Indigenous & Other News

Indigenous and Other News

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PIE IN THE SKY



MNN Dec. 16, 2011. Can civilization based on the violent hierarchical system and the natural world exist side by side? No!



How do Indigenous minds, bodies and society continue to live in reality? What keeps some humans in slavery?



Hierarchical civilization is unhealthy unnatural crowded living, brought here by the invaders. They gobble up resources. People have to decide to either start sharing or stay on the take.



Capitalist civilization depends on constant violence against people, land, water and wild life. Today people have to pay to exist on the earth, or armed men will take them and everything they have away.



Long ago Mohawk artist and writer, Karonhiaktajeh, painted the "Sleeping Lion" with an Ongwehonwe face. He said we were forced to become invisible to avoid the jaws of the hungry masses. One day these visitors will be fighting each other. We would then begin to stir. Resistance does not have to be violent. Just make it inconvenient.



Fascism has taken over the US. Genocide continues through depriving people of water, shelter, food, medical care and poisoning of the environment.



Hierarchical ownership is when some individuals have more than they need. Their control system is like a pyramid with a few bosses sitting at the top. Without gluttonous ownership hierarchy wouldn't exist.



The middle class impose pacifism. The rulers give them power to make decisions on our behalf. Manufacturing, administration and labor have been moved to other countries. Their money is in offshore accounts. Now they are leaving. Those left behind are losing their masters and destroy their civilization from the inside.



The war against man and nature is becoming savage. Humans are being controlled by technology and artificial global markets.



Can we free ourselves from this Frankenstein culture?



We Indigenous have web-like relationships of inter-connected independent communities, made up of individuals, like an array of invisible knots.



Units are equal. Social, political, economic, education and so on are structured circularly.



Indigenous energy is based on the individual surrounded by family, clans, community and nation. Strength comes from home and family, the strongest force in the natural world.



Communication with outsiders is voluntary. Soon each community must provide its own food, energy and heating.



Information is power.



In hierarchy the bosses want all the information. It flows up and down, controlled by bureaucratic paths. Bosses are told what they want to hear. Organization spies report to them. Collecting information is expensive.



Small Indigenous networks keep daily information in the hands of the many, with less distortion.



Like the human brain, connections are nurtured with sister communities to process information and pathways.



Though Indigenous social, political and economic life are invisible, tribal and band councils' job is to report us to their colonial overseers. Yet they know little about us.



The almost bankrupt US enterprise must mobilize all its resources at great cost to control its people.



The fast flowing river has its natural destination. We have to let go of the shore, push off to the middle, keep our eyes open and heads above water. Some will be afraid and try to hold onto the shore.



Don't look outside for leaders. Be the person you think you are.



The colonists have created great distress. Their people are seeking help. Their suicide phone lines are outsourced to India, where Mohammad listens to their problems.



They think they can fight nature and live happily ever after.



An elder advised us, "All we can do at this time is try to hit the all seeing eye on the pyramid with a cream pie!"



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Bob Norman

5:26am Dec 16


expect to see more elders freeze to death if this ***#@& gets his way...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/15/rick-santorum-cut-assistance_n_1152279.html?1323991662&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009




Rick Santorum: Cut Heating Assistance, Unemployment Benefits


www.huffingtonpost.com


HOLSTEIN, Iowa -- Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said on Thursday he would end federa...


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Aim Southern Cal

12:48am Dec 20


Historical Moment- Powerful Medicine

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2835357328774.146014.1404441849&type=3


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LONDON BANK FALLING DOWN LIKE WTC



MNN: 19 Dec. 2011. Because we aren't like the colonial invaders, how many of us thought we were crazy? They tried to make us imitate and look like them. We're not taking it anymore! Look what's happening.



The US and European economies are falling like the WTC.



European Union EU is a non-military empire, run by the IMF, EU and Central Bank. Spain, Greece, Portugal and Ireland are staying in the EU prison, to help tear it down from inside.

The US was never going to be an empire. Their job was to create wars for the bankers.



Millions of US rulers and their middle class agents are fleeing Great Turtle Island with the cashbox that contains the country's resources and riches, to deposit into the City of London [central bank].



Political, financial and crime bosses will follow the money. Those left behind will suffer without leaders to tell them what to do. They will tear the US apart from within.



Technology is creating fabricated information leading to decisions full of error.



Government wages unending war on innocent foreigners and now there's payback on their own people. The masses are being threatened with austerity, fuel blockages, riot police, checkpoints, drones, limited mobility, an economic collapse, draconian controls, health emergencies, no political and legal order, starvation and death.



