CARRIE IN NEW JAIL AND ISOLATED

This is the latest update on Carrie (now in new jail) and Scott (superseding indictment).

The following is from Support Carrie and Scott .

Carrie believed to be in Muscatine, superseding (but still shady!) indictment for Scott

We have received information that Carrie is in “the disciplinary block”/protective custody at Muscatine County Jail in Muscatine, Iowa, although the jailers are currently refusing to admit that any inmate by her name is at that jail. Nonetheless, we believe that that’s where she is. We will release an update with more information as soon as we get it.

In response to Scott’s motion to dismiss the indictment based on its failure to meet the basic criteria of an indictment, Cronk has filed a superseding indictment. The new indictment (viewable here) provides a possible end date to the conspiracy Scott is accused of having been a part of–August of 2005–and some new language about interstate commerce and communication, but provides little in the way of actually explaining what it is the U.S. is claiming Scott did. The prosecution also filed responses to several of Scott’s pre-trial motions, which are all posted here.  Hopefully, Scott’s hearing on Tuesday will shed some light on whatever crackpot plan Cronk has cooked up.

In solidarity,
the SCSC

FOR NORM FORER

What follows is the eulogy delivered by Bob Forer for his father Norm who died last week.

NORMAN FORER
December 31, 1925 – February 12, 2010
JEWISH WARRIOR FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

Graveside Eulogy Delivered by His Son, Bob
B’Nai Israel Cemetery, Eudora Kansas
February 14, 2010

My Dear Family and Friends:

We come here today to eulogize Norman Forer, our dear father, grandfather, uncle, and friend--an impossible task, perhaps, given the gravity of our grief, and the brevity of the bereavement ceremony. It is thus both fitting and proper that a public memorial service be scheduled for a later date, with a participatory invitation to the many people whose lives my father and my mother touched.

Who was Norman Forer? Assorted newspaper editors characterized him as a publicity hound, a nay-sayer, a disgruntled academician, an elitist. His enemies spoke of him both publicly and privately, as a malcontent, a rabble rouser, a trouble maker or a subversive, and at polite cocktail parties perhaps spoke in whispers about "that ________ pushy Jew."

At best, the general public, uninformed, ill-advised and unacquainted, perceived him as an enigma--the proverbial and somewhat misguided Quixotic do-good-er. At worst, he was described in words best left unspoken.

But to the thousands and thousands of people whose lives he touched with his sweat, blood, and tears, with the warmth of his embrace, with the twinkle of his eye and the welcoming smile of his haimish face, with eloquent words both scribed and spoken, but most importantly and profoundly with the courage and conviction of action instead of mere professions of opinion, desire or belief, Norman Forer, was, in a word, a Mensch.

In the salty air of Far Rockaway, a predominantly Jewish community on the shores of Jamaica Bay in Queens, New York, where he grew up, he was affectionately referred to by his extended and loving family, and close friends, at various times, as Norm, Normie, Normala, Normankay, bubbala, and kinder.

To his dear, now deceased brothers, Mortie and Herb, he was a third of an exclusive adolescent club, "The Junior Musketeers," complete with a thoroughly unoriginal and predicable slogan--"All for one and one for all"--perhaps suggested by the penetratingly simple philosophy of their Yiddisher mamele, a peasant woman with but a few years of education, born in a shtetl near Minsk, who taught her three boychicks that “one hand washes the other” all while grasping and rubbing her two hands together in exaggerated fashion. Sam and Mollie also instilled in the boys the importance of “Rochmanes,” a Yiddish word translated in English as “compassion.”

At schul, and in Hebrew School, he was officially known by his Hebrew name, Noach, son of Schmuel and Monia.


At Far Rockway High, he ran for Class President as “Rattlesnake Forer” (with an moniker like that are we surprised he lost?), edited the newspaper, was widely respected for his skills as a budding writer, poet, and playwright, and graduated at age sixteen, a hefty task for a richly academic school, a school world-famous, at least in a few isolated sections of Far Rockaway, for having graduated three future Nobel Laureates.

To the crew of his B-17 in the Army Air Corps of WWII, he was a Corporal Forer, sidegunner, radioman, comrade-in-arms and friend.

To many of his college classmates, he was “the star of Queens College” writing and producing plays, publishing short stories and poetry in the school's literary journal, and publicly speaking on the many pressing issues surrounding the aftermath of WWII.

He was mentored by Oscar Shaftel, a widely respected Professor of English, who showed my father's work to Maxwell Geismar, a prominent New York Literary Critic, who secured Dad an agent. Shortly after graduation, and based on the promise of an single, opening chapter, a major publishing house advanced him two thousand dollars, not a small sum in those days, to complete a novel, with the hope that it would be on par and received similarly to that of a contemporary young Jewish author who had recently published a novel entitled The Naked and The Dead. As Jewishness and humility are sometimes said to go hand-in-hand--notwithstanding the fact that the most frequent sentence uttered by a Jewish mamele begins with the words “My son, the Doctor”--I won't drop that author's name.

Our family used to tease Dad that he “never finished nothing ....... mowing the lawn, painting the house, finishing the revolution. Nothing!” So it should be no surprise to learn he never finished his novel.

In a partially autobiographical short story entitled Class Justice, which he started writing in the late fifties, periodically tweaked and kvetched over for …...... let's say four decades, give or take a little, until it was finally published a few years ago in a somewhat obscure literary journal, Dad wrote:

The Day arrived when I no longer wished to write on paper.
Instead, I wanted to write on people, to create the inspiration for a mass
withdrawal from Factory Row to ascend the hill to the old school house
from which height all could see from whence they had come and the distant
Big Titty for which they had lusted.


And write on people, he did. From the red-clayed back roads of Georgia where he organized African-Americans to vote, village by small village, and served as bodyguard for Larkin Marshall, a Black newspaper publisher from Macon and the first southern African-American to run for Congress since Reconstruction to the grimy factory-packed streets of Long Island City, Queens, New York, where he successfully organized workers in a small button factory.

From the dark threat of Selma, where he marched with Dr. King, to the excitement and hope of August 29, 1963, where he joined hundreds of thousands of Americans to hear Martin deliver his Dream, Norm and Una Forer were there.

It is with great pride that I can state, unequivocally, Norm Forer reported for duty and was in action at every major social movement of the twentieth century:

He flew with the Army Air Corps in the fight against fascism.

He bravely fought in the civil rights movement for over half a century, starting in 1948 and ending after the new millennium, his last struggle, where he fought for housing recollection benefits for the mostly poor and black folk of Union Hill near Crown Center, Kansas City.

The fight for workers’ rights. Norm was there.

The fight against antisemitism. Norm was there.

