Olympic Torch Relay Stopped at Six Nations Relay re-routed off Six Nations' Territory

Olympic Torch Relay Stopped at Six Nations Relay re-routed off Six Nations' Territory
by Alex Hundert

Ohsweken, Grand River Territory--Yesterday, as reported in many mainstream
media outlets, organisers from Six Nations of an action against the Olympic
Torch Relay declared the day a success. Their goal of keeping the torch and
the relay caravan out of the "heart" of their territory was set in order to
prevent the Torch Relay from being used to paint a benevolent image of
Canada's relations with First Nations, and to prevent a violation of their
territorial sovereignty as well as of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) "Great
Law of Peace."

While the entire territory spans beyond the full length of the Grand River,
the declaration made by the Hoskanigetha and Agongweh (Men's and Women's
Councils) as well as youth and other "concerned people" referred, rather, to
boundaries of the Six Nations reserve. The Torch Relay caravan as has
proceeded through most other scheduled stops did not even enter the reserve.
Rather, a few vehicles drove the torch around the reservation and entered
"through the back door" for a torch celebration on the edge of the reserve.

Spokespeople for the action made it clear that the intention of blocking the
torch from crossing the territory was not about sports or about confronting
their "own people" or preventing them from celebrating. Accordingly, there
was no disruptive demonstration at the Torch Celebration site. Instead, a
group of 30-40 people gathered at a point on Hwy. 54 which they had declared
the torch would have to go around, even after the celebration had been
moved. The Torch Celebration's original location had been scheduled for a
location right in the centre of Ohswken, the town sitting at the centre of
the reserve. That plan had been called off before noon and announced
officially at a press conference shortly after 1pm.

At that press conference, local event organizers tried to claim that the
re-routing had nothing to do with planned protests, and that they felt that
the Olympics should not be made political. When pressed by reporters
however, organizers admitted that the scheduled actions against the relay
contributed to the decision.

Spokespeople for the action, like activists across the country, however,
were quite clear in their statements that the international context of the
Olympics inherently makes the torch relay political, especially with respect
to Indigenous sovereignty and land rights (Canada is one of only three
developed countries that have not signed the International Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples). Olympic organizers and sponsors were
accused of using the Torch Relay and the Games as a propaganda campaign to
change their image and Canada's image on a global stage.

Spokespeople for the action also talked about solidarity with Indigenous
Peoples in so-called British Columbia who have spurred a national
anti-Olympic movement. In both Toronto and Montreal, the main message of and
the primary chants of the rallies have been "No Olympics on Stolen Native
Land." They cited the issues of unceded territories, land destruction, and
the displacement and criminalization of the urban poor in Vancouver, and
Canada's ongoing colonial and assimilationist policies and practices, as
just some of the reasons why activists across the country and in Six Nations
have mobilized against the Olympics, and why the 2010 games are being
viewed as in principle, a violation of the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace.

Help Support our Native people California Valley Miwok Tribe

Help Support our Native people California Valley Miwok Tribe




Can you help forward to all Native people and Tribes! Thank you so much! Help stand with our Miwok Sisters and Brothers !





CVMT Press Release:



From: Administrator's Office californiavalleymiwoktribe@...



California Valley Miwok Tribe



Picket the Central California Agency-Bureau of Indian Affairs



The California Valley Miwok Tribe invites you to join us in our open protest against the local Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dept. of the Interior, Central California Agency



Our Tribe is a federally recognized Tribe that is listed in the Federal Register as an Indian Entity Recognized and Eligible to receive services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs.



The Central California Agency — BIA is illegally trying to re-organize a federally recognized Tribe that has never been terminated, that has a Custom and Tradition Tribal Constitution ratified by the Tribe in March 2000.



The local BIA has been illegally withholding our Mature Status 638

Contract since 2008 and by refusing to confirm to the California Gambling Control Commission who our duly elected Chairperson is, BIA has caused the CGCC to illegally withhold the Tribe's Revenue Sharing Trust Fund Monies (RSTF) since 2005.



Our civil rights have been violated. The local BIA is also violating federal law.



We (the "Tribe") have no money to fund our Tribal Programs, all employees have been layed off since Dec 2007.



The Tribe cannot pay its bills, and the only Tribal Property (1% acres of land at 10601 Escondido Pl., Stockton, CA 95212) has been foreclosed on.



The Sheriff's Department is scheduled to evict the Tribe and its members off the Tribal Property on January 15, 2010.



We are demanding that our funding be released immediately so we can save our Tribal Property and not be homeless. We are demanding fair treatment by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. We are demanding that an investigation into the inappropriate actions and treatment of our Tribe, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Dept of the Interior - BIA mission is to "protect and honor its trust responsibilities to American Indians, Alaskan Natives and Affiliated Island Communities", so why have they failed so miserably with protecting the California Valley Miwok Tribe?



Come join us, voice your concerns and issues.


Show strength in UNITY!!



Where: John Moss Building - Central Calif. Agency/Bureau of Indian Affairs 650 Capitol Mall,

Sacramento, Calif. 95814



When: Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 & Thursday, January 7 th, 2010

Time: 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. (each day)

followed by a 1 hour Press Conference (each day)



For

more info contact the California Valley Miwok Tribe at (209) 931 -4567
http://www.californiavalleymiwoktribe-nsn.gov
and http://californiavalleymiwoktribe.us

All are welcome to join us, voice your concerns and issues, Show strength in UNITY!!

Our Tribal funds are being illegally withheld,

Our civil rights and Federal Law is being violated.

Our Tribe is facing forced eviction on Jan 15 th, 2010

The Bureau of Indian Affairs must be held accountable.



The Public needs to know the truth about how American Indians rights are being abused!


Please join us! We need your support!

Need Your Prayers Folks

Need Your Prayers
Folks I'm not going into details. But we may soon lose our farm to taxes and income loss.
Just pray for us is all I ask.
Dave

Happy Holidays from Leonard

Happy Holidays from Leonard

Greetings and happy holidays. I hope this letter finds you all enjoying the spirit of the season with family and friends.

My August parole denial was appealed in short order. We are expecting a response to that appeal sometime very soon. It has occurred to me that the viciousness of this system knows no bounds, and so I believe strongly in the coming days we will hear of another loss, another denial. This one will be timed and intended specifically as a twisted Christmas present for me, such is the nature of those in charge. With no sense of balance, fairness, or decency, I await my own personal stocking stuffer.

We all know the so-called justice system of this country is more about revenge and retribution than finding true and just resolution. It doesn’t take into account the plight of the wrongfully convicted, nor does it allow flexibility as human endeavors always require. This system has always been about making money at the top, furthering careers in the middle, and forgetting those at the bottom.

Their reason for denying my parole is that I refuse to admit guilt and show remorse for the deaths of two FBI agents. I know the righteousness of my situation. I know what I did and didn’t do. I will never yield.

I also know what this country did and continues to do to me and many others. While they demand I make a false confession for the sake of my freedom, they show no remorse for the loss of much of my life, or the lives of Joe Stuntz and countless others they have murdered over the generations simply for being who they were. Those lives are meaningless when compared to their precious FBI, I guess. And now, some of the very ones responsible for the deaths and suffering of so many of my people, are peddling books and claiming to be a friend of the Indian. We’ve seen this before, and I’ll speak more about this soon.

I remain proud of what I have stood for and mindful of what real justice is. In this season of love and forgiveness, please say a prayer for all of those who never knew justice and others who have such difficulty in finding it still today.

My love and my prayers go out to all of you.
Happy Holidays

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Leonard Peltier

Issues & News Dec. 24, 2009 Parts 1, 2, &3

Part 1
http:​/​/​blogs.​myspace.​com/​index.​cfm?​fuseaction=​blog.​view&​friendId=​98128197&​blogId=​523392068
Part 2
http:​/​/​blogs.​myspace.​com/​index.​cfm?​fuseaction=​blog.​view&​friendId=​98128197&​blogId=​523392451
Part 3
http:​/​/​blogs.​myspace.​com/​index.​cfm?​fuseaction=​blog.​view&​friendId=​98128197&​blogId=​523392606

Indian Health Bill takes Step Forward

Indian Health Bill takes Step Forward
Friday, December 4, 2009
By Scott
http://www.nc-cherokee.com/onefeather/2009/12/04/indian-health-bill-takes-step-forward/
Senate Committee passes Bill during Business Meeting



By Scott McKie B.P.

One Feather staff



Information from the National Institutes of Health states that American Indians are 200 percent more likely to die from diabetes than other groups. The Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2009 was written to help combat that disparity.

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee passed the Senate version of the bill (S. 1790) during a meeting on Thursday, Dec. 3. One of the bill’s co-sponsors, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), said in a statement on Thursday that he is hoping for swift passage of the bill in the Senate.

“The action by the Indian Affairs Committee today is a crucial step in assuring that American Indians receive the health care they deserve,” said Sen. Johnson. “This bill will help us live up to our obligation to help Indian Country. It is long overdue and I hope that the full Senate moves quickly on passing this legislation.”

Vickie Bradley, EBCI Deputy Health Officer commented, “I am very excited that the Senate Indian Affairs Committee passed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act of 2009 and it will now move to the Senate floor. This is a reassuring step in a very long process. The last IHCIA expired at the end of Fiscal Year 2001. Although the government has still appropriated money for health programs since the previous law expired, there has been no guarantee of continuation without reauthorization of the new law.”

Bradley continued, ”We know that Native Americans suffer from some of the worst health disparities in the world. The reauthorization of the IHCIA of 2009 will permanently reauthorize Native American health care programs and apply standards to ensure the modernization and improvement of health care in Indian Country. The legislation, originally authorized in 1976 and last authorized in 1992, provides health care for Native Americans and Alaska Natives to help fulfill the U.S. government’s treaty and trust responsibilities.”

