Wednesday, December 22, 2010

ISRAELI JEWISH RACIST THUGS: CALL THEM WHAT THEY ARE

Racist Jewish thugs on the street of Jerusalem are no different then racist neo nazis running riot on streets in England and Russia. For me though, as a Jew, it is personally even more disturbing in a way. Jews who fail to learn from their own history of persecution are worse than fools. Kippot wearing racist thugs must be dealt with just as harshly as if they were wearing swastikas on their arms. This has nothing to do with the zionism is racism argument. This is something different and extremely dangerous.

From Haaretz

Upsurge in racism as protesters take to the streets against Arabs, migrant workers

Tel Aviv protesters called on government to deport aliens and refugees, and on local landlords to refrain from renting them apartments.

By Yair Ettinger, Nir Hasson and Ilan Lior

Just weeks after several dozen state-employed rabbis ignited a major controversy by issuing a letter calling on Israeli Jews not to rent or sell their homes to non-Jews, and one day after an anti-Arab demonstration in Bat Yam, Tuesday saw two more incidents in the rising tide of hatred and racism that appears to be sweeping the country.

In Jerusalem, police said on Tuesday they had arrested nine members of a suspected youth gang that has been targeting Arab passersby in the center of the city in recent months. Police officials also released information on the arrests, which were carried out over a two-week period.

	The protest against foreign workers and refugees in Tel Aviv's Hatikva neighborhood, Dec. 21, 2010.
	Photo by: Ofer Vaknin

Meanwhile, in south Tel Aviv, hundreds of residents demonstrated on Tuesday against the presence of foreigners in their neighborhood. Holding signs declaring "We've been afraid long enough, send the infiltrators home," among other demands, protesters called on the government to deport aliens and refugees, and on local landlords to refrain from renting them apartments.The suspects, who are reportedly residents of Jerusalem and nearby settlements, have been released under house arrest until the completion of the investigation.

Several dozen right-wing activists who do not reside in Tel Aviv were said to have joined the demonstration as well. (See full story, Page 3 )

Attacks coordinated via Facebook

Police investigators in Jerusalem believe the nine suspects under house arrest had been members of a gang that used a 14-year-old girl to trap their victims. Police suspect that the girl would approach Arab men and ask them to smoke a cigarette with her or take a walk with her. She would then lead them to the gang members, who were waiting to attack.

The gang allegedly assaulted its victims with stones, bottles and tear gas. And the attacks were said to be coordinated though Facebook, text messages and phone calls.

Police believe the youths to be responsible for more than 10 attacks on Arabs in recent weeks. Some of the victims required medical treatment in hospital after being assaulted. Most of the incidents took place on Thursday and Saturday nights.

Police are also investigating the possibility that the gang is responsible for assaulting a tourist, Chilean citizen Jose Toledo, six weeks ago.

In addition to Arabs, or people they thought looked like Arabs, the gang also sought to attack persons they identified as homosexuals, Haaretz has learned.

Though the investigation is ongoing, police officials said they are quite certain that the leader of the gang was a 14-year-old and that the attacks were motivated by nationalism.

According to Haim Shmueli, a senior officer with the Jerusalem District Police who briefed reporters yesterday: "Those involved admit to the allegations against them. Some have also linked their actions with those of others and additional arrests are expected. They did this for nationalist reasons - that's why it involves members of minority groups. Some of the suspects said they were acting out of vengeance because family members had been injured in terrorist attacks. Some of them participated due to peer pressure."

One victim, 21-year-old Annan Yaghmour from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, told Haaretz about the gang's attack on him a month ago. The attack occurred on a Saturday night while he was making his way home with a family member, he said.

"Suddenly a girl showed up and asked me for a cigarette and asked me to go with her," Yaghmour claimed. "I thought there was something odd about it, and I told the boy [my relative] to wait and I went with her. Suddenly I saw two [guys] behind me and eight in front of me. I stopped and said I didn't want to go any further, but as I tried to walk away the two behind me jumped on me.

"I tried to run but one of them tripped me and I fell and then they all began to hit me," he continued. "I tried to tell them that I was Israeli and they shouted 'Where is your ID?' When I couldn't find it they shouted 'Arab, Arab,' and one of them sprayed tear gas in my face."

Yaghmour lost consciousness as a result of the attack and was taken to Hadassah University Hospital in Ein Karem, having suffered injuries over his entire body.

Adam Sabih had a similar story to tell, having fallen victim to an attack on October 31, near the same location as the alleged assault on Yaghmour.

