tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38935732600147763952024-03-13T04:26:21.684-07:00Censored News Special EditionBrenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.comBlogger845125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-82037876239869928622011-09-15T22:55:00.000-07:002011-09-15T22:55:02.608-07:00Wikileaks cable view: Bolivian Meddling in Peru<div id="cableid-236451"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="cable-summary"><tbody>
<tr><td>Reference id</td><td><input id="canonical_id-input" style="font-size: inherit;" type="text" value="09LIMA794" /> <span style="color: grey; font-size: smaller;">aka Wikileaks id #210554</span> <span id="refid-tip" style="cursor: default;" title=""> ? </span><div class="cartToggler"></div><div id="canonical_id-suggestions" style="display: none;">...</div></td></tr>
<tr><td>Subject</td><td>Bolivian Meddling In Peru</td></tr>
<tr><td>Origin</td><td><a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php?q=Embassy-Lima">Embassy <span class="hilite">Lima</span></a> <span style="color: grey;">(Peru)</span></td></tr>
<tr><td>Cable time</td><td>Fri, 5 Jun 2009 19:50 UTC</td></tr>
<tr><td>Classification</td><td class="cl-s">SECRET//NOFORN</td></tr>
<tr><td>Source</td><td><a href="http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/06/09LIMA794.html" target="_blank">http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/06/09LIMA794.html</a><!--
<tr><td>Release time<td>Thu, 1 Sep 2011 23:24 UTC --></td></tr><br />
<tr><td>History</td><td>First published on Thu, 1 Sep 2011 23:24 UTC</td></tr><br />
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<tr id="disqus_goto_comments"><td>Comments</td><td><a data-disqus-identifier="09LIMA794" href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794&q=evo%20lima%20mckinley%20morales#disqus_thread">0 Comments</a></td></tr><br />
</tbody></table></div><!-- end cable summary --><div class="cable-content"><!-- cable content --><div id="cable-header"><!-- header -->VZCZCXYZ0003 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHPE #0794/01 1561950 ZNY SSSSS ZZH P 051950Z JUN 09 FM AMEMBASSY <span class="hilite">LIMA</span> TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0658 INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION PRIORITY 2407 RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA PRIORITY 6622 RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 8347 RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES PRIORITY 3912 RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1401 RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ JUN 5192 RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO PRIORITY 9736 RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO PRIORITY 2597 RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 2430 RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL PRIORITY</div><!-- end header --><div class="google-translate-section" id="cable-body"><!-- body --><span class="toggleHeader">Hide header</span> S E C R E T <span class="hilite">LIMA</span> 000794 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2029 TAGS: PGOV<a class="webmaster-comment" href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php?q=Internal-Governmental-Affairs" rel="nofollow"> [Internal Governmental Affairs]</a>, PINR<a class="webmaster-comment" href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php?q=Intelligence" rel="nofollow"> [Intelligence]</a>, PREL<a class="webmaster-comment" href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php?q=External-Political-Relations" rel="nofollow"> [External Political Relations]</a>, PTER<a class="webmaster-comment" href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php?q=Terrorists-and-Terrorism" rel="nofollow"> [Terrorists and Terrorism]</a>, BL<a class="webmaster-comment" href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php?q=Bolivia" rel="nofollow"> [Bolivia]</a>, PE<a class="webmaster-comment" href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php?q=Peru" rel="nofollow"> [Peru]</a> SUBJECT: BOLIVIAN MEDDLING IN PERU REF: A. <span class="hilite">LIMA</span> 777 B. <span class="hilite">LIMA</span> 680 C. <span class="hilite">LIMA</span> 663 D. <span class="hilite">LIMA</span> 745 Classified By: Amb. P Michael <span class="hilite">McKinley</span> for reasons 1.4b and d. <a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794#para-236451-1" id="para-236451-1">¶1. </a> (C) Summary: Bolivian President <span class="hilite">Evo</span> <span class="hilite">Morales</span> has launched a new round of rhetorical attacks on the Government of Peru with a call for indigenous peoples to rebel against their governments. GOP officials and other observers are concerned <span class="hilite">Morales</span>' rhetoric is part of a broader effort to meddle in Peru's domestic affairs. One congressional contact told us <span class="hilite">Morales</span> appeared to be taking the place of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in stirring up problems in Peru. Another contact reported evidence that Bolivians are seeking to recruit sympathetic candidates for municipal office in the Peruvian highlands. Our Bolivian Embassy contacts (protect) tell us the highest levels of the GOB are in direct contact with Peruvian social and opposition movements. We believe the evidence indicates a pattern of Bolivian efforts to generate and support opposition to President Garcia. End Summary. <span class="hilite">Evo</span> Calls for Rebellion, Criticizes GOP --------------------------------------- <a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794#para-236451-2" id="para-236451-2">¶2. </a> (U) <span class="hilite">Evo</span> <span class="hilite">Morales</span> in late May launched a new round of rhetorical attacks on the GOP with a call for indigenous peoples to rebel against their governments. In a letter from <span class="hilite">Morales</span> read to a gathering of 5,000 indigenous leaders in Puno, the southern Peruvian region bordering on Bolivia, <span class="hilite">Morales</span> called "for a second and definitive independence...This is the moment in which all should know that our fight does not end, that resistance becomes rebellion and rebellion becomes revolution." The GOP saw these remarks -- which coincided with ongoing protests by Amazonian indigenous groups in which the protest leader briefly called for rebellion, ref A -- as blatant interference in Peru's domestic affairs, and publicly denounced <span class="hilite">Morales</span>. (Note: <span class="hilite">Morales</span>' attacks are at least partly a political reaction to the GOP's recent decision to offer asylum to several former Bolivian government ministers. Ref B. End Note.) <a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794#para-236451-3" id="para-236451-3">¶3. </a> (U) Separately, <span class="hilite">Morales</span> publicly criticized the GOP for taking Peru's maritime border dispute with Chile to International Court of Justice at The Hague, claiming the case was meant to prevent Bolivia from attaining an outlet to the sea in negotiations with Chile. "I have information that the Peruvian government knows that it is going to lose the demand (before The Hague)...They made the demand in order to punish Bolivia. <span class="hilite">Morales</span> went on to say that he has no problem with Peru, just with its government and president. "I have excellent relations with the Peruvian popular and social movements, with (opposition leader) Ollanta Humala." The GOP issued a formal protest to Bolivia's Ambassador in Peru on June 2. GOP Eyes Bolivian Intervention ------------------------------ <a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794#para-236451-4" id="para-236451-4">¶4. </a> (C) The Foreign Ministry's Bolivia desk officer told us of his government's concern about growing signs of active Bolivian intervention in Peru's domestic affairs. He highlighted the scheduled inauguration of a large Bolivian consulate in Cusco, ostensibly meant to encourage tourists to continue their travels south. The official would not speculate on the consulate's real goals, but clearly suspected a covert agenda. He added that Bolivia's consulate in Puno is run by a member of the radical Bolivian "Ponchos Rojos" (Red Ponchos) group. "I do not think he is there to promote closer commercial ties," said the official. Another contact with close ties to Peru's social movements told Poloff the GOB has targeted its efforts to create unrest on the socially turbulent Cusco and Puno regions, and said the consulates probably form part of this effort. Additional Reports of Bolivian Meddling --------------------------------------- <a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794#para-236451-5" id="para-236451-5">¶5. </a> (C) A congressional staffer who led a congressional investigation into the foreign ties of so-called ALBA houses in Peru told us she believed that <span class="hilite">Morales</span> was taking the place of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in stirring up problems in Peru. (Note: ALBA houses are essentially Venezuelan/Bolivian/Cuban friendship houses that proliferated in Peru in 2007-2008. Ref C. End Note.) The staffer's recently-completed investigation produced a report that highlighted an ophthalmological hospital recently established in Copacabana, Bolivia -- staffed by Cuban and Bolivian doctors -- that had provided free treatment to over 15,000 Peruvian patients as of early 2008. Although the GOB claimed the hospital would treat Bolivians or Peruvian equally, 93% of patients were in fact Peruvian. The report also discussed the possible connection between Bolivian provocateurs and violent protests in Canchis Province, Cusco in late 2008. Cusco's corruption prosecutor told the investigators that a group of Bolivians were known to have gone to Canchis "to promote, to instigate, and to create chaos" during the protests. <a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794#para-236451-6" id="para-236451-6">¶6. </a> (C) A political leader in Puno recently reported evidence of Bolivians seeking to expand political influence in Cusco. The contact said she had attended a dinner where a Peruvian named Carlos Cusihuaman -- who had recently returned from living in Bolivia -- bragged about his efforts to recruit young people in Puno and Cusco for training in Bolivia. She did not know details of the training but believed it was primarily ideological and not paramilitary. (Note: Local press and other Embassy contacts in 2008 alleged that Peruvian radicals were attending paramilitary training in Bolivia. Ref D. End Note.) She added that a trusted contact of hers had attended a separate meeting in the Canchis province of Cusco, where Cusihuaman had offered money to support the political campaigns of sympathetic candidates for municipal office -- $13,000 to provincial mayor candidates and $7,000 for district mayors. (Note: Canchis Province has one provincial and seven district mayors. End Note.) <a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794#para-236451-7" id="para-236451-7">¶7. </a> (S/NF) Our Bolivian Embassy contacts in <span class="hilite">Lima</span> tell us the highest levels of the GOB directly reach out to local social and opposition movements. A Senior MFA official with responsibility for South America has noted that the Bolivian Ambassador practices MAS-style "peoples' diplomacy" and works to build links with Peruvian social sector representatives rather than with government officials on bilteral ties. A Bolivian diplomat (protect) told us his Foreign Minister would be making two stops in Peru that week - during transit flights - and that he would be holding meetings with local social sector groups at the airport. Collateral reporting indicates that these transit visits are conducted regularly. President <span class="hilite">Morales</span> himself has made a point of holding public meetings with social and opposition movements during two visits to <span class="hilite">Lima</span> in the past two years. Comment: <span class="hilite">Morales</span> Better Suited than Chavez to Meddle in Highlands --------------------------------------------- ------------ <a href="http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09LIMA794#para-236451-8" id="para-236451-8">¶8. </a> (C) The disparate available evidence compellingly suggests a pattern of Bolivian efforts to generate and support opposition to President Garcia. We find it plausible that President Chavez - long seen as the region's "interferer in chief" in Peru - has outsourced to President <span class="hilite">Morales</span> responsibility for stirring up trouble for the GOP in the Peru's highlands and elsewhere. This may be due to <span class="hilite">Morales</span>' own Andean roots, which generate more inspiration and sympathy among Peru's indigenous than Chavez, with whom most locals have little in common. Whatever the case, it is interesting to note that the Bolivian President appears to be engaged in the very kinds of opposition activities in Peru that he accuses others of doing in Bolivia. <span class="hilite">MCKINLEY</span></div></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-10646845028744443242011-08-31T17:29:00.000-07:002011-08-31T17:29:13.315-07:00Zapatistas: Letter from Marcos August 2011<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_ZG4fKs-PR0KSgwLM1-3HqDuCp9uSvbvHCeMgnWDBVp4BApBJOJgjjnL5_WvbLqP3Un6IecWaPGfw1kYCuh_VFztANfIgb5qP_GfxvRDE9FIbdpVKpuuqtAWBvXJ5xKLl-o8PtEsE0wr/s1600/marcos.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf_ZG4fKs-PR0KSgwLM1-3HqDuCp9uSvbvHCeMgnWDBVp4BApBJOJgjjnL5_WvbLqP3Un6IecWaPGfw1kYCuh_VFztANfIgb5qP_GfxvRDE9FIbdpVKpuuqtAWBvXJ5xKLl-o8PtEsE0wr/s200/marcos.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Brenda Norrell</td></tr>
</tbody></table><strong>ZAPATISTA NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY <br />
MEXICO.<br />
July-August 2011.<br />
To: Don Luis Villoro.<br />
From: SupMarcos<br />
</strong>Don Luis:<br />
<br />
Receive greetings from all of us and a big hug from me. We hope you are in better health and that the pause in this exchange has been useful for attempting new proposals and reflections. <br />
<br />
Although the current reality seems to rush headlong at a dizzying rate, a serious theoretical reflection should be capable of "freezing" a moment in order to discover tendencies within it that permit us, revealing its gestation, to see where it is going. <br />
<br />
(And speaking of reality, I remember that it was in the Zapatista La Realidad where I suggested to Don Pablo Gonzalez Casanova an exchange: he should send me a packet of Pancrema biscuits, and I had to send him an alleged and improbable book of political theory (to call it something). Don Pablo complied, and the delayed walk of our calendar has prevented me from fulfilling my part of the exchange ... yet. But I think that in the coming rains there will be more words). <br />
<br />
As perhaps has been insinuated in our correspondence (and in the letters of those who, generously, have joined the debate), theory, politics and ethics are intertwined in ways not too obvious. <br />
<br />
We are certainly not discussing discovering or creating TRUTHS, those millstones that abound in the history of philosophy and its bastard children: religion, theory and politics. <br />
<br />
I think we would agree that our efforts are aimed more towards trying to make the not-so evident but substantial lines stand out from those tasks. <br />
<br />
"Downloading" theory into concrete analysis is one of the paths. Another is to anchor it in practice. But that practice is not being done in these epistles, as may be realized. So I think we should continue to insist on "anchoring" our theoretical reflections in concrete analysis or, more modestly, trying to limit their geographical and temporal coordinates. In other words, insisting that the words are spoken (written, in this case) from a specific place and time. <br />
<br />
From one calendar and in one geography. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I. The Local Mirror. <br />
<br />
The year 2011, Chiapas, Mexico, the World. <br />
<br />
And in this calendar and this geography, we continue attentive around here to what happens, what is said and, above all, to what is silenced. <br />
<br />
We continue in resistance in our lands. The attacks against us continue from across the political spectrum. We are an example that it is possible for all the political parties to have a common goal. Sponsored by federal, state and municipal governments, all political parties attack us. <br />
<br />
Prior to each attack or after it, there is a meeting between government officials and "social" or party leaders. Little is said, just enough to agree on a price and the method of payment. <br />
<br />
Those who criticize our Zapatista position that "all politicians are alike" should take a trip around Chiapas. Although it is certain that they will say this is something strictly local, that this does not happen at the national level. <br />
<br />
But the political class in Chiapas repeats, with local variations, the same ridiculous routines of pre-election times. <br />
<br />
There is an internal settling of scores (just like among the criminal gangs), which in the political class they disguise as "justice". But everywhere it’s the same: to clear the path for the one who is elected this time. Everything that happens below is suspected of being a plot by one or more rivals. Everything that happens above is deformed or silenced. <br />
<br />
With media policy to pay compliments, when it comes to Chiapas there is no difference between the press in the nation’s capital and in the state capital. <br />
<br />
Can anyone seriously talk about justice in Chiapas when one of those responsible for the Acteal Massacre, namely Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro, remains free? "Don’t worry, my president, let them kill each other, I'm going to send the public security services to pick up the dead", the then governor of Chiapas, Julio Cesar Ruiz Ferro, replied to Jacinto Arias Cruz, mayor of Chenalho, who warned of an imminent confrontation in Acteal on December 19, 1997. (See: Maria de la Luz Gonzalez, El Universal, December 18, 2007.) <br />
<br />
And what about "croquettes" Roberto Albores Guillen, - the one responsible for the El Bosque killings, in addition to having built an empire of crime and corruption that now permits him to play second to Juan Sabines Guerrero and his "cock," the coleto Manuel Velasco, - returning to the governorship of Chiapas? (Speaking of "cocks," Will López Obrador ever account for having helped to recycle the worst of Chiapas PRI politics?) <br />
<br />
Ah, the old rivalry between the ancient political classes of Comitan, San Cristobal de las Casas and Tuxtla Gutiérrez (indeed, its history can be found in the book by Antonio García de León, "Resistance and Utopia: memory of grievances and chronicle of revolts and prophecies which occurred in the province of Chiapas during the last five hundred years of its history" in the ERA editorial of the endearing Neus Espresate). <br />
<br />
While inklings of a storm proliferate in the politics of the Chiapas of above, Juan Sabines Guerrero seems to continue to be committed to the line that gave so many failures before to "croquettes" Albores: to encourage groups, paramilitary and non-paramilitary, to assault the Zapatista communities, cloaking the power of criminal mafias with or without the alibi of a political party; maintaining impunity for close [friends]; simulation as a government programme. <br />
<br />
A local and national press, well "oiled" with money, does not succeed in hiding, under the guise of unanimity, the internal war in the politics of above. <br />
<br />
About all this, suffice it to point out the following: that the internal rules of the political class were broken a while ago. The jailers of yesterday are those jailed today, and the pursuers of today will be pursued tomorrow. <br />
<br />
It’s not that they don’t cut "deals,” but they no longer have the ability to fulfill them. <br />
<br />
And a political class that does not comply with its internal agreements is a corpse awaiting burial. <br />
<br />
No, the political class of above understands nothing. But above all it does not understand the basics: your time is up. <br />
<br />
Ruling stopped being a political function. Now the work par excellence of the rulers is simulation. More important than political and economic advisers are image, advertising and marketing advisors. <br />
<br />
So behave the leaders in Mexico nowadays, while the local, regional and national realities go to pieces. <br />
<br />
Neither can the government bulletins disguised as "reporting" and "journalistic notes" manage to cover up the economic crisis: in the principal cities of real Chiapas begin to appear and grow destitution and more marginal “jobs.” Poverty that seemed to be unique to rural communities begins to increase in urban areas of the Mexican Southeast. <br />
<br />
Just like in the rest of national territory. <br />
<br />
Does it seem like I'm talking about the politics of above on the national level and not the local level? <br />
<br />
Ah, the fragments of the broken mirror, irremediably broken ... <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
II. An epitaph for a political class or for a Nation?<br />
When Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, (who became president through the - now confessed - crime of Elba Esther Gordillo), disguised as a tourist guide so that people other than the military and the police would come to Mexico, looked out at the Cave of the Swallows in Aqusimón, San Luis Potosí, and shouted out “Oh my God!” (<a href="http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/08/17/calderon-promueve-destinos-turisticos-en-el-programa-the-royal-tour),">http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2011/08/17/calderon-promueve-destinos-turisticos-en-el-programa-the-royal-tour),</a> he could very well say the same thing if he looked out at the hole the country has fallen into during his administration.<br />
According to statistics revealed by the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), the number of poor people in Mexico has increased from 48.8 to 53 million. Almost half the Mexican population lives in poverty. Almost 12 million people live in extreme poverty.<br />
And if you study the maps of CONEVAL itself, you could realize that the marks of poverty, which used to be confined mainly to the South and South-Eastern states of Mexico (Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas), are now spreading to the Northern states as well.<br />
The prices for basic items have doubled and trebled during the last 6 years.<br />
<br />
Variation in the increase in prices of some products<br />
<br />
PRODUCT Increase from 1/12/06 to 01/3/11 Price in 2006 Price in 2011<br />
<br />
1 Avocado 239.04% $12.09 $28.90<br />
2 Lemon 230.45% $6.01 $13.85<br />
3 Sugar 199.31% $7.24 $14.43<br />
4 Beans 199.50% $10.03 $20.01<br />
5 Tomato 141.74% $9.75 $13.82<br />
6 Eggs 144.65% $11.58 $16.75<br />
7 Cheese 193.55% $40.77 $78.91<br />
8 White bread 175.00% $1.00 $1.75<br />
9 Tortilla 153.26% $6.74 $10.33<br />
<br />
Minimum wage 22.90% $48.67 $59.82<br />
<br />
<br />
Taken from Centre for Multidisciplinary Analysis (CAM) "Report of Investigation No 90 Mexico: Results of economic policy applied to the workers (2006-2011)"<br />
<br />
<br />
According to data from the The Centre for Multidisciplinary Analysis, in order to have enough money to buy the recommended basic food basket during the first year of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa’s administration, it was necessary to work for 13 hours and 19 minutes per day. Five years later, in 2011, it would be necessary to work for 22 hours and 55 minutes per day.<br />
Meanwhile, millionaires’ earnings have quadrupled during the last 10 years.<br />
<br />
<br />
Source: Prepared by Nubia Conde M with data from Forbes Magazine, several years of CEFP, the Bank of Mexico and SHCP, SAT.<br />
<br />
On top of this, add up the job losses due to the closure of job sources. Among them, the criminal blow to the Mexican Electricians Union. The attack was led by the villainous secretary of work Javier Lozano Alarcón (who will also be remembered for his gangster-like extortions - Zhenli Ye Gon and the 205 million dollars that paid for the 2006 election fraud -), and was “applauded” by the mass media.<br />
Certainly, the huge campaign against the workers of the Mexican Electricians Union (including the threat of penal actions against its leaders), which accuses them not only of being lazy, but at the same time of being terrorists, should compare itself with reality: if these workers were actually lazy and useless, how come the central zone of the country had electricity? How could the TV companies, radio stations and newspapers that now attack them and defame them operate? What about the deficiencies that, with the Federal Electricity Company, most of the homes in that part of Mexico are now facing? What about the ridiculously high new bills they are now getting?<br />
Nonetheless, the resistance of these workers is not ignored. Not by us.<br />
And while the world crisis is barely affecting the national economy, the political class continues in its idleness. <br />
The year 2012 reached the calendar of those of above on December 1st 2006, and throughout all these 5 years it has only been proof that those past calendars are not even good for decorating the destroyed walls of this big house we still call “Mexico.”<br />
In the PRI, a Beltrones and a Paredes are figuring out how to displace a Peña Nieto, who spends more time performing for the media (there is money involved) than in politics (he has no function).<br />
In the PRD, the odd couple of López Obrador and Marcelo Ebrard are starting to realize that everything depends on the party bureaucracies of the self-styled institutional “left.”<br />
Finally, in the PAN of the national nightmare, a little man, surrounded by death and destruction, is looking for someone to back him up now the presidential guards and the national palace will no longer do so.<br />
Although the discredit and waste of the party in government is huge, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa is gambling, and gambling high, to use all the resources he can get hold of to impose his proposal. If he did it already in 2006, he could do it again in 2012. And he will need to, because his playing cards are worn out: a Cordero (lamb) promising his shepherd he’ll keep being a lamb; a Lujambio waiting to avoid the thrust of the stream of light; a Creel who looks good in grey (a colour that defines him); and a Vázquez Mota whose only argument is the fact that she is a woman.<br />
(I recall an argument when Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton were running for the presidential candidacy. Some feminists were looking for support for Hillary because she was a woman; some Afro-Americans were supporting Obama because he was black. Time proved that above neither gender nor colour are important). <br />
Meanwhile, like a brothel madam would do, Elba Esther Gordillo picks the leaves off the daisy…and she is still considering joining the race, instead of supporting someone else.<br />
With such a pathetic panorama, it is only logical, and even expected, that other pre-candidates will show up…and with their own supporters.<br />
In reality, the replacement government seems to interest no one, other than the party cliques, the economic power and an occasional militant.<br />
Bitterness is replacing apathy, and not a few dreams finally bury the Mexican political system, and worker’s hands are engraving on its tomb the epitaph: “they did it the hard way, but the game is finally over.”<br />
In the meantime the war continues…and with it, its victims…<br />
<br />
<br />
III. Blaming the victim<br />
In 1971, the north American psychologist William Ryan, wrote a book called “Blaming the Victim”. Although his initial intention was a criticism of the so-called “Moynihan Report”, which suggested that the black population of the USA were responsible for their own poverty due to their cultural patterns, rather than the social structure being to blame, this idea has been used more often to excuse acts of sexism and racism (even more so in rape cases, where the female is accused of provoking the rapist by her clothing, attitude, place, etc.)<br />
Similarly, but using a different name, Theodor Adorno describes “Blaming the victim” as one of the defining characteristics of fascism.<br />
In contemporary Mexico, the church, government, artists and people from the mainstream media, have used the same nonsense to condemn innocent victims (mainly women and young people).<br />
Felipe Calderόn Hinojosa’s war has converted this characteristic of fascism into a whole programme of government and the dispensing of justice. Moreover, most of the media coverage holds to the same strategy, permeating through the minds of those who still believe what the newspapers, radio and television report.<br />
Someone somewhere said that crimes against innocent people commit a triple injustice: death, guilt, and oblivion.<br />
The whole system that we currently endure cares, keeps, and cultivates the killers and their names, whether it is to condemn or to glorify them.<br />
However, the victim’s name and story are left behind.<br />
Far beyond the victim’s relatives and friends, the victims are killed once again when they are reduced to a number, a statistic. Some others don’t even reach that.<br />
In the war that Calderόn has imposed on the whole of Mexican society, across race, belief, social class, gender, political ideology, another grief is added: innocent victims are labeled as criminals.<br />
The empire of impunity is disguised under the name of “settling of scores amongst narcos”.<br />
And this heavy weight falls onto the relatives and friends too.<br />
The reigning injustice not only guarantees impunity for all those working in the federal, state and municipal governments. It also overburdens the families and friends of the victims.<br />
Other deaths are also their deaths, when society omits their names and stories. An honest life is distorted when [criminal] adjectives are lavished on those lives by the authorities and repeated ad nauseam by the media.<br />
Then the victims of the war become the culprits and the crime of chopping their limbs off or killing them becomes a quasi-divine justice: “they asked for it”.<br />
Felipe Calderόn Hinojosa will be remembered as a war criminal, even though today he is surrounded by embraces and congratulations, he thinks he is a great statesman, or the country’s saviour.<br />
He will be remembered with bitterness.<br />
It will even surpass the lack of justice, the derision and the usual scorn that follows the governor’s departure.<br />
His pathetic imitation of a “tourist guide”, the illegality and illegitimacy of becoming president, his failed policies, his responsibility for the economic crisis, his surrounding of himself with a team of hitmen and security guards dressed in politician’s clothing; the nepotism that consolidates what is already known as the “los Piňos Cartel” , all these misrepresentations will be left in the background.<br />
What will remain will be his war, lost, with its trail of collateral victims: the defeat, wearing down and discredit of the federal armed forces (which TV series could do very little to counter); the handing over of national sovereignty to the empire of stripes and blurred stars (we have said this before: the USA will be the sole winners of this war); the wiping out of local and regional economies; the breakdown of the social fabric; and innocent blood, always innocent blood…<br />
It may be that death has no cure.<br />
That nothing can fill the void of loneliness and despair that is left by the death of an innocent.<br />
It may be that nothing can be done to bring back to life the tens of thousands of innocents killed in this war. <br />
But one thing that can be done is to fight against this fascist idea of “blame the victim”, to name the dead and thus to recover their stories.<br />
To free them from guilt and from oblivion.<br />
To provide comfort for their absence.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
IV. Naming the dead and their history<br />
<br />
Mariano Anteros Cordero Gutierrez was his name. He was about 20 years old when, on June 25, 2009, he was murdered in Chihuahua.<br />
<br />
When Mariano's father, Mariano Cordero Burciaga, met with the then governor of Chihuahua, José Reyes Baeza, the latter said that the murder had been the result of a street fight. A few weeks after the events, a representative of the College of State Lawyers of the Bar asked the appropriate authorities for an explanation of the facts. They said they had been "a settling of accounts between drug traffickers". Blame the victim.<br />
Here are a few fragments of his story:<br />
<br />
Mariano was studying at the Institute of Technology in Parral (ITP) for an engineering degree in business management and had received a letter of acceptance to study for a law degree at the Autonomous University of Durango in Spain, Parral Campus.<br />
<br />
Prior to these studies he was a missionary volunteer at the Marist boarding school in the town of Chinatú, in the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua. He was responsible for 32 indigenous children in the primary section of this boarding school.<br />
<br />
Mariano was a young Zapatista, one of those who struggle without masks. In March 2001, along with his father, he participated as a member of the ‘belt of peace’ during the March of the Colour of the Earth. In 2002, he took part in the various anti-globalization (altermundismo) demonstrations in Monterrey, Nuevo León, during a summit of heads of state attended by Bush but also by Fidel Castro. At the time of his death, Mariano kept in a bag for daily use a copy of the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, the Communist Party Manifesto and his most recently-acquired book, "Nights of Fire and Sleeplessness" <br />
<br />
When we did our Other Campaign tour of northern Mexico, we passed through the state of Chihuahua, and the young Mariano attended a meeting. At the end of the meeting, he asked to speak with me alone. <br />
What was the date? November 2, 2006. A few weeks earlier, on October 17 of that year, Mariano had reached the age of seventeen.<br />
<br />
We sat in the same room where the meeting had been. More or less, what Mariano told me was that he wanted to come to live in a Zapatista community. He wanted to learn. I was surprised by his simplicity and humility, he did not say he wanted to come to help, but to learn.<br />
<br />
I told the truth: that it was best to study for a college degree and to finish it, because here (and there and everywhere), people of honour finish what they have started; meanwhile they do not stop fighting, there in their land with their people.<br />
<br />
That once he had finished his studies, if he still felt the same, he would have a place with us, but by our side, not as teacher or as a student, but as one of us.<br />
<br />
We closed the deal with a handshake.<br />
<br />
Seven years earlier, on May 8, 1999, when Mariano was 9, I had written him a message on a sheet of paper from a notebook:<br />
<br />
"Mariano:The time will come, (not yet, but it will come, that is certain), when your path crosses others, and you have to choose one. When that time comes, look inside you and know that there are no options, there is only one answer: to be true to what you believe and say. If this is true, then the path and the speed of walking do not matter. What matters is the truth of the path walked".<br />
<br />
Today we name Mariano, and his story, and from this geography we send his family a hug from his Zapatista brothers and sisters, which, although it will not cure it, will relieve the pain.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
V. Judging or trying to understand? <br />
<br />
From our geography we have also tried to follow closely the course of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity that Javier Sicilia heads. <br />
<br />
I know that judging and condemning or absolving is the way preferred by the commissioners of thought that appear on either side of the intellectual spectrum, but around here we think that one must make an effort to try to understand several things: <br />
<br />
The first is that we’re dealing with a new movement that, in its project of becoming an organized movement, is constructing its own paths, with its own achievements and failures. Like anything new, we think it deserves respect. They can say, rightly, that the ways and means can be challenged, but not the causes. <br />
<br />
And it deserves attention to try to comprehend, instead of making the summary judgments so dear to those who do not tolerate anything that is not under their direction. <br />
<br />
And to respect and understand you have to look up, but also down below. <br />
<br />
It’s true that above the shows of affection received by those directly responsible for so much death and destruction call attention and irritate.<br />
<br />
But below we see that, in the family members and friends of the victims, awakens hope, comfort and companionship. <br />
<br />
We thought maybe it was possible for a movement to rise up that would stop this absurd war. It doesn’t seem to be so (or not yet). <br />
<br />
But what can be seen, of course, is that made tangible to the victims. <br />
<br />
It lifted them out of the page of police reports, out of the statistics of the mythical "triumphs" of the government of Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, out of the blame, the forgetting. <br />
<br />
Thanks to that mobilization, the victims begin to have a name and a history. And the hoax of the "fight against organized crime" falls apart. <br />
<br />
For sure we still don’t understand the reason they spend so much energy and effort in dialogue with a political class that have long lost the will to govern and are nothing but a gang of outlaws. Perhaps they will discover this for themselves. <br />
<br />
We do not judge and, therefore, neither do we condemn or absolve. We try to understand their steps and the longing that animates them. <br />
<br />
In short, the dignified pain that embodies and moves them deserves and has our respect and admiration. <br />
<br />
We think it is logical to dialogue with those responsible for the problems. In this war, it is reasonable to address those who unleashed it and escalated it. Critics of that dialogue with Felipe Calderón Hinojosa forget this fundamental. <br />
<br />
Criticism of all kinds has rained on the forms that dialogue has taken. <br />
<br />
I do not think that Javier Sicilia loses any sleep over the vile criticism of, for example, the Paty Chapoy of La Jornada, Jaime Avilés (just as frivolous and hysterical), or the vileness of Dr. ORA (who nowhere says that he is on the left or that he is congruent), who only lacks saying that Sicilia ordered the killing of his son to "push" the image of Felipe Calderon Hinojosa; or the signals that reproach him for not being radical, made precisely by those who hoist as an achievement "not having broken one pane of glass." <br />
<br />
In his correspondence (and it seems to me in some public events), Javier Sicilia likes to recall a poem by Cavafy, especially the verse that says: "Thou shalt not fear either Laestrygonians or Cyclops, or the wrath of angry Poseidon." And these hysterical critics get nowhere near this, so that the bitterness of these pathetic little men does not reach beyond their few readers. <br />
<br />
The reality is that this movement is doing something for the victims. And that is something that none of the "judges" can claim to do. <br />
<br />
As for the rest, neither Javier Sicilia nor any of those close to him disdain the critical observations that they receive from the left, which are not few but are serious and respectful. <br />
<br />
But one must not forget that they are observations, not orders. <br />
<br />