The House is also advancing a version of this bill (HR 2708) that was introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ). During a meeting with the National Indian Health Board in September, Rep. Pallone said, “Native Americans continue to suffer from a number of problems when it comes to health care, including lower rates of insurance coverage, restricted access to medical care and health professionals, and poorer health outcomes. For too long there has been a growing divide between the health care services afforded Native American communities. We have made some progress, but more has to be done to improve their health care services.”

According to the summary of the bill, several major points in the legislation include:

Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act
Replacing the Urban Health Programs Branch with a Division of Urban Indian Health
Directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Indian Health Service, to provide programs of comprehensive behavioral health, prevention, and treatment
Authorizing grants to urban Indian organizations for health information technology, telemedicine services development, and related infrastructure
Establishing the Native American Health and Wellness Foundation

Sweat lodge guru now linked to San Diego death

Sweat lodge guru now linked to San Diego death

(Note: This "Guru" also used mind altering drugs at his seminars. And it is reported that he used them at the one this poor lady was at. And her friends said she began acting strangely after the drugs were forced on her. She did not want to use them but was coerced by Ray or his staff. Then she committed suicide. To see more about Ray's drug practice, read the other article below.)

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=11652343

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) - A self-help guru who is linked to three sweat lodge deaths in Arizona has now been linked to a bizarre suicide at Horton Plaza. A woman on one of his retreats committed suicide at the mall, and another participant actually witnessed it.

That witness didn't realize what he was seeing until hours later, or that the woman was a part of the group. There was confusion because the woman was dressed as though she was homeless.

Colleen Conaway's family is still in shock the Minnesota native took her own life while on a three-day seminar last July here in San Diego hosted by self-help guru James Ray.

As part of the retreat - which cost thousands of dollars - participants were told to spend a few hours pretending they were homeless as a lesson in self-sufficiency.

Participant Andy Grant says during the exercise, he witnessed a woman, later identified as Colleen Conaway, leap 30 feet to her death from a third-floor balcony at Horton Plaza near where a group of children were performing.

"I looked back at the woman and she put her hands up and just fell forward," Grant said.

While shaken up, Grant did not realize Conaway was part of the James Ray group, which returned to their hotel at the end of the day, apparently not concerned Conaway was not among them.

Because she was posing as homeless, Conaway had no ID or cell phone on her.

"At the hospital, we labeled her as a Jane Doe because she had no identification," a medical examiner's spokesperson said.

In fact, seven hours elapsed before the James Ray group finally reported the 46-year-old missing, at which time investigators were able to identify her body through a driver's license picture and inform her heartbroken family back home.

"All I know is she is alone -- No ID, no means of getting a hold of us or anyone in a big city where she didn't know anyone," Colleen's mother Marian said.

A spokesman for the James Ray group said, "There is no evidence whatsoever that Mr. Ray or James Ray International contributed to or could have prevented Miss Conaway's tragic sucide."

Colleen Conaway had paid $12,000 dollars on the San Diego retreat and two future James Ray events. Her family says at the very least they're entitled to a refund. Conaway's family says they have received no money back from the James Ray group.

Breaking News: James Ray drugged participants and forced snake handling
http://www.examiner.com/x-11245-Philadelphia-Speculative-Fiction-Examiner~y2009m12d15-Breaking-News-James-Ray-drugged-participants-and-forced-snake-handling?cid=examiner-email
When news of the death lodge first emerged everyone called it a tragic accident. As more information came to light everyone called it negligence. As we continue to look into the James Ray scandal we begin to see a larger picture, a pattern of abuse growing in severity that resulted in at least four deaths, possibly five.
I fully expected Nightline to divulge all the dirty little experiential events at James Ray’s other seminars since they were speaking to former JRI employee Melinda Martin. They didn’t though, so it looks like it’s up to me.
The death lodge was not James Ray’s first attempt to cook people. I’ve heard reports that both his Modern Magick and Practical Mysticism seminars include an event where participants walk across a bed of hot coals and lots of people have been badly burned because of this. The worst example I heard of this was at a retreat where approximately 80% of people received second or third degree burns. Now, I don’t know a whole lot about fire-walking and it seems like a pretty bad idea to me, but plenty of people have reported walking across coals without any injuries at all. In the retreat mentioned above, where the majority received burns, it appears to be due to the accelerant James Ray “spilled” on the coals and sections of the dirt where participants were walking barefoot.
What are some other features of the Modern Magick retreat, besides the human barbeque? James Ray also drugged participants. I repeat - James Ray drugged participants. Hallucinogenic breathing techniques are one thing, but James Ray goes above and beyond that and actually drugs his victims with some sort of hallucinogenic muscle relaxer.
What is this drink he coerces people into consuming? I don’t know, but we have a pretty detailed description. It’s a thick liquid described as mud-like. It tastes like dirt and definitely had mind-altering effects. James Ray described the substance as a sort of truth serum, claiming that it would release inhibitions and allow participants’ honest feelings to come out. Participants drank about four cups of this and it produced a heavy bloated feeling. Another notable side effect was that participants pooped black insanity for a couple of days. If anyone has ideas as to what this drink might be or what it’s made of please let me know in the comments.
Another activity at Modern Magick is something called “Dreamers and Dreamed”. Participants were put on silence and not allowed to talk to anyone and then had to wander around to different “stations”. At these “stations” the participants were supposed to hold their arms out in front of their face and look at their palms. They would then flip their hands to look at the back and say something like “Is this real or is this a dream?” after they had done this at the different stations they would go back to the classroom and lay down on their mat. They would rest for a bit and then they were supposed to get up and do the exact same thing, over and over again. This went on for about two hours, maybe longer. It was stressed to participants how important it was to do the exact same routine without variation.
What does this exercise signify? I’m not sure yet, but I think it’s a little odd that between 300 and 600 participants were wandering around the host locations all zombie like, in a trance, not talking, and nobody questioned this.
The most worrisome description of the Modern Magick seminar actually comes from the description of the breathing exercises. James Ray told participants that some may feel like taking off their clothes during the exercise and that staff members would be walking around to cover them with blankets and keep them from being exposed. They were also told that people might be doing things like gyrating hips, etc. James Ray stressed the importance of everyone staying on their own mat and to stay focused on themselves and not others. This setup is so ripe for abuse that I shudder to think what James Ray really meant with the trigger phrase for this activity – “Exactly what you need is exactly what you get.”
The Spiritual Warrior retreat ended with the grand finale of the death lodge and Modern Magick ended with no less of a shocker. James Ray had the same type of lead up saying things like “You’re not out of the woods yet! I have one more thing planned for you.” He also stressed that every single person there had to do it, had to participate. Then he brought out the snakes.
There were large fish tanks filled with writhing, squirming masses of serpents. Participants were told they had to reach through the snakes and grab a key from the bottom of the tank. James Ray told participants these were the keys that unlocked the door to their future. The snakes were all different sizes and species, but James Ray never said whether they were venomous or not.
Now, I’m sure some people are thinking “But James Ray would have to be psychotic to have hundreds and hundreds of people put their hands through five or six inches of venomous snakes!” and, well, yes. Yes, he would. In fact, snake handling is illegal in many states so I definitely think we should find out exactly what types of snakes James Ray was using, and if he had the appropriate exotic animals permits required to have snakes in that quantity. If the serpents were in fact vipers, then I suspect James Ray and staff will be looking at a whole new slew of charges.
Speaking of James Ray’s staff, it turns out that sometimes their job descriptions include things like “pretend to be a participant”. Greg Hartle has done this on more than one occasion.
Other reports of dangerous activities and injuries at James Ray seminars include bending rebar between two people’s necks, breaking arrows on necks (with sharpened metal point!), multiple broken bones from multiple activities – including standing meditation for hours resulting in falls (don’t forget Lorena Bathey’s arm), torn muscles/ligaments, walking on hot coals, and of course all the dangers of the Spiritual Warrior death lodge retreat.

Grave Desecrator Gets Environmental Fine Cathead Landing Development Fined

Grave Desecrator Gets Environmental Fine

Cathead Landing Development Fined

(Note: These are the same folks that flattened an area that was part of a 2000 to 3000 year old village site with mounds that is well documented in a recent archaeological study.)

Cathead Landing LLC was found guilty of violating
Darien’s Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control
Ordinance by engaging in land disturbing activities
without a permit and destroying the required 25 foot buffer
between the development and the inlet of Cathead Creek.
City of Darien Municipal Court Judge W.I. Williams
imposed a $48,500 fi ne on developer Jarrell Jones on
October 8, 2009. Jones estimated it would cost $32,000 to
restore the 25 foot buffer and Judge Williams reduced the
cash fi ne to $16,500 payable to the City of Darien.
This decision shows that Darien is serious about
enforcing its environmental protection ordinances. It also
serves as a reminder to developers to protect buffers before
engaging in land disturbing activities and to obtain the
proper permits before construction.

Republican Gov. of Georgia Don't Know Nothing About Any Permits

Republican Gov. of Georgia Don't Know Nothing About Any Permits

(Note: And we wonder why Georgia is in such bad shape.)
Hall of Shame: Governor Perdue United States Army Corps of Engineers Complaint

Govenor Purdue Dumps in Jackson Lake
http://www.altamahariverkeeper.org/education/shame_perdue.asp
Governor’s dredging in Jackson Lake questioned by some
http://www.altamahariverkeeper.org/education/shame_perdue.asp#dredging
Complaint Letter
http://www.altamahariverkeeper.org/education/shame_perdue.asp#complaint
Perdue to move dirt dredged from Lake Jackson boat slip
http://www.altamahariverkeeper.org/river_news/ocmulgee/news/112609.asp
Governor Purdue Dumps in Jackson Lake

On October 3, when Jackson Lake residents Fonnette and Robert Harris saw someone dredging in the lake with a track hoe, they took their pontoon boat across the lake to investigate.

According to the Harris’s they confronted the man standing on the dock next to the dredging and asked him if he had permits to be dredging in Jackson Lake, the man replied, "Ma'am, I don't know nothing about any permits."

When the Harris’s asked if Governor Perdue knew they were doing this work, the gentleman politely replied, “ma’am I am the Governor."

