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posted by martyb on Monday December 05 2016, @01:13PM   Printer-friendly
from the embrace-extend-extinguish? dept.

According to an article at Snopes.com:

The Army Corps of Engineers has denied the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline, according Colonel Henderson, who notified Veterans for Standing Rock co-organizer Michael A. Wood Jr on 4 December 2016.

More than 3,000 veterans had converged at the Standing Rock camp to support the Sioux in their ongoing opposition to the building of a $3.7 billion pipeline that would cross through disputed land managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Wood said upon learning of the move, "This is history."

From a report in Al Jazeera :

The US Army Corps of Engineers has turned down a permit for a controversial pipeline project running through North Dakota, in a victory for Native Americans and climate activists who have protested against the project for several months, according to a statement released.

The 1,885km Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, had been complete except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.

"The Army will not grant an easement to cross Lake Oahe at the proposed location based on the current record," a statement from the US Army said.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, along with climate activists, have been protesting the $3.8bn project, saying it could contaminate the water supply and damage sacred tribal lands.

[...] "Today, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline," said Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II, in a statement.

"Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes."


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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 07 2016, @12:52AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 07 2016, @12:52AM (#438145) Journal

    Just a comment on the Snopes article:

    "Soros-sponsored organizations helped mobilize protests in Ferguson, building grass-roots coalitions on the ground backed by a nationwide online and social media campaign."

    Building grass roots coalitions? Really? Snopes has been accused of being biased left before. Here, they are justifying outside intervention into the situation in Ferguson, with an insane claim. A grass roots movement, by definition, needs no outside intervention - it springs up from the ground.

    grass roots
    noun
    plural noun: grassroots

            the most basic level of an activity or organization.
            "the whole campaign would be conducted at the grass roots"
            synonyms: popular, of-the-people, bottom-up, nonhierarchical, rank-and-file
            "a grassroots movement"
                    ordinary people regarded as the main body of an organization's membership.
                    "you have lost touch with the grass roots of the party"

    It's impossible to say how much of the Ferguson thing was actually "grass roots", and how much was astroturfing. I've read accounts of outsiders, I've read accounts of real grass-roots people. Some of the grass roots were complaining about the astroturfers, on more than one occassion. But, apparently, the astro-turfing was funded by Soros, however indirectly.

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  • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday December 07 2016, @03:08AM

    by butthurt (6141) on Wednesday December 07 2016, @03:08AM (#438186) Journal

    That does sound contradictory. Earlier they say:

    [...] Mr. Soros gave at least $33 million in one year to support already-established groups that emboldened the grass-roots, on-the-ground activists in Ferguson, according to the most recent tax filings of his nonprofit Open Society Foundations.

    which doesn't sound like an oxymoron. Perhaps the passage you quoted is a poorly-worded restatement of that.

    They print the claim of a director of Soros' organisation, who said

    [...] although groups involved in the protests have been recipients of Mr. Soros' grants, they were in no way directed to protest at the behest of Open Society.

    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday December 07 2016, @03:21AM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 07 2016, @03:21AM (#438190) Journal

      [...] although groups involved in the protests have been recipients of Mr. Soros' grants, they were in no way directed to protest at the behest of Open Society.

      There's that "plausible deniability" thing. No officer of the US Navy ever "directed" me to wound a civlian. But, the day we had to clear a riot demanding entry to the ship, my squad went out on the quay, and moved the riot off of the quay. In the process, some civilians were incidentally wounded. (no fatalities, thank God)

      All that is needed, is a "gentleman's understanding" that people who participate in approved activities are more likely to be granted money or positions by the organization.

      --
      “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
      • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday December 07 2016, @11:53PM

        by butthurt (6141) on Wednesday December 07 2016, @11:53PM (#438555) Journal

        [...] my squad went out on the quay, and moved the riot off of the quay [...]

        ...and perhaps the secretary of the navy, the secretary of defence, the president, and the public (your ultimate employers) never knew about your efforts in more detail than the fact that your ship was at a certain port on a certain date, and left on a certain date?

        Earthjustice say their goals are "to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change" (http://earthjustice.org/tags/oil [earthjustice.org]). I would think that that may be specific enough for Mr. Soros; it aligns perfectly with his intention "to undermine and destablize the United States [soylentnews.org]." Earthjustice are a non-profit; if he wrote them a cheque and accompanied it with a note saying "I hope you'll do something about the Dakota Access Pipeline" would that be improper?

        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday December 08 2016, @01:15AM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday December 08 2016, @01:15AM (#438576) Journal

          Maybe improper, maybe not. But that sort of detail isn't going to be made public, and I'm not in a position to ever learn about it.

          --
          “I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz