baoighill

For Some, No Tears Lost for Thatcher’s Death

By COREY KILGANNON

John McDonagh, a taxi driver and lifelong resident of Middle Village, Queens, was driving his yellow cab in the wee hours on Monday when his cellphone began lighting up with a flurry of text messages from Irish friends saying that Margaret Thatcher had died.

The messages were not mournful.

Some were derogatory, but most basically were some variation of ‘O.K., where’s the party?’” said Mr. McDonagh, 58, the longtime host of Radio Free Eireann, an Irish-American talk show on WBAI-FM (99.5).

Mr. McDonagh, speaking from his cab on Monday – not while driving, he emphasized – called Ms. Thatcher an enemy to Irish people “because of the destruction she brought to Ireland with her policies — she always thought of Ireland as a colony and never a country.”

Sentiment against Ms. Thatcher among Irish nationalists hardened in the early 1980s when she stood firm against the demands of Irish Republican prisoners on hunger strikes, including Bobby Sands, who died during his strike. She barely escaped being injured in October 1984, when the Irish Republican Army detonated a bomb in a hotel in Brighton, England, where Mrs. Thatcher’s Conservative Party was holding a meeting.

Mr. McDonagh said he and his fellow activists in New York City had begun planning a celebration party for Ms. Thatcher’s death five years ago.

As soon as he finished his driving shift on Monday afternoon, he said, he would go about organizing the event, to be held Saturday afternoon at Rocky Sullivan’s bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

“We did long-range planning for this,” he said. “The theme would be, ‘The horror of her life and legacy,’” he said. The proceedings will include live music and the reading of a list of names of Irish people who had died during “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland.

Wounded Knee Massacre Site Up For Sale

Invader-cannibals strike again.

Anger Over Plan to Sell Site of Wounded Knee Massacre

Follow Your Leader

One US soldier a day commits suicide. Caveat Emptor.

Native Peace Activist John Boncore Found Dead

A sad, sad loss. But not the last we will hear of the spirit of John Boncore. What a warrior for the people and the land!

Native peace activist John Boncore found dead

Political activist John Boncore, whose native name was Splitting the Sky, was found dead near his home in Chase, near Salmon Arm last week.

By Mike youds, Kamloops daily news March 20, 2013

His native name was Dacajeweiah, or Splitting the Sky, and it was a name that John Boncore took to heart through his lifetime of political activism.

Boncore, 61, was found dead last week on a path on the Adams Lake Indian Reserve near his home in Chase, near Salmon Arm. He is believed to have fallen on cement steps and may have suffered a blow to the head.

Also known as John Hill, or Dac, Boncore will be remembered as a man who stood up for all that he saw as tyranny and injustice. He principally shouted from the ramparts for native peoples, and made headlines four years ago as the man who was charged after trying to make a citizen’s arrest of U.S. President George W. Bush on a visit to Calgary.

Damn Cool Poster

via www.rossportsolidaritycamp.org

Give the Irish some love and support. The people of Rossport are fighting corporate eco-terrorists hell-bent on earth rape.

10th Iraq Anniversary: Army Shrink Blows Brains Out

The man who saved many: Army psychologist who counseled many in Iraq couldn’t escape demons

Capt. Peter Linnerooth was an Army psychologist. He counseled soldiers during some of the fiercest fighting in Iraq. Hundreds upon hundreds sought his help. For nightmares and insomnia. For shock and grief. And for reaching that point where they just wanted to end it all.

Because they were rapists and baby-killers, and providing them psychological comfort is a war crime for which this race war shrink righteously self-executed.

Huzzah!

Parachute Creek Spill Uncontained

Dear Governor John Frackenlooper:

Spill, baby, spill. How do you like that fracking fluid now, jackass?!


Parachute Creek spill continues uncontained; cause, source unknown

Posted: 03/18/2013 02:08:48 PM MDT
Updated: 03/19/2013 11:25:07 AM MDT
By Bruce Finley
The Denver Post

Hydrocarbon spill confirmed north of Parachute

An underground plume of toxic hydrocarbons from an oil spill north of the Colorado River near Parachute has been spreading for 10 days, threatening to contaminate spring runoff.

Vacuum trucks have sucked up more than 60,000 gallons, but an unknown amount remains in the ground by Parachute Creek.

Stupid White People Moment Number 1,345,678: Tom Flanagan

Tom Flanagan, who has spoken out against First Nations people, thinks kiddie porn is "just pictures." Well that's fitting, isn't it?


http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/28/tom-flanagan-child-porn_n_2780550.html

http://rabble.ca/news/2013/03/goodbye-tom-flanagan-what-took-so-long

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Commentary+Flanagan+feels+sting+show+mercy+approach/8053057/story.html

‘Mike & Molly’ Joke Angers Navajo Nation

Seriously. Aren't we all getting a little old for this bullshit?

‘Mike & Molly’ Joke Angers Navajo Nation

By Luchina Fisher

Mar 4, 2013 10:39am

Mike & Molly Joke Angers Navajo Nation

The Navajo Nation is speaking out over a joke that aired on CBS’ “Mike & Molly” referring to Native Americans as “drunk Indians.”

In the episode that aired last week, Mike’s mother Peggy, who is played by Rondi Reed, quipped, “Arizona? Why would I move to Arizona? It’s nothing but a furnace full of drunk Indians.”

Erny Zah, a spokesperson for the Navajo Nation, which occupies parts of Arizona, told ABCNews.com, “It’s offensive, it’s derogatory, it’s deplorable. Ignorance is one thing, but this must have passed through a lot of eyes before it appeared on a network show.”

At least 3,000 native children died in residential schools: research

This is what genocide looks like.

At least 3,000 native children died in residential schools: research

At least 3,000 children, including four under the age of 10 found huddled together in frozen embrace, are now known to have died during attendance at Canada’s Indian residential schools, according to new unpublished research.

While deaths have long been documented as part of the disgraced residential school system, the findings are the result of the first systematic search of government, school and other records.

Pope Ratzinger Jumps Ship To Escape Charges

Hitler Youth member Ratzinger Jumps Ship

Pope Evades Criminal Charges by Hiding in Vatican

Feb. 16, 2013 Late breaking news on the real reason why Pope Benedict XVI quit the job as Pope is centered around the fact that he was going to be charged for crimes against humanity by shielding pedophile priests in the RC church.

A statement given to Reuters reveals that the Church has decided to grant Joseph Ratzinger immunity against any and all charges involving his protection of known sex offenders.

As a high ranking member of the Catholic Church, Ratzinger knew priests who habitually were reported as sex offenders with children and shipped them to other parishes where they continued raping children.

Even after becoming a Pope as well he protected priests by denying criminal charges.

Decolonizing the Violence Against Indigenous Women

Decolonizing the Violence Against Indigenous Women

...

Colonization is violence. Colonization has had an impact on both Indigenous women and men’s roles in all relationships but Indigenous women have taken the brunt of the impacts of colonization. Direct attacks against Indigenous women are attempts to erase them from existence so that there will be no future generations. These are attacks against the future of our Indigenous nations. Indigenous women are now dealing with the high statistics of violence against them and the highest numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women, not only in Canada but also globally.

...

The violence against women and the violence occurring against Mother Earth are also directly connected. Haudenosaunee planting ceremonies acknowledge that the women are the seed – the connection between the Creator and Mother Earth. The loss of connection of Indigenous women to their lands and territories means that the lifeblood and carrier of future generations are also cut off. Since the existence of the patriarchal Indian Act, there have been missing Indigenous women who were forcefully displaced from their traditional territories for “marrying out”. This was the beginning of missing Indigenous women. The genocidal policies of the Indian Act also had an impact on Indigenous governance systems where the women’s decision-making qualities were silenced and no longer part of the balance of these systems. And we already know what the residential schools did to our families, including the roles of mothers and fathers and the losses of family bonding, and the loss of the most basic tenets of a relationship: love and emotional well-being.

