23 September 2006

Quote of the Day...



"...I don't mind saying,
It's a sad sad story
That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger..."


--The Dixie Chicks




22 September 2006

Quote of the Day...



Colorless green ideas sleep furiously - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously..."

--Avram Noam Chomsky (b.1928), American linguist and political activist






Viva Chavez!



If it smells like it, it probably is...

Fight The Man!
--ryan



Bush Rages: “I am not Beelzebub, Lord of Sulfur”

By Mike Whitney

“The devil is right at home…. The devil himself is right in the house. And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came right here…And it still smells of sulfur today.” Hugo Chavez; address to the UN General Assembly 9-20-06


My oh my, has Hugo Chavez caused a furor. Looking at the news reports filed in the last 24 hours, one would think that he snuck a dirty-bomb into the United Nations rather than gave a speech. In fact, the plucky Chavez may have delivered the finest 30 minute presentation that august assembly has ever heard. In that short span of time he publicly throttled the Global Emperor in front of 6 billion people and left his bruised and bloodied carcass splattered across the canvas like Roberto Duran in Round 9 of the middleweight championship match…..

“No mas, no mas no mas”…

And what about the performance? Is Chavez part of a theatre troupe or is he just earning his chops as a method actor?

Whatever it is; it seems to be working. After skewering Bush as “the devil” and sniffing around for sulfur (the traditional sign of Lucifer) Chavez performed his ablutions with a sign of the cross and an angelic _expression worthy of Botticelli.

If you’re a lefty, it just doesn’t get any better than this.

Chavez should give lessons in public speaking. His appearance was like a clap of thunder; waving Chomsky with one hand and pummeling Bush with the other. He managed to heap more muck on “Guantanamo Nation” than anyone since Harold Pinter gave his blistering Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on 12-7-05. That’s when Pinter said:

“The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have ever talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised quite a clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It is a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.”

Chavez matched Pinter word for word, exposing the hypocrisy, lies and brutality of an administration that never stops lecturing about freedom and liberation even though it grinds out mountains of carnage everywhere it goes.

And where was Bush when Chavez delivered his broadside ….hiding behind Karen Hughes skirts, picking out a new eye-liner for his next televised harangue against Muslims, retrieving his Yale pom-poms from the dry-cleaners?

Our benighted leader always seems to disappear whenever the prospect of danger arises. He skedaddled when his number came up for the Alabama National Guard and he lit-out for the safety of a Nebraska cornfield when the planes hit the towers. He even vamoosed at a trade summit in Argentina when Chavez threatened “to sneak up behind him and give him a bear-hug.” That really put a spring in old Bush’s step as he quickly scuttled to the safety of Airforce One.

One thing is certain, whenever there’s peril, President “gone-to-soon” will be speeding off in a trail of vapor.

In any case, Bush was not missed at the UN massacre yesterday. Chavez held-forth like a preacher at a brothel; scattering the bodies and kicking open the windows to let the sunlight in. He delivered one, ferocious roundhouse punch after another….

Boom, boom, boom…until the crowd rose in a thunderous 5 minute ovation. (which was carefully omitted from the TV coverage)

“What would the people of the world tell (Bush) if they were given the floor?” Chavez asked. “What would they have to say? I have some inkling of what they would say, what the oppressed people think. They would say, ‘Yankee imperialist, go home.”

“He spoke to the people of Lebanon,” Chavez added. “Many of you have seen, he said, how your homes and communities were caught in the crossfire. How cynical can you get? What a capacity to lie shamefacedly. The bombs in Beirut were delivered with laser precision….This is imperialist (and) genocidal; the empire and Israel firing on the people of Palestine and Lebanon. That is what happened. And now we hear, ‘We’re suffering because we see homes destroyed.’”

Ouch; no wonder Bush “high-tailed it” out of the UN before the ensuing bloodbath.

Chavez is like a battering ram punching holes in the wall of silence which surrounds King George. Right after his speech I checked in at CNN and, as I expected, Bush-apologist Wolf Blitzer was spinning in his wingtips frantically trying to stitch together the tattered image of the Dear Leader. A quick peek at Google News confirms that the entire arsenal of corporate media is now engaged in the hopeless task of salvaging Bush’s wretched presidency.

But the damage is done. Chavez played the match on Bush’s home turf and beat him like a drum. Bush is probably still quivering under his desk.

“There are other ways of thinking,” Chavez opined. “There are young people who think differently and this has happened in a mere decade. It has been shown that ‘the end of history’ was a false assumption, and the same is true of Pax Americana and the establishment of a ‘capitalist neo-liberal world. The system has only generated more poverty. Who believes in it now?”

Yes, who believes it now? Who believes in a party which has only produced two ideas in its entire history; tax cuts and war? Who believes that endless bombardment and martial law can be passed off as democracy and liberation? Who believes that a rogue’s gallery of liars, war-profiteers and gangsters can work in the public’s interest?

“We want ideas to save our planet from the imperialist threat. And, hopefully in this very century, in not to long a time, we will see a new era, and for our children and grandchildren, a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.”

Yes, Hugo, we want peace with our neighbors, peace with our friends, and peace with our enemies. We’re sick of war and the men who want war; and that includes every feckless politico in Congress, Democrat and Republican alike.

“The hegemonistic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very existence of the human species. We appeal to the people of the United States and of the world to halt this threat which is like a sword hanging over our heads.”

There’s no time to lose. We have to dump Bush NOW and get on with the pressing issues of global warming, peak oil, nuclear proliferation, poverty and AIDS.

Chavez is right; the present model for global rule is broken and corrupt. We need a change.

“Capitalism is savagery,” Chavez boomed.

Viva Chavez.





Samuel John Around Him Jr. (1942 - 2006)



Prayers and Smoke go out to all who feel this loss...

Mitakuye Oyasin
--ryan



Lakota Spiritual Leader, Language Teacher Dies

By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal Staff Writer
KYLE -- A respected spiritual leader who taught the Lakota language
to hundreds of students on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has
died.


John Around Him, 64, died at his home near Kyle Wednesday night
after a battle with bone cancer. A relative said his cancer was
diagnosed when doctors ran tests related to pre-existing heart
problems.

"I think he was one of the most respected spiritual leaders on the
reservation," said Oglala Lakota College president Tom Short Bull.
Around Him has taught Lakota language at the college for three years.

"We as Lakota people do not do enough to recognize and give
appreciation to people who are contemporary heroes to us," Short
Bull said. "And that's what I see John as being, one of the heroes
of this reservation."

Around Him was honored last month when Gov. Mike Rounds declared
Aug. 28 as "John Around Him Day" in South Dakota.

Around Him, who spoke Lakota as his first language, had a long
relationship with Little Wound School in Kyle, where he worked as a
bus driver and served on a Parent Advisory Committee before
beginning his work as a language teacher.

Matilda Montileaux, a second-grade teacher and language teacher who
worked closely with Around Him, said he taught elementary, middle
school and high school students over the years. He gave opening
prayers at school functions, announced for powwows and helped start
a youth drum group, Eagle Mountain Drum Group.

"They were young boys then, and now they basically have families of
their own," Montileaux said. "And they're still singing."

Around Him did extensive work with Indian inmates in South Dakota
prisons, trying to help them maintain their connection to culture
and heritage. He offered pipe and sweat-lodge ceremonies to Indian
inmates, who make up 24 percent of the state's prison population,
according to state officials. Around Him also did cultural awareness
training for prison staff.

