Day 15: Gratefulness Journey....for Prayer and Confirmation.

Sitting upstairs with our puppies watching the snow and sleet come down...listening to music and wafting my way through another migraine. Finally having the time to sit and write down some parts of what has gone on the past few.  Some days can be so filled with things to do that the mind is otherwise occupied...and the voicing of one's own journey gets placed to the side.  To find the beginning point of the story is sometimes difficult as so many journeys prior have been woven day by day in creating this one moment in time.  I think back and remember the Elders teaching me about Prayer...how important it is to do things the way they have shown as it links us to all those who have been shown those ways in the past.  How one misstep can and does affect the outcome of whatever it is we are praying about, working on, wishing to have happen in our lives or those who are dear to us.  Again am giving thanks for Traditional ways and the portions that I have been gifted with or ways that have been shared with me.  We are the answers to our Ancestors Prayers...

And as each Sunrise comes over the horizon we can, through prayer, reconnect to the first Sunrise...the Sunrise that occurred when our Children were born...the Sunrise that occurred at Sundance...or after a Peyote meeting...and the healing that  happened in the past, can continue to live on...as we continue to Pray.  Last Friday night I was able to go to a Concert put on in Rhinelander that benefited Standing Rock and the Prayers being said for the Water. I didn't arrive early, and had to leave early--so no new friends were made--yet was able to connect spiritually with other like minded folks, praying as I have been for so long for our Children, for the Water, for Mother Earth.  Following the evening I had several days with limited pain.  Such a blessing...as I'm not able at present to go out there myself.

And?  Sunday we hear that President Obama has not granted the easement for DAPL to continue digging.  Again, such a blessing...Yesterday we hear that the companies behind the pipeline are going to continue the drilling/digging/pipeline even though it is now illegal.  Beyond that?  Mother Nature has moved in and begun their hard winter.  Drifts that can happen upwards of 8 ft at a time--with winter's snow sometimes breaking telephone poles as they reach up and surpass the phone lines.  Thousands of Veteran's, Chiefs and People from all over the World are there...braving the Winter, or at least the first signs of what Mother Nature can look like out west.  A good teaching point for all of the protesters when Obama tells them they can all go home now and Mother Nature makes it impassable.  Adding another layer now to the Prayer for safety, sustenance and peace to be plentiful and the lessons as gentle as a feather brushing against your skin.

In a recent email, Eleanor Bravo from Food & Water Watch indicates the following:

Some good news — yesterday, the Army Corps of Engineers put a halt to the Dakota Access Pipeline by denying a key permit for the pipeline to cross the Missouri River next to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
Dallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network said:

“Today, the Obama Administration has told us they are not granting the final easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline. This is not just an amazing victory for Standing Rock and the Oceti Sakowin — but also for the many other Tribal Nations, grassroots Indigenous communities and millions of Americans around the country who have stood in solidarity with us here in person, at rallies around the country, and through phone calls and letters. This is a victory for organizing, and it doesn't stop now. We are asking our supporters to keep up the pressure, because while President Obama has granted us a victory today, that victory isn't guaranteed in the next administration. More threats are likely in the year to come, and we cannot stop until this pipeline is completely and utterly defeated, and our water and climate are safe.”¹

Ask President Obama to PERMANENTLY stop the Dakota Access Pipeline to protect the Standing Rock Sioux's drinking water and sovereign rights.
The fight is not over. The corporations behind the pipeline — Energy Transfer Partners and Sonoco Logistics — want to move full steam ahead with the project to carry Bakken crude oil across native lands in North Dakota and down through farmlands and across waterways in South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.

And while the Obama administration is beginning to show the Standing Rock Sioux the dignity and respect they deserve, we know President-elect Trump will not do the same. Not only has Trump expressed his support for finishing the pipeline, but he is personally invested in Energy Transfer Partners — one of the multinational corporations building the pipeline.²

President Obama must come up with a permanent solution to stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline before Donald Trump takes office.

We can't allow a private oil and gas corporation to build a dirty and dangerous pipeline through sacred indigenous lands, put key waterways at risk and keep us addicted to climate-changing fossil fuels.