Their moral compass is based on property, thrill seeking, addiction and kleptomania. Their politicians and CEOs steal millions, so they emulate them.



President Obama signed the Defense Authorization Act to bring in martial law. Any US citizen can be arrested and detained without any criminal charges. 50 FEMA camps are ready to accept prisoners. Millions of family-size plastic coffins await.



The ex-pats are moving to Australia, Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, South Africa, Spain, Brazil, Czechoslavakia, Thailand, Buenos Aires and Argentina, where English is spoken. Japan, France, Italy and UK are out. Too expensive.



Americans can't easily learn other languages. These unilingualists can't see the perceptions of others.



Their brain patterns are being technologically altered to numb the creative side. Their culture short circuits their thinking, causing a bipolar like behavior. They fantasize and blind themselves to reality.

The Western mind has been conditioned to be weak, shallow, blood thirsty and guiltless. They suffer from anxiety and depend on medications. Pharmaceuticals create diseases and addictive poison cures.



Their artists are like Indigenous whose intuition and intellect work together to see reality. Many scientists and artists are politically persecuted or murdered. They could have been the voice of truth.



Information at the top of the pyramid will always be incomplete. Voices below are varied, as they should be, with more insights. The rulers are confused and have lost control of the masses.





The old Soviet Union locked away its critics. The United States expels them. Blacklists and restricted employment often work as effectively as the Soviet gulag system.



We indigenous are staying out of their way but won't let them trample us.



We don't have technology. Yet our way is infiltrating their system.



In the song, London Bridge, "Take the key and lock them up, lock them up, lock them up. Take the key and lock them up, my fair lady". Remember, nothing artificial can last. Nature tears down all walls.

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Aim Santa Barbara posted in American Indian Movement Southern Callifornia.





Aim Santa Barbara

7:34pm Dec 20


“I don't think anybody anywhere can talk about the future of their people or of an organization without talking about education. Whoever controls the education of our children controls our future.” Wilma Mankiller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljD2R-y2G-4&feature=plcp&context=C3042bc2UAOEgsToPDskK7t-dEgksqnjxMwLYyz6yk




children addressing mascots and sacred items.


www.youtube.com


Native children addressing the issue of mascots and sacred items.


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Night Sky Watcher WGHW

Cesar Millan

As we celebrate the return of our soldiers, we can't forget the hero dogs of war, many suffering from PTSD,

https://www.cesarsway.com/dogbehavior/fearandanxiety/Veteran-Dogs-Suffering-from-PTSD

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Intertribal Sacred Land Trust

http://www.itslt.org/index.html

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From the Eagle Watch #199
December 28, 2011

Here's an important article on the NUCLEAR topic. It must beimportant, several people sent it to us!!
K.


From: Gordon Edwards
Subject: Canada shipping bomb-grade uranium to U.S., ‘
secret’ memo says
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:23:24 -0500
To: Gordon Edwards
X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.753.1)
X-Virus-Scanned: Maia Mailguard 1.0.2
X-Spam-Status: No, hits=0.291 tagged_above=0.1 required=3
tests=HTML_FONT_FACE_BAD=0.289, HTML_FONT_SIZE_LARGE=0.001,
HTML_MESSAGE=0.001
X-Spam-Level:

Background:


See http://www.ccnr.org/maple_heu.html and

http://www.ccnr.org/crl_sacrifice.pdf pp. 32-35


For those able to receive Canadian television

broadcasts:


This story will be on Global TV National News

tonight at 6 pm. and on CTV National

News tonight at 11 pm.


Gordon Edwards.


Canada quietly shipping

bomb-grade uranium to U.S.,

‘secret’ federal memo says

Andy Blatchford, Canadian Press via Toronto Star,Tue Dec 27 2011
http://tinyurl.com/7t4zn3k


MONTREAL—Weapons-grade uranium is quietly being transported

within Canada, and into the United States,in shipments the country’s

nuclear watchdog wants to keep cloaked insecrecy.


A confidential federal memo obtained through the Access to

Information Act says at least one payload ofspent, U.S.-origin

highly enriched uranium fuel has alreadybeen moved stateside

under a new Canada-U.S. deal.


The shipments stem from the highly publicized agreement signed

last year by Prime Minister Stephen Harperand U.S. President Barack

Obama, amid fears that nuclear-bomb-makingmaterial could fall into

the hands of terrorists.