I transcribe the end of one of the private letters that we have sent to him: <br />
<br />
"Personally, if I may, I would tell him to continue with poetry, and art in general, at his side. In it are found stronger handles than those that seem to abound without rhyme or reason from the palaver of political "analysts”. <br />
<br />
So I finish these lines with the words of John Berger: <br />
‘I cannot tell you what art does and how it does it, but I know that art often prosecutes judges, cries out for vengeance for the innocent and projects into the future what the past has suffered, in a way that is never ever forgotten. <br />
<br />
I also know that the powerful fear art, in any of its forms, when it does this, and that art sometimes runs like a rumour and a legend among the people because it gives meaning to what the brutality of life cannot, a meaning that unifies us, because in the end it is inseparable from justice. Art, when it functions like that, becomes the meeting place of the invisible, the irreducible, the enduring, the courage and the honour’ " <br />
<br />
In the end, maybe all this will not come to be the case (or the thing, depending) ..... <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
VI. A little story.<br />
And perhaps this little story I am now going to tell you, Don Luis, will not come to be the case (or thing, depending,) either:<br />
In the early morning of May 7, 2011, a column of vehicles left the zapatista Tzots Choj zone, ferrying men and women of the EZLN support bases to participate, along with people from other areas, in a demonstration in support of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity headed by Javier Sicilia. At 6 o’clock, our compañero Roberto Santis Aguilar lost his life when one of the cars overturned in an accident. When he was very young, Robert became a Zapatista and chose "Dionisio" as his struggle name.<br />
<br />
The story seems simple, when listening to it being told by his parents and his wife. His father says that Dionisio was the first member of his family to join the Zapatistas.<br />
"So, since we were working here in the cornfield, the time came when we were chatting here in the cornfield, he looked to see that there was no one around and said, we'll talk a while, there is an organization, I heard it is very good. Then he started to say, he began to talk with us, with his brothers, then he began to say that there is this organization which is very good, it seems that there is help for us and this is what he said. So this is how we joined, but first we heard the word, and then we joined ourselves, it was gradually coming closer to all of the people. So, we joined the organization then.<br />
We joined the organization at that time because we were very fucked up for living then, and there was no more land for us to work, we were very poor then. Then the bad government did this, we were talking about if there was a way to grab a piece of land, since there was no way the bloody government would give us one, so this organization heard we were on this path and then we joined this organization yes, we joined in the year, the year 1990, yes".<br />
Four years later, now as a member of the Zapatista militia, compañero Dionisio, carrying a 20-gauge shotgun, was part of the regiment which took the municipalities of Altamirano, Chanal and Oxchuc. The government garrisons were defeated in those places, but afterwards Dionisio and other milicianos were taken prisoner and tortured by the PRI in Oxchuc.<br />
You may remember, Don Luis, the images repeated ad nauseam by the national media and international organizations: the Zapatistas severely beaten, tied up in a building at the headquarters of Oxchuc, the PRI mob shouting and threatening to burn them alive. A government helicopter flew them to the Cerro Hueco prison, where they continued to be interrogated under torture. They had 15 days without food, with hardly any water, and being taken out at 4 in the morning to wash in cold water. He did not give them any information. He was released later, along with other Zapatista prisoners, in exchange for the Prisoner of War General Absalόn Castellanos.<br />
There followed the Dialogue in the Cathedral, the Dialogue of San Andres, the signing of the accords, the government’s failure to ratify them, and the Zapatista resistance.<br />
Tens of thousands of men, women, children and old people refused to receive government aid and began the process of building their autonomy through their own efforts and with the support of national and international civil society. <br />
<br />
Compañero Dionisio was elected an authority of the Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipality and chairman of the commission of municipal production. When the Good Government Juntas were born, he was a member of one of them. Completing his community service as an autonomous authority, he remained a local promoter in his community.<br />
His wife tells us how he fulfilled his duties:<br />
“Before starting work the compañero said that it did not matter to him how much time he lost or if he would not earn enough money, not even the time when he was going to do the work and he did not mind that he would lose his time, even with pozol, because that's what he said before doing the work, that that is what our struggle needs. And he said that he was in himself quite convinced of the struggle, he did not want to give up, or mind whether there was any suffering, but he was quite convinced to fight. The compañero would like more work, would not mind if he had no money, but what he liked most is the work, and always when he goes out in the commission or in the council to work, many people there in the ejido were against the compañero, because work is what is making the organization, because, as an ejidatario he was always asked for a fine because he did not attend the meetings, doing other jobs in the community”.<br />
When compañero Dionisio was doing his job as an autonomous authority, his wife stayed behind working in the cornfield or carrying firewood. And they shared the job: when the compañero returned from work in his office, he came home and the next day left at four or five in the morning to go to his work, either in the cornfield or other jobs, but always accompanied to work by his wife, and so they shared the work between them.<br />
The day of the march, on May 7 this year, they got up at 2am and began to get ready: to grind the [flour for] dough for the tortillas, to prepare food to leave for the children, and to prepare pozol to take on the march. His wife says that whenever he went out to do work for the commission, Dionisio said he never knew whether he would return. That morning he left happily. The body of the compañero came back along with many Zapatista support bases.<br />
They accompanied him back home.<br />
When we spoke to the family of the late Dionisio, they asked us to pass these messages on to those who are struggling against the bad government’s war:<br />
The father: this message is for compañero Javier Sicilia and other compañeros whose children have died as a result of looking for the good, then I send this message to encourage them in their struggle, so perhaps they can defeat the bad government. <br />
The wife: this message to the compañero Javier Sicilia and other compañeros whose children have died, to encourage them in their struggle, not to stop fighting, the message is to fight together. <br />
The mother: to keep struggling, their struggles and courage, as always with this situation if we are willing to fight it is going to happen, to continue to struggle, and they are not alone.<br />
<br />
<br />
Truly, they are not alone.<br />
The story of Dionisio is a simple one and, like that of all the Zapatistas can be summarized as follows: they neither surrendered nor sold out nor gave up.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-*Hmm ... it came out as a long letter. Imagine what will be sent to Don Pablo Gonzalez Casanova, to whom I owe not a letter but a book.<br />
And now that I re-read it before sending, it occurs to me that all it says may not come to be the case as we reflect on ethics and politics.<br />
Or perhaps it will?<br />
Vale. Good health to you and hopefully there will be more effort put into understanding and less into judging.<br />
From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast<br />
Subcomandante Marcos<br />
Mexico, July - August 2011<br />
<br />
<a href="http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/2011/08/25/sci-marcos-tal-vez-carta-tercera-a-don-luis-villoro-en-el-intercambio-sobre-etica-y-politica/">http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/2011/08/25/sci-marcos-tal-vez-carta-tercera-a-don-luis-villoro-en-el-intercambio-sobre-etica-y-politica/</a> Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-51617304762781009912011-08-03T16:11:00.000-07:002011-08-03T16:16:38.304-07:00Crow Indian parents seek justice for murdered son<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIniLAb-A-orHlG67J8zqbKLHu9ql0vQKQ55FyprhKJ3BNGS_1p98CKU90uP_jZcQozAjaJHtlpGlnmM-dv2D4DAIE0XzmYytgAntYQoUZaVyrTpq6VI80WDtAm7JDJXwP1ezeHqabCMEI/s1600/censored.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIniLAb-A-orHlG67J8zqbKLHu9ql0vQKQ55FyprhKJ3BNGS_1p98CKU90uP_jZcQozAjaJHtlpGlnmM-dv2D4DAIE0XzmYytgAntYQoUZaVyrTpq6VI80WDtAm7JDJXwP1ezeHqabCMEI/s200/censored.png" width="200" /></a></div><strong>Family says FBI agent was prejudiced toward Native Americans and failed to adequately investigate the murder of their son</strong> .<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">By Brenda Norrell</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Censored News</span><br />
<a href="http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">SEATTLE -- A Native American family is in Seattle today, seeking justice in the murder of their son, Steven Bearcrane, murdered on Crow Indian land in 2005. The family said the FBI agent in the case did not adequately investigate the murder and treated the family "like we were wasting his time."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"There is so much to this murder that it frustrates any one when they hear the details. The pain of losing our son is hard to deal with; but when there is absolutely no justice for our son or our family, we as a family suffer in our grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the evidence shows murder the FBI did a very poor investigation and the US Attorney’s Office accepted it 'as is,'" the family said in a message to Censored News.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"We are now in Seattle for our hearing in the Ninth Circuit on Thursday, Aug 4, at 9 a.m. We had gotten a call late Monday from a woman who (we have never met) she said she heard about our case and is going to be at the court house with a banner and some others to meet us before we go in. WOW! this was very surprising! It is very comforting when others care," the family said.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Please see below the court documents and letter to the editor:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The case is captioned <i>Earline Cole v. Matthew Oravec</i>, U.S. District Court case no.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">CV-09-21-BLG-RFC-CFO, 9</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">th Circuit Court of Appeals case no. 11-35710.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Page 1 of 3</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
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<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">P</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ATRICIA S. BANGERT</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">TTORNEY AT LAW, LLC</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">3773 Cherry Creek Drive North</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Suite 575</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Denver, Colorado 80209</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Telephone: 303.228.217</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Facsimile: 303.399.6480</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Email: </span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">pbangertlaw@aol.com</span></span></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">July 28, 2011</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Honorable Michael W. Cotter</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">United States Attorney for Montana</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">2929 3</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">rd Avenue North</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Billings, Montana 59102</span></div><b></b><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Re</span></div></b><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">: <i>Steven Bearcrane</i></span></div><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dear U.S. Attorney Cotter:</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This requests that you ask the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) to conduct an</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">investigation into the murder of Steven Bearcrane, a member of the Crow Tribe. Steven</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bearcrane, was shot in the head and killed on February 2, 2005, by a Caucasian co-worker on a</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ranch on which both men worked, within the Crow Reservation. The co-worker claimed that he</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">killed Steven in self-defense after Steven allegedly came at him with a knife. The FBI agent</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">investigating the homicide, Special Agent Matt Oravec, agreed with the killer. Oravec even took</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">it upon himself to tell the Crime Victim’s Compensation staff that Steven’s relatives were not</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">entitled to assistance under the Victim’s Crime Act (Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">§3771, and, 42 U.S.C. §10607 (Victims Rights and Restitution Act of 1990)), because Steven’s</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">murder was a case of self-defense. A review of the evidence available to Steven’s parents,</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Earline and Cletus Cole, proves that Special Agent Oravec did an inadequate investigation in the</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">case, they believe, because of his animosity toward Native Americans.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Further, the parents of Steven Bearcrane and other reservation members have filed suit</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">against the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Dakota alleging violations of equal</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">protection arising out of the agencies’ discriminatory provision of law enforcement services</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">(investigative and prosecutorial) to Native Americans.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">1 Since the filing of that case, the FBI and</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">U.S. Attorney’s Office refuse to follow-up on new evidence in the case. Steven’s killer has not</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been prosecuted and Steven’s mother, daughter and other family have to see him in town.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Page 2 of 3</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Representative of the evidence showing inadequate investigation and prosecution is the</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">following: Crime-scene photographs show Steven lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ranch trailer in which he was killed. The knife with which Steven supposedly attacked the killer</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was lying </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>in its sheath </b><i>under </i>an electrical cord, <i>under </i>the left side of Steven’s body (Steven was</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">right-handed). To believe that Steven’s killer acted in self-defense, Special Agent Oravec had to</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">believe that the knife was magical and somehow flew out of Steven’s hand back into its sheath,</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and, then, flew under Steven’s body. Rather than believe in magical knives, it is more</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">reasonable to infer that Oravec has animosity toward Native Americans, such as Steven</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bearcrane, that affects his actions in cases involving Native American victims. In fact, Oravec</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">has been heard making disparaging remarks about Native Americans.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">While in the Montana FBI Field Office, Special Agent Oravec exhibited the same</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">disregard of Native American victims in other cases. In the Springfield case, Robert Springfield</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">went on a hunting trip on the reservation and never came back. The FBI refused to investigate</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">his disappearance. When Mr. Springfield’s body was found many months later, the FBI refused</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to investigate his death even though there were several persons who wanted to give statements.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Further, Oravec delayed Springfield’s identification, thus depriving the family of Social Security</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">death benefits.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Perhaps most disturbing is the FBI’s refusal to consider substantial new evidence about</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Steven Bearcrane’s killing. Last winter, new evidence emerged about Steven’s murder and</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Oravec’s animosity toward Native Americans. Specifically, a non-Indian woman who was also</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">working on the ranch the day of Steven’s murder executed an affidavit. </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>See </i>attached affidavit.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In that affidavit, among other things, the co-worker stated that a month or so before Steven’s</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">murder, his killer bragged about being a sniper, and that could kill someone and make it look</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">like self-defense.” The co-worker stated that the ranch foreman had entered the trailer right after</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Steven was murdered and saw no knife near his body, but did observe that a knife had been</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">planted later. She stated that the killer had a very aggressive dog who would not let anyone near</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">him if the dog felt that the killer was threatened. The co-worker stated that she tried to tell these</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">things to Special Agent Oravec, but that he cut her off and commented that “Indians can’t hold</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">their liquor and drugs.” She said that she tried to tell these facts to the Grand Jury but that the</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Assistant U.S. Attorney, Maura Kohn, would not allow her to testify regarding these issues.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I sent that affidavit to Shon Hastings, an attorney representing the FBI and the U.S.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Attorney’s Office in the civil case, months ago. As far as I know, neither the FBI nor the U.S.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Attorney’s Office has taken any action with regard to the new evidence. I also sent the affidavit</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to Edward Himmelfarb, the attorney representing the Department of Justice in the civil case</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">brought by Steven’s parents to force the FBI to treat Native American crime victims the same as</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Caucasian crime victims. His only response was that the United States would not allow the</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">federal court to see the affidavit.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is hard to understand, as a practical and ethical matter, why there has been such</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">reluctance, as well as active resistance by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), and its agency, the</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Page 3 of 3</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">FBI, to fully investigate Steven’s murder. It is even harder to understand why that reluctance and</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">active resistance continues after the agencies received the affidavit from Steven’s co-worker, a</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">person who has no interest in the murder other than to see justice furthered. The only conclusion</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">one can draw from these facts is that animosity against Native Americans is institutionalized in</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">some DOJ offices.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Further, it is this kind of disregard and disrespect for Native American crime victims that</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">has contributed to the horrendous and unforgivable crime on reservations: the most recent Bureau</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of Justice Statistics report showed that: (a) from 1976 to 2001 an estimated 3,738 American</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Indians were murdered; (b) among American Indians age 25 to 34, the rate of violent crime</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">victimizations was more than 2½ times the rate for all persons the same age; and (c) rates of</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">violent victimization for both males and females were higher for American Indians than for all</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">races. </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>See American Indians and Crime: A BJS Statistical Profile</i>, 1992-2002, 12/04 NCJ</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">203097). The highest crime rate </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>per capita </i>occurs on Indian reservations. <i>See </i>Testimony of</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hon. Anthony Brandenburg, Chief Judge, Intertribal Court of Southern California before the</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, regarding a Legislative Hearing on S. 797, the Tribal Law</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Enforcement Act of 2009, June 25, 2009. A report released by the Department of Justice found</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">that Native American women suffer violent crime at a rate three and a half times greater than the</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">national average (</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Native American Women and Violence</i>, Lisa Bhungalia, National NOW Times,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Spring, 2001); in fact, one in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetime and 75</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">percent of perpetrators of those crimes are non-Indian (</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">See American Indians and Crime: A BJS</span></i></div><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Statistical Profile</span></div></i><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">, 1992-2002, 12/04 NCJ 203097). Even the human rights group “Amnesty</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">International” has documented the deplorable lack of investigation and prosecution of sexual</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">abuse involving Native Americans. </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>See</i>, <i>for example</i>,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><div align="LEFT">http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR510352007</div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Because of their concerns that the FBI or other parts of the Department of Justice can be</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">impartial or can perform an adequate investigation, Earline and Cletus Cole respectfully request</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">that you ask the BIA Law Enforcement Services to conduct an investigation into Steven</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bearcrane’s murder. The Coles believe that the criminal investigators within the BIA may be</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">able to provide valuable assistance to the DOJ in determining whether prosecution is warranted</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in Steven’s murder. Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss the matters contained</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">herein. Thank you.</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sincerely,</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Patricia S. Bangert</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">cc: Honorable Ken Salazar, Secretary, DOI</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Honorable Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary, BIA</span></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Darren Cruzan, Deputy Bureau Director, OJS</span>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">July 15, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dear Editor<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">My name is Cletus Cole and I am an enrolled member or the Gros Ventre Tribe of Fort Belknap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am married and have a home in the rural area of Billings, Montana. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This home is located 11 miles out and within the boundaries of the Crow Reservation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">My wife Earline and I have 1 daughter and 4 sons, one of which we have lost one in the most tragic way imaginable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earline and our children are all enrolled members of the Crow Tribe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Steven, the son we lost, is the reason for this letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steven was at work when he was shot and killed on February 2, 2005, and the shooter is a non-Indian and was never charged with anything or never spent one night in jail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This happened down the road from our home where Steven was employed as a ranch hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">There is so much to this murder that it frustrates any one when they hear the details. The pain of losing our son is hard to deal with; but when there is absolutely no justice for our son or our family, we as a family suffer in our grief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the evidence shows murder the FBI did a very poor investigation and the US Attorney’s Office accepted it “as is.” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The FBI agent assigned to the Crow Reservation at that time always treated Indian victims and their families with no worth or importance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The agent showed us no concern when meeting at the FBI office with us about Steven’s case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, the agent acted like we were wasting his time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We filed a civil case claiming racial discrimination against the FBI and the US Attorney’s office of South Dakota in the Federal District Court in Billings to try to get the court to order them to do their jobs in regard to Indian victims of crime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The FBI and DOJ and their employees claimed sovereign immunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the court would not let the FBI agent claim sovereign immunity but everyone else was able to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, sacrifice the lowest man on the totem pole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The FBI agent through the DOJ is now appealing in the 9<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> Circuit court and our court date for oral arguments is Aug. 4, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. in Seattle WA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">We as Indian people know firsthand what prejudice is and when the offices that should protect us and administer “JUSTICE FOR ALL” do not do this, then that leaves us as “Vulnerable Victims of All” people who want to commit crimes against Indians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crime happens everywhere but, as you know, it is most rampant on reservations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The MSU-Missoula journalism school picks an issue to investigate and sends teams out to investigate and write a magazine which is published every May and distributed in the Great Falls paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crime on reservations was the topic of 2009 there was a story from every Montana reservation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story of Steven’s murder was the cover and center-page story and told of all the extremes measures we have done to pursue justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going to the 9<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> Circuit Court is another is another endeavor we are doing in the hopes of achieving justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Injustice is not only in Montana but we have found along the way that reservations in other states also experience this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This case will set precedence for all Indian people in the 9<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup> circuit states over the treatment of Indian victims and we feel it is very important to have as much support as can be given.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are asking if any person or persons would come and attend the hearing and make their presence to be seen at this hearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your attendance will show the 9<sup>th</sup> Circuit Court Judges the seriousness of the injustice done to Indians and that injustice because of our race is wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sincerely,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cletus and Earline Cole</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">1 </span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">The case is captioned <i>Earline Cole v. Matthew Oravec</i>, U.S. District Court case no.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">CV-09-21-BLG-RFC-CFO, 9</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">th Circuit Court of Appeals case no. 11-35710.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Page 1 of 3</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">P</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ATRICIA S. BANGERT</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">A</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">TTORNEY AT LAW, LLC</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">3773 Cherry Creek Drive North</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Suite 575</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Denver, Colorado 80209</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Telephone: 303.228.217</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Facsimile: 303.399.6480</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Email: </span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">pbangertlaw@aol.com</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">July 28, 2011</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Honorable Michael W. Cotter</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">United States Attorney for Montana</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">2929 3</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">rd Avenue North</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Billings, Montana 59102</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></b></div><b><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></b><br />
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<b><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Re</span></div></b><br />
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<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">: <i>Steven Bearcrane</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></i></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Dear U.S. Attorney Cotter:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">This requests that you ask the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) to conduct an</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">investigation into the murder of Steven Bearcrane, a member of the Crow Tribe. Steven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bearcrane, was shot in the head and killed on February 2, 2005, by a Caucasian co-worker on a</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ranch on which both men worked, within the Crow Reservation. The co-worker claimed that he</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">killed Steven in self-defense after Steven allegedly came at him with a knife. The FBI agent</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">investigating the homicide, Special Agent Matt Oravec, agreed with the killer. Oravec even took</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">it upon himself to tell the Crime Victim’s Compensation staff that Steven’s relatives were not</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">entitled to assistance under the Victim’s Crime Act (Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">§3771, and, 42 U.S.C. §10607 (Victims Rights and Restitution Act of 1990)), because Steven’s</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">murder was a case of self-defense. A review of the evidence available to Steven’s parents,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Earline and Cletus Cole, proves that Special Agent Oravec did an inadequate investigation in the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">case, they believe, because of his animosity toward Native Americans.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Further, the parents of Steven Bearcrane and other reservation members have filed suit</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">against the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Dakota alleging violations of equal</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">protection arising out of the agencies’ discriminatory provision of law enforcement services</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">(investigative and prosecutorial) to Native Americans.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">1 Since the filing of that case, the FBI and</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">U.S. Attorney’s Office refuse to follow-up on new evidence in the case. Steven’s killer has not</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">been prosecuted and Steven’s mother, daughter and other family have to see him in town.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Page 2 of 3</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Representative of the evidence showing inadequate investigation and prosecution is the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">following: Crime-scene photographs show Steven lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ranch trailer in which he was killed. The knife with which Steven supposedly attacked the killer</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was lying </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>in its sheath </b><i>under </i>an electrical cord, <i>under </i>the left side of Steven’s body (Steven was</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">right-handed). To believe that Steven’s killer acted in self-defense, Special Agent Oravec had to</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">believe that the knife was magical and somehow flew out of Steven’s hand back into its sheath,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and, then, flew under Steven’s body. Rather than believe in magical knives, it is more</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">reasonable to infer that Oravec has animosity toward Native Americans, such as Steven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bearcrane, that affects his actions in cases involving Native American victims. In fact, Oravec</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">has been heard making disparaging remarks about Native Americans.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">While in the Montana FBI Field Office, Special Agent Oravec exhibited the same</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">disregard of Native American victims in other cases. In the Springfield case, Robert Springfield</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">went on a hunting trip on the reservation and never came back. The FBI refused to investigate</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">his disappearance. When Mr. Springfield’s body was found many months later, the FBI refused</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to investigate his death even though there were several persons who wanted to give statements.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Further, Oravec delayed Springfield’s identification, thus depriving the family of Social Security</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">death benefits.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Perhaps most disturbing is the FBI’s refusal to consider substantial new evidence about</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Steven Bearcrane’s killing. Last winter, new evidence emerged about Steven’s murder and</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Oravec’s animosity toward Native Americans. Specifically, a non-Indian woman who was also</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">working on the ranch the day of Steven’s murder executed an affidavit. </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>See </i>attached affidavit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">In that affidavit, among other things, the co-worker stated that a month or so before Steven’s</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">murder, his killer bragged about being a sniper, and that could kill someone and make it look</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">like self-defense.” The co-worker stated that the ranch foreman had entered the trailer right after</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Steven was murdered and saw no knife near his body, but did observe that a knife had been</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">planted later. She stated that the killer had a very aggressive dog who would not let anyone near</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">him if the dog felt that the killer was threatened. The co-worker stated that she tried to tell these</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">things to Special Agent Oravec, but that he cut her off and commented that “Indians can’t hold</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">their liquor and drugs.” She said that she tried to tell these facts to the Grand Jury but that the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Assistant U.S. Attorney, Maura Kohn, would not allow her to testify regarding these issues.