Short Bull said Around Him also worked with at-risk youth.

"He helped so many young people who were having difficult times,
going through the Lakota traditional ceremonies to help straighten
their lives out," he said.

"He was a very good counselor," added Montileaux, who is also
Around Him's niece. "I don't know if he knew that he had those
abilities."

Around Him also held sundances for years in honor of his father and
wife.

Those who knew him say his passing is a big loss for Lakota people.

"In terms of him being here physically, it's a major loss,"
Montileaux said. "But I think what he has taught us, we should be
able to use to carry on. Basically it's up to us to carry on the
teachings. Not just about the language, but about life in general."

Short Bull said Around Him had stepped up to fill a void when
longtime Lakota language instructor Calvin Jumping Bull died last
year. Jumping Bull had given songs and prayers at OLC graduations
for years.

"Now the issue is who is going to come and fill the void that John
has left," Short Bull said. "Hopefully someone will step forward,
but we're really losing a lot of really good people on this
reservation."

Around Him was honored by South Dakota officials last month for his
work with state prison inmates. At the time, he said he didn't know
when he would be called home, "but I want you to continue on with
my work.

"The students, they all need to learn," Around Him told
listeners. "They will carry on, they will learn the words and the
songs."

Around Him, a Vietnam veteran, was active in the American Legion
Post No. 265.

Preliminary obituary information appears on page C2.

Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or
heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com



Foreign Policy: Mafia Style..?



Well, well, well. Funny, how annoying things like the truth have that insidious way of popping up at the worst times. Kind of like the huge turd that just won't flush, enit?

What a proud time it is to be an American...

--ryan


US 'Threatened to Bomb' Pakistan
The US threatened to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" unless it joined the fight against al-Qaeda, President Pervez Musharraf has said.

General Musharraf said the warning was delivered by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to Pakistan's intelligence director.

"I think it was a very rude remark," Gen Musharraf told CBS television.

Pakistan agreed to side with the US, but Gen Musharraf said it did so based on his country's national interest.

"One has to think and take actions in the interest of the nation, and that's what I did," he said.

'Ludicrous' Requests

The extracts from the CBS show 60 Minutes, which will run on Sunday, were released on the same day that the White House praised Pakistan for its co-operation in America's "war on terror".

Gen Musharraf is due to meet US President George W Bush at the White House on Friday.

The BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says that Gen Musharraf was deliberately distancing himself from the White House in the face of intense pressure within Pakistan over his close ties to Washington.

He is also due to launch his autobiography next week and some analysts say the timing of the revelation may be an attempt to generate interest in the book.

The White House and US State Department declined to comment on the 60 Minutes interview.

The Pakistani president said that, following the attacks of 11 September 2001, the US made some "ludicrous" demands of Pakistan.

"The intelligence director told me that Mr Armitage said, 'Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age'," he said.

The US envoy also insisted that Pakistan suppress domestic expression of support for attacks on the United States, he said.

"If somebody's expressing views, we cannot curb the expression of views," Gen Musharraf said.

Mr Armitage also allegedly demanded that Pakistan allow the US to use its border posts as staging points for the war on Afghanistan.

Gen Musharraf did agree to open up Pakistani airspace to the US, as well as to share intelligence after 11 September.

American troops are not officially allowed to operate on Pakistani soil although they have launched air strikes from bases in Afghanistan.

In January, 18 local people were killed in a US raid targeting Al Qaeda number two Ayman Al-Zawahiri in a village in Bajaur Agency on the border with Afghanistan.

Five foreigners were also killed in the raid, Gen Musharraf said at the time, amid anger about the attack.

Pakistan's support was considered crucial in the defeat of Afghanistan's Taleban government, which Pakistan had helped to bring to power.

President Musharraf has proved a loyal ally though many now will question the means used to extract the co-operation, says the BBC's Jonathan Beale.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/5369198.stm

Published: 2006/09/22 08:50:12 GMT

© BBC MMVI




The Scent of Evil...



Hokahey!
President Hugo Chavez speaks true words. The Bu$h Administration and the Neo-Cons fear and hate Chavez because they cannot control what he says or does. They can't stick him in their pocket. The hate him because he serves the poor people of the nation that lawfully elected him, placing their needs above the wants of the rich...

Fight The Man!
--ryan




BBC NEWS | Americas | Chavez Tells UN Bush Is 'Devil'



Rise Up Against the Empire

By HUGO CHAVEZ

Representatives of the governments of the world, good morning to all of you. First of all, I would like to invite you, very respectfully, to those who have not read this book, to read it.

Noam Chomsky, one of the most prestigious American and world intellectuals, Noam Chomsky, and this is one of his most recent books, 'Hegemony or Survival: The Imperialist Strategy of the United States.'" [Holds up book, waves it in front of General Assembly.] "It's an excellent book to help us understand what has been happening in the world throughout the 20th century, and what's happening now, and the greatest threat looming over our planet.

The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to warn you about this danger and we appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our heads. I had considered reading from this book, but, for the sake of time," [flips through the pages, which are numerous] "I will just leave it as a recommendation.

It reads easily, it is a very good book, I'm sure Madame [President] you are familiar with it. It appears in English, in Russian, in Arabic, in German. I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is right in their own house.

The devil is right at home. The devil, the devil himself, is right in the house.

"And the devil came here yesterday. Yesterday the devil came here. Right here." [crosses himself] "And it smells of sulfur still today.

Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.

I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.

An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: "The Devil's Recipe."

As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated.

The world parent's statement -- cynical, hypocritical, full of this imperial hypocrisy from the need they have to control everything.

They say they want to impose a democratic model. But that's their democratic model. It's the false democracy of elites, and, I would say, a very original democracy that's imposed by weapons and bombs and firing weapons.

What a strange democracy. Aristotle might not recognize it or others who are at the root of democracy.

What type of democracy do you impose with marines and bombs?

The president of the United States, yesterday, said to us, right here, in this room, and I'm quoting, "Anywhere you look, you hear extremists telling you can escape from poverty and recover your dignity through violence, terror and martyrdom."

Wherever he looks, he sees extremists. And you, my brother -- he looks at your color, and he says, oh, there's an extremist. Evo Morales, the worthy president of Bolivia, looks like an extremist to him.

The imperialists see extremists everywhere. It's not that we are extremists. It's that the world is waking up. It's waking up all over. And people are standing up.

I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of nations.

Yes, you can call us extremists, but we are rising up against the empire, against the model of domination.

The president then -- and this he said himself, he said: "I have come to speak directly to the populations in the Middle East, to tell them that my country wants peace."

That's true. If we walk in the streets of the Bronx, if we walk around New York, Washington, San Diego, in any city, San Antonio, San Francisco, and we ask individuals, the citizens of the United States, what does this country want? Does it want peace? They'll say yes.

But the government doesn't want peace. The government of the United States doesn't want peace. It wants to exploit its system of exploitation, of pillage, of hegemony through war.

It wants peace. But what's happening in Iraq? What happened in Lebanon? In Palestine? What's happening? What's happened over the last 100 years in Latin America and in the world? And now threatening Venezuela -- new threats against Venezuela, against Iran?

He spoke to the people of Lebanon. Many of you, he said, have seen how your homes and communities were caught in the crossfire. How cynical can you get? What a capacity to lie shamefacedly. The bombs in Beirut with millimetric precision?