...

Beverley Jacobs is a citizen of the Kanienkehake Nation, Bear Clan of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy from the Six Nations Grand River Territory. She graduated with a law degree at the University of Windsor in 1994 and a master’s degree in law in 2000. She is currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Calgary. She also owns her own law firm, which is situated at Six Nations Grand River Territory and practices part-time while working on her Interdisciplinary Degree focusing on human rights, Indigenous research methodologies, and Aboriginal health.

Mounties Raped, Abused Women: 'Highway Of Tears' Report

Settler-thug pigs! Rapist, asshole bastards! Beware the risen people... We will try it out with you.

"And I say to my people's masters: Beware,
Beware of the thing that is coming, beware of the risen people,
Who shall take what ye would not give.
Did ye think to conquer the people,
Or that Law is stronger than life and than men's desire to be free?
We will try it out with you, ye that have harried and held,
Ye that have bullied and bribed, tyrants, hypocrites, liars!"

- Padraig Pearse


Mounties Raped, Abused Women: 'Highway Of Tears' Report

OTTAWA - A new report by a respected international human rights watchdog has accused RCMP officers of abusing aboriginal women and girls in northern British Columbia.

New York-based Human Rights Watch uncovered one allegation of rape and others of assault by Mounties against aboriginals in rural B.C. communities.

The alleged incidents were uncovered as part of a broader investigation into charges of systemic neglect of missing and murdered aboriginal women along B.C.'s Highway 16, nicknamed the "Highway of Tears."

Other reports and studies have documented the broader problem, but the new report details specific allegations of abuse by RCMP officers.

None of the allegations has been proven in court. The RCMP did not immediately reply to a request for comment Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch undertook the investigation last year after a Vancouver-based agency approached it in 2011 complaining that authorities in Canada were not doing enough to address the problem.

"After years of hearing stories and doing our best to try and get some accountability, we felt we owed it to the girls to take the next steps, to try and get some kind of investigation and bring these allegations and abuses to light," said Annabel Webb, the founder of the Vancouver group Justice for Girls, which works with poor, troubled teens.

Human Rights Watch is calling on the federal and B.C. governments to participate in a national commission of inquiry into the matter.

"At the end of the day, what we want to see is accountability. Accountability for police mistreatment of aboriginal women and girls," said Meghan Rhoad, the report's lead researcher.

"Policing is failing in terms of protection of indigenous women and girls in northern B.C., certainly based on our research."

Researchers spent five weeks in 10 northern B.C. towns last summer and conducted 87 interviews with 42 indigenous women and eight indigenous girls from age 15 to 60.

The most serious allegation involved a woman who told researchers that she was raped and threatened with death by four RCMP officers after she was abused in a remote location.

Other allegations include: young girls being pepper sprayed and shocked with a Taser; a 12-year-old girl being attacked by a police dog; a 17-year-old girl being repeatedly punched by an officer; women strip-searched by male officers; and women injured by excessive force during their arrests.

"In 5 of the 10 towns Human Rights Watch visited in the north, we heard allegations of rape or sexual assault by police officers," the report states.

"Human Rights Watch was struck by the level of fear on the part of women we met to talk about sexual abuse inflicted by police officers."

Rhoad said about a dozen young women cancelled interviews with researchers because they were too scared of repercussions from police officers working in their small communities.

Samer Muscati, a Canadian co-researcher, said the level of fear among the women interviewed was on par with what he's encountered while researching abuses by security forces throughout the Middle East, Iraq, Libya and Sudan.

"You expect that level of fear when you're in a place like Iraq, in a post-conflict country where security forces are implicated in horrible abuses," said Muscati.

"But in Canada, where police are known to protect citizens, it is quite alarming to hear the stories of women and girls, particularly."

The report contains a number of testimonials from women whose identities have all been protected.

The most serious is from a homeless woman identified as Gabriella P., who described being raped by four Mounties. She told researchers she knew the names of the officers, but refused to provide them.

"I feel so dirty," a tearful Gabriella is quoted as saying in the report. "They threatened that if I told anybody they would take me out to the mountains and kill me and make it look like an accident."

Webb said it has been difficult to bring the allegations to light because the girls themselves don't believe in the justice system.

Webb said she hopes that upstanding members of the RCMP are outraged enough by the report to drive out their more abusive colleagues.

"First and foremost, I'd like to see a stop to the abuse," she said. "If we could just stop the abuse, that would be kind of a banner day."

On Tuesday, Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae urged Prime Minister Stephen Harper to call a royal commission or parliamentary inquiry in the broader issue.

"We know that along the highway that has unfortunately now been called the Highway of Tears, there are hundreds of women who have gone missing," said Rae.

A stern-faced Harper responded by defending the Conservative record on confronting the issue of violence against women.

"This is a very strong concern for this government. That is why we have invested additional resources in police enforcement, in investigation and prevention, and we continue to look to ways that we can act," Harper said.

"The murder and abduction of women in this country is completely unacceptable. We will continue to move forward with a vigorous criminal justice agenda to address these problems."

Anarchists and Torture Porn

Yes, Manarchists are fuckers, too.

Anarchists and Torture Porn

by BEN BARKER

Radicals and the sexual exploitation industry become more and more intertwined by the day. I wish I was surprised when I learned just today that the 2013 Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair is being held in a venue owned by the torture porn website, Kink.com.

Kink.com is infamous for its images of women “stretched out on racks, hogtied, urine squirting in their mouths, and suspended from the ceiling while attached to electrodes, including ones inserted into their vaginas,” explains feminist activist Gail Dines, who argues that the pornography website is in stark violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

...

To be fair, a statement addressing concerns about the venue choice was almost immediately posted on the Bookfair website. Not surprisingly, it attempted to justify the decision, with the bulk of the text being about the tight budget they were working with. With the handful of lines the statement devoted to feminist concerns, they deflected responsibility by claiming that “there is a valid political criticism of every venue that is potentially available,” because “we live in a capitalist society, and until we have created an explicitly anarchist infrastructure that can support this type of event, such contradictions and compromises are inevitable.”

...

Imagine if the House Republicans had put out a statement similar to that of the organizers of the 2013 Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair. They might write: “We acknowledge that white supremacy and slavery have been divisive issues in the Republican community. The choice of the former slave plantation is not a political statement, and the House Committee is taking no political position on white supremacy. We accept that members of the community (and even members of this committee) have differing opinions on this issue. We will be organizing a discussion on Republican perspectives on white supremacy during the conference, and if this topic interests you, we hope that you will attend.” That should be sufficient to ease the worries of the Left, no?

I beg the organizers of the Bookfair, and anarchists in general, to answer me this one question: is pain different when felt by a woman?

Most murdering sniper in U.S. military history is shot and killed point-blank by veteran

Try not to laugh your ass off at the poetic justice!

Deadliest sniper in U.S. military history is 'shot and killed point-blank by veteran suffering from PTSD' at Texas gun range

•Ex-Navy Seal and New York Times best-selling author Chris Kyle, 39, was reportedly shot along with another man

•The suspect, 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, is in police custody after he fled the scene in Kyle's car

•Kyle is a husband and father of two who served four tours in Iraq and holds the U.S. military record for most sniper kills

By Hayley Peterson

PUBLISHED: 01:29 EST, 3 February 2013 | UPDATED: 02:13 EST, 3 February 2013

A former Navy Seal, expert sniper and best-selling author was reportedly gunned down at a Texas shooting range Saturday by a veteran who is recovering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Ex-Navy Seal Chris Kyle, 39, and another man were shot point-blank around 3:30 p.m. at a charity event on behalf of Kyle's security firm at the gun range at Rough Creek Lodge and Resort in Erath County.