The fight against unjust wars. Norm was there.

The fight for women's rights. Norm was there.

The fight for free speech. Norm was there.

The struggle for peace amidst the taking of hostages in Iran. Norm was there.

The fight for Native American Rights. Norm was there.

The fight for gay, lesbian and transgendered rights. Norm was there.

In Dad's favorite novel, The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck. in his early chapters shows us the importance of the family. But as the novel progresses, Steinbeck stresses the importance of transcending biological boundaries in order to embrace one's fellow human beings. Steinbeck stresses that only when “I” becomes “we” and “my” becomes “our” can progress be made. Such solidarity is critical for survival and true survival must be survival together.

While hardly a Steinbeck, Norm Forer, in writing both on paper and on people taught us there is redemption in the struggle ……when all is for one and one is for all.

And while our dear father's person has exited this great world, his teachings, memory and spirit live on. To paraphrase Ma Joad, “Because [Norm Forer, Jewish Warrior for Social Justice is of] the people, and the people go on.”

TURN THE OTHER CHEEK ON THESE YAHOOS AND YOU'LL GET YOUR HEAD BASHED IN

How about a group of crazed right wing fanatics who also happen to be cops, soldiers and vets? Hows that sound to you? Maybe somebody you, me and the folks down the street ought to at least keep an eye on. I'm talking about the Oath Keepers, a group, that started about a year ago and hasn't looked back. Think uniformed tea baggers with guns...think birthers with bayonets...

Groups like this are the very reason I like to stress that our side needs to give more of a thought to "military training" as it were. You think if push comes to shove a march of folk song singing pacifists are going to stand in the way of "patriots" like the Oath Keepers. I think not.

Keep your powder day brothers and sisters.



The following is from Media Matters.


Right-wing media promote, give platform to "anti-government extremist" Oath Keepers

Over the past several months, right-wing media have promoted the Oath Keepers, a group established in 2009 and identified by the Anti-Defamation League as "encourag[ing] members of the military and law enforcement to pledge not to follow certain hypothetical 'orders' from the federal government" that "echo longstanding conspiracy theories embraced by anti-government extremists." On February 17, Bill O'Reilly said that he intended to host a member of the group on his next show to "give forth their point of view."

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O'Reilly said he would host member of Oath Keepers to "give forth their point of view"

From the February 17 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Is there one group in America right now that you guys believe is dangerous, is growing fast, and that the folks should know about?
MARK POTOK (editor, Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report): Well, let me give an example. I'm not going to say this group is dangerous and, you know, these people are going to blow up federal buildings -- that's clearly not true -- but there is a new major group called the Oath Keepers. It was started, if I recall, in February of last year. This -- it has grown fairly explosively. It's well over a thousand members. What's interesting about the group is it's composed mainly of military and law enforcement personnel, officers of the law. The thing about the group is what they say is, you know, "What we're all about is simply pledging allegiance -- or re-pledging our oaths to defend the Constitution," which of course is well and fine. But the reality about the group is that what it's really about is the fear that martial law is about to be imposed, that Americans are about to be herded into concentration camps, that foreign troops are going to be put down on American soil. The Oath Keepers says specifically, we will not obey these orders, we will refuse orders to put Americans into concentration camps. Now, is that dangerous? It seems to me the danger is that these are men and women, in the case of police officers, who are given a real power over the rest of us, sometimes the power of life and death. They make very important decisions. And if these men and women are animated by the idea that, you know, foreign forces are about to come into this country and put us under martial law and throw us all into concentration camps, I think there is a certain danger associated with that.
O'REILLY: All right. Well, it's certainly not rational.
POTOK: They're operating on the basis on crazy theories that may cause one of them to draw a gun one day.
O'REILLY: All right. You know what I'm going to do, Mr. Potok? Because it's a very interesting topic. I'm going to invite somebody from the Oath Keepers to come on the Factor tomorrow and give forth their point of view. I think it's a fascinating topic, and we appreciate your time very much.

Right-wing media promote group

Buchanan: "[T]he establishment's reaction seems more problematic for the republic than anything the Oath Keepers are up to." In his October 20, 2009, syndicated column, Pat Buchanan wrote that Oath Keepers are "are ex-military and -police who repledge themselves to defend the Constitution, even if it means disobeying orders. If the U.S. government ordered law-enforcement agencies to violate Second Amendment rights by disarming the people, Oath Keepers will not obey," adding that founder Stewart Rhodes "is headed for cable stardom," and that "if the Pelosi-Reid progressives went postal over town-hall protesters, calling them 'un-American,' 'Nazis' and 'evil-mongers,' one can imagine what they will do with the Oath Keepers." Buchanan also stated that "the establishment's reaction seems more problematic for the republic than anything the Oath Keepers are up to. For our political and media elite seem to have lost touch with the nation and to be wedded to a vision of America divorced from reality."
Beck, Drudge promoted story on group. On the October 20, 2009, edition of his radio show, Glenn Beck read from a Las Vegas Review-Journal article about Oath Keepers linked by the Drudge Report, which noted that the SPLC called the group "a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival." Beck responded: "Boy, what would our Founding Fathers say just on that sentence? ... The people saying the government is getting too big and too out of control. All they want to do is make sure you keep your oath to the Constitution of the United States."

Oath Keepers promote discredited conspiracy theory regarding "[m]ass, forced internment into concentration camps"

Oath Keepers: "We Will Not Obey" order "to force American citizens into any form of detention camp."Oath Keepers describes itself as "a non-partisan association of currently serving military, veterans, peace officers, and firefighters who will fulfill the oath we swore to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God. Our oath is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and we will not obey unconstitutional (and thus illegal) and immoral orders, such as orders to disarm the American people or to place them under martial law and deprive them of their ancient right to jury trial." In its list of "Orders We Will Not Obey," Oath Keepers states the following:

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
One of the causes of the American Revolution was the blockade of Boston, and the occupying of that city by the British military, under martial law. Once hostilities began, the people of Boston were tricked into turning in their arms in exchange for safe passage, but were then forbidden to leave. That confinement of the residents of an entire city was an act of war.
Such tactics were repeated by the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto, and by the Imperial Japanese in Nanking, turning entire cities into death camps. Any such order to disarm and confine the people of an American city will be an act of war and thus an act of treason.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.  
Mass, forced internment into concentration camps was a hallmark of every fascist and communist dictatorship in the 20th Century. Such internment was unfortunately even used against American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. Whenever a government interns its own people, it treats them like an occupied enemy population. Oppressive governments often use the internment of women and children to break the will of the men fighting for their liberty - as was done to the Boers, to the Jewish resisters in the Warsaw Ghetto, and to the Chechens, for example.
Such a vile order to forcibly intern Americans without charges or trial would be an act of war against the American people, and thus an act of treason, regardless of the pretext used. We will not commit treason, nor will we facilitate or support it.