This is crossfire? He's thinking of a western, when people would shoot from the hip and somebody would be caught in the crossfire.

This is imperialist, fascist, assassin, genocidal, the empire and Israel firing on the people of Palestine and Lebanon. That is what happened. And now we hear, "We're suffering because we see homes destroyed.'

The president of the United States came to talk to the peoples -- to the peoples of the world. He came to say -- I brought some documents with me, because this morning I was reading some statements, and I see that he talked to the people of Afghanistan, the people of Lebanon, the people of Iran. And he addressed all these peoples directly.

And you can wonder, just as the president of the United States addresses those peoples of the world, what would those peoples of the world tell him if they were given the floor? What would they have to say?

And I think I have some inkling of what the peoples of the south, the oppressed people think. They would say, "Yankee imperialist, go home." I think that is what those people would say if they were given the microphone and if they could speak with one voice to the American imperialists.

And that is why, Madam President, my colleagues, my friends, last year we came here to this same hall as we have been doing for the past eight years, and we said something that has now been confirmed -- fully, fully confirmed.

I don't think anybody in this room could defend the system. Let's accept -- let's be honest. The U.N. system, born after the Second World War, collapsed. It's worthless.

Oh, yes, it's good to bring us together once a year, see each other, make statements and prepare all kinds of long documents, and listen to good speeches, like Abel's yesterday, or President Mullah's . Yes, it's good for that.

And there are a lot of speeches, and we've heard lots from the president of Sri Lanka, for instance, and the president of Chile.

But we, the assembly, have been turned into a merely deliberative organ. We have no power, no power to make any impact on the terrible situation in the world. And that is why Venezuela once again proposes, here, today, 20 September, that we re-establish the United Nations.

Last year, Madam, we made four modest proposals that we felt to be crucially important. We have to assume the responsibility our heads of state, our ambassadors, our representatives, and we have to discuss it.

The first is expansion, and Mullah talked about this yesterday right here. The Security Council, both as it has permanent and non-permanent categories, (inaudible) developing countries and LDCs must be given access as new permanent members. That's step one.

Second, effective methods to address and resolve world conflicts, transparent decisions.

Point three, the immediate suppression -- and that is something everyone's calling for -- of the anti-democratic mechanism known as the veto, the veto on decisions of the Security Council.

Let me give you a recent example. The immoral veto of the United States allowed the Israelis, with impunity, to destroy Lebanon. Right in front of all of us as we stood there watching, a resolution in the council was prevented.

Fourthly, we have to strengthen, as we've always said, the role and the powers of the secretary general of the United Nations.

Yesterday, the secretary general practically gave us his speech of farewell. And he recognized that over the last 10 years, things have just gotten more complicated; hunger, poverty, violence, human rights violations have just worsened. That is the tremendous consequence of the collapse of the United Nations system and American hegemonistic pretensions.

Madam, Venezuela a few years ago decided to wage this battle within the United Nations by recognizing the United Nations, as members of it that we are, and lending it our voice, our thinking.

Our voice is an independent voice to represent the dignity and the search for peace and the reformulation of the international system; to denounce persecution and aggression of hegemonistic forces on the planet.

This is how Venezuela has presented itself. Bolivar's home has sought a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council.

Let's see. Well, there's been an open attack by the U.S. government, an immoral attack, to try and prevent Venezuela from being freely elected to a post in the Security Council.

The imperium is afraid of truth, is afraid of independent voices. It calls us extremists, but they are the extremists.

And I would like to thank all the countries that have kindly announced their support for Venezuela, even though the ballot is a secret one and there's no need to announce things.

But since the imperium has attacked, openly, they strengthened the convictions of many countries. And their support strengthens us.

Mercosur, as a bloc, has expressed its support, our brothers in Mercosur. Venezuela, with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, is a full member of Mercosur.

And many other Latin American countries, CARICOM, Bolivia have expressed their support for Venezuela. The Arab League, the full Arab League has voiced its support. And I am immensely grateful to the Arab world, to our Arab brothers, our Caribbean brothers, the African Union. Almost all of Africa has expressed its support for Venezuela and countries such as Russia or China and many others.

I thank you all warmly on behalf of Venezuela, on behalf of our people, and on behalf of the truth, because Venezuela, with a seat on the Security Council, will be expressing not only Venezuela's thoughts, but it will also be the voice of all the peoples of the world, and we will defend dignity and truth.

Over and above all of this, Madam President, I think there are reasons to be optimistic. A poet would have said "helplessly optimistic," because over and above the wars and the bombs and the aggressive and the preventive war and the destruction of entire peoples, one can see that a new era is dawning.

As Silvio Rodriguez says, the era is giving birth to a heart. There are alternative ways of thinking. There are young people who think differently. And this has already been seen within the space of a mere decade. It was shown that the end of history was a totally false assumption, and the same was shown about Pax Americana and the establishment of the capitalist neo-liberal world. It has been shown, this system, to generate mere poverty. Who believes in it now?

What we now have to do is define the future of the world. Dawn is breaking out all over. You can see it in Africa and Europe and Latin America and Oceanea. I want to emphasize that optimistic vision.

We have to strengthen ourselves, our will to do battle, our awareness. We have to build a new and better world.

Venezuela joins that struggle, and that's why we are threatened. The U.S. has already planned, financed and set in motion a coup in Venezuela, and it continues to support coup attempts in Venezuela and elsewhere.

President Michelle Bachelet reminded us just a moment ago of the horrendous assassination of the former foreign minister, Orlando Letelier.

And I would just add one thing: Those who perpetrated this crime are free. And that other event where an American citizen also died were American themselves. They were CIA killers, terrorists.

And we must recall in this room that in just a few days there will be another anniversary. Thirty years will have passed from this other horrendous terrorist attack on the Cuban plane, where 73 innocents died, a Cubana de Aviacion airliner.

And where is the biggest terrorist of this continent who took the responsibility for blowing up the plane? He spent a few years in jail in Venezuela. Thanks to CIA and then government officials, he was allowed to escape, and he lives here in this country, protected by the government.

And he was convicted. He has confessed to his crime. But the U.S. government has double standards. It protects terrorism when it wants to.

And this is to say that Venezuela is fully committed to combating terrorism and violence. And we are one of the people who are fighting for peace.

Luis Posada Carriles is the name of that terrorist who is protected here. And other tremendously corrupt people who escaped from Venezuela are also living here under protection: a group that bombed various embassies, that assassinated people during the coup. They kidnapped me and they were going to kill me, but I think God reached down and our people came out into the streets and the army was too, and so I'm here today.

But these people who led that coup are here today in this country protected by the American government. And I accuse the American government of protecting terrorists and of having a completely cynical discourse.

We mentioned Cuba. Yes, we were just there a few days ago. We just came from there happily.

And there you see another era born. The Summit of the 15, the Summit of the Nonaligned, adopted a historic resolution. This is the outcome document. Don't worry, I'm not going to read it.

But you have a whole set of resolutions here that were adopted after open debate in a transparent matter -- more than 50 heads of state. Havana was the capital of the south for a few weeks, and we have now launched, once again, the group of the nonaligned with new momentum.

And if there is anything I could ask all of you here, my companions, my brothers and sisters, it is to please lend your good will to lend momentum to the Nonaligned Movement for the birth of the new era, to prevent hegemony and prevent further advances of imperialism.

And as you know, Fidel Castro is the president of the nonaligned for the next three years, and we can trust him to lead the charge very efficiently.

