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Open Letter to Barak Obama from Leonard Peltier
August 28, 2008
An Open Letter to Barack Obama
Symbolism Alone Will Not Bring Change
By LEONARD PELTIER
I have watched with keen interest and renewed hope as your campaign has mobilized millions of Americans behind your message of changing a political system that serves a small economic elite at the expense of the peoples of the United States and the world. Your election as president of the United States, where slaves and Indians were long considered less than human under the law, will undoubtedly constitute a historic moment in race relations in the United States.
Yet symbolism alone will not bring about change. Our young people, black and Native alike, suffer from police brutality and racial profiling, underfunded schools, and discrimination in employment and housing. I sincerely hope your campaign will inspire some hope among our youth to struggle for a better future. I am, however, concerned that your recent statement on the Sean Bell verdict, in which the New York police officers who fired 50 shots at a young man on the eve of his wedding were acquitted of criminal charges, displays a rather myopic view of the law. Until the law is harnessed to protect the victims of state violence and racism, it will serve as an instrument of repression, just as the slave codes functioned to sustain and legitimize an inhuman institution.
As I can testify from experience, the legal institutions of this nation are far from racial and political neutrality. When judges align with the repressive actions and policies of the executive branch, injustice is rationalized and cloaked in judicial platitudes. As you may know, I have now served more than three decades of my life as a political prisoner of the federal government for a crime I did not commit. I have served more time than the maximum sentence under the guidelines under which I was sentenced, yet my parole is continually denied (on the rare occasions when I am afforded a hearing) because I refuse to falsely confess. Amnesty International, South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama of Tibet, my Guatemalan sister Rigoberta Menchu, and many of your friends and supporters have recognized me as a political prisoner and called for my immediate release. Millions of people around the world view me as a symbol of injustice against the indigenous peoples of this land, and I have no doubt that I will go down in history as one of a long line of victims of U.S. government repression, along with Sacco and Vanzetti, the Haymarket Square martyrs, Eugene Debs, Bill Haywood, and others targeted by for their political beliefs. But neither I nor my people can afford to wait for history to rectify the crimes of the past....
Continued in comments below. August 28, 2008 An Open Letter to Barack Obama Symbolism Alone Will Not Bring Change By LEONARD PELTIER ... more -
Censored in the USA: Hush Words
Respected American Indian journalist Brenda Norrell writes about how censorship operates in Indian Country and the rest of America.
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Censored in the USA: Hush words
Posted by Brenda Norrell - July 28, 2008 at 5:42 pm By Brenda Norrell
I didn't see it coming. After 25 years of writing American Indian news, I didn't really expect to be blackballed and censored out of the business. But, then again, any journalist writing serious news in the United States should expect to be censored. There are some hot topics that get U.S. journalists fired, including investigating the war in Iraq. U.S. Presidents realize the power of words and song to move the masses. It was Buffe Sainte Marie's "Universal Soldier," during the Vietnam War that led to her being blackballed and censored out of the music business in the U.S.
In Indian country news, there are also hush words, words to be used sparingly, if at all. For editors, those words include two names "Russell Means" and "Leonard Peltier." Also, in Indian country, reporters know it is unlikely that editors will publish any serious criticism of the war in Iraq or the Bush administration. Reporters also know it is unlikely that their articles will be published if they point out how the elected American Indian tribal councils sell out their people and their land, air and water for energy royalties and energy leases. At the same time, those councilmen and tribal chairmen give voice to the need to protect sacred Mother Earth.
While on staff at Indian Country Today in 2004, the managing editor, a non-Indian, demanded that I halt writing about "grassroots people and the genocide of American Indians." When I continued, I was reprimanded again. Eventually I was fired without a reason given.
It taught me about history and the soul of America. In the United States, there is this hole in history, and this hole in the hearts of the people, which disallows for these facts: the genocide of American Indians, including the butchering of women and shooting of little children, and the kidnapping, enslavement, torture, rape and murder of blacks.
Read entire article at link -
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrel...
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where Charleen Touchette knows first-hand about
being censored, blackballed, and banned. Respected American Indian journalist Brenda Norrell writes about how censorship operates in Indian Country and the rest of America. ... more -
Obama No Peace Candidate
Senator Obama is not for peace.
In 2005-2006, alone, Obama voted with Republicans for 20 major Senate bills for war and the Bush/Cheney Agenda.