Detention camp allegation is an anti-Obama conspiracy theory. Media Matters for America has detailed how conservatives have pushed the conspiracy theory that the Obama administration is planning to "round up American citizens" into "internment camps." In fact, the military under both President Bush and President Obama has regularly referred to "internment" and "resettlement" while discussing "detainees" and "enemy prisoners of war."

Oath Keepers called "a new player in a resurgent militia movement," linked to other right-wing fringe players

ADL: Oath Keepers "part of an anti-government extremist movement that has grown since President Obama took office." An October 2009 report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described Oath Keepers as "part of an anti-government extremist movement that has grown since President Obama took office." ADL further stated that "the Oath Keepers encourage members of the military and law enforcement to pledge not to follow certain hypothetical 'orders' from the federal government. These 'orders,' including one 'to put American citizens in detention camps,' and another 'to disarm the American people,' echo longstanding conspiracy theories embraced by anti-government extremists, who claim that the U.S. government is creating a police state."
NY Times: Oath Keepers "a new player in a resurgent militia movement." A February 15 New York Times article described Oath Keepers as "a new player in a resurgent militia movement," adding that the group "has been recruiting at Tea Party events around the country and forging informal ties with militia groups."
WorldNetDaily tied group to criticism of Obama. A March 20, 2009, WorldNetDaily article on Oath Keepers claimed that Rhodes said the group "is not a response to President Obama or his policies," but added, "He said the accumulation of power in the executive branch in recent years has been alarming. The fears crystallized when Obama took office and suddenly had access to the accumulated power. That, he said, is a 'powderkeg.' " The article went on to state that "WND already has reported on several members of the U.S. military who have raised concerns about the implications of Obama's possible ineligibility to be commander-in-chief."
Oath Keepers in coalition with John Birch Society, 9/12 Project branch. Oath Keepers is listed as a member of Friends for Liberty, a coalition that, according to its website, includes the right-wing John Birch Society, the Spokane, Washington, branch of the Glenn Beck-associated 9/12 Project, and Vaccination Liberation, a group that claims as part of its mission to "reveal the myth that vaccines are necessary, safe and effective."

THINGS THAT GO BOOM IN THE NIGHT

Always glad to see the world rid of some chemical weapons, BUT does exploding them around populated areas sound like a great idea to you. I'm not technologically savvy enough to have any real idea what that would mean, but I know I wouldn't want this happening anywhere near me. Would you?


The following is from Global Security Newswire.

Plan to Detonate Some U.S. Chemical Weapons Finds Resistance

 

A plan by the U.S. Defense Department to eliminate a portion of the chemical weapons stored in two states by detonation faces opposition from environmental activists and some residents, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 2).

In December, the Pentagon's Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program announced that it was considering exploding roughly 15 percent of the chemical munitions stockpiled at the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado and at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky.

A limited number of munitions at the two depots are thought to be leaking chemical agent, making them too dangerous to send through neutralization plants now being built. However, ACWA officials are weighing using detonation technology on 125,000 mustard agent-filled weapons in an effort to demonstrate to the international community U.S. sincerity in meeting treaty obligations to destroy all chemical weapons (see GSN, Jan. 26).

The Kentucky and Colorado sites are the only two U.S. chemical depots where disarmament operations have yet to begin.

"We report every quarter on what we have destroyed, and it is very difficult to explain to others that we are working as hard as possible if that column shows zero for several years at a time," said Robert Mikulak, U.S. envoy to the international organization that monitors compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Former Pueblo depot worker Marcello Soto said he does not support detonation out of fear that the chemicals "would get up in the atmosphere or the air, and do some damage."

Kentucky resident Elise Melrood expressed similar fears: "It's just scary -- just the unknown."

Environmental activists who previously helped stymie a federal proposal to incinerate chemical warfare materials at Blue Grass and Pueblo now worry that exploding the weapons would create even greater troubles.

"It's taking a bad technology we fought for a decade and a half to get them to abandon here and telling us now they want to put in something worse," said Sierra Club official Ross Vincent in Colorado.

The plants would destroy chemical agents by combining them with water and other elements. The chemically neutralized mix would then be moved to a hazardous materials site.

Defense officials are hopeful that disarmament operations will be finished at Pueblo by 2017 and at Blue Grass by 2021, dates that are far past the Chemical Weapons Convention deadline of April 2012.
Blue Grass stores has 523 tons of nerve and blister agents while Pueblo has a stockpile of 2,611 tons of mustard agent.

Detonating munitions is only expected to shave off several months off the U.S. time line for eliminating its chemical stockpile.

"What it does is give us increased confidence we'll be able to achieve the dates we've announced," ACWA Program Manager Kevin Flamm said in December.

"We're not trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes," he said. "Frankly there isn't any other technologies we've found that can eliminate these weapons safely and environmentally friendly in the time frame we're looking at" (Jeffrey McMurray, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 19).

THE STATE MOVES TO ISOLATE GRAND JURY RESISTER CARRIE FELDMAN

It is February 18, 2010 and Carrie Feldman is STILL locked up for refusing to testify before the grand jury in Davenport investigating animal rights activists. Now, the authorities appear to be trying to isolate her further.

The following is from Support Carrie and Scott.

URGENT: Carrie may be moved, visits being restricted

We received word today that Carrie is being told that she’s going to be moved to a different jail. Jailers in Washington County won’t tell her when or to what jail she’ll be moved, but they are telling her she needs to sign a property release form and that we’ll have 30 days to get her stuff from Washington County Jail after she’s been transferred. She has already been moved to a different cell.


This probably stems specifically from an incident this week in which two friends who visited her were reprimanded for greeting her through her cell window, which looks out onto the parking lot; they were immediately told they would be banned from future visits. After Carrie talked to the jail admin, she was told that they would be allowed to visit the next day, after all. However, when they arrived, they were IDed and then told to leave, and advised that they’d be arrested if they were ever seen again.

We believe this all to be part of a larger State plan to isolate Carrie and harass her supporters, in an attempt to coerce her testimony before the grand jury and to intimidate people into abandoning her and other targets of State repression. Of course, it won’t work, and only strengthens her resolve to resist their grand jury, and our resolve to work harder to support her.

We won’t know where she’s being transferred- or even if they’re actually moving her- until it’s happened. So, while we try and figure out exactly what is going on and what we can do, we’re asking people to *continue writing Carrie,* but to refrain from sending books or other items. If your letters are returned, hold on to them so that you can re-send when we know where she’s been transferred. Additionally, we’re not sure if any visits will be allowed at this point so, if you want to visit her, please contact us first at davenportgrandjury@riseup.net to check in about the situation.