Unfortunately they thought, "Oh, Fidel was going to die." But they're going to be disappointed because he didn't. And he's not only alive, he's back in his green fatigues, and he's now presiding the nonaligned.

So, my dear colleagues, Madam President, a new, strong movement has been born, a movement of the south. We are men and women of the south.

With this document, with these ideas, with these criticisms, I'm now closing my file. I'm taking the book with me. And, don't forget, I'm recommending it very warmly and very humbly to all of you.

We want ideas to save our planet, to save the planet from the imperialist threat. And hopefully in this very century, in not too long a time, we will see this, we will see this new era, and for our children and our grandchildren a world of peace based on the fundamental principles of the United Nations, but a renewed United Nations.

And maybe we have to change location. Maybe we have to put the United Nations somewhere else; maybe a city of the south. We've proposed Venezuela.

You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.

May God bless us all. Good day to you.



http://www.counterpunch.org/





19 September 2006

Talk Like a Pirate Day



Aaarrrrggg!!!





18 September 2006

Save Darfur!



We all must act now!

--ryan



YouTube - Save Darfur


09 September 2006

Two Strike (1821 - 1915) Lakota Brule



Hokahey!

--ryan



Two Strike (1821-1915)


as Remembered by Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman)


It is a pity that so many interesting names of well-known Indians have been mistranslated, so that their meaning becomes very vague if it is not wholly lost. In some cases an opposite meaning is conveyed. For instance there is the name, "Young-Man-Afraid-of- His-Horses." It does not mean that the owner of the name is afraid of his own horse -- far from it! Tashunkekokipapi signifies "The young men [of the enemy] fear his horses." Whenever that man attacks, the enemy knows there will be a determined charge.

The name Tashunkewitko, or Crazy Horse, is a poetic simile. This leader was likened to an untrained or untouched horse, wild, ignorant of domestic uses, splendid in action, and unconscious of danger.

The name of Two Strike is a deed name. In a battle with the Utes this man knocked two enemies from the back of a war horse. The true rendering of the name Nomkahpa would be, "He knocked off two."

I was well acquainted with Two Strike and spent many pleasant hours with him, both at Washington, D. C., and in his home on the Rosebud reservation. What I have written is not all taken from his own mouth, because he was modest in talking about himself, but I had him vouch for the truth of the stories. He said that he was born near the Republican River about 1832. His earliest recollection was of an attack by the Shoshones upon their camp on the Little Piney. The first white men he ever met were traders who visited his people when he was very young. The incident was still vividly with him, because, he said, "They made my father crazy," [drunk]. This made a deep impression upon him, he told me, so that from that day he was always afraid of the white man's "mysterious water."

Two Strike was not a large man, but he was very supple and alert in motion, as agile as an antelope. His face was mobile and intelligent. Although he had the usual somber visage of an Indian, his expression brightened up wonderfully when he talked. In some ways wily and shrewd in intellect, he was not deceitful nor mean. He had a high sense of duty and honor. Patriotism was his ideal and goal of life.

As a young man he was modest and even shy, although both his father and grandfather were well-known chiefs. I could find few noteworthy incidents in his early life, save that he was an expert rider of wild horses. At one time I was pressing him to give me some interesting incident of his boyhood. He replied to the effect that there was plenty of excitement but "not much in it." There was a delegation of Sioux chiefs visiting Washington, and we were spending an evening together in their hotel. Hollow Horn Bear spoke up and said:

"Why don't you tell him how you and a buffalo cow together held your poor father up and froze him almost to death?"

Everybody laughed, and another man remarked: "I think he had better tell the medicine man (meaning myself) how he lost the power of speech when he first tried to court a girl." Two Strike, although he was then close to eighty years of age, was visibly embarrassed by their chaff.

"Anyway, I stuck to the trail. I kept on till I got what I wanted," he muttered. And then came the story.

The old chief, his father, was very fond of the buffalo hunt; and being accomplished in horsemanship and a fine shot, although not very powerfully built, young Two Strike was already following hard in his footsteps. Like every proud father, his was giving him every incentive to perfect his skill, and one day challenged his sixteen-year-old son to the feat of "one arrow to kill" at the very next chase.

It was midwinter. A large herd of buffalo was reported by the game scout. The hunters gathered at daybreak prepared for the charge. The old chief had his tried charger equipped with a soft, pillow-like Indian saddle and a lariat. His old sinew-backed hickory bow was examined and strung, and a fine straight arrow with a steel head carefully selected for the test. He adjusted a keen butcher knife over his leather belt, which held a warm buffalo robe securely about his body. He wore neither shirt nor coat, although a piercing wind was blowing from the northwest. The youthful Two Strike had his favorite bow and his swift pony, which was perhaps dearer to him than his closest boy comrade.

Now the hunters crouched upon their horses' necks like an army in line of battle, while behind them waited the boys and old men with pack ponies to carry the meat. "Hukahey!" shouted the leader as a warning. "Yekiya wo!" (Go) and in an instant all the ponies leaped forward against the cutting wind, as if it were the start in a horse race. Every rider leaned forward, tightly wrapped in his robe, watching the flying herd for an opening in the mass of buffalo, a chance to cut out some of the fattest cows. This was the object of the race.

The chief had a fair start; his horse was well trained and needed no urging nor guidance. Without the slightest pull on the lariat he dashed into the thickest of the herd. The youth's pony had been prancing and rearing impatiently; he started a little behind, yet being swift passed many. His rider had one clear glimpse of his father ahead of him, then the snow arose in blinding clouds on the trail of the bison. The whoops of the hunters, the lowing of the cows, and the menacing glances of the bulls as they plunged along, or now and then stood at bay, were enough to unnerve a boy less well tried. He was unable to select his victim. He had been carried deeply into the midst of the herd and found himself helpless to make the one sure shot, therefore he held his one arrow in his mouth and merely strove to separate them so as to get his chance.

At last the herd parted, and he cut out two fat cows, and was maneuvering for position when a rider appeared out of the snow cloud on their other side. This aroused him to make haste lest his rival secure both cows; he saw his chance, and in a twinkling his arrow sped clear through one of the animals so that she fell headlong.

In this instant he observed that the man who had joined him was his own father, who had met with the same difficulties as himself. When the young man had shot his only arrow, the old chief with a whoop went after the cow that was left, but as he gained her broadside, his horse stepped in a badger hole and fell, throwing him headlong. The maddened buffalo, as sometimes happens in such cases, turned upon the pony and gored him to death. His rider lay motionless, while Two Strike rushed forward to draw her attention, but she merely tossed her head at him, while persistently standing guard over the dead horse and the all but frozen Indian.

Alas for the game of "one arrow to kill!" The boy must think fast, for his father's robe had slipped off, and he was playing dead, lying almost naked in the bitter air upon the trampled snow. His bluff would not serve, so he flew back to pull out his solitary arrow from the body of the dead cow. Quickly wheeling again, he sent it into her side and she fell. The one arrow to kill had become one arrow to kill two buffalo! At the council lodge that evening Two Strike was the hero.

The following story is equally characteristic of him, and in explanation it should be said that in the good old days among the Sioux, a young man is not supposed to associate with girls until he is ready to take a wife. It was a rule with our young men, especially the honorable and well-born, to gain some reputation in the hunt and in war, -- the more difficult the feats achieved the better, -- before even speaking to a young woman. Many a life was risked in the effort to establish a reputation along these lines. Courtship was no secret, but rather a social event, often celebrated by the proud parents with feasts and presents to the poor, and this etiquette was sometimes felt by a shy or sensitive youth as an insurmountable obstacle to the fulfilment of his desires.