Read CreativeYouth.net's research on Obama's senate votes for war, Gonzales, right-wing Chief Justice and judges and other Bush/Cheney attacks on Americans. -
http://creativeyouth.net/jacksonendorsesclarencethomas....
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Photo of Afghanistan War Orphans by Nick Rain images on flickr.
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we know Peace is a no-sum argument.
You can't be for Peace and promise 100,000 more troops. Senator Obama is not for peace. ... more -
Naomi Klein Debunks Bush's Offshore Drilling Plan (VIDEO)
stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust | July 18, 2008 10:50 AM
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Watch as Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, debunks President Bush's offshore drilling plan on Fox News.
To read blogs from Klein go here.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-klein
To read more about her book go here.
http://www.naomiklein.org/main
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we think Naomi Klein is brilliant and a courageous
American. stumble digg reddit del.ico.us news trust | July 18, 2008 10:50 AM ... more -
10 powerful requests for today
10 powerful requests for today - by Dieter Braun (Indian in the machine)
www.indianinthemachine.com
1. I request to live in pure clean air, and to have pure clean water and
soil to grow pure clean food. Pure clean air, food, water and soil are a birthright to all.
<>
2. I desire to purify myself in a joyful and powerful manner.
3. I request the end of the bush cabal and/or any dark cabal, and the
transmutation of all darkness I experience, into Light.
4. I request the Angels of the Universe, to come even closer to planet Earth.
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5. I request that humans reaffirm their need for outside assistance at
this time, from our loving star family.
6. I desire to live on planet Earth, to experience permanent peace on planet Earth.
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7. I comprehend that all are equal in the universe, therefore may all
manmade laws reflect this immediately and Now!
8. I desire to live in a world where spiritual awareness is a priority in governance.
<>
9. I call for the end of all planetary slavery!
10. I call forth financial abundance to spread far and wide across the planet like never before!
Read more from Indian in the Machine Dieter Braun at www.indianinthemachine.com
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthblog.blogspot.com
where we know there are many ways to understand energy.
To paraphrase Dr. King Jr., [Darkness can not overcome darkness,
only light can do that. Violence can not overcome violence,
only love can do that.]
Embody love and light up the darkness. 10 powerful requests for today - by Dieter Braun (Indian in the machine) www.indianinthemachine.com ... more -
Vandalism in the Sky - H.A.A.R.P. is Death
Youtube.com by TheRealLawnMowerMan in April, 2008
"HAARP Boils The Upper Atmosphere.HAARP will zap the upper atmosphere with a focused and steerable electromagnetic beam. It is an advanced model of an "ionospheric heater". (The ionosphere is the electrically-charged sphere surrounding Earth's upper atmosphere. It ranges between about 40- to 600 miles above Earth's surface.)
Put simply, the apparatus for HAARP is a reversal of a radio telescope; antennas send out signals instead of receiving. HAARP is the test run for a super-powerful radiowave-beaming technology that lifts areas of the ionosphere by focusing a beam and heating those areas. Electromagnetic waves then bounce back onto earth and penetrate everything -- living and dead...."
"Looking at the other patents which built on the work of a Texas' physicist named Bernard Eastlund, it becomes clearer how the military intends to use the HAARP transmitter. It also makes governmental denials less believable. The military knows how it intends to use this technology, and has made it clear in their documents. The military has deliberately misled the public, through sophisticated word games, deceit and outright disinformation.
The military says the HAARP system could:
give the military a tool to replace the electromagnetic pulse effect of atmospheric thermonuclear devices (still considered a viable option by the military through at least 1986).
replace the huge Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) submarine communication system operating in Michigan and Wisconsin with a new and more compact technology.
Be used to replace the over-the-horizon radar system that was once planned for the current location of HAARP, with a more flexible and accurate system.
provide a way to wipe out communications over an extremely large area, while keeping the military's own communications systems working.
provide a wide area earth-penetrating tomography which, if combined with the computing abilities of EMASS and Cray computers, would make it possible to verify many parts of nuclear nonproliferation and peace agreements.
be a tool for geophysical probing to find oil, gas and mineral deposits over a large area.
be used to detect incoming low-level planes and cruise missiles, making other technologies obsolete."