The Canadian stash gradually being shipped from Chalk River, Ont.,

contains hundreds of kilograms of highlyenriched uranium — large

enough to make several Hiroshima-sizednuclear bombs.


But even as the radioactive freight travels toward the U.S. border, the

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has noplans to hold public

hearings or disclose which communities liealong the delivery route.


The shipments themselves are protected by intense security protocol,

which means specifics like routes,transportation method, quantities

and schedules remain top secret.


The federal nuclear body, a co-regulator of the uranium transfers, says

rules restrict it from disclosing suchinformation to the public.


A ministerial memorandum, classified as “Secret,” says the nuclear

watchdog considers it unnecessary to holdpublic sessions that would

allow citizens to ask questions and commenton the shipments.


That same memorandum, dated Feb. 25, 2011, points out that recent

hearings for another nuclear-shipment casegenerated intense public

and media interest. The controversy hasstalled the project to ship

16 generators from a Bruce Power nuclearplant through the Great

Lakes, up the St. Lawrence River and ontoEurope.


The memo, obtained by The Canadian Press, appears to warn against

a repeat scenario.


“Given the public and media interest surrounding Bruce Power’s plan ...

there may be an expectation that similarinformation be made public on

the shipments of spent HEU (highly enricheduranium) fuel to the U.S.,

and that the CNSC (Canadian Nuclear SafetyCommission) hold public

hearings,” said the document, addressed tothen-natural resources

minister Christian Paradis.


“To date, the CNSC has not considered it necessary to hold public

hearings on the shipment of spent HEU fuelto the U.S.”


When asked why public hearings aren’t necessary for the uranium

deliveries, a commission spokeswoman repliedby email: They “are

not carried out given the robustness of thepackages used and due to

the security issues related to the transfersof highly enriched uranium.”


The government added that there has never been a significant transport

accident involving nuclear materials,anywhere in the world, and that

such shipments occur regularly inCanada.


It said only authorized people or agencies, like police forces along the

shipment route, are made aware of thedetails.


One nuclear expert said theft is the primary concern when shipping

highly enriched uranium fuel — because thereis virtually no danger

of leaks or explosions.


“If I were the people doing the shipping and so on, I’d want to keep as

low a profile as possible ... you don’t wantto give terrorists or criminals

any advantage,” said Bill Garland, aprofessor emeritus from McMaster

University in nuclear engineering.


“There’s a greater risk in the general public knowing, because then the

bad guys would know as well.”


As for non-theft incidents, like possible road accidents, he describedthe

containers carrying the substance as highlyresistant to collisions,

chemicals, fire and explosions.


“It’s relatively easy to contain and secure and it’s not going to go offlike

a bomb,” Garland said.


“I would have no hesitation sitting in the truck and driving across the

country with it. It wouldn’t bother me inthe least.”


Garland added that drivers share Canadian highways every day with

trucks carrying loads of liquid chemicals,like gasoline and chlorine,

that would pose a much bigger danger in asmash-up than nuclear waste.


While the risks are small, he said, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.He

warned that radiation could be released ifsomeone deliberately opened

a container, for instance.


Garland said moving uranium poses far more danger than shipping Bruce

Power’s old generators up the St.Lawrence.


He calls the generator shipments a “trivial radioactive situation” and a

“non-issue” because the cylinders hold verylow levels of radioactive

material. He said that even if they fellinto the bottom of the river, the

generators would pose a negligiblerisk.


Canada has been importing highly enriched bomb-grade uranium from

the U.S. to make medical isotopes at ChalkRiver for the past two decades.

While Canada has been pushing for allnations to move to low-enriched

uranium, it maintains a large inventory ofthe substance at Chalk River.

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From the Eagle Watch #200
December 28, 2011

Here's some energy info on the effects of wind turbines.
Kittoh




----- Original Message -----
From: Grant Church
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2011 7:41 AM
Subject: Study: Falmouth turbines hurt abutters' health

This is an article about the Bruce McPherson Infrasound and Low FrequencyNoise Study. The study has been reviewed and commented on confirming someaspects of it. In the study the two technicians experience the symptomsas they did their work--what a bonus.

The study can be downloaded from this site. http://randacoustics.com/wind-turbine-sound/wind-turbines-published-articles/the-bruce-mcpherson-ilfn-study/

Grant


http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111226/NEWS/112260313




Study: Falmouth turbines hurt abutters' health

By SEAN TEEHAN
steehan@capecodonline.com
December 26, 2011

FALMOUTH — A study released last week concludes wind turbines in Falmouthnegatively affect abutters' health.