Two Strike was the son and grandson of a chief, but he could not claim any credit for the deeds of his forbears. He had not only to guard their good name but achieve one for himself. This he had set out to do, and he did well. He was now of marriageable age with a war record, and admitted to the council, yet he did not seem to trouble himself at all about a wife. His was strictly a bachelor career. Meanwhile, as is apt to be the case, his parents had thought much about a possible daughter-in-law, and had even collected ponies, fine robes, and other acceptable goods to be given away in honor of the event, whenever it should take place. Now and then they would drop a sly hint, but with no perceptible effect.

They did not and could not know of the inward struggle that racked his mind at this period of his life. The shy and modest young man was dying for a wife, yet could not bear even to think of speaking to a young woman! The fearless hunter of buffaloes, mountain lions, and grizzlies, the youth who had won his eagle feathers in a battle with the Utes, could not bring himself to take this tremendous step.

At last his father appealed to him directly. "My son," he declared, "it is your duty to take unto yourself a wife, in order that the honors won by your ancestors and by yourself may be handed down in the direct line. There are several eligible young women in our band whose parents have intimated a wish to have you for their son-in-law."

Two Strike made no reply, but he was greatly disturbed. He had no wish to have the old folks select his bride, for if the truth were told, his choice was already made. He had simply lacked the courage to go a-courting!

The next morning, after making an unusually careful toilet, he took his best horse and rode to a point overlooking the path by which the girls went for water. Here the young men were wont to take their stand, and, if fortunate, intercept the girl of their heart for a brief but fateful interview. Two Strike had determined to speak straight to the point, and as soon as he saw the pretty maid he came forward boldly and placed himself in her way. A long moment passed. She glanced up at him shyly but not without encouragement. His teeth fairly chattered with fright, and he could not say a word. She looked again, noted his strange looks, and believed him suddenly taken ill. He appeared to be suffering. At last he feebly made signs for her to go on and leave him alone. The maiden was sympathetic, but as she did not know what else to do she obeyed his request.

The poor youth was so ashamed of his cowardice that he afterward admitted his first thought was to take his own life. He believed he had disgraced himself forever in the eyes of the only girl he had ever loved. However, he determined to conquer his weakness and win her, which he did. The story came out many years after and was told with much enjoyment by the old men.

Two Strike was better known by his own people than by the whites, for he was individually a terror in battle rather than a leader. He achieved his honorable name in a skirmish with the Utes in Colorado. The Sioux regarded these people as their bravest enemies, and the outcome of the fight was for some time uncertain. First the Sioux were forced to retreat and then their opponents, and at the latter point the horse of a certain Ute was shot under him. A friend came to his rescue and took him up behind him. Our hero overtook them in flight, raised his war club, and knocked both men off with one blow.

He was a very old man when he died, only two or three years ago, on the Rosebud reservation. (webmaster note: Two Strike crossed over in 1915)

Two Strike when an Elder, photographed by Edward Curtis
Click on photo for larger version
in Library of Congress: American Memory collection

Indigenous Peoples' Literature Return to Indigenous Peoples' Literature Compiled by: Glenn Welker
Copyright © 1996-106





Quote of the Day...



"Naturally the common people don't want war...Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country..."


--Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering (1893 - 1946), Nazi Politician




All the News That Wasn't Fit to Print...?



Read them and pass them on...

Fight the Man!
--ryan





Project Censored Media Democracy in Action

Project Censored Announces the Release of the Top 25 Most Censored Stories for 2005-06

For thirty years Project Censored at Sonoma State University has been reporting the real news that corporate media refuses to cover. The 250 student researchers and faculty find cutting-edge news stories that go under-reported in the mainstream corporate media. Real news is not there for the selling of material goods or entertainment. Real news can only be measured through its success in building democracy, stimulating grassroots activism, and motivating resistance to top-down institutions. Democratic activism underlies the purpose, reason, and message of free speech. Here again is Project Censored's release of the news that didn't make the news-a compilation of the best examples of journalism that the corporate media marginalized in 2005-06.

Full reviews of the stories are published in Censored 2007: 30th Anniversary Edition from Seven Stories Press, available at: http://www.projectcensored.org/

1. Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media
Throughout 2005 and 2006, a large underground debate raged regarding the future of the Internet. Referred to as "network neutrality," the issue has become a tug of war with cable companies on the one hand and consumers and Internet service providers on the other.

2. Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
As recently as January of 2005 and a decade before Halliburton sold key components for a nuclear reactor to an Iranian oil development company in violations of US sanctions.

3. Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger
Sea temperature and chemistry changes, along with contamination and reckless fishing practices intertwine to imperil the world's largest communal life source.

4. Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the US
The number of hungry and homeless people in US cities continued to grow in 2005.

5. High-Tech Genocide in Congo
The world's most neglected emergency is the ongoing tragedy of the Congo, where six to seven million have died since 1996 as a consequence of invasions and wars sponsored by western powers trying to gain control of the region's mineral wealth

6. Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy
Special Counsel Scott Bloch, appointed by President Bush in 2004, is overseeing the virtual elimination of federal whistleblower rights in the US government.

7. US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq
The American Civil Liberties Union released documents of forty-four autopsies held in Afghanistan and Iraq October 25, 2005. Twenty-one of those deaths were listed as homicides. These documents present irrefutable evidence that US operatives tortured detainees to death during interrogation.

8. Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act
In December 2005, Congress passed the 2006 Defense Authorization Act which renders Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) "operational files" fully immune to FOIA requests, the main mechanism by which watchdog groups, journalists and individuals can access federal documents.

9. The World Bank Funds Israel-Palestine Wall
Despite the 2004 International Court of Justice (ICJ) decision that called for tearing down the Israel-Palestinian Wall-construction of the Wall has accelerated using World Bank funds.

10. Expanded Air War in Iraq Kills More Civilians
A key element of Bush's drawdown plans in Iraq includes increased uses of airpower. Expanded air strikes will likely lead to increased civilian deaths.

11. Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed
Several recent studies confirm fears that genetically modified (GM) foods damage human health.

12. Pentagon Plans to Build New Landmines
The US plans to resume production of antipersonnel landmines.

13. New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup
New studies reveal that Roundup, the most widely used weed killer in the world, poses serious human health threats.

14. Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
Halliburton's subsidiary KBR has been awarded a $385 million contingency contract by the Department of Homeland Security to build detention camps in the United States for immigrations surges and "news programs."

15. Chemical Industry is EPA's Primary Research Partner
The American Chemical Council is now EPA's leading research partner

16. Ecuador and Mexico Defy US on International Criminal Court
Ecuador and Mexico have refused to sign bilateral immunity agreements (BIA) with the US, in ratification of the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty, despite the Bush Administration's threat to withhold economic aid

17. Iraq Invasion Promotes OPEC Agenda
The US occupation of Iraq has been used by the US to acquire access to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

18. Physicist Challenges Official 9-11 Story
Research by Brigham Young University physics professor, Steven E. Jones, concludes that the official 9/11 explanation for the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings is implausible according to laws of physics

19. Destruction of Rainforests Worst Ever
New developments in satellite imaging technology reveal that the Amazon rainforest is being destroyed twice as quickly as previously estimated

20. Bottled Water: A Global Environmental Problem
Consumers spend a collective $100 billion every year on bottled water in the belief-often mistaken-that it is better for us than what flows from our taps. Worldwide, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year.