Lastly, we all feel the anger and frustration of having our friend locked up and understand the short-term therapeutic value (for those of us on the outside) of resisting even minor regulations. NONETHELESS, we want to remind everyone of the fact that Carrie will suffer for our fuck-ups more than we will, and to encourage everyone to consider the real consequences of their actions before taking them. We’re in this for the bigger win rather than instant gratification.

In solidarity,

the SCSC

MIKE ROSELLE: "I WON'T STOP BREAKING THE LAW UNTIL THEY (MASSEY ENERGY CORP.) DO"

Activists from Climate Ground Zero "occupied" the offices of Massey Energy subsidiary Marfork Coal Co. to protest violations at the company's huge Brushy Fork slurry impoundment. Three men, including Climate Ground Zero Founder Mike Roselle were arrested. The activists presented what they called "a citizen's arrest warrant" for Blankenship and Marfork President Christopher Blanchard, including a list of violations at the Marfork processing plant, the Bee Tree Surface Mine and the Brushy Fork sludge dam.

Climate Ground Zero, based in Rock Creek, is waging an ongoing campaign of civil disobedience as it tries to stop the particularly destructive form of Appalachian strip mining, and Massey is a main target.

Massey Energy issued a statement describing the three as "domestic terrorists."  

Takes me back to my youth and the Jefferson Airplane lyrics, "We are all outlaws in the eyes of Amerika."

The following is from Climate Ground Zero.

Protestors Occupy Marfork Coal Co.'s Office in Response to Mounting Violations

Contact: Mike Roselle (304 854 1852), Charles Suggs (304 854 7372), news@climategroundzero.org

Mike Roselle, Joe Hamsher, and Tom Smyth walk with purpose towards the Marfork Coal Company office this morning. The three activists peacefully entered the office to deliver a citizen's arrest warrant for Christopher Blanchard and Don Blankenship, the CEOs of Marfork and Massey, who are responsible for the destruction of Coal River Mountain and for numerous violations on their sites. Photo by Cheshire/Climate Ground Zero

Pettus, W.Va.– Three occupied Massey Energy subsidiary Marfork Coal Company, Inc.’s main office this morning at eight.  The protestors plan to present a citizen’s arrest warrant and list of violations on the Marfork processing plant, Bee Tree Surface Mine and Brushy Fork sludge impoundment to company president Christopher Blanchard and Massey CEO Don Blankenship.

The above image shows two areas, in purple, where Massey Energy is blasting dangerously close to the Brushy Fork Impoundment and multiple gas wells. The tree sit was right next to the #2 Haul Road. Click the image for a larger version.

Marfork Coal Co. has started work on the Bee Tree Surface Mine, and is blasting within 1,000 feet of the impoundment. The blasting threatens to decrease the stability of the Brushy Fork dam, which sits above a honeycomb of abandoned underground mines.
Just last week, the W. Va. Department of Environmental Protection issued a violation on the impoundment for failing to meet an engineering safety factor. This measurement determines how much force a structure can withstand beyond the amount that is expected to be exerted upon it. At the time of the issuance, the dam could withstand thirty percent additional force, rather than the fifty percent mandated by law.

The WVDEP was acting under a ten-day notice issued to them by the federal Office of Surface Mining.
“What’s sad is that the federal government has to go in,” said Joseph Hamsher of Charleston, W.Va., one of the protestors occupying the office. “You just know that someone up the road is telling the West Virginia DEP not to give Massey any more violations.”

If the Brushy Fork impoundment breaks, a 38.49-foot wall of water will arrive in Sylvester, a town 4.8 miles downriver, within 36 minutes. By Massey Energy’s own estimates, the disaster would kill 998 people.
“I won’t stop breaking the law until they do,” said Mike Roselle, who along with Hamsher and Tom Smyth, intends to stay in the office until Marfork Coal Co. suspends blasting operations.

Addendum
Marfork Coal Company Violations on Coal River Mountain
Drainage violations on Marfork Coal Co.’s Brushy Fork impoundment, processing plant & refuse pile
Water violations on the Brushy Fork sludge impoundment

BETTER WAYS TO FREE A WOLF THAN TO LEAVE IT TO DIE IN THE COLD

At first I figured the release of three wolves from a Wildlife research center in Minnesota was a good thing. However, after reading the attached article I realized maybe not so much. The lone wolf that remains at large is a warm weather animal which has little chance of survival in the cold of Minnesota. I've no use for animal testing and the like, but I've no use for unthinking animal abuse and killing either. Use your head out there folks.

The following is from Trembling Indignation.

The Politics of Animal Liberation

 

 

This week a Mexican Grey Wolf was released from the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake, Minnesota by Animal Liberation Front.  (Here is the news story).

While I whole-heartedly oppose animal testing, I find this act problematic.

Mexican Grey Wolves are desert animals – they are native to the deserts of the southwestern United States.  Being released in the winter of northern Minnesota is essentially a death sentence for this animal (especially one that has never lived in the wild before) it will be incapable of adapting to the cold climate.  Furthermore, even if it does survive, there is a grave risk that this endangered species will be mistaken for a coyote and shot.

I just really think it was irresponsible to simply released into the Minnesota wild.  If the people who did this really wanted to help the wolf, they should have made appropriate preparations to relocate it to a more natural habitat.

It is important to note that animal research is a horrible practice.  Learn more about it from:

The Humane Society

Peta

CLIMATE CHANGE IS A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE

The cultural genocide of the Inuit People is being helped along by global climate change.  Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier says it is time to view climate change and global warming as a human rights issue.  While world leaders were dithering in Copenhagen last year, Witt-Clouter said at one outside gathering, “Climate change in the Arctic is a human issue, a family issue, a community issue, and an issue of cultural survival. The joining of circumpolar peoples with Pacific Island and Caribbean States is surely part of the answer in addressing these issues. Many small voices can make a loud noise. . . . ”



Yesterday, she gave a similar message in a lecture at Dartmouth.
 
The following is from The Dartmouth.
 
Activist: climate change damages Inuit society
By Eliza Relman

The impact of climate change on Inuit communities in the Arctic encompasses everything from the physical environment and ecological composition of the region to the human rights of the people, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier said in a lecture in Filene Auditorium on Tuesday. Watt-Cloutier, a Canadian Inuit activist, discussed her theory of the interconnected nature of environmental, economic, political and human rights concerns on the international stage.

The increasingly detrimental effects of climate change — including global warming — are not only a scientific and political issue, but also an issue of human rights, Watt-Cloutier said.