"I was walking in Haatzmaut Park, and was speaking on the telephone with my sister in Arabic," he recalled. "Then someone came along and asked me whether I had a cigarette. I said 'no' and continued walking. Suddenly I saw 20-30 guys wearing kippas [skullcaps worn by Orthodox Jewish men] coming at me.

"They asked me what my name was and I told them 'Adam,'" he continued. "Then they asked me for my last name and I told them 'Sabih.' I had not finished saying it when one of them shouted 'Kill this Arab.' I don't know how God gave me the strength to escape and I ran all the way to King George Street."

"There is law and justice," Annan Yaghmour's father said yesterday. "I am glad they caught them and they need to pay for their crimes. My son was beaten badly and nearly killed. I hope this doesn't happen again. Arabs should not attack Jews, and Jews should not attack Arabs."

NONE DARE CALL IT SLAVERY

How tired I am of those who say, "it wasn't about slavery" or "it isn't about racism." Give me a break. The South seceded for one reason and one reason alone, to ensure that slavery remained the cornerstone of their being. Celebrating secession is racist, plain and simple.

FROM MAIL ON LINE (UK)

150 years on the South re-fights the Civil War: Protesters picket Charleston Ball commemorating anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the U.S.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Last updated at 7:39 PM on 22nd December 2010

The memory of the Civil War collided with modern-day civil rights this week as protesters targeted the Charleston Ball commemorating the state of South Carolina's decision to break away from the United States of America 150 years ago.

As protesters from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) gathered, a predominantly white group of men in tuxedos and women in long-flowing dresses and gloves stopped to watch and take pictures before going into the Charleston auditorium where the ball was taking place.

The South Carolina men who voted 169-0 to leave the United States 150 years ago set in motion a chain of events that reverberate today.

Guests in period costume arrive for a ball celebrating the 150th Anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the United States

Dressed in period clothing, Lynn Charles, right, helps direct guests of the Ordinance of Secession Gala to find their seats

The decision led to a war that killed nearly two per cent of the nation's population - more than 600,000 people.

That is roughly the same number that have died in all the other wars America has fought in from the Revolution, to both World Wars and the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. It would be the equivalent of six million Americans dying today.

NAACP leaders said it made no sense to hold a gala to honour men who committed treason against their own nation for the sake of a system that kept black men and women in bondage as slaves. They compared Confederate leaders to terrorists and Nazi soldiers.

'The Germans had a heritage too. Why does South Carolina and America think this is the right thing to do?' said Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina branch of the NAACP.

A crowd joins members of the Charleston branch of the NAACP for a march of protest against a Secession Ball, commemorating South Carolina's decision to secede from the United States of America

Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina branch of the NAACP, addresses a crowd at the gathering

But organisers of the ball said it had nothing to do with celebrating slavery.

Instead, they said the $100-a-person private event was a fundraiser to honor the Southern men who were willing to sacrifice their lives for their homes and their vision of states' rights.

HOW A DIVIDED NATION TORE ITSELF APART...

In the presidential election of 1860, the Republican Party, led by Abraham Lincoln, campaigned against the expansion of slavery beyond the states in which it already existed.

The Republicans won the election but before Lincoln took office on March 4, 1861, seven states announced their secession from the U.S. to form The Confederate States of America.

Lincoln's Government rejected the legality of secession, considering it rebellion, and war began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

Eventually, 11 states joined the Confederacy to fight against the northern States - The Union.

Crucially, the Union assumed control of the border states early in the war and established a naval blockade.

In September 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation made ending slavery in the South a war goal.

Confederate commander Robert E. Lee won battles in the east, but in 1863 his advance was halted with heavy casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Confederate resistance ended when Lee surrendered to Union military leader Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865.

Victory for the North meant the end of slavery in the United States.

'We honour our ancestors for their bravery and tenacity protecting their homes from invasion,' said Michael Givens, Commander in Chief for the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The group claims its central purpose is to preserve the history and legacy of the South's 'citizen-soldiers.'

The ball's organisers do not condone or endorse slavery in any way, said Randy Burbage, vice president of the Confederate Heritage Trust, which put on the event.

'It's hard for us to judge the situation that existed then by today's standards.

'I think slavery is an abomination. But it's a part of history, legal at the time. I don't agree with it, but it was,' Burbage said.

Burbage said the NAACP doesn't help its cause with inflammatory rhetoric.

'Any group that wants to call our ancestors terrorists and compare them to Nazi soldiers, we will not negotiate with.

'We didn't need to get their permission to put this thing on, or will we ever seek their permission. We do our thing, they'll do their thing,' Burbage said.