21. Gold Mining Threatens Ancient Andean Glaciers
Barrick Gold, a powerful multinational gold mining company, planned to melt three Andean glaciers in order to access gold deposits through open pit mining.

22. Billions in Homeland Security Spending Undisclosed
More than $8 billion in Homeland Security funds has been doled out to states since the September 11, 2001 attacks, but the public has little chance of knowing how this money is actually being spent.

23. US Oil Targets Kyoto in Europe
Lobbyists funded by the US oil industry have launched a campaign in Europe aimed at derailing efforts to enforce the Kyoto Protocol against global warming

24. Cheney's Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
Vice President Dick Cheney's stock options in Halliburton rose from $241,498 in 2004 to over $8 million in 2005, an increase of more than 3,000 percent

25. US Military in Paraguay Threatens Region
South American countries are concerned that a massive air base at Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay is designed to be a US military stronghold in the region.

Contact Information:

Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
707-664-2500
censored@sonoma.edu
Full reviews of the stories are available at:

http://www.projectcensored.org/

--
Peter Phillips Ph.D.
Professor Sociology/Director Project Censored
Sonoma State University
1801 East Cotati Ave.
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
Office: 707-664-2588
www.projectcensored.org




Duh..!



O.K. Curious George, read my lips: Saddam was not with al-Qaeda.

Funny, anyone with even the most basic knowledge of the socio-political dynamics of the Middle East fully understood this fact from the beginning.

Perhaps this will finally prompt $lick Dick to shut the f@ck up about how Saddam took the World Trade Center down, but then again, someone will probably end up shot...

--ryan





Saddam 'Had No Link To Al-Qaeda'
There is no evidence of formal links between Iraqi ex-leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda leaders prior to the 2003 war, a US Senate report says.

The finding is contained in a 2005 CIA report released by the Senate's Intelligence Committee on Friday.

US President George W Bush has said that the presence of late al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq before the war was evidence of a link.

Opposition Democrats are accusing the White House of deliberate deception.

They say the revelation undermines the basis on which the US went to war in Iraq.

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says that the US president has again and again tried to connect the war, which most Americans think was a mistake, with the so-called war on terror, which has the support of the nation.

The report comes as Mr Bush makes a series of speeches on the "war on terror" to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the 11 September attacks.

Requests Rejected

The report is the second part of the committee's analysis of pre-war intelligence. The first dealt with CIA failings in its assessment of Iraq's weapons programme.

Saddam Hussein was distrustful of al-Qaeda and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from al-Qaeda to provide material or operational support,

--Senate report


The committee concluded that the CIA had evidence of several instances of contacts between the Iraqi authorities and al-Qaeda throughout the 1990s but that these did not add up to a formal relationship.

It added that the government "did not have a relationship, harbour or turn a blind eye toward Zarqawi and his associates".

It said that Iraq and al-Qaeda were ideologically poles apart.

"Saddam Hussein was distrustful of al-Qaeda and viewed Islamic extremists as a threat to his regime, refusing all requests from al-Qaeda to provide material or operational support," it said.

The Senate report added that the Iraqi regime had repeatedly rejected al-Qaeda requests for meetings.

It also deals with the role played by inaccurate information supplied by Iraqi opposition groups in the run-up to the war.

'Devastating Indictment'

Democrats said the White House was still trying to make the connection between the former Iraqi leader and al-Qaeda in an attempt to justify the war in Iraq.

Less than three weeks ago Mr Bush said in a speech that "Saddam Hussein...had relations with Zarqawi".

Democrat Senator Carl Levin described the report as a "devastating indictment" of these attempts.

White House spokesman Tony Snow told the Associated Press news agency the report contained "nothing new".

"In 2002 and 2003, members of both parties got a good look at the intelligence we had and they came to the very same conclusions about what was going on," he said.

Zarqawi, who is believed to be responsible for numerous killings and kidnappings in Iraq since the war, was killed in a US raid in June.

Saddam Hussein and several close associates are standing trial for the killings of Shias in the village of Dujail in the early 1980s and of more than 100,000 Kurds in 1988.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/5328592.stm

Published: 2006/09/09 00:20:39 GMT

© BBC MMVI





06 September 2006

Shitbags of the Week...



While I neither believe in, nor condone the death-penalty, cases like this do test my principles. Perhaps these good folks should be dealt with in exactly the same manner as they did so with their foster-son?

A bigger question is: How exactly did shitbags like this get handed the responsibility to care for someone elses child? What was the Hamilton County thinking?

Most importantly, how in the hell do they plan to prevent this from happening again...?

--ryan




and David Carroll Indicted

BY EILEEN KELLEY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

CLERMONT COUNTY – A Clermont County grand jury on Wednesday indicted foster parents Liz and Dave Carroll Jr. in the death of Marcus Fiesel.

Officials say Marcus was bound in a blanket with strapping tape and left in a closet on the weekend of Aug. 4 before the couple, their children and their live-in girlfriend, Amy Baker, went to a family reunion. When they returned, the 3-year-old was dead.

The grand jury handed up felony murder and kidnapping charges.

The couple will be arraigned Thursday in Clermont County, where bond will be set.

In Hamilton County, where the Carrolls have been charged with inducing panic, issuing a false police report and involuntary manslaughter, their bond was set at more than $10.1 million each.

Prosecutors said Wednesday they would seek nothing less than the $10.1 million bond.

A jury trial could start within three months unless the right to a speedy trial is waived, Clermont Prosecutor Don White said.

If convicted on all Clermont charges, the Carrolls face a minimum of 35 years in prison and a maximum life sentence.

“There won’t be any pleas, period,” White said. “I want to put them away for anything I can.”

During a mid-day press conference, White and Assistant Prosecutor Daniel “Woody” Breyer, stressed the importance of the live-in girlfriend’s testimony.

Baker, who officials say was with Dave Carroll Jr. in Brown County when he burned Marcus’ body, and who also knew about the boy being in a closet, has not been charged in connection with the case.

Both Baker and Liz Carroll met with the Hamilton County Grand Jury on Aug. 28. During her testimony, Baker, who previously told the Enquirer she last saw Marcus alive on the morning of Aug. 15, said that Marcus died in the closet over the weekend of Aug. 4.

Breyer said that while he may disagree with Baker’s lifestyle she is imperative in the case against the Carrolls.

“Amy Baker is the be all, end all to this case,” Breyer said.

The Clermont grand jury session started about 11:15 a.m. and lasted about an hour. The Carroll case is the first case for a newly appointed grand jury.
Baker was not called to testify, rather prosecutors presented her grand jury testimony in Hamilton County.

White said there were only two witnesses subpoenaed to testify today.

White subpoenaed the Butler County Children Services file on Marcus for the grand jury late Tuesday. But, he didn't know if they would be used for the session or just the investigation.

They are looking for any information on the Carrolls. White is not seeking charges against anyone else, and he doesn’t plan to investigate whether caseworkers’ actions contributed to Marcus’ death.

Deters has made comments that this should be a capital case. But, White said the grand jury was not being given that option. “We cannot ever prove they intended to kill him,” White said.

As for Marcus’ remains, White said bone fragments have been found, but it is impossible to extract DNA to prove they are Marcus’ because the heat from the fire destroys DNA.