“We must reframe the debate [about global warming] to focus on the connections between human rights and climate change,” Watt-Cloutier said. “The indigenous [Inuit] people are the ones who are most marginalized and hit the hardest by climate change.”

Working as a political representative for the Inuit people between 1995 and 2006, Watt-Cloutier organized conventions, drafted treaties and petitioned to protect the natural environment of the Inuit people. From 2002 to 2006, she worked as the International Chair for the Inuit Circumpolar Council and focused largely on issues of persistent organic pollutants and global warming in Inuit land.

Since 1995, Watt-Cloutier has been involved in launching regional and international campaigns to instigate legal action against the effects of climate change, according to Kenneth Yalowitz, the director of the Dickey Center for International Understanding, who introduced the speaker.

Of all of the climate changes affecting the planet, global warming most directly affects the Inuit people of Arctic.

“The permafrost is melting very quickly and homes are buckling inwards,” Watt-Cloutier said in an interview with The Dartmouth. “We also have new species of fish and birds and unpredictable and extreme storms.”

The introduction of new mosquitoes to the Arctic also threatens to spread malaria and the West Nile virus, she said, adding that the damaging effect of melting and unpredictable ice is threatening to all facets of Inuit life — including transportation, hunting and fishing.

Limiting the effects of global warming on the Arctic is essential to the wellbeing of the planet, Watt-Cloutier said.

“The Arctic is the world’s barometer on climate change,” Watt-Cloutier said.


Watt-Cloutier emphasized the unique culture of the 160,000 Inuit people residing in Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia as an important reason to protect the land where the indigenous people have been residing for thousands of years.

“Culture is not just based on song and dance,” Watt-Cloutier said. “The indigenous culture is based on values and sustainability.”

The dramatic changes the Inuit people are facing are not only due to climate change, but the larger issue of globalization and industrialization, Watt-Cloutier said in the lecture.

“We have a sense of loss of control over our lives because we’ve gone from a hunter-gatherer civilization to the modern world in a very short period of time,” Watt-Cloutier said. “It really is ice age to space age.”

When members of the Inuit community objected to toxic waste from foreign countries in their waters and other environmental concerns, international governments told the Inuit people that “it is too expensive for us to stop hurting your way of life,” Watt-Cloutier said.

Today many of these same governments and new international leaders are beginning to see that “the world cannot afford to not save the Arctic” Watt-Cloutier said.

Watt-Cloutier added that until she was 10 years old, the only form of transportation she used was a dog sled, yet today she finds herself jetting around the world by airplane.

The courage and sound judgment necessary to survive as an Inuit in the Arctic are invaluable life skills that are “extremely transferable to the modern world,” Watt-Cloutier.


“The land teaches you to be reflective,” Watt-Cloutier said. “It teaches you self-worth, identity and wisdom.”

POST KATRINA COP KILLING OF NEW ORLEANS MAN A MYSTERY NO LONGER

Ride with us back to those days just after Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans. There was no food or water for thousands. People were just trying to survive. In the midst of it all a number of "unexplained" police shootings took the lives of Orleans citizens. One is a little more explained today. The killing of Henry Glover by cops outside an Algiers strip mall four days after Hurricane Katrina is the topic of an investigative report in the Times-Picayune. Even the corporate media can't mask what happened.

The following is from the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

New Orleans police officer under investigation in shooting in days after Katrina


By The Times-Picayune
By Brendan McCarthy and Laura Maggi, staff writers

and A.C. Thompson

A former New Orleans police officer is under investigation for shooting Henry Glover outside an Algiers strip mall four days after Hurricane Katrina, the first act in a bizarre chain of events that has led to a massive federal probe into the city's Police Department.

Glover's burnt remains were found weeks after the August 2005 storm inside an abandoned, nearly incinerated car on the Algiers levee.

Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Justice has interviewed scores of officers in an effort to determine how the 31-year-old Glover died, as well as whether officers may have tried to cover up his death.


William Tanner, an Algiers resident, has described his effort to get medical treatment from police for Glover's gunshot wound. Tanner has alleged that a group of officers from the SWAT unit detained and beat him and two other men, refused medical care for Glover, and eventually drove off in Tanner's car, with Glover's body inside.

But it was never known who had shot Glover. Now, several sources and a defense attorney confirm that federal investigators believe that then-NOPD officer David Warren shot Glover.

It's unclear if Warren's bullet killed Glover. It's also unclear whether another group of officers under investigation for setting the car on fire -- including two leaders of the NOPD's high-profile SWAT unit, Capt. Jeff Winn and Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann -- knew that Glover had been possibly shot by a fellow cop.

What is clear is that the shooting was the first in a string of questionable actions by NOPD officers now at the center of a sprawling probe.


Rookie reassigned in days after Katrina

Warren, 47, was a rookie on the force assigned to the 7th District in eastern New Orleans when the storm struck. He was unable to get to his post and was directed to the 4th District in Algiers, according to his attorney, Joseph Albe.

On Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 -- four days into the flood -- Warren and his patrol partner encountered two men behind a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant near the intersection of Seine Drive and Texas Drive, Albe said.

Glover was at that location that afternoon with a friend when he was shot, according to family members.

Warren, in uniform, saw two men ge out of a truck and "charge" toward a business, Albe said. Warren believed they were going to loot the business.


"He yelled stop, halt, whatever," Albe said. "They didn't."

Warren, an expert marksman, pulled the trigger on his rifle. A shot rang out.

"After he fired, the guys turned around and ran off," Albe said.

Warren, who Albe said doesn't know exactly where the bullet landed, then called ranking officers and reported the shooting.

"He did exactly what he was supposed to have done," Albe said.

Though the location, the date, time and circumstances square with civilian accounts, Albe maintains there is no evidence that shows Warren shot Glover.

"Did David Warren shoot his gun? Yes. He shot one shot. Do we know whether it was Henry Glover? No ... We may never know."

Warren never wrote a report on the shooting incident.

"He was told not to" by ranking officers, Albe said. "Plus, an officer involved in a shooting doesn't write his own report."

A report written more than a week after the incident classified the shooting as a "miscellaneous incident," a designation given to minor matters that typically receive no follow-up, the attorney said.

Albe and other attorneys representing the officers under investigation have said the chaotic circumstances after Katrina need to be taken into consideration when judging officers' actions.

"It wasn't 'protect and serve,'" Albe said Friday. "It was protect themselves. It was a question of survival."

An unconventional officer

Warren is no longer with the NOPD. He joined the department as a recruit in December 2003 and was sworn in as an officer in May 2004. He left the force in 2008, according to civil service records.

He was an unconventional rookie: He joined the force mid-career and holds several degrees, including a master's of business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin, according to his personnel file.