The suspect, 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh, was arrested roughly five hours later in Lancaster, Texas after a police chase. He was driving Kyle's truck at the time of the arrest, police said.

Manitoba newspaper closes Facebook account because of racist anti-Aboriginal comments

Manitoba newspaper closes Facebook account because of racist anti-Aboriginal comments

National News | 31. Jan, 2013 by APTN National News | 9 Comments


APTN National News
A Manitoba newspaper has shutdown its Facebook page because of vulgar and racist anti-Aboriginal comments.

Editors with the Thompson Citizen said they were left with no choice. They simply couldn’t abide the “evil” their Facebook page was attracting.

Here is the Citizen post in its entirety published with permission:

BY JOHN BARKER
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET

Today the Thompson Citizen ends its presence on Facebook, a presence we have had on Mark Zuckerberg’s Palo, Alto, California social media website since March 10, 2010. As this story is posted, we are in the process of disabling our Facebook page.

Thompson Citizen publisher Brent Fitzpatrick, general manager Lynn Taylor and editor John Barker all concurred on the decision to end the newspaper’s Facebook presence.

We won’t mince words here. We’re leaving because for some time commenters have been posting virulently racist anti-aboriginal comments on our page and tagging photos in a similar way, including our profile photo of the Thompson Citizen building this morning.

It ends here.

Read the rest...

Armed Resistance Photo of the Day

Associated Press/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File - FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 file photo, masked Somali pirate Hassan stands near a Taiwanese fishing vessel that washed up on shore after the pirates were …more paid a ransom and released the crew, in the once-bustling pirate den of Hobyo, Somalia. A U.K.-led Piracy Ransom Task Force says the shipping industry must adopt additional measures to ensure that payments aren't made to pirates after a successful attack. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File

http://news.yahoo.com/piracy-group-sure-somali-pirates-arent-paid-153213763.html

A Letter From Chief Spence

A Letter from Chief Theresa Spence: Jan. 15

January 15, 2013

Victoria Island, Ottawa, January 15, 2013

Att.: All First Nations Chiefs and Grand Chiefs

Re: Status of Hunger Strike and National Leadership Situation

Dear Chiefs and Grand Chiefs;

Today marks the 36th day of my hunger strike, 35th day for Mr. Raymond Robinson of Manitoba and yesterday Mr. Jean Sock from New Brunswick was his 28th day and his last. We owe a great depth of gratitude to Jean for his support by joining me and Raymond in our protest. In return we extend our full support and we respect his decision to end his hunger strike to attend to his ailing mother, and also to be with his youth who are struggling to comprehend our cause. We pray for his complete recovery and we send prayers to his mother, his family and to have a safe journey home.

With this letter, I want to make it clear once again the purpose of our hunger strike as well as to inform all of you the state of my health and Raymond. We also wanted to take this opportunity to express our position of the events leading to the meeting of January 11, 2013 and the current situation we are in.

As I stated from the beginning, something had to be done to bring our Nations immediate needs, treaty implementation issues among many other issues to the brought attention of the PM along with the Crown in meeting on Nation to Nation basis at the earliest time possible.

Now, that the meetings with the PM and the Governor General have taken place, despite the fact that the Chiefs met with them separately, like many of you the confusion has yet to subside as I continue to wait for the details in what was actually achieved. It is without a doubt, the events leading up to the meeting of January 11, 2013 with the PM and the evening with the Governor General, as well as the communication breakdown that day and into that night truly tested our unity once again.

Along with Mr. Raymond Robinson, Mr. Jean Sock and I, we call on all of you not to waste any more energy on determining the future of our National Chief - for what took place for the past month is beyond us all as individuals. We all began with a purpose, we had a plan, we need now to refocus and stick to the original plan to propose and follow our own agenda. This is our best chance to settle the struggles our Nations have had to endure for far too long.

We need the National Chief as much as we need each other. With the challenges ahead, we need to spend less energy fighting amongst ourselves; instead we must focus on finding a common ground, a common understanding and respecting each other’s goals and objectives. We must stand united, strengthen our unity and agree on an agenda that works for all of us and not just the few. The politics within our camp can wait and work itself out on its own time.

What we have endured here at the island is a small price to pay compared to what our ancestors, our own mothers and fathers endured. Putting aside the real purpose of our hunger strike, this was our way to pay tribute to our ancestors who have forgone some of the harshest periods in our history, to honor those among our Nations who continue to struggle for the basic standard of living to this day, as well as to raise new hope among our youth and to protect our future generations.

From the beginning, the support and prayers from all of you, from our grassroots, elders, women and particularly the youth brought us comfort and assurance that we are all in this together. This must continue.

Many of you have asked me directly or called on us indirectly to stop our hunger strike, but as we stated before, our exit or to end this hunger strike will be on our own terms. We ask all of you to respect that and ask you to refocus on the spirit and the intent of this movement.

Together, meaning the Idle No More movement, as hunger strikers, others who are fasting for the same cause with the support of our grassroots, our protesters, you the leaders, we have all been part of something historic which brought in all of us a sense of pride; our people have come together in solidarity for a common cause. The citizens of this country have also taken notice and we have their attention. Soon the rest of the world must to be informed and this Government along with the Crown must accept that the only way forward in this country is a renewed relationship with First Nations, but that it must begin with in a meeting with both the PM and Governor General present.

We are honored to be able to contribute to raising awareness of our Nations pressing issues, past and current struggles, as well as the challenges ahead. As more protests are being scheduled, we hope that the peace be maintained and ask all of you to encourage your members to remain peaceful and respectful.

Furthermore, we acknowledge and respect the Idle No More movement, their founders and spokespeople for promoting awareness of the controversial omnibus bills recently passed in the Senate. Our fights may be different, but our dreams and hopes for our people are common.

We will assess carefully our next steps in the coming days and will continue to remain optimistic. Our spirits are up, but we are growing weaker by the day but we do our best to maintain our health. We ask you to respect our choices and to leave us the decision when and if this hunger strike should end.

My fellow Chiefs, on behalf of Mr. Robinson and Mr. Sock, we thank you for your continued prayers and support. We ask you now to focus on the task at hand and please do not to worry about us; our people and our youth deserve real change and nothing more. May the Creator guide us through the challenges up ahead.

Gichi Meegwetch,

Chief Theresa Spence

Attawapiskat First Nation

You know you are a **STAR** White Indigenous Solidarity Activist If…

The writers of this article have asked white readers to identify items on the list that personally apply.

To start, for me, that's Number 8. I have looked to famous Indigenous people to be the voice of ALL Indian people. I have neglected to find/hear the diverse voices of Elders from the communities with which I claim solidarity.

Number 19. My initial understanding of feminism was limited to only white women.

Number 27. I need to work to find a balance bewteen honoring the historical oppression of my ancestors and recognizing their participation in others' oppression.

Number 35. I need to elimate the term "white trash" from my vocabulary. Poor whites know plenty about oppression.

Number 38. I struggle to overcome a desire to be a white hero. I long to matter more than I do matter or should matter.

Number 39 & 40. Confronting the Columbus Day parade for an hour and a half once a year is not enough.

Number 45. That "Eureka! I've discovered I am on stolen land" moment is not enough.

And one more of my own. I need to remember that moral purity is not the goal. Decolonization and rematriation of occupied land is the goal!


You know you are a **STAR** White Indigenous Solidarity Activist If…

July 5, 2012
tags: Abusive Activists, Activism, Decolonization, Indigenous solidarity, Settlers, White.

Dear Reader:

Chances are you are not a white man if you are reading this or taking it seriously. However, we encourage you to take it upon yourself to compel at least one abusive white activist man you know to read this. You know who he is /they are. Take this as a challenge, but if you can’t we understand. We wrote this list because we’ve been abused for so long by some white activist men, particularly in doing Indigenous solidarity work. This list is just a beginning. It does not capture all our critiques, but it’s a humble effort at creating that space where we could let it all out. Not that we haven’t confronted these particular white ‘radicals’, but, nothing happened. We remained as hysterical, hyper-sensitive white women and women of color.