In the past months, following the lead of our indigenous allies on the ground, Food & Water Watch staff, volunteers and supporters have organized and supported solidarity actions across the country. We did the research on the financial backers of the pipeline to expose the ties of big banks,³ we’ve held fundraisers to support the camps, and our staff have traveled to Standing Rock to bring supplies and show support — in fact, we have staff are on the ground right now. Members and supporters like you have generated more than 70,000 letters and made more than 5,600 phone calls to get President Obama to finally take action. I can't thank you enough for all you've done.

While this decision from the Obama administration and the Army Corps of Engineers is an important moment, we must all continue to stand against the injustices against Native peoples and their allies.
In North Dakota, the water protectors are preparing to keep all five camps running throughout the harsh winter. I hope that supporters like you will continue to support those on the frontline.

Here's what else you can do to help:

1. December is a Global Month of #NoDAPL action: Check out the map to find an event near you.
    
2. Donate to support the Water Protectors in resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. 
   • Indigenous Rising — a project of Indigenous Environmental Network.
   • Water Protector Legal Collective — to fund legal defense for those who have been arrested. 
   • Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council — to support those needing medical treatment as a result of violence inflicted on water protectors.
      
3. Other. Check out the #NoDAPL Solidarity website for more information and ways to support the indigenous-led movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.

I'm so proud to stand with you and others across the country to support Native communities. Thank you for everything you've done to stop pipelines that threaten our communities, our drinking water and our precious climate.

In solidarity,



Eleanor Bravo
Senior National Pipeline Campaigner
Food & Water Action Fund
act(at)fwwatch(dot)org

---

1. DAPL Easement Denied, but the Fight's Not Over, Sacred Stone Camp, December 5, 2016.
2. Trump supports completion of Dakota Access Pipeline, Reuters, December 5, 2016.
3. Who's Banking on the Dakota Access Pipeline? Food & Water Watch, September 6, 2016

Giving thanks again, for the power of Prayer.

One love...Always and all ways...

Sandy~MountainsDreamz

Repeating History? Or are we?

AIM Occupation of Wounded Knee: On This Day, Feb. 27, 1973

On the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, some 200 Sioux Native Americans, led by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), occupy Wounded Knee, the site of the infamous 1890 massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. Seventh Cavalry. The AIM members, some of them armed, took 11 residents of the historic Oglala Sioux settlement hostage as local authorities and federal agents descended on the reservation.

AIM was founded in 1968 by Russell Means, Dennis Banks, and other Native leaders as a militant political and civil rights organization. From November 1969 to June 1971, AIM members occupied Alcatraz Island off San Francisco, saying they had the right to it under a treaty provision granting them unused federal land. In November 1972, AIM members briefly occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C., to protest programs controlling reservation development. Then, in early 1973, AIM prepared for its dramatic occupation of Wounded Knee. In addition to its historical significance, Wounded Knee was one of the poorest communities in the United States and shared with the other Pine Ridge settlements some of the country’s lowest rates of life expectancy.

Read more here...

         

 

                               

                                                                   

On February 27, 1973, 200 American Indian Movement (AIM) leaders and supporters occupied the South Dakota reservation town of Wounded Knee, site of the infamous massacre of 300 Sioux by the U.S. Seventh Cavalry in 1890. Reporters on the scene relay information about the takeover.

Meanwhile in today's world--nearly 37 years after this original seige--we are faced with this--according to NPR:

Army Corps issues eviction notice to Standing Rock protest camp, tribe chairman says

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BY JOSHUA BARAJAS  November 25, 2016 at 9:55 PM EST  | Updated: Nov 27, 2016 at 3:19 PM

Protesters against the North Dakota Access oil pipeline said Saturday they will not move from the site of a months-long encampment, even after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a letter announcing its plan to close the land.