Mrs Harris said “Governor don’t you know you are violating many environmental regulations? “

The Governor replied “I don’t know nothing about any environmental regulations.”

At that time Ms Harris said “ and you are the Governor of GA ?”

The Altamaha Riverkeeper James Holland reported the incidence to the federal Environmental Protection Agency because the incidence requires a Federal investigation.

Holland says “It is illegal to dredge in Waters of the U.S. without first obtaining at minimum a Federal Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit. It is illegal to discharge a pollutant (dredge spoil) into the Waters of the U.S. without first obtaining a CWA Section 404 Permit to discharge pollutants (dredge spoil) into Waters of the U.S.

Holland says “the amount of dredged spoil discharged illegally is not in question at this time; what is in question is why Governor Perdue did not obtain any and all permits prior to beginning of his dredging in Waters of the U.S. The Governor saying he did not know a permit was needed is not an acceptable excuse for the Chief Law Enforcement Officer for the State of Georgia. It is common knowledge, every county commission chairman in this state knows that you cannot dredge in waters of the U.S. without prior obtaining Federal Permits, much less discharge the dredge spoil back into the same body of water it came from.”

ARK talked to Molly Davis with the Environmental Protection Agency about the incident. According to Davis, Georgia Power is the permit holder for Jackson Lake and ultimately responsible for all actions on the lake. Davis says GA Power investigated and estimated that five cubic yards of dirt was dredged at the Governor’s dock and discharged into the lake and that corrective action will be required of the Governor. She said, after Thanksgiving when Georgia Power lowers the lake levels, the Governor will have to properly remove and dispose of the approximate 5 cubic yards of dirt to a proper confined upland disposal site.

According to the Altamaha Riverkeeper this action (dredging) by Governor Perdue is no different from any other entity in the State of Georgia, “We expect everyone to follow the law. “Holland says.
ARK asked Mrs. Harris how she felt knowing the governor would have to take corrective action and she said “I will believe it when I see it.”

Governor’s dredging in Jackson Lake questioned by some

Nov. 07, 2009
By S. Heather Duncan | Macon Telegraph

Gov. Sonny Perdue recently dredged soil from Lake Jackson without a permit, dumping it into the lake and angering some neighbors and environmental advocates.

Georgia Power officials said the activity at Perdue’s vacation home was not a violation, although a Georgia Power permit should have been obtained first. They said Perdue stopped digging as soon as he was informed that a permit was needed.

State and federal environmental regulations generally forbid property owners from dumping silt in a waterway or even allowing erosion off their property. The Ocmulgee River flows out of Lake Jackson and through Macon.

Perdue’s communications director, Bert Brantley, said Perdue will obtain a proper permit in the future if he needs to do work at the lake, but he has no immediate plans to do so. Perdue’s boat slip, like many at the lake after heavy rains this fall, had become clogged with mud.

Special to The Telegraph A man dredges soil from
Lake Jackson on the property of Gov. Sonny Perdue, left.

“The amount (dredged) was so small I don’t think there was any thought that there would be any environmental damage,” Brantley said. “With the investment he’s made there, he loves the lake and only wants what’s best for it.”

Neighbor Fonnette Harris, who lives directly across from Perdue on the lake, reported the dredging to Georgia Power when she saw it happening Oct. 3. She said she and her husband rode to Perdue’s dock in their pontoon boat to take pictures of a trackhoe sitting in the lake and scooping dirt out of Perdue’s boat slip, then dumping it further into the lake.

According to Harris, she and her husband asked a man standing on the dock if he had a permit and whether he knew there were environmental regulations about dredging, and he said no.

“We asked, ‘Does the governor know you’re doing this on his property?’ and he said, ‘I am the governor,’” Harris said.

All lake residents are provided the Georgia Power Shoreline Management Guidelines, which list activities that require a permit, said Harris, whose husband’s family has leased their lakefront land for more than 60 years.

After seeing pictures of the dredging, Altamaha Riverkeeper James Holland said they appear to depict a Clean Water Act violation. Holland’s environmental advocacy group keeps tabs on the health of the watershed that drains to the Altamaha, including Lake Jackson.

But the amount of dredging may have been small enough that no laws were broken. Lynn Wallace, a Georgia Power spokeswoman, said the company estimates that Perdue dredged about 5 cubic yards of dirt.

Such activity could fall under a nationwide permit that allows dredging of less than 10 cubic yards without notifying anyone first, said David Crosby, deputy regulatory division chief for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah district. Otherwise, he said the circumstances described would constitute a Clean Water Act violation.

Georgia Power has a permit from the corps that gives it the authority to permit dredging within certain limits. Among them: No more than 500 cubic yards can be moved, and the silt dug out must be deposited in a confined upland area, Crosby said. He said the corps generally doesn’t want to see heavy equipment in a waterway, either, although that’s not explicitly forbidden.

But Wallace said Georgia Power prefers to see dredging equipment in the lake rather than in the shoreline buffer zone.
Crosby said Georgia Power has the authority to make someone remove silt dumped in the lake, but there is no agreement requiring Georgia Power to report a violation to the corps.

Holland said Perdue’s actions, in his opinion, were an abuse of power and bad for the environment. “There are two different enforcements in Georgia, one for some and one for others,” Holland said, noting that Perdue appoints the chief of the state Environmental Protection Division.

Kevin Chambers, the EPD communications director, said no complaints seem to have been filed or investigations conducted into the dredging at Perdue’s property.

Wallace said Georgia Power handled the situation as it would for any property owner, adding that dredging permits are almost always approved.

Perdue has not applied for a permit since the incident, Wallace said, “but of course if he wants to dredge, we’ll issue him a permit,” she said.

However, Harris contended that this treatment is different from what her family has received.

“Just a few months ago, Georgia Power told us under no circumstances can you put equipment within 25 feet” of the shoreline, she said.

Harris said when she recently erected a temporary cover over her boat slip without written permission, Georgia Power sent her a letter threatening to revoke her family’s lease and destroy the structures.

Butts County tax assessment records show Perdue bought his house and an adjacent lot at 196 Andrea Circle, assessed at almost $465,000 altogether, in 2007.

Photos below did not run with the Macon telegraph story and were taken by: Fonette Harris

James Holland's complaint letter

Mr. Welborn, I need to make a language change in the original complaint to you. The sentence where I said EPD "can/will" should be changed to read "can not/will not" fairly investigate the Governor of Georgia because he appoints the EPD Director(s) for his administration. Thank you. James Holland, ARK ®

Good Morning Mr. Welborn,
Please accept this e-mail from the Altamaha Riverkeeper®, Inc. (ARK®) as an official complaint from the ARK® requesting assistance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This request for assistance is coming to you due to our belief that the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) can/will fairly investigate the Governor of Georgia because he appoints the EPD Director(s) for his administration. Further more, Governor Sonny Perdue is the Chief Law Enforcement Person for the State of Georgia.

The following are the reasons we believe this incident requires a Federal investigation;

This action (dredging) by Governor Perdue is no different from any other entity in the State of Georgia;
It is illegal to dredge in Waters of the U.S. without first obtaining at minimum a Federal Clean Water Act Section 404 Permit;
It is illegal to discharge a pollutant (dredge spoil) into the Waters of the U.S. without first obtaining a CWA Section 404 Permit to discharge pollutants (dredge spoil) into Waters of the U.S.;
The amount of dredged spoil discharged illegally is not in question at this time; what is in question is why Governor Perdue did not obtain any and all permits prior to beginning of his dredging in Waters of the U.S. (Lake Jackson)? What amount of dredging was intended prior to getting caught in an activity that appears to be unlawful dredging in the Waters of The U.S has no bearing on why proper permits were not obtained prior to the activity. Not knowing a permit was needed is not an acceptable excuse for the Chief Law Enforcement Officer for the State of Georgia. Every County Commissioner Chairman in this state knows that you can not dredge in waters of the U.S. without prior obtaining Federal Permits, much less discharge the dredge spoil back into the same body of water it came from.




Prior to this e-mail I forwarded you an article that appeared in the Florida Times Union (Georgia Edition) (11-6-09) regarding Governor Perdue's "Go Fish" initiative in Georgia regarding Jaycee Landing (Jesup) and dredging permits.

Once again, as the Chief EPA Region 4 Wetlands Enforcement we request that you initiate an investigation into the dredging activities of the Governor of Georgia dredging in Lake Jackson, a Water Body of the U.S.

I would like to thank you in advance for your assistance in this extremely important matter.
James Holland, Altamaha Riverkeeper®

Cherokee Phoenix Weekly Newsletter

Cherokee Phoenix Weekly Newsletter
http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/

Selling Drugs to Fund Terror: al-Qaeda Linked to Cocaine Trafficking

Selling Drugs to Fund Terror: al-Qaeda Linked to Cocaine Trafficking
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/selling-drugs-fund-terror-al-qaeda-linked-cocaine/story?id=9373341&nwltr=blotter_featureMore
Three men linked to al-Qaeda arrested in Africa by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents following a cocaine sting operation have been extradited to New York and are slated to appear in federal court in Manhattan today, according to federal sources.


Shabab militia patrol Bakara Market in Mogadishu in this Oct. 2009 file photo. Three men linked to...
(Abdurashid Abikar/AFP/Getty Images)
The arrests confirm the suspicions of the DEA that al-Qaeda is providing protection for narcotics traffic and using the proceeds "to facilitate terror operations," federal sources said. Oumar Issa, Harouna Toure and Idress Abelrahman will be charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization after allegedly agreeing to transport cocaine shipments as large as 1,000 kilos.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE CRIMINAL COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST ISSA, TOURE AND ABELRAHAM

http://a.abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/Issa,%20Oumar%20et%20al.%20Complaint.pdf

According to DEA officials, the cocaine sting was orchestrated along a route through West Africa to North Africa that serves as a gateway for transshipment to Europe. The men were arrested after an investigation in which informants and agents posed as Latin American narco-terrorists who shared anti-American interests with the men.