As the Charleston event kicks off more than four years of 150th anniversary Civil War commemorations, it also frames persisting questions. Chiefly, how does a nation remember the time when 11 of its states tried unsuccessfully to break away?

The Secession Ball falls on one end of the spectrum. Organisers said the proceeds from the night of dancing and a play recreating the three-day secession meeting will help the state archives preserve Confederate-era documents.

John Genes II bought two of the 400 tickets sold for the event. His great-great grandfather fought for a South Carolina regiment in the Civil War and spent more than two years in a prisoner of war camp.

'I'm here to honor him,' said Genes, dressed in a period tuxedo as his wife in a long purple dress and black lace gloves stood beside him.

June Murray Wells (left), Director of the Confederate Museum, holds a copy of the Ordinance of Secession on the 150th anniversary of South Carolina's secession from the Union, while historic re-enactors dressed in period costume stop to view a newly unveiled tribute marker

Michael Givens, commander and chief of The Sons of the Confederate Veterans, prepares to greet his guests

'There's so much bad going on in the world that they could be protesting instead.'

On the other end of the spectrum are civil rights organisations that see no reason to celebrate a would-be nation like the Confederacy, which in its constitution prohibited its legislature from outlawing slavery.

The state NAACP doesn't plan to protest every 150th anniversary event marking milestones of the Civil War. Leaders said they decided to protest Monday's ball because of the way it was advertised.

'It's disgusting and unbelievable they would have a gala celebration to honor a day that ended up causing so much suffering,' said Dot Scott, president of the Charleston Branch of the NAACP.

On the eve of the Civil War, Census data ranked South Carolina third in wealth among the states. In 2008, its per capita income was 45th in the nation.

Not all South Carolinians supported secession. About 57 percent of the state's 703,000 residents in 1860 were slaves.

A few white opponents spoke out, including lawyer and politician James Petigru, whose famous quote still echoes through his home state today: 'South Carolina is too small to be a Republic, and too large to be an insane asylum.'

Givens said slavery was likely coming to an end no matter what happened in what he called 'the War Between the States.'

'Everybody was getting rid of slavery around that time,' Givens said.

'The one good thing that we can say that came out of that war is the abolition of slavery.'

NAACP members say it makes no sense to hold a gala to honor men who committed treason against their own nation for the sake of a system that kept black men and women in bondage as slaves

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY WITH GEORGIA PRISONER STRIKE PETION

I'm not much for signing petitions, but this one is a requirement.

By the way, I find it interesting that the largest prisoner strike in US history, one which includes prisoner solidarity across racial lines (something which is damn tough in prisons today) get NO coverage from US media outlets of the corporate sort.

From petitiononline.com...

Statement of Solidarity with Georgia Prisoner Strike

To: general publicA Moment for Movement-Building: Statement of Solidarity with Georgia Prisoner Strike

On December 9, 2010, thousands of prisoners in at least six Georgia state prisons initiated the largest prisoner strike in U.S. history, uniting across racial boundaries to demand an immediate end to the cruel and dehumanizing conditions that damage prisoners, their families, and the communities they return to.
Prisoners are demanding a living wage for work, increased educational opportunities, decent health care, an end to cruel and unusual punishment, decent living conditions, nutritional meals, vocational and self-improvement opportunities, access to families, and just parole decisions. These demands are not only fair and just, but mandatory under international human rights law and the U.S. Constitution.
And it is not just Georgia where these conditions exist. Prisoners throughout this country are subject to routine dehumanization, violence, denial of basic medical care, separated from their families, exposed to illnesses, and obstructed from accessing the court. Jails and prisons throughout the U.S. are routinely in violation of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
It is imperative that members of the legal community, human rights advocates, social justice activists, faith communities, and concerned members of the general public mobilize in support of prisoners and their families in this urgent moment. Georgia prison authorities have reportedly reacted to the peaceful strike with violence. The threat of retaliation will remain for the foreseeable future, and we must rise to the occasion with increased vigilance and action.
We are especially asking that members of the legal community recognize their unique role and serious responsibility in working to support prisoners and communities targeted by policies of mass incarceration.
We must also seize this opportunity to support and strengthen those forces fighting against race and class-based policies of mass incarceration. Under the cover of a cynical drug war, the U.S. has constructed the largest prison economy in the history of the planet, incarcerating more of its own people than any other nation in the world. And when evidence of the pervasive targeting of communities of color at every level of the criminal legal system is recognized for what it is, there is only one conclusion to arrive at: mass incarceration is the new Jim Crow.
Like the old Jim Crow, this system serves to perpetuate institutionalized racism, economic inequality, and political disenfranchisement. It seeks to pit poor whites and people of color against each other in order to keep working and middle class communities subordinate to a political and economic order that prioritizes profit at the expense of our communities and our democracy.
The transcending of the politics of racial antagonism by the prisoners in Georgia striking for their human rights and human dignity is a profound call for the renewal of visionary mass movements for social justice and freedom in this country. Our communities outside of these walls are in dire need of human rights as well: health care, educational opportunities, jobs, food, housing, peace, and a livable planet.
In building an integrated, mass movement for human rights inside and outside the prisons we are also working to undermine the conditions of social, economic, and political inequalities that fuel crime and violence.
We are asking that others sign onto this statement of solidarity and make a commitment to take action in support of the prisoners in Georgia, to take action in support of prisoners’ rights, and to help build a historic mass movement against mass incarceration and for universal human rights and dignity.