The protesters, or “water protectors,” were notified that land north of the Cannonball River will be closed on Dec. 5, according to Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Archambault said he was “deeply disappointed” by the Army Corps’ decision, “but our resolve to protect our water is stronger than ever.”The Oceti Sakowin camp, which rests on the banks of the river, contains a loose collective of tribal nations and out-of-state supporters opposing the 1,172-mile pipeline. The camp is about 45 minutes south of Bismarck, the state capital.

“It is both unfortunate and disrespectful that this announcement comes the day after this country celebrates Thanksgiving — a historic exchange of goodwill between Native Americans and the first immigrants from Europe,” Archambault wrote. “Although the news is saddening, it is not at all surprising given the last 500 years of the mistreatment of our people.”

The Army Corps did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its supporters have said the $3.7-billion pipeline threatens the reservation’s main water supply and cultural artifacts, all claims the company behind the project, Energy Transfer Partners, has denied.

Dakota Access Pipeline protesters are seen at the Oceti Sakowin campground near the town of Cannon Ball, North Dakota in an aerial photo provided by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department. Photo handout via Reuters.

Archambault said the Army Corps closed public access to the land over “safety concerns,” adding that the agency plans to allow a “free-speech zone” south of the Cannonball River.

Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, posted what appeared to be the Army Corps’ statement on Facebook.

The decision comes days after law enforcement deployed water hoses, rubber bullets and tear gas against hundreds of unarmed Standing Rock protesters. Camp organizers said more than 300 protesters were injured in Sunday’s standoff, and 26 were hospitalized.

The American Civil Liberties Union criticized the Morton County Sheriff’s Department and other law enforcement’s response in the encounter, saying it was a “catastrophe with serious human rights implications.”

The sheriff’s department defended the decision to douse protesters in freezing temperatures, saying that protesters were “very aggressive.” An initial statement from the department said it was an “ongoing riot.”

Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren told the NewsHour that the pipeline was built “to have minimal impact to all people concerned,” adding that “we’re building the pipeline.”

READ MORE: For Native ‘water protectors,’ Standing Rock protest has become fight for religious freedom, human rights

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker on Friday called on Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the Department of Justice to investigate tactics that police are using against protesters at Standing Rock.

“I call on the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to promptly and thoroughly investigate all credible reports of inappropriate police tactics and, if DOJ has not already done so, to send federal monitors to Standing Rock to ensure that protestors can peacefully assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights,” he wrote.

Thanksgiving Advice for Every Sign November 2016 by Raisa O

Day 14: Gratefulness Journey--What makes you Happy?

I was woken up early this morning to a blanket of snow and being asked...are you happy?...after a fitful night of dreams.  All day I've struggled with the answer to that question--while watching the snow fall and cover the earth.  At some point going outside to get my cd case from the car to listen to some Traditional Pueblo music and Sundance songs.  Letting the dogs come out with me and watching them frolick in the snow.  Running and jumping and playing--the neighbor kids building a snowman with their mom, another child learning to make snow angels around back.  All the while laughing with the four leggeds as they pounced up and down chasing each other in the snow that was falling.

Thinking about the young woman who went out to Standing Rock 3 weeks ago.  The other night as the police force said they weren't using water cannons or harming the prayer protectors while watching the online streaming videos of them doing that and more.  A grenade blew a hole in her arm.  It took her 8 hours to get to a surgeon--while 1/2 of her arm was gone.  I heard today it had been amputated although I haven't confirmed it.  Am I happy?

Thanksgiving as a child was always one of my favorite holidays.  Our extended family came out to the farm each year and we had two stoves going--usually two turkeys cooking--and food for miles.  We celebrated all of the fall birthdays then as well--hung out and enjoyed the day and night.  I miss those days.  Innocence has a way of being easy on people.  As we grow up and see the other sides of things some folks choose to medicate the pain of life in one way or another.  For me though--I look at both sides.  Here we are, thinking we are so much further along than we actually are.  Praying for peace, yet fighting any chance we can to be the top dog.  the leader of the pack.  Watching the dichotomy of the Water Protectors--unarmed, protesting what we all believe in to be good and right and true--coming up against a paid police force using harm, lying and laughing as they do more harm.  So much polarization.  Wondering again, what will it take for people to walk hand in hand--even if they have different training or education, different skin color or sexual persuasion?  Is it so wrong to want that?  Am I happy?