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we know that zapping humans and the ionosphere
with a billion watts can't be good. Youtube.com by TheRealLawnMowerMan in April, 2008 ... more -
What Follows Video - Painter, Feminist, and Native American Art Activist
From the Series:
What Follows
Description:
Charleen Touchette is a painter, feminist, writer and Native American art activist. She fuses Native American myth, childhood memories and her own personal visions to express herself. Much of her work deals with the disturbing issues of child abuse and environmental abuse.
Speaker(s):
Ava Hamilton, Native American documentary film-maker
Charleen Touchette, founder, Spiderwoman World Arts Network
Produced by:
University of Colorado
April 2001 From the Series: What Follows Description: ... more -
Tell Obama to Stop the War - Sign Code Pink Petition
TELL OBAMA: This is your opportunity to forestall another tragic war!
Sign our petition below and join us in holding Obama accountable for his earlier pro-diplomacy statements
Dear Senator Obama,
We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about possibility that the Bush administration might be considering a military strike on Iran, that it might give a green light to such an attack by Israel, or that it might engage in other acts of war, such as imposing a blockade against Iran.
We welcomed your stand against the war on Iraq in 2002. And we were encouraged by your early campaign statements emphasizing diplomacy over military action against Iran. Today, you have an opportunity to forestall a repeat of the tragic Iraq war. We hope you will use that opportunity.
We agree with the conclusion of Muhammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, that "A military strike ... would be worse than anything possible. It would turn the region into a fireball..." A military attack, he said, "will mean that Iran, if it is not already making nuclear weapons, will launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons with the blessing of all Iranians, even those in the West." (Reuters, June 20, 2008.)
We don't know, of course, whether an attack on Iran is in fact being considered, or if there are serious plans to initiate other acts of war, such as a blockade of the country. But we call on you to issue a public statement warning of the grave dangers that any of these actions would entail, and pointing out how inappropriate and undemocratic it would be for the Bush administration to undertake them, or encourage Israel to do so, in its closing months in office.
An attack on Iran would violate the UN Charter's prohibition against the use or threat of force and the Congress's authority to declare war. Moreover, the public right to decide should not be foreclosed by last-minute actions of the Bush administration, which will set U.S. policy in stone now.
We were heartened by your earlier comments suggesting that an Obama administration would act on the understanding that genuine security requires a willingness to talk without preconditions (something Iran has offered several times to no avail), and that threats and military action are counterproductive. We hope you will follow through on these commitments once in office, but also that you will speak out now against any acts of war by the Bush administration.
Sincerely,
Your Signature
Go to www.codepink.org for more ways to help stop the war.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we are against the obscenity of war.
Peace Now TELL OBAMA: This is your opportunity to forestall another tragic war! ... more -
Monsanto's Royalty Grab in Argentina
Or: How corporations get their way with a little help from their friends in government
A dramatic comedy in three acts (with more to come)
GRAIN
October 2004
Behind many big promises of "technology transfer" and "feeding the world" lies a brutal truth: biotechnology corporations like Monsanto only care about profits. They are not offering genetically modified (GM) seeds to the South out of charity. They want to take over seed markets and squeeze farmers for as much as they can get - which, even in poor countries, can be a lot. The formula seems to be this: focus on the major cash crops (cotton, soybeans, maize, etc), find an entry point, contaminate the seed supply and then step in to take control. Argentina, the first country outside of North America to start planting GM crops, is a case in point. But the same pattern is being reproduced around the world, as with GM cotton in India and West Africa. The story of what has happened in Argentina should serve as a stark warning of what occurs when GM agriculture takes root.
Act One: The Infection
1996 - The government of Argentina approves the commercial planting of Monsanto's genetically modified Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans. Farmers save, multiply and sell the seeds to other farmers, as they always have, and the area planted to RR soybeans grows exponentially - from less than a million hectares in 1996 to 14 million hectares in the 2003-2004 growing season. RR soybeans also start to cross Argentina's borders, with people smuggling them into neighbouring Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia, where cultivating GM crops is banned.
Monsanto's patents on RR soybeans are not recognised in Argentina. The company's rights over the GM seeds are limited to the country's Seed Law - a plant breeders' rights regime that allows farmers to save seeds for their own use but not to sell them "over the fence" [1]. Still, Monsanto does nothing to stop the large-scale "brown-bagging" taking place. It sits back and watches its GM seeds and the use of its RoundUp herbicide expand over the Southern Cone, as the large landholders of the Pampas and surrounding areas adopt the industrial no-till farming system of RR soy on a massive scale.