The bone fragments have been identified as human, though, he said.

E-mail ekelley@enquirer.com




Just Cut the (Papal) Bull...



This is well overdue! However, I don't know exactly how far we're likely to get with the medieval throwback who currently holds the throne...

--ryan





Indigenous in Americas Just Say 'No' to Papal Bull

© Indian Country Today August 14, 2006. All Rights Reserved
Posted: August 14, 2006
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today

Summit: Doctrine of Discovery was 'Political Fiction'

PHOENIX - Indigenous in the Americas are demanding that the ''doctrines of discovery,'' the papal bulls that led to the seizure of American Indian homelands, be rescinded.

At the Summit of Indigenous Nations on Bear Butte in South Dakota, delegations of indigenous nations and nongovernmental organizations passed a strongly worded resolution condemning the historical use of the doctrine of discovery as an instrument of genocide.

Tupac Enrique Acosta, coordinator at Tonatierra in Phoenix, said the effort at Bear Butte continues the indigenous battle to halt genocide of indigenous peoples and seizures of their homelands in the Americas.

Tonatierra was among the organizations at the Summit of Indigenous Nations taking action to rescind the doctrines of discovery: Papal Bull Inter Caetera of 1493 and the 1496 Royal Charter of the Church of England.

''The Indigenous Nations have resolved, here at the base of Mato Paha [Bear Butte], that the Pope of the Catholic Church and the Queen of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury rescind these doctrines of discovery for having served to justify and pave the way for the illegal dispossession of aboriginal land title and the subjugation of non-Christian peoples to the present day,'' according to the summit's statement.

Forty delegations of indigenous spiritual and political leaders, as well as NGOs, signed the resolution.

''These papal bulls have been the basis for the extinguishment of aboriginal land title and the subjugation of indigenous peoples of Abya Yala [North and South America]. The implementation of the papal bulls evolved in the United States through the Supreme Court decision of Johnson v. M'Intosh [1823] which established the precedent for the denial of aboriginal title to American Indian lands in the United States,'' according to the summit.

''It has been resolved by 23 Nations and NGO's and 100 individual signatories that the 'Doctrine of Discovery' is a legal and political fiction in violation of the rights of indigenous peoples and intellectual act of oppression which continues to serve to suppress and repress the indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere.''

From Ecuador at the Bear Butte gathering was Santiago Delacruz, vice president of CONAIE (Confederacion de Nacionalidades Indigenas del Ecuador/Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador). CONAIE is a formation of 28 indigenous nationalities and Pueblos of Ecuador.

''We have come from the southern part of this continent Abya Yala which we share with you all as indigenous nations of this hemisphere on a mission to strengthen and re-establish our ancestral ties as a continental confederation of nations and pueblos,'' he said.

Delacruz offered support for rescinding the papal bulls and support from the south for the protection of Bear Butte.

''It is with great concern that we have come to be informed of the threatened desecration of the Sacred Mato Paha, also known as Bear Butte, where we now gathered in summit as indigenous nations.

''This sacred area must not be allowed to be destroyed or desecrated by the proposed construction projects of 'biker bars' and the like,'' Delacruz said.

Enrique pointed out that the current demand that the papal bulls be eliminated represents a longtime global effort.

In May, at the United Nations in New York, the Continental Proclamation Abya Yala was presented at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The proclamation was ratified at the Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples in Quito, Ecuador, in 2004, and in Mar de Plata, Argentina, in 2005.

The proclamation stated, ''That the Papal Bull Inter Caetera of Pope Alexander VI is hereby annulled, as well as whatever Doctrine of Discovery proceeding from which that pretends to deform the relationship of Harmony, Justice, and Peace of we the Indigenous Peoples of Humanity in its entirety.''

And earlier, at the United Nations in Geneva on Aug. 1, 1991, indigenous delegates discussing the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, convened by the Working Group on Indigenous People, also issued a statement to then-Pope John Paul II, chief of the Vatican.

The 1991 declaration stated, ''We demand from the Vatican state a denunciation of the unilateral treaty of Pope Alexander VI (Tordesillas) as being contrary to the Universal Human Rights of Peoples.

''Whereas the year 1993 completes 500 years of a supposed spiritual conquest without clear rectification of this universal injustice, allowing the nation-states that have benefited from the inheritance of Pope Alejandro VI to continue programmes of genocide and ethnocide, denying the indigenous people the recuperation of a harmony based on reciprocal human respect, we demand that the Papal Bull of May 3, 4, 1493 Inter Cetera be annulled.''

In Bear Butte in August, signatories on the declaration to rescind the papal bulls included a cross-section of indigenous and non-indigenous organizations and nations, including the Western Shoshone Defense Project, American Indian Law Alliance, American Indian Movement, Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council by Chief Oliver Red Cloud and Oglala Delegate Floyd Hand, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, Bring Back the Way: Owe Aku and Tonatierra.

The Summit of Indigenous Nations was called in response to the development of several new biker venues located within five miles of the base of Bear Butte, near the Black Hills Mountains.

''Bear Butte is a sacred place of worship for over 30 Native American Nations across the Great Plains. The Native American Nations involved are asking for a minimum five-acre buffer zone of protection from commercial development around the sacred mountain,'' according to the summit.




Spreading the Virus Called "Hope"...



I just found out about Ben Shumaker and the work he's doing through his organization The Memory Project on the CBS Evening News last night. This is an amazing thing this man is doing! So devistatingly simple and yet so effective, each Memory Portrait positively changes at least two lives forever.

Never doubt either the power of art, or the power of Hope to make a difference in the World...

--ryan



Quote of the Day...



"Crikey!!!"


--Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" (1962 - 2006), entertainer, educator, environmentalist, Dad






04 September 2006

Steve Irwin (1962 - 2006)



Crocs Rule...

--ryan



Obituary: Steve Irwin

With his trademark khaki shorts, chirpy manner and an obvious love of wildlife, Steve Irwin was known to television viewers around the world simply as "the crocodile hunter".

But Steve Irwin's popular image, wrestling crocs and other creatures, belied the fact that he was implacably opposed to the hunting, not just of crocodiles, but of any animal.

A natural showman as well as a conservationist and zoo owner, Irwin was committed to educating people about wildlife.

He often did this by putting himself at great risk, confronting crocodiles, poisonous snakes and other dangerous beasts in their own environment. This fascinating television was often punctuated by his trademark yell of "Crikey!"

But his unconventional approach drew criticism from those who believed his idiosyncratic style to be irresponsible and cavalier.

Family Tradition

Steve Irwin was born in Essendon in Victoria, Australia, in February 1962. In 1970, his parents founded the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, later to become Australia Zoo, on the country's Sunshine Coast.

The park specialised in rehabilitating ill or injured baby kangaroos, wallabies, wombats and koalas, and Steve Irwin grew up surrounded by wildlife.


When his father, Bob, decided to do something about the hunting which threatened to destroy Australia's crocodile population, Steve played his part, working for Australia's Crocodile Relocation Programme which captured and moved the reptiles to safer areas, often to the Australia Zoo.

When television director John Stainton first encountered Steve Irwin, while shooting an advertisement at Australia Zoo, he immediately realised that he had a new star on his hands.

The first episode of Stainton's show, The Crocodile Hunter, was built around a crocodile trapping trip that Irwin and his Oregon-born wife Terri Baines undertook for their honeymoon.