To read more about us and our intentions for this space and contact info please go to the About section.

Since the publication of this list we have received some hostile attacks questioning our intentions. As a result we decided to add #51 to the list. We also decided to clear a few things up, and call out these messed behaviours. You can read more if you follow the link below:

51. You think that women calling out racism and sexism in solidarity spaces are engaging in character assassinations and waging smear campaigns.



It has been made aware that white folks, and men it particular are posting this to their walls who themselves need to take account of their behaviours. As an act of accountability white folks we ask that you pick the point on the list that most applies to you, and post this with the list.

It has been made aware to us that this list was triggering for some women and apologize for not issuing a warning in the first place.

*******Trigger Warning*********

You know you are a ***star*** white Indigenous solidarity activist if:

1.You are the go-to-person when it comes to X Indigenous territory or nation(s).

2.You have successfully managed to counsel people of colour out from Indigenous solidarity spaces and ‘back’ to the ‘ethnic’ enclaves you think they belong to.

3.You have successfully managed to make women of colour struggling to do Indigenous solidarity work in ‘your’ group cry several times over your racist, heteropatriarchal hateful hysteria.

4. You have taken Gandhi’s maxim of “see-no-evil-and-speak-no-evil” to mean a Marxist-see-no-race-and-no-gender maxim (which incidentally guides your life and politics…BTW, we are not saying we are a fan of that sexist and racist Gandhi).

5. You do not let critical anti-colonial and anti-racist work by Indigenous peoples and people of colour convince you that it’s not all about class.

6. You are just not smart enough to understand that capitalism emerged out of colonial and racist Empire building.

7. You’ve organized your activism along all the problematic hierarchies in our society. You are, after all, a white Marxist man/Manarchist.

8. You do not listen to Elders in the Indigenous communities you work with. Instead, you believe in making few who share your politics into the ‘go-to’ voices and pretend that Indigenous nations/communities are homogenous.

9. You forget (or are just not smart enough to understand and recognize) that people of colour have much, much longer histories of fighting people like you for their liberation, than you have of trying to help out the very people you’ve done everything to destroy.

10. You forget what your forefathers have done, and very easily ignore what you are doing. You have the big responsibility of being the messiah of Indigenous peoples, after all.

11. You feel compelled to tell Indigenous people just exactly how they should do their decolonizing work (that is, through your hyper-patriarchal, see-no-race-and-no-gender Marxist/Manarchist politics).

12. You frantically Marxist-bate in public, in front of Indigenous women and women of colour, and encourage them to join you.

13. You think too much with your white cis-gendered dick!

14. You feel comfortable to tell people of colour that their work is important only in so far as it does not come in the way of your white politics, and class-based strategies of doing anti-colonial work.

15. You find anti-racism divisive. However, a little bit of culture thrown in (you know, flip flops from India, a bit of an accent) is heartily welcomed.

16. You speak of class revolution with a silver spoon dangling from your “Marxist” mouth. Your “Marxist” mouth often stinks so much that sometimes others have to leave the room.

17. You think people of colour, in particular, women of colour are just naïve and not capable of understanding the complexity of solidarity activism the way you do. Women of colour, after all, have the smallest skull size.

18. You think you can’t be racist because you date only women of colour. You do not want to think about how such sexual politics have been central to colonial violence.

19. Your knowledge of feminism is limited to your appreciation for the ‘First’ wave’s racists and eugenicists. Margaret Sanger is held by you in high esteem.

20. You insist activism against colonialism should feel good for white bodies, and therefore you don’t want to focus on colonial violence that ALL white bodies participate in.

21. You talk big macho shit about police, but fail to see the uniform of your own whiteness

22. You ensure that only the projects you propose are well funded.

23. You think (and have also said) that white people’s anti-colonial work is more important than that of anybody else’s. Even more important than that of the Indigenous peoples themselves!

24. You speak with confidence about everything, and are never humbled by the limits of your knowledge. Your knowledge which sits within the confines of your Marxist-bating or your manarchism.

25. You secretly roll your eyes at Indigenous spirituality, while you ‘politely’ encourage prayer at the beginning of your events

26. You are not into all this divisive language: you know colonizer/colonized. You have also told us that bringing in gender, race, sexuality ‘etc’ negatively affects Indigenous solidarity work.

27. You like to list all the ways you and your ancestors have been colonized. And how much slavery and servitude are alike.

28. You talk about the newness of solidarity work, and how you are making history with your every effort, instead of looking back and acknowledging that you are flying on the coat-tails of the oldest resistance movement on this land.

29. The sexual violence of colonialism is a niche-activist market for you, it doesn’t make up the core of your activism. The continued theft of Indigenous children and the ever growing number of disappeared and murdered Indigenous women are a footnote to your “solidarity” or “decolonization” politics. The theft of land apparently is not connected to the dispossession, disappearing and murdering of Indigenous peoples.

30. For you increasing white men’s power on this land is how anti-colonialism is done

31. You LOVE to smudge, and parade your Indigenous knowledge about, never feeling uncomfortable with your body having this knowledge

32. You ensure that your political framework is the way to do “Indigenous solidarity”. So sure are you that this one political framework is the only way to decolonize, that you react with intense hostility, indifference or superficiality to any detected threat to your activist territory. Whether that “difference” to you is critical anti-racist analysis, critical disability analysis, or gender and Queer analysis, or any kind of non-secular analysis.

33. Words fought against or for by any political-socio group (like women, for instance) is accorded the status of “academese”. These words (such as race, gender, patriarchy, heteropatriarchy, queerness, transgender, genderqueer, disability etc..) which allow for an analysis of interlocking systems of oppression are too complicated for the “regular” masses, and those who use this “politically correct language” are elitist

34. You chalk-up anti-colonial/racist feminist politics to Foucault and afterwards make it into a debate between Marx and Foucault. You feel like women of color bringing up race needs you to pull out your “Marx” sword, so that you can intellectualize your racism and make it into a debate between two dead white men who cared as little about race and gender as you do.

35. You speak about “less-educated” whites, or poor(er) whites as if they are not politically savvy, and can’t keep up with your “revolutionary” consciousness

36. You relate to your colonizing ancestors as if they were less smart and more racist than you are.

37. You dare to imagine what this land will look like after your revolutionary vision is achieved.

38. You forget that sometimes colonized and racialized people make ‘friends’ because it’s politically expedient for survival, or maybe you remember, but you are never the politically expedient—you are always the (s)hero

39. You participate in marches where you can feel like the white activists in Selma, Alabama, but you only participate in the marches.

40. Being behind the barricades makes you giddy with excitement. You play revolution on the coat-tail of Indigenous peoples’ struggles, but once the barricades are down, you are nowhere to be seen.

41. You have made a living/a career/ a name/an identity out of being “in solidarity”.

42. You have made it clear that you are a shameless scumbag. You are immune to being shamed for your racism, (hetero)sexism etc.

43. You judge poor(er) than you folks for their materialism. Sometimes dressing like a poor(er) person is less advisable for the poor—funny unlike you it doesn’t tend to give them activist credit.

44.You pretend to know your Marx, but understand the working-class as “joe six-pack”—the sweaty-cis-gendered ,straight-as-a-gate-talking, game watching ‘abled bodied’ white working man. (insert burp here).

45. You refer to (certain kinds of) racists and racism and colonialism as “mad”, or “crazy”. You make sure to distance yourself from their racism. “They,” after all, are the real racists, and being the good white is your bread and butter. You are always ready to pull out your one or two self-reflexive superficial utterances, usually made alongside a long story of narcissistic pleasure in your “eureka” moment-akin- to Columbus’ “ I discovered new land, ” and yours being “I discovered I am on stolen land” .

