Happening Now 2017: "From the north, a black snake will come. It will cross our lands, slowly killing all that it touches, and in its passing the water will become poison." -Native American prophecy - - - Standing Rock ND USA: "The situation is escalating quickly. Police and military are staging a few miles down the road from where the water protectors have set up barricades. People are preparing themselves both physically and mentally as they expect a raid by authorities at any moment. There is now a no-fly zone over the area. Police are targeting journalists and taking equipment and footage. Multiple militarized police checkpoints surround the frontline camps and screen vehicles driving in and out of the area. Helicopters and planes circle the camps to gather geospatial intelligence. The various camps are digging in and preparing to defend the barricades from an impending attack at any moment." - - - Update from a Standing Rock volunteer, January 31, 2017 - "I have returned from Standing Rock with my mind blown, my heart broken and my spirit troubled with this deepening tragedy. I have witnessed several confrontations between Water Protectors (WP) and law enforcement (LE). I observed WP with their hands in the air chanting "hands up don't shoot" being fired upon at a range of 10 to 15 feet. Tear gas canisters and rubber bullets were used against unarmed WP who had been singing and praying. I observed national guard chasing WP off the Backwater bridge, firing at people running away. I heard people choking and gagging from tear gas. I saw access to the WP medic vehicles being blocked. I spoke with medics and WP who described bullets penetrating flesh and causing terrible injuries. I saw a photo of a sheriff aiming a rifle directly at a media woman who was standing apart from the crowd. I heard testimony of the back of the medic pickup truck being awash in blood after evacuating wounded. I inadvertently became a part of WP being forced off the bridge by national guard who were hiding behind WP vehicles parked along the road and firing rubber bullets at fleeing people. Many people were shot in the back, the neck, the head. When LE fired at people at close range, many were shot in the genitals or in the face. I received information about DAPL security breaching the short wave radio channels of the WP. There are some young warriors who have vowed to not leave the camps or to let the last section of pipeline be built. Driving away from the area I saw a convoy of construction vehicles heading to the drill pad. There are reports of drilling and construction coming from the drill pad. Without the eyes of a free press these attacks and trespasses continue, with the human rights and sovereignty of indigenous peoples denied. The UN Committee on Transnational Corporations and Human Right Abuses was in Standing Rock this week to take testimony of the many transgressions against people: crop dusters spraying poison pesticides and fertilizers on the camps; hair samples indicating the presence of these chemicals; people who have been injured, beat up, arrested, strip searched; media and medics being targeted by snipers; (one medic told me he stopped wearing his Red Cross vest due to medics being targeted); praying people being attacked and the refusal of DAPL and our government to abide by the Rule of Law. Veterans who came last December to stand down against these crimes need to be there now, right now. We need to stand up for our brothers and our sisters, for their way of life and, I believe, for our social contract as a democracy which is now threatened."