The analysis was partially funded by a grant from Bruce McPherson, whoopposes the Falmouth wind project and other turbine projects on Cape Cod.Its results assert that wind turbines cause "visceral" physicalreactions and that sound waves from turbines are felt more intenselyindoors than outside.


Related Links


Cape Cod Times windenergy coverage

"We did not expect it," said Stephen E. Ambrose, a Maineenvironmental sound consultant who co-authored The Bruce McPhersonInfrasound and Low Frequency Noise Study.

Ambrose declined to release the amount he was paid but said he and apartner each spent about 800 hours on the study.

Ambrose and Robert W. Rand, who also specializes in sound studies,conducted their research over three days in April, Ambrose said.

The two former employees of Stone & Webster Inc., a Stoughtonengineering firm that designs and builds power plants, have conductedpeer reviews on acoustics from turbines for several towns inMassachusetts, Maine and Wyoming.

For this study, Ambrose and Rand lived in a house near Blacksmith ShopRoad for three days while measuring pressure originating from infrasound.They documented the intensity of sound frequencies from a privately ownedturbine in the Falmouth Technology Park and how their bodies responded toit. The turbine studied is roughly the size of Falmouth's two municipalturbines.

When the two arrived at the house — located 1,700 feet from the turbine —on April 17, they began feeling effects within 20 minutes, according tothe study. Both felt nausea, dizziness and anxiety, among other sideeffects.

They also reported having difficulty performing "normalactivities" associated with the investigation, which includedsetting up instruments and observing measurements, the reportstates.

According to a chart included in the study, the discomfort and sickfeelings intensified as wind speeds increased and the blades spunfaster.

Previous sound studies that showed no negative health effects were doneoutdoors, Ambrose said. The recent study, which used low-frequencymicrophones to measure sound waves, showed sounds are more intenseindoors than out. Data from this study showed a 10 dbG (a measurement forinfrasound) increase outdoors and a 20 dbG increase indoors. The effectis similar to "living in a drum," he said.

An independent review of the acoustics data indicates it isscientifically valid, Nancy S. Timmerman, chairwoman of the AcousticalSociety of America's Technical Committee on Noise, said in an email. Sheadded that she can speak only to data on acoustics, not physiologicaleffects reported in the study.

Jim Cummings, executive director of Acoustic Ecology Institute, anotherexpert who looked at the study, said in an email the results could be ared flag on the correlation between infrasound and negative healtheffects, but more data are needed to establish proof.

"This is an indication, for sure, but a short sampling to base largeclaims on," Cummings wrote. "This and one other recent paperfrom the Association for Noise Control Engineers conference, Noise-Con,are both good indications that infrasound could be more problematic thangenerally assumed."

Falmouth Selectman Mary Pat Flynn, chairman of the board, said the studyis one of many the board has received about wind turbines. Others showlittle or no harm caused by turbines, she said.

"We've had a number of studies sent to us, and they all havedifferent points of view, and they all have different outcomes,"Flynn said.

Ambrose and Rand's study comes as the state Department of EnvironmentalProtection prepares itself for a sound study of the Falmouth-owned Wind 1turbine. Environmental regulators agreed in September to conduct thestudy after Falmouth selectmen reached out to the department inSeptember.

"It's still in the works, still under review," said Ed Coletta,a DEP spokesman. "We're hoping to get it done soon."

Last month selectmen announced the town would shut down the 1.64-megawattWind 1 — except during the tests — until April's town meeting. The townalso plans to start up the Wind 2 turbine for 60 days, during which timeofficials plan to log complaints from residents.

The announcement came as a compromise after Wind 1 abutters filed anonbinding town meeting article that asked selectmen to keep bothturbines off until "mitigation options are fully explored and theexistence of injurious conditions upon nearby residents can bequalified."

Wind 2, which has sat idle for about a year, could begin spinning for itstrial period before mid-January, said Gerald Potamis, Falmouth'swastewater superintendent, who oversees the two municipalturbines.

Next month, Falmouth selectmen will choose a consultant to help advisethe town on minimizing the impact of wind turbines on neighbors, Flynnsaid. Four firms were presented to selectmen during a meeting Dec. 19.The board will accept suggestions from residents until Jan. 4 and plansto choose one Jan. 9, Flynn said.

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WALKABOUT, BILLY B.
Sergeant, United States Army
Company F, 58th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Action: November 20, 1968
Headquarters, United States Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 3945 (1969)

Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Billy B. Walkabout, Sergeant, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company F, 58th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile).