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I sent that affidavit to Shon Hastings, an attorney representing the FBI and the U.S.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Attorney’s Office in the civil case, months ago. As far as I know, neither the FBI nor the U.S.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Attorney’s Office has taken any action with regard to the new evidence. I also sent the affidavit</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to Edward Himmelfarb, the attorney representing the Department of Justice in the civil case</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">brought by Steven’s parents to force the FBI to treat Native American crime victims the same as</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Caucasian crime victims. His only response was that the United States would not allow the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">federal court to see the affidavit.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is hard to understand, as a practical and ethical matter, why there has been such</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">reluctance, as well as active resistance by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), and its agency, the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Page 3 of 3</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">FBI, to fully investigate Steven’s murder. It is even harder to understand why that reluctance and</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">active resistance continues after the agencies received the affidavit from Steven’s co-worker, a</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">person who has no interest in the murder other than to see justice furthered. The only conclusion</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">one can draw from these facts is that animosity against Native Americans is institutionalized in</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">some DOJ offices.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Further, it is this kind of disregard and disrespect for Native American crime victims that</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">has contributed to the horrendous and unforgivable crime on reservations: the most recent Bureau</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of Justice Statistics report showed that: (a) from 1976 to 2001 an estimated 3,738 American</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Indians were murdered; (b) among American Indians age 25 to 34, the rate of violent crime</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">victimizations was more than 2½ times the rate for all persons the same age; and (c) rates of</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">violent victimization for both males and females were higher for American Indians than for all</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">races. </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>See American Indians and Crime: A BJS Statistical Profile</i>, 1992-2002, 12/04 NCJ</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">203097). The highest crime rate </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>per capita </i>occurs on Indian reservations. <i>See </i>Testimony of</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hon. Anthony Brandenburg, Chief Judge, Intertribal Court of Southern California before the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, regarding a Legislative Hearing on S. 797, the Tribal Law</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Enforcement Act of 2009, June 25, 2009. A report released by the Department of Justice found</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">that Native American women suffer violent crime at a rate three and a half times greater than the</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">national average (</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>Native American Women and Violence</i>, Lisa Bhungalia, National NOW Times,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Spring, 2001); in fact, one in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetime and 75</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">percent of perpetrators of those crimes are non-Indian (</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">See American Indians and Crime: A BJS</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></i></div><i><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Statistical Profile</span></div></i><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">, 1992-2002, 12/04 NCJ 203097). Even the human rights group “Amnesty</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">International” has documented the deplorable lack of investigation and prosecution of sexual</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">abuse involving Native Americans. </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i>See</i>, <i>for example</i>,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></span></span></div><span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><div align="LEFT">http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR510352007</div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Because of their concerns that the FBI or other parts of the Department of Justice can be</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">impartial or can perform an adequate investigation, Earline and Cletus Cole respectfully request</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">that you ask the BIA Law Enforcement Services to conduct an investigation into Steven</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Bearcrane’s murder. The Coles believe that the criminal investigators within the BIA may be</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">able to provide valuable assistance to the DOJ in determining whether prosecution is warranted</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">in Steven’s murder. Please feel free to contact me if you wish to discuss the matters contained</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">herein. Thank you.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sincerely,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Patricia S. Bangert</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">cc: Honorable Ken Salazar, Secretary, DOI</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Honorable Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary, BIA</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Darren Cruzan, Deputy Bureau Director, OJS</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">FOR THE DISTRICT OF MONTANA</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">BILLINGS DIVISION</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">EARLINE COLE, as an individual and as )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">personal representative of the )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ESTATE OF STEVEN BEARCRANE, )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">CLETUS COLE, as an individual and )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">as personal representative of the )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ESTATE OF STEVEN BEARCRANE, )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">PRECIOUS BEARCRANE, minor child, )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">VERONICA SPRINGFIELD, as an )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">individual and as personal )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">representative of the )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ESTATE OF ROBERT, SPRINGFIELD )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">VELMA SPRINGFIELD, minor child, )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Plaintiffs, )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)) )</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">----------------------------~)</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">v.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">FEDERAL BUREAU OF</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">INVESTIGATIONS, SALT</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">LAKE FIELD OFFICE,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">OFFICE FOR SOUTH DAKOTA,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">ERNEST WEYAND, in his official and</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">individual capacities,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">and</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">MATTHEW ORAVEC, in his individual</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">capacity,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Defendants.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">CV-09-21-BLG-RFC-CFO</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">AFFIDAVIT OF</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">KASSANDRA LEACHMAN</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I, Kassandra Leachman, state that I have personal knowledge of and am competent</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">to testify about the facts stated in this affidavit, and state as follows:</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">1. I was employed by Black Ranches, the parent company to Leachman</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hairpin Cavvy, from March 2004 to November 2005 as a ranch hand</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #131313;"><span style="color: #131313;">. </span></span>Iwas employed in</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">that capacity and at work on February 2. 2005. the day Steven Bearcrane, also a ranch</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">hand, was shot by Bob Holcomb, another ranch hand.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">2. At the Christmas party prior to the murder of Steven Bearcrane, Holcomb</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was bragging about how he was a sniper and how he could kill a person and make it look</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">like he had done so in self defense. He seemed to almost brag about how he would only</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">need one bullet, as he would be sure and make it a kill shot right between the eyes.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">3. At around noon on the day Steven was killed, another employee and I went</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">into the trailer in which Holcomb was staying to make lunch. The Company allowed</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">employees free access to the trailer. The trailer was about 50 yards from the barn. While</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">there, I saw a loaded handgun in a holster on the dining room table, something that was</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">unusual to me.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">4. Around noon on February 2, 2005, Bob Holcomb and Steven Bearcrane</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">went out with their two horses in a trailer to tend to horses that were pastured</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">approximately 1.5 miles from the sale barn. Later, I saw Holcomb come back to the barn</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">with his horse in the trailer. Holcomb threw his saddle in a truck and went right to the</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">trailer without saying anything to me or other employees.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">5. A little later, Steven came back to the barn riding bareback on his horse.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">He got off the horse to get the gate, and then, back on to ride the rest of the way to the</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">2</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">barn. I have seen many people attempt to ride or mount a horse while impaired. Steven</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">did not appear to be impaired in any way, especially because he was riding bareback and</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was able to get back on after going through the gate without any trouble or assistance.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">6. Steven put his horse away and walked up to the trailer. The ranch foreman,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rodger Reitman, went up to the trailer a short time later. When he came out, he said that</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Holcomb had shot Steven.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">7. Reitman went back into the trailer. When he came out, he told me that</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">there was a knife under Steven's body near his offhand. Reitman said that the knife had</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">not been there the first time he had gone into the trailer after Steven was shot. Reitman</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">said that the knife had been planted.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">8. Approximately 2 hours later, the Yellowstone Sheriff s deputies arrived.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">They put up police tape that they took down two days later.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">9. Matt Oravec from the FBI came out to the ranch several days after the</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">murder. We met in his truck. I wanted to tell him what I knew about Steven's murder,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">but, he did not want to listen. He told me that Steven's alcohol and drug levels were "off</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">the chart" and said that "Indians can't hold their liquor and drugs." He said that they</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have a genetic and allergic reaction to alcohol. Oravec wouldn't let me elaborate on any</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">of the points I was trying to make. He was very intimidating. I got the impression that</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">his interviewing me was a formality, and that he already had his mind made that Steven</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">was to blame for his own murder.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">3</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">10. Later</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;">, </span></span>I testified in front of a grand jury. Again, I wanted to tell my story,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">but</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;">, </span></span>the prosecutor<span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;">, </span></span>Maura Kohn, asked questions in a way that prevented me from</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">telling the whole story or elaborating on any points. I testified for about 15 minutes. I</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have not been contacted by any other government official.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">11. I do not believe that Steven attacked Bob Holcomb on February 2, 2005.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Steven Bearcrane was a kind and gentle man, who I would describe as a "horse</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">whisperer." I never saw him out of control or violent. He was a good worker who</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">provided for his family and he was a great father.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">12. Also, Holcomb had a very mean and aggressive dog who attacked</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">everyone. There is no way that the dog would have allowed Steven to attack Holcome.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I swear or affirm that the foregoing facts are true to the best of my knowledge,</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">information and belief.</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">DATED </span></div></b><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">this <i>F-I </i>day ofAtly, 2010~<span style="color: #363636;"><span style="color: #363636;">0</span></span><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;">£0</span></span></span></div><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><i></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">5..</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;">t</span></span></span>?pff<span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;">l</span></span></span>KP.<span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;">e</span></span></span>r</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></i><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><span style="color: #0b0b0b;"><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">-</span></div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #5f5f5f;"><span style="color: #5f5f5f;"><span style="color: #5f5f5f;">-</span></span></span><span style="color: #b4b4b4;"><span style="color: #b4b4b4;"><span style="color: #b4b4b4;">- </span></span></span>Kassandra Leachman</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">4</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">STATE OF TE</span></div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">X</span></span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">AS </span></span><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">)</span></span></span></span></div><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">) </span></div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">s</span></span><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">s</span></span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">:</span></span></span></div><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">C</span></div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">O<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">UN</span></span>T<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">Y OF </span></span><i>/<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">d</span></span></span>t<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">U</span></span></span><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">t</span></span></span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">W </span></span></span></i><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"></span></span></span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">)</span></span></span></span></div><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="color: #545454;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="color: #545454;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="color: #545454;"><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">.</span></div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">S</span></span>ubsc<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">r</span></span>ib<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">ed an</span></span>d <span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">swo</span></span>rr<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">i to before me </span></span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">b</span></span></span><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">y </span></span></span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">Kassandra Leachman thi</span></span><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">s </span></span><i>IJ </i><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">da</span></span><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">y </span></span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">of</span></span></span></div><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">~.20</span></div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">10<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">. </span></span>~~<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">~ </span></span><span style="color: #727272;"><span style="color: #727272;">'</span></span></span></div><span style="color: #727272;"><span style="color: #727272; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span><i></i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">-</span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">$~</span></span></span><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="color: #545454;">L</span></span></span>P~..<span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;">Y</span></span></span>YL0.e r</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></i><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"></span></span><br />
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<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">itness my Hand and Official Seal</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;"><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">My </span></div></span><div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div></span><br />
<div align="LEFT"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Commission E<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">xp</span></span>i<span style="color: #121212;"><span style="color: #121212;">res on</span></span>:</span></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="color: #2f2f2f;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">5</span></span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-66574011799943331652011-07-25T06:30:00.000-07:002011-07-25T06:30:28.893-07:00Longest Walk 4 Return to Alcatraz 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbk0-wvco_Gn3kGyEazs4R_qFaJJ4mWXLPKwZUDNhPlV3gIucSx2lSKBGx2U1BZMPJXNC_u9JRSZhyd-cNau8nKw7IZei_DaHr3FiAJqSiydUXTOAOKnSXf8siKHo6YJhp3br_9RPo5li/s1600/LongestWalk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbk0-wvco_Gn3kGyEazs4R_qFaJJ4mWXLPKwZUDNhPlV3gIucSx2lSKBGx2U1BZMPJXNC_u9JRSZhyd-cNau8nKw7IZei_DaHr3FiAJqSiydUXTOAOKnSXf8siKHo6YJhp3br_9RPo5li/s320/LongestWalk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Longest Walk 4 Return to Alcatraz</span></strong></div><div><em>Press statement</em><br />
<em>Photo Ilka Hartmann<br />
</em><br />
The Longest Walk 4: Return to Alcatraz is being initiated by those on the original, The Longest Walk in 1978. It will begin on July 15th, 2012 in Washington D.C. and travel to Alcatraz on December 22, 2012. The purpose of this Walk will be to reaffirm the heart of Traditional Tribal Sovereignty rooted in Ceremony and land based spiritual relationships. We call on all Indigenous Peoples to come and support this Walk.<br />
<br />
We have gone to Washington D.C. many times to seek justice, the protection of treaty rights, and the continuing existence of our Peoples and Ways of Life. They have had their opportunity. The time has come to reclaim for ourselves the prayers that have gone east and bring them back full circle to Alcatraz, the symbol of the modern assertion of what has been called the Red Power Movement. We Walk to educate our own Peoples on what Tribal Sovereignty means from an Indigenous Peoples way of life. We Walk to affirm to the world that we still continue as free and sovereign Peoples as we define it. We Walk to remind those of our Peoples engaged in dealing with the nation-states that tribal sovereignty is not defined by non-Indigenous laws, rules and regulations; nor by economic development, good governance, and corporate structures. These elements may be pragmatic, but they do not define us. We Walk with the spirits of our ancestors for the present and for the future generations so that we as Peoples do not forget what makes us Indigenous.<br />
<br />
We also Walk to remind all peoples that Leonard Peltier and his continuing incarceration is symbolic of the continuing incarceration of all Indigenous Peoples in the policies and political structures of the colonial nation-states. The time has come for the release of Leonard Peltier based on principles of reconciliation. It seems strange and one sided that nation-states seek forgiveness for horrendous crimes against our Peoples such as massacres, land confiscations, the theft of our children to abusive boarding schools and such, yet can’t find a way to release a person who has served over 30 years in prison, for what happened during a time of conflict. Leonard Peltier should be freed on this principle of reconciliation regardless of what one may think in terms of justice, innocence or guilt.<br />
<br />
As this Walk is about the spiritual foundations ofour sovereignty as talked about in The Longest Walk Manifesto of 1978, we also ask for elders and spiritual leaders to come and lend support and advice where possible. To this end we are also going to have a Spiritual Gathering at Cahokia Mounds in September, 2012.<br />
<br />
For more information please contact Jimbo Simmons<br />
<br />
<em>Organizers said further info will be forthcoming and those wanting to help out and that fundraising will need to be sanctioned by reps from the Working Group.</em></div></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-79316179763355159162011-07-04T19:10:00.000-07:002011-07-04T19:14:20.212-07:00Freedom Flotilla II: Canadians make a run for Gaza<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdbBbW5VSQ6Skd2PknsVLSEHpa-OzVH9dk96HTMtE2MdzUsLU-qa_0VRmxoaLqWfQokTrjm0muT3mpFcGHnHdoCsdddRx-LhWDJlJpCPSxsEheSjPyUx1nSChg0HVL3WW9l4yEVqrPws5/s1600/Canada+resist.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 239px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625685299398145794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTdbBbW5VSQ6Skd2PknsVLSEHpa-OzVH9dk96HTMtE2MdzUsLU-qa_0VRmxoaLqWfQokTrjm0muT3mpFcGHnHdoCsdddRx-LhWDJlJpCPSxsEheSjPyUx1nSChg0HVL3WW9l4yEVqrPws5/s320/Canada+resist.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ6cD4YSLO6Gd55hgxvdWBwMOOP6G75PrYtupQKjSR-G-pyToeLSjAVAVcIq0lDGXQ-HlAVD4vUJEMfXpVyNKnSOzNzGCYl6VOwukoUt59Z6yYUm0ItM41fhzVWnCIpbHUAWWGFQv9DG5a/s1600/canada+three.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625685297419583858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ6cD4YSLO6Gd55hgxvdWBwMOOP6G75PrYtupQKjSR-G-pyToeLSjAVAVcIq0lDGXQ-HlAVD4vUJEMfXpVyNKnSOzNzGCYl6VOwukoUt59Z6yYUm0ItM41fhzVWnCIpbHUAWWGFQv9DG5a/s320/canada+three.jpg" /></a> <br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97cyLdb-9Ac7-HgC4dizMyh1F6T7FE7dfC2iG1-k1R7SGjpbjkvX6yzObo0OPIbt0uc1aMxQk0UzB2fB5idbPZ6orDBwgkbOlYKS8OmbRP9VEogPYTqp2-nXZ00mnnLrk2W_hh31hrerT/s1600/Canda+two.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625685292073173602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh97cyLdb-9Ac7-HgC4dizMyh1F6T7FE7dfC2iG1-k1R7SGjpbjkvX6yzObo0OPIbt0uc1aMxQk0UzB2fB5idbPZ6orDBwgkbOlYKS8OmbRP9VEogPYTqp2-nXZ00mnnLrk2W_hh31hrerT/s320/Canda+two.jpg" /></a> <br /><div>Twitter photos by Jesse Rosenfeld: Passengers on the Tahrir lock arms in nonviolent protection of the Tahrir as the Greek Military Coast Guard boards to takeover the boat.<br /><br />Monday, 8 pm eastern time: "Canada Boat to Gaza Lack of electrical power prevents us from using sanitary facilities or refrigeration, and we are without lighting for security." There are reasons to believe the boat will be sabotaged in the port.<br /><br /><strong>Canadians Make a Run for Gaza<br /></strong>By Brenda Norrell</div><br /><div>Censored News</div><br /><div><a href="http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/">http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com</a></div><br /><div><br />MONDAY, July 4, 2011<br />The Canadian Boat on the Freedom Flotilla II to Gaza, Tahrir, reports that the boat was rammed into a concrete pier by the Greek Military Coast Guard, after it made a break for international waters and Gaza. The boat was underway for 15 minutes, when overtaken. The boat began leaking fuel after it was rammed.<br />Two activists were handcuffed who were aboard kayaks, after trying to prevent the Coast Guard from blocking the Tahrir. The handcuffs were removed, but their arrest status is not known.<br />After the Coast Guard towed the Tahrir to port in Crete, the passengers remained onboard.<br />"We are all the captain," the delegation said on Twitter.<br />"All delegates except those detained are spending the night on the Tahrir. Some are sleeping, others keeping watch," the delegation said on Monday, July 4, at 7:30 pm eastern time.<br />"A number of local Greek people are spending the night on the dock next to our boat in a show of solidarity."<br />The activists are without electricity, but supporters have brought them pizza, the universal show of support. They may face arrest if they leave the boat. The Tahrir is carrying activists from Canada, Australia, Germany, Belgium and Denmark.<br />Meanwhile, more US passengers on the Audacity were Hope boat were arrested in Greece today, Monday, July 4. Yesterday, those fasting outside the US Embassy were cited and released. Those arrested today remain in custody:<br />Update from the US Boat Audacity of Hope:<br />Here's the latest news we have:<br />1) U.S. passengers harassed and arrested by Athens police<br />Nine of the passengers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza began a fast last night (7/3). They are Ken Mayers, Carol Murry, Medea Benjamin, Paki Wieland, Ray McGovern, Brad Taylor, Kit Kitteridge, Kathy Kelly and Linda Durham. After a rousing gathering in front of the U.S. Embassy (see photos and video on our website), they were all "cited" by the Athens police with occupying the sidewalk across the embassy and they were let go right away.<br />Today, 6 members of the U.S. Boat to Gaza were held at an Athens police station after Greek police arrested them for sitting on a park bench across from the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Greece. Ray McGovern, Linda Durham, Debra Ellis, Ridgeley Fuller, Ken Mayers and Carol Murry were put into squad cars and taken to the police station. We are not sure of the status of these 6 people at the moment.<br />2) The captain of The Audacity of Hope - John Klusmire - is set to be at a hearing at 12 noon (Athens time) on Tuesday. There are 2 Greek lawyers serving as his defense council. It is important to keep the pressure on the U.S. State Department to make sure they in turn pressure the Greek government to release our captain. Below are numbers and email addresses you can use to contact them. Please keep the pressure on!<br />3) Status of some of the other boats in the flotilla<br />Shortly before 6 pm (Greek time) today the Canadian boat, named Tahrir, left its dock in Crete to set sail for Gaza. They got to within 4 miles of international waters when Greek Special Forces stopped them from going any further. The Greek military boarded the Canadian boat and there are reports that when they asked for the captain of the boat all 30 people on board answered, "I am the captain." The Greeks took command of the boat and at least report where headed back to be docked. We have heard reports that all of the people on the boat will be arrested, but we do not have confirmation of that.<br />Two boats from France - a cargo ship and a smaller passenger boat - are in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. (They did not set sail from Greece.) We are not sure what they are planning on doing.<br />The Irish boat was sabotaged beyond repair last week and the Greek boat was also sabotaged but we do not have an update on their status.<br />Read more: <a href="http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/us-flotilla-passengers-arrested-fasting.html">http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/07/us-flotilla-passengers-arrested-fasting.html</a> </div><br /><div></div></div></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-84840908001275933172011-06-30T16:22:00.000-07:002011-06-30T16:23:35.017-07:00ACLU Arizona Racial Profiling Report<a style="MARGIN: 12px auto 6px; DISPLAY: block; FONT: 14px Helvetica, Arial, Sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: underline; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; -x-system-font: none" title="View Arizona Racial Profiling Report Driving Black or Brown on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/59087728/Arizona-Racial-Profiling-Report-Driving-Black-or-Brown">Arizona Racial Profiling Report Driving Black or Brown</a><iframe id="doc_9761" class="scribd_iframe_embed" height="600" src="http://www.scribd.com/embeds/59087728/content?start_page=1&view_mode=list&access_key=key-oiljhkwcvjh3rrtoehk" frameborder="0" width="100%" scrolling="no" ratio=""></iframe>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-71645429695611572322011-06-30T10:29:00.001-07:002011-06-30T10:46:24.265-07:00Tucson: Angry community members storm G4S Wackenhut office<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjdJpbIAldafsGP7RrdcLdhse88aQIq3h4WXmM9Mj4QN3ysqx2W4GioLb5880f9yZ6p0d3I3BfMs5rJRV-wjQOK1ZQNZHjPvTn4ztVNR1azCkbx7hhw-cQbR_Y8a_WDCkcxJqfTmfSjmn/s1600/G4S+three.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624070268794890258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjdJpbIAldafsGP7RrdcLdhse88aQIq3h4WXmM9Mj4QN3ysqx2W4GioLb5880f9yZ6p0d3I3BfMs5rJRV-wjQOK1ZQNZHjPvTn4ztVNR1azCkbx7hhw-cQbR_Y8a_WDCkcxJqfTmfSjmn/s320/G4S+three.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Contact: Genevieve Shroeder (406) 529.2424<br /></span><a href="mailto:genevieve.kateri@gmail.com"><span style="font-size:85%;">genevieve.kateri@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Matthew Johnson</span> <br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="mailto:johnsonma2@gmail.com"><span style="font-size:85%;">johnsonma2@gmail.com</span></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong>ANGRY COMMUNITY MEMBERS STORM G4S OFFICE</strong><br /></span><br />Protest Targets Prison Firm for Profiteering, Police Cite 16 for Trespassing<br /><em>Press statement</em></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><em>Censored News<br /></em>TUCSON --(June 29, 2011) At around 2 p.m. today, community members burst uninvited into the Tucson offices of private security firm G4S and declared in no uncertain terms their opposition to the company’s profiteering at the expense of immigrant communities in Tucson, across the nation and throughout the world. Incensed by G4S’ role in promoting the criminalization of immigrants and the expansion of the private prison industry, the protestors entered the G4S office complex, delivered a letter to company representatives and unfurled a banner reading “G4S: Prison profiteering destroys communities.”<br /><br />Today’s action, which was organized autonomously by Tucson community members, was carried out under the banner of Direct Action for Freedom of Movement. Although the protesters were never asked to leave the building, and were there only 10 minutes, the Tucson Police cited 16 individuals for criminal trespassing.<br /><br />G4S is the world’s largest security company and has public contracts to transport, detain and imprison immigrants throughout the world. The company is infamous for the mistreatment of individuals in its custody, with the most atrocious examples including the senseless deaths of two inmates in 2010. Since 2006, G4S has provided transportation for Customs and Border Protection and, in 2010 alone, secured over 125 million dollars in contracts from the Department of Homeland Security.<br /><br />G4S not only reaps the profits of border enforcement, they also shape public policy to criminalize immigrants and ensure a steady stream of people to fill their buses and jails. G4S subsidiary Wackenhut is a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council, the organization responsible for drafting the model legislation that became SB1070 and similar laws in Utah, Georgia, Indiana and Alabama.<br /><br />Protest participant Carly Rexroad explained the goals of today’s action: “G4S is the world’s largest private security firm, reaping millions in profit from imprisoning immigrants and tearing families apart. By targeting G4S we hope to help illuminate the connections between prison profiteering and the proliferation of state legislation that criminalizes immigrants and funnels them into the jails and detention facilities of the very companies who wrote and lobbied for that legislation. As long as this pattern continues, G4S can expect to see actions like today’s multiply and escalate.”<br /><br />Community member Matthew Johnson described the ways in which profiteering destroys communities: “The grotesque face of border militarization is evident in every SBInet surveillance tower now left defunct to litter the desert, every mile of border wall that scars the landscape, and every G4S-operated bus that deports hundreds of people each day or drives them to Tucson to be fed directly into the prison industry through the expedited proceedings of Operation Streamline. Every immigrant transported by G4S for deportation or incarceration represents a family whose loved one is missing, locked in a cage or unceremoniously dumped over the southern border.”<br /><br />### </div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-44199145219884436682011-06-29T07:34:00.000-07:002011-06-29T11:50:46.920-07:00Hackers slam Arizona police again to expose racism and corruption<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Censored News<br />
<a href="http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/">http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Hackers have slammed Arizona police again, to expose racism and corruption:<br />
<br />
"We also found details of Jeff Wilson, a former DPS officer and member of a Navajo tribe, planning on suing the department for racial discrimination charges. Amongst the civil rights violations occurring in AZDPS, Sgt. Jeff Eavenson and others were illegally issuing tickets to Navajos in AZ state court jurisdiction instead of tribal courts. When Jeff Wilson brought these charges up to the department, they punished him and pushed him out of the police force. We welcome Wilson's attempts to expose his racist administrators and so we won't be releasing his info."<br />
Read more:<br />
<a href="http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/hackers-slam-arizona-cops-again-with.html">http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/hackers-slam-arizona-cops-again-with.html</a><br />
More at Censored News Homepage: Hacked data exposes Tucson school safety officer who reported ethnic studies to Arizona Attorney General:<br />
<a href="http://www.bsnorrrell.blogspot.com/">http://www.bsnorrrell.blogspot.com/</a><br />
</div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-27796770078774885392011-06-29T07:16:00.000-07:002011-06-29T11:51:41.565-07:00Hackers slam Arizona cops again with super personal data spill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">AntiSec Slams Arizona Cops (Again) with Super Personal Data Spill<br />
<br />
By Sam Biddle<br />
<br />