Meanwhile on the political front there's a President not doing anything while people are being harmed.  There's a president elect going back on all of his pre election promises, yet hiring white supremacists to man the fort.  Riots and walk outs continue as people again...have to get their say in the matter spoken.  Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!  Forgive me, my children's father was from Jamaica--played with Bob Marley a time or two.  Every now and again a song pops in the picture. (he's not part of our lives, has many children all over the us and doesn't help them either, in case you're wondering).

CNN sent me an email today about an article  The year of living thankfully in which the author talks about another list of things to do to stay in the Gratefulness zone. Making the statement

"To get in better touch with gratefulness, all you have to do is find easy ways to count blessings more often than, say, over an annual turkey dinner. Keep them boiling on the front burner of your mind, and you increase your appreciation of life."  How hard it is sometimes to remain grateful--when your beliefs are being hit with a grenade.  How difficult it is to remain happy or peaceful--when others are egging you on.  I can't say with any certainty that I have an answer to that question I was posed so early in the morning...am I happy?  But I have thought about it--at least there's that.  Wondering why it is so difficult for some people to love others who are different than they are. Wondering why some people feel the need to be in charge of or in power over others as we move into Thanksgiving.  Life is full of chaos too.  It isn't all roses for some.  

So if these things do not make me happy...what others are saying.  What can one do about it?  Get up, stand up...Stand up for your rights!...  About to settle down for the night, and see what tonight brings for dreaming.  Hoping the struggle posed last night and today have found some peace by what was said or done.  Grateful for the small moments with my children, our puppies jumping in the snow, and watching the kids play outside.  Grateful for the songs to sing, the memories of prayer circles gone by...and the courage that people have.  regular every day people have...to go up against the insanity.  Grateful the insanity I struggled with today was just a dream--nobody that I saw got harmed in it--grateful to have my own say in it too.  And you?

 Are you happy?

Enjoy the day with your families tomorrow.  I hope you smile...

Day 12 & 13 Gratefulness Journey--Rivers of Time

I'd heard from a newer acquaintance this morning that she'd just lost a family member -- while I was out driving my daughter to work.  It stopped time for us both when I heard this, for a moment.  Just to sit there with her and acknowledge I understood. It's not always this way--where people connect and acknowledge.  Honor each other.  I'd seen several old friends this past week who were in town for a visit -- and realized how far away friendships can really be.  Relationships are with us for a time, and then they go away it seems -- things change.  It's not as if it's gradual either sometimes.  Maybe a relative passed on and they are now different.  Maybe their life scenario is really incredibly heavy right now.  Maybe they're dealing with more pain than they can bear right now.  Somehow, things change, time goes on, and with or without people in our lives we figure it out.  Watching how actions can show truth--or at least what is at the core of a scenario.  Again, back to that time as a young person, hearing what is said internally by others and watching their actions not be in line with their spirit's voice.  We have so little time together on this Earth -- so very little time.  I'm grateful for the gift of peace and the honoring of Truth that keeps our foundation strong.  Saying in Spirit to them, I'm over here--let me know when you're ready again.  Allowing space to be there where at one point there was none.  Like the waves rushing to shore on a beach...rushing upwards...further and further...then releasing their hold and falling back...all the while the sounds of the water, flowing.  

 Wondering what it is that binds people together for relationships, friendships, family ties or loved ones.  Each person being a reflection of everyone and everything.  Giving thanks that their choices are not always my choices, that I've been shown a way that works for me and my children  -- but that may not work for you...or at least be understood by you...in the way that is understood by me.  Hearing the Ancestors of the people I'm in contact with and understanding more of their circle in life.  How people are moving away from their Elders thoughts, words and deeds these days and how that is somehow complicating the whole range of actions.  There used to be a time when we all spoke from our hearts truth, and then went on to act on those very truths from our hearts.  There used to be a time when we'd hear each neighbor or loved ones words and they'd be included in all things.  As important.  I haven't seen that or heard that now in a while, which saddens me.  People have lost their connection to each other.  To their own hearts.  To the heart of Mother Earth.  I'm hearing more an more people getting angry at Mother Earth when she's in pain.  Angry at the global warming, the lack of snow, the earthquakes and the fires.  Stomping their feet like children wanting to be listened to...while Mother Earth continues to bear the pain of their insolence and pride.  Waiting and watching for other like minded or like hearted people.  Continuing to pray.

