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The #BundyBunch was spotted this morning, foraging for snacks.
Last edited Wed Jan 6, 2016, 08:30 PM - Edit history (2)
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For those who haven't visited this part of the world:
Photo explore the area in Panoramio
Andy Revkin Verified account
#OregonStandoff fix? Cut power, then spring birder invasion:
45 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Last edited Wed Jan 6, 2016, 06:00 PM - Edit history (2)
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/01/supreme_court_already_ruled_th.htmlOccupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge question whether the federal government has unequivocal legal rights to own and manage that land, without regard to the wishes of local property owners and ranchers.
Improbably, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on exactly that question, specifically regarding the lands of the original Malheur national refuge -- twice.
Those rulings by the nation's highest court, in 1902 and in 1935, found that the federal government has an incontrovertible claim to the refuge's wetlands and lakebeds, dating back to the 1840s, when Oregon was still a territory.
"Before Oregon was admitted to statehood, the United States is shown to have acquired title which it has never in terms conveyed away," Justice Harlan Stone wrote in 1935. .........
Improbably, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on exactly that question, specifically regarding the lands of the original Malheur national refuge -- twice.
Those rulings by the nation's highest court, in 1902 and in 1935, found that the federal government has an incontrovertible claim to the refuge's wetlands and lakebeds, dating back to the 1840s, when Oregon was still a territory.
"Before Oregon was admitted to statehood, the United States is shown to have acquired title which it has never in terms conveyed away," Justice Harlan Stone wrote in 1935. .........
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Last edited Thu Jan 7, 2016, 04:36 PM - Edit history (2)
[link
regonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/central-oregon-range-wars/#jqjacobsdotnet|Central Oregon Range Wars]
Following the forced re-settlement of the region’s Indian groups onto reservations after the Civil War, the grasslands of Eastern and Central Oregon became available for agriculture and livestock. As “open ranges,” these lands were traditionally available for all locals to share. The 1880s and 1890s proved particularly suited to the development of large cattle herds and sheep flocks as new rail lines allowed producers to ship both wool and cattle to the expanding markets across the United States. As a result, the number of sheep and cattle east of the Cascades increased dramatically. Since no legal statutes existed at the time to restrict usage, the rapid, unregulated exploitation of the grasslands resulted in overgrazing. Between 1885 and 1910 the number of sheep in Wasco County was approximately 130,000. Given such numbers, the range was unable to regenerate itself, and became increasingly degraded.
By the late 1890s, growing tensions between cattle ranchers and sheepmen over control of the open ranges led to a series of disputes known as the “range wars.” Cattlemen themselves held sheepmen in contempt for two specific reasons. Unlike cattle, sheep will eat weeds, also known as forbs, in addition to native grasses. As a result, the sheep stripped a landscape of its plant life, leaving nothing edible behind. Additionally, the equestrian culture of the cattlemen viewed sheepherders with disdain because the herdsmen tended animals on foot rather than on horseback. The expansion of wheat farming in Central and Eastern Oregon during this same period exacerbated competition for the range lands.
The range wars in Central and Eastern Oregon initially involved threats and scattered property damage. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, these incidents escalated to the burnings of sheep camps, and direct violence, including the clubbing, poisoning, and shooting of sheep. Violence perpetrated by groups of vigilante cattlemen reached a climax in the years 1904-1906. In April 1904, 2,300 sheep were killed in a single night in Lake County. In May 1904, a delegation of sheepmen from Antelope in eastern Wasco County traveled to Crook County in an effort to reach an agreement with the cattle ranchers of central Oregon. This attempt was unsuccessful and a few days later, 150 sheep were shot near Mitchell, located fifty miles southeast of Antelope. Additional incidents of sheep shooting occurred in Central Oregon that summer. The region’s sheepmen continued to advocate a non-violent resolution to the conflict, calling on state officials to act in order to stem the violence. In response, a group of cattlemen calling themselves the Crook County Sheep-Shooting Association urged the governor and state officials not to meddle in the affairs of “our province.”
The range wars gradually dissipated following changes in both government regulation and land ownership. In 1906, the federal government began regulating the use of public lands. .....
By the late 1890s, growing tensions between cattle ranchers and sheepmen over control of the open ranges led to a series of disputes known as the “range wars.” Cattlemen themselves held sheepmen in contempt for two specific reasons. Unlike cattle, sheep will eat weeds, also known as forbs, in addition to native grasses. As a result, the sheep stripped a landscape of its plant life, leaving nothing edible behind. Additionally, the equestrian culture of the cattlemen viewed sheepherders with disdain because the herdsmen tended animals on foot rather than on horseback. The expansion of wheat farming in Central and Eastern Oregon during this same period exacerbated competition for the range lands.
The range wars in Central and Eastern Oregon initially involved threats and scattered property damage. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, these incidents escalated to the burnings of sheep camps, and direct violence, including the clubbing, poisoning, and shooting of sheep. Violence perpetrated by groups of vigilante cattlemen reached a climax in the years 1904-1906. In April 1904, 2,300 sheep were killed in a single night in Lake County. In May 1904, a delegation of sheepmen from Antelope in eastern Wasco County traveled to Crook County in an effort to reach an agreement with the cattle ranchers of central Oregon. This attempt was unsuccessful and a few days later, 150 sheep were shot near Mitchell, located fifty miles southeast of Antelope. Additional incidents of sheep shooting occurred in Central Oregon that summer. The region’s sheepmen continued to advocate a non-violent resolution to the conflict, calling on state officials to act in order to stem the violence. In response, a group of cattlemen calling themselves the Crook County Sheep-Shooting Association urged the governor and state officials not to meddle in the affairs of “our province.”
The range wars gradually dissipated following changes in both government regulation and land ownership. In 1906, the federal government began regulating the use of public lands. .....
[center]bennydiego ?@bennydiego
A gaggle of western cuckoos.
#YallQaeda #OregonUnderAttack #YeeHawd #GunsInAmerica #VanillaISIS
"I know what we did is right, I know the Lord is involved,
and I know we are going to see great things come from this."
Ammon Bundy
Burns Paiute Tribe says armed activists 'desecrating' land
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BURNS, Ore. - The Burns Paiute Tribe is calling for the armed group to leave the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, home to part of the tribe's ancestral land.
The armed activists that seized the land contend that it should be owned by the ranchers.
In a press conference, the Paiute Tribal Council addressed the tribe's history with the disputed NWR land.
"We've had a good working relationship with Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. We look at them as the protector of our cultural sites in that area," said Charlotte Rodrique, council chairperson. "Their method of dealing with this issue isn't the way it should be handled."
Rodrique went on to say they've met with the archaeology department over concerns that there could be damage to artifacts and cultural sites during the occupation. She says the group is "desecrating one of our sacred sites."
............
The armed activists that seized the land contend that it should be owned by the ranchers.
In a press conference, the Paiute Tribal Council addressed the tribe's history with the disputed NWR land.
"We've had a good working relationship with Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. We look at them as the protector of our cultural sites in that area," said Charlotte Rodrique, council chairperson. "Their method of dealing with this issue isn't the way it should be handled."
Rodrique went on to say they've met with the archaeology department over concerns that there could be damage to artifacts and cultural sites during the occupation. She says the group is "desecrating one of our sacred sites."
............
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In Oregon, Myth Mixes With Anger
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nancydrewed ?@nancydrewed 3 hours ago
Armed, Pathetic and Hungry: How the Oregon Militants' Revolutionary Plan Went Sideways http://rol.st/1Z5pUmU via @rollingstone #BundyBunch
rockem_sockem ?@prj247 5 hours ago
Jon Stewart must be regretting his decision to retire these days #yallqaeda #comedygold #cantmakethisstuffup #redneckrealityTV #bundybunch
Matt ?@MattyPGood 8 hours ago
"We shall overdumb...some day"
-the #bundymilitia #BundyBunch
TO outsiders, one of the puzzling aspects of the anti-government militia’s takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is its location. Twenty-five million birds a year visit the refuge in the high desert of southeastern Oregon, but few people have heard of it. Yet Malheur is a place of bitterly contested human histories that remain potent today.