Looks like last week's "Chinga La Migra" strike against the Arizona Border Police was only part one—the sequel's landed today, and this time it's personal. Like, really personal: Anonymous is claiming social security numbers, girlfriend pics, and more. <br />
<br />
The dumps contents—if they're authentic—will be a massive slap not only to the integrity of Arizona's state security, but the lives of its police force. Sayeth Anonymous, in "Chinga La Migra Communique Dos":<br />
<br />
<em>In this second bulletin, we're dumping booty pirated from a dozen Arizona police officer's personal email accounts looking specifically for humiliating dirt. This leak has names, addresses, phone numbers, passwords, social security numbers, online dating account info, voicemails, chat logs, and seductive girlfriend pictures belonging to a dozen Arizona police officers. We found more internal police reports, cops forwarding racist chain emails, k9 drug unit cops who use percocets, and a convicted sex offender who was part of FOP Maricopa Lodge Five.</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>We also hit the AZDPS spokesperson Stephen Harrison who been bragging to the news about how they are upgrading their security and how they will catch the evil hackers who exposed them. Clearly not secure enough, because we owned his personal hotmail, facebook and match.com accounts and dumped all his personal details for the world to see. The same fate will meet anyone else who tries to paint us as terrorists in an Orwellian attempt to pass more pro-censorship or racial-profiling police state laws.</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Like the first AZ attack, this one's equally politically motivated, angled against policies Anonymous considers racist and wrong. So what's the AntiSec endgame in Arizona? Anonymous says it'll continue to target</em><br />
<em>Police officers who lock people up for decades, who get away with brutality and torture, who discriminate against people of color, who make and break their own laws as they see fit. We are making sure they experience just a taste of the same kind of violence and terror they dish out on an every day basis. Our advice to you is to quit while you still can and turn on your commanding officers before you end up in our cross hairs next, because we're not stopping until every prisoner is freed and every prison is burned to the ground.</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Again, we can't authenticate the dump's contents at the moment, but if true, Anonymous is going to have some serious law enforcement ire pointed in its direction. [AnonymousIRC]</em><br />
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
*** CHINGA LA MIGRA COMMUNIQUE DOS *** 6/29/2011 *** HACKERS WITHOUT BORDERS ***<br />
<br />
<br />
*******************************************************************************/<br />
<br />
Just when you thought it was over, we're hitting the Arizona police state with<br />
<br />
our second round of attacks. In our first bulletin we dumped a treasure trove of<br />
<br />
secret law enforcement documents. In this second bulletin, we're dumping booty<br />
<br />
pirated from a dozen Arizona police officer's personal email accounts looking<br />
<br />
specifically for humiliating dirt. This leak has names, addresses, phone<br />
<br />
numbers, passwords, social security numbers, online dating account info,<br />
<br />
voicemails, chat logs, and seductive girlfriend pictures belonging to a dozen<br />
<br />
Arizona police officers. We found more internal police reports, cops forwarding<br />
<br />
racist chain emails, k9 drug unit cops who use percocets, and a convicted sex<br />
<br />
offender who was part of FOP Maricopa Lodge Five. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We also hit the AZDPS spokesperson Stephen Harrison who been bragging to the<br />
<br />
news about how they are upgrading their security and how they will catch the<br />
<br />
evil hackers who exposed them. Clearly not secure enough, because we owned his<br />
<br />
personal hotmail, facebook and match.com accounts and dumped all his personal<br />
<br />
details for the world to see. The same fate will meet anyone else who tries to<br />
<br />
paint us as terrorists in an Orwellian attempt to pass more pro-censorship or<br />
<br />
racial-profiling police state laws.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We also found details of Jeff Wilson, a former DPS officer and member of a<br />
<br />
Navajo tribe, planning on suing the department for racial discrimination<br />
<br />
charges. Amongst the civil rights violations occuring in AZDPS, Sgt. Jeff<br />
<br />
Eavenson and others were illegally issuing tickets to Navajos in AZ state court<br />
<br />
jurisdiction instead of tribal courts. When Jeff Wilson brought these charges up<br />
<br />
to the department, they punished him and pushed him out of the police force. We<br />
<br />
welcome Wilson's attempts to expose his racist administrators and so we won't we<br />
<br />
releasing his info.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Yes we're aware that putting the pigs on blast puts risks their safety, those<br />
<br />
poor defenseless police officers who lock people up for decades, who get away<br />
<br />
with brutality and torture, who discriminate against people of color, who make<br />
<br />
and break their own laws as they see fit. We are making sure they experience<br />
<br />
just a taste of the same kind of violence and terror they dish out on an every<br />
<br />
day basis. Our advice to you is to quit while you still can and turn on your<br />
<br />
commanding officers before you end up in our cross hairs next, because we're not<br />
<br />
stopping until every prisoner is freed and every prison is burned to the ground.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
To other hackers: it's time to set aside our differences and join the antisec<br />
<br />
popular front against the corrupt governments, corporations, militaries, and law<br />
<br />
enforcement of the world. We promise you much more bounty to come guaranteed to<br />
<br />
bring smiles to the faces of all those who have hated the police. Unite and<br />
<br />
fight, for the flames of revolution burn bright!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
/*******************************************************************************<br />
<br />
the files<br />
<br />
*******************************************************************************/<br />
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[in@yourbox]$ ls -C1 -R<br />
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Bruce_Campbell<br />
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David_Cesolini.txt<br />
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Gene_Moran<br />
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Addresses%20for%20Wedding%20%26%20Baby%20Shower(1)(1).xlsx<br />
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Addresses%2520for%2520Wedding%2520%2526%2520Baby%2520Shower(1)(1)(1).xlsx<br />
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Biographical Information.doc<br />
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CAMPBELL-BRUCE-EXTRZ INVOICE.pdf<br />
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Estate_Planning_Questionnaire_1.docx<br />
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Intel 2011-01-01 Challenge Coin.doc<br />
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Resume.GovCouncil.doc<br />
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Plaintiff's Motion to Expedite Briefing On & Consideration of Motion Strike AZ<br />
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Municipal Risk Retention Pool's Late Notice Nonparty Fault, 12.8.10 (Sabo).pdf<br />
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Plaintiff's Motion to Strike AZ Municipal Risk Retention Pool's Late Notice of<br />
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2007-000557.doc<br />
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505 lbs Meth.doc<br />
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Acting supervisor.doc<br />
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Counting 12.10.10.docx<br />
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Diploma Roster.doc<br />
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Instructor Certificate of Appreciation.doc<br />
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Night Access 12.10.10.docx<br />
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6-1-10.enex<br />
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Basaldua ledger.pdf<br />
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Beer Bong Manual.doc<br />
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Brandon's slides.ppt<br />
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Cover Letter.doc<br />
<br />
DD214[1].pdf<br />
<br />
Disciplinary Offense Chart.jpg<br />
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HEALTHCARE FSA CLAIM FORM.doc<br />
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JD Russell Enterprises Brochure.pdf<br />
<br />
Job%20Kit.pdf<br />
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Letters of Rec.PDF<br />
<br />
PRG210r2SyllabusKME.doc<br />
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REQ65587 Emer Prep Spec release.pdf<br />
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REQ65599 Emer Prep Spec Staff release.pdf<br />
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Resume L.doc<br />
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Rights Advisement.ppt<br />
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Riordan Manufacturing Wesite Evaluation.doc<br />
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basalduadavidarmorgroupertesfseniorguardresumes.zip<br />
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07-18-08 FOP PR Plan.doc<br />
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ASSRT Flyer.pdf<br />
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Active Past State Presidents.xls<br />
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Arizona State Trustees.xls<br />
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Deceased Deputy Roster.doc<br />
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Executive Board.xls<br />
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FOP Avondale PD.jpg<br />
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FOP Insurance Information Roster 082209.xls<br />
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FOP Maricopa Lodge Five (Old Photo).jpg<br />
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FOP Maricopa Lodge Five Old Photo.jpg<br />
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FOP Maricopa Lodge Five old photo 1.jpg<br />
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FOP Welcome Letter 14.wps<br />
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FOP Welcome Letter.wps<br />
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Lodge 05 ACH_deposit_slips 8.00.doc<br />
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Mike Pennington, President.doc<br />
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Publication fall 2007web version2 .pub<br />
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Tentative ASSRT 2009 Program WVAM2.pdf<br />
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ck#506856.pdf<br />
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email8957214659203284268.pdf<br />
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fop.net Email Account Instructions.pdf<br />
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hr218faq.pdf<br />
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tempfile002.pdf<br />
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Discrimination Complaint.pdf<br />
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EEOC Complaint File.pdf<br />
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Final Eval.doc<br />
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AELE canine cases.doc<br />
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AELE k-9 Liability.doc<br />
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Blakely driveway is curtilage.doc<br />
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ENS City Hall Press Conference Statements_03.03.11.doc<br />
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KARAOKE2.pdf<br />
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Police Officers.pdf<br />
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Service Update.doc<br />
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Wooten List.doc<br />
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DOA RIF Q & A.pdf<br />
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Halliday Intranet Posting 11-8-2010.docx<br />
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Review of Major Wootens Investigation 8-4-2010.docx<br />
<br />
Scanned Mortgage Documents.pdf </div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-76657007471524170592011-06-27T20:06:00.000-07:002011-06-27T20:06:16.025-07:00Copwatch and Infoshop on Missouri's bizarre domestic threat list<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aMTbEtTul3_IQ78sOsPas-kOsrMgJnlxN2NZaTRKR8HCSpQdSn-hNkw0GxCvDplsfhgcNGgwk9T2YVacgmL0urjxdkQORCQz7RWzKL_rYWelV4nERfU6lbPpAWEWHommCZeU9LQZx0WW/s1600/copwatch.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8aMTbEtTul3_IQ78sOsPas-kOsrMgJnlxN2NZaTRKR8HCSpQdSn-hNkw0GxCvDplsfhgcNGgwk9T2YVacgmL0urjxdkQORCQz7RWzKL_rYWelV4nERfU6lbPpAWEWHommCZeU9LQZx0WW/s1600/copwatch.bmp" /></a></div><strong><em>Copwatch, Infoshop and Christian vegetarians are on Missouri’s domestic ‘treat’ list -- rather than domestic ‘threat’ list -- thanks to a misspelled word</em></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
By Brenda Norrell<br />
Censored News<br />
<a href="http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/">http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Copwatch, Infoshop and Christian vegetarians are all under surveillance because they pose a “significant domestic terrorist” threat.<br />
<br />
Why? Because they are anarchists, according to the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) of the Division of Drug and Crime Control.<br />
<br />
Well, actually, due to a misspelled word, it says they all pose a “significant domestic terrorist ‘treat’ at this time.”<br />
<br />
Missouri, are they domestic threats or domestic treats?<br />
<br />
The report, “MIAC Strategic Report 11-28-2008 on Anarchists,” is a police watch list published in 2008. The watch list was exposed by Lulzsec, in the Arizona Department of Public Safety files.<br />
<br />
The Missouri watch list tosses feminists, peace activists, labor activists and environmentalists into the mix.<br />
<br />
“Although they have not all been listed, we believe the groups discussed pose a significant domestic terrorist treat at this time,” the report states.<br />
<br />
In its bizarre categories of anarchists, the Missouri watch list states, “direct action radical sub-groups not all believe in violence.” Feminists, peace activists and race equality activists are listed as anarchists in the Anarchist Punk category.<br />
<br />
“Many Anarcho-Punks are supporters of issues such as animal rights, racial equality, anti-heterosexism, feminism, environmentalism, worker's autonomy, the anti-war movement, and the anti-globalization movement.”<br />
<br />
Christian vegetarians are apparently something to be feared, at least by Missouri officials, who fail to explain how being a vegetarian deserves a mention on a police watch list.<br />
<br />
Here’s what Missouri officials say: <br />
<br />
“Christian anarchists have opposed war and other ‘Statist’ aggression through nonviolent tax resistance. Many Christian Anarchists were vegetarian or vegan.”<br />
<br />
The watch list includes a variety of labor union organizations, Black Bloc and eco-anarchist groups, without naming any personal names.<br />
<br />
Although Copwatch is most often considered a human rights organization and Infoshop, an online news source, Missouri officials, however, place both on the anarchists watch list, as domestic threats:<br />
<br />
<em>Copwatch is a network of United States volunteer organizations that "police the police". Copwatch groups usually engage in monitoring of the police, videotaping police activity, educating the public about police misconduct, and advocating for more accountable law enforcement practices.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The main function of most Copwatch groups is monitoring police activity. "Copwatchers" go out on foot or driving patrols in their communities and videotape interactions between the police and civilians. Some groups also patrol at protests and demonstrations to ensure that the rights of protesters are not violated by police officers. Copwatch organizations generally abide by a policy of non-interventions with the police, although this may not be true for all groups. The anarchist ran Infoshop News published the new “Copwatch 101” booklet found at the following address <a href="http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=04/04/06/6676838">http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=04/04/06/6676838</a></em><br />
<br />
Run for the 1950s bomb shelter: Missouri officials say the Anti-Racist Action Network is not only anarchist, but are “sometime seen to be ‘Red’ or Communist.”<br />
<br />
<em>Anti-Racist Action Network (ARA) is a decentralized network of anti-fascist and Anti-Racist Activists. ARA activists organize actions to disrupt neo-nazi and white supremacist groups and help to organize resistance mainly to fascist and racist ideologies. ARA groups also oppose sexism, homophobia, heterosexism, anti-semitism, and anti-abortion activists. They are sometimes seen to be "Red" or Communist, particularly by detractors, however; the network includes a large number of anarchists.</em><br />
<br />
<em>ARA started in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1987. Since then it has expanded to different communities, countries and continents. Members of Love and Rage, a revolutionary anarchist organization played a major role in building ARA groups and the ARA Network in the 1990s. They are sometimes associated with the Skinhead and Punk subcultures and work with organizations such as Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP). </em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
Environmentalists, check your activist cards to make sure you’re in the right category:<br />
<br />
<em>Green Anarchism puts an emphasis on environmental issues. Some green anarchists can be described as Anarcho-Primitivists and sometimes Anti-Civilization Anarchists, though not all Green Anarchists are Primitivists.</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
Finally, here’s Missouri’s take on dumpster divers, Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front.<br />
<br />
Warning: Rereading this can result in a loss of brain cells:<br />
<br />
<em>Some anarcho-punks are “straight edge”, claiming that alcohol, tobacco, drugs and promiscuity are instruments of oppression and are self-destructive because they cloud the mind and wear down a person's resistance to other types of oppression. Some crust punks also condemn the waste of land, water and resources necessary to grow crops to make alcohol, tobacco and drugs, forfeiting the potential to grow and manufacture food. Some may be straight edge for religious reasons, such as in the case of Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, or Hare Krishna anarcho-punks.</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em>Anarcho-punks universally believe in direct action, although the way in which this manifests itself varies greatly. Despite their differences in strategy, anarcho-punks often co-operate with each other. Many anarcho-punks are pacifists and therefore believe in using non-violent means of achieving their aims. These include peaceful protest, refusal to work, squatting, economic sabotage, dumpster diving, graffiti, culture jamming, ecotage, freeganism, boycotting, civil disobedience, hacktivism and subvertising. Some anarcho-punks believe that violence or property damage is an acceptable way of achieving social change. This manifests itself as rioting, vandalism, wire cutting, assault, hunt sabotage, participation in Animal Liberation Front- or Earth Liberation Front-style activities, and in extreme cases, bombings. Many anarchists dispute the applicability of the term "violence" to describe destruction of property.</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<em><br />
</em><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-70887826454804849522011-06-26T08:57:00.000-07:002011-06-26T08:59:13.598-07:00Assimilation: Canadian US Puppet Masters 'Indigenous' Energy Summit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrln8lZP9TBkekLWMwhmmuFWKH1yGG-_nLVGEShBYdgqXRRJJYLxY1hYIXLusCwq8j3bygquJNGXxK4oDx4qkV5yHa6ZplLDk0mJgszhwTE8-K123DqJeehghgzdswJ3nQ90JTVvr-N_Mm/s1600/ben+powless+photo.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrln8lZP9TBkekLWMwhmmuFWKH1yGG-_nLVGEShBYdgqXRRJJYLxY1hYIXLusCwq8j3bygquJNGXxK4oDx4qkV5yHa6ZplLDk0mJgszhwTE8-K123DqJeehghgzdswJ3nQ90JTVvr-N_Mm/s1600/ben+powless+photo.bmp" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo copyright Ben Powless, Mohawk</td></tr>
</tbody></table><strong><span style="font-size: large;">From the Eagle Watch #157</span></strong><br />
Reprinted with permission at Censored News<br />
<br />
The Indigenous Energy and Mining Summit in Niagara Falls, Ontario, July 27-29, 2011<br />
Eagle Watch takes a look at the assimilation agenda and the puppet masters from Canada and the US<br />
<br />
<br />
Assimilation Agenda 2011:<br />
<br />
AFN Hosts the IISEM International Indigenous Summit on Energy and Mining<br />
<br />
Commentary<br />
<br />
<br />
Bryan Hendry is Senior Policy Advisor, Economic Partnerships at the<br />
<br />
AFN Assembly of First Nations.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The AFN is Canada's #1 NPO Native Puppet Organization. The AFN which<br />
<br />
claims to be the voice of Status Indians or Indigenous in "Canada", is<br />
<br />
actually one big dancing puppet for the colonial entities. Few<br />
<br />
Indigenous people recognize the AFN as their spokesperson.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Hendry sent us a brochure for the International Indigenous Summit on<br />
<br />
Energy & Mining IISEM to be held June 27-29, 2011 at the Sheraton on<br />
<br />
the Falls Hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario. We wondered why.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We at the Eagle Watch are acutely aware that the mineral wealth and<br />
<br />
energy potential in northern Ontario and all across Turtle Island are<br />
<br />
phenomenal. We hope that most of it will be left where it is unless<br />
<br />
absolutely necessary. The freeforall of pillage and plunder to<br />
<br />
acquire and hoard all of the Earth's riches must be identified and<br />
<br />
cease.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Did Hendry want us to critique the event? We don't have to attend to<br />
<br />
do that. The brochure gives plenty of hints as to what it's all<br />
<br />
about.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The AFN will host the IISEM spectacle with AFN National Chief Shawn<br />
<br />
Atleo as Special Guest and Speaker. Shawn's US counterpart, President<br />
<br />
Jefferson Keel, National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) will be<br />
<br />
right beside him.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We asked one of our friends on the other side of the invisible line,<br />
<br />
ie the border about Jefferson. Here's what he said, "Succinctly put,<br />
<br />
Jefferson Keel is what Malcolm X often called a “House Negro”. That<br />
<br />
infers a “slave that is conditioned to jump at every bark of the<br />
<br />
“master” and whose sole reason for existence is to serve”".<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Ouch!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Keel is Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. He was in<br />
<br />
the US military for over 20 years.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
In what we term blatant deception, arrogant mendacity and slick double<br />
<br />
speak, the IISEM promoters say, "Indigenous peoples and government<br />
<br />
representatives from around the world will gather for a major summit<br />
<br />
on resource development in the spirit of a shared commitment to<br />
<br />
produce and provide long-term sustainable energy for future<br />
<br />
generations".<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Representatives will be coming from China, Brazil and Germany as well<br />
<br />
as all the biggest of the big :-$globalist corporations:-$.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Master of BS and Fantasy Shawn Atleo is on a roll, “In Canada alone,<br />
<br />
it is estimated that there will be $400 billion worth of mineral<br />
<br />
resource development projects in the coming years that affect First<br />
<br />
Nations territories. It will be critical to these projects, and to<br />
<br />
the Canadian economy, that First Nation people and concerns be<br />
<br />
addressed. There is also the potential for our Peoples to be the long<br />
<br />
term providers of energy and environmental security – ensuring that<br />
<br />
North Americans can rely upon domestic energy production that has<br />
<br />
little or no impact upon our air and water qualities."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Shawn, are you really serious about this? You're just joking, right?<br />
<br />
Looks more like you've been well briefed in what to say. Are you<br />
<br />
paying any attention to what dams have and are doing to our beautiful<br />
<br />
rivers? Are you noticing the problems caused by the oil sands<br />
<br />
development, which by the way is totally for export??<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Oblivious to our questions, Shawn continues,<br />
<br />
“Our peoples can be full partners in development from pipelines to<br />
<br />
power lines, from potash to precious metals. With partnership comes<br />
<br />
full participation from revenue sharing to ownership, from employment<br />
<br />
to environmental stewardship. We must engage early and engage often on<br />
<br />
these projects, and this Summit is an example of this principle in<br />
<br />
action.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Now we know for sure he's dreaming. Does he not pay any attention to<br />
<br />
history? It's mainly about how we've been robbed and cheated for<br />
<br />
centuries.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Never one to run out of words, Atleo says, "We look forward to<br />
<br />
continuing our work with President Keel and the Tribal Chiefs of NCAI<br />
<br />
on energy and the environment, justice and border issues and I look<br />
<br />
forward to new discussions among the global Indigenous community on<br />
<br />
how our work together can transcend borders."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Is he referring to the "Indigenous" of China, the Chinese who want to<br />
<br />
buy up Turtle Island's resources?? Does Atleo see himself as a<br />
<br />
transnational corporate elitist??<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Guest speakers at the IISEM include: Anthony Hodge, President of the<br />
<br />
International Council on Mining and Metals; Ernesto Sirolli, advocate<br />
<br />
for Indigenous sustainable communities; Nunavut Deputy Premier Peter<br />
<br />
Taptuna; Ian Anderson, CEO of Kinder Morgan Pipelines; [as yet<br />
<br />
unnamed] Indigenous Leaders from across North America presenting best<br />
<br />
practices from successful community energy and mining sector projects;<br />
<br />
Margo Gray-Proctor, Chairwoman, National Centre for American Indian<br />
<br />
Enterprise Development (NCAIED), Anthony Hodge, President,<br />
<br />
International Mining Council on Mining and Metals; Dave Porter,<br />
<br />
British Columbia First Nations Energy and Mining Council; Tracey<br />
<br />
LeBeau, United States Department of Energy, Robert Reid,<br />
<br />
McKenzie-Valley Aboriginal Pipeline Group and 80 other speakers from<br />
<br />
around the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
What a cozy bunch!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
According to the brochure, the focus of the event will be "Sustainable<br />
<br />
and responsible resource development". Give me a break!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This is an oxymoron with the scent of Maurice Strong and NWO all over<br />
<br />
it. There is nothing sustainable about mining. Similarly, all<br />
<br />
current sources of energy including the so-called green or alternative<br />
<br />
energy suppliers are harmful to Life in some way. Somebody is making<br />
<br />
a lot of money and it sure ain't us Indigenous.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The smirking Shawn Atleo says, "Now more than ever, with the push for<br />
<br />
green energy, and the growing global need for natural and mineral<br />
<br />
resources, First Nations have the opportunity to build our economies<br />
<br />
and empower our citizens for the benefit of our communities and future<br />
<br />
generations."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This is complete hooey. Since when have Indigenous communities ever<br />
<br />
benefited from the destructive pillage of our land?? Nothing<br />
<br />
substantive has changed. Only the style and fashion of the piracy.<br />
<br />
Everyone's wearing green this year.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
First of all, there is no need to continue digging up all the minerals<br />
<br />
in Mother Earth. Most minerals such as uranium, titanium, iron, tin,<br />
<br />
copper etc. go to the military for the purpose of killing and<br />
<br />
controlling people. For consumer uses, we could be recycling more and<br />
<br />
using less. You don't need gold or diamond jewellery. You don't need<br />
<br />
those cellphones, etc. that require rare earth metals for their<br />
<br />
manufacture. We don't really even need these damned computers.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
"First Nations" people will not benefit anymore than the average<br />
<br />
person who struggles to make a living in a world where the wealth<br />
<br />
becomes more and more concentrated into the hands of a tiny elite.<br />
<br />
Pollution from mining, nuclear reactors, deforestation, etc. are<br />
<br />
killing people and destroying Life everywhere on the planet.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This summit is being held at a posh hotel in Niagara Falls Ontario.<br />
<br />
Most of us could not afford to go. A room at the hotel costs $159 per<br />
<br />
night. Here are the fees for the conference:<br />
<br />
$300 First Nation/Indigenous Delegate Registration Fee ($400 AFTER MAY 16, 2011)<br />
<br />
$500 Corporate/Government Official Delegate Registration Fee ($600<br />
<br />
AFTER MAY 16, 2011)<br />
<br />
$30 Students with valid student identification ($30 AFTER MAY 16, 2011)<br />
<br />
Complimentary - Elders . Complimentary - Veterans . Complimentary – Media<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A lot of booze will likely be flying around to disarm and discredit<br />
<br />
Indigenous participants. A trade fair will sell all kinds of mining<br />
<br />
and energy products. The rental fee for a booth is $1,000.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
There's a lot of money behind this intensive psychological warfare.<br />
<br />
If they speak loud enough and say it often enough, somebody is going<br />
<br />
to believe them. Why do we keep falling for their con jobs on us??<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Take a careful look at this list of Event Sponsors: INAC Indian and<br />
<br />
Northern Affairs Canada, 3M, UnionGas, PDAC Prospectors and Developers<br />
<br />
Association of Canada, GRE, Hydro One, the Mining Association of<br />
<br />
Canada, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and First Air.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3M is in there like a dirty designer $shirt$ with their tapes and<br />
<br />
films holding it all together. In 2009, 3M set up 3M Renewable Energy<br />
<br />
Division to sell "solar energy, wind energy, geothermal and biofuel<br />
<br />
product solutions such as films, tapes, coatings, encapsulants,<br />
<br />
sealants and adhesives..." 3M has special "polyurethane wind tapes"<br />
<br />
for wind turbine blades and films for solar panels, "with added<br />
<br />
properties for ultraviolet stability, low flammability and self<br />
<br />
cleaning".<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3M is a member of CADSI the Canadian Association of Defense and<br />
<br />
Security Industries who sponsor an annual warshow in Ottawa called<br />
<br />
CANSEC. 3M is currently being sued by the UK government. (See more in<br />
<br />
the endnotes.)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Something about this "heritage fund" Northern Ontario Heritage Fund<br />
<br />
Corporation set our red flags fluttering. There are heritage funds<br />
<br />
all over the world including one called, the Global Heritage Fund.<br />
<br />
They're apparently about heritage sites. So why is the NOHFC actually<br />
<br />
about pillage and plunder aka "resource development" and destruction<br />
<br />
of heritage??? It appears to be a conduit for funding to bedazzle us<br />
<br />
with trinkets and cheap rhetoric.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We googled the name of the IISEM event and got over 5,000 hits, some<br />
<br />
300 with Maurice Strong's name. This includes the Canadian Energy<br />
<br />
Council, part of the World Energy Council which hosts events like the<br />
<br />
World Energy Congress held in Montreal in September 2010.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Energy Council chooses a Canadian Energy Person of the Year. For<br />
<br />
2010, it was Stephen G. Snyder, President and CEO of TransAlta<br />
<br />
Corporation. TransAlta is grabbing funding for big "green" projects<br />
<br />
like the wind turbines at Melancthon, Ontario north of 6Nations Grand<br />
<br />
River Territory and Wolfe Island where the biggest industrial wind<br />
<br />
installation in Canada is killing untold numbers of Bald Eagles and<br />
<br />
other endangered species of birds.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The IISEM next week will host tours of the region to places like the<br />
<br />
Seneca Casino where you can blow a few more bucks and get drunk all<br />
<br />
over again. Rumour has it that everyone will think they're at the G20<br />
<br />
Summit where they'll be inducted into the Global Elite for World<br />
<br />
Governance.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
This "summit" is yet another expeditionary campaign in psychological<br />
<br />
warfare. The elitists know we are onto them. They think they can<br />
<br />
beguile and seduce us into their ways by making shining poster<br />
<br />
children out of a handful of our people. They know many of our<br />
<br />
communities in dire straits are desperately impoverished and willing<br />
<br />
to try the colonial way one more time. Flogging a dead horse will<br />
<br />
never produce any horse power.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Some people say we have to work with the big players. There's a big<br />
<br />
difference between working "with" someone and working "for" them. It<br />
<br />
is an Indigenous custom to turn our backs on things we know are wrong.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
If for some reason, you plan to attend the IISEM, please let us know<br />
<br />
how it went. We can be quite sure now that they won't be letting us<br />
<br />
in on a complimentary media pass!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Kittoh<br />
<br />
<kittoh@storm.ca><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We welcome your feedback! Forward, post and consider printing for<br />
<br />
your cyberphobic friends and relatives.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Eagle Watch Newsletter is sent to interested individuals, both<br />
<br />
Indigenous and nonNative, politicians especially the Canadian ones and<br />
<br />
an assortment of English language medi<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Notes, Sources and Contact Info<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Mark Twain said, “How easy it is to make people believe a<br />
<br />
lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
See Eagle Watch #142, May 29, 2011 Letter to AFN from NAN Chief Stan Beardy<br />
<br />
As long as [an] Indian Tribe/Nation-is subservient to a alien<br />
<br />
government and operates its governing body along alien standards then<br />
<br />
[that] governing body and Indian Tribe/nation remains, a servant to<br />
<br />
said alien government incapable of either caring about nor functioning<br />
<br />
in behalf of [their] people. David M. Wolfe<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Jefferson Keel elected President of the National Congress of American<br />
<br />
Indians http://www.examiner.com/green-country-budget-events-in-tulsa/jefferson-keel-elected-president-of-the-national-congress-of-american-indians#ixzz1NwvmjUdw<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
THIS WEB SITE CALLED THE REPUBLIC OF MINING POSTS A LOT OF STUFF<br />
<br />
INCLUDING AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE IISEM<br />
<br />
http://www.republicofmining.com/<br />
<br />
http://www.republicofmining.com/category/aboriginal-mining/<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.republicofmining.com/2011/06/20/news-release-international-indigenous-energy-and-mining-summit-will-chart-new-course-for-relationships-partnerships-with-industry-and-government/<br />
<br />
NEWS RELEASE: International Indigenous Energy and Mining Summit will<br />
<br />
chart new course for relationships, partnerships with industry and<br />
<br />
government<br />
<br />
Canada NewsWire<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
OTTAWA, June 20, 2011 /CNW/ – Next week, Indigenous peoples and<br />
<br />
government representatives from around the world will gather for a<br />
<br />
major summit on resource development in the spirit of a shared<br />
<br />
commitment to produce and provide long-term sustainable energy for<br />
<br />
future generations.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“Consistent with First Nations rights and our responsibilities as<br />
<br />
stewards of the land, we will begin to chart a new Indigenous economic<br />
<br />
relationship where First Nations can and will take the lead to build<br />
<br />
our own economies and contribute to Canada’s economy in ways that<br />
<br />
respect the environment and provide a sustainable future for all<br />
<br />
Canadians,” said Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Shawn<br />
<br />
A-in-chut Atleo, who will co-chair the Summit with Jefferson Keel,<br />
<br />
President of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“We look forward to continuing our work with President Keel and the<br />
<br />
Tribal Chiefs of NCAI on energy and the environment, justice and<br />
<br />
border issues and I look forward to new discussions among the global<br />
<br />
Indigenous community on how our work together can transcend borders.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The International Indigenous Energy and Mining Summit taking place in<br />
<br />
Niagara Falls June 27-29 will bring together key representatives from<br />
<br />
the global Indigenous community and governments. Representatives from<br />
<br />
the United States, China, Brazil, Germany and the private and public<br />
<br />