Sergeant Walkabout (then Specialist Four) distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 20 November 1968 during a long range reconnaissance patrol southwest of Hue.

After successfully ambushing an enemy squad on a jungle trail, the friendly patrol radioed for immediate helicopter extraction. When the extraction helicopters arrived and the lead man began moving toward the pick-up zone, he was seriously wounded by hostile automatic weapons fire. Sergeant Walkabout quickly rose to his feet and delivered steady suppressive fire on the attackers while other team members pulled the wounded man back to their ranks. Sergeant Walkabout then administered first aid to the solider in preparation for medical evacuation. As the man was being loaded onto the evacuation helicopter, enemy elements again attacked the team.

Maneuvering under heavy fire, Sergeant Walkabout positioned himself where the enemy were concentrating their assault and placed continuous rifle fire on the adversary. A command-detonated mine ripped through the friendly team, instantly killing three men and wounding all the others. Although stunned and wounded by the blast, Sergeant Walkabout rushed from man to man administering first aid, bandaging one soldier's severe chest wound and reviving another soldier by heart massage. He then coordinated gunship and tactical air strikes on the enemy's positions. When evacuation helicopters arrived again, he worked single-handedly under fire to board his disabled comrades. Only when the casualties had been evacuated and friendly reinforcements had arrived, did he allow himself to be extracted.

Sergeant Walkabout's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
HQ US Army, Vietnam, General Orders No. 3945 (1969)

Military Decorations Distinguished Service Cross,
Legion of Valor,
Five Silver Stars,
10 Bronze Stars (five for valor),
Seven Air Medals,
10 Army Commendation Medals (five for valor),
Six Purple Hearts,
Vietnamese Medal of Honor,
Two Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palms,
Two Unit Citations to Individual Teams,
Presidential Citation for Meritorious Service,
Two Vietnam Presidential Citations,
Two Vietnam Presidential Cross of Gallantry with Palms,
Vietnamese Service Medal,
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal,
National Defense Service Medal (with Service Star),
Combat Infantryman Badge,
Parachutist Badge,
HALO Parachutist Badge,
Vietnamese Parachutist Badge,
Ranger Tab,
101st Recondo Badge,
Jungle Expert Badge
MACV Recondo Badge.


Billy Walkabout retired at the rank of second lieutenant. He is the most decorated American Indian soldier of the Vietnam War.

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SKY IS NOT FALLING



MNN. Jan. 1, 2012. No. The world is not coming to an end. It's continuing. We're been lead to think that we are heading into a trap to be devoured if we don't submit. Terrorized people are afraid to take action.



The dishonorable gang of inbred elites try to run the world. The upper middle class, their hired guns, have been replaced by machines. They're leaving Great Turtle Island.



The people of color are staying.



Republican presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, boasted, "You don't have to become a drug dealer, pimp or a prostitute when you can wash our bathroom toilets and floors". [Is he referring to his filthy mouth?]



Some colonists want to join the Indigenous. They know it's all our land, water, air and resources. Are they ready to live under the rules of nature?



They could follow the white roots to the source. If their mind is clean and they agree to obey the laws of the Rotinoshonnionwe, they can take shelter beneath the tree of the long leaves.



The bankers are the pirates. They invented the Maritime Admiralty Legal system to settle business disputes around the world. They incorporated states like the US and Canada and illegally put them on Indigenous lands. People who signed on became their property. Their official flags can only be placed on buildings, not on Great Turtle Island, which was never surrendered.



The Haldimand Proclamation 1784 is unique. A track within the vast Haudenosaunee Territory was set aside as a British Protectorate forever for the Mohawks. Their agents of the crown [federal, provincial, municipal, etc.] that breach their supreme law are guilty of high treason. The Military Court can punish them by firing squad or hanging. Encroachers beware!



The bankers fear becoming obsolete should an infinite free fuel be found. They are blinding us by warfare. Their worst is coming as they approach their death throws.



When they say peace, they really mean war. Peace is uncompromising truth. Nature is real and true. They hope everybody is unnatural like them.



Their link to the world is through technology, while they try to disconnect us from the natural world.



Their corporations create supermen, that push the dooms day clock and threaten nuclear war.



The world will survive. The bankers can't buy mother earth.



They tried to turn Great Turtle Island into a prison where life and the environment are not precious. For 500 years we've been penned up by these maniacs. Now they are going, leaving behind our land and life.