Years ago, when I first visited the refuge, I stumbled upon five dead coyotes tossed across a trail, their necks sliced open, blood clotted on their fur, paws hacked off, entrails draining into the river. Ranchers on the edge of failure feel threatened by predators snatching away their calves, and some lash out against that threat. But these five dead coyotes signaled more than just economic anxiety — they were emblematic of past hatreds that are still a powerful force in the Malheur basin. Anger at predators, environmentalists and federal managers who threaten the mythic past of cowboys on the range is as strong there as anywhere in the West.
In the late 1970s and the 1980s, many Western ranchers, miners and loggers felt increasingly threatened, partly by globalization, which created new competition, and partly by federal regulations that seemed to value wildlife more than people. What became known as the Sagebrush Rebellion gave locals a focus for their concern.
Environmentalists, they argued, were conspiring to destroy America ....
Years ago, when I first visited the refuge, I stumbled upon five dead coyotes tossed across a trail, their necks sliced open, blood clotted on their fur, paws hacked off, entrails draining into the river. Ranchers on the edge of failure feel threatened by predators snatching away their calves, and some lash out against that threat. But these five dead coyotes signaled more than just economic anxiety — they were emblematic of past hatreds that are still a powerful force in the Malheur basin. Anger at predators, environmentalists and federal managers who threaten the mythic past of cowboys on the range is as strong there as anywhere in the West.
In the late 1970s and the 1980s, many Western ranchers, miners and loggers felt increasingly threatened, partly by globalization, which created new competition, and partly by federal regulations that seemed to value wildlife more than people. What became known as the Sagebrush Rebellion gave locals a focus for their concern.
Environmentalists, they argued, were conspiring to destroy America ....
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nancydrewed ?@nancydrewed 3 hours ago
Armed, Pathetic and Hungry: How the Oregon Militants' Revolutionary Plan Went Sideways http://rol.st/1Z5pUmU via @rollingstone #BundyBunch
rockem_sockem ?@prj247 5 hours ago
Jon Stewart must be regretting his decision to retire these days #yallqaeda #comedygold #cantmakethisstuffup #redneckrealityTV #bundybunch
Matt ?@MattyPGood 8 hours ago
"We shall overdumb...some day"
-the #bundymilitia #BundyBunch
If It Happened There: Armed Rebel Faction Occupies Government Building
[center]
The latest installment of a continuing series in which American events are described using the tropes and tone normally employed by the American media to describe events in other countries. Joshua Keating is a staff writer at Slate focusing on international affairs.
BURNS, United States—An armed rebel group has seized control of a government building in the country’s sparsely populated northwest frontier territories. The ongoing standoff in Oregon state poses a serious challenge to the authority of the government in the capital, Washington, more than 2,000 miles away.
The militant faction, calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, is affiliated with a family clan known as the Bundys. Political power is often passed down through families in this heavily patriarchal society, and while the Bundys are not yet as powerful as well-known clans like the Bushes, Clintons, and Kochs, they have amassed a sizable arsenal of weaponry and gained a substantial number of loyal followers after another armed confrontation with the central government in 2014.
The Bundys are followers of Mormonism, a religious sect living primarily in America’s restive western regions with a history of persecution by America’s protestant-dominated government. However, scholars note that the vast majority of Mormons are peaceful and that the Bundys’ grievances do not appear to be religiously motivated.
Rather, the latest incident is rooted in a long-running conflict between pastoralist tribal groups and the central government. These tribes believe the traditional way of life they have practiced for centuries .....
BURNS, United States—An armed rebel group has seized control of a government building in the country’s sparsely populated northwest frontier territories. The ongoing standoff in Oregon state poses a serious challenge to the authority of the government in the capital, Washington, more than 2,000 miles away.
The militant faction, calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, is affiliated with a family clan known as the Bundys. Political power is often passed down through families in this heavily patriarchal society, and while the Bundys are not yet as powerful as well-known clans like the Bushes, Clintons, and Kochs, they have amassed a sizable arsenal of weaponry and gained a substantial number of loyal followers after another armed confrontation with the central government in 2014.
The Bundys are followers of Mormonism, a religious sect living primarily in America’s restive western regions with a history of persecution by America’s protestant-dominated government. However, scholars note that the vast majority of Mormons are peaceful and that the Bundys’ grievances do not appear to be religiously motivated.
Rather, the latest incident is rooted in a long-running conflict between pastoralist tribal groups and the central government. These tribes believe the traditional way of life they have practiced for centuries .....
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Required Reading: The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Was Taken Over Once Before, Back in the 19th Century
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... long before Ammon Bundy and his friends arrived, the Paiute people had lived in the Malheur Basin for thousands of years. The process by which natives were dispossessed of their homeland follows a pattern that took place all across the West: dehumanization, pillaging, war, murder, theft, and rip-offs.
Here's the Burns Paiute Tribe's account of how ranchers took lands and resources from the Paiute, who now maintain a reservation in Harney County:
A century later, the Paiute received damages for the loss of some of their land. They were paid less than $0.50 an acre.
Environmental historian Nancy Langston has more detail ....
Here's the Burns Paiute Tribe's account of how ranchers took lands and resources from the Paiute, who now maintain a reservation in Harney County:
Settlers first moved into what is now Harney County as late as 1862, years after settlers poured into western Oregon. Cattlemen then quickly began to take land or buy up homesteads to run their huge herds of livestock over the land. The limits of the native ecology were severely stressed due to the grazing of livestock by the expanding foreign population and the increase in hunting and fishing by those same people. Resources depended upon by the Paiute people were depleted or destroyed.
During these years the fighting between the Indians and the encroaching Whites became bitter, with the raids on wagon trains and army surveyors increasing. Punishing parties were sent out by the Whites to kill any Indian seen, whether man, woman or child. The Indians were fighting for their land, culture and their very lives.
A century later, the Paiute received damages for the loss of some of their land. They were paid less than $0.50 an acre.
Environmental historian Nancy Langston has more detail ....
[center]
Putting the Oregon Standoff in Perspective: America's History of Protest and Its Ironies
Heather Ann Thompson - Historian writing on the history, politics, and current impact of incarceration in America
[center]Just when you thought this couldn't get any funnier!
PETA Verified account ?@peta 4 hours ago
#Oregon: PETA delivers vegan jerky to ranchers at #OregonStandoff urging them to raise crops, NOT cows.
Arun Gupta ?@arunindy 2 minutes ago
Hitler wasn't really a vegetarian, but @peta would have had a photo-op w/ him if he was. #Oregonstandoff
Heather Ann Thompson - Historian writing on the history, politics, and current impact of incarceration in America
When scores of ranchers donning cowboy hats and rifles began their occupation of a remote outpost in Oregon last Saturday, it was by no means the first time in American history that a group of armed men and women had staged a dramatic occupation out West and made demands of the federal government.
The men who recently barricaded themselves in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge -- a federal building near Burns, Oregon -- are there, they say, because they must take a stand against the numerous "atrocities," committed against them by the federal government. The rancher's primary concern? That the government has been stealing land that is rightfully theirs.
And, nearly 43 years ago, almost to the month, there was another major occupation against federal land theft out West. In this case over 200 American Indian activists, Oglala Lakota as well as members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), took over Wounded Knee, South Dakota in February, 1973. Their occupation would last 71 days.
This is where similarities between the two most newsworthy protests against the federal government end. Nevertheless, fleshing out the differences between these two events -- differences not just in what led to them, but also in how the media, politicians, and even law enforcement, responded to each -- is useful.
As we continue to find ourselves inundated with news coverage ...........
The men who recently barricaded themselves in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge -- a federal building near Burns, Oregon -- are there, they say, because they must take a stand against the numerous "atrocities," committed against them by the federal government. The rancher's primary concern? That the government has been stealing land that is rightfully theirs.
And, nearly 43 years ago, almost to the month, there was another major occupation against federal land theft out West. In this case over 200 American Indian activists, Oglala Lakota as well as members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), took over Wounded Knee, South Dakota in February, 1973. Their occupation would last 71 days.
This is where similarities between the two most newsworthy protests against the federal government end. Nevertheless, fleshing out the differences between these two events -- differences not just in what led to them, but also in how the media, politicians, and even law enforcement, responded to each -- is useful.
As we continue to find ourselves inundated with news coverage ...........
[center]Just when you thought this couldn't get any funnier!