Issa, Toure and Abelrahman claim to be from Mali, sources say. The operatives who conducted the sting posed as members of the Colombian revolutionary group FARC.

According to the unsealed criminal complaint, a confidential source met with Issa and Toure in Ghana in Sep. and Oct. The source, using the cover of a Lebanese radical, told Issa he represented FARC and that "the Colombians were very sympathetic to 'the cause.'"

The source then met with Toure, who said he could transport cocaine from Ghana through North Africa to Spain. "Toure also described his strong relationship with the al-Qaeda groups that control areas of North Africa," said the complaint. "Toure stated that he has worked with al-Qaeda to transport and deliver between one and two tons of hashish to Tunisia," and also cooperated with al-Qaeda in human trafficking. He also allegedly told the source that he could work with al-Qaeda to arrange kidnappings for ransom. Toure said that "our friends, the radicals and the Muslims" would guarantee the transport of a shipment of cocaine through the desert. "Toure clarified that the 'military people' were al-Qaeda," according to the complaint. Toure then produced Abdelrahman as a member of the militia that would guard the contraband on its trip.



Terrorists, Crooks Allowed to Keep FAA Pilot's Licenses
Citing ABC News Report, Senators Call for Investigation of TSA Vetting Process
By ERIC LONGABARDI and JOSEPH RHEE
Dec. 18, 2009
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/terrorists-crooks-faa-pilots-licenses/story?id=9363727&nwltr=blotter_subfeaturePic
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has asked the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Inspector General to investigate why suspect individuals – including terrorists and drug kingpins – have been able to retain their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pilot's licenses.


Fernando Zevallos Gonzalez, called the "Al Capone of Peru" by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency....
(ABC News Photo Illustration)
In a letter to DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner, the senators cited media reports, including an ABC News investigation, that questioned the ability of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to purge the FAA's aviation list of individuals posing a threat to transportation security.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER

http://abcnews.go.com/images/Blotter/Skinner%20IG%20Letter.pdf

In one high-profile case reported by theBlotter, a well-known drug boss named Fernando Zevallos Gonzalez was able to keep his U.S. aviation license despite being on a "black list" of foreign drug kingpins since 2004.

The Blotter also reported the names of two other men tied to drug trafficking and two convicted arms traffickers who still had their licenses as of Oct. The New York Times revealed that individuals charged or convicted of terrorism-related crimes were also able to retain their FAA licenses. While some of the individuals named in the ABC News and Times reports have since been stripped of their licenses, others have not, according to Safe Banking Systems (SBS), the New York computer security firm that first uncovered the suspect cases.

"These reports are disturbing, and suggest that people who are believed to pose security threats to our nation continue to have ready access to aircraft and airport facilities," the letter to Skinner states. The letter is signed by senators Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Tex., ranking member of the committee; Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security; and Jim DeMint, R-S.C., ranking member of the subcommittee.

Interviews update Crow Creek 12-18

Interviews update Crow Creek 12-18


Photo by NDN News

Chairman Brandon Sazue from Crow Creek & Mo Brings Plenty, Oglala Lakota will be on NA Calling onTuesday, December 23rd

Native America Calling Airs Live
Monday - Friday, 1-2pm Eastern
www.nativeamericacalling.com



Listen to Tiokasin Ghosthorse’s First Voices Indigenous Radio show from yesterday morning (December 17th)
Crow Creek section of the interview can be heard at the last 18 minutes or so.
www.firstvoicesindigenousradio.org/program_archives.html



Will post more relevant info and another update regarding what steps they are taking later this evening.


For more info, visit our website at:
NDN News
www.NDNnews.com

NDN News is a grassroots organization which acts as an information hub and resource for many issues in Indian Country. We are dedicated to providing information featuring headline stories, on-going issues, action alerts, and upcoming events.

One West Bank Demands Tribe Vacate Tribal Property by Jan 15 2010 o All: PLEASE PASS THIS FORWARD - DECEMBER 16, 2009

One West Bank Demands Tribe Vacate Tribal Property by Jan 15 2010
o All: PLEASE PASS THIS FORWARD - DECEMBER 16, 2009
>
> Once again, we are being threatened with a forced eviction due to the Department of the Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs ineptness of actions to do anything to assist or protect our Tribe. The governments’ failure or intentional lagging to correct the abuses and inflictions caused to our Tribe by the corruption within the local BIA's Central California Agency and Superintendent Troy Burdick who is personally working with and allowing outside influences to viciously attack and interfere into our Tribal Affairs is now on the brink of causing more serious concerns.
>
> We have continued to forward documented factual information (including the criminal histories of the individuals plotting against us) to the BIA/Dept. of the Interior and our local elected officials, and they still have not stepped in to stop the continued criminal actions (fraud and identity theft) being perpetrated by Chadd Everone and his phony group. Mr. Everone continues to mislead government, court, and other agency officials to believe that he and his attorneys represent our Tribe.
>
> We need your support. We need our story to be put out all across America and abroad. All those who can help us get justice, please come forward. Call your friends, Tribes (recognized or not), Universities, Veterans, Students, Elected Officials, and anyone who can step up and stand with us to get the government to take notice of the hardships and emotional suffering that is being cast upon our Tribe and its members. Due to our local Governor, Congressman, Senators, Assemblymembers, etc… turning a blind-eye to our cries for justice, we are now asking you (the Public) to contact your Congressional representatives, Senators, and Assemblymembers, etc… to help us.
>
> We are requesting that all people who know what its like to have an injustice done to you and who can remember how it felt for people to walk away without helping, or for those who had been wrongly accused and had to stand alone and fight through the tears and frustration to be ridiculed and finally justified in the end when the truth came out in the open, you are the ones that we are asking to step up and help us.
>
> Please send letters, faxes, and or emails to your elected officials, and also leave voice messages regarding how appalled you are about the Bureau of Indian Affairs allowing such abuses to happen to a federally recognized Tribe, for this has gone on (years) too long!!! Do not allow the lies of Chadd Everone and his Gaming Developers (financial backers) to continue to cover up the truth of what they have been doing to destroy us. Demand that an investigation be set forth.
>
> Appointed and elected officials get paid by our tax dollars to protect their citizens. Why is it that they have deaf ears to our situation? Is it because we are Native American Indians? Is it because they just don’t care? The last I remember, identity theft and fraud was illegal in this country, so then, why isn’t Chadd Everone not in jail? Is the Government waiting for one of us, or all of us (in the Tribe) to be seriously or fatally injured? What is going to happen on January 15th 2010 when the Sheriff’s department comes in to force the Tribe and its members out into the street? Will the American Indian Movement come to stand with us? Will the college and university students come to stand with us? Will our local community stand with us? The system of law and righteousness has failed us. Please help us !!
>
> Again and again, we’ve tried to negotiate, we’ve tried the courts, we’ve tried to be patient but unfortunately words don’t pay the bills. One West Bank wants to get paid. WE WANT TO GET PAID!!! THERE IS NO LEGITIMATE REASON FOR THE CALIFORNIA GAMBLING CONTROL COMMISSION TO WITHHOLD OUR RSTF MONEY!!!! NOR IS THERE ANY LEGITIMATE REASON FOR THE LOCAL CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AGENCY/BIA TO WITHHOLD OUR MATURE STATUS 638 CONTRACT!!!THEREFORE WE “THE TRIBE” ARE ASKING YOU “THE PUBLIC” TO DEMAND THAT OUR FUNDS BE RELEASED!! DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION INTO THE CRIMINAL ACTIONS OF THE LOCAL BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS/CENTRAL CALIFORNIA AGENCY, SUPERINTENDENT TROY BURDICK, REGARDING HIS WORKING WITH CHADD EVERONE AGAINST OUR TRIBE. The truth is in the files, all one has to do is investigate!!!
>
> “Chadd Everone” (who is a non- Indian and is not in any way associated with our Tribe, other than trying his best to steal it) has an agenda to cinch his Gaming Agreement with Albert D. Seeno, to build “the Biggest Casino in Northern California” but to do that, he must replace us with his phony group.
>
> We the California Valley Miwok Tribe are asking all of you out there, to please make the calls, write the letters, emails, blogs, twitter messages, radio and tv announcements. Contract your friends, if anyone knows of any actors who are willing to help us get justice, any one who has influence in the media whether it be youtube, rez radio, newsletters, newspapers, banners, flyers, one-liners…. Anything helps!!
>
> While (as another year is set to pass), once again, Government Officials (Bureau Officials included), etc… are readying themselves for the holidays!! Again, they have NO TIME for our concerns, our fears, our cries or our suffering, or our REALITY!!!. SCROOGE IS ALIVE AND WELL . . . WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!
>
> For more information on how to help the Tribe, please contact us at the Tribal office at 209.931.4567 or by fax 209.931.4333 or you may contact the Tribal attorneys at Rosette & Associates, PC at 480-889-8990.
>
> IT SHOULD BE THE GUILTY BEING PUNISHED . . . . NOT THE INNOCENT!!!
>
> Put yourself in our place and think about how you’d feel if you were the one that was quiet and shy and had a bully constantly abusing you. Please make a difference, make the contacts, get President Obama’s attention… let him know that you want change, and that the American public supports the rights of the Native American Indians. Let him know that the California Valley Miwok Tribe needs him to step in and save it from being destroyed due to the lack of action(s) by appointed and/or elected officials who are either unwilling or unable to step up and do their job to protect this Tribe from those individuals who are causing the “Tribe” GREAT harm by using illegal tactics such as identity theft and fraud to discredit it, destroy it financially, and leave us homeless and without any recourse to defend ourselves.
>
> /s/
> Silvia Burley, Chairperson
> s.burley@californiavalleymiwoktribe-nsn.gov
>
> Physical Address:
> California Valley Miwok Tribe
> 10601 Escondido Pl
> Stockton, California 95212
> Tribal Office: 209.931.4567 Fax: 209.931.4333
>
> Mailing Address
> California Valley Miwok Tribe
> 1163 E. March Lane, Suite D-PMB#812
> Stockton, California 95210-4512
>
> http://www.californiavalleymiowktribe-nsn.gov http://californiavalleymiwoktribe.us

U.S. Clears Way to Recognition for Shinnecock Tribe

U.S. Clears Way to Recognition for Shinnecock Tribe
Posted by: "Doria" dwhitlatch2@att.net doria53
Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:32 pm (PST)



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/nyregion/16tribe.html?emc=na









By DANNY HAKIM
Published: December 15, 2009

December 16, 2009

U.S. Clears Way to Recognition for Shinnecock Tribe

A portrait from about 1895 shows
Shinnecock indians who lived on Long Island

By DANNY HAKIM


The Obama administration said Tuesday that the Shinnecock Indians on Long Island meet the criteria for federal recognition, signaling the end of a 30-year court battle and clearing a path for the tribe to pursue its plans for a casino in New York City or its suburbs.