His resume also states he has worked in the armed services, and participated in "use of force and threat assessment" training at the Lethal Force Institute Inc. At the NOPD's graduation for his recruit class, Warren was honored with a precision shooting award for having the highest cumulative score during firearms training.

Civilian witnesses have already given their version of the events of Sept 2, 2005, to federal agents.


Glover's fiancee, Rolanda Short, said last fall that Glover had gone out that morning to scavenge for supplies. After Katrina, with no stores open, he had been in charge of getting food, water and charcoal for the couple's extended family, several of whom lived near their apartment on Garden Oaks Drive, she said.

Short heard someone in the street shout out that Glover, who was known as "Ace," had been shot. Short said the man on the street indicated a police officer -- maybe a state trooper -- had shot the father of her young daughter.

Hearing the news, Short ran out into the street and saw Glover lying face down on the pavement with blood pouring from his chest. Short said as she held Glover's hand, a car pulled up and two police officers got out. They ordered Short to back away from her fiance, but she refused. Eventually they left, said Short, who was interviewed by FBI agents last year.

At that point, a potential savior appeared, Short recalled. Tanner, a maintenance man on a quest for gasoline for his car, stopped his white Chevrolet Malibu at the behest of Glover's brother, Edward King. Though he didn't know Glover, Tanner agreed to try to help.

A search for help

Tanner decided that driving several miles to West Jefferson Medical Center, the original plan, was a bad idea. With Glover in the car's back seat, and the injured man's brother and another man in the car, Tanner drove to a nearby school where the NOPD's SWAT unit had set up camp during the storm.

Instead of helping them, Tanner alleges that SWAT team members at Paul B. Habans Elementary School handcuffed the three uninjured men, interrogating them about what they were doing.

The officers jumped to the conclusion that the men were looters, and beat them, with officers kicking Tanner in the ribs, and one officer hitting him in the head with the butt of a gun, Tanner said.

Officers did not tend to Glover, who lay wounded -- or possibly dead -- in the back seat of the car, Tanner said.

At one point, an officer in a tactical uniform took Tanner's key chain, removed the key to his car and headed toward his Malibu, with flares sticking out of the front pocket of his cargo pants, Tanner recalled. The officer took off in the car, following other officers who were in a white truck, he said. Glover was still in the back seat of the car.

Eventually, Tanner and the other men were released. They fled the city.


Scorched bone fragments recovered

Soldiers from the Army's 82nd Airborne recovered Glover's remains, mostly scorched bone fragments with "minute fragments of metal," from inside Tanner's charred car, which had been left beside the levee near Patterson Drive and Gen. Collins Avenue. The site was blocks away from the NOPD's 4th District station and a U.S. Border Patrol office, about a mile and a half away from the elementary school where SWAT encamped.


Coroner Frank Minyard said DNA from family members helped confirm Glover's identity. The autopsy shows Minyard did not classify the death as a homicide or flag it for police investigation.

Minyard's inaction in classifying the death a homicide is one reason police didn't begin an investigation, Albe said.


Six days after Glover's shooting, a pair of volunteer first responders from the Pittsburgh area, armed with a video camera, stumbled upon the vehicle. The two men videotaped what they found inside: a skull with two holes in it, according to a Pittsburgh television news report.


The skull went missing sometime between the pair's discovery and when the 82nd Airborne recovered the remains. No skull is mentioned in Glover's autopsy, which consisted of an examination of five biohazard bags containing bones and clumps of flesh.

Tanner learned about the location of his vehicle months after the storm from an agent with the federal Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency. The car remained on the levee through early February 2009. A neighbor said it was towed away by an NOPD truck a month later.

Although Tanner made several appeals to the NOPD in the time since Katrina to find out what happened to his car, he never got anywhere.


Two veteran cops also under investigation

Two veteran officers, both highly decorated, are under investigation by federal authorities for playing possible roles in the disposal of Glover's body. Winn and Scheuermann of the SWAT team are two targets of the investigation, Eric Hessler, an attorney representing Winn, has previously said.

Winn, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, and Scheuermann are widely respected in the department. They have worked in the some of the NOPD's most proactive and dangerous units, volunteering for harrowing assignments time and again. The SWAT team responded to numerous reports of violence in the city immediately after the storm.

Hessler has defended his client in interviews, saying Winn and the officers he commanded were the ones who stepped up during the chaos after Katrina.

"Jeff Winn addressed everything properly by the guidelines the NOPD was working under during Katrina," Hessler said Friday. "By all accounts, he did a great job."


Tanner's account of what happened to Glover first appeared in a 2008 article published in The Nation magazine and onthe Web site of ProPublica, an investigative newsroom. Despite repeated inquiries by Tanner about what happened to his car, the New Orleans Police Department had not previously opened an investigation into Glover's death or the incineration of his corpse.


The story prompted a federal inquiry. Since then, dozens of officers, including the current and former superintendents, as well as other top brass, have appeared before a federal grand jury. The U.S. Department of Justice, working with the local FBI office and the U.S. attorney's office, has issued countless subpoenas to the NOPD, and interviewed several officers.


The federal investigation into Glover's death is one of several active probes into the NOPD. A grand jury examining the well-publicized Danziger Bridge shooting -- in which two men were killed by police and four others were shot -- commenced last spring. The FBI also has an open investigation into the fatal police shooting death of Adolph Grimes III, 22, who was killed in an encounter with officers on New Year's Day 2009.

Tom Jennings of Frontline contributed to this report.

Brendan McCarthy can be reached at bmccarthy@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3301.

PLANKTON SAY: "GOOD NIGHT"

Deniers beware. Another one of those pesky scientific studies which is probably well over your feeble heads is out and it comes with some dire warnings. A new study says the seas are acidifying ten times faster today than 55 million years ago when a mass extinction of marine species occurred. And, the study concludes current changes in ocean chemistry due to the burning of fossil fuels may portend a new wave of die-offs.

The following is from that notorious anarchist group which calls themselves PhysOrg.com.

Rate of ocean acidification the fastest in 65 million years



Sediment core spanning the Paleocene-Eocene green- house warming event 55 million years ago. The sharp transition from carbonate-rich shell sediments (grey-white) to pure clay (red) indicates the dissolution of carbonates due to ocean acidification. Photo by Daniela Schmidt on board the JOIDES Resolution Drill Ship.


(PhysOrg.com) -- A new model, capable of assessing the rate at which the oceans are acidifying, suggests that changes in the carbonate chemistry of the deep ocean may exceed anything seen in the past 65 million years.

The model also predicts much higher rates of environmental change at the ocean’s surface in the future than have occurred in the past, potentially exceeding the rate at which plankton can adapt.