PETA Verified account ?@peta 4 hours ago
#Oregon: PETA delivers vegan jerky to ranchers at #OregonStandoff urging them to raise crops, NOT cows.
Arun Gupta ?@arunindy 2 minutes ago
Hitler wasn't really a vegetarian, but @peta would have had a photo-op w/ him if he was. #Oregonstandoff
Malheur History | PERS Update | Growing Up In Polygamy
by Allison Frost, Dave Blanchard, and Julie Sabatier OPB | Jan. 6, 2016
===========
OPB: An Armed Occupation In Eastern Oregon
Andy Pagoota @ManOnTheRadio
#YallQaeda #YeeHawd #OregonUnderAttack #Oregonstandoff #AlShaBubba #DoIHearBanjos #VanillaISIS #YokelHaram
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by Allison Frost, Dave Blanchard, and Julie Sabatier OPB | Jan. 6, 2016
===========
OPB: An Armed Occupation In Eastern Oregon
The latest news and updates about the armed occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon.
A self-described militia group have seized control of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. The group, led by Ammon Bundy, said they will occupy the building “for as long as it takes.”
For the latest on the occupation in Oregon, check back here for updates.
Malheur Occupation: Who Has A Claim To This Land?
..........
A self-described militia group have seized control of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. The group, led by Ammon Bundy, said they will occupy the building “for as long as it takes.”
For the latest on the occupation in Oregon, check back here for updates.
Malheur Occupation: Who Has A Claim To This Land?
..........
Andy Pagoota @ManOnTheRadio
#YallQaeda #YeeHawd #OregonUnderAttack #Oregonstandoff #AlShaBubba #DoIHearBanjos #VanillaISIS #YokelHaram
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Oregon Cattlemen’s Association criticizes militia takeover
The Bulletin @thebulletin
Editorial: Malheur protest is the wrong solution. http://j.mp/1n2Svs5 #oregonstandoff
In a prepared statement Jan. 4, OCA President John O’Keeffe noted that Harney County ranchers have been “very resourceful” in working with federal agencies on wildlife issues in particular.
“Furthermore, OCA does not support illegal activity taken against the government. This includes militia takeover of government property, such as the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.”
However, OCA Executive Director Jerome Rosa said the organization continues to support Burns-area ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond, who reported to federal prison Monday to serve additional time for burning BLM land. ......
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“Furthermore, OCA does not support illegal activity taken against the government. This includes militia takeover of government property, such as the Malheur Wildlife Refuge.”
However, OCA Executive Director Jerome Rosa said the organization continues to support Burns-area ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond, who reported to federal prison Monday to serve additional time for burning BLM land. ......
The Bulletin @thebulletin
Editorial: Malheur protest is the wrong solution. http://j.mp/1n2Svs5 #oregonstandoff
Oregon militants: Death threats from ranchers reported years before standoff
By Denis C. Theriault | The Oregonian/OregonLive January 06, 2016 at 10:36 PM
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By Denis C. Theriault | The Oregonian/OregonLive January 06, 2016 at 10:36 PM
Years before the arson fires that sent two Oregon ranchers to federal prison — sparking an armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge — federal officials reported several death threats from the men.
Those accusations, which reportedly stretch back to the 1980s, first emerged in August 1994.
That's when Dwight Hammond Jr., now 73, and his son, Steven, now 46, wound up arrested by U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers after trying to stop federal workers inside Malheur from fencing off a canal they'd been using to water their cows.
Details about that fight — and the threats that reportedly preceded it — show just how long the Hammonds have been scrapping with the government over access to the refuge that borders their lands. And they make clear that the recent bubbling of bad blood that's drawn sympathetic militants to Oregon's desert is nothing new.
Earl Kisler, the special agent who arrested the Hammonds in 1994, detailed some of the death threats in a sworn affidavit .......
Those accusations, which reportedly stretch back to the 1980s, first emerged in August 1994.
That's when Dwight Hammond Jr., now 73, and his son, Steven, now 46, wound up arrested by U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers after trying to stop federal workers inside Malheur from fencing off a canal they'd been using to water their cows.
Details about that fight — and the threats that reportedly preceded it — show just how long the Hammonds have been scrapping with the government over access to the refuge that borders their lands. And they make clear that the recent bubbling of bad blood that's drawn sympathetic militants to Oregon's desert is nothing new.
Earl Kisler, the special agent who arrested the Hammonds in 1994, detailed some of the death threats in a sworn affidavit .......
[center]
Oregon militia occupying wildlife refuge aims to overthrow government, says sheriff
Harney County sheriff speaks of ‘alternative motives’ while Ammon Bundy’s group puts away firearms to convince media it is civil rights issue
[center]Dexter Porter @DexterPorter
I hear you guys need food @Ammon_Bundy #YallQaeda #YeeHawd #VanillaISIS #RedneckCaliphate
Tic @ImperialDragon4
#RedneckCaliphate News Coverage
The insurgents have setup a base camp
Nathan Ralph @thenateralph
"Will commit treason for funyuns." #OregonUnderAttack #YallQaeda #YeeHawdists #YeeHawd
Harney County sheriff speaks of ‘alternative motives’ while Ammon Bundy’s group puts away firearms to convince media it is civil rights issue
Monday 4 January 2016
“These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers,” Sheriff David Ward said in a statement, “when in reality these men had alternative motives, to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.”
[center]Dexter Porter @DexterPorter
I hear you guys need food @Ammon_Bundy #YallQaeda #YeeHawd #VanillaISIS #RedneckCaliphate
Tic @ImperialDragon4
#RedneckCaliphate News Coverage
The insurgents have setup a base camp
Nathan Ralph @thenateralph
"Will commit treason for funyuns." #OregonUnderAttack #YallQaeda #YeeHawdists #YeeHawd
Harney County Sheriff: Armed Occupiers Will Face Charges
[center]fredamae ?@kokobyrd
#OregonStandoff>The Dumb and the Restless http://rol.st/1mIRJ2Z via @rollingstone
The Dumb and the Restless
Ammon Bundy and his band of weeping, self-pitying, gun-toting, wannabe-terrorist metrosexuals are America's most ridiculous people
By Matt Taibbi January 7, 2016
David Bates ?@DavidBWriter Oregon, USA
In 2016, will anyone exceed the level of stupidity required to "plan" a years-long siege, but not bring enough food? #OregonStandoff
Mainah3 ?@ohmyword1 1 hour ago Retweeted Girl Du Jour
BWAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!!!! Trolled by the @FLOTUS! Love it! #YallQueda #OregonUnderAttack #Oregonstandoff #VanillaISIS
Watch: 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers mocks Oregon standoff militants (VIDEO)
In a wide ranging interview Tuesday, Harney County Sheriff David Ward urged members of the community to distance themselves from the armed men occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
“I think if one person gives them a Snickers bar, they’re going on national media and claiming that the community supports them,” he said.
“If you’re giving them support, you’re just prolonging the situation.”
.......... LISTEN ....
“I think if one person gives them a Snickers bar, they’re going on national media and claiming that the community supports them,” he said.
“If you’re giving them support, you’re just prolonging the situation.”
.......... LISTEN ....
[center]fredamae ?@kokobyrd
#OregonStandoff>The Dumb and the Restless http://rol.st/1mIRJ2Z via @rollingstone
The Dumb and the Restless
Ammon Bundy and his band of weeping, self-pitying, gun-toting, wannabe-terrorist metrosexuals are America's most ridiculous people
By Matt Taibbi January 7, 2016
First of all, when did it become OK for cowboys to cry in public?
The coolest thing about the Gary Cooper-Clint Eastwood-James Coburn-Yul Brynner-style cowboys is that they never said a damned thing. They walked slow, asses sore from all that riding, and kept things to a syllable or two if they could manage it: "Whiskey." "Bath." "Draw."
Contrast that with Ammon Bundy, the man who recently led a small group of gun-wielding outpatients to occupy the Malheur federal wildlife preserve ....
The coolest thing about the Gary Cooper-Clint Eastwood-James Coburn-Yul Brynner-style cowboys is that they never said a damned thing. They walked slow, asses sore from all that riding, and kept things to a syllable or two if they could manage it: "Whiskey." "Bath." "Draw."