Solidarity and Struggle,

Center for Constitutional Rights
Noam Chomsky
Professor Michelle Alexander, Ohio State University
Professor Jules Lobel, University of Pittsburgh Law School
Professor Marjorie Cohn, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Rosa Clemente, 2008 Green Party Vice President Candidate
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Nkechi Taifa, Esq., Director, Legacy Justice Institute
Justice Now (www.jnow.org)
Drug Policy Alliance
Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance
Human Rights Coalition-Chester
Human Rights Coalition-Philadelphia
Human Rights Coalition-Fed Up! Pittsburgh
Vania Gulston, www.ontheblockradio.org
Jordan Flaherty, Louisiana Justice Institute
Paradise Gray, Executive Director One Hood
Van Jones, author, The Green Collar Economy
International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition
MOVE Organization
Prison Radio - www.prisonradio.org
Redwood Justice Fund
Noelle Hanrahan
Pam Africa
Suzanne Ross, Co-Chair, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC) Spokesperson
Steven Gotzler, National Lawyers Guild National Vice President
Heidi Boghosian, National Lawyers Guild Executive Director
James Rucker, Executive Director, ColorOfChange.org
Annie Paradise, student, Anthropology Dept., California Institute of Integral Studies
Paul Wright, Editor, Prison Legal News - www.prisonlegalnews.org
Deirdre Wilson, Program Coordinator for California Coalition for Women Prisoners, and proud member of All of Us or None
Bruce Reilly, Behind the Walls Committee-Direct Action for Rights and Equality, Providence, Rhode Island
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
Andrew Grant-Thomas, Deputy Director, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity
California Prison Moratorium Project
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
Lois Ahrens, The Real Cost of Prisons Project
North Star Fund
Women Who Never Give Up (www.wwng.org)
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network – United States
Michael Letwin, Co-Convener, New York City Labor Against the War; Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW Local 2325
Andy Switzer
Anthony Papa, author of 15 to Life
Dominique Reed
Pam Nath, Community Organizer, Mennonite Central Committee—New Orleans
Thousand Kites – www.kitescampaigns.org
Amanda Rosenblum
Laura Erickson-Schroth
Ali Brooks, Madison, Wisconsin, Groundwork Anti-Racist Collective
Bret Grote
Dr. Rachel Luft
Claude Marks, Director, Freedom Archives
Jamie Kalven, Invisible Institute
National Lawyers Guild – University of Pittsburgh Law School Chapter
Matthew Shelton
Emily Zeanah Shelton
Marlon Peterson
Jeff Hitchcock, Executive Director, Center for the Study of White American Culture, Inc.
Sarah Lomax-Reese, President, WURD Radio
Tema Okun, Dismantling Racism Works, Durham, North Carolina
Mollie Crittenden
Gary Johnson
Lisa Albrecht, University of Minnesota, Social Justice Program
Survivors Village, New Orleans
Russ Vernon-Jones, Alliance of White Anti-Racists (Hampshire Co., MA)
Serena Alfieri, Associate Director of Policy, Correctional Association of NY
Laurie Bezold, Baltimore, Maryland
Christian Peele
Amanda Johnson
Geri Silva, Facts Education Fund: Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes
Prisoners are People Too, Buffalo, NY
Camy Matthay, Wisconsin Books to Prisoners, Brooklyn, WI
Wendy Ake, Graduate Research Associate, Global Justice Program, The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Ohio State University

Sincerely,
The Undersigned

View Current Signatures

WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING IN RUSSIA

Rampant racism seems to be name of the game in Russia. Where is the USSR when you need it?

From Moscow News.