Here's an idea! The head rulers can sit in a big room inside a bunker. The walls are covered with hundreds of televisions. They hold remotes and watch everything that's going on. They click, kill and neutralize those who might undo their position and power.


We let them think they are all powerful, while we go about our lives and ignore them. They can flick all they want. "Change the channel, honey!" We're in charge of the cable and what they seeing!



Their greatest fear is, "They will be cast down from whence they came for all eternity".

They need to turn money into more money and to continue their illusion.

As Bob Dylan sang in 1963 "Masters of War": "Let me ask you one question, is your money that good? Could it buy you forgiveness, do you think that it could? I think you will find when your death takes its toll, all the money made will never buy back your soul".



Their treasure has no real value. Mother Earth and the great natural power are the dictators.

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CREW Cuts
The Monthly Newsletter of CREW // January 2012 // Issue No. 56

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SPOTLIGHT: CREW Files FEC Complaint Against Newt Gingrich

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will do anything to make a buck, including, it seems, violate campaign finance laws. After reports of his shady financial dealings first surfaced in the Washington Post, we asked the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to investigate whether or not Mr. Gingrich illegally funneled $42,000 dollars from his campaign to his own pocket.

Mr. Gingrich joins a growing list of candidates, like Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ) and Christine O’Donnell (R-DE),who have been caught using their campaign funds for personal gain. At some point, even the generally indifferent FEC -- which is at least supposed to enforce campaign finance laws -- should find this trend troubling.
■Learn more.
■Read our complaint against Newt Gingrich. [PDF]
■Read our complaint against Rep. Andrews. [PDF]

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CREW Names the Top Scandals of 2011

Lecherous lawmakers, a deadbeat dad, and absentee agencies made our list of 2011’s top political scandals. With actions ranging from the moronic to the outright illegal, it’s hard to argue with any entry on this year’s list, and pretty easy to see why Americans harbor such a dim view of Washington.
■Learn more.
■Read our report, Top Scandals of 2011. [PDF]



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CREW Pushes to End Congressional Insider Trading

Thanks to a recent 60 Minutes report, the problem of congressional insider trading has received some long-overdue attention. Enter the STOCK Act, which would explicitly ban members of Congress and their staff from using non-public knowledge for financial gain.

Melanie Sloan testified before a Senate committee, explaining that our lawmakers should have to obey the same laws as the rest of us. Unfortunately, Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) has stopped the bill in its tracks, even though it has more than 230 cosponsors.

We’ll keep fighting for passage of the STOCK Act. This one should be a no-brainer for legislators.
■Learn more.
■Read Melanie Sloan's Senate testimony. [PDF]
■Read our letter to House Republican leadership, urging passage of the act.
■Watch Melanie Sloan discussing the STOCK Act on CNN’s AC360.

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CREW Report Finds Obama Administration Makes Transparency Gains; Challenges Remain

CREW teamed up with OpenTheGovernment.org to compare the Obama administration’s FOIA performance with that of the Bush administration. We found that even though there have been strides in the right direction, there is still a long way to go.

Federal agencies are processing requests faster, but frequently they also are relying on exemptions to withhold information. While the Obama administration has aimed to be the most transparent in history, it has yet to dismantle the culture of secrecy.
■Learn more.
■Read our report. [PDF]

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CREW to Congress: Pass the Clean Up Government Act

There should be no protection for corrupt lawmakers. We’re pushing House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Cantor to schedule a floor vote on the “Clean Up Government Act.” This important legislation would restore the honest services fraud and illegal gratuities statutes, helping federal prosecutors to fight public corruption.

The bill was approved unanimously by the generally contentious House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee passed nearly identical legislation. With such (rare) broad bipartisan support, this is one bill that should land on President Obama’s desk quickly.
■Learn more.
■Read CREW’s letter to the House Judiciary Committee. [PDF]
■Read CREW’s letter to House Republican leadership requesting a vote. [PDF]

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Connect with CREW

More than 14,000 CREW supporters have joined the conversation with us on Facebook and Twitter. Are you one of them? CREW fans are the first to get CREW reports and the latest ethics news, including the winners of our Scoundrel of the Month contests. It’s also a great way to keep your friends informed about our efforts to build a Washington we can all be proud of.


















--
"When crazy people call you crazy, you know you're sane.
When evil people call you evil, you know that you are a good person.

When lairs call you a liar, you know that you are truthful.

Know who you are and don't let others tell you who you are." - Dave Kitchen