Discovery Channel bought the programme in 1996 and it rapidly became a phenomenon, being screened in 130 countries and bringing both Stainton and Irwin great wealth.

Serious Commitment

In January 2004, Irwin faced a barrage of criticism after being filmed holding his infant son in one arm while feeding a chicken carcass to a 4-metre saltwater crocodile with the other. At the time, he said: "I was in complete control of the crocodile."

Despite his often light-hearted manner, Steve Irwin's commitment to protecting crocodiles was serious. "Every chance I get, I will put my life on the line to save crocs," he told one interviewer.

Irwin's other programme The Croc Files, The Crocodile Hunter Diaries and New Breed Vets, were also great hits, especially in the United States, and he was feted by television interviewers like Jay Leno, Larry King and Oprah Winfrey.

He even played a cameo role in the 2001 Eddie Murphy film, Dr Doolittle 2, before hitting the big screen the following year with his own movie, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.

And a measure of Steve Irwin's fame came when Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, who described him as "one of Australia's great conservation icons," personally invited the environmentalist to a barbecue for President George W Bush in Canberra in 2003.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/5311982.stm

Published: 2006/09/04 10:26:03 GMT

© BBC MMVI




01 September 2006

Quote of the Day...



"The Earth was created by the assistance of the Sun, and it should be left as it was...the Country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man's business to divide it..."


--Chief Joseph (1840 – 21.September 1904),Nez Perce Wallowa Band



Is That a Snitch in Your Pocket..?



Better think twice about what you choose to tell your mobile...

--RYAN


AP: Don't Keep Secrets On Cell Phone



By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer

Wed Aug 30, 10:33 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Don't tell your cell phone any secrets. It might not keep them. Second-hand phones purchased over the Internet surrendered credit card numbers and bank account passwords, business secrets and even evidence of adultery.


One married man's girlfriend sent a text message to his cell phone: His wife was getting suspicious. Perhaps they should cool it for a few days.

"So," she wrote, "I'll talk to u next week."

"You want a break from me? Then fine," he wrote back.

Later, the married man bought a new phone. He sold his old one on eBay, at Internet auction, for $290.

The guys who bought it now know his secret.

The married man had followed the directions in his phone's manual to erase all his information, including lurid exchanges with his lover. But it wasn't enough.

A company, Trust Digital of McLean, Va., bought 10 different phones on eBay this summer to test phone-security tools it sells for businesses. The phones all were fairly sophisticated models capable of working with corporate e-mail systems.

Curious software experts at Trust Digital resurrected information on nearly all the used phones, including the racy exchanges between guarded lovers.

The other phones contained:

_One company's plans to win a multimillion-dollar federal transportation contract.

_E-mails about another firm's $50,000 payment for a software license.

_Bank accounts and passwords.

_Details of prescriptions and receipts for one worker's utility payments.

The recovered information was equal to 27,000 pages — a stack of printouts 8 feet high.

"We found just a mountain of personal and corporate data," said Nick Magliato, Trust Digital's chief executive.

Many of the phones were owned personally by the sellers but crammed with sensitive corporate information, underscoring the blurring of work and home. "They don't come with a warning label that says, 'Be careful.' The data on these phones is very important," Magliato said.

One phone surrendered the secrets of a chief executive at a small technology company in Silicon Valley. It included details of a pending deal with Adobe Systems Inc., and e-mail proposals from a potential Japanese partner:

"If we want to be exclusive distributor in Japan, what kind of business terms you want?" asked the executive in Japan.

Trust Digital surmised that the U.S. chief executive gave his old phone to a former roommate, who used it briefly then sold it for $400 on eBay. Researchers found e-mails covering different periods for both men, who used the same address until recently.

Experts said giving away an old phone is commonplace. Consumers upgrade their cell phones on average about every 18 months.

"Most people toss their phones after they're done; a lot of them give their old phones to family members or friends," said Miro Kazakoff, a researcher at Compete Inc. of Boston who follows mobile phone sales and trends. He said selling a used phone — which sometimes can fetch hundreds of dollars — is increasingly popular.

The 10 phones Trust Digital studied represented popular models from leading manufacturers. All the phones stored information on "flash" memory chips, the same technology found in digital cameras and some music players.

Flash memory is inexpensive and durable. But it is slow to erase information in ways that make it impossible to recover. So manufacturers compensate with methods that erase data less completely but don't make a phone seem sluggish.

Phone manufacturers usually provide instructions for safely deleting a customer's information, but it's not always convenient or easy to find. Research in Motion Ltd. has built into newer Blackberry phones an easy-to-use wipe program.

Palm Inc., which makes the popular Treo phones, puts directions deep within its Web site for what it calls a "zero out reset." It involves holding down three buttons simultaneously while pressing a fourth tiny button on the back of the phone.

But it's so awkward to do that even Palm says it may take two people. A Palm executive, Joe Fabris, said the company made the process deliberately clumsy because it doesn't want customers accidentally erasing their information.

Trust Digital resurrected erased e-mails and other information from a used Treo phone provided by The Associated Press for a demonstration after it was reset and appeared empty. Once the phone was reset using Palm's awkward "zero-out" technique, no information could be recovered. The AP already used that technique to protect data on its reporters' phones.

"The tools are out there" for hackers and thieves to rummage through deleted data on used phones, Trust Digital's chief technology officer, Norm Laudermilch, said. "It definitely does not take a Ph.D."

Fabris, Palm's director of wireless solutions, said the company may warn customers in an upcoming newsletter about the risks of selling their used phones after AP's inquiries. "It might behoove us to raise this issue," Fabris said.

Dean Olmstead of Fresno, Calif., sold his Treo phone on eBay after using it six months. He didn't know about Palm's instructions to safely delete all his personal information. Now, he's worried.

"I probably should have done that," Olmstead said. "Folks need to know this. I'm hoping my phone goes to a nice person."

Guy Martin of Albuquerque, N.M., wasn't as concerned someone will snoop on his secrets. He also sold his Treo phone on eBay and didn't delete his information completely.

"I'm not that kind of valuable person, so I'm not really worried," said Martin, who runs the IMustEat Web site. "I guarantee that three-quarters of the people who buy these phones don't think about this."

Trust Digital found no evidence thieves or corporate spies are routinely buying used phones to mine them for secrets, Magliato said. "I don't think the bad guys have figured this out yet."

President Bush's former cybersecurity adviser, Howard Schmidt, carried up to four phones and e-mail devices — and said he was always careful with them. To sanitize his older Blackberry devices, Schmidt would deliberately type his password incorrectly 11 times, which caused data on them to self-destruct.

"People are just not aware how much they're exposing themselves," Schmidt said. "This is more than something you pick up and talk on. This is your identity. There are people really looking to exploit this."

Executives at Trust Digital agreed to review with AP the information extracted from the used phones on the condition AP would not identify the sellers or their employers. They also showed AP receipts from the Internet auctions in which they bought the 10 phones over the summer for prices between $192 and $400 each.

Trust Digital said it intends to return all the phones to their original owners, and said it kept the recovered personal information on a single computer under lock and disconnected from its corporate network at its headquarters in northern Virginia.

Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, a respected computer security expert, said phone owners should decide whether to auction their used equipment for a few hundred dollars — and risk revealing their secrets — or effectively toss their old phones under a large truck to dispose of them.

What about a case like the Lothario whose affair Trust Digital discovered?

"I'd run over the phone," Zatko said. "Maybe give it an acid bath."