Heavily-armed, masked paramilitary forces descended upon the Gogebic Taconite mining site in Wisconsin over the weekend, much to the chagrin of local residents and elected officials.
“I’m appalled,” state Sen. Bob Jauch (D) told The Wisconsin State Journal on Monday. “There is no evidence to justify their presence.”
Jaunch sent a letter to Gogebic President Bill Williams on Monday demanding the company remove the guards, which he called “common in third world countries,” but stressed that “they don’t belong in Northern Wisconsin.”
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http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/09/p ... rotesters/
Private paramilitaries guard Wisconsin mining site from prot
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Raggedyann
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Private paramilitaries guard Wisconsin mining site from prot
“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” Simon Wiesenthal
Looks like a private security company to me. The same company that guards your congressmen and women. Your senators and a lot of movie stars.
I'm not defending or agreeing here its just hard to tell by the article quoted. Rawstory is a widely know left wing web site so its hard to get the whole story.
I'm not defending or agreeing here its just hard to tell by the article quoted. Rawstory is a widely know left wing web site so its hard to get the whole story.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been The champion of the world.
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Raggedyann
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BenSlain wrote: Rawstory is a widely know left wing web site so its hard to get the whole story.
Oh of course. I'll just rush right over to Fox News or Drudge so I can get the REAL truth.
The project was pushed by Wisconsin Republicans as a way to create jobs in the region but is opposed by several Ojibwe and environmental groups and activists who say the project will damage the environment.
http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_2 ... med-guards
These privately hired thugs have no authority, or any right whatsoever to intimidate or threaten to shoot people who are exercising their right to free speech.
Last edited by Raggedyann on 07-09-2013 08:31 PM, edited 1 time in total.
“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” Simon Wiesenthal
Why on Earth would anyone in their right mind want to see the rest of the story when it adds nothing of import?BenSlain wrote: Rawstory is a widely know left wing web site so its hard to get the whole story.
To clutter up an otherwise perfectly acceptable narrative with dispensable details would be a great disservice to those who know knowing what could have prompted such a gross and coldly calculated overreaction by those who would selfishly deface and destroy the environment is entirely irrelevant and incidental to the bigger picture.
An excerpt from a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story elaborating on the mid-June confrontation between eminently admirable good-soul activists and completely contemptible company lackey blackhearts exemplifies how too much information can lead to distortion of truth:
- Iron County Sheriff Tony Furyk on Friday estimated damage at about $2,000 after protesters slashed tires, damaged equipment, destroyed a worker's camera and took away her cell phone.
In a posting on Earth First! Newswire on Friday, an unidentified person wrote:
"...folks took the space over for about an hour. They jumped on trucks and the collection tank and threw pieces of equipment like pickaxes, fire extinguishers, and shovels down the hillside into the thick of the woods. Fences were knocked over and broken...
"We disappeared into the woods and were able to outwit and outrun sheriff deputies on ATVs because we know the terrain better than they do. We were able to inflict damages upon the company in the form of an entire day of labor costs through the disturbance and subsequent police reports that their workers had to spend their shift doing, as well as shatter their sense of security."
Seitz said, "This is eco-terrorism. There is no doubt it is eco-terrorism when your head is wrapped like al-Qaida and people are yelling things at people and threatening them."
- Welcome to Wisconsin, where court rulings and legislation have taken the backseat to, at times, violent political demonstrations led by protesters who insist “this is what democracy looks like.”
Incidentally and interestingly, would you believe despite the derision this latest development is a welcome by-product of the June confrontation? From the group's newswire:
- Another outcome of the protest is that Gogebic Taconite will be forced to hire private security for the company contracted to do exploratory drilling in the Penokee Range. Ashland and Iron County sheriff’s deputies were on the scene Tuesday, but Ashland County Sheriff Mick Brennan said they can’t afford to staff the drill site 24/7, so that kind of security is up to the mining company.
May the costs continue to be imposed and may the security guards and mining managers cower in fear.
Last edited by Riddick on 07-09-2013 08:36 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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Raggedyann
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I couldn't care less if protestors smash up equipment etc. All the more power to them! People are fed up watching the planet being destroyed all around them. There are no remedies anywhere on this planet for halting corporations from plunging us into peril. If a group of concerned people declare war on these bastards, they have my full support.