sectors will come together to discuss best practices, partnership<br />
<br />
opportunities, and ultimately establish a Virtual Institute of First<br />
<br />
Nation Energy and Mining. Indigenous delegates and representatives<br />
<br />
from Brazil to Nunavut will re-affirm their rights to participate in<br />
<br />
natural resource development.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“In Canada alone, it is estimated that there will $400 billion worth<br />
<br />
of mineral resource development projects in the coming years that<br />
<br />
affect First Nations territories. It will be critical to these<br />
<br />
projects, and to the Canadian economy, that First Nation people and<br />
<br />
concerns be addressed,” said National Chief Atleo. “There is also the<br />
<br />
potential for our Peoples to be the long term providers of energy and<br />
<br />
environmental security – ensuring that North Americans can rely upon<br />
<br />
domestic energy production that has little or no impact upon our air<br />
<br />
and water qualities.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Guest speakers include: Anthony Hodge, President of the International<br />
<br />
Council on Mining and Metals; Ernesto Sirolli, advocate for Indigenous<br />
<br />
sustainable communities; Nunavut Deputy Premier Peter Taptuna; Ian<br />
<br />
Anderson, CEO of Kinder Morgan Pipelines; and 80 other speakers from<br />
<br />
around the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“Our peoples can be full partners in development from pipelines to<br />
<br />
power lines, from potash to precious metals,” added National Chief<br />
<br />
Atleo. “With partnership comes full participation from revenue sharing<br />
<br />
to ownership, from employment to environmental stewardship. We must<br />
<br />
engage early and engage often on these projects, and this Summit is an<br />
<br />
example of this principle in action.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
For more information on the International Indigenous Energy and Mining<br />
<br />
Summit please visit www.afn.ca.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization<br />
<br />
representing First Nations citizens in Canada. AFN and National Chief<br />
<br />
Atleo are on Twitter. Follow @AFN_Updates, @AFN_Comms and @NCAtleo.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Don Kelly AFN A/Communications Director 613-241-6789 ext. 334;<br />
<br />
613-2922787 or dkelly@afn.ca<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Jenna Young AFN Communications Officer 613-241-6789, ext 401;<br />
<br />
613-314-8157 or jyoung@afn.ca<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Alain Garon AFN Bilingual Communications Officer 613-241-6789, ext<br />
<br />
382; 613-292-0857 or agaron@afn.ca<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bryan Hendry Senior Policy Advisor Economic Partnerships, AFN<br />
<br />
613-241-6789, ext. 229 Cell 613-293-6106<br />
<br />
<bhendry@afn.ca><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.republicofmining.com/2011/03/24/nishnawbe-aski-nation-nan-chiefs-gather-in-timmins-to-discuss-resources-%E2%80%93-by-kate-mclaren-the-daily-press-march-24-2011/<br />
<br />
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Chief’s gather in Timmins to discuss<br />
<br />
resources – by Kate McLaren (The Daily Press, the city of Timmins<br />
<br />
newspaper. Contact the writer at news@thedailypress.ca.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“The government has a responsibility to protect First Nations people,<br />
<br />
and it’s their duty to consult. That duty should not be given to the<br />
<br />
industries themselves, unless it’s agreed upon through talks between<br />
<br />
First Nations people and government officials.” (Raymond Ferris –<br />
<br />
Ring of Fire co-ordinator for Matawa First Nation)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
As First Nation chiefs from 49 Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) communities<br />
<br />
gather this week for the 2011 Winter Chiefs Assembly, the theme of the<br />
<br />
conference — Our Land, Our Resources — reflects current frustrations<br />
<br />
in First Nations communities.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“The discussions are centred around resource development, as it<br />
<br />
applies to both the written and spirited intent of Treaty 9,” said NAN<br />
<br />
Grand Chief Stan Beardy. “A hundred years ago, we signed a treaty that<br />
<br />
gave us peaceful and shared land, and said we would share in any<br />
<br />
wealth generated from that land... We’d like the government to be more<br />
<br />
respectful of those rights...The government in some cases likes to<br />
<br />
take shortcuts, but this leads to potential infringement on our Treaty<br />
<br />
rights...There has to be accommodation. At the end of the day, we have<br />
<br />
to make certain that the government is aware of their legal<br />
<br />
requirements.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
He said the government’s implementation of the Indian Act has<br />
<br />
infringed on their Aboriginal rights.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“The Indian Act is a document that defines who we are, what we can do,<br />
<br />
and what we can’t do. An important thing to remember is we never gave<br />
<br />
up the right to govern ourselves.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
He said because Treaty 9 was developed so long ago, today, it’s based<br />
<br />
in large part on oral history.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“That oral history is still relevant today,” said Beardy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
At the centre of much of the resource debate is the development of the<br />
<br />
Ring of Fire deposit in the Far North.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Raymond Ferris is the Ring of Fire co-ordinator for Matawa First<br />
<br />
Nation, and said the responsibility for initial consultation lies with<br />
<br />
the federal and provincial governments, and not with the industries<br />
<br />
themselves. He said with project descriptions being developed for<br />
<br />
various Ring of Fire plans, these discussions need to take place<br />
<br />
sooner than later.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“Before permits are issued, it’s the government’s responsibility to<br />
<br />
consult. We have too much to lose not to be able to actively<br />
<br />
participate. We’ve learned lessons from other areas who have lost<br />
<br />
their culture, their language and their environments.”<br />
<br />
http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3041131<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN)<br />
<br />
NAN just hosted a Gospel Concert in Thunder Bay to celebrate National<br />
<br />
Aboriginal Day<br />
<br />
If you can't get em with booze and infectious diseases, try a little religion.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.nan.on.ca/article/land-culture-community-120.asp<br />
<br />
Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) is a political territorial organization<br />
<br />
representing 49 First Nation communities throughout the province of<br />
<br />
Ontario. These communities are grouped by Tribal Council according to<br />
<br />
region. Five NAN communities are unaffiliated with a specific Tribal<br />
<br />
Council.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
NAN encompasses James Bay Treaty 9 territory and Ontario's portion of<br />
<br />
Treaty 5. NAN has a total land mass covering two-thirds of Ontario<br />
<br />
spanning an area of 210,000 square miles.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The total approximate populaton of NAN First Nation members (on and<br />
<br />
off reserve) is 45,000.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The people of Nishnawbe Aski traditionally speak Ojibway, Cree, and Ojicree.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3M Canada<br />
<br />
3M’s Industrial and Transportation Sector includes 3M Renewable Energy Division<br />
<br />
http://solutions.3mcanada.ca/wps/portal/3M/en_CA/about-3M/information/more-info/press-room/?PC_7_RJH9U5230ONQ6027DTROJH2482_assetId=1180609804202<br />
<br />
3M Forms Renewable Energy Division; Names Executive to Lead the Business<br />
<br />
Company Technologies Poised to Meet the Demands of Growing Marketplace<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
ST. PAUL, MN – February 2, 2009 – 3M has announced the formation of<br />
<br />
its new Renewable Energy Division. This organization will enable 3M to<br />
<br />
maximize the company’s technologies, products and responsiveness to<br />
<br />
the fast-changing renewable energy industry. The products within the<br />
<br />
new division will include products currently sold to the industry,<br />
<br />
new-to-the-world products invented for the renewable energy market,<br />
<br />
and products adapted from existing technologies. The division falls<br />
<br />
within 3M’s Industrial and Transportation Business and will focus on<br />
<br />
Energy Generation and Energy Management.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.3m.com/intl/ca/index.html?WT.mc_id=www.3m.com/canada<br />
<br />
solutions.3mcanada.ca/<br />
<br />
http://www.3m.com/<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/ccc/srch/nvgt.do?lang=eng&prtl=1&sbPrtl=&estblmntNo=234567013741&profile=cmpltPrfl&profileId=1421&app=sold<br />
<br />
Industry Canada > Information by Industrial Sector ><br />
<br />
Canadian Aerospace and Defence Industry ><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3M CANADA COMPANY<br />
<br />
19 Clyde Ave<br />
<br />
MOUNT PEARL, Newfoundland and Labrador<br />
<br />
A1N 4R8<br />
<br />
Telephone: (709) 745-5195<br />
<br />
Fax: (709) 745-5022<br />
<br />
Email: caivany@mmm.com<br />
<br />
Website URL: http://www.3M.com/canada<br />
<br />
Contact Information<br />
<br />
Catherine Ivany<br />
<br />
Title: Representative<br />
<br />
Area of Responsibility: Management Executive<br />
<br />
Telephone: (709) 745-5195<br />
<br />
Email: caivany@mmm.com<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Company Description<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3M is a diverse company, which produces more than 45 major<br />
<br />
product lines with thousands of individual items.<br />
<br />
3M's Canadian business units are grouped along three major<br />
<br />
sectors; Information and Imaging Technologies Sector, Industrial<br />
<br />
and Consumer Sector, Life Sciences Sector,<br />
<br />
Electro-Telecommunications and Industrial Minerals.<br />
<br />
Major technical capabilities span the breadth of science, from<br />
<br />
precision coatings to optics, electronics, information<br />
<br />
processing, hardgoods design, health and environmental sciences,<br />
<br />
personal safety security, imaging, materials and surface<br />
<br />
sciences.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Country of Ownership: Canada<br />
<br />
Exporting: Yes<br />
<br />
Primary Industry (NAICS): 327910 - Abrasive Product Manufacturing<br />
<br />
Primary Business Activity: Manufacturer / Processor / Producer<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Product Name: Fire Protection/Services/Equipment/Sales<br />
<br />
Product Name: Air Drilling Equipment<br />
<br />
Product Name: Oil Spill Control Protection Equipment/Service<br />
<br />
Product Name: Safety Equipment/Services<br />
<br />
Product Name: Chemical Service and Supplies<br />
<br />
Product Name: Office Space/Supplies/Service<br />
<br />
Product Name: Health/Medical Supply/Services/Equipment<br />
<br />
Product Name: Acoustics and Noise Control<br />
<br />
Product Name: Abrasives<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
============================<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.3m.com/intl/ca/index.html?WT.mc_id=www.3m.com/canada<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
https://www.defenceandsecurity.ca/index.php?action=mbrProfiles.viewProfile&profileID=1<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
===========<br />
<br />
http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Nuclear,-Biological-and-Chemical-Defence/3M-TM-family-of-filter-canisters-Canada.html<br />
<br />
3M{TM} family of filter canisters (Canada), Protection (individual) - Filters<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Description<br />
<br />
3M Canada manufactures a wide range of both standard and<br />
<br />
custom-designed filter canisters for defence, emergency services and<br />
<br />
homeland-security roles. The product range includes the following<br />
<br />
canisters:<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Description<br />
<br />
C2A1 The C2A1 canister is a standard NBC canister used by the US armed<br />
<br />
forces. Since 2000, almost 9 million have been manufactured at 3M<br />
<br />
Canada's Brockville facility. The design incorporates a<br />
<br />
high-efficiency particulate filter and a single bed of ASZM-TEDA<br />
<br />
carbon. Other variants have used ASC or ASC-TEDA (ASC treated with<br />
<br />
triethylenediamine) impregnated carbons. The C2A1 canister is<br />
<br />
delivered in a plastic vacuum-sealed pack, which replaces the earlier<br />
<br />
metal pack.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The complete article appears in the following publication:<br />
<br />
Publication Title Jane's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence<br />
<br />
Publication date Feb 11, 2011<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/projects/irc/halon-replacement.html<br />
<br />
Replacement of Halon with 3M(tm) Novec(tm) 1230 for Crew Compartment<br />
<br />
Protection System<br />
<br />
Objective<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
To evaluate the effectiveness of Novec(tm) 1230 as a "drop-in"<br />
<br />
replacement for halon in an existing crew compartment fire protection<br />
<br />
system.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Background<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Canadian Department of National Defence is seeking a more<br />
<br />
environmentally friendly replacement for halon to use with its crew<br />
<br />
compartment fire protection systems in armoured vehicles. The most<br />
<br />
cost-effective solution would use an agent that could be dropped into<br />
<br />
an existing system. Novec(tm) 1230 has been considered as such a<br />
<br />
replacement, but because its boiling point is much higher than that of<br />
<br />
other halocarbons, conventional nozzles may not fully vaporize it,<br />
<br />
reducing its effectiveness. Further work is therefore needed to find<br />
<br />
means to deliver Novec(tm) 1230 as a vapour and to test the<br />
<br />
effectiveness of this solution in a crew compartment fire.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Statement of Work<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
•Conducted experiments that simulated an explosion in a Coyote light<br />
<br />
armoured vehicle crew compartment caused by fuel spray, in order to<br />
<br />
evaluate the effectiveness of various commercially available nozzles<br />
<br />
using Novec(tm) 1230.<br />
<br />
•Tested a new explosion suppression system that used a gas generator<br />
<br />
to discharge Novec 1230 by setting off a deflagration/explosion in a<br />
<br />
mock-up vehicle crew compartment.<br />
<br />
•Measured discharge and explosion extinguishment times, compartment<br />
<br />
temperatures, thermal radiation levels and acid gas concentrations.<br />
<br />
Outcomes<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A report was delivered in March 2006, which summarized these<br />
<br />
experiments and showed that available nozzles did not cause Novec1230<br />
<br />
to fully vaporize when discharged during an explosion. A final report<br />
<br />
was delivered to the client, which showed that a system using a gas<br />
<br />
generator to discharge Novec 1230 would be effective as part of a crew<br />
<br />
compartment fire protection system.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Partners<br />
<br />
Department of National Defence Canada, Aerojet and 3M Canada.<br />
<br />
This project began in March 2005, and was completed in March 2008.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Related Projects:<br />
<br />
•Performance of NovecTM1230 in the Fire Proteciton of Electronic<br />
<br />
Facilities on Board Ships<br />
<br />
•Fire and Explosion Protection for Vehicle Crew CompartmentRelated Information<br />
<br />
Institutes:<br />
<br />
•NRC Institute for Research in Construction<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3M Canada : Company Information : HistoryIn the early 1940s, 3M was<br />
<br />
diverted into defence materials for World War II, which was followed<br />
<br />
by new ventures, such as Scotchlite™ Reflective Sheeting for ...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
solutions.3mcanada.ca › ... › Our Company › Company Information - Cached<br />
<br />
solutions.3mcanada.ca/<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.sparksdesigns.co.uk/workingfiles/bluezulu/biometrics11/exhibitors/exhibitorDetail.asp?ID=98835487<br />
<br />
Exhibitor Profile 3M United Kingdom plc<br />
<br />
For more than 30 years, 3M Security Systems has been a trusted<br />
<br />
partner, helping governments and organizations all over the world<br />
<br />
develop successful security initiatives through advanced strategies,<br />
<br />
solutions and technologies. As the complexity of personal<br />
<br />
identification and brand protection grows, we continue to provide<br />
<br />
innovative solutions — from security materials to document<br />
<br />
personalization, printing and issuance through to document reading and<br />
<br />
authentication.<br />
<br />
Contact Details:<br />
<br />
Graham Cutting, 3M United Kingdom PLC, 3M Centre, Cain Road,<br />
<br />
Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 8HT, UK<br />
<br />
Tel: +44 7836 543772<br />
<br />
Fax:<br />
<br />
Email: gbcutting@mmm.com<br />
<br />
http://www.3m.com/security<br />
<br />
http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Products/ProdServ/Dir/Safety-Security/?WT.mc_id=www.3m.com/security/index.html<br />
<br />
Safety, Security, and Protection<br />
<br />
We produce products that increase the safety, security, and<br />
<br />
productivity of workers, facilities, and systems around the world.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Building Life Cycle Solutions<br />
<br />
3M provides premier facilities with innovative, high–value solutions<br />
<br />
to protect the life of their buildings and improve the performance and<br />
<br />
productivity of their operations.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Corrosion Protection Products<br />
<br />
3M™ Corrosion Protection Products provides 3M™ Scotchkote™ Fusion<br />
<br />
Bonded Epoxy Powders & Liquids for corrosion protection of steel<br />
<br />
pipelines and associated fittings used in the oil, gas, water and<br />
<br />
construction markets.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Water Infrastructure<br />
<br />
.Facilities Cleaning & Care<br />
<br />
Cost-effective cleaning solutions that help protect facilities and<br />
<br />
people, while creating a cleaner, safer, and more comfortable<br />
<br />
environment.<br />
<br />
Library Systems<br />
<br />
A global leader in library innovation for 35+ years, 3M provides<br />
<br />
security, productivity and information management solutions that<br />
<br />
harness technology to enable a more human library, where librarians<br />
<br />
can spend more time helping patrons.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Occupational Health & Environmental Safety<br />
<br />
3M makes comfortable protection solutions designed to ensure worker<br />
<br />
safety and meet protection requirements. Products include, but are not<br />
<br />
limited to, respirators, eye and hearing protection, headgear,<br />
<br />
sorbents, software, and services.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Personal Safety<br />
<br />
Whether at work or play, 3M offers personal safety products that<br />
<br />
provide the ultimate protection, comfort, and safety.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Security Systems<br />
<br />
3M offers solutions for nearly every aspect of the secure identity<br />
<br />
process, including security materials, biometric identification<br />
<br />
systems and credential issuance and authentication systems.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Track & Trace Solutions<br />
<br />
Using RFID, RTLS, GPS and other technologies, 3M provides<br />
<br />
comprehensive track and trace solutions that deliver customer value by<br />
<br />
improving asset utilization, safety and security.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Traffic Safety Systems<br />
<br />
3M's full line of products for traffic control and guidance are<br />
<br />
extensively researched and tested for high performance, durability,<br />
<br />
and quality.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Window Safety<br />
<br />
3M™ Safety & Security Window Films add a layer of protection to your<br />
<br />
windows. They help protect against severe weather, bomb blasts or<br />
<br />
attempted break-ins.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://bulletin.sciencebusiness.net/news/75186/UK-government-takes-3M-to-court-in-%C2%A341M-claim-over-MRSA-diagnostic<br />
<br />
20 June 2011 [MRSA <br />
UK <br />
USA] UK government takes 3M to court in<br />
<br />
£41M claim over MRSA diagnostic<br />
<br />
Science<br />
Business reporting<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The multinational company is accused of failing to market a device<br />
<br />
developed by the UK Ministry of Defence for diagnosing infections of<br />
<br />
the superbug, going against the terms agreed when 3M acquired the<br />
<br />
device<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The UK government and the private investment group Porton Capital are<br />
<br />
accusing the US multinational 3M of breaching its obligation to bring<br />
<br />
a potentially life-saving medical device invented by the Ministry of<br />
<br />
Defence to market, in a case that opened at the High Court in London<br />
<br />
last Friday (17 June).<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The case centres around BacLite, a technology for detecting the<br />
<br />
hospital-acquired infection MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus<br />
<br />
aureus) which was acquired by 3M from investors including Porton and<br />
<br />
the UK government in February 2007. The terms of the sale required 3M<br />
<br />
to actively market and diligently seek regulatory approval for BacLite<br />
<br />
and to pay the investors one hundred per cent of BacLite’s 2009 sales,<br />
<br />
up to a limit of £41million.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The opening statement set out the decision by 3M to effectively<br />
<br />
terminate development of BacLite December 2008. The UK government is<br />
<br />
now asking the High Court to award the full £41 million that would<br />
<br />
have been accrued had 3M met its obligations.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The court heard that BacLite obtained EU regulatory approval by 2005,<br />
<br />
demonstrating 95 per cent reliability, and quickly penetrated the<br />
<br />
diagnostics market in the UK. The device offered MRSA detection that<br />
<br />
was faster than traditional culture methods but cheaper than molecular<br />
<br />
diagnostics.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Upon acquiring BacLite in February 2007, 3M axed the UK sales team<br />
<br />
that had been in place since May 2005, but did not reassign a new team<br />
<br />
until September 2007. By May 2008, 3M had functionally ceased its<br />
<br />
marketing efforts in Europe, the court heard.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The case continues at the High Court in London.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund corporation<br />
<br />
http://www.thunderbaybusiness.ca/article/northern-ontario-heritage-fund-corporation-nohfc-holds-board---276.asp<br />
<br />
Northern Ontario Heritage FundNorthern Ontario Heritage Fund<br />
<br />
Corporation (NOHFC) Holds Board Meeting In Thunder Bay<br />
<br />
by Scott A. Sumner<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
www.thunderbaybusiness.ca<br />
<br />
Thunder Bay was the site of a full board meeting of the Northern<br />
<br />
Ontario Heritage Board recetly where millions of dollars are awarded<br />
<br />
to up and coming companies.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“We meet every six weeks all across the North. This is Thunder Bay’s<br />
<br />
turn to have the Northern Ontario Heritage meeting here. Our largest<br />
<br />
award today is the partnership with LU and a new company called<br />
<br />
Warnex, the former Molecular World. They are doing some significant<br />
<br />
work in DNA and commercializing a product that has world wide<br />
<br />
interest,” said Minister Michael Gravelle.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“We also announced 5 young entrepreneurs in Thunder Bay whom without<br />
<br />
the benefit would probably not be able to open their businesses.<br />
<br />
When you bundle it all together it is a lot of job creation. The<br />
<br />
results are clear, thousands of jobs are being created as a result of<br />
<br />
the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. There is a very. very fair and<br />
<br />
straight forward application process. The applicant will come<br />
<br />
forward, put an application and then it goes to a sub committee who<br />
<br />
look at it before going to the board that has 14 or 15 members who<br />
<br />
all vote on the project. I am proud that the fund can move relatively<br />
<br />
quickly. That can be a frustration in the private sector. We are<br />
<br />
nimble and creative looking at projects. The process has to be<br />
<br />
rigorous but fair and nimble.”<br />
<br />
“ We have a variety of companies today and it is about job<br />
<br />
creation. We are we seeing more of companies related to the<br />
<br />
technology movement. Thunder Bay is becoming a world leader in terms<br />
<br />
of technology. They must have a good business plan and their own<br />
<br />
support as well. What excites me is seeing the different types of<br />
<br />
businesses in Northern Ontario as a result of the NOHFC that are<br />
<br />
moving forward and providing a transformed and new economy in<br />
<br />
Northern Ontario.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Dr Angelo and Carla Santin from Thunder Bay and Hamilton and went to<br />
<br />
the Canadian Chiropractic College. “ We opened our office on Algoma<br />
<br />
Street. This program gave us the edge in our start up with furniture<br />
<br />
equipment and so on. We started the application process 10 months ago.<br />
<br />
It was a really easy process. We started our careers here as a junior<br />
<br />
associate for a few years at another office. Most people have $150,000<br />
<br />
to $175,000 spent at school so the program really helps. We are doing<br />
<br />
very well now. The city has been good to us. Our office is at a great<br />
<br />
location. It is really easy access on Memorial which become Algoma. We<br />
<br />
are with other professionals. The money has allowed us to start from<br />
<br />
scratch and pay for basic expenses. We shopped local and have hired 1<br />
<br />
staff and will hire another soon as well as attracting a new<br />
<br />
Chiropractor.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“ The NOHFC is one of our governments key tools in developing the<br />
<br />
North. I am proud of the work we have done to support private sector<br />
<br />
growth. Since 2003 we have 472 million dollars,” said Bill Mauro,<br />
<br />
MPP.“ This is a program we are very proud of creating jobs in the<br />
<br />
program with $80 million a year up from $60 million. We have the world<br />
<br />
class OPP Centre and now the DNA labs which can collaborate. We are<br />
<br />
happy about the diversification of the high technology market in<br />
<br />
Thunder Bay.”<br />
<br />
McGuinty Government Supports Nine New Business Ventures<br />
<br />
A DNA collection project for forensic testing is one of nine new<br />
<br />
business initiatives that will create jobs and strengthen the Thunder<br />
<br />
Bay economy.<br />
<br />
With assistance from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation<br />
<br />
(NOHFC), Lakehead University and Warnex PRO-DNA Services are<br />
<br />
developing the MitoNorth Database. The database will be used by law<br />
<br />
enforcement and legal professionals to prevent individuals from being<br />
<br />
falsely accused and help prosecute criminals.<br />
<br />
The NOHFC is also helping three other businesses expand their operations:<br />
<br />
• Cinevate Inc. is receiving $46,350 to add new products for the<br />
<br />
digital photography and video market;<br />
<br />
• Digital Coaching Systems is receiving $35,000 to expand its<br />
<br />
web-based digital coaching database tool for athletes, coaches and<br />
<br />
sports organizations;<br />
<br />
• Ride Concepts Inc. is receiving $15,000 to develop a shock<br />
<br />
absorption system for motor cross motorcycles.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
In addition, the NOHFC is providing $25,000 each to help five young<br />
<br />
entrepreneurs launch the following new ventures:<br />
<br />
• Radiant Being Wellness Centre is a business that provides yoga<br />
<br />
classes, reiki massage, a sauna and chi machine treatments. The<br />
<br />
project will create one full time and two part time jobs;<br />
<br />
• Santin Chiropractic is a new practice that will create three full<br />
<br />
time and one part time jobs;<br />
<br />
• Renner-VFX is a business coordinating visual effects for films and<br />
<br />
commercials produced in the Thunder Bay area;<br />
<br />
• Stellar Music Productions is a disc jockey business that will create<br />
<br />
five jobs;<br />
<br />
• L.S.L. Construction is a general contracting company serving both<br />
<br />
residential and commercial clients. The project is creating one job<br />
<br />
immediately.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
QUOTES<br />
<br />
“Northern Ontario has a wealth of talented and resourceful people and<br />
<br />
our government is committed to supporting them as they take on the<br />
<br />
exciting challenges of transforming their knowledge and skills into<br />
<br />
viable businesses.”<br />
<br />
- Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development, Mines and<br />
<br />
Forestry and Chair of the NOHFC<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
“Our investments are helping budding entrepreneurs build careers and<br />
<br />
families close to home while creating significant new job<br />
<br />
opportunities in the Thunder Bay area. These jobs also represent the<br />
<br />
continuing evolution and diversification of the Thunder Bay economy."<br />
<br />
- Bill Mauro, MPP for Thunder Bay-Atikokan.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
QUICK FACTS<br />
<br />
• The NOHFC is providing a total of $897,450 for these nine<br />
<br />
projects, including $676,100 for the MitoNorth Database.<br />
<br />
• Since 2003, the NOHFC has invested nearly $472 million in more<br />
<br />
than 2,700 northern projects leveraging an additional $1.5 billion<br />
<br />
from project partners.<br />
<br />
• Since 2005, the NOHFC has invested more than $6.2 million to<br />
<br />
help launch the businesses of nearly 280 young entrepreneurs in the<br />
<br />
North.<br />
<br />
LEARN MORE<br />
<br />
• Read about the Emerging Technology Program, which helps develop<br />
<br />
exciting and viable new technologies that will contribute to future<br />
<br />
northern prosperity.<br />
<br />
• Read about the Young Entrepreneur Program, which provides up to<br />
<br />
$25,000 to northern residents aged 18 to 29 to start their own for-<br />
<br />
profit business in the North.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.mndmf.gov.on.ca/nohfc/default_e.asp<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Hawkins, 1803.<br />
<br />
"In truth, the ultimate point of rest and happiness for [the Indians]<br />
<br />
is to let our settlements and theirs meet and blend together, to<br />
<br />
intermix and become one people, incorporating themselves with us as<br />
<br />
citizens of the U.S. This is what the natural progress of things will<br />
<br />
of course bring on, and it will be better to promote than retard it.<br />
<br />
Surely it will be better for them to be identified with us and<br />
<br />
preserved in the occupation of their lands, than be exposed to the<br />
<br />
many casualties which may endanger them while a separate people.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
"[To] incorporate with us as citizens of the United States... is<br />
<br />
certainly the termination of their history most happy for themselves;<br />
<br />
but in the whole course of this it is essential to cultivate their<br />
<br />
love. As to their fear, we presume that our strength and their<br />
<br />
weakness is now so visible that they must see we have only to shut our<br />
<br />
hand to crush them, and that all our liberalities to them proceed from<br />
<br />
motives of pure humanity only."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
===============NEW DISCUSSION PAPER NOW AVAILABLE in Print Format<br />
<br />
Only!!=======================<br />
<br />
"A Calamity Threatens Your Happiness" by J. "Kittoh" Stanley, 2010,<br />
<br />
self-published, 260p., perfect bound. Copies are now available.<br />
<br />
This work, distributed by donation, promises to be important and<br />
<br />
controversial. It came about as a result of the phoney police-led<br />
<br />
anti uranium mining protests at Sharbot Lake in 2007 and covers<br />
<br />
related incidents in nearby Ongwehonweh and Nishnaabe communities.<br />
<br />
There's loads of info on the nuclear industry, Canadian<br />
<br />
militarization, water diversion and much more.<br />
<br />
If you would like to receive a copy, send an email including your<br />
<br />
mailing address.<br />
<br />
<kittoh@storm.ca></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-53781437606937412142011-06-25T15:16:00.000-07:002011-06-25T15:23:33.898-07:00Cobell Settlement: Letter of Objections<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">United States District Court<br />
<br />
Class action Settlement Agreement<br />
<br />
Cobell vs Salazar, Secretary of Interior <br />
<br />
Re: Civil Action No. 1:96cv01285 – OBJECTIONS<br />
<br />
Objection I<br />
<br />
On behalf of all Peoples (Indians/Tribal Members) of all the Nations (the Tribes now of the United States) I object to and oppose the entire document as being unconstitutional in its format, and do vehemently object to the centuries of breeched trusts and non compliance of the rules, regulations and promises included within each of the treaties made between each Nation (Tribe) and the United States, that either have not been dealt with or have been ignored even when presented and filed with the federal court of the United States, therefore, believe this action, Cobell vs Salazar, cannot legally be accepted without first addressing these international issues. <br />
<br />
In the event this objection is ignored (as is recounted historically) I then wish that the following objections be heard and taken into account. <br />
<br />
Objection II Attorney’s Fees <br />
<br />
All fees, costs and expenses for Class Counsel and Class Representatives including but not limited to any and all other fees and costs arising from the continued findings and filings in relation to this case should be paid from a fund supplied and paid into by an entity of the Federal Government of the United States and separated from funds allocated to IIM Accounts in this “3.4 Billion Dollar Trust Settlement”. The funds break down into a drop in the bucket, a one-time payment of $1,000. per Historical Class account, in comparison to a century of gross breeches of trust by the United States against the Peoples (Indians) of the Nations (Tribes) with whom treaties were made, and that the 3.4 billion dollars be paid in its entirety to each IIM Account, as it is a national insult that the already below poverty level Peoples (Indians) should bear the costs for the recovery of the aforementioned breeched trusts while, again, the lawyers, council and representatives are paid two hundred twenty-three million dollars, knowing that $1000.00-2500.00 cannot possibly help any family/person who has endured a lifetime of poverty. <br />
<br />
OBJECTION III Releases<br />
<br />
This one time settlement agreement (3.4 billion dollars resulting in an actual payment of only $1000.00 to each IIM (Historical Class) account, and up to 223 million dollars to the attorneys and others) SHOULD NOT “release, waive, and forever discharge the United States, any department, agency or establishment, and any officers, employees or successors of the United States (defendants), as well as any contractor, including any Tribal contractor (collectively the “releasees”) from obligation to perform a historical accounting and forever be barred and precluded from prosecuting any and all claims and/or causes of action for any and all historical accounting claims, however characterized whether under common law, at equity or by statute”. The above mentioned monies in no way constitute a settlement of this magnitude while the constitutionality of the settlement is questionable and should not be accepted without the United States first acknowledging and enforcing each and every one of the treaties previously made between each of the Nations (Tribes) and itself.<br />
<br />
OBJECTION IV Land Consolidation<br />
<br />
“Fractionated Lands” is a Tribal issue and should does not have any context or relevance to this settlement, Cobell vs Salazar. Tribal lands have been greatly diminished through the aforementioned breeched trusts and the failure of the United States to uphold the current treaties. <br />
<br />
<br />
Signed this_________day of______________,2011<br />
<br />
Name_____________________________________<br />
<br />
Address____________________________________<br />
<br />
____________________________________<br />
<br />
IIM Account No_____________________________<br />
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Also see: The Cobell Settlement 'Rolling Snake Eyes'</em></strong><br />
<strong><em>Censored News</em></strong><br />
<a href="http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/06/cobell-settlement-rolling-snake-eyes.html">http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2011/06/cobell-settlement-rolling-snake-eyes.html</a><br />
<br />