Moscow riots have global resonance

Riots in Moscow have prompted an international response, with rallies in the US, Turkey and Georgia demanding an end to ethnically-motivated violence.

In the days after the Dec. 11 riot on Manezhnaya, the Caucasian diaspora in America gathered in Times Square to highlight the threats facing their compatriots back in Russia.

“A group of 60 people among whom where ethnic Caucasians came out to Times Square for a peaceful meeting under slogans ‘Human Rights, Not Human Fights’and ‘Unity Against Racism’,” Dana Wojokh, meeting co-organiser, told the Moscow News.

And Russia’s media contribute immensely to the ethnical hatred incitement, Wojokh claimed.

“Caucasians, like Russians and any other people of the world, strive for a better livelihood and to contribute to their community. However, in the media they are wrongly portrayed and this propaganda causes divisions and discord amongst all people and social classes.”

Authorities turning a blind eye?

Many believe that Russia’s authorities are discreetly stirring up ethnic strife, or at least tolerating the surge in nationalism.

And when some political commentators in Moscow say they can spot the Kremlin at work, they find a willing audience elsewhere.

“We saw when one Chief of Police cordially and calmly negotiated with one the nationalist leading the Russian-Caucasian hate riots, while the thug was still wearing a ski mask covering his face,” Zaid Vwich, who also joined the protesters, told The Moscow News.

“Now, imagine if 5,000 Caucasians decided to chant hateful, threatening slogans, things like ‘Russia leave the Caucasus’, ‘Caucasus for Caucasians’, ‘Caucasus not part of Russia’. They would all be immediately detained, tortured, and indefinitely be imprisoned. No negotiating, no sympathy."

“What happened to the 5,000 Russian nationalists? 64 were detained and released the next day.”

Closer to home

Monday’s meeting in the Georgian capital Tbilisi was organised by the “International Union of Young Caucasians”, and brought together people from different ethnic groups who demanded to stop unjust prosecution against Caucasians in Russia.

“Our protest is against Nazism and in support of Caucasians, because this aggression [the Manezhnaya riot] wasn’t provoked by Caucasians, it is Russia’s policy – ‘Caucasus without Caucasians’ – that has been sounded out by well-known politicians,” Timur Dorogov, one of the protesters, told the Georgia Times web-site.

In Turkey groups gathered in the three biggest cities, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, with groups meeting outside the Russian consulates to make their point.

Meanwhile in Russia’s Chechen republic the patriotic youth group “Ramzan” set up its own meeting against extremism, according to the movement’s website.

Young Chechenss gathered together under the slogan “Peace for Russia, Peace for the Caucasus” nine days after the Moscow riots.

WOUNDED KNEE

Would it hurt for the US to at least acknowledge what it did and admit it was WRONG? IS THAT SO MUCH?

Mass grave at Wounded Knee

From Indianz.com

Tim Giago: US hasn't apologized for massacre at Wounded Knee
MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2010
Filed Under: Opinion

WOUNDED KNEE, SOUTH DAKOTA — On crystal clear nights when winter winds whistle through the hills and canyons around Wounded Knee Creek, the Lakota elders say it is so cold that you can hear the twigs snapping in the frigid air.