Contrast that with Ammon Bundy, the man who recently led a small group of gun-wielding outpatients to occupy the Malheur federal wildlife preserve ....
David Bates ?@DavidBWriter Oregon, USA
In 2016, will anyone exceed the level of stupidity required to "plan" a years-long siege, but not bring enough food? #OregonStandoff
Mainah3 ?@ohmyword1 1 hour ago Retweeted Girl Du Jour
BWAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!!!! Trolled by the @FLOTUS! Love it! #YallQueda #OregonUnderAttack #Oregonstandoff #VanillaISIS
Watch: 'Late Night' host Seth Meyers mocks Oregon standoff militants (VIDEO)
Tearful militant discovers friend drank away donation money: ‘It’s like finding out there is no such thing as Santa’
A heartbroken militiaman announced that one of his buddies had walked off the Oregon nature preserve they had overtaken and had holed up in a local motel to drink away donation money.
Joe Oshaugnessy, an Arizona militiaman, has been actively seeking volunteers through social media to join the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
But his friends tearfully announced that Oshaugnessy, who is known as “Capt. O,” had left the refuge Wednesday and was instead staying at a motel nearby — as some others associated with the militants have apparently been doing, according to sources.
Some of the militants have reportedly been spotted eating at area restaurants during the standoff, as well.
The militants have been allowed to come and go freely from the nature preserve in the absence of a law enforcement presence ...............[center]
A heartbroken militiaman announced that one of his buddies had walked off the Oregon nature preserve they had overtaken and had holed up in a local motel to drink away donation money.
Joe Oshaugnessy, an Arizona militiaman, has been actively seeking volunteers through social media to join the occupation of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
But his friends tearfully announced that Oshaugnessy, who is known as “Capt. O,” had left the refuge Wednesday and was instead staying at a motel nearby — as some others associated with the militants have apparently been doing, according to sources.
Some of the militants have reportedly been spotted eating at area restaurants during the standoff, as well.
The militants have been allowed to come and go freely from the nature preserve in the absence of a law enforcement presence ...............
Harney County Oregon disinvites the Bundy crew
By Joan McCarter Thursday Jan 07, 2016
[center]The Oregonian ?@Oregonian 2 hours ago
'Decamp immediately': @OregonGovBrown steps up rhetoric on Oregon militants #OregonStandoff
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/01/decamp_immediately_kate_brown.html
KATU News ?@KATUNews 3 hours ago
Gov. Kate Brown: armed activists need to "decamp immediately and be held accountable.” #LiveOnK2 #Oregonstandoff
By Joan McCarter Thursday Jan 07, 2016
[center]Wednesday night, the people of Harney County spoke.
Straw poll among Harney County, Oregon residents on who wants the Bundy crew to leave.
.......
Straw poll among Harney County, Oregon residents on who wants the Bundy crew to leave.
.......
[center]The Oregonian ?@Oregonian 2 hours ago
'Decamp immediately': @OregonGovBrown steps up rhetoric on Oregon militants #OregonStandoff
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/01/decamp_immediately_kate_brown.html
KATU News ?@KATUNews 3 hours ago
Gov. Kate Brown: armed activists need to "decamp immediately and be held accountable.” #LiveOnK2 #Oregonstandoff
I love this story 
The best part was a major cable network shows up and the entrance is blocked by #BlueTarpGuy who steals the show. That was the turning point between stupid and ridiculous.
[center]
Suddenly they were beseiged by yet another sharp attack, the #BlueTarpGuy memes.
Last edited Sun Jan 10, 2016, 10:58 PM - Edit history (1)
Who's going to invade Oregon tomorrow, pot smokers? I'm thinking most Oregonians today might reply, "God, I hope so," after this week.
The main hashtag is #OregonStandoff and the news is on its Twitter LIVE feed
David Badash ?@davidbadash 4 minutes ago
Big guns show up and poor Ammon Bundy has a fit..
The irony is palpable..
Colin Miner ?@cominer 5 minutes ago
Pacific Patriots Network release ldemands in #Oregonstandoff. Now face possible charges from FBI and #grammar cops http://www.pacificpatriotsnetwork.com
Kelly House Verified account ?@Kelly_M_House 8 minutes ago
Full story on the clamor at the #Oregonstandoff today, where AR-style rifle-toting patriots broke relative calm http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/01/arrival_of_rifle-toting_patrio.html
Does @GOP know county chair is working for terrorists & calling native americans "savages"? https://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/heres-why-oregon-militants-might-be-planning-to-arrest-the-sheriff-and-execute-him-for-treason/ …
Police shut off power at BLM fire station near refuge
Oregon standoff: What you need to know Friday morning
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Elizabeth Shogren ?@ShogrenE 27 minutes ago
What are the roots of #OregonStandoff? Feds failing to stop decades of illegal grazing. http://bit.ly/1VNWCnA
Every weirdo is out from under his rock now, even the most paranoid,
and they are looking for the next standoff already.... Damn election season!
AboveTopSecret @AboveTopSecret
#Oregon Gold Mining Stand off with #BLM - Next Bundy Ranch? http://goo.gl/eERB5O #LandGrab #Oregonstandoff #ATS
Jason ?@jcstauff5 9 minutes ago
If there is one fucking bachelors degree in that entire building
I will eat my next quarterly bonus. #OregonUnderAttack #Oregonstandoff
Beth Nakamura ?@bethnakamura 32 seconds ago
Greetings from the occupation. #Oregonstandoff
OG Bobbie Johnson ?@schprockets 1 hour ago
#OregonMilitia #bundymilitia #Bundy2016 #OregonUnderAttack #Oregonstandoff #OregonFront
Police have disconnected the electricity to a building in Frenchglen -- at the far end of the nature reserve -- to prevent militants from moving to a new place, according to sources close to the investigation.
Frenchglen residents said they saw police disconnecting power from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Fire Guard Station, which is on the south end of the reserve. The fire station is about 40 miles from the headquarters, where members of the Bundy family and other militants have occupied buildings since Saturday.
Electricity remained on at the refuge, where protesters are using various buildings including the museum and the bunkhouse.
..................
Frenchglen residents said they saw police disconnecting power from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Fire Guard Station, which is on the south end of the reserve. The fire station is about 40 miles from the headquarters, where members of the Bundy family and other militants have occupied buildings since Saturday.
Electricity remained on at the refuge, where protesters are using various buildings including the museum and the bunkhouse.
..................
Oregon standoff: What you need to know Friday morning
As we enter Day 7 of the standoff at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, here's the rundown of the most recent developments:
* Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, backed up by two other sheriffs, met face-to-face Thursday with protest leader Ammon Bundy to bring a peaceful end to a weeklong occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. "I'm here to offer safe escort out," the sheriff told Bundy. .... later Bundy told reporters that the protesters won't leave until federal land in the county is turned over to residents to manage on their own.
* Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday offered her strongest remarks yet .....
* Calling the militants who've taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters "armed thugs" and their occupation a "side show," Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer spoke on the U.S. House floor Thursday morning to praise federal protection of public lands. .....
* Violence broke out at the Bundy compound Wednesday night between its militant occupants and members of an outside group ....
----
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Elizabeth Shogren ?@ShogrenE 27 minutes ago
What are the roots of #OregonStandoff? Feds failing to stop decades of illegal grazing. http://bit.ly/1VNWCnA
Every weirdo is out from under his rock now, even the most paranoid,
and they are looking for the next standoff already.... Damn election season!
AboveTopSecret @AboveTopSecret
#Oregon Gold Mining Stand off with #BLM - Next Bundy Ranch? http://goo.gl/eERB5O #LandGrab #Oregonstandoff #ATS
Jason ?@jcstauff5 9 minutes ago
If there is one fucking bachelors degree in that entire building
I will eat my next quarterly bonus. #OregonUnderAttack #Oregonstandoff
Beth Nakamura ?@bethnakamura 32 seconds ago
Greetings from the occupation. #Oregonstandoff
OG Bobbie Johnson ?@schprockets 1 hour ago
#OregonMilitia #bundymilitia #Bundy2016 #OregonUnderAttack #Oregonstandoff #OregonFront
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Crackpots in Cowboy Hats, and in Congress
Timothy Egan Jab. 8, 2016
Most of the ranchers I know are decent folks, men and women of a few well-chosen words, slow to rouse, distrustful of a show horse on four legs or two. And then there’s the armed gang who seized an Oregon bird sanctuary — Y’all Qaeda, as the twittersphere has dubbed them.