“There will be a few times in your life when all your instincts will tell you to do something, something that defies logic, upsets your plans, and may seem crazy to others. When that happens, you do it. Listen to your instincts and ignore everything else. Ignore logic, ignore the odds, ignore the complications, and just go for it.” 
― Judith McNaught, Remember When

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” 
― Haruki Murakami

Wondering why it is that when one friend appears, another is still sacrificing.  Being told long ago those times are no longer.  Watching people continue to live in a life of sacrifice even tho.  Remembering the stories of Jesus walking with the cross and the crown of thorns...bleeding and barely hobbling along.  I ask my Christian friends why they continue to lie, when they do...I ask Him the same thing.  Aren't the lies making his suffering longer?  His walk harder?  Even after they know all they espouse to know?  So odd to me, human nature.  The frailty of the soul...how easy it is to take a step backwards when the true path is forward.  Even myself, leaving things unsaid with my longtime friends, allowing the distance again to widen.  Was I in too much pain to deal with that?  Wondering.  Praying.  Not following that which doesn't ring true to what has been shown...perhaps that is all.  Knowing that there is so much more to life...to love...to beauty or even to Nature.  Perhaps it just isn't time.

“And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if it's already happened.” 
― Douglas Coupland, Life After God

“I thought how lovely and how strange a river is. A river is a river, always there, and yet the water flowing through it is never the same water and is never still. It’s always changing and is always on the move. And over time the river itself changes too. It widens and deepens as it rubs and scours, gnaws and kneads, eats and bores its way through the land. Even the greatest rivers- the Nile and the Ganges, the Yangtze and he Mississippi, the Amazon and the great grey-green greasy Limpopo all set about with fever trees-must have been no more than trickles and flickering streams before they grew into mighty rivers.
Are people like that? I wondered. Am I like that? Always me, like the river itself, always flowing but always different, like the water flowing in the river, sometimes walking steadily along andante, sometimes surging over rapids furioso, sometimes meandering wit hardly any visible movement tranquilo, lento, ppp pianissimo, sometimes gurgling giacoso with pleasure, sometimes sparkling brillante in the sun, sometimes lacrimoso, sometimes appassionato, sometimes misterioso, sometimes pesante, sometimes legato, sometimes staccato, sometimes sospirando, sometimes vivace, and always, I hope, amoroso.
Do I change like a river, widening and deepening, eddying back on myself sometimes, bursting my banks sometimes when there’s too much water, too much life in me, and sometimes dried up from lack of rain? Will the I that is me grow and widen and deepen? Or will I stagnate and become an arid riverbed? Will I allow people to dam me up and confine me to wall so that I flow only where they want? Will I allow them to turn me into a canal to use for they own purposes? Or will I make sure I flow freely, coursing my way through the land and ploughing a valley of my own?” 
― Aidan Chambers, This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn

Giving thanks today for the beauty around and before me.  My children, our home and the cool breeze that blows gently through the window.  The Sunshine and warmth.  The Prayer.

Day 11: Gratefulness Journey--Mother Earth's Wisdom

Day 11: Gratefulness Journey--Mother Earth's Wisdom

According to an article on Common Dreams   an 'environmental warrior' and her husband were rejected in their hunt to use oil and gas drilling leases under federal land that they purchased.  'The Williamses are appealing (pdf) a decision by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which last month revoked oil and gas drilling leases that the couple had purchased at a public land auction in February. The government rejected their claim because the Tempest Exploration Company had "no intention of developing the two leases."  --Resistance is Courage

Going further: 

In a press statement, Williams, who authored the 2008 book Finding Beauty in a Broken World, shared some "words of reflection on our nation's new challenge following the presidential election and our duty to act to protect that which is most important to us." They follow:

It is morning. I am mourning.