The research, from the University of Bristol, is reported in this week's issue of Nature Geoscience.

The team applied a model that compared current rates of ocean acidification with the greenhouse event at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, about 55 million years ago when surface ocean temperatures rose by around 5-6°C over a few thousand years. During this event, no catastrophe is seen in surface ecosystems, such as plankton, yet bottom-dwelling organisms in the deep ocean experienced a major extinction.

Dr Andy Ridgwell, lead author on the paper, said: “Unlike surface plankton dwelling in a variable habitat, organisms living deep down on the ocean floor are adapted to much more stable conditions. A rapid and severe geochemical change in their environment would make their survival precarious.

“The widespread extinction of these ocean floor organisms during the Paleocene-Eocene greenhouse warming and acidification event tells us that similar extinctions in the future are possible.”

The oceans are currently absorbing about a quarter of the CO2 released into the atmosphere, forcing the pH of the surface ocean lower in a process called ‘ocean acidification’.

Laboratory experiments suggest that if the pH continues to fall, we may start to see impacts such as the dissolution of carbonate shells of marine organisms, slower growth, muscle wastage, dwarfism or reduced activity, with knock-on effects throughout the ecosystem.


Dr Daniela Schmidt, also an author on the paper, explained: “Laboratory experiments can tell us about how marine organisms react, but experiments cannot tell us whether marine organisms will be able to adapt to ocean acidification via migration or evolution.

“Therefore, a lot of attention has recently focussed on looking at known ocean acidification and biotic reactions in the geological record. Various types of geological evidence - the spread of warm water organisms towards the poles and the dissolution of carbonate sediments on the sea-floor tell us there was simultaneously both extreme warming and acidification at this time - the hallmark of a massive greenhouse gas release.”

On the basis of their approach of comparing model simulations of past and future marine geochemical changes, the authors infer a future rate of surface-ocean acidification and environmental pressure on marine calcifiers, such as corals, unprecedented in the past 65 million years, and one that challenges the potential for plankton to adapt.

They also argue that for organisms which live on the sea floor, rapid and extreme acidification of the deep ocean would make their situation uncertain. The occurrence of widespread extinction of these organisms during the Paleocene-Eocenegreenhouse warming and acidification event raises the possibility of a similar extinction in the future.


More information: Past constraints on the vulnerability of marine calcifiers to massive carbon dioxide release by Andy Ridgwell and Daniela N. Schmidt. Nature Geoscience, published online: 14 february 2010, doi:10.1038/ngeo755 .

Provided by University of Bristol

BLAC BLOC PARTICIPANTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES ABOUT SATURDAY'S ACTION IN VANCOUVER

By now many of you are aware of the black bloc action which took place in the Olympic city of Vancouver on Saturday last. Lots of action happen'. Lots of critiques going on. Lot's of folks saying, what the f*ck. Maybe it's time to hear from someone speaking on behalf of the anarchists, eh?

The following is from the Media Co-op.

In defense of the black bloc: A communique from Olympic resisters
A communiqué
 February 14th, 2010 – Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories



On February 12th and 13th, 2010, thousands of courageous individuals came

together to resist the 2010 Olympic police state and to attack the

corporations plundering the land and deepening poverty. We write this

communique as participants in and organizers of the black bloc presence at

these demonstrations, known as “Take Back Our City” and “2010 Heart

Attack.”



On February 12th, the Vancouver Police Department pacified us with a force

of mounted police. The next day during 2010 Heart Attack, they deployed

riot police armed with M4 carbine assault rifles. They claim this was

necessary in order to stop the march from “jeopardizing public safety” – yet the

only threats to public safety were in their own hands. Participants in the

demonstration only undertook strategic attacks against corporations

sponsoring the Olympics and did not harm or attack bystanders.



The media are now busy denouncing the political violence of property

destruction, such as the smashing of a Hudson's Bay Company window, as

though it were the only act of violence happening in this city. They

forget that economic violence goes on daily in Vancouver. People are

suffering and dying from preventable causes because welfare doesn't give

enough to afford rent, food or medicine, and because authorities routinely

ignore the medical emergencies of poor or houseless individuals. This

economic violence has gotten worse as we lose housing and social services

because of the Olympic Games. In response to this assault, thousands took

to the streets, hundreds joining what is known as a black bloc.



The black bloc is not a formal organization; it has no leadership,

membership, or headquarters. Instead, the black bloc is a tactic: it is

something people *do* in order to accomplish a specific purpose. By

wearing black clothing and masking our faces, the black bloc allows for

greater protection to those who choose active self-defense. The majority

of people involved in the black bloc do not participate in property

destruction. However, in masking up they express their solidarity with

those who choose to take autonomous direct action against the

corporations, authorities and politicians who wage war on our communities.



Participation in the black bloc is an act of courage. With only the

shirts on our backs and the masks on our faces, we took to the streets

against Canada's largest ever “peacetime” police force. Protected only by

black fabric and the support of our comrades, we stood in front of

antiriot cops armed with assault rifles, pistols and batons. We proved that $1

billion of “security” couldn't prevent us from clogging the heart of

downtown Vancouver and crashing a party of 100 000 people -- and getting

away with it.



You won't ever know who was in the black bloc this weekend, but you *do*

know us. We are the people who organize community potlucks, who dance

during street festivals, who make art, defend the land, build co-ops,

bicycles and community gardens. When we put on our black clothing, we are

not a threat to you, but to the elites.



Whoever you are, one day you will join us. As long as government and

corporations attack our communities, we're going defend – and that means

attack.



Signed,



Two organizers and participants in the anarchist presence of the “Take

back our city” demonstration and “2010 Heart Attack” street march,

February 2010, Coast Salish Territories

PINE RIDGE IS THE OTHER AMERICA

It is time President Obama actually live up to at least a few of the expectations his supporters had for him. Obama has long indicated that he had some understanding of the plight of this country's native people. But what has he done?
Five hundred plus years of genocide is continuing right now, today. What would John Brown do?
 
The following is from  facebook.
 
SUPPORT NATIVE PEOPLE? WE NEED YOUR HELP TODAY.....
 
My Dear Non-Native friends,



I know that many of you are strong supporters of Native peoples, and that you have much compassion and concern for the conditions which we face in our own lands. Today, I am humbly requesting that you put these feelings into action, and come to the assistance of the Lakota people of Pine Ridge Reservation.

Please read the words of my friend Autumn TwoBulls, as she stands up for the Children and Elders of her community. Take these words into your heart. Welal:in.

__________________________________________________________________________________



Help bring a voice to the Lakota Nation in these matters Poverty and Suicide on the Pine Ridge Reservation/Contact White HouseShare


To Friends, Relations and supporters.,


Over the last while, you have seen and heard of the terrible situations and conditions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.


