By A. Dru Kristenev ——Bio and Archives--March 1, 2017
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A. Claim of legal standing to make a protest: ND: Indian tribe asserting possible desecration of sacred sites unknown and unidentified. MWF/NV: Government seizure of public lands, locking out ranchers currently utilizing historic grazing rights. B. Land use ND: Tribe not blocked from established usage of public land or tribal land MWF/NV: Ranchers blocked from established usage of public and private land. C. Economic impact ND: Proposed DAPL does not affect economy except for possible income increase. MWF/NV: Removal of cattle from public and private land devastates ranch economy, essentially putting generational cattle industry out of business.
D. Make-up of protesters ND: Standing Rock tribal members, sympathizers and mostly paid protesters. MWF/NV: Sympathetic ranchers dealing with similar issues on home turf. None are paid for their travel, presence or participation. E. Weapons present and usage or threat posed ND: Anything to hand--rocks, bottles, bats, firestarting materials--all of which were used against law enforcement who stayed at bay until protesters became violent. MWF/NV: Open carry states and some individuals had sidearms, none of which were drawn from holsters nor was same threatened. BLM threatened deadly force against protesters, and FBI, with malice, killed LaVoy Finicum and wounded other unarmed travelers in Oregon ambush. F. Condition of camp after evacuation ND: Thousands of pounds of trash and toxic and human waste left behind by protesters, who set fire to semi-permanent edifices they'd built illegally, endangering environment they claimed to be protecting. The mercenaries populating the camp even abandoned puppies to die of frostbite and starvation. MWF/NV: Protesters cleaned up after themselves, imposing minimal impact on environment. In fact, members of the Hammond family were incarcerated for protecting the land from wildfire set by BLM.
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Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.
ChangingWind (changingwind.org) is a solutions-centered Christian ministry.