The announcement all but assures that the 1,066-member Shinnecock Indian Nation will receive formal federal recognition, though a public-comment period of up to six months must be held before the final order is issued.

The news could mean significant changes for the relatively poor tribe, most of whose members live on 800 acres in Southampton, N.Y., not far from some of Long Island’s wealthiest communities and expansive celebrity-owned estates.

Shinnecock leaders have long argued that a casino could turn around the tribe’s fortunes.

“This recognition comes after years of anguish and frustration for many members of our Nation, living and deceased,” Randy King, chairman of the Shinnecock trustees, said in a statement, adding, “Perhaps this recognition will help some of our neighbors better understand us and foster a new mutual respect.”

Once it is federally recognized, the tribe would be entitled to build a “Class II” casino on its land that could have thousands of video slot machines but no table games. That has worried some local officials because of the implications that such a casino would have for traffic and tourism in the wealthy resort areas.

Tribal leaders have said they would prefer to negotiate with the state and federal government to build a or Class III casino on land elsewhere that would have table games and could be more lucrative both for the state and the tribe.

Tribal officials have expressed interest in a variety of sites for a casino, including other locations on Long Island or at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens or Belmont, in Nassau.

The state would get none of the proceeds from a Class II casino built on the tribe’s reservation, but would almost certainly insist on a percentage of any proceeds if it permitted construction elsewhere of a bigger casino — which could generate billions of dollars in revenue.

Gov. David A. Paterson had supported the tribe’s bid and urged the Obama administration to recognize it.

“As Governor Paterson has said, federal acknowledgment of the Shinnecock Indian Nation was long overdue,” said Morgan Hook, a spokesman for the governor. “This is a proud day for the Shinnecock. Governor Paterson looks forward to continued government-to-government relations with the Nation, and will continue to support their efforts to achieve full federal recognition.”

The difficult fiscal situation may bring new urgency to casino discussions.

State Senator Craig Johnson, a Long Island Democrat whose district encompasses Belmont, said the state should immediately begin serious talks about the issue.

“The first topic I want to discuss is how Belmont fits into this,” he said.

Gordell Wright, a tribal trustee, said in a statement that “there is no reason to wait for the recognition process to end, and every reason to act now so we can resolve these matters sooner than later.”

Tuesday’s announcement capped an arduous effort by the tribe, which had to meet seven criteria for approval. According to the Interior Department, the Shinnecock tribe needed to demonstrate that it was “continuously identified as an American Indian entity since 1900” and able to trace its origins back much further than that.

It was also required to establish that it was a viable political entity and that its current members are not members of another federally recognized tribe.

“I think their case was very strong,” said George T. Skibine, the acting principal deputy assistant secretary for Indian affairs. “This was not difficult,” he added. “They met those pretty straightforwardly, fairly and squarely. I don’t think there is much room, based on the evidence, for concluding otherwise.”

Mr. Skibine made the decision after Larry Echo Hawk, the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, recused himself from the matter because his brother had a role in representing the Shinnecock tribe.

The tribe’s history goes back hundreds of years; both the Dutch and English skirmished over the area in the 1600s, but the tribe remained there and was granted a 1,000-year lease by British colonists in the town of Southampton in 1703 — a deal that was later renegotiated.

In 1792, partly as a means of settling land disputes with the town farmers, the Shinnecock Indians began their current practice of annually electing three tribal trustees, according to John A. Strong, a retired Long Island University professor who has written three books about the Indians of Long Island.

Other chapters of the tribe’s lore are tragic. In the 1870s, a number of the tribe’s young men died when they were part of a salvage operation of a ship called the Circassian, which sank before they could return to shore.

The tribe’s court fight for federal recognition dates to 1978, when the tribe filed a petition for recognition.

In 2006, when it still had no answer, the tribe sued the Interior Department, saying that the agency had failed to process its request in a reasonable amount of time. Earlier this year, it entered into a settlement with the Interior Department that required a preliminary ruling by the end of this year.

The tribe is also hoping to resolve more than $1 billion worth of land disputes in the Hamptons, including its claim to the site of the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, which has played host to the U.S. Open several times.

The tribe paid at least $1.74 million to seven different lobbying firms since 2005 as part of its recognition effort, according to public records.

As part of that lobbying and public relations campaign, the tribe hired Michael McKeon, Gov. George E. Pataki’s former communications director, and Alan Wheat, a former Missouri congressman, as well as Fleishman-Hillard, a Washington public relations firm.




May the Great Spirit,
Hold you in his loving arms,
And walk with you each and everyday!

Quick update..... Crow Creek

Quick update..... Crow Creek
Hi everyone,

Just a quick update about Crow Creek.

Eric Klein from Can-Do is still on Crow Creek, and hosted live stream tv from Chairman Sazue’s trailer, this is really cool, modern technology! The interview was with Chairman Sazue & Mo Brings Plenty. Go to the following link and click on the show from 12-15http://www.virtualvolunteer.tv

We have been able to secure a couple new radio interviews for Chairman Sazue, he will interview on Thursday, December 17th @ 10am (EST), with First Voices Indigenous Radio, WBAI out of NY City, hosted by Tiokasin Ghosthorse. http://www.firstvoicesindigenousradio.org/index.html. Next week will be Native American Calling, will have to post more details on that later in the week.

There is 1555 sigs on the petition so far, if you havent had a chance to sign, please take a moment to sign today! http://www.petitiononline.com/CrowCrek/petition.html

Mo will be there to support all week, and I believe some other supporters from Pine Ridge will arrive tomorrow sometime. Hoping to make it back down there in the next couple days.

Will keep you posted……….more later.



Tamra Brennan
Founder/Director
NDN News
www.NDNnews.com
www.protectsacredsites.org
www.protectbearbutte.com

NDN News is a grassroots organization which acts as an information hub and resource for many issues in Indian Country. We are dedicated to providing information featuring headline stories, on-going issues, action alerts, and upcoming events.

PROTECT BEAR BUTTE!!!!!!!!
Our Sacred Ground is NOT Your Playground!

"Our sacred lands are all that remain keeping us connected to our place on Mother Earth, to our spirituality, our heritage and our lands; what’s left of them. If they take it all away, what will remain except a vague memory of a past so forgotten?" ......excerpt from One Nation, One Land, One People by Tamra Brennan, 2006

Support needed for Indian Health Care Improvement Act

Support needed for Indian Health Care Improvement Act
Friday, November 20, 2009
By Scott
Should be included in Senate Health Care Reform Bill

http://www.nc-cherokee.com/onefeather/2009/11/20/support-needed-for-indian-health-care-improvement-act/
FRONT PAGE COMMENTARY
By Vickie L. Bradley
EBCI Healthy & Medical Division
As members of the community it is extremely important that we are aware of national issues that affect our ability to receive health care services. With the impending potential for the reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act; it is imperative that our elected officials hear from our community and are asked to support bills that ensure the integrity of the national Indian health system. The Indian Health Care Improvement Act is a vital piece of legislation that the Health and Medical Division asks you to support by contacting your Senators today. The following information is taken from the National Indian Health Board website to inform you of important aspects of the IHCIA.
What is the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA)?
The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) is the key legal authority for the provision of health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). The IHCIA was originally enacted in 1976 to address the deplorable health conditions in Indian Country. As Congress states in the findings of IHCIA:

Federal health services to maintain and improve the health of the Indians are consonant with and required by the Federal government’s historical and unique legal relationship with, and resulting responsibility to, the American Indian people.

Along with the Snyder Act of 1921, the IHCIA forms the statutory basis for the delivery of health care to AI/ANs, by the Indian Health Service (IHS), an agency with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Indian Health Care Improvement Act is the baseline for all health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Since 1992, when the IHCIA was last overhauled, the American health care system has been revolutionized, but the Indian health care system has not been. It is imperative that the IHCIA be reauthorized to begin to bridge this gap. Including IHCIA in a health care reform bill will modernize the Indian health care system at the same time as Congress is reforming health care for all Americans.
Why is it necessary to reauthorize the IHCIA?
Congress should act to officially extend the life of the IHCIA authorization and to update the bill to reflect both the current needs of Indian health care and the modern methods of health care delivery.

The IHCIA contains a number of provisions that authorize appropriation of funds to support health care programs set forth in the law; however, the life of these provisions ended in fiscal year 2001.

Fortunately, the Snyder Act of 1921 provides permanent authority for the appropriation of funds for Indian health, so Congress can and does continue to appropriate funds for these programs. IHCIA needs to be reauthorized to supply the baseline authority for providing direct health care to AI/ANs.