</div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-85967027800219877752011-06-17T16:14:00.000-07:002011-06-17T16:46:04.421-07:00O'odham to Maricopa County: No South Mountain Freeway<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A message to Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfgnllGBgbXPPIAp3QQ8xSsStzOFBHS_jjT5zOrfEAcBt6byVhFLoKweB9rqZ0XNN23gurFgn_e11GA1Lbeq_sjMUqBzxU3OHOgtBuLiSdKZlC1vTJqvaKmt0VPDDPMaIbTWpy2RD3bzY/s1600/261698_10150283549459810_514059809_9240446_6412948_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfgnllGBgbXPPIAp3QQ8xSsStzOFBHS_jjT5zOrfEAcBt6byVhFLoKweB9rqZ0XNN23gurFgn_e11GA1Lbeq_sjMUqBzxU3OHOgtBuLiSdKZlC1vTJqvaKmt0VPDDPMaIbTWpy2RD3bzY/s320/261698_10150283549459810_514059809_9240446_6412948_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRmSnKOx4VcnFM0Bboasxk2s-GeF_YnZLAWuUEipEV7lP4TVK5uXxGXJZ7dC1efb3xEiv4XZ3RHEc-uNUzm1nXCTvd5NnZ6O0NdwptfnY1ftz5zSN2_l5ioMd940wrAn85hYuBq5XPs69/s1600/263892_233411323337626_193614047317354_1146918_3489922_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRRmSnKOx4VcnFM0Bboasxk2s-GeF_YnZLAWuUEipEV7lP4TVK5uXxGXJZ7dC1efb3xEiv4XZ3RHEc-uNUzm1nXCTvd5NnZ6O0NdwptfnY1ftz5zSN2_l5ioMd940wrAn85hYuBq5XPs69/s320/263892_233411323337626_193614047317354_1146918_3489922_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Over a dozen people took to the Maricopa Board of Supervisors office to call out Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox for her support of the loop 202 freeway extension. Below is the text handed out: </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</div>BY 'NO SOUTH MOUNTAIN FREEWAY'<br />
<a href="http://nosouthmountainfreeway.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://nosouthmountainfreeway.wordpress.com/">http://nosouthmountainfreeway.wordpress.com/</a><br />
<br />
Mary Rose Wilcox, despite your history of supporting economic projects that have uprooted working class and poor people from their land and lives (Bank One Ballpark), you continue to posit yourself as some champion of immigrant and worker rights. You may believe your presence at the immigrant marches and rallies, your purported solidarity with the down trodden and oppressed, makes you a rare breed in Maricopa County and perhaps this gains you some credibility in the movement.<br />
<br />
“An injury to one is an injury to all,” is the essence of solidarity in action. For we are pro-migrant, and in our support of immigrants who have been dispossessed by predatory American trade policies, we recognize that it is those trade policies, in particular NAFTA, that are the enemy of all workers in North America. What, then, is solidarity when you support all of these conditions that line the pockets of corporations, while keeping indigenous people, workers, and immigrants down?<br />
<br />
It is your involvement in the Arizona-Mexico Commission that signals your complicity with the exploitation caused by neo-liberal trade that continues to impact people’s lives in Mexico by dispossessing them and keeping wages in the toilet, forcing the poorest to migrate for survival. This is not solidarity; it is rank political opportunism. But hypocrisy is like breathing to politicians. Another of the consequences of increased trade between Arizona and Mexico are the proposed freeways that would devastate the land and air, in particular the proposed Loop 202 freeway extension through the Gila River Indian Community (Akimel O’odham land). Surely, you’re aware that the tribe has opposed the freeway extension, as both District 6 in Gila River, and the tribe as a whole has previously opposed any new freeway, so it should be no surprise that there continues to be opposition.<br />
<br />
You and your staff should take plenty of time to read and understand why O’odham people are fighting for their community health and their cultural survival through the defense of their sacred mountain, and why others are supporting this fight. Below is a link to an information resource for freeway opposition. We do not speak for these groups, nor do we act on anyone’s behalf but our own. We are simply -People Against Freeways-<br />
<br />
NO SOUTH MOUNTAIN FREEWAY<br />
<a href="http://nosouthmountainfreeway.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="http://nosouthmountainfreeway.wordpress.com/">http://nosouthmountainfreeway.wordpress.com/</a><br />
<br />
It’s clear that the Phoenix metro area does not need a new freeway. If anything, we need less freeways. As mile after mile of asphalt and concrete is poured, set, and dried, the thermometer continues to rise. We can all feel the heat these days.</div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-31250312715264916182011-06-17T06:27:00.000-07:002011-06-17T06:27:46.336-07:00Frontera NorteSur: El Grito de El Paso (The Cry of El Paso)<em>June 16, 2011</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgam1TvVBkrb5SfvP16oaomTCIlchLO12RLV2wUghNGOxtILuF-_Zbyiv0C1Wc4A6l0JaiCpy-1qYkIlSR9n6Hv4hF1KNVuArlmBlhyphenhyphenl0M8R6aXwtcVJTvRyYfXxaBFQI1dr6Gv264foSNe/s1600/20110608-action-support-mexican-human-rights-group-peace-caravan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgam1TvVBkrb5SfvP16oaomTCIlchLO12RLV2wUghNGOxtILuF-_Zbyiv0C1Wc4A6l0JaiCpy-1qYkIlSR9n6Hv4hF1KNVuArlmBlhyphenhyphenl0M8R6aXwtcVJTvRyYfXxaBFQI1dr6Gv264foSNe/s320/20110608-action-support-mexican-human-rights-group-peace-caravan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><em>Editor’s Note: The second of two articles on the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity that culminated in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso last weekend.</em><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">El Grito de El Paso (The Cry of El Paso)</span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;"><em>Running for Albuquerque's murdered women</em></span></strong><br />
<br />
By Frontera NorteSur<br />
On Memorial Day, Albuquerque resident Michael Brown embarked on a run of more than 260-miles to the US-Mexico border.<br />
<br />
The long-distance runner began his marathon at the spot where the bodies of 11 murdered women were found on Albuquerque’s West Mesa back in February 2009. Headed south, the US Navy veteran stopped at a grave site to honor his fallen military brethren and then visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in Truth or Consequences, NM, a popular weekend getaway located about half-way between Albuquerque and El Paso.<br />
<br />
In an interview with Frontera NorteSur, Brown said that a big purpose of his nearly two-week long trip was to raise awareness of youth violence as well as the failure of the juvenile justice system to deliver “real healing” and successfully reintegrate offenders back into the community. Brown’s concerns transcended national boundaries.<br />
<br />
On Saturday, June 11, he stood with hundreds of other people in El Paso’s downtown plaza to take a stand against the violence flowing from the so-called drug war in neighboring Ciudad Juarez and beyond.<br />
<br />
“That in fact does impact our families in New Mexico. Many of them cannot cross the border as easily to see their familia and vice-versa,” Brown said. “Everyone in southern New Mexico seems to know someone in Mexico that has been affected directly by the violence.”<br />
<br />
Brown and many others were on hand to welcome members of the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity that traveled through Mexico last week gathering victims’ testimonies and input for a citizen pact that demands an end to militarization of the drug war, a halt to criminal impunity, an emergency response to the youth crisis and a much greater dose of democracy.<br />
<br />
Organized by Justice without Borders and other US groups, the El Paso event featured caravan organizer and Mexican poet Javier Sicilia and other speakers. In addition to the preliminary, six-point pact developed by Sicilia and other Mexican activists, the US groups agreed to three additional demands centered on this country’s relationship with Mexico.<br />
<br />
The three points included justice and protection for violence victims, immediate protection and asylum for Mexican refugees and an end to the Merida<br />
<br />
Initiative, the US-Mexico government agreement that provides US military hardware, training and intelligence to Mexican security forces widely accused of human rights abuses.<br />
<br />
Ruben Garcia, director of the Annunciation House migrant shelter in El Paso, charged that Merida monies are being used to “suffocate the life of an entire country.”<br />
<br />
From the podium, the names of local, regional and national US groups subscribing to the pact were read off to the crowd. The Border Network for Human Rights, Colonias Development Council, MECHA, Museo Urbano, and Miners without Borders were among the many adherents to the pact.<br />
<br />
Defending Mexican refugees has emerged as a big issue in El Paso and other places. At the June 11 rally, El Paso immigration attorney Carlos Spector announced that Ciudad Juarez activist Cipriana Jurado’s petition for political asylum in the US was finally granted by a judge the previous day. The decision, Spector contended, represented an admission by the US government that the Mexican army is the “villain of the movie.”<br />
<br />
A well-known labor, environmental and women’s rights activist, Jurado fled her home last year after helping file human rights complaints against the army and getting threats. A close associate of Jurado’s, Josefina Reyes, was murdered last year. Now a political exile, Jurado addressed the rally.<br />
<br />
“We’re going to continue the struggle because we have that commitment,” Jurado said, running down the names of other Ciudad Juarez activists who have been murdered or forced to leave town like herself.<br />
<br />
The former maquiladora worker then led the crowd in chants demanding the withdrawal of the Mexican army from Ciudad Juarez’s streets.<br />
<br />
According to Spector, a committee of Mexicans-in-Exile will be unveiled in the coming days.<br />
<br />
Like the caravan’s rallies in Ciudad Juarez and other Mexican cities, the El Paso event drew victims’ relatives with personal stories to share.<br />
<br />
“Cesar Rico is Kidnapped.” Creel Asks for Justice,” read a pair of placards carried by a small group originally from the small mountain town of Creel, Chihuahua. Luz Rico, aunt of the kidnapped man, said the family still has no word of her nephew’s fate even after Mexican President Felipe Calderon was personally told of the case and the office of Chihuahua Governor Cesar Duarte likewise informed.<br />
<br />
Since Cesar Rico’s November 2010 kidnapping, two members of the family of taxi drivers and car sellers have been murdered, according to Luz Rico and other relatives accompanying her. Irma Ramos, an in-law who was known for reporting suspicious activities to the Mexican army, was among the victims, they added.<br />
<br />
“There is a lot of insecurity in Creel,” Rico said. “Kidnappings, death, all of that. It is very bad. They should pay attention to this town.” In 2008, Creel briefly made the news after 13 people-including an infant-were murdered in an attack on a party.<br />
<br />
A once-quiet jumping-off point for the famed Copper Canyon tourist circuit, Creel and its environs have been selected by the Mexican government as the focal point for major tourist development.<br />
<br />
Historically, the mountainous zone has been an important producer of marijuana and opium poppies. Clandestine air strips, drug shipment routes and illegal logging all add to the strategic value of the region.<br />
<br />
To varying degrees, Creel, Ciudad Juarez, El Paso and Albuquerque all constitute distinct yet connected “plazas” in a hyper-charged, transnational economy of illicit products, fast money, corruption, violence and addiction. In this casino-like world of high stakes gamblers, unlimited riches and power are the elusive wins and premature death the more likely outcome.<br />
<br />
For nearly a century, Mexican-produced smack has cultivated a heroin culture in New Mexico’s largest city. Typically, the problem is swept under the rug by polite society but a recent surge in addictions and overdose deaths of Albuquerque teens attending the city’s best public schools has generated a blast of media coverage.<br />
<br />
A youth advocate, Michael Brown works in training and professional development for the New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community. As part of his job, the former navy man visits young people in a substance abuse treatment center. Recently, he encountered an 8-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy who became addicted to heroin after finding the drug left out in the open by adults “responsible” for their care.<br />
<br />
“It just completely broke my heart,” Brown said.<br />
<br />
Albuquerque’s heroin dreams and nightmares are just one piece of a larger youth crisis that’s also readily event in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and, indeed, across the globe.<br />
<br />
Everywhere youth unemployment is rampant, and in the Duke City it’s common to find scores of young people applying for a low-paid job cleaning tables or flipping burgers. Violence connected to gang, dating and domestic situations are constants. Nobody has been arrested for the murders of the young women found on the West Mesa, and similar to the impunity shrouding the disappeared of Ciudad Juarez, others remain missing with no word of their whereabouts.<br />
<br />
Earlier this month, a young man, was shot and killed in front of other teens at a house party where a fight with gang overtones shattered the night.<br />
<br />
“All this percolates and really becomes an epidemic in our society,” Brown said. “We really want to talk about the fact that our young people are our future. We’re late.”<br />
<br />
For the military veteran, the solutions to cross-border violence will come from below, from the grassroots, where people should be pushing politicians instead of the other way around. “We talk about military resolve. I think we need community resolve,” Brown asserted.<br />
<br />
The Albuquerque activist’s prescriptions find a lot of common ground with the Caravan for Peace and Justice with Dignity and its citizen pact, which stresses collective action on violence, the youth crisis and the renewal of civil society.<br />
<br />
In El Paso, caravan co-organizer Julian LeBaron of Chihuahua spoke about the emergence of a “new people” rising up to sow dignity, honor and pride.” And in the case of his own country, LeBaron said the time for change was urgent:<br />
<br />
“Mexico today trembles from the threat of violence. As a people, we’ve accepted this as a way of life but violence is not a way of life, it is a way of death. Our children hide like animals and don’t experience the beauty and abundance of our land and our traditions. Many of our brothers and sisters are ashamed of being Mexicans, and many flee their own country out of fear. The rest of the world watches and waits like vultures hovering over the corpse of a legendary beast. This has to stop. It is time.”<br />
<br />
<br />
--Kent Paterson<br />
Frontera NorteSur: on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news<br />
Center for Latin American and Border Studies<br />
New Mexico State University<br />
Las Cruces, New Mexico<br />
<br />
For a free electronic subscription email: fnsnews@nmsu.eduBrenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-52415053735022365432011-06-16T13:38:00.000-07:002011-06-16T13:44:10.080-07:00Roberto Rodriguez: Forget Huppenthal's Recycled Auto de Fe: Remember May 3!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div>Thursday, June 16, 2011<br />
Forget Huppenthal's Recycled Auto de Fe: Remember May 3! <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd6J8xAK6bwNOgppa-2kJ6CrVM4aqRY7d0Jpa6EEiezDhNNW8nFVnk88GO9qR33gNj39ryEliMtkjj_cur5ni824G5SJQiMFg3XukMVsR-8SvscIJJ2UQyLr8X8qeIg8B2AmEc5UEOC3Yp/s1600/Lupe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd6J8xAK6bwNOgppa-2kJ6CrVM4aqRY7d0Jpa6EEiezDhNNW8nFVnk88GO9qR33gNj39ryEliMtkjj_cur5ni824G5SJQiMFg3XukMVsR-8SvscIJJ2UQyLr8X8qeIg8B2AmEc5UEOC3Yp/s1600/Lupe.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><br />
<strong>Forget Huppenthal's recycled Auto de Fe: Remember May 3! Questions that must be answered</strong><br />
<strong>By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez</strong><br />
<br />
Once again, the state school’s superintendent of schools, John Huppenthal, who campaigned on the theme of stopping “La Raza” and eliminating Tucson’s highly successful Mexican American Studies Program (MAS) – per the unconstitutional HB 2281 - has ruled the program out of compliance (as supporters of MAS, we do not recognize it as a law).<br />
<br />
No surprise in Huppenthal’s ruling, though it appears he pulled a Cheney on this one (the audit absolves MAS, but Huppenthal rules MAS out of compliance anyway).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkp_ISJms6YldQ1zZA-vzK_KJ_Jdpg4k9TWx4-dpn1JAiYHoKNaArAVOIawtS0_hPprIKmMmxkMkgM8s39GZaykwslCXWRNB30KUGMWmsT4RRiIuMq-ZgooQsc5snn4pRk9-GKmFh4vkI/s1600/lobby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOkp_ISJms6YldQ1zZA-vzK_KJ_Jdpg4k9TWx4-dpn1JAiYHoKNaArAVOIawtS0_hPprIKmMmxkMkgM8s39GZaykwslCXWRNB30KUGMWmsT4RRiIuMq-ZgooQsc5snn4pRk9-GKmFh4vkI/s1600/lobby.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The surprise in all this is that the Huppenthal report has been released amid a mind-boggling case of collective amnesia. On May 3rd, the Mexican American community and supporters of the MAS-TUSD program were assaulted on at a highly militarized school board meeting and everyone is proceeding as though this unprecedented assault [on democracy] did not actually occur.</div><br />
Before responding to the Huppenthal report, we must understand the context that it is HB 2281 – not MAS – that has unleashed an unprecedented amount of hate, anger, resentment, retaliation, intimidation, harassment, show of force and use of force against the Mexican American community and against MAS supporters, and it has been spearheaded by lies and misinformation.<br />
..<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfy5Ig_JRsFpY8SRRoLl_r7ZAn7SPG3Zw0vD1P2LiCfi-6_fL-Bl55ouM6kMGkRkWCuDAXi21HMHp_K56UOu5xDkxUkCi497QJlRsMAc8VM5hZxul9I6jJRhangcWqofPoDValtRuOZuA/s1600/Salomon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfy5Ig_JRsFpY8SRRoLl_r7ZAn7SPG3Zw0vD1P2LiCfi-6_fL-Bl55ouM6kMGkRkWCuDAXi21HMHp_K56UOu5xDkxUkCi497QJlRsMAc8VM5hZxul9I6jJRhangcWqofPoDValtRuOZuA/s1600/Salomon.JPG" t8="true" /></a></div>.<br />
<br />
<br />
At the May 3 meeting, more than 100 officers were deployed. At least 50 law enforcement personnel were inside TUSD Headquarters, including tactical units, a bomb squad, a helicopter, helmeted/shielded officers, TUSD security officers, etc. Aside from 7 arrests, elders were forcibly removed from the meeting. Outside, youths were roughed up. Most of those present estimate there were between 150-200 officers, including those deployed inside the building, those surrounding the building, and those that blocked off all the approaches to the building. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9KtbBDfXqgOZU9TVhGSvSjqbriywWoYRKvLlteKQLcDe6o6D5CXhFxXg7nSaQyT_ECfF_mC2KQrXOcvvZStZyQIMRq3Ut91mgQ-sSde44VSIDu0rrEw8qaa7YrfI0S8cQ3CcwDALqkBEn/s1600/building.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9KtbBDfXqgOZU9TVhGSvSjqbriywWoYRKvLlteKQLcDe6o6D5CXhFxXg7nSaQyT_ECfF_mC2KQrXOcvvZStZyQIMRq3Ut91mgQ-sSde44VSIDu0rrEw8qaa7YrfI0S8cQ3CcwDALqkBEn/s1600/building.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Here are questions to both TPD, TUSD and the media:<br />
<br />
* How many total officers/security personnel were deployed May 3? (Dr. John Pedicone says he asked for police presence & most were supposed to be out of sight).<br />
<br />
* The trigger to ask for the police presence was due to threats to students, etc. Is there a report re threats, presence of guns, including bomb threats, prior to May 3 meeting? On June 6, a TPD report on the threats to the students (“Shoot them in the head” video) concluded that it was but a joke. On what basis was it determined that a video that is inciting people to shoot the students in the head constitute a “joke?”<br />
<br />
* Were there other agencies involved on May 3rd other than TPD and TUSD? What were TPD and TUSD expenditures for May 3 and were monies used from other sources? <br />
<br />
* Why did the helmeted SWAT units with riot gear conduct military maneuvers prior to the beginning of the meeting, marching in two by two up the middle aisle?<br />
<br />
* Who made the decision that speaking (even speaking out of turn) constituted a criminal and arrestable offense at a school board meeting? Seven speakers were arrested for attempting to speak and nothing else.<br />
<br />
* Who authorized use of force against elder Salamon Baldenegro, teacher Paula McPheters from Ochoa Elementary and KOLD cameraman, Edgar Ybarra . All three were physically tossed/thrown out of the TUSD building. That is not acceptable behavior. (At a subsequent May 23 meeting, TPD Chief Roberto Villaseñor said no force was used inside the building and that there but 50 officers deployed at any given time that night).<br />
<br />
* Who authorized TPD to order everyone out of the boardroom or else? There were many witnesses to these orders by officers in riot gear. Chief Villaseñor said that TUSD authorized this, but that TPD recommended not ordering people out, but they did threaten to arrest people inside the building if they did not leave. <br />
<br />
* On May 23, Chief Villaseñor said that officers were not supposed to be in riot gear at the meeting, that he gave orders to remove helmets/shields but that radios and cell phones were not working. During emergency, radios/cells not working? Everybody else’s cells were working. Is this accurate?<br />
<br />
* Is there a report on the use of force outside of the building? We know many youths were injured, including high school students, but none were arrested.<br />
<br />
* Was report done regarding the entire events of April 26th & May 3rd or only about possible charges against the students (April 26) and the seven arrests of May 3? Is it available to the public?<br />
<br />
* Why is TPD continuing to pursue charges when it’s no longer the wish of TUSD?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjox8sEZhoqMfeMbDg4DxupU2nBvQs6frrC4WFFOhYujBP_Vi7i0mMHiCEujHIUD89HkbNEkm3Hn9WCT66ihaJ9PeiK9w1r7I5UCg3ff2Uv1-lLkTlCBeUQlnCZrJ3gJaF8LY4btZSPPnhy/s1600/For+Dr+Pedicone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjox8sEZhoqMfeMbDg4DxupU2nBvQs6frrC4WFFOhYujBP_Vi7i0mMHiCEujHIUD89HkbNEkm3Hn9WCT66ihaJ9PeiK9w1r7I5UCg3ff2Uv1-lLkTlCBeUQlnCZrJ3gJaF8LY4btZSPPnhy/s1600/For+Dr+Pedicone.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div>.<br />
<br />
<br />
* For Dr. Pedicone: <br />
<br />
Being that no one could approach the building without seeing a massive police presence everywhere, including inside the building, why was meeting not cancelled or officers directed to stay out of sight)?<br />
<br />
* Why was Mr. Sean Arce, director of MAS, placed under the direct supervision of an avowed opponent of MAS-TUSD, Lupita Garcia, creating a hostile and adversarial relationship.<br />
<br />
* Will you declare your opposition to the unconstitutional HB 2281 and instead declare your full support for the director, the teachers and the MAS program?<br />
<br />
* There are plenty of questions as a result of Huppenthal’s June 15 Auto de Fe, but lets get these questions answered first.<br />
<br />
Rodriguez, a professor at the University of Arizona, is a member of the MAS-TUSD Community advisory board and can be reached at: <a href="mailto:XColumn@gmail.com">XColumn@gmail.com</a></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-11961004796654508112011-06-14T08:53:00.000-07:002011-06-14T08:53:56.092-07:00Cynthia McKinney: NATO bombs university in Libya<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNh2NOozaesfXW3R4xCc8ag3_o-heuedtQsm5JJeWJjI43de3aEjO5uAoPhZftlbIKixiGUO0qedeobum30EBo82FbDJlylUIHeLzW_kw9sDNUQjHgHUKTTFAkFKPZbVTijpcq650R_VeP/s1600/260px-Cynthia_mckinney_presidential_candidacy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNh2NOozaesfXW3R4xCc8ag3_o-heuedtQsm5JJeWJjI43de3aEjO5uAoPhZftlbIKixiGUO0qedeobum30EBo82FbDJlylUIHeLzW_kw9sDNUQjHgHUKTTFAkFKPZbVTijpcq650R_VeP/s200/260px-Cynthia_mckinney_presidential_candidacy.jpg" t8="true" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cynthia McKinney</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney reports from Libya</span></strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong></strong></div><strong><br />
</strong><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>More NATO "Humanitarian Intervention:" The Bombing of Al Fateh University, Campus B</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong></div><strong>14 June 2011</strong><br />
<br />
Censored News<br />
<a href="http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/">http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/</a><br />
<br />
Since coming to Tripoli to see first hand the consequences of the NATO military operations, it has become clear to me that despite the ongoing silence of the international press on the ground here in Libya, there is clear evidence that civilian targets have been hit and Libyan civilians injured and killed.<br />
<br />
This Tuesday morning I was taken from my hotel across the city through its bustling traffic to the Al Fateh University.<br />
<br />
On 9 June, Dean Ali Mansur was outside in the parking lot. The sky was blue like Carolina blue. The clouds were white--no chemtrails in sight. Puffy and white. Dean Mansur was visibly upset. It seems that some of the young men at Al Fateh University, Campus B were fighting over girls. He explained to me that Libyans are hot blooded. With a gleam in his eye, he whispered to me that girls are important to young men. <br />
<br />
Yes, that was clearly evident today as I approached the campus of Al Fateh University, Campus B, formerly known as Nasser University. Under the trees, throughout the lawn as we approached the campus gates, I could see young men and women talking to each other, talking on cell phones, walking to and fro, assembled, probably talking about the latest campus news--whatever that might be. Today, on the Al Fateh campus, life was teeming. Student life seemed vibrant. This feel and ambiance of this university was not unlike the hundreds of other universities that I have visited in the US and around the world.<br />
<br />
Libyan boys and girls are like ours. My son would easily fit into the life of this university.<br />
<br />
The campus seemed vibrant, too. Cranes everywhere indicated a healthy building program, adding new buildings to enhance the student learning environment. Despite the students' fracas, Dean Mansur had everything to be happy about as he saw his university becoming bigger, better, and stronger. Her told me that they had even signed an agreement with a British university to begin programs in the English language. Not English studies, Dean Mansur emphasized, but an entire curriculum of study taught in the English language! Of course, he entoned, that's all disappointingly ended now.<br />
<br />
Al Fateh University, Campus B consists of about 10,000 undergraduates, 800 masters degree candidates, and 18 Ph.D. students; 220 staff, 150 ad hoc professors, 120 employees. It has eight auditoriums, 19 classrooms, 4 extra large classrooms. It also has a rural campus at Al Azizia where 700 students are taught and are a part of the university system. Dean Mansur compares himself to a mayor because he has so many responsibilities presiding over a large community of students engaging in a rich and vibrant academic life.<br />
<br />
Dean Mansur told me that life at the university and, for him personally, changed forever on the afternoon of Thursday 9 June, 2011.<br />
<br />
He recalled that the university opened as usual around 8:00 am and was to close later that evening at about 8:00 pm.<br />
<br />
Thursday, 9 June, he thought, was going to be just like any other day, except for the fracas over the girls that had cleared the campus of many of the students who didn't want to have any part in the fighting. So, outside in the campus parking lot, Dr. Mansur told me he was preoccupied thinking how he would deal with the disciplinary issue before him.<br />
<br />
Then, out of nowhere and all of a sudden, he heard something loud up in the sky. <br />
<br />
He said it began out of no where, a loud roar. Then a frightful high pitched the hissing sound. He said he looked up into the sky and couldn't hardly believe his eyes: something shiny up in the sky appeared dancing in front of him. He said it moved about like an atari game or something. It danced and zig-zagged all over the sky. He said he was transfixed on the object for what seemed like minutes but in truth must have only been seconds. <br />
<br />
Up and down and sideways it raced in the sky and then, without warning, it just came crashing down into the ground nearby. It was a NATO missile.<br />
<br />
Tragically it had found its target: Al Fateh University, Campus B. <br />
<br />
Dean Mansur said he saw one missile, lots of fire, lots of different colors all around it, and then a huge plume of smoke. He saw one missile, but heard what seemed like many explosions. He said he now can't honestly say how many.<br />
<br />
Dr. Mansur said the force and shock of the blast held him frozen in his place. He said his heart stopped for a moment. He wasn't afraid, just frozen. He didn't run away; he didn't cower; he said he just stood stupefied.<br />
<br />
The force of the blast cracked thickened concrete wells, shattered hundreds of windows and brought numerous ceilings down in lecture halls.<br />
<br />
Whether it was a wayward Tomahawk Cruise Missile or a misdirected laser guided bomb, no one knows.<br />
<br />
His immediate thoughts were for the thousands of his students in the university and for his own three children who study there.<br />
<br />
After about 30 minutes, the Libyan press came to see what had happened. the University President and other officials of the school all came. But to Dr. Mansur's surprise not the international press. <br />
<br />
And what did they see?<br />
<br />
The media saw the widespread structural damage to many of the buildings, all of the windows blown out in every one of the eight auditoriums. Doors blown off their hinges. Library in a shambles. Books and debris everywhere. The campus mosque was damaged. Glass heaped up in piles. Some efforts at cleaning up had begun. <br />
<br />
Dr Mansur says that they have kept the university, wherever practicable, in much the same condition as it was on the day of the attack. Except that the main classroom area that students work in has been cleaned and will be renamed the Seif Al-Arab auditorium complex in memory of Muammar Qaddafi's son murdered on April 30, 2011 in his home by NATO bombs.<br />
<br />
On Thursday, NATO missiles. Friday and Saturday are considered the weekend here. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, the students are back to school undaunted by the bombing. In many of the classrooms I saw today, students were taking final exams amid the debris. As I walked around the campus, one male voice shouted out and spoke to me in Arabic: "Where's Obama?"<br />
<br />
Good question I thought.<br />
<br />
I've always wondered if the politicians who regularly send our young men and women away to war and who regularly bomb the poor peoples of the world have ever, themselves, been on the receiving end of a Cruise Missile attack or placed themselves and their family at the mercy of a laser guided depleted uranium bomb. Maybe, just maybe I thought, that if they had experienced first hand the horror of a NATO attack on a civilian target they might just stop and question for a minute the need to dispatch our armed forces to attack the people of Libya.<br />
<br />
I didn't want to disturb the students taking exams so I found some students standing outside not taking exams to talk to. I asked them if they had anything to say to President Obama. One professor, a woman, spoke up readily and said, "We are working under fire: physical and psychological." One student spoke up and said that President Obama should "Free Palestine and leave Libya alone." He continued, "We are one family." <br />
<br />
More on that later, but briefly, every Libyan is a member of a tribe and every tribe governs itself and selects its leaders; those leaders from all of the tribes then select their leaders, and so on until there is only one leader of all of the tribes of Libya. I met that one tribal leader yesterday in another part of Tripoli and I am told he is the real leader of this country. He presides over the Tribal Council which constitutes Libya's real policymakers. So when the young man said "We are one family," that is actually the truth.<br />
<br />
Dr. Mansur, trained in the United States and spoke fondly of his time in the US and the many friends he made there. He is proud of his students and the richness of his university's community life. He was just like any University Dean in the United States. <br />
<br />
In my view God intervened on Thursday 9 June, 2011.<br />
<br />
On the day that the missile struck, not one student was killed. It could so easily have been different. It could have been a catastrophe taking the lives of hundreds of teenagers. <br />
<br />
I am told that in the surrounding area immediately outside the university others were not so fortunate. <br />
<br />
<br />
Reports are that there were deaths in the nearby houses. <br />
<br />
It's a funny thing about war. Those who cause war become oblivious and removed from its consequences; they seem happy to inflict harm on others and become numb to its ill effects while war's victims find a way to normalize the abnormal and live with the constant threat of death and destruction.<br />
<br />
After visiting Tripoli, I remain as opposed to war as ever before.<br />
<br />
The students at Al Fateh University continue their studies despite the siege that their country is under. <br />
<br />
And oh, that second group of students that I randomly spoke to? I asked them how much they pay for tuition. They looked at me with puzzled faces even after the translation. I asked them how much they pay for their books. Again, the same puzzled face. Tuition at Al Fateh University is 16 dinars per year--about $9. And due to the NATO embargo on gasoline imports, the school now has started 10 free bus lines to its surrounding areas in order to make sure that the students can get to school, free of charge. <br />
<br />
I told them that I was about to enter a Ph.D. program in the US myself and that I needed tuition and book money costing tens of thousands of dollars. I continued that my cousin is in debt $100,000 because she went to the schools of her choice and received a Master's degree. <br />
<br />
They said to me, "We thank Muammar Qaddafi. Because of Muammar Qaddafi we have free education. Allah, Muammar, Libya obes!"<br />
<br />
<br />
Well as for NATO, they still cling to the chimera that their strikes are against military targets only and that theirs is a "humanitarian intervention."<br />
<br />
I'm still waiting to find evidence somewhere in the world that bombing poor civilian populations of the Third World from the air is good for their voting rights, democracy, medical care, education, welfare, national debt, and enhancing personal income and wealth distribution. It seems clear to me that complex life issues require more complex intervention than a Cruise Missile could ever deliver.<br />
<br />
Here is video of Michel Collon about western wars and the media lies that accompany them (thanks to Rosemary Tylka for sending this to me for forwarding): <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXFAsz6_W50&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXFAsz6_W50&feature=player_embedded</a><br />
-- <br />
<br />
<a href="http://dignity.ning.com/">http://dignity.ning.com/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.enduswars.org/">http://www.enduswars.org/</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.livestream.com/dignity">http://www.livestream.com/dignity</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/dignityaction">http://www.twitter.com/dignityaction</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/dignityaction">http://www.myspace.com/dignityaction</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/runcynthiarun">http://www.myspace.com/runcynthiarun</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/cynthiamckinney">http://www.twitter.com/cynthiamckinney</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaMcKinney">http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaMcKinney</a><br />
<br />
<br />
http://www.youtube.com/runcynthiarun<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Silence is the deadliest weapon of mass destruction.</div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-81947194813484975192011-06-11T20:51:00.000-07:002011-06-12T11:33:58.846-07:00Mohawk Ben Powless' talk at Anti Harper Rally<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><strong>Mohawk Ben Powless' talk at Anti Harper Rally</strong><br />
June 10, 2011<br />
<br />
Seh:kon, Skennen:koah –.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbanm-Z9IJnqshr5R9r_VUEJUYMRgnf1iKke6sp39YhqdUxX25_TtAypEBAPKaWTnWtpm7Gg5IQi1tA9-r0L8mVUXaUZvDmpzp8JnF7fdzjZIKSDvMiU5RBY3A0jpiIcL56-FyJhrEEzdc/s1600/187105_90410671_3106667_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbanm-Z9IJnqshr5R9r_VUEJUYMRgnf1iKke6sp39YhqdUxX25_TtAypEBAPKaWTnWtpm7Gg5IQi1tA9-r0L8mVUXaUZvDmpzp8JnF7fdzjZIKSDvMiU5RBY3A0jpiIcL56-FyJhrEEzdc/s1600/187105_90410671_3106667_n.jpg" t8="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Powless</td></tr>
</tbody></table>My name is Ben Powless, and I am a citizen of the Kanienkehaka, or Mohawk, Nation. I am honoured to have been asked to speak before you today as an Onkewehonwe, as an Indigenous man. I thank you all for coming out today. I want to repeat sentiment that our very presence here today is proof that Harper does not represent us, as Indigenous Peoples.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In Canada’s history there have not really been any governments that have done good for Indigenous Peoples. But by the end of the Harper era – doesn’t that sound good to say? The end of the Harper era? But by the end of the Harper era, if Harper gets his way, we could see the further destruction of our lands, the entrenching of poverty in Native communities, the unacceptable rise in violence against Aboriginal women, the tarnishing of the sacred treaties our ancestors signed to ALLOW foreigners to share the land, the increase in militarization of our communities, and more.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCdkf2yBltVZZ_6u4HksSb5C0dWjmEIO7i_dvJIpN4EZAeOWCv89GsijAx2KuHTvECz2sX9jB0epcu1-7zWufF9F0eIXftlZhU2KylVFKGFIkNn0s-vv6dSxemkCzHcDt03d5xcfgENFGm/s1600/254034_824095320115_90410671_41911470_2876343_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCdkf2yBltVZZ_6u4HksSb5C0dWjmEIO7i_dvJIpN4EZAeOWCv89GsijAx2KuHTvECz2sX9jB0epcu1-7zWufF9F0eIXftlZhU2KylVFKGFIkNn0s-vv6dSxemkCzHcDt03d5xcfgENFGm/s320/254034_824095320115_90410671_41911470_2876343_n.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo copyright Ben Powless 2011</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>The US has declared a “War on Terror”, while Canada has declared a War on Indigenous Peoples. That cannot be allowed to happen. Let’s look back on the past five years.<br />
<br />
Under the Harper regime, the government has cut over 100 million dollars to housing on reserves, despite many First Nations living in fourth world conditions, with about half of First Nations homes needing major renovations and overcrowding more than doubling the last few years.<br />
<br />
Under the Harper regime, the government has sought to punish Native communities who don’t meet federal water standards, instead of providing proper funding and support to deal with thousands of homes that have neither water nor sewage service.<br />
<br />
Under the Harper regime, the government has CUT funding for the internationally-renowned Sisters in Spirit initiative (which Bridget Tolley talked about), despite the ever increasing need to tackle the root causes for the problem of missing and murdered Aboriginal women.<br />
<br />
Under the Harper regime, Aboriginal children have fallen even further behind on education, despite the fact that as many as three out of four Native teens don’t make it through high school, and many children don’t even have a school in their community. Cindy Blackstock has likened this to a bridge, where for Canadian children, the governments build a bridge to cross the water, and most students cross. For Aboriginal children, the government builds half a bridge, blames Aboriginal children when they fall in and then demands to be thanked for building half-a-bridge.<br />