46. You don’t recognize any objections to your policy, whether silent objections or those that are screamed (at you) by marginalized bodies in history and present.

47. You push past the “slow” process of consensus. You bully your way so that your time-line and agenda is achieved

48. You complain that this work is really hard and too complicated. Ending colonialism, after all, should be easy.

49. Your notion of decolonization never calls into question your ‘rightful’ place on this land

50. You secretly and mostly want decolonization to ‘unshackle’ yourself from the position of the colonizer….It is, after all, such a burden.

Denver Idle No More Calls Out the Canadian Prime Minister via Letter

Hat Tip AK48

Denver Idle No More Calls Out the Canadian Prime Minister via Letter

Carol Berry
January 02, 2013

Despite drumming, Round Dancing and megaphoned speeches far below its lofty offices in Denver, the Consulate General of Canada remained silent December 31 about the First Nations’ indigenous rights concerns expressed in a local rally that drew about 100 people in support of the continent-wide Idle No More movement.

Because of widespread preparation for New Year’s Eve, consulate offices closed at noon to the general public, but Ladan Amirazizi, consul and senior trade commissioner, accepted a letter she said she would convey to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of Idle supporters in Denver’s Indian community. She did not comment on concerns raised in the rally or in the letter signed by Denver-area residents and others.

The letter said that Harper and his government would be held personally responsible should Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation be permanently or fatally injured as a result of her hunger strike that began December 11 to force a meeting on indigenous rights with Harper. It also pointed to issues raised by First Nations continent-wide.

....

After about two hours of dancing and listening in 20-degree weather, most of the Round Dance participants crowded into the lobby of the consulate building where security guards said a consular official would come to receive the letter.

Tessa McLean, Anishinaabe First Nation, gave the letter to Amirazizi for Harper. Amirazizi told her the consulate had closed at noon but if she, as a Canadian, had concerns, she would talk with her at greater length; McLean responded that she was there as part of the support for Idle No More, and she and other rally participants left the building.

“It’s international, it’s sparked support from unions and other groups political and non-political, and it’s brought out folks who normally wouldn’t go out to such events,” e-mailed Kim Cameron, Anishinabe Long Plain First Nation, who has worked in Denver. “It warms the heart and spirit to see the unity. But what is sad is that as Chief Theresa Spence weakens, the resolve to stand up for what is right strengthens.”

12.31.12 Chief Spence Press Release

Idle No More Movement Gains Momentum

From The Globe and Mail: As Chief Spence starves, Canadians awaken from idleness and remember their roots

Pressure mounts on Harper as hunger-strike chief’s protest enters third week

OTTAWA — As the woman at the focal point for the “Idle No More” movement enters the third week of her hunger strike in a teepee nearly buried in snow, a former lieutenant governor of Ontario is urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to meet with her.


Tyler Anderson/National PostFormer Ontario Lieutenant-Governor James Bartleman.“Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation has said she is prepared to fast until death. She should be taken at her word,” said James Bartleman, the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and a member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan “lacks the weight to deal with the crisis,” Bartleman wrote in a letter published Thursday in The Globe and Mail, adding that if Harper were to meet with Spence, it would be a sign of his compassion for all suffering aboriginal people.

“If he doesn’t, and Chief Spence dies, he will be forever remembered as someone too proud to do the right thing. Worst, he would never forgive himself,” Bartleman said.

Colorado Joins Idle No More Movement

We Are All Related, Round Dancers Insist at Idle No More Event in Colorado

Carol Berry
December 30, 2012

Drumbeats echoed through an upscale Denver mall as at least 300 Round-dancing and singing Indian people showed their support for the Idle No More movement among First Nations people of Canada, who have pressed for honoring treaties, preserving natural resources, and meeting with the prime minister over the erosion of indigenous rights.

Members of the Denver Indian community are also supporting a hunger strike, now in its third week, by Theresa Spence, chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario, who has been urged by other First Nations and government representatives to end the strike she undertook to force a meeting on Native rights with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Although peaceful, the Denver flash mob event December 29 was a forceful presence that prompted Nick LeMasters, general manager of the Cherry Creek Mall, to state that it was “a disruption to shoppers”—and the mall was not “a forum for folks to convey their message.”

Mall security and city police remained in the background, although a security official phoned one event organizer beforehand and she characterized the call as “more like I was being bullied, but he never said he would call the police.”

In fact, the Round Dance was a forum for people to remind others that borders don’t separate Indigenous Peoples. And, although political, the event was also “sort of a family affair,” initiated by four cousins active on the powwow circuit.

Pickton inquiry slams 'blatant failures' by police

Pickton inquiry slams 'blatant failures' by police

Report recommends Greater Vancouver establish a regional police force
CBC News Posted: Dec 17, 2012 6:31 AM PT Last Updated: Dec 17, 2012 7:32 PM PT

The missing women inquiry into serial killer Robert Pickton has slammed police for botching their investigations and has recommended a single regional police force be created for Greater Vancouver.

Inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal released his final report in Vancouver this afternoon, but advance copies provided to the families of Pickton's victims were leaked to media outlets around 10 a.m. PT.

In his conclusion, Oppal blamed years of inadequate and failed police investigations for allowing Pickton to prey undetected for years on women in the sex trade on Vancouver's troubled Downtown Eastside.

"The police investigations into the missing and murdered women were blatant failures," Oppal said.

"The critical police failings were manifest in recurring patterns of error that went unchecked and uncorrected over several years.

"The underlying causes of these failures … were themselves complex and multi-faceted."

Oppal said those causes included discrimination, a lack of leadership, outdated policing approaches, and a fragmented police structure in the Greater Vancouver region.

Women forsaken 'by society at large'
While Oppal condemned the police investigations, he also found society at large should bear some responsibility for the women's tragic lives.

"I have found that the missing and murdered women were forsaken twice: once by society at large and again by the police," Oppal wrote.

"What we're here to discuss is a tragedy of epic proportions.

The murderous results of white male supremacy are not a "tragedy." They are a CRIME.

Daily Camera Shill Charlie Brennan Endorses Hate Speech

In celebration of his new job as senior reporter at the Boulder Daily Camera, class-act and e-cheater Charlie Brennan endorsed a photo that reads "Who's unemployed NOW, bitch?!" on his November 11, 2012 Facebook page with the following comment:

"Frank [Coffman] - This resonates with me on a number of levels - and also made me smile. Potential coffee, Monday?"



Gee Charlie, why do you enjoy using hate speech like the word "bitch" so much?

Still reeling from your gutwrenching three years of unemployment?

Or is it all that charity vag the wife didn't give you after your e-affair with Our Dear Lady of the Mysteries was exposed on the Internet, an exposure that got you fired from the Ward Churchill smear campaign at the now-annihilated Rocky Mountain News?

Do you like using misogynist hate speech because all the excruciating details of that e-affair still live at The Brennan Files?

[Warning to kind readers: Charlie's tedious writing will make your eyes bleed, but do try to hold on to the end. It's such a great laugh at a creepy old man.]

Why so much hatred for women, Chas?

Was it that David "do not go near her" Sirota dustup over his wife Emily Sirota? You know, the one where Guerin Green followed you out of a restaurant and said, "It's a good thing this isn't 100 years ago. You'd be hanging from a tree."

Wow. Somebody wants to hang Charlie Brennan because of the way he treated a woman. I'm shocked, shocked, shocked!

But really Charlie, might all this misogyny be the simple result of your gnawing fear that some woman will keep following your mediocrity to infinity and beyond, keeping it alive on the internet forever? And if so, wouldn't that make you HER bitch?

Inquiring minds wanna know, hater.