They called this time of the year, “The Moon of the Popping Trees.” It was on such a winter morning on December 29, 1890 that the crack of a single rifle brought a day of infamy that still lives in the hearts and minds of the Lakota people.
After the rifle spoke there was a pause and then the rifles and Hotchkiss guns of the Seventh Cavalry opened up on the men, women and children camped at Wounded Knee. What followed was utter chaos and madness. The thirst for the blood of the Lakota took away all common sense from the soldiers.
The unarmed Lakota fought back with bare hands. The warriors shouted to their wives, their elders and their children, “run for cover,” Iynkapo! Iyankapo!
Elderly men and women, unable to fight back, stood defiantly and sang their death songs before falling to the hail of bullets. The number of Lakota people murdered that day is still unknown. The mass grave at Wounded Knee holds the bodies of 150 men, women and children. Many other victims died from their wounds and from exposure over the next several days.
The Lakota people say that only 50 people out of the original 350 followers of Sitanka (Big Foot) survived the massacre.
Five days after the slaughter of the innocents an editorial in the Aberdeen (S.D.) Saturday Pioneer reflected the popular opinion of the wasicu (white people) of that day. It read, “The Pioneer has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries, we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up by one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth.”
Ten years after he wrote that editorial calling for genocide against the Lakota people, L. Frank Baum wrote that wonderful children's book, “The Wizard of Oz.”
The federal government tried to forever erase the memory of Wounded Knee. The village that sprang up on the site of the massacre was named Brennan after a Bureau of Indian Affairs official. But the Lakota people never forgot. Although the name “Brennan” appeared on the map, they still called it Wounded Knee. In the 1920s, Clive and Agnes Gildersleeve built the Wounded Knee Trading Post there to serve the Lakota people.
My father, Tim Giago, Sr., worked as a clerk and butcher for the Gildersleeves in the 1930s and we lived in one of the cabins at Wounded Knee that were later destroyed in the American Indian Movement occupation in 1973.
As a small boy, I recall the warm, summer evenings when the Lakota families sat outdoors and spoke softly, in reverent voices about that terrible day in 1890.
Much of what they said was written down by a young man named Hoksila Waste (pronounced Hokesheela Washtay) or Good Boy. His Christian name was Sid Byrd and he was a member of the Santee Sioux Tribe, a tribe that had been relocated and scattered around the state after the so-called Indian uprising in Minnesota.
Byrd wrote that it was the white man’s fear of the spiritual revival going on amongst the Lakota in the form of the Ghost Dance that led to the assassination of Sitting Bull on December 14, 1890, just two weeks before the massacre. Fearing further attacks, Sitanka (Big Foot), and his band, a group that performed the very last Ghost Dance, went on a five-day march in order to reach the protection of Chief Red Cloud at the Pine Ridge Agency.
The weary band was overtaken and captured at Wounded Knee Creek (Canke Opi Wahkpala).
Byrd believed, as do all Lakota people, that Big Foot died as a martyr for embracing the Ghost Dance “as freely as other men embraced their religion.”
Byrd wrote in his Lakota version of what happened that day, “Later, some of the bodies would be found four to five miles from the scene of the slaughter. Soldiers would whoop as they spotted women and children fleeing into the woods and chase them on horseback. They made sport of it. I heard from the elders that the soldiers shouted ‘Remember the Little Big Horn.’”
On the 100th anniversary of that infamous day, Birgil Kills Straight, Alex White Plume and Jim Garrett, organized a ride that followed the exact trail taken by Big Foot and his band. That ride has taken place every year since December 29, 1990. At the end of the ride they hold a ceremony called “wiping away the tears” that calls for peace and forgiveness. This year they will take that ride again 120 years after the massacre.
Arvol Looking Horse, the Keeper of the Sacred Pipe of the Lakota, says a prayer every year on the hallowed grounds at Wounded Knee. He prays that America will someday apologize to the Lakota for the terrible deeds of the Seventh Cavalry, and that the 23 soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for the slaughter of the innocents, will have those medals revoked. He also prays for peace and unity.
120 years after the tragedy at Wounded Knee, America has not apologized and the Medal of Honor winners are still looked upon as heroes by the United States. Will America ever own up to its sins?
Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, is the editor and publisher of Native Sun News. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard with the Class of 1990. His weekly column won the H. L. Mencken Award in 1985. He was the first Native American ever inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame. He can be reached at editor@nsweekly.com

Monday, December 20, 2010

FIRST THEY MURDERED HER DAUGHTER, BUT THAT WASN'T ENOUGH SO THEY MURDERED HER, TOO

And it just keeps going on...damn!

From Hispanic News Network USA

Escobedo Ortiz Killed While Seeking Justice For Murdered Daughter Outside The Chihuahua's State Government Building

Last month, Marisela Escobedo Ortiz talked to reporters.
Photo: La Parada Digital

Gunman seen in surveillance video chasing Ortiz and then shooting her in the head