For many, the absence of any complaints from the company during these early years confirms what they suspected from the start: the spread of GM crops through contamination and the violation of national laws is a conscious and intentional strategy of the transnational seed corporations.
Act Two: The Threats...
Read more at link above.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot where we see that what Monsanto is doing to farmers in Argentina today is the same criminal M.O. as the U.S. companies in the late 1800s who destroyed the food supplies of American Indian Nations like the Lakotah and Dine to subjugate the People, steal their land and make American consumers complicit in their genocide. Or: How corporations get their way with a little help from their friends in government ... more -
STRANGE CLOUDS OVER CHINA BEFORE 7.9 EARTHQUAKE
http://news.qq.com/a/20080513/004283.htm
在地震前2点左右，天空出现彩云，这是网友用手机拍摄到的画面。
视觉焦点
TRANSLATION TO ENGLISH:
About earthquake first 2 o'clock, the sky presents the pink clouds, this is the net friend the picture which photographs with the handset.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we are horrified by the lost of life and destruction
of the environment caused by the China earthquakes. http://news.qq.com/a/20080513/004283.htm 在地震前2点左右，天空出现彩云，这是网友用手机拍摄到的画面。 视觉焦点 TRANSLATION TO ENGLISH: ... more -
H.A.A.R.P Zapping Earth's Atmosphere with a Billion Watts
Details about H A A R P
official webpage:
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/
High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, HAARP (1993)
The HAARP Program is jointly managed by the US Air Force and the US Navy, and is based in Gakona, Alaska. It is designed to "understand, simulate and control ionospheric processes that might alter the performance of communication and surveillance systems." The HAARP system intends to beam 3.6 Gigawatts of effective radiated power of high frequency radio energy into the ionosphere in order to: * Generate extremely low frequency (ELF) waves for communicating with submerged submarines * Conduct geophysical probes to identify and characterize natural ionospheric processes so that techniques can be developed to mitigate or control them * Generate ionospheric lenses to focus large amounts of high frequency energy, thus providing a means of triggering ionospheric processes that potentially could be exploited for Department of Defense purposes, * Electron acceleration for infrared (IR) and other optical emissions which could be used to control radio wave propagation properties * Generate geomagnetic field aligned ionization to control the reflection/scattering properties of radio waves, * Use oblique heating to produce effects on radio wave propagation, thus broadening the potential military applications of ionospheric enhancement technology.
STRANGE CLOUDS OVER CHINA BEFORE 7.9 EARTHQUAKE
http://news.qq.com/a/20080513/004283.htm
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we know the earth is a living organism and
zapping it with a billion watts can't be good. Details about H A A R P official webpage: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/ ... more -
H.A.A.R.P. - Is it Weather, or Government Terrorism?
s it the weather or government terror?
By Jerry Mazza
Online Journal Contributing Writer
Download a .pdf file for printing.
Adobe Acrobat Reader required.
Click here to download a free copy.
October 22, 2005—Government manipulation of weather for terror and destruction is one pattern your local weatherman is surely not pointing out. So let me help with the forecast, past, present and long-range.
Starting on December 26, 2004, you had the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, an undersea earthquake that generated a tsunami that killed approximately 275,000 people. As the linked article reports, the magnitude of the Indian Ocean quake now stands at 9.15, making it one of the most deadly and frightening in history. From the third paragraph, come some hair-raising facts . . .
In May, scientists reported that the earthquake itself lasted nearly ten minutes when most major earthquakes last no more than a few seconds; it caused the entire planet to vibrate at least a few centimetres. It also triggered earthquakes elsewhere, as far away as Alaska.
The section on "Tectonic Plates" gives two more earth-shaking pieces of information . . .
. . . Seismographic and acoustic data indicate that the first phase involved the formation of a rupture about . . . 250 mi . . . long and . . . 60 mi wide, located . . . 19 mi . . . beneath the sea bed - the longest known rupture ever known to have been caused by an earthquake (italics mine) . . .
As well as the sideways movement between the plates, the sea bed is estimated to have risen by several metres, displacing an estimated . . . 7 cu mi . . . of water and triggering devastating tsunami waves. The waves did not originate from a point source, as mistakenly depicted in some illustrations of their spread, but radiated outwards along the entire . . . 750 mi . . . length of the rupture. This greatly increased the geographical area over which the waves were observed, reaching as far as Mexico, Chile and the Arctic. The raising of the sea bed significantly reduced the capacity of the Indian Ocean, producing a permanent rise in the global sea level by an estimated 0.1 mm.