[Readers who would like an answer from Mr. Brennan are encourage to tweet the vapid twit here at www.twitter.com/chasbrennan]

DGR: Guidelines For Male Allies

In light of the previous post, which engendered so much misogynist hate speech from commenters, here is Deep Green Resistance's excellent guideline to what it means to be a male ally to women.

Non-Indians working to be effective allies to Indigenous people can extrapolate from this guideline a similar understanding.

Guidelines for Male Allies

Posted on November 25, 2012


Male Ally Guidelines

Developed by the Deep Green Resistance Male-Ally group, with guidance from the Women’s Caucus.

Introduction

As a class, men have developed an entrenched system of power called patriarchy in order to naturalize exploitation of women’s bodies, labor, time, children, and so on. Patriarchy consists of an interlocking system of social, economic, political, legal, and cultural structures designed to oppress women for the benefit of men. This system provides men with privileges in every aspect of our lives; we are the direct beneficiaries. As men, we often mistake these privileges for natural rights.

It is not enough for us to be “good guys”. It is not enough to personally refrain from exploiting women. It is not enough for us to be personally conscientious and respectful to women. It is not enough to maintain equality in our own relationships with women. While all of those things are important, abstaining personally from outright oppressive behavior doesn’t challenge patriarchy as a system of power. Basic decency commands that we work alongside women to uproot and dismantle this entire patriarchal system– within ourselves, within our groups and communities, and within institutions and the culture at large.

The following guidelines are to encourage male activists in DGR to change their behavior and to better ally themselves with women. As male activists we have been socialized into a culture of domination, and are just as liable to carry, practice, and reproduce patriarchy. Remember: being an ally is an ongoing process rather than a title one earns; it must always be defined by women, who will determine by the daily actions and behaviors of a man how much of an ally he really is.

Guidelines

1. Learn to be silent, hold back, be humble, and to listen to women’s voices. Be aware of subtle ways that you may devalue women or treat them unfairly.

2. Hear what individual women are saying. Acknowledge what they say and respond appropriately. Respect women enough to disagree with them, rather than pretending to go along with something you obviously disagree with; when you do agree, make this known.

3. We must follow the lead of women, and prioritize issues that are brought forth by women or concern women. The culture we want to move into will be women-centered: we should move in this direction ourselves. Make it a priority to have women in positions of power, and to foster new woman leaders. This includes recognizing how women leaders are objectified and silenced, and having zero tolerance for such behavior.

4. It is inappropriate for us to speak as authorities on subjects that women directly experience. As men we do not and cannot understand these experiences. If we are to speak at all on such subjects, it should only be after women or if women ask us to do so, and never from our own perspective.

5. We must challenge our own patriarchal behavior, such as patterns of silencing or devaluing women, and using patriarchal language (such as hate speech, jokes based on humiliation and degradation, and male-identified generalities e.g. ‘mankind,’ ‘manpower,’ ‘hey man’).

6. Do not use pornography or prostitution. Free your sexuality from patriarchal capitalist structures that exploit women. Be vocal in challenging the sex-exploitation industry.

7. Challenge entitlement. Women do not owe men anything, including a smile, a conversation, a hug, a relationship, or intimacy of any kind. Men do not have the right to take up space at the expense of women’s comfort or personal boundaries.

8. Challenge sexist behavior in your friends, family, associates, and political allies. End relationships with men who continue to encourage or practice sexism. We do not need permission to call out men on patriarchal behavior; it is our baseline responsibility. Calling out men in male-only spaces and groups, is a priority.

9. “Mansplaining” is not tolerated. By this we mean male speech that is arrogant, patronizing, condescending, or in some other way talks down to women or attempts to put the male speaker on a pedestal.

10. While patriarchy does hurt men in some ways, the intended target is women. Thus, while we may feel hurt by masculinity, we are not oppressed by it.

11. We must familiarize ourselves with issues affecting women, and with feminist theory and history. We should not expect to be spoon-fed a feminist understanding.

12. Within the dominant culture males are perpetrators of harassment and violence. Many women are survivors of this violence – studies estimate that nearly 1/3 of all women have been sexually assaulted or beaten by men, and many women say these numbers are low. It is not any woman’s responsibility to assume that men are safe to be around.

13. We are not here to save or rescue women. We are not here to be heroes. We are not here to be protectors of women; women can protect themselves. Our job is not to protect women, its to respect their wishes and work in solidarity with them to dismantle patriarchy. If we take on these roles against the wishes of the particular women involved in a situation, we are violating boundaries.

14. The guidelines established above represent a baseline for acceptable behavior. Following them is not exceptional, and does not merit reward. Conversely, choosing to ignore sexist behavior will be seen as an act of collaboration with the culture of male dominance.

Know Your Enemy: Is Spencer Craddock a Future Rapist?

Thanks to the tone and subject matter of this blog, I get a fair amount of hate mail and the occasional death threat, but I rarely share the delightful experience with FWR readers. Why bother? The threats are all the same.

However, an email I received recently from someone named Spencer Craddock serves as such a great example of white male arrogance and rapist misogyny that I could not resist publishing it.

I have no idea if Spencer Craddock is this assclown's real name, but I think he is creepy enough to deserve some exposure, whatever his real identity. He used the email address craddocks@asmsa.org. ASMSA.org is the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts.

Clearly, a potential bean counter in the making. A future Little Eichmann, even? Well, let's see.

A few days ago, young Mister Craddock sends an email to my inbox with the title, "Questions from a confusted teenage boy who just wants to understand."

Confusted? Dang cufusted, apparently. But don't he sound sweet?

What oh what could be his dilemma?

Turns out he's found me by googling for rape statistics. Here's his opening:

"Dear Fire Witch,

I read your thread, "Yes, It's You: The Rapist Checklist" today and your comments today and have a few questions.

So first of all, I figured I'd tell you a little about me, just to clear the air. I am an eighteen year old Caucasian male from continental USA. I'm uber-liberal and have always considered myself a feminist, and my female friends and family have always agreed that I am. I was doing research on some statistics about rape when your thread popped up and that's how I got there.

So. . ."

So, yeah. BIG HUGE red flag right there. He's an uber-liberal (whatever the holy fuck that means). And he claims he's got the feminist bonafides from mommy and friends.

Now I'm really worried. This is way too much foreplay. Somebody's about to get fucked.

"In one of your comments you stated, "We women have been far too nice to rapists. All men ARE potentially rapists until proven otherwise." And this worries me. This to me comes off as "All men a guilty of rape until proven to be non-rapist." Which has multiple problems with it: (1) Ignores "innocent until proven guilty," and (2) all men are still capable of rape as long as we are capable of an erection, so how does one prove themselves a non-rapist while alive? Seems impossible to me.

But, I also think that there is probably some logic or reasoning behind what you said which I am just not understanding. So if I could get some help there I would really appreciate it, because I'm a guy who really doesn't think it's fair for me to be treated as a rapist when I'm not one.

Sincerely,
Spencer Craddock"

Makes yer heart bleed don't it? Poor Master Craddock feels he's being treated unfairly by living AS A MAN in a country where a woman is raped once every six minutes.

And YOU feel oh so treated unfairly? I'll take this to mean, young Spencer, that you have never spent time in prison, or anywhere outside your white male bubble of privilege.

Note how Spencer conflates that all men are POTENTIALLY rapists into all men are guilty of rape, and then shoots that straw man down with some authoritarian parentheticals. Well, at least he can count to two.

I replied that it's just common sense that all men are potentially capable of rape, just as they are of murder or any other evil. Then I hit him with a zinger sure to sting him in his pompous white male sense of entitlement. I said that there is no such thing as a feminist male. Only women can be feminist. Men can be feminist ALLIES. We women decide what it means to be a feminist, and who is or is not one.