Also, since Congress’ last comprehensive review of IHCIA in 1992, the American health care delivery system has been revolutionized while the Indian health care system has not. For example, mainstream American health care has moved out of hospitals and into people’s homes; focus on prevention has been recognized as both a priority and a treatment; and, coordinating mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse services into comprehensive behavioral health programs is now standard practice. Reflecting these improvements in the IHCIA is a critical aspect of reauthorization.
What are the current healthcare needs of American Indians/Alaskan Natives?
Statistics clearly reflect a critical need for health promotion and disease prevention activities in Indian country which provisions of the IHCIA reauthorization would address this need.
• 13% of Indian deaths occur in those younger than 25, a rate 3 times higher than the U.S population.
• The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights reported in 2003 that “American Indian youths are twice as likely to commit suicide…” Also, suicide ranked as the second leading cause of death for AI/ANs aged 10 to 34 as reported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
• Indians are 550% more likely to die from alcoholism, 200% more likely to die from diabetes, and 150% more likely to suffer accidental death compared with other groups.
Highlights of what is included in the IHCIA Reauthorization
• Establishes objectives for addressing health disparities of Indians as compared with other Americans.
• Enhances the ability of Indian Health Services (IHS) and tribal health programs to attract and retain qualified Indian health care professionals.
• Updates and modernizes health delivery services, such as cancer screenings, home and community based services and long term care for the elderly and disabled.
• Provides innovative mechanisms for reducing the backlog in health facility needs.
• Establishes a continuum of care through integrated behavioral health programs both prevention and treatment –to address alcohol/substance abuse problems and the social service and mental health needs of Indian people.
• Facilitates greater decision-making regarding program operations and priorities at the local tribal level in order to improve services to tribal populations.
How can I help?
It is critical that Senate Leadership and your Senators hear from you right away with your message of support that the IHCIA be included in health care reform. Call or write you Senators and ask that they support IHCIA S. 1790. Make your contacts today!

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which included permanent authorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA) last week. Attention has now turned to the Senate.

As the Senate prepares to consider health care legislation, Indian Country needs to ensure it includes reforms for all Americans by including IHCIA. Senators need to hear from Indian Country so they know that there is support to include IHCIA.

By including IHCIA in the Senate, it will help strengthen the chances of the bill during conference between the House and Senate before a final bill is sent to President Obama.

Support Needed for Indian Health care Improvement Act

Support Needed for Indian Health care Improvement Act

Credit: Thanks to: News Article Copied from Cherokee One Feather Publication of The Eastern Band of Cherokee
(Note: Article was very long and was copied in two sections. Apologies for the overlap)
Dave

Lieberman vs. Weiner

Lieberman vs. Weiner

Dear Sharon,

Snowe? Stupak? Lieberman? Who left these folks in charge?

Here's an idea: how about we fight for a Democratic bill?

It's time for the president to get his hands dirty. Some of us have compromised our compromised compromise. We need the president to stand up for the values our party shares. We must stop letting the tail wag the dog of this debate.

This afternoon the New York Times and other news outlets reported that Senator Lieberman was backing away from his own health care proposal, in part because I liked it.

If this wasn't so sad, it would be amazing. Here you have the most important legislation for millions of Americans' health and welfare, and apparently Senator Lieberman backs away from his own proposal.

Why? Because I and a professor at Yale like it.

All I can say charitably is I hope Senator Lieberman looks into his heart and does the right thing. This is not the time for anyone to act for politics, but to do the right thing. Let's be clear, this is an idea Senator Lieberman has proposed, repeatedly. That others embrace it should not be the criteria for leaders to make decisions. It would be tragic if this is what it appears, a decision based on hurting proponents of reform not helping the millions who need affordable health care coverage.

Some may say reformers should never have praised this measure. But that suggests we all agree to live in an Alice in Wonderland world of saying the opposite of what we mean. Now is the time to talk and act on the merits of an issue. Now is the time for leaders to make the right choices, not political calculations.

Time is short. We need your help. Make sure to post this message on your Facebook wall and retweet on Twitter. Ask your friends to sign up at CountdowntoHealthCare.com and join the fight.

It will take your voice to push Congress in the right direction.
Thanks,
Anthony
1. Click here to post countdowntohealthcare.com on Facebook with the following message:
http://images.myngp.com/LinkTracker.aspx?crypt=IVi0ax2%2b6UBSinc%2fCPYaKTA%2fVzAf3rfsy3tsNESRWbEhbfO3eQVbVgIPcilw9yw5bdz4OBx43m%2bmd0jAfTBMpNeOPv8APFwxUop33WYdHHlo46hwr3QatJSg5z2UfwJQ0AsMUUhdg8qGj4wu%2fxngCoM74l%2fuXVml3bnSdhssEIjHdb00LqdEOQ%3d%3d
It's Weiner vs Lieberman. Show Lieberman you support real health care reform. Sign Rep. Weiner's petition athttp://countdowntohealthcare.com Share this message with your friends!

2. Click here to post countdowntohealthcare.com on Twitter with the following message:
http://images.myngp.com/LinkTracker.aspx?crypt=IVi0ax2%2b6UBSinc%2fCPYaKeXiq6kVePYCTOX0gLkJt%2bG5TiLaWrtZdBaFpE8hb0ATZXYPdWsmm5NbuymmRtUW3go8sO8mKRFjhIw12DoYd3g%3d
It's Weiner vs. Lieberman. Fight for a real #publicoption and health reform. Join Rep. Weiner athttp://countdowntohealthcare.com - Pls RT! #hcr

"The Ox" Runs Wild on Georgia Taxpayers!

"The Ox" Runs Wild on Georgia Taxpayers!


I forwarded this because this guy is a Lumbee.
Dave

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jane Kidd
Date: Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 3:28 PM
Subject: "The Ox" Runs Wild on Georgia Taxpayers!
To: Sharon Kitchen



David,

I bet you knew that Republican John Oxendine took over $100,000 in illegal campaign cash while serving as state Insurance Commissioner, right? If not, click here to learn more.

Oxendine is just one of the Republicans who abused his position of power as an elected official to line his own pockets, all the while ignoring the needs of everyday Georgians. Worse, he skirted laws set up to prevent state officials from using their offices for personal gain. And when confronted with information about his misdeeds, he blamed the media for his own ethical mistakes. I guess "the Ox" didn't like being exposed.



Now, John Oxendine wants to become Georgia's governor. Before you make the very important decision about who will lead our state, please go to our website - www.whotheyrepresent.com - and read about what John Oxendine - and other Georgia Republicans - have been up to.

Please consider a monthly contribution of $5 or whatever you can afford through 2010 to support our efforts to remove a self-serving and ineffective Republican leadership from the state Capitol.

You can also join us as we continue to expose Republican politicians who are just looking out for number one by forwarding this email to a friend and having them sign up to receive the latest updates from the Democratic Party of Georgia.

The Democratic Party of Georgia is committed to ethical leadership in the Capitol and throughout Georgia. You can keep track of us online at our Facebook or Twitter pages. We are working to bring new leadership to the Peach State that will ensure that working families don't get stiffed by corrupt politicians.

Democratically yours,

Jane Kidd, Chair
Democratic Party of Georgia

PS: Support our efforts to remove a self-serving and ineffective Republican leadership from the state Capitol!

georgiademocrat.org | contribute


Paid for by The Democratic Party of Georgia: 1100 Spring Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. Jane Kidd, Chair; Michael Thurmond, Vice-Chair; Rex Templeton, Jr., Treasurer. Not authorized by any federal candidate or candidate's committee.


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Why Should We Indigenous Care about the North American Union? Why Should We Indigenous Care about the North American Union?

Why Should We Indigenous Care about the North American Union?
Why Should We Indigenous Care about the North American Union?
from the Eagle Watch #21

(You might want to grab a cup of your favourite brew to get through this lengthy report)

Why Should We Indigenous Care about the North American Union?
North American Union, Water Diversion and the Algonquins of Ontario
Detailed Report
December 12, 2009

While the corporations of Canada, USA and Mexico are imposed upon us Indigenous, we still have every good reason to be concerned about changes to their structure and their military and trade relations to each other. It does affect us what they are up to right now with NAU (North American Union) and SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership). It's going to lead to more theft and destruction of our territories and resources, including the most precious resource of all, water. This will seriously affect our health and well being. Water is tied to energy, whether it's oil, hydro or nuclear. The USA is the biggest consumer of energy in the world and they cannot supply their own.

The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River watershed has always been a strategic region for many reasons. It contains about 20% of the world's surface freshwater in a time when drought and water shortages are increasing. Many Indigenous nations make their homes along these shores as well as many Foreigners who keep on arriving. Millions of people depend on this watershed for their livelihoods and life sustaining water supply. Unfortunately, our water is also severely polluted with toxic chemicals and nuclear waste. Nonetheless, increasing numbers are casting covetous eyes this way.

In the past, during the fur trade era, colonial entities plundered the land with our help. In many areas, the beaver, a mammal who must live near water, was nearly eradicated by our trapping and hunting. Tribes and nations were torn apart by greed and intrigue, their populations diminished, their cultures destroyed. While they were killing us with warfare, disease and religion, the colonial entities constantly changed their form, fighting amongst each other but never missing an opportunity to use us to do their dirty work. Has anything changed?

Water diversion is nothing new but the modern scale of such projects is a huge threat to Life as vast areas are reshaped and mighty rivers rerouted without concern for consequences. Water woes are turning into water wars all over the planet as rivers dry up. Whatever the actual effects of climate change, water is misused and polluted by remorseless corporate greed. We need to protect and conserve our water for our families and our future generations.

The Kashia Pomo, Indigenous people in California are under attack by the state California Fish and Game Commission over water. In this bizarre twist, Governor Schwarzenegger pretends to be the protector of the environment against Indigenous!

While current water battles between US states - Colorado and Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas, Missouri and the Department of Interior - are confined to the courtrooms, war is breaking out in the volatile areas of India and Pakistan where water is more of an issue than religion. India is experiencing drought while Pakistan depends on water from rivers that begin in India. If India turns off the tap to Pakistan, they could end up in nuclear war since both are nuclear armed. While the US and allies continue to foment civil war in Pakistan, Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently returned from India where he was sealing nuclear deals.

Since nuclear plants require huge quantities of water to operate, the idea of building more nuclear plants in India is insane and completely stupid on more than one count. The planners of such madness must want nuclear war to happen there in order to depopulate those growing nations. Nuclear development always has genocidal inclinations as we well know.