Stated more simply, these facts point to an extraordinary amount of energy expended to produce extraordinary events, including a permanent rise in sea level. From the "Power of the earthquake" section, there are more unsettling statistics . . .
The total energy released by the earthquake in the Indian Ocean . . . is equivalent to 100 gigatons of TNT, or about as much energy as is used in the United States in 6 months. It is estimated to have resulted in an oscillation of the Earth's surface of about 20–30 cm (8 to 12 in), equivalent to the effect of the tidal forces caused by the Sun and Moon. The shock waves of the earthquake were felt across the planet; as far away as Oklahoma, vertical movements of 3 mm (0.12 in) were recorded. The entire Earth's surface is estimated to have moved vertically by up to 1 cm (italics mine).
. . . It also caused the Earth to minutely "wobble" on its axis by up to 2.5 cm (1 in) . . . or perhaps by up to 5 or 6 cm (2.0 to 2.4 in). . . .
Simply stated, here we have an event that expends so much energy it literally shortens the day, causes the earth to wobble and its surface to raise...."
Go to link to read more and find links to more info on H.A.A.R.P.
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com s it the weather or government terror? By Jerry Mazza Online Journal Contributing Writer Download a .pdf file for printing. ... more -
Global Mindshift - All is One
Entertaining succint video on the Global Mindshift to realize All is One necessary for survival.
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Go to www.mind-shift.org for more.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where Mitaku Oyasin - We are all Related. Entertaining succint video on the Global Mindshift to realize All is One necessary for survival. _________ ... more -
Republic of Lakotah withdraws from US
Lakotah sovereignty ...
1700's: Lakotah governed themselves as they had for thousands of years.
1803: Louisiana Purchase Treaty between US and France in which the US promises to respect the liberties, property and religious rights of the inhabitants of the territory, which includes the Lakotah.
1805-1868: Numerous treaties between the US and Sioux Nation, all of which have been violated by the US.
1974: International Treaty Conference attended by over 5000 Lakotah, including many elders. Lakotah elders give two mandates to attendees, international recognition of indigenous rights, and sovereignty. Declaration of Continuing Independence also issued by the conference.
September 2007: UN passes the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
December 2007: Lakotah Freedom Delegation withdraws from all treaties with the US.
Go to link to read more about the Republic of Lakotah.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
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Call to Action to Current.com users and contributors -
Please help get this Indian Country news to Current TV.
It has fallen from #3 to #22.
Help prove the Current community isn't like most media
and Americans who, as Russell Means told me, "Don't
want to see Indians. We're the evidence."
Thanks for your help to support the Lakotah people and
other indigenous people struggling for their rights
as sovereign nations. Lakotah sovereignty ... 1700's: Lakotah governed themselves as they had for thousands of years. ... more -
Landmark Document from Feds on Climate Change
Our friend Bill Brown in Taos at NMGlobalWarming.org reports on the U.S. federal government's Climate Change Science Program Report.
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Greetings, All -- The USA federal government's Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) released a new report yesterday on the impacts of climate change on the United States. While providing information on trends and projections for the future, the report also states how climate has already changed throughout the USA because of the impacts of human activity on our planet.
The CCSP reiterates what has long been known to science: The primary reason for climate change is human-generated increases in greenhouse gas concentrations.
The CCSP was authorized by federal legislation known as the Global Change Research Act of 1990. This Act spawned collaborative federal research and later the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), through which the USA has made a total investment of almost $20 billion during the past thirteen years -- the world's largest investment in scientific research in the areas of climate change and global change. "The USGCRP, in collaboration with several other national and international science programs, has documented and characterized several important aspects of the sources, abundances and lifetimes of greenhouse gases; has mounted extensive space-based monitoring systems for global-wide monitoring of climate and ecosystem parameters; has begun to address the complex issues of various aerosol species that may significantly influence climate parameters; has advanced our understanding of the global water and carbon cycles (but with major remaining uncertainties); and has developed several approaches to computer modeling of the global climate."