The leader, Ammon Bundy, is the son of Cliven Bundy, the deadbeat rancher and Fox News hero who still owes more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees. The elder Bundy says he doesn’t recognize the government. The younger Bundy recognized it enough to get a federal loan guarantee for his fleet repair business in the rugged sprawl of Phoenix.
Ammon Bundy says God drove him to break into the offices of an agency that works on behalf of pileated woodpeckers, yellow warblers and other avian wonders. Bundy’s not leaving, he says, until land that we own — that is, every American citizen — is taken from us and given to some unnamed private entity.
Yes, it’s comical — white privilege mixed with a “Hee Haw” parody. The only thing Bundy and his fellow burglars have accomplished thus far is to leave behind enough evidence for prosecutors to file numerous criminal charges against them.
But this Gang That Can’t Protest Straight is not far removed from a better-dressed crowd in Congress pushing for radical change in the nation’s public land endowment. The locked-and-loaded crazies ............
Timothy Egan Jab. 8, 2016
Most of the ranchers I know are decent folks, men and women of a few well-chosen words, slow to rouse, distrustful of a show horse on four legs or two. And then there’s the armed gang who seized an Oregon bird sanctuary — Y’all Qaeda, as the twittersphere has dubbed them.
The leader, Ammon Bundy, is the son of Cliven Bundy, the deadbeat rancher and Fox News hero who still owes more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees. The elder Bundy says he doesn’t recognize the government. The younger Bundy recognized it enough to get a federal loan guarantee for his fleet repair business in the rugged sprawl of Phoenix.
Ammon Bundy says God drove him to break into the offices of an agency that works on behalf of pileated woodpeckers, yellow warblers and other avian wonders. Bundy’s not leaving, he says, until land that we own — that is, every American citizen — is taken from us and given to some unnamed private entity.
Yes, it’s comical — white privilege mixed with a “Hee Haw” parody. The only thing Bundy and his fellow burglars have accomplished thus far is to leave behind enough evidence for prosecutors to file numerous criminal charges against them.
But this Gang That Can’t Protest Straight is not far removed from a better-dressed crowd in Congress pushing for radical change in the nation’s public land endowment. The locked-and-loaded crazies ............
Meet the Militia: The Zealots, Cowboys and 'Rogue Infidels' of the Oregon Insurgency
The Oregon militants are proving as stubborn as they are self-righteous, and their armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge shows no signs of resolving soon.
Not even near-unanimous opposition to their occupation by the very community the militiamen claim to be liberating from federal "tyranny" is making these men second-guess their hard stand. Nor are the occupiers heeding the plea of the Burns Piaute Tribe — who claim the refuge as part of their ancestral land — to "get the hell out of here."
Who are the men behind the militia calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom?
Meet the key occupiers: ............
The Oregon militants are proving as stubborn as they are self-righteous, and their armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge shows no signs of resolving soon.
Not even near-unanimous opposition to their occupation by the very community the militiamen claim to be liberating from federal "tyranny" is making these men second-guess their hard stand. Nor are the occupiers heeding the plea of the Burns Piaute Tribe — who claim the refuge as part of their ancestral land — to "get the hell out of here."
Who are the men behind the militia calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom?
Meet the key occupiers: ............
In Harney County, may the anarchy die of its own cluelessness: Editorial
The Oregonian Editorial Board January 05, 2016
It is difficult to overlook the rustic glamour of Ammon Bundy, who leads the illegal armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, south of Burns. The square-jawed man with trim brown beard wears a plaid wool jack shirt, open-collar shirt underneath, and an impressive "lid" – a wide-brimmed cowboy hat fit for the range. It's as if the banished Marlboro man returns to life as Bundy so he can go before cameras and say crazy things that briefly slide by as reasonable: "The only violence that, if it comes our way, will be because government is wanting their building back," Bundy, the thief, told a reporter for NBC's "Today" show on Monday.
This is dangerous, around-the-bend behavior. It is neither terrorism nor civil disobedience but rather some hapless play-acting of coercive protest – configured to manipulate media and delivered with a dim homily about reducing the federal government's reach. More than anything, Bundy and his cronies, citing Constitutional rights they fail to explicate, pass themselves off as apple-pie patriots, hands on the trigger and ready to fight the good fight. They have watched too much TV. ..............
The occupiers are glib in calling themselves "patriots." Real patriots would honor and test the systems of government for reform, avoid local intrusion – and, well, never celebrate themselves as patriots.
The spectacle at the refuge will, with luck, burn out soon of its own misguided notions. Ammon Bundy will go home never having fired a gun and deprived of restating – for the media – that he wasn't fooling around. Eastern Oregon will return to its high desert ways smarter for having withstood one stupid dustup.
That said, restraint on all fronts is the smart thing for now.
The Oregonian Editorial Board January 05, 2016
It is difficult to overlook the rustic glamour of Ammon Bundy, who leads the illegal armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, south of Burns. The square-jawed man with trim brown beard wears a plaid wool jack shirt, open-collar shirt underneath, and an impressive "lid" – a wide-brimmed cowboy hat fit for the range. It's as if the banished Marlboro man returns to life as Bundy so he can go before cameras and say crazy things that briefly slide by as reasonable: "The only violence that, if it comes our way, will be because government is wanting their building back," Bundy, the thief, told a reporter for NBC's "Today" show on Monday.
This is dangerous, around-the-bend behavior. It is neither terrorism nor civil disobedience but rather some hapless play-acting of coercive protest – configured to manipulate media and delivered with a dim homily about reducing the federal government's reach. More than anything, Bundy and his cronies, citing Constitutional rights they fail to explicate, pass themselves off as apple-pie patriots, hands on the trigger and ready to fight the good fight. They have watched too much TV. ..............
The occupiers are glib in calling themselves "patriots." Real patriots would honor and test the systems of government for reform, avoid local intrusion – and, well, never celebrate themselves as patriots.
The spectacle at the refuge will, with luck, burn out soon of its own misguided notions. Ammon Bundy will go home never having fired a gun and deprived of restating – for the media – that he wasn't fooling around. Eastern Oregon will return to its high desert ways smarter for having withstood one stupid dustup.
That said, restraint on all fronts is the smart thing for now.
Of course, humorists and satirists are excepted from showing restraint.
United States of Militiadom
Last edited Sun Jan 10, 2016, 11:07 PM - Edit history (2)
Militia groups meet with leaders of Oregon occupation, pledge support
BURNS, Ore. | By Jonathan Allen
Members of self-styled militia groups met on Friday with armed protesters occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, pledging support for their cause, if not their methods, and offering to act as a peace-keeping force in the week-long standoff over land rights.
During the 30-minute meeting at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a leader of the occupation, Ammon Bundy, told about a dozen representatives of such groups as Pacific Patriots Network, Oath Keepers and III% that he had no immediate plans to abandon the siege.
"I was asked to do this by the Lord," said Bundy, a Mormon, as some of the militia members nodded in understanding. "I did it how he told me to do it."
BURNS, Ore. | By Jonathan Allen
Members of self-styled militia groups met on Friday with armed protesters occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, pledging support for their cause, if not their methods, and offering to act as a peace-keeping force in the week-long standoff over land rights.
During the 30-minute meeting at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a leader of the occupation, Ammon Bundy, told about a dozen representatives of such groups as Pacific Patriots Network, Oath Keepers and III% that he had no immediate plans to abandon the siege.
"I was asked to do this by the Lord," said Bundy, a Mormon, as some of the militia members nodded in understanding. "I did it how he told me to do it."
Harney County Committee of Safety domain is registered to Ammon Bundy in Phoenix, Arizona!
Raul, I'm not sure Oregon needs 535 more politicians involved, but love what you are doing.
Congress Can't Stay Silent on the Oregon Standoff
By Raul Grijalva - Friday Jan 08, 2016
I’ve spent a lot of time this week speaking about the armed militia members refusing to leave Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. I think this is an important moment for our country, and I’d like to explain why I’m trying so hard to get my colleagues to speak up about it. Bear with me for a minute.