NAFTA, NAU and the Algonquins of Ontario
NAFTA, NAU and SPP are trigger words if you want to start the talk about water diversions. These agreements and organizations seem to be working together towards the inevitable, as they see it, of massive water diversions such as from the Great lakes to the USA. They insist that they can make a profit selling and transporting water.

We think that adequate water management and conservation are better ideas. We need to stop polluting the water with mining and energy horrors like the Athabaska oil sands, hydro dams and nuclear reactors. We must learn to live on less and to find alternatives.

To ease public concerns over water, the governments of Canada, Mexico and United States jointly issued a statement in 1993 saying NAFTA creates "no rights to the natural water resources" of any trading partner. But the statement was unsigned and according to some legal experts and the Canadian government's Policy Research Initiative "this statement may have no legal force." Communities harmed by the environmental damage by foreign firms, for example, have no recourse under NAFTA. (Nikiforuk)

A number of big U.S. and Canadian organizations and think tanks support NAU and the SPP. They research and write about water exports constantly. The list includes Washington based CSIS, (Center for Strategic and International Studies), the Brookings Institute, CFR (Council on Foreign Relations), CCCE (Canadian Council of Chief Executives), Policy Research Initiative, Public Policy Forum and the C.D. Howe Institute, a Canadian think tank.

A 2002 C.D.Howe Institute paper specifically addressed water while advocating the "Big Idea" of "deeper integration." Author Wendy Dobson argued that increased energy trade could serve as a model for dealing "with demand pressure on other politically sensitive natural resources such as water."

Dobson's November, 2002 report for the Trilateral Commission argues that a prosperous North American economy will need a continental framework linking the following issues: "security, natural resources, economic efficiency and defense." Dobson is a professor at the University of Toronto and a former federal deputy minister of finance.

Deputy ministers are the behind the scenes bureaucrats who wield the power while the ministers are the public figures controlled and manipulated by these deputy ministers and corporate criminals. Deputy ministers remain in office often for many years while the ministers change with elections and party politics.

Another former federal deputy minister of finance involved in North American integration and ultimately water diversion, is Kevin Lynch. Until recently, Lynch was Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet. He's an economist and one of those career bureaucrats who inhales the smell of money when he works at a bank and then exhales in the halls of bureaucracy where he quietly wields power and influence. He was Associate Deputy Minister of Industry in 1993 when NAFTA was signed. He has been an executive director at the IMF and sits on many boards including the Bank of Canada and the Public Policy Forum. He started out as an economist at the Bank of Canada.

In September, 2009, the Public Policy Forum (PPF) held a tribute dinner for Lynch in Ottawa where he hobnobbed with John Manley, Frank McKenna (former Canadian ambassador to the U.S.) and Jean Chretien. On the " team" at PPF is Senior Advisor, Lee Allison Howe, wife of Patrick Howe. No relation to C.D. Howe, Patrick is advisor to the Algonquin Negotiation Trust. (See Eagle Watch #6 - What's New at Sharbot Lake?)

Do you think he'll be advising trustees Doreen Davis of Shabots, Davie Joanisse of Antoine and Jerry Lavalee of Pikwakanagan and the Algonquins of Ontario on water sales and management with a little inside info from his wife, Lee?????? Or will he convey messages from the Algonquin Negotiating Reps through his wife to the policy makers in Ottawa?

The connection is just too convenient especially when you look at Lee's two bios, the one at Coreshell's web site and the one at the PPF web site. The bios are essentially the same except for one small detail. She doesn't mention her involvement at PPF in Ottawa on her core shell bio and vice versa, she doesn't mention her partnership with hubby at Coreshell in Toronto on her PPF bio. Why is this? Could it be because her company advises the Algonquins of Ontario while she herself is involved with an organization that shapes Canadian policy on things like NAU and natural resources including water. Is this some kind of a conflict of interest she is trying to hide from someone??

A 2007 Access to Information Act request by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin yielded several Natural Resources Canada documents on "freshwater issues and the natural resource sector" that indicate "bulk water exports" are still on the table. One document, dated January 2006, stated that Canada was "not immune" to freshwater challenges and then explained why: "Ongoing issues, such as bulk water exports, high domestic water use, and climate change, suggest that we must be prepared for a non-linear future when it comes to reconciling uncertain supplies with growing demands." (Nikiforuk)

There are many holes in the bucket of Canadian water "sovereignty" besides what is obvious to us that it is not their water in the first place. Canada already exports municipal water from British Columbia to Point Roberts, Washington and from Coutts, Alberta to Sweetgrass, Montana. That is viewed as a neighbourly arrangement for the efficient delivery of municipal services rather than water export. What happens if somebody turns off the tap?? Or more likely, what happens when the states demand more water?

Bottled water taken from the Great Lakes is sold in containers less than 5 gallons to countries as far away as the Middle East. Bulk water sales have not yet been permitted. Water use licenses are sold to industries which brings things a step closer in the commodification of water itself. There is a pattern slowly developing here. Do you see it? Lawyers are getting ready.

We can rant all we like that water is a public trust but we live in a time when everything is about money. Big business runs government. What can we do to reverse this out of control situation?
These people are dead serious about the future of water.

The North American Future 2025 Project by CSIS Center for Strategic and International Studies

"Juxtaposed to the relative scarcity of water in the United States and Mexico," the Future 2025 Project declared that Canada "had lots of water" and it shared many watersheds along the US border including the Great Lakes. "Because water availability, quality and allocation are likely to undergo profound changes between 2006 and 2025 policy makers will benefit from a more proactive approach to exploring different creative solutions beyond the current trans boundary water management agreements."

When they babble on like that, you know they are up to something very under-handed! They want to hypnotize you before they get more specific about new "regional agreements between Canada, the United States and Mexico on issues such as water consumption, water transfers, artificial diversions of fresh water, water conservation technologies for agricultural irrigation and urban consumption." The three governments would have to overcome bureaucratic and legal obstacles "if the overriding goal of North America is to achieve joint optimum utilization of the available water."

Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, a former senior consultant with Econolynx International in Ottawa, and now director of the Mexico Project for the Center [CSIS] as well as the North American Future 2025 Project, later confirmed that water was obviously on the table: "It's no secret the US is going to need water…It's no secret that Canada is going to have an overabundance of water. At the end of the day there may have to be arrangements." Peschard-Sverdrup also told the Ottawa Citizen that water was "the most sensitive topic in conversations" with the Privy Council Office that advises the Prime Minister and cabinet on government priorities.(Nikiforuk)

Growing water shortage in USA and Mexico
According to the US General Accounting Office (GAO), a Congressional watchdog, 36 of 47 state water managers now expect serious shortages over the next decade under average climate conditions. California is in a state of emergency because of ongoing drought. Nuts, fruit and vegetables are grown in California using extensive irrigation and then shipped all over North America. Much of the organic food sold in Ontario comes from California.

If you pay attention when you're shopping for groceries, you may notice an increasing amount of vegetables and fruits are coming from Mexico. As Mexicans keep heading north for jobs, what is happening in Mexico itself?

According to the Institute Nacional De Ecologia, 100 of Mexico's 188 most important aquifers are now "overexploited" largely due to badly managed irrigation schemes that allow the production of food for the export trade. (Nikiforuk) That means that over half of Mexico is in "severe water stress".

You know things are getting dangerously serious when the military weighs in on the topic.

"There is potential for fracturing some very strong alliances based on migrations and the lack of control over borders…Military planning should view climate change as a threat to the balance of energy access, water supplies and a healthy environment, and it should require a response." concluded a 2007 CNA (Center for Naval Analyses) report by 11 top ranking military officers.

This matter of water is a major reason for the merging of the 3 militaries and police under Pentagon control. The availability of water is tied to energy. The legal waters are dangerously murky with the added potential for declaring a humanitarian crisis.

According to Nikiforuk, Canada now supplies the United States with 24.2 per cent of its total energy needs in the form of natural gas, oil and electricity... the two countries are now linked by 22 petroleum pipelines, 34 natural gas pipelines, and 91 electric transmission lines.


The Athabasca Oil Sands
The biggest and ugliest energy project is the Athabasca oil sands. It is using massive amounts of water to extract huge amounts of an inferior oil (3 barrels of water to produce 1 barrel of oil) A vast watershed is being destroyed (the Athabasca River, which feeds the world's largest boreal wetland, the Peace Athabasca Delta. The Athabasca watershed could dry up before these hooligans can extract all the oil. Then they'll want to divert water from elsewhere to do it. While a small number of both Indigenous and colonials are getting jobs out of it and making our objections seem harmful to their interests, most of the oil is piped to the US. The profiteers leave a mess for "Canadians" to pay the bill for the damages for generations to come.

According to Canadian water ecologist David Schindler, "The outcome will not only affect the nation's energy and water security but the livelihood of 360,000 aboriginals in the Mackenzie River Basin".

Ninety per cent of the water processed at oil sand mines ends up as ketchup-thick tailings that are now stored in large impoundments bordering the Athabasca River. The Syncrude Tailings Dyke, for example, is the world's second largest dam, after China's Three Gorges Dam. More than 10 tailings dams containing salts, heavy metals, and toxic hydrocarbons cover a 50 kilometre square area and most are leaking. (Nikiforuk)

In 2003, the Mackenzie River Basin Board wrote, "an accident related to the failure of one of the oil sands tailing ponds could have catastrophic impact on the aquatic ecosystem of the Mackenzie River Basin due to the size of these ponds and their proximity to the Athabasca River".

Myth debunking - We don't have any surplus water
Ninety-nine percent of the water in the Great Lakes is a glacial inheritance and a non-renewable resource.

Animals and trees need water too. For its size, "Canada" has an average amount of water. You can't just divide the water up among the human population and then claim we have huge amounts of "surplus" water. Half of Canada's water flows into the Arctic. This is the water "they" want to divert. Many southern rivers and the Great Lakes are quite polluted. Some 16 nuclear reactors dump toxic tritium into Lake Ontario every day. It cannot be removed by any means known since tritium is a form of water!!! Yet they want to divert water through the Great Lakes to the US! Do they imagine they can even flush away the tritium?