The Summary of the 271-page document begins:
"Over the past several years, our understanding of global environmental change and our ability to estimate its future effects has improved significantly. In order to summarize the key conclusions of this research, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) has undertaken a national scale “Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States.” The conclusions in this assessment build on the vast body of observations, modeling, decision-support, and other types of activities conducted under the auspices of CCSP. It draws on findings from previous assessments of the science, including reports and products by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), CCSP, and others. Together with CCSP’s 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products, this is arguably the most comprehensive assessment to date of the effects of global change, and especially climate, on the United States. This fact sheet summarizes the key findings of the Assessment."
To download the Summary and/or the Full Report, or simply to learn about the history, quality and scope of the USA's Climate Change Research Program, see: http://www.climatescience.gov/
The CCSP considers this a landmark document, representing summary work of its almost two decades of research. Please take the time to read the Summary even if you do not wade through the full report.
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we think each person can make a difference
to help heal our earth.
Photo - "Height of the Land Lake near White Earth, Minnesota, 2006. Our friend Bill Brown in Taos at NMGlobalWarming.org reports on the U.S. federal government's Climate Change Science Program Repo... more -
Oren Lyons Speaks - A Call to Consciousness on Climate Change
Oren Lyons (Onondaga)
Oren Lyons was born in 1930 and raised in the traditional lifeways of the Haudenosaunee on the Seneca and Onondaga reservations in northern New York State. After serving in the army, Lyons graduated in 1958 from the Syracuse University College of Fine Arts. He then pursued a career in commercial art in New York City. A noted American Indian artist, he has exhibited his paintings widely.
Since returning to western New York in 1970 and joining the faculty of SUNY Buffalo, Chief Lyons has been a leading advocate for American Indian causes. Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga Nation, and a member of the Council of Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee, he is respected internationally as an eloquent spokesperson. In 1982, he helped to establish the Working Group on Indigenous Populations within the United Nations and has taken part in meetings of the U.N. Human Rights Commission. He also serves on the executive committee of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival, and is a principal figure in the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders, grassroots leadership council of the major Indian nations of North America.
Chief Lyons has authored or edited numerous books including Native People Address the United Nations (1994); Voice of Indigenous Peoples (1992); and Exiled in the Land of the Free: Democracy, Indian Nations, and the U.S. Constitution (1992).
Complete Video - http://www.nmai.si.edu/iss/2008/me_webcast.html?siref=Y...
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we think Oren Lyns is the bomb. Oren Lyons (Onondaga) ... more -
Albuquerque Impressive Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions Earn Award
Albuquerque Earns U.S. EPA Climate Protection Award
Our friend Bill Brown reports great news about Albuquerque, New Mexico's reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
"Since 1990, the City of Albuquerque has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from city operations by 58% and from city landfills by 73%. Albuquerque achieved First Place Honors from the U.S. Conference of Mayors' 2007 Climate Protection Awards. Albuquerque achieved these impressive reductions by increasing energy efficiency, implementing renewable energy projects, capturing landfill methane, and utilizing alternative fuels. 20% of the City's energy is derived from wind power; the City fleet ranks fourth in the nation on SustainLane's 2006 list of the 50 largest US cities whose city fleets use alternative fuels; five city swimming pools are installing solar heating systems; and the city landfill converts landfill gas into energy. Albuquerque established the nation's first municipal capital budget set-a-side specifically dedicated to energy reduction and renewable energy implementation. The City is currently working to reduce emissions even further: The City's new Energy Conservation Code requires new buildings and existing buildings undergoing significant alterations to be at least 30% more energy efficient, and Mayor Chavez recently issued an Executive Order ensuring that all new municipal buildings meet green building standards, and established a special forestry program to combat climate change by reducing the heat island effect, sequestering carbon dioxide, and buffering the effects of rapid climate change. "
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Greetings, All -- Albuquerque, New Mexico receives a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Climate Protection Award for its impressive greenhouse gases emissions reductions. Arlington County, Virginia and Austin & Dallas, Texas also demonstrate leadership in climate protection.
Full details on all the award winners are available at: http://www.epa.gov/cppd/awards/2008winners.html
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com. Albuquerque Earns U.S. EPA Climate Protection Award ... more -
Photos by American Photographer Sage Paisner - Oppression/Tradition Portraits
Young American Photographer Sage Paisner portrays the experience of the Oppression Tradition in black and white portraits and directorial self-portraits.