<br />
Under the Harper regime, the government at first refused to apologize for Residential Schools, saying they were only trying to ‘provide Aboriginal children with an education’ – as if that was a decent explanation for committing cultural genocide. It was only when a court ruled that they HAD to apologize that they finally did. And they continue to make a mockery of the apology with their actions.<br />
<br />
Under the Harper regime, the government fought tooth and nail against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. After it was adopted by the UN, they said it was unconstitutional and would be the end of the world, basically. Last year, after much pressure, they quietly announced that they could maybe support it, in theory, except for the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent, otherwise known as the right to say “NO”, the most important part of the Declaration.<br />
<br />
Under the Harper regime, the government has gone on the offensive to extract every last bit of profit from Mother Earth, on the backs of our peoples and Mother Nature. This is a return to a colonial economy, nowhere more evident in Canada than in Northern Alberta, where Indigenous communities have been converted into a sacrifice zone for Harper and his corporate bosses. This has become the biggest source of pollution in Canada, making Canada the biggest international climate criminal. Today even the National Post reported that Canada received a ‘diplomatic spanking’ at the ongoing UN climate talks for its promotion of the Tar Sands. Canada has tried to promote the Tar Sands as ‘ethical oil’. This is bullshit. This is like saying the British practiced ‘ethical slavery’. At the end of the day it’s the destruction of entire peoples for profit, and it’s wrong. <br />
<br />
Under the Harper regime, the government has taken a hardline stance against Aboriginal rights and treaty rights. They have sought to divide and conquer any communities who step outside their box, and recover their lands outside their land-claim process, which requires us to abandon our rights and land for pitiful cash payments. That’s why they send in the police and military into our communities, to enforce colonial rule.<br />
<br />
Perhaps most tellingly, under the Harper regime, the government has begun SPYING on First Nations communities, increasing surveillance and a security crackdown on our communities because they are genuinely SCARED of coordinated action by Indigenous groups, and what we represent. They are SCARED because they know Indigenous communities can forcefully challenge and bring about fundamental change to the way things are done in this country. They are SCARED because Indigenous communities still have a close experience and understanding of ways of life outside capitalism and colonialism. This represents a great strength for us, when we refuse to accept money in exchange for our rights – but it’s something that drives fear into their hearts.<br />
<br />
But our communities have had enough. First Nations are leading the resistance to the government and colonialism, and have for centuries. Barricades, one of the few tools left available to our communities, have been put up across the country in the past few years, from Six Nations, to Grassy Narrows, from Sharbot Lake, to Barriere Lake, and beyond. Across the river in Quebec, our Innu brothers and sisters have said they’re prepared to put up a blockade to protest Quebec getting rich from sacrificing their rights. Indigenous communities are in resistance and not prepared to let this government enact its anti-democratic and colonial agenda.<br />
<br />
And we won’t back down. We will only continue not just to resist, but to push for what is OURS – our rights, our self-determination, control over our lands, our governments, our bodies. This is also known as democracy, at least how we practiced it, before this depraved version of “democracy” was imposed on us.<br />
We call on you to stand in solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Canada and our brothers and sisters around the world, who are also facing down Canadian corporations trying to gain access to their lands and resources. The next few years will not be easy, but we will not be silenced or stopped. We must continue to mobilize, to resist, and to build our movements. This is the best way and the only way we’ll be able to stop Harper and reclaim justice for Indigenous Peoples and all peoples in Canada.<br />
<br />
So join me know in making our voices heard and our spirits united.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Nia:wen ko:wa, Onen.<br />
<br />
<em>Ben Powless is Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario. Ben's photographs from climate summits have appeared on Censored News <a href="http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/">http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/</a> from Bali, Bolivia and Cancun, Mexico climate summits. </em><em>His work also appears at Canada's <a href="http://rabble.ca/">http://rabble.ca/</a></em><br />
<em>He is currently studying Human Rights, Indigenous and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, after spending a year in an international exchange program, studying sustainable rural development between Alberta and Mexico. He has been involved with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition since its inception, working at both the national level and with the Ottawa Chapter. He is also heavily involved with the Indigenous Environmental Network. He also sits on the board of the National Council for the Canadian Environmental Network, is on the Youth Advisory Group to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and is very involved in the local Aboriginal community.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em><br />
</em></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-61028283375057875562011-06-07T06:01:00.000-07:002011-06-08T06:11:48.693-07:00Cynthia McKinney reports from Libya as NATO bombs Tripoli<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney reports from Tripoli, as it is bombed by NATO</span></strong><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKK6bdUPoosK2LGU3ew8WyAm-bTQseYq2Q7CFVwLPqstchbFYTeZSj8bFfjTW9w7oi6W7v6Qtb7yzdZYUDBv8_2gzw8OShUqtnnAHi9hDfRlcIkbwPXKBs_AWk5vYGKQoW5N5-5VwrwuhJ/s1600/cynthia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKK6bdUPoosK2LGU3ew8WyAm-bTQseYq2Q7CFVwLPqstchbFYTeZSj8bFfjTW9w7oi6W7v6Qtb7yzdZYUDBv8_2gzw8OShUqtnnAHi9hDfRlcIkbwPXKBs_AWk5vYGKQoW5N5-5VwrwuhJ/s1600/cynthia.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div><br />
By Cynthia McKinney<br />
Tripoli, Libya<br />
<br />
<strong><em>UPDATE (June 8, 2011</em></strong>) Some of the DIGNITY Delegation has departed and some have remained. We were to visit the camps of the internally-displaced persons who include Libyans and migrant workers from other parts of Africa and West Asia, but the intense bombing prevented our going out. The bombing yesterday started at 11:00 am and went nonstop until we went to sleep around 11:30 pm and we counted 89 blasts in the Tripoli area. NATO also bombed in areas outside of Tripoli including the busy part of the harbor where offloading of ships takes place. We are on our way now to continue our fact-finding. In the meantime, please read the following interesting article, brought to my attention by one of our readers, Robert Oliver:<br />
<a href="http://thyblackman.com/2011/06/06/william-reed-who-speaks-for-african-americans-yes-you-louis-farrakhan-cynthia-mckinney/">http://thyblackman.com/2011/06/06/william-reed-who-speaks-for-african-americans-yes-you-louis-farrakhan-cynthia-mckinney/</a><br />
.<br />
By Cynthia McKinney<br />
TRIPOLI --(JUNE 7, 2011) It is now 1:10 in the afternoon and as the daily life in Tripoli unfolds that includes teachers, staff, and children at school, shopkeepers working in their businesses, streetsweepers sweeping the streets, people moving to and fro in the cars, on bicycles, and on foot, Tripoli has thus far since around 11:00 up to now, received at least 29 bombs. <br />
<br />
<br />
Interestingly, the efforts of the Washington Post, New York Times, Associated Press, and others to portray Libya claims on the bombings as "absurd" are patently false and are merely efforts to defend in the court of public opinion, the indefensible bombing of civilians going about their lives in a heavily populated area. The Washington Post headlined "Libya government fails to prove claims of NATO casualties" and the Los Angeles Times headline blared, "Libya officials put a spin on a conflict." These bombs and missiles are not falling in empty spaces: people are all over Tripoli going about their lives just as in any other major metropolitan city of about two million people.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, NATO has a spin machine of its own: NATO says it is making "significant progress" in protecting Libyan civilians. "What we did target was the military intelligence headquarters in downtown Tripoli," the alliance said. I am currently with a delegation of former MP's and professors from France who are here in Tripoli on a fact-finding mission. The program for today was to visit the camps of internally displaced persons in this part of the country. However, we are not able to complete our program while Tripoli is under attack. I will do my best to visit some of the areas bombed today when/if this attack lets up.<br />
<br />
What were you doing today between 1:00 and now? The people of Tripoli endure the trauma of repeated bombings in their immediate environment.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dignity.ning.com/">http://dignity.ning.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.enduswars.org/">http://www.enduswars.org/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.livestream.com/dignity">http://www.livestream.com/dignity</a><br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/dignityaction">http://www.twitter.com/dignityaction</a><br />
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/dignityaction">http://www.myspace.com/dignityaction</a><br />
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/runcynthiarun">http://www.myspace.com/runcynthiarun</a><br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/cynthiamckinney">http://www.twitter.com/cynthiamckinney</a><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaMcKinney">http://www.facebook.com/CynthiaMcKinney</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/runcynthiarun">http://www.youtube.com/runcynthiarun</a><br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
Related link:<br />
<br />
In the news: <br />
Rare Daytime NATO Airstrikes hit Libyan Capitol <br />
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110607/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_libya">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110607/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_libya</a></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-80374047883722436242011-06-07T05:23:00.000-07:002011-06-07T05:24:32.282-07:00Indigenous in Philipines fight mining<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHapBqJ8kZJY-fx1qAYAyvX_8gqpXlegTRvqVt_qi2SHmhFyBOJy_SHA5E_5yW5D_IK1H_lgIUxSy-l9SK2fHPxQUfmbih4XITvYDAFh1pAmfQXGq-PPiCMvfog3CRUB8S0n_z7We1VOKT/s1600/palawan-bananax-jpg-copy-2_91949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHapBqJ8kZJY-fx1qAYAyvX_8gqpXlegTRvqVt_qi2SHmhFyBOJy_SHA5E_5yW5D_IK1H_lgIUxSy-l9SK2fHPxQUfmbih4XITvYDAFh1pAmfQXGq-PPiCMvfog3CRUB8S0n_z7We1VOKT/s1600/palawan-bananax-jpg-copy-2_91949.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div>Dear friends,<br />
<br />
The struggle of the indigenous peoples of Palawan against mining corporations is being impaired by highly manipulative processes involving both the government appointed National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) and MacroAsia Corporation (MAC), using “fake tribal leaders” to engineer a false consensus'.<br />
Nine Palawan community leaders from Brooke's Point just arrived in Manila to say that they are the authentic indigenous people's representatives from Brooke’s Point, Palawan – a Municipality blessed with lush forest now being threatened by mining applications.<br />
We ask for your support by signing the letter which can be found at:<br />
<a href="http://www.rainforest-rescue.org/">http://www.rainforest-rescue.org/</a><br />
hank you very much. Best regards,<br />
Guadalupe Rodríguez<br />
Rainforest Rescue<br />
<a href="http://www.rainforest-rescue.org/">http://www.rainforest-rescue.org/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/StopAgroenergy">http://www.facebook.com/StopAgroenergy</a></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-66346190428951116852011-06-06T19:46:00.000-07:002011-06-06T19:46:20.548-07:00Florida: Volunteers arrested for feeding the hungryJune 6, 2011 CONTACT:<br />
Food Not Bombs global coordination office<br />
575-770-3377<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2EcuIE0hvPVJnTpcq4lBnkRYtxvqIDoTjCL24pBU6jkf0_FcBWGi4N7Y-RGkIuGVjUYoe9bQBhasWGlhu6MgpMVM5Yf2BpqGYG7Y6pxAXBWTJMrXsS5ETJtXC55TYOG8Kod6QNunL4Mr/s1600/700_465_movement_painting_h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy2EcuIE0hvPVJnTpcq4lBnkRYtxvqIDoTjCL24pBU6jkf0_FcBWGi4N7Y-RGkIuGVjUYoe9bQBhasWGlhu6MgpMVM5Yf2BpqGYG7Y6pxAXBWTJMrXsS5ETJtXC55TYOG8Kod6QNunL4Mr/s320/700_465_movement_painting_h.jpg" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div>.<br />
Orlando Food Not Bombs 407-252-1379<br />
<a href="mailto:menu@foodnotbombs.net">menu@foodnotbombs.net</a><br />
<a href="http://www.foodnotbombs.net/">http://www.foodnotbombs.net/</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Seven volunteers arrested so far for sharing food with the hungry in in protest of war and poverty in Orlando, Florida.<br />
<br />
Steve Willis, Dylan Howeller, Noelle Bivens, and Brock Monroe arrested providing breakfast June 6, 2011.<br />
<br />
Food Not Bombs calls on Americans to join the peaceful anti-austerity protests that are sweeping the world.<br />
<br />
"It's inhumane to tell people they should not give food to the hungry"<br />
<br />
Food Not Bombs volunteer Jessica Cross on her release from jail.<br />
<br />
NEXT MEAL WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8TH AT 5:30 PM AT LAKE EOLA PARK.<br />
<br />
Seven Food Not Bombs volunteers have been arrested for sharing free vegan meals with the hungry at Lake Eola Park in Orlando Florida this June. Volunteers provide food to the hungry seeking to change society by building popular support to reduce military spending and redirect public resources towards the real security of food, housing, education and healthcare. Orlando officials are arresting people feeding the hungry while governments are cutting social services and millions of Americans are one paycheck away from homelessness and unemployment is increasing.<br />
<br />
Food Not Bombs is calling on Americans to join in the peaceful anti-austerity protests that are sweeping the world. In the world's wealthiest country where over 50 cents of every tax dollar goes to fund the military it is possible to make sure no one ever needs to seek food at a soup kitchen or be forced to live on the streets.<br />
<br />
Food Not Bombs is a global movement sharing food and literature in over 1,000 cities. Each group is autonomous and makes decisions using consensus. The food is always vegan or vegetarian and free to everyone. Volunteers are dedicated to taking nonviolent direct action change society so everyone has their own kitchen and enough healthy food to provide for their family and no one is forced to stand in a line to eat. The city of Orlando should support Food Not Bombs in our effort to end poverty instead of spending the taxpayers money attempting to hide the poor. <br />
<br />
FOOD IS A RIGHT, NOT A PRIVILEGE.<br />
<br />
Add your name to the Orlando Wall of Compassion (Come to Orlando and risk arrest sharing food with the hungry.)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.foodnotbombs.net/orlando_wall_of_compassion.html">http://www.foodnotbombs.net/orlando_wall_of_compassion.html</a><br />
<br />
Pancakes, doughnuts and more arrests at Lake Eola<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/os-food-not-bombs-arrest-20110606,0,4330075.story">http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/os-food-not-bombs-arrest-20110606,0,4330075.story</a><br />
<br />
Volunteers Arrested, Accused Of Violating Feeding Ordinance<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wftv.com/news/28144821/detail.html">http://www.wftv.com/news/28144821/detail.html</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Print out the flyer<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.foodnotbombs.net/arresting_food_not_bombs_flyer.pdf">http://www.foodnotbombs.net/arresting_food_not_bombs_flyer.pdf</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Trial dates:<br />
<br />
Benjamin Markeson and Jessica Cross<br />
<br />
Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 1 pm Room 250 Orange County Courthouse, 425 North Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Jonathan "Keith" McHenry<br />
<br />
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at 1 pm Room 250 Orange County Courthouse, 425 North Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We need your support.<br />
<br />
1. Write letters to Amnesty International, the United Nations and Obama's Justice Department asking for and investigation and letters to Orlando city officials asking for an end to their arrests at Lake Eola Park. You can ask your organization, union, club or group to also send letters.<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/amnesty_letter.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
2. Organize or participate in the first of the month vigils at your city hall this July 1, 2011. Ask your organization, union, club or group to promote and participate in this monthly action. If you live outside the United States please organize your vigil outside the U.S. Embassy, U.S. Consulate or local U.S. Military Base or<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/resist.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3. Ask your organization, union, club or group to send a delegation to Orlando Florida to risk arrest sharing free food to the hungry at Lake Eola Park. They can get arrested in front of your groups banner. Bail is $100 and we will provide rides from jail and legal support. We are organizing camping and housing for people from out of town. Campgrounds have great fresh water lakes and are very beautiful. We will post your mug shot and name on the date of your arrest on the Food Not Bombs webpage of honor.<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/fnb_resists.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
4. Sign and forward our online petition.<br />
<br />
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/is-it-a-crime-to-feed-the-hungry/<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
5. Email and post news of this campaign to your Facebook, email lists and contact your local media.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
THE LARGE GROUP FEEDING LAW AND FEDERAL COURT RULING<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/fnb_orlando_law.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
THE CAMPAIGN TO END THE CRIMINALIZATION OF POVERTY<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
HUMAN NEEDS NOT CORPORATE GREEO MONTHLY VIGIL<br />
<br />
Human Needs Not Corporate Greed - Campaign to end the criminalization of poverty vigil at your city hall or U.S. Embassy on the first of each month.<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/resist.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
WRITE A LETTER CAMPAIGN<br />
<br />
Three Food Not Bombs volunteers were arrested on June 1st at their regular Wednesday meal in Orlando Florida. Write a letter campaign asking for an investigation into the arrests of Food Not Bombs. We also ask that you sign out petition and email the mayor, city council and the Orlando Tourist Information Bureau (Please see sample letters on these pages.) Thanks<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/amnesty_letter.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
SOME MEDIA ON THE ISSUE<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Food Not Bombs group arrested for feeding homeless, violating Orlando ordinance (Washington Post)<br />
<br />
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/food-not-bombs-group-arrested-for-feeding-homeless-violating-orlando-ordinance/2011/06/03/AGufUBIH_blog.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Group to keep feeding homeless in spite of members' arrests<br />
<br />
3 arrested must stay away from Lake Eola Park<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-06-02/news/os-mchenry-homeless-feeding-hearing-20110602_1_ben-markeson-homeless-people-anti-hunger-movement<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Anti-Poverty Group Member Arrested<br />
<br />
http://www.examiner.com/poverty-in-orlando/anti-poverty-group-member-arrested<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3 Fla. activists arrested for feeding homeless<br />
<br />
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/02/2247990/3-fla-activists-arrested-for-feeding.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3 Food Not Bombs members arrested for ordinance violation<br />
<br />
http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/june/255345/3-Food-Not-Bombs-members-arrested-for-ordinance-violation<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Three arrested for feeding Fla. homeless<br />
<br />
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/06/02/Three-arrested-for-feeding-Fla-homeless/UPI-60441307031516/<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3 Homeless Feeding Group Members Arrested<br />
<br />
http://www.wftv.com/news/28105391/detail.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
3 Food Not Bombs members arrested for ordinance violation<br />
<br />
http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/june/255345/3-Food-Not-Bombs-members-arrested-for-ordinance-violation<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Please don't feed the homeless: Good Samaritans ARRESTED and facing jail... for handing out food Read more:<br />
<br />
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1394924/Orlando-Food-Not-Bombs-activists-ARRESTED-feeding-homeless-city-parks.html#ixzz1OWnK8XOw<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Sign the on-line petition -Thanks<br />
<br />
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/is-it-a-crime-to-feed-the-hungry/<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Add your name to the Orlando Wall of Compassion<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/orlando_wall_of_compassion.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Start a Food Not Bombs group in your community!(Orlando is the only city making arrests so far.)<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/seven.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Please consider making a donation. Bail is $100 per arrest.<br />
<br />
Food Not Bombs Dollar for Peace<br />
<br />
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/dollar_for_peace.html<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Please forward, thanks so much.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-- <br />
<br />
April Mondragon<br />
<br />
Live PeaceBrenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-53194994707392278842011-06-06T18:45:00.000-07:002011-06-06T18:45:39.888-07:00Rodriquez: 'Sacred War and Arizona's Final Reduccion'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEapSiEdiahFJikuG0r6OcpVbiXP0A5RGPwj5pjMwEi7uxK4JZNkefKnf1hfvB-4UjsWSjDvgRlQPQQ3xDkCz2b_o_kb4n3DzLl2UIKSJEnGo3W81TKu3yut4bQBVXXF7GdEqwNTm3upW/s1600/roberto%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqEapSiEdiahFJikuG0r6OcpVbiXP0A5RGPwj5pjMwEi7uxK4JZNkefKnf1hfvB-4UjsWSjDvgRlQPQQ3xDkCz2b_o_kb4n3DzLl2UIKSJEnGo3W81TKu3yut4bQBVXXF7GdEqwNTm3upW/s1600/roberto%255B1%255D.jpg" t8="true" /></a></div>Column of the Americas<br />
Sacred War and Arizona’s Final “Reduccion”<br />
By Roberto Dr.Cintli Rodriguez<br />
<br />
(June 6, 2011) In Arizona, we are just days away from a momentous ruling: it is expected that on the basis of an illegitimate audit, State Schools Superintendent John Huppenthal – who ran on the promise of eliminating “La Raza,” – will rule Tucson’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) program to be outside of “the law.” The way HB 2281 was designed, the only remedy is elimination.<br />
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Incidentally, supporters of the program do not recognize HB 2281 as a legitimate law. In part, this is because this is nothing more than a long line of “laws” meant to ensure our dehumanization. And this is not a new story. A read of Pagans in the Promised Land (Newcomb, S. 2008) gives us this understanding – that what’s happening in Arizona is not simply a civilizational war, but rather a so-called sacred war – the same war that brought us the Inquisition, pitting civilized Christians v. uncivilized heathens. In the Americas, it is part of the deep story about how Europeans (Christians) – via the mind-boggling divine “doctrine of discovery” – claim[ed] the continent and de-rooted its peoples. <br />
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In Arizona, it is also about who is legal and who is not and about whose knowledge is legitimate and whose is not.<br />
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This cosmic drama has actually been playing out since Biblical times. This imported drama is how we can also come to understand the meaning of Arizona’s final or Ultima Reduccion – the unfinished business of colonization. Spain’s continent-wide policy of reducciones of the 1500s-1800s, was about spiritually killing Indians while creating Christians in their place (American Indians will recognize this as the 19TH and 20TH century boarding school policies: kill the Indian, save the man). The belief was that Europeans were Christian and Indigenous peoples were pagan and thus, Christians had the right to claim the land and the peoples’ souls. A reduccion was also the process by which everything Indigenous was demonized, including the astronomical, mathematical and scientific knowledge contained within the ancient calendars. It also demonized the songs, dances, music, ceremonies, medicine and even the food (amaranth).<br />
<br />
The entire 300-year colonization era was one huge reduccion and one huge Auto de Fe. The most infamous Auto de Fe in history was recorded in 1562 at Mani, Yucatan, where Bishop Diego De Landa staged a massive 3-day book burning – proclaiming the ancient codices of the Maya: “Things of the Devil.” <br />
<br />
While those policies are officially over, they actually live on. On Dec. 30, 2010, then State Schools Superintendent Tom Horne issued his own 10-page Auto de Fe, declaring Tucson’s MAS program in violation of the 2010 anti-Ethnic Studies HB 2281. He had long charged that Ethnic Studies should be grounded in Greco-Roman values – the foundation of Western Civilization, and nothing else. On that day, he declared MAS outside of civilization and also, outside of the West. On that day, he metaphorically commenced his own book burning, commencing yet another Inquisition, declaring that books such as Rodolfo Acuña’s Occupied America and Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed promoted hate, segregation and the overthrow of the U.S. government. He also cited hip-hop groups Aztlan Underground and El Vuh for the same.<br />
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His declaration actually hearkens back to that “sacred war” brought over by Columbus. On Jan. 3, 2011, Horne read his own Requerimiento; a “legal” finding compelling the district to comply or else. The original 1519 Requerimiento was read in Latin to Indigenous peoples, declaring that if there were no Christians on this land, the land now belonged to the Spanish Crown. If they did not comply, the crown’s representatives would wage merciless war upon them.<br />
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On April 26 and then on May 3, the Tucson school board attempted to comply with the state’s wishes by telling the heathens what was good for them (MAS classes were to henceforth become electives) – since peoples less than human can’t think for themselves nor do they possess equal rights. On the 26th, students prevented the school board from meeting by chaining themselves to the board chairs. In response, on May 3, the board authorized a massive show of force (more than 100 police officers, including SWAT units, metal detectors, a helicopter and a bomb squad) to remind us how imposed laws are enforced: through brute force. Seven participants, attempting to speak were arrested, and many youths and elders were roughed up. <br />
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When Huppenthal issues his finding – his own Auto de Fe or his own Requerimiento – it will not deter MAS supporters because we too are involved in our own cosmic drama. It comes down to us from the ancient Codex Chimalpopoca (The Legend of the Suns) and the Popul Vuh; it is about how human beings and maiz were created. That knowledge is thousands of years old, it is Indigenous to this continent, it is taught at MAS and freely shared with the world. It is from here that we derive In Lak Ech (You are my other me) and Panche Be (To seek the root of the truth) – concepts that teach us to respect not just all human beings, but all life. It is how we know that we are not heathen, that we are all human and all deserving of our full human rights. It is also why we will not be complicit in our own [final] reduccion.<br />
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<br />
If the state wants a solution, it will have to speak to us as co-equals and as full human beings.<br />
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Rodriguez is a professor at the University and can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.comBrenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-35956089383584451712011-05-25T05:53:00.000-07:002011-05-25T05:53:00.786-07:00Líl’wat, St’át’imc UN Permanent Forum New York<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">May 25, 2011,<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Líl’wat, St’át’imc, in New York at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues</span></strong><br />
<br />
For Immediate Release:<br />
<br />
A delegation from Líl’wat, St’át’imc, is attending the 10th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York, USA, from May 16 to 27, 2011. Lil’wat is one indigenous community of eleven within St’at’imc (STAT-lee-uhm), about 150 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The St’at’imc, otherwise known as the Lillooet Tribe, are a sovereign nation.<br />
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The delegation brings news of two serious actions they are taking to protect themselves from Canada and British Columbia’s incursions on their aboriginal title, rights and freedoms, and self-determination. <br />
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The first is a petition to the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Commission for Human Rights. This petition complains of repercussions of the lack of treaty between either Líl’wat or St’át’imc with Canada; repercussions which include the imposition of the Indian Act on St’át’imc citizens. Petition 879-07, Loni Edmonds v. Canada, was accepted on July 13, 2007, and has still not been reviewed. This petition speaks principally to the lack of treaty between the sovereign nation of St’at’imc, particularly the independent community of Lil’wat, and Canada. The key issue which brings the petition forth is British Columbia’s indiscriminate and wholly destructive practice of seizing our children and removing them to non-indigenous homes. This is in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.<br />
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The second issue they bring forward is the recent progress of the “St’át’imc Settlement Agreement with BC Hydro” and the province of British Columbia. This Final Agreement with the public utility BC Hydro Power Corp. has been rejected by a number of concerned citizens for many reasons which fall into two categories: the Agreement itself is inadequate, and the process by which the elected Chiefs manufactured its ratification is an offense to traditional St’át’imc governance and even failed to adhere to their own ratification procedures. Construction of dams and generating facilities in St’at’imc territory, to say nothing of the high voltage powerlines and substations, has caused irreparable harm to the St’at’imc way of life. We wonder if, in fact we suspect that, the elected Chiefs were under some sort of duress.<br />
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The people will be orienting themselves in the international forum to see how their complaints against Canada may be made better known internationally, and resolutions supported. They will also be encouraging the debate at the Permanent Forum to turn to matters of treaty, or the lack of which, and the culpability of colonial states who deny recognition to the indigenous nations whose lands and peoples they have co-opted.<br />
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Having exhausted the “domestic remedies” available in Canada, the petitioners seek protection from Canada’s persistent interference in their families, communities and in the larger St’át’imc nation socially, politically and economically. <br />
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They also seek recourse for the ongoing violence against themselves, homelands and their entire way of life. Since provisions in the Canada-legislated Indian Act, 1876, restricting freedom of travel, meeting to discuss the “land question,” and retention of legal counsel were lifted in 1959, Líl’wat and other St’át’imc have been pursuing justice in BC and Canadian courts – where their cases have been improperly thrown out, left unfinished, or concluded unsatisfactorily- ie., thrown out of court when St’at’imc Hereditary Chiefs demand evidence of Canada or British Columbia’s extinguishment of the St’at’imc title and right. Canada cannot provide this evidence because it does not exist. The courts seem to defer to Canada.<br />
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The Líl’wat delegation is releasing this news to the press in hopes that it will be reported as presented for the education of all residents of colonial occupations on indigenous lands. <br />
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Attached please find our written submission to the UN PFII 10th session.<br />
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<br />
Líl’wat, also known as Mt Currie, located north of Whistler, is a St’át’imc community. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A Written submission<br />
<br />
To the United Nations 10th Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 2011<br />
<br />
The Elders of my family named me Pau Tuc la Cimc. According to the government of Canada, I am James Douglas Louie, certificate of Indian Band Status Number 5570025701.<br />
<br />
I am a Lil’watimc of the St’at’imc Nation.<br />
<br />
The Lil’wat, Statimc, declare that our laws were and are oral. <br />
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The Statimc are a distinct people who, from time immemorial, have shared the same language, culture customs and history. We live within the domain of the Statimc nation which has occupied, used, and exercised sovereignty over its land and resources for the collective benefit and freedom of its citizens from time immemorial. We subscribe to our nation’s laws, values and traditional systems of government to the exclusion of all other jurisdictions which seek to impose alien and assimilative regimes. <br />
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We, people of Lil’wat of the Statimc Nation, have consistently declared that our land and our rights as a Nation have never been relinquished by ourselves. The Creator placed us here on our land with the right to self-determination. The right to self-determination and the right to exist as a people is sacred in our way, and is enshrined as Article 1 of both Covenants of the International Bill of Rights. We believe we have that right.<br />
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No one can represent us but us—not Canada, not any church, and no general Aboriginal lobby group in Canada. We have exhausted “domestic remedies” within Canada to get justice and restore our land and our people on our land to their previous state of sovereignty. <br />
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Only Lil’watmc can speak for the Lil’wat of the Statimc. We are not Canadian and English is not our first language.<br />
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We have suffered persistently for 150 years under the assertion of jurisdiction being carried out by the Canadian Province of British Columbia. We have suffered the indignities, oppression, dispossession, and deprivation of colonial racism and rule, which have denied us our rights and freedoms as human beings and our identity as Statimc citizens.<br />
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We have no immediate way of pursuing Canada for reparations, restitution and restoration, but we continue to oppose, reject and resist all efforts of the federal and provincial governments to extinguish our title to our traditional lands and resources in exchange for money and small “fee simple” allotments; impositions of the “Indian Act” on our Nation without our consent—the effect of which is to destroy our claim to nationhood, to redefine us as an ethnic minority and our community as a municipality, to make us subject to property and income taxes and to bring us under colonial rule; and which the Canadian and BC governments pursue by deceiving our citizens and the general public by broadcasting a pretend consultation process to manufacture the appearance of our consent.<br />
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Consent, to us, is sacrosanct. We know that our consent to all activity in our nation is protected by international statutes, but we can’t seem to enjoy this protection.<br />
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While we invite Canada to engage with us to resolve "the land question," or, the unresolved claims of British Columbia and Canada against Líl'wat and St'át'imc title, our attempts to raise these issues have been thrown out or inadequately treated in British Columbia courts and in the Supreme Court of Canada. . We believe this is because the government of Canada has failed to incorporate our international human rights into domestic law derives much from the illegal sale and lease of our lands and resources. We have no treaty with Canada.<br />
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In our pleading to the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Court (Petition 879-07, Loni Edmond v. Canada), we explain this situation thoroughly. The lead problem addressed in that petition relates to whether the Government of Canada has the legal right to seize our children and place them in foster care. Our young children have, for many generations now, been indiscriminately taken from their parents by the province. We cannot get redress and we cannot seem to stop the province from ruining our families this way. <br />
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That Petition was formally received by the OAS IACHR as of July 17, 2007 and is now under study in accordance with the current rules of procedure. It was submitted with the assistance of the International Law Clinic of the International Human Rights Association of American Minorities, a Non-Governmental Organization in Consultative Status with the UN. We also gratefully acknowledge their support in accrediting our participation here at the 10th session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.<br />