Since the first farmers settled in the Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago, most humans have lived at the mercy of an armed few willing to use force to get what they want. The story of human history is largely about the search for a better way to organize our society. Like most Americans, I feel that our nation’s history is about that search resulting in the success of our democratic experiment.
Democracy’s greatest insight is that popular changes are more sustainable than changes made by force. That insight guides our form of government and our way of life. Our greatest instances of social progress – especially our efforts to build a more just and inclusive vision of who can exercise political power and how major decisions are made – have come about when people from all walks of life came together peacefully to demand change. That’s how great advances are made: not by threats and hostage-taking, but as a response to the peaceful expression of popular will.
The armed militia in Oregon, which too many have dismissed as a handful of cold and hungry dead-enders or a comical sideshow, is alarming. Left unchecked, the political myths and impulses that created this situation undermine our values – not just in Oregon, but across the country.
That’s why, rather than shrugging it off and hoping for the best, I introduced a House resolution on Tuesday calling on the Bundy militia to surrender peacefully to law enforcement and face the legal consequences of their actions. ...........
By Raul Grijalva - Friday Jan 08, 2016
I’ve spent a lot of time this week speaking about the armed militia members refusing to leave Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. I think this is an important moment for our country, and I’d like to explain why I’m trying so hard to get my colleagues to speak up about it. Bear with me for a minute.
Since the first farmers settled in the Fertile Crescent thousands of years ago, most humans have lived at the mercy of an armed few willing to use force to get what they want. The story of human history is largely about the search for a better way to organize our society. Like most Americans, I feel that our nation’s history is about that search resulting in the success of our democratic experiment.
Democracy’s greatest insight is that popular changes are more sustainable than changes made by force. That insight guides our form of government and our way of life. Our greatest instances of social progress – especially our efforts to build a more just and inclusive vision of who can exercise political power and how major decisions are made – have come about when people from all walks of life came together peacefully to demand change. That’s how great advances are made: not by threats and hostage-taking, but as a response to the peaceful expression of popular will.
The armed militia in Oregon, which too many have dismissed as a handful of cold and hungry dead-enders or a comical sideshow, is alarming. Left unchecked, the political myths and impulses that created this situation undermine our values – not just in Oregon, but across the country.
That’s why, rather than shrugging it off and hoping for the best, I introduced a House resolution on Tuesday calling on the Bundy militia to surrender peacefully to law enforcement and face the legal consequences of their actions. ...........
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to deal with this, but for whatever reasons, isn't .. or hasn't yet.
I really appreciate all your excellent posts updating on the Oregon situation, which I'm extremely
vexed about, as I live in this state, and don't like Oregon quickly becoming widely known as "the
state that welcomes or even tolerates armed white supremacists taking over Federal faciliteis at-will".
I strongly identify with the Native Americans who have spoken out against this desecration of their
sacred land.
So I'm trying to follow the goings-on there closely. Thanks for helping me do that. 
It may be their most wished for outcome, to get Obama embroiled in a range war as election nears.
Bringing in Obama would be like hiring the editor of the Harvard Law Review to judge the bull riding at the Pendleton Roundup.
but Obama does presumably direct and over-see agencies called the FBI, ATF, et. al. who are
presumably authorized (unless directed otherwise by POTUS) to enforce Federal laws against
armed insurrections, seizing Federal property by threats of armed force, breaking & entering
Federal property, threatening violence towards local law enforcement (under the guise of
"protecting themselves"
etc. etc.
That explains a lot.
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Militants May Have Accessed Government Computers At Refuge
by John Sepulvado OPB | Jan. 8, 2016 6:30 p.m.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether militants at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have accessed government computers during their occupation.
OPB observed militants interacting with computers in the compound that can only be accessed with employee ID badges. The armed men also appear to have riffled through materials in an office building used by federal employees.
This comes as militants rejected leaving the facility Friday, which they’ve occupied illegally since Jan. 2.
The computers are in a room of cubicles near the main compound. LaVoy Finnicum, a member of the occupying group’s security team, accidentally led OPB into the area.
...............
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by John Sepulvado OPB | Jan. 8, 2016 6:30 p.m.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into whether militants at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have accessed government computers during their occupation.
OPB observed militants interacting with computers in the compound that can only be accessed with employee ID badges. The armed men also appear to have riffled through materials in an office building used by federal employees.
This comes as militants rejected leaving the facility Friday, which they’ve occupied illegally since Jan. 2.
The computers are in a room of cubicles near the main compound. LaVoy Finnicum, a member of the occupying group’s security team, accidentally led OPB into the area.
...............
Jonathan Wilson ?@jnthnwwlsn Jan 3
Clarity is good. So here's the law applicable to the #Oregonstandoff: 18 USC 2384, defining "seditious conspiracy":
Dear "Militiamen": Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
So, it appears that our Founders were quite specific in the matter of what a militia is and who controls it, to wit, the Congress and president of the United States and, in the matter of staffing, the executives of individual states. This authority was further clarified by the 1827 court case of Martin v. Mott, in which the Supreme Court ruled emphatically that the president has sole authority over whether militias could be called out for military operations.
demonstrate the sharp wit of DUers are among the many reasons that I quit lurking here finally to sign up in 2008.
Thanks to you and all responders for a thoroughly enjoyable thread that also makes some good points about a situation deliberately intended to provoke an armed response - if it was intended to provoke anything at all other than to give these dubious "heroes" global press coverage! 
Hammond, Bundy, the Wise Use Movement, and what this is really about
The current armed stand-off at Malheur National Forest in Oregon has been mostly put into the context of a right-wing militia against federal authorities. However, this spin ignores the 30-year old fundamental ideological conflict that has gotten us to this point known as the astro-turfed Wise Use Movement.
For instance, Hammond and his son, Stephen, are scheduled to return to jail for setting huge fires on public land, but largely left off the news reports is how far this goes back.
What we are seeing is a recycling of the same old libertarian argument that was being spun in the early 90's. There are many complicated rationalizations behind the Wise Use Movement, most of them sound like conspiracy theories, but what they inevitably come down to is the unshakable faith that private ownership is always better than public ownership. No exceptions.
This is the central idea that must be addressed. .............
The current armed stand-off at Malheur National Forest in Oregon has been mostly put into the context of a right-wing militia against federal authorities. However, this spin ignores the 30-year old fundamental ideological conflict that has gotten us to this point known as the astro-turfed Wise Use Movement.
For instance, Hammond and his son, Stephen, are scheduled to return to jail for setting huge fires on public land, but largely left off the news reports is how far this goes back.
Its important context that Hammond has been at war with the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and federal authorities going back to the 1970s and that he was arrested ...
What we are seeing is a recycling of the same old libertarian argument that was being spun in the early 90's. There are many complicated rationalizations behind the Wise Use Movement, most of them sound like conspiracy theories, but what they inevitably come down to is the unshakable faith that private ownership is always better than public ownership. No exceptions.
This is the central idea that must be addressed. .............
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#NoMoreFreeRanches
Last edited Sun Jan 10, 2016, 02:47 AM - Edit history (1)
Heavily armed 'security detail' shows up at Oregon standoff encampment
12:30 p.m.: BURNS -- A week into their standoff .... a rifle-wielding "security detail." Members of the Pacific Patriot Network, a consortium of several groups from Oregon, Washington and Idaho, arrived mid-morning, carrying rifles and sidearms and clad in military attire and bulletproof vests.
Their leader, Brandon Curtiss, said the group came to "de-escalate" the situation ........[center]
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Update at 1:45 p.m.: Todd MacFarlane, a Utah lawyer acting as a mediator, said occupation leader Ammon Bundy doesn't want the armed visitors there.
Bundy's message: "We don't need that. We don't want it and we're asking you to leave,"
Update at 2 p.m.: Armed members of the Pacific Patriot Network are leaving the occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. .... "We are moving on to present them (the articles of resolution) to other government agencies."
12:30 p.m.: BURNS -- A week into their standoff .... a rifle-wielding "security detail." Members of the Pacific Patriot Network, a consortium of several groups from Oregon, Washington and Idaho, arrived mid-morning, carrying rifles and sidearms and clad in military attire and bulletproof vests.