By H. Nelson Goodson
December 17, 2010

Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Mexico - On Friday, hundreds of people gathered near where a mother asking for justice for the murder of her 16-year-old daughter was killed Thursday. Protesters are demanding justice and for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office to catch the killer and persons involved in her murder. They vowed to continue to seek justice for both victims. (Protest video:http://bit.ly/eejhld)
On Thursday, a nurse turned activist after her daughter's boyfriend killer was absolved of all charges had been fatally shot while seeking justice outside the Chihuahua's state government office building at the capitol in the city of Chihuahua. Carlos González, spokesperson for the Chihuahua Attorney General's office confirmed on Friday, that Marisela Escobedo Ortiz, 52, was gundown by an unknown suspect just after 8:00 p.m. on Thursday in front of the state government building.
At least two gunmen showed up in a white car at a regular protest Ortiz had organized. She was trying to place a large wanted poster of alleged killer Sergio Rafael Barraza Bocanegra, 22, aka, "DJ Pewe," and a poster demanding for state authorities to investigate her daughters death.
In June 16, 2009, Bocanegra had confessed and asked forgiveness for Rubi Marisol Frayre Escobedo, 16, murder in September 2008 in Ciudad Juarez. He even took authorities to where her dismembered body could be found at a hog farm.
On April 20, 2009, Ortiz had offered a $1,500 dollar reward for information leading to the arrest of Bacanegra. A tip led authorities to Bocanegra whereabouts in Fresnillo, Zacatecas.
But shortly after, Municipal Judges Catalina Ochoa Cervantes, Netzahualcóyotl Zúniga and another judge absolved all of Bocanegra's charges and set him free. Afterwards, a state warrant was issued for his arrest and had been eluding capture for two years.
Bocanegra is believed to have joined Los Zetas Drug Cartel.
Just last April, a panel of judges concluded that Judge Ochoa erred in dismissing homicide charges against Bocanegra. Chihuahua Governor César Duarte said on Friday in an interview with Televisa Primero Noticias, that he will act immediately to remove Judge Ochoa and the two other judges for dismissing the case against Bocanegra. Duarte will also push for the judges to be charged for illegaly dismissing the case after Bocanegra had confessed and was considered dangerous to the public, if allowed to go free.
Governor Duarte said, Ortiz had turned in to authorities a letter hand written by Bocanegra asking for forgiveness from Marisol and confessing to her homicide. Neighbors from where Bocanegra lived found the discarded letter in the trash and gave it to Ortiz, according to police.
Ortiz had told authorities, that her life had been threaten by Bocanegra and his family.
González says, the assailant argued with Ortiz' brother first and then chased Ortiz from the Plaza Hidalgo, who was trying to take refuge at a building across the street. But the assassin shot her at least three times, including a fatal shot to the head at close range. Ortiz later died at a nearby emergency clinic.
A surveillance video from the Chihuahua's state government office building at the capitol was recovered showing Ortiz's murder. (Building video of chase and murder: http://bit.ly/h9EKBP)
During the day before her death, Ortiz had met with state authorities to continue her push seeking justice for the murder of her daughter.

Sergio Rafael Barraza Bocanegra, 22, is wanted by both the state and federal Attorney General's Office (PGR), Mexican military, and the Federal Police in connection with the homicide's of Rubi Marisol Frayre Escobedo, 16, and Marisela Escobedo Ortiz, 52. Photo Chihuahua state government

News video in Spanish confirming Marisela Escobedo Ortiz had been shot outside the government capitol building in Chihuahua http://bit.ly/gAWT9I

POISON IN OUR TAP

Why in the hell do we have to drink this poison?

From Environmental Working Group with love.

« Previous Section - Next Section »

Chromium-6 – the Erin Brockovich Chemical – Is Widespread in U.S. Tap Water

Tests find cancer-causing chemical in 89 percent of cities sampled

CHROMIUM-6 IN TAP WATER OF 35 CITIES AVERAGED 3 TIMES CALIFORNIA'S PROPOSED SAFETY GOAL

*Geometric average based on level of chromium-6 measured in 35 U.S. cities and a statistical estimate for the four cities where no chromium-6 was detected. The lowest level detectable by these tests is 0.02 ppb. For the purpose of calculating the nationwide average, the concentration of chromium-6 in these four cities was assumed to be 0.01 ppb, or half of the lowest detectable level.

**"Proposed safe limit" is California EPA's proposed public health goal (OEHHA 2009).

Source: EWG-commissioned testing for hexavalent chromium in tap water from 35 cities.

Executive Summary

Tap water from 31 of 35 U.S. cities tested contains hexavalent chromium (or chromium-6), the carcinogenic “Erin Brockovich chemical,” according to laboratory tests commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG). The highest levels were detected in Norman, Okla.; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Riverside, Calif.

Despite mounting evidence of the contaminant’s toxic effects, including a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) draft toxicological review that classifies it as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans” when consumed in drinking water, the agency has not set a legal limit for chromium-6 in tap water and does not require water utilities to test for it. Hexavalent chromium is commonly discharged from steel and pulp mills as well as metal-plating and leather-tanning facilities. It can also pollute water through erosion of soil and rock.

The National Toxicology Program has found that hexavalent chromium in drinking water shows clear evidence of carcinogenic activity in laboratory animals, increasing the risk of otherwise rare gastrointestinal tumors (NTP 2007, 2008). In response to this study and others, California officials last year proposed setting a public health goal for chromium-6 in drinking water of 0.06 parts per billion (ppb). This is the first step toward establishing a statewide enforceable limit (OEHHA 2009).