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We are attending United Nations meetings to bring further attention to our situation: our case has still not been reviewed by the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights of the OAS, though it continues to acknowledge receipt of materials updating the case. We have not received an initial evaluation from the Commission of the OAS.<br />
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Canada has imposed itself on our people and our lands unjustly and indefensibly. To quote from our Declaration of the Lillooet Tribe of 1911, "…we are the rightful owners of our tribal territory and everything pertaining thereto." We have no treaty with Canada. We are a nation of the world, unique and self contained, with our own land, language and people; our own culture, government and history. Since 1871 Canada has asserted jurisdiction over our country, and British Columbia has done so since 1859. Again, repeating our 100 year old Declaration, "we deny their right to it."<br />
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We believe that our people have, and will always have, the birthright to the lands handed to us by our forefathers and mothers. Until such time as we cede, release, surrender or extinguish our title, we will have this title. We have never made such a release, and plan never to do so—that our people may continue in this world until time out of mind, living peaceably in our homeland—undisturbed and unmolested. <br />
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We have suffered almost to the point of extinction as a result of the policy and practices of the province of British Columbia and the state of Canada. At this time, they control us by force through such tactics as seizing our children, incarcerating our adults and defenders, intimidating our Elders, moving our villages, and exercising sway over our elected Chiefs—Indian Act Chiefs elected to administer to us the relief Canada so inadequately delivers in our duress, while our lands are occupied by Canada and the corporations they contract with. <br />
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To the present day, the Statimc Nation has had to deal with Federal policies whose effect is genocidal and unlawful under the terms of the International Convention for the Prevention and Punishment for the Crime of Genocide, in particular Article II (c) "Deliberately inflicting on the ground conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."<br />
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<br />
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In addition, Canada is in breach of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which remains an integral part of Canada’s Supreme Law; the Constitution Acts, 1867 and 1982. The Proclamation acknowledged and affirmed that the relationship between Aboriginal Peoples and the British Crown was and would Remain “Nation to Nation”; a relationship which Canada is actively seeking to dismantle in favour of Provincial Jurisdiction. The Proclamation made it unlawful for Colonial Governments and their successors to engage in “Great Frauds and Abuses”; a crime for which Canada was and remains guilty.<br />
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The same Proclamation also made it unlawful for Colonial Governments and their successors to interfere in the internal affairs of Indigenous Nations, an edict which has been consistently ignored by Canada and is the cause of great damage to the Statimc people.<br />
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With the imposition of the Indian Act, which forces us to replace our traditional government of family head representation with one elected Chief and Council to every Indian Reserve, our usual mutual relationships within our country have been severely challenged. Canada administers poverty rations to each Indian Reserve, which are then distributed by the elected leaders, while Canadian, British Columbian and multi-national corporations reap the riches of our lands, waters and resources that they deny us or restrict our access to. <br />
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Now at the 100th anniversary of our Declaration, we are experiencing a painful schism among our people: between those who stand to benefit in the short-term from access to the poverty rations and those who instead stand to lose access to land and water being usurped by the provincial utility, BC Hydro. The leaders in the Indian Act system have arranged a Settlement Agreement with the province and the utility which contradicts all our aspirations to sovereignty in our country. What should be a joyous celebration of our perseverance, our continued survival in the face of all odds, is instead a moment of division. This is but one of the problems we face while our power over ourselves and our land is denied and our physical and cultural survival is undermined. <br />
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We hereby reject the so-called Settlement Agreement since it violates our right to<br />
<br />
self-determination under customary international law and treaties to which Canada is a party.<br />
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We seek reparation, restitution and restoration. We seek recognition of our people and our right to exist in our homeland according to our birthright, to be free and independent.<br />
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As repeated from a letter to the OAS IACHR, “What is important, particularly for the credibility of the OAS and its human rights tribunal, is that the OAS must not bring into doubt its belief in the right of the victim to a fair hearing in order to appear to promote equity before the law vis-à-vis the state and the victim.”<br />
<br />
We seek the good offices of the United Nations human rights system to advance our case.<br />
<br />
Signed,<br />
<br />
Pau Tuc la Cimc, Líl’wat, St’át’imc<br />
<br />
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Listen to interview at Latin Waves Indigenous Show:<br />
<a href="http://previous.ncra.ca/exchange/dspProgramDetail.cfm?programID=86291">http://previous.ncra.ca/exchange/dspProgramDetail.cfm?programID=86291</a><br />
<br />
</div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-9756908548860583132011-05-23T17:31:00.000-07:002011-05-23T17:31:58.925-07:00Wikileaks Cables on Mohawks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHcLBzQAvWzM4z7i-oOxKaHs6oss7sKU6JqM6-GQLo6gWuHSzF6n8wj3w6kofURGQIHle0-6Mlb8NSL4hKv6A6PvIb0zvFIxZNQgvzpAnFYOm1gYixpsrasWBznKwXfKLc-kLsub1TDgi/s1600/mohawktohonoodham_jpg_w300h225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHcLBzQAvWzM4z7i-oOxKaHs6oss7sKU6JqM6-GQLo6gWuHSzF6n8wj3w6kofURGQIHle0-6Mlb8NSL4hKv6A6PvIb0zvFIxZNQgvzpAnFYOm1gYixpsrasWBznKwXfKLc-kLsub1TDgi/s1600/mohawktohonoodham_jpg_w300h225.jpg" /></a></div>Censored News is now posting the Wikileaks US diplomatic cables from Quebec and Montreal, about Mohawks. The border, land claims and struggles are among the issues. Five cables have been posted so far in Censored News Special edition.<br />
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<br />
In a cable dated July 30, 2009, from Ottawa, the US Ambassador said, "The CBSA customs post on Cornwall Island (Kawehnoke) located on the Mohawk reserve territory of Akwesasne on the Canada-U.S. border closed on May 31. Canadian border guards had left the post citing fears of a violent confrontation with Mohawk residents, who opposed a CBSA directive requiring border guards to carry firearms at the Canadian port-of-entry, effective June 1."<br />
<br />
WIKILEAKS CABLES MOHAWKS:<br />
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WIKILEAKS: Border guards feared Akwesasne Mohawks<br />
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<a href="http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-border-guards-feared.html">http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-border-guards-feared.html</a><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Wikileaks Cable: Mohawks Borders, Land Claims, Treaties</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-cable-mohawks-borders-land.html">http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-cable-mohawks-borders-land.html</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Wikileaks Montreal Cable: Mohawks 2004</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-montreal-cable-mohawks-2004.html">http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-montreal-cable-mohawks-2004.html</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Wikileaks Cable: Mohawks, Kanesatake, May 2004</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-cable-mohawks-kanesatake-may.html">http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-cable-mohawks-kanesatake-may.html</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Wikileaks: US and Canadian militaries like a marriage</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-us-and-canadian-militaries.html">http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2011/05/wikileaks-us-and-canadian-militaries.html</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><em>Photo: Indigenous Peoples Border Summit of the Americas 2006, San Xavier, Tohono O'odham. Photo by Brenda Norrell.</em><br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Brenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-57715254551145686282011-05-23T17:13:00.000-07:002011-05-23T17:13:34.532-07:00Wikileaks: US and Canadian militaries like a marriageViewing cable 09OTTAWA779<strong>, AMBASSADOR BEGINS MEETING CANADIAN LEADERS</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
09OTTAWA779 2009-10-06 16:09 2011-04-28 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Ottawa <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">VZCZCXYZ2766</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">OO RUEHWEB</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">DE RUEHOT #0779/01 2791609</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">ZNR UUUUU ZZH</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">O 061609Z OCT 09</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9923</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY IA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITYUNCLAS OTTAWA 000779 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">SENSITIVE </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">SIPDIS </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">E.O. 12958: N/A </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">TAGS: PREL ECON MARR ETRD CA AF</span><br />
<strong>SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR BEGINS MEETING CANADIAN LEADERS</strong> <br />
<br />
1. (SBU) Summary. Since presentation of credentials on <br />
<br />
October 2, Ambassador has actively engaged top Canadian <br />
<br />
political leaders, including the Prime Minister, to <br />
<br />
underscore the central importance of this highly successful <br />
<br />
bilateral relationship. He will begin a series of provincial <br />
<br />
travels on October 6. End Summary. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶2. (U) In a ceremony at Rideau Hall on October 2, <br />
<br />
Ambassador Jacobson formally presented his credentials to <br />
<br />
Governor General Michaelle Jean, along with new Ambassadors <br />
<br />
from Azerbaijan and Norway and the new Head of Delegation of <br />
<br />
the European Commission. In her remarks, the Governor <br />
<br />
General praised the close and highly successful relationship <br />
<br />
between Canada and the U.S., built on shared values and <br />
<br />
cultures as well as trade and people-to-people contacts. She <br />
<br />
underscored that "we build things together." There was <br />
<br />
extensive and unusual television coverage of the event and <br />
<br />
the Governor General's remarks -- which, officials from the <br />
<br />
Department of Foreign Affairs and International (DFAIT) Trade <br />
<br />
noted, she personally re-wrote -- as well as the Ambassador's <br />
<br />
brief press conference afterward. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶3. (SBU) Prime Minister Stephen Harper received the <br />
<br />
Ambassador within two hours of the ceremony at Rideau Hall in <br />
<br />
his official office opposite Parliament Hill for a 30 minute <br />
<br />
meeting, joined by his chief of staff and senior foreign and <br />
<br />
defense policy advisor. There was <br />
<br />
a brief photo opportunity, which received widespread coverage <br />
<br />
in the Canadian media. The PM noted that his government had <br />
<br />
moved the relationship to the strategic level and avoided <br />
<br />
allowing the irritants to dominate. He commented that <br />
<br />
President Obama,s huge popularity with Canadians makes it <br />
<br />
easier for Canada to work with the United States. On "Buy <br />
<br />
America," PM Harper said the government is very upset at the <br />
<br />
recent CBC reports and has no idea who talked to CBC or <br />
<br />
whether the CBC reporter simply made the story up. PM Harper <br />
<br />
and the Ambassador agreed that the issue had a greater <br />
<br />
political impact than economic. PM Harper said he would very <br />
<br />
much welcome having the President or First Lady attend the <br />
<br />
Winter Olympics, while acknowledging that it is for the U.S. <br />
<br />
Olympic Committee officially to invite the President. PM <br />
<br />
Harper discussed in some detail climate change issues and the <br />
<br />
upcoming Copenhagen summit. He said he wants to coordinate <br />
<br />
policies closely with the U.S. and that he is anxious for <br />
<br />
Canada to be part of the U.S. debate over climate change and <br />
<br />
energy security (and equally anxious not to be part of the <br />
<br />
health care debate). <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶4. (SBU) In back-to-back meetings at DFAIT on October 5, <br />
<br />
the Ambassador called on Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon and <br />
<br />
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day. FM Cannon <br />
<br />
described bilateral relations as "very warm, friendly, and <br />
<br />
very productive," while underscoring that, with the new <br />
<br />
Administration, the "U.S. had changed the checkerboard," <br />
<br />
enabling all to view the world from a different perspective. <br />
<br />
He praised Secretary Clinton and cited the high respect with <br />
<br />
which she is held by her counterparts. He encouraged the <br />
<br />
Secretary to visit Ottawa soon, hopefully by the end of this <br />
<br />
year. He welcomed the Ambassador's plans to travel <br />
<br />
extensively throughout Canada during his first months. FM <br />
<br />
Cannon raised the Arctic, noting that the subject had also <br />
<br />
come up during PM Harper's recent meeting with the President, <br />
<br />
and cited the Beaufort Sea as an issue to settle as soon as <br />
<br />
Qand cited the Beaufort Sea as an issue to settle as soon as <br />
<br />
possible. The Ambassador emphasized his willingness to <br />
<br />
facilitate discussions and encouraged the FM to contact him <br />
<br />
at any time. The FM and Ambassador expressed satisfaction <br />
<br />
over the new architecture for the G-8 and G-20. The FM also <br />
<br />
reiterated PM Harper's remarks that U.S. security was as <br />
<br />
important to Canadians as to Americans, and promised that <br />
<br />
"whenever the U.S. is attacked, Canada is attacked." The <br />
<br />
Ambassador praised Canadian support for the U.S. as well as <br />
<br />
its many services and sacrifices, which he described as <br />
<br />
"critically important." In a separate meeting, Minister Day <br />
<br />
noted the close working relationship that he has with USTR <br />
<br />
Kirk. The Ambassador emphasized his desire to work together <br />
<br />
with Canada to resolve or lessen some of the trade irritants <br />
<br />
that are a part of our much broader bilateral partnership. <br />
<br />
Day focused briefly on the "Buy America" controversy and <br />
<br />
noted that he was responsible for persuading the Canadian <br />
<br />
municipalities to suspend their planned retaliatory actions. <br />
<br />
Day noted that there had been progress in last week's <br />
<br />
discussions between USTR and Canadian officials. The <br />
<br />
Ambassador asked Day and his deputies if legislation will be <br />
<br />
necessary for the provinces and municipalities actually to <br />
<br />
join the WTO Government Procurement Agreement. The response <br />
<br />
was that the need for legislation would vary by province, but <br />
<br />
that all municipalities, under Canadian law, were bound by <br />
<br />
provincial authority. <br />
<br />
¶5. (SBU) Also on October 5, the Ambassador met with Public <br />
<br />
Safety Minister Peter Van Loan in his office on Parliament <br />
<br />
Hill. The Ambassador emphasized, and Minister Van Loan <br />
<br />
concurred, that achieving trade and security is important to <br />
<br />
both governments. Van Loan made clear that he does not view <br />
<br />
this as a zero sum game, stating that he was looking for a <br />
<br />
legal option that would allow Canada to share information <br />
<br />
with the U.S. to meet the requirements for Secure Flight. He <br />
<br />
said that investing in a separate but equal system would not <br />
<br />
make financial sense, and that it would be unlikely to meet <br />
<br />
U.S. standards, anyway. The Ambassador assured Minister Van <br />
<br />
Loan that he likes to find workable solutions ("conclude <br />
<br />
deals," in lawyer-speak) whenever possible. Van Loan raised <br />
<br />
Canada's strong desire for a unique shared port of entry on <br />
<br />
U.S. soil to replace Canada's Cornwall Island crossing on <br />
<br />
Akwesasne Mohawk territory that has been closed since June <br />
<br />
¶2009. Van Loan acknowledged that this was a "big ask" and <br />
<br />
that he and DHS Secretary Napolitano would be discussing it <br />
<br />
again in November. Van Loan also briefly raised "Buy <br />
<br />
America," acknowledging that it had been blown out of <br />
<br />
proportion. He nonetheless encouraged the Ambassador to do <br />
<br />
all that he could to put the issue to rest, commenting that <br />
<br />
this would be how the Canadian public would measure his first <br />
<br />
year in Ottawa. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador later met on October 5 with Defence <br />
<br />
Minister Peter MacKay in his Parliamentary office. The <br />
<br />
Minister and the Ambassador each spoke of the exceptional <br />
<br />
relationship between the U.S. and Canadian militaries, <br />
<br />
calling it the "closest in the world." With regard to <br />
<br />
Afghanistan, Minister MacKay acknowledged that Canada will be <br />
<br />
wrestling with its role, in part based on decisions made by <br />
<br />
NATO allies and the U.S. He pointed to the "enablers" made <br />
<br />
available by the U.S. to the Canadian Forces in Kandahar, <br />
<br />
saying that this married-up approach helped make the Canadian <br />
<br />
commitment possible. The Ambassador recognized the sacrifice <br />
<br />
and bravery of the Canadian Forces and lamented that some <br />
<br />
unnamed NATO allies have not "stepped up" as Canada has. He <br />
<br />
also expressed a desire to visit U.S. and Canadian Forces in <br />
<br />
Kandahar in order to gain a greater understanding of the <br />
<br />
circumstances on the ground. The Minister pointed to a major <br />
<br />
security conference that Canada will host in Nova Scotia in <br />
<br />
November, and expressed the hope of using the occasion to <br />
<br />
showcase our close bilateral cooperation, notably, the <br />
<br />
"significant" responsibilities that the U.S. and Canada share <br />
<br />
with regard to the security of North America. MacKay <br />
<br />
indicated some dissatisfaction that European allies sometimes <br />
<br />
overlook Canada's significant security contributions, both <br />
<br />
throughout the world and in the "home game" of North America. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador will be in Montreal and Quebec City <br />
<br />
October 6-8 to meet with provincial leaders and business <br />
<br />
people, and will then travel to Alberta, Saskatchewan, and <br />
<br />
Mantiboba October 12-20, before returning to Montreal October <br />
<br />
20-21 for the Canadian American Business Council meeting. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Visit Canada,s North American partnership community at <br />
<br />
http://www.intelink.gov/communities/state/nap / <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
JACOBSONBrenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3893573260014776395.post-64895082893247282942011-05-23T16:35:00.000-07:002011-05-23T16:35:39.469-07:00WIKILEAKS: Border guards feared Akwesasne Mohawks<strong>Viewing cable 09OTTAWA597, NATIVE BORDER DISPUTE RAISES COMPLEX ISSUES</strong><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">09OTTAWA597 2009-07-30 21:36 2011-04-28 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Ottawa </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">VZCZCXRO0627</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">PP RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHVC</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">DE RUEHOT #0597/01 2112136</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">ZNR UUUUU ZZH</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">P 302136Z JUL 09</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9721</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1442</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTONUNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 000597 </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">SIPDIS </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">SENSITIVE </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">E.O. 12958: N/A </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">TAGS: PGOV PHUM PBTS CA</span><br />
<br />
<strong>SUBJECT: NATIVE BORDER DISPUTE RAISES COMPLEX ISSUES </strong><br />
<strong>REF: OTTAWA 594 </strong><br />
<br />
¶1. (SBU) Summary: An ongoing dispute between Canada Border Services <br />
<br />
Agency (CBSA) and the Mohawk aboriginal reserve of Akwesasne over <br />
<br />
the arming of border guards on the reserve straddling the <br />
<br />
Canada-U.S. border raises cross-cutting political, jurisdictional, <br />
<br />
and law enforcement issues. CBSA retains the policy lead on the <br />
<br />
file, although reaching more than a stopgap solution will require a <br />
<br />
more integrated whole-of-government approach and some tricky <br />
<br />
political choices. End Summary. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A STOPGAP BORDER SOLUTION <br />
<br />
-------------------------- <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶2. (U) The CBSA customs post on Cornwall Island (Kawehnoke) located <br />
<br />
on the Mohawk reserve territory of Akwesasne on the Canada-U.S. <br />
<br />
border closed on May 31. Canadian border guards had left the post <br />
<br />
citing fears of a violent confrontation with Mohawk residents, who <br />
<br />
opposed a CBSA directive requiring border guards to carry firearms <br />
<br />
at the Canadian port-of-entry, effective June 1. CBSA opened an <br />
<br />
alternate temporary border post in Cornwall, Ontario on July 13 and, <br />
<br />
according to a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) spokesperson, <br />
<br />
the site is operating "very smoothly" with two lanes. The makeshift <br />
<br />
border post is a rudimentary assembly of tents and trailers at the <br />
<br />
base of the north span of the Seaway International Bridge linking <br />
<br />
Cornwall to New York State. CBSA inspectors staffing the <br />
<br />
"temporary" facility are armed. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶3. (SBU) Officials at Canada's Department of Indian and Northern <br />
<br />
Affairs (INAC) confirmed to poloff that, although the present <br />
<br />
dispute involves an aboriginal community, the Department of Public <br />
<br />
Safety (the parent department of CBSA) is responsible for handling <br />
<br />
the dispute and that INAC is not directly engaged on the file. The <br />
<br />
policy to arm border guards across the country fulfilled a 2006 <br />
<br />
Conservative election promise. In spite of the impasse at <br />
<br />
Akwesasne, Minister of Public Safety Peter Van Loan has confirmed <br />
<br />
the government's intention to implement the policy across the <br />
<br />
country by 2016. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
UNIQUE JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES <br />
<br />
---------------------------- <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶4. (U) The Cornwall Island crossing is the only one of CBSA's 119 <br />
<br />
border posts located on First Nations' territories and presents <br />
<br />
unique jurisdictional issues. (The U.S. maintains a customs port <br />
<br />
across the St. Lawrence River from Cornwall Island at Rooseveltown, <br />
<br />
New York.) The Akwesasne Mohawk reserve straddles the Canada-U.S. <br />
<br />
international boundary, as well as the provinces of Ontario and <br />
<br />
Quebec and the state of New York. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶5. (U) According to the community's own estimates, the reservation <br />
<br />
land base includes between 11,711 and 14,648 acres of undisputed <br />
<br />
land, with up to a further 12,000 acres subject to land claims in <br />
<br />
both Canada and the U.S. The reserve has a total population of <br />
<br />
approximately 13,000 Canadian and American residents. An estimated <br />
<br />
1,800 Akwesasne Mohawks live off the reserve. Community residents <br />
<br />
use the U.S. and Canadian ports of entry to access parts of the <br />
<br />
reserve in Quebec and Ontario, as well as the U.S., often several <br />
<br />
times per day. A 2002 Transport Canada study showed that Mohawk <br />
<br />
community residents constitute 70 pct of users of the Cornwall <br />
<br />
Island border crossing on a daily basis. When the Cornwall Island <br />
<br />
land border crossing closed in May, Canadian Akwesasne residents <br />
<br />
could still cross to the U.S. from Cornwall Island, but could not <br />
<br />
return by the same route. The Mohawk community briefly ran a daily <br />
<br />
boat service to the U.S. section of the reserve. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶6. (U) The location of CBSA's temporary border facility in the city <br />
<br />
of Cornwall requires Akwesasne residents to drive off reserve and <br />
<br />
Qof Cornwall requires Akwesasne residents to drive off reserve and <br />
<br />
into Cornwall to check in voluntarily with Canadian border guards <br />
<br />
when they return from the United States. Although it is unclear how <br />
<br />
CBSA will enforce this rule, a CBSA spokesperson noted on July 13 <br />
<br />
that the Agency would "use all of the tools that it normally uses to <br />
<br />
ensure that border integrity is not compromised, including working <br />
<br />
with community and law enforcement partners." CBSA did not comment <br />
<br />
on how long the temporary post would remain open, and a spokesperson <br />
<br />
would not speculate on the prospects for the return of border guards <br />
<br />
to the reserve, noting only that the agency "continues to explore <br />
<br />
options for long-term solutions and we remain committed to ongoing <br />
<br />
talks with the Mohawk Council and other stakeholders to arrive at a <br />
<br />
viable solution." <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶7. (U) Prior to the current dispute, stakeholders had at least <br />
<br />
explored the possible relocation of the border crossing permanently <br />
<br />
off reserve land. However, Cornwall's mayor underlined in July that <br />
<br />
a fixed customs post at the present temporary location would be too <br />
<br />
disruptive. The Seaway Bridge drops traffic in front of a shopping <br />
<br />
mall, near residential areas. On June 12 -- after the permanent <br />
<br />
Cornwall Island crossing closed -- the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne <br />
<br />
(MCA) (which is the elected council for the Canadian portion of <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
OTTAWA 00000597 002 OF 003 <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Akwesasne) signed three agreements-in-principle with the Federal <br />
<br />
Bridge Corporation Limited and Niagara Gas Transmission Limited for <br />
<br />
the future construction of a new low-level bridge joining that point <br />
<br />
to Cornwall Island. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
IMPACT ON LAW ENFORCEMENT? <br />
<br />
-------------------------- <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶8. (U) When the temporary border post opened in mid-July, a RCMP <br />
<br />
spokesperson observed that its new location was unlikely to have an <br />
<br />
overall impact on law enforcement efforts. However, RCMP noted that <br />
<br />
smugglers had moved more activity east of Cornwall Island to the <br />
<br />
Quebec section of Akwesasne, and had increased activity on the water <br />
<br />
since the Cornwall Island post closed in May. In July, federal and <br />
<br />
state authorities in Plattsburgh, NY announced the dismantling of an <br />
<br />
alleged billion-dollar marijuana smuggling ring (Operation Iron <br />
<br />
Curtain) that transited the Akwesasne reserve. The bust resulted in <br />
<br />
charges against more than 45 people from Quebec to Florida. The <br />
<br />
ring allegedly smuggled approximately $250 million worth of <br />
<br />
high-grade marijuana into the U.S. annually. Investigators have <br />
<br />
estimated that 10 to 15 major Indian criminal organizations, along <br />
<br />
with external drug rings, annually move more than $1 billion of <br />
<br />
high-grade marijuana and Ecstasy through Akwesasne and into the U.S. <br />
<br />
Northeast. Prosecutors have estimated that law enforcers intercept <br />
<br />
only 2 pct of that contraband. The reserve is also reportedly a <br />
<br />
conduit for trafficking in cigarettes, guns, and humans. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶9. (U) Akwesasne Grand Chief Mike Mitchell acknowledged in July that <br />
<br />
the reserve constituted a jurisdictional "grey zone" that Canadian <br />
<br />
and American police were reluctant to enter. He called on Canada to <br />
<br />
give the Mohawks the legislative and judicial power to stop criminal <br />
<br />
activity. The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Services (on the Canadian <br />
<br />
side of the reserve) and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police (on the <br />
<br />
U.S. side) already work with external law enforcement agencies. The <br />
<br />
two forces are part of a Joint Investigative Team created in 2001 <br />
<br />
that coordinates with specialized units, such as the Integrated <br />
<br />
Border Enforcement Team (IBET) that includes RCMP, CBSA, CBP, and <br />
<br />
ICE, as well as the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit and the <br />
<br />
Proceeds of Crime section of the RCMP. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
RAISING THE "SOVEREIGNTY" ISSUE <br />
<br />
----------------------------- <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶10. (SBU) Relations between the Akwesasne community and the RCMP and <br />
<br />
CBSA have long been problematic. INAC officials acknowledged that <br />
<br />
the community may feel "squeezed" by a convergence of recent <br />
<br />
factors, including negative publicity over smuggling, CBSA's <br />
<br />
firearms policy, and the implementation of the U.S. Western <br />
<br />
Hemisphere Travel initiative (WHTI) on the land border beginning <br />
<br />
June 1. The MCA has accused CBSA agents at the Cornwall island <br />
<br />
border post of harassment, intimidation, and racial profiling of <br />
<br />
Mohawk residents, while the border guards' union has reported that <br />
<br />
Mohawks on the reserve had harassed and intimidated its members. <br />
<br />
The MCA has opposed the arming of border guards as a matter of <br />
<br />
community safety, as well as of sovereignty. The MCA complains that <br />
<br />
CBSA had "informed" the MCA of its plan to arm the guards, but had <br />
<br />
failed to consult it. The MCA has insisted that the Government of <br />
<br />
Canada should consult with it on a government-to-government level, <br />
<br />
arguing that CBSA does not have the authority to consult, or <br />
<br />
negotiate, on behalf of Canada. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶11. (U) In June, the MCA filed an application in the Federal Court <br />
<br />
of Canada for judicial review of the decision of the Minister of <br />
<br />
Public Safety to close the Cornwall Island border crossing. The MCA <br />
<br />
QPublic Safety to close the Cornwall Island border crossing. The MCA <br />
<br />
wants the Court to declare the closing unlawful and to order a delay <br />
<br />
in the deployment of firearms by CBSA pending consultations with the <br />
<br />
Akwesasne Mohawk community. The Court has not yet heard the <br />
<br />
application. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶12. (U) The MCA cites aboriginal right to cross the border freely <br />
<br />
under Article III of the 1794 Jay Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and <br />
<br />
Navigation between Britain and the United States, which it argues <br />
<br />
was confirmed by Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 <br />
<br />
that recognized and affirmed "the existing aboriginal and treaty <br />
<br />
rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada." The MCA further argues <br />
<br />
that right of free passage has been recognized in U.S. law, <br />
<br />
including in the 1924 Immigration Act that stipulated that nothing <br />
<br />
contained in the Act was intended to infringe upon the right of <br />
<br />
"American Indians born in Canada to pass the borders of the United <br />
<br />
States," and in section 289 of the U.S. Immigration and <br />
<br />
Naturalization Act (INA). The MCA also cites Article 19 of the UN <br />
<br />
Declaration on the Right of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which <br />
<br />
requires "States to consult and cooperate in good faith with the <br />
<br />
indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative <br />
<br />
institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed <br />
<br />
consent before adopting and implementing legislative and <br />
<br />
administrative measures that may affect them." (Canada and the <br />
<br />
U.S., as well as Australia and New Zealand, voted against the UNDRIP <br />
<br />
at the UNGA in September 2007.) <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
OTTAWA 00000597 003 OF 003 <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶13. (SBU) According to INAC officials, Canada considers that the War <br />
<br />
of 1812 extinguished Article III of the Jay Treaty and that it was <br />
<br />
not therefore among the "existing" aboriginal and treaty rights <br />
<br />
confirmed in the 1982 Constitution Act. They commented that it, <br />
<br />
however, apparently remains a right under American law, as in the <br />
<br />
aforementioned section 289 of the INA. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
SEEKING GREATER SOVEREIGNTY? <br />
<br />
--------------------------- <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶14. (SBU) In elections at Akwesasne on June 27, Mike Mitchell <br />
<br />
defeated incumbent Tim Thompson to become Grand Chief of the MCA <br />
<br />
(the highest office on the Canadian side of the reserve). Mitchell, <br />
<br />
who had previously served as grand chief for 18 years, was sworn in <br />
<br />
on July 6. On July 21, Mitchell commented publicly that the removal <br />
<br />
of the border post from the reserve was the first step in creating a <br />
<br />
form of Mohawk sovereignty, but he underscored that he was not <br />
<br />
seeking full sovereignty. He added that the next step would be to <br />
<br />
redraw the Canada-U.S. boundary to exclude native land. According <br />
<br />
to INAC officials, however, Mitchell's career had been marked by a <br />
<br />
"continuous and aggressive pursuit" of aboriginal sovereignty, and <br />
<br />
that Mitchell was prone to a "certain rhetorical flourish." They <br />
<br />
advised that observers "should not be too rattled by his <br />
<br />
declarations." Nor does INAC expect the election on July 22 of <br />
<br />
Shawn Atleo as the new Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations <br />
<br />
(AFN) -- the largest national aboriginal advocacy group in Canada -- <br />
<br />
to change the federal aboriginal agenda. INAC officials predicted <br />
<br />
that the AFN would continue to focus on poverty alleviation and <br />
<br />
economic development, rather than on sovereignty. <br />
<br />
UPGRADING DOCUMENTATION <br />
<br />
----------------------- <br />
<br />
¶15. (SBU) INAC continues to work on upgrading Certificate of Indian <br />
<br />
Status cards, including ensuring that the documents are <br />
<br />
WHTI-compliant. The existing laminated documents, which are used to <br />
<br />
access federal services and benefits, are vulnerable to forgery and <br />
<br />
abuse. INAC began planning for introduction of a new Secure <br />
<br />
Certificate of Indian Status (SCIS) in 2001, and is on track to roll <br />
<br />
them out by the end of the year. CBSA and the Department of <br />
<br />
Homeland Security (DHS) have approved them as WHTI-compliant <br />
<br />
documents for land and sea crossings as an alternative to passports. <br />
<br />
INAC officials blamed "administrative technicalities" for missing <br />
<br />
the goal to roll-out the cards nationally by the June 1 WHTI <br />
<br />
implementation date. INAC officials declined to specify a new <br />
<br />
timetable apart from "in the fall." <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶16. (U) In the interim, First Nations may continue to use existing <br />
<br />
Certificate of Indian Status cards at the border at the discretion <br />
<br />
of U.S. border officials. Some Canadian First Nations, including <br />
<br />
the Mohawks, have also developed aboriginal passports, which members <br />
<br />
have sometimes presented at Canadian, U.S., and other international <br />
<br />
ports of entry, apparently with occasional success. Canada does not <br />
<br />
recognize the documents, but leaves it to other countries to <br />
<br />
determine the entry documents they accept. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
¶17. (SBU) Comment: Canada has so far failed to devise a lasting <br />
<br />
resolution of the CBSA/Akwesasne dispute, sidestepping the key <br />
<br />
issues of sovereignty and effective law enforcement. The sensitive <br />
<br />
file appears still to lack an integrated government response, as <br />
<br />
well as some tough political choices that could potentially alienate <br />
<br />
either the larger Canadian public or the First Nations. <br />
<br />
BREESEBrenda Norrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16146707955967005603noreply@blogger.com0