A few weeks ago, I asked you all to participate in a mass phone in campaign to the CNN. That campaign drew major media attention beacause of your help. Keith Olbermen picked up the story and aired it to the world. Also Oglala Sioux Tribe Declared a State of Emergency on Suicide.


I am asking for your help and support again.


I am asking that you join me tomorrow, Tuesday February 16th, in calling or emailing President Barack Obama at the White House, to inform him of the awful conditions facing my people here on Pine Ridge. And remind him of the promises that he has made to the First Nations/Native American people.


Tell him about the grinding poverty rates, the 80% unemployment and the desperation that is leading so many of our people and youth to commite suicide. We are asking that Aide is brought to our Lakota Nation in these matters.


1: When you make your call, please be respectful

2: State in your call Why you are calling, i.e., Suicide and poverty, etc

3: State that you would like to know what the President can do about this.

4: Remind respectfully that the President made promises to the First NationsNative American People during his campaign.


Help me to have our voices heard again, as you did a few weeks ago.

Together we can make a difference for the people. One voice together, loud enough for the President to open his mind and his heart to my people, the Lakota Nation of Pine Ridge Reservation.

Please begin calling during buisness hours which are 9am - 4 pm Eastern time. Keep calling and emailing all day.


I would be so grateful, if you would join me in this effort to help Our Lakota Nation be heard. Lets work together as one voice



Pila Unyape, Wopila Tanka Echichiyape

Respectfully, Autumn Two Bulls

Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge South Dakota



PHONE THE WHITE HOUSE:

202 456 1111

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_f86dfe92-e5ec-11de-ae92-001cc4c03286.html



http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact



______________________________________________________________________________



Here is a video which will break your heart. Please understand that your great Nation, the United States has failed to live up to the legally binding contracts that they entered into with these Sovereign Nations, and here is the result:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fo40uUXPQ8



Imagine living there now, when they have been battered with storm after storm over the past month.



Children, Elders, the Disabled.....



http://socyberty.com/subcultures/pine-ridge-reservation-americas-own-third-world-country/



Chief Teresa TwoBulls declared a State of Emergency weeks ago, as conditions have become unbearable in a very harsh winter. The White House is silent.



Where is the HOPE that President Obama has promised? Where is HOPE for the Lakota?



Please, I ask that you join your voices with ours today. I call upon you to use your privilege today.



We would be so grateful. Welal:in Okatis (Thank you friends)

MONDAY IS LIBERATION DAY

If you live in San Francisco or somehwere nearby this is especially for you.

 AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT-WEST, AIM-WEST, invites the general public on Monday morning, February 15, 2010 to join us at Ocean Beach in San Francisco from 9 am to 12 noon, to acknowledge “Liberation Day” as a time for cultural recovery and struggle for self-determination.
 

The following is from AIM-West.


“LIBERATION DAY” at Ocean Beach

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT-WEST, AIM-WEST, invites the general public on Monday morning, February 15, 2010 to join us at Ocean Beach in San Francisco from 9 am to 12 noon, to acknowledge “Liberation Day” as a time for cultural recovery and struggle for self-determination.

Mr. Leonard Foster, Navajo/Dine Nation, Wounded Knee veteran, AIM activist and spiritual advisor, is the invited guest and Master of Ceremony. We stand in solidarity with “Liberation Day” and with the Pine Ridge Tribal Council resolution in South Dakota who acknowledge the occupation that occurred at Wounded Knee, which began February 27, 1973. We honor these veterans and those who struggle to retain their traditional homelands, their culture and spiritual freedoms. (The gathering at Ocean Beach located across from Beach Chalet restaurant, was specially considered to bring blessing and attention to land, environment, threat to ocean, sea and animal life, rising water levels and threat to islands, and climate and global warming).

Although February 15th is designated in the U.S. as ‘President’s Day’ (holiday) it also provides an opportunity to cast aside myths and instead raise historical awareness, and provides access to networking and building alliances with and between Indigenous communities, supporters and the youth, connecting issues with peoples being directly affected by colonialism, racism and poverty.

Drummers, dancers and singers are welcome. A fire ceremony with tobacco and sage offerings will be conducted in recognition of the many American Indian nations across the Americas, who struggle in these times of climate change/systems change, and to support their traditional and cultural way of life. The gathering will include invited speakers with a view to the seven generations, address violation of treaty rights, and unratified treaties, political prisoners like Leonard Peltier, climate change and global warming, and desecration of sacred sites.

The public is reminded the name of San Francisco is called in Muwekma Ohlone language “Chut’chuii” and is still alive and well. We assert also the Muwekma Ohlone representatives should be included in all future pertinent decisions affecting development projects in THE CITY! We also demand US President Obama to sign the UN General Assembly “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” adopted in 2007.

Special attention will be to address the boycott of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”. Indigenous peoples are impacted by the long-term plunder of their lands, disproportionately experiencing poverty in urban areas, and are the primary targets of repressive policing and surveillance resulting in countless arrests. The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place on unceded Indigenous land from February 12-28 2010.

(gather at John F. Kennedy Drive/ The Great Hiway across from Beach Chalet Restaurant or take Muni bus # 5 Fulton Street) in San Francisco. The press is invited. A Mayan ceremony will open the occasion at 8 am.



Evening activities February 15th with special guests:

Bahai’i Center, 170 Valencia Street, San Francisco from 6 to 9pm-films:


“Broken Rainbow” Directed by Maria Florio and Victoria Mudd. Academy award best documentary.


In 1974, Congress passed a law forcing 10,000 Navajo Indians to relocate from their ancestral land to depressing tract housing in the Arizona desert. They were given until 1986 to finish the task, and despite testimonials before Congress and pleas to reconsider, the forced move went ahead as scheduled, a process which did much to complete the destruction of a people’s tradition that had been underway for over a century. The story also brings us into the uranium mines of the Southwest, where hundreds of workers slaved away while breathing in toxic gases that led to lung cancer (with no compensation of any kind, of course). And Peabody Coal, that beneficent entity that sought only profit, helped contribute to widespread air pollution and water contamination, which resulted in rates of birth defects that are twice the national average.


“The Earth is Crying” (75 minutes 1986, Dutch, English)


Five hundred years after Columbus, four Native Americans ‘discover’ the Netherlands and visit a nuclear power station, an anthropological museum, a zoo and a peace camp. With Leslie Marmon Silko, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Bill Wahpepah and John Graham.


Donation at the door, lucky $ 7! Nobody turned away/wheel chair accesible/refreshments/snacks/vendors/raffle/speakers/announcements!