Boy, that sure flared up his misogyny, like that bad case of acne that's got him spending way too much time on the internet in the first place. How dare women define themselves? By god, where's my DICK-tionary!

". . . But the definition of Feminism is "the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men," NOT "the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men, when asserted by women." Are you just redefining what feminism is to fit your worldview?"

But before I can reply, he fires this whiny missive:

"After reading your blog more, I've decided it's in both our best interests to agree to disagree on some issues and walk the other way. Sorry, but I don't see why I should be treated as a rapist for being born with the tool for rape, just as I don't see the point in treating all dogs as aggressive because they're born with teeth. I also don't like how you seem to celebrate when white men get injured/murdered (like you celebrated murders in Libya this recent 9-11) simply because they're white and male. If they were black American men or women who had been murdered that day, I wonder what your blog would have read.

Good luck, and goodbye
-Spencer C."

Notice how the fucker forecloses on the conversation before I have a chance to agree to whether or not the conversation is actually closed.

"I've decided...," this white male proclaims. Really? A white male has decided he's THE DECIDER? Imagine my surprise.

What's really striking is that like a lot of overprivileged, pale-faced brats, he never knew what neighborhood he was mouthing off in, and now he's going to run for the hills before one of the locals can tear his proverbial dick off.

Not a smart move when one of those locals is a writer. Writers ALWAYS get the last word.

So Spencer, let me ask you this. If one out of every three people was bitten by a dog, how carefully WOULD YOU approach every dog YOU met?

About as carefully as you'd approach a naked man in a prison shower, I reckon.

So is Spencer Craddock a future rapist? By his creepy refusal to acknowlegde the saturation rape culture most women in the United States live under, and then making himself out to be the victim, I'd say there is a pretty good chance.

But that was my argument all along. Spencer Craddock is a man, therefore, he has the POTENTIAL to be a rapist, and all women should approach him as such.

By the way Spencer. I truly hope you didn't use your real name and email address in this one-sided, creepy correspondence. Because words can live on the internet forever.

Just like the Rapist Checklist.

Harper's First Nations Termination Plan

Harper's First Nations Termination Plan

White people have been trying to terminate Indigenous people since Columbus invaded.

My prediction: EPIC fail.

Voting For Genocide

Did you vote for genocide? Did you organize others to do so?

via Censored News:

I Don't Vote! The Two Row Is Only One Reason

The basic question for a Native person is: how does anyone who claims to be Sovereign; a person distinct from the American culture, a Native person tied to the land and ways of their ancestors, immune from US laws and jurisdiction, a survivor of the greatest genocide the world has ever know; vote in the elections of the government responsible for that genocide. The Native person that votes or worse yet advocates others to vote in non-native elections is not a survivor of that genocide. They are fallen victims.

Read more from John Kane...

Astis Mittens: Footwear for Playing Indian

Footwear for playing Indian:

http://www.astismittens.com/pages/about-us

Brought to you by the usual white male assclowns who need a slap upside the head with a two-by-four authenticity stick.

Hurricane Sandy: "Frack This, Fuckers!"

Mother Earth strikes back.

And she don't give a shit about no 911 memorial.

Time to stop fracking, fuckers, or nature will flood you right back with your own poisons.



Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site, Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, in New York. Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (AP Photo/ John Minchillo

"It's Time to Warrior Up"

Northern B.C.’s First Nations people to stand firm against pipelines

Indigenous people warn of more conflict and confrontation as campaigns opposing proposed projects in their territories heat up.

By Carlito Pablo, Georgia Straight, September 27, 2012

During a recent conference against the expansion of oil and shale-gas operations in B.C., an elderly Native woman issued a bold call.

“It’s time to warrior up,” declared Ta’ah George of the Tsliel-Waututh Nation, drawing cheers from an overflow crowd at the Aboriginal Friendship Centre gym in East Vancouver on September 21.
One speaker on the indigenous-women panel left no doubt that her people are up to the challenge. Her name is Freda Huson, a spokesperson for the Unis’tot’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in Northern B.C. Huson explained why their struggle against a gas pipeline is connected to the more high-profile battle against the proposed Enbridge tarsands pipeline.

She was referring to the Pacific Trail Pipelines that will transport one billion cubic feet of gas per day from the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, sites at Summit Lake, B.C., to Kitimat. According to her, this pipeline will clear the route for Enbridge and other pipelines headed to the northwestern coast.

White Guy #1,234,567 with Sordid Past

John Furlong biography omits secret past in Burns Lake

By Laura Robinson

Native people have claimed that former Vanoc CEO John Furlong mistreated them as a gym teacher more than 40 years ago.

“Welcome to Canada. Make us better.” It is a phrase that former Vanoc CEO John Furlong often repeats when he tells the story of the Edmonton airport customs agent who met him in 1974 after he immigrated to Canada. “A recruiter from a high school in Prince George, British Columbia, had come to Dublin in search of someone to set up an athletic program,” wrote Furlong in his 2011 book, Patriot Hearts. He decided to take the position, and his wife and he “bundled up our son and daughter and boarded a plane to Canada”.

“Welcome to Canada. Make us better,” said the agent who stamped his passport. The story leads many articles about Furlong, and the boss of the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (Vanoc) tells it twice in his book.

But Furlong had actually come to B.C. years earlier, living in another town. And there are a lot of people from those days who think that he not only didn’t make his new country better—he made their lives considerably worse.

The fact that most of those people are Natives puts a cruel spin on the fact that the 2010 Winter Games are widely remembered as the first Games to include aboriginal peoples as official hosts.

I'm An Indian Too - The 1491's

Great attack on whiteness.

I'd like to see the makers of this video hit even harder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BHvpWP2V9Y&sns;=em



Hat Tip, anon.

15 Afghan Patriots Destroy 6 Harrier Jets, 8 Facists

Harrier jets cost $25 million dollars a piece.

Inside Attack

So far this year, 51 international service members have died at the hands of Afghan soldiers or policemen or insurgents wearing their uniforms. At least 12 such attacks came in August alone, leaving 15 dead.

The surge in insider attacks is a sign of how security has deteriorated as NATO prepares its military exit from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The U.S. is days away from completing the first stage of its own drawdown, withdrawing 33,000 troops that were part of a military surge three years ago. The U.S. will remain with about 68,000 troops at the end of September.

NATO and U.S. forces are working with the Afghan government to tighten vetting procedures and increase security between the forces, but nothing has so far been able to stem the attacks on troops, which NATO frequently asserts are standing "shoulder by shoulder."

The airstrike that killed the eight women and girls, meanwhile, drew an apology from the U.S.-led coalition, condemnation from Afghan President Hamid Karzai and cries of "Death to America!" from villagers who retrieved the bodies.

The insider attacks began Friday night, when 15 insurgents disguised in U.S. army uniforms killed two Marines, wounded nine other people and destroyed six Harrier fighter jets at a major U.S. base in the south, military officials said. On Saturday, a gunman in the uniform of a government-backed militia force shot dead two British soldiers in Helmand district in the southwest.

On Sunday, an Afghan police officer turned his gun on NATO troops at a remote checkpoint in the southern province of Zabul, killing four American service members, according to Afghan and international officials.

Mess With The Prophet, Lose Yer Freak Flag

It's not often we get to see a photo of a white man beaten up by men of color (messes too much with that god-like superiority complex), but here it is:


Libyan civilians help an unconscious Chris Stevens, at the US consulate compound in Benghazi . Stevens and three of his colleagues were killed in an attack on the US consulate.


Damn, I loves me a good embassy storming! Especially on 911.

Speaking of 911, Ward Churchill is now headed to the Supreme Court to get his job at CU back.


Protesters pull down the American freak flag from the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

Crazy Horse was a Sober Warrior

Helen Red Feather, veteran of Wounded Knee 1973, protesting alcohol sales in White Clay.

