Apology

I’m delighted huge crowds of Native Americans went to Standing Rock in North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access pipeline and its route through their sacred lands and under a Missouri River reservoir. I was pleased to hear several military veterans showed up last weekend as a peaceful human shield. I’m delighted the Army Corps of Engineers has said they will search for a new route for the pipeline. I worry the nasty guy and his minions will overturn this decision.

Here’s another piece to the story that blew me away. Wesley Clark was the Army’s supreme commander at NATO, now retired. His son, Wes, Jr., was one of the veterans that went to Standing Rock. After the pipeline was halted Wes and several veterans took part in a Native ceremony. They apologized for the brutal history between the United States and Native people, then knelt and asked for forgiveness. You can watch the ceremony here.



I think this sweet video – so sweet it got 10 million views in two weeks – is actually a three minute commercial for English for Beginners for Polish TV. We see an elderly man working to learn English. At the end we see why he made so much effort.