The most frustrating part is that there are remedies and everybody knows it.
We have just witnessed unprecedented floods, tornadoes, and high temps. The polar ice caps are melting and on and on and on it goes. But God help us all if a few citizens break the law while trying desperately to save their own back yard.
So what do you piously law abiding citizens suggest we all do to stop the never ending destruction? What do you suggest we do to get the attention of anybody who cares? Perhaps you just don't care?
The most frustrating part is that there are remedies and everybody knows it.
We have just witnessed unprecedented floods, tornadoes, and high temps. The polar ice caps are melting and on and on and on it goes. But God help us all if a few citizens break the law while trying desperately to save their own back yard.
So what do you piously law abiding citizens suggest we all do to stop the never ending destruction? What do you suggest we do to get the attention of anybody who cares? Perhaps you just don't care?
Last edited by Raggedyann on 07-09-2013 09:11 PM, edited 1 time in total.
“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” Simon Wiesenthal
Well, fighting fire with fire IS one way to get attention... But simply smashing cameras, slashing tires, throwing equipment down the hill? Surely a piously righteous anti-destruction effort justifies more destruction than THAT.Raggedyann wrote: God help us all if a few citizens break the law while trying desperately to save their own back yard.
So what do you piously law abiding citizens suggest we all do to stop the never ending destruction? What do you suggest we do to get the attention of anybody who cares? Perhaps you just don't care?
Some folks here still remember the bombing of the Army Math Research Center at UW-Madison's Sterling Hall - One of those 'accidents will happen' sorta deals that FBI agent Chris Cole says is now being viewed as “the largest, most destructive terrorist attack occurring on U.S. soil prior to the Oklahoma City Bombing” -
Along with the first campus casualties caused by anti-war protestors, the incident marked a shift in tone and tactics away from picketing, demonstrating and passive resistance to warlike. So much for peaceful principles!
So much as Earth First wanted the company would have to hire outside security, now that it's happened in continuing efforts to make the mining men and their militia cower, who knows what their next move will be -?
MY GOD! Were any nearby trees harmed by the blast? I hope they took great care to keep that kind of collateral damage to a minimum. OTOH, any forest ranger unlucky enough to be in the building, hey, what else is THAT than their own fault for being part of the problem instead of the solution?Doka wrote: I've run across the Earth Firster's right after they blew up a forest service building, they are very scary people.
Fight against corporate destruction of America's backyard - Support your friendly neighborhood eco-militants!
Last edited by Riddick on 07-09-2013 11:24 PM, edited 1 time in total.
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Raggedyann
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Doka, I accidentally deleted your post. I'm so sorry! I shall try and to get it back for you. I thought I was editing my own post and then I realized I had mistakenly edited yours so I hit delete.
Last edited by Raggedyann on 07-09-2013 11:15 PM, edited 1 time in total.
“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” Simon Wiesenthal
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Raggedyann
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Although I agree with protesting I do not agree with life threatening protests of any sort. Just wanted to clear that up. Screw their equipment!
As corporate terrorism is endorsed by the government, who do we complain to when we see threats against our environment? I say "our environment" as "our" means every man, woman and child that resides on the planet. This planet belongs to all of us. We have no trustable planetary custodians, so it only makes sense that "We the people" take matter into our own hands.
As corporate terrorism is endorsed by the government, who do we complain to when we see threats against our environment? I say "our environment" as "our" means every man, woman and child that resides on the planet. This planet belongs to all of us. We have no trustable planetary custodians, so it only makes sense that "We the people" take matter into our own hands.
“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” Simon Wiesenthal
Riddick wrote: Why on Earth would anyone in their right mind want to see the rest of the story when it adds nothing of import?
To clutter up an otherwise perfectly acceptable narrative with dispensable details would be a great disservice to those who know knowing what could have prompted such a gross and coldly calculated overreaction by those who would selfishly deface and destroy the environment is entirely irrelevant and incidental to the bigger picture.