Their leader, Brandon Curtiss, said the group came to "de-escalate" the situation ........[center]
[/center]
Update at 1:45 p.m.: Todd MacFarlane, a Utah lawyer acting as a mediator, said occupation leader Ammon Bundy doesn't want the armed visitors there.
Bundy's message: "We don't need that. We don't want it and we're asking you to leave,"
Update at 2 p.m.: Armed members of the Pacific Patriot Network are leaving the occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. .... "We are moving on to present them (the articles of resolution) to other government agencies."
New Armed Group Enters Harney County, Meets With Sheriff
OPB Staff OPB | Jan. 9, 2016 6:47 p.m.
SLIDESHOW: The Pacific Patriots Network arrived in Harney County claiming to diffuse the ongoing occupation of the Malheur refuge.
An armed convoy with the Pacific Patriots Network surrounded the Harney County Courthouse Saturday afternoon to meet with Sheriff Dave Ward, where the two sides discussed the ongoing occupation near Burns. ....
“We inserted ourselves as a buffer between the government authorities and the refuge authorities as a neutral moderating space,” ......
After leaving the refuge, more than 20 network members stationed themselves around the courthouse, where concrete barriers had been placed by local law enforcement Friday. The Patriots positioned armed guards at each of the streets leading up to the courthouse.
When asked why the convoy included armed men who appeared to be standing guard at the perimeter of the courthouse, Rice said, “We have a right to protect ourselves.” ......[center]
Armed convoy showed up at courthouse.
OPB Staff OPB | Jan. 9, 2016 6:47 p.m.
SLIDESHOW: The Pacific Patriots Network arrived in Harney County claiming to diffuse the ongoing occupation of the Malheur refuge.
An armed convoy with the Pacific Patriots Network surrounded the Harney County Courthouse Saturday afternoon to meet with Sheriff Dave Ward, where the two sides discussed the ongoing occupation near Burns. ....
“We inserted ourselves as a buffer between the government authorities and the refuge authorities as a neutral moderating space,” ......
After leaving the refuge, more than 20 network members stationed themselves around the courthouse, where concrete barriers had been placed by local law enforcement Friday. The Patriots positioned armed guards at each of the streets leading up to the courthouse.
When asked why the convoy included armed men who appeared to be standing guard at the perimeter of the courthouse, Rice said, “We have a right to protect ourselves.” ......[center]
Armed convoy showed up at courthouse.
Official Member Of Trump Campaign Joins Oregon Militia
by Alan Pyke Jan 7, 2016
The co-chairman of Donald Trump’s New Hampshire “Veterans for Trump” group has arrived in Burns, Oregon, to assist the small cadre of armed men who are seeking to provoke a standoff with federal officials there.
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That not-quite-standoff began over the weekend when a handful of men led by Ammon Bundy decided to turn a much larger peaceful protest over a decision to send two ranchers back to jail for arson into an armed struggle. The group’s numbers are small – especially compared to the 300 who reportedly joined the peaceful protest of the re-sentencing – but they have now been reinforced by Jerry DeLemus, a former United States Marine living on the opposite side of the country.
Trump himself has said little about the situation in Oregon, following the pattern of most of the GOP primary candidates. But on Tuesday he seemed to tell The Hill it was time for the Bundy crew to pack it in and go home. “You have to maintain law and order, no matter what,” he said.
It is at least the second time DeLemus has ridden to the physical aid of a Bundy. When Ammon’s father Cliven had his cattle impounded by the Bureau of Land Management in 2014 over more than $1 million in unpaid fines and fees for his use of public lands, DeLemus and his son drove 41 hours in three days to come help. ....
by Alan Pyke Jan 7, 2016
The co-chairman of Donald Trump’s New Hampshire “Veterans for Trump” group has arrived in Burns, Oregon, to assist the small cadre of armed men who are seeking to provoke a standoff with federal officials there.
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[/center]
That not-quite-standoff began over the weekend when a handful of men led by Ammon Bundy decided to turn a much larger peaceful protest over a decision to send two ranchers back to jail for arson into an armed struggle. The group’s numbers are small – especially compared to the 300 who reportedly joined the peaceful protest of the re-sentencing – but they have now been reinforced by Jerry DeLemus, a former United States Marine living on the opposite side of the country.
Trump himself has said little about the situation in Oregon, following the pattern of most of the GOP primary candidates. But on Tuesday he seemed to tell The Hill it was time for the Bundy crew to pack it in and go home. “You have to maintain law and order, no matter what,” he said.
It is at least the second time DeLemus has ridden to the physical aid of a Bundy. When Ammon’s father Cliven had his cattle impounded by the Bureau of Land Management in 2014 over more than $1 million in unpaid fines and fees for his use of public lands, DeLemus and his son drove 41 hours in three days to come help. ....
'Tyranny' for feds to keep land, as militants claim? Constitution says no
Betsy Hammond | The Oregonian/OregonLive January 08, 2016
Federal landownership, the primary beef of Constitution-waving protesters occupying a remote Oregon wildlife refuge, is not a byproduct of a federal bureaucracy run amok but rather a bedrock principle of the founding of our nation.
Every inch of landscape in the U.S. outside of the 13 original states was initially owned by the federal government – because the Founding Fathers wanted it that way.
Federal agencies continue to hold much more land in the West – almost half of the westernmost 11 states -- than in the rest of the lower 48, where only 4 percent of land is federally owned.
But that is largely due to timing. The young nation felt compelled to transfer land to private ownership – to promote transportation, development and settlement of the vast wilderness. By the late 1800s, that view began to fall out of favor, said Michael Campbell ....
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Betsy Hammond | The Oregonian/OregonLive January 08, 2016
Federal landownership, the primary beef of Constitution-waving protesters occupying a remote Oregon wildlife refuge, is not a byproduct of a federal bureaucracy run amok but rather a bedrock principle of the founding of our nation.
Every inch of landscape in the U.S. outside of the 13 original states was initially owned by the federal government – because the Founding Fathers wanted it that way.
Federal agencies continue to hold much more land in the West – almost half of the westernmost 11 states -- than in the rest of the lower 48, where only 4 percent of land is federally owned.
But that is largely due to timing. The young nation felt compelled to transfer land to private ownership – to promote transportation, development and settlement of the vast wilderness. By the late 1800s, that view began to fall out of favor, said Michael Campbell ....
it's own OP.. IMHO.
posted on Jan. 9, 2016, at 7:21 p.m.
Salvador Hernandez
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Leaders of the militia that took over an Oregon wildlife refuge last week asked supporters Saturday to send them supplies.
...
There are men and women at the compound. It is unclear how many people are staying there overnight, but people there told BuzzFeed News many have slept in barracks. Others have slept in their cars.
Temperatures have dipped to single digits in the remote refuge.
On Saturday, an email from the Bundy family — several of whom are participating in and leading the occupation — asked supporters to send supplies. The requested items include hay, markers, medicine, razors, hygiene products, food, and propane tanks.
Here are some of their other requests:
...
MORE at link, including full list of 90 items required
http://www.buzzfeed.com/salvadorhernandez/oregon-militia-wants-hay-menthol-100s-and-french-vanilla-cre#.gfB8oMX9d
Salvador Hernandez
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Leaders of the militia that took over an Oregon wildlife refuge last week asked supporters Saturday to send them supplies.
...
There are men and women at the compound. It is unclear how many people are staying there overnight, but people there told BuzzFeed News many have slept in barracks. Others have slept in their cars.
Temperatures have dipped to single digits in the remote refuge.
On Saturday, an email from the Bundy family — several of whom are participating in and leading the occupation — asked supporters to send supplies. The requested items include hay, markers, medicine, razors, hygiene products, food, and propane tanks.
Here are some of their other requests:
...
MORE at link, including full list of 90 items required
http://www.buzzfeed.com/salvadorhernandez/oregon-militia-wants-hay-menthol-100s-and-french-vanilla-cre#.gfB8oMX9d
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Chuck Greenwood ?@zenhousefilms 5 minutes ago
#oregonstandoff during the chaos yesterday the press, the PPN, the ranchers all voiced one thing "we will all stay calm and work this out"
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How the Wise Use Movement Is Tied to the #OregonStandoff
Kert Davies, Climate Investigations Center | January 8, 2016
.... we immediately went to the Anti-Environmental Archives to do some research. Lo and behold, the archives contain lots of documents about the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and lots of information on the decades-long conflict between ranchers like Dwight Hammond who want to run their cattle into protected areas and federal authorities seeking to uphold the law and protect the area from despoliation.