Paisner is a Photography Grad Student at CalArts and a 2006 graduate of the University of New Mexico, B.F.A., summa cum laude in Photography.
Artist statement
"My work stems from tradition and is inspired by historical and contemporary events addressing literal or metaphysical confinement. The oppressed are fearful. Terror stems from the thought of oppression or actual physical captivity. Minorities are oppressed and controlled. My Jewish, French Canadian Indian, history is filled with subjugation. During my early childhood, I lived on a Navajo reservation where my family practiced Judaism and Native religion. My father represented the Navajo Relocatees, helping them to obtain land and homes. For me, these experiences were seminal influences.
My ideas are rooted in the Holocaust, the Inquisition, the European Conquest of America and other countries in which Jews and Native people were persecuted. Fear of capture, persecution and torture forced them to hide or live in small secret places. In these confined places, religious practice, ritual, and the fight to preserve traditions continued. This body of work combines photography and sculpture to express the idea of confinement including contemporary events such as the conflict in Israel, Abu-Graib and Guantanamo Bay. These horrific events of the past and present are connected to my childhood and families history and evoke strong emotions. I am overwhelmed, and frustrated by the state of oppression. I am trapped. I hope there is some way out."
Sage Paisner
www.myspace.com/burningsagepress
sagepaisner@aol.com
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com Young American Photographer Sage Paisner portrays the experience of the Oppression Tradition in black and white portraits and director... more -
Unlocking My Muscles at the Women’s Prison - Kelly Hayes-Rait
Kelly Hayes-Raitt reports from Thailand.
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PeacePATH Foundation - About Violating Sanctions
Chiang Mai, Massage - Violating Sanctions
Unlocking My Muscles at the Women’s Prison
The Author By Kelly Hayes-Raitt | June 5th, 2008 | Comments 1 Comment »
Massage places in Thailand are about as ubiquitous as Starbucks in Santa Monica, so choosing to allow a convicted criminal to pummel the daylights out of my muscles may seem like an odd choice – or an inspired one, depending on one’s perspective.
But, I chose the Chiang Mai Women’s Correctional Institution (www.correct.go.th/fdccham) because it gives soon-to-be-released women a chance to practice a new commercial skill, to earn some head-start money and to interact with the public in a controlled setting. As the young electrical engineer lying next to me said, “It massages my heart, too.”
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Following the narrow streets of the original walled city of Chiang Mai, Thailand’s first capitol and second largest city, I was confused by the ungated, pleasantly tiled patio featuring a sprawling mango tree with purple orchids cascading from its branches.
I was expecting cinderblocks, barbed wire, guns and guards. What I found was an atrium-like restaurant adjacent to a coffee shop serving cappuccinos and homemade pastries.
Housing 1,200 women convicted of drug crimes, the prison allows women who have successfully undergone drug rehab to participate in a 3-month voluntary vocational program to learn massage, cooking, dressmaking, hairdressing or waitressing. Well more than half of Thailand’s female prisoners are jailed for drug-related crimes.
Thai massage is a non-sexual, non-aesthetic experience where the massage mats are laid side-by-side in an open room, people are fully dressed in their own clothes or in cloth tie pants that look like hospital scrubs, and the masseurs banter with each other like hairdressers at an neighborhood salon.
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At 200 baht (about $6.70 US) for an hour, they’re cheap even by Thai standards. Getting a massage is a regular, social event similar to the way western men might gather at a barber shop. It’s not unusual to see Thai massage mats and reflexology chairs publicly lined up at the popular outdoor night markets to reinvigorate intrepid shoppers.....
Read more on Kelly's blog at link above.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com Kelly Hayes-Raitt reports from Thailand. _____________________ PeacePATH Foundation - About Violating Sanctions ... more -
Colorado's Renewable Energy Future - Environment Colorado
Bill Brown of NM Global Warming and The Climate Project reports good clean energy news from the Colorado legislature.
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Greetings, All -- The press release below describes Colorado House Bill 1164 intended to help ensure that solar power plants are a part of Colorado's new clean energy economy. For more information, see: http://www.environmentcolorado.org
To read the bill itself, go to : http://www.leg.state.co.us/Clics/CLICS2008A/csl.nsf/Mai... and type 1164 in the search box in the left-middle part of the page.
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com Bill Brown of NM Global Warming and The Climate Project reports good clean energy news from the Colorado legislature. ... more
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