An excerpt from a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story elaborating on the mid-June confrontation between eminently admirable good-soul activists and completely contemptible company lackey blackhearts exemplifies how too much information can lead to distortion of truth:See what I mean about over-reacting? No people were harmed. Property damage, well, accidents will happen. To suggest anything other than a peaceful protest was being staged is propaganda at its worst, pure and simple, like this reactive line from a story today:
- Iron County Sheriff Tony Furyk on Friday estimated damage at about ,000 after protesters slashed tires, damaged equipment, destroyed a worker's camera and took away her cell phone.
In a posting on Earth First! Newswire on Friday, an unidentified person wrote:
"...folks took the space over for about an hour. They jumped on trucks and the collection tank and threw pieces of equipment like pickaxes, fire extinguishers, and shovels down the hillside into the thick of the woods. Fences were knocked over and broken...
"We disappeared into the woods and were able to outwit and outrun sheriff deputies on ATVs because we know the terrain better than they do. We were able to inflict damages upon the company in the form of an entire day of labor costs through the disturbance and subsequent police reports that their workers had to spend their shift doing, as well as shatter their sense of security."
Seitz said, "This is eco-terrorism. There is no doubt it is eco-terrorism when your head is wrapped like al-Qaida and people are yelling things at people and threatening them."Droll pap! Still, the story does say the FBI has classified the group as eco-terrorist. A horrible injustice, clearly a product of cluttered minds; they vowed the mine owner will cower? Rightfully so. The public has nothing to fear!
- Welcome to Wisconsin, where court rulings and legislation have taken the backseat to, at times, violent political demonstrations led by protesters who insist “this is what democracy looks like.”
Incidentally and interestingly, would you believe despite the derision this latest development is a welcome by-product of the June confrontation? From the group's newswire:Details, smetails. Leave those distractions from the facts to the devils, AND FOCUS on their totally out-of-line heavy-handed attempt here to put down the angelically loving efforts of those who know to put Earth First!
- Another outcome of the protest is that Gogebic Taconite will be forced to hire private security for the company contracted to do exploratory drilling in the Penokee Range. Ashland and Iron County sheriff’s deputies were on the scene Tuesday, but Ashland County Sheriff Mick Brennan said they can’t afford to staff the drill site 24/7, so that kind of security is up to the mining company.
May the costs continue to be imposed and may the security guards and mining managers cower in fear.
I love Earth First! I used to be able to get their newsletter at mylocal amgzione store but haven't seen it in a while.....
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Raggedyann
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I have certainly played a role in contributing to eco damage. When I started in the logging industry there was no societal concern for the environment and frankly I wasn't so aware of my surroundings then as I am now. Later on in my career, clear cutting on Vancouver Island became a hot issue. I was very torn. I wanted to believe that tree planting was a satisfactory solution but in my heart I knew it wasn't.
I left the industry just as the environmentalists were getting a strong foothold. A year after I left the industry, I drove over to Clayoquot Sound on the very day that the RCMP dragged 300 protestors into the town's community centre to process them (like cattle) for a spell in the clink. Prior to their demise, I chatted with many of them and learned first hand what their concerns were.
Their efforts were not entirely successful but they were responsible for instilling awareness, which ultimately eliminated some damaging logging practices. Unfortunately, clear cutting wasn't one of them.
I left the industry just as the environmentalists were getting a strong foothold. A year after I left the industry, I drove over to Clayoquot Sound on the very day that the RCMP dragged 300 protestors into the town's community centre to process them (like cattle) for a spell in the clink. Prior to their demise, I chatted with many of them and learned first hand what their concerns were.
Their efforts were not entirely successful but they were responsible for instilling awareness, which ultimately eliminated some damaging logging practices. Unfortunately, clear cutting wasn't one of them.
Last edited by Raggedyann on 07-10-2013 01:41 PM, edited 1 time in total.
“For evil to flourish, it only requires good men to do nothing.” Simon Wiesenthal
Neither do I. But in either case, watch out when their chickens come home! --SquidInk wrote: Which came first - the tree spiking eco-militant or the max-profit today, tomorrow be damned corporation?
Honest question, I don't know the answer.
Why did the eco-militant cross the road?
To blow up a forest service station.
Why did the corporation cross the road?
To build a Wal-Mart where the forest station was.