And the river is before me.  

I am a writer without words who is struggling to find them.  

I am holding the balm of beauty, this river, this desert, so vulnerable, all of us.  

I am trying to shape my despair into some form of action, but for now, I am standing on the cold edge of grief.  

We are staring at a belligerent rejection of change by our fellow Americans who believe they have voted for change.  

The seismic shock of a new political landscape is settling.  

For now, I do not feel like unity is what is called for.  

Resistance is our courage.  

Love will become us.  

The land holds us still.  

Let us pause and listen and gather our strength with grace and move forward like water in all its manifestation: flat water, white water, rapids and eddies, and flood this country with an integrity of purpose and patience and persistence capable of cracking stone.  

I am a writer without words who continues to believe in the vitality of the struggle.  

Let us hold each other close

and be kind.  

Let us gather together and break bread.  

Let us trust that what is required of us next will become clear in time.  

What has been hidden is now exposed.  

This river, this mourning, this moment  —May we be brave enough to feel it deeply, and act.

First off--what the heck is an 'environmental warrior' and her hubby doing by purchasing these rights in the first place?  Having an intent to drill under federal land that went up on an auction block--because the current administration didn't protect the land--and getting upset about not being able to drill?  Yet talking about how close she is to the river?  How messed up can one get?  Mourning what?  the river?  the ability to drill?  the money that would be made?  People's intentions and heart are all over the place. Whether she can write about the serenity of the river or not--get your thinking right...for God's sake!

Studies done here in the United States have indicated mixed reviews--especially when funded by the oil and gas industry.  A major expose' on the Fracking Industry compiled by the Public Accountability Initiative indicates "Over the years, some of this science has proven less than reliable. In a trend that became known as “frackademia,” several universities issued industry-friendly fracking studies that the institutions later retracted and walked back due to erroneous central findings, false claims of peer review, and undisclosed industry ties. The studies bore the hallmarks of an industry effort to manipulate and corrupt the scientific debate around fracking, much like the tobacco industry manipulated the scientific debate around the dangers associated with smoking."

Meanwhile, up in Canada a recent report finds that fracking leads to earthquakes. Imagine that. Ian Johnson writes in a recent article --

Fracking can cause earthquakes that rumble on for months after the controversial gas extraction process ends, a new study has found. Researchers recorded more than 900 individual tremors linked to hydraulic fracturing, as it is properly known, between December 2014 and March 2015 in an area around Fox Creek in Alberta, Canada, according to a paper in the journal Science.  --Fracking can Cause Earthquakes

What in all of this is there to be grateful about?  All of these man made pushes towards industrialization, big money, profit and control/killing of Mother Earth?  That Mother Earth continues to show humanity their lack of understanding through natural disasters. That Mother Earth continues to show through earthquakes, lack of predictable weather patterns, dying off of critters, tsunami's and the like to those of you who continue to deny her.  Right on Mama...right on.  And?  Grateful to those of us who are praying for her life, standing up in places like Standing Rock, Peru, Argentina, the European Nations moving towards Sustainability.  Grateful for my clients who continue to work with Mother Nature even though there is fear, anger and hatred in the world today.  Grateful that there are those with eyes to see, hearts open to feel, and minds prepared to continue the fight for protecting Mother Earth.  Right on protectors, right on!  The natural disasters and change in weather patterns continue--even here in the Northwood's.

I stepped outside early on this morning when my puppies needed to explore outside.  3 am and warm.  Possible rain and possible snow maybe tomorrow.  Polar ice sheets melting at faster rates than ever...thousands of fish dying off in New York....thousands of acres on fire in the Southeast...New Zealand earthquake lifting the land... Mama is not finished teaching you a thing or two about life.  One of these days you're going to put aside that money and that pipeline and realize the truth.  All of your trying to control and make Her into what you want her to be is leading you nowhere.  Whether you take down all of humanity in your quest to control has yet to be seen.  Keep choosing people...let's all see where this one goes.  Shall we?