Crazy Horse was a Sober Warrior

by RUSS McSPADDEN
Photos by Joey Feaster

1. Autumn Two Bulls is the mother of Wakiyan, or Loud Brave Thunder, a young Oglala Lakota protester who was maced by police on August 26 during a march against alcohol sales along the border of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. “My son believes in sobriety. One thing he told me was that Crazy Horse, his hero, was a sober warrior. Crazy horse didn’t believe in alcohol and he knew what was coming because he was a spiritual man and he stood up and fought against what was coming.” Wakiyan is ten years old. Days after the protest his vision was still blurry from the mace.

'The Gloves Are Off': Residential School Day Students Launch Lawsuit

Hat Tip to anonymous from the comments section of the previous post.

'The Gloves Are Off': Residential School Day Students Launch Lawsuit

The Government of Canada knowingly displayed "wanton and reckless disregard" for Indigenous children attending residential schools as day scholars, allege two B.C. First Nations in an historic class action lawsuit launched yesterday.

If granted permission to proceed, the case -- filed in Vancouver federal court by Sechelt and Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nations -- will argue that Canada intended to wipe out Aboriginal identity and rights in order to enable "the exploitation of those lands and resources by Canada," and demands "punitive and aggravated damages."

And Then She Was Six! Fire Witch Rising's Sixth Anniverary

Six years strong.

Still a Fire Witch. Still blogging. Still in the game.

Luv to all for your continued support.

Happy 150 Years of Genocide, Victoria!

Summer reading for people of conscience. Lots of good articles and books referenced in this story. Be sure to check them out.

Happy 150 Years of Genocide, Victoria!

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Chris Johnson

Happy 150 Years of Genocide, Victoria!I thought I was being controversial, writing as I did about things like the doctrine of discovery, broken (and lack of treaties) and other such things underlying the lack of legitimacy behind the founding of British Columbia.

It seems that there are a few of us who have chosed to write dissenting opinions on the City of Victoria’s 150th birthday celebrations, and my own piece is probably the tamest of them all.

Soon after I had written my piece and just before it appeared in No Fun City (a new local publication), Simon Natrass published this column in Monday Magazine, the local ‘alternative’ weekly. In it he quotes someone saying “Really when we look at 150 years for Victoria, what we’re celebrating is genocide.”

Words like colonialism and genocide are spoken quite frequently among many of us who have chosen to take a broader view of the history of european settlement in this area, much to the shock and disgust of those who choose to cling to the glorious history of ‘discovery’ and ‘progress’. Such things are ‘the past’ we are told. The past hasn’t gone anywhere, I assert (to quote Utah Phillips).

Read the rest...

Colorado Burning

Heh. What a summer for your friendly, neighborhood Firewitch.

Not one but eleven plus fires are now raging across the state to remind the settlers in Colorado that only Mother Nature is in charge here. And apparently, she's quite pissed, unleashing an army of pine beetles to kill all the trees fire was supposed to take anyway. All that fuel plus no rain equals one hell of a karmic boomerang.

Poor Governor Hickenlooper. Just when his campaign to end homelessness (by banning "camping" in Denver) was about to come to its ten year close, now he has 35,000 people made homeless by the wildfires. Welcome to the streets, yuppies. But don't even think about pitching a tent here.

Hey, Guv'nor! Why don't you unleash some of your Green Scare goons to arrest the lighning for arson? I'm sure the Thunder Gods will be real impressed with your spanky new prison downtown.

Speaking of kicked to the curb by Mother Nature. One of the newly houseless is none other than rightwing extremist / misogynist tool Michelle Malkin, whose ill-gotten gains Mother Nature has burnt to the ground. How do you like that scorched earth policy, Michelle? Kinda sucks, don't it, when you get back in your face what you've rained down on others for so long?

And the pain just keeps on coming. The poor baby killers at the Air Force Academy will soon be homeless, too. Talk about your no-fly-zones! Where oh where will the little eichmanns go to learn how to play their murderous video games?

Fourth of July fireworks? Fuhgeddaboudit. They're cancelled! No celebrating the theft of Great Turtle Island here. The dis-united states are too busy going up in smoke.

Really, my heart just bleeds.

Indiana Law Lets Citizens Shoot Cops

"One time tried to come in my home
Take my chrome, I said, "Yo, it's on
Take cover, son, or you're assed out"
How do you like my chrome
Then I watched the rookie pass out
Didn't have to blast him, but I did anyway
That young punk had to pay
So I just killed a man

Here is somethin' you can't understand
How I could just kill a man
Here is somethin' you can't understand
How I could just kill a man"

- Cypress Hill via Rage Against the Machine, "How I Could Just Kill A Man."

Yo, One Time. It's on...

Indiana is the first U.S. state to specifically allow force against officers, according to the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys in Washington, which represents and supports prosecutors. The National Rifle Association pushed for the law, saying an unfavorable court decision made the need clear and that it would allow homeowners to defend themselves during a violent, unjustified attack. Police lobbied against it.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/05/MN9Q1OT281.DTL#ixzz1xbTLqOaD

Ward Churchill Quote of the Week

I am not a "defender" of the September 11 attacks, but simply pointing out that if U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned. I have never said that people "should" engage in armed attacks on the United States, but that such attacks are a natural and unavoidable consequence of unlawful U.S. policy. As Martin Luther King, quoting Robert F. Kennedy, said, "Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable."

Yep. What he said.

Ward Churchill's Case To Win Back His Job At CU-Boulder To Be Heard By Colorado Supreme Court Today

Supreme Court Sets Date in Ward Churchill Case for June 7

Hat Tip AK48.

Supreme Court Sets Date in Ward Churchill Case for June 7
By Carol Berry May 24, 2012

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/05/24/supreme-court-sets-date-in-ward-churchill-case-for-june-7-114509

Oral arguments will be heard by the Colorado Supreme Court June 7 in the case of controversial former University of Colorado (CU) professor Ward Churchill, fired by CU in 2007 for “research misconduct” but in reality, he contends, for a 9/11-related essay in violation of his free speech rights.

Churchill, formerly of CU’s ethnic studies faculty, was fired after public attention was directed to an essay he had written that seemed to implicate some World Trade Center workers in U.S. foreign policy that he contended preceded and contributed to the attack.

The court has been asked to review a Colorado Court of Appeals ruling in 2011 under circumstances that include whether CU’s detailed and intensive scrutiny into Churchill’s scholarship violated his First Amendment rights.

He contends the state appeals court “did not address the fact that the investigation at issue was accompanied by threats of discipline and termination” and that the acting CU chancellor and several regents acknowledged an investigatory committee was trying to find cause for dismissal.

Also under review are whether CU and the CU Board of Regents have quasi-judicial immunity from lawsuit when they fire a tenured professor and whether Churchill should have been reinstated after a jury decided unanimously he was fired for protected free speech rather than for research misconduct.

Although Churchill’s attorney, civil rights lawyer David Lane, said earlier the chances of the state’s high court reviewing the case were “slim,” legal observers felt a review was possible because the issue of whether an investigation alone constitutes an adverse employment action has not been resolved in the U.S. Supreme Court.

His appeal has been supported by friend-of-the-court briefs by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Association of University Professors, the National Lawyers Guild, and others.

White Births Now In Minority

How long has it been said that white people would eventually disappear from Indigenous lands in the Western Hemisphere?

Since 1492? 1493?

Whichever, the collapse of the white occupier's population is well under way.

And as a European-American with no children, I welcome this development. Who wants to be an Occupier? Not me.

Racist reactionaries will go Arizona-style batshit over this latest news from the Census Bureau, but really, who gives a shit about a people who chose to have less children in order to preserve an unsustainable standard of living on land stolen from her heirs?

God, I love me some Law of Unintended Consequences.

Minority Birth Rate Now Surpasses Whites In US, Census Shows