In spite of former Hydro Quebec engineer Pete Gingras' claims that Quebec can make piles of money selling water, much of that water is severely polluted. Blue-green algae blooms erupted on one quarter of Quebec's lakes in 2007 due to pollution. The St. Lawrence is a cesspool on the verge of ecological collapse.

Canada fails to enforce water laws such as they are and has no national policy on water. Is it because they don't really care or because they are afraid of US muscle? It appears they fear the muscle of big money!

Here's a good example. In 2000, the Ontario Ministry of Environment recorded 1,900 water pollution violations by 200 corporations yet it laid only four charges. Environment Canada noted 3,000 documented violations of federal laws by pulp mills [in Ontario and Quebec] but only proceeded with seven prosecutions.

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) doesn't even know what kind of shape half the aquifers are in. While the Ogallala aquifer in the mid western US has dropped by hundreds of feet, Canadian officials and scientists don't know how Canadian aquifers are connected to it.

Some say there really isn't a lot of money to be made on selling water yet you can go into a store and buy a bottle of water. Doesn't that make water a commodity, plain and simple?? There is also a privatization trend in municipal water systems which is being resisted in many communities. However, mayors and councils who have big business behind them, can and do push thru agreements with little or no public consultation of any kind. This situation is especially dire in Native communities that lack clean water and water infrastructure.

We know that the water needs to stay in its natural courses. It's the life blood of the planet. We must take better care of our water. It's essential to our own health.

Since 1993 and NAFTA, many studies including one by the David Suzuki Foundation have found Canada's environmental rating to be poor and continuing to drop compared to many other nations. The Canadian gov clearly doesn't give a damn about the environment. They are more interested in attracting foreign investors.

The gov makes it quite clear that they want to deepen NAFTA for the sake of regional economic development at the expense of national "sovereignty". Given growing water supply problems in the United States, an Industry Canada report by Richard Harris recommended that Canada review its bulk water export policies and " consider how water might be exported with an appropriate pricing policy."

These busy bodies are inching their way toward massive water diversions. In January, 2003,
the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), which represents the interests of 150 of Canada's top corporations, launched the North American Security and Prosperity Initiative (NASPI) to "accelerate progress on both economic and security issues" including open markets for natural resources.

Paul Desmarais is the head guy at CCCE while his wife Helene is the head of the Montreal Economic Institute which published the Gingras water diversion commentary in July 2009. (See Eagle Watch #2 - Ole Man Pete Never Quits Trying to Flood out Indigenous). She also sits on the board at the C.D.Howe Institute. Paul sits on the board of GDF Suez, a big French water bottler.

In February 2005, the Task Force on the Future of North America endorsed a "bold vision for regional integration." It also highlighted the importance of forging a "resource pact" to allow for greater interregional trade in certain nonrenewable resources such as "oil, gas and fresh water."

"Cousin" John Manley, former Liberal deputy prime minister and deputy minister of finance, was on this Task Force. He has been deeply involved from the beginning in the formation of the NAU and SPP as well as the North American Forum on Integration, based in Montreal. He worked with Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of Homeland Security after 9/11. Manley is a very busy guy who recently gained a lot of weight. He looks puffed up with pride and power these days. Or is he just sick with corruption?

Many of these people are biding their time for the NA water crisis to worsen. Then they will confidently make their moves to profit from other people's suffering. They know they can manipulate their way into winning legal battles. That is unless enough people speak out against their criminal behaviour. It is much easier to stop something before it begins than once it has begun.

We Haudenosaunee and Nishnaabe must form a stronger alliance in our own region to monitor the water and anyone's attempts to sell it and us down river. If there are any honest and caring nonNative people who would like to work with us, we will find a place for their skills.

Kittoh

We welcome your feedback! Forward, post and consider printing for your cyberphobic friends and relatives.

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Notes and Sources

Cultural Genocide Disguised as Marine "Protection"
http://www.truthout.org/..1027094
http://www.kumeyaay.com/2009/..10/cultural-genocide-..disguised-as-marine-..protection/

This report has borrowed heavily from Andrew Nikiforuk's "On the Table: Water, Energy and North American Integration", October 16, 2007
41 page pdf available in english or french at this link:
http://www.powi.ca/..publications.php?2
The document has 184 footnotes and links. We have included just some of them. See p. 13 for map of drought areas in USA
(the Program on Water Issues web site has many more relevant articles)

These are the main groups that study NAU:
In December 2001, Eight organizations from Mexico, Canada and the United States form a project on the future of North American Integration: Brookings Institution; Inter-American Dialogue; Mexican Council on Foreign Relations; National Policy Association; Policy Research Initiative of the Canadian Government; the Conference Board of Canada; Public Policy Forum of Canada, and Technological Institute of Mexico.

Policy Research Initiative, Sustainable Development Briefing Note:
Is Water A Tradable Commodity? January, 2007 p.3http://policyresearch.gc.ca/..doclib/SD_BN_Water%20Tradable_..e.pdf
[PRI]... concludes that until the status of water under existing trade agreements "is tested in a court or tribunal" its future remains "uncertain." Canada "needs to be prepared for a potential legal challenge regarding export."

In April 2007 the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Conference Board of Canada convenes a round table on "The Future of the North American Environment 2025." The agenda includes "regional agreements between Canada, the United States and Mexico on issues such as water consumption, water transfers, artificial diversions of fresh water..."
http://www.canadians.org/..water/documents/NA_Future_..2025.pdf

"Henry Kissinger and Sam Nunn have been closely involved for several years with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, a self-described "moderate" counterpart to the Hoover Institution on the Beltway, formerly affiliated with Georgetown University. Currently, Nunn is chair of the CSIS Board of Trustees. Both he and Kissinger have served for several years as 2 of the organization's 13 counselors, the vast majority of whom are
former cabinet-level national security officials."
http://www.zmag.org/zmag/..viewArticle/23269..
California's Nuclear Nexus: A faux disarmament plan has roots in the Golden State's pro-nuclear lobby

see also: http://csis.org/homepage

C.D.Howe Institute paper Shaping the Future of the North American Economic Space. (C.D.Howe was a Canadian politician involved in the Manhattan Project.)
www.cdhowe.org

www.coreshellgroup.com
http://www.tanakiwin.com/..treaty_team.htm
http://www.ppforum.ca/people

Richard Harris, North American Economic Integration: Issues and Research Agenda, Industry Canada Research Publications Program, Discussion Paper Number 10, April 2001, 27-31 http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/..epic/site/eas-aes.nsf/en/..ra01809e.html

North American Forum on Integration
http://www.fina-nafi.org/eng/..fina/conseil.asp?langue=eng&..menu=fina

http://www.northamericanforum...org/ - When you click on this link it then goes to this one:
http://www.itsyourworld.org/..wac/North_American_Forum.asp
Just who are they trying to kid???

http://www.canadians.org/DI/..documents/TF_ReportFeb05.pdf

D.W. Schindler, W.F. Donahue and John P. Thompson, Future Water Flows and Human Withdrawals in the Athabasca River, Running Out of Steam? Oil Sands Development and Water Use in the Athabasca River Watershed: Science and Market-Based Solutions, Munk Centre for International Studies and Environmental Research and Studies Centre, University of Alberta, May 2007
http://www.powi.ca/pdfs/..running_out_of_steam_final.pdf

http://www.gdfsuez.com/

http://www.canada.com/..vancouversun/news/editorial/..story.html?id=5f5d5b07-2f1b-..4286-9756-df1075f190f0

http://www.dominionpaper.ca/..original_peoples/2005/04/05/..canada_rac.html

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NAU North American Union and Water Quotes
"North Americans are ready for a new relationship that renders this old definition of sovereignty obsolete." According to Pastor "the future of the world community requires integration."

As former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed puts it, "The reality is that fresh water is more valuable than crude oil." In November 2005,Peter Lougheed, the former Premier of Alberta and a champion of free trade, warned in a Globe and Mail commentary that "the United States will be coming after our fresh water in three to five years."35 He argued that water scarcity would soon dominate the US agenda and that senior US politicians would ask "What about Canada? They have lots of excess water and we have the free-trade agreement. Let's demand they share their water with us."

"Water is an energy issue, and both water and energy are issues of national security."
Sandia National Laboratories Seehttp://www.sandia.gov/energy-..water/nexus_overview.htm

"Canada's freshwater resources are less available than we think," according to Gilles Rheaume, vice president of policy for the Conference Board of Canada.

The Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance, a broad based group dedicated to the free flow of trade goods, put it this way: "The process agreed to be undertaken is to be mostly regulatory (not to require legislation) and…the things to be done are those that make sense for business."

While it is probably not subject to existing trade agreements, until it is tested in a court or tribunal, the status of water under trade agreements remains uncertain.
www.policyresearch.gc.ca

In January 2004, Paul Michael Wihbey, former vice president of the Liberal Party of Canada, wrote that "Canada can ill-afford to sit on the sidelines as water becomes a traded commodity in the global marketplace."

Wihbey later described the blanket condemnation of "profitably sharing an abundant, completely renewable resource" as a "political form of superstition." Wihbey predicted that "bulk water exports will take place from Canada – Manitoba, Newfoundland, Quebec and British Columbia – in two to five years."

"While a previous note in this series suggested that bulk water export is not currently economically viable, Canada nevertheless needs to be prepared for a potential legal challenge regarding export, particularly of boundary waters, and ensure that the complexities of this issue are addressed appropriately through the recognition of different categories of water use."
Is Water a Tradable Commodity? Sustainable Development Briefing Note from PRI

US ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci asked in a CBC radio interview, why water should be "off the table" when Canada is already selling the United States its oil, gas and uranium.


Other Search Terms
Global Water and Energy Strategy Team (GWEST)
North American Competitiveness Council