Levels of the carcinogen in 25 cities tested by EWG were higher than California’s proposed public health goal. Tap water from Norman, Okla. (population 90,000) contained more than 200 times California’s proposed safe limit.

Millions of Americans drink chromium-contaminated water

EWG’s investigation is the broadest publicly available survey of hexavalent chromium to date. The 31 cities with chromium-polluted tap water draw from utilities that collectively serve more than 26 million people. In California, the only state that requires testing for hexavalent chromium, water utilities have detected the compound in tap water supplied to more than 31 million people, according to an EWG analysis of data from the state water agency (EWG 2009).

TOP FIVE CHROMIUM-CONTAMINATED CITIES TESTED BY EWG

City	City Population	Hexavalent Chromium Contamination Level in Tap Water
Norman, Oklahoma	89,952	12.9 ppb
Honolulu, Hawaii	661,004	2.00 ppb
Riverside, California	280,832	1.69 ppb
Madison, Wisconsin	200,814	1.58 ppb
San Jose, California	979,000	1.34 ppb

EWG's tests provide a one-time snapshot of chromium-6 levels in 35 cities. But chromium pollution is a continuous, ongoing problem, as shown by the annual water quality reports that utilities must produce under federal law. Over the years, nearly all of the 35 cities tested by EWG regularly report finding chromium (in the form of total chromium) in their water despite using far less sensitive testing methods than those used by EWG.

The total number of Americans drinking tap water contaminated with this compound is likely far higher than is indicated by EWG's tests. At least 74 million people in nearly 7,000 communities drink tap water polluted with “total chromium,” which includes hexavalent and other forms of the metal, according to EWG’s 2009 analysis of water utility tests from 48,000 communities in 42 states (EWG 2009).

The EPA has set a legal limit in tap water for total chromium of 100 ppb to protect against “allergic dermatitis” (skin irritation or reactions). Measures of total chromium include the essential mineral trivalent chromium, which regulates glucose metabolism, as well as the cancer-causing hexavalent form. Preliminary EWG-commissioned water tests found that in most cases, the majority of the total chromium in water was in the hexavalent form, yet the EPA’s legal limit for total chromium is 1,700 times higher than California's proposed public health goal for hexavalent chromium. This disparity could indicate significant cancer risk for communities drinking chromium-tainted tap water.

The EPA’s new analysis of hexavalent chromium toxicity, released in draft form in September 2010 (EPA 2010a), cites significant cancer concerns linked to exposure to the contaminant in drinking water. It highlights health effects documented in animal studies, including anemia and damage to the gastrointestinal tract, lymph nodes and liver.

Industry deception delayed protections

The plight of the cancer-stricken residents of Hinkley, Calif., who in 1996 won a $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for contaminating their tap water with hexavalent chromium, was the basis of the 2000 movie “Erin Brockovich,” starring Julia Roberts.

Subsequently, a 2005 Wall Street Journal investigation and a separate EWG report based on court documents and depositions from a similar lawsuit in Kettleman City, Calif. revealed that PG&E had hired consultants to publish a fraudulent analysis of cancer mortality in Chinese villagers exposed to hexavalent chromium, in an attempt to disprove the link between the chemical and cancer. The study was published in the respected Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and scientists and regulators — including the EPA — cited the fraudulent article in research and safety assessments. The journal retracted the paper in 2006 in response to EWG’s request for corrective action.

California officials then conducted a rigorous re-assessment of the study data, finding a statistically significant increase in stomach cancer among the exposed. Their analysis is consistent with laboratory evidence from the National Toxicology Program and others showing that hexavalent chromium in tap water causes gastrointestinal tumors in multiple species.

Industry has sought for more than six years to delay state-mandated regulation of hexavalent chromium in tap water in California. Aerospace giant Honeywell International Inc. and others have stalled the adoption of the advisory public health goal by pressing for additional external scientific peer review. California’s Department of Public Health can neither set nor enforce a mandatory tap water standard for hexavalent chromium until the goal is finalized.

Recommendations

At least 74 million Americans in 42 states drink chromium-polluted tap water, much of it likely in the form of cancer-causing hexavalent chromium. Given the scope of exposure and the magnitude of the potential risk, the EPA should move expeditiously to establish a legal limit for the chemical in tap water and require water utilities to test for it.

The state of California must establish a strong standard for hexavalent chromium in tap water immediately. A truly health-protective hexavalent chromium regulation will reduce the cancer risk for Californians and serve as a model for the nation. With an enforceable standard already six years past the statutory deadline and the health of millions of Californians at stake, the state cannot move too quickly.

« Previous Section - Next Section »