..... We published the Anti-Environmental Archives in April 2015, a catalog of thousands of original documents published by and about the groups involved in the Wise Use Movement. You can search the archives for yourself here.
Much of the media coverage of the Oregon situation has been light on the long history of anti-federal government agitation in the West. Some reporters have described the “Sagebrush Rebellion,” the resistance to federal control of Western lands that originally dates back to the early 1990s and was emboldened by the Reagan Administration and Interior Secretary James Watt.
Missing from coverage is the mention of the pro-logging, pro-ranching, pro-mining Wise Use Movement, which escalated in the early 1990s during the Clinton Administration. ..........
Kert Davies, Climate Investigations Center | January 8, 2016
.... we immediately went to the Anti-Environmental Archives to do some research. Lo and behold, the archives contain lots of documents about the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and lots of information on the decades-long conflict between ranchers like Dwight Hammond who want to run their cattle into protected areas and federal authorities seeking to uphold the law and protect the area from despoliation.
..... We published the Anti-Environmental Archives in April 2015, a catalog of thousands of original documents published by and about the groups involved in the Wise Use Movement. You can search the archives for yourself here.
Much of the media coverage of the Oregon situation has been light on the long history of anti-federal government agitation in the West. Some reporters have described the “Sagebrush Rebellion,” the resistance to federal control of Western lands that originally dates back to the early 1990s and was emboldened by the Reagan Administration and Interior Secretary James Watt.
Missing from coverage is the mention of the pro-logging, pro-ranching, pro-mining Wise Use Movement, which escalated in the early 1990s during the Clinton Administration. ..........
[center]Kathy Bowman ?@58Kate 5 minutes ago
#Oregonstandoff Bundy followers "well regulated". No need for exlax.
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The Larger, but Quieter Than Bundy, Push to Take Over Federal Land
By JACK HEALY and KIRK JOHNSONJAN. 10, 2016
DENVER — Ken Ivory, a Republican state representative from Utah, has been roaming the West with an alluring pitch to cattle ranchers, farmers and conservatives upset with how Washington controls the wide-open public spaces out here: This land is your land, he says, and not the federal government’s.
Mr. Ivory, a bespectacled business lawyer from suburban Salt Lake City, does not fit the profile of a sun-scoured sagebrush rebel. But he is part of a growing Republican-led movement pushing the federal government to hand over to the states millions of acres of Western public lands — as well as their rich stores of coal, timber and grazing grass.
“It’s like having your hands on the lever of a modern-day Louisiana Purchase,” said Mr. Ivory, who founded the American Lands Council and until recently was its president. The Utah-based group is funded mostly by donations from county governments, but has received support from Americans for Prosperity, the group backed by the billionaire Koch brothers. ..........
[center]Cornelia ?@PaladinCornelia 24 minutes ago
Ryan Bundy thinks zoning laws are "communism".
Why do we tolerate this bullshit?
#Oregonstandoff #MalheurWildlifeRefuge
Waidertot ?@Waidertot 9 minutes ago
#bundymilitia #Oregonstandoff Their motives and goals aside the methods they are using are clear. You decide
Last edited Mon Jan 11, 2016, 12:46 PM - Edit history (3)
The distance between the Oregon Republican Party, in particular the Harney County Chair, and his recent best buddy and cohort in opposing the feds, one Ammon Bundy, isn't as close as it was last week. Nonetheless, it seems Ammon Bundy is still the Harney County Committee Of Safety website registrar, and the address is in Phoenix, AZ.
Harney County Committee Of Safety Asks Occupiers To Leave
by Dave Blanchard OPB | Jan. 9, 2016 9:31 a.m. | Burns, Oregon
A community group that Ammon Bundy helped to create has asked him and his followers to abandon their armed occupation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The Harney County Committee of Safety was formed with the goal of limiting federal authority on county land.
Ammon Bundy helped create the group — but its board is made of local community members. ....
“We feel that any good which may come out of this event has reached its full potential,” Molt said. “We ask that you organize your people, explain that your point has been made and leave in a peaceful, honorable fashion.” ....
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by Dave Blanchard OPB | Jan. 9, 2016 9:31 a.m. | Burns, Oregon
A community group that Ammon Bundy helped to create has asked him and his followers to abandon their armed occupation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
The Harney County Committee of Safety was formed with the goal of limiting federal authority on county land.
Ammon Bundy helped create the group — but its board is made of local community members. ....
“We feel that any good which may come out of this event has reached its full potential,” Molt said. “We ask that you organize your people, explain that your point has been made and leave in a peaceful, honorable fashion.” ....
The Oregon Republican Party was originally involved in overseeing the Malheur standoff militia according to online sources.
The Chair of Harney County for the Oregon Republican Party is one Tim Smith, vocal supporter of the Hammonds.
And a certain Tim Smith is a member of the Harney County Committee of Safety (HCCS).
Which has a web site and the domain is owned/registered to Ammon Bundy at an address in Phoenix, AZ.
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Quoting from Ammon Bundy's Harney Co. CS webpage:
(You have to wonder if this part will be in the Republican platform this year.)
The primary duty and responsibility of the Committee of Safety is to coordinate the people in their own safety. This is done through correspondence, preparedness and defense. ....
(You have to wonder if this part will be in the Republican platform this year.)
Prior to the Revolutionary War, Committees of Safety existed in the frontier or wilderness areas where the government did not provide any troops or other protection against Indian attacks. The community got together and built stockades, enrolled militia, commissioned officers, and set watches, all to secure the property and lives of the association members from threats from the savages.
It is the function of the Committee of Safety to call up able-body men and women to stand in defense of unalienable rights. The Committee of Safety is the governing body for the Militia and directs the Militia in its defensive actions.
So, here’s your pre-schism hierarchy I presume, given what’s posted online at Ammon Bundy’s Harney County website:
Oregon Republican Party > County Chair > Committee of Safety > Militia
We downloaded the website and screen captured the graphics before we posted this online with other media the other day. The above news may be a response to that attention. I'm sure my fellow Oregonians, Oregon Republicans, are far too sensible to condone this stuff, excepting that one Teahadist Congress critter the people whose children are under siege elected. At least none of the Harney militia joined the Bundys, but stirring things up didn't work as planned and those who did the stirring need to be outed too.
My first question, Is it the position of the Oregon Republican Party that Native Americans are "savages"? Or just Tim Smith and his Harney friends? Or is that issue not important enough to change the website (Catch 22 = Oh wait, that's Ammon's job.)?
So, my next question, If your own website asks you to leave Oregon, is it time to go back to warm, sunny Phoenix, or should you hold out for a warm holding cell?
My last question, Are Oregon Republican Party officials involved in starting militias in other counties?
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[center]Continue following the news, photos, memes, and tweets in these threads:
Happening now: Bundy breaking down fence on refuge #BundyTeaParty
#RefugeRally chant went from "birds not bullies" to "throw the bums in jail" #Oregonstandoff 43 pics
#BundyTeaParty Google image search
SPLC @splcenter
"At the refuge, it's time to pull the plug"
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/01/at_the_refuge_its_time_to_pull.html
Martin Heinrich Verified account ?@MartinHeinrich 4 minutes ago
I commend @OregonGovBrown for calling for aggressive legal action against #OregonStandOff militants. @TheOregonian:
http://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2016/01/kate_brown_presses_top_federal.html
Jason H. Campbell ?@JasonHCampbell 34 minutes ago
More evidence some of the #Oregonstandoff "patriots" are common law-breaking thugs:
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/oregon-ranchers-who-sparked-standoff-threatened-to-wrap-officials-son-in-barbed-wire-and-drown-him/
pendejo awards ?@pendejoawards 45 minutes ago
#Militants #bulldoze #archeological site, share vid #rifling thru #artifacts http://bit.ly/1SzKd7Q #Oregonstandoff
Mac ?@macrant 46 minutes ago
The @OregonGovBrown writes to @POTUS pleading for swift Federal action against #Oregonstandoff. #OregonMilitia
